10:00 a.m. eastern. former fed chairs janet yellen and ben bernanke will give their perspectives on the economy. our coverage starts at 2:00 eastern. c-span, where history unfolds daily. as a79, c-span was created public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. on "washington journal." representative john faso on gun violence and school safety. representative dan kildee

talks about infrastructure needs. and tom heart of the one campaign will talk about efforts and the global poverty effect of budget cuts on government programs. ♪ host: good morning. it is february 27. tuesday,the houses and at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 11:00 for legislative business. the senate will begin at 10:00 a.m. and we are with you for the next three hours. we begin today with president trump's comments at a meeting of the nation's governors, urging them not to be afraid of the national rifle association. the president said while the nra is doing what they think is right, it is also ok to fight the lobby. this morning we will get your reaction amid the current gun debate. phone lines this morning republicans, 202-748-8001. , democrats, 202-748-8000.

independents, 202-748-8002. line for nra members this morning, 202-748-8003. catch up with us on social media come on twitter and on facebook. a very good tuesday morning for you this morning. you can start calling in now as we show you the president yesterday at a meeting of the nation's governors at the white house, talking about gun control and of the debate happening in the florida school shooting. here is what he had to say. [video clip] president trump: there is no bigger fan of the nra, they are great patriots and people and they want to do something. they are going to do something. and they will do it quickly, i think they want to see it. but we do not want to have six

people having the right to have a gun. plus, when we see somebody sick like this guy, the police did not do a good job when they went to see him, but they have restrictions on what they can do, we need to give them access to taking those guns away so they do not leave and they sit there with seven different weapons. give them a media access. do not worry, you will not get any, do not worry about the nra, they are on our side, half of you are so afraid of the nra, there is nothing to be afraid of. you know what, we have to fight them every once in a while, that is ok, they are doing with a think is right. they are doing what they think is right. but sometimes we will have to be very tough and we will have to fight them, we need strong background checks and people resisted that, but now people are into it. host: some of the headlines stemming from the comments yesterday at the white house, here is the washington times,

donald trump says he is willing to buck nra, congress not so sure. toldico, the president state leaders not to worry about the nra, even as he aligned himself with the group's position. and the week talking about that effort and the comments regarding the nra, since the mass shooting and parkland, florida, president trump has floated several ideas the nra is banning bumpabout, stocks and raising the federal agent to buy an assault rifle from 18 to 21. he reiterated his support for but itp stock ban, looks like the president is changing his position on the age limit. he is moving back from that, a congressional source told cnn. on monday, sarah huckabee sanders said donald trump still backs the higher age limit for

some gun purchases, but nothing has been finalized. "everybody is in agreement things need to be done and we have to have changes take place to do it we can to protect america's kids." we will take you through more comments from the president, as well as comments from the white house press briefing, where sarah huckabee sanders faced questions from the white house press corps. we want to get your comments this morning. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. and a special line this morning for nra members, 202-748-8003. fordore in arkansas, line democrats. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. isis a shame that the nra providing members of congress, democrats and republicans, but mostly republicans bloodmoney

because they are on the backs of children of school, but everywhere, las vegas, clubs, nothing but the blood money. and it should stop. what we should be talking about is simply this, we should be limiting the amount of ammunition that guns can use, as thatas change the law so be owners will responsible for the deaths that guns commit. if we have a car and the airbag goes off the causes problems, you can sue the airbag company. if we have medicine that is deficient, we can sue. not change the second amendment gone but we should be able to see the gun companies, congress should change the law so we can sue the gun companies that create those jobs. host: you mention the money the

nra contributes. open secrets is the website run by the center for responsible politics, they track money in politics. here are some numbers on the nra and the money they spent on the 2016 election cycle. looking back to the last cycle, they had over $1 million in theributions, 489th out of organizations that they track. when it comes the lobbying they spent well over $3 million in 2016, 3 $.5 million in 2050, that is 154th on the list. outside spending is where the nra really puts its money, ranking ninth out of the 170 groups that the center for responsive politics tracks, $54 million in outside spending, including independent expenditures during elections, electioneering efforts done by the nra. you can go to the center for

responsive politics website, open secrets.org to check out yourself. stephen from kentucky, go ahead. yeah, i am a gun owner. i am the united states army veteran. i am a college educated individual with two bachelor's degrees, one in journalism and one in french, and i support the nra. do what theyng to can do to solve this problem. a lot of people want to blame them because they support gun ownership, but what they do not realize is david king, the former president of the nra,

traveled to israel to get their point of view on this, and that is where he came up with the idea of allowing, of using, allowing teachers to arm themselves, having armed parents security guards if they have to protect our students. host: you are an nra member yourself? caller: i have been in the past and i do support them. they are trying to do what they can to solve this problem. he -- the propaganda from the left is the nra is the problem. that is not the case. and while we are on the subject of propaganda, let's stop using

teachers."rm our nobody is talking about lining up teachers and issuing them weapons. the idea is they would provide their own weapons. those who would be interested in doing so will have their own weapons. host: robber in fairfield, california. an independent, good morning. caller: yes, thank you for taking my call. and can pass all the gun laws they want, but it will not solve the problem because people already have the guns and they will use them when they get a chance. that is where i have to say, thank you. host: yvonne, cleveland, ohio. democrats line, go ahead. caller: hi. i was listening to the president yesterday talking about incentivizing the teachers, i do not think that is the solution

because west virginia cannot afford to pay their teachers a decent wage, we have teachers that could be signing up for the bonus and when the situation happens, will they really lead their students? i do not think so. host: you mentioned the president's comments, including him saying do not worry about the nra to members of the nation's governors who had gathered at the white house. some democrats on capitol hill questioning the president's commitment to take on the nra, especially in light of learning the president said down with the nra over the weekend to talk about their efforts, their thoughts on gun control reform proposals in this country in the wake of the florida shooting. here is sarah huckabee sanders at the white house press briefing being asked about that sit down with the nra over the weekend. [video clip] >> why was it on the schedule if

he often talks about it? >> it was on sunday. he was not keeping under wraps. it was a productive conversation and i think that everybody is in agreement that things need to be done and we have to have changes take place to do it we can to protect america's kids. wantrs of the nra are or to be part of that discussion. the president is taking information from a number of stakeholders and to try to pretend like he is being influenced by anyone group would be ridiculous, considering the number of individuals he has met with that come from both the far left to the far right, and a lot of those in between pit we will continue those conversations and meet with bipartisan lawmakers on wednesday of later this week. host: you heard about that meeting from sarah huckabee sanders, later this week expected to take place on wednesday. members, democratic members of congress, their response to the latest statements yesterday

including senate majority leader chuck schumer, at a minimum, the congressional response should include universal background checks, legislation that would close the gun show loophole's battle of guns to fall into the wrong hands. we hope gop leaders will help pass a real legislation that makes a difference. we cannot afford a bill aimed at pleasing that ae nra. we need real results. from bonnie watson, democrat from new jersey, she said, "i could not care less what the nra wants. the have done everything possible to perpetuate the epidemic. i am looking at the families, law enforcement, communities impacted by gun violence for solutions, not the gun lobby." special line for nra members, we want to hear from you, 202-748-8003. as usual fornes republicans, democrats, independents.

andy, go ahead. caller: yes, i would like to point out -- i am a member of the u.s. army reserves, i am an officer and a gun owner. i have a concealed carry permit. i do believe in the shorter magazine around the limits, but as far as going -- if you look on the internet today, you can actually get a concealed carry e,rmit online that is -- onlin that is something i truly do not believe in. that should be a mandatory, you have to take a class, you have to get vetted, so that you can properly own a concealed carry permit, but also it teaches you gun safety. gun safety is the biggest issue out there. mentionedon, they states using their national guard as security sources for schools.

i feel that is a great idea, one that gives guards members and veterans that have gotten out of the military a sense of responsibility. they can take care of something so that they have been ve tted, they knew what they need to do, they have been trained properly on guns, so that this situation -- because we do active trader she needs all the time, so that we can respond properly to it. gun training all the time, so that we can respond properly to it. my wife and i had a conversation the other day about putting veterans in our school systems gunshave been vetted with to do security for the schools. host: we have about 15 minutes left in this first segment come

on but we will certainly be having this discussion throughout our program today. we are talking about the latest on gun-control efforts from capitol hill in washington dc in the wake of florida school shooting. john faso joined by of new york to talk about efforts he is supported, what he is asking speaker ryan to consider. in the meantime, getting your thoughts on president trump saying yesterday to a group of governors, do not worry about the nra, saying it is ok to fight the nra, saying they are doing what they think is right. anthony in northampton, pennsylvania. an independent, good morning. caller: good morning. i think i have to agree with mr. sayingn the nra comment, we do not have anything to worry about, they are just doing their part to uphold the amendment and rightfully so. i would like to see the second amendment upheld as well and

being a liberal that is a lot to say. i think one of the problems is, in pennsylvania anyway, it takes five minutes to do a background check on myself, to carry a weapon. to purchase a weapon, i am sorry. i think that is one of the problems. the second would be, as far as the shooters go, good mental health. that is a story in itself, but thesehe media covering shooters the way that they do, the way and form that they do, putting them on a pedestal in a sense, i believe that has to stop. because the neck shooter is already planning their attack, that is the reality of it. it is not so much an and are a issueas it is -- an nra as it is mental health and these shooters. host: chris on the line, go ahead. caller: thank you for having me.

i think it is really crazy how nra members are portrayed by the media, how background checks and how purchasing firearms, concealed carry permits, there is a lot of bad information out there. i have moved around the country and a purchase guns in various states and it is a process. i purchased a gun in florida and you had a waiting period. it took about 1.5 hours to get a background check in texas. virginia, about two hours. it varies, but i think the process is sound and i think that there's just a lot of that information out there and it is calling everybody even, saying your blood on your hands, it is a gross misrepresentation. host: how do you feel about how the nra leadership has talked about this issue in the past two weeks? caller: you know, i think that

-- their back is against the wall. people are boycotting them, having people drop all these different sponsorships from professional organizations. they are under attack. maybe they could doubt on the rhetoric a little bit, but i think the spokesperson who was on the townhome on cnn, she was literally under threat and she stood her ground and it said, you guys do not get it. it you are taking the wrong attack on this. and people who are informed about guns know that they are not dangerous. if you know safety, how to operate them, you can do it in a safe manner. the reason people have guns is because clearly the government cannot protect you. host: you mentioned the calls to businesses the boycott their business agreements with the nra.

care is one story about it from the new york times, the lieutenant governor in georgia threatened yesterday to kill a proposed lucrative tax cut for delta airlines, after the company eliminated a discount fare program for the national rifle association over the weekend. the lieutenant governor is casey cagle in georgia and here is the tweet that he put out yesterday, "i will kill tax legislation unless the company fully reinstate its relationship with the nra. corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back." the story from the new york times noting the showdown between one of georgia's most powerful politicians and one of the largest employers of the state was the latest clash in the national debate about guns after the shooting in florida. other republicans in the state legislator pulled back their support for the tax bill which would grant a 50 mine dollars

sales tax exemption on jet fuel, benefiting delta in the state of georgia. also on that line for nra members, randy in fremont, michigan. ,aller: i would like to say the nra has classes all over the country, teaching people gun safety and all this stuff and i am tired of these democrats that are blaming the guns, it is not guns. does a know, the nra good job, they are out there training people, training people how to do things at school, self protection. another thing is the ar-15 is not a military weapon, it is a takeoff of the m-16, which is a military weapon.

