population in seattle and how the city is responding. and a look at congressional efforts to open the yucca mountain nuclear storage waste site. our guest is jeremy dylan. ♪ with thesident trump, health and human services secretary, yesterday and the rose garden he laid out his broad principles and initiatives at lowering drug prices, calling it "the most sweeping action in history." welcome to "washington journal." will it be enough? should the federal government do more to lower prescription drug prices? here is how to join us this morning with the conversation. (202) 748-8000 is the number to call if you live in the eastern and central time zone.

the other number is (202) 748-8001 for those of you in the mountain and pacific areas. also on social media, we welcome your thoughts on facebook and twitter. you this morning -- should the federal government do more? we are interested in your experience. drug we will show you some of what the president had to say as well. "the washington times" this morning, a picture of president , who and alex a's are spoke to the press in the briefing room. trump said he would "put first" byatients leveraging trade deals to put u.s. consumers on a level trade test playing field with those abroad. he vowed to crack down on

benefit managers who negotiate rebates from pharmacies, manufacturers, saying they must consumersgs to instead of pocketing cash generated by higher list prices. four eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8001 mountain and pacific. >> i have instructed the secretary to begin moving forward on reforms that will bring soaring drug prices back to earth. our plan take steps to derail the gravy train for special interests by ending obamacare's twisted incentives that actually encourage higher drug prices. it also gives medicare part d plans new tools to negotiate lower prices for more drugs, and make sure that medicare part d incentives encourage drug companies to keep prices low.

it is a big incentive to do that. we are not going to reward companies that constantly raise prices, which in the past, has been most companies. host: president trump yesterday at the white house, joining us on the phone is carolyn johnson, the health business reporter with "the washington post" and covered the comments yesterday and talked about them this morning. "trump introduces lower drug prices." on drug prices and the ability to negotiate with medicare, that was a big part of president trump's campaign. what did he have to say about that yesterday? guest: pretty much nothing. he did repeatedly make ominous statements about medicare negotiation on drug prices, which is a policy that the

pharmaceutical industry stridently opposes. it did not come up. he talked about sort of more changes to how the medicare, the negotiation within the medicare which is not necessarily what most people are thinking about when they hear that talking point. host: what about the so-called list prices of drugs? what is his plan for those? page, the plan is a 44 really long laundry list of a lot of policy ideas, any of which health policy experts say could have some positive affects. it is hard to see the path for implementing them, or the timeline, or how they would all fit together, how you make all of these policies come into existence at the same time. ideas kind of have a few on how to incentivize lower list

prices of drugs. secretaryto do -- the went through them in more detail. ideas like maybe punishing companies that raise their list maybe by navy have -- having less favorable coverage within the medicare program. that is something we have heard. it is sort of unclear when we could expect this, how it would be implemented, and also how this would affect americans who have employer-based insurance, outside of government health programs. host: one of the points he made or called for was the request for listing drug prices are putting drug prices into the pharmaceutical ads that all of us see on numerous programs on television. how could that be done? guest: well, they said they were

going to immediately asked the fda to begin looking into this idea. they are very serious about it, but i think this also raises implementation questions. i guess maybe they plan -- it is hard for me to say. that was one of the more comprehensible ideas, because we have all seen those ads and the long list of side effects at the end. if you put the list price in, that could be a transparency that could make people kind of open their eyes. if you hear about this drug being pitched directly to you and you learn it costs $15,000 a year, you will make a choice before you ask your doctor about it. host: you mentioned the 40 four page report available online from health and human services patients first. what do you expect the first initial action to happen?

will it be an executive order from the president, efforts by hhs, or legislation on capitol hill? guest: i think we will get more details next week. they have outlined a multipronged attack. they mentioned the possibility of a legislative effort, but it is hard to get legislative efforts moving forward, as we know. they have a lot of things in this plan that they say they can achieve by administrative action. that could be rulemaking processes or other kinds of authorities that do not require that. i think we are at the beginning of kind of a long policy process here, and we are going to have to watch and wait. you can already see that with industry stakeholders yesterday, starting to say they were going weigh in on a comment. and were looking

forward to working with the administration. carolyn johnson, health business reporter with "the washington post." we look forward to future reporting on the issue. thank you for being with us. guest: thanks. host: your thoughts this morning -- should the federal government do more, and what has been your experience with prescription drug prices? eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. garrett is in virginia beach. caller: this is all smoke and mirrors. the chicken little theory, the sky is falling. it is always something. these executive orders he is always talking about, president obama, everything he has done by executive order. this is the reason why they are losing their lead, because black

people are beginning to see they are not going to do anything to help us and they are going to allow trump to carry out this policy withdrawal. he is doing nothing for the medicare drug program. all of these are pocket issues, kitchen table issues. he does nothing he says. calls out issues, separate because these are issues democrats are used to doing something for. it is like the old reverse psychology. host: let's hear from veronica in burnsville, pennsylvania, your thoughts on the president's comments. can the government do more to low drug prices? caller: i have an experience that i came across strictly by accident. i moved out to pennsylvania from another state when i was 50. god,now 77, and think

still in possession of my wits and educated. in the course of taking care of my parents, i learned about medicare and how we as seniors have to educate ourselves. whatbegins with knowing powers are available to you. when you get that booklet that ," called "medicare and you you should find out where to check and see whether you are getting the benefits that you are entitled to. chip,is something called senior health insurance policy, maybe. i just remember the acronym. let a switch quickly to an anecdote that really shocked me and made me aware of the rotten

things that can be going on. i rarely take prescription drugs. at this point, i am a vegetarian. at any rate, a couple of years -- i got a prescription for i had line disease -- so it was -- lyme disease -- so it was to take a couple medications i did not usually take. i took one medication and it was under $20. the next time it was over $120. i thought, i better go back to the ship office, and they are open all year, and find out why this is costing me so much. i was they are trying to get a better part d and medigap plan so i would not have to pay as much, and fortunately for me, it was the enrollment period.

you can only an wrong at a certain point in the year. it used to be something like november and december and now it starts in october and ends earlier. to get tounate enough the place when it was well staffed with volunteers. the volunteering that, i explained to her, i cannot afford this. she looked it up on her screen and said, this should not be costing you more than $20. i said, i just paid, and showed her the receipt. host: what was the bottom line? bpa,r: we found out the business profits manager, inflated the price. we called up the local store, it was a writing, and the 1 -- , and the -- rite aid woman told me to come for a refund. president talked about

the pharmaceutical prescription managers, and we will go over some of the points the president made. we hear next from donna in michigan city, indiana, good morning. caller: good morning to you. thank you for your program. hello to my fellow citizens. , and i dothat irks me a lot of local radio and television, and in the 1990's i was trying to help some of my local friends and neighbors get drugs from reputable companies in canada. it really changed some people's lives. they had heart medication that was like $6,000 a year, and it went down to like $200. now we know about what comes out of china, so i stopped promoting that. it was a fight at the time but it helped a lot of people. what i wanted to put out to your audience is i see these constant barrage of commercials on tv for

all sorts of drugs that are supposed to change her health and your world -- change your health and your world. what disturbs me about what president trump and fellow legislators are trying to do is that we still have the lobbyist problem, don't we? there are all sorts of lobbyists crawling over washington, d.c., promoting these drugs and pushing them on people in the united states. i wanted to warn our fellow citizens that they can be problematic and call your legislators and asked them not to fall for the tricks of the lobbyists. the more they are crawling all over washington, d.c., the harder it will be for these drug prices to be reduced. host: (202) 748-8000, eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. is the federal government doing

enough to lower prescription drug test drug prices? from grand prairie texas, we hear from denise. caller: good morning. i am calling because i and thend the hurt fears about medication. i am a type two diabetic. one medication was $500, one was $300. it was over $1000 for medication and i was like, what am i supposed to do? or justposed to live don't take it and figure it out? i went to my physician, and what you have to do is work out a plan with the drug company so that they can help you with that, or change the medication. the thing is, it is not really the medication, it is the company because they are making the money.

they go and do lunch with physicians and, try this drug, try this drug, and as long as it is like that, yes, we really need to deal with our legislature because it can be done. they can do something about that. that does not make any sense that this medication over here is zero co-pay and this medication over here is $500, and this is the medication that you really need. boomers, wes, baby are going to have to band together and come together and go to our state legislatures and congress and our senators, because this medication does not have to cost that much. you can go to canada and get something for way less than that. you tell me that makes any sense? host: some reaction from texas this morning. reaction from twitter as well.

remember when obama want to reduce prescription drug costs? republicans had a causa where are they now? the rhetorical question -- why can't medicare just negotiate drug prices directly with the drug companies? by drug proposal, is the headline for the wall street journal. write, president donald trump unveiled dozens of initiatives aimed at curbing high drug rices, modest moves that left the pharmaceutical companies relieved and buoyed their stocks. we are going to take on one of the biggest obstacles to affordable message -- medicine, the tangled web of special interests, mr. trump said from the white house rose garden. the drug lobby is making an

absolute fortune at the expense of american consumers. the speech, delivered to an audience of patients and lawmakers as the president was flanked by administration officials -- he also spoke about drug prices and advertising. thatink about all the time everybody spends watching drug company ads on tv, and how much information companies are required to put in them. if we want to have a real market for drugs, why not have them disclose their prices in the ads, too? [applause] consumers would have much more balanced information and companies would have a very different set of incentives for setting their prices. we are immediately going to look into having the fda require this. host: the health and human

services secretary, all of that coverage yesterday from the rose garden and the secretary's later comments in the briefing room are available on c-span.org. from marina del ray, california, robert. this,: the problem is that for every one member of congress there are two big pharma lobbyists. donated $2.5 billion in political campaigns over the last decade. nine out of 10 members of the house except money from big pharma. only three united states senators have not received any political donations from pharma. it is bipartisan corruption at its worst, because it is legal corruption. if the media would rather talk about donald trump's lawyer than the legalized, into should last -- institutionalized, and that

dt corruption that --embedde corruption, yet all this goes unreported and you ask stupid questions like why we don't have lower drug prices. the answer is obvious. there will never be lower drug prices. if you want lower drug prices then cross the border to mexico or canada. host: kathy in saint augustine, florida. caller: good afternoon -- no, it is morning. host: yes, it is. i can only talk about florida. i think one of the most deadly things they allow is the drug advertising on television. companies spend billions. they paint pictures of things that the drugs can do that may not be exactly what they can do,

depending on what the element is is thaty -- ailment they are treating. only the treating physician can do that. that is wrong. i do not think they should be allowed to advertise those drugs as if people can go to the corner store and just say to the because iwant this want whatever it is that drug promises on tv. the easiest way to do it is to simply stop the drug lobbying, just stop it. they have the power to do that. opinion, in, in my a whole other part of our lives and does not belong in political . apartand medicine belong from anything that you should be y and pitobby and bu

one doctor against another who will prescribe this when maybe another one will not because he does not know the patient well enough. florida,at again, in if you are on medicaid, there is a big difference in what you are required to pay for your prescription, as opposed to medicare or some of the other programs that are out there for those over 65. i just think the easiest way to lobbying, stop the because the average person does not know enough to evaluate the characteristics of a drug and what it is meant to do in a particular situation. of our callers have mentioned the lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry. this is just a piece of a report that you can check out online, open secrets.org.

