life, tuesday. at 10:00 a.m., a pentagon briefing with james mattis and joint use chair general joseph dunford. at 2:30 p.m., senate commerce audimmittee hearing on blooms in the u.s. waters. on c-span3 begin at 9:00 a.m., the white house historical situations -- associations site summit. looking at how we think of presidents over time. former white, the house executive pastry chef also speaks at the event. coming up, national association education president. she will talk about the trump administration's consideration of the proposal that will harm teachers in schools,

standardizing testing, school funding, and education policy. bradley smith, former federal election chair on michael laws. ♪ host: good morning. 28, 2018.day, august the senate is back and session today. the house will hold a pro forma session at noon. we begin today exactly one week out from the start of supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. this morning, we want to hear what your message would be to your senators if you had the chance to talk to them about brett kavanaugh. give us a call. republicans can call in at 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000.

independents, 202-748-8002. you can also catch up with us on social media. on twitter it is @cspanwj. on facebook it is facebook.com/cspan. good morning to you. you can start calling in with your message to your senators on brett kavanaugh and his nomination. on this tuesday morning, c-span is out with a new survey looking attitudes when it comes to the supreme court. it's available at c-span.org and joining us to walk through the findings is alan rosenblatt, a strategist with the firm who conducted the survey. with just days to go before the nomination hearing process starts, talk about americans attitudes toward brett kavanaugh. do they support the president's nominee? guest: 39% of american likely voters say they support judge

kavanaugh's nomination and 39% -- oppose. essentially 1 in 4 are undecided or have no opinion. host: do people have a sense who brett kavanaugh is? % who sayere are 69 they are following it a lot or some. these nomination fights can fall out along party lines. does the american public view the supreme court as partisan? guest: they do. they are viewing this fight for nomination in a very partisan context and the court itself as political, polarized animal. all they know is there are no all theyn the court -- know is it is based out of washington, d.c. iest: i know you -- host:

know you have conducted these surveys in the past. how does it compare to previous times you have polled the american public? guest: it is a dangerous, worrisome trend. we have been asking this question since 2011 about the health care reform hearings and later about same-sex marriage, asking whether people view the court decisions as demonstrating they act in a serious and constitutionally sound manner. 20% say that or if the recent decision shows a split into parties and that is what 56% say. 1 margin and very dangerous for the institution. host: when were you in the field with this poll? guest: it is very fresh and wrapped up last week, august 13th through the 15th. host: do people feel connected to the supreme court in their daily lives? guest: they absolutely do.

they definitely say the court has a major impact on their life. 91% of americans. the most common case when what comes to mind is roe v. wade, very much. from health-care reform to immigration to same-sex marriage, there is a lot of things the court does, but they hear about it through filters since the court does not allow them to see how they operate directly. host: i want to come back to that. do you think that is what the public will be looking for from these confirmation hearings? what do you think americans will be watching for women senators look to question brett kavanaugh for when thetching senators look to question brett kavanaugh? guest: -- how the senators actually vote for or against the nomination. we saw very strong, partisan

support among republicans for kavanaugh and opposition among democrats. i think folks will be breaking out on party lines and there is not a lot of moderate or independent senators. with the rules and the way they changed with -- for simple majority, it seems somewhat likely he would get confirmed even though this gap is tighter compared what we saw with gorsuch and kagan in the past. host: you mentioned how people get their news from the supreme court. it is no secret this network has long been an advocate for cameras in the court. how does the american public feel about that? guest: they absolutely agree there should be cameras. 64% support cameras in the court for televising oral arguments and it is a very serious issue and it is not actually because the public has a right to know or people are feeling it is not cool my taxes pay your salary, it is actually hurting the

institution because they are looking elitist when they are saying what we do is too complex for you to understand and it will get mischaracterized. people don't like being told that. host: adam rosenblatt is a senior strategist with psb. we appreciate your time. thank you for walking us through it. guest: thank you. is availablervey on our website, on our homepage at c-span.org. if you want to go directly to the survey, c-span.org/s cotussurvey2018. in this first hour of the " washington journal," we are talking about brett kavanaugh's combination and what your message would be to your senator if you could sit down with them and talk about the nomination process and what you want to hear when the hearings begin. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000.

independents, 202-748-8002. jack is up first in providence, rhode island. a republican. go ahead. caller: good morning. my senators aren't going to listen to me. they are going to be opposing brett kavanaugh. this is nonsense because brett kavanaugh is going to be concerned -- he is a conservative replacing a moderate conservative. the real test and why i call it nonsense is the next one. , she ish bader ginsburg a communist, if she retires and he nominates amy barrett -- that will be the fight right there. see you later. host: john in trenton, new jersey is next. independent. good morning. judge: i don't think the should be elected to the supreme court. you would have to have a

nonbiased judge up there who has not got any baggage. i see this is a little bit of a baggage when you are going to approve of some of the concepts he went ahead and stated in some of his papers about judging the president on his impeachment if he does go for impeachment. i used to be a republican and i becauseo be independent i can't believe the president for anything, ok? as far as fake news is concerned, i judge for myself. i watch all the news networks and do my own decisions on this. i don't think -- i think he should just sit out and be a judge for a while and learn the trade and then go for supreme

court position. i don't think it is right he would have the president's point of view going into this because he was appointed by the president. thank you for my time -- your time and thank you for c-span. host: before you go, you seem engaged in the process and you mentioned his papers. do you think the public is following this fight over brett kavanaugh's papers when he served as a white house lawyer in the bush administration? caller: yes, you never grow out bank -- ok?s, ok it sounds like he has not grown out of his shoes. he has to step into a different -- different size because the supreme court is the ultimate judge in the ultimate point of view of where the law lays. it isn't where opinions lay, it

is where the law lays. all of these people are appointed to government allegiance todge the constitution, not the president, not the senate, not the house. host: you don't think judge kavanaugh's work in a circuit court in d.c., you don't think that prepared him for this next step? guest: no, i think he should get a little more age to it. he has got to step out of his shoes. he has to grow a little, okay? i think he is too young for the job. host: brett kavanaugh, 53 years old. bob in virginia, independent. caller: i will be asking my senators to vote against the confirmation of brett kavanaugh.

i believe it is not correct for this appointment to go forward at this time given the legal liabilities of president trump. there are really seminole issues that could be ahead of this court regarding criminality, the possibility of indicting or subpoenaing the president, which are two decided -- important to have a judge -- to be decided by a judge decided by president trump. i think they should wait until the midterm election. host: how do you feel about judge gorsuch? caller: i was disappointed republicans forced through his nomination and did not consider fore garlic for -- garlick consideration. i think that is their right. host: do you think he is a legitimate justice? caller: absolutely.

absolutely, no question. i am independent, as i say. host: gregory in new jersey, a democrat. good morning. gregory, are you with us? caller: yes, i am here. host: go ahead, sir. turn down your television and you can chat with us as you are doing that. caller: i agree with the last --ler that judge kavanaugh they should wait until after the midterm elections and any appointee appointed by donald trump is biased on the subject and trying to change the whole idea of what the united states stands for. stack therying to deck and change the whole idea

and i american fabric very annoyed at where we are going and frustrated with the whole situation, what is going on with the court system and always have been. of the minority and we have always been oppressed in this country. the court system has never been fair to us in any part of the country, period. host: gregory in new jersey this morning. we are two days removed from what pro-choice america has called of the largest single day protest against a supreme court nominee in history. that was the unite for justice rallies from sunday that happened in states across the country. we are a week from the beginning of the beginning -- of the confirmation hearings for

justice kavanaugh. plenty of ads being aired on television around the country targeting senators and targeting voters when it comes to brett kavanaugh's nomination. this is a new ad put out by the national rifle association urging brett kavanaugh's nomination. [video clip] >> four liberals on the supreme court would take away your right to self-defense. justices oppose your right to self-defense. four liberal justices support your right to self-defense. president trump chose brett kavanaugh to break the tie. your right to vote defends on this vote. tell your senator, support our right to self-defense. confirm judge kavanaugh. host: here is another ad from the campaign-finance reform political action committee end citizens united. [video clip] >> we hold of these truths to be

self evident. >> that all of us are created equal until we became one nation under trump. >> these truths are self-evident. puts a woman's right to choose gravely at risk. >> and continues selling out america to corporate interests. we will hold our senators accountable. citizens united is responsible for the content of this advertising. host: taking your calls in the first hour of the "washington journal." what would your message be to your senators on brett kavanaugh's nomination? phone numbers, 202-748-8001 if you are a republican. 202-748-8000 for democrats. .ndependents, 202-748-8002 we will show you some of the other ads and the reaction on capitol hill, some of the comments by various members over the past week or two.

brett kavanaugh having met with 65 senators ahead of these confirmation hearings. 15 of them democrats. 50 republicans. what would be the message to your senator? leslie in maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. newselings watching the quite constantly for the last three years, various stations. i do not agree with dark money, with citizens united, i am going to end that. i feel as a disabled, elderly individual with several children and grandchildren that i have watched not only our economy tank, but our morals and ethics, especially in government. i also believe the supreme court has been tainted, not only starting with the super pac's and allowing corporations to allowsentities, but it

dark money to come in and start buying senators and congressmen. i feel like our government is corrupt. they are not working on essential, important matters like social security, which i am having major issues with. especially with corruption and i cannot believe it has taken this long to respond to trump and his emollients clauses and everything else going on. i believe kavanaugh is republican and pro-life. i believe their personal choices are being brought into government matters and we need supreme court, our government, all of our agencies and we need to be more .areful about who we elect we need to consider where they are coming from and whether they can leave their personal choices

and believes outside of their , i amnd rest in piece really sad about -- rest in peace, i am really sad about john mccain and how they treated him. i am a democrat and i am still really sad for that man. i am grateful for his service and glad he is out of pain and suffering. my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and colleagues. thank you for letting me share. host: that is leslie in maryland speaking of john mccain. you can see the flag on the united states capital continues to be at half staff. it has been since saturday afternoon. we noted yesterday that the flag had been raised back up to full andf at the white house that was for a few hours yesterday before it was brought back down to half staff, facing a growing outcry, president trump ordered flags brought back down to half staff to honor

senator mccain. the usa today story noting the white house came under siege for raising those flags two days after mccain's death rude -- death. hours after images of the fully raised flags catapulted across cable news and social media, trump offered a formal statement about his former rival and signed a proclamation to bring the flags back down. he said "despite our differences, i respect senator john mccain's service to our country." usa today with a chart showing the number of days white house flags were at half staff by presidential order on previous notable deaths in this country. after senator ted kennedy's death in 2009, white house flags at staff or five days. after robert byrd's death, nine days. deathbarbara bush's

earlier this year, half-staff for five days. there is a shot of the flag at half staff at the white house flying at half staff and it will continue to be at half staff until after john mccain is buried on sunday at the united states naval academy. the usa today story noted the other news that the white house was trying to make yesterday, its announcement of a deal being reached on trade to replace the nafta deal to between the united states and mexico. notably, not canada. president trump moves closer to revising the north american free trade agreement by striking a deal with mexico. but cast new doubts over the pact by threatening to leave out canada. mr. trump said he was happy to sever the northern neighbor from the block if necessary.

