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March 4, 2025 23:06-00:00 - CSPAN
53:54
Public Affairs Events
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Main
e
elissa slotkin
sen/d 10:14
g
greta brawner
cspan 06:41
p
peter slen
cspan 10:38
Appearances
Clips
j
janet phelan
00:26
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
The House will be in order.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
And Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina is gaveling the House out of session as the president has left the House chamber.
The Democrats en masse walked out ahead of him, and the people that he was greeting on the way out were the Republican members who were there.
They are in the majority, 218 Republicans, 215 Democrats.
Two empty seats, both Republican-held seats from Florida because of appointments to the White House.
And Matt Gates' seat is the other one that is still open to special elections to bring the House up to 435.
Well, you heard the President speak about almost two hours, about an hour and 40, 45 minutes that he spoke.
And we're going to be getting your reaction now this evening.
202 is the area code, 748-8920.
If you are a Democrat, 748-8921.
For Republicans, Independents, 748-8922.
And if you want to send a text message, we'd love to hear from you.
Please include your first name and your city, 202-748-8903.
That number is reserved for text messages only.
We'll begin taking those calls right after the Democratic response.
Senator Alyssa Slotkin, freshman Democrat from Michigan, will be giving that response in just a few minutes.
Of course, we will go live to it.
And after that, we will begin hearing your voices.
But let's check in with Greta Bronner to some reaction to the president's speech.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼
Peter, let's start with some early headlines in reaction to the president's speech, starting with the LA Times, their headline right now on their website.
Trump takes credit for swift and unrelenting action on immigration, economy, and security.
And this, from the Washington Examiner, the conservative outlet here in Washington, just getting started, Trump declares America is back.
And then this headline from the Wall Street Journal, Trump touts early action, says he's just getting started.
And in his speech, the president stood behind his tariffs and cheered Musk's Doge moves.
And then from the Washington Post, Trump doubles down on sweeping deportation efforts.
And finally, from Capitol Hill Politico's headline this evening, Trump makes it a culture war speech.
Speaker Mike Johnson ordering Representative Al Green removed from the chamber after the Texas Democrats shouted that Trump had no mandate.
And Al Green catching up with reporters after he was removed from the chamber saying, I'll accept the punishment if there is one.
It's worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up to against this president's desire to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
By the way, other protests were taking place by Democrats.
Manu Raju of CNN noting that in a sign of protest, House and Senate Democratic leaders didn't leave to join the escort committee despite being called to do so.
That's the committee of Republicans and Democratic leaders that follow the president into the chamber.
A spokesperson for Hakeem Jeffries told me it speaks for itself.
We'll show you other moments throughout the speeches, the speech tonight by the president, how Democrats were reacting in the chamber, and of course, getting our viewers' reaction as well.
Peter.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
In about a minute, Alyssa Slotkin, freshman senator from Michigan, will be giving the Democratic response from Michigan.
That's why she was not there tonight.
So we will bring that to you live.
She was elected this past election cycle in 2024, had served in the House from 2019 to 2025, former acting assistant defense secretary in the Obama administration and a former CIA analyst.
We're going to put the numbers back up on the screen, dial in.
We're going to take those calls right after Senator Slotkin speaks.
202 is the area code for all of our numbers.
And here is Senator Slotkin.
elissa slotkin ▲ ● ▼
Hi, everyone.
I'm Alyssa Slotkin.
I'm honored to have the opportunity to speak tonight.
It's late, so I promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched.
I won't take it personally if you've never heard of me.
I'm the new senator from the great state of Michigan where I grew up.
I've been in public service my entire life because I happened to be in New York City on 9-11 when the Twin Towers came down.
Before the smoke cleared, I knew I wanted to make a life in national security.
I was recruited by the CIA and did three tours in Iraq alongside the military.
In between, I worked at the White House under President Bush and President Obama, two very different leaders who both believed that America is exceptional.
You can find that same sense of patriotism here in Wyandotte, Michigan, where I'm speaking from tonight.
It's a working-class town just south of Detroit.
President Trump and I both won here in November.
It might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist across the United States.
This is where people believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should do well and your kids should do better.
It reminds me of how I grew up.
My dad was a lifelong Republican, my mom a lifelong Democrat.
But it was never a big deal because we had shared values that were bigger than any one party.
We just went through another fraught election season.
Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that the government needs to be more responsive to their needs.
America wants change, but there's a responsible way to make change and a reckless way.
And we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy.
So that's what I'm going to lay out tonight.
Because whether you're from Wyandotte or Wichita, most Americans share three core beliefs, that the middle class is the engine of our country, that strong national security protects us from harm, and that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for.
Let's start with the economy.
Michigan literally invented the middle class, the revolutionary idea that you could work at an auto plant and afford the car you were building.
That's the American dream.
