so enjoy your meal. see you in a second. thank you. [applause] announcer: washington journal is next with your phone calls. live coverage of the house as members debate and vote on the 2018 budget. withht our interview senator john mccain about his military career and service in the vietnam war. in half an hour, we would discuss the president's plans for opioid addiction. later, a look at recovery efforts in puerto rico.

and as part of our 50 state capital cities tou,, we ♪ host: good morning, it's thursday, october 26. at the white house this afternoon, president trump is scheduled to give a speech on the growing opiod epidemic and the federal response. we'll talk about it today on "the washington journal." we begin with a story from the 2016 campaign that's back in the news. new reporting this week tied the so-called dossier to president trump's connections to russia to the hillary clinton campaign and the democratic national committee. the president and his allies prove the dossier is a purely partisan document while some of

the president's critics view it as standard opposition research that raised real red flags. we want to hear what you think this morning on the washington journal. phones are open in our first half-hour, republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 20 -748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. datch up -- catch up with us on twitter or facebook. and a very good thursday morning to you. the story we'll be talking about in the first segment of "the washington journal" today broken yesterday on the front page of "the washington post," a reminder, here's what it looked like on the first page. clinton campaign d.n.c. tied to dossier was the headline, the hillary clinton campaign and democratic national committee helped fund research that resulted in the now famous dossier containing allegations to president trump's connections to russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the kremlin. today "the washington post" in

their follow-up story on this topic notes neither hillary clinton herself nor the campaign manager, robby mook from 2016 responded to requests for comments about their story. the story today noting brian fallen, the former campaign spokesman for hillary clinton didn't know about the research at the time but called it, quote, money well spent if it provided information useful to robert mueller now investigating the involvement. the new report is likely to provide ammunition to trump and his allies who long portrayed the dossier as the partisan document designed to undermine the election results. here's president trump yesterday talking about this reporting. president trump: well, i think it's very sad what they've done with this fake dossier, it was made up, and i understand they paid a tremendous amount of money and hillary clinton always denied it, the democrats always denied it. and now only because it's going to come out in a court case, they said yes, they did it, they admitted it, and they're

embarrassed by it. i think it's a disgrace. it's just a very sad -- it's a very sad commentary on politics in this country. host: getting your reaction this morning but this story generating a lot of headlines and commentary pieces and here's a few comments from left leaning reporters and comments out there from the huffington post, nick wing said yes, the democrats funded the steel dossier and question is whether they got the goods. the research turned up a number of shocking claims and writes if they're true, it won't matter where the money came from. from the plum line which is a liberal blog on "the washington post," paul waldman, he has the g.o.p. spin about the dossier story is disingenuous nonsense. today on the front page of the conservative brightbart website, it's on is their headline, hillary campaign d.n.c. accused of slightings

election laws with dossier payments and the conservative town hall website, a former bush aide, ari fleischer, the former spokesman for president george w. bush saying it sure looks like hillary clinton's campaign colluded with the russians. that's just some of the response out there. we want to hear from you this morning and hear what you think of this story that's very much in the news in the past 48 hours, republicans 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000, independents, 202-748-8002. the phone lines are up to talk about it. brady up first from boulder, colorado, line for democrats. brady q go ahead. caller: hi, how is your morning going? host: doing well. go ahead. caller: yeah, no, i was just thinking. we don't even know what's true in the dossier and what's not. the only thing we know is it

was paid for by the democrats as opposition research and that it has some allegations about our president getting peed on. host: the dossier talked about in the "new york times" wrap-up, questions about the dossier and where it came from. they note it's a 35-page collection of research memos written by a former respected british intelligence agent primarily during the 2016 presidential campaign. the memos allege a multifaceted conspiracy between the trump campaign and russian government to help mr. trump, now president trump, defeat hillary clinton. the memos detail unsubstantiated accounts of the encounters between president trump and russian prostitutes and they were intended as bribes and other claims about mr. trump's businesses. this morning we're getting your reaction to the story that's very much back in the news this week. walker is waiting in cleveland, ohio. line for independents.

walker, go ahead. caller: yeah, you guys left out a tidbit that the republicans had an oper test who started that dossier research, is that not true? host: yes, according to the reporting it was started -- the funding for it originally came from republican donor who was very much against trump in the primaries. go ahead, walker. caller: do you not think that tidbit of information is important to get a holistic view of what's going on here? host: sure, walker. here's the background and who paid for it, the same q.&a of "the new york times," during that republican primary that donor opposed to president trump becoming the party's nominee retained the research firm to unearth potentially damaging information about mr. trump. the donor never has been identified but several possible suspects have denied responsibility including officials from so-called super-pacs that supported senator rubio of florida and

former governor jeb bush of florida. after trump secured the nomination, g.p.s. was hired on behalf of hillary clinton's campaign and by their law firm to compile their research about president trump, his business nd associates. host: thank you. line for republicans, what are your thoughts on the story? caller: mark here. my comment about the whole situation is that i think it's the d.n.c. had to be this way and the investigation is ongoing with trump. i just think we all need to respect the process of where it's going and let the investigation lead itself. i wouldn't want to see everybody fall in the midst of so much controversy. we should just kind of like let more information come out before we start jumping down

one another's throats, hillary supporters, trump supporters. more than than it already is. i just think we should use caution at this time. mark: do you think it matters who paid for it at this point? caller: i do think it matters but not as much as necessary as people might think, it's a small factor because they can pay as much money in the world, it could be hillary or other onors. host: karl, los angeles, california, line for democrats. you're up early this morning. go ahead. caller: yes, it is early, 4:00 a.m. host: thanks for calling in so early. caller: i've been doing this a long time. i'd like to say doesn't anybody remember what trump's son said when he had the russians give

him an email saying that they had things on hillary clinton? and they wanted to support donald trump, he said great, i love it. don't people remember that? and you created a big thing out of this dossier. it's not 102, it's 012. why do you do that? host: who is at the top of the listing on your screen at the eginning of every month. next month, democrats, independents, 8001, 8002 and month after that we'll do what we're doing now, 8001, 8002, republicans, democrats, independents, try to do that just to be as fair as possible to make sure one isn't on top all the time. that's why we do that.

appreciate the call. thanks to getting up early. to your point about what the possible scandal is here. paul waldman writes in his piece, "the washington post" plum line, what is the scandal, is it that the clinton campaign conducted opposition research to trump? of course they did just like the trump campaign presumably conducted its opposition research on clinton, is the scandal that there were some wild charges in the steele dossier, so what, the clinton campaign didn't leak them to the press using them in the ads or make any use of them. the document came out after trump was elected, when buzz feed published that document january 10. he said the idea -- that what the clinton campaign did represents collusion is nonsense. the most clinton did was hire an opposition researcher who interviewed sources he knew in russia to see if her opponent had engaged any questionable activities here. we don't know if she or anyone else on her staff read the steele report since he was a

few steps removed from the campaign. nothing about that remotely resembles collusion with russia. that's paul waldman, "the washington post" plum line opinion section if you want to read that. the line for republicans, michael, go ahead. caller: hey, how is it going? thanks for having me. and yeah, i mean, i think this whole thing is a nothing burger, just like they repeated it over and over again. they're trying to do everything they can to tomple trump into nothing and ridicule him and demoralize him. i just think it's ridiculous nd a waste of our money. the democrats, they're insane. most of them are insane. anyone who thinks our president is colluding with russia is completely ridiculous. even if you wanted to have good relations with russia, that would be a good thing for our country. it wouldn't be a negative. thank you very much.