willtting terms that hinder ottawa's efforts to join in. the lead story in many of the papers today. among the various issues in that deal was a question of how long the new deal between the united states and mexico would last. deal, the on the united states and mexico agreed to revisit the deal after 6 years and if everyone is 16eased, extend the pact years and if there is dissatisfaction, a new round of negotiations would begin. one more story about the nafta deal. it is the lead editorial in the "wall street journal," some criticism of the process. the editorial board by -- noting by waiting so long to strike a deal, the white house may have made the president hostage to democrats. there isn't enough time to vote on the revised deal during the

current congress. the deal would go to the next congress, which would be run by nancy pelosi and chuck schumer if they won the house and the senate. are they really going to support a donald trump trade deal? the president will need their votes because u.s. dismisses and free-trade republicans -- businesses and free-trade republicans are likely to be a hard sell. back to your calls on brett kavanaugh and his nomination. your message to senators on the nomination. david, a republican in mississippi. good morning. caller: i say elect kavanaugh. i don't get what the problem is. there are plenty judges right now that are going to be making the right decisions.

racism is still alive and well in the united states, but it is white against white. that has been a mess for many years. host: why do you say that, david? what has been your experience? caller: my experience? i don't know anything about racism, i wasn't brought up that way. i wasn't brought up to disrespect people of any gender, any race. existshy do you say it that way in america today? issues because the only i have seen is black people complaining about how white people treat them. is the law in the united states. they are all spouting about hating the whitey, keeping the

what -- black man down. host: give me an example of a hate group? --that is david in mississippi. an independent, good morning. caller: good morning. i will urge my senator to confirm kavanaugh. i am independent and i have voted both for democrats and republicans, so you should -- usually i listen to what they have to say and make up my own mind. i realize the news is biased. one is biased to the left and what -- and the other to the right, so i watch a lot of c-span. i have a comment on c-span. i watch the mornings and count and a lot of times it is like they take callers from one side or -- it is not balanced on the

calls. republican, democrat, independent, republican, .emocrat, independent sometimes it will be three or four calls for one and two or three for independent before they get back to the other side. i wish they would be more balanced on that. host: we try to be as balanced as we can, but we also take the calls as they come in. if there is not somebody waiting on the republican line, we do bounce around on the lines. if there is somebody waiting on every line, we rotate through. we always try to do that. georgia in fort valley, , a democrat. good morning. rubin, are you with us? caller: yes, you can hear me? host: go ahead, rubin. caller: you can hear me.

let me get off of mute. host: go ahead with your comment. caller: let me get off of mute. host: i will let you keep working on that. will, and independent. caller: i think they need to push the kavanaugh nomination through because it is better to have things going forward and to work together with the country and not put political bias into the conversation. he is going to uphold the constitution. host: what are you most interested in the supreme court making a decision on? what issues matter to you? caller: for me, it is really holding up the constitution. i think kavanaugh will do that just like all the other justices. host: a democrat in mississippi, good morning. caller: good morning.

i wanted to say my advice to my senator about kavanaugh would be i had a conversation with some protestant friends the other day. i am catholic and they were saying that kavanaugh is a catholic, so obviously he is going to overturn roe v. wade. i would say a judge has a very important duty to uphold the constitution, as your previous caller said, and i would say one of my favorite treaties in the united states, the treaty of tripoli, the united states is in no way a christian nation. this man has the challenge of upholding his faith and also being the -- one of the most powerful figures in a secular government. my advice to my senator would be to hold him to it, make sure he notlds the law and does

allow his personal feelings to interfere with his actions as a justice. host: i point you to an article from earlier this summer from the "washington post." judge brett kavanaugh, a catholic, faces a historical struggle between canon and constitutional law. brett in d.c., independent, good morning. caller: i am actually in maryland. i think whoever votes for or against kavanaugh will be thinking politics, as andrew breitbart said, politics is downstream or flows from culture. if it looks like the democrats are going to win the house and the justice department, the people who used to be at the justice department, the u.s. attorneys in southern new york do the thing with campaign-finance, even though

that would probably fail if that went all the way to the supreme court, the trump-cohen thing is a campaign violation. i think if they put enough of that into the public and find some nondisclosure agreements former ciarendan -- think the i democrats if they take the house will impeach trump and the senator from maine, collins, will not be able to afford to vote for kavanaugh because kavanaugh with -- what uphold the president -- would uphold the president's right to not be legally prosecuted for something. host: on michael cohen's campaign-finance violations, the ones he pled guilty to, we will take a deep dive into that in our 8:30 block today. we will be joined by bradley

smith, a former chairman of the federal elections commission in 2004. stick around for that discussion. harry is in alice, texas. a republican, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, terry. caller: i am in favor of judge kavanaugh. i think he will be a fine judge. host: why do you think he will be fine? caller: because he has so much experience and i don't think you could find somebody -- he is just a good person as well as being a long time judge. there is nothing wrong with him. host: have you been following this dispute over his documents from when he was a white house lawyer in the bush administration? caller: i don't think those really matter because he was working for someone else. i think it is just an excuse to

throw something up against a truly fine person. i just think that is really silly. host: on twitter, bob writes that if kavanaugh was qualified and had no serious skeletons in his closet, grassley and trump would not be hiding his bush-era documents. republicans can seat whoever they choose. why would they choose anyone who the opposition would agree with? this is trump's america. frank says finally the american people, at least the voters on here, realize how important these decisions are. we will be showing you some of the ads for and against brett kavanaugh and reaction on capitol hill as we take your comments about what your message would be to your senators on that nomination. this is chuck schumer last week calling for a delay in considering the kavanaugh nomination. [video clip] >> considering judge kavanaugh has such a voluminous record on

authority on which he seems to take an almost anarchical view. his refusal to say a president much comply with a subpoena should get everyone great cause -- pause. just as the president is implicated in criminal activity, the senate is considering the nomination of someone to the supreme court who believes sitting president are virtually immune from legal jeopardy. i understand my republican colleagues don't want to delay hearings for judge kavanaugh despite this overwhelmingly good moren to do so, made even -- by yesterday's events with mr. cohen and mr. manafort. i believe, still, chairman grassley, leader mcconnell should consider, given the president's legal trouble, given the fact the majority of the senate has not yet had a chance

to review or even access judge kavanaugh's full records and what he might feel about executive power, i feel we should hit the pause on the hearing. it makes logical sense. host: that was chuck schumer from the senate floor getting your questions, your comments kavanaugh nomination. for democrats, republicans, and independents. caroline in jacksonville, florida, a democrat. go ahead. caller: hello. eating a democrat, i am getting disgusted -- being a democrat, i am getting disgusted with the way my party is splintering and all of this balking and etc.. lies to ther american people, talking about how kavanaugh is going to be a juror, he said that the other

day, for the president, which is an out and out lie, not true. anything they can do except to work for the american people the way they should be is disgusting and they are just making me feel worse about the party every day. what do they stand for? what does our party stand for and when are they going to get busy finding a leader instead of spending all their time resisting and playing around .ith all this bs they want thousands and thousands and thousands of papers and they are going to gripe about something and never have enough papers no matter how many they get. host: are you going out to vote in the primaries today in florida? we have lost caroline, but there are primaries today in florida and arizona reid also runoffs -- arizona.

also runoffs in oklahoma as well. you mentioned the documents and the fight over brett kavanaugh's previous documents from when he was a white house lawyer. here is gop majority wit john cornyn -- majority whip john cornyn talking about the documents. [video clip] >> two weeks from today we take up -- another important reason we are here working during the august timeframe. two weeks from today we take up the president's nominee to fill the vacancy left by justice kevin -- justice kennedy. judge kavanaugh continues to meet with members and i am sure senator schumer and other democrats are meeting with the nominee and i trust they will find him what i found him as, a highly qualified person of good character and someone imminently qualified to be a member of the supreme court. unfortunately, this has devolved into a question of how much paper is being produced and i believe you will see the

gorsuch,n with judge about 180,000 pages of documents so far the judiciary committee has produced 258,000 pages of documents and we are on our way to somewhere in the million page range before it is over with. talking aboutare the great paper chase is because i believe our democratic colleagues have found all their other attempts to undermine or criticize this nominee have fallen flat. now it is a question of how much paper is going to be produced. in the end, we will each have all of the information anyone of us need to be able to evaluate the qualifications and experience of this nominee and i am confident he will be confirmed. host: taking your calls a week away from the confirmation hearings set to begin in the senate judiciary committee next tuesday.

sheila is in hagerstown, maryland, independent. go ahead. say to i would have to my senator to thoroughly investigate and to also wait on his nomination. i do have questions about kavanaugh. the fact that he was first nominated by the court of appeals in 2000 and for some reason, his confirmation was stalled for almost three years before he was even given that 2006.on in plus the fact that he worked -- he played ar lead role as an attorney in the .tar report -- staller report also, the impeachment of bill clinton.

i thought it was interesting that all the people trump could have chose, he chose him. host: on the star report, richard cohen talks about that specifically. he says the first question the askittee ought to have -- brett kavanaugh should be "are you and there's an chagrined at the way you and others -- are -- embarrassed and chagrined ashamed you had away in coercing revealing --ky in in the process, they virtually arrested a young woman on the solemn charge of being a young woman. kavanaugh did this and he has to account for it. anne in connecticut, a republican. good morning. -- all mywould tell

representatives are democrats, but i would tell them absolutely to confirm judge kavanaugh. -- he looks to the constitution for his decisions and he is a catholic. what does that have to do with anything? john f. kennedy was a catholic and people brought that up -- since people brought that up. he never did anything as far as his catholicism on any of his decisions or things he did when he was president. judge kavanaugh has given hundreds of thousands of documents. he gave more to the committee than any other nominee and he has a record of being on the d.c. court circuit of appeals for 12 years. he has all sorts of opinions they can refer to.

i feel i want someone who will follow the constitution and not be partisan, which is what democrats -- the ones nominated by a obama have done continually. he has got nothing to do with roe v. wade, that is ridiculous. it is law. they keep bringing that up. i don't know where they are coming up with this craziness against him. he is a perfectly fine justice and he should be nominated. he should be confirmed and democrats are being ridiculous about this. host: to some of your points you brought up, here is the new planned parenthood ad urging lisa murkowski from alaska, a republican, to vote against brett kavanaugh. here is what they had to say. [video clip] >> this is my cabin. my husband and i started building this four years ago. we live off the grid and we love it. nebraska -- alaska is a live and

yet live state. we have autonomy over our own bodies and to lose that right would be unalaskan. my access to health care is at stake. roe v. wade is at stake. thank you, lisa murkowski, for speaking for alaska women. please vote against brett kavanaugh. host: "washington journal" is getting your message to your senators on brett kavanaugh's nomination. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. jim in new york, independent. go ahead. caller: i have two comments. i think they should confirm kavanaugh because we are not supposed to be judged by our religious beliefs. know why the doj hasn't gone into an investigation as for the sleep

