deceptive practices. those are very high hurdles for the security systems to be able to realize for ford these. >> watch the communicators monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span two. >> was a morning, we are live at phoenix, arizona for the next up on the c-span bus 50 capital store, the secretary of state michelle reagan will be the guest on the bus during the washington journal starting at 9:030. a discussion on conservatives and president trump from today's washington journal. this is 45 minutes. joining us now is mona charen. thank you for being with us. , weave to talk about cpac chatted on the radio but you

ine at national harbor maryland and you were booed by the audience. guest: i felt it was necessary to say a few simple truths about our president and things our president has done and decisions that cpac made. it is dangerous because they are moving cpac, a prominent organization, in the direction of the nationalist, albright, european-style politics. and it was particularly outraged theirir impatient -- by invitation to marine le pen. you were asked about the me too movement and you said? guest: my fellow panelists and i agreed on many things, about where feminism has gone wrong and other issues.

i felt it was hypocritical on without acknowledging the major figures in our party, including the president, who have been accused of atrocious behavior towards women. not only accused but acknowledging it. the president has acknowledged having multiple extramarital affairs. moreover, this party with the president's leadership with roy moore, and accused child monster, picking up any kind of barriers over decent behavior in politics. and until we as republican women stand up and shout about that, we will not have any credibility

when discussing the me too movement. two let show our audience. we did cover this in our integrity. this is outside of washington, d.c.. >> let's get you riled up. i could say that the misuse of data, the $.77 on the dollar figure, a figure that is i'm going to twist this around and say that i'm disappointed by people on our side. abouting hypocrites sexual harassment and abusers in our own party and who are sitting in the white house and him brag about extramarital affairs. who brag about mistreating women. and because he happens to have

"r" after his name, we look the other way. this was a party that was ready to endorse roy moore, for the , even though he was an accused child molester. we cannot claim that you stand for women and put up with that. host: you focused on this -- i'm glad i got booed at cpac. this is the conference that serves as the launching pad for ronald reagan. guest: among many other things. cpac has a checkered history. sometimes they have been mainstream. as i said in my piece, the ways that they have been unconventional has been in things like posting conferences

about whether the flat tax is the way to go or whether all taxation is best, that kind of thing. last year they invited my low mila yeahlists -- who thinks it is to praise the alt-right and you think that is funny to be singing and have people do the nazi salute at a bar. advocate guess is an for some kind of pedophilia -- maybe some other term when it isn't quite pedophilia but older men having sex with teenage boys and he is for that and that is the kind of thing that cpac has to send it to.

so part of it is just bad judgment but part of it is the triumph of the entertainment aspect of conservatism over substance. attention.t they want the outrageous. fears.nt to create we have shown they are willing to throw away standards about what is decent in politics. lo the invitation to mia and marine le pen, a national front member in france and she thinks her grandfather, a racist anti-semite nationalist, she thinks he is a visionary and that he has been more right than wrong and so forth. asyou have heard presented

-- what did he call her? a classical liberal. she is the exact opposite. host: we are talking with mona charen. a couple ofo bring issues on the table to get your reaction and then get to phone calls. this is from the new york times. a widening of the russian it resets follows. the number of times goes on to

write that investigators have asked about his role in policymaking, suggesting that the special counsel has gone beyond russian meddling to include united arab emirates influence. the focus could also prompt investigation on how money for investigation flows through the trip europe. what we have now is radical non-transparency from this organization. and the voters except at this. when donald trump asked to reveal his tax returns, he first promised he would and he said they would be beautiful and then he gave a variety of different excuses and in the end, it didn't do it. voters just accepted that. ofnow we have a black box what goes on in the financial dealings of the ministration.

there arenow whether all kinds of influences. it certainly is possible. it is not proven. but this is something that is worrisome and maybe we will learn our lesson after this about the importance of knowing quite a bit more about the finances of any person who puts himself forward or herself forward as president. i should hasten to add that was not exactly pure as the snow in her finances either. with the confusion about the clinton foundation. host: your colleague has a piece and it is available this morning. saying "the white house is a lackhole." next to that is the reporting of ashley parker from the .ashington post "eight see a president isolated and on edge."

