announcer: live friday on the c-span network at 2:00 p.m. on c-span, the national prevention science coalition holds a briefing on improving school safety and ways to prevent gun violence. at 6:00 p.m., richard blumenthal and advocates will take part in a panel discussion. on c-span 2 at 8:00 a.m., a series of conversations on gun policy and safety. senator blumenthal will take part as well as marjory stoneman douglas student david. the federal communications commission and the federal trade commission hold a forum on combating illegal robo calls. coming up in an hour, melissa bryant, the chief policy officer for the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america on veterans issues and the trump administration. at 8:30, keith far gil -- fargo discusses a report showing

increases in alzheimer's prevalence, death, and in -- cost of care. and at 9:00 a.m., stephen lincoln -- civility in political discourse. bas are 65, the nays are 32. the motion to concur is agreed to. ♪ and with that vote, the president is expected to sign a $1.3 trillion spending bill that avoids a government shutdown and funds federal agencies for the next six months. good morning, everyone, on this friday, march 20 third. republicans and democrats came together in washington yesterday to pass the spending bill. 256-167 in the house, followed by the 65-32 vote in the senate. what do all of you outside of the beltway think of this agreement? democrats, (202) 748-8000.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. and independents, (202) 748-8002 . join us on twitter at @cspanwj or facebook.com/cspan. we will get to your thoughts here. do you think it is a good thing that democrats and republicans have come together with this $1.3 trillion spending bill? it funds the government for the rest of 2018, which is x months -- six months. we will begin with the growth the house paul ryan, who came to the house floor before he voted, to applaud the agreement. [video clip] , it is measure before us about as critical as it gets. it addresses the priorities we have been discussing and debating in this chamber for a long time. we talked about the need to rebuild our military. on the need to rebuild our military. this bill provides the largest

increase in defense spending in 15 years. why? because our military has been hollowed out for many years. for boosting resources were agreement, training, maintenance, base operations. it means new naval ships, fighters, apache and black hawk helicopters. it means we are building a 21st-century fighting force. we agree on the need to support our service members and our veterans. this fund is the biggest pay raise for just this funds the biggest pay raise for our military -- this funds the biggest pay raise for our military angers. they are fighting for us day in, day out, year in, year out. i saw a lieutenant colonel in the army who has done seven combat tours. this is what the people that are volunteering in our armed services are doing for us. we are finally making right by them by helping them with a pay raise. ourrovides -- it make sure

veterans receive better care in better facilities. we agree on the urgent need to make our schools safer. this bill includes a bill to improved firearm and background checks. this provides funding for early intervention, mental health, skill security programs -- school security programs. this is part of the sandy hook promise. host: that was bigger of the house paul ryan. yesterday, before the house voted for the $1.3 trillion .mnibus bill nancy pelosi, the democratic leader in the house, was also on board. she said it would be good for america. [video clip] >> mr. hoyer very eloquently presented the situation as we see it now, that the republicans did nots bill -- they

even have three days, it was last night until today, and here we are on the floor with a yard of bill. he said they are rushing because people have fundraisers and this and that, and i can think of another reason why they are rushing it through. first of all, they do not know -- want anybody to know what is in the bill, because it is a victory for the american people for what was negotiated in a bipartisan way on the domestic side. the defense investments are important to our nation, but one isrd of the domestic budget security, homeland security, veterans affairs, the state department, antiterrorism activities of the justice department, the list goes on. but it is also a fact that we can measure out the strength of our country not in the important military might and security measures, but also the health,

education, and well-being of the american people, and this bill goes to a place for that. bill,, a yard of certainly not read or read to the members. in addition to mr. hoyer's list of why people, why they are rushing this to the end instead of having negotiations take place much earlier is because they really do not want their members to see what is in this bill, a, and two, because they want to get out of town before the march of our lives, before the young people come from all over the country to ask congress to give us responsible, common sense gun violence invention legislation. that is what i heard about, the republicans do not want to be around when the young people come to town. pelosi on the floor yesterday, the democratic leader in the house with her thoughts

on this omnibus bill, a deal struck between republicans and democrats. the washington post front-page, house passes budget bill with little time to read it, and the washington times this morning, their headline -- house clears $1.3 trillion spending bill no one read. -- congress had a aousand minutes to read 0-plus budget bill. robert, independent line. caller: good morning, president trump must veto this bill. there can be no longer any doubt that the republican party is doing everything in their power to undermine president trump and to lose the house of representatives. the reason for this would be so that he would be impeached, and impeached president, that way he

would not be able to get the republican funding he would be entitled to from the republican party in 2020. that is what all this is about. this is about sabotaging president trump. host: how so with this bill? this bill in particular? why do you say that? caller: where is the funding for the wall? host: there is a years worth of funding for the wall over the next six months. caller: this is the biggest spending bill since obama signed the last big bill. the republican party -- we are talking about the republican party, here. what good is voting republican when they put out a bigger spending bill and the democrats did? why would you want to vote republican? that is one-party rule, is it not? they want to be republican, but they put out a spending bill that is bigger than a democrat spending bill? this is deliberately designed to undermine president trump to pay off president trump -- piss

president trump's voters. regards as of how much defense spending is in this bill, the undermine is to president trump. he will be impeached on january 3, 2019, and when we get to 20, the republican party will then they we will not fund you, we will not fund and impeached president, and we want to run paul ryan is the president of the united states. take that to the bank. host: robert? robert? mulvaney,rector, mick the presidents omb director said yesterday let's cut to it. he is signing this bill. he said he is going to sign it. caller: that is what happened -- when you had reince priebus and e, writes in ther nosvious that all of these ri and liberals around president

trump. now he is weeding out all of these liberals that previous put in there. he can get rid of sessions, he has been completely undermined by the republican party. people must understand that the republican party is setting trump up. this bill is a set up. -- mr. trump must veto this bill unless he wants to have his base pull away from him. we all know that is what you want to take place, but he must see through the $700 billion they are giving in defense and look at this other $800 billion they are giving the democrats. he must veto this bill. ok, robert, you and rand paul agree that this bill was not a good all the -- idea. rand paul taking the twitter all day yesterday with many, several, several tweets. if you go through his feed, he was trying to read through the bill and tweet out what he was seeing at the same time -- he

has itemized money that went to certain agencies, things he thought were wasteful, so you can go to twitter and follow him there and read some of the commentary you put together. he even got pizza at one point and was still reading through the bill at his desk. one of his final tweets of the night was "i shared 600 pages tonight. for thee tweeting them evening. if they insist on voting, i will vote no because there is too little time to read the bill and know what is actually in it. around 11:30 eastern time, the vote taking place closer to midnight, senator rand paul -- victory for conservatives today is that all of america now knows what a budget busting bomb this bill is. hopefully, today's battle will embolden conservatives to descend on congress and demand constitutional government.

also it is reported that rand paul called mitch mcconnell around 10:00 p.m. and said ok, i will let the bill go forward. your thoughts this morning. sam in pennsylvania, republican. did i say that right? caller: ben salem. host: ben salem, good morning to you. caller: just a comment about the you hear from rand paul and those type of people, very logical arguments that the high spending for national security -- if we want to fight another war, we would have to borrow. ,nd we are dependent on china and could sell our bonds wreak havoc on our economy. and then we hear things about how our economy is being muted because of our deficit, our debt. our estimate of

product -- grossed a mastic product -- gross domestic product. but what is the plan forward? the republican party has always been the party of the deficit hawks, but what is the projection? whether or not we are in crisis mode right now is debatable, but if this is going to keep on going on, isn't it logical that ?e will end up in crisis mode what is the foreseeable future for our country? that is what i'm wondering. kathleen in indianola, mississippi, democrat. what do you think? caller: good morning. host: what do you think? , ther: gop tax deal bill it bill, with this is what is past. we don't have nothing. we don't have nothing to fix we are livingges,

day-to-day, month-to-month. year-to-year. in the plan that i have, it took me 14 years to get on disability . i cannot even get my own acid pumped. they need to live in our shoes. [inaudible] anybody,ld have known he would throw you under the bus. he will throw you under the bus. no matter how much money you have. in lancaster, ohio, republican. welcome to the conversation. caller: hi, good morning. what i have to say is very simple yet it goes over most people's heads.

our country needs to be united, and when i mean united, we need to be united. i think there are good republicans and good democrats, good independents. we all have our opinion. we do not have any money anyways because of china and everything, they need to spend $1.3 trillion on our defense, because we do not have any defense. and if we do not do something, in the next 10 years china will have more power than us and more money. host: lawmakers on capitol hill say they hear from their constituents -- we just want you to work together. we want you to be bipartisan and get things done. well, they passed a bill. no, no.no, i am not saying it is not a good thing. i am glad they did. i think they realize they have to do something, because i don't know, it just seems like everyone is for themselves.

we need to be united. we really do, and i think it is great that they were united and did that, because we do need our defense, most definitely. host: and what do you think about the washington post noting that some complained that they had scant time to read the bill that was released, less than 17 hours before they voted. caller: well, i got news. [inaudible] people dohey do, most not have time to read all of that anyway. the democrats and republicans decided to do it because it is a better idea to do it and not to do it. we need to protect -- host: and they avoided a government shutdown. mostr: you know what? people don't even know what a government shutdown is. you sayple think when the government is shutdown, they will not get their disability checks or something else happens there are people that are

trying to help us to protect us. that is what really hurts. the rest of the country is worried about themselves. host: ok, steve, texas, independent. caller: good morning. host: your thoughts, steve? caller: i think it is prophetic -- pathetic. president trump signs this bill, that is it. i done. i'm not even going to vote anymore. we are going to end up like a socialist country that has nothing. i mean, this is ridiculous. vote for a bill that they had not even read -- i not believe the democrats when they did it on obama care, and i'm going to contemn the republicans -- condemn the republicans were doing the same thing. say you aren, you not going to vote.

does that mean november in the midterm election? no, i am done. i cannot vote democrats anymore. they do not even stand up flag. the republicans are throwing us underneath the bus -- i mean, there is no sense in voting anymore. see whatids will never we lived through. host: ok. james, pittsburgh, democrat. what do you think? caller: no, no. independent. yes ma'am. well, we are going to funded for war. these people in world war i, world war ii, vietnam, they was drafted, they did not want to go. they went over. our president has bone spurs and got out of it. bill clinton ran from it, now we are going to run for war rather than being nice to people and

kind to people? we want to start building more military up? i do not understand it. i think we should are being nicer -- i do not believe in walls either. that wall is the most ridiculous and in the world. instead of building bridges and letting our children and doctors go together, let people grow with one another. it does not make any sense, i'm sorry, it doesn't. host: let's talk about what is in this one $.3 trillion spending bill. the washington post, the legislation fund the federal government for the remainder of the 2018 budget year through september 30, directing $700 billion for the military and $591 billion toward the messick agencies. the military spending is a $66 billion increase over the 2017 level, and nondefense spending is $52 billion more than last year. money fordes construction of a border wall,

but it is far from the long-term funding that the administration sought. democrats also wants tight restrictions on how the money can be spent. despite weeks of negotiations, democrats were unable to secure protections were young, undocumented immigrants brought to this country who had been granted reprieve under an obama era directed. trump announced in september he program byhat march 5, but that was recently nullified by word action. -- it greatly boasts funding to fight the opioid epidemic and orders the army corps of engineers to keep asiang on trying to keep carp, an invasive species, out of the lakes. republicans eliminated some gatewayns favoring the project come as back by senate minority leader chuck schumer. the legislation also includes a fix for a provision in the new rainax law that favored

