.he deciding vote on responsible immigration, that's how we got einstein and some of the smartest minds in history. immigrants vote eight out of 10 for democrats. host: let's check your figure. karlyn bowman, is that correct? guest: it is certainly true that americans have always been of two minds about immigration. they clearly want to help. europe,ation in children's bodies washing ashore, they want to help, but the concerns we've been discussing that many americans have about the fast pace of change in the country are also affecting them. that is what we see in the attitudinal data. when you're in a prominent

situation like people coming from syria and somalia, that's a visual representation of the fact that we've helped for so long but there are problems associated with it. host: tom in pennsylvania. democrat. caller: lifelong democrat. i was thoroughly disgusted watching the debate last night. if i have any more white privilege, i will be in bankruptcy. in, free drivers license, free this, free that -- that's not what we want. democrats need me. i'm in pennsylvania. -- are losing me with this you give the undocumented worker a license. accident,nto a car insurance, go to the hospital -- it isy would come and say

ok, but it will be responsible, it will be done in the right way , not just this give, give, give -- if it comes down to hillary and trump, i don't know what i'm going to do. it's not because i'm a racist. like i said, where's the order? you have people knocking down towers on 911 and a been on expired visas for six months. let's get control. guest: did you vote for obama in 2012? hostcaller: i've never voted republican in my life. you are losing me. oscars andwatch the i felt guilty watching the oscars. what did i do?

except work two jobs. we want order. that's all. guest: i don't particularly agree with the caller's views on the immigration issue, but you and in capsule a lot of what we've talked about in terms of how these issues might play out in 2016. there are a lot of people out there who feel like the caller does who aren't people who always would vote republican ticked they are just off now, so they like trump. because of this issue and because of the kind of candidate trump is, they will switch their vote. that could have a real effect. guest: he was talking about immigration. there is trade. host: perhaps if it is hillary

clinton versus donald trump, you have some white voters who say she called the tbp the gold standard and he is saying it he will rip it up. guest: that could be a big issue in this campaign. caller'sding to the point, every nation wants to have control of its borders. many americans think that is not the case these days. having an immigration policy that works for everyone is really important. i can understand where the caller is coming from in terms of his concerns. host: she called it the gold standard while secretary of state and now says she opposes it. ryan in woodbridge, virginia. independent. caller: independent, yes. i worked construction in the early 1980's. we had a union and reagan

destroyed our union along with the air traffic controllers. only 10% of the workforce was immigrant. 90% was american citizens. they brought illegal immigrants onto the job sites through immigration services, they disappeared a week and then said they would be back. there was a deliberate effort not to enforce immigration laws so they could get cheap labor to help destroy our unions. now, fast forward to the future, 90% of the construction industry is undocumented. withcan solve that problem e-verify. if it was mandatory for all business owners to use e-verify to identify counterfeit documents, you would not need to build a wall. host: this tweet from lynn --

do we know if there's more of one or the other? guest: there are more registered democrats than republicans. if you look at a more broad measure like party identification come in the service, we ask people if you support democrats or republicans , which party you lean towards, regularly show an eight point lead on party identification. but we arey state, still living in a universe where democrats outnumber republicans. , if you look at the question of nbc news has been asking every month during this election season, would you vote for a democratic or republican presidential candidate, it has never been separated by 2%. very closely divided.

host: in the end, what matters? guest: values, candidates, issues. guest: identification is very important. in the end, they have to feel they vote for represent their values and their views. two different visions about a country and where it needs to go and we will see what the voters decide. host: ruy teixeira and karlyn bowman next washington journal, we will discuss the state missiles. ballistic missiles.

tom frank covered the reagan administration and will share his thoughts about nancy reagan's legacy. join the discussion. announcer: coming up, highlights from the official dinner for canadian prime minister justin trudeau. then president obama and prime minister trudeau's joint news conference. later, senator mike lee endorsing senator ted cruz. announcer: c-span's road to the white house coverage continues in florida, ohio, illinois, north carolina, and misery. donald trump will the press conference in west palm beach.

eastern onge at 9:00 c-span two. we will join bernie sanders at a campaign rally in illinois live at 9:00 eastern on c-span two. coming up on friday, panama efforts to combat the outbreak of the zika. the bipartisan policy center and instituteobal health will host the discussion with public health officials. announcer: join c-span on friday for the funeral service for former first lady nancy reagan at the ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley. michelle obama, george bush, and laura bush will be among the dignitaries attending the funeral.

mrs. reagan will be buried next to her husband at the library. announcer:announcer: next, highlights from the white house and are for justin trudeau. this is two hours and 20 minutes. >> present arms.

>> forward march.

>> you saw prime minister and mrs. trudeau arriving at the white house. that was like coverage. now the next schedule event is at about 7:30 p.m. eastern time, in about 25 minutes. that is when they will come down the grand staircase for their official photo. the are going to go up to residence and have a little social time at this point. here in our studio in washington, we are joined by , who spent many years with a canadian magazine. she is now with politico. ms. savage, what is the significance of the state dinner, or a state visit? >> this is huge for canada. it has been 19 years, and this is a relationship that goes on every day. relationship,

energy, you name it, military. but canada never gets much attention in washington dc, so to have the spotlight on this relationship is a really big deal for canada, and particularly a big deal for prime minister trudeau, who as you know is newly elected, coming in, trying to make his mark. incredibly warm, and tcs to reception we are seeing from the president, it means a great deal. 's mother is attending this dinner as well. >> prime minister trudeau is the sign of an iconic canadian prime minister. lotre elliott trudeau did a to establish what canadians consider their identity today, multiculturalism, bilingualism, these are his need legacies. someone who was also very controversial, he is seen as

opposing the energy industry out west, and some of those same tensions are emerging today. this prime minister has a big pedigree behind him in terms of canadian politics and political history. >> what do we know about prime minister trudeau? >> we know he is young, his very progressive. he is a self-described feminist. he is making climate change a big issue for his government, and he is someone who came to politics after wandering around a little bit through life, trying on different roles. he was a schoolteacher for a while. he tried out various degrees that he did not finish, and ultimately came back into the canadian consciousness when his father died. he gave a very moving eulogy and people looked at him and said there is someone who can inspire our party again. he eventually became the leader of the liberal party and this

fall was elected prime minister. >> is it fair to say he was a bit of a wealthy dilettante? >> i think that's how some people would portray him. the big question was, is he a lightweight, does he have anything to say, and what does he stand for? do to a lot of work to persuade voters that he actually has substance to him. if you see the covered she has been getting here in washington, it's been very much of a celebrity profile attention and a lot of pictures of him on his challengesut really to show the substance, and i think he is trying to do that here. >> you said this was a big deal for canada to have this. besides the state dinner, what goes into a state as it? are a lot of preparations, a lot of meetings. every department, every official is looking for what they call deliverables.

