california will talk about potential u.s. military action against syria. last weekend's alleged chemical weapons attack. and republican congressman buddy carter from georgia will join us to discuss congress's role in stemming the opioid crisis. ♪ host: good morning. it is friday, april 13, 2018. the houses in at 9:00 a.m. today, with votes for the week expected later this morning. the senate's next scheduled to vote on monday. we are with you for the next two hours on the washington journal, and we begin this morning taking a look at the early reviews and jameson to former fbi's -- fbi director james comey's memoir. is set for release next week. this morning, we want to know do you plan on reading at? the phone lines to call in.

republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents,-- (202) 748-8002. you can also catch up with us on social media. on twitter is @cspanwj. on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. a very good friday morning to you. you can start calling in now. the book is not out, but some excerpts and early reviews are. here are some of the headlines about his memoir, released early next week. from the front page of the washington post, comey's memoir fires back at trump as the headline, to the front page of the wall street journal this morning, their story on it is focusing on comey's memoir casting trump as a mafia boss. the new york post this morning goes even further with their headline, their front page -- me and the don, it was like talking to sammy the bull, wanted me to hoopoker vid -- probe

ker vid. a writer for the washington post aceived a copy of the book, 430 three page tell-all. the washington post obtained that copy before its scheduled release on tuesday. he wrote comey narrates in vivid detail based on his --temporaries is contemporaneous instances in which trump finally did the norms protecting the fbi's independence in effect to coerce comey into being loyal to him, such as during a one-on-one dinner during the white house residence, interacting with writes, gave me flashbacks to my early career as a prosecutor against the mob. a silent circle of ascent, the boss in complete control, the us versus them worldview, lying about things about large and some code service to

of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth. telling,t, in comey's is the fourth fire in the trump presidency. is not writes is this normal. it is not fake news and it is not ok. we go through more excerpt from the book and other reviews out today. papers should know that the republican national committee has bought the domain name lyin comey.com. shortlyg the website before the fbi director is scheduled for his book tour next week, the rnc website features quotes from prominent democrats attacking comey's character during the 2016 presidential election. website also presented other opposition research questioning the fbi director's credibility, including a claim that comey tried to paint himself as an innocent, nonpartisan victim of president trump's administration

instead of a politically motivated washington insider. -- jimey publicity comey's publicity tour is a self-serving attempt to make money and rehabilitate his own image. comey is a liar and a leaker, bothis misconduct led republicans and democrats to call for his firing. he will understand why he has no one but himself to blame for his complete lack of credibility. we want to hear from you this morning as we ask are you planning on reading the comey memoir? republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002 this morning. we will also look for your comments on facebook and twitter as well. i willter, gina writes absolutely read it. trajan, espionage, fraud. arrest them and give them their due process.

crooks and liars. fred says hillary crittenton is a criminal. comey use the fbi position to exonerate her. comey is corrupt and a liar, tells you need to know about his book. and one more from donna westbrook this morning, saying she is not planning to read it. i will wait for the book report to come out. i have too much on my reading played at the moment. mornings first up this in indiana, line for independents. howard? caller: good morning. yes, i plan on reading the only book. .- comey book i think this is going to further confirm how corrupt our current president is and the need to quickly get him out of office. -- ins historic and terms terms of what this means to this country, where we have a president that is engaged in a thatulent election circumvented the will of the people, and now he is just

disgracing this country. . definitely plan on reading it it is hard to concentrate on much else in terms of public policy with this kind of confusion and disruption that the president is leading us to. plano, texas, line for democrats. go ahead. caller: good morning. the only reason i might be interested in reading the book -- even though i am a democrat, i still want to see what he has to say about the week leading up to the 2016 election. i think it could give some context, and it always goes to credibility. obviously, he wants to talk about what happened while he was in office, the loyalty meeting and all that stuff, but i think we still need to see leading up to that. of course, the republicans are going to want to beat the drama of what happened on the tarmac in phoenix, so i am sure you

will touch on that. i don't know, but i think there needs to be some context in terms of what he has to say leading up to -- host: at this point, do you find incredible? caller: i think so, only because people like rob rosenstein -- rod rosenstein found him credible. bob mueller, i think, finds incredible. finds him credible. those are the people i trust, no matter what republicans and those on the other side might say. i still want to see what he has to see in the book. host: dana in l.a., independent. caller: i am up early, so give me a shot. these people cannot stand the fact that the norm is being upset by trump. he is pulling people out left and right. paul ryan just left.

he knows he is part of a -- does not care who he is draining, republicans or democrats. trump us that voted for hate politicians. we hate them. we hit the corruption, we hate the lies, comey with right in front of commerce and -- i leaked documents. is that? of crap you do not leaked documents if you are in fbi director. that tells you everything you need to know about the guy. the guy is a piece of crap. comes out ofell office and starts slamming the president? [inaudible] barack, calling him all kinds of weird names like that. host: more from philip rucker in of comey book. comey stops short of outlining a legal case against the president, he writes, explaining that the country does not know

all the evidence, he cannot determine whether trump intended to obstruct justice by firing him and asking him to back off the fbi's investigation of michael flynn. "i have one perspective on the behavior i saw, which was disturbing and violating basic norms of ethical leadership, may fall short of being a legal." -- illegal." each chapter can be interpreted as an elaborate trolling of trump, starting with the title a higher loyalty, a subtle reference to the loyalty pledge that trump saw and did not receive from comey. more reviews as we go throughout the first hour, and we also want to hear from you. brenda and houston, texas, a democrat. john, andank you, thanks for taking my call. i knew it was not long before president obama's came -- name came into that conversation.

boy, they hate that black man. president obama warned us that this was not presidential material, but all of this rational thinking people knew that. you bet i am going to read this book. you bet i am devouring everything i can regarding this more on that is in the office. evangelicals should feel very good about themselves, their credibility is zero. that is sad. god is very sad about this. mavis, independent, fort lauderdale, florida. caller: good morning. i want to say i will be reading is book, and i think this much bigger than republican or democrat. i think this is our country. things i have heard our president do is amazing, and [inaudible] leaves office,

they are going to be in quite a state for years. the republicans now have no credibility, they will not stand up to president trump, and to see that picture the other day at the white house with paul ryan and mitch mcconnell and the vice present -- vice president and all those members of the republican party, it is ridiculous what they are allowing them to try and get away with. the republican party has a long way to go. the evangelical christians who support trump [inaudible] and say he has come to save our needs to- paula white be penned. have a good day. host: mavis, why are you an independent? caller: because i look at it from both sides, and i have voted on both sides in the past, but i look at the person running for the office. [inaudible] person and how

they would represent the country and their district for me. host: staying on the line for independents, bob in massachusetts. go ahead. caller: good morning. i would just like to say that i don't believe mr. comey's book is anything less than fiction, and i will not be buying it right away. he really -- they do not represent the country well. he had all the information they needed, and he did not act on it. come on. hillary clinton had 30,000 mils. she got to choose who got to look at them and which ones she was going to destroy. mr. comey make decisions months before interviewing people that he let parts of criminals also together in the same room and did not carry notes on any of that and supposedly carried notes on everything. the books is -- book is the biggest piece of fiction ever written and it better not be put in the nonfiction section.

have a nice day. host: bob brings up the clinton email investigation. , comey defends his handling of the clinton email investigation, and for the first time details private concerns is here she from obama following reassurancesivate he received from obama following clinton's deceit. democrats blame comey for announcing less than two weeks before the election that the fbi was examining a neutral of quitting a males for possible classified material. comey writes that obama's at alone with him in the oval office in late november and told him i picked you to bsb a director because of your incredibly -- integrity and your ability. i want you to know -- anna, desoto, texas, democrats. go ahead. caller: yes, this book should go into the nonfiction category. i will, as soon as i can buy it,

this will be my number one read. my number to read will be fascism. when president trump said i love my low educated people, and they are coming out of the woodwork, they do not know what to do. they hair is on fire, and know that this man is telling the truth. , whennow that this man you serve in the military, because i lost my nephew in a i am notraq, but bashing george bush. president trump is the president, not hillary clinton, not barack obama. did both of them to the perfect thing? no, probably not, but we know that president trump colluded with the russians and he is so upset now that he does not know what to do. he is going up against some very highly intelligent men.

