host: markus ziener is our guest. he has a longtime journalist and professor, help us understand what is going to be happening today in those german elections. we want to hear from you on the legacy of angela merkel, stepping down after 16 years as chancellor of germany. we've got just about five minutes. call in with your questions. christine has been waiting in las vegas. caller: i love the show. thank you for taking me. i was born in america. i am in my 60's. when i was a little girl, i remember clearly saying the pledge of allegiance to this country. i am wondering if there is a pledge of allegiance or something like that in germany. when i was growing up, i loved this country. i remember learning about the holocaust. i was ashamed of that. i am a mix of different things in meat. how long can the human race go without being different parts of this. i respect all nations. i am greatly ashamed of the way we came out of afghanistan. i do wonder if there is a pledge . i respect the german people. i have nothing to ren

host: markus ziener is our guest.you want to talk about the election in germany. we are splitting up the phone lines regionally. (202) 748-8000 in the eastern or central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain or pacific time zones. (202) 748-8002 if you're outside the united states. you were talking about merkel stepping down after 16 years as chancellor. why is she stepping down? does she leave in good standing? guest: her support numbers are great. they are stellar. her popularity is still high. this is a real achievement. why she is stepping down, she saw this as a good time to leave the stage. she is the first chancellor leaving voluntarily. all others were voted out of office. they are going to contribute to her reputation. she is looking for the right moment to step down. host: did she have a natural successor in the party? did she do enough to win the election today? guest: the assumption was he will be her successor. it took her quite a while to put her weight behind this candidate. only in the last coupl

host: markus ziener is our guest.nt to talk about the election in germany. we are splitting up the phone lines regionally. (202) 748-8000 in the eastern or central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain or pacific time zones. (202) 748-8002 if you're outside the united states. you were talking about merkel stepping down after 16 years as chancellor. why is she stepping down? does she leave in good standing? guest: her support numbers are great. they are stellar. her popularity is still high. this is a real achievement. why she is stepping down, she saw this as a good time to leave the stage. she is the first chancellor leaving voluntarily. all others were voted out of office. they are going to contribute to her reputation. she is looking for the right moment to step down. host: did she have a natural successor in the party? did she do enough to win the election today? guest: the assumption was he will be her successor. it took her quite a while to put her weight behind this candidate. only in the last couple of w

markus ziener will join us with the german marshall fund.e're going to talk through some of the issues and what it means for u.s.-german relations. a democrat in indiana, next. good morning. caller: i'm going to rate biden with an i, an incomplete. he's not even in the classroom. he's going to end social security, i just heard the other day in four years. totally end it. if everyone enjoys the whole theory and concept of communism, you've got the right guy in there. you've got to the right guy in there. thank you! host: steve, why would you think he wants to end social security? where did you hear that? lost steve. mary is in oklahoma. republican. good morning. caller: hello. i am a democrat. i'm sorry, but i give him a d. all the vaccine, which i have, and yet people across the border and the very least when they fill out the papers -- [indiscernible] but he's not asking them. he just -- he's causing all these people -- [indiscernible] host: this is jimmy in westbrook, maine. good morning, republican. caller: good morning. thank you for tak

then, markus ziener marc on sunday's elections in germany and german chancellor angela merkel as she completes her final term in office. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. "washington journal" is next. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] ♪ host: good morning. it's sunday, september 26, 2021. a three-hour "washington journal" is ahead-for-you -- for you as well as a focus on the federal elections in germany but we begin at the white house where president biden's job approval ratings has fallen sharply. as we take you through those new numbers this morning, we're putting this question to you -- how would you grade president biden's job performance? phone lines split as usual by political parties. democrats is 202-748-8000