united kingdom. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter as well. washington journal is next. ♪ host: on this sunday morning, we u.s. capitol flag at half staff in honor of the late president george h.w. bush. flags across the country will be at half staff through the end of the month. good morning and welcome to washington journal. with the new jobs number out on friday, we thought we were checking with you and your thoughts on the economy. are you concerned about the economy? here are the phone numbers to use. you who are currently employed, that number is (202)-748-8000.

if you are looking for a job, (202)-748-8001. for those of you who are retired, that number is (202)-748-8002. we welcome your posts on twitter and tweets. your posts on facebook as well. they typically come out the , the friday of the month employment numbers from the bureau of labor statistics. those numbers show that the job rating is staying at 3.7% with 155,000 jobs being added. reporting in the new york times, looking at the history of it. 155,000 jobs in november. retiring slows modestly. this is a snapshot of the state of the american economy. 155,000 jobs added last month.

economists expected a gain of 190,000. average for september, october and november was 170,000. a good grab across the years of the unemployment rate. 3.7% for the month of november. the unemployment rate again at 3.7%. one note on hourly earnings, the new york times saying the hourly wage rose by 2% in october over the year-over-year gain in terms of wage growth for 2018 but from this time last year, it is 3.1%. arequestion this morning is you concerned about the economy? we want to make sure we are looking at other news as well this morning. president trump foreshadowed and talked about bush friday as he

headed into the army-navy game. as chief ofo resign staff by the end of the year. host: we will have more on that later in the program as well.

for now, asking your thoughts on the economy. we go to gladstone, virginia. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on. i want to say that i am concerned about the economy. sector, atthe public a public library in nelson county. libraries are also short in front -- are always short in funding. we see our services growing, so we know that more people in our community use the library but it is always a balancing act with budgeting and such. tax yearat when the comes around, people are going to get a big surprise because of the so-called tax cuts that everyone received.

obama era policies that were put in place for consumers have been either rolled back or not enforced, so i think andumers, with our tariffs changes in policies to protect consumers being rolled back are going to start to struggle in the upcoming years under this administration. host: they talked about the wage growth over 3% year-over-year. are you seeing a raise in your job? noter: yes, not -- yes, but at 3%. host: let's go to donna in new york city, who is currently working. caller: i am employed but i am concerned about the economy because of all of these tariffs being put in place and as a thatt, it has me thinking the economy is slowing down and

might go into a recession. host: what kind of work do you do? i work in agriculture. i would like to ask one question. i thought mexico was going to pay for the wall. what happened to that? host: we will try to remember that with matt schlapp joining us. economy -- the economist, data backs away from the peak. rights -- from -- writes.

host: that is from market watch. your thoughts on the economy. are you concerned? (202)-748-8000 if you are employed. (202)-748-8001 if you are looking for a job. and if you are retired, (202)-748-8002. richard is in staten island, new york, looking for a job. how long have you been searching? caller: i have been searching

for almost a year and a half now. it is not really going good right now and i am really concerned about the economy. host: what kind of work are you looking for? caller: anything right now. i am a full-time college student looking for some work to have some money to help pay my bills. host: that is richard in staten island. this from bloomberg on the seasonal nature of employment. the recent report that came out friday, retailers showing a solid demand for workers, hiring 18,200 people in the month before christmas. general merchandise stores, adding that most stores are adding -- cutting workers.

host: joseph is in houston, texas, looking for work. how concerned are you about the economy? your own and the u.s. economy more broadly? joseph, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: thank you for answering my call. i have been on disability for a and living on a government paycheck. it is about time to return to everything and give back to the

united states. i have one daughter who was born in the united states, in and now she is 29 years old and i think she is also looking for a job. host: how long has she been looking for work? caller: a long time. i was divorced, and she was very mad at that. host: thank you for that. asking your thoughts on the economy. jobs numbers on friday. a member of the federal reserve board spoke at an event in washington and talked about the

potential for interest rate hikes and other economic issues. [video clip] >> although it is reasonable to expect fiscal spending to be extended after the bipartisan budget act expires, we cannot rule out that fiscal policy could become a headwind in 2020. the risks are two-sided. finding difficulty and increaseds cost associated with input, tariffs and transportation along with greater ability to pass through those increases to consumer prices. at 3.7 percent, the unemployment rate is the lowest we have seen in nearly 50 years and payrolls have been growing at a pace well above that which is consistent with labor market stabilization. historically, the few periods when resource utilization has been similarly tight has seen

elevated risk of inflation on the one hand or financial imbalances on the other. our goal is to sustain the expansion by maintaining the economy around full employment and inflation around target. the gradual pass of increases in the federal funds rate has served us well by giving us time to assess the effects of policy as we proceed. that approach remains appropriate in the near term, although the path will increasingly depend on how the outlook evolves. host: all of that discussion available on our website, c-span.org. asking you this morning, are you concerned about the economy? (202)-748-8000 for those of you who are employed. if you are looking for work, (202)-748-8001. if you are retired, (202)-748-8002. checking other news, this is leading the chicago tribune. , prosecutors time

have tied president trump to a federal crime, but can a sitting president be indicted? that is their headline this morning. read more at chicagotribune.com. a couple tweets. 25 years in construction and a lot can find is we cannot afford -- marcy says that we need a new category, always concerned about the economy but not nearly as concerned as i was in the last administration. -- is retired in massachusetts. caller: good morning. i have been retired for about five years and i think i may be looking for a job because our taxes are going up. all of our essentials are going up, energy has gone up, a lecture city, taxes, insurance

rates, and so when you are retired on a fixed income, you're not keeping up with everything else. your income is frozen and i am sure that there were a lot of baby boomers going through the same situation right now. host: does it feel like because you are on a fixed income, we don't hear a lot about inflation. andyou seeing prices soar the amount that -- the amount for what you pay get less? caller: yes, because they don't count a lot of things into the inflation formula, which they should. as, let's say energy and when your heating bills go up in price, that affects your income.

and things are more expensive. that happens with a lot of retired people and health care, there is another factor. .edications are sky high i have seen a lot of things happen while i was picking up my medications at the drugstore, where seniors just have to refuse the medication because they cannot afford it and that is not brought into the equation, so there are a lot of hurtinghat are really on the economy. they say the economy is doing have hundreds we of thousands of people being hired. what kind of wages are those? are those wages that a family can go out and purchase a home, -- in ahey wages where fast food enterprise?

people need living wages. host: what kind of work are you retiring from an are you looking for work in that field again? caller: i worked in the aerospace industry. really i would work in any type of field. host: we appreciate your insight. douglas is next, in harrisburg, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i want to agree with the last caller. i used to work in the health insurance industry, the call center and all the times people would call in and say the same thing, like they are on a fixed income, they don't know what they're going to do with groceries, with food and it is really sad at the end of the day and medication is soaring up and there really is no answer.

there is a lot of talk, but there is nobody coming up with possible resolutions for this , peopleand it is sad who need these things to live at least a comfortable life as they're getting toward that time. host: what kind of work do you do? do you feel pretty secure in the job? theer: i used to work in health insurance industry but i moved over to computer science to become an engineer. i guess i am a lucky one who had some opportunities to move from one part of the industry to another one, but it is really sad, the state of this country right now. host: douglas in harrisburg. vince is next, in tennessee who is retired. caller: good morning. host: you are on the air, go

ahead. caller: i would agree with the gentleman, the last two gentlemen. there is too widen the gap between upper management and the people on the clock. when they make $8 million to $12 mayion a year while we get a 3% raise at the most, it is too wide of a gap and it is not a healthy set up for anyone, other than the ones who are doing the benchmarking. afterred at 70 years old 52 years of work as a mechanic. i also looked at the equipment at the plant i worked in and if

it was having a problem, i would improve it and fix the problem. if it took a little redesigning, that was fine to. -- fine too. host: do you feel like you have to find another job to make ends meet like our caller from massachusetts? caller: i retired at 70 years old. i started drawing on social 66 and lived on it. i amhelped me some, but not as comfortable as the people above us who would be considered middle-class i guess. host: we appreciate that. we will go to john in east hampton, new york, looking for a job. caller: how are you doing?

host: fine, thanks. caller: i am in this situation are both veryts ill. januaryassed away in and my father is very ill. i cannot work because i need to take care of both of them, but i need to find some sort of work that i could do from home, or at least from their home. professional for 35 years. i was gainfully employed. everything was going great and then the bottom fell out. whove two younger brothers

-- i can't really get upset about this because they've got their own lives, but the only choice i had was either put my or toto a nursing home hire people and then pick this up myself. doing workrms of from home, you mentioned you were an i.t. professional. it seems like some of that would be more opportunities there for someone to work at home or work remotely at least. caller: the problem is i am 57 years old. nobody wants to hire a 57-year-old guy who has been working in the industry for decades. i know so much, and people look at me and they are like you are an old guy. but i work on

computers, i still do coding on apple computers. stigma that i am stuck in where people look at me and say you are this old guy who is going to do something -- host: i want to point out a tweet from sandra about the other side of the coin about a young man she is talking about. host: the issue of jobs in particular, and incentives for jobs is the lead editorial this morning in the new york times with the headline, industry shell games with jobs.

when general motors announced it was idling five plants in the united states and canada, there was shot in two american cities.

host: this is the new york times writing that governments have gotten into the habit of providing companies with incentives to move and stay, bailouts to stave off failure and tax benefits to build on successes and create jobs, all based on promises of job creation and economic development that more often or not proved hollow and they conclude the editorial in the new york times this morning on jobs and more broadly than just general motors, they write. better offer it comes along.

