at washington and then a look at the federal food stamp program with dr. anand parekh who served as director of health and human services during the obama administration. ♪ host: good morning, march 19, 2018. flags at the u.s. capitol remain at half-staff in memory of louise slaughter who died friday at the age of 88. the house will be in at noon and the senate returns at 3:00 p.m. and we have a three-hour program on "washington journal" and begin asking for you view on president trump's management style. after a week that saw the firing of his secretary of state and suspicion of high level staff changes, how would you describe the way president trump has run his white house and is it effective? democrats can call in this

morning at 202-748-8000 and republicans 202-748-8001, independents, 202-748-8002 and catch up withous on social dia jath c-span or --@c-spanwj or facebook.com/c-span. we begin with the white house memo by maggie habberman, one of the most sourced member of, newly emboldened and chasing instinct. maggie describes the president who ultimately only trusts his own instincts and now believes he's settled into the job enough to rely on him rather than the people who advise him. that self-confidence led to a series of surprising actions and comments that pushed the trump presidency in an evermore tumultuous direction, long wary

about expressing his belief in the death penalty for drug dealers. he proposed it at a rally in pennsylvania. he barreled ahead with a plan to meet with north korean dictator kim jong-un to the display of the diplomatic corps and bank wished aids that had nor stature than he did saying e would go ahead on tariffs, alarming key allies and then raised the possibility of dismissing mr. mueller prment. this could be the manifestation of growing confidence said one of president-elect's oldest confidants. we'll take you through the segment with maggie habberman from the washington journal. the president's management style. we want to hear on how president trump runs his white house. democrats 202-7 had 8-8000 and publicans 202-748-8001 and

202-748-8002. maggie mentioning a lot of attention to the president's tweet yesterday about the robert mueller probe. it's the he had line lead story in many major maybes around the country, this from the front page of will "wall street journal," president trump steps up on his probe to target the special counsel by name. president trump said saturday the probe never should have been started and there's no collusion or crime. on sunday the president mentioned mr. muller again, suggesting his team of prosecutors considered of, quote, hardened democrats, unquote, intended on taking down the republican president. in response to the treat, what they expected to do about the mueller probe. last night, the lawyer sending out a statement, calling it an olive branch of sorts, in response to the media, ty cobb

said the questions proposed to the administration, the white house confirms the president is not considering or discussing the firing of the special ounsel robert mueller. question to you this morning, president trump's management style. we start with arthur in memphis, tennessee, a democrat. good morning. caller: one word, i think he needs to be impeached. that's the bottom line. he needs to be impeach. host: gary is in tempe, arizona, line for democrats as well. go ahead. caller: this is the most corrupt administration i've seen in my lifetime. i'm 69 years old and never seen anything like this. it's as if there is a group of criminals running our government. and all they're doing is being self-serving. so again, that's the first gentleman that called in, he needs to be impeached.

thank you. host: before you go, matt walls on the facebook page sent in this comment, calling it direct and effective and draw results or be replaced. caller: that's ridiculous. that's an invention of the man's imagination. but if anyone keeps their eyes open, you know that they've -- that they're guilty of the russian investigation from his behavior from day one. he's acted guilty and if your eyes are open you can see it from his behavior that he's a guilty man. it's just odd that people don't see that or some people don't see that. host: what specifically do you see, gary, what's an example? caller: that he organized the conspiracy against the united states and committed fraud against the united states and his -- the way he's gutting various agencies, to me it

proves in some manner or fashion, he's an enemy of our country. so i've never seen such criminal behavior in my life. it continues day after day after day. just amazing. host: a few more comments on our facebook page, mike wigele writes in the president's management style is get rid of dead weight and get the job done and don't keep useless or ineffective people. agree 100%, it's no longer a guaranteed gravy train, be effective or get the hell out. one more from marlene, i'm sick of watching this baby throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way. being a rich guy, he's used to paying people to put up with him. he needs to go back to trump world where he pulleys people and he has made a joke of our system and sullied the office. devin is from philadelphia, an independent. what's your view? caller: hi, thank you for taking my call and good morning.

i was hoping that president trump would do more to help out the african-americans in this country. i think his management style is a great one, straight up, right to the point. me being african-american and also former law enforcement officer, i support the president 100%. and i hope he does well in his re-election. host: what do you need to see from the president before his next election? e's running in 2020. caller: i would hope he directs something like income equality and the average wealth of the african-american is different from his white counterpart and i hope he addresses it in some kind of way. host: an independent as well,

baltimore, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i appreciate c-span. i just passed my 90th anniversary and i'm a world war ii vet and i think. trump is doing what he said he would do in the campaign and clearly he's in the swamp and if it takes turning over of the entire white house staff five times, it's not going to make a bit of difference as long as he carries out his objectives. i'm very proud that he is really driving out the wamp. host: when it comes to his own white house, though, the president said he only hires the best people. does that turnover concern you atal? caller: no, turnover doesn't concern me. i spent my life as a program

manager in engineering space and environment and i had plenty of turnover and some of the people that i had to let go included some of the major college professors who were stencibly in it, put forth the best and honest work and round up, putting forth their own objectives. i could not stand that and i would release them or not when -- or not renew a contract with them. it's very important you do what you say you're going to do and bear the hairos of outrageous fortune. host: thanks for the call from baltimore this morning. one stat on staff turnover. this is from a "new york times" story from the beginning of the

month back on march 1. at that time the white house had suffer reasonable doubt staff turnover rate of 34% and that just was in president trump's first year. it was a rate that would be unfathomable for any nn profit enterprise. even off the touchdowns. triple that from the obama administration and twice that of ronald reagan according to a duddy by the brookings institution. that departure came before the white house secretary outing of the white house and came before the resignation of gary cone, the chief economic advisor. we want to hear from you, your view of president trump's management style, as we said coming a week after the firing of connect estate and continued rumors about more staff tofe at the white house pists. john: john is in columbus,

ohio. good morning. will caller: thank for you letting me speak to you this morning. thanks, c-span for this great program. i just want to say something, you know, to the democratic theater, the republican leader of this country. we are with him to do something. his management style, this is driving this deterioration of this country. that's where we stand. i think they need to stop it immediately. there is one beginning somebody is trying to do something that is reasonable but that's why he's so fascinated. i came from a country where we never had a democratic system. you have one ruler and it's

that for the rest of the time. and then they're alone and makes the law and do whatever they want to do. i don't think the republicans he'ders should sit and watch this going on and don't stay entertained. that's what i want to say. host: are you talking specifically to the president's comments about the mueller probe? caller: yes, yes specifically about the mueller probe. if this man have nothing to be afraid of, he's not to expire the man. let the investigation go through. when it's over with -- and man and i the respect that and we love this country. ome of us come here from other countries. but we seem productive and we now how ruthless this can be.

the ban in hauer wants everything and that's not how it's supposed to be. host: got your point. asking about what republican leaders would do. here's what republican leaders had to say after some of the tweets from the president over the weekend, specifically targeting the mueller problem. a few highlighted in the new york times wrap up. ashley strong released a statement saying as a speaker, mr. mueller and his team should be able to do their job. none mccain said special council robert mueller served with honesty and it would be typical to unimpede the election. among those notable senders who have not yet commented include richard but, chairman of the intelligence committee.

chuck grassley of iowa, a member of the city jew dish water committee. plenty of quors, butting tchindcy program was on cnn's state of the union and asked if he was concerned the president would fire robert mueller. caller: the only reason mr. mueller could ever be dismissed is for cause and i see no cause when it comes to mr. mueller. he needs to be able to do his job independent of any political influence. i pledge to the american people as a republican to make sure that mr. mueller can continue to do his job without any interference. i think he's doing a good job and everything about mcdape and the f.b.i. and handling of the dossier has nothing to do with the russian investigation regarding mr. miler. >> you worried the president may order the firing? it toose like it for his

tweets. caller: if he did that that would be the beginning of the nd of his era. the dossier bothered me, a paid political document, unverified and used by the court. the two f.b.i. investigations. clinton had a bias against trump in favor of clinton and i want a separate special counsel. when it comes to mr. mueller, i think he's policying the evidence takes him and he should be allowed to do his job without interference and many republicans share my yue. -- share my view. host: the president hasn't tweeted yet, the last defeat 22 hours ago about the mueller investigation. yet on the sunday's show, face the nation. mark schwartz talked about the

criticism of the president and by his attorneys concerning the mueller investigation. here's that exchange. [video clip] >> everyone in the white house cooperated and we cooperated every single way and paper we asked and every interview and the reality is there is a growing frustration after more than a year and millions of dollars spent on this there remains no evidence of collusion with russia. >> the frustration it is it is still going? >> the american people are owed an answer if there's no collusion, how long will this drag on? >> that's why the justice department put that in place saying the american people deserve an answer to the question of what russia's influence was. so in these public statements, isn't the president appearing to credit or attempt to discredit the outcome.

>> the president is voicing his frustration. there's been no evidence of collusion and there has been millions spent in terms to recover this. host: in terms of what the american people are thinking about the mueller investigation, a poll from easterly yerl in march reported today in the washington sometimes. and did not benefit the campaigns of clinton or trump. 14% of republicans think so and 74% of democrats agreeing with that. we're talking about president trump this morning and his management style. we want your rue on how the president runs the white house this monday morning.

democrats call in 202-748-800 and republicans 202-748-8001 and the independent line at 202-748-8002. go ahead. caller: thank you for letting me voice my opinion. i think his management style is a businessman's management style and i think people in positions in the government when is the only pings had a as -- that has -- that you can do wrong and still get paid for he rest of your life, choose not to work a you know, quit the job or whatever and you still get paid for life with a pension are whoever.

these people, mccape is going to have hits money but it's time to maybe of these people to take?" you can't run your own pick or not do your job in the veterans administration and say oh, well, you know, i choose -- i'll resign and get my bention, i'll get my pay and everything else p. it's time to step up, do right and are there. host: is there too muchening as too much staff turnover? caller: to get the best people, it's not terribly unusual b. there's always people" i mean, everybody complains that

tillerson, oh, he was terribly, he was going to be terrible and from the private sector and the democrats didn't want him but now he's gone, oh, how wonderful. mccabe when offered it should have said i'm too close to my retirement, i just would like to stay until i get my pension and retire and not take from the job. host: thanks for the call. tiffany, land o'lakes florida, good morning. how would you describe the president's management style? caller: i don't think he has one to be honest with you. he doesn't have a foot style. i think personally russia has is meant noring style. host: gary in indiana, an independent, go ahead. >> thank you for the opportunity to express my views

here. actually, i don't believe trump is a republican or a democrat, he's basically the same as his reputation for decades is a conman but what's unbelievable i think is the number of people that seem to be drinking the kool-aid, whatever you want to call it. because i've never seen anything, i'm 73 years old, a vietnam combat vet, i've never seen anything like this in my lifetime and i am very concerned for the safety and security of the country. host: four different individuals and four different takes on the management style. confident, high energy, loyal, harsh a aggressive, top down. donna westbrook writes he can't manage, he's unstable, chaotic

and ill tempered. vivian said i would describe the president's management style as fear and loathing in ashington. another one, i like the president, washington was broken before he got there. james, an independent. how would you describe the management style? you had a know program on called "the end of experts" right? which was awesome, by the way. host: available at c-span.org. go ahead, james. caller: the experts. so all these people go into their corners and it's like if you don't believe what i believe, then you're absolutely wrong and there's no room for debate. we've lost the art of debating.

