the u.s. strategy against isis. author of nickel and dimed and editor of the hardship reporting project she'll discuss a story for death rates for middle age white americans. washington journal and your phone calls is next. it is ood morning, saturday, january 2, 2016, welcome to "washington journal." president obama and the first family return to washington tomorrow from their holiday in hawaii and one of the first items of business for the resident next week will be a monday meeting with the attorney eneral, loretta lynch to talk about executive actions on gun control. that's where we'll start the this 45 minutes of morning's program asking you your ideas for reducing gun violence in the u.s. this is how to be part of the discussion this morning.

is gun owner, that line 202-748-8000. 202-748-8001. you can also send us a tweet. on twitter is@cspanwj. it's facebook.com/c-span orp send us an e-mail at journal@c-span.org. number of newspapers and on-line news sites reporting this morning. the meeting on monday with loretta lynch. it's framed in "the washington post." guns, the s curbs on headline is juliet oliperin's piece. president obama will take action guns. meet monday will with loretta e. lynch to control a series of gun measures and announce his proposeles soon after

who spoke on anonymity because the plan is not public. of the main proposal obama is poised to adopt would require unlicensed gun dealers to get licenses and conduct background buyers.n potential the change is on occasional on-line ho are frequently but do not have a store front. "the washington post" writing began examining how he could tighten the gun rules mass shooting in roseburg, oregon. administration lawyers spent reviewing various proposals to make sure they can withstand legal challenges. "the washington post," read more at washington post.com. will n mind the president have a state of the union address a week from tuesday. tuesday, the 12th, covering that live on c-span. gave a bit of a preview on what he might say on gun control, on actions on gun control, in his weekly address.

here's what he had to say. >> president obama: last month we remembered the third newtown.ary of this friday, i'll be thinking of y friend gabby gifford, five years after her shooting. parents or se children to gun violence are anniversaries every single day. congress hadn't done anything to to them hat happened from happening to other countries. bipartisan ago, a common sense bill would require background checks for everyone ho buys a gun, it's a policy supported by 90% of the american people. it was supported by a majority of nra house holds. the gun lobby mobilized against it and the senate blocked it. tens of thousands of our fellow americans have been mowed down

violence, tens of thousands. each time we're told background have stopped ot the last massacre or the one before that, so we shouldn't do anything. act ow we can't stop every of violence. but what if we tried to stop one? what if congress did something, anything, to protect our kids gun violence. i directed my team to the white house to look at any new actions i could take to reduce gun violence. i'll meet with our attorney general, loretta lynch, to discuss options. letters from parent, teachers, and kids to sit around and do nothing. responsible from owners who grieve with us these tragedies

happen, who share my belief that the second amendment is a right to bear arms and share my belief we can protect that right while keeping a dangerous few from inflicting harm on a these trag happen, who share my belief that the second massive scale. a bunch of us who care about this. if you are one of them, i need your help. change is always going to take all of us. the gun lobby is loud and well in its defense of effortlessly available guns for anyone. going to have are to be just as passionate and well organized in our defense of kids. >> president obama's weekly address. on c-span,that later hear it on c-span radio. you can find it on c-span.org. that's the start of the conversation with you. your ideas for reducing gun u.s.nce in the this is new gun laws take effect in several states across the the state of ing washington and in texas. 202-748-8000 is the number to if you're a gun owner. 001.others, 202-748f will 8 send us a tweet as well. i'm s one from jim says sure an expansion of background

would nip that problem in the bud. add homes one, the home, two, firing range, three hunting guns do not belong in the street public. repeal the second amendment, it will happen. facebook, lots of comments from facebook.com/c-span. why does it matter what tool is used. it's worse to kill with a gun rathern than a knife. reduce violent crime. the crushing mandatory minimums any crime involving any firearm. democrat kralts for liberty said guns as hard to obtain as republicans want to make it for obtain an abortion. go to your call. california.in it's don, go ahead. good morning. caller: yes, what it boils down to is president obama thinks

it's that we've evolved past not noble or civilized to have them. he thinks he can get rid of them. it's like europe. it goes against everything american. dna are a part of our whether people like it or not. guns in the s many united states as there are not e, but there are millions of people being murdered. it's irrational what he's doing. and even what he's proposed sol a single problem. criminals don't buy guns legally. however they can, steal them or buy them from an unscrupulous, another gang member who stole them. the only ones getting hit are us. uns are made to be too expensive.

ammunition is too expensive for people to have. he's disarming the poor people first. >> it says you're not a gun owner. too expensive for you to buy a firearm? caller: no, immaterial's not too expensive for me to buy a firearm. i don't need one, so why should one?ve if i felt i needed one, i would ike to have one. appreciate your call. from shreveport, louisiana, a oowner, good morning cory: i'm upset. the second amendment is aim tacked. country have a right to bear arms. he's trying to make a change to unconstitutional. it's actually treason. and i said before, we're under this country by a criminal president that should impeached yet we go ahead and tactics art of his besides all of these other

things, gun control is another one. he wants to change this country to a third world country which he's doing. i think this is a crock what he's doing. the american people ain't going to go for it. i tell you what, he's making the like a -- party look the most democratic socialist/communist party there ever was. host: the gun owners' line is laurel, maryland, hi there. ory: hey, first of all, happy new year to you. host: happen pip new year. believe in the maryland law. i'm a combat veteran from desert shield and desert storm. host: yeah. aller: i don't have a problem with the background checks. i'll take a mug shot with my weapons. do notley my apartment unless i contact the police department first and tell i'm taking the weapons. host: tell us about the process

in maryland. have to do? how long do you have to wait? days for o wait seven automatic, and .357 magnum. but with a driver's license like if you want to buy a shotgun or that.hing like i agree with the maryland law. i think we should follow the bill.nd law, thanks, host: go to kansas, this is winfield, kansas. david, hi there, doesn't own a gun. years ed to own a gun ago. it was a nonassault pistol. semiautomatic. if you held the trigger all the way back, it was fully automatic. old.n was 4 years i had them locked up in a plastic gun case. home from work one day and insaw him in there trying to open the case. i got rid of the guns because i didn't want anything bad to happen. but the problem is the only way going to fix this is we

strongest military in the whole world. we fight and win all over the world. mexican drug cartel, they bring the drugs and guns spreadshe border and it across the united states and that's what's causing all of these deaths. guns away from the people that are law-abiding citizens, how are they going to protect themselves if they don't own a gun? host: that's david in kansas. aw is changing in a number of states. the changing in texas. armed texas celebrates the status.open carry for decades, the south steps of served as a itol taging area for issues on abortion to demonstration rights but for the first time they walked around here with handguns hips.eir a chilly overcast day, 100 carrying an ed array of weaponry to mark a

change in the law that lets them openly display the fact that they are armed. in practice had been banned texas since 1871. similar demonstrations were held in several other texas cities. more than 40 states allows some type of open carry. ut now texas is the most populous state to do so. fractions only a small of texas' rights. 925,000 men and women with active state ishl shoed licenses a concealed arm. they must carry weapons and all fingerprints and pass a security back ground check. upporters say more weapons would deter would-be criminals argues that there is no evidence that open carry states are safer. tampa, florida who owns a gun, good morning? >> yes, good morning. i think we're just fooling

ourselves. it doesn't matter how many weapons you have. you can have an arsenal. unexpectedly. unpredictable. you ask somebody who's been in combat, it's not the strongest, fastest, the most well unexpectedly.comes we're kidding ourselves when your number is up, when god you home, you re going home. >> cambridge, wisconsin. bruce, good morning. your ideas for reducing gun violence. what do you think? cory caller: after a lifetime of the issue.t on with a respect for my fellow the cans and respect for constitution, and being anything

radical or liberal, i think we should respect the constitution, et people buy whatever weapons they care to. but we should put prohibitive taxation on all of the ammunition. in a way thato so we make them incredibly automatic weapons of any variety. sheree ear from florida, owns a gun. hi. caller: good morning, happy new year. i don't believe those trying to from us is s away going to make a bit of difference. ecause remember the guy in south carolina, his uncle gave him that gun. purchase it out and

himself. san bernardino, those were not their guns. if someone wants to get their going toa gun, they're get their hands on the gun. but it is our second amendment to protect ourselves. our first amendment rights are being stripped slowly day-by-day. way i see it, when the that protects obama give their guns up and the that protects the guns up, ive their then that's when they should to.ect the rest of us >> sheree mentioned the issue of an bernardino after the terrorist killings there and in paris the issue of guns have ome to the forefront on the

campaign trail. donald trump mentioned the last week in his town hall in south carolina. to say.hat he had rump: they're doing everything they can. think of paris, think of los angeles. think if you had some guns in right?n the good side, they had no guns. paris is the toughest gun laws folks.world, and france, you get caught with a gun, it's -- the only ones guns are the bad guys. week in ald trump last south carolina. all of that on the road to the white house coverage on c-span.org. your thoughts, your ideas of gun violence. hiring more cops -- hire more cop, clean up the neighborhoods gun use and allow people to live peacefully. reduced ifiolence be prison sentences were increased for gun crimes, especially

committed with stolen guns? jan said no one wants to take your guns, they want to keep the hands of those who would you harm. let's hear calls from los lunas, ew mexico and bill is a gun owner there. welcome, go ahead. caller: thank you, bill. veteran. in 1994, i sent out schematics, a peacemaker to president bill clinton during of brady. indicates once you -- grab the gun pistol automatically mb leaves your print on the gun to egister and then the gun is able to fire. that makes every responsible gun a really truly

responsible gun owner. ight now there are no responsible gun owners. i'm a gun owner and if there was i'm not saying, but if there was somebody that it.sed me, i would use the only thing is as a gun owner, i know i'm in trouble. so then i tried to get rid of it. way, if your registers that gun to fire instantly once your read on the s pistol grip, then you're the only one that can use it. steal it from you. when you have it off of your a standard t it in lockup platform and nobody can steal it from your house. host: what happened to that idea? caller: i don't know, i sent it to bill clinton. open the doors to

