keep drinking water safe? we will have phone lines for republicans. republicans that 202-748-8001 democrats at 202-748-8002 michigan residents at 202-748-8003. we want to hear what your state, local, and federal authorities are telling you about the safety of your water. catch up with us on social media at twitter at http://twitter.com/cspanwj and facebook.com/c-span. we begin with the front page of the wall street journal this morning. over --line is pure over flint michigan's water. an investigation was launched into the water crisis in flint, michigan. the republican chairman issuing subpoenas forcing depositions from two officials. house oversight and government reform committee jason chaffetz was particularly critical of darnell early, the emergency manager. a subpoena is being issued for the former administrator of the environmental protection agency's region five which oversees flint. republicans are accused of playing politics with public health by refusing to compel similar testimony from michigan governor rick snyder and officials he tapped to run flint. here is some more from the hearing. here is jason chaffetz questioning why the epa did not inform the public earlier after the workers were reporting high concentrations of lead in a flint home back in 2015. let's talk about the right thing to do. what is the number one thing you do if you are trying to warn citizens? that them know, what is the number one thing you should let them know? >> that is the right question to ask. >> i'm asking you the question and i am glad you agree. you are from the epa and in charge of water quality, what is the answer? >> is important for them to go back and -- >> no it isn't. it is important for the epa to tell the public air poisoning their kids if they drink water. >> i agree. >> why didn't they do it? they sat on it for almost a year. >> administrator mccarthy issued an elevation policy emphasizing. >> this january. they had it for nearly a year. the administrator went to point yesterday. epa first went to her home in february of last year. why did it take a year? >> i can't answer. all i can say is they were working with -- >> why don't we fire the whole lot of them? what good is the epa if they can't help? are you going to tell my daughter, who is getting married, i'm getting emotional about that, she is moving to michigan. are you telling me that epa, point they are putting lead in the water, they aren't going to tell kids? that is what happened. mr. del toro knew that. >> mr. del toro did testing on the water in early 2015 and new the lead levels were high. host: as we said, emotionally charged yesterday. the reform committee, you can watch the entire hearing at c-span.org. more headlines coming out of that hearing. grilling on the water crisis takes on a partisan tone is the headline from the new york times. there was bipartisan condemnation of how officials handled the crisis but democrats and republicans are split on what the federal government should do to resolve it. many republicans say they would oppose a democratic proposal to add millions of dollars in aid in an energy bill moving through congress. a position democrat said republicans passion for smaller government gone bad. in the democratic party, richard durbin, w says they will stop the bill if we don't help flint. the number two ranking republican in the senate said it's not something i could support. flint doesn't have anything to do with the energy bill. democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton and bernie sanders announced they will hold a debate in flint, michigan on march sixth. plenty of news surrounding what happened in the water crisis. i want to show you the front page of the detroit news. the headline there is lawmakers press epa and michigan department of environmental ali officials -- environmental quality officials there. flint,gressman from michigan also testified at the hearing. we are viewers about trust in the government to keep drinking water safe. i want to hear your stories and we have a special line for michigan residents. 202-748-8003. we want to hear your stories. the line for democrats, republicans, and independents as usual. new jersey, line for democrats, good morning. go ahead, teresa. what i have to say is take mr. dell tour out and his committee to a laboratory where they took the water, give them all a glass, and that will teach the next group coming in not to hold back information. host: teresa talking about epa officials here, folks at the committee wanted to hear from one at a here's one of the investigation. as we said the water crisis is taking to capitol hill and that hearing. we will show you parts of the hearing for the first 45 minutes as we talk about this. phone lines are open and your thoughts on your trust in the government, state, local or federal. rick is on the line for independents. caller: thank you very much for taking my call. i am getting less trust in the government these days and particularly about the michigan situation or more recently the flint city situation. it is the role of the current governor in appointing a city , and theho then electorate public official of flint was moved -- removed. this was a play by the governor. thes a big deal because governor also put another city manager in another public park there on land that was on a to the -- that was donated to the public. the land was taken away from the public. my point is there is a big issue that i hope will not get lost. that is removing elected public officials, putting in other officials, and having them have tremendous power and be able to make important decisions over people's lives which now we see has resulted in a tremendous disaster. host: i'm not sure if you've read the new york times lead editorial but they make the exact point you are talking about. here's a bit from the editorial. michigan's intervention in flint says there is an emergency manager appointed by governor rick snyder. he stuck to a disastrous toey-saving decision change the water source even after local residents complain about contamination. state officials under the governor's control said the water was safe to drink even as outside experts found elevated levels of lead. state officials recently admitted they have been wrong. the fbi said it has joined the federal and estimation of the crisis, possibly for criminal misconduct. the editorial board says lesson is that emergency managers only succeed if they work with communities they serve. the aim should be to shore up local governments and not just to cut costs. that is the editorial board of the new york times in today's paper. we want to hear your thoughts and especially your thoughts on trust in state, federal, and local governments to keep drinking water safe. james from florida, go ahead. caller: yes sir. i want to know when the governor will be charged. he is pointing at other people, when will they bring him up? i think all of them have to be right up for criminal charges. you have more to add? caller: yes. after you investigate them, come down to florida and investigate blackofficers beating up and poor white people up. people need to investigate this. if they want the minority vote and poor white vote, they have to be concerned about the folks. host: we will stay on the michigan water crisis and water issues. the issue you are talking about about the governor and whether questions should be directed from the house oversight and government reform committee to the governor's office was brought up i democrats on the committee yesterday. here's an exchange between ranking democrat elijah cummings and the interim director of michigan's department of environmental quality. seems governor snyder was trying to blame the city of flint for accidents of his own appointee. he did this in his state of the state address to the entire population of flint. let me ask you something else. ying rightple pa now for water in flint, they cannot wash in or drink. are they paying water bills and is a part of the recovery? why would they be paying for water they cannot use that is poisoning them? that's not american. this is not a third world country. are they paying those bills? are you going to relieve them of that? >> everyone deserves safe drinking water and that is the expectation. yesterday, the governor introduced a supplemental for $30 million to help with that issue. the number one issue, as we've spoken with the mayor, is to make sure the utility remains is moreand the billing of a city issue that we understand and respect that. everyone deserves water that is safe. host: our question for viewers this morning is, we want to hear about your trust in the government to keep your drinking water safe. some tweets already. and their rights in, no, some governors are taking austerity measures way too far. this affects public safety. another rights i trust the government to look after themselves and the people come a distant third or fourth. phone lines are open. a special line for michigan residents. we will like to hear your stories in the first 45 minutes. michael is in westland, michigan. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would like to urge all of your listeners around the country to remember what the professor edward said. the water expert has warned all of us that our drinking water in his professional opinion is not safe. misled by our local and federal officials. i urge all citizens, please, call your local, state, water officials and people of authority and let them explain how safe the water is. to each and everyone of you. host: what are the folks saying to you when you call? caller: our water, we are blessed. we have the detroit water authority which has freshwater. you tell me everything is fine here, i live half an hour from lake erie and we have a great source of fresh water. , he is trying to spin this. it is all their fault. he doesn't even have the guts to show up. what kind of leader is that? host: michael in west one michigan. to bring folks back to speed, if you're trying to wrap your head around the story. prior to april 2014, the city of michigan received drinking water from this right. -- from the trite. it.from detro one serious effect of the corrosion in the water was that a causes water pipes made of lead to leach into the water. furthermore, the water tested positive for disease. bacteria. eparts indicated that the which has oversight for state and local water systems under the safe drinking water act had not about contamination as early as june of 2015. detailed -- had known about contamination as detailed in an internal epa memo. from said, the congressman flint, democrat dan kildee testified. he is the nephew of longtime former congressman dale kildee. newport,up next from florida. you are on the washington journal. caller: hi. i lived in long island, new york back in the 80's. we had health problems, we did the same thing they did at stony brook university. , i had gone through maps in the 60's about a way site off-road. once there was a geiger counter and walked on the property. i was getting readings all the way up. i wound up at a waste company had a navy, something radioactive from a navy ship put in concrete. he buried it on this property behind his so it wouldn't show up. clean bill of health. on the watert was authorities property. there was a tower there with five aquifers which were feeding an area of about 10,000 people, 10,000 homes. three of those wells had trillium and them. the government does not test or require water to be tested for radioactive material. we have been drinking it for 15 years. epa is for businesses. it is not for the people. the government, they want to please the governor. they want to keep businesses open and don't want to close it down because then you lose money and people lose jobs. host: who is the best watchdog? if not the epa? caller: the epa is a front. it is not for the people. they will be the front for every governor in every state in this country. they want to keep as mrs. open -- businesses open no matter what so that they cannot be seen. -- sued. my neighbor had a lawsuit thenst them and one but idea is not to close these companies down the matter what they do. you have to fight. it took me nine years and i moved down here to florida and i'm in a development with the same problem. the water stinks. you cannot drink it. we have been fighting for three years and hopefully we can get hooked up the county water. it is a private company. it has stockholders. even when we don't use the water they want 22% increases because they are losing money we are not using enough water. >> thank you for the story. several headlines coming out of michigan, flint crisis speculating about where the next could be. newsweek has a headline with lead in the water. could sebring, ohio become the next? looking into the report. salon has a story from earlier. hillary clinton jumps on the campaign. she helps to put the spotlight on jackson, mississippi. there's also a headline from msnbc looking at the trite, detroit.at tht several headlines and stories about that this week. be the next point? caller: it's obvious from hearing all the different committees. and what the oversight committees tried to do. complete protection system within each agency pushed by all attorneys. obviously, they do not want to be held responsible. we do not have the power to immediately fire people who hold and lie and cheat. until that is established and put in with no protection, when whistleblowers come forward, they are made fun of. yet, everyone says we are going to protect them and no one pays attention. from the top down, they should all be removed. there is no way when you cut cancer out of a body, he have to get all of it out of the body. if you don't, it will reappear somewhere else. it's a horrible thing that is been pointed out. this system represents probably every city in the united states has got a problem with water. fortunately in virginia, at times, we get a full report on what the analysis is and a citizen can look at that and have private wells and other people from virginia tech or other professionals examine it. host: do you think the state is better at doing that? do you think the state is better at protecting you and the water you and your family are exposed to? caller: two things. if they disclosed all the contents from radium down to every minute chemical to the visitationssurprise from people like virginia tech, uva, other technical schools who are completely independent from all politicians. yes. stateis this through the or is it something you would like to replace the epa and make a federal system of what you're talking about asto? caller: the epa is a front. they are not concerned at all with full disclosure. politicians will not fully disclose every situation. so the publicect is kept in the dark. some heads have already rolled at epa. a story from last month that might've been missed. the regional administrator who was subpoenaed at that hearing epaerday resigned from the one day after michigan governor rick snyder released his e-mails tied.014 and 2015 died -- her resignation took place february 1. two officials looking to be subpoenaed by the committee and the committee promising more oversight on this process. we want to hear from you and your stories, especially residents of michigan. donald is in detroit. what are you hearing? what our state, local, and federal authorities telling you a storu? caller: i've heard for years that detroit has some of the less water. as far as the governor and when he got on tv, when i see the newscaster interview him, the newscaster asked him if you would bathe his child or drink the water? he said yes. -- i't think anybody really want to ask him, let me see you drink a glass of water out of the tap. that you said it is good. can i see you drink a glass and your family trick a glass of this water? -- drink a glass of this water? even do you drink a glass though you are told it is fine? caller: i've been dragging my tap water for years. i've never had lead poisoning. the water always cannot clear. i've never seen stinky egg smelling water like they were in flint. my cousin lives in flint and she's been telling me this. a few years. they have been saying this. nobody was hearing them. i've seen where the governor was getting ri his office clean water and telling people the water was good but he was getting his state office buildings bottles of water. that was years ago. why are you giving them bottles of water, but telling people in flint water is good? you're are telling the citizens to drink the water, why would you do that? host: donald in detroit, michigan speaking of governor rick snyder. of the statetate address in which he talked about the water crisis. and you can watch the entire address on c-span.org. governor snyder: i would like to address the people of flint. your families face a crisis. a crisis you did not create and could not a prevented. -- could not have prevented. how to speak directly, honestly, and seriously to let you know we are praying for you, working hard for you, and absolutely committed to taking the right steps to effectively solve this crisis. to you, the people of flint, i say tonight as i have before, i am sorry and i will fix it. no citizen of this state should endure this kind of catastrophe. government failed you. government, state, and local leaders, by breaking the trust you place in us. i am sorry most of all that i let you down. you deserve better. you deserve accountability. you deserve to know that the buck stops here with me. host: the wall street journal reporting today there is new trouble for flint residents, particularly those trying to sell a home. went residents have -- flint residents have a new concern on top of water. mortgage lenders say home buyers prove there is no contamination at a property or they won't make a loan for purchase. real estate agents and lenders worry the new restrictions could be a punch in the gut to the city's housing market which has long suffered from economic distress. the story noting that michigan recently noticed a notice to citizens that it must pass a water test. have been sent out by other lenders including wells fargo and bank of america. they say obtaining a loan to be difficult if it does not have potable water. freddie may and fannie mae have not changed their requirements in flint. more on that story in the wall street journal. denny's in cincinnati, ohio. democrats. do you trust the government to keep your drinking water safe? caller: it's not that i don't trust the government, the people in government that i don't trust. government that helps people. this is not the government, per se. it is not state or local. it is the people in charge that i don't trust. , how do you find somebody will trust? caller: it's not really an individual. it's the group collectively. inhave to go by who we put and hold them accountable for what they are doing. it is not trying to find an individual, it is a group of people governing. of changinga matter those in charge? voting at the ballot box? is that what you are saying? yes but also the people in, that they find. like the lady that just resigned. on the first of february. she was not operating in an ethical manner. they are, and government. should be fired and then also charged with criminal charges. host: the house oversight and government form committee issuing a subpoena for that former epa administrator that did step down. if you want to watch that hearing that happened yesterday, you can watch it at c-span.org. let's go to michigan and water for best in waterford. tell us about the water in waterford. caller: we have what they call independent water. at this point, i don't trust anything this governor does. or after what i just watched. any water anywhere in this country. the water is the tip of the iceberg. i knew about flint water crisis in 2013. so did the people up there. and are only releasing 2014 15. there is a lot going on and i don't trust anything this man says. i don't trust the water here. noted host: in the washington post noted, who bears responsibility in michigan was a key question and point of contention throughout yesterday's for our hearing. republicans led by jason chaffetz were laying the blame at epa's doorstep. democrats said they supported the decision to take the epa to task but warned responsibility should lie primarily with the state government. is certainlyme being asked in the wake of that crisis in michigan. rick is next in tipton, michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. i blame rick snyder. he is one of the elites in this country that run the country. he has lost touch with what the people are doing out here. company.at ford motor he taxed our pension and that is one of the reasons why he has such a surplus in the state of michigan now. mostgan has probably the claim drinking water -- clean drinking water in the world and there is no excuse why this should happen. i know for a fact within the last couple of months he has been going down to the bahamas scuba diving to get away from this problem. he is one of the elites running this country and they get elected