tensions between the u.s. and iran with barbara slavin from the atlantic council. that is followed by sean trende of real clear politics, talking about key issues to watch in the upcoming elections. ♪ host: good morning. a live review of the u.s. capital. the house is now in recess for august, returning after labor day. the senate is back in session this week. we are less than 100 days before the midterm elections. our focus this morning -- politics and iran. we begin with an opinion piece from the "washington post" and this question -- is centrist him dead?- is centrism (202) 748-8000 is our line for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans.

if you are an independent, (202) 748-8002. a number of you already posting on our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. send us a tweet. we will read it, @cspanwj. the "new york of times" -- the political middle ground is all but ignored in the race for georgia, the governor's race we will talk about during the course of the morning. let's begin with a piece available online at washin gtonpost.com. is centrism dead? is there still a place in the democratic party for centrism? politicshat brand of the too tepid against combat of populism that put donald trump in the white house? the columnist joining us live on the phone. guest: great to be here. i am joining you from michigan,

where i am covering the governor's race. this question is very much part of the equation here. host: how do you answer that question? is there a place for centrism in the democratic party? guest: what we think of as centrism, from probably the 1990's -- the bill clinton third -- i dod of centrism not think there is a lot of appetite for that these days. clintonay recall, forged away between the left and the right. he was known for what was known as small bore initiatives, things like school uniforms. considereople who themselves still in the center think it will have to refashion itself into something else, in itsng that is bolder

reach. then, i think that given volume, the sweep that politics has taken on these days, those types of initiatives do not have much of a place left in politics anymore. piece, youer in the write it is in presidential election years that parties have an opportunity to define themselves. one, democrats will have to come up with ideas that speak roughly to the concerns of independents and who turned democrats to trump in 2016 and with a messenger capable of articulating them. before we get to the presidential election, we have to have midterm elections. so where does that put democrat and where does that put the republican party? guest: what you hear about on the democratic side these days -- you hear the word "socialism" the victoryt with

of alexandria cause you cortez ocasioyork -- alexandria cortez in new york. democrats are taking more moderate candidates. notjudge us -- you are just hearing about them as much. the people fighting the hardest now to hold onto their jobs, once again, are the ones in the moderatere those voters are really going to determine who is going to win in november? host: this is a study from pew research, looking at where the country is between democrats, republicans, and you can see in the center, those independent or those who lean democrat or republicans, the swing voters

often referred to in the 1980's as the reagan democrats. how pivotal are they in elections? guest: i think they are very important. if you look at voter registration in california, the republican party is now the third-biggest party. the second-biggest is voters who declare themselves unaffiliated. people do not like party labels. they do have leanings, conservative or liberal, but they are becoming kind of unmoored, and some ways, from party allegiances. host: we are also getting comments from our facebook page. this is one from christina -- she says politics is a team sport. they won their team to win and the other to lose. people do not look at the issues. it is interesting, because you do see a shift. instance, talking about the

democrats, you see a big shift on the issues. that, athe democrats this point, we are talking about in the presidential contest our senators, washington figures. a lot of them, for instance, have come out in favor of single-payer health care, tuition free college. these are issues bernie sanders was running on in 2016 and were considered quite radical. and right now, you are hearing, again, a lot of the democratic residential contenders, at this some, are getting on board of these things that were not considered mainstream a couple years ago. that is why i think there will be a big debate within the party. i also think that, if you are looking at who is going to pick up the more pragmatic centrism, it may well be a figure from outside of washington. a governor, a former governor, a

mayor. that, before we let you go, what role will some of the veterans in the democratic party play in 2018, former vice president joe biden, former president obama, senator bernie sanders, and even hillary clinton? 2018, i think you will not see either a lot of hillary clinton or even barack obama out on the campaign trail. vice president biden is quite popular out there. and bernie sanders is certainly out there, very active. both former president obama and hillary clinton understand that for them to take two high profile of a role does as much to excite the other side as it does to bring up their own supporters. host: the piece by karen tumulty , her opinion piece "is centrism dead?"

she is joining us from his again this sunday. thank you for being with us. guest: it is great to be here. essay -- part of her one thing is clear, she writes. no one has much of an appetite for the middle path politics that took bill clinton to the white house in the 1990's. in the issues that mattered then , particularly on questions such as gay rights, stricter gun control, and abortion, the battles within the party are over. clinton's trademark smallbore solutions to economic and societal problems seem to incremental. let's get to our calls. eric is on the line for democrats. is centrism dead? caller: can you hear me? host: we sure can. caller: as a democrat and a loyal c-span archive viewer and

a viewer of television, i want to let you know that as early as we are this morning, i thought -- opposed robert bork in one of your call in shows from 1987. you can look at it in the current scheme. what we are seeing in this country is this fragmentation because of trump. ideologies had been changing. the pressures on senators murkowski and collins. i remember, in the last decade or two -- it is not just about the senate. it is overblown to call this lady from new york city a socialist. some sort of old-fashioned. i actually do believe that with populistst right-wing

-- scary, in my opinion -- trump ideology taking over the republican party in all facets, the democrats do, as ms. tumulty said, have our own issue. tent p, we are the big arty. we will retake the presidency as soon as possible. have a good day. host: eric from massachusetts. john with this tweet. toutdemocrats overtly socialism, centrism is dead for the democrats. thefrom c-span democrat, better question is will we have a dictatorship a la erdogan? but regarding centrism, after decades of republicans exporting democrats on sanchez som -- conscientious centrism with their radical right ideology, if

centrism is not dead, it should be. and for michael, biden was a senator long enough to master talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time. our next caller -- caller: thank you for taking my call. i live out here in a little town in the eastern part of the state, northeastern, very republican. and i have been a lifelong democrat, although i have voted for moderate republicans -- our current governor. and really talk about the issues, we find that we have a lot more in common than we have that divides us. rhetoric that is being pushed on the internet right now is crap from the russians.

i figured out how to spot these stories. you canurn to rt news, look at something online, and you can go to rt news, and within an hour, it will be right there. host: thanks for the call. this magazine has this headline -- centrism is dead. the left has are the won the debate over which ideas should animate the democratic party. fred has this tweet -- the mask is off. democrats, their message is government is all and everyone will be enslaved. do not vote for democrats and remain free. an --: with more of in my household, we think he got

robbed. but also, i wanted to mention that these folks that are coming out with strong columns on the coastal parts of america, they really kill us down here when you're looking at the center part of flyover america. we just do not all think that way. that is why i straddle the fence and do not go either democrat or republican. host: thanks for the call. 202 is the area code. 748-2001 is the number four publicans. (202) 748-8000 is the number four democrats. -- for democrats. we are asking is centrism dead? we also well, our listeners on c-span radio and sirius xm. paul is joining us on the phone. caller: good morning. reason iem and the registered independent is i do not agree -- people seem so hung up on the label. they want to be a republican or a democrat.

i agree with the columnist. people go in most of the time today, and they just hid "d" or "r." my biggest problem is with all of the programs that everybody seems to want, nobody ever asks the questions how are you going to pay for it? there does not seem to be any discussion on any of the major networks. there does not seem to be any discussion with any place you go and talk to groups. nobody asks the question how are you going to pay for them? we are $22 trillion in debt. doesn't anybody think you should only spend what you're taking in in taxes instead of just saying good idea, let's borrow more money? host: thanks for the call to this is from philip from "time" magazine this last month. congressman jim himes says democrats are so confident that

-- he is wearing a tie with tiny blue waves on it. the chairman of the 68 member new democrat coalition fretted that his party could still blow its chances by going too far to the left. on the republican line, we go to francis in miami, florida. caller: good morning. i think when george bush the father and when president george bush, the son, they cared more about the war than they cared about the country. bush's. like those they did wrong for the country. do not vote for democrats. democrats have goofed up with this country. when obama was president, he did good, but at times, he did real bad. host: thank you for the call.

author and professor daniel about --talked here is an excerpt. [video clip] vanishedtes have now from the republican side, and their numbers have decreased dramatically on the democratic side as well. the coalition of dog democrats have managed to hang onto a few seats. the absence of moderate from congress today is particularly striking from a historical perspective. we are -- just 40 years ago, more than half the members of congress were at the ideological center. at that time, the most dominant committees were chaired by moderates. even into the 1980's and 1990's, liberal conservatives and republican democrats that -- were numerous enough that their votes were needed. the decline in moderates is an integral part as to why the

ideological gulf between the republican and democratic parties are at a post-reconstruction high. polarization is one of the most prominent topics, for the last decade. the policymaking process is almost completely divided among party lines. and the partisan discourse fuels gridlock. host: that event is on our website, c-span.org, part of our book tv programming, looking at moderate centrism -- political parties, where they are today. on our facebook page, this is from brad, asking is centrism dead? he says -- robert mitchell says --

and robert says -- some of the comments on our facebook page. ill is joining us, republican line from pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i would like to understand centrism from the standpoint of a americanism. we have too many people perceiving that global interests are important, where eyes americanism is more important than the global environment. however, the president has definitely established a place in the world today. i respect and appreciate what he has done for our country. host: thank you. let's go to charles, joining us from maryland. good morning, democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. with all due respect, i will

have to disagree with mr. tumu ocasio-cortez is not the voice or center for the democratic party. the democratic party appears to be a big tent. party, which has talked about conservatism and budget restraints, is all of a sudden a party on steroids. donald trump can reach an pool in $12 billion for the farmers -- and pull in $12 billion for the farmers when he has destroyed middle america and ag conglomerates? come on, folks. get with it. vacancy has done nothing for the cities of america. he has enriched himself -- he has done nothing for the cities of america. he has enriched himself with the so-called mar-a-lago trips and so forth. get real.

get to reality. i think the democrats offer us the best chance, at this time, to get back to reality. they have been the closest to getting to a balanced budget in the last five or 10 years. we should wake up and smell the coffee. host: thank you. from ghost eagle, this tweet -- that is not true. we simply want to get your common space on the piece by karen tumulty. it is an open forum, and we appreciate all of your comments, including yours right now at this is from vivian -- "time"er time of magazine, stacy adams, democrat running for georgia -- the unlikely rise of stacey abrams is the piece. and what democrats do not get by

david french. here's a look at some of the abrams' ads on the air in georgia. [video clip] >> stacey abrams. the proven leader that delivers for georgia. >> i have a boundless believe in george's future. where more have the opportunity to thrive. >> a fighter for expanding medicaid. she put a stop to unfair tax hikes on working families. god georgia moving on mass transit. as governor, abrams will promote opportunities for families to thrive. stacey abrams for governor. a leader who will lift up all of georgia. host: from the georgia governors race and from the "new york times," political middle ground is all but ignored in the race for governor. stacey abrams is the democratic candidate. brian cans is the republican candidate. here is one of the ads airing and that race. [video clip] >> i am brian cap. this is jake. a young man interested in one of

my daughters. jake asked why i was wanting -- running for governor? -- >> make georgia number one for small business. >> and two things if you want to date one of my daughters? >> respect and a healthy appreciation for the second amendment. sir. >> we're going to get along just fine. brian cap for governor. georgia governors race. we will cover the debate in the key house and governors races here. phone calls, though. the question is centrism dead? bill from pennsylvania, republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for your time. i wanted to let everyone know whenthere is no centrism we are talking about our constitution. i tell all citizens, and whenever i am talking politics, let them know that the central point of our politics is our

constitution. embrace your constitution, learn it from a love it, because it is the most wonderful document ever known to man. to govern the people of this wonderful country. and for the media, to talk about lou, read, right, left, is absurd to me -- to talk about left, is, right, absurd to me. the constitution is the supreme law of the land could i wish more people would talk about it, learn it, love it, because we live in a great country. host: thank you. srt saying the same thing. what is centrism? fealtym should mean 100% to the constitution, the bill of rights, and to our republic. from blacksburg, virginia, steve is next. democrat line. caller: good to talk to you.