laboratories for me to get in there. he gave it to sandia and they came out with the smart gun. they wear a special ring that makes contact with the weapon police officers can use it and nobody can take it from their holster or anything. owner in new mexico. israel, doesn't own a gun. heights, wisconsin, is that right? caller: no, michigan. host: go ahead. caller: i was thinking, i don't want to take guns from people they want to make sure stay out of a lot of people hands, either the criminal or the people who can become criminal in a split second. we have to have insurance to have a car. to own a ve insurance gun. too many people out here that ou can get a gun, he can get a gun. carry.ike open

why -- if we're going to restrict it, put some insurance on it. the serial on the outside, pit on the inside. make it hard to sell. if you scratch the serial number you tear up the whole gun. we keep it registered and shurns we don't have to hear people say no, i need to keep my gun. minute we say no to these people, they fight. host: your ideas of reducing gun violence in the u.s. we expect to hear from president on the issue meeting on monday with the attorney general and this is as a number of new across the ke effect country. after the shootings in oregon at college back in gallup took a poll of a number of issues. on are some of the results the question of do you have a

gun in your home? most recent poll. up from 37 in 2012. you feelin general, do that laws kofing the sale of fire arms should be made more or kept as strict, they are now? strict.d more 33% said kept as they are now. 11% from a poll, at the gallup organization back october. to your calls, brenda is in hereford, louisiana. go ahead. caller: it's close. bernadette. last night.ur show he made a great suggestion. insurance, just like cars, the way you do with car, insure everything.

you get a background check and you have duis and all that goes up.ur insurance if somebody wants to own a gun and you want to be a responsible owner, you don't mind registering it and paying insurance on it and if it gets somebody else uses it, your insurance covers it. great idea, i can't believe i just heard that now. it's brilliant. host: that "q&a" program at c spahn.org. rob doesn't have a gun. caller: i think the problem is wants to have a conversation about this. incorrect, i lly guess. black neighborhoods, chicago is going to be over 500 this year, los angeles. go to the neighbors and take the guns away from them. if they resist, do what we used do to white criminals in the

30s, shoot them, take their guns. you'll win. no one wants to say that because it's politically incorrect and argue it's racism. truth isn't racism. truth is truth. host: you suggest seizing their arms and shooting them if they their weapons. clyde, jack ie and dillinger, they were white. they didn't give them a chance. you want to end it. you want to be politically correct, do it. having this conversation day after day. do the right thing, take their guns. you'll end this, believe me. host: david doesn't own a gun, go ahead. aller: i've been listening to this issue for several years. i think the whole consideration veered away from taking

hunters and -- the whole concept of it was for us to be able to protect ourselves. texas has got the right idea. you have a number of folks out there wearing their idearms, whatever kind of gun -- hunting guns can be strapped to the shoulder and taken too, any kind of dpun can if any you're a responsible gun owner. when you have that visibility, you're not going to have all of this crime. and razies that do go out do some of these mass shootings, fastll be taken out really by responsible gun owners. you don't have to wait on law enforcement to come protect you. ost: david in georgia are you allowed to carry your fire ample with you? caller: you are. i'm not up on all of the laws because i disagree with too many control laws. this whole insurance idea, all

growing en, i remember up, you'd get caught without insurance on your car, it's a $35 fine. cost effective for us teenagers just to take the ticket and not have insurance on our cars. and then the movement to put nsurance on cars being mandatory, your insurance rates are up which shouldn't have been because more people were insurance, have that's what's going to happen to obama care. uses as a rt system revenue generator. i understand they need to be paid for. all of the laws. i'm interested to see how far he will take this. order oes his executive again, the republicans will take control. disappointment with what appened in the last november

elections when the government seized control of congress and everybody is disappointed nothing is happening, his here can turn the whole thing. they need to band together and stop this. if it gets too aggressive, it's to impeach. there's support for this. the there was action by president in the wake of sandy hook. in "wall street journal" about the new laws going into effect in particular in texas. wake of write in the the sandy hook massacre, the massacre at sandy hook school, the president in 2013 set in motion 23 executive action on guns. later the effects of fromof those efforts range inconclusive or inconsequential or incomplete. proposal to the bar individuals on certain terrorism watchlists from purchasing guns. lawmakers are expected to

require background checks on all firearms. the white house points to steps taken for federal agencies to be accountable by sharing information and improve the share or states to information as evidence of progress in 201. reporting to meet with the attorney general, loretta lynch on monday. our calls and hear from abbeyville, louisiana. good morning. you doing? are host: fine, thank you. caller: the fact of the matter is we need to accept itandje us here.ist is he's here to save all of type -- take all of this of pain away. just the fact of knowing this and people keep going to space figure things out, instead of etting on televisions, god uhts, and talk about

jesus christ is here. host: what do you have to say? me on. thanks for having as i turn on the television occurrence, weekly innocent people killed in movie theaters, schools, there's something we have to do to fix this. as far as president obama's he's tive action that to prevent gun violence, it's long overdue. as you mentioned earlier in the bernien of 2016, i think

sanders is the clear choice to for. he's got moderate gun control plan s lans he's from vermont where people in that state are hunters. not going to go around collecting many people's guns as many republicans in the south you know? but he's also calling for common sense gun reform, closing the show loopholes and as you know the nra has congress. i think they have blood on their hands. i'm 14 years old. the things that go on in this country scare me. begging, i'm pleading, sanders.ote for bernie we have not much time left to

country. host: talking about some of the sanders that bernie of guns, ut, in terms hillary clinton talked about her guns in a town hall meeting last week in new hampshire. >> when you become president, what is the it promise to connect mental health problems to make sure me and my brothers and friends are safe from violence at school. >> clinton: oh, wow. [ applause ] clinton: i'm going to do everything i can do. not going to stop trying. right pow we lose 90 people a violence. homicides, suicide, and tragic avoidable accidents. that's 33,000 people a year. i think we need to pass some that i have been advocating

for. checks, o increase close the gun show loophole, close the on-line loophole. [ applause ] nd we need to make sure that the information that is needed to make the judgment about qualified to e is is in the record. and very often, we don't have re realtime information because we have to close what's called the the eston loophole where killer in charleston went to buy a gun. he filled out the form. nder the loophole, he could come back and get it after three business days. he wasn't tion that eligible because he had a felony conviction didn't come through went, used that gun, and murdered nine people in a church like this in charleston.

have work to do. the mental health aspect of this scary because you don't want but you mattize people have to have information. the killer at virginia tech had been committed but that nformation was not in the records. prohibit people who are domestic abusers with them ining orders against from getting the guns. we certainly should get the congress to prohibit anyone the no-fly list, the would-be terrorists from buying guns in america. host: town hall meeting last in new hampshire. let you know that bill clinton will make his first campaign for hillary clinton in new hampshire on monday. we'll have live coverage of that beginning at 5:15

eastern. c-span and c-span radio, live clinton.of bill by the way, "the washington ost" and other organizations reporting clinton campaign raised $55 million in the latest quarter. hillary e that clinton's campaign announced 55 million in the 112 million for the primary for the year. just a reminder too that you can our road to the white house coverage on-line at c-span.org. of other news, the flooding, the bad weather has miserable of lives over the holiday period. "the wall street journal" with med west flooding eases. they write that flood waters in on st. louis area receded friday and roadways reopened, state and local officials turned damage to g the properties and infrastructure and beginning what promised to

a slow recovery process for many. that's from "the wall street journal." i'll pull this off and give you a look at the st. louis post page.ch front merrimac's muck. of the problems they've had in and around the region. back to calls and your ideas of reducing gun violence. an antonio, texas, clyde is there who doesn't own a gun. come, go ahead. caller: good morning. reducing gun violence, i think registered.ould be first of all, too much divisiveness and fear in this country. they're n't know who afraid of. ne group of people say they're afraid of the government. criminals. a lot of bicultural or racial fears involved in this. the perfect storm coming up.

that's a great possibility you can only borrow two guns at a time. that own 50 guns or whatever. of do you do with the rest them? this is just insanity. think a lot of people, from the calls i've heard so far this there have been very few rational thought through alls about what to do about guns. very think that's a dangerous situation. host: what do you think about the changes that have happened laws in your state as the new year starts. man, r: i live in texas, need i say anymore? host: appreciate your comments. look forward the reporting of the changes of the law from times.rom the new york this piece came out on new ye

day.s the president of the texas they were cials said bracing for a learning curve. understand conceal but we understand open carry creates a new set of problems. officer sees someone with the open carry, they have the ability to stop and identify that person, whether that person permitted or not. one more quick piece in this. gun texans, the arrival of open carry is not enough. many did not support the open bill but called for legislation for what they called, quote, constitutional to y, allowing texans display and wear their handguns egardless of whether they were licensed to carry a concealed handgun because they argue the second amendment gives them the right do so. they're urging the passage of a constitutional carry bill of the

next session of the legislature. your calls to elk river, mp minnesota, randall, thanks ahead.iting, go caller: you're welcome. duck dynasty the guy. this man speaks from common -- sorry mmon core about that -- common sense experience. the fact is history does repeat itself. the last caller commented. with him, not many thought through callers. hey call with what's on their mind and it ain't much. there's a common sense solution control issue in this country. it's called the constitution. else.touches on something every issue we have, the constitution whether it's worded in a way that people understand not, does cover it. people were very inspired who

document. if we don't get back to the constitution, not only about gun, we're going to be merely rearranging the chairs on the deck of this titanic. the economy is the biggest we're facing. but let me make one more comment about the whole thing. so many people who don't have a clue. it's across the board as to pure e speaking out of fear, the fear mongerers, the hillary annabes like clinton, she doesn't hold out any promise to any solutions. she's merely dividing the country. people should look at her in a historical sense. there's the solution about that. laws, want to pass more sunset two.son, we have so many laws we can't all.e by them when we get up in the morning as soon as we get out of bed, we're probably breaking somebody's rule. host: to pittsburgh. hear from carol, not a gun

owner. your ideas, carol, for reducing gun violence in the u.s. caller: i don't know much about t but i think most laws fragmenting us, different laws in different states. doing active work with -- neighborhood watch but not as a violence thing. see that your neighbor is doctors, everyone s fed, controversy between the policemen and the openly with he people of all economic statuses in your community. mandatory a neighborhood loss. people want to make it now not i.d. as a license, but some kind of a passport, us more and more with the haves and have-notes.

