legislation. sunday night on q and a, historian richard norton smith discusses his biography of hoover. --he said when all is tha when all is said and done, accomplishment is all that matters. yous the sort of thing would expect an engineer to say. that is one of the keys to understanding his life, his success in everything but the presidency. easterny night at 8:00 on c-span's q and day. coming up on "washington journal" we talked to congressman whitman about preparations for hurricane florence. z talks about the investigation and the

trump presidency. then senator smith gives an update on the farm bill. ♪hen host: on capitol hill today, the senate judiciary committee holds a hearing on brett kavanaugh's nomination to supreme court. the house ways and means committee marks up a bill it signed in -- that if signed into law would make tax cuts permanent. you can watch that process play out at 10:00 on c-span 3 and c-span.org. it is september the 13th and this is the "washington journal ." set torricane florence make landfall in the carolinas, in our first hour, we want to hear from you about your level of confidence in the federal government's ability to handle

natural disasters. in the eastern and central time zones, 202-748-8000. if you live in the mountain and pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 . for residents of virginia, north carolina, and south carolina, you can give us your unique perspective at 202-748-8002. you can post on our twitter feed @cspanwj and on our facebook page, facebook.com/cspan. thosel legislators from states that will be highly affected by florence already putting out tweets to their constituency. this is the senator from south carolina, updated evacuation orders, even if your county doesn't have a mandatory evacuation order, put the safety of your family first. he highlights the areas of the state where there are mandatory evacuations and other things as well. from saying my

workings working closely with state and local officials to make sure we do everything we can to prepare your for hurricane florence. i just received a call from president trump about hurricane florence and he asked if there was anything his administration needed to do that wasn't currently being done for the people of south carolina. i told him we appreciate all that is being done. i know gov. henry mcmaster shares this view. the senator goes on to say that president reinforced this is a dangerous storm and everyone should follow the advice of governor mcmaster to evacuate while there is still time. sanford also adding the latest from the weather in 24l on the storm, hours, we will be the first quarter of a historic hurricane. i hope you all obeyed the

evacuation order. he was at the white house yesterday talking about the things going on leading up to florence hitting landfall. [video clip] >> before continuing, i would like to provide an update on preparations for the incoming hurricanes. bigave some really situation confronting us. ands coming in fairly fast it is going to be one of the biggest to other -- ever hit the east coast. maybe something will happen, but it is looking like that won't be taking place, meaning fearing away from land. my administration is in close coordination with state and local authorities and fema, these are tremendous people, also.

already placed extensive resources on the ground, including search-and-rescue experts. power restoration and medical support. tremendous people working on the hurricane. first responders, law enforcement and fema and they are all ready and we are getting tremendous accolades from politicians and the people. we are ready, but this will be one of the biggest ones to ever hit our country. residents in the past of these devastating -- path of these devastating storms should comply with evacuation orders and emergency instructions. protection of life is the absolutely highest priority. that is what we are doing. it's called protection of life. god bless everybody and be careful. host: the president from yesterday talking about preparations by fema. your thoughts on the federal government's ability to handle

national disaster situations. eastern timein the zone. in mountain and pacific, 202-748-8001. for those of you in virginia, north carolina, and south carolina, 202-748-8002. -- and take those calls tweets. we start in california, brentwood, california, from cliff. good morning. caller: hi. i am very disappointed in c-span and i would like to tell you why. c-span has a lot of critics and when they try to express themselves through the open phone lines, you tend to want to hang up on us. i would like to tell you why i am upset with c-span. icu morphing into cnn. into cnn.ou morphing

host: i hate to interrupt you, but this is directed phones, so this is about the federal government's ability to handle natural disasters. caller: you sound like cnn. you won't let me say what i want to say. will you let me say what i want to say about cnn? host: you said what you were going to express, so we will move on. "i believe the federal government has the potential to be prepared for florence. however, i believe president trump is grossly underestimating the storm. that is mike on twitter. the national hurricane center putting out the latest on their twitter feed talking about preparations, saying their key message is -- not only this, but tropical storm isaac also forming. all those things happening as florence will continue to head toward the carolinas and make the hit for that this friday and into the weekend.

we want to get your thoughts on the federal government's response and the ability to handle natural disasters. 202-748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. 202-748-8001 for the mountain and pacific time zones. residents of virginia, north carolina, and south carolina, 202-748-8002. the national hurricane center also putting out information about florence. newscasters saying it is downgraded to a category 2, but adding, don't focus on the wind speed category. they say life-threatening storm surges and flooding and catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding are still expected. that is part of the messaging coming out from the national hurricane center when it comes to this storm. from minnesota, jared is next. go ahead. jared in minnesota? caller: yes. hello? host: go ahead.

caller: i believe the government is good at natural disasters if it is for white people. if it is for, like, puerto rico, or new orleans, they just don't really give a damn, to be personal. it has shown. like donald trump. how many people died in puerto rico? did his0 and what people say, 30 or 61 people died? george bush? they do horrible jobs if it is for brown, black, red, or anyone else print if it is for white christians, they will be right on top of that for everything. host: what leads you to those distinctions? what do you point to specifically? caller: i just told you. they lied about puerto rico. there is still people without

electricity. there are thousands of people without electricity. host: how does that boil down to a race issue? caller: because puerto rico is brown people, not white folks. when it is like that other one on the east coast, they were all about helping them, any money they needed, any help they needed, go ahead, do what you need. puerto rico, they could not get decent electricity. they hired a montana company that had two full-time employees to do a whole island. host: all right. let's go to jim in pennsylvania. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. i think c-span does a great job, right down the middle. as far as the government, i think the government does a really good job after a hurricane comes through. i getting a little bit concerned about all the hype.

i watch the weather station quite a bit and every storm that comes in, they say it is going to be the worst storm ever. declassifieds been a 3hatever from a 528 4 to 4 toa 3. 5 a it's now a 2, pedro. i got run over by a cat 5 and it took years to get that -- back on their feet. these people talking about puerto rico, we helped them immensely. in puerto rico, the infrastructure was really poor and only 8% of puerto ricans had -- kind of the major problem with katrina

wasn't the hurricane. the major problem was the levees failed and when they did research into it afterwards, they found the levees were never taken care of properly and a year later, the great mayor of new orleans, they find out he was defrauding the government. all the federal assistance going into new orleans to make sure to standard,re up they were using the money for everything else. host: ok. that is jim from pennsylvania. the kaiser family foundation conducted a poll looking at coverage in puerto rico. this is what some of the findings they found. puerto ricans say the lackluster response to the hurricane which ravaged the island in september 2017 was due to a failure of government on all levels from the president down to the municipal authorities. 80% of puerto ricans rate the

president's response to maria negatively. that seems to contradict the president's comments two weeks ago. when they were asked for certain categories, overall, 83% say they experienced the following due to hurricane maria, 44% saying they had a power outage, 42% say the experienced negative income or employment effects. their home was destroyed or had major damage and 23% had new or worsened health conditions. it rates performance of certain categories when it comes to the president. 15% of puerto ricans rating them very good or good. 25% saying the performance of the puerto rican government was good. it goes from there as well. that is from the post and the kaiser family foundation.

if you want to see results of that poll. richmond, virginia. christine, hello. caller: hello. i have been watching the news about fema. i had experience with them several years ago in a disaster. i put together a phone book of information to them and they contributed to me -- attributed to me to the wrong locality. i would advise people to say they are on their own. host: what disaster did you go through and have fema help you with? caller: isabel. they were no help. they took time away from other things i should have been doing. host: such as what? caller: i had two trees on my house and no power for several weeks. host: when you say you communicated with them and put a book together, can you expand? caller: the information i put together was to get help with helpouse and they were no at all. they offered me a loan that was a higher range -- higher

interest rate than what my bank could host: offer. host:washington state, raymond is next. go ahead. caller: thank you. should i talk now? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: ok. i have never used fema, praise the lord. i have been in western washington since 1974. onlooker, i think the president, the fema recovery, and the actions of president bush have been honorable. i think he needs to finish the because they rico are just a breath away from being a state. just to clarify, when it

comes to the recovery efforts in puerto rico specifically, what did you think about the federal government's reaction and president trump's performance in that. caller: i would have to give him a d for puerto rico and i don't know why. generally, i think president trump is doing a great job. host: ok, let's go to houston, texas, steve. go ahead. caller: thank you. good morning, c-span. i have lived through many hurricanes down here and the government can only do so much. fema usually comes in quite a bit afterwards, but you will start seeing signs, like rita, for example, 8 hours after the storm left, you saw signs fema, where are you? they can only do what they can do.

harvey, it isd the communities that actually more come together because you work as a team. as far as that one guy talking about puerto rico. that is an island. you are not going to be able to respond that quick. they have shown runways where they had goods the whole length of the runway and they had -- the drivers were on strike in puerto rico and they would not even drive the truck's to get food and everything to the people and the water and it sat there. host: from the experience in -- wereast year, what you in an area that was hard hit? what did you kind of go through because of that? caller: we was hard hit right where i am at, but they had dug

out a lot of overflows, so we did not get flooded. write down the street, probably five miles down the street, they did. neighbors were helping each other. if you had a boat, you were going in trying to get people out. it was a community effort of all races. i don't know why -- everybody always wants to bring race in on everything. host: we will go to nebraska and hear from jeff in crofton, nebraska. hi. caller: hi. the government -- fema is only going to be as good as the local government and state government. that is why they are there, to give them a hand and do whatever they can do for them. .ook at houston look how well everybody pitched in and in florida. the same way, both areas, they were taken care of very well

because the local people helped. look at puerto rico. puerto rico reminds me of hawaii win -- hit. -- when -- hit. they had to go from oahu to the big island, hawaii, picking up trash and people were standing there barbecuing. they need to get up off of their ass to do what they need to help. host: that is nebraska calling and jeff when it comes to video -- the access of abilities to access web cams and the like. one of those is earth cam currently showing what is going on in myrtle beach. this is video of a camera. as you look, we are talking about your confidence in the federal government to take care of natural disaster situations. 202-748-8000 in the eastern and

central time zones. mountain and pacific time zones, 202-748-8001. than those of you who live in virginia or north carolina or south carolina, 202-748-8002 if you want to call. the new york times this morning highlights north carolina taking a look at reactions from various places in the state, particularly when it comes to climate change, saying as hurricane florence bears down on north carolina, the state may face the consequences of policies minimizing -- the approaching storm almost certainly gained destructive power from a warming climate. a 2012 law and subsequent actions by the state effectively ordered state and local agencies that develop coastal policies to ignore scientific models during acceleration and note rise of -- and the rise of the sea levels. it was widely criticized and ridiculed, but favored by the

business interest, which argued it was needed to protect -- a reportues saying sea levels could rise 39 inches by the year 2100, which would devastate the coast and swamp billions of dollars of .eal estate researchers and universities had been at the forefront of scientific work that produced the studies. more available on that story at the new york times. samuel is in los angeles. caller: i grew up in georgia and florida and north carolina and have lived through several hurricanes. one of my friends in england reached out to me yesterday and said is your family ready for the megastore. i saw it was a cat4. saw catastrophic east

coast strike imminent on the tv. the overhyped is certainly there. i would like to pay not too much attention to the hurricane hype. wen a hurricane would strike would say, what are we doing? we would call the hurt -- call the insurance company and never ask, what the federal government is going to do. host: you don't have a large confidence in their ability to handle this situation? caller: the federal government can support the state government and that seems logically to me. states like florida and georgia have hurricane preparedness protocols. it's not the federal government's job to handle the wide scope of disaster relief. provide logistics, provide support. support the states, and sure that insurance companies are good with after the disaster.

