recent article on efforts to make college free. and later washington post reporter colby itkowitz discusses opioid abuse. host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal." president donald trump's former campaign manager paul manafort pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges friday and agreed to cooperate with special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian meddling into the 2016 election. manafort has now agreed to answer questions and cooperate fully with the government to forestall a second trial and avoid the possibility of a long prison sentence. the white house is pointing out that manafort's plea has nothing to do with the president.

to plea deal is positioned give robert mueller a look into the trump campaign, including the trump tower meeting in new york, where they met with russian representatives. we want to know what you think about the paul manafort plea. democrats, you can call in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, call it at (202) 748-8001. independents, call at (202) 748-8002. you always reach us on social media, on twitter, and on facebook. came as art plea surprise late last week. we have seen stories in all the major newspapers today. the wall street journal puts it like this, mr. manafort, who has long struck a defiant posture toward mr. mueller becomes the fifth associate to mr. trump to plead guilty in mr. miller's

eller's probe.mu none of mr. manafort scribe that he admitted friday or was convicted of in a separate trial last month relates to such coordination, but the cooperation agreement is far-reaching, requiring him to be fully briefed, provide relativement material, participate in undercover activities, and respond whenever mueired by mr. ller's office. for one thing, mr. manafort is the first person to cooperate attended aeller, who june 2016 meeting at trump tower. that included donald trump, jr.,

jared kushner, and several russians. mr. trump is denied any wrongdoing. he said the manafort case has nothing to do with him. i got hit with a artificial witchhunt, mr. trump said. we want to know what you think about the manafort plea. democrats call in at (202) 748-8000. republicans call in at (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. you can always reach us on social media, on twitter and on facebook. we also see the washington postal -- the washington coming in with this as well. guilty, mr. manafort told a federal court judge.

as part of his plea, he admitted two years of financial crimes to and his money from the irs promised to tell the government about his participation and knowledge of all criminal activity. we are going to get a report from a reporter who has been covering this. we are going to talk to kelly: from the washington examiner. let's go to kelly. kelly, good morning. can you hear me? guest: i can. host: what did paul manafort plea to yesterday? guest: he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the u.s., which is seems a little vague, and he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. he basically pleaded guilty to everything that he was accused

of by the special counsel. he had seven charges against him in washington. he was charged with 18 things in the eastern district of virginia and alexander. the jury deadlocked on 10 of them. even though the only pleaded guilty to two things, he basically admitted to doing all of the other things, and he said he was going to cooperate with mueller. it was a pretty crazy friday morning. host: what does this mean for the second trial? his second trial is now off, and now he is just talking to the prosecutor? guest: actually, jury duty, they finished the questionnaire. they were getting ready to start jury duty on monday. they were going to start the trial on the 24th. paul manafort's defense had tried to move the trial. they said there was no way to get a fair trial in d.c.

he still has not been sentenced in virginia, where he has been found guilty of bank and tax fraud. sentencingold off on while he cooperates with the special counsel. if you read the deal, there is a part about cooperation. there is a lot, he is going to sit for interviews, turnover documents, could even testify in grand jury hearings. they are going to put off sentencing if he cooperates. if they think it is good cooperation, they are even going .o knock down in washington, it carries a maximum of 10 years. they could cut off some of those years. for someone who has been through its manafort stuff since feels like 1950, it feels like it has been going on so long, 42 that, --for it to end like that, i never thought we

would get to this point. host: what brought about this change? was there something that happened between the prosecutors and his lawyers that brought this change? guest: one of the things about the special counsel with the whole team is they are pretty quiet. a lot of information we get from this information comes from the defendant. one of paul manafort's lawyers yesterday basically said he wanted it to end to make sure his family was going to be ok even though they deadlocked on 10 of the 18 in virginia. there was only one juror that held out to keep him off of all 18 counts. the lightnafort saw at the end of the tunnel in the sense that he was not going to get off in washington. he was going to go to jail for a long time in virginia.

next comes the question of if the president will pardon him. we saw that trump was upset with the michael cohen deal, the plea deal in new york. it is really a lot to be determined if the president is going to be mad at manafort prettiness. host: now that he is cooperating -- for doing this. host: now that he is cooperating with prosecutors, what does mueller want to know that manafort knows? lott: in the plea deal, a -- president trump and manafor'' s time with the trump campaign was never mentioned in yesterday's plea deal. there was a lot of push by manafort's defense that the charges brought by mueller are outside of the scope of the special counsel.

we do know that the special counsel is charged with anything that arose from this russia stuff. one thing that manafort knows is part of that trump tower meeting where the russian lawyer came where she said she had all this dirt on clinton. we are going to get his first-hand account. she worked with -- he worked with russian oligarchs and people linked with russian intelligence. this is the closest we will find to how close the trump campaign got to the russians. even though manafort's time with the campaign was not mentioned in the agreement, we know that he ran trump's campaign. this is getting pretty close to the president now. read, he can we ask anything he wants. host: does this plea agreement remove any power the white house has even with the pardon? would a pardon do him any good?

would he still have to cooperate? guest: he still has to cooperate. i feel a lot of things with this white house and the presidents attorney in this, rudy giuliani, a lot of things have moved. you see reports that the president wants to sit down with robert mueller, reports that he doesn't want to sit down. even though there is talk of pardon, that is fluid. i don't know if we can consider talking about until the president himself comes out and says yes or no. it leaves the possibility that there are some state crimes they could bring against manafort in virginia. i think the cooperation is going to happen. they said they will not sentence with manafort until cooperation .s done i think the pardon is something we cannot even think about until

the cooperation is done, which could take a very long time. host: what is the next step? what will we see next in court? guest: as we know, manafort has been in jail. the judge in the washington case revoked his bond because of witness tampering. they did not even talk about that. manafort is going to stay in jail until he gets sentenced, which will not happen until he is done cooperating. the next time we will see him in court is november 16, 60 days from friday. that is going to be a status report. we will find out if he is cooperating well, if he is not cooperating. maybe the government finds out some things about someone else between now and then. even though it seems anti-climactic compared to a trial, i'm sure paul manafort has a lot of things he knows, a lot of documents, a lot of

people. what happens with him cooperating between now and that status report in november is probably going to be a lot. host: just to wrap up, what is the next step really robert mueller investigation now that they have the plea agreement from paul manafort? guest: it has been 18 or 19 months. i think they are just going to keep going. it is one of the most efficient, tightlipped investigations. i am young. i have not been through a lot of those other high-profile investigations, but from talking to other reporters and reading articles, i think this mueller thing is not slowing down even though midterms are coming up. they are bound by justice department rules that they cannot announce anything for the purpose of politics. this is not slowing down. there is no sign that it is. he's too efficient and yielding

to many victories. he has gotten tons of guilty pleas and sending people away. host: we have been talking to kelly cohen of the washington examiner. thank you for giving us this morning briefing. guest: have a great weekend. host: you too. we're talking about the manafort plea deal on friday. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002 democrats. (202) 748-8000. we going to start out with donald calling from indiana on the independent line. good morning. good morning, donald. caller: my name is not donald. it is charles. host: good morning charles. what do you have for us? caller: i cannot understand why there seems to be so many crooks in washington, d.c.

what is going on in our country? people don't live the golden rule. it is obvious. for ourpitiful sight country. that is all i have to say. don on the go to republican line. caller: i was listening to this investigative reporter. she is saying the same thing you are here on cnn and msnbc about mueller getting closer to this russia thing. er has gotten five convictions, none of them for collusion, for russia anything. what she fails to mention is this mueller cooperation is way more likely to result in a prosecution of other lobbyists, including tony podesta, john podesta's brother, then anything to do with president trump.

you know, this conviction has nothing to do with russia. it has everything to do with ukrainian politics that happened 10 years ago. she doesn't even mention this. russia,le thing about as the president says, is nothing but a witchhunt. the president's name is thrown out again and again and again, but there is no connection between the president or any of this stuff that people are being prosecuted or convicted of. host: let's go to john, who is calling from new jersey on the republican line. good morning, john. caller: good morning. i look at manafort -- not manafort, mueller as a straight up guy. really do. i am amazed at how this

gone in then has direction of, obviously, paul manafort was an easy target. it just proves that they were not interested in what he did. in trying torested squeeze in on trump. even bob woodward in his book, it's amazing, said they saw no evidence of russia collusion. he said that last night i believe. this whole thing was obviously concocted. it started with poppet obelisk. -- george papadopoulos. it is a whole phony invasion that has gotten out of control. for political reasons, people hate trump. host: let's go to bill from virginia on the republican line. good morning. caller: how are you?

host: i'm doing fine. how are you? caller: really ok. i am worried about the president pardoning manafort possibly for the charge that he pleaded going $16about million in income tax. is he going to be pardoned from that debt? i am a taxpayer, and i don't want manafort to get off on a $16 million obligation to the government because he did not pay what the people in the ukraine paid him. he doesn't want to pay taxes on that. presidenth favor the usually in these types of things, but not on this one. i am a taxpayer, and i want my 16 million bucks back. host: let's go to barbara calling from virginia on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i am so absolutely happy with

bob mueller. i disagree with some of the other callers. doesl that president trump have something to do with this situation. this situation is related to the russia investigation and all of the people that was on his staff is involved. yes, he should prosecute everyone that is involved. i don't think that president trump should be allowed to escape this because another thing i disagree with the president, i don't appreciate this judge kavanaugh that he is supremeo get to the court because i think the republicans have been very unfair and have not followed traditional rules in terms of getting the democrats the information to investigation. there is more information coming out. as much as the information is coming out, the more republicans

want to rush judge kavanaugh on the bench. the american people need to be more concerned because you're grandchildren, different future of grandkids for at least 30 years. known't have no idea as to what type of cases justice kavanagh is going to do for proof of -- approve of. i don't know why republicans want to be complaining right now because they have both sides of the government, and if things was working fairly in our economy and everybody working together, we would not be having the issues and problems we do if everybody would be doing their job. host: let's go to robert, calling from illinois on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i just want to let

everybody know that this investigation is not over, and they are screaming about a witch hunt. i guess they don't remember benghazi. this is pathetic listening to republicans calling in. how much money did benghazi cost us? robert mueller has people rolling on trump. money is this caustic the united states taxpayer every time he gets on a plane and goes to one of his places? i guess nobody remembers how co heck president obama aught for being seen on a golf course. this idiot goals 40 times more. host: let's go to keith in new york city.

