Transcripts For CSPAN Washington 20240704

Host a start date for the trial of january 6 has not been determined. Many are making the case for the child to be televised to the public when it begins. Saying there is a need for transparency by giving viewers a view of the proceedings. Those against it are concerned it will become a spectacle and could impact those who are directly involved. To start off, do you think President Trumps january 6 in different selection trial should be televised . If you think, yes, it should tell us why at 2027488000. If you say no, it should not, 2027488001. If youre not sure if you can call and tell us why on 2027488002. You can text us at 2027488003. You can post on facebook and x. And follow the show on instagram. Mpr put out several stories taking a look at the idea of airing the trials when they are set to start. They write this, the trial of former President Donald Trump on charges related to alleged attempts to overturn the results of the election would likely prove among the biggest Television Events in history. A federal role for biz the taking forbid the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. Letter on thursday signed by Congressional Democrats because on judicial conference, National Policymaking body for the federal courts, to especially authorize the broadcasting of Court Proceedings in the cases of usa versus donald, path to the conference is one way to get televised trial. Another is for congress to pass legislation. When it comes to that rule regarding cameras in federal trials, you can find the rule at u. S. Court. Gov. It reads as such, Electronic Media coverage of criminal proceedings in federal courts has been prohibited under federal rule of criminal procedure . 53 the roles were adopted in 1946. The rule states except as otherwise provided by a or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during proceedings or broadcasting of proceedings from the courtroom. That is some of the technical legalities. You can add your thoughts on whether the trial should be televised to the public. If you say yes, 2027488000. If you say no, 2027488001. If youre not sure, 2027488002. If you want to text us, 2027488003. Social media site available to facebook. Com cspan and x. You can post at cspanwj. One of the democrats who sent the letter to the judiciary conference was what presented to steve coleman, democrat from tennessee, asked why it should take place and here is the case he makes. [video clip] we have seen our nation become more divided since the civil war. It is divided now not on whether you are against slavery or against slavery, but whether you admit the truth or not. We have a problem against the reality and working off of the same sheet. We are siloed by cable television. If you watch msnbc and cnn in a certain version of the news which i think is the truth and if you watch fox or newsmax, you see fiction. That is why they had multi 100 million judgments against them for lying about the one million voting and they will have others dominion voting and they will have others. Swish perspectives to beat what trump wants and not the truth. The truth needs to be seen because otherwise they do not accept the judgment, i am assuming if he is presumed innocent, but i think he is guilty as al capone as anyone can be. If they do not see the trial, they might not accept it. Im sure on fox they was show Something Like nightingale. Host on the democrats making the case and us for airing the trial against the former president when it is set to start sometime next year. If you think the trial should be televised, 2027488000. If you say no, 2027488001. If youre unsure, 2027488002. Editors in the wall street journal took this position writing, Federal District court does not allow cameras. The reason is that cameras can be a distraction from the process of seeking justice. It is a risk in a trial theyll be global media circus. That is what democrats want especially if it takes place before election day 2024. Democrats claim the tv cameras will make the public more likely to accept the verdict is highly unlikely. The Justice Department of the sitting president is prosecuting his potential opponent. That is inherently combustible. That is the thought of the editors of the wall street journal. We turn to you. We start with blake in georgia on art yes line. Our yes line. Caller good morning. My reason i would like to see each televised is because people who say they believe trump won the election, they will get to see first of all, those people do not believe trump won the election. That is my belief. Secondly, these peoples have been waiting for a guy like donald trump since the war. The civil war never ended. This would be an opportunity to end the civil war. That is why i would like to see this trial televised. Number two, white people have never in this country been held responsible for their violence. This is an opportunity for us to see white people held responsible for a change. Host ok. Al for massachusetts for those who are not sure about this. Good morning. Caller good morning. I want to Say Something about the gentleman about white people. Normandy beach have young white men who fought for the freedom of the nation. It was white people in boston that fought for freedom of slaves but i want to talk about democrats do not like the standard they said in 2016. Joe stein spent tens of millions of dollars in challenging elections. Donald trump was called a legitimate by Hillary Clinton and democratic leadership on day one on inauguration day. Resist movement. We are burning cars in d. C. Donald trump never had a honeymoon period. 108 honeymoon period. Host how does that relate to the televised trial . Caller the point is donald trump is questioning election. Miamidade went further red. All the states that took 10 days to call the election, of course they are questioning the election. It took 10 days to call the election. Half of the country voted for this man and now for four years we have heard about russian collusion. Democrats question that election and not of this illegal to question an election in two you wonder why half of the country you do not get it. Four years later, you did not get why half of the country vote for this guy. Host alex in delaware says the trial should be televised. Alex, tell us why. Caller i want everybody to see just what happened on january 6 when they show the real petition of everything, except what they were talking about in the trial they had come of the hearings they had for january 6. They deceived everyone in the country and it is going to be shown and i want everybody to see it. That is all i have to say. Host how do you think the televised hearings will differ from decriminalize trial brought by special council . What makes a difference . Caller it will show everyone was getting deceived about it all. Host peter in new york says the trial should not be televised. Caller i do not think this trial should be televised because the very nature of how it is being run by the democrats and biden is the guy who pointed this whole thing. Every time you turn around and they are harassing donald trump to try to get him out. That is interesting. Why are they trying so hard to get rid of this man . Why are they so afraid of him . That above Everything Else is concerning. Host how does that tie to the possibility of a televised trial . Caller who is running this trial . Who is in charge of the trial . That is why. I did not think you will get a fair shake. He will not get a fair trial. They want to do donald trump. They want him gone. Though try to use as many trials to do this. They are very afraid of donald trump. Why are they so afraid . Everyone should ask themselves that come up with your democrat or republican, and independent, why is everyone so afraid of donald trump . Host that is peter. Theres been no official start date attached to this trial. The special council looking for a date in early january for it to begin. President trumps team is to hold off until after election day but when it does come to light and when it begins, should tv cameras be a part of it, televised the child to the public televised the trial to the public. If you say yes, 2027488000. If you say no, 2027488001. If youre unsure, 2027488002. You can text us at 2027488003. Brian on the not sure line. Caller good morning everybody. I am not sure for the simple fact that i do not think im not sure and after listening to everyones different comments, it kind of change my perspective so im just not sure. I hope everyone feel well and take care. Host why are you not sure . Caller i have a front row seat working in the Office Building downtown d. C. And my perspective is a little bit different. I watched the whole downtown ecb lockdown boarded up over the black lives matter and i saw when january 6 habit, it was not january 6 happened, it was not a whole lot that acting other that will happen at the capital and the narrative is different than what you see, what your eyes really see. I know i am rambling by the same time i can only you what my i saw. D. C. Closed down for one year and then january 6 or any other trump events, no problems and this is a black man so i have a different perspective of the situation. Host melissa in las vegas on ir yes line on the yes line. Caller i totally agree with the last caller and i think it should be televised because transparency. Host what do you mean by that . Caller be able to see what happened in the courtroom. Host would you think will happen if people are allowed to get the transparency . What does it offer people . Caller information. Host ok. The npr story looking at this on those who follow and from a scholarly perspective saying televising the trial would theoretically fit one side more than the other is that the courtroom legally and outside politically. Both sides appear to believe they will gain the upper hand. They are very confident the nature of the trout will vindicate their view. For trump cameras could prove irresistible according to singer. I do not know at the absence of him as he was still take the stand but he is confident in his ability to say things and have cameras rolling in a way that will benefit him according to the professor. The story adding that may be exactly what Congressional Democrats are counting on. There like you betting whatever it will come out will be sufficiently bad for trump. That will kill any president ial aspirations. They also quote a professor at university of iowa agreeing that the trump might have little to do with legal considerations. A unicorn case in a lot of ways. That is from the npr story if you want to read it there. There are other stories looking at the idea of televising the election interference trial. Yes or no, or not unsure. On the no line we will hear from jack. Caller good morning. I would say no because everything seems onesided. If you want to televised trump, why dont they try anything that is going on with hunter biden . I would like to see anything of that. The press conferences, white house, they used to be on bally. Now john pierre she cannot do anything correct. Host they still take place but how does all that relate to a criminal trial been receded . Being televise . Caller because it is all political. He is the son of the president. Host im talking about the president himself, not hunter biden. Why say no to the president s trial being televise . Caller trumps . If you televise one, you should televise the other. That is my opinion. Host ok. The Washington Examiner takes a look from public and viewpoints when it look at televising the trial. They write in bipartisan alignment, democratic lawmakers and Donald Trumps legal counsel, public us on how to distract him said they want cameras allowed when trump appears in the federal cases against him. A spokesperson for the Gop Committee said they support cameras in this limited the dictionary second states one a week at the trump was hit with charges over alleged attempts to subvert the election results. The story goes on to state nearly three dozen House Democrats sent a letter calling for the try to be televised and also says while that the letter was addressed to the secretary demonstrated body. David on the yes line on the ideas should the trial against trump on january 6 be televised. He says yes. Good morning. Tell us why. Caller good morning. I think it will be a correct conclusion that you would want to watch see for yourself whether or not it is dismissed correctly. We live in a country that a vast majority of the call in every day on washington journal and play their mental dwarfism and when they did not explain, you can see their addiction the dunning cooker effect. I think you would want to create one guy called in from boston and yes audacity to ask why do people still vote for donald trump because some people are out right. I do not mean to disparage people but it is clear that most people who call in host lets stick with you. What is your personal interest in the airing of the trials . Caller i really want to see what i want to see the Republican People that work in the cabinet, the people who testified against him where republicans. The people who work for testify against him during the investigation panels were people who were in his inner circle. I guess republicans are going to justify and say it did not these were the same people who worked for him. Host ok. From facebook, when it comes to the airing of the trials, yes, if they did not watch for january 6 hearings, especially making the comment that fox did not show it. You can see all of the hearings that took place on cspan. Org during the january 6 investigation. All archived there. If you want to comment on become the case being televise, bill saying provide tv coverage throughout after all according to the trump it is the American People who are on trial. Sharon saying yes, the client was against the American People. It should be televise. You might say yes or no or you are not sure. The apostle social media facebook. Com cspan 3 it and on x cspanwj and you can text us at 2027488003. Martin on the not sure line. Caller i am not sure because we have to look at the situation they had about electing the speaker the house. That was chaos but we all saw that on television. Lets see how all the republicans act. Lets see if they act the same way they did when they had a problem getting the speaker of the house no one wanted in there. What people do not realize is, people did not want donald trump in the beginning. That is why he is not there now. Only 30 of the republicans want him in there now. What about the rest . We can get all the primary votes he wants but he will never win the general election because the same people who do not want them him there then, do not want him now. Host expect the same activity if it is televise . Caller you have to remember, you might not see the republicans act the same way because they would not be in the room but the truth will come out about the publics are speaking against. That is what a lot of republicans are not realizing. The republicans are the one speaking against him. That