they were at the following -- over the weekend, and air of anxiety with an uncontrollable commander-in-chief at his center. in atare the darkest days least half a year and they worry how much further trump and his administration may plunge into unrest and malaise before they start to recover. as one official put it, we haven't bottomed out. inmp is now an official transition, at times angry and isolated. he fumes in private that just about every time he looks at the television screen, another scandal. he voices frustration that jared kircher -- that jared kushner has few on-air defenders. he revives old grudges. " guest: one way to see this up ministration is a long running

reality show. where the president has a keen appreciation for trauma and for public's attention and he is a genius at changing the subject or creating a new controversy to cover up yesterday's controversy. reports likeen this before. so much chaos, how can this continue and basically, it has continued. there was a time of calm for a few months when kelly took over. it -- but now we are returning to the mayhem. if there is this much chaos and confusion -- the president was all over the issue of gun and fired off in order for new tariffs about informing the state department.

he seems to be careening around like a balloon with the air coming out. and this is all happening at a time when the economy is growing and there has been no international crisis. things are relatively calm in the market. plungeh the doubted after the steel tariffs. but what if there is a crisis? the mayhem in this administration and white house is worrisome. host: our guest, mona charen, a journalist and author. she served as an editor assistant at the national review.

and congressman jack kemp. she was a commentator and is a senior fellow at the ethics policy center with another book coming out in june. guest: yes, it is called "sex matters. how modern feminist lost touch with science, love and common sense." i had help on that one from my dear friend and colleague. this subtitle was mine but he came up with the main title. us on theone joins democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. that mona charen has no pen, to attack marine le who i think is a great french patriot, and to hold a niece for the views of her uncle is

un-american. and marine le pen is for france, for the french. i do have a question. about theow she feels forcible expulsion of 60,000 pgas pgas that israel is -- apparently there is very little opposition. any european country who would do what is forced -- criticism of the true more refugees, you wouldn't hear the end of it. -- israelis are guest: ok. first of all, get your facts right. thes condemning

granddaughter, not the knees. i think you are an anti-semite because the first thing you want to talk about is israel. so i think that sort of suggest where you are coming from. marion le pen is for france, for the french. if you talk to french people than they will tell you that her the frenchance for includes cozy relations with vladimir putin, for starters. host: let's go to patrick from baltimore. thank monaant to charen and the media as the democrats. elevatorame down the -- the escalator, i was hooked. he was my guy all the way.

and i hope you guys keep it up. this is one of the main reasons he won. the unhinged way that people talk about him and every little thing that they pick apart, they everythingfamily and there is opposition. this is so crazed. better -- there is no way you could have better publicity to get him reelected. so i really do appreciate that. keep up the good work. host: the president did announce his campaign manager as supers to run in 2020. guest: the caller may be surprised that i partially agree with him because i think the tone of media coverage has been excessive. if the president reaches for a cup with two hands, that is good

for some new cycles on some networks. in atunately, we live world where we now have msnbc and cnn and others who are nonstop crump criticism and so forth. some of it is justified and some of it may be overdone. and then you have fox and breitbart and other sites on the internet where it is nonstop adoration and praise and worship so we are becoming more and more polarized. it is difficult for people to figure out what the truth is. but it is our obligation as citizens to say, yes. i agree. msnbc is sometimes over-the-top with the descriptions of donald trump but that doesn't mean i check my rational ability to make judgments in the closet. tell, despite the fact that msnbc may be wrong sometimes but they weren't roundabout roy moore.

there is too much evidence. and you then have the editor of breitbart announcing after roy moore lost that he believed the thaters but he was hoping speaking up for roy moore, that he was running interference for donald trump. host: we welcome our listeners on the bbc parliament channel. washington journal is live. from arizona on the democrats line, good morning. guest: your estimated comment about he trump's taxes. and he did promise to show them. well,en her add-on was, hillary has some shady things to.