cooperatives over traditional agriculture corporations. and it incorporates bipartisan legislation meant to improve the national instant criminal background check system for gun buyers. kentucky,o robert in republican. robert? good morning to you. caller: how are you doing this morning, greta? feeling fine? host: yes, doing well. caller: that's great, me too. i'm calling about all of these callers -- ima regular caller, and i have not called in in over a month due to it seems like everybody in the country is -- i , oh watched this show since god, 19 years. i have never heard calls like this in my life. if i could go back and pull up some shows, called like this were never happening. i do not know why all of these people are calling in about republican and democrat fighting

against one another. after 9/11, those phone calls coming into this show after 9/11, everyone was together. don't need something like 9/11 to bring this country back together. mr. trump, we need something else. i know you have the smarts to get this -- this country and these people back together, because it seems like it got worse. host: robert, do you think an agreement on a spending bill that gives the government open and funded, raises military and domestic spending, do you think that is the way that unites us? i am for military spending. we have to have a strong military. i agree with the military, i have family members in the military. off -- papaw fought in world war ii, and i am military all the way. i do not hear enough calls

across the country to support our veterans. hear are calls i arguing. oh, trump is good, the next call, trump is awful. these calls are no good. people, come together. if you are going to call in, let's talk some good. good, andgton do greta, you have a great day. host: carl in chicago, democrat. caller: good morning, how are you doing, greta? host: i'm doing well. caller: i have been listening to the calls, and what they say was that a lot of the others realize they do not listen to people. republicans,s especially the first caller that you had, they are trying to sabotage trump? they are trying to undermine him? what is happening now is due to

the hypocrisy of the republican party, four years they have been blind to people about everything that they do. we are in this situation right now because the one bill that the first bill that they passed, the tax cuts, we are here because of that. we spent the money, which they always do, and then they say oh, the democrats raised the debt. haveof these people must been hearing recently that right now, we are not bringing in enough revenue. so they realized ok, well we are not going to make it public. we are going to need to dig thatr and use this moment we are going into debt. what they do is [inaudible] ok, let's get whatever we can.

democrats blew our deficits skyhigh. this is just a con and a hypocrisy. this last call talking about let's work together. the republican party's always dividese as an issue to you anyway. and then they come back later and say oh, we should be together. all of this is a lie on their part. you need to understand this -- it is not both parties. there is a distinct difference. with carl, do you agree democrats? they struck a deal. they said if you want to increase the military, you have to increase the messick spending as well -- domestic spending as well, and republicans agreed. caller: what ryan wanted to do, actually, was they wanted to cut to healthpending care, social security, they want

to cut all of those social programs. and they know they cannot do it, so they say oh, let's just abandon that and get all the goodies that we can. they wanted military spending, so they got that. they wanted to avoid a shutdown, but to know they were ok. they had the majority. he does not have control of his majority. they cannot pass nothing, even in the majority. they are dependent upon democrats. and people need to understand there is a distinct difference between who can govern and who cannot. the republicans cannot govern this country. they make a mess out of it and blame the other guy. carl, we heard your point. on the domestic front from the washington times, democrats highlight those gains, pointing to be billion dollars increased to fight the opioid epidemic, 300 million -- $380 million to protect election from

cyberattacks, and 600 million for rural systems. that is what democrats are uting is in is 1.3 trillio $1.3 trillion spending bill. bob is on the line. are, wei say here we passed another bill that nobody got to read, just like obama care. to me, that is very, very sad. another thing i would like to see, is nancy pelosi and chuck schumer to move back across the southern border. if they are so worried about everyone down there, maybe they should move down there and help them government that place a bit. they obviously need help. our democratic party ain't democrats anymore, they are communist. they want america to be open to the world and they don't want a military.

the soviet union or russia, excuse me, just said they made a missile that we cannot stop. let's disassemble our military, everybody. let's let russia own the world. i cannot imagine what is going to happen when we lay down and the democrats get to take over, and we lose our entire country, because nobody wants to have a military. nobody wants to take care of our country or our people. all they want to take care of is foreigners. the last guy that said it is not the democrats, move down south with them, please. i would appreciate it. oft: as we talked to all you, and you let washington know what you think about the house yesterday, around noon, approving the 1.3 trillion dollars spending bill, and it went over to the senate. around midnight last night, the senate voted to approve it as well. it now goes to the president desks -- president's desk for his signature. but before that happens, senator

bob corker question majority leader mitch mcconnell on why often works so late at night on these types of deals. [video clip] >> the house sends the bill over today a little after 1:00. is 11:56. and i know that every senator here has the right to object and i assume some people have objected to voting, but i would just -- we are not going to close. i had called down earlier and ask the secretary if we are not going to vote by 10:00, if we could just vote at 8:00 in the morning? this is ridiculous. it is juvenile. it is a juvenile process we go through every time we do one of these. i would respectfully ask our leader, who has been dealing with a lot today, and i am glad he has the job that he has and i don't, and the secretary has the job that she has and i don't, but could you explain to us what

is the -- what has occurred over the last 11 hours that keeps us here, voting on a bill that we all know is going to pass, regardless of how we vote on it? it has kept us from going ahead and voting. could you explain to the body isy quickly what happening? could we, in the future, try to resolve these things at a decent hour or come back next morning and vote? frienduld say to my good from tennessee -- by the way, i am very sorry. ,e decided to leave the senate given how much she has obviously enjoyed it today. [laughter] -- he has obviously enjoyed it today. [laughter] between the changes that have occurred in the white house in the last several hours and this, it has been an unusual day, i will say. >> my good friend from tennessee knows that my principal responsibility is begging, ieading, and cajoling, and

have been in continuous discussions, shall i say, with , who were our members legitimately unhappy about one , and spent ather lot of time thinking over whether or not they wanted to expedite the process. andst say, after prolonged intense days of such discussions, with remember that have legitimate concernes, i'm relieved rather than depressed that we might be able to finish tonight. [laughter] reserving the right to object, i would like for us to have some degree of discussion about this, and in the future, either finish our business at a normal time or come back the next morning. a ridiculous process that we go through, where people tired us until we get so that we are willing to do whatever it is they wish for us to do.

midnight lastore night, senator bob corker, who is retiring, his exchange with the majority leader. the headline on politico's averts, mcconnell shutdown with begging, pleading, and controlling. the senate majority leader secured passage of a massive spending package after convincing senators rand paul and jim risch to drop their procedural objection. that it was in here about 10:00 p.m. eastern time, after private conversations with mitch mcconnell, that rand paul dropped his objections and said he will move forward. senate,l, passing the those to the president's desk for this signature. other news this morning, as we continue to get your reaction to thisess approving 1.3 trillion dollars spending bill, it is that h.r. mcmaster, the national security adviser, is out and john bolton is in.

that is a headline in the papers this morning. the president accepted the resignation of h.r. mcmaster on thursday and named john bolton, a former ambassador to the united nations and conservative foreign-policy commentator, to succeed him. in the papers this morning, this is from the wall street journal. mr. bolton, in addition to his u.n. post, also served in the bush administration is under secretary of state for arms control and international security. he has long been known for his hawkish stances. the recent column published by the wall street journal, mr. bolton has urged the ministry can to strike first against north korea. he also favors withdrawing from the iran nuclear deal. aesident trump merges deadline in may to extend sanctions to iran granted under that accord. cotton called him an excellent choice, and democrats and some republicans have previously suggested that if mr. bolton were nominated for a role at the state department, they would oppose him. esther bolton left his support

after he failed to gain support in congress to be confirmed in 2006. mr. bush had used a recess appointment to put him in the his nomination was blocked by a democratic filibuster. also in the paper, the front page of the new york times story about the president's lawyer, president trump's lead personal lawyer resigns after the president ignores his counsel. john dowd resigned on thursday as president trump's lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation is mr. trump signaled that he was prepared to ignore his advice and wanted to sit down with the investigators. after days of uncertainty among the president's lawyers about their status, mr. dowd ultimately broke with mr. trump on whether he should agree to be questioned in an inquiry. was tooed the interview risky, but the president reiterated shortly that he would want to clear his name, and he did so after he had sign a tariff bill against china.

at the white house caught the president responding to a shouted question from a reporter. [video clip] mr. president, would you like to testify to special counsel robert mueller, sir? >> thank you. [indiscernible] >> he said yes? president at the white house yesterday, saying he would like to sit down with the special counsel. this in the new york times morning, huff report says gop establishment opened door to russian meddling. the house republicans issued on theirort yesterday investigation, a year-long, into meddling into the 2016 presidential election. in that report, they say there was no collusion in it, democrats are drafting a dissenting report based on the committee work thus far, and have pledged to push on with their investigation without republican cooperation. they have secure the cooperation of at least one new witness, christopher wylie, who helped found cambridge analytica and developed the profiling

technology. the president tweeted about the report, saying house intelligence committee signed votes to release the final report. provided of collusion between trump campaign, and number two, the obama administration's postelection response was insufficient, and three, james cropper provided inconsistent -- james clapper related inconsistent testimony on media contacts. bill, joshs omnibus in norway, connecticut, a republican. what is your reaction? caller: i could not believe it. this is not what anyone voted for trump was voting for, i can tell you that. i am very disappointed all around with the whole situation. i think that trump could have fought hard, and the republicans are in charge of making the bill that gets voted on. they should have put more funding to the wall, they should have done more stuff that the

republican voters wanted, because there were more republicans that got voted in, therefore republicans should control the agenda. and they did not put it in, and they could have made the democrats shut down the government. it would not have been on the republicans. the republicans who put forth the budget that was more in line with what their voters wanted. they could have forced the democrats to shut down the government. host: but they control the house and the senate. they have the numbers. they have more numbers in the house. theyr: i understand, but have the numbers in the senate but they do not control it. they do not have the 60 votes. i understand that they did have to get some democratic votes. i mean --int is that it is not what the republicans, what anyone who voted republican wanted. and obviously republicans are in power, therefore they should be driving the car. they should be the ones driving

the agenda, and it seems like pushing it through way too easy and it does not make sense. i am a firm in trump voter will not vote for trump again if they keep up stop like this, because this is not what i voted for, i really do not believe it. host: earl and south carolina, a democrat. caller: good morning. [inaudible]t night look back in history, they have never been physically concerned. reagan was a big spender -- --physically fiscally conservative. reagan was a big spender, bush was a big spender, and the last 14 months since trump took over and the bill last night, big spending on everybody.

we spend money like this, what havee going to do when we to pass -- pass a fiscal stimulus package to stimulate the economy? if you want the economy to do it, look at history. democrats make the economy better. do you thinkhat about the president of the trade policies, slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum, and yesterday confronting china? dower: you can look at the heading towards 1500, 1600. it is going to be devastating for the economy. it is not the government. he does not know what he is doing. he is throwing stuff up against the wall to see what sticks, and what sticks is everything bad for america. host: earl, let's listen to the

president yesterday when he signed that memorandum. he signed the memorandum, citing section 301 of the trade act of 1974, instructing the government to respond to chinese practices. here what he had to say. [video clip] >> in particular with china, we will be doing a section 301 trade action. billion,be about $60 but that is really just a fraction of what we are talking about. with theen speaking highest chinese representatives, , and ing the president have asked them to reduce the trade deficit immediately by $100 billion. that is a lot. so that would be anywhere from 25%, depending on the way you figure, to maybe something even more than that. but we have to do it.