it's like, you know, we can disagree but, you know, there's just some kind of dysfunction there that is, you know, venom to society and i don't know what to say about that. i see it playing out all the ime. when you're not willing to listen, it's really bad. host: has it always been that way? when did it become really bad as you described it? caller: well, basically, you know, the institution media and everything else and you know, it's like, you know, if it leeds, it bleeds and so if you can have an opinion, right, if you can have an opinion, then

ou have something and that enforces your personal identity. i don't know. i just see it going worse and worse. now, i do believe in america but, you know, i don't know how o stop this. and it's reinforcing itself. it's kind of horrible. host: more from the maggie habberman piece in "the new york times," the white house memo talking about the president's style, projecting strength, control and power whether as a new york developer or domineering reality, television hosts have always been vital to mr. trump but in his first year in the white house according to his friends found himself feeling tentative and anxious and intimidated by the role of the president, a fact he never openly admitted but could sense people close to the president said. some of mr. rump's allies said he was trapped in a west wing

cage built by his chief of staff jon kelley and has finally broken loose. the reality is more complicated she writes, his closer aides said as well mr. trump feels he doesn't need the expertise of . kelly, mr. cohn, rex tillerton, the former secretary of state. as once expected they were smarter to protect the presidency and he doesn't believe it now. two of the men are on their way out and mr. trump has a ambiguous relationship with mr. kelly who he alternately assures his job is secure and disparages to other people. ms. hicks is leashing in the coming days which caused concern how he will cope without her long term. we're asking you this morning your view of president trump's management style and how he runs his white house. jack is in michigan, a epublican, good morning.

caller: they need to get him under control. his management skills are fine. i know that there's chaos. he's like in a boxing match. he has his gloves on and is going to have to take them off because these democrats are fighting him every step of the way. i've never seen anything so sick in my life. i'm 55. i've been through a few of them but this is crazy. let trump do his job. i think he's going to drain the swamp and clean it up. he's trying to make america safe. if people can't understand that , then they're looking for a tough america. but i think he's doing a fine job. but yeah, his first role of him

getting his management under control is getting rid of jeff sessions. host: dawn in philadelphia, a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to say i don't think he's doing a great job at all. first of all, he was a crooked businessman and i don't think that he should have been allowed to get in the white house. if he were running as a democrat, he wouldn't even be in office because we knew what he was. he's always been a crook and now taking that crookedness into the white house. i don't understand it and i can't wait for this investigation to be over so we can get back to normalcy in the white house because he's really brought the white house down and we have to do better. we're better than this and he's disgracing us throughout the whole country. he's the worst person in the whole world right now. host: daniel, staten island,

line for independents, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. in regard to trump's style, one of the first things he should correct is to find a nice mirror in the white house where he can sit in front of it and ok at it and say "you're fired." because that's what this country needs. it doesn't need someone who is a coward and a liar to lead it. unfortunately, he's proven he -- l of these disgraceful i can't believe people back this gentleman. i couldn't back any candidate in the elections for the president. i fought for this country during vietnam and what did i get? i got trump as a president? it's an embarrassment.

i'm embarrassed for this nation. i truly am. and the people better wake up. they're going to wind up with hitler on their hands if they're not careful. host: james in missouri, a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, my opinion about trump is he tells blatant lies. it's been documented the untruths are consistent and he's setting up the stage for nothing but people that of his stature are above him really because he wants to be like jay paul gideon or something like that, someone that you look -- that has millions of dollars and is a self-made billionaire, whatever. and he'll never do it. he's driving for things to be p there and he's not even -- shouldn't be there because he's doing crooked things and been documented of all the things

he's doing. anybody that holds any job that would talk about people on a consistent basis, tell lies, and you know, then russia, russia said they were going to take over the united states without even firing a shot. and you can tell, it's happening that way to the best of my knowledge. his background, his people and roots come from that area. it's not like he's going to betray his own people is the way i look at it. and i just never understand how the republicans are just knuckling under to him and just going for whatever he's putting down. it has to be something of a monetary value. he's taking them up there to the mountaintop and all this, i'll give you if you do for me. it has to be because this just -- i can't even think of the words. host: statesville, north carolina, john is a republican. go ahead.

john: yeah, good morning. i think c-span has been reading -- must be in love with the new york sometimes and "washington post" because that's about all y'all read and all that is negative fake news anti-trump. and then you get the first three democrats and you ask these loaded questions as anti-trump. i think you need to be a little bit more fair. thank you very much. host: we also read "the wall street journal" this morning and "washington times" this morning and take the calls as they come in and try to rotate through the lines to hear from everybody. we want to hear your view. caller: all i see when i look at it is the new york fake times and "the washington post" fake. that's all i see you reading. thank you. host: we read the other two as well but keep watching. we want to hear from you. maryland, brook park, ohio. good morning. line for democrats. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i feel the region donald trump

is doing a horrible job as a president is because when i look at any kind of a leader is what kind of a team player are they? i was taught for every job i ever had to learn to take you need to be a team player and that goes for people in business, including managers and vice presidents and what have you. and we have a problem in this country where a lot of men are playing this power trip game and they want to act like they're always on top of everybody else. well, the problem is when you're on top, there's too many people that can pull you from underneath because they work for you and they can take away your power if you manipulate the way you do and that's what this president has done. he's ruined this country. and he's making things progressively worse for the people because he constantly lies and deceives people with garbage he puts out on twitter and that's a poor way to manage any business. that's a poor way to manage a country. it needs to be about the people

and the democracy should speak loud and clear and we as the people should have just as much equal say in what this president does than him telling everybody through a twitter account what should be done in this country without repercussion so he therefore definitely needs to change what he's doing. host: a few more tweets, brother james key says his management style, the man in the white house doth protest too much me thinks. the a texan we voted for a businessman, not a professional politician to run the executive branch. the liberals seem unable to grasp this simple fact. jody writes in this morning, my management style is building up your team, meaning good job to everyone and thank you at the end of the day works so much better than screwing you out of your full pension. jody referring to the firing late last week of former f.b.i. deputy director andrew mccabe.

that topic is full of plenty of question this is week. adam schiff was on abc's this week talking about the mccabe firing. [video clip] >> the fact the attorney general did say he lacked candor in some of his responses and that his firing was recommended by career f.b.i. officials, does it give you pause and suggest that his firing was or may be justified? >> you know, his firing may be justified. there's no way for us to know at this point. even though it may have been justified it also can be tainted and i think the president's badgering of the attorney general is urging he be fired before his pension could vest and the fact that mccabe and every other james comey associates general counsel baker and chief of staff who corroborates james comey on the issue of justice has been targeted by the administration and republicans

in congress and is this because they crop rate james comey? that's a question we also have to answer. host: our question for you is your view of president trump's management style, the question coming after the firing last week of the president's secretary of state, some reshuffling at the top of the president's cabinet and continued speculation about more changes in the white house. speaking of the president, today the president will be talking about the opiod crisis in the country from "the wall street journal." president trump will call for new steps to combat the opiod epidemic including a push to reduce opiod prescriptions by a third in three years and asking the justice department to seek more death penalty cases under the current law and for federal support to expand the availability of overdose reversal medications. the proposals will come in a speech in the hard hit state of new hampshire. some other elements of the

strategy that the white house unveiled and the president will be talking about today include a fresh public awareness campaign about drug abuse, a research and development partnership between the national institutes of health and pharmaceutical companies to opiod prescription alternatives and tougher sentences for traffickers and screening for prison inmates for opiod addiction. we'll be showing the president's speech today on the c-span networks, check c-span.org for the coverage of that event happening later today. d.b. is in picayune, mississippi, a republican. what's your view of the president's management style, how would you describe it in a word or two? caller: i'm going to tell you, i used to be a business manager, for years i was before i became a teacher and i'm telling you right now, i'm so disappointed in our republican government. i'd hoped that our congress could keep a muzzle on trump because he wasn't my pick.

i did a lot of research on this man before the voting came and unfortunately i didn't find a lot of good things about his business management skills out there or any good things about him, period, as far as his managing his businesses. and one of the things that really swayed my vote against him was the way he treated the people in scotland with his business management over there. and he is running this presidency like it's a reality show. the one that he was starring in. before he became the president and this isn't a reality show. this isn't funny. what is going on right now with russia and the way they're taunting us. and him bragging and being their champion and not ours to me is a sign he's extremely guilty of all the charges and think he needs to leash the mueller investigation alone.

and all the investigators involved in it. the way he handled the firing is not a professional businessman policies and he's not doing a very good job at running our country. he's not criticizing the white supremist and racism that's going on that is really running rampant in the south, which always has been bad anyway. i've been here, i'm 61 years old and i voted for more republicans than i have anybody else and the only time i didn't vote for a republican was when i felt like after the research i did personally they were the worst person to vote for in the election. host: who did you support? caller: mainly republican. host: who did you vote for in the republican primary? caller: i voted for the guy from florida. because i felt like out of all

of them he seemed like the least -- you know, they didn't have a good person to vote for in the primary to me. i didn't feel like the republicans put forth a good leader, a strong leader. and whenever trump came in and showed them that he was stronger acting because he is stronger at acting like he's strong but in the fact of the matter is it's an act. when it comes down to it, he's not a strong leader. he doesn't know how to pick good people, obviously. he's putting in place people like betsy devos who wants to destroy education obviously from her actions and words and deeds. she's not trying to help make education for america good. host: that's b.b. in mississippi. she brings up senator marco rubio of florida. here's what marco rubio had to say after the president's tweets over the weekend targeting the mueller investigation, i remain

confident the special counsel is going to conduct a probe that is fair and thorough and is going to arrive at the truth and not going to go down a rabbit hole that are not places we need to be going. he said that on "meet the press" over the weekend on nbc, of course. phoenix is in ithaca, new york, an independent. good morning. caller: hi, thank you, john. i appreciate the opportunity to be able to use my voice. about management as well. his style breeds fear but mostly, i have a background in management and it's very difficult and does require a . t of time and effort

and this swinging door, i agree with a lot of people that it's about the fact that ruminating and the standing in the world. we're not just a little american revolution and american experiment now. we're a part of the world and how it impacts us. the great american experiment. pitting each other with the confusion and whatnot. when our president became president like so many others said ok, this is different. and give him a chance. i read his books way back and i understood his business style and whatnot. it's not a style that i chose

impact in a great history and i'm a history but and -- a history buff and we're just small in the history and there is hope. and a lot of people are losing that. the impact on the world, what we're doing and with a we're getting, pitting each other gainst each other. our republican is united and supposed to be and i agree it's scary, it's very scary because certain things that he's said about the fact he admires, you others who have this leadership where they're the dominant ruler? that's scary but also the

military stuff, what about dehumanizing people before enocide. it's playing itself outside and i have a lot of fierce. corruption and all the government stuff, that's been happening over and over again. the greater good is that's who we are. host: you mentioned russian president vladimir putin won re-election by a wide margin yesterday according to preliminary results strengthling his hand amid what the wall street currently described as an escalating confrontation with the west. after 1 years in power mr. putin will start a six-year term at a time of sharply deteriorating relations with adversaries who accuse him of hostile attacks ranging from election mettling to attempted assassinations. some b roll there of vladimir

