tomorrow, president trump and first lady melania trump host australian prime minister scott morrison at the white house. watch that live friday at 6:30 p.m. eastern over on cspan. we recently spoke with an australian reporter for more information on the australian leader and his state visit. paul murray is the compensate tart and host of paul murray live for sky news australia

thank you for being here. >> good day. can i say good day. >> absolutely tell us about the prime minister who is he. >> scott morrison is a conservative politician. at times he is far more well-known for being an economic conservative, being hawkish about border security. he is a christian. but he has gone out of his way to make sure his faith isn't part of his politics. we are having a debate in australia at the moment about religious freedom legislation after the passage of same-sex marriage. and he is really trying to -- to find a path that's not about his faith and about making sure his faith is paramount. instead he tries to make sure that the rules of the road are simple, that regardless what have faith you have you can't be discriminated for well having that view in public. >> how much -- what has been the focus of his first year in

office? >> well it was turbulent time. he had been the treasurer in the -- the liberal party came in power in australia in 2013. we had a tumultuous time of leadership changes. so when they first came to government he was the border security minister. he was responsible forway we call stopping the boats, which was stopping illegal immigration by sea. they did that by using the military to literally intercept boats, turn the boats around and send them back to the places of origin with safety. this was because well the numbers in the american context won't be significant but for a country like ours they mattered a lot which was in the previous administration, 50,000 illegal immigrants had arrived by boat. about 1,200 people had died as part of that journey.

so his first prom then role in australian politics was as the person who put an end to that -- to that practice. he then became the social services minister, where he took on welfare reform. he was relatively successful with that. although there was no major cuts or anything just making sure he cut down on welfare abuse. he then became the treasurer under another prime minister after there had been a leadership change in our system if the majority of mps at one time in the governing party want to vote to change the leader they do. and all sorts of reasons of sanity, insanity and selfishness, a part of that process. but he became the treasurer then. and he was the first treasurer to start to move us towards balancing the budget in about ten years since the global financial crisis. and then last year he was made

prime minister by the party room cultural conservativism in the religious sense but a quiet conservativism suggesting the power what he calls the quieter australian, the normal and every day mattered more than the noise from twitter or activist groups. and he was able to do that. >> how would you describe his political style? >> he is a consensus politician in terms of the many broad churches inside his political party. so he is a center-right politician. but the party he represents has arch cultural conservatives, arch progressives. and a collection of people in the middle.

so his political style is to be somebody who presents himself as the every day man mo became prime minister rather than the figure of -- figure of, as our capital, cambra, cambra establishment or political establishment, and his governing style has grown since winning a mandate in his own right. changing the party's leadership rules to mean that those things are talked about before, removed two of his predecessors, wouldn't happen a third time. in fact, it can't happen anymore under the new liberal party rules for the entire of of his term in government, so his first objective was to cut personal income tax quite significantly, trying to cut company tax quite significantly as well. he continues on the broader security message. he's also very keen that australia does something about

her energy supply problems. l because of a series of decisions that have been made over a few decades. we haven't invested in coal fire power plants . we've made some transitions to renewables. a country as physically as large at ours doesn't do the same job as base load power, so he confronts environmentalists who believe that coal is not an option versus the need to stay with the lights on in the 21st century as i would say. >> here he is meting president trump at the g20 summit last winter. >> just got to know each other. so far, so good. i think it's going to be a great relationship and certainly anticipate having a fantastic relationship always with australia. i know you've done a fantastic job in a very short period of time. you've done a lot of the things you wanted over there.

that's why you're sitting right here. i congratulate you. it's an honor and we will be with australia and you all the way. >> thank crew very much, mr. president. australia and the united states have always been the greatest of friends not just in areas of strategic cooperation but economically, the people-to-people relationships, well, there's none better. >> what is the relationship like between those two men? >> incredibly strong. the interpersonal relationship seems paramount to president trump and he's been able to get that in spades with our prime minister for a few reasons. one, both have bonded over improbable victories. according to the so-called experts. they bond about their views about strong needs to deal with illegal immigration. australia has a very clear understanding of what legal and illegal immigration is.

that language is a little bit mixed in the united states politics. so i think the clarity of that language is something that they get along very well with. the affinity for the suburban and the largely forgotten, unfashionable people, dare i say, and i think that in a place where there's a lot of world leaders who have had pretty -- things to say about donald trump when he was a candidate and responding to the early days of his administration, i think that trading the president with your difference, with your respect, and also having an interpersonal warmth is something that world leaders in early interactions with president trump have probably failed to do and as seems fairly evident, interpersonal relationship matters to president trump and anyone around washington this week will see a lot of australian flags which would suggest interpersonal relationship is working pretty

well. it was only the french president who was able to get a state visit so the second one of the entire trump presidency is for australia, most significantly, it's for the prime minister because as we would say, they're mates. >> this is the seventh time an american president has hosted an australian prime minister for a state dinner. how is this viewed back home? >> it's as big as it gets in terms of recognition. look, we consume as much american media almost as americans do. so there is always a bit of a culture feeling that it's a sense of recognition, it's your -- to use a colloquialism, your opportunity to sit at the adults' table. australia is very aware of our population size but also aware we're a continent nation. we're a nation of incredible physical strategic importance. and also from world war i to the most recent situations and

