and senator alan simpson . -- senator alan simpson. ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of thed states. ["hail to the chief" being played] pres. biden: please be seated. good afternoon, and welcome to the white house. i know this is kind of an old place for some of the guys that come here, but thank you all very much. and to other cabinet members and elected officials that are here, and former elected officials like joe lieberman, my good friend is here. and so many critical and important people. i want to thank vice president harris and the second gentleman for allowing us to join them. [laughter] it is a pleasure when you get to hang out together. on monday, we celebrated the independence of our nation, a nation that is always a working progress in the creation of opportunities in fulfillment of promises. that is the american story. it is not a simple one. it has never been a simple one, but fourth of july reminds us what rod us together long ago and still binds us, binds us at our best, what we strive for -- we the people, doing what we can to ensure the idea of america, the

. >> [applause >> alan simpson. >> [applause] >> >> an army veteran and public servant, alan simpson served with conviction and integrity for 18 years as a republican u.s. senate or from his beloved state of wyoming. despite increasing polarization, he brought people together with wit and wisdom to make progress and find common ground. never afraid to stand up for what he felt was right, he worked on pressing issues like campaign-finance reform and marriage equality. alan simpson exemplifies our national ideas of civil discord, responsible governance and public service. >> [applause] ce and public service. >> [applause] >> [applause >> richard accepting on behalf of of richard trumka . the son of a coal miner, he followed his father into the minds to become the president of the united mine workers and president of the afl-cio. he never forgot where he came from and always fought for the dignity of working people. he built worker power by speaking truth of power. knowing that the middle class built america and unions built the middle-class. no one did more in the last half-century to

one of the most decent, stand genuine guys i've ever served with is this guy, alan simpson. mer united states senator from his beloved wyoming, republican, we served together in the united states senate for nearly two decades. one of the great things about alan is he never takes himself too seriously, nor takes me seriously. all kidding aside, this is the real deal. this is one of the finest men i've ever worked with. at his core, he's always believed in the common good and what's best for the nation. we didn't agree on everything. we agreed on a whole heck of a lot. he allowed his -- he never allowed his, i don't know, his party or his state or anything to get in the way of what he thought was right. he allowed his conscience to be his guide, and he believed in forging real relationships, even with people on the other side of the aisle, proving we can do anything when we work together as the united states of america. it matters, it matters, it matters. we need more of your spirit back in the united states senate on both sides of the aisle. just ask khizr khan, who studied th

among the recipients, john mccain, gabby giffords, alan simpson, and an olympic gold medalist among others. this is about an hour. >> ladies and gentlemen, the recipients of the presidential medal of freedom. simone biles. victor simone kamel. father alex --. lorraine jobs accepting on behalf of steve jobs. congresswoman gaddy gifford. sandra lindsay. ambassador cindy mccain accepting on behalf of senator john mccain. richard -- accepting on behalf of richard concha. megan repeat no. diane nash. dr. garcia. general vilma --. ambassador role --. senator allen sentence. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [applause] pres. biden: please have a seat. good afternoon and welcome to the white house. thank you all very much and to all the cabinet members, elected officials that are here and former leg officials like joe lieberman, my good friend is here. so many critical people. i want to thank the vice presidents -- i want to thank vice president harris and this -- and the second gentleman. our nation has always been a work in progress. that is the work in story. it is

alan simpson exemplifies our national ideas of civil discourse, responsible governance and public service. [ applause ] richard trumka junior accepting on behalf of of richard trumka. [ applause ] the son of a coal miner, richard followed his father into the minds to to become the president of the united mine workers and president of the afl-cio. you never forgot where he came from and always fought for the dignity of working people. he built worker power by speaking truth to power, knowing that the middle class built america and unions built the middle asked. no one did more in the last half-century to build unions then richard did. a beloved husband, father and grandfather, he was the american worker. [ applause ] born to a mexican-american family in the san juan valley, raul sought a better world beyond the life in the segregated south texas. after serving in the air force, he became one of our nation's preeminent civil rights leaders as president of the national council. over 30 years, he has forged immeasurable progress on voting rights, education and more to deliver the promise of a

and i serve with a lot of senators, this guy, alan simpson. one of the greatest honors of my life.. i've known joe 55 years. he's notice an unknown quantity for me. >> neil: the line that the president said, alan never takes himself too seriously or me too seriously. i got a kick out of that. while i have you here, there's all of this political infighting again. it seems to happen earlier and earlier every four years where donald trump seems to be telegraphing a move to run for president again. what do you think? >> well, put it this way. i voted for him once. i'll never do it again. does that answer your question? >> neil: why never again? >> i think he's -- i think he's overused himself. he used up. i think the january 6th hearings are terribly irritating to him. i say to him, stop the squeal. it's very unbecoming. it's like someone in a sandbox and they stole their little shovel. so i don't know where he's going, but i know there's plenty of horses out there from the as you saw in that earlier segment. and good grief proves that there is a marching order to take it on. >> do you