's talks about his lawyer place being broken into. black people complained years ago about the fbi coming in, and we were a bunch of losers. well, guess what? praydent trump, i for his wife and his son, because they do not deserve this. host: james is in georgia, republican. go ahead. caller: good morning. to answer your question will you read comey's memoir, no, i will not spend any money on that. it is all about truncating and him making money. it, all i haveut to do is to do and your program every morning, and the trump haters who are trying to indoctrinate the rest of the country to go against president trump will have everything i need to know here. or $30.ves me maybe $20 host: taking your calls on lines

for republicans, democrats, independents. will you be reading the comey memoir that is coming out next week? the caller was talking about the rush investigation, a topic -- russia investigation, topic yesterday during the confirmation hearing for cia director mike pompeo. -- president is happening seeking to have him be the next secretary of state. today,hts from usa pompeo confirms mueller questioned him about his program to russian interference in the 2016 election. here is that exchange yesterday between mike pompeo and the ranking member of the committee on foreign affairs in the senate , bob menendez. [video clip] >> has president trump ever discussed the fbi or special counsel's investigation with you? >> i will not talk about private conversations i have had with

the president. >> so if you were to be confirmed in the future and we wanted to try and talk about foreign policy, and we ask you where the president is on this or that, you will not answer? >> i am happy to answer questions about the administration of the work we are doing. you are asking about conversations you should know, senator, as well. i have spoke with special counsel mueller, who requested an interview. i cooperated. your colleagues on the senate intelligence committee had asked for information from me and the central intelligence agency, and i think the leaders of those two organizations in a bipartisan way, they had him -- they can say i have been cooperated. >> so you have spoken to special counsel mueller? >> i have? -- i have. >> what was the topic? >> i'm not going to speak on that. >> did the special counsel tell you not to speak at co >> i have -- speak? >> know when here's a take away

anything because of the fact that not want to speak, there should be no negative inferences with respect to anything, or for that matter, positive inferences, that i think it is appropriate while these investigations continue, i do not speak to the conversations i have had. watch thatu want to entire hearing before the senate foreign relations committee, you can do that on our website, c-span.org. riley in cleveland, ohio. independent. are you planning on reading this new memoir? caller: hi, good morning. i don't think i will be reading it. i think that a lot of material that you can see and read nowadays is exactly what people would like you to see, and i am not sure we will see the full truth here until many years pass , like pearl harbor and many other tragedies that have happened beforehand. i also find it a bit interesting to hear so many viewers talking about the credibility that has been lost with the current

administration and this and that when, from my own perspective, having seen the highest funded campaign ever lose due to credibility -- i am not sure if it is still sold in the wound or what, but i might just read this book now. host: what do you think the full truth is? caller: i'm not sure, but from what i have learned growing up, it is often not what you think it is. and i'm not sure what that means quite yet, but i think time will tell. i can't jump to conclusions personally, because heck, i do not know more than the average person. barbara, florida, line for democrats. go ahead. caller: hi. will i read the comey memoir? absolutely. everyone needs to read this. what does anybody have to lose by not reading this book? barbara, do you find james comey to be credible? caller: i

absolutely find james comey to be credible. [inaudible] read the book, wrote we book -- won't read the book, how will any of us know what the truth is? host: while i have you on the phone, a tweet yesterday from the former press secretary to former president george w. bush. he wrote on twitter yesterday -- comey describes trump as they congenital liar and unethical leader. then why did he work for trump? if that is what comey thought, the honorable action would be to resign. caller: comey was already in the position when he went in there. why would he resign? soid not read this tweet, i'm trying to read it right now. the cards are on the table. host: barbara, thanks for the call. we want to hear from other viewers as we have this conversation.

decatur, georgia, line for independents. go ahead. good morning. a very interesting program. have you ever had david kay johnson on the program? the same thing comey is writing, he wrote the same thing before the election. and another thing to, in this particular book he said james comey is famous for prosecuting the genovese crime family. with 140 illegal immigrants. thank you. the: james comey served as attorney fortrict virginia in 1996. to a -- 2002, promoted u.s. attorney. december 2003, deputy attorney general, left the justice department in 2005 to become general counsel of lockheed martin corporation. in june 2013, president obama officially nominated comey to

head the f ei, replacing -- fbi, replacing robert mueller. may 9, president trump fired james comey. keith in savannah, tennessee, line for republicans. go ahead. caller: yeah, thank you for taking my call. i'm not interested in reading anything that comey writes. he is confused. the best thing he could possibly do is not write anything because he is confused. you know you done wrong, so try to write a book and make some money, but he is on the hook. when it comes out, he will probably end up in jail. and mueller is just as bad as him. the best thing they can do is walk away from this gracefully and have a nice day. they are both wrong. when it is all said and done, he is not find out,

going to say what is really going on. they are both wrong. host: what is going on, keith? --ler: there is no -- no there is no russian collusion. this is all just cover up. they don't want trump in office, so they are going to do everything they can to make the american public think trump is a bad guy. alone, thise trump country would be a whole lot better off and could get back on its feet. but they are not going to do that because hillary didn't win. hillary shouldn't be in office anyways. she is no good. she should be in jail. along with a whole bunch of other ones. when they get to the bottom of it, there will be a bunch of it in jail, and it won't be trump. home we should be one of them, and that is for sure. host: comey in tennessee, on our line for -- keith in tennessee,

on our line for republicans. in the op-ed section of the washington post from republican senator tillis of north carolina, his headline -- both parties need to protect robert mueller. letting this investigation run its course is in the best interest of the country, the senator writes, and is the only option to ensure the american people have trust in the process. independenceounsel and integrity act, which he is pushing, is about protecting the rule of law and producing an outcome that is good for our country. it is not about producing an outcome for one political party. we will find out if both sides can agree on that. this column in today's washington post if you want to read it. doug in illinois, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i am interested in what comey has to say in his book. disappointed,d of disheartened about these other callers that are calling him a liar and saying he should leave trump alone.

trump is on record as averaging five-and-a-half lies a day. comey made mistakes. we on the left never -- host: where do you get the five-and-a-half lies a day stat from? caller: you can look it up anywhere. you can look up how many lies he has since he has taken office, and there are multiple sources and it comes out to about five and a half lies a day. but about comey, we on the left did not really, we did not question his integrity, we questioned his judgment. to violate the hatch act 11 days before the election and release that letter to comey -- i mean to the congress.

but he did not say a word about the trump investigation. they were both under investigation at the time, but he only decided to say something about one of them. and he had already closed, declared the other one closed for hillary clinton, so why did he reopen it 11 days before the election? host: if you doubt his judgment and how he handled that, why do you trust him and what he is saying about president trump? caller: because i think when he started having conversations with him, his instinct as a cop kicked in and he realized that he was dealing with someone who is not totally honest, and that is why he started taking notes. the entries he made on his computer or like the 21st century version of the old-style detective using a notebook or an fbi agent using their notebook. host: why didn't his instinct says a cop taken during the

investigation at the end of the 2016 election into hillary clinton's emailed? caller: well, i really don't have the answer to that. perhaps he was not having the conversations with mr. trump until after he had already taken office. that is the only reason i can say. host: doug nld oakville, illinois this morning. ne tweet -- doug in elkville, illinois. one tweet reads from his action the 2016 were a major reason why clinton lost the electoral college. the ataxia and the fbi are getting from other republicans is well-deserved. going asking if you are to read james comey's book, scheduled to come out next week. the excerpts and reviews coming out today, and we have been going through them this morning. you can keep calling in. lines for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

independents, (202) 748-8002. more of your calls in just a moment. it is coming up on 7:30 on the east coast. we wanted to direct you to some other news around the country. from the washington times, president trump directing aides to explore rejoining the transpacific partnership. the story noted that the president directed those aides to explore rejoining the free-trade deal with the pacific this week. the decision came at a white house meeting with law makers theyovernors who said deputized larry kudlow and robert lighting or two investigate -- robert lighting -- whichke singer job losses and factory closures in the united states. he pulled the u.s. out of the deal in 2017 as a defining action in his america first , after years of

negotiations by the obama administration. the president tweeting this morning about tpp, would only join tpp of the deals were substantially better than the deal offered to president obama, he said. we already have bilateral deals with six of the and of a nations -- of the 11 nations in the tpp, and are working to make a deal with the biggest of those nations, japan, who has hit us hard on trade for years. president yesterday evening. we are looking for the tweets from the president this morning. this is a time of day he does if he doeset, so we will let you know. we are also talking about the ongoing effort to replace paul ryan at the top of the republican conference. some news yesterday about the jockeying for positioning their. whip steveity scalise said he will not challenge majority leader kevin mccarthy in a gop leadership contest to replace the outgoing speaker. also rejected the notion that he should step aside

