americans united for life's den discusses supreme court nominee judge brett frontline'snd pbs martin smith discusses his documentary on immigrant children separated at the u.s.-mexico border. host: it's the "washington journal." for this last day of july in president trump travels to florida today. you can see the rally at 7:00 on c-span2. go to our website at c-span.org for more information. president trump used a press conference yesterday to reiterate the idea of potentially shutting down the

government in order to achieve his goals for border security including funding of a border wall. congressional republicans say that won't happen especially because of the potential impact on november's midterm elections. this idea of sitting down government to achieve border security efforts, what do you think about it? do you agree or disagree? pick of the line that best represents you and tell us why you agree or disagree with this concept. you can also post on our twitter feed. you can post on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. the washington times picks up this press conference with the italian prime minister yesterday in which the president talked about border security issues.

said the president would not flinch. an agreementcked on spending bills that mr. trump struck last week with republican leaders putting immigration front and center in the midterm election campaigns and raising questions about exactly what sort of shutdown the president had in mind. debate thatyears of a comp was nothing to secure the border or fix the broken immigration system, trump said he wanted results or else. you can to the total press conference on c-span. here is the portion from yesterday that dealt with immigration. >> as far as the border is concerned, and personally, if we don't get border security, after many, many years of talk within the united states, i would have no problem doing a shutdown. it's time we had proper border

security. we are the laughing stock of the world. we have the worst immigration laws anywhere in the world. another take on this statement from the president yesterday. two reporters writing it that the president agreed on a fight for the wall. the president has privately agreed to a potential shutdown until after the midterm elections, saying that one possibility is coupling more modest immigration law changes with some midterm spending bills needed to keep the government running. mr. trump promised during the campaign to build a law along the country's southern border as part of his plan to be tougher on immigration. the president said monday he had

no red line on what would satisfy his funding demand. as previously indicated, he wants $5 billion in the next fiscal year for the wall. withu agree or disagree this concept of shutting down government over this funding for the wall and other matters of border security, you can let us know this morning. 202-748-8000 if you agree with that. 784-8001 if you disagree. bob in wisconsin starts us off. he agrees. tell us why. caller: good morning. i am a veteran and a very proud american. i am tired of illegals breaking our laws and democrats supporting them. sometimes you need harsh medicine to fix a cure. i blame obama democrats for what we are in.

i agree with the president because they have attacked him ever since he has won the democrats. maybe this is a way of fixing our security. i serve my nation, not lawbreakers. is the value of shutting down the government in order to achieve this? caller: in a sense, like in the military 11 guy screwed up we all got punished, the democrats are messing up america, and this is a cure to get them to wake up. we, the people are more important than illegals who break our law. i believe the president is doing the right thing and i blame obama. host: the president following up on this idea of border security in a tweet this morning saying one of the reasons we need great security is because mexico's murder rate in 2017 increased by 27%. democrats want open borders, i

want a maximum border security and respect for price and our great law professionals. that is some of the thinking from the president on this idea of using a shutdown to achieve the goals on border security. you can let us know if you agree or disagree on this concept. i think reparations line thatw for a rail was introduced by andrew jackson 1892, a rail car that ran on steam, the size of a hummer. host: i am sorry, but border security is the topic. what do you think about that? caller: i disagree. host: why so? caller: because i think we need a rail line.

weightll need a light rail line that can carry supplies to the border, and carry water to supply the workers. host: let's go to bob in tyler, texas. caller: i say we shut down , and shutdown the constitution until we reopen that. host: what do you mean by that? caller: article for, section four plainly states that federal government shall protect the states against invasion. nobody is even talking about that. we are ignoring the constitution. why should we have a government that ignores the constitution? host: do you worry about that impact of a shutdown on these midterm elections as other republicans have expressed concern about? caller: i worry about obeying the constitution.

partisanorried about tribalist parties. host: politico reporting saying that currently, government funding is expected to run out 36 days before the midterm election. republicans control both the senate and house along with the presidency. have put the blame on democrats for not passing immigration reform. ministerd his of should is working hard to passport a security legislation, improve vetting, and establish a merit-based immigration system. adding that the idea of this $25 billion for a while is not a red line for him, but bringing up the idea for a shutdown in order to achieve the goals. we are asking if you agree or disagree with that concept. larry in mississippi saying he disagrees. caller: the senate passed a good

bill, and it went to the house, and the republicans wouldn't even come to a vote. i blame the republicans. they make up their own truth. they are liars. leave, this you idea of a shutdown, what do you think? he is gone. let's go to samantha in jamaica, new york. caller: i don't think they should. host: tell us why. caller: because i never met an american. person.met an american host: the washington post this morning, a story taking a look at some of the idea or perspective from republicans on the house saying it was mitch ryan sayingd paul they have laid out a strategy to fund more than half of the federal agent these by september

30, putting some of the more contentious fights such as money for the presidents border wall until after the elections. the presidents conflicting encouraging and private, hard-line in public, call into question whether or not the gop leaders plan will succeed. the president's comments inject uncertainty into an appropriations process that had been somewhat surprisingly moving along in congress with few glitches. i confident we can avoid a shutdown, he told the washington post on sunday. the reporter adding that the president has showed repeatedly that he can be erratic. someone who agrees with this concept is ralph in washington,

d.c. caller: i have been watching for a long time, and i will tell you right now that the republicans don't want to control it. the real republicans don't want to control it because it breaks up the unions. the more illegals get into the country, the more you break the unions. it lowers wages. the democrats don't want to do it because they only work for the professionally offended and victims of the nation. they see getting more votes. the problem is, these people represent 10%-12% of the workforce. what that has done is devastated the blue-collar workforce. the black labor, black wages in this country have fallen when everybody else is going up. at the same time, and makes the american worker and high rebel. if you can hire an illegal, works and into the ground and pay them no benefits, why would you fire a -- hire un-american

-- an american? host: what about this use of a shutdown? caller: i think it's the only way to bring these guys to the table to do it. they don't have to build a physical wall. there are examples of an electronic system that can work for 90% of the border. bigoesn't have to be some -- and it doesn't have to cost $60 billion. they don't want it. i think the only way to bring them to the table is to shut them down. otherwise, we are going to end up like california. they used to have the best schools in the country. now they have the bottom. they now have one third of the welfare recipients in that one state. their budget has blown out of proportion. it has gotten so bad that they want to do five the state -- divide the state.

one editorial taking a look at this idea of border wall funding. it says the wall is less realistic than ever given the various fiscal hold that the president and other enablers are digging. year, called for a 10 $1.5 trillion infrastructure program. forecasters say the republican tax cut, which was supposed to pay for it health through sustained, high economic growth, will instead add $1 trillion to the deficit in the coming decade. mexico still hasn't sent the payment check trump promised. republican leaders saying they can talk about it later. the danger of course, is they actually might if they retain their majority. voters must exercise the chance on november 6 to install a congress willing to impose the checks and balances that this

rambunctious chief executive so clearly needs. our disagree line from philadelphia, pennsylvania, james is next. go ahead, you are on. caller: i disagree with president trump on the wall. i think that he is doing it for his own personal gain, and for his people who support him. i don't think this will help our country, because we can find other means to protect our border. it's too much money. host: what do you mean by that? caller: it means that he gains the kids -- because he can keep the mexicans out and that will keep the voting numbers down, because this is what it is about. this border wall would help to accomplish that. host: when you say this could be

achieved by other means, could you elaborate on that? electronic surveillance, passing laws that will help out the employment of the mexicans coming across our also where the blacks and browns can also make a .iving by having a higher wage willie is from columbus, mississippi. go ahead. caller: i don't think the wall will work. what are you going to do while off mexico -- wall off mexico? the great chinese wall

[indiscernible] if we build a wall along the , they will crawl through mexico. this is ridiculous. you cannot divide north america. this won't work. host: here is how the announcement is being played by members of congress. representative jim jordan saying that in the spending ball this should fund the border security wall, reduce spending outside of defense, defund planned parenthood. another saying border security is national security. the resistant has stolen the

dnc. send reinforcements to our house gop.we also need a much stronger and senate gop . time for deeds, not words. another saying the real donald trump is threatening to shut on the federal government in september if congress doesn't give him a billions in tax dollars to build a border wall with mexico. remember, your pro-walt republicans control the u.s. house and u.s. senate. another saying we have had this discussion about the border wall. it militarize is border wastesties, raises -- taxpayer money and race havoc on the environment. that is just some of the reaction you will see in congress to this idea of shutting down the government over border security. you can give your thoughts if you agree with this idea, 202- 748-8000.

-9=8001.isagree, 202-748 you can also post on our social media page. reporter saying president trump is threatening to shut down the government if the democrats don't give him the votes. the border wall was one of his primary campaign promises. i would think if mexico puts up the money, congress would have no problem paying for it. mexico has said it would not. congress would not appropriate the money for the wall. trump is not prepared for the consequences if he shuts down the government. if he does it, voters are going to blame him and not the democrats. the consequences will not be pretty. by the way, i am a republican.

any agrees and it's from illinois. i agree that we need to shut it down. i know it costs money to shut the government down, but in the long run, we have to get this under control, moneywise. the money we paid for the roomsls going to our er and the havoc they cause. just look at california. that tells the whole story. that is my whole opinion. just look at california. this idea thatt if a shutdown happens before the november elections, it's going to be republicans to blame and not democrats. caller: it doesn't matter who is going to get blamed. the united states is more important. shut it down, build a wall, get immigration under control.

