issues most important to veterans. then, a look at the u.s. role in the middle east with michael eisenstadt. ♪ host: good morning on this final week of the congressional break as summer begins to wind down. lawmakers returning next week. "time"he headlines, reporting on hillary clinton's first intelligence briefing as the democratic nominee. and donald trump's speech last night in iowa, calling it a hard edged speech on immigration and the media. it is sunday, august 28. we begin with the price hike for

epipen's, used by those who suffer from severe allergies. does congress need to weigh in? should there be more oversight? that is our topic. join in on the conversation. 202 the area code. 748-8001 for republicans. for democrats. (202) 748-8002 for independents. join us on social media. facebook.com/cspan or send a tweet at @cspanwj. let's begin with comments on our facebook. we posted the question on whether or not there should be more oversight in light with what happened with the epipen. the followingsays -- "perhaps the solution should begin with not allowing pharmaceutical companies to embed their lobbyists among our politicians."

another view -- "pharmaceutical companies charge more for drugs in the u.s. than they do in other countries like canada, because there's no price regulation." rafael says make drugs more affordable. garry says the democrats just one more control. and this tweet says the price of seemn makes old prices reasonable, which they are not. should be affordable to all who need them. company whothe makes the epipen, who was actually the daughter of a virginia senator -- we are joined by ed silverman, who has been following this story. thanks for being with us. guest: good morning. thanks for having me. host: let's talk about epipen. explain what happened the last five to eight years with regard to the price of this device,

which saves many lives. guest: mylan bought the product nearly a decade ago. it went up 548% this year. up 16% this last may. mylan has been taking price hikes steadily. during that time, there has been little that has changed about the product. the company will argue that it is made to be easier to use, but it was easy before. and the controversy is because the price hikes have finally reached a tipping point for many families. on stock,o have them and they expire after a year. it is not like you could have bought them 18 months ago, hoarded them around the house,

spread them around in the case an allergicd having reaction. but you have to replenish your stock. and it becomes more expensive. at this point, it is too much. host: heather bresch, the daughter of a was fishing a senator, trying to get ahead of the story, explaining the price hike. that just fed more headlines the last few days. here's what she said on cnbc. [video clip] >> epipens need to be everywhere. it is like a defibrillator. when you are having a severe reaction, you need an f u.n. -- epipen everywhere. >> but it seems outrageous. the american medical association says this is basically the same project it was in 2009, yet the price has gone up 300 fold or

400 fold. >> no one is more frustrated than me -- >> but you're the one raising the price. how can you be frustrated? >> my frustration is there is a list price at $608. i laid out there are 45 hands the product touches in companies -- and companies before he gets to the patient at the counter. everyone should be frustrated. i hope this is an inflection point in this country. our health care is in crisis. this bubble is going to burst. >> what are you referring to? >> when you walk up to a counter, i think it is fair to say any time you shop for anything, you know what that project will cost when you go up to the counter. only in health care, and pharmaceuticals, you could have paid $25 yesterday and you are paying $600, $1000, $2000. deductibles went overnight from

$100 to $3000. host: no matter how you look at that, she is either blaming either companies involved in the production of epipen or the portable care act, saying mylan corporation is not responsible. your response. guest: it is disingenuous. at the end of the day, or at the start of the day in this case, mylan raise the price. there is a complicated system in the pricing of drugs behind the --drugmakerstruck have to deal with the behind-the-scenes middlemen who price orle the conditions and tried to get rebates from drugmakers. but these companies tried to extract higher rebates often in response to increases. is a bit of a show game

for her to say it is the system. kept raising the price, if they had not set it at a high price, some of these insurers may not have raise the deductibles and co-pays that are now out of reach for some of these people. she is being disingenuous. host: we're talking with ed silverman , who writes with "stat." we are talking about the epipen price increase and whether you think there should be more drug oversight in the u.s. many sharing their thoughts on facebook and a lot of tweets. you can dial in. (202) 748-8001 is line for republicans. (202) 748-8000 if you are democrat. let me share to points of view. this is from janice. it says "no, congress will make it worse.

the court of public opinion has walked act of the price increases as well." "haven'tiewer says epipens been around for years? how can they not be generic/cheap by now?" something has to give at some point. you have legislation that has percolated in state legislatures, trying to get the issue of rising drug prices. the bills have not gone far. that is because of political lobbying. it reflects at wide a growing problem. at some point, it is going to be more difficult for congress to ignore this. the $600 epipen is a fraction of $8,400 drug for hepatitis. at some point, you will have

more episodes. there'll be more episodes one by one. there will come a time where someone will say let's try and approach. as far as the second one goes, i think the issue -- it is not so much patent reform, though there are arguments that say let's change the patent system. i think in this issue, it is whether there is sufficient supply of competitive products, and the extent to which we can work with the fda to look at situations where there is not sufficient competition. that is not the fda's role. they do accelerate applications for generic drugs, where there is currently no generic. in this case, there is a shortage of epinephrine, the ingredient used in epipen. it is on the fda drug shortage

list. so to what extent should the fda take that into account when it rejects a generic drug application's arrival epipen, which happened earlier this year. these are subtle but significant situations. they deserve to be looked at more closely and not used as an example to bash the fda. host: let me conclude with this question -- heather bresch. do you know what her last reported salary was, and also the impact of the fact her father is a senator from west virginia? think her reported total compensation last year was in the range of $18 million. it is a lot of money, obviously. money.making more she will to you that is a reflection of doing a good job. we could have a longer, more

involved conversation about and theirceos compensation. but i think she suffers from what i call "tes." "tin ear syndrome." it is one thing to say you have done a good job, but it is another thing to say your company has made things worse for society. there is a social cost. that is an issue that needs to be looked at. as far as her father, she is smart. she knows the game. she knows how to react to and deal with all of these different calls for an increase of information from her father's colleagues. she knows how to press which buttons. so i think you will see a more savvy job than what you saw from martin squarely.

-- shkreli. we be interesting to watch her if she does testify. when it comes to figuring out drug pricing and how to correct any system that brings us to the point where we are today. host: ed silverman, senior writer and columnist with "sta t" news. talking about the epipen price , if congresswhat takes up the issue, it will mean for you. thanks for speaking with us. on our facebook, here is what some of you are saying. kurtz says prices are set through the process of a competitive bidding government by the law of supply and demand. linda says "need you ask?"

steve says "it is time to gain control of the insurance industry." this tweak says the fda needs to approve minutes faster -- this t says the fda needs to approve meds faster. let's get to the calls. ron from wisconsin. caller: i look at it as a problem we have with our health care system. the pharmaceutical company profits over people. .t is enough to make you sick that they talk about hillary and gaining control with money and influence, but here is a woman, ceo of a company, that can basically figure out whatever salary she wants, and if she has any problems, she will go to her father in congress. they have too much pool -- pull.

pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists. blame congress, if you want to blame someone. they are the ones sitting there and allowing this to go on and on and on. we need a single-payer health care system. we need to be able to negotiate prices with drug companies. host: thanks for the call. we want to move on to another viewer on the republican line. jackie from idaho. good morning. caller: good morning. i am going to talk about insulin, -- are you there? host: we are. go ahead. caller: ok. my insulin in the last two years -- ever since a, and i have private insurers through the federal government -- blue cross blue shield. in idaho, we are limited to two

providers to choose from. my insulin has gone up five times in just two years. i had to quit taking it. i know that is unhealthy, but it went from $25 a month, out of my pocket, to $150 in 18 months. that does not include the other meds i have to take. and the increase in my co-pay to see my doctor, which they put on a short leash for me there. -- i agreeobamacare with the gentleman before. we have to many lobbyists. we need to do single-payer. is just not working for people who do not want to join -- jump on obamacare. thank you. if you are listening on c-span

radio, the question is whether or not you think there needs to be more oversight in drug price increases. you can send a tweet at @cspanwj . competition "more and smaller market -- and faster to market does not mitigate any of the risk involved in developing new drugs." says "it is all about the patents. if companies do not have happened, generic would be available." and this viewer says the fda is not the problem. we are the last stop to these bloodsuckers. cnbc has this essay by david martin. the headline -- "the real epipen scandal we should be talking about." it reads that the mylan pharmaceutical company deserves the attention it is getting. heather bresch has every reason press world to have smug photos ph she has used the mortality of millions who suffer

from acute and southern -- sudden allergy problems to light her pockets and those of her investors. next caller is from newport news, virginia. rita. good morning. i absolutely believe we need more regulation for these pharmaceutical companies. this is absolutely outrageous. it is not just the epipen. it is everything, from insulin to, like the previous caller was indicating -- they are just running rampant with the prices. and this was something my mom struggled with in her elderly years. trying to keep pace with how much her medicine was increasing every time she would go to fill the prescription. this is absolutely outrageous. it is hurting a huge population in our country. primarily the elderly. they are on fixed income, so

they cannot i just every time the prices go up so easily. i just think the pharmaceutical industry, they are the biggest drug dealers in the world. and there seems to be no stopping them whatsoever. host: thank you for the call. says how much do the canadians pay for epipen? can americans by from canada and if not, why not? an editorial in the "l.a. times" -- epipen price gouging demonstrates need for more competition in generic drugs. the attention the mylan participle -- pharmaceutical companies getting is well-deserved. -- an increase of 550% in 2007

to 2016. saying time for more generic drugs. let's go to market, joining us from eureka, california. independent line. caller: let me take you on speakerphone. good morning, c-span, and thank you for taking my call. thanks for letting us have a voice. there is about three things. during the bush administration, they passed a law that medicare and medical could not bid on medication. that's number 1. senator sanders used to take people up to canada in order to , forheir prices cheaper medication. number three, that lady in charge of that company, her salary has gone up five-fold.

people inme other high places in that company, there -- their salaries have gone up, too. no other country has done this. they get a lot cheaper prices. since we have a for-profit health care system, we get stuck with what we have. and it is very sorry for people who need life-saving drugs. and also for people who od on heroin, insulin -- you name it. it is disgusting. and until congress changes the way that we can buy drugs, such as medicare and medical, like v.a. does, you know, that

socialist program we have -- nothing will change. thank you for taking my call. host: thank you. another viewer saying "so sad how media are able to manipulate sheeple. it is not big pharmaceutical, it is our government agencies exploding costs." and senator chuck grassley looking for answers from the head of mylan corporation as he traveled across iowa and hearing from people about the epipen cost increase. you're likely to have congressional hearings on this topic in the fall. post" --he "washington "what is next in the fight against epipens ridiculously high prices?" joe is joining us from washington state, independent line. good morning.