quickly. i am an independent. it is amazing to hear that democrats -- hello? host: go ahead. is amazing to hear dge democrats want to he their bets and not talk about impeachment. it is so spineless. usual, the republicans, the party of law and order, the party of god, the party of real americans can even if they have nothing to do with trump, they have been caught in crimes against their government. they are the most crooked, , theseul people republicans. it happens over and over again. how any christian can actually say they are a republican and

supporting this president, look what he just said about the 3000 americans that died in puerto rico, that because he was there, there were only 18. it is disgusting, both parties. host: let's go to johnny and on the republican line. caller: good morning. i am just -- i think this whole thing bewilders me because all my life i have only worked for rich people. i have never worked for a poor person. i really feel that this prosecutor is against rich people. i know a little bit about rich people's banking practices. i know one owner have bank accounts in all 50 states, and they also had accounts out of the united states. i know a lot of people that

would work out of the country so that they didn't have to pay taxes. changed a lot of regulations, you see, but i don't understand why this man should go to prison for life when everybody in congress does this. this is why they are so mad because president donald won't washington.yists in if this guy really hates rich people, he should go after the mormon church. host: let's go to mary from pennsylvania on the democratic line. caller: good morning. i think a lot of your listeners and viewers are misinformed. u.s., taxpayers in the have given ukraine billions of

dollars in military assistance. this is our tax money. milliongave ukraine 200 in 2018. there is no way in the world that we should be providing countriesid to other with $2 trillion in debt. this is ridiculous. manafort not giving back our tax money, everybody in congress should be questioned spenting why is -- being for military assistance in other countries. politico has an article that talks about the possibility of a part of and what impact it

would have on paul manafort. deal withthis, a plea special counsel robert mueller appears to be part of proof. that doesn't mean president donald trump not try to legally install manafort anyway -- of bsolve manafort anyway. stymie factors appear to the impact of a potential trump pardon. the first is manafort is already talking, and obvious rationale for a pardon would be to reward manafort for not talking. friday's plea agreement says manafort shall cooperate fully, truthfully, completely, and forthrightly with the government and other law enforcement agencies identified by the

government. we are talking about the manafort plea. if you want to join the conversation, democrats call (202) 748-8000. republicans (202) 748-8001. independents (202) 748-8002. you can read just on social media, on twitter and facebook. let's go to richard calling from ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: i am doing fine. caller: i just want to say i think mueller is doing a good job. look at his strategy. he is moving up the ladder to the big cheese. he is at manafort. trumphe fact that donald was caught in a lie. his son said it was about adopting kids.

that was a lie. even if you are a republican, how can you not look at the lies donald trump has been caught in? the fact that he is nervous, fired different people that he thinks is going to come against him, i think there is something to this russia. i think they should really -- before they jump to conclusions, let's just see what manafort has to say about that since he was in the meeting at the trump .owers about the russians let's just see. when people say donald trump has been caught in so many lies -- i give him some credit, he has done some good things. why would you want a leader with no intricate a -- integrity? host: let's go to james on the independent line. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my

call. host: go ahead. mueller is going -- because he has turned the white house. host: let's go to corey from oregon on the democratic line. caller: good morning. wow. my comment is trump does love people who are uneducated. it is clear that they are not going to give you all the details of an open investigation. he has pled guilty to crimes that he has committed. people need to pump their breaks a little bit and wait until the full report is out. that is all i have to say. host: let's go to michelle calling for maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i agree with the last caller. we have to wait until that report comes out because what has been in the news is.

-- is pure speculation. mueller has been tightlipped. he is a professional. when callers are saying it has nothing to do with the trump administration and trump is just misinformed, i don't know what they are watching. manafort was in business with and owed putin's right-hand man $30 million at the time he took the position to be trump's campaign manager for free. putin'sligned with goons and has been for years. the question is, why does this man, who was so in debt to putin, is willing to serve as trump campaign manager for free? promises?the

what did he have to deliver? there is a direct tie to this collusion, and he is the linchpin. host: let's go to linda, calling from madison heights on the republican line. caller: there is going to be a riotin this country -- because of all of this caused by the democrats. the democrats are not americans anymore. they are not for america. all they are trying to do is prove that everything obama did was correct. everything was correct. 2016 is wrong. we are sick of hearing about it. all the americans are sick of hearing about it. you know what, people on the democrats side, all of them are no longer considered americans. i am not the only one that feels that way. examiner washington

has a story showing that now members of congress are donating paul manafort's campaign donations to charity. here is a story from steven nelson. two members of congress who received donations from paul manafort have selected charities to receive the funds. representative andy harris, republican from maryland, and dana rohrabacher, republican from california are the only current members of congress to receive contributions from manafort, who pleaded guilty to witness tampering crimes friday after being convicted of bank fraud last month. received $500 during his first campaign for commerce in 2008, will give the funds to the pregnancy center north. the baltimore-based center says on its website that provides free life-affirming services for women and their families.

toots are received contributions from manafort totaling $2000. the funds were donated to the children's hospital for orange county children's foundation. received $1000 in march 2017. -- 2013. let's go to more than on the independent line -- morgan on the independent line. are you there? caller: i am. good morning. i believe paul manafort and all the other men who have been guilty, ior pled believe in the impeachment of president trump. i 80 years old. i remember the nixon scenario. i read all the books by bob woodward.

i am reading one now. i believe he will be impeached by the congress. host: let's go to james from baltimore on the democratic line. caller: thank you for taking my call. ,he gop, the term supporters hear no evil, see no evil. if they do a little research, history, forget about all this. financially, a lot of scandals. they keep trying to cover themselves. he is only doing this because he loves country so much. they don't realize how much this man is making from the tax cuts, also now tax cut version two. agoan hearings from days when the congressman analyzed everything, and all the benefits

to trump and his organization and his cronies. they don't know how many secretaries have been caught in scandals. he even said he would donate his salary. how much is the salary? drop.s chump change to -- trump. host: let's go to canada from enneth fromk florida. caller: good morning. i believe now that manafort has pleaded guilty, mueller will eventually get to everyone. at the end of the day, you see how quietly some of the people who received his donations are giving it quietly. downieve people to settle and wait and see what the results will be, and we will go

from there. that said that -- sad anyone else in that white house, all these people calling it a witchhunt, that witchhunt was created by the people the witchhunt is after if it is one. host: let's go to lori from north hollywood on the republican line. good morning. caller: how are you doing, sir? i am really, really pissed off. i cannot even speak straight. why can't everybody leave this white house alone and let president trump do his job? we picked him because he was different, because he was not like a regular republican president. leave him alone. let him do his job. him.rats are after the cricket mainstream media is

crookedim -- mainstream media is after him. manafort, he did not do anything wrong. leave him alone. let him do his job. alonejust leave him already. host: well they manafort trial is going on, there is other news in washington as well. the senate is planning to take a vote on brett kavanaugh, the president's supreme court nominee before the supreme court goes back into session in october. senator patrick leahy from the thisiary committee is on week's newsmakers. here is his response when he was senator feinstein bringing up allegations against brett kavanaugh this late

in the proceedings. >> it would be inappropriate if she did not ask someone to look into it. >> she has had it since july. >> i will let her speak to that. she is usually very careful and with excellent integrity. i think about what would happen if there was some kind of aftertion and confirmation, someone said, we have to ask about this. this is the problem that happens when you rush something. you can watch the full interview with senator practically on this week's -- patrick leahy on this week's newsmakers. we're talking about the paul manafort guilty plea. let's go to jeremiah on the independent line. caller: yes, the mueller

investigation. the republicans have turned a blind eye. the full report has not come out. we don't know what mueller has told the investigating committee. what he is going to say. me, theylicans, to have just turned a blind eye. if anybody else had been in that white house under that controversy that this so-called president is under, they would be calling for blood. they want to support this idiot in anything he does, which makes them a bunch of racists and idiots. host: let's go to jerry calling from new jersey on the democrat line. caller: good morning, everybody. i agree with one of the callers that said we should absolutely

wait until the mueller investigation is complete. there is more information to come out. it is not going to be about trump. it is going to be about the podesta's. it is going to be about the democrats. i am a registered democrat. i voted for obama. i voted for trump. i am so disappointed in the democrats. i would not vote democrat again. it is an absolute joke. when i want to know from c-span is why you are not continually putting out the emails that are between struck and page -- page coming from the obama administration confirming to get trump. host: let's go to lisa on the democrat line. caller: good morning.

please don't coming off. callers,e been several and they sound white to me, white women and men, who have said things like democrats are not american, just like they say puerto ricans are not american. we are american. my family, my people build this land before your people got here in the 1900s. when you say things like we are not americans because we are democrats, and we don't believe in a person like donald trump, i grew up in new york city. i know donald trump. i know the works of a racist. that is exactly what he is. mueller do to let his job before they call it sounding like rabid dogs barking and everybody because they don't agree with them. democrats are americans. i vote. ed.: let's go to good morning. caller: good morning.

i see all the nasty democrats are up early this morning ready to get somebody's neck. i want to make a comment. i guess we are overlooking the fact that this all started on the democratic side with hillary and their purchase of these fake dossiers from the russians, selling our uranium to the russians. is working on both ends instead of just attacking republicans. host: let's go to michael hong from san francisco on the republican line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm good time. host:what do you have for us? caller: i don't think what paul manafort is going to timely is good to make a difference. paul manafort has been charged with multiple crimes. he is a criminal. he doesn't have the credibility to bring down the president. it is funny when people use

these big words like peach the present. in order to -- impeach the president. in order to impeach the president, you need a slamdunk case. you can just have a web. you need to throw down aces and show that the president of the united states is guilty of direct collusion. if they have that, they would have brought that a long time ago. if they can prove whatever, they need to do that. at the end of the day, the democrats are not going to get what they are hoping for. host: coming up, we are going to take a closer look at the coordination behind the response to hurricane florence with michael greenberger, who leads the center for health and homeland security at the university of maryland. later, we will focus on the free college movement. the atlantic's adam harris will join us to talk about that. we will be right back.