[applause] >> an army veteran and public servant, alan simpson served with integrity for 18 years as republican u.s. senator from his beloved state of wyoming. despite increasing polarization, he brought people together with west and wisdom to find, ground. never afraid to stand up for what he felt was right. he worked on pressing issues, like campaign reform and marriage equality. our national ideas of civil discourse, and public service. [applause] [applause] richard trumpka junior, accepting on the behalf of richard trumka. >> the son of a coal miner, he followed his father into the minds to later become the president of the united mine workers and president of the afl-cio. he never forgot where he came from and always fought for the dignity of working people. he built work empowered by speaking truth to power. knowing that the middle-class class and built america and unions built the middle class. no one did more in the last century than he did. he was the american worker. [applause] wilma l vaugh. [applause] >> retired air force general, is one of the most decorated women in the

[ applause ] one of the most decent, stand up, genuine guys i ever served with is this senator alan simpsoner united states senator from his beloved wyoming, republican -- we served together in the united states senate for nearly two decades. one of the great things about alan is he never takes himself too seriously nor takes me seriously. all kidding aside, this is the real deal, one of the finest men i've ever worked with. at his core, he's always believed in the common good and what's best for the nation. we didn't agree on everything, though we allowed on a whole heck of a lot. he never allowed his, i don't know, his party or his state or anything to get in the way of what he felt was right. he allowed his conscience to be his guide and he believed in forging real relationships, even with people on the other side of the aisle, proving we can do anything when we work together as the united states of america. it matters, it matters, it matters. we need more of your spirit back in the united states senate and on both sides of the aisle. [ applause ] just ask keyeser con, who studied law in

. >> for your book you spoke with former wyoming senator alan simpson and he said this is not a party, it's a cult. wow. does the january 6th hearing have some people looking to maybe deprogram? >> well, maybe. i don't think particularly buy the notion that donald trump is really as weak or weaker in the republican party as he might have been. look, i think he ultimately -- i think there are a lot of people who would like to move on. again, if he wants the nomination he can have it. when i did the reporting for this book, when you talk to people, republicans, i mean there's never been such a bigger gap between what republicans will say privately about donald trump, which is really quite contemptuous often, and what they'll say publicly, which is just the siycophantancy we've seen over and over again. >> i'm glad you said that because the perfect question for you is what adam kensinger said to you about the difference about talking to trump in personen versus your fellow republicans. he said if you put them on truth serum they knew the elukz was fully legitimate and donald trump was a

. >> so for your book, you spoke with former wyoming senator alan simpson.not a republican party anymore, it's a cult, that's what he says right? wow! but it does january six hearing combined with the weakness of president biden right now, have some people looking to, you know -- maybe d program? >> well maybe. i don't particularly by the notion that donald trump is really as weak, or weaker in the republican party that he might have been. look, i think, he is ultimately, i think there are a lot of people who would like to move on. but i think, again if he wants the nomination he can have it. when we talk to when i did the reporting for this book. when you talk to people, republicans. there's never been such a bigger gap, between what republicans will say privately about donald trump. which is really quite contemptuous often. and what they will say publicly. which is a sycophant c, which we have seen over and over again. humor hen over and over again. which essentially has become the platform of the republican party. over several years. this is sort of who t

alan simpson served as senator in wyoming for years. president of the 12 what have ai yo.demy award-winning act, denzel washington will be a -- will be receiving the award this afternoon. live coverage here on c-span. ♪ >> the ceremony should be getting underway and just a moment. the presidential medal of freedom will also be presented today to critical care members who served on the frontline of the covid-19 response. they should start here shortly. live coverage on c-span. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. the program will begin shortly. thank you. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states and mr. douglas emhoff. [applause]

among the recipients, john mccain, gabby giffords, alan simpson, and

"we're not really talking about common sense or even politics anymore in my party," said alan simpson beside himself at what he calls the tragedy of what's occurred at the hands of this vicious animal who's poisoned this democracy. this is not a republican party, it's a cult. do the guys in on the joke understand that they're not part of a political party, they're in a cult? >> you know, i don't think they think that hard about this. i mean, i think if you're kevin mccarthy, who i spent a fair amount of time with, you know, talking about all these issues, at a certain point, it's just blinders on. i have a singular goal. that is to be speaker of the house after november elections. kevin mccarthy has a very good chance of becoming speaker of the house after the next elections, and he is just keeping blinders on. he is doing everything he can to keep donald trump somewhere in the vicinity of the rails, not anger the base, not anger his caucus, and hope that he can get to election day in november without sort of tipping the thing over and hoping it holds. and then he figures, once he's s

alan simpson, former three-term senator has known her since she was a girl.sue for her, he adds. that's not the golden chalice for liz. >> it's great, a great article. great to have james with us. of course, for those of you who don't remember, james got in trouble for printing his senator's op-ed, that a majority of americans agreed with at the time, even though i strongly did not. i'm sure he strongly did not. but that's what free speech is about in most newsrooms. hopefully that has -- hopefully that free speech is celebrated. james benett, that was one of the most pathetic spectacles by a news staff, but i apologize for saying that on a split screen. >> that's not why you're here. >> thank you, joe. thank you. >> i wish there weren't a split screen when i said that. i'll say more later. james, i love the imagery here. i love the high noon imagery. cooper on the day of his wedding. like george bailey, he wants to go off on his honeymoon. he just want to leave town. notice the bad guys are coming back into town. he is abandoned by everybody but his wife. ha