is their own group of people. But those are his peeps going against him. Host sharon in the pennsylvania. Caller hello. This is my first time calling. I am on the no line because this is only going to be a circus. You can tell from the way the democrats want this televise. The little piece you had earlier represented cohen, he wants this televise because it is always against newsmax max. Anything that is conservative. Anything that is republican. The hate is terrible in the country and it only gets worse. All the time. That one man who called in that called people dwarfism and all this other things, you know, it is ridiculous. People do not get along and they will not until people keep their mouths shut. This have been a federal role not to have cameras in the court room. And it should stay that way. Why do they always want to change the rules . Host judicial conference an act of congress would be another. Federal rules prohibit cameras for making the presence in the trial. Some are trying to push back against that. Would you like to see the trial televise . Picket lines a call. Pick a line to call that best represents you. This is gary wisner from facebook saying, no. Liberals will make a circus. James saying it would be a circus. Another o. J. Simpson fiasco but i would love to see it. Adding the want to scale it will be live and in color referencing the other potential indictment trump basis when it comes activity in atlanta. That is in the ajc saying the Fulton County District Attorney will begin presenting her case to a grand jury early next week. The time i came into sharper focus saturday when former Lieutenant Governor and independent journalists simply confirmed they will receive notification that they receive notification they will testify tuesday. Raising the likelihood of public should know whether jewelers given indictments against former president and others tuesday evening. A spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. That is in the Atlanta Journalconstitution this morning. If the proceeding should be televise. Stacy, says yes. Good morning. Caller good morning. I do believe the trial should be published. I think the only way for this country to move forward and start to heal is for the truth to come out in a way that it starts to be understood and believed by the people in the country who do not seem to believe the truth. Host gregg is in pennsylvania only no line. Caller i think it will be like the itll be a onesided hearing. Adam schiff whos of the collision in plain sight, none of these guys are held accountable. Not one. It is pathetic the crap they put this man through for trying to fix things they broke. Lab into the 51 intelligent ages on the laptop . Have they been held accountable . No one is above the law but apparently all of them are. Every time indictment comes out, some bank records, shell companies, the bidens. I kind of do want to see it so they can show all the videos from january 6 they hide from the American Public because of democracy. It is ridiculous. We need truth. Host carol in florida text us the opinion and says audio only. This forces people to listen. Darlene from facebook saying that my discouraged witnesses to testify. Your face telecast across the road testifying against the thug she describes trump as. Might not be the best idea for the witnesses. Those are two comments on facebook. And you can post on x. When the people making the case for the televising of the trial on lawyer. He was on the show last sunday and asked about the idea and here is part of the response he gave. [video clip] would you be ok with the televise trial . It will have to go through rule changes, but let the American People see every minute of it and decide for themselves . I personally would love to see that. Im convinced the Biden Administration did not want the American People to see the truth. They acted on it by filing this protective order which is an effort to keep Important Information about the case from the press. Im shocked all the networks have not lined up and file pleadings already, objecting to this broad attempt to keep information away from the American People during the election season. The American People have the right to know. Biden does not want that to happen. Host there is trumps lawyer who comes the idea of televising the january 6 trial. From arizona on the not shoreline, this is bradley. Hi. Caller hi. I do not think they need to televise it. Host expand on that. Why would you consider it a smear if it is criminal proceeding . Caller it seems my cited against donald trump. Onesided against donald trump. Host even if it is a criminal trial with prosecution and defense involved . Caller as far as i can see, there is dishonesty on one side against donald trump. Host ok. Someone sending out a post on twitter, this is hawk, letting the public here it live rather than seated with standard still shots, maybe be a good middle ground. Transparency needed to help determine the true. That is where you can post if you want to do that. Laura in california on the yes line. Hi. Caller hi. Thank you for let me call. I think it should be recorded. Not televise but recorded and played publicly. I believe donald trump is a crook. He broke the law. He should be held accountable. No one is above the law. Host restate recorded, you mean as i live then air it later . What is the difference between watching it live . Caller something but the visuals of the witnesses, their faces are not plastered on their. The jurors so they do not know what their faces look like. Host ok. Caller thank you. Host there is laura. In Washington Post, a comet from a law professor in georgetown university, you can find his peace in the Washington Post. This the case he makes saying some beer televising saying some fear televising trials will create a circus atmosphere reminded a quorum of the court but the far greater risk is this at the trial is done out of the public eye, people which will question the doom of the court and the decisions. The legitimacy of the court and the dishes. If our president is alleged to have tried to launch a coup to keep himself in power and to have use his powers as president to do so. Read more they are at the Washington Posts online. Randy on the in wisconsin. Randy, good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. I think his name is jack, the prosecutor. Host jack smith. Caller just in case, i believe trump has the right to First Amendment freespeech. Yes, he loses. Jack if he loses this case, get ready u. S. Democrats will burn down every democratic city on their childish acts. Host that is the sole reason you would not want to see it televise . Caller it is a farce in the first place. They televise it, fine. The more you can keep the public in the dark and let them write the editorials and people want to read it, let them read on it. Host wouldnt televising open the process of transparency . Caller transparency is fine. People want to learn, read let them read it in the papers which are mostly democratic papers anyway. Host why not air it . Caller i guess you can wear it but air it but jack is not going to win. Host richard on the yes line. Caller i believe it should be televise. All we have heard is anything bad for trump. Utah is a good republican state. We are marlins more mess and we believe in truth is speaking the truth and have heard nothing but dirt about sean. About trump. I believe the dirt the democrats have been throwing at him is nonsense. I think if you show the American People the truth, you can see what they are. I used to be democrat. Until i see the truth. If you televise this and let the people see themselves and make up their own mind, then we will have the truth. The truth will set us free. Since democrats got in the country has gone down hill. In utah gases back up to 4. 90 a gallon and democrats are saying yes, it is 3. 50, no it is not. Host the savior off of x, saying i have mixed feelings about the slave you were off of x saying i have mixed feelings about this. He as they can get violent. This is miriam off of facebook saying i would rather not if it is just going to be theater. I would rather note justice is assured and just like anyone else get on so we can move on. Those are arguments you may share as well there. Tom on the not shoreline. Caller im in a difficult spot. Im a federal employee and you want the best for the country. It is why i have done Public Service believe in it. Levi had a difficult time the minute trump got in. He hung up the phone on the Prime Minister of australia. We spent time working with our colleagues in australia to make sure they understood everything is ok. We had to do that because we cannot see everything around the globe. We have technology that allows us to do that but they have to be willing to do it. When the president of the United States has up the phone of the prime minster of australia they start asking why we ask refriends with you instead of china. It sounds trivial but it is not. Host how does it relate to televising the trial . Caller the more i think about it, think there is a massive hypnosis with trump. I think he is a master of communications that stigmatize hypnotize the people who have no clue on what is going on in the world. I want him up there and want evidence laid out and i think the more clue on what is going n the i listen to people i change my mind, i wanted all televise. I have worked in television. The minute you put a camera on the, people change. Things change. Look at the oj trial, the judge turns into this egomaniac collecting our glasses and the whole think. That might not have happened if it had not been televise. With trump, think it has to be televise because republicans have to see people coming up against him, the republicans come look at the hearings that were chaired by liz cheney. There is were all republicans who testified. There are not democrats. I think Republican Party avalos good friends because of donald trump. Avalos good friends because of donald trump. Host gordon on the not shoreline. Caller good morning. This is my first time calling so i am a little nervous but i listen to people talk from their emotions and not their head and im not going to say which side im talking about but theres a book i read and there is a statement that says stupidity is a stronger force than intelligence. That is amazing sometimes and sometimes it is frightening that is amusing sometimes and sometimes it is frightening. Host what does it mean for the trial . Caller im hoping the truth will come out and people will hear the truth but i hear people, with all the evidence that is out there are not out there, picking one side or the other, and they will not change. It is disturbing. Im hoping the truth will win out because righteousness will win. Host lawrence on the no line. Caller how are you today . Appreciate you listening to me. I originally felt that it should be televise because it would give fact but as ive thought about it i think itd be dangerous for witnesses and because they would not want to come forward to give information. Because they would fear problems. Too many people knowing who they are. I think it will be dangerous for them. Host similar sentiments expressed by Nick Ackerman in a recent oped piece in New York Times making a similar case saying no matter how experienced the judge is controlling the courtroom, trump could do gestures to the broadcast this way Public Opinion and in the process under my the trial. Concerns about witness intimidation and safety exnt to potential tv coverage. Broadcasting trials are sometimes acceptable but in this instance because of concerns about prosecuting protecting witnesses, their critical elements of understanding with his credibility and impact on a jury. Hehe was also on msnbc talking about this oped and elaborating further on this idea of not televising the trial. [video clip] this is not quite a mob trial. No, but people who support him and the fact that hes a court leader and are people out there that will do almost anything, take the slightest little worries he says and act on them, this was not the first instinct. We had a shooter that was in cincinnati outside the Fbi Field Office looking to shoot the fbi agents after a search warrant was executed on maralago. That is true. I think the real danger here is who would want to be on the witness stand that would be televise to the entire world where they will suddenly become a major target of these people. Host 15 minutes or so left on this question of when it comes to the january 6 election interference trial or trump, when it begins, should be trial be televise for the public. If you say yes, 2027488000. If you say no, 2027488001. If youre not sure, 2027488002. You can text us at 2027488003. Artists in florida on the es line, you are next. Caller yes, good morning. The trial should be televise. So both sides and choirs can hear what the gospel is without the inflections and the dodging. Actually hear what happened. It probably will not change anyones mind other than independence of people who actually listen to what they are seeing and hearing. For that reason, it should be televise. Host you probably heard to comment saying if you televise it, itll probably change the nature of the trial itself, some croissants it will become a skeptical. Caller malcolm at his trial. It will be technical. It will be yes and no and i do not know and i plead the fifth. It will not be able to dance and lollygag. It will not be permitted. The judge is that strong i think. He will not be able to play the games and play cheerleader and lie because you are in court now and you are under others. What you have to do is tell the truth. Or there will be consequences for that. You cannot go with what you perceive to be reality. It is reality. Alternative facts. It is what it is. Host lets turn to jerry in nevada on the not sure line. Hi. Caller good morning. Im not sure this trial should go forward to be honest with you. My concerns are more about decriminalization of political debate. The idea putting your political pundit on trial or going to joe it makes it a third world country now. Free debate come open debate, let them speak and let them talk and say whatever they think. People will vote on what they say. I have trouble with the idea on trial for thoughts and put them in jail. It is unamerican. Host ronald on the yes line in north carolina. Caller hey, good morning. They should have it televise. The way the Democratic Party has donald trump. Blackmail and everything to him, like a witch hunt or worse. The need to televise it to see the truth and will not any sneaking going on in the background. Our government has been weaponize. Law enforcement and law agencies. That is what i think. Host we have a show you video from President Trumps visit in i went to the state fair they are talking to people and his supporters and one of the topics that came up during the conversation was be possible fourth indictment coming down out of georgia you heard about earlier. His comments on that and overall what it does for his chances to become president. [video clip] is