the new bipartisan ranking of all u.s. senators since 1993. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. ♪ president obama is back at the white house this morning after two weeks in hawaii with his family. he vows to get right back to work. he is meeting with loretta lynch this morning, talking about gun issues. we may see some executive action in that area soon. on capitol hill the senate remains out for another week but the u.s. house will be in session. they will get back to work tomorrow and we expect midweek they will take a vote to repeal parts of the health care law and to fund planned parenthood for one year. oregon, as we take a look at

some photos this morning from the oregonian newspaper's website, all eyes are on the militia standoff in that state says one headline. another says that these armed protesters are aiming to stay on this refuge area indefinitely. others are calling it an unpredictable new chapter in the wars over federal land-use in the west. the standoff at the national wildlife refuge. (202) 748-8000 if you are a democrat. (202) 748-8001 if you're a republican. (202) 748-8002. if not, you can take part social media. facebook.com/c-span is another place to post your comment or send us an e-mail at journal@c-span.org.

the front page of usa today. all eyes on the militia standoff. day three of the story. the oregon sheriff whose county is at the heart of an antigovernment call to arms that has gained national attention says the group occupying a national wildlife refuge came to town under false pretenses. sheriff david ward said protesters came to harney county and southeastern oregon "i'm too part of a militia group supporting local ranchers." said, "thesey, he men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government." ward said he was working with authorities to resolve the situation and they remind us the escalated saturday into an armed takeover of a federal wildlife building.

that is the front page story of usa today. here is an ap headline. town watches warily as armed protesters take over refuge. a story by rebecca boone who is in burns, oregon. sort of near where this whole incident is taken place. rebecca boone, correspondent with the associated press. good morning. guest: good morning, paul. host: your near the scene. can you paint a picture? what does it look like an sound like? guest: sure. the town of burns is a fairly rural town in oregon. on the surface it does not seem like much has changed. it is pretty quiet here. folks are concerned. we are worried about what's going to happen at the refuge which is about 30 miles away from town. armed protesters were

friendly but were obviously frustrated with what they feel is federal overreach. i spoke to ryan bundy who says he believes the federal government has been disenfranchising ranchers and miners and other people. other citizens who should be able to use the land at the refuge. host: they are saying they might stay there indefinitely. what does that mean? what is it specifically they are looking for at this point? guest: ryan bundy saidguest: their end goal is to turn that refuge land over to the county so that it can be used for the local residents so that renters can graze their land. so that miners can utilize mineral rights so that hunters and fishers can recreate.

to be out there indefinitely at this point is unclear. he said they are in it for the long haul. they would have to have some access to the outside world to get supplies. to stock their food up in things like that. there are only so many roads going in and out of the area. the logistics of the groups staying there long-term could get tricky depending on what action the federal government decides to take. host: how have the local authorities in that part of the state been dealing with things? as the been a lot of contact with the federal government at this point? guest: the fbi gave a statement last night saying they are working with local authorities to handle the situation. they really have been keeping what seems like a low profile so far.

yesterday i did not see any law enforcement vehicles at the refuge. they were not a nearby restaurant as far as i could tell. residents tell me they have noticed law enforcement officers are patrolling in pairs rather than single patrols. so far, they have not really discussed what the response will be. the fbi said in a statement yesterday they will not discuss details of the response because they don't want to endanger any law enforcement officers. they did say they are hoping for peaceful resolution. the bundy's have also said they hope for a peaceful resolution to this situation. host: i was going to ask about that name. at that name has been in the news in recent years. bundy is a nevada rancher involved in a standoff with authorities in 2014 overgrazing issues.

sons whoven bundy's are among the group at the refuge here. outspokenbeen activists, whatever you prefer to call them, for this effort. government,l increased local control philosophy. host: what will you be looking for in the hours and days ahead as we wrap up? guest: obviously we will be watching for how the federal government and local law enforcement agencies decide to respond to the occupation at the refuge. we will be watching for how the whetherut there decide they decide to escalate their efforts in other ways.

ryan bundy has said he hopes to lead by example. he hopes that other people and and perhaps across the country will take their own efforts to retake federal land he feels is being unjustly prevented from -- unjustly barred from use by the public. west.s a big issue in the it will be interesting to see whether this does galvanize the community in the way that the bundy's are hoping or whether community members and people across the west will say this isn't the approach we want to take to the situation. we will be watching for next steps. host: rebecca boone, correspondent for the associated oregon. burns, thanks for your time this

morning. guest: thanks for having me. host: a front-page photo of ryan bundy in "the new york times." he is among the protesters occupying federal land. his family became a symbol of antigovernment sentiment in 2014. let's go right to calls. chases: from north carolina. -- chase is calling from north carolina. caller: good morning. i can see where these folks are coming from. i think this man as president right now oversteps is bounds any times he thinks he can. this shows me more and more mrs. clinton will be the same way. i hope it does not turn into another waco. it is scary the way our country -- it is like with texas, the governors come and take it about the gun rights to the president.

i know in north carolina and south carolina, a lot of people so upset with the federal government. i can see where these people are coming from. i know it is dangerous but i can see it. calling on the democrats line. caller: i want to say, i am a moderate democrat, pro-second amendment african american male who is also fiscally conservative but i find it absolutely outrageous that these supposedly conservatives can , on over federal property the notion that they are entitled to have their cattle graze on it for free. astounding that there has been such a lack of overwhelming military type response to these armed thugs, and frankly terrorists when you see unarmed

people of color shot by the police. i'm not just talking about state or local. look at the woman who tried to drive her car onto the white house lawn with a child in the back who was unarmed but nonetheless killed in a volley of police fire by capitol police. -- and ihe difference guess this is why people think there is such a thing as white privilege. ont: bill king writes twitter, the federal government is partly responsible in his view for not taking cliven bundy out the first time. referring to an incident from years past. larry is calling from tennessee. what is your reaction to all of this? should light bundy up the first time. if black people tried this mess, they would call out the military. posting this message.

[video clip] >> the lord is involved and i know that we are going to see great things come from this. we need you. we have a group of wonderful people here that are strong. we have good numbers. there's a lot to do. we will eventually get tired if we do not have helped. we need more of a defense. we need to make sure there's enough people here. now.y real reality right we need you to come, be part of this. host: that was ammon bundy's facebook page. occupiers in oregon pledge long standoff according to the washington post.

they write that this is an unpredictable new chapter in the wars over federal land use in the west. a group of armed activists split in from a protest march remote southeastern oregon. there is the headline in the post but we want to show you a map in the new york times this morning. .hey have a map on page a11 you can see the state of oregon where portland is in the northwest corner. this town called burns is way to the east. this is where the activity is going on. malheur national forest. morning.ood a prime example of the racism and arbitrariness of the united states government which has had foot on the neck of black

people ever since we've been over here. you see things in ferguson and different places. these people -- bundy and them had weapons pointed at the federal authorities but because they are white they were allowed to do this. protest,ple, we cannot but illegal immigrants can come over here and protest. the united states was designed to keep black people suppressed through this white supremacy -- thosey and them tanks and things in ferguson should be put out there in nevada, wherever bundy and these antigovernment -- these people are talking about overthrowing the government, bringing people in and all of that. why is obama and the administration -- we are seeing

these flags -- rebel flags flown around everywhere. isis is not our enemy, it is these neo-nazi racists white supremacist you see. flying that rebel flag when they were up there at the white house. you cannot fly a swastika in the united date and get away with it. we need to shut this down now. .ost: bill is on the line bill is from tyler, texas on the republican line. caller: good morning. i can't believe the last call. i think he's got it totally wrong. these guys are basically doing a peaceful protest. stores,not destroying not destroying the city. they're taking a peaceful protest. i have not seen anyone pointing a gun at authorities. i think the authorities should

stay back, let the protest die down. -- the federal .and is owned by the taxpayers there are a lot of restrictions put on that federal land such as entry fees. it's doubles like paying for it twice -- it's almost like paying for it twice. oregonanchers ruckus in is the caption, the headline to the washington times photo. supporters of the cliven bundy ranching family marching in burns, oregon to object to a prison sentence of local ranchers. some of the protesters took over a federal building in a wildlife refuge. as the washington times story. facebook that they come of the protesters, are

in their right to do so. when any form of government steps over their bounds it is the people's right to protect from tyranny. can says a collection of " militia" members who look more like a bunch of out of work bombs. ums.ut of work b tracy writes, where is the tear gas and outrage? these people broke into a federal facility while armed and have taken it over while armed. fran writes, i hope obama does not have been murdered like clinton did in waco. lynn is calling from utah. caller: i would like to disagree with the last caller. i don't think it is paying for it twice because you are paying your taxes to have it managed and the entry fee is for the privilege of going in there to do whatever you do.

the reason i call this the say that if politics were not at their height in 2016 then i wise to would be very go in there with tear gas and let these people know that we have had enough of their selfishness, wanted to graze their cattle for free, not wanting to be responsible and put a stop to this. unfortunately the attitude here in utah and surrounding states is that if the federal government asserts its rights and does the right thing for the entire nation rather than just the specific selfish people, the crazies will come out and vote to put somebody crazier into office. it increases the chances that were going to get someone as crazy as donald trump.