i believe centrism is starting to take over. there are more independents today than republicans or democrats. i am, today, a financial conservative and a social liberal. i think the two actually combine. there are people who love this country and will do anything to help everybody, gays, blacks, mexicans -- it does not matter where you are from. we are americans. host: thank you for the call. marked stone makes this point -- at @cspanwj.et from pennsylvania, john, you are next, independent line. caller: good morning. centrism -- it really does not have a place right now, because we have been faced with, for the almost, theyears, attack or the dominance of the pouringd they're just

so many money into things. that is one of the reasons in the primaries you mentioned, if you are a centrist on the republican side, you are dead meat, since the tea party, which was originated by fox and that kind of thing. but remember this -- people do not know history or do not bother with history. the greatest middle class was built during the last centrist president we had, eisenhower. that is back when there were high taxes, but it was only on what you got, say, over $1 million. that is when high taxes came in. so look at history. and as far as the constitution, it took 80 years for people to acknowledge that blacks were human, and it took another 80 years to let women vote. blocked bys were all

the right wing. check your history. host: thanks for adding your voice. politico has this headline -- despite trump's assurances, states are struggling to protect the 2020 elections. -- you can read this story at politico.com. jay is joining us from the junior, independent line. good morning. caller: article one, section eight gives congress the right to borrow money against the only reserve currency that will ever exist in this modern scientific world. and ronald reagan and supply-side economics said we are going to borrow our way to prosperity. and the money changers started fighting over that reserve currency. and now we are about to become an authoritarian oligarchy, a

financial federation. and that is why there is no centrists. driving the money changers out of the temple. we have now invited the money changers to take over this temple. host: thank you. this is from alton on our facebook page -- brian says -- jennifer joins us from california, up early on a sunday morning, independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i disagree with something the last caller said, because i been the philosophy has

prevalent in society the last 50 or so years. it seems to me the leftist is opposed to any kind of change in society. i also think mr. trump is misunderstood. to me, he is a centrist. host: thank you. this is from congressman mark sanford -- by the way, he lost in the june married to a state theesentative -- he lost in june primary to a state representative. in the "washington post" he says --

republican congressman mark sanford, who is stepping down at the end of this year after losing his primary. we go to michael in new york city, good morning, democrat line. caller: good morning. what trump is doing has changed everything. people love him or hate him. there is nothing in between. the horrified about comments from iran that awoke such anger from trump. meanwhile, the attacks on our democracy from putin has delegated nothing. trump will find a new way to distract public opinion from the summit. recently that attorneys are investigating that.

host: thank you. we go to steve and ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. centrism is sort of like what is the normal temperature? everybody is not 98.6. the real issue is core values. what are your core values? core values,those the cause of touche and and the bill of rights. those are the kinds of things we built from. we can see that the middle, the independents, because a lot of people are fiscally conservative, and socially liberal, are not just liberal or conservative. people are thinking more. they are learning more. as a result, we are finding this middle ground, which is made up believee, none of whom exactly the same but have the same core values. host: thanks for the call. this is from nancy -- upstate new york,

democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i think centrism is dead in the united states. the point is trump has galvanized the extreme left so would win the next presidential election, although they need a candidate, and eric holder is not it. host: thank you. thehill.comlson at -- ruth is joining us from sandy hook, connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning. i just turned on c-span -- and by the way, i think you are as fair as you can possibly be. you let everyone have a voice. that is certainly appreciated. one of the things i focus on is the fact that once we passed citizens united, so that

corporations have more of a voice then our citizens -- than demonizings, and the by the president, which is unfortunate, of the democrats and fake news, it's pretty scary. along with the fact that the russians, most definitely putin, interfered with our election. we will eventually find out what it is that donald trump -- i believe it is money, but that has not been proven -- why he has just never criticized putin but has criticized absolutely everybody else. so i wish we could say that, you know, we have a chance at being centrist. i do not think so. and when you get calls were people really, really hate people on the other side and say

ugly things about their religion or race or other kinds of things, you cannot be a centrist. we have worked, from the beginning, to try and move this country, because the constitution was for white men. it was not for colored people or women, and it was landowners. we tried to move, and there is pull back. we can only hope. i think there are a lot of candidates running, so i am more hopeful today than i was six month ago. host: can you stay on the line for a moment? caller: yes. host: i would be remiss if i did not mention you are calling from sandy hook, connecticut. caller: my granddaughter was a third grade student at sandy hook. days ago.urned 14 two still has trauma in her

life. -- i do not see remember the name was of the men running for governor with the gun -- host: brian kemp -- caller: yes. scared, that got me. who puts an ad out like that? who worships the second -- people which is so had guns not to run. cannot remember -- the militia, the kind of guns we had then. frightening. adam and the amount of guns he had in his house was frightening. and we see more, more violence and more horrible things going on in this country. so the second amendment is not

what we should be worshiping. we should be respecting people and treating people fairly, and knowing that everybody on this to seehould have a right themselves have housing, to work hard. but you need something to work hard at. and we are, unfortunately, we have a long way to go. but as i say, i see a lot of women running, and i am active myself in this group called indivisible. and really trying very hard to listen to candidates and go to the various forums so i can hear who is running in the state of connecticut. --ause we are really not just short of being a blue state. so i am working hard here for the various people. thank you, again. you have given me a lot of time. host: thank you for your time and congratulations to your granddaughter. this is from kiki --

that from kiki. this from the "news virginian" editorial -- you can read the full editorial from "the news virginian." joined on the republican line. caller: good morning. i am calling about we hear so

much about the interests of national security or not. who gave our president the right to consult with a former adversary in private without the interests of we, the people, so we can understand what was said and what was heard? and nobody seems to be protesting that. in the interests of national security. host: thanks for the call. david from new jersey, independent line. caller: good morning, c-span. the best channel on television. how are you? host: good morning. how are you? good to hear from you again. caller: it is wonderful to be on. i want to say that woman from connecticut was fantastic. mya world war ii vet, generation, the greatest wordstion, three described my generation.

the first three words to the preamble of the constitution. "we, the people." people"ately, "we, the does not exist today. the republican party does not exist today. it's the trump party. and centrism is not alive at all. we have the extreme right, and we have the left. but i have the utmost confidence thosehe young people, kids from florida, are going to turn our great country around. they are going to get the people out to vote. the 18-year-old's are registering to vote. we have parents who will vote with their kids. people who complain but never vote, they will go out there and vote and stop planing. and we are going to turn our dang country around.

it will be a country of "we, the people," again. host: thank you. always good to hear from you. how old are you these days? caller: 94 and a half. o, in fiveng forward t being a years, to golden citizen. when you are 94 to 99, you are a senior citizen. 100, you are a golden citizen. host: i have no doubt you will reach 100 and beyond that. we were talking the other day -- senator john mccain's mother is 105. so you can make it. caller: i hope so. the good lord and my wonderful wife -- we are married 62 years.

must be doing something right. host: thank you very much, and thank you for adding your voice to the conversation this morning. on our facebook page, a couple of comments. this from laura -- deborah says -- chuck says -- michael with this tweet -- keith is joining us from arkansas, democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you this morning? host: how are you? caller: i am doing fine. theuld like to tell democrats they lost the election because they are running against guns. people in the south, they got a gun.

they will keep their guns. that is a losing proposition, running against it. against guns is a losing proposition. they need to run for a good you know, free and fair trade and stuff like that. but don't run against guns, because they will lose again. host: thank you. john making this point -- we will continue to share your thoughts on our twitter page, @cspanwj. ,ongressman cheri bustos looking at the state of the democratic party and the upcoming midterm elections, an event recovered for the c-span networks. [video clip] >> i represent 14 counties.

most of them are rural. --some cases, donald trump for instance, henderson county, illinois, on the mississippi river, across from burlington, -- the entire population of just that county is 6000 people. what we had seen happen is democrats were writing off places like that. in fact, in henderson county, donald trump won it by almost 30 points. but i still won it. i won all 14 of the counties last election cycle. we saw an 18 point swing from what president obama won in 2012 to what president trump won by in 2016. i ended up winning our entire congressional district 20 points. one in five voters went to the polls voted for donald trump and

voted for me. what ended up happening was some of my colleagues turned to me and said how in the heck? democratse in a dozen serving in a district donald trump won. how did you do this? as a result, my colleagues elected me to be one of the cochairs of policy communications among the democratic caucus. the only reason i bring that up in this setting is when you look at the leadership table of the democratic caucus in the u.s. house of representatives, there is one midwesterner. everybody else is coastal. there is one midwesterner. there is one person who comes from a rural district, almost entirely a rural district. and there is one person who comes from a district that donald trump won. what i appreciate about the democratic caucus is we value diversity of every sort --

except for the kind of diversity i just mentioned. geographic diversity. this approach to politics that it is ok to work across the aisle. it is ok to make sure that we are focusing every single day, relentlessly, on these bread-and-butter issues that people back home talk about. host: congresswoman cheri bustos, democrat from illinois, looking at the state of the democratic party. on our facebook page, first from cindy -- steve says - - come back to that in a moment. we will go to our twitter page. this is a comment from dave, our friend in new jersey --

-- finally we will come back to the facebook page in a moment. go ahead, john. caller: yes. the problem with the country we have today is nobody is being held accountable for their actions, and nobody is using any common sense. the woman was talking about guns -- what would she do if somebody broke into her house? and who would protect her from rape or murder? the problem with the gun situation here is the guns are not the problem. the problem with the guns are the people who have them in the house, the parents. they are not paying enough attention to what their kids are doing. and they are not protecting themselves against being held accountable for what the kids do with the guns. host: thanks for the call they let me go back to the facebook

page for your is from patricia. is centrism dead? she says -- stefanie says -- finally from jill -- jim from georgia, good morning. democrat line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. as far as the democrats go, i certainly consider myself one. the way of the democratic party going similar to the way the newspapers have gone. newspapers have never really tried to bring anything new as much as just tried to self copy, i suppose. it is really disappointing for me to see people like stacey

