centers for medicare and medicaid services administrator you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. ♪ president obama on monday interrupted his vacation said dam is apture of mosul major step forward in iraq. the president held a news conference and addressed the situation in ferguson, missouri. he said that he would dispatch attorney general eric holder to ferguson tomorrow. we will begin with the situation in ferguson and get your thoughts if police are becoming too militarized.

republicans, (202) 585-3881. democrats, (202) 585-3880. .ndependents, (202) 585-3882 law enforcement, (202) 585-3883. au can send us say tweet -- tweet or find us on facebook or an e-mail. president obama was asked about the militarization of the police force. [video clip] about of the great things the united states has been our ability to maintain a distinction between our military .nd domestic law enforcement that helps preserve civil liberties. it helps ensure the military is accountable to civilian direction. that has to be preserved. , i think1

understandably a lot of folks saw communities that were ill-equipped for potential terrorist attacks. that they should have proper equipment to deal things that could arise in local communities. some law enforcement did not that they can operate in the midst of a disaster. some communities needed to be prepared if there was a chemical attack and they did not have hazmat suits. having said that, i think it is probably useful for us to review , howhe funding has gone local law enforcement has used

that dollars to make sure what they're purchasing is stuff that they actually need. there is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred. that would be contrary to our traditions. asking --ident obama abouting a question whether law enforcement has become too militarized. wrote about the problem --

joining us on the phone is daniel neuhauser. , "congress isece not ending the pentagon to police weapons program anytime soon." how and when did the police forces become militarized? guest: this is been going on since the 1990 costs. -- 1990's. it has been tied to the so-called war on drugs. the national defense authorization act.

four point $3 billion worth of military equipment has been transferred to local police forces -- $4.3 billion worth of military equipment has been transferred to local police forces. host: what types of equipment are we talking about? guest: all types. the bulk of it is non-weaponize to equipment. computers, all kinds of tools that makes it easier for the police to do high-tech kinds of jobs. be left out that there are also long guns, military style weapons, humvees, even a tank or two. host: given the situation in ferguson, what are lawmakers saying about what should be done? guest: this is the thing.

more than ever before, this program is being reevaluated. there is already a bill in the house that is going to be put forth next month to limit the kinds of military equipment that local police forces can acquire. conyers and some of his colleagues wrote a letter to the committee chairman bob goodlatte asking that he convene hearings. host: you broke up their little but at the end. little bit at the end. guest: the house has already passed a version. takeenate said they will

up some kind of legislation re-examining the program. to me, it is unclear whether the house would accept something like that. i talked to a spokesman for republicans. program, saying it saves money. it protects taxpayers and law enforcement men and women. tends to be softer radios, uniforms, office supplies. maybe there will be some kind of measure to limit the kinds of heavy military equipment that the local police forces can acquire, but on the whole, this program is not going anywhere. host: put aside the pentagon program.

you also have homeland security grants that have gone out to rural communities across the country, urban areas. they say the federal government needs to give me grant money to beef up my police force because of a potential terrorist situation. how do those grants add to this situation? guest: it certainly adds to the pocketbooks of local police forces. it has been an equal amount of discussion about how the war on terrorism affects local communities. communitiesry small that have disproportionately large munitions and vehicles for the potential threat that any kind of terrorism act faces. will probably see

some talk about that and some reevaluation of that as well. you have high placed groups defending these law enforcement , friends of the fraternal order of police have been critical of president obama's response. the nra has yet to weigh in. it will be interesting to see what kind of response they have. whether it becomes an issue of disarmament or they toe the libertarian line like rand paul. host: what is the fraternal order of police saying? basically that obama has been too critical of the in this thingons that happened in ferguson. he has been too critical of

the officers and their response when he should be sticking up for them. host: thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: let me get your take on all of this. is the police force becoming too militarized? robin new york. -- bob in new york. democratic caller. caller: thank you for c-span. it may be the case in new york city. it may be the case all over the country that police forces are becoming more and more militarized. here in new york, we need a heavily armed police force. i believe they're called the hercules police here in the city. they're more aggressive and can respond to more aggressive situations. as far as what happened in

ferguson, i don't know the population. as far as small towns are concerned, obviously, they don't need what we have here in the city. i did hear one report a few months back where they use the rated -- obtaining up upgraded fire trucks. i don't agree with that spending. mo, republican caller. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. good morning. make senset doesn't to me when they talk about all of this militarized equipment and they are using it in situations like ferguson. that is not a terrorist situation going on. it is a black thing.

-- won't understand until you are a black man in this country. the racial divide is so deep-rooted. until we get to the point where the baby boomers die out -- the younger generation of white folks are really tolerant of black folks. the racial divide is still deep-rooted. i like what the president said yesterday. it is all about the history of this country. people still don't look at black people as equal. i've been beaten up more than six times. the cops just treat you how they want to treat you and talk to you like you are trash. i'm scared of the police. host: let me bounce this off of you.