-- fervorously as they have done on donald trump. that has been all over the news, everybody has talked about it. all of a sudden, after she lost, it went away like everything else did. that is why i have asked my -- what i have asked my senators and the few i have talked to -- why they done that and there is supposed to be a separation of church and state and they keep bringing up kavanaugh's catholic religion. i don't care what religion you are as long as you are fair and square and do things according to the constitution of the united states. host: you say they keep bringing up their religion, who is they? are you talking about democratic senators or our viewers today? caller: everybody. democratic senators, the people

talking about he is a catholic and he is going to change roe v. wade and i don't think he will because he worked under anthony scalise, if i am not wrong here and scalis was a bit of a renegadee on the supreme court, but he did what was right according to the constitution. host: let's go to jason in maryland, independent. caller: good morning, how is everybody doing today? the big issue i see regardless -- other senators -- the issue we have is there is this divide -- divide and conquer. it seems like the politicians doing this are lovely. you have three different lines to call on, independent,

democrat, republican, everyone starts to throw their hands up and say, he is a republican or he is a democrat or he is independent. divides, ite these is hard to get anything to go through. the only thing to get back on track as a nation is to sit down and list the laws we want and vote yes or no regardless of party. host: luke in new jersey, democrat. good morning. i think kavanaugh is unqualified for the job. there seems to be someone much better for the job and i think it -- i think he is too young. hold on, i am giving my dad a bath right now. host: we will let you do that and go to brooklyn, new york. a democrat, go ahead. caller: i think the biggest concern with judge kavanaugh is not so much that it is a

surprise he was nominated because of gop, but that he was nominated by a president who now criminal of allegedly, cohen and what is going on with cohen and campaign and not to mention being beholden to russian business for so many years and it is coming to light. do we want a mob boss president nominating our judges at this point? i think that is the biggest red flag here and we need to put a pause this morning until we find out the truth from the mueller investigation. thank you. host: damien in new york. i wanted to do a slight correction. one of the callers earlier said kavanaugh had clerked for antonin scalia.

it was back in 1993 he surge -- search for justice anthony kennedy. david is in alexandria, virginia. republican. go ahead. caller: hi. thanks for c-span. -- i think it is , consideringrbole as far as roe v. wade. it is a major law that has been in effect for a number of years, see alland i just don't say the republican side going for that. overall, i think they interpret the law and that is what it is. i think he is an honorable man and i support his nomination.

host: about 10 minutes left in this segment, getting your thoughts on brett kavanaugh's nomination and keeping you updated on some of the other stories we have been following and talking about. here is one on that 3-d gun blueprint case from washington. a federal judge in washington state yesterday blocked through print -- blueprints for 3-d printed guns being shared online until the matter is resolved in court. in the preliminary injunction came in response to legal action --19 states seeking to block from distributing the files posted online earlier this year. the story noting that cody wilson called the ruling hilariously bad and an obvious injustice. other gun rights groups have posted the files on separate 'ste and they argue the judges ruling does not apply to them because they are not party to that ongoing legislation --

litigation. one other story, the shooting that took place in jacksonville, florida on sunday. -- there information shooter had been hospitalized for mental illness previously. the washington times reviewed court documents in his home state of maryland. divorce filings from the parents of david katz say as an adolescent he was twice hospitalized in psychiatric facilities and described antipsychotic and antidepressant medicines. his parents disagreed on how to care for their troubled son. their father claimed his estranged wife was exaggerating symptoms of mental illness as part of their long and bitter custody battle. host: back to your calls this morning.

john has been waiting in pennsylvania. independent. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would suggest my senators oppose the confirmation of brett kavanaugh. from what i understand, he feels the president is above the law. that scares me a little bit. beelieve kavanaugh should rejected on that point alone. thank you. host: matt in maryland, democrat. good morning. caller: hi, how are you today? host: doing well. caller: my opinion of all of at this point the judge himself, although, in my

should -- i believe it -- everything should be put on ind with this administration such question, it amazes me how they have been allowed by the congress and the senate to do anything crucial to our system as long as this investigation is expanding. -- it is really shameless, the hypocrisy of the republican party considering they purposefully dragged on the process for the last appointment of the obama administration and appointment.le the littles to me that a time would not hurt.

afterk he can wait until the election at the very least. host: this would be his second appointment. how did you feel about the first? how did you feel about neil gorsuch? all of themlt that should've waited, that is my opinion. i think they should've waited on top of the fact that the first one was, in my opinion to use the most literal term, a -- justice because he was appointed, in my opinion, illegally. the kavanaughing confirmation hearings, some more statements from members of the house and senate from the democratic side of the aisle, dianne feinstein from california yesterday. we have the possibility of criminal wrongdoing by the president combined with serious brett kavanaugh believes

the president can even be investigated compounded with the lack of transparency. i believe the hearing should be delayed. there is every reason to believe brett kavanaugh was chosen because he doesn't believe a president should be subject to investigation. we cannot accept the nominee who believes any president is above the law. we want to hear what you think, what your message would be to your senators if you are able to sit down with them and talk to them about brett kavanaugh's nomination. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. mona in st. louis, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i am calling because i oppose kavanaugh's nomination or confirmation and i have called my senators. i will be very disappointed if mccaskill at least votes to support him. he stands for every conservative

view that democrats do not stand for. i hope he doesn't get confirmed. host: what kind of response they you get from your senators when you called? caller: i was just able to leave a message. i was added to a list, i guess. host: did you participate in any of those protests against the kavanaugh nomination that took place on sunday? caller: no. host: were there any in st. louis that you saw? caller: no i didn't, i am sorry, i did not. i know most people i know oppose his confirmation. he is from that narrow list. i don't feel like he represents america -- the views of most americans. he is too conservative and you could tell when trump introduced him, just his speech was more white american.

white republican american. to tom in losa angeles, california, republican. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am a legislative bill reader for the california association of realtors. basically, i took the -- it took the congress of the united states 10 years to craft a great document and it seems like it is being implemented by idiots. c-span years ago had a debate talk between alan cranston and william buckley and cranston -- they were going at it and buckley said liberals, interpret the constitution as they wish to interpret it and conservatives as it was written. the closer we stick to that document and adhere to it in a

nonpartisan way, i think the country will benefit because that document is -- has lasted several hundred years. people will benefit from it all the better. my senator -- feinstein is a wealthy millionaire and my other senator, harris is a very aggressive socialist. the people deserve better and the constitution needs to be adhered to, to the letter. i thank you very much for your time. host: thank you for the call. amy in new york. a democrat, good morning. yes, i would say to my senator that every single document kavanaugh was ever a part of creating needs to be very carefully examined. we also need to take the time to complete the current muller

investigation to determine whether or not we are dealing with a crime family. thirdly, we need to take the republican sage advice that we should not be appointing any supreme court justice in the middle of an election. host: what do you think you will find if you examine every single document? caller: i think maybe some really insightful information in terms of biases and i agree with previous callers that his history of saying that presidents are above the law is very scary if we want to avoid an authoritarian government. host: do you think there is something you could find that you would not see looking at his circuit court work and his decisions? caller: not sure, but let's put the same degree of time, money, and effort as republicans did in looking into hillary's documentation, during which they found absolutely nothing.

host: joey in las vegas, a republican. good morning. caller: i can't believe they found nothing on hillary. does everybody have amnesia? have says elections consequences. every time the republicans want to do something, democrats flipped out because they know they are fighting for their lives right now because once trump succeeds, what are they going to run on? he is doing too good, we could do worse? hello? host: what do you think will happen in november, joey? -- first ofkind all, i have got to tell you something. the fbi said i was the boss of the mob on the east coast of the united states. host: when was that? caller: 1974 on channel 5.

host: what happened? caller: the 10:00 news. i got arrested and went to prison. that is yesterday's news. host: were they right? caller: i get very offended when i heard the mob related to politicians because if you had seen the history of the mob, there are no legitimate people getting hurt. all the politicians do is destroy working families. that is where they make all their money, working families. host: before they go, was the fbi right and what they said about you? caller: not really, but i did make a lot of money. host: what are you doing in las vegas now? caller: i am retired. host: thank you for the call. carrie in virginia, independent. caller: my comment is the senate should reject kavanaugh's nomination because of his

position that the president cannot be indicted. they should also reject his nomination because trump is under investigation and has absolutely no business appointing anyone to anything. they also probably ought to go back and look at the nomination for the other supreme court appointment trump made and see if there is something wrong with that. the idea of supreme court justices being appointed for life is an outdated, crazy idea. you've got people in their late 70's and 80's on the supreme court. it ought to be limited to a certain age like 75 and have them retire and be replaced by somebody else so you get more of an at will flow. that is my comment, thank you. host: that is our last caller in his first segment of the "washington journal." up next we will be joined by lily eskelsen garcia to discuss

the trump considering a proposal to arm teachersother education d former federal election commissioner brad smith will talk about campaign finance of the pleaght agreement from president trump's personal lawyer, michael cohen. we will be right back. >> national book award-winning author jacqueline woodson is our guest on in-depth fiction edition on sunday at noon with her most recent book, "quote harbor me. -- "harbor me" was over 50 novels and illustrated books for kids and young adults.

be sure to watch in-depth fiction edition next month with author geraldine brooks and in november and december. on book tv on c-span2. watch c-span this week for live coverage of events honoring the life and career of senator john mccain. ,ednesday at 1:00 eastern senator mccain lies in state at the arizona state capitol. thursday at 1:00, a memorial service at north phoenix baptist church. the service, senator mccain's casket to parts arizona for joint base andrews in maryland. friday the senator will lie in state at the u.s. capitol. , the national:00 memorial service for senator mccain at washington national cathedral with the eulogy by

former president barack obama. watch live on c-span and c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app app. >> c-span. where history unfolds daily. in 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme eventsand public policy in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. "washington journal" continues. host: we welcome lily eskelsen garcia back to our desk. she is president of the national education association and these days school safety is at the top of everyone's minds. remind us where we are on this

issue of possibly arming some teachers. guest: that is one of these big head slaps, we are talking about arming teachers. i have a suspicion. i believe when the trump administration is in trouble over here, they go look, over here. let's talk about arming teachers. it is so absurd on its face. .'m a sixth-grade teacher we want to do everything possible to keep our kids safe. we are in mourning with the families of lost students, lost educators to gun violence. fortunately, something like parkland and the other tragedies do not happen every day. i will tell you what happens every day at the elementary school where i talked. fights on the playground. parents upset about a grade or a kid did not get on the team. when you look at all of the conflicts that can happen organically.

