albert the of the university of alabama law school. documenting the >> in afghanistan and pakistan, america's interests are clear. we must stop the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten america. ♪ president trump outlining his goals for military activity in afghanistan, calling for a goals for conquering groups like al qaeda, isis. not revealing an exact time label -- timetable. he during the speech criticized president obama's approach in afghanistan. in our first hour, we want to hear from you. whether you agree or disagree with him.

you can let us know in the first hour on the phone lines. you can also post your thoughts on these latest calls for action in afghanistan on our social media channels. and the lead up to the speech he gave last night in front of military personnel, the president said -- he went on to say i heard decisions that are much different when you sit behind a desk of the oval office. adding -- ton post

in that speech yesterday, he --hlighted three points three kind of goalposts when it comes to activity in afghanistan and highlighted those. here is part of that. >> i arrived at three fundamental conclusions at america's core interests in afghanistan. first, our nation must seek an honorable and enduring outcome worthy of the tremendous sacrifices that have been made especially the sacrifices of lives. the men and women who serve our nation in combat deserve a plan for victory. they deserve the tools they need and the trust they have earned to fight and to win. second, the consequences of the rapid exit are both predictable and unacceptable. 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in our history, was planned and

directed from afghanistan because that country was ruled by a government that gave comfort and shelter to terrorists. a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists including isis and al qaeda --ld instantly fell josh instantly fill. hastily andrica mistakingly withdrew from iraq. as a result, our hard gains slipped back into the hands of terrorists. our soldiers watched as cities they had fought for and bled to liberate and one were occupied by a terrorist group called isis.

the vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for isis to spread, to grow, recruit and launch attacks. we cannot repeat in afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in iraq. concluded that the security threats we face in afghanistan and the broader region arguments. -- our immense. 20 u.s. designated foreign activeorganizations are in afghanistan and pakistan. the highest concentration in any region anywhere in the world. often gives safe even to agents of chaos, violence and terror. the threat is worse because pakistan and india are two nuclear armed states who tense

relations threaten to spiral into conflict. it is -- about thet to talk speech from the president last night, what he said about afghanistan and the way forward. night.ch last caller: i don't think donald trump has anyafghanistan and th. solutions. he has a credibility problem. i don't think he has any solutions to this. this is a problem that is going to be ongoing. afghanistan -- i don't think there's any way we can win afghanistan. i don't think the commander in

chief has a clue what he is doing. his credibility has suffered some hits. host: the idea of solutions, why do you think he did not lay out any solutions last night? caller: i don't believe anything he says. he has a credibility problem with the country. i just think he has a credibility problem as commander-in-chief. host: collegeville, pennsylvania. go ahead. caller: good morning. i agree with how. i don't think he has a solution. i wish he did. host: what makes you say that? caller: first of all, i think there is no strategy there. will put in ane indeterminate number of people for an indeterminate number of time to solve problems really only can be solved by regional powers, iran, afghanistan.

that is my view. i don't think he has the correct strategy. he can go in and try but unfortunately, i don't think it will work. it will prolong the agony for us all. host: our republican line from new york, this is john. caller: how're you doing? i like everything that president trump said. i wish he made it a point we need to control the region. afghanistan is growing its poppy field since the invasion in 2001. over 90% of the world's heroin come from that region. the poppye from fields, specifically what he said last night, what appeals to you most? caller: i like the fact that we are not going to give pakistan a

blank check. i like the statement he made, we are not going to give our allies a by check. there's going to be some kind of accountability. host: that is john on our republican line. the speech garnered a response from the afghanistan ambassador who said -- that is from the embassy in afghanistan. part of the new york times analysis this morning in a speech highlights this fact.

there is as and he is in washington. independent line. caller: i want to talk about cost risks management. i have been running numbers through my head. years,e over the past 15 we are spending approximately saved byon per life

the way we have been fighting this war. the north korea thing, you can have 100 million people killed. risk thatuch a high you look at this thing. you cannot spend $10 billion or life. tripleybe double or people would die, but you cannot spend $10 billion for life. host: dave boyer from washington times says this.

john from alexandria, virginia, republican line. on the recent point you brought up about the expenditures in afghanistan over the past years, i think it is important. i am an active duty military officer. i served twice in afghanistan. is important to recognize that the country has no ports, no natural resources and 85% of the population is illiterate. we should use that as a foundation. -- i do oppose a troop increase. i do support the additional pressure put on pakistan for a long time. there been playing both sides debts they have been playing both sides unique interests.

i also appreciate giving -- getting away from some of the nationbuilding we were done with the past administration and some of the pet projects and social engineering we have been doing which were counterproductive. host: what branch of the military do you work for? caller: the marines. host: what about this idea of not revealing specific timetables? sayer: if we are going to this is conditions-based then the generals will have more flex ability to identify conditions without the pressure of the media and all the craziness. these conditions are going to change and they are going to change rapidly within two or three month windows. then we give them a little more flexibility to make those changes to say we have a terrorist issue in this district and now that has shifted it one of your callers mentioned opium which i think is a big problem. we can shift focus to say, we -- it is funding

some of these terrorist groups and we need to go after that. host: let's hear from vicki in twin falls idaho. caller: i listen to the speech and i am disappointed in trump. i don't think -- we should not have been over there to begin with. countryo rebuild their which is really the objective is to drop 21st century technology into their country so they can join the global economy as it has been designed by the central planners, by the way. we don't belong over there. we need to focus on our country. it is costing a lot of money that we don't take care of our own people. it is time we come home and stay

home and take care of our own people first. host: abc news highlights some of the reactions around the world. in part, this is what they said -- you can see that all at c-span.org if you go to that website. nightr, he said from last --

willy in tyler, texas. caller: i appreciate you taking my call. i agree with everything that trump said yesterday. that as ad the fact businessman, trump understands that there is no -- we need to stop micromanaging people. him removing that micromanagement off the armed forces is going to allow them to take care of what needs to be taken care of without always on the command channel coming back down on situations that require immediate action.

i have a lot of friends who fought in the different wars. my father fought in the vietnam war. my father-in-law fought through the korean war. in every situation, the micromanagement and all of the other things that went along with it, caused a lot of the issues that were there. i hate the fact that we have to continue this war, but we can't as hethis power vacuum has indicated. out.n't just pull we need to get it done and get it taken care of properly. i also like the fact that he said we are not going to be nationbuilding anymore. it is time to get this done. could hopeis willy is next, dallas, texas. .aller: good morning

i feel like i am on the crazy train. this man is out of control and what happened with charlottesville? now he is jumping to afghanistan. it is crazy. why didn't anybody talk impeachment? host: what about afghanistan are you concerned about? caller: i am not at an about what happens here in the states. let afghanistan take care of afghanistan. host: the you feel the same way with obama's management of afghanistan? host: i don't know caller: -- caller: i don't know why we couldn't have president obama for more years. host: off of twitter --

we're on track to spend 6 million -- $6 trillion. if you and see all the things he said about afghanistan, go to our c-span library and see those for yourself. let's hear from michael in florida. republican line. caller: good morning. i have to agree with staying in afghanistan. we are starting -- we started

out wrong. we're fighting vietnam pete we have a -- vietnam. we have an arbitrary line. if we don't go in there and clean them outcome of this war will never end. pakistanant a war with but we need to go to those mountains could we're losing people over that area because stupid decisions are made by civilians who don't listen to the military. this has happened over again. we've got to stop fighting arbitrary lines because we lose people people we cannot win wars. you have to go in and clean up the mess. host: in all the years we have been in afghanistan focusing on the tribal chiefs, that hasn't been done to a large measure? caller: no, it hasn't. we have to clean them out. host: how do you do that? do they repopulate? caller: no.

we have to go in on the ground, sees the weapons, take into custody those that we know are entering into afghanistan by way of pakistan and close it down. sealing the border is a good part but we are not capable of doing that with the troop levels we currently have. if you want to conduct military operations in afghanistan, one of the keys is to stop the logistics trail into afghanistan by way of pakistan. that is not effectively done. we are seeing attacks all over afghanistan. if we want to be victorious. this war. we have to clean it up. host: made that point. michael. let's hear from another in tennessee, our independent line. caller: i was drafted in the vietnam war. i didn't know why we were going. i never did find out why.

we didn't win the war there. we keep going to all of these different countries. every time some big rich businessman wants to say these people need to be out of office. the cia goes in. then you want to overthrow a government and you cannot get out. then it is somebody else's fault. you keep sending people's children to fight this war. like trump, he never went to war. his son never quite know where. -- his son, he never fight nowhere. he don't have to go to know funerals. he ain't never been to any so you don't care. if anybody say he do care, they are wrong. to win inot going afghanistan because these people have been fighting -- the soviets didn't beat them. we are going to keep on fighting. now you want to go somewhere else.

