process. wilson will talk about the importance of military alliances and later from washington, d.c., discussion about politics, race, and civil discourse that begins at 6:30 p.m. eastern. on c-span2, a group of former national security council members discuss the trump administration's counterterrorism strategy ameria at 12:15 p.m. eastern. watch our live coverage of the utah senate republican primary debate with mitt romney and mike kennedy, from brigham young university, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. make c-span your primary source for campaign 2018. "washington journal" is next. in one hour, talking to jeff

weaver, his new book "how bernie won," and freedom partners chairman mark holden discusses his group's efforts to reform the criminal justice system. ♪ host: good morning. it is tuesday, may 20 9, 2018. a foggy morning on capitol hill. members of the house and senate are home for the memorial day break. although the house is expected to hold a brief session today at 1:30 p.m. meanwhile, we're with you for the next three hours. we begin today asking for your view on the state of race relations in america. we're having this conversation as a starbucks prepares to close stores nationwide to conduct antibias training in the wake of an incident last month that one of its cafes in philadelphia.

and mike of the conversations that incident sparked, we want to know how much you worry about race relations. give us a call, we split the phone lines up regionally this morning. eastern and central time zones 202-748-8000. ,mountain and pacific time zones 202-748-8001. ,you can catch up with us also on social media. twitter at c-span wj, and on facebook and facebook.com/cspan. a very good tuesday morning to you. one of the headlines today on the closure that starbucks will be doing nationwide, a first step. the story noting the executive vice president of starbucks in one of his letters recently, may 29 is not a solution, starbucks decided to offer the training unit stores after a store manager called police after two black men, who had not purchased

anything and where denied bathroom access, did not leave when asked. guests to requires make you purchase to use the bathroom, but executives say the police never should've been called. noting today that the backlash over a new policy, says everybody is welcome to use the cafe, including the bathrooms, but many customers have complained they may not find room to sit and the bathrooms could become unsafe or dirty. that is some of the reporting happening at starbucks. instruct a larger conversation that we are trying to have, we want to know your view of race relations in america. here are some of the gallup polling. the question asked in march, how much do you worry about race relations. 37% respondents saying, a great deal. 18% saying only a little. 17% saying not at all.

phone lines are open to have the conversation. 202-748-8000. that is for eastern and central time zones. in the mountain and pacific time zones 202-748-8001. ,janet from washington, your of first. -- up first. go ahead. races: i believe all should be treated equally, that is the law of god, but if any race is wrong they should be equally punished, and not be able to get away with anything, no matter who they are. wants tof someone stick with their own kind, that is fine. host: you think people are treated equally into coma, tacoma,on? -- in washington? caller: yes.

host: ok. florida.r the. -- in caller: i want to say it is getting worse because of donald trump. starbucks is a good example. and the killings in florida and texas. the make america great again hats. it will get hurt -- wosrse with donald trump. we need to vote him out. he is making the point that only whites have privilege. this white lady in california called the cops because black people were cooking in the parks. for any reason. some black lady fell asleep in a dorm at a college and a white woman called the police. it is getting ridiculous. it does not matter what color

you are, you have the right to live in this country, whether you are legal or not legal. forks, northgrand dakota. caller: how are you doing? host: doing well. caller: it is getting ridiculous. i am from north dakota and i have called before. i grew up in the suburbs of philadelphia. when you go back and forth across the country, you have everyday contact with people and do work -- i have worked with people who are american indians on the reservation, somalia am a costa rica and in philadelphia inand costa ricans philadelphia. there is some tension, but everybody gets along ok. slapk with check drivers, them on the back, how are you doing? the left more than the right is trying to divide us.

at the starbucks, the story of what happened, that was not an alabama starbucks, that was a liberal area, it was a white woman, a liberal woman who called the cops. is it possible that they were obnoxious and they did not want to leave? one thing i wanted to talk about about the closing down of starbucks and the diversity training, is if somebody larger than me said diversity is a strength, why do we have to have all these programs to manage it? if diversity was a strength, we would naturally integrate and all love each other, but that is not happening in america. people'st black relations with asians and hispanics? in philadelphia, black kids were beating up asian kids to the

point that the asian parents had to boycott hispanics and blacks. the conflicts in east los angeles, basically warfare in that area. blacks never take responsibility for how they treat asian people and hispanics, and arabs, with their burning down of businesses in baltimore, were they targeted asian businesses. they targeted them in the l.a. riots. leave thedid you philadelphia and moved to grand forks? caller: i came out for work. and i came up because it was getting too crowded in the suburbs. and the trade i worked in was affected by illegal immigration so i came out here. i was surprised, there is actually more diversity here them back in my town. lots of black people live here, somali refugees. host: is that a good thing in

grand forks? caller: i do not know yet. [laughter] i have had some good and bad experiences with it. there are two sides to the coin. it is not all hunky-dory. it is not a bumper sticker. diversity is a source of strife in america and we are seeing it in about 75% of the things we talk about on c-span. host: what do you think the good parts of diversity are? caller: maybe the simple things like going to a nice chinese restaurant, seeing different women of different races, the beautiful different women of different cultures. host: we got your point, jim. speaking of the starbucks closures happening today, some 8200 stores nationwide, they exhibit of chairman of starbucks, howard schultz, releasing an open letter to customers around the country. the open letter, the full-page

ad in many national newspapers today, writing in the open letter, "the incidents have prompted us to think more deeply on bias, the role of our stores in communities, and our responsibility to make sure nothing like this happens again." partners will be sharing life experiences, hearing from others, reflecting on the realities of bias in our society, and talking about all of us pretty public spaces where everybody feels like they belong, because they do. the conversation will become part of our company and how we screen partners, discussing race is not easy, and various people have helped us to create a learning experience we hope will be educational, participatory, and make us a better company. we want this to be an open and honest conversation and we will make the curriculum available to

the public." the open letter in many national newspapers today, you might come across it as you go through your newspaper. we are asking for your view on the state of race relations. from mississippi, go ahead. caller: good morning. i am a native of the mississippi gulf coast. as a white man, a mississippian, who went to university i have to admit that i am humbled every day by the amazing amount of diversity in the world and even in my state. mississippi is one third african-american and we have a large vietnamese population on the coast. ever since katrina, there is a large latino population that came over to help rebuild our community. at university i tried it to study the history of the civil rights movement, a very limited

amount, so by no means am i an expert. but having done that, i appreciate understanding that -- i was raised by my grandparents and i grew up in a house of privilege, but when i hear someone who is african-american say that there are serious problems with the thosety in our state and have historical roots, i cannot ignore that. i will never understand completely what their point of view is, in terms of feeling it for experiencing it, but i can listen and i can try to through listening vote and act in a way mirrors the tolerance and appreciation of different perspectives. host: thank you for the call.

tash, buffalo, new york. -- tasha, buffalo, new york. caller: good morning. i live in buffalo. buffalo is one of the most racist cities in the united in 2018 -- i am 40 it is 2018 and we are still talking about the same issues. cnn was doing a series on 1960 and the same issues keep reoccurring. first, immigration, then inclusion, then diversity. all the names we give everything and nothing changes. i believe it starts with real history. unt,i will be blocked -- bl white people have an issue with real history and it changes what they do. they control the media, they control books, so history is always from the white

perspective, and they never tell the truth because the truth is white history and the way they've treated not only african-americans, indians, japanese, down the line, they have committed genocide against people. they have done ugly things to people. host: do you agree with the last you?r, the caller before caller: we have a buzzword, every time we turn around it is a different buzzword, integration, inclusion, what does it mean? nothing is really different. host: what would you say to the he tries toays understand the perspective of african-americans, or other races in his community, he understands he will never understand it completely from their perspective, but he works on trying to do that? caller: maybe they are teaching him that history. who is teaching him that history?

is it african-american scholars or other white people? white scholars that maybe dilute the real truth. you have to be able to face the truth and let people who are scholars, who can really teach the history. i learned about history basically on my own, because i had a desire to learn it. in college, it was more courses that offered it, but most of the classes that taught african-american history was 90% black. things will never change because white people are in control, they do not want to let go of control. personally, i think we gave up a lot as african-americans. we bought into integration and we gave up everything. host: do you think integration, diversity is a bad thing? caller: i do nothing -- do not think it is a bad thing, but i am try to say it is just a

buzzword. wordsity is a new kumbaya that we like to teach the world. it is all just words. host: tasha in buffalo, new york. having the conversation on twitter and facebook as well. some comments from our facebook page. two people watching, trying to pinpoint when the deterioration started happening when it comes to race relations. deterioratedhas over the past two years. the site should be to washington dc leadership. doug says it started degrading than plus years ago, a time when i was younger. we were improving year-by-year, and race significance it would be able to trail off to negligible levels, but not so much in recent years it seems. you can send us your comments.

philip in orlando, florida. up next. go ahead appeared caller: good morning -- ahead. caller: good morning. i really like the style of how you have developed your program and the way you listen to people. i was born and raised in alexandria, virginia. i was the third african-american to integrate safety into schools. and from that experience, race always stuck in my mind, because of the experience that i went through in alexandria, which was basically positive. i grew up with a utopian type of outlook at race and the positives that developed from the 70's when i was a student in school. however, to be honest, as i got older and i moved south i begin to see that there was definitely a barrier for advancement,

economically. that, i think, not only but the crisis with police shootings and the brutality, and being pulled over and looked at greater than necessary by police, i think it has caused this new crisis in the country. let me say one thing, to those who are trying to get a historical perspective, i did write a book on race relations in america called, "run in my shoes." i think it is of value to the people who were before me making comments. i have also taught african-american studies. and psychology and sociologist. -- sociologist. time in back to your school, you said it was a positive experience. what made it so positive at that time -- that is stevens saint agnes at this time?

