eastern. >> now a portion of this morning's "washington journal," looking at president trump's executive orders. to cut the size of two national monuments. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now is noelle e&e news, she serves as natural resources editor. good morning. morning.ood host: i'll show a picture from the salt lake tribune. of president trump at a signing, what took place here? to t: president trump flew salt lake city yesterday on day trip and reduced size of two both in monuments, southern utah. he took about two million acres them, so the national esceoente national onument, biggest reduction in history. so pretty big deal. was the justification

of the trump administration for doing this? guest: president trump said administrations had overreached and federal bureaucrats in washington, d.c. the rights ing over of westerners who should have more local input and it was the monuments were just too big. he said they needed to be protect the der to actual areas that needed protection. host: previous administration, obama administration, what was the decision to expand the time?nts at guest: president clinton expanded one and president obama other one. one was just last year, both antiquities the act of 1906, a law that allows unilaterally protect areas of cultural or scientific significance, so both president these ared obama said areas that have cultural meaning native american tribes,

who live there, they have pecial scientific qualities, especially archaeological qualities, they decided to create them as national monuments. host: when the previous president applied antiquities act, how much did they apply versus other presidents in the past? act has been used by presidents of both parties throughout history. obama used it the most, he did create the most presidents uments, of both parties have used it. president teddy roosevelt signed law, he was the first one to use it and it has been used ever since. continue on with our conversation about this act yesterday concerning the the act by president trump. if you want to ask our guest questions about the decision and implication, it is 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats and independents, 202-748-8002. we have found from president at the utah ay

state capitol, just before signing the decision, here is a explanation from yesterday. pres. trump: the families and of utah know and love this land the best and you best how to take care of your land. to protect it. and you know best how to for many, is land many generations to come. your timeless bond with the outdoors should not be replaced of regulators, thousands and thousands of miles your land don't know and truly they don't care for you do.d like [applause] res. trump: from now on, that won't matter, i've come to you to take a very historic action, overreach anderal

estore the rights of this land to your citizens. [applause] several lle straub, times he said you know how to manage and take care of the the you? is guest: mostly local residents who live in the area. lands, they deral are owned by all americans. depends on your point of view, you think they should be managed by the federal government as national monument, people should have input on how their neighborhood should be managed, is how they it. at host: for those in utah, who are main supporters of this decision? guest: entire utah delegation, senators, icans, congressmen, the utah governor, ome local counsel, all supported it. people who don't support it, groups, many local native american tribes, outdoor ndustry recreation folks all

oppose it strongly. host: the salt lake tribune has who -story about those reacted to it, five american indian tribes mad over shrinking of bears ears, they claim they declared war on us. there will beeah, a lawsuit filed by five tribes, anning together to file a lawsuit, called navaho nation v blatantly s pretty the tribes feel like the federal government and sovereign tribes dispute over the issue. host: as part of the issue at large, what about the natural within the lands? was that a major concern of rolling back to give people the natural resource? guest: yeah, so in the proclamation, it says grazing allowed, mining, gas use, pment, even atv all-terrain vehicle, people can se motorized vehicles on the lands again. efinitely a big flash point in

the controversy. host: our first call is from tulsa, oklahoma, democrat's line. with noelle straub of e&e news, david, go ahead. caller: yes. i oppose president trump's actions yesterday. i think that the native american far, far e here far, people of the united states of america, europeans who west in the name of manifest destiny. is an abuse ofis power once again and disrespect native american tribes. and i think there's going to be artifacts from native american tribes that will be the name of mining. straub.oelle guest: you pretty much summed up the arguments of the five tribes strongly against

this action. they do believe that there artifacts are at risk, ancestral objects, damaged, destroyed. on the other hand, the supporters of president trump's say that these lands are going to remain federal lands, they will not be off, not be made private, they will be managed differently. of depends on your point view, whether you think there should be more protection or more allowed for other uses. maryland, virginia is on the line for republicans. hi. caller: hi. are you? the only comment i have is, it country is this still stealing land, as i see it, from the first americans and that in fact, just for oiling investments and oil investments, to pull back land sacred for most native americans or first americans, is st-- travesty of

