elections. with representative donna edwards from maryland. executive vice president and provost joseph steinmetz. welcome to the washington journal. julia service director pearson will face a lot of questions today about how to deal with intruders. there. have our cameras a lot of coverage here on c-span at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. the fight against isis dominating the news. 35 days to go before the midterm elections. we begin this morning with which party do you trust on national security? democrats, (202) 585-3880. republicans, (202) 585-3881.

independents and all others, (202) 585-3882. you can also send us a tweet or go to facebook.com/cspan or send us an e-mail. we will get your thoughts in just a minute. politico has this headline in the newspapers this morning about the midterm elections. run as warves hawks." she is quoted as saying we need to get out of iraq in a responsible way. she declared in may of that year. say that goes on to out of iraqng get in 2008, but she is now being more tough on this issue of serious saying that the coalition needs to come together -- issue of syria saying that

the coalition needs to come together. more strongly supportive of airstrikes against the islamic state of iraq. host of democratic senate hopefuls will vote antiwar sentiment into office, running for reelection now.

which party do you trust on national security? democrats, (202) 585-3880. republicans, (202) 585-3881. independents and all others, (202) 585-3882. we want to get to your thoughts in this -- on this. the phone lines are open. we have ads to show you as well from the campaign. the republican speaker of the house and state legislature put out this ad on isis. president obama refers to the islamic state as a jv team. days later, the armed services committee hold a hearing on new global threats. -- while isisagan group, obama kept waiting and kay hagan cap quiet. -- cap quiet. -- kept quiet.

we have to change our senator. host: that in north carolina. she responded through a spokesperson saying this -- that's how it's playing out in north carolina. if you go to the polling place on november -- how are you going to vote? which party are you going to trust with national security issues? brian in iowa. independent caller. i don't trust any of the

parties considering the fact, i believe we ourselves created these terrorists. host: are you going to vote, brian? we lost brian. we go to william in florida. republican caller. i think the republicans would have been better. not too long ago that john at one ofe a comment the hearings up there. all they were doing was sending 10 trucks to syria. he is the interventionist. it would have been good a couple of years earlier when we were seeing these terrible crimes. we could have been building up the moderates over there in syria. betterey would really be

when we need them. democrats just kind of turned a blind eye. look at germany. how many years we kept servicemen in germany. we should have kept at least 20,000 in iraq. host: do you think john mccain was right that we should have gone into syria earlier? caller: what i meant -- he criticized -- all we were sending was 10 trucks. been sending a lot more arms to these people before these different militias gained power as time went on. it's gotten more corrupt and corrupt. host: danny in west virginia. democratic caller. who do you trust?

caller: i definitely trust the democrats more because they think before they leap. isn't it interesting that every time there is election coming up , suddenly there is some kind of to send the we have troops somewhere and terrorists are going to come and murder us in our beds? we are getting suckered again. we have already spent $1 million. we will accomplish nothing over there. more people die from car accidents or get shot in chicago every day than have been killed in this stuff with isis. if muslims over there want to kill each other, i don't have a problem with that. host: what do you think the president's strategy on isis? caller: i think it's a mistake. we don't know who to support over there. friends one are our minute and our enemies 10 minutes later.

we give them weaponshey turn around and kill americans. host: are you going to go to the polls? are you going to vote against democrats because of this? caller: my own democrat -- democrats here in west virginia have to act the conservative in order to get elected. i'm going to be supporting democrats anyway. host: robert in alabama. republican caller. caller: good morning. all this rhetoric about the congressional and senate staffers who have resented the strategy to fight the isis over there, the military is the ones who's going to fight isis. people in congress all need to wake up and support our military a lot more than they have been.

time, when the republicans stood up to terrorism back when george bush was in office, he may not have had the best plan, but he did something and was very active and it took that head on. which is what obama is not doing today. host: who in the republican party do you trust on national security issues? trust -- the one i trust is gone. when irted harry cannon was in virginia. he was a good man for president and i'm surprised he's not running right now. host: look forward to 2016. of the republicans we have said are running or looking at running, who do you think is best on national security issues? caller: right now, i haven't

heard enough from any of them to make that call yet. feettill trying to get my wet on the republican candidates because i haven't seen any that stand out for me at. host: you've got rand paul, marco rubio talking about national security issues. caller: either one of those two candidates, if that's the only thing we have right now, i would be willing to listen to either one of them because they both are being very vocal about their opinions on what to do to move the country forward. isis, much just fighting but moving forward in a positive way and taking control of our world leadership. host: we take a look at cnn's new poll that they've been putting out over the last couple

of days. u.s. hawkish or dovish? this from the latest cnn poll. it also says that the trend between hawks and doves has remained markedly consistent over the years. the number of hawks range between 44-40 5% with a number of hawks slightly higher. in recent years, hovering around the 50% mark. 50% of americans view themselves as doves, defined in the poll is someone who believes the u.s. should rarely use military force. in memphis,estelle

tennessee. democratic caller. caller: independent caller. host: sorry about that. caller: that's ok. i don't know how this question could be. it's quite simple. we have a man in office that got bin laden. that wasn that party responsible did not know where he was. we have an administration that has rescued our people in the middle of the night. i feel like there is no comparison. i feel this administration is doing what needs to be done. i don't want to be a hawk. we have our own country to deal with. there is ank question. we need to deal with syria as best as we can. this is the best strategy. say,hate it when people

what's the president's plan? we have a lot of people across the board talking about what this man should and should not be doing. however, when someone needs to step up, he was the one that did it. i think we got what we voted for. host: john boehner on twitter had this to say referring to the 60 minutes interview the president did. that's a headline on many of the front pages this morning, including the new york times. this is an in-depth piece this morning in the new york times by peter baker and eric schmitt, looking at the many missteps in the assessment of the isis threat. the washington times also with the headline on this.

intel conflicts with obama narrative on the islamic state. despit we are talking about which party you trust on national security issues. ft -- here is what he had to say on twitter about whether or not congress should be coming back.

alexandria, virginia. independent caller. caller: i trust neither of the parties. neither one of them has done anything right for the past 25-30 years over there. themselvesst backing . for air force. folks should not be going over there willy-nilly to do that to keep people elected.

the people who are so hawkish are taking advantage of the killedar i veterans, when absolutely necessary. he said anyone who thinks war is glorious obviously never fought in one. i would like to see members of --h parties host: are you not going to vote in november? caller: of course i'm going to vote. host: is this -- tell me what you're going to do a november. -- in november. caller: i'm not simply going to vote for a republican or democrat. but i always vote. host: if there is a situation of war, which party do you think is better on that? on leading a war effort?

are you still there? ralph in battle creek, michigan. democratic caller. i don't think the republicans have any credibility whatsoever on war issues since the iraq war in 2003 eared why johnould be listening to mccain or lindsey graham who were costly crying for war. every little problem, they want to send troops. digare we listening to cheney who completely misrepresented the situation in iraq and manufactured this war? the republicans clamoring for war, you haven't paid for the last two wars in afghanistan or iraq. we are $17 trillion in debt. , then raisent war

taxes and reinstate the draft. we are certainly going to have to raise taxes for major military populations. i find they have zero credibility. host: for you, when you go to vote in november, what -- how big of an issue is war? this fight against isis for you? thatr: i'm not convinced isis is a direct threat to the united states. -- i think we are meddling. it looks like we are in nibbling around the edges. if somebody can make a case to me that isis is a major threat

do theynited states, have a navy or air force? how many troops do they have? case that can make a it's a direct threat -- i'm not convinced we should be going in at all. , we are going to have to pay for it with taxes and a real commitment by the country. congress should have an authorization of force. congress should be in on it as well. if the country wants to go to american people have to be for it and we have to raise taxes to pay for it. host: we are going to be talking --those members of congress two members of congress. we did this out

about the threat of isis -- tweeted this out about the threat of isis. the members of the intelligence committee have known about this .hreat of isis as well on this issue of what americans are going to support, the cnn poll says americans back airstrikes, but oppose the use of u.s. troops in iraq and syria. this from the latest cnn poll issued yesterday. ralph also mentioned the money. the washington post has some new numbers for us on how much this is costing to fight the islamic state. it will cost billions of dollars. the nine states has been between $780 million and nine at $30 hasion -- the united states

andt between $780 million $930 million. completing 201 airstrikes in iraq since august 8 and 50 in sincethis september 23 -- september 23.

allen in atlanta, georgia. republican caller. trust on national security issues? caller: good morning. frankly, i do not trust either party. they are liars who say whatever is necessary to get reelected. side is about to do what in the middle east is the only solution to isis, which is actually get behind the syrian army. they won't do that because it's embarrassing to do that. on the groundarmy that can defeat isis and push them into iraq.

it's allegedly called the iraqi army. they won't do it because it's embarrassing to our government. we have a president who is just who got thecutout job as president. ways trying to dance his out of the presidency and retire so somebody else will have to deal with this mess. host: can i ask you about the senate georgia race there? do you plan to vote for david purdue? caller: i'm still looking into who is lying to me the least. host: could you cross party lines? caller: sure. republican, but i do recognize that i'm not a

foot soldier in the republican army. i will vote for whoever will do the best job for georgia. have is that both the democrats and the republicans have a lock on the election system. they put forward candidates and support candidates they want to limitedic is given choice. they are only allowed to vote for certain candidates who are preapproved by the republican and democratic parties. ishave a system that corrupted over the years to the point the public does not have any choice whatsoever. they booked for two sides of the same coin. is michelle nunn's father's legacy appealing to

you? caller: i'm not that familiar with his legacy. politicians -- if we were to eliminate their pensions if they stay after 10 years, they will quit. host: from the associated press, this headline. pushes back against purdue's low blow. -- michel none pushes back --inst purdue's low blow unn pushes back against purdue's low blow. this issue of terrorism also

popping up in the georgia senate race. jimmy in tampa, florida. independent caller. caller: thank you for having me this morning. we have to take a look at what republicans led us to the first time. we haven't found anything that would remotely bring us to a causation of war. i like the fact that the president is taking his time on the situation. we are not sending troops on the ground and everything else and we are looking at the situation before we leap. i'm all for airstrikes. we have to remember come in the middle east, this has been going on for centuries. unfortunately, we are caught in the middle of it because we are in the middle of a war that we walked into. at the same time, we have isis running around doing what they are doing. to back a partner, i

would back the democratic party. isis and theue of president's strategy is also one that is playing out new -- inire's senate race new hampshire's senate race where scott brown is running in new hampshire against -- >> anyone who turns on the tb these days knows we face challenges to our way of life. radical islamic cleric's are they seemg to cut -- confused about the nature of the threat. not me. i want to secure the border, keep out the people who would do us wrong and restore america's leadership in the world. i'm scott brown and i approved this message. host: scott brown running in new hampshire now against the

democrat there. this is what the senator said on september 23 when airstrikes began against isis in syria. scott brown also making an issue of ms. hearings by jeanne shaheen. pieceas the boston herald that she did not show up for many of the hearings. missed hearings by jeanne shaheen. that's how it's playing out in new hampshire.