but can they show for their work that the president and the prime minister can stand together and say here is what we have accomplished. so there is a lot of work going on, especially on climate change. they're both trying so hard to both ofentum going in their countries. but it's not easy, and for prime minister trudeau, wanting to be a champion of climate change, his own government says canada is not on track to meet its emission reduction targets that it agreed to internationally. he was out last week meeting with leaders trying to get them to agree on levels for a carbon tax. there are so many parallels between him and president obama, and one of them is that moment where you campaign, but now reality steps in, and how do you cope with, how do you put them into reality?

with all of c-span programs, we like to hear from you and get your input as well. we are going to put up the fine -- the phone lines and we will watch the arrivals and talk with watch all and we will the events happening at tonight's state dinner, but we want to get those lines up so you can participate as well. we have a third line set aside if you are canadian or if you are watching us and canada, we would love to hear from you as well. you can also send a tweet and cspan, and we will find that as well. louisa savage, is this visit

getting a lot of attention in canada? >> it is certainly getting a lot of attention in canada. here in washington of course there is so much competing news, it's not getting quite as much attention. of course there is the presidential race going on. this is always a challenge for canada, how to get on the american radar, so this is a nice window of opportunity for the prime minister to come in raise his issues, which include not only the climate issue but border management, trade. onre were some advancements that made with the president. in canada, everyone is watching closely, will he get what he wants, will there be any substance to deliver from this meeting? and certainly they are watching it much more closely in canada than here. antive issues subst playing out in canada is the budget deficit and the potential

for that deficit going higher because of some of the programs he wants to initiate. >> this is so fascinating to me because i was a reporter in ottawa in the 1990's under the last liberal government. on gettingfocus was rid of budget deficits, balancing the books, because they were under so much pressure from wall street creditors who were raising their interest rates, and they just knew that if the cap spending, that's where their entire federal budget would have to go. leaders go to great links to try to balance the budget. they cut back on government programs and it was such a point of pride, and then they started to run surpluses. there was a feeling that canada was going to stay in balance after that, and the conservatives came in and ran some deficits after the financial crisis.

so it was quite interesting, not only given full it -- canadian political history but what is going on in the world, where you see countries in europe trying to rein in their spending. and here comes this leader who says no, we think it's time for spending and investing particularly in infrastructure. the argument he made, interest rates are really low right now and this is a good time to do this. in a stimulus type way, this kind of spending can stimulate the economy and then pay us back through increased revenues. now they are on track to have even greater deficits and what they thought they would have, and on top of that, it's a bad moment for the canadian economy because oil prices are so low and being hit quite hard by the decline in the price of oil.

that is the concern that will put a lot of pressure on various policies the government has. how do you do everything you want to do when the price tag keeps going up? harper was prime minister for 10 plus years. why do you think he never got invited down for a state dinner? that is a long time. >> there are two or three reasons. first of all, he was not that kind of guy. this was not something he liked to do, the pomp and circumstance. that is one thing. the canadian relationship is such a close, tightknit one, that you don't need a special dinner. towards the end, especially with the obama administration, the relationship got very frosty. there was tension over the keystone xl product -- pipeline which the obama administration was looking at, and the process

kept getting dragged out. every time the prime minister would come here he would be hounded about keystone. it became uncomfortable and embarrassing and finally, in the end, the president said no to the permits for the pipelines which was border, something that was very important to the previous prime minister. >> this is a terrible segue but i did want to report on what the first lady is wearing. the first lady is wearing a midnight blue, floral jacquard down with asymmetrical draping designed by jason would. so for those of you who wanted to know that, that's what she is wearing, and we will see her in about 15 minutes or so is she comes down the grand staircase with mrs. trudeau. who are some of the canadians that are here? ministersre a lot of from this government that are

here. what is interesting about this group is, first of all, as i said, the prime minister described himself as a feminist and he has appointed a half female cabinet, on purpose, which is pretty extraordinary, i think. he has a lot of young, dynamic ministers and a lot of them are here with him today. women and a very diverse cabinet. this is really an opportunity for them to forge those relationships with the people they need to be working with going forward. luiza savages our guests. we will take a few calls as we wait for the obamas and the trudeaus to come down the grand staircase. canada's national weekly .ewsmagazine i was the washington correspondent here for some years and got a really close

look at how the bilateral relationship actually was in practice. >> about $2 billion a day go over the border between our two nations in trade. let's hear from new jersey. >> hello, c-span. how are you today? a question, isza it just me, or is the canadian delegation the absolute antithesis of a trump rally? progressives, young people, folks of all different colors and sex is involved here. as a fan of all things politics, it's very refreshing to see good-looking progressives on tv for a change. >> i think that is true.

this is certainly a very progressive and young group of politicians. i think that is a big reason why the president has been not just warm but i would say enthusiastic in all his comments. i think he looks at this prime minister and sees the younger version of himself. you heard the prime minister talk about president obama as someone he is learning from. it's sort of a protege relationship they have been projecting today which i thought was really interesting. the prime minister laughed about a potential president trump and what that would mean for canada. he said they would not build the wall on the canadian border. he said the relationship is so close and so big that it transcends politics and we will have to work with whoever is in the white house, and we trust the judgment of the american people. i think that was a diplomatic answer and i am sure they thinkd him on that, but i

chuggilationship keeps along. somen of the announcementsg they made on moving forward on some of the border measures, this is a continuation of something started under the harper government and i'm sure will continue under the next administration. >> there were two state dinners for brian mulroney during the reagan administration, but president obama seems to have found a real lady here. -- seems to have found a real buddy here. >> as someone who has been covering this stuff for years, the big question that fascinates me, is to what extent does this make a difference? there was a lot of speculation that harper and obama didn't get

