complete schedule. ist: joining us now congressman tom reed, a republican from new york state. .e is a donald trump supporter he is here to talk to us about that, as well as congress' agenda. thank you for joining me. guest: thank you so much for having me on. host: at first, the house republicans are going to conference later this morning to talk about the strategy related to funding the government beyond september 30. what do you expect? guest: we will have a good family conversation. that is why i so appreciate speaker ryan. paul wants to have these conversations. i'm very confident we will be able to come up with a resolution that gets us through september 30. we will see where it goes. host: "the hill" talks a little bit about the move to fund congress and says that house speaker ryan faces new pressures

from house conservatives, a year after the freedom caucus that pressured john boehner to resign. members of the conservative group have been threatening paul ryan. members are furious about that the new speaker did not do more to help the representative from kansas in his failed primary bid this summer. to back pressuring ryan a vote to impeach the irs commissioner. what do you think about the freedom caucus and the threats, as "the hill" called it? guest: i do appreciate each member and each member's right to express themselves. they were elected by their voice to washington dc in the manner they so choose. i'm always hopeful and i'm always trying to be part of the toort in the conference bring people together. this is not about threatening or

putting down a marker and you lock yourself in and never say what you will never do, so to speak. early once i learned during my tenure in washington. with the freedom caucus, they have their opinions, but we can get through this and we will. host: we are talking to congressman tom reed of new york, a republican from new york. democrats can call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. your questions and comments for the congressman. you supported donald trump early on. have your views changed since march, when you first supported him? guest: no, when we look at the presidential cycle and the presidential election, this is a binary choice. we have to choose. knowing what hillary is, what ,er agenda is, the status quo establishment type of mindset that she is going to bring to the table, i look at donald

trump as an opportunity, as an agent of change, a disruptor, someone who is going to do something in washington. when i came here in 2010, i can to change the culture of washington dc and i think donald trump gives us the best chance to do that. host: let's take a look at what donald trump said recently. [video clip] mr. trump: she is always talking about things that she is going to do. she has been there for more than 30 years. she has never done anything about it, never done anything. and all you have to do is look at new york state, when she ran for senator she said she would bring jobs back to new york state. it is a disaster. no jobs have come back. jobs have left. new york state, upstate new york, the areas she was talking about, they are disasters. all you have to do is look at new york state. she said she was going to bring tremendous jobs back, it will be wonderful.

just like she is saying now. she would not know how to bring a job back. she would not have a clue. it is all talk, but nothing happens. host: do you agree that upstate new york, where you are from, is a disaster? guest: i live in the house my grandfather built in 1921. i have been living there my entire life. i have 11 brothers and sisters. i know what donald is talking about. our area has had great success at times. it has pockets of great success. there are people that are struggling. there are areas that are struggling. he is absolutely correct. we need to do better for the rust belt. we need to do better for the manufacturing base. donald trump gives us that opportunity. host: what do you think he will do? guest: he is a private-based person. he is a business guy. he does not have 30 years of working in bureaucracy, like hillary clinton.

he is going to bring those business models, he is going to bring the commitment to economic prosperity that he has done personally. that is a huge difference. host: we have a lot of callers waiting to talk to you. noreen is calling in from connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? i do not agree with anything donald says when it comes to vladimir putin and saying he's going to bring back jobs and saying all these different lies that he has said so many, i cannot keep up. he says so many and i fact check everything he says. myselfing i fact check to make sure what he is saying, as it lies or truth? he tells so many lies i cannot even keep up anymore. vladimir putin, i do not think that is even a good idea.

people went to war to fight with russia to keep america safe. host: let's let congressman reed respond to that. donald trump doubled down on his support, his praise of vladimir putin and says he prefers him over the president. guest: i respect your opinion and i applaud your effort to fact check. in the age of the internet there is a lot of information but there is a lot of misinformation. when you talk about donald trump, his commitment to securing america, when he references putin he is looking at where are our potential allies? even the enemies of our enemies are our friends. trying to align interests is something he is trying to tap into and i support that because we have a common enemy and a common threat. even though we may not have a relationship or be the closest allies, maybe try to develop

that relationship to keep american citizen safe. host: donald trump said he could win new york state, a state that has not gone to a republican in recent memory. do you think you can? guest: i do not give up hope. i am an eternal optimist. we are going to keep fighting for it, but the reality, i am also a practical person. new york is a heavy blue state and when he had the city of new york, he is going to do very well. it is an issue that is generated from the concentration of blue voters in the city in my opinion. host: up next, calling in from ithaca, york on the republican line. caller: thank you. before i start i would like to thank you everyone behind the scenes every day that makes