from carol in s pittsburgh. about five more minutes of your reducing gun s on violence in the united states. this is president obama meeting onday with the attorney general. the house back monday, back tuesday for legislative work. taking up e legislation that would, is designed to ban funding for planned parenthood, overturn the affordable care act. that nate passed legislation. the president is expected to veto if the house does pass. former today about a member who passed away. ohio.xley from champion law on business fraud as the headline. of his obituary, mike oxley helped writen that the landmark anti-fraud legislation after a wave of orporate scandals that brought died nron and worldcom january 1 in mclean, virginia. he was 71. he had cancer.

in 2007 left congress after 25 years in the house where he devoted most of his issues involving oversight and protection. e led an effort to investigate failed energy giant enron and approve new accounting equirements in the 2002 sarbanes-oxley act. back to calls, this is olympia, elaine, go ahead. caller: back in 1980, i was with a guy from martin grove, illinois, north of chicago. a big y were having problem with crime and so unlike do as protection, they to owna law that you had a gun. and their crime rate went down 80%. because of that, because afraid to do anything, i guess. host: what locality? caller: i can only tell you what

he told me. he was from martin grove, which is north of chicago. they passed a law that people own a gun. and their crime rate went down 80%. because of it. that's what he told me. parents were there. the other thing i wanted to bring up, i don't see why we an't have, you know, like a icense that people who are authorized to own a gun can get license to purchase a gun and they don't have to go through a background check. all they have do is present their license to whoever is selling it and that person has to be assured that that person license to own a gun. karl, not a gun owner. you.er: thank happy new year to you and your staff and the listeners.

host: happy new year. go through this. i'm not a gun owner. i live in an area where there's who own lots of guns. the thing i don't hear is let's manufacturer. time window ban manufacturers, say five year, limit the amount that the gun owners could manufacture. that you can only own, you know, three to five gun ms. we can have a higher tax at purchase. end. this moratorium would we could have gun crimes, automatic, 20 years if you a gun and ime with you could never own a gun again. we could have very expensive ammunition. could have a 20-year sentence for buyers. 20-year sentence for illegal sales and i feel

the most hows are idiotic thing there is. let's go down to the gun and knife show. crazy. just we don't need gun shows. if there are going to be retail sales, obviously there's have that nd fees to sort of thing right now. but we've got 30,000 gun deaths for how many years in a row, it's just not acceptable. and there are things that can be done. for your time. offend too many gun owners. host: i recommend the government of a e's ownership handgun. the gun will have the social ecurity number as the serial number. dana says, yeah, insurance because nobody drives if they don't have insurance. brilliant. the other view is david said if mcdonald's can be sued, if omeone gets burned with their coffee, gun manufacturers can be sued for gun mishaps and north u.s. going to s,

implement safety piecemeal by just like before prohibition. okay with rt seems that. a couple more calls to texas hich changed the laws we were talking about. rory is in dallas, welcome. caller: hello. host: you're on the air, go ahead. caller: yes, sir. i own a gun. like last night, you know, it's and my next door neighbor just shoots out rounds. are too scared to say quit shooting off guns. yes, we do own guns in this house. e need to do something like with the bullets. like you can't buy the bullets unless you have your gun license. insurance? what good is that going to do? drivers we many have in texas that's not insured? i don't know what the solution is, but insurance is not one.

the call.ks for a quick check of first of the year editorial from "the gun ngton post" dealt with violence. headline, a grim year for guns writes the piece. united states apart from these countries, and hey're talking about austria, new zealand, norway, slovenia, hong kong, and iceland, they lack policies on gun ownership. features th military are designed for war and legally "the ble to citizens, washington post" writing this, saying the result is that the united states has more guns than other developed countries translates to more homicide, shootings, and that 700 kids under the age of 12. were 2,671 other students between 12 and 17 that were kill suicide a further abomination.

in vincent town, new jersey. go ahead. >> thank you for taking my call. remind viewers about perspective of the writing. it was written in the revolutionary war when wanted the government o pay for the guns so that the fight ople were able to in the war. the people who own guns today militias.rt of state they are -- i think if it's that ed that they do that they be part of the state national guard as it's written in the constitution. would like tong i comment on is why do they upport the guns being accessible to terrorists? known terrorists within the united states? thank you. host: thanks, patrick. topic a bit to this later in washington journal.

coming up next, former pentagon enterprise institute scholar michael ruben will join us. we'll take a look at assessing strategy for combatting isis. and later on the journalist and to talk will join us about the skyrocketing death rate among the white working class. all of that ahead. national or of the counterterrorism is our news makers guest this week. airing tomorrow between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern omorrow, he describes what the intelligence community learned from paris in san bernardino and the terrorism challenges facing europe. lesson ss if there's a learned here from paris and san can't ino is that we really predict where and from what direction the threats we next -- the threats might come from next. youru feel you can rely on

partners in europe given the many ways the visa program many individuals are one step away from getting on a united states. you have plots under the nose of officials in belgium and france. enough? doing >> our european partners are confronting something in their a scale that is far different than anything we're united ere inside the states. and over time, i think they're going to have to make their own judgments about whether they the right array of legal money, ties, resources, all of the things necessary to carry out effective counterterrorism operations inside their own countries. there's a bitat if of positive news in the last few years as we dealt with the onflict in syria and the conflict in iraq it's that our evel of cooperation and engagement has really deepened dramat dramatical

dramatically. the sharing of information about individuals who may be the conflict zone in iraq and syria, the shares of information about travelers and potential threats that our citizens and their citizens may pose to each of us, that sharing is much more advanced than it was if we had conversation 18 months ago. at the same time, your question has it exactly right, paris has to fore a set of questions about whether the or even , as a group individual countries, are postured well enough to deal of thets they're going to face. this is not something that's 6 or to go away in some 12-month period of time. i'd like to see my european partners engaged in and spection self-reflection of how to deal with it. >> "washington journal" continues. host: michael ruben served in the george w. bush and is a scholar.

here to talk to us about year ing isis, as the new begins, where are we in the isis? against guest: in many ways, two steps forward, one step back. reading could be two steps forward, two steps back. iraqi police the forces recapture ramadi is a step in the right direction. need to worry about the recapture of mosul, we need to worry about the type of comes next.hat what really concerns me is that our strategy focuses on syria by necessity, the islamic state has spread far and ide to afghanistan, to egypt's sinai peninsula, to libya, so forth. ost: what about on the terrorism front in their ability o predict things like the terrorist attack in paris and how far is that

ability spreading? guest: that is spreading a great dea deal. when the islamic state lost khobani, that was immediately flowed by how far is that ability spreading? the video being released and the german pilot alive.urned likewise, when islams lost sinjar, it was followed by the attacks. it was like they were doing to seize spectacular back momentum. when they lost ramadi, they weren't able to reaction. momentum is everything. perhaps this is a positive sign looking to the future. an : victory in ramadi is important milestone. the u.s. is not claiming the army success as a vindication. they say that the city felt the islamic city in may, the white house called it a setback. the administration, many critics a disaster and proved that the strategy to defeat the militants was failing. and iraqi security forces backed by the coalition

recaptured ramadi last week. but the administration itself hesitated to call the victory or claim it as evidence are close to ants the destruction that obama has promised. hy do you think they're being hesitant on this? being wise after the u.s. power in conjunction with the kurdish forces retook sinjar, president obama said hat the islamic state is contained and within hours the paris attacks. so the white house is cautious, y being which is wise. host: your comments and calls to on the strategy to defeat isis. the number to s call for democrats. republicans, 202-748-8001. others, independents,

202-748-8002. send us a tweet as well. c-spanwj. back to your comments. mentioned this about isis and other terrorist around tions spreading the world. where else are you most nterested in the influence of isis taking hold. guest: i'm interest in what's on in the sinai peninsula. not just because of the shipping because one out of every five arabs lives in egypt itself. an incident in july that concerned me and that's when the in a false e call distress call at sea. responded, the frigot was crippled with fire. sea when there's a distress call, any ship nearby that.posed to respond to this is a tactic that will be

increasingly in play. it will endanger the u.s. navy. the same time, the alternate to that is when there's a sea, people l at won't rep respond and when we ave migrants drowning en masse as they try to reach europe's shores, if we have the distress are honey traps for terrorist attacks, that's the problem. president obama has a year left. he'll make the state of the next tuesday. what would you like to hear if it.peaks to guest: first, i would like to see him speak to it. more broadly, one of the things about the t realize fight against terrorism, is that in the united states and the havemore broadly, we don't a definition of terrorism. 50 definitions at play just in terms of united nations and uropean americans and australian american agents and so forth. it would be good to know what is.rorism how we're fighting it. when it comes to motivation of

errorism, one of the things that frustrated me again across administration, i79's impossible look at terrorism on the spectrum, between grievance and ideology on the other hand in terms of motivation. they look at it in terms of grievance. motivated by grievance, you can use diplomacy to address the grievance and the problem goes away. you say lamic state, the policy is much more generous to the sunnis, that's not going the united states masogyny go away. i think we need to wake up and it's not just peace in the middle east that's going to problem, e terrorist but there's an ideological war at play as well. host: hear what president obama critics.y to his he spoke to npr before the holiday break. president obama: what are we