because they are one of the elites. they have meetings and discuss what they are going to do with the country. it is criminal. he should be locked up and throw away the key. think they can do whatever they want. host: talk about your water in tipton. have you talk to anybody about the water in tipton? have you heard from anybody federal state or local? caller: i which wells. i guess i'm one of the fortunate people in the world. i have pure water running in my house. it is my own water. host: do you test your own water occasionally? caller: yes. i have never had a problem. host: how often do you test your water and how do you go about doing that? into the take a sample health department and they tested. i have never had a problem with my well. they have been drilling some wells in my area. occasionally i have a problem with that. the natural springs up when they are drilling holes. host: when that happens, who pays for the testing if you're concerned about fracking? that is on you to do? caller: i always pay for the testing. host: that is something you take on as your own responsibility? caller: yes. host: that is rick in tipton, michigan. george is up next, line for independents. caller: good morning. thank you for giving me the chance here today. i would like to let everybody , ohio experienced high lead concentrations in a drinking water. environmental protection agency knew about this problem since august 2015. nothing was done about it. problemrmed about the and the state government let people drink this contaminated water for now more than six months. we have hard time getting information why the problem happened and who is responsible. there is some kind of orchestrated cover-up of what is going on. -- theernment of ohio ohio environment the protection agency tries to cover up. no bad news about ohio in the national media. host: in sebring, ohio we show that headline from newsweek asking if sebring could be the next flint. that story notes sounding eerily similar to the lead laced water crisis that has affected flint, michigan for more than a year, tests at schools and homes in the sebring area found multiple examples of lead contamination below the federally example level. treatment said there was no lead wind water treatment plant. failed to inform the public according to records obtained by the columbus dispatch and said the agency sent warnings to the sebring water treatment plant and asked the owners to notify the public, something that never happened according to the epa. part of the reason why we're asking this question today of our viewers, do you trust the government to keep your drinking water safe. not just what is happening in michigan but concern over stories and being laid out at that hearing yesterday that there are perhaps more like michigan -- more flint, michigan's around this country. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i want to be more specific. when you put republicans in charge, they are going to screw things up every time. democrats do a much better job. that is pretty much what i want to say. host: that is roland in baltimore, maryland speaking of democrats and republicans. later in the show we will be talking about the democrat and republican presidential primaries. we will take our viewers to new hampshire where we will be interviewing two guests about the new hampshire primary coming up. news coming yesterday from that front of candidates dropping out of the race. the washington post and most other major newspapers around the country noting that senator rand paul and former senator rick santorum both suspended their presidential bids. victims the washington post notes, of a raucous race. the two joined mike huckabee in deciding to quit the gop race this week after disappointing finishes in monday's i will caucuses. we will be talking more about that and what that means for new hampshire. forral events to look today on the c-span network. ted cruz is going to be in hooksett, new hampshire at 1:15 for a campaign event. he will deliver remarks on drug addiction and recovery at the immanuel baptist church in onksett at 1:15 p.m. c-span3. jeb bush will be in derry, new hampshire. he will hold a town hall at the west running brook middle school in derry. barbara bush will join him at that event. live coverage starting at 7:00 on c-span. coming up in about 20 minutes we will begin our coverage of the national prayer breakfast, the six before the annual national 2.ayer breakfast on c-span we will check on it later today in our program toward the end of the washington journal. we have about five to 10 minutes left in this segment to get your thoughts on your trust in the government to keep your drinking water safe. carl in michigan is an independent. what are you hearing in your part of michigan? caller: i live in northern michigan new the manistee river. democrats with my water. i don't trust republicans. water does not kill people, corrupt government kills people. jason chaffetz types holler about the epa's over barons and how the tide turns. they should have done more. why wasn't he in their dogging them? i can't wait to see people put been active in -- have been absent. they can sit with glasses of flint water in front of them and see them testify for 11 hours like hillary did. snyder, early can sit there with that water in front of them. how does that taste? host: one member who set their yesterday during that hearing was dan kildee. the nephew of former congressman dale kildee. he left no doubt as to where he thinks the blame is. he said in a tweet yesterday right before the hearing, the flint water crisis is a tragedy affecting thousands of kids and families. state officials created the crisis and they must act to make it right. one other tweet yesterday. he set the water crisis was created by state appointed emergency financial manager's appointed by governor rick snyder. it can see where he thinks the blame lies. mary lou is up next. ellwood city, pennsylvania. line for republicans. caller: i live in l port borough. chromium and led in the creek. i started doing some investigating and the water treatment plant that is on the slippery rock creek was built in 1906. i was appalled when i found that out. my father-in-law lived in l port all his life ever since he was a kid. he died from cancer of the liver, cancer of the lung and a tumor at the bottom of his esophagus that spread in through his stomach. i also had a pomeranian dog that , when we lived with my husband's parents when we were younger, that dog also hemorrhaged. he was bleeding from the -- host: when you talk about how old this plant was, is it an infrastructure issue? would you be ok with federal dollars going to fix some of this aging infrastructure around the country? there is a bill working its way through the senate right now that would provide $600 million in emergency spending to flint. $400 million would be made a available if flint matches that money dollar for dollar. are you ok with your federal dollars going to this issue? caller: after what happened to flint they need all the help they can get. i was trying to get a hold of donald trump. no response. i called the senator in my area as well to try to get help for us. i also told him what happened in flint is terrible. truck -- i have not trusted the government for a long time. i warned rick santorum when he was senator in pennsylvania that something is wrong with the water. look at what has happened. a lot of people around the united states are getting hurt by this. it is appalling. all the americans need help but right now flint needs the most. they need it fast. host: mary lou in ellwood, pennsylvania. you mentioned donald trump. a story from last month talking about how donald trump would deal with the epa. donald trump said last month that he would slash funding for the department of education and environmental protection agency. the businessman said he would do tremendous cutting of the federal government. education policy should be returned to the state he said. he said he would end the common core education standards are it he went on to say that the environment the protection agency is the laughing stock of the world. an article from january 11 in the wall street journal. rick on twitter said the gop always talks about local and state control until there is a local state catastrophe and then it is the federal government's fault. time for just a couple more calls. want to get as many of your calls as we can. rufus is in adrian, michigan. what are the telling you about your water? in adrian i think the water is pretty good primarily because we live in a rural community. nationwide i think the situation in flint is the canary in the coal mine simply because of our aging infrastructure. lead plumbing that is prevalent in a lot of houses that were .uilt in the 50's we have politicians that look out for themselves nationwide. we have bureaucracies that also look out only for themselves. i know it sounds trite and i know it sounds radical. it is not radical. if one thinks about the fact industry, especially in areas where industry has been prevalent, there have always been issues of disposing waste. flint was one of those areas. troublevernment had staying on top of it. people prioritized money in various places other than in terms of their infrastructure. host: $600 million in federal dollars for flint, michigan. you think that is my niche ago? -- money that should go? should it be offset somewhere else in the government or just get that money to flint now? caller: flint needs the money. there need to be offsets. handt a problem get out of and then all we want to do is throw money at it, thinking that will make the problem go away. the real issue is that government has not been attentive to priorities in any given state or any given community that need to be addressed while the problem is small before the problem becomes large. host: rufus in adrian, michigan. we will try to get and mary ellen from fort washington, maryland. caller: good morning. we do have many different kinds of government. state and federal. this seems like -- host: who of those do you trust? do you trust any of them? caller: i would trust my federal government. it seems like the state government in flint failed. you should also talk about the problem in north carolina and west virginia. two state with a water was poisoned. the governor in north carolina has been the protector of the company that poison the water. he was president there for 25 years. ,as virginia -- west virginia suppose a democrat which is really republican, joe