caller: hi. i am a physician. one aspect of this you have not even discussed is every time i turn on the tv, there is a barrage of advertisements from attorneys advertising class-action lawsuits for different drugs, which is a tremendous burden on the pharmaceutical industry. some of the major therapeutic advances, like replacing anticoagulants with better drugs, are subjected to horrendous lawsuits. you have no drugs at all that can be prescribed if, in fact, you went by all of these lawsuits. where in fact, these drugs, they are slight side effects, much less than the already existing

drugs. people were talking about canada. there is not the voracious legal community in canada suing all of these drug companies for perfectly good therapeutic advances. and nobody seems to raise that issue. host: so what is the solution? by the way, what type of physician are you? caller: an emergency physician. use epipens frequently -- host: let me put the other side of the argument. i totally appreciate you phoning in and sharing your perspective. that is what this program is about. it it is reported that heather bresch gets a $2 million a year, do you think there is a correlation between the price increases and a ceo running that type of salary? factr: i disagree with the people should make those kind of friend's salaries, but that is a drop in the bucket -- those kind of salaries, but that is a drop

in the bucket to what pharmaceutical companies have to pay to settle lawsuits for drugs major therapeutical advances. every drug has a side effect. if there is a small percentage of patients who have reactions to drugs or side effects, which less than pre-existing drugs, they are still settling for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. -- solution is some other the solution is, as some other caller suggested, is to rein in the liability in these lawsuits against some of the pharmaceutical companies. i know that is an unpopular thing to say, but that is the world we live in. host: you make a good point. are you at work, heading to work, or up in the middle of the night? caller: i am up in the middle of

the night, actually. it is about 4:30 a.m. here. but one of the most dangerous drugs, as an example, is a blood thinner that tens of millions of americans are taking. you have to get your blood checked every week to make sure is not quiteod relate. companies came up with these alternative was sinners -- with these alternative blood thinners, which caused less bleeding pay people do not have to get there -- which cause less bleeding. people do not have to get their blood checked. theseen you have all of advertisements against them. as physicians, we would have no

drugs to prescribe. that is why it is cheaper in canada. host: thank you. we appreciate it. go back to bed now. [laughter] silverman.with ed this is one of the stories he has written. what the want to know fda is doing to make epipen rivals available." -- and onethe most viewer says the fact that the price could be changed so freely without limits is criminal. and one major story -- the headline in "the new york times." " how parents harnessed the power of social media to challenge epipen price increases." let's go to injury in new jersey, democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning to c-span. thank you for c-span.

i have been in the pharmaceutical business 30 years. drug development, pricing page launched a whole host of brands. it is all about greed. these are all the same product in canada, and the other part of the world. it is 20% of the price -- host: let me stop you there. why is that? why is it cheaper to cross the border? senator sanders has talked about how he would cross the border to take constituents in canada and get the same drug for the fraction of the price? caller: because there is no control. a company -- this happens all the time. the company buys land -- brand a, which may have three years left for market exclusivity before a generic comes in, and jacks up the price. there is no control in place. the physician you had on before is out of his mind. number one, every drug he is

talking about is available in every part of the world. manufacturees who and develop things -- that is how they make money. it is not a bad thing to make money. but to say companies are being sued because of minor, adverse events, those are the outliers. i can tell you companies get sued for the right reasons. we, as citizens, should not be willing to give up any of our rights. it's a fallacy. the third thing is years ago, before the hmo's and downward pressures, they would charge anything. it was a cash business p with the insurance companies helping to reduce costs, these physicians salaries went down by 1/3 to 1/2. for what is filling the gap

physician salaries is the activities they are involved with with pharmaceutical companies. that is not a bad thing, but that is what they are making up in income. i have spoken with top physicians, who provide guidance -- which is great and necessary. when you get true academics, they will tell you the story of what is truly going on. they will not sound like that physician, who is off the charts about saying he sees commercials every 10 seconds or we have to give up our rights. bad people do bad things. we should not give up our rights. this is an example -- this is why we do need government. sayrnment has to come and -- you are not allowed to increases 100% every year. where is the justification? i continue the justification is pure agreed -- pure greed.

host: thank you. do you want to share the company you are working with now? caller: no. [laughter] i am in the consulting world. i no longer do drug development and so forth. by the message i want to say to the american people is there is a need and role for government to play to protect everybody. you cannot say government should not be doing things, because this is exactly what is happening. we, as the united states, are paying the highest price for everything. it should not be allowed. there should be justification. most drugs are wonderful. they provide a benefit. they can prevent surgery. save lives. they can do all these wonderful things. but there's something called rma-economics, we have to

provide a reason. but this is just greed. host: we have to move on, but thank you for sharing. this is a tweet from john. it says the last thing i worry about is a pharma executive salary. i worry that socialist shutting down to bellman of critical drugs. the "insider" has this headline -- "the epipen pricing search scandal brings out the worst parts of our government and health care system." kevin cordes of the fox news channel with this question to press secretary josh earnest friday. [video clip] >> i know we talked about the epipen controversy yesterday and it is difficult to drill down on companies in particular, by yahoo! reports that the ceo of mylan, the company marketing the pen at more than $600 per, said on an earnings call that she was blaming the administration,

particularly obamacare, saying d use of highcreasee did a side effect of the law, resulted in patients pay more out of pocket. what is your reaction to the charge that it was the obamacare changes that somehow exacerbated this extraordinary increase in cost for the event? >> i guess that flies in the face of a logical explanation. which is based on news reports i have seen, the company made a specific decision to jack up the price. i was not on the call and not not been ini have on the call, so it is hard for me to make direct comments. but your media outlet, among many, have chronicled the price increases in this specific device. that certainly raised a lot of questions.

think it is hard to try to deflect the blame for the increase in price to anything else, including obamacare. the epipen price increase and the larger issue of drug price increases in general. this tweet says the government should stop messing with prices. buyers and sellers will decide if the fda should he dismantled. free market is what this viewer is calling for. there is an essay on thehill.com with the headline "competition is the cure for the epipen price hike." james joins us from santa fe, texas. good morning. caller: good morning. this thing is a pretty bad deal. itn you need it, you need paid you cannot go running

around, looking for people, for cheaper prices. my biggest deal is six years ago, i came down with diabetes. mother used to give me insulin shots when i was a kid. she would show me a bottle of isulin and tell me this same for the same size or quality of insulin that i get today. now, full bottles of insulin cost over $700. and i have insurance. that is a pretty good price increase, if you ask me. say, "well,ke i can instead of taking my blood this morning, i need to take 10 units

of insulin." i cannot say "well, i will take five units of insulin, because i need to back off on the insulin." the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies have got you in a position to where you do not want to look for the alternative if you do not take your medicine. thank you. mimi says everyone knows pharmaceutical companies are greedy and getting rich of the health of americans. alina is joining us from palm springs. morning.ood i would like to say this epipen thing is really sad. but i happen to be a 79-year-old woman. take am required to

premarin patches. they have gone from -- i used to go to mexico to get them. they were like $15. now, they are $637. i called up the place in canada. $173. can get them for $637, engineering is, -- and generic is, like, $350. so now i am ordering them from canada. i want to thank you for taking my call. month,o pay $230 per insurance. but because i do not have drug coverage years ago, now, if i wanted drug coverage, i have to

pay a penalty for all of the years i did not have it, therefore, i am stuck. so i went a whole year without patches. and i have three different doctors tell me that is the have all of these problems. is because i have to be on these patches. it is not a matter of life or death, but i definitely agree ist since the government into a lot of other things, they should be controlling the fda, or whoever is responsible for those terrible price increases. host: elaine, good luck to you. thank you for sharing your thoughts. this is from rick who has this getting gouged, plain and simple. it is not litigation cost or they would not let management

make more and more. this tweet from senator blumenthal, who will likely lead an inquiry into the price increase. he says "myelin's plan to save card'isany 'savings just a pr fix, not a real remedy." we go to regina in canada city, missouri. caller: hi. i have been a nurse 37 years. the epipen on our local news. the price increase. their excuse they gave had nothing to do with the ceo, heather bresch, but at this time, they explain why the price had to go up. it was because it had to pay for , whichh for other drugs is totally different from what you just said on your program.

and right before and right after that article, on our news program, they had the commercial where somebody eight -- ate peanut butter brownies, and they said "oh, my god, call 911, get the epipen." so the commercials have increased here. i do not think they should advertise drugs. your doctor should know that. every time i go to the doctor, i have to wait for my appointment, because they have a pharmaceutical representative in there with a big sagittal, and -- a big satchel, and doctors are starting to prescribe to what pharmaceutical companies are saying is best for the patient, instead of doing research like that used to. we need to get the advertising

business out of the pharmaceutical industry. host: thanks for the call. thomas says this -- "in true free market, we should be able uy drugs overseas like canada, but the gop bands that to protect big pharma." looking atrk times" hillary clinton and donald trump as they prepare for it their first debate. this headline -- "no vacancies for blacks. a look at donald trump, his father, and the trump village." and fred trump, all trumps father, refusal to allow some african americans to move into his apartments. we want to go back to the "l.a. times" editorial. it says lawmakers and consumer groups howled at the protests.

mylan then said it would increase discounts to buyers, a move that would still leave the price three times as high as it was in 2007. heath is joining us from arkansas. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: i am greater good to hear from you again. caller: i am wonderful. i would like to say i have a granddaughter who is type one diabetic. wife, and she, my has type two. i think it is -- it should be illegal for people to charge so much money for that medicine. and the government should be know, what you call it -- my lord.

love all you folks, and i'm a marine and love my country. just don't understand how they can do that. charge so much. keith, thank you for the call. steve saying the government could set up an emergency program to develop epipen in direct competition to mylan. jim says this is what happens when the federal government takes over an industry. all you have to do is look at obamacare medication prices have increased along with insurance premiums. another example is the cost of college tuition increasing since the government took over student loans. john is joining us from eugene, oregon. good morning. caller: i appreciate all the great comments -- host: we have had some terrific

comments. how are you doing? caller: grades. anyway, i want to say that the bigger problem is you have to look at -- we are one of the few countries in the civilized world that lets publicly traded companies control health care, whether it is drug companies or insurance companies. i understand the free market approach, if we take the government out, things will get better. but right now, we are not doing a good job. withe not doing a good job the free market situation we have in place. if you are a publicly traded company, you have a profit incentive, not a health incentive. you have the fda meeting the ama, which is one of the biggest lobbyist employers, right up there with the nra. my mom has been battling lupus for 20 years. her drug costs are out the roof.

the biggest thing is people are looking for options, and there are not many. host: this story says "can pat toomey save the senate?" don joins us now from las cruces, new mexico. caller: good morning. in most of the industrialized world, the government helps negotiate drugs. in one story in the "wall street journal," 80% of drug profits, from the united states -- 80% of drug profits come from the united states. and the gop put a ceiling that said we could not negotiate for drugs. that we could not go to another country. ofan is just another example companies that have done this. other companies are turin and valeant.

all of these companies have been called to congress and made fools of. the other thing is a question of inversion. who arethe companies now part of the united states have taken their companies overseas so they can make more profit. 30orked at hospitals for years. one thing i can say is the getting public is screwed, period. host: thanks for the call. the other comments. one viewer says "this is free market -- it does not work." and vivienne says it is not that the government is involved, it is that government refuses to pay higher prices. is all common says it about investor prices. they do not care what people are paying. you can continue to send in comments on our facebook,

facebook.com/cspan, or tweet us at @cspanwj. we are joined delta simendinger -- by alexis simendinger. later, howie lind. we talk more about what donald trump is proposing for veterans. but first, we have the "newsmakers" with the head of the naacp, cornell william brooks. here are the comments he made about hillary clinton and donald trumps response to a pledge that -- wants them to make. [video clip] response to the pledges he asked of them, and where does the naacp stand, as far as this election does? >> let's start with the pledge. our pledge to protect and

preserve our lives. we crafted this pledge with five key elements. we reached out to both presidential candidates in the major parties. secretary carter -- sector clinton came to our convention -- secretary clinton came to our convention and addressed the pledge in detail pay we have not heard from mr. trump. he declined the invitation to declined then, invitation of a number of groups. we have not heard in depth or about his plans reformation of the criminal justice decision. in terms of the pledge, we continue to press forward and to -- all candidates, we seek

their commitment to bring about those reforms. and bring up those reforms who make significant progress. >> you say secretary clinton addressed the pledge. did she actually sign it? >> she did not sign it. so we are calling on her to sign it. by selling it -- by signing it, it means you're going to, by executive order order, regulation, or congressional action -- legislation -- that you will make significant progress in the first 100 days to establish civilian review boards, ensure we have a minimum standard of conduct, when it comes to law enforcement. enforcementfund law agencies that engage in pattern and practices of investigation, so we do not subsidize investigations. we defined law enforcement

agencies that conduct -- week, the president and ceo of the naacp is our guest on "newsmakers." and we wanttune in to welcome back white house correspondent alexis simendinger . thank you for being with us. i want to begin not with a particular headline but an observation. "washington post" -- what do you learn when you listen to donald trump voters? this is from the "new york times," one of five op-ed pieces. the "dark history of straight talk." gaps in anything: the words of donald trump." you do not find an equivalent with hillary clinton. guest: the clinton campaign is becoming aware that it is

getting more challenging to break through in the media to talk about her policies and initiatives. even though that you would suggest this array of stories is dissecting donald trump in less than a positive way, one of the things that is challenging is he does, still, suck up all of the oxygen in the room. and i do not know about you, but at realclearpolitics, we are getting a lot of e-mails lately. there has been coverage recently, writing about whether the media should cover these candidates with what people object to as equivalent. that they do not deserve the ind of media equivalent which we are trying to be fair and balanced. that has become a hot debate, which is interesting in journalism circles. host: you will hear from them in a moment. we will get our calls and tweets lined up. we should point out that these pieces are not all positive, but

they are focused on donald trump. more examples. the op-ed in "the washington post." from veterans of republican administrations nixon white to the house. "for the gop, start thinking 2018 and 2020." they say now is the time for the republican party to take decisive, perhaps desperate, measures if they want to survive. republicans must look past the 2016 campaign and look at 2018 and 2020 comebacks. here is a four-point plan for moving forward. here is one of them. "every major indicator and poll shows hillary clinton winning the presidency. so be it. there is not a snowball's chance that donald trump will stop his bombast and preening. if he is in trouble today, just bet that it is going to be worse tomorrow. it appears a political landslide will sleep the country.

that is not all bad. the larger the margin, the greater the chances a clinton administration will overplay its hand." guest: one of the things we started to hear right away at the nominating convention of the republicans was the array of republicans who were looking ahead to 2018, believing they were going to lose in 2016. we have also seen in the republican party, and at the republican national committee, that support, house or senate candidates, are eager to encourage the leadership to cipher money away from donald trump and put it towards house and senate races. so there has been a vigorous debate among republican circles. a veryt read from seasoned lobbyists from washington, d.c., talking about "it is over, let's talk about 2020." about have been hearing that since summer. the other thing that is interesting is the question about "landslide."

aboutis a vigorous debate whether this election will be a landslide. whether america is so polarized and divided that could even imagine there would be a landslide. there are lots of predictions that we probably will not have a landslide. but there are lots of seductions to say we need to keep watching that you it would be an extremely rare thing in modern politics. host: and whether there is a on turnout.pends then you have the equation of gary johnson and jill stein, the third-party candidates. guest: at realclearpolitics, we eep an allegorical -- an lectoral college map. we keep them fresh with polling. we have an array of eight states in the tossup category. if you look at where we have the two candidates in the electoral

college, which is where we select candidates, we have 222 .or hillary clinton if donald trump won all of the tossupal college in the states, he still would not have enough to win. host: we covered donald trump yesterday. he was at senator joni ernst's roast yesterday. here's what he had to say about polls and the media. [video clip] >> many people have said that the establishment media assaults me. that it has been the greatest they have ever seen in the political history of our country. i feel it. i know it. even today, some major papers failed to mention how strong our poll numbers have become the

last two weeks. and we are doing well in iowa. we happen to be leading. [cheers] >> but they refused to print it. they refuse to put it down. we are doing great. they, too, are part of a rigged system, trying to deny people the positive change their looking for and deserve. they take phrases and statements, chop them up, take them out of context, then discuss them for days and days. always trying to demean and the little -- and belittle. whatever they can do. mean and belittle our great movement. one day the greatest movements in our country. host: first, your reaction to

what he said about media and the polls? guest: first, why is donald trump in iowa? it is because among the battleground states, it is the only one in which he is ahead. media, this is a strategy that other republicans have used and donald trump has capitalized on. his supporters are eager and willing to bash the mainstream or major media in the way that donald trump encourages them to do. we have seen at some of his rallies, my colleagues who have covered trunk rallies -- trump rallies, were talking about reporters are corralled into an area by the trump campaign, and supporters will turn on journalists in the pen and emulate donald trump in criticisms and attacks and boos.

it plays well to his base. he will keep on doing it. because he can keep pointing to areas in which you can argue that, in the future, he may say, that this election was stolen in some way. he is already leading into this argument with somehow the election is being rigged. host: let's go to the battleground states. this is the average of a number of polls. it is not one poll, it is four to six balls, right? -- four to six polls, right? guest: absolutely. in pennsylvania, she is up by nine. in michigan, seven. ohio, four. florida, three. iowa, one. wisconsin, nine. and north calendar, one. hillary clinton

campaigning now is to try to in those lead battleground states. and the clinton campaign is trying to argue it can expand its own map. of contrast she has drawn with donald trump, her criticisms of him, especially on issues of race and the city -- -- especially on issues of race and ethnicity, she is hopeful that can influence people to cross over to vote for her. we are talking about maybe every e-shaped map. we thought virginia and colorado would be part of the battleground makes -- mix, but she is pulled out of the states because they are doing well. host: the fact that georgia is doing dead even. georgia is typically a republican state. guest: it is.

barack obama was hopeful they could turn georgia blue. we have seen demographics say that there are more voters of color. be doing better in states like north carolina and georgia because of issues hillary clinton can really pound home in these final months. late august. it has been more than 270 days since hillary has had a news conference. lastas in reno, nevada thursday for a speech she covered. i want to share with you a story realclearpolitics. hillary clinton took chocolates but refused to take questions from reporters. [video clip] >> really good.

>> now is a good time for question, right? [laughter] >> i would like to offer to all of the press there. so hard-working. >> any comment catch -- any questions? host: your reaction? guest: we have seen hillary clinton do this a lot. turn to the reporters and say you should try the i.t. -- the tea. president obama sometimes does it, he will stop and buy food. a political way to change the subject. in hillary clinton's case, the most annoying thing among

republicans and clearly among the press tracking her and sending thousands of dollars to be with her, she keys them walled off and declines to answer many questions. week, a call in this past which she still is not doing open news conferences and i doubt she feels she needs to. [indiscernible] know this would carry on to a clinton white house. guest: can we tell how long we have cover the way has together? host: a couple of presidencies. guest: the clinton administration. one thing i know covering the white house full-time with the clinton and all boy through, one thing we have seen is each president tries to figure out what the definition of transparent he is and how much .an they control the media

hillary clinton is trying to do withand a daft, especially what barack obama has done in 2008 and 2012. adaptay she will try to from the obama control, almost state run media in a critical all of theu have got tools available to her to broadcast her own message. your calls and comments, jerry from new jersey, our line from democrats. we have alexis simendinger alexis simendinger from real clear politics. caller: i do not know where to start listening to this. says whenay she hillary clinton does something, she styled -- smiles and everybody thinks it is funny, but when donald trump does some and it is direly so serious

synovus less civil do not cover real crucial things. the state department will hold that these e-mails to protect hillary clinton. i do not see and outpour about that in the media. is they just had a ku klux klan grand marshal supporting hillary clinton, but you do not see that on the media. msnbc, it is amazing. there is no seriousness here. they try to protect her and it but donaldparent trump, a democrat, he i promise you he will win the election. some of the things you

just described, you learn from the media. things are being covered. i sam you are learning a lot from whatever you are reading and you are hearing it on radio and television. it is so early in the morning, i am smiling because i am with my friend steve and it is not a reflection of unfairness in the media. host: we are joined by brian in illinois. go ahead. let's be honest, the dominant force in political media is television. all my criticisms are directed at the television media. it is like your whole conversation so far, all about the process in the race and nobody is talking about any of the issues. we have hugely serious issues occurring right now. $20 trillion in debt, immigration problem, radical islam, it goes on and on but we are not talking about any of the

issues. we talk about personalities and that is driven by television and its desire for ratings. most americans do not like either candidate. despise hillary clinton and i think donald trump is a buffoon. and yet the process we have, that is who we end up with. media and lazytv americans. that is all i have got to say. point, especially watching cable 24/7. guest: he is right about how television has tried to ample i basically, personality, a personality driven race. but one thing as a journalist that i have noticed in covering some focus groups, listening to some focus groups, with undecided or leaning voters,

they have a similar complaint, that this is not enough coverage of the issues and they complain the candidates themselves are not really dissecting the issues in the death they would like to see. one thing i would like to say in defense of the media is all the media are trying to dissect what the candidates are saying about issues, whether it is health care or immigration. there is a lot of television coverage of immigration because donald trump's vision, his last especiallyigration deportation, has shifted and changed in the past month. effort andeen an television to pin him down and his new campaign advisor down. hillary clinton as a candidate shared frustration that you described, which is the media is not delving deeply enough into issues. news cable the networks have done town hall

kind of style questions and answers, when you actually ask voters to participate, they do ask like taxes or health care or the military, terrorism, and there is an ample amount of discussion about that from the candidates themselves. i think if interested voters at majorrough and look media outlets, they will find discussions of the issues and compare it to her the candidates stand. formally with national journal and now with real clear politics. i want to ask you about a supporter of donald trump. if you're going to run and try to become the president of the united states, you will have to open up your kimono and show everything -- guest: this is an interesting debate.

to have a republican way and, in that congressman has been a stern into -- interrogator of hillary clinton and all the elements of her e-mail and fbi discussions. what is interesting about the pressure on donald trump is transparency has to be a two-way street. he is arguing if he and republicans are pressing hillary more forthcoming weather with e-mails or the administration, he is feeling the pressure that they have to be concerned. all presidents after richard nixon released their tax returns and so this is an area in which hillary clinton completely pressured donald trump. so far, donald trump has been able to consistently argued that as long as he is under audit, he

does not feel that he needs to release his tax returns and the new campaign advisers say they agree. he said so both candidates, donald trump and hillary clinton, should show their medical records and tax , and part of a statement on cnn, republican, joining us in north carolina. thank you for phoning in. >> i have two click comments. on the drug issue, there are probably hundreds if not thousands of people from detroit who go up to candidate -- canada on a bus. they have been doing this for years and years rather -- whether it is legal or not and to detroit.me back after 9/11, i do not know how

strict it is, but two quick comments. hold on on that line p or we were talking to that the pen -- the epipen earlier. it -- how big of an issue is it? guest: a big issue. i hear again again in the polling and lucas groups, health in which broad issue the electorate remains very animated. that is part of the reason why the of the pen pharmaceutical cost issues that have come up in the headlines on the business pages have penetrated the electorate. issue causing people to purchase medications for less expensive ances in canada, this is issue we have heard about in washington for a long time. , donalds one candidate

trump has not engaged as much on health care in detail. more thant not done say he would repeal and replace it and has not talked about it in detail. hillary clinton has talked about this and argued she would like to see legislation in some future way in which drug pricing would come back into the discussion. what she has done as a candidate is try to call out the drug manufacturers and she did this with the epipen question. is the senator from west virginia and the father of -- and ceo of the corporation. guest: it is an uncomfortable situation. he is a democrat from the states they would like to keep. even the senator had to speak at

and said he talked to his daughter out this and he is not defended what that is. host: let's follow up with your next point. caller: democrats caller appear and i do not know if it is the ncaa -- naacp. i live on the borderline north of south carolina and i know for south people went from carolina to north carolina. they were also voting in charlotte north elena with no id and they keep saying there is no voter fraud. that is ridiculous but they have not caught it. really quickly, if you go out to arizona, once you get away on the border wall and you go out maybe four miles, you will see there is nothing there, no there is just a

little small building. go in and out, in and out. people can walk into the country from mexico and they have been doing it for probably early years. you can go back to nixon, i don't know, but when people think this stuff is not going on, they want to fool themselves, they are completely out of their minds, especially the democrats because stuff is going on. i'm not for clinton or trump that at least trump is trying to do something about immigration. thank you. the two pointske and turn it into a question. donald trump is looking to at least redefine oryx lane where he is going to. rush limbaugh laughing at the that that he may move toward the position of jeb bush. is he changing or evolving his , someone whoimpact

stays here, this is the poor donald trump has on the primary? >>. chubb seems to have worked through a tough stance on immigration critic lately with deportation. the base of what he is saying and his -- in his policy is enforcement first. that he has gone into the general election, he has hired a new campaign advisor and she was -- she is a pollster. one thing she has underscored to him is the harsh rhetoric about mexicans and immigration and the idea of expelling or deporting masses of deportation, has not a broadn well with segment of the electorate that donald trump would need to to in any he hopes way catch up to secretary clinton or potentially to win.

one thing donald trump has said himself is he has talked to him desk to hannity about the idea he is reversing his opinion and reversed it because he got a , more the pundit >> than the voter and electorate >>, and he covered up his stance again in an interview on cnn with anderson cooper and said and his -- he would be leaveling the 11,000,002 the country. host: that almost sounds like the self deportation line by mitt romney. also sounds a lot like jeb bush, his primary opponent, who had developed a more new wants position and donald trump last week sounded a little more like jeb bush and then he

reversed himself. no amnesty. all i can tell you is as a journalist, we are trying to follow and track with the campaign is saying and figure does donald trump feel he has to answer these questions? does he feel he needs to iron or doesof these details he think he can straddle the fence and be vague about it? so far, he has gone in both directions. writing this morning on the front page of the washington post, this is the headline. a look at how donald trump has a more freewheeling approach to the debate, eating bacon cheeseburgers and diet coke's. a more methodical approach by hillary clinton. al out of new york, independent line. good morning.

good morning and thank you for taking my call. i will start out with something i have said before. my earliest memory is my mother saying to my father, because he liked the eisenhower's, you vote republican, you vote yourself unemployment and i have seen it happen so many times in my life. i want to say something about mr. trump and something about hillary. man.d trump is a show this is all about the show. that is why he does not talk policy that much. he knows after the election is national television will not touch him. for aeve he is going syndicated, cable and pay per view type of program. hannity and the guy from fox tv and so on.

he's building a tv repertoire now. he knows he could not win and he does not want to. that would mean he would have to work 24/7. host: thanks for the call. we have heard the theory in the past. guest: it revived itself when donald trump hired stephen bannon from breitbart news. there has been a revival of this discussion that donald trump who really revamped the entire by doing the apprentice, the show, the program that was so popular, that he has continued to be interested in the idea of being into the media operation in some and one rogern ailes left fox news, there was discussion about how close these men are. they do talk. it is not as if roger ailes has an hired by the campaign, but

there is discussion about it together and a lot of conjecture about whether donald trump in the next iteration of his career might actually like the idea of the media mogul in some form or fashion. thank you for that call and for making that point. this headlineou from the washington post. charlotte from florida, a line for democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm delighted to have the opportunity this morning. c-span offers us just a wonderful service. i have them looking at a lot of ,he wonderful spotlight issues the civil war centennial issues on the stand three and many other things. we approve that message. thank you very much. we appreciate it. it is in factk

right now our press, our media, our informational content that we as american citizens are in fact receiving even through the .chools c-span is coming through the having with regard to the young people and i utilize it quite a bit. to get to the 2016 campaign, real clear politics, if you could give clarity again, real clear is the print publication or is it online? i can bridge into the question of where you fit into the press. host: what is your question? we will do both at once. question as it campaign 26, the topic this morning, we hear a

that jobs and trade and immigration and health care, those are the words we are hearing. it seems to me we have had an economy and a country that needs investment, and land versus its own a transfer economy. i'm not making an opinion about fracking, i'm taking about, i'm a statistician demographer. the kinds ofk at jobs we have in the country, stable jobs which

are not outsource a bowl, we cannot outsource if we modernize and revitalize our community. i live in a semirural suburban , and we have had septic tanks for about 20 years. we have to put in sewer and it costs $10,000. the average citizen would not be able to put in the sewer. we are doctors and lawyers and judges. in terms of my community. 60% tax base for my community running the city budget. one thing is the sewer. people. hire our these are not outsource support jobs. i think we as the people need to go into the issue of, how will

we put our people back to work by modernizing our communities with sewer, water quality, those are jobs with our school. host: i have got to jump in. we need to move on. but thank you for joining us here and we appreciate it. caller: one point. i think american public need to really make a decision this time based on the needs of this and not the needs of a >>, particularly an investor >> -- of a class, particularly an investor class. brian interviewed him back in 2014, and sullivan, a tax that gives us the understanding of how the multinationals are avoiding paying billions of tax -- host: we have got to move on.

first point, what is real clear politics. guest: charlotte, you should be a producer of this show. you really know a lot. we have a staff of our own reporters and real clear politics was cofounded in chicago in the year 2000 and has been around for quite some time. it is open and free to everyone. people know real clear politics is because it started off with something everyone utilizes in politics, the aggregation of pulling. it gives you an idea of the chance. all the candidates look at those trends even if you want to talk about one or another poll that you do not like or you do not like.s well as you would as a statistician, you know what i'm talking about. we have all the video and it is nonpartisan straight down the middle.

look when you get a chance. the idea of infrastructure you mentioned is really interesting. this is an argument president obama also made and there is republican support for the idea you are describing, to upgrade either infrastructure like sewers or roads or bridges, it would create jobs in the united and would also be incredibly beneficial to the communities in which those projects take place. the talent president obama found in congress was how to pay or and there was a lot of today with partisan disagreement about that. secretary clinton proposed a very large initiative package plan with several hundred atlion dollars proposed least to get started with infrastructure projects. she has expressed a great deal of hope that if she were elected, she could work across aisle with republicans to

find a way to create jobs, and communities, take care of the roads and bridges that even the republicans would like to see fixed area aisle the question iw to pay for it. -- fixed. the question is how to pay for it. host: the other problem, getting around because of traffic issues. good morning. good morning. thank you for taking my call. as the ball, i keep hearing all these voters say they artist tested with the choices of candidates. people have to get realistic and understand jesus christ is not running for president. you have to choose between the best of the worst. about, verymment is disappointed in the media. given donald trump over $2 billion of free ad time and they do not ask him hard russians.

specifically, i want to go into his history of hiring undocumented workers. i live in florida. the hurricane 10 years ago, he had extensive damages in his estate and he said he would hire local contractors to do the work and when they finished the offeredain, he only them $.50 on the dollar, take it or leave it or send him to court. why doesn't the media go after him about his audited deals and hist a working-class that main supporters should know this is the way he does business. he hires undocumented workers, he has a history of hiring undocumented workers. you do not need any skills to work as a waiter or dishwasher in the hotel pier 1 doesn't the media address that and let him say whatever he wants without as a him the heart russians?

thank you. -- hard questions? thank you. guest: you will not be happy with my answer. the media have been covering the questions of donald trump's that route. donald trump has his request for special visas, workers from out of the country, it has been written about and covered. hasdiscussions of how he used workers in his hotel and his resort has been covered. his reliance,n of thatnstance, on the idea he has talked a lot how beneficial he has been to latino or worse, for instance, it has been covered. the only thing i can say to you is maybe your objection has to do with whether these particular issues should be repeated more often or should be easier to find a book -- among voters, but

i want to assure you the mainstream media are covering this intentionally. asked trump has been these questions but what is challenging is he often times just kind of goes past the question. indoes do a lot of call questions with the media. he is as you say taking viewershipf a lot of . he does the call ends he tweets a lot and he get his impressions but it does help him dodged answering questions. what is the alt right movement? in my a fancy new term lifetime. whiteptic type term for supremacists, basically, racists

or bigots of all kinds, racial intolerance, religious intolerance. in this movement is considered the fringe of the republican party, the right wing of the party, and lives in a world in offh there is communication to newsletters and websites and and the reason we are talking about this now is donald trump has not been a lot of time trying to push away the support he has gotten from those factions of the american electorate and hillary clinton gave a speech in nevada that was supposed to be a speech about small businesses and she devoted the speech entirely to describing the kind rings donald trump has said or done or tolerated in the world of what has become all right. i want to share with you

two different pieces of video from cbs this morning on thursday and on the trunk camp and on the all right movement. >> you heard nancy. she is going to say that trump is taking a hate movement mainstream and how do you bond? i am astounded this is what she is going to tell people, very few interviews, one last .ight that did not go well why isn't she out there talking about her vision for the next us after the affordable care act? why don't we know her immigration plan well? amnesty, why isn't she out there saying, here is my position on energy independence? we do not know, someone who has than in public like -- public life for decades, really animate

them. -- campaignof the trump and has her all the the all right movement. how would you describe it? >> i am not very familiar with it. hillary clinton running against a website? >> would you say that truck campaign is a platform? >> we have not even discussed it really. it is nothing mr. trump says. courtesy of cbs news from this past thursday. the hillary clinton campaign with this new web been -- web video on the topic. the reason a lot of clan members like donald trump is because a lot of what he believes, we believe. ♪ would be bestp for the job for president.

a white nationalist, support donald trump. sending out all the illegals, building a wall, and a moratorium on islamic immigration area that is appealing to a lot of ordinary people here it >> really treason to your heritage. >> will you unequivocably condemn david duke and say you do not want his vote or otherwise supremacists? mr. trump: i do not know anything about white supremacist. i do not know. controversial breitbart news campaign chair that ran a website that has become a field day for the all right, that is racist -- >> the alt right, a dress-up version of the neo-nazi and white supremacist movement. >> a lot of what he believes, we believe. host: so where is all of this heading? guest: one thing i want to talk

about, why is it important secretary clinton hits on this issue. the reason she is trying to draw on this connection is because she knows in america today, actually among younger people, moderate and educated people, republicans or unsettled about donald trump. this issue resonates with them. they do not consider themselves racists and they find it alarming. with in a discussion undecided voters in milwaukee. a woman indicated she was appalled donald trump called hillary clinton a big it and ,sked why would he do this describing how she wished he would get back on the main issues and but it up on this kind of stuff. the reason we are seeing secretary clinton and other demo westbound on this is because it crosses party lines and it is a very persuasive argument.

we know younger voters repulsed in some way by both candidates, they do not want to see donald , the rejection of multiculturalism today. host: with the president leaving for asia this week, ttp is a big topic. hillary clinton's rival on the democrat said let me be very clear, i will do everything i , if itto defeat ttp comes to the floor of the senate, the american will have got to stand together and say no. this was a big legacy issue. an alliance of 12 nations, including the united states, to build this kind of ownership in asia, it will not happen and the reason i say that is all of the is thate have done

speaker ryan says there are not enough votes and he does not want to bring it up and mitch mcconnell says he does not want to bring it up and that this is an issue for the next administration. president obama is at odds with his own party on this issue. looks like it is too divisive now in the lame-duck, which is rare. trying to push it to imagine it might actually get done. host: alexis simendinger of real clear politics. pleasure. thank you it we will take a short break and when we come back, we will turn our attention to one of the issues of the campaign. what should be done to deal with veterans, especially those coming from iraq and afghanistan. later, michael of the washington institute on the u.s. role in the middle east and the richer of the middle east especially with a new administration, whether it is donald trump or hillary clinton. you are watching and listening on this sunday morning, august the 28th.

we're back in a moment. stay with us. ♪ >> monday on the communicators, how neuroscience researchers and ares research project see, working to develop ways for wounded soldiers and paraplegics to use the to manipulate computers. >> this is about trying to make whole the soldiers coming back from iraq and afghanistan for much of this century who come because of advances in body

and were suffering blows that previously would have an back but are now coming with and dictations, these are young men and women in the 20's 30's sometimes, who have their entire lives before them. setting the brain prior, they a zeal to say this is a program that will make the people hold because we owed to them for the service they did for the country. >> watch monday night on c-span two. month, we ares showing booktv programs throughout the week and time time. booktv takes on the public affairs programming and focuses releases through

author interviews and the discussions. programs are in-depth. with questions from viewers via phone, e-mail, and social media. the first sunday of every month at noon eastern. afterwards is a one-on-one conversation with the author of a newly released nonfiction book and the interview is a journalist public policymaker or ledges later familiar with the topic often with an opposing viewpoint. every saturday at 10:00 p.m. eastern and we will take you across the country featuring book festivals and the parties were authors talk about their work. books.vely to nonfiction booktv on c-span two. television for serious readers. washington journal continues. host: we want to welcome howie lind, a graduate of virginia tech and the director of veterans for donald trump. thank you for being with us.

about the piece that really looks at some of the plants donald trump outlined. privatization, trying to turn some of the v.a. benefits to private entities. how would that work? guest: donald trump is not in favor of this at the current time. between the v.a. come of the department of is a huge mess that he is about to take care of and look out for veterans. it is a huge issue for veterans across the country. i talked with the veterans coalition in virginia for the trump campaign. there are many issues with the evental and care of that and veterans. that thea huge effort trump administration will

overtake. host: veterans -- 202-748-8003 if you are a veteran. returning from some of the more recent conflicts. aspect is ahysical huge issue. suicide prevention, those are huge issues that really need to now byessed more than the current obama clinton administration. i.t. modernization should be done immediately. women's issues are not taken care of properly. across the board, mr. trump ands about the management leadership of the v.a.. it should be wholesale

replacement of a lot of leaders and management in the v.a. does it has and mismanaged and misled for so many years. has there been any improvement under secretary mcdonald? guest: i do not know. i think he has tried to improve a lot of things because of the issues that came up in the last year or two. mr. trump has committed to a wholesale change in the veterans affairs department across the country. host: will it cost more money? guest: i think it will. he is proposing additional , and those are key issues right now that affect all returning veterans from wars in iraq. havingou personally served for 20 years, have you used v.a. service is or familiar and have had problems with

veteran -- veterans affairs? not personal myself, but i've talked with others who have used it and waited in long lines. you will have it waiting long lines of us the country for care. one of the other aspects of the willy issues for the v.a. be a veteran will get care anytime they want and that is a drastic change, as well as having satellite centers across the country. host: let's go to brett. good morning. you're on the air. caller: i am not a combat vet and i want to rank how we -- howie for his service. i'm interested in the region -- recent ones, talking about more venues where they can give their

especially in my opinion, i have suffered from head trauma or it is a lifelong issue here the only advantage security.as is as trump gets elected, and i hope he does, and beats up security in hospitals, it would be good for those debts to have to giveice, to compete them the better care. protected by civil service units will who support staff, cannot with headnd anyone trauma, they will start to drive you crazy, those support personnel. the record-keeping is awful. they do not have to be nice because they know they cannot get fired tear for me, the main problem is the meds. if you have a history of a head thatem, you will not get from private health care.

thank you for the call. we will get a response. guest: thank you for the call and your service. my heart goes out to you for that sort of care you need. initial pointthe ast mr. trump feels veterans yourself and others who have not gotten the right care, being able to replace people is really necessary through firing. that does the fear and care into people doing their jobs properly in the vap revision there should not be a non-caring attitude. it is terrible, actually. in virginia, also a veteran. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i came back from iraq in 2008. i returned from afghanistan in 2014. it is two different worlds.

i was better taken care of in 2008 than i was in 2014. if itot think it matters is private or public. somebody needs to take a look at what is going on with the v.a. to see what they can do. there is corruption on both sides of the aisle, it does not matter how much somebody really cares. when you look at what both --ties offer, it is obvious that trump cares a little bit more. thank you very much. guest: he does care. that brings up a great point, i get the question asking me quite a bit, why did veterans for donald trump over hillary is in. they feel he is a fighter for the current active duty military and the veterans that he will take on the bureaucracies not just in v.a. but dod and others impacting the for current servicemen

to do their jobs, as well as veterans to receive the proper care. he will take them on. is it more an issue among veterans? guest: no. people feel he is really empathetic toward veterans. virginia at a rally in . it was a huge rally and a huge affair. he really outlined and showcased his 10 point plan but the empathy and the feeling he has for active duty men and women and veterans, that grabs people. we covered that event our website here democrats line with good morning, angela. caller: good morning. i'm glad you -- to see someone

from donald trump pesticide. -- theally brush off democrats for the last eight years have not done any things. the time you insist donald trump is doing this for a mancal reasons here in who is objective and tries to be on donald trump pesticide. i feel that has been usually for the past years that i have been maybe fair. it seems you are leaning toward hillary more and more airtime a demo that. for the last years, this issue is disgraceful. barack obama has done nothing about it and will continue to insist donald trump will not be to solve the problem. if he will, then i will vote for

donald trump, although i am a democrat, just because i see the media always trying to belittle what mr. trump is doing and saying. host: thank you for the call. guest: talking about national security issues today, so, i think what came to mind is you are talking, any comments he would make kind of get turned around in the national media ,nder the immigration side those are key issues he is folk focusingnow with it -- on now within the campaign. i think he is doing a great job. my feeling is the national media is against him and turning things around and he will give a great speech and it will not be covered well or it will be mis-covered by think militarily,

and domestically and foreign policy lies, he has outlined great pals these. -- policies. donald trump holding a lead among military families. you can read this story online. dakota, ar from south veteran. >> good morning. i disagree with him on the ea, at least in south dakota. are at heavily populated areas and they have a waiting time in that. excellent clinical health care here. i know the va hospital has been excellent in south dakota. as far as deferments, i disagree with him on that. i think anyone who has health care deferments has a little bit of a yellow streak down their

backs. and use that to get out of the veteran tour unum is over there, and i got have had people who use that some pull data to avoid military service. vote for him, i did not vote for clinton, i did not vote got toh, because he where he knew he would never go overseas. now that it does go overseas and fight in their words, i have a lot more respect for people in national guard today but i think you really grow up when you're in the military going into 19 years old and i that would he a peopleng for most young to do that.

they get independents and they learn to live on their own and it was a very good thing for me even though i have seen a lot of negative stuff dealing with worse. host: let me give our guests a chance to respond. i give for joining and self dakota. -- southank you for dakota. guest: thank you for serving in the vietnam war. that is a great, you made about the national guard. they have stepped up since 9/11 by fighting in both iraq and afghanistan alongside our active duty air force, marine corps as well asd sisters, contractors worldwide who support us militarily. six andthe numbers are 5 million veterans of 2012 did

and the that year election in 2012 was determined by was 5 million votes. mr. trump and governor pence, what they are actively doing is talking to veterans across the country and the united states to engage them in their campaign, getting their support and also asking questions. they are intrigued by what veterans have to say for them. it is a great outreach. virginia alone, that is a huge number of veterans when you talk to the battleground state like thatnia and they feel veterans are a part of the electorate and they have a great feeling they can get this of her from them. who lives inind virginia. the pentagon and the state

, we're joined by robert in greenville, texas. good morning. i have a comment and then a real simple question. just roll the whole health careng into in this country. number two and this one, i would , donaldike an answer trump got deferred. he was exempt from military injury.based on a foot when asked a question directly, which was injured, he was unable to answer. what is the answer? that is all. thank you. regarding rolling it into

the federal government, i think donald trump wants to keep it separate. he and others have such a great feeling toward our veterans that they need a type of civic special care that should not be rolled into the general health care system. do you know which foot? guest: i do not. i will ask him at some point what foot that was. john in pennsylvania. another veteran. good morning. >> i think ronald trump is using the veterans. the reason is because after he attacked mccain, all the sudden it came out for the vets. he's using that as a distraction because the guy avoided service in the it five times and he will attack somebody who went to war and got captured?

phony. is an absolute furthermore, i got leukemia five years ago and i was treated at one of the vets hospitals in philadelphia and the care i got at the v.a. in the follow-up has .een just as good i want to say all the attacks on the ba system are unfounded in some cases. i understand there are that need to be looked at. but to say the whole system needs to be scrapped is appalling. lastly, about the media during the primaries, donald trump was given how many hours of free now -- a free airtime and you don't like it? i find the whole thing to be confusing and disheartening. i think donald trump does not really care about the vets. the only thing he cares about is himself. his position is that as phony as

a trump product made with the usa label. thank you for the call and have a great day. guest: quite a few things here. .orry for your illness there are some good senators around the country, most of them have long waiting lines, which is unacceptable and mr. khan wants to address that. you were talking about senator mccain. i heard that issue. mr. trump supports veterans and they support him. it is a true, heartfelt issue of supporting our military. the veterans is one aspect of it. rebuild ouruty to military, the morale of the military is very low right now.

that needs to be corrected and as commander in chief, whoever shouldted as president get the respect from the military and the commander-in-chief could -- should respect them. a two way street. guest: -- for: has his support veterans been real? the headline says donald trump critical of media, many had said he did not give those donations when he said he had. guest: i cannot comment on that specifically but they support him both ways. washington, good morning, a veteran. www.c-span.org caller toler: i have been listening your program for some time. i like both sides, very balanced. hillary saying she will help sherans and after benghazi

lied to goldstar parents. wouldot know how anybody be willing to risk their lives and then be lied to. i have to stop rated that and thatlook at anybody else is not lying to veterans and soldiers. guest: i agree. the benghazi issue was a tragedy. should have been prevented. the lives should have been saved . ambassador stevens and the others over there should not have died in that attack. secretary clinton with president obama, they should have and could have provided support for them there. i agree 100% about that than ghazi issue. other side of the e-mail scandal with hillary clinton, to

veterans, that is a huge issue with them as well as active duty, retired veterans because all of us in the military and civilians in the intelligence agency, whoever has held a security classified information, your 10,000 dollars in fines and up to five years in jail. she was let go by the fbi director, but did that countless times over and over again. veterans know that if any of us had done that or anybody else in the country with a security clearance would be facing jail time, if not certainly the end of their career and they would never have had security clearance again, so in veterans here those things, benghazi and the e-mail issues, it strikes a cord right off the bat. quinn to thiswhy "washington post" headline, many veterans still trump even after you and after the gold star family -- even after he went after the gold star family?

guest: i believe so. trump says across the board, he honors families who have had family members lost in wars and the honors following soldiers buried host: but he did insult them -- soldiers. host: but he did insult them. guest: i was at the republican national convention and there's was a week after and the family, the father and the mother, he praised their services and it was a political attack by the mother and father against donald trump and he responded to that and it was taken. they basically started it and see honors fallen soldiers across the board. int: i want to go to dee washington. good morning and welcome. caller: hi. i just wanted to say that do not complainingas been

about the benghazi security issue despite previously demanding industry security cuts . they cut the security request, they cut it. and now they are bellyaching. that is a bunch of brouhaha. i am a brat. i just wanted to say that your trump raised money for the veterans and did not send it to them until he was questioned about it. eric cartman, he told a rollover everyone -- he puts [indiscernible] over everyone's eyes in his only interest is in himself. he did not send funds to the veterans. i'm sorry, i am a little nervous. i wish that people would look at the reality of what trump is doing.

if you're going to buy a car, you are going to want to start the engine or look under the .ood or something be defense with the -- would no defense. he has no morals at all. they are not asking for questions. they don't even want to see is tax returns. host: thank you for the call. guest: that is a lot to comment on. regarding benghazi and cutting back security, i heard that also. there was an of security there, i know as a retired navy commander and that did many tours, they could have been and they should have been saved. they were u.s. military assets around the mediterranean. they could have been there. when of the initial responses was we do not know how long the attack would be underway and that is ridiculous. it ended up being nine hours. they should have been -- those men should have been saved and they could to had military

assets in time, regardless of what happened before that. let me go back to your final points about mr. trump. veterans,pport the military across the board and i for whenerate veterans he said, what he will do it evidence support, with the v.a. -- the: he has said he wants ability to fire those incompetent or not meeting certain standards in the civil service system, and that has become more complicated than the private sector, so how would he be able to do that? guest: it would be a culture change. the secretary of the v.a. and the hierarchy underneath that would have to be brought in to replace senior leaders and not just senior leaders but the senior gs positions across the v.a. and it would take congressional involvement because it is, it does not

happen normally, but in the v.a.'s case, i think that mr. trump -- it will be a mandate to fix the v.a. but you will have the support to do that. host: he has also said there is corruption in the v.a. is it corruption or mismanagement? guest: i think it is both. host: corruption where? guest: i cannot get into where or which centers might be corrupt or than others, but just the way it is run, and it left people dying while they are waiting in line, that is outrageous. host: so that would be mismanagement and corruption? guest: that is right. host: that commentates that people are taken money from that system, cheating the system and mismanagement commentates it is not being run properly. guest: run properly or lead properly, but i cannot get into it. he once to -- she wants to

change the search of the v.a. and the trump of ministers shall do that. host: what word would you advise them to use? guest: [laughter] wholesale fix. me get back to appoint the caller made. he is not scrapping the v.a.. but it is the whole culture and the way people will run it and enact changes. invesco to bronx, gathering in new york. -- let's go to the bronx, veteran in new york. caller: i have to disagree with mr. lind. i am a vietnam veteran and i think mr. trump is a draft doctor. i am getting excellent health care at the bronx v.a. i'm getting excellent health care. ishink the v.a. secretary doing a great job. it takes time to turn it around

and this is what is happening but it is improving. i see the difference immediately. , that conthing is started it. we are not 10 years old. sometimes we have to keep our mouth shut and suck it up. another thing that bothers me most, and you should know this as the commander, sir, and i have been on bridges, too, when donald trump says we will make our nation so strong that no one will mess with us, historically, that is not true. andgo back to the romans they were insurgents constantly. the strongest army of the world took on a bunch of farmers and 1775. in how did that work out for the strongest army in the world?

host: mark, thank you from new york. guest: thank you, mark, and i appreciate your service and the bronx of the eight there are good centers around -- bronx v.a., but there are good centers around but across the nation it needs call self change. i think it is too strong to use my word of it, but mr. trump's policy will be as ronald reagan's policy was, peace and strength. you develop this strong morale within the military to shore at the series -- to show our adversaries and we do not have that right now, this art of strength across the world and country. -- iran, chinae russia and others are moving out in a way that we would not -- that they would not do with a strong military, particularly

with nuclear terrorism going down the pike, and this is a dangerous time and world right now. there was a great speech couple weeks ago talking about smashing and in the matters cyber world, financially, so mr. trump's goal within the trump administration will be peace and strength to restore our national strength around the world. host: we are talking about veterans issues and the donald trump campaign. howie lind is our guest. james joins us from kentucky. -- er: i am a democrat host: jane, go ahead. to say i am proud endorse donald trump. he is not a politician. we have had political parties in the country for 20 years or 30

years, and i am so scared of the e-mail and the server that hillary clinton had. we do not know who got that information about the military, services, and isis coming up here, i want donald trump to support our veterans and to build up our military unit. i thank you for taking my call. host: jane, thank you. guest: thank you, jane, and we appreciate all democrats voting or donald trump. there are quite a few that feel the way you do with hillary clinton and that is the report she to be president and never talks about it and hardly holds press conferences anymore, but she just doesn't want to talk about that at all. host: jim from virginia. good morning. a veteran. yes, i would like to

comment on the last lady. i agree with her stance. immigration is my number two on my agenda. i am a veteran, my grandfather and father our veterans and my son is a combat veteran, which says anyone who votes democrat, we are going to go toward the european union, but back to the thatans, the gold parents attacked trump is sad and politicizing the death of their son that served. back to my son, who served in combat, i think that the discriminates to against the people that served outside the wire, though 311's and distinguishes they get to care and care first. if you are in the navy, which i was, and you pull into the port, you have to distance against those guys that went outside the wire to look for trouble and those that were over there, but

they were in some weird operating base and trying to get coffee one morning and that they should get the care, but combat veterans need to be looked at heart in this day and age. thank you for your time. host: thank you from virginia. ephedrine. guest: host: thank you for -- a veteran. guest: thank you for your service. i believe that is the main issue that got donald trump on the map in the primary with 17 other very well-qualified candidates for president. hisas crystallized campaign, and that is a huge area. i think that also gets his support from the american public but also within the veterans community. they see him as their

traditional bureaucratic politician. they see him as a doer and fighter and some can change the current system, which needs changing across the board. your comments about france rings up the current isis, they were for attacks, it recently, the biggest in san bernardino and all landed when i own country by radical islamic terrorists, is something that we need to drastically change and need to take on and he will take isis on directly. host: if asked, would you serve in the trump administration? guest: yes, i would. host: last call from north carolina. the morning. caller: steve, i am really disturbed. by the vietnam veteran and i am african-american veteran. i have been to the wall one time, i know people on that wall. some of the mexicans, locks, --

blacks, one was native american, puerto rican, and there is no way that if trump gets elected, he will destroy the services, the morale of the services. nobody in their right mind will serve under the command of donald trump. two of the flag officers in the united states are having some real problems with a guy like trump, with his temperament, leading theotry military in this country. i would not serve under his command. i would not serve and your guests's command. i would not salute him. he is going to tear up the morale of the military in this country. host: we will give our guests the chance to respond. guest: thank you for your service to our nation and i also

applaud your efforts for your attempts and for your comments at the fallen wall. i feel like he will do just the opposite from the way you the bigotry and the terrible names that hillary clinton has call to ms. not true. he is in an inclusive man and estimate has a life and businesses, including other races and nationalities, and he is being targeted improperly because he is taking a stand on illegal immigration. he loves immigrants from all over the world. and they come here illegally, especially criminals in prison, those are the first areas that he will take on, as well as securing the border and doing away with century cities and enforcing laws, illegal immigrants should be deported immediately in a prison. that is not bigotry and racism. that is upholding the laws of the united states.

i disagree with you but respective views. host: we are talking to howie coalition director for vets for trump. thanks. guest: thanks, good being here. host: we will turn our attention to the middle east. so many complex issues. augustus michael eisenstadt from the washington institute for near east policy. "washington journal" continues. we are back in a moment. stay with us. ♪

>> tonight on "q and a," -- >> there was an average of one racial lynching the week in the south and it was a brilliant psychological device to hold on a race because if you are black, you are afraid it could happen to you. his literary career, including his latest book, that the courtroom battle that brought down the klan and the trial that followed the killing of michael donald by the kkk in mobile, alabama. >> michael was this teenager, trained to become a player, the eldest of seven children, home and his and once asked him to get a pack of cigarettes, gives them one dollar, puts it in his wallet, goes out and this buick pulls up outnd him and james pulls his pistol and order cemented the backseat of the car, and he

knows when he gets in the car what is going to happen, black men in alabama, you know. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> american history tv airs on c-span3 every weekend, telling the american story through events, stories and visits to historic locations. this month, american history tv is in prime time to introduce you to programs you could see every weekend on c-span3. history,es lectures on visits to college classrooms across the country to hear lectures by top history fesses, american artifacts, a look at the treasures that u.s. historic sites, and real america revealing the 20th century to archival films and newsreels. the civil war, you hear about people who shaped the civil war and the presidency that focuses on u.s. presidents and first ladies to and about their politics and legacies. all this month on primetime and every weekend on american

history tv on c-span3. "washington continues -- " washington journal" continues. host: if you go online, you will read the work of michael thenstadt, an expert on middle east. t work. i went to begin with one of your pieces in this one quote that focuses on. if you do not middle -- if you do not visit the middle east, it will visit you. explain. guest: repeatedly, presidents have tried to avoid getting smashed in the area's middle east complex and we have seen this under the obama administration as part of his lessons that he drew from presidentrs that obama ran on the campaign platform of disengaging us from the two wars and marketing to a third war, but presidents have found time and again that unless the united states is actively

engaged in trying to shift governments in the region, we get sucked in whether we want to a knot. it is good to be proactive and shaped the developments there and get sucked in as a result of underpments that are not or come about as a result of the initiative of others. host: this is from "the huffington post" and based on a study by the bill and melinda gates foundation that says war and terrorism in dozens of middle east countries since 2010 ms. rolling back health care, leaving open new and old diseases. it not only arises because of terrorism but because of health issues as result of turmoil. guest: this is a disaster proportions that we have not invasion, the mongol perhaps, and it will have long-term consequences.

as i mentioned, what happens in the middle east has ramifications beyond the region, both in terms of the impact of developments within islam having implications for muslims around the world, as well as we are seeing the politics of europe and the united states responding to the mass flow refugees to europe and the united states and the exploited terrorism and extremism of the region beyond. the bottom line is whether we want to ignore it or not, it will affect us. we need to be engaged and continued to be engaged and involved. host: nowhere is that more evident in syria. look at this picture this morning from inside "the washington post." the bomb hi mourners in aleppo. what are the figures? the number of people who left is now in the millions. guest: supposedly, half the population is displaced. , about about 12 million 6 million are displaced internally and about 6 million more have been displaced and located in neighboring countries have gone beyond to europe and elsewhere. what is happening is that the

middle east in many ways is moving west because of the flight of people from north africa to europe. also, the middle east is exporting security and instability. we had hoped after the end of the cold war that nato and other -- or the united states could [indiscernible] and what followed in the aftermath and the rise of al qaeda and isis is that the middle east is actually supporting instability. host: let me share with you what "the jerusalem post" is writing about. they are in the last stages of a 10 year deal that will give israel an estimated billions of dollars and all eyes are on donald trump and hillary clinton. trump in aat donald prize competition of style and hard-line statements that he would limit most of immigration to the u.s. that resonates with

some israelis, especially hardliners in israel. hillary clinton spoke in favor of the independent palestinian state should appear more to collect these -- more to aleppi's, and bill clinton remains popular. that is on the jerusalem website -- that is on the "jerusalem post a quick website. what are your thoughts? in office, you get you're confronted with a different set of realities. i think in the case of hillary clinton since its u.s. secretary of state, she probably was pronouncing conditions that are and that she was to be elected president, and donald trump has less experience in the area and we are d.c. him to some degree. you take everything with a grain of salt come up at even if they are elected, there will be confronted with an unprecedented series of challenges.

they have relationships with traditional allies that have become frayed and now we have the russians involved in the region that they have not since the cold war, and this is a complicating factor. then we have the iranians playing the regional role that they have not ever before. syrians the turkish and , we have already a complicated environment there and it becomes more complicated now with the turkish intervention. i do not envy whoever will be elected. host: we are talking with michael eisenstadt, with the washington institute for near east policy. we'll get to calls and messages in the moment and you can send cspanwj.et at @ you said that they need to think of regular and irregular conflict and policymakers should stop relying on the technological solutions for

politically driven complex. the u.s. needs to adopt a lightfoot print approach and action speaks louder than words and the policy arena. guest: i had written the peace with my colleague about u.s. military intervention in the region and military engagement there. one of the things that i said is that we really need to rethink the way that we organize and operate in that because the result of the last 15 years has been unsatisfactory and we have invested great in that part of the world and what we have to show for it is limited compared to the investment. part of the problem is that we tend to look for technological thetions and we worship at altar technology when many of the problems require good geopolitical instinct send a refined understanding of the politics of the region, which is lacking in american policy. i would argue a lot of art interventions have exacerbated the problems of the region rather than helping.

i hope that whoever is elected president not only focuses on policy but how use the military instrument. let me just say that under the obama and mr. shouldn't, after a long period of time and perhaps relatedly, we have arrived at a good way of operating in iraq and eastern syria, but in western syria, i think our approach is mistaken and this guided -- and misguided and has contributed to problems and is contributing to the disaster there. i hope the new minister shimon peres think our approach. host: our guest -- guest: i hope i knew administration will rethink our approach. host: our guest is michael eisenstadt. where did you go to college? guest: [indiscernible] host: let's go to eric in california. good morning. caller: mr. michael, my question is about overreach with the united states police in countries. hillary clinton was part of the

decision-making that obama wanted to go and make a supports and she also getting rid of assad. yes, these guys may have had country,history in the but donald trump says that he wants to be neutral in his approach with israel. israel is guilty of civil rights violations against the palestinians, so my question is in the cases with the united states intervening, those places are not so good and then you the fax andhat says then make a judgment, so which would be more beneficial going forward? host: let me jump in because there was also a tweet from a dealer that was related to what eric said, and it seems like the u.s. just reacts to the latest middle east crisis.

what must be overall long-term strategy to achieve lasting peace? guest: one of the things i say in this monograph i mentioned before is that americans have to this propensity for its solution is him. that americans think that all problems can be solved if you simply apply enough political capital and effort to solving them. i think we have to recognize that many of the problem are not solvable, at least at this point. we should be engaged though we should do it long term and long -- long-term and short-term, building on positive developments, and the exist and also trying to mitigate negative trends. when the policy is marked sustainable because it is better balance, and therefore, our market against heavy footprint

approach. there is no way to walk away from the problems or to solve them either, so we are stuck managing them. with the israeli conflict, i did not see that being that this point, unfortunately, the right solution. we need to be engaged dramatically in that area and we need to do things in order to the situation with the palestinians from deteriorating into open conflict again. i think it was a mistake by the obama administration to invest some match political capital and diplomatic efforts to solve the problem, which i think our stuff they did, but we do not need to walk away. we need to be engaged. it is a matter of striking the web inalance in order to diplomatically and militarily and in syria, and in a way that

is sustainable, and what i mean by a sustainable, is that the american people can support not for years tout come, so that means the heavy footprint operation and the end of exposure but it still means we cannot adding others. host: adding to that point for michael, do not forget that russia seems to be getting closer to iran politically. guest: that is something that i think is a negative outcome of our contempt to disengage from the region because others will feel that vacuum and the only try to reengage page, it is much more complicated. . i believe there are a lot of tensions between russia and iran, which takes effective cooperation between them difficult. just in the last week or two when russians started operating out of the iranian air base in syria, i think mainly to make a political point for propaganda purposes and they announced it,

aside from those series of strikes that their lunch, they will not be operating on an ongoing aces. their are sovereignty issues that are sensitive in iran. it seems. i think there is a great deal of distress between iran and russia and partly because russia was involved in sanctions in iran and russia held up to the the surface eric missiles for a long time, so there is bad blood and there is a lot of distress. having just returned from that part of the world, our guest michael eisenstadt is the director of the military studies of them at the washington east policy. near from california, mike on the phone, democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. , i am sure you're

familiar with the terms [indiscernible] at what thek back u.s. military has done in iran, and south america and other parts of the world, if you think ,bout what is going on today the seeds of what is happening in the world today were planted 30 years or 40 years ago. i think that may be just not interbeing military in other people's affairs might actually make a more peaceful world in another 50 years. i think if we continue to try to control everybody else in the world we're just going to make it worse. guest: i would add that there are things that we have done,

especially in the middle east in the last 50 years that have contributed to the region's problems, but i think there was a lot that we did that was good. our role in the world has been a source in many places for stability and we have returned , but i deterred wars think it is a point to have a balanced approach for a long time in the gulf. our intervention in 1991 prevented saddam hussein from consolidating over kuwait, we liberated kuwait and we earned the everlasting gratitude of the people, maybe not everlasting but we are in the gratitude of the people there and that really enhanced our stature because that is something where we had an international coalition of i think some 60 countries or so, so there are many things we did in the region that advanced our interest with the right thing to do and serve the greater good. again, not everything we have done.

in the last 15 years, we have done a lot of things that are problematic in that i can to be good to the region's problems. i think it is a matter of balance and perspective. host: let's go to robert in texas. welcome. caller: yes, what i was calling about was leon in the war, we paying theg about afghan soldiers $400 a month and taliban soldiers were getting $600 a month. i question is where is all the money coming from? we spent $2 trillion in that area. host: we will get a response. guest: i agree. between iraq and then afghanistan, no one knows how much we spent, but it was well over $1.5 trillion and he cannot afford these kinds of engagements anymore. question whether we should have ever done it in the first place. i agree with your point and i am arguing for an approach that

focuses on enabling others, but you have to say that we have to be willing to spend money, especially money because you want to avoid spilling american blood, so we have to spend money and provide arms in training for local partners and allies who are trying to achieve a shared objective. if we are to say that penny wise in the expenditure fund and trying to contain the complex of the region and push back, i will be pound fullest because in the end, we will end up spending more money for homeland security and other stuff like that. it is a matter of understanding the trade-offs and that there is a balance to be achieved between short-term expenditures and long-term gain. host: when you travel over there, most recently in israel? guest: yes. host: when you talk to critics,

or to they say about our policies toward the region? guest: in israel, people were unhappy with the iran agreement. in the gulf, i would say people have been unhappy with our general iran policy, which they iraniansas enabled from the point of view, iranian and shiite expansionism in the .iddle what we have seen at the conversions of opinions between israelis and people in the gulf. first of all, criticizing our abandonment of egypt once you had the arab spring in cairo, and my come back to this is that we had no choice. what are we going to do? enableing in order to him to keep his position? i think there would be criticism on that count and we are just going to differ with their

allies. with iran, i think their criticism of both israeli and welfare of critics that are on point. they make the point that on the one hand, we signed an agreement with iran are we did not cyber we came to an agreement with iran on their nuclear agreement and that kicks the can down for 10 years to 15 years and is not solve the problem and potentially provides them with funds to enable them to be more assertive in the region. we have seen in many ways, in the last few days, they were asking viewership in the gulf, we have seen greater iranian ministers, i would argue, so i would argue that there critique is correct and we have created the situation where we have endangered the security of some of our allies and partners in that part of the world. i would argue what we should have done this engage iran on the nuclear program but push back against iranian assertiveness in the gulf and in syria more firmly than we have

until now. that would have been a way to perhaps balance to aspects of their policies, which we want to enable us to pursue our goals for the nuclear program, but also to do with alec concerns which would be our concerns about iranian aggression in the region. host: meg makes this point, we americans have a short attention span. we went 15 second solutions that require decades. guest: what we talked about earlier in the speeches that the change of american culture. he have to recognize that the way we look at the world and the way we think about the use of force has not been effective, and that we need to change our way of thinking about the war in waye and we have a binary of thinking of war and peace and victory and defeat, and regular and irregular work, but in the middle east, all of that is one big gray area.

the kind of complex we are engaged in now are not going to be ending soon. they will not be any kind of short or definitive victory as a result of intervention. it will be a long-term with the american personnel on the ground, but a long-term commitment, which is ourssary in order to ensure interests are met, but there will be no definitive outcomes. we do not know how long this period of instability in the region will last, years or decades, but we need to be involved. host: our topic with michael eisenstadt of the washington institute. and alsoe our viewers those listening on c-span, doug from california, republican line. good morning. caller: yes, you mentioned that the administration might be able to change in a positive way some , so i situations in syria

was wondering what recommendations he would have to change the situation and to maybe help stop the refugee crisis that is there as well. host: thank you. guest: i would be modest in terms of our ability now. the situation has gone so far with the russian involvement in the turkish intervention that i am not really sure how much you can do. neede alone argued that we to actually be much more proactive and serious in the way that we support the syrian opposition, simply because it has always been in our interest to create a third way between the regime and extremists, such was recentlyhat changed their name from local al qaeda affiliates, but we did not

create a third way. people in syria could choose the regime or extremists, and as a result, a lot gravitated to more extreme groups. i do not know if we really -- if conditions now are conducive to an effective training effort, but we need to be look at that, and i would argue are we looking at that option? it is also important to have a third way to keep pressure it will never be a diplomatic solution that we are looking for and trying to achieve unless there is pressure on the regime, and right now, the regime is on a roll, in part because we have not been very proactive in arming the opposition and they have been making progress and they will not negotiate if they feel they have the upper hand. everything that we want to accomplish in syria is really predicated on having an effective effort with the opposition. that said, i'm not a big sound

of no-fly zones because i do not like the idea of committing to over -- to open-ended operations. we did that in iraq and it turned out to be a decade-long [indiscernible] and i would be reluctant to support that course of action. host: if you had to guess, how d stayoes a solid -- assa in power? guest: a couple of years ago, they called him dead men walking and the pendulum has swung, and look like he was out in 2012. hezbollah iran turn things around and it looks at back in 2015, momentum was shipping against him. the russians intervened at that point, so i am not really in the prediction game. we have to assume that he will be around for the future. saying,is is from jack will egypt's stability further deteriorate -- devolving into

chaos like libya and syria and iraq? guest: i like and say is that right now, it looks like cc like he has a firm grip, but there are signs that that could change any time as a result of an assassination or possible coup. things are not going great in the assignment and these operations have conducted operations now in cairo, so i were just kind of refer to my colleagues to focus more in egypt more than i do for that one. it provides a great case in which from our point of view, there are a lot of things unpalatable in terms of the way he is prosecuting the fight against isil. on the other hand, we have seen in the past what happens when the get rid of authoritarian leaders and what often follows is worse. we have a horrible choice there,

but i would argue that they should try to find a change in the policies. host: many of you weighing in on our twitter page. one saying that passed the u.s. military intervention in the middle east ever accomplished and been positive? let's go to minnesota. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. your light footprint approach, but i would also urge .ou to maybe look at this ever since we kind of overthrew the democratically elected 1953, andiran back in -- thattalled the policy has been repeated over and over in the middle east, and just looking at how that has

happened and how that has created animosity in that region , i did not get why my andrnment is going off doing these things to other people and other governments that are democratically elected or whether the government of a country decides to have whatever form of government they want, but what right does our government have to do that? especially going off my name and saying that you are going out democracy?preading in actuality, does it not for spreading freedom but in this business interests. ajax,ame out in operation so i like of the narrative is controlled, but i kind of see

through all the bs and i would really like it to stop. as a citizen of this country, [indiscernible] host: thanks for calling. that goes back to the earlier tweet from doc and income has the u.s. military intervention never accomplish anything positive? guest: i think the caller raises a good point that we should be careful in how we intervene to change governments and most of that coup is an excellent example of why. with regard to has intervention of the worked? i would argue in the 1973, returned to intervene in response and it was brilliant because it enabled us to help, enabled us to ensure an ambiguous outcome to the 1973 war, which the to seek peace with israel and allowed egypt to become a close ally of the united states. i think the 1973 war is a good

example of how american diplomatic and threatened military intervention had tremendous results, both in terms of the stability of the region and i would argue the 1990 war was built for morality and her interest aligned, and i think we did a very good job in defining limited objectives but rolled back the consequences of iraq aggression, and we did it and gained great stature in the region for doing so. just about everybody in the region come almost everybody, supported that and even the syrians were involved at the time, even though they were at anti-american and the soviet union had fallen, but they were seen as a russian ally . i think there are a number of times our interventions during the war ensured freedom in the gulf.

i would argue that we have a pretty good track record of doing well by doing good in that world but we have also screwed up a lot. the problem is the last 15 years there have been a lot of screw ups and americans have that bitter taste, understandably so, but we have to have a longer perspective looking at this and saying that we had done relatively well and made some mistakes in the region and some have made things worse, but a lot that we have done has made it better. host: from massachusetts, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to go further with iran, criticizing it, do you realize that have to iraq want --the persian empire [indiscernible] was thevide and conquer policy. you can even look at germany. they gave part of germany to france, czech slovakia, poland,

and of course germany went to work, so we still have the problem there. it was arrive between four countries. how do you want to get involved in that miss again? guest: no, do not want to get involved in that mess. this is a very troubled region and i did not think we need to or should been involved in every problem in that part of the world, but there are some problems, such as the civil war, which is not destabilizing the region and destabilizing or authorizing the politics of europe in a direction that i think will negatively affect american interest. if you have to strengthening of the rights in europe as a result of the refugee and terrorism issue, that is a great part related to what is going on in syria and the right in europe, russia as a, sees

more natural allies in the united states and this has the potential to dramatically transformed the atlantic relationships. things that are happening in syria has an impact on european politics in a way that has dramatically impacted american interests in that part of the world. i would argue that perhaps it is american politics that are not so good. again, we cannot ignore what goes on and we should not get involved in every conflict in that part of the world. host: ronald is next in new york outside of buffalo, democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. first of all, the trouble that is going on over there is oil, economics. they do not have a drop of oil, we would not be there. most of ourl, politicians do not know their history, and me, and the british empire and american empire,

created a whole situation over there since world war i, and we are not going to solve it voluntary action because it keeps switching sides of the reserve friends into his our enemies? and you got the religion factor in their. once you have that in there, there's no way americans will and it isproblem supposedly a peaceful nation and we have always sensed the birth of our nation after that war with somebody. .e have to have an enemy we have got to change that mindset and start thinking about our country and disengage ourselves from a lot of problems that we created. thank you. host: ronald, thank you for putting those issues on the table. guest: i am not sure, look, there's a debate among middle east specialist about what to agree on the problems of the

region due to the bounties created. first of all, almost every international boundary is man-made. there is no such thing as a natural boundary. that maybe the boundaries have contributed to madness, but i think it has to be to a great extent with the political culture, or you have this kind of winner take all and there is the approach to politics, where you have various --, and that willing to share with others. the greatestis source of the region's problems. i am willing to acknowledge that we contribute it to some of the region's problems, but i think we also played an important role as a result of american diplomacy in keeping a lid on a lot of the problems. i am very sympathetic to what the caller said, which is what

dialect for an approach that does not involve the massive commitment to american manpower because there is no into the conflicts in this part of the world now. as results, i avoid trying to achieve solutions which are unfeasible. i agree with a lot of what the caller said, but check in the right balance and intervening in areas where interests are affected, and the, whether we can solve the problems or not, we have interest in that part of the world. related to what the caller said but other factors that are related to proliferation, the exploit of violent extremism, so walking awayis no from the problems of the region, but we should not be heavily engaged there either, because we cannot solve the problems. it is a matter of solving the problems with local partners and other countries as well. california, robert,

you are next. good morning, independent line. caller: good morning, gentlemen. i have a long time listener, grew up listening, so i'll be talking to you guys. kind of been aas general theme that we have been listening to this morning for most callers. everyone kind of feels the same. i have not heard too much between democrats, republicans or independence. at the end of the day, we look back at history and we see that in korea, i think puppet warfare started in korea, where basically large powers like the united states and china and russia are going into smaller countries and financing wars and fighting the wars out of their own homeland. they go over here so the mess doesn't come back to the front door and they started in korea

and came to vietnam. obviously, as the storm continued with many complex -- with many conflicts, there are no new ideas or thought process. this is what i think jfk came up with when he started looking toward vietnam. in reality, the thing that we with pullingith out of the countries and freeing hubs of democracy, which is protected to look at south korea, look at that, even look at that with vietnam and everybody would agree that we not cords ofe are vietnam can't -- viet cong terrace building -- coming over -- terrorists coming over. guest: you have a series of regional conflicts involving and in many cases, islamic extremists or syria popular

uprising, which has sort of captured extreme islamist andps, so you have libya syria, which threatens to spread to lebanon and parts of iraq. that theall related in groups involved send weapons to each other, personnel, --nsferred tactic put procedures and techniques and there's momentum behind it, so this'll go on for a number of years. secondly, we tried imposing democracy in iraq and afghanistan and the political culture does not supported at this time. we have to recognize that fact. of working ourselves out of the job or a strategy of achieving military victory and

then creating democracy as we did perhaps to some extent in europe and japan and elsewhere doesn't work in the middle east under these conditions, unfortunately. host: we encourage our viewers to check out new look at washingtoninstitute.org. thank you for stopping by. this morning, a piece on the national park service to commemorate the 100th lastersary at was thursday, 19 16, when president woodrow wilson signed the legislation, marking the 100th anniversary in the white house painterly to those in the park service keep the white house permit proper. rim and proper. ♪ president obama: this is my chance to say to our. i see a lot of you all the time and i always tell you how much i appreciate you making this place beautiful. a lot of people do not

realize that the white house is a national park, the white house grounds is a national park in the white house itself is a national park. the rose garden, that was put in by john kennedy in 1962, the kennedy gardens, the east garden, put in by the johnson administration and rehab mrs. obama with the vegetable garden. >> when i went for the interview and they said i had been hired, i was really, really surprised that would be working at the white house. i started during the carter administration. >> i have been with so many administrations. >> i have been here a long time. they love what they do here and it really has become a part of them and so many of them have been here, 30, 35, 40, 42, 45 .ears

in has been a huge responsibility, and every storm, every snowstorm, every drought, i have worried a lot about what happens on these grounds. do i have a favorite tree? i have like six favorite trees here. one is the one we are sitting under, the jackson magnolia, they cable this back in the mid-70's to help older that. it is not only standing but growing and flowering and producing fruit, so that is very special. it is pretty cool to be in the rose garden planting or weeding or you are working hard to get it done and the president walks in to say, good morning, guys, you are doing a great job. when he sees me, he always asked, are you doing ok? me, he shakeses

my hand. my hand could be dirty. the chief of staff to say, you are doing a good job, i feel proud. they take a lot of pride in the fact that they take care of the beauty of the white house, and it reflects on them, and the stuff with a lot of their heart and soul into what they do, and i am proud to be able to work with. -- with them. >> every spring and fall, there is a garden tour. at whiteheck it out house.gov. we took a look at the anniversary of the national park service. you can watch that online at c-span.org. we will continue the conversation tomorrow morning, including a conversation with christine anderson. she will be talking about millennial voters. erika will talk about the availability of affordable housing. chris currie