justice. oil man is about investments and he's killing this country. serviceelle straub, the tells us when it comes to federal land ownership, 61% of the federalnging to government, combination of 11 4.2 ern states, almost half of other states and 24% total of u.s., why so much land owned by government? guest: well, it comes down to history. some of these lands were not to be settled. arid.are mountainous, very the homesteading act was in place, these places couldn't be were given to railroads, a variety of reasons, inhabited and remain federal land. host: a lot of land in the west, s that anything of significance? guest: absolutely. almost all public lands are west f the mississippi river, this is a big, big issue out west. washington, to the

dc versus western split over the issue. trump kept saying bureaucrats are controlling the lands and so there is definitely cultural divide between the western and eastern. holland host: because of yesterday's states be uld other enboldened, then, for more it?rol of guest: secretary ryan zeinke made recommendations back in the summer to president trump, which ational monuments might be shrunk and protections taken away. they came down to hofl a dozen,so yesterday the two in utah that they shrunk. there is still possibly two more, one that straddles border of california and oregon and one two out in d then the pacific ocean, the monuments reduced in size. host: this is cliff in ohio, independent line. good morning.

i would like people to actually in the dictionary native and before it was america, there indigenous people here, that makes all of us from england and other parts foreigners. foreigners voting gainst foreigners and i would like also for people to look in look up the y and word conserve, conserve. apply to thes that action of yesterday, caller? caller: these people have no take away land and i look up the em to word welfare, too. host: hold on, hold on, who are you people, who are referring to? caller: english. pilgrims.rs, the host: okay. noelle straub, anything from that? that is an issue that will be decided in the

courts. the five american indian tribes taking this, filed a lawsuit probably today, this is they will argue out in court and probably be played out for years to come before a final decision. host: michael in morris, illinois, independent line. caller: good morning. just as a disclaimer, i voted for trump and he's never ceased disappoint me, but my question is basically this. are federal lands and people like myself from the ois, we're one of states that contribute more to he federal government than we get back. all the projects we fund, we people are living set -- re, i'm getting up set

say, we all own this equally, everybody should ave a say in what is done with these particular lands, that is really the crux of my comment. guest: you make a good point, these are federal lands, owned equally.ericans i guess the question centers on who should manage them and how local input there should be. these will remain federal lands, create a council that will have input bears ears input over how the lands are managed, so people differ in their views on who be on the council, mostly all people, people from over the country? yeah, depends on whether you you there or not and what think of how federal lands should be managed. host: what is likelihood native be on the ill council? guest: there is legislation in congress that is going to a co-management

scheme, so tribes will say how theyw some are managed. host: lauren up next, baltimore, democrat's line. caller: hi, hello. i love c-span, thank you, caller.me i spend money going to national the when i can and monuments are national parks in the making. a canyon was proclaimed monument by teddy roosevelt, usingan tick wittys act to it uranium mining. i watched the speech yesterday, talking about the monument to thepeople access back land. the truth is, right now they have access, you can hunt, graze cattle, people can hike and bike. these places are an economic powerhouse in and of themselves. plus billion economy

out of them. it is important people realize and work to keep the places in tact. here is more on the chopping block. there is 27 in total, these are just the first two. concerned about this and the onuments and i love to hear your guest speak on the issue. host: noelle straub, could you alk about the economic aspect and expand on that? guest: absolutely. the outdoor industry recreation, recreation industry is very, issue.nvolved in the several big companies have changed the front page of their today. yesterday and one says, president trump is stealing our land. so, yeah, the recreation in arms about this, upset because they do make goot of money off people who and buy hiking equipment, etcetera.fishing, on the other side, people say -- say, well, the main