earlier than planned to clear the way for a quick transition to a successor, saying his fund-raising prowess is needed during what is shaping up to be a tough election year for republicans. he announced wednesday that he believed congress early next year at the end of his term. mr. scully's on thursday reiterated his public comments -- mr. scully's -- steve scalise on thursday reiterated recent helic comments, saying that would not run against mccarthy. he and i are good friends. we will keep an eye on that as the race to replace paul ryan continues. linda, texas, line for independents. good morning. caller: hi. i'm just calling to say no, i will not read the book. i don't trust comey. i think he's a liar. until, was a democrat until reagan came around, and he

was a maverick and i am kind of -- youick, so it just know, away from the norm, something that had not been done over and over and over. the reason i voted for trump wasn't because i thought he was the most moral person around. swamp,heard drain the and i think that is what all of the screaming and everything, it is the swamp, swamp rats coming up out of the swamp, and they are all crying and want their positions, they want their money, they want whatever it is they are afraid of losing, and coming out screaming. so i think we should just set .ack and watch it i want washington cleaned up. i don't know how that can be done, but i would like to see it done. and most of the people i know do not trust washington comments at all. host: linda, did you think we

would be farther along when it comes to draining the swamp then we are right now this far into the trump presidency, or does he have it right? caller: let me tell you why it will take a long time. i read an article about a man in florida that actually drained described the process. it was so interesting, because whether you date -- the more you the, the worse -- dig, worse it gets. farther down you go, the worse is notng becomes and he a politician. he is just a swamp drainer, but he described it so adequately. focus this, a lot of weekend last week on epa administrator scott pruitt. how do you feel about him in that position at the head of the epa? caller: i have no -- i have no idea. i don't know his background or

anything, so i can't answer that. concerned about his living arrangements when he has been in d.c., his travels, security detail that he takes on his travels. yesterday at her press briefing, house leader nancy pelosi brought up scott pruitt and called for him to step aside. [video clip] every week we see new evidence of the trump administration's culture of , andption, cronyism incompetence him. epa administrator scott pruitt has displayed a staggering ethical blindness. president trump must fire him. arett's abuses of office representative of an administration that uses powerful positions to enrich themselves and their friends. , whoe case of pruitt pays? his policies are about depriving our children of clean air, clean water, clean drinking water,

completety -- disregard for the responsibility of the environmental protection agency, and they are there for the benefit of his rich friends. as you know, multiple members of the trump are under -- trump cabinet are under investigation for multiple reasons. endblicans in congress must their complicity in all of this and finally take action to hold this administration accountable for its abuses. you want to watch nancy pelosi's press conference yesterday in its entirety, you can do that on c-span.org. more of your calls as we are asking this question -- will you read james comey's memoir, coming out next week? excerpts and reviews are already out today, including this review

in the new york times. the headline -- face-to-face with president without mincing words. the story, the book review notes that comey was what what was called -- was what was called a first-class notice her. he clearly observed that the president's hands are smaller than his own, but did not seem unusually so, and points out that he never saw trump laugh, a sign, comey suspects, of his "deep insecurity, his inability to be vulnerable or to risk himself by appreciating the humor of others, which, on reflection, is really very sad in a leader, and a little scary in a president." that's from the new york times review this morning. we'll take you through more as we hear from jd, maryland, republican. caller: thank you for having me on. fornted to commend you stopping these democrats this morning. when you ask them about why

comey changed his hat from the fbi to loretta lynch's job as the attorney general, they really have no answer for that, if you noticed. they get stumped, because they could not stand him back when he did that, causing hillary clinton to lose the election. now they all want to buy his book and we are friends again. it makes no sense. the democratic party, the democrat party is so messed up, they do not know what they stand for. they really don't. i appreciate your questioning them. why do you want to buy this book now, back when comey calls hillary to lose -- caused hillary to lose the election, he was their number one enemy. i appreciate it, thank you for doing a great job. from that newmore york times review, talking about the days before the 2016 election. as were the controversial

disclosure on october 8, 2016, 11 days before the election, that the fbi was removing -- reviewing more clinton emails, he said he had assumed from media polling that clinton was going to win. he has asked himself if he was influenced by that assumption. it is entirely possible that, because i was making decision in an environment where hillary clinton was sure to be the next president, my concern about making her an illegitimate president by concealing the restarted investigation for greater weight than it would have if the election had appeared closer or if donald trump were ahead in the polls, but i don't know. he adds that he hopes very much that what we did -- what i did -- was not a deciding factor in the election. steve, line for democrats. are you going to read this book? caller: i'm not going to buy the book, but i might read it. the last caller pointed out that you like to question the

liberals, and he is right. you asked that guy where he got the fact about five and a half lies, but you have put that out on c-span yourself. you should know that. you show your conservative leaning to obviously. allt that comey book, it is how you look at it. went in and -- i'm sorry, the justice department invaded his lawyer's office. was it totally legal? yes. if you are standing in your house and the cops kick in the door, do you feel that you were broken into? yes. it is basically how you look at it. the same thing can be described by two different people in completely different ways. thank you. host: steve in arizona. gary in charlestown, rhode island. independent line. ofler: i will hit on a bunch subjects quick. i think the guy that should replace paul ryan is mark

meadows. they have to get rid of these rino republicans, number one. in this world, our founders were so right. thing in article two, the right to bear arms, was for a tyrannical government. this government is out of control. in the justice department, fbi, and the cia. they are all lying and trying to cover what has happened in the obama administration, and trying to protect themselves. you look at all of the tv stations -- cnn, nbc, abc, there is not one positive or they have said about the president. it has all been negative. they have been trying to carry this out to the election in 2018. let me tell you, it is a secular oup in the justice department, and they can't run from that.

comey is as crooked as they come. mueller shouldn't even be there. the day before he was appointed, he asked the president do you want me to be director of the fbi? the president said no, i do not want you to be. and then rosenstein appointed him to special counsel. it is a secular left coup up there. beforean i ask you -- you go, you started off by talking about who was going to replace paul ryan. how do you think mark meadows, you advocated for mark meadows, how do you think he would handle what is going on with this investigation? do you think you would do anything? caller: i think mark meadows has been asking more serious questions. you have two groups are republicans in the house. who are not rinos conservative. mark meadows has been after our budget, we are spending too much freedom caucus is

more on top of what the people who voted them in want. paul ryan's assistance name -- kevin sullivan? host: kevin mccarthy? caller: yes. the worst thing to do is pick cam. he has been right along paul ryan all along. host: how about jim jordan, another name yet go -- name? caller: yes, that is why am talking about. host: jim jordan from ohio, one of the founders of the freedom incus, could be a dark horse a growing wave of support. go ahead. caller: jim jordan or mark meadows. we need somebody who speaks up. havehe republicans republican voters that put them in office. paul ryan and his assistants and his minions have not done anything for us. it is jim jordan, mark meadows, they have been trying to do something for us.

that is why we cannot have people like kevin mccarthy in charge of the house. not only that, mitch mcconnell has done nothing for the voters out here, the conservative or republican voters. host: gary in rhode island. california, line for democrats. go ahead. caller: hi, can you hear me? host: yes, nancy, go ahead. caller: good morning. the emotion is amazing this morning. comey -- jimgym comey for a couple of weeks, and then i realized there was another person to hate, and then another, so there is a lot going on in this story. it is deeper than mr. comey. for example, cambridge analytica was, you know, polluting the internet with all kinds of -- drain the swamp, that expression tested in 2014 by

cambridge analytica. it was gifted to the trump campaign, not trump's original idea. i had to laugh when that woman --ked about real drain people that really drain the swamps? i did not know you could drain a swamp. anyway, mr. comey's book is going to be interesting to read. thatlike every other story is a chapter in this long story, we are not at the end of the story yet. i think everyone would like to know what happened, how the russians interfered. is our next election going to be safe? hard is so much, and it is for people to have -- who work and have families to keep up with it all. tracya few more tweets --

writes do wrong, write a book, make money. that is what they all do. james writes for me is going to jail for the phony dossier, and sandra writes in i will wait for the movie and not watch it. when it comes to the dossier, the washington post wrap up of some of the main points of the book, notes president trump's interactions with james comey when it comes to that dossier. comey describes trump as having been upset with the portions dealing with prostitutes in the infamous dossier compiled by british former intelligence officer christopher steele, raising it four times with the fbi director. comey writes that trump asked him to have the fbi investigate the allegations to prove they were not true, and offered very next when convince him why. later, the president asked what could be done to lift the cloud, because it was so painful formally a trump. may 9, 2017, trump -- four a lot you trump -- for melania trump.

