to 1985. in part two of this interview, he explores further details of what he said was the mafia's involvement in the assassination of president kennedy and discussing robert kennedy's battle with mobster carlos marcello, boss of the new orleans mafia from the 1940's to the 1980's. >> a major reason why he feels he has an archenemy that will stop at nothing. when you are a mafia don, who lived his life with the idea i will stop at nothing to get where i need to go, and someone else will stop at nothing to destroy me. that is what i think he made the decision it will be me or the kennedys. >> his book clash of titans sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q and a. listen to q and a on all of our podcasts on the free c-span now app.

>> listening to programs on c-span through c-span radio is easy. tell your smart speaker play c-span radio and listen to washington journal at 7:00 a.m. eastern. important public affairs through the day and weekdays, catch washington today. this into c-span any time. tell your smart speaker play c-span radio, c-span, created by cable. to remake th host: and this is "the washington post" -- a relentless effort to remake the presidency. in just one month, president trump made it clear that he sees the presidency on different terms -- it continues by quoting

a history professor at the university of texas at austin. we are in a new kind of presidency with donald trump. he is trying to make the presidency like a c.e.o. position in a corporation. wonder what you think about the first term -- sorry, the first month of president trump's second term. this is the washington examiner. trump flexes power in dizzying first months. back in office. he's in command. it says president trump and his aides promised shock and awe during his first 100 days and just one month back in the oval office, trump has delivered an avalanche at a face that has gob smacked washington and the

world. trump has expanded the presidency through his use of executive action and policy policies from reduce the side size of the federal workforce -- so what do you say about that? we'll start with clara, who's in garner, north carolina, a democrat. good morning, clara. caller: good morning. i think that i would grade him with an f. i certainly understand and expect everything that he's doing is what he said he was going to do and therefore, that's where we're at. and i absolutely, you know, when he starts to call himself change, that says it all.

everybody should not be surprised or should be absolutely not dumbfound. i don't think there will be any more elections. he can suspend that from the constitution. he is successfully going through and flashing through and telling all of the departments. i wouldn't fly now if my life dentedded on it. host: what do you mean he can suspend elections? how would that play out? caller: there will not be any more elections. host: you think he will stay in office indefinitely? caller: yes. that's what he's after. there's not stopping this. but i do need someone to reflect on it. i'm on social security. when they go after social

security and medicare, i have a pension of $2.70. so take my social security away. i've worked since i was 13 years old. i know nobody wants to hear it, blah, blah, blah. i get it. neither one of us to file for taxes because our income is below poverty. so go ahead and slash into our social security and please. i read the 2025 project several times. i mean, nobody grasp. they told you what they're going to do and they'll do it. i have no doubt about that. and for him to have called the head of ukraine, the dictator to do the kinds of things he's doing, they're not just smokescreens or flashes in the pan. these are things that are in fact, what he intends on doing. and i would ask just -- just one point i want to make and you could all -- there's two points

and i won't bother anybody any longer. the first point is that all these people that you are firing, including f.b.i. agents and members of the justice department. where do you think these people are going? where do you think we're going to do? he didn't receive a mass majority of the vote of 150 million people. he didn't receive -- barely received a little over 49%. host: all right, clara. got to move on to charles in gaithersburg, maryland. a republican. hi, charles. caller: hey, good morning. i would give president trump a d minus. he has created a nightmare and he should be removed from office. a dereliction of duty. the democrat friends said a lot. but he is not doing what is right for this country at this

time. that's all. thank you. host: so did you vote for him, charles? you're a republican. caller: no, i did not. host: why didn't you? caller: because of his criminal record and the mentality that he has that it's all about donald trump. and it's not all about donald trump. wake up, donald. snell the roses, buddy. host: let's talk to phil in orange county, florida, independent line. caller: good morning. donald trump, i give him an f. not a d minus but a straight f. incomplete work. the reason why i say that this when you have the mindset that you want to go after people, just out of spite, then you have to look at this guy. he are doing things. he planned a good chess move and the people he has around him are