have whoever in charge. no more who is going to get blamed. we don't care who is going to get blamed. we care more about america. host: ok. jodi says, let me get this straight. a government who chooses to shut down the government rather than run it, how are they in charge? jim says when has a wall ever worked? let's discuss the berlin wall. we have a caller in maryland. for a strangee reason. for me, it shows republicans how much we need government. every time the government shuts down, it's mostly the people who need government the most. there are a lot of republicans who need government. the other thing is that the government actually, if you shut

it down, it will slow down the republican agenda, which i am happy about. it will shut down the whole supreme court thing, all of the horrible stuff i think the republicans are doing. the last thing is that a gentleman called before and said that we have to protect america from being attacked. we have been attacked. our president is not doing anything about it. i wonder when republicans are going to wake up and realize that a border wall is not going to stop attacks, especially cyber attacks of this country. host: jim is next in north dakota. we get lost sometimes when everybody concentrates on the border issue, and we forget about, they keep telling us how horrible we are for the separation issue that happened under obama first, and then trump. johnson that

expanded those holding cells and built those detention centers. this country is still the most open place and most compassionate place on earth. we keep forgetting that we taken 1.2 million people a year legally. thousands, tens of thousands of refugees. here in north dakota, they are bringing in thousands of somali muslims. back, it is aome teachable moment about the old adage of the frog in the tepid water. you put a frog in water and turn up the heat slowly, it doesn't know it's being cooked. when i come back to north dakota, every time i come here, it is more like -- i saw two or three muslims in the whole city, and now they are bringing in thousands and it

changes the whole culture, the codes of civility, texture of life. everything is altered. whether it is good or bad, that is up for you to decide. host: what do you think about using the shutdown of a tall? caller: i wish the republicans would start doing what the republicans do, and that is frame it in an environmental sense. whenever congress people said about how this reach have it. the mexican migration across arizona has wreaked havoc on native american sites and some of the great park systems. they start fires. we have a carrying capacity, environmentally. we are up to 330 million people. about backlways talk home in pennsylvania, they call it open space. they want to preserve the force. i might there with you. you can't have it both ways.

host: gotcha. from california, let's go to carolyn, actually from north carolina. caller: i disagree. number one, let him shut it down. he is always crying about it, but he has made enough money since he has been in office to take that profit and let him build the wall and we pay him back. maybe that will turn the coat a little bit. all of the people right now can't afford to build a wall. what is going to happen when that wall is built and we are attacked and we need our neighbors to help us? maybe you need to stop having temper tantrums and sit down and really work with the people and all of the people of the united states, instead of thinking about himself. that is what i feel right now. all president trump does is talk about him, what he is going to

do, and not work with the people in the united states of america of what we want. we will focus on the other stories as we continue to take agree ors on if you disagree with the idea of shutting down the government over border security. one piece takes a look at paul manafort's trial which starts today in washington, d.c. with bankn charged fraud, conspiracy to commit bank also failure to file reports of foreign banks and financial accounts. the government is currently recommending that he serve eight of the 10 years if he is convicted. as a result of their work with ukraine, manafort and gates made tens of millions of dollars between 2006 and 2015. neither paid taxes on that

income, classifying it as loans from offshore entities. according to the government, they then used the money to purchase, refurbish and refinance their real estate holdings in the u.s. those are some of the pieces going up. sandra on our disagree line in michigan. caller: i totally disagree with shutting down the government. as far as the wall, i think the wall would be a waste of money because they continue digging tunnels like they have been doing. that is all they do. they will get in anyway by digging those tunnels. as far as donald trump's better,, he promised us cheaper health care. he put health care as part of the tax break. 13 million kids lost health care insurance. host: thank you, let's go to jose in grand prairie, texas. caller: i disagree for a couple

of reasons. i don't keep up with too much of it. i remember seeing chuck schumer on the senate floor talk about how, on a number of occasions, he had offered funding for the walter president trump and he refused it. wall for president trump and he refused it. americans on of fixed incomes who rely on snap benefits. i'm not talking about lazy people who don't want to work, and talking about disabled americans who are unable to work for whatever reason, have a legitimate disability or a legitimate reason to be on this welfare, and they need those benefits to survive on a monthly basis. if you shut down the government, not only is he not going to

receive what he is looking for, because he has already been offered what he is looking for and he refuses the deal that is offered to him. at the same time, he is going to be hurting americans. also, they talk about burning down the forests and all of that in arizona, but at the same time, these people are coming over here. nexuci --age in mexico is $.43 an hour. i just wanted to say that whenever those who i disagree with have a really that idea that they want to latch onto, it's always really good for you. this is basically a gift that keeps on giving. knows that, most people

understand that 70% of all undocumented people staying here are from overstaying visas. if we just adopted e verify as a federal law, if the house and senate passed it making it a law applyl people to either before they get a job, and also if we just dealt with maybe having two weeks before people's visas expired, making them actually check in with someone, and then we would know those people who are going to overstay their visas. again, this is a problem. this is not the way to solve the problem. janice ins go to brooklyn, new york. caller: i disagree. i think he talks out of both sides of his mouth. pay.exico

which taxesstate they want to go up to pay for the wall. all, when the question was asked, will the trump companies sign saying they will do internships, she couldn't say yes. she didn't want to put americans to work. no, don't pay for the wall. host: ok, this is drew in arizona. think, first of all it's important to explain what a government shutdown actually is. i think i've heard a lot of callers that are very confused about that. one was talking about social security payments and food stamps not going out. that is not true. all payments go out.

this decision was already decided in 2016. the people that are calling in are mostly people that don't like trump anyways. that was his main campaign promise. that was why he beat out 17 other republicans. it is the establishment that is in congress that is causing this problem. host: are you saying that if a shutdown were to take place, there would be no political ramifications, november? politicalthink the ramifications would be against the establishment as they were in 2016 which got donald trump in office to begin with. host: the president had support today for a rally that will take place at 7:00 at of tampa, florida. it will be on c-span2. one of the people he is going to be supporting is republican ron desantis. says a newporter.com

ad of his house many of the ideas of donald trump saying that he released a new campaign ad on monday showcasing his ability to build a wall. he makes no secret of his affection for the president. it also features narration by his wife who begins by telling viewers that everyone knows my husband is enforced by president trump. here is the ad. >> everyone knows my husband is endorsed by president trump. he is also an amazing dad. ron loves playing with the keys. he reads stories. >> then mr. trump said, you are fired. >> he is teaching madison to talk. >> make america great again. >> people say he is all trump, but he is so much more. i just thought you should know. there are 98 days until

the november elections. as you can imagine, there are a lot of ads coming out from the candidates and third-party groups. one of those profiled in the washington examiner late yesterday saying it was targeting claire mccaskill of missouri with a hard-hitting ad about her husband's past. the states highly contested senate race, and its departure from the club is attempting to undercut mccaskill's support among women. against hertions husband by his ex-wife. >> over 500 requests for sheltering assistance for domestic violence victims go unmet. victims of cry for help. is claire mccaskill listening? even after her husband was

accused of abusing his then them, another for slap in the face for victims. mccaskill's campaign had several responses. they released a brief statement from the ex-wife blasting the attacks, saying i support claire and hope she is reelected. the attack is terribly unfair in the worst kind of disgusting, dirty politics. claire will not be discussing her husband divorce which occurred more than 20 years ago. missourians deserve so much better. quotes one campaign

spokeswoman saying he doesn't like personal attacks. that is some of the information coming out with the 90 odd something days until the november elections. again, that is part of the positioning that brings the president into this as of yesterday, talking about this idea of a shutdown. int before those elections, order to achieve efforts on border security. if you agree with this idea of a 748-8000. 202- 748-8001.sagree, 202-7 caller: last night i was watching a show, and i kind of agree with the caller from illinois and north dakota in reference to what they had to say.

this show i was watching last night had an arrogant illegal alien lawyer from new york city talk about he is a grievant to ice and open borders. it makes no damn sent to me that he has somebody on their talking and theing this, democratic party needs to come on board and start securing this. thoughts onersonal the potential shutdown and what it achieves, what are those that go -- those? caller: as far as security is concerned, if there are multiple ways of doing this, you don't need a wall the costs the whole united states. to start somewhere and a straightness immigration stuff

out. host: is a shutdown a good way to achieve this in your opinion? caller: maybe so. host: why do you think that? it might be getting somebody's attention. i don't like it. it seems like both parties don't want to fix this problem. it's a problem that we need to fix. host: let's hear from patricia in iowa. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i don't agree. that never does anyone any good. it ends up costing the taxpayer. i think part of the president's agenda is that he has led this country with fear and

intimidation and disinformation. i think he just wants everybody talking about it. i don't think he will ever consider doing that. i don't think the republicans will let him do that. i think it is just to get everybody all stirred up. division. i don't know. i don't understand this president's national agenda, or the international agenda. half the time, i don't even know what he is talking about. host: there is a story in the abouty area.com website the former mayor of oakland and a longtime member of the u.s. house of representatives. he was 82 and described as a fiery antiwar activist who served multiple terms in congress. he later took over as mayor of to 2011.rom 2007

he was the first african-american man to serve in congress. he led the drive to sanction south africa during apartheid, challenge u.s. entry into wars and increased military spending. a longtime adviser said that he died early monday in his home. washington, d.c. dying of cancer. after hearing about the news of his passing, bill clinton took to twitter writing that he was intelligent and philosophical. he spoke truth to power and appealed to america's conscience why champing to those who were left out and left behind whether they were across the bay in the nation or across the world. tim from florida agreeing with the idea of a shutdown. caller: hi. i agree with the shutdown. if that is what our president, president trump thinks should

happen, i agree with him. he was voted in because there are so many people out there who agree with what he said he is going to do. i want it to happen if that is what he thinks. i do also think that all of these people, everything he does, the democrats are against it. host: when it comes to the shutdown, what do you think it achieves in the long run? caller: if that is what he has to do to get them to get on board, that is what needs to happen. host: ok. bob in plano, texas. caller: i am a realtor. i have been through a few government shutdowns in my career. every time that happens, mostly loan.-class does an fha it is government in short. number,n't get the case those poor people are not going to close on time.

