you can join us on facebook and twitter. ♪ congress returns to the capital next week. the state of the union is tuesday night. this week, the republican national committee annual winter meeting took place. arkansas governor mike huckabee gave a keynote address. here is a little bit of his speech. [video clip] time that it is republicans no longer accept listening to democrats talking about a war on women. because the fact is republicans

don't have a war on women. they have a war for women. for them to be empowered, to be something other than victims of their gender. women are out rate -- are outraged that democrats think -- are smart,w educated, intelligent, capable of doing anything anyone else can do. our party stands for the the quality and capacity of women. want to insults women of america by making them believe that they are helpless with out pop a sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control as they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it, let us take that discussion all across america because women are far more than

the democrats have played them to be and women across america need to stand up and say, enough of that nonsense. i think it is time we leave that discussion. "the this morning on washington journal" we want to get your reaction on what mike huckabee had to say. segment, women only please. the phone lines -- we want to get your reaction to what mike huckabee had to say. the is how that portion of speech played out in some of the publications we get out here in washington. here is "the national journal" --

in politico this morning -- and from "the hill" newspaper this morning -- " senate candidates todd akin and richard murdoch made comments on abortion a cap them in trouble -- on abortion that

got them in trouble. "-- that got them in trouble." " -- more from "the hill "many other republican officials have taken flak for apostasy's over the years and some divisive primaries have caused them house and senate seats." reaction to remarks yesterday. jay carney from the white house also reacted. [video clip] demo not long ago the rnc winter meeting -- >> not long ago at the rnc winter meeting, mike huckabee said that women are helpless without uncle sugar coming in and providing them a

prescription for birth control because they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of government. is that the president's message? >> i have seen that report. whoever said it sounds passive to me. we want to get your reaction to what mike huckabee had to say. lisa is calling from mason city, illinois. you are on c-span. good morning. please go ahead. what did you think about what governor huckabee had to say? caller: i don't really have a problemw it with it. maybe because i don't take birth control anymore, or whatever. i like huckabee. i like what he's saying about other issues besided the libido,

ok? host: this is sandy and ramona, california on our republican line. caller: good morning. we came out with birth control pills we have had less breast-cancer. people are getting less breast-cancer at younger ages. a lot of it has to do with birth control pills. i think our government needs to stay out of whether or not women take them. go directly to governor huckabee's remarks, what do you think about them? it is up to each individual. i like governor huckabee. nown't knwo wh

who started the birth control pills but we haven't done enough bid ich to get them out think we have more women coming down with breast-cancer. nobody will do their research on this. host: thank you from california. from "the national journal" this morning -- " republicans are risking the next todd akin by going on the bid for abortion. it is easy to see why, talking about abortion doom republicans into states.

in indiana candidates richard murdoch sealed his fate with controversial comments about rape and pregnancy. the national party has preferred to focus its rhetoric elsewhere. isn't 2012, and national republicans are waiting back into the fray. -- 2014 isn't 2012, and national republicans are wading back in the fray."

for democrats -- "for democrats, it's difficult to understand why the gop would be emphasizing an issue that ultimately cost the party to senate seats in the last cycle, but for many republicans it is too important to ignore." jerry is a democrat in georgia, good morning. me being a woman and cents huckabee can't speak for a woman -- and since huckabee can't speak for a woman, i don't understand how you can speak for a woman. why are so many men trying to tell women what to do with their bodies? tot gives them the right decide what is right for me? to me that is very insulting and there is no way they can change and make it look

right. you look like you all hate women. at least give a woman a chacne body.o talk about our you can't speak for me. host: thank you. vivian tweets -- front page of "the washington times" this morning, a big article -- and on the inside, i want to read just a little bit of what "the washington times" has in here --

dorothy is an independent in baltimore. the morning. -- good morning. caller: this is getting really crazy.

think about it. women don'ting me want to have abortion, then you say we don't want to take birth control. what's next, we can't vote? just want to say one more thing on this. we pay taxes. so when they say "sugar government," or whatever he was saying, we pay taxes. and they are using health care with our taxes. the government is not giving us anything. we are the government. we paid our way. they are going to far. what's next, we have to wear long dresses? thank you, dorothy. lori posts on our facebook page --

and kelly says -- linda is a democrat in connecticut. please go ahead. caller: i just find it funny that -- i don't care one little bit if mr. huckabee takes viagra and he seems to be very worried if i am going to take birth control. it is funny how the pendulum never swings both ways. about prescriptions, who is going to pay for what. i have never heard a discussion at all about men taking viagra. i'd have never heard a

discussion about deadbeat dads that go and in pregnant women to woman to woman. -- and impregnate women to women to women. to woman.o woman huckabee,like mr. stop with the nonsense about what women are doing and worry a little bit more about what men are or not -- or are not doing. thank you. milford,t is linda in connecticut. we want to hear from women only on the issue of no gop war on women. you can see the numbers they're divided by political affiliation. s there,umbered divided by political affiliation.

you can continue this conversation on social media. @cspanwj is our twitter handle. and you can send us an e-mail at journal@c-span.org. have writtene about wendy davis. monthly"ter of "texas had an article about wendy davis and some discrepancies in her life story. richtico magazine carries lowry's story. and here is "usa today" this .orning in an op-ed by

that is a little bit from "usa today." and the headline of "the washington times" editorial --

that is a little bit from "the washington times" on wendy davis. acura calls on mike huckabee's remarks on "no gop war on women are co-michele is -- back to your calls on mike huckabee's remarks on no gop war on women. michelle is coming next. it has two different purposes, what the contraception does. it prevents life. prevents birth. therefore let's say a husband says, "honey did you take your birth control." "did youuld say, life," --prevent for

viagra is wrong. go to mike huckabee's remarks. what do you think what he had to say echo -- he had to say? caller: i agree with what he says. -- ofes a lot of kurdish courage. i 100% support what he says. say women are not educated on knowing what contraception does, it prevents life. host: stacy is in laurel, maryland. go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span. i can't believe i have to go after that. i called him because i am working and i can't tweet. what he said -- i heard it

several times because i've been up all night. the united states -- i'm sorry, pimp? sugar," that is my what's wrong with them? mysoginisticost -- that is the most misogynistic thing i have ever heard. and women think it is ok for him to talk like that to? say.s what i have to we need to get rid of these misogynistic men. i don't care what wendy's davis said -- what wendy davis said. i have never seen a man have a child. women have more courage, more guts, more strength than any man ever.

none of you are ever going to be able to have that child. my child killed me -- my child nearly killed me. some nerve to say the united states is pimping me out. that was stacy in laurel, maryland. this is anna in arizona. democrats line. caller: good morning, peter. most of what to mr. huckabee said. i used to have a lot of respect for him. and all i heard was about the birth control pills and women controlling their libido. i think that road can run both being a i admit to left-leaning democrat, which has nothing to do because i listen to "washington journal closed

quote every morning and i watch c-span a lot -- "washington journal" every morning and i watch c-span a lot. of this has nothing -- this has nothing to do with controlling your libido. just look how long it took the republican party to get a woman on a ticket for vice president. i just feel like they tried to keep women down because they're not -- because there are not as many women in congress. i don't think it is just up to a woman to control her libido. like the one lady said, they're not -- men are not the ones that

have the children. i also resent the fact that -- i don't know if women now can get birth control undweer the new insurance laws, but i know men can get viagra. justnkt ha that it is not on one person. should be't think men able to tell a woman what she should do as far as her physical body. you. thank mike huckabee spoke at the national committee winter meeting. [video clip] think it is time republicans no longer accept listening to the democrats talk about "a war on women." because the fact is the

republicans don't have a war on women. women.ve a war for for them to be empowered, for them to be something other than victims of their gender. women i know are outraged. democrats think that women are nothing more than helpless and hopeless creatures whose only goal in life is to have the government provide for them birth control medication." control medication. women are smart, intelligent, and capable of doing anything anyone else can do. our party stands for the recognition of the quality and capacity of women. that is not a war on them, that is a war for them. if democrats want to insult the women of america by making them believe that they are helpless without uncle sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government come a then so be it -- of the

government, and so be it. discussion toe america. america needs to stand up and say, enough of that nonsense. [applause] out -- shelle tweets is with "the daily caller" and fox news -- she tweets out -- from our facebook conversation this morning, tina says -- marlene is calling from minnesota on the independent line. good morning.

i am calling to say i agree with mike huckabee 100%. with theisgusted democrat attitude toward women. the only thing they talk about rightth control and the to control your own body. in other words, abortion rights for women. is that all women have that is -- that the democrats think is important for women? they are badly mistaken. i am an educated woman. i am in my 60's, i am a nurse. i am so insulted and just angry. any time a republican says that -- statements such as mike huckabee -- he if is -- he isn't even saying he's against earth control pills.

