caller: why is it that the democrats and republicans work at this like it is a sporting event. they keep blaming the president for this, the president for that. he's working along with a lot of people. it always seems like a one-sided event, one side has to win and one side has to lose. work together as a common goal for a positive outcome for all the citizens -- immigrants, teachers, students. everyone should understand it is difficult right now and things are tough, but working together, we would come up with a more positive outcome than fighting one against the other on a constant basis. i would appreciate your response.

guest: i appreciate that. the way party politics has been, and it has been this way for a while, the way to rise in your party is take down the other party. unless there is an incentive for your party to pass legislation that maybe president obama wants or vice-versa, you are not going to embrace it. republicans have an incentive. a lot of republicans say they have an incentive to pass mmigration in the last nomination that president obama defeated mit romney. guest: the speaker has no control over his comrades, some say, and add to that the number of stories that you tend to see at a time like this, when the speaker boehner's speakership is on the line. what do you have to say? guest: well, two things to say there. speaker boehner's job is on the line in two respects. one, if he loses the house. two, if his conservatives have a

coup attempt. we saw that in the beginning of this year. they had kind of a bad coup attempt, and they didn't succeed. some rebels in the conservative caucus. but the chances of the house flipping are unlikely. artly because of grerimandering. so boehner has without a doubt the toughest job in the house. kusack.r guest is bob man ve many stories on the who leaked secrets. out of hong kong, they say edward snowden was leaving the country, headed to moscow.

other reports say headed to oscow and then cuba. any update on that story? guest: you have a lot of possible different countries. one of the things that baffles me about the story is that the u.s. could have revoked his passport. so i don't know exactly how he is traveling around his world. i think also different -- this snow diagnosis den is in the world of deception. both the n.s.a. and c.i.a. so i think everything you read on this there has to be some, well, is this kind of a head fake? where is he really? that's what i think. this is a fascinating story, and it is not going to end until he's captured. host: by the way, he is saying out of london that the wikileaks is providing legal help to this gentlemen -- gentleman.

for the purpose of assylum. being escorted from dip nationals from wikileaks. another caller from new york city. it is ryan. are you there? caller: good morning, s&p -- c-span. i want to talk about the movement toward fashism in this country. fascism in cim -- this country. this story about snowden is an important story. i agree with both what liberals and conservatives think about it, being the way the government has been going after us with the i.r.s. and so on and so forth. however, snowden, we cannot have an individual that works for an

intelligence organization, c.i.a., whatever it is, making up their mind what we should reveal and what should not be revealed. this is ridiculous. am i on, c-span? host: you are, sir. >> oh, i'm sorry, because i see you guys speaking up there. the fascism in this country is coming from the left. it's been coming from the left for 70 years now. the left wing in this country has effectively taken over the legends. most of the colleges now brainwash our students to political correctness. and political correctness is intellectual fascism. it comes from the left. hate crimes, hate speech itself, if you think about it, if you have hate speech you have no speech because who is going to tell you what is hate speech and what is not? the i.r.s. is the most fascist

dictator that's happened so far. this is using the government to go after private citizens because we disagree with their policies or their opposition to us. it is very dangerous what's going on here. people need to study their history a little bit and take a look at this, because we are turning -- we are losing our liberties and we are losing them to the left wing. it is basically through political correctness. if you are homosexual marriage, you are a homophobe. if you are against abortion, you ogenist. >> one of the concerns he raised were about the n.s.a. and concerned leaks to the media. it is interesting when you see legislation where liberals and conservatives like sheila la jackson lee and louie gome gs r

-- gomer basically supporting the same legislation asking for the government to release more legislation about what the government is doing. and those are probably not going to go anywhere because they are not supported by republican and democratic leadership, but those are both about hate crimes. host: next caller. caller: thank you for having me on the show. i would like to get back to the student loan question and just get an opinion on -- of course i would like to make a statement. as we know, tuition is going up, you know, 10%, 15% a year, and tuition is out of sight. i'd like people to think about what are they doing? if you look at higher education, a few years ago people said, you know, you have to treat education lake a business. ow we have it.