the federal government can provide defense, that sort of thing, not clean up after hurricanes. host: jack in ohio, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call, interesting subject. i think our government, in light of the overwhelming -- these storms are huge and populations can vary from 100,000 to 1 million and the law of logistics -- level of logistics is unbelievable. if you remember in houston, i remember watching my tv and seeing the national guard. they did a tremendous job. another comment is where would these cities, countries be without the relief effort of america? just think of america -- if america did not go in and help these people? that is my comment. host: that is jack in ohio.

on twitter, you can participate in a poll to read it is not scientific of any means, just people giving their opinion. saying they don't have a level of confidence. 26% saying they do. perkinsedward saying when government call a state of emergency, it is up to us to make it out alive. colin giving his thoughts saying when puerto rico is your success metric, you are doomed to fail. your story taking a look at puerto rico, the light of funding for handling of these type of disasters. this is run it in reporting the department of homeland security transferred nearly $10 million from fema to immigrations and customs enforcement according to a document released late tuesday .onth -- tuesday night the document, which was released by the office of senator jeff

merkley of oregon, shows the money would come from fema's operations and support budget and was transferred into e. to pay for.c. detention and removal operations. transferred money from the customs and border protection that pays for border fencing worried it says the response from fema includes in an email, the agency said the funds amount for less than 1% of the operational accounts and was taken from money to pay for travel expenses, office supplies, amongst other things. fema's funding for disaster response is a separate account according to the agency quoted in the new york times this morning. if you go to the fema's spokesperson -- fema spokesperson's twitter feed, it kind of highlights what she already said. in the final tweet 21 hours ago she writes after calling senator

merkley's staff to inform them of the facts around fema's budget, we were told "it is a tv hit, you take it where you can." and she adds, regardless of the facts? mark in massachusetts. you are next up. caller: i appreciate the way you run the program. i work in the construction industry for 20 years and when i got out of college, i moved to new orleans and i was well aware of the impact of hurricanes. when i was a kid, hurricane bob hit where i lived and i have been directly involved in hurricane relief. i would say after hurricane andrew, florida and dade county enacted building codes that were more stringent than anywhere else in u.s.. i spent some time in coastal north carolina in the coming years and i was blown away, no

pun intended, at coastal ofstruction and the lack simple common sense. we are talking about the coast of north carolina and the area it's going to hit paris the elevation is no more than 10 or 20 feet, 50 or 100 miles inland. it's all swamp and i pray for the people down there. host: from mississippi, doris. good morning to you. caller: good morning. femat had a comment about because when they were in katrina, they brought a lot of mobile homes and people were flooding into memphis. it was horrible. it seemed like they did not use the money properly or as well as they could have. my other question is where were the almost 3000 people that died

in puerto rico. of reporters and everything and president trump can only do -- respond to things he is told about. i never saw 3000 people. i watched all the coverage. it was devastating to see, but you cannot blame everything on trump and you cannot blame everything on the government. it is just like the man from texas. we all have to step in, color does not play a part. when somebody is hurt here, it doesn't matter. we all jump in to help. if a house burns down, we may not be in a hurricane -- area, disaster happens to all of us at some point, someplace. we all have to get together and some people think every platform is a racist platform and it is not. host: when it comes to puerto rico, the viewer talked about the estimate.

this goes back to august where abc news was reporting it was using a study from a team of independent researchers. that officials in order said they were raising the official death toll of hurricane maria to 64 those researchers estimated most people died from september 2017 through the end of february 2018. the independent study was conducted by george washington university's school of public health and commissioned by the puerto rican government. dennis in buffalo, new york. go ahead. caller: yes, hi. i am wondering how the federal feelrs who work for fema if they are having their wages frozen by president trump? fema, is that part of the big government that the

conservatives the floor -- much, but when they need them, it is a different story. i think they do a good job. it is something that is absolutely necessary. it is not the kind of thing they had 200 years ago and all the government did was deliver mail and fight wars. it is a more complicated world today. things like the government has to be bigger. that is all i have to say. host: roger is next. you are on, go ahead. caller: i just want to say i think they are doing a very bad job. it seems like every time there is a disaster, there is a lot of money that goes out and everybody gets their fingers in the pot.

by the time the money gets to where it is needed, it is like five cents on the dollar. they get $1 million to help someone, they might have $5,000 that actually gets to the people that need it. i think it is atrocious that all these bureaucrats in the government and in the private contractors, shippers, all this stuff. there was a disaster in puerto rico after the disaster that happened in puerto rico with the shipping not being able to go because of some old law. people not getting their equipment -- this is the greatest country in the world and we can't help a little island with a few ships and

tractors and carpenters? that is a terrible joke. host: that is roger in hawaii giving his thoughts. for the first half hour, we are getting your confidence in the government to handle natural disasters. we will continue that until 8:00. in-748-8000 for those of you the eastern and central time zones. 202-748-8001 in the mountain and pacific time zones. in virginia,you north carolina, south carolina, you can give your perspective at 202-748-8002. roll call this morning takes a look at legislators from those directly affected states where they are hunkering down, as the title says, for hurricane florence. saying as lawmakers scramble to -- ableederal and local to handle the flaw -- fallout, they have crafted their own

plans. a longtime north carolina republican -- he is quoted as saying i am 75 now and when i was 11, we had hurricane hazel. because there were fewer modes of communication, people did not have as much of an idea of how devastating a storm would be. jones saying we had no technology, all you had was telephones, radios, and a little bit of tv. the story goes on to say as the clouds gray and the wind whips, the congressman will hunt down -- hunkered down in farmville with his wife, their carrier -- terrier, and their cats. -- preparing for a power outage and something that happens a lot when a big storm hits. his main concern is with his in-laws. my wife's parents are 95 and 92 and they live in a retirement

community by the chesapeake bay. they tend to get harder by rain and flooding then we will. from silverb spring, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. i just have a few comments. the government, if you go back to katrina, that was a $125tating event and cost billion with all the damages. -- we keephe one in helping puerto rico, they are good. it's not about the rating, it's .bout the people becoming whole they keep talking about -- we got good ratings on it and we are going to handle that one. we all see what happened to

katrina. how many people died, how catastrophic it was. we have all seen puerto rico and they still don't have power. they are still recovering from it. i really have a 1% confidence the government will handle this according to what they need to. i think we should learn from the past and they need to do a little bit more. host: what does a little bit more mean? caller: i think -- more boots on talkingnd and less about ratings and more about what they are going to do to boots on thed put ground. they still don't have power. they still are recovering from it.

fema, i think, they have still got to help puerto rico. with this hurricane -- leave it.ill have to thank you for calling. we will continue with these calls until 8:00 to give your thoughts on the confidence in the government and its ability to handle natural disasters. we will take a few moments to talk about the governor's primary in new york state today and joining us for that discussion, joseph specter of the usa today network. he serves as the albany bureau chief. good morning. this is one of those races that has been high profile leading up to today. for those not following as closely, set this up as far as the primary and the main players involved. isst: no doubt about it, it an important race here in new york. governor andrew cuomo is seeking a third term. he was first elected in 2010.

--is seeking a third term to but to do that, he will have to win the primary. it has been a tough fight against cynthia nixon. she has been an advocate for education funding and other issues for a number of years and this year, she decided she would take on andrew cuomo for democratic nomination. she ran very much to his left in this race, trying to run on a platform of progressive ideas. she has tried to push for legalization of recreational marijuana, for example. she wants single-payer health care and she has run heavily to cuomo's left. the governor, in his case, he has promoted his progressive agenda. what he would be able to accomplish. same-sex marriage in 2011, a $15 leave, wage, paid family

stronger gun control laws. he is running on his record over two terms in office and polls have showed he has a sizable lead. the most recent poll showed with him -- him with a more than 40 point lead over cynthia nixon. sometimes the polls are off and that is what cynthia nixon has been saying. she says she has support from the left wing of the party, so to speak, and thinks she will be able to pull off and up seat -- upset. host: where are her pockets of strength within the state? guest: i would say she is focused in new york city, in manhattan. there are parts of parts of new york, urban areas and cities where she has campaigned and we have seen in other elections where democrats running in primaries have done well.

she is trying to, obviously, win in new york city and do well enough in upstate to carry the day. host: when it comes to governor cuomo, how aggressive has his campaign been in challenging cynthia nixon directly and talking about his own record? how aggressive has he been? guest: that is a good question. he has been very aggressive on his campaign. not so much aggressive against cynthia nixon. governor cuomo has the most money raised of any democratic governor in the country. he has more than $30 million going into this race and has burned through a good portion of it trying to defeat cynthia nixon, including $8 million in the last few weeks. he has blanketed the airwaves across new york in every way, shape, and form to try to beat back what has been a concern about these insurgent candidates trying -- the able to knock off

incumbents. what she has been able to do is said, it is time for a change in new york, whereas, cuomo has focused heavily on donald trump, not so much cynthia nixon. adsously, there has been and his allies have talked about her lack of experience in government. cuomo's mainline of attacks have been on trump and the immigration policies. you go down the list of all the different ways he has attacked president trump. host: joseph spector, what is turnout expected to be like today? guest: that is a good question because we are talking about a primary in mid-september on a thursday, new york usually has primaries the second tuesday of september and now it is a thursday. it was pushed back a few days, 9/11 and rosh hashanah was on tuesday. we pushed -- the state

toislator pushed it back thursday this year. we are dealing with the democratic primary on thursday with expected low turnout. that is why there is uncertainty. host: joseph spector, who reports for the usa today network, he is the albany bureau chief talking about the governor primary today. thank you for your time. guest: thanks for having me. host: we are back to your calls, taking a look at your level of confidence in the government to handle natural disaster. ,oma, i'm about -- selma alabama, go ahead. caller: i would like to remind people isis -- i apologize, i.c.e. is going to get money that should be going to fema. fema is going to share its budget with i.c.e. i think the future governor of florida, gillum, has the right idea of abolishing that unit.

