--christopher wylie: i don't have any remarks. >> we will >>: the seas been at noon, a discussion at the heritage foundation about the ideology and tactics of terrorist organizations. 1:50 p.m., president trump talks about his infrastructure plan in ohio. live coverage of the consumer federation of america food policy conference starting at 8:15 a.m. at one: 10:00 p.m., the u.s. marine corps, and it. for more information visit our website at c-span.org. today on washington journal, we about to todd got cr no

the trump administration efforts to undo federal efforts. spaldingave stephen from the common cause. ♪ host: good morning. ba secretary david shulkin is out. tapped hisnt has white house dr. to replace mr. shulkin. is the second-largest agency behind the pentagon. was theng of shulkin second firing in 15 days. we want to hear from our nation's veterans this morning. what is your reaction to the president's decision? .our number is (202) 748-8000 all others, we want to hear from you.

(202) 748-8001. you can join us on twitter @cspanwj or post your comments on facebook.com/c-span. that ieased to announce will nominate dr. johnson as the new veteran of veterans affairs. i am thankful for dr. david shulkin's service to our country and the great veterans is what the president said yesterday. leaning us on the phone is the deputy editor for the military times. why was he fired? a series of complicated reasons. it goes to be inspector general's report last month dealing with his own travel scandal, a summer trip to europe where he took his wife and accepted for a wimbledon

tickets. since then we have seen a series controversies. the president said there were folks within the administration looking to undermine him and he promised to root out the subversives. they were policy fights over health care. eight seemed over the course of six weeks that secretary shulkin went from one of trump's most cabinet members and lee's controversial to one of his biggest problems. he was essentially fired over twitter without the president even mentioning his name. host: in the outgoing secretary has written an opinion piece in "the new york times." is not in their paper edition. he says it is because he wanted to privatize -- others wanted to , and because va those people, whoever they are, felt he was an obstacle they wanted him out. who is he talking about?

a policy,is has been internal fight. you framed it as a fight between himself, a moderate looking to , andm and improve the va more conservative folks in the trump administration that are pushing for policies that would push more private sector care for veterans and tax-payer .unded care these are his own communication staff who he feels has been working against him and working for the white house in recent weeks. these are outside forces connected to the koch brothers and other conservative groups. they areamed this has looking for a more radical agenda and i was looking for something more moderate that would help veterans. folks within the administration have decried that as his own paranoia.

that was out to get him and he saw things that weren't there. wereolicy differences discussion points, but not a grand plan to dismantle va. host: what were his accomplishments? caller: last year was almost nonstop good news for va. new accountability measures that he shepherded through congress, appeals reform changes that in help theg years should backlog. lots of conversations about health returns that didn't get done, but he did initiate the department of defense moving an electronic health record to pair with the department of defense. he is what would usually be good accomplishments, and lawmakers would say last year was the most productive in va they have seen in decades. that wasn't enough to keep him

in the good graces of the president. the biggest surprise is the community care reform and radical health-care reform he hoped to shepherd through is stalled in the senate and house. he leaves without that finished. host: who is ronnie jackson? caller: he is the white house physician and has been in that role for some time. he served under president bush and obama and trump. well all accounts he is a respected military physician, but not someone with real expertise within va or managing health care systems. a lot of veterans groups are asking, do we know what his policies are when it comes to ?rivate care versus va care do we know his budget priorities? does he have experience with veterans benefits and managing that system? a lot of people are wondering,

they are seeing him as an unknown. not a bad pick, but someone they are unfamiliar with. host: what is he about to take on? caller: the va is the second-largest budgeted agency in the government. it has 360,000 less employees and takes care of the health care for 9 million that are in for millions more. it is not a small that water --artment like it used to be a small backorder department like it used to be. the budget was $40 million before the wars in iraq and afghanistan, now it is five times that. this is the second time in four had tohat the va has resign because of scandal. in this case it was in a .esignation, he was fired this has veterans groups concerned. we have seen turmoil and a lot

of chaos at the department. this will further isolate the department from the public and make people think that it is an e situation and something that will be constant problems. host: we are about to hear from the nation's veterans and what they think will happen across the country. notesulkin in his op-ed he was confirmed 100-0. do you think ronny jackson will get the same boat? -- same vote? caller: we'll have to see. this is a more politically charged environment and there are too many unknowns. it struck me that all of the statements from key lawmakers, when shulkin was nominated said this is someone that i know, that i have worked with, and i'm looking forward hearing his

opinions. last night it was i'm looking forward to meeting admiral jackson and finding out what he knows. it is too early to say if there will be opposition, because we don't know his policies or where the controversies might be. it is worth noting that shulkin was confirmed 100-0. the departmentd of veterans affairs there has never been a senate confirmation vote against a nomination. even if a handful see something they don't like, it will be to what see opposition is usually a bipartisan agreeable position. host: what are you watching for? caller: the biggest thing now will be finding out more about admiral jackson, more about how his military service might inform this, and figuring out who is left at the department of affairs.

i do not think this will be the only high-profile dismissal or resignation. there have been other folks close to shulkin who say if he goes they are planning on going. we could see a significant brain drain. we have quite a few vacant there.ns the under secretary of health has been a position they haven't filled since trump came into office. the under secretary of benefits was nominated, that has not been confirmed. we could see a va without the top leader for a while, just an acting leader, but also 4 to 5 other high-profile positions that are vacant. how can the va operate without true leadership? host: you can follow at times."y

let's get to the calls. what is your reaction to the president's decision? cliff, good morning. caller: good morning. up,p sure shakes things doesn't he? piece by piece he is dismantling the establishment. obama hold over and we remember the horrible va scandals in the last 8 years or so which were underreported. to thet times that led deaths of hundreds of thousands, starting in phoenix in spreading to other states. the lying, corruption, and cover up uncovered by the inspector general, kind of heroically. what is the quality of care at the va. lines i gotpan's

the impression that the quality of care at the va is uneven. many love their coverage, and many complain severely. my father in arkansas raved about service, but in california he complained. orthere is a wait time problem providing service or corruption at the va shouldn't we allow our vets freedom to find care that serves their needs. drain the swamp. this position to constantly defend the establishment is anomalous. host: indiana, a veteran, good morning. caller: good morning. think for american citizens to be criticizing the veterans administration is disgraceful. after three months in iraq,

george bush declared mission accomplished. how is the veterans administration supposed to know to prepare for tens of thousands of soldiers coming back from iraq, literally burnt to a crisp and blown to bits? there is posttraumatic stress disorder and the high suicide rate. plus, they were treating veterans from other wars. i think donald trump's appointee is woefully uninformed and unprepared for this massive undertaking. the condition that our soldiers were coming back from iraq, tens of thousands burnt to a crisp bits, andto for people to criticize the long-term treatment of these horribly wounded soldiers is disgraceful. host: what do you think of the job? we lost brenda.

your thoughts this morning? caller: how are you doing? good morning. heard, theat i have guy he got rid of has been doing a good job. has it pointing in the right direction. the care times have went down. a better organization. when you get down to it, you have a spoiled little rich kid as president. he can't get along with anybody. a lot of the people, this guy talking about draining the swamp, give me a break. a lot of these people are people that he picked. he can't get along with anybody. t, he is asaid it righ more on. -- is a moron.

he's used to getting his own way. he surrounds himself with his andly and his buddies, those are the only ones that get along with him, just the ones that will kiss his butt. shulkin writes in my 10 year we passed critical legislation that appeal the process for veterans seeking and if it's, enacted a bill to ensure we have people at the department. we are processing more disability claims and appeals then ever before and allowing veterans to see the status of their appeals are logging on to their account. it is near the lowest level in 3.5%. the percent of veterans that have regained trust has risen to 70% from 46% 4 years ago. it seems that these successes have intensified the ambitions

of people who want to put va health care in the private sector. i believe differences in philosophy deserves robust debate and should be determined from the merit over the arguments. however, they rejected this approach and saw me as an obstacle to privatization. when did you serve and what is your reaction? caller: my reaction is that i have been a member of the va health care system for seven or old. years, i am 59 years in the military i was a air force red horse. i thought this was a good job, i will continue. a union journeyman plumber and i did piping and hospitals for 30 years, running oxygen, medical air, and medical and civilian va

health-care systems. what i found is that when the va makes a mistake they put it on the front page for everyone to learn from their mistakes. when a civilian hospital makes a mistake it is a page torn from the history books, never to be revisited. i find mr. mcconnell, mr. trump, any politico that seems they could not find their courage until they are in their 70's is laughable to me. i think, don't privatize the va. in 2018, i spent 12 days in the va hospital in portland, oregon and i got gold-standard care that i would never get at a civilian hospital. it is a moot point trying to compare civilian hospitals to the va. the va is the gold standard.

host: last year c-span sat down with david shulkin. here is what he had to say about president trump. [video clip] person toonmilitary hold this position, what do you bring to this job? my experience in the private sector and my passion to help to contribute and to public service. i am not a veteran, but i come from a family commitment to public service, and it is one thing that i regret not being able to help. this is my chance, later in life, to do public service. since i am not a veteran, it gives me extra reason and defenses to make sure i'm connected to those that are veterans and work with veterans organizations and interact on a daily basis with the veterans to make sure i understand how i can

lead organization in the right direction. >> your dad was in the army? what did he do? >> a psychiatrist. he tell you about his experiences? >> by grandfather served in the military, and his father was the chief pharmacist at the madison wisconsin va. i grew up listening to him talk andt him serving veterans how much it meant for him and how much he loved working at the va. as a medical student, i worked in the va. as a resident i worked in two other va's. that impacted me throughout my career. my father, being a psychiatrist, talked about his army experience would deal with people that were suicidal and

people struggling with mental health issues and access to health care. that is a big issue that we are dealing with in the va, 20 veterans a day taking their lives through suicide, the issue of access to care, and to the issue of mental health parity in treatment. these are things that have been on my mind and i have thought about. secretaryoutgoing va talking about his credentials for the job, his qualifications. we will show you later what he had to say about working for president trump. in his op-ed piece he says "i fought to stand up for this department and all that it embodies. in recent months, the atmosphere in washington has turned so toxic it became impossible for me to accomplish important work. i will continue to speak out against those who harm the va by putting their personal agenda in

front of the well-being of our veterans." prouds on to say, "i am of my record. as i prepare to leave government, i am struck with a reoccurring thought: it should not be this hard to serve your country." the last thing that you read was pretty self-serving. if jackson has half of the brain i think he can get a handle on things and correct what is wrong with administration. there are too many bureaucrats. -- the swamp is really deep and has to be cleaned up and we can get more bang for our buck. you have to get people in there to do a better job with veterans

than what has been done. host: are you making an argument for privatizing va health care? >> i don't see anything wrong with privatizing as long as they get better service. if it is better service, privatize. host: that would eliminate bureaucrats and bureaucracy? caller: exactly. host: lets hear what veterans have to say. go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call. i appreciate c-span. i am a world war ii vet. i just passed my 90th birthday. i think that the change is what i would like to comment on. you don't become a general or admiral without a lot of organizational intelligence. whether you are a medical person

or a line commander. i have great trust in this man. i heard him speaking against a very hostile audience talking about the mental health of the president. cogent andlutely absolutely defensive of his position. clearly, and intelligently. i have no doubt that he is going to be a huge asset to the va and administration. host: you are talking about the replacement for david shulkin, admiral jackson? caller: david shulkin was a person who was well infected by the disease, what i call it, of bureaucracy. bureaucracy isn't

organizational. bureaucracy is a disease that affects the attitudes it should take in making changes and keeping itself in a permanently secure defensive position. host: understand. this is the reaction from the iraq-afghanistan veterans association saying firing a va secretary is easy compared to someone who can effectively do the job. now that a change of leadership has been announced, we look forward to learning more about dr. jackson's vision. with veterans continuing to return home daily, his critical -- this critical leadership role has never been more important. the new york times has confirmed that he would inherit challenges

bedeviled republicans and democrats alike. whatnnouncement punctuated has been a rapid fall from favor shulkin. he delivered mr. trump a string of bipartisan legislative victories at a time that he was struggling to find of them. he was doggedeeks by an unflattering report on overseas travel that undermined his relationship with the president. what do you think? caller: i think that people need to trust our president. i think that we need to put principles before personalities. people are shocked at all of the things he is doing because he is really trying to clean up house. host: ok.

