a.m., new jersey congressman bill pascrell on the impact of republican tax legislation so far, and house strategy for 2018. the white house flag flying at half staff this morning in memorial of first lady barbara bush. , she had manyd distinctions. others ride her -- described her as a woman who was not afraid to speak her mind. also the remembered -- in the next hour, your comments and thoughts about first lady barbara bush. there are several ways you can let us know your thoughts. if you want to give us a call on the phone lines, it is (202) 748-8000 for those in the eastern and central time zone. for those of you

in the mountain pacific time zones. if you want to post on our isial media site, @cspanwj how you post on twitter. on facebook, it is facebook.com/cspan. so far thisponses morning on facebook about the passing of the first lady, including michelle woodward, who said i remember when president bush, 41, was appointed to the first ambassador to china. wonderfulsh was a representative, seeing her riding bicycle around beijing. what an incredible life well lived. the thoughts on facebook this morning. you can make your thoughts on twitter known as well. this passing took place yesterday. some of the papers highlighting some of the compliments of barbara bush this morning. post, whoe washington says despite her preferences for

staying behind the scenes, mrs. bush was not shy about expressing her own views. at times, she made public statements that seems to conflict with her husband's policies, including his opposition to abortion rights and gun control measures, but she adamantly resisted being pulled into discussions about personal and controversial these topicsraging with salty humor. -- it's a word that rhymes with rich. the post rendering of the story this morning says the white house staff adopted a nickname by her children -- the silver fox -- and took care not to cross her. in one incident, mrs. bush put craig solar, chief of staff to vice president bush, on notice after friends and supporters

complained that she was not returning that she was not returning -- he was not returning their calls. that is just one of the stories being told this morning in the papers as they reflect on a look at the former first lady, who passed away yesterday. if you want to talk about her influence in the world of literacy or her role in the who -- use, parole -- mother and wife to two u.s. presidents. eastern8-8000 in the and central time zones, (202) for mountain and pacific time zones. c-span had an opportunity to sit down and talk with barbara bush about many things. one thing she spent much time talking about in this interview was about how she met her husband, george h.w. bush, and the beginning of their

relationship. [video clip] met george at a dance. in those days, we exchanged christmas dances. i met him at a christmas dance, and he cut in on me. or he didn't, he asked someone to introduce us, really. dresson a red and green that my mother's great friend, lefkin, had given her and wouldi wonder if barbara like this dress. i guess it was pretty because george asked to meet me. i met him there. he came the next night to rye.er dance in the first was in greenwich. he cut in on me, and ry asked my

brother if he would plan a basketball game -- prep school boys versus rye high school. they were murdered, incidentally, by the high school boys, but george said yes, he would play, and asked if i would meet him and go out afterwards. every member of my family came to that basketball game to see -- this boy that i had raved over. i would come home and my mother would say tell me everything. my father said tell her in the morning, but apparently i came home and said i met this heavenly boy named poppy bush, and my mother knew the next exactly who he was, who was his family -- she should have been ahead of the cia. she knew everything. that ithe same way today

did them. i can breathe when i am with him now, but he is just as fabulous as he was then. host: that is some of the sentiment from barbara bush in that interview conducted by c-span in 2013. if you go to our website at c-span.org, you can see the full interview in which mrs. bush talks about a variety of topics. off of twitter, darren mills says that it comes to the passing of mrs. bush, it is a very sad day. she was a wonderful woman who did exemplary work to further humanity, and she will be greatly missed. david in california this morning, who will start off. good morning, go ahead. caller: good morning. this is a pleasant surprise. i usually never get in. barbara bush was a woman of such strength, and i think she was really the backbone [inaudible]

she was a very caring person t oo. passingd about her [inaudible] host: david, as far as your sentiments about her, did you spend a lot of time when she was first lady watching her and her andractions with people, how she composed yourself? how did you get those thoughts about her? caller: it was during the interviews, of course. lady in 1988, 19 90 -- 1988, wasn't it? host: yes. caller: through 1992. she was interviewed quite

frequently, and it was mainly on c-span. [inaudible] david, we will leave it there because you are breaking up a little bit. about 90 appearances on c-span , according to the archives we aep, where she addressed range of topics. the george w. bush presidential center putting out a tweet on the statement on its responses this morning of the passing of the first lady. this is a statement by president george w. bush on the passing of his mother. will read -- we will read that in a bed, but there is between from the presidential center. we will go to martin and all amounts springs, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: this idea that barbara person isfavorable

poppycock. the idea that you parse to the left because you want to bring is nonsense. she cared about her husband enough to let him go through. admirable, but the idea of aborting a child is absurd. and her idea of allowing it to happen is more absurd. god rest her soul. robert pittenger -- host: (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the central and eastern time zones. (202) 748-8001 for those of you mountain and pacific time

zones. this is the full statement on the passing of barbara bush. my dear mother has passed on at the age of 92. we are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was. barbara bush was a fabulous first lady and a woman unlike any other, who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions and to us, so much more. mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. i'm a lucky man that barbara bush was my mother. our family will miss her dearly. all for your prayers and good wishes. the wall street journal editorial section takes a look at mrs. bush, and what you brought to the position of first her, and highlighting over long and extraordinary life, mrs. bush took her own place in american history. she was the husband of the 41st president and the mother of the 43rd president, and many thought

george bush won in part because voters thought they detected some of barbara bush's integrity and steel. it was in 1990 when she was invited to give the commencement address at wesley college. a group of students wind that someone best known as a wife and idear was not their of a modern woman. "somewhere out in this audience," she said, "may be someone who will one day follow my footsteps and preside over the white house as the president's spouse. and i wish him well." these days, political scientists speak of america impossibly divided between red and blue. barbara bush was raised in a generation that could never think of america in those terms. she wanted retain the affection

of the american people for her unselfish dedication to family and country. that is from the editors this morning. on twitter, people making her thoughts known as well. death of barbara bush reminds us how far the gop has fallen. another saying barbara bush was a wonderful person. i admire her. she only had two flaws -- she gave birth to george w. bush and jeb. of the sentiments about barbara bush and her passing. helen in michigan, good morning. you are on the phone. caller: good morning, pedro. how are you? host: i am well, thank you. caller: i was calling to say that i think barbara bush was a wonderful person. firstn the day, when aids came out, i heard that people would not even touch a person that had aids, and she picked up

a baby that had aids and held that baby. the bushes raised over $1 million for different charities. anyone who has any naysayers bush, theara lady has done a lot of things for a lot -- where this country, and she was one of the great women, thank god, to remember. i am thankful that she graced our lives. from the current president of the united states, this statement about the passing of barbara bush. -- this issident from the white house. president donald trump and first lady melania trump join the nation in celebrating the life of barbara bush as a mother, grandmother, military spouse, and former first lady, mrs. bush was an advocate of the american family. be long remembered for

her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served unfailingly well. the president and first lady's thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of mrs. bush. jim in delray beach, florida. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. i want you to know as a young child, i was very interested in the first lady's history and presidents since george washington. a president or first lady passes away at this point, it is very sad. for me, barbara pierce bush, when i was a young kindergartner , she was a lady who i had known of. it was not a political thing for me. she was a wonderful woman, a real person, in my opinion, but i am so sorry for the loss and may she rest in peace.

let's go to brenda in north carolina. brenda, you're next. caller: i tell you, if we have -- firstdyie ladies like barbara bush. the first lady we have now, what has she done to help the country? there is nothing she has done. host: when it comes to barbara bush, what do you think she brought to the office? everything,brought everything to the office. like i said, i am not a republican. i am democratic, but i would watch her when she was on. she seemed like she cared about people. host: that is brenda in north carolina. president barack obama putting out a statement this morning,

saying that barbara bush was the rock of a family that was dedicated to public service. our thoughts and prayers are with both presidents bush and the entire bush family tonight. we will always be thankful to mrs. bush to the generosity she showed us throughout the time in the white house, but we are more grateful for the way she lived her life -- is a testament to the fact that public service is an important and noble calling as an example of the utility and decency that reflects the rest of the american spirit. she will be membered best for passing those american values onto her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and the countless citizens she and george inspired to become "points of light" in service to others. mike is next, good morning. i have nothing really negative to say about barbara bush, but i can't say that she has affected me one way or the other.

the comment that you just made, i am maybe making more of this than i should, but [inaudible] on.humility and so i would not look up to george bush or his father, or the george bush family in a good light. only because history says what it says. and barbaraem, bush, i hope she enjoys her stay in a better place. for those of you in the eastern and central time zones, -- host: (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the central and eastern time zones, (202) the mountain pacific time zones. a tweet this morning from the former president bill clinton, who said barbara bush was a

remarkable woman. she had wit and grace, brains and beauty. she would fiercely fight in support of her family and friends, country and causes. she showed us what an honest, vibrant, full life looks like. hillary and i mourn her passing and bless her memory. the new york times highlighting some instances of candor from mrs. bush over the years. they write her canned or occasion -- candor occasionally got her into trouble. victims ofsiting hurricane katrina, she remarked many of them were underprivileged anyway, and that their astrodome stay, was "working very well for them." earlier, shortly before president george w. bush ordered the invasion of iraq, she said in a television interview that she had not been

watching coverage of the prelude to war. "why should we hear about body bags and deaths, and how many, what day it is going to happen? why would i waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" and on the today show, if she should run son jeb for president in 2016. "i really don't," she replied, "there are other people out there that are very qualified, and we have had enough bushes." , andater changed her mind said she was starting a run jeb run fund because he was our best chance of taking back the white house. good morning, thank you for taking my call. i wanted to give my condolences on mrs. bush, because i had the opportunity to meet her several years ago in the 1990's.