"of ferguson and falluja." go to the . paragraph.

do you agree with that? that this is an issue of having the perception of order. caller: let me tell you. all of that is all good. is thatm telling you poverty unlike of opportunity -- -- thereof opportunity are limits. i am grateful i'm educated and have a career.

once they get a record, the system is so organized. conviction, they cannot vote, they can i get a good job. i see black folks come on tv. will move onto staten island. democratic caller. what do you think? our police forces to militarized? toore police forces militarized? are.r: i believe they people just don't know their history. a little over 100 years ago, new york city alone had so many riots. these were not african-americans. -- the newt invent york city draft riots by ira

bernstein and the efforts in new ellis.ty by edward robb when the people were in poverty, these were the irish and the germans, they ride it for four or five days. they robbed, looted, stole everything. and went into orphanages stole the sheets on the pillowcases and mattresses. host: lamarr, st. louis missouri. caller: am i on? host: yes. caller: thank you for c-span. i want to talk about how the police are using way too much force. i was outside and the cop told me if i didn't stop that he would strike me. host: jamie, indianapolis. independent. caller: i was wanting to call. i'm going to talk about this

today on my radio show. i'm glad c-span is talking about it. i do believe that what we see isng on in missouri basically experimenting with the new equipment and toys that the police force have as a result of the surplus coming from recent wars we have been in. out there changing tactics everyday. they are obviously not trained properly to deal with the situation. i cannot understand that. to the detriment of the black community, i think that the police are willing to use extra paramilitary and gestapo attack x -- tactics to try to do crowd control. any simpleminded, honest person has to be truthful. if due process is done, these people don't have a reason to protest. if they allow the community to see that they are actually trying to serve justice and

search for the truth, as opposed to coming out there and confrontational mode dressed in go inar gear -- when you somewhere looking for a war, you might get it. it will really set it off when the police are national guard killed x person who is protesting. person who is protesting. it don't happen anywhere except in the black community. ask you about the bret stephens column about the broken windows method. you need to have order in a community because without it bad guys respond to these environments by acting badly. good people stay off the streets, boulter doors, move out. bolt their doors, move

out. there is disorder in ferguson. what do you think? caller: i think that is a diversionary way to ignore talking about what is important here. instead of talking about the black community needs to fix the windows, let us address that you are likely to get killed if you are an unarmed black man by law enforcement that is supposed to serve and protect us.

they take a confrontational attitude toward the black community. statistics do not have anything to do with the core of the matter. we have a young, innocent black man who was killed. we have seen it all before. it seem like you deserve to die. that is not working. host: we are asking you to weigh in on whether police forces have become too militarized. president obama was asked about it yesterday. he weighed in on the situation in iraq and in ferguson. the aclu put out this statement.

people have needlessly died during raids. homes have been ravaged. our neighborhoods are not war zones and police officers should not be treating us like wartime enemies. that is the aclu. the "washington times" weighed in on this. the national guard is better trained to use the big guns in missouri. three years ago, the department on aucation led an assault mobile home.

we are asking all of you about police forces in the country. too militarized? republicans, (202) 585-3881. democrats, (202) 585-3880 indepe. independents, (202) 585-3882. law enforcement, (202) 585-3883. good morning to you. caller: good morning.

thanks for c-span. the police hasat become too militarized. especially in ferguson. it is supposed to be community policing. it is supposed be protect and serve. assestse these military and they want to use them on whoever and however they think that they should. they need training. if you are going to give them those high-powered ammunitions and guns and machines, they need to be retrained. you just cannot give it to anyone and put it on the community. those people in ferguson are oftesting the brutal killing someone's child. 17-year-old child.

six shots. one in the head and one in the face. six shots. that is unnecessary. for anyone. host: independent caller in fairview, tennessee. caller: these liberal democrats going on about it being white racism. man, 60% of the whites voted for obama twice. bringing down the culture and bringing down education and everything else. it shows that the liberal are ignorant and arrogant. let's go back to the first caller. they were trying to compare them

to the brownshirts of fascist italy and nazi germany. we have all of these goons emerging out of the epa and irs. emerging out of the district of corruption. it used to be known as the district of columbia. we need to take this military equipment and use it against the federal goons. host: a congressman from arkansas who is running against democrat mark pryor this november put up this statement.

that is coming from tom cotton running for senate in arkansas. we told you that president obama started out the news conference talking about iraq and saying that the airstrikes helped the iraqi and kurdish forces with their biggest victory yet against isis. here is the president yesterday. [video clip] >> my goal is to make sure we have a viable partner. that is why we have so consistently emphasized the need

for a government formation process that is inclusive, credible, legitimate, and that can appeal to sunnis and shias and kurds. we have made significant progress on that front, but we are not there yet. but told my national security team today that we want to continue to communicate to put -- politicians of all stripes in iraq, don't think this is because we have engaged in airstrikes that now is the time to let the foot off the gas and return to the same kind of dysfunction that has so weekend the country generally -- weakend the country generally. obama hails their victory. -- air victory.