And in order to expand and protect the middle class, we have to do a few basic things.
We need to bring down the price of things we spend the most money on, groceries, housing, health care.
We need to make more things in America with good-paying union jobs and bring our supply chains back home from places like China.
We need to give American businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of the future.
And we need a tax system that's fair for people who don't happen to make a billion dollars.
Look, the president talked a big game on the economy, but it's always important to read the fine print.
So, do his plans actually help Americans get ahead?
Not even close.
President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.
He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America.
And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life.
Grocery and home prices are going up, not down, and he hasn't laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those.
His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, and cars, and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers.
Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn't work without going after your health care.
Meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down.
And if he's not careful, he could walk us right into a recession.
And one more thing.
In order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement.
The Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn.
The president claims he won't, but Elon Musk just called Social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
While we're on the subject of Elon Musk, is there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts?
No oversight, no protections against cyber attack, no guardrails on what they do with your private data.
We need a more efficient government.
You want to cut waste?
I'll help you do it.
But change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe.
The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer, only to rehire them two days later.
No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired.
Okay, so we've talked about economic security.
How about national security?
Let's start with the border.
As someone who spent my whole career protecting our homeland, every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border.
Period.
Democrats and Republicans should all be for that.
But securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom and not the disease.
America is a nation of immigrants.
We need a functional system key to the needs of our economy that allows vetted people to come and work here legally.
So I look forward to the president's plan on that.
Because here's the thing.
Today's world is deeply interconnected.
Migration, cyber threats, AI, environmental destruction, terrorism.
One nation cannot face these issues alone.
We need friends in all corners, and our safety depends on it.
President Trump loves to say peace through strength.
That's actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan.
But let me tell you, after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling in his grave.
We all want an end to the war in Ukraine, but Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity.
And that scene in the Oval Office wasn't just a bad episode of reality TV.
It summed up Trump's whole approach to the world.
He believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like the Canadians in the teeth.
He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions.
As a Cold War kid, I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s.
Trump would have lost us the Cold War.
Donald Trump's actions suggest that in his heart, he doesn't believe we're an exceptional nation.
He clearly doesn't think we should lead the world.
Look, America is not perfect, but I stand with the majority of Americans who believe we are still exceptional, unparalleled.
And I would rather have American leadership over Chinese or Russian leadership any day of the week.
Because for generations, America has offered something better.
Our security and our prosperity, yes, but our democracy, our very system of government, has been the aspiration of the world.
And right now, it's at risk.
It's at risk when the president decides you can pick and choose what rules you want to follow, when he ignores court orders and the Constitution itself, or when elected leaders stand by and just let it happen.
But it's also at risk when the president pits Americans against each other, when he demonizes those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn't be included.
Because America is not just a patch of land between two oceans.
We are more than that.
Generations have fought and died to secure the fundamental rights that define us.
Those rights and the fight for them make us who we are.
We're a nation of strivers, risk takers, innovators, and we are never satisfied.
That is America's superpower.
And look, I've lived and worked in many countries.
I've seen democracies flicker out.
I've seen what life is like when a government is rigged.
You can't open a business without paying off a corrupt official.
You can't criticize the guys in charge without getting a knock at the door in the middle of the night.
So as much as we need to make our government more responsive to our lives today, don't for one moment fool yourself that democracy isn't precious and worth saving.
But how do we actually do that?
I know a lot of you have been asking that question.
First, don't tune out.
It's easy to be exhausted, but America needs you now more than ever.
If previous generations had not fought for this democracy, where would we be today?
Second, hold your elected officials, including me, accountable.
Watch how they're voting.
Go to town halls and demand they take action.
That's as American as apple pie.
Third, organize.
Pick just one issue you're passionate about and engage.
And doom scrolling doesn't count.
Join a group that cares about your issue and act.
And if you can't find one, start one.
Some of the most important movements in our history have come from the bottle up.
In closing, we all know that our country is going through something right now.
We're not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade.
But this isn't the first time we've experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country.
I'm a student of history, and we've gone through periods of political instability before.
And ultimately, we've chosen to keep changing this country for the better.
But every single time, we've only gotten through those moments because of two things: engaged citizens and principled leaders.
Engaged citizens who do a little bit more than they're used to doing to fight for the things that they care about, and principled leaders who are ready to receive the ball and do something about it.
So thank you tonight for caring about your country just by watching you qualify as engaged citizens.
And I promise that I and my fellow Democrats will do everything in our power to be the principled leaders that you deserve.
Good night, everyone.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
And that was Alyssa Slotkin, about 11 minutes from Wyandotte, Michigan, with the Democratic response.
She's a freshman senator, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, former CIA analyst, former representative.
We're going to get to your calls after we check in one more time with Greta Bronner.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼
Peter, Alyssa promising to be brief tonight, and she was, especially in comparison to President Trump.