any chance you take a plea deal . In georgia . We did nothing wrong. That is a wiseguy question. We did not take plea deals because i did nothing wrong. It is called election interference. You know what that is . This is joe biden. He cannot win the election by himself. He cannot win the election based on votes so they got the attorney general to do it and then you see how stupid they . Yesterday with the appointment of the special counsel. What a crazy thing that was and it is being laughed at all over the world. We have a country that is in serious trouble. We have a country in major decline. We are going to straighten it out. This group and a lot of people like this group, we are going to straighten it out and make America Great again. Wiseguy. Thank you very much. Host several republicans, Democratic Candidates they are giving their thoughts on various matters of policy. If you go to our website cspan. Org, some of these candidates appear to sit down in interviews with governor kim reynolds on various issues. Some of them at the political soapbox stand. All of those taken in by cspan and you can see the iowa state fair as it is a part of 2020 for process at our website cspan. Org. On the yes line, run it on the yes line. Caller yes, i spoke and i think it is a witchhunt. Our nation has been weaponize. All the big places been weaponize against rump and trump. It is not right. There weaponizing our nation. Host daniel in new york on the not sure line. Caller hello, pedro. Thank you for letting me talk. I believe it is in the judges court at this time. The reason why i say that is because they can suppress evidence. If they suppress evidence like they did during the january 6 trial, the sherman going to the Senate Chambers but he was actually escorted in by the Senate Security people who literally opened the door for him. If you look at the oj trial, o. J. Simpson, criminal trial, he was found guilty. The civil trial he was found innocent. The criminal trial he was guilty because they suppress so much evidence. If you did not watch tucker carlson, you would know that in the Senate Chambers the security actually held the doors open for him. Host mary on the no line in new york. Hello . Mary, sorry about that but as we tell the viewers, when you get on the line and youre ready to speak, turned on your television because the tendency will be to listen to the television and theres a delay so when it gets to you theres a delay on our side. Apologies for that. Juanita on the yes line, pennsylvania. Caller good morning. Yes, i believe the trial should be televise. I do not want anyone telling me what happen at the trial because everything get so manipulated that you do not know what the truth is. We need to see it for ourselves. Host that is juanita in pennsylvania. Joining the conversation to the idea of trump january 6 trial when it starts some point in the future, should the trial be televise. If you say yes, 2027488000. If you say no, 2027488001. If you are not sure, 2027488002. You can text us at 2027488003. Another person who would be interested in seeing the trial televise is michael, former judge and advisor to former Vice President mike pence mcginty case for the trial to be aired in a recent interview with the Washington Post. [video clip] since we are in the realm of the unprecedented in the post earlier this week made the argument that United States versus donald j. Trump should be televise. You have a view on that . Neil is a giant in the law today. I am very proud to say he is a dear friend. The moment i read the oped i sent neil a note that said something to the effect that this is a historic essay in the Washington Post so to your question this is a weighty question in federal court system but i do believe in this one instance in all of American History that this trial should be televise or otherwise accessible to the American People. Host that is michael lu take mcginty versus to the recent oped in the Washington Post by the trump trial should be televise. You can find it Washington Post. Com. Keep in texas on the not sure line. Caller good morning. I do not think it will make a difference. In this case, they will give him more to speak about which i think we have to understand something about donald trump. Every time he opens his mouth, it causes some kind of conflict or hazard. I think we need to understand that i heard one caller call in and i think he is all utah and wanted to know why or why people are afraid of trump. Trump is a very dangerous individual. You have to understand. People had to more research on trump. Go back and you are going to see event when he took over his fathers business host lets stick to the trial and why youre not sure it should be televise. Caller i think it will give them more fuel. If you want trump to go away, if you want him to just go away, then remove the coverage. I do not think it will happen with immediate because with the Media Coverage because trump creates, i do not know, this advantage with the news media. He creates a storm that people want to see. But i think itll be a disadvantage to have that trial televise. Host this is diane from our Facebook Page saying i think it should be televise. I live in minneapolis and watch the televise trial for george floyd. Give us information that was not known before and a sense of how the system works. I heard some say they are worried the hurors can be in danger, take note from the minneapolis trial, they never showed the jury on tv. Facebook. Com cspan if you want to make comments there. Angel is next in oklahoma on the yes line. Caller yes, i think it really should be televise. I watched the trial of the lawyer who killed his wife and son. The southern part of our country. It should be televise from the start to the and. It shows what our government has and what the government will not allow to be shown. The jury can make up their mind and the whole world will not wipe the jury made up their mind the way they did. The whole world will know why the jury made up their mind the way they did. Should be televise all over the world. Host there is no court date set. No idea if it will take place but thank you for the comments. S there in san antonio, texas on the not sure line. Caller good morning. Originally a no only because of the safety of the testifying those testifying but if the cameras can not show their faces and with the oj trial, i do not think they showed the jury, with george floyd but people should realize the democrats are not a punishing donald trump. It is the laws there are punishing donald trump read democrats did not write them. The legislature wrote of the law and that is why he is being tried like anybody else who breaks the law that been used to be years needs to go to trial. That is all i have. Host on the know line from georgia, we hear from connie. Hello. Caller hi. Yes, im afraid for the witnesses and the jury. But we can remember georgia does not have a law that will not let them televise the Court Proceedings. So, wed could see the same trial coming from georgia. Caller host as far as the no on the federal trial for january 6 . Caller it is too dangerous. Im afraid for the people who are testifying and i am afraid for the jury. Host one more call and this will be from mary in new york on the yes line. Hello. Caller yes, good morning. I say yes to have it televise. Because of that we should that we saw the hearing dated and majority the hearing dated and the majority of the people who is bring it forth as the republicans. I do not understand. I heard comments about truth is truth. If someone is being accused of a particular, i do not see what is the problem. Why dont you want to someone to see . Youre putting your hand on the old and you are going to get your side on what is truth and what is not. I think theyll be a better way to do it and that way everyone who wants to be supportive of trump, that is fine, but what is it that he does not want to see to stand and give his version of the truth. I think it should be televise. If not, audio. Host ok. Mary finishing off this hour of calls. Think of all of you participating. Two guests at the join us and we will hear from avik roy with the foundation for research on equal opportunity. On the effort of theirs with and come to the future of conservatism. We talked to him about that next. Later on the Progressive Movement, grass level with Leo Greenberg the cofounder of the Group Indivisible. Those conversations coming up on washington journal. This week, cspan brings you campaign 2020 for coverage from the iowa state fair. Watch chats with republican president ial candidates hosted by kim reynolds. Here from north dakota governor and the miami mayor. Tuesday night, former Vice President mike pence. Wednesday night, the entrepreneur, then nikki haley. Then, ron desantis. From the iowa state fair, this week at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan and online at cspan. Org. Tonight on q a, james rosen talks about the first of his twopart biography of the Late Supreme Court associate Justice Scalia. I think schoolyard recoiled from the excesses, the unrest, the ticking of the law into their own hands and all of that shaped him in ways that made him a better judge and a better justice. You can understand how he got to be Justice Scalia without understanding the elements of his academic career. James rosen tonight 00 on q and a. You can listen to it and all of our podcasts on the free. Free app. Cspan is your front row seat to the president ial election. Watch our coverage of candidates with announcements, meet and greets, speeches and events to make up your own mind. Campaign 2024 on cspan networks , cspan now or anytime online at cspan. Org. Cspan, your unfiltered view of politics. Washington journal continues. Host joining us from las vegas is avik roy from the foundation on research for equal opportunity. Remind people about what you are doing as far as the foundation itself and what it does and how it is funded. Guest the foundation for research on equal opportunity is a nonprofit think tank that i founded with some friends and colleagues in 2016. We are headquartered in austin, texas with offices in washington, d. C. We try to bring republicans and democrats together to solve some of the biggest challenges. We face a rising costofliving, and equality of opportunity. Our thesis is that there are ways to bring progressives and conservatives together that a lot of social outcomes we all want. We will and america where everyone has a fair shot at success that traditionally conservative policies like free markets and individual liberty and these things can be marshaled to the challenges lower in middle income americans face. We require our scholars to meet two tests, it needs to involve a net expansion of liberty or Economic Freedom and the second test as it needs to meaningfully improve the lives of american incomes. We focus on how to mitigate or reduce inequality of opportunity using the tool of individual liberty and Economic Freedom. In terms of funding, we are a standard nonprofit. We welcome donations from anyone who wishes to support. Donors are typically philanthropists who like to give to nonprofits. Host you talked about the principles as far as organization is concerned. Some you shared recently, he returned to make something called freedom conservatism. What is and how does it differ from conservatism as we know it . Guest the difference between freos mission we describe ourselves as a liberal organization. What does that mean . We are trying to appeal to the old sense of the term liberal of people used in the 18th and 19th century in which liberalism meant maximum individual freedom , toleration of differences whether it is religious or political. It means a constitutional system in which any individual does not have absolute power, power is distributed between a congress and legislature and between federal governments and states. And scientific knowledge, that is something important, the impure sense of we will keep questioning and challenging established wisdom to make progress. That is what we believe in institutionally. The freedom conservatism effort which i am a part of it is not technically an institutional effort, but several leaders are involved. It is an effort to bring together the group of people who would call himself liberals but in our heartland when people think of the term liberal, they think of the left. That is how the term is often used. There are certain things on the left that are liberal in the old sense of the term, but not all. There are conservatives that are considered classically liberal. Since donald trump arrived on the scene in president ial politics, particularly after winning in 2016, there has been an effort to back the success in the election with an intellectual framework called nationalism. Nationalism is an old philosophy , its been around for a long time. Nationalists believe individual freedom and distribution of power are not that important. What is most important are the interests of the nation, they believe freedom should be abridged or suppressed in order to achieve. Whereas Classical Liberals might believe in a system in which immigration is a part of the American Experience and story, nationalists tend to be skeptical of a legal and ilLegal Immigration. Freetrade is another example where nationalists are opposed to freetrade, they believe we should restrict the ability of other people to sell goods in the United States. Classical liberals tend to believe in free trade, that it benefits america in the world. Another example is foreign policy, they believe there is a role for American Leadership in the world where nationalists argue we should not be involved in International Affairs and should focus more on the problems we face domestically. The american nationalist movement, i would argue and i think many signatories would argue is driven by a deep concern for america being a different country today because it is more ethnically and racially diverse that it was 50 or 60 years ago. We saw this trend, it used to be just identified with trumps most passionate supporters. Overtime what we see as it is not just trump. A number of other candidates are echoing some of these, other people running for state legislature are echoing these themes. A lot of people coming out of college who think nationalism equals conservatism have subscribed to these views. A lot of us who are old Classical Liberals, we are concerned that by us sitting by and watching this happen a lot of young people were not aware of this older political tradition that animated what we used to think of as the american idea. Host if you want to ask question 202 7488001 for republicans, 202 7488000 for democrats and 202 7488002 for independents. You can text at 202 7488003. Some of the principles include the concept of liberty, the pursuit of happiness, nation of laws. It goes on. As far as signatories, who is along for the ride . Are these common names and how does that define what you do as far as who you align yourself with . Guest some of the names are wellknown and some are maybe not wellknown to the