along so canada will not get keystone. some people say it is worth a key when there is some thing holding up an agreement or you need some help pushing something through congress, that having the ability to call up the president and put in a were directly makes a big difference. it will be interesting to see what it means between these two leaders. >> we have this tweet, a good night for canadian-american relations. hopefully prime minister trudeau will be able to work with whomever the u.s. elects in november. the next call is from brenda interim, north carolina. caller: good evening. host: go ahead and turn down your tv and speak, we are listening. fromr: i am a canadian

newfoundland. when the current prime minister's father was elected, i came to the campaign. it is just so nice to see him come to washington. do you fill a special connection to the trudeau family? yes, i really enjoyed him being prime minister and .ave all his books i keep up with canadian politics. it's lovely to see him. i hope to get to see his mom on television. i have followed her as well of course since she married his father back in the 1970's. it's quite a treat for me. not: margaret trudeau did

arrive with prime minister and mrs. trudeau and we have not seen her come through in the booksellers area where the arrivals are. maybe we will see her come through, but she has her own story, doesn't she? interestingy person, and a very interesting family. she was almost 30 years younger than him and she was known for having a celebrity party lifestyle and partying with the rolling stones. they were such a colorful couple. in the years since then she has and they outspoken public came to see her in a new light. she tragically lost a son. she was someone most canadians have a lot of work for. but pierre trudeau the father, i grew up in western canada in calgary and then i lived in the east.

the attitude i encountered toward him were just diametrically opposed. when i was a kid there were posters that would say wanted dead or live in western canada because of his policies on energy. whereas when he was dying, and i was working in ottawa, colleagues of mine were just in tears. it was such an incredibly moving to hang, it was like jfk or someone of that stature. a very polarizing figure in different parts of the country. it is so interesting to see now with the collapse of oil prices and the difficulties the energy sector is having in building pipelines to get the land from -- to get the oil from landlocked alberta, you are seeing some of those tensions resurface. it is a strain that runs through

canadian politics that you don't really have here in the united states. everything here is polarized left and right. in canada there is an undercurrent of national unity. is the policy going to help or hinder the task of keeping the confederation together, keeping quebec happy on one hand and alberta on the other. grumblings in texas once in a while but no one takes that seriously, but canada came very close to falling apart. >> it does sound similar to the u.s. where you have the east coast and the west side of the country. they are similar, but i don't think anyone in america thinks there's the slightest chance that one part of the country could actually break off . this has come close to happening in canada.

i think there is a lot more anxiety around it than there is here. it's actually something that people take seriously their. >> we were showing two screens there. we are watching the arrivals live at the white house. that was a former saturday night live person and movie star mike myers who was arriving, he is canadian by birth. maybe you did not recognize him with gray hair now. 320 million is the population of america. canada is about 27 million? luiza: most of the population lives pretty close to the u.s. border, and everyone watches american tv and feels that connection very much to the united states.

the trade relationship that is so huge, hundreds of billions of dollars a day. here we are in a situation now where the trade agreement were , trade has been flowing but the problem has become infrastructure. whether it's the oil trade or trucks carrying goods or the auto industry. there's an issue with building a bridge between ontario and michigan to carry 10,000 trucks a day. , the issuehe issues around holding electrical power lines to bring hydroelectricity from canada into new hampshire. that became a talking point in the republican debates about imminent domain and what it would take to build it. that is the challenge now for canada and the u.s.. that this proud

canadian is watching the state dinner from my home in maryland. our next caller is calling in from new brunswick, canada. we are listening to what you have to say. caller: thank you very much, it's a pleasure to speak with you, but i'm not in new brunswick, i am in florida. i winter in florida. absolutey it's just an pleasure to view your program tonight and i feel so proud to see justin trudeau, who is just a mesmerizing figure now on our political landscape, with his wife. he is someone that's going to bring a new frontier to our country and be very progressive justpen to new aspects, speaking about the cabinet that he nominated have women is absolutely wonderful. it's something i reminisce about his father having a close

relationship with fidel castro. now that america has made that open visit with president obama, and here is his son visiting with obama, i think it is history, and it's amazing to be here and watch it. >> you spend your winters in in florida. what are the differences in your point of view? caller: i have family in florida. on theferences are based greater population of america and what is happening and some of the issues. the gun issue is something we also see with great concern and worry. and i see it here when i visit come out open it is -- visit,

how open it is to carry a gun. that is not part of our culture. we find difficulty with that. host: thank you. is there anything you want to add? louisa: i think it is interesting if you look at political attitudes in the united states, you have the northern united states and you would probably find more similarity in the culture between the northern u.s. and canada, where you have differences with politics in the south. i always think of it as if you took the american political spectrum and cut off the far right, and even some of the far left, and just took the middle, that would be something closer to the political spectrum in canada, where people are more comfortable with policies, whether conservative or liberal. one thing i said earlier, in

terms of trade, the united states as a trading partner, it is like 4000 people a day crossing the border, these are people who might live in one country and work in the other. many nurses for example are crossing to and fro to work in detroit on a daily basis. for many people, the border is part of their daily life. host: that is the busiest border crossing between our two nations, the windsor detroit border crossing. louisa: it is so important for the auto industry, because when you build a car in north america, you are actually building it in both countries, they go to the factories and there is an interesting story going on, where canada has wanted to build a second bridge because the current bridge goes into downtown windsor and it brings 10,000 trucks a day into

the middle of winter where they encounter 18 traffic lights. they has been trying to build a bridge to bring this traffic around that bridge, but it is owned by a private owner, which is unusual, and he collects tolls. he has been fighting this in washington, so recently there was an agreement with the governor of michigan, who is now under attack over the flint water crisis, but he signed an executive agreement that said, ok, i cannot get the legislature to authorize this, but if you -- if you come in canada, pay for it, i can make an executive decision to authorize it. so they are trying to move forward, but the owner of the bridge continues to bring lawsuits in various ways. so it will be interesting to see if this intersection is ever built. host: it is one of those things you don't really think about on a daily basis. louisa: it is important to the

manufacturing economy. host: earlier today, the president and mrs. obama welcomed the trudeaus to the white house. we want to show you the arrival ceremony. ♪ [trumpets] ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. ♪ [applause] ♪

>> forward, march. [drum roll] ♪ [trumpets]

[drums] ♪

[chatter] [indiscernible] >> ladies and gentlemen, the

national anthem of canada, followed by the national anthem of the united states. ♪ anthem]s national

fire]

♪ [america's national anthem] ♪

forward, march.