talking about? bomb more. to who? where are you going to bomb. when you talk about carpet mean?ng, what do you we carry out precision strikes based on intelligence of where isil is, their infrastructure, their oil tankers are. the suggestion is that we kill tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent syrians we c iraqis, that's not who are and that would be a strategy hat would have an enormous backlash against the united states. terrible for the national security. can get awayritics with just suggesting that or being less discriminant on how we approach a difference.e and you know we're not -- let me put it this way. trust my commanders, folks who long and hard in

places like iraq or afghanistan. when they describe to me, here's going to gather intelligence, here's how we're going to approach the targeting, we've been at this for a long time. in afghanistan, iraq, places ike somalia and yemen where we've gone off terrorist targets. and the key is to make sure that got sound intelligence and apologies for us wanting to do this appropriately way that is consistent with american values. host: michael ruben, president responding from criticism from ted cruz, the presidential candidate. guest: a couple of issues. a bit of a strong man argument o say the only possible strategy is military. any co-heroins strategy should have diplomatic informational, economic and

components and the whole is greater than some of the parts million. military complain and many of president obama's former every former t secretary of state -- i'm sorry, ofost every former secretary defense, secretary of state clinton as well has come away obama was notdent listening to some of the advice with regard to syria. on average, we have seven air on syria per day at the beginning of the afghanistan 90.lict, the number was in bosnia, the number was 130. we're stion is whether acting more symbolically than real. using air power to the greatest effect. we didn't go after the isis oil months. for we had diplomatic strategies. you look at the islamic state, thousands fighting in syria and iraq, thousands of unisians but only a handful of algerians. when i asked officials why, they respond, i want's easy.

because turkey allows visa-free iraq and waivers from tunisia, but requires visas in advance for iraq and algerians. we saying anyone from a country that supplies in terms to besonnel, the citizens part of the islamic state. if you're under the age of 40, visa in advance. that dries up the flow of foreign fighters in syria and iraq. like that trategies that aren't military and relatively cost free. recently in ost iraq

look at what these countries are doing. they are undertaking syria and iraq are in they have nothing to do with defeating isis. craig is in new jersey.

you are on the air. though ahead. that: i recently read hillary clinton and obama used to the opponents of assad. they are now isis. that was all done against the serious objections of the generals. because he was so set, he began working to undermine the strategy. he leaked confidential information to the syrian government and i would appreciate if you would comment to.

can confirm not one the truth of the reporting area in the past, he has a spotty track record in i have heard these rumors, that there was arm trades going from libya to the syrian opposition. i haven't seen the evidence to back that up. when it comes to his reporting, he relies on a very narrow set of sources and does not address any contradictory information. ist we can say distinctly there were arms going across the border into syria from turkey. going to the islamic state or directly. been cracking down on journalists who reported this.

weneed to recognize that have had an ever shifting strategy. we had a strategy with libya and syria that has not kept up with the changing fact on the ground. diagnosed aas if we cancer at stage one and then we talked about it while it metastasized to stage four. this endless debate in washington without taking into account that were yesterday's moderates are radical today. host: i want to follow up with a piece. administration is thinking about assad disdain. is this a change in u.s. policy. caller: perhaps, assad can stay

for a time. john kerry has said whether it's , that or a month something that will be up for discussion. there is a difference between what seems possible in a boardroom or hotel versus what's possible on the ground in syria. that was what a young african-american boy went down to mississippi and was kidnapped and lynched. his body was returned to chicago and his parents had open casket funeral and invited magazines. the pictures of what was going on in mississippi at that time became national news. it became undeniable. there is a young boy in syria.

he was 13 years old and was arrested for it his body was returned to his parents that he had been gruesomely tortured. he had burns all over his body and they let al jazeera see the body. they say that was the point of no return. equivalent for syrians of saying in the emmett till case, just get over it. tot: our topic is strategy fight isis. isis were created by the bush family. literally. george bush senior and george bush junior. reality is the jewish state. the jewish state and our involvement in the middle east goes back.

you have currency wars. we have the military industrial, books printed we have given trillions of dollars to the jewish state in the past. is oil and more. you go back to 1961, the united states has an agreement in saudi arabia. the back israel in 1965. the ship that oil. host: let's get a response. what is the influence of the israeli-palestinian conflict. caller: let's put aside the inaccuracy and the hate. i get paid to predict the past. 1946, they were charged with determining with the greatest right in the united states

security would be now that world war ii was over. one was communism, that was a if me. the other was the threat of terrorism. evidence citing as some of the terrorism in egypt by the muslim brotherhood. before theear partition of palestine and the creation of israel. some people who want to look at the notion of terrorism through the lens of grievance. ideology can play just as important role. -- addressly adjust the grievance and not the ideology, that's not going to work. host: you can send us a tweet at c-span. isis.em fight

east is war without end western mark --? caller: i hope not. one of the lessons of the pre-9/11 terror is whatever you have ungoverned states and you allowed terrorism to fill that vacuum, that can have reverberations for the national security. the simply remove ourselves from the middle east, these problems will go away or we're part of a cycle of violence, i don't think the facts back that appeared we had the first world trade center attack in 1983. we were attacked in 1998 in east africa. attacked off the coast of yemen. there because there was a deal with the government to help use the navy into their

society. we did not respond and we had 9/11. inn we see osama bin laden 1996 declare war on the united states, we look at this as one. can'tk history shows we return are back. the problem will fester. how can we allow people in the region to defeat this threat? that's the thing that gets me. that's why i am critical of people like donald trump will try to castigate all muslims. in the fight against radical islam, it's the moderates who do most of the dying. where someonetion we trained turns their guns on us and kills three american and risers.

we don't hear about it as often. have to record ties that the people in the region, the moderates are our allies and we have to come up with a strategy. host: this is michael honor democrat line. say that oured to strategy against terrorism should be fighting terrorism. it starts by telling the truth. we say we're fighting terrorism and isis. we are allies with the creators and some orders of isis like saudi arabia. i heard the other collar talking about this. saudi arabia is the main force behind these groups. we turn a blind eye when it comes to their act of terrorism.

he was a moderate freedom fighter. he never picked up the gun. what they did, they just murdered him and a lot of other people, 47 people. they were executed by the saudi king. we don't say anything. this happened today. caller: i want to thank you for your comments. executioncondemn the by saudi arabia. this happened today. news. forhis in the the broader listener, he was a leader of many saudi shia. he was a peaceful leader. he arrested many times.

he was executed and his nephew today. that i don'tnt out subscribe to the conspiracy theory that the united states has created all the terrorism. afghanistan,at they were the ones who were fighting al qaeda. they were fighting the taliban. you can say what you want about the cia, i'm not sure they are arming three-year-olds. when we look at the chronology, the taliban emerged in 1994. i do want to correct the record on that. we do have extremism on both sides we can look at what saudi arabia has funded in the past.

when we look at the middle east and we look at the heart of the the islamic say world is shiite. marks the big deal western and we go around the arabian peninsula, we are at 50-50 parity. that's why everything is in a tipping point right now. we need to realize there are extremists on both sides. we need to have a strategy to ally with the moderates are in --. are home to the leading center, they have been in quiet dialogue with many of the shiite leaders. itt does not hit the press is you hope that behind all this

rhetoric, before realizing they need a better outlook. host: what is your take on saudi arabia stepping into the fight? saudi arabia, there is a pattern in the middle east. we don't have a definition of terrorism. will say they are fighting terrorism when it's in all a cart definition. when it comes to saudi arabia, about 10 years ago when they started suffering blowback, they became much more serious about fighting terrorism. turkey and qatar, they are much more problematic when it comes to the fight. for generations, saudi arabia

had an extremist vision into mosques. host: this is new york. guest: good morning. first of all, i would like to say that president obama said recently that we had no strategy to fight isis. could we defeat isis if there is no strategy? 15 months to bomb any oil trucks. he said global warming was a rebuke to isis. wants to quote -- close gone, oh. -- guantanamo. his defense secretaries of quick.

when an american got his head cut off, he went golfing. i think that is his strategy. i happen to disagree with the president. i know many people think about the fight against the islamic state. i can quibble over the strategy. he was probably mistaken to argue that the islamic state was the jv team at the beginning. i do think they've come around. where i disagree with where he's going is i'm not sure the airstrikes are anything more than symbolic right now. i don't know that we have a diplomatic strategy. assad has become the greatest

recruiting over the islamic state. his presence allows the islamic state to recruit. when we talk about online jihad , we forget the fact that the islamic state has a.m. and fm radio. they can reach 40 million people. we need to do more than to eat in response. is,ver the next president they are going to be faced with questions about ground troops to help supplement. troops, have ground what is the authorization? that should be passed by congress. we need to give generals what they need or we are going to control things from the white house or it the current white house is tried to micromanage

too much. those are questions for serious debate. i think the consensus we can have is the fight isn't going to and with this administration. had a seriousbama you're going to need to have a similar review with regards to the islamic state. host: hillary clinton was asked about ground troops. she said this in the most recent debate, this was her response. support sunni arabs in kurdish forces against isis it would be not only a strategic mistake for the united states but ground combat troops in as a was to special operators

trainers, that is what isis wants. the hip advertise that. they want american troops back in the middle east. they want american soldiers on the ground fighting them. giving them more targets and giving them a great recruiting opportunity. all, she had af nuanced answer. she was not ruling out ground troops are in what she said when she doesn't want ground combat troops. she was willing to put in a special forces and trainers. one of the things we don't talk about is it's not just putting troops in. there is logistics to be put into play. need to have a serious conversation about it. where we disagree is the notion we should be arming the sunnis and kurds directly.