putin of after the election victory with over 3/4 of the ballots counted, mr. putin led with 76.1% of the vote according to russia's central election commission and by comparison scored 63.6% back in 2012 two years before his seizure of crime eea from ukraine and his approval ratings soaring in russia. an independent in alabama. good morning. i have to hit the button. caller: are you there? host: yes, ma'am. caller: ok. i'm loving his management style. for decades we've been complaining about how corrupt our government was and he is just trying to clean the swamp. he unfortunately didn't realize how big the swamp was but i think he's doing an awesome job. another person who i think has

to have thick skin is sarah sanders. for having to defend herself when they have those media -- when she goes up against the media, they just constantly pounce on her. the democrats -- host: did you feel that way about past press secretaries when they went foup past press briefings, did you feel they got pounced on? caller: not like sarah gets. i give her credit. she's a strong woman and glad she's there. host: what do you make about the staff turnover? caller: hey, if there's a bad seed in the barrel, get it out of there. you can't know exactly how somebody operates until you actually work with them. and you're in charge and you don't like what's happening, you get rid of them. host: in powder springs, georgia, a democrat. ann, good morning. caller: good morning, how are

you doing? host: doing well. caller: it's a good topic. i've been in the -- interested in the comments made. trump's management style would be fine for a family business he is really what he had never had a board of directors to deal with and just dealt with his family. however, in this case he's not managing a family business. he selects people to work for him based on how much he owes them or how much he likes them. he does not consider the knowledge or skills these people should have to do the job. he plays fruit basket turnover to find a job these people might be able to do, which is what he's been doing lately. he's unable to delegate responsibility. instead he micromanagings those who should be allowed to manage efficiently unsupervised but he can't trust them to do the job. he worries constantly about his popularity but creates insecurity and chaos in his

staff in the nation and in the world. partly because of his big ego problem. has lly is -- i think he this idea that he has to do all this by himself and that everything waits on him. and he's just unable to look at himself as part of a team. which is really important in a good business operation. host: do you get the sense his staff tries to manage him? caller: well, i think they are trying to manage him because of the chaos he creates around him. i think they're trying to settle things down and maybe help him become more efficient. but when you stop and think about the people he selected to do the jobs that they do, they're not very good at it. they don't really have the skills they need to do the job. for example, the guy running the environmental protection agency, he really would like to get rid of it and he didn't even understand when it he took

the job what all it involves. another problem with trump is he really doesn't understand the balance of power. he doesn't understand how the president works with congress and the supreme court to run a country. host: has there been anybody president trump hired into the white house that you thought has been a good hire? caller: i thought kelly might do some good but apparently he's not been able to grasp it himself. i thought maybe he might do some good. my husband was a marine and know about the discipline and order they put into the training and everything that goes into becoming a marine. but honestly, he has not been able to tamp him down and matter of fact, i think trump corrupted kelly quite a bit. host: a few more tweets having this conversation this morning. bo writes in, are we a company or country? do we want a dictator or a

president? american joe says you elected a guy whose catch phrase was "you're fired" and are now shocked that some firings are taking place? a little more from that maggie habberman piece on the president's white house. newly emboldened and chasing instinct is the headline on her piece today in the white house memo section of the "new york times." maggie talks about the president's close allies like representative mark meadows of north carolina who is the chairman of the house freedom caucus who believes the president is finding his stride and learning how to navigate washington. quote, i see it more of a function than just ok and taken a year to understand the different dynamics within a broad array and now it's about putting together a people to go the distance the next three years. some aides are worried and view the weekend's attacks on mr. mueller and the f.b.i. particularly disturbing and a taste of what they believe

could come and say privately mr. trump does not understand the job the way he believes he does and fears he may be lets inclined to take advice and see if the attacks on mr. mueller are nothing more than to define it and an interview with the president the special counsel is seeking. the piece we focused on is ggie habber sapp minneapolis man's article.er and we go to a republican line now in nebraska. go ahead. caller: how are you this morning? host: doing well. caller: i thank you for the washington journal. i like what the president is doing, doing a fantastic job. some comments are good and some i didn't care for. i liked that guy that was 90 years old and he said it pretty bluntly. the other thing is everybody wanted a businessman in office

and some of them didn't. i think the democrats or obstructing what he's doing and they need to focus on what they're doing and help him get his job done along with the republicans that are there. i also have this to say about being a businessman. when you have a job, you have a boss. sometimes when you do your job you have to keep doing it when they're not looking. maybe donald trurm is looking at what they're doing and they don't like he's looking and watching them but you've got to keep doing your job when the boss isn't looking. that's part of my opinion. is a law and order president and putting law in order. he is bringing the order into our country. host: you think he picked the

best chief law enforcement officer in jeff sessions? caller: yes, i like what sessions is doing, he's doing a good job. i like that he's going over into california and basically sticking his nose where it should be. i like that he's doing that. yeah, i do. i like that he's -- like i said, when the boss isn't looking, maybe some of them aren't doing their job and why donald trump has gotten rid of a lot of them. the other thing i'd like to see done regarding what he's doing by getting these people in and out is also maybe talk to congress on getting the first and second apartment more, i don't know, out there in the open as it is because there's so much of the constitution that's getting tore apart and it's not right. it's wrong. also believe that constitution and holy bible and prayer should come back to

school like it was when our forefathers wrote the constitution, people would do their job and do what they're supposed to do and go to school and not be afraid. parents need to pray for their children more and pray over them and do that part as a arent. all these people are doing the walkouts of school and maybe more christians should get out there like myself and get out and fight and stand up and speak like they are maybe we'll get noticed, too and maybe these things will be brought out into congress because hat's what needs to be done. this country is fall ago part in a hand basket and donald trump is trying to put it back in law and order like it should be. host: dottie in nebraska. about five or 10 minutes left in the first segment of the "washington journal." up next we'll talk about the week ahead on capitol hill and at the white house as well. we're going to be talking with

the a.p.'s lisa mascaro and mike lillis of "the hill" newspaper in our 8:00 hour so join us for that discussion and want to update you on another of those mysterious explosions down in austin, texas, this being reported by cnn a few minutes ago. the explosion that injured two men on sunday could have been triggered by a trip wire according to austin police chief brian manly after a fourth blast in the texas city a little over two weeks and authorities are working under the belief the latest incident is connected to the three explosions in the city. at this point information is preliminary. he said early monday morning and police have yet to fully process the scene and said it was possible the device was handled or someone came in contact with the trip wire that activated that device. if there's more developments we'll keep you updated.

joan in stacy, arizona, independent. go ahead. caller: yes, good morning. i'm listening to some of these people and i just cannot believe they're so ignorant. can't they see what's going on in the country and how the stock market is up, illegal immigration is down, regulations are gone. g.d.p. is up, historic tax cuts, lowest unemployment in 17 years. that covers all of obama's tenure. his style, he sits down and talks with people. he works with people. he's trying to do the best he can for our country and our eople. all i have to say are people are so negative about the amazing job he's doing. he's not a status quo politician like the clintons. he doesn't have any of that owing other people. he's genuine.

yes, his personality style is different. i don't care what his personality is. i like what he's doing. i see the results. i don't understand where these people are coming from that can't see how our country has containinged and how in just over a year he's changed things and he's -- our country is in a better position. i'm 71 years old. i've never felt more confident in a man running our country since reagan. people do not give donald trump credit. i don't know why. i think yes, the media is involved in this. george soros, let's bring this up again. he has billions behind a lot of the media and his whole effort is to destroy donald trump, to destroy our country. and some of these democrats can't see that. i just think they're blind. look the at stock market. host: why would he want to

destroy the country, joan? george soros -- caller: read about his background. during hitler he went door to oor to jewish people and confiscated their homes and businesses. yeah, a lot of this has been taken off of wikipedia. host: why do you think he wants to destroy the united states is my question? caller: he's not an american. read his background. he worked for hitler for crying out loud. host: joan in minnesota. d.j., spring, texas, what do you think of the president's management style? caller: obviously i'm astounded to the people that actually subjectively look at this and actually say he has a good management style. i would not let this guy manage a lemonade stand. any objective person, if you worked in a workplace with this much turmoil and turnover, you

would be heading for the exits. the guy is self-serving, and i'm sure eventually all of this will come out. he's self-serving. just a point of note. how many weekends has this guy spent at the white house? very few because he's off at one of his properties. that means he's benefiting from it. if you look at so many things happening in our government, it's all engineered or geared towards service to himself or his family or his cronies. everyone talks about draining the wamp. if the last person had as many scandals or anything, you know, a porn star dropping out of the woodwork or whatever, it lasts further to have that. people would run around with their heads exploded. that's why i personally cannot believe that this guy after

four bankruptcies and everything else, that he has made 10e billion legally. host: c.j. -- d.j. in texas. you talk about those who headed for the exits. rex tillerson shown the exit after being fired last week. the president hopes to appoint pompeo, the current c.i.a. director to be the new secretary of state. mike pompeo will be on capitol hill today being reported in politicos playbook this morning and meet with senator bob corker today as he begins to make the rounds before his confirmation hearings. the senate foreign relations committee which corker shares will hold the hearings on pompeo's nomination of secretary of state and will happen scheduled in april. time for one more call to the question, your view of president trump's management style. john is in nazareth, pennsylvania. republican. go ahead.

caller: yeah, this is in regards to mike pompeo. i think this is a good move for the united states and you have to understand, you talk about g, has courtsabout -- right now in the united states that are taking place in some parts -- host: we are talking about the president's management style and we are running out of time. do you have a comment on that? caller: i think he is doing a terrific job with the tax cuts and we are talking about his management and it will be brought up today about the muslims with mike pompeo. host: that is john in pennsylvania this morning. thisis going to do it for first segment of the washington journal. up next, we will talk about the week ahead in congress. mike lillis will join us and later, we will have another guest of the bipartisan policy center. we will be discussing the