callers talking about race in everything. i would ask them to search their heart and realized this country does looki would ask them in aee on people of color. host: aside from that, because we are asking you to at least give your thoughts on the government's ability to handle natural disasters in a situation like we are about to see with florence, what would you say? caller: i have had experience in a disaster, tornadoes happen often in our area. found, with fema, we have insurance, so they do not serve people who have insurance. i know the trailers the lady mentioned earlier. that was a crock, all of that was a crock. they seem to find ways to

benefit, this is what the government does -- they seem to find ways to benefit certain people. there are many times in our area where we receive them because we have an area where the trailers were being shipped to the new orleans areas. that particular -- the contractors, the people that got the money and they use their if you black drivers. those people had schemes and many things the government is in, it is a scheme to make andain people rich denigrate others. host: lewis in san diego, go ahead. caller: hey, thank you for your time and service. do i have trust in the federal government under the circumstances? no, no i don't. right now, i think the

infrastructure is not prepared. we have all the warning signs, as you pointed out. it doesn't matter which administration seems to catch fault. the clinton administration had some allegations with some of their involvement with fema and and effortsveries out there. with thesh had to deal disasters. trump got president dealing with it now. in every example, it just seems we are not prepared. , politically,ture doesn't seem like we're all on the same page. host: when it comes to infrastructure, what is missing? caller: i think it is a damn

shame that a lot of these jobs have like -- a lot of callers have said -- they have been contracted out, a lot of the jobs have been taken from our military. vets on, those twenty-year veterans do not get to retire anymore. just like on these recruiting commercials, they should be doing their jobs. they should be taking contracts back from the private contracting sector and start expanding. i think we should keep a lot of our youth working and we could develop for the future and do like eisenhower did, do some major changes and we could all politically -- we are a democratic republic. macro and micro level,

the better we are as a community, and the better we know each other, we will be able to help each other out. host: that is lewis in san diego. from texas, this is rochelle. caller: hi, pedro. i would like to say i think i do not have very much confidence in our government to assist. i live here in south texas and we had the problem along our coast. people are still suffering. people are talking a lot about puerto rico, i hate to tell you the virgin islands is part of the united states and that has not been mentioned, very rarely is it mentioned and they are still suffering as well. i do not think our government does a good job. we need someone who can come in and be like the -- man. when katrina -- new orleans was andrwater, joe -- came down he should have been placed in a position to be able to direct fema.

we had people sitting there warm,company, -- comfy, dry, saying we were doing a good job. look at the disaster of the water sitting on the tarmac in puerto rico. that warder -- water could have been used. anyone that thinks this president is anything but his own self and grand eiseman -- is a fool. he doesn't care and he will not care. i am sorry for the people still shuffling. on thee will be joined program saturday and he will give his thoughts on the preparations of disasters. we will hear from a delegate from the virgin islands talking about recovery efforts and other things. she will join us about 9:45 eastern, standard time.

governor ray cooper of north carolina on cbs this morning talking about reactions and preparations. here is part of that interview. [video clip] >> one million people in your state were asked to evacuate. you said -- [no audio] will see if we can cue that up again and play a portion of that. let's go to peggy in jackson, tennessee. hi. caller: hi. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: you know, i just don't know what to say. there are so many people in this world that think they know everything and they don't know nothing. i think mr. trump has done a wonderful job and i think he will always do a good job. he has helped people and they don't appreciate it. host: when it comes to this handling of disaster or natural situation to the hurricane, what

do you think -- not only what he has done here, but what his administration has done before? caller: a lot of that has been going on for years pretty set on tv, anything they wanted, he would give it to them, fema or anything. can people not believe anything except what they want to? host: jim is next in north carolina. jim, hello. caller: hello, i am fine. how are you? host: go ahead. caller: our government, for the last probably 15 years -- anytime -- i am 65, so i can hugo.er way back, passed our government came in and fema helped us with the roof on our house and we were surprised. we did not think we would get any kind of help.

i am in waynesville, north carolina, now. i am surprised with everybody and the way they are acting about trump. himd my reservations about so much. get an instruction is grouped in, he will live up to every promise he has made. so far, i would have to give him a-on what he has stated so far. host: several people have criticized his response when it comes to puerto rico. where do you fall on that? caller: i stand with him, i .gree,

we handled it with the military, but i don't think we did and us. i honestly don't. those people are still suffering and, at least, since their infrastructure was destroyed, why can't we go and put underground cables instead of sameing back the infrastructure? let's do something that is up to the standards of this century, you know? at least. in northt is jim carolina. the national weather service placed on its twitter feed, saying on top of everything else, there is a tornado watch issued early tonight through north carolina as florence approaches the coast. tropical tornadoes can hit quickly with little advance notice, so be sure to heed any warnings. that is just part of what is going on when it comes to twitter.

connecticut, we go. hello. caller: hello. i would worry if i was anywhere .n north carolina we are terrified in connecticut. the only reason people are getting in their cars and leaving is because you cannot trust this president. if you look at what happened with puerto rico, he ignored them. we still have bottles of tap water sitting on the tarmac at the airport. how much more can you say we don't care? terrified. there's a lot of water coming and we are praying everyone gets out and are safe. host: the washington post, when it comes to work in wilmington, it wrote this is likely to be "the storm of a lifetime" for stretches of the carolinas and goes on to be quoted saying "that says a lot given the

impact we seen -- we have seen hurricanes and diana, hugo, fran, bonnie, and floyd -- floyd, and matthew." the results can be mixed signals about where to respond, as was the case in south carolina where on tuesday, the governor canceled mandatory evacuation orders for counties along the southern coast, but with the revision in the storm track "the hurricane is unpredictable. residents in low-lying areas should leave even without evacuation orders." and encouraged those already under orders to flee. dave in lakeland, florida. hi. caller: good morning. i live in a state that has had our share of disasters. we kind of -- we don't wait for the government to come in and start holding our hand. we take care of things

ourselves. i live in a retirement community and after irma, i didn't see anybody from washington holding anybody's hand. .e had damaged homes there is a comment i would like to make about puerto rico. you have got to want to help yourself. you cannot sit around waiting for fema. you have got to do something for yourself once in a while and i think it is part of the problem down there. host: andrew carter serves as a reporter for the news and carolina.n south he has this tweet saying the roads are empty around atlantic beach and when you are still the own -- still the only thing you can hear is the wind and things blowing in it, like these creaking stoplights and provides video on the tweet and the hasht ag hurricaneflorence. just a few more minutes on this

topic on your confidence in government to handle natural disasters. here is jim from oklahoma. caller: i think it is a sad case that many of these collars and people, where they don't want to take responsibility for their own choices. if you live near the ocean, the ocean is kind of big and it has routinely these kinds of storms. the government should not have to warn you about storms -- telling you to evacuate when a hurricane is coming. with the technology available today, everyone has a big warning way ahead of time to move away from the threat. if you are in a tornado area, you should have a shelter or a plan. it is sad these people want to try to blame the government and think they can fix everything for them instead of taking personal information. host: what about the reaction of the government and how they

perform in these situations? i know you said people should do for themselves, but for the government reaction, what do you think? caller: i think they have a lot of responsibilities to handle a lot of things and they cannot sit there and white -- what is a better way to say it, they cannot take care of everyone for every situation. have people evacuated. if people would evacuate, it would not be such a crisis. you would not have to be rescuing people from a flooded area. if you buy a home in a flood zone, it might flood. host: let's hear from randy in wisconsin. hello. caller: good morning, pedro. how puerto rico, the electrical grid was bad in the first place. it was a disaster. they knew it was going to go bad. the food that was left rotten in trailers that never got distributed. how about the water?

everything sat around there. you, yourself, what do you think about the disaster with the hurricane coming up? it has not even happened yet. give the president a break, he is trying to do his best. usually the mayor and the government -- governor has to declare a disaster before the government has even stepped in and president trump is already doing it. they criticized bush when he flew over in a plane in new orleans. where was he going to land the plane? they criticized him for that. terrible toedia is help anybody -- it is only the republican presidents that they are whining about. gaye let's go -- this is in greenville, north carolina. hi. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. bushed in florida when jeb was governor and he was great,

lived through wilma and jean and needed a new roof. host: ok. fema did a i thought great job. i am now in eastern north carolina, fortunately, not in a flood zone. i have to say i really don't have a lot of confidence in the because --istration i question their priorities and --eally don't think they did that they treated puerto rico appropriately. host: when you say you question their priorities, what do you mean by that? clarify that. caller: they change their mind so much, you never know. is day, they might say this important.

by tomorrow, they may change their mind and do something else. host: j gray works for nbc news. on his twitter feed, he gives shots of the carolina beach, #it hurricane-- hashtagging it #hurricaneflorence. we will go to huntsville. caller: can you here me? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: good morning, america. i do not have confidence in natural disasters and i am so tired of hearing about racism. it is really not racism, it is injustice. what is racist is the hurricane because they form off of the west coast of africa. host: we will leave it there. your level of confidence to handle natural disasters. just for a few more minutes before we change topics for the

remainder of our program. sheldon, forest hills, new york. hi. sheldon in new york, hello? caller: i am here, can you hear me? host: you are on. caller: i do not have any confidence in this government. the government is led by an incompetent who is only interested in patting himself on the soldier. by the way -- shoulder. by the way, i think you ought to do a long essay -- host: before you go too far, when it comes to natural disasters, why do you think that way? caller: i am a historian. i can tell you the way the government failed puerto rico, it is appalling. i sent you people nsa after -- -- sent you people an essay after -- appeared on your

program in june. it's the sorry history of puerto rico under american rule. what your listeners don't understand is the united states invaded puerto rico in 1898. puerto ricans did not request american military presence. aside from that, you are a historian, how would you rate american history overall in natural disasters? caller: terrible. is a very politically-oriented organization. leader, the president, and his party want to valorize fema they will. if they don't, they won't. host: let's go to eddie in baltimore, maryland. good morning. caller: i don't have a lot of and hisce in trump

administration being able to handle natural disasters, or any type of disaster. about puertoalking rico. my father is from the virgin islands. we don't even know what the response was from the virgin islands. he mainly takes money out of the disaster to put it into immigration. his concerns are about his immigration policies. his racist overtones towards that. happens tocare what americans. for the southerners on your line , he thinkshis man they are help really backwards people, so i don't know where they would hold confidence in him. 2st: last call for this hour, hours left. we will ask you leading up to the midterm elections in november if you have a top issue driving that vote.

whether it be a specific issue, general issue, what would you say would be the deciding factor few going to the polls this november and voting? .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 republicans, (202) 748-8001. we will take your calls when "washington journal" continues. ♪ booktv, thoughts on the trump presidency and its detractors in "liars, leakers, and liberals."