also, the headline that the u.s. expands campaign against the islamic state. experts say hundreds of airstrikes per day are needed. quoted.er generals were they say that the u.s. military will need to conduct hundreds of airstrikes per day to gain leverage over the islamic state.

also this morning, here is usa today. "how far should the u.s. go in iraq?" says that thel u.s. bears responsibility to do something. it goes onto say that americans who see responsibility to act are worried about a responding -- expanding commitment. that theore concerned u.s. will go too far in getting involved. concernthat the greater is that the u.s. will not go far enough. , 54%, approve of the airstrikes. that is a bit lower than support of nato airstrikes in kosovo in 1999.

that is from "usa today." the wall street journal calls the airstrikes and the a smalling of the dam victory. more u.s. forces will be needed, that is the opinion of the "wall street journal" editorial board. shifting policy on iraq. cameronitical of david shifting his policy. the weakness of his overall security strategy cannot be ignored.

that is the "financial times." donald, republican caller. our police forces becoming too militarized? caller: i don't think so. i think they should act if the crowd gets out of hand and starts smashing and destroying people's property. they have to keep them under control. that is my thought. anthony, mark so, louisiana. what do you think? caller: good morning. i think police forces across america are getting too militarized. say thatlot of people we need this. i don't think so. when you are black, you get stopped for a seatbelt, your car get searched. , they had police

everywhere, people pointing guns at them. if that would've been a bunch of black people pointing guns at police, it would have been a bloodbath. host: vic, independent caller. caller: i don't think they're too militarized. they talk about assault weapons. people can have them in their homes. , theseer thing protesters also they are peaceful. if i met a demonstration and then people begin to throw rocks and bottles, i'm going to leave. that cop is guilty. i want that guy to get the death penalty just like anybody else. it is like a plane crash. not many black people are shot. but it is wrong and it does happen. the thing is, the president

should come on and tell us that anybody begins to become unruly and the crowd, they are going to feel the full weight of the united states government and the national guard, just like we did in the 1960's. host: mike. caller: there is one word everybody keeps forgetting about. it is called this respect. the younger generation have no respect for any law or law enforcement person. those people are out there trying to let these people march. you take that highway patrol, that captain, what he said during the church meeting. yet, those people go out there, they have the mob mentality, it just takes one or two to start walking tour the store, break and enter. everybody goes, what the hell. let's go do it anyway. this younger generation has to understand that there are laws

in this country. they don't see it that way. host: on the national guard. the front page of "usa today." the national guard did not bring order or piece -- did not bring peace. however necessary, sending in is typically an admission of failure that becomes as much of a part of the community's stigma as the violence it's designed to stop.

also, inside the new york times on the national guard. the governor of missouri emphasized that the national guard role would be specific.

this is from the "washington post." this assignment requested by the governor fits squarely within the traditional mission of the national guard. the domestic environment that the guard anderson ferguson has changed. rich, tennessee, independent. caller: thanks for taking my call. host: you bet. caller: there is no need for local forces to have armed carriers and armored vehicles. much force does tend to be provocative in a , althoughlike this

businesses and citizens do need to be protected. if i can make one other comment. all kinds of calls over the last few days. a lot of blatantly stereotypical statements from both sides. i hear about the black community, i don't hear about the red, yellow, round, white communities. i did hear a wonderful comment from someone who said that if there are 67% american africans who make up the populace and if they perceive the need for black police officers and that is a cause of division, then they should elect a black mayor, a city council, a board of mayor, erman, who will appoint more minority officers. vote.e power of the

litchfield, new hampshire. republican caller. caller: i have been seeing for a few years. it seems like they are going a little bit overboard in some of the equipment they're getting. it made the local news in new hampshire about militarization. a couple of years later, they ,ave driven it 12 miles total but they can't get rid of it. they got the grant money to get it and they are stuck with it.

we will keep taking your phone calls. we have time for a handful more. eric holder has been dispatched to ferguson, missouri. inside the "washington post," they write that civil rights leaders said they were pleased by the administration's escalating response. having the attorney general visit the site is extra rare.

three autopsies. a couple more of your phone calls. first, we want to let you know what else is in the news. president obama is weighing immigration action. this is from the "wall street journal." is expected to announce executive actions after labor day to refine deportation priorities and potentially expand a program that gives safe harbor and work programs to qualifying illegal immigrants. the new york times editorial board weighing in against the lawsuit against texas governor perry saying, is his bad judgment really a crime?

there is a primary today in alaska. all eyes will be on the republican who will be taking on the democratic senator in november. the outlook is murky in the alaska primary. learned of the passing of senator james jeffords. he was 80 years old. he walked away from the gop during his final term he switched to independent. that's which powered the senate to the democrats. -- that switch powered the diamond -- senate to the democrats. we have covered senator jeffords throughout his career.

hee is him announcing that would change his party affiliation from republican to independent. [video clip] >> in order to best represent vermont, my own conscious, and principles i have stood for my whole life, i will leave the republican party and become an independent. host: that was the former senator, jim jeffords, who died yesterday at the age of 80. that put the control of the senate in the hands of the democrats, when he switched his party. we are getting your thoughts on whether or not police forces have become too militarized in the country. we also want to show you this. a picture yesterday of holy and castro -- julian castro. he was sworn in by vice president biden to become the

next hud secretary. in on officially sworn july 28. this is a ceremonial swearing-in at the white house with the vice president. we will go to al in minnesota. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. their question about the police usertments -- i would just this as a prime example, if you look very carefully at the facts, you can see the storeowners in that town have had their stores looted, robbed. the storeowner was roughed up by the man who was shot eventually. no one talks about that. police departments could not

whene the mobs of people storeowners called repeatedly to different law enforcement , yet that is what they pay their taxes for. goingmeowners are not along with these riots. they are scared to come out of their own homes. the local clear that law enforcement cannot handle those numbers of individuals. these are not protesters. these are individual committing criminal acts that the law enforcement cannot handle. if you look at detroit, michigan, you can see the same thing happening. we need to have a law enforcement that is capable of stopping this type of out-of-control violence and robbery. with the news media is trying to portray it as. people are not quietly protesting.

host: it is that night that there is a small minority is what the news reports have said. caller: you call that a small minority. hello? host: i'm saying that's what news reports are saying out of ferguson. caller: i have family members that live just inside of that city area. said stories completely different. we are not talking small numbers. the people doing the looting and robbing our hundreds of individuals. if you only have 12-15 local police officers, how can they stop?ly host: got your point. independent caller in maryland. caller: good morning. context, put in proper [indiscernible]

the practice of the police department of white police officers shooting white -- like unarmed kids. -- black unarmed kids. you don't have black police officers shooting white kids. you need to make sure they are thoroughly trained or don't have weapons because they are incompetent. you can go ahead and talk about black on black crime. you are not talking about the practice of white police officers shooting unarmed black kids. another thing i want to talk about is the militarization of the police. you are talking about disarming american citizens and they want to militarized the police.

have roles of mercenaries instead of peace officers. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] -- last thing i want to say i put this thing together. , iook at the boston bombing look at the trayvon martin thing , i look at this one right here that themilarity is police did the same thing up in boston when the ship down the downand had on -- shook the town and forced people out of their homes without a warrant and had a military gear.

the media said it was a gun shootout. the kid was unarmed and hiding in a boat. the other similarity i see is with trayvon martin. they gave him the right to kill him. similarities and i see this as the government or secret government orchestrating this. onceprotect the race file -- violence. another quick headlines. hillary clinton and bill clinton will be attending the annual steak fry in iowa.

this is on september 14. front page of the financial times. leave assange will soon the ecuadorian embassy or he has been holed up for more than two years seeking refuge from prosecution. his confinement has affected his health. that picture is in the "financial times." coming up next, we will turn our attention slightly to the administration's handling of the situation in ferguson, missouri, as well as foreign-policy challenges for the president. our series on the great society continues later today. we will talk with the current president and ceo of the corporation for public broadcasting.

we will be right back. ♪ here is a great read to add to your summer reading list. a collection of stories from some of the nation's most influential people. >> i always knew there was a risk in the bohemian. i decided to take it because whether it is illusion or not, i don't think it is. it helped my concentration. it stopped me being bored, it stopped other people being boring too, -- to some extent. moment.ced the what i do it again? the answer is probably yes. easy for me to say.

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we should subsidize, then put it on the balance sheet and make it clear and make it evident. make everybody aware how much it is costing. when you deliver it through the third bharti enterprises, fannie mae and freddie mac, when you deliver the subsidies through public company with private whoeholders and executives can extract a lot of the subsidy for themselves, that is not a very good way of subsidizing homeownership. a few of the 41 engaging stories in "sundays at eight." now available at your favorite bookseller. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we're back with dan berman , the white house editor for "politico." dealing with ferguson. the headline, "obama shuns emotional rescue."