aren't hillary's taxes for the last 30 years on record? and isn't the foundation records public? and doesn't the foundation have a very high rating with every foundation fact checker? understand, about $.90 on every dollar does go off for charity. but that doesn't get much news. you just hear these little hillary'sout well, got this shady finance as well. i would just like an explanation of what you mean by that. guest: thank you for the comment. during the campaign and before that, i contacted the clinton foundation and try to get records of the forms they had government various agencies, that they are required to file and they were unavailable and evasive about the information. i noticed that one of the charity -- i think it was

charity navigator, i cannot see it for sure, but i remember checking with one of them and they decline to rate the clinton foundation because they were not able to get the right kinds of information. .t least that year i am sticking with this. i think there was a lot of shady stuff going on with hillary and bill,g contributions to to people involved with having business before the state department, and there is a long list of questionable things. it is a shame it came to that in 2016, that two individuals who were ethically compromised and the choices before the american people -- i hope that never happens again. host: let's go to jay from virginia, independent line. caller: hello. in 1980robably sometime

that corporate profit seekers recognized that they could access the first enumerated power of the legislature to borrow money against the credit of the united states, and they began debunking more and more precise q&a vacation platforms. to manipulate the emotion of the factions, tooth put us in debt and destroy the only reserve currency the moderate scientific world will ever experience. the republic is dying. unless we can determine and overturn buckley the vallejo and united, the united states of america will die. thank you. host: thank you for the call.

which oft sure exactly those many points to pick up on. i would just say that yes, our .ebt is a serious problem i do not think it is connected to buckley. i will say though that when we pick up on the reserve currency point -- i was having a conversation with husband about this yesterday -- one of the great strengths of this country since the world war is the perception the whole world has of us of being stable. when people have a decision to make on do they hold dollars or their own nation's currency, as my husband put it, they had chosen to hold dollars basically because they trusted our country to be stable and reliable, and eventually pay its bills, if necessary, and not to have some sort of collapse or crazy

generations of policy and so forth area so our stability has been one of our -- so forth. our stability has been one of our great strengths. it is something to think about, that this president with his highly erotic governing style, and sort of shoot from the hip style of threeing and so forth, -- tweeting and so forth maybe undermining confidence in a y's stability in general. host: next in ohio on the republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. what the majority -- when the majority of the mainstream media predicted trump would get destroyed in a landslide and they got it wrong, they ended up with egg all over their face because they fancied themselves the smartest people in the world. therefore, they decided to go to

war against our president with pure hatred against his family and it has been so over-the-top. it is unbelievable. this is unprecedented in history how much hatred has been directed towards this president. thell never trust mainstream left-wing media again. they are nothing but steals for the democratic party, the new york times, the washington post, every time they come up with these propaganda stories, it is anonymous sources. wow. whether coincidence. i think trump is doing a great job in this media will not shut up about this phony baloney russian collusion story to try and overthrow the newly elected president, when their side, barack obama, was spying on trump and that scandal is about 1000 times bigger than watergate, but the left lane --

the left-wing media will not cover it because their site got caught playing dirty. thank you. guest: i think that caller is a good representative of the president's fans out there. they interpret everything through a particular lens, and i understand. i do not share it. i do not think everything out of the main stream media is wrong or they make it up. i think they are talking to, for the new yorkpost, times, and others are talking to real people inside the administration and they have good sources. they may spin things in a way that is negative, but that doesn't mean it isn't true. and, you know, it is to reject everything in a wholesale way that you don't get from fox news or websites or television stations you agree with. i think it is too close minded,

just as i have been saying for 30 years, that the liberal side really needs to broaden their horizons and listen to conservatives and try and understand our critiques and our point of you. they have in slow to do it, but let me give a shout out to the new york times for the editorial page. right now, it is one of the finest sources of conservative commentary in america. it is amazing to say that, but it is. they have bret stephens, barry weiss, david brooks, a lineup of really thoughtful, interesting, and deep thinkers on the right. at the new york times, i think it is something that i did not expect to see, even a few years ago. people need to get out of their own bubbles and acknowledged sometimes we have made progress.

host: you mentioned the media and we saw you monday on morning joe, what have you appeared on fox news? guest: i got one call from fox news, and when i phoned back, they did not return the call. that was that. [laughter] host: since president trump has been elected, have you been on box? guest: i have not. host: let's go to ohio on the democrat line. caller: good morning. this is an interesting call, to hear conservatives come out and start warning us about all of these things that during the campaign were brought up are , all of and democrats these things involving trump's shady business dealings, money laundering, extramarital affairs, not having his taxes, all things brought up, and now to hear conservatives come out and start by warning us with the detriments, it is kind of