i'm going to lose money, they're going to potentially lose their home, and it's creating a whole risk through the middle class. i can't believe that tromp, being a middle state -- real estate local is not thinking about it. maybe he just doesn't think about stuff like that. i think most people don't consider that. as far as the border goes, they all going to dig under it anyway. i don't agree with that either. that that whole event featured the president and the attire and the entire prime minister in which he made these statements, go to our website at c-span.org any confined that there. here is a little bit more from the president. >> we need border security. border security includes the wall, but many other things as well. we have to end the lottery, the chain. disaster.is like a

you bring one person in an you end up with 32 people. we have to end these horrible catch and release principles where you catch somebody, you take their name and you release them. you don't even know who they are. and that they are supposed to come back to a court case when they want us to hire thousands of judges. the whole thing is ridiculous. we have to change our laws. we do that through congress. i would certainly be willing to close it down to get it done. we are already approving things in various bills, including we are going to be taking care of the military. we always put though military and law enforcement very high. i would be certainly willing to consider a shutdown if we don't get proper border security. host: you can continue to call in on that topic. one of the other things that came out of the press conference was a discussion of their lease of statements on iran. the president saying he would

meet with the president of iran, saying that a meeting between the two presidents is exceedingly unlikely, especially -- feelings ofr leaders. the foreign ministry spokesman made that clear on monday, with current america and these policies, there will definitely not be the possibility of dialogue and engagement. the united states has shown it is totally unreliable, he said at a news conference. the american repudiation of the nuclear agreement and the restored sanctions, he said, i think there are no conditions for such a discussion at all. carl is next in chicago. i just want to speak to two things. the wall, people don't seem to

wall doesn'the mean anything to donald trump. the substance of what a wall is, it's all rhetorical. you can tell him, you can have a virtual wall that can be impenetrable, he would still complain, we have to have a physical wall. it's all because that is what he says. the substance of this does not matter.the second thing is , apparently people are not really listening to the idea he is putting forth about who should be here in this country. he basically wants to say that the only people, primarily white people should be allowed to have the privilege to come to this country. everybody else that is not white, we can let them come in and do the jobs and the work that americans don't want to do, but after they get finished with

that, they have to go back out to the out houses. he is talking about racism. he said those people don't deserve the right to come here and have an opportunity to be an american and share the american dream, only white people. this is what is insidious about what he is doing. apparently no one seems to really be understanding that he is drawing a line about we only want what people. host: let's go to gary in spring hill, florida. this is larry. host: apologies, go ahead. caller: i agree that mr. trump should shut this down. itse people calling in, blows my mind that nobody has common sense.

most people are born with common sense. everybody is just against tromp. -- trump. as far as this diversity stuff, people are never going to be happy. they are still talking about slavery days. let's get over it. everybody is doing better. we are doing good. we have got to have a wall. question,me ask you a what is the common sense in shutting down the government over this? caller: something has got to be done. we are getting nothing done. ain't done with mexico yet. you wait until he gets his second term. as far asme ask you, shutting the government down, what do you think it achieves specifically? caller: are we getting anything achieved? resort. last

we can't just sit still and let the democrats sit there and fiddle their fingers. host: you made a couple of points, we have to go on to some other colors. one story taking a look at north korea. another publication saying it is the newly obtained evidence, including satellite photos indicating that work is underway on the possibility of two liquid fuel icbm's of a large research facility on the outskirts of pyongyang. the findings are the latest to show ongoing activity inside north korea's nuclear facilities. on our disagree line, jack from new york. caller: thanks for taking my call. first, i want to say that i am sick and tired of the way donald trump treats us. i really hate it.

i have to ask each and every one of those democrats out there to support -- everyone should be against donald trump. i'm really confused, why should the government be shut down? trump has insisted from the very beginning that mexico was going to pay for this stupid wall. this ands he has said said the american taxpayer would is pay a cent, because he the great deal maker that we have with going to make mexico pay for it. perhaps at his next cap rally, it would be nice if a member of the audience would ask the question to the president. it would be innovation and plain lies. haveently, trump doesn't the legal or constitutional right to shut down the government.

knowledge,ks democratic governance has no desire for public service. host: that is jack in new york. the president may bring up this idea of border security at his rally tonight. he is heading to florida to support several republicans running for office. that campaign rally at 7:00. you can see it on c-span2. guns is theghost topic of the story in the new york times this morning. state officials are trying to block blueprints for 3-d printed guns going online wednesday. efforts in

courthouses and legislatures are aimed at defense distributed, a texas-based nonprofit organization that won permission last month from the state department to post schematics for homemade firearms. on monday, nine states filed a joint lawsuit in federal court in seattle calling on the trump administration to stop the plans from being posted and seeking a nationwide temporary restraining order. by bob ferguson, the attorney general of washington state. separately, 21 state attorney general's sent a letter to jeff sessions and mike pompeo saying that the state department's decision was deeply dangerous and could have unprecedented impact on public safety. 2013battle draws back to when the state department ordered mr. wilson to remove from his website the plans for making the guns a 3-d printer.

2015, arguing that his weapons plans were a form of speech, that his first amendment rights were being stifled. i wanted to have a comment to you. i will tell you why i agree. to putting anything up that wall other than his own self gratification. he should do it. that way we see his true colors. host: a government shutdown is worth it then to make that happen? caller: yes, because it won't last for maybe like a day when they were touting this big government shutdown. can i tell you what i need to say? host: go ahead.

caller: i can't believe that you ads by republican candidates and did not run two ads for the opposing democrat. host: noted. caller: hello. i disagree. i think a government shutdown would cause a lot of problems for the people like me who have an income of less than $25,000 a year. it.e is no reason for it's just a political ploy. going back to shutting down the and everybody blaming the democrats for not doing anything, it seems to me like the obama administration got shut down every time they wanted to do something by the

republicans. what is fair? host: james is next. go ahead. if they are not a veteran, they don't even need to speak. if they never fought for our country. -- voted donald trump and, we voted donald trump in, let him do his job. james, what is the value, what is the worth of shutting down the government over this? caller: because they won't listen to the president. to shut it down, let him shut it down. if he wants to get rid of the democrats and immigrants, we need to. we need to take care of our old people. they hate black people. host: one of the things richard

wolff writes about this morning and usa today takes a look at anthony kennedy, that justice about leaving the supreme court saying that in an era where most government officials are loved by their friends, supreme court justice anthony kennedy departs the bench virtually alone in the middle. at month's, and will leave the court like the white house and congress, with predictable partisans and ideal ogues whose opinions are almost never in doubt. he wrote on landmark decisions on gay rights, religious freedom, abortion immigration, affirmative action, campaign finance and criminal procedure. more on that profile on usa

today. the next five minutes or so, your thoughts on the government shutdown over border security. overr: really, the debate building a wall, whether they should find it or not is a red herring. it's absolutely ridiculous that we are spending time debating this when we have so many people in this country who are hurting, who are making less than $30,000 a year. that is half of the country that makes less than $30,000 a year. trump got elected on xenophobia and putting -- pointing the er at democrats. what about that mail order bride of his? she got an einstein visa. that is supposed to be reported -- reserved for people bringing something to this country.

they are locking up immigrant children and putting them in cages. it goes against everything this country stands for. most all of us are descendents of immigrants. other than the native americans. what aren't we raising the minimum wage? why aren't we getting funding passed to fix this country's crumbling infrastructure? program, a on in the discussion on those apprehensions along the border, particularly when it comes to children. of pbs talks about a new documentary talking about that topic at 8:45 this morning. maryland isext -- next. just.: this is -- jeff. i'm strongly opposed to putting up a wall, but strongly support

border security. there is about 1000 miles or more of the country that doesn't have a wall that doesn't need one, and it would be a waste of taxpayer money to put one there. however, we should be doing everything we can to increase our border security using boots on the ground and technology. there are some areas that i think i would support putting a wall in. as a general concept, it is not needed for the vast majority of the border. money. waste of taxpayer as far as shutting the government down, i disagree with that for ecological and economic reasons. it has a big effect on a lot of businesses and the economy that depends on the government. one person mentioned the real estate industry. many of the national parks get shutdown. you plan a vacation to some place for a year, you take your family somewhere and you get there and it's closed.

you want to talk about somebody that is upset, i have got three kids. one of the things that really bothers me is where did these kids find jobs? why don't they go after employers who hire illegal aliens? go after the people who are hiring these people and you will see some changes. you won't see as many people coming here if the employers that hire them are going to jail. host: let's go to sue. today? how are you doing host: fine, thank you. caller: i am a back and forth on this border wall and government shutdown. i did want to make a reference that you write an article. you said that the first american president, i mean first african-american in congress was some guy. in 1870, the first republican hired.-american was

i wanted to correct you on that. host: what is your ambivalence about the order wall, specifically? caller: we need some kind of wall. this is getting ridiculous with of them coming in. we are getting pedophiles in their, traffickers, drugs. i believe that we need to have a conversation about pedophiles in this country. host: when it comes to the shutdown, are you ambivalent or not? caller: i am. because we need it. we have pedophiles coming in, drug trafficking. host: so you support a shutdown? caller: sure, i do. host: let's go to brian. caller: i disagree. is goingnment shutdown to cause more confusion for the people that work there.

they are the ones that are going to lose the poor people, the people that get v.a. benefit.what about them ? great going to shut down the government? mexico is supposed to pay for the wall. why does our government have to be in the midst of it is a white guy trying to keep the black man from coming into other means. mexicans and all of us dark skinned people. so it seems like it is just being discriminatory policy to keep out of dark skinned people. ok.: we believe it there. other conversations this morning. what it comes to the supreme court, the president's nominee for brett kavanaugh, his stance on pro-life issues. user on, martin smith joins to talk about a new documentary talking about border apprehension and what it does when it comes to children.

those stories are coming up on --shington journal p or come washington journal. >> there are lots of people who feel like i don't want my kids to read stories that are sad, disturbing, downbeat, whatever. that is not a totally illegitimate thing to say. a parent choose as when my kid understand stuff that may bring them grief. but there is a certain point 20 yuan tore 14 and reduce him to the idea that not everything is perfect outside your all-white suburb? so all of this goes together to create the perfect dumpster fire mass censorship of books by marginalized people.

lives sunday, discussing his latest book, "walk away." interact with him by phone, facebook or twitter. ,ur special series in-depth fiction addiction is live sunday at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by americans cable-television companies. you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. "washington journal" continues.

host: steven aden is the general counsel for americans united for life. here to talk is about the nominee for the supreme court. talk about the scope of the work you do? guest: we are the oldest national pro-life adversary organization started two years before roe v. wade. we are active in state legislatures. host: what was the reaction when you found out that a supreme court opening came up, or ticker live when it comes to the issues you advocate? guest: high energy. i think iran screaming down the hall. honestly, a moment where we have been building up to this for a while. and everybody had been talking about it. and when the moment happens, it is surreal.

we had prepared for a long time to talk about potential nominees. host: what is high on your list about kavanaugh? guest: he has been experienced federal appeals court judge. court for 12 years. it is often referred to as the nation's second-highest court to the supreme court because so many of the justices have come from that court in d.c. and it involves a lot of federal issues. a lot of interplay with congress. is theond thing commitment to constitutionalism. when we look at a judge, we want theee what the terms of nation's charter made it to mean. host: are you hoping he will be the vote that turns over roe v.

wade? that roe v.oint is best example of judicial activism that you can imagine. how what justice white said on dissent was true. finding a right that hadn't been in their in the constitution before and imposing that on all 50 states. we think the judicial activism is not only misguided but is passe. judges tople look for look at what the constitution means. host: the americans united for we ares -- writing, ready know about him, dangerous to women.

he lavished praise on the dissent of roe v. wade. forcing a young immigrant woman to fulfill her pregnancy. his career as a , pushing forrative gutting the protections of roe v. wade on the bench. guest: first of all, yield law issued his support. saying that not only had he been a terrific mentor for young women going into the ranks of judicial clerks but she couldn't think of a better mentor for her own daughter. hadtruth is that he has more female law clerks than male. and he sent a number of them to supreme court. he is a terrific role model. a true gentleman. and these attacks are desperate.

host: he has criticized roe v. wade. guest: there was only one case in which the d.c. circuit court called to has been look at abortion rights. and it is the case of having to do with an illegal immigrant to anten abortion while in office of resettlement re-holding facility. the d.c.ote first for circuit, the judges that will against her, that first of all, she didn't have a right to have the title government spend its resources to assist her to get an abortion. clear law. that has been law for 30 years. the supreme court has said as much in cases. secondly, he said there was no reason why she couldn't work this out. hering a sponsor to help through the process of obtaining an abortion.

he was reasonable and principled. and the full d.c. circuit court of appeals, all 10 judges, took over the case and issued a new opinion, setting aside brett kavanaugh's position to roll in her favor. later on, the supreme court vacated that decision. the d.c. circuit isn't the date, there are not many cases where the court is called those cases and in one of those future u.s., he took a middle line which hardly makes him a danger to women. continue our conversation with our guest, steven aden. if you want to ask questions you canett kavanaugh, do so. if you support his decision, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose, (202) 748-8001.

and you can tweet us thoughts. what is your organization doing, particularly when it comes to the congressional aspect? guest: we have a lot of information on our website. to our contact in the senate, telling them why we think he is well-qualified. and we will be signing a letter from our staff and our president to the senate judiciary committee, urging them to confirm him. host: two people on that committee are senator michalski and senator collins. talk about where you see this playing out? guest: it seems that democrats are not open-minded about this candidate. and because the senate is closely divided, republican senators could be the deciding vote.

them hasne of expressed opposition. both are open-minded. on the other hand, at least one democratic senator has signaled that he is open to vote for this nominee. the vote may be similar to what we saw for justice neil gorsuch. 54 votes received from republicans and democrats. after initial opposition, several democrats will see that this is a qualified constitutionalist nominee. host: we result had a about -- on >> i joked that i feel like i am back in law school. i want to gauge for myself. and i know that i will not be able to ask him a question on, x case, id you do in

wouldn't ask it and he wouldn't answer. so what i'm trying to do is discern if judge kavanagh has the qualities that i think we are looking for in a judge. the judicial temperament, the character, the intelligence, the balance. the desire to truly follow the , rather than move things in a predetermined or political outcome. so i want to know. -- do seaview press had end how does he view precedent. guest: she is exactly right. the people wonder nominee who explains judicial temperament.

is who we have in brett kavanaugh. and she is right -- would you askedrn roe v. wade isn't and wouldn't be answered if it was. instead we have a proxy engagement where conservatives look for someone committed to the constitutional text. it is supposed to be amended by the winds and views of one justice or another. so in judge kavanagh, we have someone who is committed to understanding the constitution and the original text and not superimposing his own text or judgment on the document. host: what if roe versus wade was overturned? guest: a lot of people don't understand what roe was.

know that it even had to do with abortion. so if you ask people, do you it is anoe v. wade, automatic yes because they think it is women's rights. court were to support roe v. wade that it will be the question of the regulation of abortion sent back to the states, where we think it belongs. it are to be subject to political forces, the legislators and different states ought to be subject to accountability, to the people back home on an issue. an issue so important and so intensely felt. host: it could be going back to states. guest: 10 states would have

restrictions on abortion before 20 weeks. only 10. -- 18 would continue to have abortion on demand. and in the middle you would have states where it is up for grabs. there would be a lot of litigation and intense debate in the state house but we welcome debate. thehink that is what constitution spells out for an issue as closely and intensely felt, passionately, by the people. aden is our guest. his website, you could see more work on the justice brett kavanaugh. from florida, muriel, go ahead. -- come

caller: good morning. years ago, when they had this, people used hangers. today there is so much protection out there that a woman could take care of herself. plus, it would be better for the wouldn't get germs and everything else if she didn't use protection. for theirwe pay abortion? the abortion clinic makes millions of dollars that they give to the democratic party. that is not fair. is, why all these people get abortions when there is so much good stuff out there to use for a woman to protect herself? good points.

let me try to separate the rhetoric from the reality. opponents of supreme court nominees by republican presidents have frequently said that the nominee would set aside abortion rights. davidaid that about souter and sandra day o'connor and anthony kennedy and those three justices got on the court and they formed the plurality that end up voting to affirm roe v. wade. that they always say this to propose a republican nominee and often it doesn't reflect reality. think that folks often remain open-minded about brett kavanaugh. they have to see that he is an official. he is a leader in the judiciary

and a good human being. i hope that folks keep an open mind. i host: this is joe from new jersey. good morning. is an important season for voting. it is important for democrats to be engaged. as far as women's issues, i don't believe that i should be engaged in women's issues because i'm not a woman. and i don't think it's my what they should do. they should be educated to make their own decisions. we don't have to make a decision for a woman. menendez, think about the election. host: thank you. guest: 1, i think this is an

issue that impacts everyone and should impact everyone. as the father of six children and married to the most incredible woman i've ever known, childbearing is much tougher for the woman bit it is a full-time job for both and it got to be. it doesn't give men a right to dominate women over and impose their opinion but it does mean that we need to understand the issue. i understand the issue and i look closely, biology helps a lot. when you look at life in the womb, it is human life from conception. arises, should some human lives deserve less protection than others? for life, weted work to protect human life from conception to natural death because all life is precious. thank you.

caller: good morning. [indiscernible] i would like to ask the gentleman what the united for life -- [indiscernible] himsoundingly agree with about the belief of life, the beginning of life is when conception happens. no matter which side you are on, it may be helpful. host: she asks a little bit about your organization and spoke a little bit at the end towards the meaning of life, guest: we have been around since

1971 and we have participated in every supreme court case in abortion since then. we stand for the right to life from conception to natural death. every human being is precious. every human life deserves protection. that is why the work in the state court and legislature -- it comes to the possibility of overturning this, it would go to the supreme court. are there courses in the -- are there cases in the lower courts that could determine this? that i think it is a myth there needs to be a legislation to determine roe v. wade. that isn't so. every case involving abortion asked the justices to apply the standard for abortion -- that the supreme court is already cleared out in the 1992 case.

an invitationis to the justices to decide whether roe v. wade continues to or not.e, in 1992, the last time the supreme court took a good look at roe v. wade, that case contains three provisions of a pennsylvania abortion statute with informed consent regulations and general motors regulations. so there are several kinds of cases working their way up to the case -- to the courts right now. one is out of arkansas which involves the regulation of a chemical abortion, calling for them to have transfer agreements to transfer a woman to the hospital when an emergency happens. another is the prenatal nondiscrimination act which outlaws giving an abortion on the basis of the gender of the

baby. areas,tionally in urban abortions are secured because the parents just don't want the gender of the baby and we think that is tragic. and these bills would outlaw that. there are other kinds of vehicles. host: is there a best case that could serve the purpose? guest: i think the best case would confirm the states important constitutional interest in protecting women's health and safety. because for the most part, abortion is practiced substandard. you have one in philadelphia where he was charged with murder, there are multiple providers like that across the country. roe saved usat

from back alley abortions isn't true. -- theson for that reason that god's now happened in philadelphia was because the health apartment in philadelphia thought that because there was a constitutional right to abortion, they couldn't inspect. didn't15 years they inspect abortion clinics because they thought it would impede access. that is wrong. states have constitutional authority to regulate abortion like any other health care. you will,st cases, if ifthe one set of form that you will, are the ones that informed. caller: thank you for c-span. kavanagh'sudge nomination for two reasons. the first is the way he was

selected. we had special interest groups and we had a president to pick tim. and that should be done another way. we shouldn't have special interest groups picking who is going to serve on the supreme court. the second reason i oppose is because i don't believe any judge should have a lifetime job. we even have in our county court , they are elected for 10 years all they have to do is get elected again, you vote for them and that is victoria -- and that is it. is completelyem corrupt at every level from the county, state, appeals court.

guest: respectfully, i don't think the nation's courts are corrupt. i think there is a lot of integrity of their. i thinksonal opinion, the reason the framers of the constitution made federal judge from voting, secure from forcible retirement, letting them stay in as judges however long they want, is because they wanted to insulate them from pressure. i think that is a good thing. don't think it is proper, looking up the whole picture. the truth is that the president's attorneys got lists sources.t of from the federal society at heritage foundation. they got lists from adf and other organizations. a lot of organizations had their input into what became the president's list. from which he promised he would to thee a justice

supreme court. he kept his promise. that is new and different and unique in the annals of political history. i think it is a good thing. it gave everyone a chance to vet nominees to the supreme court had the opportunity to make the call. i think it has been healthy for the system. high on judge kavanagh and he was high on our list, yes. host: let's go to emmett who supports the nomination. caller: the democrats said they were not going to elect anybody who is nominated by trump. how come there is so much animosity between the democrats and republicans and why is it that they hate trump so much that they would say that no

matter who he nominates, they wouldn't have anything to do with it. guest: good questions. part of the problem is that the supreme court has been politicized in a way that was never intended by the framers of the constitution. so a lot of social issues decidedg abortion get by the supreme court, ultimately. say are referred to as the nation's abortion control board. because every case involving abortion regulations comes potentially, to the supreme court for review. i don't think that is the way it was intended and i think it tends to polarize the american people. consequently, the american people come to the process polarized and it becomes a fight over which nominees might better reinforce our political judgments. that isn't the way was intended to be.

host: what is the appetite to take on another abortion case? guest: difficult to say. i think it signaled with the recent texas case two years ago. i haven't seen any signals recently. the supreme court has been upond the port -- called texas and louisiana to decide whether the state and constitution defined from the medicaid program. there has been a split in the federal courts of appeals, a 5-2 appeal and the supreme court is likely to take up that issue. host: it centers around anthony kennedy deciding to leave. can you scope out his role on abortion cases? guest: it can't be understated on both sides. justice kennedy wrote the

opinion for the majority of the court that upheld the federal partial-birth ban act. strong language and affirming constitutional also someand empathetic language, talking about the difficult decision that women have to make and how hard it is when they discover for the first time that they --owed their doctor to according to justice kennedy -- jamd the baby out and scissors into the baby's head and suck its brains out." rightsst amendment talk to womenc -- without hindrance from city ordinances. talking about how all they want hold them a pamphlet.

on the other case he was silent on the case two years ago as the justice stephen breyer, writing for new york, struck down a lot law.xas' abortion he has been a wild card, a mystery man, to some degree. and i think that conservatives are looking for somebody who is more reliably constitutionalist, perhaps pro-abortion forces are looking for somebody more reliably pro-abortion. hard to say. host: we go to philadelphia to someone who opposes. go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span. the reason it is so politicized is a recent move by the republicans blocking a sitting president from nominating a , which isurt justice

traveling on the constitution. the public only cares about the constitution when it affects them. as it comes to abortion and brett kavanaugh, generally speaking, on abortion, i don't understand why people such as yourself want to tell other people what to do. if you don't want to have an abortion, don't have one. don't tell other people how to live. damn about your own god business. we shouldn't allow a president under investigation to nominate anybody for anything. the man is a scumbag. guest: i think you refer to the nomination of merrick garland by president obama which was stopped by republicans in congress, because we were in the middle of a presidential the republicans in

congress thought it was better or the winner of the election to get the nomination. if hillary clinton had won the election than you would say something different. are coming from because a lot of people say that but there is a dividing line between those who understand that life in the womb is human life as those who don't see it yet. let me encourage you to be open-minded and see it. life in the womb is life. i don't think that some human lives deserve more protection than others. that is why a lot of my friends are. i disagree. host: a religious issue, do you see it that way?

guest: no. some are animated by religious issues. some are secularists. it is a matter of basic biology and human rights. areave a lot of friends who atheists and you are not religious but they recognize in the womb is human life and all life deserves protection. host: would you say that americans united for life is not religiously animated? we have people on staff who are religious. and we have people on staff, not so much. not a religious organization. we look at things from a constitutional perspective. from a human rights perspective from a medical and biological perspective. host: we hear from a viewer in monro.

this is nate. go ahead. caller: i would like to ask why this should be a state issue? ?ost: repeat that one more time state issue?s it a if it is a life, it should be a federal government issue. are againstou abortion, are you against and high-techyos pregnancies? these would be rich women who get those procedures. but women who come to abortion

come to it out of desperation. many want to control impoverished women's bodies, they like to force them on a gurney and struck them down for nine months, force them to have the child to continue with the pregnancy that they may not mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically be up for. about thef you care refugee children who were kidnapped and never see their parents again? guest: let me assure you that i think hard about this as a father of six. and i think that it is an important issue for all of us. lives areause all human lives, including lives in the womb, no human life deserves less rejection. that is why a lot of people i know in the movement are pro-life.

-- a supreme court case in 1965 that first started the whole line of cases we called due process. griswold held that a connecticut law allowing the use of contraceptives by couples is unconstitutional. i'm not here to opine on griswold. for people have different views. the supreme court took that right to privacy and in 1973, reason and precedent and created new rights for abortions. whatever you think about the right to contraception and privacy, i don't think it should include the right to destroy innocent human life in the womb.

host: morgan opposes the nomination. go ahead. caller: thank you. i'm against brett kavanaugh's nomination for different reason because hedon't -- doesn't believe a sitting president should be indicted for crime, which is why trump picked him. you care about life outside the womb? the only time we hear about you people is about abortion when a child hasn't been born. but when they are out of the womb, being shot down by police in the back, unarmed, children being taken from parents, we never hear from you people about children who are here, living and breathing, suffering horribly. you care so much about life -- can you explain to me why? guest: i hear that sometimes. why do pro-life only care about

people in the womb and not after that but it is false. centerslife pregnancy and abortion centers. pregnancy centers outnumber abortion facilities. doing good work on a charitable basis. keith.et's go to caller: i am against abortion. it is -- like an alien.

disgusting. host: from our oppose line, barbara? caller: i have the answer for our previous caller -- how come there is so much animosity between democrats and republicans? the answer is because a supreme court seat was stolen by the republicans and they have no qualms about it. that is why there is animosity. the other thing is gentleman said is that we thought it was better to wait until after the the lastto appoint justice? the constitution doesn't give to maket wing the right law just because they think something is better.

host: do you have a question related to pro-life? caller: weekend control when a supreme court justice dies. even if it is his last day in office, he has the right to make that. guest: senate leadership felt that was the better -- folder was better to decide. host: there was a decision -- what do you think about those statistics and what do you attribute that to? pregnanciesumber of

resulting in abortion is as low today in 1972. it has dropped to magically. large spike in the number of abortions during the 1970's. it dropped to magically. at an ever-increasing rate. womenk this shows that can live without abortion. conference at the heritage successful women, women who have done well in life came to talk about how they've achieved what they have achieved without a right to abortion. women don't need abortion. host: this is ann in san diego.

caller: i support the nomination. ask, couldn't we bring -- amething of abortion cruel and unusual punishment? feeling pain. democrats should realize that a lot of the mexicans are guest: at some point, babies in the womb feel pain. being pulled him from limb. scientists differ about that point. we know that early preemies born at 22 weeks feel pain and respond to stimuli like we do. it is the reason why the house

abortion at 20op weeks. the senate didn't go along with that. we help they will take a -- take that up again. america is one of the most radical nations in the world when it comes to late term abortions. vietnam and north korea, we allow abortion at 20 weeks and it is time for that to stop. scientists generally agree that babies feel pain. host: could congress passed legislation to put protections back in place? what is the likelihood? is hard to say. there is a lot of energy in the the sakeregulate for

of women's health and safety. in some states there is energy to limit abortion, two very early just asian. is so much activity in the states that congress doesn't feel it is necessary to regulate. i think that is what is happening. think the principle congressional legislation that we have seen with the abortion act would stop the gruesome and terrific active partial abortion. it has been few and far between so far. host: one more call. caller: my question is, since have an organization so for life, what do you do after life? guys in support of the criminal justice system? the way schools are, communities? me, it is ironic that you

guys fight for the baby but once the baby comes out, there's nothing. and the other thing is that you stated that the last president, that it was in the middle of the election but the election was over one year away. the republicans didn't allow nominate merrick garland. guest: many people in the pro-life movement are active in churches and support pregnancy centers. there is an extensive network of people out there and i encourage you to get to know and become involved in this. there are four times as many pro-life centers as there are abortion centers. they are staffed by women who care about babies.

host: coming up, a conversation with martin smith. he will talk about his pbs film that airs tonight that focuses on migrant children separated at the border. that conversation comes up next. sunday night on the q and a. historians. >> one of the questions i hear people ask all the time is, is this the most uncivil time in history. >> it is close. certainly the years leading to -- becausear, when he disagreed with what he said and there are a lot of senators who cheered on that house members. >> there is a shooting about hamilton.

that is pretty dramatic. we have had terrible times. -- therewas a ball in membersawl that had 80 rolling on the floor. >> one of the members had a wake pulled his wig off in a fight and someone else he yelled, he scout him. that stopped the fight. >> congressional historians tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern -- sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh meets with supreme court leaders on capitol hill. on c-span.

watch any time on c-span.org or listen with the free radio app. >> washington journal continues. us is martin smith. he has a new documentary out tonight to take a look at childhood separation at the border. good morning. have heard a lot about this issue over the last couple of weeks. where does your documentary come in as far as the timeline is concerned? we are on the current timeline but we go back to look at previous administration efforts to deal with a coming up immigration policy. structure was done under the obama administration but they stopped short of separating children although they did consider it. that is an interesting part of the documentary. consider it for long

but it came to the table and they rejected it. whatal with the dangers of people are fleeing. what they go through to get here. what they face when we come over the border. we have policy discussions with obama and former trump administration officials, the the policy ofwhen separations was rolled out. we look at policy and families and children. puig under about the consequences for them about links separated for their parents, thinking they would never see them again. host: how much access did you get to speak with parents and children and what did you learn? and guest: we learned the trauma israel.

anyone who watches the documentary will see that it wasn't an easy experience. and they either now have attachment issues where they don't want to let go of the parents once they are returned or they have anger issues. i think it is hard for some people to imagine what it feels from your separated parent and believe you won't see them again. access, some immigrants came across and are very worried about the law and didn't want to participate but we talked to many of them. we found some that were comfortable and willing to share their experience with us. host: martin smith joining us from his documentary. democrats, call (202) 748-8000. .epublicans, (202) 748-8001

along the border, a perspective you want to offer, (202) 748-8002 -- (202) 748-8003. is in el salvador with a father separated from his daughter. going to be ins spanish but here is the documentary. >> a few days later, i travel to el salvador to visit a father who was separated from his six euros child after crossing into the u.s. illegally. in a tiny village three hours outside the capital. it has been one month since he had seen his daughter. he was calling a shelter in arizona where she was being held.

