gold, technology reporter for politico. >> we may actually try doing things like separating, mapping off of search, separating search from youtube. radical in today's environment, but this is something we have done many times in the past. 1982, we with at&t in didn't it with at&t in 1913, we have done it with dozens of large corporations over the years. it is our right as the people of structure states to the political economy in a way that is safe for us. at 8:00 eastern onunicators c-span 2. >> this morning, associated press correspondent lisa mascaro with the latest on the brett kavanaugh supreme court nomination. later, former connecticut senator chris dodd and rick santorum on their work as

cochairs of the bipartisan policy center task force on paid family leave. we take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is next. ♪ john: good morning. it is monday, september 24. of the senate at 3:00 p.m. today. the house will hold a brief pro forma section -- session and reconvene tomorrow. we are with you for the next three hours on the washington journal. we will take you through the latest on the brett kavanaugh supreme court nomination, including the hearing with christine blasey ford and new allegations from a second woman that surfaced yesterday in an article in the in order -- in

the new yorker. we are hearing just from those who have experience with sexual assault in this first segment. women can call at 202-748-8000. men can call in at 202-748-8001. you can catch up with us on social media. on twitter it is @cspanwj. on facebook, it is facebook.com/cspan. a very good monday morning. talking with survivors and those who have experience with sexual assaults in this first segment of the washington journal. we want to hear your reaction to the latest regarding brett kavanaugh's supreme court nomination. brett kavanaugh maintains he is being falsely accused of sexual assault. if that was your experience, you can also call in in this segment. phone lines for women, 202-748-8000 is the number. men, 202-748-8001. we mentioned that hearing on thursday featuring christine blasey ford. here is the latest on the details of the hearing from the

wall street journal. republicans have agreed to some of dr. ford's request. others remain in disputes. the hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. dr. ford will have two lawyers while testifying. judge kavanaugh will not be in the same room at the same time. first.d will testify democratic lawmakers will question judge kavanaugh themselves in terms of what remains unresolved, the question of who will question dr. ford on the republican side is up in the air as well as how long senators will ask questions. and who specifically will testify. only dr. fordy and judge kavanaugh should appear and democrats want additional witnesses, who dr. ford says was in the room during that assault. more on the details of the hearing later today. some questions as to whether even that hearing on thursday will go forward.

some democrats calling for that hearing to be delayed in light of new allegations that surfaced yesterday in the new yorker. here is the key paragraph to that story. the woman at the center of the story is 53 and attended yale with kavanaugh, where she studied sociology and psychology. the new yorker contacted ramirez after learning of her popular -- possible involvement in an incident with kavanaugh. the north -- the story roads -- notes ramirez writes kavanaugh had exposed himself to her, and she pushed it away. -- investigate kavanaugh's role in the incident. -- while boththe were at yield university. brett kavanaugh and the white house putting out statements

yesterday in response to that story in the new yorker. the alleged incident from 35 years ago did not happen. the people who knew me then know that -- this did not happen and have said so. this is a smear, plain and simple. i look forward to testifying on thursday about the truth and defending my name and character. i have spent a last time defending against these last-minute allegations. this 35 are old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by democrats designed to tear down a good man, was the statement from the white house. bes is denied by all said to present and is wholly inconsistent with what many and -- many men and women who knew judge kavanaugh say. overhanging all of this, some tweets yesterday from lawyer michael have a naughty, who

represents stormy daniels. about 7:00 yesterday, a series of tweets including this one with -- credible information regarding judge kavanaugh and mark judge, who will be demanding the opportunity to present testimony and likewise demanding judge and others be subpoenaed to testify. the nomination must be withdrawn. you went on to tweet his client is not deborah ramirez. on to post email exchanges he had with the chief counsel for nominations for the u.s. senate last night on his twitter page. that is the latest on what is happening ahead of now a scheduled thursday hearing. we want to hear from you this morning and we made our phone lines a little bit different. if you have experience with sexual assault, that is who we want to hear from today. .omen, it is 202-748-8000

men, it is 202-748-8001. is up firstorce -- in massachusetts. good morning. caller: hi, how are you? host: i am doing well. caller: the first thing i want to talk about is cadence in a sexual assault. there are a lot of people that had medium, quick, very quick, quick, and enough to take the concept out of the equation so you are considered guilty. i am even thinking of you, who i am looking at. sometimes you talk very quickly. i went to a lecture at m.i.t. and the professor was talking very quickly and i thought he thetrying to test students and i raised my hand and he pointed to me and i said to him, why are you speaking quickly in your conversation? i want you to slow down your

offensive play because it is demeaning to the students because you are taking advantage of them. when you grow up and have sexual assault, you get a lot of insults from the supporting person buying to get you by talking over you, under you, and in you and i think that is unfair and there should be a --ter in the law saying anyone who talks quickly in conversation, whether it is the dr.'s office or surgery or any facsimile of the nature of the beast is guilty. host: what was your experience with sexual assault? do you want to talk about it? caller: i went out on a date and i didn't pay any attention in the woman -- in the beginning, the woman kept interrupting conversation. what they want to do is try to

be more intelligent than you are. i already gave in saying i think you are, i think you are more intelligent of -- than i am. what is your basis of talking quickly and interrupting? it is a lack of respect. i am going to take you home, i am not going to take you out to dinner. i never want to see you again. and she tried to get me. host: what do you mean, get you? caller: that means they try to pin on something that is not related to that person. it could have happened to anyone. -- lose.t like to use host: patricia is up next in indiana. good morning. caller: good morning. hello? host: go ahead. you are on the "washington journal."

what are your thoughts on the brett kavanaugh nomination and do you want to talk about your history, your story? .aller: yeah i had three separate incidents .n my lifetime the first one happened when i was 17 sitting in a classroom and a guy put his hand on my butt and i turned around and slapped him and that was the end of that. the second when i was about 21 and a third was in my 40's. i fought back each time. i did not tell anyone until last year because i was not physically harmed, you know. i fought back on my. i never told no one until last year and that was 57 years ago. host: what do you make of the comments by some, including

president trump on twitter saying it -- this incident, if it happened, it should have been reported to police at the time. caller: maybe it should have. i agree with that statement. she should have reported it. like i said, i didn't tell no one on mine and it had been over 50 years. sometimes women just don't say nothing. when i finally came out last year and told somebody, it was a friend and we were discussing this women's movement and all of that. we don't tell sometimes. i wasn't harmed or anything. i guess that is why i let mine go. host: that is patricia in indiana. a column by patty davis, the daughter of ronald and nancy reagan has gotten a lot of

attention. while i don't recall the details of my sexual assault, she said it doesn't surprise me one bit that for more than 30 years christine blasey ford didn't talk about the assault and what she remembers and the one she ofuses brett kavanaugh committing. it's important to understand how memory works in dramatic events. your memory blacks out other parts of the story that don't matter much. that story is in the washington post in the sunday edition. in maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. i want to talk about my experience and i am now 72 years old. i have never forgotten it. it happened to me when i was seven years old and i told my grandparents -- my grandmother, who was raising me. -- i should have

stopped the guy. it was a grown man in his 50's or 60's. i don't how old at that time. i felt nothing when he was touching me in a private area. me grandmother really spanked about it. i told her i would tell my grandfather and she said no because he will go and hurt the man and they will kill him. it continued until i was 11 years old and i became angry over him touching me in his lock soo i jammed his he could not get in the store that morning and when he chased me, i told him he would tell -- i would tell my grandfather and he never touched me again. i never told my mother until three years ago that that happened to be. -- to me. told me the same person abused her when she was a

little girl and they wanted to do something about it, but the community said the man was an outstanding person in our neighborhood. he was a predator to children in our neighborhood. yes, it is hard to tell. going to let it go, ok. i will let it go. host: thank you for sharing your story. to talk about the brett kavanaugh nomination, what has resonated to you avenue we have been having this discussion over the past several weeks as these allegations have come out and we look ahead to thursday? caller: we had no recourse when i was a little girl. i had very little recourse when i was working in new york and the boss approached me and i would not let him. the unemployment office in new york and went after him and he got fired as well.

this has been going on for women and we had nowhere to go. it is not right and someone needs to investigate this. these guys should not be allowed to continue this. they are the ones saying what is right and what is wrong. our bodies are violated and that is what hurt us the most, to be violated in that manner and it is still giving people the idea they can still do that to us in 2018. can someone please stop this behavior. host: in babylon, new york, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. man and i was 12 years old at the time and my parents sent me to a sleep away camp. one night, my counselor came into my bed and tried to touch

me and i said no and he continued doing it until i said stop and i thought it was over and two nights later he came in again and i ran away from camp and my parents said what are you running away for and i was afraid to tell them. it is something i will never forget until the day i die and i remember it like it happened yesterday. host: is there anything that resonated with you amid this debate and discussion of sexual assault and brett kavanaugh's nomination and what is happening and how this is being handled both in congress and the discussion happening in the public space on this issue? i can understand, leastugh is coming off at related to christine blasey ford . i think it's a lot of politics. as far as her memory goes, like

i said, i will never forget it. it resonates with me today. it happened 40 years ago. host: phone lines this morning for those who have experience with sexual assault. women, 202-748-8000 is the number. men, it is 202-748-8001. as we take you through the latest on brett kavanaugh's supreme court nomination. speaking of that thursday hearing, the new york times hiss in a preview of potential defense on thursday, judge kavanaugh planned on sunday to hand over to the judiciary committee calendars from the summer of 1982 that did not contain evidence of a party similar to the one similar to the one blasey ford where that happened. plans to argue the calendar pages represent a piece of evidence that fails to corroborate her account. according to a person familiar with the judge kavanaugh's defense. we will find out more about that as the week goes on.

more previewing of what each side is expected to say. we will be covering it for you. alice is up next in montclair, california. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning. she is a mess. i don't like her. she is a democrat. i don't like her. she is the one that started this whole mess read brett kavanaugh, he did not do nothing to her. she started it. host: alice, why do you believe brett kavanaugh, here? caller: i mean. she is a mess. she started this whole shebang. host: what don't you believe and why do you believe brett kavanaugh? caller: i do believe him.

host: that is alice in california. heather is up next in virginia. good morning. caller: i wanted to call in and give you my thoughts on this. i was 11 or 12 when something happened to me with an older teenage boy and i did not tell anybody until this week. and i am 45 years old. i don't remember all of the details. i remember enough. i think what congress is doing, what struck me the most with not entire case is they are -- they are playing politics with two people's lives and this woman has the right to be heard. he has the right to be heard. congress and our president has made it very clear to someone who has gone through sexual assault not to speak up because when you do, your leaders will not listen to you.

