Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20160308 : comparem

this morning, we're asking our viewers to weigh in. how important is it to you as you consider your choices this election year and you consider increased trade to be an threat to the a u.s. economy. give us a call. phone lines are open. democrats can call 202-748-8000, republicans, 202-748-8001, independents, 202-748-8002. up with us onatch social media and twitter @cspanwj or facebook at facebook.com/cspan. a very good tuesday morning to you. we're talking about the issue of trade on the campaign trail. thoughts andr your comments. here's the latest gallop polling numbers on how americans feel about the issue on foreign trade. the majority of americans see foreign trade as an opportunity for economic growth. 34% see trade as a threat to the economy. the numbers have been in that way in that balance since about opinions americans' about foreign trade, more it as ns started seeing an opportunity than a threat. gallup a chart in the polling numbers in 2012. you can see the numbers over the years re than 20 according to gallup. they've been tracking this topic. topic on become a key the campaign trail in 2016. senator bernie sanders of vermo vermont, it will be a key topic in the all important state of michigan in today's primaries. he wrote a column in the detroit free press over the weekend talking about the issue of trade. here's how he began that column. of state retary hillary clinton and i have differences of opinion on many no area is our difference stronger than trade policy and that strong isagreement came out sunday night in that debate in flint, michigan. here's a bit of the exchange two.en the ry nie sanders: secreta clinton supported every one of these disastrous trade written by corporate america. [applause] nafta, supported by the secretary, cost us 800,000 jobs nationwide, tens of thousands of jobs in the midwest. relationsnormal trade with china cost us jobs. was on a pict line in the early 1990s against nafta because you didn't need a ph.d. to understand that american workers should not be peopleto compete against in mexico making 25 cents an hour. [applause] and the reason that i was one of the first, not one of the last, opposition to the t.p.p. is that american workers compete t be forced to against people in vietnam today making a minimum wage of 65 cents an hour. look, what we have to do is tell corporate america that they cannot continue to shut down. e've lost 60,000 factories since 2001. i'm're going to have to, if president, start investing in this country, not in china, not in mexico. againstclinton: i voted the only national trade agreement against me when i was called enate, it was nafta. i came out against t.p.p. it was reasonable know what was in it and opposed it. debate a key trade issue. donald trump making it a key theme of his campaign. here's a story in the wall street journal. frontrunner donald trump offends the status quo on foreign policy of trade. one of the policy issues covered in that story. the wall street journal describes donald trump's trade way, he has is promised to lead a confrontation with china and mexico, countries accuses of fleecing the u.s. by lowering manufacturing jobs. donald trump brought this issue up on saturday in a rally. comments. t of his donald trump: we have these egg heads. they call them the elite. i say why are they elite? why are they more elite than me? can't tie their shoes. and they say i am the biggest free trader. it has to be law trade. it has to be even trade. we can't have trade where we have imbalances like $58 million with mexico. we can't lose $500 billion a year with china. we can't do this. do, we tell at we carrier -- and i want to do it going to say y're it's not presidential. aybe i'll do it anyway, let them say i'm not president. phil ll get carl or ruffman or andy beal , and it very good. here's what happens, we call i'd like to we say, congratulate you on your move to mexico. congratulations. l.think it's wonderfu you hurt 1400 people and many more. and by the way, united technologies which owns carrier owns a lot of other divisions too. going to cted, not happen. here's what i'd tell carrier. 'd say congratulations, i hope you build a beautiful place and employ a lot of people from mexico but you're hurting our country. so here's the story, folks. every air conditioning unit that put across the border, which will be a real border now. across unless they have our permission, right. every single air conditioning unit that you make that comes opposethe border, we can a 35% tax on that year. host: and on this issue, like so many others, the republican establishment has pushed back against donald trump last thursday, the prior nominee for the party mitt romney spoke out against donald trump on a number of issues and brought up the issue of trade. says, if emarks, he donald trump's plans were ever implemented, the country would recession.rolonged his proposed 35% airline instigate a uld trade war for consumers. businesses and jobs to flee america. that's from the transcript of mitt romney's statement last thursday. we want to hear our viewers' thoughts this morning. how important is this trade trade issue to you as you look at your 2016 choices? e'll begin with jax this morning calling in for rhode island, line for republicans. good morning. caller: good morning, sir. me personally, as i spoke to your screener, it's not important. am retired, reasonably comfortable. for young people, it's very important, because there is a transfer going on for the elites of the republican party nd the democratic party and internationalists. about a d care less worker, et cetera, et cetera, jobs are going overseas because the cost of labor is cheaper, okay. so it's going to happen and, you know, that's where capital flows. you, ly, i have to ask young man, they talk about winner take all states. i'm going off subject here. is illinois a winner take all state? if it is, why hasn't that really been publicized? thank you very much. host: stick around. we're actually going to be covering today's primaries. we're going to have a couple of this ers calling in on topic, both in this segment of the "washington journal" and our last segment. get that sure to answer for you. the key winner take all so much that get attention are coming up next week. those are the first states that primaries, take all and that's florida and ohio that's being so closely watched. to get tho , i want those topics. the trade debate. eric is online for the democrats. ood morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. hello. host: yes. go ahead. caller: a message to all your viewers if taxpayers don't pay for their own information, they only get information that the media wants them to have. to your question of trade, trade is a very important issue. years lly have after 30 somebody talking different than the status quo. onald trump is talking about tariffs. bernie sanders is talking about ariffs, which is what both of hose guys are causing is enthusiasm for, you know, voters. voters both exciting the and the main reason, in my opinion, they're talking about corporate what the media will scare you into thinking, trade war. middle ave the biggest class in the history of the world, so the idea that a trade - we would lose a war is crazy. democrats like clinton are for free trade. clinton normalized trade relations with china in 2000 as he was leaving, he basically thumbed his nose at the democratic party and opened the billion poor o a chinese work ers and said hey, democrats and unions and things of that nature, i don't care about you. i'm for free trade. i'm a blue dog democrat, a corporate democrat, a moderate democrat. of the ary clinton is same club. bernie sanders or donald trump or nobody. thank you. host: before you go, your concern about the corporate a ia promoting this idea of trade war, you said the corporate media will push their information out. your do you get information? think we lost eric, but we'll for to arizona, up next independents. genias roberts. good : good morning, and morning world. this is a very important job for e and a very important issue, because i've lived through this here. might experience in, you say, trade wars, and i am retired from u.s. steel. it was a very, very good job. but what i want to say is this country better start paying inention to the fifth phrase the preamble to the constitution promote the general welfare. me act, please don't cut off. this is very, very important for people that are voting and finally losete and interest, okay. hat it amounts to is that the general welfare has not been this scamming all trading, which means go to where is, you know, r this country has been inflated every y respect you can, respect you can means that we ions like to regulat regulate utility costs. e used to have regulations to keep rivers from starting fires. regulations to keep people healthy. and through politics, you can do anything, because you steer the issue in the way that you wanted, and now the biggest thing that has happened in this very, very bad, very sad, is his citizens united thing that happened to really crash our economy again and for a long cannot cause people compete with the international money. you, you said sk you've been in the trade war and it affected your job. how did it affect your job in the steel industry? caller: okay. i'll be very specific, okay. i've been all over this country. i've enjoyed being adventurous and such, but i've also broke up to amily by having to move different states. e moved to utah on account of that there were starting to be a southern lence in california. at that time, i had five children and, you know, i'm a with my n, i've been kids all the time. situation, help our but what happened? in utah, there was a steel plant miles south of salt city, right outside of provol. nd through a corporate type of tructure, what happened is supposedly, they couldn't afford to pay for the environment rules that were put in by mr. nixon, they did appened is correct somewhat the air and environmental hings by putting covers over the casting and, well, that was only for the air, okay. now, for the water, we used to ump our residue and everything else. stuff and any f kind of manufacturer, and steel, their primary manufacturing was steel. what happened is there was a ly,e right there and apparent we were polluting the lake very bad. host: when did you end that job plant? steel 1985, i left there in 85. s see, 19 host: and what did you do after that. caller: that was labor day. i beg your pardon? host: and what did you do after that? caller: i went to work in a steel mill -- i'm sorry. that was the steel mill. i went to work trying to help open up a new gold mine. believe me, i've had a lot of adventure and i've enjoyed it. host: appreciate the call and sharing your story. i want to get to a few more calls though on this topic of the trade debate and how important it is in 2016. michael is in new kensington, pennsylvania, line for republicans. michael, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. thanks for c-span, and i'm telling you, it's great to hear from all rent callers over. you never know the experiences that some people have. very interesting. case, i wanted to talk about trade and i think simple as an issue as donald trump makes it out to be. need to protect every industry somewhat, and i do not agree with free trade, costs lly when it american ompanies and jobs. it's not that simple of an addingand once you start tariffs onto products, you're price o increase the dramatically. host: you like hearing peoples' stories. what's your story? what do you do? how have you been impacted by trade? directly been not impacted by trade. and b is -- i'm a dentist so i've worked in the health sector, and so i don't think that it does that much, except for the fact that we have a good jobs locally in the allegheny steel, which is a specialty steel manufacturer in our area, which provides many workers, and i think they're having a strike right now. is trying to reduce their costs and break the union shame toer, and it's a see these kind of things happening. host: michael, thanks for in ing us what's going on your part of the country. i want to hear from all our iewers this morning on this topic of free trade. if it's an issue that's specifically important to you in this election, i want to hear your thoughts, and we've split usual phone lines by the lines, democrats, republicans and independents. here is a breakdown of the partisan differences when it noting views on trade, that there are only modest differences in the views on the impacts of free trade agreements on the country and on peoples' personal finances. about 6/10 independents, and 58% say free trade agreements have been good for the united states, as do 53% of republicans. early half of independents, 47%, say that their family's finances have been helped by free trade agreements. we want to hear your stories and thoughts on this country. about a half hour left of this segment. texas. is in pasadena, on the line for the democrats. morning. ood caller: good morning. is the with trade, special interests as far as the way the deals are cut, the way -- oh, you'll have to excuse me. host: go ahead, robert. we've got time. caller: i just think that a lot of jobs are going to go overseas this, and i g like see all of the imports that are coming in. they say it's good and healthy for us, but all of the cars, all -- any of, all of the the oil, exporting oil from orient,om alaska to the because there's so much sulfur cannot be that it refined here in the united states. host: robert, were you around for nafta? during nafta? g do you remember how that impacted you? caller: yes. agree with it then. host: on nafta, financial times, robert, with me, because i want to get your thoughts. the story from mexico, starting to mend fences with the united states, to counter donald trump's rhetoric with the wall and trade issues. but in that story, there's an impactedt of how nafta america. "financial times" writes that american the north free trade agreement would lead to a loss of american jobs proved unfounded. some six million jobs exist in the united states because of trade with mexico which has six-fold since the pack began in 1994 to more than half a trillion dollars each year. how did it impact pasadena, texas, robert? caller: the imports and also they made the port -- we have a broughtw port that they in so they can just inundate the country with things from overseas, and because we're bringing in more than we export, economy.g to kill the and we were in horrible shape eight years ago. people need to remember that, ike you were talking about before the election. remember where we were. we were almost in a depression, and people just forget about th that. legit, that itt's wasn't going to happen. it was going to happen. shut down.ill be a if it wasn't then, there will be future. host: all right. eric from maryland, good morning, you're on the "washington journal." caller: good morning. i'd like to say thank you for c-span. enjoy it very much and actually, my children are getting involved in politics through c-span, which is a wonderful thing. host: love to hear that. go ahead, eric. caller: i wanted to tell you a little bit of a story. high school in 1987. started my first jobs, worked and i was a ., couple of years into that, when the nafta agreement went through and ross perot said it would be the worst thing that ever happened to us. and it was the worst thing that me.r happened to worked as a manufacturing plant and 80% of our engines in texas.a ford plant maybe a year to year and-a-half after nafta went into effect, plant in texas closed their doors, moved it 57 miles, which was 17 miles into mexico, reopened, and we went out of business, and i thought i had a job for life. i worked there 11 years. it was 1997, we closed. host: what did you end up doing after that? caller: after that, i was a worker, so i found a little bit of machine work in a rivet plant, but it wasn't enough so i had to work part time there, and i had to get anything i could get. i ended up working at a place called trek, driving a bull company a bull dozer and i worked there part time and part time at the rivet plant. school, got ng to student loans. time, to school at night and a year into schooling, my they went to the night shift. finished school, and they let me go to night school -- i mean i was going to school at night, and i was working during the day full time. night shift at work, and i was unable to i nsfer from school, so then ended up with a $12,000 in loan use. 