the top pharmaceutical contributors, pfizer incorporated, over $1 million, and jen, $853,000, and eli lilly with $653,941 in contributions. the lyrical contributions, 2017, 2018. contributions, 2017, 2018. here is the question and how he responded. >> trusted by our actions and our deeds in the blueprint, over 50 action plans that are hard-hitting. it is across the air -- the entire spectrum for every player in the industry to drive down drug prices. i know this from having been on the other side, running a drug company, and these issues. i actually looked, and if you could lower drug prices, it did

not work for anyone company. this is how perverse the system is. you put yourself at a disadvantage in the system by having a lower priced drug than others, because every player in the system makes more money as a percent off that list price. this is precisely why i am so excited to be here in government with this knowledge i have gotten about how to change the rules of the road and change the system so that we can reverse those incentives, to make those choices work, bring down drug prices. , one ofyou are running the reasons you cannot lower the price was because you were at a disadvantage? >> the math does not work. the system does not make that work. my job now with the president's commission is to make that work so the incentives work to actually bring prices down, charge less on the list rise. that is exactly what we are

about, to fit that. no one company on their own can change that dynamic. the entire system is built or increased prices and high prices. this plan reverses those dynamics. host: your reaction to the announcement yesterday, should the federal government do more to lower drug prices? (202) 748-8000 for eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001, mountain and pacific. it looked leda, maryland, -- la plata,d leda -- in maryland. caller: i was diagnosed four years ago with macular degeneration, and i began getting injections into my eyes that cost about $600 each. 2017,tarting in january the injections were not as effective so it was recommended

that i take a new injection because of a new drug that had been developed. the price of that is about $1900 per shot, or per injection. i just wanted to express to whoever is in charge, i just do not know how that could increase so much. i appreciate the fact that it is very costly for drug companies. -- companies invent new drugs. host: on that new drug, did they tell you how much more effective it might be for its cost? -- i can't think right now. , the firstt would be one was not as effective and i was having to come in more often so they wanted to try a new drug.

the only problem with it was the cost of it. i do have medicare with the medigap, and so far it has been paying it. i do not want to take advantage of my medicare and medigap plan. i just wanted to report that this is happening to me, and i do not know what can be done about it. i do appreciate your show and i thank you for helping us be aware of what is going on. host: glad to have you with us. we go to thomas next, alberson, pennsylvania. caller: good morning, c-span. thank you so much for providing the service for the citizens of this country. my comment is the smokescreen that is put up by the drug companies is probably thought it by some lawyer, assuming that the patient has to pay the cost of drug research. within orthopedic surgeon with

the greatest drug ever to vet -- invented, he would probably say aspirin. did we have to pay germany for the cost of research that produced the aspirin? no. pharmaceutical companies have made millions and millions producing aspirin without paying that. if you hire someone to be a ditch digger, do you have to pay for the cost of his shovel? no. this is a free market system. i agree totally with the person that called about the situation with congress and the senate, and the amounts of money that are given to them by pharmaceutical lobbyists. the president in his speech gave a litany of industries, and he said pharmaceuticals give over $280 million to lobbyists. he did not mention the gun industry. i wonder why. thank you very much. host: just going back to this

open secret reports on pharmaceutical, the trends in contributions. i will put this on the screen, over the years, and the levels of contributions, political contributions. you can see the ark rising. 2012 is the rise, perhaps because of the passage of the affordable care act in 2010. 2018 yousomewhat in can see the numbers up over $20 million a year from the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry as a whole. next up in chicago heights we hear from randy, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say something about, i do not know if it was illinois or whatever. turned 65, will be 66 this year.

i would like to say something about, they got a program now they are starting for people over 65 that is called the spend down. it is a spend down, a monthly thing, and if you do not meet your spend down they could say you do not have any insurance. i talked to a lot of senior citizens, people over 65, and this spend down, no older person understands it. they do not understand none of the program at all with the spend down. host: that is a state of illinois plan? caller: i believe it is a state of illinois plan because i had a phone call from the state of illinois about the spend down, as i wanted to find out, because i have been calling numbers and waiting for hours. everybody else just explains it, but i tell you, for an older

person, it is very hard to understand what is going on with the spend down because you have insurance one month and do not the next month. i do not understand how you meet your spend down to have insurance to see if there is a different medication, and then the woman that was on the phone from illinois about the spend down program, she said there is only two of us here and we have a backlog of five to six months to try to handle all these people that want to get into spend down. the money comes out of your pocket if you do not spend your spend down monthly. there is a backlog and if you do not have it, and if you don't get in this program, you are going to be charged when you go to your doctor or your medication, she said. host: about a half hour more of your calls and comments on what more could the federal government do, should the federal government do more to

lowered prescription drug -- lower prescription drug prices? (202) 748-8001 and the mountain pacific time zones. (202) 748-8000 in the eastern and central time zones. this is "the new york times" with a look at the president's blueprint. cut prices for older people. trump embraced and lamp -- -- long medicare to opposed by republicans in the powerful drug industry. friday's proposal falls far short of that goal, but it does include some ideas in giving the government better leverage in negotiating with the same -- with drug companies. more, onetries pay key proposal would involve pressuring other countries to raise their prices for prescription medications.

number three, prices and drug ads, prescription drug companies -- commercials are ubiquitous, but what if they disclosed the price? that is something the trump administration wants to explore. that would grab attention and fear of a consumer backlash could pressure drug makers into lowering their drug prices. which price? the list price, which a pharmacy would charge? number four, no pharmacist gag clause. some contracts between pharmacies and pharmacy benefit managers prohibit pharmacists from telling patients when a job they need would be cheaper if they paid in cash rather than using their insurance. "this is a total ripoff and we are ending at," mr. trump's said in his speech.

over the years, the industry has been known for finding new ways to hold onto that patent protection. lastly, on the horizon, some of the most theoretical ideas have the potential to be the most disruptive. one is to up and the existing rebate system in which drug companies pay rebates or discounts off the list price to insurers and employers, that those are considered trade secrets, and pharmacy benefit managers pocket a portion of the rebate for themselves, creating what many described as perverse incentives that keep drug prices rising. you can read that at nytimes.com. just kind of touching on the points the president spoke about yesterday. herb hear from her in -- in orchard park, new york. caller: american people are waking up to the fact that our prescription drug prices are the

highest in the world, and they are starting to wake up to the fact that the prescription drug industry has lavishly spent money on congress which resulted in a law that prohibits medicare, the largest purchaser of prescription drugs, from competitive building. -- bidding. the prescription drug industry has also done something else. ,very time you turn on your tv or you pick up your newspaper, you see large ads from the prescription drug industry. print and thehe electronic media subsist largely on ad revenue, so this ad literally billions of dollars from the prescription drug industry is also -- and

this is important -- is also buying editorial content, meaning that if a reporter wanted to write, exposed articles on the prescription drug industry, the editor would not permit that because it would threaten the ad revenue to the print and electronic media. bob inet's hear from tiverton, rhode island. should the federal government do more to lower drug prices? caller: hello? host: good morning. caller: good morning. yes, that is the answer to that question, just a blatant yes. luckily, i get in. i did not think i would. i listen to c-span every single morning at least until 8:00. host: glad to have you with us. caller: you are the best new source there is, as far as i'm

concerned, and the reason being i feel is because you allow the citizens of this country to express their views in an unrestricted way, within reason. i cannot believe how great you are, everyone of you is a class act in my mind. i am glad i got that to say. the thing about the drug ads on television, i cannot say what i say out loud when i hear these ads over and over and over again , which i feel are geared , i do not know what percent, but probably 10% of the population who would possibly have the kind of money it would take to purchase these drugs. what has been said so far on the program, i agree with 100%.

the idea of having to come up with prices when they are doing this, if they are going to continue to be allowed to put drug ads on. host: the president talking a lot about drug prices yesterday in his rose garden comments. >> finally, as we demand fairness for american patients, at home, we will also demand fairness overseas. when foreign governments extort unreasonably low prices from u.s. drugmakers, americans have to pay more to subsidize the enormous cost of research and development. in some cases, medicine that costs a few dollars in a foreign country costs hundreds of dollars in america, for the same bill -- pill with the same ingredients in the same package, made in the same plant, and that is unacceptable.

you can look at some of the countries. their medicine is a tiny fraction what the medicine costs in the usa. it is unfair and it is ridiculous and it is not going to happen any longer. [applause] the globalto end freeloading once and for all. i have directed u.s. trade representative bob lighthizer to make fixing this injustice a top priority with every trading partner. we have great power over the trading partners. you are seeing that already. america will not be cheated any longer, and especially will not be cheated by foreign countries. host: the president mentioning

the u.s. trade representative bob light heiser -- bob lighthizer. the applause -- he applauds the president's blueprints on drug prices and will use every tool available to ensure u.s. pharmaceuticals are fairly priced around the world. what has been your experience? (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 in the mountain pacific time zones. on twitter, lots of reaction. this one says -- federal government needs to do something clearly, the free market is not working when it comes to prescription drugs. john in north carolina says -- keep harrower dish hammering away at drug profits -- hammering away at drug prices and watch drug development disappear. seems to me he wants to dictate profits.

steve says -- novartis didn't get its money's worth after the went too cohen that trump. he is talking about the story on the front page of the financial times what the headlines -- at&t made mistake hiring cohen. its top pushed out in-house lobbyists who made a big mistake paying $600,000 to donald trump's personal attorney well awaiting -- while awaiting regulatory approval. in a memo to employees, randall stephenson, chief executive, said the telecommunications group's reputation has been damaged by signing mr. trump's long-time fixer to a contract shortly after he was elected resident. "there is no other way to say it asat&t hiring michael cohen

a political consultant was a big mistake." the veteran that took over the washington-based veterans affairs office just after the election will depart and they will report to the general counsel's office in the dallas headquarters. while how being -- hiring lobbyists with connections is was notual, mr. cohen registered as a lobbyist and had no policy experience, raising questions of whether companies were paying purely for access. special counsel probing the trump campaign's ties to russia and cooperating, mr. cohen's office was raided last month by the fbi after a referral from mr. mueller's prosecuting team. back to our topic this morning, federal drug prices, what the federal drug -- government can

do to lower drug prices. john in arvida, colorado, thanks for waiting. caller: my name is john. i had six operations in my back, four in my neck. [indiscernible] i have medicare and medicaid. if i did not have that, it costs 600 something dollars. how could i live? i will have to borrow money to pay because i am only making $513 a month. will live.ow how i it is ridiculous.