tom, a veteran, good morning. caller: good morning. i have heard veterans on both sides saying that, it was good care and other saying it was not good care. in vietnam, after i got out, i went into the private medical because i found that i got better care. however, the problem is with privatizing the situation is most civilians, including doctors, don't understand war conditions and the things that go -- the things that happen. it, they needize to have military personnel in there with them to do an oversight. i think if you get good people

in from the military, they would better understand where veterans are coming from. host: as a veteran, does it bother you that the president hired dr. shulkin? yeah, it does, but all i get is what the news media reports. quite frankly, not all but most of the week it -- most of what -- quitesai i don't frankly, not all, but most of what we get, i say i don't know and pray for the people involved. i voted for the president, but i makesnk that he sometimes a lot of mistakes.

like most presidents, they come in from a civilian and bureaucratic or political aspect, not from a military or civilian aspect, which the president deals with both. fit job eithersy way. it is unclear how he is remotely qualified, referring to admiral jackson, to run the second-largest agency in the federal jackson. taste on the feedback i have received, it is clear people on the inside share this concern. another example how personal relationships and trump's personal comfort level is the whole ballgame. offered a two word

prediction for the chances of senate confirmation "harriet miers." jennifer jacobs noted that shulkin was not fired by a tweet. john kelly informed him. shulkinp picked him, recommended him for an undersecretary posted the fall, and shares views on veterans reforms that impressed trump, he is highly qualified as a veteran and has good rapport and chemistry with the president. has been a naval doctor since 1995 and was deployed during the iraq war and has served as a member of the white house medical unit since 2006 and the lead position since 2013,

overseeing president obama's physicals. retire, buted to president trump's personal physician made headlines and he asked dr. jackson to stay on. he came to trust dr. jackson, referring to him lovingly as doc around the white house. your reaction to the president's decision to fire david shulkin, we are talking to the nation's veterans. jim in kansas. hi, jim. good morning. isler: privatizing the va another tax payer ripoff scam. the only people, the only places , that will be able to service the veterans will be people that are -- will be medical

-- they willke have to be certified. basically, you will have a locked in clientele that you will be able to bill the federal government for whatever services you render. who do you think will get the contracts? it will all be insider. of thenother variation border wall ripoff. it started out as $2 billion to $3 billion, now trump of wants 5 billion up front. who do you think will get the contracts to build the wall? host: i will leave it there and move on to will in ohio, a veteran. i agree with the last caller.

i think shulkin did a heck of a job. look at the numbers. people were waiting to to three months to get into the va. he got it down. move to get him out of there was to privatize the va. everyone knows that the va maintains a lot of people that are physically destroyed, no limbs. where will you put these people? is uniquely designed to care for the troops that come home that are torn up. i do not understand what people think about the va is. it does more than normal medical treatment. it does long-term treatment. you have people from the vietnam war, from skirmishes, from the iraq war. these people will never leave the hospital.

people have to think what they are really talking about. when you privatize it, they are just going to take the cream off of the top. they will not take the patients that really need help that will be there for long-term care. that is my opinion, i will leave it at that. california, malibu, also a veteran. caller: i would like to disagree with the last caller. i have a client that did business with trump and he says he is smart as hell and does not make rash decisions. i have a problem with the va and the process itself. i go to the largest va in los angeles. you have 30 minutes with a nurse practitioner, you have a blood 40t run and they run different items. i have been overdosed twice. i had a problem with being

monitored for my medications. is the nurse think timeitioners, i think the spent with the patient needs to be improved. i get my blood test and i spend $100 with the doctor. for surgery the va i would be scared to death. i think it has to start from the bottom and you need to spend more time with the patient. practitioner had 948 patients that she looked after. i saw her every four months. a very nice person. --o not think technically when trump wants to do something he will go with someone he knows they should work

with the patient in that part of the process and it would be better for all of us. shulkin aboutr his firing noted that he was confirmed 100-0, just like previous va secretaries the post had been bipartisan. the reaction from capitol hill to the president's decision to is the. shulkin, here chair of the house veterans affairs committee saying that at the end of the day the cabinet secretary serve at the pleasure of the president. i'm glad to call david a friend and he has done a fantastic job. that said, i support the president's agenda and remain willing to work with anyone committed to doing the right thing on behalf of our nation's veterans. hee ccoffman says that

is absolutely convinced that only someone from outside the va and i hopep the va admiral jackson will be marine corps tough. our veterans deserve better, is what he had to say. ranking member on the veterans affairs committee says we need to get back to serving veterans. i know that he has a lot of work to do following the chaos and dysfunction president trump has created at the va. admiral jackson must put veterans first. listen to bso's -- vso's and fight all attempts to fully privatize the va. says he haser served honorably on behalf of veterans. moving forward the va needs a

strong leader that will strengthenveterans the va. what do you think about what the president has decided? a veteran, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, c-span. i agree with a couple of colors that have stated -- a couple of stated that have donald trump wants to privatize. a lot of republicans do. they want to privatize security. there is nothing they do not want to privatize because it is making money for them. inald trump does not care -- am a retiree. not just a veteran, but a retiree. retirees bylers are

the sound of their voice. donald trump does not care about the military. he dodged the draft and insulted john mccain, a pow, talking about he likes people that don't get captured. donald trump has insulted 2 goldstar family members. one year had the audacity to tell that the young men knew what he signed up for. who says that to anybody? that is a slap in the face. these people do not like to do nothing but expand arlington cemetery for their benefit. the big businesses that do contract with the defense department is where the money goes. it does not go to the troops. if they want to help the troops, give them the money. this is a nightmare. he is a disgrace. it is not true because i said it, i said it because it is

true. host: another veteran, what do you think? caller: oh, man. 2 after caller, not the that but the 2 before them, everyone has the right idea. you have to look at the bigger picture. he is taking all of these people that could possibly be against him and moving them out. has done that to the cia, to education, anybody that is anti the position they are going into, that is what he is doing. think about this. i saw a piece for christopher wylie. out whatelling ab happened with cambridge analytica. what he is doing is hiding. he is going to hide everything he has done by putting all of the people in there that he can

call on. asked comey, how loyal are you to me? that says it all. host: i want to show you what david's -- what david chalk and about working for president trump. [video clip] >> anyone who has the privilege of working for the ammander-in-chief grows deeper respect and affection for their commander-in-chief. have a great deal of respect and affection for president obama, and i could not say nicer things about with the experience was to work with him. with president trump, the president has a very different style. he is very clear about what he trump.one, president he puts that objective out there and sets high expectations and lets you do that job. my experience with president trump is that he is an ideal

boss for me. i know what i need to do, what the expectations are, and he lets me do that job. i know that i have his support, and what i need his help you is very accessible. i know he will be there to help me problem solve. i feel it has been and a privilege to work for both of these presidents, and this president now that i am secretary is allowing me to accomplish the things we are getting done here. host: that is what the outgoing va secretary told c-span last year about working for the president. here is what president trump had juney about dr. shulkin in of 2017 at a bill signing. [video clip] : i want torump express appreciation for dr. shulkin who is implementing reform throughout the va. it has to be implemented.

never mean the same thing, but i have no doubt it will be properly implemented. wright, david? it better be, david. we will never have to use those words around david. we will never use those words on you, that's for sure. host: president trump last summer mouthing the words you're fired, saying we will never have to use those words on shulkin, but now he has changed his mind. in a tweet the president said his pick to replace him what be his doctor at the white house, admiral jackson. what mr. jackson faces, if he is confirmed by the senate, the va runs 170 medical centers, 1061

outpatient centers, serves 9 million veterans, and has been caught up in struggles about how privatized.ld be there is also controversy about the contracts for a new computerized health system. that is in "politico." we're getting your thoughts. we will get more of your thoughts coming up. "the new york times" front page, trump's lawyer roche the idea that trump is pardoning michael flynn and paul manafort with their lawyers last year. the discussions came as the federal council was building cases against both men and they raised questions if the lawyer who resigned last week was offering pardons to influence their decisions to plead guilty and cooperate in the investigation. lawyerssts that trump's

were concerned about what they would reveal. mr. mueller's team could investigate if mr. dowd made inquiries. that is in "the new york times." the witness.," the lorraine motel and the legacy of martin luther king. and on a motel balcony america's greatest civil rights leader and most famous advocate of nonviolence will be shot to death. -- claraure claire asked ester, one of the people who witnessed the assassination. was trying toi live my life as a normal person who witnessed an assassination."

on wednesday of next week at 8:00 p.m. eastern, there will be a 50th anniversary commemoration. martin luther king jr.'s life and legacy. go to c-span3 for all of our coverage of this anniversary. good morning, pat. caller: i do not think that most of us know a lot about what is going on in the va. occasionally hear something, but rarely. i am sure dr. shulkin is doing a fine job. one of the campaign issues about president trump was that he was making the government leaner and meaner. -shoots off mis public money.

this is the second number that he has gotten rid of because of misuse of funds. i heard that dr. shulkin used $126,000 to take his wife on a trip through europe. the other one was dr. price. that is all i have to say. host: mike, a veteran, would you think? fromr: i live 10 miles mayo clinic, and i prefer my health care that i get at the va . the job the va, is excellent i have never had any complaints. i had a conversation with the he said he clinic, is very supportive of the va health care system. he says there is always room for improvement.