't host: eric, going through this experience after nafta, what was your experience with the transpacific partnership, that 12-nation deal that was signed early last month that will cover economy.he world's it took five years to negotiate as that was happening and all the debates on that, what were your thoughts on the t.p.p.? aller: basically, i said here we go again. i mean, i'm not sure whether it not. be beneficial or i just think back to ross perot saying that this was going to kill us, and it directly killed me. and the reason why -- i'm not a supporter, but the reason why i think trump has as much support as he has, is because people are saying to themselves, well, we've done it the oliticians' way and we keep losing jobs. so donald trump is saying that this will be beneficial to the company -- or our country, so why shouldn't we try it. reason ieve that's the he has so much support because we've done it everybody else's ay and lost so many jobs because of it. host: thanks for the call from middleriver, maryland this morning. i want to keep getting your calls on this topic but we'll step away for just a second. we want to talk about primary day, another day in march, another day of primaries, four today, es taking place including michigan, of course, being the top prize of the day, but also mississippi, hawaii, and idaho and hawaii, it's just caucuses.ican so let's focus on michigan for a second. livingood.ed by tad he's a political reporter. chad livengood. polling hrough the numbers how the candidates come into michigan today. s this another lay up for the frontrunners, hillary clinton and donald trump? polls, they in most are leading, at least in the democratic primary. hillary clinton has not been taking michigan for granted. she has campaigned all weekend. former president bill clinton in as well as her daughter, chelsea clinton, has traversed the state in various get out and vote efforts. rally in inton held a detroit last night and, you know, she changed her schedule so that she could participate in this town hall meeting last bernie well with held a and fox news theater in detroit as well. in, day spending day out campaigning the last couple of days for that primary and, you know, she's engaging a very fierce campaign about several different topics with senator sanders. she went after him in a pretty debate ve manner on the in flint on sunday night over and his bail-out votes vote against the troubled asset liberties relief program in 2009, the wall street bail-out fund the ately helped bail-out of general motors and chrysler. so that's been a pretty spirited campaign. in the republican field, donald leading, but he hasn't been back here since friday. e took off after a couple of rallies across the state, and then basically, mostly has left the state to john kasich, basically, because ted cruz had thursday.ere since until late last night, he arrived in grand rapids for literally an 11:00 p.m. rally. he was almost two and-a-half hours late because of some travel issues, which happens when you're running for president and trying to get back from mississippi, and marco rubio has essentially left the state after that thursday night debate in detroit and has not been back but, you know, right monif poll puts trump 21 and cruz 23, kasich rubio at a distant 13%. we have in michigan, proportional delegates, of 59 get a es and you have to minimum of 15% of delegates. o if this poll is correct, marco rubio could leave michigan delegates. host: that's 59 delegates on the delegates side, 149 on the democratic side distributed proportionally. some of thoses on anti-trump efforts from other antiestablishment figures. ou had a story out yesterday, romney's antitrump message targets michigan voters. how is mitt romney trying to appeal to michigan voters? mitt romney recorded a robbo call for the campaign. endorse marco rubio but he said he encouraged people to get out and vote for a candidate we can be proud of, and that's not donald trump, according to him. believes that donald trump will lose to hillary clinton in the general election. it was kind of a repeat of his comments in his speech last he feels n utah that like the world and the country ould not be as safe and secure if donald trump is the president and commander in chief of this an try, so it was interesting last-minute move by the rubio campaign, you know, that has essentially not been participating in michigan for the last couple of days, because put all their eggs in the basket next week for the primary in florida, out to, as i'm told, most of the republican in the entire, you know, on the master g.o.p. voter list for get-out-to-vote efforts. hawaii lso was used in and mississippi and idaho for the other primaries. host: for our viewers, if you livengood's chad work in their coverage of the michigan primary, it's detroitnews.com. thanks so much for your time this morning and the preview. me. t: thanks for having host: and we'll be having our overage on c-span as the michigan primary results start coming in, around 8:00. the show you the results, speeches and get your reaction as well. still, we're here on the "washington journal" and talking in this segment about the trade campaign and your stories about the impact of trade on your job and your wages. patrick has been waiting in ducksbury, massachusetts. line for republicans. good morning. caller: hey, c-span. channel.r i'll be brief because i work at here. station trade deals are so complicated. there are thousands of pages, you know, and an earlier caller mentioned special interests. yeah, they are written by and interests, and much more than for the american people, when we don't produce country, you his zap, any material products, the vitality out of the place. and it's also ironic to note that our number 1 export is debt. thank you very much. beach, untington california, on the line for the democrats. gary, good morning. john. good morning, host: go ahead, gary. caller: trade is very important, slowing down the trade eficit, i would like to see that happen. the proposals put out by the democrats, are just a smoke screen about working with the tax aspect of mean, you could lower the taxes down to zero and they bring those jobs back. hillary is going to bring them quotas, import quotas or import tariffs, and if things get so expensive to import things, that manufacturers might start thinking about bringi ringing -- putting the companies back here in this overseas. stead of host: gary, about starting a trade war about these tariffs goods by say president trump, that that would ead to a trade war with china, with mexico. is that something you're concerned about? is that something america should concerned about? caller: somewhat, but not seriously. there have been -- we use trade quotas and other things in the past. mean, way back in the day, astute holly, that was a big problem. once then, nixon put tariffs japanese goods, mostly a trade war. they weren't happy with us, but it wasn't the end of the world, actually. economy.d the american reagan put import tax on steel. those things don't hurt, they help the american economy. we should be looking at that. as trump is proposing -- i'm not a trump supporter, but i worry n out the general electio because people will look at hillary and bill that did all nafta into that put effect and all this stuff, and she's going to come along and something.do i don't think so. trump is actually talking about there mighting, and be some voters, this election think. closer than people trump may actually pull it out. you never know, when you get hat guy in the white house, that's not exactly anything to get excited about. so that's all i have to say about that. host: gary in huntington beach, california. the conversation is on twitter, @cspanwj. folks follow us on there every day. -- christiandes in writes in, trade is already a done deal. and trade is good. take advantage of it, don't just it.te about big miles is trade is one of the issues we face in balancing the economy. unless we balance trade, we'll continue to deteriorate. casesre from frederik, in where they can't go where cheap cheap s, they bring the labor to them via southern visas. or h1b feel free to follow along with the conversation and interact with those others. hat tweet every day is @cspanwj. phones. the tony on the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. there's two points i would like to bring up. talk about the trade debate, with americans, when i go into a store, i have to hunt, for one item that says, "made in the united states." perhaps we could look at that problem too and maybe have the companies that want to claim in the united states, mostly for the lections, and i'm glad there's only one candidate i believe that is even began to look at the root of the problem -- or at least one of the roots of the problem, and has stuck with it years, and it g seems that the voters should go saying, t the youth are because it's their country and the younger voters, because this i think theyy that have the most important voice in their own futures. bunch of old e a people deciding who to appoint and ho not to appoint, maybe it is time for a change, a real change. host: and tony, who is that talking , are you bernie sanders your candidate? caller: oh, you know, he's the only one that goes to the roots of the problems, and he has experience, and i believe he has the judgment. he's a man who's not a "yes" man. you know, you can support -- i've supported a lot of people like obama too, but there's a few things i'm concerned about, that i don't interest ook the best of the americans. host: that's tony in springfield, illinois. rebecca is up next from ohio on the line for the republicans. good morning. caller: good morning. the one thing i want to -- a couple of things i want to ask about. number 1, i keep listening to this program, and the largest s are f what you guy talking about, the largest part of it, i don't think really a whatf americans understand you're saying. ou just start talking and throwing your big words around and people are sitting there kind of looking like, what does that mean? thing of trade, he trade deficit, i think it should stop. i think we should stop trading with other countries the way we do. i think there should be tariffs put on it. i think what donald trump is saying is that we're sending our jobs there, they're making it, they're sending it over for it, , and they're selling and they're getting the prize for it, and i think that is thatulous to even consider as an option that our nation would operate in that way, and i do support donald trump. i think that he has a lot of good ideas. person, it's not an integrated political man. i think a lot of the people that that are ght now running for us are so into what they are, that they can't see -- can't even see what they're doing. all they see is what they want and what they want has nothing to do with the american people and i think it's time we have there sayingstands i'm for the american people. i think every since i was a growing up, it was said that they're our public servants and they work for us. i don't see them working for us anymore. host: rebecca, when it comes to are you fs issue, saying tariffs on china and exico or that we should have tariffs with every country that imbalance the trade? caller: every country, yep. i don't think that any country should be able to send products over here for no cost, let us stores, and then they make the money for it. correct. hink that's host: that's rebecca in ohio. andy is in germantown, maryland. line for democrats. andy, good morning. caller: hey, how's it going? good morning. i think one of the things that ets left out in a lot of these discussions about trade is for an ure, and i work agriculture group, and while the debate over t.p.p. was going on, getting to travel around the country a lot, talking to people in north arolina, louisiana, in this area, and our agricultural export their t to goods. a lot of them are producing more than they can sell domestically, asia want es in american products. you know, there is a lot of just the label of american beef, american cotton, american lumber. even things like sweet potatoes. there is a huge market there able to tap ot into, that we were not able to tap into appropriately before t.p.p. was passed, and so i think that's a big thing that ften gets left out in these debates. host: andy, these people, the callers who have called in and expressed concerns about trade, do you think they're more focused on what they're seeing n the import side and not what u.s. businesses are selling overseas? best way -- caller: yeah, i think that that lot, all the focus is on important, and also on manufactured goods. a lot of the focus tends to be there and not, you know, raw agricultural products, which are a huge export for our company -- i'm sorry, for our country, and really, you know, makes this country a lot of money, and that's dollars that we are leaving on the table when e don't engage, you know, in trade. host: that's andy in germantown, maryland. time for a few more calls. to story i want to point out you this morning that got a lot of attention yesterday afternoon. he ael bloomberg saying won't run for president. the story from the "new york that michael bloomberg for months had quietly laid the ground work to run for an independent but said he will not enter the 2016 fear that ating his to ree-way race could lead the election of donald trump. in a forceful condemnation, mr. run berg was determined to according to his aides. mr. bloomberg is almost at the prospect of a race against donald trump and hillary clinton. if you want to read more on that, that's in the "new york bloomberg's ael piece explaining his decision is in bloomberg review, if you want to read that. we want to get to as many calls as we can. we want to go to rachel waiting in forney, texas. rachel, good morning. caller: hello. host: hi, rachel. independents. go ahead. caller: yes, you know, i was a ross perthe supporter, and he was talking about nafta, talking about the problems he's been having with illegals and drugs that's cross, and happened. we've got tons of drugs. but back when nafta came about, that was a suspicious deal, and and uldn't get it through, then we had the election with clinton. and when clinton was before he was elected, if we have a democrat in office, we need to have the by the ntrolled republicans. so when clinton got in there, he and the e nafta republicans passed it on through. we use like ng cars, phones, electronics and everything, it's made over in china, in mexico, and they've and i ll of our jobs, don't know why. they're not going to do anything for us. there's companies everywhere, hard.klahoma was hit and everybody cannot work at mcdonald's. andy, waslast caller, talking about the benefits of exports, of agricultural exports of opening up markets in other countries, that that's one of of trade. s caller: i don't think so. i don't think so. mean, we were doing great before nafta even came about. we were not having problems feeding everyone here, and a lot of farmers have been hurt and, you know, you talk about the candidates that's running, a lot heard, couldn't even run for dog catcher. maybe we ought to be looking at the dog catchers, because i think one of those dog catchers could build better jobs than the people they've given us to vote for because i haven't seen one my vote for and the reason i think they have them out there, is because they don't want anybody out there that could do a better job, because they're run by special interests. host: all right. that's rachel in texas. virgil is waiting in horton, alabama. line for democrats. virgil, go ahead. aller: yes, i love c-span because we're able to give our opinions on here. anyhow, i work for the mills all over south carolina and north carolina and other states, georgia. but anyhow, i've seen about down, and hem closed they moved to mexico. and the reason why is know, when they went down there, i got assigned there, and got the hook it up. anyhow, didn't have no safety down there. cords down tension there taped up and, you know, just didn't have no safety regulations at all down there, and they was paid show cheap down there, that's the reason downll the companies moved to mexico, and then the