host: thank you for calling. barry is on the line. thank you for calling in. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. -- the this is something blame could be laid at the seat at not just the united states government but also the rhetoric of people like ted cruz. this is a testament to how our politicians, and especially donald trump, need to watch what they say because people will take those words and they will be put into action. this is an example of what happens when we allow people to use labels for different sectors of america. these people would have been --led terrorists because everyone loves donald trump straight talk until you start -- as long as you are talking about immigrants and muslims. start talking trade talk about mass shootings, domestic

terrorism. these acts committed by white people but we do not call it terrorism. i do not mean to play the race card but if we're good use that term, we need to use it evenhandedly. thank you. host: we have about 25 minutes left for your calls. , do not giveing the ranchers a platform. cut their electricity, their phone service, their water, see how long they last. the washington post writes, the occupation comes at the conclusion of a lively weekend for an otherwise sleepy stretch of southeast oregon. the protesters are supporting in this case represent the latest battle in a struggle as old as the american settlement of the west hitting -- pitting port cattle

farmers against the federal government. -- most americans if they knew the charges against these ranchers would say this is not right, says one of the organizers. we wanted to show support and let them know they are not alone. they write, there is a start addresser how best to the concerns of the cattle rancher. some activists believe the battle will be one through public awareness campaigns, rallies and town hall meetings. we will take a call now from joe as we take a look at a few more calls -- a few more photos from the scene in oregon. this is from the oregonian website. berg, are youees there -- from murphy's berg are you there?

bob, are you there? caller: yes. i wanted to reiterate a couple of things. earlier callers talked about this being a racist issue. i am a white male from an overall red state. this is clearly a racist issue. no american could look at this and say if they were possibly middle eastern looking or african-american the response of be the same. this is an ongoing situation. you have cliven bundy that owes the federal government over $1 million in taxes. an average american, if they owed the government that much money, would be in serious trouble. takeould not have your son over a federal facility and have 0.0 response from the federal government. it definitely would not happen with people of color.

agriculture in the united states lends itself to this. there are many people in farmer,ure, the family expects subsidies or payments from all of us. moneyxpect deals to get from the average working american who has to pay 100% tax on their homeland or part -- or 100% tax on their vehicles. farmers and agricultural people are used to getting benefits from the government. host: let's hear from tyrone in north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. to a few the callers call in. it is a racist problem. if this was black people like in ferguson or chicago or anywhere else doing this it would not be allowed. tanks and everything else but you have people like ted cruz

and donald trump leading the pack from his hatred and they blame obama but now who will they blame for this? we need to stop this racist stuff and get these people out of here. they don't have the right to take over federal land. if there were black people like that with guns, there would be some shootings. we need to put down this. host: jean-pierre writes this is the result of extreme right-wing rain washing and failure to understand what the constitution is all about and what it really states. these guys would not be doing this if they fully understood the entire complex. if they do not have racist prejudice is coupled with intolerant dogmatism. we have roger this morning from mckenzie, alabama. what he say? -- what do you say? caller: the last fellow that called -- the black german, i think he has best the black

gentleman, i think he has forgotten all the riots that of the going on since the 1960's and he is talking about one little thing some white people are doing now. i don't think they ought to be doing it but they are not burning nothing down. not destroying nothing. , like are getting nervous obama is supposed to say something today on gun control. even if he passes this gun control, last time people paid attention because the law is the law. he only people that can get on gun control is the legal people. we're the only ones that pay attention to them. with all the laws that are not being obeyed now from government employees to the president, everybody, i do not think a lot of people will pay attention to these laws. i heard some fellow on tv saying the local sheriff, what are you going to do if he comes for your guns?

the local sheriff is not going to come to my house, he is my buddy. they are not going to be confiscated. you will get the military to do it? my neighbors kids go in the military. that guy is kids don't. you are stuck with us here with guns. there is nothing you can do about it. host: harold in florida. republican calling. caller: good morning. i think people need to obey the law but the government is intruding everywhere in areas that were never divines -- never designed by the founders. as far as the points that this was not what happened if other people did it, there is some truth to that. the problem is, these people out people.ey are good they don't break the laws they don't commit the crimes and they serve in the military.

problems.are a few in the other groups you're talking about, there are history's where somebody goes to their communities there are scared out of their minds. they will get shot in the back. if something happens, nine out of 10 times they are doing what is right and legal. if there's a mistake made it might be because they are scared. what is happening out west is a little wrong but these are good people. host: more of the reporting from burns, oregon. protesters arrived in this old lumber town to support a 73-year-old rancher and his son who it been sentenced to prison for setting fires that spread to federal lands. peacefullled as a demonstration but after hugs armedxchanged, a small contingent declared outside a supermarket that it was taking a stand and asked to wanted to join. so began the latest armed flareup in a decades long struggle between federal

officials and local landowners over how to manage the western range. anti --d anti-government group seized. "we will be here for as long as payne.s," said ryan "people have talked about returning land to the people for a long time. finally someone is making an effort in that direction." he said there was talk of renaming the refuge. we have deborah from richmond, virginia. caller: good morning. happy new year. host: same to you. caller: it is time for quite people to grow up. -- time for white people to grow up. it is getting on my nerves. they need to start acting like they have got some sense and

start dealing with the privilege they have. have the day. host: maybe about 15 more minutes of calls on this topic on the stand off the oregon wildlife refuge. if any new developments happen we will bring them to you. we have more calls coming in and social media but we want to take a step act and talk about campaign 2016. we want to tell you we will have bill clinton on the network today on c-span at 5:15 p.m. eastern time. he will be campaigning index at her, new hampshire. his first campaign trip for hillary clinton for this year. the series of grassroots organizing events coming up. james penn dell joins us by phone now. guest: good morning. host: bill clinton has stood on the sidelines or at least behind

the scenes so far. here he comes, campaigning for hillary clinton. how was the decision made to bring him out at this point to campaign for his wife? guest: i think he always planned on coming out to campaign for his wife. he certainly did in two dozen eight and he remained pretty popular. the interesting thing is he is going to start off doing this in new hampshire. the only primary state where there is remotely a contest between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. sanders is the front runner in new hampshire. he has been for about three or four months now. at times hillary clinton has closed the gap but strategically she understands that if she still has a double-digit lead in iowa if she is somehow able to win new hampshire the nomination is basically over at that point and winning iowa in new hampshire. she would head into south

carolina where she has large leads. the clinton campaign is trying to make a big push. they act like this is where the campaign is at so they are going to bring in bill clinton who is a very popular figure in the state. fortunately for hillary she's able to get bill clinton on the phone or talk to him at the house and bring him back. new hampshire has been clinton country over the years. the place where bill clinton became the comeback kid in 1992. the place where hillary clinton 2008she found her voice in when she pulled off a remarkable comeback victory in the 2008 new hampshire primary that led to the protracted primary. lead weie sanders' are asking if it is still clinton country. and: what kinds of events

venues will he be campaigning at? is the message coordinated with the campaign? as bill clinton more or less on his own? guest: these are campaign events run by the campaign. i'm not sure anyone can tell bill clinton what to say except for maybe hillary clinton. he is obviously one of the best politicians in the generation. republicans concede this in terms of how good he is on the stump. he will be an exit or and nashua today that she will be an exit -- he willonal today be in exeter and nashua today. exeter is a different type of democrat, white-collar based on the seacoast. both of these events are aimed at rallying the grassroots. one major advantage bernie sanders has over hillary clinton in the state is enthusiasm among

supporters. they love him, they want to volunteer for him. they feel like they are part of a cause. hillary clinton has all of the establishment. she has the best will oil machine. she lacks that passion. what they are trying to do with bill clinton and with hillary clinton herself who is in the state twice in the last week including a bunch of stops in new hampshire yesterday, is to try and reignite passion in supporters in the final weeks before the new hampshire primary. host: a headline that reminds us of an emerging theme in the campaign. washington times, donald trump says clinton's family past is fair game in the campaign. how do you see this playing out? caller: in a huge way if you want to quote donald trump. trump will be 20 miles away from where bill clinton will be in nashua. this pairing off is meant to

bring a lot of headlines as they have been going back and forth over the last week or so about how much donald trump wants to make this an issue. this all started with hillary clinton. she started it in an interview with the des moines register saying donald trump has said some sexist things and he tried to flip it back by using her husband. for hillarywaiting to respond on the campaign trail on this. i do not expect bill clinton to bring this up although you know reporters want to ask you about this. host: what else should we be looking out for? guest: we have a number of candidates in the state. chris christie is still in the state. john kasich returning back to the state. we have a number of campaign events. the interesting dynamic is that new hampshire may once again go for the maverick candidate.