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unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. journal continues. when congressy's is in session, we like to take a look at the week ahead in congress. mike lillis is with the helmet newspaper and lisa mascaro is with the associated press. coming off a week of major shakeups at the white house, some tweets by the president have gained a lot of notice targeting the mueller investigation. what's the reaction on capitol hill? are republican leaders concerned? guest 1: over the weekend it was one of the first times you saw a republicans and several democrats really responding to tweets andnt's

saying any attempt to get rid of special prosecutor mueller would be a redline. you heard marco rubio raising concerns and senator lindsey graham and it was really a sense that i think the republicans know that this would be something that would send a wrong message. democrats have been saying this for a long time and trying to get legislation to protect the special counsel and you heard senator mark warner of virginia, he's the top democrat on the intelligence committee that is also running a parallel investigation of the russian interference of the election. senator warner had some strong words about that and also had an op-ed saying now is the time for congress to really step up and make sure that special prosecutor is protected. that said, i don't know that we will see any real legislation passed, but you are hearing this and that is a warning shot to

the president, don't go down that road. host: that op-ed you are referring to, today's usa today, no one is above the law, not even the president. there were some piece of legislation that got momentum behind it, what would it be? there are several different proposals to try to protect the molar probe. is there one that has done -- mueller probe. is there one that is a favorite at this point? orst 2: when jeff flake lindsey graham or charlie dent or some of these more moderate republicans come out and criticize the president, that is sort of -- lisa mentioned this would be a bridge too far and that is true, you would see a lot more republicans jump on board. for the most part, it's a lot of the same voices that are airing these concerns, even as he is going after mueller. the legislative vehicle is not really being talked about that

much. it would take something extraordinary for republicans to put something on the floor that would attack their ally in the white house. host: we asked our callers about their view of president trump's management style, especially in the wake of the shakeups from last week and perhaps more to come. what our members telling you on capitol hill? what is their view of how the president runs his white house? guest 2: that's a very partisan debate at this point. aside from the moderates i just mentioned, there is republican criticism of his style and there is republican criticism of his tweets and the way he is running the place. for the most part, this is a partisan debate and the root -- leadership on the republican side is very much behind him and many chairman's are behind him. none of that has really changed. there is a sense it's as difficult to get legislation done with there is so much mixed messaging coming from the white house. the house was supposed to vote on this last friday and they wanted to vote and get out of

town and for all the sticking points we have been talking about, the amendments, the deal,ative barriers to a the biggest barrier we were hearing from members was we do not know what donald trump wants. they cannot -- republicans could not put forward a proposal because they didn't know what the president was going to support. indecision isy affecting legislation on capitol hill, that is when i think republicans are getting the most frustrated. host: the omnibus debate, some viewers might be surprised there could be another government shutdown by the end of this week. remind us how we got to this point. guest 1: the fiscal year begins in fall. that would be october 1 2017. that is when congress is supposed to have in place the spending bill for the entire year. they did not do that. what we are operating under here in washington is the fifth

continuing resolution, which is essentially a stopgap measure that expires friday that has been funding the government. there was a temporary shutdown. again, there was a small couple hour shutdown in february. as house and senate leaders tried to get together and passed these stopgap measures, what they did and what they are coming up to now is they reached an agreement, a big bipartisan agreement to fund the government over the next essentially two fiscal years, 18 months at certain levels. that was in a compliment to sort of get to the point where there would agree-- they what level to fund the government. now they have to fill that in with the spending plan for each of the government agencies and they have been arguing over that and they've got some of the levels and they have all these different policy writers they like to attach to the bill and

you might not be surprised to hear they are arguing over some of the big issues of the day, whether they should have guns policy on there, the longtime push by republicans to restrict .bortion access there is no federal spending allowed for most abortion -- abortion in most cases, but there are ways they could restrict it farther -- further. and to the point there is this big tunnel project in new jersey that the president has said -- host: the gateway project. guest 1: the gateway project that he would veto the spending bill if it includes spending for this process -- project that's important to senator schumer and a number of republicans in the house -- house republicans. it's a tunnel under the hudson river to help with the commute of the chairman

appropriations committee has been pushing to get funding and he is from new jersey, to make sure funding is secured before he retires. they've got to resolve a number of these issues. they did not get it done last week and they are moving towards this end of the week deadline and congress always loves a deadline, it's the way they seem to operate anymore, this sense of crisis governing. it is always an uncertainty of are they going to get there? host: when are we going to actually see the bill and what potential writers could be in the bill? what's the timing this week? guest 2: we expect the bill in a house to be introduced this afternoon or evening. paul ryan and republicans are going to huddle this evening to discuss their path forward. we expect to see the bill text before then. that would set the stage for the 72 hour rule they are operating under, they introduced the bill and they can vote on it as early as three days later.

so they can vote on it wednesday and that would set the stage for senate passage thursday or friday. nothing moves very fast enough senate. essentially if somebody wants to hold it up. host: we had a very short-term shutdown for a little while last time. is there a potential for another one of those? can somebody block this long enough to create another one of those? host: there's always -- guest 1: there's always the potential. speaker ryan needs to assemble majority in the house, which is a dicey proposition for him. can he get enough republicans on board? aisle reach across the with nancy pelosi and democrats and make sure it passes the house? and we saw senator rand paul last time say this broader deal that was cut is excessive spending and he and others would not be in favor of that. we will see. we haven't heard those threats this time, but the potential is here. host: we are talking about the

week ahead on capitol hill with lisa mascaro with the associated press and mike lillis with the newspaper,- the hill two veterans of congressional coverage. taking your questions, your comments this morning on this monday morning. democrats can call in, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. you can start doing that as mike lillis, another event we are watching this week and it could possibly occur amid a potential shutdown if there isn't a deal by midnight friday. on saturday is the big march for gunlives event for new control legislation. take us through what we are going to see on capitol hill this week? is there any chance any potential gun legislation makes it to either chamber? guest 2: there is a bipartisan push to get legislation in the omnibus. it's unclear if that can sneak its way in. that is one of those poison pill

writers and a lot of people's yes. this want -- a lot of people's eyes. this one is noncontroversial. by john cornyn, the number two republican in the senate. there is the sutherland springs baptist church shooting last year and that's what inspired this, it expands background checks and essentially tells agencies, state and federal to report -- follow the law. the report -- report cases of criminality and mental health illness to net disaster -- to the fbi database. that was a loophole that allowed the sutherland springs guy to purchase his firearm. host: why attach it to the omnibus? does it not have enough support to stand on its own? guest 1: it's always tough to get these kind of bills passed. the bill itself is modest. it just requires federal agencies and states to be sure

they are complying with existing background checks -- the existing background check system. it's not the expanded background check. it's a very modest bill and it passed the house, but it did have this extra provision which is an expansion of gun rights. it allows folks to have -- who have concealed carry permits -- states would have to honor those across state lines. right now, that isn't the case. to bring that bill over to the senate in that way, the senate is trying to separate it and pass just the background check provision. even if the senate was able to get that through, which is possible, it seems like there would be a lot of support. i think there is something like 65 senators in support of that right now. how do they bridge the difference with the house that wanted to also include this expansion of gun rights? , unablelies the debate to sort of do that on its own,

it can hitch a ride on its -- this spending bill. these are a great way to tuck in extra provisions. host: explain why that is for folks who hear things like pores in pill, -- poison pill, writers, christmas tree omnibus, why is that? guest 1: it's very difficult for congress, we have been in this hyper partisan age for years and it's very difficult for congress to agree on a lot of these big and even more modest policy measures. for there is enough support something like for example this background check bill that it cannot quite make it through the procedures on its own, they can sort of hitch a ride or in some cases gum up the works on these policy bills, these big spending bills are sort of must pass legislation. nobody wants a shutdown anymore and folks so -- say they

understand the shutdowns are not popular so it's one of the last big legislative items that is going to move through congress in the next several months really almost toward the end of the year. the group will want to load it up. they want to load it up with their priorities, the gateway project, the gun stuff, maybe the push for abortion, election security funding, different provisions and they can make or break these bills. it can be a christmas tree and everybody is happy or it can be something that stalls up the bill. host: and something that creates a busy week for congressional reporters like yourself to try and figure out what is in it and what is not. phones are open to talk about the week ahead in congress, the week ahead at the white house. let us know your questions. joe is up first in eastpointe, michigan. go ahead. caller: good morning. evil lurks in

that white house. i think the week ahead -- trump may not even be in office after the week ahead. i have found the enemy and it is me and given enough rope, he will hang himself and that is exactly what he is doing. he is tightening that loose a little more around -- every day around his own neck. he will expose his parents of everything, history of this country, history of any other country, political things that have happened. he makes nixon look like a choir boy. host: bring us to your question. caller: not a question from a statement, we may not have to wait until november to rid ourselves of this threat to our democracy and i cannot wait to vote against him and the republican party again. thank you. host: mike lillis, the viewer talking about the november elections and what president trump may or may not mean for

republicans on the ticket. take us in the wake of the pennsylvania 18 special election and we have another round of primaries in illinois tomorrow this week. let's talk about the impact right now of president trump? guest 2: it's a fascinating issue because democrats in 2016 ran against president trump, then candidate trump. they thought he was going to be the wildcard, that he was going to be a bin for them and they were expecting double-digit gains in the house and senate. they -- neither of those things happen and hillary clinton lost. they came back and try to switch strategies and say we cannot make 2018 about donald trump. they go out to berryville, virginia, rural virginia and introduced the better deal campaign that's all economic and there's no social issues, immigration, no guns, no abortion, it's all the economy, and now we are in 2018 and its unavoidable. this is going to be an election

about president trump, you saw it in pennsylvania and virginia last november. it's unavoidable. it is going to happen. they can talk about the economy, but it is going to be up secondary issue amid all the chaos in the headlines. had a story about the other side of this as well last week in the hill newspaper. pelosi says she is not hurting democratic campaigns. "we won" after pennsylvania 2018. talk about nancy pelosi and how she may become a factor into november. guest 1: republicans will tell you that pelosi is one of their best weapons and they feel like because her polling among their voters or some independents they are trying to win over is so low that she is this great sort of bogeyman on the campaign trail. that has been the role she has played for republicans for years . they try to use her in a way to democratics off

candidates. i will say, i don't know how successful that continues to be. we saw in the pennsylvania race that the democratic candidate said, i am not supporting nancy pelosi and he was able to win and there are a lot of candidates out there that are sort of willing to may be not go that far, but at least willing to distance themselves from her. i will also say, she remains among manyrats and in her party, a powerhouse. she is an amazing fundraiser, an amazing legislator, she is able to cut a number of these deals. as much as republicans love to attack her, she remains a strong , powerful leader despite the challenges and she will face challenges from her own ranks. host: we showed viewers a headline from today's new york times, pelosi pushes to exit -- have 2: every two years we

this debate, it's the parlor game washington loves to pay, what is's nancy pelosi future -- what is nancy pelosi's future? she is not going to tell you. they had an extremely rough time in 2016 and a lot of the younger generations are blaming her. the effectiveness is unclear, but it does force some candidates to go on the defensive. lamb in pennsylvania had to take staringd where he is into the camera saying i am not going to support nancy pelosi. you are spending money attacking your own party leader. lamb is not the first to do that. there are a lot of purple district candidates who have attacked nancy pelosi in the passed and they run on a campaign -- in the past and pelosi endorses those things. it is with her blessing they are attacking nancy pelosi because

she would rather have a democrat in the house. new last year was a direct challenge to her leadership -- that happened in 2010, smaller challenge. bigger challenge. there's a younger generation angry that she is -- has been there so long and they are not anning, four cycles in minority, but they are angry there is this bottleneck at the top of the party. a lot of talent is moving on it into the senate and governor's races and there is nowhere to go at the top of the party, so they think it's time for a generational change. that more than is rated -- nancy radioactive to win. there is frustration because the younger generation has not been able to move up. host: who are some of those younger talent that have gone to other places? guest 2: chris holland went to the senate. have your becerra is the becerra -- javier

didn't have anywhere else to go. steve israel retire to be an author. who else is in that category? jared polis, who was thought to be an aspiring member, is running for governor in colorado. donna edwards in maryland ran for senate and lost to chris van hollen, but she is no longer in the house. you have this middle generation that had nowhere to go and they disappeared. host: lisa mascaro, you got called in berkeley springs, west virginia. caller: i would like your opinion on the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the corruption and conspiracy in the fbi to overthrow this president and also, i would like to know, have you had printed in from peterthe emails

-- lisa paige, have you ever seen it and any newspaper or heard it on the mainstream media -- these emails between these two were conspiring to overthrow this president more or less and i would just like to say after listening to some of the folks that called in this morning, i do think we should spend more money on mental illness. thank you. host: lisa mascaro, if you want to talk about that. guest 1: i think those text messages did appear in a number of papers across the country. you can go back and look at those through your library or through the internet. there is legislation proposed, there are a number of folks who talked about appointing a special counsel to look into this. i think senator graham -- i don't remember exactly who all has talked about the legislation, but folks have put out legislation to do that.