these programs possible. it is an invaluable source of hearing everyone and constituents across the country. congressman rated, i'm glad to be able to speak with you -- congressman reed, i am glad to be able to speak with you because last year percent was instrumental after a medicare takent of 10 years was out of my measly benefits. that is the social security disability. over $10,000 was taken out and we did recoup $6,600 that was to pay my rent in ithaca. i found a place to live. i had stood up to michael bloomberg who was dumping the disabled. in section 50% of us eight and 2009. in 2010 on theed

front page of the new york times. what i would like to ask you to work with us on, particularly people living with disabilities and myself, a peace corps veteran who saw combat three times after wrongly fired, after digging the grave of a woman who had mastitis. a thousand acres, 300 cows, antibiotics. it was not done and i gave out materials to have children and i was fired. that said, i have not given up. andal services in ithaca the policies of the county do not recognize me having my section eight, which i finally got in june. i would like everyone to have source of income equality. it is done down in new york city.

they passed a law that you cannot discriminate when -- because of where your income comes from. motel on the taxpayer's dime and have been cut down to food stamps. host: i want to make sure that congressman raid has a chance to respond -- congressman reed has a chance to respond. guest: i am glad we were able to help you out, that is mission number one. we just passed the 10,000th milestone. i tried to keep track -- track of it. 10,000 families we have been able to help and it sounds like we were able to help you in your situation. on the issues that you are raising, we want to work with everybody and work on the issues that you raise, and making sure that people who are going through a hard time in life where life has drawn them a curveball.

i am not one of these individuals on the republican side who says we cannot do anything because the government should not be doing that. there is a role for the government. it has to be reasonable and temporary. one of the things we are losing in this dependency, entitlement type of government philosophy coming out of washington is that it should be based on the individual and not the government. let's continue to work together. host: let's talk a little bit about donald trump who you support, and that may be used as a campaign issue for house lawmakers. i have heard several of your colleagues including this report from cnn which says the nevada republican said he told cnn he trusts donald trump to have his finger on the nuclear button -- on the24 hour nuclear button. less than 24 hours later that the centerpiece of a major new ad against his

candidacy for the hotly contested open senate seat in nevada, the one democratic seat republicans have a reasonable chance of winning this november. are you worried about trump's effect? guest: i have a lot of confidence. i know joe heck. i put his resume up against anyone in the world. all individual candidates i think or in a great position to win their campaign. what a lot of this is being driven by, this is politics in washington, d.c. this is what they do but i trust the collective wisdom of the american people, of the voter. as the rain had indicated, she is doing the work. she has verified. people are doing the work to become informed, educated, and engaged voters. next on our republican mine is john calling in from southampton, pennsylvania. caller: good morning.

guest: good morning. caller: it is a pleasure. all i would like it is about half of the pastor. i have a couple of questions. donald trump's campaign ultimately won him the nomination. i am a strong supporter of numbers usa, which is as mainstream and organization, 3 million members. i would request that you would have the president as a future guest. here is my observation. in the elite press, new york times, wall street journal, -- washington, post, on day one i read about how we need more immigration for science, technology, i.t.. we do not have the workers.

in the same article they will say we need more unskilled workers to do the picking the crops and cleaning the kitchen's and whatever. in then the next day same mainstream media, they tell us about robots and mechanization and how we are making such dramatic improvements. , they are talking about within 10 years, are going to be eliminated. the truck drivers, a bus drivers. john, you said you had a question for the congressman. what is your question? caller: my question is, pbs, which is publicly funded, and i do not know what percentage of their funds are publicly funded, but it is the most biased. i have never seen -- this is a new thing in american politics in the mainstream media being so

one-sided, so dishonest, that they do not give even an attempt, they do not pretend to be impartial. and to give both sides and even shocked. the are so biased against republicans and donald trump specifically, it is a disgrace. firsti just want to note that we have had right back on the show. beck on the show. guest: i appreciate the sentiment and in my opinion there is a lot of bias by the media. the objectivity, the old-school journalism, and i'm not putting kimberly into that pool, we are kind of losing that i think in american media and i hope it comes back. in this day and age we have to deal with the cards we have been dealt and one of the things we can do to overcome bias is to do the work. when he to make sure we are not relying on soundbites, that