the ar does not shoot full automatic, it is a semi automatic rifle, like your other hunting rifles and stuff. you can get bigger capacity clips, but -- nra member, is there legislation you are hearing about that you would get behind? we have heard about the ban on bump stocks, tougher background checks, raising the age limit for semi automatic rifles, any of those that you would support? caller: the bump stock, i have never used one personally, but from what i saw in vegas, that is something i do not feel comfortable with. they should go ahead and ban that, but as far as banding the assault weapon, they try to for 10 years, they keep calling it an assault weapon, it is a

modified semi-audit rifle. -- is a modified semi-automatic rifle. and the -- oh shoot. host: that is ok. call in again. we appreciate the call. terry in north carolina, go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span. before we get into the talk on laws, we have to be a country of laws before we can have any new laws. and as for the hypocrisy of the democrats, you can go into every single high school in every county, in every state, in the lower 48, and our children today have access to syringes full of heroin that comes across our southern border. chapo named chicago his drug

hub, children dying in the street every day there, fighting who will control the heroin. host: joseph in pennsylvania, good morning. like toyes, i would comment on the fact that the with arming teachers. i think it is like a chess game. downoliticians need is a and think about what they are about to do before they do it, because what they are doing is causing more problems in the end, and it should not be that way. we should not have to have schools armed like a prison. that is what it is coming down to. we love our kids up and arm everything -- lock our kids up and we arm everything. i think they need to realize what they are doing before they he,it, and put things in -- t

uh, put the laws in effect, because they are just making things worse. and there are other issues to address, not everybody who owns a gun is a criminal. they are making it easier for the criminals to have the upper hand, if they think about it. host: joseph in pennsylvania this morning. left in this first segment, but we will have time to continue the conversation throughout our three-hour program today. we want to keep you updated on the latest on the immigration front. we did think that this would be a week in which immigration would be a big issue on capitol hill, of course the gun debate has taken over sort of the front burner when it comes to this issue on capitol hill, but the latest yesterday from the supreme court, is set back to president trump's immigration policy, declining to take up the administration's appeal that

sought a quick end to the program, daca. action, which's will require litigating in the lower courts first, means hundreds of thousands may continue to renew the protections while legal challenges continue. to process that could take another year or longer. the story noting in september, the president announced the deferred action for childhood arrivals program would end on march 5, but the to a lower court judges issued injunctions blocking the plan for now and ordered officials to continue to process renewals, so congress does not face an imminent deadline. that from the wall street journal, plenty more to discuss on that front as well. back to your calls. five minutes left in this first segment of the washington journal. sam in pennsylvania, line for democrats. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have two comments.

one about to process and what about donald trump and the nra. due process, i feel that our country could move in a very positive trend, if we start applying due process as a preventative measure. people that we know that are part of isis or m13, or somebody who has classes with police -- clashes with police or are a mental health risk, and we cannot arrest them until they actually commit a crime, which is ridiculous. we have a tremendous amount of 1000 people, over who are suspected terrorists, and we have mental health people that are under surveillance officially, and we are waiting for them to do the crime so we

can prosecute them. we should put them in front of a jury and ask the jury if, based on the evidence, they are a danger to society. use due process to protect people before it happens and i do not think the violation of the constitution. take away their guns before they shoot. if we can prove in front of a jury that they are dangerous. the second point is when it comes to nra and trump, a very interesting thing happened here. because donald trump showed himself on the side of gun owners, now he has the ability to comeforce the nra back to the center little bit. and because gun owners of trust says thiserefore he is ok, and it is not just the first up in taking away your guns, he is able to make

progress on the issue. i really feel that type of partisanship is a detriment to the country, when you're able to get people to trust you, you hear their side also, then you can make progress when something is reasonable. the reason why the nra is so adamant not to give anything is because they do not trust the other side, they know when they give an and, the other side -- an inch, the other side will take a mile because they do not respect them. host: on the issue of denying guns from people who might be a danger, interesting chart from the washington times this morning on stopping gun sales. monthre the denials per through using the national instant criminal background check system. this chart showing the number of denials per month in each year and in 2017 for example, 522 denials per month through using the national instant criminal

background check system during attempted gun purchases. the information coming from the fbi, showing 44.9% of denials were because of a felony or significant misdemeanor. 8.5% of denials from a domestic violence conviction. that also going into the instant criminal background check system. 5.6% of denials from adjudicated mental health issues. that information boosted in the system, especially in the wake of the 2008 shooting at virginia tech and efforts to put more information regarding mental health in the national instant criminal background check system. if you want to check out those charts, in the washington times this morning. kurt, line for republicans. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a couple of thoughts i want to pass along for generally

, they go for either side. we are getting all of this -- i have been a life member to the nra and they do not do anything but teacher children -- teach our children to respect guns. guns come out when you're hunting and go back away when you are not. blameint of nra -- to nra it is simply foolish, there are sportsmen in the country about own guns, 5 million nra members, but you are also talking about at least 50 million sportsmen. it is not just nra. the other thing is, the question ,hat should be asked here is why is our students killing each other? it is not because of guns, it is

because of the culture. law weer what kind of pass for guns, the police are never going to get there in time to stop it. never. so the thought about having the school secured is the only option. we do not get on a pl after they do a background checkane -- plane, after they do a background check most of the time, you do not get on a plane if you have a mental condition -- you do, that is not the case. it comes down to, do i want to send my child to a school that is not secure? secured means you do not get a gun in the school, you do not get a knife in the school. the issue of a gun free zone is a joke. sticke free zone, a sharp free zone, come on -- anyone the

has anything valuable, they protect it with a gun. host: that was our last caller in our first segment, but up next we will be joined by congressman host: of new york -- joined by john faso of new york. will be hereldee to discuss infrastructure and what can be done to help older industrial cities. all coming up this morning on the "washington journal." ♪ announcer: the c-span bus is traveling across the country on our 50 capitals tour. we stopped in jackson mississippi recently, asking folks what is the most important issue in their state? ini work on women's rights

the state of mississippi, really pushing it women's economic security agenda so that we can bring women's voices to this day capital, so that laws and policies can be made in the best interest of them. so this legislative session we introduced, with our partners, legislation around equal pay, childcare, raising wages for women, because we know that they arethis estate, the majority of the breadwinners in mississippi, so we want to be able to close the gap so that working women are able to make ends me do with their families. >> i think congress in mississippi, with the health care programs they have done, they are organized now and i think they can bring a lot of an get a lot of help to get back on your feet here.

i think the most important issue we have in the state of mississippi is criminal justice reform. today we have over 19,000 people in our state penitentiary, we have over 34,000 people on parole, almost 9000 that are in private prison. statistics we have to deal with is that there are almost 500,000 individuals that cannot find employment, so as we progress in this capital, i hope we can get legislation passed to deal with the criminal justice reforms that are so needed in this state. >> i think right now, education funding and how that works and the quality in the funding measures that they choose to enact, also infrastructure, ensuring that we are able to bring businesses and allow people to travel throughout our

state in an infrastructure that is not crumbling, one that will allow them to do so safely. whether they are mississippians are not. on c-span. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: john faso is from new york my one of 19 republicans pushing speaker ryan to schedule a vote on a bill to strengthen the federal background check system in the wake of that valentine's day school shooting in florida. congressman, remind us what the six -- act is. gaps: intended to correct in the system, you remember the shooting in the church in texas. that was by a dishonorably discharged air force veteran, whose background should have

been disclosed. he had obviously caused problems in the air force and also had a domestic violence issue. and this was never disclosed in the background check, it was never provided to the background check system and it should have been. is tot of the fix nix encourage estates to provide information. some states are good with it and others are not, but also to force federal agencies like the military branches, to report personnel who clearly should not have been able to purchase a firearm. the: it strengthens background check system, but would it expand it, covering purchases at gun shows? guest: it does not do that, but what it does do is, keep in mind the existing system was greatly expanded to include mental health a number of years ago, and that has resulted in close

to 200,000 people being denied a purchase of a firearm because of a mental health issue. so much of what that system is today is working fine, but there are gaps. one of the obvious gaps i see in relation to the shooting on valentine's day in florida, was this young man had multiple times, some say over 30 occasions, where people or police were called to his home because of violence or other threatening issues, yet the fact that this young individual, that i had never been adjudicated, meant it had never been reported. we have to protect people's personal liberties and due process and we have to figure out a way in which someone who presents a multiple and n hisnued threat i -- i school, he had a violent incidents in his school, relatives called police to

his home because of what he was doing -- this individual should not have been able to buy a firearm, he should not have been able to buy abb compared we have to figure out -- a bb gun. we have to figure out a way were certain people, people who are clearly disturbed and a troubled as this young man was, where those people are also flagged as not being eligible to purchase a firearm. host: explain the legislative the act was passed in december in the house? guest: it was passed. it went through with legislation, which many on the left opposed. i supported the legislation. i supported district where many sportsmen and firearm owners are troubled by the fact that they could run afoul by crossing a state line. they would still have to obey thelaws in that state, but

mere possession and crossing the state line would not be a crime. that was contained within the legislation that contained concealed carry. as far as i am concerned, because of the situation we are dealing with today and because of the overwhelming public response, we should -- that is what this letter says that i and other republican signs -- we should move forward and address this particular issue, and do it quickly. host: it would be a standalone -- guest: correct. host: did you get a response from the speaker? guest: not yet. we just got back last night. a senator of the legislation in the senate, it is a bipartisan bill with senator murphy from connecticut, he said, there was a newspaper report that he is doubtful it could pass the senate given the 60 vote threshold if the concealed carry

piece was contained within it. so therein lies the rub and we have to figure out a way to come up with a copper mines. ast: john faso with us, republican with us until about 8:00 a.m.. if you want to join the conversation republicans, , 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. and you can start calling in. and the wall street journal this might, noting on the bill that some democratic lawmakers may hold back their support for this legislation out of concern that more will not be done, that republicans will leave it at that. is there more to be done on this issue of gun control? guest: i think we have to look at the issue of somebody like the shooter in florida, who clearly had emotional and other behavioral problems, that he was never agitated, the police never filed charges against him, and

yet he clearly indicated, as evident by violent behavior in school that caused his expulsion, he indicated that he was severely troubled. he should not been able to have -- he should not have been able to buy a bb gun, let alone an assault rifle. said wer piece i have should consider is move forward and make the age 21 for a semi automatic firearm, not talking about a deer rifle or a shotgun, obviously you can have semi-automatics there as well, but the fact is 18, 19, 20-year-old young men in this social media age are often not fully mature enough to handle a firearm with that capability. i do think this is something that we should look at. i know that there are arguments on both sides of the question, but i think that is something

that we should seriously explore. host: should congress look at allowing more adults in schools to carry weapons? guest: this is mostly a state issue. in some instances, i have spoken with local sheriffs, in my area i represent a rural and semi rural area in new york, there are many people in our community, including who work in schools, who are licensed pistol permit owners, retired military, etc., but that does not mean they are qualified to deal with a situation like this. you need intense training in order to carry a firearm in a very charged and difficult situation, like you might confront in a school shooting. it so i do not necessarily think that this is the matter with the federal government is going to lead, i think you will see states and localities and individual school districts. what makes sense in upstate new york or wyoming, may not make sense in new york city or the bronx.