host: you can read more at nytimes.com. richard is in florida, employed. caller: good morning. thank you for taking the call. i have watched c-span for many years since you started. i agree with john who spoke with you earlier in regards to job discrimination. fromde a disastrous move northern virginia to central florida and we are finding that because we are in our 50's, it is practically impossible to find a job. i am working as a substitute teacher, making pennies and we have faced a major problem finding work in central florida. also i want to bring up the point that the president and all

the leaders are talking about veterans and how many jobs are available for them. that is not true. i am a veteran and i cannot find work. we are in a very difficult position. we lived on our savings and our savings have been exhausted and i am living on next to minimum wage in central florida, facing as well discrimination as -- as far as age and accent. host: as a veteran, what kind of offer ine does the va terms of job searching and job placement? caller: i went there three times and it was a waste of my time. done. -- none. host: what did they offer? what did they say to you? was it just filling out paperwork? caller: mostly filling out

paperwork but any kind of substance or concrete job offer or anything like that, it is just not there. a question for you, are you concerned about the economy? we talked about the jobs numbers from friday and more broadly how you feel about the economy. if you are employed, the line to use is (202)-748-8000. if you are looking for work, (202)-748-8001. our retired line, (202)-748-8002 . richmond, virginia. barbara, good morning. make sure you mute your television set. go ahead with your comment. caller: ok. hello? host: you are on the air. caller: first of all, i am a veteran. i served in the army nurse corps for 16 years. i have a bachelor of science

degree from the university of south florida. nurse ishat being a just like the most wonderful thing that i ever did. you still there? caller: i am here. host: more broadly, you are employed and working. i am 62 years old and i work full time and i think that you really need to get into the medical field if you are looking for a job. host: so you still like going into work each day, obviously. caller: every day. host: what kind of nurse are you? caller: i am a cardiovascular -- every day. love it.

host: more broadly, outside of your job, how concerned are you about the economy and other people looking for work? caller: i am, because what i see resourcesd more within our hospital systems are being outsourced to other companies and they are being paid less and they are just not stable. as a nurse, i feel stable but i worry about all of the other people that work around me that are not. host: iq for calling in this morning. we go to ray next in clinton, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i am worried about the economy, not for myself. i made sure before i retire that i had all of my bills paid off. number two, the economy is going to rest on the debt that keeps

about and i hear talking spending more money on infrastructure. there are so many malls that are empty right now but have new roads in front of them, new bridges. the government is going to keep incurring more and more debt and it is going to have less and less for social security and medicare. that is why medicare payments keep going up. i think you mentioned on here they have to pay $230 billion for illegals, just for social programs they are in and the government still denies they are receiving these benefits, which is crazy. they are receiving them. if you don't get behind trump on this border and shut that border down, the more people come in here, the less you are going to have as citizens who were born here.

this debt is going to hit the wall and when it does, it is not going to be pretty. it is going to cost you more and more. everywhere you see a democratic government like in new york and california, people are complaining they are not making enough money on these jobs because they cannot afford to live. it is the taxes that they have heaped on the people that they cannot live. , the socialistic part of it. france is burning. italy is going to exit the european union. they can't afford to do these socialistic programs like you want on here. you are going to get hurt. people on the lower end of the spectrum are going to get hurt. host: ray mentioned france is burning. that story on the front page of the new york times this morning. hundreds arrested as the yellow vest protesters descended on

harris -- on paris. ,nother story this morning reporting from the daily beast. james comey to congressional investigators: more americans connected to trump in 2016 for russian meddling. the former fbi director was fired by the president and revealed he is a potential witness in the possible obstruction of justice investigation by robert mueller. they write that the fbi today scrutiny of the wider beganential campaign team as far back as the summer of 2016 according to former fbi director james comey. comey revealed in testimony. host: the details were made public for the first time on when house committees

released the transcripts. thedailybeast.com. -- when is the clinton campaign getting charged for accepting money from russia? you can't have it both ways. our topic up until 8:00 eastern is on the economy. (202)-748-8000 is the number if you are employed. is the number if you are looking for work. if you are retired, (202)-748-8002. davis retired in ohio. what did you retire from? caller: i was a purchasing manager. i am neither a democrat nor a republican, and what i am going to say is what people are not

going to like, and that is that jpmorgan which is an investment bank has come out and predicted that there will be a recession by the end of 2019 in the fourth quarter. the imf basically says the same thing, that we are going to be in a recession because of the tariff or with china. -- tariff war with china. the tax break we gave to improve businesses went into buying stock back. that is not putting your money back into employment. winning thiscally tariff war right now. the first battle we lost was the airbus. airbus sold $15 billion worth of airplanes to china which normally boeing always had. host: why did we lose that sale? trump basically came out

and said he was going to put tariffs on china. china said we are not going to talk to you anymore, boeing. we're going to start talking to airbus and that is what happened. this happened at the back of october, and the other thing is soybeans, for the farmers of our country. china haves to completely fallen off the cliff. we are not in a good situation got 15,000nd you've factory workers that are being laid off by chevy. you are closing five plants and that is just the start of the layoffs in the auto industry. ford is going to come up and do the same thing very shortly. i have seen what has happened to the auto industry, and it is not

pretty. we are not in a good situation here. host: thank you for your thoughts. director, their headline, investors fears are overdone. they write that investors fears about an economic slowdown helped fueled thursday's drastic stockmarket selloff but the imf said based on growth numbers, they do not see calls for alarm. host: we will hear from

leesburg, florida, dennis. caller: good morning. i am employed and yet i don't , so inough to meet needs have to live with my parents just to be able to make an's meet.- make ends corporations keep having more profit and yet when it is brought to our attention that we are in need, they don't care to .ay us what would be sufficient host: when was the last time you had a raise? caller: a year ago. to be able toough

have a little bit of money, but it is not enough to be able to pay off the bills. host: are there opportunities with other competitors or industries? caller: you could get a job if , like ao those agencies third person where they will find you work, but it is usually for a low wage. rudy,we will hear from looking for a job in louisiana. caller: good morning. the problem i am having right now, i am currently employed with the salvation army and i am on social security disability and what happens is at the end time, they, come tax pinch me for all the money that

. made with the salvation army or goodwill, they practically take it all come tax and i am trying to make month.750 a any of your-- host: above social security earnings gets taxed? caller: it all gets taken come tax time and they want all those funds returned so for the whole year, i have to repay all that money i earned for this month, which was minimum wage if i continue working for the next three weeks. host: talking mainly about job numbers but more broadly about recession and trade and this is heather long's business analysis

in the washington post. trump's two favorite economic metrics are failing him.

host: next is california. we hear from patrick who is retired. we have been systematically duped since globalization. we diminished the value of our dollar. reprint as much as we want. the little guy has been taken out of the equation. we don't include things into inflation that need to be included. we lie about unemployment. we just barely talk about underemployment in this country. we are not a democracy anymore, we are fascism with big business instead of big government. they are looking for slave labor someplace in the world and when they come back home, they are

still looking for slave labor. we will come back home and little bit but we cannot pay you what we used to pay you and we have taken the little guy out of the equation politically because we have taken away the power of his money. we used to have to borrow funding from the elderly. we would go to the bank and they would call us by our last name. they wanted our bank accounts and now we have a tiny little bit of savings in our retirement. they don't care anymore. they tell us we have to go into the stock market and play that game. thanks used to invest in this country and our banks don't invest in this country anymore because it is not worth it anymore. it is better to be global because you make more money that way. it is not working for the middle class and that is why there is no middle class anymore. host: we will go to brooklyn, new york. omar is employed.

do i have you? go ahead. caller: good morning. i am in the i.t. industry. i used to make twice as much as i am making now. i make minimum wage now and in new york city they are about to increase the minimum wage to $15 and these companies are making it seem like that is a great improvement. it is a big problem. most of the people who were calling her saying that they don't earn enough money. they are living at home like i am. i am recently divorced, ipporting two children, but am just barely surviving. not enough to put food on my personal table. they don't have enough money but they are working. trump has people saying we are working but we are not making enough to survive out here.

host: why aren't wages where you are working going up? you are in the i.t. business. do you have competitors you could go to work for? exhausti am trying to my resources with the competition but nowadays, they put a lot of criteria on to what you need to work. they put things like you have to have your degree. i do have some college but you do have to have your degree and x amount of years of experience, but the experience has to be within seven or 10 years of recent time. there are jobs available, but the criteria to get those jobs are so far beyond what most

people can't even reach the criteria, that is why so many jobs are still available. you feel like the entry bar is too high and does not need to be? caller: exactly. years experience, over 10 in the i.t. industry but at the same time, the criteria, the bar average people or even people with the experience to have a chance to get in the door for an interview. host: good luck, we appreciate you sharing your story with us. next is lucy in maryland. she is working. caller: good morning. part-time landscaper, self-employed, so all my landscaping i do for people who are concerned about not using

dangerous chemicals and ecologically sustainable landscaping. a lot of my clients are older people. i am also a part-time teacher in the evenings. host: that is english as a second language? student and also a i hope to be a lifelong student. i also live with my parents and i have to tell you, the stigma that our culture places on people who live with their parents is unnecessary and inappropriate. we live with our parents, what is wrong with that? is these rollbacks of environmental standards and regulations, the trump administration, i would be critical of any administration who did this. those gigantic pig farms in the carolinas and all the pig feces

from those open ponds went into the rivers. all those pay carcasses in the river. pig is palu -- take it -- carcasses in the river. that is pollution. water leads to good health and if we don't have a base of clean drinking water, we don't have wealth because we don't have good health, so that -- really aitical critical concern of mine, and thank you for your time. host: a little over 10 minutes left, asking you, are you concerned about the economy? (202)-748-8000 if you are employed. (202)-748-8001 if you are looking for work. those of you who are retired, (202)-748-8002. if you have watched c-span over the years, particularly the white house briefings, you may be familiar with the reporter --

who is quite well-known at some of these proceedings. he passed away at the age of 90 and a bit from his obituary in the washington post. they write that he always knew attention.act he was an investigative reporter, a nationally syndicated religion columnist, a gadfly white house correspondent and a longtime conservative radio host.

the: -- he was no friend of gay rights movement but in 1982, he was the first journalist to ask how the reagan white house planned to respond to the aids epidemic. 90. at the age of

there are a whole bunch of instances of him at the white house briefings you can find on our website, c-span.org. you can see some of his more interesting moments. looking for a job in st. louis, missouri. britney, thank you for waiting. caller: adult want to talk too much about myself but i feel like there is a fundamental moral failure in our country and perhaps in the world. be an excessive concern of profit and not enough care for humans as individuals and what we need. -- i feele we could like we need to reevaluate what government is for and what the purpose of society is for. more than half the country can't get by. that is a serious problem.

issues, whatomic the think the responsibility of government should be? caller: everybody should have the things they need. to a lot of people that is debatable. i think we all agree we need to shelter,eed to have and we need to have some access to care for our bodies and i would put in education. there was -- those are just some basics. there are people who believe some people have not earned that and do not deserve it and that is disturbing to me. as a society, we should care about all of our fellow members, so i am not sure what you need to do to deserve that aside from just being alive. host: what kind of field are you interested in? .aller: i have a college degree

minimum-wage jobs were not helping me at all. i could not pay my student loans. job.t a local government host: if you could get the entry job of your dreams, what would that be? caller: i would like to help people. boot campfree coding and i will see where that takes me. host: good luck, we appreciate you calling in. we will go to derek in florida, who is working. caller: good morning from a sunny and warm florida. oldve to say i am 42 years and i am not worried about the economy at all. i am a registered nurse here in naples and we remain a pretty seasonal destination, so when it gets to be october, november, a

lot of snowbirds come and create this increased demand for registered nurses and other individuals that work within health care. i did recently have an unusual circumstance. i paid off all of my graduate school student loans and i do not really have to work full time, i was not really interested in working as a registered nurse at the time, so i was looking for a part-time opportunity and as a nurse, those are really few and far between. if you are not working full-time, then you have no use for these health care systems, like if they want to get the most out of you, but down here in southwest florida where there are a lot of older adults retiring, i could probably work

seven 12 hour shifts a week, easily because there is a lot of work. do a you really have to lot of hours, although i assume you are being compensated fairly decently if nurses are in demand? caller: i am. i have been a nurse going on 14 years and i have a bachelor's in nursing and also microbiology, but generally speaking in the south including florida, the hourly rates are significantly less than the middle east -- then in the midwest and northeast. host: a couple comments on twitter. rebecca tweets this about the market.

host: let's hear from franklin in north carolina. caller: how are you doing this morning? host: just fine. go ahead with your thoughts. caller: interested in asking someone if social security is going to get an increase for 2019. host: will it happen? is it going to get a raise for this year? host: what is your thinking? do you think that will happen? caller: i have not heard any details on anything. host: how important is that increase to you and your monthly bills? your quality of life? caller: everything keeps going

up and we just experienced the hurricane here and it has been a up.ggle to try to keep i don't have the resources to make up for the loss. host: did you lose your home or was your home badly damaged in the storm? caller: some home damage. a carport crashed into the house. host: thank you franklin. we will hear from south carolina next, in somerville. caller: good morning. am i concerned about the economy? in the grand scheme of things, yes, in the immediate since no. , we haven for concern built ourselves a big house of cards here. it is going to come crashing down on us. debt, so at some

point in time, the piper is going to come to be paid and that is going to create a problem for everybody. is, i thinking britney was talking about how we need to reevaluate our thought processes. with that but the thought processes that need to be reevaluated is what do we prioritize as being important to us. have no problem at all with going out and throwing a thousand dollars toward the latest iphone but then they won't do what is necessary to make sure they have other things they do need. by is about individual choice and if you allow your self to be in a situation where you are not paying attention to what is , you are setting

yourself up for a problem. host: we appreciate that. talking about general motors is little while ago, the editorial from the new york times about that. a couple more calls. week's cq in this weekly. flush as 2018ing ends. people losing their ability to itemize their taxes. the year-end holiday giving is a make or break time for america's charitable sector.

host: new mexico, jasmine who is employed. good morning. caller: good morning. i am both employed and retired i suppose because i receive social andrity disability benefits increase, ie a qol believe it is 2%. i have taken a pay reduction at it is this year and almost impossible to make ends meet with both incomes to be honest. caller: caller: because of the rules of

my job in the hours i work. ago,i was hired five years you had to have a college degree, but they've reduced the requirement for that job. you no longer need the college degree. in 20 a college degree years of work experience. now that i am disabled, i can't get a regular part-time job because i am overqualified. for ibs i'm qualified can't work because they are all full-time. host: thanks for your calls on this topic. we have lots more ahead this morning. we will talk next to the american conservative union on what faces president trump as the democrats take control the

house. he was convicted for armed forery and is advocating criminal justice reform. shon hopwood joins us. >> there's no question that this white house handles things in terms of international relations differently than their predecessors from both parties. it does lead to some confusion. there is an opportunity here with china and there is an opportunity and a window. what we are encouraging is this is serious, there are solutions to the problem. let's take it vantage of the opening that has been created. if we can come to a resolution

that is good for american business, it will be good for the global economy. >> you think they can reach a real agreement and the timetable they laid out? >> we should have every expectation that they do. >> what role will the chamber play in advancing nafta to point no through? congressld like to see ratify the agreement, put it into effect. it's an improvement. there are a few areas where we have moved backwards. it's a good agreement that deserves to be improved. there are some steps that the administration can take to secure the votes. the first step is removing the tariffs on steel and aluminum. if we don't do that, there is right little prospect for getting the votes in congress.

you can start figuring out what we need to do to get this across the finish line. when that stripped the president of the power to unilaterally impose tariffs. and you take that authority out of the executive discretion? >> we think it does reside with congress. host: you can hear and watch our conversation with the chief policy officer of the chamber of commerce this morning at 10:00 on c-span and c-span radio app. the table,u back to matt schlapp to talk about what the head in the congress with democrats taking over in the house. we went to pick up where our conversation ended on the

economy with the jobs number coming out on friday. how do you think things look for the country as a whole and how the administration has fared so far. remember when jeb bush said he thought the economy could grow it 4% again? many whooffed at by said the new normal has been 2%. what we have seen with president trump is rapid growth. tv at theow was on end the week saying he thinks we for get over 3% growth 2019. what does this mean for people? it means less foreclosures, it means the suicide rate comes down. in all these numbers are people's lives.

big government with huge taxes hurts individual families. we are seeing this in france. host: where do you think the administration and their deregulation across industries and the economy, where has that had the most impact on americans bottom lines. guest: anything on the high-tech guestry will have the impact on the economy. that is the growth sector for the future. when you see the sec and the the nownt of commerce, president put on the hardhat that had is campaign slogan. mining jobs, energy jobs, mineral jobs, the jobs they said

would never come back in manufacturing. it's not true. you actually see they are growing. it, it'somes down to the marginal impact. jobs you can pull back into the country, that plant that might be opened. i had a friend who said we are going to open a plant in tennessee. it is happening across the country. you mentioned the riots in paris and the potential vote on brexit coming up next week. do those things concern you in terms of how it impacts our economy? guest: they make me happy. it makes me feel like the things we are struggling with here, people are struggling with where we came from in europe. europe has gone too far.

there are too many clicks to the left. people feel the consequences. it's the same thing happened here under barack obama. it is strange to see. it's all the same concerns across the globe. topic,oing back to our did america click back to the left on the house side by a democratic majority in the house? guest: you could argue that. the democrats in the house should feel good. they picked up 40 seats. up byess than were picked opposition parties for other presidents. the key for them is the following, what kind of party did the people see them as western mark now they have some power. they will be able to demonstrate

what they believe. if it's sane and sensible, i will be worried. socialismotests and and fringe politics, it would be a nice juxtaposition for the president. host: we welcome your phone calls and comments. he is here until 8:45 a.m. (202) 748-8000 is the line to call for democrats. (202) 784-8001 is the line for republicans. independents2 four . you mention the number the democrats got, did that surprise you? guest: i thought the republicans were in the mix. i predicted the majorities would be single digits. i think what we actually saw is the republicans got their tails kicked on the ground in the suburban districts.

money come in at the end from some billionaires who were trying to be players like michael bloomberg. not we hadaid it's parity. the democrats had raised a little less. the impression is the republican party is the party of rich people and the party of financiers. it's not the case. donald trump did not spend as much as hillary clinton. this is an alarming trend. host: did it surprise you they got outspent? guest: by the vastness of it doesn't surprise me. host: we are talking about congressional politics and how things look for congress. up first is the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. am i on?

ok. guest'slike to hear the thoughts on more and more about globalng up warming. excuse me. yearsre saying we have 12 to stop polluting our atmosphere with fossil fuels, with gas, with coal. if we do not, it is over for the planet. 99% of ourfor species. you cannot ignore this. if you do, you are going to destroy humanity. what good does it do to have a job if your grandchildren are

going to be dead? guest: there are a couple of things to consider. the people of france are known for being limited government people. even they are howling at the economic consequences of their radical policies to combat climate change. they talked kid, about the impending ice age. they said we had a certain amount of years to prevent that from happening. now, the globe is so hot. we have all of these extreme weather incidents. we only have 12 years to turn ground. when al gore came out with his , he told us we had a short amount of time. that was over a decade ago.

even if we can disagree on what the reports say, and i would be happy to go over that. tory single solution increases in temperature is about middle-class people losing more jobs and paying more for energy. the corresponding difference in the temperature, even according to their analysis, is less than 1%. you have a huge economic consequence and you make no difference in the temperature. why would anybody want to do it? theye on the left believe have been charged to save the planet. they had nothing to do with the creation of the planet. no matter how terrible a human being is, we can't destroy the planet.

maybe with nuclear weapons. we can't do it with how we live our lives. host: hello to bob. caller: good morning. the senator says, americans are smart. we're going to get president trump back there in 2020. i never heard her ask him about his shenanigans he wrote out -- wrote about. if we had a positive $22 trillion, where would you spend? how would you reverse mother nature? guest: i agree with that. thank you for your comments. the other thing about climate

change, it's no longer global warming. if anything happens with weather, they want to say it's because we use fossil fuels. when you watch the news, which segment of that program is the least reliable? is it sports? it'sthe weather portion the biggest joke we made all of our lives, that the weather is unpredictable. the same is true with these long-term climate trends. there ise positives is a more temperate climate for people who live in cold areas. the growing seasons have expanded. of of chickent little's that look at the data and panic. let's keep our heads, let's look at the science and do things that help people. congressng back to the

and the elections, the number of women elected this year. women, just 19 are republicans. they have said in a couple of venues she was not happy with the way things turned out. your wife has a very important position with the white house as a leading woman in the washington arena. what this the republican party have to do to get more female candidates, competitive female candidates. guest: i give credit to the democrats for recruiting many women candidates and having success. when you look at the republican had awomen candidates deficit on their ability to

raise money. things thatof the , we have toifferent remember that yes, there is a difference in the way women have been voting since the 1980's. there is a corresponding difference. donald trump did better with women than was predicted. i think the key is for democrats, they do think in , whatof what gender ethnic group one comes from. then they look at the next aspects. republicans don't look at people that way. they don't say this person is this gender or from this racial group or ethnicity. the house leadership picked

their leaders according to what racial group they come from. it's a different way of looking at it. they are so much better than us at this idea of identity politics, the diversity side. we of the reasons why is don't approach politics that way. and stand cut taxes up for the constitution. is aolor of their skin secondary consideration. host: does that mean there is an opportunity for the republicans? there was a bipartisan agreement on immigration legislation. the you see potential for that? reform,riminal justice we are strongly for that bill. we are not for because it protects one race or gender.

we think it makes good common sense. i think there is all kinds of issues. the republican party should do a better job. year,e put on cpac every where to our speakers come from? it's an important consideration. is electing people of a certain type and that's it, that's an indicator that they have to improve and other areas. there are a lot of immigrant communities for looking at conservative philosophy. it's appealing to them. host: this is george on the independent line. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call from florida. thank you for all you do at c-span. you and your wife are doing a tremendous job in representing

the values of our founders. would you give us an overview of your judgment of the health care situation? in congressblicans adding seats because of obamacare and how horrible it was. added in 2012 and 2014. in 2016, the gop came in with the clear message that they would repeal and replace obamacare. leader mcconnell said obamacare was going to be repealed root and branch. to the lack say as of achievement by the gop congress with paul ryan slow

walking the repeal bill. mcconnell is not getting a proper repeal handled. the reasons why i was so gratified that the tax bill passed. it took cap the guts of obamacare with the individual mandate. john roberts disappointed conservatives when he decided to cure obamacare and said the mandate was attacks. that is not the job of the supreme court. having that come out, that the government can mandate you to buy insurance, you are right. john mccain through a curveball and everybody when he voted against the repeal and replace of obamacare. it was a terrible vote. he came to my office and met with me.

he promised us that he would vote to repeal and replace obamacare, he said he would lead the charge. he ran hundreds of commercials saying he would do the same thing. chance, he voted the opposite way. mark on the republican party that they made promises. when they had the chance to do it, john mccain prevented it from happening. diversity, we don't have a problem with diversity of thoughts and ideas of what the solutions should be. john mccain had his own version of what he wanted to do. that is his right as a senator. he reconsidered. he thought it was a mistake to repeal obama care. andever called me

apologized to me. he has a right to do that as the senator. i wish republicans would stick together. they define their ingredients and use it on the republican side. host: some new voices are coming into the house. the republicans picked up a few members in the senate. there are new voices in the administration. guest: do i have to pull up my twitter feed? host: you may. stick around. the headlines about john kelly are no surprise. he could be leaving the white house. pence's aid is likely the replacement. how important was john kelly? guest: i've had the good fortune to know him a little bit. he is a wonderful human being.

he is a patriot. he is not in the spring of his lifetime. he believed this might be the , the most important station she should have most likely to end his public career. would relay what a man of decency and honor and integrity and hard work he is. he was a decent begin in the west wing. he will be missed. that is a tough job. i've worked in the white house. we worked for andy card. it's true that george w. bush had stints with chiefs of staff that that lasted longer. it's a meat grinder. i don't blame the general at all

could.ing i did what i host: we will go to r.g. in michigan on the democrats line. go ahead. ask a: i wanted to question. you speak so much about what obama did and didn't do. i'm trying to find out how the republican party increased the minorities in their parties and where they plan to take care of the situation of insurance for all americans. host: thank you for your call. the first thing to remember is obamacare didn't end up fulfilling its promise. guest: it was covering people in the insurance market. reports, there might be

more people who are not insured soause the policies are expensive. it's why the president has allowed the short-term policies and these plans. the department of hhs has taken several steps. 50% is administrative. there are a lot of things that can be done at the executive branch level. the president has tried to do those things. the attempt is to get the price down. a lot of people say for my family, i am in the individual market. i was in the individual market. 1000 toy went from almost 4000 a month. we could argue about why. all i care about is the buildup. 1000went from being over

to over 4000. i didn't choose to not ensure my kids. i chose to go to one of these sharing ministries where people who are allowed to come together. they created a co-op and pay each other's health care bills. cost ofe 20% of the getting your silver plan. this is what the american people are trying to do. the president is trying to give them more options. i want them to be able to make the choice. i think it's a stupid decision. it's your right as an american to live your life. arear as racial minorities concerned, i would like my party to do a better job. i don't like the fact that whites might vote at a higher percent.

i don't like that. republican party is the party of abraham lincoln. the civil ward amendments to the constitution which ended slavery. we have a proud tradition. one of my heroes in life is jackie robinson. he was a republican. king's father was a republican. we have made disastrous decisions that alienated black voters. if voters will give us another chance to look at our policies, we should take them up on that chance. justice ors criminal the effects of big government on individual families, we have a chance to do that. is it'sthing we track

very young. another thing that gets talked about his young people are all with the democrats. thatac, we are overjoyed are college age or younger. high school kids are also joining. this myth that the youth of america have been entranced by socialism and bernie sanders is not true in my experience with cpac. the last two days of february in the first two days of march. everyone is invited to come. go to our website and we would love to have you there. host: spring hill, florida. good morning. caller: i have a quick question. democratse know the do you feel they are going to be the party of obstruction?

he wanted funding for the wall. they refused to assist. do you think other deals they will shoot down? guest: it's a great question. it's the question that will determine the shape and scope of whether the house democrats do better. remember when the head that sit in on the house floor? they demonstrated their opposition by sitting? these maxine waters and people protest. intoresistance that turns it's endless protests, frankly harassment. it's too much. the american people don't like that. i think this is a center-right country. the democrats have a real chance to show they can work with the

other side. i think people like split control. they don't love the idea of one party dominating. there are parts of that that i can even understand. i'm going to get yelled at for saying this, but it's ok for my own party to learn. it makes people on my side agitated. you lose of election and you look in the mirror. the party can as well. you make improvements. i would like to see my party learn from losses. he did not want to lose the majority in the house. i know we are talking about investigations and impeachment. it could have been a boost. ,ost: the new conference chair

liz cheney from wyoming. what do you see her role? guest: the first thing, people are going to say a woman. i hope she doesn't get offended. fact that shethe is a strong voice on western values which does mean something when the government has gotten so big and controls everything. is an important voice on national security. having something that kind of , she learned by being with her father for so long. i think it's going to be important for our party. the jamar toue of show the killing.

they may take up a resolution calling for the u.s. to state away from -- step away from saudi arabia. say theyof senators are behind the killing. what is the best way to handle this? guest: i think the crown prince was kind it and is in control of things. one person i know and respect said it was mid evil. they have a different code. we know there are lots of things that are disgusting about the saudi regime. region know that it is a where we've got to have allies. every president of the united states has come down on the side of putting up with the negative, the evil that exists because of the positives they want to align with on national security.

in the end, they have decided to kings inh the various saudi arabia. the president is doing the responsible thing. people are going to criticize import. people on the hill are going to do the political thing. host: is there a possibility for the senate to overreact? guest: they come up with sanctions in almost every case because they have a legitimate voice. in the end, the president controls foreign policy. we would be foolish to strengthen iran and weaken the saudi's when it comes to this cataclysmic battle to make sure controlremists don't things. remember what happened on 9/11. we don't need to repeat these incidents. we are going to have friends and allies overseas. they don't meet our tests in

terms of decency and morality. the world is a cold place. i want a president who is willing to make decisions based on those facts. host: let's hear it from might in missouri. caller: good morning. democrats took the house. laws and workass on things that the people really want. the republicans will have to vote against it to show their true colors. talkings matt schlapp about climate change and global warming, he said we just need to watch the science, yet he is refuting the scientists. donald trump will not believe what our scientists have to say. would follow donald

trump off a cliff, yet he disagrees with him on the killing. almostgot to think that every one of the terrorists that did the 9/11 were from saudi arabia. host: a couple of things. when ion climate change, say let's follow the signs, it's not following the science as we track temperatures. it's following the science on the economic effects of the solutions. we have to look at the science on both of those. put it through the same filter. what will be the effect on temperature if we destroy the economy and put people out of work to make your house warm. that's all i'm saying. i actually don't think i disagree with the president.

he has a more important job than i do. he's got to make responsible national security decisions. i disagree with almost every link barack obama did. when he was making responsible decisions to work with our allies, we have to stand for the present. host: you feel like he can't say that mbs was behind it? guest: there are a lot of things the president can do. there is a lot of nuance there as well. this is going to be an important relationship. he's going to have lots of opportunities to comment. he is trying to leverage the saudi's. out -- wind upnd with these arms sales. some say those should be canceled. they will turn to china.

, i big nemesis on the globe know we focused a lot on radical islamic terror. state -- it is not our ally. it is not her fierce enemy. china is our true enemy. it's an economic threat. the president is focused on china. important on legislation, if nancy pelosi is the speaker, if she is the speaker, she can't change any laws. she can pass legislation on the floor of the house and that's it. our founders set of separation of powers. the president must sign every bill. i think sometimes the supreme forgets that. the president has to sign that stuff. he is not going to sign anything that harms national security.

follow-up onquick the issue about jared kushner and his relationship with mbs. does that complicate things? guest: i think it's great that they have a relationship. it's obviously the crown prince. he is the president's son-in-law. i think it's good that we are having conversations. i remember hearing from vice president cheney during the early years of the obama administration. saudi arabia felt estranged. what we have to understand when it comes to our national security is we do have countries that are allied with the united states. we need to talk to them

regularly. he has met with the north koreans. he talked to vladimir putin several times. he is talked to the president of china. he is talking to them. ofneed to have all kinds ways in which we are collaborating. been a jared kushner has and remarkably effective. i think he has a good effect on the president. host: here is alan on the republican line. caller: good morning. i just wanted to make a couple of quick comments. the dome and from florida complained about the lack of

cooperation between democrats and republicans. barack obama was first elected. senate leader the for the republican said he would do everything has power to make sure he was a one term president. exactly aot bipartisan way to get along together. globe isrming, the warming. water temperatures are up for degrees in the last few years. when the climate warms, the icecaps melt. if we get enough fresh water into the north atlantic, the atlantic current will shut down.

is global climate change. it's not ice ages. it's global climate change. host: anything else you want to respond to? quickly, i do think we have to look at the sites. i want to look at the science of climatologists. scientists are not climatologists. had scientistsey from other fields. those of the ones i want to listen to. i want to listen to the ones that aren't politicized. show me your solution to a problem i think is not a problem. let's run it through the same data operation and figure out what a poor person in africa is

going to have to expand to get fresh water and food. they are not developed. we are developed. it takes one hell of a lot of fossil fuels. let's run it through the same process. host: we talked about this, the president has tweeted this morning. guest: i turned my phone off. host: that's ok. we haven't for you. the transcript of james comey was released yesterday. james comey told investigators he did not know or recall or couldn't remember things. he didn't know who signed off and didn't know christopher steele. he is a disgraceful human being. he is somebody i had to deal with.

the staff, we checked on whether he was a republican or democrat. the number one thing we heard back from people was he is about jim comey. is liberal when he needs to be, he's a republican when he needs to be. time and saidthe he was a strong bush supporting conservative. then he goes to the women's march and is out there going door to door for far left candidates. host: this was last year. guest: he is now a liberal. when he's coming into my office, he is the staunchest of conservatives. himself,e is conducted the tactics they used to try to stop donald trump, his deputy said they were going to use the

powers of the fbi to stop donald trump. that is the most disgraceful abuse of the constitution. they make a promise that they are going to give up secretive information and use that in a virtuous way to make sure that our country is safe. they changed it around and used that information to try and tilt the scales in an election. ae only person who had demonstration of illegality was hillary rodham clinton. and nothing happened to her. 50% of the country sees this as the biggest hypocrisy. they hold jim comey accountable. the biggest mistake he made was not canning his rear on the first day. jim comey has become politicized.

the president's tweet captures that perfectly. host: your wife works in the white house. you run the conservative organization. how does she wall you off from things? guest: that's a very personal question. we are appropriate about things. there are things the president tells her in confidence. she doesn't tell me. there are things i am working on that i don't discuss with her. sometimes i'm dealing with somebody else in the white house. she is the greatest life partner you can ever have. she is a very special person. her listeners might be surprised. the president is great to her. he is a lot of fun. he reads everything.

he watches everything. this idea that he doesn't read is a myth. she said the scariest thing is briefing the president. he's already read every article. she is enjoying her time there. we are careful with the ethics of everything. cpac is coming up in february. cpac. come join us at issuewe will continue the with criminal justice reform. we will speak with shon hopwood, who served time in jail and is now a law professor at georgetown university. he is pushing for criminal justice reform. theill take a look at what united kingdom faces as parliament prepares to vote on

brexit next week. we will hear from the brookings institution later in the program. >> tonight on q&a. >> i worked for four people who were once and future presidents. the publisher of many best-selling nonfiction books. >> when i came to understand about donald trump and this is profoundly important is in his heart of hearts believes he

always wins. here is a guy who has been in , boxing,real estate wrestling, beauty contests, television, never been the target of a criminal investigation. that's astonishing in new york city. ontonight at 8:00 eastern q&a. >> this week on the communicators. the government accountability office who says the pentagon's weapons system is vulnerable. >> right now, they don't test the system for the threats you might see from russia and china and north korea. they are not allowed to in terms of testing. they don't want to disrupt the system. communicators on

c-span two. >> washington journal continues. host: joining us is shon hopwood . he has been on the program before. we are here to talk about criminal justice reform, particularly the legislation coming before congress. know awe get started, i number of our viewers may know your story. we will get to that in just a moment in terms of the time you spent in prison and your journey to become a lawyer and law professor. tell us about your motivation for criminal justice reform. what is the biggest issue facing our prison system? what is wrong with it? guest: the united states pretty much leaves the world in the rate at which it incarcerates people. we have 5% of the world

population, but 25% of the worlds prisoners. andver incarcerate people, then release them to the public and hope that america happens. when it doesn't, we say you were always evil to begin with. in reality, we need to give support to people who are on the inside so we can change their lives and have them come out as successful citizens. these are some of the statistics of people who have been in prison in the united states. let's talk about your experience. you are now a georgetown university fetzer. you are from nebraska. you went to college for a bit. what got you into prison? guest: a lot of foolishness when i was in my early 20's. i was reckless, i did not consider the consequences of my actions on myself.

it was easy to not think about my consequences on others. 21, we robbed several banks in nebraska. fortunately, no one was hurt. it led to a 12 year sentence in federal prison. and was about 11 years released in 2008. host: you came out of there with the knowledge of the law. guest: it started when i worked in the prison library. i started researching my own case. i started working on cases for other people on the inside. eventually, i got the supreme to read two petitions i prepared. i started winning cases in federal court. 60 minutes called to the most successful jailhouse lawyer.

the seeds of some of what you are pushing for now in terms of criminal justice reform and prison reform was born in some of the cases you handled for fellow inmates. unusual have an perspective. i served time in federal prison, litigated several federal to,inal cases and continue now i do a significant amount of policy work as my role as a law professor at georgetown. host: we are talking about criminal justice reform. you've heard that of his story. we would like to hear from you. if you have had experience in the justice system, use this (202) 748-8003.

for those of you who have had experience in jail or .rison, (202) 748-8003 we are talking about legislation coming up before the senate. theheadline this morning in washington post, no time for prison sentencing bills, supporters say the time is now. he writes that the first step acted reduces mandatory minimums for certain crimes and tries to her disc -- reduce recidivism. you testified on prison sentencing earlier this fall. what efforts have you made to get this passed? guest: i been working with advocates across the political spectrum to get the congress to pass. what i think is modest reform,

the best bill is my lifetime. the bar is not that high for congress on this issue. for 40 years, they increased punishments and the number of people we incarcerate. now, that wasn't the best way to handle criminal justice matters. the first step presents a unique question. 97% of people that go to federal prison are going to one day be released. if we know they are going to be released back into the community, why wouldn't we try to rehabilitate them? guest: are you concerned it might slip away? i am. we are in a precarious position now with trying to get the bill passed. we are trying to get a large federal reform bill to the senate. it's never an easy task. if the house comes back and add

things to the bill, it's going to face the same problems in the senate when it comes back. the best chance of it being passed is this congress. we are interested to hear from those of you who have experience in the criminal justice system. tell us your story, keith. caller: i am a legal journalist. i wanted to know if your guest has considered strategic partnerships with the innocence project. i think europe and germany have prison systems that don't andrience the brutality disincentives you referred to. reformingoking at what you might call inside our prison system? they create a better likelihood

of success when prisoners are released. step, it's mostly about prison reform. there are some sentencing reform pieces which reduce some of the worst mandatory minimums we have in the code. it's mostly backend reform. we want for there to be meaningful rehabilitation programs. we went to tie that to incentives. people in prison respond to incentives. are earlyncentives release. this is the method that husband tried in several different states and been successful. at the end of the day, we want people to come out of prison with their lives changed. we need to re-examine how we treat people inside prisons. act, trumpirst step

supports it. they had experience with the system. he is calling from cincinnati. good morning, david. caller: i have been out of prison for 27 years. it was a violent felony conviction. it was my only time in trouble. for an apartment, they still discriminate against ex felons, no matter how long i've been out of prison, no matter how many long i've had a good record. these landlords still discriminate against felons. what is going to be done about this? guest: first step does not address what you are talking about, the collateral consequences. i do understand that when we

measure justice in america, we only think about the number of days a person spends in prison. that's not the full extent of the punishment. when someone comes out of prison, there is a new punishment. you can be discriminated against in voting rights and housing. i was denied an apartment. we were denied an apartment in virginia while i was clucking on the court of appeals. -- clerking on the court of appeals. that is something we need to re-examine. when people come out of prison and feel they don't get it second chance, they are less likely to be law-abiding citizens. at the end of the day, that's the goal. the first step is about public safety. the second is about changing lives.

people feel like they get a second chance at life. host: do you have the right to vote? guest: i do here in the district of columbia. it's one of the reasons why i can vote here and it's why i live in d.c. rather than virginia. i would not be able to vote in virginia. no one who has a felony in virginia can vote unless they are able to get the governor to grant a pardon. host: they just change that law in florida? guest: now, people who have received felony convictions can vote. there are a couple of exclusions. most people in florida will be able to vote, even with a felony conviction. we have some more calls. caller: i am happy to be able to speak.

last 10 aware in the unjust, and unfair and unfair, how bad our prison system was, so i thought -- what would i do? has their expungement laws making changes, where things can be expunged. so i initiated expungement and othernd lawyers things came in and got things expunged from people's records. people slept out all night in their cars to get in and were standing in line for hours. it was hard to get to see these lawyers. there are more of those events happening now. some are pretty standard. also, maryland has made more than yet the things that can be expunged. but what i think would be helpful is that they take them off.

when a person returning from prison has satisfied all of the conditions for being out of prison, they should not have to go through the trouble of finding a lawyer, to file a it shouldile papers, come off just like an infraction for driving a motor vehicle. it should come off, and the state should send them a letter to the effect of "congratulations, you have done well. rights."ave these you do not have to knowledge on any papers that you have had a felony, because it has been expunged, and then tell them where they can get help to maintain, you know, what they should do. that would be so helpful. guest: all right, charlotte. -- host: all right, charlotte. shon hopwood. guest: yes, there are programs to give people a second chance. that is something that has to be handled at the state level.

the federal government cannot handle that, because most of the collateral consequences are created by state legislation, and it is different from state to state. but that is all going back to this ideal that once someone has served their time, they should have a second chance at a law-abiding, successful life. that is one of the things that the first step act tries to do. host: playing devils advocate on back, though, is there a time when a landlord or a realtor should know about on one's criminal record, in your opinion? guest: yes, i think they should know, but i talked to people in the business, the restaurant association and various employers who say at a policy matter, we will affirmatively hire people who are coming out of prison, and i think that is

i think that is admirable. women don't ask a question on the applications process and then in the interview process, a lot ofn about it -- time, they do not ask a question on the applications process, and process,he interview they learn something. i have thank you very dui offenses. they are nine years apart. my second one has basically made it impossible for me to get a halfway decent job, to drive. i have already gone to counseling and all of that. when i go to another state, i have to go through all of that again. is there any work being done on this?

it is redundant, you know. on yourhn, your charges offenses were nine years apart? caller: yes. the first one was in 2004, the second one was in 2014. host: shon hopwood. guest: that is what these plans are trying to get at. it is more about trying to programs,bel as asian incentivize -- rehabilitation incentivize people coming out of prison straight almost half of the people that come out of federal prison will be very arrested for a new charge or a violation of supervised release within eight years of release. host: why? guest: well, because it is not a big surprise. we do not treat people very well in federal prison. across thend them country from their family and community ties. we warehouse them.

we provide little in job training an, and then we kick people out with no resources, and we wonder why we have no actess, so the first step is really about reforming the federal bureau of prisons system . i have done a comprehensive review of those practices, from the ending of shackling of pregnant women to providing seven days more time for everyone who has a release date of federal prison. host: let's hear from at his, texas. david has had experience with the prison system. go ahead. caller: i have a question to ask you. in the state of texas, they had a program for offenders that have a drug abuse charge or a dwi charge. the court will put you in this program, and the minute they put you in this program, you are actually incarcerated, but your

time does not count. at the same time you are doing this, the state is receiving federal money to put you through this program. and you go through another nine-month program after you get out of that, and what i found out is only come alike, 80%, maybe 10% of those people actually complete the program, because when they do is they find some kind of way to terminate your probation -- and you are on probation -- and actually incarcerate you, and the minute they are straight you, then they get federal money again to send you right back to those programs. if the federal government is going to keep giving the state being locked up, then the state have this attitude -- if there is an empty bed, then they are not making any money. so they keep you locked up to keep the money from the federal government. i want to know -- who is going to look into that? that might change a little stuff drastically all across the united states. thank you. host: thanks, david.

guest: it is true that we have all sort of out of wagon and structures within the criminal justice system. system,to think of the but it is really the 50 states plus incentive. counties do not have to pay the price beyond a year and a day. then someone is sent to prison, and counting problems often ask for incarcerations, so there are all sorts of incentives programs that need to be re-examined. part of the bill calls for it to be giving them leeway. guest: it just reduces some of

the mandatory minimums. at the and of the day, who do we want making the decisions on sentencing? we want prosecutors, who do not see the defendant, who do not have nearly as much information as the federal judge does, and who is not protected on the political process in the same way that article three judges are. judges, when someone is found guilty and pleads guilty, has the ability to create a presentence investigation report with all of the information that a judge whitney to determine a sentence, but if there is a mandatory minimum, that binds the judge's hands. i am a big proponent that we should let judges judge, and we are better at sentencing been -- they are better at sentencing. host: you were sentence under state laws in nebraska? guest: i was sentenced under federal laws, and one of

those with the provision that says for anyone who uses or carries a firearm during a drug trafficking crime or a violent crime can receive really long mandatory minimums. had i been charged with everything that the federal prosecutor could have charged me for, instead of being sentenced 12 years, three months, i would have received a sentence of 92 years and three months, and you would pay for me to be in prison for the rest of my life. host: for how many bank robberies? guest: five. host: we talking with shon law at, a professor of georgetown. hi, art, you are on the air. caller: how are you doing? this has happened to me recently, and it just broke my heart. i went to apply to go to work on capitol hill, you know, to work for this company, i was going to do some demo work. but in 1984, i got arrested with but there wasr,

no violent crime nor nothing, i got pulled over. this is a decision through the capitol hill order police that makes the visage of it does not --ter how long it has been, makes the decision it does not atter how long it has been you pleaded guilty. i pleaded guilty to having a gun that stops med from working anywhere on capitol hill. anywhere, but they broke my heart. i mean, you try to do the right things, but these are the things that make people do dumb things -- which i am not going to do, because i have a family. i am 56 years old. they told me there is nothing i can do. this is what people do not understand what goes on in people's lives. host: that is what eric is talking about, too, the ability

to expunge off his record. guest: we just don't ever forgive. someone could have received a felony conviction for writing a ago, and $300 30 years s far as the law is concerned, that person is irredeemable. we discriminate people on the basis of their prior convictions, and we do not let people have a second chance, and that is something that everything needs to be re-examined, both state laws and federal. host: let's hear from wisconsin, independent line, chris. good morning. me, the amount of incarcerated people that are in simply because they cannot eric,il, and i agree with

expunge past, they mark people for life. host: let me point out a article,on post" almost half of u.s. adults have seen a family member jailed. about 5.6 million adults have an immediate family member incarcerated. one into a olson the united states has seen an immediate family member go to jail or one night.at least one in seven adults have seen a relative on bars for at least a year. estimates 6.5 million adults currently have a family member incarcerated. guest: yes, and that article is based on a "usa today" these that says it amounts to about 13

million americans, so the criminal justice system has just gotten too big, and it is finally starting to affect an impact families all over the country. as a law professor, i receive emails every week from people who had no idea how bad the criminal justice system was until their son or daughter got inside of it. then when i found out how unfair and how unjust it is, they are furious. i am trying to figure out how to get people to be furious before their kids get into the system. host: we touched on this momentarily earlier on, why is the incarceration rate higher in the u.s. than many other countries? guest:, well, because it is a political problem. think about promote justice, people do not think about the millions of people cycled through the system every day, they think about one really or crime, the larry nassar bill cosby. because of that, it is hard to get political change on this issue. host: let's hear from arizona.

line.s on the he has had experience with the criminal justice system. experiences my along that line, when you are a family member, and you become acquainted with the system, and you find reasons to be furious. i did have a question. is -- can a governor part in an individual that has been convicted of a federal crime? guest: no, the governor cannot. onlyfederal crimes, the person who can pardon or commute offenses is the president of the united states, which is why it is very difficult for people to come even if they committed a felony 20, 30 years ago, it is difficult for them to ever get it expunged off of their record and to get a new, fresh start, thisse presidents in country have not exercise the clemency power very broadly outside of, president obama, who

commuted 1700 sentences. it is really difficult for people who even have federal convictions that are very old to ever get those expunged and taken off the record entirely. host: again, going back to your comment earlier about it being political, is it seen by some as the president, whether the number or the individuals he is pardoning, as a political move? guest: i think the president is thinking about doing brought clemency reform. the white house had a meeting on that a few months ago that i was at, and they talked about if we were going to reconfigure the clemency process, how would we do that to make it more effective? so i am hopeful that the president will move on that thee after we tried to get first step act pass in the senate. host: the president tweeted on that. we will share that in a minute. first, to mark in canton, ohio on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning.

thanks for taking my call. i want to add a wrinkle to your conversation that has not been brought up. with theperience criminal justice system when i was a juvenile and got in trouble. felonies, and i had never been in trouble, but i got in trouble. i went through the process with the juvenile justice judge. once i completed the process, he told me if you stay out of trouble for two years, it will stay off your record. two years passed, it was expunged from my record, and the judge told them what this means is this will be permanently erased from your record, so if employer ever youd you, just tell them have never been in trouble. that is what this means. fast forward a few years, i apply for a federal job -- i will not tell you what job it was -- but on the application, it asked me -- have you ever been convicted of a felony?

i put no. the next question was even if it has been expunged, and i wrote lied, because in my mind come up with that judge told me and what the application was asking me -- and the judge clearly told me "don't ever admit to it," and i did not come and i went on to have a federal career, a full career -- i have never been in trouble since age 13, not once. i have been a good citizen. i just want to bring that up, because it is a rare experience, but i had it. i am glad you only know my first name, actually. [laughs] host: thanks for telling us, mark. guest: yes, this comes back for the ability for someone to have a second chance and a clean slate. a perfect world, we would not need to ask those questions before someone is given a job. and there are reforms going on

in states around the country about what the states and the federal government to, but again, that is something handled at the state level. host: the legislation is called the first step act, and president trump weight in friday, tweeting hope the senate leader mitch mcconnell asked for a vote on criminal justice reform. it is extremely popular and has bipartisan support. it will also help a lot of people, save taxpayer dollars, and keep taxpayers save. go for it, mitch. also, the peace and the "washington post," by paul kane, i want one of the outgoing chair of the judiciary committee, chuck grassley, "the delay in kane.us grassley," writes let's get a couple more calls,

and we will hear from the billy next in st. joseph. good morning. caller: good morning. my experience with the criminal justice system involves a younger brother who was a juvenile when he was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 16. of kidnappinged and burglary in the state of nebraska. later on, of course, he had the deal where i believe the supreme court said you could not to give juvenile offenders life without parole. just two years ago, he went back to nebraska. they vacated the original sentence, turned around and resentenced him. now he is only available for parole after another 12 years. in 1983,years of age he is still in prison. i don't know why -- and he was not convicted of murder.

he was not convicted of killing anybody. convictions that put him in prison was kidnapping, the person was ultimately killed, but he was not the one convicted of killing a person. host: we will a you go and hear from shon hopwood. did you ever have a parole hearing? guest: no, because in 1984, congress got rid of federal role across-the-board. that is one of the problems with system, no matter how much success i had been a matter how much the staff thought i'd changed, it did not lead to one day earlier release in the federal reasons i prison system. so we want to incentivize people to change their life and take rehabilitation programs. the senate is moving there, but honestly it is missing part of the real conversation here, first step goes far in

that it provides incentives, but there are a whole list of exclusions that exclude people from early release and various offenses, and at the end of the day, 90% of them are going to be released from federal prison. was reallythat concerned about public safety would remove all of his exclusions, because the people that commit violent crimes -- why wouldn't we want to rehabilitate them, too, so they can come home and be successful, law-abiding citizens. host: shon hopwood, georgetown hisersity professor, in 2017 book is "laurewman." thanks for joining us on "washington journal" this morning. guest: thanks for having me, bill. host: a key vote is on tuesday, the brexit vote. we will speak with amanda sloat from the brookings institution.