i don't know if it is working. we have 50% bureaucrats. the other 50% are educators. half of those are adjunct faculty, they have no job isurity, they have no office this what we're working for? like a leading professor at a college said, this is a joke. if this is business and how it is going to operate education, then i guess we go down to the ttom rung which is adjunct faculty, which by the way, which is 50% of the faculty across the nation, they are known as academic boot camps.

host: thank you for your thoughts, george. before we get an answer, i want to show you a minute's worg -- rth of tape on the -- from congressman courtney on the olitics of debate. >> there was a proposal released where 84% of the nation is opposed to letting the rates double or go up or rates higher than regular consumer rates for products like home mortgages and car loans et cetera. o -- and the fact that mr. klein and speaker boehner did move forward with a bill in may, this is an issue they need to handle with care, because it cuts across every state, middle class families, and upper-middle class families are struggling with college costs. even though it does not have the same exact dynamics of a year

ago in the midst of a political campaign, the political power of this is still very dangerous for either side to be on the wrong side of. that's why i do think there will be a lot of external force that's going to be brought to bear over the next 10 days to avoid, you know, really either party being to blame for allowing this to happen. >> i do think there is more hope for a deal on this. as i was talking about before, really it is just a numbers game. house republicans say they are negotiating with the white house. i think they have other things on their plate. i think they are going to get some type of deal because they have to negotiate on the numbers. in a lot of ways, there are similarities between house republican approach and president obama's approach,

which has not really sat well with some democrats on capitol hill. as far as what the caller was saying, the student loan issue we were talking about. what you doe don't see talked a lot about is the rising cost of tuition. you don't see a lot of action as far as that. you look at different colleges over the years. tuitions have doubled from a decade ago and possibly two decades ago. so that issue really hasn't -- neither party has grasped. >> rosalee, from northward, connecticut, go ahead. >> hi. caller: i have just a quick thing to say. i was calling on the immigration issue. while i was hopeful about all the people hiding in the shadows, we are already, it is y understanding, 25% hispanic.

if these politicians want the vote, they need more europeans. whatever is messing with the diversity of the united states has to vote. thank you for this program. i love it. host: tauging about politic selections, indeed. politically that's why republicans are raising immigration reform. look at mit romney. self depouration - deportation. now the leaders are taking a very, very different approach. that's why they see that the hispanic population is getting bigger and bigger in this country. now some republicans say, well, if you pass immigration reform, most are going to vote for democrats, and that's going to help the democratic party.

>> one tweet this morning said we are headed for another debt dreeling ceiling showdown. what's going to happen here? >> i think we are. first off is whether there is going to be a government shutdown. both sides are so different. if you look at the house passed budget. paul ryan's budget. senator murray's budget. they have not gone to congress. they are night and day. so therefore that is what has settled down in the parameters of the appropriations bill. at the end of the fiscal year, october 1, there at least needs to be some type of temporary bill or the government will shut down. as far as the debt limit, i think that's a little bit later. all of this is going to be -- if they ever get an agreement, all of this could be lumped into one. i think it is first the government shutdown situation and then another debt limit showdown. you know, i've been in washington since 1995, and as ugly as washington was, was the summer of 2011 i thought where both sides were really talking out of both sides of their

mouth. host: a call from nebraska. good morning. caller: i have a question about mitch mcconnell. first, if i could, a simple buy graphic cal question for mr. cusack. 1951. to bootcamp in cusack. re was a bob you bear a striking resemblance to this cusack i knew in 1961. i was wondering if there is any connection. and now mitch mcdonnell conl, i understand he's up for re-election again in 2016. i am wondering if there is any indicate on the left that has even the slightest chance of giving him a run for his money. >> thanks. well, my father served in the army, not the navy, so i think

probably not related. regarding mitch mcconnell, he's up for re-election in 2014. ashley judd, the agent recess was thinking about running. then she said she was not going to run. there is not a confirmed democratic candidate yet. democrats say they are going to get one. they are still working on it. mitch mcconnell is clearly the favorite. he has a fuge huge campaign forecast. democrats want him to spend a lot of money on his race, not other races he could help his colleagues. because mitch mcconnell would like to be majority leader next year. but the republicans are going to and that's a tall order. host: what do you think of the particular nomination on the hill snl guest: james come served in the bush administration, he is well

respected on both sides of the ill. at the same time, there is going to be a rocky nomination because it is a 10-year position. we saw with the c.i.a. nomination, rand paul got up and had a big filibuster. maybe we'll see another rand paul filibuster on this one. democrats want to move this one as quickly as possible. i'm not sure if they set nomination hearings. i think there will be a protracted nomination. not because of comey. i think he will be confirmed. a lot of senators will hold his nomination up and request information on something like perhaps the patriot act. senator -- some senators have been very critical of the patriot act. host: where are we on the patriot act?

guest: i don't see any chazz changes happen. president obama has supported this. we have members on both the left and right seeking changes. but this patriot act, and it has been monday on liesed a lot on capitol hill, has withstood the test of time. i don't see many changes. if there are changes, i think it would be slightly. host: mary, you are on the republican line. caller: good morning. on immigration, i would like to know that this back-and-forth stuff with the republicans, demmeds nothing is never going to be passed, nothing is never going to be consumer done. the reason why is, to my opinion, is that the i.d.'s, the social security, the driver's license, they get their jobs, they pay into social security, hey pay the i.r.s., and wow,

look at hall this money that's coming in. do you think they really want to get them out of the country? i have nothing against them being here as long as they come here the right way. if we break the law, we're punished. they break the law, they should be punished. that's why i think that nothing is never going to be done. host: bob cusack. guest: i think the chances of immigration reform are probably right around 50-50 right now. the differences between the house and the senate mean it could get bogged down in conference. what they are referencing is how some of these rules are put forward i think is going to be interesting. will anyone be able to jump ahead of others in line? now that the president has said that that is not going to happen, but in the process of implementing these laws, there could be some 1/2 ewes -- there

could be some snafus. i think it has to pass this year because once we get in aan election year i think it will be more difficult to do. host: the president is going to make a speech at georgetown this week. "president obama to lay out national plans on climate change." what is this all about? guest: this is the president attacking climate change. the house then led by speaker pelosi passed the climate change bill and it never got a vote in the senate. now president obama is going to do climate change through his government agency. this could get congressional challenges. it is sure to get legal challenges. but pe has -- he has been promising to do this and now he's going to do it. we don't know the details of this. he is going to be very active on this issue. >> the president also headed back to africa this week.

what's the significance of the trip. where are you going? >> the cost of africa -- it is the big issue. i can't remember the big overall cost, but the president said that a lot of the cost is secured. that when you are going to africa, you have to have a huge con tinsencey there. he's been there bhf. this is the white house saying another historic trip. but the republicans have seized on the cost. and as they do. the legislation up there that says the president should not go on vacation until the white house doors are opened up, and that was closed because of sequestration. there is politics in everything, even when the president makes a trip. host: we have purdy on the line from ogdon, utah. caller: good morning. something keeps coming up. the fact that the country seems to be controlled by debt. we have our students coming out of college owing thousands of dollars they couldn't possibly

just take off and do what they really want to do. they better hurry up and find some type of job so they can eat and pay off the debt. our citizens seemeds seem to have this tremendous credit card debt. some of them have learned and they -- they didn't can't do anything they want to do. if they own a house and they still have the house, they are busy paying on that house. they have to make sure they have everybody in the country as well. everything seems to be controlled by debt. no one really is free to do anything they want to and do what they have to do in order to earn money to pay for the honest debt. host: good point. guest: that definitely has been the flavor of washington how to attack the debt whether it is on student loans. we're really looking at the entitlement programs. medicare and social security are both headed for bankruptcy. medicare earlier than social security, but it is still

decades out. zoo congress usually does not that pass legislation saves a program until it is right up against that insolvency date. we saw that in 1987. medcafere was basically going to go bankrupt in 1987, and then congress acted. host: the senate and house back in session this week. the house has a number of energy items on the schedule. for this week, it reminds me of this tweet that came in. mr. cusack, will the keystone 0 pipeline pass? if so, when? guest: it is not going to pass and force the president's hand. there are some democrats in the senate that want it passed, but the president has been able to block those bills from getting to his desk. at the same time his administration is reviewing keystone. most are saying that keystone is eventually going to be approved by the administering.