>> one of my press people said ,jeanine, there is already an article on what happened in the dairy farm. i said, what did it say? it said nothing i said, but they z.eged i said x, y, and i remember sitting in the car. i didn't realize it was fake news, but i said how could i won when it is raped. they are saying i did things i never did five minutes ago. bookverage of the brooklyn festival with april ryan and her book "under fire" reporting from the front lines of the trump white house. awakening of a former white nationalist.

linda greenhouse with her book "just a journalist." derekolitical writer hunter discussing his book outraged ink. he is interviewed by the founder and president of the media research center. >> does anyone get a real point across on television? >> no they don't. you look for something that will go viral. the network is looking for something they can clip into a tweet,nd clip, put in a post on facebook that will go viral. , but badd for business for conveying information. booktv. on c-span2's "washington journal" continues. host: for the following 2 hours

your top issue in the november election. (202) 748-8000 free democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 in "the virginia pilot" pictures from the coast of virginia as they prepare for reactions of what florence could bring. we will speak with several legislators. our first represents virginia. representative rob wittman on the armed services and natural resource committee. good morning. could you talk about the areas of the commonwealth where you serve and how they might be affected by florence? guest: the governor has done an evacuation in zone a. low-lying areas, like mathews county. those are the area smoke light -- areas most likely to be

surge.d by storm those have been put in place by the governor. local emergency coordinators are marching the areas to make sure citizens know what they can and cannot expect. anwinds are over 140 miles hour, first responders will not go to those areas. the second area is with our military. shipsval station norfolk, have been sent to see. 2 aircraft carriers. they have been sent to sea as well as 14 other surface ships at sea. there are 15 ships at the shipyards being maintained. those are being secured. the navyadmiral, commander for the mid-atlantic, has set conditions for several ships that can't go to sea.

those that are under maintenance, cruisers and destroyers. they are under heavy mooring. they are disconnected from the. pier. out.are in north carolina and maybe for virginia, there is condition zulu, ships cannot leave i come into the harbors. have been ports closed in the carolinas. we see as the storm approaches more things being done to safeguard the ships there and shipping traffic that goes back and forth. those efforts have been put into place. also, other military bases around. aircraft have been moved out. whether it is cherry point or they have been

moved out. also marine corps families have been told they can stay on base, but they have opened shelters. they are told if they are going to use the shelters to bring worthainment and 2 days of food. the military set conditions not only in north carolina, but in the regions, to be ready for this. we have the air force base at langley. many have been moved out in case the tarmac is inaccessible due to flooding. all those conditions have been taken care of.i have to give credit to fema , to the state, the emergency coordinators, the governor -- governor north room has been forward thinking and how he has put conditions in place to protect individuals. forything has been laid out virginia to be prepared. there is coordination between the states because we have

efforts that have to be quarter needed there as well as with fema. those conditions have been taken care of, preparing folks and making sure we keep folks safe. host: what is the role of fema and the commonwealth? how does that play out after today? guest: the role for fema is to be able to help first responders and governments, state and federal, deal with basic elements like food, water, and shelter. deployed supplies whether it is water, ice, or generators. they do have other areas of the country that have pre-deployed to help with recovery efforts. responders.rst others that may be needed to come in to help people. the female coordinator is making sure we have -- the fema coordinator is making sure we

have those things ready so they can move and when the storm subsides. int: what is your role communicating with your constituency? guest: our role is to travel throughout the districts. not during storm conditions, but stay in touch with emergency centers. understanding what they need. understanding what we can do as a conduit between them and fema> communicationn with the storm emergency operations centers. we will travel to the emergency operations centers and around the district to make sure we are protecting folks in the aftermath. to make sure, too, they have with a need and our emergency operations centers are operational in relation to what fema needs to provide. storiese of the related was about this $10 million transfer from fema to matters of

immigration and customs enforcement. what do you think of the story as you heard it and the decision of the transfer of the funds? guest: my understanding is it did not come from response dollars fema has for response from disaster. there is movement and budgets from all agencies to move money around. it is my understanding none of from dollarsame designated for response and recovery operations in fema. we havepresentative, been talking with our viewers about top issues facing 2018. what are your concerns with the elections, particularly if the house stays in power? guest: there are a number of things to address. i want to make sure we are continuing our effort to rebuild the military. there are other things we need to be doing with education, workforce, and workforce

development. one element of the workforce is aning sure we have educational system that emphasizes career and technical education as much as the efforts to send kids to college. those are critical efforts throughout many areas of virginia and across the united states. high-speed internet access is key. those things are critical in making sure congress its things done to help states and localities along those lines. help health care. the uncontrolled costs loom minds.n people's there will be challenges for congress after we get back from the election cycle to make sure we take care of those in the lame-duck session. as the congress is sworn in and faces challenges before us.

host: do you see that being in republican hands in november? guest: i do. there is a good chance republicans to maintain the majority. it may base number majority, but i think we will maintain our majority. host: representative whitman, thank you for your time. as we asked at the end of the interview about 2018, we are asking you for the following issue?at is your top democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 a website highlighted the election cycle and concerns not only of all americans but specific parties. 27% of americans saying the top

policy issue for them was economic issues, followed by security, and then health care. democrats, 24% saying economic issues is at the top, followed by health care, senior issues, and security issues. independents, 29% say economic, then security, then health care and senior issues. for republicans, security issues. 35% say that was a concern. followed by economic, senior, and health care issues.this was taken earlier this year, but leading up to the november elections of tople telling us their issues. david from new york starts us off. caller: hi. i was listening to your show and comments. i think the government has -- tootoo lanrge.

large. it has never handled in a natural disaster 100%. the opposing party always seems to find ways to win votes by dashing the other party. host: we have moved on from that topic. for the topics for the 2018 elections, what is your top issue? caller: shrinking the government. host: what do you mean by that? caller: by balancing the budgets. being able to afford what the government is supposed to do. host: that is david calling from new york state. "time" magazine published an hour ago that education is a top issue. thatis molly ball writing oklahoma is not anyone's idea of

the swing state, it is one of the most republican states. overrew edmondson is up one point over his republican opponent. edmondson says policies have driven us to a billion dollar and created a terrible situation in our schools, driving me run the race -- driving me in the race in first place. the activism that started with the sudden wave of teacher strikes and walkouts. channeled line was into political action. competitivereated races. with scores of teachers running for office themselves, it changed the face of the midterm elections. you are the previous caller talking about shrinking the government. you may add your own your idea of the top issue. las vegas, democrats' line,

lisa. caller: my top issue is social security and medicare. we are entitled to it. it is not an entitlement program , it is an insurance program that we have paid into for 40 or 50 years. we are entitled to receive the proceeds when we retire. host: how does that play out? is that the only base of who you vote for? caller: no, there are so many issues you would have me on for an hour. but that is important to me now because you have paul ryan and marco rubio talking about reforming it, which means privatizing it. i have $5,000 in the bank with $ .04 interest. they are reaping thousands of dollars. when you get your $1400 security

check and paul ryan that will retire with a thousand dollars a month. host: raymond in new york. caller: thanks for having me on. my issue is just like the other lady. i am talking about health care. i am talking about climate change. you see what is happening with the weather. it is going crazy. we have a president that doesn't see any of this. host: for those of you who might -- votingin november for in november, where do they stand on climate change? caller: i think everyone is pretty knowledgeable and see how much rain we have had in new york. days and days of rain. i also wanted to -- host: are you going to purchase a date in the primary for governor today?

caller: yes, i am. i am going blue across the board. host: when it comes to governor cuomo, what is his stance on climate change? he is down with the paris agreement and all that, and he knows new york is a very -- is a state with a lot of cause. there are a lot of emissions problems here. host: let's go to arizona, independent line. caller: can you hear me? host: you are on. rural arizona.in my biggest concern is retaining my second amendment rights. i understand why people in cities want to gun control, that if they lived at the border and

andall the trafficking horrible things they are doing they wouldople, understand why we want to keep our second amendment. that's all i've got to say. susan is in texas. republican line. what is the top issue for you this november? caller: the top issue for me is illegal immigration. i live in the state of texas, overwhelming problem daily. they are overpopulated here. jobs have been overtaken by immigration. false documentation they

are able to update, and u.s. citizenship with false documents. red all the across-the-board. but i see a democrat, democrats have no concern about americans and american safety. host: for those who will vote for in november, specifically give me a candidate and where they stand on immigration. caller: the president, i voted for him -- host: as far as your vote this november. your candidate, who you will vote for, what is that person's stance on immigration? caller: i will vote for the republican running in november and i will do early voting. i will be voting for him.

host: that is susan in san antonio, texas talking about the top issue that will drive your .ote in 2018 joining us from capitol hill is the republican of florida on the judiciary and budget committee. committees. you recently called on the president on the topic of declassified documents. guest: we have an application for a pfizer warrant against carter page that we believe if it is made public we will see serious omissions in what should have been presented to the wasn't.ourt, but that could be prosecutorial misconduct, but could demonstrate the bias we see in text messages among members of the fbi, department of justice, emails, and the committee testimony where we see people like bruce orr, the deputy

attorney general that had his wife working for the people getting paid by money that originated at the dnc clinton campaign and shuttling that information into the department of justice and fbi to masquerade as intelligence information to spy on carter page. we believe transparency will give the american people to evaluate. host: what is in the documents that leads you to believe you will find that information? guest: what is not in the documents. the origin of the dossier, individuals who wrote the dossier. based on the recent interviews we have done, the information about the people who have spouses relationships within the government being paid money to write that information about donald trump. that none of that is presented to the secret court with

warrants to spy on americans is what we would like in the public square. i think it demonstrates the rotten beginnings of the mueller investigation. the indictment of the mueller probe is broader than what would be reflected in the documents. if you recall the text messages to between peter struck and lisa page, who worked on the mueller probe, it reflects a bias that would taint any evidence collected. within the body of investigations going on, there are various inspector general's. what do you think of their effort looking into it and how much value do you place on that? guest: there are 2 tracks. the first if the fbi had an inappropriate media leaking where instead of collecting evidence and

prosecutorial decisions, people at the fbi were influencing public opinion by getting information into press stories. the other is when we look at the applications for intelligence collection, it appears the fbi would leak stories and site those stories to validate other investigative work. that is circular logic setting up a totality where something is merely because it is. the second track is there may have been media companies inappropriately providing tickets to concerts and sporting events, dinners, and gratuities to people who work at the fbi in order to get the leaks, in order to have stories and information. the ecosystem of corruption with improper leaking to influence public opinion and improper gifts to the fbi is important to investigate. i don't know if we should draw conclusions until we see the attorney general's report, but

we are eager to receive it on capitol hill. host: do you think any significant revelation from the investigation will happen before the november election? guest: it is hard to tell. so far you have ghost indictments against russians that won't show up. you have george stephanopoulos spending 14 days in prison as a result of a pretty insignificant misstatement to the fbi that didn't have anything to do with the president. paul manafort convicted of tax crimes that emerged decades before donald trump contemplated a run for the presidency. nothing seems to indicate there is some bombshell before the midterms. as the president likes to say, we'll see. possiblyl manafort talking a plea deal, how does that register with you? guest: those arise from the same donaldhat predate

trump's interest in the presidency. if paul manafort was being prosecuted for collusion with the russians during his role as chairman of the trump campaign, we would have a different view. we are in a dangerous place of investigating people rather than crimes. they are trying to gather as much leverage against paul manafort in hopes they can craft his testimony against others involved with the trumpet investigation. it is yet to be seen if that is to be successful. host: do you think this round of ofelection -- round elections will be a referendum on donald trump? guest: i think elections are the partyeferendum on in power. republicans have some of the lowest unemployment rates in history, resetting the trade balance, we put america first. the president has delivered on the bold economic promises made. if the election is about the

economy, republicans will do well. if it is about other drama, thatgue, and circusry surrounds washington, it may be a less favorable result. host: when it comes to the economic message, how are those running for reelection selling the message and how is it being registered among the public? guest: if we can't sell the trumpet economy, shame on us. we don't deserve to be in power. in coal country, the northeast, california, there are political headwinds we face, but we have the right messengers to explain to folks they are doing better as a result of changes we made in washington to get the government out of people's lives and unlock the imagination and innovation in the country. host: change on your part dealing with medical cannabis. what is your part? guest: the house judiciary will

put medical cannabis control under republican trol control fe first time in medical history. we will collaborate with people developing strains of medical cannabis to treat various therapies. more collaboration and working together, we hope to unlock cures, learn more about how medical marijuana can help people. we will find freedom is pretty popular. if you remove the government and allow people to have greater access to things that will help them live better lives, that is a step forward for the country. host: what about the current culture around medical cannabis lead you to believe it is a good time to advance the bill? ofst: it is popular with 80% the country, only unpopular with members of congress of a different generation. congress,er member of this is the time to create an

environment of collaborative cures.h in unlocking let's see if medical marijuana can help epilepsy.s, als, let's not delay getting people to help they desperately need to be productive citizens. host: what type of generational conflict are you saying among republicans? guest: there are republicans with an ostrich approach to cannabis reform with their heads sand. as the country awakens to the good we can do in people's lives, it is hard to find a street corner or town in america where you don't have people that ,o suffer from cancer, epilepsy ailments that medical cannabis has demonstrated efficacy in dealing with. if we don't make the research illegal, imagine the possibilities of how we could help people. there is a generational divide. the congress is older than the body politic.