we go to chris in texas. independent caller. which party do you trust? caller: i'm actually in independent caller. independent because of the deficit of trust. iny americans today staggering numbers do not trust their government, which is a politiccern in our body . in terms of our foreign, it doesn't seem it matters whether a republican or democrat or office. the same problems arise. the whole terrorism debacle is continuing on. conducteday obama has his foreign policy has been soastrous because we lost

much ground by pulling out prematurely. now, we've created a vacuum and we have this isis group that has infiltrated iraq. to argue that iraq is a country anymore. we have russia and ukraine. and that whole region of the world on fire could hold middle east is in trouble -- that whole region of the world is on fire. the hold middle east is in trouble. , even greater than this foreign threat, is our domestic policy with the debt. we are spending a trillion dollars a year. --a trillion dollars a year $8 trillion a year.

we are concerned about an economic collapse. i'm a 28-year-old. i'm trying to get a grasp and hold on these different new developments in the world today. it just seems there is so many issues, it's hard to keep up with so many very important issues to our country into the world. we need strong leadership now. i really hope in 2016, we get a strong president and the white .ouse -- in the white house we can remedy some of these issues. host: the debt that this it is a bigger issue for him. cnn's latest poll yesterday asked the question of which is more important. the economy or isis.

overwhelmingly, what people are saying, the economy. see how this issue of terrorism and isis is getting brought up and being debated in some of these key senate races that really will determine control of the senate, whether democrats or republicans controlled the senate appeared up on capitol hill today, congress is not in washington, but there will be a congressional hearing on the house side at 10:00 a.m. this morning with the director of the secret service testifying before the house government reform committee about the intruder a couple of weeks ago that was able to jump the fence of the white house and get to the east room. she will be answering questions recent reports that there were shots fired at the white house back in 2011.

that is the headline in the washington post this morning. that from the washington post this morning. the editorial -- shattered security. they say the secret service lapses raise questions about competence. that in the washington post this morning. also making the news is the situation in hong kong. take a look at the front page of usa today with this picture. umbra low revolution opens wide. -- umbrella revolution opens wide.

work times editorial weighing in on this. of china has established himself as an autocratic leader. there is no telling how far he .ill go t -- they sayn

beijing has backed students into facinger and is revolt. which party do you trust? don in michigan. democratic caller. i don't have neither one. what's going on with this money being spent -- how about the v.a.? you had these town halls on c-span. these people are being ignored and abused by the pa system -- the v.a. system. the last time c-span had a poll of people going to syria, not one person was for it. i don't know anybody that wants that war.

it's absolutely crazy to think that we need another war. host: charles in raleigh, north carolina. democratic or. -- democratic caller. caller: i don't think it's going to be a big issue in elections. those republicans running those ads, just like they did when bush with the president to justy are doing that -- like they did when bush ran for president. they don't have anything to run on, so they are trying to use this. president obama is doing a great job. we haven't had anybody doing anything that -- those folks won't come over here anyway. it's all about oil. illinoisepublican from

recently traveled to the turkey-syria border. here is what he tweeted out. cynthia in albuquerque, new mexico. republican caller. caller: good morning. i am so tired of people blaming bush. obama dropped the ball. .e is too easy he is too busy playing golf. i like him as a person. i don't like him as a president. i will not vote for him. stop blaming the republicans. they are trying to work with them.

him.rk with the senate majority leader puts everything down. they won't love for e look for anything. grow up. you want to play golf or party or be traveling all over the country, having fun. you were voted to run the country. go up -- grow up. let him take responsibility. nobody has let him take responsibility. they treat him like a little boy. host: carmen in west virginia. independent caller. i just wanted to say --

i was in korea in 1951. in our to sit around holes waiting for whatever happens. we used to talk about why they called it please action. why wasn't it a war? -- called it police action. just like to say that this seems like a repeat of what was going on during the korean war. they refused to call it a war. when i go to the polls in november, i will vote for the erson that starts

calling it a damn war. a war is a war. here's usa today with a quote from anthony, the director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. an effort is needed to beat ebola.

he discounts the prospects of a wider epidemic in the nine states that she and the united states. the prospects of a wider epidemic in the united states. that is the latest on ebola. john in brooklyn, new york. republican caller. think everybody should look at partisan democrat policy and republican policy. say no taxes,s deregulate.

it's the same trouble that bush had us in. you have to deregulate things. take that money and pay these debts down. .obody mentions that i don't understand what's going on in america. they don't understand what reality is. pay your fair share of tax. we don't have the money to do this and the debt is going up.

there is going to be war. the middle east is not going to calm down. involved. how are you going to avoid it? host: frank, our last call here for now on this discussion. louisiana. independent caller. good morning. caller: you're talking about national security. anybody,t trust democrat or republican. look at the borders. you have all these mexicans coming over. how many people from the middle east are coming over here, too? diseases coming over the border. no wonder all these children are sick. these people don't care up in washington. they've been paid off.

it's a shame. to continue going talking about this threat of isis with tom cole, republican of oklahoma. we will keep that conversation going with donna edwards. we will also talk about campaign 2014 with both of these members. at campaign look ads in the texas governor's race between tom abbott and wendy davis -- greg abbott and wendy davis. here are some of the ads in that race. [video clip] >> a guy in a wheelchair is getting faster in traffic. my plan adds billions for new .oad construction that ou we ensure the money dedicated

for roads will be spent only on roads. no more taking highway funds to pay for pet projects. elect me and i will get texas moving. in a texas courtroom, greg abbott made the case against our children. he fought for $5 billion in cuts to education made by his insider buddies. now, habits proposing giving standardized tests to four-year-olds. givingtt is proposing standardized tests to four-year-olds. davis will use education to build an economy for all hard-working texans. davis is embroiled in scandal yet again. land used her influence to lucrative taxpayer-funded contracts and then voted on bills to help reform law firms.

she voted and twisted arms in the senate. now, davis'legal work is part of an open fbi investigation. he was a texas surgeon performing operations while using cocaine. two patients died. .thers were paralyzed families and victims sued the hospital. greg abbott got involved. using his office to go to court against the victims. rick abbott. another insider. not working for you. best greg abbott. -- greg abbott. >> the nationwide competition for middle and high school students will award 150 prizes totaling $100,000. create a 5-7 minute documentary

on the topic the three branches and you. but he is include c-span programming and must be submitted by january 20 from 2015. go to student cam.org. grab a camera and get started today. "washington journal" continues. cole,we're back with tom republican of oklahoma. talking about the strategy against isis. are we at war? guest: i think we are. people are killing americans. they threaten your homeland when they say they're long-term aim is to strike the united states. they want to carve out what would be a terrorist state in the middle of a vil volatile region. the secretary of defense and secretary of state have used the term or. "war."

host: explaining the strategy, explaining the threat of isis. i don't see the evidence. somebody needs to explain to me why isis poses a threat. guest: the evidence is pretty grisly. two american journalists were executed. we've had a terrorist movement move out of syria into iraq, taking over most of the old sunni areas. atir intention is to strike the united states. not the similar to what we saw -- note taliban dissimilar to what we saw with the taliban. i don't think there is much question about how dangerous this repair is. they don't just pose a threat to us. -- about how dangerous this threat is.

people that have a stake in the region, those there and beyond have a common understanding this really is a ,angerous group and is growing multiplying much faster than anticipated. the other thing people sometimes forget is the number of foreign fighters. their ability to travel. that is something that's almost in countable -- people getting trained and radicalized and returning to their home countries to commit atrocities there. host: the white house has met twice with congressional aides on isis. art of that conversation -- part of that conversation is should congress be voting on a new war authorization? guest: absolutely. i try to make that abundantly clear.

the white house authorizations. giving the direct authority. let's assume they do. there is no question that the institution that congress would be better off. no question that the president would be better off. demonstrating to the world that he has bipartisan support. the country would be better off. the absence of a debate. this thing overtook us in the course of the summer in a public awareness cents. people are still trying to digest the information. a good, robust debate would be a good thing. here's what the speaker of the house had to say on sunday on where this is headed. [video clip]

destroye goal is to isis, as the president says it is, i don't believe the strategy he outlined will accomplish that. , it took more than airstrikes to drive them out of there. at some point, boots have to be on the ground. the president does not want to do that. other presidents would not talk about what i wouldn't do. get enough of these forces trained and get them on the battlefield, but somebody's boots have to be there. >> you would recommend putting american boots on the ground? >> if we had no choice. these are barbarians. they intend to kill us. if we don't destroy them first, we are going to pay the price. host: are you in agreement with the speaker? guest: i absolutely am. he laid out the situation pretty clearly. we've had an involvement strategy.

we are using air power now. we are building alliances and arming and training people in the region. i agree with the speaker -- it was unwise for the president to take the options of boots on the ground off the table. want to use a special operators in the way we did against osama bin laden or spotters and what have you. don't telegraph everything you are going to do to the enemy. is strategy is sufficient. this is preferable if it can work. our friends in syria who are a in ay uneven lot -- three-way civil war, they would be the weakest of the three parties. the idea that they can get the job done there is questionable.

in iraq, it's much better circumstances. we have been aligned government there. the president was very wise and withholding support until the government changed. something he's not getting enough credit for. there are the kurds acting as independent actors in the region. they've demonstrated a can and will fight, but they need the weapons. a complex situation. host: americans back airstrikes, but oppose the use of u.s. troops in iraq and syria. you would support -- ar twinyou go to w the conflict. -- to win the conflict. i would prefer that not happen, but if you get to the point that that is the only option you can

difficult to win wars with air campaigns. this is not libya. that did not turn out particularly well anyway. it's a danger,f you may have to use your own forces if only to convince other people to do it, too. i would not recommend operating alone. if we can do it some other way, that would be preferred. at the end of the day, you don't rule out what you're going to do to be successful in a war. host: beverly is up first in chicago. democratic all. caller: give me a couple of seconds. out aresident obama came few weeks ago and made a speech about two of the guys that got beheaded, he left the stage and went back and you all set he played golf. you all beat him up. you talked about his suit.