the word i want to use is reciprocal. 25% for a carge foro in and we charge 2% their car to come into the united states, that is not good. itself how china rebuilt , the tremendous money that we have paid since the founding of the world trade organization -- which has actually been a disaster for us. it has been very unfair to us, the arbitrations are very unfair , the judging has been very unfair, and knowingly. we always have a minority, and it is not fair. world trade,g to we are talking to nafta, china, european union, and every single one of them wants to negotiate. many believe that in cases, maybe all cases, we will end up negotiating a deal. host: the president yesterday on

his decision to confront china in trade. in a warning shot, china on friday unveiled plans for tariffs against $3 billion in u.s. imports, from brute pork and recycled aluminum and steel type. the country's commerce ministry said the penalties are being tariffsin response to on chinese products, which they say violate global trade rules. the editor in chief for the global times, the state newspaper in china, tweeted this out. from brazil, argentina, and russia are good alternatives. china can also use peanuts to produce cooking oil. the u.s. better not get so sure about itself. he also wrote boycotting u.s. soybeans might cause a slight hike in china's food prices. the rise in price can also happen in the u.s. that boycotts chinese products. a trade war will benefit no one,

but china is far more resilient than the u.s. to the pain. here is the new york times, president trump announced that he imposed about $60 billion worth of any will tariffs on chinese imports, a large share of electronics, apparel, and other goods imported to the united dates from china -- united states from china. today, itnion pages is said that the president should have taken a different approach and formed a coalition with other countries to go after china. trade cannot change china without help is what the london todayial times had to say about that. and the wall street journal editorial board, they also agreed with that, from china fall.s, noting the stocks the white house says they have a strategy. wall street calling for that, and the new york times as well, half-baked ideas on chinese tariffs, saying it would have been better for the president to reach out to other countries on

this. cnbc with this headline, china response to trump tariffs with proposed lift of 128 u.s. products that they could target. -- list of 128 u.s. products they could target. independent, good morning. we are talking about the spending bill. what are your thoughts? caller: good morning. host: good morning. iller: yes, for one thing think our government has gotten to the point where it has gotten dysfunctionall -- , because if i am not mistaken, this is only -- they are only funding the government for another six months, correct? well, it is a two-year budget deal they agreed to overall. they still have to do the work on it, but yes. this one that they passed. caller: see, i think they would really work together they would at leasthe budget within eight years. i really think they could do that. host: ok.

caller: i think they have gotten so dysfunctional up on the hill, it is so much partisan fighting it is ridiculous. that is not what this country is about. ok.: dean, michigan, republican. what do you think? caller: hello, yes. , the thinking about this caller from ohio who said we need to work together, and she is right. we have sequester the military -- sequestered the military for eight years, and so we need to continue like the democrats want to do and kind of over budget with the social programs, which is increasing our debt, but we cannot really cut that off. we do need to fund the military. we cannot keep fooling around. other countries will just take us over. also, the tax reform and the tariffs will increase the jobs

,ere and increase the revenue and the debt will get paid down. i say stay with the trump agenda and don't let the lobbyist scare us. i know they are worried about their soybean crops, but the chinese like our pork and our grain, and we will bring jobs back here and pay down the debt, and we can all be happy. host: ok. michael, st. petersburg, florida, democrat. michael? yes, i was watching the program earlier and you mentioned something about the spending bill, and in the spending bill you mentioned federal apprenticeship programs are in the bill. i would like the taxpayers of this country to know that as a union member, our organization, our unions have a collective bargaining agreement, and our members know and feel it is important to have all five members of our local -- we finance all of our apprenticeship training. we do not get one tax dollar from one individual in this country to finance the training

of all the union apprentices in this country. federal credit ship program they are talking about is to help the nonunion element not pay, like they usually don't pay, and they are going to get funded by the taxpayers to train their workers, and they are not going to pay a dime. it is hard for our union contractors to compete when they are getting subsidized by the government. i wish the government would play on fairground here and not subsidize them. ground here and not subsidize them. our taxpayers should not be paying that, and every taxpayer should realize that you should not pay for it. let the nonunion contractors pay for their own apprenticeship programs. that is all i have to say. host: michael in florida. jeff, nebraska. hello. caller: hi, we have to quit this in the paradigm military. i joined the military in 1980, and just prior to that jimmy

carter tore it down and ronald reagan had to build it back up, then clinton tore it down and george bush junior had to build it back up, and then obama for a down and then we had reagan -- or trump building it back up. as far as china is concerned, if they have a $600 billion or whatever it is, who knows, $500 in taxes, we need to go after them. all these presidents let this go for so long, and now everybody is blaming trump. i don't understand it. papers,read one of the one person noted in the article president's target for tariffs, 60 billion dollars, represents more than 10% of america's annual import from china. caller: there you go. and sadly enough, we are not going to get the wall. i do not care what anybody says, it would save lives, top a lot

of the drugs, and we are dumb enough not to do it. host: jeff, why do you say you are not going to get the wall in the spending bill? paul ryan noted yesterday there is a down payment on the wall, a years worth of funding to build the wall over the next six months in this bill. caller: right, and they said it was going to be 70 miles, right? host: -- 17 miles, right? caller: 17 miles of the wall, really? how many more miles do we have to go? at what point are we going to get smart enough to build a wall at the most populated points where it is going to count. the rest of it, we understand. we're not like the progressives and say the wall has to be the whole way. we understand it will be different types of security, but we must, if we want to get these

drugs and opioids and everything else out of our system, we must do something. and yesterday, part two of a capitol hill hearing on the house side. where theyssions heard from all walks of life, official government officials, those of the pharmaceutical industry on this opioid epidemic. if you go to our website, you can find those hearings there. of youmorrow, as many know, washington, d.c. and across the country, we will see a march against gun violence in schools spearheaded by students from across the country. i hundred thousand expected in washington, d.c. alone. here is the wall street journal on the march for our lives rally. newtown teens find a new voice. middleton was in sixth grade in 2012 when a gunman opened fire school, killing

one of his friends. he was one of many children in the elementary school during the sandy hook shooting, and are now people the wave of young across the u.s. calling for stronger gun laws. they are expecting about 350 people, including 250 students, from newtown to go to washington -- students from newtown to go to washington for the march for our lives rally. and there is a piece in the washington post -- it is my job to be alyssa's voice. this is from a mother who lost her child at the marjorie statement that was high school -- marjory stoneman douglas high school. alyssa.es her name was my daughter was 14 when she was shot and killed her classroom at marjory stoneman douglas high school. she said she was grieving that raged and -- that day and outrage, and have been ever since. she goes on to write that beyond my greek and outraged, the

-- youudents who asked are asked to go to school to be shot and killed, they are giving me hope in doing what alyssa would have been doing if she survived. the students across the country are courageous and powerful advocates. i stand with you in alyssa's honor, and i will cheer them on as they fight for much change. alyssa always thought she was eighth. i would tell her to lock the door, and she would reply why do i have to lock the door? it is happens inothing parkland. it is on us. the students, adults, and elected officials to make sure no one ever forgets what happened in parkland. you can find that piece in the washington post this morning. and today in washington, 8:00 a.m. eastern time, a few events in washington focusing on and previewing tomorrow's march. axioms is hosting -- axios is hosting a talk with senator richard blumenthal, that is live

coverage at 8:00 a.m. eastern time on c-span two. and a briefing for congressional staff on ways to prevent gun violence will take place, from the members of the national prevention science coalition. we'll have coverage of that at to a copy of eastern time on c-span. tonight, senator richard blumenthal joined a panel of gun violence prevention advocates for a conversation. live coverage at 6 p.m. eastern time on c-span. on6:00 p.m. eastern time c-span. and then, the march for our lives rally in washington, d.c.. 12:00n watch that at eastern time. we will be kicking off the conversation on saturday morning on the washington journal, 7:00 a.m. eastern time. you should tune in. we will be talking to students across the country, those coming to washington dc.

-- washington, d.c.. we are also hearing from viewers 25 and under. those are the phone calls we will be taking tomorrow on the washington journal for the full three hours, and we will continue with that coverage of the march for our lives rally .ere on c-span, c-span.org and you can also get the free radio app as well. we have a few minutes left to get in more phone calls. point $3 trillion in spending is what democrats and republicans agreed to yesterday. don in virginia, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. first, i would like to say thank you for c-span, and we don't know what the projected expenditure is going to be -- we now know what the projected expenditure is going to be. the irs can project what the revenue will be in income for the year. the difference should be made up by tax law changes that increase the tax rate on the wage earners to close that delta.

if there is any excess left over, that can go to reduce the debt. that is my thought. jerry, democrat line. what do you think? up, america. good morning, c-span. these [inaudible] they keep bringing up the military, but we have the largest military in the world. i am a veteran myself. where is the money going? the democrats and republicans are a bunch of fakes, they are warmongers, and remember when they first went in there, do not want to work with him at all. no cooperation. now they are talking about these walls, 17 miles wall. what about the campaign promise that donald trump made that mexico would pay for the wall? wake up, america.

mac in baltimore, democrat as well. caller: hi, how are you doing? thanks for c-span. you know, i want to mention a few things that i have heard people speak on all the tariffs and everything. the guys who voted for trump, all the farmers and all those people who think they were going to get what they need, you guys are getting exactly what you deserve by a man who knows t hing about trade, tariffs, or anything. congratulations. host: george in california, a democrat. caller: you have had a couple of callers in the past hour that are the heavenly anti-immigrant, and i am confused by that whole issue. we are all immigrants, number one, and what are you afraid of? they are going to come here like the boatload and steal our land? who would do something like that. thank you for your time.

host: jr in utah, independent. good morning. caller: good morning, greta. the $1.3 trillion spending bill for six months -- i guess it does not really matter as far as republicans or democrats who spends the most amount of money, the government grows at the same .ate no matter who is in power and the polarization of the two parties, being on completely different 10th of an imaginary football field -- on different ends of an imaginary football field, there is no way for this congress to be adaptive to things. gosh, they are so far behind on everything and they are taking a full two weeks for their spring vacation, wherever they go. it saddens me to see what has happened. feel [inaudible]

all the 18-year-old coming about are going to vote, and i was 30 before i started voting regular. i do not see but any help from our representatives and easy -- in d.c.. it will be a grassroots, we will take care of ourselves type of thing. when things get tough enough, we will come together and [inaudible] host: another headline for you, the chairman of the judiciary committee in the house, good lighting -- bob goodlatte, subpoenas the doj on the mccain firing. on thursday, they subpoenaed the justice department's records connected to the 2016 investigation of hillary clinton as well as the internal report that led to the ouster of former fbi director andrew mccabe.

brenda inndiana -- indiana, democrat. good morning to you. what do you think about this deal? caller: good morning. i think it is totally ridiculous to spend any more money on the military, because everybody admits we already have the greatest military in the world. so what are we trying to do? have the greatest of the greatest? there is nowhere where to go if you have the greatest military already. second, spending another nickel on a border wall is totally asinine. of bordert 650 miles wall during his administration. i doubt anybody evening knowledge is that -- anybody that.cknowledges but spending money on a border wall is asinine, because we have thousands of miles of coastline along the gulf of mexico, and immigrants and guns and drugs come to the country by boat.

what are we going to do about the coastline? third, we can never have a balanced budget, because you can never predict hurricanes, tornadoes, tornadoes, wildfires. that is why we can never have a balanced budget. that is all i have to say. host: brenda in indiana. in new york, independent -- caller, help me with your name. caller: hello? host: good morning. what is on your name? caller: nitro. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to understand how if you talk to a legal expert, they will tell you that you should read a contract before you sign in. -- sign it. i do not understand how overlators can sign -- 2000 pages. rand paul spent hours doing

this. yet how can you vote on something that you have not read? i just do not understand. any legal expert would tell you do not sign a contract until you read it. yet these people voted for it. i have one comment -- that the tax break you got, those thousand dollar bonuses, those pay raises will be eaten up by the tariffs. the stock market is tanking. your $1000 will actually become a deficit of $1000. that is my comment. host: let me add to what you were saying about not having time to read this 2000 page plus bill. the headline -- congressman had 1000 minutes to read to find -- 2000 -- to read 2232 pages.