♪ >> tuesday morning, we are live in springfield, like, for the 41st stop on the c-span bus 50 capitals tour. tim butler will be our guest on "washington journal," starting at 9:40 a.m. 100thg up to the anniversary of the end of world war i. july, general pershing crated the first united states army under his command. american forces were

concentrated on one point at the line. >> sunday on american artifacts, we are in northeastern france, visiting villages, monuments, and the american cemetery related to the battle of some yelp. >> the weather was horrible. it was rainy. it was chilly. the americans watched this attack headed north. the germans who had occupied this whole area had begun a withdrawal, and they were starting to move their troops. they did not move them quick cannot. by the end of the day of the 12, onlymericans reached not the main objectives for that day but many of the objectives for the following day. by midmorning of september 13, the whole area had been liberated. >> watch american artifacts

sunday on american history tv on c-span3. q&a, historian richard smith discusses his by murphy of herbert hoover. done, aall is said and compliment is all that matters. that is a rather unsentimental -- accomplishment is all that matters. that is a rather unsentimental thing to say. understanding his life and success in everything but the presidency. >> sunday night on c-span's q&a. >> "washington journal" continues. host: michael greenberger, director for the center for health and homeland security at the university of maryland. what do you think about the response to hurricane florence so far?

guest: so far, i think everything is on track. in terms of responding to an emergency, we are in the very early stages. as the hurricane or tropical storm leaves more water in its wake, we are going to see a need for coordination between the locals, the state, and the federal government. especially after the hurricane passes by in terms of restoration, putting things back the way they were, that is going to require a lot of work. right now, things seem to be going to plan. host: the first responders are usually the first ones out when the hurricanes come through. what do we see right now? what can people expect to see if you are still in that impacted zone? guest: hopefully, you are not in the impacted zone. both north carolina and south carolina have made every effort to evacuate people in the wake

of the storm. yesterday, a lot of time was spent rescuing people who did not evacuate. that rescue operation, i think, when very well. when you're talking about first responders, you're talking about local government, county government quarterbacked by the state. the federal government will intervene as it needs to, but in this instance, you are talking about local responders. i think they have done well. the problem in these cases theys is that even though evacuation is called mandatory, there is no way to enforce it. a lot of people think they can ride it out. and up standing on top of their groups in need of being rescued. host: what role do towns, counties, and cities play in that first response? are they the only ones out there? guest: no.

they are backed up. response happens in the u.s. is first response comes from the most local government and works its way up. in the states, we see the governor's in north carolina and south carolina on television, doing pressers. they have their own emergency management agencies that are overseen the response, but you are looking at local first cked by theperhaps ba state. he may have the governor call out the national guard if things get really bad. it is only if things get really overwhelming that the federal government has to assert a primary role. host: we are talking about the impact during the rescue of hurricane florence. if you want to talk about the response to hurricane florence, we want you to call in.

if you are in the eastern or central time zone, call (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, call (202) 748-8001. if you are being impacted by hurricane force for now, call in at (202) 748-8002. ema administrator brock long has called for more response. guest: it is interesting that he wants to take on more responsibility. the way the response system works is you go to the local level, rise up to the states, and then you get the federal government. what he may be talking about is money and putting people back where they were before the storm happened. that is a mostly, overwhelmingly federal dollars will be used for that. in the american federalism system, the health and welfare

of citizens is in the first instance in the hands of the state, and in emergency response for hurricanes, it starts in the local governments, local fire department, local police, supplemented by the state. the most frequent supplement is the calling and of the national guard. only when the situation gets to a state where the state government is overwhelmed, and we saw that in katrina, where louisiana was overwhelmed, then the federal government is going to be looked to in a more precise response, including the national guard may be federalized by the present so they are directly under the -- president so they are directly under the supervision of federal authorities. of course, you have a national hurricane center and other national assets that are necessary to respond. n boatsu see people in

wrestling people -- rescuing people, that is mostly a state and local response. mean they'reat national guard is already activated? is that an extra step the governor has to take? guest: guest: that is an extra step. --n the state the clears declares the state of emergency, he gives the governor extraordinary powers. lawach state, it is a state that controls it, but it gives the governor much more authority than the governor has in normal times. when you declare an emergency, if the federal government reciprocates, which has

happened, that means federal dollars can be put in place to help people recover and also to pay the states for all the efforts they are making. it gives them a federal support system in terms of dollars. host: you said earlier that it is not feasible to make people evacuate. under the state of emergency, why don't governor's force people to leave these flood prone areas so they don't have to be a rescued? guest: that is an excellent question. you will hear this term thrown around that there is a mandatory evacuation. how do you enforce that? inyou sent police all over boats and cars? you tell people there needs to be an evacuation, how important the evacuation is, and you get a good response from that.

to the extent there is not a yesterdaywe see like in these small coastal cities, people that they would ride it out, and the next thing they are calling in for help. that is a small population. it is a difficult population to deal with. emt's do not want to be picking up people from rooftops. there will come a time when the governor will say you are on your own. it is dangerous for us to send emergency responders in. we cannot risk of their lives to save your life. as each of these serious hurricanes develop over the years, you are seeing a much better response to the evacuation mandate. host: let's go to mark calling from new york. what is your question? caller: my question is is there going to be a police presence available to stop looters from

entering houses that are vacant? guest: yes, definitely. already in the local areas, they are supplemented by state police protecting property and avoiding the looting situation. if the hurricane gets out of control, in other words, it is so serious that local and state resources are unable to meet the challenge, those state and local resources can be supplemented by federalizing the national guard. in hurricane katrina, they were very late to do that. they should have done it a couple of days earlier. they ultimately did it. worse than living, people were looting, people were badly abused by shelters set up by new orleans. in katrina, the worry was the federal government did not want

to overwhelm the states. the lesson learned from that is that when things get out of hand and state resources have expired, the federal government needs to intervene. the most successful intervention is to federalize the state and national guard, make them under the president's control, the u.s. military's control. when that happens, it is serious, but it is an excellent way to prevent looting and criminal acts. host: let's go to louis calling from south dakota. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: still pretty early out here. i was going to make some comments. you switched gears on it. i was frantic it through on the other subject. as far as disaster relief, you know, people always have to be told what to do in this country. if they cannot use their own , if it was that

way back in the depression when 1930, up -- i was born in 88 years old. back in those days, our parents did not have to be told what to do. you just used judgment. everybody has to be told what to do, and everybody is looking for a handout. i think it is about time the american people pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and start taking care of themselves and not looking for the federal government to do everything for them. guest: all i can say about that is as we see each year pass, these hurricanes are more devastating in the north carolina, south carolina region they expect 18 trillion gallons of water to be dropped through the rain process. that would fill the chesapeake bay.

these are almost war zones. the response to this needs to be very precise. we see in north carolina, which localt first, is that responders are very well-trained. they can be of help. when it gets out of hand, the state can supplement, and the federal government can supplement. people are told they must evacuate. over 90% of the people do evacuate. they are told you are in harms way, but they don't. the question is, if you can get to those people, are you just own even let them dr though you can get to them? it is very troubling. you see in north and south carolina, the local and state government is discouraged that some people think they can ride it out.

if they can be rescued, they are going to be rescued. that is the feeling of not only the responders but the populace in general. as we have more experience with these, more people understand that when you are told to evacuate, you must evacuate. over 90% of the people evacuate. some think they can ride it out. some of those people need to be rescued. some of those will be in a situation where even the rescuers cannot get to them. host: what is the threshold we look for four federal involvement? does the federal government say now is the time to step in? guest: the federal government is the backstop financially. there is an enormous mount of money. when you see all of these emt guys and gals go out and you see the police and the effort being made, the states do not have the finances to pay for that.

is declared bycy the state and reciprocated by the federal government, there is federal support. when does the federal government have to make a first rate presence? when all hell breaks loose. we saw that in hurricane katrina. people went to shelters in the football stadium, the convention center. there was no supervision. there were rapes. there was pistol use. thinkg back on katrina, i former president bush would tell you we should have gotten there sooner. how do they get there sooner? the national guard and using the national guard to maintain order so people are not taken advantage of. it is not just a matter of money, it is a matter of

physical crime that may need to be stopped. host: a lot has been made of the response to hurricane marriott. compare thosekatrina and hurricd federal responses. guest: well, what we're seeing now is hurricane maria is of a similar nature to the hurricane katrina response. i think when maria has fallen down, in katrina, everyone who looks back at it says the federal national guard should have been there with a very big presence. they came into late. maria was a need to -- was not a need to restore order, maria was a problem of -- what do you do when the hurricane has left? what do you do so people can live their normal life? for example, there was no electricity for many months for most of puerto rico, and many people believe that the federal

government did not do enough to help puerto rico restore electricity. we have also seen maria huge supplies of bottled water, which are in puerto rico but were supposed to get to puerto rico citizens and are now just sitting on pallets all over the state. that is the function the state has with the help of the federal government, get supplies out. it may be more than water. it may be medications to the citizens. yes, that is a responsibility of the federal government. in maria, it was after the hurricane passed. in katrina, they needed federal help in the midst of the hurricane terry host: -- the hurricane. host: yesterday on "washington journal," jenna lieutenant joined us. here is what he had to say. [video clip] guest: i heard people say the port was closed.

we for opening units. airfields were closed. we have units in the united states military, airfield opening units, that is what they do. and in the case of what we maria, i flew down a the army, and i met general that was then sent there, so the response was slow. when people tell you it is an island, everything in the united states military is designed to be expeditionary. because all of the wars we prepare for our father overseas. is mobile andhave can fit in the back of a ship or a cargo plane. we did not use those assets. host: do you agree with what he

said? guest: i agree, but he is talking about the response -- getting supplies communication, electricity. we are not yet in a response in north carolina. we are too close to the beginning of it. in katrina, as the hurricane was developing, we didn't need a federal presence. right now, it seems like we can get by without federalizing the national guard, but when it comes to helping people in the wake of a hurricane to do not have electricity, food, thatricity, are stranded, is when the federal government can play a leading role, and in maria, the shortcoming was not doing that responding that is post-hurricane needs of the population. host: let's go to gary calling from fortune park, new york. what is your question? caller: my question is this -- first, it is understandable why people want to live music

coastlines, near the water and so forth. however, i understand that insurance policies that people buy to protect the property from surges, floods, and so forth is extremely expensive. my question, mr. greenberger, is a portion of the extremely high portions subsidized by a government unit? guest: the short answer is yes. the longer answer is while there is insurance, it does not cover as much as really is needed to be covered, and also a condition of that insurance may be that you do not build on floodplains. one of the real serious problems we have, and this will become more evident, for these hurricanes are going to be a way of life. we're going to have more and more, and come every year, they will become worse and worse.

the building codes to not build the building to close to coastal waters. something needs to be done about that. too much building is being done in coastal areas nearby, beaches, etc. people are too close, they are too much in danger. laws preventing that kind of building are not what they should be. on,n, as every year goes this is going to be a way of life. the storms are going to be worse and worse. it is going to become abundantly clear you have got to be careful where you build your residence. host: let's go to justin calling from california. go ahead. caller: hi. good morning. i wondered mr. greenberger can talk about the history of fema. in new orleans thought it was a major disaster, and that is when federal aid was created, and it has grown over time.

if you can touch on the history of. also, i remember reading after new orleans that fema as a a list of major disasters in united states. new orleans was on the list. i believe the levee system in california is also on the list. is that accurate? is there such a list? could you discuss that? guest: first of all, when you talk about the history of fema, fema up through the first term 1992 wasent clinton in sort of a backwater agency. it did not have the resources or the training or the capability of doing major responding work, including properly backing up the state in their efforts. president clinton, who went through the governor, the problem of hurricane andrew had a first-rate state emergency management, had james lee witt.

