talks about the group's recommendation to break the lyrical gridlock in washington. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation at facebook and twitter. ♪ good morning. welcome to "washington journal ." you are looking at live footage outside the supreme court. case will beby decided today. the court is meeting today for a final time to release decisions in this and one of the case before they take off for the summer. we want to hear from you on your thathts on this case included a contraception mandate. our phone lines are open.

you can also reach out to us online on twitter, facebook, and e-mail. the decision from the supreme court is expected to happen around 10:00 this morning. we will follow with live coverage. at antake it a -- a look article from the wall street journal. this time on whether religious beliefs give them the right to opt out of the laws requirement of contraceptive coverage for employees. they are expected to rule on the final day of the tony 14 court

term in a case challenging unions to collect fees from who declined to join. that store is in the wall street journal. the first caller is in maryland on the republican line. i think that hobby lobby ought to be able to decide. it sounds like they will out everything but. ie reason i feel this way is have a similar situation. i am a nurse. i work for a catholic hospital. when i was going through

infertility, they said they would not cover in vitro. they covered a certain things but they did not feel it was good. decidei had a right to and if i did not like it i can work someplace else. because of religious liberty they have a right. host: joining us now for more perspective on the supreme court decision is amber lee robinson. she covers the supreme court for bloomberg. we are looking ahead. involving hobby lobby. explain to us the issues at stake. guest: the question is whether a for-profit corporation enjoy protections for religious freedom. we know from citizens united that companies enjoy the right to free speech under the first amendment.

do they enjoy free religion? the affordable care act is an issue. it requires companies to provide their employees with access to certain birth control methods. hobby lobby and the other companies involved in the case do not object to providing all birth control methods. there are a few that they think are abortions. host: is there anything we can predict about how this decision will play out? guest: some of the justices were concerned that forcing these earthies to provide control methods that violate their religious principles or face their free religion. some are sympathetic to that. there werer side, justices who wondered whether a exemptionuld get

from other laws if they are given an exemption here. host: we will have coverage this morning. what we are looking at is the scope of the ruling. what do you think is likely to happen? that: the court could rule there must be an exemption given. that would leave open the issue of whether companies could get exemptions for other laws. they could enter that question. the supreme court has a lot of options. anotherere is also decision today on a public union case. guest: that is a case about unions used for public employees. union membership is on the decline. a number of spates -- states have right to work laws.

this case comes out of illinois. it does not have a law. public employees were required not to become members of the union but to pay for the core activities. things like negotiating for dream and citizens -- grievance s the firsthis violates amendment. host: any other surprises coming out of the supreme court today? guest: there may be some cases for next term that they will hear arguments in. we may get some of those today as well. robinson covers the supreme court for bloomberg. thank you for being with us. another article taking a look at the issue. newsweek says court watchers are

putting their money on a win for hobby lobby. the next caller is grace in ohio on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i think this is a dangerous thing that is going on. doesn't the republican party, haven't they succeeded in over 420 bills? isn't this the only thing they have gotten done in congress.

is the supreme court helping them do this? why is there such a war against women? i don't like for republicans to tell us women. you're are just putting us in our place. you don't need to put us in our place. i am 83. how i was born, that was minute treatise. it was terrible. host: what about this decision makes you think there is a war on women? i think it is helping them. women, they can opt out. they can say to the company i don't want this birth control.

i think it is dangerous. i really do. i think it is an troll by republicans. int just furthers the thing this war on women that they have. it is a war and they are putting us in our place. ont: this is a reuters poll the issue. a majority of americans oppose contraceptives be excluded. rockville, maryland, michael is

on the independent line. caller: good morning. i was calling in reference to the hobby lobby case. think it is opening up pandora's box. if there is an exemption for any could i as anefs, employer refused to offer health insurance plans that cover blood transfusions for my employees? that is my question. the weekend this was a topic on the sunday shows. they were asked for their thoughts on the ruling. this is what they had to say. i think thease statute itself as interpreted by the president violates the first

amendment of the constitution. i am hoping the court will uphold the right for the expression of religious freedoms. the end is not justified the means in these cases. decision was the 13th time >>. let me interrupt you and go to the congressman briefly. if i own a company and i have strong religious believes the government can tell me i can violent -- violate those beliefs? >> the government will not violate religious beliefs. no one has the right to discriminate against a woman because of her own beliefs. -- no businesser should be able to discriminate against women. we are beyond that. we should pay them equally for the money -- work that they do.

we should be able to protect women's rights. >> what about the owner's right to his religious beliefs? >> he has a right to them. that does not mean you can discriminate against women if the beliefs are different and she wants to exercise her rights under the constitution. from fox news a sunday. the next color is from new jersey on the democrat line. i see this as a non sequitur. i think for-profit organizations are not eligible for the same things as individuals. ofs is a misrepresentation corporations to say they are able to decline payments because of their religious liberties. equal. see them as that is about it.

i think that is the crux. host: we are going to virginia were jim is on the republican line. caller: i was listening to the discussion. it is too bad that the mid media is ignorant. organization. exclusive representation is only related to the extent that the case may be important in the only may strike down forced union dues from nonmembers. exclusive representation is not an issue except that it is about whether ms. harris who was a homecare provider and receives a medicaid is having money skimmed off for union dues. it is absurd to think that this

is an attack on public employee monopoly. it is not. it is absurd to say it would kill publicly unions, although that is possible if the unions are conceding that they cannot survive unless they can force a portion of dues. can't organization support them should survive. we will see what happens in about two hours and 45 minutes. comments were on the case we will also get from the supreme court this morning. this is a live image from the supreme court. this is an article from politico. that a win fors the white house would help officials ensure coverage is consistent.