♪ ♪

[applause] [cheering] ♪ [applause] [cheering] ♪

>> we love you president obama. ♪

host: that was part of the arrival ceremony today. now we are back live at the white house. this is the grand staircase coming down from the residence of the white house. ♪

host: that was just a few minutes ago, mrs. obama by the way is wearing a dress by jason wu, it is a midnight floral gown. designer. now we will go back to the ceremony we were watching earlier. ♪

♪

♪ [yankee doodle]

[military commands] >> ceremonial. president obama: good morning everybody. on behalf of the american people, on behalf of michelle and myself, it is my honor to welcome to the u.s. come a prime u.s., prime minister justin trudeau. [applause] president obama: mrs. trudeau.

[applause] president obama: and their beautiful children and the quite good-looking canadian delegation. [applause] president obama: it has long been said that you can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your neighbors. [laughter] well, by virtue of geography the united states and canada are blessed to be neighbors. by choice, we are steadfast allies and the closest of friends. [applause] the truth is,a: we do not express this enough. in part, because of our national characters. our northern friends can be more reserved and americans can be a little louder, more boisterous.

and as a result, we have not always conveyed how much we treasure our alliance and ties with canadian friends. and that is why today we are very proud to welcome the first official visit by a canadian prime minister in nearly 20 years. [applause] president obama: it is about time, eh? [laughter] president obama: what a beautiful day it is. which is a little unfair, as president, very first foreign inp was to canada, to ottawa february. [laughter] president obama: in the snow. still, our friends from the great white north gave me a very warm welcome and we hope to reciprocate some of that warmth today with your first official visit south of the border.

we are joined by proud canadian americans. [applause] president obama: we are family and that this is also a special day for the many canadians who live and work here in america and who enrich our lives every day. we do not always realize it, but so often that neighbor, coworker, that member of the white house staff, some of our favorite performers and artists, they are canadian. they sneak up on you. [laughter] president obama: even as we remember what makes us unique, americans and canadians, we see ourselves in each other. we are guided by the same values, including our conviction of the blessings we cherish as free people, these are not gifts to be taken for granted, these are freedoms that must be protected by every generation.

americans and canadians, brave men and women in uniform have paid the price together across a century of sacrifice, from the fields of flanders to the rugged --ntains of afghanistan did afghanistan. we stand united against terrorism and for the nations like ukraine to determine their own destiny. as leaders of the united nations, we stand for peace, security and the human rights of all people. our shared values also guide us at home. i am proud to be the first american president to stand with a canadian prime minister to be able to say that in both our nations, health care is not a privilege for a few, but now a right for all. [applause] president obama: and as to vast and vibrant societies, we

reaffirm that our diversity is our strength. whether your family was among the first native peoples to live on these lands, refugees that we welcomed just yesterday, whether you pray in a church or a set of god or in a temple or in a , or any- synagogue temple, or any mosque, no matter what state you live in, you the freedom to marry the person you love. [applause] now, i do nota: want to go off -- over the very real differences between americans and canadians, there are some things we will probably never agree on. whose beer is better. who is better at hockey. [applause]

prime minister trudeau: don't get me started. president obama: where is the stanley cup right now? i'm sorry, is it in my hometown with the chicago blackhawks? in case you were wondering. where is it? [laughter] and this visit: is special for another reason. nearly 40 years ago, on another march morning, another american president welcomed another canadian prime minister here to the white house. that day, prime minister pierre trudeau said that the united states was canada's best friend and ally. one reason he said, we have a common outlook on the world. today, prime minister justin trudeau carries on that work. the prime minister, your election has brought a new energy not only to canada, but

to the relationship between our two nations. we have a common outlook on the world and i have never seen so many americans so excited about the visit of the canadian prime minister. [applause] with thisobama: visit, i believe that the united states and canada can do even more together, even more to promote trade with economic partnerships that provide jobs and opportunities for our people, even more to ensure security that so many americans and canadians count on, so that they can live in safety and freedom, even more to protect our countries and communities, especially in the arctic, from climate change, just as we did together in paris to reach the most ambitious agreement to fight climate change. [applause] president obama: and, guided by our values, we want to do more -- aroundo advance

the world. to giving a student in africa it is to study by, because as americans and canadians, we believe in the dignity of every human being. [applause] president obama: as always, our work remains rooted in the friendship between our peoples and we see that every day and communities along our shared borders, and alaska, people head across the border go to celebrate. at the baseball diamond in alberta, there is a good chance the ball will land in the united states. and in vermont, where it meets the border of quebec, many come together at the local a where the border literally runs right across the floor. the residents of one of these border towns once said, we are

two different countries, but we are like one big town. the people are always there for you. prime minister trudeau, justin, sophie, to all of our canadian friends, we are two different countries, but is like this remind us we are like one big town and we reaffirm that americans and canadians will always be there for each other. welcome to the united states. [speaking french] [applause] prime minister trudeau: mr. president, first lady, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for this extraordinary welcome. thank you so much for inviting sophie and me, and through us all of canada, to join you on this spectacular morning. [applause]

sophie and i along with our entire delegation are honored by your hospitality and by the reinforcement of just how powerful you are, mr. president, to organize such a day for us. [laughter] : -- minister trudeau [speaking french] you may recall that our government was elected on a plan to strengthen the middle class. we have an ambitious agenda as we realize that we vitalizing the economy -- revitalizing the

economy will be investing in new ideas and new technology. this will foster new jobs and increase our global competitiveness. that was the canadian plan and it very much resembles challenges and solutions that you have been putting forward here south of the border. a plan to invest in our country and invest in our people, this is wonderful to see that our american friends share and are working on the exact same objectives. partnereading trading and closest ally, the relationship between our two countries has always been a vital. as an exporting nation, canada is always eager to work closely to reduce trade barriers between our countries. speaking of exports, we know with certainty that there is a high demand for canadian goods down here, a few that come to mind that president obama

rightly recognizes as being extraordinary contributors, the american suspects -- american success story, hockey players for the chicago blackhawks. [applause] prime minister trudeau: we have faced many challenges it -- challenges over history. while we have agreed on many things and it disagreed on a few others, we remain united with it, percent -- with a common purpose, allies, our news and friends -- partners and friends as we tackle the world challenges. whether looking at environmental protection, making key investments to grow the middle class, defending the rights of the oppressed peoples abroad, canada and the united states will always collaborate in partnership and good faith. complex, butay be the bottom line is clear.

