we will take your calls. journal" is next. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] ] host: it is monday, august 4. the u.s./africa summit getting underway today in the nation's capital. this morning on "washington journal," we want to ask your thoughts on investment in africa. should the u.s. invest more in africa? join the conversation by calling us. 585-3881. s 202- 3880.rats, 202-585-

make vur your mute your television or radio when you call in so you won't feed back. or you can send us a tweet. same question, should the u.s. invest more in africa? we will get to your comments and your posts in just a bit. e u.s./africa summit getting underway today in washington. it is a largely economic gathering. african leaders converge on the summit. they write it is a largest gathering of african government officials in washington in an effort to bolster the u.s. relationship with one of the world's fastest growing economies but preparations for the historic summit have been overshadowed by the march of the ebola virus in west africa, a

crisis that has claimed more than 700 lives and has international health officials scrambling for solutions. here are some comments from the or as well.ct some have cast africa's otential in a new light. an unprecedented three-day conference between u.s. officials and more than 40 african heads of state underscore the gains that have been made in the global economic seep stakes. it will advertise to the american business community and to the international rivals that the u.s. is eyeing africa in a fundamentally new way. the reporting this morning, actually this is an article from the sunday "washington post"

with the picture of the leader of guinea. they write that snar christopher said they still have strong ties. i think history will show africa is the continent of the greatest opportunity this century. we have a moment that is passing us by and we should build on that relationship. back to the economic nature and the financial times this morning, their lead headline g.e. warns that africa trade is in danger. a closure would reflect business, one of the issues yet to be addressed by congress. they write this morning, a decision by the u.s. congress to close the country's xport/import bank would do

damage. the warning by jeff immelt, the chairman of g.e. again, this is from the financial times writing the charter of the xm bank which ovides credit to foreign yersor u.s. products expires in september. conservative republicans see it as a form of crony capitalism. congress is now in recess until september 8. they wednesday this. mr. immelt said it is crucial for banks operating in africa because it said they were prepared to have some skin in the game. the closure of the xm bank said we are basically making statement as a country that we do not think that exports are important said mr. immelt. again, your thoughts on should

he u.s. invest more in africa? also other stories this morning in gaza where as we come to air this morning, we understand there is a seven-hour cease-fire. the israelis have called a seven-hour cease-fire. we are in that as we come to air, headline from the los angeles times. gaza strip refuge hit. 10 are killed with a picture on the front page of the l.a. times. we'll look at the new york times reporting on the very same story. they say missile strike near u.n. school in gaza kills 10. it says jihaddists were targeted. the u.s. calls the attack

disgraceful. here is the report from the "new york times." -- ale real began to de israel began to deploy troops away. they struck a school killing 10 people and wounding 35 other and drawing a new round of international condemnation. the growing civilian death toll has stirred outrage in europe and large parts of the arab world and combined with the strike of the school, prompted ban ki moon of the united nations to call the attack a moral outrage and a criminal act and to demand those responsible be held accountable. they said the state department also condemned in harsh terms what it called today's disgraceful shelling outside the school. ur questions, your comments,

should the u.s. invest more? let's go to kevin in houston, texas on the independent line. caller: yes, how are you doing today? host: i'm good. caller: they should invest more. it is like china was a few years ago. it would be a force to be reckoned with in the future, eally now and in the future. what should those investment bs? more companies? more u.s. government investment in africa and how does that manifest itself? caller: i think all of the above. when we start having a relationship with africa, it is going to increase jobs if we have more imports going over there because there is a greater need. i think for right now, america ca for n taking after

granted and thinking that it is just a combination of just indigent countries but africa has so much more. the chinese have started growing there and giving more money so america needs to catch up. and i understand that africa is a force to be reckoned with and should be treated as such. host: kevin from houston, texas. thanks for the call. china is winning with investment push in the largest african economy and this is their newsmaker interview. they say that a key player in nigeria's emergence, u.s. creeding re investment opportunities to china. just to let you know about our export/import situation, how much we export. here are the export dollars.

u.s. good exported in 2013, a total of $ 24 billion. it accounted for 1.5% of the total good exported from the u.s. in 2013. how about imports from africa, imported, nearly $40 billion worth of good from africa, that reflected just 1.7% of our total imports in 2013. those figures from the u.s. trade representative. here is eric from georgia on our democrat line. go ahead. caller: thank you. the problem with africa is this. america needs to treat africa right. a lot of these european -- such as -- i am on tv talking about and stuff.aine harry reid said his wife -- these people have ties to these european countries. that is the reason they are so

interested in providing aid and helping these people. israel because they have ties to them. praub has ties to africa. this is where his people are from. i'm african-american. i have ties that go back to africa. we need to go to africa to educate these people because these people are coming to the united states and they are doing better than the african-americans who were born here in the united states. so we need to get interested just like the european congressman, senators in the european countries they came from, in these african countries and find out that we were kings and queens. thank you. host: eric calling from cedar , georgia. the ebola swarkse c.d.c., ebola can be stopped. in atlanta.ntly

there was an outcry of admitting people with the ebola virus into the united states. a long line of public health authorities reassured the public that the ebola outbreak in africa can be stopped. here is some of what he had to say on abc's "this week". >> ebola is scary. it is understandable with a deadly disease that people are concerned but the plain truth is we can stop ebola. we know how the control it. hospital infection control and stopping it at the source in africa. we're not going her medically seal the borders of the u.s. really, the single most important thing we can do to protect americans is to stop this disease at the source in africa.

>> dr. tom freeden of the c.d.c. on yesterday's abc "this week." a summit getting underway in the nation's capital today. should the u.s. invest more in africa? phil on the independents line. hello, phil? yes, go ahead. caller: thank you. i'm very appreciative of the fact that a conference of this nampe is being held for -- nature is being held for the first time. say once these companys invest, the money does not trickle down. it usually starts in the hands of the wealthy and it makes it difficult and if this is not checked on, what is going to happen is that more and more trouble is going to come. so while at glarnings it is a very good idea for such a conference to be held, i hope and pray that the u.s.

government, as well as the multinational companies that are going to invest in africa should be able to work with the government and lay down some ground rules that if this is not done, it is not going to be possible for us to continue to do business with you. i'll give you an example. i was born in liberia. i'm a teacher. i taught in the chicago public school system for a while. once invested in liberia. and been over 18 years, in liberia, no tires are manufactured. nothing is being done and yet, and yet, more and more things are coming -- going into the hands of the government without anything being done. well, this is a problem. so it is a very good idea for this conference to be held, but

it is my prayer that these companies of the u.s. government will work hard with those governments in africa to make sure that the money trickles down. that's all have i to say. >> thank you, sir. echoing your concerns on corruption, here is a story from bloob. -- bloomberg. secretary of state john kerry today urged greater u.s. investment in africa. do you help develop a u.s. /african relationship focus more on growth rather than on crisis management. for too long, it was largely rooted in meeting the challenges and crisis of the moment kerry told an audience of dignitaries. we want more american companies to be here, to invest here, to unleash the power of the private sector in africa and to create jobs in america, kerry said,

even while warning of the damage that conflict and corruption and curbs on freedoms can do to africa's potential. he is on a five-day visit to africa with stops in ethiopia, south sudan, angola. next up is randy from fort worth. should the u.s. invest more in africa? caller: first of all, i agree with the caller from maryland. i think it is a terrible mistake. if you look at the trading policy we have with china, it was a disaster. the solar panels. we lost a lot of money. i just don't trust baurgs to be -- to -- the obama administration. they just do a terrible job. so the last comment is that i feel that this banking from g.e., i think they are putting up some red flags. that is my comment. host: when you say redd red --

do you mean the warning that jeffrey immelt gave about the xm bank? >> exactly. i think these guys are business people. notobama administration are savvy in doing business. the caller from liberia hit right on the head, man. host: jeffrey immelt, the the head of g.e. is planning to announce today a $2 billion trade package with africa and that c.e.o.'s concerns over congress' failure to reauthorize the export/import bank here in washington. next up, jew jean, what do you think about african investment? should we do more? caller: thank you very much. i think we should do more with the current crop of african leaders. it is just like putting new wine looking at human

rights and good government. american's e of taxpayer funds. thank you. host: a couple of comments on twitter. let's take a look at those again. edwin saying i would like to see the u.n. invest more in the u.s. we have infrastructure problems and a lot of people need jobs. also why don't regular banks want to invest in exporting ventures? are g.e. and boeing that risky? next up is thomas. should the u.s. invest more in africa, thomas? --ler: my comment to that is . st: we welcome your comments

a look at the -- at the political side of this too from the associated press writing about the so-called legacy of africa. they say praub -- president obama is building his legacy on a continent where his commitment has been questioned. the american interests in africa are immense. it is home to some of the fastest growing economies and a rapidly expanding middle class. china surpassed the u.s. in 2009 as africa's largest trading partner. and they write about president obama's presence in africa during his tenure. president obama's first trip an overnight stop in ghana in 2009 suggests he could be an american

president able to tell hard truths to the continent's leaders. he declared africa doesn't need strong men. it needs strong institution but the a.p. writes it will be four years before obama return to frica. unlike his predecessor, george w. bush who launched a program to address h.i.v. and aids. obama seemed to be lacking a nitiative. rebalance toward asia with a slew of security concerns. his second term has brought more of a robust focus in africa. the president made a three-one trip to the continue innocent last summer and aids say he is likely to travel there again before the end of his second term. that is from the associated press.