mike. do you think that it matters who the va? , do youy is -- mike think it matters who the va secretary is? caller: we'll have to see how this gentleman does. as far as draining the swamp, i think he is killing it.hopefully this gentleman will do a good job . host: good morning, tim. caller: good morning. i am a veteran. i tried the veteran line and could not get through. i came through on this one, usually the republican one. i'm a veteran and i went to the care, they delayed my foot care and now i am missing a big toe on my right foot. i wrote to my congressman and

told him what happened. the va sent him a letter with a lot of lies in it. he accepted it. i have no recourse for what happened to my foot. i am all about working. i got insurance, and i took it to the va. health care and they sent a bill to my insurance company. i thought it is a good thing to take my insurance down and use couldthe va and the va stay open for the other guys that don't have insurance. i can only lose so many body parts before i can't do this anymore. think that this doctor will pay more attention to the needs of the veterans than the other guys. host: the american veterans onsociation had this tweet

their immediate concerns. is it appropriate for an active alitary officer to run agency? is the president's nominee prepared to lead such a massive bureaucracy? we are pleased he has a medical background, but the va is more than health care. what qualifications does he have? the white house is disinterested in the point of view of veterans associations about the direction of the va and the sudden change in leadership threatens to stymie ongoing reforms. fromal jackson will retire active duty before being confirmed as the veterans affairs secretary. we will talk with the american legion national commander. sunday at 10:00

a.m. the american legion tweeting national commander rohan on the firing of secretary shulkin. has acted inlkin the best interest of america's veterans and was making meaningful and positive changes at the va. we wish shulkin well on his next venture. hi, frank. good morning to you. is the largest health care organization in the world. i would give them a c. a lot of it depends on access to care. where you live. where youe down south have a large number of veterans, they have clinics. but if you need specialty care, they will send you 100 miles to the va.

it would be better to see someone closer. another thing is that the va is a political football. you have a lot of voters, and they keep dumping money into things. the va communicates by email. they do not use the phone or call anybody. that in an email. you have a massive bureaucracy in the va. there definitely needs to be changes, especially depending on as far aslive, getting good access to medical care. host: when did you serve? caller: i served 22 years. i do not use the va. i have health care. i did work for the va.

i have experienced with the va as far as getting emails. i will have a situation where i get any mail from three different people on the same thing quoting regulations. don't youing, why pick up the phone and tell me what the problem is? it is that kind of bureaucracy that is stupefying. host: changing the person at the top, will it do anything to rectify the bureaucracy? caller: i would say that shulkin is on the right track. he is bringing in a lot of technology. traingain, nobody gets to on how to use the technology. that is a problem, you know?

it is aggravating that it is such a big organization, and i do not think that people understand that. if you get a referral to see a civilian doctor, he did not have insurance because he doesn't want to deal with the va . host: i will leave it there so i can get in other voices. caller: hi. everyoneious caller, is commenting on something decent. changing the person at the top, that is a good thing. if you don't do something, it is never going to get done. , nowlike president trump the country's waking up. .reviously, working for the va i am a retired md. it is a a hard egg --

hard egg to crack. his father was a psychiatrist and of psychiatry department was a moneymaker. with aeled everyone disease and you got reimbursed and you kept your facility running. his background was something else. he never wanted to rock the boat. sometimes, you need an outsider. host: you were am -- you were an md. did you work at the va? .aller: you got it you knew where the dead weight was. you can call jackson and outsider. you know where the dead weight is, you know from the top to the bottom. mentioned callers mccain.

mccain was a hero. yeah, previously, but now he is an establishment person and a politician. he is only looking out for himself. he has been protected by his father and military pc people who do not want to rock the boat. his father was high up. you don't want to rock the boat. host: let's go back to your experience at the va. you said that you know who the dead weight is. who was it? caller: it started from the top to the bottom. everyone in the administration, and then the physicians that went along with it. if you haven't listened to what i have been saying, he didn't want to rock the boat. host: let's go to robert. hi, robert. caller: good morning, greta. i'm a vietnam veteran.

what bothers me more than veterans notur being treated with respect and compassion. him -- i have had 4 vietnam veteran friends commit because of being stepped on. veterans affairs stopped abuse, but ever since then i have been blackballed. i would like to see accountability. opportunity.mes on

[indiscernible] seest want to accountability put into place. [indiscernible] paul, good morning. air forceam an veteran and i have been satisfied with the va. they have urgent care that is 7/7.2 0 47. i'm happy with what they have done for me. host: do you think that a change in leadership was needed? caller: it is hard to say because he compromised funds, the president trump runs his own show.

[indiscernible] host: i apologize, it is very difficult to hear you. first, other headlines from "the post."ton manafort associate had ties to russian intelligence during the campaign. and business associate of paul manafort had ongoing ties to russian intelligence, including during the 2016 campaign when paul manafort and rick gates were in touch with the associate. prosecutors for robert mueller alleged that he knew that the associate was a former officer with russian military intelligence. that the district

of columbia and maryland can alleged that mr. trump business dealings have violated the ban on in improper payments from individual states and foreign governments. the ruling marks the first time that a lawsuit of this time has cleared the initial legal hurdle, a finding that plaintiffs have legal standing to sue the president. there is one more story at the bottom of the page, doj inspector general to review surveillance of former trump campaign aide. that henced wednesday will examine a series of controversial applications to survey out a former trump campaign advisor, along with the departments of relationship with a former british officer who provided information for those requests. i also want to share an opinion piece by elizabeth warren, republicans remain silent as

oversight.cfpb docks the directors also in charge of the financial protection bureau, and elizabeth warren writes that piece if you care to read that. let's go to james. caller:. good morning, c-span i would like to say, god bless america. i am a 100% disabled veteran. i'm 68 years old. the va.hear me, i love here is the problem, you have til 10-15who wait un years after they are discharged from service to go into the va and want to register after they become older and have retired. .hen they flood the va

they are flooded with the last of the world war ii and vietnam veterans. then you have the other wars comingfor a veteran to sit backd is so sad because the veterans need to take their own responsibility and not wait a. to do every. little thing for them and the patients. veterans are not patients. they don't make good patients because they want everything done yesterday and then they wait until last minute to get signed up and get in the system. host: ok. caller: i am here to say that the veteran from south carolina, a choice --es you you can get a telephone call or in email.

they call me, they let me know. they update me constantly. chattanooga,n tennessee, there. i want to share the statement on dr. shelton's firing. he said dr. shulkin has made a tremendous impact during his time at the department of veteran affairs. he has been -- host: paul investment -- west virginia. our last call. good morning. caller: good morning. icurked my way up as an nurse and a civilian nurse p i have seen health care on the veteran, civilian, and military sides. i hope the admiral will be a ood director for v.a.

i think his medical background will be good for that. i am concerned with pensions and so forth that there should be someone on the administrative side that takes care of that, and the admiral could work on the medical side. i think the v.a. medical corps is overwhelmed with a tremendous mission, so is our civilian medical industry with their job. i think that the veterans health and, as an outpatient rehabilitative services should be done by the veterans administration, but the acute care, surgical care, immediate health care, a veteran should be able to go to a regular hospital, show a card, and get the same monetary benefit to pay for his care that he would at and get that care closer to home by experience

professionals, not that the v.a. is not, but they are try to take care of a large amount of people spread out over a large area, and if they concentrated their efforts toward outpatient care and rehabilitative care and allowed the acute care to be done by the civilian health-care industry, they could divide and conquer the health care problem for veterans better that way. host: ok. paul's thoughts in west virginia. we will leave it there. when we come back, pacific legal foundation's todd gaziano discusses legislative actions to undo federal regulations, and later, common cause's stephen spaulding discusses his new report on the national rifle association's political influence in washington. we will be right back. ♪

sunday night on "q&a," high school students from around the country where in washington, d.c., for the annual senate youth program. we met with them at the mayflower hotel where they shared their thoughts about government and politics. >> i am passionate about daca. it is not fair that lives hang in the balance because our congress cannot find a solution. >> and issue a that is important to me is climate change. the notion that we are the only country that is not agreed to the climate accord is a travesty. every other nation has recognized the impact of climate change and has taken steps to address it and we have not taken on that stayed on course. nation inthe richest the world but we have citizens that go bankrupt trying to cover basic health care costs. i think that is an outrage and

we should be ashamed. sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span third -- c-span's "q&a." cases,ay, on landmark griswold v. connecticut -- challenging the use of birth control. ruled thee court statute to be unconstitutional and establish the right to privacy that is evolving today. our guests are a law professor at george mason university and the associate dean for research and a law professor at temple university. watch "landmark cases" monday, and join the conversation. our # is landmark cases. follow us on c-span. we have the landmark cases companion book, a look -- link to the interactive constitution,

and the landmark cases podcast landmarkcases. morning,our table this todd gaziano, who is a director in constitutional law senior fellow for the pacific legal foundation. what is the pacific legal foundation? we are a nationwide public interest law firm. we celebrated our 45th anniversary. special luck or skill in winning almost all of our supreme court cases. we just won our ninth supreme court case litigating on behalf of the public interest, particularly promoting individual liberty against arbitrary government. guest: libertarian -- host: libertarians, then?

many of our members are libertarians, but we do not have an ideological component. we do not know the politics of our client. sometimes it is interesting to learn that some of them are diehard liberals but they have a problem with an abusive government, and we are delighted and when it them requires us to go to the supreme court, we are especially happy to do that. host: let's get your take on regulations. first, let's listen to the president and what he had to say about actions his administration will take. [video clip] mr. trump: congress has abandoned its responsibility to legislate and has given unelected regulators a short night power to control the lives of others. the courts have let this massive power grab go almost completely unchecked and have almost always ruled in favor of big government

, with billions and billions of dollars wasted. regulation is a self taxation. so many of these enormous regulatory burdens were imposed on our citizens with no vote, no debate, and no accountability. now there is accountability. by ending excessive regulation, we are defending democracy and draining the swamp -- truly we are draining the swamp. unchecked regulation undermines our freedoms and saps our national spirit. it destroys our companies. there are so many companies that are destroyed by regulation. and it destroys, obviously, jobs. host: todd gaziano, what is he talking about their -- unelected bureaucrats making regulations? thet: we know the growth of bureaucracy issues regulations. i agree with much of what the president says.

what he did not say is most of what he was decrying was unconstitutional, even though the courts have allowed it for much of the last 80 or so years. so, there are a number of unconstitutional practices, a doctrine. sustainedbeen a criticism. the real focus -- the real story we need to focus on is whether there is a climate to end the unconstitutional regulatory state, and we really believe there is. , andlly believe there is justices of the supreme court has granted some very interesting cases to re-examine those doctrines that indicate they are. a scholarly and intellectual climate, i think, has become much more receptive to fighting those unconstitutional documents , partly because the ultimate growth of these bureaucracies -- somewhat protectable to us --

well-intention in the beginning, funded to protect safe water, safe food, and worker protection -- but i think there is a growing understanding their democratically unresponsive, and they have their own, kind of, thirst for power, and that that is more of a paramount motive for them than their underlying mission. but from our standpoint, what really matters is whether they are constitutional. host: we want our viewers to call in and tell us their thoughts about federal regulations and how they are put on the books. the phone numbers on your screen. start dialing in. you wrote a wall street journal piece. explain.