we deal with them. we teach kids to take a deep breath and we talk with parents. featuresmagine adding -- adding teachers with loaded pistols in their pockets, because you would have to walk around with this stuff, the potential for somebody overreacting or just a simple accident. the fact that anyone like betsy devos would suggest that we should arm teachers and make them sharpshooters is frightening to me. host: what our title iv aid funds and wire we talking about them? >> here is the other side of alice in wonderland. there are grants called the school support and academic enrichment grants that she is proposing seriously, instead of

the mental health services that those would provide. they provide funding for community schools like lebron james's school in ohio. they provide arts and anti-bullying training. -- if you wantg to buy guns for your school, you can take school support and academic enrichment funds. host: how many of those funds are out there? guest: i do not know that so i will not make up numbers. it is a lot of money. host: this is a federal pot of money? guest: it is a federal pot of money. people need to understand what the federal department of education was designed to do. we do not have a national school system. we have state run systems. 60's, where you had

some states that had segregated schools, or you had lots of states that said we do not serve special ed children, or girls are not allowed in these programs, only boys, the federal role was to combat discrimination, to make sure students civil rights were respected, no matter where you went to school. what we are seeing in the federal department of education is the dismantling of student rights. host: you mentioned betsy devos. here is betsy devos at a cabinet meeting talking about this issue. [video clip] >> i've been pleased to work officers to learn from those closest to student. our aim is not to impose a one-size-fits-all solution. the primary responsibility for the present local -- for the

physical security of schools rests with state and local communities. it is clear from our work thus far that many schools and communities take this responsibility seriously. many have employed solutions that uniquely meet their needs and requirements. it is also clear that keeping kids safe is not a one-time check the box exercise. a safety plan you implement once and call it good. it requires a posture of perpetual preparedness. what is necessary and right for a school with 50 students in cheyenne is different than what is necessary for a school in chicago. nea president lily eskelsen garcia is our guest. phone lines. parents can call in at (202) 748-8000, teachers at (202) 748-8001, all others (202) 748-8002. you can start calling you now. i did want to get your reaction

to betsy devos at that cabinet meeting. guest: she has a mantra of states rights. the federal government has no role. as i said, the department of students was all about -- in some states students have no rights. this was about the federal government saying that no matter where you go to school, we want a decent able to have education and be free from harassment and discrimination. has we look at what she been rolling back in terms of protections for transgender students. she has rolled back protection for victims of campus sexual assault. she has proposed deeply defunding special education. it is one thing to say it is not the federal role to fund special education. there are some states that are so cash-strapped that without

that important role of the federal government saying we want to make sure all kids have rights and have the resources to serve them, she has been the exact opposite. host: let's chat with a few callers. ray is in lake dallas, texas. a parent. good morning. caller: good morning john and hi, lily. this idea -- lily, you are spot on. where trump seems to deflect and brings up this notion as silly teachers,bout arming when they are not doing anything about the nra and the power of the lobby. we massively update and overall the way the lobby is handled in our country, this is never going to get fixed.

it is down to the point where it is god-awful. we have senators and congressmen alike that stand up there and say -- that is the first words. we are so sorry for their loss. point -- itto the has gotten to the point it does not even mean anything. it is something they are saying just to say it. the lobby -- the nra and the lobby is so strong and them so much pac money going to everybody and these guys are not willing to let it go. host: thanks for the call. we will let you take his points. guest: you love anyone who says your spot on so he is my new best friend. we are not alone. that is a parent calling in. a lot of our teachers and support professionals are already in school today. they might not be watching the

show but we will spread it around. the bottom line is the nra is very powerful. so our parents. so are educators. so are people who live in that community. just because something is silly and designed to be a distraction -- let's have rambo teachers shooting the bad guys -- it can still pass. thingsliest, most absurd can still pass and that is why people need to be united in making sure the people who represent them speak up. host: to be clear on passing. the use of title iv funds to buy weapons and pay for training -- that does not need to go through congress? guest: it does not need to go to congress. incredible has authority over the department of education and the rules and regulations.

-- that grant money is used if your state was putting out a grant that said we like to use that money for guns, you are in that local community. you should tell your local leaders, your state education leaders that you will not support or stand for something like that. host: we do have a teacher calling in. athens, georgia. good morning. caller: i wanted to talk to a couple things. the nra is a citizen funded lobbying group. that is one people voluntarily give money to. the second amendment israel. it is not -- the second amendment is real. it is not imaginary to keep a well-funded militia. it is for people like you and me to have the right to defend ourselves. you said civil rights for

students. a nine-year-old boy was bullied in class and he killed himself after four days of bullying. this gets to the point of what i think is the real problem. jacksonville, you have teachers and administrators are not doing a good job, are not doing any job in terms of protecting kids. there was no doubt this young man that shot up the school in -- he was already on the radar as much as anybody could get on the radar. this nine-year-old boy -- somebody somewhere said it will be a good idea for him to tell his buddies that he is gay. why a nine-year-old should be encouraged to talk about any kind of sexuality to me -- that is crazy.

host: what you teach and what kind of school you teach in? caller: stem at a middle school. host: would you support having armed teachers at your school? no, not at my school teaching my child. much less carrying a gun. that said, i'm not that worried -- i can tell you the situation with guns and shootings at schools, it comes from video games. i may stem educator and computer enthusiast. -- i am a stem educator and computer enthusiast. it comes from video games and the federal government getting involved in local school systems. host: we will take the point. guest: i have heard from college's all over the world.

i work with an organization called education international. you can go to amsterdam and see a lot of video games. you can go to places all over the world and see a lot of kids playing a lot of video games. what makes a difference that they do not have mass shootings in germany or japan or other places that have kids apply a lot of video games? we have easy access to the most dangerous military style weapons. that is the difference. host: dave is in maryland. the line for all others. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking the call. you are doing a great job. i listened to the opening. i would encourage you to listen to the tape the next day to what you said and then listen to what betsy devos had to say. betsyly, i do not think is doing anything against what you are aspiring the federal

government to support in terms of creating funds that individual state and local communities can use that is based on their specific needs. orchid, butaught at i'm not sure where that is. in the school systems i have visited, specifically the inner-city, the predominant problem is that these kids do not have strong parents. it is not that they do not have not think thet do parents are is actively involved in their children's lives as other parents and possibly more affluent neighborhoods or more pleasant environments in the country. there is too much of a burden being placed on teachers to essentially parent children when more burdens, or more

encouragement, more federal funding should be invested in parenting. , ast: i taught at orchard suburb of salt lake city, utah. i also taught at a homeless shelter where there was a school for kids whose parents would not becauser kids leave they were fleeing domestic violence or something in their lives. i taught in a one-room school, kindergarten through sixth grade. the most affluent families i have served and the most disadvantaged families i have served all loved their kids. everyone wanted to do the right thing. some of them had more access and opportunity to be involved in their schooling. i saw it as my job as a professional that i tried to meet those kids and their families where they were. the paul is correct -- the call

is correct in saying we need more parent involvement and we need ways we can bring families into the school. we are very excited at the national education association about a movement called community schools, where it is like the anti-voucher. instead of sending kids out to the marketplace, and good luck to find someone who chooses you, it is let's make that school the hub of the community, where everyone is welcome, where there is something even for the adults in the community. we are seeing more and more communities being able to develop those things. getsusiness community involved in saying we have the responsibility to these kids. part of the school support and academic enrichment funds that betsy devos is saying maybe people should buy pistols and guns for teachers would come out of that. there is only so much money and that pot.

if you start saying we are going to be spending this on firearms, there is less money for things that would actually bring families together into that school. a parent in fresno, california. good morning. caller: i am a parent of a special needs child. that special needs child was under many of the policies in california. services were not provided, even though we went to every iap. if my child was strapped in a chair for eight hours a day with bruises all over her, i wonder how money lawsuits for special needs kids the state of california has gone through? many of us parents have filed lawsuits. ,ou want your teachers union

however you do not want to take care of the kids. you can argue and say we should not be armed. but you do not want to do the job. you hire student teachers to teach these special needs, or they cannot even talk or speak or change their diaper. i do not understand where the education department has gone in california because we pay our taxes for this. you pick and choose. if it is an athlete, you get that money. how many teachers have been fired because they stuck up for my daughter? how many times have i gone to the iep and they say she is meer -- i had a teacher tell she is never going to be anything, what you want from us? host: thanks for sharing your story. should ever be

subjected anything unsafe in their classroom. is al tell you there difference between administration and the department of education in the state and my union. the national education association is made up of 3 million practitioners, teachers and support professionals. if you work in a public school or university, you can be a member of the nea. if people saw the passion of the folks that advocate for the any a -- for the nea standing up for their students, some of the most passionate are special education teachers and support staff. one of the things we have worked on diligently over many years has been the support services for special education, from the inception of special education ,e were part of the federal law

we were part of lobbying the federal law that brought that right to public schools. now, we have been trying for years to get the federal government to actually pay their fair share of special education. they have never paid half of what they are supposed to pay. it is a continuing struggle to get congress and others to understand how important that is. host: less than 10 minutes left in our segment. still taking your calls for parents, teachers, and all others. we spent the first hour talking about brett kavanaugh. has the nea taken a position on that nomination? guest: we are opposing the nomination for many reasons, but specifically on the conflict of interest we see that brett kavanaugh has been a strong supporter of public funding being taken from public schools

to give to private religious schools. he was the cochair of the federalist society, vouchers, school choice group. that thate a decision is appropriate and we disagree. that he hasns us is made some comments that would say, if a state, because many states in their constitutions prohibit the use of public dollars supporting religious institutions, including religious schools. they see that as something they do not want to do in their state. he has made comments suggesting that a state deciding that is unconstitutional. that it would force states that do not want to spend their tax

dollars supporting religious schools, that they would have to. host: barbara is a teacher in salem, new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. my issue is a major problem in public education is the tenure issue. there are many teachers who should not be teaching, who should not be in that position. however, once they reach tenure they cannot get rid of them. that needs to change. we need to have teachers are able to do the job and do a quality job and an excellent job , not just because they have a job for life. that is not the way it should go. that is destroying our education , it is destroying the quality of the education. that is something that needs to be looked at. job you keep your position regardless of the job

you do? guest: teacher of valuation is very important to us. there are no teachers that have jobs for life. it is not impossible to fire someone who is incompetent or unethical. all we have ever supported was making sure that when there is a conflict or when a teacher is accused of being incompetent or doing something they should not have done, they have a right to defend themselves or tell their side of the story. a process that continually evaluates how teachers are doing. we have run into a lot of controversy in the past years where folks were saying let's make it easy. if your kids cannot get a high test score on your test, you're a bad teacher, we can just fire you. or a parent complains about you, we can fire you. there has to be something that

is fair, and something that is fair to the teacher but also fair to the students, making sure they always have quality people. we also believe that a key ingredient in having quality educators is making sure you have quality people from day one. they are properly prepared and ready to do their jobs. we have fought against a wave of -- let's make it easier for teachers to become teachers, anyone who wants to try it, let's let them try. that is not a good idea. we need a system from the experienced career teacher so that quality people are there and quality people stay. host: delray beach, florida. margaret. on the line for all others. caller: i just have a few responses. of your responses

have been sophomoric. the gentleman previously never mentioned whether parents love their children. he mentioned whether parents are doing their job. that is a wide birth. the teacher that called in about nikolas cruz, you conveniently crossed over that response -- you conveniently glossed over that response. i'm against arming teachers. -- you vilifying betsy devos teachers unions control and have more effect on elections in this nra.ry -- you bring up the look at the teachers union. i have three children. i am one of 11 children. my youngest just started college. if i could tell you the uu tell you-- if i can the ridiculous conversations i've had with professionals that have taught my children.