she sat on the board where i worked, and i was one of the elected to greet her when she came to a board meeting. she stopped in the middle of what she was doing and have a conversation with me, and i was just a regular worker. i was just amazed and everyone was astonished. she told me how nice i looked and what did i do? she was a people person. several years ago, you had a show on that asked the viewers who was their favorite first lady? i was able to call you and told you all about barbara bush. she was a people person. she was down to earth and a people person. that am remiss and sorry she had to go, but i had to get the opportunity to meet her. thank you for taking my call. host: from former president

carter, the atlanta journal-constitution highlights statements they made about barbara bush, saying rosalynn and i are saddened by the death of barbara bush. they went on to say she touched the hearts of millions with her warmth, generosity, and he went. the matriarch of a family dedicated to serving, she urged volunteerism as a way for all citizen to produce a made in our nation's progress. through her own work to promote literacy as a value in every american home, countless families now have the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in all aspects of their lives. she will be missed. that is president carter's statement about the passing of barbara bush. you can contribute as well this morning by calling our phone lines. for those of you in the eastern and central time fors, and (202) 748-8001 those of you in the mountain and pacific time zones. you can also comment on @cspanwj

, or post on our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. the first lady is the headline of the washington times this morning, as they write in memoriam and remembering mrs. whoosh, adding she was the mother of six and grandmother of 14 -- mrs. bush, adding she was the mother of six and grandmother of 14, and the matriarch of a powerful political family. the bushes were married 73 years, making the longest married couple in american presidential history. she went on to say i have the best job in america. every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun. white house releasing a statement celebrating the life of president bush, that accounting for comments of president trump this morning that we read to you earlier. that is in the washington times. if you go to the washington post this morning, mary kerry served

as a speechwriter for george h.w. bush, and has a piece taking a look at her interaction with the former first lady. she writes my lessons from barbara bush. the first time i met barbara bush, i was wearing her bathing suit. i was terrified. she was gracious. it was june of 1990 three, and george h.w. bush had invited several speechwriters to maine to work on a few postpresidential addresses. as we headed to the pool, the had us gettingan used to the water, i spied the former first lady with several of her texas friends. ladies, called out the president , you know my speechwriters, don't you. i said pleasure to meet you, mrs. bush. i hope you don't mind your husband loan me your bathing for aerein i go, waiting legendary barbara bush takedown.

there was none. she simply laughed and said i am so glad we had a suit for you. have fun. that was one of the first of many lessons i was able to learn from mrs. bush -- if you want to you have to be able to roll with it. she always made room for the long-lost friends, the unexpected dinner guests, the staffers meeting bathing suits. caller: hi, good morning. my condolences to the bush family and thanks for taking my call. barbara bush at my high school graduation, which is close to 30 years ago. at the time, the police chief, who was more return or, -- maury turner, was running for mayor. she and her husband supported his campaign for mayor, and during her speech, she said and mayor maury

turner --i'm sorry, police turner.ury we did not know if she made that slip on purpose, but it was great to see her supporting the police chief. she was a great woman, a great first lady, and she will be missed. host: theresa, besides the statement about the police chief, do you remember anything else of her speech that stuck your mind? caller: i was 17, almost 18 at the time. as a teenager, you'd kind of tune out a bit, but that part of her speech stuck with me for all of those years. it was a great speech. it was not one that put me to sleep or anything. she spoke very eloquently. i just struggled to remember any part of the speech. it was an exciting day, i was anxious to be a high school graduate, and excited to see her

there. host: was there any political -- i use the word controversy -- but anything about the former first lady speaking at the school, where people were resistant to it? were people generally accepting of it? again, i was a teenager at the time so i was not aware of any controversy or anyone having any issue with it. there was a lot of security there. again, it was exciting to have the first lady of the united states speak at our high school graduation. it was at constitution hall in washington, d.c.. i do not remember any protests or people speaking out against it. again, it was exciting and a privilege to have her there. host: will thank you for what you did to remember, and we do it.eciate that was teresa in maryland. the next caller from massachusetts. you are next up, good morning. caller: hey, oh my goodness, i

love c-span. i am a lot younger. i did not live through the first bush. i live through the second bush recognizetion, so i babs represents a lot of things for a lot of people. we need to remember her life, but we need to remember the life of thousands of people killed by her children in iraq, thousands of people killed in the middle east, africa, everyone who was destroyed by her children's administrations, by the wars. we should recognize -- she battled with depression. what did sheognize do for mental health? did she contribute anything? i think not. i think not. that is my two cents. en in massachusetts.

you can make your thoughts known as well. for the eastern and central time zone. mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. several of you are tweeting. andcan do that at @cspanwj on facebook, facebook.com/cspan. page, go to our facebook of barbara bush is available on our c-span video library. you can see that on c-span.org. texas a&m university taking a statement, saying that the of barbara bush internment of barbara bush will take place at the university at the grounds of the george w. bush library. i'm sorry, that is the george h.w. bush library at texas a&m. story this morning

outing from fox news that a funeral service for the former first lady will take place saturday at saint mars at the school church in houston. missions bush and her husband of the than seven decades, former president george h.w. bush, attended the church regularly over the years. the service will be by invitation only. according to the george bush presidential library foundation, several former presidents and first ladies, as well as other dignitaries, are expected to attend. she will be laid on the grounds of bush presidential library at texas a&m in college station. one of the things to come out of that interview that c-span conducted in 2013 with mrs. bush as part of our first ladies influence and imagery serious was about her faith. here is what she had to say. it is very private,

and i am a huge believer and a loving god -- in a loving god. george and i pray every night, out loud, and sometimes we fight over whose turn it is. i have no fear of death. which is a huge comfort, because we are getting darn close. i have no fear of death for my precious george or for myself, because i know that there is a great gods, it -- and i am not worried about that. again,we will see robin one way or another. and our families. i have no fear of death. i have a great faith. that sounds so arrogant. >> why? mrs. bush: i'm a big shot -- i

have a faith in god. i do have a faith, and i don't question it. i am not as good as my children, but from your children you learn. certainly, dora -- she has a prayer group that gets on the phone for 30 minutes a night and ys for all over the country. i have learned a lot from her and from george, and from jeb and marvin too. all of them. but i have no fear of death, and i think that is very comforting. twitter, "she actually cared about americans and not ."st government institutions

the barbara bush foundation for family literacy, literacy being a great cause of mrs. bush, saying we mourn the passes o -- passing of mrs. bush. we think the world would be a better place if more people could read, write, and comprehend. that is why she started the foundation and her leggy will continue -- legacy will continue to impact lives for generations to come. iris in michigan. host: -- caller: good morning, pedro. barbara bush was a charming lady. she was the granddaughter of a president. she said she did not watch the news because what could she do about it? was, her husband responsible for a lot of the news that happened, and you would think as a close couple, she might be interested in what was pushing him.

i would like more attention paid havee compound that they up in maine. she has a house for every one of her children. that is a huge complex, and i wish they would do a report on wealth theye accumulated. they had a house in texas that was really tiny, and they grew financially, and what they have done that without the presidency? privileged, and she could be generous. but then there is the rest of us , so yes, i would like the whole story about their meeting. that was prestige too. she went to a good school, he went to a good school, they were introduced in a proper manner, and you do not see that a lot today. it was a different time and a different life, and maybe people can get a glimpse of it in the

movie "the good shepherd." host: iris giving her thoughts this morning. the washington post adds that barbara pierce was born in new york city on june 8, 1925, raised in the tony suburb of -- york.uburb of rye, new she was one of four children of the former polly robertson, the daughter of an ohio supreme justice, and marvin pierce, a top executive of mccall corp. , which published redbook and mccall's magazine. as a child, barbara stood out physically, having reached 5'8" and 148 pounds by age 12. 16 and a student at a private ashley hall school in charleston, south carolina when she met george herbert walker bush, who was attending the private phillips academy in

andover, massachusetts. a romance sparked at the 1941 christmas dance and continued mostly through letters. that is the washington post rendering this morning. some of the things being played on the papers -- out in the s barbara bush passed yesterday. the white house flag flying at half staff. this gives you an opportunity to comment on mrs. bush, the life she brought to the first lady's role and as the mother to president george w. bush. for those of you in the eastern and central time zones, and (202) 748-8001 for those of you in the mountain and pacific time zones. you can also log into our twitter feed and facebook page. plays out about mrs. bush is about a role she had in her own family, about the

