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Jan. 2, 2025 10:02-11:23 - CSPAN

01:20:56

Public Affairs Events

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john mcardle

cspan 20:18

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brian lamb

cspan 00:40

joe biden

d 04:05

john kennedy

sen/r 00:39

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bob in new york

callers 00:11

steve in illinois

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Speaker	Time	Text
unidentified		Remarks from the White House on his 235th confirmed federal judicial nomination.
		And then at 5, the president will award the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 recipients, including former Wyoming Republican Representative Liz Cheney and Mississippi Democratic Representative Benny Thompson, who led the January 6th committee.
		You can also watch these events live on the C-SPAN Now app or online at c-span.org.
		Experience history as it unfolds with C-SPAN's live coverage this January as Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress and a new chapter begins with the swearing in of the 47th President of the United States.
		On Friday, don't miss the opening day of the 119th Congress.
		Watch the election of the House Speaker, the swearing in of new members of Congress and the Senate, and the first day of leadership for South Dakota's John Thun as the new Senate Majority Leader.
		On Monday, January 6th, live from the House chamber, witness Vice President Kamala Harris preside over the certification of the Electoral College vote, where this historic session will officially confirm Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election.
		And on January 20th, tune in for our live all-day coverage of the presidential inauguration as Donald Trump takes the oath of office, becoming the 47th President of the United States.
		Stay with C-SPAN throughout January for comprehensive, live, unfiltered coverage of the 119th Congress and the presidential inauguration, C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered, created by Cable.
		Jimmy Carter has died at the age of 100.
		Here are some of the events and services that will lead up to his burial.
		On Saturday, the Carter family will be part of a motorcade that goes first to Atlanta for a stop at the state capitol and then on to the family home in Plains.
		On Sunday and Monday, the former president will lie in repose at the Carter Center in Atlanta.
		Tuesday, the family travels to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., where the former president will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
		The public will be allowed to pay their respects starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening.
		On Wednesday, President Carter will again lie in state at the U.S. Capitol before being transported Thursday to the Washington Cathedral for a funeral service.
		Later in the day, the former president will take his last trip home to be buried at the Carter family home in Georgia.
		We'll show these events live on the C-SPAN networks, streaming online at c-span.org and on the free C-SPAN Now video app.
		C-SPAN is your unfiltered view of government.
		We're funded by these television companies and more, including Charter Communications.
		Charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers.
		And we're just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most.
		CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORTS C-SPAN AS A PUBLIC SERVICE, ALONG WITH THESE OTHER TELEVISION PROVIDERS, GIVING YOU A FRONT-ROW SEAT TO DEMOCRACY.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Thursday, January 2nd, 2025.
		At least 15 people are now confirmed dead, and dozens remain injured in that vehicle attack in New Orleans early yesterday morning.
		While the investigation continues, the FBI has called it a terrorist attack.
		In Washington, members of Congress have said the incident highlights the need to quickly confirm President-elect Donald Trump's national security team.
		We're getting your thoughts and reaction this morning on phone lines split regionally.
		If you're in the eastern or central United States, it's 202-748-8000.
		If you're in the Mountain North Pacific regions, 202-748-8001.
		Special line for New Orleans residents, 202-748-8002.
		You can also send us a text, that number, 202-748-8003.
		If you do, please include your name and where you're from.
		Otherwise, catch up with us on social media on X.
		It's at C-SPANWJ on Facebook.
		It's facebook.com/slash C-SPAN.
		And a very good Thursday morning to you.
		You can go ahead and start calling in now.
		This is what New Orleans residents are waking up to this morning.
		It's the front page of the Times-Picayune there in New Orleans.
		Act of terrorism is the banner headline.
		This is the lead to that story.
		New Orleans awoke to a New Year's nightmare Wednesday with Bourbon Street soaked in blood after a Texas man mowed down dozens of early morning revelers, an Islamic State flag waving from the trailer hitch of the rented pickup in an attack that the FBI is calling terrorism.
		The FBI identifying the driver as 42-year-old Shamsu-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas.
		The FBI said they were searching for additional suspects in an investigation that has quickly spread to the Houston area.
		That's from the Times-Picayune this morning.
		President Biden, yesterday, addressing the nation after the attack, this is what he had to say.
joe biden ▲ ● ▼		Good evening.
		I know I can speak for all Americans when I say our hearts are with the people of New Orleans after the despicable attack that occurred in the early morning hours.
		To all the families of those who are killed, to all those who are injured, to all the people of New Orleans who are grieving today, I want you to know I grieve with you.
		Our nation grieves with you.
		We're going to stand with you as you mourn and as you heal in the weeks to come.
		I want to thank our brave first responders and law enforcement personnel who stopped the attacker in his tracks before he could kill or injured even more people.
		I want to thank you to everyone at the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, including the FBI, for working non-stop to investigate this heinous act.
		The FBI is leading the investigation to determine what happened, why it happened, whether there was any continuing threat to public safety.
		Here's what we know so far.
		The FBI has reported to me the killer was an American citizen born in Texas.
		He served in the United States Army on active duty for many years.
		He also served in the Army Reserve until a few years ago.
		The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that it was inspired by ISIS, expressing a desire to kill, a desire to kill.
		The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct this attack.
		Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well.
		And more explosives were found nearby.
		The situation is very fluid, and the investigation has a preliminary stage.
		And the fact is that right now, excuse me.
		There you go.
		The law enforcement and intelligence community are continuing to look for any connections, associations, or co-conspirators.
		We have nothing additional to report at this time.
		The investigation is continuing to be active, and no one should jump to conclusions.
		I've directed my Attorney General, the FBI Director, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the head of National Counterintelligence Terrorism Center, and the intelligence community to work on this intensively until we have a full and complete information.
		And once we have that information, I will share that information as soon as we can confirm it.
		Additionally, we're tracking the explosion of a cyber truck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.
		Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there's any possible connection with the attack in New Orleans.
		Thus far, there's nothing to report on that score at this time.
		I've directed my team to make sure every resource, every resource is made available to federal, state, and local law enforcement to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly and to make sure there's no remaining threat to the American people.
		We'll support the people of New Orleans as they begin the hard work of healing.
		New Orleans is a place unlike any other place in the world.
		It's a city full of charm and joy.
		So many people around the world love New Orleans because of its history, its culture, and above all, its people.
		So I know, while this person committed a terrible assault on the city, the spirit of our New Orleans will never, never, never be defeated.
		It always will shine forth.
		We've seen that time and time again throughout its history.
		And I know we'll see it again in the days and weeks ahead.
		May God bless the people of New Orleans.
		May God bless our police and our first responders.
		May God protect our troops, and we'll keep you fully contemporaneously informed.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I was President Biden yesterday evening.
		There's some of the Associated Press pictures from the scene there in New Orleans.