this august, the kurdish government in iraq refused to step down. throughout the capital city a great deal of military equipment. that was supposed to be used to fight isis. it was used to suppress his own people. this is one of the main problems with arming tribes or regional governments. fighting agendas from the islamic state. next up is andrew in massachusetts. guest: i am very much afraid of the drones. i believe some people have so much control over the drones that they could have the ability to improve them to the point that they can do so much

destruction to everything. they are everywhere. we still haven't stopped it. they are flying into planes and airspace. host: that's a little love topic, but we appreciate the call. we are talking about u.s. strategy against isis. guest: thank you for taking my call. where bush put together a coalition. that was a great strategy. there were a lot of other countries as well. see why we can't do that.

what's going to happen as far as iran goes? months -- much influence. caller: it's a great question. let me respond to both. drones, whato the i worry about is it becomes a source that is too easy and we don't recognize in the mountains between afghanistan and pakistan we're driving terrorists into the dense urban jungle. what's going to happen? we can't use drones against that. we need to look at them as a part of a broader strategy. with regard to iran, i agree that they are too powerful and

in the fight against the islamic state, we may have an interest in it. arsonists and firefighters have a interest in priors it doesn't in we are on the same side of the issue. can exacerbatean her in desperate --. the shiites are being generous to the sunnis. many of the refugees in iraq would much rather be where they can work and kids go to school then go to iraqi kurdistan. discrimination. sectarian thanre the iraqis are.

the last point you made is what we have this water coalition. -- broader coalition. there are positives and negatives. having multilateralism brings international legitimacy. , it can dilute the campaign,ess of any especially when the countries involved come in with her own caveats. there are certain things they refuse to duplicate it becomes a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle to put together a strategy. there are certain things the united states can do and others can't. does that mean we're willing to compromise? we can complain about the way the iraqi security forces operate.

we made the decision, we have to live with it. this is reaction to the missile tests in iran. iran complicate isis? caller: islamic state threatens iran in many ways. eating aabout iran shiite republic are in 11% of iran in the kurdish areas are sunni muslims. againstl discriminated in terms of ethnicity and their sectarian preference. iran comes in with an agenda. iranupreme leader of claims to have political and religious authority. the problem in iraq is many iraqi shiite don't subscribe to

this notion. when iran comes in and says they want to fight islamic state, when they are getting advisers in iraq, they are suppressing the ability to speak openly. they are trying to control through the barrel of a gun what is not present. we should not sacrifice the long-term stability of the iraqis mistake of short-term gains against the islamic state. host: this is gentry in houston. guest: i just like to say that your guest is not telling the complete truth about what's going on. of the the comparison syria of a 13-year-old in to the murder of emmett till here in the united states.

the real story of what went on regimes the assad recovered the child's body. they were out the ones that did the torture for the killing. assad is the greatest recruiter for isis. i don't think so. i think the fact that the united states has been bombing in that greatestdecades is the recruitment for isis. one more thing, i don't know if this is -- i haven't researched this, you said there were 90 million people in the job a province in afghanistan.

i don't that's the truth or accurate. --t: thanks for the culprit the call. caller: i was talking about pakistan. many of the drum strikes have gone from out in this areas between afghanistan and pakistan into a broader region in pakistan. i'm afraid you're just wrong. he was taken by syrian forces. he was tortured in a syrian prison and his body was returned by syrian police. came withefector who thousands of pictures depicting the torture and execution of syrians. atrocitieslenty of that go around on both sides. assad specifically targeted

children in order to intimidate. the is parallel to atrocities his father carried out in 1982. social we did not have media. this was the start of the refugee flow. the other issue to keep in mind when it comes to assad being the driver is we know this from the statements of the islamic state and those who support them. from the people that rose up against him at the beginning. i welcome your viewpoint. i wish you a happy new year. i think the facts don't work what you're trying to say. guest: good day. i've get three points i like to make one goes back to the 1980's.

investorsa group of started. carlucci andk caspar weinberger and jim baker. bin laden was one of the original investors. jump ahead to the summer before went the fbi director through the middle east and set up fbi offices and then retired after 9/11. james baker went through the middle east. he set up law offices. at the end of the bush administration, halliburton and blackwater moved to the middle east. that carlyle group invested in oil and gas next duration, military contracts, it was like

a contractor's dream come true. host: any connection? caller: mcdonald's went into the middle east in the night scene 90's as well. i think some of the facts are wrong. i have nothing to do with the group. i don't agree with the policies. i'm not ensure the conspiracy explains the reality of what's going on. thesere we enable gays at ze, i don't want to discount the choices they made. let's get one more call from brent. guest: good morning.

there with me. thank you for having me on. it's bring this down to earth. president that has no foreign policy, no ambition, no know how and no strength in the middle east. he has led of the middle east. these let chaos go on. you can't name one state in the middle east that is not having civil war or russia and iran and china. this is a shame. the american people have elected a president that is not even american.

his name is rocco hussein obama. host: you don't believe the president was worn in the united states western mark --? we will end it there. caller: not every president comes office experienced in foreign affairs. they become experienced quickly. think the evidence is overwhelming that he was born in the united states. there is a country stable and that's morocco. we need to work with the moroccans more. i think the biggest difference in left and right is the left tends to demonize power in the right sees power being used for good or bad. this ist obama believed led to the stabilization in the

middle east. when we are not doing that, i continue to believe a strong military. that is one aspect i am looking at. if you come back to the table a year from now, where you want to see the issa story? caller: i'd like to see a much your discussion on rebuilding those areas that have been affected my isis i think we need to have a serious discussion about what to do with the people that a been victimized by the islamic state. not just the women and girls who've been enslaved, schoolchildren who up indoctrinated into their

worldview who've been damaged and destroyed. reverberations are going to last long beyond the military. host: viewers can follow your writing. you are also on commentary magazine and twitter. thank you, uncle reuben. we continue next. theill here next from skyrocketing death rate. the resume in a moment. >> today's of featured programming this new year's weekend. tonight, a race relations town hall meeting with elected officials and law enforcement

areas experiencing racial tension with please. >> that's where it begins. they say i am protecting the public. their idea of the book is those that gave them their marching orders. we need to look at all that. rulesd to look at those that they are using to engage themselves with their community. on mediaussion coverage of muslims and how american muslims can join the national conversation. young people across the u.k. gather to discuss issues important to them. than trains.re we feel disillusioned. to driversard

honking. when we grew up, we see trains lose their smiley faces. avoid --if we can afford the bus tomorrow. c-span has your best access to congress. the house and senate will thenvene january 4 two mark second session of congress. the house is back for legislative work with paul ryan as speaker of the house and --. january 11.eturns c-span, i've coverage of congress on tv, radio, and online.

the road to you on the white house and into the classroom. our student cam documentary contest asks students to tell us what issues they want to hear from the candidates. follow road to the white house coverage and get the details about our contest at www.c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is the author of nickel and dime, baiting switch. economics andout demographics. what has happened to the white working class. research byn some economists from princeton. what has happened? thing, it'sriking

just and noticed. the high death rate. white,middle-aged, working-class people. poor people. so of the 5% or income group. it compares person worse in terms of longevity. that's not the kind of thing that's supposed to happen. in our country, we have seen longevity increase for all groups. they're still a big gap. between blacksrs and whites. now there is a similar cap in longevity between whites and rich white. host: i want to pull out some of the data. economists with

princeton. let's look at the death rate between nonwhite hispanics between 45 and 54. i will try to encapsulate this. seemly skyrocketing. on with those afflictions? than callstegroup them diseases of despair. hope, your 45o years old the knot going to get another job or one will ever pay anything like what used to have, you can lose hope. that's when these factors set

in. one of which is alcohol. another is opioids. the pills. another is suicide. when we look at the ,umbers and the death rate comparing the united states to it's going ups, is going other country down in that age group are in one of those other countries doing? there are certainly economic issues in those countries. caller: i don't know of i can speak to all of the comparative data. ist happened in this country something that we lived through.

that was the deindustrialization that place in the 80's and 90's. the jobs going overseas. if you were making $20 an hour in a manufacturing job, now you hardee's orin at some other burger joint. employed,ill remain you're not making enough to really live on. why are other countries doing so much better? i have one thought. countrieshose other have more of a safety net. inyou lost your job manufacturing or whatever it

was, you had something to hold you up. before only sync so low programs would assist you. we have a hard landing for american workers. aboutwe are talking economic hardships, particularly betweenng death rates 45 and 54. we have set aside a phone line for that age group. you can send us a tweet. i want to read a bit from the piece you published. write

caller: i haven't done it. host: is there culpability on the insurance? guest: there is a big crackdown

going on. one of the things that happens when you restrict that is people go to heroine. they are somewhat interchangeable. that's why we failed, too. group, 45 to 54, many people know you from the book you published 15 years ago. it was about living on minimum wage in the united states. how do we fair with cities and states setting and wage question mark --? guest: it's great. at the same time, there are where they kentucky

asked for it to be reduced, which is almost unheard of. it's a little bit spotty it's going on it. host: let's hear from our viewers. good morning. notice ofke to take the ongoing international disturbances going on. i joined the international police department. it serves international concerns. domesticctimized by

terrorism. the domestic terrorism and , i recently discovered host: i think you are referring to our previous guest and topic. we go next to michigan. caller: good morning. cause of thisroot are theand hopelessness state we reside in. we have willingly given our power and our voice and our authority to the corporate state

that ships our jobs overseas, refused to increase memo wage, they own the politicians. willinglyizens have given them all of this power. citizenry iste our in today. guest: i think there's something to be said for that. there is great in balance of power between employers and employees, between the upper middle-class and the upper class. it's huge imbalance. our 45his is florida on to 54 line. welcome. i noticed her last name.