dowe have to be able -- i not think there is a one-size-fits-all answer. host: in the washington post, of our main teachers is nothing more than a distraction employed by the gun lobby to buy time. did not get sidetracked, keep the focus on keeping military style assault rifles at of civilian hands. the national rifle association, the reppo can party, would like you to exhaust your outrage on the possibility that this is impossible. guest: the language mr. robinson uses in that column is misleading, because the very features that are contained in a semi automatic firearm are contained in certain firearms that are not classified as quote, unquote "assault weapons." are usually deals with cosmetic parts of the gun, as opposed to the functionality of the weapon.

that is where i think many people who are not accustomed to firearms, they do not understand, the semi automatic issue, they will rush to claim that they are assault weapons but in actuality there are firearms that have the same characteristics of what some defined as an assault weapon, have the exact same capability, but would not be defined as an assault weapon. that is the problem with the broad generalization you see in a story like that. host: we have some callers. chase in maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to thank the congressman for being on this morning. holisticallyntrol as a system of systems, in which we talk about the background checks or the mental health up backgroundfing

checks, for me that is only a band-aid put on a festering wound. we are talking about, one person earlier mentioned the cultural aspect and educational aspect, i mean, we have looked at the issue in florida and there were signs that this person was giving off that people could have realized, and rightfully a number of them did, that is an educational aspect. what is congress doing to ensure that culture and gun violence is being educated to the people of america, to are citizens, rather than simply smacking on the stigma of mental illness, or background checks, let alone not doing anything as it relates to gun shows? to really make this more of a holistic approach? guest: i think that you raise a good point, but i think some of this is really a cultural

phenomenon, some of it is dealing with social media, most of us when we were growing up did not exist. the shooter in florida became fascinated with weapons and firearms. he was focused on social media. he uploaded a video of himself talking on social media, apparently, that raised alarm by other people, even using his own name. so i think that this is a larger issue and frankly something that i am not sure you will get a solution from congress on, on that question, but one of the fundamental things we have to look at, the fbi had two specific warnings about this individual from members of the public and yet nothing was transmitted to the local fbi field office. congress needs to get to the bottom and hold accountability for those who missed the obvious

warning signs. what i mentioned before, over 30 times where the local police agencies were called the deal with the issue, where the man was kicked out of school because of violent behavior, that person should have been gone through some process where he wound up on the background check system, so he did not pass a background check. again, lastly i think that unfortunately many 18, 19, 20-year-olds are not mature enough, and unfortunately a violent fr arew are not mature enough for a weapon of this type, so we need to look at that as well. host: new jersey, harold. good morning. caller: i am a 95-year-old republican, a veteran of world war ii and in our division we had 9000 casualties. the people have said culture, of

course it is the culture. why our young people killing each other? and why our young people killing themselves? they are killing themselves with drugs, with auto accidents, and we are not changing our culture. we have a culture of hate. it should be a culture of love. we should return to our founding documents of what those people did. they made great sacrifices to start this country. we do not honor george washington and our leaders, we do not follow their example. clearly what we should do is follow the golden rule, do unto others. i was in a war that never should have been fought. god has tried to stop every war. god is trying not to stop the

war, god is love. god's name is love. america, return to the commandments. guest: well, thank you for your service. god bless you and god bless this great country and thank you for what you just said. i think it is a very profound and meaningful statement. and i do think that we have to go back in our communities, our schools and our families in particular, and think about and nurture our children and love them and teach them the golden rule, as you said. obviously it is not going to work everywhere, this young man had been adopted. i know that his adoptive mother passed away of the flu this past november. i do not know where the father was in this process, but clearly this young man was disconnected from his family and community and from society, and he was

extremely troubled and the warning signs were there. the warning signs on this young man were clearly missed on multiple levels and on multiple fronts, so people of goodwill on the left and right,, on either side of the issue need to focus on how we avoid situations like this in the future, find the areas where we can find common ground to fix the problem, not sweep it under the rug, but try to fix the problem. that is what i am committed to do. host: mary, intimate cap. caller: good morning -- mary, a democrat. caller: good morning. theree that we need to fix problem and i absolutely agree that the mechanism that turns a gun into an automatic should be on the table now in congress. guest: i agree. caller: and in all the states, because everybody agrees on that. the second one, absolutely 21

years old. the third one, this young man, the adoption came later. his natural parents, natural mother apparently died and put l ocks and keys on the refrigerator, as we have found out today. where were social services? they started, we start seeing trouble -- so the american people want action. whatever the state can do, if they can up the age limit right away, do it. obviously, all the other folks will stand up. the other thing, i would like also c-span, but people coming thathis is not just flags are needed, the person who killed in texas, that was a dereliction of duty, so the air force was not reporting that. ese people, theh

in broward county, all of them should be charged, the police chief, for dereliction of duty. host: congressman? guest: i am not sure there was a question, but i do think that this lady into this caller and others are besieging their governmental leaders to fix what and fix the gaps in the system. congress should get to the bottom of how the fbi, i realize they get about 2000 calls a day, so is the system overwhelmed? do they not have the capacity to deal with this number of calls? those of the questions we need

answers to. but i think we have to in our own communities, i have encouraged our local school districts, i see this happening all over the country, they are meeting with parents, local law enforcement, the talk about what they can do to better improve school safety in our communities. that is happening in my district, in the hudson valley and in the catskills and all around the country. host: a headline and a letter to the editor from the daily gazette paper in your neck of new york, the headline, the nra tookes to -- the father $7,950 during the 2016 election, and the letter to the editor from ted miller, calling on you to publicly condemn the nra and return the money that you took during the 2016 election. only through the repudiation of the gun lobby can we have a chance of ending the tear it is

inflicting, he wrote, what would your response be? guest: that is just a political smear. the national rifle association is a membership organization, first and foremost, and there are thousands of members in my district and these are law-abiding people who follow the law, who are very into safety and safe handling of firearms, and to suggest that somehow a couple of thousand dollars in a campaign that caused millions is a determining factor on one's position, is really just an outlandish smear. the fact is that national rifle they are strong because they have thousands of grassroots members in districts around the country, who routinely work for our police departments, for our fire companies, for are local emergency responders. in oure deeply meshed

community and to smear all those people and to say that they somehow do not care about the school shooting and other incidents of violence is really an outright lie. host: let's go back to new york. richard, independent, go ahead. caller: good morning. how are you guys? host: doing well. guest: good morning. caller: my comment is, why do you guys keep political sizing -- keep politicizing everything? a gun is not a republican or democrat. a bullet does not have no a party. -- no party. whatever kind of ammunition you have. why don't you do something about guns? you said yourself, you sold your soul to the devil, and now we are talking about putting walls

on mexico to keep people out. now we have to put walls within the united states to protect citizens from each other. host: congressman? guest: i am not sure how to respond to that one, but i would say that what we have to do, we have to find common ground between the sides here, and between democrats and republicans in washington and in our state capitals around the country, to better secure our thatls, better ensure people who clearly present a danger should not have access to any firearm, of any type. i think that is within our capacity to do. and i do think that it will require compromise on both sides, so one cannot strictly adhere to a one point of view and expect to get any progress in this matter, so i do think that it will be very important for us to work in good faith

with people who may not agree with us on the overall issue of the second amendment, in order to address the gaps that have occurred. starting with, why did the fbi miss two clearly defined and specific warnings about the shooter, and we should go from there. host: tom, republican. caller: i feel like i have a simple solution to all the background checks and weapons which of the people in this country are entitled to have under the second amendment. myself am a as a gun owner and a veteran, i would be willing to sell my second amendment right for $1 million. we only have three hegemony of people in the country and the government spends more than $300 million a day on whatever they spend it on. so if you were to offer $1 million to sell your second

amendment right, give up all of your weapons, turn them in, then on a background check when it comes to if i was to try to purchase a weapon, i cannot buy because my second amendment right has been relinquished and sold. people wouldt of be willing to give up their second amendment rights for $1 million. host: congressman? guest: i think my rough calculation, i think i may have missed the place of a decimal point, i think that would be $300 billion, so i am not sure it is a practical solution. one thing that is important to recognize is the vast majority of gun owners in our country are law-abiding citizens who deeply believe in obeying the law and andhe second amendment our constitution and bill of rights. the vast majority of crime that

is gun related is committed by people who are illegally possessing a firearm. it is important to put this in perspective in that regard. host: one of the other revolutions that it looks like will be offered is from james clyburn, that assistant democrat leader. he said last night, "filed in the house tonight to bring up commonsense gun reform, including my bill to close the charleston loophole." for those who do not remember, that loophole, this is inside are talking about the bill, talking -- it was the clerical error that led to the shooter acquiring a firearm. the default procedural, allowing federally licensed firearms dealers to initiate a background check and sell the is that something you could

support? guest: it's something we should look at but in the south carolina case, this was one law enforcement agency in north -- in south carolina failing to properly receive the notice from another law enforcement agency in south carolina. that's why the church shooter acquired his weapon. he was flagged and i background check. it was not properly transmitted. that's a perfect example of something and we should take a look at mr. clyburn's proposal. think it all has to be considered as part of a package. i think it's important for democrats and republicans to come together to figure out what are the things, not just what one side labels is common sense but what are the things we can agree to to get past and get the president to sign that and get it through the senate? you need 60 votes to pass anything in the senate. host: clyburn still came up as a

petition in the house. is that something you would get behind? these i don't support petitions in general but i have to look at it. i will look at every proposal. host: steve, the walkie, wisconsin, independent, go ahead. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. we have had a lot of discussion about why things have fallen through the cracks in broward county there seems to be a growing amount of information that says some of the criminal activity and the reporting has been racially-based or biased cruz andnikolas trayvon martin -- what's going on with the reporting of crimes by mainstream media, by certain law enforcement agencies that would then allow this particular individual, 30 sometimes , contacted on facebook

the month before, to be totally ignored because they are to trying to skew just -- they're trying to skew statistics? thank you. host: you think the media should have been reporting on the 30 times the police went to his house before the shooting happened? i think we lost him. guest: i wasn't quite sure. i think the media would not have any way of knowing that the police went to this young man's home and they would not have any way of knowing about the basis of the expulsion from school. colleagues in the house told me it was based upon a violent act against a teacher in school is why he was expelled. there were multiple warnings about this individual on the ground in florida. there were two discrete warnings

where citizens called into the fbi that were not followed through on and given to the local field office. i think we need to get to the bottom of those issues in this particular case. in the aftermath of any of these tragedies, the worse thing is when people rush to judgment and they know the answer to what we should be doing legislative or otherwise and seeking to gain political points in the aftermath of this tragedy. i think that's unbecoming. both sides tend to do it and we shouldn't. host: last call in everett, washington, go ahead. been so many have shootings. it's not just the schools. in churches come in movie theaters, everywhere. nobody is safe. gun owners are the ones that are doing these crimes. it's not people like me that don't own weapons. it's gun owners that are the killers. using guns. host: you got up early if you

are in washington state. that's about 5:00 in the morning i guess so good morning to you. i think it's important to recognize that yes, we have had these tragedies but overall, the decline of firearm related deaths in our country has declined in recent years. recognize need to that we do have a second amendment. we have a legal right to bear arms. the question is, what measures can be put in place that are logical, that adhere to due process and the constitution but would fly people who clearly should not have the capacity or ability to own a firearm. of these instances, whether it was columbine or sandy hook or the south carolina church shooting, whether it was the sulfur springs, texas church shooting and they missed one,

the orlando nightclub. all of those instances, there were clear examples of neglect or negligence or gaps in our system on background checks that we need to fix. the background check system has ported hundreds of thousands of people over the last number of years who should not have been able to purchase firearms and that's good. because we have had that success, when you have something that happens like the south carolina church shooting or in texas or here in florida, it means we have to do better. that's what we should be trying to do. there is no one magic solution to this issue. there is no magic wand we can way. or stateer of congress legislatures but that does not mean we should not try and that's what i intend to do. get yourwill let you day started on capitol hill and we thank you very much. up next, we will be joined by congressman dan hill become a

democrat from michigan and done to helpcan be older industrial cities and later, we will take more of your calls. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ "sunday on c-span's "q&a, contributing editor joshua zeitz talks about his book about the members of president johnson's staff who helped create and implement his great society program. >> exactly how administration within the space of 4.5 years, five years built all of these programs after they passed congress and signed them into