bush clan saying she was known as "the enforcer." she might to say that have been a lot of other people's grandmother, jeb bush said, but she was our drill sergeant when we work growing up. by her account, she had evolved from a shy, socially square 16-year-old girl, smitten at the of her 17-year-old future husband. within a few years, they would leave behind their lives of wealth and privilege in the northeast as george h.w. bush texast his fortune as a oilman before winning a congress and will seat -- congressional seat in 1966. according to the book "the

bushes: portrait of a dynasty," years maintained and meticulously curated a network of tens of thousands of contacts and friends that she saved on index cards for social and fundraising reasons. by the time the bushes got to the white house and had automated the cardfile, they had 10,000tmas card list -- names, according to the paper this morning. mississippi, you are next. this is linda talking about the former first lady barbara bush. go ahead. caller: i'm just calling to get my condolences to the bush family. mother, of their because she was a great mother, a wife of 73 years. you do not see a lot of that now, you know? a big family, a politician's wife, but she was down to earth

and she loved people as well as her family. .he loved other people she showed her compassion to other people rather than just enjoying the status in her life. she said she was the luck is woman in the world, and she was. she had a great faith in the lord. host: what do you think she brought to the role of first lady? , you know?n to earth raising a whole family. you can do it in the spotlight, she raised great children, and they may not lean the way i lean , but they at least, at least they had compassion and the ability to serve. that is what she brought. that is how she raised her family, to serve, not just being privileged, but to serve their country and serve their community. host: linda in mississippi. -- talking about

the former first lady, remarks from the current vice president's wife, karen pence, saying when i first met barbara bush in -- talking about the former first lady, remarks from the 1988 as she entertained spouses of congressional candidates at the vice president's residence, her sage and vice and words of encouragement touched my life in a profound -- advice and words of encouragement touched my life way.profound since becoming second lady, she has become a trusted friend. i will miss her. cnn reporting that the president ordered flags lowered to half staff through saturday night in memory of the former first lady. historicalouse association announced tuesday the members of the public who wish to assign the official condolence book for mrs. bush 9:00egin doing so at today. the condolence book will be at the white house visitor center. members of the public can pay

their respects friday as the ys in st. maarten's episcopal in houston, and goes more into the plans for that, highlighting some of the aspects of her life. many of those aspects being played out in the papers this morning, from her early years to the time she served as the first .ady 40 minutes into it, we have had people commenting on the first lady and her passing. if you want to make your thoughts known as well, (202) 748-8000 for the mountain and pacific time zones. eastern and central time zones. the mountain and pacific is (202) 748-8001. this morning, highlighting that the first lady .oved god and dogs if you go to that interview at

c-span.org, you can see that she had her dog by her side during the interview. that is available on the website when you go to c-span.org. at the u.s. capitol this morning, the flag is flying at half mast there as the president ordered that to be the case through saturday night. you will see that all around washington this morning. is what is going on when it comes to the former first lady. we will continue taking your calls on her passing, what she brought to the office of first lady, your impressions of her. several people calling this morning with personal stories about meeting her or at least from afar as far as observing her through television in her time as first lady. all of those available. if you want to comment on them for the next 20 minutes or so. georgia, zelda is next. good morning. caller: good morning. lindae with the lady,

from mississippi. the values that she gave her children and the marriage that had,had and relationship a -- they had, that is important to become a president with a wife. it is important. the love and respect for people she and him had -- people, she and him had it all. i love her, her husband, and her son because of the love and respect they had, and also for god and their faith. drivingdo think a big force of that was mrs. bush herself? caller: yes. important,s are very because you can show compassion with people. you have that love and respect, and those things are very important. my parents -- this year will be .heir 65th anniversary

me and my husband will be 30. those things count in a marriage, the love, strength, and the faith that you have. in iowa.t will be reba you are next. caller: hello. when my daughters graduated from kindergarten, in 1981, 1982, at. bush came and spoke their graduation class. she said if i am still around when you guys graduate in 1999, i will come. before theytoo late invited her, so that is my memory of her. i know the kindergarten class will always rub she came and spoke. host: besides the actual speech she gave, what did you take away from her presence, demeanor, anything like that? what did you gain from her? caller: her demeanor was down to

earth and just a sweet person, that i got from it. i remember reading somewhere that every spring, they would go back to wherever in maine or wherever they had lived from texas, and she had a black housekeeper. in those days, way back there, they would not let black people saidat certain hotels, and she refused to stay if her housekeeper could not stay. pennsylvania. caller: barbara bush was superior. the world needs more mothers like barbara bush, who was caring, who wanted children to be educated, who had a very good family. she ruled the roost. that is what we need today. host: and you saw all of that

her time as first lady? caller: pardon me? host: you saw all of that being demonstrated during her time as first lady? caller: i lived in washington, d.c., and she was so her she was a caring mother. superb. she was a caring mother. host: rita is next. caller: i called a while, and you would not let me finish about barbara bush. she is a down-to-earth person, like i am. she is a wonderful mother and it shows in her children and grandchildren. person that is going to be missed on this earth, because she lights up the room when she comes in. i watch her on tv so many times and everything, and i feel good. and everything

else. i love barbara bush. host: let's go to charles and grove city, ohio. hello. caller: hello. host: you're on, go ahead. -- er: i am so sorry host: go ahead charles, you're on. caller: and stuff like that. she was a wonderful lady. [inaudible] charles inhat is grove city, ohio. you) 748-8000 for those of in the eastern and central time zones. mountain-8001 in the and pacific time zones. if you want to post on our twitter feed, you can do so at @cspanwj. our facebook page, as of early this morning when the show

started, there were about 60 comments about the passing of barbara bush, comments about what she brought to the role as first lady, including a portrait available to view too. you can make those comments on our facebook page this morning. think many of them, as far as talking about a lot of aspects in her life, this is susan gancher, saying she always carried herself well and lived a good example. bless her memory. she lived a good and long life. mamael harris said my taught me if you can't say anything nice about someone, keep your mouth shut. says barbara was a devoted wife and mother. she and george wh live here in houston. it was not unusual to see them around town. she was a close friend of the president of my women's group,

and i had the honor of going to lunch with them one day. i was surprised to learn of barbara's great sense of humor. bonnie says although i didn't agree with the policies of her husband and son george, i wish her and the family well. she was a strong woman and first lady. gina, go ahead. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. i was just calling to say that she was a heck of a woman to inspire true men to reach the pinnacle of their careers, and i'm going to miss her. thank you. host: gina, talking about her georgens not with just also her son. her granddaughter posting on instagram, saying "i already miss this force of a woman, the enforcer because she was the glue that held our family together. use my voice,to

but to also value the opinions of others. she adored her friends and family. her loyalty was unwavering. shen helps -- humor helps, often said, and it does, but i will miss her laugh terribly. i am thinking of my gampy tonight, no doubt missing his beloved desperately. i love you more than my tongue can tell, my ganny. that is barbara bush's granddaughter, jenna hager, on instagram. one woman who followed the life of barbara bush well was barbara perry, who serves as the director of women's studies. professor perry, good morning to you. guest: good morning. host: could you start by telling us the nature of the relationship you may have had

with mrs. bush? guest: i do not need to make more of it than it was, but it was a quite poignant and interesting relationship, and it happened last october down at texas a&m. i was to do a panel for that event, and i was sitting in the green room, waiting to go on stage. all of a sudden, barbara bush appeared at the doorway on her little scooter, and she appeared in, and people on the panel, like john meacham, who knew her well, scurried over to her, and i hung back because i did not know her. i said this is my chance to meet barbara bush, and walked out to say hello. i thought the fact that we share the same first name would make a .ink, and she listened intently i thought well, i am running will sayy spiel and what i always say at the end of interviews to people who served,

and i said thank you for the service to our country. she looked at me with those steely blue eyes of hers and said baloney. and i said oh my god, it is a great barbara bush moment. momentglad i had that with her, and on stage, i repeated the anecdote to the audience and they just roared with laughter, because it was that a typical barbara bush story. talk about the influence she had on both her husband and her son. guest: i think as everyone is -- last night and this morning, it was her strong mother heard. she was a -- motherhood. she was a strong rose kennedy figure, abigail adams, so outspoken her family called her "the enforcer." when her husband was on the road as a businessman or politician, she was not only at home, keeping the fires burning, but

she was instilling that sense of public service and her children that they have so embraced. i do not think she only supported her husband through her strengthen the family through the hard personal times, like the loss of their coulder, robin, but she also say things in public in her astute way, just as she did to me in private, that maybe he could not say as a more genteel politician. for her children and her son who became president, just instilling in them that backbone that they had to stand up to tough times. host: and it seems to me, and she expressed in interviews as far as the role of wife and mother, i said she may have seen herself in that role first before any other role she had. guest: i think you are absolutely right. she was a much more traditional homemaker, we would have called her back in the 1950's. she was the archetypical mother of baby boomers, and the good

homemaker keeping those home fires burning. role first. as her she married at age 19, so she was probably the last first lady cannot not have a career outside of her homemaker role. a careerd not have outside of her homemaker role, the great woman behind a great man -- i did not have the guts to see how she was responding with her facial expressions, but that is how i meant it, and i think it was an important role for her and our country. host: her candor -- some people said it sometimes got her in in trouble, but how did she recover from that? guest: it did. she had some blunt things to say about sarah palin and geraldine ferraro, and even in saying if -- whenith asked asked if she thought he should run.