i am of german descent and i ,oticed the state governments it doesn't always go to the federal level. the state government has a lot to do with this. they put some new restrictions and they interfere so much with the private lives of people. they're in a two to do their job like they are supposed to. they make it look like they are going to do this and that. how: give us an example of that is impacting your life and the topic we are focusing on it. at one i've been working job 35 years.

i was married for almost 20 years. florida has problems in the department of revenue. they don't know how to disperse money. they want to interfere. they want to stick their nose in it. they want to be without the money and hold onto it. call, it's not actual. you can go all the way to the top office and it's still wrong. many government agencies that could be doing help do it in a cumbersome weight. nobody wants to deal with.

that's one way of driving people away from seeking the help they deserve and that they are entitled to. host: we are talking about the mortality rate for white americans between 45 and 54. rate for white men with lessage 45 or than a college education has in east markedly. -- increased markedly. with this age group, this is 10 years before retirement. what does the future hold for that demographic entering into social security? rough to live on

social security. that is poverty right there. that's the best we can seem to offer. the idea of retirement is quite now. it implies there is an end to it. a pension is a quaint note. there is no security. there is no security the comes at the end of a hard life. it's just more struggle. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i'm 66 years old. were seven years ago, we attending a lot of funerals for people in this age group.

lots of friends and relatives. i used anous and obituary database at the public library. putting inearch by parameters. i searched for baby boomers. i am a retired librarian. i drew a graph. there was a huge spike in baby about 10aths starting years ago. it makes me feel good that you also found the same ring. this is what's going on in the local level in the middle of the country. does not say is what the causes of death is.

i kind of feel vindicated that my instincts were correct. i don't know what's to be done about it. maybe you have some insight. thank you for your time. guest: thank you for your research area --. thereal problem is with poor older white people. people who are low earners. we would call them poor. crisis is going on. done, i thinkn be we have to rethink how we take care of people who are not able to find employment that will

keep them out of poverty. they are just hanging on from check to check. let's go to oakland, california. welcome. caller: good morning and happy new year. most of the people, most of them vote against their own interests. they think somebody else is trying to get something they haven't earned. , sometimes when 45% ofovertime, i get that over time that i have earned. it?e is the rest of it's going to federal, state,

local, medical. vote against their own interests. if you look at donald trump right now, he's very popular because he's very vague. he's not going to do much. he's already got what he's going to have read --. guest: you make a very good point. does this demographic, this endangered demographic vote against its own interest when it comes to election day? trump? vote for donald

interestainly not the of the average blue-collar person. that is a mystery that i would explain in no small part to racism. it plays in huge part in our political culture. people whoo many think we've got to take our country back once obama got elected. from who? that was racialized completely. if you think you've got to vote for a rich white man, you're going to go against your own interests. in they tend not to vote.

i don't have a graph. to vote people tend not in this country. we were talking about the influence of donald trump in this election. he rides a blue-collar wave. 55% of his supporters are white working-class. responding to that on "face the nation" was bernie sanders, the democratic candidate saying that those supporters should vote for him. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> u.n. donald trump are the big surprise political stories. you suggested recently that your message can appeal to the trump voters. explain how that happens. >> many of the trump supporters are working-class people. they are angry. they are angry because they are working longer hours for lower wages, their jobs have left this

country to china or other low-wage countries. they are angry because they cannot afford to send their kids to college and cannot retire with dignity. ,hat trump has done successfully, i would say, is anxiety about and terrorism and say to the people of this country, the reason for our problems is because of mexicans. he says, they are all criminals and racists. he says about the muslims, they are all terrorists. that is what we have to do to make america great. interestingly enough, this is a guy who does not want to raise the minimum wage. in fact, he said that wages are too high. he does want to give tax breaks percentage. i think we can make the case that if we really want to address the issues that people are concerned about, why the middle class is disappearing,

massive income and wealth inequality in this country that we need policies that bring us together, that take on the greed of wall street, the greed of corporate america, and create a middle class that works for all of us, rather than an economy that works just for a few. host: do you think bernie sanders is the kind of candidate that could appeal to working-class whites, some of those who are supporting donald trump? .uest: he may well might he is the one who talks about these issues. in fact, it is interesting. a few years ago, i think it was so, bernie sanders the attention to the greater mortality in the white working class. he held hearings. he has been right in the front of this issue. host: we are talking about the

mortality rate among white men in particular, 45-54. (202) 748-8000 the line set aside for those of you between 48 and 54. (202) 748-8001 for all others. georgia.in welcome. caller: thanks. i am 45 now. i'm new to this demographic. when they talk about the death , and thethis age group disparity between blue-collar and white-collar workers, how much emphasis is put on our dietary habits? when i go to the grocery store, i would love to eat a much healthier -- be able to purchase much healthier foods, but you find that things are not so healthy, more affordable.

being from the south, we fry everything. that is the one thing i would like to look at, as far as the increasing death rates. maybe people who are more wealthier can purchase healthier foods. host: diet and lifestyle. guest: those are things that are usually invoked to explain class differences in longevity. certainly in the case of obesity, there seems to be some affect -- it has something to do with diet. that could be part of it. what surprised me when i read the new data is that scientists were not attributing this blue-collar die off to smoking food.ttes or eating junk

drugs andohol and shooting yourself. a couple of comments and questions on twitter for you. this one from roy who says that the fact that the economy in the past favored whites, while the rest had to deal with what now faces whites, the faded american dream. also, why should people's personal mental problems be a subject of public policy? guest: these personal mental problems are tied into the economy. a depressant is very much associated with poverty worldwide. that we may say is personal, they are tied into how we all live together,

distribute well together, take care of each other, or don't. host: "the new york times" talks about the new research by angus case from ann princeton. they write that it may offer the most rigorous evidence to date about a development puzzling inmographers for years -- middle age, they are dying at such high rate they are increasing the death rate of all middle-class americans. whites,ality rate for 45-54 years with no more than a high school education increased 100,000.aths per "it is difficult to find modern

settings with survival losses of this magnitude," written in response to the findings. bruce, welcome to "washington journal." caller: happy new year. i often think about elderly people and retirement. i would like to know if the woman knows when and how social security turned into a retirement plan and not just a safety net for people who are down on their luck. everybody sits and depends on the government taking care of them. the government sits with blinders on as the average age goes up, and ignore the fact that when we set up social security, the average age was 65, and that is when social security kicked in. you feel sorry for people, but there are a lot of people who don't want the same things in life as people who want health care and to save money to

retire. guest: it is hard to save money to retire when you are earning about nine dollars per hour and you have family too. there is no wiggle room. there is no savings that you can squeeze out of that. i do not think that is an issue. it is not that people don't take care of themselves or don't know that they are sometime going to be unable to work or be unemployed -- it is just, what do you do with your personal resources? also, because this caller brings it up, the greater death rate between poor whites and rich oness means that the rich are benefiting far more from things like social security because the poor ones die off before they get their share. called, i think

maybe from illinois, but about ,eeing deaths in her age group in the 60-65 age group, and what she felt was a sign of people dying younger. anecdotal evidence. you have anything like that, your observations? seen -- il, i have can't tell you that a family member has died in these ways, but when i have seen is a certain kind of despair. i'm thinking of a family member who, a few years ago, was working as a cleaning lady, and aitressas a diner whic peerage she had two jobs, lives in a single wide trailer with two other family members, a

,aughter and a grandchild and the problem with this trailer is that it had a hole in the floor. mrs. third world kinds of conditions. host: how old was she? guest: she would be in her late 60's now. she has worked right until the end. whatever job she could get. they just happen to be jobs that do not pay much at all. the word used "despair" a few times and this conversation. "the atlantic" with this "middle-class americans dying of despair." host: back to our calls.

this is louisville, joe. this is a macroeconomic issue. i went to the rest of louisville. i was an entrepreneur when everything hit the fan. the entrepreneurs are out of the economy. you just die, i guess. they have been sending jobs to china, and our government lets them do it. the monopolies coming in and taking over. it is like the government is giving the corporations all the money. demand-side economics. the whole john locke's theory. what happened to the antitrust laws is my question. guest: that is a big question. it --are some answers and in its. maybe we do have to reduce the power of corporations that

allows them to run over people's lives and communities. you have to be a better citizen. better citizen. if you are going to affect communities and a hold democratic's of people, you have to be accountable to someone. host: let's hear from kevin in marshall, texas. caller: thank you. -- this is a liberal programs that the lady wants to promote. could notned that she why people vote against their own interests. i guess that makes me an ignorant racist. i find that insulting.

i like freedom. that, to me, is in my best choice. the wrong decision, it may kill me. but, to make the decision and not have the government tell me what to do, where to live, who i that is noith -- living, man. that is you can join the government and controlling me. let's quit the facade. host: any thoughts from kevin's comment? guest: well, i don't know quite what kevin is talking about with the government trying to tell you what to eat. it would be nice if the government could also provide a food for more more people, but this degree of social control -- yes, it is something to fear in social welfare programs. social controlled creeping in. i will give you an example. different from what kevin is

talking about. some states have tried to initiate drug testing for anybody who wants any kind of government help. theirs nothing to do with problem. that is extending the reach, it ands to me, too far invading people's privacy. i share kevin's concern. we are, right now, very far from offering the kind of help that would make a difference. host: a question for you on twitter. , the problem is poverty, do they become addicted to escape depression from poverty or does adduction cause poverty? guest: people who are poor are more likely to be sick, according to the conditions of

their work. i'm thinking of stress. for so many workers, they do not know how many hours they will or today, ork, tomorrow until they call in and ask their boss. host: it is less the workplace and more the actual -- guest: there is no allowance for life. no life-work balance. you cannot plan anything or arrange her life. at the same time, poor health makes people poor economically too because you cannot get certain jobs. .ou kind of age out one thing we do not talk about enough. is what happens to blue-collar people who work with their bodies, their hands, and so on -- when the repetitive stress injuries set in, when the back in the knees begin to go.