these are the individuals -- it is a committee of mostly older white men who grew up in the time in which behavior like this was accepted and they are dismissing it. they have already made their decision against mrs. ford and they have made it very clear if you come out, you will not be believed and i think the way they are doing -- treating this is a disservice to women around the nation. host: did you feel like you were believed when you told somebody this week about what happened to you? caller: i was. i spoke to my husband and i this not figure out why whole thing has been very difficult for me to listen to and at the time, i did not say anything because i was 12. 11 or 12. wants tonth grader

share those kind of details with somebody? it is humiliating. it is embarrassing. you tend to feel you might have done something wrong and i have two daughters. i have a college aged daughter and an eighth grader and i thought we were growing up in a different world in which a woman respect of men and i am shocked we are back here, in 2018 where women are coming out and telling what happened and our leaders are simply saying, no, thank you, you are lying. we don't want to hear from you. and then the kavanaugh case, if iss an individual who, corrupt, is going to be making laws for our country for the next 20 or 30 years. this is a lifetime appointment and not something to be taken

lightly. constitutionally, they do not have to take a vote today or tuesday or for the next 6 years. there is nothing that says this vote has to take place until this investigation happens. i hope mrs. ford gets her chance. host: have your daughters asked you about the kavanaugh accusations and what is happening? caller: i have not talked specifically to them about it. i want to keep my youngest from hearing the leaders of our country treat a woman this way. my oldest is not in the house, she is at school. that is not something that has come up in our conversations in the last two weeks. it is just so sad to me. people standto see

up. i would like them see this woman a see them give this woman chance. i would like to see our fathers and grandfathers and -- stand up and say a woman has a right to be heard. i want to hear a child psychologist talk to the public about how a mindworks during a sexual assault, after a sexual assault with typical hater for a victim. how does a child -- typical behavior for a victim. how does a child's mind work differently than an adult's? until someone is in a situation like that, they cannot speak as to how they would behave. host: that is heather in virginia. joe is next in iowa. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing this morning? host: i am doing well, go ahead. caller: i would like to say i am wasle and i am -- i

sexually abused by another white male. i reported it to the manager when i was sexually abused by another white male on the job and he said if it happens again, we will have to do something about it. i was fired two days later. host: what do you make of how we are talking about sexual assault right now in america in the wake of the accusations against brett kavanaugh? caller: i think males should be included with the women's movement. over are males all america. i worked in a lot of different corporations and all these men in corporations like to play grab ass and that is what they do. host: that is joe in iowa.

special phone lines this morning. if you have experience with sexual assault. women, 202-748-8000. men, 202-748-8001. we mentioned that hearing on thursday and some senators on the democratic side are looking for another delay in the hearing in the wake of the new accusations that surfaced in the in orca -- the new yorker. --ator dianne feinstein requesting an immediate postponement of proceedings related to the nomination of brett kavanaugh, citing the second accusation asking the matter be referred to the fbi for further investigation. we will see if that happens and see what the response is as the senate is set to meet again at 3:00 the gavel in p.m. and votes expected about 5:30. members will be on capitol hill and expect many questions of senators, especially those on the senate judiciary committee.

in paris, maryland, good morning. ,aller: good morning -- bowie maryland, good morning. caller: good morning. separated when i was in first grade, my sister and i had to stay with an aunt and she had a boyfriend who used to have us sitting on either side of him with a pillow in his us touching to have him and, i guess, allowing him rgasm of some sort. every weekend, we had to go to our parents house -- grandparents house and a family member used to make his way there and i used to try to sleep with all my clothes on every night to protect myself and i would wake up and mike pence would be down around pants would be downand my

around my ankles it wasn't until first grade and high school and until high school, that was in d.c. and we lived in maryland in montgomery county and this predator made his way to our place in montgomery county when i load longer went -- no longer went to my grandparents house and i said, what -- how would you like it if my father did this to your daughter and then he stopped and moved on to other victims. even to this day, he is still pursuing young girls to the point where he tried to molest his own granddaughter. it is horrible and i joined the capitol police. i was in a family way and one of my coworkers came and pinched me to theipples and i went

sergeant and eventually i got fired from there for being pregnant and then i joined the army reserve and a female came up to me and told me she was gay and she was in my barracks. i just can't escape. i don't understand. sergeant female, the liked her, so i was afraid to againsthing negative somebody. i don't think these predators should be able to continue. at the same time, i don't know throwing them in jail is the thing to do. i think just like a drug addict can help to overcome their addiction, this sexual thing must be an addiction and i think there should be some kind of middle ground where they can go and try to get some help, but won't land them necessarily in

jail. host: charlie is in new york. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, sir. caller: yeah, i don't have any being a experience as male victim or survivor of sexual assault or sexual predator, but i have counseled quite a few. i could go on for hours about the people i have dealt with. for example, a girlfriend of mine was in a platonic relationship and was gang rap ed. triedher in college and i to get her to realize that there are men out there who were raised to be gentlemen. i think the whole issue is implied consent in the court over the years.

it has to be between consenting adults. loving relations between consenting adults. not -- another woman i dated was a victim of incensed -- a survivor of incense. her uncle would come every weekend and another woman i and am friends with 16 when it was a home invasion. host: as someone who has counseled people about this and -- what havee with

the conversations we been having in the country, what has that done for these conversations you are having? are we talking about sexual assault in the right ways when we talk about it today? caller: all sexual assault is a nice way of saying gang rape, incest. i have seen in my father's day in age, the court saying she was asking forward -- for it or you are making this up because you are a child or it was implied consent. that was the court system. that needs to change. host: for the next half-hour, those who have experience with sexual assault, the phone lines foryours to hear from you about your stories. phone lines for women, host: --

202-748-8000. for men, 202-748-8001. want to get your reaction to what happened in recent weeks when it comes to the sexual assault accusations against brett kavanaugh. rhett kavanaugh has said he is sexualalsely accused of assault. if that was your experience, you can call in as well. back to more of your phone calls in just a second. want to keep you updated about what is going on here in washington and around the world. we noted yesterday on this program, big week on the international stage. here is a story about his address to the united nations coming up. notingnt trump's aides the president's presents at the u.n. conference demonstrates his commitment to global partnership. another story focusing on nikki

haley. haley faces a lower profile as trump heads back to the u.n. with shifting as aides more nationalist agendas gain favor. one other story about the trump administration. president trump's plans would restrict applicants for green cards. pro-immigration groups girding for a major battle to stop -- strictly enforce rules for millions of immigrants applying for green cards or the says by foodinizing their use of vouchers and green cards. their plan would save taxpayers $2.7 billion annually by deterring immigrants for applying for benefits they would .therwise be qualified for it would affect about 380,000 people annually according to

designed socials, --t immigrants can describing the proposal as cruel and blasting the white house aide stephen miller for applying election-year politics. back to your calls. phone lines for those who have experience with sexual assault. brenda, thank you for waiting in south carolina. go ahead. in my opinion, i don't think he should go any further with it because the second lady came out and i think they should have an fbi investigation because a lot of times, when you are sexually assaulted in some way and you are very young, you block it out and it picks up and

you deal with it for a long time. the only reason i feel this lady has come forward is he knows she will be on one of the highest court in the land. i really don't agree with the way she is being treated and i think they should not rush the nomination. they should take their time and have an fbi investigation because if another lady came out, there are more out there. i watched of the hearing and a lot of questions he was evasive on and did not answer and a lot of his rack round, they blocked out. -- background, they blocked out. i think there should be a thorough fbi investigation before mrs. ford goes before a hearing. host: reidsville, wisconsin. patty caller:, good morning. caller:thank you for taking my call. this should be thoroughly investigated. our role model is our president, he has charges against him.

note, my daughter, when she was in fifth grade band was approached and in her fifth grade explanation, she came home one day and said, i don't want to have band anymore and i asked her why and she said, he makes me feel creepy. two churchg to meetings this week regarding the priest scandal. we are still in the dark ages. we need to pray for our nation, that we need to be proactive and talk to our children. no one has the right to touch you. thank you for taking my call. host: arlington, virginia, is next. clay, good morning. caller: i was assaulted by a father figure, someone i knew for 10 years. it did not escalate because i was able to fight him off. i was 20 years old at the time.

the reason i wanted to bring it up in relation to the current political situation. and i wasr intoxicated, but i remember every detail of that night. mind,imprinted in my every detail of every second of what happened. i am not trying to take sides on who is credible or right or whatever, but that is my take -- that has been my take. i understand i am a man and i was older. host: you think it is less credible that there are parts of mrs. ford's story that she doesn't remember? caller: in my own, personal experience, yes, i think that makes someone less credible. can describele everything about 9/11, i can describe everything that happened that night even though i was pretty heavily

intoxicated. i can still describe everything in detail. your how has that shaped thoughts on what is happening today? are we getting better as a society about talking about sexual assault and rape? caller: i believe we have. male't know how the older generation like maybe 50's or 60's plus have adapted to it or it i believe my generation and at least the way i act, because i was raised by a single mom, are more respectful toward women. my friends are and i still haven't taken sides on this whole thing. i do think it makes her less credible, but my mind is not made up. i would have to hear testimony before i say anything. a lot of my friends take that same stance and we are in our 30's now. i think it has changed at least a little bit. host: thank you for sharing your

story. we are talking with those who have experience with sexual assault. phone lines for women and men. the me tooned movement. the inside the beltway column by jennifer hart way today, the headline "me too has been weaponize." it was a conversation jennifer whowith christine flowers talked about me too activism in the past. christine flowers said in the interview, i am tired of democrats telling women when they should feel victimized. evolved intoickly terrorism. i think the me too movement has had an opposite effect than the one feminist hoped-for. it has moderate -- alienated moderate to conservative women who are angered by the way me too has been weaponize.

in today'sd it inside the beltway column in the washington times. marianne in pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i am a victim of sexual abuse through many, many years from the time i was six years old. leaveould probably be -- most people with the feeling tot men are just evil and stay away from them. i have the exact opposite. i have two sons who are wonderful men and i am 72 years old. this goes back quite a bit, as i had said. the thing that has been disturbing me the most with kavanaugh is exactly what was written in the article i just

heard, that something as serious as this -- as devastating to -- itas it is, has been has been weaponize. that is exactly the perfect word. i don't know why, but my gut kavanaughells me that just is a great candidate and a good man. i don't know what is happening with these other two charges coming up. one mentioned in the new yorker, i think i heard. man standdoes a good against this? this is terrible. , inoesn't seem this is just any way, shape, or form read how

in the world is the fbi supposed to go back and take a teenage isn'tnt -- not to say it terrible, having had those experiences, it is terrible. i can tell you you do forget some details, you just remember how traumatized you were. or how scared you were, that is a better word. sad that this is taking -- has taken on this when -- and ict don't know what is going to happen when she does come forward. i would hate to be in the position right now of having to testify against amanda did something to me 35 years ago. feel --n say is i just

against a man that did something to me 35 years ago. all i can say is i just feel that something is desperately wrong and i don't like the way it is being handled by the senate committee. int: mary is up next pennsylvania. good morning. caller: hi. and iremember something was helpful with a perpetrator. i made sure i knew who my perpetrator was before i said anything. it was a catholic priest when i years old. it was in the backseat of the car while my parents were in the front seat. they could not have known because it was very dark and the cars were very big.

mediauntry, when the exposed the church, this is when no matterii was -- who was in the white house, -- whoeveranything was pope, when they said anything -- just because of how powerful the catholic church was . no matter how many american citizens were harmed. trust how mrs. ford will be treated and i think there should be an

investigation and i think both people should be treated sensitively and carefully. host: how long did it take for you to come forward and say something about that incident that happened when you were 5.5? caller: and i met other survivors that had the exact same story with different perpetrators. my perpetrator was moved around an awful lot and what was unusual was my perpetrator was ordained for the united states and they did not want any part of him. wanted to say when my perpetrator died, the vatican told the united states to destroy his file, so there is international crime.