>> what would you like to say to her right now? >> he gave me a tour of his home.

>> do you have pictures of her? host: that documentary will be on the pbs frontline and you can see that tonight. mayor having a bit of a signal problem from martin smith's line. but we will take your calls on the policy. hopefully we bring them back into the conversation in a bit. we start with george on the republican line. us rightith not with now but go ahead. george, hello?

let's go to kevin. in texas, living on the border. fromr: i am calling westborough. withend of mine works several coworkers from honduras. thetwice i have spoken to gentleman from honduras. trump --em was before after the election and i asked of peoplethe slowdown trying to cross the border. of theses quite aware type of instructions that were being given to people wishing to cross the border. theyif they would claim

were fleeing violence and things like that. he was aware of it. talked to him later on, several months later on. and he said, again. these communities who came to the united states, strictly for economic reasons. to flee violence although there is violence in impoverished countries. but they came here for economic reasons. the second time i spoke with him groupit, it was after the came across mexico and the caravan -- in the group. and he said the understanding was that if this protest would highlight -- and it was a messaging thing. host: do you think that being state, do a border

you think washington, d.c. gets the perspective you bring on this issue? caller: i think most people are aware of these concepts. debatesr side of the you want to be on or whichever side of the aisle you were on, people pick and choose what they like to frame. host: let's go to austin, texas. judas, go ahead. if any i was wondering sort of disciplinary action can be taken against the officials in the government? you know? over the cruelty in separating over 2000.ren, most people are very upset about this and there should he some sort of looking into this.

not just stopping it but disciplinary action. host: that was judas -- that was judas in texas. sorry for those complications. mr. smith, could you give some context to the things we heard? what happens with the family? and guest: he lives in a small village three hours outside the capital and he was in a soccer match and he got into an argument over a dirty play. and he got into that argument with the brother of a gang major for 18th street, a gang down there along with ms 13. and that was enough to get his life threatened.

he was afraid for his life. to answer to the u.s. your first collar, he has an hondurasto a fellow in . there are people who want to come here for economic betterment. many refugees in our past came here for economic betterment. but studies have shown that the majority of these people are fleeing violence. they're fearing for their safety. but thenecdote is fine broader look at this in studies have shown that the violence is real and one doesn't have to spend too much time down there to see that. anyway, he came up with his daughter and immediately cross and within a few hours after being held in a detention center, a processing

center in texas, he was separated. thank you for joining us. we go to the independent line with mike. go ahead. caller: what do you think can be done to actually stabilize these arer countries where people coming from? as far as our policy or trade practice or stuff like that? to help people in el salvador? to reevecan be done amp naturalization process and system to help get people here who should be here, faster or whatever the case may be? the missouri we are having some difficulties with the signal from martin smith is so we try . we will be taking your calls on

the topic on those event happening at the border. you can give us your first active, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 four republicans. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 if you're a border resident, (202) 748-8003. in north carolina on the republican line. caller: i'm not on a border state but we have a big influx , south of the border people appear. -- up here. the liberals always saying this is a nation of immigrants. 1920's, back in the 20th century they came through ellis island. welfare, theiven food stamps and housing and all

that. they came in and worked. their sum, the mafia done crimes in everything like that. year to $116 billion a assist illegal immigrants in our country. they need to do something with the governments down there because they are from mexico, el salvador, guatemala. they are all controlled by the drug cartels. there's so much money in it. catholic, religion is which they do not believe in birth control. you can't take care of your kids down there, why have so many kids up there? host: let's hear from that in virginia -- from matt in virginia. caller: i would like to look at the history of the problems in central america. if we look back to the 1980's and 1990's, trump talks about ms 13 all the time not

understanding that problem was created in our criminal justice system. creation a of our prison system. the gangs formed in los angeles and we exported it back to el salvador as we took those people and ship them back to el salvador, honduras, those countries. we don't really have a solution for fixing those countries. when we talk about immigration we don't talk about the violence in honduras and el salvador. how we need to fix those countries with our policies. we spend millions of dollars in iraq and afghanistan and south korea and germany yet we are spending very little on our own hemisphere trying to fix the problems. what we arehalf of spending in iraq and afghanistan in helping el salvador fix its problems maybe we wouldn't have such large immigration issues. host: let's hear from louisiana. republican line, nancie.

hello. caller: pbs documentaries are some of the best. i am in the state of louisiana. louisiana's history goes back to the 18th century. we are one of the biggest melting pots in the country, other than san francisco or new orleans. california. the problem we are dealing with, we are creating an instant problem like we're facing a broad. the thing i don't understand, my father, who fought in world war ii for the freedom of this country and the immigrants that came to this country, we are either getting people from this country that fought in these wars that we are dealing with

right now. i don't understand what is happening with the republican party. what happened to common decency? we started in the 18th century. host: that pbs documentary that separated children at the border. you can see that tonight at 10:00 on pbs. online you can go to the website for more information. we are trying to reestablish the signal with martin smith. as we discussed on this issue we will try mr. smith again for the apologies for this. i know you talked with those children and parents separated. what about those along the border? we've been talking to residents. what did you learn from them those who live along the border? , i spoke mcallen texas to a restaurant owner in

downtown mcallen. comfortable with people that were coming up and working. he had no problems with the immigration. he was in fact very uncomfortable with the policy of separating these people from their children as a punishment for coming in. if you look at a map of the county's that voted blue or red and you look along the border fewp you will find quite a blue voting districts surprisingly. as you move toward the center of the country, it is solidly red. it seems the people who live further from the border have around immigration than do the people along the border. i remember you were

talking with a farm owner or perhaps a landowner walking along a fence and he was telling you about instances of what he found including dead bodies. guest: he would be the exception to what i just said. he is strongly against anybody coming up into the country illegally. he would like to put caps on it. thatns a local militia looks for people coming across his land and notifying border patrol. he also has these large laminated posters of dead migrants. there's been about 7000 dead migrants found along the stretch of the southern border since 2000. people who have died of hypothermia or dehydration. he seemed to take some pleasure in showing off these pictures. he put an electric fence.

you can see all of this in the documentary tonight. mike vickers is his name. host: that is 10:00 on pbs. separated children at the border. george, you're on with our guest martin smith. ourer: i would like to know children and parents separated from only the ones that come in and cross illegally or also the ones that come in at the regular ports of entry or just illegal crossings? guest: the policy and practice, as i understand it, is to separate those who come in illegally between ports of entry. some of them come up not knowing where they should enter. they've hired a coyote or smuggler to get them up and they bring them to the river or the border. they are sent across, not fully aware of what they are getting

into. they have a right under u.s. and international law to cross illegally. it is a misdemeanor. it is not a major crime. they look for border patrol to turn themselves in to apply for asylum. the others who come in through legal ports of entry are not always accepted. many report being turned away. border patrol, the administration, the government will say we are not turning them away just telling them to come back another day because we don't have the capacity to handle them. to take them into processing detention centers so we tell them to come another day. some of these border towns are controlled by some notoriously violent gangs so they are not comfortable being in mexico and they want to get out.

some of them choose to take legal route. -- the illegal route. caller: good morning. i think a large issue we are having in america now, there are no definitions that hold true anymore. religiousans fled discrimination. they fled because they were under authoritarian rule. they did not come here as pioneers unless you were a conquistador or native american, you are a refugee. you fled, you left. we have more people in prison than anywhere else and we are singleof old ladies, mothers and young children but we are not afraid of a standing army with 7000 nuclear weapons in russia? in mixed ascents. -- it makes no sense. guest: i would like to point out

-- peopley a legal who are caught illegally crossing the border our numbers are down and they have been relatively flat for quite a few years. back in 2000 it was about 1.6 million people were crossing illegally or they were caught and now we're back -- at about 300,000. penn state pretty much at that level for some time. when we talk about a crisis at the border you have to put that in perspective and look at what that means. we are looking at relatively low numbers. shownerous studies have these people, when they come into the country to work, do pay taxes, contribute. the notion that they are somehow leaching off of the wealth of the country does not appear to stand up in the studies i've seen. host: from chicago, independent

line. barbara, you are next. caller: i was wondering about of immigrants. a lot of things really you don't see very much. they could come back stronger if police,trying to

border guard yet all sorts of jobs and he rose to become the acting director of ice. determined -- the administration determined he would have a hard

time being approved in this senate hearing for confirmation so he stepped down. through this policy initiation he was the acting director. i asked him about his approach to this credit was pretty much black and white, we have a law, let's arrest these people and process them and prosecute them -- prosecute them, excuse me, for a criminal offense. i asked him if he'd heard the tape of a young girl crying that made so many headlines a few weeks back and he said he had .ot and i was surprised by that i offered to play for him and i did. his initial response was i've seen a lot in my 34 years i don't need to hear children crying. but he listened and he was moved and you can see the moment in the documentary.

he then comes back up after listening to it and he is shaken by it. he says we have to enforce the law. he sees this as an issue of enforcing the law rather than thinking harder about how to have a humane policy at the asylum, whichves is a legal right under u.s. and international law, to these people. asyluma more robust processing. having more judges that can make determinations whether these claims are legitimate. all of these things are difficult. if you just enforce the law, it's a simple proposition. host: you can see the full interview tonight on pbs. here's a full portion. [video clip] >> on june 18 and audiotape>> was published by pro-publica. it led the news for days.

>> when you heard the tape of the children wailing what was your reaction? >> i did not hear the tape. >> i can't believe that. >> i've heard many children cry in my 34 years. >> can i play it for you? >> yeah. she wants to call her aunt. she has the number memorized. what do you think? >> it tugs at your heartstrings.