republicans are saying, of course, what's the wait? they are having this big speech on climate change this week as you mentioned. at the same time, the unions are pushing for keystone, because that's a lot of jobs. i think he's going to -- if i had to bet, i think he is going to prove some type of keystone, but also also have a very elaborate plan on climate change, because that's the argument against keystone. >> robert, good morning. >> good morning. >> yes, i have a couple issues that i want to bring up. first of all, i want to say i'm a republican, yes, but first of all, i'm an american. i think that's what a lot of people lose their sense of. first of all, we're americans. i have two issues. one of them is with the congress. when we put somebody in congress, vote them in, we expect them to represent us. we see them bypassing

the zution constitution. if the president gives us this climate change thing, he can't control -- i hate to tell him, but he's not god. it just really irritates me that the people put into office do not represent the people who put them in there. they get in there and do what they want to. the other thing briefly that i have an issue with is that i worked in the media. i was a newspaper -- i was in the newspaper business. i was the publisher of two newspapers in arizona. 40 or 50 years ago the newspaper's job was to keep the public informed. they don't do that anymore. they take handouts. they actually publish things like they are fact. they don't bother to check facts or anything. they are not informing the people, and they are supposed to be the link between the government and the people to

keep the people protected from an overbearing government. host: bob cusack? guest: members of congress once they get elected, the chances of them getting re-elected are up quite high. certainly over 90% of imincumbents every two years get re-- certainly over 90% of incumbents every two years get re-elected. that's why some are pushing for term limits. as far as the media, the media has changed dramatically the landscape over the last five or 10 years. at the same time i think the media does a pretty good job of reviewing what the government has been doing. that's one of the reasons we know about this surveillance situation. host: this is the final week of decisions from the court laid

out for us. it's a biggy. guest: there are a number of issues. one of them, i believe, is the gay marriage issue that we were possibly going to get last week. gay marriage has been in the ws for so long, especially with : obama. it is fascinating to see where they are going on this. some senators have changed their position -- republican senators, lisa murkowski is the latest to come out for gay marriage. i don't know if this is going to go along party lines, but this is going to be one of the biggest decisions the court has done since obama-care. host: we'll see affirmative action, voting rights, and gay marriage. several decision days this week over at the court, and we will continue to track those stories as they are released. a few more calls. kelly from owensburrow,

kentucky. kelly, how are you? caller: i just had a comment and a question. the ike to challenge congressman fest owe and the other is the learned protocols from the elders of zion. in them are step-by-step directions on how to take over a country. if you look at these pieces of paper, you will see how they are doing it. they are doing it real subtlely. two main ways to take over a country is by violence and by ebt. i would like to ask you, what is the total derivatives? i think that could be the

downfall of america. what's the number of derivatives? guest: i don't know the number much derivatives offhand, but there mass been a -- has been a lot of frustration from wall street and congress from many on the left as well as the right who have said no one has been prosecuted for the 2008 but as of the market far as taking over the country, i don't know what you mean. host: there will be a special session on tuesday. give us a preview. guest: gabriel gomez going up against ed markey. long-time house democratic the democrats have been working hard to prevent a repeat of 2010. markey is the favorite in this race. he's not a huge favorite, but we've seen in the polls that he has a semi comfortable lead. it would be a shocker, i believe, if gomez won at this point.

but that's why these special elections are hard to predict, and we'll see what happens. >> tomorrow on "washington journal" the book "the center hold, obama and his enemy" by onathan alter. then the so-called safety net hospitals. and later a look at the witness protection program with its we will bring you a daylong conference tomorrow on student financial aid. live coverage at the american enterprise institute begins at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three. is part of asador discussion on u.s.-mexico cooperation.

that is live at 3:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> we want to welcome to "newsmakers" congressman joe courtney, a democrat from connecticut. the lead voice for student loan rates. rates are slated to go up july 1 unless congress acts. we have two reporters in studios with us. philip elliott with the associative press and peter schrader with the hill. >> not a year ago we were talking about keeping the interest rate set by congress. now there looks like a proposal from the president to hit the ten-year treasury note.