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join us for jee shaara. during the program, we will take your phone calls, tweets and facebook messages. our special series in depth fiction addition with author noon until 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two. >> "washington journal" continues. kildeeongressman dan joins us. talk about president trump's recent infrastructure proposal come i want to talk about the gun debate taking place in capitol hill. do you get a sense that something is different about this debate that it will end differently than past debates question mark it [video clip] feels like that may be happening

it's the cumulative effect of these tragedies have built upon each other. give the high school students in florida the credit they deserve. they have helped frame this issue come and not in political terms, in a way that i think forces us to answer the questions they are posing. it's not coming from a political place. it's literally coming from kids who survived this terrible experience. i will say this -- i hope that things have changed. as i was coming into congress when newtown took place and folks saw it, if anything would change the gun debate in america, it's this terrible tragedy that took these really young lives. and then we saw the same thing with paulson and the terrible event in las vegas, the mother emmanuel church shooting. everyone of them shocks the

conscience and should shock the federal government into actually doing something. i hope this is that moment were the cumulative effect of these terrible tragedies gets us to do something. of thehat do you make president yesterday at that meeting with governors at the white house telling them not to worry about the nra, indicating it's ok to fight them. in places they disagree? make his response? guest: when the president said something i agree with, afterward knowledge that. that's to fight the nra, for sure. the real question is whether it's a case of just saying you can fight the nra for rhetorical value or to try to reframe the politics of the question and actually take them on. we will see whether or not he is willing. is, theon this president's position on all of this is interesting and it could have some impact. but the president is not right law. congress writes law.

what i fear is that the president is trying to reframe the argument, essentially trying therovide some cover for leadership, republican leadership in the house and the senate, whichever peter usually and consistently blocked any meaningful piece of gun legislation from coming to the four -- floor of the house or senate. host: what's possible now? have to deal with closing the background check loophole. fix nix is important but it closing the with 40% of gun sales that are not subject to any background check whatsoever and that's a significant problem. with three other members of congress, i introduced a bump stock bill. we took a few weeks after the las vegas shooting. we didn't write it right away. we put together a really thoughtful piece of legislation.

, denarott from michigan titus, a democrat from las vegas, nevada, brian fitzpatrick from pennsylvania, the four of us sat down at my office sent but together really thoughtful legislation that was not an thateach and simply said if a device turns a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun, treat that device the way we treat a machine gun. we were ready to go. all the groups we thought were on board until we introduce the ,ill and then one organization the national rifle association said no. and any momentum we had was stopped not because they said no but because the speaker or somebody essentially said if the nra says no, they have a veto on any piece of legislation. rulee have the hastert which is an insane republican rule that says unless a majority of the majority supports

something, it cannot go to the floor we also have the nra rule that the republican caucus concedes the right to the nra to pre-veto any legislation. that is insane. host: you also have discharge petitions that could force legislation to the floor. is that an avenue for some of this legislation? if there are courageous republicans willing to sign a discharge petition, we could vote on this in the next few days. punished whene they signed discharge petitions by their leadership. we saw this happen when a handful of republican signed a discharge petition to help us move forward reauthorization of the import export bank. they are punished. host: do democrats get punished question mark guest: i have only been in the minority. to be fair, there is an overemphasis on loyalty to party and to party leadership. we elect our party leadership.

we should probably go in the other direction. the peopleected by we represent from our home districts. if we are not willing, as numbers of congress, stand on the floor of the house and do what's right, what we know in our heart and head is the right thing to do because of the nra or because of leadership, i suggest members of congress should find a different line of work where they are not required to make hard choices. call in.wers can these of the phone lines. we are talking with congressman dan kildee of michigan. you are from flint, michigan. how are they doing these days, how is the water situation? guest: it's slowly getting better but the recovery process is taking longer than the headlines would indicate. flint was in the center of the storm when this water crisis hit and we were able to get some help through congress and the

state government has done something but it will take a long time. it's probably a decade-long recovery overall. it will take a couple of more years just to get the infrastructure fixed and get the lead pipes removed. the health and economic impact on the city will be felt for a long time. host: the president proposed a $200 billion infrastructure plan. what is in that plan for flint, michigan? guest: not very much. the present plan is tilted heavily against older, distressed, industrial cities. it changes the way the federal formula works so that cities like flint under this plan would have to come up with 80% of the money in order to access 20% federal funding. if flint had 80% of the money , if these communities have that money available, they would have been spending it already. the president's plan is -- it

falls short. host: it's $200 billion in federal funds to spur one $.5 trillion in infrastructure investment. that's the hope from the white house and you are saying that hope is far-fetched? hairs but to split it's $200 billion of federal money over 10 years. that's offset by $170 billion of cuts to existing federal infrastructure programs over that same time which means it's $30 billion of new money over 10 years, $3 billion per year. compare that to the $80 billion per year in funding, increased funding the defense department just received and it's pretty obvious that this is not really a priority for this president. from kathy is up first mesh again, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning john and dan. was born and raised in flint in 1957.

gm business being there, there were a lot of roads built and sidewalks. you could get anywhere really by walking or riding your bike. there was a lot of driving. the roads are in poor condition in the state of michigan and that's a long story but i think we need to encourage the building of paths for people to walk or fixing the roots of people can safely travel. there is nothing wrong with that. when people see someone walking, they think they have a mental health issue when really, we should be like denmark, modern, extensive infrastructure. people should be encouraged to walk, it's a lifestyle. they have rails. flint has the capacity to do that. we need to clean up the streets, fix them, re-plat the city and it will never be what it was in

1957, that's for sure, but i don't think we should let the city die. guest: you make a great point. we grew up around the same time in the city of flint. flint is like his older communities. thataller makes the point we need to re-plat the cities and reinvest in 21st-century infrastructure that creates walk ability, acknowledges that society has changed. i think that's exactly right. the challenge for these older communities, flint being the prime example it's true so many others, the population of flint in 1970 was 200,000. today, it's less than 100,000. the way the infrastructure is laid out, the literal physical grit of the infrastructure system has to be changed. that's an expensive proposition. otherwise, people in flint like the water infrastructure, paying for a system that was built to deliver water to 200,000 people including several really big

industrial users and now that same system has to be supported by a population that is in significantly more poor with far fewer industrial users and a population less than half its size. it's the most expensive water in america and you cannot even drink it. this is where the federal government and state governments need to step in and do a lot more to help reset the markets in the older cities. you think these cities want to get back to the height of population? do you want to get back to 200,000 people? guest: for a long time, that was the scent -- the fantasy many cities had. i've been that once working with have come to the conclusion that it's not the number of people who live in the city that makes a great place. it's the quality of life for the people who choose to live there. those places can be made more livable, even for the people who are there now, a population of half the size,

that becomes more attractive to other folks to move back in. it's a chicken and egg problem. to chase the old definition of success, the one horse town where we had 79,000 people working for general motors in the city of flint, we will not get that back. it doesn't mean we cannot have a successful place but we need help to reframe and reset how the market works. sleep -- we can roll up our sleeves and go to bat but we cannot do it with infrastructure that is falling apart. host: no is an independent, good morning. caller: good morning, i want to say with all due respect, sir from michigan, politician from inhigan, you politicians that state ought to be ashamed of yourselves for the state of those roads. i am a truck driver and i am not complaining so much for myself but i will bet you -- i was in the detroit area about a week ago and i will bet you i counted

two dozen cars off on the shoulder with flat tires and busted up suspensions on them because of the conditions of those roads. you know what? andas not nice bmws mercedes, it was poor, working people's cars. now they've got the additional cost of fixing their cars. aey are trying to get to minimum wage job. shame on you, politicians. not only in michigan but all over the country where it really has an impact on the poor people. i will listen to your response. you are exactly right and that mace apprise you. shame on the state of michigan and shame on the u.s. congress. in the state of michigan, there has been an abject failure by the legislature and governor to do anything to increase infrastructure.

the same is true here in congress. the caller makes the most important point, there is an enormous cost to having broken infrastructure. it comes through in a lot of ways. literally, auto repairs. the way this works is that it guarantees the people will pay more to travel. they are just going to a by rims, for new tires, then -- bent rims, everything associated with what tears up your vehicle. we also pay with lost productivity. in the federal government, we have not -- we have increased the gas tax. we have not increase the gas tax since 1993. we are putting a tax on every driver. it's a tax that's paid when they take their car to the shop to get new tires or new rims or new shocks or struts. it makes a difference, we pay

one way or another. host: what would you increase the gas tax to? guest: if we simply set the gas tax to increase at the rate of was $.18, it93, it would be around $.32 right now. that seems reasonable so as wages continue to go in the cost the cost ofes up, maintaining roads has to go along with a but we are essentially trying to fund 20th-century roads with 19th-century construction supported by 20th-century taxes. anything toyou do ensure that more of the gas tax would go to the roads and not other projects? guest: we have to take and all above approach. it would relieve some of the other obligations that support water, infrastructure, transit, airports, ports, rail systems. all of that has to be part of a

21st-century infrastructure system. water issues really are difficult. we have to find a way to increase the amount of federal support that leverages additional state support to help these older communities especially rebuild the water systems. the ratepayers cannot dig deep enough to come up with a kind of money it will take to create those systems or rebuild the system so they are safe. host: joe in the bronx, line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning. i am joe the counselor from the bronx. i'd like to talk to the congressman. about infrastructure. one of the things i can tell you, you are a politician, you know it but when i talk to the people from main street, not wall street, the real people, what they tell me is the republicans are not going to

allow the money that is supposed to be going to the infrastructure. why? it's because all of the infrastructure is going to be in the district were the democrats are in control. they believe that will not benefit them. that's politics. in the to put money military, that's what they will go for. saying --e people are if this is infrastructure that is supposed to help the people in this country, it's going to be big money coming from the federal government. that's where it's supposed to come from. importants is an point. what i worry about particularly with the president's proposed what youcture plan is

suggest is a big problem. the money will flow to the most affluent communities under the president's formulation. the money from the federal government would flow to the most affluent communities that already have the ability to raise local revenues in order to pay for the 80% of the local government and state governments would be required to provide. a lot of the older communities, the more distressed amenities, would not be able to get those resources. the president doubled down on that theory by adding additional $50 billion over 10 years not to help rebuild these older cities but for rural america which clearly needs help but the idea that we would identify that geography is being singled out for additional support and not recognized that there are tens of millions of americans living in older, distressed amenities really struggling and they could never come up with the

resources. it misses a really important point. host: to judy on twitter -- no.t: the wall is not infrastructure. let's set that aside. been described as border security. i support 20% reporter security but what i don't supported to $30 billion on a monument to the president's campaign promise because he continues to persist on this issue. let's remind ourselves, when he proposed this, he guaranteed, not suggested but he guaranteed that's united states government and its taxpayers would not have to put up one dime to build this wall. is, does the wall actually work at the border? we should do what works and not

what he says but secondly, it's pretty disingenuous for the president to pursue this to fulfill a campaign promise. it should be about border security. the president is seeking $18 billion over 10 years for construction of the wall. the report is from "the washington post." the president is inspected to go to california to visit the prototypes that have been built near san diego for potential border wall construction. that visit would be mid-march. guest: to be fair, we should do what works. if in some parts of the border, a wall makes sense, and that's what the experts say, the folks actually involved in security think would make a difference, yeah but we know that's not the case. even some of my republican colleagues who represent the border itself say this is not a workable solution. host: robert in south carolina, independent, good morning.