they note that the text of the bill was released on the 21st at 7:57 p.m. wednesday night. the pdf of the text was voted. the rollcall vote, as began atzed on c-span, 12:37 p.m. yesterday and and did at 12:59 march 22. 90 bill passed with republicans voting against it and 111 democrats voting against it. the vote in the house started 1000 minutes after the bill was posted online. in the senate, it took all day thursday into close to midnight that the senate then approved it as well, and it is on its way to the president's desk. john in iowa, a republican, and

mick mulvaney yesterday said the president will sign it. john, go ahead. caller: i cannot figure out what it is taking all that time to build that border. we are getting all that apprenticeship programs. we are sending them to college. now, we will send them to apprenticeship school. the first ones to cut in line. they learned that from their parents. they run over here and scurry over that border. they will take all the schools, fill the schools up, and then sylvia partnership programs. i do not know what is wrong with the democrats. i thought they were the party of the labor. n't they gave these union partnerships money to find their und theires-- f apprentices? host: all right, the owners john

and iowa. we will take a short rate paid when we come back, we will turn our attention to veterans issues. we will talk to melissa bryant from the group iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. andill talk about veterans the job libya secretary is doing. later, the alzheimer's theciation -- and the job labor secretary is doing. later, the alzheimer's association's dr. keith fargo. ♪ monday on landmark cases, join us for gideon v. wainwright as we explore clans early gideon, a petty thief who spent his time in jail studying the law. he challenged the state of florida, which denied his access to an attorney. >> are you ready for trial? >> the state is ready. >> what says the defendant.

are you ready for trial? >> i am not ready. >> did you plead not guilty charge by reason of insanity? >> no. >> why are you not ready? >> i have no counsel. wainwright went on to establish a broader six amendment right. examine this case with paul solicitorhe 33rd general of the u.s., who served during the george w. bush administration. and a professor of law and political science at yale and a atiting professor pennsylvania university akhil reed amar. freean listen on the c-span radio app, and c-span.org has background on the cases, including the landmark cases book. and you can download a 30 minute

landmark cases podcast. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from new york this morning as melissa bryant. she is the chief policy officer for the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. let's begin with your group. who do you represent? we are the premier veterans retirement organization representing the coast 9/11 organization -- generation. men and woman like myself who served in the iraq war. host: what are the top priorities for veterans? priorities, at least for the post 9/11 generation -- we recently outlined it in what we call our big six policy priorities. aose include continuing to

combat suicide. unfortunately, the statistic you often hear is 20 veteran suicides per day. we are continuing to promote mental health check on that suicide -- to combat suicide. we support women veterans, like myself. many do not recognize their service. many do not recognize me as a veteran when they see me. we continue to fight for the canada via provides and also recognize our service in the military. to ensurerk government works for all veterans and military. we asked for defense of the g.i. bill, an invaluable tool that veterans have used to pursue higher education and, in some cases, trade schools. we included two new initiatives this year. those of support injuries from toxics.

old say of members is they continue to feel health toxics associated with exposure. lastly, we want to empower --erans who want to legalize utilize cannabis. members have said they want cannabis to be an option for them, particularly for mental health injuries, like ptsd, and other ways in which there is data to show it could help them. host: according to the government, the veteran unemployment rate was down from 3.5% in 2018. do you see things improving for veterans on the job front? guest: things are improving, but there are still always to go. sometimes, those statistics can

be misleading. for women veterans, we tend to be higher -- we tend to be underemployed. things are improving, through the work of congress and organizations like iava. i mentioned the g.i. bill. that an invaluable tool translate skills into civilian careers. we also -- and companies and businesses. there is still a lot of work to be done, specially when you look at homelessness rates and other areas where veterans are impacted. everyone is still not doing ok. host: we want to hear from veterans. your line to call in is (202) 748-8000. that it isk improving for veterans, or what sort of changes to you think there needs to be?

all others, dial in at (202) 748-8001. most of brian, do you think veterans issues have benefited from the trump administration -- do you thinkt, veterans issues have benefited from the trap administration? guest: it is a mixed bag. legislation that went through last year, like the expansion of the g.i. bill -- there is now work to begin immemorial to honor the fallen from my generation. there have been appeals reforms and accountability reform for the veterans affairs department. a lot of these bills have been years in the making, so the bills enacted into law last year, while major achievements, it is through the hard work of

veterans organizations like ours and advocating on the hill in order to get that through. it is a bit of a mixed bag and saying yes or no to whether the administration has credit for what is happening. host: what grade do you give dr. david shelton? -- dr. david shulkin. he has some critics and some supporters. polled ar members were few weeks ago. if you go to iava.org, you can see those results. it is a mixed bag. we were raised as military leaders. as military leaders, you're responsible for what happens at the top. when you hear a disturbing ig report regarding dr. shulkin's travel and also what happened in the d.c. medical center and where there are other systemic

problems in the the v.a. networks, that is disturbing to our population. those at the top are responsible for that. so you will see in the poll results those not necessarily trustful of the v.a. or dr. shulkin but appreciate the services the v.a. provides. and the majority of membership, once they are able to get through the bureaucracy, enjoy the health care provided by the v.a. the challenges the barrier to access. host: should the president fire dr. shulkin? make thatannot determination of whether he should or should not. i will say it is deeply troubling. all of this is distraction for what is best for veterans and getting those important pieces of legislation through, getting important policies enacted.

whether he should or should not is not the bigger question. the bigger question is "is this good for veterans?" the answer is no. host: hank in south carolina. good morning. i want to comment on dr. shulkin. i think he is doing a good job. there is no comparison between five and six years ago. and the da and the last couple of years. it is night and day. i have seen it. leave himwould just alone and let him do the job. we do not want to change in the middle when everything is looking up and it is getting better. host: what have you seen? you said you have seen improvement. cussr: i have seen them out people, ignore them -- they even asked me what i am doing

their -- there. just running people off. now, they treat you like you deserve to be treated. the doctors are better, everything is better. for a while, i would not even go. go.urt me to even host: ok. i am encouraged to hear that you are having better treatment at the v.a. what you're describing has long been, unfortunately, one of the culture challenges in the v.a. i mentioned at the start of our segment that, as a woman better where's mybeen asked spouse, my sponsor. so we again fight for the are theion of women who

growing preparation to use veteran care. what i'm hearing from you is a lot of the reforms that veterans services organizations have pushed for, the culture changes we have demanded, are finally taking hold. like i said earlier, our members, who responded to our recent annual survey, polled that once they are able to enter the v.a., they are satisfied with the care they receive. i am satisfied you see that turnaround. it is not your father's via -- v.a. host: when and where did you serve? the u.s.served in army, an intelligence officer. i was commissioned pre-9/11, and then my whole world was turned upside down. i served in iraq from 2005 through 2007 down range. host: what does down range mean? guest: in the forward area. whether you're talking iraq,

afghanistan, or any other hotspots around the world outside of the continental united states. that is down range for us. one of the things we like to turn out is despite the fact our name is iava does not only mean we represent iraq and afghanistan veterans and we represent all veterans. host: christine in new hampshire. morning.ood thank you for taking my call. i want to support the v.a. they saved my life several years ago. i did not really have to use the benefits. i think a lot of veterans, i hope, are just gracious. we sign that check for the government up to and including our lives, because that is what we want to do. it is not because we want recognition. i want to say that for all veterans, because i know veterans, when they need something, they should get it. but it does not need to be

recognized as a huge problem. i was saved on july 4 from a stroke. i could not say enough about the v.a. and the way they treated me once they realized who i was. it was not a big deal and it has not been for the last three, four years i have been surviving now. guest: again, i am always pleased and encouraged to hear those who had access to the a care, who have been able to receive care from the v.a.. that is the goal. that is what drives me to do this work every day. that is why our organization exist. we are also certified for those who do not always have those positive outcomes, and we need to make sure we're supporting all veterans. host: what are the numbers of those who do not have positive outcomes? , and ourr our members annual member survey, our most recent numbers they'd an overwhelming majority -- i

believe the number is around 65% -- believe they have a positive outcome once they receive access to care. but you see those numbers drop once you talk about getting into the v.a. and being able to receive benefits, being able to receive compensation and the like. that is where the challenges lies. we are continuing to work with leadership to ensure that they are improving their policies and that access to care. host: access to care was the motivation for lawmakers to create the choice program. thent to show viewers what secretary had to say when he testified about the budget. [video clip] >> how can you argue against wanting veterans to have choice of the best type of care? i think what you're hearing from other members of the committee have beenor decades,

put into an inferior position by being undercapitalized, having bureaucratic rules on how to hire. if we can make this a more beern system to have the ea able to have the type of services we want and the private sector be available to veterans, that is the best system possible, because then the veteran has the choice. difficult, and maybe i make nobody happy with this answer, we are trying to balance an investment with v.a. to make it a stronger system at the same time we are trying to make sure we are not keeping veterans and a system that is not working for them. host: your take on the choice program and what you heard from the secretary? guest: the choice program has been riddled with problems since its inception post the scandal out of the v.a. medical center in 2014. we have long fought for reforms choice program.

there is legislation that was pending that was originally intended to be included in the omnibus that just passed early this morning, where it would have consolidated their community care program, allowing veterans to go outside the v.a. to receive care. it would have taken away some of thebureaucratic rules secretary described. were plans and that deal scrapped from the omnibus. it became something that was a bit too political. the choice program itself has become part of a partisan fight, where it is centered around what has become an ugly word -- privatization of the the v.a. iava fights for investment in the v.a., investment in the and's core principles services they provide for veterans. we know our veteran to go to the

v.a., they appreciate their care and the culture at the v.a., understanding service-connected disabilities and other challenges veterans may face that may be different from going to civilian facilities. however, with the choice program, that has become investing inand the v.a. and in the choice program. it is unfortunate to see the informs us reforms that were intended did not make it through the omnibus. host: darren, you are on the air. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: doing well. caller: i am a combat veteran. i served in iraq from 2004 until early 2005 in the marines. my experience is that the v.a. was hot and cold. -- they reallya.

did not treat veterans like they needed to. they did not give care, were very disrespectful. ability. was no a can that was seven or eight years ago. ever since this new secretary has came in, he made a lot of changes. i have seen a lot of people be held accountable for their actions. there is still a lot of work to do. i feel there is a lot more that can be done. host: what more can be done? caller: more programs. a lot of us suffer with ptsd and conditions of that nature. i feel that helping veterans with medication to keep them sedated is not good. they should have more programs of community origin to help some veterans integrate back into the to feel like they are

a contributing person to society. doping them up is not really helping them. host: let's leave it there. i agree. that is what limitations like mine exist. help not exist just to navigate the bureaucracy. we are also there for the camaraderie and the shared experiences and joining together with our fellow veterans who have served. who isy encourage anyone looking for that sense of community, especially once you transition out -- because it can feel lonely once you transition out of the military -- to seek out veterans service organizations that allow for that community where we can talk about shared experiences. again, i am encouraged to hear that you're seeing a positive trend in the v.a. we take to heart there is more work to be done.

that is what my organization fights for. y in washington, a veteran. caller: how you doing? i just wanted to make a comment about when these veterans, when they come home, they should be able to find a job. when i was in vietnam and came home, there were not any jobs, at all. when there are no jobs, it will suicide, lead to alcohol and drug abuse. because there are no jobs, they have nothing to do. host: and whose responsibility is that? the private sector, is it on companies to make an effort to hire veterans? --ers of federal government or does the federal government need to step in? iller: the way it worked when came home -- finally, someone did something. i do not remember who the president was. i think it was jimmy carter.

