wars, but the obama administration surged the war. it is to solicit to say one deserves blame and gas to a simplistic to say one deserves blame and the other doesn't. house, democrats and the white house. this is not a partisan issue. isre is good and bad and it not easy to break it down in black and white. within then military, what do you do with someone who kills themselves? do you give them a military funeral? do you give them a 21-gun salute? to butople say no oncene who is troubled, you have served, you oh them that debt. you of them that honor. it is not an easy issue. host: thomas has been waiting on the line for veterans. from kentucky. go ahead.

thomas, are you with us? caller: i am a vietnam veteran with ptsd. just turn down your tv and go ahead with your comment or question. caller: what i was about to say -- ok, what i was about to say is that posttraumatic stress disorder not only applies to the military, but someone -- some of the -- in the area has it. gauge i will give you a final minute here. guest: it is true. you can have it if you see a friend of yours can -- a front of your shot in the street, killed in a car crash. have, we have. any issue we have, they have. that is the issue of suicide and ptsd. world, otherother

entity, they are not you -- you cannot say that. we are them, they are us. host: yorkie treason is the author -- yochi dreazen is the author of "the invisible front: love and loss in an era of endless war." up next, we will talk about the relationship between police and minorities, whether it will be better or worse in the coming year. our phone lines will be open for that question. but first, a news update from c-span radio. >> it is 9:32 a.m. eastern time. north korea will not attend united nations security council meeting, where members for the first time will discuss the country's human rights situation. the tension is focused on north korea in recent days as the u.s. is blaming pyongyang for the hocking attack -- for the hacking attack against sony. -- the sheriff in maricopa county is trying to plan tosident obama's

illegal immigrants from being deported. the share of seized a program as a way for more people to illegal enter the country and commit crimes. department across the country are telling their officers to be extra careful following the weekend killing of two police officers in new york city. officers in newark, new jersey, are being told to not patrol alone and avoid people looking for confrontations. the chief of the nypd has sent a officers to -- to condolences. those of the latest headlines on c-span radio. some of the look at programs you will find christmas day on the c-span networks. the lighting of the national

christmas tree, followed by the white house christmas decorations, with first lady michelle obama and the lighting of the capitol christmas tree or it just after 12:30 p.m., celebrity activists talk about their causes. then, supreme court justice samuel alito, and former florida governor jeb bush on the bill of rights and the founding fathers. then venture into the art of good writing with steven pinker. the -- and searches lepore discusses the history of wonder woman. and the fall of the berlin wall with c-span footage of president george bush and bob dole, with speeches from presidents john kennedy and ronald reagan. at noon, fashion experts on choicesdies' fashion and how they represented the styles of the times in which 10:00,ved or it then at

tom brokaw on his more than 50 years of reporting on world events. that is christmas day on the c-span networks. for a complete schedule, go to c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: in our last half-hour, we are asking questions about the relationship between police and minority communities. do you think in 2015 it will get better or worse, whether they will stay the same? that is a question that was asked in a recent few research center poll, -- a recent pew research center poll. among blacks, 52% said it would get worse in the coming year. 31% said it would stay the same. just 16% say it would get better. among white respondents, the pew poll, 34% said it will stay about the same in the coming year. 43% saying it will get better.

21% saying it will get better. 43% said it will stay about the same. those are the numbers according to the pew research center poll. we are asking our viewers to comment on it, in the wake of the shooting of the two new york city police officers. "the assassination of two new york city police officers has emboldened police to lash out at weeks of criticism that they say have left them more vulnerable. the story noting the protests after the deaths of eric garner in staten island and michael brown in ferguson, missouri. forstmann said the demonstrations that followed grand jury decisions not to change -- not to charge the officers in those cases of strain police morale across the u.s. that story leading the front page of "the wall street

journal," and the concern and reaction over the death of the new york city police department officer shot in what has been determined as an ambush in new york, leading many of the newspapers today. here is another headlines -- another headline from "the washington post." the ambush killing of two new york police officers saturday has forced in versioning protest movement over police use of lethal force to a dress accusations that it bears some responsibility for violence carried out in the name of that cause, the story noting two unsigned statements, one by an umbrella group that represents -- where michael brown was shut fatally shot by a white police officer in august, and another on behalf of the broader black lives matter protests. "today's events were a tragedy in their own right. to conflate them with the brave

activism of millions of people across the country's nothing short of cheap little punditry." in statements, social media postings and interviews struck a unit had -- a unified message that emphasize that the killings were tragic and not linked to the protests, saying they -- that the news media have glossed over the fact that the suspect shot his former girlfriend." do you think it will get better? do you think it will get worse? tell us about the situation in your part of the country. 202-748-8000. 202-748-8001 if you think it will get worse. 202-748-8002 if you think it will stay the same. minute.please give me a

