we are 20 days in the government shutdown. the house continues to work on four separate bills to reopen certain agencies. over in the senate, mitch mcconnell has refused to consider any bill that's unacceptable to president trump. yesterday, the white house issued a veto threat against the four house bills over the lack of funds for a border wall. president trump is in mcallen, texas, today. he is visiting the southern border. he is expected to get a briefing shortly. we hope to have live coverage of this for you when it starts here on c-span3. if not, we will have it later on

our schedule. with president trump headed to texas today to visit the border, we're joined now from austin by alana roacha. walk us through what the president will be seeing today, what we know about the details of this visit. >> sure. again, we know he is going to the rio grande valley. we have a reporter who will be accompanying him, who is based in el paso. along the border but completely different section. i messaged him yesterday to see what we knew. he forwarded me a release that was geared towards the media and when air force 1 would land, when media needed to be in place. we did get more insight from some of the state officials that will be accompanying him, that being john cornyn, who will meet with mayors in the region to get a picture on what the situation is down there. aside from that, we're not clear. all we know from the white house is that the president will be meeting with several local

officials to get a better picture of what's happening down there. >> we heard mcallen, texas. is that what you are hearing as well? >> correct. yes. in reaction to the president's speech the other night, we saw the mcallen mayor react saying that he hopes that the president doesn't come down there and kind of paint his city as a lawless swath of america, that there is law and order. just to get an accurate picture of what's actually happening there. >> what should our viewers know about mcallen, texas? >> sure. it's part of the rio grande valley. it's right across from the border. i have been down there several times for reporting. we are a state wide politics and policy organization. you have a lot of people down there. you do have a lot of officials as far as being border patrol. we have seen the military and legislature here spending upwards of $800 million on border security to up the ranks

and address different technological advances down there as well. it's heavily patrolled. there is law and order like they tell you the same in el paso. >> we are expecting the president to head down to texas for this trip. if you want to join us in this last half hour of our program today before the house comes in, we are talking with alana, multi-media reporter, about the issue of border security and immigration in texas and about the president's trip today. you can join us by calling in 202-748-2003. as folks are calling in, you mentioned john cornyn and ted cruz will meet with local may erz domayors

down there. what are you hearing they will hear from the mayors and the reaction to the president's visit? >> there was several reactions to the president's speech the other night. it was a nine-minute speech. i came downstairs thinking i would catch the tail end and it was over. a lot along partisan lines as far as reaction from officials. some republicans kind of camie i -- they called out the president. a congressman, one of the most powerful congressional members here in texas, said the military is not and the department of defense is not in the business of building walls and has kind of parted with the president on that front. as far as what we will hear from local mayors and officials, we have done reporting on that. again, they are wanting to squash the stereotypes that are depicted in washington on what actually is happening there. heavy security, they call el paso another part of the border

the safest city in america. they want to convey that, that it's not a lawless part of america. >> what about other border state members, members of congress whose districts are on the border in texas? what reaction are you getting from them about the president's visit and about the overall debate on the wall right now? >> you saw one key example with congressman hurd and has really the largest swath of the u.s./mexico border in his district. he sided with democrats the other day in voting for a bill to get the government back open and then maybe address border security. he is a republican who has broken with the president several times. he is not in support of letting hundreds of thousands of federal workers go unpaid. what's ironic about this -- a lot of people pointed it out. the fact this partial government shutdown is resulting in a lot of key services like the tsa, where they see maybe more

terrorists come through versus the border on foot. the border patrol, these different staff positions not being paid, a lot of people calling in sick. dallas-ft. worth airport says they have seen two to three times more people, tsa screeners calling in sick, than other parts of the country. there's a lot of irony here. a lot of republicans and democrats say it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. >> what allies does president trump have in govern abbott, lieutenant governor patrick, when it comes to this shutdown fight? >> the republican leadership in the state, which maintained for decades in this latest election by narrow margins, but day one of our legislative session happened tuesday. i was on the house floor and in the senate. one noticeable absence was lieutenant governor dan patrick who was in washington. had gotten the call he told us yesterday on sunday from the white house to help the president's team in drafting the

border security oval office address he gave tuesday night. he said, when weighing whether to miss day one of the session, when the white house calls, you respond. a lot of speculation if maybe that means patrick could be up for a cabinet position or some high level position within the trump administration. he squashed that yesterday before i had a chance to follow up and is him and said, i'm lieutenant governor and going to be. given the turnover in the administration, anything is possible. dan patrick, greg abbott are key allies of the president. >> if had you you had to guess n patrick's fingerprints were on that address, where would you guess? >> i don't know if i could p pinpoint it. they talked about the priorities. while we will have a healthy budget to work with for the next two years, they, despite having a republican in the white house who is vowing to address border security, they are planning to spend $800 million of the

state's money on border security. what that looks like and what that money will go to is not yet clear. lieutenant governor patrick is among the state officials who will be with the president today. >> talk about the of border walls along the u.s./mexico border specifically in texas. >> sure. i mean, there are several, you know, we know near el paso, new mexico, there are several sections that are maybe being enhancedd or rebuilt that were built in past sessions, or presidencies, administrations, if you will. there are slats, steel slats along the rio grande valley that the president will see today. and the consensus there is that, yes, walls slow people down, but you heard the other night the president mention heroin and the different drugs coming across the border. they're not coming across the border with people illegally crossing on rafts and things like that, they're coming through the legal ports of industr entry. that's another kind of flip side and, you know, the president will likely hear that today from local officials down there.

>> here's where we are on the "washington journal," 20 minutes left in our program. the house expected to come in as usual as 10:00. we'll, of course, go there when they do. taking your calls and questions, though, ahead of the president's trip down to texas. the mcallen area of texas. with alana rocha of the "texas tribune." ann is up next in newport richie, florida, an independence, and what's your comment or question? >> caller: hi, john, how are you today? >> i'm doing well. >> caller: i wanted to see? i could ask, i'll stay on the line if she could answer maybe a couple things for me. i'm in florida. >> we'll leave this conversation here and go live to president trump who's visiting the u.s./mexico border. getting a tour. he is attending a briefing on the situation at the border. >> apprehendedpack