anyway, he gave corporations a tax break. for every veteran they hired, they got a certain amount of tax break. and i got a job then. host: what job did you get? caller: go ahead. host: what job did you get? caller: i got a job working in a steel mill. host: how long did you work there? caller: i worked there for two years, because i could not -- after getting on there, i cannot do that job. i became a machine. it was not for me. host: but you got a job. that was the point. do you agree with the caller? guest: we certainly agree and that every veteran deserves a job here that is why we fight so hard, working not just with the department of veterans affairs but the department of labor, matching there

veteran with the employer. because whether it is working in in federall, working or state and local governments, whatever your trade craft or skill set was coming out of the military. you were a military mechanic. maybe you want to do that when you cross over into civilian life. we want to make sure you have the credentials and licenses in order to be able to take that skill set with you into the civilian sector. maybe you want to do something completely different. maybe you were an infantryman, and you want to move from that into a position of management. maybe use your g.i. bill and receive the education and training you need in order to be able to go into a completely different lifestyle. that is one of the reasons we fight so hard to defend the g.i. bill for any cuts or wastes or

abuse that has been used for, unfortunately, in the past. and we want to make sure employers know that veterans are a resource. we are a return on investment. i will agree with the caller that when you come home from war, or whether you're done with your service and are ready to transition into civilian life, there should be a job waiting for you. dean, a veteran as well. me, is the v.a., to harbor experience. i got health problems. i got high blood pressure. they just put you on cheap pills. a lot of veterans who used to go to the v.a., they got obamacare, so a lot go to --

going to have problems. the v.a. did not cure you. host: melissa bryant, you're shaking your head. guest: sadly, this is what i said at the beginning of the segment. the v.a. is a mixed back. we are hearing from members and from callers that some have widely positive experiences and are satisfied with the care they received from the v.a. others have challenges, whether it is from medication, over medication, under medication, whether it is challenges with the location of the the v.a. they are directed to go to, challenges with the staff that maybe have been unfriendly or unwelcoming. we hear all of these stories. sadly, it is a culture change issue. we do see it slowly changing, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done.

from the local level all the way centralthe v.a.'s office in washington, d.c. to make sure there is accountability. baltimore -- a veteran in baltimore. caller: thanks for c-span. i am a world war ii vet. i share the dissolution of the v.a. when i first got out, i got telephone calls on why i am not going back to school, why i am not working in the job they thought i should. gradually, the infection of the changed bureaucracy that considerably. however, in the past year, iran into my first medical problem, and that is my hearing, which was affected eye being a tank driver in world war ii -- which was affected by being a tank

driver in will work to. , and got in year touch with someone interested in my problem. a lot of the world war ii records were destroyed in a fire. he would go to my discharge paper that i had, and validate a hearinghat i needed aid. i thought that was very accommodating. and i think that dr. shulkin probably -- although i have also berd of the good places to in. i believe what dr. shulkin has -- is aely, especially big improvement. host: before you go, you are how

old? caller: i was 90 last month. host: well, happy birthday. caller: thank you. host: and you said the hearing loss that you have is a recent ailment? you did not have any other problems until then? caller: no, thank god. tinnitus as ad result of being in a tank car, loss wastual hearing only affected by the tinnitus. i tried very hard to ignore it. i benefit from the v.a. very much, because i did go back to school, became an engineer, and over the years, i wound up being the navy's director of science .nd technology

when i retired, which i think the v.a. four, i got help line my house, which i still live in, strangely enough. [laughter] been here 50 years. well, thank you very much for your phone call this morning. thank you for that history lesson as well. guest: yes, so heartwarming to .ear from you we stand on the shoulders of giants. i appreciate hearing the story of your service, their journey post world war ii. wasaternal grandfather sadly killed in action in world war ii, but my father, and infant at the time, went on to serve in vietnam as an infantry platoon leader and went on to serve 20 years beyond that before his retirement. my father commissioned me, so i appreciate the legacy of military service within my family.

it is very heartwarming to hear stories like yours. thank you. host: you can learn more if you go to iava.org. melissa bryant, their chief policy officer for the iraq and afghanistan veterans of america group, we thank you for the conversation. guest: thank you for having me. next, we turn our attention to alzheimer's. according to the alzheimer's association, it is the sixth leading cause of death in the united states. early accurate diagnosis can save up to $7.9 trillion. we will talk about those facts and figures. later, steven dinkin joins us for a conversation about civility. he is with the national conflict resolution center. ♪ on saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on book tv on c-span 2, then steal chronicles the steils to rebuild -- benn

chronicles the efforts to rebuild western europe following world war ii. saturday on a mac in history tv on c-span 3, nancy pelosi's smithsonian donation ceremony, artifacts fromed her swearing in, including a copy of the speech -- her speech. and then the oval office speech by president lyndon b. johnson announcing he would not seek reelection. that is followed by nixon for president campaign film showing the former vice president meeting voters in new hampshire and wisconsin. politico magazine's johnson'stz on lyndon

great society legislation. on "after words," sarah mcbride discusses life as a bookgendered person in her "tomorrow will be different." sunday at 12:55 p.m., remembering the life of william buckley junior, founder of the national review, who died in 2008. at 8:00 p.m. on the presidency, the relationship between george washington and native americans is examined in the book "the indian world of george washington, the first president, the first americans, and the birth of the nation." >> "washington journal" continues. joining us from chicago this morning is keith fargo. he is the alzheimer's science ands outreach director, here with a new report on the disease. let's begin with the numbers.

americans are living with alzheimer's in 2018. that is projected to go to 14 million by 2050. will costn 2018 -- it the nation $277 million -- billion. that could rise to $1.1 trillion. explain why. byst: this is mostly german demographics. as people age, they will not necessarily develop alzheimer's disease. but age is the americas factor for alzheimer's, just like it is for cancer and heart disease and other illnesses. ,o as the population ages unfortunately, more people are developing alzheimer's disease. that is projected to continue through 2050 at least. we project nearly 14 million americans will have alzheimer's disease unless we can find

breakthroughs in biomedical research to change that trajectory. the good news is you look at diseases like heart disease and cancer, in many of those cases, there are treatments available. sometimes, they can be cured or reversed. with alzheimer's, we are not there yet. but there is a tremendous amount of research happening now designed to do that, so we hope we can turn the tide before these projected numbers turn reality. host: explained the history of the disease. has always been prevalent? what makes it prevalent? guest: again, it is driven by demographics. theou look 100 years ago, average lifespan was not long, so few people would actually develop alzheimer's. ,he risk does increase with age even though just getting older does not necessarily mean you will get alzheimer's. but if you are 65 or older, about one in 10 people have alzheimer's. 85 and older, that jumps to one

in three. so as the population demographics shift, as baby boomers reach the age of risk, we are seeing more people develop autonomous. host: what about race demographics? does it impact every race? guest: it does. everyone with a brain is at risk of alzheimer's disease. that said, there are some ethnic factors that seem to play a role. african-americans are twice as likely to develop dementia, and hispanics and latinos are one and a half times as likely as hispanic whites. geneticrtly german by differences and socioeconomic factors. if you consider a person of age now to develop alzheimer's, they have different life experiences

based on whether they were white, african-american, hispanic-latino. jobs and educational opportunities. these are known to play a role in a person's likelihood to develop dementia. host: you say early and accurate 7.9nesses can save up to trillion dollars in medical and care costs. how do you calculate that figure, and what would lead to those savings? guest: i would be happy to talk about that. in this report, we commissioned a study into early diagnosis and the economic impact of early diagnosis. most people today who have alzheimer's are either diagnosed during the dementia stage, which is relatively advanced, or, unfortunately, many are not just -- i just not diagnosed at all. in recent years, we have been able to diagnose people earlier,

so rather than waiting until the dementia stage, we can now that most people in the state prior to that, which is called mild cognitive impairment. unfortunately, this does not happen yet in most cases, but it is possible now. so savings -- potential savings come from two things. number one is the costs ofrounding the period diagnosis of itself. many people today diagnosed in the dementia stage, the diagnosis happens in a time of crisis. let's say a person is found wandering and confused you they are already in the dementia stage. so they will be placed in the hospital, and many tests will be ordered to rule this out, rule that out. all the while, they are in the hospital while this diagnosis is occurring. finally, a diagnosis is found, and they released back home or

into a nursing home or residential care -- well, that is an expensive process to find out this person had dementia. if you diagnose a person during the mild cognitive impairment stage, instead of waiting until the dementia stage, that can typically be done in and out -- in an outpatient setting. checkupcan go in for a every year paid for by medicare, and the physician may notice commented changes. they may be able to make a diagnosis. watchful,ake a waiting approach. and when they, for the next annual wellness visit, a diagnosis is made. if that happens, it is on an outpatient basis. that is much less expensive. there is this period of diagnosis, the peak of costs, and that is smaller if the diagnosis is made at the mild cognitive impairment, mci, stage, rather than the dementia stage.

and we know that managed dementia is much less expensive than unmanaged dementia. if you take to people who have alzheimer's, and let's say they also have diabetes. undiagnosedho has alzheimer's is not getting the care they need. they do not have a plan in place to make sure they are taking their medication every day, so maybe they end up taking too much or too little insulin, and they can and up in some sort of diabetic crisis and end up in the hospital, which was avoidable. you take the other person who has alzheimer's and diabetes, but in this case, the diabetes is diagnosed, so it is managed. plans are in place. this person has a much easier time with of care team, managing diabetes, so they can avoid hospitalization. those things together drive the $7.9 trillion in potential savings through early diagnosis,

so you can put correct care plans into place. host: we want to hear from our viewers, both those who have been impacted by alzheimer's -- we want you to call (202) 748-8000. share your stories. we will take your questions as well. all others, (202) 748-8001. does the government do for alzheimer's disease? the government does a great deal for alzheimer's disease. one of the main responsibilities of the government for alzheimer's disease is paying for care for people who have alzheimer's disease. you mentioned at the top of the segment that, this year, the cost of care to the nation for people who have alzheimer's or $277 billion. is that is hard costs. medicare, medicaid, private insurance and out-of-pocket costs. this is the second year in a row that cost has topped a quarter

of a trillion dollars. unfortunately, we expect that to continue to grow until we get some sort of breakthrough in treatment. most of that is covered by medicare and medicaid. half of that is medicare. an additional $47 billion is medicaid. about two thirds of that cost are paid or by these government programs. the other thing that the government does for alzheimer's disease and dementia is find biomedical research, so we can have a breakthrough in treatment or prevention. i am happy to let you know this morning that the spending bill that was just past by the house and the senate includes a $414 million per year increase in nih funding for ultimate disease and other dementias. investment inh alzheimer's research to just under $2 billion per year.

that is tremendous news. we made great progress on that front. but if you compare that to the 270 $7 billion we are paying for care, it is a relatively small amount. robert ino to garland, texas. good morning. you are on the air. caller: good morning. thank you so much. you mentioned mild cognitive impairment. i wish you would talk more about that. when i go to chapter meetings, not many participants have heard of mild cognitive impairment. and a shadow to greta from your hometown, where this started. and could you talk about the prevalence of alzheimer's and those individuals with id? issues an increasing occurring. also, because of the fact that you cannot use a standard mental

tests for those with id, to identify maybe the potential of dementia/alzheimer's occurring. guest: thanks for your call. i would be happy to talk about both of those things. first, mild cognitive impairment. i am happy to hear you call out dr. peterson, one of the primary drivers of developing this concept in the medical community and has been a great champion of it. it has been a tremendous benefit to both science and clinical practice, this idea of mild cognitive impairment. mild cognitive impairment means a person has problems with their cognition. usually memory, although it can be other things. but problems with their cognition that are measurable by paper and pencil tests or computer test, or question and answer tests by the physician.