mills on, was built and working they turned around and closed them down after they done built brand new ones. i seen italy come in and buy some of these mills. and america has got to wake up. that nafta trade agreement was that ever hing happened to america and these other trade agreements is going to be the same way. nafta trade the agreement included the united states, mexico and canada, and canada, canadian prime minister justin trudeau nd his wife are visiting washington d.c. this week with a number of working meetings being planned. will rsday, the president host a white house different for leader, the first state dinner of 2016. it's his first official visit to the u.s. since taking office last fall and the first visit by minister since 1997. you can watch live coverage on c-span. 6:15 p.m. one or two more calls. eddy, from florida, line for republicans. go ahead, eddy. caller: hello. the "washington journal," eddy, go ahead. caller: yes. i want to talk about this trade deal going on right now. i've been trying to call congress and find out. i believe that they have a 90-day review period for this t.p.p. that's going on right now, and i can't get an answer on that. i'd like to know, because if i'm they have an up or own vote on it, and i was istening to a program on kristenhall.com, and what she was talking about is that this different s with 11 countries, and it's been -- it's going to circumvent our constitution, all of our laws trade e world organization. host: eddy, let me help you out here. reuters.from this is a story about the igning of the t.p.p. deal, the one negotiated in secret. it's a 12-member nation deal accounting for 40% of the world's economy. the signing is one step that the two-year ll undergo a ratification period in which six countries must approve the final text of the deal to be implemented opposition from many .s. democratic and some republican members of congress. reuters notes the vote on t.p.p., will be before obama year.s office early next that story from reuters last month. rochester, g from michigan, the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. just my thoughts on the trade deals. you know, i don't know where who article came from or participated, but as the lady said in texas, i don't think so as far as agriculture bouncing off the millions of manufacturing jobs that we've lost in this country, and i can ell you from living in michigan, and not only just detroit, southeast michigan area, but all over michigan, all over the midwest, i can take miles of roadswn and streets with closed-up small businesses. river rouge is one example of a true great steel mill there. 25 years ago, they employed 120,000 people. oday, they're down to one actory open with doing shifts of mine employees 6-8,000 people. these were feeders of the community. the thing about the trade deals, nobody's been louder than bernie sanders, i mean nobody. trump sucks up the air. we assume trump might. he hasn't talked on trade that much. host: are you going to vote in and vote for today bernie sanders? caller: absolutely, i mean, louder.has talked i think the dnc has been hiding bernie, trying to coordinate hillary. trump sucks up all the press, but bernie absolutely speaks clearly. i mean, these kids know what they're doing. guy. nk bernie is the host: rochester michigan, one of primary or holding a caucus today. the other states, primaries hawaii ppi, and idaho, holding its republican caucus today. that's going to do it for this first segment of the "washington journal." up next, we're joined by eleanor smeal, the president of the feminist majority foundation to discuss female voters in 2016 electing ssibility of the first female president. wright, r, crystal writer of conservativeblackchick.com. prove tearing and racial division. that's all coming up on the "washington journal." [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. . sit ncicap.org] >> as campaign 2016 continues, hree primaries and one caucus are taking place in several states today, with a special n and on michiga mississippi. join us beginning at 8:00 p.m. astern on c-span, for live coverage of the election results, candidate speeches and viewer reaction. taking you on the road to the white house on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> when i tune into it on the eekend, usually, it's authors sharing their new releases. >> watching the non-fiction offers on booktv is the best television for serious readers. can have a , they longer conversation and delve into their subject. weekends, they bring you author after author after author. it's the work of fascinating people. love booktv, and i'm a c-span fan. >> this year's c-span student cam competition was one of our competedet as students for over $100,000 in prizes. students produced documentaries road to the white house theme answering the question what issues they most candidates to discuss during the 2016 presidential campaign. the students told us that the economy, equality, education, and immigration were all the top issues. be sure to tune in this at 8:00 morning eastern during "washington journal" when we'll announce the grand prize winner, our first-place winners and the fan favorite selected by the public. and live on c-span c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: eleanor smeal joins us now fornternational women's day a discussion about feminism and female voting in campaign 2016. of the feminist majority and the feminist majority foundation. first, explain what those two groups are and how you're getting involved in this election cycle. guest: the feminist majority educational an group, and we have campus groups in something like 45 states. also have been called girls international, which is today's international women's day, that is in high schools and middle schools teaching human rights and women's rights and rights for girls, and they actually united ate in the nationed coalition on women. and we also have a magazine that's very educational product. and we're very digital, so we're literally in colleges all over studies.try, on women's t's almost like a test, but it covers foreign affairs, it covers domestic. o the foundation is very educational. legislative and electoral. laws, our he foundation, a public charity, cannot take a position on elections, and can take positions on legislation, but it's limited. host: so the fund is more of the political arm in getting nvolved with this cycle endorsing hillary clinton. guest: that's right. host: why? guest: why? strongest 's the feminist in the race, we believe. and also, it's her position. issue-oriented, and she's strong. for example, pay equity, she was pay hief sponsor of the check fairness act when she was in the senate. she's very strong on rights.ctive not just a vote, but a leader, introducing, again, legislation and being right on top of the issues. on foreign affairs, oh, my goodness, she established the united states ambassador for women's global issues and put of equality and justice high on the priority list for the state department. a feminist? an be caller: absolutely, -- they are.olutely, and host: have you endorsed men before? guest: yes. feminist and be a not support hillary clinton this cycle? guest: yes. that the ou'll see feminists are siding with bernie too. so there's really -- feminism is a very big platform. for women,r equality but it's for equality and injustice, social justice. in other words, it's fighting of civil rights, for people color. it's fighting for guy and lesbian, bisexual, transgender equality. in other words, it's for human beings. now, obviously, women are half population, and we agree perhaps with that. we definitely lead with the equalities. ut you can't look at women's equalities as though all women are the same. so we take a -- what they call in college, intersection approach. the impact of an issue, not only on a white woman how does it affect african-american women, how does tinas, and also looking at class. affect rich people versus poor people. it's not a simple measure. a measure that sex is definitely a discriminatory factor that we are more than interested in, but we're looking at the world view. tioned feminists who are supporting bernie sanders this cycle. would you consider it a betrayal of feminist ideals for a woman to support a bernie sanders over a hillary clinton who could be the first female president? guest: well, let's face it. supporting hillary, but we also know that people who are women's rights have taken a different position, and we're not going to, you know, we're all going to be together, i can tell you, when it comes to the ber, and that's important thing. host: the feminists who are choosing bernie sanders and hillary clinton, is there a way to break down where they fall? "l.a. a story from the times", the headlines, why young feminists are choosing bernie sanders over hillary clinton. generational divide, do you think? guest: well, some people are running that in stories, but i don't think so. it's also ideology, and so it that.a little deeper than but by the way, we are going with very brief polling on this, because i just did a whole search on the -- right now, we're talking about generations. very few public polls are age.asing gender and in other words, that could also there's no now, question that bernie is attracting a younger population. but it could be dominated by -- we don't know the break-up y sex, is what i'm really trying to say. hillary has a big gender gap. far more mean she has women supporting her than men, i saw thed imagine if gender and age correlated, there gap there too er among young people. had a commentdowd in the "new york times" last month. there were some comments by former secretary of state gained a lbright that lot of attention about feminists and who they should support in cycle.lection she wrote what women seem to iss is that young women supporting bernie sanders are living the feminist dream where gender no longer restricts or defines your choices, where girls grow up knowing they can be anything they want. aspirations of the '70s feminism are now baked into the culture. guest: they are definitely having more opportunity. no question about it. we fought for it, and we're delighted by it, but it's still not equal. and really not equal in pay really still not equal in opportunity. that's why the fight goes on. over, and the fight not only is here in the united states, but it's world-wide. and as i say, they know -- young people know about it even more. at who's a feminist, bye largest portion of the -- age, young women are more themselves identify as feminists than older women. that's why we're growing. to a now, according "washington post" kaiser family of american 0% women self-identify as feminist. f you look at it by age, it's even higher among the ounger -- you know, the millenial generation. they are very aware of that much pay t getting as or opportunities, and these issues, especially reproductive rights, are very strongly held. host: are they aware of the istory though and the movement in the '70s and '80s? guest: oh, absolutely. i know they are. lived the whole thing. i can't tell you how respectful, how supportive young women are. and frankly, even in the clinton campaign, her staff is largely young women. i've been in states, different states for her. women.argely young and so -- but they're just very knowledgeable about the women's movement. when i was young, i didn't even know there was a woman's rights movement. we didn't know the word "feminist" when i was going to college. it existed, but awareness was not there. today, the awareness of the higher man is so much than where we were. host: eleanor smeal, the current president of the feminist majority foundation, and our guest for the next half hour or so, if you want to call in, ask questions or comments, emocrats, 202-748-8000, republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. we'll begin on the line for independents. tom is in mason, ohio. on the phone with eleanor smeal. caller: fine, thank you. i'm calling in regards -- i want to make two statements, and one liedgain, to those parents of the people who were murdered. how can she look people right in the eye and say that you cannot be there and not see what happened? int: eleanor smeal, is the -- the benghazi investigations on the you took into account as you vet hillary clinton. we feel was a real step four for a country and for women. sure, we look at it. the nation has looked at it. there -- it has probably been more invested than anyone incident. she is testified 11 hours and the testimony was very strong. that,t want to go into but as far as i can see. basically, it is being used politically. but i don't think it will define hillary clinton. host: a few tweets as we are having this conversation. one's gender should not matter in politics. women are majority of the population anytime a comfort women president, but not hillary clinton. are you seeing that sentiment for people who want a female president, just not this fina president. -- female president. the majority of women are voting right now for hillary clinton. by far. the gender gap is -- it depends on the state. it can be as much as 16 points, 11 points. it means that women are voting more for her than they are for her male opponent. and it is not in my opinion only because of her gender. it is a position on issues. that said, she is been a strong leader of women's rights issues. host: let's go to matilda on our democrats line from maryland. caller: hi, thank you good morning. thank you for c-span. i kind of share the sentiment of that tweet that you just last read. i am really highly supportive of having a woman president. however, i have issues with secretary clinton because of her tentative stance on some of the issues such as providing universal health care coverage. she was in support of this tpp until she got a little pressure. bernie sanders went right up front against that. also, i feel like she has exploited some of the campaign-finance shenanigans. i don't want to say that i don't trust her, but i just don't feel like she has the track record mind --should keep in suggesting that makes things fair for all. on health care, i think it's one of the think she is outstanding on. she was fighting for you to resolve care in -- and led the fight under the hill of -- the clinton administration. know as much't about is that she got what is called the bill guaranteeing for children -- for many children right now, 9 million children of health care under it. she has fought for health care. from the very beginning. her only difference in the two positions, they're both for universal health care. it's just that hillary wants to build on what we've just got. in other words, as she says, we are 90% there. the still 20 99 people still not insured. still 29 million people uninsured. the reality that is faster to get there. they are both for universal health care and i believe that millions more will get health and under her approach frankly, i was there during the affordable care act fight. it.ught for the feminist movement fought strongly for it. because it eliminates gender pricing. women were paying more for health care and getting less. now you can't get away with that. it was outlawed under the affordable care act. maternity care must be covered. birth control must be covered. i could go on. there is a huge program under it. and we wouldn't want to lose it. what we want to do is keep on expanding. while i'm saying this, we all know we won by very few votes. the democrats don't have controlled the house right now. for sanders to get what he wants, etc. to happen that way. there is no question there both for it, i think her way is going to get there faster. and that is the important thing. ,he has also said about the tpp we were one of the first group to come out against it. remember, hillary when she was senator voted against another trade agreement. my opinion is that her opinion is very -- her position is strong on it. she will oppose trade agreements that are not helpful to the average working person united states. i could go on each one of those issues. but guess we have looked at the mall. her positions are not only strong, we know her. andhas been there fighting i have to tell you, she has been more than a vote, she is been a leader on the issues for over two decades in washington. host: we will get into more of those issues. let's head down to texas where sarah is waiting on a line for