they 9, 2017, trump fired comey. next caller, go ahead. caller: [inaudible] it is a shame what this man has done. is ourth is trump president, and the fact that hillary clinton did not get elected, the democrats are fuming from all this, and they have come up with more reasons as to why we should get rid of president trump. you know what? we are all in this together. i'm a 30 year veteran. i served my country for 30 years to defend and protect the constitution of this great country, and to see washington, d.c. in such a rage over fabricated incidents is just ridiculous. it is just an illusion. it did not change the outcome of the election. the people voted, they spoke,

trump is in. let's move on and work together, get this country back in the shape it is capable of getting in. as long as our federal government and everybody who wants to write a book up there about what is bad and what is good -- you know, about our country, we need to just stop all this partisan politics and work together as patriots of this great country, and let's move on. firing mueller, they ain't found man is now going after the president of the personal life, totally against the constitution. like i said, i will not read the book. texans probably 90% of agree with what i am saying, and i appreciate you letting me make my comments. host: rob, eastern north carolina, independent. go ahead. --ler: think of her take thank you for taking my call. it looks like you have an

overcast day, but you look good. the book about the comey investigation and mueller into our past election, the russians, 410 or 15 -- i am 63 -- 20 years the russians have been doing all they can. they have new platforms through facebook and the internet to interfere with our elections. one of their goals is to divide partisan --yper hyper partisan is him -- hyper partisanism and sexism. canou divide them, you conquer them easier or sway them. that is all it was. they have been doing it for years. the thing that is kind of funny, and we elected trump -- he ran as a businessman that would be a change agent, and basically the country was a little bit tired of the clinton and the bush name

brand, and they could see what dnc, hillary,the and the other candidate that, you know, bernie sanders. everybody kind of sense that. -- andelection happened this is really funny, because i have lived and been a politically aware person, and come from a family that is like that, and i was alive during the 60's. it is funny that kennedy allegedly, again, had people going around to the cities they visited and they were lining up girls for him, and he had another blonde twins that were in the white house, bambi and bumper, and he supposedly allegedly having relations with them. bill clinton did monica in the oval, and used his position in arkansas and with other women. trump, one is from the east,

that is -- the 1980's. that is when he was a bon vivant, up and coming real estate person. i was married into a family from long island since 1980. host: rob, bring us to your point. caller: it is funny how they are trying to crucify trump, and he has people after him because he 10a successful businessman, years ago, 30 years ago, and they are trying to cook his goose and phm for things he -- did things when he that he was not running for running forot office, and these women came to him because he was a powerful, attractive business person of note. host: i got your point. the president tweeting a couple of minutes ago, not on the topic of james comey but on the topic of the border wall. "tremendous pressure is building like never before for the border wall and an end to crime cradling sanctuary cities.

san diego, wall in where the people were pushing really hard to get it. they will soon be protected." that was the president at about 7:44 this morning. the washington post also noting today that the president is taking a more cautious track when it comes to the topic of action inmilitary syria. the story on the front page noting that the trump administration signaled it would take a more deliberate approach toward action in syria, a slowing of what had seemed to be a quick drive for an airstrike in retaliation for the suspected use of chemical weapons against syrian civilians. president trump said an attack would occur very soon or not so soon on twitter. defense secretary mattis raised cautious flags, noting the risks come from escalating military never -- noting the risks that, from escalating military confrontation.

press briefing, speaker of the house paul ryan was asked whether president trump needs a new authorization or use of military force when it any further syrian operations. here is that exchange. authority under the existing annulment. what i would hate to do in this time, when we have a symmetric across the globe, particularly with isis, is have something that ties the hands of our military behind their backs. last thing i want to see is an amf that makes it much more difficult for our military to respond to keep us safe, because they have the authority to do that right now. itself, which are his -- -- aside and assad and his enablers in moscow have emitted another atrocity on

syria. i think the u.s. is obligated to lead an international response to hold people accountable for that. i will not get ahead of the president. he is taking a very to liberal -- delivered and careful response to this. i do not want to get ahead of what he plans on doing. only to say that i think it is important for us to help lead the international community in making sure that people are held accountable for these mass atrocities. he has existing authority? >> he does. >> but my question is why not do the amf? >> but what is the authority there to do? that is the question. he seems to be did during about what to do -- i think you are wrong -- >> i think you are wrong to suggest that he is -- he is being deliberate. he is consulting our allies, and that is what you want presidents to do in moments like this. he is not dithering. with respect to the authorities, the existing amf gives him the

authority he needs to do what he may or may not do. host: that was bigger of the house paul ryan yesterday. one other piece of news out of the other end of pennsylvania newsweekis morning, and other outlets noting that president trump is reportedly set to pardon scooter libb e, of former chief of staff vice president dick cheney who was convicted of lying to the fbi. president trump might have even already signed off on the pardon, abc news reported. a federal jury convicted libby in lyingn obstruction and into the leak of the identity of former covert cia officer valerie plame. newsweek noting that president george bush kept libby out of prison by commuting his 30 month sentence, but refused to pardon him. we will see what happens as the day goes on. this friday morning, april 13, we are taking your calls for the next 10 minutes or so on james comey's book, set to come out

next tuesday. we want to hear whether you would read that book. -- in and fredericksburg fredericksburg, virginia, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. no, i think i'll just glanced through it at the bookstore, and that is about the extent of it. i want to comment also on secretary pruitt. it appears to me that the environmental up to this -- environmentalists -- there are ecoterrorists out there, he needs security, because these people are violent and very, very nasty people. i think the so-called environmentalists or environmental -- what do you call -- nazis, i guess, or gestapo, want to hurt him. your point,ght, got louise. we will keep the focus on james comey's memoir.

for democrats, go ahead. -- line for democrats, go ahead. caller: i think comey was a decent man who, like so many others, allowed himself to be corrupted by trump. he claims he didn't or that he anything ton't do harm hillary, but what he did and when he did it with a time to hurt hillary, and he knew it. i think he basically deserved what he got from the one that he tried to serve at the expense of his own integrity. the thing is, you have to be as filthy as trump to operate in trump's orbit. host: don, illinois, independent line. caller: i would like to comment about the reason for all the opposition. -- the opposition to trump.

i think it is all based on the fact that he wants a tax on imported goods. 'sl of these sop's have -- sob who have moved their manufacturing to china or other places do not want to pay any duty to ship products into our country. china has a tax if you want to but the reason, i am supporting trump is that he is really helping the average american worker who has been losing jobs to china and other cheaper manufacturing companies. is really,on imports what i think is the basis for all the opposition to trump. host: i point you to the president's comments yesterday

in the rose garden, when they talked a little bit about trade in the ongoing negotiations with china in that briefing that he did, that event he did yesterday in the rose garden. you can watch it on c-span.org. there is the president from yesterday, a sunny day in the rose garden yesterday. mia, michigan, republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. good morning. i would like to say that i will not read comey's book for the simple fact that i really want to get down to true business with our world today. really, the news has blown up about it. it does not come out until next week. i am so sick and tired of hearing about all these people. when is enough enough? about stormy daniels -- let's start talking about the accomplishments. no matter how you feel, you should always want our president to do good for our country. enough is enough with all of this.

those who want to get the book, read it and that is that. why does it have to constantly be on the news? it comes out next tuesday. it is almost like they are trying to make this guy richer. and why does he have so much money for the position that he held? i find that very, very suspect. just enough is enough, let's get back to getting our country together. there is so much else happening that is so much more important than comey's book. host: jennifer, florida, line for democrats. go ahead. caller: good morning. i'm certainly going to buy james comey's book. [inaudible] integrity together. 20 years of serving this country -- he is a good man and he knows what he is doing. , he wants to serve

this country because he wants to be the president. james comey wanted to serve this country because he wanted to help this country. that is why he joined the fbi. so i know i am certainly going to buy that book. in boston, massachusetts, independent line. go ahead. caller: yes. i'm hoping i'm able to get the book. i'm sure it is going to be a sellout, especially in massachusetts. i'm interested in reading the whereecause i want to see the line is drawn with trump and the fbi and the cia. there is a line that you can e, and he actually attacked the government agencies. i guess i take a step back when i hear him threaten or callout , you, and that he degrades

know, the fbi and cia. every time he does that, it harms the government and harms -- it threatens us. think about it. the the fbi just helped with the bomber. if we did not have them step in and help with that situation, but now, with the way trump talks about the government agencies, he degrades it so it hurts us in the private sector. yes, i am going to read comey's book. int: mary, our last caller this hour of "washington journal." an house will be in in just hour, and we will talk to barbara lee about the potential strike on syria, and later we turn our focus to the opioid crisis with pharmacist and georgia congressman buddy

carter. we will be right back. ♪ >> sunday on 1968, america in turmoil -- conservative politics. when perceived excesses and disenchantment with the size of government gave the rise to the political right, a resurgent richard nixon, and ronald reagan made his debut as a presidential theidate, foreshadowing conservative revolution to come. of guests are the author "where they stand," and "the

right moment --ronald reagan's first victory and the decisive turning point in american politics." at 8:30 a.m.nday eastern on c-span's "washington journal," and on american history tv on c-span3. >> monday on landmark cases, brandenburg versus ohio. ku klux klan leader clarence brandenburg was considered of -- was convicted of hate speech, theyhe state ruled violated his civil rights. guests, nadine strauss and, and katie fellow. cases" monday, and join the conversations.