host: that is mary in pennsylvania. been tweaks as we have having this conversation. jan writes what people don't understand is everyone response different a two and event. carol sang if kavanaugh isn't fit, select somebody else and move on. let's see if democrats will try to hold up the next person as well. this allegation is why the judiciary committee wants to jam this nomination through more questions. as we noted, some calls by senate democrats to hold off this thursday hearing in the wake of that in the hopes of having a full investigation. public opinion polls regarding brett kavanaugh continue to be published in the wake of the allegations of the past two weeks. a fox news poll released sunday found 50% of voters if they had

a say would vote against confirming brett kavanaugh while 40% would back him. to believe hisy accuser instead of his denials. 36% say they believe his accusations. jim is in new york. good morning, you are up next. caller: hi, thank you. i am really disappointed in you guys. i don't understand. if you had a segment that actually dealt with a person who was falsely accused by putting this narrative about that we are talking about -- you are not giving brett kavanaugh a presumption of innocence at all. by are taking something -- constantly parading this sexual assault stuff, it is almost implying he had done it.

i haven't heard a segment where you dealt with someone who had been falsely accused or something happened 30 something years ago and there is no one that can corroborate the story. why aren't you dealing with that end as well? host: we decided to make the phone lines in this segment experience with sexual assault at the top of this program, invited callers to call in if you had experience with sexual assault or you were in the experience as brett kavanaugh saying you are falsely accused. the first color of the day may have been falsely accused. that is why we are having this discussion, to offer perspective for those who may have been in that situation. whether it is the -- caller: you are perpetrating a narrative you want to make people think everybody does this. it is ridiculous. host: to stacy next. little rock, arkansas. caller: hello.

good morning. i am 50 years old now, but i was 17 the first time i was raped. i can never forget it, but i never spoke about it at the time. brothers and a very aggressive and protective father and i was afraid of what would happen if i spoke out about it. the rape that happened was on a date and i thought and resisted and said no, i don't want this and when the assault turned to rape, i just laid there and cried. afterwards, i went home and wanted to bake and cleanup and pretend like it didn't happen and i was confused because the guy actually called me the next day to ask for another date. i always wondered what did he

think happened? it seems so murky sometimes, but i felt it was very clear i did not want that to happen, but he must've had a different perception entirely what happened. so things repeated in my life. you learn lessons along the way about power and control. whenever donald trump ran for president and got on and they ran the audio tape of him bragging about what he could do to women without repercussion, it was the mentality of the guy who raped me being played out in television for public discussion and for people to be dismissing all of that, it's not like being honest about -- not being honest about where we are in the consciousness of our nation. if we are confirming someone for the highest court in the nation, they need to have good character.

maybe this guy really believes that didn't happen that way. maybe he thought he was playing some sort of drunken game. i don't know, but we need to have a conversation and these are very hard discussions and when we have leadership in place perpetrating the kind of story line that gets perpetrated, i despair for our country. thank you. host: that is stacy in arkansas. and sexualon rape assault, you can find online -- 1 in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at one point in their lives. of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner. victims 52.4% of male

report being raped by anna claims. by an acquaintance. rape being the most under reported crime, 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police. the prevalence of false reporting is low between 2% and 10%. a study of 8 u.s. communities found a 7.1% rate of false reports in a study of 136 sexual assault cases in boston that found a 5.9% rate of false reports. 2.1% of those were false reports. those stats from the national sexual violence resource center, if you want to take a look at those. suzanne, thanks for waiting in michigan. good morning. caller: yes.

a sex education teacher. as soon as i got married, the man who weighed 225 pounds and was afoot taller than me basically raped me. while he was doing it, he told me when i was telling him he was saidng me and to stop, he i was his wife now and he could do what he wanted with me. i went to the doctor and had a isc that was bleeding down my leg, causing sciatica pain. i had physical therapy and the person giving me the physical therapy new this person and i just was beside myself as to what to do.

i actually stopped going to physical therapy and i wanted to get an annulment. i filed annulment papers. mys person begged for forgiveness and i put it under the rug and thought i will heal myself, i am strong enough. years went by and i could not sit down. i was in a masters program and i had to withdraw because of the intense studying and the pain. and -- ii went back had to get a divorce and i had counseling, but they told me there weren't any rules about raped in marriage. i really did not know who to turn to. nobody was really willing to listen to me. goa rape victim, you have to

to the prosecuting attorney's office and they said they had so many cases in kalamazoo that mine wasn't that bad, there were a lot of people waiting and so -- host: in 2018, do you think we are better about listening to people about their stories? caller: i don't know. i called the prosecuting the other day and they told me medical records were not permissible in court. i have an orthopedic surgeon that has records and told me i would be injured if this person had sex with me the way he was. i was actually a substitute teacher and i would give talks in his class because i wrote a cancer stds and cervical because that is my specialty, screening for cancer. host: thank you for sharing your story.

in florida, good morning. caller: thank you and good morning. my heart goes out to all the stories i have heard. i am 62 years old. was 23.te raped when i you never forget. this issue is complex and cuts many ways. i never reported it. those were the times. ago were if iears would have reported it, i would have been accused of asking for it. now, however, we live in a very different world. the time has come for people to stand up and tell their story and for people to believe it. about this confirmation hearing. i find it odd that there are no other allegations. maybe they will come forward. if this person is a predator or a serial rapist, however you

want to describe his behavior, then other stories should have come forward. tot: have you had a chance see the reporting from the new yorker that came out yesterday? caller: i haven't read it, i heard about it on your program. i wanted to say this. this is not cut and dry, this is very emotional for many people i think the me too movement is a movement to help address these issues and bring them to the floor. however, i think it is being used as a tool and in this case, i think it is being used as a tool by the democratic party to discredit someone. i used to work on the hill, it is not a due process. it is not a court-like process. for there to be a crew

court-like process, it has to be -- happen in a real setting. -- legal setting. this is an exercise for political gain and my heart goes out to all the victims on the line. host: some additional reporting from the new york times on that new yorker story involving deborah ramirez and her allegations about brett kavanaugh. the new york times noting the times interviewed several dozen people over the past week in an the story corroborate and could find no one with firsthand knowledge. ramirez contacted former yale colleagues and told some of them she could not be certain mr. kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself. short to hear more about that in the coming days. for one more call,

colleen in misery. go ahead. caller: i have experience ganga knife point. at i still suffer. i see several psychologists. this happened 40 years ago. had to go out of town to get treatment because it was a gang rape. they had to do the test for diseases, which i was fortunate not to have. some of the rape that happened, i blocked it out. there are times you don't want to remember it. i remember parts of it, but not every detail because i don't want to remember it. it destroyed my marriage. i slept in my clothes. it destroyed me. i was a victim and i was the

criminal because they look at it like you had it coming or it was your fault. you could not go and report it because when you report it, there are no results. the criminals get away and they are still getting away. they are raping every day, the same rapists. i do believe the young lady going against mr. kavanaugh. kavanaugh did these and is when he was young don't really condemn him for that. i cannot say anything about that. his character now is a good character. i would not put him down. i would not keep him from gaining this office and i would best fort wish the both of them.

i do believe this lady needs to come forward and tell the details, but i don't think he should be punished for it. host: pauline in kansas city. next, congressional correspondent lisa mascaro will join us to talk about the latest twist when it comes to brent courtugh's supreme nomination and the details about that thursday hearing. later on, chris dodd and rick santorum will be here to react to the controversy and also talk about their joint work on the issue of paid family leave. he will be right back. -- we will be right back. >> this week on the

communicators, executive director of the open markets institute discusses his concern over companies like google, facebook, amazon, and uber possibly becoming monopolies and threatening democracy. he is interviewed by ashley gold. >> with google we may have to do certain things like separating maps from search, separating search from youtube. this sounds radical in today's environment but this is something we have done many times in the past. 1982, it with at&t in 1913. we have done it with dozens of large corporations over the years. it is all right, as the people of the united states, to structure the political economy in a way that is safe for us. >> watch tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span2.

>> what does it mean to be american? that is this year's studentcam competition question. we are asking middle and high school students to answer it by producing a short documentary about a constitutional right, national characteristic, or historical event, and explain how it defines the american experience. we are awarding $1000 in total cash prizes including a grand prize of $5,000. is january deadline 20, 20 19. for more information, go to our website. host: lisa mascaro is back at our desk, chief congressional correspondent for the associated press, spent her weekend tracking down the negotiations over christine fozzie ford's testimony.

areyou take us through what the biggest questions in your mind three days out? --st: this is such a set fast-moving, constantly changing story. over the weekend, there were long negotiations, they had been going on all last week, between ford'sne blasey attorney and their agreement to testify. weekend,agree over the there was some breaking news saturday they reached a tentative deal for her to come thursday. of course, brett kavanaugh would also testified. about the allegations she is raising against him. today, noon, they were able put the final touches on the deal, they announced they had an agreement. forwardthat was moving

in this long, protracted negotiations come to a close last night, there were new allegations being raised in an aboute in the new yorker breck kavanaugh from his years at yale university. so now we start monday morning .ith a whole new landscape is this thursday hearing still on and will the senators want to ?ush forward with it senator dianne feinstein said last night it is time to halt the proceedings and take a look at all of this. the white house this morning does not appear to be slowing anything down. in fact, brett kavanaugh issued a statement last night denying the new allegations, saying this smear, plain and simple, a smear of his reputation, he is

extremely eager to come forward thursday and clear his name. he says he wants to come forward as soon as possible and clear his name. host: if this happens thursday, how this will go down in the senate judiciary committee, with everything from who will be doing the questioning. guest: the judiciary committee agreed to meet in the smaller meeting room it has. the big one was used for the brick kavanaugh hearing at the start of this month in september, those four days of hearings. ford, thed with dr. california professor making these allegations against kavanaugh, to hold it in their smaller meeting room. her lawyers were trying to avoid the big media onslaught. it is a very crowded room, we were there a few weeks ago for another meeting on this issue. there were dozens of protesters outside, members of the media.