typical viewer. We were trying to attract people who are involved in political movements in some ways, they are working or leaving think tanks, maybe they are journalists, maybe they are people who used to work in politics or elected positions to be consistent with nonprofit principles, we said let us not engage the active politician. This is not about endorsing candidates. It is about people who want to shape broader and deeper currents in american policy. The reason we ended up with the name freedom conservatism is because the main fight or the main debate is between the people who call themselves National Conservatives and the older political tradition or the tradition of the 20th century in american politics where conservatism stood for Classical Liberal principles, individual liberty and Economic Freedom. So the name, some of the people in the group who developed the statement believe and we believe that allowed us to say we are trying to conserve the american tradition that goes back to the declaration of independence, a tradition of individual liberty. Something that was not partisan until recently. Host in researching this, the history of conservatism, one of the names familiar is William Buckley. His philosophy more aligned with yours or is it differing from what you see today . Guest very aligned. It is interesting to think about, i remember being a kid watching William Buckley on cspan. He was a regular in the early days in expressing these ideas. The key thing is what he was articulating is this idea that individual liberty and the rights we are guaranteed by the constitution are important to conserve. One of the things about the term conservatism, what are we trying to conserve . What is it about the old ways . The things that we are trying to conserve our liberal ideas, the liberal tradition of america as a place where people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs could come together in one country. That was the core idea that made america unique. We used to believe that is the thing that made us americans. You could come here from anywhere. What made us americans was the sense we believed in this idea we could live together in one country and that is the thing nationalists oppose. They say we do not like the idea of people with diverse beliefs being in one country. We want everyone to have the same beliefs and background. Host let us start with james in ohio, you are on. Good morning. Caller i am seeing where he is going, but i have had the feeling that of recent that the gop have no desire for black members. They seem to be antiblack and it is hard if you look at black people, almost all our conservative people because we have to to survive. But the conservatives have abandoned us. I would like for him to tell me where we fit in. Guest i appreciate the question, this is an important element of the freedom conservatism effort. We were talking about bill buckley earlier who is thought of as the founder of the 20th century american conservative movement. I admire him a lot, but there was one particular issue in which he was catastrophically wrong in the 50s and 60s, that was civil rights. He was opposed to the Civil Rights Act, he was very skeptical. He, like a lot of his cohort, believed civil rights legislation involved too much federal intervention in the affairs of states and private businesses. That is something where we feel the opposite. We feel that civil rights was incredibly important to expand freedom for people who had been denied it under slavery and jim crow. And of the things we make a point of in the statement of principles, which you can read online, is to make this very point. We talk about Martin Luther kings statement, there was the declaration of independence and the constitution as promissory notes, return to sender, the check was not cashed when able to be cashed until the Civil Rights Act or thereafter. We make a point of saying that is the one area of 20th century conservatism we adamantly disagree with and want to take a break from. Even more importantly, there has been persistent inequality of opportunity for descendants of victims of slavery and segregation. It is important for people in our movement to put our brains towards saying look, it is not enough to say in law you cannot discriminate against people on the base of race or national origin. It is important for us to think hard about the inequality of opportunity that persists today, particularly for the defendants and victims of slavery and segregation. That is an important part of what we are trying to do, break from the history of the Republican Party after 1964 has not been as animated by these issues as it was previously. The party under lincoln, trade of slaves, attracted a majority of votes for most of the history of the 19th and 20th century. It is recently where the relationship has been severed. That is to the detriment of all of us. We should have both parties fighting for the black vote. Host from kentucky, republican line. Hello. Caller good morning. I heard you mention donald trump earlier, dont you just love his hair . You look so much younger. You were talking about nationalism. Isnt that where we are all in the same group and yours is mine and i can control voting what you have . Also just like your corporation you say you are, all churches are 501 c 3 s, the government expects them to pay. Your nationalist movements is women if anybody gets a tax break, someone else has to pay. Women got a tax break from abortion, so who has to pay for it . The men and the babies that die, more than anyone. You have such a negative response on so many things you are talking about. I could talk about it forever, i guess. Host what do you want to ask specifically . Caller nationalism says we take care of everyone, no one out there has they cannot opt out of any of these programs now. Host if you want to start there, go ahead. Guest i will mention one point about trump specifically, donald trump, when he became president , he was not a clear nationalists. He was on some issues, very skeptical of freetrade, very hostile to ilLegal Immigration. But he was pro ilLegal Immigration, he proposed an Immigration Reform plan that would do a lot to improve and strengthen Legal Immigration in the country to attract the best and brightest. He nominated a lot of justices to the Supreme Court and federal judiciary that were aligned with more traditional profreedom principles. He signed into law a tax reform that very much aligned with freemarket principles in many ways. He had nationalist elements to his presidency, but he also had freedom conservatism elements. We have about 200 signatories to the freedom conservatism statement and there are several who served in the Trump Administration and several who were never trumpeters who were adamantly opposed. A lot of what we are trying to do with the document and effort is say this is not so much about donald trump the man or what you believe and whether she should be the nominee. This is the broader current of what conservatism should stand for in america. Our argument as it should stand for Classical Liberal principles. Freedom is important. What has made America Great and what has made america different and special compared to other countries is we understand the thing that made america successful is trusting ordinary people to make their own decisions. It is through that ingenuity and trusting people that have led to the incredible innovation we have all benefited from. Host you talked about the former president , several times during his speeches he takes shots at Republican Leaders. I want you to listen to a portion of what he had to say about specific Republican Leaders than get your response. [video clip] with you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers. They are people that do not get it. In some cases, they get it for their wallets. We cannot let that happen. We will drive out the globalists, cast out the communists. We will throw off the Political Class that hates our country, they actually hate our country. No walls, no borders come about election, voter id. We will beat the democrats, route to fake news media, expose and appropriately deal with the rhinos. We will evict joe biden from the white house. We will liberate america from these villains and scoundrels once and for all. When we started this journey, a journey like there has never been before, theres never been anything like this. We had a Republican Party that was ruled by phreaks, globalists , open border zealots and fools. But we are never going back to that party. Host there is a characterization from the former president , where do you fall on that . Guest two of those three gentlemen he mentioned in the end are signatories to the freedom conservative statement. They were not involved in designing it, but once we put online, we said anyone who wants to sign who is active in the movement will be welcome. Jeb bush reached out and said he would love to sign on. You could say we are connected to the comments there. We would argue that what we represent is a consensus aligned with at least some of the themes donald trump claims to support. While there are some people who are signatories to the freedom conservative statement who believe as a matter of freedom the Free Movement of people is an important part of freedom, most of us would say we need to distinguish between legal and ilLegal Immigration. Every country has a right to determine who gets to work and live in the country. Legal immigration has been an enormous strength for the United States. Elon musk was an immigrant to the United States, the guy who built intel was a refugee from a nazi and soviet occupation of hungary when he came here and built one of the greatest companies in america. We are a country that has always benefited from Legal Immigration and the privity the creativity they bring. Americas leadership of the world is important not just to the world, but america. The fact we can run a 30 trillion federal debt, we are only able to do that because of American Leadership around the world. The american dollar is the worlds reserve currency. That relates to American Leadership. America is the second largest exporter in the world. China has become the leading exporter, but right behind them is the u. S. We export 3 trillion a year of goods and services. We make airplanes, all sorts of things that the world buys from us. You close off the road to america, that hurts the very workers that donald trump claims to want to support. If you care about bluecollar america and rural america, the prosperity of those communities and individuals depends on the ability of america to be part of the World Economy and retain leadership around the world. Host chris in florida, independent. Caller midpoint is for future of the gop and conservativism, there needs to be better messaging and communication. What has been happening this is not a new thing any blemish on the Democratic Party, they turn around and say it was the republicans. They blame jim crow on the republicans, that is a lie. There was a switch in the 70s were every good republican became a democrat and every bad democrat became a republican, that is a lie. Martin luther king was a republican. Republicans do not message properly, democrats lie and republicans do not call them out. Most people if you ask them in the street will think that lincoln was a democrat. You cannot trust the media because that is all they do all day long. Republicans do not call these lies and show what the truth is. Anytime someone makes a statement that is totally off base, it should be called out immediately and stopped. Reagan was one of the best president s, Everybody Loves reagan. At the time, they hated him. He was old, senile, robot. They did nothing but tear him down every chance they got. It was only after he was out of office that they looked back at his accomplishments and said he was a great president. Guest every Political Party is capable of misrepresenting the motives and positions of the other party, that is part of politics. It is not entirely unfair to say the parties switched sides on civil rights in the 60s, that did happen. You had the Republican Party of lincoln, than over time, that started to change. The particular Tipping Point was the 1964 president ial election when Barry Goldwater he was adamantly against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because he felt it was a federal intrusion to the affairs of private businesses that he felt the federal government shouldnt be telling private restaurants or hotels what their practice should be in terms of discriminating on the basis of race. That was a catastrophic and tragic mistake. Bill buckley was on the wrong side of those debates as well. There were many people in the Civil Rights Movement who were republicans because of that legacy. The one i often talk about is jackie robinson, the baseball player who broke the color line in major league baseball. He was a republican activist, he campaigned heavily for Richard Nixon in 1960 and for Nelson Rockefeller in the 64 election. He went after the 1960 four Republican Convention when goldwater defeated rockefeller who was in favor of the Civil Rights Act. A lot of other africanamerican civil rights leaders did as well, that was tragic. There was a bit of a change in the posture of the republican and democratic parties in that era and that is one of the things that we who signed this statement of principles are trying to fix. It is not just a matter of messaging. The Vice President ial nominee in 96 used to say people will not take care of you i cannot member the exact quote. People will not care what you think until they think you care. It is not just a matter of messaging, it is a matter of emphasis. We need to prioritize and emphasize that we are focused on this persistence of inequality and opportunity for previous victims of slavery and segregation and we want to do something about it. Education reform, school choice, allowing people in previously segregated communities to not just go to the school assigned to them by where they live, but choose among the best schools that their region offers. That is something conservatives have stood for for a long time, profreedom idea about equality of opportunity. Host joseph in new york, democrats line. Go ahead go ahead and turned on your television, please. Caller ok. As many partners as possible was allowed to run a candidate for governor and Lieutenant Governor. If they get 50,000 votes or more , than they are a legally recognized Political Party in new york state. New york state has democrat, working families, republican, conservative. These are the four legally recognized Political Parties in new york state. Every state does it differently. Guest new york is a very interesting system. Bill buckley was involved in creating the conservative party of new york and his brother James Buckley was a senator from new york stay under the conservative party batter. He was involved in creating that system. I personally am a big believer in the value of political competition. There are a number of interesting ideas