this country loved to go to war. host: marion is next, california. caller: i just want to say that i listen to this speech last night and i have to say that our president is doing the hardest job in the world. i think our country has to start come together to stop this fighting amongst each other. this is not a political thing. this is about our country. this is about people loving our country, loving each other and trying to come together with respect. we have to show respect for our president. we have to give him the encouragement to help us. we have to give him the encouragement to know that he is doing the right thing by saving this country from any kind of war or attack that we might get pete we have to come together. this is not a republican or

democratic thing. this is something the country has to realize, fighting over statues and silly things and fighting over things that they have no proof of is ridiculous. this is about coming together as one and coming together with respect for one another, no matter what we are, what we think or anything pete we have to come together. that is the only way this country is going to survive. we have to have each other's back. host: mike is next in florida. democrats line. caller: will somebody explain to the government why after 16 years and billions of dollars in money that we spent trying to fight this people, while we cannot defeat if you thousand terrorist? host: what do you think is the answer? caller: i don't know. maybe just a military compex so

big, they want to continue to do this. host: if you're just joining us, your reaction on president trump speech from last night. action there. specifically calling other countries like pakistan, want to get your thoughts. vick from twitter at this to the conversation -- you can call us on our facebook page. it was paul ryan during this

town hall that was featured on cnn. he talked about activities in afghanistan. we will show you that any moment. we want to get a perspective on afghanistan from someone in the country. sam constable of the washington post joining us on the phone to talk about issues. thank you for joining us. guest: it is a pleasure. host: your story about afghans are reacting. can you give the general sense of how they are receiving the speech from last night? guest: i would say there are two different perspectives, from the government perspective, very positive. they welcomed and embraced. there have been a lot of concerns that the new administration is good to abandon afghanistan and trump made it clear that that is not going to happen. he talked about military partnership and moving forward and commitment and support.

he used a lot of words that appealed to the government. he also made demands which officials and others approved of, talking about setting conditions but not timetables. after president obama set a timetable for withdrawing troops and that work to the advantage of the taliban. it isvernment saying right that trump should change that. we do want a quid pro quo. the negative comments came from ordinary afghan people and some of the commentators i talked to as well as former president karzai. he said that for them it looks like this is more of a war plan than a peace plan. it looks like the trump administration is going with

what his military advisers are calling for, talking about defeating international terrorism but less emphasis on what would be the in game for the taliban and how that would be achieved. he didn't talk about how to get to peace and a settlement. that is something that people seemed taken -- seemed to be concerned about. host: how effective has the manpower been against these groups that the president highlighted yesterday? guest: there are two wars going on, one is against the taliban and one is against the international terrorist forces. there are two separate they haves although been mixing up a bit. --ically, our 8400 americans there are 8400 american troops here. afghanho to support the defense workers in their fight

against the taliban. there are an additional number of americans, as many as 1000 or more who are specifically doing counterterrorism operations with afghan forces, but in this case, against the islamic state and those are two different things that are going on here. what everyone has been saying in the military that they wanted to bring in 3000 or 4000 american troops for training afghan forces, for improving an increasing the numbers for the afghan special forces, for helping the air force and dealing with other issues. it seems like that might well happen. we would be up to 12,000 or 13,000 americans. we don't know how many nato forces from other countries would be added to that. host: pam constable talk about the president calling out

pakistan. i know you are based in afghanistan. what do you think as far as what it does for the ground game when the president specifically calls of countries like pakistan? guest: i think there was a significant point. i take it was the most significant change in u.s. policy. i also worked in pakistan and spent a lot of time there. i got a lot of reaction from pakistanis, commentators and others saying it could be a real sea change in the american position. several people said it reminded them of right after 9/11 when officials said the bush administration called pakistan and said are you with us or against us? it.ad that kind of ring to trump was not very specific about what he might do but he sounded very strongly as if he were planning to apply extra

pressure. people in pakistan were speculating this can be anything from cutting military aid, economic aid to increasing drone strikes, to even cross-border attacks. nobody really knows. it seems that the really feel this could be a significant change in the very were someone from pakistan's point of view. host: some of the papers highlighting the money that is been spent in afghanistan. one of the concerns is the lead up in the activities was about corruption within the country. what is being done with the money we sent to afghanistan. has any of that changed as far as making sure the money we send it spent in the right way? guest: there has been some progress. i don't think should overstate it but there has been progress in two areas -- one of which is the afghan attorney general who