fit, so that is a challenge. they came to an agreement on terms that she would in fact testify first, as the accuser, which is sort of normal in a proceeding. she had wanted to wait and testify second. brett kavanaugh, he is an appellate court judge here in d.c. he will have his time to testify. the panel is made up of 11 republicans on the majority side, 10 democratic senators on the minority side. one of the sticking points remains who actually will question these two witnesses about this incident. normally in a situation like this, senators will ask the questions. we saw that at the start of september when the senators at the judiciary committee posed in

their questions during to the viewer days of hearings with judge kavanaugh. this time around, republicans want to bring in outside counsel to represent their side. they say they want to just have lawyers, people familiar with being on the stand, doing questioning, take this over. but we are in the backdrop of the me too movement, this whole situation has echoes of 27 years ago with the anita hill hearings for justice clarence thomas. senators are 11 men. there is a concern among republicans that the optics of the 11 men questioning this woman over these very detailed the way judge kavanaugh, when they were teenagers, assaulted her at a

party, that that would be too uncomfortable, not the kind of image republicans would want heading into the midterm election. that detail, who will do the questioning, remains an outstanding debate among the lawyers who are negotiating the terms of the agreement. the republican side had been trying to hire outside counsel. we will see if that proceeds. democrats, of course, have plenty of questions they want to bring in. have you atlad to the beginning of another busy week on capitol hill. the phone lines are a little bit different, if you want to talk to lisa mascaro. if you support the nomination, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose the nomination, (202) 748-8001. if you are not sure, (202) 748-8002. you have any

names surfaced on the republican side if it is not the senators asking the questions, do we have any idea who it might be? guest: that's a good question, one that we have considered looking at. week, one of the names that was floated was the former senator kelly ayotte who has been integral in the earlier supreme court nomination from president trump. now justice neil gorsuch. she is a former senator from new hampshire, she had been instrumental in helping bring him around to meet the senators during their one-on-one negotiations. her name was floated at one that isut we understand not who is being considered for this point. so we don't know the answer to

that question. host: nancy is in ohio. on the line for those who support the nomination. caller: i am just calling to say i do support him. think i would i be, i think, very surprised and disappointed. but i do think, if this is about groping, i don't understand why they are calling for fbi investigations. on theisa mascaro, status of whether an fbi investigation would happen at this point. somethings is democrats have called for from the beginnings when these allegations surfaced, almost two weeks ago, 10 days ago. they said -- the fbi does what is called a background investigation on the nominees. is not a full, normal fbi

investigation that you may think of. it is really just april mary review -- preliminary review that becomes a part of the judges file, sent to the white house, judiciary committee. the fbi has said it will include this information in its background investigation, update its background file with the allegations that have been democrats, actually to ato senator feinstein congresswoman in california -- another roundabout story. they would include that in his file but they were not pursuing additional investigation. the white house also indicated it does not plan to have the fbi take this on in another way. no, there does

not seem to be an investigation planned or going forward. democrats last night, with this new allegation being raised of a second woman coming forward, renewed their call. yorker, the new associated press trunk to follow up on that second allegation? guest: we have tried. at this point, we are working on that. the new yorker story stands as it is. we will see what else comes out from that, who is able to add additional information on that. jenn mayer,farrow, the authors of that story. dorothy is in silver spring, maryland, on the line for those that oppose the nomination. caller: on this nomination for mr. cavanaugh, this is a doubt

for him. i know for a fact the fbi investigated back in the day 32 years ago, my daughter who had already had clearance from the department of navy. almost toa four year --m my daughter host: are you talking about a background check or specific sexual assault allegation? the background check goes from when she is an elementary school all the way to high school. they did not do a background elementaryr as school. they only did a background check on what he did in the present. they need to investigate this. about how do we know

intense the background check was. didt: christine blasey ford not share her allegations publicly. she held these close for some 30 .ears so it is perhaps understandable that this was not raised, had she not come forward, filed any sort of complaint, told authorities. that is something that you will hear a lot of people on capitol hill talking about. what do you do with these older allegations that had not come to light previously? dr. ford in her case, as we know from her interview with the washington post, when she first came forward to tell her story, these were allegations that she kept close, came out in 2012 during marriage

counseling with her husband. tos is a difficult situation look at these issues. host: lisa mascaro, chief investigative correspondent for the ap. talking about the members that you'll be hearing from, one of the members on the panel is lindsey graham republican from south carolina. he was on fox news sunday and asked if there was anything ford himd say that would make vote against judge kavanaugh. this was his response. but would listen to her, being honest with you and everyone else, what do you expect me to do? you cannot bring it in criminal court, you cannot even get a warrant. what am i supposed to do? ruin this guy's life based on an accusation? i don't know when it happened, where it happened, and everyone

named in regard to being there says it didn't happen. unless there is something more, no, i will not ruin judge kavanaugh's life over this, but she should come forward, have her say, she will be respectfully treated. what do you expect us to do with an anonymous letter to begin with? what do you expect someone to do with an accusation this of, not verified in any way? i will listen but i will not play any game and tell you this will wipe out his entire life. if nothing changes, it will not with me. host: your thoughts? this was early sunday morning, before the second accuser came forward publicly. throughout this entire debate, the republicans have been split into two camps. there are those like senator graham, the senate leader, mitch , whonell, the white house

have stood by judge kavanaugh. as asee this court battle long process of republicans to bring more conservatives onto the court. this is an enormous accomplishment for leader mcconnell, president trump, his second nominee to the court. they would like to push forward, past the allegations, and focus on the judge now. dissent among is the republican senators. you see a number of senators came out last weekend when this was first aired. jeff flake, who is retiring, also bob corker. of course, susan collins of ,aine, lisa murkowski of alaska

are two of the most watched senators throughout this debate because they are two women on the republican side of the aisle. they do support the right to abortion. these have been long-standing issues for them, as they weigh this judge who could be pivotal on the court. there are views on what to do with these allegations, how to proceed, are critical. i will also say senator collins did say that if any of this thes out to be true, if judge has not been honest in his senator collins said that would be disqualified for her. if democrats stick together as no votes, republicans can only lose one vote. a tie would be broken by the vice president. senate is narrowly divided right now.

51 republicans, 49 democrats. they can lose one vote if they pick up no democrats. if they lose more than one, they have to pick up some of those democrats, or they need the vice president to come in and break the tie, which would be a substantial development, to have a vice president break a tie to present a nominee to the court. host: has that happened before? guest: i was just thinking last night, i need to look back. off the top of my head, i cannot remember that. i'm hoping that someone is watching and can remind us of that. in auburn, new york, on the line for those that support the nomination. good morning. lisa brought up the fact that there are 11 men on the republican side. all, i would ask her what she thinks of cory booker,

and the article he wrote when he was at stanford in the daily about his own abuse of a 15-year-old girl? also, keith ellison. girlfriend had pictures, videos, and a doctor statement. blastedbeen totally from the democratic party. and one more thing. out in oure people united states to ask that all people that used the slush fund be exposed, as we have taxpayers have the right to know what they used our money for. thank you for listening to me. host: lisa mascaro? are these stories from the other side of the aisle, we certainly saw what happened to another prominent , ascrat, senator al franken

soon as the stories and photos of his behavior began circulating, he was essentially forced to resign from the senate . democrats said they would not tolerate that. those are the questions about mr. ellison, mr. brooker, i'm not working on that story, i know others are looking into whatever those allegations are. but at this point, the focus in front of us is the situation with whether or not judge kavanaugh will be confirmed in a matter of days or weeks, to the supreme court. host: stewart is in mechanicsville, virginia. on the line for those that support the nomination. caller: i think i am leaning toward having a smart idea to have secured lawyers doing the

questioning, rather than listening to all the speeches and grandstanding, like spartacus, like a spartacus moment. that was a joke. here is the point. a good, skilled lawyer should ask on the democratic side, you guys have been knowing this, how many of you have been no one does, how long have you known about it? with regard to the second person that came out now, correct me if said,ong, i believe she she didn't really see him expose himself but she heard that he did. she was too drunk to remember. this is a circus. you are ready to destroy this man's life. the me too movement, you are getting ready to destroy his wife and his daughter's. they don't care about that. to achievest out

what they want to achieve, and that is denied trump -- deny trump. the new yorker story, she acknowledgment's alcohol and intoxication but also remembers it was brett kavanaugh that exposed himself to her at that party. those are the details from the new yorker story. host: i would also say -- guest: i would also say, a lot of republicans, the white house, agree with what stewart was looking at. the white house advisor, kellyanne conway, was on one of the shows this morning. she saidporting that this second allegation sounds like a vast left-wing conspiracy. i think there is concern among republicans that this is all coming out late in the process.

of course, senator feinstein had granted dr. for the privacy she sought, through the broughtwoman, eschoo these in july, but did not want to go forward. , and thendid not know a few days before it became public, started trickling out. question in the age of the me too movement, that folks wrestle with. what do you do when an accuser has an accusation but they don't want to come forward publicly. we see what happens to those that raise these allegations. it's a difficult process. how do you handle this? i think the country is looking at the situation now and trying to understand how we balance

looking at allegations, not as , bringing down somebody who is falsely accused yet also giving voice to women and men who feel they have a story to tell. host: you are the chief congressional correspondent for the associated press. is there a policy in place if somebody were to come to you against,llegation whether it be somebody up for confirmation, high-profile politician? what is the process before that gets published? guest: these stories take a long out.to vet, figure that is why different publications have been able to take on different aspects of these stories but not everyone is able to quickly confirm all these details, interview all the , in theseo back situations, 30 years, interview

people who were at the party. in dr. ford's case, or with this new situation at yale or this is old-fashioned reporting, calling people, knocking on doors, asking people to tell their stories, looking into the validity of it. it all takes time and effort. jamie is on the line for those that oppose the nomination. petersburg, virginia. caller: i was calling because of one key point that has not been mentioned very much. this nomination from the beginning has been very controversial. there have been many documents that have been withheld. that is extremely questionable , and would seem to be disqualifying.

what are they trying to hide? ,hen when you come up with this all i can say is, this woman, dr. ford, has asked for an investigation, she has taken and passed a lie detector test. she has asked for an investigation, has asked for that other gentlemen in the room to testify before the senate. thatreally strikes me is an innocent person wants an investigation. they want to be able to prove their innocence. only a guilty person does not becauseinvestigation they will be discovered to be lying. host: lisa mascaro? caller raises several points. let's back up to the issue of

the documents. judge kavanaugh is the first supreme court nominee to be put forward in the email age as a public figure where there is an enormous access to his paper trail. this was a daunting challenge from the beginning. he had worked at the white house during the george w. bush white house, for five years, had asviously worked in a not heavy email era, on the ken starr investigation into former president clinton, monica lewinsky. so there was an enormous amount of information about him publicly available. republicans knew that when he became the nominee. on the judiciary committee, they set up a new process to bring on .he documents it is accurate that they did not collect all the documents.

they initially looked at a cache of not quite a million documents that they were looking at, when he worked at the white house counsel office, they did not go after another cache from the white house years when he was the so-called staff secretary to bush, a position that republican described as the inbox and outbox of the president. the president needs to see passes through the staff secretary's office. democrats wanted the treasure trove of documents, but it was voluminous. the estimates from the archives was it was beyond the millions. at some point, republican said no, we are going to take a is whatcache, and that they did. this has been an ongoing debate. host: about 15 minutes left with lisa mascaro.

earlier we showed lindsey graham . another member of the judiciary attention,ot of mazie hirono of hawaii. she was on cnn and was asked about specific questions she asked brett kavanaugh from his first run of confirmation hearings. >> the last time you question brett kavanaugh, you asked whether he committed sexual harassment or assault as a legal adult. i know you ask every trunk nominee this question. the allegation took place when he was supposedly 17 years old. why do you caveat the question with legal adult? that would have extruded this incident, which he denies. >> of course, 17 years old is no child. juvenile records are sealed. that is why. >> it does seem to delineate behavior 18 and older, and behavior under 18. >> generally we hold on

responsible for their behavior. these are questions that have never been asked before of any nominee. i have asked this of any nominee and i have asked this of men and women, the same questions. we need to change the environment that says women and men who suffer from this kind of not in as supportive of an environment where they can come forward. this is very underreported. why? the victims and their survivors are not believed, vilified, all those things that are happening to dr. ford, happens. host: can you explain the background on that? -- hironoator geraldo has been asking this question of every nominee that comes forward, a sign of the me too movement, that senators are now asking a question that has not really been a part of past confirmation hearings for judges