he brought james lee witt up to washington to head fema, and for clinton's term, the eight years, fema became what it can be, which is a first-class, world-class responding agency. you will remember when president bush came in, he brought people in who really do not have experience. the famous michael brown that he referred to as "brownie," "you are doing a heck of a job, brownie." job wass principle judging horses. in the presidents preceding, president bush, president obama, and i think that will be will bringrump, they in first-class responders who

can train others in how to respond. you cannot have a horse judge be the head of fema. what we are also seeing right now is president trump's head of fema has been challenged for his use of resources, use of cars and other things to be brought before the inspector general. my own observation up to this point is that in terms of responding and being responsive to the hurricane, we see now he is doing a fine job. -- the history of fema is what is the leadership of fema like? are they trained? do they know what they are doing? can they lead this? candidate quarterback the country through these terrible disasters? and george w. bush did not put a premium on that, and fema, as we saw from hurricane katrina, was not up to the task. host: we know fema response to hurricanes. one other disasters is fema

prepared to respond to? guest: besides hurricanes, there are all kinds of national disasters. we have cyclones in the pacific and the atlantic ocean. in the pacific, they have already got damaged. they are bearing down wildfires, all sorts of natural emergencies that people experience that are significant. take the california wildfires, which were historic in their proportions. fema will have a back cycle for the. it becomes trickier when the emergency is not a weather-related emergency, when you have something like the ebola experience we had back in 2014. fema has a role there, but so does health and human services. you have got the emergency measure, the secretary of health. it is hard to coordinate between those two, but we are getting better at it. host: let's go to george calling

from california. george, good morning. caller: good morning. it is always a pleasure to be watching the "washington journal ." my question is -- when we have situations like this where people have had plenty of advance warning, there is no doubt the storm is going to be harangued us, and they refused why can't they be billed for the cost of their rescue? i will take my answer off the air. guest: well, i am sure the states are looking at a problem, but many people do not evacuate because they cannot afford to evacuate, so you are beating a dead horse in trying to find money from them. but there are regimes that are put in place that are putting heavier pressure on people who refused to leave. it should be emphasized this is a minority of the population, but that minority is too big. it needs to be shrunk.

many people dr. bruce yesterday in north -- many people who got picked off their roofs yesterday in north carolina should have evacuated. as we go on, states and localities will look at incentives or disincentives for not looking at an evacuation order. but i will say again not everybody has the resources to evacuate. host: let's go to david calling from new york. david, good morning. . caller: good morning. just a quick comment. arebremer said the storms going to get worse and worse and worse. i am sort of objecting to that kind of generalization, because there's not seem to be any evidence. i just went on to wikipedia and look at something called accumulated cyclone energy, which basically looks at the number of the generated energy 1850's,rm since the and if you break it down to 70-year periods, there is

virtually no difference, statistically no difference at all. op-ed inesting a "usa today" top hurricane that wiped out part of the original establishment in massachusetts, and five years later, there was another category 3 for category 4 storm that came in, and we have not had any storms since then. so the notion that storms seem to be getting worse seems to be unfounded. guest: i'm not know what wikipedia tells you, but if you look at hurricane katrina through 2005, through the years, the damage is more substantial. the amount of money needed to do the recovery is more substantial. just look at one indicator -- canceling college football games. when i was growing up, college

football games never got canceled. all of the football games in south carolina and north carolina are canceled. these storms are, if you look at the data, getting worse and worse. and we're talking about florence , but if you look at the weather, the national hurricane center, there are four other hurricanes bearing down on the east coast and the cyclones. this is outside the experience. i will tell you another little story in my own personal knowledge. we have a city near baltimore called ellicott city. is right on the river. , they had a one in 500 year storm. wasnormous amount of money put to put ellicott city where it iwas. storm knockedorse ellicott city out. all of the restoration that was done is not in a good. at the shoreline, the water is rising.

in new york, for super sam sandy -- superstorm sandy, from 34th street to the gallery, electricity was out in there was flooding. this is of exceptional nature, and to deny that and not to take that in account in regard to policy, our environmental policy, is falling. host: jaden miles since a tweet and wants to know -- how much did fema spent last year? guest: i do not have the precise numbers. [inaudible] ok.: let's go to michael in new jersey. go ahead. caller: i am glad i'm following the gentleman just a few callers before me has a different point of view, and it is frustrating to both of us who believe and not believe the situation about climate change and about the scenarios.

i think a different view than that gentlemen, because i think most of the leading scientists in the world have agreed that this situation is happening. that is not really the reason why i called. i am in construction. i've built shopping malls around the country. there was a major hurricane in miami-dade county i think about 15 minute years ago that it terrible damage to homestead. there was a special engineer to make sure there is a certain limit damage, a special inspection on awnings, sign blades, everything has to be updated continuously for building codes. in new jersey, when we had sandy, anybody that rebuilt have to take and raise their house i would say seven or eight feet. i do not know exactly what the consequences were, because i cannot live on the beach. whouestion was, in general,

controls the process of the money going back into the community of? are we just setting ourselves back up for another disaster? irrespective of if it is a frequent orrm more not more frequent, who is responsible for the process? ofst: first of all, the idea 500-year storm, we're being told int florence was a one 1000-year storm. we will see something similar, maybe not north carolina and south carolina, but somewhere on the east coast, we will hear soon there is a 1000-year storm. these storms are humongous. in terms of building standards, that is a local responsibility. the states back that up in trying to be responsive, as does the federal government, but this is a political situation. the real estate developers want build, anduild,

they have a lot of influence in these states. they want to get you close to the ocean. they want to get you beachfront. and that is great 90% of the time except in the 10% that you lose your house, or in many of the situations that we saw yesterday, your house gets flooded out to the roof, and people get stranded on to the get because they do not evacuated. the proof is in the pudding. these storms will get worse and believe. as we get worse and worse, the demand for building construction and where you've built and the quality of what you bill is going to become more precise, and real estate interests, i think, will be overwhelmed. host: what is the stafford act, and how is it affects disaster recovery? is a: the stafford act statute that in its most fundamental terms allows the federal government, the president, to declare an emergency. when the president declares an

emergency, that is a signal to state and locals that you are not on this on your own financially. done, even forb is what was done yesterday in north carolina, sending people out, taking people off of rooftops, sending people to shelters, taking care of pets -- that is expensive. the stafford act allows or makes the federal government, if it declares emergency, to pay a large proportion of the state's expenses. it is not 100%, but it is substantial. so when the governor declared an emergency, one, that gives the governor much more power to respond to the emergency, with the second thing, it is the first step in triggering the stafford act, and the response the governors are looking for is having the president declared a federal emergency, which then allows the

federal government to pay the expenses of the states and localities in these responses. host: let's go to ed in virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. have a coupler, i of questions. i will not deny that these storms are getting worse. that storm was 400 miles wudide. that is a massive storm. costs keepthis costese going up and up is because we keep rebuilding in the same spots. more people are moving to the coast, as you said, developers are trying to get more people there. we are moving to the storm, moving to where the storms will do the more damage instead of moving away.

that is why the cost is going up. my other question, using the people that don't evacuate cannot afford to evacuate, but yet you just answer the question about how there is so much money available. and why, if the people will not is accurate because they cannot afford it, why isn't there a voucher waiting for them where they can stay in a shelter, stay in a hotel. if the shelters are being set up, what do they need money for? that is such a lame answer, that they cannot afford to go, but yet we will let them sit there, and then we will risk life and limb to get them out of there. we see people carrying dogs through the water. they would not be because of their dogs. there are so many excuses that you are making about this. guest: i am not making excuses. first of all, it is important to say that in these situations, i

was suspect in north carolina and south carolina, 90% and even higher of the people evacuated. but that still leaves behind several hundred people. i think the goodheartedness of responders in the states is we're not going to punish those people. we are going to try to rescue them if we can. in terms of the affording of it, that is something people are focusing on more. if you do not have a car, and you are in an isolated situation, it is going to be hard for you to get from a to b, to get from your home to a shelter, and we have got to focus on that. we have got to be better. let me say we have become better and better as these responding situations have repeated themselves and happened every year. but that is something that needs to be improved upon, getting people out who don't. a lot of people do not go out, if people have lived there for

decades, nothing ever happened to them, and they did can't believe anyt will happen to them now, and then the flooding starts, the first floor gets flooding, the second floor gets flooded, and then they are on the roof. people learn from experience when they're told to evacuate, they will evacuate in terms of the expenses, the expenses of getting these people evacuated and other expenses are nothing compared to the expense -- once you get to a shelter, it is not a restaurant, it is not a hotel. food needs to be provided, bedding needs to be provided, medical care needs to be provided. that is expensive. if we are telling people to go to a shelter, get out of harm's way, we have got to receive them in a way that they are taken care of. if you cannot feed somebody and they are in a shelter for a day or two without food, that is not going to work too well.

this is almost like responding to a war. there are so many different parts of it that need to be managed, and we spend too little attention and too little inevitabilitynevitably that too many people are going to need help, no matter what their financial bearing. you can only bring with you what you have on your back. you cannot bring a supply of food with you. you cannot always bring bedding. you can always bring medication that is needed to respond to the injuries that have happened in response to storms. progress, a work in but it is not so simple to say oh, when we put you in a shelter, take care of yourself. i mean, put yourself in that situation if you have to be evacuated with only what you can carry. what are you going to do for the next week, 10 days, two weeks to

eat, get medical care, to sleep, etc.? host: going on with the theme of that caller, it has been noted that americans have been notoriously unprepared for these hurricanes. here is a quote from a "usa today" story. stop up on do not batteries, candles, and water. a familyprepare emergency plan or by a ."ndcranked radio should we as americans take more responsibility for ourselves when it comes to these hurricanes and time to get out. ? host: i think the answers that is yes. you will see public having a readyf path to, batteries, crank radios, some degree of food,

some degree of water. not only if you are stuck somewhere, you need to survive. people are getting attuned to do that. much more work needs to be done. i think that can be done by example. what happened to people who were not prepared for florence? there are, as i said, three or four other hurricanes out in the atlantic ocean. we need to put more attention on that. it is a matter of human nature that people do not get themselves ready, but i can tell you the bigger problem is not that they do not have some supplies. the bigger problem is getting them from their home to a shelter where they are safe. host: let's go to eric who is calling from erie, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to ask a two-part right off of heads

the last two key aspects, whose responsibility is it to prep? and the costs associated, particularly costs that are coming out of the federal taxpayers' pocket through things like the stanford ac -- the stafford act. the united states governmental officials of every stripe and level very often heard to give the bootstrap speech for poor black and brown folks who are in bad neighborhoods with bad schools, etc., and no jobs, and they are told to build themselves up and get out of those situations. thehat point does it become responsibility of the people living in these repeat disaster zones, like around the mississippi, the southeast coast, on the atlantic, tornado alley places, all pretty much red areas of the united states map.