.brams coming up there is no way i am going to vote for those women. confederate remove memorials from stone mountain. which i understand that whole confederate thing is just awful. but it is a part of our history. makeamazed that she would that such a big part of her campaign earlier. but i do not want to get you bought down -- bogged down in that. there is so much more the democratic hearty could do if they want to try to bring more people into the conversation. i have certainly felt marginalized by the democratic party in georgia. it is disappointing. like nancypeople

pelosi, who have caused so much throne,not give up her after so many losses, it is like , well, no wonder the democratic party is tanking. host: thanks for the call. has been front and center in washington, d.c. involving a former cardinal -- cardinal mckerrick resigning amidst sex abuse accusations. the story from the post -- he became the first cardinal to resign from the college of cardinals. cardinal theodore mccarrick, a long time globetrotting diplomat for the catholic church and a

public face for efforts to end clergy sexual abuse has world the loyal catholic community and the wider church. and from sandy, on the issue of centrism. is it dead? caller: yes. it is dead. i was a bernie sanders than. i promoted him and campaigned for him, because i believed his message was really strong. even though i am a democrat, i believe what he said about the , these tinyealthy people at the top. there is no middle class. there is no centrism. there is the far, far right and the far, far left. , far left. the far but i felt that sanders had the wewers for today, because need a middle class. it is gone. we have the very, very rich and the very, very poor. you there,nt to stop

but thank you for calling. this is from hugh hewitt, the conservative radio talk show host. purple drought, in reference to not read america or blue america, but purple america , the independent swing district's paid you can read it online on washingtonpost.com. from pennsylvania, andrew is next. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. how are you? host: good, thank you. caller: thanks for taking my call again. donald trump, i think, is a weak president, creating more divisions every day. he is making so many of our norms disappear. and he is making some stupid decisions. that we have seen so far. , therence he took office

have been so many wrongdoings, so many scandals, and it is just inelievable to have this guy the office. he is completely the opposite of president obama. president obama uplifted this country. degrading ours values, our country. he is ignoring the people who even voted for him. host: thank you for the call hurray compass minerals and costello, a republican from pennsylvania, not seeking reelection. he joined us recently on the "washington journal" and talked about the gop. [video clip] strikes and call boston fairly. but if you look at polling -- and i am critical of the president when i do not agree with him on personal things, but i tried to keep it more on policy. the reason the president has such strong numbers amongst republican voters is i think often times democrats or the far

left goes to far with their criticism. and the republicans look at what democrats say, and they say they took it too far, and that reinforces their support for the president. because while they may not agree with the president about this, that, or the other thing, may not agree with what he tweeted about or the name he used to call someone, but when you take it too far, it gets you back to what your core political beliefs are or what party label you agree with. so i do not agree with the "treason" label. host: that look out be state of the republican party from republican lawmaker costello. david joining us from kentucky. caller: good morning. it is a pleasure to be on. i believe that centrism is what actually unites this country. i think there are more people out there that have these beliefs.

i do not believe either party is perfect. theink many voters choose lessers of two evils in today's society. that being said, i believe there is some legislation that may help. would be a truth policy in elected officials, where they cannot publicly, intentionally, speak untruths. host: thank you. the front page of the "new york times," below the fold -- details from kenny rogers and maggie haberman in the "new york times." the question we are asking the sunday morning -- is centrism dead? caller: good morning.

thank you very much for c-span. i truly enjoy this show. i think the problem with centrism can be traced to both parties. i think that the gerrymandering that both parties perpetuate insulates certain geographic democratic orther republican. and people are not given a choice. i think the solution to this would be to mandate that congressional districts be drawn along school district lines, many exist, with as contiguous school district's making up one congressional school district. once you do that, it does not allow these politicians to just keep being reelected and reelected without any accountability.

for myself, i have not really had a choice on the congressional person that i cared for in my life, and i am 60 years old. thank you once again. host: thank you. we want to share news about congressman john lewis, the representative from georgia, democrat and civil rights icon -- hospitalized yesterday. the story available on cnn.com. some of the details -- congressman lewis hospitalized but excited to be released today. he was under routine observation and did not give details as to the nature of the illness. treated at ae was hospital in metro atlanta. an unnamed source saying that he became ill on a flight saturday. he is 78 years old. daniel is joining us from eugene, oregon. thank you for calling into the program. go ahead. you are on air.

caller: i just want to say centralism in the democratic comparison, a a compromise. i think the progressive agenda has been lost because they are too afraid to pursue that. and i really feel that this is the time where we do go somewhat left. not far left, but somewhat left. for the call.u this is from congressman jim himes, the chair of the new democrat coalition from connecticut. "time magazine the following --

robin from alabama, good morning. welcome to the program. caller: hello, steve. is alive.centrism i just do not think it is brought forth too much, too often. also, i have a suggestion. could you guys not have the incumbents coming up for and profile them on your channel in between segments , like each one that comes up for election have the things they have done since they have been in office, and let the people know what they stand for and stuff like that? host: thank you. we appreciate that.

let's go to frank in virginia, republican line. caller: hi. i want to agree that centrism is dead. but you can be sure that communism is alive and well, because the democratic party basically is communist. that is all they are. two things real quick here. you ought to do is do a little survey on all of your callers. and askle that call in and if you can hear them. they are just idiots. they don't understand how to use a telephone. you just had one today. there are days you have a half-dozen. we try our best to make sure the volume is turned down, and we thank you for reminding the audience. for those of you interested in

the accomplishments of the candidates, that will be the main source as incumbents of -- all here on the c-span networks. ray from huntington, west virginia. you get the last word. is centrism dead? caller: i wouldn't know about that. i would say no, definitely not. i'm a perfect example. are you there? host: we are. how so? from, basically, a majority democratic county in west virginia. i wanted to say that centrism is kind of related to a prejudice, in a way. voting andes to stuff like that, and what i mean my-- all i can say, from

personal experience, i was raised in a predominantly white area. i never was prejudiced, didn't know anything about being prejudiced or what prejudice was. didn't know anything about it. didn't know anything about black people and stuff like that. it was around the 60's, and i was brought into all of this. i guess,d of made, prejudiced, because i moved into an area with a lot of blacks that didn't like whites. how this relates to me and centrism is that i was trying to be like everybody else, democratic. went wayhe democrats radically left and took all of the majority of black people with them. mostly black and people that -- anyways, long story short, i was made kind of prejudiced because i was put in

a situation where people were getting water hose on the streets, and they would come after me and beat me down, and one day, i'm going to wait white school. they come into this white school and say, i'm three blocks from my school. they said listen, we've got this rule. some of these kids are going to half to go to this black school, 19 blocks away. host: i'm going to stop you there because you are going off-topic. the cover story, appropriations crunch. can congress wall off the fight from spending? when we come back, we will turn our attention to the situation in iran. the state of relations between the u.s. and iran, and what is next in the nuclear deal. an expert from the atlantic council will be here to discuss this. politics, real clear sean trende to talk about --

, newsmakersournal at 10:00 eastern time, and also on the free c-span radio app. .ur guest is senator ben cardin we discussed mike pompeo, his testimony before the senate foreign relations committee, and the meeting between president trump and russian leader vladimir putin. here's an excerpt from newsmakers. great deal ofe a confidence that mr. pompeo knows what happened in the meeting. mr. trump's way of doing business is that that is not what he does. he does what he wants, when he wants, to the surprise of his own national security team. so we did not get a comfort level as to what happened in the room itself. we do know that in the public settings after the meeting, in front of mr. putin, president trump raised questions about our own intelligence agencies,

accepted president clinton's -- president putin's assertion that he was not involved, allowed mr. to make comments about american foreign diplomats notlable to russians, was dismissed out of hand, and the list goes on and on. there is not a comfort level that mr. pompeo has a deep understanding as to what happened in that room. >> we saw a number of moves by lawmakers in congress this week to raise issues. onolutions being introduced various issues regarding nato, intelligence committee findings to reinstate this. we saw strong statements from the republican leadership. speaker ryan, leader mcconnell, saying that putin would not be welcome on the hill. my broader question is, what is the role of congress here?

what is the ability of the congress to find some answers? it was interesting. when you look at the action of congress since the summit in helsinki, you'll find democrats and republicans both standing up, saying no to what the president replied in helsinki. we passed a resolution with to protectingo, our former diplomats. we are now looking at legislation that would increase sanctions against russia, legislation that would prevent ownership of russian companies in the united states. we are looking at legislation that would make it clear our commitment to nato. and that is bipartisan. i think the level in congress is that we have to assert ourselves. cardin's our ben

guest on c-span's newsmakers program, a member of the senate foreign relations committee. 10:00 a.m.ch it at today -- and online at c-span.org. we want to turn our attention to iran. anding us is barbara slavin ramin --joining us by skype. give us a sense of the relation between the united states and iran. how tense are they? i would say it is as tense as possible, and both sides have been exchanging harsh words. rouhani hasresident stopped -- all i can say is that tension is

very high, and escalation of tension is predictable in the coming days and weeks. host: will anything he's those tensions? guest: the announcement of the negotiationen between these two archenemies, the united states and iran. york oman or london or new , or anywhere, could be escalated tensions. host: we've been hearing from the administration that one of their objectives, goals, is some sort of regime change. as you talk to the people of government leaders for officials, but people on the streets, what are they telling you? guest: there are mixed feelings. there are still some people who

are desperate to change their to say something for themselves. say, letdesperate and somebody come solve our problems. people areority of , both sidessay should avoid war or warmongering . the majority of people say they ,re anticipating tensions economic wars, but they don't feel the war's end is near. host: barbara slavin has a question for you. nice to see you. i think a lot of concern is over the collapse of the currency.

i see that one dollar is now which isials, incredible. when i first started going, i think it was 10,000. how are people coping with the collapse? is it panic? would it be news about talks that could stop the collapse? guest: let me correct you, it is more than 100,000 to one now. in some cases, hourly, it changes, not daily. -- and other currencies. and i think, yes, people are panicked, because for them, it is an index of tension, anticipating that day to come, index of a dire economy. there index that

government, their bureaucracy, elected or unelected, are losing , unlessomic war something we don't see is on the horizon. on august 6, there is new sanctions on automobile insurance and -- for the government to show how big and vulnerable it is in that economic war that they call it. the government in iran calls it an economic war between iran and america. i can say, on the whole, people are very panic. cannot expect -- in the coming days or weeks. some secretaries in the

government's state run businesses are -- in the meantime. containing.blems of and in private sectors, doctors, worker, staff are laid off one after another. you have troops of unemployed increasing in the coming days. it is predictable. panic, and at the same time, anticipating the worst days to come. with ramine talking mostaghim, joining us from for thecorrespondent los angeles times. guest: it is what we've been writing on our blog at the atlantic council. some people who have recently been in tehran have written the .ame one traveler described it as a

mood of stoic pessimism, the sense that people are caught -- as, everybody would love miraculous solution to the problems, but they know it is not going to come, and they fear things will get worse. in all the time i've been writing about this topic, i think it is perhaps the most depressing time for iran and for u.s.-iran relations. we were in a better place couple of years ago, and it has been said to watch it go downhill. host: why is the economy so perilous at the moment, be on energy and oil issues? what else is motivating the decline? guest: the best description from my angle is that the iranian leader class are squeezed between two pressures. one is the trump administration iranians and the government's incompetence to

deal with the economy in a proper way so that everything can be controllable and business can go ahead. the reason for the crisis is deep-rooted. budget deficiency, and also, the liquidity. the amounts of cash flow in bureaucracy.he fat and also, i can say, the fact executor of the service department. people are earning their money by selling something and buying something. something, selling it tomorrow, just to earn the difference, to get the commission. this is a country with an economy based on the middlemen, just dealing between two parts of the transaction. this is not a country of

production. most of the manufacturing losing to rivals in china and other places. -- can a country based on 80% of the whole economy is based on the petrodollar. so if they sell the petrol, they are happy. otherwise, they don't have money to run the country. this is a deep-rooted problem, on average, and now, the pressure of trump is problemsing the already deep-rooted in the society. host: our focus, u.s.-iran, tensions between the countries. i want to get your reactions on what mike pompeo said last week at the reagan library in california. isthe united states

undertaking a diplomatic and financial pressure campaign -- the regime uses to support death and destruction. plus -- [applause] >> we have to put maximum pressure on the regime's ability to move money. sanctions on their banking and energy sectors. our focus islayed, to work with countries importing iranian crude oil to get imports this close to zero as possible by november 4. zero. [applause] part of this campaign, we designated the shia military organization -- a terrorist organization, and -- and more to come. regime leaders, especially those

at the top of the irgc, must be made to feel the painful consequences of their bad decision-making. host: speech by secretary of state mike pompeo. our phone lines are open. is the line for democrats and (202) 748-8001 is the line for republicans. or you can join us on our line on (202)endents 748-8002. let me get your reaction on what mike pompeo said last week. guest: the reaction on the is that what mr. pompeo and mr. trump are saying are the opposite. it is not the regime feeling the pain -- in fact, the people in the streets are feeling the consequences of the sanctions.

, not thee squeezed regime. it has nothing to do -- these sanctions, pressure, whatever they call it, it is against the daily routine of the people in the streets, and it is painful. the pain is felt by the people, and the indexes show that this is hurting everybody, but not the regime. guest: i would agree. the government has a monopoly on so if theurrency, value of the iranian currency drops, it doesn't make a difference. they still have the same dollars. maybe oil exports will be reduced, but they will still have a monopoly of control over hard currency. those privileged by the government will do ok, and ordinary people will pay the price.

i found secretary pompeo's speech disturbing on several grounds. the first thing this administration didn't was impose a ban on visits by most iranians to the country, a tremendous blow against ordinary iranians and iranian americans who want their relatives to visit when there's a child born, or a wedding or funeral. and cast over the nuclear agreement, even though iran is in compliance with the agreement. so the people of iran are paying the price, iranian americans are secretary price, and on pao is talking about squeezing the regime. i think these policies will strengthen the most repressive elements, the hardline elements with access to cash. the islamic revolutionary guard corps.

so i find it wrongheaded and cruel, and i do not understand the point of it. are we supposed to reach some sort of nuclear agreement? host: that is what president trump has said. guest: he has said that, but if you look at the list of demands that secretary of state pompeo put forward on his first speech mission1, i called impossible. he demanded that iran change basically every policy that has been a pillar of its government since 1979. perhaps you could say he's taking a tough stance at the beginning with compromise later, but i see no sign of it. who is paying the price? ordinary people. host: we take a deep dive into the 80 year relationship between the u.s. and iran on our podcast, available on our website. an expert on the middle east institute looking at everything from the shah to the hostage crisis and more recently the

iranian nuclear deal. joining us from gettysburg, pennsylvania. caller: thank you for taking my call. of anider myself kind ordinary american, retired military, retired schoolteacher. to seet we are allowed on television -- a lot of times, the leader of "death toreeching america," and at the same time, screeching to eradicate the jews in the world. i don't know what we're supposed to think of to react to that. business as usual? guest: i would agree with the color on the first comment, the chant of death to america, which dates to the revolution, which is obviously upsetting to any american. i can only tell the caller that

in my nine trips to iran over the years, i've met who are very pro-american. this is a slogan, and it has become kind of a meaningless slogan in some ways, and as i mentioned, self-defeating. it simply makes americans distrustful of iran, rightfully so. the second comment, that is incorrect. iran is opposed to the isernment of israel as it currently constituted, but it has never called for the annihilation of jews, and there is still a jewish population living in iran, the only one in any muslim country in the middle east outside of israel. mostaghim is joining us from tehran. let me follow up. there has been demonstration, protest in the streets of tehran. what is motivating these people, and what are they protesting against?

guest: i sympathize with the caller. as an iranian, i apologize for any deaths to america. i apologize when my fellow countrymen and women shout these things, but i would assure this american citizen who has called ritualized. slogan likerican that is ritualized on a different ceremony. anniversaryhave the of the takeover of the iranian .- of the american embassy it is ritualized. and like any ritual, it has lost its meaning. chant, no reason to death to america, when -- had a

negotiation with john kerry and others. israel" is to meaningless, because sometimes they protest and sometimes they that israele debt owes to the former regime. they got that debt. for example, the former regime exported oil, and when the contentionapsed, the between the hard lines and tel aviv -- evacuated the oil, and that cost money. they had the conversation and they got it. , despitearchenemies being archenemies, they are doing it. because when you recognize, when you protest to something as an enemy, you recognize the status quo, that the enemy is there. ,ven that existential threat

this is rhetoric. --ant to just say, in iran, the reason of their own rhetoric that they have entrapped themselves from the beginning of the revolution and turned into a ritualized anti-american, which is meaningless and outdated. but this is part of the daily , toof some organized groups justify and legitimize the anti-americanism, part and of thisf the ideology theocracy. it should not be taken seriously at all. host: a color joining us from seattle, washington. caller joining us from seattle, washington. caller: thank you for your hard

work in the middle east, trying americans about what is happening. i feel very lucky to talk to. iran ifof a threat is they are not backed into a corner. host: go ahead, ramin. guest: the only effect of the rhetoric of work is obstacles. i agree there might be some intensification of proxy wars between iran and america in the region, but not confrontation. iran is not a threat. nuclear point of view, iran has been defanged by negotiations in the nuclear deal. the joint comprehensive plan of action, whatever they call it.

-- to do any threat, even if there was one in the first place. there's none left, because iran is not capable to threaten any regional power. arean, proxy wars different. apart from proxy wars, iran cannot be a threat. their missiles cannot be a threat to anybody. saddam had several attacks to tel aviv by -- and what happened? nothing. the military budget is less than any country, not comparable to saudi arabia. iran is the top -- economic problems. they don't have the time or energy to be a threat. rhetoric,ress the

americans hear the news of somebody in tehran saying such and such, but we should put it in context. , compare it toer the original power like saudi arabia and others. iran is weakened, whether we like it or not, defanged by nuclear deals. there is no threat, cannot be a threat. viewerst me remind my and listeners, they can follow your work at l.a. times. barbara slaven, also your reactions. does pose a threat through proxy forces. they operate through hezbollah, in iraqshia militias and syria, has supported the huti revels in yemen and provided them with weapons they used to attack saudi-backed forces and saudi arabia itself.

i wouldn't say it's not a threat, but a lot of what iran ons is to prevent an attack its homeland, kind of a forward defense. and i think the united states and all countries should be familiar with that, since we have troops all over the world. is andan has not done they iraq, overthrow its government, occupy the country. they have made a kind of virtue of their lack of resources by funding the smaller groups and looking for places where local populations, particularly arab-shia populations, have grievances, and exploiting those grievances. iran is a threat, but not one that should be overblown. it is certainly not the enemy of the united states and the weight that it is being portrayed by the trump administration. host: let me turn to the iran nuclear deal. the president has been critical,

calling it the worst deal ever negotiated. in july 2015, president barack iran discussing the nuclear deal, how they all came to the agreement. let's watch. >> the reason we were able to unify the world community around the most effective sanctions regime we've set up, one that crippled the iranian economy and ultimately rot them to the table -- ultimately brought them to the table is because the world agreed with us that it would ultimately be a great danger to allies and the region and the world if iran had a nuclear weapon. we did not have that same consensus around iran not being able to enjoy any nuclear power whatsoever. as a member of the nonproliferation treaty, their argument was that they are entitled to have a peaceful nuclear program. what we are able to do is say to them, given your pass behavior, given our strong suspicion and

evidence that you made attempts to weaponize your nuclear program. given the destabilizing activities you've engaged in in the region and support for terrorism, it is not enough for areo trust when you say you only creating a peaceful nuclear program. you have to prove it to us. built ise system we not based on trust, it is based on a verifiable mechanism whereby every pathway they have is shut off. the pathway of enriched uranium, they have to remove 98% of the enriched uranium they have. they have to remove the overwhelming majority of their years, theyd for 10 are under the most severe constraints. beyond that, they still have to sign up to an additional protocol that ensures we have the most intrusive inspection regime ever created. host: courtesy of the new york

times from july 2015. maybe remind you that -- agreement signed in 2015. u.s., great britain, france, germany, china, and russia. barbara slavin with the atlantic council is here. mostaghim. how did the deal play out until the u.s. pulled out of the agreement? lot with didn't help a the economy, but also delegation from europe came to negotiate for investments. at least we had some sort of stability of the rate of foreign currency. iraniang horizon from investors, they're educated people. in one year or two years from nuclear deal,he

there would be better relations with the world, including america, more investment, more tourists, more exchange between groups of science and technology. that is the hope. a lot has been sacrificed after pulling out of the -- after pulling the trump administration out of the nuclear deal, is the iranian people, part and parcel of the campaign of president rouhani. -- withdrawal of the nuclear deal. that is one of the only things i can say. otherwise, only the horizon thing -- much better promising. from let's go to a color maryland. from maryland. caller: how is it that the u.s. can tell another country we are proposing sanctions on them because of the policies of their

leaders? what if another country did that currentbased on the white house? know, the united states has a unique position because of the dominance of the .ollar, in the financial world that allows the united states, by cutting countries out of u.s. banking systems, by for bidding their use of the dollar, to make it almost impossible for them to trade with anyone, it is a severe sanction, and this is what is killing iran and depressing its currency. situation changes, if the united states dollar no longer is the dominant currency, the united states will not be in the position to do this. until that happens, that is the situation. it is an enormous power, and i would argue it should be used judiciously. in walking out of the iran

nuclear deal, the united states is alone on this. iran was complying. u.s. allies are very angry and upset about this, but there isn't much there companies can do. if you are a giant, multinational company and you have to weigh your business in the u.s. versus your business in iran, you will choose the united states. you won't threaten your trade with the world. this is the power trump is using. many other issues, the trump administration is using a policy of bullying towards the rest of the world, which i think will ultimately backfire. host: ramin mostaghim, what iran -- play in iranian foreign policy? guest: i think a lot. this is a safe haven for iranian economics, pulling out from the nuclear deal. a sort of to have

rapport with china and russia at to same time, trying establish some bank that can do business and transfer money from beijingo tehran, from to tehran, from shanghai to tehran. they wanted to have their own business, independent of the international community, because iran has no place to go. -- at theaking the bottom of the -- mr. putin is a good alternative for them against american organizations. and they are trying to drive a wedge between europe -- between the eu and america. they just want to try to get

advantage of any division between europe and america, and also at the same time, any division between russia and china against america or our countries. resorting to having more involvement in business with russia. host: let me conclude on a personal note. we are all familiar with the story of -- in the washington post, working on a book "his -- in captivity" as an iranian american working for the l.a. times, do you ever work -- ever worry for your own safety? guest: i'll correct you. i am an iranian and i don't have an american passport, fortunately or unfortunately. i have paid my price as an iranian, having been oppressed and been in jail, like any iranian who speaks out.

yes, i'm professional when i know the red lines, but there's no guarantee that one day i would be victimized as i have been before. time, dual nationals are more vulnerable than iranian citizens like me. host: how so? how have you been victimized? guest: when there was report of -- hello? host: yes, please continue. guest: i took the reform seriously and i brought up something that should not have been written. that's it. is a ramin mostaghim reporter for the l.a. times, joining us from iran. thank you for adding your perspective. guest: thank you for having me,

and thank you, barbara. guest: yes, good seeing you. host: james in chattanooga, tennessee. good morning. thank you for taking my call. i'm a 69-year-old vietnam combat veteran. aying so, i see this as being hulk issue. -- has to have some enemy. house has to have some enemy. if you go back and look at the videotape of what president obama, along with five other nottries, negotiated -- alone, but with five other allies, negotiated this deal. then you go back to the video, a formeree where candidate, trump, saying that

obama would start a war in order to get reelected. it is all there. it is out in the open that he said, himself, that obama would start a war with iran. guest: [chuckles] the president of the united states has said a lot of things that aren't true, and that is just one of them. good point, an agreement negotiated by permanent members of the un security council, west germany and iran, codified in a un security council resolution, it has an elaborate mechanism of verification, periodic meetings with the countries that negotiated it to check on compliance. everything was going smoothly until president trump decided he wanted to, first, undermine it, then walk away from it. i don't understand the administration's justification.

if you want to improve on the agreement, you go back and say, let's start a new round of negotiations. that's talk about what happens when the restrictions on the amount of low enriched uranium is supposed to expire. it was perfectly possible to do that. in return, you could offer further incentives to iran to extend the agreement or expand the agreement. instead of the trump administration simply tearing it up and walking away. now, the whole future of the agreement is in doubt. we had this tremendous instability and concern within iran. we don't know what it is going to lead to. chaos, to another failed state in the middle east. is that in the interest of the united states? or perhaps some countries in the region like saudi arabia? these are things we have to think about. it is my hope, given how erratic

the president is and how he seems to have these mood swings, that he may come back to a place where there's a basis for talking to iran, and the u.s. comes back to the agreement. if not trump, then hopefully his successor will do that. perfect, it was an agreement that put verifiable restraints on the iranian program and avoided the prospects of a devastating war. host: the other partners in the france,t, rid britain, germany, china, and russia, or they still proceeding? they best, are doing but the trade-off in the agreement was that iran curbs and it gets economic benefits. because of the u.s. dominance, countries in the european union are having difficulty providing those assurances.

their banks won't deal with iran, their companies are pulling out. iran know where to go but china, russia, other countries that are willing to evade the sanctions. it is self-defeating on a number of levels. do we really want to increase russian and chinese economic power in the world? another factor we haven't mentioned is the impact on gasoline prices, which is direct. the price of oil has gone up $60 per barrel to about $75 per barrel, reflected in the prices that americans pay at the pump. i think you can draw the straight line between the administration's iran policy and the rise in oil and gas prices. i think american consumers should think seriously about the impact on their bottom line. host: our guest for many years covered diplomatic and u.n. and foreign-policy issues for usa

today and the washington times, and is now with the atlantic council as a director for the future of the iran initiative. we are joined from -- caller: it is a little appalling that you don't have someone on both views of the issue, instead theseing obama play, and two people who are clearly on the muslim side of the issue. to say that iran is anything like a normal country that wants to have peace is ridiculous. they are the biggest country that sponsors terrorists in the world. no other country takes hostages and act like they did. a have threatened israel. it, to seizes in the nonbelievers, which is what these people are trying to do. american is not -- she said, she america ishat --

alone in being against the iran deal, which is false. the only ones that think it is a good deal are those in the u.n., like in europe, which are being overrun by -- host: he put a couple of issues on the table. a chance to respond. were talking about the countries that negotiated the agreement. all of them remain in support of it except the united states. the only countries that have expressed support for the trump beenistration policy have israel, saudi arabia, and the uae. in fact, secretary of state pompeo was questioned about this on capitol hill last week and asked, who was supporting you on could only mention israel, saudi arabia, and the united arab emirates. tosuits their purposes minimize iranian influences and

make them weaker because they are involved in direct or indirect clashes with iran in the region. if the united states wants to support those countries against iran, that is a decision the president has made. president obama thought it would be better to have a more balanced policy. you talk about some of the things that iran does. i don't want to engage in what they call what about his him, but the leader of saudi arabia took several hundred businessmen hostage and kept them in a hotel in riadh for several months until they gave him millions of dollars. the uae supports proxies and mercenaries in yemen. saudi arabia is bombing yemen back into the stone age, the biggest humanitarian disaster in the world, and the united states is helping them. there are many policies the united states has that are objectionable. if you look at human rights abuses --

korea has concentration camp's with hundreds of thousands of people, but the president called kim jong-un and honorable man. what itto see iran for is. recognized aspects of the government that are certainly objectionable. them talked about many of already. we should also not exaggerate youhype, because if exaggerate a threat, as i think the collar is, for example the threat of islam or muslims, if you exaggerate the threat, you won't able to develop realistic solutions. i don't understand why the united states has to have enemies in this way. the cold war is over, the soviet union is no more. we don't have any peer competitors, except maybe china in economic terms. i don't think it suits american interests to have a constant policy of hostility towards countries that don't share our views. host: the secretary of state

testified before the senate foreign relations committee. there was this exchange. important iran views its ballistic missile program, i agree with you. the question that president trump faced was if the jcpoa was good enough, and he said it was not remotely good enough. he concluded we would find ourselves in a better place with an opportunity to revisit the broader spectrum, not just a nuclear portfolio, but their malign activity throughout the world. they did except the understanding that there would be those who didn't come alongside of us, but you should know there's a coalition. it is not america alone. others, the israelis, the saudi's, the emiratis, the bahrainians, not the e3 themselves. the nuclearke down

risk to the united states and the risk of these other malign activities. host: what are you hearing? guest: i left out the bahrainis, that's a small country. he said small european countries, but he didn't name any. i'm not aware of any, the european union has been unanimous in its support of the iranian nuclear deal. the united states, apart from israel and a few sunni arab gulf, arethe persian alone on this. but because of our economic power, we can crash the economic -- the iranian economy. us from michigan? good morning. democrats line. caller: you are doing a great job. we recently had a big fake news story in america that talked about a summit between donald in helsinki.in

this was not a summit, this was trump onutin calling the carpet to instruct him on the next phase of their , in controlling global markets and the world, because that is exactly what they are up to. barack hussein obama was the last legitimate, and greatest resident this country has seen, so jim in oklahoma is deranged. he has the obama derangement syndrome which gave us donald trump. i would like for you to explain to the people, first of all, i'd like for you to explain about the myth that president obama iran.way $150 billion to people think it is american money, but it wasn't. if you could explain that. also, if you could explain to the american people how donald the iranianpping of nuclear agreement helps his

boss, putin, in russia, and pompeo's boss, netanyahu, in israel. both are slaves to israel and russia. if you could explain that big geopolitical dynamic, i would appreciate it. also point out that if you are interested, she has this piece available on the atlantic council website, the undercut support to iranian voices. sure i would use quite the same language, but thank you for the question about the money. iran, because of u.s. sanctions that were imposed under the obama administration, and by the way, had almost universal support, which is why they were effective at the time. iranian oil revenues were bottled up in banks like in

china, japan, south korea. there were about $150 billion of oil revenues that iran could not get access to. under the nuclear deal, it was able to repatriate its own money. american money, it was iranian oil money that was bottled up. this will probably happen again, that they will sell oil to places like china, and the only way to get access to it will be bartering for chinese goods and services. this will probably be one result of the sanctions. there was an amount of money, $1.8 billion i think, sent to iran. this was in settlement of an old dispute over weapons that the purchased, andd were never delivered because of the 1979 revolution. $400 million and interest added, and the u.s. cent bet money to iran as part of the overall settlement of these disputes. there's a lot of hope, frankly,

that this would lead to diplomatic relations, as a result of sorting through these old disputes. that did not happen. we had another question about -- host: let me follow up, there are some related tweets. trump uses iran as a tool to fire up his base, even though he knows iran is no threat to anybody. another comment, i'd like to be friends with iran, but not while they are ruled by america-hating religious fanatics. and finally, iran is the most evil country on the planet. i think language like that does nobody any good. could hype something, how you possibly come up with a solution? if the president of the united states and sit down with kim can sit with anyone. i remember, the other question was about whether this was helping russia, helping putin. it certainly is helping russia

and saudi arabia, because it is increasing the price of oil. we had an event at the atlantic council, people interested about a week or so ago, on oil and sanctions. the expertson of was that if the sanctions are successful, it is going to cause a dramatic rise in oil prices, which will really cause problems . it could put european countries in recession, might get that fabulous 4% growth rate that the president is bragging about every day. but of course, if the sanctions are not that successful, iran will struggle and not feel the need to come back to the negotiating table. you can't really win in this type of situation. jersey,borah from new on the independent line. you are next. caller: i just wanted to put out there for the american people, because i think there's a lot of

miseducation on the issue. they are taking electronic sound bites from fast media bites and even from the political establishment. pompeo, bolton, and trump. all they do, overextending themselves everywhere. we have occupations everywhere. saudi arabia beheads people, talk about human rights violations. yemen is the biggest humanitarian disaster ever. they are bombing the heck out of yemen with our bombs, our military equipment, refueling american planes in the air. look at what we did in syria under various pretensions. recently.inians most israelis, they just shoot them down for protesting. simple protest, their economic and social rights have been devastated over the past occupation. , and instead of

making friends and commerce and peace, we do the opposite. so i have a problem with the trump administration. : how's a new book, "9/11 america changed," put out by doveline press, this is quoted. iran work with united states to get rid of the taliban in afghanistan, including paying for the afghan troops serving under the u.s. command. u.s.an help support of the backed government and contributed $750 million to the reconstruction of afghanistan. in 2002-2003, the country of iran showed greater interest in dialogue with america, but was dialogue -- but was labeled part of an axis of evil. now, the trump administration arabiairan, not saudi and israel, for instability. this is footnoted -- host: i'll stop you there and we will get a response. guest: i've written about this

at length. bitter friends, -- talks a lot about the post-9/11 period, which in my view was the missed opportunity, because at that time, you had an iranian government that was interested in better relations with the united states, made common cause in afghanistan. the only country in the middle east where people -- certainly only muslim country in the middle east -- where people spontaneously demonstrated in support of the united states after 9/11. there were major mistakes made by the george w. bush administration. iraq,ggest was invading which effectively opened that country to iranian influence by overthrowing the government of saddam hussein. iran does many things i would disagree with. the support for the assad regime