caller: exactly. the white parents, they were kind of wealthy. they understood what was happening, the experiment, and they went out of their way to invite me over on weekends, and to be around their children. particularly my schoolmates. and i got exposed to a lot of things that were outside of my own black community, so i saw the world from a white perspective. and i was introduced to their homes and their culture and lifestyle. and they treated me pretty well. it was not like i grew up angry. but as i traveled, you know, as i got my degrees and my mobility, and i wanted to leave alexandria, primarily because of weather, because i am in orlando, but other places i have gone to to study in the south and to try to get a job -- it was like, the employment

factored changed greatly from coming out of the washington dc area versus coming south. and to this day it is like that. that is what it comes down to. there is a lot of ptsd in the black community dealing with race, that whites do not understand, but they understand other factors when it affects their mental health or physical health. so what i would like to do is to have some workshops and go on a lecture series to talk about it, because it is so important to basic mental health in this country to come together, to advance ourselves. bottom line, to look at a person's color of the skin and think one is better than the other is only possibly an economic possibility of who is superior, but it has nothing to do with character of a person. host: thank you for the call from orlando. you mentioned workshops,

starbucks having more than 8000 workshops, closing most stores this afternoon for that racial bias training. estimates on the cost for starbucks from usa today, $12 million is the figure that they put on it. they talked to a partner in investment banking firm. william blair making the estimate. the training will be open to 180,000 employees, between the stores and headquarters. they went into starbucks finances, noting the company posted a net income of six under $60 million in the quarter -- $660 million in the quarter that ended april 1. howard schultz was at an event in washington last month after the incident in philadelphia, and he was speaking about the company's approach to race. >> the truth of the matter is

that racial divide was on the rise during that time 2.5 years ago, and certainly today, we have a divide in the country as well. we look at that and i decided that we should have a unscripted,meeting, just like this. where we would talk about race, racial divide, unconscious bias, and give everybody a companywide forum to share. and people without any retribution, without any concern ias, a young pain, b woman, a white woman stood up and it said my family -- and said my family was part of the kkk and the sizzling was that i did not think was wrong. and african-americans have said that they feel all the time that

the system or the playing field is not equal or level. so we went around the country and we had these meetings, almost in every major city amongst starbucks people. and then our people started asking us, we have had all these meetings, what is starbucks going to do? host: taking your calls this might come asking for your view on the state of race relations. the phone lines, if you are in the eastern or central time zones 202-748-8000. ,mountain or specific -- or pacificc time zones, -- time zones 202-748-8001. ,showing you pictures of what happened after the incident in philadelphia and howard schultz talking about how the company views race relations and what they are try to do with the meetings happening today. here is an editorial from the dallas morning news on this topic, saying the difficult conversations about race need to

be going on in a lot more places than starbucks to get to the bottom of why we make members of our community feel unwelcome. bias and prejudices will not be solved overnight, still but starbucks diversity training is a reminder for us all to be persistent and efforts towards racial understanding to combat insidious behavior before it leads to outrageous incidents, such as what occurred in philadelphia. that was from may 24, dallas morning news. plenty of editorials on this topic. we want to hear from you. we have set aside the first hour of our program to do that. chicago, good morning. caller: thank you so much for doing this topic. and not doing it by party affiliation. just by that single action, you break down tribalist responses, so thank you. i thinke is something,

my that needs to be clarified -- i think, that needs to be clarified. what is racism? we do not understand what racism is. it is not just discrimination or bigotry or bias. we all have those innate evils within us, and we'll have to combat against those. dr. seuss even tried to teach us that. when we systemize those discriminations, those bigotries, then that is racism. bigotry,ou act on your governmentally, legally it is the police thing, then that is racism. a very important point -- what america needs. this is the worst time for race relations. in my 59 years alive.

of coarse, i was alive -- course, i was alive in 1968 and i remember it, race relations were bad. in the 70's, there was a lot of promise. this is really bad, we have a president who is elected -- this is about race and racism only. there is no other interpretation. let's not make excuses. when south africa finally ended apartheid, with not much help from the reagan administration, nelson mandela did not come out ail slaughter whites, or j them or do anything, even with all the atrocities they committed. reconciliation took place. mirror andin the rican salad itself with its own history.

style itself with its own history. host: let me ask. you talk about the imports of recognizing bias and the difference between acting on bias and defining that is racism, i want to get your thoughts on having this conversation this morning. a tweet or comment on our facebook page says, "keep whipping it up, because lord knows you keep fueling the flames." you think people get or feel attacked when you have these conversations? caller: that is a tribalist response. you just pinpointed it. talking about it makes it worse. not being racist or doing racist things is bad, talking about it. who says that? an abuser says that about the

victim of abuse. so we have to be honest, we need a truth and reconciliation from it. white, you might have some grievances. we have not done anything to you, we only make up 13% of the population. i do unconscious biases training for national corporations, so the words diversity, multiculturalism, they trigger people. and if they trigger people, they need to explore their souls. host: richmond, virginia. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just wanted to say that the two individuals speaking prior to me were very correct when they say that in this country, individuals, black and white, all of us should recognize we have unconscious bias and we are brought up with it, we are

taught those things and we do not recognize other individuals and their contribution and their values and their culture. until we start recognizing that everybody plays a part in this, everybody makes this country black not white people, people, asian people, we have to work together. many times we do not look at how we automatically go into a mindset or think about it when we see a group of black young boys, or a group of hispanics, we start thinking negatively and we automatically go into that negative unconscious bias. it boils itself up in us. until this country recognizes that they had health to -- help to create the divide in this country, through education and government, they have always been -- there have always been certain statements and laws

made to separate different waraces. host: another take on the starbucks training sessions happening today, this from the wall street journal recently. "starbucks is not the next selma. " "those of us who marched during the civil rights movement had clear goals. we demanded blacks be left alone to exercise the right to work and live where they please. we demanded an end to discrimination. we were confronting real issues and working for outcomes that would benefit all who had suffered discrimination, regardless of their station in life. which of the protesters want, who are their intended

beneficiaries, who are the losers? the starbucks ceo kim dafoe the via to meet with the men, he apologized anyplace to close all -- and he pledged to close all stores for training. the consultants who devise and conduct the sensitivity sessions, those who will get money from donors who are anxious to relieve their white guilt, and the two arrestees who have already become celebrity victims, probably leading the tour." more of your calls. stephen, little rock, arkansas. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have been listening and my thought is that it just appears that everybody wants to defend their particular viewpoint. on,the racial bias going you can call it what you want to

call it, it has been happening for years. it is embedded in each individual. caucasians have been in power for what feels like eternity, since the romans were involved. the people who have the power have control over the law and the way that things are structured. we have to go back and accept the fact we live in a country dominated by caucasians, who have certain viewpoints that have been passed by many generations, and it is almost like genetics. it is embedded in certain individuals. now it is so strong, they cannot see it, because they refused to take responsibility. i think we all have to accept the responsibility that it is inherited in us to have these biases. for blacks -- to be able to

survive, it is a survival instinct. if you are not aware of your surroundings, you could die. just in the past few months, four but people have been pulled , andand shot and killed with you take the killers, the news is there and they are treating it with all the rights afforded them, but if you are black, you can die from a traffic stop. how can that be? how can we have a president who issues.ose are local in the sense comes up it is a local issue. no, it is a national issue. it may be an international issue because it is happening in europe, and on every continent on the face of this earth.

host: nathan, maryland. you are up. caller: how are you doing? i am a brown person. [laughter] i use that term. i am a person of color. my thing is in this nation you have good and decent people, then you have people who are not so much. and i really think everybody is a universe unto themselves. entered to take everybody on when i first meet them and get to know them. the main issue in the nation's is we all nation have our own experiences and we all respond a certain way. a lot of people of european descendents, or non-people of color, i think they have an issue with being seen a certain way. i mean, everyone from i would

say 1999 or 1960's, that were born, they did not have slaves. they didn't, they did not personally have slaves, but they may have profited off of people having slaves in one way or another. i think a lot of people, they feel a certain way. but people feel like, you guys owe us something because of the history of the nation and how it was built. white people are like, i did not profit. so you have that whole conflict. and you have a lot of poor people, black and white, who have issues with each other because of that opposing view. blacks, we have injustice. white people are like, we are not personally the ones who did it. so i think that is part of the racial tension in america. host: how do you move past that

tension, or is it a matter of recognizing the tension? caller: it is almost like with the european jews in the holocaust, did they move past that? it is more like an understanding and you move forward. the way that you do that is sit-down and you have to have a national discussion without any like weight on either party. and i tell this to my family, i will see things on the internet were young people, young black people are doing certain things that put them in a bad light. same thing with young people of non-color, they do things that put them in a bad light. but when we do things to perpetuate a stereotype, you understand it will be weighing on the entire view of a person, because when you see one person

doing something you do not know that person, so when you see somebody else, you do not know them, it builds a mental note of that person. host: jason, we got your point. on twitter, "the fact people are talking about bias is a step in the right direction. those employees at starbucks will apply what they learned, maybe talk about it with family and friends. it is part of the conversation that we need." more calls in a second on race relations. we also want to keep you updated on what is going on around the country and world. the u.s. deciding to defer launching a major new sanction initiative against north korea, part of a flurry of moves by both sides aimed at reviving a summit between president trump and kim jong-un. the wall street journal noting the white house was prepared to announce the sanctions yesterday, prepared to announce it today, but decided yesterday

to delay the measures while talks about the summit proceed. another story on the upcoming summits and what may or and may not be included. south korea floating the idea of a three-way summit, noting that the north korean, the south korean president is considering joining the some of between president trump and kim jong-un. the idea was proposed by the leaders of the two koreas, when they held their first meeting last month at the border between north and south korea. today, the editorial board of the wall street journal takes up this issue of the south korean leader potentially joining the summit, saying, "the south korean president does not share goals when it comes to north korea. it is a process to get to a result in the u.s. national interest. the process and result cannot be subcontracted to a north korean

president who has priorities other than american security." you can read more on that in the wall street journal. president tweeting this morning, tweeting about the upcoming summit, "we have put a great team together," he said. "the meetings are taking place concerning the summit." the vice-chairman of north korea heading now to new york. "thank you." the president referring to a letter that he addressed to north korea last week when he called off the upcoming summit. june 12 is the date that the leaders are zeroing in on for that summit. president trump yesterday was across the potomac river at arlington national cemetery, remembering fallen soldiers. that is the headline today. honoring service members for their sacrifice. he laid a wreath during the

ceremony. here is part of his address yesterday. president trump: we are gathered here on the sacred soil of arlington national cemetery, to honor the lives and deeds of america's greatest heroes, of the men and women who laid down their lives for our freedom. today, we pay tribute to their service, we mourn alongside their families, and we strive to be worthy of their sacrifice. heroesrose who rest -- who rest in these hollowed fields. in they are real ground near and rounds near and far, the full tapestry of american life. they came from tiring cities -- towering cities, from privilege and from poverty.

they were generals and privates, captains and corporals of every race, color, and of every creed. but they were all brothers and and sisters in -- and sisters in arms. and they were all united then, as they are united now forever by their undying love of our great country. [applause] theirs was a love more deep and. pure than most will ever know. it was a love that willed them up mountains, across oceans, and into enemy camps, and unknown dangers. so thatched into hell,

america could know the blessings of peace. they died so freedom could live. host: that was the president at arlington national cemetery yesterday. if you want to watch his statement in its entirety, you can do so at c-span.org. one more statement from the president, he tweeted this on memorial day, is this getting a lot of attention because of the issues he wanted to highlight. died would be very happy and proud at how well we are doing today. best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for blacks rebuildingcs ever, our military and so much more. nice." on raceg your calls relations at starbucks prepares to close most stores around the country for anti-bias screening.