, administration officials. -- hirono is a former prosecutor. there are prosecutors on both sides and they know how to pose questions, get the kinds of answers they want. interestingme an figure because she has been so outspoken, she has her own background as a young girl coming to the united states, one of the only immigrants in the senate. as a young girl, her mother left her father behind in japan, i believe, came to the u.s. and hawaii, so she brings her own story to this debate, has taken on a very prominent role in bringing up these questions, trying to hold folks

accountable. pennsylvania is next. robin, on the line for those that support kavanaugh. caller: i have a few things i want to say. first of all, dianne feinstein is a disgrace for what she did, holding the letter. number one. number two, this happened to me. from tell you every detail the time that he grabbed me by my hair and drug me into a hotel room. i can tell you everything that happened. three, keith ellison, democrats are not even caring what he did. it is all politics. nobody will change my mind. i think everybody knows it but they don't want to admit it. god bless the kavanaugh family. host: lisa mascaro? guest: the caller reflects the deep polarization in the country that we have seen grow in years,

we have seen it in the way folks vote, the way they look at the ,residential candidates candidates for congress in the house, senate. now we are seeing that partisan loyalty extend to the judicial way that isy be a different for the country, senate, and supreme court. routinely, supreme court nominees, in the past, have enjoyed fairly bipartisan votes. even president obama's fix for the court won widespread support. judge gorsuch last year had bipartisan support. but we are in an age of deeply polarized politics. that is often the defining decision for a lot of people, where their politics lie. host: kensington, maryland. kate, on the line for those that

are not sure. what could make you sure in the coming days? caller: well, i think it would probably be a thorough and trauma-informed investigation rd's allegations. dr. ford speaks to all women of my age in this country. i am 70 years old. i was not in the bedroom with -- aut i was in a bedroom caller last time said that she was dragged from her car. i bet if you look at any woman my age, there will be an toident, on a scale of one 10, similar to what dr. ford experienced. is a sleeping giant. a ptsd momentack,

listening to what was happening around this case. driving last week. if it is happening to me, it's happening to women all over this talked toho have not their parents, not gone to the police. boys will be boys. don't ruin his career. don't talk about it. well, we are going to start to talk about it. needs a really adequate hearing. part of that adequate hearing is inhorough investigation which experts will be able to abuse, about survivor the neurological effects of trauma which can, and in may case -- my case, do last a lifetime. as i said, this is a sleeping giant. host: lisa mascaro on who will

testify thursday. that still seems to be up for debate. exactly to thend caller's point, dr. ford has asked for some trauma specialists to appear. that has not been agreed to yet. dr. ford also wants her polygraph administered. seems like there are discussions underway for that. her -- dr. ford took a polygraph this summer and wants the results of that polygraph entered. i did ask the senator last week if the democrat side would be trying to hold the polygraph of brett kavanaugh. i got a mixed response. the particular senator i was , senator durbin does not necessarily agree with

the validity of polygraph. there are some split decisions. i have not heard that they want to do that. but the caller raises the point of who will be the witnesses. that is something that remains to be discussed. you expect the answers to these outstanding questions? guest: over the weekend there was some clarity that this year and would go forward on thursday. now with these new allegations .oming, it is unclear a lot of it is on the republicans. if those divisions within republican senators are able to be set aside than they decide, yes, we want to push forward with this, they are the majority, they can set the terms of the debate in a way democrats can't. or if there is too much pressure now on this nominee to go forward. how do other republican

senators feel chuck grassley is doing, trying to chair this ongoing process? guest: senator grassley has generally been getting good grades on how he is handling it. 80 years old, has been through a number of supreme court hearings. 15th. to say this is his he is not a lawyer but has taken a fairly measured approach. you may remember the hearings for brett kavanaugh were extremely boisterous, a lot of protest interruptions. he kept the hearing fairly aganized, giving all sides chance to speak. so i do think there is respect for senator grassley. host: robert in pennsylvania, online for those who support. caller: i have three things i want to say. number one, let's go ahead and have the election.

elected, itaugh is will be under the understanding that if he is found guilty, he has to step down. that is number one. number two, let's look at this young lady. she was, like, 14. she lied to her parents so she could go to a party and get drunk. why did she go there? number three. if the fbi is going to investigate this rate case -- rape case, then every rape case in the united states must be run by the fbi. that is what i have to say. host: to be clear, rape is not the allegation, sexual assault is. guest: that's right. a point --raises among some, especially on the republican side -- there is a

you allow these kinds of allegations to go , a lot of questions will be raised that require investigation. that is a whole new terrain we are in, how we deal with these allegations. women, folks who have allegations of abuse or assault want exactly that. there is a difference in how the country is trying to handle these issues right now. host: can you talk about what is happening at the white house? i know that your beat is congress. the presidentect to handle the continued waiting for the hearings in the coming days? guest: the president is off to assembly ineral new york this week. he has tried to show enormous restraint. entiret week, as this

story was coming out, his aides were encouraging him to just stay quiet, not be on twitter. then of course, last friday, the president did tweet, raises the assaults of, if this were as bad as dr. ford said it was, why didn't she tell anyone? that is the president casting doubt on the accuser. this was exactly what beenlicans had trying -- trying to avoid. they do not want to be seen as casting doubt, they want to be seen as empathetic, understanding, giving dr. ford a chance to raise her story. then they also want to be able to make their own decision. senator graham, on one of the shows yesterday said, he wants the president to understand capitol hill can under -- handle this.

it was a subtle message to the president not to tweet, engage in that kind of commentary. we will see if he can show restraint. speaking of the president, he has not tweeted this morning, yesterday focusing on international politics, the japanese prime minister's election victory. he did tweet at the end of last week regarding spending on the border wall, something that we have been watching in the wake of the looming deadlines on government funding. this is what he said. i want to know where the money for the border security and this ridiculous spending bill will come from after the midterms. lawcrats are obstructing enforcement. republicans must get tough. give us a sense on where we are on a potential government shutdown. here we are again, days away from the month, that september 30 deadline to fund and the government or avoid shutdown. beenouse and senate have working furiously not to be in

this situation. they have been trying to pass spending bills in a bipartisan way, getting these packages to the president or his signature. but they don't have the money for the president's border wall. they have a smaller amount that he does not seem as adequate. they are trying to convince him that a shutdown is not something to do before the midterm election. controlsthe party that washington, they don't want to be seen as dysfunctional. president sees this as an issue worth fighting for. election, in part on build the wall. he wants to push forward. he has shown back and forth how hard he is going to go to the mat on this. this is the other drama in the backdrop. will there be a government shutdown? host: marcia is waiting in portland, oregon. on the line for those that are not sure. caller: thank you for taking my call.

we really will not know what to but i dotil thursday feel a little bit like judge kavanaugh is not being treated fairly. letthing i am hoping is -- me try to explain what i'm thinking. they take the situation from 35 years ago and apply it in a logical way that shows some sort of a pattern to his decision-making, or something. you cannot just take an incident that happened at some point in your life and destroy someone's career, that does not have any logical -- you see where i'm going with that?

i just feel if it has not affected -- and not to sound insensitive, because people do things in the past. maybe they have done it once or twice even. andif there is no pattern it does not override what he has done over the past 30 years, that is what i'm wondering. host: how do you weigh those things against each other? you have to take his history. he hasall of these women put in important positions, is trying to represent. then you have a person who is 17 years old, not an adult, his parents were still responsible for him. even know he says he was not there at all. but we will find out on thursday. you take something, when somebody is 17 years old that

happened. there is a second person who said something in college. how does that override 30 years, or however long he has been working in his decisions, going through law school -- your point.e let's get to some other colors that have been waiting. samantha, also on the line for those are not sure. i am wondering if spartacus himself and his accusers would come out when he groped women in college, also ex-girlfriend. they were at fault also and have a right to be heard. host: lisa mascaro. guest: again, back to those other accusations. the caller raises a point.

they have a right to be heard. we have this immediate situation with the court nominee. the previous caller also raised an interesting point. a number of senators especially on the republican side have raised a similar line of thinking. look at the man's entire life. let's hear what everyone has to say. even lindsey graham said that yesterday. say what both sides have to and judge against what is known. i think there is also a point to be made that some have made about how the judge is handling the situation. is he handling it in a way that is appropriate? defense,ing to his own as many would expect he would. how is his demeanor, how is he handling? these are all interesting ways to look at what is an extremely

complicated and emotional situation. host: the previous caller brought up other accusations against members of congress, referred to a slush fund. -- can you remind us what that is? ofst: there were a number reports earlier in the year, against the backdrop of the me too movement, of lawmakers who were accused of sexual misconduct. they are able to pay out victims, sort of a settlement agreement, essentially, through money available in congress. that entire system has been up in separate debate arguments going on on capitol hill. there was some attempt to pass legislation to change the way harassment and assaults are being reported on capitol hill.

to modernize that process in a way that brings it up to where we are today. i don't remember off the top of my head what the status is of und, if congress was able to stop payouts from that fund, but it came under enormous me and concern. blue springs, missouri. on the line for those that support brett kavanaugh. independent, so i don't really have a voice in politics. what i understand is, the letter was sent -- it happened 30 years ago, and was sent to this feinstein. she has yet to reveal it to the other people, the other senators. me, it sounds like -- and are

they going to do, they are afraid to show it to people so they can change it? so fishy.nds something happened 30 years ago, they have a letter they will not share with anybody. i'm sorry. i have to disregard that. host: do we know if the letter has been shared? guest: i think it has. was night, senator grassley releasing the letter. i need to double check that but i believe there was some late flurry of activity on that. the letter was put back into kavanaugh's fbi file. weeks,enators, for two have been able to go to the file to look at that letter. so it is being shared amongst the senators and i believe grassley was sharing a publicly. host: george has a question on twitter. at risk offeinstein

ethical or legal charges with the way she handled the initial complaint? guest: i have not heard any questions on that front. what she is facing is a lot of political concern about that. senator feinstein is up for reelection this year in california. under that state's system, there are two democrats on the ballot. they have an open primary system, the top two vote getters go to the primary. she faces a democratic opponent in california that has been raising questions about how she handled this. one of the leaders on capitol hill, senator mitch mcconnell, can you talk about therole he is playing, interplay between him and chuck grassley as these negotiations were going on? guest: leader mcconnell is an enormous figure in this entire debate. hasirming judicial nominees become a top priority, top

accomplishment of leader mcconnell, throughout this congress. he has put more judges on the lower courts, appellate courts than ever, has been able to bring those confirmations , anard for president trump enormous victory for the leader. now the possibility of having a second supreme court nominee would be a capstone to that effort. a real feather for the anservative, evangelicals, enormous part of the republican base that has supported the leader and the party over the years. he is playing a crucial behind the scenes role, keeping this process pushing forward. te in westport, connecticut. on the line for those that support brett kavanaugh. caller: i am in favor of kavanaugh. number one, these are out of

control last-minute calls by schumer. i am one of theon the line for t support brett kavanaugh. caller: goals who was falsely accused of sex crime. this followed me my entire life. almost 50 years later. i had to put on a form that i was arrested. that never happened, the crime never happened. we went to court, the victim was not there, i was not there. the day after i turned 18 this happened. this false accusation. this is out of control. this has schumer written all over it. go, how do youu think we as a country should deal with this issue of false accusations? caller: once your accused, you are guilty. the biggest question i am asked about this is how did you get away with it? not that the crime never took place.