fast-forward forward to now. everybody is saying isis is such a big threat. lindsey graham said if we don't do something right now, they are going to come over here and behead all of us. it, if this is as important that you will say this , why aren't you back in washington? you are going to take this up five weeks from now? if you can wait five weeks, we don't have to wait for president obama. he asks you to do something, you don't do anything. first of all, i did not say anything critical about the president. after he went out and play golf. the president himself acknowledged that probably was not the appropriate thing to have done. he wishes he had done it differently. in terms of your point about why aren't we hear, we should be

here. callh the president would us back. normally, the way this is done, when presidents want to use force, they submit a resolution to the congress of the nine states and we come back and debate it. he has not asked for it. ideally reason we had a vote at thein the house was because it divides it -- both parties. it's a politically diffic ult vote to cast. host: adam schiff tweets this out. guest: that's very nice to say. the president has asked us to go to war. that's how it's formed traditionally. this president thinks he has sufficient legal authority.

the speaker thinks he has sufficient legal authority. i don't. other people do and plenty have argued that way. the real question here is, democrats wanting to avoid debate. i know the speaker advised the president, please ask for a resolution. it's better for you and the congress and the country. the people who opposed that have been democrats. and leader pelosi. we ought to have this debate. host: if republicans want to have it, he could use his power. guest: that's up to the speaker. if the senate is not going to come back, you are not going to declare war with one house of congress. said he is open to it and has asked the president to submit a resolution for it

and the president says it it would be nice if you said some nice things but i'm going to go ahead and do the action. i doubt that adam and i are far apart. it does take some leadership around the table. the only vote we've had is the one john boehner got for us. the president would have sent us to syria with no vote whatsoever. harry is consistently opposed to having a vote. the people 40 the discussion are democrats. thwarting the discussion are democrats. this is where say the republican party stands. guest: it's important for the country.

you don't wage war from the house of representatives. franklin roosevelt didn't wait around and say, gosh, i hope congress will do something. if the administration that says -- coming and asking for authorization and sing this is what we want is not an unfair thing to do. this is not a partisan debate. , i don't see why the speaker should be criticized when he is the only one who was got us a vote on anything. i haven't noticed a statement out of leader pelosi saying i demand we come back and vote on this. i haven't noticed harry reid saying that. avoiduth is they want to this issue for political reasons. it better serves them later. i would be delighted if any

parties concerned would b ring congress back. host: stacy in arkansas. independent caller. caller: good morning. -- theyant to know is are up with a strategy to defeat they're coming up with a strategy to deceit isis. we really cannot separate them from anyone else because they look like you and me. what do we do? >> that event was in my district a mile from where i live. we do not need no yet the circumstances there. we need to give law enforcement opportunity to really look into this area there is no question this was a troubled young man. in violenceinvolved

before and in prison before. this is pre-his conversion to islam. he wasot know who talking to. awfully provocative and revealing pictures. no question that what he did was influenced by what has happened. there it are a lot more investigations to do there. are we intruding on people's privacy too much? i think this is a reminder it is a very dangerous world and a tough balance. it is a continuing debate we ought to have every day. i think so far, we have

certainly have terrorist incidents, near misses, like the detroit christmas bomber. the times square incident. we have had what appeared to be random things but sometimes connected. the fort hood shooting and clearly the perpetrator there islamic jihad us to extremist propaganda and that encouraged him to act. i credit our security and intelligence people on having done an amazing job since 9/11. not had another incident anywhere near that scale. that suggests to me on balance they have done a good job protecting the united states. hatcherublican from the is there, go ahead, jack. onler: i find your rationale why congress is sitting there or not even there but adding home doing nothing to be pretty weak.

once again, and surely not for the first time, the congress of the united states is leading the president of the united and decide whether, when, where, and against whom we should go to work. then you say it would be nice if represent ask us to this decision. talking about debate in congress would be a shame. you know whenever a president decides to go to war, congress does nothing but click its heels, salute, say yes sir, mr. president, and then we go. you have weapons at your disposal to use against the president. anything from the power to impeach and. i think congress should decide whether or not we go to war and you guys are awfully lacks about letting the president you serve your power and eat your lunch.

guest: thank you. first of all, we agree. i made this point with olivia. could not get an amendment through the senate. i have consistently stated this position. i do think congress's warmaking authority is at stake here. that is not a new thing. we did not have a vote to go to war under korea. that was a much more substantial conflict in terms of loss of life than what we are dealing with now. but your basic point is absolutely correct. i would also tell you it is not a slamdunk. when george h.w. bush called congress back to consider whether -- whether or not to engage in the first gulf war, that was a close vote and there was a lot of opposition, including all of the leadership in the democratic party at the top.

i was in d.c. at the time. that has been true of a number of others. i do not buy your statement it would be a sham debate. look at our to debate on syria for six hours. it was not a sham debate. each side had dozens of members who opted against what the president asked for, which was much more limited than airstrikes there it is specifically ruled out action in syria. this is a position that we largely agree and. with you, i amee disappointed congress is doing this. i am not sitting here justifying it. quite the opposite. victory inwould a isis look like question mark what would you expect to happen after victory? >> you would want the government to reclaim its authority over the whole of iraq. right now,

one third of that country, an area about the size of indiana, is under control of a terrorist entity. first thing, the restoring of a legitimate rule over a vast and complex landscape they're probably inside syria, that is tougher. what you would want is to get rid of two entities who are actually in deadly competition with one another. we do not like the assad government. we should not. they killed a lot of americans in the last few years. it is a dangerous and awful group. we would not be there if that government could control its own space. as much as we do not like syria, we did not cause what happened in syria. they did. but they lost control of their territory and that is an area isil and the army contest with one another. a more moderate group to emerge. i will tell you an old story,

when you look at a cauldron like this, the idea that moderates survive in the midst of a brutal civil war is usually not what occurs. are of the moderates probably in prison camps. whoever is out there now is fighting on one side or the other. i do not have any doubt isil has committed the most atrocities. the syrian government would be at least a close second. i doubt everybody in the free syrian army is somebody you would invite to a sunday school and met. it is a tough bunch out there. we will probably have to choose between competing bad guys without having to find a lot of good guys here it host: independent caller. caller: my favorite politician is tom. i have a lot of respect for him because he tells it like it is. what i want to know is, who will pay for it and how much more will be cut?

to pay for these wars? is, -- om line host: we will take your point. the headline this morning real quickly says the new report says this islamic fight could cost billions. absolutely. we are not going to war because we want to go to war. the president did not seek this war. nobody did. this is something that has been visited on us and our people and our best security people are telling us this is a clear and present danger that is developing and you need to deal with it sooner rather than later. please do not think anybody is rushing into this on either side. am of the criticism the president has gotten is because he has not rushed in faster.

i think frankly, he may have been slow realizing it, but none of us wanted to get into the situation. cost in the short run of arming and training the syrians, a lot of other countries will participate in that. in saudi arabia, they offered to underwrite most of that cost. than theis cheaper point ground forces. we could probably get a coalition to help. european countries will help. the germans are speaking to the kurds about what they need. they are doing that on their own. this would be a more broadly shared cost. so far to the end of the year, we have been able to play by reprogramming cost inside the existing pentagon budget but if this goes on, and it will come in the aim to destroy isil, it may well be a situation that out last the president's term.

i think you are wise to to ask who we will pay for it and whether it is worth the cost. that is a fair question in a situation like this. but i think when you balance the danger of a terrorist state and a hardened middle east with resources and the ability to the ability to train, you are looking at another 9/11. that is an expensive prospect for the united states. host: when do we get to the point we cannot move around money? when does it get to the point, this fight against isis? guest: the officers nation for the president to do this only goes to september 11. there has to be additional activity. it is so much cheaper to do what we're doing than to put major ground forces into combat and on the ground. you could go on quite a ways. the overseas contingency operation fund, basically how we fund overseas, thinks congress

have not settled on a final number there. we could look at it next year. once you go to work, the nature of work is very unpredictable and the costs could change. people could go in thinking it will cost one thing and then it will cost quite another. that happened in iraq and afghanistan. these are good questions. should be here and we should be having this debate and discussion and members ought to have to go home having cast a vote and justify where they are at after an election and subsequently in future elections. putting it off, i think, is a -- mistake. caller: i want to make a couple of comments. the first, i would like to make to giveto say, we need the president a little bit of time so we can see what his policy is against isis. i believe with 100% certainty

a forces isis policy is flag. the real goal for the president is to overthrow assad. the beginningsng of world war iii. this representative here and the -- isentatives in congress am 100% sure the policy for this president has absolutely nothing to do with isis. i think the caller is right in that the president's his ultimate aim is to overthrow assad. he has been crystal clear about that for a long time. i certainly agree with him on that. i do not have a disagreement with the president on that at all. piece ofthink the isil this is simply a ruse or a cover so he can do that. i think it is a threat that probably grew faster than he and many people in our country anticipated it would. i think it is a real and present danger. i do not know anybody who is

predicting at the beginning of the summer that isil would break out of syria and take his huge part of territory. its original roots are in iraq and early in the summer, it did get places taken and secured by american forces, a great cost. the presidentn't is meeting a danger that he certainly did not anticipate but many people did not anticipate. i do not think you really want the congress of the united states in the hague. we do not need 535 secretaries of state. we get them one at a time and to vice secretary gets choose who that is. if we need to speak in an international body, and this is, as the caller suggests, a national coalition and image -- an international issue, that ought to be appropriately done by the commander-in-chief and the secretary of state. host: i think the caller was

talking about bringing congress to the hag for war crimes. guest: [laughter] i do not think so. you cannot have it both ways. -- that is in active where i would come down. or it has been complicit. i do not think it is both. i think it has been more prone to those responsibilities as far as a war crime there is -- were crime. host: alabama. independent call. caller: you all do a lot of unnecessary talking. what you have on the budget you will pay? you want boots on the ground. you want boots on the ground, and then you want to point on the president. how much money will you and congress come up with?

why don't you all focus on america and stop focusing on these other entries? you have got the supreme court yesterday's nothing people from voting. both democrats and republicans take a breath and stop filibustering. let us talk to you and you don't talk so much and let us tell you all what we want. that is why we're sending you there. you're doing what you want to do on you all the mideast. i have got more information than the president do. put it on him and then let's not blame ourselves for nothing. money on the ground to have a work. -- a war. guest: a lot to the sponsor. i have not lame the president or put it on the president. the president came to congress and said, i want to be able to do these things in syria. work with him on the cost element and he has tried to get other people to try.

the president asked for and authority to reprogram money into the existing budget of the pentagon. he got that authority. to thes of speaking american people, obviously, you do not live in my area, but i have town hall meetings pretty regularly and they go on five hours sometimes. stay closelyed to in touch. i have a pretty good idea of what they think. if i get too far out of line, they are the ones that sort of wrap me on the knuckles and call me up short hair that is the way the system is supposed to work. i do not represent everybody in america. i represent about 750,000 people in the state of oklahoma. my job is to voice their opinions and look after their interests. the other members do the same thing with their constituents. nevada, democratic caller. you're on the air with tom cole. caller: i am good.