He set a record tonight in this speech.
Take a look at what C-SPAN has put out on X tonight.
We are tracking the length of this speech as we usually do here on C-SPAN and President Trump clocking in at just under 100 minutes, 99 minutes and change there, the longest address to Congress in U.S. history.
Look how it compares to previous presidents in their State of the Union addresses.
Biden back in 2021, going almost 65 minutes.
He held the record in President Trump tonight with one hour, 39 minutes, and 38 seconds.
Peter?
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, now to your phone calls and your voices.
We want to get your reaction to what President Trump had to say or the Democratic response.
Phil is in Queens, New York, a Democrat.
Phil, you're first up this evening.
Good evening.
unidentified
Thanks for taking my call and thanks to C-SPAN.
Always great coverage.
And when you watch C-SPAN, you're really there.
All the other networks have talking heads for most of the time.
I'm now a Trump Democrat.
I started as a Humphrey, McGovern, even Carter Democrat.
And I've seen a change on both sides.
And I've seen the Democrats go to special interests.
And I've seen the Republicans become the populists.
And I like Reagan, but I worked for Clinton.
So just a drop of background.
Anyway, I think that was a great speech.
I can't believe it was that long.
It seemed to zip by.
And I think the Democrats did themselves and the country disservice by being so rude and sitting on their hands.
As Ms. Slotkin, who seems to be like a Scoop Jackson Democrat to a certain extent, you know, you have to have a country where there's compromise, where there's discussion.
And I'm very hopeful.
And, you know, obviously I'm old.
I've seen a lot.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Phil, what's the issue?
Is there a particular issue that made you what you call a Trump Democrat?
unidentified
I think the most important issue was immigration because Trump proved the lie of the Democrats, and he mentioned it briefly.
You know, the immigration system didn't need a law, didn't need, it just needed to be implicated.
We have 40 and we have 100 years of laws.
You know, he immediately closed the border.
And listen, America takes in, and I believe these are correct statistics, about a million legal immigrants a year, which is about the total of the rest of the world.
And we love immigrants.
I live in Queens, New York, the most diverse place in the world.
But it has to be lawful.
And even if it's just the 500,000 known criminals, the 13,000 murderers, the 18,000 rapists, why would you let these people in?
And here in New York, here in New York, you've seen the city deteriorate and spend billions of dollars on people who shouldn't be here in the beginning.
We have a system.
Trump re-implemented it.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Hey, Phil, final question quickly.
For those who aren't students of history, why did you compare Alyssa Slotkin to Henry Scoop Jackson, a former Democrat from Washington State?
unidentified
I was impressed with her.
She seems like a reasonable, common sense person.
I always respect.
I worked for a long time on the World Trade Center matter, by the way.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
In what capacity?
unidentified
People from the military and from law enforcement.
And I think there's a real, you know, you get to the nitty-gritty when you're at the show or in combat.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Phil, how did you work on the World Trade Center?
What was yours?
unidentified
I'm one of many attorneys who worked on various legal and criminal elements of the matter.
I can't go into it.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Thank you, sir, for calling in.
Let's hear from Jacob, a Republican in Morganton, North Carolina.
Hi, Jacob.
unidentified
Hey, thanks for taking my call.
Thanks to C-SPAN for continuing to provide the covers that we've come to expect from them.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
What's your reaction to what the president and or Alyssa Slotkin had to say?
unidentified
Well, I mean, first to the address itself, I think it's what we've come to expect from Trump, you know, at least what I've come to expect.
There was a lot of good things in the speech, and then there was a whole lot of nonsense.
I think that he failed to do what really you should be doing in this first address to Congress, which is laying out your policy plans for the next several years.
I think he failed to do that.
I think he had some bright moments.
I think he had a promising message, though not specific as it could have been.
And I think you had a good number of those really heart-touching moments that he's particularly good at.
Now, as to Slotkin's response, I think she made several good points.
I think she was speaking from an area of common ground that a lot of Americans hold.
But at the same time, I think she could have been stronger in some of the arguments that she was making against Trump.
I think as someone who is not a huge fan of his, I agree with some of the points she made, but there were others where I think she just was not being correct in what she was saying.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Now, Jacob, you called on the Republican line.
Did you vote for President Trump in 24 or Kamala Harris?
unidentified
Yeah, so in the primaries, I campaigned against him.
I voted for Haley.
I didn't think he was the strongest candidate.
But come 2024, when it came down to it, I typically say I voted less for Trump than against Harris, but I did vote for the president.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
That's Jacob in Morganton, North Carolina.
Ian in Kalispell, Montana.
Hi, Ian.
Independent line.
unidentified
Hey there.
How are you doing tonight?