she famously said we have too many bushes and we need to move on. i agree with her to the extent that dynasties are not necessarily great for public policy or politics, but to show her loyalty as soon as jeb announced and jumped into the race, she was there for him. footage we saw last night of her wielding her walker through the snow of new hampshire says a lot about her. occasionally that sharp tongue got her into some trouble, but it made her even more beloved among the american people because she was so authentic. the papers also had several accounts this morning about her life, growing up, something about her privileged life and highlighting that. how did she become an advocate for literacy? guest: the story is that one of the bush children suffered from dyslexia, and it was so obvious to her that reading is such an important skill to have. she not only taught reading and

reading to children, she wrote children's books, she made that her one policy in particular that she fought for as first lady, which is very typical of contemporary first ladies. immigrationd it to and homelessness, recognizing that people come to this country and do not speak the language, or have special problems in getting through our society. but also for homeless children and homeless families, how difficult and what a handicap that is for learning, which obviously carries over into the workplace and that sort of thing. she helped to found the barbara bush foundation four family literacy, and that will be part of her public policy legacies. host: because we have heard so many things about her that you have accounted and others have accounted, what are things that are not being said about barbara bush are important for people to know? guest: again, i think it is that , bywill be the last actuarial statistics, she will

be the last first lady from the , or ther ii generation greatest generation. they were my parents. i have lost them and i am thinking of them, and how much we miss them on the public scene and for those we still have with us, we want to hold them a little closer, i think, this morning. barbara perry, at the university of virginia's miller center, the director of presidential studies, talking about former first lady barbara bush, who passed away yesterday. we are recounting some of the stories of her and remembrances of her. mrs. perry, thank you for joining us this morning. guest: it is my pleasure to be with you, although it is a sad day for the bush family and our country. host: have you heard from anyone at the center as far as dignitaries and that kind of thing? guest: in terms of their outreach to us about oral history, for example? host: or the public in general. guest: we have certainly been

flooded with calls, as you can imagine. the miller center is the place to go for all thing presidential -- things presidential and first ladies, and that happens to be my specialty. last night and even before, last weekend when it was announced that mrs. bush's health was failing, we work flooded with calls. and many look to our websites to explain who's these people -- release people were and give them some humanity, so we are happy to be able to make that offering to the public. host: barbara perry from the university of virginia, thank you so much. guest: thank you. onto otherll move topics during the course of our program. the first guest will talk about several actions that the supreme court dealing with immigration and the internet will tax. those -- sales tax. those are up for discussion with r, a reporter for bloomberg news. he will join us after this. ♪

>> we have another first amendment speech, and it involves student protests. it is called tinker v. des moines, what when student -- when students came to school with black armbands to protest the vietnam war. the question is can they be des moinesy the school district for their armbands? they say this violates their freedom of speech, and the 7-2 majority opinion says the students cannot be punished for their passive expression of opinion. tould they shed their rights constitutional freedom of expression at the schoolhouse gates? >> this is personal to me.

i do what i do, in part, because my parents brought me to philadelphia when i was seven and i went to independence hall, and that made a tremendous impact on me. three years later, four years later, i am in high school. op-ed for the school newspaper that the principal and my -- censors, teachers stood by me. they told me to read this case, tinker v. des moines, which is ee speech the fr rights of students. i read it and it really changed my life. >> these more recent cases do suggest that students have fewer first amendment rights than adults, and justice thomas suggested, in a very provocative opinion, that as an original matter, students have no first amendment rights at all. is tinker correct or is thomas

correct? >> it is true that the supreme court has been shipping back on a couple of decisions. they have greater restrictions upheld on the decorum of student >> if something happens in a curricular context it becomes more school speech and it is easier to regulate. i think the basic principle that and are persons possessed with free-speech rights is a vital and correct principle. eastern monday at 9:00 on c-span. washington journal continues. host: greg follows the supreme court for bloomberg. to discuss the things

that happened at the supreme court. we will start with immigration. the justices handed down a decision on immigration. guest: this involves a legal resident who committed a crime in california. the question is whether he is subject to mandatory deportation . meaning there is no way to appeal to get out of it. the court has been grappling with this since last term. the court said the underlying law that would have subjected him to mandatory deportation, if you car -- committed a crime of violence, that phrase was so vague the provision is unconstitutional, so they struck that down in a 5-4 decision. the crime ofout violence aspect. how is it defined? involves a substantial risk that physical force against another may be used in the course of committing the

offense. the courts have previously said that you look at something like this not with regard to the reticular person and what he or she might have done, but with regard to the offense. with all notion that you are looking at the typical burglary ask, that was too vague to constitutionally. guest: justice scalia's had a role in this. justice scalia have written the court's opinion. it had a phrase, crime of violence in it. the court said that was unconstitutionally vague. the question was whether that reasoning applies in a different statute that applies to deportation. those facing deportation, does it change anything for them? guest: it depends on their

circumstances. it may give them a new avenue to avoid deportation. we are talking about a .articular class of people people who are here legally but committed a crime. there are other listed things that are still in place. murder, rape, some other serious felony, you were still subject to mandatory deportation. it is this catchall that has been thrown out. host: if you want ask questions about this decision and what it , did in these cases we get a response from the trump administration? guest: the trump administration was critical in this decision saying congress needs to act here. one thing to point out, the

trump administration, it was the trump administration, they were adopting the position of the obama administration. administrations have argued for broad deportation powers. host: one of the things that came out in relation to this story, the action by neil gorsuch. that was back when they had only 8 justices. avery argued it because they were split 4-4. he went with the court's liberals. he agreed this was too vague. he brought a separate opinion talking about how they laws, including they deportation law invites arbitrary power. he talked about dating back to the long tradition of american law and english law, he talked

about how the vagueness of english treason law was one reason for the american revolution. host: was it surprising? guest: we knew he would be the deciding vote. to going this way. it is not a surprise in some senses because he is a justice like antonin scalia a. -- scalia. this is a political question. is justice gorsuch getting any blowback? host: he might privately but the people i am reading from the conservative legal people say this is the kind of justice we were getting with him.

he is not going to be reflexively going with what we might consider the conservative position like justice scalia. he has a theory of interpreting the constitution that will sometimes produce a liberal result. out toan it extend larger aspects of immigration policy? >> i would not want to say too much. it may have more to do with criminal law, and how justice gorsuch might end up being more like justice scalia where he will occasionally side with defendants if he thinks they have not been fair notice of what the crime is. host: a couple of calls are lined up for you. the independent line, you are on with our guest. caller: good morning.

quick question for you. up, the liberal conservative judges. in minnesota we just had a supreme court person nominated, a highly partisan democrat. can you tell me the history of when liberal and conservative's war referred to in our court systems? think it is the downfall of our country. guest: we go back to the new deal, the conservative justices who voted to block parts of the new deal. inhas been exacerbated recent years, in part because we now have a core were the most liberal members were nominated i democrats, the most conservative by republicans.

it becomes easier, and think that that means something because it often does. host: this is on our republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i would like to know why our nation is wasting so much money on people who broke our law. they are illegals. they need all to be deported. they go against -- daca is against our constitution. why are we doing this? deport every one of them. didt: two point out as i earlier, this case was not about anybody who entered the country illegally. he was here legally from the philippines. the question was whether the crime he was serious enough -- was serious enough to deport him. , importantith daca

issues but separate from this case. host: where is the supreme court deciding these issues? kick the canry to down the road with the daca, for example. the court did not jump then as quickly as it could have. that issue may come back up. that case is working its way up. the big decision will be the travel ban cases. host: what is being argued? guest: a lot of issues. the travel ban is in effect. -- the country of chad has just been reduced. -- removed. there are restrictions on how people can enter the country. the supreme court has let it go into effect.

there are arguments against the policy including the president exceeded his statutory authority. host: who makes the case opposing? guest: there are two groups that are fighting the case. the case at the supreme court is the state of hawaii, and other opponents of the law. host: line for democrats. go ahead. you are on. caller: good morning. my sympathies go out to the bush family for barbara bush. on immigration, it has been almost eight years -- there was an independent bipartisan bill by president obama that said nothing, and they are saying obama didn't do nothing. we are the united states of america. we stand up for all the poor.

are we going to stop all the immigrants coming from overseas? people who have been living here paying money, now all of a sudden we just want to send them back? obama'se talked about ability to get something in place. the reason we have this is because we can't come up with a bipartisan agreement in congress. president obama extended the policy that try to do this with a larger group. president trump is trying to resend that policy. we are in this fight over what the president can do. host: as to what our guest was talking about, he says do not lose sight to the fact that this individual was here legally.

immigration is one topic of note yesterday. the internet being a topic of discussion as well. what was argued? guest: the court heard arguments involving whether states can force internet retailers to collect tax from their customers even if the retailer doesn't have a presence in the state. the reason the is an issue, 26 years ago the court involving a catalog company said that company can't be forced to collect tax unless they have a in the state.ouse the question is whether that makes any sense now that we have this world of e-commerce. frankly at this point it could go either way. host: this seems to have amazon

written all over it. guest: amazon is the one company that is not involved in this. amazon is in a middling position. they collect tax if you buy something they have in their inventory. if you buy a through the amazon marketplace, amazon leaves it up to the seller to collect the tax. this case involves south dakota and the law they passed. retailers.maller overstock and newegg. host: they are looking for other sources of revenue. guest: saying there are billions of dollars we need for education and roads, we have traditional retailers because they say we are a disadvantage.