i have had teachers mention maybe i could bring better snacks. cruz, whoand nikolas every red flagged in the world, and i would remind you the previous administration thought it was successful that have young men and women of color not be arrested and not start the world with a strike against them , as if not being arrested was equal not committing a crime. host: margaret brings up a lot of points. guest: let me deal with the last one. school disruptions and discipline issues are something we care deeply about, that kids are in a safe environment in the classroom. is that, depending on the race of that child, the very same infraction, fighting on the playground or being belligerent to a teacher, the of consequences and

punishments for that child can be very different if you're a white child or a black child or a brown child. those studies are clear. infraction, the white child might be kept after school or school did and the black child is hauled off in handcuffs by the police. what we want is something that says all children are safe and that all children have appropriately -- appropriate consequences. when you have one set of children hauled off by police, you have very different and unfair consequences. way to to find the right have appropriate consequences. those efforts are well underway by educators right now, and administrators who want to make sure their students are in a

good environment. meand environment does not that you have a stricter consequence for one set of children that another. host: time for one last call. others.the line for all caller: i have experience with weapons. i have had to qualify. i'm not stupid about weapons. i had a moment of clarity when i woke up listening to your show this morning. i was not even awake and it still hit me. remember the part in "bowling for columbine" when michael moore is sitting with the parents of one of the victims of the columbine massacre and they are like what is it about america that makes us different? i listen to your second collar.

i am glad he is not teaching any kid of mine. oh my god. they are going back and forth. i finally figured it out. it is the second amendment itself. every time there is a mass shooting, the second amendment gets all of this juice to power it. it is the second amendment that has to go. i know nobody wants to hear that in america. they really do not. i am telling you, i absolutely believe it. fear that we have -- we have a bully in charge of this country and he is instilling and mass shootings are taking off at an exponential pace. emotionhere is so much

in this issue on both sides. the nea is not supporting a repeal of the second amendment. what we are asking for our common sense gun safety laws. you have universal background checks. if you have a store and you sell guns, you have to do a background check. it is easy and quick. if you sell it online, you do not. if you set up a booth at a gun show, you do not. that --that loophole that loophole to be fixed. we also cannot believe that we need to have civilians with military assault weapons. you have to keep the most dangerous people from easy access to the most dangerous weapons. we believe that is where you have to start. ist: lily eskelsen garcia president of the national education association. always appreciate you coming by. guest: thank you.

next, bradley smith joins us. a former chair of the federal election commission. he will give us his thoughts on the -- on michael cohen and whether he broke campaign finance laws. we will be right back. ♪ sunday night on "q&a" historian charles calhoun talks about his biography on the 23rd president of the united states, engine and harrison. >> he was nominated. he was in indianapolis. he gave four speeches that day. his campaign people said this is the thing to do. let people come to you. over the next months, until the election, that is what happened. he stayed home, he slept in his own bed, he would meet these

delegations from around the state, from around the country, often they would be special interest groups, the coal miners, the cotton finders -- the cotton minors, they would common harrison would give them a short speech, mostly in tune to their own interests but something that would resonate with people generally. he had his own stenographer take would go he said and over what he said to make sure it was what he wanted people to read. they would give it to the associated press and newspapers all over the country. >> historian charles calhoun, sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." week forc-span this live coverage of events honoring the life and career of senator john mccain. wednesday at 1:00 eastern, senator mccain lies in state at the arizona state capitol. thursday at 1:00, a memorial service and north phoenix baptist church.

following the service, senator mccain's casket departs arizona for joint base andrews in maryland. friday, the senator will line state at the u.s. capitol, starting at 11:00 eastern. sunday at 10:00, the national memorial service for senator mccain at washington national cathedral, with the eulogy by former president barack obama. watch live on c-span and c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. "washington journal" continues. federal election commission's chairman bradley smith joins us one week after michael cohen the guilty to campaign finance violations. what michael cohen actually admitted to in court and why it is considered a felony in the eyes of the law? caller: cohen admitted to two

things. one was causing an illegal corporate contribution. corporations can spend money on -- the mostt cannot an individual can contribute is $2700. obviously the payments to these women are in a sense of that amount. the prosecutor argues these are violations of campaign finance laws. anything made for the purpose of thatencing an election -- is why they decided to make this payment. i am skeptical. this is a violation of campaign finance laws for a couple of reasons. longaw has wrong -- has wrestled with the idea of anything influence a campaign. said i needalways

to narrow things down. the one that is of interest to me as there's an exception to what is called personal use. even if it might be done to benefit your campaign. if you were to say as a , can you use your campaign funds to buy that suit? no. even if you're thinking that will make you look better in the campaign debate. can you say to be ready for the next ai need a good massage, can you use campaign funds? no. let's take an example that is more direct to the particular situation. let's suppose you have lawsuits pending against you. say i think these lawsuits,

i think there is no merit but they are bothering my campaign. i have to answer questions about them. some people might believe these allegations, so the guy says to his lawyer, he says i want these lawsuits settled. he is doing it to benefit his campaign, and the only reason he is settling these and rather than taking it to trial. does that make the settlements campaign funds? i think the answer is no. i think the problem the is that these things run afoul of this personal use restriction of what constitutes campaign funds. it is important to note that restriction is written to say the obligation had to be created by the campaign. it is not enough that it benefits the campaign or the primary reason you're making the payment is to influence the campaign. it has to come out of that campaign, like paying for tv ads with the campaign, renting

office headquarters, traveling to a campaign rally. those are things that exist only because of the campaign. that is the problem of prosecutor has. theother problem is that first charge, this idea of causing a corporate contribution to be made is not in the statute. corporationl for a to make a contribution to a candidate's campaign but there is nothing about causing a corporate contribution to be made. it is illegal for an officer for a corporation to authorize or consent to a corporate contribution to her campaign but michael cohen was not an officer of any of these corporations. it is not clear that that is in violation of the law at all. those of the problems the prosecutor will have. if yourr our viewers, questions about campaign finance law, now would be a good time to call in. republicans vice pres. pence: -- republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, and

independents (202) 748-8002 as we talked to bradley smith, former chair of the election campaign. joining us from columbus ohio. coming back to the michael cohen violations, whether it is a personal use violation or contribution violation, how does the fec and prosecutors decide whether to treat this as something that should be fined or something that a felony criminal case gets brought. how do you determine what goes to the next level? guest: typically, something becomes a crime only if it is a knowing and willful violation. pleadedcase, cohen guilty to making knowing and dwelling violations. whether that would extend onto the president or to others is a tight question. it is common in campaigns to take funds that are illegal. you get a check for somebody,

the guys name is sam wang, you do not know if he is an american city. you should not presume because he is not an american citizen. you cash the check, it turns out he is not a citizen, you typically have to refund the money and you may get fined for an improper contribution. the obama campaign in 2008 was $375,000, something like that, for accepting fairly large amounts of funds that were not lawful for them to accept. this is not that uncommon in a campaign. they raised over $1 billion. of a few hundred thousand dollars of illegal contributions is not that shocking when you think of how they come in. they pay a cash penalty. the question is knowing and willful. it is hard to show knowing and willful. lawyer if your a trump

-- imagine if you are a trump lawyer and you're trying to decide what to do about the payments. on the one hand you have them saying this is for the purpose of influencing campaigns. if you do not use campaign funds to pay this, you have a violation. on the other hands, if you use campaign funds, that would be personal use of campaign funds. you have a violation. how do we know what is the right result? it would be hard in that situation to know it is a knowing and willful violation. that would be tough to prove and , think generally in this case to my knowledge there has never been a judicial decision interpreting the law when it comes to paying hush money to somebody. in that situation it would be tough to pin a knowing and willful violation on somebody. host: lots of colors and questions waiting for you. we only have about 18 minutes

left. matt in dallas, texas. line for independents. go ahead. caller: i wanted to talk you about how you said that a corporation donating to a campaign is illegal. how can that align with the ruling in citizens united and the flood of -- i know it is technically not corporate money, but corporate money flooding into our political system? guest: there are a couple things there. corporate money is not flooding into the political system. there is very little political money in the terms -- in the system. in terms of for-profit corporations there only a handful that have tried to contribute. comesoney in super pacs from wealthy individuals. your main question, what is the difference between this and citizens united, and this is a logical thing to ask.

citizens united says that corporations can spend money to voice their views. if i run a corporation, i can spend money and say we need these tariffs. if we do not get these turks, we are going out of business, and you folk -- we are not -- if we do not get these tariffs, we are going out of business. that is an expenditure by the corporation. a contribution is that the corporation gives the money to the candidates campaign. it sounds like a technical thing. that is how the law is set up. a corporation can spend money to tell people how they think they should vote, but cannot give money directly to a candidates campaign. at least not in federal races. many states allow corporations to contribute to state candidates. , harvey,virginia independent. good morning. caller: i would like to direct of -- i would like to direct a question as to corporation

financing. there are a lot of individuals -- warren buffett and several other individuals -- dates and all of them -- gates and all of them -- self incorporated. as far as these pacs are corporations that are supposedly nonprofit organizations who contribute a tremendous amount of money, especially considering them to organizations. they are basically incorporated too. donations to someone running for a political office -- you have to understand that way back, a man who was running for political office did his own

financing. i do not know -- my question is do know exactly how much money -- onderal government income tax forms where you for presidential election are campaign that is funded by the people, the individual people -- do you know what kind of funds are raised that way? you're referring to what is called the presidential campaign fund. this is on your taxes. it is three dollars cap three dollars of your tax return go to residential election campaign fund. that fund has fallen out of use over the last couple of decades because it does not provide enough money to candidates and puts too many restrictions on candidates. candidates have decided it is

not worth it. if candidates except that money, they are limited in how much private money they raise and most candidates decide i can raise more private money than that fund will give me. that fund has all kinds of restrictions. you are limited. you have to spend it state-by-state in the primaries. you cannot spend it all in the states that are most important. you have to spend a lot of the different states. you have to agree to certain audits and regulations by the fec. basically, that fund has fallen out of use. the candidates who use it 10 to be candidates who were not able to raise much private funds. typically, if you're my able to raise private -- if you're not able to raise private funds were not popular and likely to win. advocate raising the contribution limit to that fund and getting it back and use more? guest: i would not. i'm not sure that would work. that was tried in the early 90's.

towas raised from one dollar three dollars. a very small percentage of people checked that box. under 10%. raising the amount was not bringing in any more money. the other reason, and this is just an ideological reason, i do not think the government should be in the business of funding the campaigns by which people choose who was in the government . i think it is a dangerous precedent, kind of like having the government fund newspapers or fund the press. once the government gets heavily involved in funding that sort of thing, strings will eventually come attached and that is a bad road to go down. that is an ideological concern. host: if you ever -- if you have a question for former fec chair brad smith, republicans (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202)

.48-8002 susan has been waiting in kissimmee, florida. go ahead. caller: if trump paid with his own money, how come there is a violation? i do not think he used campaign funds. guest: that is a good question. first is even if trump paid this with his own money, if it were interpreted to be a campaign expenditure, and i have to say i do not think it is, but if it were interpreted to be a campaign expenditure, he would still have a reporting obligation. the campaign would have to report this on its forms. that would be a problem because they did not report it. i'm not sure how much that reporting would have told the public. the clinton campaign funneled funds to the british spy to go talk to russians and they call that legal fees on their reporting. it is possible they could have reported something on that. they did not report anything on that.