maybe that is why young people like me get the chance to swing our ideas around. host: does that extend to recreational marijuana use? guest: my role in the movement is medical marijuana use. that is where we can do the most good with the least amount of government effort. in places they have had recreational marijuana, you have to have government addiction services and law enforcement services available. those decisions are best made at the state and local level. not have a we should prohibition against the research that could help people use cannabis in medical applications with ailments that are common. host: republican of florida, a member of the judiciary and budget committees joining us from capitol hill. thank you for your time. back to your calls on your top issue for the november elections. your 2018 vote. from arizona, independent line. thank you for waiting.

caller: i would like to make a couple of comments before i tell you what my top issue is. as far as the old lady with the gun in arizona, i am more afraid of her man any mexican. than anyre, -- of her mexican. furthermore, if you want a job done right, higher a mexican. my top issue is as and as the governor took office he stopped sending elderly people tax forms, or anybody. before he took office i got tax forms in the mail every year. now you cannot even go to the library in arizona and get a tax form. you have to pay to have your tax forms. .y tax bill is over $1000 year i would appreciate it if he sending me a nickel

my tax form. you can't even request them like you can with the feds. your vote in november, who reflects those issues for you? to november, those issues that you laid out as top concerns, who will you vote for? caller: i will see. i have sent kristen said i'm a $200 and will be sending her more. i am on a pension. i think she is the most wonderful thing that has happened to arizona since the ioni.honey -- napol host: what you think about her challenger. caller: i dislike her intensely. she talks about bonding babies in iraq while kristen was talking about helping people. she was at the border happy about taking babies away from

their parents. john what do you think of kelly taking the place of senator mccain? caller: i would rather he put martha mcsorley so sinema -- so we would have two people from arizona. maybe martha mcsorley would moderate if she was not having with this reelection lady that is scared to death of mexicans. host: that is helen. carol in west virginia, independent line. caller: how are you today? host: i am fine, go ahead. caller: i call it economic security. first of all, we should be able to freeze the spending coming

out of washington. i have to live on a budget. i get so much a month. the government gets so much a month. just like everybody else. it is called well, i will pay this bill so i am moving money from this to this. people can live on budgets. the government can live on budgets. as far as social security, we do need to reform that. i read an article that there were it illegal immigrants that have taken social security cards, small children's social security cards. host: let's go to bob in texas, republican line. caller: 90% or more of the problems we have that people call in on, can be solved by attending constitution week next monday. i was wondering if you were doing anything for constitution

week, or if you will be participating in constitution week? like everyone of your schools are to have a program on the constitution. i would appreciate it if you would ask constitution questions of your guests. host: what do you think people would get out of participating, particularly you said most problems would be solved for them? caller: we are teaching a class on saturday by a guy that wrote a strict interpretation of the constitution. if we were following the constitution, it might put churchill out of business. host: november come a what is your top issue? caller: following the constitution and voting for and thenke matt sass --ben sass.

i bless you guys for broadcasting that. host: when it comes to texas, you will vote for ted cruz in the texas senate race? caller: yes. i asked three questions in tyler, and he answered all three incorrectly. host: what did you ask? caller: i will put it on my twitter feed, political brew, and you can watch it. caller: they keep on complaining about the mueller investigation. to clear has to do that out is release all his tax forms and release all the on innts they had going that tower. realize that the

money they are spending on the tax breaks for the rich are three times as much as what the spending on the -- as what they are spending on the poor. people are dying, children are starving in this country and going homeless while evangelical a $70 million buy and deduct that money as a nonprofit organization. host: republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have been listening. in massachusetts, the young lady that sat in the car with son

.rump, came out on tv she said there was nothing talking about with hillary. host: the 2018 vote, what is your main issue? caller: my main issue with 2018 martha mcsorley, we are voting for her in arizona. i want the wall built. she is a good, strong, hard worker. i saw her through the debate. i know there are some things she says she doesn't like about the president, that there are some things she does like. she tells the truth. host: why do you think she will continue on being the wall builder the president wants to have done? caller: i went to meetings and ask those questions.

she said she would vote for the wall. that was my main concern. host: susan, also from arizona, giving thoughts on the top issues for the 2018 vote. when it comes to demographics, "the washington post" breaks down what is going on in republican and democratic camps. democrats have 62 black nominees for the house. a review of candidates by the post, numbers on par as documented by a researcher. republicans have identified 10 black gop house nominees, down from recent years. record 20 lgbta nominees for the house and senate. republicans have none. change in candidate diversity has been among democratic women. democrats nominated 182 women

for the house this year. of houseresting 40% districts and shattering the old mark of 120 nominees. republicans have 52 women, in line with recent elections. the gop share of all candidates is the lowest it has been in 40 years. record number of in senate and gubernatorial races. republicans have less than half in each. caller: i've been a democrat for some time. recently, with what is going on my god.overnment -- oh, how corrupt it is in washington. i pray to god the democrats get together and do something for america. we have to get rid of the republicans. voted.never -- i have

but this year i am good vote. i hope the blue wave they're talking about does happen. i hope trump gets impeached. thank you for taking my call. host: walter, indiana, independent line. go ahead. caller: my top issue in the 2018 education. public i work for the public schools in indiana as a substitute teacher. i think it is a shame that betsy devos, our secretary of education, has no experience working in public education. she was never even educated in public schools. i think we need people that have experience to deal with the many issues facing schools across the country. even i, as a substitute teacher,

have more experience in public education then she does. comes to our calls as far as top issues for the 2018 election, texas, independent line. margaret? caller: good morning. am i on? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: my main interest is in the environment. if we don't have a sustainable world for humans to live then, nothing else matters. here we have a president who does not believe in climate change. does not believe terrible things will happen. i am in texas, independent, voting for overwork. i cannot vote for ted cruz. he came to texas because he could run for the presidency.

i am voting for local candidates in the democratic party because they seem to be the only ones aware of what is going on locally. i live in the hill country. the democrat here, born and raised here, and a woman, she knows what is happening here. how the legislature is preempting local laws so they can do what they want to do in our locality. we have lobbied against that without any action at all. now we need to put someone in that legislature who can have some kind of voting power against these kinds of things happening here. host: margaret in texas giving

she will of candidates vote for november and telling us why. you can do the same. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. the previous caller brought up o'rourke. the task force on gun shape safy -- will notresent recommend age restrictions for the purchase of firearms according to people familiar with the draft report. there is no evidence that age restrictions will reduce the likelihood of school shootings. instead recommending increases in safety training for gun owners. theport will be released by federal commission on school safety before the end of the year according to 2 people who requested anonymity because they

were not speaking publicly. caller: i support the democrats when it comes to obamacare. what is left of obamacare needs to stay in place. i am a democrat. however, because they swung my party so far to left, i forced to look at the republican side of the issues. i want the wall built. hand when itn comes to the environment. the economy up here has never been better. cked tremendously. i will have to pull the republican ticket on everything in november. i have one issue in favor of the democrats, one issue opposed to the democrats, and i have five-six issues in favor of the

republicans now. i am pulling the straight republican ticket for the first time in my life, and i am 69 years old. host: who stands out as a person you will vote for? caller: that is the interesting thing. none of them stand out, because i am not focused on the individuals. i am focused on the issues. i has become so partisan don't believe what individuals say anymore. i can't tell in the political andon tv who is a democrat he was a republican. a look at the issues of each party and vote the way i feel the issues go. ,ortunately and unfortunately for the first time in my life i am voting republican. in northt is wayne carolina. "the new york times" reporting

the trump administration will put $20 million in mexican deportation. it will increase deportation of central americans, many who pass through mexico. anyone who is a known or suspected terrorist will also be deported under the notification. although such people are few in number, a spokesperson for national security said we are working closely with our mexican tal counterparts. to confront rising border apprehension numbers, specifically 38% and families this month. spokesperson from the mexican embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. you are on, go ahead. thatr: there is one thing i'm most concerned about. it is here in our country.

i'm not so concerned about foreign countries. it is the attitude of all of the people in congress. when i see people like maxine waters, nancy pelosi, and riots,th warren inciting and wanting them to get into people's faces -- i want people that are levelheaded. i am a republican, and i'm going to vote strictly republican. carolina.ens, north we have been talking about your top issue in the 2018 vote. give us your thoughtss on the line -- your thoughts on the line, and we will continue on. joining us from capitol hill, democrat from minnesota, member of the agriculture committee. for joining us. when it comes to the president's

nominee for the supreme court, where do you stand? guest: i am opposed to judge kavanaugh. his rulings demonstrate he would rollback important protections for people in minnesota and across the country. i'm concerned around voting , and hisd health care broad view of executive authority gives me concern. host: none of those issues were swayed from the confirmation hearings? guest: i think the confirmation hearings continued to demonstrate that these are issues everyone in america should be worried about. host: when did you come to these conclusions? how early in the process? early opponent to judge kavanaugh. there was a lot known about the judge's record before he was nominated. he was chosen from a list put together by a partisan and ideological group the president

identified early on. it was put together -- the list thatut together by groups have opinions i strongly disagree with on voting rights and health care. host: the judiciary committee meets today for a business meeting on judge kavanaugh. what do you think ultimately? do you think he will win a seat on the court? uphill battle, but there are a handful of senators, democrats and republicans, who at that made a final decision. i suspect my colleagues on the judiciary committee will raise concerns about information and background on judge kavanaugh that hasn't been made available to the american public and push that forward. currentlye do we stand on the completion of a farm bill? guest: the senate farm bill, i worked hard on the bill. i think it is a strong bill and would help farm country and rule america -- rural america.