no dummies they know how the government works. so when you start taking pieces out of the government or reducing the government so it won't be effective in size. i never known a family in the united states of america to have 10, 12, 15 people live nag two bedroom house and then saying that we got to downsize. what are you going to do? the american people got over 350 million people in it. so the government agencies that support these people have to be big enough to get them adequate and time of service. what is going to happen? you might like him for fore reasons. -- other reasons. when you -- donald trump have a lot of tendency, raping women,

assaulting women, excuse me, like to assault women. like to criticize the least of us. he always pretend to be a bully. i'm a 23-year vet. if i had a sergeant in front of me that was scared to leave, how could i follow you? donald trump was a coward to go to vietnam and now he wanted to talk about how tough he is? and then the people that supported knowing that they needed to keep this in mind, a lot of the cutses that donald trump doing are come from your red states. and in the federal government, oh, yes, a lot of republicans in the federal government. now they are saying the exact same thing that i seen. and he is going to hurt a lot of people. host: some response from lawmakers. here's representative eric burleson, a republican of missou. one month in, president trump has delivered on his promise to

secure our homeland. revers catch and release - and this is seto tommy tuberville, one month ago -- here's energy and commerce democrats -- and representative judy chu, a docrat says -- and

this is karen in gwen oak, maryland, democrat. hi, sharon. caller: rodgers, how are you doing, mimi? good morning to you. host: good morning. caller: i grade donald trump, i wouldn't give him no grade at all. because he has a revenge against people that he thought did him wrong. and i just don't understand how we got people that standing up here and let this man tear this country down and chaos. and people don't realize. we have children. you know? our children don't need to be going through this and then you wonder why these young people get out here and do the things they do. donald trump is not a good representative for this country. he needs to be impeached and our

country need to be put back where it needs to be, put back. and the federal workers, i feel sorry for them because they have to run up out here to get a job. you know, to pay their mortgage, and, you know, buy food, and stuff like that. and i just feel -- i just don't feel too good about it because donald trump is not doing the right thing for this country. and the spooky thing about it, he fraternizes with vladimir putin, the worst person ever, evil. and he side with him to be his buddy and it's not right. he don't care about the american people. so that's why i'm not giving him no grade. as me being a black african american woman, i'm doing fine because i put my faith in god and i pray to god and i will ask god to pray for this country and look up for this country because donald trump is trying to tear this country up because he wanted to be a dictator. and that's all i have to say.

host: all right, sharon. and let's go to the independent line in alabama. noah. you're next. caller: yes. i don't know how you start this. i give him an eight. and the reason i say that is he took a bullet, got right up. he won me over there. we're already agree on his policies is like the ukraine war. we spent $300 billion over there. and they can't even find $100 billion up. them oligarchs. ukraine was the most corrupt country the world. and you can go back the obama administration. he sent us blankets. when trump went in there, he gave them tanks. and then biden got in there and then they invaded ukraine and

kamala harris said they were going to invite ukraine into nato. i don't like putin either but he would never do it with trump because -- now they're going to step up and start paying because ukraine's running out of men. they have to drag men out to the front now. and we need that money over here we need to stay out of here. we fought two wars over there. my sons have been the military. i've been in the military. my dad was the military. and it's just time for us to -- let europe take care of europe. let's guard our borders. and these people taking bubble batts work for the government. and you can look that up online, working at home and not doing their job. he needs get rid of these people. i'm retired from the government. state government, not federal. but them people in federal make a whole lot more money. so, that's all i got to say. and the man's only been in there

a month. give time to clean the swamp out. there's more like a sewer now since biden left. beginning time. host: all right. here's robert, a republican, in franklin, indiana. good morning, robert. caller: yes, good morning. i would give him a d. it's very sad to me that my party, the party of ronald reagan, who had a spine, who saw the defeat of russia in the cold war. now we have, you know, the president and the maga group that seems to be intent on making russia great again. seems like to they are more like the kremlin than they are republicans. and secondly, you know, the primarily job of a president is to keep the country safe. and we're gutting the c.i.a. and

the f.b.i. at a time when we have turmoil going on in the middle east. have we forgotten the lessons we learned from 9/11? that it's the c.i.a. and the f.b.i. that has kept us safe since 9/11. and we're gutting those two agencies? putting them in turmoil at a time when we're in the most dangerous. yeah. i think that he has failed in keeping us safe. that's my opinion. host: all right, robert. and this is a column from rex hub printed in "u.s.a. yesterday. he says if your goal in voting for president donald trump was own the libs and make fellow americans you'vded hate feel scared or miserable, then congratulations.