reportinghave the violation, although not an illegal contribution violation. some of the funds were paid not by mr. trump personally by one of his corporations, and if that is the case that would still be an illegal corporate contribution. my view is this is not a contribution at all and thus it does not matter how it was paid, so long as it was not paid with campaign funds. it is a commonsense matter. if i would ask people three years ago before donald trump, do you think paying hush money to quiet charges of sexual harassment or somebody is trying to get hush money for an affair, do you think that is a legitimate campaign expense? i think almost everybody would say that is not what campaign funds are for. i think that is the way the law is written. the loss is clearly the obligation has to have been created by the campaign. a dalliance years before is not a campaign expenditure.

host: john is in cleveland, ohio. independents. caller: i am only 83 years old -- theannot figure out board members in the top people get all kinds of money. you can go through the back door, through the super pacs, and bookkeeping is nothing more than a shell game. i teach finance. one it we auction off the officers to the highest bidder? the founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves. voters have to vote and that is where voters have power. there are a lot of arguments about how valuable money is. the truth is let's think about the other possibility. let's pose we limit how much people can spend. are limited -- you in spending your own money to voice your views to people. a lot of people have a problem

with that. the supreme court has held you cannot limit speech that way. your limited people's ability to get arguments to the public. i think that is a problem. campaign finance raises a lot of thorny issues. a lot of people have a peopleort with wealthy being able to get more speech out there. the flipside of that reality is you trust the government to start regulating and decide who search be -- who should speak and who should not speak and whose views we do not need to hear anymore? i think that is a risky road. host: do you think the public has confidence that the fec can run elections fairly? guest: the role of the fec is not to be an all-purpose fairness agency. i think that is part of the problem. the idea that the government is going to come in and run the campaign. we obviously want the election

fair. we do not want different polling hours for republicans and democrats, but campaigning is people talking to one another. the idea that the government is going to regulate that is problematic. i think the fec does the best it can given that they have a statute that the courts are consistently striking down parts of the statute as violating the first amendment. i think they do the best they can, given that the groups that would normally be supportive of a regulatory organization, the public interest groups that claim to support campaign-finance reform, tend to attack the agency relentlessly and unfairly. the fec does what it has -- does what it can but in the end you are not going to make it impossible for people to have political influence. that is why people participate in politics. the agency's job is not to solve whatever you do not like about

campaigns, it is to regulate the flow of money in accordance with statutes and that statute is limited by the constitution and the first amendment. host: josh is in new york city. a democrat. good morning. how are you? i'm calling from one of the worst states in the u.s., the highest poverty, crime rates. 36 in education. we have the highest number of private prisons which are cheap labor. i cannot believe our politicians do not believe what situation our people are involved in. host: we are running short on time. what is your question? to the it is important

situation in mississippi. our politicians are wasting our money in places like afghanistan. host: we will keep it to an fec discussion this morning. we have an expert with us to have that discussion. anthony is waiting in new york city to have that discussion. a democrat. caller: good morning, how are you? host: go ahead. caller: americans are held hostage by the gop radicals in power. of the three branches, executive, legislative, and judicial, this fake news is amplified across the station by the state media, fox. checks and balances have largely failed in the once great democracy.

they are being weakened by the courts and the media. the guy was going on talking about the terrible situations in president isd the saying nothing, going golfing every day and doing nothing about mississippi. host: got your point. bradley smith, on checks and balances, can you talk about how checks and balances work on the fec? guest: the fec is the unique federal agencies. it has six commissioners. you need four votes to take action. it has to be some measure of bipartisanship. some people complain about that. they argue it is hard to get that bipartisanship. most things are settled that way. i think it shows the difficulty of regulating in this area. i cannot imagine people like anthony would be at all happy if you had a commission that have

four republicans and three democrats or that under a democratic president republicans would be willing to take decisions on political regulation on a commission with four democrats and three republicans. it is created and that bipartisan fashion for a reason. that is the only thing that gives the decisions legitimacy. it is also important because it shows the difficulty of trying to regulate in this sensitive area where your regulating the political process itself. there is a particular risk of partisan manipulation of the rules. d.c. antonio is in independent. good morning. caller: my question goes back to something you mentioned earlier. problemsone of the with limiting campaign donations would be that it would effectively be limiting the ability of people to have free

speech and the election process. would a limit why on the size of a campaign donation limit free speech? it in the sense you cannot speak as much as you would like to. you cannot get your message out to as many people. money is not speech. if you're using money for the purpose of making political speech and somebody says we will not let you do that, you have killed the political speech. just like if you have told people you are free to hire a lawyer you cannot pay for one, or you are free to practice religion but you cannot spend money to hire a pastor or build a church. we see those things infringe on constitutional rights. you cannot get rid of the second amendment i are doing will make it illegal to spend money to buy guns or bullets. that would be perceived correctly as attempting to

andibit the manufacture purchase of weapons. you cannot get around the argument by framing it as a question of money. that is the same thing with campaigns. we cannot say to a person will not spend any money to buy a radio ad saying how you should vote. it is a dangerous road to go down to start giving the government power in that area. host: just about a minute left. bradley smith having this conversation after the death over the weekend of senator john mccain. before we let you go come -- go, can you talk about john mccain his impact on campaign finance. is an john mccain authentic american hero who did great service to his country. was acain-feingold law very bad idea and in my view, a

constitutional travesty, initially upheld by the supreme court's but in years since, they have wiped out most provisions of the law as being of the first amendment. i am sure he meant well. the problem is, it cannot be addressed by trying to silence of speakers. in the end come i do not think that will go down as one of the high points of what is generally speaking, a legacy of a person who is legitimate american euro. host: bradley smith is a former alsohair from 2004, and press are of law at capital university law school. guest: thank you. i want to tell people, and also the chairman of the institute of free speech and you can find our website, a lot of information about the fcc and campaign finance.

thank you for having me. host: up next on the "washington journal," motors heading to the polls in three states today. two primaries and one of runoff, andill get your comments hear what issues are important to you as we are now just 10 weeks away from election day. democrats, and independents phone lines on your screen. we will be right back. ♪ livein us for booktv's coverage of the national book festival. saturday starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern. viewererage includes a call in some are set on the washington convention center with biographer john meacham. pulitzer prize winner historian, with "leadership and permanent

- and turbulent times." and a fox news host with his book. watched the 18th annual library of congress national book 2'stival live on c-span booktv on saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. week forc-span this live coverage of the event honoring the life of senator john mccain. wednesday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, senator mccain lies in state at the arizona state capitol. thursday at 1:00, i memorial service at north phoenix baptist church and following the partse, the casket the arizona for joint base andrews, maryland. friday, the senator will lie in capitol the u.s. parts

starting at 11:00 a.m. eastern. and saturday, the national memorial service for senator washingtonapitol national cathedral with the eulogy by former president barack obama. watch live on c-span or c-span on the free radio app. c-span where history unfolds daily. in 1970 nine, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable-television companies. today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress. the white house. the supreme court. and public policy events in washington dc and around the country. you by yourought to cable or satellite provider. "washington journal" continues. host: voters heading to the polls in three states. primaries in florida and arizona

today and they run off taking place in oklahoma. we want to hear from you on this primary day in those states about what issues you are most interested in. you do not have to be a voter in one of those three states to call in, it is open to everybody. if you are in one of those three states, let as know if you are heading to the polls and what you think about a candidates. ,epublicans, (202) 748-8001 democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. as we go through, we will check in with reporters on the ground in those three states to talk about some of the most interesting races, and what to look for tonight. here's what to look for on the front page of some of the newspapers. inm the "villages daily sun" florida, talking about what is at stake in the florida primary.

the poll on the pages showing the democratic governor's race in that state with glenn graham beating the fellow democrat philip levine. also the republican nominee. we will go through some of those races in florida. here is the front page of the "arizona daily sun." county that ishe surpassing the 2016 early ballots votes that have come in and the front page from , it'sma, the oklahoman runoff vote is the headline on their front page. to field of candidates narrow before the general election. already holding its primaries

earlier, but several those primaries having to go to the runoff. what issues are most important to you as we head into election 2018? as we head question into elections in florida, arizona, and oklahoma. republicans, (202) 748-8001, democrats (202) 748-8000, independents (202) 748-8002. dwight in georgia, good morning. caller: good morning. one of the things that is a concern to me, in the late 1990's, my son was at one of the school shootings and i am bringing this up over what happened in florida over the weekend. where does the parents responsibility, involved? i hear about the nra, gun rights, and certain things, but somewhere there has been a breakdown in the family unit. would you not agree? where do you think the -- host: where do you think the breakdown started?

caller: i would say around the dinner table. we gotten so connected to our iphones, and that is where we gather information. how is mom and dad, what is going on in school, and some of these things have not been addressed. host: do you think it is being addressed by politicians today, are they talking about it, are you hearing about those issues as we head to election 2018? caller: to a certain degree, i think it is, and to another degree, i think it is not. once you have got the information, over time we became educated to more things going on around the country, but in less thenitiated at home, family unit has broken down. york,mark is in new democrat. what is she was most important to you heading into the 2018 election? caller: the election in new york

is work. we need jobs. the jobs have left over the last 30 or 40 years. it started back when reagan went in there and that is when we started moving all our manufacturing offshore, losing and thatr jobs, factory workers -- i am a construction worker for over 30 years. there is no work in this upstate new york, there is nothing here. it is dead. it is unbelievable. to the south or to cities that are booming to find work. my father was a professional road builder, why are we not to rebuilding our puts and infrastructure and 50 million of our union and nonunion construction workers up to work and did wages

-- and get wages up? they broke our unions down and this is our problems today. we have a banking and servicing the economy, we manufacture nothing, and we built nothing. that is our problem. host: would you consider moving for work? considering --am i do not want to move anymore, but i do not know. there is a point -- i am 62 now. i do not have enough to retire on. i've got to work another 20 years. it is a problem. host: president trump talks a lot about jobs. is he speaking to you? i was aknow, and registered republican for over 30 years until three years ago. then i decided to register as an independent and then i could not to vote for bernie sanders in the primary, and now i am a registered democrat and i am a

and anyone who thinks that the republican party that was bought and paid for by the billionaire party -- i am and eisenhower republican and my republican party is gone. this party is want to be taking down the country, i believe. host: kevin, what is your most important issue heading into 2018? isler: well, i would say one kavanaugh, and the other 1 -- he needs to be appointed. he needs to be oked. keepther thing is, i hearing people like this last guy from new york, are -- our jobs have been disappearing since reagan. our jobs have been disappearing since clinton signed china. i am from north carolina originally and we were the textile capital of the world,

you can look at up. the office was out of greensboro but most of it was produced in burlington, north carolina. our jobs went overseas and our people had a choice -- you can take a small severance package and find something else, our construction engines -- industry has been being by ourgal immigration, all of industry jobs, jobs they say americans will not do, i've never seen a job that i would not do. you know what i mean, as long as it did not harm somebody. i know most people would do it, you know. they will do anything they can to make a dollar. you cannot even get a job on a farm nowadays because you have to fill out all of this no, andrk and they say you go back by and they have all these illegal aliens. they will not hire americans. they will not give americans the jobs. host: kevin in south carolina.