manchin is protecting the people who poison the water. right now i am scared of my water so i will have to test it. governor snyder should be in jail. he bought special water for his state offices knowing that the water was poisoned. they did not treat the water but the citizens did so they should gather around his house and evict him. some caller said he went to the bahamas. too bad the people in flint cannot go to the bahamas to get away from the water. host: mary ellen in maryland this morning. our last call in this first segment. up next we will be joined by fergus cullen, former chair of the republican party in new hampshire. he is a john kasich supporter this time around and the author of a new book on the history of the new hampshire primary. later we will be joined by james pindell, a reporter with the boston globe. he will join us from the granite state to give us the latest ahead of this tuesday primary voting. new hampshire secretary of state bill gardner spoke about how the state is preparing for tuesday's primary. [video clip] , tell us state house what it will be like leading up to the primary for you. >> the week between iowa and our primary is a different week than any week in the four years between cycles. do, gettingt we ballots distributed, is always done before that week begins. it is accommodating a lot of people that come into the state. questions about the procedures. what our vote will be like. who can vote. that is what occupies a lot of time. >> what kind of turnout are you expecting and what you do to prepare for that? >> i'm expecting that we will have a really high turnout. it will be a record in some ways, depending on what you look at. million.e over half a it could be -- it will be at least a that. >> do somebody have to be declared to a party in order to participate? >> yes. every person, when they cast a ballot, is a registered member of a party. those that are undeclared, that have not designated a party on the checklist, those individuals can come in and ask for a party ballot. they then get registered in the party and they get the party ballot. on the way out of the polls they will revertorm that back to the undeclared status. we are a closed primary in the sense that everyone when they are voting will be a registered member of one party or the other when they are voting and those that are registered at the time, they walk into the polls, they only can get the ballot of the party they are registered in. host: out in manchester new hampshire we are joined by fergus cullen, former chair of the republican party of new hampshire and he is supporting john kasich this cycle. we will get to that endorsement in a minute. i want to begin with your book "granite steps." a new history of the new hampshire primary. why pick the 1992 election as the place to begin your new history of new hampshire? of reasons.ple people tend to appreciate history that kind of remember that happened in their lifetime. the first in the nation primary always changes. it is quaint to think of it as whenwas it like in 1960 gene mccarthy was running in 1968. it is a different set up. we started in 1992. the challenge from pat buchanan against george h.w. bush. host: you began with bill clinton in 1992. for viewers, from 1952 until 1988 every candidate who won the presidency first one new hampshire. that was until the clinton lost in 1992 and went on to win the white house. here is bill clinton from new hampshire on primary night in 1992. [video clip] while the evening is young and we don't know yet what the final tally will be, i think we know enough to say with some certainty that new hampshire tonight has made bill clinton the comeback kid. [cheering] [applause] cullen, you write in your book the next day according to official election results paul tsongas won the 92 primary with 33% of the vote. clinton finished with under 25%. cuomo received nearly 4% on right ends but bill clinton survived. why did bill clinton lose in 1992 and why is surviving in new hampshire sometimes as important as winning? guest: people tend to forget that when bill clinton first ran for president he was campaigning to change a democratic party that lost five of the six previous presidential elections. he was saying specifically to voters we cannot go around electing or nominating another liberal in the mold of walter mondale and expect to win. he was trying to change the party at the time. his whole candidacy became a question of character. the draft story happened while campaigning in new hampshire. knocked thes that clinton campaign back on its heels, nearly knocked them out of the race but he persevered and kept on campaigning. he threw himself at the mercy of voters and they allowed him a second chance to continue running. host: is there a historical comparison to 1992? is there a candidate that may not necessarily when new hampshire but needs to survive? .uest: an awful lot of them on the republican side especially the cycle who are sort of making last stands. three governors running who are existential struggle with each other. they do not necessarily have to beat donald trump but they have to beat each other. the story may very well be not who one who finished second and third. host: you are supporting governor kasich in this cycle. why is that? guest: i came to the conclusion that governor kasich was the one who had the most proven experience of actually enacting conservative policies and winning elections. we have gifted talkers in this campaign with very thin records. i appreciate governor kasich's tone. he has been optimistic. not someone who is saying the k.rld is going to hec he is unique in this field and having that kind of positive message. i appreciate that about him. host: if you want to talk to fergus cullen on "the washington journal," he is joining us read the author of "granite steps." we will be talking about his endorsement and his book for about the next 35 minutes or so. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 a special live for new hampshire .oters, (202) 748-8003 we will start with john calling in from sebring, florida. you're on with fergus cullen. caller: i am a truck fan when i voted -- a trump fan when a vote in florida. i would not vote for kasich or christieor rubio or out of new jersey. i would not hire those guys to clean my sewer system. amnesty.of them is for they want to give them everything and take our jobs. .e are going to put trump in we will get this country back on track and make america great again. we are sick of these people up there doing this to the american people. all of those people i said i would not hire them for cleaning out the septic tank. host: fergus cullen on the immigration issue and specifically how that is playing in the days ahead of the new hampshire primary. guest: i think america is pretty great already. i think one of the things that makes america great historically has been immigration. i'm in favor of reforming immigration so that we make it easier for the world's most talented, motivated people to live and work in america legally. i understand that nativism and no nothingism has existed in this country going back to its founding. the 1800s. what the caller from florida has reflected is that same sort of historical strand that has been in this country. i think it is an ugly strand i disagree with. donald trump has risen by tapping into that ugly underside of american politics. i think voters will ultimately rejected. host: paul is in maryland. live for independents. are you with us? we will go to roger. line for republicans. go ahead. caller: yes. , worked for a congresswoman carney barela. that is when john kasich was in congress. i get a christmas card from him. i am undecided between kasich and rubio. i was wondering if you could enlighten me. i know governor kasich's record. i like it because i think he can work across party lines and i think that's what we need. -- they are not working with each other as they should for the american people. host: here is your chance to make a pitch to a voter. guest: i am not anti-rubio. i'm impressed with his munication skills. i'm a bit concerned about his level of experience although i do not think that is disqualifying. i came to the conclusion that john kasich has a proven record of getting things done and winning elections. marco rubio has 11 election to statewide office -- marco rubio election to statewide office. candidate who can carry a state like new hampshire in a general election. i think most of the republican candidates cannot carry a swing state like new hampshire. i'm looking at electability. it does not do us any good to advance the causes we believe in if we cannot win an election first. i think john kasich is a superior candidate on that and. host: you mentioned communication skills. there is a moment you read about in your book going back to the 1992 race on the republican side. it was a town hall on january 15 in new hampshire in 1992 in exeter. c-span covered it. george h.w. bush set aside his prepared text and blurted out the main talking points of his visit. here is a bit from his remarks that night. [video clip] >> one of the things i am pleased to be able to do here is to at least let the people of this state know that even though i am president and do have two or three other responsibilities that when people are hurting we care. we get the message. we can understand and i wanted .o get that out loud and clear you hear a lot of people who discovered new hampshire for the first time running around trying to say something different. of coarse we care. host: why was this an important moment? do stump speeches work in new hampshire? they see so many candidates come through. is it better to set aside your prepared speech? guest: president bush spent so much time campaigning in new 1978,ire going back to 1979. again of course as vice president. he was a visitor to new hampshire in 1988 campaign where he came back to win new hampshire. he stayed away. before that generally 15th visit he had not been to new hampshire in more than a year. at the time the economy was hurting. i take it was six banks in the state that fail the couple of months earlier. the economy was in a recession. pat buchanan showed up in december of that year, 10 weeks before the primary, announced his candidacy and was off to the races. the democrats were hammering him on the economy. there was a sense of the time that president bush was more interested in foreign affairs coming off the success in the gulf war then he was in domestic matters. that trip was a bit of a disaster day for him. carenly 