people are using the internet as a tool for information. i go back to what doreen said. she is doing the work. we have a very accessible internet, accessible line to information to check and get your own information. trust and verify is something ronald reagan had said. host: we are talking to congressman tom reed from new york, a republican member of the ways and means community as well as human resources oversight and tax policy. thehe issue of immigration, piece in today's new york times talks a little bit about how that issue is also facing some of your colleagues as they seek reelection, pointing to illinois republican dole who is a supporter of immigration reform. it says "several of the most ardent republican supporters are

locked in a fierce election fight, potentially leaving even more conservative party in the house that will be less willing to negotiate on fixing the yougration system." what do think about the immigration fight and are you concerned about its effect on the election? guest: the effect on the election will take care of itself but the real issue, read going to take care of immigration? of efforts andt conversations on a bipartisan basis to say that we recognize immigration in america has not been reformed in decades. let's start the conversation and do something about it. what donald trump is doing, i think, is taking the right course in terms of the first issue that needs to be addressed . how are we going to secure our border? he is raising a more fundamental question, do we want a border at all? sometimes my colleagues on the say, wede of the aisle do not want a border, we are

part of this global family. we are all the sons and daughters of immigrants. my father came over as a cabin boy on a steamship from europe and befriended a man who gave him a job. and i now serve in the u.s. house of representatives. that is the american story and our immigration policy has made a strong for decades that we need to secure the border to make sure our citizens are safe, make sure we have a policy that does not harm american workers and promotes opportunities for everyone. once you secure the border you can get into the issues of guest visas, temporary health, the different programs out there do utilize different sources of immigration. host: what about the estimated 11 million immigrants who are already here? do you support any legalization for any of them? guest: let me let you in on a secret in washington.

everybody knows we have to deal with those individuals. everyone knows to roundup 11 million people and somehow ship them back, that is not going to work. like i said, i am an optimist but i am also a realist so we have to come up with a solution that deals with that problem. when of the things i put on the table, no citizenship because you violated the rules but maybe the penalty you pay is that you lose your citizenship opportunity. you can be here, you get legal status, and i have talked to a number of illegal immigrants who say, i can stay here and visit my family and do not have to go through the horror of being smuggled into the country. and then we will put on the table, their kids who are young and were not part of that decision, they can apply for citizenship. that is the american dream. i have had illegal immigrants time and time again say, i would be willing to accept that.

if you give me the opportunity to enjoy this country, they would accept that. host: up next on our democrat line we have lee from kent, washington. morning.i, good a comment and a question. gay son of loving parents of council bluffs, iowa. they taught me love and accepted me in love because they understood the totality of love in jesus christ. most republicans do not grasp that. my loving parents did. i do not know how but they did. my question is, and the statement would be i also have a disabled brother who lives in omaha, the brusca. how can you sit there with a smile on your face and smirk and and accept trump and

back him when he mocks the disabled question mark think you very much. guest: obviously, i know where your criticism and concern is coming from. obviously, i do not agree with everything that donald trump has said but i'm one of the individuals who is working in the campaign in a private way. comments, those criticisms, and say we need to focus on the american people's problems. that type of rhetoric that i oppose and obviously i disagree with what donald trump did in that regard, is not acceptable, and i make that known. we have got to make a choice. we have got to have a choice in this election and when you look at the policies of hillary clinton and what she represents, if you look at the opportunity that donald trump represents, i am supporting that opportunity that donald trump is bringing to the table. when it comes to sons and

daughters, and i have 11 older brothers and sisters, and i have been taught the same lessons that lee, you have been taught. one of the things i try to bring to this job is when you see wrong, stand up for it. that is one of the things i guess i am differ can just different from other republicans. on the lesbian gay vote i am one on our side who consistently voted for nondiscriminatory policies to protect those individuals. i have also supported the voter rights act. a good friend of mine is john lewis. these are good people i can embrace and say, discrimination is wrong and let's make sure we have policies that respect that. host: donald trump the city to bolster his support among conservatives. he will be speaking at the as pointedr summit out in the washington times. he is headlining the 2016 values voters summit and the nation's capital today, the first day of

the three-day annual conference hosted by the family research council. running mate will address the gathering of faith based voters tomorrow evening. just a programming note, donald trump's remarks will be carried live on c-span at 2:05 on c-span2. you can check those out there. what do you think about this push toward conservatives and do you think that it will possibly alienate other voters? guest: obviously i think this is part of the effort for a continuing outreach to voters across america. this is also something i appreciate about donald trump and his campaign. he is everywhere, he is showing up across the country. he went to mexico. hillary, i do not see her as much on the campaign trail. i see him engaging in different areas of the country that i so