at what point do those people have to decide to not rebuild in that exact same place after disaster number 2, 3, or four, when the rest of us are ponying up the bill further rebuild? whether or not to rebuild is really the responsibility of state and local government and are building code -- and their building codes. -- dayday cannot win today, when the sun is out, developers want to build there. people want to buy houses there. you are right in this sense -- we should strengthen our building codes someone only we are they should be built but how they should be built. it is a real problem. this is not a red state problem or a blue state problem. look at hurricane sandy. the lower half of manhattan was flooded.

people had to be taken out of hospitals and put elsewhere. those people are by and large on the income scale, they are not impoverished. and when the bill came due for what the federal government did for new jersey and new york, the southern states set oh, we're not going to pay for that, in the next thing you know, we have hurricanes in texas and the southern states, and then they want the money coming from the federal government. this is everybody's problem. nobody is safe. it is north carolina and south carolina today. in 2012, it was new jersey and new york. last year, it was texas and southern states and puerto rico. if you are sitting there thinking "oh, i will never experience in emergency. i will never need to be removed from my house," you're kidding yourself. look at the well fires california or the tornadoes in

the midwest. everybody needs this help. we have to view it not as what happened this year in who have helped but the fact that all of us, especially as the storm some of the hurricanes, the cyclones, the wildfires, are becoming worse and worse. exposed, and we must at the nation in our states and localities ensure that we put in a financing a file for forection -- aside protection treat it is not for somebody else, it is for you. let's go to our next call in capital heights, maryland. caller: good morning. your guest seems very informed, and he almost states as a matter fact that the weather is going to get worse, so i would like to ask a question, and i hope i am not cut off. what role does whether modification technology play in this weather getting worse as

well as geo-engineering technology? the wholehat, but nation is in a multi-trillion dollar deficit, where does the federal government get so much currency to make it available, and you see the states do not have the money to do the same, if we are in a multi-trillion dollar deficit, where is the federal government getting from? guest: in terms of the technology for combating climate change, that is not my expertise, and i really cannot help you on that. i, for many years, did not want to get into the issue of climate change my talked about these hurricanes, but i think the escalating danger of these hurricanes in the weather north carolina, south carolina, or the world record fires, forest fires in california, it is getting worse.

i feel i have to say something, even though i cannot tell you about the technology that needs to be used, and i forgot the second part of the question. host: with a multitrillion dollar deficit, where is the money coming from? guest:. question.t is a good 1.3 trillion dollars added to the deficit giving wealthy americans a tax rate president trump was complaining about the deficit as it was. nowadays $1 trillion to $2 trillion worse. people are not worried about that, and i cannot give you an answer. there is a limit to the amount of money we can stand before because economic habit in this country. that was the mantra of the republican party for years and years and years, and i have got to tell you right now, we do not have enough people worrying

about it. the president would say -- why can't we just print money? we cannot just print money. all i can tell you as an expert in this area is the money that will be needed to protect you and me from disasters that are inevitably coming down the road needs to be there, and we as citizens have to assure that it is there and exercise our votes and our advocacy to make sure that happens. host: thank you to michael greenberger, director of the university of maryland center for health and home was in pretty -- health and homeland security. we appreciate it. guest: thank you. host: next we go to open phones. you can call in and talk about anything you would like to. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will be right back. ♪

thursday morning, watch the senate judiciary committee's debate and vote on the nomination of judge brett kavanaugh to the supreme court. >> if this man is successfully nominated, he could become the deciding vote on major legal issues that americans care deeply about. fromnow moved to report the committee of the nomination of brett kavanaugh to be the associate justice of the supreme court. >> watch thursday morning starting at 9:30 eastern on c-span and c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> what does it mean to the american? that is this year's studentcam competition question. we are asking middle and high school students to answer advice producing a short -- answer it by producing a short film

explaining how it defines the american experience. we are all working hundred thousand dollars in total cash prizes, including a grand prize of $5,000. this year's deadline is january 20, 2019. for more information, go to our website, studentcam.org. c-span, where history unfold daily. c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies, and today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in washington, d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> "washington journal" continues. again, we are going

back to open phones where you can call in and talk about any public a lessee or anything you have heard on today's show. remember, democrats can call in at (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8003. and was again, we are always available on social media, on twitter @cspanwj, and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. let's go to pat calling from maryland on the republican line. thank you for taking my call. demand mr. greenberger just said ellicott city was affected by climate change. i know that city wealthier they had taken forests away from and ithe castle river, is a funnel to that little town, city, and it is just the way it

was developed. it is not really climate change. i agree with climate change, but that is just development. in the past two years, it caught a thousand year storm, but in the last couple of years, the county went reserve on development. -- berserk on development. they are tearing down woods and forests and putting developments everywhere. go to jim calling from spartanburg, south carolina. are you safe from the storm? i think we might have lost jim there. remember, we are doing open aones and are talking about lot of topics, some of which we talked about earlier on the show today, or if you have something else you want to talk about, give us a call. there are several other topics going on in washington. we touched on one earlier in the

show, which is the allegations against supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. we heard a little bit from patrick leahy, who will be on "newsmakers" talking about this later on. here is a little bit about what the "washington post" road about the allegations against brett kavanaugh earlier. "senate republicans are pressing forward with federal judge brett kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court after he categorically denied a sexual misconduct allegation that has boiled the final days of an already rancorous confirmation fight. kavanaugh on from friday with his first response to news reports about a possible

of sexual misconduct that surfaced this week. a letter received by senator the topeinstein, democrat on the judiciary committee, details an accusation from a woman who said that she was at a party with kavanaugh when they were both in high school, according to a person familiar with the matter." host: once again, we are taking your calls. let's go to sydney who is calling from alexandria, louise yana on the independent line. caller: i would like to speak with all of the families of the veterans and the veterans -- i am a veteran. the privatization of the hospitals is not working. we cannot get appointments. we have got to drive by the pa

v.a. and drive 120 miles to get to the appointment. we don't get in, and if we want them, we have to wait 2, 3, 4 months to get an appointment during this is a myth. v.a. is being destroyed so somebody can make a profit, and it is not getting better, in fact, it is any worse. i hope you guys can look into it and have a program on it, because this is terrible. host: what branch did you serve in? are you saying you are not getting good service from the v.a. hospitals? have you seen a decline? caller: the hospital is declining because they are privatizing it.

we no longer have an emergency room there. we no longer have surgeons there. i went in one month and had a surgery. the following month, i went right back, and they had to re-operate on me, and they had andut me in the ambulance take me from central louisiana if irthern louisiana, and want a dermatologist, we no longer have a dermatologist. i have got to drive to lafayette, louisiana to get an appointment, and i cannot get it just any day i want it. i have got to wait 2, 3, 4 months. so the privatization of the v.a. and theyying the v.a., know it, and that is their whole idea, to get rid of the v.a. so somebody can make a profit. host: let's go to emily calling from san francisco, california

on the republican line. emily, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for being there this morning. i would like to say that i think there is too much violence going on from the democrats. the attempted murder twice during this administration, first of the republicans playing baseball, the attempted assassination, and then recently the attempted fellow with a knife, and thank god the congressman was able to protect himself, i ask that people be rational and stop this, because you cannot have a government where there is violence because they lost an election. that is absurd. another thing, i love peace, and i would love nato to think about the possibility, that some of them cannot afford to pay. if they can gather together with

s and walknding nation rate with each other, so maybe it could be two nations or three, that immediately if they are attacked or any problem, they can answer at the beginning, and then the other nations can have time to join in and help the other nato nations, but there should be more cohesiveness. third, i just want to say republicans, get out and vote, and president trump has added $10 trillion to the economy. president we have had. you may not like his personality, but he is terrific, and god is with him. thank you, sir. int: let's go to ruth michigan on the democratic line. good morning. caller: this has to do with the

united states supreme court nomination. i have never -- i am 77 years old, and i am a veteran. i have never seen gustav like taxes by any party like the democrats are coming up with. you do not accuse somebody of something like that, trying to destroy their career, no matter what party they are from, unless you have that person there in person in front of the person that they are refusing. maybe that person has to be someone that, you know, lines all the time, maybe that person has this kavanaugh mixed up with another kavanaugh.

kavanaugh's name starts with a k and a c. i cannot understand the thinking of this democrat party. baptisre more like then they are democrats. what has happened to them? they are so radical out there. likeley, this college is something from the 1939 germany during the hill are regime. i do not understand what is going on in this country that it is being allowed. host: we have order from memphis, tennessee on the democratic line. caller: good morning. to beat feel better blackburn in the upcoming election. i think we will vote blue all the way through timothy. host: let's go to david: from longview, texas on the

independent line. caller: and you have c-span call the "new york times" and get the list of the people who died in puerto rico? and if they cannot produce it, they are full of it. mary froms go to louisiana on the republican line. go ahead, mary. caller: i want to speak about donald trump. let me finish my wanted to say. i used to be a democrat, but when barack obama was running, i found out the truth about the democrats. i want to speak about donald trump. donald trump is like a stallion. if you call him, he will rattle up and kick right back. that is what the democrats do not like.

they demonize the republicans, and the republicans roll over and take it and do not try to stand up for themselves and another thing, if the democrats ever get the white house, the senate, and the representatives to destroyare going this country, they're going to run burn it down, and then they will sen stand back and blame the republicans. -- there is soe much, especially black people, do not know about the democratic party. he was a republican, his dad was a republican dominated not know who fought for the civil rights of black people. they do not know it was a white republican. they do not know if it was not

for a white republican, it would not be -- they do not know that it was a white republican that freed the slaves. therefore whatever the democratic politicians say, that is what they believe, and if you notice, i mean, democratic politicians, whether they are black or white, whatever they say, that is what all of us are repeating. they do not think for themselves. 1619t all the way back to when the first slave ship landed in jamestown, virginia, and i found out the truth, and when i found out the truth, i immediately went and registered as a republican. thank you. have on the phones representative scott taylor from virginia who represents the virginia beach, williamsburg, and kate charles area. congressman, what are you seeing on the virginia coast?

guest: good morning. it is good to be with you and your listeners. i do not want to interrupt her. she was on a roll. [laughter] guest: i have got to tell you, we dodged a bullet. our neighbors in south carolina not so much. here on the virginia coast, we are fine. i was there yesterday, there was a semi-truck that was filled with supplies. a lot of folks here bought ivanka supplies, we just did not know, the models had us getting hit your recent and down to help our neighbors in north carolina. virginia national guard, a lot of our. repositioned to be able to assist. we are ready to help them out. hostbut we got stable it.