jacksonville, florida. caller: good morning. 39 year watcher of c-span. here it is the best educational program when it comes to enlightening americans in terms of what is going on. particularly, today's topic. combat vet.am disagreement is with several callers. that is ok. first, the young person, the last person from maryland, who indicated that african-americans feel as though america owes of something to some extent. i agree with that, but what they owe us is what is in the constitution, the pursuit of happiness and liberty, that is

described in the constitution. i have some agreement with that. jimother one is also with who called from north dakota. his views i hear what are, but they are certainly very representative of what is going on in america now when it comes to race and race relations. the gentleman who called out of illinois had his fingers on the pulse, sharing with america what racism is, and he indicated he teaches. i thought he was on point in terms of educating america as to what racism is. it is a systemic system of oppressing peoples. african-americans in this country have been the most oppressed peoples in america,

and i am coming from a standpoint of history, that african-americans are the only ethnic group that have come to america, that have been brought here as slaves. to other group that has come to america -- no other group that has come to america has sustained the kind of history or had that kind of history. made, iung points tasha agreed with her in terms of racism, it is embedded in our system. i think programs like you are having now to educate the american public does help in terms of eradicating, if we can, racism. but it is a tough job. whites have no understanding of feeling what it is like to be african-americans, but they still try to teach us what we should be doing. i do not know what america has been thinking about.

we have been trying that since we came to america. we have fought in every war. we walk into restaurants where people do not want to serve us. some people were walking, moving from one house to another with furniture and somebody called the police and thought that they were stealing. we have a long way to go, but i appreciate c-span and a appreciate you taking my call. i always wait my 30 days to call in. i think we have a lot of work to do to remove and have better race relations. host: thank you for the call. talk to you in 30 days. william from arkansas. caller: good morning. first of all, quick comment about starbucks in philadelphia. i was wondering, the policy of the store and the manager, do you think the manager was a male or female, did what the policy of the store was in dealing with

these young people? so, and they did not want to follow the policy, so they made a racial thing out of it. ofhink starbucks gets a lot free advertising out of this. also, i was in little rock a couple of years ago, signing up for t-mobile. and it just so happened that everybody who worked in the store was african-american. and i am caucasian and i had my wife and daughter with me. or $4000 --e 3000 $3000 or $4000 purchasing their products. i had to go to the bathroom. and i asked the manager, i have to go to the bathroom, and he said you will have to go next what is the name of the sandwich place? subway, you have to go next door

to subway. i i said, ok that is their policy, so i went next door and i went to subway and used the bathroom and i did not spend any money there. it is a policy, i could have made a big deal out of it. host: did you feel that the manager might call the police on you, if you did not want to do that? caller: i mean, i didn't cause any problem. that is their store policy. i accepted that and i went and did as i was instructed. it is not a racial thing. i think it was a policy thing. um, like in philadelphia, the starbucks -- so many times, this is such a complicated situation, race relations, but -- and my wife will be mad at me for saying this -- i have found in my relations with not only

african-americans, but anybody, if they do not get what they want, if their problem is not solved, then it is a racial thing. you know, they play as they said in oj's trial, johnny cochran played his race card. we are a big culture, blacks, whites, chinese, the young man just said about blacks being enslaved -- a horrible, horrible part of our history. very sad. but you have chinese, irish, who were brought over enslaved in labor, and that was the way it was in the capitalist part of our country that was growing. you mentioned donald trump, i have to do this because a friend of mine, a couple of republican friends of mine say that donald trump does not represent the, all the republicans in the party, so if you are in favor of

donald, which i am not, let's call those that follow trump's -trumplicans.em re host: we got your point. we will stick to the conversation about race relations, 10 minutes left. in alabama. avery caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. white supremacy is really the problem. their race is the human race, everything else is predicated on people's ethnicities. white supremacy is the problem. host: defined white supremacy. betweenit is a pact the caucasians to oppress

anybody that is not caucasian. in physical, black people, because when this country was italianirish people, people, jewish people, none were considered caucasian and none were considered equal to the white people who founded the country, until there was a pact that was made. when that white supremacist pace was made, jewish -- pact was made, jewish people were accepted, so were italians and polish, and so were irish people. up until then, they were --sidered just as much -- ant: the pact, was it unconscious thing? caller: it was totally a

conscious thing. in order for average people can not -- irish people cannot be considered green, they had to suppress black people. the government is set up in such a manner that what we call our ideals, they are all based on lies. anytime you hear somebody say this is not what america is about, america has been about oppressing black people from when we were captured and kidnapped, and brutalized as slaves. and so the history of this country into the history of caucasian people throughout the world is about genocide, it is about stealing and taking land and resources, and setting yourself up to have privileges over the people that you have stolen their land, and you have taken their resources. and then everybody should live up to your ideals. host: mark in sun city,

california. go ahead. caller: good morning. . i kind offinding -- agree with the last caller, but not 100. i do not think people realize what is racism. i have tried to explain the difference between racism from the black standpoint and the white standpoint. not standpoint, but the difference. black people, we can call you names and talk loud, but white people have the power. in america, you pass laws that restricted our rights and in a lot of incidents, even with the civil rights act, it has a time period on it. it is not an amendment. and i have been listening to

your callers, the one from north dakota who was originally from philly, and the other guy from somewhere in the south, but it is very -- it sound like they just do not understand, you know ? host: when you say why people have the power and you are talking about elected office -- what would you say to elected black leaders in this country? caller: they have no power. what power do they have? host: i am asking you, your thoughts. caller: we, black people as a laws.cannot pass look at the history of the country. pastg this, during the years they would restrict who could marry, where you could live with the redlining,

basically segregation was legal. that is my point. and now whenever blacks speak up, it is an annoyance. host: patty in connecticut. go ahead. caller: thank you. i hope you will allow me the same amount of time as the others. i want to tell you what i thought was a division that activated racism in 8 years, that was when obama went against the cambridge police,: them -- calling them stupid. he did not even know what it was all about, the professor in harvard, but he immediately came out on television. i think that was the start of where we ended up. starbucks, you

know, a lot of places do not like people to loiter, especially if they are not buying things. i think that girl who turned them in, she got thrown under the bus. it is probably in their roles, rules, if they are loitering they have to leave. that is 1.i want to make. another one is jesse jackson once said, that he was in washington dc at night walking home, and he heard somebody behind him. around, saw turned it was a white person and it said, thank god. you have that, too. happen,e things, they and everybody is called a racist. then you have to call jesse jackson won -- one too, right? host: time for a couple more calls.

we also want to keep you updated about some of the congressional contests we are keeping an eye on heading into the fall. to let you know about the upcoming debate in the republican primary happening at 8:00 p.m. today, the republican primary a utah for the senate race there. mike kennedy taken on former presidential contender mitt romney in that closely watched contest. mitt romney is the heavy favorite to win, but kennedy, a conservative dr., made it a contest when he won the favor of gop stalwarts. you can watch it on c-span, c-span.org. and from the washington times today on the midterm elections,

the story focusing on a number of women running in 2018. "mrs. smith goes to washington." 16 months after women marched on washington, they are flexing their political muscle and signing up in record numbers. nearly 400 women have already filed to run as candidates for the house, and 75 others likely to jump in according to the center for american women at rutgers university. more than 70 have already won their primaries and will be on the ballots in november, including 62 democrats and 10 republicans. one name that will not be on the ballot is that of thomas garrett of virginia. he announced yesterday that he is struggling with alcoholism and will abandon his run for a second term in congress so he can focus on recovery with his family, that story from the washington post. he is the 40th republican to retire or announce they will not

seek reelection in the house this year. this year, facing a robust challenge from leslie cockburn, who had raised more money than he had. in recent days, unnamed staffers had accused him and his wife of mistreating staff in their office. that coming yesterday. time for one or two more calls. linda from st. louis, missouri. your thoughts? caller: good morning. thank you. i am calling, i do not know what it is about some of these white folks that call and do not understand exactly what is going on. by people see things from a different lens from what white folks see. they do not see racism anywhere. cane is nowhere a white boy

go and take up two spaces in the middle of the night and get tased and sent to jail. there is a reason for some of these things, do they put blinders on? in our society, to put a man in i did nothouse -- understand why they do not see this. immigration come all of this -- immigration, all of this. host: do you mean all white people? know not all white people put him in the white house. but how could, this seems so one-sided, how in the heck do you think by people feel when all this is going on? you look at black people into think we are over exaggerating. everybody wants to say anything

that happens between black and white is racism, but we can racismy --what is because we have lived this life. host: stick around, jeff weaver will join us. he served as the campaign manager for bernie sanders, and he is out with a new book, "how bernie won." later, cold and. we will -- mark holden. we will be right back. ♪ >> join us live sunday at 9:00 eastern for our year-long special. fictiong best-selling writers. gish jen will be our guest. >> if we are talking about creativity, people who have a

lot to say are not complicity undaunted. there is adea a triangle, you must learn to do this to be a fiction writer. it will not make you a great writer. faulkner andwith discover they could all do it. there is nothing about learning to those things that impedes creativity. >> her books include "typical nd -- t "typical american. irish?"ho's

>> watch our live coverage of the utah senate republican primary debate with mitt romney and mike kennedy from brigham young university, tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org. or listen on the free c-span radio app. make c-span your primary source for campaign 2018. >> "washington journal" continues. you probably know jeff weaver as the campaign manager for bernie sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. he is also the author of "how bernie won." about 1900 delegates in the democratic -- between the title of your book. guest: we started the campaign in 2015, bernie was at 3% in the polls. he talked about medicare for all

, $15 minimum wage, and free tuition at public universities. those issues have entered the mainstream of american politics. $15 minimum wage is passing everywhere in parts of the democratic party platform. free colleges -- we are making steps in place in new york, rhode island, and other places. and it's for medicare for all -- candidates for medicaid for all -- the debate in this country is being won by the progressive side. issues bernie talked about, which were considered out of it the -- out of the mainstream, is primary. host: would you meet him? guest: 1986. he was running the governor of

vermont at the time. he got 14% of the vote. host: did you think he would run for president? guest: i did not. i worked with him for most of my adult life. until 2015, i do not think any of us expected him to run for president. host: the success he talk about in this book, what you attribut ie it to? guest: there is hunger for leadership to make the american lives better. old economics, politics will not cut it. people chose to go to president trump in the general election. in many cases, a sense of desperation. we have to offer people a positive alternative to address the issues they see in their lives. host: the alternative, the leadership, is it something bernie sanders can give in 2020? guest: no.