caller: good morning. i hope you don't hang up on me but i have to say something. the reason why infrastructure and other things are not being paid for is because these politicians, democrat and bush republicans, took over this country and called it a democracy when it a republic. you give yourself pay raises. you all have health care and you are all a bunch of criminals and you should be going to jail for what you are doing, lying to us all the time, stealing our money and then saying how are we going to pay for this or that? more taxes? it illegal taxes you put on us? republican the people are waking up and you guys better watch out because you are a bunch of criminals. obviously, robert has his perspective and i disagree with it. most of the people think the

vast majority of congress are here representing their constituents and trying to do the right thing. i don't agree with all of my colleagues but i think what we have seen and like with this aller is that there has been degradation of the trust that people have in their government. actually the president has written that wave to a great extent and fuels it from time to time. the truth of the matter is, we have a lot of problems in this country and we should be rolling up our sleeves trying to solve them. the caller's perspective is one i understand but i don't agree. host: back to the wolverine state, the line for democrats, good morning. caller: good morning. i love democrats. it's nice to be able to talk to you. guest: thank you. a lot of wanted to say things, really. you just mentioned the fact that there are a lot of problems in this country that need to be solved.

i agree with you 100%. it comes toen things like this, like your , wer problems in flint talked about all that years ago. polled agreedple that something needed to be done and then it just got dropped. even care.es not what 98% of the people have to say. all they do is drop these issues. you think they are getting someplace in all of the sudden, they change the subject. nothing ever gets done about anything. guest: the frustration is one that i share. i think most members of congress actually want to move forward on this issue.

on the background check bill, if it went to the floor of the house today, we would get over 300 fouts or more. -- votes or more. host: so you are blaming the leadership. guest: when paul ryan was elected speaker, he proposed a more open process. this is far from that. we have had very little real process. we have not had an appropriations process that gives us a chance to weigh in on these ideas we offer. put these bills on the floor. on the gun issues, for those who oppose taking the kind of action that many of us are supporting including most american people, be willing to go to the floor of the house and on -- and stand on your own to feed and vote no but explain your vote. i would be completely satisfied with the outcome if i felt as though the vote was taking place on background checks, stocks,

high-capacity magazines, on really dealing with what is truly an assault weapon. the aspects of a gun that make it more lethal, put those bills on the floor. host: in the senate, mitch mcconnell had an open process for immigration legislation to come to the senate floor and nothing could gather enough votes to move forward. is that a failure of the leadership or the members of the senate? bit ofi think it's a both. not every issue gets resolved but we took that same process -- and the senate we have a high bar of 60 votes, and majority of the senators voted for bills that i think what have been a step in the right direction. let's put the pressure on the senate from the house side. the speaker should do the same thing that leader macdonald did. with the bills on the floor. let's see what happens. host: north dakota, independent, good morning. caller: how are you doing this

morning? i had a couple of quick questions. i love how you talk about infrastructure. we know that stuff has been going on in michigan for about 100 years. you don't take the time to fix it. somebody's roof is leaking, they don't fix it and it gets worse. you don't take care of anything was supposed to be fixed. you complain about money, how many raises have government officials, government employees had in the last 10 years? you guys give all that money to government employees. use the money to fix your state. quit ripping the country off. host: congressman? guest: i understand the frustration. i don't think anyone gets credit for saying that congress itself does not get a raise. the folks who work in government largely due of very good job and i think they get beat up, unfortunately, by a lot of folks

frustrated and see a vehicle for their frustration. the caller is right in the sense that he says we don't fix your roof and sooner or later the house full of -- falls apart. that's true here and there is no excuse for the fact that congress, the elected leadership, has not done their the folkse sure that who do work in government, who have a hard job, have the resources to provide services that folks will be satisfied with. i think members of congress are able to deflect their failures onto the public employees who were action he trying to do a job that is increasingly difficult. dan kildee, democrat from flint, michigan, we appreciate your time, come back again. later in our program, we will talk with tom hart of the one heart campaign.

they combat poverty around the world but up next, open phones. any issue you want to talk about, the phone lights are open. the numbers are on your screen. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ >> wednesday morning, we are , new mexicosanta fe c-span bus 50 capitals tour. the former new mexico governor bill richardson and the new mexico house speaker will be our guest on the bus during "washington journal" starting at 9:15 a.m. eastern. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. and today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events and washington, d.c. and around the country.

c-span is brought to you by your cable or settle a provider. for nearly 20 years, in depth on booktv has featured the nation's best-known nonfiction writers for life conversations about their books. this year, as a special project, we are featuring best-selling fiction writers for a monthly program. join us live sunday at noon whosen with jeff shaara novel was made into a major motion picture. his most recent book is the frozen hours and is other books include the final storm, to the last man, plus 11 more novels which recount the military history of america from the american revolution to the korean war. during the program, we'll take your phone calls, tweets, and facebook messages. our special series, in-depth fiction addition, with author jeffshaara, sunday from noon until 3:00 p.m. sunday on booktv

on c-span two. >> "washington journal" continues. host: open phones for the next 25 minutes on "washington journal." any public policy issue you want to talk about, you can do so. we will look for your calls and we want to keep you updated about some of our programming highlights including the federal reserve chairman jerome powell on capitol hill today at 10:00 a.m. he will be before the house financial services committee and you can watch that it 10:00 on c-span3. we also want to keep you updated of what's on the president's mind this morning. he is up and tweeting this morning. several of them have to do with the russia investigation.

various commentators are talking about that investigation. time for open phones, tammy is up first from cleveland, dent -- tennessee, democrat, go ahead. caller: i watch your show about every day. i would like to say that we have a president, i voted for him. but i am strictly voting democrat because the news wants to talk about this guy killing all these children which is very sad. we have a president that can get -- ie news and talk about

wish you would pull that clip for people to see -- that is really a threat. it's just is that boy had done. president trump always talks about no collusion. bringing these russian women over here and they are allowed to get passports for their babies. back -- ng it caller: i'm afraid for my life ever since i've support and the election -- i've supported the , i cannot get an answer from msnbc. i can't get one from abc or nbc on who to contact. we have had all of this. we've got the nra. this is bad. we played that clip

earlier in the program about the president saying he is going to bust the nra. that's the headline in today's "news herald:" out of arizona. he talked about that at the governor's meeting yesterday. if you missed it, you can watch it at www.c-span.org. kevin is in quantico, virginia, republican, go ahead. caller: good morning. couple of quick comments regarding the gun control and policing in america topics. the topic comes up about the ar-15 and military assault rifles or whatever. most people in the military know has a single shock it ability and a three round burst in the three round burst. essentially, the ar-15 you buy in the store is the exact same

weapon that the military uses. second of all, i'm a public i am and the police department and had to fire some police officers. when a police officer does something wrong and you want to fire him, you don't let him resign. you terminate him so he cannot going get a job somewhere else. without having that firing on his record. chief,g with my police the folks becoming police officers and the people police department are looking for is changing. who playedbe folks football or were wrestlers or had been in a fight in the schoolyard and there were younger, people who can show up to a violent situation and take control. it's being replaced because these of us are's are afraid of lawsuits and the visuals of people and they are replacing with people who have masters

degrees and bachelor's degrees in biology and those kind of things. this from the sheriff's deputy accused of failing to respond to the deadly shooting in florida, reaction from him yesterday. his lawyer said he believed the shots are being fired during the school shooting were being fired outside the building when the gunman was firing inside the building.

jim is in little valley, new york, line for democrats -- line for independents, good morning. caller: i would like to make three comments. honorably discharged veteran of the united states army. i do it again if i was young enough. here's the thing, on the guns, we have never been allowed to own automatic weapons in this country. you had to have a special license from the government. second of all, they don't sell automatic weapons to people on the streets. i personally own and for teens, semiautomatic rifle, no selector switch. want to keep jumping on the nra and they want to keep

jumping on president trump. he inherited this mess. the nra is just trying to protect our rights as for as the second amendment and all the way through. let's get off of the guns. laws theyrcing the have on the books for years and years. to own upts to seem to that. host: do you own and ar-15? caller: no, i don't. ont: from one of our viewers twitter relating to the ar-15 and maybe you can answer this -- why would anyone ever need such a weapon for a sporting rifle? can you respond to that? host: yes, sir. and ar-15 is a 22 caliber rifle that is perfect for hunting coyote and fox and cones. any type of large predator

game. that's the way it was meant to be. to defend your home with as well. the laws and new york state says you can only have five rounds in a magazine when you are out hunting. my 30.06 holds five rounds. if i keep pumping my shotgun, it will go up faster than any automatic you have ever seen. that's a fact, try it sometime. they taught us that in the military. the call,eciate brenda is in nashville, tennessee, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i was watching bbc news. i thinke talking about donald trump's son. and was building

hotels. , how will that peoplethe american building up the wealth of americans. i have not seen it reported on local news channels. i was wondering about it. maybe you could look it up. host: you are wondering what he was doing in india? caller: he was putting up a hotel or something. it was like a meeting with different people talking about the hotel. it was mainly built for the elite of india? this is from the economic times, they are reporting on don junior's trip. he spent the week in india last week pitching a new luxury high-rise that bears his family

name. groupse before various including an event called building a better mumbai. there have been several articles about that trip and his statement to there is groups on that trip. he is working on behalf of the trump organization. fredericksburg, virginia, republican, good morning. caller: i wish i could have dee.en to mr. kille they keep saying state and government, the states not going enough in the federal not doing enough but he forgot to mention the counties in the cities. they are not doing enough. they are building bike paths. they are widen them i put a strike on them. believable and then you

have potholes all over the place. i think people need to wake up and look at their county and local officials that are not taking care of their cities, their towns, the roads, their sidewalks, the federal government is not responsible for your counties roads. the state is only responsible for certain roads in the county. the towns are responsible for their roads. want tole to always make it for someone else, it's your local politicians. flint was controlled for decades by democrats. look what happened to flint. that's what happening all over the country when you elect build little bridges that go to two houses and put up a parking lot so the future can come in. instead, the president is being torn apart. they are building on a future

that is not here. they're constantly neglecting the president. we need to stop looking into this jets and future and start looking at now. that's what they want to divert your eyes from. lindhstephen in for maryland, independent, good morning. thank you, c-span. i want to make a suggestion in reference to the house in the senate. what if we could get rid of democrats and republicans and put a set top box on our tv and lead c-span show the bills and we could place a yes or no vote and the direction we want gun laws to go and budgets and deficits and on and on. it always comes back to house and senate inability to get their job done. there we are once again with the gun debate. we will go through the kabuki theater and after that is done, we will be back where we were when we started.