thank you for taking my call. what i'm trying to do is get congress and the president together, something that you guys have been separated on this issue about, i would like to get you together and talking. is the resolution you're seeking, is that something that is parliamentary procedure? >> the most appropriate thing to do, and the president -- i am not trying to be accusatory of the president, but sometimes when he began this action, he was under the war powers act. we have some republicans that agree with the president on that. mccain offered this, let's repeal the authorizations and write a new one. one that very clearly gives the

president the authority to act and might have limitations as well. and a timeline. it is ridiculous for us to go to -- i was not a member of and 2002 when01 those decisions were made. they were made about a war in afghanistan and iraq against a different enemy in different circumstances. i think we are stretching this a lot more than is wise clinically. maybe this is to your point, i think the president would be --ter off if both sides met excuse me, if the congress met, and he got a bipartisan solution here at he would get republicans and democrats for the president. a different point of view, that is fine. demonstrate -- that would demonstrate as the syrian vote

in the house, that there was genuine bipartisan support for what he was proposing. i think he is in a stronger position domestically and internationally if he gets a vote like that. i'm sorry to take so long, the normal way to get that would be for the president to ask for a resolution of war, or a resolution demonstrate for an an of force if he does not want to use those terms. i think he would win those votes -- that vote any should there it asked tough questions about how much and what will you do, some postedsame questions today, and i think you answer those questions to the best of his ability. wartime i would give a lot of latitude. things change. he may come back and ask for something different later or something additional. fair enough. at least we would have the initial debate and discussion and go into this more or less unified as a country. i think he will get partway into it and it will be difficult for the president to sustain the domestic and international support he will need to be

successful and what will be a long slide. >> anthony is next, an independent caller. good morning. >> good morning. i have a couple comments. representative tom cole for at least two years now. i think you are a very fair man -- fair man. i wish you were speaker of the house. guest: [laughter] thank you. however, having said that, you spoke about the young whoin your hometown recently committed these atrocities and beheadings there want to suggest is, and the question i want to ask is, first of all, that young man, there are a couple of things about him that are consistent with all of these risks around the world. he is uneducated and he is or. system a system in our people notuates

being educated by not investing in public schools. a lot of republican governors taking money out of public schools, not paying teachers what they're worth. if you go into more affluent communities, you see they have at her educational systems, teachers are paid more, kids are being educated, so we are creating a system where these can point to any other right, the people writing are poor and uneducated. -- right -- rioting are poor and uneducated. it is unsustainable. a lot of good points there. education is an area where you

have to recognize where -- what you do spend. united states spends more per capita than any other in the world. a huge percent of state budgets. smaller at the federal level but still substantial. there is a real resource commitment air. i agree with your caller's point that poverty and lack of opportunity in education our contributors to a lot of bad things and a lot of behavior all of us would condemn, people are hopeless and they do desperate things, that is not even the main room -- root of terrorism in my view in the middle east. there are a lot of awfully well , forted and rich terrorist instance, osama bin laden was well educated and very wealthy area a lot of people who underwrite those moments are fabulously wealthy by anyone's standards. it is something a lot more complex ear. an ideology, a worldview that makes use of terrorism an acceptable tool and a lot of governments in that region have used that tool king they could

control it and direct it out. they found it blows back and comes in to their own societies. i do not think it is simply a lack of opportunity. we do not have this kind of violence as were at least a dozen not express itself in this way. your basic wind is, should we be investing in young people and creating opportunities in educating? absolutely true. host: democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to say before we rush in to ground troops in there, consider how effective our current airpower would be. i will give two examples, one where we engaged and achieve all of our goals with zero combat casualties. the second would be the first under president herbert

walker bush. yes, we send ground troops there, but we engaged in a bombing campaign for a couple of months first. by the time our troops came in, 120,000 iraqis surrendered immediately. i think we should do airpower first and then see. i think your caller is that silly those are two excellent examples. i think, again, ground forces were critical in the first gulf war. the threat of them were critical in kosovo, but again, i am not complaining because the president has been hesitant to do this. i think there is abundant reason to be cautious. on the other hand, i have been critical because i think he ruled things out he may later be forced to do. what has happened over the last month, we were calling isil the over the last year, the president's term. we were saying you could not build up the syrians and the

k-swiss ago, the president said it was a fools errand and could never happen and now it is a strategy. we would probably be better off simply not ruling things out and not telling our adversaries what we will or will not do their it not doing something and then maybe doing it later, i think that is what gets us into trouble. i do not think the president is alone in that and i am not trying to single him out ear in if this is as serious a threat, and i agree with them on that, you ought to have all the cool -- all the tools in the toolbox their it if you can do it without putting people on the ground, so much the better. if other people can perform the task, ground, so much the better. get to the point that we decide, it has not worked, but still in the national interest to do something, the president ought to have those options available. >> the democratic investors in hong kong, here is a decent written in the wall street

journal written by a human rights lawyer who writes that tear gas and pepper spray and at worst to come. the white house must issue a clear warning to beijing area --. -- beijing. that is probably correct on the other hand, what is a clear warning to beijing? i am not surprised it is a totalitarian they, and that is what china is, using totalitarian methods. it is sad but true that inside their territory, they have the 30 and the power to do this and we probably do not have the way to in any meaningful contest them. we can talk about economic sanctions or what have you but at the end of the day, i think we are all on the side of the road testers in hong kong and we hope things 68 there. but there is a limit to what the president can do. it is a dangerous world out there right now. withve enough to deal with

russians in ukraine with isil, with pakistan developing nuclear capability, and with a guy in north korea that we do not know what he will do when he gets up in the morning. his own uncle did not know. it is a dangerous world. gratuitously picking fights of people is something i would try to avoid and i think the president has tried to avoid very host: -- avoid. host: democratic caller. cole, i amgressman in agreement with you that a reauthorization or an authorization under the war powers act should take place after december 11. the question i want to ask you is this. would you vote for an increase in taxes to pay for this continuation? the reason i say this is ms. rotter had mentioned in the previous our that if every

operation took lace, it would be on average of 2-6 billion dollars a month very second, since this was a regional conflict which impacts the countries of saudi arabia, egypt, jordan, and turkey, where jordan and turkey are now receiving thousands upon thousands of refugees, if this theorization takes lace, four countries i just mentioned should be a part of that coalition. if they decide not to be a part, i think we should cut off funding and sue those four countries. >> this is a headline from npr that turkey signaled its willingness to join the coalition against ice, one of the countries he mentioned. guest: so far, all the turkey have participated there you have to look at what their means are. saudi arabia is enormously well the -- wealthy.

the planes in the air, with our planes over syria recently. the jordanians are probably our best ally in the region in the arab world. a country of a limited means and enormously restrained by the influx of refugees. turkey, again, that is a robust and big economy. we actually do have forces, an airbase in turkey. from my district, they are deployed right now defending turkish airspace to keep the syrian civil war from spilling over there. , aongtime ally of the united nato ally. we do not know is agree on everything. generally, they have been health 02 us. now that they have got their people back, the diplomats being held hostage, we're probably in a position to do more. your question on the taxation if

you -- issue is a great question. the republican majority has come in and the deficit has gone down 1.4 trillion dollars where it was four years ago to probably just under $500 billion this year. a lot of it will depend on what the nature of the conflict is. if it is as the present president envisions it to be, you will probably not need that. i am not sure you will require it. as i have,uld vote, for long-term entitlement reform. votes to cast. i think that is where the savings will come from. if you have to have additional revenue to defend the country, then you get it. campaign 2014 is right around the corner. 35 days to go. the number two in the house said yesterday here in watching and, if you press control the house,

one of the first things they will do, they whacked and immigration, which republicans will not. guest: they will not control the house. he did have the house for roger years and never brought an immigration bill to the floor ever. the president of the united states ran into thousand eight saying that they would have an immigration bill within 100 days and never did it. the best way to proceed, we have four bills that passed that would be step-by-step. the fear is, if you pass them, it is attached to something much theer and sends it back to house. you're in a political free-for-all. again, my friend is talking about the problem they did not deal with when they were in the majority. it is less than convincing to me. ,ost: representative tom cole we appreciate your time. thank you. next, we will talk with tom evans, a democrat of maryland, he played a key role recruiting

candidates. we will talk with her later. continuing the ohio state big ten college tour, we will talk to the executive vice president and provost there. first, c-span radio. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] ♪

♪ >> our campaign 2014 debate coverage continues tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span. live coverage of the texas governor's bait -- debate. at 8:00 onight c-span, live coverage of the minnesota government -- governors debate. thursday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span, live coverage of the oklahoma governors debate. on thursday at 8:00 p.m. on c-span two, the nebraska governors debate. and saturday night on c-span at 8:00 p.m. eastern, live coverage of the montana u.s. house debate between democrat john lewis and former state senator republican ryan's inky. -- ryan zinke.

more than 100 debates for the control of congress. host: we are back with congresswoman donna edwards, democrat of maryland. before that, i want to talk about isis and the present strategy. do you think congress should be coming back to vote on a new authorization? guest: one of the things i did not support even the amendment, the president believes he can operate under the iraq authorizations, but the fact is, those are long expired. he called for us to get rid of them. i think we do need to come back and it seems to me the threat is real, that the response is but congressssary, has got to be part of the decision-making. >> republicans have said the

president needs to call congress back. would sendnt language to the hill, authorizing this new strategy in syria. has the president been doing that? init is also true speakers charge of the house of representatives, they have the power to call us back as well. i do not think this has to rest on one or the other. , wee gone for this time will not be back until a week after the election. a lot can go on during that time. do this for the president's safety and security as a leader, knowing he really does have a full backing support of the united states congress. it is as much for him as it is for the american people. you played a role in the campaign cycle helping candidates to run on the democratic ticket. are you hearing from some of them right now about isis and

the terrorist threat in may be concerned about how that might lay out for them in november? guest: not really. i have been traveling all across the country. it is an indication that people are obviously concerned and they trust the president, the trust the military leaders. what they want to focus on is creating jobs and opportunity for the american people. i hear about is confidence the economy is growing, but not necessarily in places where people need and need jobs. they want to focus on, how do we rebuild our infrastructure and how do we remake america and how do we create equal jobs and equal pay for women. those are the things i have been hearing. i have been traveling all across the country. people are confident we have the military leadership and capacity to handle crisis. they want to focus on creating jobs. you have also seen the