. i'll take any response to that. host: mike necessarily maryland. the lines again, 202-748-8001, democrats, 202-748-8001, and ndependents, 202-748-82 -- 202-748-8002. we want to hear your reaction this morning. rochelle is in franklin, indiana, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm glad you're explaining that went online to explore it. that devin -- ng nunez. host: the congressman, the intelligence committee.

caller: he's so corrupt and i can't believe he's even allowed to enter into any of the investigations. we need some stricter restrictions for our lawmakers, especially spending money on investigations. investigate is all i have to say. host: why specifically don't you trust congressman nunes to lead this investigation in the house select intelligence committee? caller: he's always trying to do something to undermine the other people involved with the investigations from the republicans to the democrats and he goes off on his own and then goes to the white house and pops back out and then gives these news press stories and it just -- he's just a bunch of -- it's just a mess.

host: in indiana, this morning, information from the post reporting about the dossier about the process by which it was created. the officials said the f.b.i. confirmed some of the information in the dossier, though not the most sensational documentation. official records show the ampaign paid legal fees from 2016-2017 according to the finance records and they paid the firm $3.6 million in legal and compliance consulting. and some of those were paid from fusion g.p.s. no information on what went to the research firm that paid the contractor, the former british intelligence agent here for his dossier. the story in the first

half-hour, i want to hear your thoughts. john, line for republicans. caller: hell, good morning. so what i'm seeing here is now we have news that hillary is -- her team was paying all kinds of money to bring up slander, whatever, some dossier on trump. but when russia and these leaked emails came out with hillary and we found all this collusion in the d.n.c. for their election, the story wasn't about that, the collusion and election but how the method was done. like the guy said before, maryland, i think it was somewhere, he said it shouldn't be where the source comes from, it should be if they find corruption, that's what they should go after. goes back to the whole drain the swamp thing and just the senators from the past couple

days coming out, you know, they speak nicely about trying to make everything, everyone speak nicely but are they just trying to maintain their establishment? maybe trump is having trouble doing that but sounds like both parties just want to get things back to status quo. host: sounds to me like you're saying they should investigate this so see if there's anything that happened here. do you as a republican think at this .from what you've heard there's some inappropriate connection between the trump campaign and the russian government? caller: i doubt it. so i also believe there's many intertwining connections between all sides, all parties that if you investigated one person to enough energy, you would find something, just like any average citizen. if you looked through every

single last bit of records, you'll find something that you could point the finger at them and wave. let the first one without sin cast the first stone. but i voted for trump but i don't exactly trust the guy. honestly, i don't trust any olitician. i was hoping him being an outsider would help things. maybe it will, maybe it won't. just the way things are being so much e is being focus on him, they'll find something especially when they nitpick every word he makes. host: a independent from texas. good morning. caller: thanks for having me on c-span. i just want to say people are attacking the president and all, making things up and using this whole russian nonsense when it's been proven beyond are and the clintons to me

just as corrupt and having them are two bad choices but i'd rather have trump. there are over a hundred people that have gone missing or died who had dirt on the clintons and we need to look at the reality that things are not that bad. we can nitpick on every something d find bad. people complained about bush and obama and they want to bitch and campaign, watch my language. i feel we should just focus on reality and what's really going on instead of nitpicking everything he's done. host: got your point. adam in texas. 15 minutes past the hour here on the east coast. talking about the trump dossier that's gotten so much attention this week. also want to note today at the

white house an event expected at 2:00 p.m., a statement from the opiod t on crisis and reporting from "usa today" this morning expecting a president to declare public health mbling, a more sweeping national emergency including aides interviewed by "usa today" and we'll talk more about what that means coming up later today on the washington jump. also later this morning on the washington journal, our c-span 50 capitals tour continues and we're in topeka, kansas, the capital of the sunflower state. you can see shots of the c-span barely visible outside the capital building and interviewing jeff collier at 8:50 this morning, stick around for that for the next 15

minutes getting your thoughts on the story, the trump dossier, its ties to the clinton campaign, the democratic national committee, the money spent to fund the research that went into this dossier. i want your reaction to this story. jeff is in new york, line for republicans. eff, go ahead. host: good morning, jeff. caller: first of all, i thank for you taking my call. i think it's out of character for hillary to do that considering the way she dealt with bernie sanders. they refused to give her information and someone in the d.n.c. resigned basically, they fell on their sword so hillary could continue. i don't think it's out of haracter at all. and also with trump and the he'll put erve bank, policy over substance.

inflation will start to pick up. host: certainly a topic we'll be talking about in the upcoming segment of the washington journal. we want to stay focused on the story getting so much attention, the trump dossier, revelations this week about where some of the funding came, the connections to the clinton campaign, the d.n.c. john is in trenton, new jersey, an independent. go ahead. caller: i have a gripe against the whole damn deal about both parties and their underhandedness. was donald iate trump's campaign to reach out to this firm to go ahead and do this investigation and that was wrodge. take the personalities out of this whole thing. there's no donald trump and there's no hillary clinton.

y would you go out and start a campaign that is dishonest to the american public and portray yourself as the all-time truth sayer? i don't see the justification in this whole thing. he did collude with the russians and that should be the he didn't because if pay off somebody he wouldn't have the money to go to this firm to do the investigation. what good is it for us to do this bickering while our nation is in peril? you have the hurricane, you have the fire, you have all this other stuff going on and all of this money is going to the top 1% of this country. i don't see justification of

trying to justify your campaign and for a fact, donald trump took the apprentice, and this was way before he went ahead and ran for office. he had to settle a lawsuit against mark bathea because he went ahead and pitched it to donald trump. burnett was mark the intermediate of this whole deal. host: i got your point. the question to this research and how it's done, "the new york times" in their k&a on the dossier asked is this research common or legal? they note campaigns and party committees frequently pay companies to assemble weas known as opposition research, badging information about their

opponents and nothing is illegal about that practice but the watchdogs accused the clinton campaign by disguising the payments, the fusion g.p.s. on mandatory disclosures to the federal election commission. their disclosure reports do not list any payments from the clinton campaign or the d.n.c. to fusion g.p.s. but list a total of $12.4 million to perkins coie for legal consulting, $66,000 was listed for research consulting from the d.n.c.. that's ken vogel's story on the dossier back in the news in today's "new york times" if you want to read about it p. a few tweets on this topic. rick writes in, it's not about who funded the dossier and whatever is in it is true. he feels he's been exonerated. another one, tax reform stalled

and north korea is extremely dangerous and we're talking about hillary and a dossier? harold says it's ironic all this came out about dems and their fake dossier. it isn't true and they know it. join in. it happens every day where you with give us a call in illinois, democrats from elgen, illinois. how are you doing? host: doing well. caller: i hear what people are saying. some of the stuff i agree with, some of the stuff i don't. first of all, i want to know how this man even won the election and stuff. also, two, you know, kennedy killed gaddafi if you don't really know that. number three, you have all this and you say you're a good

president and you're trying your best to build up your community and american country and you want to focus on wars and stuff like that overseas and spending money on all you and trying to take over another country and all that with the republicans and d.n.c. takes the money and spends it in dallas and says you did not do that. but when you think about it. host: kendrick this morning. donnie is in columbia, kentucky. wine for democrats. onnie, go ahead. aller: i'm a democrat. donald trusm shows he's got kelly lying for him. and the whole trump white house is nothing but a scam. from day one, i have watched the primaries and when he was running. but d trump is with nobody russia. every time you turn the tv on,

he won't say a thing about russia and the sanctions, he has never seen it through yet. why do we need a president like him? he may be your president and someone else's president but i don't claim him as president. host: richard is in louisville, kentucky, line for republicans. go ahead. caller: yes, the leader of the democrat party, barack obama, today, he's even come out of hiding. we now know that millions and millions of dollars was ok'd by him and the obama administration to go after trump. he had his people, samantha powers, all his other people absolutely unmasked and absolutely have broken the law

now we're finding out they took this money and dealing with the uranium. , w, for you democrats >>, donald trump is president of the united states. there's nothing you can do about that. for almost a year now, you've lied to the american people. but it's all going to come out and you're going to go to jail. people are going to go to jail for what they have done to this country. the democrats -- how does a week before -- how does a week before all this information comes out the d.n.c. fires all their top staff? thank you, sir. host: richard in kentucky. the editorial board of "the wall street journal" taking up this issue today in their lead editorial entitled democrats, russians and the f.b.i. they end it by saying the american public deserves a full accounting of the scope and nature of russia's meddling in

american democracy and that means following the steele dossier as much as the meetings of trump campaign officials. morgan, randallstown, maryland. line for democrats. caller: i thought i understood the fusion group, the guys ing in research had an incomplete republican dossier and that they started shopping it around when the republicans pulled out on it and how it got to the democrats. it wasn't like the democrats went out and did this. it was something that was brought to them. the other thing is that any person who is vial, vulgar, a bully and tells lies is going to be disliked. it's just the nature of trump and why he's so much hated by so many people across this country. host: our last caller in this segment of the washington journal. we'll have more time for open

