government in charge of anything. charge of the feds in the sahara desert, in five years, there would be a shortage of sand. with something asas choicent as school programs, put it in the hands of federal programmers? if we think about education financing, the vast majority of that financing comes from state and local taxpayers. 40% of that comes from the state level, roughly. maybe 30 from the localities. and then there is that me -- remaining 10% from the federal level. on the whole we got 90% coming state and local taxpayers and 10% from washington. this is a practical matter if we want to enhance choice options. it has to come from states and

localities. beyond that, of course there are concerns, rightfully, about , publicsm issues schools, private schools, charters and the impact of regulation as a result of federal options expanding. having said that, there are quite a few options that are toirely appropriate consider. i want to really quickly walk through five of those. the d.c. opportunity scholarship program, the voucher program that virginia talked so elegantly about a few moments ago and how life-changing it has been, i will talk a little bit more about it. the obama administration has tried to phase out that program almost every single year, but it is still here and going strong and fighting. thinking about transitioning the district of columbia in its entirety in the jurisdiction of congress to an all education savings account district.

instead of funding as we have in d.c., making that funding entirely student centered and portable in the form of an education savings account. education schools, providing education savings accounts to those children. title i affordability, which i will talk about in the second, and the corollary, the portability of idea a funding -- ida funding. quickly, the d.c. scholarship rim, we've gone over that extensive duplicates get a voucher thousand dollars to $12,000 -- from $8,000 to $12,000, depending. we have, and correct me if i'm wrong, about five applicants right now for every available scholarship. high demand for the d.c. osb. household income is

$21,000 per year. these are low income children to our benefiting. i mentioned a second ago that the obama administration unfortunately has tried to phase year afterogram year. we see it almost every year when the president's budget comes out, the d.c. osp is zeroed out in the budget. that's a real travesty. it's a school choice option right in the president's acura art that we see singled out every single year and getting jeopardized. run some advertisements when it was really being jeopardized a few years ago and it was pretty stressful, actually. i think about not only retaining the d.c. osb, but expanding it. patrick and dr. wolf went through all of the information about the impact of the d.c. osp

. so, if you keep that in mind and you think about how funding is structured in d.c., it's difficult to justify. one of our colleagues, at the foundation for excellence and education, talked about how difficult it should be to justify education financing in the district. if we think about the fact that the system, and by that he means the d.c. public school system routinely spends $29,400 per year -- that's revenue per pupil , routinely brings and 29,400 dollars for high-income students, for high income students, it provides a system that provides $14,000 per year for high-income students to attend public charter schools, but only a maximum of $8,000 to $12,000 for low income students

who would like to attend a private school system using an opportunity scholarship program that increases the chance of graduating high school by 21%. financing, that's a system that should be incredibly difficult for us to justify. think about -- or member the fact that he is under the jurisdiction of congress. transitioning the district into district. where all spending is student centered and portable in the form of an education savings account, which jonathan described earlier. you could use those funds for private tuition, online hurling -- burning, or a whole host of other providers. so, the third option -- i said i would be quick, too. if you think about bureau of indian affairs schools, i don't know if anyone saw this article in politico six month ago. the title says it all -- how washington created some of the

worst schools in america. it's an apt title. in the article they said the network of schools for native american children run by an obscure agency of the interior department remains arguably the thet school system in united states. a disgrace that the government has known about 48 decades and never -- known about four eight decades. for 8 they have some of the lowest test scores and graduation rates in the country. even as the education they are getting is the nation's most expensive. that's a direct quote from politico. you can get a direct chance to read that expose and i urge you to do so. if you look at it, it takes the reading scores for native american children who attend bureau of indian affairs schools , 182 on the reading exam.

to put that in perspective, their native american peers scored 207 on average and reading. that's the equivalent of about -- grade levels and reading in reading for the kids. cap of these children that attend bureau of indian affairs schools actuate. you heard about how important graduating high school is? funding for those schools is almost tiredly federal. in a uniquen, position to think about transforming that funding into an education savings account. spendpartment of ed funds $830 million for year 48,000 children who attend the schools. $16,000 per child. lastly, i would just note title affordability, we spend about $15 billion per year on title i.

title i of the elementary and secondary education act, all of the federal funding in the k-12 district. there are maybe seven experts across the country who could tell you how a title i spending formula works and whether or not funding will actually make it to a child in poverty. so, thinking about doing a set per pupil allocation per child in giving states the option -- which is critical, giving states the option to make those dollars affordable to follow a child to -- a child to any school or provider of choice. the same could be said with disabilities education act funding. giving states the affordability option there is well. i've already mentioned dr. matthew, but i think he's got some of the best ideas on reforming education. another shout out, he says we think about the traditional

school voucher model, a great model, we can sort of think about it like the rotary phone. it did this technology really well, but it did this one technology. the thing about a voucher is that it the ability to go to a single private school choice, a lifeline for the students who get it, but it's sort of where the flexibility ends. not only do they do that one technology really well, like the rotary phone -- i felt making it akin to an iphone, it's more all facetime, but they do of these other things. all of these applications that you can get on your iphone. you can hire a private tutor. purchase special ed services. .extbooks, curricula and you can pay for private school tuition, rollover funds year-to-year. it really is the next generation of education choice. notice, we hardly ever say school choice anymore, as we've so refined that thinking.

, those five recap items, the d.c. opportunity scholarship program, school expansion, converting the district into an all esa program, giving the bureau of indian education affairs programs savings accounts, and both title i and ida funding are of theart options federal level that could advance that you goals referred about today. thank you. -- goals we've heard about today. thank you. [applause] ourhank you so much for panel. we now have a few minutes for questions. does anyone have questions? we have microphones floating around. we would be happy to answer them. >> hi, there. [indiscernible] russell,, jason sitting next to me, recently wrote a piece about the prospects for the next

administration's potential education secretary. obviously, we know that hillary clinton has had some very flattering things about teachers unions [inaudible] more how you see her potential influencing what the fight would look like. i can only speak to the policy. not the interesting parts of your question that you brought up. i would say that from a purely policy perspective, i think that moving forward no matter what happens in the next few months, it will be frustrating to see the types of progress we have seen in the states not continue to advance. for whatever reason it might eat. whether it's a continuing union stranglehold, or anything else

that might come our way. the progress that mary clare described earlier, in state after state advancing not only choice options, but innovative options like education savings accounts, that would be a real travesty to see that boarded. having said all of that, i'm hopeful. we are frankly at a tipping point. every year now heritage puts out in index of opportunity collected by use of school choice options across the country. every year that data looks better and better. i think we are almost at a tipping point when it comes choice. i would say that no matter what happened forward, that that sort of tsunami of choice is going to overwhelm. pretty soon most states, most people in most states will be able to look around and say -- hey, how come i don't have access to choice? if i'm in texas and oklahoma

doesn't make it happen? we can say -- hey. i'm eternally optimistic. if anyone else has anything to add to that? >> washington deals with a huge amount of money when it comes to education, but it's the states where you live. to the extent that states can determine their own destiny and provide programs like education safety accounts? there is still a place for state lawmakers to be well aware of what is out there and what they need to do to give children quality opportunities. that will be really important, regardless of the shifting sands in washington of what has been regarded. >> education choice, and our event of the night, they said they were going to do bigger and better things and make sure that those plans continue to happen

and we will keep moving forward because children and parents are demanding that. >> what we have seen recently with the every student succeeds act, there is a strong political and policy movement towards decentralization. education has been a state and local policy. no child left behind was a bit of an aberration. there's ath esa, toong -- strong pushback decentralization and delegating. nothing is more complete in the education field and placing the decision in the hands of parents. i think it would be difficult to take that away from so many families in so many states across the country.

>> hi, i work for the federation of children. thank you for advancing the policy idea of creating esa opportunities for students relegated to the horrible bie schools. the american federation for children put out a mini documentary yesterday called american underdog, students in crisis. it showed hopefully the whole country the horrible situation and conditions that these children are stuck in at these schools. i encourage you to watch the video and understand the crisis there. you say that when you first started talking to d.c. parents, they didn't realize they could have a voice area? i'm wondering if maybe then the parents stuck in these buie- schools feel that way.

what do you suggest for families who didn't know they could have a voice? thank you.ford: that's a really good question. when we started off parent said that they never realized that they could complain, could speak out, could be advocates for their children. that's something that we really encourage them to do. you have to be advocates for your children. beyond thee it goes link of parents in the d.c. who are african-american. i've had some experience with native american families i think that spending time talking to parents, saying to them that you had every opportunity, every right to speak out on behalf of your children as americans, that's kind of a week

constantly told that over and over again until they do have every right area we have to go back to the fundamental way of dealing with parents that we started in the 90's. most parents that we dealt with early on said -- we have never been told that we could speak out. to the contrary, people told us to get away. we want this. once parents understood that they had a chance -- that's how we were able to organize so many. we said to them over and over again -- it's your right. these are your children. you can tell people what you want and i think that's what has to be done in this case, but even harder. because those circumstances -- i'm from arkansas, i'm close enough to oklahoma. i've seen really bad situations. so.

>> we have time for one more question. one choice we didn't talk about today was [indiscernible] program funded by individuals for corporate tax credit. did miltonng, friedman the talk about that before his death? if not, what -- what would he have had to think about it? they take money away from the public schools, whereas that's not really the case with this scholarship that is funded entirely secretary. -- separately. so, i say bring it all on whatever it be. there are huge benefits.

there are also some limitations, as with any option out there. if you are a state trying to phase out your income tax, for example. i think it's important for states to be just like -- just like us, all of the above, course --e 700 level course on school choice where we get to the point were you have a tax credit funded education account. a you are in a state that has restrictive amendment with compelled support clause, the something to be said for the tax support route. prof. wolf: our privately run tax scholarship programs, when we look at the results separately the test impact were somewhat higher really government voucher programs.

we think the reason was that the funding was significantly higher. i don't think that there's any problem with the mechanism. it's just that it tends to be a smaller resource for families and therefore don't deliver as much terms of test scores. i think we would see the same results that we see with voucher programs. ms. burke: funding follows the kit, but i think that's a feature that will and would have called the future, a competitive pressure placed on the public system. obviously can't speak for friedman, but he would be supportive of that scholarship level as well. mr. butcher: and why would you do that once the child have

left? >> great, thank you all for coming here today and for your great, insightful russians. please join me in thanking our panelists. -- insightful questions. please join me in thanking our panelists. [applause] [laughter] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016]

>> today, the nation's capital also features the last day of the state visit of the prime minister from singapore. obama and singapore prime minister vowed to push for trade rockstar -- rocksolid partners." it was an official welcome earlier. the statencheon at department with secretary kerry vice president biden. joint news conference coming up this evening. we will have all of that for you later, beginning with the eastern.at 6:55 p.m. we will have live coverage and follow that with a joint news

conference at 8:00. it was essential part of the discussions, jeff blake liked what he heard from that news conference. here is his tweet -- potus making effective case for free tpp, hope donald trump and hillary clinton are listening. here is what he had to say. >> as president, trump considering recognizing the annexation of crimea, does it make you question his fitness to be president? on libya you said in the past that the worst mistake of your presidency may have been your failure to plan for the aftermath of the 2011 nato intervention. do you see your two decisions as a direct result of that?

obama: yes. i said so last week. he keeps on proving it. the notion that he would attack a gold star family that had made such extraordinary sacrifices on , the factour country that he doesn't appear to have basic knowledge around critical , europe and the middle east and asia, meaning his woefully unprepared to do this genre. -- to do this job. this is not just my opinion.

i think with an interesting is the repeated denunciations of his statements by leading republicans. including the speaker of the and the senate majority leader. likerominent republicans john mccain. i think the question they have to ask themselves is that -- if you are repeatedly having to say , in very strong terms that he , whyaid is unacceptable are you still endorsing him? what does it say about your party that this is your this isn't ar? situation where you have an episodic gap.

-- gaff. , where daily and weekly .hey are distancing themselves they have to be able to save some i cannot support. even if he purports to be a member of my party. the fact that that has not yet happened makes some of these enunciation's ring hollow. , ion't doubt their sincerity don't doubt that they were outraged by some of the statements that they made about family,an -- the khan but there has come point where you say that somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn't have the judgment, the

temperament to be understanding. to occupy the most powerful position in the world. unknown thet of the white house getting stuff right. this is different than just having policy disagreements. recognize that they all profoundly disagree with myself or hillary clinton on tax policy or on certain elements of foreign policy. but there have been republican presidents with whom i've disagreed with and i didn't have a doubt that they could function as president. in -- andwas right mitt romney and john mccain will not as policy is, but i did

the job. had they won, i would have been disappointed, but i would have -- this is americans our president and i know that they are going to abide by certain norms and rules. common sense. observing basic theme. with enough money -- and of knowledge about economic policy and foreign policy and our constitutional traditions and rule of law. work it government will we will compete for years from now to try to win an election. that is not just my opinion. that is the opinion of prominent

republicans. there has to be a point where you say -- enough. alternative is that the entire party, the republican party, effectively endorses and invalidates the opinions being articulated by mr. trump. as i said last week, i don't think that actually represents the views of a lot of republicans out there. joint newsll of that conference tonight at 8:00. we will receive that with live coverage of the arrivals the state dinner tonight at the white house. obama headed to martha's vineyard later this week if congress is out through tuesday. act in their home state, their home district, some busier than others as today is a primary day

for house and senate races in four states. congressman lacy clay tweeted this out earlier. house and senate members out of town, horse, but the offices here in washington and the districts are up and running and like any place of business, the interns keep the place running. joe wilson posted a tribute to his summer interns. here's a look. >> i had a wonderful opportunity to work with senator strom thurmond. something that he taught me was that no matter who they were or where they came from in south carolina, they were important people.

in pictures, indeed i was an intern visiting the leadership over a country with a republican leader from illinois. was an amazing opportunity to network, to learn how important it is. i do have a hope, that the young been interns, i hope that they are equally here serving in congress of the u.s. senate. serving the people of south carolina, understanding how important it is to be available and understanding to the people of our state. >> what has been your favorite part of the internship program? >> to go to the different hearings, to hear about all the different issues.

>> i would say that being able --interact with, or spend with the congressman, he loves talking to the interns and it is really to pick his brain. wilson, it'sth joe uncool they does so much for south carolina and he cares about his. >> how would you describe the internship? >> exciting. >> busy. >> informative. >> engaging. it is important to learn how to be a public service -- public servant and have the privilege of serving. and ponder long -- and

bond will now about the parkway on aiken. funny thing, the people that work there are top-notch, really dedicated. it's duration. like from congressman joe wilson's facebook age. udall tweeting this about a meeting that he had in his state . "we heard from fantastic women feders across the santa community today. thanks to everyone who came out." reminder, the house and senate are out. coverage will resume next week here on c-span and on he spent two. a news conference next, talking lead to compete the polls on issues like minimum wage, reducing mass incarceration.

>> ok, welcome everyone. today we are here because there is too much division in our country. we are being divided across race, geography, and religion. we are here as religious leaders to launch a historic voting effort called together we vote.

picoe here with the national network to announce to you a national, multiethnic, multi-face turnout effort based on racial justice. we are here as religious leaders not only to speak out but to speak with. we will tell you today about all of the conversation we're going to have you with voters across the country. we will be talking to over 1 million voters in conversations with people that regularly been bypassed by conventions and parties and candidates. we are going to turning out hundreds of thousands of voters in key swing states including florida, colorado, ohio, indiana, pennsylvania. we are doing that because we wanted to create, lay the

groundwork for policy change around mass incarceration and gun violence, raising wages and benefits for our families and keeping immigrant families together. today you will hear from speakers from pico national network, a national latina evangelical coalition, the 11th episcopal district of ame church in florida, the ohio baptist state convention, religiousreligious action center of reform judaism, united church of christ, bread for the world. you can follow the conversation today using the hashtag together we vote and would like you to know for president as they called an option and that will be listened only to respond, respond to e-mail requests. i'd like to begin. we had arranged a speakers today and coming from all of the country. i'd like to begin with bishop who served as pico national director political director. [applause]

bishiop royster: >> good afternoon. i am the political drug of the pico national network ecosystem providing bishop international. we have gathered today to lay out a plan for people of faith to engage in how they want to see this country develop in the years to come. the pico national network as network of 45 federations in 21 states made up of over 40 different religious traditions and over 200 cities and towns representing over 2 million families of african-americans, latinos, asian pacific islander, white and native american descent. we believe every person of faith should exercise their right to vote as an act of faith in co-creating with the divine the beloved community that we all desire here on earth.

as much as such the pico national network and allies will engage in the together we vote campaign to do the following. we are going to talk to 1 million voters, in particular those voters that have been ignored or not considered as relevant. those that were low propensity voters who we know to the work we did in 2012 and 2014 if people reach out to them will actually come out and vote. we are going to train 15,000 volunteers and leaders within our federation, and allied organizations to go into the work of knocking on doors, of having phone conversations, meeting people at supermarkets and on the streets, in their congregations making sure that they vote the season. we will be working in 19 states. in some of the key states and the numbers we're talking about in terms of turning out for this election, in ohio we will talk to 150,000 people. in florida we will talk to 50,000 people. in pennsylvania we will talk to 50,000 people. in indiana we will talk to any 1000 people. in colorado we will talk to 10,000 people. we are laying out a framework of

public policy framework so that in 2017 these voters who we are talking with now will continue to engage the local, state and national level on issues like paid family leave in the $15 an hour minimum wage. they will engage in ending predatory payday lending. they will work to close privately run immigrant detention centers that are holding families and supporting families in this country. we will work to withhold federal dollars from cities and states that refuse to hold police accountable for how they are treating like and brown bodies in this country. together with our allies we seek to work together to unify a voice, to build to speak for this country in a way that builds up into a place where all cannot just barely survive but everyone can thrive. think he very much. [applause] ms. collazo: now i would like to introduce pastor tracie blackmon

in christ the king church in missouri and also with united church of christ. [applause] pastor blackmon: good afternoon. i consider my task for these few moments to be twofold. one, has become an of united church of christ and latino that the united church of christ is not a political organization but we do have the partisan affiliation because we care about what happens to the marginalized in our society. we believe that we have a theological mandate, that it is a biblical mandate to care for the least of these, the left out of these, the lost of these. because of that extent we must vote our conscience, voting not necessarily along political lines where we are made up of

republicans and democrats and independents, but voting along moral lines, voting about issues that will have a tremendous impact on those who are marginalized in our society. i also stand before you today on behalf of the moral movement of revival that is going across this nation led by dr. william barber who many of you saw as the democratic convention just a few days ago, reverend james ford from the drum major institute also pastor emeritus from the riverside church, myself and sister simone from nuns on the bus. we have created a moral revival that is going throughout the nation to many states, including new york, north carolina, georgia, alabama, texas, mississippi, ohio, pennsylvania, massachusetts, south carolina, wisconsin, missouri, washington, d.c., tennessee, indiana, minnesota, new mexico, kentucky, virginia. tonight we will be in boston, if

the message is clear. we are coming to reclaim the biblical narrative, to snatch it out of the jobs of capitalism and partisanship come into place it squarely back where cheeses, that palestinian jew we follow -- jesus -- place in the biblical narrative. and that place is people who are marginalized at the center. we are suggesting that the theological mandate that those of us who follow jesus have is that we must care for the hungry. we must care for those who do not have shelter. we must care for those that others turned their backs on, that must be the center of our narrative. and everything we do from the poles to the pulpit to the pews must lie up on this accord. so we are suggesting that we

must practice in this nation a linguistic liberation that separates, separates capitalistic ideals from language that appears to be faithful. we are suggesting that you are not right religiously based on political parties. but that you are right by following the mandates of scripture. we are suggesting that you cannot be faithful to the word of the lord without being faithful to those that the lord came to serve. thank you. [applause] >> now let me invite pastor -- ms. collazo: now let me invite pastor michael harrison who serves with the ohio organizing collaborative and the ohio baptist state convention to tell us about the amazing work he is doing in ohio. [applause] thank you.ison:

for nearly a decade i've been privileged to lead one of ohio's largest community organizations. it is a diverse alliance of faith groups, neighborhood organizations, and workers. this year in our response to the attack on voters rights it is our goal to register over 200,000 people in the state of ohio. and as of today we already registered 135,000. [applause] >> but registering them is not enough. we are going to turn it out to the polls this fall and beyond. it is our plan to knock on every voters adore at least three times. but we are not going to stop there. we're going to send each and every one of them an application for early voting. not only that but we will call

them several times as well as text them. +we're going to chase every new registered voters to the polls your in total, they're going to have over 125,000 conversations with new voters, new voters as well as those of the principe to vote this fall. -- propensity. we will not been over 500,000 doors, and these new voters will be registered. these 200,000 voters are going to decide the election in ohio this fall. because people cannot be denied their voice. we have been running programs to register and turn out voters ever since 2007, and we will continue to do so beyond 2016. this is not just won the election to it is about people of faith, regular everyday people having the power to

control and delete in their own communities. we can't take elections off. we cannot be silent when the time comes we must that because there is an attack that has been lost by grants voters rights. it is our responsibility to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to express themselves at the ballot box. [applause] >> thank you, pastor harrison to -- ms. collazo: thank you, pastor harrison to know i'd like to invite -- the national latino coalition. [applause] buenos tardes, good afternoon. i'm representing a national latino evangelical coalition the also a minister. we are here because we want the latino voice to be heard.

many families have been divided to many families have been deported, and, but one of the things we want to be heard is that many of these families that have been divided, their kids our citizens. they are coming of age and they are ready to vote. we are ready to register them. we are going out into the cities in florida and pennsylvania and registering them. we are moving and all these major cities. and we have been mobilizing the congregations right after the worship services and registering all the families. we are doing it now in the d.c. metro area and we are starting to do this in all the other major cities. one of the things we want everyone to understand is that we want everyone's voice to be heard. we want our people to be heard and we want our families to be kept together. so the organization is not standing there we are moving because family comes first. so we are here to stand, we are standing on the gap ready to get

the voice heard and ready to get the vote out. thank you. [applause] ms. collazo: thank you. now i would like to invite be shown adam richardson junior with 11 episcopal district of african methodist episcopal church in florida. [applause] rev. richardson: i'm representing the ame church celebrating 200 years this year of civic engagement beginning with our founder whose lapel pin i show here today represented on before ever staff. civic engagement has been what we are about. in florida we are aligned with faith in florida, that we take the lead in coordinating an early voting, that will deliver 100,000 african-american voters

in nine counties. this engagement of 725 churches across denominational lines. we will count our participation through individual churches, commitment cards from voters at each congregation, and not by the congregation they signed up. but counties will consist of miami-dade, broward, hillsboro, duvall, orange, seminole, leon, all seal and st. lucie. faith in florida has a formal partnership with agreement with the ame church in the 11th district in florida. one of the strong

african-american denominations in the state. a minimum of 60 congregations and 69 cities can each with a trained volunteer will team out and reach out on the phone, knocking on doors to low propensity african-american voters in precincts close to their congregational sites. the program will collectively engage 50,000 conversations in the seventh of forementioned counties. our goal is to keep each conversation -- congregation to 100% voting congregations by the november election day. faith in florida action fund will partner with local organizations to educate african-american and letting the electorates about the powers of the state attorney. concretely the discretion that they have that significantly impact their most pressing racial criminal justice issues. together, the organization will

contact 45,000 voters, knocking on doors and ringing telephones. moving 10% of the likely turnout based on an average turnout in countywide races during previous presidential election years. in addition to the program, this partnership will pay for newspaper and radio ads that lift up the importance of estate attorneys raise, and organize one candidate for him to for the lift the profile of these elections. and so we are on the case. florida is on the case. florida is on the case. [applause] ms. collazo: i'd like an invite barbara weinstein who will be talking to us from the religious action center of reform judaism. [applause]

ms. weinstein: good afternoon. i am here on behalf of the religious action center and the commission of social action of reform judaism and we are the largest the nomination in north american jewish life. like all of my friends and colleagues gathered here this afternoon, we have a deep and abiding belief in the holiness of every individuaindividua l. and an understanding of the power and strength that exists when we come together as individuals and we form a community. but we know as well there's been a systematic silencing of individual and communal voices at the ballot box. in the form of closed polling stations, limitations on early voting, and owners voter id laws. that brings us tremendous pain as a test i going here today. but we feel and particularly i could form of that pain because we know that the voting rights act itself was drafted in large

part in our historic building here in washington, d.c. we take tremendous pride in that history. but our commitment to the rights is something that's just a historic one. it's something we engage in today with a deep meaning and the purpose. and so later this month we are proudly launching a program called -- which in hebrew means we are standing together. we are standing together in a nonpartisan voter registration, voter engagement and voter protection initiative that's going to carry us from august all the way through election day. we are launching this later this month in north carolina which has been so many ways on the front lines when it comes to voter issues that have afflicted communities across this country. we are doing it as well as a community in partnership with other communities, many of which are here today with pico, the naacp, with the lawyers committee.

we are doing that because the great stage -- cannot separate yourself from the community. we chose that phrase, that word because it's the word that appears in a portion of the bible where moses out of the community together, all members of the committee, young and old, rich and poor, people of different classes and status in skin color, everyone had a place within the community. everyone today must have a place within our national committee what comes to the right to vote. those are fundamental values that we have as jews, as people of faith, and as americans. we are proud to be part of this initiative today. thank you very much. [applause] ms. collazo: thank you. next we have lisa sharon harper. [applause] rev. harper: in matthew 25, jesus said what you did to the

least of these you have done to me. now, the least of these -- sorry, nicholas walters to actually call them the quartet of the vulnerable. the quartet of affordable included the widow, the orphan, the poor and immigrant. why we jesus care about the least of these? jesus just because the least of these are made in the image of god just like any other human being within her borders or in our world. those making the image of god are called by god and created by god with capacity according to the scriptures to exercise demeaning comment exercised stewardship over our world. but voter suppression laws and policies negate and deny human beings their divine call and write to exercised stewardship. now, the aclu reported in january this year that can states will be put into practice this year suppression laws in 2016. the fourth circuit this last month declared north carolina's suppression law is

unconstitutional. it targets the least of these. for other states had their voter suppression laws struck down in july. yet we see that new tactics are being born by places by the locations and districts all over the country. just today i believe were yesterday the "new york times" reported that in different districts police officers are now being used in order to intimidate voters and challenge their capacity to vote. we say that they are made in the image of god, if they are citizens they have the right to vote. and so sojourners is launching the witness of the vote project at its called on churches and faith communities to show up at the polls on election day, and especially we are targeting by

specific states, ohio, florida, pennsylvania, north carolina and michigan. these are states were voter suppression laws have made it and policies, have made it a very tenuous place for people who are vulnerable in those populations. we are encouraging churches to engage in community spirit at the polls. stand in solidarity with the least of these. bear witness to voter suppression efforts in precinct across the country. the partners we are working with include pico, the lawyers' committee for civil rights, the advancement project, the brennan center, pico, we resent that, and the friends committee on national legislation. we will also be putting together

webinars that trained churches and clergy in how to bear witness at the polls, and effort of voter protection. finally, we will show up. we will show up on november 8, and churches will love the least of these as the exercise dominions. jesus said what you do to the least of these you do unto me. voter suppression laws have targeted the least of these. the church is rising up and is marching with the least of these to the polls in order to make sure that the vulnerable have their god-given right to exercised stewardship on november 8. amen. [applause] ms. collazo: thank you. now i would like to invite reverend doctor lindsey comstock was one of the directors with convergence. [applause] rev andreolli-comstock: today i

am here on behalf of convergence and the we stand with love campaign. convergence is a growing network of over 10,000 of faith communities, including forward leaning catholics, progressive evangelicals and mainline protestants alongside peace and ethnic churches. working together as a movement building collaborative, to heal the human spirit, foster a pundit lies and seek the common good. convergence is proud to be a founding partner and sponsor of the we stand with love campaign, a multifaceted, multiphase messaging campaign launching september 1 in response to the hateful and violent rhetoric that has dominated this election season. we stand with love puts people with courageous, constructive and creative responses to the divisive and destructive messaging we year. our website provides teammates of content including small group studies, lebanese, prayers, music playlist, movie trailers, et cetera to assist those

passionate about transforming the public narrative this in partnership with the p go network seven days of content will focus on how love votes. it will show up at the polls on november and can influence the policies and legislation .ffecting our elders we invite you to add your voice of love and we stand with love. thank you. [applause] speaker is from bread for the world. [applause] >> thank you very much.

i am the director in organizing capacity for bread for the world. it is a national christian organization the targets those who are watching a campaign called iphoto to end hunger. memberencouraging 80,000 to engage congressional and presidential candidates. to get in front of them to ask here and around the world. we asked the question so we can see what they say. yousk them how are publicizing this? how are you talking about a question point is a part of the talking points? we're asking them to commit to meet with us 30 days after the election. regardless of who wins, we are getting in front of the candidates and building relationships. what excites me and bread for the world is that voting is christian stewardship.

for some of us it is about living out our faith. really witnessing what does it mean to love the good news of jesus christ. it is also calling. we are compelled. we are excited to be in concert with our brothers and sisters here and fighting for those issues that we care about. we have also launched a marketing effort that has touched 60 million people in the elections this year. we are also targeting 10 states where we are going deep and working with activists to get in front of those numbers of congress and amplify what they say. florida, ohio, pennsylvania, you will a theme going on here? is happening. the other work we are excited about is in concert with upcoming webinars where we are educating people on the issues and how to get in front of those candidates had a bird dog in town halls. having a rigorous

social media campaign. excited to work with brothers and sisters that are registering people to vote and get out the vote. make sure those people get to the polls. we are a national hunger organization. we are clear about the issues that cause poverty and hunger. those issues include immigration, and voter registration. also vital nutrition programs. we are getting in front of those candidates in up those issues. we are excited to be here. thank you. [applause] >> now we want to open it up for questions. >> can you compare this to

previous seasons at how you are not going to step on each other. a lot of african-american denominations already planning things like this. >> thank you for that question. there are over 300 million people in this country. we have identified one million people in certain states, 19 states where the pico national network campaign is. we're targeting voters that get ignored when you're talking to those people that might have voted in 2012 but have not voted since then. people who are newly registered to vote. we'll have conversations with them. if other folks knock on their doors, all the better. we have learned that the more

people are talked to, the more inclined to they will be to get out and vote. we standing here together. 15 different organizations have come together. we hope that this is the end. more and more others will come in and they will be helping to coordinate with each other. reaching out to the marginalized. to walk with them and to vote with them. can have a collective say in their destiny together. we don't seek competition. we see opportunities for collaboration. the more voters we move the better off our country will be. thank you. [applause] >> we have no other questions.

we will go ahead and close up. rabbid like to invite wasserman to offer closing reflection. [applause] wasserman: i represent the greater philadelphia area. i will start with a short hebrew lesson. ishebrew the word for voice the same as the word for vote. the voice of rejoicing in salvation is in the text of the righteous. the voice of rejoicing.

a aave come together to get righteous tent with flaps open to all people. across religious lines, across racial lines, across geographic lines, from states across the country. we have come together, people of to raiseghteous people our voices and to say voting is a religious value. it is a value of community of faith because our voices matter. all of our voices matter. when we use our voices. we are affirming the voices, the stories, the experiences of every person created in the image of god. today we celebrate a tent of

in devotion toe our religious values of justice for all people. we affirm the dignity of everyone. let us ensure that every voice is honored with a vote. sometimes it is brash and angry voices that ring out louder than voices of prayer. we need calls for justice. we need to make our voices of love and compassion and loud. we are many in the tent of the righteous. we are not always listens to it this year we will be.

votes, we will open the gates of righteousness, the gates of compassion, the gates .f love may we open them wide amen. [applause] [applause]

president obama: when the police

reacted to the bullets, they did not react recklessly. scott: the vast majority of the time i was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial. >> it includes one family's story about an encounter with .olice : being very respectful if it's not a dangerous situation, requests versus demands, those things change the dynamics of little bit.

>> president obama is hosting a state dinner tonight for the leader of singapore. we will show you the joint news conference they held. a tweet from washington post reporter philip rucker, donald trump says i'm not quite there he will asked if endorse paul ryan in next week's wisconsin primary. the reporter called this an extraordinary breach of political decorum. trump also said he is not supporting senator john mccain in his primary. he singled out senator kelly ayotte as a week and disloyal leader. next up, a discussion of the 2016 campaign and the role of conservatives.

host: joining us from minneapolis is ed morrissey, senior editor for hotair.com and author of the book going red. good morning. guest: good morning. host: a little bit about the website hot-air. guest: i am the senior editor at hotair.com. this is owned by a townhall media group, a subsidiary of salem media group. we are in the for profit area. we don't survive on donations. we make what we earn. our position we hope is a rational approach to conservatism and elections and culture. we have a weekly nfl thread that my weekend editor and i like to banter back and forth on. we hope to make it fun but also to bring a lot of people into politics.

host: what is the approach of your colleagues at hot-air toward donald trump being the republican nominee? guest: it's a good question. each of us takes a slightly different approach to it. our newest addition takes more than embrace on donald trump. the other one is very skeptical. i am somewhat skeptical. john sexton is looking for really good news articles that i like nuances of the trunk campaign. host: where does your skepticism center on? guest: i am skeptical about donald trump himself. i am skeptical of exactly how committed he is to supporting republican ideals. he has been in the business of donald trump for a very long time.

he is a very transactional person and whatever benefits donald trump is the direction he is going to go in. we see some of that on the campaign trail. he seems to forget he is running for president and ends up focusing on these attack lines that don't really benefit him or the party. in some cases they might be doing damage. i am skeptical that donald trump is going to put forward and fully implement the republican party agenda, conservative agenda. really just going to be in this for himself. that's what my skepticism is based on. host: we had 17 people on the stage. why did we end up with donald trump? really goods a question. i have all sorts of different answers for that.

at the heart of this is the fact that the american people have been disappointed by traditional politics in both parties. it's the reason you saw bernie do so well in the democratic primary as well. the same dynamic exists in both parties. people don't trust the leadership. they don't trust where things have gone in either party. not even aers was democrat before he started running for presidency. donald trump had a brief foray into politics for years ago and has now decided to jump in with both feet. people were looking for outsiders and disruptors. i think the republican party got the name -- nominee that does that. host: you have a book out where you talk about how you reach out to people about these issues. what's your take on that?

what message do you deliver? guest: it's less about the message as an a message. it's more about getting to know ground level. this is something barack obama did very well in 2008. to have a campaign that is actually engaging people for each of their different issues and contextualizing the broader agenda into the lives of these people. so they understand why voting for a republican is going to make their lives better. why voting for a conservative is going to make their lives better. their lives specifically. barack obama was very good about doing that on the progressive side. republicans have stuck with this --000 foot one side

one-size-fits-all messaging that does not make the emotional connection to the voters especially swing voters in swing counties. host: ed morrissey talking about these issues. you heard him talk about his book going red. he is also the editor of hotair.com. questions, (202) 748-8001 republicans. (202) 748-8000 democrats. (202) 748-8002 for independents. way the hunt from has handled this issue with mr. khan, does this do long-term damage to his campaign? guest: a lot of pundits have gone bankrupt on making predictions of doom for donald

trump's campaign. but i don't see what he gets out of this. i don't think there is any upside to punching down to this level. khans made a very impassioned and critical speech at the convention and that was really a one-day story. anyone who has decent political instincts would have understood that attacking them only lift lower zero level. that is the whole point of not punching down in politics. opponents who are not your political party, that sort of thing. that's exactly what donald trump did. he turned a one-day story and admittedly a powerful story -- he has turned it into a five-day story, a six-day story where everyone is still talking about how donald trump is going after u.s. officerf a

who died fighting islamic terrorism which is supposed to be what he wants to be talking about. i think he is starting to drop this. theas kind of dropped mention of them from his stump speech. i think he is starting to catch up to the idea that this was a bad idea but he needs to stop doing these things. this is what i was talking about earlier. he is really about donald trump. when he gets criticized he feels like he has to respond no matter where it is coming from and whether it actually helps him out. host: karen in leesburg, virginia. democrat line. you are on with ed morrissey. caller: good morning. you know. i am truly an independent and every time i want to vote republican there is some foolishness that comes out of that party and candidates i just

cannot relate to. donald trump is from new york. he's got a big mouth and that is fine. i am not surprised by donald trump. what i am surprised by is his followers. it is a cultlike following. they will not hold him responsible for anything he does. it's amazing that people will chant crooked hillary and call her a liar to the very man who , who court to this day will defend somebody's family who died in war. it is so hypocritical. the people that follow him, it's just mind-boggling to me. i for the life of me cannot understand where we are going. i am really concerned we have lost touch. we will believe anything that anybody says just to be on the winning team and i am so embarrassed for where we are.

just to talk about this whole thing with russia. honestly i think donald trump, i think putin wants donald trump to win because russia wants a fight. the only way they are going to get a fight is by getting donald trump in office. people need to look at the big picture here. he is going to walk us into a war we are not prepared for. guest: this is a great call. there's does code things she thingsup -- there's two she brings up here. barack obama could do no wrong. there were people having their children sing songs about barack obama and any criticism was somehow a case of racism on the right. it cuts both ways but i agree with her that it is a problem. this cult of personality idea is a problem.

this is part of what i go after in my book. the way you counter that is by talking to voters and understanding their issues because it necessarily produces who are more into it with people and more oriented towards the voters than they are towards themselves. cults of personality have always existed in american politics and they are always going to. i would say that what we are talking about is a small slice of the supporters of barack obama. they just happen to be the focal ones. they happen to be the ones who to put most interesting on the media. a little bit less of an issue than it seems. the issue about russia i think

you have donald trump and hillary clinton with ties to russia. the deal when she was secretary of state that allowed russia to control a good chunk of uranium and bill clinton giving speeches to the banks for $500,000. i would say putin is probably looking at this and think you could work with either one of the candidates to his advantage. that's what he does. online as worried about voting in terms of vladimir putin as i am for policy here in the united states. host: shelbyville, indiana. independent line. caller: mr. trump's new talking point, bill clinton signed nafta. that's true. i am 56 years old and it was reagan and bush that pushed nafta to the goal line.

this is strictly a republican idea so why is this republican candidate trashing it? i don't understand. host: mr. morrissey. guest: first off i mean bill clinton was a fan of nafta as well. he endorsed it. there were a lot of democrats that went along with it because free trade has a pretty strong history in both parties. more so in the republican party but also the democrat party. bill clinton saw nafta as a net positive for the united states. while there is certainly some benefited have not from that there has been a lot of americans who have. american policy didn't focus on working to lift up the people who were not benefiting from free-trade because they were focused so much on taking credit for the vast majority of

americans who were benefiting from it. it is the left out dynamic that has been driving this populist fervor. it has been coming for quite a long time. because you have that coming you will have politicians in both parties responding to it. donald trump seized on that very early. he started talking about this for years ago. to message really spoke those concerns from people who felt left out of this economic benefit from free-trade. that's the reason donald trump is talking about it. it's the reason bernie sanders was talking about it. you don't hear hillary clinton talking about it much because her husband signed nafta. tpp.elped structure the that has been such a controversy now in the democratic party and

a little bit in the republican party as well. tradition in is a both parties that have been oriented towards free-trade and there are finally responding to people who say they have been left out. host: do you think that populist mindset you talk about -- is that hard to change and will we see more of that in the next cycle? if policymakers don't address some of these issues and start finding ways to spread and of this prosperity out regions that have been hurt by free-trade this is going to continue to expand and people are going to start demanding different trade policies as they already have been. you had all those signs with the , no tpp was one of the

ts coming fromn the delegate floor. sides have shown it is a net positive for the united states. host: arizona, republican line. susan. good morning. c-span butnk god for you have such an ignorant electorate. they are not diligent about getting the facts. when congress was taken over by the democrats it was obvious we were going to have an incredible amount of restriction put on us. everything started going downhill. people don't understand that all these -- no one sees it they are working or not. han plant, those people were used to make it look like

they were the ones being set upon. nothing against anyone who loses a child protecting us. but they are not the only people in the world who have lost children. democrats use this stuff and the press runs with it. the administration by bush never defended themselves shows you what we get. this is what we get when the press run amok. we are the ones that have to pay for this with 16,000 new regulations for beating the daylights out of all the business owners and everybody in the country. trump. why we want we want somebody to finally fight back and do something that we are getting beat out in the real world. host: mr. morrissey. guest: great call. that's exactly what i'm talking about the same passion was driving the bernie sanders

movement on the left. for those's a mistake of us in the commentary class to refer to voters as low information voters or uneducated because that is not the case. they may be low engagement voters because they don't feel they need to be of zest with politics like some of us are. this is what we do for a living so we are very much engaged. we are looking at these things in great ttl -- great detail. when i was going around to these different communities to research i did over 100 interviews. i heard over and over again, i just want somebody who is going to make things work again. somebody who is going to get rid of the idea that everything is blockaded and nothing can happen. there are things that need to be fixed.

i can see them in my community. we need to start fixing things. that's the reason you have this need to replace the people who are being perceived as being obstructionist, overly ideological most voters just want things to work right. they don't want a bunch of regulation. they do want things to work right. aere is a lot of room for conservative message to come through and make those emotional connections but conservatives and republican presidential candidates simply haven't made the effort. necessarily sure the trump campaign manager oriented to do that this time around either. the trump campaign manager a lot better reach into the media and so he might be able to fill the gap that way. host: you saw a lot of high key

republicans denounce donald trump and the stance he takes. and that demonstrate to you unwillingness between donald trump and republicans to work together to get him elected come the fall? i think it shows a couple of things. i am not sure that for its donald trump that the republican establishment is standing apart from him. that might not really heard him with the voters who got him to this point. it does show is that donald trump should have anticipated some of this. in the general election you need people to pull together. ns, aing after the kha target that is really sort of useless to donald trump, that opens up the gap. betweenput a distance

the apparatus that going to have to help him get to his goal. that as just bad politics. i don't think that is a net positive for donald trump at all. that was a fight he didn't need to have. you don't see this but there is a story crossing today that there is a republican house maker, a republican from new york saying he's going to cross the line and vote for hillary clinton. if he'sknow demonstrated of other things but does this do note a problem? guest: a member of the house of representatives? yes. yesterday you saw sarah bradshaw who has been a republican activist for 30 years and ran one of jeb bush's successful gubernatorial campaigns saying she might vote for hillary clinton in part because of the khan controversy.

last straw.e of the i think you're going to see some of that. is anecdotal. i think you'll find democrats because they will vote trump because they are sick and tired of clinton's. that is an issue. there is a certain expectation that people who are involved in the process have of presidential nominees. they don't see donald trump as having that seriousness and that is really what concerns them. after the convention you expect to see that seriousness and political calculation that you don't pick fights that you don't need to pick and you focus on rather than on third or fourth level surrogates. that is the type of calculation that is very worrisome to people who are already in the business if you will. host: do you think you will see

more depth or more specifics on how donald trump plans to achieve these things he talks about? guest: he is pulling together a policy team. i think bringing mike pence on board is actually one of those decisions that addresses some of the things i was just talking about. mike pence is an excellent choice to have as a running mate. he's got a great temperament. he is policy rich. he knows how to speak to people. he actually ended up addressing to say that we have free speech here. anybody can say anything about politicians. these people sacrificed for their country and we should respect the sacrifice and then he change the subject which is what should have happened five days ago. mike pence being on the ticket policyg to bring the

depth and focused to a campaign that needs it. host: joining us this morning if you are tuning in is ed morrissey, from the website hotair.com and the author of the book, "going red." all right, go ahead. yes, i would just like on lawrenceopinion wilkerson -- he was on the lawrence mcdonald showed the other night. wilkerson was the on the staff of: powell. and also a retired colonel. and his opinion of mr. trump is

to destroyreally out the republican party. and he is doing it by pulling darkurtain back on the black core of the republican party that has been generated by fox news and rush limbaugh and all of the hatred. i am a democrat now that back in the reagan years, i was a republican. tell you. to thee more conservatism in democratic party these days than i do the republican party. specifically, what is your and in on that idea, believe him. i don't believe anything that donald trump is saying. i think it is a big act to destroy the republican party. guest: thank you very much for your call. great to hear from california.

i think that is reading way too much into what donald trump is doing. is out for donald trump. i really think it is that simple. although i expect that the audience really appreciated the shot at republicans and fox news and that stuff. think it ist overthinking things by a longshot. both parties have their extremes and have their crazies. and republicans, democrats, libertarians -- they all have them. represent the core of the republican party. i have been republican and conservative ever since i could vote. if i thought that i saw conservativism in the democratic party, i thought i would take a look at it. there are two different things. i don't think that donald trump

and to the populace that has raised donald trump is conservative, either. a number just one of of factions within the republican party. we no longer have the leadership that we used to have within the republican party and that is in part because conservatives got complacent within the gop and they will have to start making better arguments and getting more on the ground with people and building networks and support. but i don't think that donald trump has a secret plan to destroy the republican party anymore than i thought bernie sanders had a plan to destroy the democratic party. i just don't buy that. donald trump is a straightforward guy. he is all about donald trump and himself. it is simple. website.l us about the

what kind of content do you find and how often do you post? guest: hotair.com is where you can find us. contribute 7-8y posts a day. we comment on all kinds of breaking things, breaking news usually that also cultural things, videos and all sorts of different things. i have a twice a week video stream talkshow and i will have time today at 4:00 eastern , tuesdays and thursdays. it is a great, entertaining website with lots of food for thought. five different contributors or more and we have a diverse perspective on conservatism. wi, john, youe, are up next. to ask yournted

guests to what conservatives are trying to conserve? guest: that is a good question. [laughter] guest: i think conservatives will tell you that they are trying to conserve traditional social structure. family first, then communitarian . they are trying to conserve individual liberty, rather than collective action. you will find that they are also trying to conserve the original intent of the united states constitution. is a lot of great conservative philosophers out there who could put this better than i can but that is basically at the heart of what conservatives are. conserving the individual above the state. conserving the liberties that accrue from that.

and conserving the traditional social structures which have led america to prosperity. int: let's hear from mike texas on the republican line. caller: let me add that conservatives would like to preserve private property rights. guest: that is definitely part of it. caller: conservatives believe in the radical idea that people that work are a good asset. it is work that allows people to sustain themselves. and i might add to the caller rushreference rush, doesn't hate. he wants the best for all americans. he talks about this all the time. look at the inner cities. they are disasters and case studies in disaster. they are run by democrats. the school systems there are run by democrats. it is a jobs program because the

teachers are never fired. hillary clinton is running a bit on her husband's record of the economy. in which he says is he created jobs. but in 1994, two years into his term, his approval rating was 33%. that is when the contract with america took over the congress pivoted -- bill clinton pivoted and set the era of big government is over. years, the budget was balanced. withwould argue that even all those dollars, they balance the budget with clinton signing onto welfare reform. hillary clinton will have a hard time running on her husband's

record. host: thank you. guest: i asked for a better conservative philosopher and ringo, someone showed up on the phone line. look, back then you had a congress and president that were more willing to work with each other. have aose they did famous budget standoff in 1995. i think bill clinton understood that the country was oriented towards the center right and he reoriented himself towards that so he could get things done. i think results speak for themselves. i don't see hillary clinton as that kind of a person. barack obama did not triangulate after he lost the house or senate. i don't see hillary clinton as somebody who will triangulate in the face of congress and control

of the party. donald trump see that way, either. we have entered an era in politics where ideological lines are drawn so strongly and the penalties for crossing them are so onerous that you have to have one party in charge in order to get everything accomplished. which is not the greatest thing in the world. i think marco rubio's experience in your public party is a great demonstration. he was trying to get something done on immigration so he could get it off the table and that is the reason why voters in florida sent him to washington. to get things done. and look how that played out for him? he ended up being washed out of

the presidential race. i don't know if he will be running in the senate in florida, it seems as though he will be reelected but the message seems clear -- don't do anything. the best way, in your opinion, for donald trump to campaign against hillary clinton? guest: first off, focus on hillary clinton. don't focus on general john allen. he is a political target so he can be criticized but there is no upside. you had to attack hillary clinton and focus on her track record as secretary of state. focus on her track record with foreign policy. you have to talk about the track record of barack obama's foreign policy, because she will provide

a continuity to that. i think that if you focus on that, the recent track record of , especiallyiness when it comes to the e-mails, i think if you focus on that, you can beat hillary clinton that way. but you have to do those kinds of things with retail politicking that is required in order to get votes out to the precinct. host: do you think then, because you have studied these things on a state-by-state level, donald trump's event of having rallies will have to change? wel it is a strategy he is going to stick to. his campaign is very light. he doesn't have a lot of employees. he definitely is going to stick with that strategy. would haveandidate the same problem that mitt romney and john mccain had.

john mccain -- that was a cycle that applicants were not going to win. 2012 was winnable and mitt romney focused more of his attention on national advertising and messaging, rather than getting down into these areas and campaigning where it matters. with his media celebrity and his ability to manipulate media into covering -- he possibly might do better with that strategy then mitt romney did but i don't know if he will be able to do enough. and i don't see how that will turn out votes. host: on the democrats line from maryland, dorothy. caller: i wanted to say to ed morrissey, you have very good ideas. i am a democrat but i do want more than one party. i just have one issue and then i want to ask a question because i think we are on the same page.

the privates with property -- you have to think about it. is myperty that i own private property. but what you all are talking about -- i am thinking that it means that if you own anything, you can say no blacks allowed, no whites allowed, no muslims or no gays because it is your private property. i know that is what the private property thing is about so we believe that alone. with donald trump -- you are right. the republicans could have done better. they could have given competition and ideas. anytime you have a person who will be on the world stage talking about -- if i shoot somebody in the face, i will beat them up -- come on, now. this man has been seen around the world and he is really

saying some things -- and it want to say something about john mccain. say john mccain was a hero -- he said any military person that was caught is a loser. that is what he said. he said that. that doesn't make any sense and republicans can do better. host: thank you. edward morrissey? what: we will disagree on we mean about private property rights. this call is great because i think there are a lot of commonalities with people. and it crosses ideological and partisan lanes. everybody wants to make things better. we just differ on some of the ways of doing that. think that both parties could have done a lot better. i think that the democrats could nominated someone who doesn't have the track record of

dishonesty that hillary clinton has. just the same way that republicans could have done better. i have talked about my skepticism with donald trump and i think republicans had much better options on the table but voters were not responding to the other options, the same way democrat voters weren't responding to bernie sanders or other options. martin o'malley, for instance. so we are where we are at because that has been the will of the voters. necessarily national host: independent line.

i haven't heard anybody say anything about president obama trying to get the tpp pass the floor. i wonder why? thank you. isst: yes, i think that going to be what happens. meet in angress will lame-duck session after the november election and they will it isly pass tpp because at least popular in the aggregate. free trade, is. there will be a number of things that could pass after election day that would be -- how should i say -- elect orlie problematic

if they passed it in september or october. i think you will see a very busy lame-duck session. i don't know if you follow this, but as far as the state of the house and senate, do you think they will both be in republican hands after november? guest: i think the house, definitely. there are two may difficult these for democrats to take control. republicans have a very difficult hill to climb. they are defending 13 more seats than democrats are. if you take a look at the polling, republicans are doing well in some states that they were worried about losing. marco rubio seems to have emerged as a strong candidate. portman they are doing well. mark kirk might be doing well. a seat that they are likely to lose.

but republicans need to keep from losing four seats in order to regain control of the senate. host: on the republican line, craig, go ahead. caller: i think what we're seeing in the election cycle is a good thing. it is painful to watch as it is a train wreck. but if we look at democracies in the past that have failed, they have foiled from within. money influence controls government. it appears republicans may be more discontent with the way the republicans -- with the way the government is being ran and therefore you have a wildcard canada. bernie sanders made a great run on the democratic side. they are an exact example of their party.

bernie sanders said, let me give you this or let me give you that. donald trump is a business minded person and may be too much dollars and cents. versus thetus quo republicans candidate. it will be very interested to see how it turns out. if we continue to vote with money and influence, we will go the way a lot of other democracies have gone. we will plunge from within. thank you. ed morrissey? interesting it is because he makes a great point about capitalism and people being frustrated but i would note that the two major party nominees here are people with long track records in the confluence of money and politics. donald trump talked about this, how he has funded politicians and bought politicians over his

career because that is for you do business in america. hillary clinton with the clinton foundation and numerous political connections that came from that, her time as secretary of state when her family was making $57.5 million in income. a lot of these were from speeches given here and abroad. those are the types of things that normally, you would say if people are really frustrated about the connection between money and politics, these people would be the last people to get nominations. so i think it will be interesting because that is a definite contradiction. it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. host: we have about one minute left. what is the one thing you are watching for in the next couple of weeks? about either campaign? guest: what interests me most is

to see how far the postconvention polling bump continues. i think by august we will see that the race has stabilized and i am very interested in pennsylvania, because it is the key to donald trump's plan. that he will win pennsylvania, something republicans haven't done since 1988. and therefore, the old ideas of the electoral college map be thrown out. pennsylvania, it will change the electric college so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. morrissey, announcer: we will show president obama at a memorial service for five police officers shot and killed in dallas. president obama: when bullets started flighty, men and women of the dallas police, they did not flinch and they did not

react recklessly. senator tim scott giving a speech on the senate floor about his own interactions with police. >> for the vast majority of time, i was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason justice trivial. announcer: the program also includes one-family's story about encounter with police in washington dc followed by a panel that the city was the least chief, cathy lanier. offensive,ple get but the very respectful with counters and requests if it is not a crisis or dangerous situation, requests versus demands, those things change the dynamic a little bit. announcer: watch this saturday at 8:00 eastern on c-span in c-span.org.

-- and c-span.org. sunday night on q&a, virginia tech professor james robinson discusses his book, "after the civil war." >> state allegiance was very deep. it went as far back to generations as there were settlers in the country. i think one has to keep that in mind. slavery is without question the major cause of the civil war, but you can explain the actions of good, decent men, they fight because virginia needs them, nothing they supported the confederate cause, neither one day. 8:00ncer: sunday night at eastern on c-span's q&a. singapore was the prime minister is the guest of honor at tonight was the state dinner at the white house.