polls that republicans will keep control of the house. what is your prediction for election day and election night? guest: i do not make protections. i just worked. i think we have made all the right decisions recruiting solid candidates under -- and protecting our incumbent numbers come out raising virtually every single party committee out there, including the republican congressional campaign committee. them by about $9 million in the cycle every single quarter and reporting. i think those are the things we can't control for. a lot of these are within the margin of error and will be this added by a handful of votes. that is why i think it is important to get out and vote. we actually had a voter registration program this cycle within the democratic national campaign committee. we have never done that before. 60,000 all across

the country. we put ourselves in a position to win in these districts. we will keep working until november 4 and see what happens. when you sat down, whether they were female and male candidates, what is the reluctance he to run for congress that you hear? >> some of the challenges to figure out whether you have the capacity to do it. fundraising is a component in that position. what does it mean for my family? some of our candidates have young kids. some of them have older children going off to college and they want to know what that will mean for them and they want to know what they can get done. this is the biggest question i have heard. what do you think you cannot, which in congress? i talked to them about my experience working on big stuff in the little stuff in the district and sharing my own experience coming into congress as someone who has never held elective office before and getting them to talk to our

other colleagues as well so they can get a sense of what the job really is. nobody ever knows until it happens. i think after those conversations, people make a really studied decision about whether they want to run for congress. once they jump in and make that decision, they are going full force. >> with so much focus on the senate and balance and control of the senate, and a lot of money going toward senate recruitss, are the new concerned? are they frustrated question mark are they getting enough --ction in their races? >> oddly enough, these will be won by their district. one district does not look like another district. this is another thing i've discovered. our candidates, our top-tier candidates, are raising the money they need, as i said. the democratic national campaign committee outraised every single other party committee. our donations coming from small

donors contributing 20, $30, which is really tough to them. -- i guessumulated we have basically increased by 10 fold the number of small donors we have had in the last elections, up to 2.4 million donations from small donors. we are doing all the things it takes to win the election. these are individual congressional's. hispanic black groups worry about low voter turnout. the hispanic and black caucuses in congress are concerned about a perceived growing lack of interest in the midterm elections within their communities. a problem, they say, that could complicate democrats maintaining control of the senate. the white house is not offered assistance, even though those groups are crucial. president obama's victories in 2008 and 2012.

the white house not offering either caucus direct assistance. guest: let me tell you what we are doing because i've action travel there. many of our members in the congressional black caucus are doing just that. more importantly, we put 600 people in the field in congressional districts, the largest field program we have ever had. probably another hundred will go in by tomorrow. i feel really confident that we have been focused not just right now, but over the time for our ground game, we are also making calls, thousands of phone calls into districts, particularly targeting unmarried women, african-american voters, his manic voters. i think all of us have to step up to the plate and really go forward and win the election. we can do this. host: our guest here is

congresswoman donna edwards, democrat of maryland. she wants women to follow her into politics. what do you make of the style story this morning in the washington post? guest: i just read it sitting in the green room. i thought it was a great story and i am really flattered. i love the work i do on behalf of my constituents in the fourth district. but also on behalf of our party. i believe in our values. i believe in communicating that to the american people. the more women that we have in the more representation we will have that reflects the country and reflects the values that i share as a democrat. i like the story. there are a lot of questions in there about your political future. one of them is when nancy pelosi debts aside, who might be there to take up the baton and your name was mentioned.

i am probably the strongest supporter and booster of leader nancy pelosi. she has been such a mentor for me since i came into congress. herve being able to watch and see how she functions in congress area i think she has been a real guide to me and also to my colleagues. i think she is a real strong leader. on the political side in terms of what she does for us, in my book, as long as she wants to stay, i am willing to help her. it says that she will be in the handpick the next congressional campaign committee, a job many think you would be good for. guest: i value that work. we put together a great team and we have done that first under the leadership of van hollen, my colleague from maryland when i to congress.

putting together this program, i served as recruitment chair, the chair of our red and blue program to try to get the house back. i like the work i do because i think it benefits the country to have more democrats in congress area -- congress. host: milley, independent caller. caller: good morning. i love c-span. i have to watch every morning. i appreciate the hard work that you do and that you serve your country. but, from what i hear a lot from too manyhere are people that get to congress and they stay here and they never leave. why you,ike to know who represent a district in maryland come into my state to try to influence our elections.

it is such a good question. i represent a district in maryland. when i first came to congress, i'd never held elective office before. iran nonprofit organizations, working with domestic violence organizations all across the country. i know a lot of people in a lot of states. one of the benefits also from having grown up in them -- as a military brat, i also lived in a lot of places. go to north carolina, for example, i was born in north carolina. i went to undergraduate school in north carolina. i have a lot of emily there as well there that is art of the reason i go to that date. i went to law school in new hampshire and i have a lot of when there. -- of friends there. it is only if evil asked me to come. they might ask to come and speak with women working on issues of domestic islands because i am 20 years working on those issues in states all of us country.

i think it is a really good session, but i get is a true that whether we are in a district in maryland or month and a dash or montana or anyplace else in the country, maryland or-- montana or anyplace else in the country, i think it will take all of us working together in forward withoving the american people and really jumpstart a middle last and create jobs and opportunities or the middle last year i want to do that for people whether they are in maryland or month and a. or montana. caller: i want to say i am though the light in to speak to representative donna edwards. she is a shining light.

it was stated that our country needs idealism and determination , perhaps more in politics than anywhere else. this statement rings true today. for women, particularly black women, we have a role to play. our net has been cast wide and as you have been educated and have family all over the country, as i do as well. have had a fortunate life of not having to live on the brink. of three,, one especially women, are just living on the brink and hang on with children. the issues that will face us for the 2014 election are going to be the issues that face families every day. how it is they provide for their thedren who are 90% in public school system in america, not private school, not charter school, but public school, how it is that they will provide for

their elder family members who and some who are independent and some who are not independent him how will they carry the burden of elder care and childcare? guest: she makes a really good point. you ask, if we're going to get congress to focus on raising the minimum wage, the reason i want to do that and the reason why i think women bring some these agile to the table on issues like that is because two thirds of the people who work for would -- for minimum wage are women. when we raise the wage for minimal women, we raise it for families and children. equal pay for equal work, women raising the issues in congress, giving voice to people across the country -- african-american .omen make $.64 on the dollar that is not just about what is happening with them today in terms of being able to pay their bills, but it is about their retirement security, potentially losing thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year

because they are not being paid the same as their male counterparts with the same education and same experience. i do think women bring something special to the table and it is in or into have that voice at the leadership table. it is important for women to understand they have nothing at stake in the election. i would hate to see that women would sit out this election when there is so much at stake. part of what we are doing is also reaching out to women and saying, you have a voice to share, and your voice is your vote when it comes to the election in november. it does not matter what district you are in. headline, "women hold the vital vote for senate races for control of the senate." democrats are on the offensive and democrats need a margin, at least in the double digits, with female voters in order to pull this off. >> i think we recognize that. it is why we have a direct woman to woman outreach program,

making calls directly to women to talk to women about what is at stake here. if you want your reproductive choice, if you want to be able us to or have contraception, you want equal pay for it to work, if you want to make sure we take care of things like childcare care, which is increasingly one of the biggest expenses any family has, it is important for women's voices to be heard and the way your voice can be heard is if you get out and vote. i am concerned about it but it is why we are working on that. i want to encourage women to stand up and make your voice heard. host: let's go to san francisco, beverly, independent line. caller: i want to know what your opinion is for hillary clinton in the future. do not know.

what i will say is she focuses on the present. she will be on a fundraiser today out in maryland on behalf of arlington governor anthony brown for governor. i'm excited for that. i'm excited to see her. i'm glad she's out there working for democrats across the country. think we will see a lot more of her leading up to election day? guest: i hope so. she has engaged for fund raisers for the democratic congressional campaign committee, out helping candidates,senate and i will say, our soon-to-be governor anthony brown in maryland. host: jodi is next, independent caller. workr: keep up the good here thank you for standing up for women's issues. it is really important. i was an early childhood teacher for almost 40 years, so i know

exactly what it means in education. i taught everywhere from inner-city all the way out into affluent areas. know, all theou issues you're talking about are so very important. keep up your good work. thank you. guest: thank you very much. when you think about the role of early childhood educators and the important role they play in our children's lives, we have so many children across the country who do not have quality, affordable, accessible, early childhood education. what happens between zero and five years old could determine your future. if we want to invest in our future, you have to invest in things like early childhood education, making sure we have quality, affordable, and accessible childcare that provides a nurturing and learning environment for our young people. i think if you want to do this, vote for women, but also, women vote.

host: washington, independent caller. caller: the representative mentioned in every cycle, democrats have out fund raised republicans. i read several articles that republican donors are standing on the sidelines because they of getting audited by and i wondereople how much of a factor that is in fund raising. i do not think it is. the reason we have been able to out raise republican counterparts in the cycle is that we have a message american people want to hear about grading jobs and opportunity, about growing our middle-class and jump starting it, investing our infrastructure, putting people back to work, making sure

college loans and college education is affordable for our young people so they are not saddled with debt for the entirety of their lives, investing in things like raising the minimum wage and equal pay for equal work. people are excited about our message. that is why we have grown from 200,000 online donors to 2.4 million online donors. those are small donors who are really stretching their pay to be able to contribute to the values we share together. i do not think that is the worry. the worry is, what is the message for the american people and who will be on your side? that is the most important thing. voters want to know we will fight for them, that we will be on their side. on the fund rating -- fundraising issue, it is brought up and some say, that could be a barrier to aspirations of moving up in the party there it it says here a democratic party

consultant without you are not a top fundraiser. as of the end of august, you raised $200,000, a modest sum. they say a question for don is whether or not her poor fundraising is the result of an unwillingness to do it, or whether it is because it is not a priority for hers so she has not cultivated the donors. guest: the priority for me is actually raising money for my colleagues and my friends in congress who are in really tough districts. so i have raise money for them and reached out to my donors to give to them because they are in trouble and i am not in a safe democratic district. my priority has been raising money for our democratic congressional campaign committee and raising money for our candidates. if you start taking a look, for somebody who is not in leadership, frankly, i am at the top of the list when it comes to raising money for my colleagues and our candidates.

that is the important thing for me. i want democrats in congress. do me to sit on hundreds of thousands of dollars if we do not have control of the house of representatives? we will go to california. you're up next, independent caller. about whyam curious you always talk about minimum wage, but you never mention a maximum wage, which i think should never be more than 10 times what the minimum wage is. minimum wage, income, those are two different animals. like a dragonfly and a polar bear. they are not related one little bit. when you do a wage, you do a print -- a quid pro quo. when he do in income, you're sitting on your but. excuse me. the maximum wage should be established. that is an interesting idea but i will tell you why i focus on the minimum wage. ado think when you work in

low-wage economy, you should be paid a wage that allows you to get up in the morning and work 40 hours a week and take care of yourselves and your children without living in poverty. the fact is today, there are so many people who work for minimum wage. two thirds of the workers who work for minimum wage are women, not teenagers will -- wanting to buy tickets for something. they are people working and struggling to pay their bill. when you do that, you should not live in poverty. host: robert, beltsville, maryland. good morning. democratic caller. as nancy pelosi being essentially one of your heroes, i was wondering how you felt about when she said, we needed to read the affordable care act to understand what was in it, and getting rid of pension checks for people, for political officials who committed crimes?