		A statement yesterday also from the incoming President, President-elect Donald Trump, saying this on his true social account.
		When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the fake news media, but it turned out to be true.
		The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.
		Our hearts are with all of the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the New Orleans Police Department.
		The Trump administration will fully support the city of New Orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil.
		I mentioned comments from members of Congress as well and what this could mean for the incoming Trump administration.
		This was incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune with this tweet yesterday.
		Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the senseless terror attack in New Orleans with reports of an ISIS inspiration.
		The American people expect clear answers from the administration.
		The threat posed by ISIS will outlast this administration, and it's a clear example of why the Senate must get President Trump's national security team in place as quickly as possible.
		John Thun on X yesterday evening.
		Taking your phone calls this morning on the Washington Journal special line for New Orleans residents.
		That's 202-748-8002.
		Otherwise, phone lines for if you're the Eastern or Central time zones and Mountain and Pacific.
		We'll begin in New Orleans.
		Frank, good morning.
		Thanks for calling.
unidentified		Good morning.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Your thoughts this morning in New Orleans?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How is New Orleans this morning?
unidentified		Oh, well, actually, I'm living in Baton Rouge after Katrina.
		So I really don't know, but that my friends call and we talk, and they all are terrorized enough to purpose of terrorism to have everybody afraid, most of the people.
		But I'm 80-year-old now, and I worked in the quarter at 15, 16 years old.
		And washing dishes as a kid after school.
		But, you know, I'm grown now, 80 years old.
		After war, I'm a combat veteran, wounded.
		But I'm hearing all of the talk about protecting the citizens of New Orleans.
		Terrorists will get to you anywhere.
		I mean, they could use drones and any other kind of thing to get to you.
		New Orleans, Frenchwater area, is like a three or four mile radius.
		I mean, I would say from the river to Lampart, oh, far up beyond Canal Street, back to Legion Fields or something.
		I delivered mail in New Orleans for 35 years.
		But anyway, how do you protect the citizens when you have guys riding in?
		This guy came in from Texas.
		Here in Baton Ridge, we had, after the Alpha Sterling shooting, a guy came in from Texas, shot up Baton Ridge.
		I don't know what we're going to do.
		And I don't know what they're doing in Texas to have these guys riding down here to cause havoc.
		What about their own state?
		They're not doing it.
		They're coming here.
		But that's my main thing.
		You cannot protect the people from some guy running off in that big area.
		You could put a blockade on Canal Street, but there's so many other entrants and exits in that quarter area where you have thousands of people walking all of the time, not just New Year's celebration, but all of the time.
		Now, what you're going to do to combat terrorism, I don't know.
		It was available right now in Vietnam.
		They would have aprons and handkerchiefs around for GIs being acquitted to pick them up and explode.
		Terrorism is something that you can't hardly stop.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Frank in Baton Rouge, former New Orleans resident.
		This is Robert in Arkansas.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning.
		If people notice, when that happened in New Orleans, the first thing Donald Trump got on there is what you read.
		And before I knew he knew anything about where the Poles have been and the terrorists and the terrorists.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And the terrorists, what, Robert?
unidentified		Okay, and the terrorists are born and raised in the United States.
		Now, the Trump got there was trying to blame it on the immigrants.
		And if you see SPAN wants to do some statistics on how many people were killed by United States citizens, other than these people that's come in trying to find a place to live, you'll find out that more white males did more killing than any immigrants ever will be in the United States.
		But you need to check and do a test on it from last year.
		How many white males shot people that they didn't even know nothing about?
		And that's the bad part about it.
		Blame everything on these immigrants.
		Immigrants come here trying to work.
		And you got these white males in the United States that have committed more murders than any of these immigrants ever will come in.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Robert in Arkansas.
		What we know, according to the FBI, at approximately 3:15 a.m., that individual who's been identified as 42-year-old Shamso Din Jabbar, U.S. citizens from Texas, drove his truck into that crowd of people on Bourbon Street, exiting the vehicle, firing upon local law enforcement, law enforcement returning fire.
		He was pronounced dead at the scene.
		Two law enforcement officials injured and transferred to the local hospital.
		He had rented that Ford pickup truck.
		The ISIS flag on that pickup truck.
		Weapons and potential IEDs located in the subject's vehicle.
		The investigation continues.
		That's where we are this morning in the wake of that terrorist attack in New Orleans.
		Getting your phone calls.
		This is Dan, Youngstown, Ohio.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yeah, so the previous car keeps talking about white males.
		This was not a white male.
		So, yes, Americans can be radicalized, but we also know immigrants came to Colorado, took over blocks full of apartment buildings.
		It was an immigrant in New York that lit a woman on fire in the subway.
		It was immigrants in New York that were fighting with the police.
		So, of course, Americans can kill people, too.
		But the more of these bad actors that we have brought into the country that we don't even know where they are or who they are makes things more dangerous.
		Obviously, we have a problem with gang members that have come in from other countries.
		We have a problem because millions of people were brought in who we don't know who they are.
		We don't know where they are.
		Many of them are bad actors.
		To pretend that they're not is absolutely ridiculous.
		And it is up to our government to make us safer, not to bring in people that want to kill us.
		But this is what Biden has done.
		So this guy here was radicalized.
		He was an American.
		That's going to happen.
		But we also have the danger of millions of people in this country who do not have our best interest at heart.
		To ignore that and to lie about it is not going to help the situation.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Dan in Ohio.
		The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal wondering what this could mean for U.S. foreign policy, wondering what the lessons of this terror attack could mean in the weeks and months to come.
		Terror strikes in New Orleans is the headline of their lead editorial today.
		A lesson in this attack is that it's still vital to stay on the offense against jihadist groups abroad, lest they be able to establish sanctuaries from which they can plan attacks on the West, as they did on 9-11.
		The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has meant the U.S. has lost its ability to monitor ISIS or related terror enclaves in that country.
		This is a good reason they write for Mr. Trump to retain the current U.S. base in Syria, whose mission has been to deter the revival of ISIS or an al-Qaeda safe haven.
		Mr. Trump has said serious civil war isn't America's concern, but it surely is if the country becomes a jihadist state or allows new terror camps to form.
		The possible return of a jihadist terror to the homeland isn't a message that anyone wanted to hear in 2025, but it is a reality that the next administration will have to deter or defeat, and that is the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.
		This is Anthony in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Yeah, good morning, you know.
		This is no surprise to me.
		Look at all the hatred, vitriolic rhetoric that's spewed on most media outlet news programs every single day.
		I mean, you have, here you have, I hate to say it, but a lot of, I'm white Italian American.
		My grandfather came here from Italy, Sicily, and we're white, okay?
		And we went through terrible prejudice by other white Europeans who settled in New York City 100 years ago.
		But you have a lot of many now, white media journalists, they want to call themselves.
		They're so supportive of black American causes and soon discussed 20 years ago.
		How supportive were they then?
bob in new york ▲ ● ▼		Is it a lucrative job for them now with regards to money and books to act like they defend one group of people and said, come on, let's be totally honest.
unidentified		Look at the hate and the vitriol and the rhetoric that spewed non-stop on this very show.
		You guys, you know, I'm not saying you're perpetrators, but there's a lot of white.