five weeks before the new have your primary and our two front runners are bernie sanders and donald trump. the interesting thing is going to be whether or not that continues. whether new hampshire will continue with the maverick style campaign or if not, will the campaign make this flip as a traditionally does when you get closer to election day about electability. republican say, i get donald trump's anger but we need someone who is electable. or will donald trump say to every poll shows i am more likable -- i am more electable in terms of what republican say so you need to pick me. on the democratic side that may be what we hear from hillary clinton. that she is the electable candidate. that may be the theme along with the fact that the base in both parties are very angry right now. host: james pindell is a

political reporter for the boston globe. thank you for your insight on the story of bill clinton now campaigning. bill clinton will be in exeter new hampshire and we will have it live on c-span at 5:15 p.m. eastern time. the first trip for hillary clinton this campaign season. a couple more stories. bernie sanders raised $33 million during the last three months of 2015. this is a headline in "usa today." of within $4 million clinton's hall. bill's sex history is a nonissue. sanders was on the abc sunday show talking about all this. [video clip] >> hillary clinton has bill clinton joining her on the campaign trail in new hampshire this week. donald trump and ruth marcus think bill clinton's sexual history is fair game.

do you? >> i don't. we have enormous problems facing this country and i think we have more things to worry about than bill clinton's sexual life. maybe donald trump might want to focus attention on climate change and understand that climate change is not a hoax as he believes that it is. maybe donald trump should understand that we should raise the minimum wage in his country which he opposes. maybe we should not be giving huge tax breaks to fellow billionaires. we have a full week of politics on the c-span networks in addition to bill clinton today we will see rand paul later this week. jeb bush, carly fiorina, and john kasich. go to c-span.org and click on schedules and you will see the information. one more political story before we get back to your calls about congressman jim mcdermott.

a democrat from washington who is been on the show many times. the story suggests he will make an announcement that he is not going to run for reelection in 2016. an important announcement according to advisory sent to the media on sunday. the speculation is that he will not run again. he is 79 years old, considered a fiery liberal who made health care reform a top issue. they pointed out that last month state rep brady waukesha planned to challenge mcdermott. we will see what happens. that story coming from king five.com, one of the stations in seattle area. karen from philadelphia. thank you for waiting and standing by. you are on the democratic line. what you make of this oregon story? caller: thank you. i love c-span. i think it is the best television program, news program

in the country. you allow everyone, from all different point of view to express their opinions. in -- whoe people have taken over the federal building and land, they are part .f a movement they believe each man is the sovereign unto himself. and that the federal government, and for that matter state government, cannot tell them what to do with their lives. they don't recognize the federal government as the supreme government of this nation. a holdover from the old south confederacy. they have never accepted the

supremacy of the federal government. i think that they are acting civilization that we have created here. it is totally anarchistic. they are making war on our government. we have a government of laws that are passed by the elected representatives of the people. they can't say that the federal government has no jurisdiction over there use of federal land. absolutely should not be accepted by our government or the community in which they live. host: thank you for calling. are you there? caller: a way to change things

in the country. host: that was karen. sorry to cut you off. i thought you had hung up. connie is calling. caller: i think these federal lands are important for conservation and also because foreigners cannot purchase the property. up thetate prices going custom many foreign investors are purchasing property and condos, and homes and not residing in them and it is causing prices to go up. different developers wanting to develop into protected areas. i think it is important for this country to conserve those wide open spaces for wildlife and for us to enjoy so we still have some protected, vast areas that we can all enjoy. host: let's try nanci from jacksonville, florida. caller: some people are

comparing the bundy militia to the black lies matter movement and i can -- the black lives matter movement and occupy wall street. those groups were not armed and threatening to resist with violence. the oregonian is reporting that they are bringing in children .ow started bringing in children yesterday. the bundy's are part of a certain sect of mormonism. host: john is calling. john is in nebraska. republican caller. caller: you guys need to get all of your facts straight. those men had permission. to do a back burner of 160 acres on land that bordered their

private deeded lands to prevent on their coming in lands. verbal permission from local employees. they come in and charge with domestic terrorism and get sentenced to federal penitentiary in the sentence was reduced. and the their time federal government appealed and fivewere supposed to -- years i guess beginning the first this year. that is what it is all about. host: words of john from the nebraska.

putting the news media in somewhat of a pickle. he writes, militiamen, is that the word? in the wake of the seizure of a federal wildlife management building, the media struggled with how to refer to the people involved. descriptions have included self-styled militia men from reuters, armed activists, the new york times, and armed protesters, the washington post. they write that the media upon attempts to find a neutral were in stark contrast with the partisan fray on social media. that is in the style section of the post today. we have jerry from new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. is,comment i wanted to make

i don't understand here callers calling in, how to follow the law. the law of the country yet you have a president that does executive actions that would go against congress and the law of the country. how come that's ok with everybody but these people trying to stand up for their rights is not? host: moving on to ted. ted is our last call for the segment. you are in oregon, democratic caller. how far is warrington from where all of this action is happening? caller: warrington would be on the northwest coast, right where the columbia river exits. where they are at is in southeast or what us people out here call cowboy heaven. i am the owner of a commercial fishing operation. this morning one of my both is

going out to fish for crab. in order for us to go out, i had to play with the state of oregon, noaa, coast guard entities on and on. i had to buy permits just to be able to do this. if i did not have these permits, i would lose my boat, i lose my permits, i would lose it all. shocking that these two cowboys in southeast oregon, they were told what the conditions of the contract were and they failed to provide the minimum. and that said, send them, do not let them out. host: that is it for this segment. when we come back, we will talk with jeff mason of reuters and erika mason of the associated press -- erika werner -- jeff

mason and erika werner. and later we will talk about election 2016 for house and senate candidates. we will be right back with more of your calls. ♪

>> tonight on the communicators, gary shapiro on the major technology issues he expects in 2016 and why the cta changed its name this past fall to consumer technology association. he is joined by tony romm. >> over 3600 exhibiting companies and 2.4 million net square feet of exhibit space up million.point -- 2.4 .t will be spectacular more different categories than ever before. problems,re solving real life problems for the world. it is about health care, transportation, clean food, clean water, greater food production, we are solving big

problems with technology. >> tonight on c-span2. >> c-span takes you on the road to the white house and into the classroom. this year, our documentary contest asks students to tell us what issues they want to hear from the presidential candidates. to thec-span's wrote white house coverage and get all the details about our student can contest at c-span.org. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is erica werner and we are here with jeff mason. good morning to you. let's start off with you, jeff. you were with the president for two weeks in hawaii. jeff: the president goes on vacation and he plays a lot of

golf. he did not do a lot of public activities. he did address the troops on christmas day and some news did trickle out as it often does on trips like this. they started to unveil what it is like -- what is likely to come out this week on gun control. he gave an address where he talked about looking at options orders fore tightening gun roles, which he has tried before. that is leading up to the state of the union coming up next week so there was a steady stream of stories like this. overall, it was a time for the president to relax. host: one of the stories coming out of the gun part of the narrative. he will meet with is a journey -- with his attorney general. this is usa today headline on this monday. what is the reaction likely to be on congress?

i know it depends on what the president says but how are they positioning themselves? erika: it is clearly not going to go over well with republicans who have been very ticked off by the president's repeated use of executive actions on any number of issues. have not responded well to any of that. may well threaten to sue, to overturn that or stage a vote likely in the house to oppose whatever he does. as we have seen republicans in the house and senate and even democrats in the senate are very reluctant to act on any kind of control measures themselves. those reasons this is not likely to get a warm response in congress. host: let's hear from the president over the weekend at his weekly radio address on this. [video clip] >> last month we remembered the third anniversary of newtown. this friday, i will be thinking about my friend gabby giffords. all across america, survivors of

gun violence and those who lost a child, or a parent, or a spouse to violence, are forced to mark such awful anniversaries every single day. yet congress still has not done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening to other families. a bipartisan commonsense bill would have required that ground checks for virtually everyone who buys a gun. this is a policy that is supported by some 90% of the american people. it was supported by a majority of nra households. the gun lobby mobilized against it in the senate blocked it. since then tens of thousands of our fellow americans have been mowed down by gun violence. each time we are told commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre or the one before that so we should not do anything. we know we can't stop every act of violence, but what if we

tried to stop even one? what if congress did something, anything, to protect our kids from violence? a few months ago i directed my team at the white house to look into any new actions i can take to help reduce gun violence. on monday, i will meet with our attorney general, loretta lynch, to discuss options. i get too many letters from parents, teachers, kids, to sit around and do nothing. i get letters from responsible gun owners who grieve with us when these tragedies happen, who share my belief that the second amendment guarantees the right to bear arms and that we can protect that right while keeping a dangers few from flipping harmonic massive scale. -- from inflicting harm dangerous few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. change will take all of us. -- the gunby is arme

lobby is well organized. extent do you think the president will spend his final year in office on this gun issue? jeff: he will definitely spend the first chunk of this year on at. i think that will dominate the week. a big chunk of his state of the union address. in addition to whatever seconded action he decides to announce you can pick up from what he says in the radio address and also from the fact that he is holding a town hall later this week that he wants to take the case directly to the american people and he wants to use the fact that polls show americans do support some tighter gun laws do his advantage. whether or not that will lead to success is an open question. if history shows, he almost certainly will not get, progress in congress. congress. to

maybe they are not passing anything. what is' posture of democrats in congress on this issue as the president comes out with this? thishey, will they use issue to disrupt other things are happening? erica: democrats will try to push on this issue. they made that clear before we knew for certain that the president was going to move on executive action on this. in both the house and senate we will see democrats who are in the minority in both chambers try to use what levers they can come up be a procedural votes in the senate, trying to push amendment votes. republicans have said and indicated that they really feel no political pressure on this issue despite repeated mass shootings. host: a busy week for the white house as they start the first full week of the new year. we mention the se senate is out