independents. caller: thank you for taking my call. , i have to ask eleanor not heard anything from the about theovement movement into our country of islam. and their attitude towards women and the way women are treated. i haven't heard anything about condemnation of women wearing burqas or all of these things that are 12th-century type of traditions and beliefs. i just wondered why. is it just political for -- correctness that they want speak the horrible things that happen to women in these countries? and in our own country and western europe now that muslims have immigrated in such great numbers. guest: the feminist majority foundation was literally the first group in the united states that spoke out against the taliban. we came out against the taliban after took over kabul in 1996. we have a large program of helping afghan women and girls. we spoke out against the burqa, the force use of the burqa. they mandated it. they would begin to women who did not go along. the outrageous behavior the taliban, we came out very early against it. as i said before any other american group. you may not have heard about that. the feminist majority foundation led the campaign to make sure the taliban was not recognized in the united states. the united states was approaching recognizing that as the legitimate government. the feminist movement came out against it and i'm very proud of the fact that a 1998, because the clintonon -- administration would not recognize the taliban largely because of the horrific treatment of women. before idid that women's audience the -- there and we are fighting for women's rights worldwide. we've never stepped back from that and we've been on the front line. know, there are a lot of muslim women who are feminists and are fighting shoulder to shoulder with us. we are not just imposing a western culture. think in terms of, there are feminist leaders, women's leaders in afghanistan. hillary clinton, under state department, when she was secretary of state, provided anding for the building support of a woman's organization throughout afghanistan. not only that, every time she traveled. she went to over 100 countries. she met with women's leaders to and them more visibility prestige in their own country. but there are feminist leaders in every country among every religion in the united states -- world. feminist.org if yours want to check it out. guest: you can see our afghan work there. host: myra is waiting in new york line for democrats. good morning. caller: hello, eleanor. i just want to say i'm a latina senior citizen and i'm a feminist. i'm still going to vote in the primary for bernie. i really identify with him. whoever gets in, i will vote democrat. i wanted to know, are there other women in the senate or house that you support? guest: absolutely. we are very proud of the fact that in both the house and senate there are many feminist leaders. so we have supported speaker pelosi, one of the strongest women's rights leaders in the world. -- i can go through the huge list in the house. barbara mikulski who has been champion ever since she got in in 1986. she has been a champion of women's rights. barbara boxer, this is also her last year. there are new feminist. young feminist that are not only running in the senate, but there are six new women running that where you are very excited about. host: international women's day. the column in usa today by ellen malcolm. she founded emily's list. a group that works to get women elected in office. she says we've helped to elect more than 100 democratic women to the house. nine to the senate and 11 governors. there are 20 women in the senate, that. do you want to jump in? guest: both the national organization for women. i'm still very active in that. and the feminist majority and many other women's groups are on the front line. we love emily's list. we work rate closely together and we are supporting women who support women's rights. we happen to also support men who support women's rights. but we also look at a host of issues, people who are trying to help all people. host: let's go to texas again where tom is waiting on the line for republicans. thank you for waiting, tom. caller: good morning. i just want to know, what do hillary clinton and other lentgrade 1960's era militant leftist feminists think about the accusations made by her one need a project and -- that bill clinton sexually assaulted them? i lifted 90's as a feminist leader. i happen to think that hillary clinton during that time was a pillar of strength. this was obviously very difficult. .or her she never gave up on her work for human rights and women's rights. i worked here through many administrations fighting for women's rights and i've had the privilege of working with first ladies. betty ford for example was the cochair of our equal rights amendment campaign when i was president of the organization. i work with rosalyn carter and hillary clinton. and now michelle obama. and basically, hillary has been right there for us. she has been very strong as first lady. , are the caller brings up you attacking to see more of that hillary hit -- work that history if hillary is the nominee? how are those supporting hillary princess diana questions? guest: we expected. we also know that she will rise above it. she went through the 90's with her head not only held high, but constantly working for people. -- i can't tell you how active she was. how many times we met with her. herself to burqa on see how oppressive it was. a whole host of issues from economics, violence against women, reproductive rights and of course the global issues. and she still does. she is tireless in her championing. i think the public wants to know what a candidate is going to do. they want to know the future and i think that she will -- her agenda is very strong. host: do you think former president bill clinton is a feminist? guest: i think he is championed women's rights issues. i think other his administration . the 90's and not today, there are many things you look back on i wouldn't agree with. forward.d move i will give you some laws that passed. we passed the violence against women act in 1994. we passed family medical leave for the first time you can fire person because had to take off care for a child. it wasn't paid family medical leave which is what we wanted. it was unpaid. but at the times, we can get the vote. the clinton administration help make the game there. there were many gains. i could keep going on. basically, they came out against the taliban very early on which was very important for world -- line for democrats, sue go ahead. caller: hi. eleanor, iel like feel like i'm talking to a rock star. i went to college in 1969 was when i first entered school. we fought so many causes and of course gloria was a leader and then you came along and i was totally for everything that i saw you do -- deal with now. me.as a golden age to is, having been through the trenches of civil rights and voting acts and planned parenthood and all of that. we wentt feels like back 40 years, especially here in texas. fightinges that we are are still the same battles. and theymore subtle are trying to get around things and i just want to know, do you have that same feeling? that we are having to go over old ground again? 65 and it makes me crazy every time i hear just because i'm older, i should be conservative. host: that is sue in austin texas. some battles from texas reaching the supreme court. guest: it is terrible. we are under a backlash, a right-wing black -- backlash. they are restricting the right not only to abortion, but also to birth control. familyuts, cuts in planning for poor women. restrictions that lead to closing of women's clinics which only are going to hurt the health of poor women. it is a most like they get joy at a thinking of how they can torturous more and cut more. we are going to survive this. we are going to win because the public is for us overwhelmingly. it is an outrage. why are so many women identify with the democratic party? it isn't because we were born democrats or republicans or yesterday, it is because one party has decided to just continue to fight us and not just on abortion and birth control, they made us fight on anything. to be off the raise the violence against women act. it took us three years to reauthorize. an outrage that they made us fight for three years to reauthorize this. they have held up equal pay legislation year after year. we should pass not only the paycheck fairness act, but another act called the fair pay act which would help working women. held up by republican opposition. the paid family medical leave act. we are the only country in the industrialized world that doesn't have paid family leave for a newborn child or an adopted child or you can't take illto take care of your parents and have paid family medical leave. ever else, we have it and not here. why? because a republican opposition. the feminist movement has been cautious about not being just one party. but this backlash is overwhelming. we would not be truthful. not say what is happening. election, november, we would go back light years if any of those candidates running for the presidency of their public party actually one. they would be cutting back health care for women of this entire country. host: about 10 minutes left with eleanor smeal, the president of the feminist majority foundation. we will get to as many colors as we can. to maine, line for republicans. doris is waiting period caller: good morning. i have a quick comment in a question. ,t the last democratic debate hillary interrupted bernie sanders and bernie said something like, wait a minute, it is still my turn, and got booze from the audience -- loud boos from the audience. my question is, whoever hillary is debating against whether it is donald trump bernie sanders. is that other candidate going to have to treat her with kid gloves because she is a woman? or is she really an equal and can be treated like any other candidate? guest: i wish she was treated equally. the reality is we still have dimmest -- discrimination against women running for political office. president obama said when he was running against hillary that in whereays, the old saying fred astaire and ginger rogers, ginger rogers had to do a dancing backwards and on high heels. he used that saying. it is harder. her clothing is judged more, her appearance is judged more. basically, if her voice is too high it is criticized. you cannot win. women have higher voices. that's the reality. anyway, basically i hope that they are judged equally. on the basis of issues. what is happening here is so important for the 21st century and for going forward. i believe she is judged on issues, she will do just great. next for donald is waiting on the line for republicans. caller: good morning. how are you? thank you. thank you for taking my call. my question is about abortion. abortion approve of an hours for the due date? guest: no. that is a ridiculous statement. occur -- we are talking 90 some percent is in the first trimester. there is one problem is that nature has its problems. as you know, the life of the woman matters in this procedure. we believe that the woman's life has to be not just considered, it has to be very much considered. in other words, no exception for the life of the mother in a very troubled pregnancy. we think it is inhumane and somewhat barbaric. host: richard in lake placid, florida. line for independents. caller: good morning. hillary clinton actually has more baggage -- more criminal activity than al capone. there is just a few of the incidence that i remember. there have been a lot more. one of them was whitewater. she had an investigation on that. .nd she was one of the partners it cost taxpayers millions of dollars. host: it didn't cost the tax -- guest: it didn't cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. i don't know what your saying. i don't know what you're saying. it isn't true. i lived through those days and i know one thing, they were attacked. i happen to believe that it was a right-wing effort to impeach .he president that it was very political as you well know. host: supporting this candidate, hillary clinton particular, does is become harder because there's so much history? because she is been in the spotlight for so long. is that harder for you than perhaps a candidate who is running in his second election after being elected to the senate? guest: let's face it -- let's put it this way, it is harder and easier. it is harder because you can pull off some statement like the caller just made and make something out of it that isn't real. but it is easier in that she has a record of achievement. i don't think there's ever been a record that is as qualified in recent decades. .he has been in the white house she has been in the governor's mansion, she's brought forth state legislation. thewas the first head of ada commission on status of women. so she has a whole history of achievement before she even went to the governor's mansion in arkansas. then share the whole history of achievement in the white house. she wasn't just the first lady, she was one of the most productive in history. then she has a whole record of achievement in the u.s. senate. she was a senator for two terms. with a wonderful record on a host of issues. and now, when she was in the state department, certainly will go down as one of the most people in the state department, certainly for women's issues. so i think her record is unbelievably strong. , i was look at it surprised at how early she started, way before she even married bill clinton. there is a lot there, but there is a lot that is absolutely and iant and productive think it shows in the debates how substantive she is. host: let's see if we can get in two more calls. for democrats. caller: thank you very much. i want to say good morning to eleanor. thank you for hearing me. my biggest comment is on the 2016 campaign and feminism of course. in america, we are the greatest country. i believe that. what i have seen come -- a deterioration of is the breakdown of all of this fighting. the person who stands for and is the candidate must have a passion for getting america on a healthy level where it should be. you cannot do that without being able to bipartisan, be able to influence others, be able to say i am wrong and your way is better. you have such brilliant minds in the white house, but for you not to be able to move forward and i'll be in agreement to get the best for america is just nonsensical at this date and time. host: let's have our guest jump in. guest: of course. i am just horrified at some of the positions that are being taken and even the tone of their public and debate -- the republican debate. i think on that score, famous and -- feminism will play a major role. it is international women's day today. feminism has gone worldwide. right now the united states, according to the washington post kaiser family foundation poll. starteda movement that -- it was all uphill. i feel that yes we are going through a backlash right now of people trying to push the women's rights movement back. it isn't going to happen. hill, north chapel carolina. line for republicans, go ahead. caller: good morning. host: good morning, go ahead. -- er: i wanted to say that dealer they don't have rights because i'm not being allowed to be a mother. [indiscernible] i feel that american women, we need to fight for our rights. so they don't it up on drugs or in prison or do not have relationships with people because they are -- we should be able to can relate wealth. there's something i want to say. i'd enough their politically motivated, saying women can vote for women or something like that. she text message from other on the check part of google -- we have to be careful about these feminist movement so that we don't react negatively. host: we are running a time. i want to get to respond. guest: i do little bit of trouble hearing that. but we do have strong supports from men's group. it depends on the pull, but we have about 35% of men who -- you look at their support of the women's movement. i really think that item on a look at it in a divisive way. mainly because it is international women's day, i want to be a little bit celebratory. i do feel that we are going forward and that yes, when you put your ideas forward in the you want equality, there's some people who feel threatened by that. what we have to do is make them feel less threatened, but also we can't give up our own fight for equality. it benefits everybody. it benefits the entire family. it benefits men as well as women. host: feminist.org if you want to check out the feminist majority foundation. thank you for joining us. up next, we will be joined by crystal right, editor and publisher of conservative black chick.com. she will discuss her new book con job. later, we will open up a phone to talk about the gop presidential primary and whether the contest is starting to become a two-person race. we will be right back. foroin us this thursday live coverage of the white house state dinner for canadian prime minister justin trudeau. beginning at 6:15 p.m. eastern on c-span. every election cycle, we are reminded how important it is for citizens to be informed. home for is a political junkies in a way to track the government as it happens. >> i think it is a great way for us to stay informed. >> with a lot of c-span fans on the hill. my colleagues will say i saw you on c-span. >> there is so much more that c-span does to make sure people outside the beltway know it's going on inside it. >> during campaign 2016, c-span takes you on the road to the white house. as we follow the candidates on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> washington journal continues. t is back atl wrigh our desk. she is out with a new book, con job. how'd -- that titlet into in of your book. i want to begin with this quote from your book, real racism still exists in modern america and it hurts real people. when hustlers like al sharpton and liberals are quick to label every incident in america racist, from voter id laws to the shooting of black teens, it diminishes the rightful attention that true racism should receive. whyhat is true racism and are some of the issues that you bring up in that example not for racism? guest: i actually devote a chapter in the book to true racism. it is in the appendix. it is my family's personal story of being disseminated against. when i was a little girl and they applied to a country club and were told that they didn't want my parents to be members because they were black. that case went all the way up to the u.s. court of appeals. 