our #landmarkcases, and follow us on c-span. we have research for background on each case, and a link to the interactive constitution, and the landmark cases podcast at c-span.org/landmarkcases. >> "washington journal" continues. host: california democrat barbara lee has long been a key voice in debate over when and how the united states government exercises war powers. france now saying it has proof chemical weapons were used in that attack in syria. would you support a new u.s. military strike there? guest: what is very important for us to realize in our own country is that congress has the authority and responsibility to authorize the use of force. that is based on our

constitution. we need to have an international inspection regime go in, which i think there are now inspectors -- to determine the validity of -- we know, we believe who conducted these horrific attacks, but one country verifying versus the international community coming together, i think, is the distinction we need to make. because here, united states, we have been waging war in many, many countries using that 2001 authorization, and it is time to repeal that on require congress to debate and vote on another one. host: how did you feel about that strike last year by president trump -- 50-some cruise missiles hitting an airbase in syria? guest: i think those who promote military action and military strikes see what takes place. if you don't have a plan and overall strategy -- the use of force, what does it mean?

here we are, one year later, with the unfortunate circumstance of so many people getting killed once again by, who i consider, assad, a war criminal. what does that accomplish? had we had a diplomatic initiative, had we had an international strategy -- had we been part of a group of countries to come together to really talk about it long-term war, thend the civil i think we would be in a better place today, but we did not do that. host: what do you think a president can do on his own? thethat strike something president was, under his own powers, able to do on his own, or should that strike have gone to congress? guest: that should have gone to congress -- the president only has the ability to use force in the case of an imminent attack. host: define that. guest: an imminent attack -- the

president can use for international law and our constitution, but the use of force, even with regard to afghanistan and iraq, i voted against those resolutions because they were overly broad. the afghanistan revolution, for example -- resolution, for example, was 60 words. it is being used in yemen, libya, somalia -- all over the world -- 41 times according to the congressional research service. those are not imminent attacks. that is the legal basis that not only this president, but president bush, president obama used to use force, and i think it sets the stage for perpetual war. host: a headline from last year --"16 years ago barbara lee's warning against the amf was ignored. nevertheless she persisted." take us back to that vote and who joined you? host: ice guest: i serve on the

appropriation committee. i offered an amendment that would repeal the 2001 resolution, the one that has been used as the legal basis for using force and engaging in these wars around the world, and i did -- built republican and democratic support to repeal it. what that resolution would have done is not only repeal it, but during the period of eight months -- we had eight months while this resolution -- this was still in place, the authorization -- come up with a new resolution to use force if, in fact, the congress decided to do that. that was passed on a bipartisan vote in the appropriations committee. host: when was that? year. that was last what happened was between the appropriations committee and the rules committee -- somehow, and i think that bill was 326 pages long -- somehow in the middle of the night that was disappeared. it was the only section.

it is my belief, and i have talked to speaker ryan about this, it was arbitrarily, undemocratically taken out, probably at the direction of the white house and donald trump, and it never even got to what is considered the rules committee that gives us the parameters for the debate on the floor. so, this was a democratic measure -- a measure that was put in in a democratic process that was just automatically taken out by one person, and that was the speaker, and that is really terrible. we're going to keep at it until we accomplish our goals. barbara leesswoman with us until about 8:30 this morning. if you want to join the conversation host: congresswoman, as folks are calling in, if there is an f, whatate over a new aum

are the limitations you would want to see? host: that -- guest: there are many limitations i would want to see. theg back to 2001, it is president authorized to use force against associated forces and those associated with 9/11. i would want to see the parameters -- the timetable, what we call the sunset. when it would end. what is the national interest, the national strategic interest? what does this mean to our own national security? host: how would you answer those questions specifically for the syria situation right now? guest: it would be hard for me because we need to bring assad accountable, holding me for an

international court, and we need to look at the refugee crisis, because of the continued rhetoric around banning refugees from serious -- the humanitarian concerns are horrific. we need an overall strategy and plan that includes a diplomatic to thisa political ease strategy, and of course the use of force and military action is always going to be on the table, but we need to look at it in a broader sense with international partners. host: this is the editorial board of "the economist" this week yesterday -- west: you know, i think when talk about the use of chemical weapons, we know that is probably one of the most horrific attacks on civilians that any suppose it leader could engage in. needs to be held

accountable and brought to justice. the use of force, we saw a year ago, that does not work. he is still in power and still doing what he is doing. again, i would say you do not put the military option on the table as the first option. you have to begin to look at how we are going to create some normalcy,tability, peace in the world if we're going to solve the world problems. i don't believe military action is going to stop any leader from doing bad things, horrible things to their people? host: congresswoman barbara lee is our guest, part of the congressional progressive caucus, chair of the peace and security task force that. taking your calls. glenn is up first. lancaster, california. a republican. glenn, go ahead. caller: good morning. are you ready, barbara? guest: hi, glenn.

caller: how are you doing today? guest: good. caller: we are talking about poison gas being used on people, and it is your job to abide by the constitution of the united states and worry about the american citizens. we have sentinel crossing our border, crystal meth from drug cartels killing our citizens every day by four and-born invaders coming across our border, and our sanctuary cities, our governor in california, our attorney general in california are helping these r millionsartels pou more illegal aliens in the country, foreign-born invaders. you should do your job for the american citizens or protect our jobs and our lives here in our country. host: got your point. guest: thank you, glenn.

first of all, no one supports criminal cartels coming into the country -- monday you look at the opioid crisis across the country -- in my district and with communities of colors we get it and we have been victimized by that for many, years. let me just say that our whole state of california is a state and theirs immigrants constitution -- contributions to our society. these are not criminals coming across the border. these are people coming across the border to seek a better life for themselves and their families. of course we were going to go after the criminals, the drug dealers, the bad people who should not come to the country, but this does not mean that we have to stop immigration. need a comprehensive strategy to make sure we adhere to our values in our country, while at the same time ensuring that these criminal cartels and these people that are doing drug dealing and providing the opening for others to engage in criminal activity, that will

stop. that is an effort that our police and national security address, butshould we cannot stop immigration, because that is not the majority people that want to come to this country. host: the president, in one of his tweets this morning, talked about the border wall, saying it started in san diego where the people were pushing really hard to get it -- they will soon be protected. you are on the appropriations committee. and borderg for wall security in the latest negotiation. what was that to the tune of? how much was in the bill for it? the bill, which i did not support, i think it was a little over $1 billion, maybe $1.8 billion. i have to say when you talk about border security i support border security in a big way, but i don't support building walls. we need to look at technology. we need to look at where we need enhanced security measures, but andding a wall between us

the country of mexico does not make any sense, and it is not going to help in terms of illegal immigration. guest: houston, texas is next. host: houston, texas is next. patty, line four democrats. caller: good morning. how are you? i am so proud of you as a democrat. you always stand up for the right. everything about these different criminals coming over, and everything, but they need to start looking at, first of all, our president of the is hanginges -- he with the criminals like russia, and all this stuff. we have to do that, too. my husband was a vietnam veteran, and he served this country very well. at the border and like that, he would not mind doing that, but

innocent people coming over here when they were babies and everything, it is not right. taking all this money, when they can take this money to stop drug dealers and other stuff coming over. that is what he needs to do instead of building walls and putting our soldiers there in danger. host: got your point. thank you. and take your husband for your service to our country. i think we could spend our dollars by helping veterans with access to jobs and economic security. we need to build affordable housing, strengthen our public education system. we need to provide for infrastructure needs and create and living jobs wages, a better life for everyone. ,e can better use our resources at the same time protecting our borders and protecting security efforts. -- enhancing security office.

