Equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise. So tonight, i have come to this place where it all began to speak as plainly as i can to the nation. About the threats we face, about the power we have in our own hands to face these threats in the incredible future that lies in front of us if only we choose it. We must never forget, we the people are the true heirs of the american experiment that began more than two centuries ago. We the people, have burning inside of each of us the flame of liberty that was lit here at Independence Hall. The flame that lit our way through abolition, the civil war, suffrage, the great depression, the world wars, civil rights, that sacred flame still burns. Now in our time, as we build in america that is more prosperous, free and just, that is the work of my presidency, a mission i believe in with my whole soul. Host your reaction to the president speech in philadelphia yesterday. Yvonne in milwaukee, wisconsin a democratic collar. Caller i thought his speech was excellent. It is a call for all of us to come together. We have to think about the country instead of parties if we want to maintain our democracy. That is what we have to do. For all of you maga republicans who are against democracy, you have to learn to think for yourselves. You will end up in prison if you listen to President Trump. It is country over party. Host michael is a republican. Caller he mentioned prosperity, he mentioned crime. I think prosperity it is only for certain people in this country right now. It will only be the people who are already prosperous and everyone will keep lagging behind because nothing he passes will ever bring anything up to anybody else. Certainly not the rich people. Host are you voting for republicans this fall and do you plan to vote . Caller i am not sure yet. I dont see any change for the past 20 years in this country. They never really address the issues where you have the wealth gap. I know that sounds like a democratic issue but i am pretty fair when it comes to issues. I think they have never focused on the people themselves. You go to work every day, try to pay their college bills. I dont see any change and i dont see him changing anything as well. Im not a fan of the republicans either. Host does that include the former president . Caller im sorry . Host you said you are not a fan of republicans, does that include the former president . Caller im not a huge fan of the way he speaks. I was a fan of the way he was going to change things but anyone who was an outsider, they will crash. It doesnt matter if they are a democratic or republican candidate. They are happy with the way things run in this country. That is the way it is been for many years. They dont want to make themselves obsolete. Host when is the last time you voted . Caller last election. Host who did you vote for if you dont mind me asking . Caller i voted for trump. Host you dont sound that enthusiastic about the midterms, and my reading that correctly . Caller i think i realized that nothing will really ever change. You get a democrat on the line, they will be for biden. If you get a republican, they will be for trump. And independent will probably give you the better answer of where the country is going to go. Even then, i dont see things going the way they are going to go. Host what do you do for a living . Caller i own a business. Host a small business. Caller its been hard not only for me but for a lot of people. I feel sorry for my employees. Its hard to keep them with ours. I see how hard they work. It makes me really sad that everyone underneath these people, they struggle. When he says prosperity i dont even know what he is talking about. Host the hill newspaper reports on a new quinnipiac poll that the majority of both parties think democracy is in danger of collapsing. 70 2 of democrats and 70 of republicans have fears about the future of democracy. The fears are higher among women in higher by one point among white adults than black adults. Margaret in pennsylvania, and independent. Did you watch last night, whatd you think . Caller i watched this morning but i thought it was an excellent speech. Like the saying goes, we are striving for a more perfect union. I do believe that we must continue to Work Together regardless of what side of the aisle you are on. Host when is the last time you voted republican . Caller it has probably been a while. I was a republican for many years. When i worked on my masters degree, i changed my Party Affiliation to independent because i did not want to impact my students. Host gary from new york. How are you gary . We are listening gary. Caller i dont think he did anything to unite the country. He talked about maga republicans and he did not talk about the issues. We have a 9 inflation rate. We have crime. We have all kinds of problems and all he talks about is maga republicans. He is so much against crime, he talks nothing about blowing up police stations. If the democrats keep congress, they will go on a spending spree in this country will go down the tubes. He is already on a spending spree. It will just get worse and worse. We spend billions of dollars on another country, we have Homeless Veterans sleeping on the streets. This guy is a bum. Host we will listen to the president last night in his remarks on maga republicans. [video clip] first we must be honest with each other and ourselves. Too much of what is happening in our country today is not normal. Donald trump in the maga republicans represent in extremism that threaten the foundations of our republic. I want to be very clear up front , not every republican is a maga republican. Not every republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know because i have been able to work with these mainstream republicans. The republican today is driven by donald trump and the maga republicans and that is a threat to this country. These are hard things but i am an american president , not a president of red america or blue america, but of all america and i believe it is my duty, my duty to level with you into tell the truth no matter how difficult, no