here is what i will say on the affordable care act. i am proud of what we did on the affordable care act. i did read all couple of thousand pages of that. i am proud of the way we have moved forward in implementing not the technical glitches, but getting people signed up for health care and delivering health care. when i looked to see for example in the medicaid system that we probably saved over $800 billion over these last couple of years of the affordable care act being implemented, that is savings for the american people. when i see women here who had been able to go and get a mammogram or get a cervical cancer screening and they are getting those screenings now, seniors, who are on medicare who are now getting annual physicals that they had to pay out of those areet before, things we should be proud of. i saw a woman the other day who tells me her daughter had been really sick and she was able,

because her daughter had not reached 26, she was in that in between, to put her daughter on that health care plan so she could get health care coverage. to me, those are success stories. i look forward to the new enrollment time, so we can get even more people signed up. host: it is reported this morning in a poll that found campaign remains a top issue for voters just behind economy and terrorism. robert in oregon, republican caller. hi. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. i would like to ask of a congresswoman in regards to what is going on in syria and iraq right now, why doesn't the call congress back to discuss this? what is your opinion of that? this is an incredibly important issue. you talk about war on women a talk about -- you should talk about what is going on there. host: she talked about that at

the top and maybe you missed it. go ahead. big question for me, as we have a speaker of the house, john boehner, who could call us back at any time, a majority leader who could call us back, call the senate back at any time. and the president who believes hehas the existing authority frm the original authority from the iraqi war to conduct operations. i don't happen to agree with that and i think if the speaker does not agree with that either -- i am waiting for my call from john boehner to call me back to congress. host: if the isis situation worsens, will you -- guest: i don't answer if questions. i want to know what is happening on the ground. i will say this about the president's strategy. it has been deliberative, which is important. he has engaged some of the employers to be

participant in this effort, which was lacking before and we have now. i want to see turkey step up even more because they play an important role both in nato and in the region. those things are really good. i want to see what happens on the ground, and i would not make any commitment to ground troops. the president has not made that commitment. the question is who was on the ground. if the regional players are on the ground, that is a different question than u.s. troops on the ground. host: gregory, capital heights, maryland, independent caller. i live in the congresswoman's district. i want to make a challenge, touring some of the areas at the d.c. line to see how her constituents are challenged with some of the problems of crime

that is going on. guest: and i have done that. theve spent time along perimeter of forest types, district heights, and i think they are some very challenging areas. i will say this overall about crime in the county i live in, prince george's county, just like across the country, crime is down across the country but it does not mean we do not need to do more. the best antidote to criminal behavior is a job. i want to focus on creating jobs. i had a job fair in my district just a couple of weeks ago. we had over 2000 people show up. over 100 employers were offering jobs. the grant -- the best antidote to crime is job creation. host: veronica, illinois, democratic caller. you are on with representative donna edwards.

degree i have a masters in social administration, and i was born disabled. the thing is, i really like politics, and i want to know how can i get into politics as a disabled african american woman who really loves it? i really appreciate you. you are a great person and you care about people. thanks, veronica. the best way to get in it is to get in it. i think you have a voice and you have something to contribute, and again, as somebody who -- i won 11 grade class president, and that was the last election i won before i ran for congress. i do not think the different ideas and experience all come from people who have held elective office before.

this is really important to women. do not he afraid of losing. for rebecca, the room -- veronica tom of the risk is in running but not in losing. you can always get up and running in. north carolina, democratic caller. is fc brady, and i live in north carolina. i hope hillary clinton does not run because i would do everything to keep her from getting in. carolina,e into north i can show you five counties that have become a desert because of bill clinton's policies of shipping jobs overseas. down. our plants closed that was the time bill clinton was in office. i do not want to see another clinton. let them go off and hide somewhere. i don't want the scumbag back in office. period. number one, i think

hillary clinton and bill clinton are not the same clintons. hillary clinton is going to make a decision on her own about whether she wants to run for the presidency, and she will stand on her own. after all, she can. she beat one of the most experienced people ever coming into the presidency as a former senator, first lady, secretary of state. her nonprofit experience before she went into politics. i think she has a lot to offer and she will stand on her own to defend that. i will say this. county, northell carolina, a place where a lot of people worked on farms or they worked in the mills. a lot of the mills were closed down with nafta. it is one of the reasons i have really strong concerns about trade agreements, making sure they are fair to our workers. it is not just about free trade,

it really has to be fair. we have learned a lot from nafta , and we do not want to repeat those mistakes. host: i want to get your reaction from this piece from "the new york times." "a unique week of early voting in ohio." -- what do you make of this? republican appointed justices upheld -- guest: i think it is a disappointment that the supreme court has decided that voting an early voting and as much voting not happen ind

ohio. it is really disappointing. i don't even know what else to say about that. anybody who believes that the supreme court is not acting in a rather partisan manner right now under justice roberts' leadership is really misguided. this decision really reflects that. need to be encouraging more voting. we have gone through the primary season where we have had voter turnout as low as 20% in some places. we should be expanding opportunities to vote, not restricting opportunities to vote. giving people who have to work on different schedules and shifts the ability to vote as long as they are registered and they are eligible to vote. we should be encouraging them to do that. it is kind of a disappointment that the supreme court thinks we ought to have less voting. host: we will hear from ethel in

texas, democratic caller. caller: i have three things i want to ask her opinion on. i understand about working. i started work at age 14. was twins.t of us i had to go to work. the boys at that time got paid more than the girls. much,ed three times as three times as hard as the black man that worked at night, and he got more pay than i got. i don't have anything against blacks, whites, and my grandmother has live in a black town where black people were, so she loved them. nowadays, if they give you a raise, they double your taxes. theyery dollar you make, take more out, so you are not

getting anything. you are working harder trying to get more money and they take more out. work: ethel has really hard in her life, and that is why we need equal pay for equal work. what she described is not about race, it is about gender. women are not paid as much as men, and when you start out not being paid as much and you work 40 or 50 years not being paid as much, you suffer in your retirement and that is what is happening. we need equal pay for equal work so that your work is valued the same as the men alongside whom you work. host: steve from florida, republican. thank you for answering my questions. the first question i have is, if we raise minimum wage, that means all these people on minimum wage right now, we are going to give them a raise, they will lose food stamps and their

snap. what do you do to offset retired people like myself that are on a limited wage, and the military people on a limited wage? how will we address all these problems? please answer my question. thank you very much. guest: thank you for your question because i think it is a good one. what the american people should be asking is why the american people have to subsidize through food stamps and other assistance because employers are not paying their workers a wage that allows them to live above the poverty line? wage --ise the minimum i have supported raising it to per hour, tying it to inflation so that people live above the poverty line. ton we will remove the needs provide those kinds of subsidies. to the extent that we still need to to make sure that people can meet their responsibilities while they work, then we can do

that, too. we ought to be asking a whole bunch of employers why you are paying a wage below the minimum wage that does not allow people to work 40 hours per week or even work two jobs and still be above the poverty line? host: on our line for republicans, lisa wants to talk to you from shreveport, louisiana. caller: i need to ask you. i am 55 years old. i have no income, no job. on c-spanith a guest three months ago, and he said i could not get health care as i was in louisiana and i am in the bubble, as he said. to the me to go community center, and i have it working for many years, and i do not understand why i cannot get help here. i want to use my life insurance. that is all i got. sure, but inot

think louisiana might be one of those states that did not do the medicaid expansion. check that. what is happening with some people is that if their states have not agreed to expand medicaid and get 100% reimbursement from the federal government to expand medicaid, there are some people who are really falling through the cracks. i am not sure whether louisiana is one of those states, but that is what is happening in some places. i think there are still availability -- statest is one of those that refused expansion. guest: you should hold your governor accountable for this. what that means is that people like you fall through the cracks. you are not able to qualify for medicaid. you're not able to get health care. i think it is quite a selfish

and harsh thing that these governors have done by refusing the medicaid expansion. in my state we agreed to the medicaid expansion, and a means -- and it means hundreds of thousands of people who are qualified for health care get it then received it before. you need to hold your governor accountable. host: vincent, detroit, michigan, republican caller. caller: i would just like to bitterhat is the biggest pill democrats would have to follow in this election, and vice versa, what is the biggest bitter pill republicans would have to swallow? thing is, for example, with infrastructure, there is no reason that as republicans and democrats we should be fighting about whether we need to rebuild and reinvest in our roads and failing bridges and mass transit systems.

the big pill i want to swallow is doing a deal to put people back to work, and i would think republicans should be able to agree to something as simple as rebuilding our nation's infrastructure so we can be competitive in the 21st century. if democrats were in charge of congress, there would be a long-term infrastructure bill passed in the house, on to the senate. so that we could put people back to work. travelhat is your schedule like for the next five weeks? guest: it is pretty aggressive. i wake up in the morning and look at my device and see where i need to be. earlier this week i was in new hampshire. we have great incumbents up there, annie custer and carol shea-porter. i want to see them come back to congress because they are independent voices in congress. ust: on election night, tell

what might surprise people. races inam looking at new jersey. anotheraard would be person. callus in illinois. when graham in florida would be a good one to watch. in california, pete aguilar. i am looking forward to all of them being sworn into the next congress. we cannot predict what will happen on election night. the real prediction is we will have a good night if voters show up at the polls. i want to encourage everybody out there, in the last days of registration, with registration going on in some states, get registered. go to vote, do early voting where you can, and vote on november 4. i think it will be a good night for the american people.