guest: this is one of the four or five constitutional doctrines we will attack. in that lawsuit, the pacific legal foundation filed three losses on january 30 on behalf of nine client challenging a particular fda rule, but what we are challenging is that fda, illegally, unconstitutionally, delegated the authority to issue regulations to an employee. the constitution's appointments clause and separation of powers requires certain, significant functions only to be performed by officers, and certain other ones to only be performed by principal offices confirmed by the senate -- nominated by the president, confirmed by the senate. we know it is significant, the senate's authority, and what we are fighting is the agency, kind ignores the fight over confirmation and delegates through-making authority to employees. the matter how well-intentioned employees are, it is just

unconstitutional to let them write the content of rules that have the force of law. host: so, you said you want to attack this. what are you doing? thet: well, in the case of illegal fda rule, we are suing in three courts. if we do not win before the supreme court, we will seek federal and. there are other constitutional challenges. is a line between when congress writes a law and lets the agencies fill in the gaps. that has always been true in american history. guest: what happened with the effort -- host: what happened with you for the character. guest: guest: sure. when i was in school, it was called interstitial. it is ok for congress to write a law that mostly filled

everything out and lets the agency filion tiny gaps. -- phil in tiny gaps. verygencies can write a soue and open-ended command that in a given subject area this agency should regulate in the public interest. issueatute says it can worker safety standards that are necessary and appropriate. "and appropriate?" that is the only direction congress gets. that is the only direction they get. the supreme court granted a case -- they have only done this every couple of decades, but they granted a case a few weeks ago, and it really looks like this time they have found a law that went to far, and we are hoping that they revived the, sort of, doctrine, that

prohibits legislative delegation that is on life support and gives it some teeth. we wanted to return to the words of the constitution -- we will take it one step at a time. i think there is a trend. we pretend we- have a separation of powers. the question is which way will we go. will we adhere to the principles we learned in high school and college, or even in grade school , about who writes laws, or will we completely sanction violations of the constitution? host: let's go to calls. mark in cap, florida,

republican. you are on the line with todd gaziano. what is your question or comment? myler: yes, it is understanding that we are working toward or someone is working toward changing the constitution, and that they have -- they are working 12 getting enough state but slater's and governors to be able to make an amendment. i was wondering what that would require and what it would look like. can you take amendments out of the constitution, like the second? you can, but you have to follow procedures like an article 5 of the constitution, and there are some amendments proposed to amend the amendment process, but we have not ratified one since we ratified one that was proposed in 1791. before that, -- i think we should take constitutional amendment's more seriously, but it is extremely unlikely, for

example, that you are going to get two thirds of both the house and the senate to propose repealing the second amendment, and i hope that they don't, and then three fourths of the state to ratify that. ohio. independent. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have two quick questions. , i knowvate paralegal that regulations often are put in place for the protection of the consumer, the public, the private, that kind of stuff. there are statutes in the regulations. oftentimes isn't not have the effect of law unless there is a regulation public -- published. despite the president is showing these large volumes of regulations being cut, and i understand the constitutional concern -- i am your guest 100% expirationhe give an

on how they are delineating the difference between the two there , number one, and number two, maybe he can give me some insight. i ran into a situation not too long ago identify migratory concerns dealing with agency actions -- a notorious agency in our government -- and what i ran into is i could not identify anything in the legislative history, but i found that through a nongovernmental body identified as the uniformed law commission, which i'm certainly , itission -- familiar with seemed the statute, the wording of the statute, and the implementing of the statute from all the attorney general's i could communicate with said the directive conformed with the model uniform law. i could not find any legislative history. is that analogous to the kind of thing he is talking about? thank you for the time. guest: you post a few questions. me try to get the main ones that i remember. thank you for your interest and

concern. the president can repeal rules whether they are unconstitutional or not. he can repeal them if they are bad policy, and there are different procedures the president or the administration can use depending on how the rule was issued. but you would in more fundamental concern in your statement. you said there are some laws that are not implemented into the regulations are written. that is a serious problem. that confirms to me that congress is not writing laws. thatess should write laws are fully final and executable even if the agencies need to clarify -- for example, congress -- might say certain manufacturers of dangerous chemicals need to make certain

reports, and the agency could say what address you send the report to. that is the kind of gaps agencies can fill in lawfully. there will be minor questions of interpretation. you can never avoid that, and we're not arguing that every law will never have any question, but congress has to do the great majority of the work. when congress passes a law to an agency that says regulate the airwaves in the public interest, and the only standard they give is "in the public interest," that is not a real law. with a handgun is delegated the what they have done is delegate the lawmaking to an agency. host: the president has talked a lot about deregulation, but the

reaction from the other side -- there is robert wightman saying the regulations his administration is rolling back not only host: your reaction. guest: a lot of interesting rhetoric, but the logic of it fails me -- somehow the president wants to help corporations knowing that it won't help the economy. the merits ofbate whether particular regulations

are economically efficient or not, and another area we have litigated in -- we will litigate in, we have worked on, is the congressional review act. agencies have also failed to submit -- we knew laughter, for example, congress used the congressional review act to bad regulations. everyone of those regulations, people that defended them said were necessary, but the majority thoughtlected officials otherwise. what we have discovered at pacific legal foundation's many thousands of roles were never sent to congress and are being enforced. regardless of whether you think those thousands of rules would pass muster under congress or really were valuable or not, when lawmakers violate the rules -- when lawmakers violate the rules congress puts on them --

they don't submit them to congress for review, something is fundamentally wrong. we can debate the fine points of any will, but lawmakers cannot delegate rulemaking authority to employees. i cannot. issue rules without sending them to congress. . these are the things we need to clear up first. host: our guest mentioned the congressional review act that passed with the contract to america in 1996 and requires new federal regulations issued by host: nicholas in pikesville, maryland, a republican. caller: i was wondering if there is a legal distinction in the meanings of the words "liberty and freedom" because i often hear those words run together as

if there is some kind of distinction, and i'm wondering if there is what is it? guest: i don't think there is a distinction i can't think of in the text of the constitution or in judicial opinion, but the framers use those words, particularly the word liberty, draftingebate over the of the constitution and the ratification. for example, the federalist papers -- some of the most important ones like medicine and hamilton-- madison and talk about how the separation of powers was designed to promote liberty. its purpose is very important, and if you don't mind me, sort of, i think taking your question one step further, some people think in separation of powers, all that letters is we delegated -- all that matters is we delegated different types of powers, but they can trade to

enhance their own powers. for example, congress does not want responsibility or accountability, it will give it lawmaking power to the agency. what the framers of the separation of powers did is they permanently gave legislative power to congress. they cannot be sub-delegated or re-delegated. the president has certain power. it cannot be given away. another problem is courts have come up with these doctrines that defer to the regulated agencies, so instead of the required independence that the constitution requires judges to have, and that is why they were given lifetime tenure, whenever it is a lawsuit between the government and the system, they tip the scales heavily in favor of the agency. several justices of the supreme court and judge gorsuch when he was on the 10th circuit has seriously questioned whether

that is constitutional. it isn't. the court needs to re-examine and are re-examining those deference doctrines, and there are six or 8 -- chevron being the most well-known -- where the courts are going to start doing their jobs more honestly, more fairly, then we will all benefit. host: let's go to nitro in rockaway park, new york. independent. caller: good morning. good morning, c-span, all 1, 2, and three of you. this is where i learned a lot. i hear from the legislators themselves what they are talking about. my comment is the census bureau has just added a new question to the census that has not been added since before 1950 -- are you a citizen? when rome was doing

censuses 2000 years ago they wanted to know how many people were in their. there were roman citizens, there were jews. why would you want to get an inaccurate count? that question seems to -- especially in this administration here -- i am not a political person. that is not going to solve my problems, but what i'm asking you is ok, this is the thing -- james comey was fired. that day the head of the census bureauand -- census resigned. now there are several people in power. who issued this role? fromnew wording because political reporting i have is nowkellyanne conway

in the census bureau as a political appointment. host: ok, todd gaziano, do you know? myst: census is not specialty, but i do know congress has some authority to define the questions in the census can but then it delegates to executive agencies to fill in these gaps. this is one of these gaps that congress certainly could define more carefully. understand, and again, i don't know the agency, but one of the u.n. agencies recommends that all nations try to determine -- try to ask about citizenship in their census. i understand the political concerns. the political concern is that some noncitizens who are illegal aliens may not respond to the census, but, again, i think congress can accept it if it

wants. otherwise, i think that returning to what we have done to decades is probably nonproblematic. in stockton, california. a democrat. good morning. i am calling because i wanted to address -- why do we need regulations and stuff? we needed to make the playing field level. at the time when the banking industry was foreclosing on houses, i read the "record" which is a newspaper, they had a hold back section, four columns, addresses, and everything, and all those houses were foreclosed on. even my cousin who i was living with at the time -- his house was closed on. that was the corrupt way the

banks did their business. all lama put it -- obama put in something that, kind of, halted that. it seems like our economy is basically on the monopoly game. if you own all the property you can charge all the prices, and you keep on talking about changing the constitution so we have a balance of power within your favor, or your kinds' favor, the way you guys think. host: let's get a reaction. todd gaziano? guest: i absolutely don't want to change the constitution. what we can't have is people believing we have separation of powers and then we have rules that are allowed to be ignored. i am for this constitutional's original -- this constitution's original public meeting and that is it we are fighting for. host: mulberry, florida. james is a republican. caller: yes.

i know how hard it is to try to sue the government. i tried to get an attorney. the v.a. sent me to the emergency room, did a stress test on me, did not follow-up, and four weeks later, i saw the doctor and he said by the way, you had a heart attack, and he said he was going to give me pills and see me in six months. i ended up going to st. joseph's hospital, and they rushed me in .or triple bypass with a stent i at least had insurance on the outside. now they are sticking me with a $10,000 medical bill. last hour, you had a comment on who should be there. somebody who was approved before. that is only jeff miller. jeff miller, under the obama administration, went ahead and -- host: james, we're not talking

about the v.a. secretary anymore. i think that is where you have taken this conversation. let's go to chris in milwaukee, wisconsin. independent. i.ller: h i am calling because we do need regulation and if you go back to the constitution the wait was originally written, i as a woman would have no rights. then you have blacks as three fourths of a person. who wants the original constitution? i am old enough to remember -- i have lived for 50 years -- i could not breathe because the smog was so bad. yes, we do need it, and right now we have a republican governor who is trying to change all the regulations just to have foxconn. to not enforcepa the clean air act. they want to fill in wetlands in

where we needsin wetlands for not only clean water, but because it controls flooding naturally. we do need regulations. host: let's get a response. mr. gaziano. guest: thank you for reminding me to comment that the amendments of because of vision are part of a positive vision and the amendments need to be given their original meaning as well and the post--civil war amendments, particularly the 14th, is vital to protecting our constitution. i think we all agree. thethe people, delegated authority to make the relegation to congress. that is the lawmaking power. the agencies are only supposed to implement under the constitution, enforce, and sale

in those tiny gaps -- sale in those tiny gaps. the more important regulation is, the more important it is for elected officials to do it. they should not evade their responsibility by forcing it on agencies and then complaining that the agency that not do it right. host: should we get rid of the congressional review act? guest: the congressional review act is a tiny step back toward the constitutional norm because it says even though we have given too much discretion, we will at least have an opportunity to review and get rid of the worst. what i am for is something like the reins act, which would come closer to returning. it is set for major rules defined as over $100 million and other criteria -- the agencies would do the work of studying, coming up with a proposal. it could take years.

then it would come back to congress for an up or down vote. the agencies could try again. the best solution of all is for the congress to step up with those kinds of efforts on their own committee. we need to keep congress small. it is really ridiculous that congress has -- i worked at congress for a few years -- the tiniest staff relative to the agencies, when i was 20 years ago working on the predecessor of the reins act, i was privileged to help members draft the congressional review act. we had in mind the reins act. i remember some congressional staffers saying we don't have the expertise to review agency rules, and my thought is you had .etter darn get it if you don't have the expertise

just on an up or down level with hearings, with experts testify -- testifying in congress, then our constitutional order is even more broken than i thought. for 20 years i have been working to try to make congress make its job. guest: what is the status of the reins act? -- and went host: what is the status of the reins act? would the reins act reverse the presumptions of the filibuster and it wouldn't matter. you could take up the filibuster in a version of the reins act, but unfortunately, those who responsibility to the agencies need to get to 60 votes, and we're not there yet. host: charlottesville virginia -- charlottesville, virginia. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning.

i have a question on federal regulations. based on conversations had on c-span yesterday where we were told congress has been giving out to the department of defense more money that was asked, and sometimes my that was not asked for. i was curious, what federal regulations are there for that type of money given out by congress if any? host: congress can't -- guest: congress can give more money for the president requests, and they have appropriations power. i do not think there is any regulation other than our vote. the regulation is every two years, or whatever you vote for your u.s. senator. it is you. host: rob in new york. a democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. until hearing this gentleman speak, i thought there might be part of me that might be libertarian, and i might be taking that all back. no offense.

real pollutiony our founding fathers had to deal with was horse manure in the streets. this gentleman gives the feeling that he does not care about regulating for clean air, regulating for clean water. maybe he likes to drink brown water out of the tap, or his children, or his grandchildren -- i don't know how you realize how you are coming off. host: let's be fair. let's let him respond. guest: i am not sure -- i apologize if i have given you that false impression. i cannot think of anything i said that would have said that. i said we are all for regulations. we're all for laws, but we need to be for accountability. criticize- i did not any particular rule. are talking about is the

protections that the framers set up against arbitrary government, and if congress delegates an entire area of law to an independent, you know, branch, or even to the executive branch, as medicine famously said, that is the very definition of tyranny, and the definition of arbitrary government is an unresponsive, on elected individual who has the final say. so, whatever regulation people ist -- whatever regulation secondary to what i am talking about and what we are focusing on as that it has to be done in a constitutional manner. more, viewers can go to pacificlegal.org. fellow foro, senior that group. thank you for the conversation this morning. guest: thank you.

host: we will a short break. we come back, common cause's stephen spaulding discusses his group's new report on the national rifle association's political influence in washington. and later, we will open up the phone lines for more of your comments. ♪ >> this weekend on the c-span networks, saturday at 9:20 p.m., a debate on the suit from a same-sex couple against the colorado bakery for refusing to make their wedding cake. p.m., chairman of the u.s. commission on international religious freedom on the current state of religious liberty in the u.s.

and around the world. 2,turday on booktv, c-span james swanson talks to jesse holland about events leading up to the assassination of martin luther king jr.. sunday at 10:00 p.m., second lady karen pence and her thehter charlotte share story of their family's pet do.bit marlon bun on lectures in history, the origins of nascar. sunday at 8:00 a.m., landscape historian about the annual white house easter egg role which began in 1878, and the changes that have been made along the way. this weekend on the c-span networks. this sunday on "1968, america in

turmoil," our guests are former black panther and emory university law school senior lecturer kathleen cleaver, and -- joseph, history and public affairs professor at the austin,ty of texas at and the author of "stokely, a life." watch live sunday at 8:30 a.m. "washington-span's journal" and on american history tv on c-span3. host: stephen spaulding is with us. talk about your new report on the nra's influence. we can first with common cause, what are you and who funds you? guest: absolutely. common cause is dedicated to

creating open, honest, and accountable government. we have 1.1 million members around the country. our president is karen hobart flynn. reducing theare undue influence of money in politics, ensuring everyone has free, fair, accessible access to the ballot, keeping the media open and information flowing. our funding comes from people all across the country who make small contributions to common cause. we have monthly numbers, and foundation rick -- foundation support as well. host: you have large donors with well-known names. guest: we are fortunate to be funded by the democracy fund, a number of organizations throughout the country. we are also -- our one million members help sustain out 35 state organizations as well. host: why did you decide to do a report on the nra and its

influence? guest: the nra -- certain we have a crisis of gun violence in this country. it is one of the leading causes of death of young people, and of course, this constant barrage of shootings on our streets, in our schools, and communities throughout the country is a crisis our leaders are not responding to, quite frankly. those in power have not been responded. what we wanted to do was examine why that is -- why our democracy seems so out of balance in not responding, again, to these crises. there is a lot of talk about the nra being a large funder of candidates and campaigns, and it is true that the nra has spent tens of millions of dollars giving money directly to milliones -- about $23 directly to federal candidates since 1989. that is a drop in the bucket compared to independent spending after citizens united, where in 20 alone, it spent $53 million

-- 2016 alone, it spent 53 million dollars on federal elections, and that was not going to candidates -- those -- that was money spent on independent expenditures like tv ads and what have you. if yourom your report, look at the blue part of the graph being the independent spending, and the red, the direct admissions to candidates and committees. why spend the money this way? guest: again, the supreme in citizensdecision united that bound that certain corporations and nonprofit corporations like the nra have a first amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on politics. there are spending that money to get the attention of elected officials. more importantly, another aspect of the spending -- when you have that sort of power, it is the threat of spending.

you have elected officials on capitol hill and in state legislatures that are considering legislation to reduce gun violence or put more guns on the streets, unfortunately, and unfortunately -- and the nra is able to use the threat of spending in combination with its lobbying. just last year, they spent over $5 million. it is the combination of their lobbying and campaign spending, and also their 5 million members, they say, which i think gets the attention of capitol hill. as this report also shows, while they tout their 5 million members, it is pretty clear that their positions at the nra is out of step with american voters, but their own members, for example. three in four nra members support universal background checks. the nra has been vociferously opposed to universal background checks. we have to do is shift power

back to people, voters, reduce the undue influence of money in politics, and ensure everyone has an equal voice and say in the decisions that affect their lives. host: we want to hear from our viewers on this. of course, nra members, we want to hear your thoughts on this. host:host: we will get to your calls here in just a minute. you found that in 2015 the nra member $20ingle million. guest: to engage in build mentorship. they rate candidates, an to give f on policies -- nra policies and they offer them

benefits including training, magazines. meanwhile, what they are doing in state capitals and capitol hill is pushing state policies on behalf of weapons manufacturers, on behalf of the gun industry in ways that are out of step with their own members. host: and why are they doing that? guest: they are doing that in -- on behalf of their membership, corporate funders, on behalf of weapons manufacturers. they have been operating as a trade association for gun manufacturers, for gun dealers. if you consider some of the policies on capitol hill -- in december when the government was on the brink of yet another government shutdown, rather than talking about funding the government, keeping the doors open, members of the house of representatives were debating a concealed gun permit and bringing guns across state lines. that just goes to show how they have unfortunately changed priorities in this country in ways that have blocked

conversation about policies that again can make the country stronger and better. that even though no definitive numbers exist, members of the nra have contributed how did you find the #and why should people believe they are accurate? been a numberas of independent analysis. a number of analysts have looked ,t their corporate program looked at different tiers of corporate membership to the nra. that $15 million from midway usa, a gun retailer, they tout that on their own website. we have that in a footnote. they talk about the $50 million

in a round up program where if you purchase a weapon, you can round up your perfect -- to a groupd it goes that does not just spend money on a logging, but spends money on politics and hides the source of funding, -- funding. host: which is -- it is allowed to do. why? guest: citizens united said it could spend any amount of money on politics, and a judges did say americans had a right to know who was trying to influence their views. unfortunate, i think the court was naive. our laws have not kept pace as the supreme court has deregulated our campaign finance system. our transparency laws have not kept pace. a lot of this money to the tune 2010 hasillion since been undisclosed -- at least

it's source has been undisclosed. host: let's turn to viewers. dennis in angola, indiana. you are on the air. theer: are you going to do same study about the influence of teacher union money? i have another question. how much money have you received from george soros, organizing for america, and michael bloomberg, and i will take my answer off the air. guest: there are a number of special interests able to move their agenda and they are able to do that because of the money they are able to amass and again, attract the attention of elected officials when they are in power on congress. in terms of common cause, we are proud of the small donors that support us in addition to some of the foundations. i am not aware of george soros personally giving common cause

any money recently, certainly not since i have been at common cause since 2009. we are proud of our supporters that are working to advance open, honest, and accountable government, and hold elected officials to the highest ethical standards because again, we believe people should have the power in our democracy, not those with the deepest bank accounts and the fattest wallets. ,ost: dave is in boston massachusetts. democrat. thank you, c-span. thank you for taking my call. i have not had the opportunity report,the common cause and i missed if it is actually out or if it is coming out, but my question is if you are talking about the influence the nra has over politicians, over congress, isn't the root of that the revenue that is being generated by the industry? i think a lot of times people defend the nra or the positions that they take based on constitutional principles, when

it seemed like it is really money that is driving this, and i'm wondering if you call any attention to that, and then i had a quick follow-up. host: ok. guest: absolutely. to your first question, the report is available at takingthenra.org. we put in the report is a number of solutions that could rebalance the conversation in washington first and foremost, we are everyone to register and vote. election day is the one day where we as americans are all equal -- we all have equal power. there are policies there that make legislation, the voting process even more fair, accessible, inconvenient. we recommend preregistration of 16 and 17-year-olds. there are 13 states that have that program. we recommend reforms like automatic voter registration, and the reform is out of date. automatic voter registration is the process by which our

governments, when they interact with americans, they put them on the rolls. they automatically register them. it makes the list more accurate. it makes them more secure. i said it is out of date because just yesterday maryland's legislature passed automatic voter registration. this enjoys bipartisan support and that will bring more people into the process and make voting more accessible. finally, the power, the money of the nra, as we mentioned, it is true the nra has quite a bit of power with independent expenditures and the money and gives candidates, lobbying, and it's supposedly 5 million members. there are other ways we can empower small donor constituents. you are hearing from a very tiny segment of the population that funds our campaigns -- 1% of 1%. if we can pass solutions that empower donors, the sort of reforms we had in connecticut, for example, where more than two

thirds of the connecticut small cute raises divisions that are meshed with public funds to a grant program, we can ensure elected officials are listening to us, the voters, not the lobbyists and special interests, and make legislature more reflective. in connecticut, where the program is successful and common cause is proud to have played a role in a vomiting and pushing for the program -- connecticut, in the wake of the new town massacre, passed a number of reforms. they banned more than 120 assault weapons, strengthened background checks, and the homicide rate has gone down in connecticut. if we can shift power back to people, we can see real fixes to this broken system. bloomberg, "the main reason we don't have more restrictive gun rights on the books is people who oppose them are more likely to vote on the issue than people who support them." guest: there have been studies has done studies on this

about gun owners in particular who are voting, but we have seen to the leadership of the young the marchesrkland, -- i was down there this weekend. it was incredibly inspiring on pennsylvania avenue. people are motivated to vote. they know it is the one that we are all equal. we have to pass reform to ensure people can do that. when we talk about our country, caregivers, first responders -- people that cannot vote, have the time on a tuesday, whatever time to vote, we need to ensure they make their voices heard. early voting is one form. ballotpeople can cast a on the weekend or a week before voting. ensure that people can vote by mail and surgery station or other jurisdictions. if we can make voting more accessible we will have more people making their voices heard on election day. host: we will go to dave, in boston, a democrat.

caller: it is still my call. host: that's right could you wanted to follow up. caller: just a point about voter registration. the more voters the better, and you should target that a local school boards because that is what policy gets set. you can capture the students just as they become eligible to vote. that is where the governance that actually matters happens. i would encourage you to target that, and since it is baseball opening day, if either of you have it reduction of what the red sox could do this year. [laughter] host: exactly. texas. independent. caller: my name is zach. i have a question about citizens united. i am 19. i am not very old. in my opinion, the nra, the whole money in politics thing -- we are turning into an oligarchy. that worries me. ofee no other way to get rid

that than to vote out people that take money -- any type of money from any corporate interest. since citizens united basically stated that money equals powerm, and money equals in the electoral process, i was wondering if there is any other way besides voting every single one of these people out to fix that problem? guest: zachary, that is an excellent question. citizens united was decided in 2010. even if we were two sets of fully there successfully overturn citizens united, -- even if we were to overturn citizens united, it would take us back to 2009 and i think we had a broken system. a lot of exciting reforms are happening at the state level while congress is incredibly gridlocked. organization,my we have folks in every single congressional district, and

stefan more than two dozen states moving these reforms. are innovative. empowering small donors with programs like matching public funds, tax incentives, a voucher program in seattle -- there is a lot of experiment station happening at the state level that ensures candidates are listening to constituents and voters, and not just the wealthy, special interests that are organized on the outside. transparency in spending, following the money -- that is a basic democratic value in our country. americans have the right to know who is trying to influence their votes and their views. california, rhode island, massachusetts -- a number of states -- delaware, maryland, have passed reforms to ensure americans can follow the money and see, again, who is behind our elections, because we have a right to know that. even though things can look pretty grim right now on capitol hill -- they certainly are. there are reforms happening and i think that change will bubble

up from the bottom. your elected officials need to hear from you -- at town hall meetings, letters to the editor, calls to congress to balance the system. host: fox news had this headline. "nra's political fund sees donations spike in february after the florida shooting." "supporters of the second amendment donated about seven and 70 $9,000 to the nra's marking a more- than threefold increase compared to january when the pack received more than $250,000 in donations. will we be able to see who donated that money? guest: just yesterday, the nra sent a letter to senator wyden because my question has reported there is a common-connected russian tycoon that has been trying to -- kremlin-connected russian tycoon trying to influence -- whether they try to

influence, again, the 2016 election to the tactic of using the national rifle association. letter toden sent a thethat's what they say. , they have not been updated. they hide the source of a lot of this money. we have a federal election commission that is notoriously dysfunctional due to the ideological opposition to our campaign finance laws by several of the republicans who sit on that commission that could pass regulations, that could investigate. so unfortunately we don't know where a lot of that money is coming from until we modernize and update some of our disclosure laws. host: but the fbi is investigating a possible russian money donated to the nra? guest: that has been reported by both mcclatchy and npr.

host: independent in northland, texas. you are on theguest: that has by both mcclatchy and npr. all right. let's go to air, thomas. ted in cleveland, ohio. republican. all right. let's try ted in cleveland, ohio. you are on the air. caller: can you hear me? guest: you are on the air. good morning. caller: i was wondering why they don't have more people requesting personal responsibility. further actions. .- for their actions didn't he have a responsibility? in the floridaty high school have some kind of personal responsibility? i get confused. as far as gun violence, guns don't kill people. people kill people. thank you. host: stephen spaulding. guest:people kill people. thank you. thanks for that question. i think our elected officials have responsibility to respond

to these massacres that are happening all throughout the country. whether it was the virginia tech massacre, whether it was columbine, the pulse nightclub where 49 lgbtq and allies were shot to death. whether it was 500 people injured in las vegas. whether it was the 17 people injured in parkland. whether it was a number of these massacres including on capitol hill when we had congresswoman debbie giffords -- cabbage giffordshot -- gabby shot at a meeting great. we had stevens police shot at a baseball game. scalise shot at a baseball game. our government is absolutely nothing. that is an embarrassment, an abomination, a corruption of a political process. our government has not been responsive to these crises when 90% of americans support universal background checks for all gun sales.

scalisebanning assault weaponss super majority support in this country but our congress is not responsible -- responsive. republican and nra member. good morning. caller: good morning. i have two comments. freudianeman had a slip when he talked about the membership. the membership of the nra endorses the policies and political activity of the nra. the other comment i would say is the roundup program that he talked about, that retailer gathers money on behalf of its customers. pathere are simply a through involved with it. guest: no question. the nra talks about its 5 million members. i think many of its members are law-abiding americans who see

some benefits in nra membership. they have a number of programs, magazines, training programs. really it's the leadership at the nra that has ratcheted up its political involvement by spending money in elections. betweeners, $23 million 1989 and 2016. two federal candidates. 2016illion alone in this federal elections. about 60% of that money came it did not ila where disclose the source of that money. in research we were able to track some of that money is in fact coming from gun manufacturers themselves and that is why i mentioned that they are really in essence a trade association for corporations that manufacture weapons and guns. host: andrew is on the line for democrats. what i'm talking about

is like in chicago they have some of the toughest gun laws in this country. the problem is with the gun laws. they could go across state and by guns at least pacific gun shops-- these pacific gun who will sell to the same people over and over again. and everybody knows which stores they are. should end up in jail if those guns are used in a armed robbery and why don't they pass a law? if you keep on selling guns to the same people, handfuls at a time and they keep on coming back and buying more, those people should go to jail in that gun shop. guest: thanks for your comment.

there are solutions to our broken system when it comes to how guns are sold, trafficked and used. in order to fix our gun laws nationally we have to fix the laws that govern our democracy and the role of money in politics and our elections. a number of elected officials are just not responsive to the needs of voters and that's because we have already talked about this morning the money from these industries but also gerrymandering. how elected officials are choosing their voters rather than voters choosing their representative. there is a lack of responsiveness because of the money and because frankly, our elections just have not been as competitive as they should be or as we hope that they would be in american democracy where the power of ideas with -- win, not the wealth and power that comes with money. host: bob is in jackson,

tennessee. republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for your guest. but i member of the nra am for background checks 100%. i think we ought to get rid of some of these assault rifles. i realize that. let's say we take every gun out of this country and know for a fact there is none. how long will it take the drug cartels and criminals such as that to refinish this country weeks?ns in a matter of to the drug cartels is pocket change. how many illegal weapons could they bring in with that amount of? -- money? bringsi think the caller up a point here. you're a member of the nra and your support universal background checks is something that is not shared with the

leadership of the nra is making strategic decisions about how it's going to get involved in elections and sending lobbyist into state capitals throughout the country and forestalling action. paul in minnesota. independent. caller: i was raised in a house with myself and five sisters. we had guns everywhere. we were taught never to touch them. she had me hunting by 6-year-old and in class learning guns by nine. the thing that seemed to change is like with his machine gun style guns and stuff i think they should be left to the service people. i don't know why people think you have to take a machine gun to go kill a deer were dropping bear or even square hunting. -- squirrel hunting. guest: i think your views are

shared by tens of millions of americans. host: you can read more about the common cause's report at their website. also if you go to twitter. thank you, mr. spalding for the conversation this morning. a break and when we come back we will open up the phone lines and get your thoughts on any public policy issue we have this today. there are the numbers on your screen. start dialing in. we will be right back. global security. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of white house, the supreme court and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the

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host: we are back in two "here are the last hour -- you are back in open phones here for the last hour. the president's decision to attack the white house dr. admiral rodney jackson. with thoughts on that as well. gary is a republican. go ahead. caller: good morning. i believe that fellow was as far left as you can get. there's millions of guns in this country that areleft as you cany automatic. they could be turned automatic. the second amendment is to keep government from pulling doing in like assad's syria.

i can't imagine that fellow you had on his going to be one of the guys that goes along collecting these guns from the people that own them. know plenty of x military people that have these kind of weapons. i can't imagine that guy knocking on their door and say you have to give me those weapons. who does he think is going to collect these guns? if there's 5 million people that own guns and 30 young people are mentally ill that either stole the guns or should have never had access in their personal home and its place -- in the first place. it's really about personal responsibility and common sense. host: jeffrey in new york. a democrat. caller: good morning. i am a loyal c-span watchers.

-- watcher. i think since citizens united decided that money is freeze -- , the money power of 5 million people outweighs 345 million people that are not nra members. is this extreme minority dictating to the reasonable logical majority that we should bend to their will and i believe this is actually taxation without representation. the congressman that are bought and paid for by the nra is this money to get reelected in the gerrymandered and to keep power are taking power away from 345 million innocent victims in this country that want reasonable gun control. i don't want machine guns in my neighborhood. i live in a public housing

and i work for the county jail and i see a lot of criminals that i do not want ak-47's in these people hands. or mact want ak-47s ar-15 in the streets at all. i am a veteran and i have shot powerful weapons. i think they belong in the hands of the military and the national guard. you want to enjoy shooting these and you think it's fun, join the military. host: financial times of london this morning. there page, after the worst day one day drop in the history on tuesday several so-called fang stocks fell. netbook, amazon, apple, licks and google -- netflix and

google. you can see the graphic of how far as they fell yesterday. stockadline says amazon's plummets reports -- on reports of president trump is no fan of jeff bezos's online empire. he says they pay little or no taxes, use our postal system is their delivery boy causing tremendous loss to the u.s. and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business. joanne in minnesota. independent. good morning. i also watch it c-span a great deal of the time. this morning i would like to comment on the nra.

i feel that everybody is just anding all over the nra they forget to look at the good things that the nra has done. in the protest march of the students the other day i was so excited to see them and i thought, this is really good that they want to have a voice and they want to try and make a difference. thei was disappointed in one young man who stood up there and said and also said on cnn the next morning, he felt the to bented children killed. he actually said it. then he says the purpose of the nra was to sell guns. and when allison said -- and he really went after marco rubio and said nobody should vote for anybody who takes one penny from the nra.

i think they need to look at some facts. when allison said to him that he knows that rubio had gone to visit a relative of one of the man's killed and this relative had said he wanted to know what she thought that they could do to improve the situation and it does come down to school security and now these children say we don't want clear backpacks. we don't want this that could be of help. they've gotten a one track mind and they are hurting their cause. theso believe we don't need automatic weapons. but we need to have guns. for protection and just because thatave a gun doesn't mean you advocate killing children. and that you advocate some of this. the background checks are very important. but i saw on tv the other night

and i was really surprised. i did not know this. they showed a clip, a video of the nra advocating for or 20ound checks about 15 years ago. so the nra i don't think should be demonized. last fellow you had on was appalled at the amount of money that the nra gave to politicians. and various politicians get money from all over. what if the republicans in this case said the entertainment industry can't give all of this money to their side of the aisle. keep thingseed to in perspective and also about that other young man. it's i demand. i demand. you have young people from parkland who are sitting down with government officials and the president and trying to come

and how tol benefits stop the shootings in schools and how to make schools secure but at the end on stage he stuck azishand up like the no used to use. host: on saturday we did talk to a number of young people that participated in that march who came from all parts of the country. and go go to our website to our washington journal section. you can find the washington journal and watch our program. front page of the washington times as this headline. trump shakes up v.a. here he is. the white house physician who was chosen by the president to replace secretary shulkin. he is telling his side of the story.

he wrote an opinion piece that was posted last night and he was on npr's morning edition this morning. here's a tweet from an npr reporter. what he's referring to is an inspector general report that dogged his tenure. the new york times right that critics who seized on the report tried to hasten his removal. public with a warning about officials trying to undermine the department from within and cut off those he saw as disloyal. senior white house officials came to believe that he had misled them about the contents of the report and the secretary's public declaration only further aggravated top officials who felt dr. shulkin had gone too far in commenting on internal politics with news outlets.

as recently as early march the white house chief of staff publicly claimed victory signaling that he had the white house's support to remove officials opposing him. in north carolina, republican. what's on your mind? i just want to know where all of these kids and all of these people are marching and talking about wanting to save the children from the guns. where are they at one 5000 children are aborted every day in this country? in winchester, virginia. independent. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i went to the march on saturday and was extremely impressed with the young people in this country

and i hope they are able to sustain what they are working for. i really want to talk about not so much the nra but the leadership of the nra. i belonged to the nra once in my life. it has been around for a long time. it's the leadership. that's where the money is coming from. apierre and his leadership. what concerns me in this country is the propensity that people have for wanting to take human life. weapons,litary style anything that comes out of military stock. sidearms. today's nine millimeter sidearms. they are all born out of the military.