too not know if that's going get any traction. it would require the quad of both parties to get that done and i don't know -- but -- it would cut white -- it would require the cooperation of both parties to get that done. they want to see investigation on the other side, i just don't know if congress can work to get that together. guest 2: there is always this claim that the intelligence committees are somehow above partisanship. as this has proven and you can go back into the past and there are other examples, everything is partisan. this is washington. this is the power struggle and they are fighting some to protect the president and some to attack him at all cost. that is what you are seeing. nothing new under the sun, i don't think. those emails were very much well reported as everything in this investigation has been, it has

just been under a microscope. those emails are out here -- out there in our paper and the ap and others. host: chuck grassley, senator lindsey graham sending a letter to sessions andy attorney general -- and the attorney general rod rosenstein calling for -- to gather the facts. i think the hill was what i was looking at. brian in iowa, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. moment.ive me a the reality of the situation is republicans and the trump voters don't really care about morals. they don't really care about the reality of the poor and the lower middle class and the only person who ever really talked about the poor was bernie sanders. hillary was not a progressive,

was on the wrong side of a bunch of issues and only switched over when she saw the grass was green -- or whatever, when things gay marriage, justice department, anything. i am going off the rails, but the point is, he wants to make it white america again. america is a melting pot and has been for a very long time and we just can't discard the reality segregation, jim crow, and the nail in the coffin, so to speak, white flight, which my parents and grandparents engaged in. i grew up on the west side of chicago, a border town on the west central -- central side of chicago. trump sleeps around on

his wife and is accused of all kinds of sexual allegations and is in bed with putin, so to speak, and nobody sees it, they just want to make excuses like it's the fbi, the guy that called in and said the corruption in the fbi. is that guy even an american? excuse me. where are we? this is america, not russia, not china. the chinese -- the president of china is looking at america and going, oh my god, are you serious? host: that's brian in iowa. some of the questions the caller you getting those same questions from members of congress as you go about your own reporting? guest 1: a couple of things. i think the issue of race always sorts of hangs over this and there has always been a concern of the rise of some of the far right voices out in the country

and that certainly is troubling to members of congress. we have seen rising reports of hate crimes and some of the activism around those folks we saw in charlottesville, the some of protests and those supporting the president. i think that's a concern. i think what republicans have really struggled with is how to deal with this presidency. in congress, they very much are trying to ride the coattails of the president, have it both ways, ride the coattails, but also not lean too far into the views they feel uncomfortable with, whether it is race or his behavior with his wife for any of the things the caller raised. that is the issue we are seeing here and we are also seeing callers expressed this rising opposition from democrats or independents. you hear about the so-called

resistance movement of people saying enough, that this is not the direction this country should go. some members of congress are certainly responding to that. kamala hary booker, rris, bernie sanders, going around the country and talking to the resistance, being active in that space. there is a very serious debate in that country of what sort of direction the country will go. i will say trump supporters, many of them are able to put those issues aside and sort of -- appreciate what the president hardline --terms of it's a big debate right now. host: the caller specifically brought up bernie sanders. role in the democratic party right now? guest 2: i think he is trying to figure that out. he ruled out a 2020 run. he's in his mid-70's i think, so

he would be the oldest president by far to do it if he won. he is certainly an energizing factor, but certainly a polarizing factor. and he has to weigh those two things. he gets enormous crowds around the country and liberals love him. he is the progressive movement guy and i should mention elizabeth warren is in that 2020ory, too, for contender. she is mentioned in that group of people who might run. has to play this game with bernie sanders because they realize he is the guy who energizes the base. he can be a bomb thrower and try to derail legislation and things like that they want to get done in the name of bipartisan compromise. they play a game with him. host: he is very much involved

in a vote that is going to happen this week on military involvement in yemen. explain what is going on. guest 2: we think it's going to happen this week. they want it to happen this weekend mcconnell has not ruled it out. john cornyn says he wants to send it to committee first. it's not on the schedule just yet, but we might vote on this resolution, which would be an extraordinary vote. for years there has been a strange bedfellows bipartisan group in the house and senate that says wait a minute, congress is supposed to authorize war. the last time we passed a war authorization bill was 2003, 15 years ago. why are we still appropriating all this money? and we haven't done our constitutional duty. there's a sense there's a dereliction of duty. we are seeing that in syria and

now we are seeing it in yemen. mike lee is a very conservative guy from utah. sometimes you have these libertarian minded liberals and conservatives who team up on bills like this and what they are saying is congress has to approve this stuff. anybody not fighting terrorism or al qaeda in yemen have to come home within 30 days. host: just after 8:30 on the east coast and it's a week ahead in washington is what we are discussing at this point. we will talk about it until about 9:00. mike lillis is with the hill newspaper and lisa mascaro is with the associated press. you've got janet in west virginia, republican. caller: i am so tired of hearing about russia and these women, i know how they play up to men that have money and is rich. i have seen it done myself. men are going to try anything -- it is up toto

them to say no. it's not the person, they will do anything. i am so concerned about this country. it's like people are asleep or something, or in a daze and democrats are nothing but -- most of them, i bet they have had women, too, as well as anybody else. host: are you specifically talking about the stormy daniels story? there are so many stories i cannot even think of them. i can't remember all these names and things. i am really worried about our country and those democrats are just trying to destroy our country. i am telling you, they just do anything for money. host: got your point, janet. let's focus on the stormy daniels story for a moment and where this goes. guest 1: that is a tough issue. yes, stuck on russia, but, we are in sort of uncharted territory there. i think the questions started

really getting raised was there any campaign violation or any question that any of the money to remainaid for her quiet and not tell her story. about howany question that came out in terms of campaign funding laws? i think this is one of the issues that just doesn't seem to go away despite so much effort by the president to sort of set it aside. host: does this rise to the point of congressional investigation? guest 1: i think -- members of congress do not want to touch this right now. mike, you might be closer to me -- then me on that. i cannot say with a lot of certainty. guest 2: pelosi was asked last week or two weeks ago and she said, we don't want to go there. there is a sense they don't want to talk about it.

if there is an issue, it will go through the lens of fec violations, if there's any kind of oversight push it would come from democrats. afterlity is not a crime the bill clinton affair, democrats don't want to bring these sorts of things up. all the sexual harassment stuff has happened last year in the capital was both parties were guilty and lawmakers in both parties fell. that is one of the bipartisan issues, so they don't want to make infidelity a partisan issue. host: parks berg, pennsylvania, bob is a democrat. good morning. ? bob? go ahead, sir. caller: it is me. i just want to let you know that this is a situation where the fbi, you don't mess with them. you better stay off the subject when it comes to the fbi. you will be sorry.

host: who is the you you are referring to, bob? lisa mascaro, i will let you jump in on that. say i think the sort of caller mentioned this divide in the country where we have the situation where the intelligence committees -- community found a year ago there was this russian interference in the election. now we have -- the house and senate have been investigating -- there is this divide in the country over how important this is an as the last caller showed, some people don't want to hear about it. you are hearing from members of congress there's a grave concern meddling they saw in the 2016 presidential election is just the beginning or a continuation know had been

going on earlier and they worry a will be continuing to go on in the next election. as we approach the midterm election in 2018, there's a lot of concern on capitol hill about electionp the nation's system and making sure this most important part of our democracy, that everyone vote -- everyone's vote is counted and everyone's vote matters is upheld. there's no tampering, which, at this point, investigators have not seen. ,his broader issue of influence i think that is something campaigns are going to have to struggle with and they have these social media accounts that then -- the messages being community.n the and what are the able to do to sort of protect their campaigns from getting hijacked by interference? beginning toe just

really have a more serious conversation on that aside from the 2016 what happened, really looking ahead of being able to protect the integrity of elections going forward. host: about 15 or 20 minutes left this morning with our panel of congressional correspondence. we will get as many of your calls as we can. mike lillis, you got -- a republican. good morning. caller: hello? host: go ahead, jean. caller: we in this hostile -- household try to follow politics objectively. we watch cnn, nbc, fox, fox business, we listen to rush, we are fairly well informed. i think that what is going to election isis next going to be about character because the reason trump is an

office is despite all of his flaws, which everybody has, we all have flaws, he is sincere, he wants to correct the way things are in this country, and i think that the reason conor lamb won the election in pennsylvania was because he was sincere and he didn't follow the hard left line. i think we are going to see an ent to the hard left. it has gone too far. these marches involving schoolkids and things like this is outrageous and the extreme right has already had its today, even though it was the democratic party that was for slavery, the extreme right has already had its a day. i believe that we may see some inocrats elected in2018 --

2018 who are going to be more for trump than the fat republicans sitting there getting their pensions and not worrying too much about what is actually going on. , god is in control and america is a great nation and i think he is going to make us a nation blessed once again. we are here for a reason. thank you. in maine. what do you make of those predictions for 2018? guest 2: i think everybody is hoping jean is right. the pendulum will swing back and forth, it constantly does. in the age of social media, it rapidly andre violently and donald trump is the epitome of all of that. swings from this entrenched partisanship from where we are right now, there is nobody in the capital that is happy with how things are right now, with the tone, the mood,

everybody is at each other's throats and tired of it. if the pendulum swings back in the name of bipartisanship and more moderate members coming and wanting more partisan compromise, it would certainly be welcome, it would be welcome in the press and with everybody. donald trump is not going to be in guy to foster it himself the white house. he might lead to it in the election, but he will not do it from the white house. host: are you seeing that in the slate of candidates open -- offering themselves in the primary? we have a primary tomorrow in illinois. are there candidates there that represent that? guest 2: this goes back to the bernie sanders question you asked before. democratic party is in search of after 2016 and before is saying do we shift farther to the left and get back to liberal ideas? have we been losing elections because we have been fleeing who we are, or do we have to shift to the center and speak to some

of these heartland blue-collar working-class voters who flocked to trump in 2016? that is an ongoing debate and it will be district by district. in illinois -- primary, you have a veteran, but he's very conservative minded. he's one of the few democrats on capitol hill to -- supports abortion. that has angered a lot of people in his caucus. that will be kind of a litmus ast because he represents liberal district that went heavily for clinton and he has a wrong primary a comment -- opponent this year around. it will be a fascinating -- we will know within a day. guest 1: maria newman whose -- has backing and a similar situation we saw in texas where sort of bernie sanders backed candidate was able to make it into a runoff with the more

establishment backed democrats. theyre seeing on the -- try to figure out their path forward. is it really this populist bernie sanders message or is it something more of a moderate conor lamb model? byhink it is district district, but at some point there is kind of a reckoning, can the party be -- really bring -- we have seen more conservative democrats lose or retire in years, but we are seeing an upswing of that brand of democratic politics. i know republicans like to say that conor lamb was a unicorn and there are not these moderate democrats, but if you really look, doug jones wo the senate seat in alabaman. obviously that was a specific case -- race against roy moore,

but there's a path and there are democrats that have these moderate views and nancy pelosi seems to welcome them. she has no problem with it although she is a liberal leader. host: sterling, virginia, gary is a republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i hope out of desperation people come to the common sense and logic and reason. the eisenhower part of the republican party, where we have andank of common sense their aim is the advancement of humanity. i think it is -- this trifling petulance we see from the donald, especially like when it comes to getting rid of janet itlen, anything -- obama, it's rid of. that was the smartest lady to grace the face of the earth. it she knew how to double clutch