there is no relationship in the entire world like the canada-u.s. relationship. [applause] oure minister trudeau: great countries have been friends a long time. we grew up together, and like all great, enduring friendships, at our best we bring out the best in one another. through it all, are enormous shared compliments speak for themselves -- accomplishments speak for themselves. diverse societies that have been shaped by history together. we could not be prouder of that passed -- past. on behalf of 36 million canadians, i think you all for your were what -- thank you all for your warm welcome. now let's get to work on shaping our shared future. [applause]

march.t shoulder, commands] >> mr. president, this concludes the ceremony. ♪ [applause]

[applause] ♪ host: that was the arrival

ceremony earlier today. we are back in the c-span studio. right now, they are having a reception. they are dining. savage of politico is here with us. louisa, in eight years, i do not think i have ever seen the president this excited about another former -- about another leader, this is like a real bromance. louisa: it really is like an emotional warmth here that you do not see with meeting world leaders. i think he sees this as a younger version of himself and he wants to grab onto that, that solidarity, in terms of their political ideology,, goals -- ideology, common goals.

he has a short window of time and to the notion that he has somebody here he thinks can help push his agenda forward, whether on climate or trade, he is helping -- hoping to get support from the prime minister before a vote in congress. he sees this as an opportunity to push issues forward with a kindred spirit. host: and the prime minister has not endorsed that, has he? louisa: i think that he will eventually. most of the exports from canada go to the united eighth. -- states. canada looks for trade agreement all over the world, so the idea that they would be locked out of this one is unlikely. this was an agreement that was signed by the previous government, so trudeau said he wants to consult and have a vote on the agreement before embracing it. so, you will see it happen, i do

not think on this visit he will embrace it, but i would be incredibly surprised if ultimately he did not. host: we will take a few more calls before the white house toast, and then the dinner. we will put up the phone lines. this is the 11th time the obamas have sponsored a state or official dinner. from the past, india, mexico, china twice, japan, the united kingdom, france, germany, and pope francis, they have all been honored with a state dinner like this. and you said earlier, this is a big deal in canada. correct? louisa: absolutely. this is really the coming out of the prime minister, embraced by the president, and all of the attention and glitz and glamour. the prime minister is not the

head of state, he is a member of parliament, so this is unique. this is the big show that you really only see in washington. i think everybody involved with this trip is very excited. host: who is head of state in canada? louisa: the queen is the head of state in canada. it is a funny situation, because the governor general is appointed by the prime minister. host: is there any power associate with that position? louisa: there is constitutional power when it comes to calling an election, the prime minister must go to the governor general, certainly in constitutional situations, but largely it is symbolic and not overtly political. host: we have been watching the arrival ceremony, the pop and circumstance, where does that prime minister live in ottawa be with their feet -- there

a state dinner like this of their -- up there? the prime minister has invited president obama there. there could be such pop in circumstance if he chose to do that. it is traditional actually for the u.s. president to make his first foreign visit to canada. shortly after he was elected, president obama did that and it is a really big deal in ottawa. get presidentgo obama cookies that were made for him. it is a very warm welcome that he got, kind of like this. host: the president alluded to the fact that sometimes the u.s. takes canada for good -- granted. do you agree and what is the attitude toward the state? louisa: i think in a way it is

true, but not necessarily a bad thing. i think that, where is the attention of washington of the white house, it is him -- it is on the problems, syria, afghanistan, looking at the refugee crisis, russia and ukraine, so it is so important economically and important to the daily lives of families, but it is not a crisis. this is not a problem. so it is not in the headlines. when it gets in the headlines, that is not always a good thing. keystonene was -- when was in the headlines, it was not a good thing. it becomes this political football and you do not want to be in that situation, because , or the side has to win

other. it is not always a good thing to get a ton of media attention in washington. it depends on the situation. you need to be careful sometimes in dealing with american politics that are so divided between republicans and democrats. host: there are some issues of disagreement, syrian refugees, the pipeline, atp. louisa: the one where canada is trying to make its mark is responding to the syrian crisis. there are two pieces to this. one of the president agrees with , and the other he is not thrilled with. so where the president has really congratulated the prime minister, is with canada's move refugees.,000 syrian by comparison, the united states , which has a population nine times the size, says they would

only take about 10,000 this year. so you can see how big a difference that is. governors inhad the united states who say they do not want any in their states, because they are worried that this could be a way for a sleeper terrorist to come into the country. so this has raised hackles on capitol hill. the white house loves this. they are congratulating him on the policy. and the president himself went to the airport to see these families. he was helping them pick out coats, winter coats. but on the hill, there have been concerns about security. the u.s. refugee system, that it takes two years, and here the premise it was elected in the fall and in february, he has already -- he has already taken in refugees.

so, the senior official of the department of homeland security, including the head of the u.s. customs and border protection services, has said that they are satisfied with the way that candidate is vetting refugees. they emphasize that there is a lot of sharing of information on these people who are coming in, they are checking them against u.s. databases and canadian databases, and they said that for the most part these are families. not young men of fighting age. at politico, we didn't interview -- we did in interview on this very issue and he was very comfortable with the procedures being followed. but there is always an element of risk. the fbi director pointed out that when refugees coming from the act -- the iraq war were

coming in, a few of them actually did get arrested on terrorism charges. but with syria, -- in iraq, you had boots on the ground. lesssyria, there is a lot information, see have to work harder to get this intelligence. most families that have come out of syria, they are not coming fresh out of the war zone, they have lived in camps for a long time. but this is something that the u.s. has paid attention to. on the flipside on dealing with the middle east, the prime jetster has pulled out from the crisis, and i do not think that that was a result that people in washington wanted to see when they wanted to keep the coalition going. so the premise or put a positive face on this, saying that candidate is tripling -- canada is tripling their training in

iraq. that seems to be a diplomatic way of putting something positive there to say something about something that they were not thrilled with. in addition, many presidents have been pressing canada to step up in terms of commitment to spend more as a nato partner on military and defense. they say that he should be spending 2% of gdp and right now, canada is around 1%. this has been ongoing, this pressure to step up for all of the allies, not just canada. host: louisa savage is our guest . we are looking at the state dinner being held at the white house as we speak. the reception is going on now before the toast. there will be entertainment at around 10:00 p.m. tonight.