of session but the houses coming in. they have a big vote coming up. i wanted to get erika werner to lay this out for us. she is with the associated press and covers the hill. this is a repeal of parts of the health care law. erica: this will be the first time that they get legislation to the president asked desk that he will then of course veto. they have taken numerous votes over the years since health care law passed especially in the house, voting scores of times to repeal legislation in full or part. that has never made it to the president's desk. this time they used a special budgetary procedure that essentially prevented senate democrats from filibustering. the house will vote on it this week and that will send it to the president's desk. host: we have a little bit from the republican radio address on this matter. [video clip] week congress returns next

in one of our first acts of the new year the house will vote on a bill that would eliminate he parts of obamacare and stop taxpayer funding for abortion providers such as planned parenthood. if this bill becomes law, patients will be able to choose a health insurance plan that works for them without washington getting in the way. that is the problem with obamacare, it forces people to buy insurance that is more expensive than what they need and when you force millions people to buy expensive and unaffordable insurance it's not that surprising to see premiums going up. deductibles are going up to all while people's choices are disappearing. they're losing doctors. if they cannot find a good plan. far too many are paying more in getting less. if we want to make health insurance more affordable, we should make insurance companies compete for your business.

that means we should not force people to buy insurance. our bill addresses this in by eliminating the core of obamacare. it repeals the individual mandate. if this bill becomes law you will not have to buy insurance or face penalty. it will be your choice. this bill is eliminate the employer mandate to offer insurance. no longer will job creators have to choose between hiring more workers and paying for coverage they cannot afford. this bill is eliminate many obamacare taxes on things like prescription drugs and medical devices. critical medicine and medical devices are the things that save lives. they should never have been taxed in the first place. this bill will set things right. host: the president vetoes this bill when it comes to him. what is next? what does it all mean? jeff: as erica said, the president will veto a bill that

would have any kind of negative affect on his signature domestic policy achievement which was the health care bill. i think what comes next is the president and some democrats on the presidential campaign will say here is another attempt by republicans to repeal a bill that gives people health care. alternative for actual providing health care to the millions of people who need it. there is politics on both sides. there are pros and cons. basically what happens next politics gets played out. the president takes this opportunity to say, republicans you had your say it again. i'm going to veto this attempt to repeal. it gives the president and other democrats to say we actually stand for health care. host: let's get to more calls. betty, you are up first. go ahead. caller: as far as that -- him

vetoing it, i'm sure he will veto it. he does not care about anybody but himself. he doesn't care about anybody but himself. he ought to address the epa and tell them not to get rid of the people, get rid of the garbage. dumpit over to hawaii and it down the volcano. it will eliminate all those incinerator plants. and then it will put more people out of work. host: anything there that either one of you want to respond to? guest: i'm not sure what she climateut i think change and other environmental rules that will be something that is a part of this year's agenda. so no doubt that will upset some

people on the republican side. that will be another hot topic this year. host: i want to remind you of the phone lines. we look forward to your calls and comments. jeff mason and erica warner. say paul ryan wants to push and a vicious agenda, what does he have in mind? guest: we don't know yet. that is something that will take place later this month. but what paul ryan has made abundantly clear is that he wants to use the house as a body fit a bold agenda for the gop. regardless of what the eventual

to do and whatut that is. he wants to charter a course. he has made clear that it is not it isto be something that not something that the president will sign. rather, it will be a message. that the gop will set out. host: jeff mason, considering this is paul ryan's first full year in the job and the president's last full year in the job, what do you think their relationship will be? jeff mason: i think they will try to work together. i think they will try to be optimistic about working with a new speaker although despite some of the frictions they had with john boehner, i think the president respected him a great deal. they weren't able to come to an agreement of many things.

that said, the chances of the white house and congress getting a whole lot done are pretty low. you see that with him kicking off executive action. you will hear that with the state of the union address next week. you will be hearing the president say i want to get this or that in progress because he knows that they won't be able to do that. there will be a few things, he will work hard to get congressional approval on trade. and i think we will hear a lot about that in the coming weeks and months. but overall, this will not be a big legislative agenda. host: let's go to francis in munro, new york. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. my question to both of the panelists is, they are sitting here with the new regulations

and executive action, saying that the majority of america want some gun regulations changed. and that is why he is pushing so then in the next breath, the american people don't like obamacare and they wanted repealed and they are sitting here saying that he doesn't have the right -- he has the right to not listen to the american people. so which is it? host: thank you for calling. ner, do you want to take that? erica werner: you see that democratic on the side and the republican side. for the republican side, they want to appeal obamacare and president obama will appeal that.

likewise, the president will oppose executive action that he actions that affect the american people. actions that will play out. host: are there pieces of the health-care law that the president does still want to change? jeff mason: the president and the white house in general have said that they are willing to change aspects of the law to improve it. that is a line that they have stuck by. but there is not going to be -- they are not going to be open to gunning the aspect of the law. so in general, yeah. he is committed to health care reform and once the overall loss to be something that succeeds and continues to be successful. and if that means a couple of tweaks here and there, he is ok with that. host: we have roxanne from

maryland on the line. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to address what i see is one of the topics for 2016. angry white people. and specifically with the takeover of the federal building in oregon, it is a concern. intose i think as we get the season with the donald trump's of the world, angry white people are going to be in the news topics on 2016. i would like to get your topics. jeff mason, why don't you start? jeff mason: it will be interesting to see how they react. ae republicans will have trickier time responding to that

because they are certainly voters who on some levels support what is going on in oregon and yet this is obviously an illegal action. so the caller raises a good point. there is a lot of politics involved in what is going on there as with everything in washington and elsewhere in the country. and this will be played out in the campaign trail. larger point the that she is pointing to is that there is anger among voters. and people have different theories as to why that is the case but it is something we are seeing play out in this campaign. and: bill from new york, independent caller. good morning. caller:good morning, how are you doing? i am astonished by how many people believe the propaganda.

it is your lies. for example, obamacare. they will take away your doctor. health care will take a -- will i have neverey -- lost a patient due to obamacare. and i also pay my insurance. this thing in oregon, these people are breaking the law. they want to take that law -- that land for free and do what they want with it. it drives me nuts. host: any response? i'm sure it's drives a lot of people nuts, i'm sure on both sides. i'm sure he has his own experience as a physician. that there is different data and different

anecdotal experiences on all sides. will the house vote take place? erica werner: i believe it is happening on wednesday at they are coming back on tuesday. it will be the first major vote. of the majort legislation is that it defense planned parenthood. and so again, they are making a political point. it is a political message. the president will veto it. theround the same time as march thatprotest happens in washington. host: i want to bring in some other headlines. we are talking about the middle east and the saudi's cutting ties to iran.

this is following the execution that took place in saudi arabia. one of the headlines in the washington post, and execution of a cleric demands a u.s. response. jeff mason, what is the white house's response? where is it headed? a good question. it puts the white house in a tricky position. the white house needs saudi arabia as an ally. they value the relationship and they want to be careful about being overly critical. on the other hand, this president and white house has raised concerns about human rights in saudi arabia continuously. and basically did so again after the execution, saying that it is important for saudi arabia to pay attention to human rights. and after the cutting off of

diplomatic ties of iran, they say it is important for them to an answer.s there is a headline that says the u.s. fears tension could affect the fight with isis, but what i want to point out, is that on the usa today, a an of the papers have article that say the war on isis is far from over, but there is a congressman who writes on the other side. the issue has been there for quite a while. do you see any of those taking place on the war against isil? erica werner: doubtful. very doubtful. it isn't something that they are interested in taking up.

the column does show that democrats feel like they have a point to make. and a good argument to advance. talkingeader pelosi about the relationship -- expect to see them pushing on that. host: let's see what carl has to say. good morning. yes, i just had a question. a young lady called a while ago. she mentioned that they should dump the garbage in hawaii. that is one of the 50 states. no one called her out on that. how do you get by with dumping garbage? in one of our states? that makes no sense and no one called her out on that. i was surprised that she got away with that.

it sounds like you are calling her out on it. any other topics you want to talk about as far as congress? i watch you all day long. thank you for c-span. host: let's go to gabriel next. caller: yes, good morning. i am an independent. i was a republican for many years. are calling on the republican line, was that a mistake? yes, you can jump on the phone lines and try to get in. host: while we have you, you say you are a former republican, when did that change? probably, i would say about nine years ago. i joined the military.

[indiscernible] caller: i was isolated in a world that only focus on one thing. i was interested in going forth and seeing other perspectives. militaryinto the really change that. i started to look a lot about what america was doing. the connection is not the best, we will hang with you as long as you can. do you have a question? caller: i do. i am a medical student focused on the health care sentiment here. i don't get upset anymore when i hear about what the right is

, i amor the left is doing working on understanding the political process. but right now we pay three times what the u.k. pays for their health care and we get some of the worst results. -- it goes into our food products. earlier at the start of the program, the individual who came on and said that there should be no tax on prescription drugs because these things help people, i am appalled by that. i just want to ask the panelists you have their today, i am in north carolina. we are part of the states that opted out of obamacare.

what i want to find out, is there a difference in premiums, the rise in premiums between states that embraced obamacare, like kentucky, or in north carolina? is there a difference that we see? host: thank you for calling. can you respond? erica werner: one thing i do know in response to the caller is that these states that expanded medicaid under obamacare, there are a lot more people covered versus those that didn't. many of the people that were targeted or intended beneficiaries of the health-care law still remain uncovered. there are obviously political the states why

expanded medicaid and set up their own exchanges. but as jeff mason was talking about earlier, we have a huge federal program. politics, thathe is never going to happen. there is a polarized argument where the republicans are pushing the appeal. the white house will veto it. there is no ground in the middle. jeff mason: i don't have anything to add, i don't have the context of what the caller is asking for. but there is evidence that shows a lot of people are signing up obamacare, both in the states and on the federal system. big measureat is a to say that this program is something that is needed and is providing a valuable service, and not a political standpoint. host: we talked about a repeal,

but is the word replace still out there? what is the republican replacement for obamacare? that is something that the gop has been promising for years, to replace obamacare but without the us far coming up with a unified program that republicans have agreed on. not easy to dois and once you start attempting to do that, you end up having to argue details that in some cases are very favorable to republicans because they cost a lot of money. however that is something that paul ryan has promised to do. to finally come up with a gop obamacare replacement this year. we will see whether he can make good on that. , an: michael from new york independent caller. caller: good morning. is, the president is

coming back from hawaii and the first thing he is going to do is make some sort of executive action on gun control. i'm wondering why i am never talk aboutresident the number one form of criminal homicide. i would like to ask the panelists if they know what the number one form of criminal homicide is. jeff mason: he is asking a question but i don't know the answer. caller: the number one form of criminal homicide in the is dwi. host: what does that mean to you? caller: that means they are looking at a problem that is less of a problem than the first problem. very quicklyfixed that if you get a dwi huge do

not get another driver's license. it is is your -- it is more 2000 poundo have an vehicle then gun violence. jeff mason: this is a policy that i'm sure there are people on both sides of the political aisle -- i can't comment on whether there are initiatives underway but there are different laws on that and it is obviously a difficult issue. , this isca werner about the budget. deficity get the budget under control? a big question. as to the latter part of the question, probably not entirely. however, the new speaker has

that the budgeting process will follow regular order this year and he is going to be under a lot of pressure to deliver on that. order" meansular different things to different people. it can be in the eye of the beholder. host: from louisiana, good morning emily. caller: good morning. good morning. and jeff mason. is that you, paul? pay. -- hey. sorry about that. i have been enjoying this program this morning. i usually call once in a blue moon. i am in south louisiana.

i decided i was going to call because it is a panel of somebody from reuters and somebody from the associated press. you, want to say thank thank you, because i can trust trust ap and- i reuters. i know i'm getting a fair deal. and ilmost 60 years old am sorry i am nervous. and thent to thank paul producers who got these beautiful people on. year. you a blessed host: do you have any questions about the policies or anything you want to ask?

caller: 100,000 but that isn't what i planned on doing today. this has put joy in my heart today. host: thank you for calling from louisiana. we will let that stand. , hes take a call from john is on the republican line. caller: good morning, how are you. said thewho called and white people are angry, that the black people are angry too. i think a lot of people are angry. and i think it is this administration. a lot of presidential administrations in the past, what had this much gun violence? i would like to know that. -- not control issue

want to restrict the second amendment. i think people should look at the issues in work on as to what people are protecting against. that is all i have to say. i would like to hear your comments. host: you put several topics out there, would you like to respond? jeff mason: the question of gun violence. history shows that gun violence has been a problem under many residents. -- under many different presidents. that back to columbine high school, many other shootings we have seen in this country and in our history, it isn't happening just under certain presidents. say something about one of the previous callers about white people being angry. and he said black people, i think that is an unfair statement to make. i think it is

true that a lot of people are upset because of their race but it isn't one race that is burning our cities. erica werner: i second just comments. s comments. host: can you remind us of where we are with the trade deal and what is going to happen? erica werner: the obama administration will submit it to congress probably at some point this year but as to whether it will actually come to a full vote, it is not certain. the senate leader, mitch mcconnell, has made it clear that he thinks prospects are not good. and i think because of the timing, it is likely to be later in the year when it could come. at which point, it would be near theresidential election -- presidential election and

hillary clinton opposes this. jeff mason: you made a good point mentioning mitch mcconnell. yeareal was agreed last with the united states and other pacific nations and it was a big victory for the obama administration. then the fact that mitch mcconnell said he wasn't in a big hurry to take it on is something that the white house will be pressing on. i think the further they get it pushed back into the year, closer to the election, the harder it will be politically for it to happen. but it is something the president really wants. a piece of his legacy in his final year, so i think you will see a push for it. erica werner: i should make the point that paul ryan, the speaker of the house, is a big free-trade proponents. and while he has held back from saying where he is on the deal,

he wants to read it, but he has parted ways on it with mitch mcconnell. so that may be a way the white house has an opening on it. alfred ins hear from phenix city, alabama. caller: i was listening to you earlier. you were talking about the gun control and executive powers and those things. the problem with the attack on the second amendment is that not all of the gun violence has been done by people who are mentally sane. if you look at most of these things that happen, it is mostly people who are mentally deranged or sick. and i don't hear any politician take on the mental ole miss factor. illness -- the mental

factor. we have closed two mental hospitals in alabama. they should take on mental illness and do something about that. host: let's hear from jeff mason. jeff mason: the caller raises a good point. some of the major shootings that we have seen, the one in newtown comes to mind, with the connection to mental illness. the caller int saying that it is something that the white house is aware of. and they are trying to take action. becausetricky issue there is a desire by policymakers to address the issue of mental illness but also not create an incentive for they are get help when

ill. in terms of a way that would reduce their ability to get access to guns. it is a tricky issue. i can assure the caller that it is on the radar in washington. erica werner: and in fact, it has been the top republican response in washington in response to the latest shootings, the need to address that. congressman murphy from pennsylvania, he says the house leadership rallied around his proposal and we may see that move this year, but how far it gets, it is maybe not likely to pass the senate. probably unlikely. but it is an area that the republicans are talking about that. the democrats are talking about that. host: chris murphy has been on this program over the past

number of years. -- i'm sure it is going to come up. san diego, it is early for anthony, a republican. are you there? caller: yes. host: go ahead. turn the mute volume on your set. we will hear you much better. anthony, in san diego. do you have the sound down? caller: it is on you. hello? i see him talking to somebody else. this woman is talking. host: try again from the beginning. turn the sound down on your set

fully before you make the call and maybe it will work better next time. let's hear from joseph from florida. democratic caller. caller: good morning. i am a retired educator. i am now working in florida as an adjunct professor part-time. i have had a lot of contact with young people and i have come to the realization that they, as many americans, are frustrated and somewhat indifferent to our political process. i would like to address two issues regarding matt. the philip -- regarding that. the filibuster. it is a kind of invention of the senate based on their right to make their own rules. i believe that they should not

be able to make a rule that goes contrary to the constitution. the founding fathers never intended the senate to be a super majority vote senate body. that is obvious because they five things state that should be a super majority. namely, declaration of war, impeachment and two others i cannot remember right now. filibuster is clogging up everything in the senate. everybody knows that. the president made this speech previously on your program about gun control. why couldn't they get anything done? matt miller wrote a piece in the washington post about 3.5 years ago which is probably still available. the title of it is "it's the filibuster, stupid." a great history of the ,ilibuster and also tom harkin

great man in my eyes. spend most of his career trying to make dangers to the filibuster and he was very frustrated. those ideas are still out there. i think the senate has to wake up. america is frustrated and part of their anger is nothing is getting done in government. host: let's let erica werner take this. the caller has a lot of people who agree with him including some senators. there have been some changes to senate rules over the years. senators,ost including leadership in both parties, do not want to change the filibuster. i think it is unlikely to be changed and those who oppose wholesale changes would say it

protects the rights of the minority, whoever happens to be in the minority. and that has changed over the years and will change again and for that reason even those in the majority at the moment do not want to see the filibuster done away with. host: lonnie is in maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i am a data guy. i love numbers and measures of things. dwi was wrong.is there is less than 10,000 people killed a year in the united states. around 9800 people killed a year from dwis. believe it or not suicide in the united states are the largest murders or whatever you want to call it.

41,100 as a matter of fact. let's go to the middle east. there are 24 million kurds. they are spread around mostly in northern iraq. some in turkey. some in northern iran. -- i cannot revert the other country. this gets to joe biden's suggestion that the country be split into three pieces. in any case, let's pick a winner , let's support the kurds like crazy, get our soldiers out. please just give up on afghanistan. during theuntry crusades no one -- and since the crusades and the empires come of

the british empire and all of the other empires, they never took afghanistan. who wants the rocks? ,et out of afghanistan strengthen the kurds, bring them back together. a strong country that is generally reasonable. that is probably enough. host: you left a lot on the table. 's strategy this final year, where is it headed? jeff: it is interconnected with the fight against isil, islamic state, depending on which name you want to use. it is a major topic for the white house. no white house will continue to wrestle with u.s. policy on

that. overall the president wants to stick with his campaign promise of not putting boots on the ground or more soldiers or troops into the middle east. iraq, or afghanistan. it is unlikely that there will be a shift of that. erica: that has been heavily criticized on the hill by republicans and will continue to be who want to see more engagement including in some cases some republicans want to see boots on the ground and think that is necessary. the white house looks unlikely to change course. i don't see that being a major focus on the hill despite criticism from republicans. host: an extension of that is the refugee issue. the hill has the headline this morning, six bytes to erupt in congress. one of them is the refugee

issue. and you remind us of where congress has been on this refugee issue? erica: shortly after the terror attacks in paris where the suggestion came out, never totally proven, that at least one of the attackers had some movementhe refugee from syria. the house took action, passing the bill that clamped down on the ability of syria and refugees to enter the u.s. which they do in small numbers anyway. was opposed very strongly by the white house and the president. butsenate did not ask senator mcconnell has promised that the senate will act this year. the senate will do, whether they take up the house bill, not yet known. topic fors a tricky

the white house. the president wants to give support to allies like angela who has let inny hundreds of thousands of refugees from syria meanwhile the state is taking in maybe 10,000 so there is a big disparity but obviously it is a difficult political question because of questions of terrorism, of screening. the white house is walking that line carefully trying to issue support to its allies to show that the united states is open. it is worth mentioning as well fighting back against rhetoric ufc on the campaign trail from toald trump about wanting prevent muslims from entering the country, that is clearly something the white house takes objection to on the political and moral ground. host: charles, ann arbor

michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. --ould like to address host: i think we lost charles. caller: can you still hear me? host: i think we lost you for a second. caller: i would like to make three points that we really do not have democracy in our country and hopefully your guests can comment on some of these. maybe i have one of the facts wrong. democracy in the sense that every person's vote should count equally. anachronisticn electoral college and i don't need to elaborate on that. ,he second thing i like to ask

the republicans would not be in control of both houses if we went by the number of votes that were cast. once we get our so-called elected representatives in otherston, lobbyists and tell them what to do. those are my comments. i will be interested in what your guests have to say. host: a little bit about structure and culture. erica: i think a lot of people might agree with some of the caller's criticism. elect oral college is -- the electoral college is a complex system that does render voters in certain states meaningless in a certain way in a presidential campaign system. however it is the system we have and it came about for certain reasons. as far as elected representatives answering to

lobbyists once they are in congress, there is some truth to that. .eff: democracies are messy the united states system was andted by our forefathers the constitution sets out the system that we are following and have followed since the creation of the u.s. there is room for reform and there are people on both sides of the aisle who would agree to that. it is a question of whether or not there is political will or courage to do so. on the issue of the electoral college, unless there is another election like the bush versus gore where the popular vote is different from electronic college vote, that could conceivably happen again. my suspicion is unless that happens again you will not see a push for electoral college vote. host: we a time for one more call. arthur, an independent. caller: i was calling in, kind

of concerned about the united states of america's nationality actually being used in a format to -- it is more or less being used paying property taxes here in the united states by federal agencies just kind of concerns me about our nationally -- by our nationality. independently a person that has to pay taxes actually uses their that theand i'm seeing united states of america in care of rural development -- it is like, how can that agency use paying residential

taxes for individuals to live in that house? host: comments from arthur. we are just about out of time. one more look ahead from our guests from their respective vantage points. is there anything we have not talked about that we should be looking out for? erica: i think control of the senate will be a big issue and an open question to this point as to whether republicans are able to hang onto their majority in the elections. almost guaranteed to lose a couple of seats and democrats seem to be filling -- seem to be feeling confident they will take back the senate. that will depend in large part on who is the republican presidential nominee. jeff: the one thing we have not talked about is what role he plays in the campaign. i think that is something we will have to wait to see until there is a democratic nominee. with a president obama

to b on the campaign trail this year even though he is not the one running and cannot run for reelection. i think in order to preserve his legacy from the last seven or eight years, believes very strongly and will want to support a democratic successor. thanks a lot for your time and your insight. happy new year to both of you. with about an hour and 15 minutes left in the program and coming up next, more about election 2016 for the house and senate candidates. josh kraushaar will be here to talk about key contests. former senator richard lugar joins us to talk about his work that includes a new effort to develop a tool to rank senators on the efforts to work across party lines. 20 more time for your calls as well. while we switch out our guests we will show you a little bit dunford who joseph

recently took part in a national security forum put on by the center for new american security in partnership with defense one. here is a look. [video clip] the 15 baffles me more, or 16-year-old girls and boys who romanticized what isil is about and decide to join the fight. what confuses me, my daughter went to alexandria. she had two of her classmates their way over to pakistan and say we would like to join al qaeda. these are young guys who went to west potomac high, had a job. what is concerning to me is the narrative -- we spent a lot of time talking this morning. the narrative that isolate has is getting traction -- that isil has is getting traction. we can look at the absurdity of the ideas and immediately be dismissive. are resonating with

people who don't have access to the universe of information that we have. resonating to people that have grievances in areas where they have been subjected to oppressive leadership. they are resonating with young people here in the united states who are either disaffected, dislocated, or just not fully integrated in our society. i wish i had a glib answer for how to solve it but i think you highlight one of the challenges we have. to be successful at dealing with the narrative, countering the instability and legitimacy of isil will be critical to our success. d.hink we get a c minus or a the department of defense needs to be a part of it. >> right here. john leddy with aerospace

industries association. my question is about radicalization. more appropriate as you experience this on the ground in this part of the world. how much do our actions, military actions, do you think there on the question of radicalization? most recently and has been the question of dropping leaflets on the convoy before we blew it up. the question of our debate policies on immigration at the moment. how much does what we do or say bear on that turning point in radicalization? >> i will give you my personal assessment. something i said now publicly couple of times, i don't think we ought to apologize for our values will be go to war and we got to bring our values with us. if we are looking at -- we're looking at this is a long fight. we cannot let the immediacy of

whatever challenge we have informed our actions. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us, we have josh -- we will be discussing the 2016 elections as they pertain to the house and senate races. good morning. thank you for joining us. we have heard a lot about the presidential races. it is a big year for congress. tell us why. guest: the battle for the senate is the underplayed story of the new year. -- control of the senate is hanging in the balance and democrats have a good chance to get the seats necessary. at least four seats necessary to win control of the majority if hillary clinton or the democratic presidential nominee wins the presidency. democrats need to net five senate seats.

there are a lot of blue state races that republicans are defending. democrats are fairly optimistic about their chances in states like illinois, wisconsin, even pennsylvania. blue states on the map, republican senators defending their seats in a tough political environment. host: currently in the senate republicans have a 54-46 majority. is this going to be some sort of wave of election? guest: less likely given that we have a presidential election at the top of the ticket. there most likely to see party that wins the presidency will have coattail affects. if hillary clinton wins the general election, it is a good chance the senate candidates in those blue states will have a good night on election night with a lot of these matchups .aking place hillary clinton would have a

chance at bringing a democratic senate along with her in 2016. whoever the republicans and up nominating is going to make a difference. if they nominate a strong candidate and the republican nominee wins it is hard to see democrats gaining enough seats to take back the senate. they maintain a couple seats because of the makeup of where these races take place but it is hard to see them getting the five seats necessary. host: we want to get the viewers involved. please call in if you want to talk to josh. we are on the democratic line. you can call at (202) 748-8000 on the democratic line. republicans, (202) 748-8001. ts, (202) 748-8002. let's talk about some of these races. you wrote in the national journal that some republicans

are vulnerable to losing their seat this year including mark kirk in illinois. tell us about that race. guest: we ranked him as the most vulnerable republican senator up reelection. one big reason is he is representing illinois. he by in 2010. a wave of election for republicans. illinois is the state that reel. one big gave president obama around 60% of the vote in 2012 so any senate nominee kirk will have to win a significant share. with voters resistant to splitting their ticket these days it is hard to see how kirk is going to be able to survive that challenge. the democratic nominee is unknown. the likely challenger is tammy duckworth. she is still in a fight for the democratic nomination but she is considered one of the credit party's best fundraisers,

stronger recruits. she has do not make any mistakes . when you have the ability to just when democratic votes and when a senate seat that is a good position to be end. host: another vulnerable republican from wisconsin, senator ron johnson. guest: wisconsin senate race is one of the more interesting ones on the calendar. a rematch between ron johnson and ross feingold from 2010. russ feingold was expected to lose that race and initially. he was caught by surprise by ron johnson. what happens in washington these days is whoever is serving, if you are the person who is elected to the senate all of a sudden your caring the hot potato. russ feingold is hoping to run as the outsider as he was when he was first elected to the senate in tried to put that label of the insider on ron johnson. early polls in the race are not encouraging for johnson. marquette law school poll is