appreciate. when he went to detroit, it is just not talking the talk, it is walking the walk. it is what we do when we have taken our anti-poverty issues to take on poverty in a new way for the 21st century. i went to the inner city of rochester with a democratic mayor and walked the streets and said, we need to do something different. tohave poverty and we need make sure that we are out there and showing up and talking to people. one of the things i was told when i was in inner-city rochester and cleveland is, i was -- why are you here? you are a republican and you do not care. it was eye-opening. it is because we do not show up and i recognize that. that is a criticism we have had for our party. that is why i'm helping out supporting michael faulkner running for mayor for new york city. he is an african-american leader

in the community and he is a republican. he is a proud republican, and what he says, we need to go where we have not gone before. that is what i think donald trump is doing, continuing to spread the message for a greater and better america for tomorrow. host: on the issue of reaching out to african-american voters issue,ld trump, on that what do you think of some of the language that donald trump has used saying that african-americans have no jobs, if they go outside they will get shot. do you agree? guest: the rhetoric of donald trump something unique in political history, and i will let him speak for his rhetoric and that type of conversation that he brings to the table. what he is trying to touch into is the problem. this is a problem. we have had this war on poverty for decades and a lot of it has resulted in nothing. we spent $22 trillion on this issue but we have not moved the

needle, and who is bearing the heavy load in this failure? inner-city america. african-american populations, minority populations. we cannot continue the status quo. we need to break that cycle. comments and issues, i appreciate and i appreciate the tone and concern of rhetoric, and i bring that back to the campaign privately because that is how i operate. at the end of the day he is highlighting a problem and highlighting a new way of trying to take on this problem. host: marie calling in from l myra on our independent line. yra on our-- elm independent line. caller: i am appalled by your support of donald trump. i grew up in catholic school and words matter and the way you say things matter. second of all, you are pretty safe to support him in the 23rd

district. you know it is pretty gerrymandered. i put blame on both sides of the aisle sometimes. but in this incident, it is very disappointing that you are supporting him. second of all, i live in the city of elmyra which has gone completely downhill. when he putquestion two prisons in the small city of whether we could support a prison population setting up ringing drugs, gun violence that we never had in the city and the last couple of years. i have not seen any outreach from you or any other interaction between democrats and republicans to try, except within the city, to try to solve the problems that they are having in the city. host: let's give the congressmen a chance to respond. guest: i appreciate your calling in from the district just down the road from us.

i respect your disagreement with us, i truly do, and i understand it. we will continue to have conversations even though we may disagree on that issue, and you may not support is going forward . the bottom line is i represent everyone in the 23rd district and we try to make ourselves accessible and listen to people. i know over the break when we were working the district, we were right there on the park on the river with a group of individuals. we were highlighting programs that were working. it was bringing food to the kids in the park for their summer break that otherwise they were going to lose. for places like the city of el myra, we cannot give up and we can together get it done. host: on our republican line, we have dorothy from emporia, kansas. caller: thank you for taking my

call. i have a couple of things i would like to address. i vote for the person, not for the party. number two, i would like to know, i am 82 and i taken medication. it is handheld symbicort and it -- $800.costs over 100 i would like to have the government do something about the high cost of medication. .uest: i so appreciate that this is something we are seeing situation, and your the epipen situation is a recent high-profile example of it. the question is, where do we go? tools, government mandate where the government comes in and says this is going to be the price, or you believe in a market-based system where you bring individual consumers, individuals into the equation and force the price down through

transparency and holding accountable the marketplace to make sure it is driving those costs down. that is what i'm supporting, bring transparency to these transactions. that is why i support going into situation, where did this pricing come from and why did nobody know about it? as government in washington tries to take over health care, you are driving the transparency of these transactions into the bureaucracy. that cannot be allowed. sure that make sunlight is the best tonic to these issues and make sure we hold everybody accountable. from jefferson city, tennessee on our democrat line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i would like to preface my question. i was a democrat but after hillary embarrassed and jeopardized our country, i am no

longer a democrat. i have been watching for the republican party and i'm very, very happy with what is going on. but my question is about, everyone keeps on saying that the immigration level is 11 million people. i do not know if they ever but i dooses or not, not feel that there is 11 million people. if it was a more accurate number to go by, that would be one thing. the one thing i do like about mr. trump's plan is to get the criminals away, to get the gangs away, to get the drugs away. i'm glad to see that you are for mr. trump. how come everyone keeps on talking about 11 million people? why can't the rest of the republican party come behind us are trump and the system instead of working against him?