1911, world war ii weapons. the fact that people just don't care about human life. in discussions with people on why they need a gun and it's to protect myself. my response after asking several question as to who they are protecting themselves from is so what you're telling me is when it comes your time to take a life in this country, you want to be prepared. people kill on a daily basis. the police shot that unarmed lack kid -- black kid. 20 rounds. when i heard they fired 20 rounds of bullets at one person and we don't know how many struck the body. i am sure of the 20 they probably hid about a third of their target. but the other rounds are just flying aimlessly around the neighborhood. no consideration for where they are going. they are no different than the

gang members out there. host: on that point, the new york times front page. police kill another unarmed black man. two police officers in sacramento. 10 minutes. 20 bullets. another young black man dead, this time in his grandmother's backyard. in the 10 days since he was fatally shot by officers investigating vandalism complaint, protesters have stormed city hall and taken to the streets in anger. the killing is a sign of police force that treats black residents with disdain and unfairly targets their neighborhood. in st. louis, democrat. good morning. go ahead. good morning. thank you. i just caught the very end of the speaker that was talking about the nra that you had on and i was so inspired by what he said which is so logical.

that the congress has done nothing. i guess i am complacent, too. i need to be calling those people and demanding that they do something about this massacre of all the people in all areas of our life. i need toso that's all and i ape that you had that speaker on. thank you. host: william, minneapolis. independent. thatr: after listening to joann -- i think she should ship her way down to portland and speak to some of those parents about those kids that got killed. i am amazed at how some people can be so gun loving and then talk about right to life and babies being aboard and this and that. it's just all phony. it's a phony mentality. that guy says 5 million people

are dictating the rights of 345 million people. it's just ridiculous. even understand how this guns don't kill people, people kill people. ok, let's take the opioid epidemic. drugs don't kill people, people kill people. so why are we doing something about the drugs? the first thing we do is arrest people for drugs and cartels and the dealer and everything but when it comes to guns, nope. do that.as nothing to they are just a gun cartel. same thing as the drug cartel. that's all the nra is. in politico, the food stamp fight that could kill the farm bill. the trump administration is shrinking a safety net program that might come at a great cost, derailing a massive farm bill that is heavily supported income country.

talks broke down earlier this month over the proposed work for -- rules for the nutrition program that democrats say would cut off an estimated one million participants. in washington yesterday and today c-span has been covering a food policy conference. today's discussion will be about the prospects for this farm bill. you can go to c-span.org for more details on that. hill newspaper this morning has a story about that $1 trillion spending bill. if republicans lose control of congress in november and the odds have just gone up considerably, they will have the to3 trillion spending bill blame. it was supposed to buy republicans peace with voters i bringing home the bacon. instead it has incited a nero told by voters against the senators and representatives who let it happen.

the house is about to come in briefly for a pro forma session and then they will go back out. we will go to the house as we always do for our coverage and then we will come back and continue taking your phone calls. in toledo, washington. democrat. good morning and thanks so much for c-span. i get up as early as i can and watch every morning. and i was a scoutmaster way back when. the gun range at the scout camp. the admiral would put me on temporary no cost dealers to show the flag pit. i used guns throughout my 30 years.

i do not support the nra because it is a dictatorship of the minority. you cannot say that you are going to be for guns that get into the hands of the wrong people because you don't want to control them in any way and nobody's taking anybody's guns except the bad people. but when people go across into indiana and down to ohio and by guns and take them up into chicago and kill and kill and kill. there has to be some way to stop that pipeline. house aswill go to the they are coming in for this pro forma session. it will be quick. will continue taking your phone calls. hang on the line. keep dialing in. we will be back.

until theopen phones end of today's washington journal. we go to north carolina. hello well. caller: how are you doing this morning? i am so proud of our children for standing up and speaking their mind throughout the country. something that is

.istoric and there's an ignorant's not with our children that they just don't know. they don't know anything about guns except for the people that have guns. they don't know a semiautomatic from an automatic. a three shot shotgun can be reloaded very quickly. it doesn't take a rifle or assault rifle. you have to have a background check. it's easy to find something to go kill somebody with. all throughout our country we protect our greatest treasures with guns. , theotect our president congress, our judges and our

greatest treasure we have is our children and why are we not protecting our security?ith armed host: dennis in toledo, iowa. like to talk to the pro-lifers that call in. the facts are this. it was a republican supreme court when nixon was president that made abortions legal. and it's the antics of a donald trump who cheated on 90 women, the reason women seek abortions. it isn't like barack obama or they blame the democrats and barack obama for abortions. he's faithful to his wife unlike donald trump who cheats on women. the reason women seek abortions and thank you very much. in new york, independent. what are your thoughts this

morning? caller: the second amendment was created in the constitution for a despotic government. we don't understand why some people have a problem with the nra. they have been around since 1871. it's just odd that people march and they really don't seem to understand what this is really meant for. morning notingis that the president has fired two top-level cabinet members in the .ast 15 days earlier in the month the secretary of state rex tillerson , he wants to replace mr. tillerson with the cia director mike pompeo.

headline in the washington post. nearly 200 former diplomats are alarmed at the state of american diplomacy. headline innearly 200 have sigr expressing alarm over the slide of u.s. leadership in the world and urging senators to grill mike pompeo about his plans to reverse the corrosion of the state department if he is confirmed. democrat.i, caller: this gun situation and second amendment and all this. the guns are here and they are going to keep killing people. that's just a fact of life. we are coming up on easter. a holiday. very religious time. everyone put the 10 commandments in the court and schoolhouses

and things. maybe they ought to delete that part about adultery. our governor and president really don't go by that. religious people ought to do something about people like that. independent in south carolina. what's on your mind? i want to thank emma for standing up. we need to go to the nra ceo and talk to them. nobody in the white house is going to do anything and i know that. thank you. host: leavenworth, kansas. democrat. caller: yes. there was an article in the new york times from a retired supreme court justice saying repeal the segment. the constitution is an evolving document. the founding fathers vote to be

able to change according to the wills of the people. just like prohibition. and then there was an amendment to repeal prohibition. why don't we just repeal the second amendment? if we don't want to do that, let's just tax them on the guns. are referring to john paul stevens, who wrote a piece in the new york times, repeal the second amendment. he lays out the argument there. to president responded former justice stevens saying the second amendment will never be repealed. as much as democrats would like to see this happen and despite the words yesterday, no way. we need more republicans in 2018 and must always hold the supreme court. in leavenworth, kansas. democrat. you're on the air. caller: i already spoke my piece. thank you. host: nick is in sarasota,

florida. i think the problem with this gun situation and opioids and all that is really an educational system problem. for the last three generations communist professors and teachers have been running education system. they don't teach anything about the constitution, what the amendments do for us or anything like that and you can tell by the callers you get. host: and that makes them communists? termr: i don't use the leftist or socialist or progressive, it's all communist to me. i am a 20 year military veteran in my 60's. i'm really angry that betsy devos hasn't done something about this. there's two classes they should make mandatory in the united states. american civics from the ninth grade to the 12th and then all , four morein college

volumes. and then the same thing with a critical thinking class. because everybody is spouting off all this stuff about how they think they should do it and that guns are crazy duck hunters. it's about protecting us from the situations we have seen in the fbi and the doj and all the rest of the government. they call it a political difference when it's really treason. you can be against president trump but after january 2017, he's the president. then it becomes treason when you're trying to take a duly elected president out. it's absolutely crazy and it's the education systems fall -- fault. host: gary. caller: i would like to say something about the guns. it seems like everybody wants to take on the nra every time something happens with a gun. school safety actually starts at the front door of the schools and they should address their

and doblem one-on-one something with the schools. i think never again is a far-fetched view. i think never again in my school should be the agenda. thank you. host: brian in topeka, kansas. i have a simple solution for illegal immigration. instead of building a wall or having the military coming it out of their funding, people from mexico come up to find jobs. all you got to do is start in the midwest and send ice out there. start in the east. start in the orange plantations in florida. ann you go there and you get illegal, you find the person who hired them. a million dollars a head. we will see how many dollars they come up for. they won't come up anymore because they will be too scared to hire them when their business is on the line. in indiana, republican.

robert. caller: i was listening to the lady two or three calls ago. she was talking about the nra. i don't believe it's a gun retail. she was talking about the amount of money that the nra gives to our government. for the most part and correct me if my facts are wrong i believe the nra has given $200 million in the last 20 years. the unions gave $1.5 billion just last year. they give a lot of money, it's not that much of an influence. the influence is the fact there's a group of people who all have a common bond and belief. makes the nra powerful. that's just my opinion. also on these children and school shootings, though it is very unfortunate, they are acting on feelings and emotions and rightfully so.

advocate fortry to stricter gun laws. most of the problem to the best of my knowledge is in action on each individual state on the background checks. that's all i wanted to say. host: that was robert in indiana. c-span's bus has been on the road visiting all 50 state capitals and engaging with viewers to showcase c-span's multi platform public service resources. yesterday the bus was in washington state. we spoke with jay inslee. stop number 25 takes us to the capital of the evergreen state. olympia, washington. joining us now is fifth-generation washingtonian governor jay in sleep -- governor jay inslee.