Good.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
What do you think tonight?
unidentified
Yeah, I thought it was one of the best Trump speeches that I've seen in the last eight years, and he sure has had a lot of them.
I think my big takeaway was just the failure of the Democrats to look in the mirror and realize that they've gotten themselves into this mess.
And instead of trying to unify and back up some policies that I think most Americans are.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Can you explain what you mean by that, Ian?
unidentified
Yeah, I think obviously they lost all of the messaging with securing the border, trying to actually admit that the economy is headed in the wrong direction and just passing the blame to Trump when in reality it was the past administration and trying to vilify Trump as causing all these things when it's not the case.
Obviously, Americans saw through that in the last election, which is why he got voted back in.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Let's hear Anthony in Glendora, California, Independent Line.
Anthony, good evening to you.
unidentified
Good evening.
This is actually his wife, Natalia.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Hi, Natalia.
unidentified
Hi.
I thought the speech, we thought it was really, really good.
The Democrats are acting as if Trump was never president before, and we don't remember how the economy was under him, how everything was under him.
And we do remember, and we remember the last four years, and they were really bad.
Democrats have been screaming about egg prices in the last month, and they never said anything for four years.
And Slotkin, she said that Reagan must be rolling in his grave.
Well, Reagan, he actually walked out on Gorbachev in Reykjavik.
So I don't think so.
And we just thought that the speech was really, really great.
And we hope that he's successful.
And the Democrats, they're just, I don't know, they've lost, they've lost us.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
That's Natalya in Glendora, California.
And Greta Broner is here at C-SPAN.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼
I'll pick up on what that caller was just talking about with Democrats and how they responded to tonight's speech.
Let me show our viewers a video captured by the cameras in the chamber when the president was entering the chamber, walking down the center aisle.
Eagle Eye viewers might have noticed that sign.
This is not normal.
That being held by Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico.
Let me play the video and watch what happens as she holds this sign and the president walks by.
Now, that's Lance Gooden of Texas, a Republican who grabs the sign out of her hand and throws it up into the air.
Political reporters are saying that Melanie Stansbury is fundraising off of her moment there, posting that picture of her holding up that sign tonight.
We'll show you other moments from Democrats captured by the cameras in the chamber throughout tonight's speech by President Trump.
Peter?
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Next call is Akarsh in Franklin Park, New Jersey on our Democrats line.
Did I say your first name correctly?
unidentified
Yeah, you said it pretty close enough.
You know, it's a hard name to pronounce, but you did a great job.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Good.
Pronounce it for us, please.
unidentified
Akarsh?
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Akarsh.
unidentified
Good.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Hi, what did you think of the speech tonight?
Democratic response, et cetera.
unidentified
I'm a high schooler, senior in high school.
Shout out to the Petty School in Heights Town, New Jersey, Ms. Hogarth.
I was studying for my AP Gov test, you know, getting some of that campaign finance and turned on C-SPAN.
You know, why not?
And the first thing I caught was, you know, some of his foreign policy.
You know, originally I thought the Greenland was a little bit of a joke when I first read it on the X and the Truth Social.
I never considered, you know, the Greenland plan that realistic.
But when he mentioned it at this, you know, State of the Union-esque speech, I was a little like, oh, he is serious about it.
And, you know, it interests me.
I'm a young Democrat.
I'm not 100% aligned with every single policy they have, but I think that Greenland, I'm not going to say I'm fully in support of it, but I do think him emphasizing self-determination was interesting.
That was something I noted.
I was a bit, not a bit, I was pretty disappointed with how the Democrats didn't clap for the cancer patient or the terrorist capture or the West Point, the kid who got into West Point.
And I mean, people were saying it before, you know, some of the older, the older caller.
They're saying the Democrats, they're a little, I'm a Democrat, I'm a young Democrat, and I do think they are a little out of touch.
You know, you can't just blindly hate Trump like this, that you're not standing up for a cancer patient.
You know, I was just a little disappointed.
They looked disjointed out there.
I would say I supported Al Green.
I think, you know, just like Marjorie Taylor Greene did last year, I think, with Biden's State of the Union.
You know, you got to get a little bit of resistance up there.
That's just how modern politics is.
I think the Al Green thing was probably the only form of resistance I actually supported.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Hey, our Karsh, name again your teacher in your school.
unidentified
Miss Hogarth is my AP Gov teacher at the Petty School in Heights Town, New Jersey, the Petty School, P-E-D-D-I-E.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Thank you.
You're taking AP government.
Is it?
unidentified
Yes.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Would you say that there are both Ds and Rs in your class?
unidentified
D's and R's.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Democrats and Republicans, sorry.
Yeah.
unidentified
I attend a boarding school in central Jersey.
I say in our mock election this year, it was around 75% towards Harris.
It is a pretty Democratic school, but it's not a very overtly political school.