more of your calls and comments here on the "washington journal ." ♪ >> tonight on "q&a" -- >> i worked with for people who went to be future presidents -- clinton,ter, bill barack obama, and to my surprise, donald j. trump." , publisher and author. heart of trump and his

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eastern, on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. int: a historic vote ahead the british parliament on tuesday. that is the plan, anyway. byare joined on the phone william schaumburg, chief u.k. correspondent for reuters. schaumburg, can you tell us what happened yesterday in terms of the advancement of the boat on tuesday? -- vote on tuesday? is it going to happen? the government is insisting it is going to happen. isther or not it will happen a different case. ,robably one thing does look that is they do not have the votes to approve the brexit plan. what happens after that is open to a lot of speculation,

probably half a dozen different scenarios, but at the moment, it looks extremely difficult, and they have managed to persuade a grand total of one lawmakers to change her mind. does notindeed she have the votes on tuesday, what are the most likely scenarios to happen wednesday and the days after? well, there really is a big range of possibilities, and uncertainty is extremely high. one thing she might be able to do is go back to brussels and say to other eu leaders look, i need you to help me out here, change the plan a bit, make it easier for me to sell it to my party. she maylem with that is one by such a big majority

tuesday that small tweaks are unlikely to change the situation very much. the other problem is the eu is unlikely to offer her much. the u.k. could decide -- of howive us a snapshot the public moves in the days ahead of the vote. guest: i think for many people, they are largely perplexed. lead decisionthe are worried. the momentum continues to grow that is affecting the referendum, which could reverse the decision of the 2016 vote, and those who remain opposed are very much looking for that.

700,000 people. today, the demonstration, extreme farr the right group at the moment. most people are perplexed and say look, let's get on with it. aree are many people who worried about what that might mean. keeping track of it is is atchomberg, and he reuters, on reuters.com. joining us this morning. we appreciate you joining us in. guest: thank you. us now with more as dr. amanda's long brookings institution and the author of a or "divided kingdom: how brexit is remaking the u.k. constitutional order." you spent time back in the u.k.

you lived in northern ireland for a number of years. you went back there earlier this year for this report. moodis your sense of the in your talk with officials and others? guest: country is incredibly polarized. i spent three years in northern ireland, living there right before 9/11, and i think in northern ireland in particular, the brexit discussions have been incredibly destabilizing to politics. the good friday agreement is end to in 1998 point an a lot of the violence, it put institutions for communication between ireland and the u.k. and northern ireland. but iat brexit has done, think is not essentially understood here in the u.s., is

it has. been destabilizing to politics in northern ireland. to think aboute things they have not had to think about in the last 20 years. host: a report came out which just mentioned about a very good background on all of the issues, all of the various issues and countries involved in this. let me backtrack a second, as we open up a phone line for viewers ro weigh in, (202) 748-8001 fo republicans, democrats, (202) 748-8000. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. our viewers in the u.k. this morning, watching on the bbc parliament channel, our international line, (202) 748-8003. let's back up a second, or a couple of years. we know the referendum passed. why did the majority vote to separate from the eu? is importantk it

to remember for starters it was a very small majority, 61.9% voted in favor of leaving, so a very narrow majority. i think people voted for a number of reasons. there has always been a somewhat uncomfortable relationship between the u.k. and the european union. part of the common alwaysarea, so there has been some reluctance within the u.k. to be fully involved in some of the institutions, certainly what we see in germany, france, and other countries. there is an element of sovereignty debate here. immigration i think was also art of it. in the european union, there's free movement of workers. some people in the u.k. did not like people from other countries moving to the u.k. and working there. the famous example is the polish plumber who moved and was working in the u.k. i think people did not like the fact that they were perceived to be spending large amounts of

money and sending it to brussels, and part of the campaign was arguing that the money should get invested in u.k.'s national health service. although i think people to realize as they were also getting a lot of money back to the u.k. to invest in regional developments and other economic services within britain. host: part of your report talks about the american involvement. limited american engagement is the box headline. you put out the efforts, or lack thereof, of both the obama administration and the trump administration, saying there is no fear on oc on brexit. -- on policy on brexit. get: why should the u.s.

involved, should have gotten more involved? guest: first of all, i think president obama was quite clear that he's the word of the u.k. -- he supported the u.k. staying in the european union. aesident trump has had different approach. he called brexit "a great thing," and he was skeptical of the eu itself. i think there may not have u.s.a clear role for the in some of the internal negotiations, but certainly when we look at northern ireland, where the u.s. has been so invested in so many years in the peace process, the good friday agreement, or slit by senate majority leader -- host: george mitchell. guest: george mitchell. right. that the u.s. has played a somewhat damaging role in terms of predatory policy with u.k..

the closer the u.k. lines with the u.s., the farther apart it will be from the european union, which is of course where interests lie. host: we have the phone lines open for dr. amanda sloat. this is henrietta, new york, peter, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you very much for the chance to talk to you. i am interested on her thoughts about the different economy, for one thing. the rest of britain, how that affects the boat in this situation. it seems like a lot of the economics in london is depending on the european union and not so much the rest of the country. is a greatink that question, and actually if you look at the way the vote totals roke down with the effects

brexit referendum, 59 percent of london voted to remain in the european uni so there has certainly been stronger support by those in london, those in the financial services sector, and those to remain. the issuee problem, around brexit is it has been difficult for people to know how to respond, and a as the reporter was seein at the top of the discussion, it is three-month away from taking place. absolutely right that there was a distinction between the way people in london versus the way people in other parts of england saw the brexit question. a piece from reuters reporting the national institute of economic and social research saying the brexit deal foresees britain's drinking a trade agreement with the eu or remaining in a customs union, likely to mean the economy will be 3.9% smaller by 2030 than if it had state in the eu,

equivalent to about 1100 pounds or $1400 per person. at some brexit supporters say more definitive break with the eu would eventually help britain's economy by making it easier to strike trade deals with faster growing countries and regions beyond europe. what is your reporting and your report say about that? take it is going to some time for the u.k. to create these trade deals. the u.k. currently does not have any trade negotiators, because for the last 40 years, all of the trade deal have been negotiated by the european union. if you think about the trade deals the u.s. has been involved in, you will see it takes many years, actually, for the trade deals to be negotiated, five to seven years. so certainly it will not be quick in terms of when these things happen. the eu is a large market because of proximity. it has been a large market for u.k. trade. certainly, i think if you look at it with the u.s., we have

seen that president trump has been a tough negotiator and i think we'll be looking for a large concessions from the u.k. and is the u.k. looks at some of as potentiallth whether they can send workers to the u.k., which will force the u.k. to feel some of the same immigration and foreign worker questions that help people vote for president. -- brexit. they say prime minister may does not have the votes right now. the vote is scheduled for tuesday, to be clear. does she not have a majority in the house of commons? a couple of years ago, david cameron was prime minister at the time of the referendum was held. lost therse referendum, stood down, and theresa may became the party leader. right as she started negotiations with the eu, she decided to hold snap elections.

the idea was this would give her a larger majority. unfortunately for her, she had a disastrous result, lost her majority in the house of -- the democratic unionist party, the harder unionist party in northern ireland. she did not have a majority of the conservative party to begin with. a lot of rebels in her party did not like the arrangement. the party in northern ireland is unhappy with the arrangement for northern ireland. labour party people, many of them, did not like the deal. so it is a very difficult parliamentary match. the problem was a lot of people do not like the labor leader, of thecorbyn, so part resistance of members of her own party is to force the leaders to challenge her general election, the fear that conservatives could end up losing. the new york times writing about jeremy corbyn this

morning, "by staying silent on brexit, opposition leader may have the last word." say -- in terms of jeremy corbyn, could he be sort of the kingmaker on brexit? although, atially, the article says, he has his options open, though it is clear what his third option is. jeremy corbyn has a track record of voting against every single treaty that sought to deepen u.k.'sengthen the

involvement in the european union. you have the leader of the opposition party, many of whom do not support brexit, whereas the leader himself is actually submitted to it. host: let's get phone calls for amanda sloat. republicans, (202) 748-8001. for democrats, (202) 748-8000. and our line for international callers, (202) 748-8003. we will go first to scotland, as a matter of fact. good morning. caller: good afternoon or good evening. [laughter] caller: my point is this -- one of the things that americans can understand much better then we can is that you have a large single market, 250 million people. global what major companies, jpmorgan, goldman sachs, other companies, great. we were, still are a member of an even larger single market, the european union, 560 million people.

what we did when we voted in the referendum to leave was we voted rer.eave pooere the question is -- how much poorer? what prime minister theresa may has decided to do is decide between the two extremes that we landed between. the first were taking all the legislation without having any say in it, and the other extreme, no deal, whatever that is, no one really has identified what "no deal" really means. deal, that means no finish line, so i do not think that it means that. she has actually managed to get a place in the middle, and nobody agrees with her, which means she probably got it right. and the question is, once we go through next tuesday's vote, it will go down, i think, almost certainly. what happens then is i suspect a

number of amendments put against the motion, none of which will be agreed, because the other side does not agree on any of the other options, if there even are any other options, except possibly that she goes back to the european union and tries again. that over 20 series negotiators have been negotiating this deal for 529 pages for the last two years. the chances of getting anything other than a minor tweak are close to zero. host: thank you, mark, for your thoughts. amanda sloat. is absolutely he right, and i think that is a good overview of the situation. i think they have made it very clear that they are not looking to renegotiate this. one thing that i think is important to remember that gets lost in the debate is members of our limit will be voting on two documents. the first is the 529 page document that the caller

mention. the second is a declaration on duringure relationship the eu has been quite clear that they are not looking to significantly renegotiate these terms, but the political declaration could be tweaked, because it is not a legally of binding agreement, it is a set of principles that describes what the relationship looks like. after brexit takes place march 29 year, there will be 21-month transition period, during was everything remains as it is, is a second set of negotiations begins on what the future relationship looks like. a lot of that is still open for discussion, and that, i think, is where there is some space for deliberation. but i think in this current debate, but two things tend to get somewhat inflated. host: that march 29 date, that happens whether they approve it will not. guest: correct. it is possible that theresa may can go to the eu and asked for

an extension, but there would have to be some sort of compelling reason, either a second referendum, a new election, a new government. simply continue flailing within london and lack of a clear path forward will not be sufficient reason for the eu to agree to extend. host: we have a call from london next. ken. hello there. caller: hi. i would like to mention two points here. that a fallacy to think the majority of the people who voted for brexit did so because of immigration. only 10% to 15% were concerned, and i will tell you why in a second. the most important thing was the sovereignty of the country. here is a country where a girlsist who kills young was not able to be deported back he wascountry because denied his human rights.

made bysions are totally undemocratic people who were never elected anyway. a person sitting in brussels could decide what happens in windsor. host: thank you, ken. on the immigration issue, dr. amanda sloat. guest: i think the caller is right that immigration is not the sole reason people voted for brexit. i do not agree that the eu, as portrayed, is simply undemocratic, faceless bureaucrats. they have a somewhat complicated decision-making process, but the parliament is directed and people, and there is also a european council, composed of ministers from all of the member states. those two bodies need to sign off on all of the decisions that are made. the eu has a continued challenge

of feeling quite remote. is brexit, this unplugged the u.k. from the european parliament and the other organizations? guest: yeah, absolutely, leave means leave, so you are not bound by the rules, but you are also not part of the decision-making after that. part of the future of the relationship and what that would look like, and i think this is to, the caller was alluding is there could be a situation where the u.k. remains bound by many of the rules coming out of the european union but no longer in termst at the table of those rules, so that is part of what is making people unhappy. host: let's go next to liz in mount laurel, new jersey on our democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. about a year ago, i had an opportunity to sit in on a trade meeting, mainly people from northern ireland and also people

counties.urrounding and they were on a mission to visit various cities within the united states and try to establish or put out feelers for better trade deals between the u.s. and their particular areas of ireland. tooticed that they both seem come at it jointly. it appeared to me at the time that most of northern ireland representatives would have rather stay with the eu but were not going to be able to, due to the brexit vote. irish representatives from the republic of ireland would be added. i was wondering if you had any reporting on how those types of

campaigns -- this was in the theyof 2017 -- have lined up any significant trade agreements from those visits to the u.s., and how would that work out? thank you. certainly part of what prime minister theresa may's argument has been if it would be easier for the u.k. to negotiate free-trade deals once it is no longer a member of the european union, so as you say, there had been representatives of the u.k. government from some different countries to try to start discussing these agreements, including here in the united states. none of those have been finalized, and it is going to take some time for the u.k. to be able to finalize those agreements. in fact, during this transition period, as long as the u.k. is formally within the eu structure, none of these trade deals can actually come into effect, but certainly theresa may's hope is going to be during this 21-monthly transitin she will be able to

start with the hope that they will take effect once you pay is out of the european union. guest: about 10 more minutes with our guest, dr. amanda sloat from brookings institution, looking ahead to the brexit vote in parliament. (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and (202) 748-8002 for all others. except for the international line, which is (202) 748-8003. here is harry in portsmouth, england. good morning, harry. caller: good morning there, afternoon, rather come over here. a comment. make for the last 40 years, we have had a majority in parliament, no matter what party, who was always pro-eu. that is how we ended up with the 1990's.n the early still today, the equivalent might be the capital punishment debate.

no matter what anybody ever says in the u.k., there has always been a majority against it in parliament, in other words, they do not really represent us. the other problem i have got is sovereignty. it comes up, and it came up in the 1990's. we should not mind giving up some sovereignty, because when we are members of nato, of which america is part, we have already been given our sovereignty. -- been thinking that u.s. as a member of nato would have given up any bit of their sovereignty. that is the sort of argument we get. "oh, we have already given up sovereignty to nato, so why not give more to brussels?" host: to be clear, they are not pulling out of nato. this is the eu. guest: correct. it has been great to hear so in thistish accents discussion, and you are giving your american viewers some

flavor. nato operates as an intergovernmental organization and that everybody comes together and makes collective decisions. with the european union, what has been different if that member states need to get a certain amount of their sovereignty up to the european union to make decisions that are then binding on all of the member states. this is one of the things, if you listen to secretary pompeo's speech in brussels last week, he was talking about the trump administration has an issue with that perspective, that the idea that nationstates should not beginning of their sovereignty to international organizations. i think those of us who are supportive of the european union would point out to the fact that there has been an unprecedented and prosperity in the european union over the last number of years, and that in fact integration, economically and politically, has been good for some of these nations. but absolutely, sovereignty is

at the heart of the debate. at issue, is indicative, exemplary of other issues in the eu in terms of nationalism, for example. guest: yeah, i think what is happening in brexit is similar to the polarization that we are seeing here in the united states. you are seeing protests in france over the last couple of days. seeing a lot of debates within these countries about the role of nationalism, about increasing populist movements. i think brexit certainly plays into a lot of these major discussions that are happening in western democracies. host: our lines are (202) 748-8001 for republicans, democrats, (202) 748-8000, and independents and others, (202) 748-8002. i want to review part of a piece from yesterday's "wall street ," or editor at large, george baker, writing about the brexit breakdown. he says "mrs. mays government has been, in the past two years,

trying to deliver a brexit that looks as little like brexit as possible. the result pleases almost no one. critically, the plan ensures a backstop to ensure no hard border with ireland and northern ireland." explain why that has been such a sticking point. northern ireland has proven to be the most complicated part of the brexit discussion. with theborder republic of ireland. if you travel there, as i often do, you do not even know there is a border. it is like driving between two american states. the only reason you know you are in a different country is you see commenters rather than miles, you see things in the gaelic language. are u.k. and ireland were

the european union, they were part of the customs union, part of the single market, there was frictionless trade between all of these countries. once the u.k. leaves, this will become an international order again, which means there will checks on customs goods moving between what are two separate countries. for people in northern ireland, this order hearkens back to the times of the troubles when you had army checkpoints, watch towers, so it is very psychologically troubling for a lot of people to think about those new orders again, not to mention the fact that you will have a lot of economical challenges for people who may have worked in the republic but then they live in northern ireland, and a travel mostly back and forth. so the backstop is something that the european union had developed to ensure that there was not going to be a hard order-. order.k. -- a hard b the u.k. has committed to it but

so far has not come up with any mechanisms to ensure that is the case. protecting the market while at the same time not having physical infrastructure there. you come up with some sort of free trade agreement or economic relationship that means you do not need to have a border there. until that happens, the eu, led by ireland, wants to preserve the sanctity of the border and to ensure that there will not be any hard infrastructure checks there. call for you from the u.k. caret we hear from caroline. good morning. you're on with amanda sloat. you are breaking up a little honest, caroline. i will give you a moment or two. go ahead and ask your question again. from england, and a lot

of us do not really know what is going on with the brexit -- i am so sorry, it is just a bit of a stretch to hear this question. i am so sorry about that. (202) 748-8003 from outside the u.s. you talked about his earlier in terms of the vote totals, the passage of the actual referendum two years ago, and looking across the u.k., the percentages, 51.9% voted to leave. in england, the majority was 53% to 46%. in london, 60%, basically, voting to stay. 56%in scotland and nearly in northern ireland. what was behind the differences in those totals in those different countries? why the discrepancies? guest: i would say the sovereignty debate has been the most prone yet for people living in england. northerne living in ireland, half of the population wants to reunify with ireland,

half of the population wants to be with the united kingdom, and scotland has had some identity questions. there was a poll out this morning, i believe in the "sunday times," showing that independence is increasing in scotland. so some people have expressed brexit at the gasp of english nationalism, people who have never fully reconciled the idea of u.k. having to give sovereignty to the european have, and i think people long had to balance the multiple identities, where they have held scottish or irish as well as european. host: richard, go ahead with a quick .4 amanda sloat. -- point for amanda sloat. good morning. caller: hello? host: you are on the air. go ahead. caller: i have a couple of

observations. host: go ahead. richard, you are on the air. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, we can. caller: one comment about president trump saying the states should not give up sovereignty. my observation is if that is the case, presumably, the united as such,uld not exist because that is exactly what states within the united states do, to have a federal government. host: all right, i will let you go from that comment and hear from normal to norma in hastings, england. a quick question for dr. amanda sloat. we are wrapping up your shortly. go ahead. caller: yes, just to comment on the point between northern and southern ireland, the american people probably do not know, but there is great fear and animosity in some of southern ireland against northern ireland to think it should be one

ireland. after april of next year, april fools' day, if many people from the eu fly into southern ireland, then it could be a whot business for all those don't really like britain to get a bus service to take them over the border. i do not see how anybody, without building some sort of border fence, and stop people who flew into southern ireland. norma, we will let you go. any final thoughts? guest: tuesday i think will be very interesting day in british history. as the opening reporter said and we discussed, it is very likely that the boat is going to fail. theresa may does not have a lot of good options.

she is clearly going to have to explain what is happening in her country and what she would like to see. there are questions about whether you have a leadership challenge to her among whether andhave a general election, there is also talk about a general referendum, but even that is unclear what the question is very you have a referendum on the existing deal, on whether or not to go forward with brexit, and what happens if you end up with a very close result again? i think the story is unfortunately going to continue to unfold for many weeks and months ahead. host: amanda sloat with the brookings institution, now with the obama administration, secretary of state, editor i mediterranean , on the brookings website, we appreciate you being on this morning on "washington journal." that will do it for this morning. we back tomorrow morning 7:00 eastern. we will take a look at the week ahead in washington with congress returning back tomorrow morning. steven dennis, a senate report

for bloomberg, joins us. aaronl also hear from jones, looking at a possible government shutdown with a new deadline december 21. we hope the rest of your weekend is great. we will see you here tomorrow journal." "washington >> here is the schedule coming up today. newsmakers is next with neil bradley from the u.s. chamber of commerce talking about the economy two years into the trump administration.