let a true democracy, not a representative democracy but a true democracy take place in this country by simply putting a set-top box, yes or no, watch the bills on c-span, place a vote. host: speaking of the gun debate, here is the front page from that telegram gazette out of massachusetts. here's more from the present at the governor's meeting yesterday. we will turnmp: her grief into action, we have to have action. we have no action. it happens and we goes by, lusty talking, another we goes by, we keep talking, months go via all of a sudden everybody is often the subject. when it happens again, everybody's angry and let's stop -- and let's start talking again.

by the way, bump stocks, i am writing that out. -- i am writing that out myself. [applause] you put it into the machine gun category which is what it is. it essentially becomes a machine gun and it will be hard to get them so we are writing them out. yesterday,at meeting governor jay inslee, a democrat of washington was one of those who stood up to challenge the president on his issue of arming more teachers and more adults in schools. >> hears>> that exchange. speaking as a grandfather and a governor of the state of washington, i have listened to the people affected by that. i've listened to the biology teachers and they don't want to do that in any percentage. i listened to the first grade teachers who don't want to be pistol packing. i have listened to law enforcement who said they don't want to train teachers as law enforcement agencies which takes six months.

i think the circumstance where we need to listen and let educators educate and they should not be foisted on this responsibility of hacking heat in first grade classes. i understand you have suggested this and we suggest things and then sometimes we listen to people about it and maybe they don't look so good later. i suggest when a less tweeting and more listening and let's just take that off the table and move forward. host: if you want to watch that event in its entirety, you can see it www.c-span.org at. left in minutes or so this open phone segment of the "washington journal." any public policy issue that's inyour mind, michael crossley, texas, go ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: yes. caller: [indiscernible]

[indiscernible] they gave all the money away. now they want to cut the other part of the social problem. [indiscernible] the republicans have control of everything, let's fix it. host: on the issue of the dreamers, the lead story in today's "wall street journal "

keith is in pennsylvania, republican, go ahead. caller: hello, i was wondering wider has been no focus on the school in the unlocked door that allowed this shooter to go in. there is no reason in the world that should've happened. who is being held accountable for it could mark my little town has an elementary school and was school is out, the doors open. the two teachers lock out and the students come out. about theone talking mistakes that were made at the school? louisiana --lby in in kentucky, line for democrats, go ahead. caller: let me try to address these things about the school. i worked in the schools as a police officer.

i did not work in uniform. the schools do not have all of the doors locked. automatic weapons are made to kill people. i'm a veteran. you have those weapons because the folks you want to kill her at a distance. someone called him and said it is your right. weapons are made to kill. donald trump said what he would -- ifhe was there somebody is out there killing an automatic rifle or something, he is insane. i would call for you to say that. i am not insane. the police officers are not insane. -- exactlyd what he what he would do. the first job of the police

officers to make your he does not killed. not get killed. i was a police officer for 30 years. have feltwould you about more teachers and the school you were working in being armed? caller: i don't want nobody to be armed and no school. a police officer is trained to shoot weapons. shoot, they know what they are shooting at. ?an you imagine you cannot train any teacher or anybody else to shoot no weapon and be effective with it the same way the police officers do. they did not become marksmen. i don't want no situation like that because in a school, in a place out here in the community, everybody is in their walking around with concealed weapons.

a teacher could have emotional problems at home and they are subject to take a pistol and commit suicide. get carried away with their domestic problems. teachers are there to teach. focusing onnot be if you have certain teachers carrying pistols and others are not. nobody has been psychoanalyze. d. they need to test people who apply for the job of law enforcement. host: you mentioned president trump saying what he thinks he might have done when faced with that same situation in the florida school shooting. here's more from that event.

if i didn't have a weapon and i think most of the people in this that, too, have done because i know most of you. the way they performed was disgrace. host: the president yesterday, the president's proposal making the editorial pages of various newspapers including country, editorial cartoons. here is today's editorial "u.s.a. today." take a look at that as we go to domingo in midland, texas, an independent. go ahead. caller: good morning.

what the president should do, i during le to talk president's -- you know, president should be of egypt, who h ewarded joseph because joseph told him the dream he could not you know. told him egypt would have seven years of good times by after that, followed seven years of famine. nd what joseph said came through because it came from the lord, you know. it to the go, bring united states in 2018. caller: huh? host: bring it to the united

states in 2018. caller: yes. should reward give you solutions that you use, you know. egypt, e the pharaoh of lord, notill from the giving anything to the lord. me, i -- domingo, your point, last caller in this segment of "washington journal." e'll have time at the end of the program for open phones. stick around for that. by tom hart of ne campaign to discuss efforts and he how rty president trump could impact that fight. we'll be right back. >> wednesday morning, live in

new mucks co for the richardson ith bill and spouse speaker brian egolf ill be our guest during "washington journal," 9:15 eastern. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's companies and n today we continue to bring you congress,d coverage of the white house, the supreme events d public policy in washington, d.c. and around the country. yourn is brought to you by cable or satellite provider. >> for nearly 20 years in-depth featured the nation's best-known for live writers

conversations about their books. this year, a special project, fiction best-selling writers for our program in-depth fiction edition. us live sunday at noon je jeff shaara, his ost recent book "the frozen hours," "the final storm," "to plus 11 more novels recounting military history from the american korean war.o the during the program, we'll take your phone calls, tweets and messages. our special series, in depth jeffon edition with author shaara, sunday live from noon to 3 p.m. eastern on book t.v. on c-span 2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: tom hart joins us to discuss efforts to combat and ty around the world what the u.s. government can do about it, north american one tive director at the

campaign mrchlt hart, remind us what the one campaign is. guest: sure. an advocacy organization public poverty that fight poverty nepoor countries and africa, central america other places. we don't deliver services on the round, we work can congressional leaders and administration to develop policies with the government. we do this in other major capitals around the world. campaign was the one startd and how is it funded? 20 2004 launched, we don't ask the public for money, our line, we're not asking for your money, we're asking for your voice. the n't take money from government, we are independent of those interests. ost: you are concerned about the money federal government is spending on efforts to fight world, around the especially the latest budget proposal from the trump administration. how much is the united states

this ng right now on effort and how would president trump's budget change that? currently we spent $57 billion, less than 1% of the total u.s. budget. many people continuing is 15, 20, 25% of the budget, less than one. incredible bang for that buck. unfortunately, president trump by 30%.sing to cut that and we're, which would be devastating to those people who are in most desperate need of our assistance, whether poor or have illnesss that we can help. so for that base, tiny fraction budget, we're here with volunteers to talk to congress writes checks about saving lives around the world. host: who are you meeting with on capitol hill? >> more than 200 meetings across the hill, senators, members of both sides of the aisle, volunteers from nearly every state, hawaii wasn't able make it, but we're really proud of our volunteers, they

are polite, they they are persistent and they are on on their own time and their own dime to talk about eople they may never meet because they have got an interest and a big heart and to show what america stands for the world. host: how much did we spend at the end of the obama dministration on efforts and how much did that change during the first year of the trump administration? amount, out the same holding pretty steady from the end of the obama administration again, who ress, writes checks in bipartisan way said yes, we agree this should whole.d they support programs and they have wholly rejected president cuts.s 30% host: was he looking for 30% cuts in the first budge proet posed? uest: that is right, 2018, proposed 30% and for next year, 30%. it is disappointing, they evolved in budget thinking, but the congress hould be do it did last year,

ignore his request. host: congress passed a two-year udget framework, details are still being filled in, but where do the efforts you're talking into where do they fit the framework, do we see increase in funding, something in increases ion over two years? guest: exactly. the verdict is still out, the negotiating till over the last bits over funding and they have just begin working on what next year's budget will look like. feeling confident based on conversations we've had and of course the end of the day, we'll have a better sense of we think we'll end up. host: tom hart, one campaign, if join the o conversation, phone lines are open, 202-748-8001, democrats. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. 9:30 to take until your calls. as folks call in, how does the compare to other countries when it comes to foreign aid.

a st: great question and two-answer question. apology. the united states is the largest to humidian tarrian and the opment assistance in world. we are the biggest economy. relative share, we are actually quite low. percentage of budget and national wealth, we actually ive relatively less as a percentage, but of course, being so large, the absolute amount is largest. host: who is next closest? u.k., they lieve the re committed to quite a large percentage of their budget going toward development assistance and do so effective. countries like germany and france are similarly generous. figure out you where money can best be used when advising members of formula? what is the guest: couple of things. we don't do tragzs on the ground rely on the partners that we work with, whether it's save the children

vision, or world indeed the u.s. government or other governments we know are orking on the ground to see what is working and see what could be improved. we take trips to africa, work african partners and listen and learn about what is working ell and translate back to washington and say, we believe this program is work willing and should double down on. can be improved and here is how. host: how much waste, fraud and buse do you think there is in the system? guest: i would be lying if i said none. saying no y anyone waste in any federal program. it is far less than people think. why is that guest: well, because when things go wrong, that gets attention. and i think one of the sad misperceptions about foreign aid all wasted and we're writing blank checks to dictators. couple things. all foreign aid is not equal. when we work with strategic ally ecessary hot spots, afghanistan, pakistan, when we

delivering vaccinations in africa, it is done incredibly npartnership ay with those countrys and are nments and the results counted carefully. this is not the kind of foreign aid of the cold war. modernized, highly transparent and focused on results. of the fact our aid system we support are really elivering results for the people who need it. host: do we give money to hostile to at are us? guest: we don't agree with every country on every issue. aid, ea we will cut off they didn't vote on particular wrong-headd .n. is and in fact, dangerous. host: you talking about resolution on jerusalem? resolution on jerusalem, great example. japan didn't vote on that cut off duringwe the north korean crisis because they didn't vote with us on jerusalem? no. one thing i can say, when we to fight rtnership

poverty and help democracy and help feed hungry people, we build allies. long-term relationships that end up being, paying off tn run.ong the one campaign supports issues because they are the right thing to do. for othere support it self-interested reasons, for good reason. our aid represents the best of america. host: tom hart here to take your question, see if the u.s. the one director of campaign, william in jop lin, missouri. independent. william, go ahead. caller: yeah, you do a lot of in africa and you have done uite a bit and worked out real well, but poverty in america, do and sat-- was just here for industrial countries we have poverty than anybody, what o you call, china, just eliminated their homelessness by the end of '22, they

plan to have no homeless. is going to be done about america? guest: great question. all the t question time. it's really appropriate. there are people who are in the withing poverty united states. the one campaign is committed to poverty dmroebally. the united states is part of the globe. what we focus on is extreme there is no cy, healthcare, no medicines, and people just no food at all. the level of extreme poverty we the united ence in states. but i think it is important to oint out in the federal budget two-thirds of it is roughly mandatory programs and vast majority goes to supporting those in need in this country. i said at the top, less than 1% budget focused on the aid that goes overseas to help poorest. that less than 1% has outsized impact on the extleemly poor.