,f you look at the candidates they are talking about medicare for all, a lot of the issues bernie sanders was talking about in 2016 and before. he has been talking with these issues for 30 years. things he was successful is people in the country sensed he was not an authentic messenger. host: we are talking about jeff weaver -- talking with jeff weaver and his book4." -- his book, "how bernie won." democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. talk about your role now and relationship with bernie sanders. -- i am andivisor advisor for his reelection campaign. he announced he is running for

reelection in 2018 in vermont. his first was in 2006. before, he was a house member since 1991. as folks know, has been traveling the country, supporting democratic candidates up and down the ballot. he has been raising money for democratic candidates and talking about the issues. he was a leader one president trump was elected and attempted to take the health insurance away from tens of millions of people. bernie sanders traveled the country, rallying the nation against that move. with the tax bill. he is active around the country. i've do work to support him -- i do work to support him. host: how are his candidates doing in support? well, there some reporting, which is not accurate. the lieutenant governor's race in pennsylvania.

across the country, progresses are winning. host: talk about the virginia's governor's race, one of the biggest races of last year. what happened with bernie candidate -- sanders' candidate? guest: a lot of politics comes down to resources. he was out resource. the establishment was behind ralph northam. tom. hello -- tom. ello had -- perry tom perry had barack obama in his ads. resources -- ralph northam had more resources.

we can have an hour talking about -- i have a great relationship with what you would call the establishment in the democratic party, the dnc. i served on a unity reform mission. we have a package of reforms unanimously supported. the chair of the party pushed those reforms forward. there is conservative elements in the establishment, which do not understand you need to respond to the people of the country. by and large, there is a significant move in the right direction. host: who are the folks leading? guest: the reaction? host: the barriers you were just talking about. guest: is not tied around one person. there are a group of people who are longtime members of the dnc. many of those people do not have

interactions with politics in an electoral sense. when you talk to -- they have a much different view, they are much more open to the change we need. host: larry from l.a. we are talking to jeff weaver, former campaign manager to bernie sanders' 2016 presidential run. caller: good morning. i appreciate c-span. mr. weaver, i can appreciate you as well. guest: thank you. you can call me jeff. caller: ok, jeff. i have a question or two. i would like to know what you think. if hillary had selected bernie , doers as her running mate

you think the possibility of a hillary-sanders ticket? in terms of winning the election. i will take my answer off-line. i thought if she had chosen bernie, the impetus he had created with his campaign and the voters, the interest he had created could have overcome any of the issues that came up with the common thing -- the comey thing. i want to know what your impression is. host: thank you. we will let jeff answer. guest: we get a lot of crystal ball or time machine questions. having worked in a campaign that was not successful in securing the nomination, you go back and think, what if we did this?

i do not want to speak for the clinton folks. i know many of them -- bernie was a very active campaigner for secretary clinton, as was i. they have said many times in solic because the race was close and so many places, probably one or two changes could have tipped it the other way. one thing they mentioned at a symposium i was at was bernie would have flipped and the other way, along with other possible. host: what are other what if's do you talk about? guest: what was amazing about the campaign was -- he had a is conference to announced his presidential bid. host: explained what that is. guest: it is where the senators have press coverage is in the media is there. there is not a huge public province. -- public presence.

usually, there is fanfare. he gave a speech and walked back in and went to work. it is pretty unconventional. he followed up with a formal haduncement in may when we people 5000 people in burlington, vermont. one of the biggest problems we had was not snowing the level of support, in terms of people's generosity. we were looking for budgeting for a $30,000 presidential campaign. in politics, it is little. raised $230we million. in terms of our campaign's growth, it was slow at the beginning. we had to accelerated. -- accelerate it. we knew we would have the support, our campaign would be structured differently. campaign represented

the policies of the new deal of fdr. if you look at the state of the , it is a laundry list of what bernie sanders was talking about in 2016. host: if he did more to prepare the growth, do you think it would have done something to diminish the spark that formed around the sanders' campaign? host: i'm not talking about -- julynounced at the end of -- we had staff in new hampshire. secretary clinton had hundreds of people by that time. in terms of building the campaign infrastructure, we would have done it much earlier had we know we would have that. host: james in new york, on the line for democrats. caller: i am a hillary clinton

supporter. bernie and your group have delusional math. democratic national nomination, but you pretended she did not. she should have been president instead of obama. i used to be a democrat. i intend to join the republican party. i will support everything trump has done. he will get reelected. in former years, you will have a country more angry and divided. he will get his agenda of supporting extremist right-wing judges and attorney generals. it will be your fall. host: james, why is it something you want to vote for? caller: bernie had his own business running. hillary had paid her dues. it was her time. she won every minority by a

great margin, greater than obama. now, i am tired. this is garbage. host: jeff weaver. guest: i hope you would not jump ship and go with the republicans, especially if you find a positions to be repugnant. theie sanders is part of senate democratic leadership. he runs with the endorsement of the vermont democratic party. he ran in endorsement declare him a democrat last week. he raised money for democratic candidates. he received 42% of the vote in the democratic primary process. how could he not have a shot? i am a big believer of voters. given the outcome, 42% of the many members wanted a

different selection. there is no doubt secretary clinton paid her dues. theypeccable resume, argued, the most qualified ever. it is a fair position on their part. we also wanted her to win. i was on tv all the time on the networks, advocating for secretary clinton's election. we have elections. people: with hard feelings. that is what -- people, way with hard feelings. that is what -- people come away with hard feelings. that is what democracy is. he is considering another run for the presidency. when the time comes, we will have an answer. right now, he is considering it. host: donald in new york, line for independents. caller: i would like to say i am sorry, i do not have a computer. i cannot get the actual numbers.

week in the senate on the veterans mission bill. i do not know -- i know it was a big majority voted for it. however, late in the vote, before it was getting time to end, bernie sanders rushed onto the floor, voted no, and rushed off the floor. i am a veteran. i think every veteran in this country should be aware of what this man did in any potential future he may have in local office -- in political office should be wiped out because of that vote. millennials with veterans in their family should inform the people of what he did. as people can get on and see the vote and see the group of democrats that voted against it,

everyone of these people should be voted out of office. the head of it should be bernie sanders. i will wait for your comment. host: i will let just respond, but i will give you the numbers. the proposal called eva mission va mission acthe are the only senators voted against it, sanders, shasta, corker. remembered bernie and john mccain two years ago work together to create the in a generation. the bill you are talking about, there is a big concern the bill wanted to lead to more privatized health care for veterans. bernie has been a longtime advocate for increasing resources for the va, expanding the va system to address the

issues of waiting lines. when i worked for him on the hill, he worked hard to establish veterans' community centers. some on the other side wanted to dismantle the v.a.. -- the va. bernie sanders has ever supported that. he will continue to fight for the va. -- the va. gary in indiana, line for democrats. go ahead. caller: yes, that is right. i'm here to take a stand. last thing the caller said about the vote. he was elected twice as

president. mr. weaver, i appreciate the fact you represent one of the greatest candidates for president there ever was, in my personal estimation. i would have recalled that book berniernie -- "why should have won." he is against the unions. republican governors want to use his antiunion legislation -- they call it right to work. it is bs conditions, as i call it. party seems to be a powerful entity with the resources and everything. i find it discouraging. we are a mouse trying to fight a grizzly bear. is there any hope, you think?

more voters would help, hint, hint. it rather unsettling. they have power, dude. can makeis any way you me feel any better. tell me different. is there any hope at all? host: gary, the voice of the common man. guest: thanks for the call. there is hope. i try not to do food how things in my life. thingse of -- do futile in my life. a couple of things -- corporate elite in this country and the wealthy are supporting the republican party. with the republican tax bill, a huge giveaway of resources to the rich and most powerful country. the need for more

voters. state after state, an effort by republican governors and legislators to roll back putting protections to exclude more and more people in the polls, particularly poor, minorities, and young people. we have to fight and keep fighting to make sure everybody entitled to vote gets to vote. host: stacy in atlanta, georgia, my for democrats. go ahead. are you with us? is a republican, go ahead. caller: we are conservative not just because of our views. our fiscal conservatives. of -- sanders a lot bernie sanders, a lot of people say, we want bernie. we have to pay for this. how can bernie pay for everyone's education and medicare? host: that is a good point.

bernie sanders was a small city mayor. he never raised the property tax rate. he greatly expanded government services at the same time, really squeezed a lot of excess waste out of the previous administration's programs. in the presidential campaign, every program he advocated for, we provided to pay for. -- you wanttuition to put a tax on wall street situation. medicare for all, it is not a question of more money, spreading the money around in a way to bring out excesses of waste you have from private insurance industry. -- we alreadyd spend twice as much as our

democratic allies do per person on health care. we have worth outcomes -- we have worse outcomes and they do. it is squeezing the waste out of the current system. back to the think 2016 campaign, where did you see the intersection between donald trump's supporters and bernie sanders' supporters? plenty of colors that if bernie sanders did not win the democratic primary, i will vote for trump. --st: some of those folks there has been some reporting on this in the country. folks who supported bernie and voted for trump. there was full reporting, how many people supported for secretary clinton and voted for john mccain and not barack obama.

there's a lot of discussion about this. we were beating the bushes, trying to get them to stay with the team and vote for the secretary. there are a lot of working class people who -- it is tough. if you look at the exit polling and research, 30% of blacks .oted for trump 20% of latinos voted for trump, despite all of his gated record -- his bigoted rhetoric. anye is desperation of world. when you get outside of the washington bubble, folks are having a hard time and are looking for illusions. they are not -- they do not want to hear the same old, same old. the: how much do you credit bernie sanders support during the primary -- anti-establishment or however you do find it?

guest: there are people who want change in the country. you can see it. our campaign deserve some credit. there are some going social movements. some intersecting with our campaign. some are independent. the women's march we saw in d.c., black lives matter, a movement that grew out of the excesses of police violence. the see the activity of the dreamers around immigrants' righ ts. there are social movements springing up around the country. it is an exciting time to be in politics in america. host: dan, myrtle beach, republican. caller: thank you for c-span. jeff, how do you feel about hillary clinton rigging the election for bernie? discussed this in the

book. it was a topic of some controversy during the campaign. at various times, it was clear the dnc, debbie wasserman schultz, was pushing, putting their fingers on the scale to help secretary clinton. donna brazile was the acting chair in her book -- chair, in her book, there were documents, s.ving clinton veto book.are detailed in the am i happy about it? no, i am not. one of the mandates of a reform commission is to remedy some of these problems so this never happens again. one of the biggest steps we can superdelegates, party

officials who can vote on the virtue of their position, not elected as a delegate. if you look at the aggregate, they have more votes than 25 states in the district of columbia combine. host: is that going to happen? guest: we are working on it. there is a lot of movement in the grassroots. a lot of folks at the dnc who are involved in electoral politics understand we need to democratize the process. host: what is the push back you get? what is the argument for superdelegates? guest: we need it as a check to make sure the people do not make the wrong decision. in a democracy, by definition, the people should be making the decisions. if you look into her clay -- i do not support trump or anything he does. he was elected in a process where there were no superdelegates. in the democratic party,

superdelegates played a huge role. they empirically producing more electable candidate. host: what is your relationship with debbie wasserman schultz and donna brazile? guest: i do not to make it with debbie wasserman schultz. i commuted with donna brazil. caller: i am honored to be talking with jeff. thank you so much for all of your efforts. everyone in america loves bernie. who do not people like bernie has a fear of socialism when they do not realize -- even their local fire departments are based on everybody paying a little tax and having a fire department when you need one that is not provided by the private industry. $25,000 to put out a small kitchen fire. greed out ofo take our health care system, which is