we are in conference committee out differences. there are differences around commodity programs and conservation programs. we really need a bipartisan bill likely past out -- passed out of the senate. i just talked to some minnesotans who remind me they are struggling, especially with the retaliatory tariffs. they need a farm bill. host: 20 think the resolve will be? guest: there could be good resolve on the democratic and republican side because farm issues have been traditionally bipartisan. we don't have many days to get this done before september when the farm bill expires. the good thing is that the funding will continue through the end of the year. we do have time, but it will

peak rate to get this done -- it would be great to get this done in the next couple of months. host: a question about the farm bill is when it comes to assistance programs like snap. have they been resolved? guest: they are hashing out those issues, too. everyone should understand we have rules requiring work for people who benefit from nutrition programs like snap. we are arguing. the question is if we need a new layer of rules on top of what we have, which most experts agree would add bureaucracy, cost, and not really accomplish anything. what is the difference with the new set of rules being proposed? guest: the current rules require that if you are able-bodied that you are working or seeking work. new rules would put a new layer of punitive punishments that i think would hurt -- mostly

hurting kids. a big beneficiary of food stamp programs our kids and families -- our kids and families -- are kids and families. host: this week, potential work on and opioids bill. can you explain what the senate is considering and the current possibility of that passing? guest: we expect in the senate to take up the comprehensive opioid package next week. we postponed it because of the weather swirling around that used coast. this deals with treatment, recovery, and what we need to do to crack down on illegal drug dealing, trafficking, and illegal drugs from out of the country will stop it pa -- country. it passed the senate.

i think it is a strong bill and i'm hopeful we will be able to get it done. this is not a republican or democratic issue. this issue killed 72 million americans last year. host: part of that effort including a bill on mental health? on -- senator murkowski and i were hearing from our communities how important it is to get that her mental health services in schools. that is included in the opioid package. i am optimistic we can get that done. host: senator smith, we have inn talking about top issues november. in your state, five competitive races that people will be paying attention to. why do you think there are so many competitive races in your state? guest: minnesota is a very purple state. the president barely lost minnesota. we have two senate races, which is unusual. and 4 competitive house races.

we have a hard-fought governor's race. minnesotans are focused on the bread-and-butter issues that affect their lives and are looking at all candidates and asking how we are going to help with issues like the rising cost of health care, college affordability, and childcare. issues that make their lives work or not work. host: there have been stories about the potential of the senate turning over. what do you think about the reality? guest: i hung up my prognosticator spurs when i joined the senate. it shows there are competitive races. anything can happen. host: senator smith, even this morning there is news about the future of planned parenthood. and about this decision your views on planned parenthood. guest: i am a former volunteer

and executive of the planned hair and had affiliate in north dakota and south dakota. it is an important organization that provides health care to millions of women. they knew land parroted -- president isthood a physician. it is exciting to have somewhat they -- someone with a medical background. mcconnell says october could be a long, working month. what do you think about the decision? guest: if we are working an october, a hope we can do working on health care. that is the number one issue minnesotans are talking about, particularly prescription drugs and bringing down the cost of prescription drugs. host: does that affect your

campaigning in october? guest: i will campaign when i am able and will work for the people in th minnesota when i am able. host: joining us to talk about issues. we appreciate your time. back to calls. this is roy from georgia. republican line. caller: i am concerned about the media and their representation of the president. the president is very transparent. he came to office saying jobs, jobs, jobs. that takes 2 steps. he has to close the borders. to create these jobs for americans. where is he going to get people to work these jobs? from rural america and inner-cities. the president is going through prison reform systems to get people out of prison and put americans to work.

a lot of people like to give the new deal credit for the revival of america, that it was labor unions putting americans to work. americans working and paying taxes. in recent years we have been hearing about the united states becoming a service economy. the president is trying to reverse that. he is trying to build up the middle class, that people can go back to work, a local, federal, state, county taxes so we can prosper again. i think it is unfair how the media is picturing this president when his whole agenda is to put america first. host: jay is from florida, independent line. caller: i have been saying for over a year now that trump is obviously the top issue on the ballot. i am an independent and i have never voted a straight partyline because i think

these two parties are two of the most corrupt institutions in the country. this fall, i will probably be voting straight democratic just for the following reason that these republicans basically need to be swept out of office. the guy you had on the little while ago, one of the top republican conspiracy theorists in congress whose aim is to whatever farnk up out of left-field crackpot conspiracy theory he can think of to defend this president at every turn. take the thing he was just talking about, the release of .ll these documents you turn around and go to the judge kavanaugh issue on the other hand and are they in favor

of transparency there? no. we have hundreds of thousands of documents they are holding back from being released. it is complete hypocrisy and contradictions from these guys. they are a total fraud. it is like a cold that has been dedicated to saving this corrupt guy at the top of the ticket and and it hase stopped to be a complete sweep. florida,t is j in bringing up the president's nominee for the supreme court, brett kavanaugh. our next caller is from vermont, from onabout his -- talking about his thoughts.

-- a couple of ends to show you, this one from the federal list society, clarence thomas talking about the supreme court legitimacy. here is how he responded. >> i think what deserves our -- , that wer legitimacy do our jobs honestly, we work with integrity, we do it with an ethical foundation, a moral foundation. we follow the law, we live up to the oats we take -- oats we -- oaths we take. not one of us can tear it down or build it up by ourselves. can you use in leadership positions today, the word that i used about brett? honorable, not the honorable,

honorable. if we could use that word about , people who actually asked the questions at confirmation hearings instead of spartacus. [laughter] >> you had to get that in there. if we could use the word honorable more often, think about the difference it would make. then you would have a legacy. we will have left the country in better shape morally, structurally then we found -- then we found -- than we found. as long as we are looking at scoring points or being on tv or the greenhouse effect or what

editorials we are getting, especially the legal system. how do we maintain it? if you can't debate hard issues honestly with honor, with integrity, how do we take a civil society? >> basically just trying to get it right. >> every day. host: you can see more of that on our website at c-span.org. elma from indianapolis, democrat line. caller: i will vote democrat indianapolis is the -- our roads are terrible, everything is terrible. the republican party has been in here forever and they have not done nothing.

every time you drive down the roads you get a flat. that is why i am going to vote democrat. our roads were not like this. host: colorado, democrats line, chuck. caller: thank you for c-span. out theanted to point sellouts in the sycophants for get their news from more then fox news. it is not really a source. methanelled about the deregulation that trump is going to do. methane is 30 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas. has worked outer a deal with energy companies to recapture that methane and it makes sense because it puts

money back in their pockets instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. right now, we've got a methane timebomb in the arctic. that is where most of the because the ice age froze most of that hydrocarbons as methane in the arctic and now that it is thawing out, it is going to cause a global warming timebomb. it is not going to be pretty. go,: before we let you there is reporting by politico that says the governor is contemplating a bid for 2020. what do you think about that? caller: he is the right dude for the job. great with theng recreational marijuana. matt gaetz is a hypocrite. he says he is for medical marijuana and does not want to

do recreational marijuana because it would require addiction services. we need addiction services almost more than anything. do opioid bill is going to treatment and recovery if the republicans allow that to happen. host: politico saying when it ,omes to the follow-up on that the colorado governor possibly running, he would start with a relatively low-profile. many other prospective candidates would face similar challenges. it was not insurmountable. saying quote, the one thing that surprised me is that there was a lot of awareness in some of the things we have done in colorado. i think that was encouraging, it has been throughout the summer. anthony in arizona, democrats line. three quick things.

all, about 45 days ago i called and said i was moving off of the independent ticket to get to the democratic party because of its principles and the democratic principles focus on one major goal and it should be the 2020 campaign. we've got to be there. it is not what you bring to the table as our current president says, but it is what you take away from the table. currently we are experiencing a major tropical storm, whatever it ends up being when it fully dissipates along the east coast. why is in congress in session appropriating some money? fema can say we've got things staged but that does not mean anything. ohio -- dayton, ohio where frontline did a series on that.

it goes to reassert that if you can't be there, not physically, you have to be there mentally and understand and if you are there physically, and you walk away, to talk about it was a great thing that happened but no one appreciated it. you have never been there. host: that is anthony in arizona. when it comes to the matters of elections, the washington times front-page story talking about talking about meddling in u.s. elections, saying the president trump moved to deter foreign countries or people from meddling in the elections, creating a mechanism to automatically impose sanctions when intelligence agencies detect cyber attacks. the executive order which coincide with the heightened alert about meddling did not satisfy critics. sanctions such as freezing assets, restricting foreign

access to foreign -- to u.s. financial institutions will be triggered by incursions on the electorate system, political parties and candidates or for circulating propaganda. the national security adviser added quote, we think it is important the president have a command of this. arnold in tennessee, good morning. caller: good morning. i have been sitting here listening to the last several callers. there is just a bunch to talk about. have you ever heard -- do you know who alan simpson is? host: i don't. caller: he is a former republican senator from wyoming. thomasng to clarence going on about honor, saying that we need honorable men and with honorable intentions in .heir lives, that is the truth

honor is the only thing that is going to save us because honor is based on love, on loving your ,eighbor as you love yourself loving your enemy as best you can. host: so the a look -- so the november elections and your top concerns, what are they? caller: it was the environment. there was a caller who said if we don't handle the global warming crisis, if we don't handle the climate change crisis, nothing else matters, and she is completely correct. five years ago, you have the head of greenpeace on washington journal one morning and he said that if the earth's temperature heats up another three and a half degrees, it's over. species willing not be able to survive on this planet if we continue burning

fossil fuel for the next 20, 30 years like we have. host: we will have to leave it there. let's go to michigan, our republican line. good morning. caller: first i would like to say that i am disgusted with both parties. the two candidates that were run and i hear you talking and i cannot hear what i am saying, slam going to turn the television backup. host: don't do that, you are still on. politicians are all the same on both parties, saying that they're going to do something to treat the opioid addictions. as the addicts are coming down one end as fast as

they are treating them, it is a waste of time. they should work on what is causing the addiction and stop it getting started. is zero.ain host: the point we are trying to talk about as far as the november elections, what is the top issue for you? caller: that is the top issue. talkinghese politicians , but they have a hole in their heads. cost.ave not lowered the and never say how they are going to do it. host: let's go to mark in pennsylvania, republican line. caller: i would like to discuss think ith care does i is so preposterous that we discuss and get out in the open. they are proposing medicaid for all which is ridiculous because medicaid was designed as a program to be paid in most of

your life and then get small benefits when you retire. we would have to have everyone paying into this program from birth to be able to afford this. the money we spend on health care right now is $3 trillion a year. that is basically doubling our government size if we were to put that under government control. that means more taxes. there is only 148 million people that work in this country. 148 million people have to pay for 300 million people. they would literally have to give their entire check to pay for it. the averages about $20,000 per person that is working to be able to pay for that. it is undoable. when the democrats say it is free, it is just such a lie. to realize,emocrats if you vote democrat, you are voting for socialism and a bankrupt this country and it is a very important issue that people are aware of because physically we cannot afford it and there is no way to pay for it. host: that is mark in

pennsylvania. the front page of the wall street journal takes a look at e-cigarettes, saying that a surge in teenage use of that type of cigarette a epidemic. the fda says it is considering all flavored e-cigarettes from u.s. markets. the most popular brand sells refills with mango, cucumber and creme flavors. each pod contains as much nicotine is a pack of cigarettes. new measures will be outlined wednesday to curb underage use. let's bring in our next caller. anthony in new york. caller: hello. host: go ahead. i am a registered

democrat but i am going to vote republican. obama and being that clinton sort of turning the country into a dictator country with this socialism, that is what the democrats have planned. host: that is anthony in new york. we showed you clarence thomas from the federalist society. this is justice ruth bader ginsburg talking about the nomination process and highlighting when she was confirmed versus what current nominees go through. was right.it was the way it is is wrong. [laughter] applause --[applause]

washe atmosphere in 93 truly bipartisan. wasvote on my confirmation 96-3. even though i had spent about 10 years of my life litigating cases under the offices of the aclu board and i was on the aclu board in their general counsel. asked mehouse handlers questions about my aclu affiliation. they were very nervous about it. i said just forget it. you could doing

that would lead me to badmouth the aclu. no senator asked me any question about that. it was the same for justice breyer. think of justice scalia who was certainly unknown character in 1982. he has been a law professor and had written many things. he had been on the d.c. circuit. the vote was unanimous. everydemocrat and republican voted for him.