nation, we can do both. host: jeff in silver spring, maryland. good morning. hi.er: thanks for taking my questions, first question is what is he -- how much of aid is given to other countries from u.s. philanthropic agencies compared to the government and i saw ecently we're decreasing contribution to the u.n. refugee isence that he seems like it only, i think, 60 million, seems like a drop in the bucket how much we contribute to the u.n. and that u.n. d be made up by other countries without too much trouble. thanks for your answer. great. i'm afraid iville to answer, i'm not entirely sure the u.s. philanthropic effort is, they give more per capita than any other in the

world. americans are incredibly generous people, advocating represent that generosity, as well. as far as cutbacks to the united nations, we support what the u.n. is doing in terms to gather around a common cause, conflict reduction or health. we think that cutting back on that would be short sided, we enormous leverage when we partner with multi lateral institutions to reach common goals. hope congress will reject proposed cuts. host: private sector engagement issue, one part of president trump's budge proet applaud efforts and encourage private sector engagement here. hat does the trump administration want to do? guest: you are exactly right. proposing what is called development finance corporation, which is government speak for we're in use u.s. monthat he already exists.

to the l not add deficit, use some of those -- some of that money and expertise influence to work with private sector partners to invest in poor countries. say the country wants to xpand electrical grid, key to refrigerating vaccine and starting businesss and helping economies grow. he united states government will work with the country, they will also work with a private company to say hey, here is good lower thecan fund and risk for you. this is not about the private humanitarian over aid, we need aid, need foreign assistance in order to support the poor.t of this is the other end of the entrepreneurs, helping infrastructure and helping economies grow in the poorest countries. eventually we won't need to supply foreign aid tis not in the 789, new tool tool box and we're supportive of it. ost: brit in bald win, missouri. republican, go ahead. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call.

guest: morning. caller: i'm not against foreign aid, my comment is of the the u.s. dollars that we give to foreign aid, in you usingtations, are or have you thought about the defense umbrella as an example korea and japan and afghanistan, with the u.s. military? a lot of money spent there that should be considered as foreign aid, thank you. guest: that's a great point. no, we don't consider the security partment and assistance as part of foreign aid. the government doesn't consider is separately counted and of course a larger share of of budget, about 15 or 16% the u.s. budge set focused on defense and indeed the defense foreignnt doesn't count aid as a piece of that, either. they are strong advocates. a lot ofve worked with generals who are more articulate spokes people for our issue than are. they talk about the fact you go hope, lages without

opportunity or healthcare, they became right for takeover by radicals, they become unstable and so there is great interest develop this tool, fighting overty and development in poor countries for our natural security purposes. host: in terms of computations brought up, here are numbers able to pull from fiscal '19 t's budget proposal so folks can see it when it comes to specific cuts. 470 million cuts in the president's emergency plan for 424 million cut for he global fund, 46.5 million cut for the nutrition programs million e world, 482 cut for food security program. educational programs. of those, is there one or two concerned about? guest: it is hard to say which one is most concerned about.

i guess i find it troubling and take ironic, for example, food security, the united states program to help farmers get to have more nd productive crops, to train in how to rmers produce more food for community. agriculture is the economic pulling people out of extreme poverty across the developing world and yet we want in half.at program so it seems ironic and that the program that is most likely to pull people out of poverty and he reliant on aid over the long-term is being cut back. hiv-aids, the president's emergency program aids relief, flagship program started by president w. bush and supported by bipartisan members of congress over 15 years now and that is 30% cut.r a we think there is troubling proposals and we expect congress them.ject

host: to north palm beach, florida, jennifer, independent, go ahead. hi, i want to bring up the issue of women's health and reproductive information and how it relates to poverty. country a in this direct correlation between women of huge increase in number women who are single mothers and e've dumped a lot of sex education and contraceptives on oung women today and even abortion, yet the rise of single others increases and the poverty rate has just accelerated, whereas in china, they're utilizing mercedes and family of america foundation utilizing natural family planning, information s and that has been around quite a long time, which gives women basic understanding of how they bodies work and then

can plan naturally. he gates foundation and big pharma continue to dump models united 't work in the states, trying to put in africa and other countries, which doesn't work because they're putting a bandaid on a introducing harmful steroids and things on he women and then you get promiscuity, they think, i have a host of ves and other issues like std's and unwanted pregnancy. women, particularly poor women, how their body mercedes ke as i said, wilson and family of america is ow they did it in india with mother teresa's orders and there mercedes has been 12 times and it's been so successful. an we introduce new models of teaching women how to control reproductive health, instead of

models, which have well? consequences, as guest: complicated question. thank you, though, for it. have to admit, i'm not an expert in this area. quickly, the foreign aid budget supportinghill today includes real and substantial unding for women's health, maternal health, child health and of course, issues around and abortion are incredibly divisive and people on both sides often are divide body that. deporting health and reducing poverty for women and children, enormous help. one intervention which helps across the board, getting girl necessary school. for every year a girl completes ducation and learning in schools, her -- she delays and her family income goes up. even democracy is improved.

shown more women educated, more they participate and help transparency in the country. focused on areas we think both side consist come together on foreign aid and health budge set one area. host: jennifer, before you go, theseem to know a lot about issue. do you have experience in working in these issues overseas? gues guest: -- caller: i put together a form trained two doctors and florida two nuns in the area and about eight other to understand how they communicate this natural lanning family information, it is actually really simple. i bought myself a book 20 years trained and basically myself, but there are levels of training that are at the level training doctors and nurses and things like that and it's been extremely successful overseas, but so much money is

towards the model that we use here, which in my opinion is exposure to what is the education program funded through planned parenthood and unsuccessful. this ridiculous and single rates mothers, 46% of babies in this country are being born to single mothers and i personally work whichhe fall out of that, is incredible difficulties in they y, i'm not saying shouldn't have babies, i'm saying we need to get a grip on countrygoing on in this and we don't want to spread that model overseas. hey are working hard in africa to shove this model down the throats of people in africa and like in t want it, kenya, people working to say, no, we want to preserve the uclear family and have understanding of women's health, but we want help understanding

culture work with our and our religious beliefs and it verytremely successful and natural and it's proven, so if wants more information, look up natural family planning americas of the foundation has been working in the field forever. host: appreciate you sharing with us.y tom hart, is there more you want to pick up on from that? one theme that is important your caller raised. ork nothing partnership with countries tis not about western-made solutions and what work.ink will it is about a partnership with recipient countries, finding out needsill work, what their are, what is culturally appropriate, i think that is an thing.nt and something that the united states has gotten better at. always could use improvement. host: darius, san diego, go ahead., caller: very interesting topic this morning.

i'm not against foreign aid for countries that need it. if they need it, they need it. how donald rstand trump can say put america first, but same time, he's cutting, you know, education. it doesn't seem to put america irst without having educated students at hand. i digress on that. do we question is, why continue to give foreign aid to israel

israel -- guest: in the form of military systems. it wasn't long ago we were providing foreign assistance to that, has shifted, i believe under obama that shifted only, in ry assistance accordance with camp david accords, israel and egypt, agreements we have, i am not an expert in military assistance to the focused on development assistance to poor countries like africa. long-standing a agreement that we have among those countries. ost: do we give development assistance to the palestinians? uest: we have, there is a bitter argument on capitol hill about that, but extreme poverty middle east and indeed among the palestinians,

hat we don't want to do is leave a vacuum, which others who maybe have other interests fill that gap. we know for example, in lebanon, ezbollah provide services, build clinics and schools, producing conducive environment for them to operate. reason the military is interested in working with us and on these issues and because reason the military is ates opportunity in fragile places as building extremism. so we believe our stuff plays an enormous role in that. host: do you have meetings with the pentagon while you are here? today, they have the pen on the budget, constituents around the country, want to meet with voters. we meet with the pentagon and former military officials who experience on the ground and give us good advice about the linkages. two minutes left with tom 1.org, to e campaign, check them out at one campaign, easy enough to find.

john in jonesborogashgs ga, a republican, good morning. turn down your t.v., john, and talk through your phone. hank while dow that, john. patrick, south carolina, independent. hafrpg, go ahead. you.er: thank you just stepped all over my plo. call about the but i'll think of another for you. how about, how much aid do we to pakistan now? the dayhave cut off aid they found osama bin laden living this because i'm sure a lot of other -- orists hanging around they are the largest recipients.

oreign aid tis divided that which is focused on fighting poverty, health and getting peep military and security assistance. pakistan and afghanistan are our securitynts of assistance, which i'm not an expert on. clear, usid, delivers foreign assistance and building metery schools and training teachers nd helping with build clinics in these places, as well. hat as we learn is helping build around the taliban and extremists present there. play a real role. host: in the state of the union ddress earlier this month, the president saying, i'm asking congress to pass legislation to ensure foreign assistance dollars serve american interests go to american friends. is that in the form of an actual where f legislation and is that? guest: there have been bills

congress on the subject that don't see the light f day and honestly we don't expect this either. we believe that foreign aid how y that is hinged to people vote at the u.n. or other ways is really not appropriate. it doesn't make sense and actually would act against american interests. nothing subsaara and africa, improved dramatically because of leadership he showed. assistance, our ability to help people build better lives, i mean, think of u.s. foreign assistance saved your child's life, you are ore likely to be pretty favorable. that is in fact true across millions of people across the developing world. enormous tool of american diplomacy and value. hills, a les in round republican, go ahead. caller: yeah, my question and

no way opposed to aid for countries that need it. i would obviously first of all, moved here in t, 990 from brazil, but i would rather us take care of us first countries.er my question in general is do you guys have and do you show the your line items for like when you travel? ecause for me, waste is when the biggest things that all can go untries that around the system to try to themselves, the easiest way is when you're traveling. economy class he business usiness and class? that is my question for the day. guest: fair question. so if you're talking about the campaign and for example, how we travel, it is all economy

cost. overnight in economy class to germany, which is never fun, but that is the for a hen you work nonprofit. to be clear, we don't take any or y from the government from the public. we're entirely funded by our travel policy ur and set strict expectation on us as a charity. it is a fair point. every dollar that the one ampaign uses and every dollar that we ask congress to for the issue, any faern dollar wasted is a double view.my sin against the u.s. taxpayer, it didn't go for what it was for it a sin against the person might have helped. rigorous in terms of transparency, fighting accountability. diane in maryland, republican, go ahead. yeah, hi. i was interested that previous talked, asked a question giveing and opic

i thought selected ignorance in your guest's answer because i program a couple years ago about history of giving up to the present and i don't remember impressed was really that only a small fraction of giving, i knowpic single digits of the united tates was actually government giving. and this is all over the world nd the rest was private philanthropy and i think that it better for people -- for him to take his time to be to a private organization and create -- it nonprofit, but create that and get people to give from

instead of oney taking everybody's money through give to things they may not be, you know, personally give to.to they may have some connection to africa or ca or whatever, you know. people could give to things they want to give to if -- anyway, i think it is important to understand that large, largest portion of the giving in the united states, philanthropic give suggest private giving. guest: it was not selective ignorance, if i knew the data, i reassure you, let me you no doubt private charitiable giving in the united states is huge.tant and it is the united states government has largest share of private giving of any country in the world and we should celebrate that and we at

one campaign do. is essential that private americans give and i think misperception is about foreign aid. this is not a bunch of bureaucrats going into adcaand money.stering we lobby for additional foreign id that goes to private charitys and faith-based organizations that are run from the united states and on the locally. host: appreciate the time. me.t: thanks for having host: last 25 minutes in "washington journal," open phones combshgs public policy about, u want to talk turn the phones back to you. lines for republicans, democrats call dependents, start nothing now. we'll be right back.