, our world with all this money that they charge for medicine. host: let's hear from mike, mount sterling, kentucky. listening tobeen these stories all morning about should you do more, should the federal government do more to lower the prices? they have done everything to keep the prices higher until now. allowing the lobbies to keep the prices as high as they do, and we have come to way point -- now, a fork in the road, you can say. everybody in this country should get together and rally like the civil rights people did back in

the 1960's, and demand that they lower all these prices. it is ridiculous. , happyant to say mother's day. to all the mothers. int: we will hear from art clearwater, kansas, on the line. thisr: my idea on part of is what you just read in "the new york times." we go back to 9/11 and remember the fear of price gouging. price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry, my idea on that is that when that happens, and i know this would have to go through think tank to determine what these limits would be, but when they price , takeke the epipen thing away their patent on that.

on that conviction to price gouging, and put that on the public domain for other pharmaceutical companies to produce a generic version of those drugs, and even if it is for an pharmaceutical companies you would get that price down that way on that hand. on the first hand, the fear of taking away that patent would stop a lot of that price gouging. that is just an idea that i had that i think we are to throw up to our federal legislators. -- fda or ftc,a do you see this as the sort of thing where it is a one-time or three strikes you are out? are accusedme they of price gouging or shown to be price gouging, you would yank that patent and make it available publicly?

caller: exactly. i think we would have to think through that process, whether that needs to be a one or two or three strikes you are out. i think that is worth an examination and that would sure help at least on that part of it to stop the gouging. host: i appreciate you calling in, contributing the idea. part of the reaction on the democratic side on capitol hill was from nancy pelosi, focusing on the negotiation on prices, drug prices. part of her statement read that instead of -- the president is breaking his promise to allow medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, which would save seniors billions of dollars at the pharmacy. democrats have a strong, detailed plan to allow medicare to negotiate for lower prices, stop price gouging, increase transparency in pricing, and

expand access to life-saving medications. victoria, you are next in molina, oregon. a registerede been nurse for 50 years. this is just one aspect of the complexity of pricing in the health care industry. i agree that medicare should be able to negotiate. i do not know what happened with that. i thought that was going to happen. we have to remember, there is a theof people who -- like man who called earlier with medicaid and medicare -- a lot of people in a lot of states did not have their chance to get medicaid because of expansion. these people sometimes cannot get the drugs at all, or they alter their doses by taking them every other day, cut them in half, do things like that. i do not think we should

penalize all the people who need governments foreign because they are basically negotiating with a huge health care system and they can get the prices down. that is what we need to do in this country, have one big bloc that can negotiate prices for everyone and get the middleman out of the picture. host: when you are a nurse, did you see a lot of that in terms of people cutting their prescriptions in half or delaying every other day? caller: i do, and i am actually still nursing. i am teaching. i am 74 and teaching nurses and yes, that is still a problem. host: thank you for sharing your experiences. jeff merkley tweeting yesterday after the president's announcement -- another broken promise that big pharma will like. i am finding skyrocketing

prescription drug prices with the choose medicare act which lets medicare negotiate drug prices and brings costs down. mary, good morning. caller: we have touched on the astronomical increase of epipen's by the company. i do not remember the name of the company. i would like to condemn it on air. there is a generic which they provided, which is eagerly astronomical. there is something that needs to be done in our country. countries deserve to earn a modest or greater profit, but not at the expense of gouging the public, which is exactly what is happening. legislators need to step up to the plate, take some action here. their pockets are lined by big pharma. it is a very frustrating experience and i feel sorry for all the people who have had to

pay such astronomical prices. i have a very good health insurance plan. generics are five bucks. supply, i a 30 day have been extremely lucky with that plan i have. we need and can do more in this country. host: certainly, one of those key legislators who would take up this issue is lamar alexander , the chair of the health education labor and pensions committee in the senate. here is what he tweeted yesterday -- the president's plan is sweeping, comprehensive, and sophisticated, and appears to put patients and taxpayers first. i especially welcome the proposals to lower prices by creating more competition and to examine the practice of list fore rebates, which is hard consumers to know what they are paying and what alternatives there are.

that is from lamar alexander. in urbana, illinois, hello to steve. what do you think about what you heard from the president and what more the federal government can do? caller: one thing for older people, they get kind of confused about a lot how to go about getting cheaper drug prices. maybe they could make a national hotline where they could call in and they could send them in the right direction to be able to get lower drug prices. everybody has came up with a lot ,f good ideas, like the v.a. canhospital organizations negotiation their prices so medicare should be able to. so hard toot make it be able to get drugs from canada and other countries. one other thing i wanted to touch on, about the opiate

crisis. that has kind of came around from old people to get their blood pressure medicine or to be able to afford medicine they really needed, they ended up selling their pain pills so they could get their other prescriptions filled because it cost them too much. you cannot go without your blood pressure medicine but you can go without a pain pill. now people with really chronic boat thatre in a hard is sinking slowly. i do not think they ought to be able to aggregate -- advertise all of these drugs. it costs a lot to advertise. host: we were focusing largely on policy proposals from the president, less so on the political side. because her family foundation

released a look at where people stand on health care. it is a political issue, and part of their poll, kff.org, health care is one of the top campaign issues for democrats and ranks lower for republicans. where did health care rate for the folks they looked at? 15% of republicans said it was a top campaign issue, 30% of democrats, and 19% of .ndependents we go to marjorie in indianapolis, good morning. you are on the air. mute your television. go ahead with your comment. caller: i just wanted to comment on the fact that the icing on the cake of the high prices is that when you get high prices, you start calling other drugstores or pharmacists looking for a better price, and

then you are accused of drug shopping. come on. -- and your doctor will say, you are a drug shopper. yeah, i shop for a lot of things. apparently that is a no-no. wallace,'s hear from mark m color -- mark m, illinois -- mark hamill, illinois. illinois., caller: i'm calling about the x-x. vioxx, v-i-o- this drug was taken off the market because it killed about 60,000 people for heart and blood pressure. the pharmaceutical company has released it again under a

different name, and some doctors are describing it. , if it is aaw generic job -- drug, is there a law to prevent them from doing this? companies paid about $90 billion to those families. this happened, i do not know if it was 2008 to 2010. is there a law that could making this arom different drug and charging a higher price? host: i cannot answer your question specifically. jim greenwood, former congressman, is head of the bear pharmaceutical -- bayer

pharmaceutical association. some twitter reaction from our own viewers and listeners, john tweet this -- the propensity of americans to punish critical producers scares the hell out of me. chris says -- i've been working in health care for only a year and the level of price gouging the goes on his mind blowing. victoria says -- a sister documented all the herb land -- plant remedies my grandmother knew of before she passed away. we need to fight for what mother nature already provided away from big pharma's emperors him. richard, good morning. caller: my question is, why do we still allow the pharmaceutical companies to pay for the vote for the senators

and congressmen? why hasn't anyone discussed that out right? i do not quite get it. it is all about the money. , as buy off the votes everyone well knows. the prices are just outrageous. no other country does this but the united states. it has been well documented with programs, what is the name of the program, but anyway, the point is we allow corrupt money to purchase the votes from the lobbyists and the , and why does this continue? this is out of stupidity, is it not? host: another story, it is election day in iraq. the associated press reporting on the presidential election.

thepolls have opened and first national election since the declaration of victory over the islamic state, after weeks of official campaign, no clear front runner has emerged. the prime minister faces stiff competition from political parties with closer ties to iran. prices, call on drug betsy from georgia. caller: i feel like every state should cap the amount of money that can be spent to sell the drugs, to the american people. and then in each state, it is like when you go to buy gas, you go to the cheapest comp. -- pump. that just makes sense. if drug companies were capped, they would have competition and be able to choose which drug they wanted to buy at the lowest price. i would like to add this before

you go on to the next topic. i wish i had called for the next topic. i think president trump is doing the most incredible job in this country. even this right here, talking about the drugs, this was to benefit the american people. benefit the american people. do with himg to putting money in their pocket. as far as nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, i wish they would all go away out of this country. i am so tired. that is the division in this , republican.crat we are all american and we need to work together and give donald trump a chance. give him a chance, that is all i ask. host: we are moving on to another topic on "washington journal." the lawsuit against the fair

housing -- spotlight on magazine series continues with a look at homelessness in the u.s. with ethan epstein looking at the situation in seattle, washington. ♪ morning, we are e&p a, south dakota for the next stop on the 50 capitals to ur. this weekend on c-span, tonight east and the national rifle association leadership forum in dallas. speakers include ted cruz and

congressman richard hudson. starbucks executive chair howard schultz on the responsibility of global companies. on booktv on c-span2 at 9:00 talking with former cnn chief correspondent candy crowley about where hate begins. on sunday the former secretary of state condoleezza rice on the diplomacy.merican and on american history tv on c-span 38:00 eastern on "the cy" talkingpresiden about the first lady betty ford. watch this weekend on the c-span network.

>> c-span, where history unfold daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television company. we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, and public policy events in washington do d.c. and around the country. we will talk about u.s. fair housing policy. joining us is lisa rice, the president and ceo of the national fair housing alliance. what does your organization do? guest: the national fair housing tradece is a national organization, civil rights organization. 501-c#3.nonprofit, a

one of the laws we enforce is the fair housing act which is celebrating its 50th anniversary today. host: what is the fair housing role? guest: it is a role that was ofmulgated by hud in july 2015. the rule had been in effect for 2.5 years before it was suspended. the affirmative and fair housing role was one that was promulgated to better and force the fair housing act. the rule seeks to make clear and provide a mechanism for a public housingd authorities across the united states to comply with the affirmatively furthering fair housing provision of the fair housing act. we're looking at

the 2018 fair housing trends report. making every neighborhood a piece of opportunity. what has your organization found in housing trends? guest: fair housing complaints have been going up. we have seen this for the last four years. that is a disturbing trend in one way. in another way, it is a reflection of the fact that more people are learning about their fair housing rights. there are about 4 million instances of housing discrimination that occur annually, but only a fraction are reported. it seems like we are getting word to americans so they understand what their fair housing rights are and can file a complaint. the other trend is the lion's share of those complaints are being handled by our members, private fair housing

organizations working in localities on the ground to advance their housing opportunities. host: give us a typical fair housing complaint. category ofargest fair housing complaints filed today involve people with disabilities. what we find is either people with disabilities are being flat housinged a opportunity, they are being discriminated against because they have a disability. the second issue is people with disabilities are being denied the opportunity to have a modification to a policy or rule that would afford them the opportunity and ability to live in the housing of their choice. for example, you have a person

who is blind who has a seeing-eye dog. that person is denied the opportunity from having that live with them and their unit because the housing complex has a no pets policy. seeother kind of cases we are people who are denied who are treated differently based on their race or national origin when they try to secure housing. lisa rice is the president and ceo of the national fair housing alliance. we invite your calls at (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents and all others, (202) 748-8002. your organization has joined a lawsuit against the housing and urban development headed by ben carson? guest: the rule that i mentioned

earlier that was promulgated by dr. benuly of 2015, carson suspended that rule in january of this year. right on thes ago, verge of us celebrating the 50th anniversary of the fair housing act. secretary carson suspended the rule. this is a role that makes sure communities across the country can provide equal housing opportunities for all of their residents. said, helpss i inform the process for communities so they are not subject to litigation, so they are not exposed to undo liability for not enforcing the fair housing act as we have seen in recent years past.

communitiesble to expand equal housing opportunities for all of their residents. the secretary said he felt he needed to suspend the implementation of the role because some communities complained the rule was too cumbersome, complex, and costly for them to implement. host: we will go to john in north miami beach, florida. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to ask this fine lady what will they be doing about redlining? redlining is a big problem. i was a banker in connecticut, i know they redlined. thing. a horrible redlining means you discriminate.

that is what they do. thing that people don't all overs the banks have flexible software. they have the maps and they redlined. if they don't want a group theyt i -- to get in, change it. this is a dirty secret the banks have. i got very sick and had to leave. they asked me to leave because i was going to blow the whistle. i made a mistake. accepted a six-figure severance pay in 1990. it was a good amount then. host: we will get reaction from lisa rice. he uses the term breadline, what does that mean?