building a wall is a waste of money, so thank you. host: matt smith on twitter tweeting up barbara lee for president. would you ever run for the job? guest: barbara lee would never run for president. host: mike. line for independents. caller: good morning, congressman. ofnk you for exemplary act principal and conscious reliably so. i appreciate that. guest: thank you. caller: i would like to quote george kennan, a famous secretary of state with reference to the containment policy in the wake of world war ii, he quoted john quincy adams in his opposition to the vietnam war. adams said "america does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. is a well wish of freedoms and independence for all.

it lays out three key principles. america is not the world's policeman. number one. shining cityis the on the hill to provide an example to the world citizens of what is possible in a free country. finally, the american government protects the rights only of the american people. may i have your comment, please? guest: thank you very much for your gracious comments. i also think america is that shining light on the hill, and because of that, we have a responsibility to lead, and lead in a way that brings our country and world together. we are global leaders. we should set an example. we had three pillars of our foreign policy -- development, policy, and defense. -- diplomacy and defense. we need to show the diplomacy and development will help lift

everyone out of poverty throughout the world, but also will help our own country and creating jobs and creating a better life for everyone. so, i didn't we have a responsibility. we are wealthy -- we are the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world -- to help others. hunger, therty, lack of education -- the lack of clean water -- we have so many clean issues that we need to address in our own country and throughout the world. by working with people throughout the country, -- from other countries, we can learn from them, and they can learn from us, and we need to take the lead. we did have the lead under president obama in making sure we are on a track to global peace and security. host: back to the discussion of authorization of the use of military force, long tooth on twitter says -- host: how did you feel about that? i was very much opposed

to the use of force as it relates to libya in any other country during president obama's administration. in fact, in many ways -- and i believe i talked about that here -- that i did not support that. the organized around that. but the president know that we believe he should come to congress for an authorization is, in fact, he were going to use force in libya, and libya is a mess now. the american people deserve to know the cause and consequences of letting our young men and women in harm's way. we honor our servicemen and women. they need to know that congress gets it and has their back, and we should have debated and voted for that or not. take us back 17 years ago to the debate of authorization and the 9/11 attacks. you were a vote against the authorization. were you the only vote against

it? guest: i was the only vote against it. it was a 60-word resolution that was very broad. it did not specify afghanistan, first of all. it just said the president was authorized to use force against those responsible for 9/11 -- i am paraphrasing now. it was presented three days after the horrific attacks. i mean, everyone was angry. i was. my chief of staff's cousin, wanda greene, she was a flight attendant on flight 93. i was in the capital, had to evacuate. did hit very personally for me. the families and friends of those killed throughout the country -- i tell you, it still -- you know, it is still sad, and we still mourn their loss. this was a time when members of congress were angry, did not know what had taken place, but determined to do something. as i said then as i say now is

we have to step back as leaders and debate and understand what is going on -- be rational about our response because people elect us to be rational and come up with an appropriate response. know,days later, you while people are in a state of mourning -- our own country is in a state of mourning, that was not the time to debate an authorization to use force because it was done -- it was a rush to judgment. i said then that i thought it would spiral out of control, and let us be more thoughtful about our response before we respond. host: dan is here in washington, d.c. a republican. go ahead. caller: thank you so much for c-span. thank you for taking my call. quickly, the previous caller who adams, you quincy know, the u.s. responsible it is in the 18th century were vastly different than they are today, certainly before world war ii happened, and that was even before the munro doctrine. i am not sure that is an

appropriate use of that quote. getting to my question, the previous administration talked about how the bashar assad regime is a heinous, criminal organization that gas is their own people. i think from an international , thenity standpoint multiple times that he has used chemical weapons on his own people, which is hoarded and inconceivable to us sitting here in the united states. guest wanted to ask your how she previous -- feels about the previous administration and how much responsibly they have for creating the situation today? guest: the previous administration, i do not believe has responsibility for creating a situation today. i think the mistakes that we made is we did not have a comprehensive strategy, nor did we have a plan. think,not -- you know, i effectively engage with the

international community as we are not doing now, to come up with a solution. is a that assad work-related he should be held accountable before the international criminal court. that should be part of this. host: do you think we should engage -- we could engage with vladimir putin and russia who are playing a key role in syria right now? they: we can't because vetoed the resolution terms of inspections, but we have to circle the wagons, go around russia if we cannot engage with them, and we have to have an international solution and not say just because russia is outside of the world committee in terms of the response, we're not going to engage in a dramatic fashion. i think we need to learn from the mistakes of the past, but we have to see an international responses been absolutely essential. otherwise, in another year we will be right here. we will see more chemical attacks. the use of force, military

action, is not going to stop assad from doing what he is doing, and we have to recognize that and come up with a new way to bring some peace and stability to the region. host: has the united nations proven to be effective here? nationsell, the united needs to do more, i believe, through the inspections process, and needs to be, i think, the facilitator, to try to make sure that we, as part of the u.n. should bring the country's together to come up with a comprehensive strategy. we cannot do it alone. i think the u.n. is the proper place to begin to try to help come to some result and bring assad to justice. i think that is essential in whatever strategy we come up with, but yes, the u.n. needs to do more. host: new york city. a democrat. good morning. caller: yes, hello, good morning. yes, hello, ms. lee. i guess i really want to

seriously disagree what i think i understood an earlier caller -- i think it was the previous caller. i am calling on the democratic line. i love you. i did you. i am with you. you, i the left, -- dig am with you, i am on the left, but i have to disagree with your response how the obama administration was not responsible for the current situation in syria. i think the razzie, positively responsible. i feel that -- i think they were absolutely, positively responsible. i feel this guilt -- it was me, a lot of people in congress, right on up to obama that felt in the wake of the arab spring, in the wake of what happened in egypt, in libya, that if an internal revolt in syria -- happened in syria, that the people would handle it themselves, and we decided to not do anything. that initial decision is what

caused the mess we are in now. in regards to syria, also, i ,ould like to ask you, ms. lee if you could possibly connect, you know, your stance, the left's stance on syria to the midterm elections? and it really makes me feel uneasy as someone who is on your side, who loves you, digs you, to hand overa correcting this mess to those of us who felt initially that obama would solve the syrian crisis on the essence , and how we are politically impotent to do anything right now because of those initial mistakes. guest: well, thank you for that --stion and statement, but ok, there were mistakes, i think, made, but i do not think

inserting ourselves in a civil war in syria would have stopped assad. arming the opposition, for example -- and that was one of the previous administration's policies and positions, and i did not support that. in arming the opposition -- we do not even know the opposition groups were. some could be al qaeda. the weapons that u.s. taxpayers paid for landed in the hands of those that were using them against the people of syria. there were several, i think, mistakes made, but i think overall, not engaging in a war in syria was the correcting to do. we need to have a stronger, i think, international strategy, and we need to work with the world's community in a more robust and aggressive fashion. going back and forth about military action, and engaging in a civil war, i don't think,

would have brought assad to justice, and i think we would have been even more deeply involved in a part of the world where people are still saying what is our national security interest in syria? of course, i believe that we have to stop the human disaster. we have to make sure that people's lives are saved and we help bring some semblance of security to the region, but for the life of me, i think the american people really need to have a clear understanding of states' united national security interests are, and i think president obama had to be very careful because we could have been more deeply involved in a civil war which, i hope, at this point, we don't get involved in. host: we have less than two minutes left. we spent the first hour of the program talking about the exit and reviews that have -- exerts an reviews that have come out

from james comey's book coming out next to. the president during this discussion tweeted about james comey. here is what he said this morning -- host: how do you feel about james comey? guest: first, how presidential is that tweet -- this is just horrible to have a president tweeting like that about anyone. with regard to james comey, i will look forward to reading the book, quite friendly, and

hopefully the investigations and -- quite frankly, hopefully the investigations will continue, and we will make decisions and see what the facts uncover as it relates to the firing of james comey. i think, personally, that that was a move to undermine whatever investigation was taking place within the fbi, the president was wrong in doing that. host: well, come back. we can talk more about it down the road. barbara lee, democrat from california, we appreciate the time. guest: thank you. switch toext, we domestic issues including congress's role in the opioid crisis. we will be joined by buddy carter, republican from georgia, in just a minute. we will be right back. ♪

c-span, wroted on to the white house 2020 at the new hampshire democratic party dinner with former missouri secretary of state jason kander, and sunday, our road to the white house 2020 coverage continues. c-spantv at c-span -- on -- on c-span2, a feature on black classic press in baltimore. sunday, and author receives an award for his book "a benedict option, a shashi for christians in a post-christian nation." prominent figures in american law, including supreme court justice elena kagan on the

late thurgood marshall. america, twol "face the nation programs" with ronald reagan and george wallace. watch c-span this weekend on the c-span networks. sunday on q&a, hoover institute and their senior fellow and iall ferguson. ferguson: what is striking to me when i interact with these groups is not their power, but their sense of powerlessness. if you think about the events of 2016, just to take an example, not many members of the suppose it world government plans that britain would vote to leave the european union and the donald trump would become president of the united states. donald trump is deathly not somebody that gets invited to those meetings.