that is it. finished. on cannot exactly fall back your part-time job as a banker or professor. host: here is david from texas. caller: good morning. i appreciate this discussion. i think it is very important. i'm listening to the tone of some of your calls and tweets. the individual from texas who , if i want toys vote against my interest, i'm free to do so. i think that is one of the problems. you can look at what happened in kentucky. that candidate said exactly what to kentucky to do for a successful operation of the affordable. he said he was going to cut back

on it. now he is going to do it. how does a guy like that get elected in a region as poor as kentucky? if you look at the south -- entirely, it is completely read, in these policies are not doing anything to help. maybe bybservation is focusing on this group, we can get some social policy that will help other americans who are suffering the same kind of despair. guest: yeah. the sensational aspect of this is it is happening to white poor people. it has been there for black people all along. the black versus white longevity -- that gap has somewhat narrowed. this is the striking thing. i think we have to confront it,

losing our working class. it is a situation, you have to realize, your whole way of life has been destroyed. if you worked in a union job, let's say an auto plant, or something, and that is all gone, your community is gone, your income is gone. perhaps you scrap things together as a handyman, a house butner, or whatever, from now on, you are marginal. host: here is donna from georgia. caller: i just want to say, i believe it is many thanks. i believe it is not having health insurance, not having good diet, having to purchase cheap food, eating at fast food restaurants, all of those types of things. then, despair. absolutely, despair.

i think that people self medicate. you don't have insurance, see you drink some beer, or whatever, or take some pills to feel better see don't have to think about it because there is nothing you can do. we can do something. we can vote. that is the answer. thank you. guest: thank you. i agree. that is one thing we can do. host: california, good morning to dave. caller: good morning. i would just like to make a comment. social security is a great think. people call it entitlement, but we paid into that. number one, all those people who say we need to become a retirement program. during the last crash, during the bush administration, thousands of people lost their retirements, and the only thing they had left was social security. all those people with for one's will1(k)s, the market

crash again. they did not ring back glass-steagall, so that means banks canf the do it again. also, people on medicare -- i'm trying to make a point, and i get a little bit nervous -- they will be there medicare. they are against that. nople on medicare now pay co-pays when they go to the doctor. i think the social security thing is a great thing. if youvote republican -- vote republican, they will cut social security and medicare. thank you very much. maybe you can make a comment on that. no one this year is getting a raise. host: thank you, dave. guest: i agree. -- it is not just

a retirement plan that they give everybody. get benefits, that is sad. host: about 10 minutes with our ehrenreich.ra we have set aside a line for the age group, 45-54. (202) 748-8000. all others, (202) 748-8001. send us a tweet if you have a question at @cspanwj. just back to a visual look of how the u.s. compares to other countries. rate for whites aged 45-54 rising. the hispanic number going down. what is behind that? guest: that is interesting.

one speculation, and i have not heard too much more on this is that hispanic people tend to , largeghter families networks of family, and tighter communities. there is more social support middle-ageds for a or older white person living alone in the trailer. host: let's hear from kentucky, charles. hello there. i think one of the issues that we do not concern believe itith -- i was 1908-1910, woodrow wilson signed the federal reserve over to the wealthy. all of our corporations and jobs went overseas. there are no laws over there. child labor, pollution laws. the wealthier are getting richer. the trickle down to not work.

american corporations keep their money offshore to not pay taxes on it. we sure don't have the middle class. we wonder why people in our age group are dying off. stress is one of the major health issues that happened with this death rate that you are talking about. america, and we are kidding ourselves if we don't think so. guest: i agree. .nequality has bloomed the amount of wealth at the top, a small part.01% -- of the top 1% -- are in control of the share of wealth held by people is shrinking relative to that. host: you have written a number economy relating to the

. what are you working on next is the short question? guest: i work for a project called the economic hardship reporting project, which tries to support good journalism about economic hardship and inequality. is there a book out there, or another one? one.: there is another aig.: it is cr good morning. craig.: greg, not they attacked by hispanics. i am a lower age worker in massachusetts. i have been working at the same job for 31 years.

i'm a roofer, a hard worker. i work with guys who come to work when they want, don't come to work when they don't want to, and they are all on assistance, they have five or six kids, they don't pay child support. i'm divorce. i paid child support for 16 years. if i missed one payment, my unemployment did not, until i was squared up. it is good for them. why do you think that middle-aged whites are upset and pissed off -- i hate to say. racisttrump is a rac because he does not want people to come in the country illegally ? and people are racist because they say they want to take their country back from obama? is: powell had run for president -- a black man -- i would have

voted for him in a heartbeat. it has nothing to do with racism. host: we will get some response to your comments. guest: a lot there to respond to. what you are completely well, forut here is -- one thing, give us a little anecdote about your impression of your coworkers -- i don't know what to make of that. i certainly have known and see every day hispanic workers who are on the job all the time and working hard. i worry about that observation in itself. i would like a little more evidence for that. whole, the thing is, people are working very hard. if you're making eight dollars per hour to $10 per hour, that

will not be enough to live on. most jobs, ifr you miss a lot of work, you are fired, which is an odd thing about the case that greg mentioned. i don't know what to make of that. host: people can read your most recent article at thenation.com and the economic hardship reporting project. for being with us this morning. a pleasure to see you back here. " aheadashington journal as we go back to our question from this morning, asking you about gun laws, in particular ways to reduce gun violence in the u.s. as new gun laws take effect in states across the country. here are the lines. gun owners, (202) 748-8000. all others, (202) 748-8001.

we will get to your calls and comments in just a moment. >> this sunday night on "q and a,": surprise winner cartoonist michael ramirez. this figure that is .n extremist both figures are using a false religion for a political purpose. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> here are some of the featured programs this new year's weekend

. on american history tv on c-span 3, this evening at 6:00, author and historian james swanson compares presidencies lincoln and -- monahan on the causes of black poverty in the united states. i believe what president johnson said, you cannot keep a man in chains for three centuries, take them off, and say, you are free to run the race of life as anyone else. people have to be given the opportunity to compete. i believe we should make a special effort. >> sunday night at 9:30, a visit to hear aboutrk proposed designs for a new world war i memorial for its upcoming

anniversary. for a complete schedule, go to c-span.org. >> "washington journal" continues. returnsesident obama sunday to the white house, and on monday will meet with the attorney general at the white house to talk about executive actions on gun control. we will open up our phone lines to get your thoughts on reducing gun violence in the u.s. >> "washington journal" continues. the line for -- the line for gun owners is (202) 748-8000. all others, (202) 748-8001. "obamaine this morning, ready to act on gun control." he is prepared to take executive action on gun control, including expanding background checks on buyers. write that he is

prepared to take executive action, but even as he gets ready to act, he only has limited levers seek and pull without the help of congress. the president plans to meet monday with attorney general loretta lynch before moving ahead with several gun related actions that could also increase the number of accused domestic abusers from buying firearms. we go to anchorage, alaska, a gun owner. caller: this is a very good topic. difficult, in our youth andaviors, with older people -- they don't seem to have any manners or courtesies with each other. they have a big hardship on them.

unfortunately, they are acting desperate, as that woman was talking about. . have a little 22 i have not ever had to use it. i do not believe we should give it up. the fact is that we do have a lot of foreigners coming here that were raised in a totally , and haveculture totally different rules for living their life. we need to have some semblance besocial -- there seems to none anymore. host: tom, also a gun owner. caller: i would like to just give a different perspective. i was a combat medical specialist in the army. i live i one of the safest

justs in america, and the other day, i realized there were police around my house. luckily, i was armed. i was able to protect my family. the police and the perpetrator coming over my wall, and if i did not have a gun, things would have been completely different. more guns in the hands of good guys will not cause more problems. if we take away those guns, we will not have them for our protection. the problem starts with the family. illness ine mental our communities, that will be a much better approach. host: let me ask you about this. for thes terrifying

police to be chasing in our yard. access youre to gun. guest: correct. therally, if you look at statistics, our city is among the top five safest in the united states. these incidents to occur. it does not matter where you live. i was able to run down and meet the guide. on them, itheir guns had my gun. he was arrested. if i did not have that, i would have had an open patio door, and would have been face-to-face with someone holding something other than a firearm. host: what do you do in your house to keep your kids safe from the firearm? guest: my kids are well trained and understand the risk of gun ownership.

we have our guns locked in a safe. it takes me less than 30 seconds to open the safe. arizona, texas, there is much less gun violence. california has some of the strictest laws on gun ownership, and we still have a high rate of violence. host: he is calling from california. there are new laws that kicked in and california. also in texas. i lost joseph. da inll go to al michigan. lida.r: my name is a happy new year. i want to comment on some of the conversations going on about gun laws. i'm an african-american and democrat.

i'm for gun ownership, if you choose to do that. job, they you get a do background checks. when you get your drivers license, you have to present documentation. when you buy a house, you have to show your income, and a whole lot of documentation. , i have nowners problem with you. guns -- nohat with background check, no documentation. as african-american, going to say this. presenttelling us to photo id to vote, and you are telling me to have my gun, i don't need no documentation. i'm calling on the responsible gun owners to step up here and we do need background checks. to get a house, you cannot just get a house. you cannot even get a job.