-- redline, what does that mean? guest: a practice of excluding financial services and products from a particular geographical area based on the race or national origin of the people living in that pettitte you learn community -- in that particular community. american neighborhoods are segregated. we are more segregated today than we were 100 years ago. the reason we are a segregated society is because of rules and regulations that were implemented by our federal government. one of the rules the federal government implemented in the 1930's, 19 40's, 19 50's, 19 60's, and 1970's is the idea of redlining. develop residential security maps, known as redlining maps.

were identified areas that good for financial investment and areas that were hazardous, risky, or bad for financial development. the areas deemed too hazardous were color-coded red. that was based partially on the racial composition of the neighborhood. if there were people of color living in a particular area, that neighborhood had to get a red coding. we still have practices of redlining today. we see recent lawsuits brought not only by our members, but we saw a bed the of lawsuits -- a of lawsuits brought by the department of justice addressing redlining claims. with this rule does is it

directs jurisdiction to look at the lending patterns in their communities to identify if there are any redlining practices that are occurring on behalf of lenders or insurers. theylls communities that should work with their entire community to map out a plan to try and mitigate against any redlining practices. host: let's hear from tommy. caller: good morning miss lisa. i am a double amputee and have been trying to get hud assistance for over a year now. the process to get it is difficult in west tennessee. the district i am in is in jackson. they have a fax number. i was wondering if mr. carson could streamline the process and send a case worker here or

something so they could see my situation and possibly give me hud assistance. as a double amputee on a fixed income it is difficult to live out here. i was hoping she would have some suggestions, an answer, whatever. host: where do they claim is the reason for the delay? caller: they claim it as income, but i don't make a lot. here,ave hud housing but it is all upstairs. i may double amputee. it is difficult for me to get up and down. on the first level, they are all full. i don't think it is right. host: we will hear from lisa rice. guest: one provision of the fair housing act has required since

its passage in 1968 the law are required for public housing authorities that get funding housing providers that receive any federal assistance, any federal funding, that housing had to be made available to people in a nondiscriminatory way. since 1988 that has included people with disabilities. hardhing we have had a time doing and why implementing this rule is important is we had housing authorities that renovate their housing complexes in a way that is not acceptable for people with disabilities. if this rule had been in effect for the past 20 or so years we would have seen the development

and creation of more acceptable housing units. it is another reason why we have to get this rule reinstated. all the while this rule is not ainstated we are still seeing restriction in the number of acceptable housing units for people with disabilities. sir, i will relay your concern to the secretary of hud the next time i speak to him. host: you wrote about fair housing complaints. fair housinge, advocates remain concerned that racial and other types of harassment are underreported. cleveland cavalier lebron james and his family experienced harassment when vandals painted ets on the gate of their los angeles home. is that common, people don't

know what to file and where? are over 4 million instances of housing discrimination each year. only 1% get reported. the main reason is because people don't recognize the signs of housing discrimination. knowthey do they don't where to report their experiences.y the third reason we hear people say is that they believe when they do report that nothing will get done. you just heard that from our previous caller. expects ormeone thinks they had been a victim of discrimination or fair housing violation, who is the organization they should go to first? guest: they can call us. they could look at our website. there is a tab that says get help.

you can find a local fair housing organization where it you can file a complaint. they can call the department of orsing and urban development visit the department of housing and urban development's website. portal on itsa website where people can file a hud'sint right there on website. host: republican line. caller: hello, this is mark. host: go ahead. sir.r: thank you, on the c-span tv screen i don't have your full name. you look like a good american gentleman. do you have a question for lisa rice? caller: lisa rice has a good name. i hope she is a good oakland

raiders fan, like me. i have a problem, i tried to get apartment in wilmington and newark, delaware and i wasn't able to because the waiting list was full. it was a two-year waiting list. what is a person supposed to do waiting to years? -- two years? guest: i'm sorry you had that experience. case of misery loves company, but you are not alone. there are millions of people, of families, across the united states experiencing the same problem you are. of affordableth housing and new united states. that is another issue the rule was designed to address. the number of americans that are

is growinged exponentially. in whichis was done 2001-2015 the number of americans that are rent burdened grew by 43%. that number is continuing to grow. we don'the problem is have enough affordable housing developments in this nation. forwardingtively fair housing rule is designed to help communities address that problem so we can expand the number of affordable housing units across the country. teachers, firefighters, police officers, paralegals, nurses aides, these are people who work good jobs. they are hard-working folks. live inthese people

communities where they cannot in thea one-bedroom home community where they work right here in the nation's capital. if you are a teacher with a college degree, you cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment in the nation's capital where you would be working. this rule is so critically important so we can make sure that people have affordable housing, good housing opportunities, in the communities where they are working. issue weelessness, an will touch on later. lisa rice here to talk about in large part the reaction to the fair housing rule. the washington post reports with the headline civil rights groups civil rights -- challengeights groups

housing.r required locality is receiving federal development funding to submit plans detailing efforts to end segregation based on disability., or [video clip] the affordable housing crisis is tearing apart families and communities. issue. not a partisan this is a human one. h con resy i hope 530.

that fromerve to hear the representatives. i hope these stories i shared will inspire my colleagues to about thisuents crisis and convince them to join me in bolstering federal resources for affordable housing. we cannot delay. as a person of faith, there is no way i can stand by and watch so many people living on the streets without shelter, without food. they deserve a chance at the american dream also. host: congresswoman lee talked about bolstering federal resources. need moreobviously funding. we need an increase in funding. we were this heartened to see president trump submitted a budget that zeroed out cb dg

funding, community development block grant funds. he also less and the amount of money we would have for fair housing and affordable housing development. communities pushed back against that. i have to say to secretary carson's credit, he tried to push hard for an increase in funding for affordable housing and fair housing. we have to stop the trend where we think we can not support affordable housing development. this country was built on supporting and providing funding for the development of housing opportunities. we have done that since the creation of our nation. we cannot stop doing that now. host: tom in massachusetts, independent line. caller: good morning.

mrs. rice isg if familiar with a situation in seattle where amazon is threatening to withhold construction on a facility that would employ 7000 people in response to seattle city council wanting to impose a tax that could help homelessness in seattle? host: not to cut you off, i talkgize, but we will about that specific issue at 9:00 eastern. i will let lisa rice respond. not familiar with that situation and don't know much about it. it is imperative that our that our -- corporations engage in activities that support the development of affordable housing and equal housing

opportunities, because it is they are employees that are going to take advantage of these affordable housing units that get developed. it only works in a corporation's best interest to support the development of affordable housing. reaction,me get your the effectiveness of the fair housing act of 1968 has been stymied by in trench policies and practices across the country that perpetuate discrimination. moreover, ineffective enforcement by hud and the department of justice exacerbates these issues. guest: absolutely. look at houston, texas. houston used federal funds to develop a separate and unequal water drainage system. the water drainage system in houston was developed so

predominantly white more affluent neighborhoods were protected from storm surges, while simultaneously implementing a system of ditches. color the communities of and houston, their water drainage system is a ditch. that is a separate and unequal system. exacerbates the flooding in those areas so that when there is a storm surge it is the communities of color that get flooded over and over. they are dealing with mold issues, recurring damage issues to their property. it is deflating their property values and causing all kinds of negative ramifications. that is the kinds of things the rule is designed to address.

the city of houston is violating the law while still getting federal funds. host: was that pointed out after the recent hurricane in houston? are they expected to remediate that problem? so.t: i hope this is a topic i brought up with secretary carson. the secretary would like to see houston address this issue. frankly, they have been receiving federal funds for years and have continue to perpetuate the separate and unequal system. two of my colleagues -- excuse me -- host: that's ok. we will let you finish your thought. guest: two of my colleagues that joined me in this lawsuit to theel hud to reinforce furthering fair housing rule, those organizations have sued the cityt hud to make

of houston use its federal funds to address discriminatory issues. host: this is john in silver spring, maryland. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. what is different between a first time buyer -- in virginia the builders have to offer income, they can buy the house, the first-timers. everybody likes fair housing. the problem is when people move into the neighborhood and abuse the system. sometimes, these people move in the neighborhood. bring in a lot about stuff, don't take care of their children, abuse the system, your price will go down. it is not because the people don't want this, it happened in

texas because people have vouchers. sometimes they can't get houses, because when people move in, this is a great neighborhood and they won't accept the people. how can you enforce the people to follow? you get this opportunity to live a good life for them and their children, but they don't take care of their own house. they don't even have to pay that much. there is a problem. something has to be done. theast question is, doesn't knowhud what he is doing sometimes about housing. we need to have someone who knows what is going on about the communities. i was a little confused by what you were saying, particularly as it relates to section eight vouchers and the section eight voucher housing

program. the section eight housing voucher program is a program where hud gives a voucher to a family that is low to moderate income and that pays the difference in their rent. let's say that person makes $40,000 a year and cannot afford a $2000 per month apartment. hud makes up the difference to a certain amount of money. that is what the section eight housing voucher program is. you can rent a house, an apartment, whoever accepts the voucher. when you say they are not keeping up their properties or the apartment complex, it is the responsibility to make sure the property is well-maintained. it is not the tenant's responsibility. you might have a situation where

a person is using a section eight voucher to pay for their rent and the landlord is not reinvesting in that particular unit. the issue the case, needs to be taken up with the landlord. host: the caller mentioned not impressed with secretary carson. what is your take away of his engagement on fair housing? guest: there is a learning curve. he was a neurosurgeon. you heard him say he himself after having been on the job for some time, housing is harder than neurosurgery. it is the truth. housing is not an easy subject. people look at it, you heard the residentsme the for the nature of a property note they live, understanding whose responsibility it is to maintain

the property. the housing is highly complex. there are a lot of laws that impact housing. our housinges affordability issues, our fair housing issues. the secretary i think is in a learning curve. he realizes there is a lot he has to learn. what we are encouraging him to do is listen to the housing experts, not the political ideologues. host: richard. caller: i have lived in nashville for 40-something odd years. i am retired. i have seen both parties come into power. the problem i saw when nashville flooded and the grand ole opry,

the floor that all the people stood on and made history with their country music and other musics, i saw all that flooded. i live five miles from it. the river that comes through hooks up with the ohio and tennessee rivers. what happens is when that flood happens, when opryland was built it is almost like a peninsula where the river winds through the city. right,iticians, left and allowed developers to come in, i don't know if they got their pockets padded, that they allowed all these developers. i had a cousin that bought a house here. his home was completely flooded. fema has not give him any money. in fact, they felt an amphitheater on the same river

and took the money from the housing, the loans that were available to them. when you look at how that flooded, there was no way they should have flooded. you had one of the most biggest and expensive -- host: he says it is everywhere. i appreciate that. houston, nashville, new orleans. he's right. it is happening across the united states. mississippi, texas. unfortunately, we do have money that isre supposed to be used for housing development or housing circumventede is to be used for other purposes. that does happen frequently. it is happening in michigan now.