that is the way it should be. of what it has become, a highly partisan show. lockstep, soove in do democrats. i wish i could wave a magic wand wayhave it go back to the it was. that event took place yesterday and if you want to see the event in entirety, you can go to our website at c-span.org. fema is about to hold a briefing on the upcoming hurricane in the carolinas. that will be at 9:30. you can see that live on c-span3.

the front page, disaster at the doorstep and how they are preparing. as you look at that, we will go to texas, republican line. phil.s still -- this is caller: good morning. i am voting republican and i will tell you why. not liked the abortion issue for a very long time. a woman says it is my body but what about the baby's body? the baby does not have a choice at all. the womb is a tomb. that is my major reason for voting republican but i also like a lot of the issues that trump is tackling right now, including anti-socialism. , when you see the countries that have been under socialism control, they all go under.

why would we want to vote socialism or communism in a free country? that is my issue and i believe it like that. host: from pennsylvania, democrats line, we will hear ron from running -- from nie. caller: thank you for taking my call. and i see in politics people that are voting about the about nancy pelosi , two olderfeinstein women that are in the congress and there is such hostility whether you are democrat or even republican against an older female that have been working in congress for years and i want to thatomething about women

wind up in positions of power and leadership. it takes them years to get there there,the time they get they are not valued because they are too old and that is a real problem for me to watch these women climbed the political ladder and then other people want to shoot them down whether nots other females who are supportive of these women who have reached the pinnacle as far as it goes and we all know what happened with hillary. i was not in favor of hillary climbing that letter for women which was unbelievably difficult. when someone like the low knows everything about congress, when they want to remove her, that

gets me very upset because who were they going to put in her place, but somebody that does not know anything about what it is all about in that congress. int: that is ronnie pennsylvania calling in a talking about issues of concern for her. former first lady michelle obama highlighting 10 cities that she will visit as part of her book tour. she will begin at the united center in chicago on november 13. she will finish up at united airlines center in dallas, texas. there will also be stops in washington, d.c., boston, los angeles, brooklyn, detroit and san jose. indiana is next, terry, independent line. caller: good morning. host: you are on. rivera said on

television, all of your gangs, 90% of them, their money comes from marijuana sales. marijuana legalization is the key to all of it. they repealed the alcohol law the crime rate went down 70% and it broke up all of your murderous alcohol gangs. it is not take a rocket scientist to figure out what to be done about your truck laws. you repeal those drug laws and you will cut the crime rate in half or more because it doubled after they passed the drug laws. host: let's go to gerald in georgia. republican line. gerard in georgia? that -- i apologize for that. my principal interest is

the form of government we've got. these socialists and communists rely on taking money from people who are working and giving benefits to people who are not and i cannot understand why people would go to work, as hard as it is and get as little as you get for it and turn around and want to have the government that is going to take it and give it to somebody else. i am talking about working people, i am not talking about the rich, i am talking about regular working people up and down the line. ought tohe democrats not vote. we need to get the democratic party back away from these nuts. jerry brown wanting the open borders. he is just trying to get voters in the california that he can control. it is not trust the voters of california. i have a bunch of other issues but they said one.

thank you very much. news, bobther book would work's book fear, the fastest selling book sense -- his book is a category of its own. it came out on tuesday and is already one of the top-selling books of the year, not only on the politic shells but the entire store. barnes & noble said it has had the fastest sales for a novel title since a book go set watchmen -- go set a watchman. bob woodward will be on this program this coming monday morning, that's -- that interview starting at 7:00. a full hour with him. from new jersey, republican line, rose is next. caller: good morning.

i am voting republican because i the corrupt democrats and corrupt media use their trumpto get rid of donald , even before and after the elections. now, nothing has been shown from the mueller investigation, so they are all corrupt, the democrats and the media. host: new jersey also is where angela is, joining us on our line for independents. caller: good morning. i am basically an independent. i voted for obama in 2008 and i did not vote at all in 2012 because i was not happy with either party, and that i voted he trump because i feel like

is somebody who is going to get things done, because he is not a politician, he is a businessman who wants to get things done. as far as the civility of each party, i would be embarrassed be -- to be part of the democratic party right now. i would be embarrassed. i watched senator smith just a few minutes ago and her opinions on kavanaugh and i watched the entire confirmation hearing and i don't remember seeing her face at all, so she has an opinion about this person and i did not see much participation from her. record and this is all just part of the democratic level of civility right now.

that is pretty much it. host: the story u.s. a today looks at median household income , saying that it rose 1.8% to an all-time high of $61,372 according to the u.s. census bureau on wednesday. of fivelowed advances point 2% in 2015, 3 .2% in 2016. the number of americans living in poverty was unchanged but the poverty rate dipped to 12.3% from 12.7% in 2016, the third consecutive annual decline. since 2014, the rate has fallen from 14.8%. the 12.3% share of those in poverty is still higher than the 11.3% in 2008. that is usa today. research center

has a new online tool to help you calculate if you are in the middle class as they say. the new york times stating that according to an updated income calculator created by the research center, a before tax our he $37,106 for a three-person household is considered middle-class in jackson, tennessee, the lowest threshold in the country. in san jose california -- san jose, california, it takes about $20,000 more. best -- of that size must earn at least $57,443 a year to attain middle income status. middle-class as a wide range that is double the median income in the united states. those numbers of the and adjusted to account for location and household size.

a household of three in newark, new jersey veterans between $55,000 and $165,000 before taxes is considered middle-class or middle income. a household earning more than $65,000 is upper income -- $165,000 is upper income. you can calculate for yourself when you go to the pew research center. louisiana, malcolm is next, independent line. caller: good morning. say.e a lot to i am fed up with all the violence that is going on in the streets against conservatives. we have a guy in california that is running on the gop attacked by a knife. off andhas to be fended

the guy has to defend himself. it is ridiculous. you have all of these people running around, when you have people that cannot give speeches because the people that believe in free speech won't let them talk. that willdo you think be resolved by the november election? caller: i have no way -- no idea how to resolve it by the november election. i don't think it is going to be resolved at all unless they can get a handle on some of these people being taught how to be courteous to other people. host: when it comes to the election, what is the top issue for you? caller: the top issue for me is i am tired of this country. i would love to see term limits as an amendment to the constitution. the senate and the house both have just four-year terms and won reelection and that is it, you go home and you don't come back. i am fed up with these old goons

out there who have been there since dirt was young and they have senility or whatever is going on in their heads. host: let's go to columbia, kentucky, independent line. caller: i got three reasons to vote. mitch mcconnell, rand paul -- host: what is it about those three people? caller: they are like that trump. we don't need them that long. donald trump, the nominee that is in florida, said we do not need a monkey this up and i will

trump has been nothing but monkey this up. host: let's go to new york, republican line. caller: i am despond it about how the elections are going to go because people seem to be getting very poor old -- very polarized. they don't realize we are dealing with extremely complicated issues and we who have a vote have to educate ourselves to complexity, not the left or right or democrat or republican, but the complexity of issues because we do not elect a dictator, we did not elect some dictators -- sub-dictators. the last time an election was so overwhelmingly run by people voting against somebody rather than for somebody, was at off fiddler -- was adolf hitler. you saw what germany got for that and i think it is beholden on us to decide who we support be why we support him and

able to articulate the complexities of the issues so that the politicians don't think slogan. us with some host: new jersey, democrat line, conrad go ahead. caller: good morning. this merchant election is going to be health care and i am going to be voting a straight democratic ticket because over the last two years, all i have heard from this president is insults and bigotry. another reason i am never going to vote republican is it is a party full of bigots and they are the worst kind of bigots. they are in denial. president hass said about mexican-americans, muslim americans, you name it. i am going to vote democrat and as far as this issue of socialism, people run around talking about socialism. we already had socialism. look at the pentagon budget.

we spend more on our military than the next 13 countries coming up behind us. it is not going to the pentagon, it is going to defense contractors. you look at subsidies for farm and natural gas and oil. republicans don't have a problem with socialism is loaded is it -- as long it is -- as long as it is going to people who are wealthy. host: back to health care, what are your specific concerns? caller: my concern is, i see people working every day and if you get injured and you're not able to take your of yourself, you're going to end up losing your job. it makes sense to have some sort of health care for everybody. host: who in new jersey will you vote for that reflects that? caller: cheryl miller. she is a navy pilot, she is running against really huizinga and freely huizinga has been there since the establishment of

the country. i will be voting for my own congressman as well. host: what is cheryl miller thinking on this topic -- on this topic? the way we pay for everything else in this country, we will have to increase taxes. host: is that the thing she advocated for? caller: yes, from what i have been reading in my local paper. and i will be voting for cheryl miller. host: alan in brooklyn, new york, democrats line. caller: thank you. justice toue is future generations whether it has to do with debt or expenditures on infrastructure or climate change, and i think it was well articulated a few days ago by tom friedman, one of the images he used was it would be easy to trump -- for trump to look better iny

the short term i burning some of the boards on the ship we are riding on for fuel but we have less of the ship. we are increasing the appearance of economic success in the present burning our capital and we really have a flaw in our system because we do not account for national capital budget. host: for those ideals then, who reflects that in terms of who you will vote for in november? caller: the clearest articulation of that is the 17th senate district in new york where there is a choice for the first time in six years between who basically has voted against a number of environmental initiatives whether it is to reduce plastic waste or encourage composting or improve educational standards. he has been on the wrong side of all of those and we have a

moderate democrat in the primary today who is standing for traditional democratic values which include a regard for environmental issues and educational issues that looks toward the future. races are ther attorney general and the governor. the trump people are putting too much debt on the future and imposing a climate burden on the future. host: thank you for that. you mentioned the governor. what do you think about this primary with governor cuomo and cynthia next and? -- cynthia nixon? caller: it is a tough choice because these are so apples and oranges and my main concern is that we not end up putting the perfect in battle with the good and take a risk of picking a

candidate who is not going to be electrical in the general and then live with someone for 12 years who is much more regressive because we are reaching for someone who sounds more progressive but basically not have the experience. ironically, she is nothing like donald trump and 99% of the respects but what they share in common is they are both political newcomers and they don't know the ropes of governor -- of government. andrew cuomo is pretty progressive for someone who knows how to run the system. i am not going for the ideal in terms of what she is saying but focusing a what andrew cuomo has done and can do. host: how do you think she did as a candidate overall? caller: i would say pretty good for a first-time candidate but most first-time candidates don't jump in at the governor level. do got to be satisfied to any respectable showing as she has improved his response on a

range of issues, rolling a little bit to the left. that -- pulling a little bit to the left. host: that is alan in brooklyn, giving us his thoughts as far as his vote and who he will vote for. up next is carl. caller: good morning. i would like to thank c-span. i would like to put a check on power. mitch mcconnell has been in there way too long from the state of tennessee. he has held up federal judge courtships under obama. he held up a supreme court judge. this guy has way too much power manyhis president has too presidential orders that are unchecked.