-- we dodged a bullet. host: is it still too early to help your neighbors now? guest: i think so. the emergency coordinators on the ground, a lot about burden is on their shoulders, the first responders, we're going to cue what they need. most likely in the aftermath of course when you have all of the water, the estuaries and rivers are already full, that will be the problem. a number of volunteers are already down there, but i know our folks in virginia are waiting to hear from the emergency coordinators down there so they can come and help out. host: we had a lot of conversations earlier about mandatory evacuations, whether people should leave, they should stay, what should happen. when the mandatory evacuation happened in virginia, did you have most of your people in your district pay attention, or were they willing to ride it out?

guest: that is a good question. we had both. you and people who really know, i am not going, and you have folks who took off. some are wondering if that was the right call by the governor or not. but the reality is, and i saw the briefing from the emergency center here in virginia beach, and the models initially had us being hit, and if it had hit us, it would have been devastating as well, so i think he exercised caution in over-evacuating. had turnedif nothing up here, we would have been in a world of hurt in zone a. you have got to make decisions based on the data you have. host: having lived in south carolina myself, there is a lot of talk about when what happened just happened in virginia, when you originally think the storm's

track is going to come to you, and it doesn't, and people leave and come back, and makes them less likely to leave . it makes them more willing -- leave next time. it makes them more willing to wait through what you say to spent all myy i gas money evacuating, what do you say to them? guest: that is true. the governor was acting on information that he had, and i think it is that are safe than sorry. i know that is an issue, and even my friends -- why do i have to do this? but the reality is that was a monster hurricane, and up until a couple of states prior, it was in virginia. you will have people who will ed the warning during the reality is, it can save lives. i think we should listen to our

folks about all the data. storms are unpredictable. like i said, that storm -- we were going to be in the center of it up until a couple of days before it hit landfall and it turns south. you had to make the best decisions, and the governor was under pressure to make it a decision one way or another, and i will say that a limited evacuation to the one zone on the coast. host: another conversation we had earlier on the show was about building on the coastlines and doing better care to rebuild on the recovery. virginia, just like south carolina, north carolina, georgia, and florida, every few years, there is a hurricane comes through one of those states, and we talk about coastal development. what do we need to make sure that we are building on the coast housing and structures that can withstand a hurricane if it comes through your area? guest: as you know, there are plenty of ways to do so.

that is one of the reasons why a lot of people stayed in place, and they have been in hurricanes, and a reinforced their properties with sandbags and things like that, or they thebuilt on stilts, or construction is able to withstand hurricane force winds, but there is no question with storms being outdated, with the seel of the sea, we have to level in hampton roads, the second-most vulnerable in the nation. in my office can we put forward and ultimately the university, william and mary, they want that of course, because it would given the ability to get research and development dollars to figure economic ofce and small clusters that would specifically on resilience and helping those coastal areas of america and also overseas, quite frankly, as the climate does change. host: we want to thank congressman scott taylor from

virginia for calling in this morning. we are glad you did not get hit, and we're like to hear you are going to send help to your southern neighbors. thank you, commerce and taylor. guest: thank you. host: let's go to cliff calling on the independent line. caller: thank you, c-span. first of all, i would like to say it is a shame that our country is so divided, this republican and democrat thing is getting out of hand as far as i am concerned. the people that watch fox news exclusively, they are being sorted brainwashed by an australian billionaire. rupert murdoch is the one who owns fox news, and he has got a direct hand in what a lot of the viewers in america are watching, and his agenda is not to build our country up and bring us together, so this is what is happening.

calling and saying democrats are not americans, it is just not call for. it is not fair. this is not who we are. i believe this is the most corrupt administration that we have had in our lifetime. -- he iser's report not going to release any information until his report is complete. people saying "if he had collusion information on trump, he would release it." no, he will release everything at the end, and we will go from there. but to speculate on what he has come up with up until now is fruitless. thank you very much. host: this weekend on c-span, or c-span cities tour. but city in american history tv travel to lake charles, louisiana to see the city's history and literary life. coming up today on new eastern, all of our programs for the city will air on one time block.

here, an author explains how lake charles was a no man's land for iris and runaway slaves. rates and runaway slaves. >> the heel of louisiana, if you think of louisiana as a boot, the part of louisiana that bridges the west of the town and le as occasion and the western culture and southern culture all in one is. there were very few intrepid spanish and french explorers across this area, but it has always been a remote part of louisiana. it has always been sort of separate and apart in terms of thinking.

in fact, when the louisiana purchase was made in 1803, this part was not part of the purchase because by definition, the purpose of the purchase was to buy everything drained by the mississippi. we're not drained by the mississippi. because of that, about 50 years after the purchase, this part of louisiana was a essentially a no man's la with an undefined border between the united states and the empire spain. host: once again, we will be visiting lake charles, louisiana on booktv this weekend. you will see all of our programming on one block later on today. let's go to kay who is calling from missouri on the democratic line. good morning. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. help i can speak without interruption. i have several points to make,

but i will not take long, i think. i think we need to keep the confederate statues as a reminder that slavery did not die in the civil war, and it has continued in other forms. slavery.ular in debt theso think we should tax churches, because their tax-free status is a kind of religious tosidy, and it tends concentrate too much power and wealth in one place or several small places. and i would like to ask -- what is wrong with socialism? capitalism is the unrestrained profit that must be made, and if you are not part of the profit making system, then you don't count.

and in socialism, at the core of socialism is the kind of lives that people have. concerned that we still are not discussing what i consider the four things that poor, elderly, and some of our most, and usual phrase lately, most vulnerable people need. i have to say to yesterday was so awesome. he was so awesome and so forward. the four things that we need to be discussing is getting the money out of politics. it would change everything. our ordinary citizens need health care. what is going to be done? positioncing a 100,000 physician shortage, i

understand, over the next 10 years. how will we built more medical schools? no one is talking. host: let's go to ed on the republican line in south carolina. caller: thanks for taking my call. host: ed, first of all, are you safe from the storm? caller: we are in the southern part of the state. we will be ok. we pray for those people up in the northern end of our state. calling is i had listened to your program a couple of days ago. there were a number of calls from people who had never experienced a hurricane. 2016,e of matthew here in

i want to expand on what was said, the real horror of the starts at the state and local level. we all saw the disaster that katrina caused with the result of having incompetent people recovery in the state of louisiana. unfortunately, the same thing was going on in puerto rico for many years prior to the storm. here in beaufort county, south carolina, 2016, we had massive destruction. i've never been in a hurricane before. we left and evacuated.

we came back to massive destruction. 200,000 trees that had fallen during the storm. some of which were the result of tornadoes rolling off the hurricane. it's our local government, our state government -- nikki haley was the governor at that point. job at a wonderful cleaning up this massive mess. most of the fema cleanups took a number of months, but they did an outstanding job. it was under the direction of president trump. host: coming up, our weekly spotlight on magazine's segment will focus on the free college movement. we will have adam harris of "the atlantic."

"washington post" health reporter colby itkowitz joins us with a look at what's in the opioid legislation. ♪ >> coming up this weekend on book tv, tonight at 8:00 eastern, janeen discusses her thoughts on the trump presidency and his detractors with her book eakers and liberals." >> janine, there was already an article on what happens at the dairy farm. what did it say? it said nothing that i said, but they alleged that i said x, y, and z.

i remember sitting in the car, i didn't realize it was big news. can i possibly have won against someone when the fix is in? they are saying that i did things i never did five minutes ago. >> coverage of the brooklyn book festival with april ryan and her book, "under fire." -- eli wenth "rising out of hatred." and "just for journalist." on afterwords, derek hunter discusses "outrage inc." the founderiewed by and president of the media research center. >> does anybody get a real point

across on television? >> no, they don't. you look for a way that something can go viral. the network is looking for something they can clip into a 39 second clip to post on facebook that will go viral. information. >> watch this weekend on c-span2's book tv. >> "washington journal" continues. host: for our weekly spotlight on magazine's segment, we will talk with adam harris, staff writer for "the atlantic." he wrote the article america wakes up from it stream of free college. dream of precollege. -- dream of free college. >> we wanted to do a broad look at college affordability.

one of the most contentious issues in the 2016 election was the question of precollege or collegeollege -- free or affordable college. we wanted to take a step back and look at what happened at the -- what happened to the free college movement. with themomentum stops election and shifts to the state level. you had this national movement and then it moved to the states. seeing where the states are, how those proposals look and what free college actually means in 2018. host: where does the trump administration stand on the question of free college? edst: in 2016, inside higher asked been close whether or not president trump would support free college and his answer was

unequivocally no. they are not in the free college realm. and getting behind this idea of free college is not something that republican lawmakers see as a galvanizing issue as there is mistrust in higher ed. this revolves around the college for ability question. -- who college affordability -- around the college of portability question. we are thinking housing, food, these basic necessities that college students need to live. a debt-free plan will cover all of those other expenses.

you have your books covered, your housing covered, your food covered. the issue with some of these tuition free plans, even though they do help low income students and middle income students pay be college, they tend to last dollar programs. it is your cost after your grant paid -- the thing about pell grant support financial oristance -- pell grants financial assistance students don't have to pay back. you would have the to wish and paid upfront and then you would be able to cover the rest of the expenses. tuitionould have the paid upfront and then you would be able to cover the rest of the expenses. host: which state is choosing

which plan and why? guest: there are two states that have gotten the most attention. one of them is tennessee. the other is new york. it is generally agreed that it is doing a very good job. and expanded the access board program. -- the access for its program. it is a tuition free model but also open to adult students and certain things. new york has received criticism because of some of the added stipulations. a residency requirement, for example, to say after you've completed the plan, you have to live in the city for x number of years or it will convert into a loan. we want you to join in this conversation about debt-free college. tuition free

college/ -- debt-free college, tuition free college. college students, call 202-748-8000. college graduates, call 202-748-8001. everyone else, call 202-748-8002 . us onn always reach .ocial media tell me what the kalamazoo promise was. guest: it is seen as where this free college movement started. it was this simple idea in kalamazoo, michigan. this one morning, the principal of this high school comes over the pa system and he announces that an anonymous benefactor will be paying the cost of admission for all the students in the district. and is a social experiment to

if this will help the area economically. you saw the schools improved, the enrollment numbers improved, the city was able to build new schools for the first time since the 1970's. businesses started coming to the area because you had this promise of giving students free tuition and allowing for parents to not have to worry about some of those extra issues with college affordability. chad we have a call from and south carolina. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thank you, c-span, for your news. i have a couple of things. there are ways to go to school without paying for it monetarily. i had a good friend in high school whose mother -- i went to

high school in 1981 -- researched sports scholarships. one of the high ones was tennis. her daughter went to school on a free ride playing tennis. you can join the military and go through rotc. is sad statement about our education that when bernie sanders said we need to make college free because back in my , high school was the equivalent of college today. the bad thing about something that is free, when you look at something that people don't have to pay anything for -- take free housing, for example. you would think they would take good care of it. you would really cherish it. sadly, the absolute opposite is the truth. when you have no skin in the game, and doesn't mean anything to you.

