| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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unidentified
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An important mandate and mission in this country. | |
| I love this show. | ||
| This is my favorite show to do of all shows because I actually get to hear what the American people care about. | ||
| American people have access to their government in ways that they did not before the cable industry provided C-SPAN access. | ||
| That's why I like to come on C-SPAN is because this is one of the last places where people are actually having conversations, even people who disagree. | ||
| Shows that you can have a television network dad can try to be objective. | ||
| Thank C-SPAN for all you do. | ||
| It's one of the reasons why this program is so valuable because it does bring people together where dissenting voices are heard, where hard questions are asked, and where people have to answer to them. | ||
| We wanted to give C-SPAN viewers a sneak peek at a new series that C-SPAN is launching this fall. | ||
| It's called Ceasefire. | ||
|
unidentified
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take a look in a nation divided a rare moment of unity This fall, C-SPAN presents Ceasefire, where the shouting stops and the conversation begins. | |
| In a town where partisan fighting prevails, one table, two leaders, one goal, to find common ground. | ||
| This fall, Ceasefire, on the network that doesn't take sides, only on C-SPAN. | ||
| And joining us at our desk now to talk a little bit more about Ceasefire is C-SPAN CEO Sam Feist. | ||
| Morning, Sam. | ||
|
unidentified
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Morning, John. | |
| Ceasefire, where did the idea come from and why now? | ||
|
unidentified
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So many years ago, I produced a program that is no longer on the air at CNN called Crossfire. | |
| You may remember. | ||
| Crossfire, it was a raucous debate show where Republicans and Democrats would come on, they would debate. | ||
| They certainly didn't agree. | ||
| They almost never found common ground. | ||
| But it was a program on that network at the right time. | ||
| Here we are in 2025. | ||
| Our country is as polarized as ever. | ||
| There seems to be very little agreement. | ||
| And most significantly to me at least, there's very little talking. | ||
| Republicans and Democrats, at least publicly, you never see them on television having a productive conversation. | ||
| You know, where can we find compromise? | ||
| Where can we find common ground? | ||
| Where can we work together? | ||
| And that's what this program is intended to do, is to bring a Republican and a Democrat on every week who, at least for that program, will try to have a productive conversation, reach across the aisle, listen a little bit, see what they might agree on. | ||
| How do you make that happen? | ||
| And if the goal, as that promo said, is to find common ground, where do you start? | ||
| What are a couple topics that you could start on? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, first of all, I think you start by having Republicans and Democrats listening. | |
| The reality is that conversations like that happen all the time. | ||
| You may find a Democrat and a Republican who are veterans, who are friendly, they have a shared experience, and they begin by talking about their experience as a veteran. | ||
| Yesterday on C-SPAN, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who could not be more conservative, talked about how he found common ground with liberal Democrat Maxine Waters because they're both from St. Louis and they both love the Cardinals. | ||
| If that's a starting point of a conversation, fantastic. | ||
| So whether it's on vets or we've seen senators Blackburn and Blumenthal work together on protecting teens on social media, I mean, there are areas where you can begin to talk, but for me, the idea of having a conversation between people who are politically divided on areas where they can find agreement, I think that's good for the country. | ||
| It's what C-SPAN's all about. | ||
| And I think it can help. | ||
| You've named some pairings. | ||
| Do you have an ideal pairing in mind for this program? | ||
|
unidentified
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I don't have an ideal pairing, although I will tell you that I've, you know, since I've been at C-SPAN for about nine months now, I've had a chance to visit with quite a number of members of Congress, Republicans, Democrats, senators, House members. | |
| And in every conversation, anticipating that we might do a program like this, I asked them, who is your best friend from the other party? | ||
| Who do you talk to the most? | ||
| Every one of them had an answer. | ||
| And then I said, if we did a program where you and that member came on and sort of took off the jerseys for a few minutes and had a conversation, would that work for you? | ||
| And almost all of them said yes. | ||
| Now, proof will be in the putting. | ||
| We'll see what happens. | ||
| But at least there's some indication that there are willing participants. | ||
| Washington Journal viewers will want to know because they love the call-in aspect of this program. | ||
| Is this a call-in show? | ||
| Will they be able to join the conversation with these two members? | ||
|
unidentified
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So we're still developing the show. | |
| Not sure about calls. | ||
| We'll probably figure out a way for audience to interact. | ||
| We haven't decided yet whether it's going to be live at the same time every week. | ||
| We need to work around the schedules of members of Congress. | ||
| But we definitely want our viewers to participate. | ||
| So as we work on the show over the next few months, I'll get back to you. | ||
| Final 60 seconds, the headline on ceasefire that is in the New York Times today asks a question. | ||
| Can C-SPAN pull off crossfire but with civility? | ||
| How would you answer that question? | ||
|
unidentified
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I think we can. | |
| That was part of the reason I spent so much time visiting with members of Congress ahead of this. | ||
| I wanted to test drive the concept and make sure that it wasn't a fool's errand in 2025 to bring a Republican and a Democrat at the same table. | ||
| And at least the early, early sense I got from the members themselves is, no, we need this. | ||
| We need this right now in America and I'm in. | ||
| Sam Feis, you're always welcome at this table. | ||
| Thanks for stopping by. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you, John. | |
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal, a live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from Washington, D.C. and across the country. | ||
| Coming up Saturday morning. | ||
| We'll look back at President Trump's trip to the Middle East with Brian Catullus, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. | ||
| And then Politico's Grace Yarrow will join us to talk about House Republicans' budget proposal, including cuts to SNAP and other related news. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal. | ||
| Join the conversation live at 7 Eastern Saturday morning on C-SPAN. | ||
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| No. | ||
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