host: just a few seconds left. guest: i do believe we are all coalescing because it is becoming clear, it is a binary choice. hillary represents onepass, donald trump -- one pass, -- path, don-- c-span.org. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us is congressman gregory meet, a democrat. he is here to talk about the latest developments in the presidential campaign, including outreach to black voters. let me get to the outreach

efforts toward minorities. when i talked, let me pull out a quote you gave to the observer recently about donald trump's efforts to reach out to black voters. you say, he has repeatedly shown himself to be a big it who of whiteto the desires extremists. and you know with reference to his birth certificate, his relationship to wipe us -- supremacists. he has shown the african-american community has no concern for our well-being whatsoever. clearly you do not mince words. can you expand upon that? do you still believe that? guest: how do you judge a person question mark there is primarily two ways, by their actions and deeds. that is all you can do. if you look at the actions and

the deeds of mr. trump, then clearly you see that he has made igotory remarks, he has lied, and therefore he is what i consider a con man and the worst kind of comment, a con man that lies right in front of your face and dares you to check in. and when you do check him, he still lies about it. that has happened over and over in this campaign. i do not know, i generally try to look at the best of individuals but when we are talking about someone to be the next president of the united states, you do have to check out who they are. the only way i know how to do it is by their words and deeds. if you go to his deeds in the very beginning, with the racial discriminatory practices with his father in their business. you look at what he did to the

central park five, never adlogizing coming up with an in the local newspaper he paid $85,000 for. it showed they did not commit it and he never said anything like that. the personal remarks he started out with the first african-american president of the united states. inlook at the words he used regard to mexican americans and muslims. how else can you judge him? there is no question in my mind, and then he tries to flip-flop. he has been in new york all of his professional career. he has been to a black church one time when he went to detroit and is going to make us think he is reaching out to the african-american community. that is a con man. host: he says that democrats have taken african-american democratsgranted and

less,ck voters do make are more prone to live in impoverished places. do you think democratic policies have failed african-americans? guest: no. you see things going up and down because if you look at unemployment, it was going down under bill clinton. it went up substantially under george bush. it has gone down some under barack obama. when you think about it, we have to deal better with race and eliminate those disparities but also deal better with reference to poverty in america. at, if you want to inme poverty on democrats predominately african-american communities, then you have to blame poverty on republicans in places like appalachia and other areas where there are whites, and there are a large number of

whites that are in poverty. host: the charlotte observer points out that hillary clinton is facing and enthusiasm gap among some black voters. it says she has campaigned with president obama at the surely convention center but not long after a new report underscored the lack of enthusiasm for her among many young african-american voters. what do think she needs to do to convince young voters in particular, young black voters? guest: you see that happening now as we get into september and people are really focusing on it. i think people will hear that as she is moving forward in a debate process, when you talk about and look at what they are proposing to do as president, look at her plans with reference to investing in urban and rural america, creating jobs and opportunities, aching sure that everybody has a role in that. education for our young folks, i

know when she was a senator in new york she was a prime proponent and mover and shaker for public education and things like the eagle academy for boys to make sure they get what they need. it is an investment into the future. i look at what she has stood for and what she is proposing as the next president of the united dates, and you can see how she can build upon the progress that president obama has made over the last eight years. host: we have a lot of callers waiting to speak to congressman gregory meeks. we have earned a from asheville, ohio on our democratic line. caller: good morning. me, because i am on oxygen 24/7. i have two comment about donald trump. donald trump says he wants to make america great. buildings, built his

he goes and gets from mexico green card holders and have them build the buildings. his buildings. the only way you can make america great is to have american people have good paying jobs. host: let's let the congressman resigned -- respond. guest: that is donald trump's motto, let's make america great again. what do you mean by that? because barack obama became the 44th president of the united states? to me, that was an undertone he was utilizing because of that president. you are absolutely right, you judge a person by their action. if you look at his business actions in the past, and people talk about his is his acumen and he has been successful, but you

cannot do what he has done as a business person as president of the united states. you cannot file bankruptcy when you are dealing with the budget, as he has done when his businesses fail because he made bad business decisions to cause them to fail. judgment, look at what he has done over the course of his lifetime and his business. businesses, you can bail him out and give him bankruptcy, that is what he has done. make america great again, great again as compared to what? what are. period saying -- what are you saying we should go back to? host: let's take a look at a donald trump pack -- add. >> illegal and regrets this immigrants convicted of crimes get to stay. our border open, it is more of the same but worse. donald trump's america is secure .

terrorists and dangerous criminals kept out, the border secure, our family safe. i am donald trump -- donald trump for president. host: what is your reaction? guest: fear is not going to work in this campaign, fax will. -- facts will. what hillary clinton proposing is comprehensive immigration reform. if you have committed a crime, those people have been deported. we have over 11 million people who have been law-abiding, paying taxes, looking at a comprehensive way that individuals who can earn their citizenship and there will be a price to pay economically and otherwise, and there are standards that have to be lived up to. keeping families together. i think he is trying to put fear into this election.

fear is not going to win this election, ideas will. clinton has the ideas and donald trump has not. in on oure calling independent line from apple valley, california. caller: good morning, congressman, how are you? guest: very good, good morning. caller: people need to understand what donald trump is all about. he has businesses that are overseas, his clothing line is overseas, his daughter's clothing line is overseas. the thing i have not heard either candidate say is you cannot bring these jobs back. i do not understand, people are saying, donald trump is saying we are going to bring the jobs back. most of these manufacturing jobs are not coming back and we have to deal with that reality, but we need to make jobs with our infrastructure. those are the type of jobs we need here now. we have jobs in india where

companies have taken their service part of their company to india. indonesia, and we as a country have to be realistic about things. we are in a global economy and jobs are not coming back so we need to make jobs here. another comment and then i will get off the line, it has been so many times when things are not going right for the white america, we always blame each individual group. at first it was the irish than the chinese than the blacks now the mexicans. now it is the blacks again but the mexicans. the people of the united states need to look at our trend and how we say these things when our economy is not going back. host: let's let the congressman respond. guest: we are in a global economy and there are different

kind of jobs that have to be created that we need to focus on. i think you are exactly right and hillary clinton exactly right when she talks about infrastructure, transportation and infrastructure. that creates jobs in america. the same way when we built the highway structure in america and the railway systems. we need new rail systems in the united states. that creates jobs and opportunities. it is important, and that is why hillary clinton's theme is we are stronger together as a nation when we bring everybody together. white, hispanic, asian, we are all working together, muslim, christian, jew. we are all working together, that is why america is the greatest country it is. we will continue to be the greatest country because we are stronger together. that is her message and that is when i think is what people will rally around, and why she will

be the 45th resident of the united states. host: on our republican line we have david calling in from new york. caller: thank you very much. weeks, heo mr. mentioned obama's accomplishments. the biggest thing he did was bailout general motors but his other big accomplishment was, he has got us almost $20 trillion in debt. i would like to know how you propose we get out of that. secondly, you are supporting hillary clinton who he claims -- she claims she was broke when she left office announced seven and a half years later she is worth over $100 million. i would like to know if you know where that money came from. guest: i will say this -- first off, i do not know anybody -- she is married to the former president of the united states and whether we like it or not,

when you look at former presidents whether it is george h w bush or george w. bush, they had quite a good deal of money before they come in but they also make quite a good deal of money when they left. there is nothing strange or different for the clintons than for any other former president of the united states in that regard. the first part of the question? do you recall, kimberly? host: i am sorry, i have not had enough coffee. let me ask you about this, we talked a little bit about the hillary clinton enthusiasm gap among black voters. a new report from the cook report shows that as president barack obama's success came largely from black voters, hillary clinton is going to need that same margin. how the in a chart african-american voter turnout has increased through 2012

whereas white turnout went down. hillary clinton is going to need that turnout, that obama coalition so to speak. do you think she can get it? guest: yes. as i say, as she gets on this campaign trail and folks start focusing on the issues and asking her what she will do as president, and not just talking about the name calling back and forth, then they will see clearly there is a plan and an agenda that will benefit younger african-americans, millennials, that she understands what the issues and concerns are. when you talk about criminal justice reform, she is the one person who has been focused on and working with members of the congressional black caucus to make sure we can put forward a strong criminal justice reform. she talks about rebuilding the african-american middle-class and investing in our communities. this is a woman that has a plan and a history to show that is the inclination of where she wants to move.

that is the type of enthusiasm. i think the young millennials will be listening very intently and closely as we move forward. at thell be looking words and deeds of mr. trump and secretary clinton, and that will drive the enthusiasm that is necessary that she can be elected the 45th president. i will add to that that if you look at the states that historically had always been republican, georgia, for example, the reason why georgia is now in play is because voter registration of african-americans is up in georgia and that can make the difference. north carolina, african-americans are up. virginia, if you look at some of these key battleground states, you will see the enthusiasm of young folks and millennial folks are a little bit higher than the general population around the

country because that is where the message is really being shown right now. that is going to be significant as we move on, on november 8. next, colleen from long beach, california on our democratic line. caller: i am visiting my folks in pennsylvania. i am around all my relatives that i grew up with and some of them -- so many of them are so misinformed because they listen to the right wing conspiracy theories. they think she is responsible for murders. more,k we need to address instead of always focusing on donald on all the stuff that is obvious that do not seem to matter to his can the joints because they are just dead set -- his constituents because they are just dead set. you tell something over and over

again, and i think we need to be in their own deeds and where they get information and dispel it. hillary should not have to do that all the time. i think the democratic party and progressives and republicans that are concerned about what would happen if trump, unstable trump would get in, what would happen to this world? they need to really try to figure out how they can get in and dispel some of these can that my relatives really have. people, mennonite, good but they do not hear this stuff. guest: i agree with you and that is why i'm here. that is why i think you will see members of congress and other members of goodwell running around the country for the next 50 odd days getting this message out. when you see someone, for example donald trump the other night praising vladimir putin and saying basically that he is

a stronger leader then president obama, that is unheard of. when you see someone like mr. trump talking about the generals, he knows more than the generals and the generals are weak in the united states, that is unheard of and all americans need to come together. we are indeed the greatest country that this planet has ever seen and we are great as we have overcome difficulties where we had racial discrimination and women not having equal voices and equal protections, and we moved forward and we are still striving to be a more perfect union. we are stronger when we come together and that is what we need to do when we hear anybody trying to depict, especially a strong arm guy like vladimir kgb, greater than our current president? that is absurd. i think what hillary is doing is talking about who she is, where she has come from, and where she

wants to take this country. that is the positive message that we need to hear and i think that hillary has been good -- as we go through the debate season you will be hearing that more and more. host: d think that race relations have deteriorated in this country since the time that the president has come into the office or do you agree that it has gotten better? particularly after the black lives matter union -- movement and the focus on race relations. guest: we talk about it more and i think that is a good thing because previously, i know when i have traveled certain places it was taboo to talk about race. i think that what is happening now is we are talking about it more. that is how we really begin to take it to the next step in that is why i think things will get better, because if we keep something under the rug then we never resolve the problem. people will think as they thought that we live in a post-racial america.

those individuals should know by dialogue that we do not. i never thought we would be in a post-racial america even with the election of barack obama. are we moving in the right direction? are we better than we were when i was a kid or when my parents were children? absolutely. ?o we got a lot of work to do are there some things that drift back and we have to push back forward? absolutely. it is good when we can talk and be upfront about it. i think the black lives matter movement is a great movement that forced the conversation and we need to have that conversation. host: the black lives matter movement responded to a leaked memo from the d.c. cc that urged democrats not to offer concrete policy positions and limit the number of activists they meet with and some other things. in a statement, black lives matter said "we are disappointed

that they are placating our demand to value all black life. heard,ives deserve to be not handled. guest: when i was growing up in congress -- in college i would probably be part of the black lives matter unit -- movement. i think about how i move around now. , and i think that the memo was basically had to make sure that there is proper communication so if you have a smaller crowd, you have a better way of talking and exchanging ideas that if you have a huge crowd and you were just shouting at one another. decided asple, have opposed to having large town hall meetings, i found we do not get as much done but when i have smaller meetings, and maybe i have more of those smaller meetings, then we have a better dialogue, better questions back and forth. i am not misunderstood as much,

i understand them better, think with that memo was suggesting to members that have the smaller meetings that could be more beneficial than ever, and do not try to take them, they do not want you to take over their movement to tell them what to do. listen to them, and that is sometimes something we do not do enough. listen to what they have to say. host: we have roger calling in on our independent line from mckenzie, alabama. caller: mr. weeks, glad to have you on. i am 60 and i have listened to the democrats for all these years. this is the same story you said four years ago, the same story for years before that, before that, before that, but things have only gotten worse. you cannot say they had. that you cannot say they had not. -- you cannot say they had not.

when you were talking, it changed my story so much. you were talking about georgia and how it is changing. the illegal children are more in georgia schools now than the people who were born in the state. the latinos here have totally destroyed my profession, which is construction, and i'm going out on social security like everybody else because, you complain about trump making his shirts in bangladesh but you make the rules. this is just the world i have to live in. this is the world he has to live in. he cannot make sure it's here. -- shirts here. guest: trump does have a choice. there are some people, you can manufacture here. -- jobscreate jobs and here if you want to. he did not want to. in my lifetime, this country is better. it has become better for all of us.