it will be a good night to jumpstart the middle class and our economy by voting for democrats on election night. host: thank you much -- thank you very much for your time, congresswoman donna edwards. coming up next, we will go to ohio state university where we will talk to the vice president and provost there, joseph steinmetz. we will get that right after this news update from c-span radio. time.is 9:16 a.m. eastern several politicians, including speaker of the house john boehner, has said the situation in syria and iraq deserves a vote after the new congress is put in place. in a piece in "the washington post," california representative buck mckeon says "lame ducks with little accountability the use ofmake military force the final vote of their terms. incoming representatives will

oversee the conflict and they should bear the responsibility for authorizing it, even if that means the vote will not take place until january." but he is retiring at the end of the year. an update on afghanistan. finding a deal with united states represents a fundamental shift in the country's relations with the world. the long-awaited security pact would allow up to 10,000 u.s. forces to remain in the country past the end of the year. back in washington, the recent white house security breach is the focus of a congressional hearing. today when secret service director julie pearson appears before a congressional committee. went into the building got a lot farther than just inside the front door. "the washington post" reports an alarm box inside the front entrance had been muted. guardbarreling past the

immediately inside the door, the intruder, who was carrying a knife, dashed past the stairway leading to the first family's leaving -- the first family's living quarters, and was tackled by an agent at the far end of the east room. you can hear coverage of the hearing on the white house intrusion live on c-span radio or watch it on c-span. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> c-span's 2015 student cam, titian is underway. -- student cam competition is underway. 150 prizes totaling 100,000 dollars. create a five to seven minute documentary on the topic the three branches and you. show varying points of view and submit it by january 20, 2015. go to studentcam.org for more information. grab the camera and get started

today. journal"ngton continues. host: we are continuing our big ten college tour. on therning, the bus is campus of ohio state university in columbus, ohio. joining us from the bus is the university executive vice president and provost, joseph steinmetz. let's begin with your job as provost. you oversee osu's academic curriculum. how do you make sure that curriculum is relevant to a modern global economy? guest: thank you. i want to begin by thanking c-span for visiting our campus. we appreciate it. i could not help but notice that the bus is painted a very nice scarlet with a touch of gray on it. we appreciate that as well. as for your question, i think

one of the main duties of the provost as the chief academic officer is to assure first of all that the programs that we offer throughout the university -- and it does not matter if we are talking about undergraduate programs or professional or graduate programs -- that they are current and that they meet the needs of the students have in this world today. one of the interesting things is that if there is any trend in higher education and education in general, it really needs to be global and to concentrate on what is going on around the world and not just what is going on in the city of columbus or the state of ohio and the u.s. we are constantly looking at new ways that are individual programs address that international l it he -- that internationality. our students,ng for them to have an impact on the global stage in economics --

in an economic sense. karen development and the assessment of those programs we spend a lot of time in doing that. and a lot of these lines the university has opened what we inl global gateway offices three countries around the world. one in shanghai, china. one him him by, india. -- one in my mumbai, india. i had the pleasure in são paulo, brazil, to open our gateway there. part of the mission of those gateways, which provide portals into those countries, is to islly make sure ohio state well connected to these countries on all dimensions -- education and for the economic impact that we can have with relationships that we develop in those countries. host: the ohio state university

lantern," "the reports on the office in brazil. it costs $250,000. why the cost? who pays for it, and why do you think it is worth it? guest: yes, it actually opened. we opened it on time because like i mentioned a moment ago, i -- il down to são paulo traveled to são paulo to cut the ribbon and open the office. the $250,000 comes directly from my jet -- my budget and the office of academic affairs. it pays for a small staff, some travel, and a few other items. why i think it is a really good -- has several reasons behind it. first of all, we are very

interested in connecting our faculty and students that are already here on campus with what is going on in brazil. it is a great example of building on the relationships that we already have. we have had a 50-year relationship with the university insão paulo, particularly agricultural areas and related areas. we believe this new portal will open wider those opportunities for our faculty and their students in research and their ability to study in brazil. at the same time, it allows those students to come to ohio state and study here. the other thing we are interested in -- the mayor of columbus was with me for the ribbon cutting. he is very interested in establishing relationships between the business community here in central ohio and particularly in columbus, with the people in são paulo as well.

businesses in particular in são paulo. so we believe this $250,000 investment we make will really in huge dividends in the end advancing our mission at the university as well as our land grant mission to serve the city as well as the state. this could serve economically the local community in columbus. as the gatewaye offices in china and india? is the state looking through the university to get an inroads into those countries? guest: that is exactly right. we are looking for opportunity to connect chinese businesses as well as the businesses in india with the businesses here in the state. one last thing i might add is that we actually recruit students to come to ohio state and to this country to study.

these offices have turned out to be invaluable ways for us to go or send people there to have orientation sessions, for example, with students that are coming over here. it worked out quite nicely. with what i think is a relatively small investment. with theare talking executive vice president and provost of ohio state university, joseph steinmetz. the big ten college tour rolls on through columbus, ohio, this morning. esther steinmetz, i want to talk about curriculum in general. as provost, what is the process for you to establish the curriculum? how does it work? so curriculum is actually established in a very bottom-up sort of approach. we have currently i believe about 175 different degree programs here at ohio state in

various areas. there is a long history behind some of these programs. those older programs are, i might add, constantly updated to reflect where the world is today. but often there is the development of new programs that happen, typically by developments that happen in the areas of scholarship or interest of faculty as well as the institution. i will give you one great example of a curriculum that has just started this fall but is extremely timely and was triggered by things that happened in columbus as well as on-campus at ohio state. that is the creation of our new undergraduate major in beta -- in data analytics. i think the world knows that the data is everywhere. it is fundamental to the business community, to health care. it is fundamental to research

and scholarship and teaching these days. , and alsozing that recognizing that through our discovery themes, which is the development of some core research areas that we are interested here at university, that data analytics was right for the development at this point and time -- at this point in time. we have several groups of faculty -- and this would be the way you see curriculum developed -- to talk about how we at ohio state university build a major resins in data analytics. these faculty met over a period of time, decided the best thing for us was to have three or more tracks through these data analytics, including one in business, one in engineering, and one that is in big eight and applies to social sciences, then build a curriculum around that. a curriculum contains opportunities for internships, for students.

deal ofcontains a great interaction between the business community, such as ibm, nationwide insurance that are located here in columbus. i think it is an example of how curricula these days are built, being responsive to what the students need, to what the community wants out of ohio state, and also being responsive to where the expertise for our faculty lie. host: we want to get our viewers involved in the conversation. if you have questions or concerns about curriculum at universities or any higher education issue -- it does not have to be related to ohio state university specifically. we want to hear from you. we are dividing the lines this morning by students, parents, educators, and ohio state residents as well. there are the numbers on your screen. 202-585-3880.

ahrens, two 02-585-3881. educators, 202-585-3882. caller: listen, ben franklin once said that we have a republic. if we can keep it, if we are smart enough to keep it. it should be the duty and responsibility of all americans to be informed and engaged. we have government involved in it education since 1953 when established the department of education. we have other institutions such as progressive agenda to dumb down the people to make them more easily controlled and manipulated. and we have people like the center for american progress -- the word progress, progressives -- and they want to take out the -- they call them low

impact curriculums. they want to take constitutional studies out, world finance and american history. they are talking about budget cuts and they were calling them low-impact curriculums. we are losing our country because a lot of people do not know their history, their constitution. they don't know anything. host: i am going to jump in and have mr. steinmetz respond. yes, and i think the point the caller is trying to make is that there is a lot of pressure from a lot of different places to control curriculum or to change curriculum. we do not react very well to that pressure, and i think the pressure that we see our students, pressure from the parents of our students to deliver a quality education that will result in good employment opportunities and a curriculum that will help these students

adjust to the world that changes around them. and i think we have done a good job here at ohio state of maintaining the important basics that rick mentioned in his comments. victor, a illinois, parent. good morning. caller: good morning, provost steinmetz. first of all, i was a former student at ohio state back in the 1980's, and my tuition for one quarter was about $160 per -- fully loaded. today i understand if converted to a semester system -- today i understand it has converted to a semester system. i would like for you to comment on that as well. and how do you justify the staggering costs of public state university education in a place like ohio state, where the tuition today is close to

$10,000 per year? if you can answer that for me, that would be great. thank you. sure, victor. the first question about our conversion to semesters, it happened a couple of years ago. most of the institutions within the state of ohio have changed from quarters to semesters several years ago. in fact, most of the academic world is on semesters at not quarters if you look around the country. so we made the decision to align the calendar in ohio state along with the calendars of the state institutions, in part to make sure that there was good transfer ability for credits between the institutions as students come in or go out of ohio state to the other state institutions. second of all, it aligns our calendar much better with the academic world around the rest of the country. let me give you an example.

midarly may, instead of effect thatstant was very positive is our students are now much more able onstay -- to take studies opportunities as well as to find summer jobs and all kinds of other opportunities. basically because they are semester at the same time other students are around the country. datesogram start and end are set by. concerning the tuition issue, if you asked me what is the single keeps me awake at night, it is this issue of affordability. it is no secret that over the last couple of decades the cost of higher education has risen

faster than just about the cost of everything else, including the cost of tuition. at ohio state here, we are taking this issue very seriously in the sense that we want to make sure that our education remains affordable to students that want to come here. so a few things we have done, if i look back at the last six window, thee that tuition increase at ohio state -- the tuition increase at ohio state has been just under 2.5% during that period of time. out, atok another year seven years, we have had a 0% increase. this is an attempt to keep cost at least where it is at. where the cost has risen is the cost within the structure of higher education has risen with all kinds of

things from requirements now that we have in regulations that have -- that have had costs rise, to providing amenities for students that students want nowadays. build a to of course strong academic program. perhaps the last thing i will mention is that to help us with the affordability issue, we have joined an alliance of 11 institutions called the university innovation alliance. 10 school colleagues are part of this alliance, purdue and michigan state. the reason for joining this is scalablely look at ways to allow us to increase access and rein in the cost of higher education by using the

power of the larger institutions. for example, one of the keys to keeping education down is to make sure our students finish in a timely manner. finish in four years and not the expected five or six. to do that, we can use predictive analytics to make sure our students are headed on track, on time for their degrees. we can also increase financial aid. we can look at programs that are designed to help transfer students that begin their place that does not cost the same as some of the flagship larger institutions like ohio state. we are excited to be part of this alliance. it was launched in washington a month or so ago and will run for the next five years or so. it is one of the good ideas for one of the large institutions that will help us keep an

education affordability. that is our goal. host: our guest is joseph steinmetz, the executive vice president and provost of ohio state university. lines open for your questions, your comments on higher education, your concerns. we want to hear them. what regulations are you referring to that has raised the costs of higher education for ohio state university? yes, there is a number of -- and i will use one area that is in the area of compliance. there are now regulations and rules for the number of compliance areas that we have two staff. it is actually the admission of staff in these particular areas that leads to the increased costs. they are areas that we did not have to have people before. that is an example. host: a former student of columbus ohio.