phones later in our program about a. up next, value rogers of kentucky will talk about the president's speech on opiod abuse and later joined by a congressman from new york about the recovery efforts in puerto rico. first, yesterday, congress woman dina tidas read off the 58 victims of this mass shooting an called on her colleagues to take action on gun control. >> we can't allow the guns lost in my district or anybody else's. and if we don't act soon we'll be doing it again. i want to call the names, say the names, remember the names of the 58 casualties who lost their lives in my district. let us honor their memory and let these 58 names give the republicans 58 more reasons why we must take action now. nnah ailer, heather drovaro,

kerry barnett, jack bato information, steve burger, candice bowers, denise berditis, sandy casey, andrea casilla, denise cohen, austin davis, thomas j. jr. hristina duarte, bron fraiser, kerry gal vin, angela gomez, osaio rocha. hartman, a police officer offduty. jennifer topaz imbinging, teresa nicole camera. essica klemmchuck. victor link. jordan mcildoon, james sunny melton, practice trish yeah

mestis, austin meyer. adrian murfitt. rachel parker, jenny parks. isa patterson, von thipen, melissa arrive air ezz, quinton robins, cameron robinson, tara we, chris roybal, bailey switzer, laura ship, eric sylvia, susanne smith, brennan stewart, derek bowe taylor. nathan tonx, kurt von tillo and bill wolf. these are the 58 people who lost their lives from gun violence in my district in nevada. 58 more reasons why we

shouldn't stand silent but we need to take action now. >> washington journal continuess. host: republican hall rogers in in his 19th term in the house and represents the kentucky district and is co-chair on the caucus of prescription drug abuse. later today president trump will make a much-anticipated speech on opiod abuse about the epidemic in the united states. what are you expecting to hear from him in this speech? guest: i expect him to reiterate what he said more than two months ago. opiod declared the epidemic a national emergency. i suspect hopefully we'll hear the details of what he wants that to include.

no one knows. it's 2:00 this afternoon. i plan to go. host: c-span plans to cover it. guest: good, good. this truly is an emergency and i'm glad the president now is moving him to the front burner so he draws attention to the problem. he's losing to an overdose now. e american every few minutes like 15 minutes or so and going unabated and increasing and there's more people dying now from prescription drugs overdosage than car wrecks. or gun violence or what have you. so this truly is an epidemic as the center for disease control said two years ago. now the president saying it's a national emergency, which i think elevates it on the importance of the scale. host: if what the president ends up doing is declaring it a

public health emergency as opposed to a national emergency, would that be disappointment to you, that's the reporting in today's "usa today", a public health emergency, not the more sweeping and national emergency and we can go through what that would actually mean but would that make a difference to you? guest: we don't know exactly what his intentions are to the federal agencies. we already spend about $8 billion a year on fighting illegal drugs or prescription medicine, opiod abuse. so it's already high on the nation's importance register. but what he intends to do change o either regulations of the moneys being spent for the problem or something else. so we have to wait and see. host: if it's a public health emergency, one of the things that would allowed president to

do is tap the public health emergency fund but that fund only has about $57,000 in it right now according to "usa today's" reporting. is this going to spur congress to push more funding to this problem and where is the best place to push that funding in your mind of somebody who has been on the proposes committee in congress for a very long time? guest: well, yes, it makes a big difference on just how he intends to define this national emergency and what follows on. so we'll have to wait and see. it may require more money in case -- in that case we'll try and find it. it may require agencies to change policies in some fashion. we'll see whether or not they can legally do that. so i don't know yet what the efinition of his emergency is.

host: we'll find out this afternoon. c-span is covering, a congressman from kentucky, a former chairman of the appropriations committee, here to take your comments, a special line for those who have been impacted by the opiod 748-8001 and democrats, 202-748-8000 and independents 202-748-8002. congressman, why wasn't this declaration done sooner? guest: the center for disease control in atlanta two or three years ago declared that the opiod problem was a national epidemic that didn't mean anything legally but drew

attention to the height of the roblem we're in. when the president says two months ago we're in a national emergency with a problem, it was not legally done, it was not declared, he just said that . all of us wondered, what does it mean and when is he going to do it and how can we make it happen sooner? we're all anxiously awaiting to see what he's proposing at 2:00. republicans, mike, go ahead. caller: thank for you taking my call. i had a quick question, comment, not sure what to call it. but i sympathize with people who struggle with. my struggle is understanding why the government is doing it.

you make your decisions, you make your own decisions of what you do to your body. no one got involved -- inaudible] you make your own decisions in your personal life. host: got your point. congressman, the question of why the government needs to intervene and the difference etween the crisis now versus decades ago when it was primarily in the frican-american community? guest: the opiod abuse in 2001 started in my district and we were the first to have this onslaught of addiction. the lexington newspaper, which vers my part of the state,

had this huge headline on the top fold said something to the effect, eastern kentucky, the painkiller capital of america. something like that. i had no idea we had this problem, no one else did. i dug into it, of course, and discovered it was unfortunately true in spade. so we started an organization in my district called unite, stands for unlawful narcotics, investigation, treatment, education, three-pronged holistic approach to this problem. i went to emergency rooms. and anyway that began the problem. and of course now, you know it spread coast to coast.

it's interesting to me and i don't have an answer. most all of the worldwide abuse of open oids is in the u.s. hardly any in europe or other parts of the world. why that's so, i do not have the answer. but it's a national problem. it's infusing itself into every aspect of our life. we're still losing people every few minutes to an overdose, and the work is fully ahead of us. host: mike in ohio, line for democrats. good morning. caller: good day, fellas, how are you doing? i'm in lick skillet, ohio. and i've got a question about the heroin epidemic. you know, we've been in afghanistan 15 years or whatever now and the production is four times as much than what it was when we went in. this reminds me of the

iran-contra scandal, the covert operation when they were trading machine guns for cocaine in south america and now we're in niger and don't mow what's going on over there, another superoperation that nobody knows what that's all about. it looks to me what we've created, i haven't, you people there in d. clmplet and the rest of them, if you think back, john f. kennedy said he'd like the c.i.a. wadded up and thrown in the trash can along with the federal reserve. host: what's your question? caller: the question is, why have we got this facist disney production wrapped around the twilight zone? host: congressman, you want to pick it up? guest: i'm not sure i nderstand that last statement.

the heroin epidemic is replacing the opiod prescription abuse. heroin is cheaper and actually more available, they tell us, since we've been now really after prescription pill abuse, a lot of people are switching to heroin, and it's just as addictive. t's cheaper and easier to get. so we're not through with this problem if we zero out the problem with prescription pills. and heroin is coming, frankly, across the southern border, southwestern border. a lot of it coming from columbia and a lot of it coming from mexico. and the fentanyl problem we've not talked about yet, fentanyl is a hundred times more powerful than morphine and it's legislationed --

laced in the heroin sold on the streets, it's deadly. coming through china, some of it being made in mexico. product but al fentanyl mixed in with heroin and no one knows what the ratio is, so it's a very dangerous thing we're dealing with here because you can't tell when you take that heroin shot whether or not it has fentanyl in it or not. if it does, look out. host: that's on synthetic open oids like fentanyl you were talking about with 2016, some 20,145 deaths in the united states attributed to synthetic opiods and primarily fentanyl for the first time deaths from synthetic opiods primarily fentanyl surpassing the number killed by prescription opiod painkillers. dd opiod you mentioned the injection of

these drugs. i want to ask you about this story from the indy star, a second indiana county this week, ending its needle exchange program with one official citing moral concerns about needle exchanges. i know this is an issue you've gone around with as well. do needle exchanges work, something you support? guest: yes, i reluctantly came to that conclusion a couple years ago, or three. i had been opposed to the needle exchange programs until the small town in indiana, i don't recollect the name of the town, had a severe outbreak of v-aids and hepatitis c, just swamped, this small town. and governor pence, vice president pence was governor hen and ordered that the

needle exchanges take place. and in my instance, we wrote into the appropriations bill a couple years ago the provision that would allow communities to establish needle exchange programs, we would use federal funds not for syringes themselves but for the supporting activities. one reason why i think it's a good thing, it at least gives us an intervention point with people who are sick, and when they come in for the needle exchange, perhaps we can intervene in their life and help them avoid what caused the disease in the first place, drug use. host: on the line for those impacted by the opiod crisis. thanks for calling in.