>> was this a clear-cut kind of decision? how they fall on thinking on this matter? guest: i would say no. the original decision in 1992 called quill is based on this dormant clause. states cannot burden interstate commerce. different views on how eager they should be to overturn precedent, and that taxes are involved. you have a lot of layers. the ideological mixture could be scrambled. host: as far as individual justices who made the best argument? guest: the opponents of the

quill role, the ones who say states ought to be able to tax, they would like to overturn quill. hannity, thomason gorsuch. mas, and gorsuch. on the other side it seemed clear you had justice sotomayor and alito. they were concerned states would get this broad taxing power and abuse the unanswered questions that would crop up if quill were overturned. other justices pressing questions of both sides and harder to call. quite so there is no way to figure how this will come down. >> i don't think so. it will be a divided court. beyond that it feels like it could go either way. host: let's take some more

calls. republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. ago, youof callers said democrats appoint liberals, conservatives appoint republicans. i am curious about the history of the supreme court. can you name any justices appointed by a democrat that over their time on the court became more conservative? instances,nty of examples of the other way around guest:. -- around. guest: there are more republicans who have become liberal. the first one would be justice by john f.inted kennedy. he became a moderate, and on criminal matters you would say conservative. there have been more republican

appointed justices in recent memory. there are more opportunities to drift to the left. host: from new jersey, we would hear next from george. mixed: i am getting signals with this immigration topic. with't have a problem people coming here to make a living and work hard and all of that beautiful american dream, but the dream is really over. we ruined their countries. these third world countries we created. upn are people point to wake and find that this whole scam is just that, a pyramid scheme, and it is collapsing because of greed? you look outside, they are cutting our lawns. people are using them for everything. construction, everything. they are not being caught, the

companies doing this. screwed. getting the people who come here and desperate. they reduce the wages and benefits that go with that, and then we don't have any protection. no taxes. nobody gets punished in the business sector. i don't know when immigrants are going to realize the game is over. they have to fight from their homes and turnover this pyramid scheme that uses them as slaves. host: thank you. guest: that is a little beyond my area of expertise. it is an interesting policy point. when it gets to the supreme because ofay not be the undocumented immigrants he is talking about. programn the daca proble have established successful

lives. for many of them this is the only country they have known. host: for congress to adjust policy for the white house to adjust policy, or do they just throw it back to that realm? guest: the president has broad authority over immigration. and the authority congress has given the president. they are called upon to interpret the statute. they will do that. about howarn more differential the court is going to be when the travel ban case comes up. that is an area where they are being asked to take a step back. it comes to the internet state tax, he sent out they are beingng treated so badly, it seems like

he has already come down on this. >> his administration is on the side of letting the state tax require them to collect taxes. are accusing cases them of cheating. they are following the law. >> when the argument from south dakota was being made was it a purely economical argument? guest: there was an economic the questionalso, of whether in the modern age this physical presence is something that should be used. this is a little more in the briefs. the argument is, what physical presence -- now somebody has an app on their phone and they are

in south dakota. computer.the desktop it is harder to tell. is the court nimble on these issues? aret: not as nimble -- they as nimble as you would expect a group of 50 to 80-year-olds to be. some of them talk about -- i talked to my clerks and they say this, that or the other thing. they get the important things. bill in maine. caller: i am responding to the supreme court decision. satisfied with the outcome. the point is, people have to start somewhere. you can't judge them by their

color or their looks. have moralsant to in your background, to have a right to live, no matter where it is. as the humanrvive race. you've refuse to get along with that person then you have conflict all the time. that is why you have chaos. you have toine is get along and not be selfish because you think they are taking away what you have. they pay taxes and they do whatever they have to. it is not a matter of having high wages. it is a matter of when you mass-produce products. you must be able to sell it cheaper. to return to the

case they decided, this was a person who committed a crime. one of the things the court made clear, congress could address the issues the caller was .alking about in terms of whether somebody who has committed a crime deserves to stay in the country. host: the president giving his thoughts on that case as well saying the court decision means congress must block the removal of aggravated felons. this is a public safety crisis. keep america safe, he adds. caller: it was kind of a supreme court day at the white house, obviously. he was attuned to what they were doing.

congress could go back and fix this law. congress may have trouble getting a lot accomplished in the foreseeable future given the divisive nature of our politics. it is certainly the case congress could write this in a clearer way. host: what are major ones that we expect to have the court hear ? have one more week of arguments. cases.e of interesting racial gerrymandering in texas, and whether diminishment of law judges were appointed constitutionally. then we will have a big flurry of opinions between now and june, including partisan gerrymandering, and the colorado baker who refuse to make a cake for a same-sex wedding,

including cell phone privacy. it is going to be a big term. host: deciding state-by-state levels, how many of those filter up? guest: there are two categories. i mentioned the racial gerrymandering case. the court gets a lot of those. partisan gerrymandering is an issue where the court has never said a map is so partisan it is unconstitutional. right now, in wisconsin, they heard a case. and a congressional redistricting case in north carolina. these tend to come up in states where one party has the ability to control the entire government. is that wisconsin republicans control both the legislature and the governor's mansion, and they drew this map

in a way that was unfair to democrats. host: the democrats line. caller: good morning. good morning c-span. i have one question. congress passed gorsuch to be on the supreme pick,and that was trump's if they don't like him is there any way to remove him like he is oring to remove mueller rosenstein? since he is not voting the way they want them to vote. answer is other than impeachment, no. you can impeach a justice, but voting the way you think is wrong is not grounds. retirement, as we approach the end of the court term, what is the status?

guest: people will be talking about it. when they announced their retirement they tend to do it between march and the end of the term at the end of june. it is a thing a lot of people are going to be talking about. there is a huge amount of speculation. no clear signals. one unclear signal, when we were talking about gerrymandering and the court was having trouble deciding it, justice kennedy will cast the deciding vote. in the maryland case, justice breyer raise the idea maybe we will need to reargue these cases assumptionnder the justice kennedy was still be there. it may mean nothing but it was an intriguing prospect he is imagining a court with justice kennedy on it. how has justice courses

settled in? guest: he seems to have settled in just fine. last term there was talk about how aggressive he was, how assertive he was. he was trying to make a name for himself. there is certainly some of that there havebut been arguments where he has not asked questions. he has asked fewer questions this term than previously. seen, he is in some cases willing to go against type , and not just rule with justice tom is and justice alito. for: the supreme court bloomberg. it you want to go to his writings, they have an archive of all the stories. we will have open phones until 9:00 if you want to participate.

you can post on our twitter feed. on capitol hill, current debate over the topic for the possibility of a new authorization for war for the president of the united states comes in light of actions in syria. here to tell us about the latest gregory, agoing on, defense reporter. good morning. guest: good morning. things for having me. we saw legislation revealed and introduced to the topic of a new war authorization. could you explain to our viewers who put this together, and what does this do? we saw comesal that out this week was put together

by a chairman of the senate foreign relations committee as .ell as senator tim kaine what the proposal would do is give the president authorization warontinue the broad against al qaeda and isis that we have conducted since september 11. it would not cover strikes such as the one that occurred on syria last week. that is the case how has it been received? guest: right. probably dead on arrival is what i would say. there is not a lot of appetite within the senate republican leadership to bring up a proposal that could potentially split the republican caucus. is anotherthis iteration of a debate that

really has been picking up support and steam from both as congress eyes the war policies. host: we have seen several republicans, the current auo math gives the authorization. good you explain what that says currently and how that might cover actions in syria? past inhe current one 2001 in the wake of september 11, and then 2003 covers the authority to wage war against isis, against al qaeda, excuse me. that has been extended to cover the campaign against the islamic state as well since it was an offshoot of al qaeda. what the trump administration

the au mf and broad authority granted gives the president authority to launch isis strikes. to combat those terrorist organizations. host: you said there is a tepid response. it is pretty much done for now? guest: i would not say done for now. the proposal has been introduced and it is going to receive a mark up. whether or not it gets out of committee is a question. certainly we have other questions on whether or not it gets an actual vote on the senate floor. open question whether or not this piece of legislation advances. if it fails it certainly will not be the last we hear about

aumf. host: thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: open phones until 9:00. the washington post highlights a story in many papers this morning about mike pompeo going to north korea in advanced talks between the united states, and kim jong-un. that is the washington post. if you go to the new york times between north and south korea, report out of seoul, south korea, kim jong-un ready to put nuclear arms on the table. the report says the leader plans to announce his willingness to

denuclearize his country when he meets with the south korean president this month according to an official from the south. they are still discussing other aspects of the joint statement such as whether the two koreas would commit to holding summit meetings on a regular basis. south korea is trying to convince north korea to hold a joint news conference at the end of their meeting. the story adds north korea and the united states official also .een holding talks when it comes to china and tariffs, this is the wall street morning, china

gives detroit a bit of a break, reporting beijing responded to a u.s. call for a level playing field in the world's biggest auto market with a plan to phase out rules requiring automakers to share with chinese companies by 2022. potentially killing these rules fledgling allow carmakers to learn from foreign market leaders could bolster president donald trump's assertions that his policy of pressuring china to modify its trade behavior is yielding swift results. this is open phones from west virginia, democrats line. you are first up. caller: good morning. host: go ahead.