so it is measurable, not just something i feel myself. but has not yet -- but impairment has not yet become bad enough that it interferes with activities and daily living. in other words, you can still take your own medication, still essssed yourself -- still dr yourself, buy groceries, balance your checkbook. so those functional activities -- in ayet impacted by measurable way, but you still have cognitive dysfunction. for many people, that is a step before dementia steps in. dementia is when you begin to have functional impairments as well. not everybody. some people with mild cognitive thatrment, they stay in stage and do not progress to dementia. some people who have mild cognitive impairment will revert back to having normal cognition.

just because a person has mild cognitive impairment does not mean they will develop dementia. but everyone who develops dementia has mild cognitive impairment first. we think of it as a step along the way to dementia. if you can identify people during that mild cognitive impairment stage rather than waiting until full blown dementia, there are tremendous benefits to the individual, their family, and also costs in terms of what we saw in the model we reported on this week. host: victoria in indianapolis. caller: hello? host: you are on the air. good morning. caller: hello. thank you. my husband has early onset alzheimer's. he knows he has it. and it makes him severely depressed. i would like to know if there is anything i can do to help him

with that depression. zoloft, but i have to remind him to take his medication every day. and i have to watch to make sure he takes it. .uest: thank you for the call that is a difficult situation. it is certainly one shared by many people. the good news is that depression is treatable, and it sounds like your husband is getting treatment for that depression. i want to all see let you -- i want to also let you know there are ways for you to get the help you need. for one thing, the all-time's association is here that support everyone currently living with or affected by alzheimer's disease, or any other condition that causes cognitive impairment and dementia. so i would encourage you to call the 800 number or visit the

website, alz.org. i have a crisis line -- should not call it a crisis line. it is a helpline, because you can call even when you are not in crisis. we take 300,000 calls a year. we can help together a health plan to ensure you have the resources you need to take care of your husband, because it is a difficult task. the other thing i want to let you know about is medicare now has a benefit to provide a care medical session with providers, and they can bill medicare for that. talk to your doctor about the difficulties you're having, and they can put together a care planning session for you, so you can help take care of these things, potentially with more resources than you have now. host: the all-time is association puts numbers behind

-- the alzheimer's association puts numbers behind what it costs. 60 million americans provide unpaid care for people with alzheimer's or other dementia. over 18 billion hours of care valued at over $230 billion. guest: alzheimer's disease is .niquely burden some one a person is diagnosed with alzheimer's, on average, that person will live an additional four to eight years. but sometimes as many as 20 years. unfortunately, we know alzheimer's disease is progressive, so once a person has alzheimer's to -- disease, it slowly gets worse. i do not want to be too grim, but this is a progressive brain

disease that is ultimately fatal. but before that happens, people get progressively worse. bedbound,p ultimately unable to communicate and unable to feed or care for them self. -- themselves. this creates a chairman does amount of disability -- this trait a tremendous amount of disability. , family member, friends, taking care, and there are millions of people providing this unpaid care across the country. we know many of those people have to leave their jobs or cut back on their hours. it is something of a double wear me -- whammy. the disease is expensive, and the people providing that informal care, because it takes so much effort, and up with less earning power during that period .

ralph is in washington, d.c., also impacted by the disease. caller: my mom is suffering from dementia. we did not know what to look for. it must have started at least 15 years earlier. she can walk, but she has to be fed. it is a horrible disease. absolutely horrible. you're talking about the savings from early diagnosis. i understand early diagnosis is very important for many reasons. but the savings you are talking about, i cannot see them. there are no drugs out there .hey can treat it for there is nothing out there. there are 125 trials they have had, and every one of them have failed. they still cannot determine whether it is beta-amyloid -- what the reasons are for it.

heavy metals getting through to the brain? can you elaborate a little bit more on exactly what drugs you are talking about to save the money, because right now, i noticed nothing we could have done to prevent the progression of the disease. guest: absolutely. and you are right. as of today, there is nothing that stops the progression of the disease in terms of medication. you alluded to emma lloyd -- what creates the plaque and the tangles in the brain. lesionse the two brain associated with a cognitive and functional decline. right now, there is nothing available, in terms of medicine, that can stop those things or slow them down. that is unfortunate. if you look at the other top 10 causes of debt, alzheimer's

disease is the only one that does not yet have something to stop it or slow it down. we are the challenge facing. the medical community, the research community, is working diligently to untangle these mysteries of alzheimer's disease. we have made a tremendous amount of progress the past 30 years, but we do not yet have something that will stop it. ultimately, that is something we are working toward. treatment or medication that will stop the disease. even before symptoms begin. one of the things you alluded to amyloid, which builds up 20 years before dementia begins. that is a 20 year window of hope. can design a medication

that targets that amyloid and halt the progress of that, we can potentially stop people from developing dementia in the first place. we do not know if that will be the approach that ultimately works, but what we do know is that this is a defeatable disease. sometimes, an be, attitude of fatalism. develop older, i will alzheimer's disease, and there's nothing to be done about that -- nothing is further from the truth. age is also associated with cancer, with heart disease. these are all diseases we have made tremendous advances against in recent years. from alzheimer's the last 15 years have more than doubled, but in that same period of time, deaths from heart disease and and theave decreased, reason is because of investment in biomedical research.

when we determine, as a society, that we will make a difference against a disease, we will. when we make that same determination against alzheimer's disease, we will make a difference. i want to say thank you to congress and their vision in passing this increased research for alzheimer's to greet -- research for all-time at, which is the only way we will help people like your mother. the answer is research. host: let's go to michigan. good morning, sue. yang at the cleveland clinic is using base one in her editors -- inhibitors and showing progress in mice, and now they are showing progress in human studies. can you tell me anything about that? guest: for the audience not familiar with base inhibitors, this is a potential medication that slows down the development

plaques in the brain, one of the early events of alzheimer's disease. there are a number of companies pursuing these base inhibitors we have trials, where to await the outcome. this does show promise, but of course, you do not really know if a drug or potential drug is going to be effective or safe, i should point out, until the human trials are finished. one of the earlier callers mentioned there are over 100 clinical trials now for alzheimer's disease. many are very promising. but we will not know the answer until those trials are finished. host: wanda's in chattanooga. good morning. caller: good morning. one of my questions was is there anything we can do to prevent

this from happening or slow down the process? another thing i was wondering is has anyone thinking it may come from water or food or some type of drug, like marijuana? that is one of my questions also. host: all right, we will have keith fargo answer. guest: there are things you can do to protect your brain as you age and reduce your risk for dementia. riskll these modifiable factors. you might call them lifestyle factors. we do not know everything yet we need to know about this, but the body of research, the preponderance of the evidence, is showing the things your doctor already tells you to do for your heart health are going to be beneficial for your brain health as well. the reason is the brain is a very complicated organ. it is also a very active organ.

of energy and nutrients. the way the energy and the oxygen and nutrients get to the brain is through the circulatory vessels.hrough blood anything you can do to keep blood vessels and your heart and good shape will protect your brain. we recommend exercising on a regular basis, recommend eating a healthy diet. we also recommend staying cognitively active and emotionally connected with those people around you. the worst thing you can do is become a couch potato and let yourself go, if you want to protect your brain. if you want to protect your brain, you have to get up off the couch, make wise and eating choices, all those things your doctor, and even your mom, say are good for your health. dave from california. caller: i just want to make a statement. this is my opinion. i agree with everything he is

saying. the main thing with alzheimer's is people like ronald reagan was always buying jellybeans. refined sugars, stay away with it. it will cause a heart attack. it will go into your brain. lieutenant, stay away from -- gluten, stay away from those things. you probably will not get alzheimer's. reagan was always eating refined jellybeans. it goes into your arteries and your brain. when he says site, he is exactly right -- diet, he is exactly right. stay away from refined sugar and gluten. i am a senior, and i know a lot about nutrition. there you go. host: cap there been any specific studies of something as specific as sugar causing this? guest: there have been studies

on a variety of nutrients. when you look at the body of evidence, there is not one thing you can point to. we have seen studies on blueberries, for example. we have seen studies on the different kinds of diets. making more wise eating choices and fewer bad eating choices is going to be protective. i don't want to demonize refined sugar in particular. i would say a low sugar, low-fat diet will be probably better for your brain in the long run than a high sugar, high-fat diet. people who drink a lot of beverages may be at higher risks for alzheimer's disease. limit your sugars and fats to a healthy level, whether that is

close to zero or a few times a week, that is a good idea to protect your brain as you age. we want to mention, we are still learning a lot about these risk factors. we talked about drug trials already. the only way we will get to solid answers is through trying them experimentally. this is through clinical trials. we had clinical trials for new potential drugs and for these modifiable risk factors and prevention of alzheimer's and dementia as well. if your viewers want to learn more about how they can participate in this clinical trial, the easiest way to do that is through the alzheimer's association tool. they can find that on our org/trialmatch. you answer a few short questions, and it will show you all the conical trials in your

area. host: we will leave the conversation there for now. alzheimer's the association, thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: the president is considering becoming that $1.3 trillion spending bill despite his top budget director yesterday saying he would sign it. in a tweet this morning, i is considering a veto of the omnibus spending bill this on the fact that the 800,000 plus daca recipients have been totally abandoned by the democrats, and the border wall, which is needed for national in the, is not even bill. is president now saying he considering detailing -- vetoing this. when we come back, we will talk about stability in political

discourse. we will talk with steven dinkin of the national conflict resolution center. ♪ 1968, america on in turmoil, the presidential election of 1960 begin with eight presidential candidates. by the end, the sitting president bowed out, robert kennedy was assassinated, there betweenlent clashes ,hicago police and protesters and joining us on the program is former presidential candidate that began, and the author of the greatest comeback, how richard nixon rose from defeat.

watch 1968, america in turmoil, live sunday on c-span's washington journal and on american history tv on c-span3. depth ony 20 years, in booktv has featured the nation's best-known nonfiction writers for conversations about their books. this year, we are featuring best-selling fiction writers or in monthly program called in depth fiction edition. mosley.live for walter his books include devil in a blue dress, which was made into a motion picture, and fearless jones. during the program, we will be taking your phone calls, tweets, and facebook messages.

our special in-depth addition of edition-- fiction with walter mosley. >> "washington journal." the president of the national conflict resolution center, steven dinkin. what is your group? nonprofit based in southern california. our mission is to address all the issues we are facing in our lives. we do that through mediation strategy, where we mediate all different types of disputes that office and our society. we have a series of trainings that are based on the mediation strategy that address conflict resolution. host: what skills are you addressing? guest: it could be a medical

practice issue, a neighbor matter, a workplace issue. it runs the gamut. we see all caps of disputes that are appropriate for mediation. host: what would be your advice for the way political discourse occurs in this country? do you see a lack of civility? guest: there is certainly a lack of civility in political discourse. what is happening is that discourse is really intensify and creating a lot of anger and aversion. as a result of that, it is grading this anti-deliberative attitude, and people are not atlly willing to compromise that point. it is that frustration and anger that is leading to lack of compromise in our country in communities. host: how is that salt? -- solved? aest: it is solved through

number of different techniques we teach. there are a lot of communication strategies. one thing, when people are frustrated or angered, we asked them to take a moment to calm down. take a deep breath before responding. have au are angered, you less sense of rationality. you're not able to indicate in a rational -- communicate in a rational way. think about your response before you state your point of view. host: the outgoing secretary of state rex tillerson had some comments for people in this town and americans about civility. [video clip] >> in closing, i would like to ask that each of you undertake to ensure one active kindness each day towards another person. this can be a very mean-spirited town.