		I'm going to tell you something.
		11 years ago, I'm not going to say any names, but there's a white journalist who's always defending African Americans.
		And I'm going to tell you right now, African Americans.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		All right, that's Anthony.
		This is Bill in Orange Park, Florida.
		Good morning.
unidentified		I'm sorry, John.
		I punched the wrong number.
		But I don't believe this.
		Listen to these people.
		I heard that lady the other day with Davy Vance saying it was only one apartment building or a couple apartment buildings that were taken over by gangs.
		When are you going to wake up?
		They're going to take over Sears Tower or something in Chicago, and then you're going to have another million people that are going to be dead.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So, Bill, what's your reaction to what happened in New Orleans yesterday?
unidentified		You know, that had to happen.
		It's going to happen a lot of times from now on.
		You better get used to it, and you better put those blocks, those cement blocks up at the end of each street and at the end of each sidewalk.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Bill in Florida.
		This is Ray, Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Hello.
		Yes.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		I've been hearing a lot of callers before that the attack in New Orleans, terrible, horrendous.
		It was terrible.
		But there are ways to stop these attacks by changing hearts and minds.
		Quite simple, changing hearts and minds.
		What is being preached out there?
		What is being stood upon?
		What about people believing?
		A person can change from bad to good, and they need to focus on helping people, focus on good, focus on in the news.
		They need to have more reports on people's lives being changed.
		Christian programming has that all the time, how people change from bad to good.
		And that's good.
		You need to change hearts and minds and get back to loving, get back to helping people, regardless of skin color, regardless of where you came from.
		This is America.
		And America was founded on principles of working together, building a better country.
		And we need to focus on that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Ray, as America focuses on that, what do you think of the, I don't know if you heard the op-ed from the Wall Street Journal saying, this is a reason why the United States military needs to continue to have a presence in places like Syria to deter and to ensure that a country like that in the midst of change does not become a safe haven for Islamic terrorism.
joe biden ▲ ● ▼		Right.
unidentified		Well, I'm a U.S. Navy vet.
		I was in the Indian Ocean in 1980 with the hostage crisis, and I totally support U.S. bases and countries to be a counter terrorist.
		Yes, I totally support that.
		We need a strong military.
		We need to secure our borders.
		That's common sense there.
		That's just plain common sense, secure our borders and protect American citizens and just have mentality and strength and backbone to do that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Ray in North Carolina.
		This is Al in Ohio, Dayton, Ohio.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		And what a sad, sad couple days we've had in America.
		I'm foreign-born.
		I'm a vet.
		And to see this happening in this country at this stage of my life is really, really sad.
		But the other thing that bothers me is when people in political offices make comments thinking that they're making a joke at a news conference when all these people have been killed.
		This really upset me yesterday.
		I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing.
		But we've just got to come together.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You're referring to, was it Senator Kendi yesterday at the news conference?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Are you talking about the reporter that was to his right?
unidentified		Yeah, and he said that's the first time they've been on the right.
		I mean, who says things like this when you've got 15 dead and 30, 40 people injured?
		You know what?
		He needs, and he's from Louisiana, isn't he?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Yes, he's one of the two senders from Louisiana.
unidentified		Well, they should be very proud of him.
		But this is what upset me.
		I watch this news all the time, and I'm not going to live in fear.
		I got a brother that's got loaded shotguns thinking the immigrants are coming through his door.
		This is ridiculous.
		The fear that the fear-mongering that's going on in this country has got to stop.
		We're all Americans, whether you came from other countries, you were born here, we're Americans, and we need to protect our country.
		That's all I got to say.
		And I wish everybody a safe new year.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Al in Ohio, and this is about a minute and a half of Senator Kendi yesterday in one of those news conferences in reaction to that terrorist attack.
unidentified		Here's what I want to ask from the federal government.
		Catch these people.
		Catch these people.
		And then tell the American people the truth.
john kennedy ▲ ● ▼		Now, I don't want you to tell us yet anything that's going to interfere with your investigation.
john kennedy ▲ ● ▼		And there's things that I've been told that I think are true that I'm not sharing with you today because it could interfere with your investigation.
unidentified		But after we get to the bottom of this, I need to tell the American people the truth.
		And the people of New Orleans the truth.
		And the people of America the truth.
		I think the mayor and the governor are very wise to postpone this ballgame for 24 hours.
		There's just too much stuff we don't know.
		And it's just not worth it.
		But I guess my final point is I will promise you this.
john kennedy ▲ ● ▼		I will, when it is appropriate and this investigation is complete, you will find out what happened and who was responsible.
		Or I will raise fresh hell.
		And I will chase those in the federal government who are responsible for telling us what happened like they stole Christmas.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		John Kennedy, the sender from Louisiana there yesterday, the ball game he's referring to, the Sugar Bowl postponed from yesterday evening in New Orleans.
		It'll take place this afternoon, at least scheduled to do so.
		And that news conference coming yesterday, more expected today.
		Taking your phone calls, getting your reaction to this terrorist attack, 15 dead, dozens wounded in New Orleans in the very early hours yesterday morning, the first hours of the new year, this 2025.
		This is David in Washington.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Thank you for taking my call.
		My condolences go for the victims of this heinous attack.
		I lived in this kind of society before I entered this beautiful country of ours.
		And it seems like we're having the same thing over and over again.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David, what do you mean when you say you lived in this kind of society?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		What do you mean?
unidentified		I lived in the West Bank when it took me usually about 15 minutes to get to school.
		It took me about two hours to go through checkpoints and concrete barricades.
		And I lived through all of that, John.
		These fanatics, they live for vengeance.
		We should not mess with them when we went to Iraq and started the wars with them.
		All they want is their holy sites back in Jerusalem.
		And like I said, they live for vengeance.
		And if we don't have a solution for them to leave us alone here, they will keep on going and going and going.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		David, is the solution a continued presence in the Middle East to ensure that they don't establish a—go ahead.
unidentified		Yes, the Palestinians had no human rights.
		And when you go after them like that, they're going to come after you.
		And they are allies, which is us.
		We keep supplying the Jewish state with weapons and give them easy tools to kill innocent people.
		And I left that country behind thinking that everything is gone and over with.
		Now I'm going to live peacefully in this beautiful country of ours.
		But it's a nightmare.
		It's hard to come out of it.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You talked about the concrete barricades on the way to school.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Do you think that's where this country is headed, David, when it comes to soft targets?
unidentified		Yes, John.
		When I go out to the airport and you have to go through hoops, you have to go two hours early to abort your flight.
		And this is so sad to see our situations like this.
		For innocent people to celebrate the New Year's Eve to get run over like this, it's just heartbreaking.
		And I left the country when I was 18 years old.
		And I was hoping, I don't want to look back, and I was hoping that somehow, somewhere, we'll find a solution with these folks so they can leave us alone.
		We're going to go bankrupt trying to defend ourselves.