what do you make of what the president had to say yesterday? guest: it was very interesting. he had spoken out more and more about his experiences with race. he said, if i had a son, it would have looked like trayvon martin. yesterday, he did not go in that direction. he spoke more generally about the need for more piece, the need for people to protest, the need for the media to be able to cover the events. that therey candidly are some people who committed crimes and should be arrested. it is not a zero-sum game. he did not go into the personal direction. that was very striking because he has done that before. my brother'st keeper, this initiative he has spearheaded. he presented it more like an administration program and not something that he really put a

lot of time and effort into. he has had people from my brother's keeper to the white house a couple of times. he said this was something i would have benefited from being raised without a father. that was striking. he told kids from my brother's keeper that he made mistakes, he smoked pot, that sort of thing. he was not saying anything like that yesterday. [video clip] i have to be very careful about not prejudging these events before investigations are completed because, although these are issues of local of thection come department of justice works for me and they are conducting an investigation and i have to make sure that i don't look like i am putting my thumb on the scales one way or the other.

it is hard for me to address a while making sure that it is conducted in a way that it is transparent, where there is accountability, where people can trust the process, hoping that as a consequence of fair and just process, you end up with a fair and just outcome. host: are people looking for more from the president? is the african-american community? is something we have seen more and more in the response. is thesay, where emotional response? paulo people like rand have a more emotional response? they have spoken more about the issue of race in america. here is a technical response. the president is sending eric holder to missouri tomorrow.

told people yesterday that the justice department had interviewed 200 people in and around ferguson. they're getting some results. people are more likely to tell the justice department what happened or their version of events than the told local police. this is a very technical response. it is what the administration is doing. is notsident said he going to prejudge local issues. the largerading into issue of race relations in america. that is striking. he is the first african-american president and he has spoken about this before and there is an amount of the population that is looking for him to say and lead this discussion. one of the papers says that civil rights leaders are satisfied with the president, that he is taking this step, sending the attorney general. guest: absolutely.

he has gotten the justice department involved. there has been criticism of the way the local police in missouri have handled the case since day one. this is something the justice department can do. terms of a technical response, this is absolutely something the white house can do and they say the president is going in the right direction. host: what does congress say about the situation in ferguson? they are not here. they're in the districts fund raising. the people representing missouri have been out there urging calm. make sure that the situation does not explode or get worse. in general, there has not been too much of a response. everyone is out in their

districts. they are focused on reelection. more on that than on these issues. you could question what do they ?eally have to benefit there are some members who are going to say the rhetoric we are used to, especially from the left. they will call for calm and say we need to have this discussion. people talking about bills to limit the militarization of police. in general, there has not been a giant human cry from congress. they are not here. they are not all in one place for us to go and get votes from. -- quotes from. host: here is a statement yesterday. blunt talk to the

president yesterday. what about the optics here? should president obama go to ferguson missouri? is the white house considering that? guest: he did not answer that directly. there is going to be little political benefit for him to go there. what exactly is he going to do in ferguson, missouri that he cannot do from washington or martha's vineyard, in terms of

speaking out on the issue? he is sending eric holder there for the parallel investigation. community. if there isnow still this going on, people just really want to hear from him directly, you can see the president going out there. but right now, it is in the local law enforcement hands. it is in the hands of the state police and the hands of the justice department. president obama isn't going to go out there and raise up his hand and solve all the issues here. phone calls. go to republican, tennessee. go ahead. caller: the right to petition. effective. two people have the right to petition continuously and shut down traffic? what about the people who had been shot? who are they?

who -- have any of the people who shot them been arrested? have policeman in ferguson ever killed an individual before in the line of duty? thank you very much. host: our guest dan berman is the white house editor for politico, so not here to answer those type of questions. you should the sentiment behind those questions. people are wondering, what happened in ferguson? what are the details? how does that reverberate in washington and affect policy? guest: it reverberates. we saw the arrest of two d.c.-based reporters. we sought last night in a brief arrest of a photographer. the governors have spoken out about the first amendment and the press's right to cover these events. there has been concern and

criticism over the right of people to protest. the first amendment protects the right to protest, the right to free speech. there has been criticism that that has something been cut off. , inerms of anything worse terms of criminal activity like looting, that sort of thing, police's, it is the responsibility to stop that and limit that however it can. host: politico has this headline --

kelly, chicago, democratic color. caller: good morning. i wish you all would have sniffed up behind's of other presidents like this one. when president obama made a statement about trayvon martin, the man on the scott and peach. he is damned if he do and damned if he don't. i heard this guy say rand paul made a stronger speech. rand paul could have said trayvon martin was his child and they would not say anything. my main topic is, the people down in ferguson have watched over time how you people just sit up here and nitpick at this president and whatever he do. what is the difference between ferguson and nevada? when that guy bundy was up there