in another town, she was in another town. it was her friend to verify her alibi. this false accusation stuff has to stop. somebody has to start paying the price for it. lisa mascaro, the sentiment he expressed, are you hearing that on capitol hill? guest: there is a sentiment, more in-line with one of the previous caller's, that you need , anddge the entire life that is certainly what a lot of the republican senators have said. look at the scope of judge kavanaugh's life and then take measure of it. megan is in glenwood springs, colorado.

on the line for those that are not sure. caller: i'd like to address some of the victim blaming issues i've been hearing. when we talk about 14 euros to lie to their parents, get drunk and go to parties, and then we attempted sexual assault is an appropriate punishment for that behavior, i think we are setting a bad example for our kids. if we want kids to be able to talk about what has happened to them, and tell their parents, we need to be communicating to them that this behavior is never ok and that they can always come forward and tell. we need to be setting an example societyg men in our that this behavior is never all right. it is not an appropriate punishment for somebody that has misbehaved by doing what many teenagers do. host: gail is in jamestown, north carolina, on the line for those that oppose. caller:misbehaved by doing whaty i just want to mention,

i believe this is the anita hill, clarence thomas redux. after clarence thomas was sworn in, he was worn and privately, not at the rose garden, when william rehnquist's life was being buried. how fast that was pushed through the senate. confirmed i just want to menti, i believe this is the anita, the fbi followed up on the report. i believe it was a blockbuster. , the fbi followed up on the report. i believe it was a blockbuster. they found the majority of his rentals were on pornography. , the fbi followed up on the report. i believe it was a blockbuster. they found the majority of his rentals were on pornography. what are we going to do, file freedom of information reports regarding judge kavanaugh to get at the truth of other perhaps alleged sexual harassment and/or assaults, whether it be high school or college? when the fbi asked him -- we have heard them over and over. the fbi asked, have you ever had an affair with your wife?

.o he. he has been morally good and straight with his wife. did the fbi ask him, have you had any sexual involvement outside of or prior to being married? host: we are going to take your question because we are running out of time. the echoes of the anita hill hearings are, of course, on . lot of people's minds senators, as they are weighing a potential vote -- potentially --s, weeks on this nominee is what kind of justice would he be, with these allegations be cleared, would they carry him to the court? that is all weighing on people they try to figure out how to move forward in this very volatile, fast-moving situation.

lisa mascaro of the associated press, appreciate your time. the washington journal, we are joined by former senator rick santorum to get his reaction to the kavanaugh controversy come and talk about his work with the bipartisan policy center on the issue of paid family leave. -- is what kind of justice would he we will be right back. ♪ 1979 c-span was created as a public service by cable television companies. we continue to bring you unfiltered congress coverage,

the white house, the supreme court and public policy events washington, dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. this week on the communicators, the director of the open market institute discusses his concern over companies like google, facebook and amazon becoming monopolies and threatening democracy. he is interviewed by ashley gold for politico. >> with google we might have to start doing things like separating, mapping off of search, separating search from youtube. this sounds radical, but this is something we have done many times in the past. we did it with at&t in 1992, 1913. with largee it

corporations over the years. it is our right as the people of the united states to structure the political economy in a way that is safe. announcer 2: watch "the communicators 8:00 eastern on c-span 2. "washington journal" continues. for: rick santorum joins us a discussion about his efforts with the bipartisan policy center on paid family leave. we mentioned you will be joined by your colleague on this chris dodd. sen. santorum: he is taking kids to school and unfortunately got into a car accident. i understand he is fine and his children are fine. he could not make it here this morning. he didn't leave much slack to deal with a car accident. host: thank you for joining us. i want to start with brett

kavanaugh. we have a hearing set for thursday with christine blasey ford. if you were in the senate, what would you say about how to conduct that hearing? grassleyorum: chairman has done a good job. he said what we want to hear from these witnesses, this witness and other witnesses, given the most recent accusations. whether it meets the standard of what the senate would see as a critical -- credible witness in a story that is to be told, that is number one. they will listen to the testimony. number two it will be conducted in a way that is appropriate. if you look at how they dealt with witnesses on these factual aarings, sort of semi-courtroom context, they bring in counsel, someone who is absurd -- experienced at doing

, present can listen the questions, listen and has the skills to really dig in and get to the truth. [speaking simultaneously] i don't know. there are plenty of good lawyers in washington. someonee they will find who can handle that job and do it in a way that hopefully does not -- one of the other things is you have a bunch of senators asking questions. you will have political stuff that will be woven into it because it is the nature of the beast. chairman grassley is trying to keep it to the legal issues and having counsel that is focused on that, not try to weave the politics together. host: you used the term courtroom setting. who is the burden of proof on, brett kavanaugh, dr. ford?

sen. santorum: i don't think it is a matter of burden of proof. theireach side presenting story and the evidence that they have, and is a judgment will be made on the part of senators whether this man should be confirmed. there is no guilt or innocence standard. it is more if this man, are these charges credible enough that would have me decide this person isn't qualified or not the right person for the supreme court? beyond a reasonable doubt or preponderance or whatever, it is burden isy the whether this story is credible. lies on ms. plays

he ford -- blondie ford to establish credibility and judge kavanaugh to combine that. if the details of what happened or did not happen are lost to history, what do you base credibility on? sen. santorum: i am looking at it from my perspective. accusation that had not been talked about for 30 years -- the first time the person's name was mentioned during this hearing, the person came forward, obviously judge kavanaugh has been in the public eye for a long time but decided to come forward. this. important judicial seat, this is something that could tip the balance of the court. so you are seeing political activity around this. have on the fact that you

people that do not corroborate the story. the timing, the people involved, the lawyers, the politicians on the left, the way they handled it, all of it is the whole story i, i am going to take into account all of those things. if i were sitting there, it is a high burden she would have to convince me this isn't something that is, well, suspect. it happened when they were 17 years old. all these types of factors. it is a very charged environment. sen. santorum: a conversation with former senator rick santorum. you can do that, phone lines for

,emocrats (202)-748-8000 republicans (202)-748-8001, republican -- independents, (202)-748-8002. why do you believe paid family -- e sen. santorum: the reason i think it can be bipartisan is unlike a lot of issues out there , we can see it here in the supreme court battle. this is a divided country. seems to be very little middle ground on almost any policy out there. you have folks on the left that have been pushing for some sort of leave policy. first it was family medical leave which was unpaid which passed in the 1990's, then you had paid family leave which some

states, mostly progressive states, -- exclusively progressive states and politicians have pushed for. what a lot of conservatives are looking at is there is a serious problem confronting moms and dads who have children. we see both -- birth rates declining. one of the reasons we hear it, not just anecdotal evidence but both parentsnce is are working, or you have a single-parent situation where one has to get back to work. there is a hesitancy to have children and raise children. because of the economic cost and how difficult it is to manage your life with children today. there is a lot of folks on the conservative side who say that is an issue we have to begin to

address. we want to be a family-friendly environment. america doesn't survive where the birth rate is below embrace -- replacement rate. we see in some of the european countries you have old folks and very few younger workers to support the welfare -- the social service network we have in our government like medicare and all of these programs. you don't have workers to pay into it, it becomes difficult. the final thing for me and the evidence was of the importance of moms or --s, one parent or bond both. bonding at the early point of life. there is a fairly huge mountain of service evidence studies that have the -- been done that show that children who don't bond with parents in their first few months have enormous problems.

irrespective of income and anything else, if you don't have that kind of bond that children need at that early age with a parent, the evidence is overwhelming that these children have huge problems going forward. a lot of conservatives, we know families are good. moms and dads taking care of kids is good. we need to do something about this. we need to create opportunities for moms and dads to bond. host: happy to have that conversation as well. democrats (202)-748-8000. republicans (202)-748-8001. .ndependents (202)-748-8002 should also note the bipartisan policy center, bipartisan policy.org. senator rick santorum, the work on paid family leave,

the task force for that group. ohio, republican, good morning. you, hello.k i wonder if this is going to apply to military personnel women, if that would extend to them and government workers. that is a large group. i have another question about the supreme court justice. host: we will take the first question. this is a working group that is looking at different ideas from the left and right. with respect to government employees i suspect any policy would have applicability to government employees. i am not sure it would be the case with the military. differentry may have

rules. i am not sure we want civilian laws to impact how the military operates. i would suspect that would be there are covered by whatever policy we come up with. host: my second question is this concern with the poor man going on for the supreme court. millionve been 60 abortions and they are worried about him doing away with the woman's right to have an abortion. womener out of 60 million that had an abortion, is it because they were not using contraceptives or were they attacked and raped, and i wonder if these women will come forward and make accusations. the absurdity between men and women is unbelievable considering the changes at porn's behavior, like a

getting attention -- queen getting attention from the democratic party. i wonder where the mother's of the men that are putting up with this, what they will start saying enough of attacking our american males. sen. santorum: the reality is you are right. changed overhave the past few years, but that doesn't change the fact that men sexually assaulting women is a serious crime and something that rescannot say, sexual mo have changed and boys will be boys. no, people recognize that is wrong. thee is concerned about sexual morality that is out there. you have seen many conservatives step up and say this is going to

lead to more situations like this. i don't think there is any moreion we have seen a lot we know a lot more about these types of situations. that doesn't excuse the perpetrator for his actions. , south carolina is next. robert is an independent. caller: thank you for taking my call. family leave that is a no-brainer. i guess conservatives say it is social --ive for points towards socialism. i think we can do both as far as be sensitive towards progressive ideas and budget concerns. i like to talk more about judge kavanaugh. sen. santorum: let me make a comment.

there are all sorts of components to the debate on family leave. it sort of breaks down into three areas. you have parental leave which is what i was talking about which is the birth or adoption of a child. you have medical leave, which is sick leave or a family member is sick, and you want to take medical leave. the third is family leave here that is the caregiving of a child or a parent or someone else. there are three different elements and the question is how broadly do you write the bill, what are the costs? we have been looking at studies that were done recently by folks at brookings and other places. they have come back and say by far the most expensive of these is medical leave. that would have the largest take-up rate. people would participate in the most. as they point out in the study,

it is the area where there is probably the biggest existing system of taking medical leave. some businesses have sick leave even small businesses have sick leave where as opposed to family leave, less so and parental leave less so. how do youe issue of structure this program whether it is all three, two of the three, one of them, and how would you administer? it is fairly complicated. host: some stats from the bipartisan policy center at one in four women returned 10 to 14 days after giving birth. 5% of low-wage workers are covered by a paid leave policy and paid parental leave can reduce infant mortality by as much as 10%. new fundingidering avenues to pay for this?