, one of the most brutal in the world, is not something i could ever support. iran supports,at hamas, palestinian, islamic , committingezbollah acts of terrorism. i think we should see iran with clear eyes. but to call it the most evil country in the world, and to pretend others don't do things and destabilize the region human rights. israel shoots unarmed palestinian demonstrators, as we've seen. state pompeo is giving speeches about iranian protest and putting the spotlight on iranians who have been arrested for demonstrating in that country. so, every government decides how it wants to proceed and takes quote-unquote,

host: as it sees as american. the president writing the following quote -- [reading tweet] host: the response from the iranian foreign minister, colorado -- color us unimpressed. caller: i want to know what side these people are wrong. yes, israel is our best friend. they asked obama after they gave that money, if it would be used for terrorism, and guess what the man said. it probably will be. guest: yes, i don't think that is what he said. as i pointed out, we didn't give iran anything. it got access to its own oil

money. and i think all of us -- at least i am on the side of u.s. interests. the problem is, that is defined differently depending on the individual, i guess. host: julie is next on the independent line. caller: you know how donald trump trying to sway the middle between the difference the russians and the media and this country, trying to say they want to impeach -- the democratics want to impeach donald trump and sway the people. what is the difference between what donald trump is doing and what the democrats are doing? and i'm wondering, of all you said, just a way of -- this redistribution of wealth. when you give one country money to protect another country, and it goes on and on. oft: going back to the issue the money. we also had a tweet saying, why

didn't we just transfer, electronically -- the picture of sending the cash back? bad optics. guest: this was the $1.8 million i referred to, the settlement for the weapons the iran lost under the shot. the reason we had to send cash is because we don't have any banking relations. no american banks have links to any iranian banks, not even for authorized purposes. this was a decision taken before obama came in, by the bush administration in 2008, it cut iran out of any dollar transactions. the only way was to send them cash. i believe they sent euros and other currencies. we welcome our viewers and listeners in great britain, including daniel, joining us from melbourne, england. caller: i had a general point to make. that over the last 50 years,

trillions of dollars and other currencies have gone to all these countries in the middle east and iran from u.s. motorists and from the european motorists parody so, in return, what we immigrationrism and and mass amounts because their produce very fast and muslim countries. why should you have any say about with donald trump is doing? essentially, you just have to take it. regimesay that irani and is a -- regime, except all caps and his policies. host: thank you. guest: we have a democracy the last time i checked, so i don't have to accept these policies in the interest of the united states. caller'see with the

comment about gasoline and the united states. as soon as we get off fossil fuels, the better. and the countries will be able to exert much power over anyone. host: what is next? guest: that is a really good question. despite the tweets, i do not think we will go to war with iran. i don't think donald trump believes in more wars in the middle east. he wants to withdraw american forces and that part of the world. my hope, after all of this fierce rhetoric and the pressure of the sanctions, there will be overtures. we have seen some inclinations of this already. oman has been a go-between, between the united states and iran. i don't anticipate a grand summit with the supreme leader of iran sitting down with donald trump. that is a hard thing to imagine.

perhaps, there can be some de-escalation and some form of a return to negotiations that would, you know, ease the states, of the united and decrease the terrible suffering on the iranian people. i am so glad you had him from tehran. the sanctions are cool punishments -- cruel punishments. host: we appreciate your time and inside, barbara slavin from the atlantic council. thank you for being with us. guest: it is a pleasure. thank you. host: the midterm election races to watch. joining us is sean trende from real clear politics.

you are watching and listening to c-span's "washington journal." it is the 29th day of july, and will be back in just a moment. hope you stay tuned. >> monday night on the communicators, british conservative party member -- interviewed by reuters's reporter. >> what is a concern of tech companies? do you see dislocation of those companies post brexit? >> it rests on immigration. one other thing tech companies complain about is access to the best global talent. they say, look at silicon valley. they get the best talent in the world. access to the best talent in the world. we canly, after brexit, reach out to the best people in

the world. >> watch the communicators monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> c-span, where history unfold daily. 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by america's television companies. and today, we continue to bring unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy even in washington, d.c., and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. ♪ joining us from columbus, ohio is sean trende. he is an analyst for real clear politics. thank you for being with us. guest: think you for having me. host: i want to talk about some of the races to watch. and one in your part of the

country, a special election scheduled for early next month. talk to us about the candidate and why this is a potentially bellwether for democrats and republicans. guest: this is a bellwether for both democrats and republicans because it is the kind of district you would expect democrats to be competitive in any way election. credible candidates on both the republican in the democratic side. nominateds have someone too extreme. it is a good test case for what the national environment really is like. this is a district donald trump won handily. even if the democrats are coming close, it is indicative of a bad national environment for republicans. host: let's talk about danny o'connor, the democrat, and tribal percent, the republican

candidate. it -- an open seat. a congressman has stepped down from that position. -- with dannygain o'connor, you have a democrat that is been around politics for around -- politics for a while and is generally well-respected. someone who is not particularly objectionable one way or the other aside from the fact he is a democrat in a republican district. balderson is the same thing. he is someone who is solidly conservative but fits the district well parent in a normal environment. you would expect to see balderson win handedly. host: what do the poll show you in that race? -- what do the polls show you in that race? guest: it showed balderson up

10. it caused a lot of people to say, maybe this isn't such a competitive phrase, which is good news for republicans. the o'connor campaign, polls showed him down, too. we estimate he is probably down five points or so, but that makes sense because o'connor has raised a ton of money. he is on the air more. so, he definitely has the tools to make this a tight race. i think it is probably going to be republicans -- i think it is probably going to be closer than republicans would like. >> that is troy balderson running for congress. why do people look so happy? it is because balderson supports massive tax breaks. and what would that mean for us? his plan could mean cuts to medicare and social security. and balderson even said he had

no problem raising the retirement age. troy balderson, it is not funny at all. money, seanch phrase?is spent on that -- spent on that race? guest: it is unusual for those sorts of phrases. --s is a district usually seven or eight points more republican as a whole. dropping millions on airtime is indicative of how tight this race is getting. host: here is one more at on the air. [video clip] >> the liberal resistance is demanding open borders and want to limit the law enforcement agency that enforces are immigration laws, opening america's doors to drugs.

they want danny o'connor bankrolling his campaign. they know o'connor supports amnesty for illegals and opposes the border wall. getting o'connor would join the resistance -- danny o'connor would join the resistance. host: sean trende, let's go back to what you said earlier. by all accounts, the democratic candidate trying to run a more mainstream campaign, but being tagged by republicans -- guest: that's right. that is what you see and all of these ads that are kind of exaggerated versions. if you listen to the ad, it doesn't say he will cut medicaid. it says the tax breaks could lead to that. this is speculative about the o'connor joining the resistance and signing up with elizabeth warren. in reality, neither of these

candidates will be at the extreme of their parties, but you see what the motivating factor is for these parties. they are trying to get their base out. the way you get the base out is convincing the other side is horrifying. o'connor is playing to the inner suburbs of columbus within his , theict, whereas balderson ad for balderson, is trying to energize the more rural areas. host: our phone lines are open. 202-748-8000 the line for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. .ndependents, 202-748-8002 this is a headline the blue wave could be turning into a dead heat in november. do you still believe that? guest: i think things have broken a little bit for the

democrats. the generic ballot asked, who do you want to win, republicans or democrats? it had gotten into low single digits. now we are of to mid to high single digits. job approval has been on a long-term increase. but things hit a ceiling at around 43%. i say democrats have an edge. i don't think it is an overwhelming edge, but if the election was held today, they would get a small congressional majority. host: if you look at the map, how many open seats are competitive for the republicans and the democrats? guest: that is a big part of the story. really, the only competitive open seats for the democrats are two seats in minnesota, where they had one congressman retiring. another one is running for governor. if the republicans have a shot

at picking up open things, it is probably here. as for republicans, they -- there are a large number of open seats available. some of them are guaranteed pickups for the democrats, new jersey's second district, one in south florida, where a longtime republican has retired. and then you have more competitive seats that probably went for donald trump or mitt romney, and then went to hillary clinton. that is where the real battle will be in place of the california pennsylvania. host: carr guest is sean trende, a senior analyst for real clear politics joining us from columbus. and lynn is on the line from san antonio, texas. caller: good morning. i will tell you what, i love your shows and such, but i would not trust real clear politics any further than i can throw them. anything they say as far as i am concerned is full of hooey.

and the crazy lady you had on atfore is part of the tin h brigade. you have never seen a businessman at work and don't want to see another one because the politicians and lawyers want sure was to make sure no one ever gets in again. thank you. bye. host: let's talk about the president role in the midterm elections. he will be on the campaign trail , making sure to keep the majority in the house and senate for republicans. what role should the president playing moving ahead? guest: it is interesting because nationally, he is not terribly popular. he has a 43% job approval, which isn't horrible, but it isn't good either. yet, in some of these districts, he is probably breakeven or

popular. he is still very popular with his base as the caller's comment indicated. in a race like ohio's 12, the candidates have to do a dance. they would love to get donald trump out here to energize the rural areas that have lots of trump supporters in them, but they also risk energizing some of the places that are heavily democratic as well. i think the president can do good for republicans, especially in some of these republican districts. but in the democratic-leaning districts or the swing district, i think you will see candidates avoiding him, just as candidates avoided barack obama in swing districts during his presidency. host: as you go to your site, the generic ballot giving , explain a 7.3% edge to our audience what that means. very expensives

to pull individual congressional districts because you have to pull something on the order of 100,000 people. where theyo instead as people, hey, who do you want to win congress, or who do plan on voting for in the next election? can people give their answers. as of right now, on average, people are saying by a seven point margin, they prefer democrats than republicans. this is not a great scenario for republicans. the generic ballot has its problems, but it usually gets within a couple of points of the national margin. host: back to your phone calls. kelly is joining us from new jersey. good morning. caller: well, hi. thank you for taking my call. there ising because all this democrat and republican.

debt.e a $21 trillion 11% -- has an 11% approval rating. -- more has to go through congress. aboute seeing things iran. i am looking for real, fermentable solutions -- formidable solutions. i feel like congress should be doing more. host: thank you, kelly. the dead and the deficit, the nation's dead neck says of $21 trillion. is that an issue among voters, democrats or republicans? think it is to an extent. what we find over and over again, is that average voters don't have an in-depth knowledge

of politics and policy. what they have instead is a generalized understanding of things they like and things they don't like. and voters definitely don't like debt. where it really comes into play is with some of these republican strong romneye supporters, who really are concerned deeply about the deficits, you have a fraction of the republican party that is really concerned about the turn it has taken with a massive deficits being run during an economic expansion. is aattle for the house close enough thing that even if you oppress republican turnout, it could be the difference maker and a lot of races. host: many share with you a tweet from the president a short while ago, talking about the federal government and the potential of a government shutdown. "i would be willing to shut down the government if the democrats do not give us the votes for border security, which includes

the wall. must get rid of the lottery, catch and release, etc., and finally go to the system of immigration based on merit. we need great people coming into our country!'s " guest: this is an issue that is based cares about deeply and carries him through a night great way. --carries him through in a great way. he was in favor of, you know, tariffs and constricting immigration at that time. i think a lot of republicans in the swing districts, especially suburban swing district, don't want a government shutdown a few weeks before the election. shutdowns don't have lasting impact, but whatever impact they have can impact the party in power. i think that is playing with fire. host: cal, good morning.

caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i was reacting, i had a couple of comments, i was lifting to what sean said earlier about a marginal victory for the democrats in midterms. and i had seen that as a result of what i interpreted as a low voter turnout. and the reelection of a lot of incumbents. i feel it will result in a slightly shaped stalemate seat majority of the democrats we would need. and also, it doesn't provide any momentum to form any kind of candidacy or solidify against any candidate that can even hope to beat trump in 2020. i just wanted your reaction. host: thanks, cal.

guest: i think people should not this miss a narrow house majority and what it can do. policy,y in terms of generating a national figure, it is unlikely to do that. at the same time, a majority of one gives you all the speakers him all the chairman's gavels. that is important because you will have some very strong partisan democrats running these committees. and that is key for investigations. people who one is see donald trump tax returns -- donald trump's tax returns. fightsill be massive over subpoenas and investigations, even with the narrowest of democratic majorities. next fromna is maryland with sean trende.

his work available on realclearpolitics.com. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: we sure can. caller: i am in laurel, maryland, close to riverdale. thanks for c-span. i think you all are doing a great job. my comment is, if we had someone in office, i'm speaking about donald trump, that was not filled with hatred and lies, including the other people with income i think the country would be doing a lot better. right now, these tweets and all of this stuff donald trump sends , it is just ridiculous for people not to realize that we have someone that is unfit to be in that office. , whether unfortunate you are democrat or republican, it would not matter. the fact that we need a good person with some intelligence to run this country. and we don't have that at this point. isis unfortunately -- it

unfortunate that people continue to talk about the base. this basis listening to donald trump is fooled. -- this base that is listening to donald trump is fooled. host: thank you so much for the call. sean trende. think it has been an interesting shift on the character debate for those of us who lived through the clinton presidency. donald trump is a more extreme character than bill clinton, but there is some switching in both parties on this issue. the republican base will go to the -- four donald trump. and that does matter. trump's jobonald approval is 43% rather than 33%, and that will have a big impact on the middle elections. if you saw him in the low 20's, you would see republicans losing

60, 80 seats. host: i want to mention your website. the top senate races include florida, missouri, indiana, west virginia, nevada, arizona, north dakota, montana, ohio, texas, michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania, and mississippi. arevast majority of them where democrats are on the ballot. explain to the audience how you are able to take a sampling of the polls and then combing up with the real clear politics average? some statistics and math involved that give the deep answer, without resulting to the large numbers. basically, you know, when you have a single poll, there is always some sort of error involved because you don't know aat the poll is going to have

representative sample, or just in general. sometimes you flip a coin four times in a row and it comes up tales every time. to hedge against that, and that is the best way to think of it, hedge against that -- to head against that, -- to hedge against that, you take multiple samples. if you flip a coin four times and it comes up heads every time, it will be one of those flukes of statistics. but if you have 10 coins in you flip them all forward to times, you will say there is something about -- and you flip them all four times, you will say there is something about that coin. polls andtiple averaging them together, the truth is somewhere in the middle. host: martin is joining us from new jersey. caller: good morning. one of the things that to phone neal said is that all politics

is local. i live in middlesex county where the democrat has anointed the candidates for over 100 years. in my community of east brunswick, which is very , there really are not men are women running for office on the local level or on the congressional level, on the township level. as a result, i am not going to vote in the midterms. whether it is for democrats or republicans. the democrats in middlesex county and in new jersey anoint who is going to run, who will be assembly man or woman position, and as a result, you have to change the situation where people who have a diversified background and an ethnic mix are able to run for election.

host: thank you, morton. guest: yeah, i am really glad we got that comment. it is one of the more interesting things in modern politics. tip o'neill made that comment 30 years ago. and our politics have definitely changed greatly since then. we have more of a national politics today, a politics that is based on national issues. and that does change the character of elections. iu also do still have, and think a lot of people who follow these things don't realize, we do still have genuine political machines in places in this country. new jersey is a state that still has something recognizable. n accountability and can hurt turnout. at the same time, refusing to vote can be self-defeating there.

it is kind of giving in to the machine of what the machine wants. i would encourage voters everywhere to make your voice heard. host: let's turn to one of the key battleground states, north dakota. being challenged by kevin cramer. on your site, based on the polling from the spring and early summer, you give the edge to the republican, but barely by .5%. if we can go to this but the codefendant rates and show it to our audience. let's look at one of the ad now on the air in north dakota for heidi heitkamp. [video clip] >> i was a deputy sheriff for 42 years and i voted for the president. unfortunately, kevin cramer must've misled. heidi voted several times for legal immigrants to convict crimes. lawn orderough attorney general, and we need to

keep her in the senate. >> i'm heidi heitkamp and i approved this message. host: the democrat heidi heitkamp seeking another term. this is a state where donald trump won and 2016. this is the ad on the air for kevin cramer. [video clip] >> president trump on heidi heitkamp and the democrat agenda. pres. trump: democrats want judges who will rewrite the constitution. the democrats are always fighting against funding for the military, and funding for law enforcement. for any democrat in november is a vote for schumer, pelosi and -- democrats want open borders and for horrible sanctuary cities. every single democrat, voted against our tax cuts.

you need a senator who doesn't just talk like they are from north dakota. but votes like they are from north dakota. and that is kevin cramer. [applause] as you look at the north dakota senate race, what are you sensing on the ground? how much support does the president have? and is the cabin not nomination critical for heidi heitkamp? guest: all indications are that the president remains popular in north dakota. he is not in a 70% approval situation, but he is deafening more popular than that. you can see that in both ads for both candidates are trying to attach themselves to president trump. the brett kavanaugh nomination is a tough vote for heidi heitkamp and all the democrats running that trump carried by

substantial majorities. because the way you win as a candidate in the states is by convincing enough republicans that you are close enough to them on issues they care about that had you in the senate is were some of the votes you might cast if they don't like. for heidi heitkamp, it is a very tough call because the democratic base in the state does not want her to vote for brett kavanaugh. she risks alienating them if she votes. at the same time, republicans are invested in this as well, and was sorely alienate -- and would certainly alienate some by voting no. host: some states like florida, tennessee, indiana, north dakota, arizona and nevada. right now, you west virginia, which is a senator running for second term and light blue. what does that tell you? guest: this is a race that a lot

of people thought would be very close. it may end up close by the end of the cycle. but what we have seen in the polls is that joe manchin, and democrat, blue-collar on personality level comes actually polling quite well. he is not above 50%, which is still a danger sign, but is close. for right now, at least, we think joe manchin has the edge. the most of the undecideds very much like the president and approve of his job. so we suspect that those will break against joe manchin. will benator manchin among the first them across to me with brett kavanaugh this week. marcia is joining us from port, oregon. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. yes, i wanted to mention really

quick that i am working on my doctorate and getting to the end here in business administration. that iwanted to say was am pretty sure that president trump understands negotiation theory -- negotiation very, very well. i don't think it is a bad thing yellow president coming in with economic --with an with an economist background. i think people should not put in motion into everything -- put emotion into everything. host: thank you for the call. we will get a response. guest: first, congratulations for working on the end of your doctorate. that is a huge accomplishment. there is a debate actually among pundits as to what degree president trump is playing chess

and what degree he is playing checkers. and you get heated debates on one side or the other. we have seen instances where the president has acted more strategic than he is giving -- then he is given credit for. at the same time, i don't think you can chalk everything up to him being a master chessplayer. politics is about perception. if the american people don't understand what you are doing and you start to give off this perception of not knowing what you are doing, even if you are plan some sort of chess, it hurts you and her ability to get your agenda through. host: does the mueller investigation impact the midterm elections? lott: you know, i think a -- borrowing some sort of true bombshell dropped at the last moment and an october surprise, or an indictment of the president or a close family

member, i think a lot of the mueller stuff is well baked in by this point. i think people have their process -- iow the think people have their opinions on how to process the mueller investigation. i don't think it will likely change the trajectory of things. joe donnelly seeking a second term. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. and thank you for your excellent guest as usual. i have a personal, and a question. my personal comment is i am one of the independent voters that trump lost. i completely regret having voted for him in the last election. and i will do everything in my power to change the situation. my question is this -- host: why do you regret it? caller: i have had my internet neutrality attacked. i see a president that appears

to angiving safe harbor individual, putin, who seems to be the driver behind state-sponsored cyber attacks. their power grid will be attacked soon. this is an act of war, if nothing else. this is the legal definition of treason. isoray for comfortable about a verydent who has -- i feel uncomfortable about a president will slide since being in office -- about a president who has lied since being in office. i regret my decision. i need to be able to trust the commander -- the commander-in-chief and i don't trust this president. host: thank you for the call from indiana. see a lot ofk you what i was talking about to the

last question. let's assume donald trump is play some type of chess. and i heard people say that trump is nice to putin in person because thing he is allowed greater attitude to do anti-russian actions. and there have been some web and quiet like the disarming of ukrainian rebels in the bombing in syria. those are not things russia really wants. i have no idea whether that is true are not because i am not a foreign-policy expert. but what i do know is that a lot of american voters have gotten the impression that he is playing along with putin. and if there is some larger strategy here, he is not communicating it to the voters. and that is one of the things that you cannot separate politics from policy. if your policy does not match up with public perception, you will pay a price and you will lose voters, like the last caller. host: final question for you -- as you look at the historical trends for a party in power

based on that, what can we expect in november? guest: there have been three exceptions dating back to the civil war. going into the selection of republicans would have a rough one. what makes this different issue have a president who has a job approval and the low 40's. yellow number of retirements in vulnerable seats. now, the only saving grace for the republicans is that the economy is going strong. that will convince some voters in the end. but i suspect and again, there is a lot of football left to be played. but i suspect you will see something on the order of democratic majority in the 230 seats. host: sean trende is joining us from columbus, ohio parikh his work is available at realclearpolitics.com.

thank you for being with us. we will continue to track the races in the debates as we move into the general elections. our phone lines are open. tell us what is on your mind this morning. 202-748-8000 is a lie for democrats. is the line for republicans. if you are an independent, 202-748-8002. we will be back in a moment. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span come over history unfolds daily. created as aan was public service by america's cable television companies. and today, we continue to bring unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington, d.c., and around the country.

she's been is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> monday night on the communicators, british conservative party member -- is interviewed by reuters reporter david shepardson. >> so, what is a concern of tech companies? do you see this location post brexit? >> there are a number of concerns. one is immigration. tech companies complain at the moment is access to the best global talent. they said, look at silicon valley. they have the best talent in the world. they want access to the best talent in the world. is of the things i am saying they don't give priorities to europeans, but we can reach out to the best talent in the world. >> watch the communicators on

c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: the house is out for the august recess returning after labor day. the senate is in session with the president meeting with italian prime minister this weekend back on the campaign trail. we have about 20 minutes and want to open our phone lines. tell us what you are thinking. a look at what happens when climate change forces an entire country to seek higher ground. the essay by joshua keating. walt from pittsburgh, pennsylvania, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning to you and everybody out there. i just have a comment to make. i read on the internet somewhere, i did not come up with this line, that if president walked across the potomac, the headlines in the papers in the mainstream media is that trump cannot swim. that is pretty much hits to the

fact. you would be promoting these headlines on this program. give the guy a chance. here is a guy that is not a politician. he's not the smoothest man in the world, but i think he's pretty sharp. and everything he has done so far, given take a few, he cuts right to the bone. he is the only one that could've survived this onslaught against him with this russian crap. this is like a joke. this is hard to watch. this is like watching "twilight zone" stuff. unbelievable. magazine, a ate" stacey abrams, the democratic candidate vying for the open gubernatorial seat and brian kemp, the republican candidate. in this story from "the chicago organization obama pushing back the groundbreaking

date of the presidential center after the federal review process was delayed for second time the summer. more details on the tribune website. next from west virginia, james is on the phone. good morning. democrat's line. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i have a personal comment and a comment about joe manchin. office,nton got out of we had no deficit at that time. the republicans destroyed that and put us greatly in debt. you can thank the republicans for putting us in debt. also, mr. mansion is a fine, upstanding family man who fights for west virginia. when the republicans tried to cut food stamps people in this state, he fought back so the kids have something to eat now. he fought for their health care so they got their health care now. i urge every body in west virginia to vote for joe manchin

, and to keep a check on this , administration got in washington, d.c. thank you for taking my call. host: thank you. and this is from the washington times, and the headline that the gop setting a deadline for the kavanaugh documents. the democrats saying they want more, but on friday, that chair of the senate committee said he is in a wall over documents from judge kavanaugh's past and mood unilaterally to request another -- to request a more limited set of papers from his time in the bush white house. welcome to the program. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: you have always been my favorite until kimberly came around. what happened to kimberly? host: kimberly is doing a lot more with nbc.

because of her schedule, she's no longer to do this. caller: oh, you guys did not bump her offer something? host: she was a freelancer. caller: i hope she comes back. her professionalism and interaction with the callers was fantastic, just like yours, brother. she barely edged you out. host: that's ok. she is smarter and better looking, so no worries. caller: but not as well dressed. you're still the most well-dressed guy in the world. but anyway, that is beside the point. do me a favor. i know you have this 30 day rule, which i adhere to. whereu also have the rule , called on the line it represents you. you know, when these republicans, they seem to jim me the- jam me up on democratic and republican line.

if you are calling in on the wrong line intentionally, i understand accidents happen. but if you call intentionally and you know well and good that, you know, then you should have two of the opposite parties, you know what i mean? you cannot let them get away with this. republicans cheat. in elections, you would think the person with the most votes would win the election. republicanst two president was -- the lester republican presidents did not get the popular vote and i understand the electoral college. anyway, all i am saying is, it is like republicans really don't matter to them. they apply to every body else but to them. ,f you can get stephanie miller you know, on the line to get her opinion? host: she has been on the

network in the past. andif you go to the website type in q&a, you could see the interview. with heronnection father who ran with their he goldwater in 1964 -- barry goldwater in 1964. caller: yes. anyway, i am so glad i got through to talk to you, brother. host: we will pass on your well wishes to kimberly. caller: get her back when you can. host: she is in our building often. she is doing a lot more work with saudi other networks. john is joining us from clinton, new jersey, the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: great, how are you? caller: great. i was calling about the congressional and senate races. in the senate races, here in jersey and pennsylvania, i am not sure what the status is. caseyght it was senator

in pennsylvania, like a tossup or close. i cannot believe that. no casey is ever going to lose in pennsylvania. his father was governor, auditor general and he has won every race. i do not think pennsylvania is going to go republican this fall. however, in new jersey, where we have not had republican u.s. senator since clifford case in menendezs with bob going on trial and getting convicted of corruption, , andioned by the senate ironically, both of these colonies were born in the same city, union city, new jersey. host: let me show you. this is from the real clear politics mapping you can see the navy blue. that is solid in the cracks.

the lighter shade of blue -- democrats.id the lighter shade of blue means it could flip to a republican seat in the senate. ast would be significant democrats are hoping to regain control of the senate were republicans are trying to maintain control. fox news is listing this as a race to watch. know,: well, i mean, you like i said, there are no republican senators since 1971 or 1972. it would be a total shock. but menendez is in a lot of trouble with all of his shenanigans. host: you are a democrat, right? caller: yes i am. host: republicans have won in new jersey. caller: yes, but the problem is, new jersey republicans win

governorships, but not senate seats. reason, the senate seats foul democrats all the way . i don't think it is so solid. enough about him or if he could generate enough popularity. i think menendez is in big trouble. host: john, thank you for the call, and check out the analysis about the races you are talking about. caller: ok. that would be a true shock, even though it is listed. host: that would give the republicans a seat they did not initially count on. tennessee, if, in the democrats pick up that seat, that is a seat republicans hope they could maintain paris a lot to watch. a someo sandy running

youngstown, ohio on the independent line. good morning. caller: hi. i kind of agree with that one about "thelked twilight zone," because trump is being accused of something he did not do by democrats. but the democrat who did something is off. they are saying the republicans are breaking all the rules, which is not true. and all you democrats who don't understand what is going on, watch a different channel for a change. democrat, they are letting all of these illegals vote. you are going to be living in a communist country. i hope you enjoy it because you better wake up. host: thank you for the call. post, thisshington opinion piece -- will the republican party become the party of white backlash? you can read it online at

washingtonpost.com. we will go to carol in new york. good morning. caller: hi. host: good morning. how are you, carol? caller: i'm good. i just got a say, i am a registered democrat. i don't always agree with my own party. sides, the both republicans and the democrats, they are acting like schoolchildren. together andrking coming up with solutions. know, we got the power, you know? it is our way. with all the name-calling. and instead of working together, they are just some of you know,

dividing the country more, and pulling us further apart and further away. everything. i think people need to focus. i watched other channels, other news channels, you know. all different sections, you know? the ultimate things we all need to get along. host: carol, thank you for the call. from the hill newspaper, midterms likely to be the most expensive ever as the tv at task -- as the tv ads get to the billion dollar mark. host: good morning. caller: how are you doing? i am for protection for climate control. , i'm for the tax cut,

but i am not everything for trump says -- with trump says. if trump is doing illegal stuff with russians, our congress, which is mostly republican, and the senate, should do something about. i am for protection for the country. a lot of good things are done, not from trump, from the senate and from congress. trump is talking a big game. kind ofe, we have all troubles all of the world, turkey and all kinds of stuff. he is not doing nothing. i am a republican that wants to see things done, not just big talk. he is talking immigration and the border. there is other stuff going on. you can protect the border without big wars. put more security. this is money. meanwhile, they want to build hotels in moscow and all of that. oure, that is not what republican party should be caring more about. host: thank you for the call.

talking our program by to ramin mostaghim. you can check it out on washingtonpost.com. , this is from a viewer saying, if we vote democratic, you will become a communist country. how do you explain donald trump sitting down with kim jong-un and putin calling them wonderful leaders? this is from donna saying i cannot take any more right wing callers. vote, blessegals her heart. from nashville tennessee, good morning. caller: i was just wondering. there are so many points i want to get to, but how can democrats become interest when russia is communist, china's communist? for 50 years, all you heard was

the cold war, cold war, cold war. -- now, trump is negotiating. we knew what fox news said. why don't you show some other things and the republican said about obama? what about one obama first became -- what about when obama first came into office and they said, they would not work with this man? those republicans, extremist, what ever you want to call them -- every time and talk about obama, show them what congress said. they would not work with that man. said.s what he that is what they said. now, when you look at all of the stuff going on, every time republicans get in office, when trump was in office, when bush was in office, they owned the voting machines. why don't you play back -- why don't you play that clip when it was all said and done?

host: john, thank you for the call. from politico, despite the president's assurances, real concern about election security the state struggling to protect the 2020 election. details of politico.com. james with this tweet -- immigration is the number one issue to americans. democrats lose in november. from mike saying the lady from new york made a good point. independent and i vote for who i want to. we'll donald trump is the first republican i ever voted for the presidency. loretto is joining us from cleveland, ohio. welcome to the program. caller: good morning, america. i am thinking that trump will lose at midterms and in 2020 because he ripped up everything and said he was going to redact it could he ripped up obamacare

and did not of -- going to read acted. he ripped up obamacare and did not replace it. immigration, did not replace it. itn deal, didn't replace appears screwed up north korea and did not replace it. and this replacing it will take down the american people. investigation, trump knew about that meeting because he wrote the letter for donald, jr. -- could you read a letter how could you write a letter about something you did not know about? host: looking at those families separated as they try to cross the border illegally. deleted families, sign of chaos

-- a sign of chaos and policy. from maine, scott is next. caller: good morning. as to whenurious viewers will wake up and realize both parties are pretty much owned by corporations. and the president is just somebody who comes and goes every four years. for thesically a parrot corporations and the powers that be. this has been going on for so long that the average person nowadays just talks about it like it is some kind of a game show or like buying a lottery ticket. i don't know. i am just really dumbfounded by the whole black of information -- the whole lack of information people have about this whole thing. host: thank you to all of you for your calls and comments and we are back tomorrow morning. washington journal can be also

heard on the radio. we will have a guest from third way to talk about the role moderates. will talk about how security clearances work. as the president attempts to revoke security clearances by those who work in administrations. then we take a deep dive into the new tax law. stephen bertoni will be joining us. tomorrow morning on c-span's "washington journal." newsmakers is next. check out american history tv on c-span3. thank you for joining us on the sunday. enjoy the rest of your weekend and i hope you have a great week ahead.

>> next, "newsmakers" with senator bn carden of maryland. then secretary of state mike pompeyo. then house minority whip outlines the democrats' plan to create jobs. >> joining us from baltimore for today's "newsmakers" is a member of the foreign relations committee. senator ben carden of maryland. guest: it's good to be with you. host: we have in studey, the ite house reporter and the sociated press chief congressional correspondent. >> i wanted to ask you a little bit about what seemed to have been a pretty consequential we