the first month of theion' first everconvicted felon president has beea massive succ if your goal in voting forrump was to make your own life better perhaps by loweringhe cost of eggs and other groceries or entrusting a republican to arsly battle inflation, i have bad news for you. you are conned. along with mil of others and truirst month in office has demonstrated how littlee cares about you or your day-to-day existence. that is in "u.s.a. today." if you'd like to read that opinion piece. and this is jack, upper marlboro, maryland, democrat. good morning, jack. caller: hey, good morning. i think the piece of article that you just read sums it up. donald trump has been a resounding failure from everything going with his cabinet picks, with his pardoning of the j-6ers and the

destruction of the federal government and gutting the federal workforce, inflation is on the rise again. food prices are creeping back up. i mean, egg prices are ridiculous at this time. everything in his mind is still joe biden's fault even though he's the president. so, yeah. it's been a resounding failure. his foreign policy has been a disaster. he's spitting in the face of all our allies, how allies for the north in canada. he started a trade war. our european allies, he has absolutely no regard for. this country is in trouble. and if you don't believe me, just look at what's happening with these republicans congressional members are going back home and holding town halls. people are upset. and there seems to be this idea that republicans or red states won't be affected by what trump is doing with all these cuts off

the workforce and the federal government. our national parks is suffering. you name it. it's a problem and hopefully what will happen is these republicans who vote for donald trump will wake up and see that they have been conned. donald trump is a conman. he's conned his way back into office and unfortunately, we're all going to suffer from it. and the only thing that would help is in two years, these republicans vote for these congressional members who just advocate their responsibility and get them out of there so we can get somebody in there who will hold president trump accountable. host: all right, jack. let's hear from vice president jd vance. he was at cpac yesterday morning talking about the administration's accomplishments for the first month. vp vance: we have a historical

mandate on a few issues. we have to secure the southern borders and thanks to his actions, border crossings are down. [applause] he recognizes that we have to unlock the engine of american growth. we've got to get back to having a growing economy to create good jobs and high wages for the american people and a lot of that goes back to drill, baby, drill. we've done more on energy under president trump's leadership than i think any administration in history and that's not an exaggeration. and we're doing to do more. and the third thing that he's tried to do, of course, with the help of elon and all the great folks at doge is ask what are we doing with all of the american taxpayers' money and why are we wasting so much on it on garbage that the american people aren't aware that we're spending it on in the first place? for example, the stuff that we figured out, mercedes is unbelievable. why are we spending money on

progressive modern art projects centered around toilets in afghanistan? that's actually something that your tax dollars were funding until very recently. and i think all of us are sitting around asking what the hell are we doing with the american people's money for the last four years? let's turn off the spigot and spend the american people's tax money on the american people's priority and that's been a big focus on the administration, too. [applause] host: that was vice president from yesterday at cpac. c-span's coverage of the conservative tiff political conference continues today. this morning with remarks from vera affairs secretary doug colls, kari lake and sebastian gorka. that gets deay live at 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning on c-span2. and more from cpac this afternoon with florida congressman byron donalds, hud

secretary scott turner and others. that's also live on c-span2 at 3:15 p.m. eastern. additional coverage on c-span now and c-span.org. then tonight, homeland security kristi noem gives key remarks at the ronald reagan dinner hosted by cpac. that live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span, also on the app and online. we get back to your calls now in jeff in west virginia, a democrat. hi, jeff. caller: yes, ma'am. i'm calling from west virginia, the red state for donald trump. and they have a place called public debt. and a lot of my neighbors who vote for trump, they're walking around scared, crying, nervous, and they are forever trumpers but i'm a diabetic and i'm on medicare and when joe biden was in there, my insulin was $6 for