--ar, knew how to speech speed shift, keep the gear and she did achronized, fantastic job on the economy. i don't know what was wrong with it. this hyper hypocrisy we have going on with the enforcement of the mexico city policy, he complains all about immigrants and then he stops them from having the same birth control that we have. restaurant for 15 years and that was the first thing they told me, that they wanted help with birth control. it's a crying shame. where is this common sense? they like to use the word, but le.y don't use the princip thank you for letting me share. host: that was gary in sterling, virginia. gary bringing up immigrants and

the issue of immigration. bring it back to the week ahead in washington. our we going to see any money in this omnibus spending bill for the president's border wall proposal? guest 2: great question, we hadn't talked about that yet. it's one of the major sticking points. --mp has very much wanted it he hasn't been successful go far -- so far. this goes back to the issue of dreamers and daca and the fate of the deferred action for childhood arrivals program, which trump has taken apart, he has dismantled. the deadline for that was march 5, but there was a federal court in california who upheld it and said you have to keep it running until we rule on the merits of it, which might not happen until june, so we are waiting to see the outcome of the court case. that has taken some of the pressure off congress to act on daca. just a month ago, nancy pelosi stood on the floor -- commandeered the floor for 8 hours and demanded that daca

protections be demanded -- included in the budget deal and democrats are decidedly not doing that this time around. it's a change of tactics and it angered the immigration rights activist in and outside of congress, they just thought it was not a winning issue and they want to get this done without risking shutting down the government and having them be blamed. this is post pennsylvania and they see november coming very quickly. -- we willwant to know later this afternoon if it will be in there. if it is, democrats will not vote for it. it's one of those nonstarters unless there are in or miss concessions to them. they have supported wall funding in the past, but only in exchange for protections for dreamers or even beyond that, protections for the a lot -- other 11 million undocumented people. guest 1: that's about right.

i think there will be some funding, this annual 1.6 billion that gets included to actually work on from other parts -- other geographic parts of the border that need reinforcement. not sort of the prototype of the wall -- president trump was down in california last week visiting -- it's not funding to start that. the president wants -- $25 -- this is really another pivot point for democrats and another for republicans as well. immigration -- the immigration issue is not going away. it's a growing part of the electorate, these latino voters and other voters of immigrant these youngand people have organized and created a great sense of urgency

for their situation and so much -- there is great pop relate that -- popularity for the dreamers in the country. you look at polling after polling and people say these young people who grew up in the country who are essentially americans except for the fact that they came over illegally or were brought over a legally as young, young children, so long as they are doing right, going to school, having jobs, serving in the military and not being in trouble with the law, they should have a path here. polls show a norm is support for it -- enormous support for these young people. the supreme court will make a ruling that will decide what happens to these young people. this is just a temporary pause in the immigration debate and it will come back soon. host: just a few minutes left before we head out with our panel. we want to get to as many calls as we can.

tommy: -- tommy, akron, ohio. go ahead. 2 out of the 3t superpowers have presidents that seemingly can govern for as long as they want -- president trump has already touched on this jokingly, the white house has. how soon do you think you will really seriously start to consider this as part of his agenda for him and how quickly will congress and the american people put the -- on that? it cannot happen for america. i would like to hear the answer from both of you. guest 2: there is zero appetite for that on capitol hill. providedns have defense for the president across the board. it has been remarkable to watch some of the things they have tolerated in support of this president, but something like that would be -- they would put a very quickly.

they would be laughed out of the doesing and so the caller not have to have any concern about it. guest 1: the president is heading up to new hampshire today as many see as part of a kickoff as his reelection. there are many republicans who would maybe not like to see him reelected. senator jeff flake has gone to new hampshire and given a big speech about why it's important to challenge this president. thing's first, he has the right under our system to a second term, but even within his own party mother is resistance -- his own party, there is resistance. , republican -- independent, go ahead. caller: i have a whole -- problem with the surreality of this all.

like they are tribalist. is this just due to the media? and watching trump rallies they yell "lock hillary up" and here is trump with a double class-action lawsuit over trump university. strings and strings of lawsuits where he has duped people out of money and his policies are so bad. where is the fact? immigrants have not been coming in this country since 2008 and we want to build a wall. he put the muslim ban on countries, but how about saudi arabia where he has a trump tower, uae, both of those are the biggest sponsors of terrorism. there,a golf course duarte, trump tower, montreal,

russians, trump tower, they own it together. host: a lot you have got there, we will let mike lillis start. the original question is the tribalism and the worst it has gotten. -- and how bad it has gotten. is this the worst you have seen covering in congress? guest 2: it is and i am not sure the reason for it. the evidence of tribalism is legislation. they just cannot pass anything, even the most basic bills to fund the government are always a drag it out fight and compromise is almost seen as a bad word to the point that john boehner, the former speaker, was pushed out for optimizing with democrats. paul ryan faces that same threat if he overreaches, particularly on immigration. love to attack bill clinton. to attacklove --

george bush. baracks love to attack obama. as much as you are tempted to say this is something brand-new, tribalism has existed for many, many, many years. people go to extraordinary lengths to defend their party and their ideas and there seems to be a lack of appetite for being challenged or admitting that you are wrong, certainly the media -- you can align yourself with whatever cable show you want and it's going to reaffirm your belief. that hasn't helped the speed with which news is traveling, it hasn't helped because there is on theno filters, just page for four minutes and then it's gone and consumers of news are not really tipped off to what is important versus what is not and social media. all of these things are part of an evil thing journalism -- evolving journalism structure and it has affected politics profoundly. host: let's see if we can get in

elizabeth, she has been waiting in staten island, an independent. go ahead. caller: i agree with what has been said. i had to call in with the caller insecure.trump is we know trump's past history. what everyone is seeing in the white house right now is what he has done his entire life, litigated when he has been accused of something, he will just turn it around and accuse the other person. just trying to weasel his way out of things. 6 bankruptcies, i believe? and chaos in atlantic city. in new york and the united states, they wanted to stop dealing with him. they gave him a monthly stipend to live off of at some point. he cannot be trusted.

say when youing to are talking about bernie, i am a bernie supporter, i voted for him. something that i noticed -- i don't know if i am accurate about this, but it seems that hillary won the south, bernie won the midwest. workers,e blue-collar he had a lot of talk about very uniting is a force in the senate. he was voted one of the most popular senators because of his bipartisanship. he is believed -- i believe the longest running independent. i just think his policies are wonderful. i am actually -- i consider myself a pro-life democrat, but i have my own opinion on that whole issue of like the

hypocrisy of the pro-life yet very much pro-death penalty movement. i think a lot of it actually comes down to racism. i was in the neighborhood where mr. eric garner was killed. we are dealing with those kind of issues right here. i live in a mostly immigrant -- not mostly, but somewhat immigrant community of a lot of mexicans. we don't have a lot of problems here. it's a pretty low-key neighborhood except for what happens with our police department here. itt: we are going to end there. we want to give lisa a chance to respond. really: the caller reflects the divide we are seeing in the country, both sides back to this sort of sense of members of congress -- you hear from both -- members of congress hear from both sides.

the country is really polarized. people are in their tribal camps. members of congress face tough they need tod respond to these different groups to put pressure on them. it seems that just keeps pulling people apart rather than together. it to the earlier points, members of congress are also really tired of it, so i think -- i don't know that we are at any sort of shifting point, but i think we are a pendulum country and these extremes pull back and forth. we will see where things land in this next election. host: lisa mascaro is with the associated press. easy to find on twitter and you can see her work. mike lillis, the hill newspaper congressional correspondent. hisill.com is where to find stories. we appreciate your time this morning. yourxt, it is our weekly money segment. we will be joined by dr. anna nan -- we will an

be right back. ♪

examine this case in the ted shaw, ruling with and michael historian and onstitutional law professor at harvard law school. watch landmark cases live at 9 eastern on c-span, c-span.org or listen with the radio app, for background on each case, order companion book available for handlings shipping and at c-span.org/landmark cases and by the the constitution, national constitution center. there is a link on the website. >> this week on the communicators, journalist jimmy

at play, how laude shannon invented the information age." >> in 1948, decades before nything like the world we know has come to pass, shannon sits and and writes a paper essentially shows all types of the same and that can be turned into bits and compressed and sent flawlessly so we can take the to point b. point a the principles seem natural to us. think, of course that is the way it goes, i go on twitter, things will happen. had to lay the architecture for all of that, the field of information theory that in a real sense shannon invents. communicators tonight 8 eastern on c-span2.

>> "washington journal" continues. host: on mondays we take a look t how your money is at work in a different federal program and this morning we're joined by anand parekh bipartisan talking nter and we're about food stamps. doctor, how many people are in and how much it costs the united states each year? guest: thanks, john. great to be on. there are about 40 million mericans every month on the snap program. two-thirds of whom are children, the elderly and the elderly and those with disability. t cost the american public 70 billion a year, it is important food m in reducing insecurity in this country and has fiscal integrity. we were pleased at the bipartisan policy center to

the report of nutritional impact of this important program to make the program even stronger. host: we'll go through that report in this segment of the "washington journal." want to invite viewers to call in. special line for food stamp you are in the 202-7-48-2003. doctor, as folks are calling in, how does one qualify for snap benefits? guest: there is income eligibility, usually households have to be less than 130% of the poverty line and have limited cash assets. then again, it's a program that is helping millions of americans. it is income-based and you get a electronic benefit transfer card and you can

purchase food products from a variety of retailers. host: what is average snap the ient get each month on card? guest: it's a good question. range, sliding scale based on income, couple hundred dollars, it is not a lot of money on $1.37 per meal. you can imagine trying to find for $1.37, it is possible. restrictions t of are there what you can bawith snap president? uest: there are restrictions, you can't purchase alcohol, cigarettes, can't purchase hot, hot food, or but otherwise, there aren't too from food ctions perspecti perspective. both healthy, as well as unhealthy foods are being consumed from this taxpayer nutrition program. ost: from your study, are you calling for new restrictions on what peep kel buy? uest: we're calling for both increased strength incentives

or the purchase of fruits and vegetables and healthy food, at the same time, the task force is restrictions, andifically of sugar, sweet beverages because they are harmful without any nutritional alue and by far, compared to any other food category, the level of evidence is strongest there. john, no way point, is task force from a nanny state perspective saying individuals be able to purchase these products using their own like any american, they can certainly purchase these, but from the snap benefit. again, focused on nutrition, the taxpayer funded program focused there ought to be restriction for that category. host: talk about history of restrictions on what people can buy here, you talk nanny state. guest: yes. host: something very specific to this program and its history. uest: yeah, there have been

restrictions, you can't purchase things like alcohol, you can't purchase things like cigarettes. sugar-sweetened beverages has been up for debate from policy makers and a few criticisms. one is a choice issue. there is there is nothing to restrict individuals to purchase sugar-sweetened beverages. he second, won't individuals simply purchase sugar-sweetened beverages and use their own dollars? economists have looked at this benefits are only partially partially fungible, they won't this with their dollars. mind, snap in participants themselves have been surveyed and majority of recipients feel these types of should be restricted from the program. host: staying on sugar-sweetened beverages, talking about soda, right? guest: soda. the ask force is clear secretary of agriculture and secretary of health and human