		It's crazy insane.
		And my heart goes out for the victims in Louisiana and the future victims unless we find a solution.
		These people live for vengeance and they're going to heaven, they think.
		And I hope we find a solution for it soon enough.
		And I hope we save our money here without putting the defenses up, take care of our kids, the schools, and stay out of their way.
		These people have been fighting like this for ages.
		And we planted Israel on the top of sovereign country.
		They had their own government flag and all of that.
		And now they want to come back and vengeance.
		Jerusalem with the Aksa Mosque is very important to them.
		So let's find a solution and get this crazy madness out of our life in here.
		That's all I got to say, John.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's David in Washington.
		You mentioned having defenses up.
		The fences here in Washington, D.C., around Capitol Hill are up ahead of the opening day of the 119th Congress.
		Tomorrow, it's noon that the House has set to gavel in for a new Congress and the Senate as well.
		Those are those security barriers that come up around some of these major events here on Capitol Hill.
		They're likely to be up as well.
		January 6th, the vote counting for the presidential election.
		And then, of course, on Inauguration Day, security is expected to be very tight here in Washington, D.C. That's what it looks like.
		That's the shot to the United States Senate.
		Upper Senate Park is what that's called.
		The security barriers there splitting it in half.
		And those security fences around Capitol Hill today, tomorrow, and in the days to come.
		Taking your phone calls, this is Janet in Plainfield, New Jersey.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Hello.
		Yeah, I'm not good about talking, so I'm going to keep it short.
		You know, it doesn't make any difference who's in the White House.
		As long as you have evil out there, sick people, crazy people, this is going to happen.
		I don't care what you try to do.
		I mean, yes, you have to try to take some kind of measure of defense, but it's just going to keep happening, I'm afraid.
		You know, I'm surprised it hasn't happened out in Las Vegas.
		You know, the way the people out there are doing their thing.
		I would like to go to Las Vegas, but I watch it on YouTube, and I'm like, all these people out there at night having a good time.
		It's a wonder something don't happen.
		I was thinking.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Janet, we saw yesterday that cyber truck explosion outside the Trump Hotel, Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		President Biden saying.
unidentified		Oh, I didn't see that.
		I didn't see that.
		But I'm not surprised.
		It's terrible.
		But this is sick people.
		I mean, what are you going to do?
		People who don't have nothing to live for?
		People who don't care.
		So, I mean, I hope that they could find a solution, but it's just not going to happen.
		I mean, I told my sister, it's going to be to the point where you're not going to be able to go anywhere without being afraid.
		It's just, it's terrible.
		I'm very sorry for those people out there in New Orleans.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		In Vegas yesterday, this is some of the reporting on it.
		The Tesla cybertruck explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is another potential act of terrorism, according to law enforcement officials.
		The boxy truck stuffed with fireworks and mortars and camp fuel canisters.
		That Tesla truck was rented through the Turo app.
		One person in the truck was killed.
		That Turo app, the same one used to rent the pickup truck, the electric-powered Ford F-150 that was used in the New Orleans attack.
		Those investigations continuing today.
		And Elon Musk weighing in on that Tesla attack in the wake of the news reports there offering investigative officials information about Tesla trucks and about cybertrucks.
		He was tweeting yesterday about that as well.
		This is Nehemiah in Pompano Beach, Florida.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Thanks for accepting me on your show.
		I just wanted to say that, you know, it's gotten to a place that our world isn't the same anymore.
		We owe China a whole bunch of money.
		When China gets ready to come over here, they got a bunch of mad young men that they're going to send over here and they're going to take over our country.
		And all these women, single, these are the women that they're going to take over.
		It's going to be the melting pot.
		This is what's going to happen.
		Okay, and I can't go any further than that.
		All that I know is China is going to take us over.
		Thank you.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Nehemiah, the immigration debate coming up yesterday, even though this attacker in the New Orleans attack identified as a U.S. citizen, an Army veteran, lived in Texas.
		It was the wake of Donald Trump's tweets about immigration that started some of that.
		Chris Murphy, the Democrat from Connecticut, the senator on X yesterday pushing back against Donald Trump, mentioning illegal immigration in his first words about the attack.
		Chris Murphy saying Trump intentionally lying about the attacker being an immigrant.
		He wasn't an immigrant, and why does it matter?
		He says it matters because Donald Trump is going to use the episode of violence to justify his crackdown on immigrants and attack on dissent, whether the facts line up or not, saying this is just the start.
		The senator from Connecticut there on X responding to Donald Trump.
		This is Doc Baton Rouge.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Well, it'd be good if President Trump does take over.
		When he does take over, he cracks down on these people.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Who are these people, Doc?
unidentified		What's that?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Who are these people?
unidentified		People coming over here killing our people.
		Did you not see what happened in New Orleans?
		I live 80 miles.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And the point that the senator was making.
		The point the senator was making is this was a U.S. citizen.
		This was not an immigrant.
unidentified		Well, was his family from the Middle East?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I don't know about his family, Doc, but the FBI has said he's a U.S. citizen from Houston, Texas.
unidentified		Right.
		His mother and dad came here.
		He's the first.
		Hello.
		Go ahead.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I'm listening to you, Doc.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So you think this immigration debate is very much going to be a part of the early days of the Trump administration?
unidentified		Oh, yes.
		Yes.
		I hope so.
		While there's still some people alive, you know, I mean, we've got to do something.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Doc in Louisiana.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This is Keith in Bangor, Maine.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		I want to first wish the country a hopeful and happy new year.
		I want to say that I'm a veteran, disabled veteran.
		I served in Germany and I walked along the wall before it was tore down.
		And I reminisce about, or I go back to the reason why we were still there in the 80s, and it began with Joseph Goebbels.
		He sold Hitler to the Germans through his propaganda.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So, Keith, bring me to the New Orleans attack.
unidentified		Yes, sir.
		I'm going back to the lady caller a couple calls ago that blamed all this on the media.
		What Joseph Goebbels did for Hitler, our media did for Biden.
		And the omission of truth is still a lie.
		And I've met people from Czechoslovakia.
		I call it the Czech Republic now.
		When I pointed a tank at it, it was Czechoslovakia.
		And back before Biden was elected, quote unquote, These old couple that immigrated from Czechoslovak uh Czech Republic were saying because of the news media and what they were doing to Trump then, they were talking about going back to the Czech Republic because it is so bad here.
		Trump calling it very fake news is an understatement.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		All right, that's Keith in Maine, an Army veteran.
		This is the headline of the Wall Street Journal story on the attacker this morning.
		Army veteran was beset by woes.
		They write, Shamza Din Jabbar's life appeared to take a dark turn recently with a messy divorce and his finances in a deep hole.
		According to an email he sent to his then-wife's lawyer in 2022.
		On paper, the 42-year-old Jabbar hit many of the milestones of a very American trajectory, a military service, including a war deployment, college degrees from state universities and ascendants through roles at Accenture, Ersten Young, finally Deloitte.
		In addition to his work and that work, he tried to make a real estate business happen.
		Jabbar grew up in the city of Beaumont, Texas.
		He joined the Army serving at bases in Alaska and North Carolina, deployed to Afghanistan in February 2009, serving for 11 months.
		In 2013, he was promoted to staff sergeant, a profile of the named attacker in that terrorist attack in New Orleans.
		This is Jim, Mount Calm, Texas.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yeah, John.
		I'd just like to say that back in Trump's first term in 2016, he beat ISIS down.
		He beat them down and had them pretty well destroyed.
		And then when Biden took over, he has started appeasing to Iran.
		And Iran funds a lot of these terrorists, Hamas and Hezbollah.
		And Biden has allowed them to come back.
		When Trump gets in, he'll beat ISIS down again and get them under control.
		And Iran, too.
		He'll go after their oilfields and destroy them.
		He'll do whatever he has to do.
		But he's going to take down Iran, the terrorist, and Obama and Biden.
		All they do is been appeasing them.
		And it allows them, they're like a bunch of rats in a barn.
		So, Jim, to the rats.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		To the Wall Street Journal's point today and that lead editorial we read earlier, Mr. Trump has said that Syria is not the United States' problem.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		They're saying that the United States needs to maintain its bases in Syria to ensure that ISIS and other groups, other terrorist groups, don't use it as a base to train to attack the United States.
unidentified		Well, I can tell you this.
		Yeah, all I know is that Trump will do exactly what he did in 2016.
		I don't know exactly what base and all that mess, but I can tell you this.
		He's going to take down ISIS.
		I don't care how he does it.
		He's just going to do it.
		He's going to do it just like he did in 2016.
		He's going to destroy them.
		He's going to take down Iran.
		And you just watch.
		Obama and Biden didn't do nothing but appease these terrorists and patty cake with them.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Jim in Texas.
		This is Danny in Denver.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Wow.
		I'm surprised we're not blaming Hillary Clinton.
		We're blaming the Obama administration, the Biden administration.
		Everybody's to blame here.
		Michael's a little different.
		What I'm sick and tired of is they hold off a press conference long enough to get the mayor or the senator or the governor out of bed, get them dressed up so they can come out there and showboat and make a picture, snapshot or whatever, get a picture shot of them out there.
		What I'm tired of is that every time there's a tragic event like this, a school shooting, a bombing, something like this, the media, or not the media, but the government officials, they parade all these people out there.
		I would like to see some of the first responders that are there come out there and speak rather than waiting forever for these guys to get out of bed and get dressed and come over there and do a photo op.
		And Senator Kennedy's just crazy.
		He wants to start other things.
		But the whole thing is, when we want information, they should be able to give us information.
		If you give us a press conference where you line up 50 people in a room and introduce everybody so everybody gets a photo op and the showboating opportunity to come out there and be a mouthpiece for some other things.
		But I think that they should have their press conferences right away, give as much information that they can to the public.
		If not, the media needs to go out there and get the information to give it to the public.
		They can sometimes put out there on TV more information than what the press conferences give us.
		I'm sick and tired of them waiting for officials to come for a photo op.
		I don't know why they carry on this way.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Danny in Denver.
		This is Larry in Circleville, Ohio.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Yes, yes, John.
		I'm a disabled veteran.
		And what went on in New Orleans, this guy radicalized, and isn't influencing the love of the other country.
		He's for the love of his other country.
		And there's no way that, you know, he should be treated as a traitor, as a traitor.
		Okay?
		Treason.
		It's treason what was happening.
		I know he was an Army vet and everything.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And Larry, he's deceased now.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So when you say treated, what do you mean in terms of how we talk about him?
unidentified		Yes.
		Yeah, he's a traitor.
		He did what he did was treasonous.
		Okay?
		And there's a lot of that around nowadays that's being carried by our politicians that are traitors to our nation.
		Okay?
		Including the president, including the president.
		Okay.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Larry in Ohio.
		This is John in Wisconsin.
		Good morning.
		You're next.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Thanks for taking my call.
		This is a sad day in the country again with another terrorist attack, even committed by another U.S. citizen.
		My whole thing with this is, you know, it's, I don't mean to sound flipping about this.
		I'm not at all.
		It's, you know, I mean, it just goes to show us, you know, the choice of the weapon that he used was an extremely heavy vehicle.
		You know, I don't know if they chose these for that purpose, being electric vehicles, because they could maybe smash through heavier barriers and things like that.
		But, you know, I mean, was it the person driving the vehicle that did the terrorist attack and killed these innocent people trying to celebrate a new year in the country?
		Or was it the vehicle itself that did it?
		I mean, you can, it's the same thing with a gun.
		I mean, a gun is an inanimate object, but when put in the hands of a person that is mentally unstable or for whatever reason wants to cause mass harm, they can do it.
		I mean, you can't outlaw vehicles, just like you can't outlaw guns.
		I mean, it's, you know, the hand was driving the steering wheel was the person that, you know, that's how it happened.
		Same thing, the trigger on a firearm doesn't pull itself.
		We need to do something in this country about mentally unstable people and people that are having problems.
		And I think a lot of it, to be honest with you, John, I don't know how old you are.
		I'm 61.
steve in illinois ▲ ● ▼		And I didn't even have a computer when I was in high school when I graduated from high school.
unidentified		But I think all this technology nowadays is just, it's just, it's ruining the brains and the minds of our young people.
unidentified		And I don't know how old was this person?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		He was in his early 40s.
unidentified		Early 40s, yeah, early 40s.
		I mean, he grew up in the technology age.
		I don't know what else I can really say.
		I mean, it's a shame.
		And I just hope it doesn't happen again, but I fear it will.
		Thanks a lot for taking my call.
		I appreciate it.
		And it's just a feel for the families.
		Maybe they should sue Ford for letting him for, you know, because he used it as a weapon to kill people.
		You know?
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's John in Wisconsin, the Associated Press, and other news outlets pointing out the rise in ramming attacks, attacks by vehicle.
		The Associated Press with their wrap-up of recent ramming attacks.
		December 20th, as recently as just a couple weeks ago, at least five people killed, more than 200 injured when a car slams into a Christmas market in eastern Germany.
		Police arrest a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who had renounced Islam and supports the far-right AFD party in that country.
		November 11th of last year in China, a 62-year-old driver rammed his car into people exercising at a sports complex in southern China, killing 35 in that country's deadliest attack in years.
		Authorities said the suspect is upset about his divorce.
		He ends up pleading guilty to endangering public safety and is sentenced to death.
		And June 6th, 2021, four members of Muslim family are killed when an attacker hits them with a pickup truck in London, Ontario.
		Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling it a terrorist attack motivated by hatred.
		White nationalists sentenced to life in prison in that attack, the Associated Press wrap-up of just some recent ramming attacks.
		This is Karma out of Florida.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I'd like to say I'm very sorry about the people who died.
		But I want people to know out there, I've experienced violence in my life, my entire life.
		And there is no expectation of safety when you go outside of your home or even in your home.
		No matter what era you're in now or been in or going to be in in the future, you can't expect your government or the president or the police or anybody else actually to know what's going to happen ahead of time to protect you.
		You just have to be vigilant of your surroundings, know your neighbors, be kind, and God bless America.
		Get these people off of our internet that are getting our people radicalized.
		And stop trying to say one president or the other is to blame because it's been going on since the beginning of the United States.
		So there's no expectation of safety.
		And as long as people want to just keep blaming each other, then nobody's going to come together as a community to be able to stop the hatred and the bringing down of the mental minds of people who are on the edge.
		And for whatever reason, that makes them want to kill other Americans.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Karma in Florida.
		This is Dennis out of Toledo, Iowa.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning.
		I have to laugh at these Trump supporters.
		Like, my ancestors came from Czechoslovakia.
		And Trump is going to put, Bonesburg Trump is going to protect us for the joke.
		When that Capitol got attacked, now he wants to pardon those people who attacked the Capitol.
		How is that protecting us?
		Trump's a joke.
		In this thing in New Orleans, a Republican state like here in Iowa, when Trump was president, Marty Tebbit got murdered by an Lego that rooked for a Republican farmer.
		Trump's a joke, and people who support my opinion, not as yet.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Dennis in Iowa.
		This is the headline from the Washington Times, an aspiring nurse, father, mother, football star among the victims in that New Orleans attack.
		An 18-year-old girl dreaming of becoming a nurse, a single mother, a father of two, and former Princeton football star suffered fatal injuries while the driver of that white pickup truck sped down Bourbon Street yesterday morning packed with holiday revelers on the New Year's.
		Officials have not yet released the names of all the 15 people killed in the New Orleans attack, but their families and friends have started sharing their stories.
		The New Orleans coroner said in a statement late Wednesday that they will release the names of the dead once autopsies are complete.
		And they've talked with all the next of kin.
		And of course, about 30 people were injured in that attack as well.
		This is Frank, Birmingham, Alabama.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Good morning, John.
		Thank you so much.
		And this disparity as it relates to deaths, okay?
		I'm a frequent caller C-SPAN.
		And we broke every single record Birmingham, Alabama ever had.
		Okay.
		We had two homicides every other day.
		And we just closed this year with 158 homicides in the city of Birmingham.
		And three of those was mass killings.
		17 people injured, four people killed.
		Okay.
		Now, this happened every year since 2014.
		We had one little black girl inside the school, the first killing inside of the school by a young black male that went to the school.
		They would not even settle with the family.
		They was warned that they should have protectors, that something was going to happen because something had happened at one of the men.
		It relates that death is death.
		And again, America goes crazy when they tie the word as a terrorist.
		And we are harboring terrorists right here in America.
		I deal with it.
		I mean, I can't remember.
		I've called a number of times and always it's like we devoted 12 seconds to gun violence in America during the first debate.
		12 seconds right there on C-SPAN and we went through that.
		So America is going to have to get itself together and get all crazy when we have these kinds of incidents where people die and within our own country, we have just a total absurd magnitude of people dying in the city of Birmingham.
		What a 16 street, well, four little girls was killed.
		We've had over 158 homicides, and we've been in triple digits again since 2014.
		And we can do so many things and when it happens, and then here's New Orleans.
		Let me hear this for instance, just to say, just to compare death.
		New Orleans is, I think, the third most violent city in America.
		Black people are dying like flies.
		And you don't say nothing.
		So when we put that little word, it's a terrorist.
		We get crazy.
		Death is deaf.
		And America is going through a lot of stuff because how hypocritical it is.
		So they want to get rid of terrorists, get rid of the hypocrisy that's in the hearts and the minds of these American people.
		But when it says terrorists, oh, we up.
		But when they say black boy, when they say 10-year-old shot, when it says that right here in America, nothing.
		Thank you, John.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's Frank in Birmingham, Alabama.
		Just about five minutes left in this first segment.
		We'll have open forum later in the show, too.
		If you didn't get in in this hour, you can join us later in the program out in eastern Kentucky.
		It's Pikeville.
		Gary's there.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Yeah, well, I want to go back four years ago, and we know what took place, open borders.
		I mean, gotaways, gotaways.
		Then the FBI keeps saying, well, there's terrorists.
		But, you know, that was what the FBI, the Homeland Security, and the Attorney General should have been doing was checking at the border and stopping these terrorists.
		Now they're infiltrated all across the United States.
		They don't know how many terrorist organizations they are.
		The United States is being destroyed within because they allowed this to happen.
		So it's pretty obvious.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		So, Gary, the point that's been made a couple times, this was a U.S. citizen.
		The point that Senator John Thune made is that this terrorist attack, and the FBI is calling it a terrorist attack, is all the more reason why Donald Trump's national security team needs to be confirmed quickly in the coming weeks once he comes into office and puts his administration into place.
		Do you think that's going to happen?
unidentified		Well, sure, it's just going to happen because you've got the ideology of these enemies that's over in the Middle East that are going to come here.
		The worst is not going to be in the Middle East because they're coming here.
		And so, you know, and so if they can use a terrorist organization, I mean, you got arenas filled with hundreds, maybe, well, tens of thousands of people.
		And I just don't know how they can stop it.
		I really don't.
		All turn loose when Trump takes office.
		All these terrorists are, they're out to destroy our country.
		And we've got so many things that's happened.
		It's just unbelievable that my orcas said everything's good.
		They know who's coming in.
		It's safe.
		It wasn't safe.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Gary in Kentucky.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		This is Jan in Morton, Illinois.
unidentified		Good morning.
		Good morning.
		I just want to, first of all, say hats off to some of the news media.
		I followed the Syrian uprising carefully.
		I use AP Reuters and various news agencies.
		So I'm very well, I'm going to say, just a hats off to them.
		And also, this is a tragedy that happened in New Orleans.
		As soon as they started talking about ISIS, the guy carrying an ISIS flag, and if you realize that in Syria, we do have bases that our bases did start sending jets off to attack ISIS strongholds that are still left in Syria.
		If we are naive enough to think that ISIS is not in the U.S., then we're naive Americans.
		And I just say hats off to the media because they've given us every information that we can possibly get about the New Orleans tragedy.
		And we should be thankful for that.
		And we should be very much aware that that can happen in our country.
		ISIS is not gone.
		It's not gone in Syria, and it's still here undercover.
		And that's why we need CIA, we need counterintelligence, we need FBI, all focused on the presence of ISIS people that have either been radicalized through the internet or whatever way, but they're still here, and we need to be cognizant of that fact.
		That's mostly what I wanted to say today.
		I hope everyone has a good week.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Jan, you mentioned the news media and them being on this story.
		There was a New York Post reporter that apparently made it to the suspect's Houston home even before the FBI showed up and had tweeted about it, wrote a story about it in the New York Post.
		Senator Marsha Blackburn, the Republican from Tennessee, said that the fact that the reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know.
		The FBI has failed its core mission.
		Just to your point about the news media coverage of this in the little more than 24 hours since this incident happened.
unidentified		I haven't read that, but hats off to the person that was able to get to that information.
		And as I said, I think as Americans, we can't be naive about the fact that there are radical groups.
		We went after them in Syria after it became its revolution when they stated that there were bases still in Syria, that the jets were going, they were taking off, and getting the cells in Syria does not necessarily mean that ISIS is gone.
		And so I just think we need to be aware of that.
		Did the FBI do their job?
		Maybe not completely.
		Do we still have counterintelligence and CIA?
		Hopefully we do.
		Because those groups all have to come together and make sure they're communicating and maybe even communicating with us as Americans so that we are not naive about the fact that there aren't radical groups either in this country or being radicalized through the internet.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And this is the story from the New York Posts on Shamsud-Zin Jabbar's, as they describe it, squalid home where sheep and goats roam his yard after his financial ruin, their exclusive look at his home, the New York Post, with that story.