1980, the u.s. justice department filed an amicus brief because they said 13 years after the civil rights act had passed, this is not what america was about. so that to me is true racism and discrimination. i would say, when someone is denied access to something, that is true racist discrimination. when people are called the n-word out right by white supremacist, that is discrimination. ,leve and bundy, the rancher the incendiary things he said about black people, that is racism. what is happening now is you have this industry where people like al sharpton and cornell west are getting rich off of calling everything racism, jumping into racial division incidents in the united states and profiting on it. jesse jackson is another one. that to me is not being a champion for ending discrimination, that is a champion for making money. host: you say it is something the democratic party is trading off of. guest: it is trading off that. you see the narrative playing out on the democratic side. we have hillary clinton and bernie sanders, which are the democrat front-runners. -- only one fine for the only ones buying for the democratic nomination. they are pandering to black lives matter. we saw last year when bernie sanders is that an event, he didn't give what black people felt was an appropriate lipservice to black lives matter and he was heckled off the stage. what is that? i want to hear about candidates policies to make all lives better. so right now, there is a race going on a democrat side with the candidates to get so-called black endorsements. it is fast and furious, their meeting with al sharpton. i don't know about you john, but i'm a black woman. i speak for myself. you was a white man don't have white people telling you how to vote. why aren't hillary clinton and bernie sanders getting the endorsement of so-called white americans and so fault -- so-called white spokespeople? they should be talking that their agenda for black america and they haven't. hillary clinton supported her husband's crime bill which locked up and incarcerated more black men than any president in u.s. history. he created the disparagement between sentencing of crack and crack cocaine and cocaine. that led to the mass incarceration of black americans. i would argue that neither candidate has done anything in their decades of services to help black americans. in your bookue that they are voting against their own interests when they vote for democrats. -- overwhelmingly you have over 90% of black americans the last two election cycles voting for the first black president united states of america in two dozen eight interest 12. i talk about this in con job, the subtitle of the book is how democrats gave us crime, century cities, and racial division. book ison i wrote the to really exposed to america the lies that i believe the democratic party is based on. i have 50 pages of mostly government data to prove every point i talk about. abortion is not a friend of women's health because according to planned parenthood, three out of 10 women by the time they turn age 45 will of had an abortion. you tell me how that is promoting women's health. we should be talking about abstinence, we should be talking about -- if a woman comes into an abortion clinic, she should be getting counseling on you can have your baby and put it up for adoption. none of that is happening and planned parenthood is getting 40% government funding to fund their $1.3 billion i think i talked about the book that they made in 2013 and 2014. with black americans, what i also talk about is often times you see democrats pitting one constituent against another. they actually cannibalize constituents. there is no party that can be all things to all people. that is a failure of identity politics. your hillarynd clinton and bernie sanders and barack obama talking that illegal immigration which is actually the imminent -- enemy of black employment in this country. i could probably go on and on. host: last to get to there. we want to bring in our callers. phones are open. ,emocrats is (202) 748-8000 republicans are (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. james on -- in hollywood, florida. line for democrats. james, go ahead. james, your to sit by your phone. josh from kissimmee, florida. for republicans. caller: good morning. i would like to ask your guest how she feels about the narrative that all republicans are racist and the fact that my daughter and i we went to a trump rally in the crowd to see trump, there was nobody was saying racial epithets or anything like that. how can we get around the media's false narrative? guest: that is a great question. will that is why wrote con job, that is also why a started my blog conservativeblackchick. calm. --.com. if you go back in history way before 1964 when the democratic party started owning the black vote lock stock and barrel as lyndon b. johnson actually signed the civil rights act into law and he marshaled it through. really for political expediency. before that, you had republicans theally champions all things that now the democrat party is giving lip service to. i think more importantly it is people like you and me speaking out and saying, you just told me you are at a trump rally. you didn't have people calling each other incendiary names. i do not believe that donald trump is a racist. i would have liked him to repudiate much stronger when he came out against the david duke support and white supremacist support. he has since done that, saying he does not want that kind of support. he can't control the votes for him, but he needs to talk in the ,ein of ronald reagan and say if i'm elected president, i will bring all people together and repudiate that kind of trash talk and racist talk. host: are you voting for donald trump the cycle? guest: i have not endorsed a candidate or decided who i will support in the d.c. primary yet. i will vote in d.c. primary as a republican. there are those of us who exist. we are a little over 30,000. i like what donald trump's candidacy is doing for the political establishment called the republican party because inclusionone deaf to and that is why we are in the state we are. beredicted the party will born anew, even if trump does not prevail in being the nominee or elected. host: your column about donald trump and this issue of the white supremacists and his comments about that. you notes and criticisms for the republican establishment that is taliban has done nothing to grow the party beyond college educated white base over the past four years. remember vividly when mitt romney became our nominee and i was a new ingrid supporter and delegate. every turn to volunteer for mr. romney's campaign and never got responses. i was on television supporting .im, supporting his wife he ran one of the whitest campaigns in recent memory. that means that while barack obama was using, even though i don't believe in barack obama's policies, perception becomes reality. had people ofa color, he enlisted actresses in hollywood to go out there and help him assert his campaign. you did not have those surrogates looking like the who's who of white america. very opposite was true of mr. romney. true own -- not only in the people on -- talking on his behalf. but also his campaign. he had a bunch of coalitions. they were coalitions in name only. that was reflected in the votes of mitt romney won. he won 60% of the white vote. that was more than any president had one in 1988. forwardhe past -- path is not just the white vote. our nominee today in 2016 will have to peel off minorities, women, independents. reallyht it was disingenuous and really an affront for mitt romney to get up there and start blasting donald trump when he lost an election in 2012 that many people say he should of won. my party has problems on inclusion. he is waiting, line for democrats from waldorf, maryland. caller: hi. good morning, c-span. and good morning to your guest. that herselfing and i would probably not agree on many things, but after hearing her, i think i might change my opinions. the first is, i do sincerely disagree with you with the definitions of true racism versus i suppose you'd categorize it as not racism. i think your definition should be broadened to include both covert versus overt racism. i think that is really the definition that you probably should be speaking to. that, i statement is agree with you in some aspects in that the democratic party probably should not have a lock on the black vote. very --that that is not it is not very informed of us voters to simply voter party. i myself -- , as i get older and i and become informed i suppose, more active in the political process, i think i have changed my understanding of who i should vote for and maybe i am more than independent than a democrat. host: i'm going to let crystal jump in. guest: thank you. you make some great observations . i think racism, if i had more time, i don't want to dominate the short time i have the talking of the different types of racism. i spirit's from professors when i was in college, in high school. we probably don't have enough time to go into all of that. host: what about her preferred definition? covert versus overt racism. there is overt racism that we see that we hear. i gave some examples. hirings covert racism in practices now with fortune 500 companies. you have racism. -- cab drivers in major cities look at a black man in suit and tie and won't pick them up? certainly they do. that goes to my point. if all white people are racist like al sharpton wants to label, what's happening now is you have huge masses, a chasm of racism. al sharpton is really interested in making the races come together, he would jump into like baltimore or michael brown or trayvon martin, hewitt and she take a step back. he goes down there and flaps his loudmouth and creates tension. tengion that does not produce anything but friction and violence. else she said, i also wrote the book because i'm not trying to convince all people that they have to vote democrat. i'm saying that she pointed out that black people have no political influence. we gave that up over the last 50 plus years that we have voted single-handedly for one political party. no other race does that. just because you have a d or in our next year name, i have in our next my name, does that mean i will always vote republican. no. every election cycle, politicians have to earn my vote. i think black people need to hold politicians accountable. specifically the democratic party who is not delivered on promises. right now you have two candidates on the democratic side promising that black lives matter. it is the same lipservice be of had the last eight years before that. over aould argue since half a century, black mines have not matter to democrats, black lives, black education has gotten worse. black prosperity and wealth has gone down. everything is gone down the toilet when you look at black lives. you're right, the black lives matter campaign is become nothing more than excuse for young black men to get conversation with point -- confrontational with police. particularly white offices across the country. to jeopardize their own lives and to provide the democrats and their race charlatan allies. the book is con job, how democrats gave as crime, sanctuary cities, abortion prospect -- profiteering and racial division. crystal wright is our guest. line for independents, good morning. caller: just a fast comment. i don't think really it is as simple as racism and racial, it and just byomic your personal history, obviously you are in a high socioeconomic is why the democrats appeal. it is a working-class issue situation. it is not really racism, that is my comment. guest: i will disagree with you on that because democrats, when it comes to black americans, the number one thing that is causing most of the crime and lack of education that my race is experiencing yet they continue to vote for the same party and continue to get the same results. of all black babies are born out of wedlock. blackeans there more babies born into a home without a mom and a dad. whether you look at brookings which areor heritage polar opposites, one is on the right and one is on the left, all the data shows that when a child is born into that kind of situation, their chances of falling into poverty, not graduating from high school and falling into crime are exponentially grown by 70%. were reallyats interested, i talk about this in the book, in solving this problem, they would look at how do we stop blacks from having this -- and it's not just one generation, it is many generations and it started happening in the early 60's when daniel patrick moynihan, who was a democratic senator who worked for president johnson, he wrote the moynihan report. the case for national -- he wrote to president johnson when he was then assisted secretary of labor. he said i'm concerned here, houston, alert, alert. women depending on welfare. and the men going to jail. to fast-forward to today, the problem is only gotten more acute. president obama solution was my brothers keepers program. it was more coddling of young black men. this is basically in any program. i wrote about it in con job. it is a federal government program that would teach black men how to be men. that is the response ability of the parents. we need to be teaching abstinence programs and personal responsibility. i disagree with the collar that it is about socioeconomic. it is about more than that, you have more black americans that are not taking responsibility for their lives. so their plight is never going to change and they keep putting for a party that continues to keep them in the state of victimization. host: republican line. let is waiting. caller: good morning. what a great job of presenting the issues. the issuesi present the way that you presented, i get calls -- called every name in the book. i tell people, i present the issues the way that it is. i dealing data and fact. not supposition and innuendo. the one thing i will say of this, on a per capita basis, i think most of the discrimination .e face is socioeconomic it is more heightened on a per capita basis. but everything you say, i completely agree with. the issue that i have is this, how do we teach -- i do volunteer and