you are on. caller: what i wanted to say is, it is the hypocrisy of the republicans to complain about what trump is doing. has securityse around it. everything is paid for. , ande goes to mar-a-lago has the japanese prime minister down there, spending millions of dollars to have a meeting with >> and republicans are supposed to be awful conservative but they are letting him blow money left and right. it is horrible. host: odell in florida. caller: hello. ok. why does ourg system allow these people to come over here. they don't pay federal tax.

i know that for a fact. they don't pay sales tax in .almart that is not fair. i don't care how you slice it. here theycome over get the same services as anybody else. they take money out of social security and they call it something else. they never put a quarter in it. i don't like that. it is not mr. trump's fault. this has been going on for years. i just turned 72 years old. i knew for a fact this goes on. kuwait andiends from mexico and cuba.

host: all right. another floridian. i wanted to ask a couple of questions. about immigration. why don't they give these people that are working and contributing to the economy, and try too come in do something that way? incident trying to throw them out of the country? at rid of the criminals, get decent people, let them stay here. thoughts.can add your

in the washington examiner, the story about back-and-forth statements between the white house economic director and the white house, the ambassador to the united states nikki haley. saying the white house chief economic advisor apologized to the u.s. ambassador tuesday after he blamed her for mixedion about the messages on russian sanctions. he said he spoke with haley and said he was wrong to say she was confused when she announced the white house would unveil new sanctions monday. kudlow added that haley appeared without being fully briefed on the composition. the policy was changed and she was not told about it. he said she got a head of the curve when she made the comments, adding she had done a great job, then a great

ambassador. there may have been some momentary confusion. without -- with all due respect, i don't get confused. caller: good morning. i believe anyone who supports trump has to be ignorant, naïve, or wealthy. ok.: let's go to paris, texas. i'm calling because i wanted to know why the president is making such a big issue of getting immigrants out of the united states when he is married to one. i want to know what she has done to contribute. i haven't seen her do anything. she doesn't speak english. to know why every time something happens they always

have their back against the wall and blame everything on obama. that is all i have to say. jonathan and go to annapolis, maryland. democrats line. caller: hello. i was just curious after seeing the news around comey's book coming out, and everything technically isn't the leaks that the information that commie put out, does not violate the law? i understand what they were , but i was hillary curious as to -- if there was already a law violated that was kind of being ignored, or if it is just business as usual. host: that is jonathan. if you go to the mercury news, --s is based out of mercury jerry brown, sang president

trump aimed his twitter account directly at the governor after getting pushback from sacramento on efforts to put national guard troops on the border. -- k he added this was not the first week the president directed at governor brown. governor brown had a series of tweets. saying things for the shout out. bridges are still better than walls. at a time of unprecedented -- unprecedented -- political turmoil jeff sessions is come to california to further divide and polarize america.

jerry brown at the washington club talking about immigration policy, was asked about the national guard. here is a bit of that response. stop drugtried to smuggling and guns going to mexico to the cartel. trying to catch the desperate mothers and children, that is something else. we want to be quiet purdue. i appreciate the president's tweet. find commonan understanding here. there is enough problems at the border between our countries. >> can you come to terms with an agreement?

>> we haven't gotten any written confirmation about our national .uard host: let's go to donald and michigan. caller: good morning. am i on? ok. turn it off? host: they prefer if you turn it down. caller: ok. i just wanted to say, the gentleman -- i take offense at what he said. the democrats have been doing that for quite a spell now. hillary called us all a bunch of deplorables.

i don't know how many look that up in the dictionary, but i did. another democrat said that. they are always hollering about how bad a person trump is. i'm just going to give a little advice. type in jfk dr. feel good. then, -- we don't even have to go to that. everybody knows about clinton and what he did, and what we heard on the news was a small chip of the man's morals and character. he was pathetic. host: ok, let's go to ralph in michigan. comer: i am curious how

trump can spend so much money going back-and-forth to florida and nobody says a word. the president asking for more time. trumphouse officials said refused to make his previous tax returns public. mid-octoberfile by according to officials. the story goes on to say his tax returns have long been a source of speculation and criticism. paytrump said he fought to as little tax as possible so the government would not waste his money. critics have derided it is little more than a convenient excuse.

caller: the one from florida said they don't pay income tax. [inaudible] if you go to the store you're going to pay taxes. you can't have it both ways. you talk about fiscal conservative. stopare y'all going to talking out of both sides of your mouth and be straight with the people? we are not warmongers. the washington post highlights a story taking look at the president legal team highlighting the fact it seems the president will not interview robert mueller. the follow-up says that after last month's resignation of john

mr. trump's personal attorney on the russian matter, the president's advisers expect the news by the end of the week. the president's team has contacted robert bonner, a former judge and member of president w bushes -- president george w. bush's administration. he is credited with ushering in a more consolidated government approach to securing america's borders in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. good morning. i have a different situation. i would like to talk about the opioid crisis we have the united

states. the early back in 80's, when there was an influx of crack cocaine in the black community. that decimated all black communities in our major big cities. they were talking about, the first thing they said was lock them up. that is when they got that walk-in frisk. epidemic thes a y government says -- white epidemic the government says it is a national emergency. , the sheriffs,e are helping. when crack came through they wanted to lock them up. i think it is unjust. an opioidit is crisis, but they are putting too much emphasis on it because it

is a white disease. white people always deal with opioids. blackstone. host: all right. -- blacks don't. host: all right. under the jeff sessions proposal, the drug a administration would be able to produce a company's opioid production if officials believe drugs are being diverted for misuse according to the attorney general. the attorney general announcing the dea has reached an agreement ith 48 attorney general to share information from a database that monitors the flow painkillers from manufacturer to distribution point. richard in missouri. good morning.

caller: yes. i was wondering if the supreme court could speak on the condition we find ourselves in today. we have a lunatic running the country. and a pack of hypocrites following him. what are we going to do about that? host: kenny in ohio. you are next. caller: i want to know how can we have any confidence in the supreme court when their job is to interpret the constitution, and yet most judgments are divided along party lines? either one party or the other is lying to us. host: from illinois, this is eddie. independent line. caller: yeah. to do we have to listen

english parliament? i thought c-span was paid for by the united states taxpayers? why do we have to listen to those people. host: c-span doesn't receive tax dollars. it is funded by cable operators and those who view cable. the international programming including the house of parliament, the broadcasts we get from their is an interest in how others conduct their affairs. we do that as an educational purpose. that is why we engage in that. caller: we don't need their system. theirwe are not endorsing system. we are giving to a window into how they do things. we see a value to it. jack is next. caller: hello. yeah.

you know. i've got to tell you. this country, we are getting too far out of control. is ifwe are going to head the democrats say they want to get the house in november and proceed with this negativity this country, you're going to see that red on the map come out and they are going to force the liberals and democrats to move to the cayman islands or canada or shut up. host: what leads you to believe that? caller: sarah. -- sir. you take these calls. you see this going on. you did not see this under obama for eight years. if they were doing this to other presidents like this, this is ridiculous. now, youing you right

watch and mark my words, you are going to listen, come november of next year, you see these people come out and protest. they are going to come out and resisting start against all this bad stuff going on compared to all the good things going on in this country. host: ok. let's go to paulette. good morning. who am i speaking with? host: you are on the program. caller: the reason i'm calling is because i live on a fixed income and my cable is basic. the let to watch c-span but a lot of people can't afford cable. if they don't have cable there is no c-span available to them. host: if they have a phone they can view it or listen to our

radio app. there is an internet connection as well. there are several avenues. caller: but if chances are you ,an't afford cable, chances are older people don't have computers. you know what i am saying? so c-span is not available to them at all. host: i understand what you are saying as far as -- wide you bring that up? caller: for the simple reason that not everybody has cable. not everybody has computers. people don't have either one, chances are they don't know anything about going on the radio to find the station. c-span is basically not available to everyone. it is only available to people who can afford cable. host: cable viewers get access, people with phones get access, people with computers get access.

there are variety of ways to reach out to our programming and what we are doing. republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i'm calling because i take opioids. i have been taking them for 12 years. i would like to inform people on the changes that have been made on how i go about getting those. i used to be a will to get them from my family doctor. in indiana they change that. aw you have to go to dedicated pain management clinic. they have also changed from a family doctor, you can only get a seven day prescription. atthey are really looking the patient and the overprescribing making sure that it is not being done. in my opinion. host: let's go to ian.