in northe border carolina, some interesting news that could have an impact on election 2018. a panel of three federal judges held monday at north carolina's congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor republicans over democrats and says it may require new districts before the november election. they have acknowledged that they've already produced candidates but they are reluctant to let voters to take place in those congressional districts that courts have twice found violate constitutional standards. the supreme court has eight members and justice anthony kennedy's retirement last month, a tie vote will leave the lower court's decision in place. that stories the front page of several major newspapers today. in florida with a republican, are you heading out to vote? caller: yes sir.

i'm going to be voting in a little while. i just want to say that a lot of things, as far as what is important of the 2018 election, the economy for one think -- thing, but also, the immigration issue. it has been distorted in the media in different ways. i do not think that most americans are opposed to immigration, people coming over trying to make a better life for themselves, as long as they do it legally. not illegal. i think that is where a lot of stuff gets conflated. host: tim in florida this morning. one of the races on the ballot this morning in florida is the senate race. senator bill nelson hoping to hold onto his seat but being challenged by the florida governor, rick scott. here is the florida governor's

latest ad. jobs -- iworks three will never forget the day our car was repossessed. life was not easy and the struggles were real. but if you look closer at a place like this, you see more than struggles, use -- you see future engineers, teachers, and maybe a future governor. i will not rest until every person in florida has a fair opportunity. i am rick scott and i approved this message. host: "the washington times" also focusing on the florida race -- environmental credentials are a big deal in the florida race for the senate. florida senator bill nelson focuses on rick scott's environmental record. [video clip]

host: florida is just one of the states where voters are headed to the polls today. also, arizona and oklahoma. we are asking about your thoughts, your big issues heading into the november elections. we are 10 weeks away, voters will go to cast their ballots for election 2018, tuesday, 10 weeks from now. --a in milwaukee wisconsin milwaukee, wisconsin. a democrat. caller: i really wanted to talk about education but i will speak a little bit about our primary a couple of weeks ago. governor walker, he came out ahead of the republicans, and evers it came out in the democrats.

ashink we need to get out voters, especially those of us who care about our children. education is very important, and guns in the schools, we do not need those. we need more materials to work with the children and we need more guidance. am very excited about 2018 because there is a lot that we can do, especially as parents and other educators and anyone that is concerned about our young people. thank you. host: thanks for the call. barbara in oklahoma, an independent. tell me about to run off day in oklahoma. caller: i do not know who i am going to vote for yet. i know i am not going to vote for a democrat, i know that. i am notr as voting, really sure because here, we have no information really on the people running for office. so it is really kind of hard to decide. , it i wanted to say is

worked in california in the electronics in 1970's when they first starte. for hewlett-packard in 1972, 1973 -- we had a meeting one day and they called everybody together. people think all of the jobs stuff is something to new. they told us that if we did not going education, we were to be in 10 years -- we were going to be without a job. they were very plain about it, they were going to be moving overseas. and that we had better do something because we would not have a job. then i went to work for ibm. -- i mean, moved all of their stuff overseas and that there is why i'm in oklahoma because they closed my job down. people think this is something

that has just been happening recently. this is been planned by all of these companies for years. i do mean years. host: thank you for sharing your story. bemised our viewers will checking in with reporters and those states where voters are heading to the polls. we start in florida oh and we are joined by a reporter with the politico florida and he is one of the writers of this story "the democrat fred nelson is choking in the florida senate race." why is that? guest: he does not seem to be doing the things that he needs race among the black voters, the emerging puerto rican community, and also to hold why progressives and white centrists. it is a four-legged stool in the states.

people involved in campaigns, they say that the bill nelson's presence in the black community has not been very good. in the puerto rican community, there were a number of focus groups taken by political groups which found that puerto ricans the not really know who he was and they did know who rick scott was. a recent poll found that bill nelson was barely winning puerto rican voters to a rick scott. this is a group he needs to carry about 50% to 70% of the vote. scott has been spending gobs of money, it is starting to look like a grim scenario for senator nelson. florida has a history of very cl marginsor thin election -- this election is going to be no different. it is likely going to be a close fortion, but the worry

democrats is that senator nelson is not doing the things now to put himself in a position to ensure that when there is that close election margin, he is on the winning side. host: let's talk about the race to replace governor rick scott. much more crowded races when it comes to primaries there. take us to the republican primary first for viewers. guest: the republican primary in florida you have congressman ron desantis against adam putnam. adam putnam has been a longtime figure, but on the strength of president trump's endorsement of ron desantis and his frequent appearances on fox news has been watched by republicans. he has gone to being the front runner. he might win by as many as double digits against adam putnam in the republican primary in florida.

on the democratic side, we have a five way primary. a former congresswoman, glenn governor bobr graham is her father -- it looks like she is going to pull it out, but that is a far closer race. the democratic primary for governor in florida has a lot of different candidates. ,ou not only have gwen graham andhave andrew gillam, billionaire jeff greene. independently wealthy so they have started to cannibalize was a and then there businessman from orlando who is a very rare thing that you see in florida which is an evangelical liberal christian. his name is chris king. these candidates together, and it's been a wild primary. it is been difficult to figure

out to is the clear front-runner. andooks like gwen graham edging to the front. host: you mentioned president trump's support of ron desantis, tweeting out "to vote for r on." do you expect president trump to be traveling down to florida much if the -- if des antis pulled it out? guest: yeah, something that you seldom see presidents do in candidate,nding a embracing the candidates, and making sure he is going to win. all of his energy and ron desantis but not try to help him win the general election in florida. we do expect a presence, how many times? who knows. it would not surprise me to see

him here more than once. host: what your top two or three house races you'll be watching tonight? guest: the democratic primary fifthorida's congressional district, it is two african-american democrats in a primary. you seldom see that and the more interesting race nationally is 27th congressional .istrict the former health and human services secretary who had also been at the head of the clinton foundation, is in a five way or six way primary and is just clinging on, but it looks like she is going to pull that out. that is the number one democratic house pick up seats in the nation. it was filled by one of the few republican to -- who could win a seat that was carried by hillary clinton by most 20 points. host: what time do polls close

in florida tonight? guest: 7:00 p.m. central time. sorida has two time zones, they close at 7:00 p.m. but because we have a central time zone, it extends out the pensacola and it will effectively be 8:00 p.m. eastern standard. host: we appreciate your time starting your day with us. marc caputo, reporter with political florida. -- politico florida. guest: thank you. we primaries and runoffs taking place today in florida, arizona, and oklahoma. we want to hear from viewers today across the country. linda has been waiting in florida. for democrats, linda, did you agree with that assessment b aputo about how the candidates are going to do tonight? caller: no. host: would you disagree with? caller: all of it.

florida -- the panhandle and the west coast, we are really sick of scott. we have a huge puerto rican friends this year -- presence here in central florida and they --know who are democratic our democratic partners are. they know went to puerto rico after, they know who fought for all of the money to rebuild. fought for down in the key use, he fought for our country. rick scott gets on tv and makes a commercial and it is -- they are lies. there is no public policy in the

state of florida for that commercial but he is [laughter] carroll is in florida and she writes and on twitter, i cannot even remember any other democratic senator other than bill nelson. he has always been our senator as far back as i can remember. mary is in florida as well, a democrat. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i have already voted and neighborsall of my and the entire panhandle of florida to get out there. , i live in a district that has been gerrymandered into being republican, but i will not give up. i've already voted, i voted for who is the only person we can be proud of. ie out theree gwenn

is our governor. i voted for bill nelson. he has been doing a good job. he keeps his head down, he does not slander other people -- i am so proud of him. and i live in a district where i did not vote for gates. is living and a trout echo chamber and i want to representative in congress who will think for himself -- he is living in h -- he is living in a trump living and a trout eo chamber and i want to representative in congress who will think for himself echo chai want a representative in congress who will think for himself. please, everybody get out and vote. in gates'sis mary district in florida. before we leave, two more ads to show you. here is congressman ron desantis's ad. [video clip] a proud veteran, a

top, brilliant cookie. ron desantis. [applause] we can make ours state about economic opportunities that we continue with stronger, conservative policies by getting the constitution back in our classrooms, we can fight illegal immigration. we can verify and stop sanctuary cities. pres. trump: everyone needs to support ron desantis. host: ron desantis being challenged by former congressman adam putnam. it is added bringing up president trump but also promoting his florida first agenda. [video clip] i support president trump's agenda. but florida is not picking an apprentice. we are electing a governor. my life to making our state a better place. we will make florida as a

launchpad for the american dream, creating new opportunities and protecting all of the things that make florida, florida. for me, it is always been florida first. i would be honored to have your vote. the: taking your calls in last hour of the "washington journal." getting your thoughts on the issues that are important to you heading into the final 10 weeks of campaign 2018. thanks for waiting. caller: hello. host: go ahead and -- anita. caller: the health care issue is at a crisis level in tennessee. company insurance but there is a lot of small, independent businesses here. we've a friend who found out he has cancer, a business owner. what are they going to do? now he has pre-existing conditions, what is he going to

do? i think it needs to be addressed. we are the only western world country who has not addressed this issue in a meaningful way. the other part was minimum wage. this area is -- the cost of housing has gone up and doubled in 10 years that i have been here and the wages are so stagnant. somebody people who work 40 hours a week here have to have service industry jobs and they have to get government assistance to buy groceries. is an unacceptable situation in a country as wealthy as ours. host: thank you. we turn to arizona where voters are headed to the polls as well today and the primary is taking place there. --are joined to be a skype joined via skype. before we get to the race on the

ballot today, can you bring us up-to-date on the latest of what is going to happen with senator mccain's seat and some of the speculation out there are some of the names the governor might take to fill that seat until a special election to take place. guest: nothing is going to happen this week. the governor has said he will not be making any announcements about the seat until after senator mccain's burial. there are a lot of names floating around but nothing that stands out as an obvious pick or front runner. that is been the case for the past year ever since they've been trying to figure out to would succeed the senator. name we hear a a lot, some folks are pretty skeptical that the governor would pick her. others feel like should be a good pick. definitely something that would governor's of the republican base. staff, the chief of former speaker of the arizona

house of representatives that is another name that has been floating around. the former u.s. senator for arizona and to jeff flake's predecessor. there are number of folks who could be a placeholder if not running for the full state -- that is the full debate right now. is intent ono running for the remainder of senator mccain's term and beyond. we have a member of the board of regents, her name has been going around who could fill that seat for a couple of years but not necessarily run for the full years. a former businesswoman and a , and thebassador vacancy that filled at state treasurer, michael maguire -- the attorney general of the arizona national guard. just the last two days of these names that have been going on

a lot. host: meanwhile, the governor has a primary -- or an election that he is up for. is he expected to have any problems in the primary, is there anybody challenging him from either side and how does his prospects look as we head towards general election? guest: in the primary, governor ducey is going to cruise. bennett, he ran against ducey in 2014 when the seat is open. running an insurgent campaign from the writer has not gone very well. a lotta folks feel like he has destroyed what was once a very good reputation. he has no money, has not really gotten any traction, and gove rnor ducey should dispatch him

today with not much of a sweat. host: what you expect to happen on the democratic side tonight and who is likely to face him in the general election? guest: three-way primary, the democratic primary for the governor is down to the main candidates. steve farley, a longtime state legislator and david garcia who is an education professor who ran for state superintendent of schools back in 2014. the smart money is all on david garcia right now. the republican governors association has been battering garcia on television for a while, so they expected to be him. in the general election, governor ducey is definitely going to be the favorite. governor has had millions of dollars and the rga has reserved millions more. david garcia does not have the resources to take advantage of

what looks like someone or abilities for governor ducey, especially in education. hoping to take advantage of a senator race. talk us through expectations for replacing senator jeff flake. guest: the front runner in the republican primary is a tucson-based district congresswoman. femalegood resume, first fighter pilot. a great fundraiser. people have long looked at her as a potential senate candidate for a while. she was looked at as the potential for senator mccain for when he steps down, and her opponents r. kelly ward, a former state senator. ward, a former state senator, and former

sheriff, joe arpaio, who is a big name but has not made much of a splash in this race at all. martha make -- martha mcsally has already pivoted. host: president trump playing a big role in the florida governor's race. can you talk about the role he is playing in the arizona senate race? guest: by proxy, he is playing a big role. all three candidates have some claim to president trump's loyalty. butas not endorsed anyone, definitely wrapping themselves in the mantle of drop. kelli ward was a big trump supporter early on back in the presidential campaign. she was touting her support for him.

positive things about her. he praised her on twitter last year when she was initially running against jeff flake before he announced he would not seek reelection. martha mcsally has worked closely with the administration on some legislation. name wheresed her by he says, my friend, martha mcsally, she is the real deal. and it seems to be coming down ward, although, mcsally has been known as a moderate republican. host: k talk through congresswoman -- can you talk through the congresswoman's bid and how it is shaping up for her? guest: she has angered a lot of folks on the left and the

democratic base with some of her more moderate, conservative votes but she is expected to cruise tonight. difficult -- she is an extraordinarily skilled politician and a lot of folks are juncker as the favorites. this is going to be a blockbuster matchup. is the editoruda "capital times. of the "arizona times." host: your thoughts heading into the final 10 weeks of election 2018. s in south carolina, go ahead. caller: a couple of things i wanted to say.

patriot andeat perfect gentleman, john mccain. liked thing, i would somebody to answer that question of the lady saying back in the 1970's about the hewlett-packard company saying if you did not have more education they are going to move their jobs overseas. is why in this country we need to have so much education to get a job, but they can send the jobs overseas for the people who hardly do not even have a school to go to. i would like for somebody to enlighten me on that. today,ut the elections we need some fresh blood in washington. host: thank you for the call. you mention to senator mccain flap over the

placement of the flags, whether half-staff for. . the president making a statement -- what are half-staff or full staff. here the president making a statement. pres. trump: our hearts and prayers are going to the family of senator john mccain. there is going to be a lot of activity over the next number of and we very much appreciate everything that senator mccain has done for our country. thank you very much. [applause] back to your calls, morgan is in nashville, tennessee. caller: hi, hello. i am calling to see if you can have brian foley, a reporter for " e "associated press. he has done a great article on illegal immigration and how it related to the industry and what

prompted this was the molly tibbetts murder and the illegal immigrants was living on a top republican farm fundraiser who $50 million for republican immigration land where and owned the suspect lived for four years. they did not run e-verify on him. they hold these desperate, illegal immigrants hostage because they pay them minimum wage, they live on their property and their trailers -- and one ofailers, the reasons that i am guessing that they lived on the trailer on their property is that they actually went to rent somewhere, e-verifid actually be

ed. there is a great piece by brian foley and you should have him on. the family who e-verifi is staunch republicans and anti-immigration, anti-illegal immigration hard liners, zero-tolerance policy people thesely are employing people along with a lot of other republicans because farmworkers, construction workers all over the country, they depend on .llegal immigrants for profits s host: thanks for the call. here is one piece by brian foley from "the associated press." legal status chexsystems can be easily exploited. steve out in florida is an independent. have you headed out to vote today? caller: i voted by mail. host: the mind is saying who you

voted for? yes and if you are considering voting greene for switch to philip levine. cane is no way mr. greene partand gwen graham is a of the old system, and she has got to go. host: why philip levine? caller: because of his track record in miami. people people together. i am a metastatic melanoma patient. sugar kills. in thisbig polluters state and under no circumstances vote for rick scott, he is not deserving of the sea. i am not telling you that bill but on theat great,

pollution down here in lake okeechobee, they dump it into our rivers. the little town got hammered. we want clean air, clean water, and we want people coming to our beaches here, and rick scott has polluted every beach in this state. there is no way that he should be senator under any circumstances. we have got to fight back, he is lying in all of these ads. the one about blaming the senator nelson for the pollution is -- lake okeechobee host: that is steve in florida. florida, arizona holding primaries today. oklahoma is the state holding runoffs. iswe are taking your calls and your minds heading into the final 10 weeks of election 2018. republicans, (202) 748-8001,

the democrats, (202) 748-8000, .ndependents (202) 748-8002 we will continue to have this conversation until our program ends today. in at 10:00oming and the house having a pro forma session today afternoon. you can see the flag over the us capitol which continues to be at sincetaff and has been the death of john mccain on saturday afternoon. in colorado, and independent. caller: hello, can you hear me? host: yes, sir. caller: i am calling in regards to the runoff here in arizona going on today. host: it is a primary in arizona. caller: pardon me? host: the runoff is in oklahoma, there is a primary day in arizona. arizona,he primary in

it is nice to see we will get some new blood in arizona. host: who do you like? caller: it is too bad that mr. mccain over a year ago, that he could not have resigned because of his health. everybody was in an uproar yesterday or whatever because our president did not show mr. mccain enough respect. but at every rally, mr. mccain is the one to put the nail in the coffin on obamacare being repealed. trump, out of respect, never used his name during any of his rallies. good to see the arizona may get some new blood there, and hopefully, we will get some things accomplished in the senate. thank you. host: on the arizona raises --

races, so much focus on the senate race. here are a couple of ads, first, from congresswoman martha . [video clip] >> everyone remembers where they were on 9/11. i was deployed in the middle east. i know the price of freedom. while we were in harms way, kiersten was denigrating our service. is a dangerous place and we need strong leaders. sinema failed the test. host: that was martha make -- martha mcsally's ad. sinema.krysten [video clip] sinema says and the partisan nonsense and protect

arizona hands. wanted tosinema protect coverage for 2.8 million ns with pre-existing conditions. sinema and ien approve this message. host: georges in st. petersburg, florida. did you vote in the primaries? caller: yes, a mailed info. it concerns me that right now, gwen is running for governor. there is a socialist that wants to be in the governorship. that scares me. my wife is cuban and she dealt with a socialists and that is scary that that is now a thing. thank you for what you do.

i love this show and i love the fact that we can express ourselves on this program. thank you very much. york,to anne in new republican. caller: i would like to follow-up on the previous call about socialism. i actually had a friend whose theer was apart of socialist cuba movement and and once in havana, castro became president, he saw the ruthless and indoctrination of a loss of freedom and he moved his family to new york. he named his first son after fidel castro. that the socialist movement is dangerous. i recently read a book called rule." under

i find that the and thenformation -- misinformation and the lack of historical reference by the socialist candidate is scary. i do not believe in the mandates of obamacare. i believe the american young people are not aware of the many social programs that we have. i do not mind being called an american liberal. an american liberal gives you a safety net but does not mandate that you join a government program in order to make it work. louisiana, an independent. caller: the most important thing -- with the election and the elections coming up and it soverei is keep gn.

i like the way the donald trump is keeping us sovereign. i like the way he is going about doing things. i think he goes against all of that grain and i think that is the thing that is coming up against donald trump right now. those people are still in power and they still want to march us worldhe road of one government. donald trump is a person keeping us out of that, and i do not see why the democrats do not see that, too. host: a couple of stories in today's papers about the power of president trump's endorsement. times," theyork president's endorsement can

decide an election. and this from "the washington bumpal," calling the trump . including the florida governor's race, back in january, adam putnam leading that race. endorsing thep ron desantis on june 20 second, another jump and his numbers to the point where he was leaving adam putnam in that race as of july. we will see what happens today but a few of the other races weather has been a trump bump. after the endorsement and as a result of the primary, 38% with brian kemp. .1% kobach ended up winning

after the president's endorsement. 9.6 points up after the endorsement. dave, go ahead. caller: they are all backing cam and the trump is not that she is going to take away social security and medicare because he gave all of the tax breaks to the rich. if he wanted to be a good president, he could have given tax breaks to the middle class . somebody has to pay for those bills. k was in there, he saved us from going into a depression so we had to raise taxes to pay for. somebody is the pay for those wars, so either the rich or the middle class is going to pay for it.

the way it is going now, next year, we will not get a tax break and the rich people will get big tax breaks. host: that is dave in california, you can keep calling in. republicans, democrats, an independents phone lines are as usual. it is also run off today and oklahoma, we turn now to the staff writer for the "the oklahoman" to talk about run off day. governor mary fallin is term .imited in oklahoma the matchup is there public in a runoff today. take us through the candidates and the expectations for tonight. fallin cannotr run for reelection so we have a primary in june with 10 republican candidates and it got narrowed down to two. the longtime mayor mick cornett. and we have the businessman,

kevin stitt, who has never run for office. not a lot of difference between them on most of the issues. it is really coming down to how they are proposing to manage state governments. kevin stitt has had a mortgage company in a lot of states is proposing to manage it like a business. cornett is saying he would manage it like you manage to oklahoma city and a time of relative prosperity and progress and no glamis city. basically, -- and progress in oklahoma city. host: who was inspecting to be waiting in the general election and what role is a libertarian candidatea playing here? guest: the libertarians also have a runoff today to pick their nominee.

it is hard to say, i would not expect them to be much of a factor in the general election. the democrat was drew edmondson, he was attorney general for 16 years in oklahoma. was aalmost gubernatorial candidate in 2003, --t to a famous candidate in 2003, his father was a congressman. racesa couple of house that have garnered interest including the race to replace now nasa administrator jim bridenstine. what is expected to happen today? guest: it is close. it is an outsider versus a former officeholder. former district attorney in tulsa jim hsr -- jim harris

against tim kearn. that, republican primaries, that will be a very, very tough district for democrats. area,mostly the tulsa very conservative. host: kate upton about the oklahoma city area district of can you talk -- about the oakland city area district of steve russell, democrats are a little more optimistic? guest: they are. it is trending bluer. that this is aay great opportunity for a democratic pickup, the national democratic party is in way in -- wait and see mode. hornandidate named kendra

is expected to win and take on the incumbent steve russell. he does not have any controversies or scandal. there is no strong movement to oust him, but this is the president's first midterms, it is the opposing party's best opportunity to make a good showing but there is a lot of attention being paid to that race. host: appreciate your time this morning at the start of a busy day for you. guest: thanks for having me. host: we have a couple of minutes left, before we take you to a media briefing featuring secretary of defense james mattis. that is expected to get underway at 10:00. time for a few more of your phone calls. charles in arizona, democrat. caller: -- host: we