go ahead. caller: good morning. i rely on -- [inaudible] what's been going on has been a phobia causing havoc. inaudible] undergo and whatnot. i'm glad you took that up, you talked about the increase in eaths recently are a problem of openities were heroin and fentanyl, not so much with patients that are dying and also want to point out that those who overdosed and dies on one of those opiates, half of those were on alcohol and all of them, on average, were on six other substances. yes, people are dying but it's

a combination of factors and a lot of misinformation is being thrown around and waiting a situation where doctors are afraid to describe medications and bringing a lot of needless suffering so keep us in mind when you try to push any new legislation. host: thanks for the call. congressman rodgers, what do you want to pick on on that? guest: i had difficulty hearing what he was saying because of the line. yes, alcohol is a problem as well. he's right in that, you know, these opiod painkillers, prescriptions, the long lasting ones, the 12-hour release pill, is very, very useful and helpful with terminally ill patients with cancer and what have you, though very addictive and difficult to kick once you are addicted.

oxycontin, for example, is till doctors have to help people through severe pain. unfortunately, it's so highly addictive it makes it very difficult for us to work into the regular business of curing people. the silver bullet on the opiod prescription drug problem is to velop a medicine that is effective in pain relief that's not addictive. that is what the research is going into at nrment i.h. and c.d. -- n.i.h. and c.d.c. and the golden ring we're after. host: doctors being afraid to prescribe treatments -- i know it's an issue you brought up is not enough doctors going into addiction treatment as a

specialty, how are you trying to fix that? guest: that's a tough one. we're working with the f.d.a., federal drug administration. and of course the medical community, and they're governed by their state associations, doctors. so it makes it very difficult administratively to work on that problem. we are pressuring the medical community to study and prep themselves on the problem. we have now got the word out to the medical community about addictive qualities of oxycontin, for example, which they were misled at the onset in the late 1990's, early 2000's, purdue phrma that makes oxycontin misled doctors around

e country to the effect that oxycontin was not really addictive. of course we knew that from a long time ago. nevertheless, that company, the officials of that company, perdue phrma, paid a fine of over $600 million because of misleading doctors about the addictive qualities of oxycontin. host: should it have been more? guest: more money? host: shoot fine have been more, should people have gone to jail? guest: yes, should have gone to jail. we're talking thousands of people who have died because of that mistake. host: to pennsylvania, pat is an independent. good morning. caller: actually, i'm a democrat, that's ok. during the obama

administration, there was a bill passed unanimously, and it d.e.a. in his effort to press down an illegal sale of opiods. [inaudible] two, are there any calls to repeal that bill? thank you. appreciate it. host: congressman, i believe the law the caller is referring to is the one that's been in the news recently when it came to president trump's d.e.a. nominee. your response? uest: yes, he's exactly right. that bill weakened the drug enforcement administration's capability to fight illegal drugs. it was changed during the process of going through congress. it was modified so that the

d.e.a. then became supportive of that bill. because it did not require them to prove that the act was intentionally done. host: did you support the bill when it came through? guest: i finally did after the d.e.a. supported it. i wish i had not. in fact, i filed a bill that would repeal that bill brill -- that bill and i think we'll pass it. so that the d.e.a. will have all the enforcement powers they originally had to go after the drug dealers. host: and the lines for those impacted by the opiod crisis. keith waiting in warren, massachusetts, good morning. caller: good morning, sir, how are you doing take? -- doing today? how this will impact me, is i have a broken neck and recently had lung cancer and a lung

removed, a couple ribs removed and a lot of nerves cut and this and that. after i'd been out of the hospital on a couple operations, i was on a couple hundred milligrams a day of xycontin, and this and that. and i've gotten myself down to where a doctor describes 16 milligrams of vicadin a day and that's just to get up and move. nd i decreased that by myself. [inaudible] once a heroin junkie, always a heroin junkie, but that should be a legal matter. what's going to happen, are they going to try to take people like myselfs on them, the slow doses we take to get by and we'll all have to turn to heroin junkies or something? host: you get the question?

guest: i didn't understand. host: he's concerned about his own access to opiods and is not somebody who abuses it, somebody who weaned himself off from what he was given at the hospital. concerned with this crackdown he might not have access to the opiods he needs to get by through the day. guest: that's not a problem. his doctor will be able to utilize the pain medications available to him. what we're trying to stop is the illicit, illegal prescription pills that are on the market. but his doctor will have full access to the pain medicines. host: the call for the line for those impacted by the opiod crisis. mason, dayton, ohio, go ahead. caller: that is blatantly false and it is impacting people who need these medications to urvive on a daily basis.

i had a injury with double back fusion three times and hip replacement and so on. i didn't need those medications. i had a prone foot and because i was on existing medication, they could not get me medication to help with the break and pain that comes with a broken foot. i had to have oral surgery with two teeth pulled and they couldn't give me anything because i was on pain edication. and they want to drug test pain patients, right? and if you don't sign an agreement to drug testing, they no longer will give you your meds. host: what should be the answer? caller: i think what the answer is we need to go after the problem and that would be the drug companies themselves and how it's being prescribed, not the people who need it, the people who need it have to have it every day, like a friend of mine who just went through a

kidney transplant and couldn't get any more than seven days of pain medications because of the laws in ohio. host: congressman? guest: her doctor will be able to prescribe whatever medicine she needs. we're not talking about cutting off access to these drugs by legal prescriptions. what we're talking about is trying to prevent excess pills falling into the hands, particularly of young people, who abuse that 12-hour release mechanism by questioning it and using it instantaneously. but her doctor will have full access to painkillers. host: we have a couple minutes left and i did want to ask you, as a senior member of the appropriations committee with this budget plan that the house is taking up, are you going to be supporting the senate version of the budget plan despite the fact it's different from the house, despite the fact that is would add to the

deficit to the tune of $1.5 trillion over 10 years. guest: it's coming before the house floor today. i'll be supporting it. ecause mainly, it's just a avenue for us to get to the tax reform bill that's coming up next or soon. under the senate rules, we have to pass this budget resolution in order to bring up and pass the tax reform bill which we're after bigtime. so yes, i'll support it. host: what do you say to folks back home seeing that $1.5 trillion number and heard the house talk upwards of $200 billion cut in their budget plan? guest: it's a temporary bill we're passing and will be replaced by the real budget resolution after we get through with tax reform. a preliminary step

required under senate rules in order to bring up the tax bill. host: when do we get past tax reform, when do you expect that to happen? guest: i'm not on the committee that works on it but i think we'll get it done hopefully before christmas. host: hall rogers, republican from kentucky's fifth district, south of eastern kentucky. appreciate your time. come back and talk to us. guest: thank you very much. host: up next we'll be joined by a democratic member of the house. that's congressman from new york. we'll talk about his recent trips to puerto rico and recovery efforts there as well as tofertse safe the daca program and we have our 50 capitals across the nation and stopping in the capital of kansas, topeka. we'll be right back.