-- against birth control pills. i have a lot more going on in life than just that. i love my children and i love my grandchildren. i don't know where i would be without them? -- without them. host: thank you for calling them. a tweets -- from politico this morning, sean louiety is going to be gohmert's state of the union guest. also from politico this morning, considers running

for tom coburn yours seat. -- tom coburn's seat. .enise is calling in caller: i absolutely disagree with mr. huckabee. speech.d his [indiscernible] republicans are judging women. women are doing with their bodies would god gave them their bodies for. stop talking about women issues. michelle is a republican in church than, maryland. churchton, maryland.

caller: i am listening to these caller's this morning. i totally agree with huckabee. country has ahis personal responsibility. take responsibility for yourselves. i don't believe the government should be paying for everybody's birth control. caller saysd -- a women are smarter then democrats are making them out to be. they are trying to dumb down women in this country. i don't understand how so many women can hear and believe what the republican party is saying. the government is there to help. it is not a crutch. you don't have a baby so the government can pay for it. host: when you hear the phrase

"war on women" what do you think? caller: it angers me. i don't believe there is a war on women. they want you to believe it. thatjust want you to think the republican party is out to get them. that is not the truth. the republican party wants women to grow and be all they can be because we can, we are that strong and we are sometimes a lot stronger than men. i believe that. i am 45 and just going back to school to be a nurse. i want to be all i can be. it is not easy. i am a mother of three living off of single income. it is taking pride in yourself. fbi: menendez challenges

report -- nbc for new york reported thursday that the euro is probing whether the chairman of senate foreign relations committee preserve the obama administration to keep -- "our office works each year with literally hundreds of individuals and families from across the country who are seeking help with the immigration process." "we reviewed each and every request we receive and if we feel any inquiry is appropriate, we make it." thetor menendez believes family had been politically persecuted in ecuador, including

through the confiscation of media outlets they own, which were critical of the government. we are not aware of any inquiry into the senator's actions on this matter." in politico this morning, the rnc moves to condense the 2016 primaries.

and "the wall street journal -- "theuote reports wall street journal" reports -- "house gop leaders have made no final decision --

a little bit from "the

wall street journal" this morning. our next call comes from lisa in westfield, indiana on the independent line. we are talking about mike huckabee's remark that there is no gop war on women. what do you think? caller: i think that is interesting. i want to respond some of the things -- respond to some of the things callers have said this morning. have seent year i democrats and independents issue of equale , i have seen them talk about lots of issues to bring a women equal with their male counterparts. what i see from republicans is they are trying to hold that pack. -- hold that back.

there's no reason birth control should be an issue. they don't care that men can plant their seed and walk away and leave women responsible for that pregnancy, i think it shows that women are very responsible and the fact we are the primary caregivers and we cannot get the government to recognize that men have a responsibility in that, i think it is disgusting we have so many members of the gop that are wanting to talk about women's issues when they don't seem to understand what the true issue is. you would have thought the gop would have learned from richard murdoch and his comments here in indiana and what that did to his political career. is that int to make believe women are smarter than what any politician ever gives us credit for. to stand up for ourselves and we need to make sure that men are held accountable for their actions.

we take responsibility for our actions and our male politicians need to do the same. host: john boehner announced yesterday that representative cathy mcmorris rodgers will give a response to the state of the union on tuesday night by president obama. and the new york times is reporting this morning that las vegas is eager to host republicans at the 2016 convention. almost every imaginable convention has found its way to the strip. there have been gatherings devoted to electronics, pizza, computers, to gin equipment, concrete -- not to mention guns, butter, and pornography. he donna from flagstaff, arizona,

what you think about mike huckabee's remark? caller: i think he pretty much hung himself. with a woman caller before me -- shesaid the independent -- said pretty much what i wanted to say. i am not happy with either party. i wish we could have a system like they have in germany where if you have 10% of the vote then you have 10% representation. i think that would give us a choice. what mike huckabee said is totally outrageous about us controlling our libido. viagra, 84 does take

by hibbs health insurance -- paid for by his health insurance, i'm sure. i you are a believer, like am -- what is that supposed to mean? i know this is all based on his religion and his god. i thought the reason why we came here is because we wanted to be able to worship in a way that we felt was right for us as individuals. -- the christian right pushing their beliefs on --i thank you for being here c-span. host: mary is a republican: from long beach, california. i am a transgender woman

and i would like to express something my parents went through. hadrents -- my mother a miscarriage. they agreed she should take birth control. xcessiveaway any e bleeding during her menstrual cycle. it has nothing to do with sexuality. that is the way my mother felt about it. it was mike huckabee who said that the republicans have a war for women. he is the one responsible. host: from "the new york times" this morning --

"usa today" also previews obama's speech. rosie on our democrat line, what is your view on what mike huckabee had to say? caller: i have been divorced for five years. i don't understand what he is trying to say because it takes

two to tango, not one. snip?n't men get a i don't understand this. he has no right. for how he uncalled even directed things to women. i have been on my own for five years, taking care of my children. i feel like i am stronger than a lot of men out here. that was an insult. i am really feeling horrible. that was an insult. he should apologize. maybe make your speech in a different and better way. "the new york times closed quote -- -- "the new york times" --

barbara is calling from red rock, oklahoma on the republican line. does the gop have a war on women? i firmly believe mike huckabee.

i think they should give birth control to men. there are men that go around impregnating women, and they walk off and leave them. i agree with the caller just a minute ago. it seems to me that all i ever hear from democrats is them talking about abortions. abortion is murdering in god's eyes. of course it depends on what the woman is going through. this nonsense about the libido .akes me laugh an like my mother said, it takes two to tango and that is true. some of your how local papers are playing this morning --

"the richmond times dispatch," -- here is "the star-ledger" out of newark, new jersey. and "the chicago sun-times" this morning, talking about mayor rahm emanuel. "chicago will make one unified bid for president obama's presidential library." sandy is on the republican line. completely agree with mike huckabee. it has been a long time coming. , except for a few -- a fewve -- if yo

quacks, have remained silent on the issue. in the last 41 years we have 55 million plus abortions. they are slowly gwendolyn due to technology. -- democrats know that slowly dwindling due to technology. the democrats know that. it is not something more than just sponge. i think what mike huckabee said is good. it is time we took the debate to the country. if you think that 55 million abortions and contraception hasn't been preventing

then there is a bit of a libido issue. say -- i cannot believe there are that many women walking around unmarried but who are single moms who think they are nothing more than a uterus walking on two legs. is sandy for virginia. coming up on "the washington --rnal closed quote we are on "washington journal" we are going to be looking at benefits for veterans with tom tarantino. up next we want to introduce you he is the wallance, former assistance u.s. attorney for new york. he was part of the ab scam and dedication -- abscam investigation. it may be a history lesson for some of you or a reliving of past times for others.

we are going to talk about what it is. "american hustle" is about abscam. 1980, thisy 2, report. [video clip] >> good morning, nbc news have discovered an extraordinary story of political corruption. one senator is involved and six congressmen. year, thisalmost a house and an expensive residential sent to -- residential section of washington dc has been the center of an undercover investigation of political corruption. an fbi undercover agent living in the house and posing as a businessman with errant money backing him pulled up to washington, entertained

politicians, through lavished parleys, and paid out $100,000 in bribes in cash to public officials. ofs house is just a number locations -- is just one of a number of locations. more than 20 public officials have been -- are believed to have been implicated. including six congressmen, one united states senator, and a number of local officials from philadelphia, new york, and new jersey. teams of fbi agents confronted as many of the public officials as they could find with the evidence against them. the fbi had no comment on operation abscam. later this month federal grant hearings will begin to hear testimony on fbi agents who worked on the case and investigators are already calling it the most important investigation of political corruption since watergate. brian ross, nbc news, washington.

host: joining us in our new york studio is gregory wallance, former assistant u-turn he -- assistant attorney for new york. how did this get started? it got started in a pretty humble way. it was in operation right out of the fbi office in long island. it was aimed at the low-level crooks. the ruse was, as the news report indicated, that a very wealthy arab sheik was prepared to buy -- andcds and so on stolen art and make investments and pay off politicians. time ever at that dreamed that it would result in the conviction of six congressmen and a united states senator and a host of lesser officials.

host: how did it get to bribery charges? aest: at the core of it was professional con man known as mel weinberg. he's is played by christian bale in "american hustle." he made it come alive. he could create an illusion that he was working for a very wealthy sheik. he convince people that the sheik had an enormous amount of money to spread around. after the boil boycotts by the middle eastern oil producers where oil prices shot through the roof. it was not that hard

convince people. essentially it was like flies to honey. and the around lower-level crooks they were dealing with put them in touch ,ith higher-level people lawyers with contacts with congressmen and senators, city councilman, the mayor of camden, new jersey. it was a kind of form -- kind of a form of underworld networking. the turning point, the key of that in what turned it from a local sting operation to a national one, was the mayor of camden, new jersey. i thought "american hustle" was a great movie. in the movie he is a trade that he is or trade as a reluctant -- he is portrayed as a reluctant.

christian bale has to bring them into a meeting. in the end there is a certain amount of sympathy generated for him when he ends up getting caught. fact, the mayor was about as corrupt as they come in early on he gave the undercover operatives lists of new jersey public that lists of public officials who said they are willing to sell their offices for cash. in anywilling to engage kind of scheme, from counterfeiting to bribery. at one point he was discussing turning the port of camden into a narcotics entry point. the judge who presided over most of the titles call him a cesspool of corruption. to the operatives, he was a gold mine because he was the one who put them in touch with many of the congressmen and with

harrison williams, who ultimately agreed to take bribes and use their office to to get legislative favors for the sheik and his operatives. that is where i do take issue with the movie. as good a movie as it was, that is not an accurate portrayal. you write in a recent piece for "usa today" that the sting was a mix of slapdash improvisation and vaudeville showmanship. was it a sting? rudy's congressmen and senators set up? they weren't set up in inducede that they were to engage in illegal acts that they weren't otherwise disposed to do.

what some of the congressmen assert as the entrapment defense. it is well-established in the law and for many decades that there is nothing improper in law enforcement in setting up an opportunity or a means for a criminal or someone who's disposed to criminal activities to cremate a crime. i think undercover operations play a very important role, particularly when it comes to consensual crimes. by that i mean crimes where there are no victims who can then notify law enforcement. when you talk about highbury, the broad payer and the broad receiver are in it together and they are not going to go and say something terrible has taken place. often the only way you can find out is set up a sting operation, undercover operation, participate in the bribery activity, and recorded, which

often means you are going to get very reliable evidence. in this case there were audio and video recordings that left no issue about what happened. came up was were these senators and trapped? when you watch them on the tape, the congressmen comes in and somethingme tell you simple and short, you guys are going about this the right way. money talks and bull shipped walks.- and bullshit another congressmen walked in and said i have larceny in my heart. a third congressmen took the cash, put it inside his inside jacket pocket, patted it down and asked the undercover operatives, does it show you go

this is not a case where mel weinberg -- does it show? this is not a case where mel weinberg were leading children by throwing candy in there path. these were highly sophisticated politicians. many of them were powerful or in charge of powerful committees. were used to dealing with strong personalities and saying no to engaging and give-and-take. have, at any point, said no. did.ct, one or two in those instances, they were pretty polite about it and they never reported that they had been approached by an arab sheik who asked them to commit an illegal act. they never went to the fbi. compared to the congressmen who did take the money, they became

national heroes. it was a sadhought commentary. host: that was a quote from larry pressler. one of the congressman target was a well-known figure in washington who served for a long time after this abscam investigation, john murtha. little bithow you a of the fbi hidden radio of john murtha. there are some languages some may find offensive. there is video from the late 1970's john murtha. [video clip] introducing legislation is only legitimate to the guys in your district because otherwise you'd got a real problem. there.an buy something talking about a residence of some sort. commitment -- and business commitment that makes

it imperative for me to help him. let me tell you something. there is a lot of things i've done up here with environmental regulations, with all kinds of waivers of laws and regulations, if the district people say that son of a bitch, let me tell you something, this guy is on the take. once they say that, what happens? then they start going around looking for the goddamn oney, so i want to avoid that i haven't some type of distance, that's all. wallance, what are you watching there? guest: watching the congressman turned down a bride but doing it in a way that left open the door to perhaps an arrangement of some kind that would accomplish the same objective without being so obvious. ultimately congressman murtha was not prosecuted. but it still nonetheless raises some questions. and i am not certain whether he ever got out from under that

cloud. example of how a congressman, if you wanted to, could say no, could decline a bribe, and in the case of the six congressmen who were convicted -- and the united states senator was convicted -- they chose not to do that. they chose it deliberately. and they acted in a way as though -- they did not look nervous. they did not look uneasy. they did not look like somehow there will was being overboard or they couldn't resist, that they were helpless to resist the money. they had a kind of a dignified matter of fact a plum about how they went about taking the money and engaging with the undercover operatives who were very clear in their role as the sheik's emissary that they were corrupt, and they did not look like they were doing this for the first time. and i think that is what convinced the jury's they were not being entrapped, which is

because they were so comfortable in the way they went about it. i might add that most of the congressman did not insert the entrapment defense, that he did something i was not predisposed to do. one of the reasons i think they didn't tactically go down that road was because in order to assert the entrapment defense, you have to admit you it -- committed the crime. then you say, but i was induced to do it by this undercover agents. so, for a politician holding high office, that is a difficult feat to pull off. so some of them came in with defenses that were -- for , one claimed that he was conning the sheik, that he never intended to introduce the legislation the sheik was ostensibly paying for. washer came in and said i conducting my own investigation and i was getting evidence and i was going to report it to the

fbi. in some waysses was almost as outlandish as the crimes they were accused of. prosecutors from a point of view, the ultimate test is, does a jury believe beyond a reasonable doubt that these individuals are not entrapped and/or they committed the crime. and every jury that listen to the testimony, every jury returned a conviction. and every appellate court who reviewed the fairness of both the investigation end of the trial affirmed the convictions. ultimately think, was the stamp of approval on abscam, and to my thinking, made it one of the most effective undercover operations of political crime in our countries history. host: what was your role in abscam? guest: right after that news report in early 1980 -- and i

was a relatively new assistant u.s. attorney -- i was in effect assigned to work as part of the trial team, and i spent the next two years in pretrial preparation. i listened to a lot of those tapes. and then the trials and the appellate process. at that point, i was just a few years out of law school and it was quite an experience to come into that kind of a case and quite eye-opening listening to those tapes and the way people talked when they didn't think they were being watched. host: do you think that staying operations -- do you think the words thing is fair, first of all? operations. and you think sting operations is a fair way of doing business on the prosecutorial side? euphemism for a

undercover operation where the operative assumes the role of a criminal in some way. yes, i do think it is a fair way to conduct investigations. after him scam -- abscam, there was another undercover operation in chicago that investigated corruption in the judiciary and used similar techniques, and the result had been the conviction of a dozen or more very corrupt judges. but these operations are not without their risks. and a lot depends on the judgment of the agents and the prosecutors who are handling them. i will give you an example. ting operation that i think much more than anything that "american hustle" was addressing illustrates the ambiguous, the moral ambiguity of some. in 1965, after the selma, montgomery, voting

rights march, a white woman who was dissipating in the march was shot and killed. that was a huge event and it probably was a there -- very strong consuming factor to the change of the voting rights laws. who shot her were apprehended and convicted. why was that? sometime earlier, the fbi had infiltrated an fbi agent, gary, into the ku klux klan in birmingham. and what i described so far sounds pretty good. but while he was part of the ku klux klan, in order to maintain his credibility, he had to both witness acts of violence by the timesnd indeed at participate in beatings. he was under orders, under no circumstances was he to initiate or lead such a violent events,

but nonetheless, he could not hold back because otherwise he would be found out. operation, ifg you will. where the moral ambiguity is pretty profoundly troubling and one that i don't think we have ever quite come to terms with. i am very glad that the woman's killers were apprehended, but nonetheless, the fbi had to engage into some questionable conduct. wallance, former assistant u.s. attorney from new york. we are talking about the abscam investigation of the late 1970's and early 1980's. it's tie into the "american hustle" movie. we will put the numbers on the screen if you would like to dial-in. or you can tweet as well. peter is calling from new york. the morning. caller: good morning.

with their wallets -- mr. wallance. you have investigated government officials. seven of the world trade -- host: he is not calling on the topic we are calling on. steve in indiana. please, go ahead with your question or comment about abscam. cut from9 billion was food stamps, $80 billion was for bank. my question is, is this because the people with banks could afford to influence congress where's the ones on food stamps had no money? we canr. wallance, if take this further, just to talk

about congressional influence at still possibleit to connect money to politicians? guest: absolutely. and it is unavoidable. here is the ambiguity that i iink abscam revealed, which think may partly answer the question, which is there is a very fine line between lawful campaign contributions and bribery. and the reason it arises is because politicians are in the business -- that is, legislators are in the business of introducing legislation. perfectly normal. that is what they are expected to do. and they are also in the business of running for office and therefore having to raise money to run for office. this -- astinction is donor may give money to a congressman with the expectation that the congressman will introduce legislation that will favor his position, his goals. the congressman may know that

that is why he has been given the money. so far, nothing illegal has occurred. but when the elected official in the donor, the giver of the money, have an express agreement that there is a quid pro quo -- in other words, you give me money, i give you the influence of my office -- then they crossed the line, and that is bribery. the examples you are citing, i don't know if that occurred. i can just say generally that there is a perception among the american public -- in fact, a cnn poll indicated 85% just a few years ago of the american public believed that congressmen, legislators are heavily influenced, if not controlled by the people who fund their campaigns. this distinction is what abscam was focused on, and when you look at these tapes, when you

read the accounts of what the congressman said, there was no question. and that was a real issue for the jury. that they were engaged in quid pro quo. you give me money, i will introduce legislation that would visa to live in the united states permanently so he does not have to worry about unrest in the middle east -- would give thesheik a visa. host: a question, why do they call it abscam? guest: initially it was reported as nicely -- erroneously arab scam and there were protests. in fact it's good for abdul sc am. ks played bywo she fbi agents and the first one set of abdul enterprises, and investment operation in the united states. in the operation became known as

abdul scam, abscam. but arab scam stuck in people's mind and it caused a diplomatic event. host: a viewer wants to know via twitter -- can mr. wallance comment on the politicians that refused the money? well, yeah, they were corrupt. that was established. it had to be established to convict them beyond a reasonable doubt. but i think there was a range of style and how they approached the corrupt proposition offered by the undercover operatives. i described the ones who were pretty blatant and did not leave a lot to the imagination. but there were others, for example, who were a lot more careful, where he and crafty. for example, one congressman was sitting in the hotel room where

the videotapes were recording what was taking place with mel weinberg and another fbi agent pretending to be the sheik's representative and they discuss the immigration legislation that they were seeking to have the congressman introduced to help the sheik come to the united states. then they passed across to the a suitcase issue -- of $50,000 in $100 bills. turned to then lawyer accompanying him and he said, howard, take care of that for me. he was very careful. the issue in his trial was whether he knew what was in that cashase was packed -- being paid in return for his legislative favor. ultimately the jury concluded from all of the circumstances that he had to know that this was cash, and convicted him. by the range of approaches that the congressman took in dealing with the

undercover officer. host: 31 officials targeted. seven convictions, correct? guest: no, i think it was almost every official -- targeted is not quite the right word -- who met with the undercover agents, listened to the illegal proposals and agree to them. virtually all of them were convicted. six congressman, a united states senator, there were three members of the philadelphia city council, the mayor of camden, new jersey, also state senator, and a number of other lesser officials. if virtuallyl every jury returned a conviction that the vast, vast majority of them did. i apologize. i meant seven from capitol hill were convicted. seven senators and six .ongressman how long were they in jail?

host: they all served jail time and they were in jail for at least several years. host: harrison williams was the sole u.s. senator that got convicted. , why did some non-congressional members in the city councils, etc., get involved in this fbi sting? host: i referred earlier to the , the outer circle, these low-level crooks who were selling stolen art or stolen cd's who then put the undercover operation in touch with the next level. angelo eric hadi and corrupt lawyers in accra city council. they in turn, after satisfying themselves that they were dealing with authentically then passed sheik

the undercover agent, or set up meetings for the undercover team with the congressman and the senator. it was a network from the outer circles to the inner circles that is what really made abscam so defective. in --a viewer tweets now, we covered a little bit of that but please go ahead and revisit that. again, was there a targeting of specific officials or was this going to be wide open to all 535 members of the congress? good --hat is the a good question. in the first instance, there was no targeting of an official. the undercover operation simply continued -- let's say, when angelo said i want to introduce you to a congressman who can help the sheik with legislation,

it would have been a dereliction of their law enforcement duties if they said, no, we don't want to meet with them. they had to meet with them. this goes back to what i said. there is nothing wrong with setting up the opportunity or a means for somebody to commit a crime, provided you do not induce them to do something he was not predisposed to do. that is not targeting, that is simply good law enforcement. think, these up aessmen, they set ruse. it was as follows. they would meet with the congressmen, have a party somewhere -- or their representatives, the lawyers -- and they sort of explain to them, well, we represent the arab sheik. and he is very concerned about unrest in the middle east. that ifill like to know

he needed a haven in the united states, he could come here. we hear that congressmen have the ability to introduce special and -- immigration bills to help just one individual come to the united states. these lawyers, the city councilman, the mayor would say, well, we know someone who can help you. and the undercover agents would say, well, money is no object. they just sat back and the next thing they knew these huntsman would be brought into hotel rooms -- plaza hotel out of kennedy airport or a rented house in washington, d.c., and -- theuld explain operatives would simply explain this is what we would like to do, this is the legislation we need, and the sheik is willing to reward you for this, and then they would pass the money over. that is not targeting. i think good law enforcement. as i indicated, all the court

that reviewed this agreed that this was appropriate law enforcement conduct. host: ohio. go ahead with your question for gregory wallance. caller: a question and comment. i would like to know those , were who were convicted they on the democrat majority or bipartisan? host: and what is your comment. caller: my comment is, the level of investigations between democrats and republicans, because i think at that same time, wasn't there an s&l scandal, the investigation did not go very far because not only did ronald reagan have involvement in the s&l kindle but so did george w. bush which cost the american taxpayers 1.4 trillion dollars. host: thank you, sir. gregory wallance question mark

the sixll, of congressman and the united states senator who were convicted, only one was a republican, congress men kelly from florida. the will rent -- the rest were democrats. but it is too small a sample size to draw any conclusions from. it goes back to a question you asked me that i am not sure -- what would have happened if the investigation had just gone on and on and on. huntsman be5 convicted? i doubt it would involve something like that, but at the same time, the investigation, had it gone on longer, who can say how many more congressman it would have established were corrupt and were predisposed to take bribes? numberd because of the -- because of a number of factors. one was the undercover agents were simply exhausted. they were doing so many

meetings, so many bribes, so many discussions, money being promised, so at a certain point it became unwieldy. downey decided to close it , at least the undercover phase, and then of course there was a leak of a prosecution memorandum and that is what resulted in the television news report that you started the program with. manye never found out how were corrupt, how many more were out there just waiting for the opportunity to take a bribe. and it is kind of a lingering question. have not as though there not been any incidents of political corruption of both in congress and at the state level since then or in recent years. there have. there have been quite a few incidents. but without getting into the and thetion itself undercover capacity, you really

can't know. they tend to be a little more isolated. abscam what was unusual because it got into congress, it got behind the scenes, it got behind the closed doors, it showed you what was happening on the fact that these congressman acted so matter-of-factly on the way they want about taking the bribes is troubling, and that is the unanswered western of abscam -- how many more were willing to do that if they were given the opportunity? host: jack tweets in -- looking back, do you feel abscam had any effect, did it in fact change the culture or not? .ost: i think it had an impact it was so searing both for congress and the congressmen that it had to have had some deterrent effect. people would be a little more hesitant, i think, to engage with -- at least doing more due diligence -- without doing more due diligence than these people did -- with corrupt people

willing to pay bribes. at the same time, law enforcement on any level, political corruption -- it is a treadmill. you're never going to eliminate crime, corruption, or dishonesty. so it never totally changes the culture. vital to have is effective law enforcement. and again, staying operations like this need to be managed carefully with good judgment, and when they are, they play an important role in determining this kind of conduct. important at another level which is, you can't have a democracy if your elected officials are corrupt. and so, that's why i think at the end of the day when abscam did was very important in reminding people that we have to be ever vigilant about political corruption. >> do you think that john murtha was guilty? i think john murtha is entitled to the presumption of

innocence. he was not charged, and therefore beyond that i don't think anybody in law enforcement or former law enforcement should be speculating. host: what did this investigation cost u.s. taxpayers? honestly, peter, i don't know what the figures were. i can tell you that there was a huge battle. the movie kind of god at it -- it, between the people running the sting operation who wanted to spend a lot of money to create the illusion of the wealthy sheik. they wanted to have the best rooms at the plaza hotel and all tods of fancy accoutrements go with it, versus the superiors in washington cap fighting back saying we've got to live within certain budgetary constraints. almostlted in some hilarious events. , whereas one meeting

perhaps to save money -- and the sheik was present -- perhaps not thinking of through, instead of withg lavish spreads caviar and champagne, the operatives ordered in jewish deli food. the targets,e put the crooks they were dealing with, that there is something peculiar. why is the sheik offering jewish deli food to serve his guest. mel weinberg, who was very good at salvaging the situation -- and there were quite a few -- and this is where he was so important to the operation, he would just kind of wave it off and say, hey, look, when he was in the middle east, the sheik butot eat jewish deli food he loves it, so when he comes here, he has an opportunity to eat it. saw his people interested in the financial opportunities that abdul enterprises was presenting them with just accepted that and never question it.

host: walter is calling from st. johns, arizona. hi, walter. caller: good morning, mr. wallance. good to see you on c-span today. i have a two-part question. , on criminals, there is always the dome and the smart. targeting, here is a bundle of cash. most of the smart will just turn their back and walk away. the dumb will say, cash, let me run with it. e for many a decade, the big money -- talking tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars -- changes hands but , a bribe or to get someone elected, held out as a brown -- they will do it through soft-money. a $5 million piece of property. you can buy it for $500,000. we will do it through a hong

kong corporation and it will just look like good business and the money is paid out and made that way. on the aspect of getting somebody elected -- there are restrictions on how much you can contribute. i could call up a congressman and sega corporation will spend $300 million will get you in it. we are not going to have any association with your campaign. we can spend as much as we want. there are no restrictions. actively has your investigation or any investigation looked into the business transactions of congressman to pinpoint those bribes that are taking place where it is a bills -- business deal or soft money being spent based on the conversation. that is how the smart women operates. when it is just cash being handed over, that is the dumb side. if you can address the business transactions, real estate transactions, i would love to hear your comments.

it itthere is a saying, isn't what is illegal that shocks you about money and politicians, it is what is legal that is really shocking. i think what you are describing is more on the legal side, the soft-money, loopholes in the ,lection fundraising laws circumvented, shall we say. certainly the topic of debate. abscam was not targeting and was not looking at soft-money. it was looking, as you put it, at the dumb people, those willing to take cash bribes. although, in one instance, and that was u.s. senator harrison williams, that involved more of the kind of sophisticated .chemes that you are raising it wasn't a cash bribe in a hotel room. he and his colleagues,

associates, some of whom were notoriously corrupt, had an interest in a titanium mine. titanium is a rare metal, part of the government stockpile. and the senator's interest was actually hidden but they all had this interest in a titanium mine. what developed in a years worth of discussion was the undercover operatives was a proposal that really came from the senator's the sheik would invest $100 million in the titanium mine. in return, to assure his investment would be successful, senator williams would use his influence -- and he was a very powerful senator. 13th insecurity at the time. -- in seniority at the time. to get the u.s. government to buy titanium from the mine or the strategic stockpile. this went on for a year.

and papers were actually drawn up, sort of the process of creating a company that would receive the money from the sheik and so one. there were very elaborate inecussions of how this m would be structure, the ownership. and the senator met personally with the sheik and a short him. he said, well, i am not going to be a senator forever and assured him he would make the venture profitable by using his influence. i know the president, ideal geton-one with him -- to contracts to sell titanium to the u.s. strategic stockpile. but again, that wasn't soft-money as you were describing it, not legal soft-money, and it was more in the dumb category although it was a very sophisticated scheme a cageyably more what and careful corrupt politician would want to do to try to insulate himself as much as possible from charges of bribery.

long does senator williams spend in prison? was several years that he spent in prison. know, in this case, again, the word target keeps coming up. there was not even target. he was introduced to the undercover operatives by mayor lawyer,, and his another new jersey figure who has been linked to organized with and corrupt acts one-two brought to the attention of the undercover operatives of this titanium mine and indicated the senator had an interest. that is how this whole thing evil. host: mr. wallance, susan jeffries asks -- did anyone the moneybribe take and immediately turn it into the fbi and report the bribery attempt?

host: in a word, no. and neither did those who turned down the bride. back to just to go senator williams, at one point -- and this was something the defense attempted to use -- at one point in the meeting with the sheik, the sheik offered him something like $20,000 in personal expenses as a goodwill gesture, and williams said, no, no, i don't want to take that. my interest in seeing that this titanium venture succeeds. senator, united states and he has been confronted with an illegal act committed by a representative, a foreigner in the united states, and nonetheless makes it clear he wants to continue doing business . and ultimately, with all the controversy that abscam

generated come in the end, i think what moved the juryies and courts that reviewed the convictions is simply that the american people had a right to ,xpect that their congressman this senator, their intellect and officials, would not behave in this manner -- elected officials would not behave this manner when confronted with these very corrupt proposals. host: charlie, lanham, maryland. go ahead with your question or comment about abscam. caller: good morning, mr. wallance. an auditor working as a contractor with the environmental protection agency. we used your files to go after a bunch of state -- i'm sorry, a bunch of local officials. mr. pahlavi's, mainly in new jersey, connecticut. we got cost recoveries because of your work. 12, 14, were looking at 16 different corrupt mayors.

interested in local politics, local corruption. anyway, there was an engineer firm whoa 250-person was shaking down contractors with change orders on epa work and then he was using those bribes he got from the shakedown -- i am sorry, using the money he got from the shakedown street bribe politicians to get more work. i think he ultimately committed suicide. he was quite a character. unfortunately i can't. i think that was an aspect of the case that i simply was not involved in. but what it illustrates was the way that abdul enterprises, these fbi agents and mel weinberg, were able to so effectively network in the underworld that the tentacles , their shadow, if it

were, word of what they were about, spread so wide that they thesed getting all of potentially corrupt or actually corrupt politicians or politician representatives or government officials interested in them, coming to them. one of the reasons they became exhausted, is because they were clearly so many proposals, trying to keep that -- track of so many different meetings, and it went on to the point that they just became overwhelmed by it. and that is the unanswered question, which we alluded to earlier. well, if they manage to keep it going long enough, how much more political corruption would have been uncovered? we will never know the answer. host: the result of abscam as far as fbi procedures. what changed? well, not surprisingly,

there was considerable unhappiness in congress with abscam. now, a number of these congressmen who didn't resign were in effect forced out of congress, cell phone congress. and congress had to address that. but both the senate and the house began investigations and held hearings on the undercover operation and concluded that the department of justice and the fbi needed to tighten control over these kinds of staying operations. and the result was a special level of approval became needed when an undercover operation was going to be focusing on high level officials. , i think it was the case probably all along, there couldn't be any targeting without at least focusing on a

specific -- or a focusing on a specific official without at least a reasonable suspicion that the official had engaged or had aepared to engage -- predisposition to engage in corrupt activities. initialthat level of suspicion existed in abscam and probably a lot of the undercover investigations that had taken place, but nonetheless this became embedded in the guidelines for undercover operations. so, that was one impact that abscam had. tweetsnd finally, dean in -- could abscam be considered the first sting seen by the public from hidden cameras? host: good question. i think so. certainly up on this scale, the use of videotapes and not been used, to my recollection, in such a major operation.

and the technology sort of came together and they could put the camera in a room next to the room where at politician was meeting with the undercover team, just through a pinhole. reasonably good by the standards of the day videotape. and of course, the videotapes, the court rooms at the trials, they had 13 television sets. judge, juror, sometimes they have their own tv sets. it was just like a wired courtroom. and it had a huge impact on the jury. but in a certain sense, one impact was abscam was after that, juries, particularly in these kinds of political corruption cases wanted to see the videotapes. and it kind of put a greater burden on prosecutors who did not have videotaped evidence that was so clear to come forward and make the case. now, of course, we live in an age where everything is caught digitally on cell phones and so on.

almost everything is recorded. but then it was novel in something of a breakthrough. , what are youance doing today? guest: thanks. i'm in private practice. i represent both defendants in as well as white-collar defendants, mostly companies caught up not so much in political corruption and other kinds of investigations. and i am pretty much enjoying myself and really have good memories of abscam at the same time. and "american hustle" kind of brought it all back. it was a great movie. i hope it gets the oscar for best picture. and i thought the line in the beginning sums it up that they put on the screen before the movie starts. "some of this actually happened." part that i had the good fortune to be involved

with. host: so when you watch "american hustle," what percentage would you say is realistic? guest: it is hard to put a percentage on it. pieces fromts and the real-life abscam and sort of blew them up. but i would say the two biggest departures from history -- the and somewhatangelo pathetic way and secondly, betray -- portrayal of one of the fbi agents would've off the charts, hair in curlers, had an affair with the mel weinberg's character's mistress and generally behaved in a not -- outlandish way and that was not a fair trail of the fbi agents who were very focused and mindful of the need to avoid entrapment and at the same time

to get good evidence so they were fairly prosecuting a particular official and never portrayed the manner by the movie. i am stand the artistic license that movies have, but that is one where historically that was not an accurate portrayal. host: in the 30 some years since the abscam, have you met with any of the former members of congress? no, i haven't, and i am not sure they would welcome the opportunity to meet with me or anyone on the prosecution or investigation side of the case. and a number of them have passed away at the same -- passed away. host: gregory wallance talking about afghan and -- abscam and "american hustle." we appreciate it. coming up next, a discussion of veterans benefits and the current status of veteran benefits with tom tarantino from

the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. [captions copyright national 14]le satellite corp. 2013 [captioning performed by national captioning institute] of you have been marching for over 40 years and has endured many setbacks, including the recent expansion of abortion coverage in obama care. important more now than ever that we remain strong and stand together. ofcannot allow the opponents life to continually weaken the moral fabric of our country. they need to know that -- and

they need to understand that we will continue to march, we will continue to educate, we will continue to advocate, and we will continue to fight or the unborn. >> despite the fact that president obama is using deception and the course of power of the state to promote abortion of violence, the andlife movement is alive well and making serious significant and sustained progress. >> at this weekend on c-span, the annual march for life rally from the national mall in washington, d.c., saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern. when c-span2's booktv, what is the secret to the life of happiness? thelk radio host on possible answers saturday night at 8:00 p.m. c-span3's american history tv, , issues and 2004 concerns from five decades of state of the union speeches.

sunday afternoon at 3:00. matter what party they belong to, i bet most americans are thinking the same thing right about now. nothing will get done in washington this year. or next year. or maybe even the year after that. because washington is broken. do you blame them for feeling a little cynical? the greatest blow to our confidence in our economy last year didn't come from events beyond our control. it came from a debate in washington over whether the united states would pay its bills or not. who benefited from that fiasco? i've talked tonight about the deficit of trust between main street and wall street, but the divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad.

and it seems to get worse every year. watch president obama delivered this year's address. our preview program starts live tuesday night at 8:00 eastern with the president at 9:00, followed by a sponsor from the republican conference chair and your reaction by phone, facebook, and twitter. the state of the union, tuesday night, live on c-span, c-span radio, and www.c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. tom: now joining us is tarantino, chief policy officer for the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. what happened -- remind us of what happened to some military pensions and benefits from the agreement that was passed by congress, the budget agreement that was passed? guest: thanks for having me on, by the way. last year, basically the only thing congress did for vets was

cut their retirement benefits. what they did was part of the budget agreement that was negotiated largely in secret between patty murray and paul ryan, they reduced the amount of colaase into retirement, minus one percent. the average cost-of-living increase that everyone gets across the country and reduced it by one percent. what it means is for working age retirees, people who spent 20 or 30 years in the military, from the time came -- they retire to the time they than 65 get the reduction each year in the amount of retirement benefits and a crew. or a senior enlisted person, it is something like 83,000 total -- over the span of their retirement. for an officer, it could be up to $120,000. $83,000 might not sound like a lot to the millionaire serving in congress but to the men and women who served as meant a career in the military, that is

a lot of money, and that is a huge difference. that is one or two kids college tuition right there. host: doesn't affect current retirees? guest: absolutely. everybody who is a working age retiree, meaning they retired under the military at 38, 40, 50 from the time they're 65. guest: once you turn 65, you get the regular cola adjustment like before. this is highly disturbing. not only is it an unnecessary cut the retirement but a huge slap in the face for those who spent a career in the military, and it is going to severely impact retention. it is going to severely impact people's ability or desire to stay in the career military. we tried something like this before. in fact, the last time they tried this it was nowhere near this severe and the dotted the active-duty force so much that not only did they repeal of that they will actively --

retroactively repealed. host: "usa today" had in editorial about this issue. "veterans, they protest too much, way too much. the military pension system is not only extremely generous but counterproductive. it defends that it drains money from weapons. --le host: after 20 years, regardless of age, and military retiree can expect a pension equal to 50% of

final pay with an additional 2.5% for each year of service eons and 20. the cuts, that they put in quotes, comes in the form of a reduction in cola by one percentage point each year until age 62. cola would come back and pensions would shoot up to where it had been had the full role of been in effect. s thaty, "usa today" writew the approach in the budget would save taxpayer money and help reach a budget targets and also discourage people from leaving early after the government has invested so much in them. guest: i love it when people who don't understand the veterans community like to speak authoritatively. this editorial is based on multiple false assumptions and frankly faxed -- things they assume are facts don't really exist.

militaryall, the pension system is the way it is to encourage people to spend a career in the military. two thirds of the american population are not eligible for military service. that means the military is competing with the top third of the country with everyone else, with every corporation, education institution. so, encouraging someone to stay for 20 years, it is why this benefit is structured the way it is. and it is an effective benefit. inghly 17% of people stay the military until retirement. that is an incredibly small number. and it is not an easy decision. i got out after 10 years because the military is tough on your body, tough on your mind, tough on your family. ,hen you come out at 38 or 40 within that middle working age time in your life, not only did you have a much more difficult career than your civilian peers,

but you are now starting over from scratch where you would have started in your mid-20's. now you are 42, 40 three years old and you have to completely restart your career. this is why the military retirement benefit is not only structure like that but it is effective. money,terms of saving there's a lot better ways within the dod budget, even in the personnel section, to be saving money. host: which is? guest: they talk about how the military health care system is going to bankrupt the dod. that is simply not true. and if it was true, why have there been over $700 million -- why have they been $700 million under budget, $3 billion dod has given back because they understand health care. even in that system they could find better efficiencies. a three separate health care systems, three separate sourcing and contracting system that could be unified. so there are a lot of efficiencies that can be found

that could save even more money than just slashing benefits. and at the end of the day what we are talking about is going to the group of people who sacrificed the most over the last 12 years and asking them to keep sacrificing. veterans, military families, retirees, we are not the government's piggy bank. we are the people who keep answering the call every single time and to come back and say, well, here, we are going to send you to war but we are sorry, we cannot afford to take care of the afterword, it is a slap in the face and frankly insulting. host: you served for 10 years. at the end of that, now that you are out, what benefits do you receive? guest: i don't receive retirement benefits. i received benefits from department of veterans affairs. that was a decision i made. if i wanted to get a pension and retirement, i would have to stay in for another 10 years. tot is a motivating factor keep someone in for that long. i made the decision personally that it was not the route i wanted to go. it was not the career path i

wanted to go. i had accomplished a lot in my military career. i was proud of everything i did. and i felt that i was done. people whoa lot of at that point say, you know, i was stuck it out to retirement. and that benefit is the reason you can keep such, -- high-quality people in for so long. host: the current situation would not affect the vietnam veterans because they are all over age 62 -- mostly over age 62. it would affect iraq and afghanistan veterans. what is your group? guest: iraq and afghanistan veterans of america is the first and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit group for veterans of current conflict. we advocate in washington for things like the g.i. bill, greater mental health. we bring awareness to the american public of these issues. percent of american people have served in iraq and afghanistan, so bringing these

issues into the public eye or into the popular culture is absolutely critical, especially as we have a chemically shrinking military and veterans population in this country. and the last thing we do is providing assistance. we help veterans in need of resources, who need help. we just launched our rapid response referral program in california yesterday. so if you are in new york state or california, we have a bona fide network of services that va come and you can have a social worker connect you with a verified service who knows how to take care of veterans. g and we canva.or hook you up with resources. we are hoping to push this nationally over the next five or 10 years. the reality is, when you have a shrinking veterans appellation, we have about 40,000 nonprofits across the country doing great things locally as well as the typical civilian services that want to help vets out there. the only way we are going to

maintain that care network with a population that is shrinking across the country is the we integrate those services into the veteran community. tweets in -- his military pension under veterans benefits or general budget? does the defense budget include veterans benefits and pensions? actually thisnd is really important. this is something most people don't understand. in other countries they are lumped up all into defense. the department of defense, including military pension and military retirement, is under the defense budget. the veterans affairs budget is a separate pot of money which runs a health care system as well as a things like disability benefits, the g.i. bill, and home loans. this is actually one of the bigger problems we have in this country, because the department of defense and the department of veterans affairs really don't talk to each other really well. they have gotten a lot better in the last several years, like

starting to share health records and starting to communicate more when it comes to the benefits transition. to have we really need happen is the people who make the veterans and who care for the veterans for their live need to be totally in sync, something the veterans community has been trying to saw for a long time. host: tom tarantino, are there legislative efforts to restore these cola reductions? guest: so many. what is interesting is as soon as of this got announced -- and actually, if you notice, and the press conference that announced this budget deal that was a lot of talk about all the things that were not on the table between senator marie and congressman ryan. what i found interesting, i found out later that night because somebody sent me the actual text, is veterans and military families were on that table. i find that pretty shocking. i think immediately they realized they made a huge

mistake. so there are right now 20 billion congress that are looking to repeal this. and the entiref veterans community are trying to sort through all the bills and figure out which ones are workable, which ones are doable and which ones have political poison pills and which ones we can actually move forward with. you will see over the next few weeks as this will get repealed. tom: first call for tarantino from the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america group comes from james in georgia. democrat. caller: good morning. how are you guys doing this morning? i was listening. i may be wrong, but this is my opinion. -- war is a volunteer service. it is not a draft. --i am nott you have talking about those who go over there and lose a limb.

just like anything else. to me, this is only my opinion, the pensions -- the good thing, because we are already paying for the medical benefits. it is a stretch just like everyday people go to work also. no competing job, it is just like a job. we volunteered to do. they volunteer to fight. and i think that is just the way it is,, that it should be cut. and that is my opinion. host: mr. tarantino? guest: this is part of a larger disconnect between the american people and military community. military is not a job, it is a lifestyle. not only is it an all-encompassing lifestyle but one that is necessary for the safety and security of this country. we need a strong military to keep this country safe and to keep this country moving forward. we talk a lot about how much we pay to keep the troops loaded

with gear and the bullets, and we talk a lot about how much the troops need to fight. but what we tend to miss is how much they need to live. these benefits, like pensions and all the things that benefits are there to keep and maintain that lifestyle. this is one reason we do not pay people very well. we keep the cost of living relatively low. wardifficulty of going to tends to be hard on the body, hard on the family. you will eventually pay for the ancillary problems if you do not take care of it up front. we saw this after the vietnam war. we were in danger of losing a

generation. we had an opportunity to turn the page after vietnam. >> good morning, riley. host: good morning, riley. caller: this is larry. age and retired from the united states navy. untilvice was from 1960 1990. you know what went on during that period of time. reagan cut the cola in half for those of us under 55 at the time. the same tricks again. we keep repeating history. it just amazes me of how this

country that so many have given so much for has no respect. thank you for taking my call. guest: thank you for your service. larry makes an outstanding point. it is critical to countering the dod argument. now arel costs right about 30% of the budget. in 1990 they were about 30% of the budget. personnel costs in the dod are typically cheaper than private industry. you have seen an increase in the personnel costs over the last 10 years. dhrough the 1990's, we slashe health care, retirement, pay. the same positions that are

crying about how much we have overblown personnel cost told congress in the 1990's if you do not restore pay to competitive levels, we're going to throw a war and no one is going to show up. the increases were resetting the pay and benefit system to get to where they were competitive. that was a one-time thing, that was a reset. 60%.ays it is going to hit that is not saying the pay and benefits will slowly increase to 60%. we are talking about fictional math. it does not exist. the talking point has been picked up and it is never going

to die. we talk about the cost for health care and pension, it is more efficient than the civilian system but fairly sustainable. host: this tweet. guest: it is a different job. isilitary job -- this another point we tend to see coming out of congress. in the military, death, destruction and war are part of your regular job. you are not sitting behind a desk or processing paperwork. you are making decisions that deal with people's lives. it is not a lifestyle you can sit in for 20 years or that is

easy to do for 20 years. it is proven to be effective because it retains the highest quality people to lead our military forces. host: next call for tom tarantino comes from brenda. caller: yes. one thing i would like to get clear. i was raised by two registered democrats. children,ce to us as do your homework, vote for who you think will do the best job. i have been an independent voter all of my life. i was a kid during world war ii. what i missed in this country

nowadays is the gratitude that the people had toward the military. we were a proud people. planes. tanks, ships, and a fighting force that could not be beat. bills that there are waiting in the senate. jeff reede senator, -- jeff sessions has two bills to correct this situation, taking money from the illegals and reinforcing the military. harry reid will not bring them to the floor. think about it. he is from nevada.

what do they have a nevada? casinos. casinos want cheap labor. he has helped them every inch of the way. and guess what -- he is a millionaire now. host: anything you want to respond to? guest: how we have lost respect for the military. i am not sure that is true. we are talking a fraction of the population. the military has largely been disconnected with the american public. the military was part of the national coach or. --that was part of the national culture. do not have people a cultural people to the military anymore.

people have largely been supportive of the troops. they don't understand what it means to be in the military. and the issues veterans face when coming home from war. host: former army captain and left in 2007. service?fghanistan guest: iraq. i went active duty and served as a platoon leader in iraq. host: this is affect national guard? guest: it depends on their retirement. host: so they are separate. hest: is a different thing do not get your benefits until you are 65. what it could affect is their retention.

you could have a lot of people deciding to leave active duty and going into the guard reserve, or not staying in at all. the guard and reserve has been overused and overtaxed. there are lots of problems. if you spent your career and are not due point, you're not considered a veteran. we think that is wrong. you stand ready to deploy and you should be considered a veteran. we are looking at ways to keep retention high and making sure we are protecting the guard and reserve. they are a resource for homeland maintenance. host: wire you awarded the bronze star? not like talking about this kind of stuff.

i had a good year in combat. by troops performed exceptionally. successfultoons were on almost every one of their mission. everyone i brought came home. i like to say i did not get awarded the bronze star but it was my put tunes because they were successful. host: as a tenure that -- 10-year vet, what are the benefits? guest: you have five years of free health care. if you are service connected for a disability, you get medical care for those disabilities for the rest of your life. if you have a certain level of disability, you can access the v.a. with a small co-pay. i am eligible for the post-9/11 g.i. bill which pays for a four

year post-education. i am eligible for a home loan. i can retraining for a different career. i can't apply for a -- i can apply for a v.a. pension. host: when you say apply, could you be denied? guest: no. it takes a long time to get it. if i apply now when i am 65 it should come through. we have serious problems with the backlog. it has reduced about 35% over the past few years. is gettinghe v.a. more focused and working on it. probably the best health care system in the country, run by the v.a.

22 veterans a day commit suicide. a lot of that is a response to bad transition between dod and v.a. lack of knowledge about the health care system that does exist. a lot of veterans do not know you can get free health care. vet centers are outside the health care system that you can walk in and get care and leave. the v.a. overall is an outstanding system. host: right now you're out of the v.a. health system. guest: i am service connected disabled. host: you have lifetime health care through the v.a.? guest: i will pay for some. if i go in for something i will expect a small co-pay. it is incredibly affordable.

i live three blocks away from the v.a. hospital, it is convenient for me. caller: thank you for c-span. i am 81 years old. i have three questions. how many military personnel did we have in the service right now? how many military bases not counting the ships did we have around the world? how many people, soldiers do we afghanistan?t in host: why do you want the answers to those questions, delano? lady.: i ask my congress she didn't know any of the

answers. that is what bothered me. she did not know the answers. that is what i wanted to know. host: is this an area you are familiar with? guest: i am embarrassed. i think we have around 2 million in the total force. i think. i am looking at the map of all the bases. i can see it in my head. about 35,000 right now in afghanistan. host: do you know how many iraq han veterans? guest: it is not going to increase. this is the smallest amount of people that have ever served for the longest war in american history. reactionch a visceral

when congress wants to cut benefits. we have asked the smallest amount of people to sacrifice so much over the last 12 years. to go back and keep asking them to give and give and give, it is unconscionable. it will affect the way people react to military service. military service is a great thing. i would never change it. it has to be worth it. is not just about patriotism. is not just about fighting. host: two quick tweets.

guest: here is what is interesting about this. every time we talk about cutting and cutting, we go to the military and the veterans first. we are looked at as congress' piggy bank when the american people are not paying attention. when they talk about cola reductions, it is hard to bring that in human terms. theyepartment of defense, are incredibly efficient systems. the health-care system is 27% cheaper than a comparable health care system. same with the v.a. we want to talk about reducing the deficit, don't look at the structures that take care of the

people who defend our freedom. there is a lot of room for oversight. they are run pretty well. this is just math. host: do you expect the president to address this in the state of the union? guest: we hope he does. host: have you been lobbying him? isnderstand your director going to be a guest of senator john brand -- gillibrand. leanne, please go ahead. caller: everybody remembered 9/11. we could not wait to send our men and women to battle. this is the thanks we are going to give them. i have lots of family in the military. it is heartbreaking for all the years.

their marriages have been under fire. the moves they have had to do. the battles they have had to fight in 140 degree heat. it breaks my heart you would care so little. how could you? point.this is a great this is both sides of the aisle guilty about this. it is amazing to see when the same people who were so eager to send us to war are the same people that say we cannot afford to take care of you when we come home. we're trying to convey to congress that when you make the decision to go, it in curse cost all the way through the recovery, which can be 10, 20 years down the line. there is the element that you

buy the ticket and you take the ride. this is what it costs to maintain 12 years of war. they are costs for health care benefits for care and transition that you have to pay upfront so that this generation can come home and be successful. host: last call for tom tarantino is no longer on my screen. that was the last call. mr. tarantino thank you so much for being a guest on our set. coming up next, we are going to open the phones. we will go over whatever you want to talk about. go ahead and start dialing in now. you can see the numbers on the

screen. we will get an update on bob mcdonnell's situation. be right back. >> they came down to the streets in protest. >> this uprising defies any definition. the0 minutes after landing, military has come down to the street. they search the car. there was my previous film, which is not a good title to find by military intelligence as the country is exploding. they said, come with us. we just want to talk with you. i went to a place and i was

taken by people in plane clothes. this dvd i have in the car and i need to get rid of it. i made my way to the car and excused myself to the death of and tried to destroy the dvd by breaking it apart. they are quite hard to break. i shoved it down the drain. went back into the interrogation room feeling confident i got rid of evidence that the kidney there from longer. guy minutes later, the cleaning the bathroom comes in with a piece of the dvd in his hand. >> more with the director of "the square," sunday night at q&a.on c-span's watch our program on first lady barbara bush, followed by a

recent interview with barbara bush at 8:30. live monday, our series continues. >> hillary came a year later. her career began right outside this building at the university of arkansas where she was a professor and taught criminal law, trial procedure. educated, wellesley ivy league law school grad that had worked in d.c. nixon had been impeached about two weeks before hillary taught her first class. >> first lady hillary clinton monday night, live on c-span. c-span launched the first school bus hundreds of schools

nationwide and raising awareness on how c-span covers politics and government. 20 years later, the bus continues on the road and visiting book festivals and schools. look for us on the road and online, www.c-span.org. you can follows on twitter, all brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. university students will get a busce to visit the c-span as we hit the road for the big 12 conference tour. "washington journal" continues. 202 is the area code if you want to talk about a policy issue. for republicans.202-585-3881 202-585-3880 for democrats.

202-585-3882 for independents. here is a stack of articles from post."e washington "the washington post." host: carol leonnig is a reporter with "the washington post." how did the governor get indicted? how did it come to light? is thethe short version governor and his wife received an unusual amount of gifts and money from a richmond businessman who needed their help and make clear he needed their states help in boosting

the fortunes of a company that was on the ropes that he owned. prosecutors have laid out is pretty startling. from the time they met each other when the governor was about to be brought into office in 2009, until earlier this year, there was a wave of effort on the part of the governor and as wife to help the company, dietary supplement company. a wave of goodies that went to the family. lons when they were facing a lot of financial stress -- loans. rolex.500 aboutping spree that cost

$19,000 for mrs. mcdonnell. golf rounds at the most expensive club you could go to for the governor and his sons, as well as stops at the pro shop whenever they wanted. there was an endless array of goodies. host: we will show this list as we talk to you. this is from wednesday's "washington post." come tothe story light? "the: my colleague -- post" documented starting in the late spring, i believe it was may, a series of things that were happening behind the scenes. the first of them was that the governor's daughter catering

bill had been paid by johnny williams, the ceo of star scientific. there was a tip she should look at this relationship are deeply. the first thing she broke open was his catering bill, which raised a lot of eyebrows. who was close enough to pay for your daughters wedding, with the most expensive part of that? there is a series of other stories about all the other elements of largess in this relationship. is one thing if a friend is helping you from time to time to if a donor is trying curry favor with small gifts. these were so large. the most rheumatic where the loans -- the most rheumatic where these loans that mr. williams made to the family so they could basically cover their

huge mortgage at a time when they had a lot of credit card debt. host: who is todd snider and what role does he play? guest: he is interesting because he has been described as a person who brought down the governor. i think it is probably a little dramatic. was wrongly who ofused by the first lady stateng state foods, property. he ended up telling state actually hes that hadn't done anything wrong but he was a little concerned about the flow of goods that were going to the family from this business person. and that to get state

investigators dirty interested. later,'s interest came at the beginning of this year, when they were asking johnny williams about some problems at his company. he eventually became a cooperating witness and told them about his relationship with the mcdonnells. host: and a lot of former first lady e-mails have come to light. information?c throughome of them came requests. many you're seeing for the first time. in the charging papers, prosecutors have cited them as evidence. it is a devastating talking ,ndictment and the chronology

all the things she asked of mr. williams. her thingsim to give and provide very nice things for her family. they lay out all the ways she communicated in e-mails to him and to her staff and to her husband that they needed to get on the stick and lend some first teaching and tried to get the state to launch some researchers to give his someny's star product scientific validation. the company was on the ropes because it had years of operating losses. johnny williams was asking the governor and his wife for help vcu to begina or conducting research and trials of the product and its health

benefits. the company allege this anti-inflammatory dietary supplement was a medical drug that could help in treating alzheimer's, diabetes, and even possible multiple sclerosis. says thaty's paper the former governor mcdonnell is the lead story this morning rejected a plea deal. what is the deal he rejected? guest: the chronology is fascinating. mcdonnellith maureen when she and her husband realized. they hired lawyers. inthe summer they realized conversations with prosecutors, the scope of the probe that prosecutors have launched and

the unpleasant and unflattering facts they have in their arsenal. maureen mcdonnell conveys through her lawyers that she feels this whole legal quandary is her fault. she does not admit to a crime necessarily, but she conveys to prosecutors would they be interested in resolving this matter through her and leaving her husband alone. was there a way for her to take responsibility and spare her husband any charges? she was going through a pretty emotional time and felt she had brought her husband down. at least according to the people we have interviewed. several months later as the prosecutor moved to bring the charges and tell the government --the governor and his wife that they are going to seek an

indictment from grand jury that has been meeting secretly. they make a last-minute offer to the governor and say if he were to plead guilty to one felony, they would spare his wife and he rejects it. host: and he rejected it why? guest: we do not know what is going on specifically inside his mind. that he didongly nothing illegal. he feels strongly he took a lot of largess from a friend who was trying to help him and that he would have done the same things for any company that was in virginia and seeking his help. there are people that have asked the question, really? other other guy tablet supplement companies in virginia that were able to have this access to you and were able to get you texting your secretary of health and other cabinet

members, leaning on them energy them to look into getting a state research for this product? host: carol leonnig what was his reputation and popular reading while he served as governor the last four years? guest: it was stellar. he was such a rising star. bywas viewed in virginia social conservatives -- he was viewed as incredibly good steward of the government's budget. a kind ofcles he had respect you just do not see every day. i remember covering a meeting in andington at the marriott so many governors what i asked him questions that come you should talk to bob mcdonnell

about that. 2013.as in january of it happened to be the time when federal prosecutors were him but he ey eye did not know that. todd snider had not been the governor's chef, with this story have come to light? it's possible that some of the details but not have come out when they did. in catering issue bubbled up a prominent way during the governor's tenure. a lot of people are asking why you would except that from a donor, no matter how friendly they were. it seems to me that there was a reason prosecutors's were

mcdonnell's the relationship with williams. it wasn't because of todd snider. host: johnny williams senior has resigned as president of that company. he is under investigation for a different issue and is cooperating? and granted immunity. guest: correct. his company was served with subpoenas in january from the u.s. attorney's office. the same office that has charge the mcdonnells. they were served with subpoenas looking into whether or not the had improperly tried to raise funds without disclosing it in corporate filings. the sec is pretty rigid when you

do things in a publicly traded corporation, what you have to report and why. you want to be telling your investors so the status of your company and trying to raise money is one of those flag you are supposed to share with your public. when those subpoenas came, investigative started to interview williams and it led to him describing his relationship with the mcdonnells. host: what is happening today in richmond? guest: in about 20 minutes, former governor mcdonnell and his wife are scheduled for their bond hearing before a federal judge in richmond. it will be their first appearance and they will also be arraigned. it is kind of a technical, formal procedure.

is strictly a way for the judge in the case to publicly and personally alert the defendants to the charges against them and make sure they understand the charges and decide whether they are a risk to the community whether there should be any special provisions. i do not think we will see them found to be a risk of any kind to the community. the "carol leonnig from washington post" have been writing a series of articles about bob mcdonnell. you can go to "the washington post" and you can type in the governor's name or type in carol leonnig and to be able to read the entire series. thank you for joining us. we help we can get an update on this case. guest: thank you so much for

your good questions. host: we have this article, host: they said it was a predictable disaster and talked about that a little bit and talk about ted cruz as relationship with president obama. that was basically that they get along and they come too jobs from different perspectives. about ted cruz, he is on the conservative side. ted cruz used to be my attorney for a long time. he is a good guy, not that i always agree with him. here is a little bit from last night's tonight show.