i teach young men twice a week, how do we now teach the younger generation not to fall into the trap of the democrats like the holy grail that saves everyone? because i do it twice a week with young adults age ranging from 18 to 30. , i don'them say to me care about races. -- racism. i know it's there. i worry about what i need to do personally to achieve everything that god wants me to achieve and be 100% of the person that i can be to my potential and ability. that is really the key, not the coddling or my brother's keeper, more about personal responsibility. good job, keep doing what you are doing and hopefully one day i will run into you. guest: the caller raises in portent -- important issues, solutions. i talk of the negatives, but there are solutions. i think the solution is talking more about what speaker paul ryan is doing which is, speaker paul ryan is bringing forward policies on how to prevent poverty through work and personal responsibility and empowerment. a lot of this goes back to his when he worked for jack kemp. we talk about jack kemp who had these ideas of enterprise. he said that if businesses want to go to places like baltimore where you have torn down buildings and there no opportunity for young black people were trying to break the generational cycle, then jack camp said we're going to give tax credits to these businesses to set up shop in baltimore and torn down, predominantly black cities where there is no economic opportunity. i think it is also about mentoring and talking to young people and really explaining that when you have a job, you are able to buy things, when you finish high school and get a high school education, you are able to empower yourself to actually get that job and then maybe go to college. i don't think should be college for everybody. we need to get back to vocational training, and it is also telling young people when it -- what happens when you have a baby when you are not ready for a baby. and talking abstinence. in the book, i talk about the best friends foundation program which elaine bennett started. this is a program that was teaching young girls to graduate high school, not engage in premarital sex until they finish high school. focus on going to college, not doing drugs and alcohol. it was a curriculum program taught in about 14 public schools including the district of columbia. she ran the program for 20 years. the current president, barack obama, once he got elected in 2009, he defunded all federal government money for abstinence training programs. callerjust leave the with this other example, my mother is a tutor through the church. and she goes in and tutors elementary kids in the school to the church is near. she told me a couple years ago, she was tutoring a young great school or and this black child did not know a husband was. the term was foreign to her. it was valentine's holiday was coming up and my mother was explaining to the little girl that she was gorgeous been -- send valentines cards to her hits and give one to her husband. the little girl said, what is a husband. my mother explained it to her. she explained, husband, boyfriend, they are all the same. this is the narrative we need to break. husbands.race needs they need fathers. host: leesburg, virginia is next. line for democrats. karen is up. caller: good morning. i need to say this, i'm not being disrespectful. crystal, you are talking out of two sides of your mouth. this is one of the problems of what i see is that african-american people don't look at white people as racist -- all white people as racist. i look at you and how you treat others. you cannot admit that racism isll exists whether it covert or over. and then turn around and not understand or empathize that people are out here to bring that your tension. the truth of the matter is that a lot of white people, i have a lot of white friends, they do not see the race is in -- racism because they never experienced it. whether it's al sharpton, you are everybody else on the national media. i do want to jump on this issue real quick about unwed mothers. you are right. there are many in the afternoon american community who do not have fathers. so let's not try to sugarcoat an act like this is just an afghan american thing. every community across america including the inner-city. havewe start to discussions ago sonic public forum, you need to put it out there. you should make a next but not all of the democrats are doing for the matt damon community. ask what the republicans aren't doing for the african-american community. minorities, if you want to use us as a platform, do it 100%. host: we got your point. guest: i think kerry has it sit on her shoulder and does not like the fact that i'm producing facts. 72% of their babies are out of wedlock. black men are killing each other and are being killed by each other higher than any other race. according to the justice department, blacks are six times as likely to commit homicide and seven times as likely to be homicide victims. the number one cause of death of young black men ages 15-34 is homicide. 93% of those deaths are due to homicide. so we have a pathology that is disproportionate to white americans. when you look at welfare per capita, more black women are living in public housing because they are having babies out of wedlock. job," not mycon "ax, but "the washington post facts where the district of columbia wanted to produce the period women could be on welfare assistance. women andd for a five they do not have one baby out of wedlock. i think one woman even had five by different men. at the time, mayor barry said that he felt that this was a problem. this was a black mayor talking about a black problem. you know what one of the young women said when she was told she would possibly lose some of her assistance? who is going to pay for my papers? you talk about what republicans are doing. republicans like paul ryan want to end this cycle. whatever they want to reform welfare, they are blasted. on schools lead choice programs, which barack obama defines every chance he got at every budget submitted to congress . vouchers have been under a salt by democrats in favor of the teachers union. minorities,elped blacks, hispanics. richard, you're on with crystal right. are you there? will go to paul in virginia beach, virginia. i've quick points and i will take your comments off the air. my first is that when i turned on, i kept hearing mrs. right running down this list of reasons why african-americans should not vote for democrats. she talked about president obama's program and all these other things and why she would not vote for democrats. my problem with that is that you are not giving any reasons why we should vote for the republicans. i'm not heard one thing. my second quick point is this. i kind of agree with you that democrats have not been perfect and not done every thing correctly for the african-american community, but go you saying that i should to the voting booth in november and vote for a party whose front runner has not only been leader ofby the ex- the kkk but also the current leader of the kkk? named white separatist gerard. during the debate, your republican candidates are on stage telling you miss jokes. -- penis jokes. democrats havee not been perfect on african-american issues, you're telling me i should vote for the clamshell in the republican party? guest: i think it's very sad you are voting for the clown show called the democrats. ofhink it's sad that in all your diatribe to me about the democrat party, you never told me once why you voted for them. you laugh that why i should vote republican? you should give republicans a try because democrats have kept blacks poor, dumber, and more criminalized. we have had over a half a century of affirmative action programs and we are still not graduating at the rate of white americans with all this affirmative action and all of these scholarships thrown at black americans. we're not graduating college or high school at the same rate of whites. as of 2013, the average black family, and this is having voted over half a century for democrats, including twice for democrats, but 19,000 americans the wealth. crime -- iparty been through that. you laugh at the notion of voting for a republican. look at the republican agenda, which is an agenda of personal responsibility and empowerment. education is the great equalizer. there is no denying -- and i talked about this when i talked about the charter school movement and voucher program. democrats want to protect the teachers union. the teachers union is something that they will always stand by. any chance they get, they tried to destroy the charter school movement. president barack obama sued his justice department, sued louisiana's school choice program under governor of each because ericl holder said they cannot have black kids leaving the schools because failing schools would not have enough diversity. they would be to white. what kind of nic nonsense is th? i talked about donald trump's comments toward white supremacist supporting him. i do not believe that donald trump is a racist. he needs to come out strong and hard. he talks about learning the black vote, which he says he can do and he can beat hillary. he cannot talk out of both sides of his mouth. but donald trump is the only candidate, even when you compare him to hillary and bernie sanders, but donald trump's immigration plan actually talks about how he is going to ease black unemployment. despite saying that black votes matter to hillary and bernie, but hillary clinton talking and it black dialect, but i told you how in 1994, but when she insist supported bill clinton's young crime bill that she called young african-americans savage predators. if you like to return your getting from democrats, you can keep laughing all the way to the ballot box. is in florida. you're on with crystal wright. hi.t: caller: i admire you so much in the gentleman who called in for calls ago is right on every thing. you are doing so good. i really do admire you. you told the truth on a lot of things. lady -- i am a 73-year-old lady and i've been through a lot of things. i've never been a racist and never will be. all white people are not racist. i so appreciate you getting that point across like you have. thank you so much for taking my call. guest: she brings up a good point. we live in such a polarized environment. i'm going to go back to al sharpton and some of the so-called black spokespeople. i didn't know that black people have to have other people speak, but hav on our behalf. had payment ofs picture under the first black president. are there people in this country who disdain the fact that we have a black president? sure. are they racist? absolutely and i've never said anything but. commend that when people used to send around pictures of gorillas and monkeys and comparing them to the president and first lady michelle obama. that is horrid and you always have si sick minded racist like that could if you ar. if you are a white person and start to criticize this president, as soon as you open your mouth, you are racist. that's just not true. many people feel as though our president, barack obama, has taken the country in a wrong direction. somehow i can say because i'm black. i'm given license to criticize the black president. before other presidents barack obama were roundly criticized by people of all races. the very black people who are telling fight people -- you can't criticize the black president -- they are the same people criticizing president george w. bush he was white and called him all sorts of names and white presidents before him. i appreciate the call and i would like it for all of us regardless of our skin color that we can weigh in on race issues. offensive thaty when a program is having a discussion on race that i am called in. there might be a token white person, but primarily these panels are made up of color and you will never get a true discussion that waty. host: lots of calls for you. scott is on a line for independents. caller: i'm a friend of crystals from years back. guest: thanks, scott. caller: there is a lot of venom and these are tough handed subject matters. i'm independent, but i hear a lot of venom directed toward crystal. i've known crystal for a long time. we use actually argued on issues and i would argue there has been a lot of progress and she would say there's not been enough. what politicalre affiliation she was at the time i'm thinking of, but it was a heartfelt thing. she was try to figure out the truth. when i hear a lot of venom towards her, i'm not saying i always agree with her, but i think of the complicated circumstance. i want people to know that this is a woman who has thought about this stuff. we had a discussion about justice thomas. i said it was progress and she said it was not enough. we are trying to legitimately find a way to make the world better place. i know her and i've had these discussions. we've had the discussions and they would be heated, but they would never turn to nasty things. hear these things and i know her and i think to myself, they don't know her. she is really trying to find the truth. i think people can have these discussions respectfully that it would be a better place for everybody. .hat is what i have to say guest: scott does make a good point and i've thought about this since high school because i've had personal experiences i grew up in a home where my parents grew up during segregation. and had to sit in the back of the bus and had to get a separate beaches. they cannot go and eat in the same places. growing up inoin richmond, virginia, my father was the first person admitted to the virginie college dental school. he helped fellow white students with their homework and they would get higher grades and my father. i know what racism is and i do not take it lightly. we will not get anywhere if we do not take permission to disagree like scott said and everyone should be welcome at the table of discussion. angeles, california, don on the line for democrats. caller: i like to say that i agree with some of the things the lady has said, but i don't agree with everything she has said. i definitely agree that illegal immigration is deadly to black people. los angeles, under a black mayor tom bradley, it was the first city to declare themselves a sanctuary city. you should see los angeles today. that when black people vote democratic, it's because of certain things that were done politically before you and i came along that made them gravitate to the democratic party. why do they go to the democratic party? my grandfather was a republican. once the civil rights act of 1964 was passed, and a lot of dixiecrat went to the republican party. that is why you find so many right-wingers in the republican party today. to be honest, i think politically speaking that black people are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to republicans and democrats. we do not have that much of a chance. when you are voting, i feel i am voting for the lesser of two evils. one of them is bad and the other is worse. that is usually what we are voting for. there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. i'm leaning more toward bernie sanders this go around because i do not like some of the things donald trump has said. he is colorful and entertaining to look at, but i would not vote for the guy because of the things you said. he is arrogant and somewhat of an egomaniac, but i guess you have to be to be as successful and rich as he is. the other thing is -- no one has said anything about hillary told an out and out lie about going to kosovo and being exposed to enemy fire. she told him out and outfit and nobody talks about that. host: let's let crystal wright jump in. also: hillary clinton shows a lack of personal responsibility for an elected department a state secretary of using a private server and a private e-mail to evade public scrutiny. there is a lot on hillary clinton that i think are republican nominee will tackle. you bring up an important point and i've been critical of the republican party for not going out and trying to earn the black vote. the republican party needs to make its case to black america. at the same time, black america cannot sit back and expect that a political party is going to do all the work for them. black americans have to start doing their own scrutiny and work. i think it is sad that you just told me that you're going to vote for a party you feel is less bad and not as worse as the other party. i think that is where we fail. i think it is a two-way street. it is like the chicken and the egg. black americans need to hold both parties accountable and there's no way to do that if they keep voting single-handedly for democrats. we have to start diversifying our votes. at the same time, i don't know what kind of trip the ruppel can party is on, but the path it is on is not for the white house. mitt romney tried it. there's not much white vote left in the electric couorate. america is getting browner and that is where they will have to get votes. host: crystal wright is the author of "con job." i appreciate your time this morning on the washington journal. next, we will be opening up our phones to get your response to this question -- has the republican primary become a two-man race with donald trump and ted cruz, calling on marco rubio and john kasich and their candidacies? we want to get your thoughts on whether the field should be winnowed further. the lines are on your screen. we will be right back. ♪ campaign 2016 continues, three primaries and one caucus are taking place in several states today, with a special focus on michigan and mississippi. onn us at 8:00 eastern c-span for live coverage of the candidate results, speeches, and the reaction. to theyou on the road white house on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> i am a history buff. i do enjoy seeing the fabric of our country and how things -- just how they work and how they are made. >> i love american history tv. it's a fantastic show. >> i had no idea they did history. that's something i really enjoy. >> with american history tv, and gives you that perspective. >> i am a c-span fan. ♪ year, the c-span student competition was one of the biggest yet as students competed for over $100,000 in prices. students produce documentaries using the road to the white house theme, answering questions what candidates most discussed during the 2016 campaign. economy,nts told us and immigration were top issues. turn in this wednesday morning during "washington journal." they will announce the first place winners and it bounced favorites live to the public. watch live on c-span and c-span.org. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: in our last 45 minutes of the washington journal this morning, we are asking questions to our viewers. is the republican primary becoming a two-man race? we will put the numbers on the screen so you can start calling in. as your calling in, we want to go to robert costa, joining us on the phone. he was one of the reporters on the store yesterday on the front page of "the washington post." " rubio on the ropes after string of letdowns." what are your thoughts on whether this is going to become a two-man race before we get to the gop convention? guest: a lot will depend on tonight. senator rubio has a tough path ahead in the states that are going to vote. , and youchigan, hawaii see a sense that the rubio campaign, especially his allies and donors and friends, that if he does not have a great night tonight in michigan especially, it will be hard going into florida on march 15 and ohio on march 15. you also have mississippi tonight. that looks like a state dominated by donald trump. ted cruz is making a late play there. he was there monday. rubio is not seem to have much momentum in michigan either to night. john kasich is stronger. rubio is all in on florida. with peopleting close to rubio's campaign, a florida does not happen, and that seems likely, it may be over. host: you can read all about tonight's primaries in "the washington post" tomorrow. you can watch the results and the speeches after the results here on c-span at 8:00 p.m.. we start our coverage on those primaries like michigan and mississippi. rubior story about the campaign, you talk concerns about that strategy and a poorly run campaign. let's start with a strategy side. what are the concerns about the strategy marco rubio has employed and why it has not panned out the campaign wished it had? guest: the one chief concern for rubio associates is that rubio has turned against trump. his use of insults and personal attacks, talking about trumps small hands, has damaged trump. there's a sense it has been effective in making trump see more vulnerable and hurting his margins in several states. time, one of rubio's allies called it a suicide pact to me. he says rubio has her trump, but has also hurt himself. it's a mistake to some in rubio circle that by going after trump, he is not elevated himself. ted cruz has not been doing many of the personal attacks. he has had a better run as of late. the chief strategic concern for rubio is that he has not been able to capitalize on his strengths with late deciding voters. rubio has done well in suburban areas and late deciding voters, not so much the early voters. there's a disappointment in national republican circles that rubio does not have a strategic infrastructure. he does not have a grassroots on the ground movement ready to capitalize on any of his latebreaking gains. -- he is atold me longtime strategist for the can party -- republican party. he told me rubio has no all.structure and altt host: you said this is the campaign failing a promising candidate. is that some of the fundamentals that you are talking about there? the campaign just hasn't been able to get down? guest: there is a divide in the circle on what is weighing rubio down. there's a divide between the campaign and the misstep and his o advisers hurting rubio and the other is the policies he has taken. we have the repulsion party move away from the hawkish position and a move away from the more centrist immigration position that rubio has helped to promote on capitol hill. host: before you go, if you had to guess, do you think marco rubio steps out of the campaign first or john kasich is more likely to be the next one out? guest: i think rubio at this point because i think john kasich is better positioned to win his own state of ohio. if both gentlemen do not when their home states, it will be very tough for either them to stay in the race. reporterert costa is a for "the washington post." his covers continuing today through the primaries in michigan and mississippi and idaho and hawaii. i appreciate your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: our phones are open to the viewers. is the gop primary becoming a two-man race? the phones are open for democrats at (202) 748-8000, republicans at (202) 748-8001, an independents at (202) 748-8002. good morning, randall. caller: i think it's a two-man think it is a losing two-man race. willnk ted cruz or trump not do well because neither one of them are in position to have take it to the center. of, but ted cruz is in. rubio was likely, too. one tomocrat, he is expand the party. i think overall it might be a problem because there is an racism inf the republican party and i think they are not in the long run supporting a person of hispanic origin. vot tohey have to havpi the center, i think it will cause a fracture in the general election because there are so many people emotionally tied to some of their positions so far on race and the border and not letting in other hispanics or so forth amongst other things. tohink that if they pivot the center, it could fracture the republican party and that is what i'm hoping for. host: let's go to the line for republicans. michelle is waiting in minneapolis, minnesota. caller: i do not think it's necessarily a two-man race. the problem here is that trump was so well known in the beginning that he got all the free press. anytime soon wanted to go on national tv, he could. winningch is that i'm because the poll say i'm winning. the thing is that john kasich is my person. he is the grown up in the room. once the early polls and everybody went on emotions, but now that they are seeing through the talk in the fact that trump will have to start walking back some of his statements because he does not know some of the laws. john kasich has the win ohio and review has to win florida or else they back out, but the american public is very gullible. trump is what barack obama was eight years ago. he was hoping change, no specifics. trump is saying, make america great again. you ask how you are going to do it? he says, don't worry about it. we have to ask the people how are you going to do it. one of the big problems in the debate is that you never hear anybody talking about, ok, do not criticize the other person. plant want to know your for poverty. i want to know your plan for the middle east. i want to know your plan for the $19 trillion debt. i want to know your plan for the failing school systems. debates, they always throughout he said, he said. your point. you said you do not think it's a two-person race, but the donald and ted cruzn campaign is actively trying to make this a two-person race. here's donald trump after saturday's primaries in which marco rubio not win any of those states up for grabs, calling on marco rubio to drop out of the race so that he could face ted cruz one-on-one. [video clip] donald trump: i think marco rubio had a very, very bad night. personally, i would call for him to drop out of the race. i think it's time now that he drop out of the race. i really think so. [applause] i think it's probably time. i don't think he can get up and rant and rave. he did great me comes in third and fourth. every time he comes in third or fourth, he says you got to be able to win. he is not been able to win and i think it's time that he drops out. i will love to take on ted one-on-one. that would be so much fun. he can't win new york, new jersey, or pennsylvania could he . he can't win california. i want ted one-on-one. host: ted cruz having a much better night saturday night at the primary. ted cruz went on "face the nation" on sunday and how he believes his campaign is the only campaign that demonstrated they can be donald trump. here is some of that interview. [video clip] campaigning toe win. a thai people are talking about a brokered convention, that is the fever talk of the washington establishment. the washington establishment is confused and don't understand what's happening. their favorite candidates, the ones they want to win, are not getting the votes could . but if it bunch of washington dealmakers try to steal the tension, we will have a massive uprising. if you want to be donald trump, you have to beat him at the ballot box. our campaign is the only campaign that has demonstrated we can do so over and over again. host: another day in march and then set of primaries on the table today. ,t is michigan, mississippi hawaii, and idaho at stake today. our coverage on c-span begins tonight at 8:00 p.m.. we will talk with our viewers and getting your reactions. we will show results and speeches as well. let's go to michigan where roses waiting on the line for independents to answer this question -- is the gop primary becoming a two-man race? caller: i just want to say that i do not like candidates that get out and say that they are not a part of the establishment when we know that they are. ted cruz goes out there and says that he is not a part of the establishment, but if he stands sanders, he is a part of the system, a system ,hat is destroying our economy the things that we hold dear to us. say iser thing i want to the american people -- before you go out and vote, just stop and think about the koch brothers and what they've got to do in this election. we know that they funnel money trump.ney to smear we know that rubio and cruz and kasich got a big chunk of the koch money. host: are you voting for donald trump? caller: all the negative ads -- that's where they came from. host: are you voting for donald trump today? caller: yes, i probably will. he is refreshing. he is giving this country something it's never had. he is not lying about what you can and cannot do, but he is telling the american people that we need to wake up or we are to lose the country we love to the people who do not care about us. go to bill in georgia on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't think it's a two-man race. i like to see all four of the republican candidates run around the track and see who comes out first. i find it interesting that you theircrystal wright on who was upset because they cannot get into a white country club. i look at her and feel sorry for her because she could be another sandra bland if she was under a certain circumstance. schools around the country are failing because they are not putting any money in the school system. they want to end the department of education. .o good luck people who talk about their country as being afraid for it, they should be because the way they look at it is that they don't care about anyone but themselves. host: let's go to keith on the line for republicans. good morning. caller: how are you today? host: good. go ahead. caller: first of all, thank you for taking my call, but i think it's a two-person race. the reason i'm thinking that is that donald trump to me has offered opportunity in terms of jobs. i really think the main issue facing america is jobs. work,ct that when people they become more empowered and have more of an opportunity to do something for themselves. onlynk that ted cruz's problem is that he is not talked well with the opportunity for jobs for americans. we cannot talk salary inequalities in all of those issues because enough people do not have the jobs that we can adequately talk about in reference to having jobs. guest was right in many respects and very refreshing. i often entertain the thought of having gone to a black college being white, given those opportunities, i use those opportunities to make something for my life and not waste the opportunity that was given to me. in that sense, i would offer to black america, that if you want to talk in terms of color, but maybe if black america did not vote, would that send a message to both parties for the next election that maybe there is some importance there to listen to the black issues facing our country? host: we will go to rob in massachusetts on the line for independents. you are on "washington journal." caller: i think it's a come down to two men. they are not going to do it because they know trump is the only one who can win because he is taken in democrats and independents. the other thing is that kansas and nebraska and all them states -- they are not going to vote for trump because they do not like the fact that they are selling japan beef and they are selling us every thing else. we are losing. states.e cattle the christians are voting for trump because the other guys say they are christian and go to church all the time. everybody knows donald trump is really not a christian. lyingst he is not about things. the other guys go to church all the time and the bible says real law is the love your neighbor. that doesn't mean go across the seas and tell them. host: you say the other guys will not drop out. here is ohio governor john kasich telling voters at a town hall that he will drop out of the race if he does not win his gop primary in his home state of ohio. [video clip] >> your realist and i support you 100%. -- if theon i have party is going to be hijacked and we are going to be left with two choices, a hillary clinton and a donald trump, he said in his past that at the party does not treat him fair, he will even run as a third-party candidate. will you do the same? john kasich: no. >> please do if that is our choice. [applause] let me tell you a couple things. i beat hillary clinton more than any republican candidate in the race by 11 points. [applause] not been talking about this much, but i beat her by 18 points in ohio. i've not checked the record yet, but i do not think any republican has ever been elected president without winning ohio. does anybody know that to beecher? true? i will beat donald trump and ohio and that will be the beginning of a new day. [applause] i will beat him in ohio. you count on it, ok? some of the other candidates, if they cannot win their own home state, get out. if i don't win my home state, i .ill get up cou out i promise you could this lady will stand on the side of the highway and wave that flag . host: ohio's primary is coming up next tuesday. another big primary involves florida, ohio, illinois, missouri, north carolina, and a couple of other races that day. we will have all the coverage on