sen. santorum: there are all sorts of ideas. we are trying to look through these different ideas. some talk about a payroll tax, others other forms of taxation. others talk about -- sen. rubio: has a plan on -- the only plan i would say from a conservative or from the right that looks at social security and actually instead of instituting a new benefit or plan recently takes benefits you would accrue when you are retired and take those months, delay retirement and use month to pay for benefits now. that would be interesting. there are all sorts of ideas. we will look at all of them. we think itg what is in the public policy best interest but it is also you have budgetary constraints and

political crosscurrents to deal with. maryland.ville, emmanuel, democrat. caller: good morning. i have three questions. host: just one or two. we got a lot of callers. caller: you are not a psychologist, so you wouldn't peopleand the nature of going through whatever emotions they have. daughter something happened to her and she delayed incoming to you as a father because she got so embarrassed and so let down about what happened to her? she might have waited five years , 10 years and said, you know, daddy, someone did a, b, and c, would you feel any different? sen. santorum: i would not feel any different. i think all of us who are

who have had experiences like that with our children, , they didn't tell us at the time but maybe later they do. in this case we have a motivation. this is not someone who after the fact decided to share this information but to share it really for the first time in 36 years that it was this person who happened to be in this position. that is different than a situation that you just spoke of. that has to be taken into account. host: good morning. republican. caller: i am a democrat, i must have called in the wrong one. i want to say i was living in california when i had my daughter in 1986. they had like a payroll

deduction. i was able to get like -- i don't know what they called it, disability or whatever, so i got paid like a percentage of my wages when i was off with my baby. i was able to stay home for at least a month. made it affordable because i could save some money while i was working and also have that money coming in to cover the bills. i thought that worked really well. maybe we can build on thing like that for all of the states. sen. santorum: different states have developed paternity leave policies and a lot of employers manybut the employer side, companies, particularly technology and other new haveess types of ventures very generous policies when it comes to this. and small businesses

obviously if you are someone who is self-employed, they don't have these policies. most of the workers who we are talking about here are modest to low-wage workers who cannot afford some sort of paid to take time off. it is that group we are looking at which is actually very big, to see if we can provide some relief to give them a percentage of their wages so they can take some time off. now there is the family medical leave act that allows people to take time off, but it is unpaid. we have got to find out a way to finance doing this. that is one of the charges we have been tasked with. host: california, new jersey, rhode island paid family leave. nationalave to be a federal program, or would you be ok with a state-by-state --

sen. santorum: we are looking at a national response to this. host: why not looking at the state's? sen. santorum: when i say national response, it could be a situation that would be a federal policy to apply across the board, or it could be some incentive for states to adopt a policy. both of those things are on the table and will be discussed. it will be a national reaction, how it is implemented, whether it is encouraging states or a federal policy with profitability to be determined. line for democrats, go ahead. caller: trump just give those tax cuts. why not use some of that money for pay medical leave? i don't understand what the problem is? sen. santorum: as i just

mentioned, a lot of the larger corporations that you mention actually do have policies. it is not those companies that -- one of the issues we have to deal with is if we do come forward with a national policy, what are we doing to enrich corporations who already provide that an substitute -- the substitution effect? a federal policy paid for in some manner and we get tax break or benefit break to the companies that already provide it? they may reduce their benefit to take it vantage of this. we don't want to undermine what is out there already. we don't want to take a cost that businesses are bearing and then take that away and have it paid for by the public and artificially enriched corporations.

this is a tricky area, particularly on the medical side which there is already a network of medical policies, and we don't want to mess with those but catch folks falling through the cracks. host: time for a few more calls with rick santorum. a republican, good morning. caller: good morning. sen. santorum: good morning. caller: how are you? sen. santorum: good, thanks. caller: i read an article in huffington post. correct me if i am wrong. they stated that paid family leave -- i don't know if this is the bill you are working on, but stated there was a response to --s where they were going to the social security benefits for at least two months in return for differing the retirement age to offset the cost of the paid

family leave. sen. santorum: sen. rubio: proposal. caller: i think that is horrible . i don't like that. sen. santorum: why don't you? caller: i don't like it because deferring the retirement age [indiscernible] i feel like with the democratic callers, we just finished giving a tax break to large corporations. why didn't you use some of that money for the paid family leave? sen. santorum: what do you mean by use some of the money? the tax break goes to the companies. the government doesn't have it. most large corporations already have policies, some cases very generous area in most cases more generous than is being contemplated in washington, dc. we wouldn't want to affect those policies by passing something that might reduce the benefit for some people in that

situation. you say you don't like the idea of deferring the retiring age. i don't member the exact parameters. you defer six months, you get three months of benefits today. you say that is not fair. verses three, but it is in dollars 30 years from now as opposed to today. most say that is a good deal. a dollar today instead of two dollars 30 years from now. it is an individual choice. no one has to do it. 67 forgibility age is everybody we are talking about here. the average woman in america, if you are talking about women taking this time, and most of them would, parental leave it would be mostly women, average age of women in america today is

like 85. if you look at the average age, life expectancy of people when they hit age 67, it is older than that. waiting one month or two, three or 4, 5 months, at that time, it is a good deal to spend three or four months with your child today. host: she talked about the deferment of policy. they are waiting to -- sen. santorum: ultimately taxpayers will pay for this. why don't you do it in a way that affects the person that gets the benefit? it is commensurate with if you are going to receive the benefit , you and your employer should pay for the cost as opposed to socializing that cost over society area obviously a lot of people who take that benefit made up reach retirement age

graded may not have gotten their in the first place. host: is there a way to incentivize more companies to do this? sen. santorum: in a lot of cases -- but is something we will look at. it is an avenue they have opened for discussion as to the incentives for states, employers. a lot of it has to do with nonfinancial incentives. you have a small business, you have people who are going to be gone from that business, you have a handful of employees, to replace them is difficult. in some cases it is not a financial issue, just a company logistics issue. host: catherine in savannah, georgia, democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. but iast having children do have ideas about it. i am a social worker, worked with families for 40 years.

huge corporations having the ability to absorb the cost if they chose unless forced on them which would be nice, but looking at the small businesses that are very compromised when someone takes that much time off , they don't want to pay for it. that apromise could be woman who works for a small company that intends eventually to become pregnant could establish a mutually agreed-upon savings plan where she is contributing every payroll and the employer might be contributing less but every payroll or whatever the details that could be worked out. because it does impoverish families as mr. santorum pointed out, mostly

low-wage and moderate. sen. santorum: i appreciate that suggestion. by ensure that is something we will consider. is, andconcern candidly this is coming from -- i will try to sit in chris dodd's shoes . he would say lower wage workers don't have the ability to contribute money to that account because they are living paycheck to paycheck, and the idea of putting money aside for that is something that would be difficult for them to do. by and large they are the people who are not taking parental leave. there are other savings mechanisms for people to put money aside. them, look at overwhelmingly they are taken by middle and higher income tax payers. you look at the experience of that, medical, retirement or whatever, i think senator dodd

would have a good point making it is not that it is a bad idea but may not put the dollars exactly where you want them to go, making sure low-income workers can have this opportunity. host: nice to play both sides of the argument. when does the bipartisan policy center come up with a timeline? sen. santorum: i don't know whether we will make it or not. this is a very difficult area of policy. we are still sort of out here not close together on a solution. we are looking at by the second quarter to have something next year. april next year, hopefully before. host: in the hopes it gets passed most -- next congress? sen. santorum: yes, put it forward as an idea. i worked with the bipartisan policy center on the issue of

early childhood issues with congressman george miller from amifornia who is not where i on these issues. we actually came up with a report to do just that on a variety of different things, some of which congress has enacted. host: did the bipartisan policy center come to you and senator dodd? sen. santorum: this was on their part. withget a bunch of issues, some of them are like this where there is bipartisan support. others take on a tougher job to bring people together, but that is the purpose of the organization is to forge some common ground. it may be very small or in this case it is larger, but it is really worthwhile. callsi want to get to two that have been waiting. independent candidate -- in

california. caller: thank you for taking my call. i really appreciate we are having discussions into taking care of children. nourishing our children to be healthy. i would say we already have on paid family leave act, so how short-termtates have individual disability to tap into? instead of going through corporations, individual persons in a situation especially mentioned low income person that live paycheck to paycheck, and their rates -- contact the state program and apply for it, for french assistance.

-- financial assistance. sen. santorum: you mentioned disability programs. there are disability programs the federal government has. this is one of the areas where the medical leave debate gets into a very complex web of different state programs to take care of people with disabilities or medical leave. that is why another policy that is an umbrella policy that would be very problematic. programsof disability for parental leave, i am not sure i would be supportive of something like that. maybe it is something that is discussed, but there are so many problems now and high levels of fraud and very complex situation i am not sure -- i don't think it would be to the political advantage of either side to tie parental leave to those

programs. host: last call, new jersey. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a middle-class republican who has lived the nightmare of childcare for 30 years. in thesappointed and fact that washington hasn't looked at this issue for 30 years. it is ridiculous. if they had to work a regular job out in the ordinary and didn't do their obvious duties, they would be fired but unfortunately they cannot be. a simple fix would have been in that tax plan if the corporations got money from the federal government that all of us pay into, and maybe the provision they have to set aside a fund to give to young mothers and fathers who needed to have the time to spend important time with their child, that would be there, and their job would be

protected. other advanced nations in , theyy, finland, norway do it. i don't understand why america keeps sitting on these things. sen. santorum: we are trying not to. there has been a lot of discussion about this ever since the unpaid family leave act passed in the 1990's. there have been efforts driven to expand to a paid leave program. it is only recently we have seen some things that have caused concern and alarm that the families are no longer capable of dealing with this and is a real issue for the health of children and the willingness of. to have children. gathered thehave attention of conservatives and liberals. now we are at a point where we see the culture has reached a

point where there is intervention necessary. the whole point is we don't want to cause more harm than good. we talked about corporations. you say get them to do these things. the problem is generally not corporations. they already have programs like this. it is everybody else. it is not a simple fix. put a programto in place that will end up harming people who have programs as well as put a program in ande that will be costly not focus on where the problem is. these are the things we have to hassle through. to the viewers out there, it can be frustrating. we got a problem, just six it. the job of the folks behind john is to look at all of these issues and the ramifications of -- there have been a lot of things in the past that we were well-meaning, intending to help

people that didn't. i would say moved the ball in the wrong direction even though it was not the intent. we have to stop doing that and spending your money to do that. that is why careful consideration and my approach on these things is not to come up with a big universal program to change everything. because the unintended consequences can be worse than the benefits that you are trying to accomplish. incremental,ething see how that works out and go from there. that should be the way congress functions. hopefully it will function that way in this case. host: do you want to go back there? sen. santorum: i am happy on this side of the table. host: give our best to senator dodd. when you finish, come back. sen. santorum: i look forward to that. any: up next we will end in

public policy issue you want. phone numbers are on your screen. you can start calling in now, and we will be back. thank you, sir. ♪ announcer 1: the c-span bus is traveling around the country on the city capitals tour. we stopped in iowa. we looked towards the election answer which party should control congress and why? >> i do feel the democratic party should control congress. the current administration we have, it would be a good idea to have a check on that administration. some of the policies that are being done, i don't agree with. i will not always agree with everything, but i feel having one party in the position they are now is not getting a lot done. it would be best if we did have

checks on this current administration. i would like to see both parties getting back to some civility. it seems now all they do is then time talking, bad mapping -- mouthing one party versus the other. it would be wonderful to get back to a more workable agreement between the parties. i personally believe if control of congress changes, you think things are not getting done now? wait until that switches and there is obstruction, vindication, recriminations against existing and more and more of obstruction. we finally have some progress. not all of it has been done gently and sold as well as it should be, but think of what an insult it is to legal

immigrants, people who go through that process. we keep saying we have nothing for illegal immigration. we have to address that. this has never been addressed by the democratic party. we are heading for all kinds of landlord standstill big problems if power changes hands. doesn't matter as long as the party does something. i am a progressive, leaning towards democratic side, but if you get in and want to fight and argue about getting rid of president trump, that doesn't really solve anything. his base, they support him because he is getting stuff done. that is the point. not saying i support him or anything or anybody. it is what are you going to do

for us as far as anybody goes? i think the democrats should get the house back to have an equal, stable floor. if control of congress changes, we will care deeply about education policy. right now it is still pending in congress. , it grant's, loan programs has a huge impact on the student body. we think about the future of education and workforce, this ties together carefully. if we don't provide the right support for students, they cannot be success will in the long -- successful in the long run. announcer 1: part of the 50 capitals tour. announcer 2: "washington journal" continues. host: it is open phones for the last 20 minutes or so. democrats can call in at (202)-748-8000.