good morning. caller: i just wanted to follow-up on the comments the gentleman made earlier in regard to the opioid crisis. that the way that the crack epidemic was handled in the 80's, the mass incarceration was incredibly harmful to the black community and it was bad policy. but i just wanted to go on record as saying that the opioid crisis we are dealing with day, it affects all communities, all colors, and many people are suffering. learned fromhave the mistakes made in the past. i'm not sure that we have learned those lessons. started tos have shift the they haven't really fully shifted. but it is something that affects everybody.

usa today has a look at how states are dealing with conversion therapy. a record number of jurisdictions are taking aim at conversion therapy for miners, an attempt orchange sexual orientation gender identity. been introduced discrediting conversion therapy. on tuesday, 11 of them, they believe -- they left a letter to a priority.lls this story adding momentum has been building, for the bands which prohibit state licensed professionals for practicing

conversion therapy. broadcasting the british government, i may foreign service officer, it is appalling, the state of the american knowledge of geography. war, only 58% ofiraq our people could identify iraq on a map when brave men and women were serving, dying, getting wounded. show clear to me that you a window into the workings of foreign governments. host: we appreciate it.

andrew, for those of you who called then, the house comes in at 10:00. legislators joining us in this hour. we will hear from their public and from oklahoma, steve russell. later on in the program will be of newby bill pascrell jersey. he discusses the impact of the public and tax legislation. those conversations coming up. ♪ challenge of latino immigrant in

the trump era," political sarah kenzor, with her fly-over view from country," on sunday live overage continues at 1:30 p.m. eastern with journalist david "russian roulette," izakoff.red by michael co-founder, matter "black lives matter memoir," and with his book "i know best, how moral narcissism destroying our republic, if already."watch the festival of books live on c-span 2's book t.v. >> sunday on c-span's q&a, former professional basketball on author aton thomas and "we matter, athletes

activism," and -- >> when i was younger, i was my mother taught me mohammad ali, d the athletes i learned about. older, like a ng light bulb went off and i made the connection of how i could footsteps, i can bring attention to different auses just because i'm an athlete. i just continue to do it. i continue to do it through pros, right here in washington, d.c. with the wizards. it became a part of me. q&a, sunday night at 8 eastern on c-span. >> "washington journal" continues. us, representative steve russell, republican of oklahoma, member of the armed services committee, and welcome you. >> thank you, great to be with

you again. host: we wanted to start off syria and the targeted strikes that took place, was that the right approach for the united states? think it is. what is personality in this particular situation, we really ave to separate the proliferation and barbaric use of chemical weapons separate the terrorist activities and the anti-terrorist syria, es going on in they really are separate events. because of that, the things we ion and examine and look at have to be viewed in that light. 1925, with the genevaprotocol, the nations of the world said chemical weapons a loyed in war fare is just nonstarter. there are only three nationings oday that have not signed the conventionss today that have not signed the conventios today that have not signed the conventios today that have not signed the conventions conventions, that is north korea, egypt and south sudan. is fairly new

country, i don't know what is going on there. when you look at this, it comes proliferate nt to biological weapons and there are for those things. we have not seen use of these civilized nations, even in world war ii, chemicals used with great barbarity, ut aside from that combatants on battlefields never employed them and we haven't seen that. the t three of the five of security council acting, who will? t is a bad place for russia to be to be backing states that are chemical and nuclear weapons. host: if this becomes a repeated comfortable with the idea of the current uthorizations to allow it or need for a new -- guest: what we have to examine is history of the executive and employed esident has force as commander-in-chief, in

2 of ance with section article one of the constitution. that, i think there were concerns after the vietnam war. people were concerned about president nixon and came up with he war powers act, it was passed in, i believe, 1973. authorization by congress for the war powers act authority, we've seen every president since do some type of employment of that. whether it be migrants, or ronald reagan with libya or bill clinton with somalia, and kosovo, every president used executive authority to use force congressional approval outside of a limited time. the limits of that and the that has been hotly contested and debated ever since. is unique in this case

and like president clinton's use in kosovo, which stretched the powers act, war many can talk about that. veryt into kosovo in 1999, familiar with it, but the same time, what we have here was of orization of the use force and a war powers act under wo different constructs, terrorism and chemical proliferation and use. host: so the need for a new one? guest: certainly with the operations ongoing for post-isis president think the conveyed this already. couple weeks prior to the knew al strike, no one assad was going to use chemical weapons. the president was re-examining that, no held territory, you know, every town now under control other they squikirted and gone some place else. completely gone. said, yeah, we need to have

these discussions and revisit signalled that two weeks before any of this ever happened. host: then speaker ryan had this add to the discussion, what i would hate to do during this isis, to have ties the hands of the military behind think that do you would happen? guest: well, i think we need to be very cautious, with the speed communication, but the speed of travel and and information, it is even more critical now that he military and the president have the ability to defend the republic and so we have to do that. war powers act, it limits the use of force up to 60 another 30 days for withdrawal, in the case of the president and this strike on he was in and out in a said that so when he was mission accomplished, i believe he was speaking specifically to that, that we in, we were out and it is a

done deal. provisionsd out four of what would prevent future elimination ly the of chemical weapons, inspections and the like. host: our guest is with us until 9:30, if you want to ask questions, give us a call, for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. and you can tweet us your thoughts at c-span wj. when it comes to then, you future of t the syria, what discussions are you having within the armed services this?tee about guest: well, we're having discussions on syria as a whole, founder and he co-chairman of the warriors caucus, which is a number of veterans, not a lot of us, but a number of veterans in the house of representatives, is about two dozen of us that are members of the warriors aucus, we are actually

discussing this issue a great deal and had even been wanting discuss authorization of the use of military force prior to he chemical strike, prior to the president's announcement, because we do believe that some ions cannot be under nebulous umbrella, clear that isis was a terrorist state, acts of y were doing barbarity, clear we made gains. step?t is the next those questions are being discussed and debated on both sides of the aisle. about activity at the nited nations, from our ambassador? guest: sure. the frustration with the united have a clear you case of chemical use, i mean, come on. people can, for their own purposes or whatever, debate the intelligence or the to this at led us syrian strike. i have full confidence that the there gence that got us was very, very key. i look at it as a warrior. things i've seen both in

classified and unclassified setting, i'm convinced, at cially when you look aerial delivery systems and things we've monitored, no doubt. with intelligence services of the united kingdom, the best in the world and services of france, which have the best in the world, you don't get three of council security willing to risk their reputation, their economy and everything else and perhaps even their military on something that yet they did nd and so in this case, i think that they made the right decision. host: let's hear from mike in arkansas, independent line. guest, n with our representative steve russell of oklahoma. caller: yes, sir, good morning. pedro, thank you for c-span, we appreciate it. veteran and i have agent orange. odd and strange to me that when you use the term fare," it has

mmediate result, it's abomination. how many veterans have died from even though it was and how many people in vietnam dead, the children born deformed because of agent orange? warfare, using chemical warfare, an immediate result, that is unacceptable. result, like me and my children and everyone else that suffering from agent orange, that is acceptable, can you explain that? caller.anks, guest: i appreciate it. at the time, when we used it in at as , they were looked defolians. ddt, to keepve used insects off crops or kill mosquitos, realize there is side effects to that, maybe we ought anymore.hat i think the march of history,

you look at what has the united states done when they discovered there were side effects or things that were wrong with that the defoliants, we banned them and don't use of veterans n. care and thanks for protecting me when i was a little guy, i appreciate that. veterans is something ongoing that we have to do with veterans administration, that have y those substantiated cases when it those that have medical histories and immediate of rioration as a result being exposed to agent orange. those are care issues. terms of proliferation, i look at it as we look at history. designed to kill foliage, not people. they were not employed as such. in the geneva protocol, you can have teargas and for law

enforcement, crowd disbursement, hose are accepted, even though they can cause bodily harm. in the military we got exposed we learned what that does to your body and it is ot fun, but at the same time, so this are thresholds and these are things monitored by the international community. host: from wisconsin, democrat's line, stewart is next. yes, good morning. guest, i o ask your think what the syrian president unconscie nable act, immoral, a crime against humanity, i think. guest: i agree. caller: to draw a parallel, , n't after the first gulf war president bush, he didn't do when saddam hussein was bombing, i think refugees from

iraq, they were trying to leave our american fighter jets saw the iraqis bombing their own didn't do anything about it, because in the agreement we had after the gulf mean is that a fair parallel? anything? we doing why aren't we doing anything to assad? a simple answer, why we just don't go in -- guest kay, we'll let our respond. guest: no, it's a fair question. you have to draw the line sovereign states that have civil war and then acts of and crimes against humanity. i agree with you, the use of aemical weapons certainly was crime against humanity. and when you look at what got us syria, president obama was very concerned about the heinous cts, suffering of the syrian people, the refugee crisis, he was concerned about all those things. was looking for a proper

application of military force in he american public was not supportive of that. point, ually got to the there was such barbarity, he forcesnyway and employed into northern syria to try to do that. now, he t trump allowered the military to them to go after certain things without regard to rules of us to have allowed better action on the battlefield, okay, different commander-in-chief. what both have in common, it threshold of terrorists sawing off heads and emulating lining cessary cages, people up on beaches and shooting them, cutting their or off because of faith whatever it might be, both presidents were absolutely the to make itermination stop. and that was on the terrorism pieces. chemical o to the

pieces, the same moral outrage you both presidents when saw the chemical agents being employed in syria. to suggest to iraq, we didn't act, i think is not to look at it in a broader context. had the northern watch and southern watch and no-fly zones, the interior, in obviously saddam was bnt on self-destruction and he did that. one of my great privileges to participate in his hunt and which you can find on him," oir called "we got so i'm familiar with iraq and the things that went on there barbarity of saddam hussein. by his ownured, hung people and brought to justice. i would say there was accounting the main charges against him that resulted in his death penalty was use of weapons on his own people. host: there is talk from the administration of pull-out from syria, is that a good action?