stealing and still stealing his --tle, millions of dollars malicious. came up there and pointed guns at the police. the police did not go back and get in armored tanks and riot gear. black people are tired of this. they are tired of being stereotyped. bundy should be in jail right now and every one of those militias should be looking for them and putting them in jail. while you down there messing with these people? host: dan berman? guest: the white house will agree with you on the first point. they know the president is going to be criticized no matter what he does. if he goes on vacation, people will say, why is he going on vacation when there are problems in the world? when he's on vacation, he has coming occasions. he is not like you are i were he can leave his phone behind and just be with this family

quietly. the white house sees this all the time. they would agree, look, can the president is going to be criticized. people are going to nitpick at his responses. it is part of what they are used to. they would say that. on thebundy situation, the feeling you're expressing is something that has come up more and more as what happens in ferguson goes on. the obvious comparison of the way bundy was treated and the way malicious came up there and the way the federal government back down as opposed to what is happening here. they're not entirely equal ofuations, but that question the federal response, the armored response or lack thereof, what we're seeing here. host: republican line. the people with

the bundy incident, i don't think they righted and looted and pillaged and burned this misses down. that is a big difference. secondly, president obama speaks about my brother's keeper. what about my son's keeper or my daughter's keeper? i'm a good parent. that is a hallmark of being a good brother's keeper. i wish you would preach that. a question for your guest. over the last 6.5 years, didn't the obama administration sort of provide a lot of these tanks and paramilitary weapons to police departments and so forth through different mechanisms of dispersing at? host: we talked about that. the program dates back to the 1990's before the obama administration. guest: absolutely. this is something that we've seen the response in ferguson that we have the president mentioning it, eric holder talking and kind of questioning out loud whether or this program has gonetoo far,

overboard. yesterday, the president mentioned, look, part of the reason this program has gone on and picked up steam after 9/11 is there was legitimate concern and communities about how to respond to terrorist activity. the idea of having this type of equipment, having this type of training was something that was valuable. -- this isr something congress, when they come back in september, there will be discussion about this, about whether this program needs to continue and continue at the level it is at. it will be interesting to see what members of congress say. it will be interesting to see what the reaction is from police around the country. police chiefs will say, look, we need this type of equipment. we see the various threats that the police see and they want to be a little respond.

they don't want to put officers in harm's way because they are undermanned. host: winchester, virginia, democrat. caller: good morning. presidentgure how the could have said anything else than what he said. he is concerned. he is worried about it. he is sending eric holder. my concern is, if one person gets shot, it is going to be a bloodbath. and it is just going to be unforgivable. host: ok. all right, richard. is criticized if he does, criticized if he doesn't. guest: absolutely. the white house is used to this. there started discounting some of the criticism knowing they're going to be attacked from either side. in ferguson, the police have made a point in saying they are not hiring live ammunition at

protesters. there has always been tear gas. there has been use of rubber bullets. but in terms of gunshots, it is been coming from the crowd. there is been other activity coming from the crowd. but again, this is one problem the white house has is president the local police chief. the president can only say so much and do so much in terms of the technical response. this is the justice department job. he has put them in charge since ends eric holder down there. the criticism or what people are 'sying or missing from obama reaction yesterday was that personal connection. it was striking because he has made that personal connection previously. host: we're talking with dan berman about foreign policy and

domestic challenges for this president. the president breaking away from his vacation on martha's vineyard yesterday, coming back to washington for two days. do we know why? guest: this is stuff the white house has been secretive about the whole time. they announced before he went to martha's vineyard over to go saturday that he would be coming back for two days of meetings -- host: before ferguson? before ferguson, before iraq. they've been kind of like on why the president was back here. phone servicehas and communications. eric holder was briefing the president on ferguson last week. administration officials up there in martha's vineyard. he came back here and is leaving again this afternoon, back for another week in martha's vineyard. but the white house hasn't and said, here is the big reason why the president came back. host: greenville, tennessee,

independent caller. , is there question is a possibility -- i'm going to go all the way back to the o.j. simpson verdict. the evidence there was overwhelming of guilt, yet he was acquitted. anywherea possibility in the solar system here that there is reverse discrimination? they use every excuse in the black community to loot and commit crimes against businesses in their own communities. this makes no sense at all. it makes absolutely zero cents. host: republican collar, new york. caller: good morning. in regards to president obama and what he is doing. he has done too little, too late in regard to the ferguson issue.