that's the same for college, for cars. go to a high school parking lot and look at automobiles given by the parents. it is human nature. freeyou it something best get something for free -- when you get something for free, you see no value in it. technical schools and trade schools, how they have taken those out of the education system -- i am a master electrician. i've made a good living my whole life. it is something that is coming back around. we are graduating kids at a higher rate but they have no opportunity because they have degrees in things that don't apply to the economic system of the world. college devalued the college degree? guest: some people argue if you get something to someone for

free, they aren't going to appreciate it as much. maybe we shouldn't be thinking about free college as much as thinking about making college as affordable as possible. even in a red state like tennessee, you have advocates for the portable college model. -- affordable college model. his point about careers in technical education, there are states where their program support technical education. that's one of the galvanizing issues on the hill. you have lawmakers, both republicans and democrats -- new america came out with a survey that showed that a lion's share of americans support career and technical education, that vocational education.

there are some tangents there. generally, when people are thinking about free college, they are thinking about making college more affordable. host: are these programs geared toward community colleges and private schools, private colleges? guest: it tends to be public schools involved in the free college models. at two-yearallow it and four-year institutions. an announces by the education trust analyzed more than 15 of these free college models. criteria -- whether the state model would have supported two-year and four-year

education. many of the states only support to your education -- two-year education. caller: john calling from corpus christi, texas. do you think this is a good idea? caller: yes, i do. it is more likely european model. young people aren't saddled with a huge amount of debt. for millions of college graduates -- i graduated in 1995. i've never made more than $25,000 a single year in my life. i come from a good family. is not what you know, it's who you know. us system got so many of suckered into these in student loans knowing we will never be able to pay them off while shipping millions of american jobs overseas and bringing foreign workers in to lower the wages of americans who still have jobs and replacing millions

more through technology. yet, they want to hold our fee to the fire to pay back the feetnt loans -- hold our to the fire to pay back the student loans? loans't discharge the through bankruptcy. they literally follow us to the day we die. it's a choice between eating and keeping a roof over our heads or paying back student loans. we are going to eat and keep a roof over our head. they need to cancel the student loan debt. wall street got bailed out in 2008 despite committing numerous felony offenses and outright fraud. as college graduates who took out the loans in good faith thinking we would have gainful employment when we graduate -- you know, the jobs just weren't there. guest: to the point about discharging loans through

bankruptcy, it is possible to discharge or loans through bankruptcy but it's extremely difficult. gettinginterest behind it easier for students to discharge their loans for bankruptcy. the affordability of college, the united states spends more $30,000 in per year, individual contributions and government assistance, than the average of developed countries. .'m excluding luxembourg that might be the only country that spends a bit more than the u.s.. host: chris calling from oregon. what do you think about this? caller: i think it is a good thing. -- i'm of the few people

a veteran. it's helping me out a lot. i'm working full-time work out that tuition best to work off that tuition -- i'm working full-time to work off that tuition. you need to get an education for today's technology. host: with some of the plans moving toward community colleges, are we seeing an increase in the states that have those plans? are they going to college more or staying flat? guest: there was a slight bump in tennessee recently. you saw more people enrolling in a free college programs.

it is also very early. since 2005, it's been 12 or 13 years, so trying to see how the movement will develop. the window is still open for free college and a national free program. remainstical situation what it is where you have support for those programs among democrats and particularly national democrats, but not similar support from national republicans. it doesn't look like you will have a national kid-16 system anytime soon -- k-16 system anytime soon. host: what are they pushing? guest: senator brian schatz of hawaii introduced legislation in march that would have a debt free college model. what he is trying to do is

incentivize states. that one of the primary ways the federal government can be helpful, by incentivizing states to introduce these models or keep these models going. his bill would provide a one to one dollar match for states investing in higher education. there's been a trend over the last three decades of this investment -- disinvestment in higher education. at a state level, you are seeing less and less going to hiregher ed. essentially, what the bill would do is say, hey, if you guys spend more on higher education, we will give you a dollar to dollar on that investment. host: ron calling from michigan.

what do you have for us? caller: i just want to test like the gentleman from texas i thought was very good. i wonder if adam has done any research in europe. europe seems to have a wonderful system. the asian nations have a wonderful system. and at't we go there least get some information? michael moore, a lot of people don't like him, but one of his last documentaries was wonderful that people are afraid of socialism for some reason. systemd be a wonderful if people work together. i appreciate talking and i really like "washington journal: and c-span -- "washington journal" and c-span.

thank you. . itst: america, even for flaws in terms of how much college costs, it is still seen as a model of higher education. this sort of prestigious higher education system is one of the contribute in factors to saying maybe we don't make that complete shift. one of my colleagues wrote recently in most other developed nations, the most prestigious institutions are public. in the u.s., the most prestigious institutions are typically private. there would have to be a fundamental shift in the way we deliver education best deliver higher education -- in the way

we deliver high your education -- in the way we deliver higher education. what do we need to do to shift the skills and priorities of the current student body? host: every day, our country gets deeper in debt. how our states paying for this -- how are state thing for this -- how are states paying for this? as the states are dis investing more and more from higher education, it is seen as it is almost seen as a benefit and an issue. get an economic benefit from having a free college model.

we will have a more educated population and those people will stay in the state. a we are working here, living here, putting more dollars into the system. host: were they right? guest: in kalamazoo, yes. there was an economic bump. they were able to build more schools for the first time since the 1970's. argument for it increasing the economic benefits of the area. host: like calling from houston. -- mike calling from houston. lives: the areas of our where the inflation rate is the highest as consumers is in health care and education. college tuition. it is precisely in those two places where government intrudes the most. the notion that government

intervention will solve this problem is laughable based on the inflation rate in and of itself. 1983-2013,s from national review cited's study that the enrollment went up by cited a study that the ent up by 7% -- a pip president obama was saying in 2012 we need more teachers. more employees but no discernible increase in outcome. stake inumers have a the cost of the product or good, the cost goes down.

think that consumers have the same motivation, the same drive, the same talent? we think we are all built the same way. we are not. some people can work with their hands and some can't. i don't understand why we have to have free this entry that. -- and free that. guest: the argument isn't that all students have to go to college. it provides an opportunity for students to afford college. in kalamazoo, students were crying in the classroom because they did not think they could go to college before they introduced this free college

model. for college advocates argue that it is the natural extension of the american dream to say that we should have our students be able to go to college. host: bert calling from portland, oregon. what do you think about this? caller: student loan companies don't inform students that they have an interim based payment option. they try to get as much money out of the students as possible. they should be reconfigured, have the loan companies be honest with the students in the first place. guest: what he's talking about, repayment,based there was a big push to get programsrolled in ibr

under the obama administration. that continued under the trump administration. department is going ,hrough reconfigurations holding student loan companies accountable, they are considering how the companies are communicating and telling options for their repayment. several states have introduced bill ofudent loan rights that say these are the things that student loan companies have to do. host: bill from north carolina. hopefully you are safe in the storm. caller: hello, hello. host: go ahead. we hear you. caller: listen, i have a parcel buttion, not for everybody,

i think it would help a lot of students. i don't believe in free anything, but there are things where people have to be helped. i had a high school education and i went to a company and i worked 100% commission all my life. in reason i made good money the 1980's and 1990's, i went out and worked and knocked on doors and made people want to buy my product. anybody can do that if they want to work. getting back to the free education, my daughter graduated from high school in the late 1970's. she went into a college in pennsylvania and took the easiest course she could get. i was paying for it. she didn't have a student loan.

like what youdn't was taking. -- what she was taking. i went out and talked to the counselors. i told them a bit about my daughter. she was an average student. when she was young, she loved kids. on the way home from first grade, there was a boy on the bus, the kids used to make fun myhim and get him upset, daughter went up and sat beside him and for the rest of the year, she helped that kid get along. host: rapid up for us -- rap it up -- wrap it up for us. caller: you have to talk to a them whatand tell

your daughter is made up and what she wants to do. andwent in to speech hearing. she got her masters and cheese in it today -- she is in it today and she's very wealthy. host: are there limits on what classes you can take? guest: in some states, there are. equity advocates and free college advocates generally are not as fond of that. there are a limited number of program students can take. host: we would like to thank adam harris of "the atlantic" for bringing us up to date on pollution free and debt-free college plans -- tuition free and debt-free college plans around the country. the senate will take up legislation on the avoid crisis

-- opioid crisis next week. colby itkowitz from "washington post" will tellton us about it. we will be right back. ♪ >> richard norton smith discusses his biography of herbert hoover. >> hoover said, when all is said and done, accomplishment is all that matters. which is a rather on fundamental -- the sort of thing you would expect an engineer to say. that's one of the keys to understanding his life, his success in everything but the presidency. c-span's q&a.t on inrican history tv is primetime next week on c-span3.

starting monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, a discussion on the role of black teachers in the south who fought against school segregation. a symposium on the concept of liberty exploring how the ideas of freedom law and liberty have changed throughout history. areesday on oral histories, women in congress series continues with nancy johnson. thursday, historians look at the role of espionage in u.s. complex. america, the rise of authoritarianism in germany, italy and japan. watch american history tv next week on c-span3.