republicans (202)-748-8001. independents (202)-748-8002. you can leave the discussion with any issue or any public issue on your mind. president trump is in new york ahead of the u.n. general assembly meeting. he is addressing it tomorrow. news out of new york and that meeting, cnn saying that upon arriving today he said he and kim jong-un will meet for a second time quite soon. looks like we will have a summit quite soon. kim jong-un wrote a beautiful letter and asked me for a second meeting. we will be doing that. pompeo will bery working that out. it has been tremendous progress in north korea, the latest out of the president in new york today and tomorrow. the phone lines, brenda is in kentucky, democrat. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my

call. host: yes, ma'am. caller: i have a comment on the kavanaugh nomination. the process he has been going through. for 47been a democrat years. they have been going further and further left. the things put on during this nomination, i am ashamed of with the questions and all of these women coming out at the last moment, it seems like a smear to me. that is all i got to say, but i will be voting republican now. host: brenda in kentucky. ohio. caller: good morning. happening with judge kavanaugh is sickening. it is interesting any american citizen can watch this circus the democrats have concocted where you no longer have a right

until-- to be innocent proven guilty but anyone without any proof whatsoever -- this woman has zero proof -- can come back as long as they want, come forward 40 years later and condemn someone, accuse someone and his entire life is ruined on the basis of one contention that would have to you be blind not to see what the democrats are doing here. host: what do you make about the second allegation from the new yorker? i saw that. it has no supporting evidence. a couple people at the party have come forward. her best friend came forward and peoplee has known these

for years, attended yield -- attended yale together, and the woman never said one word to her about brett kavanaugh assaulting her. never. she only had her memory for sixd when she sat hours with the democratic operative and suddenly that operative was able to help her recall this is what brett kavanaugh did. we are educated people. do you believe that? even a middle school or would question the validity of this. host: the story in the new yorker, here are the details when it comes to the allegations . the woman at the center of the story is deborah ramirez, a 53-year-old who attended yale with kavanaugh. she worked with an organization that contacted -- the new yorker contacted her. it was conveyed to democratic

.enators, a civil rights lawyer ramirez, they say the sense of attention has been unwelcome. she was has intent -- she was hesitant to speak because of she was thinking at the time. she was relisted that reluctant rolearacterize kavanaugh's in the incident. after assessing the memories and consulting with her attorney, ramirez felt confident enough of -- herkless inch recollections to say he had exposed himself, thrust his penis in her face. ramirez is calling for an fbi investigation of his role in that incident. more in the new yorker if you want to read about it. the statement from brett kavanaugh he put out yesterday, this alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. the people who knew me then know this did not happen and have said this. it is a smear.

i look forward to testifying on thursday about the truth, defending my name and reputation for character and integrity i have spent a lifetime building. rhonda, good morning. earlier we were talking about the shortage of younger workers. seems like women don't want to have children. out that women would want to go to work because their husbands were not making enough , or they were in a circumstance. now women want to work. the culture needs to change areas most of these abortions these days because of woman wants a career. i don't think women want to take care of children because of the culture. if you say i am married, my husband makes a lot of money but i am a stay-at-home mom, you still get that i feel bad for

you from the other women. host: what would a national paid family leave policy do for that culture you are talking about? i think the economy has been booming in the husband's make enough money. it is more of the culture that if you ain't out in the workforce and you are married and a man takes care of you, it is like a stigma. like the paid leave would probably help if a man would get paid leave to spend time with , yeah,an at home so that she feels involved in his life, like he ain't always out. things change so much. i think kavanaugh will do a good job. rhonda in pennsylvania. if you want to learn more about the bipartisan policy center on this issue, bipartisan policy.org. that is the group that put

together this task force which rick santorum was a part of, continues to be a part of with chris dodd, democrat from connecticut. joe is in the bronx, democrat. caller: this is joe. you are talking about joe, right? host: go ahead. caller: i am from the bronx, new york. i want to give a message to the nominee for the supreme court that is going through all this situation right now. him or know if you know whatever, but if you can give him this message, tell him joe from the bronx, tell him why should he want to go through with this? he should just tell the president of want to withdraw my name because if this man ever appointed to the supreme court,

he wouldn't be able to function there. this thing will be hanging on his neck for the rest of the time. it make no sense whatsoever. i hope his wife will talk to him and said, give it up, please. say you withdraw your name from this position. please, if you can tell him. this is the message he want to deliver to him. host: you might get the new york times. there is an op-ed by david leonhardt about this, the supreme court is coming apart. he writes in his piece, the court has become an intensely artisan institution that pretends to be otherwise. the court is risking a crisis of legitimacy. he goes on to say what can be done about the courts?

he proposes term limits for justices would be the best change. they would eliminate the high-stakes randomness of replacing justices and connect the court to the long-term will of the people. each four-year political -- presidential term would come with two appointments. joy, republican, go ahead. caller: an answer to the caller from new york, judge kavanaugh, i want him to stand up for his innocence and all little boys that are coming up in the future. this is not right. this against kavanaugh is aimed at our good president trump who is doing a wonderful job. that is the only reason the legions of the democratic party -- i don't know how much they paid these women to do this kind of thing.

it is not that things have not happened to me in the past. i believe it, but i don't dwell on my past because i will live in the future. i do not want him to let go of this. i want him to prove his innocence. if people would take the good advice from our great preacher billy graham never be in a room allowing -- women can do the same thing with a man or woman, and you will always have someone at your back. listen to our great billy graham . with that advice there has got to be something somewhere for everyone. that is my answer to this. host: sally in new mexico, democrat, good morning. caller: hello. i am on the air. i would like to say that these seeleto forget that the culture of men was such that

people just did not report these things. i imagine this woman has come forward now because she was silent all these years. this man is about to be put in a position of extreme high authority, and her consciousness has gotten the better of her. i am in mind that -- i am in my 70's. i know that people could not publicly admit to those things. look at bonita hill. the culture of men is such that the excuse this behavior of their peers. look at the country has excused donald trump. and the woman before who just was talking about religion and billy graham and morals and ande and women, -- rights women, yet the voting public appears to be moralistic, and

they have excuse the same behavior with donald trump. yes, i don't think he should be on the supreme court. thank goodness she came forward. thanks, bye. host: west falls, new york. independent. caller: you have to ask yourself why do the plutocrats and billionaires want kavanaugh so badly? will the fight for the working class? i doubt it. anyone who has been sexually , even, molested, attacked if they got away, it is difficult to come out and tell people what happened to you. republican women who say he was good to me, it couldn't have happened, not true. i believe dr. christine afford. -- ford. host: more from the white house today. we brought this up in our segment with lisa mascaro

earlier. comments by kellyanne conway, pushing back on the latest allegations of sexual misconduct against brett kavanaugh. the ones that came out over the weekend in the new yorker, expressing sympathy for kavanaugh as he faces claims from two women who alleged he assaulted them. i don't think one man's shoulders could bear decades of the #metoo movement. this may be the first time we have ever heard of allegations against someone as a teenager who did not pray upon women especially as he became powerful. the allegations against judge kavanaugh are from when he is a teenager. we are supposed to believe he is a judge for a dozen years hiring female law clerks. that interview on cbs this morning, if you want to watch it , kellyanne conway saying i don't think one man's shoulders should bear decades of the #metoo movement. cynthia in florida, democrat.

thatr: i am calling to say youra p-grabber is witness, something is wrong. everyone says he is such a nice man. john wayne gaither was a nice man before he murdered 28 people. he had a good reputation in the country. these women that are coming out saying, it is just boys being boys, i challenge them to go to their daughters, teenage granddaughters and tell them, that is ok. we have a culture in this company -- country that is disgusting. when male rape victims come forward, there is acceptance and empathy. there is no such thing for women. it comes through why didn't you do this, why did you wait, etc. women need to ask this question

right now. the pedophile priest thing was in the media and everyone has embraced those men and had acceptance. what about women? we are 51% of this country. it is ridiculous we are not our sister's keeper. we need to do better. in rockford, illinois. republican. caller: how are you? host: doing well. caller: i find it hard to believe in the united states of america we are actually guilty before being proved innocent. a 30ave the two ladies in something year span that all of a sudden president lee came coincidentally came forward saying they were assaulted were approached by judge kavanaugh at parties were they were also drinking.

demanding innuendos from them have caused our country millions of dollars in defense trying to get him prepared. going toet of dates have to bring her in, not bring her in. have been really serious about this because in a court of law, if you have been hurt, if you have been sexually molested, if you have been raped, you can have someone help you in a court of law. but in a public opinion, you are getting hearsay. she did say that, she didn't. she was drunk, she wasn't. are we serious? when you bring these allegations against someone coming up for an appointment, this high in america as far as like being,

you know, never being fired from a job, you have never been taken off of a job, you have never had anyone with a job he tells come up against him -- host: that is our last caller in today's's "washington journal," but we will be back at 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a great monday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] >> taking a look at live programs, join us in an hour from an update from the united

nations. nikki haley john bolton, secretary of state mike pompeo will brief reporters ahead of a leader summit this week in new york city. that is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. eastern. later today, craig list founder discuss the public's trust in news at a press club in 1:00ngton, d.c. live at p.m. on c-span feared a discussion about the relationship between reporters sourcesidential in the government. live this evening as on :00 eastern. on capitol hill, professor christine blasey ford has agreed to testify thursday before the judiciary committee about her sexual assault allegation against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh up your judge kavanaugh will also testify at the hearing. will have live coverage thursday starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span three. you can also watch online at

c-span.org or listen on the .-span radio app an >> this week, barry lynn discusses his concern overcome these like google, facebook, amazon, and uber possibly becoming monopolies and threatening democracy. he is interviewed by actually gold, technology reporter for political. >> with google, that have to do andgs like separating mapping and separating search from you to. this sounds radical in today's done thist, a we have many times in the past. we did with at&t in 1982. ofhave done it with dozens large corporations over the years. it is our right as the people of the united states destruction of a