economic driver of this land mining, grazing, more extractive industries. you tension between the two. host: can they coexist? guest: good question. yes. these lands are made for multiple use, if they are depending on how they are managed. put in national monuments, then that is definitely more the usesve, so more of would not be allowed. host: did the utah representative on the state indicate how they plan to use the new access of land now this president made decision? yesterday, ays from new mining claims will be allowed, they will start considering oil and gas leasing, so that will all move forward quickly. e&e noelle straub from news joining us, natural resources editor. tell us about e&e news and what it? guest: it's fantastic publication that covers issues.mental and energy

subscription-based, we are all online, information you can't anywhere else. we cover every energy and environmental issue in depth, so have interest in the fields, it is incredibly useful resource. any response from clinton or obama about this decision? don't president obama, i know about yesterday, in the past, he's been defensive of created and forceful that he did have public consider this d in great detail. yes, he's been very defensive of actions. host: let's hear from sweeney in ofington, georgia, democrat's line. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. straub, i will direct this question to you. trump, president, commander-in-chief, it appears types of nly situations he wants to get tearing down.

if the people that were affected have got s created freedom of speech, had enough time to say this is harming us, us, this is ing harming us, but he seems to want his way of when something is going okay, okay, take off the chopping block today. be commander-in-chief, has nothing to do with democrat, republican, independent, this ruthless and my vote is for impeachment. want to have your opinion tear-down thing going through my mind, he wants to have own what others created. i thank you for listening to my question. unprecedented an move, for sure. took two million acres out of that al monument status,

has never been done before -- i haved say other presidents taken some lands out of monument total, all entire presidents, a quarter of what president trump did. is unprecedented and this will be challenged in court. 0 environmental groups banded together to file one lawsuit, there is the five american indian tribes who are filing a then there is several state attorneys general that have threatened to file lawsuits, maybe three different lawsuits, so remains to be seen the president has the legal authority to do this or not. host: several tweets came out after this decision. secretary thinking himself, tweet, today we restored land management in utah, thank you, mr. president. from utah senator mike lee, saying president trump did utah a great favor by rolling back land use utah.ictions in southern another tweet from senator

democrats on the energy committee, including center on polluting public land with mineing and drilling, annot turn the economy of the past into hope for the future. any response to congressional reaction? yeah, the congressional reactions came almost entirely lines. democrats opposed to it. republicans supportive. notve to say reactions were particularly surprising, this is sort of expecting what came out. new jersey, independent line, steve is next. caller: yes, good morning. on the history and how we got here, that you all started talking about a ago.te i was born out west, i don't think a lot of people on the deeplynderstand just how this goes. eally my understanding is what we're dealing with is kind of in 150-year-old tates injustice. some western states were created under the lincoln administration

to help him get re-elected war.ng the civil they were created with very as a number of people and result, they were -- there are certain provisions under which were created that makes them almost, makes them states.class your chart you put up a minute ago understates the issue, it 11 western states, 46% of the land federally controlled. states like utah and nevada, 80%. is up to and that was a part of the creation of the states by lincoln. state of the onstitutions actually contain subjegation clauses the states would be subject to federal government. no other state constitution in this country contain that and in bears it out rt that why would 46% of the states lands be

controlled as opposed to 4.2% of states.er host: got you. caller, thank you for the input. to t: a lot of it goes back geography, there is western states, a lot, like i said, of them are areas federal land are arrid, dry, mountainous, they suitable necessarily for farming or ranching the way the the mississippi were settled. eah, a lot fewer residents out there and so they remain federal lands. al, on the as, democrat's line. hi, al. outer: yes, i want to point diktiveness of our president. he had this thing with the jackson and ndrew navaho talkers and using as a slur because the