is quite a crusader has been really trying to go after corrupt high-level individuals. last week i attended two trials in the new anticorruption court. one of an army general who is accused of embezzlement. the other of a wealthy businessman who is accused of rigging and monopolizing aviation fuel business here. there were long, very detailed trials and at the end, both men were convicted. they got prison term years and they will have to pay high fines. there was quite a step forward. that is where it is beginning to bear fruit it one of the press when set to me that now powerful people here we are coming into their officers, they are a little afraid. it was a bit -- does a positive step. the other thing is more controversial. the government under president

ghani has instituted the oversight of procurement. everything that is purchased in any government agency now has to overseen by the special commission that is been set up by the president. the rationale is obviously to decrease corruption. what many officials say is it means even if you are trying to order a pencil, it can take months. that is the other side of the coin. it is a well-intentioned effort. it is going to cause great disgruntlement and slow down in the government doing its work. constable, her story highlights the reactions in afghanistan where she is based. pamela constable, thanks for your time. guest: you are very welcome. host: back to your calls on the

president laying out strategy pencils when it comes to activity in afghanistan. candace's next, republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say, i am from a long line of military and i have several members of my family in -- and a lot of our friends are at in afghanistan. i won't go into detail about what is going on because the whole thing is very private to us. i would like to say that for someone that is in a military family who has members over tonightor the callers and everyone across this united fores, please have respect those that are serving over there. president,t for our

because he is not making these decisions on his own. there's things that the people who are calling in tonight and the rest of us out here, we don't have a clue what those meetings are like. i can guarantee you that the president of ours is doing the best that he can and he is listening the best people that are out there to make these choices for the men and women who are over there fighting for this country. please just watch your words when it comes to our president, because he is not making these decisions by himself. this man came into an administration that was already such an a mess and he is doing a phenomenal job. let's go to james in los

angeles, democrats line. caller: can you hear me? i wanted to address the issue about afghanistan. i think that it is going to be not much progress in that area. we have a strategy in the way they cover that up is with trump saying it is going to take more time and they don't want to telegraph to the outside world what they are planning to do. part of that is ok but i can see him using some of it to let the public know what is going on. are --as afghans which in afghan come almost everybody growing food.lems they get wiped out because there ,re so many americans subsidies 180 billion subsidies that make their products way under cost.

i am wondering what can be done by about that -- what can be done about that? if you look at him as somebody that is trying to survive and he sees this easy way to pick the poppies, throw it on the truck, truck comes back and pays them. maybe not as his first alternative but that is what it leads to because the other crops are being subsidized by $180 billion. host: let's go next to rob, republican line. caller: i'm wondering why -- i got four friends over there right now. i lost three over there. i'm wondering why for five years they were standing guard in poppy fields and burning down wheatfields. host: you are saying they should have been doing something different? caller: they should not have

been guarding poppy fields. they were working for the cia. host: the president's announcement last night? your thoughts on that. caller: i support him one of 2% because he realizes the opioid epidemic go hand-in-hand. host: that wasn't mentioned last night. caller: he is not going to telegraph. host: what he did say, what struck you the most? caller: what struck me the most is the fact we are not going to be nationbuilding. we are going to go get the situation figured out and get out. host: that is robin florida. florida.at is rob in steve bannon left the white house and went back to breitbart news. the front-page news, some of the headlines.

that is some of the news from breitbart news. senator john mccain from arizona also commenting on tweet saying -- also heard from last night, senator lindsey graham -- marco rubio saying -- barbara lee, democrat from california saying --

this is representative eric swalwell saying -- kathy from dayton, connecticut. democrats line. agree with the general's. are back the generals behind trump guiding him. what i called in for, i would to callask servicemen in and give us your opinion.

your opinion counts. this is your conversation. i will love to hear their opinions. wish.s my host: thanks for the call. that is a good point if service people want to call in and comment especially if you spent time in afghanistan. give us your assessment. you can call on the landing -- on the line that best represent you. there is a follow-up story about the collision that took place of the uss john mccain in singapore . it led to a pause in operations for the navy. this is nancy youssef saying --

dean, louisville, kentucky, independent line p hi. veterani'm a vietnam

and i think we are to get out because [indiscernible] and when is the war going to and? 100 years from now? they need to do what they did during the vietnam war, have a draft. [indiscernible] donald trump is getting deferments. they are more interested in making their millions and us being killed. thank you. host: here is helen, hi. .aller: hi my first comment on trump's speech is he led in with the old with the axis of evil will congress.

-- will conquer us. is, our biggest war is not fighting afghanistan. it is fighting the war to win back our republic. we need to fight for our republic come our nation. it is internal. we are going to disappear into a we have nothing but self-serving politicians in washington dc -- and washington, d.c. we the people have been marginalized. as for all those people who called in and said my family is in the military and i support trump at my son was in the marines from 2004 2008. you tell me an 18-year-old is fully copper handing what is making the -- fully copper hands what is making the test fully comprehends what making the ultimate sacrifice. we have the coming in empire and

what we need to do is not go in and that -- and conquer afghanistan. we better protect our borders. we better vet our immigrants. nation and we our don't keep going out to pakistan and giving them billion dollars in foreign aid so they can protect osama bin laden. , that rich off of american dollars. this is our foreign policy. it is a mess because it is too big. nobody really knows what to do with it. i'm saying our real fight is to fight for the republic. when he to bring our country back into being a nation where the voice of the people are the power and at the power being solely located in washington, d.c. host: that is helen mentioning

pakistan or the presidents referencing of pakistan yesterday. he did specifically talk about that country and their role. here's what he had to say. >> the next color of our new strategy is to change the approach and how to deal with text on. just deal with pakistan -- deal with pakistan. other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond. pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in afghanistan. it has much to lose i continuing to harbor criminals -- by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists. in the past, pakistan has been a valued harner. our militaries have worked together against common enemies. the pakistani people have suffered greatly from terrorism and extremism pete we recognize those contributions -- and

extremism. we recognize those conservations . pakistan has a sheltered the same organizations that try to kill our people. we have been paying pakistan dollars, at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. that will have to change. that will change immediately. no partnership can survive a countries harboring of the lipton's and terrorists who target u.s. service members and officials. this time for pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilization, order and to peace. host: that is the president's statement from yesterday. he will speak tonight at a rally held in phoenix, arizona. that is live at 10:00 this evening. watch it on c-span.

go to c-span.org for more information. from michigan, democrats line. caller: good morning. i would like to start by thanking you and all the men and women who bring this great program. i watched the president's speech and i didn't really hear a strategy. listening to the part about pakistan again, if you put america in their, he just talked about charlottesville. we've got to get -- i've got a nation that is in the middle of a desert and this far as i know, then people just wanted to practice their religion. i got saudi arabia that attacked us with 19 of their people and i am out playing pakistan, iraq and iran. i don't understand the strategy. to me, it seems all he is doing is expanding the jobs rim -- the

jobs program that the republicans pushed. host: what could he have said that could have helped you understand what is going on? -- in a way iked agree with the timeline thing. he left it so wide open you might as will say, we are going to come out and tell me the truth. we are going to be there like we are going to be in korea, in germany. i don't think we should be there , because you're talking about people who can get to us. the one lady from california about the borders. you can tighten up the borders, how are they ever going to get here? we've got radicals in this country. when i looked at the president the and i looked at president's face when he talked about afghanistan and charlottesville. he was passionate about the not s and thebout the nazi

white supremacists. he was a stonefaced talking about the terrorists. i'm confused about that. host: that is randy in michigan. even in last night's speech, the washington post highlighting provinces to events that took place in sellersville. this is from -- and charlottesville. postis from the washington --

let's hear from wisconsin. independent line. this is james caller:. -- james. caller: how are you this morning? we're talking about the situation we are in which all stems back. they are mad at us because we went over there in desert storm and desert shield. when they came over here and attacked us for being there, bush gave them every week has up before we did anything. we could've went over there with conventional weapons and hit the targets. just pulled back and didn't rebuild nothing. and just said this is what happens if you're going to mess with us.

we should've pulled everybody out. there are mad at us because we -- there where interrupting they have been fighting for thousands of years. we are never going to fix that problem. host: do you think it is a matter of diplomacy? caller: i think that route would be better than what we are trying to do. previous callers mentioned that we could've -- president trump, i didn't vote for him but he is our president. money. it is all about we are trying to put our foot print out there and say that we are the leader of the world. we need to back up and take a step back and deal with our own problems internally in the country before we start deciding we're going to fix everybody else. alabama.e is lewis and he is calling on our democrats line. caller: i kind of halfway agree

with the young man. in bush one war pretty foot in bush to war. now he is in south korea. when he gets through fighting over in south korea, he has to come back home to fight the clan and the nazis here. we have no business being in their country. afghanistan, pakistan, they have no possible way to even get to america. the people that we should be fighting, we don't. these people cannot get to america. we are trying to run that pipeline from iraq all the way through for gas and oil. it in about terrorists. they are not terrorists. we are in their country could we are the terrorists. they are not terrorists.

how can you be terrorists in your own land? fighting somebody to protect their own land echo -- their own land? my son-in-law fought in wars now yes to come back home and fight nazis.n and the white when he was over there in this tug-of-war with it took saddam hussein statue and pulled it down. here, everybody talk about a statue. they want to go crazy. that is lewis calling us this morning. this is cindy saying --

those comments you can post on facebook and twitter as well. you can choose to follow us and like us on those platforms if you wish. you can give us a call on the phone line. todd, and of carolina, independent line. things.i've got three first i cannot find you on the radio appear. second, i can keep up with the conversation. third, if we don't go there nationbuilding like we did for japan, who is going to fill the void? china? is this the government liquidating rss -- liquidating our assets? we are available locally here in the washington, d.c. area.

if you want to listen on your phone, you can go to our c-span radio app which gives you access to what is going on as far as this program is concerned. you can also monitor on our website at c-span.org. there is a lot of information on our website. from james and triangle, virginia. republican line. caller: how are you today? to say thank you to our president for his presentation about afghanistan. i am an afghan born, u.s. citizen could on to say thank andto all of the team general mcmaster because when i was in afghanistan, he was in afghanistan and i worked for his team when he was working for the transparency task force.

living in afghanistan and now the comment the president made about pakistan was very important, because in the past, since the war in first,stan has started, being born in afghanistan, i never heard anybody make a decision about the main source of problem. living in afghanistan, it is always when a terrorist attack militaryunited states response to the attack in the terrorists disappear. they all go to pakistan. [indiscernible] in finding terrorism the terrorism aren't living in afghanistan which makes it just for our troops back in afghanistan hard. the trust to the public in afghanistan and the united states is very important because

the people of afghanistan here on the news that the united states donated this much money to pakistan and in the meantime that children are dying because the terrorists across borders. this bridge gaps between the afghanistan people in the military members. ,he comment of last night was one of the things i believe in the war on terrorism is not only about fighting the enemy, it is also winning the heart of the people that you are fighting for. it was very a good thing that the president of the united states. host: got your point. got to move on. mentioned -- richard from hampton, virginia. caller: my name is richard. my father was an army colonel who served in world war ii,

korea and vietnam. i was an army officer during the vietnam war. i like to say something about this whole situation. the use of the president last night of the military base and soldiers who are in service to .ur country as a child of a military officer

you wait for the consequent is so i appreciate your time. host: this is but from pennsylvania. good morning. i think canada trump got it right when he said foreign fronts. caller: they have been fighting their for thousands of years. it does not make america a better. it does not get us health care in this country.

it is not going to solve our tax problems it will not benefit us at all. host: there is no security aspect to it? caller: i don't believe it will. host: why not? caller: for the simple reason that it is a war over there. it will not benefit us. i don't think it can. host: talking about the president's speech from last night. if you want to see that speech, c-span.org is available to you. the president will speak again phoenix,t his rally in arizona, at 10:00. next hourend our taking a look at the topic of the removal of confederate monuments in cities and towns. first up, we will hear from lester spence from johns hopkins

university, joining us from baltimore. later on, we will travel to birmingham, alabama, the university of alabama's law school. al brophy will be along for that conversation. all that coming up when "washington journal" continues. ♪ c-span's voice is from the road asking attendees what is the most important issue to your state? >> what is really important to our state is that washington makes sure we maintain health care for the poor, elderly, and he infirm. we have to make sure we replace obamacare, we replace it with something smart and reasonable. an issue we are struggling with is property tax.

vast increase in real estate properties in our rural areas, farmers are struggling to pay a very high property tax. how do we balance that with the needs for our schools? i am on the appropriations committee. that is one of the issues we are dealing with. how do we make equitable the property tax across our state? >> the most important issue facing our constituents today is unfortunately the opiate crisis. i like to talk about children and how they are the collateral damage. one day they will have to explain how they lost their family members, other loved ones. we are talking about a neglect issue. thank you. >> the most important issue facing our state is the

partisanship that keeps us from making any progress. i do not believe in putting allegiance to a party over my oath of office. if we all show up as louisianaians, there is no reason we cannot tackle peace. our issues is to make sure the medical cannabis bill it hears to the policy of having res to the policy of having representation of minorities and women. this is one of the issues we will address. >> voices from the road on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from baltimore is lester spence, the political science