hide behind attacking each other. right now we are talking about the life and death of a nation. host: bob is calling from grand rapids, michigan. republican line. caller: hello, how are you? host: go ahead. reiterate toted to amy goodman, about the medicare system. what you're going to have to do be givenre is going to to everybody which will take another 20 years of going back and forth anyway. is get rid of medicaid, the senior prescription drug program. so it is all rolled into one big national plan. if you keep medicaid and the separate other programs that we have right now, it will never pass. then you have to convince the political establishment in washington dc, that this is what the people want.

not what they want. right now the republicans are hashing out another obama care bill. it will be just as bad. that is what they think their power is. is having health care hang over the whole population. it is going to take another political cycle like we did with trump and tell the establishment, this is what we want and get rid of the junk. it doesn't work and we know it doesn't work. guest: i think that is so interesting. you call in on the republican line. it sounds like everyone really agrees on this issue. we have to come up with something that works and it is also why the media play such a key role. this is not up to just a few men's behind closed doors. the corporate media buying for which of those senators they can get up -- on their program. the media must be there for everyone to have these critical discussions.

i see the media as a huge kitchen table that stretches across the globe that we all sit around and debate and discuss the most important issues of the day. war and peace, life-and-death, health care -- anything less than that is a disservice to a democratic society. host: amy goodman, host and executive producer of democracy now. her book and now is out in paperback. thank you so much for joining us today. guest: it has been great to be here. be takingext we will your calls with open phones. a chance for you to bring up public policy issues that are on your mind right now. give us a call. first, on c-span newsmakers, a.m. airs tomorrow at 10 and 6 p.m., they interviewed the

house armed services committee, chairman mark thornberry of texas, he talked about russia's relationship with the u.s.. as a special prosecutor and several congressional committees are examining russia's role in the 2016 election. >> russia is acting as an adversary to the united states. it may well be that we have similar interests in certain places. ok where we do, then it is to pursue those interest together. we should be clear eyed about what russia seeks and the means they are using to achieve their goals. i think we will have a number of items in this year pasta fence policy bill that relates not only -- in this year's defense policy bill. strengthening the european defense initiative, and looking

at our troop deployments there. in addition we will strengthen our cyber capability. we ask for a really comprehensive review of what has become known as hybrid warfare. the russians are expert at this. it is not always overt military means they use to accomplish their goals but they use bribery, they try to undermine confidence in elections and other institutions and democracies. they put economic pressure, political pressure, on countries especially in eastern europe. use all the instruments available to a government. we are not very good at that. i think -- one last point on this. there is no clearer signal we could send to the russians than to have a substantial increase in our defense bill. in our defense budget. remember what really happened in

the 1980's was the reagan such anbuildup made impression that the russians knew they could never keep up. host: that was housed armed services committee mac thornberry of texas. you can catch newsmakers tomorrow at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. right now we are taking your cold -- we're taking your calls. you can call in and tell us the issues on your mind. david is calling from denver on our republican line. good morning david. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: i am good. caller: on the single-payer, -- c j o'rourke had a great line about it. if you think health care is expensive just wait until it is free.

the other comment i would have would be, do you really want the same people running your health care -- the ones that run the v.a.? i know i don't. from michael is calling in south carolina on our independent line. caller: good morning. the gentleman just asked my question. who is in a pay for all this? host: you mean if we go to a single-payer system? caller: correct. host: are you worried about the costs under the current proposal that is being floated by republicans in congress? caller: as worried as i was about obama care. host: in today's new york times there is a piece about the potential cost of the gop's health plan. health costs could soar under that bill it president trump and republicans with their plan to millions of

americans will pay more furniture and policy that comes with a much steeper deductible under the new senate plan, according to some economists and insurance experts, it could also make it harder to find a comprehensive plan covering various conditions ranging from heart disease to depression. that would not be prohibitively expensive. from mason,ng in ohio. on the republican line. good morning, tom. caller: good morning. host: what is on your mind today? caller: i'm calling in regards to the last person that called. your guests on file there. can't see the forest for the trees in the way. socialism has never worked. socialism will never work. everyone has their hand out.