that is another reason why we have to have the affirmativly furthering fair housing rule three -- rule ramp lamented. that happening. what he experience is with people across the country are experiencing. sometimes we have some politicians, not all, but some politicians that will listen to well-heeled.e more those folks will make money off of an economic development, and that is where they want subsidies to go. not to the average working family that needs to have an infrastructure project completed in their city so their houses don't flood. the affirmatively furthering fair housing rule is consumers. it gives consumers the voice and power they need to make sure the

housing subsidies are used in the way they are supposed to be used. host: i would love to have you back for an update. thanks for being with us. guest: thanks for having me. host: next, open phones until 9:00 eastern. democrats (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. on newsmakers, our guest is mark meadows. he talked about a number of things, including the house leadership race. >> right now, there is not a race. , know that will disappoint you because everyone says there is a race. there is a race behind the scenes, but there are no negotiations going on. i am not in it. i don't want a chairmanship, a

but irship, a position, want to make sure my freedom caucus members have their fair representation at the leadership table and committees in jurisdiction. whoever will emerge in the leader will be the one who best articulates that. until we get that, there will not be a new speaker. no one has 218 votes today. we have a sophisticated whip operation. no one on the republican side can get to 218 without democratic votes. >> you will probably vote as a bloc i assume? >> it probably means we have a hard-core 32. those are numbers that are based on real discussions that are out there. some who even say they will be here or there.

to be on the freedom caucus, we have had conversations. a lot of people are frustrated .c.h the way washington, d works beyond the freedom caucus. i have moderate members saying we have to change the way they do things. that is changing the dynamic. a conversation with kevin mccarthy, the presumed front-runner for the next leader about winning the support of the freedom caucus? >> i have talked to kevin liserthy and steve sca a lot. i've not had any leadership negotiations with mccarthy. a does know we need to have broad section of representation. we have had conversations that relate to that. those are going well. but in terms of you give me this and you get votes, that has not

happened. host: we are in open phones. any public policy or news issue you want to talk about. here is how you do it. for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents. caller: good morning, c-span. i enjoy your programming. i want to go back to the president's drug prescription changes. no one ever seems to talk about the poor senior citizens who get trapped. this is when your insurance company gives you a certain subsidies fory to your drugs copayment.

when you get to a certain level they have paid, then you go in the doughnut hole. from that time until the next fiscal year you pay the full price for all your drugs. let me tell you, i have three chronic conditions and my drug costs are outrageous. every year it seems i'm getting in the doughnut hole earlier and earlier. i would like to see some people in congress and the senate discuss this doughnut hole issue. it started years ago when big pharma got involved. thank you, very much. joann on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have 2 comments. have so many important issues in our country. these are relatively minor.

one on stormy daniels. whatever she does for a living, that is her business. i would like to see someone check if she declared on her taxes these different payments that she has received, or if she is guilty of tax fraud or tax evasion. divisiveness of what is happening in this country. i hate to see what it is teaching our children. it used to be that we would work together and teach people how to make compromises. we are never going to ever agree on everything, but this hatred -- we have friends that live in europe. i received a call from them a little while back. they are appalled at what they are seeing in this country.

the said when we talk about ranking of how people feel about the united states, one of the reasons it is going down they said is how in our political atmosphere how people are treating the president. america used to be thought of as a country, we didn't always have the best manners but we have a little respect. what is causing our ranking to go down is not donald trump, even though he says some things he shouldn't say, it is how the media and the liberals are treating him. the absolute hate. they said many people in europe no longer believe anything at all that is on the media. i do wish that they would check

their facts once in a while or they say something good. he does things that are wrong and they do need to report that, but they said they know if they turn on a couple of stations, i won't name them, they won't hear one good thing that has happened in this country. all they hear is negative. they would like to also hear some of the positives that congress and our president are doing. i think the people that have so much hate have to think about what we are betraying to the rest of -- what we are portraying to the rest of the what we are teaching our children about compromise and kindness and get rid of all of this hatred. we voted. we can't change things. i haven't always liked what we

had in past administrations, but i respected them and i waited for the voting booth. input.ppreciate your a very big week for president trump and the administration welcoming back the 3 americans held in north korea and the setting of the date for the meeting with kim jong-un. mike pompeo has been meeting with the south korean foreign minister. those meetings yesterday and south korea -- excuse me, in washington at the state department. u.s. offers north korea bait: prosperity. offered kim jong-un an incentive bowing to help his nation achieve economic prosperity if he agrees to eliminate his nuclear arsenal. here is one of what secretary pompeo had to say. [video clip] >> the united states remains

committed to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for the north korean people. america's track record of support for the korean people is second to none. if north korea takes bold action to denuclearize, the united states will work on north korea to achieve prosperity on par with our south korean friends. look forward to cooperation from our south korean allies on this issue and many others. host: brunswick, georgia, susan. caller: i wanted to get a message to america. forget about stormy daniels. what i think people should know is the republicans are planning to change drastic cuts to your social security, whether you are

already on it or are going to be on it. they plan to raise it to 70 25% ofld and take out what you should be getting, even if you are already on it. they are going to make drastic changes to medicare as well, where you are going to be more dependent on private insurance. they are also making changes to medicaid. in louisiana, they have already cut medicaid from their program. they sent letters to people who are in hospitals that they will have to leave soon.the other thing that is important , our country is being polluted with what the epa cuts are doing. they are making us all unhealthy. instead, they have us fighting against each other so the republicans can pull strings on

us and put these laws that are not making america safe. and the rich top percent corporations don't pay any income tax, that means the way the states get their money is they are going to have to raise our property taxes, our state taxes, and our federal taxes. that is what the republicans are doing to us. rich people and corporations should not be paying taxes. be going are going to up. 10 years from now when the republicans are out of power, and that is a reason a lot of the republicans are leaving now, they know it will hit the fan and we are in big trouble. host: john in connecticut. caller: good morning. thank you for the program. it is very important for everyone.

ist i would like to say sometimes these people got to just wake up and stop blaming donald trump. election,y he won the because they are so corrupt in washington, d.c. instead of complaining about the republicans, that people have to do exactly what donald trump has said the whole time. pay attention to local politics, pay attention to your national politics, and try to make a change. that was the point. make a change. in how corrupt these systems are everyone is talking about how different offices of the government line their pockets. make a change, pay attention. that was the point of his election. if you are tired of the garbage in d.c., act locally and pay attention in your community. tweets responding to a

previous caller, dear minnesota caller, donald trump did not release his taxes and may have payments to a lawyer for those payments to stormy. asking what is in stormy's taxes is hysterical. at the front page, .hat they are reading in hawaii major disaster. president trump's declaration that happened last night paves the way for funding as they prepare for more eruptions and evacuation. the lava flow because of the eruption in hawaii. next, bill in pennsylvania.

independent line. caller: hello. where youfor c-span, get the news without the spin. what i am calling about, i just lady beingolored pulled out of a car in georgia for a traffic violation. one of those policeman was really verbally abusive. this is a video you are seeing online? caller: i saw it on the news, nbc or abc. they had the whole thing recorded. she refused to sign a ticket. later on, they interviewed her. she was laughing about what

happened. is terrible. this is police -- host: you are breaking up. we will go to john in fairfax, virginia. i realize we are in somewhat of a post truce environment. policy note c-span's commenting on what is said. i really feel it has become necessary to call out outright lies by the host when they know they are outright lies. msterday, hunter on bill ar's show said the taxpayers provided the money that obama sent to iran. that is not true.

used theirlers, have call to try to correct this. if the host would correct it, they wouldn't have to do that. maybe you should have a fact checker on hand. when someone says something it.antly untrue, to correct you allow politicians to say stuff that is not true. they get away with it because you don't correct them. i would also like to see a show on ufos. host: appreciate that. this is "the wall street journal." opinion piece by senator mccain. man by johnevil mccain. detailslong piece that senator mccain's engagement with

the issue of the soviet union and the end of the soviet union and the rise of vladimir putin. here is his conclusion to the piece today. he writes "vladimir putin is an deedsan intent on evil that includes the distraction of the democratic world order -- of the liberal world order that the united states has led and has brought more stability and freedom to humankind. to widen the divides and paralyze us from responding to his aggression. he meddled in one election and will do it again because it works and he has not been made to stop. putin's goal is not to defeat a candidate, he means to defeat the west." president trump, he writes,

infuses to believe what put is doing or not care about it. he needs to comprehend the nature of the threat putin poses. of the john mccain is writing in "the wall street journal." you can read it online. john is next on the independent line. caller: i am from the socialist republic of seattle and i was born the same year jimmy was. rice that waslady on earlier, she had a lot of good things to talk about. in washington, basically seattle runs the whole damn state. what they want is what they get. right now, the big thing they have done, they just made the

national news, i don't know, they wanted to go ahead and put year oner employee per companies that made over a certain amount of millions of dollars, like amazon. azos stopped construction on what he was building and now the city council says we will go down to $250 year per employee. you go.will let thanks for pointing it out. we will talk to ethan epstein, who wrote about the issue of homelessness specifically in seattle, but more broadly across the west. is hiss in seattle peace. a couple more calls on other

topics. betty in new jersey. caller: good morning. i am calling about something about the donor states of the states. new jersey is leading the charge on the donor state issue. we have the opportunity, apparently, to give most of our money to washington in federal taxes and see it dispersed to other states and very little ever returns to the state of new jersey. years, we have run between 47th and 50th in the amount of money we get back from the federal government that we send down. now, with the new tax law the inability to deduct our taxes

because we don't get our money back from the federal government is a hard chip for new jersey -- hardship for new jerseyans and other states. they tend to be blue states, but they are states that are generally getting the least back from the federal dollar contribution. dollar $.67every back. other states like arizona get for every dollar they send. we need to revisit this in light of the new tax law. it is the donor's hardship that is in donor states. host: marty, pennsylvania, on the independent line. caller: my concern is when it comes to amazon and the post , what i think the

president does not know is that the post office receives no tax dollars from the federal government. they have to make their own money. the second thing is sometimes we tell ourselves that sometimes we become the things we hate the most. there is the holocaust that hated the jews. now israel is becoming like germany was in those days. how muchike to know money the federal government pays for the protectors of the president when he goes to florida? the federal government has to pay for each of those secret service members. host: we will get one more call. rosalie in connecticut. good morning. i wanted to say something about social security.

if the neww generation isn't aware how social security worked and the purpose of it was setthe purposs andust for working people, the paycheck comes from social security for people to use when they retire or for whatever purpose. but it is not for politicians to mess with. it belongs to the people. lawyer, he has clients, and they put money in a t, if the lawyer touches that trust come he can be arrested. that is what social security is -- a trust. thanks. host: next up here on "washington journal" in our next segment, it is our spotlight on magazines. we will talk with ethan epstein of the "weekly standard,"

talking about his piece on the homeless situation in seattle. yucca mountain storage site. we will be speaking with cq roll call's jeremy dillon. we will take your phone calls and tweets on twitter. more "washington journal" ahead. ♪ >> sunday morning on "1968: america in turmoil," we look at as the backdrop for the events of 1968, including the vietnam war, the presentational campaign -- presidential campaign, and the space race. joining us to talk about that time are elizabeth cobbs and mark kramer. watch "1968: america in

turmoil," live sunday at 8:30 a.m. eastern on c-span's "washington journal" and on american history tv on c-span3. >> sunday night on "after doctor journalists and cori talks about his book "killing in the deep stat." sharyl: maybe you can discuss the deep state, shadow government, and the swap. it is: in my terminology, the deep state, and others called in the shadow government, because they are affecting their own bureaucratic wishes rather than the wishes of the people, and electing donald trump, for instance.

donald trump termed it swamp, a term mostbably americans immediately understand, because washington was at one point a swap. amp.w the creatures coming out are certainly biting back further turf. >> watch "after words" on c-span2's booktv. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is our spotlight on magazine series here on "washington journal." ethan epstein is on your screen, he is with the "weekly standard ," and he has an article, homeless in seattle," a take off the "sleepless in seattle" movie name. guest: perhaps a predictable peg off the movie name, i should say. on the one hand, it is in the

midst of a remarkable economic boom. for example, there used to be a down and out portion of downtown seattle, and there are some remarkable buildings occurring there right now, thanks largely to amazon's incredible success, but at the same time that you have seen this tremendous economic growth in population growth, too, you have seen it a tremendous increase in homelessness. 44% over a period of three years, so we are talking, you fast growth,bly and it is apparent. today,live in seattle you see both these shimmering towers but also a lot of people sleeping on the street. it was something i wanted to explore further. host: you specifically explore an area called lincoln springs, a special neighborhood of small housing that has been built for the homeless. on the websitere of the "weekly standard."

tell us about this project by seattle. guest: the homeless population ten citiestrt of started popping up, and they were not sentient by the city. vacantre taking over land, and communities of self-governing or popping up. issues, senator a conditions, what potential dangers they could present to the rest of the neighborhood. did was create some legally sanctioned encampments and also communities of these tiny houses, which are ooden sheds that are donated to the community, and people live in them. what makes this village striking is that has a completely tolerant attitude toward drug and alcohol use. most homeless shelters, for example, demand that residents be sober.

this place takes the opposite approach and in fact allows open heroin use, which i actually witness when i went there. host: is it causing problems with surrounding communities? guest: that was the initial fear, and there was quite a lot of opposition and the neighborhood before this village was created, but the advocates made a different argument, which was, well, if you worry about addicts on the street, this actually sort of contains the problem. it struck me that there is a cynical movement, put them all together, and they will not bother you anymore, but it does, from what i understand, seem to have worked, and so far, there is less street crime in terms of people sleeping on the streets that are drunk or high. host: our guest is ethan epstein, focusing on the homeless situation in seattle but more broadly the homeless situation across the u.s. homeless in seattle" the cover .iece of the "weekly standard

"we welcome your questions and comments. (202) 748-8001 for central and eastern time zones -- for central and eastern time zones, (202) 748-8000. (202) 748-8001 mountain of pacific. and for you who have experienced homelessness, no matter where you are, (202) 748-8002. you write in your piece in the"weekly standard," broader experience raises a couple of questions -- why are some of the country's most prominent city seeing such a surge in homelessness, and why now, when the community is booming? the answer may provide a cautionary tale about the perverse impact of a hyper charged tech economy. guest: one reason i was interested in this issue is normally you would expect homelessness with search when the economy is down and out, but this is a completely counterintuitive experience you are seeing in cities like

seattle and san francisco. as the economy is going into overdrive, you see homelessness increased. i think it raises a question about whether if your city is dominated by the sort of high technology companies, whether it has an impact on people with maybe less education, in particular the effects on rent, rent when you have a company like amazon in your city can have a serious impact on the housing market. host: i remember a couple of years ago having been in denver and doing a segment shortly thereafter, the homeless problems in denver had spiked, and a guest at said one of the actually the marijuana industry, not necessarily because of the availability of weed but the booming economy related to that, the job openings after seattle and washington state has recently legalized marijuana.

did you find any correlation with that? guest: i do not think it is marijuana so much of the booming tech economy in seattle that is having that impact, although i will say opens refuse is a big thing in seattle. it goes way beyond marijuana. the heroin and open your problem is big in seattle as too. and of course there is a question about whether or not marijuana is a gateway drug. host: we are looking at these small housing units like lincoln springs, did you get to look inside? guest: yes, i looked inside a couple of them. . the residents are very friendly. they are very small. i ended up sitting on a guy's bed. to a man come as a pressing as this is better than the situation they were in before, which is sleeping under a highway overpass. host: do they pay rent to be

there? guest: no. i don't want to say none, but no one i spoke to worked. is part of the whole tolerance thing, they do not require anything of the residents. they do not have to go look for work or anything. you are just sort of freedom be. -- free to the. host: with the booming homelessness, are there people waiting to get in? guest: there are. it is a problem. there are still a lot of people sleeping on the streets. s waitinghave caller period to remind viewers and listeners, we do have a line for those of you who have asked her and asked some homelessness -- who have experienced some homelessness, (202) 748-8002. otherwise, eastern and central, (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. macy in seattle, tell us your story, macy, go ahead.

caller: i was homeless in seattle when i was 19. host: how long ago was that, macy? caller: that was, like, wait, sorry -- three years ago. i am bad at math. [laughs] host: go ahead. caller: i am also trans. host: i am going to let you go there, macy, and go to b in texas. let us know what you're thinking. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, we can. this isi just wonder -- a sad situation, and we have so many people, you know, the taxpayer cannot keep putting these bills. is this the cost of refugees and

illegals, and these people -- why are the homeless? there has to be a reason. in the paper, there are jobs after jobs. there may be a reason, but why are these people not working? i understand illness and all that -- i am not cruel -- but i would like to know the causes. we cannot keep bringing people into this country. this has to be looked at at some point. host: let me point out from ethan's article, the rise of homelessness, he writes that nationwide, the homeless publishes ticking up at about 1% year, according to hud, 554,000 americans were homeless, the vast majority sleeping outside. guest: i can only really speak to the seattle situation of homelessness, which is where did this report. i did not meet any non-american homeless people, and most were in fact native to the pacific northwest, if not the city of seattle.

there is obviously an impact that mass immigration has had on low skilled, low-wage work for people that might not have a high school or college degree, and in fact a homeless person i met in the lincoln springs village made a point bemoansaller, where she -- it is not politically correct, so i will not repeat -- but the moans the competition in the job market. but yes, a lot of people do get sick, and people who are either addicted to drugs or alcohol and/or are disabled. in seattle, the rents are so high, and people who live solely on a disability check, it is nowhere near enough to cover a studio apartment. host: a couple of people called about this earlier on the proposed tax called the amazon tax, by some. "seattle times" -- seattle see -- city council

committee approves the original had tax proposal, rejects durkan's smaller plan. host: so this would impact those large employers, like amazon, and others in seattle. guest: yes, sure. no idea what seven $5 million to deal with homelessness actually entails. that could be building affordable housing, tent cities. it depends on how they are used. i know jeff is is is strongly opposed to this tax. given the amount of amazonian infrastructure in seattle -- even though he is building a second headquarters, i don't think he is going to be moving

the first anytime soon. host: gale, good morning. you're on the air. say that just want to my homelessness two different times was my own fault. i have an alcohol problem. i was working and day, imoney day after blew my chances, and then i came to the realization that i have to take care of myself, and so i did. , i go to pay my bills work every day sober. and that is the way it should be. host: ethan epstein, did you find a common thread among homeless people you interviewed for the article? guest: well, like the caller

alluded to -- and by the way, congratulations on your sobriety. that is wonderful to hear. alcohol and drug abuse are a big part of it, and people openly admit that. i spoke to a gentleman can i asked "why are you homeless? " and he said "i have been a drunk all my life." he was very open about that. that was a common thread. one thing i found a little bit disturbing about a place like lincoln springs villages they do not try to push people into treatment. i understand the not want people to sleep under highway overpass is -- i think that is the right thing to do -- but as the caller pointed out, it was not until he was able to kick his addiction with the able to get on his feet. host: a caller from michigan. caller: good morning.