>> sunday on q&a, contributing editor talks about his book, "building the great society," whoas," about 's members of president johnson's staff who implemented his great programs. >> exactly how administration within the space of four and a years, five years, you know, built all of these after they passed congress and he signed them into law, which is where the story ends, how did they build medicaid from the ground up in one year. how did they create the first start or foodhead programsfood stamps and for children and how did they do this while desegregating a third country, hospitals and nursing homes and schools and places of public accommodation war in fighting a vietnam and dissembling it. q&a sunday night 8 eastern on

c-span. >> in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you congress, coverage of the white house, the supreme public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. yourn is brought to you by cable or satellite provider. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the senate and house expected to come in today at 10:00. to the course take you house of representatives here on c-span when they do gavel in. it is open en, phones on the "washington republicans 202-748-8001.

democrats, 202-748-8000. 202-748-8002. caller: thank you for c-span and call.you for taking my on gerrymandering the districts. example would be west counties.we have 55 the 17 districts, that gives us senators to rule or 55 counties. now that is gerrymandering, 55.ority of and then beyond that, our overnor justice ran and was elected on democratic ticket.

he gets into office and he changes parties. republican. host: did you vote for him when lowell?as a democrat, caller: yes, i did. host: would you vote for him again? caller: absolutely not. you see what i'm saying here. a look at time magazine

-- millions of dollars to foreign countries, when we have in this everywhere country. we have poor people that are o$700 in social security m-- borrowed wed money. the american people should be taken care of before anybody else. the american citizen is entitled to it. butn't try to be a bad guy, i'm telling you, we need to look out for america first when it comes to foreign aid. need to limit that and i political is a lot of

ramifications from it. look out for people in this country. you have homeless everywhere. it. cities filled with you have people in the inner-cities that can't even pay rent. you have people that have to go in food lines. countrydisgrace to this billion.e spending $54 let the private people in this country donate if they want to donate, but our tax money should go to america first and take first until wens get out of this deficit that we're in. host: the president in fiscal '19 budget looking to lower to stats llion, those provided from the one campaign, segment, tom that harp is the u.s. executive irector, was on with us in the first half-hour of the 9:00 hour. jerry is in dillon, south

carolina. republican, go ahead. caller: yes, sir, i was calling aid.he foreign i cannot understand, i understand people needing help, i cannot understand why they would take our hard-earned tax dollars and send to countries, to america f. somebody would answer that question, that to say. got host: john, harrison, arkansas, ahead.or republicans, go caller: thank you for taking my call. about thet to explain school shootings and things, know and other people i and other police officers, gun-free zone is nothing, pee for disaster.

as far as ar-15, not a combat weapon at all. automatic, you know, selected, the ar-15 is a rifle.ng may look bad, you know, and dangerous, but people got them goes, fully that automatic weapons, the government knows where every one and licensed people pay extra money for them. i just want to hear a comment. thank you for taking my call. >> on gun control debate, plenty page ments on twitter throughout this morning on "washington journal" at cspan wj. is a few comments that have been out this morning, kevin arming teachers is the worst idea i've heard in quite a while. vivian, guns would not be as dangerous if you limit amount of ammunition a person can obtain, like sudafed. robert says each state has to to ct the way they prefer

protect their children and one from karen, we will never have a serious discussion of or solutions to gun violence until we address guns, the second amendment should be up for types of firearms, ammunition, clips, magazines, and ct to bans, limitation registration. as we said earlier today, the about gun poke control in that meeting he had with the nation's governors at yesterday, the president wasn't the only one talking about guns at the white house. lady melania trump was at the white house meeting with spouses of governors and here is what she had to say wake of debate in the that shooting in florida. first lady trump: in my year as lady, i learn it is oftentimes after tragedy you see resilience of d the human spirit. heartened to see

children across this country sing their voices to speak out and try to create change. our future and they deserve a voice. i know all of you are see own states in your and territories, too. i believe if we all come together, we can start to affect positive change for our children their p prepare them for futures. is ve said before, it important that as adults we take the lead and the responsibility helping our children manage facing issues they are today. this means encouraging positive habits with social media and technology, limiting time online and understanding the content daily e exposed to on a

basis. ost: if you missed the first lady's comments yesterday, cugo back and watch them at c-span.org. the white house, some news from the white house being reported news this morning. president trump has struck informal deal with boeing for air force one planes, resulting from negotiations that took off, dealhe worth 3.9 billion. in epresents 1.4 billion savings from estimates of over 5 planes and two related costs. boeing official says the agreement cover twos aircrafts, things unique to air force one, communication sweep, external stairs, large galleys and other equipment. that story from fox news this morning. nancy, franklin, north carolina, line for democrats, good morning. morning.ood thank you for taking my call. like crazy racing

right now. potus made the comment earlier this week regarding recipients, there were awards that he gave out, but he made the comment they were winning these awards. they are not winning these medal that is not winning. i have to jump forward or back he was running and eceived that purple heart from that veteran on stage and held it up and said i always wanted these. now i'm going to flash back to a t.v. ular scene on the byrd put where frank ecessary for his own purple heart, from shell fragment heart from an egg shell that blew up. honeycut and said,

i always wanted one of those. back, well, frank wany luck. potus doesn't understand what awards mean. postmussily. you have to be injured and killd they don't 't like, join the military to receive awards. what did you think yesterday when the president said he believed he would have shooter n to stop the in the florida shooter. you don't know until you are rob oodalled, but he says he believes he would have exhibited ravery, i think most of the people in this room would have done that, too, to the governors mentioned. caller: when is the last time you ever saw this potus jog? doesn't even run on his golf course. he didn't serve in the military. excuse in the world. ow all of a sudden, he's mr.

hero, he live necessary this john wayne brain step. not have run in there. in private school his entire life, his family put him because by school his own sister, who is a judge, incorigeable, he went to military school and almost failed that. he is not a hero. he wants to believe he is a hero he is that way. host: nancy in north carolina. nthony in fort lauderdale, florida, an independent. good morning. andy, you with us this morning? georgia, an lanta, independent. bob, go ahead. second.hang on one thanks for my call. host: go ahead, bob. aukt kwaukt -- caller: i just had a quick thing to say, make my point.

trump, when i think of trump, he needs a bump, drugs are bad and faa for buddy e back tomgyou need to go your hole, hell you go. shelby in bluff city, tennessee, an independent. shelby, go ahead. caller: i really love to hear just speak. georgia my sentiments go with him. feel like he -- hello, you hearing me? ost: yes, ma'am, you feel like what? caller: i feel like the man that just spoke from georgia. give kudos to him. exactly.ents i feel that he is full of himself. to me.he president o matter how he passed the

medical exam physically. the psychological, emotional doshgs they ever rob that?ll them for because i feel like he's got a things wrong.f himself, egoivity cegoivity egostitical. him.s like a chess game to host: all right, to john in dry creek, west virginia. line for republicans, john gahead. caller: yes, sir. i just couple of things. spoke st gentleman that on this segment was talking had gerrymandering and we teams of senator necessary west virginia, but we had 55 counties. that is true, gerrymandering can

be looked at quite a few ways.ent democratic state, might be the reason mr. justice ran on the he could getet, so elected. e's a fine man, agree, disagree, he's still a fine man and he's fighting right now. was left with one of the orst deficits in the state of west virginia and jim is one onest human being, whether the teachers like it or not, i'm a retired teacher and i agree, need a pay raise, but, you know, jim didn't cause this. should have been something done about it for the last 10 years, aybe 1% every year and it wouldn't have cost this much at this time, but i agree with the need a big raise, but -- host: did you vote for governor he was running as a democrat? calle aller: -- host: we lost john. oel line for democrats, go

ahead. caller: i guess these women have head., hit the nail on the he's a chicken hawk, that is what the hell this guy is, a coward. anyways, texas.ack to joel in eight minutes before the house is scheduled for the day. that take you there when happens, also happening at 10:00 reserve chairmpowell ill be on capitol hill, in the committee hearing room, estifying from that chair behind those photographers there, expected to be around 10:00 this morning. that on c-span 3, c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. illinois.ington, line for republicans, go ahead. caller: good morning. 'm just calling about this thing with the kid necessary school. anybody that goes in school and

kids or shoot a police officer or fireman, they are breaking the law. right.ive them any drop your weapon or kill them right there. dollars for our tax juries or mentally ill. they killing people, they die, too. thank you. host: bob in illinois this morning. the "new york times" today with states that are looking to tighten their ruleos of the states that it highlighted in the story is illinois. the house speaker there said he votes this week on two gun related bills filed before the shooting in florida, require gun dealers to be licensed like car dealerships or beauty salons, other similar to toreme risk laws allow judge bar a person from possessing weapons, family members or law the court to ked do so. the speaker said lawmakers this week would also introduce raise the minimum age to purchase military-style

rifles 21 years old. june in coralville, iowa. go ahead. caller: good morning. hi. answering my call. question, didn't the president order?e executive host: what executive order, june? for the people with mental illness to get a gun? host: june, you are talking about back at the start of his believe that was about regulations that were put or promulgated under the obama administration, i'll out.ck and find what is your point, june? he did, he was saying yesterday that he should have an institution and everything like that. saying speaking

his own words by saying you know.like that, the woman who was saying stuff school was in military imself and he -- his parents putting him there because he was incorigable. that is true. i am worry body how he's putting out there. i was a social worker, we were because things he's saying, the way he's behaving is incorrect. i'm just really concerned for our nation. with a story x about the president's actions. it was almost exactly a year be a year ago tomorrow, saying it didn't attract a lot of attention at but about a year ago, february 28, 2017, congress signed ad donald trump law that revoked an obama-era

egulatory initiative that made it harder for peep welmental illness to buy guns. ington, y in lex kentucky. what you ank you for do, you do a great job. seems to me the main issue in education, is especially when it comes to firearms, take bump stock, of ybody wants to get rid the bump stock, they don't know hat you can bump fire any semiautomatic weapon without a bump stock. is up platform everybody in arms over tis just a brand part.for the most you can -- hold on one second. mentioned bump stocks, the attorney general jeff sessions actually made some about bump stocks, here is what he had to say. the ney general sessions: day after the tragedy, the president made a commitment to

ake action, not just talk, do some things. he pointed out that we need ordered us, the department of justice, to begin with the bump-stock allows he device that emiautomatic rifle to fire virtually automatic system. so we've been working on that for sometime. e'll have an announcement on that soon. we believe in that. to deal with previous atf legal opinions, but top people in the department of justice have believed for that we can through regulatory process, not allow the bump stock to convert a semiautomatic to fully automatic. attorney that was the general jeff sessions earlier today. time for a new more calls before

house comes in, expected in the next minute or two. we'll try to get to as many as we can. nina in new jersey, republican, go ahead. nina.ead, caller: thank you. i want to call and say that president trump, i think will go one of the greatest presidents that we've had. mess, okay. a he's doing the best he can do. remember politician, that, people out there. your hatred for him is unbelievable. he's not a politician. doing the best he can do. when he was talking about guns a teachers, he made suggestion, that's all. it was just a suggestion. to do t he's trying something. okay. host: nina, what would you want do, quickly before the house comes in? caller: i want him to do

omething about the gun situation in this country. absolutely. i do believe and i don't think mentally ill people to carry guns. host: have to end it there, the for the day.in we'll take you there live for coverage and see you become tomorrow morning on the "washington journal." hair l a communication frothe speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., february 27, 2018. i hereby appoint the honorable paul mitchell to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 8, 2018, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties. all time shall be equally allocated between the parties and in no event shall debate continue past 10:50 a.m.