[video clip] >> you have a great story. you are one of 12. >> i have 11 brothers and sisters and my dad owned a bar. all the skills i learned to do my job i learned growing up. we learn to get along. you go up around a bar, i mopped the floor and did dishes. you have to learn to deal with every that walks in the door. we have anow you -- family photo. there you go. >> i am the dark one on the bottom. in the sun a be lot more than the other kids. >> i write off and come my own grass -- ride a bike. my mother is dark complected.

>> there is no tanning bed. >> never. >> not a spray tan. you can't be that kind of guy. host: a little bit of john boehner from last mites "tonight show." the seal, thank you for holding -- lucielle. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm calling in regards to the paying out of our tax money the birth control and abortion. i am a responsible lady. i pay for my own birth control. i raised three kids without help from my ex-husband. the child support. i feel like if i choose to have not, in i marry, or should take birth control and it

should not be the government's problem. who decide toople have abortions should think about this. the child to abort may be the one who would be the person who would be a great leader in our country and that god has a plan for that life. and you may get rid of a child who is a very inch metal part in everybody's life. so just think on these things. host: thank you. front page of "the new york times." pace is moving early to back clinton." forged closeas

ties with many democratic donors will serve as cochair of the revamped super pack. greg from florida, hi. caller: good morning. i just about came out of my chair on your last guest, talking about the military. -- how often you deploy from your base. so you will be in afghanistan or in germany or japan or somewhere. that has increased over the past 12 years probably about two to three fold. there is no wonder the veterans going to afghanistan or iraq, no wonder they have pstd. -- we haveworks is

some military guy out there and he is getting 20 grand or so a year. what we have done is contract a lot of the stuff out on the things the military should be doing. the militaryrs, guy makes about 20 grand a year while he serves his year in afghanistan. the contractor makes over $100,000 and is probably an ex military guy. $100,000-plus in six months. he will probably do a six-month rotation for the contractors. the military is based on the commitments that we have. i do not see the commitment being cut in germany and japan commiserate with

the slashes they are making in the military. host: john from ohio. caller: thank you. i have two points. wasought that tom tarantino spot on. ce, about the walla appbscam? i would love them to see them investigate our government today. that is petty theft compared to what they are doing to all of us now. so thank you and have a good day. host: where is your hometown? south: route 35 north and heading toward columbus. host: how close to cincinnati? 2 hours.about 2 1/

host: here is more from last night. [video clip] >> people think you're the speaker, you are the leader. i have a lot of other roles that i play. some members i have to be the date brother figure. others i have to be the principal or dean of students. some i have to be the gestapo. i tried to work with members on both sides of the aisle. bill.es 218 to pass any frogs in at 218 wheelbarrow long enough to pass a bill. >> is just the worst you have ever seen it? >> it is bad.

we agree on all the goals. is better forcare the country that we should not spend more than what we ring in -- bring in. his all a fight over tactics. guest>> you and obama are similr with your backgrounds. he had a single mom. you work in a bar. have you ever thought about sitting down -- >> we get along fine. our jobs from a very different perspective. i am right of center and i think he is left of center. what is happened in washington is that there is not as much common ground as there used to be. xpublicans believe in and democrats believed in y.

--t: matthew tweets in host: david is: from north carolina. what is on your mind? caller: thank you for taking my call. .our last guest was spot on veterans of all wars are a national treasure. it is ludicrous that they are not able to get the benefits. i read an article where there are still some vietnam era veterans that are fighting to .et v.a. benefits for ptsd they cannot get those benefits because that was not a diagnosed disorder at the time of service. whatever it takes to make sure our veterans are cared for is absolutely a necessity.

another point. speaker boehner was on "the tonight show" last night. i'll be curious to see how he handles the house republican situation when it comes to the debt ceiling. i think there is a lot of hypocrisy on the gop side. the emergency unemployment insurance extensions were seven times without pay force and were raise. the same representatives raise emergencyive times on employment was extended without pay for's. i'll be curious to see how that plays off what becomes with that. i think it is coming up in march. host: this is a democrat from iowa, shirley. caller: good morning.

i have been calling into this program for about 30 years. i hope i have a few friends out there. you readto talk about, asom "the washington times' though it was a regular paper. is ownedington times" and operated by the moonie group. they have poured a lot of money into that paper and it is never made a dime. host: why does that make it a legitimate? caller: illegitimate paper would have made some money. only do is take on the democrats. peter? host: yes, ma'am? caller: i want to talk about the world health organization. so many other countries are

doing so much better than we are. michele bachmann. they are jumping all over one of our young democrat women. down in texas it seems to be getting someplace. michelle bought men tell people -- michele bachmann said she raised 27 kids, besides her own. at person had an idea there were 27 kids stumbling around the house. she was only in the baby business or the foster business for about seven years and she only could have three kids legitimately in foster care in her home. she shoved no punch of kids through that system in seven years. that is not raising those children. she told a whopper. disabledmother of four

now grown-up adopted babies. to makeike i am able that comment. host: are you looking forward to the 2016 presidential elections in iowa? caller: i will not be doing much. i will probably be on the phones -- there another thing. you should have another show about the women. there is only seven women in our jail system, our big prison system that we are affording? only seven for every hundred men in our system. our women a much better citizens than the men are, generally speaking. i think that should be the subject for a show. host: thank you. go ahead. was a: roxanne tomlin

u.s. attorney. i got acquainted with her years ago. she would be a good one to talk to. host: have you been active in the democratic caucus system before in iowa? caller: almost every year i've been out until my legs got bad. host: who do you like in 2016 today? caller: elizabeth warren. and her opponent pointed out -- she was an indian. she did not look like one. cherokee -- 1/4 cherokee. my siblings were dark-haired and dark eyed.

withe some sympathy elizabeth warren. i would love to see your run for office. host: did you grew up in iowa? caller: oh, yeah. but i have lived in other states my life. the geography of our system in texas. i lived in del real for a few months. the -- it is very rough down there. the reporters go out to show it is smooth. we went out cap not when i lived down there. that area is very mountainous and rough. host: it is good to hear from you. pennsylvania, what is on your mind? caller: women need taxpayers to

pay for birth control. firstborns, 72% to unwed mothers. a taxpayers are taking the place of husbands and fathers. thank you. host: thank you for calling in. "rom "the washington times, warner hold a large lead in senate poll. glaspie has decided to run against mark warner. 30% in the early poll. edward snowden made some news by doing is online news conference chat yesterday. howral articles -- this is "the new york times" plate

yesterday. a little bit from eric holder. post" -- theyn talk about the civil liberties board and say the phone call interception is illegal. they get back into it that way. snowden" says -- expresses desire to come home. "the national journal" this morning -- barber in new york city, it is your turn -- barbara. caller: happy new year to year. --t happened to robin to be rob and libby? i miss them on the program.

i wanted to ask mr. tarantino before he left. i understand there is a difference in benefits to military people when they serve in a declared war as opposed to a military action. if anybody gets a chance to call in with that information i would appreciate it. florida,s is john in democrat. caller: i just wanted to say i love your program. i love our country. we are in a depression and have been in it for a long time. we need people to get jobs. and please, that should be the number one priority for the united states. and bridges. thank you. host: thank you, john. from the front page of "the wall street journal" this morning.

it talks about the contributions that google is giving. it says google was the biggest donor at the annual fund-raising dinner last year. host: it has given to the congressional caucus foundation. mike in florida, you are the

last word this morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: good. caller: my, is about the senator in virginia. it seems like you may gotten a couple hundred thousand dollars for some services. if you go back and look at al gore's connection to the green movement, went to the private sector, he made millions. you got obama. solar panel company that got millions and millions of our tax dollars. no repercussions. in washington, the higher your on it or chain, the more you can get away with. when they get caught, what happens? the taxpayer ends up footing the legal bills to fight for them to prove their innocence. how is that anywhere near fair/ it is not. leave the senator from virginia alone.

no big deal. but look at how much money off our tax money went to that solar panel company. millions and millions and millions of dollars. millions. host: that is mike in florida. thank you for calling in. ryan's previous will give his speech to the republican national committee -- ryan's paper us --that will be live on c-span2. right now we're replaying the mike huckabee keynote from last night on from yesterday. 10:00 30, the republican national committee begins on