That's something I like about it.
You know, we do have DEI days, which I'm a fan of, a lot of talk about acceptance.
It's a very diverse school.
They give a lot of financial aid, which is something I love, people from all walks of life.
But there's never a moment where you're demonizing people because of their political beliefs.
Yeah, there's Republicans in my class.
You know, they are a little more quiet than the Democrats in my class, just because, you know, I've noticed that younger Republicans at my school are, younger conservatives are more quiet just at my school.
It's something I've noticed.
But there are, I'm friends with conservatives.
I'm friends with Democrats, you know, in my APGov class.
We don't try to get too political.
I do think we did.
When we talk about the debate in the fall, we do get a little political when we talked about elections.
But right now, we're talking actually about the executive bureaucracy, ironically.
And we do talk about Doge a little bit.
So, you know, there are some mixes of political talk, but there is like a, there are D's and R's in my class, just more D's, though.
But everyone's still developing their political mindset.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Arkarsh, what are you going to do after you graduate from the Petty School?
Well, where do you want to go to college?
unidentified
Where I want to go?
I got to say Georgetown, honestly.
You know, I want to study political science.
Well, Georgetown is called government there.
I do want to study that.
You know, I applied their regular decision, still waiting for that result crossing my fingers.
I applied to Virginia.
I like a big fan of Professor Larry Sabado there.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Sabado, right?
unidentified
Election analysis there.
That's actually a big motivation.
I got deferred from Virginia, so I'm still waiting for my result from them.
I got deferred from Duke, so I'm still waiting for my result from them.
I got into UMD, University of Maryland, which is actually only 30 minutes outside of D.C.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Oh, no, it's closer than that.
It's right up the street here.
unidentified
Or yeah, it's right up the street.
I don't know what I'm saying.
I'm a big fan of UMD, got accepted to their like Constitutional Scholars Program for Freshmen.
I'm a big fan of their program there.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Good.
Well, tell you what, we have a, you know, we have intern programs here at C-SPAN.
So if you make it down to Washington, you make sure to at least apply and see if we can get you in here.
Arkarsh, thank you very much for your time.
We thank Ms. Hogarth at Petty School as well for encouraging a political discussion in her class.
And I think we're going to adopt your tagline for C-SPAN, which is, I turned on C-SPAN.
Why not?
I think that'll be our new tagline.
Thanks, Arkarsh.
unidentified
Thank you.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Let's talk to Ian in Gross Point, Michigan, just north of Detroit, Republican.
Hi, Ian.
unidentified
Hi there.
Thank you.
I want to appreciate you guys for your coverage.
Or I want to say thank you for your coverage and for having the time to speak to viewers.
I appreciate you guys giving everyone a point of view.
I think that Karish is right that a lot of young conservatives, they tend to be scared about expressing their opinions, but I feel like a lot of that is to do with the platforming of calling immigrants rapists, murderers, and everything else, which is extremely dangerous.
You know, I think that there needs to be a path, a legal path to immigration.
But many of these people are ironically leaving dictatorships that started out with similar policies, cutting education, health care.
And I'm not for higher taxes.
I don't want my taxes to go up.
But there is so much corporate welfare in the United States, you know, and I think we're seeing a lot of that increase.
You know, I think so much of the polarization people getting into echo chambers is what causes this great divide that allows people who are kind of grifters to come in and find ways to get you on their side.
You know, I don't want anyone to take my guns, but I also know that there are people out there who don't necessarily need to have guns.
There was a guy, you know, I'm from Gross Point, Michigan, so Alyssa Slotkin is actually my representative.
And so I would like to, or my senator, excuse me.
Sorry, first time calling in.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Yeah, it's okay.
Ian, I just want to point out to our viewers that Speaker Johnson is making his way through Statuary Hall.
This is live coverage just off the House chamber there.
Ian, you've talked about several issues.
For whom did you vote in 24 on the Senate side and on the presidential side?
unidentified
So on the, you know, I appreciate Slotkin's appeals to conservatives and Democrats for running as a Democrat.
I voted for her.
I actually voted for Kamala Harris.
And to that point.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
And you're calling on the Republican line.
Do you consider yourself a Republican?
unidentified
Yes.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Gross Point is a pretty affluent suburb, isn't it?
unidentified
Yeah, I don't think having decency falls along lines of affluency, though.
All right.
I also call on Dana Nessel to stop pressing charges against U of M protesters.
And to Alyssa Slotkin, the phrase, to the river, to the sea, is not a terrorist slogan.
You need to defend free speech on college campuses and throughout the country, as it's clearly under attack from this administration.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
That's Ian in Gross Point, Michigan, calling on the Republican line.
And this is David in Philadelphia on the Democrats line.
David, good evening to you.
unidentified
And thank you, Verce Ben.
You do an amazing job.