then, for the apple, take the financial crisis. nobody sat there at the meeting in 2008 saying i think what we need for the world's government is a massive financial crisis. >> "q&a" sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. host: congressman buddy carter is back at our desk, a republican representing georgia's first district. congressman, i want to start with speaker ryan's retirement announcement this week. what message should republicans take from a sitting speaker deciding not to run again in a district he was favored to win reelection in? guest: first of all, i don't think it had anything to do about his chances with reelection. listen, paul ryan is a fine man, and he is a family man. i had the opportunity to spend some quality time with him, just

he and i, about a month ago, and i knew that something was up. all he wanted to talk about was his teenage children, how much they meant to him, how much he missed them. he is a family man, a great talent, as trey gowdy says, the smartest kid in the class, but the same time his priority now is with the family. republicans should think any thing other than that. this is a man ready to go home, be with his family, and help his wife raise some children. host: do you think it sends a message to republican voters about confidence in retaining the house after the election this fall? guest: not at all. i am very confident we have a very strong bench. we have some great talent in the majority congress right now. i have three sons to it all of them played football. each year we always thought how are we going to replace this senior. there is no way. somebody steps up. host: would it be helpful to

republicans for that election, that stepping up to happen sooner rather than later -- you think paul ryan should leave before the end of his term? guest: no, i don't. paul is an outstanding fundraiser. he is been great job with that, and we need his leadership. he has made it clear he wants to run through the finish line. he still has things on his agenda that he wants to accomplish, and we want to help him do that. he understands. he wants us to maintain the majority. no one wants more than he does to help us maintain the majority. host: who should be the next leader of the republican, -- conference? call. that is a tough when you have as much talent as we got, the quality we have, we have to sort that out after the november elections. host: on the same day speaker ryan announced he was not running, another number from florida announced he would not be running for another term.

why are so many of your colleagues not running again? guest: well, there does seem to be a lot of institutional knowledge leaving, but again, that is a good thing and a bad thing. a good thing in the sense that it gives those of us behind them an opportunity to step up, and we have to do that. again, i am very confident that we have the talent within our conference to fill those voids. we are going to miss dennis -- no question about it. he is a great representative. we will miss all of those leaving. all of them have certain qualities we bring to the table that we appreciate. again, it is going to be important that we attract good candidates. that is one thing we talked about yesterday -- what do we do to attract good candidates and quality candidates? that is really our challenge right now. congressman buddy carter is with us until the house comes in at 9:00 this morning. we, of course, will take you live to the floor when they do

gavel in. until then, phone lines are open for your questions, comments for the congressman. congressman carter, viewers might have caught you at the energy and commerce committee hearing this week featuring mark zuckerberg. during your time to question him, you pointed out that facebook -- a lot of illegal activities happen on some of the pages of facebook, whether it is opioid sales or illegal ivory sales -- is facebook doing enough to stomp out those illegal activities happening on their own pages? guest: no, they are not, and that was proven by the fact -- i also brought up the piracy of movies. the response was that has been going on forever, and that tells me if they are not able to control that, how will they be able to control these other things? we do respect of certain amount of responsibility from these platforms.

look, i'm not in favor of the government taking over this area. i am not in favor of making the internet a utility. i think that will stifle innovation. i don't want to see that. we cannot legislate morality. there is a certain responsibility that goes along with running one of these platforms. that is the message i hope that mr. zuckerberg took away from these three days he was on capitol hill. host: can you legislate that? can you tell your legislation to a compass that without turning the internet into a utility? guest: yes, we can, and that is a great point, because i do believe we can nibble around the edges, so to speak. you will never on wednesday the president signed into law legislation i voted for that week passed out of congress that calls for civil and criminal penalties to those platforms that are knowingly advertising for sex trafficking. that is the kind of thing we can control and that we should.

host: you mentioned legislation -- you are also the only pharmacist in congress. you recently introduced some legislation to expand access to affordable prescriptions. explain how that would work. guest: it is called the gag clause, and the third-party's, the pharmacy benefit managers, they have contracts they enter to with pharmacies, and part of that is a clause that says pharmacists cannot offer to the patient that if you pay cash for this medication it will actually save you money. in other words, if paying for it out of your pocket with cash would be lower than your copayment, the pharmacist is not allowed to offer that information to the patient, which is just ludicrous. actually, there would be penalties if they did that and it could result in them being kicked out of the agreement and out of that market. so, my legislation says that

this would not be appropriate, that this would not be allowed. indeed, pharmacist can, offer to the patient if you pay cash for it, it will save you money. host: what if the chances that legislation becomes lost? guest: i think there is a good chance. i will be pushing hard. host: do you have floor time set for it? guest: not yet. we are gaining cosigning and we're are doing that until we get it onto the four. host: daytona beach, florida. arnold is an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question for mr. carter and a comment. i want to make a comment first. it is about mr. ryan. is i think the smart republicans, the ones that have , aretle bit of sense getting out of town before the proverbial you know what hits the fan. i think they know we have one of the biggest crooks ever in the

office, and when it does come down they don't want to be associated with it. heard rumorse have about, you know, oil expiration off the coast here in florida. i see you are from georgia -- i guess -- i don't know what you are stance is on it, but i think if they are going to explore here, they need to get up there to savannah and do some exploring their. so i wasn't what you have to say about it. host: arnold, thanks for the call. guest: first of all, let me make it perfectly clear that i have always subscribed to and all of the above-type energy strategy. i believe we should be using everything available to estimate to make sure we have energy independence. backold enough to member in the 1970's when the middle east literally had us over a barrel and we were held hostage

to them. we should never allow that to happen again. energy independence is extremely important to our national security. i do believe in and all of the above type of strategy. having said that, i had the honor and privilege of representing the entire coast of georgia -- it is my home, where i grew up. i was born and bred there, and i intend to live the rest of my life there. i'm never going to do anything that is going to hurt the coast, however, i think it would be unnecessary for us to not at least know what is out there. we owe it to ourselves to find out if there is indeed anything out there. now, we can do seismic testing without farm -- without harming any of the animals. there are rules in place that will prohibit that from happening. at the same time, for us to just say no and not to at least know what is out there, i think that is very irresponsible of us. i think we should at least find out if there is something out there. something out is

there, would you be ok with oil platforms off the coast of savannah? guest: let's make sure you understand that those oil platforms that you will not see them anyway -- they will be far enough away, and we will make sure there is enough of a ball through two where you would not see them. secondly, this will take a long there to where you will not see them. second, this will take a long time. it will not pop up in the next year. this is going to take a long time. secondly, there's probably going to be more oil off alaska or other areas and there is going to be off the eastern seaboard, so i suspect it is not going to be enough to win the business interests are going to want to be there anyway. i don't know that, but that is what my suspicion is. host: rockville, maryland. mike. republican. go ahead. caller: my question is going back to the facebook thing you were talking about initially. so, i wanted to get your thoughts about why this is now

coming to the issue of bringing hearings in congress. from what i have read, facebook was working with the obama campaign several years ago, and it was touted as the modern way to engage people. now it feels their -- it feels like everyone is attacking facebook just because of this cambridge analytica that pettitte -- people say they have potentially helped trump. it feels cynical to me. i want to get your comments. guest: i'm not sure it was the political angle congress was concerned about. personally, it is the release of private information. that is what we are so concerned about. it is not just facebook. we had the problem with equifax. we had the problem time and time again. i have said there are probably breaches that have occurred that we do not even know about yet. we will find out. the impetus behind this was more the release of private information. yes, we are concerned about fake news. we are concerned about foreign intervention.