illinois, se celia. go ahead. caller: first of all, i'm thrilled to see you looking so ell. thank you god for that. the question at hand, as an african-american woman, i hate to say this, but i don't think the u.s. should invest more in africa until they learn to -- that don't kill or extort. we're rewarding them for killing their own people, the genocides, for the starvation. it is one thing to give aid, but need to do sanctions like

iran and not more money for them to embezzle and make one ruler rich. host: how does the u.s. do that? in count of the aid and business that china obviously is undertaking? caller: that's above my pay grade. [laughter] host: thanks for your comments that morning. walker is in richmond, virginia, on the independent line. ood morning. caller: good morning. i think the problem with africa is we have too many corporations that o go over there that are not going to take care of the people. we should give money to people of africa so they can take care of themselves and build a sustainable economy. host: getting back to the accountability that secretary kerry called a lack -- we just lost our caller back to the

ebola story. the second patient on her way to the u.s. here is the associated press reporting that the second american missionry strick within ebola is expected to be noun tuesday to the u.s. for treatment following a colleague ho was admitted over the weekend to the emory hospital their infect, disease unit. -- for nancy wrnch ribol writebol. writing about the impact of ebola in the "wall street journal" this morning, a professor at columbia university, ebola, how worried should we be is the title to his opinion piece. writes the ebola outbreak in west africa has so far infecteded more than 1450 people

and killed close to 800. while the outbreak is frightening, it does not pose the risk of a pandemic influenza, sars or mers. it can slow travel or trade. this can have proeffects on the economies where the disease appears. he also says that the most common question gets about ebola .s this i hear wherever i travel, can ebola travel to the united states? it can. john f. kennedy airport in new york city annually receives more than 21 million international passengers. an infected individual could board a flight in west africa. become summit mat nick the air after landing and expose others to the virus. at worse, this might result in a few other people becoming

infected and possibly dying but sustained outbreaks would not occur in the u.s. because cultural factors in developing world that spread ebola such as intimate contact while family and friends are caring for sick and during preparation of bodies for burial common in the developed world. here is grady in akron, ohio on the democrats line. should the u.s. invest more in africa? make sure you mute your television or radio and go on with your comment. caller: i think they should invest more in africa and do it in more of an equitable way than when they got the rubber for our tires. it seems kind of strange how a country like africa has diamonds and gold and yet they don't even control the diamonds and gold under their feet. they say there are so many diamonds in the congo that if

they were to market their own diamonds that the most expensive diamonds would be worth a nickel. it just seems like people are tarving over there and given old foods and yet they have some of the richest lands in the world. instead of guns and weapons, we hould let the people pollinate and be self-sufficient. that's what i really believe. i think we should invest. i think we have a duty to invest. we took from africa for years and i think we should give a little bit back and be more human to each other and fair to each other and i think the world would be a better place. host: thank you. again, some 50 african heads of state coming to the nation's capital for a three-day u.s./africa summit. beginning today, we're asking you should the u.s. invest more in africa? more of your calls and comments coming up. back to the border security

issue that was a major part of the house agenda last week. front page of the "washington post" about the beast, the train that transports migrants north through mexico. the beast feeding a border crises goes untouched. the headlines say mexico has failed to curb migrant's use of railroad routes. at the same time mexican officials said they were putting for all to the horror show nicknamed the beast, johnny torres left mexico for houston. he got in a boxcar with hundreds of others. gang members stopped them and took at least $50. and another dreaded shakedown spot gunmen put a pistol to his temple and called him a guy who hasn't paid protection money. when they figured out it was his

first trip and they had nothing left to steal. by the time he reached the migrant shelter he had been held up five times by armed gangs including a group of commandos claiming to be members of a cartel. this is an article about this train that is being used by migrants coming north. the story in the "washington post" about the beast, unlike the republics, mexico is neither impoverished nor weak. it has checkpoints to and detention centers to hold illegal migrants. it has tens of thousandsor federal police officers and immigration agents capable of arrested them and deporting them and also providing preaks from attacks by criminal gangs. their highways and border areas are under the control of cartel gang ters who have learned --

gangster who is have learned to squeeze profits. next up is a caller from pennsylvania. we'll go to warren michigan. this is paul on our democrat line. go ahead. caller: we need to invest more in america. the trade agreement has ruined the manufacturing base here in michigan and indiana, ttsburgh, ohio and if you -- if these republicans who have want to gettionists of anything besides a.c.a., they ought to get rid of nafta. stop blaming the president for everything that goes wrong when they obstruct everything that he tries to do for this country.

host: do you think, paul, outside u.s. government nvestment, that more companies should be investing as we talked about earlier with general electric? caller: if that's what they want to do, yes. this is the united states. this is their home, isn't it? host: all right. let's go to carl who is in north town, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't understand having this program on months ago before she quit her job as secretary of state, hillary had the perfect plan. she said what we ought to do, the united states should hire a few million black women in africa to set up a small business association type thing and these women could sell their wares and go around and sell all of this stuff, you know, whatever it might be and in that way bring africa up to our standards. a lot of small business going on. i thought it was a great idea

but nobody talked about it unless she is going to run on it when she runs for president. mark: the miami herald this morning is reporting on a failed effort, not of the state department but of the u.s. agency for international development. the u.s. secretly said youths in a bid to undermine the cuban regime. they write that an obama administration program secretly dispatched young latin americans to cuba to provoke political change. a clandestine operation to put those foreigners in danger even after a u.s. contractor was hauled away to a cuban jail beginning as early as october 2009. a project overseen by the u.s. agency for international development. sending young people to cuba in hopes of generating up rebellion. they traveled around the island

looking for people who could be political activists. that could undermine america's efforts to improve health globally. our question for you is about africa and u.s. investment in willow springs, missouri, this is paul. independent line. caller: yes, sir. i think that africa definitely needs some investment but i think it should be along the lines of all the african-americans that are here ch as say oprah winfrey, kanye, beyonce, all of your football/basketball players that are millionaires worth hundreds of millions. each one of them could invest 25% of what they have in africa because you know, they are always you know how they are oppressed by the man. host: should it just be african-american superstars, sports or music or entertainment or all? caller: if they would just take

a percentage of the money they would have? can you imagine how many billion s of dollars they could send to africa to help their homeland? host: brookings reports on the investment focus in this three-day gathering in the nation's capital. a focus on foreign direct investment. they say on the second president obama's three-day summit, the .s. department of will convene the inaugural business forum. it is an unprecedented occasion for the u.s. to meet with business leaders to discuss way of trade and investment opportunities in the u.s. chamber of commerce and also holding a number of events related to the summit. i want to let you know also the president of south africa will be speaking at the national press club. we will have coverage of the speech coming up today at 2:00 p.m. eastern live here on

c-span. here is learnedon, virginia. democrats line. john, should the u.s. invest more in africa? caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i believe we need to look at the big picture. all of this coming from overseas now for a meeting in washington. none of them has been elected by their own people. investment is based on the country that people, they have you tever you invest in, want to see that the investments go further so the people can create more jobs and security. if you -- look at what is going nonkenya right now. there is no one. -- in kenya right now. what is going on in kenya is absolutely -- ridiculous right now. if you look at african leaders, i have one suggestion. you need to look at the leader. when you are a leader, leersdz

have to -- leaders have to respect their own people. when those people come in this country asking americans to invest in africa and none of them has been elected by their own people, there is something wrong with that picture. it is not only investment. we need to see the bigger picture. all of these countries spending all of our money, we don't net nothing in return. those leaders will come into his country. invest in the private school. how are you going to invest in a country that their own people are telling you, please don't invest in this country because we have a corrupted leader? host: where are you from, originally? caller: i'm from somalia originly. host: when did you come to the u.s.? caller: i'm here for 30 years the. a long time. host: what was somalia like when you left? caller: we had a dictatorship when i left.

loaning money to invest in a country and never one dime goes to the people. it went to the militaryry and the cronies. the reason that we are suffering for 25 years for a war is because of their past dealerships in beginning. i'm going to say this. all of these leaders coming from washington next week, i hope that we should put them in a cargo plane and send them -- all guantanamo. they don't deserve to be in this country. you have to give your own people a chance to little bit. host: all right, john. thank you for your comments. congress is out for their five-week august recess. back on september 8. the "new york times," the opinions piece, the do even less

congress, house wrapping up on friday. a look at congress is going back to president clinton's years and how much they got passed. this is just passing bills is pass say. congress.e 1995, 1996 they passed at the end of the clinton presidency. 63 -- in the first year, the last year of the bush first 83. george w. bush, assuming these things mean things like appropriations bill. president obama's first term in august, the first year of the first term, 72 ceremonial bills, 143 substantive bills. this is from the congressional library of commerce, the commerce website. lastly, up to this date,

congress had passed 113. 34 ceremonial bills and just 108 substantive bills. sylvia is in louisiana. good morning. caller: good morning. my first comment on the african situation. this government has been supporting these third world countries for years. we have given money to mexico. we have given money to central american countries and yet we get their problems. we don't get help from them but we get the problems from them. the african countries, we donated and a lot of people have helped them. i guess everybody has forgotten all the aids programs that we had out there. host: you're saying no matter what, our aid, our investment, we don't get, if you want to put

it like this, a return on the dollar. caller: we do get a return. we're trying to invest it in the people. we don't need to give it to the presidents. they are not investing it in their own people. they are investing it in themselves. look at haiti and the money that we give them. it doesn't go down to the people. host: how do you keep it from -- corruption from happening in countries that you have no control over? you have money control but how do you keep that from happening? caller: you give them items. you give them food. you give them water. this company can produce better than other countries. we can set up water systems like we do in other countries. paying them money doesn't do any good. it chemoses the dictators rich and funds the military. host: here is mark on the independents line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. we have to go all the way back to slavery. africa is not a country.

a lot of people think africa is a country. africa is made up of more than 30 different countries and the continent of africa built north america and south america with its slave trade that went back and forth for over 300 years. we also have to realize that 90% of minerals are on the continent of africa. diamonds, nickel, gold. we could not even build a computer in the western world without the materials that come from africa. so instead -- we should invest in the individual countries there and we should also, instead of taking stuff out of africa and putting dictators in these different countries, we should invest in the country and eradicate these different diseases that they have there. if we don't have them here in the united states, we eradicated them, we can eradicate them there in those small countries

they have. host: go ahead. you're on the air. caller: thank you for taking my call. ou see -- i'm african. i've been this country for almost 15 years. when i see african leaders coming to the u.s. for a summit, it is a shame for me. to me it is a disgrace. a lot of can leaders, money, rebuilding. if you go to liberia now, that the ebola virus

in liberia. that was first reported in march. in march. liberia and guinea. they failed to take action to stop it at the border. it has spread. the government has no control. people in the united states are saying ebola is in africa and the africans are bringing o bolea to america. if you read about the -- in -- to ebola to america. ou to stop the violence. ople who went to africa --

infected with these infectious diseases. everything is on the internet. host: thank you for your call. a couple of more minutes of your calls. the front page of the washington times this morning about the gathering in washington. tanzania's president hopes for more investment in africa. at this summit you will see the participation of the u.s. private sector. in an exclusive interview, the tanzanian president said we want to see more and more investments and trade from the u.s. to africa. president obama they write is hosting the summit. the largest gathering of african heads of state ever in the u.s. let's hear from joseph on the independent line. go ahead. caller: thank you for having me on the call. first thing i wanted to mention, i agree with one of your callers

mentioned that africa has about countries and we talk about africa, africa. there are four different regions for us to be aware of. where people currently invest. you have investment in angola, kenya, mozambique. the second thing i want to say, i feel like the u.s. don't really believe believe in the purchasing power of africa right now, the middle class in africa. the chinese clearly understand that and they are basically floating the market for their products and not only that, they , they go for the private sector and they go for the government contract. the u.s., the only focus we have is -- not much going for the u.s. that's one issue that needs to be addressed. president obama needs to talk

about this with the different heads of state that would be present there. host: appreciate that. a couple of americans on twitter. the point of investing is to make money. if you take away the incentive, you're left with government programs and fighting warlords. if they want to go to africa, because china is already there. something a number of our callers have mentioned and from james. is the u.s. in business? why should we give money for a private company which pays no taxes in order for them to profit from africa. here is mike. should the u.s. invest more in africa? caller: thank you for taking my call. it is not about investment. s have suffered much too long at the hands of western countries.