ripping all of us off. dnc and the triple we cannot rely on .heir action they are still kind of leaning toward the money. i will close with this. to me, the swamp is the money interest that is owning and running our state and federal government. l drain that's what. trump has five goldman sachs guys working for him. until we drain the swamp, you get money out of the federal government. what the people's dreams and

hopes are -- obama was bad with this, too. we had to get wall street out of running our government or else it will never work for our government. trump has filled it to the brim with raw sewage. host: you are calling on our lines for republicans. caller: i called on the democratic line. host: let's let jeff weaver respond. guest: i appreciate the kind words. in terms of money and politics -- it is a major crocks of a problem of this country. money controls money and politics in this country. they pour millions of dollars into it to see the candidates they want elected. people areities,

having a hard time paying for schools, fire, and police protection. at the same time, trump is giving millions of dollars a way to campaign contributors. host: 25 minutes left with jeff weaver. his new book, "how bernie won inside the revolution taking it that our country." you could run our conversation -- democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. i want to focus on independents for jeff. you mentioned bernie sanders' 1988 campaign. a passage from your book, even though bernie lost, he said it was an important political marker. in vermont, he was a viable alternative to the republicans. throughout 1986 in 1980, bernie had to contend with the exit media narrative he was going to

be responsible for electing the republican by taking away democrat votes. talk about the status of independent bids in the wake of what bernie sanders it in 2015. -- sanders did in 2015. outside ising difficult to do. it is rarely successful. bernie sanders is a long serving independent in congress here he is the exception that proves the rule. as we have seen the rise of trump is a and extremism -- extremism, bernie sanders is working closer with the democratic party. he raises money for democrats. it is difficult to run outside of the system. bernie has an incredible credibility with independent voters. caucusesatic areas and , he was winning the voters 3-1,

4-1, in some cases, five-want. public polling show him strong of hishups is because strength with independent voters. host: can an independent truly run outside of the two party system? do they have to capture one of the parties to be successful? guest: to win the presidency, it is virtually impossible for someone to run outside of the two-party system and win in our system currently. host: in virginia, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. 2016, threection states -- wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania -- all went to trump. the vote between trump and

hillary was less than the amount of votes jill stein that. do you think because the way the dnc treated bernie, a lot of bernie's supporters went for just on because they cannot wentrt hillary or trump -- for jill stein because they cannot support hillary or trump? guest: that happens in every election. the most famous is ralph nader in florida in 2000. this is part of the struggle any candidate has you have to build a coalition. not everybody supports you will perfectly aligned with you on issues. you have to reach out. the clinton campaign try to reach out. bernie tried to help her in that regard, by traveling. host: claudia, tallahassee, florida, my for democrats. -- line for democrats.

bernie killed the election for hillary. back.isappointed he went it was a real problem for me. host: you are going in and out. do you want to take anything from that? guest: i hear what she is saying. small minority -- i will get destroyed on social media. there was a small number of people in the democratic party who said bernie should have not run.

do you really want him running outside of the democratic party for the resident of the united states -- for the president of the united states? you would guarantee it for a republican. they want him to go away. he represents a large and growing part of the democratic party. 4-1, people voted for him, five to 1, 6-1, in some cases. the wing of the party he represents, the wing which is becoming the entire bert, is the future of the democratic party -- entire bird, is the future of the democratic party. we need to bring the young people in. we need people to listen. host: jerry in ohio, line for independents. caller: the morning, c-span. thanks for taking my call -- good morning, c-span.

and for taking my call. i am a vietnam disabled veteran. you talk about the va and bernie's ideal on it. i live out in the country. i am 35 miles from my va clinic. at that clinic, they do very little. the hospital they want to send 90to, the va hospital, is miles away. i need surgery right now. they say i have to go to the va hospital in columbus, 100 miles away or the, 140 miles away -- 140eacon, 100 -- or dayton, miles away. i need advertised insurance -- need privatized insurance. the closest hospitals around here are 40 miles from my house.

ate nothing closer that can do -- ain't nothing closer that can do me any good. one va hospital they sent me to. beenour times, i have dissatisfied with the care, diagnosis, and treatment. i had been appointed for a test. two hours later, they cut me back and said, you do not have an up limit for the test has begin not do that test -- have an appointment for the test. call me and they do not have the test. guest: the challenge we have is veterans have served this country and earned benefits. that should be honored. i grew up in a rural place as well. i know many veterans who had to travel to get the care to which they are entitled. that is wrong. the answer is not to privatize

and dismantle the va. resources.is to put host: why are you worried about aboute cetacean -- about privatization? guest: they have doctors who specialize in many types of injuries veterans have been exposed to. toprovides a centralized way address veteran's illnesses. getting the specialized care needed and the research is difficult in the private system. always want the next war, but they never want to pay for the cost for the last war. host: jerry in new jersey, democrat. caller: i have a couple of questions. i want to comment about the va.

you're exaggerating. they are not trying to get rid of the va. the previous caller does not have the opportunity to go where he is to go, he can have an alternative and go to private care. you are exaggerating about getting rid of the va. sanderserstand bernie has a like site home -- a lake supporting hillary clinton during the election. what is going on with the fbi against -- fbi investigation against his wife? , we filedinst the dnc

and sued in december 2015 to get access to data we put into a centralized data bank the dnc was withholding. that suit has been dismissed because we reached an agreement with them to get access back to the data. that's it is long gone. bernie sanders does have a vacation home, which he recently acquired online champlain in vermont -- acquired on lake champlain in vermont. he had a successful book. as a member of congress, he was a humble lifestyle. you see pictures of him walking t-shirts to the cleaners or in the grocery store. a man was a president -- a woman was a president of -- they are

still looking at it. i have known jane sanders for 30 years. the problem is when you run a school or business and you leave and has a problem half a decade later, people like to point their fingers of who was there previously. host: what is the revolution? guest: is a nonprofit coming out of -- inspired by bernie sanders' run for president. they support progressive in its. -- progressive candidates. ,ost: headline from politico our revolution is flailing. a review showing concerns about a potential to 20 bit. 2020 bid.l guest: the have a 40% success is good.ich

there is a lot of work. they carried on an important tactic. to activateternet volunteers across the country help races and where they did not live. i have done good work. -- they have done good work. host: are you guys involved? guest: i left in 2017. host: why did you leave? guest: i went back to work for bernie. the organization was new. i came in to get it up and running. tina turner is the president of it now -- nina turner is the president of it now. bernie is not directly involved in it. it would be in violation of senate ethic rules. story, raising -- a

story raised questions nina -- what would you say to it? guest: this is a gossipy backbiting article with a lot of anonymous sources. senator turner is doing hard work in organizing this country. it is difficult. are you going to please all the people all the time? you are not. if she using it as a platform for president? she is not. host: we are talking about his book, "how bernie won." the phone lines for democrats, republicans, and independence. jennifer, go ahead. caller: i am not a bernie fan, but i like to listen to other ideas to see what we can gain. i do not like he encouraged

violence. a lot of the incidence have been theillary and trump's -- other part i would like to address is the constitution wanted the united states to be diverse and wanted us to be a sanctuary plays from those suffering like the not see nazis -- suffering from those like the nazis in germany. we are not designed to be the backdoor or suburbs for all of the south american countries. we are no longer becoming diverse. we are becoming tilted toward only one group of people in the world. i would like to see our government change that. he jumpsnifer, before in. what do remember from the

campaign, specifically, encouraging violence? caller: at the end of a number of he talks, he would say, be sure you are heard. be sure you are not denied a voice, scream louder, scream louder, get present, be there. that was taken to the nth degree. he should have relies that. guest: i am not -- he should have realized that. guest: i am not aware of it. this is news to me. i do november that line. -- i do not remember that line. he activated a generation of voters across the country. it was president trump who encouraged people to be people up. foraid he what pay the legal bills. people at these rallies

-- host: the immigration issue was everything she brought up. we are a diverse country. there's nothing to be afraid of. i grew up in a very white place in america. i live in a more diverse place. allraces, all creates, identities -- all creeds, all identities -- the -- the faster people -- with the french spiderman, the man who climbed the building to save young child was an undocumented person in france. reminds us superheroes walk among us. people do not know, i own a comic book store in virginia as

well. brave acts of heroism come out of every community. immigrants aren making to the country, including undocumented people, is phenomenal. we should be more welcoming of our neighbors. host: why do you own a comic book store? guest: i like comic books. i left politics in 2009. i was bernie's chief of staff. i opened a comic book store for a laid-back lifestyle. it is a tough business. he cut me back in 2015. it was difficult for me to say no to bernie. i left that to run the presidential campaign. host: audrey in philly. caller: mr. weaver, thank you for all the hard work you did. i finished reading your book a few days ago. it was great. it was a good title. i hope bernie runs in 2020.

if he does not, things are different because what he did and what you help them do. thank you. i also love comic books. 50 years ago, i used to spend all of my money on comic books. [laughter] i have two questions. we heard from at schulz -- from ed schulz. he was in burlington when he announced -- when bernie announced he would run for president. he was called by phil griffin five minutes before and was told not to do it. based on the previous caller, who was a hillary supporter and very hostile, what is senator sanders going to do differently to combat the toxicity of the hillary people? this information from the media? hillaryr people, di --

people, disinformation from the media? california stop doing the exit polls, one of the sedition things that happened during the primary. what do you know about it? guest: thank you. knowxit poll issue, folks there has been discussion of exit polls. some of the networks that put money into them have pulled out. there is a lot of talk in bernie's circles about the exit polls and what they mean. we had our own pollster on the campaign who did a phenomenal job. problems. have their i am not a big fan of exit polls. they tend to over represent the

people -- to overrepresent the people. the night of the new york primary, we ended up losing to secretary clinton by 16 points. exit polls had us losing by four. people in the media perceived it as a huge victory for us as it was her home state. mead media people calling congratulate me, only to have to face the truth that we lost the blue vote by 16. exit polling has its problems. we are re-examining that a lot of people are re-examining how we deal with it. the issues of the dnc are being dealt with through community reform, hopefully. there was a period -- in terms of the media and how it intersects with presidential

campaigns. there is discussion of it on the book. commentators in particular and the role they played. they were to sabotage bernie's effort. folks interested in the media and the role it plays in politics, you will find the book to be of interest. ert,: robw for democrats. caller: -- robert, line four democrats. caller: i recently developed cancer. the doctor informed me they were doing -- they were not doing surgeries. there are outsourcing it. i got a call from the va think i qualify for tri-care. they call the doctor and he said he does not excepted. this -- accept it.

this privatization does not help it. why would you be a doctor in the va and then outsource it? issue.this is an you go to a doctor and the doctor may be does not take your doctornce -- drcot maybe does not take your insurance. on ane my leg, put hospital, taken to a done in x-ray, and was told it did not accept my insurance. host: do you think the media has treated resident from fairly? guest: we can have an hour-long conversation about the media and

president trump. the media plays into his hands. he tweets and the media amplifies it for hours in -- hours and hours. media people are on twitter. the president has no problem. he put that on twitter. the media puts it on tv. president's tweet gets amplified. he is a master regulator. -- master manipulator. the media walks into it. caller: i am a hillary supporter who worked on the get out the vote effort. running, if instead of bernie supported hillary, she would have won. there are people who hold that view.

at the end of the day, voters have to be the one who make the decision. democratic primary, voters chose hillary clinton. it is not to be preordained before we have a primary. we have another primary in 2020. bernie may or may not run. we will have a large democratic field. the voters should decide, which candidate will be the democratic bearer. arounda world, people him during the campaign said hillary should have gone out a long time ago. -- this complaint is often lodged. present obama ultimately won. if he had not, i'm sure secretary clinton would have

gotten blame for why she caused him to lose. host: one or two more calls. on the line for independents, go ahead. if you i wanted to say -- as an independent everybody organization puts money in. it takes a lot of money to run for president. if you are going to be an independent, do not opposite the democrats. i bet the republicans had a rule where trump could not run. guest: bernie sanders did not take money from the democratic party. all of that money was raised from grassroots america. bernie sanders is a major contributor to democratic candidates up and down the ballot. $100,000 in a

campaign. on the candidates will put a money into a pool, which benefits the candidates. he is a major funder of that. host: is that funding left over from his presidential run? hist: that is money in friends of bernie sanders. he raised money for down ballot democrats. his relationship with the democratic party -- if you talk to people who look at it objectively, in a positive. -- rick inin texas, texas, independent. go ahead. caller: i almost voted for bernie. when i researched him, he is not s -- he hasa lot a not accomplished a lot as a

politician. i am wondering what else he accomplishing government. but whenat he said, i researched, that is all i ever found. what else has he accomplished? host: meet at the last minute. guest: in the book, i talked -- host: you get the last minute. guest: in the book, i talk about the gulf war illness. it was a major crusade on his part, along with others in congress to make sure the veterans of the gulf war got the benefits they earned through their service. in the house, he was called the amendment king. he passed more amendments in a republican house than any other member of congress. there was a lot of narrative about him not having a lot of

legislative competence. our false -- legislative, schmitz. -- legislative accomplishments. host: the book came out may 15, "how bernie won -- inside the revolution taking back our country and where we go from here." jeff weaver is the author. thank you for your time. guest: my pleasure, thanks. host: up next, republicans and democrats are coming together in an attempt to reform the criminal justice system. big business is getting involved as well. we will hear from mark holden, senior vice president from cope industries. -- from coke industries. ♪

wilson and i read it, but i have that it just reduced him that,gles and things like i didn't feel i could deal with strength of my own knowledge of the theory 've his father. people have said his stubbornness in later life was father'seaction to his strictness and they can point to ne story where his father made him revise a little thing he ande a whole bunch of times s supposition is he was a good boy and put up with it. in you read every mention, wilson's letter of his father, hey are worshipful, never had unkind word to say about his

father. presbyterian minister. >> presbyterian minister. q&a.night on c-span's >> watch live coverage of the republican primary debate with mitt romney and state lawmaker mike kennedy from brigham young university, eastern on m. c-span, c-span.org or listen to ap. ree c-span radio make c-span your primary source campaign 2018. >> "washington journal" continues. for discussion on criminal justice reform, we're joined by ark holden, chair of the group freedom partners. mark holden, for viewers who are familiar, what is the relationship of freedom partners the koch brothers. > not to get into the c discussion, i'm not that familiar with all of them, but i'm the chairman of freedom

of the board.rman and it is designed to help improve their lives, remove barriers to opportunity all xpand opportunity for americans, especially the disadvantaged. the koch brothers, i'm lessed and lucky to work with charles and david koch. charles and dived are aligned ith the groups, as well, freedom partners and others. koch industries and freedom partners interested in reform? guest: we have a vision based on also on society of mutual benefit, where people succeed by helping others succeed. we look at different issue necessary our country and ociety and try to remove barriers to opportunity when we see them. so, for example, in the criminal huge e system, there are barriers to opportunity, for many americans, particularly the

it creates aged, major poverty trap, for andrations of americans now it is unjust. we try to eliminate injustices criminal justice reform is of course, always rotecting and enhancing public safety. we want to again, make sure we rights ystem of equal and justice and make sure we with dignity and respect in the system, obviously people accused of crimes, it also includes law includes the d families of all of them. more just to have society and have more of a redechltive and restorative and sense of criminal justice. people come out better than they a real second e chance that enhances public safety.

this is part of our goal to make more just and free society. host: how do you work toward the goal? working with congress and advocating for legislation? depends. legislation is important, no doubt. years, we've 40 probably gone way too far on how e treat people who get caught up in the criminal justice system. i think it is overly punitive the last 10 n years, particularly with states like texas and others that you reduce crime rates and idivismation rates, and state level, much broader than that. affects n issue that communities and families. there need to be nongovernment well.utions, as with freedom partners, should roups we work with like stand together, it is a group that works in communities with

groups who help reduce rates, sm, reduce crime like for example, the last mile, program, squentin in california, we work with them, dallas, in south dallas safer and better place to live. we want to find all aspects the criminal ct justice system and make it a more just system, a safer system we do that through whether working to change laws, hearts and minds. for example, koch, we banned the box, hire people with criminal for decades now and found that to be great way and mutual situation, benefit where we get good employees who need a second get a and individuals second chance to prove themselves coming out of prison and that is better for society, they end up being

recid vat they don't or hurt others. host: in the discussion about reform tochlt ce join in the conversation, democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and independents, 202-748-8002. special line for those with xperience in the criminal justice system, want to hear your stories and what you would 202-748-8003. we mentioned legislation, one of those pieces moving through congress is the first step act. what is that? passed by house of representatives and i talk about major bipartisan vote 360-59. both parties came together, that is what we like to see, we bring about positive change. hopefully reduce recidivism, it is prison reform more ll make prison focused on rehabilitation and just ation as opposed to

warehousing and incapacitating. so?: how guest: have program necessary prison like education programs, programs, also therapy, things of that nature, things that improve in the state. mentioned texas previously, one state that has done this. others.rolina, many what the states have shown, when you take evidence-based, practice to rehabilitation and other aspects ou get better outcomes and reduces crime rates and incarceration rates and recidivism rates. in texas, they closed eight prisons in the last decade and crime rates since the 1960s and saved $4 billion money.ayer one other place we're focused on on

is part of what we work hand in glove with the element, group called safe streets and second n is part of what we work hand in glove with the element, group called safe streets and second chances, coalition between koch industries, charles koch institute, right on crime and also florida state university and four states, trying to help of with inmates coming out prison so they get better outcomes compare what is we do nd working with the state institution to get better outcomes. host: before we leave, criticism highlightedslation, by eugene robinson in his piece "washington post" prompt aggressives are sharply divided on the measure mostly do.ause of what it doesn't the bill does nothing to address he main problem, with is that nation sends far too many people to prison and keeps them locked for far too long. sentencing reform, for which there is some bipartisan support congress, not enough to get legislation through both chambers. front end act ignores of the problem, sentenceing and back end. the guest: i'm a proponent, as is industry, of sentencing reform, as well. we have seen in congress and in sometimes it is

difficult to do more than one thing at a time generally, with egard to criminal justice issues. this is something really good. if you look at what drives a lot obviously opulation, people coming into the front end, look at that. also recidivism, from 30 to 50% of people who leave end up back in the system, 30 to 70%. to reduce work sesidivism and some programs we that, you will o reduce the size of the prison population. what is example of common -- you support? guest: similar to what has gone on in the court, veterans courts, things that keep peoplel ut of the system, whether mentally ill, drug addict, hether they made a bad choice, nonviolent, not a good use of resources to lock them up, keep

and back on rison the streets and then work on whatever the issue is that led and they eak the law don't end up with a criminal record potentially. are some at the federal level. one of my good friends got years in federal prison first-time nonviolent sold marijuanahe to a drug informant, he had a handgun with him when he sold marijuana. that law needs to be changed. it was supposed to be set up originally, a five-year mandatory minimum your time time, 25 the second you do something, after you are out of prison the first time and be her 25 years, that would another common sense reform at the federal level, there is on as far as i understand it. host: another piece of reform tion, sentencing and corrections act moving through congress earlier this year, here is what the attorney had to say about that act. sessions years, ag

said convicted drug -- breaks and the federal courts united states sentencing commission. pass thanksgiving legislation to further reduce sentences for traffickers in the midst of the worst drug crisis in history difficult to more achieve our goals and have consequences.ire that from february of this year. guest: i respectfully disagree attorney general's positi position. drugs probably won the war because the rate of illegal use of drug and amount used are higher now than they ever were. evidence-based and data driven practices, keep people safe, no one wants unvaf.ities what you learn, low level offenders don't need to be in rison for a long period of time. when they are, they come out and we make the situation worse, roird, e a criminal probably picked up bad habits while in prison.

should be based on evidence-based data-driven practices. a lot was based on emotion and ear, no data shows that mandatory minimum from that era reduce crime rates. eople think it may have reduce today by a quarter. they don't know. we know what works now, using being sessment and thought bfl who goes to prison and who doesn't and for how long nd having program necessary prison to get rahabilltated and ly programs to ul assimilate back into society. freedom partners, it is freedom partners.org, if you out.to check it sonya, in illinois. go ahead. caller: good morning, c-span and all the listeners. sir, i understand that you wetion the koch brothers and understand that they are the backbone of the republican party. to, you know, give money to those organizations

republicans. nd i had a concern about the privatizationa of the judicial system. nd the prison system as a whole. it is a lot of things you are aying that sound good, i'm concerned about the privatization issue because that seems to be more or less what brothers tend to lean toward. host: thanks for the call. for the question no to be clear, we have interest in financial or private prisons, we are not involved. to make it ent is more fair and just, like i've been talking about. charles and david koch, they are two different individuals. we have years, supported republicans nationally more done democrats. unfortunately, in 2014, had the democratic party, reid making harry us the issues and attacking it to yday, makes it easier

support one side than the other and went with republicans on that. prison, k to private the goal is to have fewer prisons and fewer people in public safety. as far as private prison, maybe prison in are in private prison, as i understand it, for federal crime there is with immigration detainees these days. a fan of any prison system that doesn't make people better. we should focus more on outcomes, what gets better and my pointpeople of view, whether a private or public prison, should be judging meaning people coming out better equipped to succeed in society? go with s the case, that model. the same time, ask ourselves the private why are there prisons and part of the reason, prison, much on public we spend still over 250 million year on criminal justice

system, we spend $80 billion on in our ation alone country, three to four times capita. we have bigger issues. host: coming back to the numbers you gave, number from federal prison, 184,000 federal inmates, about 10%, 18,000 held in privately managed facilities. held in other types of facilities. guest: yeah. the focus should be on reducing the size of our justice system safely and based on data-driven practices. we've seen in the past, 10 year necessary 34 states that ave passed comprehensive meaningful criminal justice eform, reduce recidivism rates and incarceration rates and crime rates, people are safer,

on.t is what we should focus host: john had experience in the criminal justice system in washington, d.c. go ahead. caller: good morning. morning. hello. morning, hi. director of a special committee here in washington, d.c. we help the population of country known as black americans. prison system e as pretty much designed after slavery to keep the -- the money flowing, free labor in this country and this ends with a lot f black americans in this country. now here is cure to end this prison population system. start with the legal new recovery.d you hear a lot of civil rights, lack americans hollering for

reformation, that is not legal definition of our injury. we help black men, black omen, we try to give them motivational -- i should say is ings to let them know it ot as bad as it is, but benefits average black american starting with the least that has the financial capacity to help themselves in this country. john, got your point. guest: yeah, john, i think what ou're doing is admirablea, working with people, sound like people formerly incarcerated and trying to get back on their feet. i agree. i agree that the criminal prison system in our population is definitely over people colored brown and black peep and he will need to looksue we at and address. the whole system is set up, a system.red

so as brian stevenson says, the ich in guilty got to be a better deal than the poor and innocent . it is pay to play system and unfortunate. if you have resources, you will probably be okay. u don't, you will probably get run over. talking about sentencing and prison reform, it starts sooner than that. you have aset forfeiture or it practice, you should do on whether you are a flight risk, we end up with people who ave the least resources end up going to jail, even if they have not done anything other than be crime.d of a it has such terrible consequences for them. to from there to a power prosecutors and plea bargaining, defenses counselors country. they are well staffed, but in the states, it's a mess, 80% of

the system require a public defender, someone who court appointed. that is a problem there. talk about sentencing and prison and reentry. one of the biggest injustices is eople pay their debt to society, serve their sentence and do that. they get sxout we have almost 50,000 collateral consequences to criminal conviction to keep been incarcera incarcerat incarcerated, keep them from etting jobs, housing, loans, benefits, occupational licensing, it is injust and wrong. system from at the beginning to end and try to fix it. what john is doing is a great thing. communities play a vital part in this. hollanded a lot of calls, little time. nescottsdale, arizona. c-span, thanks, i love thanks for taking my call mrchlt holden, two questions. going to pay for vocational programs in prisons?

the states can't afford, as we've seen recently, to pay schools open eep and are there professionals prisons, go in the education people, vocational specialists? highly publicized case where a woman teaching was brutally attacked. it was a terrible situation, the state ended up paying million reformation. different topic. afraid of the willie

one. you're spot-on. politicians, it's an issue for 30 years, the whole tough on crime era and the willie horton era. been part of the discussion on the issues and i think that changed in the last years, talk about texas and other red states. are hole idea should be we smart on crime and soft on tough on, forget about crime, that is jargon. ook at the states, we have a great plan, great program that the federal government can follow and they are starting to go to the second question on prison reform side. here is the deal, federal level be $50 million every year given for the programs. think the really, what i is a great innovation in this -- step act, , first they will allow outside groups o come in and work with the ma population, so groups like from the last mile, there is other

groups out there like twin prison ise, the entrepreneurship in texas. able to come in and work, as well. what we've seen in the state, somewhat a type of public-private partnership in situations. i was up in michigan earlier his year and they have got a hanlin state prison, innovative calvin they have college as in-prison program and hey built up for the inmates, obviously, built up vocational village that trains individuals out, they have jobs, carpenters, mechanics, name.are welders, you it the bottom line, studies have in-prison programs, vocational programs for every of ar spent reduce $4 to $6 future incarceration cost. great investment.

act, in the first step working through congress, is there new money in the act for about s you are talking or is it all reapropriating? 50 million each year will be appropriate, i'm not sure the details on that. host: sun city, florida. john is a republican. good morning. morning.good the whole program with the eenal system is they have too many that reoffend. kidshave all of these young that have no respect whatever police. law, for the and when they get their butts kicked after they run away and second time, t a the cop is not going to let them go a third time. problem here is no respect for the law. guest: thank you. that is one maybe part of the problem. there are bigger problems frchlt perspective, there is a lot of data that shows a school to

in this country and our system, i'm not -- everyone is responsible for don't get meivity, wrong. but the same time, you look at who gets caught up in the they have no respect for the law, they have also had huge disadvantages in making excuses, what we know, someone gets quality mentor, someone holds them accountable, gives them opportunity, takes advantage of opportunity, regardless of socio economic situation, you won't end up in the system. you don't have that and come has crime,unity that you end up in that system and at his point in time, we have three million children in this ountry who have a parent or parents m prison. we got to look beyond saying humble has in my opinioopinion do not have respect of the law. there is dysfunction and

communitiesn in our we need to address. host: special line set aside for those with experience in the system, that ise 202-748-8003. democrats, republicans and independents as usual. aul is in new york, an independent, go ahead. caller: hello. mentioned that a couple of eight or ybe close to nine states had made commendable their criminal and prison system. mention two or three that you -- states, that you have done a particularly good job in that area, other them as ght look to examples to emulate. thank you. you. thank texas, which i mentioned, is definitely one. georgia olina, i'd say and connecticut, delaware. maryland has made some

reform. mississippi just had first round recently. overall and probably leaving some out. host: who would you put at other end of the spectrum? a state like florida, starting to, though. third largest prison population, but to their credit, democrats and republicans, we work with issues, inm on these particular, they passed we think data bill for t florida. basically do mri of the state what in each county, what are ferecidivism and target reform. florida needs to do reforms. pretty much na is reno reform.pot for

governor doocey is a good man. set up with the economy in arizona that is really booming and when that happens, means they need more workers. when people need more workers benefit, a ally win/win solution, where people are willing to hire people with skilled up.ords you get them skilled up, they jobs, that d can get could work in arizona. i mentioned michigan, one want to say thing i about that, they are getting probably like 80% of people come trained through the vocational village. he education program provide scholarships for the children of the inmates, which i think is really another way to break this cycle. host: why is that so important? guest: education. is key.n education, vocational training, of time, those ahead you will probably not end up in prison. places people didn't

take advantage or didn't go, it is. what growing up a prison when i was in college. i am from middle class working background. i went to public school, if i didn't have an education, i could be behind bars. what was your job working in prison? guest: i was a guard. kids i went to skol with, i grew up with, were in prison. better of view, i had parents. they made me do things i didn't want to do and i couldn't do the wanted to do all the time. i was electd and it shouldn't country, luck in this but that is how it often works. host: mark holden, about five inutes left in the discussion with him. get to as many calls as we can. line robbins, illinois, for democrats. go hade. caller: yes, good morning. my question is sort of similar the caller from new york. many of the people who are in prison come from poor

and i wanted to know what freedom partners is doing o help those communities on a ocal level with people being released back into the communities, are they doing anything to help? uest: thank you for your question. i think i mentioned earlier, we support a lot of groups across that deal with reentry issues, also we deal, a lot of member group fos cussed on k-12 education, people get better education based on education they need because everyone differently. but specifically as to reentry, hich for us, at koch in particular, is important issue, something we can play a role in. 100,000 business with plus employees around the world. ne in three peep nel this country have some type of riminal record, 25 to 30% of people in the country with a we banned cord, as

application, we don't get into that issue until later in the conversation about employment. that point in time, we want to learn everything and that is a factor we will look at. data point, you are incarcerated, have a criminal record. overwhelm et that everything else. that is great way to find good people with ring criminal record, hard workers, humble, they want and need a second chance. employer, that is something we can do and we can operations.have our we're working with that safe chances d second reentry program, we hope a model program. e are in texas, pennsylvania, florida and kentucky right now. our motto is, reentry begins day of incarceration. it is not the end of the line.

better outcome, we are here to help. couple things we do. democrats.for good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking the call. and his mr. holden organization for his interest and this effort they are making issue, but atular the same time, i notice the topic is criminal justice reform. him to speak to just the issue of justice reform. as eugene robinson spoke about problem, hed of the talked about looking at the issue from beginning to end ecause justice is not really justice and justice should be justice across the board regardless of your status in the ty, whether you have judge was abusing her authority trust.lic the only -- his case comes to ight, he had friends with money. could you speak to that issue? prison is big business.

for the call. guest: i totally agree with you, his gets back to what i said earlier, we have a two-teared system. a celebrity is tochlt his credit, from what i understand, mr. mill, he is using this as a positive to himself.he system he's going to be advocate he realizes he got a break because that is thename and problem with our system that we need everybody, as you said, to the same. our system should be blind, it for d be all about justice all. that way. happen we use criminal justice system or a lot of issues, never designed to address such as peep issue drug public ddiction, severe paf erty, mental illness.

changing. once you paid your debt to society, you should be welcomed get all your rights unless you are a threat to public safety, occupations or things like that, we take opposite approach, drives rates, which are so high and it is immoral. we need to fix that. to learn about freedom partners, it is freedompartners.org, mark thanks for your time this morning. guest: thank you. host: up next on "washington journal," open phones until our ends at 10:00. any public policy issue you want the phone lines are yours to do so. lines for democrats, on thecans, independents screen. you can start calling in now. back. be right >> watch our live coverage of the primary debate with mitt lawmaker mike te endee from brigham young

eastern on p.m. c-span and c-span.org. or listen on the free c-span app. make c-span your primary source campaign 2018. join us live sunday noon astern for the year-long speci"in novels.iction >> gish jen will be our guest. talking about creativity, and many writer so on, people have a say, are completely being told other perspective or about storytelling. is a story ea there elling triangle, that you must learn to do this, if you go on o be a fiction writer tis necessary, but not sufficient. you are learning to do this, not oing to make you be a great

writer. fualkner and with discover they could all do it. think there is nothing about learning to do those things. include "tip ral "qmona," watch "in depth" fiction edition with jen.r gish on book t.v., on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our program today, we turn lines over to you for any public policy issue you want to talk about. something we chatted about this morning on the "washington journal" or anything else on your mind. democrats, 202-748-8000. 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002.