[laughter] [applause] but you don't have to choose to participate in that. [applause] each of us get to choose the person we want to be and the way we want to be treated in the way we will treat others. god bless you all. douglas america. -- god bless america. guest: what is interesting is he almost said that as it in preparation for this interview today. it is a reflection of what a

lot of people are feeling in washington, d.c., and across the country. on the west coast, we are facing the same sense of rancor and anger. he is right. you do have a choice. what is happening in our society as a result of this conflict, people are avoiding the discussion. it is creating a sense of apathy, and people are not engaged in civil discussion and civics. that is not just in this country, but we are seeing the impact in other countries around the world as well. we do have a choice. we have to be engaged. host: how do you get engaged? you say people are not participating in discussions. there are shows like this where they can call in and get their viewpoint. there is social media. networke panels on cable news that people can

watch. to all those things help or hurt? guest: i think they absolutely help. anytime there is a discussion they are participating in, i think that is critical. we need more shows like this across the country. what we are finding on a lot of the radio shows, the political that the radio shock jocks are attracting a certain element of society can individuals of a certain point of view, it reinforces that same view and emboldens them to speak in ways that really create more attention. social media is an opportunity for us to have more dialogue, but it has to be done in a way where people can listen and communicate in a way where a real debate, discussion, deliberation is happening. host: what role does the

president play in civil political discourse? guest: he is absolutely critical in the process because he is the leader of the country. we look toward the leader for a model. just thinking through the issues that we are facing, his use of twitter and other forms of social media, we have not releasing this in this country until this presidency. thate are reacting in ways it is really frustrating people across the country. he real question is, is really advancing the dialogue, or is he just creating a lot of noise? host: we are talking with steven dinkin this morning. we want to get your thoughts on civility and political discourse. democrats (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002.

poll that new pew asks, why are we inclined to question the values of those we disagree with politically? why do you think that is? guest: to question the views? host: why do we question the views, their values of the people that we disagree with? guest: what is happening is that in debates, arguments, we tend to personalize the discussion. that is where we go off course. people can engage in debate, engage in dialogue. they can have different points of view. we embrace individuals with different points of view. that is what brings society to solutions. the problem is when we personalize the debates. we can have different points of view, but it is not necessarily a personal discussion.

it is not about you, your value, my value. it is perspective. we need to keep it at that level so we can have a rational debate without evolving into something emotional and value driven. host: let's hear from james in virginia, republican. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. everything you appear to be saying is true, although this is nothing new. everything that takes place now has been taking place forever. we are in a terrible dilemma in our country, and no one listens to anyone. it is shocking how california appears to be sanctuary ridden. it brings down the quality of all things in the united states. i would ask you as an individual who is obviously pertinent in the california arena to speak to people, hoping that they might

arrive at a station where they can better be part of the team the bubble.outside thank you for your time. guest: your point that historically we have seen divisiveness, i think that is true, that there are certain elements in our society today that are exacerbating the polarization. it is the social media. that has been occurring over the last several decades, the type of media we are seeing with the political pundits that is creating political extremism, certain types of factors in our present society that create greater rancor than we have seen historically. host: camelot, our line for democrats. caller: how are you? host: good morning, pamela. caller: good morning.

campaignth a national that works with u.s. leaders to improve the response to the poverty crisis. i wonder, when it comes to policies that are against human rights, how do you have a political discourse when it is about human rights and about access to those resources? host: we will take your question. guest: political discourse, whether it is human rights or other matters that are impacting our society, there are so many critical issues that we are facing with the upcoming march around finishes, abortion -- gun issues, abortion, whatever the challenge, it is the political discourse that is so critical. what is the problem today is the political extremism we are seeing on capitol hill and

across the nation is that politicians are not engaging in debate. they tend to remain in their own caucus. they are not really having that type of discussion. of the the deliberation framers of our constitution, where folks of different points of view would be able to engage in the discourse in order to arrive at solutions, it is not happening today. host: can a grassroots movement like we are seeing tomorrow with this march for our lives, students across the country organizing themselves to march in washington, march across different cities in the u.s., can that push a reluctant group of people, maybe democrats and republicans, to push aside their ideology and come together?

guest: the situation in parkland is such a tragic situation. on the positive side, it has created this national movement. students coming together across the nation to march and rally can have a dramatic impact on politics. it has to be a sustained effort. there was a brief moment where we thought gun legislation would actually change coming right out of the shootings. now it has really retrenched. i feel that if it is this march and a month later, students go to the capitals and protests, and it is a sustained effort, i think we will see change. host: let's listen to melania trump, who has taken up the cause of cyber bullying. there was a white house event earlier this week where she

spoke about it. [video clip] >> i believe if we all come together, we can start to affect positive change for our children and help prepare them for their futures. as i have said before, it is important that as adults we take the lead and the responsibility in helping our children manage the many issues they are facing today. this means encouraging responsible habits with social media and technology, even limiting time online, and suspending the contempt they are exposed to on a daily basis. host: what you make of the first lady's efforts? (202) 748-8000 the issue that guest: -- severalhe issue around bowling is one of the -- cyber

issuesg is one of the that has arisen because of social media. there is a sense of anonymity behind the computer. cyber bullying can really have a dramatic impact, like this incident with the recent shooting at the high school. a question ofas mental illness. deeper intols dug the situation, this individual was actually bullied. what happens is when someone is bullied, they tend to remove themselves from society, isolate themselves, and as a result of that, issues start to arise in their minds, and it can have tremendous consequences. i think she is on the right track to try to address cyber bullying.

it has become a major concern in our country. host: does her husband the president bully using social media? guest: i think individuals maintain that he is using social media and other tactics in a form of bullying. for him, perhaps he feels that that is an impactful course of action, but in reality that type of behavior is not going to move the country forward in the right direction. host: we will go to indiana, robert, republican. caller: thank you for taking my call. the way i look at it, this gun march and all this stuff. look at this bomber. thaton't they make a law he cannot buy the materials to make bombs.

he put it on tv. california and the state of new york run this country. the democrats think they know everything. if they knew everything, why didn't they do something in the eight years obama was in there? look at the shape our country is in. people are blinded to the truth. they want to blame everything that happens, but they don't want to do anything about it. host: thank you. we will hear from our next color, texas, -- caller, texas. good morning. caller: what i want to say is -- host: are you there? caller: hello. host: you are back. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. what i see happening in the white house is no different from what i see happening to low-paying wage people. if you are not liked on your job, they dismiss you.

if you are not standing with the clique, you are out. it is good to see that it has been televised that this is actually happening. if you don't like this person, if this person doesn't go along with you because you are a manager or something, then you are fired. if you have a different opinion from someone on the job, you are fired or cast out. it is no different what is happening at these minimum wage jobs is happening at the white house now. host: ok. your thoughts. guest: i think it is so interesting that you brought up the issues you are seeing in the workplace. the conflict that we are experiencing, this sense of incivility we are seeing in government, we are seeing that in the workplace. our organization spends a lot of time working in fortune 500 companies, in governments, in the workplace addressing issues

between managers and supervisors and frontline staff and the types of tensions people are experiencing on the outside. it is happening in the workplace. it is the same type of issues where people need to learn certain types of communication address whater to is happening in the workplace and community. e, a: let's go to yvonna, democrat. caller: good morning. i want to say the country is so divided because hillary clinton by the popular vote 2,800,000 and some change. i think they need to change the electoral college because the reason they started it is no longer applied. there are no longer a slave states.

it would make a difference so your vote actually counted. host: 20 make of the institutions of our democracy? whether we maintain the electoral college or not, i don't believe the institutions themselves are the two. -- issue. i do think the country is divided. we are in a situation in the present day where people are divided. it is a very diverse community. division in itself is not the problem. it is find that they are divided. it is the way that they interact with each other. the institutions we have, the way the constitution was established him it is really set up to promote discussion and dialogue and liberation. that is the key elements of our society.

we really need to enforce and ensure that these additions stay strong. -- institutions stay strong. host: david, you are on the air. caller: good morning. i am thinking of better angels. i was listening just recently to the fire secretary of state calling on us to have acts of kindness and that washington, d was a mean d.c., place. i would submit to you that the spirit we have in the land with our inability to dialogue with each other for the sake of an isective, positive result out the window. the way in which we are engaging is just exacerbating matters. i am thinking every nation and

people have a prophet. i think martin luther king was etat profit for this -- proph for this space and time we live in. if we don't tap into that spirit of love and that spirit that gets us to a place where we don't fear our bullies. we talk about our better angels. on the other side of our better angels is this mean-spirited, obstinate, crazy spirit that is ntfined to everything -- defia to everything that deals with human compassion and a willingness to cooperate. this has infused our spirit in america today.

when you listen to the radio programs, everything is attacked, attack, attack. host: i will leave it there. guest: martin luther king during that era with all of the marches and rallies, that was a moment of civic engagement. i would like to see more civic engagement in today's society. i believe that the incivility that we are all experiencing at all levels of society, whether it is in the household, in the community, what wecommunity, whn social media, listening to the radio, on tv, and government. what is happening is it is creating a sense of apathy. the march that will be happening on saturday is a great example of people coming together to make a statement.

whether you are on that side of or haveeve or -- belief a different perspective, it doesn't really matter. it is the action of being involved, calling into a show, marching, being engaged as a society, not being apathetic. unless we really have the discussion, the debates, we will not see change in our society. going back to the days of martin were engagedpeople across this country whether you followed his beliefs are not. host: the march for life rally kicks off at 12:00 p.m. eastern time here in washington, d.c. c-span ortch here on online at c-span.org and on our free c-span radio app. americans talking to

25 and younger. we will have our guests, high school students and other youth from across the country joining us for that conversation. thank you. we will leave it there for now. steven dinkin is the president of the national conflict resolution center. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: we will take a break. we will open up the phone lines when we come back. you can discuss anything that has happened on the program this morning or what is happening in washington today. there are the phone lines on your screen. we will be right back. ♪ >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. created as aan was public service by america's cable television companies. today, we continue to bring you 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. sunday on c-span's q&a, yell university law school professor book,ua talks about her political tribes. >> we need to be able to talk to each other as americans again and not just say you are the evil ones. it used to be that people on the other side of the political divide or just people we disagree with. now it is almost like people who voted for the other candidate are immoral. they are our enemies. they are not even real americans anymore. because i study democracies around the world, places like libya. what is the difference between libya and the united states? libya is a multiethnic state as well.

it is a failed state. it is disintegrated. why? because it does not have that overarching, strong libyan identity to hold the country together. it really was a colonial construction. we do. that is what makes us special. 8:00 p.m.night at eastern on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. we are in phones for the last half hour of "washington journal." we begin with the president's tweet. he is now considering vetoing the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill based on the fact that the 800,000 plus daca recipients have been totally abandoned by the democrats and the border wall is not fully funded. the reaction from senator bob corker, who was critical of the process yesterday.

"please do, mr. president. i will bring you a pen. the spending levels without any offsets are grotesque. totally irresponsible." hereen dennis, a reporter in washington, reminder, democrats offered trump $25 billion for a border wall in return for a path to citizenship for the daca eligibles. white house rejected. eto print tweet appears to have come from the residence, where staff typically doesn't go. we will go to bob first, democrat. what is on your mind? caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to speak earlier to the

gentleman on civility and political discourse. i was reminded of when john mccain, the republican nominee, was campaigning. a woman in the audience said that candidate obama was a muslim and not a christian. john, to his credit, had the decency to refute that. today, how many republicans sentiment?e that independent in maryland. caller: how are you? host: good. good morning. caller: good morning. it is a shame that we have become such a polarized country. wasle are operating on dog -- whistles.

the gun control debate should not even really be polarizing. not a gun rights association. it is a gun manufacturers association. they are for whatever gets as many cards as possible to people. people are being played to put more money in the manufacturer'' hands. the vast majority, i heard like for gunmericans are assault rifles like the ar-15. these things are not popular for politicians. it does not matter what anyone says or does as long as they are

getting the nra money in a hurry. they will not vote to do anything that is reasonable. to give prayers, but they are not willing to do anything. that is just sad. host: diane, michigan, democrat. caller: hello. i like to address the statement that rex tillerson, the secretary of state, and mentioned that it is so mean-spirited, and melania trump is talking about cyber bullying. in her home, she has a husband who is cyber bullying, and she has a son-in-law who is a cyber bully. it takes away from her credibility went in her own home she has people doing the things she is talking against. it is sad. it really is. you have to compare america to a company. the president is the ceo.

he sets the standard. when he is cyber bullying, he is making it more acceptable to do it. what can we expect? he really has to address this and set the example. until then, it is open season. carolina,d and north republican. share with us what is on your mind this morning. points, and iick should know this, with the on the this spending bill -- omnibus spending bill that is before the president, can you help put it in context of total annual spending and what might be a normal budget. for instance, is there other concurrent federal spending on entitlements or federal programs where this $1.3 trillion

together with that extrapolated to one year would constitute a huge increase in spending? that is my question. my second is only a comment, and i can only speak for myself with regards to civility. there has been so much concentration lately on the concept of race that it is almost confusing to me because now i have to be conscious of it, where it has never been an issue for me before. i feel like i am maybe just one too many white males, and maybe i should disappear or statewide. i think we have gone backwards -- or stay clear. i think we have gone backwards. host: i don't know if i can break that down, but that is something we should look into on "washington journal." to that $1.3

trillion veto, a democrat says, you have put the dreamers in jeopardy and have done everything you could to undermine its possible adults -- responsible adults trying to fix it. the freedom caucus would fully support you in this move. when pass a short-term cr you negotiate a better deal for the forgotten man and women of america. no wonder donald trump is throwing a temper tantrum. it's a bipartisan rejection of his backwards agenda and budget cuts. now you care about the dreamers, mr. president? six months after throwing their lives into chaos? is this a cruel joke? the president at 8:55 this morning says he is considered

vetoing this. he told reporters yesterday that he would support it. his omb told supporters he would sign it. voted for it, 177 voted no. republicanse, 65 and democrats voted yes, and 32 rejected. 3 were not voting yesterday in the senate. an independent. good morning to you. calling for the previous conversation, but in terms of the way the u.s. is outg now, we should call that we are the united states and remind ourselves of that.

in being united, we have to get rid of the mob mentality, which creates extremism. we need to love and respect, which is usually the male tocies that is afraid express. at some point, we need to come to some spirituality, christianity aside, because obviously it is not real in these united states, and learn to respect if we cannot love. robert, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the main problem with civil discourse comes from the top. there is a great amount of dishonesty. you cannot talk to people who are just dishonest. my problem is i have republican presidento denied the

call people who were protesting the killing of black people by police, he called them sob's. she said he never said that. the problem is dishonesty. host: thank you. another independent, california, you are next. caller: good morning. i want to share the point of view of the unintended consequences of the lack of civility. i live eight miles from the border to mexico. i go across and speak to a lot of business individuals down there. right now, the lack of civility by the president and others in real uglys putting a picture of mexico and mexicans specifically, and the consequences from that, they are saying to me that russia is now

getting heavily involved in mexico's economy. now, they are selling them some aircraft's for their airlines, and they are also find some helicopters -- buying some helicopters and some migs. the lack ofnce of civility is if you have a neighbor, and you are talking trash about your neighbor continuously, they get tired of that and start looking for other friends. these other friends may not be your friends. they are even going to the extent of talking about russia and mexico talking about putting in actual factories to build the mig's and the technology in mexico. sometimes i feel being so close to the border, being of mexican

descent, i was born here, a marine, at times we have to be civil how we communicate as your guest talked earlier on your show and not to lose sight of that. we don't live in a bubble. to follow the main tenets of being good neighbors. one other thing to point out is that mexico is also a filter for a lot of the illegals that come from south america. some get through, and yes, we have a problem with that. you have to understand, mexico does not want illegals. they have their border with whitehall. a.ey stop -- guatemal they stop a lot of those. some get through. nobody is perfect. we are not perfect. we know we have shortcomings.

we don't need our neighbor to continually bash us. host: we will leave it there. , we are in open phones. good morning to you. caller: good morning, greta. i am glad to hear about the stability talks on your network this morning. it gives me hope as a 62-year-old man. the people like steve bannon, lewis fair count, sean hannity khan, sean hannity, your days are ended. we will finally get rid of that type of discourse in this country. it is not to happen overnight. it will finally be gone from our lives. like i told peter on your program one time, as a black man, i have people that look just like him and just like you in my family, and i am so happy that it is that way on my side

of the life. host: rudy, we will leave it there. as you all know, the c-span bus has been working its way across the country as part of our 50 capitals tour. we stopped in oregon. take a listen. [video clip] >> we are about halfway through the c-span tour of all 50 state capitals. today takes us to salem, oregon, and governor kaine brown, who is on the c-span bus. thank you for being with us today. we want to start by asking you a somewhat philosophical question. oregon has always kind of been at the vanguard of progressive suicide, assisted marijuana legalization, gay marriage, and now net neutrality legislation for your own state. what is it about oregon that

there is a lead here? >> we certainly have a history of setting public policy that reflects the valleues of oregonians. i am pleased that the legislature has moved forward on legislation for net neutrality. it does not stop there. i signed into law the nation's first automatic voter registration legislation. we believe that your vote is your voice, and every single voice matters. i was able to sign into law legislation guaranteeing women regardless of their income, zip code, immigration status access to the full complement of reproductive health services. i am really proud of oregon's leadership role in setting the pillar of policy around progressive public policy. >> you are running for reelection as governor, but in the next year, what are some of

your legislative priorities? >> one of the biggest challenges we are facing is that oregon's economy is booming. lowave historic record unemployment rates, and we are one of the fastest-growing job rates in the country. that job growth has not spread equally throughout our state. my role as governor is to make sure that economic prosperity is inclusive, that it covers our rural communities, communities of color, and low income communities. the goal is to close the gap, the skills cap between the workforce we have in the workforce we need to fuel the economy of oregon's future. >> what does it mean to a state like organ to have a company like -- oregon to have a company like nike headquartered here?

>> one thing i am really proud is our home-grown, innovative, maverick spirit. nike certainly the demises -- epitomizes that. we are proud to have this company that started in oregon. it highlights the university of oregon and the incredible history we have their of running champions and creating champions in the track arena. >> governor brown, we have been doing several of these interviews and have looked at state budgets throughout, and for the most part states are spending 25% of their budget or more on education. oregon seems to be an outlier. it seems to be much lower. why is that? >> it is the result of initiatives passed in the early 1990's that essentially

responsibility of paying for schools from local property taxes to the state general fund. we pay for not just k-12 education, community colleges, universities, and early childhood education. >> 37 billion dollars a year is the state budget in oregon. we solicited comments and questions from people around the state. we want to get your answers to some of those people this is dana, a student -- people. this is daniel, a student at the mercy of oregon. governor brown, we spoke about the need to keep college tuition down, especially for in-state students. despite increased state funding, the university of oregon and oregon state university have increased or considered increasing their tuition these past two years. what steps are you taking to

help these tuition hikes? >> we have certainly been working hard in my role as governor to limit the tuition hikes we are seeing around the state. my goal is to make sure that oregon universities are accessible and affordable for oregon students. we are working hard to make that happen for all of our students. >> we have a couple of tweets. this one is from kyla. it seems to be a local issue. #jordancovlng for a third time with your support. will you stand up for clean water, the climate, sacred tribal homelands, and stop this project for good?" asmy duty and obligation governor is to make sure that statutes are enforced, regulations are complied with, and oregonians have an

opportunity to have their voices heard. that is what i'm doing on this particular project. this is a decision made by the federal government. i want to encourage all oregonians to reach out to their federal delegation with their concerns about this particular project. >> another comment. "the eagle creek fire and other fires last summer highlighted clearing weaknesses in our fire management plans. will you call for an open public review of the fire management plans for the columbia gorge and the entire state?" >> just two weeks ago, i convened a fire summit led by oregon state university's forestry program. it is one of the top programs in the entire world. we discussed what we need to do to manage or against public forest moving forward with the

changing climate. that means a higher level of management, prevention, and treatment, and it also means prescribed burning so that we can prevent the kinds of devastating forest fires we saw last summer. this impacted all oregonians. oregonians living in portland, living in medford, living on the coast, and living in central and eastern oregon. it impacted our small businesses. it impacted our tourism. of course, it impacted our outdoor congressional opportunities. -- recreational opportunities. my job is to throw every tool in the toolbox at this problem. it would help if we could get more snow over the next several weeks before summer comes on. >> governor, you mentioned this a little while ago. it is almost a tale of two states in oregon.

you have the willamette valley and the rest of the state. don't correct folks, but it is actually will randow valley -- willamette valley. we certainly have an urban-rural divide. i can doe things as governor is to build bridges across that divide. we are building broadband so that all of our communities and our schools and homes have access to the internet, making sure that we are investing in housing, affordable housing in every single minute of the state, and making sure that given the changes in the climate and weather that we are investing in water infrastructure so that farmers

and branches have access to -- ranchers have access to water during drought cycles. should i have the opportunity to serve as governor for an additional four years, we will continue these projects to bridge the urban-rural divide. >> how important is it to you in oregon what happens out here in washington, d.c.? >> i think it is incredibly important. one of the key issues we are facing is the opioid crisis. this is an issue that impacts all of us. we all have family members, friends, work colleagues that have been impacted by substance abuse. it is a problem we are focused on by tackling both education and prevention, treatment and recovery.

issue, iis a national think it is critically important that congress step up to the plate and add more resources to treatment. the current funding level is at about $6 billion. that is simply the tip of the iceberg. i believe if we want to solve this crisis, and it is a public health crisis, congress must put its money where its mouth is. the other issue is around tackling common sense firearm safety. it is really clear that this is a national problem impacting high schools and communities around the state. i believe that congress must take action now. they must move forward on an assault weapons ban and ban bump stocks if we want our schools, communities, and families to be

safe. havingof the dangers of democratic control of the governor, senate, and house? mp, i thinkra of tru that is a good thing. delegation isral moving backward, we are moving forward. we can invest in clean energy jobs. we can make sure we are in testing in the test investing in are investing in the opioid crisis and treating it like a health crisis and not a criminal justice problem. it is interesting to me when congress tried to repeal the affordable care act, we know that a majority of the folks seeking access to treatment because of the opioid crisis are

on the oregon health plan. if people don't have access to treatment, they cannot recover from this horrible disease. making sure oregonians have access to health care is key. right now, we have 95% of adults and 100% of children have access to health care. >> k brown is the democratic kate brown is the democratic governor of oregon. comcast is our partner. we thank them for their help. you can follow along with our 50 capitals tour if you go to our website. before the minutes house gavels in for a pro forma session. lawmakers have left town after passing that $1.3 trillion spending bill.

the president is threatening to veto it. on twitter, cap donald trump vetoes, scattered lawmakers will ,ot be in place for a quick fix which would be a challenge even if they were here. continuingpass a ,esolution by nana's consent but let's see what happens in the next few hours. i asked, will there be a government shutdown? his response, i think we will be ok he said with a smile. presidentcalling the about the possibly of losing all defense increases if he blows up this omnibus. senior hill source says donald trump is going to flatline defense if he is not careful. that is reaction to the president tweeting around 9:00

a.m. this morning that he is ing this because there is no fix for the dreamers, and it does not include all the spending for thn washington on this friday morning. as we said. the house is about to gavel in for a pro forma session. we will bring you there now live on c-span. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]