native american casinos competed with his casinos, he's on record these indians don't look like indians to me. and he's also doing the same n.f.l. for his failed endeavor into -- applies to that, yesterday, can you connect the dots, please? caller: oh, he's just saying, i am not going to have sympathy or native american, i'm going to do what i want to do, our laws make us weak, they don't make us strong. he wants to get credit for what hurts, down and who he that is his -- that is what him.ss is to host: thanks, al. uest: to be fair, not all native americans agree on this issue, either. there is a divide amongst the tribes. some navaho, there is county commissioner who is on stage he ding behind trump when signed the proclamation, he's

navaho. americans some native who definitely support president trump's actions. he majority don't, the five tribes are suing, but it is probably not fair to say he take any native americ americans into account, he supporters.had some host: from michigan, joe is next, democrat's line. hi, joe. caller: good morning. i want to point out good luck to the native americans on any based on ny of this, the u.s. government's history with treaties. how about aty, zero, a couple zeros were upheld by the united states government indian tribes? lakotahsu and the bad land, the government said, you can have this land, nobody else it, the bad lands, nothing there, cuhave it as parts of fortunately ion. cold was discovered and we know the lacotasu and

lastsd lands, this treaty until friday, lasts forever or friday, whichever comes first. you. guest: yeah, the five tribes uing were the five who petitions the government to crea -- president obama decided to create it in large art because the five tribes pushed hard for it. they are upset and angry and drespected. in court will play out and we'll see what happens. host: cindy, go ahead. caller: hi. a question that obama -- obama? rump made it sound like he was returning the lands to the so they could take care of it themselves, how are the gas companies nd going to take care of those and if they're going in

drilling them all up? sounds like that is the only doing it is -- host: thanks, caller. the lands will remain mining when there is and drilling, the government will oversee it before the lands leased. the government will have oversight of these extractive have ries, but they will more of a chance to go on the lands. tom, call from illinois, go ahead. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. curious, ma'am, is it it is be overturned and stated in law, if congress overturns it, we get control of democrats, control of the house, the oval office, so on and so that possible? take my answer offline? yes.t: the answer is

congress has entire power to do it wants with public lands, create protection, take them away, congress has full power. legal question is whether the president has the power. the president has the power to monuments, but explicitly did not say president would have power of national get rid monument, that is a legal question. congress can do what it likes land.the host: could congress change the antiquities act all together? guest: it is, there is a republican, chairman of the house natural resources bishop, has ob legislation that would reform the antiquities act, that will for vote, hot debate in congress. host: noelle straub covers as natural l issues resources editor for e&e news joining us. eenews.net, is the website, if

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2017] texas democratic congressman al green will discuss his plans to bring articles of impeachment against trump on the house floor today. then florida republican congressman will be with us. he'll talk about the rising military tensions with north korea over its nuclear weapons program. and we're live in tallahassee, florida, for the next stop on the c-span bus 50 capitals tour. with florida house speaker richard corcoran. we'll discuss sexual misconduct allegations in the florida legislature. also an update on the impact of hurricane irma on the state's finances. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. >> c-span's student cam video documentary competition is under way. and students across the country are busy at work and sharing their experience with us through

twitter. it's not too late to enter. our deadline is january 18, 2018. we're asking students to choose a provision of the u.s. constitution and create a video illustrating why it's important to you. our competition is open to all middle school and high school students. grades six through 12. $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded. the grand prize of $5,000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. for more information, go to our website, studentcam.org. >> the hill reports that facing a surge of pressure from his fellow democrats, representative john conyers stepped down from congress today over mounting allegations of sexual harassment.

the story says that speaking to a local radio station, the 88-year-old conyers was defiant in both maintaining his innocence and defending a legacy he insisted, quote, can't be compromised or diminished. representative sheila jackson lee read john conyers' retirement statement on the house floor. thank you very much, mr. speaker. thank you ve much, mr. speaker. a few minutes ago in detroit the dean of the united states offered his retirement immediately. he has asked me, a member of the judiciary committee, to offer his words to his colleagues. and to again put this and to again put this statement in the recd