american needs to calm down, shut off these other loud voices because most of america is for gun laws, gun safety laws. gun safety. myppreciate you listening to concern. i want to ask the gun owners to sensible, step up, and let's come together and try to compromise the situation. host: thank you. another view from michigan, chris is an kalamazoo. caller: happy new year. you know, we keep hearing about this gun show loophole. . frequent gun shows i have always been asked for id and have had a background check. i do not understand -- there is

youa sale that goes on, give the money, and get the gun. that is not how it works. even at gun shows, that is not how it works. most of the dealers at gun shows are legitimate dealers that have the proper paperwork and documentation. it is getting ridiculous. the majority of americans want there is no -- loophole. that, reporting on this meeting monday with the president, the associate press licensedat federally firearm dealers are required to run background checks, but some that sell guns at gun shows are not federally licensed, increasing the chance for sales

to customers prohibited by law from purchasing guns. a source familiar with the administration says that obama is expected to take executive action next week that would be a reasonable threshold for when sellers have to seek a background check. that is from the associate press. this is ann from california. caller: i do not think it is as simplistic as people try to make it. you don't compare the conditions and health kitchen with -- hells kitchen with wyoming. two different conditions. you should have to register with get guniff, and insurance. gun,ey will let you have a that is about as good of a back ground check you will get. host: we are having this conversation because of the

president's on monday with the eternal general about gun control actions. effectew laws have taken in certain states, california, also texas. chart says that the gun 1000,d deaths per one hous adjusted by age -- the fewest, hawaii, massachusetts, new york, connecticut, and new jersey. the most, from the top six -- wyoming, arkansas, alabama, , and withi, louisiana deaths per 1000, alaska. ,e will go to lake placid

richard, a gun owner. caller: good morning. john lott wrote a book back in the 1970's -- , more guns, less crime. he was actually anti-gun. after they finished with the statistics, and all the research, they came out -- there is with the most firearms have the less crime. let me tie this together. the clinton administration gave a system to the red chinese. uranium and the process to refine it to north korea. supposedly to create electricity power. kicked the inspectors out and made weapons grade nuclear weapons.

then, the obama administration gave weapons to the drug dealers, which are still out there today being used to kill people. mexicans. anyway, then we have hillary benghazi, and the obama administration giving weapons to the middle east. these are the same people who do not want american citizens to be crime, or protect themselves with weapons. they want to take weapons away from us, but give them to the enemy and the criminals. i would like for anybody to comment on that. host: let's hear from david next, virginia. caller: good morning.

my comment this morning is everywhere i have ever been -- i own quite a few guns -- every place i have purchased from, .hey have had background checks there is no method really to -- host: have you ever bought at a gun show? caller: no, never bought a gun at a gun show. in new york state, they have background checks for gun shows. i lived in new york state for quite a while. host: i appreciate you joining the conversation. i mentioned that there are a number of new gun laws taking effect. a look at the california gun sbw reporting.

they write the wall the -- that while it will not affect the individual gun owner much, it will affect businesses. let's go to washington, a gun owner there. caller: i don't know where the ballistic missile commentary came from there, but in regards to gun control, we can talk about gun ownership and crime rates. i think that will very state-by-state.

even more important place of discussion is that the gun culture that exists -- the swath of massacres we have seen over the past few years -- one common factor is an almost fetish towards guns. , i can say ford myself, a lot of games are extremely violent. something we have to look at is the level of violence we exposing people to and the level in thecity we have virtual world. i really think that a lot of the youth are taking it to heart, and doing these terrible things. host: we are asking your ideas on reducing gun violence. (202) 748-8000 for gun owners.

non-gun owners, (202) 748-8001. send us a tweet at @cspanwj. we still have about 15 minutes or so of your phone calls. we heard a caller from washington state -- i think a locality in seattle having new laws taking effect. "two ways of dealing with guns," from "the new york times." lot goes intonew effect on friday, posing a challenge for law enforcement, businesses, and institutions who are wary of how social interchange will be affected. it is also a big day in seattle, where the city council's new gun violence tax takes effect. the law was upheld in december by county judge who found it did

not interfere with the right to bear arms, and was legitimate tax to finance gun violence research and help pay for its costly affects. if it survives appeal by the gun lobby, the taxation about deserves to be widely used as a tactic in battling the gunman us. to illinois, robert, also a gun owner. caller: good morning, c-span. i love this show. if president obama would stop talking about gun violence, gun sales would go down. every time he talks about it and .rings it up, gun sales soar if you wants to do everybody a favor, stop talking about gun violence, take care of terrorists. thank you. host: to fort lauderdale, john is also a gun owner there. caller: good morning. a couple of comments.

everybody should have to have a background check for weapons, people having weapons, and trading them back and forth. the thing in san bernardino, and the guy getting the gun. it was the individual's friend who gave him the gun. he did not give weapons to the people in the middle east, he was -- against it. fast and furious started -- -- -- -- -- -- under the bush administration. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- they definitely have to -- -- -- -- -- get something -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- the lady in chicago -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- was killed -- -- -- -- -- -- -- caller: the regular citizen out having thet used to situation.

insurance would be one way of going about it. started this conversation because of the news that president obama will be meeting monday with the attorney general loretta lynch, talking about possible ways forward. he brought it up during the presidential address. here is a look. [video clip] >> last month, we remember the anniversary of newtown. this friday, i will be thinking about my friend gabby fritz, five years into her recovery from tucson. across america, survivors of gun violence, or those who lost a child, spouse, or parents to gun violence are forced to mark such anniversaries every single day. yet, congress has not done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening to other families. three years ago, a common sense bipartisan bill would have required a grant checks for virtually everybody who buys a

gun. it was supported by a majority of nra households, but the gun lobby mobilized against it, and the senate locked it. since then, tens of thousands of our fellow americans have been gun violence. tens of thousands. each time, we're told that common sense background checks would have stopped the last massacre, where the one before that. we know we cannot stop every act of violence, but what if we try to stop even one. what if congress did something, anything, to protect our kids from gun violence. a few months ago, i directed my team at the white house to look into any new actions i can take to reduce gun violence, and on monday, i will meet with our attorney general, loretta lynch, to discuss our options because i get too many letters from parents, teachers, kids to sit

around and do nothing. i get letters from those who americanselief that deserve the right to bear arms, -- i know there are a bunch of us that care about this. if you're one of them, i need your help. the gun lobby is loud and well .rganized the rest of us will have to be and wellassionate organized in our defense of our kids. host: you can see all of the president's comments online at c-span.org. twitter of comments on on ideas for reducing gun violence in the u.s. jean tweets that most americans want gun registration, not gun

control. who came up with the term gun control -- it sounds like fear mongering. maybe we are looking at it wrong, maybe we should offer .icenses and, dave says, and gun shows, no need for them. this is betty in california. welcome. thank you. i'm very concerned about veterans and other people who die from suicide because of gunshots. mentionedman earlier that we have to help people who have mental illness, and that is true. however, i'm grateful that in california they will have this restraining order because unfortunately my brother, at the of af 77, died self-inflicted gunshot wounds. the reason being that his wife at the age of 59 had suffered

from depression, and died of suicide. he found her hanging. can you imagine his pain? unfortunately, he was able to go to a local gunshot, by gun on his birthday, a few months later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wounds. host: he bought the firearm just to commit suicide? caller: yes. that is the problem. i see some many veterans are dying because of gunshot wounds. also, recently, i just heard the number of white men in the age 45-55, who perhaps have lost their jobs, have other issues, are suffering from depression, and i may be using alcohol or drugs to self medicate. that is where there is a high

rate of gun suicides and gun violence occurs. more so than any of these particular tragic incidences of violence that we experienced in connecticut, and other places. are ofhese suicides that great concern to me. there is only so much that can mental in improving the health system, but we have to keep guns out of the hands of people who will hurt themselves. i would like to ask the gun owners what their suggestions may be along those lines. unfortunately, one gentelman said to me, well, if someone wants to kill themselves, let's let them. that is what one gun owner told me. guest: we dihost: we did talk at that in our previous session. this is barry.

good morning. caller: good morning, america. florida. from i was raised with guns around me all my life. my first gut was given to me when i was six. it was a 22 single shot. my granddaddy let me use his shotgun. i understood how to handle this because it was explained to me. basically what i'm getting at is this. i am verynt to say -- nervous. host: that's ok. go ahead with your comments. caller: owning a firearm is a huge responsibility. to acknowledge it as this. there are people in this world

who have no respect for human life. if people cannot control what firearms, whenr they leave their house. i have seen thousands of guns sold at flea markets, yard sales. no id. nothing. no documentation, anything. that is where these guns are coming from. the government needs to help these people control this thing. of thetrol is a product people in congress -- the gun makers and sellers has in their pockets, i believe. host: thank you for your comment. barry mentioned getting his first 22 rifle when he was, i believe, six. this is a picture from "the new york times," of a former army

sergeant who formed "open carry texas." he gave his daughter a pink 22 caliber rifle for her birthday. , a gunear from alan owner in west virginia. caller: good morning, sir. i have a lot to say. i am in my middle 70's. intold like to related t my experiences. first, with respect to why there is such a rise in handgun violence, this goes way back 1950's and early 1960's. the rise and gun violence -- in gun violence tended to follow the rise in illegal drugs from the west coast to the east coast.

there would be areas of increased gun violence where there was conflict between the different gun selling -- drug selling. i'm very notice being on the phone too and noticing a tendency to misspeak. i would like to continue on, if i can. the different -- from different groups fighting each other. host: we appreciate your comments. one more tweet and, for the program -- and comment for the program. says, don'tment have guns, and never have been in situation where i wished i did or was saved by a good guy. we invite you to tomorrow morning's "washington journal."

.e will begin with philip klein he will talk about the republican field ahead. we are less than one month now into the iowa caucuses. yun will talk about the latest issues of housing and the mortgage trend. we will also hear from mary cunningham of the urban institute of efforts to end homelessness armonk veterans. all of that getting underway tomorrow at 7:00 eastern. have a great weekend. thanks for listening and watching. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> next, a discussion of the role of women in national

security and foreign policy. then, community activists examine violence and poverty in their communities. then, after that, internet privacy and security. a&m university bush school of government hosted a forum on the role of women and the status of women in national security and foreign policy. the discussion included former united states and state department advises, as well as the authors of the book, "the hillary doctrine." this is just over one hour.