It's not easy.
You make it look so just you make it look easy.
Thank you.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
So what's your response to the speeches that you heard tonight?
unidentified
Well.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
And the festivities.
unidentified
Festivities are quite amazing.
It's a shame that the Representative Green got asked to leave.
But I missed his point.
He's trying to stand up for what he believed.
But you shouldn't be that intrusive.
It's the president speaking.
I actually was kind of ashamed of the Democrats because they wouldn't stand for a child who'd survived cancer.
They wouldn't stand for a man who's preparing to go to West Point.
It was just very odd.
Like those things I see standing for.
The rest, you got to stand along those lines.
But the whole air to me was the Democrats just being rude in a very obtrusive and kind of insulting way.
It was very odd to me.
And it bothered me.
It's like, I want to see the Ds stand up and go, we're cheering for what we believe in, you know, children rising up, men and women both, hearing the call, serving our country.
And they weren't supporting that.
It was very, didn't sit well with me.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
So, but David, you are a Democrat.
unidentified
Yes.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
And you were not pleased with your party's performance necessarily this evening.
unidentified
Well, it was those two incidents.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Okay.
What did you think of Alyssa Slotkin's rebuttal?
unidentified
You know, it's funny.
I was sitting with that, and I think that she made a lot of very valid points.
She's a rarity, which is she's kind of middle of the road.
That's what I found her to be.
But she still said exactly what she believed.
And I admire that a lot.
You know, I wish more representatives, both these and ours, would take her stance, which is what can we learn and what can I say yes to on both sides?
What's a good policy that I can get behind that my constituents get behind?
I really admired her for that.
That was exactly what I want to see in my Democrats.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Hey, David, as you well know, Pennsylvania was quite lively this past election season.
Did you have friends who changed their mind from Trump 16 or 20 to 24?
unidentified
I actually did.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Either way.
unidentified
Yeah, and it really came down to the Democrat leadership in the last administration.
It was so poor.
And Philly's, we're a very big Democrat town.
We're like incredibly Democrat.
I mean, the Philly is going to take over.
Very, very Democrat.
And it got me how many Dems that they, you know, they didn't say it out loud.
When they got in the voting booth, they voted for Trump.
And that speaks volumes right there because they're so frustrated with the leadership we have on the Democrat side.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
All right.
David, thanks for calling in and spending a few minutes with us.
If we can, I want to show a live picture of Statuary Hall, which is just off the House chamber, just to show you what's going on there.
This is where the members of Congress and the press meet and they do interviews and they talk about what they heard and saw, et cetera.
And you can see it's quite a scrum down there.
And if you go over to C-SPAN 2, our Paul Orgell is interviewing members of Congress, the administration right now.
That's all live on C-SPAN 2.
It's a little bit of an assembly line, but we get to talk to a lot of members.
You can see that's a Democratic member there in the pink.
And you can watch that on C-SPAN 2 if you're interested.
Just wanted to point that out for y'all.
Greta Bronner is also with us this evening.
Hi, Greta.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼
More on from the Democrats in the chamber during the president's speech tonight.
Let's begin with this moment caught by Jennifer Bendery.
She posted it on X from C-SPAN's coverage.
She's with Huffington Post.
The C-SPAN cameras just briefly panned to a couple of people walking off the floor with resist shirts on.
And those were five Democratic members who early on in the president's speech took their jackets off and walked out with it, first turned their backs to the president and then walked out.
You can see Democrat Representative Maxwell Frost wears a shirt reading, no kings live here, as he walks out of the House chamber while Trump was delivering his speech.
And then there's this reporting from Billy House of Bloomberg.
Several Democratic women members are now turning their backs to Trump.
And it was Melanie Stansbury who led them out of the chamber.
She was the same one that was on the center aisle holding on to that sign that said, this is not normal.
And Michael Schnell says, wow, a number of House Democrats, including Jasmine Crockett and Maxwell Frost, just left the House chamber during Trump's speech.
And before leaving, Crockett took her jacket off, turned around, and the back of her shirt read, resist.
And the other two who left the chamber were Crockett, as we said, and Andrea Salinas and Max and Maxine Dexter.
Those Democratic members walking out early on in the speech.
Now, several other Democratic members of the House and the Senate, they walked out toward the tail end of President Trump's speech, Senator Bernie Sanders and others.
During the speech, some Democratic members were holding up signs in protest to what they heard from the president.
This is from The Hill.
Democrats could be seen holding up signs during President Trump's speech as a way to rebut the president on his remarks.
One of the signs read false, while the others read Musk steals.
And here's another image from the Hill newspaper when the president said Joe Biden, the worst president in American history.
A number of Democrats held up signs that said false.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Next call is Kirsten in Kansas City, Missouri, Independent Line.
Kirsten, good evening to you.