form a should commission to specifically define the category of sugar-sweetened beverages, but you are right, we talk about soda and added sugar in beverages. host: on $70 billion spent last year from the snap program, how went to purchase sugar-sweetened beverages? number one food category of snap participants. noneligible, it is the second category. we have work across the board in country in reducing unhealthy consumption, but for the snap program, the number one category, about 9%, i believe, purchase it. host: we want to hear from food recipients, snap recipients in this segment. recommendations by the bipartisan policy center, their report is out. you can check it out at bipartisanpolicy.org. dr. parekh is with us until 9:30 to have this discussion. we went through the stick part

of your recommendation, let's the carrot in your recommendations. to do you encourage people purchase the healthier food options? remember?u guest: it has to be combination of incentive or disincentives. are incentives on the book, 30% incentive to purchase fruits and vegetables, those type of incentive programs need and expanded,ened more innovation in the snap program, as well, and there of ways be more testing where you can take inventive programs, as well as if ncentive programs to see you can improve health, as well as reduce healthcare cost. be both, it can't just be one or the other. host: what is an example of is there program, bonus dollar program? guest: that is right. in fruits and vegetables, 30% credit if you purchase fruits and vegetables

there needs to are more at the federal and state level. states ought to be able to apply come up with examples or opportunities to mprove nutrition and in fact, the task force calls for $100 over five years to pilot evidence-based ways to nutrition program. host: bring in normal in emerse, massachusetts, norman, good morning. caller: hi, this is rachel speaking. host: go ahead, rachel. caller: i will speak about norman. i am elderly, disabled and on food stamps. to t half as much as i used get a few years ago. none of my circumstances have changed, except my rent has gone up, the price of food has gone up, but my comment is about friend of ually, a mine who is homeless, disabled and elderly. for him t is difficult to receive meals, he's been

food stamp he and he can't get back on. max health rown off and medicare and he takes edication for thyroid, glaucoma, asthma, he went and found out the prices and simply have the means to stay with his medication and it's telling on him. not allowed to eat, he an't get medicine and we can't find resource. i'm trying to help him as a to nd and i don't know what do, that is my comment. host: dr. parekh. the comment you for and as a physician, my heart goes out to both you and norman is a really his lear example of the importance of the program and why it is reduce food insecurity in this country. john, studies have shown

have been experiencing less food insecurity by 12 and 19% because of the program. participants have reported reduced food insecurity by 20 to the level, the benefits, as i mentioned earlier is quite small. force also called upon more studies potentially amount of sing the the snap benefit, but the point there are en raised, individuals who are not able to be on snap or not on snap who be on snap, is important point and just speaks important public policy issue. host: did you study it dealing ith that specific issue of not having a physical address and ot being able to actually physically get the snap card? guest: you know, we study the force, that specific issue, however, i think the task force realized there are many out there who need who are probably

eligible, but they are nonparticipants. host: another snap recipient, ahead. democrat, go recipient of 'm a food stamps and been disabled since 1989. like to say tis good idea to restrict foods that are sugar ladened foods and i it is curious that the government doesn't consider food of living, cost which i don't really get that. and also, like dollar for dollar, if disability is raised $5, they -- i get a letter saying your food stamps have reduced by $5.

i appreciate so much that i provided for even though it month. a i'm appreciative they have disability income for people like me. but i am -- i don't get why food of the onsidered part cost of living, i don't get that. parekh.r. guest: i think that is important point, important observation, back to the point about the level of the benefit and whether it needs to be raised or studied. to life this ngs idea of who are snap articipants and snap participants, 44% of children, disabled and 10% seniors, two-thirds are really children,

americans or the elderly. who really only one-third are working age and in most cases, those individuals, many job, they have children and families. think it is important picture of snap participants in this country. host: for those individuals, are requirements? guest: the task force doesn't get into that specifically, what know, for the small subset of individuals who are snap participants, who are able-bodied adults, who don't have children or family, there the three-month limit over course of three years to be a snap participant. current limits for individuals who are able-bodied don't have children or aren't in a household yet. ost: sheila in new orleans, a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. how you doing? well.doing caller: i am kind of in the same situation with some of the other

people that spoke. disabled, been disabled since 1999. food r, i was getting stamps. last year, year before last, check, when he raised the check, decreased me brought me from $80 to $70. i missed my appointment because i didn't have anybody to bring me. i called them and tried to get someone to help me over the but they said that i have to reapply all over again. and mean come down there bring every document that they already have in their file. to do so.able when i contacted them again, put you , okay, we'll back on. they put me back on, they dropped me down to $40 in food stamps. so i went from $70 in food stamps to $40 of food stamps the same year. then they cut me off again, so

off, i have been without food stamps, which is i'm on disability, i get my social security and get both.ability, i i have bills every month, just like everybody else. , and i have water cash money for food, which allow me to get much. even with food stamps, the food is he cost of the by the time they milk,up bread, butter, the i'm almost out of the $40. host: sheila, thanks for sharing your story. guest: two observations come to mind. sorry to hear about that situation. task force recommends better state coordination of the program. ertainly there are administration issues for the program, which is one we just

eard, there ought to be better state and federal coordination to get at these. if also, the point brings home point of the importance of incentives for healthy foods, go to the grocery store and healthier foods are expensive. snap ap report and the program, they are important, they level the playing field and dollars ted amount of there are, it make its possible food.rp healthier host: so what about this option, recommendation from jim buck, food stamps,lerate but i think it allows opportunity to correct diet of americans to more healthy one impact whatever fraud or waste exist in the program. he says, go ahead and debate options, but maybe network approved store provided they ave access that access to healthy foods, i'm assuming he's saying is insured. that something you recommend? guest: yeah, task force doesn't

in ifically look at that, general, all ideas ought to be andhe table. food security nutrition shouldn't be mutually policy, we should be able to this e food security in country while enhancing nutrition at the same time. ought to be federal government pilots, there ought to be safety waivers, experimentation to improve nutrition. host: what about from -- tation, formally senior advisor to the special paign, assistant to the president, he an article talking about harvest box, representing half snap recipient gets, rest granted in dollars to the to use on food as hey wish, but the harvest box directly available to -- what do you think about that? guest: couple points.

force recommendation was finalized before the budget with arvest box idea, but i can share a couple initial thoughts on the harvest box. these are essentially nonperishable food items for certain individuals, once they particular benefit level. pasta and peanut butter and foods like that. and i think there are a couple of issues that need to be you think , when about a food box going to snap participant. is simply logistics, how you deliver box. second, how you distribute box state costs. you think about food allergies, all and from nutrition perspective, of course hings like sugar-sweetened beverages wouldn't be part of the

discussion goes. host: would you put yourself in that category? guest: task force believes there are far better ways to hone in maximizing and optimizing nutrition in the program and incentivizingbout healthy food, disincentivizing unhealthy food and collecting store-level data, public etter inform intrern -- intervention and improving snap education to improve -- d host: 202-748-2003 if you are a

snap recipient. good morning. caller: good morning. here are several thousand physicians in the physician committee for response for medicine who would disagree with you that sugar is the number one killer. alzheimers.say coli, food poisoning, embolisms, meat is the number killer, but the reason that sugar

[audio difficulty] -- better nutrition and better diet, tackle the obesity crisis. host: just a few minutes left ith dr. parekh of the bipartisan policy center, chief medical advisor, what kind of are you? guest: internal medicine. ost: how did you get to bipartisan policy center? guest: career civil servant, seven ry of health for years focusing on prevention and

career management and healthcare related issues. was at johns hopkins as internist. available t bipartisanpolicy.org. good morning.ike, guest: good morning. how are you? you're on with dr. parekh. caller: thank god for c-span, places not nly totally overrun and inunidated news.eftist fake parekh may be well meaning, people have been settling at discount to buy drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. parekh, you have no idea about the fraud, waste and these gement of all of welfare programs. guest: the task force honed in you maximize nutritional impact of the program. it did look again at the program exists right now from

fiscal integrity program and insecurity uce food in this country. the whole focus was how do you taxpayer program that is well intentioned and maximize improve health and reduce healthcare costs. john, one more point i would make, a critical piece of this report connecting snap program.aid 60% of medicaid beneficiaries are snap participants, you can improve nutritional decision-making on the snap side we could see n, improvements in health outcomes preventable and reduction in healthcare cost on medicaid side of equation. that is critical link here, improvement in health and improvement in reduction in if we can cost maximize and optimize nutrition in the program. host: title of the report, eading with

leading with nutrition, leveraging federal programs for better health. available from the bipartisan policy center. new york city, independent, go ahead. caller: good morning, john. morning, dr. recipients parekh.buy dr. parekh, i've heard people call "washington journal" and say the food stampthings like toothpaste with their ebt cards. would you specifically talk what they can't buy with the ebt card? thank you. guest: a couple are restricted like alcohol, cigarettes, hot products.other host: why hot meals? guest: i think prepared meals, if you will. i think most products have to be have to be food orientation, so certainly

some restrictions, precedence for it, you can't purchase anything and i think there are strict rules and regulations for that. tony can talk us through some of the issue, on the snap benefit program. are restrictions in place for you when you take your snap card out to the store? aller: actually we got so humiliated by the fact between my wife and i, we're both on disability and she gets $743 a and i get $750 and all we $8 a month in food h in food stamps, we're told we don't meet the income standard, i was wondering if the doctor could address that. 130% of that ou for question. again, as i recall, the income standards are essentially you the to be below poverty line for household and have limited cash assets. soupds like again, these are administration related issues and certainly cases where the federal government, the task and states need to do better job with program

sure stration and make those individuals who are eligible are receiving the roper benefit they are, that need. it's bipartisanpolicy.org. dr. parekh, appreciate your time. come back again. it's bipartisanpolicy.org. dr. parekh, appreciate your time. come back again. up next on the "washington journal," open phones, any public policy issue you want to talk about, the phone lines are yours to do it, democrats, republicans and independents, phone lines are on the screen. start calling in now, we'll be right back. >> tonight on c-span's landmark cases, we'll explore the 1896 1896 f case of plessy versus ferguson, homer plessy, african american man arrested in new orleans for taking a seat whites. on train reserved for7-1 decision established separate, but equal doctrine that allowed segregation through most of the th century.

narrow interpretation of the 14th amendment wasn't overturned ntil brown versus board of segregation desegregated schools. examine this case with ted shaw, university r at the of north carolina, and former the tor and president of .a.a.c.p. legal defense and educational fund and michael carmine, legal historian and constitutional law at harvard aw school and constitutional law at harvard law school and auth of the book "from jim crow to civil rights," on c-span, c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. background on each case, copy of landmark mpanion book, c-span.org/landmarkcases. explore interactive institution

created by national constitution on our website. >> "washington journal" continues. ost: it is open phones on the "washington journal." any public policy issue you want the lk about, we'll do for next 30 minutes. the program ends at 10:00 this morning, but until then, kaukt /* /- -- boston globe, lead story, president trump in new hampshire outline new drug plan, the policy expected to target with harsh penalties, the president speaking there today, we'll be covering it on c-span network. the front with harsh penalties, page of the miami ing there herald this morning, you can see the picture there focusing on the bridge collapse that happened near the florida campus ional university last week. the last victims of that bridge

identified e yesterday among the silence scheduled for today as spring classes resume. students and staff dealing with challenges and the memorial preparations that are underway. page from you from the houston chronicle, one mysteriousing on the explosions in austin, police austin, police unknown if the latest explosion in which two were injured on related to the bombs that were -- that exploded, were delivered earlier this month, we saw earlier that they are ice report mornig considering them connected, more underway.tions we'll look for the latest on that for you. e want to hear from you, what stories you want to talk about, sherry in bismarck, north for democrats. go ahead.