>> how can you not condemn that? >> i've seen a lot of terrible things in my 34 years. we have to address the border. >> the you not sympathize? >> i am a parent. when the government chooses to enforce the law and they separate the parents prosecuted just like every u.s. citizen gets arrested -- host: let's hear from bob in maryland. independent line you're on with martin smith. caller: i will try to make this as sustained as possible. am -- my family are legal immigrants. i am a stem the situation with the kids and families and all that. refugees,ey are illegal migrants, undocumented

migrants as some people say. i just don't think it is fair for us to take in hundreds if not thousands of illegal immigrants every month. as a matter of principle with our immigration policy or law. iso, my real point, which these people come from cultural fraud,ion and rampant nepotism cronyism. as they grow in number here i'm afraid it will resort back to andr old cultural values make this country similar to where they come from. host: mr. smith, go ahead. guest: i wanted to respond to .omething homan said

he said we are arresting them and separating them from their children just like we do with every other citizen that is arrested. it is true that when someone is arrested for an offense they are taken and booked and separated from their families. on the other hand, their families know where they are. children can visit them wherever they are. it's a big difference. we are not punishing the children when we are arresting somebody in those circumstances. as for the viewer, there seems to be this notion that we had a flood of refugees coming across the border. the numbers are way down. those are the facts that you would get if you talk to border patrol or if you talked to the department of homeland security. the idea that these people are andging a foreign culture

that it will be trouble for us, this would have applied over past years but not today where the numbers are very low. there's also quite a bit of exaggeration about the amount of violence. people talk a lot about ms 13. a previous caller made the correct point that this was a group active in los angeles and -- deported back to el salvador. from there, activities spread into neighboring states of honduras and guatemala. there's lot of exaggeration they the kind of violence engaging. there is a lot of violence within the gang. community the outside are much exaggerated. so i think we have to look at the facts and have sober

conversations about what it is and not simply respond to fear. host: this is keep from fort myers florida. caller: actually i'm from palm bay. for taking my question. for the lady that called and said they should lock up officials my first question is how for taking my question. long has this policy been going on? i know mr. trump, president trump announced this as a deterrent but it's been going on for long time. theext questions, what is veracity of lawyers going down to these countries and educating these people on how to claim for asylum? people, if they could afford a 10,000 -- a $10,000 coyote, they could stay in their country and prosper and work.

it's come out here in central florida where these coyotes, whatever gangs they belong to, indentured slave them. we had an incident in the orlando area where the guy was told to go in and rob this family by this coyote. i imagine this is going on a lot . it's getting into the news reports. all of this is based on emotion and the guy you interviewed is right. when you bring a motion and to justice it doesn't work. i'm not sure exactly what the question is but i will comment. record fromect the the people that i talked to in central america the going rate is about $7,000 for a coyote. and yes, some of these people are able to raise that kind of money from families.

ither already in the u.s. some of them are middle-class and able to afford it. they are not all in people. some of them are simply in trouble and being extorted if or herve money by gangs in for their lives. they been threatened for one reason or another and they raised the money to come up in her. not everybody uses a coyote. there are ways to come in and author mexico without using a coyote as well so not everybody gang.entured to a as far as sending lawyers to help people, there was a program -- president obama put vice president biden in charge of seeing what could be done to help the situation in central america and see what reforms to be done. congress pushed back on this and

all they were able to muster for this effort was $750 million. that's not a lot of money. that kind of activity has not been preferred by the current administration. if there were also efforts under the previous administration to bulk up the number of attorneys and to have a more robust process of taking families that were coming in and monitoring them and ushering them through what can be a long process of court hearings to consider asylum claims. one of those programs that was quite successful, the family case management program, was canceled by the trump administration. , president trump, has said he wants more law enforcement and fewer judges. needmessy situation you

people to make judgments about whether claims are legitimate. and without judges, you don't have a robust asylum process and you will continue to have problems. host: our next caller is from mississippi. democrats line. james, hello. caller: thank you for your work. i wanted to say i am ashamed of our people in this country. allowing this thing to go on right now. i really don't understand why they are sending these parents back home without their children. weant the people to know should not be allowing this thing to happen. the ones that run the country and we should not be putting up with this kind of thing. as a parent of a 26-year-old daughter i could not imagine what these people are going through worried about their children. thank you for your work and have a good day. guest: thank you.

i sat in a room in texas where every day people that have crossed illegally are brought into a courtroom to be arraigned. -- day that i sat in their cameras were not allowed so could not be part of the documentary but it was instructive. 60 men and women in the room who were being arraigned for crossing illegally. the first time you do it, it's a misdemeanor. caught two times it becomes a felony. looking around the room and listening to the judge interview individually all of them, they ofnot fit the profile criminals. these are people that had no records to speak of that was known. when people talk about what's coming up, gang leaders, rapists and whatnot, it behooves them to spend time within this community

and see who these people are, look them in the face. hearing.what you're host: this is going to be the last call from james in south carolina. we are running a bit short on time. caller: thank you. one question for your guest. would you rather temporarily separate children from adults they crossed with a potentially prevent a child or adolescent from being sold into sex or work slavery or would you rather have a blanket for call of not separating them and risk ensuring a life of sexual abuse? guest: that is an interesting dichotomy. i'm not sure if we shouldn't be talking about some other possibilities there. i don't think those are the only options we're looking at. i think those are outliers.

host: one interesting thing you learn from your whole experience . things he did not know about this topic for you went into it. guest: that is a big question. we put this together rather quickly. generally we spent months on a documentary so it was a steep learning curve for me. arearned who these people and i think what you see in the documentary is a reflection of that. of our experience and who they are. a fragile 15-year-old girl. a mother who when i asked what she wanted to tell the president she said i want to apologize to the president for coming here without an invitation. i'm not trying to propagandize or cover over anything here. by and large everyone i met was a decent god-fearing person looking for safety.

host: martin smith is the producer of this documentary. you can see it tonight on pbs at 10:00. mr. smith, thanks for your time. we will have open phones until 10:00. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and for independents, (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. q&aunday night on congressional historians richard baker, donald richie and ray smock. >> one of the questions i hear people asking all the time, is this the most uncivil time in history. >> it's going to be close. certainly the years leading to the civil war. he disagreed with what he said

and there are a lot of senators who cheered on that house member. >> as a broadway musical about the shooting of alexander hamilton shot by the sitting vice president of the united states. that's pretty dramatic. we've had terrible times politically. >> one brawl in 1858 before the civil war that had 80 members rolling around on the floor fighting one another. one of the members who had a wig , one of the members pulled his wig off during the fight and someone else yelled he scalped them. that was enough levity to stop the fight. >> richard baker, donald richie and ray smock, sunday night on 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. nominee brad cavanagh continues to meet with senators on capitol hill.

follow the confirmation process on c-span leading up to the senate confirmation hearings and the boat. .- and the vote listen with the free c-span radio app. >> washington journal continues. host: available to you also twitter at c-span wj. you can post on facebook.com/c-span. the front page of the palm beach post, highlighting the rally that will take place with president trump. floridians remain divided on the president as he plans to visit for rally in the state. suggests thate while the overall electorate seems mixed on the president the president is wildly popular with republicans in the state. you can watch the rally on

at 7:00 this evening. go to our website for more information. kathleen is first up on the republican line, los angeles california. caller: good morning everyone. i'm really disappointed -- i am a black american woman and i am disappointed in the black americans the call in that -- trump. i wanted to speak to your guest who did the documentary for pbs. the impact of illegal aliens on black america. this has been going on -- frederick douglass, w e b the boys, booker t. washington swd be to bash the words are written down. the impact of illegal aliens on black america. in los angeles we make up 6% of the population. .e are 40% of the homeless

the black people who call in and are still democrat they don't realize democrats have destroyed black america. five decades of liberal ideology has destroyed black america. we've been pushed out of all of our neighborhoods. we've been replaced. hispanic caucus met in kansas city in the 1970's and said we are going to replace black americans. host: that is kathleen. the time standard newspaper talks about wildfires in northern california. a close-up picture. this from the times herald in california. officials briefed on nearby blazes. some of the front pages out of that state concerning wildfires from florida. lucy in lady lake, hello. thisr: i'm on a call about

illegal immigration. we've heard there's a group in california that got them all on that train to come here. they went over and recruited 130 $4and it cost us billion a year to take care of these people. evidently the democrats want to take care of them all. just charge them for taking care of them all. pay $100lorida we million just for the ones we have in prison. host: mississippi is next. roy on the democrats line. caller: thank you for excepting my call. talking about the shutdown and who's going to pay for the border wall. trumpch is president flying to his golf course every weekend costing the taxpayers of america?

he brags about putting money into billionaires pockets. he said obama was golfing too much. the republicans complained about him taking all those trips. why don't they complain about trump? like somebody to call in when a republican calls in and complains he's not getting the border wall asked what they were yelling when he said who's going to pay for it. host: read in silver spring maryland. caller: thank you for taking my call. this is related to the previous guest on your show. the two best cities in the whole world rated recently are san miguel in mexico and oaxaca and mexico. why don't they just stop at those two cities before coming to the united states. a shorter trip to get to those places from el salvador that to

come all the way up to texas. host: a name synonymous with president clinton's impeachment proceedings, linda tripp speaking in washington dc. -- hills right up saying brooke two decades of silence saying her only regret issue did not take action earlier to expose the affair. she offered a defense of her actions and those of whistleblowers broadly saying she rest her reputation and "perjury andose obstruction of justice." here is a portion of linda tripp's presentation. [video clip] >> they say forewarned is forearmed so i knew what was coming. but i was ill prepared for the power and the fury and in the end the overwhelming effectiveness of the smear

campaign. was seemed abstract to me now personal. and i was the target. i know what a real high-tech lynching feels like. i feel like that's exactly what happened. it began with these smoke and mirrors you saw on your tv where it turned a sitting president into a victim of a vast conspiracy. it was the full frontal attack on anyone who would dare speak against him. the destruction of another human and the besmirch mint, belittling and ridiculing for political gain. villain is magically victimized, which is essentially

what happened, the wrongdoer victim.he that is when in my case the whistleblower was essentially destroyed through all these allegations. and the ridicule and humiliation i suffered at the hands of a , certainly aia willing entertainment industry. it was not pleasant. it was very unpleasant for my family. for that i will always be sorry. host: if you want to see more of that total our website at c-span.org. michigan is next. independent line. brian. caller: i've been doing a little research. cnn and other networks. when you look at cnn and the broadcast news and you do research and you find out none

of them have a degree in print journalism. i'm wondering what the standards are. what they are being taught to read you could go through the list. all the way through. house,gest to the white concerning the press pool if they don't have a degree in print journalism they don't belong in that job. do you have a degree in print journalism? colorado,from independent line. caller: irrespective of your degree status i appreciate your call. i saw the press conference with senator blumenthal calling the government to release classified documents. frankly i got a friend that went through nine days for kidney failure in the hospital in new york. he was on the pile for about a

year. we keep losing people but we don't know the complete story. i'm asking the government and the people come together and release every bit of information so we can get to the bottom of 9/11 and hold those accountable that need to be. host: ian, from new york, republican line. caller: i want to touch off on the illegals the woman in california. i'm in new york on long island. i know jeff sessions was here with ms 13 but there's a bigger part of his problem. equal is all the illegals here taking the jobs like that lady said. take all the black people's jobs. they are taking americans and western union and places that shook the money used to be europe was the book of where the money was shipped out to. it's going down to these countries where they come from. they are not putting into social security. --t's why we need americans

everybody hired in america to work should be paying into social security, should be here legally so it keeps that fund from ever going out which they say in 2032 social security will be gone. keep hiring illegals and shipping cash out just like at home depot you can pick the people up, people hire him, pay them cash off the books. this is a major problem. not to say social services that they eat up. host: that is ian in oceanside new york. if you go to the front page of the charleston gazette mail, a story about the senator from that state meeting with bret kavanaugh. writing the story, jake zuckerman joining us on the phone now. tell us about the meeting and what occurred. guest: we don't know a lot about what occurred. senator manchin declined

interview. he put out a statement that's kind of continued what he's been saying about this. he's really looking at job -- justice kavanaugh -- judge kavanaugh and how he might litigate a case coming his way. give more about the senator thinking about judge kavanaugh at this time. guest: what we know is there is a case led by the texas attorney general the west virginia attorney general has signed on to challenging the constitutionality of the affordable care act. the argument goes that because in the recent tax reform package the individual mandate has been revealed the loss -- this lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of that. where bridge capital stands on that. -- where bret kavanaugh stands on that. host: one of the tweets as west

virginia's have contacted me more than a thousand times with their opinions on judge kavanaugh. can you tell us about that kind of pressure of the senator is feeling from home concerning this nomination? guest: he's really opened the door for that. he set up an e-mail account holding roundtables soliciting opinion from a lot of citizens. there's been a lot of unsolicited opinions. the airwaves are totally blanketed with ads. a lot of political pressure to confirm. it looks like it's going to come down to the wire now with more .epublicans .he pressure is ramping up

decidee adds in order to -- just as i did with new gorsuch. are there parallels of what you're seeing between what he's saying now and leading up to the nomination of new gorsuch -- neil gorsuch? guest: he likes to abide his time. he does not like to anchor himself in public opinion. wouldg difference between be a tighter majority in the senate. one of those republicans, john mccain, has not been voting since late 2017. i think right now she is waiting to see how this shakes out. host: you talk about the pressure seeing at home. our political groups involved in

this pressure and if so who are they? guest: the loudest voice has been the judicial crisis network generally a commerce funded group. whether estimates they've put .ut $500,000 on advise on tv joe manchin confirmed justice kavanaugh. issuing statements calling on them to confirm. host: a story about this meeting between sandra joe manchin and greg kavanaugh. back to open phones chris in waterford, virginia independent line. good morning. morning.ood

i wanted to comment, the situation is the result of decades of infighting by both parties. neither have resolved the problem of immigration that continues to grow. thousands of kids into the school system. town where and the immigrants are constantly harassed. have commented to me main difference i see between living in el salvador and allen plaza street in leesburg is in el salvador you are robbed at knife or gun point where in plaza street apartments you pay a duty to enter and exit the laundry room. big impacts in immigrant

communities that are largely unnoticed. i wish we see more reporting about those impacts. line fromcrats georgetown, texas. this is nancie. sayer: it pains me to anything good about the trump administration. but i happen to be at a neighborhood potluck a couple of weeks ago. there happened to be the brother of a friend who works for ice and he works at the border and he speaks very fluent spanish. peoplesaying many of the who come over with children, half of them he estimates are not the relatives. let the children are taught to tia or tio and they

are coaxed to act as though their parents have been taken away. it's hard to see these pictures on television but believe me, as this man says, a lot of this is played a soon as the camera comes into a building or a group of people. that is heartbreaking. that is wrong. over.e relatives who came we are all part of immigrant families. our families came over legally through different ports. yes we were separated -- i had an uncle when he came over he was separated from his family because he had tuberculosis and kept over on governors island for a while.

host: that's nancie in texas. shirley is in california on the independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm calling on the separation of children at the border, which i feel is inhumane. thesey to process -- health issues, , i'm passionate about taking care of the children. i don't think them being reunited with adults that may not be the relatives is the right thing to do. thank you for taking my call.

we are burning up in northern california. host: when it comes to wildfires what he's seeing on the state level as far as the response is concerned? caller: the response is great. the firefighters are working in such adverse conditions. the heat, the smoke, air quality , we can hardly be outside. another problem with california and the neglect of taking care of our forest land. we are burning up here. we are the watershed of california. our dams are crumbling. our forests are burning. lives are losing their and north korea could send ballistic missile over and that's what it seems like.

host: that is surely in california. you can see the event on our website. mike pence took the cameras to talk about the formation of religious liberty tax force -- task course saying it will facilitate coordination to ensure religious liberties are protected, to reach out to religious groups for feedback and develop new policies and strategies to safeguard religious freedom. -- this whole event available on c-span. here is a portion. [video clip] >> the cultural climate in this country and in the west more generally has become less hospitable to people of faith. many americans felt their freedom to practice their faith has been under attack. it's easy to see why. order to buynuns contraceptives, united states -- even though the

constitution explicitly pro--- religious test for public office. we've all seen the ordeal faced by jack phillips. americans from a wide variety of backgrounds are concerned about what this changing cultural climate means for the future of religious liberty in our country. president trump heard concerns. i believe this unease among the american people is one reason he was elected. in substance he said he respected people of faith and in thed to protect them free exercise of that faith. he declared we would say merry christmas again. host: you can see that event on c-span.org.

caller: i wanted to respond to the gentleman from new york who called a few minutes ago and said undocumented immigrants are not paying into social security but taking money out. that's not supported by data. when you look at the money that's collected by the social security administration they collect billions of dollars in taxes that actually come from social security numbers that are most likely linked to undocumented immigrants. tons of money to the system that they don't actually take any out. if anything they are contributing to a lot of people still being able to collect social security in this country. the don't take it out. it's not based on facts what he said. in this climate in a to support facts with data and if you can't do that you're making a lot of assumptions and in this case i think it's a racist assumption against people coming in from

central and south america. just because you see someone at home depot with a different color skin from you does not mean that they are here illegally. host: if you go to usa today story about technology, facial recognition technology operated by amazon saying amazon's controversial program recognition falsely identified 28 members of congress during a test of the program by the american civil liberties union. the aclu scanned photos of all the members of congress and had the system compare them with public database of 25,000 mugshots. the group used the confidence threshold setting of 80% for recognition meaning the test counted 80% certainty or more. the system missed identified 28 members of congress, a disproportionate number of whom were people of color tagging them as entirely different people who'd been arrested for a crime. a spokesperson for amazon's web services said in a statement

test results could of been improved by increasing the confidence threshold while any -- it is- while 80% not appropriate for identifying individuals with a reasonable level of certainty adding that the tool is used for recognition in arenas outside of law enforcement. the software has been used by textrest -- and to find and images. this is for mark on the republican line. caller: good morning. i have some comments about mr. .mith us documentary pbs islike pdf is -- liberal leaning to begin with. i have a son that fell victim to

illegal drugs coming across the border and is currently serving in prison on the border. he's been separated from his family. people crossing the border .llegally have broken u.s. laws they were separated and there is a great outcry. what about the hundreds of thousands of people incarcerated separated from their children? the same thing. it mentioned the illegal crossings coming across the border are down. i don't believe that. i can see that from my community and the people moving into the community taking the jobs. open borders are creating the same problems these people are fleeing from.

they are just bringing that south american culture to the united states. caller: thank you taking my call. i have experience with a mexican here and wife, who is i know about the immigration process. it is onerous. it is very difficult and expensive for people that don't have the means to go through it legally to deal with it. .ery difficult so before you condemn the people that are out there calling these people illegal. the atonement is they are illegal because they don't want to go through a legal process. beste tone is they did they are illegal because they don't want to go through a legal process.

i would encourage people to think about that. call their senators and congressmen to create a system that is navigable for people even if they want to come here for economic reasons, to the point that they are taking american jobs, this is a competitive world we live in. if you are american and you want to do that kind of work, get on your game and be ready to work hard in the fields or on construction sites or in bathrooms in hotels. if you want those jobs, go get them. host: we will go to gloria in maryland. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. with all the craziness that this administration is ushering in, it's great that the americans have a voice. these are dark difficult and in many ways hopeless times.

there is more optimism in america than there is discrimination. there's way more good people in this country who still believe in american values who are just as determined that we are going to form that more perfect union. we are going to become one nation under god indivisible in spite of donald duck and his minions. the child abuse at the borders is simply that. we never thought we would see a day -- i am an african american nearly 81-year-old who lives below the poverty level. but i love this country. i don't love everything she does , but i love this nation. readyatriots who are not to take on folks who are

different color or folks who are struggling, we are a nation of immigrants. host: that is gloria in maryland. the house is about to come in for a session. technically they are formally out of business. out theyey formally go have to check in for a row form a session. tonight at 7:00 is that rally featuring president trump in florida in part to endorse for the candidates. probably addressing other issues too. you can see that live at 7:00 on c-span2. monitor it on our c-span radio app as well. the house of representatives is about to come in for their session. that is it for our program. we will come back with you a new program tomorrow at 7:00.

always. -- all rise. the house will be in order. the cheerleaders before the house a communicator. washington, d.c., july 31, 2018. i hereby appoint the honorable judge to speak on this day, speaker of the house of representatives. >>