What did you think about tonight?
unidentified
Yeah, good evening.
So I just had a really kind of interesting perspective.
I live in the kind of urban core of Kansas City.
I'm a black woman and just kind of understanding the context of the conversation.
One thing that was really, I was glad that was brought up was around the crime that's happening in our cities.
That's something that is a deep pain point for me.
I was a former principal and teacher in the urban core, and so many of my students have been gunned down violence.
And I see, you know, I took my daughter, my young daughter, to the symphony last week, and we had a ground of gunfire in front of us.
And so just really glad that someone brought this issue up.
It's really impacting the American people.
And so many of what the things he brought up, me and my husband, my husband and I work really hard to provide for our family.
And we just felt in the last administration that it was just so difficult to stay above water.
We both work full-time jobs.
We both have graduate degrees.
And it was so difficult.
So this idea of economic prosperity, love that that was a focus.
And, you know, candidly, one thing that, you know, it's difficult kind of being even an independent, I think, has been kind of an interesting line to walk because I think that there is this notion sometimes that people are monolithic and all of one type of group have to vote one way or another.
And what I found in this election is that many of my friends who are also black African Americans have been thinking a little bit more outside the box in terms of not just going with the party line in the Democratic Party.
And that's been really empowering to kind of put that stake in the ground as an independent so I can be more discerning.
So what party actually aligns with my values and what I think is going to be best for the country and my family.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Kirsten, who did you vote for in 24?
unidentified
Yeah, so in 24, I voted for Trump in 24, which was a really difficult decision because previously I, you know, did not in the last elections.
In fact, I was one of the, I remember being in tears in 20, in the first round that Trump was president because I was so upset.
Yeah, 2016, thank you.
And so for me, it's astonishing.
My husband and I are like, this is just our perspective on things has shifted dramatically because things were so bad in the last administration.
And we were feeling the sense of like despair.
I just felt like there was such a disintegration of so much around us.
And we were really looking for to make a radical shift to kind of combat what we were saying.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Kirsten in Kansas City, thank you for your time.
Let's hear from Mickey in North Carolina, Republican in Durham.
Hi, Mickey.
Oh, hi.
unidentified
Thank you.
I'm also, again, I'm Republican.
I'm also a black man.
I'm 22.
I grew up in Washington, D.C., a very, like, in a very Democratic environment.
And the city itself, like urban, heavily Democrat, completely an environment where everyone voted Democrat.
I was told that.
I thought that growing up, we were told that the Democrats weren't changers.
We were supposed to accept whatever the Democrats would bring that into prosperity, would stop the attacks that they portrayed the Republicans as very racist.
And I thought that as I got older, I really bought into that narrative.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
But as I lost our friend in Durham, let's talk to Kate in Three Rivers, Michigan, Republican line.
unidentified
Hello.
I'm glad I watched this.
I am a senior, and I have been working since I was 13 years old.
I've seen many different presidents go through.
I've seen many different houses and senates go through.
I think this was an embarrassment in regards to the Democratic people that are voted, that are supposed to be representing our country, to belittle our president who is speaking.
That was disrespectful.
And I'm a hardworking person that has worked their lives.
Okay.
I am ready to retire, and my Social Security has been taxed and taxed, and I'm penalized for working on Social Security.
I don't feel that the Social Security should be taxed.
I really don't.
janet phelan ▲ ● ▼
As far as us in the American eyes are watching our president, he has done a lot in the very little time he's been in office.
unidentified
Let's give him some time.
I mean, I just don't think that the media has even given him a fair shot.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Kate, what do you think about some of the issues that he brought up in his speech tonight?
Were you with it for the full hour, 39 minutes?
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I watched it from beginning to end.
janet phelan ▲ ● ▼
I really, it tugged at my heartstrings about that little boy that wanted, that became a CIA.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Or the Secret Service agent who's a great person.
unidentified
Yeah.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Honorably Secret Service agent.
What did you think about your Senator Alyssa Slotkin's response?
unidentified
I don't, I didn't vote for her.
I'm sorry.
And some of her points are valid, yes.
We're in uncharted waters.
We're finding so much fraud.
And that's our hard-earned money going out the door.
That's the Americans' hard-earned money.
You know, and people are quick to spend other people's money, okay?
And throw it out to different countries and for various different programs.
I'm sorry.
I think they're right.
Drain the swamp because there's a lot of people out there that have gotten rich off the backs of American people.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Kate, what kind of work are you from?
Are you retired from?
unidentified
Oh, I'm a government worker.
I work for St. Joe County.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Okay.
unidentified
All right.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Thank you, ma'am, for calling in.
Howard, Mansfield, Ohio, Democrats line.
Howard, you are on C-SPAN.