caller: good morning. on the topic eak you were talking about, snap. is some people that don't is some people that don't reach their own disability, don't reach $750 a month income. and they're cardiac patients, rheumatoid arthritis patients, that ics, i do believe ealth situation and health situation that they should, the snap benefits should increase with thecost of living healthy foods that they need. they need to maintain health through the diseases. to say.is all i wanted consider that. you would be in favor of the type of program that dr. parkparkwas talking about, sort of invent vising if you food, e healthier percentage goes back on your snap card for purchases of other foods, is that something you something you

would be in favor of? caller: yes. i mean, healthy, we need healthy foods, those with chronic diseases and these doctors are talking about, you know, you got to eat this and that. go to the en you and try to buy these things, they are priced, you foods are more expensive than the not so healthy foods is what i'm saying. adjust the snap they can, to the they can, to the person's health. host: got your point, thanks for the call. patricia, connecticut, line for democrats. go ahead. gott good morning. like to address the gentleman about snap people buying cigarettes and alcohol. to say that might be true, but i also believe it is when using myself and i use the cliche, evidently

i'm one of those welfare queens. baby boomer, a and a few years ago, the way ended up that i now live on social security, hear, i pay for this myself, so i live i live ly absolutely on social security. this person, the new administration, i get $24 raise the year. live here, believe it or not, all white people live here, connecticut. again,ody's rent went up, we're safe and sound. i had to bite the bull sxet apply for food stamps two years ago. month.15 a

a month. but i still felt, hey, that is ike a coupon, okay, i will do that. don't buy soda. that. i don't buy soda. and all those things, i certainly don't buy or sell beer.ttes or host: do you think there should or sugarytion on soda drink? i actually do. being a baby boomer, i was a when people used money that looked like monopoly money in the late '60s and i couldn't buy hey those things then. believe believe that.

when you were a check-out counter, back in the stamp en you saw food recipients come in, did you feel like there was waste, fraud and abuse then? did you have a different perspective then? it was pretty strict then. i will say something other might hear, i didn't understand it and i thought they -- i would have been humiliated by it. i'm humiliated by it now, each you use like a little credit card and swipe it. i always have the check-out say, oh, you've just got $12 left on your account. and i end up thinking, no, $12 a $12 a month.

that's what i get. host: thanks for the call. bonnie is in livingston, new jersey, a democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i am also commenting on i am also commenting on the snap program. years ago i as part of a wellness program, a government

needs -- -- free evaluation if they want to. i think it would be great. that is just what i wanted to say today. topic of ts on that supplemental nutritional assistance program, roger green supplemental nutritional assistance program, roger green breaks in this morning, it would be truly eye-opener for the government if they had to urchase balanced healthy meals with $40 a month for entire family. vic says we spend $92 million on corporate welfare, $59 billion on programs, what is wrong with this picture? the state dictates the diets of individuals is not acceptable. it is big government gone beserk. segment with the anand parekh with the bipartisan policy center, check it out at c-span.org. what we're talking about in the last half-hour. the $70 billion spent each year stamp program.

stamp program. about 42 million participants in america each month. allen is in canton, georgia. allen, open phones, what do you talk about? caller: your last guest, for snap or food for snap or food program in this country. some of the problems are you have to define who really needs it. lot of waste there. number two. people have to have more respect for their bodies long-term, starting young to be healthier. and number three, the purpose of call is that if you look at your democratic elected leaders and the staff and that is money that is wasted and the direct money call is that if you look they waste on fighting for ther

illegal rights voting cards, driving cards, etcetera, it's a of money. i don't understand why these people do these things and waste illegals er money on -- sorry waste we have illegals and we have o need legals who need programs and general attention. host: on the issue of immigration, do you think there is money in this big spending bill that has to come together by end of the week or be a shut down, do you think there is for the president's border wall in that? caller: i hope so, i think the is a good idea. somebody has to stand up and mexico, le coming from central america, stop drugs coming in, how they do it is beyond my understanding, but a to be a good ems one and they should do it

other comment, our congress and presidential leaders over the things in not done our interest as legal american citizens. we've got dysfunctional congress bickering, which started probably 10 years ago, obama was president. real can of worm necessary of worm necessary hey have to washington, d.c., they have to look at us as citizens for our needs. i believe in donald trump, americans and americans first. host: if there is not money in spending scal 2018 bill that is coming together, not money for s to border wall, is it time start blaming somebody for not funding the president's wall? said, they e i just have done things for the lobbyists and i think most our congress,from our

not fighting for us americans, too political. caller: i don't understand why out the out the threw

emol ument clause and representative al green,they tabled it. -- -- all these other diplomats in position step down and then they and then they show the voting for russia and they show where they are stuffing ballot boxes. i don't know if there was candidates ut all were getting dirt on each other. thank you. michigan, line for republicans, teresa, good morning. good morning. host: go ahead. calling in regard to the food stamp program and how why it wasgo back to originally started. why it was originally started. it was for the children and to help single moms get on their feet. why it was

originally started. it was for the children and to help single moms get on their feet. i see so many people who use those cards, who do not look they can get to the t store, drive all over, go to casinos, why are they getting food stamps? i guess that is my question. host: disability is not requirement, 44% of those on stamps, the snap program are children, 10% are disabled adults, 11% are other adults, able-bodied adults, 35% are able-bodied adults, do you think the 35% should not be on the program? caller: yes. adults. and i think that a lot of these people could go on at least work one day. i believe in the work program, they need to bring it back. think clinton did it way back when he was president. and i know a lot of young able-bodied adults that are a lot of welfare benefits of some type, whether a disability check. get it and e that never worked a day in their life. not saying they should go hungry, we need to look at why. look at why.o a real

if you go into a real crowded place place -- why are they not working? host: mary, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. caller: the president is crazy, lected, he was selected by the electoral vote. i hope he gets sent back. to north korea, i hope they keep him, i really do. retrieveo, we will not him. that is how bad he is right now. we know what is wrong. dictator, he's trying to

fire mueller, please. mueller, please.f he you know what, if he does, that is the first step in impeachment and removal. this man has no business

-- tweeting -- -- all my life, i've been a person neighbor. about my golden rule, i learned it in church. i church. i learned it in cat

church. i learned it in cat ycism, the golden rule, treat others as you want them to treat you. thank you for listening, have a really nice day. you are you are a republican, you started with criticism about your party. what do you like about being a republican? lost jackie. arkansas,n jonesboro, line for democrats. good morning. caller: yes, i like to know why they ain't doing nothing about the young people getting $6000 back on income tax and they work wo months and why they are getting $1000 on food stamps, my husband worked 55 years of his kids and i raised four kids and was on he never was on no food stamps and they cut his social security for his has to pay $500

medicine. young people getting free healthcare until they are 25 years old, they are living free and i brought, my husband was brought up, he had to put food on the table for his country and this country giving us, young people not going to work when they know they can get everything free. they know they can get checks free, ain't nothing wrong with them. there is nothing wrong with for hisey are medicine. young people getting free healthcare until they are 25 years old, they are living free and i brought, my husband was brought up, he had to put food on the table for his country and this country giving us, young people not going to work when they know they can get everything free. they know they can get checks free, ain't nothing wrong with them. there is nothing wrong with them, they are on checks. for his cheating the country medicine. young people getting free healthcare until they are 25 years old, they are living free and i brought, my husband was brought up, he had to put food on the table for his country and this country giving us, young people not going to work when they know they can get everything free. they know they can get checks free, ain't nothing wrong with them. there is nothing wrong with them, they are on checks. they are cheating the country and it ain't got nothing to do with the president. the president don't know what is there.on out host: how do you host: how do you feel about democrats who propose free college education for young people? daughter ll, yeah, my

gets free college education dau gets free college education, but she takes the money and buy other stuff, brand-new cars, she education.ooks and you sit home on education. you sit home on the computer, get that grant and she sits on the computer and she ain't even going education. you sit home on the computer, get that grant and she sits on the computer and she ain't even going to work because she sits there knowing she gets everything free. kathy in arkansas. lunardo, independent. caller: good morning. in, of people that call they have researched or read a newspaper or anything. you can't go can't go through the check-out counter with things not on the list for you to buy. welfare queens and all this, they are just wrong. you about to show arkansas, educate the population because they thel call in and say anything that doesn't make any sense. you. host: few minutes left in the

rogram today, we mentioned the president's trip to new hampshire to talk about opioids, the president's the president's daughter ivanka trump is expected to be in iowa to talk about infrastructure and then the man

-- stability of children and have s in life, all they to do, a lot of simple solutions out there. one simple solution is to just provide a thousand dollars per household or say $700 per person you are under 18, it $300. be additional say applies, n get it who applies,

-- the itizen of the budget and u.s. budget for $377 billion, just ut the check, send them out, people don't want to live on anyway, figure out way to get a job to help with their careers. host: and to savannah, georgia, morning.at, good caller: good morning. i had a conference, a reference also had a am, i jobs.t in reference to i raised my kids on snap, but i always worked. my income.plemented

in reference to the school, the stuff like that, when you are purchasing food items do include a you flakes, some juicy juice, sugary drinks, but you also get sustainable eggs, rice, at, eggs, rice, cheese, the proteins, the bread. i think what is a great idea is during the summer months, you have a lot of farmers bring their fresh produce and set up they side of the street, cucumbers, es, okra,

corn, squash, green peppers, with you can't purchase your ebt card because they are and go up benefits when you and go get so from the corner store. host: can i ask, how much did arrived?ach month in snap caller: i only got 360, for a family of -- go ahead. how long did you stay on it? caller: i stayed on snap benefits for maybe, um, i can birth to maybe eight or years years old, i was -- i wd say

you thele that tell don't work, yes, they do work. they are employed but they are underemployed. host: just a couple minutes left in the program. latest this morning on the investigation into the bombings in and around austin, texas. police in austin said the explosion in the residential neighborhood on sunday night appeared to be related to the three bombs that detonated earlier this month, plunging the texas capital further into a frightening mystery. "the washington post" reports that residents remain locked in policeomes as scoured the area for answers. the police briefing earlier this morning on the bombing, and the investigation continues at this hour. is in south carolina.

for democrats. good morning. caller: thank you so much for taking my call. i want to say about what some of the callers said regarding we as americans are brainwashed to think one another are the enemy -- meaning it is us, my neighbor, against me. that is disheartening. i think politicians do this on purpose to achieve a particular agenda. that is a lot of misinformation program and who gets it and who is eligible. somebody called and said illegals are getting snap. illegals do not qualify for snap. the children who are american-born citizens get snap. there is a lot of misinformation out there, and i just wish we as americans would stand together

as people and not turn on one another and instead hold our representatives accountable to actually represent our interests as people. in southt is yvette carolina can outlast caller on today's "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific. the house is a net income of the senate at 3:00 p.m. you can watch gavel-to-gavel of the house on c-span and the senate on c-span2. we will see you tomorrow. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >>