networks, at 10:30 a.m. eastern, vice president mike pence joins politico for a conversation. later, defense secretary james mattis speaks at the u.s. institute of peace about the national defense strategy. at 7:00 p.m., we are live from indianapolis for the indiana senate debate between incumbent joe donnelly and his republican and libertarian opponents. a.m., proposed changes to the code of conduct for u.s. judges. next hour, news literacy founder and ceo alan miller discusses the organizations new campaign to encourage fact checking. eastern, usa today jonathan campbell discusses key house races in new york, and

jeanne zaino discusses new york's electoral history and current political dynamics. hochul a.m., kathy discusses top issues facing the state. host: in a statement about the president and first lady's trip to pittsburgh today, the white house says the travel to grieve with the pittsburgh community. washington post reporting it was the ivanka trump and jared kushner, both jewish, who encouraged the president to visit pittsburgh. midterm elections are just a week away. among the top issues that will drive voters to polls is health care, especially when it comes to the future of their formal care act and what the administration says it will do regarding pre-existing conditions. maybe those issues are of concern to you. our first hour this morning is

health care. we want to hear your thoughts why. for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. for independents (202) 748-8002. if you want to post on twitter about health care, it is @cspanwj. you can also post on facebook. if you look at the kaiser family foundation, they released a recent poll about the 2018 election midterms. when it comes to the topic of health care being a top issue, 71% of those responded saying it was a top issue. when asked them to choose one, the percentage saying each of the following issues are most important in making their

decision, health care topping that list at 30%. when it breaks it down to areas of topics for democratic voters, 40% of those voters saying health care being a top issue. independent voters, 31%. republicans, just 17% of those sayinged to this poll health care was the top issue. thosel show you more of elements when it comes to this topic. if health care is one of those things you are planning to vote on this november, call us and tell us why. the number is (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. we have been showing you debates from all across the u.s. you can find those on c-span. last night in the kentucky

debate, the sixth district, health care came up against andy barr, republican challenged by amy mcgrath. [video clip] >> if i could just respond to what my opponent said about her health care. what she had in tri-care is private health insurance. the reason why she liked it is not because it was socialized medicine, but because it represented the employer provided system. >> it is a public option. >> it is absolutely not. it is private insurance. aetna. partners with >> i was in the military. i would know. >> if you are a military employee, you and your spouse get a choice of private health care. my opponent wants everybody else, when she gets private

health care, there is a reason she likes that. it is a private thing. think thedon't congressman knows anything about what he is talking about. when i was in the military, we did have military medicine, but not that i am out, i have try care. that is a government insurance option. that is like the public option. let me finish. i just think he doesn't understand fundamentally the difference. let's get back to the veterans question. what would you do if elected to help financially? i'm a veteran. i believe we should invest in health care for veterans. veterans.o our to our veterans. we invest in the current the a system we have. -- va system we have.

we should not shuffle off our veterans. that is the problem in america today. i find weto the v.a., have people three people doing the job of 10. that tells me we are underfunded. while i like the idea of congressmen barr's choice act, the problem is what he is not saying, and this is consistent with republicans in congress, it is not funded. when you don't find something enforce the v.a. to do something that is not funded, you are robbing peter to pay paul. i am somebody that wants to actually fund the v.a. the way we need to in this country. host: that is just one of several debates this election cycle that have have health care as a main topic.

we will show you some more of those debates as we go on. if you want to add your thoughts, you can do so on the phone lines and on social media. we will do so first with eddie in georgia, democrats line. caller: yes, i get my health care from the veterans administration at fort benning. about howing today the republican governor running for georgia rejected all the health care, the aca. now they are talking about how much they want to support it. that is all i had to say. go, who do youu vote for if health care is going to be an issue for you? caller: i have already voted for stacey abrams. host: what has she said specifically on health care that makes you comfortable voting for her?

well, the consistency of the people here in georgia, randall county, that is one of the places they wanted to close the polls down. that prompted me to see that republicans are really trying to do damage to our city, our county. i want to stay with stacey abrams. to maryland, go independent line. this is rebecca. caller: i am a health insurance broker. one of the things that troubles me about the health system is the people that have undermined health care in this country, which is the government, are the very same people that got their health insurance. every congressman has helped insurance. everyone in the private sector doesn't have that same privilege. fund it for them.

they get the best outfits, and yet the rest of us are living along - limping along. medicare, what a disgrace it is that our government has been unable to offer one drug plan for all seniors. at this point, i see it every single open enrollment. there are millions of seniors that are so confused about drug coverage. they have to go online every year to shop for prescription drug coverage in order for them to get the best deal. most seniors don't know how to do it. they don't do it. what happens is they are going into the same drug plan year in and year out. they are paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, more out of their own pocket because they are in the wrong drug plan.

host: that is angelica in maryland. let's go to texas, democrats line. this is ronnie. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. thoughts go out to the good people of pittsburgh in this sad time. in the past i have had to use county hospitals. luckily, i have a good job now where i have health insurance. i kind of agree with eddie from georgia. that this whole time republicans, trying to get rid of the aca, obamacare, one of their main objectives has been to get rid of the pre-existing condition clause. as we get closer to the election and they find out that is one of the most important things to voters across the country, you are seeing the ads how they are going to protect the pre-existing condition clause.

i find that ironic, the hypocrisy of it. host: how does that play out when you vote this november? caller: i am voting democrat. i am voting beto o'rourke. ted cruz could care less about the people of texas. he shows up when there is a hurricane or church shooting to do a couple of photo ops, and then he flies back to washington to get back to his self-serving personal running for president interests. host: what has beto o'rourke said about health care that you support? caller: beto o'rourke wants to expand health care so all caps all texansovered -- are covered. greg abbott, they have always rejected the medicare expansion so we could get more money to cover people.

we have one of the biggest rainy day funds in the country. they refused to use that for anything that benefits the citizens of texas. a democrat cares more about the people, their health care needs. tom in lakel go to geneva, wisconsin, republican line. caller: i have a question for you. when you open the show, are you sure you have three lines? wait until you take the fifth call to talk to a republican? aiser information number you're talking about them that is a liberal organization. everybody knows that. why don't you mix it up? host: you are the first republican to call this morning. why don't you tell us your thoughts?

caller: you have a democrat program. i don't know what your thought is. host: when it comes to the health care issue, is this on your mind this november? caller: no. host: why not? we will go to charles in north carolina, democrat line. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say that it is a bunch of cracked that the crap that the republicans have the house. host: we're talking about health care in the midterms. is this an issue for you? caller: it is an issue. woulde that away from me be bad for me. host: when it comes to north carolina, are there candidates you are supporting? what are they saying? caller: what they are saying is what they are doing is what i need to hear. that is why i am voting straight

democrat. whyurts me to understand republicans now also want to care for health care when they did not from the beginning. they have been trying to destroy from the beginning. host: when you say what democrats are saying as far as it comes to health care, give me a specific. what are candidates in north carolina saying? caller: i just know that i would rather just vote democrat because once they get the house, i know things will be put back the way they need to. for the person that i am voting for, i am voting just straight democrat. hopefully they can get this straightened out. host: if you go to bloomberg, they have a story about health care pacs that are participating in this year's midterm

elections. far this year. at the top of that list, the association of orthopedic surgeons, optometric association, the dental organization. compiled as of october 16. if you go to the bloomberg story, it gives you the breakdown of how much they gave and some of the background. robert in maryland. hi. the truth of the matter is obamacare made adoptable's so high that it is no longer cost-effective to carry health insurance. the deductible is greater than the amount you would use in a year. you would never meet that. democrats point is care more about giving illegals

in this country medicaid, medicare than they do about american citizens. we have american citizens on the streets starving, homeless. the democrats care more about giving illegals all these programs. that is why we have a caravan of thousands of illegals coming north to get these benefits. about theocrats cared american people, they would use their efforts to help the american people host: robert can question? a how does that play out in how you are going to vote? caller: when i watch my country being invaded because of democratic programs that they want to give to illegals that want to invade this country, that is an issue. host: who are you going to vote for that supports your point of view? caller: excuse mecaller:? host: who are you going to vote

for in november? caller: anyone that looks out for the american people. host: who is that? caller: the democrats are communists. host: ok. go ahead. caller: i have a question. i have plenty of statements, but the last caller, in particular, as an independent i'm having a problem with both parties. the democrats, i get frustrated with their platform. the republicans seem to be wing a huge line of anger. i have been listening to c-span a long time. the anger that is coming out , but mostly the republicans, i keep hearing about the media attacks. i wonder whether fox counts.

host: when it comes to health care, is it an issue for you this midterm election? caller: health care, it is confusing. every time i had to with my own health care, it is a headache. i get overwhelmed calling and trying to figure out. i have no idea where the money goes, deductibles. it is nonsense. it is like doing my taxes. it does not make sense. host: it is not a voting issue for you? caller: it is. it is. i think the privatizing of it doesn't seem to make sense. the republican line seems to be attack obamacare, and that is it. the democrats, obamacare, i think the nuts and bolts of it were not too bad. i don't like our corporate it got. the medicare for all, that doesn't sound so far-fetched.

i know it gets attacked as being socialist, but it kind of makes sense as far as insurance. host: that is matthew in new york. if it is a top issue for you in this midterm cycle, give us a call, (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002 "washington journal." --independents (202) 748-8002. our website, a lot of different topics. one of those topics is health care. earlier this month it was the candidates in pennsylvania's 17th district, conor lamb. the topic was pre-existing conditions and cuts to medicare. here is that exchange. [video clip] >> i have never voted and will

never vote to cut medicare. my opponent cannot say the same thing. 2017, you voted to cut medicare by over $400 billion. medicare.voted to cut the leader of your party has made clear that he intends to pay for the $1.5 trillion tax cut by coming after social security and medicare. my opponent has voted against the aca a dozen times. that law protects people with pre-existing conditions. first off, paul ryan never said he was going to go after social security and medicare. these are programs my parents rely on. when you look at the aca, the raid on $800 billion of medicare. conor lamb supports this program. understand what that program did. medicare $800

billion to fund a new entitlement program and to treat people living above the poverty line more favorably than they did people living below the poverty line. mr. lamb has voted against a piece of legislation that every single democrat voted for. if you and your doctor decide there is a treatment you want to it, and providers are in the government should not veto that. you look at the votes we had where we have to look forward, made noges -- our votes changes for anybody in or near retirement. i am committed to saving medicare. host: that and other debates as part of our campaign 2018 cycle on the topic of health care or other topics available to you at c-span.org. you can watch the indiana senate debate live at 7:00 tonight. senator joe donnelly, democrat,

against republican and libertarian opponents. you can see that on c-span. you can go to our website, c-span.org, and monitor it on her c-span radio app. from georgia, this is richard, republican line. caller: yes, all these democrats seem to have that palm sticking straight up, expecting uncle sam to give them everything they want. what about john kennedy's famous quote, they should ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country? to thisen it comes november, how does that work out for you as far as health care being an issue? i am a retired army sergeant after 20 years of 1985.e from 1965 to

i went to the va hospital one time because of a ruptured disc in my back. i have not been back. i don't go to doctors. i don't go to the dentist. i don't go any place. host: it is not an issue for you then? caller: say what? host: it is not an issue for you as far as the election is concerned? caller: not whatsoever. if anyone votes for a democrat, they are a fool. host: ohio, democrats line, michael. caller: hello. i'm a veteran. a few years back, i had a recurring problem that did not seem to get fixed at the veterans administration, so i went to the cleveland clinic. i got a ridiculous bill on top of my insurance that i could not even read that took me two years to pay off.

i'm a veteran. have some type of insurance for ordinary people. obviouslyor all is the best solution. host: is there a candidate in ohio where you live that represents those interests or goes along with that philosophy? the candidates here in ohio, i have not heard a lot , howeverlth insurance i am voting straight democrat. republicans seem concerned only with making bigger profits for the medical industry. host: what convinced you of that?\ caller: they try so hard to get rid of obamacare, and every

claim they come up with is to have us pay more money to the insurance companies and hospitals. tom is next in utah, independent line. caller: good morning. i am also a veteran. i have lived under socialized medicine. i have lived in africa and england. south america. let me tell you something, you don't want to live under socialized medicine. being in the v.a. system since 1966 when i quit college to join the military to fight in vietnam , here is what it is all about, you get put into a system that is so bureaucratic and slow that you suffer. if american people love the veterans and cared about us like they say they do, they would let us go to any doctor we want to,

but they force you into the v.a. , and then if you don't like it, which i heard my back. these young kids gave me exercises that made my back worse. i have to to pay out-of-pocket a small fortune so i could even walk. all you people out there, it sounds good in theory, we are just going to pay a little bit, and the government is going to take care of us. the government doesn't take care of you. they get you in their war, and then you suffer. you are being a fool to vote for the democrats who want more socialism. they care more about the illegals than they do their own citizens. host: can i ask you a question? translate, i know i sound like a broken record, but who do you vote for in november? caller: it translates by saying he is not a

republican. i care about what they do. so far they are changing it so that veterans like myself that live over 50 and are 45 miles from a va hospital can in certain instances get into a local doctor. this is in the right direction. the democrats want to take us further into socialism. host: ok. you made those points. james in virginia. hello. caller: thank you for taking my call. i paid $22,000 a year for insurance. a good friend of mine pays $120 a month and has better insurance than i do. he is a democrat. i'm not a democrat. i don't know what i am anymore. i'm not a democrat. this morning speaks the truth regardless of what anybody wants to say. everybody knows illegal immigrants are going to be the

destruction of our entire world. every kind of thing that lets you know. you don't have to be that intelligent to see what is going on. we are being hoodwinked by the democrats. they love their jobs. they have an immense amount of money given to them on a daily basis along with accolades and perks that are far beyond anything you could possibly have . it is like winning the lottery every day. host: fredericksburg, either dave brat or robert wittman will be your representative is somewhere you live. are you voting for either of them? caller: i dislike both, but i told vote for either of them not be associated with a democrat. host: do you know where they stand on health care? caller: i do not. it doesn't matter to me.

i only don't want democrats. host: that is james in virginia. one of the other breaking stories this point, if you go to interviewwebsite, an reporters did with the president saying that the president plans to sign an executive order that remove the right of citizenship for babies born on u.s. soil. he said that yesterday. two of the reporters featured there, we will show you a bit of the interview from the sears. [video clip] >> some legal scholars believe you can get rid of birthright citizenship. >> with executive order. >> have you thought about that? >> yes. it was always told me that you need a cost to xiamen. you don't. you don't need that. -- a constitutional amendment.

you don't. you don't need that. you can deftly go with an act of congress. now they are saying you can do that with just executive order. how ridiculous? the baby is essentially a citizen of the united states for 85 years, will get all those benefits. it is ridiculous. >> have you talked about that with counsel? >> it is in the process. it will happen. it is an executive order. that is what you're talking about. website.t is the axios more about that interview that will air on sunday. when it comes to the topic of health care, we have started talking with you about if health care is an issue. you can continue to let us know. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. .or independents (202) 748-8002

on facebook, steve says i want my doctor to control my health care, not my politicians and governments. mimi says we are the only first world country that doesn't have universal health care. this puts all of us at the you can post on facebook or twitter. tom from ohio, democrat's line. caller: is this me? host: yes, you are on. caller: yes, my name is tom. i am from ohio. retired in the state of i just do not recall changedr it was, but it right down -- i don't have any insurance right now. 2, my health

insurers will be right at $1200 a month. that is a policy with my wife. [indiscernible] and -- my hospital bill is almost $190,000. i got that all paid off. [indiscernible] i call this giving money away. host: that is tom in ohio.

lori, democrat's line. caller: this is gloria from texas, a very small town. the a veteran and i used v.a. health care system and it works just fine. i had back surgery there, and i am fine now thanks to them. the other thing i would like to say is that the illegals do not receive benefits, only their children that are born here if they come. those children might receive benefits because they are united states citizens. host: gloria, let me ask you this, when it comes to deciding on who you will vote for, how does health care play into that? was a verylth care big factor because it was obama that set up the military to even

take care of veterans as well as they do now. v.a. did havehe problems. now, there is no wait times like these people are talking about. i use the v.a. regional medical center in houston, texas. i get my appointments whenever i want them. host: ok. .hat is gloria in texas from maryland, republican line, mike. caller: how are you doing? host: how are you? go ahead. counterpoint,do a npr statistics, $32 billion for health care is how much it will cost for all. month for my private health care insurance. $1200,remium has gone to that is because obamacare. this woman talking about

benefits from the ba, that is v.a.,se of -- from the th that is because of trump. they fired leaders after multiple scandals. 1% at 100%ax the top of their tax rate, and you would not even find 60% of medicare. it is a joke, and idea of adding 20 billion -- or $10 trillion on to our national debt per year is just absurd. this is the way that people think. to think that illegals are not getting medicare coverage, look at california. look at how deep their debt is. that is not because their children are getting medicare. that is because they are getting medicare. that is a true fact. $32 trillion. host: so, does maryland deal with anything like medical expansion? caller: no. well, we have mr. hogan, who is

fantastic. we do not have the same problems. he will win again. he is going against a joke. we will see a lot of republicans get in our stay, which is a good thing. medicare expansion, well, it is inevitable because as people -- these people just need and need things. it is everybody. they like free things. they're like, i fought as hard as i can, i'm going to get free stuff. it is disheartening, but the way things have gone. host: that is mike in maryland. at the white house press briefing yesterday, you can see on c-span, one of the topics was ofng asked by a reporter sarah sanders, the administration's opinions on how to deal with pre-existing conditions. [video clip] >> the president talked about how republican lawmakers will

tax pre-existing conditions if they keep controlling congress, but the administration has brought a lawsuit that would undercut the protections under obamacare and have taken regulatory actions. so how do you plan, what is the republican plan? healthpresident's care plan that he has laid out covers pre-existing conditions. he wants to lower premiums. nobody will be charged higher premiums if they keep their coverage, nobody will be denied coverage under the president. host: mark on the democrats's line. caller: hey, pedro. this is mark and i them in miami working at the nuclear power plants. i just finished my sixth or seventh 12 hour shift, so i apologize. i am also a veteran of the marine corps. i am one of -- i wanted to say semper fidelis to gloria from texas, even though the 30-year-old from ireland did not

exclaim his affiliation with the american military, it did not sound like he served his country. i am also now accepted into the v.a., and i think the americans were truly honest, they would realize the importance of the to., because people from 30 65 cannot afford health care in america. it is the number one cause of , whenptcy in the country you have a health care issue of any serious nature, pedro, and you do not work for strong company, it is going to knock the wheels off of your household. go ahead. host: in your mind, does the -- is this an issue, as far as the november election? is that of concern for you? pedro. well, yes, i think it is for all americans because to reiterate my observation, any kind of major health care issue with any family, and now it is grandparents, parents, and

grandchildren raising families. you know, when we all used to come to america, it was one father and one mother raising a family, even though a democrat, i still support those concepts and principles. with the economy the way it is, pedro, it requires a couple of generations to produce a winning household. first.nomy is with health care being the most detrimental aspect of the economy when it comes to a household, so if anybody gets sick or anything serious, you are not sending someone to college. you are not sending anyone to college. your economically -- you are economically at a disadvantage for as a veteran -- did you hang up on me? host: one more statement and then i have got to go. caller: as a veteran, i would say, health care, if it is nationalized, will still be rent privately and paid for with just american tax dollars.

not government doctors are private doctors. host: got you. let's go to missouri, independent line, kenneth, hello. caller: good morning, pedro, and c-span. florida --medicare medicare law, like the previous caller wants, how are you going to pay for it? you will not be able to pay for it. you can tax people to death and you still cannot pay for it. my question to democrats is, ok, you want to medicare, how are you going to pay for it? you will just bankrupt this country. ,ost: if you go to the website the local website, there is a story stemming from the midterm elections about tom macarthur. hee is the headline -- helped write the gop health care bill, now it is catching up with them. they say, 1.5 years ago, people

worried about families members -- family members of pre-existing conditions. the republicans did not vote for the health care plan, which he was one of the authors, and he is a former insurance executive who ran for congress in 2014, and he is long but to be untouchable for brokering a deal with conservatives on health care. he had been a leader in moderate lawmakers and could afford to spend millions on his own seat, covered by two pricey media markets. the story says that is hardly the case anymore. just eight days until election day, he finds himself in one of the most competitive elections in the country. his opponent, a first-time candidate, has outraised him, running neck and neck with him in most polls. now rated as democratic.if you go to the senate side, it was during the las vegas senate

debate this month between senator dean heller, and representative jacky rosen. they were asked what they would do when it comes to lowering the cost of health care, including the topic of pre-existing conditions. [video clip] it since shoulder to shoulder with governor sandoval a while back and we talked about what is important in health care. one, pre-existing condition should be part of any health care bill. children under the age of 26 should make sure they are part of their parents insurance program. finally, we have to make sure that expanded medicaid was detected in nevada. both the governor and i agreed on those three things. there were things we disagreed on, but those were the three things we agreed on. making sure that pre-existing condition was part of any health care bill. i went to washington, d.c., and that is what i did. >> congresswoman rosen, now it is your turn. what are you going to do to control the rising cost of health care, and do you think

pre-existing condition should be covered? >> i am so happy you started with that question and thank you for hosting tonight, and for senator for being here. health care is the most important thing that we can think of. if you do not have your health, you don't have anything. the first and we can do is stabilize the kashi and reductions. when i got -- stabilize the cost-sharing reductions. families do not talk about politics to me, they talk about their health. the rising cost of premiums, prescription drug prices, i will introduce legislation that will cap prescription drug prices. we need to address the medical resident shortage, we have a new lv, so wechool at un need to increase the medical residencies, and we need to be sure, number one, that we protect the pre-existing conditions as senator heller and his colleagues want to slash.

my phone is ringing off the hook with people with chronic diseases and they will not be able to get coverage. ont: of the responses facebook, this is mike foster, says government out of health care, brian says the gop still does not have a plan that would ensure coverage for pre-existing conditions. it goes on from there. debbie is in oregon. republican line. caller: hi. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: ok. think i am about ready to 65.medicare when i turned i do not understand why there is an issue with it because i paid into it, my parents paid into it, my brother paid into it, we have all paid into it, and now it seems like it might not be there.

i do not understand why that is because is there any way that we can sue? host: i do not know that, but i am assuming you are saying that health care them has become a more important issue for you as far as elections? caller: yeah, as you go along. it just seems like all of a sudden, medicare is not something that we are going to get. they are deciding what is going to happen to it. and i do not understand why that is because it has been paid into, so social security and medicare, social security was supposed to be our retirement, and medicare was supposed to be our health plan. now, all of a sudden, it is like, that might not be there because -- and i do not understand what the because is. host: if you go to the editorial this morning in the wall street under thehe editors

banner say, obama's red state traps, highlighting the fact that on october 6, four states will consider ballot initiatives on expanding medicare. the last would extend an expansion that is set to expire. ofansion extends the benefit prime age adults without children up to 138% of the poverty line. the feds pay more than 90% of the cost for the new beneficiaries. and in nebraska, the truly vulnerable, close to 70% in idaho, montana, and utah. the editors also say, the idea of the bezel continued to pick up 90% of the top forever is fantasy. the gop is out to equalize the funding formula and make states pay closer to 30% to 50% like for traditional medicaid. states should not assume that they will be more merciful and stick more of the medicaid bill on states. they wonder if federalism at

times are politically convenient for them in washington. that is the editor's in the wall street journal. democrat's line, bobby and west virginia. caller: how are you doing? host: i'm fine, thanks. caller: i would like for you to give me a moment or two if possible. i am a united mine worker, and we have good health care, and our organization, i am a third-generation coal miner, and our forefathers that sought and died -- font and i to get the benefits we got, and as a mine worker, i personally think that everyone should have health care, and i do not think that all these hundreds of insurance companies, health insurance companies, should hold the public, that is us, the anding-class people, hostage for health care.

they blacked congressman's and senators on both sides, and they are the holding on the elections coming up, and they are taking money, and these big corporations do not want people to have health care, and as much money as our nation puts out on health care, it is a disgrace. america, there is ifexcuse if you get sick, you are 100 years old, there is no excuse for you not to be able to get health care. it is a right. host: william in north carolina, independent line. hi. caller: this is owed him. host: go ahead -- this is william. host: go ahead. ander: i retired in 1984 have paid approximately three

bills -- and they have paid approximately three bills in that time. the only reason they pay them time is in that 30 year the last six months, every time i bill come up, they would pay zero. 0, 0, 0. payonly thing they would was medicare, and i went to the v.a.. there is nothing wrong with the v.a., it is just that some people got negative attitudes who receive vi.a. i have very good health, i have had no major medical care -- host: because of that -- in my caller: need medicare, and thank god for obamacare. host: william, because of that,

how are you voting this november? caller: i already voted. i am not voting to know god who comes up as republican. nobody thating for is discovered that obamacare is now.hing that they are against pre-existing conditions and everything else. i voted strictly democrat. host: miami, florida, republican line, angela, hello. caller: good morning. i am a retired nurse, and my daughter is also a dentist of the second-largest va hospital in the nation. i think we have to start learning how to become educated citizens and stop listening to everybody else, and just be smart. company, the insurance and the pharmaceutical companies, they have a mafia. running the ones

show. the precedents are puppets. they go and come. we vote for them for four years and we decide to run for them -- to vote for them again. when i retired as a nurse and became a patient having a mastectomy -- and i have to deal with the insurance -- and i saw the bills they were sending me. it was outrageous. and i have been on the other side of the curtain, and that you'd they were overcharging me for things i did not need, nor did they do in the hospital. so the insurance should be capped as to how much they can charge the patient. with obamacare, i had a lot of patients that were unhappy about obamacare. the obamacare was promising things that they were not covering. it was a big lie. angela, with that in mind, you have a governor's race and senate race.

when it comes to those races and health care, where do you stand as far as candidates? caller: as far as candidates? no, i think this country should worry about its country. host: no, as far as the candidates that are running in the senate sent governor's races. what have they said that you support or disagree with? caller: i agree with the republican party. the republican party -- and i never said that they were not going to cover pre-existing conditions. i tried to change my insurance now, and i told them i have this situation, and i'm going to change insurance. will i be labeled as a pre-existing? they told me no. host: let me be specific, rick scott, where does he stand on pre-existing conditions? do you support that? caller: would european the question? -- would you repeat the question? host: rick scott is the republican running for -- far as the insurance

is concerned, i voted, i had an early vote and voted for them. i used to be democrat and changed parties a few years ago. i believe in everything they say because those of us that have been in the health care system on the other side of the curtain , as employee of the health care, we see how abusive, how abusive the insurance companies are. host: you made that point. aly in virginia, high. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. our health care is very important to me. wife had to go to heremergency room because doctor's office was an open. she spent a night in the hospital, and our bill came to $18,000.

what here, asking myself, about people who have jobs that do not give them a better insurance company? what i think it republicans have to have some kind of a management and look at the big picture. obamacare is not perfect. we all know that. but our politicians need to sit act can find a better way to solve this problem. host: so as far as november, who are you voting for? caller: democrats. from virginia.ly when it comes to the midterms at the ads you have seen leading up to election day next week, a week from now, this is julie writing for the wall street journal saying that nancy pelosi and the president showing up in many ads, saying, more than 60% of ads in the senate and house races across the country include mrs. pelosi, according to

analysis. by contrast, the russia probe and the supreme court combined, 2% and add that aired through october the 20th. also win the piece, it says that the biggest bogeyman of this year's midterms is a woman. more than 135,600 house and senate ads have mentioned mrs. pelosi in an entirely negative context. that is more negative advertising the mr. trump has faced this year. the reason? mrs. pelosi typically has higher unfavorably the ratings than trump. north carolina, independent line, teresa. hello. caller: hello. host: hi, you are on. beenr: i am always registered as an independent. i vote for the candidates. democratic because health care is very important to me.

i have started receiving disability,uch -- social security, i had to sign up for blue cross blue shield when i started getting that because i made too much money for medicaid. but next year, i will be eligible for medicare. i am very concerned about health care because i have health care issues. interrupt. to for the democrats you voted for, specifically, who did you vote for our to they stand on health care? caller: we received a book in my county, and i read about every and, you know, the bonds , and i voted for who i thought was the best representative for i amh care, economy --

from a small community -- i used to live 10 miles from charlotte, but now i am in a small community. host: that is teresa in north carolina. or so, next five minutes talking about health care issues, if it is a top issue for you in the midterms? the president in pittsburgh today. the washington times highlights, leading up to election day, several more evidence as he campaigns for certain candidates in certain states, saying that the president will hold 11 more fundraisers and rallies to november 6, working to make the closing argument for republicans . the campaign appearances will be a combination of getting republicans out to vote, and talking about "our booming economy, free market for health care, and the need for a border wall," according to michael glassner, the president's campaign chief officer. sprintmp's cross-country

adds up to 53 rallies in 23 30tes for republicans, and of them after labor day, and in 2010, president obama held 21 rallies for democrats in the midterm elections. dallas, texas, republican line. matthew, good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have a general question for those who support single-payer or any in close to single-payer. on what basis is your personal well-being my financial obligation? that is it. host: from north carolina, jerry, democrat's line. hi. caller: hey. thank you, c-span. i would like to say to the [indiscernible] health care to the public, anything that helps we, the people, feels like the

republicans are against. i say, we, the people, they are not for us. v.a.a veteran, and the does not serve me very well. host: michael also facebook says, when it comes to health care being an election issue, saying yes to obamacare, all health care from the federal government controls, and to get control back to the states to have authority. flora off of facebook says, yes, please, vote for all of your loved ones, family, or friends, children and adults with pre-existing conditions, please, both blue. host: this will be dug in virginia, -- doug in virginia, democrat's line. caller: i am retired, and my wife still works, so in insurance we are in good shape. but all this stuff about all this free insurance, medicare is not free. you pay for it the whole time

you work. then, they take it out of your social security check. there is no free medicare. host: that is doug in virginia finishing off this morning. here is what we have planned for the remainder of the program today. first up, we have going to take a look at how students and educators are working together to better inform students about fact checking stories they find on social media and other sites. alan miller, the ceo and founder of news literacy will join us for that discussion later. look atcontinue our battleground states, the house battleground in new york with jeannie zaino, a political science professor at a college in new york -- at iona college in new york. ♪

announcer: c-span launched our longest running and most successful community outreach program ever. the program has paid the way for our grassroots outreach, engaging citizens in all 50 states. since 1993, this mobile classroom and studio has reached into communities, voting our television programming. c-span educational resources such as c-span.org and to highlight cable's public service offerings, we are grateful to the cable industry for making c-span possible and allowing us to open our doors to visitors. us onpan bus visit multiple occasions. to experience all the things the c-span bust has to offer. >> the kids loved it. it was a great experience.

they got so much out of it. works closelypan with our cable partners in your stronger to foster relationships with educators and the business and historical communities. >> programs like the c-span bus tour enables them to solidify our position as committed partners and advocates for education and technology. announcer: over the last 25 years, the buses have close -- posted close to it 8000 events and connected teachers and students. we have welcomed over $1.5 million -- 1.5 million visitors. on the latest public affairs content and resources, watch for us in your community. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is alan miller.

he is the founder and ceo of the news literally -- literacy project. good morning. talk to our viewers about the news literacy project. guest: we are a national nonpartisan educational nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to teach middle and high school students how to know what to believe in a digital age and give them the tools to be engaged participants and democracy. i was a journalist for 29 years. 2008i started nlp in before alternative facts and fake news became part of the highest, our goal is to give the next generation the tools to know what news and information to trust, to share and act on. host: when a person receives news about politics of social media, what makes you assume

they would not be able to see if it is true? from many studies and our own experience that while students may be digital negatives, they do not have the ability to did english -- distinguish credible information from misinformation and information that can inform them versus persuade them and to mislead them. they need to think like determine what is verified information that becomes the basis for the interactions. host: as far as your program, what are the skills to teach them to achieve that? guest: we have resources we have created. classroom, which you can check out at our website.

it is a cutting-edge engaging online platform with lessons that teach students foundational skills in terms of verifying information about the first amendment, about world press freedoms and gives them the tools to make judgments about everything they see, read and hear in terms of its credibility. host: is this theoretical or a real-world application? what has been the success rates as far as getting students to recognize the information they receive? guest: this is very much in the real world. we are enriching students where they live on their devices. our programs work. we do assessments to determine the impact. students are more confident about the ability to create credible information. they have greater knowledge about the first amendment, the role of prepress and the democracy. they correct mistakes. host: give me an example.

as far as your program is concerned, how the student achieves these things. guest: the technology is available to educators. reachounts of educators 100 10,000 students in every state in the u.s. they use it in the classroom. they show the students lessons as a group. students can do the lessons at home and discuss them. we have other resources we have created as well including the weekly newsletter that takes a look at rumors, hoaxes and conspiracy theories in terms of links and discussion prompts. we have got multiple resources we are using working through educators to reach the next generation and to give facts a fighting chance. talk aboutuests will these topics and if you want to ask him questions, you can do

so. republicans: 202-748-8001 democrats: 202-748-8000 independents: 202-748-8002 what is a telltale sign students should question what they are reading? to see if the information is providing for them to make up their minds. if it is intended to provoke emotion, to insight or persuades. that is a red flag. who created the information? is it from a reputable source? what of the sources? we teach them about anonymous sources. what is the documentation? is there information for them to make up their own mind? is it elemental fairness? is there bias? we talk about confirmation bias, which is what they bring to what they are reading so they can

have distance. host: when it comes to bias, how do you teach students to flesh that out? guest: we have a lesson on bias themchnology and we teach -- what are the signs in terms of the language, images, is the information presented in a dispassionate neutral tone? or is it intended to provoke or insight --incite? are there multiple points of view provided? we give them the tools to make those assessments. and to understand that everything is not driven by bias , but they should look forward to everything they are viewing. tot: when you are talking the students, are you focusing on mainline publications? how much that versus online publications, opinion sources? do you teach skills? foundational --.

difference between news, opinion, propaganda based on its primary purpose. we want them to make those distinctions. we do not steer them to any particular source, platform, nor do we do them away. we want to give them the tools to make those judgments themselves, to reach them at a point where they are creating the habits of -- that will last them a lifetime. --t: the students themselves what are they telling you as far as where they are getting information from? is it political or other things? guest: they are getting most information through social media. .hey get news disaggregated it is accompanied along with everything else. they are often on snapchat and and they and twitter

are on their devices a tremendous amount. we are reaching them where they live and the ability to discern the information becomes a survival skill. it is teaching literacy for the 21st century. take a source like a snapchat posting and pull information from it in order to determine whether or not a story is credible. things aere are basic student or anybody can do. you can look at comments to see if there are questions raised about a post. you can cut and paste information and see if it has been challenged elsewhere or if organizations have looked at it. if it is an image, do a search and find what the context is and where it originated. you can check out our work. -- guest's

we have calls. this is from missouri, democrat line. you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: thank you. people running for senate in missouri. neither has signed anything that can say anything they want to a method is signed. taxthing about our guest that they do not want to talk about that they are trying without not it, independent audits on our transportation system, we as voters are absolutely going to vote on something we know nothing about. that is ridiculous. there has got to be independent audit on everything we sign for. that is my comment. anything -- any of

that apply? i think these skills are applicable. the viewer raises a good point in terms of the need in an election to check facts. islive in an age where there more good incredible information available than in time in history online. it is incumbent upon the individual voter to search for that information and check their facts before they go to the polls. host: berkeley springs, west virginia. carl. republican mine. -- line. caller: i was watching cnn and this guy, whatever his name is, made the statement that president trump is evil, a

racist, a white nationalist. can you fact check that? is he mean to little kids? can you fact check that? guest: i do not know what he said in this case. clearly a there is lot of opinion that gets infused with news coverage in cable stations. is one of the things we encourage students to distinguish between fact and opinion. these are things you can disagree about in some cases and , where there are facts, fact check those as well. host: what is the grade you work with?

-- we work with middleton high school students, six-12 grade and we have homeschoolers and afterschool programs and libraries that are using the platform. host: you talk about social media. powerful isow information when it comes to that rate range? how powerful is television versus social media? part: we find for the most students are getting their news through social media. they live on their devices. when we askt that students questions about television news, what often comes up are the that tire shows. they watch the daily show and john oliver. those shows and they feel they get the news from them. in thethose shows

platform because they are interesting as a blend. there is a component of news. there is a component of opinion but those shows are entertainment but they treat them as news -- entertainment. host: they treat them as news. guest: against them to focus on news related topics. quick tort was always say he was not a journalist. they are fundamentally entertainment vehicles. host: democrat line from washington, d.c. you are on. caller: i had a question and comment. like fact checking, i feel a lot of our major news outlets do not give us all the information and feed into our confirmation bias. when i say our, i mean democrats , african-american and my whole life i was taught democrats are the lesser of evils but i have a problem with how the 2016 election went down and i wonder

if you could clear up something about the pied piper strategy because i do not see it being addressed. it is weird. i feel like we're accusing russia of doing what the democratic party did. they made sure the worst of the other side was who we focused on. ted cruz, donald trump and ben carson. further, howyou go do you want him to apply that specifically? wondering, did you see this taking place in 2016 where the media talked about trump until he became the candidate? he did not have money and now they are trying to say it is russia's fault. have you fact check that? mr. miller? guest: it is a very broad question. media, in terms of the

we have to be careful in talking media".the it is a broad term. news organizations covered the campaign, have been covering what is revealed about russian information subsequently and the ongoing mueller investigation. it on an ongoing basis. with what theiar caller is referring to in terms of the pint pepper strategy. 63% of people worldwide agree the average person cannot tell good journalism from rumors are false. how does that hit you? part of thewas motivation in my starting the project. i felt news organizations in general did not do a good job

telling the public what we did and how we did it. i think it left them quite vulnerable to attacks and to self-inflicted wounds. it is a major incentive for us. we are about creating a mixed generation of informed consumers that will demand quality journalism and creating an informed and engaged participant -- participants eat and democracy. it was a motivating factor in to give people the ability to know what to trust and to look for reputable quality sources of news and information as the basis for their decisions and action. host: your organization says 80 percent of americans let fake news confuse them.

have you describe fake news? guest: it is -- this is not our survey. it is important. you raise a good point in terms of talking about fake news. the term has been weaponized. we think more in terms of misinformation. hoaxes, conspiracy theories created for a profit or ideology or to cause mischief. we prefer to use those terms in talking about the things that are out there to deceive and mislead. guest.lan miller, our new jersey, republican mine. caller: i have seen the most egregious thing going on in the media is the use of anonymous sources and sources close to the president, etc.

there should be some law against people using those kinds of tactics and if not, shouldn't those things be dismissed out of fact they are the anonymous and we do not know if that is true or not? guest: the viewer raises a good point. i know this from my experience as a journalist. there are times when anonymous sources are vital. when there is information that is in the public interest and there is no other way to provide that. i think in those cases and they should be rare, journalists should be as transparent as possible about the source without disclosing it and the , hopefully having multiple sources and having done everything they can to document that information without relying on anonymous sources. .hey are clearly overused they are subject to abuse. if you look at major journalistic scandals, jason

blair and jack kelly and so on, anonymous sources were at the heart. we teach students that is a red flag when the sources are not named. you are asking the viewer, the reader to trust that information without having the basis to know where it is coming from. it is a key point. host: when the new york times published that op-ed about what was going on in the white house, it was printed anonymously. do you think that was the properties of an anonymous source? host: we used that as a two tuple moment. -- a teachable moment. there was debate as to whether that was the proper thing to do. one can make -- argue both ways in terms of whether that was important information for the public to know. whether they should have insisted that person the name to that.

from our point of view, that is one of the things that is a great, rich topic for the classroom. host: independent-minded, mitchell from washington, d.c. caller: good morning. i want to emphasize the work you're doing and thank you for doing this important work. i have one question. it was over lurked. -- overlooked. one of the colors mentioned a public policy and how things need to be audited. what is your view one audits in general? how important they are? the kind of information derived from audits? the kind of information that is derived from audits? the nonpartisanship? that sort of thing. we would like to hear your comments. a lot of organizations do not like to be audited from an outside person and deny that

ability for people to get an inside look into what is going on, and i think that audits would help and i do not think the under generation fully understands the needs of the sense of urgency. i would like to get your comments. i think having independent, third-party reviews of organizations, of government, .f policies is vital as a journalist, i made great use of inspector general's in terms of the federal government. in the gao. the viewer makes a good point about how important, how vital having independent reviews and assessments and examinations of programs and institutions is.

live in a day where we have websites like snopes and put effects. many cable news do their own fact checking. guest: those organizations perform a vital function. they are independent. they are transparent and accountable if they are doing reputable work. they do not ask you to take work at their word. they provide the basis for the determination so you can check that out yourself. they tend to be transparent from.where the -- comes when they make mistakes, they correct them. they play an important service. host: some information that was found said there was 80% of middle school students said they cannot of the difference between sponsored content and news. how are social media companies doing now in terms of two years

ago when making those trek -- those things transparent? guest: the social media companies have taken actions since the 2016 election. they could continue to do more and are aware of the need to do so. ultimately, the key is it comes down to us. for uss a responsibility to be up standards for facts and to ask ourselves with everything we see -- is this something i should trust? is it something i should act on? it is one thing -- the misinformation, there is no barrier for entry for those creating it for profit or to cause mischief, but it cannot spread and have a pervasive impact it has without sharing it. host: north carolina, democrat line. caller: i want to say a couple

things in reference to fact checking. you have a viewer that made a comment on -- could someone fact checked for him? the president stated he is a nationalist so that is fax enough. as far as the media is concerned, people should realize certain stations represent certain news. if you are watching msnbc or fox, you are going to get political news, some negative and positive. basic news,to watch watch local news stations. you put this together yourself or fact check. as far as the voting is concerned, if we do not advocate ourselves and understand what is going on in our community, they can get anything by us whether we fact check it or not so we have to research and understand.

as far as blaming the news media for false information, you are getting false information if you allow to soak in. if you understand you are watching a political news station, you are going to get political information. station,tch a local you get current events. host: thank you. guest: eleanor makes a good point. consumer to fact check, particularly when we are talking about voting elections and making -- the basis for making that important civic action. and credible goods information available than there ever has been but it is competing for people's attention with so much else that seeks other things than to inform dispassionately. host: your program deals with the quiz people can take.

guest: we have created the easiest quiz of all time to encourage people to check their facts before they vote. website.ind it on our double check. the # know,eople believe they but in fact they do not. let me ask you. queen andthe evil snow white say to the mirror on the wall? mirror, upon the wall but i think that is wall -- wrong. i saw the video. believehat is what i and that is not true. host: do want to show that? here is part of the quiz. >> i am your father. >> luke, i am your father.

am your just, no i father. >> i do not believe you. >> which accessory does the monopoly mascot where? --wear? >> a monocle? >> it is none of the above. >> maybe you'll get this one. >> what is the name of the firefighting bear. >> smokey the there. >> mirror mirror on the wall. >> there are no rules. >> that would have been easy. >> where were fortune cookies invented? >> san francisco? it is good to check multiple sources. -- do humans have?

article.s an >> you should have double checked. >> as many as 30 plus. said i can see russia from my house. >> sarah palin. >> look it up. >> take your time. >> i do not know this source. >> double check. >> it says it was tina fey. >> tina fey said it? host: what is the take away from that? guest: the take away is people should check it out before they vote and they can see the quiz it.ewslip.org and share it is vital. as participants in the barker see -- democracy, we check our

facts before we go to the polls. host: republican line. we are short on time. caller: all i want to know is why do you keep saying democracy when we lived in a constitutional representative republic? there is your propaganda. host: with that in mind, what do you hope to expand to see? when do you know you are successful with what you do? we are a long way from that, having reached well over 10,000 students when there are 30 million students in middle and high schools. we want to continue to spread our reach, to expand our impact. 98 countries use the platform. it is growing global contagion.

optimistic that with sufficient supports we can continue to reach former educators and students and make them the up stander facts. with news miller literacy project, thank you for your time. we will continue with our look at battlegrounds. we are focusing on new york state park. we will take up the discussion when washington journal continues. ♪ announcer: sunday on afterwards, vice president mike pence's daughter charlotte talks about their book: where you go.

she is interviewed by kate brower. >> have you ever thought when your dad was governor, why can't we have a more normal life? that onee in the book of the -- towards one of the earlier chapters, i would not have minded growing up in one house. that is what my parents thought they would do. they built a house in indiana. my mom planted three dog wood in the backyard. we put our handprints in the cement. we thought that would be where we would live forever, in southern indianapolis. , god had different plans for our life. for the amazing opportunities and privilege it has been to be in a public family and survey public life and my parents have shown me how

to take it in stride and how even at times when it is stressful, to be grateful for all those challenges and how they make us closer as a family. the: watch afterwards on desktop tv on c-span2. " -- announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we have been focusing on battleground states and we focus on new york state. we are going to look at key races to watch as we go over the next week. joining us, john campbell of usa today networking, good morning. guest: good morning. host: we want to go through four quick. give us the details. we start with new york 19. john fasopresented by

and antonio delgado. guest: john faso is the republican incumbent. he is a longtime politician in government in new york. he has held the seat for two years and facing a stiff challenge from antonio delgado, who is an attorney. who just moved back into the district. onis challenging john faso his record on health care in particular and -- to donald trump. leansa district that democratic but it is a 50-50 tossup district. it is close. monmouth university came out with a poll that showed dell got a 49-44 lead, which there are few voters still undecided but that could turn that election. aboutone feature was

antonio dell gato, his music past. can you describe that? adst: there are dark money groupspublican favored -- groups that favor republicans in congress that are doing independent expenditures that highlights antonio bell gato -- career -- i do not think you could call it a career. you he -- here at all the time detailing that clip from the songs. john faso brought up the fact he uses rough language, which is par for the course for rat music. -- rap music. antonio is latino and

african-american and a lot of the rat music lyrics has to do with empowerment and freedom and fighting back. he said the message is what he stands by. john faso has been hitting him towards the course language. host: another tight race to look at. this is the new york 22nd district. that is claudia tenney versus anthony been d.c.. tell us about this. guest: there is another one that is a dead heat. a poll recently showed one of the single point. it is well within the margin of error. , thisallenger, a democrat is an expensive district. he is a democratic state assembly woman who is challenging claudia, who is the incumbent. she has been in the seat for two years.

she is a republican. she is a conservative. she has gotten a boost from donald trump. jumped at a fundraiser for her. eric trump was here recently. they are banking on the fact that district has a slight about 150,000e, republicans to 120,000 democrats. they are hoping her closeness with donald trump put her over the top but that is a risky proposition. host: the president won the district back in 2016. what are factors you think that because of claudia tenney, why she cannot capitalize on that? guest: there is the blue wave. that is the -- what the democrats are banking on. challenger is banking. it is a slight republican edge

but not a huge one. districts oflarge different pockets have different feelings on donald trump. lot on economic issues, the southern tier of new york is economically troubled and has been for a long time. that is one of the major topics that has been in this race. it is a very close race. it is a tossup in every sense. host: when it comes to spending, especially in close races, what are you seeking? -- seeing? the democratic challengers out raising the republican incumbents. you see that an a lot of districts across the state and a lot of that is the democrats have this energized base. new york is a democratic state and there are donors through the state. you see generally speaking democratic challengers out

raising republican incumbents. tell us where we stand and where you think this race is going. incumbent republican has been there for two terms. donna balter one and upset. she beat the establishment democratic candidate or is -- at least the candidate that was getting the establishment support. -- a visitingng professor that is favored by progressives. the polling is not nearly as close. showed him up 53% to 59% -- 39%. this what is not as close if you believe the polling but it is one democrats had hoped to have 50/50e it is essentially enrollment in terms of

republicans and democrats. the republican seems to be running away with it given the latest polling. host: one of the things that came out of this race was the negatives when it comes to the candidate balter. what are you seeing? guest: you see a number of things. it is a 50-50 district. winning a democratic primary is different from winning a general election race. she ran to the west of -- left of 18 a perez williams who have andsupport of nancy pelosi that goes well to win a democratic primary but when you get to a general election and you have to win over undecided voters, that is a tougher host: sale. host:one more race to talk about. chris collins. one of the features in this race was legal issues. guest: legal issues is putting

it nicely. he has been incited on insider trading charges. there is strong evidence against him. he says the charges are misguided and the truth will come out. chris collins, the incumbent republican said at one point he was going to step down -- not from his office but running for reelection and allow the republicans to pick a new candidate for a place him. he reversed course of the last minute and said he is going to run but he is running a shadow campaign. he has not been telling the media where he is going to be. he has done a few interviews. he has spangled them in there but not debated his opponent, the democratic grand island supervisor, which grand island is outside the district he is running for this district.

with chris collins facing 2020, this is a republican district. it is the most republican district in new york. they went to donald trump by a wide margin. chris collins was the first the back donald trump. he is relying on the fact it is a republican district with a big enrollment edge and he is sending a national message saying we have to keep republicans in control with congress and if you need to send me back to washington -- and you need to send me back to washington. he is up in the polls. what as we finished up, are you going to watch more on election night? guest: three of the four aces we talked about our the three i will be watching most closely. new york is big for democrats in terms of nationally. it is a blue state and they hope to flip seats in order to take back congress and new york is

going to be one of these battlegrounds that the -- will be watching. is the albany correspondent for the usa today network and he is here to talk about key races to watch when it comes to in your estate. mr. campbell, thanks. guest: thank you for having me. host: we take a look at battleground states this week, new york state being our focus and joining us from new york city is a political science professor. good morning. guest: good morning. host: what in your opinion would make new york a battleground state? seen this time around new york is not always a battleground state. it is not always wrigley important to the outcome in washington. we have several close races and you talked about some of those. we are watching those closely.

these are districts like you mentioned. look at 27, which went for donald trump in large numbers, very conservative comeau we can have something of a challenge on his hands. district, you see an evenly split district and you see a republican incumbent with a real challenge from a democrat. as we lookn for us early next tuesday night is going to be -- how do these districts span out? wave that isue allowing new yorkers to sweep out incumbent republicans, 27?her it is 11, 19, 22, all of those districts are districts to watch. host: is there any evidence you see this blue wave as it is described is happening? if you look at the special elections in particular , youook at the primaries

see increased turnout among democrats, particularly amongst progressives. we saw that -- if you look, there are races to watch. we saw a special election in westchester county north of new york city where you have the incumbent county executive there. this was november 2017. doubledassisted by digits by a democrat. this was a republican incumbent, two terms who had run governor. he ran again for county executive and lost. it was not the loss but the scope of the loss. the fact it was double digits, the fact he was quite popular. manywe saw in polling that democrats said four out of 10 were saying they were voting against donald trump for a county executive race.

for a specialain senate election where you had a democrat win by double digits. some of the polling we saw majority ofsizable democrats out to vote against washington, d.c., against republicans and specifically donald trump. you couple that with the fundraising and you couple that with surprises we thought in the primary both in june and september, because we remain the only state in the nation with a split primary. you saw increased turnout and energized progressive left. it did not turn out that way for the democratic primary for governor in september but you had a big challenge to the governor. those factors latest to believe there may be a blue wave. i am not suggesting it is going to be a synonymy. -- tsunami. democrats are energized on the left to get out and vote against the president. ust: jeanne zaino is joining

to talk about politics involved when it comes to midterms. if you have questions, for residents of new york. 202-748-8000 , 202-748-8001 . professor, what about turnout? what is the history? how does it play out for the people involved? state has hadk low turnout in the last several elections compared to the rest of the nation. it has been a challenge. there are several factors to contribute. we do not have early voting, which jammin -- dampens turnout. we do not have same-day registration. we have a closed primary. all those factors lead to a dampening of turnout. -- worst are not in the nation.

it has not been a good story in terms of turnout for new york and we can do better on that front. that said, in the special election in the primaries we have seen since 2016, turnout has been up and you look at a case like new york city. we understand the board of elections has as many ballots as it would for traditional presidential years, expecting potentially a big turnout. we do not quite know what is going to happen tuesday but people are expected in new york. we are going to see a rising turnout and we were going to do much better in this state -- are going to do much better in this state if we change procedures and make it easier for people to turnout and vote. i will give you an example. my students as you looked into the primaries last time around, had to be registered in some cases many months earlier than the primary occurred in order to participate. for young people, transient

populations, but most people are not focused on these races to register months in advance as new york requires. we could do better on all those fronts. we are going to see a much improved turnout this year. host: is there a sense of knowing if you see that kind of turnout in terms of who benefits more from republicans or democrats, or does it depend? does depend although this is a state with more registered democrats than republicans. we are one state that requires you to name your party id when you register so we know we have more registered democrats. we should if we see a large turnout, that should help the democrats. there is always the chance it is the opposite. if you look historically on midterm elections, it would be the party out of power that would benefit. we would most likely with an increased turnout see a benefit to the democratic party. host: about 20 million in new

york, governor cuomo talked about democratic governor. the current house delegation is 18 democrats, nine republicans and when it comes to the 2016 race, hillary clinton easily winning over donald trump. jeanne zaino talking about all of that and more. we have calls lined up for you. we will start with lee. he is in georgia, new york. you're on. go ahead. caller: hello. because in the mail i received this flyers -- flyer. i did -- i am in the 19th district. i opened it up and i thought it was going to give you information on propositions. likeit is is saying things the republican john faso wants to give guns to the mentally ill and convicted felons and want to do away with so many things and,

yes john faso wants to do that. antonio del gato does not. it is fake news. i am on my radio in the car subsequently and on one of the news stations it says delgado is buzzing up new york city residents to vote in the uptake -- upstate 19th district election. preregistered 30 days in advance and this whole king -- thing is phony and is it is upsetting because it is too late to discern whether things are fake information or not. i am upset. host: thank you for your call. professor, go ahead. guest: that is one of the races you talked about, certainly the the state.d race in

one of the most watched across the country, in fact and these voters are being inundated by information and as we suggested, there is concern that some of that information can be false and is a political scientist, it is -- what do know? the research shows negative advertisements give people negative information but they do also dampen the spirit of voters. it is a double-edged sword and one thing we have seen here in new york, but even across the country is one thing i have noticed. insistencelot more among the people putting advertisements together to call their opponents liar and think things we did not hear in the past. it is a victory at campaign and

across the state but it reflects what is going on nationally. host: this is from massachusetts. about: i wanted to talk the -- the guest is talking about in new york. i am liberal. i voted for hillary. i want to let her know why. -- why am not getting out to vote. host: go ahead. caller: white democrats are not going out to vote is the democratic party are liberal alone. they do not do anything with immigration. we have people sitting in new york who cannot work or have trouble meet -- meeting their family. not present. you do not do anything for us.

why do we lose money when you are not there for us? you are only for one party. about who we are. i talk about example. host: gotcha. when it comes to democrats in in new york, what is the breakdown for someone who finds themselves a moderate democrat versus a progressive democrat? guest: this is something that defines our state today and the country when you look at the democratic ready. we mentioned our incumbent government -- governor who is running for his third term, andrew cuomo usually defined as a moderate democrat who faced the primary challenge from an aggressive cynthia nixon for this last primary. have seen this but not just

that the gubernatorial level but all the democratic party in new york state and the country. we saw in 2016 between people like hillary clinton and bill -- bernie sanders, where there is this divide in the democratic party. the more left wing the base of the party. andparty is animated energized, which makes it more difficult for people like andrew cuomo who are more moderate. front and center in this election, we see it around the country. i think as you look in the urban settings you see the more progressive we saw in the 14th care with us. -- the three in the primary. as you move into more rural areas, you five more moderate democrats represented through

andrew cuomo. this is something we're going to .ee in the democratic party the party tries to define itself as a state level and nationally. this is something we see between our mayor in the exit he who ran as a progressive versus his nemesis, the moderate andrew cuomo. this is the battle these two have been waiting since they have been elected office. raymond inis from new york. whatr: i want to know -- does dnc and rnc stand for? guest: the dnc is the democratic national committee or convention, depending on which and the same for the republican -- the republican national committee or convention.

you talked about the state being heavily democratic. is that mostly upstate? how does new york city plan to that? guest: we see a stronghold for republicans in the 27th district upstate that donald trump one handily. you see strongholds still among valent but new york city remains a bastion of liberal democratic power except for the 11th district which is the district i am spending an island where we see in adjusting race between the incumbent dan donovan that is being challenged. it looks like the republicans may maintain that seat. most people think republicans will. staten island is the only bastion of conservativism. some people forget, because we

have had republican mayors and those if, but many of you look at mayor bloomberg, the last elected republican mayor, who is recently declared himself a democrat after being an independent for some time. you can see the trajectory city is going on but there is a split. some people call this a tale of two states. versus downstate, where it is a more liberal haven and progressive area particularly under mayor to blood theo. host: if you live in new york city -- new york state, 202-748-8000 . 202-748-8001 all other colors. jackie, hi. old andi am 83 years have been its politics for all

those years. i have never seen so much dissonance and hatefulness and lack of respect for people and -- in general as a right of being a christian and a reasonable human. . have been a republican i've been an independent and i've been a democrat. host: sorry about that. go ahead. this unfortunate, horrific week we see between the bombings and shootings coming you see many people talking about this issue of civility and as you look towards the midterm elections, many quote new york fore and belonged -- beyond the color was calling from florida. thought,le who we perhaps the kavanaugh hearings would play in the midterm. the midterms, maybe now the caravan the

president has been talking about, but in the last few days, much attention has turned to civility in politics and the vitriol we are seeing on the campaign trail. that is going to help the democrats if you are talking about it politically because, if you look at some of the polling we have seen, you can see particularly amongst women, and women will be a decisive factor across the nation, they are turned off by the tone of the campaign and certainly by the president. that is a big problem for republicans running, who need to get the vote out, so they need the president, but on the other hand if they are too closely tied to the present, they can turn off women, moderates, and independence. it is a real challenge for republicans as we look at this issue of civility in politics. host: is that the may issue, or

are there other issues that drive voters such as health care and immigration? guest: i think we are seeing the main thing that motivates voters is the economy and jobs. as you split it by party, for democrats it is all about health care. that is a driving factor. we have seen that in the democratic party in new york state in the 19th in particular. as you look to republicans, you see issues like taxes, regulations, and immigration and security, which are very important to republicans. there is a real split between republicans and democrats in terms of what is important for them. as to track the campaign advertisements across the country, you can see very clearly that split with many more democrats consistently talking about health care, particularly pre-existing

conditions versus republicans talking about taxes, regulations, but increasingly immigration tied to security. those seem to be the animating factors on both sides of the isle. host: we will play you a sampling of advertisements. here is a sample. [video clip] >> the iran nuclear deal, dangerous. my opponent calls it an important diplomatic achievement. it allowed iran to continue enriching uranium and gave them access to $100 billion in frozen assets. even john kerry admitted money would flow to terrorist groups. that is not an achievement. good for iran, bad for america. it is dangerous if you don't know the difference. >> with all the noise going on, i wanted to speak to you directly. i'm running for congress to serve you. i am determined to fight for

affordable, accessible health care, not take it away. i will work to lower your tax burden. we might not agree on every issue, but i can promise you this, i will always be straight with you. i will always be accountable. i am antonio dugout. i approve this message because i am asking for your vote on november 6. host: the iran nuclear deal being the topic of discussion, on the other side, you have seen these ads and many others. give us your perspective. guest: you can see clearly that divide that we have been talking about. republicans focusing on the iran deal and trying to tie it to the issue of security for the american public, how insecure we may be from terrorism, whether it is coming in his repetition of iran were out there versus antonio delgado talking about

health care and the need to address the always challenging problem of health care and particularly pre-existing conditions. that is a split we have seen over and over again in this election. that is why we see the president on the trail trying to focus on immigration, security at the border, and democrats focusing on health care and instability in our politics. host: joe is next. caller: good morning, pedro. host: good morning. caller: good morning to your guests. what i want to talk about this morning is we talked about the blue wave that is coming. which is for real. i just want to give a example of picture if youst

trees on one side of the street. those trees drop all the leaves on that side. all of a sudden, the wind came and blew all these leaves on the other side of the street. that is a wave. not -- it just suites. democrats who swept when theunless president had that secret meeting with putin, he probably -- there midterm elections. do the same thing for me you did for me in 2016. host: thank you. as far as the analogy to the wave, what do you think?

as we -- we talk about this wave, what i am saying is slightly different. the prediction is we are going to see the democrats pick up the house. i don't know if it is going to be in record numbers, but i think it is not far-fetched to imagine that they get the upper 20's or mid-30's to get well over the 23 they need for the house. as you look in the senate, you see a very different picture where it looks like republicans will maintain their majority and may pick up a seat or two. mitch mcconnell may come out of this with 53 or 54 states. as we talk about a blue wave, we could talk about that in the context of the house of representatives. i think new york is an example of leading that charge as we have 18 house seats for the democrats, likely to get a few more next week.

senate, it is the a very different picture across this country. we need to be cognizant of that. that echoes what we saw in 2016 at the presidential level with hillary clinton winning the majority of the vote, but donald trump taking the electoral college. that is reminiscent of what i think we will see in 2018. we have to because just about a blue wave. i think democrats likely take the house, but it probably stops there. host: when it comes to those close races, is it you're thinking that the democrats will win those races? guest: very tough to call. the 19th is almost a tossup. i think john faso deserves a lot of credit for running a strong campaign, as does his challenger antonio delgado.

i would call it a tossup. i think the polls are giving delgado a slight edge. we may see a democratic win in the 22nd. it is tough to call in both of those cases. the fact democrats are making a go of it in these districts, orther it is 11, 19, 22, 24, 27, and you are talking a very republican district in 27, it speaks to the fact that new york state is poised to be a state that as the governor says is going to be a bulwark wall against the republican administration in washington, the same way california has been. i'm not sure that is going to happen across the country. host: has the governor laid out his perspective of what he wants to do if he gets a third term? guest: he has laid out a plan.

he has talked about that very thing. holding thed about line against the republican administration in washington. as we saw the kavanaugh hearings go forward, we heard the governor talk a lot about ensuring that women in new york state owes have the right to choose. we also see the governor talking a lot about the fact he is likely going to be working for the first time with a democratic senate, something he has not had. like are things he would to do, including campaign-finance reform, ethics reform, that he has been dogged by for much of his administration, and this is a governor that has led the charge in a free college education. things on hisr of agenda for a third term. the question is will he served a third term if elected, and it

looks like he is going to be elected, or will he put himself in the running for president in 2020? he has said he will not run for president in 2020 under any circumstances. some people question whether he will change his mind on that. governor are that the wins against his challenger, the same for kirsten gillibrand, who is running again for the senate and is facing minimal challenge. in new york, this is dill. ifler: i would like to know anyessor zaino has information on the incumbent from long island, who is pro-drop in the challenger is pro-single-payer. uest: this is lee's elven -- lee zeldon's district.

uc health care as a big issue out there. maintain hisely to seat. it is a seat that is likely to be watched. democrats early on thought it was one that could be picked up. there's not much confidence as we get close now and it is all about turnout. it is a race that democrats initially thought they could turn over. look at the newsday newspaper, i will redo the 's race testsldon donald trump's popularity. guest: i think it is true in that race and is true in many sectors across new york state. democrats make the race about donald trump, they feel that is going to be a winning message. they have to be careful about that. that can increase republican

turnout among truckers porters. many democrats -- trump supporters. many democrats think this will work for them. floridian calling from tampa. this is sam. caller: good morning. my question is, what is the observation for the 27th district, which is buffalo, new york, on the conservative and democratic platforms? buffalo has been suffering ever since bethlehem steel pulled out in the 1970's. you have so many that cannot afford health care and jobs. thank you. i'll take my answer off-line. host: thank you. guest: the 27th is one of the really interesting races. it is a very, very conservative district, very republican

district. it is the district where chris collins is running. chris collins, as many of your viewers may know, was indicted in about august for insider trading. ime he said, of t and we assumed he would pull himself out of the race, and republicans would find someone else who would run. he decided as we got into september that he was going to run. chris collins remains on the ballot. he is running. he is running against a guy named nate mcmurray, who democrats would not have had much of they could pick up the seat until the collins indictment. it is probably still a long shot, but chris collins remains on the ballot. there have not been any debates as far as i understand in that district. it is still a district in which

pollsters suggest collins is hold this district and likely to face a trial somewhere in january next year, which raises questions if he is elected what the house may do about that? district,idering the are you surprised that representative collins still has that strong of a hold? guest: i am not surprised. this is a district that he won by 30 points last time around. donald trump one by double digits. -- won by double digits. republicans were really concerned about who could put up there, someone who could so fun. i'm not surprised -- self fund. i'm not surprised. it does speak to the fact that these are the types of choices

voters are being presented with, someone under indictment for illegal acts versus a democrat who doesn't have a lot of support in the district, or did not until this turnaround of events. as you look across new york state, one of the things to make note of is that, i believe across the country there are 39 races that are unchallenged, new york state has six of those. new york state has six democrats running without a republican challenger. that is a large majority. that speak to the fact that we have such a divide, a district like the 27th that is so overwhelmingly republican versus these other districts where you have six democrats running without a republican challenger. that is not good for democracy. that is not good for voters. it does not give any of us a choice. that is the story of new york

this dividedook at state, upstate and long island versus downstate, red and blue, liberal and conservative. host: we have heard about the topic of voter suppression. how does that play out in new york? guest: we have had enormous issues with challenges in terms of voter suppression. we find -- and we are going to look for this on tuesday and hope we do not find it -- we do not have a good record when it comes to ensuring the franchise of all voters on election day. that is a real concern. when polling sites open, are they well staffed? are people being denied their right to vote? these are all things we have experienced in new york. worry, if there is increased

turnout on tuesday, that could as we come again into what could be a busy primary season on tuesday. host: is that because of the infrastructure involved as far as people that manage elections on the statewide level? are there local issues? guest: there are issues at both. our political parties are in charge of ensuring we have access, and that remains a problem. i think the biggest challenges for new york state when it comes to voting are the fact that we have not kept up with the rest of the country in terms of increasing turnout and making voting accessible to everybody. these are things like same-day voter registration, early notng, allowing people to have to register so far in advance. all these things tend to dampen

turnout in a state like new york. there is very little reason we don't have that here. just to give you one example, we are the only state in the nation that has a split primary. we have a primary for national races in june and state and local races in september. .hat is more costly there is no reason we would not unite those primaries and have one primary where we can go and vote for the candidates we choose. that is a change that has to happen. it is a long time coming. i don't know if we are going to see it. there are some people that feel with a democratic senate we may see changes like that. our state has not had a good record on voter turnout. security, about voter the machines, how votes are collected and tabulated?

guest: there is a good deal of concern. we have seen heightened concern .ost 2000 and post 2016 the research is very clear on the fact that the greatest problems with voting come from human error and are not necessarily hacking or nefarious attempts to change the vote. simple or not so simple human error at the polls. investing in things like poll worker training, good technology , a paper ballot as a backup. new york is not alone in being slow to invest in that. this is something we do once or twice a year. to ourrtant as this is democracy, many people feel that they would like their money to go elsewhere. there is a huge concern in the minimal investment we make in

all of those factors, which could go a long way in helping to assure that our votes are collected and counted accurately. it is not something that is incredibly exciting to talk about, but the biggest problem is human error. that is errors brought on by machines that are not accurately fixed and maintained. they are brought on by all kinds of human error from the top to the bottom of the process, more so a concern than any hacking or anything like that that we talk a lot about in the media. host: one last call from nick in georgia. caller: how are you doing? professor, i was wondering if you could address the difference in the democratic socialist platform and the government platforms of venezuela and russia as socialist nations and how that affects the u.s. government, and i have another

question, why the president cannot send the u.s. coast guard to the border to enforce border security because they are actually a law enforcement arm, not a military arm. thank you. host: professor, you can address the first part. guest: in terms of the democratic socialist platform, i don't think we have a fully blown or fully developed democratic socialist platform in this country yet. i would underscore yet because in the past we have had a movement towards that. we are seeing that not just this election cycle but in the last few election cycles. i think it is still developing. when we are talking about a democratic socialist platform, it is difficult to pinpoint a particular leader, a particular number of issues. you can point to things developing like universal health

care or health care for all, medical care for all. education for all, college education in particular. free college education. those are the kinds of issues we are hearing a lot about. there are real questions in terms of whether there is support for those and whether we can pay for those in this country and if so how and what you're going to give up to pay for them. be of those things have to sorted out. it is still a developing platform. i missed the last part of something about the border issue. host: the color was asking about ler wassident -- cal asking about the president's authority to send the coast guard to the border. you can answer that if you want, but i was good ask you about security on election night. what --

guest: what i am watching for on election night is where do suburban women go on election night. i will be watching that very closely. also going to be watching to see .igns of a blue wave we should see that early. some of the house districts in virginia, a few of the districts in new york. we will be watching that closely. we want to be looking at some of the exit polls to see if these divides between republicans and democrats, rural and urban holds up. if it does, it is a stark reminder of what we will be facing in governance over the next two years and for 2020 and beyond, which is a very divided country. not just divided by party, divided by geography and divided by the area in which you live as well as issues like gender and race. as we talk about the divisive tone we see a lot of that

reflected in some of this data we will see on tuesday night. zainoprofessor jeanne teaches at iona college. no, thank you so much for your time. guest: thank you. our 50th and final stop on her 50 capitals tour. we had to albany. we caught up with lieutenant governor cap he hoped chill -- kathy hochul. nearly 20 million people call themselves new yorkers. lieutenant governor kathy hochul is one of those. lieutenant governor, what is your role as lieutenant governor? what are some of your duties? >> you are basically there to

fill in for the governor if needed constitutionally. i am president of the senate. i have tried to make it much more than just what is required by law. i have viewed this as a platform to champion the governor's signature issues, minimum wage, family leave, ensuring that we have a robust gum protection -- gun protection laws. i have made it more of a policy position. the eyes and be ears of the administration in every corner of this diverse state. i probably know this state better than anybody because i have spent so much time in new york city and the rural areas, the finger lakes, the north country. as lieutenant governor, i have a lot of responsibilities in our state capital. i am allowed to travel all over. i have been around the globe eight or nine times mile wise.

topeople often talk about new york's current new york city , two thirds of the population there, and then the rest of the state. is that troublesome? >> people talk about upstate, downstate. who spends a lot of time in new york city, i find it fascinating to have a foot in both worlds. i try to make both worlds understand each other. issues such as gun safety legislation, in which upstate new york has a lot of lawful gun owners. city, live in new york there has been more incidents of violence and concerns of guns on the street. there is a different view. i get to help explain to each other what the different points of view are and how people have an understanding.

where also focused on economic development for upstate new york. for generations, our state ignored upstate new york because political power has been concentrated where the population is. actually governing is like governing texas and san francisco at the same time. it is a fascinating challenge. i embrace it. >> has that led to bifurcated legislation, one set of legislative initiatives for the city and another for the state? >> you cannot do that because we have elected representatives from upstate new york as well as downstate. there are far more immigrants in the assembly then there are republicans. you have to strike the right balance or it will not get through the legislature. that is what governor cuomo has been successful at, finding

areas where people will agree. we are proud we have the nation. it did not come easy. you have to find compromise. we had to deal with republicans in the new york state senate for the past two terms. we think that is going to change. a lot of issues that have been bottled up, for example codifying roe v. wade, something we think of as critical, now that there has been a shift in the supreme court and hostility for women's rights, we want to make sure our senate is able to codify that and make sure we have protections regardless of what happens in washington. we have had trouble with that because republicans in the senate don't agree philosophically. they will not bring it up for a vote. as president of the senate, i tried very hard last spring to get it there for a vote. it did not go anywhere. republicans are so adamant that we not be able to pass this simple measure that they shut down government, shut down the senate every time i walk in the door to preside.

it got a little silly. hopefully cool heads will prevail. we really do have to find some middle ground in order to satisfy the elected officials who represent downstate as well as upstate. >> can you help us understand the new york senate? aren't there more democrats elected at this point than republicans? republicans have a majority of -- democrats have a majority of one. one of the democrats choose to sit on the republican side. we have been fielding a strong set of candidates who are running all over the state in competitive districts. i believe we will have a full democratic majority in january after this election. right now, we don't. the governor has not had a majority of democrats since he has been elected. it has been a real challenge for us. started --peful, you

kathy hochul, you started your career at the local level. are these jobs the same or different? >> i don't know if i've met anyone house who has been elected to all for levels of -- all four levels of government, statewide,l, county, and elsewhere. there are bread-and-butter issues, making sure there are good services, taking care of our seniors and recreation and transportation issues. up, it becomeser more politically charged. what i saw in washington when i got to congress right after the , they were flexing their muscles. it is frustrating to me.

when there wasow more statesmanlike behavior, it was less personal. government,o state it has been really refreshing because contrast to the gridlock i saw in washington, we get a lot of things done in new york state. governor cuomo has embraced some of the greatest challenges, whether it is having the largest infrastructure project in america today or being willing to take on jfk and laguardia airports, bringing them into the 21st century. issues, raising the minimum wage. that has been a major accomplishment to help middle income families. i am probable we have been able to get done as opposed to talking about it in washington. at the state level, we have big

ideas and a lot of accomplishments. i find that a lot more satisfying to have a record to talk about and run on chris's talking and platitudes and policies that never get enacted. cuomo run asernor a ticket? >> in new york, we run separately in a primary. i had a very strong challenger out of new york city, and elected official this past september. a lot of people thought that someone from upstate, someone from buffalo, less population, could not beat someone that represented a much more populous area in brooklyn. we were successful. i was able to carry three out of bur ve oughs. we feel strongly about our chances next week. won and lost elections.

you never take anything for granted. it gives me an opportunity to use my knowledge of the entire state and my desire to help other candidates and get out there campaigning. i have been campaigning for candidates all over the state of new york. >> why have you and your opponent, julie killian of the republican party, not had a debate? >> we don't run separately. i had a debate during the democratic primary because people can vote for us individually. they are simply voting for the top of the ticket in this election. the governor had a debate this past week. i am listening to the people directly. i have always done town halls and then very accessible to the people. i hear their concerns directly. i have a good poll's on what is going on in the state of new york. >> you have talked a little bit about some of the economic

issues you are running on. on a macro level, new york budget, state budget is about $150 billion a year. 62% of that comes from income tax. the debt in new york is the second-highest of all the states at about $150 billion. i'm sorry, that is the budget. how do you reconcile those figures? >> here is what happened. when the governor was first elected, he inherited a $10 billion deficit. first we had to get state spending under control, which he did successfully. he made a number of changes with respect to state pensions and others that really helped the bottom line. once we got that under control, we cut taxes. new york state had a well-deserved long time reputation for being a high tax state. because of the governor's

initiatives and getting it through the legislature, we have been able to reduce taxes on everyone, every single new than theys less taxes did when the governor was first elected. middle-class tax cuts, or protects cuts, manufacturing, 0% tax rate. this is a business friendly state to create jobs where people have the dignity and ability to bring home a good paycheck. we understand the importance of reducing our tax burden. we have done that successfully. if you look at other metrics, we elected, the unemployment stat rate in this e was approaching 8% or 9%. statewide unemployment hovers around 4% now. that is incredible. what i am so proud to see over the last few years is a

transformation in upstate cities that have been given up for dead. this morning, i was at the sight of the bethlehem steel plant, which after being abandoned for 25 years is going to have public access to trails. there are wind turbines. we are getting it shovel ready for new businesses to bring life into that area. known have the guts or the ability to take projects like that or downtown buffalo, which was a ghost town and i was growing up and put the right amount of money and, empower literallycials and transform places like buffalo. buffalo is my hometown. i am proud of it. i was not proud of it 10 or 15 years ago because it did not have anything to offer. people were leaving. my own children left. now this is a prime destination for millennials. it is on the new york times list of the 52 places you need to see

around the world. i have seen this in not just buffalo, but searches and rochester. that is part of our legacy. i love the fact that we have taken on the greatest challenges in our state. economic development is something i work on. i'm really proud of that. >> what is it about buffalo that is making it grow? >> it is growing because the governor is investing over $1 billion in strategic partner projects. the eureka now is going to be paved over as a parking lot. we excavated it. sitevested in an abandoned for a steel plant. tesla is there now. panasonic is there. we invested in our medical campus.