potentially policing the navigational shipping routes in iran, australia is always with the united states. not blindly with the united states. there was much debate about the iraq war as it was here, but we know that we live in an interconnected relationship security wise and economically with the united states. and our view is to celebrate that at all opportunities. so we know that an australian prime minister coming to america doesn't really move the domestic political needle and most people wouldn't know what those red, white, and blue colors are in the formation of our australian flag, but back home and to the wider region, to the asia pacific, to know that donald trump when he's in a trade negotiation with china and australia, one of our biggest trading partners is china as well, we're one of the only countries that has a free trade agreement with china, that we end up being not just an outpost

for western values, western political values, but also we're a direct economic conduit a country like china, so australia represents an awful lot but also we are more than happy to support the american project because regardless on whether you're in the left, right or center, perhaps not the extreme left in australia, but everywhere else we understand what you rtry to do in this country regardless of whom that president is and we're on board what's t what . >> what's the schedule for the prime minister? >> thursday night he'll arrive at andrews air force base. he then will stay in washington, d.c., 9:00 in the morning will be when he and his wife, jenny, will be greeted be i the trumpet the white house. then go to the south lawn for the official welcoming. far more pomp and circumstance than we would ever dream of in australia, even if the queen was coming over for dinner, we

wouldn't put on such a show. something unique to see that. there will oval office meetings, briefings with members of the cabinet. about lunchtime or a little bit after, he'll head over to the pentagon and there will be state department briefings as well. in the evening they return for the state dinner, again, the second of the trump presidency. after that, they will on saturday morning, they will head off on air force one to how ohi open a factory. and its owner, anthony pratt, which is about opening a factory in ohio and that will be something that the president is happy to trumpet because it is an investment in american jobs. australia's happy, very happy to celebrate because it shows our significant financial commitment that private companies make to, not building in the southern part of america but doing so in

north america. doing so in the u.s. >> any prominent australian-americans that will be attending the state dinner? >> there's plenty. will power is an indycar driver. he'll be there. there'll be -- look, there's a million great actors. which ones will actually turn up, i don't know. greg norman, the former world number one and multiple major winner will be there. there's, yeah, a lot of people that are a big deal to us but those are probably the ones that will mean something to your viewers. >> paul murray, thank you very much for the conversation. appreciate it. >> absolute pressure. co pleasure. come on down any time you want. >> will do. tomorrow, president trump and first lady melania trump will host australian prime minister scott morrison at the white house. we'll show you guest arrivals as well as the dinner toast offered by president trump and prime minister morrison. also former white house social secretary and former chief of protocol caprisha marshall will

join us in the studio to take an in-depth look at president trump's second state dinner. watch that live tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. eastern over on c-span. online, c-span.org or listen live on the free c-span radio app. and we've got more campaign 2020 this weekend when 18 of the democratic presidential candidates will speak at the polk county democrats steak fry in iowa. watch our live coverage 2:30 eastern on our companion network, c-span. and join us sunday for "q&a." this week's guest is kay cole james who talks about her life, career in government, and politics and her work as president of the heritage foundation think tank. that's "q&a" sunday, 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific time on c-span. saturday on "booktv" at 11:00 p.m. eastern, in their new book, "the education of brett

kavanaugh," "new york times" reporters kate kelly and robin pogrebin explore justice brett kavanaugh's recent confirmation process. >> and at the time of the kavanaugh confirmation hearings, the me too movement had been under way for a while and i think there was a backlash brewing that it was going too far and this notion of believe all women was oversimplified and overlooking the investigation part of it that i was talking about earlier. you do have a president who does advocate taking tough stances and has talked about allegations of sexual misconduct, something where you need to deny, deny, deny. >> i think it was important for us to put ourselves in kavanaugh's shoes and really imagine that someone is being falsely accused and really kind of go there and explore that. then on sunday at 10:00 a.m. eastern, live coverage of the 2019 brooklyn book festival. featuring a discussion on the trump administration with

pulitzer prize-winning author and historian annette gordon-reid and historian brenda wineapple. race and the 2020 election with author and journalist matt taibbi and a look at historical resistance with author and activist deray mckesson. at 8:00 eastern, his latest book, "power grab," jason kcha visit argues the -- >> there's this recurring theme in here that they really do believe on that radical far-left side, they throw all these labels like fascist and all these really negative terms on donald trump but what i see them doing is exactly what they claim the president was doing. that in order to protect our freedom, they need to take it away. in order to make sure the 1st amendment's in place, they need to take away our rights under

the 1st amendment. i mean, it's just a recurring theme. at 9:00 on "afterwards," journalist michelle malkan offers her thoughts on u.s. immigration policy, in her book, "open borders incorporated." she's interviewed by texas republican congressman chip roy. >> tim cook and jeff bezos have donated to many of these deep-pocketed non-profit organizations that are crusading for illegal alien right. you wonder how it is they have instant representation in court to sue over every last trump initiative to enforce the law, and so, you know, big business and the u.s. chamber of commerce are a huge reason for that. >> watch "booktv" every weekend on c-span2. this weekend on "american history tv," saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on "the civil war," scott mingas, co-author of

"targeted tracks" talks about the importance of the cumberland valley railroad during the civil war. and at 8:00 on "lectures in history," a discussion on playwright august wilson. >> so the things that are motivating august wilson are his desire to move black people from the margins to the center. and say, what's true about us? what matters to us? what's happening in our lives. and sunday at 4:00 p.m. eastern on "reel america," the 1919 silent army film, "motor convoy" about a trans-continental trek from washington, d.c., to san francisco. a . and at 8:00 on "the presidency" herbert hoov aer an the -- >> built the crb into a remarkable organization. it had its own flag. it had its own fleet. it negotiated what you might call treaties with some of the warring european powers. its leader, hoover,