they are not willing to -- to the western countries. look at business -- ghana. manganese, china so it is time for western countries to stop -- host: all right, mike. appreciate your comments. thanks for all of your calls. more coming up to as "washington journal" continues. in our next segment, we're going to take a look at u.s. middle east policy. tomorrow we have the former member of the deputy si

secretary of state in the obama administration on the recent developments in the middle east including syria, iraq and libya and then we'll talk with jason riley from "wall street journal." all of that ahead on this orning's "washington journal." >> tonight on "the communicators" three members of congress talk about their technology legislation. >> i believe in an open internet. a free internet without government intervention. look where the internet has come and where it is going into the future. this is being done on the

private sector. >> why would they not want their brand exposed to tens of thousands of people. we think the blackout rule is obsolete. the nfl will file suit. >> a bill that tries to address concerns over must carry, carriage rules are basically giving people footing when it comes to being able to negotiate with broadcasts and the providers and the people who are trying to deliver that media to the consumer. it puts people on a level playing field when it comes to those kinds of negotiations. brige higgins and colorado representative corey gardner tonight at 8:00 herein on "the

communicators" on c-span 2. >> for over 35 years, c-span brings public affairs events from washington directly to you putting you in the room of congressional hearings, white house events and offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house. all as a public service to private industry. we're c-span, created by the cable industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a service from your local cable or satellite provider. like us on facebook or follow us on twitter. "washington journal" continues. host: my guest, wittes, now with the brookings institution as a senior fellow on middle east policy. the director of the summer. here with us this morning to talk about u.s. pols in the middle east on the facets and changes going on in the middle east, i thought i would start by asking you, i saw you speak

before, i think it was through the -- the foreign policy back in october. about the time the syrian situation was really ramping up and you pointed out the three areas where the u.s. is having difficulty taking its attention, turning its attention away from the middle east. >> rige guest: right. host: you termed it an earthquake. you said america's relationship with key allies or actors in the middle east is changing and you said the american public is becoming impatient with the changes in the middle east and our commitment there. guest: yes. host: that was back in october. have things changed that much? can you detail a little bit each of those three points and how that ties into what is going on in the middle east now? guest: absolutely. each of those three trends is stronger today than it was when i gave that talk last fall. over the last three years, we

have seen the middle east undergo a political earthquake driven by some very long building trends. the rise of a large generation of young people who have very few economic prospects. not a lot of room for political participation. a lot of frustration and governments that are really struggling to respond. and now we have seen several of those governments lose power. however, we haven't seen in most places success where governments come into play and in some places we have real turmoil, libya and syria, i think being the most egregious examples. that is going to take many years to play out before you have new institutions, new ways of doing things, new rules of the game that will return stability to a lot of countries in the region that have experienced upheaval. now what that means is that the united states is trying to figure out how to deal with this changing landscape and our major

partners in the region are also struggling to deal with this, but we don't always agree on how to do it. we used to be on the same page, preserving a certain political status quo. now that status quo is gone. so there is a lot more attention between the united states and its allies and then the third piece of this puzzsl the american public and where -- puzzle is the american public and where we are in interpret s of society's role in the world. we have poll after poll about americans' attitudes toward foreign policy, towards american engagement militarily the american public is less reluctant to make those investments today. host: your thoughts on u.s. policy in the middle east. ou wrote a book back in 2008

about america's role in building arab democracy. what is the state of arab democracy in 2014? guest: well much less certain, i think. on one hand, we see possibilities that exist today, opportunities that were not there when that book was published in 2008 because of the revolutions in tunisia, egypt and libya. the national reconciliation process that is taking place in yemen. there is an opportunity for political changes on the ground that will make governments more representative, more transparent, more accountable to their people and create broader based opportunity for everybody. i think tunisia is the case i look at and i see the most hope because they have managed to go a long way down the road, excuse me, toward building a new democratic political system. host: that's where the so-called

arab spring began. guest: in fact, it is where it began and we'll see whether tunisia can continue to be a model for the rest of the arab world in that regard. host: obviously secretary kerry is -- like a stove with a lot of pots boiling on it. he is going from one to another. clearly the conflict in gaza has to be among his highest priorities. israeli air strike kills 10 in gaza. the strike on reportedly another u.n. school in gaza and the news this morning, the israelis are calling a seven-hour cease-fire. you were at the state department for two or three years. what has caused the situation in gaza to accelerate since that time? guest: you know, we have had since the very beginning of the obama administration, it is worth remembering when president obama took office there was a war taking place between israel

and hamas in gaza. since then, we had another round in november, 2012. this is sword of the third round of con -- this is sort of the third round of conflict over the last six years. i think that speaks to the fact that while you can always identify a trigger or multiple triggers i think in this case, what we have here is an unresolved conflict and a very unstable situation on the ground. there is no status quo in the gaza strip or between israelis and palestinians that will remain stable for very long. and so with the 1.8 million palestinians in gaza suffering from a lack of access to fresh water, a lack of economic opportunity, unable to export goods to the outside world through israel and with hamas there in control of the strip and also occasionally using the opportunity to law firm rockets at israeli civilians, it is

going to be extremely difficult for us to see any improvement, long-term improvement in the situation until the underlying conflict between israelis and palestinians moves toward a lasting resolution. host: there was an article in an israeli newspaper last week and similar articles in the "new york times." the headline on this one, hamas has been looking for allies so far in vain. hebs receives normalous financial diplomatic political support from iran and syria, hamas' economic pipelines have been blocked. this in turn marks another important difference. its participation syria's civil war has been crucial to its survival while it is dominance -- hamas inpolitics contrast has no regional

political influence. the "new york times" again and others where about this lack of influence. what is the difference there and why can't hamas find any sort of political support to get them to the negotiating table? guest: well, part of the reason is that ham assist more or less boxed up in gaza and one of the dynamics that led up to this crisis and exchange of fire is that hamas was beginning to rebuild its political operation and perhaps its military operation in the west bank after a reconciliation deal is struck with the movement. the other major palestinian political party and the one whose leader abbas controls the palestinian authority. hamas has the authority suddenly to re-emerge in the west bank and that made israel very anxious. when those three israeli teenagers were kidnapped back in

june, israel went through the west bank trying to find them and in the process rolled up a lot of hamas activists and members across the west bank and this was a threat to hamas' ability to get out of the box in gaza it had been in for a number of years. that is one of the things that led to this current outbreak of violence. host: let's look at another problem. the islamic state prepares for baghdad bombings, militants unlikely to break and take iraqi capital. this is again, the moves in fact, over the weekend of additional gains made by this group, isis. what happened to cause this group, isis to become so powerful and threaten now apparently larger portion of iraq? guest: well, of course we all remember that iraq went through a terrible civil war in the mid 2,000's. it was ultimately resolved by

the american surge of troops and the military working closely with the iraqi military to build a unified iraqi army and push s.ck against sunni militia mostly because of spillover from the conflict in syria which has also become viewed throughout e region as a sunni/shia conflict. unniists went back and forth a cross the border prment they controlled oil wells in syria. they gained funding and they have now take the bath battle to iraq as well in an effort to overthrow the shia-led government in iraq and baghdad. host: secretary kerry in dealing with all of these things in iraq and gaza, does the u.s. have strong partners outside of the middle east regime, outside of saudi arabia, i'm talking about

russia, europe, that are assisting in this effort in terms of trying to negotiate hings that gaza and elsewhere. guest: you know, i think it is a tough moment internationally for the united states but for all the major global powers with interest in the middle east because, of course, all of these crisis we have been talking about in the middle east are not the only major crisis on the international scene. we also have ukraine. a outbreak in le africa that you have been discussing earlier today. what that means is that a lot of global leaders' attention is diverted and also different interests in different areas. the u.s. and russia of course are at odds on you crained they have also been at odds on syria, but when it comes to iraq, that may be the limit of russia's willingness to see instability or chaos in middle east. so it is a question of probing to see where there is sufficient

common interest that you can get other states engaged but particularly in iraq because the united states fought a war there and saddam hussein. the u.s. should take the lead on this. host: tamara caller: brian on the independent line. caller:-- brian on the independent line. caller: the united states supporting israel right were wrong. it is obvious how stand is a part-time going on. april part-time. arab allies, tremendous pressure from the old population , parkside against israel.

you cannot have a two state solution there if israel is going to continue to blockade and country from trading isolating them from the rest of the world. know, if a bank, you mexico national got murdered in san diego, and she'll want to, mexico, kidnapped five american citizens, i am pretty sure the united states would say, you will return our citizens where else. that is an act of war. stupidly, i would say, because it responded with those rockets, which israel had to do notagainst -- they have a defense against israel -- call up martin luther king or gandhi. it is foolish to respond. still, it is an act of war and

they responded. israel provoked that. host: we appreciate your input. brian, thanks. i think you are right to point to a long standing, underlying conflict between israelis and palestinians. that is at the heart of the crisis we are facing today. one of the big differences, of course, between the u.s. and and thexample you gave situation as it exists today between israel and palestinians is that palestinians do not have an independent sovereign state, and the israeli military still operates throughout the west bank. situation of symmetry. it is a situation where israel is a sovereign state with a an electedd government that is responsible to its citizens, and palestinians do not have sovereignty, they do not have full control over their territory. they are divided into in the

west bank and gaza. it is difficult for people to move between one and the other. and you have these militias like hamas who are committed to blowing up any possibility of between israel and the palestinian authority, which is the representative authority for palestinians in the west bank and gaza. hamas took over the gaza strip by force. back in 2007. and they have essentially used their control over that military to advance a very extreme, very violent agenda. unfortunately, they have done that for the israelis and also toward their political opponents in palestinian society as well. host: the israeli ambassador to the u.s. was in the press -- was on "meet the press" today. here is the ambassador. >> i do not think so.

you have to fight terror. you cannot embrace terrorists. that is what the president has done. do you think the solution of iraq is to have the iraqi government simply include isis as a member of the government? that is what the palestinian government adjusted two months ago. we were very much opposed to it and upset when the international community said it is a good thing for people. it is a terrible thing for people. solutionre a military to the hamas problem? >> yes. israel right now is working hard to degrade ability. any action you have and unfortunately israel has many threats. this is not the only threat israel faces. we live in an unstable region. >> if israel eliminates the military threat, that would assume at some point they have to get to a political solution. theambassador critical of president there. who can they work with? he suggested there is a

military method of eliminating the threat from hamas there i am actually somewhat skeptical of that. when israel was in full military occupation of the west bank and gaza. israel was never able to oust this president from those territories when it was in full control. if it wanted to somehow remove hamas from the gaza strip, it would come at such a massive cost, probably in terms of israeli military casualties, and certainly in terms of palestinian destruction and civilian casualties. that would be an astonishing price to pay. at the end of the day, israel has recognized the plo as its -- partner.harder hamas wants to join the plo.

the international community has been crystal clear saying there are conditions. if you want to be part of this process, you have to recognize israel and its right to exist, reject terrorism and violence against civilians, and agree to the previous agreement. did notiation agreement resolve those issues. but it also was not making hamas a negotiating partner with israel and resolving the conflict. it was not bringing hamas into the plo. host: let's hear from joe in alabama. republican caller. caller: thank you for allowing me to make my comments. first of all, let me say, with all due respect, i disagree with that gentleman from virginia. wholeheartedly. i would say this. i am listening to what we are talking about this morning and there seems to be very little outrage left anymore in the media.

even from our public policy people. that is, what is happening in syria? we are talking about hamas and israel, a sovereign state that is trying to protect itself, yet close to 200,000 people have been killed in syria and there is no outrage. isi us in iraq that has now taken over. .il fields and dams they have taken over iraq, banks, they now have a lot of financial resources at their disposal. these oil fields that will bring billions of dollars. how soon will it be before they can buy a nuclear weapon from develop it if they or even more so from north korea? these people are bent on destroying the civilized world. is other thing i would say

if we have clear foreign policy, why do we have all these forest fires around the world? the world has lost credibility becauseoreign policy our foreign policy is not clear to our friends or our economies. here is what we do to our friends or our enemies. think unconjugated form policy we would not be in the mess we are in. right now, these nations have lost credibility in our country and our foreign policy. host: lots of good points there. thanks for your input. key point here is that these various conflicts in the middle east, whether iraq, syria, lebanon now, where we had an attack by sunni extremists

yesterday and the lebanese army now engaged there. host: these are affiliated with isis. guest: they are indeed. all of these are linked. they are not separable. the thing about civil wars, they tend to spill over. not just refugees across borders but armed groups across borders, weapons smuggling across borders, and other kinds of illegal trade, whether we'll or drugs, that tend to come along with these militia grids. to maintainult these civil conflicts but they are very difficult to resolve. the kind of international will, international presence, it would take to oppose a political solution and make it work him a less think about bosnia for a minute. war, thatrrific civil led to some terrible war crimes the international community is still prosecuting, there is still a strong united nations presence on the ground in bosnia

to help the sides get along and govern together. what about u.s. credibility in terms of foreign policy? guest: certainly in middle east, this is a historic, generational turning point. even the strongest, most capable superpower would have trouble dealing with the degree of change and the speed of change we are seeing across the region. interests thatnt are emerging among the governments we are used to working with their. at the same time, this is not just any moment for the united states. we have an american public that, by a third -- two thirds majority, has judged the words in iraq and afghanistan to be failures. our economy at home is still failing. people are reluctant to invest in foreign aid even though it is one percent of our federal budget. look, but we can barely pass normal appropriations here in washington these days. it is very difficult for our

government to have a foreign policy abroad when we cannot get basic decisions made here at home. that said, i think the administration has done a lot to secure american interests using the tools it has available, particularly the tool of sanctions. while sanctions take a long time to have effect, i think we are seeing, certainly in the ukraine case with russia, that russia will feel a significant pinch in the iranian case. is really onconomy its heels right now because of years of american and international sanctions. there are tools we can use in foreign policy that are not sending the marines or forget about it, there is nothing we can do. and a lot big toolbox of that involves the slow building of international coalitions to constrain these bad actors. here in chicago, don and

our democrats line. i have never called before. i wanted to talk a little bit orut how to educate people inform people about the israeli palestinian conflict. thinked to people who it's real was invaded by palestinians, that palestine did not exist, the palestinians did not exist, they don't know anything about the history of the conflict, or, going back to or the declaration of pico, it was amazing, i was watching cnn and they conflate ,- the guest was talking about this was not about palestinians and israel, it was about islam going against israel, that the

palestinians were not fighting. people do not realize palestinians did live there, they did own land, the land was early on by some of the israeli settlers that were coming in, and the israelis were the immigrants. camecame from europe, they from africa, they came from different parts of the world. somehow, to feel that this is all about islam taking over israel. i really don't think that is the case. i think it is more a case of people living there that are fighting for their land, like anyone else, they would fight for their land. over the years, israel has inched their way and massacred in the past, from 1947 and 48 -- not1948, and yet people do hear anything about the king david hotel being blown up, the

british being killed by the s.raeli how do you educate people and get them more in tune with what is really going on there? in any ethnic conflict, whether it is this one, the northern ireland conflict, the former yugoslavia, each community has its narrative of itsory, its narrative about connection to the land, its claim to the land, and also is narrative about its conflict to the other side, who started it, who is to blame, what is -- what the obstacles are to a resolution. it is important if you want to be an effective mediator, but also if you want to be an effective consumer of news and public citizen, to try to understand the narratives of roadsides. his: is it fair to say to point that hamas was motivated by fighting for their land

versus what someone would call it islamic fundamentalism, and isis creating a caliphate in the region there. -- there? are a number of movements fighting for palestinian independence. hamas is one that has a clear ideology. it is an offshoot of the muslim brotherhood. the muslim brotherhood in egypt disavowed violence in the 1970's. maybe returning to it now. hamas has always been an organization that has used violence against civilians, making it a terrorist organization to achieve political goals. that is part of its ideology, part of its charter. its charter commits the movement to the destruction of israel, not to coexistence with israel. the muslim brotherhood

-- it hamas? itst: hamas has found position weakened over the last several years. it largely lost iran as a supporter when it broke with iran over the syrian conflict. iran was supporting assad. felt as a sunni movement it could not do that. it has struggled to break free of the containment of gaza and get access to money and weapons and someone from outside. -- forged its its reconciliation agreement this spring, it was weaker than it had been in a number of years. the irony is by shooting off those rockets against israeli civilians and getting a massive israeli response, it has now rallied other palestinians around its struggle to survive. unfortunately, this has strengthened this extreme movement relative to the more

moderate factions. --k steve wants to hamas'affiliation with the muslim brotherhood has had more to do with that than anything else. sentiment with saudi arabia. they are all willing to see israel deal some pain out to this movement and to see this movement weakened. toy are known -- no friends hamas. egypt's position on this, quite different than the role egypt has played in past iterations of the conflict, that been one reason why it has been difficult to get a cease-fire so far. israel is putting a lot of pressure on hamas and less pressure than in the past on

israel. lynchburg, hear from virginia. larry, independent line. acceptingank you for my call. first of all, i would like to state that israel as a state has no boundaries. there is no state anywhere in the world that does not have boundaries. of course, the conflict started when israel1948 went in and occupied the palestinian slayers. america, britain, france, most of european powers, south africa supported israel. todays the case even here as far as support to european powers to support israel and oppress the refugees, the palestinians, in their own land.

response bytural the people. icondly, just the other day, understand that $225 million was allocated to israel for that missile program. larry.hat is right, the house and senate passed additional money for the israeli missile defense system. to your question on borders, just a look at a map on israel and to focus in on gaza, this is a piece from "usa today." that haveof tunnels come from gaza into israel and a broader map here of israel and how tiny the gaza strip is. any reaction to what larry had to say? guest: sure. first of all, in terms of historical facts. the country that is today israel

emerged from the british mandate . the british mandate was established by the league of nations in the absence of the ottoman empire. it is not as though there was an independent country there before the british mandate ended in 1948. during the period of the british mandate, there was intense debate over what it should be with this previously ruled land. whether it should be a national home for jews, arabs, both. there was a partition plan developed and voted on in the united nations in 1947 that would have established two states, one for arabs and one for jews, in the territory of the mandatory palestine. at thatge residents time excepted that plan and the arab residents rejected it. in may, 1948, when the british unilateral very -- unilaterally

-- a state of israel, yes, without borders, and surrounding states invaded to try to crush that state in the making and establish an arab state instead. that is how we got to the existence of a state of israel. the reason why we have -- it has no borders. it does have a recognized border with lebanon. when israel was through completely with lebanon, that was certified by the u.n. in 2005. tamara cofman wittes with us to talk about israel policy. your calls and comments. we have not touched on the iranian nuclear talks. a story about intelligence committee chair mike rogers. he has argued the extension of

nuclear talks with iran, which freed up 2.8 billion dollars in frozen oil and revenues for tehran -- withounded earlier hopeful negotiations with iran. where do things stand with talks ? nott: i am hopeful but optimistic. this is a tough negotiation. i think president obama has said, if we are lucky, there is a 50-50 chance of making a deal here. what i would say is this has been one of the most consistently, persistently aspects of president obama's foreign policy. from the very day he entered office, he has had his eye on by ahallenge presented ron's program, and the sanctions

isgram he has implemented ultimately what brought iran to the table. whether we will finally get a deal, november 20 is the new deadline after a four-month extension to achieve that deal, i don't know. possible tos envision a deal that would give iran some of what it says it wants in terms of nuclear research while allowing the international community to feel secure that it cannot pursue nuclear weapons through that program. i don't know if the iranians ultimately will do what is necessary and make the necessary compromises to get that deal done. .ost: back to your calls west virginia, wayne. caller: i was going to mention that hamas was sunni. guest: yes, that is right. caller: saddam hussein was sunni

. that is what the persian gulf war was all about. the invasion of kuwait. he would have taken over the whole middle east. a caliphate in the middle east is coming true. now you have isis, who gets they hands on uranium, have got biological and chemical weapons now. believe me, they may not create a nuclear bomb, but they can create a dirty bomb. palestine will not stand up for themselves. they let hamas come in there and take over their people. same way the afghani's did when taliban came in there and took over afghanistan. and the way saddam hussein treated the shia. their dream is going to come true. host: we hear this term, caliphate, will -- what does

that mean? to create its own entity and country. guest: it has declared to be. we will see if they can actually make that work in practice and if they can hold onto it. the ideology is one that harks thinko what its believers represents the way the prophet governed, the prophet mohammed in the earliest days of islam. but it is very controversial whether that is in fact an accurate picture of how the prophet governed. in any event, it is a very severe, very austere version of islam. menusic, women and completely separated, women fully covered, a variety of , and a veryaints harsh attitude toward non-muslim

consideredho are second-class in that society. when they say caliphate, what they mean is ruled by someone -- to basically sitting the prophet mohammed. it is in essence a religious monarchy, is the vision they have for their state. do you see any parallels? you talk about the presence of taliban in afghanistan and he compared hamas to that presence in gaza. guest: now look, a situation like afghanistan or iraq and syria today, where you have communities that have been suffering under years of civil certain point, they will go with whoever can bring them a degree of order, even if the nature of that order is pretty dictatorial and harsh.

in afghanistan, initially, there were communities welcome -- that welcomed the taliban because the villages would not be subject to constant warfare. of course, that came along with a lot of really awful stuff, not just for the residents, who were subjected to this very harsh rule, but also, of course, taliban's hosting of al qaeda. isis has declared its interest in fighting not just against the shia light government in baghdad, but ultimately against the united states as well. there is every reason to believe if this group succeeds in holding territory or expanding territory, that it will become a base of terrorist operations, which is why a lot of the u.s. intelligence community is worried about this. the u.s. has very significant security interests, homeland security interests, wrapped up in what is going on in iraq and syria right now. we may say to ourselves as worries over, it may not be over

for us if we do not address this emerging threat. next up is robert in maryland, independent line. good morning, robert. caller: good morning. lafayettethe rally at park this past saturday and interviewed several people, one of the l hear a islamic center. i am hoping you can give some color into a quote. undercuttingel are u.s. interests and policies in the middle east. i have that queued up if you would like to hear it. did you hear this? the rally in lafayette park this past weekend? why don't you just paraphrase what he had to say. esller: i am hoping ms. witt

-- the year -- do not want to try to interpret someone else's words, particularly out of conflict -- out of context. the united states has an interest in seeing palestinian neighbors move forward with a solution. that, in my view, is the only outcome that would bring lasting peace for israeli and -- israelis and palestinians. there is no question this conflict in gaza is a major setback to the effort, not only because of the humanitarian crisis that emerges but because political hardliners are the ones that emerged stronger from that conflict. host: representative to the night is -- the palestinian representative to the united nations, here is what he had to say.

>> hamas is far from the palestinian political consideration. the question is how to deal with that. the first step is the national sense of government. to destroy this government, is pushing us back and allowing hamas to have support in the gaza strip. and power the national consensus of government , and power to show the people in the gaza strip that it succeeded in stopping the fighting and addressing the wounds of our people in gaza, then in lifting the siege in gaza, giving people hope. let the 1.8 million people in gaza see that this national consensus government is improving their lives, then that would be strengthening the president and allowing us to have most things in the gaza strip and giving most people an alternative instead of the continuation of fighting an alternative moving in the

direction of peace. host: when you hear the palestinian representative to the united nations like that calling for a political solution, you see the reality on the ground, how does that gulf get bridged? guest: that is an excellent and very difficult question. on the one hand, he is right to say that hamas is hard of the west of palestinian society at this point. on the other hand, it is a fundamentally rejectionist movement and it is hard to see how any palestinian government can make peace with israel if it major ensure that movements within palestinian politics will sign up to that these -- peace and respected. one way or another, hamas has to be moved from its rejectionist position to a willingness to favor of-- which is in

a two state solution. there is still a majority in palestinian society and a majority in israel society that want to negotiate a solution. both sides have to work together to hold onto those majorities, to help them strengthen one another as they pursue peace. think we had a failed effort over the last year, nine months of negotiations. secretary of state john kerry and my boss, who has been the state department ambassador, the u.s. special envoy for israeli palestinian negotiations. the challenge there is that the thinkaders really do not the other one was serious about making a deal. whereas, if you believe the other guy is serious, you might be willing to take a risk and reach out and help strengthen him, and he can help strengthen you. that did martin leave

position out of frustration? envoy he was the special for negotiations. negotiations ended in april after the reconciliation government was announced. no negotiations, it did not make sense to stay. albany, new york, tracy, good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to ask the guest, when the occupation would stop. it has been 67 years. are they going to do 200 years? that is my question for the guest. when will the occupation stop? people,ot oppress decide what comes in the country, what comes out, who goes where they need to go. you cannot have peace like that. ifre will never be no peace you occupy people and they have got their foot on their next for 67 years. they will create generations and generations of hate. host: what do you think the

solution is in terms of israel? what should they do? isler: i think the solution for israel to be occupied. how can they occupy all this land? them thine reached out to for an olive branch. as soon as they get over there, they just took land. host: we will get a response. thank you. crisisthrough all of the and conflict, it is important to remember there is one major step israelis and palestinians to together in 1993, that none of the ensuing violence can eliminate. that is mutual recognition. for a long time, the palestinian didonal movement, the plo, not recognize israel's right to exist and israel did not reppert -- recognize plo as a party worthy of negotiating with. historic exchange

of letters, they recognize one another. know the other side is not going away. they know they cannot press a magic button and suddenly have everything the way they would like it. they know one way or another, they will have to come to terms for peaceful coexistence. i certainly hope it will not take too much longer. i think many generations have already suffered the consequences of this conflict. number -- there are majorities on both sides who want that coexistence. it is important to remember that within israel itself, 20% of israel's citizens are palestinians. muslims and christians, who have been there since 1948. a very course also have strong vested interest in peace. i know that the compromises necessary will be exceedingly

difficult for both sides. i can lay out for you what the sticking points are. they have been the same obstacles for quite a while. what is necessary is for leaders to feel ready to make those tough decisions and those tough compromises and be confident that what they will get at the end of the day is security and peace for their people. and: kelly is on our look -- our republican line. comment on the other colors. border state, just look at texas , the united states. is new york right now, hamas invading and occupying palestine. but my comment is, could you imagine the united states or, whenng with hitler

pearl harbor was bombed, us actually taking a body count when we had to lower both a bombs on hiroshima and not the sake -- here shema? hero shema? hiroshima? you go into war to win. how dare us point the finger at israel? journal the wall street , islamic surge. this goes back to the point we made at the beginning of the conversation about key actors and key partners, u.s. partners in the past. u.s. officials help egypt, iraq, saudi arabia, find help on the ground against extremist groups. how is the picture different today in terms of 1993, when

this agreement was signed between palestinians and israelis? .ou look back 20 years from now partners are still there. the challenge in the reason -- .n the region the thread is still there today. these radical movements, when we were in the early 1990's, and we were dealing with terrorist threats, there was the first ,orld trade center bombing carried out by islamic extremists. that threat has been around for a long time. the difference today is that, because of the political of people in the region, some of these groups have been able to emerge. they are no longer tiny cells of people. they are now thousands of

people. they are not just hiding in , plottingn villages random attacks. they are taking over territory and trying to hold that territory and keep it as a long-term operations. this is a much bigger threat, certainly to the governments in the region, like jordan or saudi , but alsoisrael ultimately to the united states and the world. the ideology of these organizations will not leave them satisfied with local control. they want to take a strike against what they see in their view as the root of the problem, which is the western powers. calls, portsmouth, new hampshire, warren is on the air. caller: good morning. as president john f. kennedy , that our partiality toward israel is dangerous for the

united states and for the rest of the world. does the lady agree with that statement as being prophetic? did that accurately reflect how john f. kennedy viewed the middle east? historian ofot a the kennedy administration, but it certainly had a strong relationship with israel and i don't think that quote is a full reflection of kennedy's views, certainly not of his policies toward israel over the course of his administration. u.s.-israelithe relationship goes back all the way to the founding of the state. united states was the first country to recognize the state of israel in may of 1948. it is a relationship, at this point, that extends well beyond high politics and government to government. it is a strong economic

relationship, a strong cultural and societal relationship as well. polls off you look at the american public, you find very strong support for israel and good relationship with israel. i think our foreign policy in this case, as in many others, reflects our national interest and also our public viewpoint. look back on the arab spring, will it be viewed as historically significant? guest: no doubt. this is the upending of a political order in the arab world that had existed for the previous half-century. whether we will remember this as a moment when the region began slowly and there was a lot of back and forth to move in a more positive direction, or whether we will see this as the beginning of a long, regional conflict, that i don't know yet. i think that will depend not just on the extremists on the

ground, who are provoking some of these battles, but also in the way regional governments are able to come together, not just to confront the threat, but putting forward a positive whatn for the people of their future can look like if they push back successfully against this extremist threat. ,ost: tamara cofman wittes director of the policy center of the brookings institution. thank you for coming by. we will be joined by "wall street journal" editor jason riley. he has a brand-new book out called, "please stop helping us: how liberals make it harder for black people to succeed." ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> tonight, on "the communicators," three members of congress talk about their

technology legislation. >> i believe in a free internet without government intervention. when you look at where the internet has come or it is going into the future, it is being done on the private sector. they not want their brand or product exposed to tens of thousands of people? isthink the blackout rule -- obsolete. the fcc will vote finally at the end of this year. >> a bill that tries to address concerns over must carry carriage rules overreach transmission consent, and basically giving people a level footing when it comes to being able to negotiate with broadcast and being able to negotiate with the providers and the people who are trying to deliver that media to the consumer. it puts people on a level playing field when it comes to those kinds of negotiations. >> republican representative bob latta from ohio, new york

democratic representative brian higgins, and colorado representative corti -- cory gardner, tonight on c-span two. c-spanover 35 years, brings public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences, and offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house, all as a service to private industry. created 35 years ago and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch as in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us next in our studio in new york, jason riley, now up with his second book :alled, "please stop helping us how liberals make it harder for

blacks to succeed." thank you for joining us on washington journal. what motivated you to write the book? the book because i think that a lot of the efforts to help black underclass have not been working. in many cases, they have been doing more harm than good. i thought the 50th anniversary of the great society programs was an opportunity to look back on what has been tried and perhaps thinking about reevaluating our efforts on this. host: how do liberal policies make it harder for blacks to succeed? guest: one of the essential themes of the book is that blacks ultimately must help themselves by developing the same habits and characteristics and attitudes and behaviors that other groups in america have had to develop in order to rise socioeconomically. to the extent a government effort or program or social policy, however well-intentioned, interferes with that necessary

self-development, i think it does more harm than good. that is what a lot of these policies have done. well-intentioned policies have put in place at incentives and have led to results that were not intended. host: tell us about your upbringing. you're now an editorial writer ." the "wall street journal you write about admiration for your dad. where did you grow up and what was life like for you? guest: upstate new york in buffalo. that is where i went to college. i came down to new york after taking a job at the "wall street journal" 20 years ago now. i grew up somewhere in the working-class, lower middle-class, place on the sort of income spectrum. my parents were divorced when i was very young. my father played a very active role in my life. i had two siblings and he was very close to all of his children, saw us several times a

week, holidays, so forth. i had a large extended family on my mother's died right there in buffalo. a very religious family. of myurch was a big part upbringing as well. in addition to my father and a role model there in terms of black men, i also had a lot of black role models on my mothers side of the family right there in buffalo growing up. host: did your operating feel typical to you? -- upbringing feel typical to you? guest: no. i got a glimpse into different worlds growing up. i attended public schools and private schools, both catholic schools and nonsectarian schools. i got a pretty widely varied view of different ways that people grew up here and i did not find my upbringing typical, no. host: jason riley is our guest.

his book is "please stop helping : how liberals make it harder for blacks to succeed." republicans (202) (202)02, democrats 737-0001, independents (202) 628-0205. the book also covers a wide range of economics to crime statistics and prison sentences, to president obama. i wanted to show a quote from your book about the popularity of president obama. you write in your book talking about polls on the presidency --

host: what do you think is behind the reason the african-american support has grown for president obama, or at least sustained in his second term? guest: there are a number of reasons i point to in the book. one of the first ones and perhaps the most obvious one can be a sort of racial lori -- loyalty. black folks very proud of the first black president being elected and some book -- subsequently reelected. i guess there is some of that going on. that isso think behind a, i would say, greater than normal were greater than average reliance on political saviors

among blacks in america. looking to the government for solutions. reflected inhat support for obama. i argue in the book that blacks in fact have an overdependence on the government and on politicians to provide solutions in the black community. you see this reflected not only jobs, government jobs going to blacks, whether it is the military, the post office, other civil service jobs, you also have it -- independents in terms of government benefits, handouts, welfare, food stamps, so forth. i argue this is something the democratic party has encouraged in order to win votes from blacks, or the party that gives you things. they are the party of bigger government and i think black loyalty to the democratic party is reflected in that sentiment. that one ofargue

the reasons you see blacks so overwhelmingly supporting the is the lack of black outreach on the part of republicans. it is just not uncommon for a republican candidate to simply write off the black vote. also reflected in black loyalty to democrats. i don't subscribe racial animus to it. it's just pragmatic politics. i think republicans don't feel they need the black vote to win elections right now and that you won't see a serious black outreach effort until they do feel they need the black vote. right now, in the republican party, you see a big debate over the latino vote and whether republicans can continue to win elections going forward without more of that hispanic voting block. there is no discussion regarding the black vote in gop circles. is our guest.ley

we were talking about his book and the unemployment rates. thelatest statistics, unemployment rate for african-americans is 11.4%. hispanics, 7.8%. white americans, 5.3%. for asians, 4.5%. that was the rate for july 2014. we have calls waiting for jason riley. let's go to kevin in marshall, texas. caller: yes, god bless you. of black i have a lot friends. of course, we start talking politics and all. you, if liberalism has heard one single group or than any other in this country, i do believe it is the black race. as i try to tell them how it has hurt them and held them back, it winds up being i comes to thehen it end of it. i was just wondering, and you

bring up a really good point, that the republicans, they do not do any outreach. i think that is a pitiful shame because blacks really need to join all of us as americans as small government, understanding that we need to, you know, rely on ourselves more than the government. i think that's what it takes for anyone to succeed in this country. i'm just wondering, what can i do differently, that i can try to reach people, my friends, and convince them that this just is not good for anybody? thanks for the call. i don't know. one of the points of the book is that blacks need to help themselves. i argue that a lot of the barriers to black social economic progress today are caused by black soldier -- culture, attitudes toward education.

we all know the steppingstones toward the middle-class this country -- in this country. hard work, so forth. those values, and there is a black subculture out there that rejects those values out of hand. it is reflected in the music, the rap music and so forth. it is reflected in the violence in these neighborhoods. it is reflected in attitudes toward schooling. the book is not an autobiography or a memoir. but i do include personal anecdotes in there about what it is like to grow up lack and mail in the inner-city. treatment of kids who are bookish, and nerdish, the acting white problem, getting beat up, made fun of, ridiculed for wanting to go to school, raising your hand in >>, knowing the answers, studying, this is a huge problem in the black community. people like bill cosby want to talk about it. but he gets his head handed to him when he does. even when president obama comes out and talking about growing up

without a father, black liberal elites slam the president and accuse him of talking down to black people and condescending them. i think this has got to change. the black political left in particular has a certain narrative out there that they want to keep out there because it serves their interest. that narrative is that white racism is an all-purpose explanation for what ails black america. when others want to talk about what blacks are doing or not up theroperly to move socioeconomic ladder, those black elites do not want to hear that. they want to keep the conversation focused on what whites should be doing for blacks instead of what blacks should be doing for themselves. i do not think it does the black underclass any favors. you write about your upbringing and talk about a good friend, trevor. you said, by contrast, the trevors were everywhere.

i related with them, went to school with them -- book you write in the about you and trevor going separate ways in high school. what could have been done differently than -,- then, back in those years, that would have change that? anythingdon't know if could have been done differently. i lost my younger sister to drugs when she was 21 years old. overdosing. on cocaine. you know, trevor fell in with the own crowd and so did members of my own family and we lived under the same roof. and yet had widely different

values and attitudes toward school and learning and what it meant to be black, frankly. contention your that liberal policies make it worse? are -- not talking about it is a problem. not wanting to discuss black culture. when we talk about crime, the left loves to talk about the racial disparity in incarceration rates. they don't want to talk about the racial disparity in crime rates, in black behavior. they want to talk about how many black kids are getting suspended in school versus the white kids, regardless of who is doing the bullying in school. why would we expect to see parity in school discipline? do we see parity in behavioral outcomes outside of school? do we think this behavior begins after the kids leads -- to leave school? there is a disparity in the prison system, why would be expected in behavior? we do not want to talk about

that. we want to keep the focus on white behavior. you have liberal organizations out there scouring the nation, looking for the next donald sterling or clive and bundy and go, look, nothing has changed. you cannot hold blacks -- lastble as long as cannot be held accountable. i fundamentally reject that. i think we need to talk about , these kidse shooting each other in chicago. it is not because of a racist criminal justice system, which, by the way, today, is run by one black man, eric holder, who reports to another, president obama. it is not about race as police, racist rug lost. it is about lack behavior. it is about the breakdown of the black family. it is about fatherless homes and this warped sense of what it means to be a man in the ghetto. and a black person in general. and we have got to talk about these issues. that is not where the conversation typically heads. the conversation heads toward

white racism and how that impacts the black community. let's get back to calls. exegesis, independent line. -- massachusetts, emily, independent line. let's try betty in birmingham, alabama. democrats line. caller: good morning. from birmingham, alabama, where dr. king said, we kept everywhere. , i mean, come on. do not sit there and say that all black people, we have stuff going on in our neighborhoods, we have children in white neighborhoods, these kids coming up in schools killing these other kids and whatever. we have drugs everywhere. that is why eric holder and the

--tice department is saying african-american men get for selling a certain amount of crack, and the white guy get away from selling tons of cocaine. come on. in theave disparity justice system. we do have racism. i don't care how you try to hide your head and say that black people need to stop. . . .

guest: drug offenses are not

driving the black incarceration rate in this country. it is black criminality broadly speaking that needs to be addressed today. host: georgia for jason riley. you will? >> yes. good morning, mr. riley. first of all, are you there? host: yes. caller: sir, i reject your premise that the liberals are causing the problems. i think your book will appeal to the same people that buy the books written by anne coulter. my

question for you, is there anything that we can blame the republicans for? should we give them the credit for the success of the caucasian people that have been successful in their business with the tax breaks and things like that? thank you for this. for your answers. thank you. guest: i think you somewhat misstated the premise of the book saying liberals are the reason for all the problems. that does not value the things that other groups value in order to move up in society. and this

is a -- it's not a recent trend, but you can date this trend to the great society programs. one of the arguments in the book and one of the narratives out there that doesn't get a lot of exposure is that blackses in this country largely lifted themselves out of poverty, coming out of slavery, through reconstruction, through jim crowe. blacks were entering professions at a higher rate before 1960. blacks were increasing their years of schooling both in absolute terms and relative to whites before

affirmative action and other programs designed to help them. there's a narrative out there, that is why the ranks of the black middle class increase. i argue that that is not the case. moreover, it gives blacks a sense that but for these programs we can't get ahead in america, we can't succeed without affirmative actions or government programs and so fourth. that's just a false narrative. we were doing that and we were doing a very good job of that. now, that is not to argue that the civil rights legislation in the '60s was necessary. i'm very happy it passed. it was necessary. i think all americans can be very proud of that. but that's a separate argument from saying

black people need affirmative action to get ahead in america because we were moving along very well before affirmative action was put in place. host: this is mary anne. caller: i get so tired of hearing people like this get on tv and say black people want welfare and all this stuff. look, welfare, food stamps, were created for white women and they used it up until this time and still using it and nobody says a word until a black person need it. host: mr. riley, do you think liberal policies, more broadly, she spoke about welfare and food stamps have not been helpful. guest: there's a difference in terms of dependency on these

programs. multigenerational, approximate proportion of whites versus blacks, the rate of welfare and food stamp use, there is a difference and there are racial differences in uses of these programs. my point is an open-ended welfare benefit does not help a group of people develop a work ethic. that's an example to me of a well-intentioned policy that is there to show sympathy that in fact, in practice is doing more harm than good. caller: i wish that we could make that very important distinction. i know that words mean things. they get to use the term bastardized. racism,

to be a racist you have to believe in racism and believe your group of people are superior to the other group of people. i wish we would drop the term racism and substitute it with racial bias. most people are racially biased and they're not taught this. it's not their parents. it's what they see in life. i hear black callers every single day call in if it has anything to do with president obama and circle the wagons so to say i can't pick on my wife's family. she can pick on her family, but i can't. i agree with a lot of the points you're making but -- god bless you, you have a hard duty. the

woman said that she's tired of hearing this stuff. i mean, i hardly ever hear people like you talk on radio or tv. thank you. host: well, i think that there are more people in the black community who i think have an appreciation for what i'm saying than a lot of people realize. the media tends to run to the current black leadership to speak about blacks and they have a different agenda. jesse jackson has been out in california complaining about yahoo and twitter and facebook's hiring practices essentially trying to put in quotas for hiring. i'm sure in exchange for money. talking about what

whites should be doing for blacks instead of what blacks should be doing for themselves. if jesse jackson wanted to really do good for the black community, we should go back to chicago and devote all of his time to getting these kids to stop shooting each other. if he does that, hiring practices will take care of themselves over time. they're hiring from a pool of company that graduate from some of the most difficult schools and blacks are simply underrepresented in that pool of people and we can do something about that. we don't need jesse jackson but he does that because that benefits him. host: we have david here.

caller: just to respond to the last comment. i personally wish we would drop the term race all together. i think it was an idea from 300 years ago that we're all divided in different races. we're all part of the human race in my view. in regards to the destructive nature of leftist ideology. jason, you remember the saying of the soviet union, we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us. when the soviet union collapsed, 60 percent were alcoholics. they targeted the african american society which caused more destruction. it broke up the black family. it

helps contribute to that and all the problems that have followed since. guest: if you look at black outcomes, again, prior to the great society programs in terms of black labor participation rates, in terms of the stability of the black family, marriage rates among blacks in many years in the '40s and '50s exceeded marriage rates among whites. unemployment in this country. we've had a black unemployment rate that has been double the white rate for 50 years. that was not the case in the 1930s and '40s and '50s. and it was not because blacks were doing menial, low level jobs. they were lifting themselves out of poverty, entering the skilled

professions at a faster rate prior to the 1960s. so there is something to this notion that the great society did -- the welfare state did more to break up the black family than slavery did. because if you look at the black family through reconstruction and jim crowe, the families were still together. there's a lot of social science data out there about the outcomes associated with an absent father in the home, drugs, criminal justice system, teen pregnancy, not finishing school, on and on.

there are all kinds of problems associated with absent black fathers and that's what you have as the norm today in the black community. host: rick asks what part does obstructionism have on the part of the jobless rate in the black community. do you recognize a concerted effort to, quote, de-fang obama? guest: it's an interesting subject that i go into in some detail in the book. first i look at why these laws were passed in the first place back in the 30's and '40s. and they were placed in part to price blacks out of the labor force. labor was worried about competition for jobs with their

members. they petitioned congress to pass these laws with the express intent of putting black people out of work and it worked. now, today, i do not -- this affects younger people, less experienced people, less skilled people, a disproportionate number who happen to be black. i would argue that they are doing much more damage to black employment rates than just about anything else out there. host: lily is in montgomery, alabama. go ahead.

caller: i have two questions. would you allow me to ask him? host: go ahead. caller: he said liberals are causing the problem. i don't think so because they're the same people. when the black man left the house did they just jump up and leave on their own or how did that happen? and then he only speaks of himself and what do you own besides that paper you work for besides that paper that pays you everything. that's what i'd like to know. and then when it comes to the president, you got more people in the room -- people didn't vote for him because he's black. they voted for him because they wanted to. so you say what you want to make them happy. that's what you're doing. so keep it up. we're just going to float on past you until you own something and then come back and tell us about it. okay. you have a nice day. host: comments?

caller: well, i'm not quite sure what the questions were. i guess when it comes to why the black family is broken down to the extent that it has, i would point to, again, well-intentioned policies that were trying to help at the time. but trying to replace the man in the home with a government check doesn't work. and that's what a lot of these welfare policies have attempted to do. again, open-ended welfare policies don't encourage responsible child bearing baring, responsible child rearing. these are things other groups historically have had to develop in order to rise in america. and again these attempts to help

haven't helped. there are people that it were not well intentioned. i don't take that view. i think that there were a lot of liberals, freedom riders, people working with king, thurgood marshall. i think that was liberalism at its best and it culminated with the passage of the civil rights act and the voting rights act. that was the pinnacle of liberalism. we need equal outcomes and that's where i think the left has gotten into

trouble. you don't get equal results. nowhere in u.s. history do you find equal results. nowhere outside the u.s. in history do you get equal results. there are limits to what the government can do beyond providing equal opportunity. then it's up to these groups to take advantage of these opportunities. then where they don't find equal outcomes, assuming automatically that racism or a lack of opportunity is the reason. we should not be so quick to make that assumption. i think we need our government to take a much more modest approach in what it is capable of doing. and this is something blacks -- the black leadership used to understand quite well and i talk about it in the book. and not just king. going back to before

king. those before him were saying it is right and proper that all the rights and privileges of the constitution should be ours. they were optimistic. they were saying that these rights and privileges should be ours. but they said it's much more important for blacks to ready themselves to take advantage of these opportunities once we have them. and i think the failure of the modern day civil rights movement is that, they have not readied blacks properly by going through government and looking to the government for answers to take advantage of the opportunities blacks have today. host: jackson, tennessee. pat. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i beg to differ with this young man. he needs to go

back and study the affirmative action plan. he said that it didn't help that much. you need a lesson in studying the affirmative action plan. blacks were not being hired. it was the reason, the affirmative action plan, it was the reason why a lot of black people did get hired. all they asked is for companies to start meeting a certain quota of hiring minorities so they could get into the workforce. that's how they got started. and they saw that they were good employees. then they started hiring more. you need to get back to your books and do a little bit more studying. and when you come out and you're saying that in the '60s, there were a lower amount

of percentage of blacks being in the prison, compared to what? host: thank you, pat. guest: the black incarceration rate in 1960 was lower than it is today. lower compared to what. affirmative action is something i address at length and the caller is simply wrong on the facts. they were entering professions at a faster rate in the '40s and '50s than they were after affirmative action. i also discuss affirmative action in the realm of higher education. we now have about 40 years of this sort of social engineering to look at what has happened. in 1996, the university of california system ended racial-based admissions

into its university system. 1996. and what happened after that ban took place? black college graduation rates increased by more than 50 percent. not just overall but through the more difficult disciplines such as math, engineering. they went up by more than 50 percent. so here you had a well-intentioned policy which in fact was producing fewer doctors, fewer black lawyers, fewer black engines than -- engineers than we otherwise would have had. kids were being funneled into schools where they couldn't handle the work and didn't have the credentials and so they were either dropping out or switching

to easieier majors. but the college administrators concern is not black college graduation rates. it's diverty on college campuses. they want a color-coded college catalog. but i'm concerned with black kids graduating and affirmative action the record shows has not helped that effort. it has hurt that effort. caller: good morning. i'd like to make a couple of points. it kills me when i hear black conservative republicans talk this. he don't represent me. i've never heard black

conservatives claim -- you got idiots out there such as donald trump questioning whether or not president obama was born here or not. second of all, you never hear black conservatives also talking against the fact that they have voter suppression out there. first they want you to have voter id. they're trying to do everything they can to hamper our efforts to vote. you don't hear none of the black conservatives preaching out against that. host: thank you. guest: well, i never said

racism doesn't exist. i never would say that. i think it is out there. that's just a misstatement of what i've been saying here. in terms of whether that is driving criticism of obama, i think obama's response to that was the best response i've ever heard which was i was black before i was elected. he was black before he was re-elected as well. so the idea that racism is driving this criticism just doesn't hold water. in terms of voting, the black voter turnout rate in 2012 exceeded the white voter turnout rate even in states with the strictest voter id laws in the country. if voter suppression of blacks is going on, where is the evidence? back in 2008, back in 2008,

obama out performed both al gore and john kerry in states like texas, georgia, and the carolinas. that is evidence of racial progress in this country. it doesn't mean racism has been eliminated but i think we've come a long way. and the question isn't whether there's racism left in america. that's not the question. the question is how does racism explain the fact that black kids are shooting each other in chicago. i would argue in the 1940s and '50s when we did not have these outcomes, we had much more racism. caller: i'd like to say

quickly. i've been around longer than he has. i want to say this to the young man. you are sitting there because of jesse jackson, because of martin luther king. you need to thank them for the mere fact that you are sitting there because of that. you did not do that on your own. that is horrible what's happening in chicago. bottom line -- they came up in a hardworking family. i have a nuclear family, my parents, a

mother and a father. host: all right. we have a moment or two left. we'll get a final word. guest: well, speaking about the importance of family and i agree that, that's where it's got to start. a black man in the white house cannot replace a black man in a home. host: jason riley on his new book please stop helping us. he's on the wall street journal editorial board. we thank you for joining us today from new york. guest: thank you. host: coming up, we're opening up the phones.