putting johnson behind by almost double digits at this point. not a good place for an incumbent senator to be. he has time to turn that around but feingold is in surprisingly good shape this early on. host: let's bring our callers in. first up we have david from indianapolis. david you're on with josh kraushaar. caller: thank you for taking my call. great debate going on. question. right now it seems that during this political cycle that we are seeing a lot of folks who are saying one thing, the facts don't match with what they are saying, and they are able to get away with that. we can use the example of donald trump and the things that he says that do not match up with

the facts. we can use the gun control situation. what is being said on one side of the political aisle does not match up with the facts. the facts are that people want reasonable gun control but we continue to have people on one side of the aisle saying we do not want that. you cannot take our guns. raising scare tactics to cause people to vote a certain way. my opinion is that this is going to be one of the years when we will have a lot of people out to vote and this is all going to be proven wrong. even some of the commentary you just made about some of senate races. your thoughts on this. guest: i think the caller alludes to the fact that we are in a polarized political time. issues that may have had some bipartisan support in the past, it is hard to get any

republicans to take the president's side or vice versa. republican leaders take support of an issue it is hard to get much -- many members on the other side of the aisle to embrace such an issue. the president is making a pitch to implement executive orders on his own without having the say of congress in the matter. he has struggled in the past and failed to get legislation passed on gun control. even members of his own party in the past is not supported some of the initiatives. -- we aren to me bill a very polarized time. the president is not working with congress is he is not he get legislation through a republican-controlled congress. host: does the fact that we have a democratic resident's final year, does that pose a challenge to democrats who are running for reelection in the house and senate? guest: the president is clearly

pursuing a liberal agenda on gun control, perhaps, bay. he feels like he can be more than activist president in the final couple of years office. it is not necessarily good for hillary clinton or even some of these swing state senate candidates. gun control is a tricky issue in the state like ohio. a lotrickland was against of gun control throughout his congressional career and when he ran for governor the first time. he has become more liberal on that issue as the party has become more liberal and as that has been an issue that energizes the liberal base. is that a winning issue for a democrat in a state like ohio where there are a lot of gun owners and democrats? host: next up we have a tricia -- patricia from washington dc caller: good morning and happy new year to everybody. gopuestions are, with the

being so opposed to donald trump as presidential election, are they going to treat him like they are doing president obama? the gentlemantrol was just talking about, why don't you ever look at the manufacturers? people don't make guns in their house. as far as the rapidfire, machine guns that you see like on television that most people have access to. i will take comments off the air . guest: republican leaders, party establishment leaders, people to not wanter, donald trump to be the nominee. they are worried that if donald trump emerges with the

nomination a lot of these swing state republican senators are going to have trouble distancing themselves from donald trump and trouble winning reelections. there is a big disconnect between a lot of the activists and grassroots voters who are supporting donald trump in the early states and what the party .eaders and senate candidates the politics of the controller almost off the table because the president has decided he's not going to try to get majority support. host: speaking of donald trump, when it comes to the senate and house races, will he -- should he be the nominee or even in the primary? does he have coattails? what effect if any are you expecting his candidacy at the top of the ticket to have?

question is a republicans are talking about privately. the washington post reported on a memo that the executive director put out along with memos of other presidential candidates. clearly urged his senate candidates to distance themselves if donald trump happened to be the republican presidential nominee. it is hard to see him being a net positive especially given the blue states were a lot of these battleground races are taking place. the question is -- i would not be surprised if some more moderate or establishment candidate emerged as a third-party candidate and i would not be surprised if republicans run the senate candidates use a truck demonstrateo really their independence to show that they are not a member of a party but have their own views and demonstrate with a different from donald trump.

host: we're talking to josh kraushaar. we will go to charlene from maryland. you are on. i think we lost charlene so we will move on to our next caller on our republican line. karen from rockaway beach, missouri. you are on. i had a question and a comment on gun control. what i was wondering is, you made a statement that if a democrat were to win they would probably take back the senate would win republican presidency. i was wondering how you came to that analysis. if it was more so that the american people are like, they just go with the winners. have came to that conclusion. as far as the gun control issue, you hear talk of wanting to take

guns away from the mentally ill. i have heard different statistics on the mentally ill and they say that only 2% 3% of the mentally ill actually commit these gun crimes you are talking about and yet they want to take guns away from -- i'm wondering how far they're going to go when it comes to taking guns from the mentally ill. i would like to say, when you consider -- they say they want to do gun control and went you consider the syrian refugees they want to bring in, they flip-flop and say, only a small percentage of those people ever do these crimes therefore we are to bring them in because only a small portion so it is almost like being on both sides of the fence. host: let's give josh a chance to unpack all of that. let's start with methodology for coming up with these rankings. guest: for the first question,

voters now more than ever, at least in the last couple of generations vote by party more than they do by candidate. i have covered house and senate races for over a decade now and i've never seen a time in the last 10 years or you have had voters that don't look by candidate. it is harder and harder for a good candidate to distance themselves from the statewide or political environment. you can look at the wave of election we've seen over that. period. almost every election has been a wave election for one party or the other. missouri has a long history of electing democrats. -- thatfederal office is becoming less and less common in missouri has a big -- had a race.nate

roy blunt is up for election. he has good approval ratings. ,e also has a good challenger one of the better democratic recruits. 20 years ago i would consider them a tossup because the democratic challenger has the political skill to give the incumbent the challenge. missouri is becoming a more republican state that is harder to find those conservative voters in a state like missouri who will vote for a democratic congressional campaign. host: how much do issues like the syrian refugee crisis, we have been talking about gun control, how much do those issues resonate down when it comes to the house and senate races? guest: in a conservative stateguest: it is about they do not agree with president obama's handling of issues. they do not agree with president obama, they will not agree with the democratic national nominee who may espouse many of the same positions. host: up next we have mike from

island pond, vermont. like you are on with josh kraushaar. -- mike, you're on with josh kraushaar. caller: it seems to me bernie sanders' strength is that he -- he couldeen able andntially make the field beat hillary clinton. how do you think that is going to affect the layout of house and senate? will it make the difference or not? guest: the primary is a separate issue from the general election i think hillary clinton is the strongest possible democratic candidate on the ballot. as far as the primary goes,

bernie sanders has a real chance to win the new hampshire primary and a credible chance to compete and perhaps defeat heller clinton in the caucuses in iowa. the problem with bernie sander'' political trajectory, after those two early states, you go to south carolina am a nevada, a lot of other states on the map where bernie sanders does not have the same appeal to minorities. he has struggled to reach out beyond the liberal white voters he has done well with. he raised over $30 million in the fourth quarter. he certainly has a strong grassroots appeal. it would be foolish to} and is off. i think after new hampshire there is a real limit to his appeal. host: let's talk about the money raised in the congressional races. who has the advantage going in? the president is a top

fundraiser for the democrats. holding bothns branches of congress and also having paul ryan as the new speaker of the house was likely to be a good fundraiser for them as well, we are starting to get in.y senate candidate this is going to be one of the int expensive senate races new hampshire. kelly ayotte raised $2 million. her challenger, the sitting million. raised $2.1 we are starting to see big bucks rolling in. high-profile big senate candidates. a lot of donors to not know who they are going to support, might start shifting money to big battleground senate races. host: we hear a lot about super

pac spending in the presidential race. to what extent are the super pac's having an impact? guest: super pac's have a bigger potential impact on congressional race. especially a house race were $1 million means a lot more than a presidential landscape. one development we have seen over the past couple of years is individualce of super pac's design for senate candidate as opposed to a group like american crossroads or other groups designed to spend a lot of money on behalf of candidates. support are helping creating their own super pac's outside of their own traditional and supportersts are spending money getting ads on television even though the senator or candidate themselves are not directly a part of that. host: we have jason from washington, d.c. you are on with josh kraushaar.

caller: i was wanted to get your opinion on the committee on presidential debates. the committee is set up by republicans and democrats specifically designed to prevent any other person from ever getting on the presidential debate stage. i believe the threshold they come up with again for this year is a candidate has to be pulling in five separate polls, not signifying which pulls they are, at 15% levels for inclusion in presidential debates. which of course is virtually impossible unless you are on television in debates. the interesting thing standing out, there is a court case going this.inst host: let me ask, because right now we are talking about the congressional races, does this relates to the congressional races at all?

caller: within the states and governor races they use the same criteria for exclusion. so in a state like virginia where a candidate was running, they used the same presidential polling methods to keep people out. in florida, adrian wiley, they kept increasing the thresholds to be included so that no matter what it was, the libertarian could never be in a televised debate. it forow difficult is libertarians and other candidates to get that visibility in these races? guest: it is difficult. interview more consequential this year. possibility to say donald trump could run as an independent candidate and i don't think any television network would want to exclude an independent donald trump candidacy from the debate stage. the caller is right that it is hard for an independent candidate to get on the presidential debate stage.