♪ >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span 3, saturday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures and history, luis alvarez on the 1943 los angeles suit suit riots and how they were used to challenge identities. uit suitors were viewed as public enemy, if not number one, then number two or 1b japanese-americans. they were seen as un-american. p.m., theat 6:00 green hill plantation. >> this site, green hill plantation, as the original

slaveowner here. the slaveive in trade. what are the things he decided to put in his yard was an auction block, a state. >> the auction block standing where it is right now is a huge part of why the site is so possible. that powerful. this would have been the last children, women and would have been with their families. after this place, they would have been scattered across the united states. this is ground zero for that experience. with an00, interview historian on the stonemasons who build the outer walls of the white house. >> over the front door, carved with their lease, flowers, griffins, acorns -- it is very lush over the front door -- probably the finest example of carving in america for 100

years. >> american history tv -- our weekend, every weekend, only on c-span 3. "washington journal" continues. host: congressman adriano espaillat is a democrat from new york. he has been to puerto rico twice since hurricane maria and took a house for to declare puerto rico our caribbean katrina. when did you mean by that? weeks, all, for four month, puerto rico has not had any energy. puerto rico is in the dark. many of them do not have portable water. there are still comes that are wrestling with the hurricane, and the damage -- the physical damage that it did -- particularly the smaller towns in the hills of puerto rico. i was able to visit one of those

counts, take water and food to them. i see the plight of the puerto rican people. they are very resilient, but they need our help. four weeks, a month later, there is still no electricity. in many places, no running water. you can see the photo on the screen. this is untreated sewage water. host: did you take this photo? guest: i took this photo myself. this is a great challenge. these natural disasters have cycles. the next cycle could be an outbreak of epidemics, and the next cycle could be, also, a lack of medical services for the people. we must be steadfast in bringing help to puerto rico, ensuring they get the electrical grid back up and running, and

fema and the department of defense are there to help. i found mo help -- i found more help got to the puerto rico people from american people -- brothers and sisters to make sure they got to help themselves. $36.5 congress approved billion in emergency spending, including $18.7 billion for fema in puerto rico and california, $1.2 billion for nutrition assistance in puerto rico. is that enough? what more do you want to see if it is not enough? guest: the reconstruction of puerto rico may take well over $60 billion. the island was decimated by a terrible storm that many experts feel should have created a new category of wind and destruction, way beyond the category 5 hurricane that we usually see devastate many

countries. so, this is unforeseen for the region -- unprecedented. it will take over $60 billion to rebuild puerto rico. it should be built in a resilient way -- in a reliable way that will be able to withstand any future storms. unfortunately the caribbean stands in the pathway of many hurricanes. we had four of them hit the area -- many countries and the u.s. territories in the area, but it is going to take some money to really build it. the money that was allocated will really go toward puerto rico -- a loan will go toward just keeping government running. so, we must go back and get at least a $20 billion allocation to really begin to address some of the critical needs of the puerto rican people. guest: $20 billion --

billion just for puerto rico -- is that in the hopper somewhere, moving along? host: it is moving along. we should be able to address that in the next two to three weeks. if we don't do that, puerto rico may spin out of control. what do you tell a father who has his children for four weeks with no electricity, no running water, spotty food that comes in and out of a town that might be somewhat still disconnected from the main cities of the island? what do you tell a parent that is in that dire situation? guest: did you meet that parent while you were there? were we met parents that like that, crying for help for their children and their families. we don't want a public safety crisis to emerge, and we don't want a major epidemic. we have already seen how this

could turn out to be with potential cholera, zika, or dengue -- some of the diseases that emerge. guest: how -- went -- host: how close are we to something like that happening? some: there is communication of diseases, and we don't have an accurate count of the people that perished or died in the storm. 49 is the number we have, but folks were in hospitals, lifesaving equipment -- hospitals that lost their generators. we don't know how many people, subsequent to the storm, because of a lack of health care, important health care, or medication they needed, also passed away. we don't have an accurate account. we are asking for that to happen. host: we're talking with congressman adriano espaillat of

new york, talking about his --ent trips to puerto rico his 10-point plan for puerto rico covering. with us until about nine -- 8:30 a.m. we're taking your calls. host: we start on the line for independents. david, springfield, vermont. go ahead. caller: hello, c-span, thank you for your service to -- service. host: you are on david, for the congress and. guest: hello, david. caller: appreciate your service. this suggestion -- the great needs to be underground, and the biggest problem we have had with hurricanes is electricity and water. intold suggest building puerto rico, around the country, desalination plants that could run on high pressure or forced

water turbines, or hydroelectric power that could run through the water system. you can have an open, underground system in puerto rico in certain areas where you can have electricity that could be run off the desalination plants with turbines and hydroelectric power, and you can also the selling water to provide freshwater dachshund desalinate water to provide fresh -- desalinate water to provide freshwater. guest: that is a great suggestion, and you are accurate, write that the main problem seems to be a lack of -- you are right that the main problems into be a lack of electricity, water. unlike other countries in the region, puerto rico had a u.s.-made electrical grid. they did not have a parallel, independent grid that many countries in the region have because of spotty energy supplies. they were caught off guard. i do agree it must be a

state-of-the-art, modern system that puerto rico could you perhaps, use -- could, perhaps, use their place in the permit -- caribbean for potential renewable energy, and it must be rebuilt substantially. i think your suggestions were good ones. host: in terms of rebuilding the grid, i want to get your thoughts on this contract that is gotten attention -- $300 million for a small montana energy firm to work on puerto rico's electrical grid. that is white fish energy. "the washington post" reporting they only had two full-time employees on the day the hurricane hit the island, has never taken on the structure and the scale of what struck puerto rico, and now some questions from your colleagues on how that contract was rewarded. are you joining? guest: i am joining the call. we are concerned that whitefish smells fishy, if you make, and

we want the department of justice to look into how this contract came to be, the company that got the contract, and whether the proper and appropriate process was utilized to ensure that it was transparent, and they are prepared and qualified to provide the services they were contracted to do. host: what is your understanding at this point? do you think they are qualified? guest: well, there are some big regards -- with regards to their capacity, their ability to provide services. they only had two people employed before the hurricane. we are questioning whether or not they are capable and qualified to provide the services they were contracted to do. beyond that, we are also questioning the transparency of this whole exchange. host: we are joined by congressman adriano espaillat of the 13th district of new york here, taking your calls in question. he is serving his first firm -- term in contract -- congress.

had two recent trips to puerto rico in the wake of hurricane maria, talking about his expense. jim, leesburg, virginia. caller: sorry, i am not mother teresa -- i get up every morning and bust my butt. -- a a corrupt country socialist nation. 60% of the people employed down there are employed by the government. i get up every morning. my son is a combat veteran from afghanistan, and he is getting andrunaround from v.a., here i have to send money to a corrupt country like puerto rico. host: do you not consider puerto rico a part of the united states? caller: it is a territory, yes, sir. they are corrupt. i have to spend billions of dollars -- host: got your point.

yout: jim, i must remind puerto rico are u.s. citizens. it is a u.s. territory. many of them, like your son, have served in the armed forces and many have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, and have died for us in times of war and conflict. puerto rico is a territory. we must treat them as full-fledged u.s. citizens. they deserve to have the rights and privileges of any state in the united states or any territory in the united states is offered by our government. we saw how this terrible storm in previous storms devastated houston. cities like texas, or the state of florida, that were really hit hard by irm a. we saw how the u.s. virgin islands were also decimated by hurricane maria. this is not an exclusive

calamity, exclusive humanitarian crisis of puerto rico. the virgin islands are also reeling back from the storms. they are all u.s. citizens and must be offered the rights and privileges and the help we would offer any american citizen across the world. the 13thr district, district of new york, has a particular connection to puerto rico. can you talk about it? guest: yes, i represent east harlem, the cradle of puerto rican migration to the mainland of the united states. they settled there, many, many years ago, in the 1930's and the 1920's. host: why there? anst: east harlem was attractive neighborhood -- many came to work on factories, on farms. families settled in. you have fourth and fifth generation families that still live there, over 100,000. it is the cradle of puerto rican aggression to the mainland, and i am proud to represent them.

host: brad is in virginia beach. line for democrats. go ahead. caller: i had a question -- i thought a few years ago richard branson, virgin records, had built saltwater purification takes and stuff, and i was wondering why they don't put some of those on puerto rico, that way they can at least go through the water? host: there are companies -- and went -- guest: there are companies that have made her way to puerto rico with technologies that offer that kind of service. it is being experimented on, but not to the scale that is necessary to provide portable ofer for an entire island 3.4 million people. so, we are concerned about the outbreak of epidemics. folks like the gentleman you saw

in the screen -- on the screen in a river with untreated sewage water. sewers need electricity and have collapsed as a result of the lack of energy. host: in that picture again, from the congressman's recent visit to puerto rico. where was this specifically? guest: this was in the town of -- not too far from --outside of the city of san juan, puerto rico. host: we hear from linda in lake worth, florida. go ahead. friends in the keys that have been collecting their own water in simple things like rain barrels -- why on earth when you had the first hurricane did people not have rain barrels to collect the water and they would be able to survive to the second hurricane or through all the water in puerto rico?

it is a simple, cheap idea, and it would have helped a lot of people, especially the people in the remote areas. guest: i think that is a good idea, and it will provide enough water for some families, but not 3.4 million u.s. citizens. i went down to puerto rico with my colleague luis gutierrez. we took water to the town. we took can foods and supplies -- canned foods and supplies. , who has of that town his own operation, seems to be doing a better job than fema. he is the one that goes to different neighborhoods with bullhorns and loudspeakers, and lets people know they are bringing food and water for that week, or for that day. this is an important operation that he has going. it is reliable. many of the help is coming from towns and people that are friends of puerto rico that that feele the island

it within themselves they must help out at this critical time. host: can you talk about the scale of the federal response versus the private response -- what you were just talking about? is it 50/50? what did you see when you are down there? guest: i cannot make an accurate assessment of the percentages, but for my first trip, when i visited the mayor of san juan, puerto rico, we went to a generator,at lost a and there were 41 patients there , including 11 that were on ventilator's and in critical condition. she had to move out there and get the amplitudes in a row to ship them out of there, -- ambulances in a row and ship them out of there and get them to other hospitals. we did have the army corps of engineers to come and make assessments. we hear that often fema, or even the army corps of engineers, go

makeveral towns, assessments of the situation there, but they do not engage in the actual repair of the generator, or the actual immediate help that is needed in that particular jurisdiction. so they are very concerned that bureaucracy has gotten the way of bringing help to the puerto rico that point we can people. guest: sunny p -- puerto rican people. host: sunny. go ahead. caller: i have a few comments. first of all, what is to be done? everything i see on the internet, the news -- what about reports of all the relief that is being brought in, food, water? i hear there is a problem with distribution once it hits puerto rico. secondly, i don't honestly think that this is something done as the press and media is making it out to be, something that president trump is somehow doing purposely.

what would he have to possibly gain by doing something like that? guest: well, first and foremost, there is a problem with the distribution. originally, right after the storm, there was an issue with actual access to some of these towns in the hills, but even if you wanted to get there, the road that would take you there, the bridge that would take you to that particular town was no longer there. supplies had to be airlifted there. people had to be rescued from the very remote towns in the hills of puerto rico. there was a problem with access to those towns. in addition to that, there was a real problem with distribution. many of the containers that got there were backed up in the ports, and there was a lack of truck drivers, trucks, and be so -- diesel fuel. lines atr, some of the the gas stations went on for 24

hours before you are able to get diesel fuel. there were mechanical issues and obstacles repenting real rescue and help. ,ith regards to the president we saw it ourselves how he behaved when he was in puerto rico, hurling paper towels that folks that were in the middle of the crisis. i think the department of defense that was down there, and the general that has been assigned for this campaign of bringing help to the puerto rican people should have been more aggressive in laying out a plan -- almost a military plan, if you make, ensuring that debris will be removed immediately, floating bridges would be put in place where bridges went down, and it would be responded to as though it were a war-time emergency. that is what we need. and infrastructure in puerto rico to allow for supplies to get people in very remote places on the island. host: another place were you have been critical of president

trump is in the deferred action for childhood arrivals program -- the future of the program, the president's comments on that. what you think the future is? are you open to a deal that would preserve daca, the connect funding to a border wall? guest: the wall is a nonstarter. it is contrary to america's mission and vision of what our nation is. it sends the wrong message across the world that we are in a time of isolation, and that is totally the opposite of where we should be engaging the rest of the world. the world is a much different place than it was when the berlin wall was built, and ronald reagan, a full-fledged republican, said to gorbachev, "bring down that wall." all of a sudden we're going to build a wall on our southern border. a nonstarter for us.

we feel the dream act is a piece of legislation that is a bipartisan piece of legislation that stands right now in the house of representatives, supported by a republican from florida, a democrat from california. we have close to 200 cosponsors of this bill, and on its merit, it should be debated on its own. we are talking about a hundred thousand young people that are --kers, students that 800,000 young people that are workers, students. 20,000 of them are teachers, and they want to be, and are very much part of our nation. we should discuss this legislation on its own, on its merit. ticket to the floor and take a vote up or down. host: you mentioned when republican. you mentioned 200 cosponsors. how many other republicans? are three or four,

but we know because this issue is pulling so well -- 75% of americans support the dreamers. even among the president's supporters there is a significant amount of support for dreamers. it pulls very well. we know our friends on the other side of the aisle are eagerly waiting for this bill to come to the floor so they can vote for it. their constituents --constituencies when is to support these young people. host: about five minutes --five minutes left with commerce and adriano espaillat of new york. -- congressman adriano espaillat of new york. line for independents. goal had. -- go ahead. caller: two i for taking my call. i am not an engineer or architect, but looking at structures in the world, igloos, up in the north where there is a lot of wind -- i am wondering, not just for puerto rico, but for the hurricane-prone areas,

it is time to revisit the structures that we build. instead of doing squared structures where the wind can rip everything off, perhaps curved things where the wind would not be able to grab it and go around it. i do not know. i am an engineer. i am really thinking about it. host: got your point, susan. congressman? guest: i am not an engineer either, but i get your point, as i said earlier, the caribbean stands in the pathway of hurricanes. so, puerto rico, cuba, the u.s. virgin islands, jamaica, haiti, some of the smaller countries like barbeau to, -- like barbuda, they must reinvent and that includes sustainability and building structures that in the future will be able to sustain very strong winds, hurricanes, and tropical storms, such as the

ones we saw during this hurricane season. of course, puerto rico, now, has the opportunity to rebuild itself, but it will cost about $60 billion to make that happen, and it will cost more money if we're going to be building in a sustainable way that will be able to prevent the kind of devastation we saw with hurricane maria from occurring again. host: dutchess county, new york. rob is a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. germany, i believe, has about one-third of its electricity from solar. 20%, toe come up from 25%, to 33%, and i am wondering why -- it seems that puerto rico would be the perfect case to rebuild using solar. it is southern. -- i don't know why we don't hear more about that,

and i don't believe this backsent really has the of the puerto rico people. is signaling to his base that these are not his white people -- his base. i think again it is a question of people that speak a different people,, that are brown and just like he criticizes the congresswoman with the wacky hat, he is signaling it is the gift that keeps on giving -- he is signaling to his base, brown people, black people, constantly signaling that he is against people of color. concernedwere very when we heard him say the crisis in puerto rico through the , that cycle out of whack puerto rico's -- put reagan's were not taking on their own

responsibility to respond to the crisis, when in fact i saw the results of the puerto rican people, the commitment. it was not a fly-by helicopter ride or a day trip. i was there overnight. are, how committed they how easily they are, and how they are committed to bringing back puerto rico from the current situation if this is now. with regards to solar energy, i know the authorities are already engaging companies -- private companies -- that are proposing alternative energy for puerto rico, including solar energy. host: st. pete, florida. ryan is a republican. good morning. guest: good morning. caller: hi, representative. i would like to know, in our state they said how many of the displaced refugees are going to be coming here because there is just they need for them to have --sing to sustain themselves

is there going to be a plan to make it desirable for them to want to come back, or to stay in the dream country? also, with that, there is also with the border -- what they are talking about, and how people are trying to keep certain people out so they do not take all of our jobs. don't want to we give away to other countries sneaking in here, be filled by puerto ricans and keep it all self? our own it is like, one united states. it does not matter color, boundaries. you call yourself a new yorker, i am sure. you do not say any ethnicity. i wanted to listen and let you talk about that. be an accidentll of puerto ricans -- as i said earlier, many are u.s. citizens, in centralmilies

florida, texas, and other places across the country. many will join their family members, and already have joined their family members. many of them have returned, as we saw from katrina. 80% of the population in new orleans left the city of new orleans. many -- some of them did not come back. i think about 50% of them came back, so some of them did not come back. i suspect with puerto rico, some of them will come to the united states, stay with their families, and some of them will return to puerto rico. some of them will perhaps find their way to remain here in the united states, and they are entitled to do that -- it is their right to do that because they are u.s. citizens. host: last call. the in mclean, virginia. line four democrats. caller: i am interested -- i'm hearing people talking about