sharptonkson and out keep sticking their noses in where they should not be. they keep stirring the pot. if anyone is going to be arrested, they ought to be arrested and thrown in jail. host: what do you think the president should do? caller: militarize the police officers more and start using force against these blacks. it is a lot of nonsense and it has got to stop, otherwise you're going to have k ross -- chaos just like in iraq. host: democratic collar, georgia. caller: all of this talk about the certain things, but i was wondering what about cliven bun dy? he still over a million dollars from the government. you continue to show pictures of him taking a couple of cigars. he stole millions of dollars from the federal government, they went back to his ranch and

had the militia pointing at the police. why was her nothing else done against cliven bundy who still it is the federal government and you can downplay the story about this boy? explain it to me. host: dan berman, what do you think? this is the second call with you. that sentiment earlier today, comparing the two situations. talks absolutely. the situation i would not say are actually equal, but this is a question that continues to come up is the treatment of cliven bundy, a rancher in nevada, versus what is happening in ferguson. with clive and bundy, what happened originally was, to the federal government, bureau of land management go in and try to collect his debt and he basically holed up and there's a

standoff. here you had an incident with the local police and it was the local police, the county and eventually the state that have been handling it. it only came later that the justice department came in and said, all right, we're going to have this parallel investigation , conductor own autopsy and look at it again, this incident through the lens of civil rights as opposed to just a criminal investigation. host: let's talk about foreign-policy challenges. the president using the news conference yesterday to talk about air strikes in iraq saying with u.s. help with these airstrikes, kurdish and iraqi forces were able to score the biggest victory, recapturing that iraqi dam in mosul. what does the president say and what is the next move in iraq? do we hear from him what that is?

host: from the president point of view, the next move is still to ensure that iraq has a stable government, that is able to control its own territory and take on isil without u.s. military assistance. obviously, it is in the u.s. interest to try and limit isil's activities. the control of the dam was a very large concern. the u.s. acted in that regard. it is interesting with iraq, there was a lot of talk when he first announced u.s. military thursday andek ago then as it has gone on, people of in talking about ferguson and the conversation has moved on. you could argue u.s. military activities have been remarkably successful, but that has been off the map at the moment.

president obama talks about the iraqi government and the need for the iraqi people to take charge of the situation. int: when lawmakers return september, there has been some talk the president will need to go to congress to get authority for continued airstrikes in iraq and/or expanding the military operation there. guest: there has been talk about that so far the white house -- you know, they haven't done that . depending on which member of congress is more hawkish, we will say, the president doesn't need extra congressional approval to act there. it really is going to depend, well, if -- and the president has repeatedly said we're not going to send ground troops back, we are not going to reinvade, we will not see anything on the level of what we decade.he last thoughts of that, well, maybe going back to congress.

at the moment, the white house is planning to go back there. there will always been members of congress to matter what the president or for policy will say, we need to be consulted and we need to approve this. usually consultation works in keeping the armed services committee, intelligence committees in the loop does that. with members of congress out, it is much harder to do that. it is hard to do the classified briefings were you close the doors of the senate and a few senior defense and intelligence officials say what is going on. host: by the way, in syria, the headline us money, "the washington post" and other papers --

if you're interested in that .eries, go to c-span.org you can find it there on our website. wisconsin, independent caller. caller: hello, peace be with you. in the world, there is multicolor's. trees, flowers, etc. in reference to humans, there is no color. man bleeds red. all men. we need to stop the racial stigmas. we need to come together and stop falling apart. president talked about having a discussion on race in this country. that progress has been made, but not enough. absolutely. maybe the president decided this is not the time to really delve in to that more. he has done that before and he did it again with trayvon martin, specifically. he has spoken about the feeling

of being followed around suspiciously in a store as a black man and with a suspicion of, is he there to steal something or cause harm? soon for theoo president to really get into this. august the, tensions and ferguson are very raw. we spoke out about trayvon martin, it had been a while after the not guilty verdict in florida. host: marietta, georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning, everyone. i think this is really a joke. how is it a truckload of black ice drive up to a police barricade with their hands up and there happens to be one guy sitting in the back of the truck with a molotov cocktail. the state police guys have been complaining about molotov cocktails and all of a sudden, they get one driven right up to

them. police plants. you're dealing with a bunch of dummies running around with shorts and t-shirts and no jobs. host: robert, maryland, republican caller. caller: good morning. politico, do you guys lay more left or right? we go down the middle. we get criticized from the left as being called a right-wing publication. we get criticized from the right as being called a left-wing publication. that means we're doing a very good job. there is no value for us to be seen as right or left. we want to be seen as a kind of go to publication here in washington. and if you go buy us, either way you lose part of your audience and credibility. we think we go right down the

middle. caller: what about harry reid? have you written an in-depth article on harry reid like how he always holds up bills and how is shading dealings in nevada and his chronic capitalism? guest: absolutely. we cover here he read, the senate majority leader, the top person here. in terms of holding up bills, this has been a major issue. we're talking about the house passes lots of bills and many of them you could argue our message bills. but harry reid has really helped the white house in terms of holding things up. the filibuster romans it is very difficult to get a consistence -- rule means it is very difficult to get a consensus. facing tough votes. divisive votes. harry reid is a big deal at the moment. we have a story today -- reid

has spent so much time talking about the koch brothers, making them the villain saying look, they are funding a conservative party and spending billions of dollars on ads. what we ever reported today is that reid and the koch brothers are both gearing up for reid's potential reelection campaign in 2016. you're going to see a lot of the issues that you mention come up. the way he is running the senate and that has also come up in other senate races. the republicans will say, look, if you're reelected mark acreage, you're only helping harry reid and barack obama. the republicans and conservatives have talked about how reid lives in the ritz carlton here when he is in d.c. reid will emphasize his nevada roots and growing up poor.