i was just in kentucky covering the governor's race at the end of october. independentcredible candidate pulling your 10% in the polls but ended up not being included on many of the debates televised. if you are not getting the -- you are not getting media attention if you're not getting on television for the debates. hard to get momentum for your candidacy. host: we are talking to josh kraushaar of the national journal. we are talking about the congressional races coming up in 2016. up next we have stand from fort lauderdale, florida. morning.ood i am curious if josh could comment on the democratic primary for senate where we have .rayson against murphy

it was not supposed to be a contested primary. frombox is full every day both of them. i was wondering if you could comment. guest: one of the premier primaries for the senate this year. alan grayson is one of the most pugilistic, abrasive, liberal congressman are you a hero to many outspoken progressives on democratic side of the aisle. he is someone who democratic .trategists fear as a nominee the democratic establishment supports patrick murphy, one of the younger members of the democratic caucus in the house. he has a lion's share of establishment support. the fear is that grayson could give murphy a run for his money. they're worried that grayson is

known for these over-the-top attacks against opposition. with a nasty primary battle -- i think murphy is the favorite to win the nomination. if you look at the news over the last couple of months, shake up his entire campaign apparatus. a lot of top staff have left. heading into the new year if you are running the senate race, i would give murphy the advantage starting out in 2016. the bigger worry for democrats is the race would get so nasty republicans could end up benefiting. host: are there other states where the presidential primaries , especially some of the early states, will have a big impact on the primaries? host: florida is huge because of

rubio. i would also add ohio. you have primaries of -- you have it democratic senate primary between ted strickland and a young up-and-coming progressive cincinnati city council or who is challenging strickland. unlikely to win the nomination but you are seeing some of the divides taking places. you have john kasich, who is running for president. is also have rob portman who in a tough senate reelection. he is preparing for a heated matchup against ted strickland. up next on our republican line we have brenda from omaha,

nebraska. caller: i wanted to make a comment about what you said about party lines. you are so right. i am talking about my great-grandmother globally to my mother. i am 53. they vote democrat no matter what. i have been independent my whole year.ntil this up to the dmv, registered as a republican. i have leukemia and i am scared to death that there is a possibility that they are going to come after my health insurance. if you can answer one question for me. a texas senator that closes the house every night before they left.

why isn't anybody reporting what he said about the president? thank you. guest: i'm not sure if she is referring to the texas state legislature. she is sort of a living example of the polarization in action. you have a lot of states where there were conservative democrats. many of the senators, the remaining moderate to conservative senators in the upper chamber lost in reelections in 2014 because people who identified with the democratic party -- i believe there is only one southern state legislative chamber that is still under democratic control where as 10 years ago they made up a significant share -- democrats had control of the majority of the state legislative chambers in the south. a tidal wave has taken place especially in the south.

host: our next caller on the independent line is john from holyoke, massachusetts. is a little known fact that most people do not do research. a lot of smart phones in this country with a lot of stupid people. 300 something years of the conception of this country it has been ruled by european dissent. , obamadon't understand is related to cheney. all people that run this country have been run by descendents of the monarchy of the england. john mccain, cheney, the bush family. did you know that multinational corporations funded both sides of the war? ibm funded hitler. even the ford motor company funded hitler. host: do you have a question about the congressional races? caller: people so ignorant that

multinational corporations have free capitalism but everything as far as profits are privatized and taxes are publicized. nothing but government and corporate terrorism to the middle class and the poor. host: let me ask a little bit. epic a lot of people are concerned about the corporate influence on elections. can you talk about that? josh. guest: conspiracy theories aside, that is an issue donald trump is making a big issue of. he is someone who has a lot of corporate influence himself. sort of running against his own class in a way. it is an issue that people say they care about but ultimately when they have something -- when it comes up in congress when there is an opportunity to say what is the most important

issues you care about, campaign finance is really not one of the top issues. it is something people talk a lot about. ultimately i think people care more about their own economic situation, national security, health care. host: we want our viewers to join the conversation on our democratic line. (202) 748-8000. republicans can call in at (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 let's talk about the house races. is there a chance the democrats could regain control of the house this year? guest: there's always a chance. i remember in 2006 when i first started covering house races no one thought democrats could get the 30 seats necessary. people said the same thing about lack of competitive districts. it was a wave of election and democrats won control of the house and senate. that said i do not think we will

see a wave of election in a presidential year being not enough competitive seats at this point in time for democrats to get the seats they would need to win back the majority. republicans are tied or even hold an average in the early generic allen pulls. -- generic ballot polls. a pre-substantial wave to and back control of the house. 247-188.argin of at that will require a lot of votes. let's go to our caller on the democratic line. rock,e tim from flat michigan. caller: i keep hearing about john kasich sang ohio is the new battleground state. exactly howderstand ohio is the new battleground state. it always talk about iowa, new

hampshire. what makes ohio different? host: you mentioned it a little earlier. guest: i do not know if it is different but if you look at the vote in 2012, ohio was the second most competitive state in terms of margin of victory. it has always been that way. ohio has always been a state where candidates campaign the most, where they spend the most money in, where you have a chance to win the significant votes.f electoral co it is why john kasich is making the point that he will be a stronger nominee. virginia will be the states i would watch closely to see which party has the advantage. host: another midwestern state, wisconsin. he party activists are looking for someone to launch it primary challenge to paul ryan.

what is the likelihood of that happening? guest: the success is unlikely. paul ryan, once you are in the leadership chair. it is easy to retarded by the tea party even though he was not that long ago one of the biggest fans of it. one of the biggest supporters. .yan may get a challenger the odds of him seriously challenged in a primary are very low. next we have bill from lubbock, texas. caller: curious if he is evident any journalistic studies. even though we are republicans, classified in a republican state, i have a lot of democratic friends. guys i have been talking to, they are very upset with president obama and his gun

control executive order. these guys are telling me they are not going to go for it. even though they are democrat, they are turning away from the democratic party. i wonder if josh has ever went out and did some studies or journalistic investigation to talk to the democrats like we are talking in texas. have you ever did anything to maybe do some investigative journalism to say how the democrats are responding to this? host: how is gun control affecting democrats in the races? guest: it's not want to be popular in a conservative state like texas. 20 years ago or 30 years ago believerge gov job bush one -- there is a shift in texas that took place earlier than in other southern states.

president obama, hillary clinton, they are not worried about winning texas. they know that state is likely to vote republican in the presidential election. it is not about texas. more about the battleground states, public opinion in other parts of the country. texas is a state that is very conservative on the issue of gun regulation can't come control. an issue -- gun regulation, gun control. an issue where president obama and hillary clinton are not likely to find supporters. host: we have bob from north carolina. you are on. caller: the person from holyoke that called in. i wanted to make a comment about his statement. i think it is not just the influence on politics but on the economy as a whole and the state of the world. i think jobs and security are going to be big topics in the

next election. on c-span they had a gentleman speaking about isis and he wrote a book in 2004. at the give us something like -- i think it was something like the internet influence of isis in the digital age. that is very informative. i just hope that this nation and the world, we come to promote more piece and less conflict -- more peace and less conflict. a real treasure in terms of energy resources and if they took that money and put it rebuilding region, we would not have to take our taxpayers and the world and do restructuring after we get rid of the very aggressive warfare that is over there.

host: i want to give josh time before his time is up. the economy, we always hear that the economy is the biggest issue on the minds of voters that we have been hearing a lot about gun control, terrorism. is the economy still a big issue? guest: the economy is almost always the number one issue. national security reach parity with that or even become a bigger issue in light of the attacks and paris and san bernadino. on the republican side that effect is more pronounced. more republican say they care more about national security and their own economic situation or the economy in general. .his is a big development it raises the likelihood that 2016 will be a national security foreign policy election which we do not see often. terrorism.r

that will shape the general election. donald trump has got momentum because of tough talk and approach in the wake of paris. someone like chris christie who was a tough talking former u.s. attorney. talks about terrorism cases in new jersey. something that christie has benefited from. there is a reason he has among the most momentum of any presidential candidates heading into the new year. host: robert from tuscaloosa, alabama. you are on. caller: an episode we talk directly to the person. i see this guy talking and i'm talking with you and he still talking. do not cut me off. i'm old and slow. that is a beautiful hairstyle you have. i want to know, what do people mean when they say they're going to take our country back? if you want to take your country back you need to go back to

europe and find where you were originally and take that country. republicans today are dixiecrat's. they used to be all democrats before the black people started to be able to represent themselves in the south. the reason why republicans win the seat and things is because there gerrymandered. most people in this country vote democratic. president, our best that is why he got elected twice by a large margin because young caucasian people, you call the whites, or effort in people, you call the blacks, they voted for the democrats. host: i do not want to cut you off but we only have a minute left. i want to give josh a chance to respond. guest: you have an example of the polarization. president obama's job approval rating is in the 40%

range, but the people who like him like him immensely. those that dislike them dislike him immensely. the president's legacy will have a big impact in these ballot races and on the presidential race in 2016. host: josh kraushaar, political editor for the national journal, thank you for joining us today. coming up we have former senator richard lugar. he's going to be talking about his work with the lugar center and which members of congress are the most bipartisan. stay with us. ♪

>> tonight on "the gary shapiro on the major technology issues he expects in 2016 and why the cta changed its name this past fall to consumer technology association. he is joined by tony rock, politicos technology reporter. over 3600 exhibiting companies and over 2.4 million square feet of exhibit space to be is going spectacular with more innovation, more excitement, and more different categories than ever before. it is the future. solving real-life problems for the world, not just entertainment indication. it is about health care. it's about transportation, clean food, clean water. we are solving big probls