		This is Roy, West Palm Beach.
		Good morning.
unidentified		Good morning, John.
		Happy New Year.
		After all, if you want to call it that, didn't start out very good here, 2025.
		I find it quite absurd.
		When I heard that woman, the first spokesperson from the FBI saying, oh, this has nothing to do with terror, I said right then to myself, I said, okay, here we go again with the FBI.
		Okay, that's the first thing that's going to be gutted once our great next president, number 47, Donald J. Trump, takes over and on the 20th.
		You're going to see a lot of things happening quick.
		But where this all actually began, and John McCain warned America about it when he was running against Obama in 2008, he warned about Tony Blinken.
		Tony Blinken and certain other individuals who I don't want to name their names because I'm certain that Tony Blinken is the one that is actually in control of America right now.
		And he's doing it secretly behind our backs.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Why do you think Tony Blinken is in control of?
unidentified		Obama.
		He lives.
		Obama, hear me out, please.
		And then I'll let you speak.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Just trying to understand where you get the information from, Roy, on that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		I feel like that would be a big story.
unidentified		John McCain, John McCain said it himself during the election when he was running against Obama.
		He warned America about Anthony Blinken, Tony Blinken.
		Just look at the guy.
		Listen to the way he talks.
		He is a communist.
		You can see it.
		And some of these people, Jack Smith, who has a name, who has a name, Jack Smith, even Trump said himself, what's his, I wonder what his real name is.
		Okay, the southern border, well, being wide open when Biden first came in and what he did with our southern border, of course, so what?
		That guy was in our military that did that awful deed that he did, killing all those people there in New Orleans.
		That's a shame.
		And I'm praying for their families.
		And I will do so for a long time.
		But what needs to be done is we need to slow down, get rid of our FBI at the top, get the U.S. Marshals to take over this investigation because even John Kennedy, Senator Kennedy from Louisiana, said it himself.
		And you can hear between the words he spoke when I heard him speak.
		And he was talking about the FBI and about a complete investigation that is done correctly and the American people being informed correctly the way they should be.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		That's Roy in Florida, our last caller in this first segment of the Washington Journal.
		Stick around, plenty more to talk about this morning, including up next, we'll take a closer look into who's donating to President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural committee.
		We'll be joined by investigative reporter Dave Leventhal, who's been following the money on that story.
		And later, it's Henry Olson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
		We'll discuss his recent New York Post op-ed piece about a political realignment in this country.
		Stick around.
		We'll be right back.
unidentified		Witness democracy in action with C-SPAN.
		Experience history as it unfolds with C-SPAN's live coverage this January as Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress and a new chapter begins with the swearing in of the 47th President of the United States.
		On Friday, don't miss the opening day of the 119th Congress.
		Watch the election of the House Speaker, the swearing in of new members of Congress and the Senate, and the first day of leadership for South Dakota's John Thune as the new Senate Majority Leader.
		On Monday, January 6th, live from the House chamber, witness Vice President Kamala Harris preside over the certification of the Electoral College vote, where this historic session will officially confirm Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 presidential election.
		And on January 20th, tune in for our live all-day coverage of the presidential inauguration as Donald Trump takes the oath of office, becoming the 47th President of the United States.
		Stay with C-SPAN throughout January for comprehensive, live, unfiltered coverage of the 119th Congress and the presidential inauguration, C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered, created by CAD.
brian lamb ▲ ● ▼		Brian McClanahan has a PhD from the University of South Carolina in history.
		Several years ago, he wrote a book titled Nine Presidents Who Screwed Up America and Four Who Tried to Save Her.
		His view on the presidency is not the traditional one you get from most historians.
		On the back of his book, published by Regner of History, the liner notes claim the worst presidents are the ones who want to, quote, reform, unquote, the country through the power of the federal government, which usually means usurping the power of Congress or the people.
		Brian McClanahan focuses a negative spotlight on Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Barack Obama and others.
unidentified		Brian McClanahan with his book, Nine Presidents Who Screwed Up America and Four Who Tried to Save Her.
		On this episode of Book Notes with our host, Brian Lamb.
		BookNotes is available on the C-SPAN Now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts.
		Washington Journal continues.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		C-SPAN viewers are familiar with Dave Lementhal, previously with the Center for Public Integrity and Open Secrets, currently an independent investigative reporter.
		His most recent piece running in the Daily Beast opens this way.
		Donald Trump's second inauguration is turning into an unprecedented pay-to-play extravaganza oozing with opulence for the moneyed elite attending and funding the Once in a Lifetime Affair.
		Explain.
unidentified		It's really good if you are a millionaire or a billionaire here in Washington and want to influence Donald Trump because he is offering for his inauguration a variety of ways to do just that.
		And what we're seeing on the ground is that lots of corporations, lots of very wealthy and money individuals are taking him up on his offer to donate a million dollars, $2 million, and perhaps even more than that to get exclusive access to Donald Trump, Donald Trump's family, and also to the cabinet members and all the people who will be populating or likely will be populating Donald Trump's administration.
		So if you're somebody who is coming in for the inauguration from Nebraska or Idaho or Florida and you're hoping to get that kind of level of access, you will sadly be disappointed because this is going to be for just an elite few.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		When you donate to an inauguration, where does that money go?
unidentified		It goes to actually a nonprofit committee.
		And so every inauguration, whether this is Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, whoever it is, they will set up an inauguration committee, which again is formed as a nonprofit organization, and the money goes toward that and to that.
		And what does that committee do?
		Well, there's two things to know about inaugurations.
		What you see when the president puts his hand on the Bible and swears his oath of office, that's something that's actually a congressional function.
		There's a separate committee that's set up to take care of all the pomp and circumstance that come with that actual inauguration ceremony, the procession to the Capitol, the ceremonial send-off of the former president, but all of the balls, all of the dinners, the breakfasts, the brunches, the lunches, the Tony affairs, and there's going to be a lot of them this time around.
		All of that is funded privately.
		So that's when you get corporate donations.
		That's when you get individual donations.
		And that money goes again to that nonprofit that is in charge of setting all of that into motion.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		How much do you expect Donald Trump's nonprofit that he set up is going to raise from this inauguration?
unidentified		We fully expect it will exceed the more than $107 million that was raised during Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration.
		And let's offer a little perspective here.
		Barack Obama's two inaugurations, they roughly raised about $53 million in 2009 and then actually a little bit less in 2013, about $42 million.
		Joe Biden's inauguration was $62 million roughly that was raised for that inauguration, albeit a very strange one given the fact that it was in the depths of COVID and we had just had the attack on the U.S. Capitol not two weeks earlier.
		But Donald Trump is definitely upping the ante in a major way and aggressively fundraising to ensure that his inauguration, no matter how this goes down, is going to be very, very well funded and that it is going to be glitzy and is going to be opulent at a level that would be akin with what Donald Trump usually wants and what people expect.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		The money that's raised, does it all get spent during the inauguration weekend?