rapid city, michigan, wendy is on the independent line. caller: it is a right of women to have equal access to health care. i can remember being told after we had the civil rights in the 60's and i wanted to be a management trainee, we don't hire broad, how fast can you type? tohobby lobby wants us because of its religious --iefs, it could have

refused to serve people of color . this is a violation of civil rights. we have to be very careful to ensure equal access to the laws to all people and not discriminate against any group. they are open to the public and they're willing to take the money of women who have had abortions. we can't just sliver off whatever we like. next they will say we will not serve days. .-gays host: we are having some problems hearing wendy. we will look at some other stories. this is from "the washington post."

that announcement as affected later today tom according to white house officials. bill is on the independent line in california. caller: after watching a few supreme court oral arguments and some other cases, i get the feeling the court is starting to that you havedea to give up rights when you run a business or you engage in commerce. peoples to me that if

have the freedom to work for a company or not and if a company does not offer something in their medical that you desire, that might make you choose a different company to work for. comethey make a law that piles all companies to do something, i think i heard the citizens united case mentioned earlier i think that was a case where the supreme court looked and said just because you are engaged in business doesn't mean you should give up the freedom of speech that you have as an individual. topic is the supreme court decision expected and a couple of hours on the contraceptive mandate case. some are calling this the hobby lobby decision.

let's go to some of your tweets this morning. birth control and sexual orientation are not rights to be infringed upon by corporations. important, let them become an ngo. we are on twitter. it lives is in colorado on the democrats line. -- caller: i am deeply concerned about the incision on the hobby lobby case. experience.nal i had to have an abortion because the medication issued by the doctor had expired.

it was for economic reasons. abortionsen having are married and have had children. just further potential erosions of women's rights to access of the health care that they need. that is my primary comment. host: a couple of more tweets this morning. obama has given several waivers to the aca. why is that ok? hobby lobby is not about access. it is about free stuff. caller: good morning. thef infringing on

company's religious rights or is it that the company has the right to infringe on its employees and force its beliefs on the employees? host: that is a great question. this is an article from the washington times.

none in memphis is on the republican line. caller: i am in reference to the hobby lobby supreme court case. i think the american people are just getting tired. it is not a right that you provide somebody with birth control. i just can't believe that lawyers and the government, they seem to think that they run the show. the people are going to rise up. it is just ridiculous. they are running the economy in the ground. people are getting tired of this liberal crap. we are anticipating the hobby lobby case.

another headline from usa today. iraqi insurgence donnas is on the line for democrats. caller: good morning.

have any faith in supreme court since the last decision on making companies have the right as individuals. that is just ridiculous. being as the country messed up, it didn't get messed up until bush destroyed the economy. president obama came in and started getting the economy in the right direction with no help of the republican party. the republicans that blame the president needed to wake up and smell the coffee. byron is on the independent line. caller: it seems odd that the obama administration and pro-choice people want the government to stay out of theoductive choices and say

government cannot deny abortion. why can the government order a company to provide an abortion? the government needs to stay out of this. go buy those to bills, they can buy them themselves. barbara is on the republican line in florida. caller: i would like to respond thehe woman who said that hobby lobby decision may affect the way people see abortions. she mated to be a racial thing. abortion is not a racial thing. that thishe statement

decision may make us go back to having white toilets. that is outrageous. it is people like that that cause division in our nation. make terrible choices. there are other choices besides an abortion. i am for hobby lobby today. i hope the supreme court upholds the decision. host: we are taking your comments on facebook. i will read you a couple of those right now carol brown writes, tragic if rule for hobby lobby. comments on us facebook. bill is only democrat line in michigan. caller: i would like to point

out something to the supreme court. , congress10 words will pass no law respecting an establishment of religion. for them to relive hobby lobby's favor is them doing that. they are respecting an establishment of religion. the republicans wrote nafta. the first amendment talks about the establishment of religion. caller: hello?

i was trying to make a comment about people that own hobby lobby. how can they be so hypocritical? they want to limit for types of birth control. they buy their products from a company that has had forced abortion for years and even murders newborn baby girls as soon as they come out of the womb. i have heard people say this is an upstanding religious family. theyey have scruples, needed to check them out. that is the top of hypocrisy. host: i have a quote from hobby lobby founder amy green. -- david green.

this is an article from the tulsa world. let's go to fort lauderdale where frank is on the republican line. caller: good morning. i want to comment on the terminology being used here. mandate, contraceptive it should be called the birth control mandate. contraception is only one part of birth control. preventingves means conception. birth control includes that as part of it. drugs that can cause abortions. the morning after pill, for example, it has two properties.

it can act as a contraceptive if .iven before conception if conception has occurred, it will cause an abortion by weakening the uterine wall so it can attach. host: we have a couple more of your tweets. hobby lobby wants to continue the failure. our topic is the upcoming supreme court decision on the contraceptive mandate case. bob is on the republican line. caller: this goes to show you where the democrat party is. you take christianity and the

bible, it says that life begins in the womb. for all of the so-called christian democrats, you are standing on the side of evil. genocide is what you stand for. --t: caller: hello? sorry. i am a christian. i am a democrat. i don't believe in abortion. what we have going on here is everybody is talking about what happens at the end. what we need to focus more on is teaching people how to abstain. when i was younger, i had an abortion.

i am 50 years old now. i still wonder about what my child would have been like. would she be a doctor or lawyer? if i had education about not having an abortion, my child would be alive today. it is not about education now. teach more about not getting pregnant? abstaining from pregnancy? we make everything about politics. it is not politics. it is about how we live after we have abortions. another headline taking a look at the competitive senate primary in hawaii.

this is from the new york times.

angus is on the line for democrats. caller: i have a, to make. -- i have a comment to make. looking at the taliban and serious conflict. people are dying because the telegram -- if religion starts taking over in america, we are going to be the taliban and in the united states. host: we will limit their -- leave it there. which ever comes out, the issue is getting these businesses to comply with the law. , there a supreme court

is selective application of the law. next president will selectively enforce the aca. whether or not the supreme court makes this decision, look at the last year in terms of how the current administration selectively enforces law. what difference does it make? let's go to north dakota were keith is on the democrat line. caller: i am against abortion. i have seen it done on tv.

host: what should the supreme court do? i want them to make it illegal to have abortions unless in what do you call it? if she is going to be affected by it. if she is going to die from something from the kid. no.r than that, it should not be done. host: our topic is the supreme court decision on the interception mandate. host: michael is on the line for independents. caller: i don't choose to drive

on interstate highways, my money goes to pay taxes to support highway system. i don't believe we should take the rightany person to drive on that highway. i don't believe any person should have the right to take away the right for a woman to choose. if the employers don't want to pay the price to have that they should not be in business. host: billy bob is in illinois. caller: i think these religious nuts have gotten too strong. i think nobody should decide the abortion except the woman. if they are woman they should decide. i don't think men should ever

decide about a woman's reproductive rights. i think these religious nuts should go home and leave it up to the women to decide. let the women vote. if they decide to do abortion, fine. don't let these old men that are 85 years old decide. that is to most of these abortion nuts are. host: we have a couple more of your tweets. birth control stops the need for abortion. it people tweet, don't understand the legal system. steve is on the democrat line in oklahoma. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think you are one of the best hosts. things, the issue here is not whether people can have freedom of religion. can. whether companies

hobby lobby chose to turn their business into a corporate entity. that entity can't have religion. , but the company can't. that is what it comes down to. the supreme court has re: said business is our people and speeches money. now we see dark money going into elections. can that corporation now have religion? to say to your listeners who are republican, the republicans like to drive these social issues at the same time the real goal is to make sure we don't have any social programs of all. they want to get rid of social security, medicare, anything that causes people to give up tax dollars. vote smart. host: another headline from the new york times.

this is from this morning's new york times. this is a loser decision for republicans. i don't know who in their right mind says we need to push this

issue. i don't hear them screaming about viagra or lipitor or any of that stuff. nothing is said about that. when it comes to a woman's decision, it is a constitutional woman -- right for a woman to say this is not the best thing for me and i need to stay away from having a baby. i would prefer that they do that andpposed to taking a baby subordinate. -- aborting it. i understand that republicans need issues. this is a loser for them. if hobby lobby were to have this decision go their way, companies and corporations, it will open the floodgates.

it is a constitutional right for women to use contraception. i would think that the supreme court is going to go against hobby lobby. up is gary on the republican line. caller: i think everybody is missing the point on this. it is not contraception. it, they -- women want can buy it. it is a present away giving away something for free for votes. that is how he got in office. i guess he is talking about the free coffee that the government gives. host: a couple of more comments from facebook.

lawrence is on the independent line. caller: good morning. i think it is a woman's decision. i don't think the man should have anything to do with it. the woman is going to have to live with it. that is one thing i would say. justice isng is justice. if people who are running our courts consider that to be just, that is the kind of justice they want to opposed to the land,

that is what they want to do. caller is on the independent line in arkansas. caller: i am on the side of hobby lobby. i understand that life starts at conception. day. a sad thank you very much. host: that will be our last call for this segment. we will take a break and then be joined by linda robinson. we will get an update on the health care law. we'll be right back. ♪

>> booktv said down with hillary clinton to discuss her newest book. >> i learned to expect the unexpected. nobody expected the arab spring until it was upon us. agileave to learn to be and ready for the unexpected while we try to build the world my futurent for grandchild. aware of theo be fact that all of these other countries, they are making hard choices every single day. we have to be ready for that. that we have to lead the world in the kind of future that we want.

we can't sit on the sidelines. we can't retreat. we will have setbacks and disappointments. story has become the dominant story. it represents the hopes and aspirations of people everywhere. that is what i want americans to understand. the main reason i wrote this book, i know there is a big debate about our role in the world. advocate our ron spots ability. -- abdicate our responsibility. the world needs us. america matters to the world. to america forrs our prosperity and security and our democracy. >> hillary clinton spoke with us about her decision-making

process. the full interview airs on saturday july 5 at 7:00. washington journal continues. host: linda robinson is joining us. thank you for being with us. it was announced that there would be 300 advisors headed to iraq. give us the latest. guest: there are initial teams on the ground to do an assessment. the latest report is there going to get out and do some surveys. they will be protected by some airstrikes -- air cover. this is just to assess the situation on the ground and see what they could do potentially

to assist the iraqi security forces. we have got continuing developments on the insurgent side. they are continuing to consolidate in the north and west. is big news over the weekend hashead of the group an islamicself state. they have dropped the last two parts of their name. they just call themselves the islamic states. they have global intentions. host: what kind of ramifications for this rebranding? guest: it is a sign of their ambition and that their ambitions want to reach beyond that territory. we have no idea what the reaction is going to be. recruits orw more

so more groups may fold up underneath them. there have been reports of individuals from rival groups joining up. it could provoke a counter reaction. we have to wait and see. as the u.s. core issue is are there groups coming and plotting to attack the u.s. or individuals? there are a number of foreign fighters associated with this group. that is the most immediate threat. are they intending to attack the u.s. or u.s. citizens? the stability to the region is important. as this group grows and takes control and gathers other groups underneath it, sunni groups that are not jihadist are

collaborating and that is what aided them taking some of the major cities, there is a question of how far they will advance in iraq. they are in control of some of the border crossings. do they pose a threat to jordan and other countries. will this add to the conflict in syria? there are a lot of issues. linda robinson is joining our conversation. if you are a war veteran you can also call in. presidenteekend, obama aired an interview where he was asked about iraq. these are his comments. >> i think we have been under

serious threat my entire presidency. under threat predating 9/11 by those who embrace this ideology. >> they are gaining strength aren't they? >> in some places. areave seen europeans who sympathetic to their cause traveling into syria and may travel into iraq during they come back and they have european passports. they don't need a visa to get into the united states. we are spending a lot of time making sure that we are improving intelligence so that we can respond to that. we have to be able to respond to that. special forces will have a role. there will be a time when we take strikes against organizations that could do is arm. is signaling a concern about individuals that could come back to attack the

homeland. that is the first priority for him. he also signaled an increasing willingness to consider amending an array of options once this is over. he mentioned special forces on the ground. there is the issue that has been raised from the beginning about airstrikes, whether from manned or unmanned drones. is there any resolution about those options? a question ofs both the efficacy of those strikes, do we know where the key leadership is? casualty and collateral damage issue. those require what is beginning now as an on the ground assessment and intelligence to figure out what would work.

the threat continues to grow. the iraqi government is concerned. for russian jets to come in. the prime minister of iraq has asked for help from the u.s.. there are apache helicopters on order from the u.s.. this is a foreign military sales issue. they have been slow to arrive. he has turned to a quicker solution. they have very little air support capacity. patrick is in pennsylvania on the democrat line. caller: how are you both this morning? when you come from the , you knowce industry with the narrative of deceit is particularly in the trajectory of the american

people. as the american people look at the lies that are being deployed in syria and iraq, to understand true narrative. from asident comes back meeting with the saudi arabian town apart. prince band are is terminated as president of intelligence from saudi arabia. no sooner does that take place in two massive issues take place. u.s. turns renna provides missile technology to the terrorists. it then literally back-to-back covern around and provide for the saudi arabian power grab. this is a geopolitical power grab. words, it is ae

saudi arabia and saying that is being under radian -- underwritten with american tax dollars. the rand corporation is behind this. the american people are understanding. hillary clinton is correct when she says that you have lost the information war. the american people are understanding that oligarchical corporations in this country are beginning the march toward tyranny in our country. they are using the mideast as a inhanism to make this fact host: i want to pick up a few things. the politics of that region are extremely complicated. i think it is important to bring in a few more data points. the administration did announce last week that it would be

$500 million worth of support to the syrian opposition. be not the us -- extremist syrian groups. you have a number of groups there. this is an attempt to attack the isis. is one initiative. john kerry has a diplomatic offensive in the region which is very important. whatever the u.s. decides to do, it needs to get the support of the regional actors and figure policyt is an effective that would be supported by the people who live in an area. numerous's have been

well-documented reports about support coming out of saudi arabia and other gulf states for these extremist groups. the saudi arabia has been calling on the u.s. to do thething to counter violence in the region and to counter this assad regime in syria. i reject the implication that rand -- rand is a research organization. , secretary kerry just met with the foreign ministers. there is an effort to try to figure out what to do on the diplomatic and political front. engaging with the prime minister

ad trying to get representative government and an approach that is going to include the sunnis of iraq in that governing structure and in the economic life for that country. the government has marginalized the sunnis over the last many years. it is important to press on that front. powerfuln extremely holdingstate that is cities and large amounts of territory in northern and western iraq. with the border posts following it provides a seamless area of operation. if you look at the facts on the ground and there are many maps out there showing territory being held, this is an extremely serious problem. if political inclusiveness is

not quickly coming, there are a lot of people who feel that some type of military action or necessary to hold the line here in keep this from getting worse. 500: you mentioned the million dollars the administration is seeking from congress. that would go to the fetid elements of the moderate syrian opposition. how do you identify the moderates? guest: there are groups who have been working with them. we have got a massive refugee problem that now spans all of those countries. groups are smaller and weaker. month, thest

they'vet group continued to grow and take territory. the problem is will they be enough. bel they bethe question is wily enough, will they be effective? iraq cannot be directly addressed by helping the syrian opposition. secretary kerry made clear this is not an attempt to bring syrian fighters into iraq, which alreadymplicate an extremely difficult position. since up to one third of the iraq he army may have deserted and crumbled in the face of this attack, there is a question of how to shore up the iraqi exchangeforces and in for what political concessions

by the iraqi government. committee is on our line for independents. caller: i want to ask you guys a question. how much did you think it played a part on all of these people doing all these things relating to the disrespect of the president? everything we do we seem very divided. we are supposed to be at war and supposed to be behind the president. when your enemies see that you are so divided as they are, as obama -- trying to impeach him and calling him a communist, it is just ridiculous. i think that played a lot of it in their. there.t of it in .

guest: it is an interesting comment you make. as i watched these various insurgent and jihadist groups playing years, they are to public opinion around the world. that is what this declaration over the weekend was intended, to make themselves look bigger and trying to draw recruits. they are very astute about american public opinion and the debates we have in our country. i do think the president has made some strong statements the need to focus on the group. congress will probably have to take up the group -- take up the issue to determine the aid question as well as what type of authorization might be required. ofnow senator tim kaine virginia raised this issue in an op-ed last week.

the one clear thing is this is the magnitude of -- i do want to emphasize potential. that seems to be the focus in the region and not trying to mount attacks outward. there has been reporting of a who try to learn from the yemeni franchise of al , and we do have this group of foreign fighters that has gone over to iraq and syria. are u.s.es in citizens. those certainly are most concerned because we can travel most easily. i would think for every american, no matter what their political views are.

host: eleanor is on our line for republicans in massachusetts. caller: a moment of silence. the invasion on the united -- the military has to be put there and no amnesty for illegal immigrants. question -- have a comes the united states first. comesler: united states first. [indiscernible] this was brought forth and presented as opposition to the oil cartel. this would bring down the price

of fuel. qaeda and the al --ficulties in latin america it will bring down the price of the fuel flux would revitalize the economy. it will start with nato. i am not an expert on the oil business. certainly oil prices has gone up and one can presume the instability there is certainly having some impact. i do think it is important to talk a little bit about the situation on the ground area the iraqi government is trying to mount a counter offensive. they launched an attack to try to retake the city of tikrit.

it was saddam hussein's hometown. it is kind of a seesaw battle right now. they don't have that many helicopters. weekendeport over the -- all of these steps down toward getting involved more and more deeply are going to be thoroughly debated because there is the question of appearing to side with the government that has behaved in a very sectarian way. hand, this group is extremely powerful. if he can resist a concerted counteroffensive, there is also a seesaw battle going on for the major oil refinery. there has been no contributions the task the first

drawing a line so these roots keeping baghdad from becoming an all-out battle ground is job number one for the iraq a government. they also have to address whether and how they can retake the territory they have already lost. that is a tall order for them to do on their own. they have made a call for volunteers. a lot of the volunteers have been shiite iraqis. that then complicates the sectarian dynamic. everything has a cause and effect here. it is going to take a while to sort out the complication of

measures. caller: could you verify something for me. it the shiites we are helping -- al-maliki is in charge. being backed by iran. are the majority of a rainy and shiites as well? guest: yes. caller: another question, would you kindly tell me who is going to pay for all this? if my into -- if my income tax is going there, which is very high for it in this country, i

would rather have it be huge -- be used here. guest: certainly the major ally in the region of iraq is iran. it has provided diplomatic support, military and economic support. the support with regard to the offensive in iraq has primarily been advisory reports. there have been reports of the main regular force of iran. be how much will more is iran willing to do to help iraq? i would say when the u.s. department at the end of 2011, made -- maintained maintained military sale

agreement with iraq. we have a signed agreement called the strategic framework agreement that envisioned a host -- host of types of support. it is a question that iran and u.s. are supporting the iraqi government. there is great concern that iraq e-government has not been inclusive enough. process a long beginning to form the government. some people think malik he has been to sectarian and should not be the one to lead the next government. his party got the most votes. it is a complex parliamentary negotiation.

it is not a purely shiite government. the head of parliament has been sunni. been aasn't multi-sectarian cooperation there. the other question about the amount of aid -- no decisions about themade yet degree and the amount of help the u.s. government is willing to give to iraq. salesre are the military that have been concluded and approved by congress. what is going on is an assessment mission created military assets have been placed into position to provide support to the iraqi government. they ruled out ground mag -- ground forces of any magnitude. that is off the table.

there might be further military assistance. -- ave yet to see host: the numbers to call and is -- iraq veterans, your number is -- next caller is in hamilton, ohio. caller: good morning to you. what i would like for you to -- what i have heard in the news is that our military advisers told president obama that at least 20,000 american soldiers would be needed there to keep the peace.

to keep 2000illing there. malik he notes president obama -- he didn't take him seriously. that is why he didn't give -- presidenta obama -- to let the soldiers be under american rule. tryident obama didn't even that hard to persuade him to change his mind. not the 20,000 that are military

advisers told president obama would be needed. al-maliki, i would not take him seriously as well. me -- could also tell from what i understand george soros was one of the masterminds behind the arab spring uprising. if that is true and he was one of the masterminds, i believe that man should beat hard and feathered. thet: i have no idea about last question but i think this issue that you raised -- that back and forth, the long drawnout negotiations about how many troops to leave behind in theback, that happened in 2010, 2011 time work. that came to a lower number that was offering to prime minister

malik he to stay behind. to take that request from legal u.s.ctions, for those servicemembers that would stayed behind, the u.s. determined it needed a vote from the iraqi parliament to ratify that prime minister malik he just wanted to give an executive guarantee that those -- thatvice members deal fell apart. there has been a great deal of debate over it. i would say that issue also pertained to afghanistan, where we are departing. the general question is what is the end game? to do thes are needed phase transition out and ensure

the security forces of a country we have been helping for some time are able to stand up and move forward on their own. i would say that is an academic debate. i'm sure there will be a lot more written about it in years to come. very we are right now is a tiny office of security u.s.tion out of the embassy in baghdad. how much more are we going to do to support this government? it is seen as critical to bring the sunnis back over to the government side, which is more or less where they were when we departed. the violence in iraq was down. now many of them are siding with this extremist group, the islamic state. the question is can you peel them away and get them to

support the government? up 300sident has set advisers. they are supposed to be located in joint operations centers. they should be out fighting. they are purely there as advisers. would that be sufficient? we would leave the iraqis to defend themselves. the questions are still much in the air. >> peter king was on abc's this week, also commenting on the situation in iraq. >> this is a real threat. is our biggest threat. not only are there thousands of almost at-- it is least 100 plus americans that

are over there. in the back people of the united states can carry out and type of attack that they have been trained in in syria. the terrorists are extremely sophisticated, very advanced. thousands of people would come back here with over 100 americans -- we could have a very lethal attack in the u.s.. highlighting the top concern. the question is are those dozens of americans that would go over to fight? obviously they would have a degree of radicalism. are they going to be developed into fighters that will come back and attempt to launch some kind of attack on u.s. soil or against americans elsewhere? haveld point out that we

been discussing paramilitary options to stabilize iraq, as well as the regional diplomacy efforts. there is also the fbi in all of the home entities in the u.s. government that are looking at these individuals, tracking them. it is really their mission to try to safeguard that scenario of potential american jihadist coming back to attack on u.s. soil. we have many efforts going on into many people are looking at this very intensively. whatan ask questions about might have been done in the months before. of i think the criticality of the situation is such that you have all the relevant agencies of the government court focused on what this means. the situation is so dire that it advisorye a very small

mission. all of these data points have 180 helicopters. i have a report a third of them have been damaged or destroyed. i am not sure if they are all rendered inoperable. have thely does not platform. they have to care fans they have been launching. that is just a very tiny amount of air power. we have a lot of law enforcement to trainnce efforts account of the foreign fighter coming back issue. ingiven the amount of unrest syria, is it possible to find a solution in iraq while that continues? say it isave to important, just looking at the situation on the ground and the

goals of this insurgent group. they do not distinguish between the territory of syria and iraq. of we have a long-standing effort to try to get the leader of syria to leave. there are groups fighting to get him out. of in terms of the islamic state or different names that have been used to translate the arabic name, they want to take over the entire territory. thing the u.s. is trying to develop more of a regional approach to the problem -- the aide announced the 500 million to the secular or moderate syrian opposition group. canously they hope they start attacking the isis basis in some -- bases in strongholds

within syria. they are holding a lot of territory there. the big picture story is the trend line has been favoring the extremist groups. is both fromion the syrian and iraq side, can't they at least stop the advance? to begin over time and amount an effective counterattack? that is a very tough problem. >> josh and mondale on north carolina is on the line for democrats. good morning. -- er: york where to new michael is on the line for republicans. guest: as times magazine reveals some documents in the united

, we're going to help the -- 500 million others. another one the time magazine using iraq at the as ron paulhis -- --arly said the u.s. and [indiscernible] terror supporting this service group and let them -- let the iraqi government's solve the problem.

they are interfering in the issues of the country. this war is a sectarian war. --re are lots of evidences in the times magazine they had this. those were looking in saddam -- oils to saddam hussein, the purest dictator of iraq.

guest: this is a great show because you hear somebody different views and there is -- we aredeliberate -- it is howberate involved they want to get. it is trying to draw down u.s. involvement in the conflicts of the last gave. is what does the u.s. government decide to do as a new threat is raising its head. arguingve been people for quite a while the u.s. should do more in the case of syria to aid the opposition. for aid tohad called syrian opposition and there had

been other people agitating. -- question that the u.s. that the obama administration is proposing to do just that. of hardware would be effective aid? this aid package will have to pass congress. -- there is a groundswell that more needs to be done. we need to look for some measures without getting involved in a full-blown war. frankly the government has not been receptive to those pressures today.

iraq withnce within the extreme jihadist group isis and secular sunnis. that is certainly part of what is going on. the sectarian war was at its height -- its height previously in iraq. because they are so frustrated with malik e-government, they are willing to provide a common cause and join up with them for now. what happened to dampen the violence in 2006 was those secular sunnis turned against al qaeda in iraq. will they do that themselves this time? will they do that without help? the u.s. was very involved in .upporting that

there is an understandable wariness about how far the u.s. wants to get involved. it is a difficult moment. host: we go to philadelphia where milton is on the democrats line. criticizeople will vice president joe biden over 10 only ago when he said the way that iraq will work, if he was to spread it up to three economist regions, that is the only way and have it use -- have a loosely central government. of i always hear those neo-idiots get online and say obama should be doing more in iraq. they don't have sons and daughters fighting.

they never made it going into iraq. it was a mistake in the first place. they are critical of obama. when you ask them what would you it is a country people don't want to fight for. thank you. does represent a very strong point and you in this country. i would like to say one thing whichthe free state idea, has been around quite a while. the secular iraq ease don't want a separate state. they always wanted a state of iraq where they had representations. if you are to divide up the country in these three areas, the sunni area has no oil resources and they would be starved for an economic basis for that state.

this is why you see the groups attacking. have control of some refining capability in syria. that would provide a state with some economic means. were to actually be formed unconsolidated, it would be aid in -- it would be an extremist state. the potentially it would be beyond the region. certainly there is a fragmentation going on right now. the last point i will make is group, aan has had a a radical extremist group attacking into its territory. the economist region has expanded out. it is an oil city.

everyone had hoped it would be subject to an eventual nomadic agreement as to what the status should be. if there are all kinds of instabilities that would arrive from an attempt. it is not enough to say you have three states, everything is settled. host: when we come back we will have a discussion about the health-care law and its impact on health insurance plans. henryl later be joined by break the how to political tension in washington. >> some international news this hour. north korea is preparing to try to americans who entered the country as tourists for carrying out hostile acts against the country.

it taught miller and jeffrey edward -- had concluded suspicions had been confirmed by evidence and their testimonies. this is according to a korean news agency report. a small number of u.s. citizens the statea each year, department strongly advises against it. the the first prosecution arising from the benghazi attacks is playing out in the central courthouse, blocks from both the white house and capitol hill. the criminal proceedings could provide new insights into the 2012 attacks that killed four americans, including christopher cd bins. the obama administration is considering asking overseas partners to enhance security measures at airports. it is also weighing whether to do the same thing here at home. syria are trying to develop a new generation of bombs that could be smuggled into commercial planes. the issue was discussed last week at the white house.

those are some of the latest headlines. >> what if satellite said we are different from cable, we have a --ghtly different technology we don't consider ourselves and not be an nppd. we don't have to negotiate. satellite didn't do that. why should aerial vehicle to come up with a different technology and say we don't have to negotiate for copyrighted material? ,e have said from the beginning this is not about being opposed to technology. there is still a business model for it. that does not mean you can invade the law to run a business. >> godin smith, tonight at eight

eastern on the communicators. >> now you can keep in touch with current events using any phone at any time with c-span radio. simply call -- coverage,ngressional and today's washington journal program. here a recap of today's events on 5 a.m. eastern. c-span radio on audio now. chargestance or phone may apply. "washington journal" continues. us is johnng gable, he is a health care research fellow. i want to start off by having you talk to us about what the current trends we're seeing with

health insurance premiums and spending, walk us through it. right now we are going through a period of low and low care spending. premiums only went up by 4%. this about health care inflation, this is a serious matter. higher health care costs mean more uninsured. it means for workers that they are standard -- that their standard of living will decline. the deficit is largely a problem of rising health care costs.

the rate of inflation is the same in the next 10 years as it was from 2000 to 2010. the cost of a family policy in 2024 will be $34,000 per year. it is serious business right now. some of this is connected with the recession. of we have to wait to see the future. guest: -- host: how does this increase -- guest: deformable care act can potentially control the rate of increase in health care inflation. for example, the market structure it has set up is one that was advocated by conservative economists for decades. of basically what it is is it

gives you a fixed contribution. if you are to pay more you would have a more expensive plan, you would have to pay more out of your own pocket. in contrast with our current employer-based system, which actually subsidized inefficiency. there are aspects of the affordable care act that the premiumslate in the small insurance in the individual market. of lastly and most importantly, the affordable care act adds transparency to our system, which never existed before. it made it much easier for people to shop around. host: the number to call in --

if you are a medical professional the number is -- if you are a health care insurer -- all others please call us -- i want to ask you a couple of questions about a chart we found in the wall street journal. they say -- for senate enrollees who use -- 21% had plans that sold off the exchanges. were grandfathered and 16%

individual plants. what does that tell you? it is true. from the early evidence we have, the population on the exchanges is a little thicker than the that ison employer-based health insurance and traditionally in the group market. i think this is to be expected because when people do not have insurance and are suddenly able to buy it, the first people who buy will be the sickest people. the enrollment in the last month of the exchange had many more net -- more young people. it is a threat. no doubt about it. the congressional budget office thinks that for the next year the rate of increase in these plans is only going to be about 3%.

low ofson they have that a figure is because they figure a healthier population will be enrolling in the second year. our first caller is bob in new york, who is enrolled on the exchanges. caller: thank you for c-span. comment is you made a comment referring to the gao or cbo numbers, which came out prior to the affordable care act, which is totally off key. i just got a letter from my provider here in new york. i will be receiving an 18% increase next year. they sent me the letter because of the aca. to hear you say we figure it will be an average of 3% is not only inaccurate, it is just not correct.

it is based on the cbo study when it was told obamacare was going to be providing everyone with $2200 of savings. i think your reporting that as your resource. receiving an 18% increase in their premium. i will listen to your comments. guest: i understand why you are concerned. does not make an overall average. there will be plans that go up a lot and there will be plans that will be negative and i would suggest you shop around and look for other plans. you can get the cleveland coverage, the same amount of financial protection at a lower cost. with regard to the congressional budget office, i am not basing it on 2500. of i am basing it on recent projections just within the last month.

of the congressional budget thece has now twice reduced estimate of the cost of the affordable care act. one other comment -- i have to say that surprisingly that the appears on the exchanges to be lower price than those off the exchanges. almost 85% are getting subsidies. average cost is $80 for those who are getting subsidies. about half of the people are paying $50 or less. be sometand there will plans that go way up. we need to know the overall average. what has been posted on the

is oure so far for 2015 proposed rate of increase. those are not the actual rates of increase. so you have to stick around before coming up with the final number. caller: i do not like how it evolved because of a compromise between democrats and republicans. myself being a health care professional, i was tired of people. they have to pay it out-of-pocket. the supreme court decided they would let each state decide if they would be a part of the affordable health care act. itall the states had done

and they are composing the laws to help states bring in these insurance companies for overcharging -- of all what the supreme court ruled in the decision is that medicaid expansion would be voluntary on parts of the state. of the law would cover everyone up to 38% of poverty. a state -- texas is bad with very low income thresholds. a family of four, you earn too much money to be on medicaid. the bill was full of compromises. one part of the bill has a loss

ratio, which means the amount of money going to the 20%nistration cannot exceed for the individual insurance market and small group market. this is direct regulation. host: we go to georgetown. caller: i appreciate your comments. i am completely satisfied with their increases of 3%. year or two years, are going tolans probably be eliminated because of the affordable care act unless the company put -- company pays $10,000 per employee.

how is that competitive with other insurance companies? thet: i don't understand $2000 a must there is a tax -- there is a tax for reinsurance and risk adjustment and risk corridors. those are technical terms. basically what it is, it is like a stoploss policy. if you are participating in the marketplace the insurance company suffers losses then there is reinsurance to stop the loss of the insurance company, it is the fact to keep the premiums lower. directhand you have a tax that would seemingly raise premiums. on the other hand you have reinsurance. reinsurance means that the insurance companies can price their products lower than if there was no such reinsurance.

tell you that the average policy, certainly in the small employer market, is lower on the exchange. have theor plans that same actuarial value, which is a measure of the amount of financial protection that you receive. competitivehe structure economist have advocated is have an effect on the pricing of plans. to vienna where keith is on the line for all others. caller: good morning. i just have a comment that my son works seasonal cutting grass during the summer. when he is getting ready to get laid off, he can only work 29

hours per week in this new law. he is not could be able to go on unemployment because you have to have at least eight weeks that you work 40 hours. this is really taking a toll on his family. it is good everybody has insurance but it seems like he would rather work 40 hours. in the meantime i don't know how he is supposed to make it. hours weced to work 29 work seasonably, you can work 40 hours if you just work through the seasons. that is just my question. guest: i think your son with a children would be eligible for medicaid or a plan on the exchange.

my guess is that he would be able to get a plan is minimum contribution. i would encourage you to look on the marketplace and see what he can purchase. the employer mandate has not gone into force. think they have put it off for another year. many people think it has had disruptive effects. the people are making decisions based on their health insurance rather than to a really want to hire this person for a full-time job or not. i certainly think there are ways to improve this section of the bill. put up a chart up from gallup that looks at people who are unemployed.

they found the uninsured rate for u.s. adults seems to be loving off -- seems to be leveling off. on insurance rates -- uninsured rates so far are -- what does that kind of data tell you? guest: the number of uninsured estimates is definitely on the decline. if it is 5% of the u.s. population, that is 15 million people. i think we will get the best numbers in december of this year when the health interview survey becomes available. a very high response rate. surveys will be

the basis of our numbers on insurance. a great deal of misconception by the american public. 80% of the uninsured work. they are construction workers. they are cap drivers. they are home health care workers. they are waiters and waitresses. but they have low incomes. than 75% of them earn less 250% of poverty, which is roughly 25,000 per year for a single person. they are low income people. host: we go to florida where cheryl is on the line. she is a medical professional.

caller: i have been fighting to get universal health care for this nation since 1990. iran for congress on it. we are ever going to straighten this whole mess out is if we get the insurance companies and pharmacy companies they aree business and the ones scooping up all the box and the dollars. ,f we just let doctors, nurses and hospital workers provide the i got excited for it because i was discharging patients quicker than i admitted them in the 1970's. having -- it is insane. if you get the insurance companies out and take all those dollars, the people are already

paying to those insurance companies for everything from product liability to the paint you put on your wall, and put it into one big pot and say if you get hurt on the job, it is covered. that money goes into one big pot. guest: i appreciate your comments. i just have to say that andtically in 2000 -- in 29 -- in 2009 and 2010, they had no prayer of passing a single in thepan as you recall plan originally there was a public plan. in order to get to the 60 votes they had to knock out the public i will also say the single player plans have worked well in

a number of european countries all around the world nobody seems to have a solution for rising health care costs. everybody is going up by large amounts. host: you said health insurance is a major reason for our deficit. what you mean? medicare plus medicaid are almost $1 trillion per year. that is about 2.8 trillion of the federal budget. it historically has been one of the fastest rising portions of the budget. what is currently most

threatening is the number of baby boomers that are going to go on medicare. sincere possibly increase 2007, annual rates have been by historical standards. still unacceptably high when you multiply it by the time -- but a number of new people that are on medicare. host computers on the line for others. hello. host: do you have a comment about health care? caller: what we need is to diet topeople to use stay healthy. any health't need care payments because people will stay healthy.

i read a story about a doctor in 1825 that studied healthy people and told sick people to do with andhealthy people are doing in 10 years he was famous worldwide and people were coming from all over the world to get this magic therapy. guest: living you -- living a healthier life does not guarantee good health. it improves your probability. you can do everything in the world right and be terminally ill. this is a nation where we are

almost one third of obese and one third overweight. the one area where we look worse in the european countries is we have more obesity than they do. their drinking is worse than ours, their smoking is worse isn ours, but our obesity really a big problem in the united states. host: donna is on the line. are you with us? you are on with john gable of the university of chicago. i am already covered under the federal employees health benefit plan. i had a caller -- that person on

hawaii 50 on tv, he doesn't even have any health insurance and no job to pay the psychiatrist or service. the guy was trying to get something for nothing. i would like to have president obama burying that person under his health care law, including those movie actors. put them under the affordable care act. thank you. guest: they would be of -- would be eligible for the affordable care act. if we think about federal support of health insurance, it is not just medicare, not just medicaid, not just the people on the exchanges. are 150 5 million people

who have employer-based health insurance. because of the tax laws they are being subsidized by the federal government. my employer contributes $12,000 per year. for somebody like me, my marginal tax rate is 40%. it is almost $5,000 per year we are getting in subsidies because of a special provision in the tax laws. the bigger subsidy you get. the poorer you are the lower subsidy you get. most importantly, it encourages people to get richer benefit policies.