all of those things are extremely important, but i think the impetus for having mr. zuckerberg here was the release of private information. how much private information are you gathering -- what are you doing with it? are you selling it? how do you make sure it is safe and it does not get compromised? those are the kinds of things we're trying to look at right now in congress. host: another mike. oak grove, missouri. independent. caller: thank u, juncker i have a lot of questions, actually -- thank you, john. i have a lot of questions, actually. the first would be the -- national monument. it was drastically reduced and -- supply donald trump and company a map of where the coal and oil deposits laid, and the reduction almost exactly follows that map. secondly, i would like to ask your guest, if he is a

conservative, how does he feel about donald trump spending $3 million every time he takes his frequent trips to mar-a-lago and his other properties? host: let's go with those two questions. guest: first of all, i apologize, but i'm just not familiar with the first question. i don't feel comfortable commenting on it when i am not educated enough in that particular area to comment on it. i'm sorry. i'm just not familiar with it. i will do my best to become familiar with it. secondly, as far as the costs go, all of us are concerned about costs. i'll to president is, too, and i believe he is. it is tough being president coming any to get some time off. i understand that, and we all understand that. i think the president -- i hope the president does everything he can to contain costs, and i suspect he does. he deserves some time off.

it is obviously a very, very tough job. host: do you think epa administers scott pruitt is doing enough to contain costs? inst: i do not know he has the past, but i suspect that we have gone his attention now and that he is. we all make mistakes. that is why they put erasers on pencils. standardld to a higher here in washington. i get that. i think all of us do. you have to remember, we are real people. we do require travel. we try to get back home. we have families. -- families that we want to get back to. it does require us to travel. guest: you don't think he should step down at this point? guest: it is not my decision to make. it is between he and the president. he serves at the will of the president, and the decision will be made by the president. host: houston, texas. william. republican. go ahead. caller: i wanted to comment on

the conflict in syria -- i'm a little late on this and was not able to get through her look it would seem be upset with the atrocities, justifiably of course, but we need to see what it really is -- a proxy between the u.s. and russia. there are two proposed pipelines -- one u.s.-backed and one russia, and this conflict in syria and the middle east in general will never end unless russia can get to the table with the ussr communicate with each other. as long as they are an adversary -- with us and communicate with us -- which -- with each other. as long as they are an adversary, it will not come together. i want to get your congress -- your comments on that, congressman. guest: thank you for your question. it is an intuitive question. i'm thinking along the same lines you are. we say that the syrian -- listen, this guy is out of control. i applaud the president for finally calling him out and

saying this is enough. this president, i am confident, is not going to put up with it. he draws a line in the sand, he means it. that is one of the things i like the most about this president. but i believe that you are correct -- i believe this is more than just syria. --is a conflict, if you will a disagreement between russia and the u.s., and that we need theave direct talks with russians, and try to work this out, whether it has to do with the pipeline come exactly what it is. i am not naive enough to believe russia is not behind us at some point. host: nevada. michael. independent. go ahead. caller: i would like to ask representative carter, how are the campaign cash conjugations coming in, and are you working very hard in getting that campaign cash for your campaign,

and would you welcome the great donald trump to campaign with you to show up to the great people of georgia? guest: yes, i would. i would be honored to have the president come to my district. i think my district would be receptive. we had the vice president on at a parade and we were honored to have vice president pence in savanna. i would welcome the president to the district. he would be well received in our district. yes, campaign contra visions are important. i have two components in the running in opponents a primary. i will be facing one of them in the fall and i will need money to get my message out there, and i continue to raise campaign funds, and that is just part of what we have to do here. host: should president trump fire special counsel mueller? guest: you know, again, that is

a very difficult question. first of all, i don't think he is doing anything at this point -- i mean, how long has this been going on? i am ready for it to be over. obviously the optics of him firing mother is not going to be good, but at the same time, i am ready for mueller to put up or shut up. let's face it. what has he come up with so far against the president? nothing at all. it is time for this to end. host: do you think the needs to be legislation to protect the investigation and allow it to run its course? guest: no, i do not. thus far the president has handled this fine. he is and fired him, he has cooperated him. he doesn't have anything to hide. mueller have not found anything at all. host: senator tom tillis of north carolina in today's "washington post," both parties need to protect mueller. he says leading the

investigation run the course is the only option to ensure the make and people have trust in the process. guest: it is running its course. he is not been fired yet, and doing a to legislate that to happen, i don't think we do. let's let it finished it i am growing weary of it. i'm waiting for it to be over. host: melanie is waiting period line for democrats. go ahead. cares about isam how you want to get rid of the mueller case -- why do you feel the urgency to get rid of it when they are proving facts that he is involved with this whole thing, and as far as your campaign money, do you care where it is coming from? what shell companies are being used? guest: sure, i do. let's face it. most of my campaign cut visions come from the pharmacy profession and health care. that is where my expertise is.

that is what i most involved in. i don't ever take any campaign contribution that i think may be suspect, and i'm not going to do that. i've never done it. i will not do it. at the same time, it is necessary for us to run campaigns for us to get a message out. now, if my opponents want to enter into agreement were none of us will take campaign cash, that is one thing we would have to talk about. at the same time, i have to get my message out there, and the only i can get it out there is through the media, they are not going to do it for free. so, it is something -- it is not the fun part of the job, but it is part of the job. as far as the investigation goes, again, i have to respectfully disagree. i have not seen anything that has come out that would indicate there has been any collusion with the russians or anything else. again, how long is long enough? i mean, this has gone on and on and on. as of this time, i have nothing anything substantial at all.

host: you mentioned your work on health care issues. is the opioid crisis getting worse or better? guest: well, it is probably going to get worse before it gets better. i believe we are making progress. the legislation we passed. we passed care -- the recovery act. we also passed when he first century cures, a great bill that also helps and puts more money into opioid addiction and opioid prevention. we are working consistently and working diligently in the energy and commerce committee, trying to address this problem, and we are making progress here. we have had, at least, this week alone, over four meetings in between the health subcommittee and the oversight investigation subcommittee. we have 33 bills we are considering right now before the energy and commerce committee

and the health subcommittee that address the opioid epidemic. it is a big problem, no question about it. 91 people every day are dying in america from opioid addiction. aboutly, a study was done how long americans are living in decades, that number has decreased, and they have attributed it to the opioid addiction. we have one of the lowest unemployment rates we have had in years, in decades, and we have almost one million people who if we could get them back into the workforce, who are addicted to opioids, 11 addiction problem right now, that would help us write -- so much in our workforce development. host: ticket to the suburbs of atlanta, john is waiting period line for republicans. -- john is waiting period. -- waiting. line for public and. morning, mr. carter. i have some questions you. i am like you, this

investigation has gone on and on and on. attorney general sessions is not doing his job. it is basically run by the assistant attorney general, which is ron steen, and for him to go out of his way to sign a warrant to raid the offices of the president's attorney, i think that has crossed the line. requested for over a year for the documents to be released on the file word, for example. you need to just survey weren't on the department of justice right now, and the fbi. we all know mccabe was crooked. comey, he deserves to go to prison. make your agenda to get the truth out to the american people. guest: well, you know, i tend to agree with you on a lot of your point. right now, the house intelligence committee is talking about possibly serving

warrants to get some of this information released, and the chairman of the house intel committee, representative devin nunes is doing a great job, i think, with what they have uncovered. certainly, when you have the opportunity as i have two view some of these security documents , then you see it differently, and you wonder -- i have. i was personally glad that the information was released by the republicans on the intel committee because it proved the point that the investigation was skewed. look, i have a lot of confidence in the fbi. i think they are among the best, but keep in mind even the best of man is a man at best. there are bad actors -- there are bad actors in the fbi. where they are a great organization with the good, quality people, you have to weed out those bad actors.

certainly this was a case that was released. host: just a minute or two before the house comes in for the day. you have been in congress two terms now. did you serve with former speaker john boehner? guest: i did. i served with speaker boehner and speaker ryan. host: news this week that he joined a marijuana board's advisory firm. as a pharmacist, how you feel about the federal government legalizing marijuana? should it happen? guest: no, it should not happen. marijuana is nothing more than a gateway drug. i'm convinced of that. i did read were speaker boehner had joined that. when he stood happen here, marijuana is a schedule one drug. therefore, no research has been done about that. i have been all over the d.a. we will be offering legislation -- i will offer an amendment to make schedule one drug -- to allow for research on schedule one drugs.

those are drugs that do not have any medicinal use at this time, but we to be able to research on it. huntsman buddy carter is a republican from georgia, member of the energy and commerce committee. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: we will let you get back to work. the house is coming in right now. we will take you there for live coverage we will save tomorrow . in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: let us pray. eternal god, we thank you for giving us another day. send your spirit upon the members of this people's house, to encourage them in their official tasks. as the members approach the votes they make today, may they have courage and leadership that looks to the health and vibrancy of our great nation. assure them that in the fulfillment of their responsibilities you provide the grace to enable them to be faifu