matter how painful. Here in my view is what is true, maga republicans do not respect the constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law or recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election and are working right now as i speak in state after state to give power to decide elections to cronies to undermine democracy itself. Maga forces are determined to take this country backwards to an america where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian this was the enemy of the state speech. It just like every other radical tyrant, he used his opponents of being fascists while he engages in repressive authoritarian behavior. He is the one that is forcing americans against their will to take a backseat. He is the one who has violated our constitution to open our nations borders. He is the one interfering in the sacred relationship between parents and child, to try to force dangerous medicine, puberty blockers, hormones, on our little kids. He is the one whose government raided the home of his chief political opponent in a fashion that violates the entire constitutional order. President riep has the right to decide what is or is not in the National Security interests, when he leaves the white house. All of those things, all of them are the behavior of a tyrant and this speech is the moment the biden thats biden crossed the rubicon and ceased to be a man who could even pretend, could even claim he is the interest of the has the interest of the country at heart and he is irrevocably committed to splitting this country in two and beginning an era of division and era of hatred that will wound our soul if it does not get repaired for generations to come. Host former President Trump speechwriter on fox news. John, a republican what is your reaction to the president last night and his remarks from Independence Hall . Caller good morning greta and america. What a mean man biden has turned out to be. Caller good morning greta and america. What a mean man biden has turned out to be. What did the mega republicans due to america. We had a low inflation, low gas prices, people working. What did we do . He ended the war in syria. He withdrew troops in afghanistan, what did donald trump do so bad to america. China pulled out of the climate agreement. Does anyone realize what that does to bidens climate bill . Does anyone realize we are the only people in the globe now because of President Biden that tries to mitigate the environment. Does anybody realize it was not the republicans that did this and finally, where they there to kill trump with all of those machine guns and stuff they took into maralago . Where there to kill him . Would they go in and kill whoever was in there to get their way . Host why do you think that . Caller why do i think that . That little maneuver could have been handled with five people dressed in suits and ties. There did not need to be a military use of force. Maralago is not a fortress, it is a country club. You go into a country club, you dont go in with 30 ar automatic weapons. They were there to kill trump. Dont make any mincemeat about it. You have people like valerie jarrett, remember this person, valerie jarrett, the biggest communists in the american government, valerie jarrett. Remember her name. She is the killer of america. We have a chinese president. We may already be chinese. This sky offered no solutions, it is all hyperbole and hates. Host her that point. Heres the wall street journal poll in the newspaper this morning, a majority say the maralago search was proper. How was the fbis search of former President Trumps home impacting your likelihood to vote in the coming november elections . 64 of republicans said more likely. 37 of independents said more likely was 63 said no impact and unsure, same number for democrats. This is from John Mccormick cost reporting, over half of registered voters think the fbis search of president s home was appropriate and trying to see if President Trump had classified information. A 50 pooh 52 majority agreed the fbi access was part of a legal investigation to determine whether the former president was involved in wrongdoing while 41 viewed it as just another example of the endless witchhunt and harassment the democrats and biden and the administration continue to pursue against former President Trump. We will go to columbia, south carolina, herbert, good morning. Caller good morning. [indiscernible] they are doing the same thing too. That is what they do. It is ignorant. Do you love donald trump or do you love america . Donald trump is the man tearing candidate. Did you see that . Where he was blamed by the government to do the things to bring the country down . This is what happened. You gotta go back to when it started. The guy is not an american, folks. Putin lies in everything he is doing. Why would any president in the United States ever bring so much turmoil, so much trouble to america . Hes doing it because he was told to do it. You gotta wake up. Host heard your point. Roy in melbourne, florida, democratic caller, what is your reaction to the speech . Caller i thought it was a good speech. I did think it was good. I think it is what we need in this country because we are so divided right now and it was good. Stephen muller does not even know how to tie his shoes when he was a kid so he is pretty pathetic wrapping up all of this stuff. I can tell you right now these people continued on this warpath if these people continued on this warpath, it is not going to get good. It will hurt the country and keep bringing it down. Host which warpath are you talking about . Caller the warpath is the rhetoric that is coming out of the Republican Party. They just want to win the house. All of these people said send all of this money to donald trump and he had a good hoot about it. My brother gives 40 a month to him and she has no money and that is who he is taking advantage of, you ignorant people out there like the guy two colors away. He is drinking the trunk koolaid. I knew this guy was a crook a long time ago since his father stole his mothers business. It is the same thing, always with donald trump, he is getting your money and at least democrats help you, at least you get social security. Wait until they take that away, your military disability. You get republicans, they wont take away the military, but donald trump never served a day in the military doll. He is just a loser and he does nothing. Host when you question your mom about giving the money, what does she say . Caller you want to know what she says . Its the same fox news talking points because she listens to the and she is in the mountains somewhere way out. Theyve never seen any of these people. They are in their own way and they think this guy is so good. He is awful. He did nothing but give tax breaks to millionaires all time. People in florida, their house is falling apart and they have a big trump sign in their house. He could care less about you. Joe biden is better than the alternative of bringing this country down, because of donald trump gets another term in office, democracy is gone. He should be in jail, he put a lot of people in danger with of those documents, he is hurting our country, and he is hurting you too whether you like to face it or not. Joe biden at least is trying to get the country going in the right direction. Donald trump could care less. He is worried about his next money or who he can stall next. He has done it his whole life and will continue to do it. It is just a sad situation down in washington, d. C. He will never be president again because there is going to be something worked out. I do not care if he is liked up or walk, i dont want him being president again. Host from the former president , he was on a radio show, trump valves pardons and government policy to the capital rioters if he is elected again. The former president said he would issue full pardons and a government apology to rioters who stormed the capital and violently attacked Law Enforcement to stop the democratic transfer of power. Quote i mean full pardons, with an apology to many he told a conservative radio host wednesday morning. A move would be contended on the president running and winning the president ial election. We Capital Congress was confirming Joe Bidens Electoral College win in the 2020 elections. Heres the president , President Biden, from last night, discussing views on the maggot rules in the january 6 roles in the attack and said the nation was at an infection point. Here he is. [video clip] they look at the mob that stormed the United States capital january 6, rudely attacking Law Enforcement, not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger at the throat of our democracy but they look at them as patriots and they see them see their failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power as preparation for the 2020 two and 2024 elections. They tried everything last time to nullify the votes of one million people. This time, they determined to succeed in thwarting the will of the people. That is why respective conservatives like federal Circuit Court judge Michael Ludwig has called trump and extreme mega republicans a clear and present danger to our democracy. While the threat to american democracy israel, i want to say as clearly as we can, we are not powerless in the face of these threats. We are not bystanders in this ongoing attack on democracy. There are far more americans, far more americans from every background and belief who reject the extreme ideology than those that accept it. Folks, it is within our power, within our hands, yours in mind yours and mine, to stop the steel on american democracy. I believe america is at an infection point. One of those moments to determine the shape of everything that is to come after and now, america must choose to move forward or to move backwards, to build a future or obsess about the past, to be a nation of hope, unity, optimism or a nation of fear, division, and of darkness. Mag are republicans maga republicans made their choice, they cause anger, thrive on chaos, they do not live in the truth but in the lies, but together we can choose a different path, we can choose a better path, forward to the future. A future of possibility, a future to build and dream and hope, and we are on that path moving ahead. Host your reaction to the current president s speech last night in Independence Hall. There is news this morning. The former president responding that will respond saturday when he holds a rally in philadelphia as well, 7 00 p. M. Eastern right here on cspan. You can find our coverage on the cspan app and on cspan. Org. President will be responding to the president then if not before. The metro section of the washington post, the nypd veteran who assaulted the police gets the longest sentence yet, 10 years. A prison term of nearly 17 years, he was the first right riot defendant who tried his luck with the jury. 12 others pleaded guilty to a similar charge. The government suggested sentence was just fortunate to what other rioters received. The previous was slightly more than seven years and he credited websters 25 years of service with the marines and the nypd. Lets hear from wally, a republican, what is your reaction to the president s speech last night . Caller i did not really listen to it. I vote republican because of the way i believe, and i sure dont believe the way he talks. It doesnt make any sense to me. Host why are you a republican . Caller you gotta make a choice from right and wrong, and i go with the right instead of the wrong. Im a believer and i listen to the guy, the guy worries me. He just worries me. Host all right. Pat in irvine, california, and an independent. Good morning. Caller good morning. One, where can i order a maga hat . I think biden just gave trump the biggest increase in encouragement and all of his followers that youre going to see. I think the speech was nothing but a bunch of cliches and i didnt think it was very good at all and i thought it was very divisive, hurtful, and insulting to a very large portion of our population. Host all right, pat. Paul, a republican in plantation, florida. Whatd you think of the speech . Caller good morning. It was the most repu