that have emerged. For those of us who are not on the extreme side of the left or right, in primaries, the most passionate who vote in primaries and the rest of us do not have a choice in who gets who the choices are for general election. There are a number of talented people working on trying to reform that so those of us who are more in the middle or centerright or centerleft have our voices heard in general elections. That is one of the defects of the electoral system, we disenfranchise the middle 80 of the country in the way we choose who general election candidates are. The people in office today because of the system in place, they like you system because they worked hard to get elected under that system, so there is opposition. One of the things that people who care about politics can do is encourage their elected officials to support an improved system of competition for elected leaders. Host when you were talking about those who take a more nationalist approach, this could be a generational thing. Who is speaking to the younger voter who represents your point of view . Guest that is a great question and an important reason why we started the effort. We want to show young people, if you are just graduating from college, 21 and 22 years old, when donald trump went down the golden escalator in 2015, you were 14. Hopefully you are not watching cspan or even paying attention to politics. For people who are younger, you have no experience with a different kind of politics than this toxic combative approach we have today where politicians are not trying to unify the country as much, at least on the right that is a big problem. We want to show that is not the only option we have. When it comes to embracing america is a diverse country, where we support the rights of all people including those we disagree with, that is something this tradition of freedom conservatism embraces. You can be a progressive, you can be a liberal in the 20th century since of the term. It is important for people who think of himself as right and center to know that is a tradition they can align themselves with and they do not need a nationalist approach to be somebody who supports free markets and individual liberty. We are doing more to share this point of view with younger people, speak at college campuses, bring young staffers working on the campaign to engage in all the kinds of messaging people do today. So people know the effort exists. I think younger people in general today, they embrace this idea. If you talk to millennials, they believe in inclusion and Legal Immigration. They want a country in which we judge people by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. These are things that we embrace in nationalist are actively opposed to. The majority of the rising generations are with us. Host our conversation today with avik roy, this is paul on the republican line. Caller good morning. I think our immediate attention should be to get the Current Administration voted out. They do not seem to represent the taxpayers. We are leading to possibly socialism it seems or communism at worst. I think the main goal we should be getting all over the country is for republicans to push for mail in voting. We must find our way to victory in 2024. Your thoughts. Guest i am i do not look at it as with such a partisan lens. There are things that Biden Administration is doing that you can applaud and there are things that republicans do that i disagree with. Whichever party is in power, whichever elected official it is , how aligned are they with the ideas . As the leader of a nonpartisan think tank, we commit to working with democrats and republicans where we find alignment on a specific issue. Sometimes that is with democrats and sometimes it is with republicans. If trump is the nominee in 2024 and defeats biden, i would say the same thing. There will be issues were someone like myself were other signatories will be aligned with President Trump on some issues and maybe not aligned on other issues. I do not look at it exactly in that way. Certainly respect that many other people see things purely from the standpoint of i am a republican or democrat and my team has to win. For america to succeed, we have to remember and recall things with you are republican or democrat, we all agreed upon. When we were young, there was a sense republicans and democrats disagree on some issues but united on what america was as a country. The criticism you often heard in the 90s was the Republican Party in Democratic Party are too similar, there was too much overlap. That is what you heard a lot of people say. I do not think people are saying that as much today. There is too much partisanship and polarization. It was a better country when we had that shared sense of what america stood for. Host tom from new york, independent line. Caller good morning. I would like for the gentleman to give to concrete examples of where his Nonprofit Agency has implemented a program and give as much specifics as possible. Not just signatories, where you have implemented programs that you can specify with as much specificity as possible. Guest we are not the government, we are not politicians. We are not in charge of implementing programs. What we do as a think tank, we publish all bids, we testify before congress, we brief members of congress and leaders in the white house and executive branch and other leaders at the state and local level to express to them here ideas from reform that if you feel are aligned with your values, you can implement. I can give you examples of things we have worked on that are reflected in policies today. One is the Prescription Drug reform in the inflation reduction act. The importance of Getting Health Care costs down, the rising cost of health care is a challenge for many americans. A lot of the ideas we produced are more aligned with democrats and republicans. Democrats have been more concerned about the high price of Prescription Drugs whereas republicans have said if we try to crack down on the price of drugs, vector harm innovation. We made the argument there are ways to preserve the innovative elements of the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, but also reduce what seniors and taxpayers have to pay for those drugs. We work with both parties. Especially with democrats in congress to ensure Prescription Drug provisions in the inflation would look that allows medicare to negotiate, we work with democrats to design those policies. Another thing we worked on his Veterans Health care. In the case of veterans, theres been a lot of scandals around veteran access to health care. We worked with democrats and republicans to try to improve the options veterans have to have more choice in the health care they have. Another example is education saving accounts. One of our scholars was the person who in 2005 came up with the idea the money we spend on k12 education, what if we gave parents the option to take the money and educate their children in a way they see fit, whether that is going to a Different School or using other resources. Let. Its decide how to best use the educational upper truth we tried to fund Educational Opportunities we tried to fund. Arizona, iowa, arizona florida. Other states have a model were any family can take the money being spent on the k12 education of their children and deployed in the way they see fit. We see that as an incredible advance, particularly for low income residents and people in previously segregated communities who now have opportunities they did not have before. Host christian from florida, democrats line. Caller i wanted to say that the country can never forgive the republican gop for the southern strategy. They spent years condoning racism. They have abused the least educated and condoning racism. This will never ever push us forward. The Republican Party, even though they admitted and tried to be contrite about the southern strategy, have not really done it. They still practice, they have the freedom caucus. They truly are the opposite goal in our life. Particularly if you consider the quality of life World Rankings and where we are and how that simple ugly eire of our past in terms of racism has held us back. It is totally due to the gop. Guest im going to side with the earlier caller, never is a long time. Its important to remember the original southern strategy was the strategy of democrats who long for the confederacy. The old adage of what is a blue dog democrat yellow dog democrat in those days, i will vote for a yellow dog rather than a republican. In the old days lincoln was a republican. It was considered treasonous in the south if you were white to be for the Republican Party. It was only blacks for the Republican Party. The Democratic Party was the party of the kkk. That started to change after. Goldwaters mistake of 1964. The original southern strategy was the Democratic Party. It was the party of northern liberals and southern confederates. Republicans have been out of power for a long time. They were frustrated. How do we break through this lock on the Electoral College in congress that democrats have created by having this alliance of southern democrats in northern progressive . Some republican said the way we are going to breakthroughs attract southern democrats and make them republican. That was a tragic choice. The whole point of the southern strategy was to take people who were democrats and convert them to republicans. I hope and i think a lot of americans hope we can move past that tragic history and have a country where we all believe in equal opportunity. Host how do you gauge success in your efforts when it comes to the freedom conservative effort . Guest there are a lot of wage ways to gauge success. I could not be more thrilled by the caliber and quantity and quality of the people who have signed onto this statement. A lot of people have been talking about in the president ial campaign, as well. We have to continue to facilitate and support the people who express freedom conservatism, who commit to the mission we express in addressing inequality of opportunity, tackling the rising federal debt and costofliving and making sure more americans understand and believe and have trust in freedom conservatism and the principles to make their lives better. Host the foundation for the research on equal opportunity, avik roy serving as their president. Thanks for your time. Guest thanks, im a big fan of cspan. Host later on, we are joined by Leah Greenberg, the cofounder of the Group Indivisible talking about where the Progressive Movement is particularly after the issues of abortion and other related politics. Up until then, we will return to the question we started this morning when it comes to the idea of televising the election interference trial related to january 6 for former President Trump and if it should be televised. If you think yes, 202 7488000. If you say it should not, 202 7488001. If you are not sure, 202 7488002. You can send us a text to 202 7488003 and post on social media. Weve been showing you sights and sounds of the iowa state fair with several republican candidates attending to make their case for the white house. During his time at the fair, he broke out in song, to the known rapper eminem. Heres a portion. [video clip] washington journal continues. Host jack smith has brought indictment charges against former President Trump related to january 6, both sides are looking for a court date for the proceedings to begin. Sides are making the case for televising it when it starts or not televising it to the general public. You can tell us what you think, should it be televised . 202 7488000 if you say yes, 202 7488001 if you say no and if you are not sure, 202 7488002 is the number to call. You can send us a text up 202 7488003 at 202 7488003 and post on social media. When it comes to the idea of televising the case, recent editorials to share. Editors of the wall street journal made this case shortly after the idea started to emerge. The Federal District court is likely to be tried on the latest charges does not allow cameras. The sensible reason is cameras can be a distraction from the process of seeking fair justice. That is a risk and a trump trial that will be a global media circus in any case, but it is what democrats want. A longrunning trial that consumes public and political attention, especially if it takes place before election day. Democratic claim that tv cameras would make the public more likely to accept the verdict is highly unlikely, given americas political polarization. The Justice Department is prosecuting his potential opponent. That is inherently combustible. Those are the thoughts of editors of the wall street journal. And another from the solicitor general in 2010 and a professor at georgetown university, the case he makes reads in part some fear that televising trials will create a circus atmosphere and undermined the decorum of the court. The risk exists, but the greater risk is if the trial is done in the public eye, more people will question the legitimacy of the core its decisions. We should do what is needed to keep it from happening. It is the gravest matter of public concern imaginable, former president is accused of watching a coup to keep himself and power and using his power as president to do so. Let us know your thoughts when it comes to the televising of the trial. Yes 202 7488000, no 202 7488001, you can on the not sure line 202 7488002 call ian on the not sure line 202 7488002. From minnesota, good morning. Caller good morning. Host go ahead. Caller my feeling is they need to let jack smith present the facts in the public and people here it, then they can make up their minds or keep their heads stuck in the sand. Host what do you mean by that . Caller if you hear the facts and they cannot be refuted, you either have to face the fact you are right and wrong or you simply did not know. You cannot just ignore the facts because you heard them and they could not be refuted or they were refuted. Host you think televising the trial would change peoples minds generally . Caller most people have stopped reading anymore, they get most of their news from tv and the likes, that is my understanding. Put it out there, you can listen to it or ignore and be ignorant of the facts. Host russell is next also calling in on the yes line. In virginia. Caller yes. This is fossil in winchester, virginia. I am flattered i got through to cspan. Good morning. The trial should be televised as truth is important. The slant that would be put on it by either news media should not be allowed. Everyone should be able to watch it real time. The witness names will be made public anyway and the jurors will not be televised. Thank you. Host what do you think televising a trial does differently than what we saw during the january 6 committee when they televise the trial looking at the same event . Caller i do not know it will be much different other than the fact everyone will have the opportunity to see it. I think it needs to be done before republican primaries so people can be educated before they vote, one way or the other. Host russell in virginia. Joseph in maryland on the no line. Caller thank you sir, everybody for their work, even the people calling in. I will make the statement of dont record, but i am not sure. I wish there was a way we could have a realtime vote. I do not want to turn into a fiasco. We need to get it done and it is very important. I think it may be should be private. When i say that, i feel like i am wrong. I think everything should be in the light of day, but we do not want to mess up the outcome. Host what do you think about televising it 20 think about televising it would mess up the outcome . Caller the realtime televising, it would have any effect. People would be able to conversation about it, the people coming out of the courtroom will be effected. There is no way would not have an effect on the outcome of the trial, but maybe it would make it better . I do not know, this is hard. Host joseph, thank you. The law that keeps cameras out of federal proceedings can be found at a website, history of cameras in the courts is a section. Electronic Media Coverage of criminal proceedings in federal courts has been expressly prohibited since criminal roles were adopted. Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcast of proceedings from the courtroom. That could be changed in two ways, a letter or the judicial conference. Or there could be a change as far as legislation in congress. No date has been given for the trial. When it starts, what do you think about it being televised . Not sure line, tina in florida. Caller i have mixed emotions about this. I think it would be good to televise it that way we hear both sides. However, both sides probably will not have equal opportunity to be heard because theres so much bias against trump. I say that because of the media, number two the venue being washington, d. C. Which is 95 democrat and a lot of bureaucrats that do not want to lose their jobs. 50 of the evidence from january 6 has been destroyed. Look at the Hillary Clinton emails, look at other democrats who destroyed evidence. Nothing gets done about it. Im not even a republican, i am independent. I worry about this country because i still see the unit party. It is technocracy, people need to look it up. You can watch conversations. Technocracy was brought here in the 30s and embraced by David Rockefeller host we will posit their commodes go to mike on the yes line. Go ahead. Pause it there and go to mike in california on the yes line. You are on. Caller ok. I think a lot of the problem is that people concentrate on one sided one specialized part of the media. They do not look at both sides. I feel you should give us much information as you can, then logically try to sort out what you believe and what is the truth based on the facts of what happened. Host chris is in pennsylvania on the no line. Caller yes, some say trump is the best they ever had. It is all a bunch of b. S. About him. Never did anything to make this country great he never did anything to make this country great. He lowered taxes. Host specifically to the trial, if it does happen, why not televise it . Caller i guess you can. I dont think it should be televised really. I think if you televise it, it will become a thing everybody looks at like a soap opera, so i do not think it should be televised. Host that is chris in pennsylvania. You can continue on the phone lines. If you say the trial should be televised or not, and for those of you not sure about it 2027488002. Npr goes back to the idea of the forbidding of photographs during judicial proceedings. However, house are hoping to change that. They sent a letter signed by Congressional Democrats calling on the National Policymaking board for the federal courts to explicitly authorize broadcasting of Court Proceedings in the case of the United States of america versus donald trump. One of those people signing on and supporting the letter was the tennessee democrat who made the case recently during an interview on msnbc. As a portion of that interview here is a portion of that interview. Momentarily. Lets go to greg in florida on the not sure line. Caller good morning. I would have to say i am not sure about televising the situation regarding donald trump. The reason is, when i think back to the trial that took place with o. J. Simpson, in my opinion , i felt like he was guilty, and they found him not guilty. This is going to be a situation again where whether donald trump is found guilty or not guilty, you will have half of the population thinking the trial was wrong. I dont see the benefit of being able to watch it. It is more important that they get the decision right, whether he is guilty or not guilty. Host greg in florida. Here is steve cohen making the case for televising the trial. [video clip] we have seen our nation become more divided than any time since the civil war. It is divided now on whether you admit the truth or not. We have a problem stating reality and the facts and working off the same assumptions. We are siloed by cable television. You see one version of the news i think is the truth. If you watch fox or newsmax, it is the fiction. That is why they had multimillion dollar judgments against them and they will have others that will be found liable. We need to make sure the people can watch this and see it on their own and not have to watch it through the eyes and ears of fox and newsmax who would take trumps position and tilt the perspectives to be what trump wants and not the trooper the trump me not the truth. The truth needs to be seen. He is presumed innocent, but i think he is guilty as anybody could be. If they do not see that trial, they may not know that. Host two posts on x, formerly known as twitter, says he will just use it as a platform to intimidate people in the room. Others say, yes, gaveltogavel coverage. You can put your thoughts there. Text us if you want. In boston, this is jay on the yes line. Caller i think it should be televised for a couple of reasons. When it comes to a trial, i am sure donald trump is going to give his version every day on his twitter or social account. There fore, the average person would not know what is going on in the courtroom. But if it is televised, we know for sure the question and the response. That will get to the misunderstandings and we will hear the truth and the court will take care of it. Also, it would be quite entertaining for us. This is entertainment to begin with. Donald trump has his version of the story. The courthouse the loft the courthouse about law the court has the law. Mike pence said trump made him choose between and he chose the constitution. Caller i believe we should not televise it for several reasons but the first one being before, when it was televised, it was a different world. We had different news media and we had no social media. I believe if it does get televised, it will be chopped up into pieces and the bots will go after it and social media will blow up and things will get distorted in the country will become even more divided. That is the last thing we need. I think if they are going to tape it, maybe do the trial, dont televise it, and then when people start complaining or whatever, put out the stuff that tells the truth because we are having a hard time telling truth from fiction. I understand that is why everybody wants it televised. Unfortunately, we have other players in the game who are going to distort the truth for those who are not as educated or who have only limited resources to see the news like down in the south or whatever where they only have the choice of one radio station. Host ok. I was in chicago. Lets go to joseph in pennsylvania on the not sure line. You are on. Go ahead. Caller i have been listening to this. I am definitely for televising it. Host why are you calling in on me not sure line . Caller i am not sure what is going to happen until i see it. If i see it in the courtroom, lawyers should have enough sense to be able to do their side of things for there is a prosecutor and a defense. What are we giving them credit for, for not being able to do their job . Do you hear me . Host lets go to santa monica on the yes line. Caller thanks for taking my call. I think yes it should be televised. I think the world and the citizens of the United States have the right to see exactly what is going on so that we can use our intelligence to judge the facts and what is happening. We cannot let bullies bully us into shutting out because they will just use it against us. From that out because we would we cannot let bullies bully us into shutting up because they will just use it against us. Donald trump is a criminal. All of the evidence is there and it needs to be put in front of the American People and the world. That is primarily my statement. Host virginia on the no line. Good morning. Caller good morning. My point i would like to make to everyone is our current law says we are not supposed to televised these types of federal proceedings. So, why are we having a conversation about should or should not we televise it when we should be talking about should the law be changed to allow it to be done . This process of popular opinion rules what we do this country needs to change. We are a nation of laws. We need to follow those laws. If we do not like it, then go through the process to change it. Host would you like to see the law changed . Steve in virginia, are you there . Caller yes, i am. I dont think we can make a play camp blanket statement. I think there is refinement to the law that may needs to take place. We have never prosecuted a president of the United States outside of the impeachment process. I dont have a particular opinion without understanding the benefits to society. We dont know all of the evidence in the kate spade we will never see all of the evidence in the case. We will never hear all of the evidence in the case. So much of it will be redacted and controlled because of the nature of the secrecy of some of the stuff whether it is january 6 for the documents, we are never going to see it all. Host that is steve in virginia. We have been showing you portions of the iowa state fair with candidates out there with voters on various causes. Ron desantis first expense with the iowa state Fair Experience with the iowa state fair, he was the only republican at the event. Interrupted by protesters employing him to return to the sunshine state. The latest in a small group of demonstrators who say they were there to protest his policies on a range of issues saturday morning during a oneonone interview with Iowa Governor kim reynolds. You can see that if you go to our website at cspan. Org. Governor reynolds has been conducting interviews with candidates. Here is a little bit from ron desantis giving his Economic Vision for the country yesterday. [video clip] you have to have an economy where people work hard, play by the rules, and they can raise a family, buy a home, afford a car, all of those things. If the economy does not work for middleclass families, we are not going to succeed as a country. Everything we are going to be doing is going to be focused on bringing the middle class in this country back. Part of that is understanding how we got in this mess now with the high prices. We got in because of government policy. They borrowed. They printed. And they spent trillions and trillions of dollars since march of 2020 under the auspices of covid and all of these other things. Of course, youre going to get inflation. Of course, you are going to have problems with supply chains. All of the things people have struggled with in the middle class have been a result of government policy. Host you can see more of that at cspan. Org. When it comes to the fires in maui, about 90 dead so far. The New York Times reporting none of the 80 warning sirens placed around maui were activated by the island or the Emergency Management agencies in response to the fire. It is the largest system of outdoor warning sirens in the world. Residents who survived have wondered aloud why no one activated the sirens which can be heard from more than half a mile away. Emergency management spokesman confirmed saturday they were not activated and stressed the sirens alone would not have been a sign to evacuate but for residents to seek more information. Back to the former president s pending trial, should the proceedings be televised . On the not sure line from maryland. Caller i am an independent. One thing for sure is the media will make a circus of it. You have people coming on giving their individual opinions about what they have seen. It might divide the country more. But on the others, it would be entertaining on the others, it would on the other side, it would be entertaining to watch. I think for the, try to unite us a little bit and to believe in the verdict, the trust not be held in washington, d. C. The trial should not be held in washington, d. C. They 90 voted against him in the last election. They have pretty much always voted democratic in recent years. That is what concerns me. I would like to see something totally independent held in a different state than where this is brought up at. The other thing is from the information i have found, the prosecutor in the case has had quite a few cases overturned by the Supreme Court. Gives the appearance he is kind of a radical prosecutor. Host ok. Caller that is where i stand. Host dennis from memphis, tennessee, on the not sure line. Caller thank you for taking my call. It really does not matter whether it is televised or not. The only way we are going to get to the end of the problem is donald trump takes the stand. Then we will know the real truth. Thank you for taking my call. Host that is the last call. Thank you to all of you who participated in this topic. Next, we are going to be joined by Leah Greenberg, cofounder of the Group Individual indivisible, to talk about other top issues heading into 2024. That is coming up on washington journal. This fall, watch cspans new series as we embark on a captivating journey in partnership with the library of congress which first created the list to explore key works of literature from American History. The 10 books featured have provoked thoughts, won awards, led to significant changes and are still talked about today. Hear from featured Renowned Experts who will shine light on the impacts of these iconic works and virtual journeys to Significant Locations across the country tied to the celebrated authors in the books. Among the featured books, common sense by thomas paine, Huckleberry Finn by mark twain, and free to choose. Watch our 10part series starting monday, september 18, at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan now, or online at cspan. Org. Tonight on cspans q a, the newsmax chief White House Correspondent talks about the first of the twopart biography of the late justice antonin scalia. He came out of the unrest of the 1960s. All of that shaped him in ways that made him a better judge and justice. You cannot understand how he got to be Justice Scalia without understanding the elements of his academic career. James rosen tonight on q a. You can listen to all of the podcasts on our free cspan now app app. This year, but marks 25 years of shining a spotlight on leading nonfiction authors and their books with interviews and festivals. But tv has provided viewers with a front row seat to the latest literary discussions on history, politics, and much more. You can watch but tv every sunday on cspan2 or online. 