c-span. we are tracking the primaries here on "washington journal." we will be talking about the primary coverage tonight in michigan and mississippi, starting at about 8:00. you can see the results and speeches and we will get your reaction. let's go to jerry in cottondale, alabama. is the gop primary becoming a two-man race in your mind? caller: i think so. john kasich has an outside shot. he is the only other viable candidate. i think it's basically a two-man race. i think trump is probably going to win. i look at him a little different from most people. i don't see him as a pariah. i think we have had two great presidents in my lifetime -- roosevelt and reagan. elected, when we look back at it 10 years from now, 12 years from now, we're going to put him in that category. i can remember reagan's elections that he was pretty much ostracized the way that trump is now. he was not as vocal as trump, but i can see ahead a little bit and i think he's focused. host: where does the optimism come from? why do you think that? caller: well, i'm not optimistic. maybe you misinterpreted me. host: optimistic about how he will be remembered. caller: i think he will be remembered -- if you can remember, i don't know if you remember when reagan first g ran that he was just a joke and was laughed at. when he gotil 1980 elected and the world changed when reagan got elected. he has gotten a lot of credit for that. giantk back at him as a amongst small people. but he was not like that before he was elected. host: you think the world will change for donald trump? caller: becker pardon. host: you think the world will change of donald trump is elected? caller: i think the attitude will change. host: about what? leadership or what america is in the world? caller: i don't really know exactly. i don't foresee things. i think there will be a difference in the attitude and livelihoods. we are much different today than we were in 1979. we are much different today than we were in 1929. the world changes. i don't know which direction it will change, but i think he will be a good fit for america today. host: that is jerry in cottondale, alabama. the anti-trump forces are working hard to try to derail donald trump's campaign. here's the front page of "the washington times" this morning. -- anti-donaldp trump rally has no endgame. forces calculated their odds lifted. the story noting there is a moment of confusion for the republican party that is made more uncertain because of the absence of a clear alternative to donald trump. and john kasich are fighting to collect delegates./ the only agreed-upon mission is to minimize trump share to mount a convention challenge. that story is in "the washington post." we have 20 minutes in the show today. is the gop primary becoming a two-man race? rose in nashville, tennessee, you're up next. caller: good morning. i agree with what the other rows from michigan had to say. host: i think it was michigan. caller: must be something about our names or something. i'm a donald trump supporter. i think it is becoming a two-man race. there's a couple things i want to say that. when john way back kasich from ohio was a congressman. i used to live in ohio. john kasich nobody has ever brought this up to my knowledge -- he was one of the people who voted for nafta. we all know that nafta was the beginning of the end for american jobs leaving this country. it was bipartisan. it was republicans and democrats fta voted for nafta and ca and the rest of these trade agreements. they are called free trade, but it is unfair trade toward america and american workers. the other thing of want to say is as far as rubio goes -- he brought the gop debates down into the gutter when he went out and made the comment about the hands. i'm really tired of everybody focusing and saying, well, donald trump brought it down. no, he didn't. rubio was the first one to make comment about the hands. if we trace back a little bit of history, and i'm older, i'm a senior. remember as far as the office and the campaigns going. i remember after bob dole lost the race, i was just absolutely appalled that he went out and made a viagra commercial. after that, we had all the dillydally with bill clinton. i've seen our whole society come course and crass -- become coarse and crass. for every thing to be blamed on donald trump as farce coarseness and crass this goes, that's unfair and wrong. it is rubio who took it to the gutter and it really offends me. the third thing i want to say is i know people that are dedicated to supporting donald trump and the establishment or the powers that be in washington are trained to take him out. if they lose donald trump as the nominee, i know people who will go and vote for bernie sanders. it is no longer about the political party anymore. it is about who is going to change things and shake things up in washington. host: that is rows in tennessee. tim is waiting on a line for independents. you are on "washington journal." is the gop primary becoming a two-man race in your mind? caller: i think it is. host: who are the two? is it ted cruz and trump? caller: oh yes, definitely. johnually do hope that case kasich and rubio get out. john kasich is a good guy and everything, but he is one of those closet liberals in the he is justi think find that one got thrown in jail because she objected to gay marriage and i think he is for gay marriage. i will think a lot of people basically a lot of society throughout history has followed as a result of three things -- the creation of the welfare state, acceptance of homosexuality, in the acceptance of abortion. those are the three biggest reasons the roman empire fell. if you look at the democratic party today, over the last 100 years, that is basically what they have been. with woodrow wilson, they were the party of segregation. they were the party of jim crow. of now a the party abortion,me -- homosexuality, restricting our second amendment rights. the republican party has their problems. you can see and watch on tv all those debates that are just a bunch of petulant little children yelling at each other. that is why i'm independent. for thecally voting worst of the two evils. i think somebody else said that before because of hillary clinton gets in there, it will be a return to that in our country will go right to the toilet. the president took us there with his liberal base hader before. -- behavior before. she will not get indicted and she might even be present. i'm not saying that ted cruz or trump will lend, but i'm praying that bernie beats him somehow, but i don't think he will. host: john is in atlantic city, new jersey, line for democrats, in this phone segment of "washington journal." as the gop primary becoming a two-man race? caller: i do believe that it will be cruz and trump. i believe rubio will be gone after florida. i believe that john kasich is a mere afterthought. i'm very interested in open and closed primaries. it seems that donald trump is doing very well when a state has an open primary and he does not do so well when they have closed primaries in other states. i believe that donald trump's number is 30% with registered republicans right now and i think ted cruz is the true conservative in the race. he has run a very smart race so far by being only 80 delegates behind. i can really see the party after the other two candidates get out starting to rally around ted cruz, even though he is not like by his own party. host: on that issue of how ted cruz and donald trump have done in the primary season so far, the upshot column in today's "new york times" notes that trump did fare much worse than expected on saturday, but ted cruz, by consolidating conservative voters, took louisiana and kentucky. he won maine and kansas in a landslide. thestory noting that contest on saturday count among the six worst of the season. rubio is closer to john kasich than mr. cruz. than onefar worse would've expected based on what happened on super tuesday, while mr. cruz did so much better by an equal amount. that is in the upshot column today if you want to read it. let us go to david in maryland on the line for republicans. who are you supporting the cycle? do you think it has become a two-man race? caller: i'm supporting trump. i think it's a one-man race between trump and the pope can party could -- the republican party. host: who is the republican party? caller: what people call the republican establishment. the party leaders, the convention, basically the structure of the republican party. efforts by the republican establishment to try to derail the truck campaign -- do you think it has helped or hurt trump in recent weeks? caller: i think it is hurting him in the short term, but it will help them in the long-term. they're spending a lot of money right now, but i don't think they can keep up. they are doing it before the primaries on the 15th. host: why is it helping in the long-term? caller: it is kind of exposing the mainstream republican party for what they are. host: lettuce head down to humble, texas. charles is in ted cruz's homestay. te. caller: i believe it is a two-man race. i wish it was not between trump and cruz. i wish it was between trump and kasich. isive in a state where cruz the ruling administration here. if the rest of the united states wants to be another texas, then they will vote for cruz. texas is number 49 in people who 49e health insurance, number for people with health care and mental health. we have one of the worst graduation rates in our schools. ted cruz is too far right wing. people in the rest of the country ought to realize that. texas is a whole completely different country almost. we are as far right as you can get united states and not be considered a fascist state because we are very right wing down here. we are very right wing. i believe it is a two-man race, but i wish one of them was not ted cruz. because he will be very bad for this country. host: there are four primaries or caucuses going on today in four different states on this tuesday in march. here's the front page from "the detroit free press." " it is michigan's moment." in the much at stake presence race, there's so much to say. the front page of "the clarion ledger" in mississippi -- trump -- i won't be forgetting mississippi. paper --"he hawaii republican party hosts caucus in tonight and hawaii." you can tune in for speeches and viewer reaction as you watch the results. georgia, line for democrats. good morning. caller: how are you doing, c-span? host: i'm good, sir. go ahead. caller: i think it will come down to a two-man race, but i'm conflicted. askre i will vote, i will the lord for his guidance is not asis country bad as certain people think it is, but it's in a bad state . i want the people to understand that we have to be aware of everything that what they tell us is not so true. gethave to look to god to direction on which way to go. when we direct our mind and our soul, now i like what trump is doing. i really do. i'm a veteran. i served in the war. i like what he did for the veterans. i like a lot of things he is doing. i'm going to seek christ before i put my name on a piece of paper. host: do you think donald trump is talking enough about faith and his religious convictions on the campaign trail? does it matter to you if a candidate does that or does not do that? caller: yeah, because if you you have to serve the lord jesus christ. it's the best idea to help bring this country back around. we have to seek god to bring back that love in our hearts for one another. between the black scum of whites, the puerto ricans, and all, we have to find jesus christ. we have to get away from the racist stuff. we need to seek god. host: let us go to gary and think they were for him primary is down to a two-man race at this point? caller: oh yes, definitely. registered to vote, i became a republican by the toss of a cone. in. this is for the primary only. democrat, but we discussed coming into the general election, and we end up voting for one person needs each. generally it's the same person each whether democrat or republican. we both for the better person for government. something has bothered me with the things i've seen on tv. no business should be conducted in congress unless 95% of congressmen are present in their seats and not playing games on laptops. i've seen it i do not like it . they should be very much ashamed of themselves and be recalled by their home states. host: that is gary in chester, virginia. that is one of the states having a primary in may. brad is up next in florida on the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning should i think it is a\ -- good morning. i think it is a two-man race, but i think it's all a truck first of the republican party because they are trying to get rid of him all the sudden and they are running scared in panic mode. really, my take is bernie sanders because we the people are the only ones left. the middle class and the poor people do not have anybody speaking for us. all there is is the 1% and that is what donald trump is a part of, too. host: we had a few colors say they are bernie sanders supporters. if you does not win the primary, they will vote for donald trump. if bernie sanders does not win -- donald trump is not win, she would vote for bernie sanders. are you at the cross point where you would vote for donald trump? caller: no, i have for bernie sanders no matter what. host: would you vote for hillary clinton? caller: hillary clinton? no way. host: what would you do in a general election if hillary clinton is the democratic nominee? caller: i guess i would just decline, just let the cards fall. it would probably go to trump anyway. i would rather see trump than hillary because i've been too involved with seeing what she has done to the poor. problemsaused a lot of with the criminal system and it's just -- i don't see that anyone has listened to bernie sanders about him being the real person, the only real human being running for the white house today. host: let us go to karen and chester, has a lady appeared -- in chester, pennsylvania. caller: thank you for taking the call. i really hope it's not a two-man race because i think if america really pays attention, they would see that john kasich is the most qualified person. he has congressional experience. he has executive experience. he knows about wall street. solutions inreal all of his town halls. with what little bit of time he talks in the debates, but people the -- iant to go with don't know what you call it, but the ideological headline? if people really paid attention, they would see he is the best person out there. rost: karen is our last calle on our program. we will take viewers live to the secretary ca committee where jeh johnson is testifying today about the 2016 budget proposal in just a few minutes in the senate. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

Related Keywords

Arkansas , United States , Vietnam , Republic Of , Alabama , Kosovo , New Kensington , Pennsylvania , Mexico , Arizona , Atlantic City , New Jersey , Massachusetts , Iowa , Baltimore , Maryland , Canada , Japan , Missouri , Afghanistan , Town Hall , Virginia , Cross Point , Maine , Georgia , Michigan , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , Allegheny , Thailand , Salt Lake City , Utah , Idaho , Capitol Hill , District Of Columbia , Hawaii , Louisiana , Germantown , Vermont , Alaska , China , Minnesota , California , Kabul , Kabol , Washington , Richmond , South Carolina , Hollywood , Rochester , New York , Texas , Kentucky , Florida , Illinois , Puerto Rico , River Rouge , Kissimmee , Mississippi , Huntington Beach , Oklahoma , Virginia Beach , Springfield , Tennessee , Leesburg , Nebraska , Detroit , Houston , Ohio , Kansas , Italy , Americans , America , Puerto Ricans , Afghan , Japanese , American , Canadian , Chinese , Thai , Marco Rubio , Tom Bradley , Bobby Jindal , Jack Kemp , Michael Brown , Al Sharpton , John Kasich , Ronald Reagan , Melaine Bennett , Justin Trudeau , Michael Bloomberg , Ellen Malcolm , Matt Damon , Jeh Johnson , Chelsea Clinton , Madeline Albright , Fred Astaire , David Duke , Paul Ryan , Bernie Sanders , Sandy Beal , Lyndon B Johnson , Rosalyn Carter , Barbara Mikulski , Woodrow Wilson , Jesse Jackson , Los Angeles , Maureen Dowd , Bob Dole , Eleanor Smeal , Scott Reed , Daniel Patrick Moynihan , Betty Ford , Al Capone , Barack Obama , George W Bush , Jesus Christ , Michelle Obama , Ross Perot , Hillary Clinton , Ted Cruz ,