absolutely, reid is this fascinating figure. host: alexandria, louisiana, democratic caller. you are on the air. caller: yes, i would just like to know, we have issues in america, that lacks are not really treated like people. i would like to know, is murder wrong and should the murderer be taken into custody immediately? would this happen to any other nationality in america besides blacks? crimehe perpetrator of a is not apprehended immediately? i would just like to know, why is it that when something happened to the black community that there is no response, little response, and this is why we're having all of these issues of the demonstrations and stuff going on, the riots going on. it is unfair that blacks have to

to sit and wait for justice to come to them. and it seems like it is forever coming and never really coming. host: wanda, are you happy or satisfied the president is sending attorney general eric holder to do a parallel investigation? i'm satisfied about that. but my point is, why should it even have to come to that? is murder really murder in america? host: dan berman is the white house editor for politico, not in a position to answer that this morning. living on to an independent collar from pennsylvania. caller: i'm sorry to say mr. bermna but one mistake. he called the bundy affair a standoff. it was not a standoff. it was appointed loaded gun at federal officers by group of people in the course of their duty and therefore, this is a federal crime, a felony. here is the time to bring in all

your troops and try to do something so it is not like waco . it is a specific federal crime that everyone knew about. in this case, all they had to do was arrest him and there would have been no protests. no one sees that. all they keep doing is firing on people. the most interesting thing is, if you throw a rock at a protester and hit a policeman, you can arrest him. but you can shoot a guy six times in the chest and nobody arrest him. that is the disgrace. host: dan berman, what about the investigation? what role can the attorney general play here? you heard it in those two phone calls about this issue of justice. guest: well, the justice department obviously has far local lawrces than a enforcement. there are also coming in without

you know, there officer was not involved. they are coming in with the mission of talking with as many people as possible, of getting to the bottom of this. they have that mission. they can also look at it through , whethernt lens violation of civil rights -- again, that is what the justice department can bring. eric holder has told people that it is already getting results in terms of people on the ground saying more to justice department investigators than they were to local police. this goes to the larger issue and some brought it up, trust in local police and trust and local officers. people, in this case you may just trust -- may just trust the justice department more. host: they're doing interviews

and investigating. on twitter -- robert, louisiana. caller: you know the ted bundy thing when the monster came out with the guns and put them on the federal officials? i wonder what would happen if all of those black people were armed themselves and come out there just like they did over thosein nevada with militias and all the guns pointed at officers out there? i wonder what would happen if we just called for black people just you are more self. go on and are more so. don't loot, arm yourself. host: we have heard this comparison by quite a few callers this morning. where did you first hear this comparison? caller: it was on nationwide news when the militia had those train -- train --

host: i'm going to leave it there because you have to turn the tv down. paul, boston, independent collar. caller: we got in a confrontation -- regarding the confrontation in ferguson, i don't know whether it is considered that it may be more important to know rather than , national origin, or race of the individual as his size, the fact he was apparently 6'4", 292 pounds. host: you think he posed a threat? caller: if an officer is outweighed by an individual bio 100 pounds and there's a confrontation, that i think that the size of the individual involved is important. let's talk about what the president does next. he has back to martha's vineyard. how long is he therefore and

what happens next as far as executive orders possibly from this administration? guest: the president is going back to martha's vineyard for the week will stop what is happening next in terms of the presidency, we're looking toward immigration and what the white house is going to do there. the president has said for most of the summer, look, congress isn't going to act. there's not one of the conference of immigration reform this year. that was kind of the view going into the year. he said, look, i'm going to take whatever action i can. the white house has been meeting with a lot of groups, stakeholders, business groups to look at what exactly the president can do. obviously, there are limits to what you can do without congressional action. at the white house has posed questions what it can do legally and politically, if the president takes the most action he can. is are going to be backlash?

there is guenevere problem perhaps for the democratic senate candidates in tough races. the president doesn't want to do too much to hurt them because he doesn't want to lose the senate. there are these two calculations the white house is making. we thought this would come in august. it is already the leading possibly into september -- bleeding into september. some are saying, let's wait until after election day's a you won't have the same political backlash that hurts democratic candidates. the white house is doing a lot of meetings and try to put together a plan, but they're not quite there yet. host: dan berman with little go, thank you for your time. coming up, we're going to be switching gears and turning our attention to lyndon johnson's vision for great society. atre doing a series looking that every day in the specific legislation that