one reminder as we begin this discussion, some programming for later in the evening. the republican debate for the utah g.o.p. senate nomination is happening at 8:00 tonight. you can watch mitt romney and debate on y in that listen on pan.org, the free c-span radio app. jack is up next. jack, go epublicans, ahead. caller: good morning, c-span. comment is on term i hear way a nonviolent offense. but when it comes to drugs and to say nonviolent, who is say the extent, the outreach of that goes e effect into, part of that crime. i think that is too often overlooked. also, your guest mentioned a man 55 years for selling

marijuana. seems not so bad these days, 55 years is excessive, but you have a gun involved in a crime, that changed the whole and that very serious is the case of the guy who should be put away for a long time. jack, are you worried with the reform effort underway, going san effort we're too easy on drug offenders? aller: i think the organized drug offender shoulds have the key thrown away. this never happened, but, you know, many people prison.not make it the they should be executed just very quickly, the whole idea of in prison at dy he cost of $40 or $50,000 a year tis really a wasted life. no recovery. is way ge that is done

too bad. if you look at recent killings florida, santa fe, people are caught, no future for them. there is no reason to keep those people alive. more money to go to the root causes, the poverty, of jobs, those take a long time to work through people's d change attitudes, the real instigator, crimes of commit violent nature shouldn't be kept around. maryland. in ellen in knightstown, indiana, a ahead.can, go caller: yes, i want to talk about racism. and n 84-year-old woman, i've looked into it a lot. number one, the people that were brought over here, certainly but there was d, racism over there. they were certainly having problems over there. it was the baptist

primarily who stood up for making sure that were freed. christians that id that and a lot of people don't realize that there's a big difference between the the democrats now and that is primarily the christians and biblical te based on and the soviet union and knew they could not override us with military and infiltrate ourto country and that has turned democratic to the party. 2018, llen, bring us to

how big a problem do you think racism is today in this country? well, i think it is getting better, i was going to a black x news, young -- fairly young girl, she talking ung, out there about the fact that yes, racism was terrible, but no longer that now have the same life as anybody else if we will just, know, do what is best for the community and thank god for my number one -- don't is christian channels ike tbn and day star, like jakes and others i like to watch. ost: ellen in indiana, ellen's comments coming on the day that over 8000 s closing locations around the country for training, that is happening this afternoon. of some he pictures

protests at starbucks in the last montht incident in philadelphia, where starbucks employee had two black customers removed after calling the police controversy that sparked there, the pictures at that cafe in philadelphia in the wake of that incident. nicky, line for democrats, nicky, go ahead. caller: hi, good morning. teacher, been work something 45 years in this field. would like to address the prison pipeline. i continuing is very important recognize that grade, ifre by fourth illitera illiterate, going to wind up in prison. percentage of nonreading people in prisoprison, who are bright, people, but did not get intervention in early prison half the

population and 70% of the juvenile detention population reach children before fourth grade. host: all right. tampa, florida, line for democrats. go ahead. hi.er: i want to say, what is going on ith racial equality and why don't they say anything about what is going on in the black community? what is going on with everything else and why don't hey say anything going on with the black community? all the police killings and they and, just too much going on they don't do anything to help us out. host: john, what do you think the protests in the n.f.l. hen it comes to police violence? caller: oh, man, that is a bunch b.s., taking away them boys first and second amendment, man, just not t, cool, man. ost: the editorial board of

"u.s.a. today," in their piece talking about the protest of the solution that the n.f.l. owners came up with. editorial board writing today owner's meeting last week, the n.f.l., above all business, kneeled before the bottom line fuelling heat the 32 wners revamped their national anthem protocol and split the baby fashion. adopted lace rule without consent aren't likely to quash the defense where 70% of players are black. owner has promised to bare any fines generated by protesters without forcing payers to pay for that, follow suit?owners that doesn't end the practice hardly demonstrates the kind of league uniformity the n.f.l. prizes. more in "u.s.a. today." independent, go ahead.

caller: yes. about job growth. when people come on and doing campaign, he ump was talking about americans have owest unemployment rate in history and so forth and so on, everybody gets on the program mentioning the sound bite. no one talks about the type of created.g everybody wants to say, the job donald trump is enjoying is like obama. ven during the barack obama economic plan, a lot of jobs are low wage paying jobs. and hospitality, i wish someone come on talking about african american and job growth, ask them, what type of jobs are being created. i got laid off during the financial crisis and 18 years. sony 15 or at the height of that, just $27 an hour umbers,

and then when i got laid off, a year later came down from $26 down to $19.50. okay. is a big drop. i never thought i was going to money i made in 2008 and 2009. i got laid off in the second and now i'm s in working again, but i came down the second ght of job down to $17. when people ask, are you better now doing such-and-such? compared to what? working, having to work two jobs to make ends meet. that. of people do people don't go detail into the numbers. ost: what kind of work are you in now? caller: still in it, information services., business throughout the whole tenure, been in that industry. a lot, yes, but people talk about jobs, they where alk about, okay,

you were based to as opposed to where you are now. people to just dig into the numbers a little bit and you will find out people are working harder. they may have a job, but probably working harder to make ends meet. the call.ks for didi, raleigh, north carolina, republican, go ahead. i am a republican concerning, they keep alking about fox news, predominantly ostercized black the first place. they have first black president, things about eous him, yet they talk about nbc and have to have open mind to look into everything. one other thing with the previous caller talking about have jobs.they'll yes, a lot of people that are on jobs, too.ve

things likewalmart, that, disabled people falling off their wheel chairs because work for food stamps. he quality of jobs is very important, while trump and his all the ver there in other countries making money his daughter has his trademark and will be making dollars.of his business in indonesia. american people the zte, we can be spied on, that is problem. host: what do you like about the republican party? pardon me. host: what do you like about the republican party? are you a republican? caller: i was a republican wanted to change, a shift.

to leave obably going a need to address people and i do believe that of blicans have let a lot people down because they are not forthcoming in a lot of things they have been doing. normal, john in illinois, independent. john, go ahead. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i watched with interest the prison reform presentation waiting for some comments about the drug war. is ink ending the drug war going to be the biggest prison move that we could make. cannibus is cal saving lives and the idea that people for cuting

taking medication and saving life, is really the pail, it is getting to where when you look at it in a way, you can see what yranny this drug war has perpetrated, not just on blacks suffered the most from it, but every citizen is suffering because of the drug war. you have to get rid of the drug war war, that is my comment from today. arline, cleveland, ohio, go ahead. unique. yes, i'm really the first black person came, they sitteled in pennsylvania, free state. was a we were never slaves. four of themthers, born before the 20th century. gilmore in 1936,

i'm looking at a picture of my was in the -- he was in teddy roosevelt's army as a soldier. my daughter is now a pharmacist, everybody ran re to the suburbs. i went to school and never had a all teacher, they were white, they were not marryd and they taught you like you were world on fire.e this drug lord, the drugs came generation and destroyed, destroyed our destroyed everything. we have all these people who have no uated, but common sense. theremily system is gone, is no -- in the home, having of wedlock, what do you expect? we don't have any common sense, at home.

teach your kids about being don't have it y anymore. he -- i get so upset it makes me just sick. facebook and -- host: how concerned are you about race relations in this now?ry right caller: it was never like that, '50s before the everybody ran to the suburbs, we lived on the same street, the lived on the same street. you could walk any time of night, we didn't have this. just terrible. tell it like it is, but now my daughter is a pharmacist now. thanks for sharing your story. chuck waiting in florida, line republicans. chuck, go ahead. caller: yes. drug solution for the problem in this country, because it is out of control, revolving door. the only way you're going to fix it, you make all the drugs legal

people just to go to the pharmacy and get. but in order to get the drugs, to show they have been neutered and they cannot have children. in : all right tochlt earl alabama, independent. go ahead. caller: hello, like to say that confused , the watching the news today about starbucks thing. starbuckse who went to -- i'm sorry, or they ere -- the reason were removed is because they is trespassing, which illeg illegal. who affected the arrest, two of the officers were was black.pervisor the police superintendent of city is black and i believe

the mayor is black. how race understand to have nto a decision someone removed from the fact es who was in breaking the law. lot of the a argument i've heard has been this would never have happened and i tend to agree because most of the eople, i believe most people, not just most white people, most people when they walk up to a is a sign on here the door that says restrooms for customers only, and they have to simply restroom, would walk by and say, well, i don't need to go there because i'm not their customers and i and enough common sense decor umand courtesy to abide by because this is their

business. it's not mine. you. host: starbucks policy at the ime that incident happened in philadelphia required guests to make a purchase to be in the bathroom, the he two men had not purchased that led t that time to the incident. the company has since changed everyone, ing including non-paying guests are able to use the cafe and the bathroom. the company is facing backlash ver that decision on social media. the bathrooms dirty.ecome unsafe or part of the reporting surrounding closures happening 8000 at more than starbucks around the country for training.bias one estimate starbucks is set to lose about $12 million from

the stores today for that training. city, s in phoenix alabama, a republican. chuck, go ahead. caller: yes. i have a question on the issue of these school shootings. a lot of looking into this thing recently. so i don't work. in texas, between texas and states, that two had the school shootings, over in the h schools alone two states. states ter from both came from within that particular school. they need to look at the parents, the students and the schools ation in the because the two states, over 6000 high schools, that seem to be doing well and don't have the problems. instead of making it a national problem and pointing the finger at nra, and i've been a member

nra for over 50 years, this amounts to propaganda. nobody has commented on the fact in the two states there 60,000 high schools that, they don't encounter these problems. these problems are generated ithin that school, within the amily of the shooter or the administration, nobody came from outside to do the shootings, it schools.e right in the host: got your point, chuck. one piece of breaking news from money, the white house announced 25% tariffs today on of chinese worth goods. the final list of chinese by ucts will be announced june 15th and tariffs go into therefore.rtly look for information on that story today, likely something we'll be getting more of the day.t mike is in chandler, indiana, line for independents. phones, what is on

your mind? caller: i think the war on drugs a terrible thing because the come from a town next meth-ville, own as indiana. i'm sorry, i'm a little nervous. drugs has gotten worse since the d.a. has come to town. it is just crazy. they have all the meth and send to china and china it to mexico and they ship it up here to us. apart.earing our town terrible thing. that is all i have to say, you'll hear from me again, thank you. host: mike, is anything help nothing your town? mike. lewis, salisbury, north carolina, line for democrats. ahead. caller: good morning, c-span. consistency of the

school shootings and no one can't put a ey problem. on what is the they try to put it on nra and teaching guns and all that, if at the correlation, they look at what is gathering the cases like harlottesville, they keep the scum bag ran over the white las vegas, guyat killed over so many people and and the at portland scum bag who killed the kid in portland, and look at texas, you know what all of them have in common outside of being white owning guns?f hey all have affiliations with the nazi party. swastika, and likely got them in their

rooms, as well. kids with the g symbols, they will find their children have the same thought. lewis, in north carolina, our last caller in today's "washington journal." here rse, we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific. in the meantime, have a great tuesday.

6:30, theening at future of race relations in the u.s., hosted by arena stage in washington, d.c.. >> watch our live coverage of senate debate from brigham young university, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org. listen on the free c-span radio app. make c-span your primary source for campaign 2018. >> commencement speeches in primetime. thomas,urke, clarence

alind brewer, and nikki haley. eastern,at 8:00 p.m. tim cook, john kasich, kate brown, and released the tear us. guiterrez.- and luis >> next, a debate about political correctness hosted by the munk debate with georgetown university sociology professor michael eric dyson, "new york times" columnist michelle