80's a message i hethe meeting but he had -- said things like don't cry for me argentina. the trip did not help his candidacy as it was intended to do by his supporters. host: i want to ask you how folks in new hampshire view the candidates and how they speak to headline recently from the boston globe. we will be joined at our next segment here. it is from earlier this week. candidates moved from iowa nice to new hampshire blunt. guest: i think voters here expect to see their candidates in person. most voters get that information the same way voters and the rest of the country do, by watching c-span and tv news and following the debate. everyone here has the opportunity to see them in person and size them up and assess them to the quintessential event is a town hall meeting where the candidates give a stump speech for 15 or 20 minutes and then give a q&a for the balance of an hour. most of those questions fall into predictable categories paired what will you do on isis, what is your obamacare. one out of four questions is on a different topic and it lets the candidate get off their talking -- talking points and show the real character. that happens in new hampshire. everything is done in tv and prepared remarks and big press conferences. a candidate never has a two-way conversation with an american citizen again. that is a flaw in our democracy. the last time they talk about -- talk with ordinary americans is in new hampshire. host: what is a moment you just spoke about, individual people can remember from those campaigns that made a difference in new hampshire? one was august of 2007 with john mccain. a town hall meeting in new hampshire. been in thehave audience at the time. a woman walked in and we recognized her as a gold star mother. mccain would not have known that. halfway through the townhall meeting, she gets up and asked him a question, basically saying, i lost my son in iraq. i want you to assure me he did not give up his life in vain. will you wear this bracelet in memory of matthew? you can see john mccain taken aback. resin walks up to her and says yes, i will wear this bracelet. he wanted for the rest of the campaign. it for the rest of the campaign. in doing research for the book, what makes the moment more poignant, i came across three examples where voters came up to john mccain and said, i wore a bracelet for you when you were a pow in vietnam 40 years before. a real humanizing moment. also, hillary clinton, a breakfast place in new hampshire, a day before the primary, where she seemed to break down and it was a humanizing moment for her talking about the pressure she was under. hillary clinton has a lot of strengths. being a warm person is not maybe one that people associate with her. it made her human. i think it helped her politically and it was authentic as well. that's something that was manufactured. host: the surprises and stumbles in new hampshire all included in .ranite steps the history of it or what is happening in the next week, here in new hampshire on primary day. john is in new hampshire, line for independents. for having meyou on c-span to love your program. democrat, republican, or independent, people in new hampshire are seeking someone with business experience rather than an evangelical approach. trade as the underdog or he is about to make his break in new hampshire, i have friends who work under him and his tenure as governor of ohio. he is portraying himself as sunny. he was known as a nasty man. he called policemen and members of the teachers union idiots to their faces and called some democrats on the floor morons and corrupts. . do you think it is easy for candidates to change their persona that quickly? do you think politicians are naturally good at warping and disguising their personalities in order to appeal to a broader base? politics is a performance art to a certain extent. reading the polls, certainly a performer in that sense. one reason the new hampshire youaries serve a purpose is .an only fake it for so long your true character will be revealed out on the stump. the house parties with real interactions and real voters. the people are not characters or extras on the set here they are people with real lives in real families and real issues going on, and they have an opportunity to bring that up to candidates. how do they respond when they meet these really humans, real voters? it is so telling. when bill clinton gets down on a knee and feels the elderly woman's pain in nashua as he did before the primaries in 1992, it showed he cared about people. it was spontaneous and authentic. we have seen in this cycle voters who have gone up to democrats and republicans telling real stories about how a crisis has affected people they know and their families. that is a real moment and after they leave new hampshire, those kinds of things never happen again. can you talk about how , how it worksorks for independents. guest: if you are a registered or undeclared voter come you have a choice in voting either democratic or republican primary. that is helpful for democracy because it means there is a disincentive or any candidate to only appeal to their base. if they go too far in that direction, they risk having a counterbalancing effect in the primary. sometimes independents here have voted disproportionally for one or another, like in 2000 when john mccain was running against george w. bush in new hampshire on the republican side and bill bradley and al gore were running next to no -- neck to neck. bill bradley, very dole candidates. john mccain and bradley were competing for independent voters so much so that they did an unprecedented event, a joint event where they talked about campaign finance reform, trying to appeal to the same centrist voters. it turned out bill bradley lost the democratic side by a couple of points. john mccain carried republican voters in that primary by one point. what turned a narrow win into a rout was independents voting for over georgean party w. bush, ended up winning by 17 points. the record margin of victory here in a primary. there were enough independent voters in the primary to give john mccain and bill bradley a win. because mccain got all the energy and excitement of it, the race turned out to be a blowout and bradley ended up losing and that was the end of his candidacy really. host: do you see the independents breaking one way or the other? guest: there is pulling that suggests it will be a competitive race. sanders, a socialist running to hillary clinton's left, not necessarily the kind of ideological profile that would seem to be appealing to independent voters. donald trump has appealed to less partisan, less ideological voters who are by definition likely to be independent or undeclared. it is not clear whether one party will get a disproportionate share of that vote. i am a john kasich supporter. i think he stands to appeal to some of the new hampshire and independent voters perhaps better than other republican voters running. -- republicans running. in new york, jim, line for democrats. caller: i am a blue dog democrat. i think the republican candidates are pretty much all mean-spirited. i am a political junkie p or i have followed john kasich's career. it has been impressive to see his compassion and thoughtfulness from the first debate. we live in a world where maybe the good die young and the competent -- guest: i appreciate that comment and that is one of the things that attracted me to john kasich, that he understand the government is really there about people and not statistics. you mentioned hillary clinton. she started campaigning in new hampshire going back to 1968 when she came up as a student in a college to campaign for gene mccarthy in that primary. she has been constant presence ever since. one of the folks who follows us almost every day, carol writes, -- what would your response be to carol? true. i think that is he is confident in wins elections and gets things done and is a worker. what you get is how much things televisionged, cable and social media. we forget how many impacts they have. it is not ancient history. years ago when barack obama was running in new hampshire, a little company in california called his book had recently added its 100th employee. social media even in that cutting-edge campaign was not a factor the way that is. when you look at the field today and say, could donald trump exist without cable tv in social media, and you look at someone like paul who won the primary in 1992, could a candidate like cam, earnest about a little dull, could he survive in cable tv and social media? i think answer is no. it is always changing and these kinds of communication skills on television have become even more important. i think that is what gave barack obama his political opportunity years ago. it has helped candidates like ted cruz and marco rubio this time. i think it takes a broader set of skills than simply being able to give a good talk into a camera and order to be president but other voters might disagree. host: florida, up next, victor is waiting on our line for republicans. supports hco rubio one v1 these us. were used at disney to replace 250 american workers with foreign workers. they had to train their replacements, lost their jobs, and that is where he gets his money from. he gets it from robbing us and people doing the bidding of corporate america. i agree with the guest that case it is a better candidate than rubio. and rubio is not being embedded properly. he has a lot of problems with the h-1b one visa and the things he supports and the people who support him. you have to follow the money and the nice thing about trump is he self funds corporate america cannot buy him and he has to do his bidding. thank you. the immigration issue has been cutting in this primary as it was in 2012 and 2008 republican primaries. to go back on that side, mitt used the issue, cynically, in my view, to drive a wedge between john mccain and the republican base in the 2008 primary. he did the same thing with the same issue against rick perry. before perry fell apart and was considered a real threat in that race. been a divisive issue. i am for immigration reform that serves america's economy. i see immigrants as entrepreneurs, people who help other american businesses and employers grow and add more to their workforce. unfortunately, donald trump has polarized the debate and instead we're talking about whether mexicans are rate this, and low skill and low education immigrants instead of high skill in higher education immigrants who contribute to our cap -- our economy. and lost in all of this has been a discussion about guestworker programs. here in new hampshire, we have a northern new hampshire tourism , it cannot get workers. there are enough young people working around to fill all the jobs that are needed. getting seasonal, temporary, sometimes international help is part of what gets this distances by. we have not been able to discuss any of the issues because donald trump poisoned the well so badly last summer and i think it is a shame. it is one of the reasons i am disappointed in his candidacy. you might be interested in the front page story, the headline, meet folks who give money to billionaire trump. noting that donald trump has the ability and desire to self fund and yet 2300 donations in the final three months of 2015 for individuals -- from individuals for the trump campaign. the story interviews people like the owner of nature's garden, a health food store in naples, florida. "it makes me feel good to donate to trump. i know he does not need the money, but i did it for me. individuals who have given money to the trump campaign. to don, greenville, ohio, independents. go ahead. i want to make a couple of statements here and then i will get to what i think about the caucuses. is first one i want to make to all of the people in the united states. greate not had a president for 50 years and we definitely have not have -- had a congress -- as far as i am concerned. iowa caucuses, i was appalled at what i was seeing, tossing the coins to make up their mind who was going to win, that was appalling. that was on the democratic side. side, it wasican cruz who said ben carson quit and went home. called i had to almost turn the tv off when i heard these things. the shows how corrupt government can be as far as i'm concerned. i was appalled at what was happening. that is why people of the united states, we need a third-party cold we the people of the united a. i think there were five other firsts that ran for the presidential election. there was a constitution, a libertarian grain, a socialist, and a nonparty. people, get together, get one called we the people of the a nice dates, and just see how many people agree with me. you might be interested in our last 45 minutes on today's's washington journal. we will open up the phones to our viewers for this question. how would you change the presidential nominating process. we will ask our viewers to call and get their suggestions on how they would change it and what they see wrong with the current process. or you can call in and talk about why you like it. let's go to kelly in south carolina, line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. my question to your guest to start with is about john kasich. you're talking about how well and what is doing obamacare was implemented, he went ahead and took the money to in -- and itid pretty much bankrupted the state. i am talking about surpluses and all the cash that has been -- the medicaid is just deficit, the budget in that state. and sellscross himself as a conservative, but marriage, he is for legalizing all the 11 or 12 or 13 or 14 million illegal aliens in the country. doot of positions he takes not represent the conservative part of the republican party. i would like to get some as tock from your guest why he is such a strong supporter of k-6. -- john kasich. governor kasich has a balanced budget in ohio. there are not deficits there. the chairman of the house budget committee, the last time we had a balance budget in washington was the late 1990's. has not been one since. i think the fiscal conservative bona fides are more than established and a lot of people are talking about what they will do but he has actually done it. medicaid, iion of think it is important for republicans across the country recognize that people need to have health insurance. are all against obamacare. i am in governor kasich is. the question is, what is the republican alternative? it cannot be do not get hurt, do not get old, and do not get sick. you have real people who need to have health insurance coverage here he recognizes that. of the differences between governors and senators. governors have to deal with the lives of real people. speechesve talks and and be very theoretical about withouticies might be, actually having to do with consequences in terms of how they affect people's lives. i think there is a strong market for that not only with republican primary voters the general election voters. it is one of the reasons why i think governor kasich is one of the best in the field. host: i want to ask you about the strategy of pretty much saying, if he does not win in new hampshire, he will go back to ohio. the headline came out this week -- the story noting after spending a little time or money in iowa, john kasich says he is getting his residential hope on new hampshire and will reassess his campaign in the days after the primary next week. is that a good strategy to say this is it? refreshing candor from a candidate. who knew? it is true of chris christie and jeb bush and carly fiorina and marco rubio to some extent. all have to do well in new hampshire. they do not necessarily have to win but if you -- fourth or fifth in new hampshire, how could any candidate here credibly argue to republican voters and donors that the party ought to consolidate around them in order to stop trump or cruise from winning the nomination? they will say you had a level playing field in new hampshire, equal opportunity, you campaigned hard and were not able to convince enough people to support you. that will unfortunately be the end of their candidacies. one will finish second and one will finish third year and i am optimistic governor kasich might be one of those candidates. the fact is the other candidates will not be able to convince people to rally behind them. it reminds me of 1996 republican primaries. year at 28% won the against a fractured and divided republican field. it ought to sound familiar. abdul that year such -- just a percentage point. alexander tried hard to argue with people that he should be the one to move forward and stop , that bob dole had his chance to because bob dole had defeated him like two points, alexander was not able to persuade people to the argument. the party did rally to bob dole not necessarily because of the wild enthusiasm for bob dole, because they were not going to nominate pat buchanan. they have to be each other and that is why so much is riding on it and it is refreshing governor kasich acknowledges that fact. stumbles, surprises, and successes along the trail. there is the cover of the book there. let's go to sherry, ohio, line for republicans. caller: i live in the state of ohio. is nothing of what he appears to have had first hand experiences with his office and staff. he is against the people of ohio and has forced many people in high positions. pharmaceutical board, and in the middle of the night, he changed the laws of the pharmaceutical step down.ade people he has done many things to balance the budget from school money. these people better do their research about john kasich. he was trying to get a drug. he is in the pharmaceutical industry. all of this is connected. tourists --ney back hackers. this man is he is a rotten, dirty man. john mccain says he has a hair trigger temper and that is the truth. about big-money backers for john kasich, your candidate. where governorg kasich was yesterday, someone asked about money and politics and he was very this -- dismissive. if you support me, you will not get anything from it. there is concern that money in politics is always corrupting. that has not been my experience. support candidates, whether republican or democrat, because they like them and support them and want to see them have success and that is the motivation behind almost every donor for political candidates. donald trump has come up several times in the discussion. you challenged his eligibility to run a gop primary ballot in new hampshire. can you talk about that challenge? the point we were trying to make at the time is donald trump does not represent the party or its use. being like me accused of establishment republicans are terribly concerned about the damage trump has already done to the republican brand. he repelled the voters the republican nominee needs to to win the election. i am about women and minorities and decent apel, regardless of their ideology around the country. so it is a real concern and i made the challenge prior to donald trump saying he would ban muslims from entering the country. that seems completely contrary to our founding, based on religious tolerance and religious freedom, not to speak of the first amendment, freedom of religion as well. so i called him a dangerous demagogue and i think he is here at our country is never seen a character like him who is such a threat. i think voters will sort this out in the next month. so in iowad doing and will continue in new hampshire. i think it is not likely trump ends up as the nominee. but you cannot just look the other way when somebody is .peaking like this you have to stand up and oppose them and i was proud to do that. richard is waiting on our line for republicans. yes, good morning. governor kasich should retire. the polls have him at 2%. he is part of the establishment who has gotten us where we are today. full him companies when in their and did their drilling and started getting oil and that is the reason why unemployment has decreased. it is a bad thing. it is a good thing. but i would not give him credit for anything. he has run his race and is the type of politician to get angry at people if they do not agree and he explodes. he is not going to get us where we need to go. go ahead. guest: he is polling numbers in ohio really strong. his approval rating is somewhere in the 60's. other governors have not had that strong report -- support at home. he will not get everybody''s support. there is a good market for john kasich and we will get voters to decide this and not national polls. it is competitive in new hampshire. it is a tossup and i hope he beats these other candidates. i knology three or four candidates have the opportunity to finish second in new hampshire. we do not know how it will play out and that is why it is so much fun to watch. host: david, a couple minutes fergus cullen. .e will go to janel can you make it quick? caller: i was wondering how new hampshire is feeling about the communist george soros giving hillary clinton $60 million yesterday. i am not aware about that particular contribution. george soros has been a supporter of democrats and maybe that is an issue bernie sanders will bring up when they debate tonight. host: i want to ask you, there have been so many different interpretations of what winning was in iowa, or who won iowa. define winning in new hampshire for these candidates? it is sometimes exceeding expectations and beating other people in your bracket. i do not think mainstream publications are competing to beat trump in new hampshire. they are competing for the right to compete in future states. i think there is a strong trump -- stop trump movement. it is up to them to assert themselves -- the one to have the opportunity to consolidate mainstream voters around the country to do that. they may be successful or they may not. but that is the real contest in new hampshire, to finish first .n the bracket it will be interesting to see who is second and who is third. beating someone by a point will matter a lot here. it is really hard to see. i have a hard time believing bernie sanders will win new hampshire to-one. -- 2-1. are satisfieds with hillary clinton. some of it is an anti-clinton vote ain't we want to turn the page on that. think it is going to be a blowout. really hard to see. is theergus cullen author of "granite steps." if you want to follow him on twitter, -- we appreciate your time this morning. up next on the washington journal, we will be joined by a political reporter with the boston globe. we will talk about the latest and what is ahead for the new hampshire primary. visit with bill gardner, c-span had a chance to learn about a piece of furniture that is an important part of new hampshire primary history. >> we are joined by bill gardner to talk about the history of new hampshire politics. there is something important in the process. talk about stephen bullock. >> he was a legislator in 1950 from a small town of richmond. it has less than 1000 people in it to this day. he was a farmer and he put a the in that created primary. he wanted more people to be a .art of the process they put the bill in, it passed, it became law. us the deskas given that he used. , weng the filing period usually have them file on the only piece of furniture in the state house now that was here when the state house opened in 1819 and that was typically the desk. on the occasion of the 100th anniversary with the first new hampshire presidential primary, we used the desk as the filing desk. all the candidates. we have 58 candidates on the ballot, 30 on the republican ballot. 28 on the republican ballot. on the desk, honoring representative bullock who was the one who put the legislation we haveresulted in what today. >> how did you debt -- get the desk? >> the family of his granddaughter who i got to meet maybe 20 years ago who had no this theree did all was no mention that he was the one who did this because it was not a big thing. intended to was not be first. it was to give the people of the state a role in the process. it has lived for 100 years now. >> signing the paperwork on this desk, considering that can -- the significance? >> they had a lot of questions about it and know a little bit about him. the candidates came in and it added a new dynamic to the filing. this made it different. it was a different filing period. quite thank you for your time. -- >> thank you for your time. l joins uss pindel now. he is a political reporter. glad to have you on the show. you wrote the day after the iowa caucuses that while the result out of iowa may have been surprising, it would not have an impact on the new hampshire primary. guest: ever since george h.w. , he won the iowa caucuses appeared to have the big momentum heading into new hampshire. have a majorto moment heading into the state. george h.w. bush lost that moment. barack obama lost that momentum in five days to hillary clinton here in 2008. if you look at what is happening in new hampshire post-iowa, we're just not seeing that momentum. at all.eeing no mo he does candidates with a little , ted cruz who won the iowa caucuses, and marco rubio who did surprisingly well almost in second place. neither one of them are overwhelming the field now. given democratic side, that it was basically a tie, even hillary clinton people are saying they do not have momentum coming into the state. it is an important distinction to make. fundamental dynamics of new hampshire remain the same they were the day before iowa. bernie sanders has a large lead over clinton. donald trump will have a big lead over the republican field. that lead is still quite large. consolidated conservatives in december or november. so he won the iowa caucuses, but he already had the support your and is already doing quite well. and we have this establishment laying cluster that people talked about a lot with john kasich and marco rubio and jeb bush. they are most important and donald trump e are known can quite decide which way they are supposed to go. is shifted so more people looking at marco rubio as the option among those four. tracking the poll earlier today. host: for our viewers, now would time to call in. james the covered new hampshire politics for 13 years. answer person to questions. -- we will look for those calls especially in this segment. 13 years covering politics in new hampshire. is the way that candidates use momentum or try to show momentum different in this day and age? the front page of the boston is twitterlead story wars on the campaign trail. something you would not have seen in the last election. guest: i have got to be honest, when we have a lot of social media stories and cycles in 2012 they were thought futuristic and really missing the point because the campaigns really take place on the ground and doorknocking. this timelutely true but i think frankly donald trump has revolutionized the use of social media what it means in the campaign. a brand-new agenda or a brand-new person he is attacking. it shifts the dynamics of the race. using twitter and having a little notification everything will time he sends a tweet. often does not mean much but you never know. was also really important in 2008, it shows how the campaign talks to regular, everyday voters. inack obama put together 2008 a very robust e-mail list with tens of millions of people on it and i'm sure that is duplicate e-mails. they would say at the end of the campaign that look, the national abc andt networks of cbs and nbc. if you take all of them in terms theyeir nightly viewership would still reach more people by hitting the send button on their inbox and they would making time for broadcast networks. they began to see direct communication between candidates or campaigns and it has become even more prominent this time because of facebook and twitter. host: is it worth buying a cap -- in new hampshire? guest: it is worth buying it. what is really interesting is tv ads where you have record noting television has announced into anything. i can only point to one example all year where tv advertising did anything. that was john kasich in the late summer who spent five main dollars on the airways here in new hampshire. that was able to bring him up to temporarily,place and matters because he would not qualify for a foxnews debate in the first debate. he will able to get these numbers up in the poll numbers and qualify. quoting a hillary clinton advertisement saying that is the reason i am voting for them. think we see that kind of impact where the impact has been on social media and people's inboxes. host: karen is up first in lakeview oregon, line for independents. you are on with james pindell. caller: i used to be a republican and i am changing to independent because i'm very unhappy with the establishment republicans. is, i believe you the news has a great influence over the elections. look back to when michele bachmann was running. saying she was too religious to be president. they kind of take out the top runners one at a time until we have last man standing. this year, the last man standing with bush. if bush was in first place and some of the other candidates were last, they will be putting them on second tear stages, they are hoping he would be the set up for rubio. will be picking some supreme court judges and we need to quit paying attention to fox news. if you look at megyn kelly and the fight between john -- donald trump and megyn kelly, she started out the debate when trump -- with a trunk question. they could have asked it several questions down the line. we need to watch fox news pay attention, do not let them make decisions for us. and boycott megyn kelly. the role of the media in the 2016 campaign, different than you have seen in previous elections? it is more of a national media focus. the colors question about the debate in general has been a huge factor. iowa in new hampshire, for all the criticism we get, let's be honest about what they do appear they do not pick presidents. the field.go down options and the rest of the country, it takes two or three or four people who go on and they go on to make a decision there. we have seen the traditional role of iowa new hampshire extremely challenged. the states that want to go first, louisiana, you can pick your year. it is much more of an existential threat. what the primary represents and what it does. at the front end, we have these debates. the debates have winnowed down the field in the first place. are a lot of candidates running at one point. 17 republican candidates running. it seems absurd to put 17 stage at one the time and give them about 15 seconds each to talk. they came up with the idea that they would have two today's and one would be major candidates and the other would be the minor candidates. there is a lot of criticism here people,ampshire, these very prominent republicans, sent a letter to fox news saying do not do this and this is not the way it should be done. national polling to determine who they make the stage. incentives or the candidate to go on fox and national news and not actually campaign in new hampshire the traditional way that is done. it is upsetting. with the large estates in the if you are taking a national poll about that many people would be from new york or california. that is not why the campaign is taking place you might as well ask their opinions on the prime minister race in canada. they are not seeing the advertisements or the interviews or that kind of thing. there has been a lot of concern not just by fox but i cnn and others more than we've ever seen this before. trump breaksdline, far for --ck again, far from the campaign trail, head of tuesday's's primary, trump made a notable detour to address an arena with thousands of cheering supporters in little rock. how does that play in new hampshire and on the same line of questioning, donald trump skipped the debate in iowa in the days leading up to the caucuses. would they skip in new hampshire? 's skip thege w. bush debate in 2000 and he was hit hard for it. he lost the primary to john mccain that year. living in a different age. donald trump is a completely different candidate. one thing that is true is he's getting away with it here. -- backho back the trump back the idea of more than him and his particular personality. the fact that he went to little rock for a day does not concern little rock supporters. he has got a huge lead here. about 26 points up which would make this race boring and now it is collapsing. .e have a few more days to go he is going to attend the republican debate here on saturday night. we will see what happens. few more colors to go in this segment. ralph, d.c., line for democrats. theer: it is amazing established media say all my, i cannot understand why everybody does not want to vote for the established candidate. trump.ey attack trump is a fascist and this and that. then bernie sanders is going to be ignored. bernie sanders cannot win. they showed with some polls were bernie sanders -- trump would win by 18 points. that does not seem to make the media. the corporate media has tipped the candidates. one has been bought and paid for. the clintons received $100 million in speaking fees. all the other candidates rely on donations. they will do anything to stop sanders. sanders scares them to death. be surprised if his suicide it or something like that or is it -- if that does not work, they will fix the polling machines like they did in the first election for bush. and like they did recently in ohio, they did -- they had a ballot to vote on marijuana laws. it.could track 7000 against. in the end, the final total, it was 900,000 in favor and 1.6 million against. host: got your point. james pindell on bernie sanders. guest: he had the criticism of corporate media choosing the candidate. you could talk about that and asleep if you wanted to in september or august, but right now, people are voting. we're analyzing what people are saying in the actual vote. a strongnders has been candidate with that message it was interesting to watch is the sort of branding. bernie sanders and hillary clinton yesterday fighting over who would be the bigger progressive or liberal. she used the word moderate in ohio a few months ago. at the same time, the hillary clinton and the bernie sanders campaign made the argument about electability. i think we will find that tension between who is a better base candidate and whom may be the more electable candidate. playing in aow certain way. offering glimpses of life on the campaign trail. are there moment that have stuck out to you in the moments leading up to the vote? guest: i am still stuck in my mind with a saturday in april 2014. on that day, you had two events in manchester that were really eye-opening. i thought for a while now in the 2012 election that we were may be headed toward a big, populist moment. i thought not even a populist candidate would emerge like donald trump, who i did not think would run, let's be honest, or even bernie sanders. but i thought smart politicians who were ambitious could do some anding and say the ratings get the right message. i began to see that actually, the seeds were even more than i thought on that. byhad a conference sponsored the koch brothers in town. we then featured a number of presidential candidates, including donald trump. like from teduage cruz who attended and talked about the 1%, saying in his view that the government was putting policies and regulations in place. i thought it was interesting a conservative republican was talking about this sort of populist message. down, -- town, bernie sanders had his coming out moment. most people come to new hampshire for the first trip and they get 50 people who are really hard-core activists who want to see the person up close. 4%nie sanders probably had a name recognition. when i walked into the room, i barely got in because of the fire marshal. there are over 450 people there to see bernie, just bernie, not any other candidate or warm-up act. just bernie. you began to see the seeds of the campaign always back to april, saturday 2014. host: if you want to check out the ground game column that james pindell and his fellow political reporters at boston globe worked on. john is up next in d.c., independents. theer: ok, look, i am executive director of a committee here in washington, which specializes in public safety and also injured government employees who have been removed from their job for trying to do the correct thing, as well as descendents of african american in this country. i have any question -- a question to ask you and i want to be told and direct with it without offending anyone. we have an epidemic, drugs. do with any of the candidates on stage is to make sure they can pass a drug test. i do not want any president of , thecountry on drugs commander-in-chief or vice president or congressman or senator. we have injured government employees who work. they're living souls and minds are to protect the pieces of this country and not go with political assignments to rohn people. addiction ofh elected political leaders under the influence of narcotics. , the issue pindell of drug abuse on the campaign trail, i do not know if there is you wantas a candidate to talk about, but candidates talking about the issue including ted cruz today will deliver remarks on drug addiction and recovery at the emmanuel that this church at about 115. -- one: 15. we will air it live on c-span3. guest: the new hampshire primary, there are a lot of criticisms as i said before. it is too white and rural. it forces candidates to talk to regular people. the argument has always been people who run for president, they are governors and senators and people who are successful in business. for most of your life recently, in the last five or 10 years, they are running in circles by definition. who they talk to, who they grab a drink with. what is beautiful, frankly, about the new hampshire primary is that the people who live in the elite circles are forced to interact with regular everyday people to hear their concerns. you know 1% of americans sign up to do that. and who wins and who loses in tax policy. because of the process, the candidates become better and understand the issues driving everyday americans live. only new hampshire understood in his was -- closed state while he was campaigning in the middle that recession. in this time it was drugs. heroine and opioid epidemic happening right now in new hampshire. candidatesumber of put out detailed plans on what they want to do about it. on another level, there is one moment where you get to see candidates as a human being. carly fiorina talks about how she lost her stepdaughter to addiction. jeb bush talks about how his own daughter struggled with addiction. ted cruz will talk later today probably about his sister and chris christie talking about his law school friend. you have moments where you can relate one-on-one where you can judge the character of the next president. it is unfortunately having -- happening in the context of addiction. but i think the candidates understand that. i do not think they would have understood it was an issue having not been campaigning in the state. that particular issue is getting a lot of attention. i would point out in terms of there was a recent poll done asking new hampshire residents, what is the most important issue facing the state. it is different than facing the nation. jobs in the economy, isis, and national security. it is not anymore. it is the heroine crisis. it is on the minds of voters as they head to polls on tuesday. travis is also in manchester, new hampshire. an independent. go ahead. the difference between what is going on with iowa and new hampshire this year or the -- it isis that iowa, not really fair to iowa but i think at the root of the message is that iowa tends to go with ,he more socially conservative typically more right-wing candidates. they pick the establishment, the moderate, and it is not quite going that way. the lead and ted cruz and a second, which closely mirrors what happened in iowa. i'm curious what you think counts for the change this year. santorum in iowa and mitt romney and new hampshire, iowa and mccain and new hampshire. i'm curious what you think about that. is a smart man. he can remember all his facts. it is a great question. the number one reason why we have seen a dynamical play out -- dynamic play out is just the amount of candidates running for president and we have nine candidates after rick santorum dropped out. because of that, we have a number of candidates competing on a high-level level getting a lot of support and they are splintering. donald trump remains in first place since july here. ted cruz is totally logical to me why he is in second place. publicans in new hampshire are not nearly as conservative as they are in iowa and that is true. however, first place is probably going to be 25-30% and that is with the person will get pyramid romney got 39% in a 2012 elections. thettle lower because of number of candidates running. 17, 18, 19%. you have that problem when you talk earlier about these establishment candidates. this is where you see the moderate voter who cannot make up their mind. they are there and engaged that split over four different candidates. if you add up support for those four candidates, and they get a higher vote total. of them dropped out and everyone backed up a candidate. the boston globe had rankings of candidates based on polling and fundraising. they have donald trump in first, ted cruz in second. marco rubio in third, and on those rankings, john kasich in fourth, jeb bush, fifth, ben carson in seventh, carly fiorina in eighth, and jim go more ninth. how often do you updated those rankings? guest: those are mine. if you disagree, they are always subjective. it is fun to argue about. bring in the calls to argue. i polling, are you going to be viable organization? clearly some of those are weighed more than others. right now clearly organization polling matter more than the money raised right now. host: 15 minutes left in the segment if you want to bring in those calls to argue the rankings. doug in california, line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i just

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