guest: well, i think there are some things we wanted to get in place, what we see our military and department of state and the is that and others what we have to do, you've got players, they don't iran.scendant to israel and jordan have been clear, will not tolerate iranian troops for between the, 40 miles, i think 40-mile zone on border of syria, this is unacceptable to them. with great cooperation king abdullah in jordan. is a lot of concern about iran having this open pipeline from tehran to damascus, right now that territory is is blocked by coalition sources in syria. by those we aid with the kurds and syrians and blocked by those that the jordanians are

with.g last december, announced as part of our policy, we would work a that security service would be there on that to revent a free-flowing highway from tehran to damascus. i think once all these things in place and we see that, hat the need for our forces to remain will be diminished. host: our guest, representative steve russell, republican of member of armed services committee. next from george in ocala, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, gentlemen. congressman, you seem very astutely, man, you really know what you are talking about. guest: thank you. combat veteranam man.vietnam, i'm an old i also thank you for your service now in the congress. okay. a real quick question. don't have a comment for pedro, negative comment for

c-span. first off, if these countries chemical, of produciproduce weapons and using them on people, aren't they also capable of creating biological weapons? this may seem like a fundamental question, but if we bomb a making, let's say either thatdoes that spread, does release the chemical or iological factor into the environment? that is my question. now pedro, please, do me a favor allowing people to stereotype my race because it is old.y getting to be they have nothing to say. host: okay, thank you for your comment and representative russell? guest: thanks for the question. was part of the concern when we did the strike on the three facilities. them were e of storage, but the one which was the research and development there was a lot of

concern when it was struck. a plume or acreate collateral damage, where if the it was so ere there, the way that the attack was esigned, you know, explosions and things do have a way of consuming other problems and i think when they look at striking this target that they did it in such a way that it would collateral damage. you know, that is a real credit to the united states and to our western civilized nations, but the united states in through r, no one goes weapons s to use without causing undue human taking of innocent life. only the united states goes hrough the links we go through and yet we see russia, it is campaigns ate air taking out hospital, infrastructure, water works, types of ks, these things.

syria, with barrel bombs wiping complexes apartment and different things with just complete indiscrimination, we don't do that. spend a lot of money on missiles to get them right to particularp and this attack, we did take all of those things into account so there be those concerns that you raised. host: this is tammy in line.ota, democrat's caller: good morning and thanks for taking my call. guest: good morning. caller: have a question for the congressman. i'm wondering if you have faith respect for general mcmaster? served with i well.er, i know him he's a wonderful man. only an ark constitute student of history and a scholar brilliant mind, he's also a very brave man. he earned the silver star at of 73 easting in the

first gulf war, where he as a took on a far superior force dualing tank outnumbered overwhelmingly and he and his mall little troop destroyed that force and he was decorated with the silver star. also decorated for valor when we served in iraq. the whole package. the president gets to pick his team. h.r. iously selected mcmaster because of his confidence. see in the good news you national security advisors, we confidence replaced by competence. hat is a good thing, we want confident people. i know him, have great respect for him. ost: from florida, allen, good morning, independent line. caller: yeah, i just want to i can, rief comment, if sir. host: you bet. that the don't think

united states should be involved in the middle east in syria or iraq and i also think that history going t all the way back, starting with carter, then going to george h.w. , then bush, in afghanistan and then on bill clinton in iraq, during iraq eight years his administration, then george 2003 h invading iraq in and then barack obama basically iraq trying to get out of and then staying in. united an policy of the states basically helped to al qaeda and then isis and that was bipartisan, created al qaeda in fghanistan and then later isis was helped to create isis in

and also later in libya. kind ofthat's the worst bipartisanship and the worst kind of policy in this country. caller, thank you. guest: you know, that is a to draw ve, you seem involvement starting with jimmy carter. andink there a much broader deeper context in terms of our involvement in the region, it days of back to the teddy roosevelt, even before engagement in world war i. also see president eisenhower, he deployed troops ith a power pack in the late 1950s into lebanon because of unrest and problems there. inted states have engagement the middle east long before we've seen the rise in islamic tion of jihadist terrorist entities that actors, that's a problem. you could say that the united states and all the other nations been involved in the

middle east created that people or there are there that have that behavior. i would opt for the latter, the proliferating this type of terrorism are the problem. i is not the kingdom states, mean, we have obviously people n that region can have strong islamic faith and good governance and be reliable partners in the world. at fantastic leadership of king abdullah of jordan, can we clone him and send him around. he's been a great ally. have been he region important partners, you know, we've had rocky relationships but what has , really caused us to act is when harming n bad actors millions of people and that's aushl usually what brought nations around the globe to that region, they get involved because it's out of control. i wish, and i think it is the president's hope and presidents him, that the region

resolve nd a way to differenc ifferences and find way to unite in security arrangements with maybe gulf states or others together partner collectively, they have good economies and with militarys, do that.d perhaps they have to be able to regionally solve problems. hemmis sphere and region on the planet, except africa, you see these types of collective efforts to secure areas. has just been a perpetual challenge because of trying to at are coerce and force and commit acts barbarity. line, kenny, t's this is mike. "what's for dinner tonight" saddam, when we did, would that be partially responsible for what we are nuclear iran,

partially responsible, plus policy, too, you know what i mean? guest: sure. it was possible, if we had not ealt with saddam, we would be dealing with nuclear iraq, that was very possible. 1986, they were well on their way, had nuclear weapons program smuggledting, they had zip centrifuge into their country. we destroyed so much in the it set them back for sometime and still didn't stop him. know, dowanted to, you bad things and when you look at saddam, he murdered 20,000 own

opponents, murdered shia arabs and scores of kurds he gassed and urdered and attacked every neighboring country, except syria, and every neighboring attacked them. other than that, he's a pretty thatguy, so here was a guy had to have been dealt with regardless. we can go back and revisit and shshgs we have acted as that point or that point or some point? i'm convinced he was set on a miscalculation and self-destruction and it was going to have to happen anyway. ost: pat is in new york, democrat's line, we're running short on time, pat, jump right n with your question or comment. caller: good morning, congressman. guest: how are you? caller: pretty good. do you consider token esponse from france and the u.k. multi lateral response to

attack?chemical weapons there needs to be arab coalition, do you agree? i agree. to dismiss the efforts of france great britain as tokenous, is unfair. your warrior t necessary manned aircraft as you and diminished defenses done different things and they are risking their lives on these attacks, that is great risk and this was done in sufficient comparable numbers. their navyr navy and and their air forces involved, their e importantly, saw intelligence services involved, we saw their cooperation and the their and light of reputations and before we're too harsh on western allies, they do great work. africa would be a total chaos and destruction right now were efforts of france

against terrorism. unsung e doing untold, work there that is so vitally important to the stability of the world. it is unfair to call it token, but what is important is of the fivere three ations on the security council and then you've got russia, of course they stand by north nuclear oliferating weapon and stand by syria, who weapons that cal is an ugly spot to be in. host: before we let you go. on the passing of barbara bush? had : what a great lady, the respect of everybody, all americans. we could clone barbara bush and make 300 million of er, the world would be such a better place and our country would be such a respectful, place.zed she was a tremendous lady, many gh she touched so

people, even those that didn't her life ere moved by and what a bright, shining her 92across the sky and years, wonderful lady. host: steve russell, republican member of armed services committee, thanks for your time. guest: thank you. with we will continue on bi bill pascrell here to talk about of the tax cut programs and impacts he's seeing on his nation, that conversation is coming up next. >> sunday, a look back to the year of 1968, focuses on women's

rights, the women's liberation movement challenged long-held about american womanhood, transforming society. joining us to talk about women's 1968, are debra sparr, former college president, of "wonder women, sex, power and the quest for mona charin, and columnist and senior fellow at policy center ic in washington, d.c. of "sex matters, f feminism lost touch," and live 8:30 p.m. eastern on c-span's "washington and american history t.v. on c-span 3. er david cameron testifies about global security. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. 1979, c-span was created as a

public service by america's companies andsion today we continue to bring you congress,d coverage of the white house, the supreme ourt and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. you by yourought to cable or satellite provider. >> "washington journal" continues. ost: joining us representative bill pascrell, democrat of new jersey, member of the ways and tons committee, good morning you. guest: good to see you. hassett, economic advisor chairman says this about past tax cuts for republicans. 8, 500 american employers announced bonuses or increases affecting american workers as result of the passage. walmart and says that someone working 40 hours per week, may be getting