this is driving me crazy. we are so far into debt with these tax breaks to the rich. 85% of the last tax break went to the richest of the rich. this is not's. -- this is nuts. i don't know what to say. the people that talk bad about california. we have a bigger economy than russia. we could be our own country. we contribute so much in tax dollars to the rest of the united states. the heads of twitter and facebook just on capitol hill. -- the hearing will be set for september 26 and reflects lawmakersncerns among

on usage of the internet, especially in light of personal practices at several tech firms including facebook and google. label all send privacy extent -- executives to testify at a senate hearing along with at&t and charter to medications. americans are struggling to understand what is being collected and how it is used. -- were the federal government may need to insert itself. the hearing will give lawmakers a chance to understand how internet companies have fueled their rapid growth i leveraging consumer data -- growth by leveraging consumer data. hearing will also give the companies a chance to defend themselves as well as lay out what they think lawmakers and companies should do and should not do to address those concerns. philadelphia, pennsylvania.

ronald, independent line. caller: my major thing is about the health care and education. the republicans seem to have some kind of mixed up mindsets talking about this guy is a businessperson but he is a failed businessperson. we will find money to pay for health care and stuff because we found money for the taxpayer. my life and i am paying for my health care and negotiating my health care in a union as part of my paycheck. all of a sudden, we have an epidemic of opioids, but they got health care. no drug addict i know pay for their health care but they don't call that socialism. that is just help. out a text onding their twitter feed saying when it comes to those affected by hurricane florence, the storm surge is deadly and anyone in the evacuation zones must leave now if they have not yet.

fema doing a press conference at 9:30. you can see that on c-span3 for the latest information on fema and their activities. democrats line, deborah in savannah, georgia. caller: good morning. i have two issues. my main issue is how many americans that probably will vote at all because we don't trust anybody? don't know these people, democrat or republican. they are just names. all,obably won't vote at which i believe is a very bad thing. i want to vote, i don't know who to vote for. my main source of news is c-span. i appreciate you guys. i have been listening to c-span for years, listening to regular

americans. who am i going to vote for? we don't know these people and we never know -- we never will know them. host: so you deftly don't plan to vote this november? 62.er: i only voted in i have voted to times in my whole life and i feel bad about that. i know i should be voting, i just never know who to vote for. host: are there ways you can find out about the candidates involved and the issues they represent and see if they represent your issues? caller: there probably is a way. i don't know the ways. i could get out of my house and go somewhere, but i don't even know if it is worth the effort. republicans talking bad about the democrats and democrats are downgrading and that means everybody is saying. deborah inis

savannah, georgia, talking about her action or lack of -- lack thereof in the election. we have been talking for the last couple hours about what is driving your vote. we have about 15 minutes left in the program. (202)-748-8000 for democrats. (202)-748-8001 for republicans. for independents, (202)-748-8002 . we have had members of congress joining us all morning. joining us now, delegate stacy flask it, democrat for the virgin islands, member of the oversight and government reform committee. guest: good morning. host: from what we have learned over the past couple of seasons when it comes to hurricane relief and disaster relief, what are your concerns heading into what might happen from hurricane florence? we are all praying and very hopeful that the people of the areas that will be affected by florence get out of the way and that there is some miraculous turn of this hurricane system as it is making

its way to landfall in the united states so that they do not have the type of devastation that occurred last year in my own home in the u.s. virgin islands. host: when it comes to what you might see in what we have talked about, as far as puerto rico is concerned, the president sending as of thiseven morning, doubting the reporting when it comes to 3000 americans dying. what do you think about that number and what the president thinks about it? guest: i think this is an estimate that has really had a lot of research behind it. they may not have been killed by wind on the day of the hurricane but due to the conditions after the hurricane and what the hurricane has wrought, they lost their life whether it was through dehydration, lack of access to medical services, etc. this is a number that far

exceeded what was in puerto rico prior to the storm. someone fires a gun off in a very crowded place and people stampede. you are responsible of somebody gets killed in that stampede and that is exactly what that 3000 represents with that hurricane. host: when it comes to the relief effort in puerto rico now that we have time and distance from it, how much of that lies at the federal government and what other factors took place? guest: i hear a lot about puerto rico and i have not heard the news discussing the people of the virgin islands and we were hit by two category five hurricanes. hurricane maria hit puerto rico after having 4 come through the virgin islands and we had several days before that, hurricane irma which also struck us as a category five. what i can say about the devastation in puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands is that andress did an amazing job

members of congress coming down, both myself, jennifer gonzalez, i was able to bring down over 120 members of the house and the senate, republicans and democrats and when the president take a request for relief came to congress, congress doubled it, having been on the ground and having seen what was needed. what congress also did a something that i have been trying to preach to my colleagues for a number of years , was that the neglect of congress in terms of support for our infrastructure, for our systems is what in fact as we can see after the hurricane caused the level of devastation to the virgin islands and puerto rico. when brock long talks about facing a crumbling utility system, when the president talks about a terrible infrastructure, much of that was caused by the fact that congress did not do which has constitutional responsibility for the

territories, to make sure that we have sufficient federal funding. scale ast on the same other places. we do not receive minute -- federal aid in the same way as other places. the department of the interior which supports a lot of our schools have been cut. in the u.s. virgin islands, we had power back up within several months. personally do not have power from september -- from september 6 until three days after christmas and that is around when most people got their power back up. i have to tell you, our schools are not intact. we were on double shifts because we lost so many schools in the virgin islands for an entire school year, children sharing space and only being in school for four days, four hours a day and now we find that while our government has been doing a tremendous effort to get kids back in school, many of them are

still not there and the ones that are there, children go to libraries where there are no shelves, there are no books. children do not have desks, teachers do not have equipment. that is not talking about the fact that congress allocated funding the federal government that islow walking supposed to be going to the territories for that infrastructure and a lot of the damage was done due to the benign neglect of this congress and congresses before it. host: as far as actual recovery, has the government done all that is going to do when it comes to recovery in the virgin islands? guest: the federal government has allocated the funding and now what i am doing is hold those agencies accounting -- accountable to releasing those funds. congress set up the community disaster loan program, a program put in place in areas that did not have access to a lot of capital to be able to do

operating costs, things that are needed after a disaster. money was set aside for puerto rico and the virgin islands by congress. we found that secretary -- secretary mnuchin and others were unwilling to lend that money to us anyway that congress requested. we've got republicans and democrats sending letters to the secretary of treasury letting him know that this is not the intent of congress. you are holding the territories to a standard that you have not held other individuals to. that is now going to be a fight to ensure that resources get on the ground so that we can get back up and we can rebuild. bygress did an amazing thing choosing the stafford act for the virgin islands and puerto rico to say that the funding is not supposed to be given to build as it was prior to the it build asther let it should be which is much more fiscally responsible because

then you are not necessarily going to have to rebuild again. you are creating stronger more resilient infrastructure so that when god for bid, another hurricane occurs or other natural disaster, we won't have the type of infrastructure that is not able to withstand those things. host: one of the criticisms out of puerto rico was the local government and municipalities about how they handled funding and the execution of relief. what would you say is the quality of the local government on the virgin islands to do the same? diligentlyre working to ensure that the money is distributed in the manner that government -- that congress did intend. i was adamant about putting legislation in place that had compliance on the front end, that requires the government of the virgin islands to be transparent about where that funding is supposed to go so that there are checks and balances, so that people on the virgin islands can see who is receiving the funding and the

timeframe in which things are supposed to be done and i can tell you virgin islanders are going to make sure it is done correctly because as i have been preaching, the federal funding we are receiving is not just for ourselves. this is our prime opportunity to take a disaster and create an opportunity. to build infrastructure that is not going to be there just for us but for our children, to create a framework for economic development. prior to the storm, we had not been able to have the capital funding to build a school in over 20 years in the virgin islands. cmsave been fighting with about changing our reimbursement for medicaid which necessitated our hospitals having to pay nurses and doctors rather than fixing a roof. hence the roof was blown off on both of our hospitals. we lost over nine public schools and the virgin islands. we are trying to ensure that does not happen again and that we can have a resurgence of america's paradise and the caribbean. host: that is stacy plaskett who

represents the virgin islands. she is on the oversight and government reform committee. thank you for your time. a couple more calls on your top issues driving your vote this november -- this november. independent line, thank you for waiting. issue, the congress, the amount of money they are for campaign-finance reform. they are collecting huge amounts of money from corporate lobbyists, they are selling their votes, there is massive corruption in congress. unitedhey revisit the decision, the supreme court needs to stop that. they need to pass a bill that they are only allowed $1000 from any one source. that would stop the corruption in congress. right now you have people coming in, buying the votes. a million-dollar donation from

the nra should -- from the nra or wealthy individuals. that is not a democracy, we are in an oligarchy. for these people who do not understand the meaning of socialism, they need to go and read a book. there is no socialism in the united states. host: let's go to don in sacramento, democrat line. caller: i have been listening to all of these black folks calling, talking about voting republican and i don't see how that can be possible to vote for a party of oppression that has been oppressing you all of these years. you have them talking about the media. how were they feeling about the media when years ago down south, when the dogs were attacking

them and they were spring water hoses on them? the media had never been there and then north would not have been able to hear about that. host: let's go to james in new jersey. good morning. ronald reagan, when ronald reagan became president, that is when things went downhill for the average american because he attacked the unions and that is where the average american pulls himself up, without a union you are going nowhere. i was a teamster and before i was i was not making any money. at least now i can make a decent living. as far as socialism, we don't have socialism. as far as november is concerned, is it just prounion candidates you are voting for? caller: i am voting democrat.

i look at the democratic side and i vote democrat 100% and i will never change until the day i die. i have been voting since jimmy carter. host: let's hear from wright. caller: what i want to say is they are talking about trump. he is taking all the money from the flood down there for homeland security and putting it in ice to put those little kids in camps. he put millions of dollars from the guards down there and putting it in ice to lock the kids up in camps. if you think you are going to get money for your houses, forget it. he is taking the money from you and giving it to ice. side, thehe senate senate judiciary business committee confirmation hearing on brett kavanaugh, you can go to c-span.org.

on the house side, work on a bill that if passed would make the tax cuts enacted last year permanent. that is just some of the activity taking place on capitol hill today. the house of representatives just about to come in for its daily work session. we thank you for watching today. we will see you tomorrow. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the .s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., september 13, 2018. i hereby appoint the honorable virginia foxx to act as speaker pro tempore on this day.