host: call us and join the conversation. we are opening up our phone lines for you. we

have a story here from the washington post. no one new called for cia director's resignation. president obama said friday he has full confidence in brennan. the cia director seems to be under fire by some and not by others. >> you'll see john brennan

saying this is absurd and no one should make these kind of irresponsible charges and now the cia's own inspector general confirmd that they did just that, they went into the computer system that was supposedly separated and within the control of the senate committee and fished around. they even created false identities to pretend to be senate staff members going into the computers. it's not good. i mean, the more important thing is the report itself. but this certainly undermines the kind of trust that you've got to have. and here's the deal, candy, when we do oversight of these agencies, which no one else really watches, we're the only ones, we've got to be able to rely upon what they tell us. if we can't trust --

host: how do you do oversight? go ahead. guest: i don't think an apology is enough. host: that was senator angus king from maine having harsh words. so our first caller is brenda from texas. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling because i wanted to make a comment regarding the gentleman on before, riley. i think he was spot on right on a couple of the items, especially the breakdown of the black family. i can make this comment because i am a black woman. it has been a great failure of the black man not being in the home

raising and nurturing and caring for his children. i will say that much and i'm ashamed to have to say it. on the other hand, the way that they've treated this president, it's very obvious and shameful. i can't imagine what other countries think of america. that's basically what i wanted to say. host: our next caller is al from florida on the democratic line. you're on the air. caller: yeah. i'd just like to make the comment that it's time that we brought our troops back home. we got the economy in the united states so good that we don't have to depend on anyone else. and also just the fact that we need jobs and et cetera

and it seems to me that congress is not doing anything to provide that. they're sending money overseas. they send money to foreign countries. we accept all these people into our country and we can't feed our own. it's time that we do that. host: al, i want to keep you on the line here while i read this op ed in the new york times today. it starts saying congress is a joke but the joke's not funny. it goes on to cite stats that say as of wednesday, the current congress has enacted 142 laws, the fewest of any congress in the past two decades. only 108 of those enactments were -- criteria. and president obama has felt it

only necessary to veto only two bills. what are your thoughts about this piece? do you agree? caller: i look at it this way: i've seen some of the stuff that they've passed. i'm disabled, so they -- and they gave us a band aid for medication. they said, hey, yeah, we'll cover ten percent. well, ten percent on $800 is nothing. so you can't, you know, let's get back to taking care of america and the people in america and forget the rest of the world developing u.s. army is so strong nobody would touch us. that's all i wanted to say. host: up next is tampa, florida. we have john on the

line. caller: good morning. i wanted to add to what jason riley said. i think the biggest hit to the black people in this country was the loss of manufacturing jobs being -- these jobs beingoff shored after bill clinton 20 years ago signed off on granting china most favor nation status. this led the template to make a couple of people rich while you off shore millions of good paying u.s. manufacturing jobs. at the same time, you have the influx of illegal aliens displacing people for good-paying jobs. they once were good-paying jobs with benefits and now these poor people are taking jobs that are paying much less than they useded to pay before so you have now tens of millions of u.s. citizens in a race to the bottom

with lower and lower paying jobs and there's no hope in sight. bill clinton is at fault in this. george w. bush picked up the ball and ran with these destructive policies and even president obama signing off on the recent south korean free trade agreement two years ago. host: john, what do you think about the fact that job creation has actually reached over 200,000 for the past few months. caller: but those aren't in the u.s. the u.s. has had a net loss of manufacturing jobs as a result of that because free trade agreements are made so you have tariffs so the south koreans don't buy u.s. products. then the unions that used to

represent u.s. citizens now represent illegal aliens and are getting weaker and weaker. the '50s and '60s, you had strong manufacturing in the u.s., strong labor unions. host: our next caller is mark from lay hawaii hay -- hawaii. mark, you're on the air. caller: good morning to you. in regard to jason riley, he's like the author of, i believe, i'm not going to work on uncle sam's farm anymore and other books. that's all part of sociali socialism. i myself and a 47 percenter and that enabled me to do things that i never would have been able to do like relocate to hawaii from new york

17 years ago and just this year, i've uncovered a $13 million fraud in a county purchasing program and caused a vice chair of a commission to resign, so i pay back, like, many times over anything i've ever gotten from the government. so if you just give me a small fraction of a minute to say a totally different subject about the malaysian air, the missing plane and the shot down plane. it's a theory but i think maybe malaysia had something to do with it and this may be a fourth malaysian airplane has come to a bad end, maybe people will start to figure that out. host: we heard you. another issue in washington this week is

the global summit on african leaders starting tuesday and going through wednesday. they are here for an investment submit. president obama this week convenes them in order to bolst -- ebola virus through west africa. becoming easier and more attractive. now, the story does mention the continued outbreak of the ebola virus. there was news earlier today that cited a second american missionary stricken with ebola

who was flown tuesday for treatment to the u.s. it was confirmed to the associated press -- she's apparently in good spirits according to the pastor of her hometown church in charlotte, north carolina. so what exactly is the likelihood of this disease being passed on to others, how widespread could this outbreak become. in the wall street journal today, there was a story by dr. ian lipcomb who works at columbia

university. he makes the point that ebola has a high mortality rate, up to 90 percent but is spread only through intimate contact with bodily secretions such as vomit, blood, feces. so there's no risk and infection can be prevented by isolating the person with the disease. sustained outbreaks would not occur in the u.s. because cultural factors in the developing world that spread ebola are not common in the developed world. we'll go back to the phone lines now. we're opening them up to you to hear your thoughts on any of the public policy issues of the day. we'll turn now to buffalo, new

york where nate is on the line. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a variety of comments but i want to comment on that ebola and that african conference as well. worldwide -- this is also spinning off of jason riley's piece earliearlier. there has worldwide a disassociation -- as far as getting the governmental systems in place and in proper working order for all people on this planet. jason riley is sticking his neck out there and he's absolutely right. miseducation of the negro didn't just say with them. it went to other cultures which is why blacks look at themselves the way they do and other races look at blacks the way that they do. host: thank you. we have

joshua from falls church, virginia on the line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i do work for the government and there are a couple of issues that seem to me, i think most americans the second side is the idea of free trade that the republicans support but most american polls will show you -- now, just regarding the trade. the reason why i am opposed even though i work with people who are directly negotiating these trade deals is that these trade deals, in essence, especially with trans-pacific partnerships are trying to lower the foreign

government, especially these asian government who have been built on state-controlled economies. all of these countries trying to build this new, quote, unquote, fair trade, a new trade agreement that is not nafta or wto. however, my comment is you have a bunch of bureaucra bureaucrats bureaucrats who are in positions for one or two years, learn about the issue quickly, and then leave the position. we're trying to -- increase their competitive advantage and they will find a way to cheat these agreements no matter when it's negotiated or signs. and it probably will be signed. we will lose on this because we will always be

outsmarted when you have -- mind you, smart bureaucrats and bureaucrats working one or two years in a position versus multinational companies who spend every second trying to figure out every angle to defeat, lower the cost, and doingoff shore manufacturing. host: thank you. the story reads, mergers that can slice tax bills. hiring an investment bank to try to drum up interest from u.s. hotel companies that can cut down on their tax bills by buying -- this is a

$3 billion hedge fund and has called on the owner to explore a deal. now, the story goes on to say that activists have long pushed various moves to lower taxes. now tax inversions are emerging as the latest wedge. we'll go back to the phone lines now with bernard from florida. good morning. caller: i just want to make a quick comment on the gentleman you had, mr. riley. first of all, i did not agree at all. he's a fox news contributor for one and as a black man myself, i just -- it just hurts my heart to hear that kind of discussion come from him. talk about working class. the gentleman

who called from tampa florida who just hit the nail on the head regarding jobs and the manufacturing. my people work hard. we fought for every war in this country but soldiers come back to a country that would not even allow them to go to the bathroom at the time. we're not saying everything is about racism but i do disagree with this man totally on this point. you talk about the drugs, what was happening with the incarceration rate. c-span has dealt with this as well. my people were incarcerated sometimes three times as much. his history is not spot on. there was a lady who called from alabama and those who are old enough to know the struggles that we've had in the country. so i'm just saying this gentleman here, his own wife was

fired from a company that wanted to delete the black studies department. i'm not a racist. i don't consider myself a racist person. but he's married to a white woman similar to what the gentleman from the supreme court thomas, and they both speak against minorities. very much so. host: we heard your comments this morning. we also have a story for you. the latest comments from dan pheiffer. he spoke this weekend saying he was taking threats to impeach president obama. he said it would be foolish to discount the possibility that impeachment. here's the full clip.

[video] >> it would be foolish. >> the speaker told me it's not going to happen. >> right. and five days before the government the speaker said there's no way the government would shut down and that's exactly what they did. >> i don't think it's possible. >> when the house takes the step to sue the president of the united states even though he's issuing executive orders, i think it would be foolish to discount the possibility. host: if you can call us, tweet us, or send us an email or leave a comment on facebook. our next caller is carlos from chicago, illinois. caller: could you do me a

favor, i would like to talk to the senate, the house, even our president. how dare any of you take a vacation when america's no not taking a vacation. a vacation, i believe, is earned to people who work. and during the last week as i've been watching c-span and i love y'all's show because it is very educational for the american people, it helps to educate me. what are they saying what people be doing and they talking about suing, even suing the president. that has been unprecedented. this is the first time, this is the first time that they even talking about doing this. host: carlos, what do you think

about the story earlier about stats showing that this congress has passed the fewest pieces of legislation in a very long time? caller: i beg your pardon? host: we referenced a story earlier in the new york times showing that this congress has passed the fewest pieces of legislation in a long time. what do you think about that? caller: i think that they should still be -- that's my point exactly. not just my point. but then as you've been hearing and watching -- the very show that you work for, the very thing that americans are talking about that they shouldn't be on vacation. they should still be at work. now, they come back to their districts and whatever and then i be hearing about how people be talking about chicago politics. i be talking to my senators and representatives here also. you should be back in washington. they didn't pass

the immigration law. they took the immigration law off. and then they took the transportation -- what's happening with transportation. host: we heard your comments and we have other callers to get to. our next one is eric from washington d.c. go ahead, eric. caller: good morning. i wanted to thank you for putting jason riley on today and certainly thank him. i think that he's exactly right. the conversations between the disparities of race is so hard to have and i think that when people are ignorant, when he's quoting statistical facts and they're claiming those facts are his opinion, i don't think they know what statistic al facts are. we are begging the african american perception to change statistically because we don't

see the same fortitude as in other races. you're trying to figure out how effective the world can be if we can't open the conversation without racism coming out as the first word. host: we now have lisa from louisiana. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for jason riley. he is a great man. i will not be watching tv anymore. the media is totally biased. as far as black people, what has obama done for you? good-bye. host: all right. our next caller is from middleton in west virginia. caller: i wanted to ask you a question. how come when you all

bring the republican representative or the democrat that you cannot bring them on together so we can hear exactly their comments radio active back together because i've noticed lately like when you all was talking about the lawsuit, you asked all the people first what they thought about it and then will you asked the republican about it but the democrat has to talk about israel. now, that is not right. i don't know what you all trying to prove. host: all right, middleton. we hear you. we do always strive to be fair and objective. we have irvine from michigan on the line. caller: good morning. i'd like to comment on jason riley, what he spoke about earlier today.

i'm an african american male and i agree with him. we no longer -- need the social programs if it's a crutch. i have watched generation after generation after generation of people just use the system. it's now time for us to stand up and create conditions so that we can quit looking for excuses to make. thank you for having him there. thank you for allowing me to speak. and it's time for us to stand up and quit looking for excuses and handouts. host: all right. gregg from kentucky. good morning. what are your comments quickly? caller: i was calling about the ebola, bringing the people back over here from africa. i think people are flirting with

disaster and if it goes airborne, it would be a total disaster. host: all right. that is our show. thank you for joining us. the house will begin shortly. s for [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]