What did you think about the president's speech tonight?
unidentified
I didn't believe a lot of his stuff, like the numbers on the fraud and stuff they said they found, because they put up the list and then they got to take a bunch of it off.
And I think Elon Musk shouldn't be in there because it's a conflict of interest.
He's got contracts with the government, and you know, he's going to be helping himself.
The immigrants, I agree with deporting the ones that are criminals, but the ones that are working and trying to survive their family, they're trying to leave their country because evidently it's not good there.
So I don't think we should be deporting them.
We should be helping them become citizens because they are ones that work on the farms and stuff.
I used to drive trucks and I watched them work in the farms.
They're not here to freaking freeload, like they said.
And like in Springfield, Ohio, when they said he's eating the dogs and cats, that was all a lie.
You know, it's just crazy of the lives they feed.
Be truthful with the American people.
That's what we vote you in for.
And it's just like the Democrats not standing for that little kid.
That is a bunch of bullcrap.
You need to respect babies like that.
You know, I've got family members that have cancer.
And I thank God that some of them was saved and some of them wasn't.
But it's just crazy how they wouldn't stand for that little boy.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
So, Howard, that said, was there anything about tonight that you liked either from the president, the Democrats, or the Democratic response?
unidentified
I like the idea of deporting the bad immigrants and upholding our police officers.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
So I do.
unidentified
Because they put their life on the line for us every day.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
So I got to ask you, who did you vote for in the last election?
unidentified
I voted for Kamala because I seen what Trump was in 2016, and I wasn't wanting to repeat because he's like a bully, just like they've done with Zelensky in the White House.
That was crazy.
We made an agreement with them that if they gave up their nuclear weapons, that we would not allow Russia to take over on them.
And look what he's doing now.
It seems like he's taking Russia's side, which we need to be taking our people's side, our allies.
We don't need to be turning against Canada, Mexico, the EU, none of them.
We need to be supporting them.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Thank you, sir.
Howard, we appreciate you calling in this evening.
Greta Bronner, what do you have for us?
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼
CNN's Manu Raju caught up with Steve Scalise after tonight's speech, and he told Manu Raju that obviously there would be a censure considered against Representative Al Green for his shouting at the top of President Trump's speech.
A quote here from Steve Scalise.
He knows what he did was a clear violation of the House rules, and it shouldn't have happened, and it's going to be dealt with.
Also, Capitol Hill reporter Sahil Kapoor of NBC catching up with Senator Elizabeth Warren, and she was asked about the president calling her Pocahontas during his speech.
unidentified
I was applauding the help that the United States government has given to Ukraine.
And evidently, on the day that Donald Trump has stopped that assistance, he's feeling pretty sensitive on that point.
He should.
greta brawner ▲ ● ▼
Warren, they're reacting to what the president had to say during his speech, calling her Pocahontas.
Peter?
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
Well, we've got about five minutes left.
And we're going to show you this at the end as well.
But I want to put this up so you guys can see this.
This is a really neat idea.
Nate Hurst, our political producer, this is his idea.
If you've ever watched C-SPAN and seen the press conferences held at the White House by both Democratic and Republican presidents, you know that Caroline Levitt is the new press secretary for Donald Trump.
And do you have a question?
You know, she takes questions from reporters.
And Nate will be down there at the White House.
And if you have a question for White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, send it to this email address, whitehousequestions at c-span.org.
You can see it there on the screen.
We're going to leave it up there for a minute so you can copy it down.
But if you've got a question, we're going to go through those.
We're going to see, you know, which ones we can ask Caroline Levitt.
And Nate will identify you as the person who came up with this.
You might just say C-SPAN viewer, but right there, just leave it on the screen.
WHQUSTIONS at c-span.org.
Go ahead and send those in.
We'll show it to you one more time before we get out of tonight's program.
Brooke in Las Vegas, Democrat.
Thanks for holding.
What did you think of the president's speech and the Democratic response?
unidentified
Hello.
Thank you for having me on.
I actually didn't watch it in protest.
I watched President Zelensky's show on Netflix.
It's called, hold on one second, Servant of the People.
peter slen ▲ ● ▼
This is the show that made him famous in the Ukraine several years ago, right?
unidentified
Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
Yes.
And then I did tune in for Senator Flotkin's rebuttal, and I thought she did an amazing job.
I also wanted to say that I support all of the resistance that the Democrats showed.
I think telling us to be polite is just another way to tell us to be quiet and not stand up for what we believe in.
Resistance isn't polite.
It is passionate and loud because we want change to happen.
Also, for all the veterans out there who are upset about how Donald and Doge are handling things, there are Democrats out there who want to help veterans.
Congressman Stephen Burstford has been trying to put together bills that will help veterans and help families in the military.
So there are people who want to be there and to help and work with Republicans to get the things that we want.
Many federal workers who were fired recently by Elon Musk and by Donald were veterans.
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