remember, god give us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and the strength this -- the strength to change the things we can. and the wisdom to know the difference. for heaven sakes, we have to put this together and work it out. thank you very much. at some ofg a look the headlines in today's paper. thee is some reaction to washington post report that said that the obama administration -- that they may not have acted as toughly as they could have in response to russia's interference with the election. the tampa bay times with the headline, "was the u.s. outfoxed by the?' it talked of obama struggled to response to election meddling. carolina,oro, north

the headline there, "too little, too late?" the secret struggle to punishment. here is the line from new york, democratic in westchester county. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to talk about criminal justice reform. i think we have the opportunity to make a significant change on both sides, progressive and conservative. i'm a progressive point of view, things are not working. the prison industrial complex fx black malesects, more than any other group. it is a financial burden to taxpayers. we can do more by utilizing individuals in the prison system, train them better, train them to go and find good jobs on the outside.

copy machine repair, here educators, helping out in the health care industry -- doing that would help change the tide of individuals being --arcerated -- and not being returning to communities and not being able to find jobs. i hope we can work together on both sides to bring about change. host: where do you think the primary responsibilities for doing that lies? the federal government or local and state leaders? caller: i think it should be a collaboration. there is no sustainable answer that can be addressed by any one entity. federal, and also community organizations can work together, build partnerships -- states can do tax breaks for corporations that fund training programs and send experts into the prison systems. the federal government can set the environment to where -- you

know, less private prisons, more state prisons -- i don't mean more prisons. for states toy make the kind of changes to implement the change that needs to happen. what i mean is, it is unsustainable right now. too many people are coming into the prisons and not getting the opportunity to grow and be trained and educated. a come home and there is nothing for them. host: ok. jerry is calling in from out of them on the democratic line. good morning, jerry. caller: good morning. my comment is about the affordable care act. as it is this today. as it exists today. one of the requirements is the premiumsit -- 80% of must be spent on direct health care. i am wondering -- i have been not able to get an answer on this. maybe someone else can call in

and expand on it. how is it implemented? is it being adhered to? does anyone know, with that part go away with the so-called, new health benefit plan that is being proposed now by the republicans? if the premiums are going up skyhigh and they still have to pay 80% of that money man, weect health care, must have some bodacious health care there. that is what i was wondering. that was my comment. host: ok. about thetoday's post health care bill in the debate over it. five republican senators are expressing opposition to the bill. president trump and his allies are waging their most aggressive help senate gop leaders pass an expansive health

care bill next week but the endeavor encounter new resistance when a fifth republican senator said he does not support the bill as is. announcedr of nevada that he would not vote for the legislation without revisions, singling out the measures of cuts to medicaid were his reasons. this announcement caught some republicans and mitch mcconnell by surprise. is calling in from nottingham, north dakota on the republican line. caller: nottingham, maryland. host: oh i'm sorry. i haven't had my coffee yet. what is on your mind? caller: i'm calling on two points. andgentleman the called previously in reference to correction systems in the united states of america. as a veteran of 20 years service on the front line in a state

penitentiary, i will tell you that i don't care what kind of jobs or job programs you may have when you release prisoners -- when it has already been a crimes,lty for their back onto the streets, unless you can give them a job from day one making $1000 a day selling drugs on the street, you will never defeat the problem of recidivism. second point, on health care. socializedng towards medicine systems. if we don't learn from history and the records are socialized --icine throughout the world we will go down the same rathole as all these other countries that are dying on the line financially speaking because

they put so many dollars into these welfare programs. make no mistake. funded universal one payer health care is nothing but a rathole that we will throw our money down. as we have seen in all these other countries. less actual medical care, less good results for medical care, we will be very sorry for this social program. thank you. issue of criminal justice reform, and in the headlines today, the hill reports that "former acting attorney sally ates criticized jeff sessions -- sally yates criticized jeff sessions in an titled, "making america scared again won't make us safer." in may, jeff sessions reinstated

mandatory drug sessions -- drug sentencing that was refused in the 1980's. the article claims he was stoking fear. the smart on crime policy -- the united states is gripped by a rising epidemic of violent crime that can only be cured by putting more drug offenders in jail for more time. that argument is not supported by the facts. calling from florida on the independent line. caller: hello. correctling to try to something amy goodman said. she said the trump health insurance is going to eliminate medicaid and there will be babies and mothers laying in the street. that is not true. it will go to the states. the states will take care of medicaid. people ought to know that amy goodman, she is trying to be a nice person, her father was an extremely liberal dr. from long island.

liberal very extremely activists. host: let me ask you a question about that point. are you concerned that states will be able to afford to pick up the slack where medicaid leaves off under this new proposal? caller: i think the states have already through their governors, express their opinions about that. there are some states that are already doing that and they will continue the policy. everything will work out fine. the conservatives are really trying to correct. there have been many problems and they are sincerely trying to correct the problems. it is a shame that the people can't all work together instead of listening to some of these made thatmments being are absolutely not true. people are going to be dying. it is just ridiculous. people ought to get together and forget about what side they are --and everyone ought to have

ought to act like good american people. thank you. host: john is calling from putnam, new york on the democratic line -- on the republican line. caller: yes. host: what is on your mind? caller: i'm calling in response to the health care bill. this has been going on since hillary was appointed by caredent clinton to take of. it obviously can't be taken care of by either party. they seem to be going back and forth. one of the points that bothered me the most about this health care stuff is that the government parties -- the senate, the house, they don't have to buy into this health care. problem.hink is a big it shows that it is not good enough for them. supposedly good enough for everybody else. , thenclusion would be

public wants the same health care that they got. everyone has to pay into it just like they started to deduct from our checks, the medicaid money, for the future. the future of me using medicaid. for them to mingle and medicaid into regional and national health care is just preposterous. is two different entities. most of the people on medicaid have pre-existing conditions. you can put those people in with us. that are paying the taxes and the premiums. it has to be offset by the people who have the money. be good has got to the political establishment can sign on to that too. they can't exclude themselves from that. that means that plan is no good. from joe is calling in

amsterdam, new york on the democratic line. what is on your mind today? caller: hi, thanks for c-span. i just have a couple questions for my republican voters out there. number one, what would it take before you say that maybe trump is a russian spy or a mole? is, how manye people have to lose insurance and get kicked off their insurance before you say well maybe, this bill is not as good as obama care? me, president trump promised us a great health care bill. call or comelican back and tell me what is great about this plan? i would sure appreciate an answer because i'm still looking. thank you. host: other headlines today. in the wall street journal, talking about challenges in court being explored against sanctuary cities. the justice department is quietly exploring new legal

theories to take on so, sanctuary cities in court or in working to force them to aid the trump administration's aggressive deportation effort. people with the -- people familiar with the discussion say this will escalate the administration's pressure campaign against recalcitrant cities and counties. it goes on to say that friday the justice department filed papers in the state of texas's toughestn one of the anti-immigration laws being introduced. protectsupposed to in the debateents over century city's happening in court. on the independent line from michigan is pam. caller: hello. host: what is on customer caller: i

i watched people on haveare, the seniors, they lost genetically coverages they once had. their premiums for their prescriptions are skyrocketed. people come other in and brag about how they get so much because they have affordable care act. people tell you about the six years they had and everybody is being covered and i'm thinking -- i hearl my premium about other people whose premiums have skyrocketed. is there any criteria? are taking from those were working in giving to those who don't work? where's the sense in this? is calling from

irvine, california on the independent line. what you think today? caller: i wanted to comment about the health care. first of all. second of all, when you have 40% of people going to the emergency room, someone has to pay for that. when people are put in prison, they let a guy out in prison because they didn't want to pay for a sex change for him. people in prison, what are you going to do, going committed crimes are you get 100% health care. why common is we need medicare for all, the lady you had is right. when we get that we will have health care for all. it is my comment. they say it is socialism. the biggest socialist on the plant was jesus christ. that is my comment. from graham is calling in south carolina. on the independent line. good morning. kimberly, you run a great broadcast today. host: thank you very much. what would you like to talk about? caller: i would like to make a

shout out to amy goodman. she wouldly hoping make some comments about the russian election hacking. i would like to comment on that hacking specifically. the relation of partisan politics and how they open up a door of vulnerability for foreign governments to exploit. if you look at the farewell address that george washington wrote when he left office, he talked about how, but common mischief of the spirit of party were sufficient to maketh the interest and duty of a wise people to restrain him. since him hast been a member of a political party. we have not had an independent president since the 1700s. george washington said the spirit of the party opens the door to foreign influence and corruption. facilitated access to the government itself through the

channels of party passions. host: let me ask you this. partisanship has existed for a long time. we haven't seen this kind of level of meddling from russia and all of that time. why do you think it's happening now even though political partisanship is almost as old as the nation? caller: i believe it has to do with polarization. host: what do mean? polarization has led to a gap. the gridlock -- initially to aock was restrained smaller spectrum of issues. now it covers the whole spectrum of political issues. everything from health care to war. sooner later, the chief of some prevailing faction of the party, like trump, turns

this position to the purposes of his own elevation. have someone with this disposition like trump, sometimes they get cozy with foreign leaders like the. -- like putin. i would also like to make a comment about -- did obama fondle -- fumble did obama fumble with his handling of the election meddling? the washington post article reference this morning, if you read the article in full -- all the solutions proposed by members of congress, by leaders of the security council and white house aides, were held up because they needed bipartisan support. people from both parties in the same room. that, according to

this article from the washington post, it says the meeting devolved into a squabble. once a obama had to take action, what did he do? well, there were 35 russian operatives on diplomatic visas who were expelled from the united states soil. that is sort of -- host: i want to get some of the other calls before the show was over. charles is calling in from louisiana on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: what is on your mind today? well, -- and the west coast they had two kids standing corner andstreet they were protesting abortion, trying to witness to people. a vice principal came out and cursed them and stand in front

of them and try to prevent them from their constitutional religious right. it is not supposed to be hampered. anyway, he made the comment that abortion, a baby in the womb, is just a pile of cells. if you look at it from the way he is looking at it he is just a bigger pile of cells. what they are doing, they are leaving god out of it. day aboutp the other and the proofs of the bible. i wanted to find out how many things they had it up. -- that they had dug up. i found a website. they had dug up gobs of stuff. the fellow had a comment on their that he said, it is not how many things that have proved the bible that they should worry

about, whether it has been completely proved. the history of it. but he said 100% of what they have found has proved the bible. host: steve is calling from maryland on the democratic line. what is on your mind, steve? caller: hi, my comment centers around health care. this is unsolvable. i will tell you why. i've been working in health i.t. for 30 years. i worked with navy medicine, the v.a., i helped implement obamacare. i did support on the backend of it. in a management, senior management position. i understand these laws and i understand how different systems like tri-care and the v.a. systems have tried to implement -- you have competing factors.

you have a population that wants free health care. that is a percentage of the population that feels they should just be given. that is your medicaid. host: in the quicktime we have. why is it unsolvable? caller: caller: one, because centralized care has never been functional. in england, it's not. when you try to centralize everybody's care and give the same care to everybody, you can't do it. host: tomorrow we will have chris jacobs of the texas foundation here and sam berger from the center of american politics and center for american progress.

the -- from the center strategic studies will be here to talk about the increase meant -- the increase of u.s. troops in afghanistan. have a good saturday. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> next, former homeland security secretary jeh johnson on russian interference in the 2016 elections. speeches byoor senators on their version of the health care bill. after that we will open the phone lines to take your comments on health care.

cliques today at noon eastern, from the franklin delano library someential of the annual roosevelt reading should -- festival. -- and her book elliott and eleanor roosevelt. gatekeeper, fdr, and the untold story of the partnership that defined a presidency. and then at 8 p.m. eastern a conversation with rest selling author from his home in new york city. >> the sing kind o