" reporter, bobt woodward, is our "washington journal" guest on monday. ken starr joins us to discuss "contempt." watch next week on c-span's "washington journal." >> "washington journal" continues. host: colby itkowitz from "the washington post." what's going to happen monday? guest: it is expected to pass overwhelmingly monday evening. the passage of 70 bills, chipping away at the heroie opid crisis. we are talking about this bill from senator rob portman from

ohio. it would give the u.s. post office more power to stop the inflow of fentanyl. fentanyl is an incredibly potent and fatal opioid. we are seeing big increases in use. host: the house has already passed its own built. -- its own bill. what are the differences? guest: the bills are very, very similar. one of the major differences is this obscure "i am the exclusion." this came from the medicaid enactment -- it doesn't allow medicaid to pay for mental health institutions. mental healthed help and substance abuse help aren't allowed to use their medicaid.

the house overturned that. the senate did not. host: if you are in the eastern and central time zone, call 202-748-8000. pacific, 202-748-8001. -- mountain and pacific, 202-748-8001. if you've been affected by the opioid crisis, call 202-748-8002 . the house passed this bill a while ago. the senate is getting around to it now. what were the objections that made the senate takes a long? made thes a long -- senate takes so long? guest: there were some small things they were tinkering with behind the scenes. for the most part, it was their ability to fit it in on the floor. host: what has been the reaction

from the advocacy groups? what is the reaction from industry and advocacy? guest: largely disappointment. it is a very small effort. there's a lot of grant programs, there's a lot of expanding of existing programs. there's no real additional funding. advocates say we need an infusion of long-term funding the way we did with the hiv crisis. absent that, you are not going to make much of a difference. host: what does the senate bill provide? guest: grant money for recovery centers. we need to increase access to treatment for people with opioid addictions. these centers would provide temporary housing, job-training, other treatment and recovery services. it is a grant program. people would have to apply for

this. this is not a universal federal program for everyone. one public health advocates said try telling a town that is ravaged by opioids that the big solution coming from washington is that they can apply for a grant. host: will it be a more political election year builill? guest: one advocate i spoke to called it a political document. this is ravaging towns and cities all over the country. ,t is not indiscriminate impacting democrats and republicans alike. both want to say they are doing something, which is why you see 70 proposals in this package. host: wilma calling from new york. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i'm calling because my family is impacted. my oldest son is dealing with

addiction. impacted the whole family. -- he hased in fear overdosed a few times, he survived them, and i'm living in fear that any time that i'm going to lose him. arrested andwas searched inappropriately. didn'togically, i feel i get the help for him, leading to him trying to escape. i failed as a parent. i must admit that, too. you think this legislation will help at all? caller: at least people would be

able to have an antidote. and be able to survive. i would like to see everybody have a chance at life, to live life the healthiest possible way and get the help they need. host: the senate and house have to put together their separate bills into one. do you know who will be on the conference committee? guest: we don't have names yet. that will happen after the senate approves the bill on monday. senator rob portman has been a leader on this. senator lamar alexander helped him negotiate behind the scenes. side, you'veat exciic seen people like joe manchin from virginia that west virginia. -- from west virginia. host: what's been the reaction

from the white house? a publicey declared it health crisis last year. while the senate was figuring out when they were going to find , president trump tweeted about the issue of fentanyl coming across the border. some people think that may have lit a fire, the president bringing attention to it. host: do we see this coming up in midterm election campaigns? is it a topic for anyone right now? guest: health care in general is the biggest issue on the campaign right now. you hear democrats talking about it all the time. fold opioids into that, particularly around issues like medicaid expansion and making sure everyone has access to

affordable health care because treatment is a huge part of overcoming addiction. host: shone calling from -- john calling for massachusetts. know,: my comment is, you -- what needsrams to be done, go to the root cause of the problem, why people take drugs in the first place. poverty, probably lots of other things, too. there is no simple answers. you can't legislate reality. that morality. -- you can't legislate morality. these programs going on aren't doing anything, spending more money on law-enforcement and all that. host: are these programs doing

any good? guest: he makes a great point. a lot of public health advocates say we are not dealing with the root of the problem, the social determinants of health. education and jobs and access to health care and purpose in life. that's those things, when you see instances of mental health worsening, substance abuse, addiction. willprograms in this bill look at trauma in children to see if you can heed this off before these kids become addicted. host: what's the timeline? how long will it take the house to come up with something they consent to the president? best can send to the president -- they can send to the president? guest: there's not enough days left on the calendar. there's a sense of urgency to

get it done before the end of the year. to loop thatll try in with keeping the government from shutting down. host: like calling from connecticut. -- mike calling in from connecticut. caller: i'm a retired police captain. i'm 73 years old. i saw when i was 65 result -- i that'sen i was 65 result when i was 65 years old. the only way i could function was to be on opioids. a very mild one. day.r two pills a they can't get it. by doctor is afraid of the bureaucrats in washington. i'm suffering. which my doctor told me is no good for mckinney. the only way i could move around

was to take the ad bill. -- i take advil, which my doctor told me is no good for my kidney. the only way i could move around was to take the advil. he's petrified. there's a lot of people in my situation. you have people taking fentanyl to commit suicide because they are in chronic pain. yet, we are all lumped into the same drug test like i'm a junkie. i'm a 73-year-old retired police captain who cannot function at all without taking pain medication. is anything can be done for something like me -- if anything can be done for someone like me --

guest: this is a tricky balance that the fda is try to figure and -- try being -- trying to figure out. there's blister packs where you would allow doctors to prescribe opioids in limited doses. we would rather go to the pharmacy and get a months supply. there's lots of people that doctor shop. they go across state lines and try to get opioids from various doctors. there has to be a crackdown on that. i'm not sure that lawmakers fully get that. host: carl calling from

crownsville, maryland. go ahead. caller: good morning. since the pharmaceutical companies are the ones that produced, promoted and profited from the sales of the opioids, why aren't they taking financial is possibility for fixing the problem? -- financial responsibility for fixing the problem? guest: the pharmaceutical response to the public as they want to be involved. behind the scenes, we hear from public health advocates that they were pretty forthright in stopping lawmakers from putting in anything that was going to limit their profits or hurt their ability to manufacture these opioids. host: part of the bill, part of the senate bill includes the u.s. postal service stepping up on the importation of illegal

opioids from outside the u.s. talk to us about what that is about. guest: that's in senator rob portman's bill. suites and a huge influx in fentanyl coming into the country ofwe have seen a huge influx fentanyl coming into the country. people are using it to lace all caps of drugs -- all kinds of drugs. fentanylle are taking not even knowing they are taking fentanyl and it is fatal. athsave seen de skyrocket from fentanyl use. this would give the u.s. postal service authority to inspect the packages to stop the inflow. host: scott calling from new york. go ahead. caller: good morning.

this problem was caused by the pharmaceutical companies years ago. in the 1990's, i was living in tennessee, they came out with oxycontin and told us it was nonaddictive. somebody who has experiment it with drugs -- experimented with -- once youeir life take them for a while, you get accustomed to them, they make you feel high and good. didn't touch any opioids -- they put my tolerance back up. i found out what the addiction is like. ite months ago, i took an

minute -- eight minute dirt nap. this -- narcan, have it on hand if anybody od's. with fentanyl, i got hit three times with narcan and i barely came back. saidady at the hospital everybody thought you were dead. is very potent and you don't need to shoot it up. you can snort it. life, we need of to educate the kids. when i was a kid, a heroin

addict was someone lying in the streets like a wino. these kids today look at this heroin like it's fun and games, a badge of honor if you died and came back. no, it's not. your going to get burned. host: is there more money for prevention and saving people in this bill? guest: there's expansion for the antidotes, making sure first responders and law enforcement have this injection they can give people that have overdosed. it is highly effective. making sure they are trained to do so. there's not enough medication assisted treatment, something like methadone, where you are giving people a small amount to help them get over withdrawal.

they are shown to be the most effective in helping people get over there and actions. theiry are addictions -- addictions. there's not that much funding, to be honest. maybe a couple billion dollars over several years. compared to what public health advocates say we need, tens of billions of dollars over the next several years to address this, i don't expect funding to be a major sticking point. host: elizabeth calling from texas. go ahead. caller: good morning. how thisng to say crackdown on opiates has affected my family negatively. i suffer severe arthritis from back surgery. suicide soemplated many times because i live in so much pain on a daily basis that

i want to scream. my sister just had open heart surgery and valve replacement and they won't even give her pain meds for that. my mother is severely arthritic and had major surgeries and they are not giving her pain meds. we are suffering hour-by-hour and this is not our choice. yet, we cannot get the pain medication we need because people are out there abusing this and they are getting all the attention. goodness, we need to worry about saving your lives. are quality of life has been so affected that it is affecting our daily health. fouro suffer from stage kidney disease. muscle getting is

relaxers and pain patches. creambarely move and ice in -- and i scream in pain all night long. host: how do we walked out line between keeping it from people who are abusing it and people who need it? guest: one of the things the senate bill does, it is asking the nih to research and develop nonaddictive pain medications. make herat would family feel better with the amount of chronic pain -- until then, we do have this really tricky balance between making sure that there was a new survey , 11.4 million opioid misuses last year. that's a lot of people.

host: are they moving nonaddictive painkillers on fast track with this legislation? guest: they are thinking about it. it is in there. the way i understand it, it's asking the fda to approve these things quicker. it takes a long time to get a drug approved through the fda. this would prioritize these nonaddictive pain pills. host: tj calling from california. go ahead, tj. caller: good morning. called, i feelst her pain, i completely understand it. the police officer they called -- it's absolutely true. back surgeries, i've been through it all, 15-17 surgeries,

so many, i can't even count. you can't sleep, you are in pain. you do that for a couple of days. the government, all these statistics, they are wrong. treatment centers, they are fake. they are money grabs. that all it is. education is the only way. people need to be educated on what they are taking, what it is they are taking and truthfully, what can happen when you take these things. host: any money for education in this bill? guest: there's money for public awareness campaigns and outreach. money for schools to begin education programs around opioid use. public health advocates will say while prevention is important, we are so far along in this process, we missed the boat on

that. we should have been doing that 20 years ago. now, we need to figure out a way to help those addicted who are dying every year, to get in the treatment and recovery they need. host: that calling from mississippi. -- zach calling for mississippi. caller: i want to give you a small example of how this is the fruit from the poison tree. marijuana illegal i have a history of pancreatitis. the last time i had it was three years ago. my aunt told me -- i was on my dying bed. i hadn't eaten in 13 days. she advised me to smoke some

marijuana. -- less of marijuana than two seconds, i was on my eat everything in the house. it's all because of people like jeff sessions and his association with tobacco and big pharmaceutical companies that want to push these man-made drugs on people instead of natural herbs that man has been messing with since the beginning of time. host: what can we expect to happen on monday? guest: on monday, you will see the senate vote on a sweeping opioid package that deals with prevention, recovery and 70atment with proposals from different proposals from democrats and republicans and it will pass overwhelmingly. host: thank you for joining us.

guest: thank you. host: once again, we would like to thank all of our guests and coloallers. join us tomorrow morning at 7:00 for another edition. have a good day. ♪ ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] next on c-span, a discussion on how the u.s. is combating terrorism. and a judiciary committee meeting for the vote on supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. that is followed by testimony from treasury and state department officials on the trump administration's sanction policy.