you go around the world, it is still the greatest country on this planet. if you look at our economy, it is still the strongest economy in the world. we have got to continue to strive to be a more perfect union. helps makety is what us. we have make sure we do secure our borders. no one is saying we should not do that, but comprehensively, we secure our borders and come with an immigration plan that works for all americans, that makes us the greatest country that this planet has ever seen. we will continue to do that and be successful only if we do it together. if we divide ourselves up, and that is what you see in other countries and other places, people divide themselves up by ethnicity or some reason, that is what destroys them. host: on the democratic line we have patrick from carnegie, pennsylvania. caller: congressman meeks needs

to get a clue. the first thing that this president should have done as president of the united states is to implement the fairness doctrine in the media. instead of which, he became the most infamous illusionist with world bank operatives -- collusion best with world bank operatives in this country. there has never been a greater failure of a president in race relations in this country. look what has happened, he is a disaster as a president. i am a democrat and i voted for this president twice. you need to get a clue and understand and actually provide a mea culpa on the position that this president has represented when it comes to anything positive in this country. he has allowed bankers to get away with the greatest destruction of economic infrastructure in the history of this country. we are literally on the precipice of an economic

implosion was sovereign debt of other nations, which this president has articulated and participated in. host: let's let the congressman respond. guest: this president inherited the worst recession since the great depression, and economy losing 850,000 jobs a month, an automobile industry about to go down the tubes, people losing their homes left and right. this first bill, he passed the ledbetter wall -- law. that means a woman can get an equal day's pay for equal day's work. he made sure that over 20 million americans have health insurance. he saved the auto industry which we have lost thousands of more jobs. he went back when we had enemies all across the world. we were in three wars and he made sure we mended and started working together with our allies were pulling away from us. let the facts be clear of what

this president has done. he has turned us around from the greatest recession since the great depression and made a tremendous difference. back, therians look credit has to be given to president obama even though he had a hostile congress who tried to block him at every step of the way. gotten more jobs if he were able to pass a transportation infrastructure bill. host: joe from holland, michigan on our republican mine. caller: a little bit of a sidetrack to the last caller, you can bet that things are just not better. in response to the hillary clinton-donald trump, i think we have to ask ourselves who is a builder, who has built anything? hillary clinton is good at one thing, collecting money, distributing it. if you want to see her and have got enough money you can see her. at the end of the day we need somebody that is going to build

something. buildings get built, things get built, you want people building or do you want to reproduce, gather up everybody else's money and it is not right. host: let's let the congressman does -- respond. guest: who has donald trump done anything for other than donald trump and his family? the only people he could get to vouch for him with his family because that is all he has ever taken care of. he has never cared about the general population and what donald trump has done, i think a bad business acumen where he has made bad decisions. he has filed several bankruptcies to dale himself out of the bad decisions and protect donald trump. i go by what people have done. hillary clinton, or whole life has been trying to lift and help somebody. she has been involved in government and sometimes they

give you a track record that one wants to criticize. when i look at the time from when she left college and law ofool to be the first lady the state of arkansas and in the united states of america and then a senator, who i worked with very closely, secretary of state, all of it has been trying to help make this country the best country that it is. her contributions to our country is far superior to the contributions of donald trump who has only come -- shared about himself because he will not even show his tax returns. you will see he showed -- cares nothing about a charity or anything else. host: sarah calling in from vernon, new york on our independent line. caller: good morning. thank you to c-span. this is for mr. me. -- meeks. i seem to remember a bill that was passed bipartisan in the

senate about immigration and was never brought up in the house. why andasked people iny said they disagreed with certain parts and i said why didn't you just sent that back to committee? yout: i couldn't agree with more. that was the bill on we had the getting of a on the senate side, a bipartisan matter. it dealt with comprehensive immigration reform. it was a bill i probably would have voted for it or we had a vote on the house. unfortunately, what had been taking place on the house side, we can't even vote on bills. that is one of the issues we would like to deal with now.

we would like to vote. we can't even get a vote on zika. issues and health concerns, we cannot even get a vote on that. "no-fly,get a vote on .o by i don't think the american people want that. i would hope that we get to the point that the house would put so many bills on the floor and let us have a vote up or down so the american people know where we stand. host: