market losses. and at 8:30 a.m., your calls on the government shutdown. and you can join the current -- the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: it is just past the seventh hour of the government shutdown after republicans cannot pass a spending deal that would include president trump's demanded $5 billion for a border wall. the house and senate are expected to gavel in today. the president remains in washington. many parts of the federal government will still continue to function, but an estimated 800,000 workers could be directly affected by this shutdown. it is the washington journal for december 22, and we are going to mainly hear from you as you tell

us what you think about the shutdown and the larger issues at play. if you support the shutdown, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose the shutdown, (202) 748-8001. perhaps you are a federal worker he wants to give your input and take on the events as of midnight, (202) 748-8002. you can post your thoughts on twitter, @cspanwj. our facebook page is facebook.com/c-span. there are a couple of comments already. you can post on our twitter feed. the phone lines are available. joining us for the latest information on this partial shutdown as we go to our three hours today is bill scanlon. >> both are coming in at noon

eastern. both gaveling out last night after the senate set a record. that vote they held yesterday, over five hours, the longest open will call vote in recent senate history. you may have heard before our program that chris coons of delaware talking about voting for a motion to proceed to talk. it is likely if you tune in at noon on c-span.org or c-span2, you will not hear a lot of discussion, particularly in the house. much of the negotiations will happen o off the floor. tweeting ande posting on facebook about what is going one on day 1 of the christmas shutdown. here is how it is being reported in the boston globe. they are tweeting their headline. "federal government shut down.

penalties for drivers that refuse to take pot tests. she remindsie ebbs, us that not all agencies will be equally affected. epanistrator wheeler at telling employees the agency will stay open next week in the event of a shutdown. they have enough money to carry it over. agency lettinge their members know which offices will be open. a photo that made news yesterday. the christmas tree being wheeled out of the office of senator john cornyn. maybe a metaphor for how things are going. the bigger picture here. we will keep you posted on other tweets throughout the morning.

the negotiations are going on on capitol hill. host: the phone lines will be the main way to communicate with us. we only have one guest planned today. we will hear from you about the events of the shutdown, the larger issues at play. the numbers will be on the screen and you can post on our facebook page. int riley already weighing on facebook. "build the wall." we heard from jason mark tobin. "it's a terrible thing the president has done to this country." starting this off this morning is connie in new jersey, a supporter of the shutdown. thank you for calling. caller: i feel very sorry for the people who are affected. we never said we will pay for the wall. mexico is going to pay for the wall. wall.xico pays for the

the extreme right, let them pay for the wall. don't punish the people working for the government. host: you are calling in on the line for those that support the shutdown. caller: i'm sorry, i support the shutdown. host: willie in maryland, and opposer of the shutdown. caller: i definitely oppose the shutdown. i think it is senseless. one of the things we need to do -- this country is so disorganized. this is really about a fantasy. we have to deal with vladimir putin and get that idiot out of the white house. host: you said this was a senseless shutdown. why? caller: i have called before. if we are going to do this you are not white, by don't we do this to europeans?

idiot.questions this , go: michigan, blayne ahead. shutdown support the because trump told him he is going to do it. and the ago, schumer democrats were for the wall. i'm not sure what changed their minds and now because -- i did not hear you. host: you going. caller: -- keep going. doesn't want it. host: what does it shutdown accomplish? caller: a lot of vacations for people because they will get paid no matter what. the thought is no one will get paid is a falsehood. the reagan administration shut down the government over 18 times.

there was never this cry until this recent one. host: if that is the case with shutdowns of the past, why do you support this one? caller: it will get peoples attention. it has already gotten people's attention. for the wallsite has already topped $10 million from civilian donations. that shows how many people want the wall. blayne talking about some of the efforts going on outside the shutdown as of midnight. you mentioned the gofundme site. there is a story in the new york times talking about this effort called the "we the people will find this wall" launched by a disabled florida veteran. it has raised $13 million by the writing of the story. "americans are putting their money for their mouth is, the founder said in an interview.

they are willing to put money down to show politicians this is what they want." that is the story about the gofundme site. bobby in wilmington, north carolina, and opposer of the shutdown -- an opposer of the shutdown. caller: i think it is rude and inconsiderable to do it he did at this time of year, especially with the mail. everyone's christmas gifts are not going to make it in time. not only that, but if it were possible, i would make a citizens arrest to the president. that is how i feel. host: that is bobby from wilmington, north carolina. just to show you a couple of things affected. you brought up the postal service. the u.s. postal service will continue with mail delivery as an independent entity funded through its own sale.

there are other things that are going to be affected or not affected. we will go with those in detail in a few minutes. clarence,r of this, new jersey. caller: i am a black american and i support the building of the wall and the shutdown. immigration affects the black community. if you do history on el chapo and the drug trafficking for mexico and how it affected chicago, the multitude of murders that are occurring, that is one reason. the also have again called ms 13. they murdered three black college students, shot them in the back of the head, raped them and then killed them. in california you have a lot of

illegal immigrants that firebomb black people to get them out of their neighborhoods. understand how this is affecting us. and ior immigration, don't care who comes into the country as long as they can benefit the country economically. we have these incidents i just stated. i am totally and completely in support of president trump. host: how does the wall stop those things? caller: i'm assuming it will prevent illegal immigrants from coming to the country, those who are coming in to do the things i just stated. members that murder black americans. host: what you think is going to change? caller: i'm assuming these will be the soft spots. you have the border patrol and ice doing what they have to do.

i'm assuming this is specifically targeted to this soft spots. if it needs a wall, a gets a wall. i'm assuming summit will have the wherewithal to say this is where we put the wall. wherever we need to target that, wherever the leakage is, the area where they are sneaking into the country. host: that is clarence from new jersey. the president himself on his twitter feed shortly after the shutdown. he took to twitter in a video to explain the reasoning he has for asking for the money he is looking for and be willing to shut down the government over this. [video] president trump: our great country must have border security. we want people to come in through a legal process.

it is very dangerous out there. drugs are pouring in. human trafficking. so many different problems, including gangs like ms-13. we don't want them in the united states. we don't want them in our country. the only thing that is going to stop that is great border security. with a wall, or a slat fence or whatever you want to call it, but we need a great barrier. if we don't have it, is never going to work. last night the house of representatives passed this very important bill, 217-185. some people were surprised by the number. i wasn't it is everybody wants to see our quarter protected. andit is up to the senate, it is really up to the democrats. we need their votes. there is no way he can pass without their votes. we are going to have a shutdown.

there is nothing we can do about that because we need the democrats to give us their votes. call itcrat shutdown -- a democrat shutdown, call it whatever you want. we have a wonderful list of things we need to keep our country safe. let's get out, let's work together, with the bipartisan and let's get it done. the shutdown hopefully will not last long. thank you very much. we posted this question about the first day of the government shutdown on our facebook page. under 70 respondents so far. scott adding the word "ridiculous." george says it should be a total shutdown. appreciate the legislature holding firm on the $5 billion denial of the wall," adding "bravo." terry says, "make america safe

again." a supporter of the shutdown on this first day. i can't really say much more than anybody else has said for the wall. if they would support him in this wall, it is like everything else he has done. if they would stand behind him, he could do so much more in keeping these people out that are illegally coming in. that much more that we can do for our own. they are already here. the people that are hungry, the veterans, he has done a great job giving support. host: how will the wall make a difference? caller: the wall he's got in mind is different from what they -- throughrevious the bush administration.

saw experts could not get over. these people cannot get over it. they can't get over it, the immigrants can't get over it. host: we only have one guest looked today for a segment. we will go for that at 8:00 this morning. largely we will hear from you and you get to be the commentator on this partial shutdown on the very first hours. (202) 748-8000 if you support the shutdown. (202) 748-8001 if you are a federal employee. -- if you are a federal employee, (202) 748-8002. >> agencies like the department of defense and the veterans administration not affected.

parts of hhs services, etc. we were wondering how many shutdowns happened this year. it appears there were three. how to share you a headline. time they hadast headlines -- shutdowns rather in government? it appears this year they had a shutdown so far on january 20-22 of this year over the immigration bill. a brief one in february, february 9 because of the budget agreement and some military spending. you can read more on that at hac.com. yesterday that vote in the overe was extended for five hours. that motion to proceed was finally agreed to. a record-setting vote. they were waiting for senators to return back to the nation's

capital. most of them have obviously. the vote concluded. we are hearing from members. this is gary peters, democrat of michigan. "even after the senate passed a bipartisan funding agreement, the president is still choosing to shut down the government. does is completely unacceptable and wholy responsible." matt gaetz of florida. "i working diligently to reopen the government. you can find some helpful resources in the link below." "federalgo sun-times, shutdown begins after lawmakers failed to reach a deal." the denver post, "gofundme phrases over $3 million for border wall in just four days." president trump tweeting this about ruth bader ginsburg, wishing her well and a full and speedy recovery.

she underwent surgery. the justice had cancerous growths removed from her lun yesterday and she will be in the hospital a couple more days. you can read about that at scotusblog.com and other publications. host: how many people will be affected by this shutdown? joining us is nicole with federal news network. she is a reporter for that organization. good morning and thank you for joining us. guest: thank for having me, pedro. host: how many people are we talking? guest: it is a little over 800,000 total federal employees who would be impacted. so will beut 420 or asked to work without pay. the other half will be furloughed. host: talk a little bit about

the preparation these agencies had going into it. what did they tell the people about what to expect if not going to get paid? guest: agencies have gotten pretty good at preparing for a shutdown, at least over the past year. as you mentioned there have been two brief shutdowns and 2018. it is a little tricky because of the upcoming holiday. as far as we have heard, agencies have been informing employees first of what their status is. they could either be accepted or essential were not accepted or nonessential. if you are accepted, you typically need to come to work regardless of whether or not you were planning on taking off. there are some exceptions. during the holidays, if you're planning on taking time off, you can. there is a little leniency. if you are not accepted, you

were supposed to receive a furlough notice from your agency. agencies were trying to send those out to their employees by email so they could accept them by email. typically what happens is the employee has to come to work, receive the furlough notice, perform about four hours of what is called closeout activities, setting up voicemail, closing done email, etc., and then go home until the length of the shutdown. employees were starting to receive those yesterday. b directornight, om mick mulvaney officially sent out the notice that officially closes down parts of government after congress was not able to reach an agreement. host: when it comes to the pay itself we talk about not getting paid, but eventually they will? guest: recent history told us that yes, federal employees will get paid. if you are accepted, you will

get paid regardless. legislation to pass guaranteeing backpay for federal employees who were furloughed during the shutdown. the senate late friday evening passed with unanimous consent a measure that would give that back pay to those employees. the house has not done anything with that yet but recent history told us they will pass that measure. federal employees will get paid. host: there is a chart in a paper this morning about the agencies affected most. it starts with hud an goes down the treasury. give us a sense of the agencies. was the one we most drastically affect? guest: that's a good question. i think one to keep in mind is treasury because of the irs. the irs is preparing for the 2019 filing season. i think they have already been slightly delayed in that.

some ip issues pushed them further back. .t. issues pushed them further back. about 80% of the workforce will be for load depending on how long the shutdown actually last. if the shutdown goes past the christmas holidays, about 88% of the workforce will be at home. just having people available to answer taxpayers questions, i think that would be tricky. the veterans affairs department is open. defense department is open and parts of health and human services are opened. the fda, although many are considered accepted, that agency is running with about half the staff they usually would. usually get questions when these events happen about social security checks, medicare payments, those types of services. paint that picture for us as far as coverage. guest: i believe those services

will continue. funded,hhs is actually about 60% funded. social security checks usually continue to go out. we here the question about the mail. it will continue because the full service is not funded through annual appropriations. gett federal news network questions about federal retirees, if they will continue to receive annuities. the answer is yes. they are paid through annual appropriations and the office of personnel management has a good number of accepted employees to actually send out those payments. because washington depends on federal contractors, how are they impacted by this? isst: i think that group often avoided in these discussions. it depends on what company you

work for. if you're a defense contractor, i think you are largely in the clear. agencies probably should or continue to send out stop work notices to contracts i can't continue under a partial shutdown. -- contracts they can't continue under a partial shutdown. contractors are not guaranteed pay. they will try to bring in their employees retraining that they can't do if they were otherwise working for an agency or some other tennant company work or company activity that they could do to pay employees while not technically working during the shutdown. what iscole ogrysko, the federal news network? guest: it is not a federal entity. a 24ister station is wtop,

hour news radio station in washington, d.c. we are not affiliated with the federal government. host: if they go to the website you can see the story associated with our guest and what knowledge she has given us about the federal employees affected by the shutdown. thank you so much for your time this morning. guest: things are having me, pager. -- pedro. host: we continued with calls. james in georgia, things for waiting. go ahead -- thanks for waiting. caller: i'm just going to hang up. host: st. louis is where linda is, an opposer of this. caller: good morning. i do oppose it. i don't know what it's going to do to shut down the government. heis such a good negotiator, should have negotiated with

mexico for them to pay for a wall. he is still going around up until lately saying mexico is going to pay for the wall. yet the government and our citizens have to be punished for what this man wants. he is such a good negotiator, he needs to negotiate that with mexico. host: what about the larger issues of border security in this discussion? did republicans make a point about their concerns about border security. i think everyone is concerned about border security. apo, they did go underground. i don't think it will is a cure for everything. spent, much money to be we don't best we have people who don't have drinking water. this man needs to learn how to negotiate and stop acting like a big baby.

host: robert on the line for those who support this effort and clinton, maryland. caller: merry christmas and god bless donald trump. the one thing we have to remember, if you look at the foreign aid the united states gives away, if you look at the money for your giving to central billion, if you look at that money and tell me we can't find $5 billion for the american people -- we're talking billions in aliens of dollars given away to foreign countries -- billions and billions of dollars given away to foreign countries. mitch mcconnell must explode the filibuster. he must employ the nuclear option. that is the only way this will get done. donald trump has done the right things here. traffic is going to be so wonderful come wednesday and thursday. i can't wait to celebrate this

great victory for donald trump god bless you, mr. trump. host: do you have a sense the president has a clear plan of what he wants to do with this money? caller: he says border security. isn't that what him and all of us voted him into office to do? host: is there a specific plan? as far as how he wants to use the wall? caller: we don't have any border security right now. we are being invaded. united states government has no problem sending funds to other governments to build up their borders, to build up their security. we send our military to other countries but we don't have $5 billion to secure hours? use our blood, our lives of soldiers to support other countries but we can support our own? no, that is not the way this should be. this is what he is doing. god bless them for it. it is time to open a

ladder and shovel company." lizzie says we can afford the wall so let's get it built. twitter and facebook and the phones all available to you as you talk to us about this first day, or several hours of this shutdown. the phone lines will be on the screen and you can post at twitter at @cspanwj and on our facebook page at facebook.com /c-span. senate minority leader chuck schumer. this is what he had to say. [video] >> >> president trump, you will not get your wall. abandoned your shutdown strategy. do not getting a wall today, whenweek or on january 3 democrats take control the house. the senateys ago came together to support a

proposal by leader mcconnell. unanimously, every democrat, every republican, to extend government funding through february without partisan demands. what it would accomplish would be that the government would not shut down, the fight we are having would be postponed to a later day, and millions of americans would not be hurt this christmas. host: 2.5 hours and this program to talk about these issues. joining us to give us information is bill scanlon. >> 4.5 hours until the house and senate come in. the senate on c-span2. much of the negotiations, as it was yesterday, happening off the floor. the discussion happening off the floor with vice president pence coming up to the capital, joined by former congressman and acting chief of staff mick mulvaney. thing that with senator schumer

and emma to meet with house speaker paul ryan, jim jordan, mark meadows in an ongoing discussion of the continued resolution to find the federal government after the house at it the border wall funding and additional money for disaster relief. one of the ways we keep on top of what is going on in these discussions is the capitol hill reporters. one is frank thorpe of nbc. tweeting last night, "congress failed to pass funding bills for agriculture, commerce, justice, homeland security, interior, state, transportation, housing and urban development." advisor tong, clinton and obama said trump shows he cares about border security. shutting down the government so

the following people to keep a safe are not paid over the holidays." the senate did approve a measure for retroactive pay in the senate. that will have to be passed by the house. president trump active on twitter yesterday. we expect to hear from him this morning. ronald reagan tried to build a wall and was i unable to do so. mark knoller. reagan's references to a wall were about the berlin wall." and colder, critic -- an ne coulter says the fight to be over if democrats would find the wall, talk about the cost of illegals and all the idiotic things government spends $10 billion on.

let stephan miller write the speech." sends kushner,mp motivating to congress. you were supposed to send three wise men." host: there is one shot of the u.s. capitol building and the events of today will go on as far as negotiations and trying to reverse this partial shutdown. you can let us know about it. you may support with the president called for. you may oppose that. if you are a federal employee, give us a call and tell us how you look at this whole situation. david in phoenix, arizona, and opposer of this effort. go ahead. caller: good morning and happy holidays to you. all, a 36-yearh hiv aids survivor. i would like to reference a respected republican leader's words.

the southern wall is racially motivated or else they would be equally money granted to washington, montana, north dakota and wisconsin and other northern border states. we have a northern border that is larger than the southern border. canadians, russians and anyone who can fly into canada can just walk into our country unimpeded. if you built a southern wall, you are placing a financial burden on the u.s. to afford a northern wall. debtbillion deal becomes a of over $50 billion because there is no infrastructure, no fencing. being from the northwest i already know. i have seen russians coming into our country and canadians coming into our country illegally and just going to work. host: the think the numbers are

the same at the northern border in the southern border? caller: i don't think we have looked. sayn't believe anyone can there isn't thousands of people coming from the north. i just don't believe people can actually say that because they have not studied it. sheh palin famously stated could watch russians walk across the ice to come to america. i like to remember the president precidente medical -- set for the medical marijuana community. states that did not approve of medical marijuana demanded equal money for anti-medical marijuana campaigns in their state. host: we will leave it there. pete, a federal employee in ohio. go-ahead. caller: yes.

how are you doing? this is pete. i am a federal employee and i don't approve of the shutdown. not only does the shutdown sectors, ital affects the public sector. a lot of things go on with the contractors and everything. it flows down to the american people. a wall is not necessary. they can climb over it, they can go under it. just like the caller before said, with the north, if they don't have a wall for the south -- they support a wall for the south. they will need one for the north as well. russians coming in from the north and anyone else who wants to fly into canada and coming to america. host: what agency do you work

for? caller: i worked for hud. host: are you further now? -- furloughed now? caller: yes. host: what kind of things to the help you prepare for? caller: they were not well advised. none of the government was well advised on what is going down with the shutdown until day 1 when it first went through for the shutdown. host: are you expected at work next week? caller: not me. host: let's hear from dennis in mesa, arizona, a supporter of this effort. the shutdownport 100%. as far as these federal workers, welcome to my world. my livelihood is destroyed by illegal aliens.

president trump wants to fund the border wall. moneyld tax be remittance these illegals sent back to their countries. why do you support a shutdown specifically? just so the wall get built. that most of these clients don't even realize all the stuff these guys are saying is lies. if that fence was up, maybe those daca kids would not have been dragged across. host: what do you think the shutdown, pushes? -- accomplishes? caller: it stops people from coming across. host: the government shutdown? give thet will

democrats something to fight back against. they don't care about these people. they just care about a vote. host: cap of flori -- tampa, florida is next. evan, hello. caller: how are you? i was calling to say donald trump should keep his word and have mexico pay for it in the manner he stated in his initial idea for paying for the wall. to wall is fine, but the american taxpayers were told time and time again who will pay for it -- mexico. the people are coming here to help from europe, they are begging people to come and do the labor. japan is importing people from the philippines and vietnam to do cheap labor. we need cheap labor so americans can do the jobs that require more skills and we can move up

in the world. those people can come and and get a foothold on the american dream as well because of the economic engine of the united states. trump needs to be honest. he has opened himself to lawsuits by saint mexico will pay for it and then get money from the american people. host: are you part of the shutdown? caller: sort of. people that work for me are going to be for load. -- furloughed. host: are you a private agency? caller: sort of defense but i don't to get into specifics. host: this is chris from pennsylvania. good morning. caller: how are you doing? this whole shutdown of the government is setting a very dangerous precedent that politicians and political persons can make promises and

demand things be done and when they get in office they have no idea how to find this. but since he made a mandate, a political promise during an election, we are going to count town and bent down to them as if there is no other checks and balances out there. it is just a shame. it is setting a terrible, terrible precedent. i feel if we cave at this point to trump, you are setting a dangerous precedent as to the 2020 election. the promises people are going to make -- they will make populist promises to get elected and then demand all the citizens of the united states followed behind them lockstep to make sure these promises are fulfilled. that is not what america is about. host: that is chris in

pennsylvania giving thoughts on this shutdown. we are back to bill. >> on twitter from the nationwide radio host and contributor to him as nbc, "good morning. a portion of the federal government closed for business overnight because chuck schumer will not provide $5 billion from $4 trillion on border barriers. donald trump was elected on promises of those barriers. he says it is the schumer shut down 2.0." "the political partnership is misguided and unnecessary. high offices will remain accessible and for constituents who need assistance." that is why i voted to fund the government this week for border security and disaster aid. joe kennedy tweets, "republicans

and donald trump are not only shutting down the government. they are 11 to violence against women act to expire and leaving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault without critical, life-saving resources. shameful." "some federal workers refusal of the shutdown spoil their christmas cheer. the north american aerospace defense command said it would continue its 63-year tradition of tracking santa's sleigh." it is a partial government shutdown affecting much of the government. agencies like defense and the veterans affairs administration not affected. rollcall has a list of the agencies. you can read all about it at rollcall.com. funding for nine departments and sed at midnight.

the president's demand for funding the wall is the sticking point over appropriations and a stopgap funding measure. we will hear more about that when the house and senate come in at noon eastern. host: the new york times this morning highlights some of the influences they say went into this decision to hold fast on the president's demand for $5 billion. sarah huckabee sanders said he did not include money for a border wall. lawmakers slapped together a plan and hit the road for christmas break. coulter called him "gutless." members of the freedom caucus took to the floor of the house with a plea for him not to betray the cause. mr. trump's base is abandoning

him. mr. trump probably reversed course." twitter is taken reach out to us, including a viewer that is quite observing. he says -- telling me to look at for the crane. you may have seen a crane moving in the shot. there is private industry going on, including some construction outside our building. we are going back to calls. sonya from north carolina. isler: i want to know why it the government is shutting down. i am a federal worker. it don't make sense to me right here at christmas. the real deal we need to look at is medicaid. we are talking about the wrong budget. medicaid.

i don't agree with president trump. host: what agency do you work for? caller: i work for the usda. host: are you going to be furloughed because of this? caller: i have to go to work on monday. they was letting us know on friday. host: is that because you go to work as normal or have to do a couple of things before you are sent home again? caller: i will go and do normal but it won't get paid for it. host: have you been told you will make that money back when this is resolved? caller: i have not had any information on that at all yet. host: arizona, fall is next. -- paul is next. caller: a guy for maryland said he could walk across the border. i welcome him to come down and

go into mexico and try to walk across the border. you can't do that. other people say you should tax the remittances of whoever is working here. they were already taxed once. you want to tax them twice? you want except that you will take it from other people? the third thing is we have a huge under strata of laborers they keep the place going. it is not white americans. it is just fear put out by trump for this whole thing. we don't need a wall. host: off of twitter, of you were identified as johnny depp. "republicans had a super majority for the president's first years in office." survive "america will without politicians."

michael off of facebook says, "the trump shutdown is on." from pennsylvania, paul is next. caller: hello? becauset the shutdown half these government workers don't do anything when they are working anyway. they need to get the wall built. he is not asking for that much money. they would have given anyone that much money if it wasn't trump. host: he should be asking for more money? caller: should be asking for as much as it needs to get done and get it done because everybody wants it except a couple of democrats. alone, mostverybody people will tell you they want the wall. host: why do you think of all the work?

-- a wall will work? caller: if they build it right, you will not get over it. they have trouble getting over the fences. they say that will get over it or under it. that is what all this special security should come in that they want to put there. they want to fly their drones back and forth but they don't do it now. host: pennsylvania is next, mike in pittsburgh. caller: everything about everybody talking about the wall is exactly what trump wa nts. is a smokescreen. -- it is a smokescreen. they shut that his foundation and you don't see them for today's. differencess over about the way it should be done. he has more about

the fence in a four-star general. host: we have heard him talk for a considerable time about a wall. why do you think this is a new effort? election itng the is i will build a beautiful wall and mexico will pay for it. he went as far as to say i talked to mexico and we got a good deal. he said that afterwards. now it is like he wants this wall and we have to pay for it. the wall is totally unnecessary. thing, with, same laser beams, devices in the ground that sense vibration for people digging. same at area 51. they are waiting for you when you get there. host: won't take money to make those things happen? caller: those are the kind of things actually work. if you put up a wall, table tonawanda writ.

-- they will tunnel under it. host: why do you think that would work? the laser beams, vibrations? you do it with the vibrations of people walking on the ground. people breaking the bars from the lasers, that would set off alarms. and you have towers maybe every 10 miles. or get 40 people up there 200 people up there at night on all of these towers with great big spotlights. host: mike in pennsylvania. the president giving his thoughts on what this construction might look like. this is twitter. he describes this and it includes a graphic designer what they are thinking of. he describes them as steel slat barriers, that he says are

effective and beautiful. in clarksville, tennessee, a supporter of this effort. caller: i don't really support or oppose it. the last time the shutdown isil had to pay federal taxes. i had social security and medicare taxes out of my check. i had to pay the gasoline tax. the berlin wall worked. that is what president reagan wanted it down. liberals always take of her citizens of another country over citizens of america? if you live in this country and you were not as a citizen, you are citizens of another country. democrats are always worried about them. is that were your next book comes from? host: is the border will something you specifically support? caller: i support it because we have to control our borders. the berlin wall worked.

it was built to keep people in, but the point is it worked. host: as far as going into this, do not convinced this is the best way to get the money for the wall? caller: i think it is the result of not getting the money for the wall. democrats don't want the money for the wall. what can the president do? he has to protect the country. host: you support the strategy of the president doing the shutdown? caller: it is not really a strategy. if he doesn't do it, how else will he get the money? it boils down to the wall or not will. $4 billion, $5 billion is not going to make or break the country. host: here is bill. for some time a war of words between two notable new yorkers, senator chuck schumer and president trump. the democratic leader tweeted

this yesterday among his many tweets, including video of comments by trump. "your own words. the senate unanimously passed a unanimous solution, and then you through another temper tantrum and convinced the house to ignore the compromise." "this is not a debate or argument. chuck schumer closed the government has he would not allow $5 billion to be spent on border barriers. it is an absurd political stunt." jonathan martin, "most of all trump's underlying conduct is readily republicans, including some who have not been very critical. it is clear he took no lessons from the midterm losses." virginia foxx from the signing ceremony yesterday. "congress should not be divided on keeping the government open

while fulfilling our duty to protect the nation. politics not let disrupt the services owed to taxpayers. with allep working parties interested in solutions to in this and make progress on the wall." "the postal service will not be impacted by the partial government shutdown." a story from the detroit news. and associated press piece. republicanshat conceded one of the biggest hurdles was trump's legendary unpredictability and proclivity for changing his mind. "the biggest problem is we don't know what the president will sign, said senator jeff flake." clarneence from-- annsylvania, and opposer --

opposer. promisefirst a campaign was made in mexico was going to pay for it. that was a lie. the other light is all these people that are going to be impacted and people supposedly supported the border are not going to get paid. nobody is standing up. and allo this man talk these people will not stand up to donald trump. as a taxpayer in pennsylvania, our roads are falling apart, our bridges are falling apart, and these are the moneys that in the last week changed from a wall to border security. well, we can't play with words. these are people. we are all citizens of this country. it doesn't make a difference about being a democrat or republican. we are all americans.

host: one of the people resisting the president when it comes to his desire to change senate rules to pass a measure by a simple majority instead of a 60 vote count was lamar alexander, recently announcing his retirement. he talked about the push to change the senate rules to get passage for funding of this wall. [video] >> republicans are in charge. we hear many people say get rid of the filibuster, get rid of the legislative majority. we should not do that. we have never done that in the united states senate. the senate has always been different. that the whole reason i came to the senate from the house. every time the majority got an idea it would not be like a freight train running to the senate. one of the major purposes of the legislative filibuster is to

protect the minority in this country. a young frenchman wandered through america in the 1830's. "democracy ink, america." it is maybe the best book on democracy in america ever written. very perceptive. he said he saw, looking ahead, two potential problems for american democracy. one was russia. the other was the tyranny of the majority. 1830's that one of the great problems for our country might be the tyranny of the majority. it is the united states senate prevent thelwark to tyranny of the majority and the american democracy. it has been since the beginning and it is today. some of our republican friends and conservative friends and

sometimes our president say let's get rid of that. we might think about the fact that we republicans, we conservatives are usually the ones in the minority. we are usually the ones needing protection. since world war ii nearly 70 democrats affect complete control of the united states government. they had the senate, the house, the presidency for 22 years. republicans have had it for eight years. democrats affect control for 22 years, and we eight years. hour, thes finest right to talk your head off, the opportunity for extended debate has benefited our side, democrats could say, more than their side. janis in hudson, florida. caller: i do support the effort. i very frustrated when the news

turns words. they don't have quotes that were read today. think the author have a i think you all have a program while this is going on to statistics tothe actually cost us how much it is costing for a legals -- for versus how much it will cost us for the wall here the president says one thing, the news media says something else, and the democrats say another thing. i am from california, so i know what is going on. i went back, and the town that i am from, i cannot even ask questions if i needed them. host: do they have a wall in california? caller: not where i was from. the thing is, they do not want to assimilate. that is the whole thing on people who were migrating and immigration.

you have to speak the language of the land. that is not so anymore cured i blame the government for some of it, because the government wants everything written in 59,000 languages. if it is that way, why bother to learn the language of the land? the shutdownas itself, give us a sense of what you think it will accomplish in the long run. caller: i think it will hopefully make it where like chuck schumer, nancy pelosi, you have heard them say repeatedly, he is not getting it today, the is not getting it tomorrow -- he does not want this. he likes it. does that show a congressperson that is willing to work across the aisle, when you are already predicting a year out "we're not going to work with him, we are not going to do anything at all"? host: all right, let's get timothy, last call from new

york, also a supporter from this effort -- of this effort. caller: my name is tim. host: you are on. go ahead. iller: i support it because am from tucson, arizona, and i could not work because of the illegal aliens down there coming across the border all the time. i think if they keep on letting these people come across the border like this, we will have more murders and everything else. and it is on the democrats' heads. host: how do you think it will change is that, especially when there are already structures in place in tucson in sectors that will prevent people from coming in. caller: they are not high enough. -- it ishey -- they

cheap sticks that they have up. host: ok, that is timothy in new york. we will take your calls today, and we will take one flight before, talking about the worst week in the stock market in years. also, the fed raising rates. the president not happy about that decision. all that is yahoo! finance's scott gamm joins us next. this as "washington journal" continues. ♪ >> the united states senate, a uniquely american institution,

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tradition. premieres wednesday, january 2 at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span. go online go online at c-span.org/senate to learn more about the program and to watch original, holding interviews with senators, view farewell speeches from long serving numbers, and take a tour inside new senate chamber, the old senate chamber, and other exclusive locations. >> "washington journal" continues. ast: it is the first day of partial shutdown of the federal government, and we will continue on later on in the program taking your calls about what you think about it. first, though, we will talk about the condition of the stock market with scott gamm, of yahoo! finance, a reporter who works on wall street. mr. gamm, good morning. guest: good morning. host: mr. gamm, pc the headlines