unidentified		No, not necessarily.
		So here's a thing to know about the way that inauguration money works is that there is a lot of transparency when it comes to money going in to an inauguration committee.
		So for example, if AT ⁇ T donates $1 million to the inauguration, which we expect and have confirmed that it will be donating a large amount of money, that is going to be public record.
		That is going to be something that will be public knowledge by April of this year because by federal rules, you have to disclose your donors if you're a committee of this sort, an inaugural committee.
		So they've got 90 days to do that.
		We'll find that out sometime this spring.
		But different from what you usually get with, say, for example, a presidential campaign committee or a political action committee.
		They don't actually have to say and account for how they spend that money.
		So ultimately, it's up to the person who's running the committee, ostensibly Donald Trump in this case, to volunteer that information if he chooses to do so.
		There's no expectation that Donald Trump will.
		Joe Biden didn't.
		Barack Obama didn't.
		So as a result, we may not have really a full accounting or a full sense of where all of that money is getting spent and where all of that money is going.
		And to the question of, well, have they spent it all?
		Is it going to dinners and balls or is it going to something else?
		It's going to be very difficult to suss that out to a penny sense in that we don't have a federal rule or federal regulation that will compel the Trump committee to go forth and do exactly that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Let me invite viewers to call in.
		Dave Lebondahl with us until 8.45 Eastern this morning.
		A good time to call in on questions about inaugural money or money in politics in general.
		This is the guy you want to ask your questions to.
		He's been doing it for a long time.
		202748-8,000 for Democrats.
		202748-8001 for Republicans.
		Independents, 202748-8002.
		As folks are calling in, you mentioned do you fully expect AT ⁇ T to give $1 million to this inauguration?
		How do you know that?
		And who else do we know is going to be giving large sums of money to this inauguration?
unidentified		So as part of my story in the Daily Beast, we contacted more than 110 corporations and companies that either have a history of donating to inaugural committees or that are very much in the news these days.
		So for example, crypto companies that have been very, very active and interested in engaging with the incoming Trump administration.
		And we put the question to them, are you going to donate?
		And if you are, how much are you going to give?
		We were able to confirm a number of companies that said that, yes, we are going to go ahead and do this.
		There's been great reporting done by Axios and Reuters and other news organizations that have confirmed other names.
		We know, for example, that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, will be donating, that Amazon will be donating money to, and a variety of other corporations, including if you're driving a GM or a Ford car, well, GM and Ford will be giving money to Donald Trump's inauguration.
		So when you add this all up, a million dollars here, $2 million there, you can see how it's going to pretty quickly exceed that $107 million record mark that Donald Trump said in 2017.
		And it's entirely possible that we could be looking at not only a historic dollar figure for the amount of money raised during Donald Trump's 2025 presidential inauguration, but we could be looking at perhaps 50% more, even 100% more than what Donald Trump was raising in 2017.
		And hey, inflation is real.
		And yes, you know, you have to take that into consideration.
		But that's still a significant, significant increase in what is already a very, very large amount from eight years ago.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And an interesting part of your story in the Daily Beast, again, the headline, why Trump is going to have the swampiest inauguration ever, was the number of people who either gave you no comment or didn't get back to you on this question of are you donating explain who some of those folks were.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And is the idea then to go back and then check the records come April to see if they gave you no comment but ended up giving money?
unidentified		You better expect that we will be doing that.
		But, you know, this is a risk proposition for corporations.
		They have to weigh the risk of, all right, well, if I give a million dollars to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, or generically speaking, any inauguration, is it going to be worth my while to do that?
		What is that million dollars going to get me?
		And we know from past inaugurations that it will buy companies a great deal of access.
		Make no mistake about this.
		This is about access.
		It's about being able to get your people, your executives, the folks that you want front and center in front of the president or the vice president or the first lady or any of the cabinet members and other people in that president's circle there in the arena on the day that that president is becoming president.
		So as it applies to Donald Trump, we know from history and don't have to read too far back to know that Donald Trump's business empire and his political ambitions, oftentimes there's no hard line between the two of them.
		And Donald Trump is very open about doing business at the same time that he will be leading the country, that he's running hotels and retail properties and golf courses and has a business that he's running.
		So as a result, you have Donald Trump very welcoming to people who are willing to do business with him.
		And again, it's becoming all too clear that many, many corporations are all too happy to engage in that type of situation.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		And just not to make it about Donald Trump or a Republican versus Democratic administration, you point out in your story.
		There are some of these corporations who give money every inauguration.
		It doesn't matter who's going to be president.
		They just want their people there.
unidentified		They do.
		And they want to make sure that they are not on the outside looking in.
		You have a certain amount of money that you have to pay in in order to be there.
		And this is part of a broader strategy that many corporations have when it comes to lobbying the federal government and attempting to influence politicians, influence policy, make sure that you are on the nice list and not the naughty list, so to speak.
		And a million dollars or two million dollars to an inaugural committee is a very good initial handshake to work with an incoming administration.
		It will also be buttressed by a whole variety of other different types of efforts that corporations will put forward, including hiring teams of lobbyists to go and lobby Congress on Capitol Hill, lobby government agencies that will be a part of the Trump administration, lobbying the White House directly.
		And that's even before we begin to talk about campaign contributions that will come during campaign season that also too will range in some pretty significant dollar amounts as well.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		It's a deep dive story in the Daily Beast, again, why Trump is going to have the swampiest inauguration ever.
		Got plenty more questions for you, but I also have plenty of callers.
		So let me get to them.
		Paula in Beaumont, Texas, Independent, good morning.
unidentified		Yes, good morning.
		I just have a question about the backside of the donations for any presidential inauguration.
		The front side, you said, is very transparent.
		The second part of it is that they don't have to report what they actually do with the money.
		So if President-elect Trump wanted to, he could use some of that money to help some of his base as far as the needy part, making sure that his base supporters are taken care of, setting up some type of foundation for them or something like that.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		You're asking if that's something that he could do, Paula, correct?
unidentified		Yes, I'm saying that would be a good use of the money that he didn't actually use for his inauguration.
john mcardle ▲ ● ▼		Dave Leventhal.
unidentified		Yeah, the caller is correct.
		Again, just to reiterate, the transparency is on the money in end.
		There's not a lot of transparency on the money out end.
		And this was actually a big issue in 2017 during Donald Trump's first inauguration.
		There was a lawsuit that was filed by the DC attorney, and it was alleging that Donald Trump misused money or misappropriated money from his inauguration for the benefit of his family vis-a-vis the Trump Hotel.
		In essence, it was charging inflated rates to the Trump Hotel, and therefore his family was getting a benefit from it.
		Donald Trump denied that this had happened.

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