homelessness is not a new phenomenon. it i homeless in ohio or was 18 years old, 17 years old. i could not find a job anywhere. i was out of high school. i would look at the want ads, wanted, were driver labor wanted, colored need not apply -- it did not help that i was black. that was actually in the newspapers, in the ads. here i am, 17 years old. i look back now, i am 83 this month, and i wonder how the hell i made it, but i did it. i have actually made it into the family, but have a just a member, "colored need not apply." i worked hard of all my life. i cannot drive those words out. i remember going on a job

interview, calling on the phone, took my last $.50 as the bus fare, and when i got it, the guy told me we just sold the job, and i had to walk about eight miles where i was sleeping under a tree. thank you. host: all right, joe. guest: that is obviously something we all have to remember, and i am glad that you called, and i am glad that the situation changed for you and for the country. att: ethan epstein looked springs, just the housing part of it, to joe's point come on jobs. obviously there is a looming economy in seattle. are they able to get into employment training? guest: less than you might think. there are certainly on emergency

footing right now, just because there are so many people sleeping outside. the city has set up so-called navigation teams, where the city since people up to make contact with homeless people, and then they try to get them into a system, whether it is a shelter, a bench -- there is a big shortage of affordable apartments, etc., but that is the long-term goal. less of an emphasis of matching the economic needs of employers with the skills of the homeless and more of an approach of just we have got to basically -- it is third world conditions on our hands come and we have got to get people out from under the highway. host: a handle on twitter, @ american tweets -- housing prices have driven some people into homeless in seattle out of their home/apartment because of rate hikes. the camps are kept clean by residents in most our drug and alcohol free. can runoom apartments

over $3000 a month. steve, go ahead. caller: i used to have an apartment in 2009. it was $695. a month. that same apartment i was priced at of is currently $1350 month plus utilities. host: how close is that too seattle? caller: it is about 15 miles east of seattle. it is a suburb. economy -- is that 3.9%, i know a lot of people who have two or three jobs just to make rent. this phenomenon i am seeing is a lot of rv's, even a friend of mine who has two good jobs, he is thinking of forgetting to rent an apartment for $1700, and

going and rent an rv and living on the side of the road. i am not seeing the homeless having places to live. the lucky ones have the rv's rather than the tents and stuff. guest: your friend is not alone. there are a lot of people living in rv's. inmany people are sleeping cars in seattle now that the city council has actually moved to waive restrictions they have on overnight parking, which really tells you the scale of the problem. as for the point of the rent increases he pointed to, closer into the city itself, all that much more expensive. 10 years ago, you had people that might've been sort of marginally attached to the labor force, might have worked hard time, might have had a drug problem, but rents were low enough that they were not sleeping on the street. as rents have doubled or in some cases tripled, that lifestyle is

no longer possible, which i think explains a lot of the increase in homelessness. host: john is up next in california. go ahead. caller: good morning. we have the same problem here in california. i think california probably has the highest homeless population in the country. to two reasons -- one is the cost of housing. interestingly, the state government just is going to make solar panels required on the roofs of all new houses within the next couple of years. you kind of wonder what they are thinking. you would think they would be wanting to reduce -- make houses more affordable, instead of less affordable. the other issue is that the state has essentially thrown a welcome mat down for illegal immigrants, who, by and large,

less educated people. you wonder where they are going to live if the state cannot provide adequate housing for the people who are already here, and what that is going to do to our quality of life. these people, for example, have to go to the bathroom somewhere. going to go to the bathroom if they do not live in a house or an apartment that has a toilet? i would attribute a lot of this to the state government. already the biggest cost, according to the builders, of building a new home is complying with the government regulations that we already have, yet the state is going to add to this problem. i am a big fan of solar, but it is just going to make the problem worse. host: john, we will get a response. guest: there is a lot of truth to that. one of the reasons you are seeing such prohibitively high cost is in fact the restrictions on building. it is not simply the solar mandate, which, as you correctly point out, is going to greatly

increase the cost of constructing new housing, but there are also building codes that prevent new builds altogether, and there is a real nimbyism, which is not in my backyard. in an area that is crowded, like in san francisco, i have got mine, and i do not want an affordable building going up on my block. that is a big issue that prevents costs from falling. in fact, it leads to them increasing. host: john mentioned this. put toilet facilities in licton springs. guest: they do have port of port-a-potties there. the toilet issue is an issue in seattle.

a developer produced a useful albeit discussing out in which -- discussing app in which it shows where human waste is on the city. the sensory conditions are at problem, too, because they can become inadvertent vectors of disease, a hepatitis outbreak in san diego not long ago, which i believe was ultimately contributed to the conditions within a homeless camp. host: have they had those issues in seattle? guest: not in seattle, but if conditions remain this way, it probably will only be a matter of time. situation for the homeless themselves of course but also for the broader community. host: having fun with the issue, one of our recent callers and viewers on twitter tweets he does not have to park on the side of the road, he can park in front of starbucks and have access to free restrooms.

sheldon, good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? guest: i can. caller: ok, great. familiar withe the book "vanished." guest: i know of it. i have not read it. caller: i suggest you do, because in it, there is an interesting inception on 1811 eastlake in seattle, one of the first example of what is called what housing, housing for formally homeless people where prescription, prescribed up drinking,o give

,ive up drug use is waived these people, up these unfortunate people, a place to live and get out of the elements and not having to lay so 1811 hastreets, worked very well. this book, "vanished," it is written in 2010. that housing concept is still working in seattle. it may have been curtailed because people, like your organization on the right, brandished the economic acts, or banish the locales of all

of these homeless or undocumented coming in and taking over all of the good spots. host: i want to get a response from ethan epstein. go ahead. the housing solution you are describing is called low barrier housing, and, as the noter enumerates, it does impose standards about drinking and drugs, and that is precisely what is occurring at the village that i profiled as well. it has been politically controversial, but there is the point that it does not necessarily do these people or anyone any better to be out on the street. host: is there a superintendent or a manager at the property? guest: there is always someone on-site. what is interesting about this particular building is all the people in management are formerly homeless themselves, so there is a real kind of

first-hand knowledge about the experience of homelessness. that actually seems to work quite well. host: let's get one more call here, frank, hello there. caller: i do not know where to start. i live in a community in northern california years ago, there was an outbreak of hepatitis because of poor sanitary conditions, and i have been homeless, and i have been a drug addict and an alcoholic for years until i finally sobered up. i can see how you just can't kick these people out in the condoning drug use is just a dead-end thing, too, because until you are waiting to live life on life's terms, you just won't stop. that is where i found. 18,arted being involved was and i did drugs until it was 60 something.

catch-22. a and the comment about immigrants here reallydrugs increased when we started having more immigration. and i am definitely not going off on a racist tangent here, it's just i know that. years ago in southlake, they actually run out of heroin sometimes. host: do you feel like you just scratched the surface on homelessness more broadly than seattle? guest: you. too, an interesting issue, because if you talk about the former homeless, like the gentleman here, they tend to take a stricter line. it is a huge issue, and unfortunately, i think it is one that is going to be with us for the foreseeable future. host: ethan epstein, associate

editor at "weekly standard," his issue "homeless in seattle," thank you for being with us. guest: my pleasure. host: the u.s. house advanced a proposal that would advance the yucca waste site in nevada. we will talk with jeremy dillon of cq roll call about what is the issue and what is ahead on capitol hill with the issue. more ahead on "washington journal." cases,"y on "landmark university of california v. bakke. bakke, a white male, was twice rejected. he claimed he was passed over by minority applicants. the supreme court decision both struck down the university's program and upheld the constitutionality of affirmative

action. our guests are neal katyal, former acting u.s. solicitor generator under the obama administration, and randy barnett of the georgetown law center. our #is landmarkcasese. c-span.ow us on we have resources on background of each case, the landmark cases companionable, a link to the national constitution center's international resolution, and the all caps at c-span or less podcast at the c-span.org/landmarkcases. professor yunte

huang about his book "inseparable." yunte: you can imagine that these are two married couples that cannot be in the same bed, right, and they set up two separate households about a mile from each other, and they stick to this very rigorous schedule. chanwould say, stay in g's house for three days with chang's wife, and during these three days, chang is basically the master of the house. he can do whatever he wants to. and his brother will give up his free will. that is called alternate matching. three days later, they moved to the brother's house, and he will be the master of the house, and chang will give up his free will. >> did it work? yunte: apparently.

they had 21 children. >> sunday night on "q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is jeremy dillon, energy and environment order with cq roll call. the house passed a measure, that wouldvote, advance development of a nuclear waste storage site at yucca mountain, an issue that has come before congress going back 30 or more years. what exactly is yucca mountain? it is one of these congressional policy battles that keeps going and going. the actors may change, but the same issues keep going on over and over again. in 1982, the u.s. government decided what their strategy would be. it would be in a geological repository.

it went through a licensing process. it's that all the ground rules, basically. in 1987, they admitted that law and designated yucca mountain, a site about 100 miles northwest of las vegas, as the site where the nation's commercial nuclear waste would be buried. that kicked off a decades-long fight, especially with the people in nevada, who oppose it for safety reasons, for political reasons. that eventually led to the decision by the obama administration in 2010 to cancel the project after the u.s. government has spent about $15 billion. after that decision, the obama administration decided to go , buta storage strategy congress never appropriated money for that, so we have actually been at a standstill right now where house republicans are demanding yucca mountain return, and people in nevada are demanding we go into an interim storage. host: we heard a lot about the

storage across the country, members of the house talking about it being here in south carolina, here in washington state. muchus an idea of how nuclear waste is out there that needs to be taken care of, or do you know? guest: the industry measures in tons of 81,000 metric nuclear waste spread across 129 sites in 39 states, which i think is the most correct amount. so it is all over the place. obviously, it has become more of an issue as a lot of these nuclear sites start to shut down, and a lot of people realize they will be stuck with this nuclear waste, even after the benefits of the nuclear power plant has left. host: so after the power plant shuts down, they are still left with the waste from producing it. guest: yes, because the government has not picked it up yet. host: we will open up the phones to hear your thoughts. in particular, we have a line

for nevada residents. zora, democrats, (202) 748-8000 -- the lines are, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. for independents, (202) 748-8002 . if you live in nevada, (202) 748-8003. some of the members of the nevada delegation pointed this out, a map of the u.s. regulatory commission looking at operating nuclear reactors in the country, and you can see from looking at him as the majority of them are certainly east of the mississippi. there are no nuclear reactors in nevada. guest: right. the nevada members are saying government is trying that out into the nuclear waste a dumping ground. part of that as well as if you

put the waste, we will have to travel. an accident could occur along the routes, expose a community somewhere in the great plains. there are regulations for how nuclear waste travels. there is experience, but the fear filters through. host: we mentioned the bill passed in the u.s. house, but a bipartisan bill, 340-72, but then -- the bill came before the senate, the reaction on the senate from senator jean heller, senators.ada's here is what senator heller had to say the date was passed in the u.s. house. [video clip] heller: this bill is dead on arrival in the united states senate. it has passed the house. i also objected a motion to proceed to the bill, and this vote today proves my point, that i am the only person in washington, d.c. standing

between a pristine, beautiful or in nevada dripping with nuclear waste. as i have set in the past, i will continue to serve as a role make every, effort to prevent nevada from being a nuclear waste stop. despite the house's attempt to revive the field process, i will point out that not a single dollar has been appropriated to revive the site at yucca mountain. this is nothing but a failed exercise, because as long as i am here, yucca mountain is dead. it is as simple as that. host: dean heller, jeremy first nevadat the senators who say "as long as i am in the senate, yucca mountain is dead," but this is an election year for senator heller. guest: right. this is bipartisan. the delegation opposing this is

both republican and democrat. dean heller said that on the senate floor, but yesterday, senators chuck schumer, the minority leader in the senate, and senator catherine cortez masto came out with a joint declaring the same thing, and i think that is pretty telling that the minority leader is saying that. host: he says he will put a hold on it or one senator can stop that from going forward. anyway they can get around that? it is everyone holding a hand grenade at the same time. floor, youll to the need 100 senators saying yes, we are going to consider this. everyone is holding hand grenades. the one person with it and lets it go, it basically blows up. dean heller can put that hold on the bill and prevent it from

going to the floor. host: we have calls waiting for jeremy dillon on yucca mountain. a reminder to nevada viewers and listeners, (202) 748-8003 is your specific line. one quick note on a related topic, a tweet from the associated press here, they say that north korea says it will hold a ceremony for the dismantling of its nuclear test site may 23 through 25th. let's get the calls on yucca mountain. bob is in oklahoma. good morning, bob. go ahead. caller: thank you. it is the cherokee capital here. withve been dealing nuclear issues for quite some time in the government. aware, on the one hand, you think it might be to protect the public, but we thought it was to protect the industry. i am not sure if you are

familiar with the name ivan selin. he is the past governor there. these nuclear plants are growing old. the waste they create is for voting. it has nothing to do but stopped producing it, these are nuclearies, these facilities, and yucca mountain, the situation there is not the for storage, and that has pretty much already been proven. the first thing is to try to stop producing it. this is a national issue. this is a worldwide issue. it is not a nevada issue. "not in my backyard" just won't cut it. we have to really cut the nuclear industry from all the propaganda, like we have to have , while we are not even discussing a lot of things. host: what does the nuclear energy say about yucca mountain? guest: they promote to separate

places, yucca mountain and the interim storage. if you look at all the nuclear waste, it will actually fill up the yucca mountain all the way. we need a second side to start storing tiered we need a double approach, according to the nuclear industry. the problems really bringing it down right now, low prices from natural gas and energy, they have been struggling recently just with the economics. that is what we have seen a lot of things shut down. area that thesue, united states congress can step in a kind of help industry get through some of this problem. host: a headline in one of your pieces and roll call this week, yuccaisan supports mountain. a picture of the republican who led the effort on the house floor yesterday, john shimkus.