comical. as far as the previous caller, yeah, the media, this is nothing new. have you ever found barack obama's birth certificate? the real one? have you found proof michelle obama was born by silverback gorillas? host: we will stop there. s in a row caller illustrative about where we are as a country. they get their news from their own ideological compatriots and do not see beyond it. the second caller says, fine, monday morning water backing and now we hear from conservatives, well, i'm psyched to tell you that some of us conservatives have said this all along, not a secret, lots of us were saying this. if you are to get out of your bubble every now and then and have a glance at a conservative website, you would know that. same with the caller who preceded him. people have got blinders on,

ideological blinders. this polarization is so awful and out of proportion to our problems in the country. really. leave it or not, we have problems -- everybody has problems. we can solve them, if we were interested in it. right now, i think we are not. we are enjoying this bitter, nasty, the tree alec sniping -- the tree alec sniping -- vitriloic sniping and i don't think any good can come from that. host: in new hampshire later this month, john kasich three do you think the president will face a primary challenge in 2020? guest: very possible. host: from yukon, oklahoma, republican line, bonnie. good morning. caller: hello. i would like to say that i will tell all these people where they can find trump's taxes.

under [indiscernible] and all that stuff. trump's taxes. i used to be a democrat, no more. thank you. host: we will go to mike in modesto, california, democrat line. good morning. caller: hello, mona. i feel like this democrats, we start thinking, do the right thing, explain things right and it will work out, and republicans are like, whatever it takes, we will do it. the nature of this election, the 3 million votes one way, squeezed in, and all of a sudden, he asked 80% of the country was on his side and he nominates all these people with

1970's and from the 1960's south, jeff sessions, the epa guy to shut that down and so on. i would like to know, can you imagine the right-wingers, especially if the situation were researched -- were reversed, and you had the popular vote, and hillary squeezed in like that, can you imagine the love and cooperation is to mark -- cooperation? all the republicans to slammed and now that were crazy, and, it turns it could only be because it can dohem that if you this, you might lose. the only thing they care about is getting reelected. that is what they are going to

do, and it is sad. god bless you all. host: thank you, from california. that: i would just say there is no denying that lots of republicans have fallen into line and they are now highly aware that he is very popular with their base, and so they are reluctant to criticize him. that is certainly true. i would not endorse completely the caller's view that democrats are always doing what is right, moving forward, and republicans are the ones that would use any tactic. just to take one example, the last president -- the democratic president flouted the law by just issuing executive orders, even when he said himself that he was not a dictator and do not have the power to change the law

unilaterally and it would require an act of congress and support 3-d said it over and over and went ahead and did it. so there is very often an attitude on both sides but i found it through the two of the democrats. tradition and and lobby damned we want to get, our outcomes and however we can do it, we will, whether executive orders, courts, or some other methods, they just want the outcome and their less concerned about the process. we all have to be concerned about process because that is what makes us free. the rule of law is the highest priority. host: we will go to kansas. diana, good morning. republican line with mona charen. good morning, diana. caller: good morning, steve, and mona. the reason for my call is twofold.

i am a republican, and i voted for president trump because i believe that our country was headed to far in the left direction, and i put that aside or i put that before i put his tweets and things of that nature that concern people, and i think i am like a lot of people in that regard. the second ring i would like to ask is, ma'am, if you were so concerned about donald trump's sexual indiscretions, quote, unquote, i would ask you, that is that mean we should not have had president roosevelt, president and 80, president kennedy,- president president clinton? how many others are there?

these things are going to happen, and as long as we live, they will continue to happen. i would like to hear your thinking, please. thank you. guest: sure. first of all, it is kind of a shocking thing to see the republican party, which claims counted when bill clinton was president and these things are important for setting a standard about public conduct have now stood completely and say, oh, well, it is an important whether your personal integrity and character about your sexual behavior, so that is ironic. that in theo say case of the president, sadly, his behavior toward women is only one symptom of a very bad character and in other respects, as well. i have been much more worried about some things he has done as that are also signs of

character. for example, the pardon of joe arpaio, the endorsement of roy moore, the comments after charlottesville. ,here is this comprehensive bullying tone, and embrace of strongmen and authoritarian. there is this tone he takes i find anti-cynical to what we conservatives believe. we are small liberals in the sense we believe in the rule of law, tradition, the corn, decency. -- the quorum -- decorum, decency, but to see him praising dictators and strongmen around the world -- to see him saying to a son, like the president of the philippines, who was

murdering where extrajudicial killings have become the norm under the sky, and praising him and saying, you are doing a great job with the drug problem. those are really worry some and sentiments and instincts that this president has, so it goes far beyond sexual misconduct. though, i do not think sexual misconduct on the scale he has done it is a truly of matter either. it is a sign of bad character. host: i want to follow it the national review, but first, joe from new york. independent line, good morning. -- jill from new york. independent line. caller: i just wanted to mention that all of the calls that have been going on this morning have they really a very good example of the diversity that has

happened and the divisive that has happened in this country. i would not say it is just because of trump. he just epitomizes the peaks we are at now. it has been happening for decades and with a lot, a lot of different politicians and also, things that have been put in place. one caller mentioned citizens united. that was a very powerful force that has changed the political system in this country. that was a very good example of in thisgs have changed country. unfortunately, people are not looking at the historical properties set in place from when basically you had fascism under hitler and when he did certain things -- he was voted in.

he was voted into office. when he was voted into office, he found somebody to blame for the way that the country was going. host: thank you. is true it did not start with trump. one reform i may have been perversely floating -- frivolously floating is that we need all comment sections on all websites and newspapers and all like that, should require people identify themselves. the and immunity of the internet -- the anonymity of the internet has created a cesspool of where abuse and vitriol spewed out because people are not identified and they can treat somebody who writes or says soething as nonhuman, and our politics, unfortunately, has

began to resemble the comment section. you are right that it did not begin with trump though he has arguably made it worse because he is president. but i am sorry, you are the second caller who mentioned citizens united in this context, and i just do not think that is relevant to the degradation of our public discourse. points, ifinal mentioned jonathan tobin of national review and he wrote -- it is almost impossible to separate donald trump, the man in social media creature, from trump the president. but conservatives must try to do so because his presidency has seen a series of major conservative victories. guest: i hear this a lot for my conservative friends and they say, aren't you happy about the deregulatory agenda, and certain moves on this sense, and other things, tax cuts? my responses, i am happy about

many things this administration has done, but the question is things?he done good to have the good things that have happened. it is at what price? i think we are paying the conservative movement, the republican party, is going to pay a terrible price for embracing donald trump. if you look at the way he and conservatism and republicans are viewed under the age of 40 by voters, it is a disaster. especially women, minorities, young people. we are suffering reputational damage that may be irreparable. host: this is the headline from daily beast -- president trump jokes that melania might be a fan at the gridiron dinner, in part because he excuses late arrival by suggesting jared kushner cannot get the security.

he said he offer jeff sessions a ride to the events but the "recused himself." i would not rule out talks with kim jong-un. as far as risks, there a to talk -- as far as risks to talking to a madman, that is his concern, not mine. he said "it has been a tough year for cnn. they have lost a tremendous amounts of credibility this year. and your best reporter, steve bannon. that guy link -- lee more than the titanic, boy, did he leak. i like chaos. it really is good. who is going to be the next to leave? steve miller or melania? he concluded by thanking them for their attendance, saying they support and sustain our democracy, adding, i mean that. the dinner was last night. your thoughts? guest: he is having a little fun, i suppose, and even kin

-- or listen what the freeseas band radio app. radio app.pan book available for $8.95 plus shipping and handling. for an additional resource, there is a link on our website.

>> at monday night on the communicators, democratic fcc commissioner discusses the fcc rejection of debt neutrality. neutrality. she is interviewed by the tech knowledge he -- technology reporter for politico. sibling at&t for its a legend -- suing at&t for its a legend data breach. about theu see loophole involving the common carrier. >> on the positive side, there is one less loophole, meaning clarity asned some

it relates to whether or not there is authority, whether there is common carrier or not. so there was some clarity given there. but what is also clear is what is still troubling to me, that not the ftc is still agency that has any background when it comes to a common carrier or net neutrality regulation. the fcc is still that agency that does that. unless you can prove unfair or deceptive practices, those are security hurdles for systems to be able to realize or bring to the ftc. >> watch the communicators monday night on c-span2 at 8:00 p.m. eastern. next, q&a.

after that, prime minister theresa may taking questions from the house of commons. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] announcer: this week on "q&a," politico magazine contributing editor joshua zeitz discusses his book, "building the great society." brian: joshua zeitz, your new book, "building the great society." inside lyndon johnson's white house. before he ask you questions, i want to show you on this network in 2014, talking about a previous book about two of lincoln's staff members. [begin video clip] >> they undertook a mission to