10,000 jobs are there now. we have had a huge infusion of money. we are starting to see the dividends after five or six years. upstate has been losing population. >> it is losing population or slightly losing in contrast to losing 10% or 12% in the past. we stopped the hemorrhaging is my point. no one had any jobs. no one had any reason to stay here. we were exporting our greatest resource, which is young people. my own family was affected by that. back,ople are moving saying maybe i gave up on buffalo to early. incubators lot more and startups. we do the world's largest business plan competition called 43 north. entrepreneurs from around the world compete in this

competition. we get a $1 million grand prize. those winners stay in buffalo. we have been doing this for five years now. creative ideasf on how to make buffalo standout. we have been successful. >> lieutenant-governor, you chaired the opioid and heroin task force for the state of new york. be morenk it started to devastating upstate. this has been going on for seven or eight years. my husband was the u.s. attorney under barack obama. he began prosecuting doctors who were way over prescribing trading prescriptions for illegal activities. we saw this in upstate new york before it really hit the city heart. taken me torce has every corner of the state.

it is hard to say we are making success as long as one person still dies. we have had huge numbers, over 300 a year in buffalo. we are turning the corner. we are seeing fewer opioid prescriptions prescribed by doctors. we have reduced the number of pills you can give from 30 to 7. it is used as a short-term pain relief as opposed to a long-term one. we added medical marijuana to the list of what a doctor can prescribe to some of in chronic pain. we think that is going to keep people from developing addictions to opioids. this is personal to me. i lost a nephew a couple years ago, a young man in the prime of health. he started out with a workplace injury, developed addiction. after a decade in and out of rehab, he lost his battle.

i have been making it a personal cause as someone who connects deeply with families who suffer from this. we are investing over $1.2 billion in prevention and treatment solutions and facilities people can move into well they are turning their lives around. courtseven changing our for people that deal with this. i have seen every approach to it. we are getting there in the state of new york. in the city, it started later than upstate new york. it is painful. it is frustrating, but we are not giving up. >> lieutenant-governor kathy hochul is a democrat running for reelection. she joins us on our 50 capitals tour. she joins us from buffalo. thank you. >> thank you. pleasure to be on. >> we want to think our host and partner charter spectrum for

their assistance in setting up this interview and our bus to her about any. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we go to open phones. republicans, it is (202) 748-8001. democrats (202) 748-8000. nts (202) 748-8002. president trump is expected to travel to several states leading up to the midterm elections. six, sayingkentucky congressman andy barr who just had a great debate has been a winner in his state, strong on crime, military that's, and second amendment. d.c.ed antidy in you can go to our website at c-span.org and see the debate.

whenu go to our website, it comes to 2018, a host of debates we have taken in throughout this election cycle. you can take a look at the issues that have been animating these contests. at can see that all c-span.org. the president expected to be in pittsburgh today visiting as a result of those shootings that took place. story featuring mitch mcconnell talking about the shooting, saying that deadly shootings in kentucky and pennsylvania are hate crimes. speaking to a gathering at the conservative federalist society in kentucky, he began by commenting on the shootings in pittsburgh and louisville. he said, if these are not the definitions of hate crimes, i don't know what a hate crime is. i know the legal determination

is to be made by others, but that is certainly my opinion. mcconnell has also advocated for the death penalty. that is found in the lexington herald leader this morning. as far as our continuing coverage of the 2018 camping, the indiana senate debate will take place tonight. you can see that on c-span. that is 7:00 tonight on c-span. you can monitor it on c-span.org and our c-span radio app. first from arizona, republican line. go ahead. caller: hi, pedro. a lot has happened since i last spoke with you. victims goes out to the and their families. i just give love and peace to everybody. i wrote a letter to president donald, and he answered me in

spades. in 2014. passed over he is a world war ii hero, john arthur miller. he has his own website. we got his certificate of service, and it was signed by not go with does any of the memorabilia i have for the bloody 100. i had written president donald asking if he could give me a new certificate with his signature because obama was against everything my father fought for and stood forth. the sixtharted branch, the space force. you had on the service where they commended it, and air force

secretary heather made a speech. if people want to know what america is about, i suggest they all watch air force secretary heather's speech. the said the bloody 100 is foundation for the sixth air force. host: ok. ijon in washington, d.c., democrats line. caller: h ii. i go to howard university. i have a question for donald trump. why has he continued to not help west virginia or go back to west virginia even though he got

elected through west virginia's votes? that is quite troubling when we look at the socioeconomic status of many west virginians and the economy of west virginia being in shambles. i want to directly address this to president trump. host: do you think the efforts he has made on the coal industry would impact west virginians positively? revamp his efforts to the coal industry? host: to revitalize the coal industry. caller: it is a dying market. as a political and economics double major, icv coal industry as a nonrenewable -- i see the coal industry as a nonrenewable resource that is going to die out. host: let's go to james in indianapolis, independent line. caller: good morning. --ould like to call meant

comment on trump. he is such an interesting political figure in that the swamp cannot figure him out. we are so polarized from the coast to the center of the country. this morning he talks about basically babies that are born here, and he wants to eliminate their automatic citizenship, which i find really interesting. he is playing these levers quite well i think. surge from upcoming the south is something to be concerned about and the relationship with the new president of mexico and central america. i think that is where we take a stand, even if the politics and the media hate trump so much that it is really hard for them to define issues because he has

played their bluff. the elitists in college campuses. i refuse to donate money anymore to my alma mater. andink there are decades saturation of liberal attitudes have backfired on the elitists on the east coast. he knows how to get their goat, which is fascinating. int: that is james indianapolis. he mentioned the story on the axios website this morning. the president saying this birthright citizenship when it comes to babies born of noncitizens and unauthorized immigrants born on u.s. soil is up for consideration. you can watch that interview on axios, but it is on the

website. caller: good morning. i was calling to see if any of your health care folks have followed up on what i saw in the news media about the health and human services department of the federal government issuing or proposing a regulation to allow states to have more flexibility in their regulation of health care offered to their citizens, especially regarding the possibility of eliminating pre-existing conditions? i wonder if you have any other place with more detail on that we could look to for some information? host: the tallahassee democrat this morning has pictures of heading back to school. the students were out of school because of hurricane michael.

they see each other for the first time since hurricane michael hit the community three weeks ago. carl in mississippi, independent line. caller: good morning to all you guys. i just want to let you know that all we doing is repeating again. i'm going to talk about wall 16, 1920, 98mber years ago. pbs, the get the dvd, destination of america -- detonation of america, 1920. host: how so? caller: all we doing is repeating again. host: as far as repeating again, specifically how? caller: basically, 1920, wall street, you see politicians over their heads when they hit wall

street. 38 people was killed. investigating, 1924. they never resolved that. we are repeating the same mistakes because the partisans never came together. get the information off the dvd because the two system never came together, republicans and democrats. host: thank you. that is carl in mississippi. ,irginia, republican line nancy. caller: good morning. i'm calling about the legal status of the caravan. if i call 911 about an emergency and don't want to go to the nearest hospital, the next hospital is not obliged to take me. that is the status of the people coming up. they don't want to stop in mexico because they really don't thereny sanctuary problem . they are not willing to accept help where they can get it.

should use our military to catch and escort back to our embassy in their respective countries. build temporary facilities in our embassies and spend time figuring out who is who and get a handle on this. these people cannot figure their neighbors any longer. i am originally from southwestern virginia. my son is a mining engineer. we are all going to die someday. that is why i am doing this. i want to leave something behind. coal is not working in germany. excuse me, renewable energy is no longer working in germany. they need coal. we need to figure something out. part of the reason for that caravan is because of global warming. first you have to get control of your borders. host: we need nuclear energy. host:let's go to gloria, new

york, democrats line. caller: i was just listening to lieutenant governor hoch ul. , new york.ong island all she was saying was upstate new york and new york city. long island, according to governor cuomo, is forgotten. i have seen people lose their to high property taxes. nothing has ever been done to help the people of long island. i am a democrat, but i am not voting for governor cuomo or his party. people on long island are working six, seven days a week. they have to deal with the illegals. construction companies have lost their businesses due to illegals. does governor cuomo look into long island? no.

the highest taxes across the nation are being paid by the people of long island. that is the reason why they have had their homes for so many years, and they are losing them left and right. host: that is gloria speaking about the people of long island. this is harry from buffalo on our independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning, sir. i don't want to go back any farther than 30 years ago. we first started with hmos to get rid of the private doctors 30 years ago. hmos got worse and worse. wages stagnated. that was according to a union official that was cornered. along came obama, and insurance got worse and worse. my insurance was financially largero cover others as companies did not have to abide by certain rules.

payccare took from my pac heck with no benefit to me. they want to pay for treatment that is not transparent advisors. i cannot shop around. they talk about a means test. i'm already paying taxes. the more social security i get, the higher the tax rate goes. host: that is harry in new york. this is the charlotte observer this morning. this bowling event led to a a fight, saying that between two students at a suburban butler high school led to a fatal shooting. it left a 16-year-old sophomore withand a freshman charged first-degree murder. the superintendent said it begin with bullying that escalated out

of control. he would not elaborate on the alleged bullying. from ohio, bernie, go ahead. caller: beautiful morning to you pedro. how are you? host: i'm fine. go ahead. caller: i have a compassionate brother who lives in northern california. he would like to find 60 people in all 50 states to go to the border and welcomed the refugees. if there is anyone listening this morning for would like to re-inspire the country with this quote, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, the refuse of your teeming shore, send me, the homeless, the tempest tossed to me.

i wonder if we cannot get people to go and help and welcomed the refugees. they are being dehumanized. they are walking thousands of miles to get to our borders to breathe free. host: that is bernie in ohio. in the washington post this morning, the president in his first such use of executive powers designated a national monument in kentucky to honor african-americans during the civil war. one of the largest recruitment of africang depots american troops. troops toent 23,000

the civil war. this is nate in wisconsin. democrats line. caller: thank you for having me. i was going to say one of the that was not mentioned in the debates but should be is the situation of gerrymandering being used to rig elections. i know wisconsin's court case had a lot of people from out of state coming in to support the rigging of elections, including the attorney generals of multiple other states, including georgia, kansas, missouri, ohio. brief,s a document 16-1161, where a lot of attorney general's from other states say they like the idea of being able to rig elections. i think that is something people

ought to look at as they come to vote. are the people that want my vote willing to support having an honest election? host: the last call for this that is it for our program today, we have another one coming up at 7:00 tomorrow morning. we will see you then. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> coming up live and a half an hour, vice president mike pence will talk about the trump administration's priorities and next week'dt