this situation and puerto rico, but i do not hear people talking about the status of puerto rico -- the relationship with the united states. the people of puerto rico voted for statehood in november, and that is the root of the problem. i'm interested in knowing if the congressman supports the statement of puerto rico. guest: i believe the status of puerto rico remains in the hands of the puerto rican people. they did have a referendum with 20% of the voters came out to vote in the majority chose statehood. this is an issue that must be discussed. i believe puerto rican people have the right to determine their own destiny -- their status, whether it is the commonwealth status they now statehood, or whether they want to be an independent nation. but i think this is not the time to engage in a discussion like one that has been a very

conflicting, divisive in some parts of history, and it has been somewhat controversial. i think right now the primary goal is to bring help to the puerto rican people. i think the issue in the island right now is the storm -- hurricane maria, and what it did to the puerto rican people and to the island. we must bring immediate help to ensure that puerto rico will continue to be a shining star in the caribbean. host: we will have to leave it there. congressman adriano espaillat, democrat from new york, the 13th district. the q so much for your time. host: thank you so much. journal, forington about 20 minutes or so until we take you to the latest up in our 50 capitals tour, kansas, topeka , kansas. until then, lines are open for any issues you want to talk about. you can start calling it now, and we will be -- start calling in now, and we will be right

back. >> this weekend on booktv on c-span 2, the book publisher's 70 anniversary party in washington, d.c. sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, nbc news correspondent katie tur reflects on the trump campaign in her book "unbelievable," my front seat to the greatest campaign in u.s. history." sick -- secret politicians do not like reporters. what was unusual about this was the very public nature of it -- the way he would go after reporters, myself included, from the stage of rallies, and have the crowd, encourage the crowd to essentially turn on us and

boo us. eastern, at 9:00 p.m. former host of "face the nation," bob schieffer on his book "overload, finding the truth in the deluge of news." he is interviewed by susan glasser. bob schieffer: the first thing we have to keep doing is doing what we are doing -- trying to sort out the true from the false. that is an overwhelming job -- it is a big responsibility than we have ever had because we are dealing with so much more information. we now have access to more information than any people in the history of the world, but we are running a little short on curators right now. we are getting so much information that we really can't process it. >> for more of this weekend's special, go to booktv.org. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: it is open phones on "the washington journal" for the next 15 or 20 minutes. it will take you to topeka, kansas, at around 8:50 this morning for the latest up to our capital tour. until then, open phones. host: as you are calling in, this story on the front page of "usa today," about the president's speech today on the opioid crisis in the country. "usa today" reporting the have his will secretary declare a health emergency, but stop short of a national emergency. we will find out for sure at 2:00 p.m. today. the president will be giving that speech. we will be covering it live here on c-span.

you can watch it on c-span.org and listen to it on the c-span radio app. phones are yours for the next 15, 20 news. carl is up first, berkeley springs, west virginia. line for republicans. carl, go ahead. car, are you with us this morning? caller: yes. host: go ahead, sir. caller: fine here. i believe corruption -- i am here. i believe corruption in washington, d.c. is rampant. i believe the clintons are professionals at it. they have the hearings and the investigations but no one ever goes to jail. you know why? one, heif they convict will say i know what you have done, therefore i will not go to jail. , carl, are you referencing the story this week on the campaign dossier, the

connections to the clinton campaign and the democratic national committee? we lost carl. ed is in lawrenceville, georgia, line for republicans. go ahead. caller: yes, i want to talk about puerto rico, but i was going to say that last gentleman that talk to -- i think what he was trying to say is we have so many things that don't add up, for example, about collusion and russia. listen, look at cnn -- they have more people from cnn that work right out of russia than they do in atlanta. i mean, all the media, they are all hoped up with russia -- hooked up with russia. that is what problem does -- what they are doing here. the news is fake. host: ed, what did you want to

say about puerto rico? ed hung up. roger is in trenton, new jersey, line for republicans. go ahead. caller: yes, i am interested in how the united states government deals with puerto rico compared also,ormal state, and where puerto rico gets its money tourism,f it is mostly or corporations that do business there. host: all right, certainly something we can do a segment on, perhaps one of our weekly "your money" segments. appreciate your suggestions. we want to point out some other stories. one of the other issues we have been following -- this headline from "new york times" this morning. the score growing from the republican ranks -- discord

growing in the republican ranks from their push on taxes. this story in the "washington proposingn brady woulds to 401k plans that buck plants from president trump that those would be left alone. also at issue in this tax reform push, somehow houses of the threaten to vote against the budget bill this week, -- some republicans threatened to vote against the budget bill this week because of concerns the eventual tax bill would eliminate or limit existing deductions for state and local taxes, also known as salt.

issues to keep an eye on in this tax reform push. charlie is in her camera, new york. line for republicans. caller: good morning. i would like to talk about hate groups. there are hate groups on the right. "washington journal" is one of the hate groups on the left. host: why do you think that, charlie? no host of this program would have ever allowed barack obama to be called a pedophile. that would have never happened. last june during the election campaign i called this program and i pointed out when a caller says barack obama is a muslim, whoever is hosting the program

immediately jumps to his defense and says no, he is a christian, but when a caller says donald trump is like adolf hitler, the host says nothing. that is why you really are a hate group. host: charlie, we try to be a group, an organization here that allows you to express your opinions -- we allow calls from both sides, and we try to do it every day for three hours. we try to do the best job we can. appreciate the feedback. hope you keep watching. tony is in alexandria, virginia. line for democrats. caller: i am calling in reference to puerto rico. the puerto ricans chased out the american navy out of puerto rico. at that time they want considering themselves -- they weren't considering themselves americans. he wanted to get rid of america. all of a sudden they are americans now because they want the u.s. to help them. but when the u.s. navy was

there, they were throwing pox and pans, saying yankee, go home. how come they want americans -- they weren't americans then? that is what i know -- want to know. host: you think we should be helping in disaster recovery? caller: we should be helping, just like we help any other country, but the point i am saying is they keep pushing saying they are americans. they are americans, but a territory -- wedding day -- why did they chase out americans if they are american? host: ron. go ahead. caller: yes, i want to talk about reaganomics, how it trickled america down to its face, how the rich complain they pay all the taxes and the other half is sitting there slacking. pays theiralf salaries every time they go to the gas pump, the food store, any other business, especially

medical. i think they should stand up and get back to where they were 30 years ago when america was great. karen, norman, oklahoma. line for republicans. caller: yes, i called -- i want to say the man -- i don't watch the show that much anymore because every time i do i hear someone calling the president of the united states something bald. could you imagine if a white person -- vulgar. could you imagine if somebody said that about barack obama? let's get back to what we are talking about. puerto ricans only want to be american when it is convenient for them. we had veterans that cannot get the health care they need, but theyt refugees, illegals, can to have five or six kids that they pay every -- we pay every penny for, yet veterans cannot get the health care they

need? come on, now. needave titus saying you gun control because of the people in nevada -- that is racist. what about the black kids killing each other in chicago and no one let's stand up and talk about gun control there, and those are illegal guns -- no one wants to stand up and talk about gun control there, and those are illegal guns. host: on the issue of health the federal judge refuses to order the top administration to resume affordable care act payments. host: also on the health care

oront this morning -- the cb score that came out yesterday on the bipartisan bill proposed by lamar alexander and patty murray, the bill reduce the -- almost $4er billion over the next decade without significantly affecting the people that have coverage according to the cbo. the report that was released yesterday -- host: certainly an issue we have talked about quite a bit on this program. todd is in baltimore, maryland, line four democrats. todd for democrats -- line for democrats. caller: can you carry? -- hear me? about whated to talk

they are trying to do when it comes to consumer protections when it comes to banks. they are trying to take away the right to sue a bank if they are trying to rip us off, and i believe mike pence was the deciding vote. it is telling me republicans really do not have american people's interest at hand. if they are not going to look out for us that way, how can we trust them on anything else? like this tax reform, it is all about the rich. they are not really doing anything to help middle-class, and it is a game. it is really been exposed now. thank you. host: todd, before you go, have you ever used the consumer financial protection bureau, the bureau at the heart of the role you were just talking about -- rule you were just talking about? caller: i've never had any issues, but i would like for it to be there if i needed it. i think the american people should be protected by banks who

are trying to rip us off -- i heard -- i forget the name of the bank that was in the news trying to do this, but you don't want to roll back anything like that. i mean, we need more attractions, not take away protections that we have. post" --e washington their story about this effort. we love against taking aim at legislation, ewing -- giving more flexibility to sue their banks. if you want to read that story about the special maneuvers used in the congress to kill the arbitration rule, that story is in "the washington post." john is an elbow lake, minnesota. go ahead. caller: good morning. a couple things prompted me to call this morning. one of them being -- and i heard this before -- they talk about

building a wall, and how the berlin wall was torn down and why we are building new walls were wanting to, and it seems disingenuous that it is not pointed out that one is to keep people in, one is to keep people out. rico, ilated to puerto hope there is a delineation between their former debts and what is needed for the recovery. thank you. host: harold. wilmington, north carolina. line for democrats. it is open phones. what is on your mind? caller: good morning. i am calling about the president donald trump. he told a lie when he said he told that woman that heri am can knew what he was signing up for. that is exactly what he cold her, and that he got his little chief of staff, a four-star general to come on and back up

his life and say -- lie and say he was who he was with and who he wanted to be with. we have a liar as a present, liar as a chief of staff, and we have to get those liars out of office. they are no good for character. names.ll people he is one ignorant man. host: len, high point, north, and. line for republicans. good morning. caller: i would like to make a point, no matter how big or tall the wall is, people can climb mountains. they can climb over a wall to it they can climb a mountain. i am curious how much money is zinke'so trump's and pocket from that little whitefish company in puerto rico

and what is the -- where is the money from saudi arabia. host: on the wall issue, we'll have a segment focusing on the wall saturday morning on "washington journal." tune into that. today marking 50 years since senator john mccain's capture in vietnam at the beginning of his time as a prisoner of war. c-span spoke to him. you can watch that starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, and also online or the free c-span .adio app also, hillary clinton, jeff bezos, and billie jean king will attend the annual dinner in washington, d c. couple more calls. carol, fairmount, west virginia. independent. go ahead. caller: i was just calling in.

i have a comment and then a question for all the american people. thank you for c-span, first of all. and my comment is, you know, we have both sides up there --republican and democrat. they are pitting each other tat,st each other, tit for and they are using the american people. i'm very upset with both sides, and hope they can come together and work together. we, the amerco people -- here is can we, the-- american people, please stop politicizing each other for democrat and republican? i thank you all. good day, american -- america. host: how would you answer your own question -- do you think that is possible? caller: yes, i do, because we are very resilient. if we give a little bit of respect to the other person that is talking -- even to listen to

them even if we don't agree, i think that would go a long way. i really do want to see america start to come together and stop this democrat-republican, democrat-republican. that is not good for anybody. i do thank you. i do watch every day, i even dvr every day and watch you. host: appreciate that, carol. ryan is in st. petersburg, florida. line for republicans. caller: good morning. it is brian p i was going to be on the same page as carol -- brian. i was going to be on the same page as carol. it should not be a single name you are talking about anybody. it should be a mr. or president. everybody deserves respect. everybody deserves anything anyone can give them. god, andon, there is a there is the respect you give him. it should be the respect -- the same with people. or whoever they are praying to. host: that is ryan, our last

caller in this open phone segment. the house coming in at 9:00 p.m. -- 9:00 a.m. today, but until c-span continue our capitals tour that we are in topeka, kansas, where you can find the van parked outside of the capital building. we are joined by lieutenant governor jeff cole your, a republican. talk about the powers and duties that come with the lieutenant governor's office in kansas. guest: first, thank you. welcome to kansas, the heart of america. i have been lieutenant governor for five years. it is a great position. it is defined by what you do. there are not constitutional requirements in it i have been able to work on a variety of issues over the years, primarily

health care. being a surgeon in my other life, and being involved in a whole variety of issues with economic growth and schools. mentioned health care -- certainly a topic we have talked a lot about on this 50 states tour. kansas one of those states that chose not to expand its medicaid program under the affordable care act. what does it have instead, and how does that process impact your state? guest: sure. kansas is trying to make its own way, and we're trying to make solutions that make the most sense for kansans. kansans were pretty clear they did not want to go down the obamacare wrote. one of us -- road. one of the things we had to do was reform our medicare program. in 2010, when we came in we had all sorts of problems in the medicaid program. there were cuts across the board. they made decisions, for

examples, to create waiting lists for people with disabilities that were years long. there were restrictions on things like heart transplants -- you could not get a heart transplant if you were over 18 years of age. there were also very little accountability and records of who you could go to. so, we have been working very hard to reform the medicare program, to give people choices, and to start dealing with some of those issues we were talking about. we found a lot of things happening in kansas. we have a great set of doctors, nurses, hospitals -- incredibly high-quality ones -- and what we want to do is encourage them to serve people. what we have seen is we are now taking care of heart transplant. we were taking people off of those waiting lists i was talking about. costse able to cut some in kansas, and what we have actually seen is the number of visits going to the doctor is up

nearly double digits. the number of visits to the emergency room are down, and the number of days in the hospital are down, so we're sorry to see results from all of this. care int is called kan kansas. what sort of oversight you have to operate under even though you did not take this aca expansion? guest: you know, the federal oversight -- this makes it the most complex government program anywhere. -- currently there are thousands of pages of documentation and things -- there are thousands of pages of documentation and things. we have had to work very hard in order to make those things work better for us so we can be more responsive to kansas citizens. what we are trying to do is really trying to focus on outcomes and how do we get

better health outcomes for people. that is something the federal system has not been used to, but they are starting to move a little bit. it has been tough because there is a lot of oversight. that is fine. there needs to be oversight. what we would really like is the flexibility so that we can move this work with the candace legislate -- kansas legislature, local doctors and nurses so we can get the best system that serves our patients. host: just a minute or two before the house comes in, and we will go to the house when it dabbles in for gavel to gavel coverage here on c-span. lieutenant governor jeff colyer, you served as a state representative in the state senate and now as a lieutenant governor -- what job have you enjoyed the best? had anyou know, i have amazing time. lieutenant governor is an amazing job. i have one of the coolest jobs

in north america because you can really see what is going on in your state. i am also a surgeon. i still do a little bit of surgery. i had to cut my practice way back, but i had great day i met the able to see some of my patients, do a little bit of surgery. going to places like norton, kansas, hayes, where i am from people and and visit you can see things happening in our communities. when people have issues, we can try to tackle them and move on those. it is a great opportunity to do that. i have had a lot of fun really discovering a great state. i hope you can come visit us. we like having the c-span bus here today. host: we appreciate you posting us. asernor sam brownback, viewers know, was nominated by president trump to be the ambassador at large for international religious freedom. he has not been confirmed to that post yet, but if and when he does, you would then become governor.

how are you preparing for that? you know, this is something you always have to be prepared for, whether you are the vice president or the lieutenant governor -- you always have to be prepared for that situation. we have been working very closely with a lot of kansans, and what i have been doing is listening and collaborating with a lot of kansans over the last few months here, and being able to talk to folks. what they are saying is they want to help -- they want to see kansas moving forward, and it is very exciting, because kansas are interested in growing the economy, great families, a great home life, and it is a great place for america. we are the heart of america. i really believe that. and when i'm talking with my kids his friends, and just theye on the street, really see some things that can happen over the next few years, and that is exciting. i really like listening and worked with people. host: lieutenant governor jeff colyer, we appreciate your time

this morning on board the c-span bus. it is there just outside the state capital today. for folks in kansas who may want to visit. do appreciate it. hope you again down the road. and we also want to thank, cox canwe leave, our indications partners in kansas. stay tuned for our next stop on the capital store in austin, texas, and now we take viewers led to the house floor. pray. eternal god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. on this day we ask your blessing on the men and women, citizens all, whose votes have populated this people's house. each member of this house has been given the sacred duty of representing them. o lord, we pray that those with whom our representatives might meet during this coming long weekend in their home districts be blessed with peace and an