of course it is going to get better. it already has, due to the pressure put on local governments and congress by protesters. example -- body counts. better training. bipartisan legislation just passed in the last two weeks mandating that all police departments nationwide have to report on all incidents of shootings, armed or unarmed. that has not been law since 2000 six. it passed in 2000, then lapsed into thousand six. init is law -- then lapsed 2006. one other thing, all the right-wingers -- whose fault was -- whose fault was pennsylvania, where half the

state was shut down in a manhunt for a guy who ambushed police officers? both were white supremacists. we should note that. the guy in pennsylvania was also a veteran. from chicago, illinois, saying that he believes the relationship between police and minority communities will get better. joyce thinks it will get worse, calling from pensacola, florida. good morning. joyce, are you with us? caller: yes, i am three of the reason i think it is because they are not looking at the fuller picture. they are looking at half, sideways. even though i am sorry about the officer that was killed in new york, and my heart goes out to their families, i do not think that that should have happened, but one of the things is, they want people to have so much

sympathy for police officers when they do not seem to have any for when they feel those unarmed black boys. that is what it was. then no one seems to say anything about the young men who were shot down in cleveland, ohio, the 12-year-old. so if you want us to have compassion and mercy for officers, then have compassion and mercy for a human being's life, whether it is black or white. killing is killing. it is wrong, no matter who do it. don't justify when an officer does it and they criticized when someone takes an officer's life. two officers were killed in that shooting over the weekend in new york. here is the article from "the wall street journal."

host: the story going on to quote david thomas, "the latest new york city incident would exacerbate tensions between the protesters and law enforcement --" host: we are asking about the

culture in your part of the country. tell us about your community, and specifically this question -- do you think the relationship between police and minority communities will get better, worse, or stay the same in 2015? eldon is in portsmouth, virginia. good morning. caller: hello. yes, i think that they will stay the same because it is just the relationship between the police and the community that seems to , anddisconnect there especially the minority -- the minorities because as a society we have a certain stigma placed upon us. -- when the public sees these incidents, whether

the person did something wrong valued as is just not a human being the same way. they do not have a connection, it seems to me, that other people have with the people who are around all the time. i think they just need to be -- there needs to be more tomunication and people have be involved in that community. host: tell me about portsmouth, virginia. are you involved in making that connection in your community? to.er: i tried butsmouth is a small city, we have to incidents -- but we have incidents. i am involved in my church and different activities in

community. we have a diverse group there. sometimes it is just a disconnect between, even physically we are separated. just the whole hampton roads area. as people meetat different people from different backgrounds, be involved with the police and different things in your community, it is a help. host: hg florez on twitter rights in that the police minority relationship will continue to strain. minorities feel racial issues are unresolved. tangible changes are needed." fara is helpful. why do you think that? .- is hopeful

why do you think that? caller: everyone now knows what is going on, so many people can talk to their children more. i happened to be black, and i have two children. one is 17, 1 is 15. i talk to all of them, all the police officers in a respectful manner. when the police pulled you over, they have -- you have to stop. i have heard the reverend al sharpton said he is not responsible. yet his rhetoric, in, the athletes that go on television with "don't breeze," i am sorry what happened happened. but michael brown was a thief he was still in that she was stealing from the store, period. the police officer was upset. he did not want to go to jail. in danville,

illinois. here's a headline from "the washington times" -- "and separate the new york from the broader conversation about law enforcement interaction with minority communities." peter things it will get worse, calling in from new haven, connecticut. good morning, peter. caller: good morning. host: turn down your tv. caller: yes, good morning. let me turn my tv downriver quick. i think you are going to get worse.

haven, connecticut i am a caucasian male and i have a lot of black friends. but what happens is, in the black community they do not police up their own community. if someone gets shot in the community, when the cops come in, you don't see anything. you get protests from the family of the prisoner who gets shot and people walking down the street. but everyone who's afraid -- everyone is afraid that the person who gets shot will come back and shoot them. you think the relationship between local police and minority communities are going to get worse. how could it get better? what do you think each side could do to make the relationship better in the coming year? caller: the police in their communities, more blacks are killing more blacks than anywhere else in the country. that is a fact, ok? blacks kill more blacks.