why is this being led by john shimkus? guest: he is from illinois, which has the most reactors operating in this country. he does not have any reactors in his sight, but some actually border the great lakes. personalissue that is to him, and issue he has fought for for the past 14 years. if you have it in your district, you kind of want to get moving and follow the federal law to come get it out of your state and into the place where it is safer. host: we hear from illinois next. elmhurst. good morning, john. independent line. caller: yes, illinois is heavily invested in nuclear power. it is clean power. i have been up to yucca mountain, the area, for work. that is a very desolate area. people are not around there much , and less they are actually working at the site, or there is one small casino out there. it is a desolate area, a granite

mountain. i think it is acceptable. we have 129 sites all over the country. that is my thought. guest: yes, so the desolation is one of the things. it also borders the testing area where we test a lot of the nuclear weapons, going back to the development of a nuclear bombs. subsequently through the cold war. the problem that nevada has with it is it would have to travel through heavy population areas. it would have to go through the southern part of the state, where a lot of people live. that is the main concern. host: so the scenario, if yucca mountain was built, that the nuclear waste from all across the country would be brought there by train, by truck, how would that happen? guest: or both, unless you have regulations covering both. containerstorage that have been through rigorous tests, especially through

earthquakes, for accidents. even if an accident did occur, there should be protections in place to make sure it does not get out. host: let's hear it next from georgia, lewis, republican line. go ahead. caller: the electrical grid as it exists today is obsolete. grid is susceptible to hacking. all power plants have these plc's, devices called o that stands for programmable logic controllers. when a 12-year-old child can hack into the roosevelt dam north of tempe, arizona, and happy child opens the floodgates, there could have been a catastrophe. as it exists today, we are going to have to have electrical grids on a different scale. but we have got to do something with that nuclear waste. yucca mountain is probably going to be the best place. thank you.

host: i understand from the floor debate in the house that was brought up that people who are in areas, who get their power from a nuclear power facility are already pay into -- or have over many years, 30 years or so -- paid into a fund of storage for nuclear waste. guest: that is the other main argument of this, is that ratepayers have paid basically tax to pay for this nuclear waste management somehow. so far, the nuclear waste fund has about $40 billion in collected fees and interest that is added. now that is actually on pause. a federal court told the federal government they could not keep collecting the fees if they did not have a cohesive nuclear waste management strategy, which apparently we do not have. it also gets to the point where, since the government has not been able to pick up some of this waste, a lot of these

utilities have been able to sue the federal government for damages. it is about $700 million to $800 million coming just from the general treasury -- host: that they are paying. guest: paying to the utilities because they failed to pick up this waste. host: still time to get on the call, particularly in nevada, (202) 748-8003 is the line to call. otherwise, democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. biz become arizona, steve on our republican line. caller: hi. referring to the need to make another nuclear waste repository, it should not be inground like yucca mountain in the first place. we have a lot of salt beds that would work quite well to store nuclear waste. we have a plant in new mexico now. put these political

restrictions on what we can put into it. we do need to back away from creating so much nuclear waste. but everyone has the fear factor in there, ok, here, let's throw it in nevada. lot ofoing to take a money to develop multiple repositories to get this waste at least isolated long enough for it to cool off. thank you. the big argument back in the 1980's as well. they had eventually determined that yucca mountain would be the best site to do that. they built a pilot plant facility down in new mexico, the salt caverns. there are different places they can do it. that is what the obama administration argued, that we can find a better place to do this that has a consent-based approach that would get the local and state government on board. that remains to be seen if that can be done. host: a couple of comments on

twitter, jd reading tweets that the c-span caller who called the atomic power "clean" in a discussion of the dirty waste that lasts thousands of years, and the irony is missed. jodey says it is not such a good solution, and the waste is stored unprotected at nuclear power plants, putting a nuclear bomb at every power plant, waiting to be exploited. jim says salt domes are self sealing. besides, one man's radioactive waste is another man's fourth generation, faster breeder reactor fuel stop. we hear from susan next. go ahead. it is awful i think that you were just dumping it on nevada. host: susan, what do you think the solution is? this is the issue. caller: i don't know. nobody else wants it in their backyard. host: let's go to our democrats

line, from loretta, greeley, colorado. good morning. caller: good morning. i worked on this project in the 1980's. heard someone from the new mexico university speak on this topic. they had done some tax research, and they said what would happen if a barrel of that waste broke, so they tested it. they thought it would take 10 years for the waste to go into an aquifer that covers four states. it did not take 10 years. wastek four hours for the to get into the aquifer. that has been one of the biggest issues, is water problems. guest: that is right. that is what a lot of the nevadans bring up as well, the fear that something could happen a contaminated water supply. in thely out of

west, that is contentious, a problem, a concern for them out there. host: we have a call from las vegas next. to admin inll go las vegas, hope you are there. that is the wrong line. that is my fault. go ahead. know harry reid has been retired now. he kind of helped us from coming up through it and try to protect -- iom not reinventing know they got the wheel going out there, so they will use it for some kind of depository. what is thisdering vote next week going to do for nevada? is it going to pour more money into the state? the vote happened

in the houses past week, but i will let jeremy dillon -- the senate is to be determined, if something will happen anytime soon. i will let jeremy explained specifically what the bill does. guest: there actually is some incentive included in the bill to kind of get nevada on board. once waste actually gets delivered to the site, some millions of dollars will actually flow into the state through infrastructure projects. to kind of get people on board. the bill would also see some land transfers from the federal government to kind of shore up process andcensing to also offer interim storage throughout the country. if that does not happen at yucca mountain, there are private companies and west texas, new mexico, that are interested in holding some of this. host: to be clear, yucca mountain was a nuclear test site back in the 1950's and 1960's. guest: the neighboring land was. it is all kind of in the general area. host: a hopeful headline here

from the "tri-city herald" in washington state -- they point out the passage of the legislation last week, saying the repository, yucca mountain, would give the nuclear reservation a place to dispose of high-level radioactive waste as well as use nuclear fuel left from producing plutonium at hanford for the nation's nuclear weapons program. that is the view from washington state. do you have any idea how much nuclear waste is stored in that particular area? guest: i do not have an exact number on that, but this brings that a great point -- it is not just nuclear waste but also is defense waste. there is waste that was interval during the cold war to develop egal during the cold war to develop nuclear weapons.

people argue that this is kind of our responsibility to these communities for helping us fight the cold war. davis from hear from oklahoma on the republican line. caller: thank you. i am no expert, but it is my iserstanding that chernobyl ancient and it relevant history, and the technology of nuclear power, and i am wondering why we don't concentrate that waste and run it for a bigger reactor, because, again, it is my understanding it will reduce it to radioactive glass with a half-life of about 50 years. guest: that has been an argument for a while. you look at other countries, such as france, they do reprocess their fuel. it goesnited states, back to come i believe, the carter administration. there is a policy that we would not reprocess the waste, mainly

for fears of proliferation, that it could get out and if someone could the material to build a nuclear bomb if it were to get out. current companies are working on a new kind of evolution of nuclear reactors that would reduce some of this waste. they are still a couple of years from getting away from the we are in the commercialization and research phase right now. host: this past in the house 340-72. we showed dean heller saying he would put a hold on it, block the bill. headline --urnal" three gop senators want to abandon heller on yucca mountain. the senator says as long as he is in the senate, any progress on a nuclear waste project will be done. senator heller faces congresswoman jackie larson in that race in nevada. what was her vote? asst: she was against it well, and she was on the floor saying some of the similar things. obviously, again, going

back to this is one of the most competitive with selections in the country, this upcoming midterm. both sides are trying to make it seem like they are the only ones who can stop yucca mountain going forward. difficulty for senator heller is that if the senate were to build up -- bring up the bill, if it passes in the senate, certainly, it is certainly a negative mark on his record in the race coming this fall. guest: correct. again with minority leader schumer saying he is against this project, that adds a whole bunch of other people who are against it. adding to the coalition, who can block the bill from coming to the floor. host: let's get one more call. bob is in mesa, arizona. caller: real quick, i worked with a test site for about eight and i did come, up with an idea back in.

for all of us, now that we are advanced, go to google. saynt you to go to google, that we want to reduce what we have to a lesser level, a safer level, let's start with that. if we can get everybody on the planet, google is doing the things, musk, tesla is taking us to these driverless cars. get that young brainpower, get it to push, number one, priority, reduce the excessiveness to a safer level. google will do it. musk and tesla will do driverless calls. host: bob, thank you for your call. up,my dillon, as we wrap the house has passed a bill. energy secretary rick perry, what other moves can the administration do that don't involve or have done that don't involve legislative action by the house or senate? guest: they are a little limited right now what the can actuallyt department

do, because all of this is subject to appropriations. for the last eight years or so, there have been no appropriations either way. that is a main issue. the house is an indicator, a signal of the willingness to solve this problem that'll. -- at all. in my opinion, it will be solved through the allocation process. to people who want to solve it has taken the approach of interim storage, then yucca mountain, with the emphasis on interim storage in the short term. on the house side, chairman simpson from idaho, he has really advocated yucca. you kind of hit a standstill. will look for your further reporting on the issue. jeremy dillon, environmental reporter with cq roll call. thanks for being with us this morning. that will do it for this morning's "washington journal."i

hope you can join us again tomorrow morning for the mother's day addition, i guess usa. we will speak to former president carter's aide, stuart eizenstat. and then elizabeth cobbs and will talkr about the cold war as part of our "1968: america in turmoil" serious. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] host: have a great weekend.