unfortunately, we could not get our cameras in there. but we are talking about the issues on the three-day state visit, but there is also the other side that people care about. we mentioned that mrs. obama is wearing a gown by jason wu. elizabeth wants to know, via twitter, who designed sophie's down -- gown? downa: this is a beautiful -- gown, and it was designed by a canadian designer, who was born in romania. toronto --sign in study design in toronto. is taiwaneseu canadian. we will go back and take calls. gordon in oregon, you have been

very patient. caller: i wanted to say how wonderful your coverages -- coverage is. i have a brother that was an economic advisor to prime minister trudeau, his father. so i am an old man now, and it is really and touched by the whole ceremonies today. host: gordon, thank you for calling and sharing. gordon, did you live in canada at one point in your life? caller: i grew up in montreal. host: growing up in montreal, part of quebec, is a different world than what it would be in western canada or even toronto? caller: yes. host: why so? caller: one i grew up it was very cloistered.

we were not very progressive, it plessisrime minister to -- duplessey's time. occurring inom quebec. changed,has since dramatically. and 1960's.s host: quebec, is a different world? louisa: yes, this is a province that was a conservative plays with a heavy hand -- place with a heavy hand of the catholic church, emerging into a multiple multicultural societies, that is really one of the most productive parts -- progressive parts of the country, looking to europe a lot. the first name is slipping my

interesting, so ophie trudeau,s she was a former tv presenter and has done a lot of celebrity television, so she is very much in her element. host: does she have a full schedule during this time? louisa: today, she and the first lady did an event promoting education for girls around the world. they were at the institute of peace and i think that that is something close to her heart and close to michelle obama's heart, as it was for laura bush who was very active in educating women. i think that is one where they can find a common cause. host: laura bush just out with a new book. she is in town today. this is a book on women in afghanistan. about 130 people attending tonight's dinner.

this is held in the east room, because the other dining room is not quite big enough. some senators there include, the senator from minnesota, senator collins, and senator king of maine. the senator from new hampshire is there as well. minnesota the senator. the energy secretary is there. and --a powers, the you u.n. ambassador. andceos from dow chemical, ups, all at the dinner. the official white house photographer, we want to show you a photo he took. this is in the state dining room

. it looks well lit and entertainment colors. he took. photo lincoln is ready for the state dinner, tonight. that is with the photographer says about the photo. tom from florida. please go ahead. great to talk to you. i was one of the few americans that probably watched justin the night he was elected in canada. how happy we were to see your country. i would not worry about advice from the barack obama administration, militarily. he does not have too many great successes. the good news for the people of canada, in november we will be electing the century 21 real estate agent, that should be fun for the canadian people.

thank you. isisa: i have to say, there an enormous interest in canada with a this election. there is a lot of interest in donald trump and bernie sanders. they are watching it closely. about,re a lot of jokes we will be the ones to build a wall. from a canadian perspective, from somebody who has followed the issues, donald trump makes trade sound like a zero-sum game. if you look at the way that trade works swing canada and the united states, it is not that candidate is building a lot and selling it to the u.s. so much of this is building that is why you have a company like ups.

they care about moving things across the border. campbell soup, they grow tomatoes in one country and process in the other and then they can them. the auto industry, they make things across the border. that kind of rhetoric does not jive with the reality on the ground that both canadian and american companies see. canada is the biggest export market for the states, so there are a lot of jobs that relate to trade with canada. so the idea that one canada -- one country has to win and the other loses, that is not reflect the reality. host: they say that $2 billion a day goes between the borders when it comes to trade. and mike myers, the actor, both attending tonight. michael j fox, another famous canadian, and his wife at the dinner tonight. they will be having baby lamb

chops, and made public on -- cake, there is the official menu. taking a call from stuart. caller: good evening. ms. savage, you have passion and purpose. i was on c-span with general colin powell years back, so i appreciate everything c-span does. the dynasty of the trudeau family is incredible, showing a picture of when he was a baby and knowing he is in office now, it shows you that anybody can run for office or be an office. -- an office. the continuation of the family is amazing, so god bless him. i went to canada in 1967, and i met a young lady and i dated her, i used to drive their every

weekend, 400 miles, that is true love. canadians are great people and i found the city of montreal, i used to study at the library, and everybody went out of their way to help you. they did not just point and say, it is down there. they would walk you. so, god bless canada and what we do financially in shipping and everything else. i had helped governor rockefeller get reelected. in closing, i just -- because i help toys for tots, i do the luncheon at the 21 club in new albert is aince friend of mine. i want to wish him a happy birthday. now, pr trudeau was -- p

year -- prime minister p year honored previously. the last canadian to have a state dinner was in 1997. lindsay wants to know why it took 19 years to have a canadian state dinner. louisa: that is a good question. i think that there are a couple of reasons for that. the previous prime minister was not big into ceremony. i think that both he and the president, they were both people who were reserved. neither one of them have that warmth between them. also ons an emphasis having trilateral meaning. after 9/11, when there were all of these problems of shutting down the borders and figuring out, how are we going to balance

security and commerce together, canada and mexico and the united states, i think at the urging of companies that were worried about this, they started to meet. it was a george bush initiative, he brought leaders together and he started a process and people called it the three amigos. it was the leaders coming together to find a common solution in the post-9/11 world. i think to some extent, those meetings in a way, they planted this bilateral thing that we see today. that was really the focus. it was an urgent focus, because the world changed after 9/11. win that border was shut, you highways thatg on could not get into the u.s. i interviewed the mayor of windsor, or terrio about this --

ontario about this, and drivers were on the highway, they were bringing ported john's -- porta lawns on people's front -- this was really a crisis. there have been so many changes since then. we have had a passport requirement imposed on traveling between the united states and canada, which we never had before. it makes sense to have a passport to travel, but if you are going up to canada on a weekend, you are not thinking about applying for passports. many people go to canada who do not necessarily travel abroad. so this was something that candidate initially fought against, and eventually gave in to. the commission had recommended it. and you saw, you talk about northern senators at the state

dinner, these are people that really pushed the agenda between canada and the united aids, the northern states have so much at stake and you saw them coming out with drivers licenses that would have your citizenship, that could be used to cross the border. those economies from the pacific northwest or the great lakes, they are very intertwined, and it is really the governors and senators of those states that care about making this work. it is an interesting question and complicate a, why we do not see this earlier. but there is so much focus on figuring out how to make this work after 9/11. under the harper government and under the previous government. and now we are looking at the fruits of labor. now we are expanding clearance, so if you are going out of the airport, taking the train, you can be cleared in one country and across the border and not have to go through customs again. you can be certified as a

traveler, we have nexus cards, this is all post-9/11. this was really the focus of some much work. now to have these two leaders come out and say, this is the next increment of this, they have predecessors to thank for laying the groundwork for the liberal government and conservative government to get to where we are today. host: george w. bush had steak dinners for the leaders of philippines, queen elizabeth the second, and italy. his first state dinner was for the president of mexico, just a couple of days before 9/11. -- the new canadian ambassador, what should we know about him? criteriae has the one

that i think is very important for any ambassador, and he is very close to the prime minister. going to the eople is this right person or how close are they really. he's got that. e helped trudeo -- trudeau elected. one of the ambassadors that the united states sent to canada have been big fundraisers and huge supporters and as you see the whole, ambassadors, these are plum posts. but david was much closer to the prime minister. he is close in crafting his strategy and so on. that's what he has got going. he is not a career politician. the outgoing ambassador who was

a skilled politician benefited from the fact that he could go in and meet with a governor, senator or congressman and speak their language as a fellow elected. that's not the case here. but on the flip side he's very, very close to the current prime minister where the previous prime minister was a member of the m.v.p. party who was representing a conservative prime minister. but they have a close relationship. and that should help them along. host: we sat down with david at the canadian embass ay. very significant. only embassy on pennsylvania avenue. here's our interview. >> ambassador, the newly elected prime minister. justin trudeau will be making his first visit to the united

states, what is happening at the embassy in preparation for his arrival? >> there has been a lot of work done by the staff. this kind of a trip is intense. a lot of meetings we have. in addition to the prime ministers, we have cabinet ministers coming so the staff has been working overtime to make this a successful visit and i must say that the state department and the white house and everybody has been terrifically cooperative and it's really helped the staff here in terms of the premmingses. everybody has been terrific. >> as ambassador, what's your role? >> i take credit for the good things and what the staff does. i have been here for 10 days. a lot of work for me getting up to speed with all the issues and had a good fortune of meeting people at the united states.

i met with secretary kerry at the gridiron dinner. we had a lot to talk about. had a couple of meetings at the white house. i had my family here when i presented my credentials to the president. it has been a whirl wind 10 days, but been amazing. >> you are new to your post. tell us about the amount of coordination that goes on between the state department, the white house and the embassy. how do you manage all of that in preparation for an official visit? >> you know, we have almost a total of 300 people here at the embassy. and so they have counterparts, not just at state, but homeland security and all of the various -- the you ustr and they have been working ever since the visit was announced day in and

day out to make this a successful trip. it's been a lot of work. i have been briefed on all the issues and brought up to date on the schedule but most of the hard work is done by the staff on both sides. >> what do you think the canadian people expect out of this visit? >> well, in some rpts, it is you know a re-engagement and refresh of the relations, most important relationship we have in the world. americans are not only our closest neighbors but our best friends and largest trading partners. $2 billion a day with bilateral trade that goes on. it's a critical relationship for us from an economic standpoint but in today's world it's important to work on security issues and a lot of that is being discussed and we are certainly you know at one in terms of our approach to that.

we live side by side. we need to work together on security matters, as we have in the past. we have been partners in norad for a long time and that has worked out really well. >> what do you think the prime minister wants to accomplish when he speaks with the president and he is here for all the different events that will take place? >> we have quite a number of items that have been discussed on and off between canada and the united states. we are hoping this visit allows us to final idse some agreements certainly on the environment, climate change, some economic issues that are important and some security issues. and other items where we aren't going to reach agreement while the prime minister is here but hopefully nudge them along and get them to a point where we can hopefully get some agreements between now and the fall. >> where do you want to do some

nudging? >> for us there are economic issues that are quite important. for the united states and for canada, the whole dispute over softwood lumber -- we had a 10-year agreement that ran out last fall and another agreement that runs out in october. it's in both of our interests to reach an agreement because having those trade dispute, the only people that are happy when those take place are lawyers and i'm not sure that's in our interest to be making lawyers wealthy. >> describe your relationship with the prime minister. how did you get your post and only been here for 10 days, but how often are you communicating? >> i first was in blair house many years ago with the prime minister's father. i worked for the foreign minister right out of university and we came to washington with

his father. and i got to know the prime minister eight or nine years ago when he got into politics. his chief of staff and his principal secretary are close personal friends. i worked on the campaign that took place last year and he and i are very close. i really hadn't anticipated when i was working on the election campaign that i was going to be asked to do this job. that isn't why i was working on the campaign but when he asked me if i would do this, i was thrilled. this is a very important job in the canadian diplomatic corps so i'm delighted to be here and i'm hoping that i can use my experience in terms of business and in politics and in public policy to work with americans to

our mute tall benefit, because we need to see this not as a zero sum game but to work together. >> what are your marching orders? [laughter] >> obviously this year is an important year because not only a presidential election but obviously congress -- congressional elections. so i need to develop relationships because you know, things that -- when there are difficulties and there are always going to be difficulties, difficulties among friends and difficulties in relationships, like marriages, but the way to get over them is to be open and honest and not let the little problems get in the way of what is a terrific relationship. >> ambassador, thank you for your time. >> thank you very much. host: that was the canadian ambassador to the u.s. earlier

this week. back live, how important is the canadian ambassador here? is there some power behind that position or some influence? >> it's an interesting question. the role of the canadian ambassador has changed over the years and interesting way and if you go back to 1980 and negotiations back then when the u.s. ambassador, he has written and told me about those he was told your place is to deal with the state department, with the white house. you do not go to capitol hill because you don't get -- you don't medical in the law-making process. during that time they were trying to pass free trade, they needed to persuade people there.

so he was really forceful on saying our role as an ambassador not just to represent the government but to be a lobbyist and get meetings on the hill. so now the modern embassy has a secretary tar yacht devoted to lobbying on capitol hill and will go in there with charts and show you your district and say here are the jobs and here's the full economic con tech. it's interesting. we are at a point now where there has to be the next level of that evolution and i'm not sure how anyone knows how to build it. building cross infrastructure support trade that has been growing. when you are building real things in the real world on real land, suddenly you are out of the state department, you are out of the congress and into local communities, state

legislatures, local politicians. they don't have diplomatic reception rooms for the ambassadors to come in and make the case. this is a new realm for a foreign government and the detroit bridge saga. if you saw the consul general in detroit going on essentially political campaign towards the state with the governor of michigan and making the case for the bridge because the owner of the bridge at the time had launched a referendum campaign, a ballot initiative that would have blocked the bridge and you saw this diplomat from canada doing some speeches with the governor ahead of an election trying to prevent this ballot initiative and that's the challenge now. do you want to build a pipeline through the state of nebraska

where the keystone xl, you have to be there on the ground and dealing with communities and states and that is not what most foreign diplomacies are structured to do. so it is fascinating in the evolution of this relationship and the kinds of things that diplomats are called on to do. host: you are with politico. what do you do? >> guest: live events. panel discussions, newsmaker interviews, international events like canada and washington. and launch political europe and working on transatlantic events. if you are here in washington and come to a playbook breakfast or a panel discussion on policy, that's what we do. it is a lot of fun. host: if you are a reader of the

"new york times," her husband writes for the "new york times." carl in hot springs village, arkansas. thanks for holding. caller: good evening. thank you for such an enlightening evening. i would like your comments either dispel or affirm -- comments made by americans that the health care system in canada causes people to wait for months or years for health care. good luck and thank you. host: the elephant in the room. host: it's a complicated question. there are wait lists for certain procedures and certain kinds of specialized procedures. it's not health care at large. if you are sick you go to the

doctor and don't deal with paperwork. but there have been issues with particular specialized procedures. there is the safety valve, look if you want to spend the money you can cross the border and go into the united states and get whatever treatment you want. host: is that common? guest: it is an option. but most people are pretty satisfied with their health care. we say the third rail of american politics is social security. in canada it's the health care. nobody wants to lose that. it is part of the social contract. host: the obamas are hosting the trudeaus at their 11th or official state dinner. tonight it's for prime minister trudeau and his wife. a lot goes into the preparations at the white house for a state

dinner. there was a press preview done by the social secretary. and we want to show you this. and this was from yesterday. >> hi, everyone. welcome to the white house. i'm the white house secretary. it's my privilege and honor to welcome you here today for the press preview for the state dinner happening tomorrow. it will be happening in the east room followed by musical collections. this marks the 11th state official visit of the obama administration and so excited that you are here to show you a preview. in a few moments you will get to hear from my my colleagues, the white house florist and the design and dec omprmp of the. and is inspired by the colors of spring. you will hear from the chefs

chris and suzy and will be served on owe baum ave china and debuting the individual turee nmp from the obama china service. this is not easy. so in addition to the social office and the colleagues i have to say thank you to all the departments that put this special evening together. to my turn it over national security colleague. have a great time and thank you. >> good afternoon. thank you for coming. the president and first lady are looking forward to welcoming rime minister trudeau and mrs. trudeau on march 106789 this will be the first official visit by a canadian prime minister in

19 years. the united states and president obama places on the u.s.-canada relationship. this gives us an opportunity for the two countries to expand and deepen the very close relationship that we share. this will be the second meeting between the president and prime minister. they met last december in phillipines and several times on the telephone. the united states-canada relationship is one of the strongest in the world. underpinned by our family ties, economy and gee oggra if i. we share the largest common board and trade and investment relationship. we stand shoulder to shoulder in secure our nations both domestic and abroad and provide leadership that involves multi lateral institutions to respond to crises and support communities in need. we are joining to protect the event and combat climate change

as well as developing clean energies. when these visits occur, the bilateral meeting is one aspect of the event. also on the schedule is an aprifle ceremony, press conference and lunch hosted by the secretary of state. this progression sets the tone for the final event, the state dinner. they will host the state dinner in honor of prime minister and mrs. trudeau. i will leave the details to my colleague but highlight a couple of issues. in the united states, the modern state dinner dates back to the 18 70's. and symbolizes the relationship, the importance and value of a relationship that the white house places on the relationship with the foreign country. such an event is reserved for the most important of relationships and in the case of

president obama's time in office, this is only the 11th time. in short we consider ourselves fortunate to call the canadians our allies, partners neighbors and friends and looking forward to tomorrow's event. let me introduce the white house florist.

>> good afternoon, i'm the white house executive chef and for the state dinner, we want to showcase everything from the pacific northwest all the way to the atlantic side of the north americas. for the first course, we will be unveiling this wonderful soup tureen that is part of the obama service and doing a little reveal.

halibut casserole that represents the comfort food of the americas and show you later can at you get closer, you take a closeup picture of this, but a wonderful baked halibut that is garnished with asparagus and some spring onions. what we want to anticipate is spring. apricotsalad, roasting in honey and wonderful cinnamon. a punk ent salad that is garnished with appalachian cheese which is a tangy combination. for the main course, we are serving baby lamb chops from a small farm in colorado with potatoes and wonderful vegetables in the spring whiskey y youion

sauce. will turn it over to our pastry chef. >> good afternoon everyone. i'm the executive pastry chef and describe the dessert course for tomorrow's dinner. we have a dessert that is reflection of the memory of windsor and the celebration of the arrival of spring. the guests will be served this cake with texas toasted pecans and maple syrup from new england. the splendor of the rocky mountains is here in this sugar display which extends from new mexico to canada. a variety of pastries, a view from the mountaintop is a hand

made sugar culture and illustrates the region's beautiful and astonishing scenery. along with it is the dramatic landscape surrounded by stunning wilderness and lush valleys with turcoice waters. this includes a cranberry square andramel, golden racin tart hocolate coconut tart. host: dinner is going to be served in five minutes or so. the two leaders are still giving their toeses. when they finish, we'll get that video back and play it for you. we have a few minutes with our guest talking about u.s.-canada relation s