more anger than anywhere else in the country. host: that is peter in new haven, connecticut. the article in "politico," bill bratton, the police commissioner, said tensions in -- who would have ever thought deja vu all over again and that we would be back where we were some 40 odd years later. had seend whether he such tensions or divide come he replied, 1970 when i first came into policing, my first 10 years around this type of tension. we are talking about the relationship between local police and minority will they stay the same? i think they will stay the same until the police get over the mentality of shooting

to kill everybody. a guy over the border of michigan, they wonder the guy. they did not shoot to kill. it is ridiculous for them to do that. .hey could have more compassion the border patrol does not shoot to kill. they do not have to shoot to kill. they need to reinstitute the mental institutions. dave thinks things will get better in 2015. he is in washington. why do you think things are going to get better? caller: well, because people are talking about it. the president, eric holder -- although al sharpton is not as articulate as i wish he would be , and that there was a better leader on his side. we are acknowledging the problem. i will tell you a story about my community, spokane, washington. it is 98% white. but the feds had to come in and investigate because of our

killings by police. it had nothing to do with race. it had to do with police practices, shooting to kill before using other means to resolve the issue. so it is going to get better. it is going to take some time. the drug war is going to have to end. this has been going on since the 1980's. in the 1980's it just started ramping up. the treatment of the lower class really -- i know there are race issues in bigger cities, and it is true. .ut it is also a class issue there is a disrespect and what i used to call the revenue collectors. the police police the poor unwarranted ways, and they treat them badly. so we acknowledge the problem, leaders are speaking up. if we can get the police -- this is the final thing.

if we can get the police to weed out there bad actors, the power tractors -- the power trippers that police people badly. the police need to acknowledge that. host: the editorial board of "the new york times" wrote about this today under this headline, talking about the attacker in the case of the weekend. mr. brinsley was apparently driven to the assassination as retaliation to the death of eric garner and michael brown. there is no evidence that mr. brinsley had any connection to the recent months of peaceful protests for police reform. but healing to those earlier tragedies to his hateful words and unspeakable acts, fatally coloring how others will perceive it. there is no more important job ahead for mr. deblasio then to lead and unite the city. .

promised his one city so urgently and so sorely tested. let's go to monica from louisiana. relationships between police and minority communities will probably be the same in 2015. why do you think that? caller: i am a retired police officer from louisiana. stay our police officers in the academy just a little longer, maybe they can have a better relationship. here in louisiana, we have policing and outreach to the community because you still have police officers who live in that same came in today. so they would understand the neighborhood. but until they go back to class and understand that neighborhood, things are going untily the same, and then

our government or whoever wants to fund or put more money into ,he criminal justice system because i believe our police officers are not getting paid money anyway. almost like minimum wage. the government recognizes these police officers are out differentg to do things. this stuff is going to stay just the way it is. educationy do this by that is the only way. host: how are things in harvey, louisiana? do you see any tensions between local police and minority communities? caller: not at all. our police department here in louisiana is one of the best. we really do not have any complaints. really they are having problems over in new orleans. there is a lot of tension and things going on over in new orleans. but in jefferson parish, no.

host: so what works in jefferson parish as opposed to new orleans, veronica? host: i think -- caller: i think the difference is the police chief. i mean, we have had the same police chief since over 20 something years. host: so there is a trust relationship with community? between the leader of the police department in the community -- between the leader of the police officer in and the community? they go through so many police chiefs, and a lot of the police officers have been getting in trouble since the hurricane katrina thing. it is a lot of controversy. they just got in trouble with , withustice department

eric holder, and overcrowding of the prison and not training police officers. veronica, i appreciate you telling us about the situation as you see it in jefferson parish. the dangers police face on the job. here is a graphical with the lead story today. "policing deaths are on the rise." whether are asking

things are going to get better or worse. caller: of course things are going to get worse. -- the biggest i have ever seen. i have -- i'm 74 years old. i'm telling you, things are going to get worse. says the system is revised. i am a retired marine. , and untiltrainings that happens, i don't think it will get better. some earlier callers said the reason they are optimistic is that the conversations were started by ferguson and eric garner's death in new york. does that make you optimistic? i think we lost the caller. we will go to rene in

, pennsylvania.es what do you think? caller: i would like to see things get better, and i hope they get better. when the protests started, i wanted them to focus on changing policies. i did not want to focus this to be on -- i know race is a part of it. but i'm were so wanted to focus to go on changing policies, like things that went on in ferguson but the prosecutor and that whole system there and the grand jury? departmentll police in america. where i live, we have a good one and they have good race relations with the people. but i have crossed cops in my life that stop you and they are nasty and they are rude and they just talked to you just very demeaning way that very demeaning -- very demeaning.

and you do have those situations hope that we get these problems ironed out and things are better with a better relationship with the people and the police. little and more from the "wall street journal" article, ordering a -- police unions said it was time to meet with elected officials, leading to -- enough is enough, said chuck canterbury . there is nothing wrong with the way cops do their jobs. take a more civil tone, in particular. one of the best things would be if al sharpton would be quiet and let people heal, said ari

fleischer, who served as white house president -- white house press secretary to george w. bush. caller: one of the reasons i believe it is going to their worst is because of the stored. ferguson is not what this conversation should be like. [inaudible] host: why do you think it is going to get worse instead of better. not doing it for the right reason.