>> good morning. ofnow that you are the head a state, before that you were in the house of representatives. how does policy made in d.c. affect things happening in washington state? >> we have decided to be masters of our own destiny. we are not waiting for the d.c.s happening in washington fake washington. we are the real washington state and we are seizing control of our own destiny and not paying that much attention in some sense. we are passing net neutrality. we are passing an opioid crisis intervention. a better way to finance college education. we have an infrastructure plan that is improving our transportation sector and we are andg all of these things not waiting for the other washington. our view is the real washington is here. the most beautiful washington is in washington state and we are

moving the needle and i am very excited about the progress we have made. i just finished a legislative our view is thesession where wen the nation bills in a variety of subjects. we are not waiting. the real washington is moving. >> in recent days there has been a question about citizenship on the census. washington is one of several states joining in a legal fight against that. talk about the legal strategy. >> we had been involved in a long-term effort to protect constitution and protect our freedoms. that's why i am proud that we have resisted and contested many of the wrongheaded actions by the president starting with first in the nation effort to stop this illegal and unconstitutional travel ban that clearly was a discriminatory effort by the president. we are moving on to protect the census which is so important in our country. there was a very poorly thought

out effort to sabotage the u.s. census by the president to inject something that has not been done for decades to create a question that is designed to reduce the participation by people that the president somehow doesn't believe should participate in the affairs of our communities. and it is sort of a kin to his effort on his travel ban that at its motive a discriminatory divisive attitude. we are posting -- pushing back in court including our efforts to protect washingtonians from climate change. i'm proud that we are contesting the effort from the president. we are building a clean energy economy in the state of washington. we have a city that has the highest concentration of electric buses. someday we want the c-span bus to be electric. we are pushing back against the trump administration's desire to go backwards in so many ways.

i'm proud of our state standing stall and proud to resist this. we just had a hearing yesterday fighting back against the trump administration effort to embed discrimination in our military to ban transgender personnel. we have people serving proudly in our national guard that are transgender. we are fighting tooth and nail against the discrimination coming out of washington, d.c. and we are standing up for a tolerant and fair and embracing and welcoming community here in washington state. ohio was a legislator from who made this argument about the -- he says apportionment for electoral fees and congressional votes should be based on citizens, not on residents. what's wrong in that argument? >> it's really simple.

it doesn't follow the law. the law in the census requires that everybody to be counted to who lives there and that is the law of the united states. you've got to read it and that is clear. this effort to add this which has not been done for decades is a clear intent to diminish the of those who have been the subject of discriminatory action of this administration. there is no other purpose. we have methods of determining citizenship. there's another accounting system that we do have that does count citizenship for those purposes. the census is designed by law and required to count everyone and that is its purpose. that's important in determining where we put our investments federally to be able to deal with the people who are here and there are many people who live here legally who are paying taxes, working at boeing building airplanes. working at microsoft. coaching soccer who may not have citizenship.

they are part of our community and by law they need to be counted. we believe we are in firm ground in beating the trump administration. >> you said you were finishing up a session. when it comes to the finances of the state of what is the budget for the state of washington? and what's the burden on the taxpayer? >> it is balanced and we have repeatedly balanced our budget unlike washington, d.c., it's in the $46 billion range and i am proud of some things we have done this year. we have increased our investment in our children in our schools. we've increased the accessibility of financial aid to our college students. we have increased our assistance young people to make sure they have nutrition in a program .alled breakfast after the bell

we have now had the largest expansion of infrastructure. washington, d.c. can't build a birdhouse. we now have $80 billion of transportation infrastructure under way in our state and the greenest transportation system because we have focused on systems that don't pollute the air. we have one of the soundest pension systems in the united states. we have a balanced budget that's very successful and i am glad we have made advances this year. >> we asked residents of the state to submit questions to you. one of them dealt with transportation. she asked on facebook in terms of planned attacks per mile that we drive, how would tourists out of the state semi's head for the damage they do to our roads if there is no tax for them? be taxed on miles

we put on our cars while driving out of state as would still be paying other states gas tax? >> we have not actually proposed that as of yet. we have a system financed largely by the gas tax and that will remain in the foreseeable future. we do know over time we will have a transportation system that is much more dependent on sources other than gasoline. electric cars are coming on very rapidly. we have 35,000 people in washington today on a waiting list to obtain one of the first economically produced electric cars. we are moving to electric buses very rapidly in our state. some hydrogen systems as well. eventually we will have to come up with a replacement in the decades to come at some point for our gas tax financed transportation system. there are tests to determine how

that might work and what systems might work. they are a long way from implementation that we don't have to get ready for the future because it's coming very rapidly. we have to electrify our transportation system. we know that climate change is real. the president is flat wrong. his to nyanza of science is unacceptable. we are in the most scientifically literate state in the country. we know that over time we will jobsto introduce -- the that are being created in my state are incredible. we have thee largest manufacturer of carbon fiber that goes into electric cars in the western hemisphere. we have people building the world's largest battery that can can integrate solar and wind

energy into our system. and movinging jobs away from a very dirty transportation system. jobs and clean energy are growing twice as fast in the state of washington. economict this at an growth model and moving away from a fossil-based system is going to create jobs in my state. youn the technology front have watched as facebook has come into question about their data collection. how does a state respond to something like this on a national scale? towe are looking at the ways make sure privacy is protected. we actually have some local laws that have started in our communities starting in seattle. it does have some requirements for reporting and we are looking at him of those perhaps on a statewide races.

this has exploded on us. we have seen the manipulation of this. russians to try to manipulate our democracy is one of the most insidious things that i've seen and this is both to protect our privacy and our democracy. are beginning in the effort to figure out the best means of protecting that from washingtonians and i believe you will see some action in that regard. another washingtonian asks, would you support the honest ads act that has support from washington senators murray and cantwell and they also ask if digital platforms should have to disclose the funding for political ads. laws on thee some books that are requiring that. today we need to make sure they are enforced. i can tell you if senator murray and cantwell are for it that's a

so i wouldaccuracy be likely to support it. i am proud of what our senators are doing in this regard. they have been leaders and i appreciate their work. >> so recently the state and you signed a bill taking a look at public unions centering on nursing homes. can you describe that effort? >> we have found a way to be more efficient and healthy in the way we provide health care to people in their homes and we have tens of thousands of health care providers who are helping citizens particularly senior citizens in their homes and we have found a way to streamline the way we provide administrative services for them. they all now have independent one-off systems and it's very complex and burdensome. we would rather have them focus on providing care for our citizens rather than doing administrations. we want to transfer the

administering of burden to a contractor and we have found a way to really provide better care and we think it's the right way to do it. there's about 14 or seven states doing it this way and we think it will improve care for citizens. we are proud of what we have done in the state of washington. i think if you talk to any objective assessment they will tell you that our long-term care system in our state is one of if not the best in the united states because it has driven down care into people's homes so people don't have to go into institutions. we want to give people dignity of living in their own homes and freedom to determine their own ways that they live and with whom they live. expanding our health care into people's homes this has been a very successful enterprise. we want it to even be better by focusing on care rather than bureaucracy and we are going to do this in the new system. >> you have spoken about several issues statewide.

of interest is you possibly running for the presidency. what is the likelihood of you doing that? in the c-spano be bus. that's where i'm running today and i've got the best job in the world. andrnor of washington state i am happy to be doing this. it's a very exciting time in washington because we have been able to really move the needle. i will give you one example. the net neutrality issue is something i for for years in washington, d.c. and d.c. was frozen. nation able to pass the 's first net neutrality bill recently and to see that success which i believe will be replicated in many other states even if the trump administration tries to kill it in d.c., that's the kind of thing you can do as governor. i left congress after many years and have and a way to really move the needle in our state. i worked in congress for years on a way to fight the opioid

crisis to try to get opioids out of the black market and they get into the black market because some people leave their opioids in their medicine chests and they get into kids hands. nation'sassed the first take back bill which will take back these medicines, get them out of grandpa and grandma's medicine cabinets so they don't end up in the black market. that's the kind of thing you can do as governor and i have been excited so i am loving this right now. and governor of washington state jay inslee joining us on the c-span bus as part of our 50 capitals tour. thank you for your time. >> come back to washington. great place to visit. >> that was stopped number 25 of our 50 capitals tour. stop stop,for our next helena, montana. host: to follow along with the tour you can go to

c-span.org/community. a program update for all of you. the president this afternoon at 1:50 p.m. eastern will be in ohio to talk about his proposal for updating the nation's infrastructure. we will have coverage of that on c-span, that does it for today's "washington journal." we will be back your tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. enjoy your day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> today, the heritage

foundation will be hosting a controversy -- will be hosting a conversation on the tactics and strategy of terrorist organization. live cover starts at 12 noon eastern on c-span. the hill>> is writing that president trump is taking his infrastructure pitch to richmond, ohio. they are calling for a sweeping overhaul of public works that is being stalled in congress. you can read more about that on thehill.com. we will have live coverage of the president 2:00 p.m. eastern. after the speech, the president will leave for his estate at mar-a-lago for easter weekend. coming up tonight at 8:00, two photojournalists covering mosul. lieutenantretired colonel the transition to a new career, reporting on work, conflict, and disaster --

reporting on war, conflicts, and disasters. >> this was a photo from my phone. the rebel in the foreground is an armored suicide car bomb. vehicle, borne, improvised explosive device. iraqionated against an emergency response division humvee. sadly, the initial reports were incorrect. there were no casualties and iraqi policeman standing about 40 meters away was killed just from the blast from the explosion. inspecting the rubble of this explosion, the isis fighter, driving the vehicle, not only was he driving a suicide car bomb, he was wearing a suicide vest and he had an ak-47 with six magazines. so if his car broke down, he was

going to run out toward the good guys and detonate himself. detonate, hen't was going to shoot. was ready to die. -- he was ready to die. it was an interesting moment to , if you have been in costs go in the meat department and have seen this stuff. i asked him, what are you seeing now, where are you, what are you experiencing? he did not answer back. he only had half of a face. but it was interesting to be eveil and howo willing he was the dietary >> he whooined by victor blue

will add to the discussion. you can watch that tonight on c-span. you can also listen with the free c-span radio app. is begin on the c-span networks, saturday at 9:20 p.m. on c-span, the debate on a same-sex couple on a colorado bakery to refuse to make their wedding cake. and sunday at 6:30 p.m., daniel mark, chairman of the u.s. commission on international religious freedom on the current state of religious freedom. saturday on book tv, c-span2 at 10:00 p.m. eastern come on afterwards, james swanson talks with a writer about events leading up to the assassination of martin luther king, jr., and sunday at 10:00 p.m., second lady karen pence and her daughter charlotte, share their

family's pet rabbit brando. on lectures in history, a professor on moonshine drivers and the origins of nascar. and sunday at 8:00 a.m., landscape historian jonathan about the annual white house easter egg roll, which began in 1878, and the changes that have been made along the way. this week in on the c-span networks. -- this weekend on the c-span networks. sunday, on 1960, civil rights and race relations. our guests are former black panther and lecturer kathleen cleaver, and joseph, public author ofofessor, and "dark days, bright nights,"

watch 1968, america in turmoil, 8:30 onsunday at c-span's washington journal, and on c-span3. , campaignarville strategist for former president bill clinton, talks about his impact on the future of politics. the university of california at irvine posted this event. >> all right. there are some stragglers. we don't know what amazing things james will say. anyone who does not now, the pennsylvania house rages on and i am sure james will comment on that. but the play by plays are coming in and he will take those emails. for those of you from my generation, james carville needs no introduction. for any of you who