28-day exploit. i just went to c.v.s. to get my new supply. it went back to $80 because the american recovery act was canceled. so it went from $6 to $80. so i don't know if anybody else out there on medicare and are diabetic that their insulin shoot from $6 to $80. but this is sad. all these new senator, nobody calls you back. you're getting a recording. and everybody's protesting out in their offices and they're not even reporting back or saying anything. but i get donald trump an f. and to america -- host: so jeff, when you say that the -- your neighbors that voted for trump are walking around scared. what are they scared of? what are they telling you? caller: because the biggest -- outside of coal and dupont

industries is a place called a government office that they a lot of people work at. it's a good paying job but they're nervous that their jobs are going to be in jeopardy. younger people that just first-time home buyers, just closing in on a home like the neighbor across the street. they just closing a home. her and her husband work at public debt. they don't know? they're going to have a job. they don't know if some of the cuts or whatever. so that's what they're saying. they're nervous. they're scared. and they're forever trumpers, flying his flags when he was running. now they're nervous and scared. so i give him an f. host: all right. here is edwin in new bern, north carolina, independent. good morning. caller: let me try to educate your listeners, ok? i give -- shoutout to senator rand paul. this is how it goes. the senate is about to pass a bill for $341 billion more in

funding. we taken $5 trillion in incoming and we spent $7.5 trillion this year. that's a -- 2.2 trillion deficit. ok? if we don't watch it, we're going to be broke in this country. and the party of fiscal responsibility republicans are not showing me because do you know all the funding that doge has found? that could be a resensation bill back to congress, ok? and be reallocated to cover the $341 billion that they're trying to pass. secondly, the most successful program is pay-go. and this year, they're about to stop it. $1.7 trillion in cuts. and that was done by bill clinton and it goes like this. any program that started, it's going to be killed.

ok? i don't know if this is crazy but to think about giving $5,000 in checks to everybody, it ain't going to happen. it's not the blueprint. i want every person in america that has a congressman to contact their congressman, ask them. the money that was saved on doge, put it a -- back in congressing and they don't have to right now, $341 billion? money is going to coast guard and to the border. and this is crazy. we are going to kill each other from within and people on social security, in 2032, they're only get 20% of their money. and for all my federal employees, you have rights. if you're not a probationary employee and your career competitive service, you need to get up with the u.s. merit system protection board, file a claim, get a lawyer and your activity has to so the you why

they're let you go. if it's not for misconduct or performance, you got a case. because i helped somebody. they sent home for a year. they find her unwillingly, she went to the merit protection board. she got a year's worth of back bay and her lawyers fees are paid. i just don't understand the party that's supposed to be fiscally responsible is not showing me anything. and with doge, i'm going tell you right now. every agency, all those items are showing. and the 14 appropriations that cover the budget this year, everybody in congress needs to red line every single item. that way, doge is not involved. i don't understand this. host: so edwin, i want to show you "the guardian" with the headline. you were talking about this. trump floats the idea to give americans 20% of saving from doge cost cutting --you would rf

sending checks to americans? caller: of course it is inflationary. during covid when money was given out and approved by donald trump, guess what happened? i guarantee you today the unemployment numbers are going to rise and it will affect the stock market. you know why? all of the probationary federal employees are sent home. judges sent home. inspector general's that inspect activities go home. i don't understand this. we are in a $2.2 trillion deficit, all the money that doge is saving it goes back to congress. host: we got that and i want to

update people that early this morning the senate did vote. here is politico. "senate republicans just approved their budget resolution after more than 10 hour vote-a-rama. for now it is the gop's plan b as trump's preferred budget may not have the support to move ahead next week in the house. some republicans grumbled about having to go through the exercise. senator josh hawley told reporters he spoke to trump on thursday evening relating that while the president did give a little not towards the senate budget in a truth social post, he made clear to me he wants one big beautiful bill. he said that two or three times on the phone." we will be following that and see what happens in the house next week. this is conrad in farmington, maine. republican. good morning.

caller: i would give donald trump an a. most people do not understand that the chief executive officer of the united states of america is the president. whenever a ceo comes into a business or is hired to take over a business he has to make decisions based upon all the different departments and he has to go and analyze all of the different problems within the system. that is what donald trump and his team is doing. the second time around he has a better idea of what is going on and that is why he has such a diverse group of cabinet picks. with all of these different problems -- america has been going down the tubes for a long time since the early 1900s. what people are going to have to understand is this is not going to be an easy task and we have a person that is willing to take all of the heat and all the conflicts from every group of people, class, whatever.

the federal workers are upset because they have had a gravy train for a long time. they get great benefits and all those different things. they do not have to produce, they just live off the gripped of their money and do not have to worry about any consequence for not producing. america's viability in the past was because they could produce and they could make something so we could create wealth. when we have everybody living off the tax base there is nothing created. if you don't create something you do not make any wealth. that is where we are today and people are going to have to stand up. the sad thing is there is a lot of people on social security and the only way we are going to be able to take care of those people the elderly and the real disabled people is if we create some wealth. i think donald trump is doing the best job because he is willing to stand for what is

right. it is not going to be easy for any of us. host: let me ask you about this article. this is npr reporting. the headline "irs cuts over 6000 jobs in the middle of tax season." you worry about the irs not having the staffing required to process tax returns and tax refunds? caller: if you look into the actual audit that has been done on irs agents that have been delinquent on paying their taxes it does not scare me a bit. if people go and do their research and look up where the tax was implemented and see the legality of being taxed. people would be surprised. those are the things people do not want to hear. that is why there is a congressman or congresswoman that said taxes are voluntary.

there is nobody believes our taxes are voluntary. these are the things people need to look into and not just believe the news agencies that are telling you their talking points. host: i have to move on. here is jerry in pennsylvania. democrat. caller: i just wanted to say i would give trump a d. host: why? caller: because whenever i see him on tv he is patting his own self on the back. that is one thing i hate. i would like someone else to give me praise not praising myself. whatever he is doing he is not doing a good job so he has to pack his own self on the back. host: here is ron in north miami

beach, florida. republican. go ahead. caller: this is something -- i will give him a b because we have a long way to go. he has been amazing. i've never seen anyone in my lifetime like him. i am 75 and have owned my own business for 40 years. i never minded paying taxes. if i pay taxes that meant i was doing well and making money. he is a businessman that has tone that his whole life. he grew up in a tough city, he knows his way around the whole world because of it. i think you ought to give him a chance to get the job done. we are in trouble. there is one big factor that most of our listeners do not consider. they are worried about losing a little here and there because of some benefits. we are in a situation where if

our dollar is devalued we will be out of business. it is just that simple. host: i am curious why since you said he is doing a great job why give him a b and not an a? caller: we have a long way to go. there been some mistakes made. last night i listened to kevin o'leary who said if he buys a company and he goes in there and cleans house he says somebody may get fired by accident they can hire them back and that is what is happened already. we have a lot to do in a short time to do it. we are in big trouble. this debt is mind-boggling. with clayton they balance the budget. -- with clinton they balanced

the budget. we have nothing. the interest is more than we spent on our military. we need to build ships and planes. we need to build our systems. we will not have the money. we will see countries that could care less about the value of their dollar that can do whatever they want. they own the country. host: when you said some people will be laid off by accident, the ap reports a few days ago the trump administration tries to bring back fire nuclear weapons workers in doge reversal. my understanding is they were having trouble finding those workers since there government emails were terminated. all that story as well. here is ryan in falls church, virginia. independent. caller: i am pretty pleased with

the job president trump is doing so far. i would give him a b. vertically with the layoffs. yesterday there was a federal employee who is very distressed about the layoffs and he and his colleagues work so hard and are so dedicated. i will call myself america and this is a message from me to washington so washington can better understand what is happening. a federal agency is supposed to provide a public service and the people that are hired to affect that service are public servants, they are paid with tax dollars and that is my money. you are taking it from me and you're telling me you will provide a public service. your service sucks. that's why this is happening. your postal service sucks. america cannot count on the postal service to be open on time.

the postal service sucks. we had a presidential candidate almost get assassinated twice because the service from the secret service sucks. you had an article that 6000 people got fired from the irs. they had 6000 superfluous people and they cannot answer the phone. the service sucks. the fbi and doj cannot prosecute a doctor for raping gymnasts? the service sucks. it is over and over. it is everywhere across the federal government. i see tom homan running his mouth about how great border

patrol is. i don't know if washington knows this but cdp failed to provide that service for four straight years and washington will go with some copout, we are dedicated to the mission. texas dps and texas national guards were the only units fulfilling the mission of securing the border. two thirds of the thorough workforce in d.c. is a joke anyway. we call them non-essential. i was in d.c. when that city shut down because only essential people were working. and why are we paying the salary of superfluous people who have done nothing to deliver any public service? we are sick and tired of crappy public service and even crappier public servants who confuse working hard with working long hours. your service sucks. host: don in turtle creek,

pennsylvania. caller: i would give president trump an a. he is doing exactly what he said he would do just like he did in the first four years. promises made, promises kept. one thing i would like to point out is you brought up an article from usa today which is a paper only because they have contracts with hotels who lay them in front of people's doors where they would not be in business. the gentleman had to bring up the eggs. you keep bringing that up every day. is getting old. there is a bird flu. a lot of farmers are hurting because they had to kill their chickens because of the bird flu and that has caused a shortage. i wish they would have pointed that out after you read the article. the other thing is all of the democrats who call in every day and want to see him impeached.

go ahead and impeach him. bring the articles of impeachment and impeach him. that's right, you don't have the house and the senate so there is no way you can impeach him right now. i don't know why people keep calling in and saying they want to see this or want to see that. we the american people voted. he is our president for the next four years and everybody is going to have to put up with it. i am loving it. we win every day with trump and elon out and i guess the democrats do not like to win. thank you and have a great weekend. host: a few days ago somebody was -- a caller asked about elon musk's security clearance and whether he had a top-secret clearance. i mentioned that he has said on x that he does have a top-secret security clearance even though there was reporting that he was not able to get one because of previous drug use and contacts

with foreign nationals. cnn did put in a request to see what their level of security clearance was. cnn -- "the trump administration has multiple fired multiple members of the privacy team and other officials from the office that oversees the hiring and firing of federal workers. a move that limits outside access to government records related to security clearance to elon musk and his associates. cnn was first notified of the firings at the office of personnel management in response to a freedom of information act request for records related to the security clearances of elon musk and anyone from the department of government effici

people have to start educating themselves. there is nothing wrong with the federal workers, we work are butts off just like in the private sector. no one is lazy. >> can you tell us what agency

or department you work for? >> i work for veterans affairs. i serve the veterans. >> have there been any layoffs? >> yes, yes. we cannot afford any layoffs. >> what are the job functions of those people that have been laid off? >> you have crisis line were people tend to veterans that want to harm themselves. you have nurses, they got contracts rescinded. doctors also got contracts, they got rescinded. you have doctors and nurses, medical staff getting there offers rescinded. people don't realize that all of these agencies, elon musk is an immigrant, a billionaire immigrant going in and cutting these things and not taking a

look at what is going on here? let's go in a little bit at a time. you can't just go in and gut something. everyone will feel the effects. the government has a whole bunch of agents to make this world go right. you think people sit back and do nothing, no, they do not. the guy that is happy about this , you have people that have lost their jobs, they are worried about their mortgages, they are trying to figure out how to to carry of their kids. what human being would have happiness for someone to lose their job? it is sick. republican and democrat, we need to stop doing this. this is why it is so upset about politicians. we have two parties acting crazy

instead of just one. as human beings, you should want your fellow american hoping they are ok and doing it right. instead of saying that you are happy they are getting fired, people lost jobs. there are a lot of people losing jobs in the private sector. i give this man and f. >> this is maryellen who sent us a text. this radical human beings that claims he is president needs to be removed, we will be isolated and attacked again. all lawful means necessary, he is taking away people's livelihood. how long do you think people will tolerate that? this is james, trump is doing a wonderful job, it is not layoffs, it is called waste and fraud. no one is 190 years old receiving a social security check.

especially thousands of people. all of this money is being wasted and all he is simply doing is stopping waste and fraud which we know the democrats are using the money against the american people. he has only been in here 30 days so i would give him a b plus. let's talk to earl in georgia. good morning. >> good morning. i was calling -- i was drafted in june 1969, i'm a baby boomer. i served in kentucky with airborne. i decided i wasn't going to volunteer. i should have been drafted in 1967 but i had trouble in school. you know, i never met a