go ahead. caller: i have a question. i was wondering why -- i have a lot of friends who live in ohio, and i was a former student probably 18 years ago. areeems that ohio residents denied main campus entry and they are put on branch campuses where the out-of-state students are put on the main campus with similar academic records. that there was a change from semester to quarter. it seems to me as a student, i learned more in quarters at a faster pace. it was much easier for learning. choose they change and semesters over quarters? guest: let me answer the second question, referring to the

conversion from quarters to semesters. semester student about the amount that they learn and go back to our students them who have only been on semesters and some who have been on both, it is debatable which of these two systems you learn more in. data byantly look at comparing the performance of students that are on quarters and semesters, and to date we have not seen the difference is that the caller refers to. regarding the access issue for ohio students, our decision was made some 20 years ago or so, so it predates me by about 15 years. stop the open access policy that ohio state university had for students --

this was an attempt to deal with what is a pretty severe problem, and that is the first-year retention rate for our students, somewhere between 50% and 55%. it was that low. that means half our students would start here and not be able to finish because of issues of not aation and perhaps bad selection of an institution at that particular point of where they were in their lives. so for several reasons, the open access policy was stopped. over that period of time, there has been a steady increase in the credentials of the students that have come in. so on this particular year, our score, anr act average of freshman in this class, that averages 28.8. 10 years ago, that average was

around 26. so i think the university is more selective during what has happened at the same time is we are retaining students at a rate of nearly 95 percent from first-year to second year. we are graduating more students and servicing students more. out-of-state to in-state students has changed. in the five year i have been at ohio state, it has been 18% out-of-state students, and it is now up around 25%. what that mixture actually represents, i think, is what our thoseark institutions -- institutions we want to compare their rates of in-state and out-of-state students are. in fact, we are about 10% behind those benchmarks. we are having discussions right now of what is the proper mix of

out-of-state to in-state students, and where do we want to settle out in. one more point that i think is important, we continue to draw students and serve the state of ohio. 21% of this incoming freshman class are first-generation students. they are the first in a family to go on and get a college education. so we are still i think reaching oans. host: we go to florida, and educator. caller: my concern is that there is an over proliferation of senior administrative positions in higher education. thereby, that money does not frontlineto the staff. host: we will take that point,

caller. guest: thank you. that is a great point, caller. if you do look at the administration ranks of universities, it has risen as the cost of higher education has risen. it is true. that aresen in areas in the whole student experience. so there are areas and programs that have developed that are headed now by vice president and associate vice presidents, etc., that staff these programs. also mentioned areas like compliance that i talked about before that now require these senior staff, senior administrators. all of that said, here at ohio state, we are presently taking a very close look at this mix of administration, faculty, and students, asking the questions, are we overstaffed at the top level? are we administering

effectively? are there programs that can be eliminated, and those moneys transferred to student programs. something that we are sensitive about and something that we are trying to do something about. from onee is a tweet of our viewers about salary. how much does your highest-paid professor make compared to the highest paid sports coach at your school? exact i do not have those figures, but i know the sports coach make much more than the highest-paid professor. i don't have the exact amount. those are markets. there is a market for sports coaches, a market for professors, regardless of the areas we are talking about. one thing i will mention about the salaries of coaches, one thing we are very proud of that ohio state, the university provides no support for the

athletic program. they generate their own revenue and in fact have returned revenue over to the university. a good example of this is they athleticsor gift, the department did, when our library was reconstructed four or five years ago. so i think the athletic besttment wants to be the just like our physics department or our business college wants to be the best, so they bring in the market best in those particular areas. "the according to lantern," osu's student newspaper, the economic impact of the home football games is $1.75 million in total revenue, $6.5 million in ticket sales, 270 thousand dollars in parking revenue. you say this, money stays within the athletic department? yes -- well, some of it

does because it depends on who is running the concessions and who is running parking, etc. speak, thee, so to boat is on their own bottom, so they have missed the revenue they have to bring in. the interesting thing about that article, it does not address the economic impact the games have around the city of columbus. 106,000 people inside the stadium in these games and several others that do not go in the stadium but enjoy the games around the city of columbus. that are individuals in the restaurants that are staying in the hotels, etc., so there is this other indirect ohiot particularly that state football has on the economy and the region. one other thing, ohio state has

36 varsity sports. we want to always talk about the major revenues of sports, thinking particularly of football and basketball. we sometimes forget that those two revenue sources are also supporting the athletic experience of about 1000 student athletes that are part of those other 36 sports that we are rarely talking about. -- it is really the idea is the idea that that revenue is being spread to these other sports as well as being spent on the major sports. host: just to be clear, the athletic department pays the salary of all the coaches as well? guest: yes, that's correct. host: we go to branch, los angeles. caller: yes, i would like to ask you about online course study, if there is any type of financial aid for that.

would the cost be less? also, what you talked about earlier, opening branches possibly in mexico city -- would that be a consideration as well? thank you. thet: thanks, i appreciate question about the distance education part of it. there are financial aid -- financial aid is available. i don't have the particulars about that, what i know there is some financial aid for distance education. it is one of those areas that i think ohio state is a little behind in and is offering programs that are online as well as the introduction of technology and online experience for our resident students. one of the very popular things we are working on now all over campus is this ability to flip ae classroom, which is students that can watch lectures and other things that would normally go on in a large lecture hall.

can looke rooms, they at these lectures as many times as they want, and the flip part is when they come to class the class time is spent on projects, on discussions, on one-on-one time with in shelters, etc. the strategy we have on distance education is -- it centers around the incorporation of eitherogy in general, 100% offerings of distance that somebody like yourself could take in los angeles or somebody across town or somebody on campus could take a course from ohio state. and be assured that it is the same quality courses that you would see offered in one of our classes -- and one of our classrooms. the second question had to do with the gateway and whether or not there is a gateway office to be opened in mexico city. right now we have concentrated on these three and really have not discussed the next location for gateway.

we are trying to spread them in strategic places around the world that, again, serve our faculty and our students and central ohio well. we just have not had these discussions yet. host: we have about 10 minutes left here. we go to alexander from illinois. a student. have institutions of higher education gotten to the point where institutions are more concerned about their than studentsngs that may have a little bit more to offer than just a high gpa? guest: that is a very good question. the answer to that is, yes, i think higher education in general has become fixated on what i sometimes think as input variables. i think, myself, and many here at the institutions, believe

that instead of looking at those, the way we should measure excellence is to look at the out put variables, -- at the output variables, not the input variables. what do the students do when they leave ohio state or when institution?other along those lines, for example, withcently hardwared gallup to do a survey of our graduates. this was a project initially launched at purdue, gallup and purdue university. it gives us a chance to go out and measure where our alumni are at any point that we choose. five years out, 10 years out, 15 years out, etc.. what is important to me is it goes the not just measuring those individuals. it says how much salary are you making. it is good assessing things such

as your satisfaction with life, your relationships, where you feel you are in the world, how you are prepared to deal with issues of employment and other things as you move forward. that is an example of an output measure, and i think when we have those output measures defined, that is the time that we switch the dialogue to instead of being fixated on the input variables, that we look at these output variables as how we measure how good an institution we really are. host: mr. steinmetz, here is another issue that is being debated here in washington and also on college campuses, and that is sexual assault. here is the headline in "the wall street journal," "campus sexual assaults draw greater extrude me -- draw greater scrutiny." failingar colleges are to educate students, faculty,

staff, and even police about sexual assault. it said a third of 440 schools surveyed failed to provide training clearly defining sexual assault of those who educate us all by students." criticalis is a very issue on college campuses, and i is one am pleased that this in the headlines. here at ohio state, we spend a lot of time trying to educate sexualdents about assault. and i would say violent crime in general, for good reason. in an urbans setting. there are approximately 1.8 million people who live in the greater columbus area. it is a campus that is right in the middle of this urban area just a couple of miles from downtown columbus. what comes with this kind of a setting are crimes, crimes just

like you would expect in any large american city. so we have a special duty, i think, and we are educating students about violence, particularly sexual violence. we spent time developing programs and making sure that we in thisg a good job particular area. in fact, the office of civil rights released its report about ohio state and applauded ohio state for what it is doing. we are moving forward with some criticism from that report, including streamlining and simplifying the instruction and really making sure that access is -- that that accesses all that we can with this information because it is a critical issue. host: there was a letter to the editor monday by emily

pellegrino, first-year student, student ond, "i am a ohio state's campus for seven weeks, and already there are assaults,ted sexual and they are getting more frequent. just because you are drunk in the girl you have been dancing with all my is drunk does not mean you get to have sex with her or vice versa." a wonderfulis statement. i think it actually summarizes the education that we continually need to do. and also, what is critical in again, how we report out sexual assault on campus and in our surrounding areas. and is a populated area, think she has hit the issue

right on the head. i could not say it better myself about the need for this particular kind of education. host: we will hear from gary next in ohio, a parent there. lot of theee a institutions have billions of , investedvested somewhere that does not flow down to the students. where do you come up with billions of dollars? and at the same time, as costs are going up, you guys are opening offices all over the world. what is the point? that does not lower the cost and educate anybody any better, in my opinion. well, gary, i think first of all the billions of dollars that you are probably referring to is that we have an annulment that has been -- we have an endowment that is created by the donations of our wonderful alums

and friends of the university. we have over 500,000 alumni of this institution who have been incredibly generous. they have built a $3.5 billion endowment that generates -- which is invested and generates revenue. that endowment actually is used for cost for scholarships, for support, for faculty, and for staff and for programs. and a lot of other things around the university. we do not make large investments that are outside of that purview. about theher issue gateway is i think the value added of having that experience and those opportunities for our students in at least these three places around the world is worth that investment. it has changed the lives of students who get to experience travel and education in these places, and it is actually left

to increase funding for our faculty research so that there is a return on this investment. i will give you an example of that. when i was in brazil, we were brazilianth the science funding agency, and they agreed at that time that a matching program with us for our faculty and student research. they are willing to put up dollars that match ours to enable research projects to go on between our faculty and our students. these are value added things, things that we should be doing as an institution. host: our line for parents, kathy is watching in lake zürich, illinois. i am calling with a couple of points. first of all, a big thank you to senator durbin and senator elizabeth warren, who are working hard to try to allow

families of college students to refinance those student loans. unfortunately, republicans are blocking the legislation, which is inconceivable to me, how they are dealing with american families, blocking that legislation. in addition to that point, i would like to make the point that there is so -- i think we really have to make this more of a national discussion, how we and help american families all families be able to afford college. if you look at the top 100 high-paid ceos in our country, their salaries start at $18 million -- $18,700,000. the person who manufactures a makes $180 million a year.

some kind of tax that if you start making over a certain amount of money, but there is a tax that will somehow help fund colleges? host: all right. on thei will comment second point about affordability because i really think, we have talked about it a few times in this our. i think it is key to the future of the ability to educate students and keep it affordable. creativity onires the part of universities moving forward to do this. us, in addition to the , we are looking at ways to use non