25 years of television for serious readers. Washington journal continues. Host we welcome back to the program Leah Greenberg, faux founder of the Group Indivisible. Thanks for coming back on the show. Remind folks of your group, what it does, and how you are funded. Guest we represent thousands of grassroots voters around the country who activated following the election of donald trump. There folks who decided i have got to do something this, i have got to help our democracy and our neighbors. They started to organize and work locally and nationally. Seven years later, they are still working to protect our democracy and advance a progressive agenda. We are funded through a combination of grassroots money and other things. Host how would you describe the Aggressive Movement as it stands today . Guest we have had exciting policy advances the last couple of years with the Biden Administration. We have seen legislation on climate change, reduction in child poverty, a host of major advances through legislation. We have also seen the dangerous backsliding led by the Supreme Court. We have seen a Dobbs Decision that has dramatically reduced access to abortion across the country. We have seen attempts to take out environmental protections. We have seen a host of efforts for republicans to accomplish things they could not accomplish democratically through voting. Host the Dobbs Decision at the Supreme Court, do you think that is a larger resonating force than what happened in the last week . Guest absolutely. What we are seeing consistently is democratic over for performance over performance. We are seeing a dramatic shift. In ohio, republicans attempted to put on the ballot the special election with the goal of making it harder to pass future Ballot Initiatives and make it harder to get them on the ballot. They scheduled it for august. They were hoping no one would notice the special election. That has not happened. Activists sewed up all over the state showed up all over the state and did a ton of activation. It was a proxy fight to make it less likely for ohio voters to pass reproductive rights in november. They campaigned, got the word out, and successfully defeated the effort to subvert the process. Host are there other ways to gauge where you are . Guest i think this specific issue is happening in a lot of places. Republicans are realizing their positions are out of touch with mainline voters. They are looking to subvert the process by which voters have their voices heard. If youre looking at places like florida or montana, there are ongoing efforts to restrict access to the Ballot Initiative process so it is harder to get something on the ballot and harder to pass an amendment. This is an ongoing effort to subvert democracy to ensure their policies triumph. There are ongoing and upcoming abortion referendums around the country where we need to lean in. In ohio, this is the first step. In, there is going to be a reproductive rights in november, theres going to be a reproductive rights amendment on the ballot. In arizona, a coalition of actors have launched a new signature gathering process heading into 2024. Our folks in arizona are excited because this is their chance to guarantee reproductive rights in arizona. This is a way for the Democratic Party to lean in and show we are committed to protecting peoples freedoms. Host if you want to ask questions, 2027488001 for republicans, 2027488002 for democrats. In the ohio effort and others, what is the effort of indivisible . Guest we provide support getting out the vote, knocking on doors. The ohio network and others have done a lot of legwork across the state. We have done a texting operation to make sure we are reaching out directly to as many ohio voters as we can through volunteers all over the country. Host in ohio, the secretary of state put out a statement. He sai ohioans will see the devastating impactf the vote they are already planning amendments to set parents out of childrens life altering medical procedures and prevent lawabiding citizens from protecting their families and remove critical protections from first responders. What do you think about his sentiments . Guest he is the one who let the cat out of the bag engine. Bag in june. He said this was 100 about abortion and preventing voters from having their say in november. He helped make it clear for everybody involved what the stakes were. First of all, thanks for making that clear. Hopefully, i think this is a moment for voters as they are thinking about their chances in 2024. They are advancing the effort to take away voters rights and limit reproductive freedom. One of them will be running against jerry brown in 2024. This is a moment for people to understand this agenda, this is what youre getting if you vote for one of these folks. Host if your group or a group like yours participates in ohio, what you think about outside groups . This is supposed to be a state issue. Guest we are a national effort. We support people who decided to organize in local communities. We are not coming in as a National Organization saying this is what you do. We are coming in, in support of our activists who are part of our movement on the ground and saying, what do you need . Host remind folks what is on the plate. Guest a coalition of arizona groups have launched a signature gathering effort to place on the ballot in 2024 a reproductive rights constitutional amendment. They had to collect roughly 10 of the signatures of registered voters in arizona. They have an extended time to do it and a huge volunteer army ready and eager to support. If it does move on to the ballot, you are looking at a 2024 election in which arizona is a pivotal state for all of us. There will be a reproductive rights a minute for the state. There will be two clickable flippable house seats and the president ial election. The road to us being able to guarantee reproductive rights runs straight through arizona. I want to be clear. You look at polling around the country, there is not a single state in which a majority of voters approve of the Dobbs Decision. I want to let that sink in. I think we have a tendency to think about this in terms of red and blue states. Since dobbs came down, there has not been a single state in which voters have approved further restrictions on abortion. We have seen voters vote for expansions of reproductive freedom in places like michigan. But we have not seen voters make the move towards more restrictions. We do see republicans who have gerrymandered themselves and are accountable to the most extreme constituents moving to restrict abortion in their states. We are not seeing that kind of grassroots popular sentiment in support. Host we will start off in columbus, ohio, on the democrats line. Go ahead. Caller good morning. I kind of feel like ohio has been abandoned by the Democratic Party. I am drawing a blank on the other opponents name i voted for. I know he was upset because the Democratic Party was not spending a lot of funds or doing a lot for him. Ohio used to be purple. Now, it is red. It seems the democrats have set us aside and we are no longer even a consideration for the Democratic Party. I would like to have our guest address that question. I will just hang up now. Thank you. Host thank you. Guest that is a common sentiment i hear from our own leaders all the time, this concern that ohio is being left behind, that folks are not investing their, and this is a vicious cycle of underinvestment and not being willing to invest. I would say i am also seeing and hearing from folks a huge amount of Energy Around this Ballot Initiative flowing right into 2024 around getting brown reelected. Think about the path to a democratic trifecta in 2024, i cannot be accomplished without reelecting brown. I hope you are staying in the fight. I hope we can support. All of this depends on what happens in ohio. Host where does he stand now . Guest he is running. We are optimistic pretty he has a great record in ohio. We are optimistic. We know this is a race we all have to prioritize. Host what about after the j. D. Vance victory . Guest he won but not by much in an election predict or be heavily pro republican but turned out not to be. The Republican Party had to sink millions of dollars into supporting and protecting the candidate. That is not what they expected to do heading into the cycle. He was a weak candidate and his performance was not impressive. I think we saw candidate quality matters. Sherrod brown is a spectacular candidate. We are excited, optimistic, and ready to get to work. Host at the Ohio State Fair over the weekend, mike pence talking about issues, abortion being one after the ohio vote. I want to get your response. [video clip] i understand we have to win hearts and minds. The way forward is governor kim Reynolds House prolife legislation. It is a combination of principal and compassion. I reject that expanding for the sanctity of life is a political movement. I believe when we stand for the sanctity of life on principle and with compassion, the American People will rally to our cause. I will continue to make that case, not just in this primary or the election. The other difference is as president , i dont see the question of abortion as only a state issue. My former running mate, the governor of florida, others have relegated the question only to the states. I reject that. Host comments from the former Vice President. Your response . Guest that is a hopeful take from him. I would respond to data. When we look at special elections against dobbs, democrats have over performed by seven to 13 points on average across the election. We have them on our side when we say dobbs has shifted something in the american electorate. It is Wishful Thinking on his part that if they make their case they will be able to bring folks to their side. I think it will only bring more people over to us. Host looking at the house, some democrats think it can be retaken in two years. Do you think that is the case . Guest absolutely. There are 18 republican representatives in districts joe biden won in 2020. There are flippable seats beyond that. We have groups working hard on the Ground Holding folks accountable and working with other local activists making sure every time they take a vote, every time they are in washington enabling the republican agenda, their constituents hear about it. Fundamentally, those are moderate districts that voted for joe biden. They do not want any part of this Marjorie Taylor greene agenda. They do not want any part of government shutdowns or debt ceiling hostagetaking. They want common sense representation. Those folks have gotten where they are at fight associating themselves from the majority and we want to make sure they cannot do that in 2024. Host do you believe the senate will remain democratic . Guest we have done a great job. We have a lot of great candidates who have deep records in their state. I think we will have the wind at our backs heading into 2024. The map is tough. A lot more democrats are up in swing states or red states than republicans prayed we have great candidates. We are going to have a lot of headwinds. Host john is in arizona, on with guest Leah Greenberg. Caller good morning. I always enjoy cspan. 1973, we had roe v. Wade which i was very much for at the time. The thing is, it has not been codified. Why doesnt the Democratic Party why has not the Democratic Party codified roe v. Wade in the last 50 years . Guest i would look at some of the dysfunction in washington, specifically the filibuster which creates an additional hurdle even to the party over elected with an overwhelming majority being able to move legislation against the filibustering party. We are going to have to reform the filibuster to pass the Womans Health protection act which codifies abortion protection. We are going to have to reform the filibuster to pass the freedom to vote at. We have to look that square in the face. The reality is voters want progress in washington. Voters want to see action on Campaign Priorities and things people run on. That is why it is important for us to win and use the power we have to make your forms necessary to pass the policies we were elected to pass reforms necessary to pass the policies we were elected to pass. Host next caller on the line. Caller i do live in alabama. The laws here are very strange. People say things that are not very true. My question with the abortion thing is, why dont men who can get the little blue or yellow pill, why dont they have to give a dna sample so when they are making all of these babies, because i think abortion has to do with all the men wanting to provide, they should have to pay for the childrens care. That is just my thoughts. Host thanks. Guest we are looking for an expansion of reproductive freedom. We want to make sure every person has the ability to make their reproductive choices. I dont think we need to get into conversations about the state of Child Support laws to say everybody should be able to make their own medical decisions. That is what we are here to say. Host the arizona constitutional amendment would ban most abortions after 50 weeks of pregnancy. Gordon kreiner it would require abortions to be required after that to protect the health of the patient. What is wrong with this amendment as your group sees it . Guest we are working with local arizona groups. We are advancing the kind of policies that have been thought through and are the right policies for arizona that guaranteed reproductive rights and freedom. Host could you support restrictions if added . Guest i dont want to get into hypotheticals. We should be looking to expand reproductive freedom and ensure folks have the ability to make medical decisions. That is what people are trying to take away. Arizona, this is a reaction. For an extended time, there has been a legal battle about putting back in place laws from the reconstruction era that would have been extremely restrictive and essentially banned abortion after six weeks. Fundamentally, that is the kind of stuff the other side is trying to advance. That is what voters are reacting to negatively. Host this is Leah Greenberg from the Group Indivisible. Mike, go ahead. Caller yes, why is murdering babies called the right to reproduction . That is all i have to say. Guest fundamentally, what we are talking about is the ability to control your own body, to make your own reproductive choices, the ability to access the care that you need and keep those decisions private and not made by the government. This is about whether all of us can be equal citizens in our country and make our own choices and fully participate in society. Host turning to the Biden Administration, he has staked a lot of his Reelection Campaign on bidenomics. What do you think of that strategy . Guest he has a lot to brag about when it comes to economics. He has steered us through a challenging time. We have seen transformational climate action. We have seen reforms going after pharmaceutical companies and price gouging. There is a ton for President Biden to be talking about. As people are feeling a resurgent economy and lower unemployment rates, higher wages, this is all stuff we should be out front probably shouting about. It absolutely makes sense to us we would go in on making sure people understand as they are feeling the impacts of an improved economy, that is policies and strategies from the administration. Host people will turn to 31 trillion in debt, those falling under the president s umbrella so to speak, is that a liability . Guest voters are thinking about what is happening now. We have a year and a half for folks to enjoy the benefits of an improved economy. He inherited a deep hole. He came in when we were still suffering from the ravages of covid and in which all sorts of strange challenges were coming up as a result of the supply chain. No one wants to not acknowledge the pain folks experienced. We want to make sure folks recognize fundamentally we are moving in the right direction. That is the result of intentional policies by the administration and policies republicans would happily undermine. Host you look at a lot of polls. It looks at the Approval Rating on the economy. 57 of those asked disapprove. Why do you think he is not getting traction if bidenomics is what he is taking his campaign on . Guest if you think about how long it takes to feel the impact of a renewed economy, as of earlier this year, pretty much every credible economist was saying we would have a recession. Only recently, folks have acknowledged we are in a good economy. Wages are up, unemployment is down. Folks are feeling the impacts now. It will take time but we are optimistic we can get there. Host sarah is joining us from indiana on the independent line. Caller i have a quick,. Please dont cut me off. I get sick and tired democrats badmouth the river republicans the republicans about your body, your choice. In ohio, there was a runner in school in ohio. She got sick. Her mother took her to the doctor. She watched her weight and all of that. Guess what, she was eight months pregnant. We did not realize it. What a surprise. Guess what . They told her she could have an abortion at eight months. They showed pictures. Dababy had hair and was sucking his thumb the baby had hair and was sucking his thumb. They say it is your choice. There is not. There is another body. In, do you mean in 20, do you mean to tell me you cannot do something about not getting pregnant . There are other choices besides murdering a baby. What if your mother wanted to abort you . Did you ever stop to think . Guest i am not aware of any state where that could have happened. Another story about ohio we should keep in mind is the story of the 10yearold rape to come who had rape victim who had to travel across state lines as a result of the Dobbs Decision and the ohio state legislature. That is the result we are seeing. If that is not what you think ohio should have, you should vote in november. Host valerie. Caller i am a first time caller and excited to see leah. Im a member of indivisible. I wanted to let you know i just got done packing up 800 postcards we will be sending out from 30 of our members to a Congressional District in california. I think it would be interesting if you real quick said how Many National local organizations there are. We are supporting indivisible. We are part of indivisible. I am so happy to see you on the show. Thank you. Guest thank you and thank you so much for all your work. There are thousands of groups all over the country in every state, can more than 400 Congressional Districts, regular people doing the work to reclaim our democracy. Thank you for your work. If youre interested and excited about our message, please go to our website and check out if there is a group near you that you can join. Host she said 800 postcards. What is the typical strategy . Postcards, doortodoor . What works now that did not work in the past . Guest all of the above. We want to contact voters in as many ways as we can. That will be a combination of texting, phone calls, doortodoor canvassing. We will work with our folks on the ground. Sometimes they will work directly with campaigns. We will help them run their own operations depending on the situation. We have also been testing new programs that help us to reach out directly to neighbors to make sure they are talking to the kinds of voters who are supporters of our agenda and values who might not vote regularly. We are excited about all of those efforts. We try to take and all of the above strategy. Host where does the independent voter file your strategy . Fit in with your strategy . Guest you are having deep and meaningful conversations with people talking to them about their values and your own story. It is about moving from a transactional form of politics to one that is about the for deeper efforts to move people in our direction. Host the next caller is joining us from new jersey. I wanted to bring up caller i wanted to bring up wages. I guess we are going to avoid that real wages have not creased since the 1970s. I was hoping i could make up the difference. And get maybe 20 per donation i think. Not 100 sure. All i know is i cannot afford anything. Union membership is down historically from the time wages were at parity. My prospects are not great. I dont think i will ever be able to afford a home. I can barely afford rent. My spouse as a couple thousand dollars in debt. The most we can hope for is 10,000 which is not much. [indiscernible] that got canceled because of parliamentarian something else, i forget. Im not seeing a lot of hope. Im not seeing things getting a lot better. No matter which party either of these geriatrics are in office for, it seems like the tricks except for the people who have to keep working. Guest you are touching on so many important issues, the decline of the American Labor movement and what would be possible to bring it back. If the democrats had federal control, could they pass the act that helps to strengthen the Labor Movement . You are touching on the fact that in addition to talking about the economy, we need to double down on what we will deliver for people going forward. We have had some advances the last couple of years. Nobody would say it is enough. President biden attempted to cancel Student Loans or significant portions for the average borrowers. It was so worth that was rejected by the Supreme Court. We have to have reforms necessary to deliver for people. People need to see government changing their lives to feel confident in our system. Far too often, government has fallen short. Host perception is stronger than reality. What he is describing is something you want to fight against as you make your case. Guest functional political system and economy that delivers are deeply intertwined. We want to get people in office. We want them to pass policies that work for us. And then, we want people to feel a real impact of the policies. If that process gets interrupted, people will get disillusioned. They will turn away from the political process. It can be hard to move the kind of legislation that would be transformational. When we think about all that has been accomplished the last couple of years, there have been things we have not been able to move yet that we could if we win enough seats in 2024. Im thinking about the agenda to make sure folks have access to childcare, prek, Home Health Care for elderly folks. Im thinking about the pro act to make sure we are strengthening folks rights joining union and be protected. Im thinking about additional reforms to ensure the pharmaceutical industry cannot take advantage of all of us. That is on our agenda. We need to win the seats necessary to make that a reality. Host does the turnout in ohio suggest what could happen going into 2024 . Guest it suggests voters are paying attention even in off cycle elections in the summer of an off year. They are not going to sleep on any of this stuff. They are watching. They are energized. What we have seen since the election of trump and since the Dobbs Decision is nobody is sitting out these elections. This is not a matter of tuning out until the president ial. We can expect the president ial to have a high surge in enthusiasm. Host marianne is in illinois, republican line for Leah Greenberg of indivisible. Caller good morning. Im sitting here listening. I am very bothered by busybodies talking about Birth Control. Im also bothered by the fact people use the term my body, my choice. You are exactly right. I have five children, nine grandchildren, 60 years old. My whole life, i kept men i wanted to sleep with. No one could force me to sleep with a man, unless i was raped. Nobody could force me to get pregnant. There are hundreds of different types of Birth Control. No one can force me to keep a baby. I can give it up for adoption if i want to. There is a lot of talk but not really talking about things that are actual reality. There should be Birth Control sent to everybody in the world if that is the case. My daughter has one in her arm that has been there five years. She has not have to worry about getting pregnant for five years. There are all kinds of things that could help. Host thanks. Guest that is a really interesting point. I would encourage you to bring it up with your republican representatives because the Republican Party is attempting to block access to block orban Birth Control and make sure Health Insurance does not cover it. The Democratic Party is in favor of not only Birth Control but in support of parents having prenatal care, per mental leave, ensuring children prenatal leave, ensuring children have access to care. When we talk about a culture of life and families, we are the ones putting in place the policies that not only allow you to control your own reproductive decisions but allow you to support the families you choose to have. Host mark from new jersey on the independent line. Caller i would like to tell the viewers why i think the Democrat Party is extreme. 250 americans are killed every day from fentanyl poisoning due to the border. I will be brief. Three other reasons. Dear party [indiscernible] robert your party [indiscernible] Robert Fitzgerald kennedy [indiscernible] people being forced to take vaccines under the threat of being fired from their jobs. [indiscernible] said terrible things [indiscernible] [indiscernible] because against [indiscernible] host you are fading in and out. Get closer to your phone or get to a better signal if you can. Caller thank you. [indiscernible] point [indiscernible] demise [indiscernible] missing [indiscernible] host i apologize. You are breaking up. You mentioned robert kennedy. What do you think about other potential challengers to President Biden . Are there others you would support outside mr. Biden . Guest robert is a troll candidate. He is out of step with the party. He had an initial ghost because of name recognition and peoples appreciation for the legacy of the kennedy family. If any democratic voters found out what he is known for, as soon as he got any airtime for his conspiracy theories, that dropped fast. Any question premised on the idea rfk junior is about to take office is not engaging with the reality of the polls. Host what about others . Guest we are looking at the risk of a no labels candidacy where the right wing group is attempting to run an independent president ial candidate and get on the ballot in a bunch of places. We are thinking of the moderate and leftwing side. We are not here to support spoilers. We are here to ensure donald trump does not get back in office. We are here to ensure our chance to move the progressive policy continues. We will not entertain a thirdparty candidate when there is a lot of work to do. Host there was a poll that said mr. Biden has failed to win the majority of support of nonwhite voters who have not graduated from college seeing his lead is just 16 points. Do those numbers concerning . What do those numbers concerning you . What has to change . Guest we have to be out front and make sure voters siesta living for them. We have to aggressively campaign over the next year and a half to make sure folks understand what has been delivered so far and what we can offer if given another term and additional seats. Host james in florida joins us on the line for democrats. Caller thank you very much. I want to weigh in on abortion from the male point of view. Now, when i was dating my exwife, ok, she got pregnant. She threatened to have it aborted if i did not marry her. Ok. I did not want to marry this woman. But i wanted my child. Ok. Host apologies. We are running short of time. If you could go to your point or ask your question. Caller how can it be used as a weapon . Host okie. Ok. Guest i lost him. Host one more time, what is the question for our guest . Caller used as a weapon, used as a weapon host lets go to rachel in florida on the republican line. Last call. Caller i would like to ask the person on the show, if you think biden is doing such a great job, i would like to hear why he is doing such a good job on the border. I see drugs being brought across poisoning our children. I see taxpayers paying for immigrants staying in hotels. I see a major terrorist attack waiting to happen. I would like to know what she thinks is so great about bidens border policy. Dont say congress. They have a majority in the senate. I think they could do something if they wanted to. They do not want to. Host ok. Guest we need Immigration Reform. Democrats tried to move Immigration Reform in the first couple of years of the cycle. We tried to move it through the reconciliation process. We were not able to do so. It is absolutely the case the president and Democratic Coalition need to move on having a just immigration policy. If we have the votes to do it in 2024, we will be able to deliver for the American People. Host leading up to the election, what will you be involved with . Guest we will be focusing on a couple of different places. We have the 18 Congressional Districts we believe we can flip. We will be working with local groups in those districts to make sure every voter knows their current represented of is enabling a maga extremist agenda. We will focus on the usual swing states and places like montana and ohio working in support of indivisible groups as they reach out to neighbors and make sure these folks get reelected. We think the democratic trifecta is insight. We think we have to achieve it if we are going to deliver on the promise of reproductive rights reforming our democracy. Host indivisible. Org is the website for the group. Leah greenberg serves as coexecutive director joining us on washington journal. Thank you for your time. That is the program for today. Another addition comes your way at 7 00 tomorrow morning. See you then. 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