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 concerning the suv on the stock

market. what you think is behind the activity? 7% alonee s&p 500 fell this week. this is behind months of theines and volatility rate s&p 500 is down almost 20%, which would be a bear market. one or two more days in the bear market, and we have market, which is something we have not seen since the financial crisis, essentially. and the reason behind it is the worry of the federal reserve, the fed put interest rates to 0% and unveiled is needed easing, which was a massive bond stimulus, and since then, over the past years or so, the that has slowly started to unwind that balance sheet and pull away

m, essentiallythe taking the ball away from the party. -- taking the punch bowl away from the party. host: raising interest rates, the that mean that economy is improving? guest: that is a great point. they are thinking the economy can stand on its own two feet without report from the federal reserve, and have the lowest unemployment rate in over 60 years. you have people, new job , nonfarmevery month payroll. rateshat, higher interest have been hurting various sectors of the economy, like housing. you could argue there is somewhat of a fragmented economy going on, but yet generally speaking, higher interest rates is a sign that the economy is strong and does not need help from the federal reserve.

host: our guest joining us talk about the stock market activity in washington, and it possible impact on the market. the linesvided differently. if you're an investor in the stock market in any way, (202) 748-8000. all others, (202) 748-8001. mr. gamm, i want to play you a little bit of jerome powell talking about his decision to raise interest rates. [video clip] powell: as the economy struggled to recover from the financial crisis and the subsequent recession, we had it at near 0 to get our economy the best chance to recover, and the economy did recover, steadily yet slowly at times during three years ago, we can to the view that the best way to achieve the mandate was to move interest near normalo for the economy. today, we raise interest rates by another .25%. as i mentioned, most of my

colleagues expect the economy to perform well in the coming year. many had expected that economic conditions would likely call for three more rate increases in 2019. we have brought that down a bit and now think it is more ratey to call for two increases over the course of the next year. host: mr. gamm, because he said that, is he committed to keeping interest rate raises just to two? guest: that is the thing, the --ond change is productions the fed can change is projections at any time at any meeting. i think the fed has shocked everyone by upgrading the forecast to four, so this rate hike was likely expected, although some studies that event was too aggressive. if they did not raise this week, i think the fed would have lost some readability given how long

they have televised this rate hike. rates this not raise week, perhaps it would be perceived as if they were bowing to pressure from president trump , and the fed is supposed to be independent of any political party or political institution. host: talk about jerome powell himself and the way he makes these decisions. it seems like he talks to a lot of people, and that clip we just showed you, it his advice or at least his decisions based on data, or are there other things that factor into making these decisions? guest: the fed long insist that it is data dependent. what does that mean? it is looking at inflation data, employment data. looking at the start market. it is not a traditional part of its mandate, but certainly when you have the stock market falling 20% over the past couple of months, i mean, that certainly has to come on their radar. in terms of jerome powell, it is

interesting to note his background in the financial market. he worked at the carlyle group, which is a legendary private equity firm. he worked in the industrial group within the private equity ceo's,so he talks to and he is certainly well known on wall street. this is somebody without an academic background, which is predecessors had. a lot of analysts thought maybe he might be good for the market because he understands the intricacies of the bond and. stock markets perhaps that will help things, especially if the fed undertake this massive process of unwinding its balance sheet, but judging from market reactions, that has not hand out. the market clearly did well under janet yellen. we will see how that plays out in 2019. host: how much does washington policy have on the stock market?

i think lately it has had an impact. this market has been very headline-driven, something we have not seen that much in recent years. essentially on autopilot for many years and only recently, as the fed has started liquidity from the market, you are seeing a lot more volatility, a lot more sensitivity to headlines, trump tweets, you name it. long-term, that is just noise for the market, especially the government shutdown. tendrically, the markets to sell off in a shutdown, historically, they tend to be pretty short in duration. september, third week of october, the s&p 500 actually rose over 3% during that time. years, theack four average decline of a government shutdown, just from the s&p 500 when i view, is only about .5%,

so it is not a big impact on the market. what would say is more of an impact on the market is trade. that is something investors had been worrying about throughout 2018, and it is not so much the tariffs themselves, i think it is more the uncertainty on what the final decision on trade will be. if you go to any downturn in the market, it always comes back to uncertainty. it sounds like a cliché, but investors really do hate uncertainty. once you get more information on these tariffs and the potential roadblocks that the government faces from these, i think the markets will come down. but right now, we do not know what will happen. host: our guest covers wall street for yahoo! finance. he is scott gamm. we are taking your questions about the current activity of the stock market. (202) 748-8000, if you're an

investor in the stock market in any way. all others, (202) 748-8001. gary starts us off this morning, from connecticut, an investor. go ahead. you are on with our guest. caller: this is gary smith. i wanted to state that i had, three weeks ago, begun withdrawing all of my assets from my ira from the stock market, because too many things are mitigated against the success of the market, including president trump and his wild diversions. deeplly think we are in trouble, and it will be much worse than it was in 2008. host: gary, if i may, the couple of questions, as far as your investments, how close are you to tapping those investments for retirement? caller: i am retired. we do not need the money now at this point in time, between social security and pensions and other saved money, we are fine.

we do not need to tap those funds. but i am just very concerned that this time it is going to be really bad. host: gary and connecticut, thank you. mr. gamm, talk about gary's experience, and play it out to the larger aspect of what is going on. guest: i am not a financial advisor, so i am not going to give stock advice, but i will reiterate some themes here. been investors have looking at their portfolios and seeing how much they have been up over the last couple of years. the s&p 500 has tripled since the lows in 2009, so understandably it is natural to want to take some profit. i will reiterate advice that we have heard from many experts, which is that stocks tend to go up over the long haul, and even when you look at a 100-year chart of the dow, even the 2008 financial crisis dip is barely noticeable on that chart. . tell you if you have a long time

horizon, two knots of noise from the washington, stick to your long-term goals. host: is there an estimate how much money has been pulled out of the market? the week ending wednesday, $40 billion had been full out of the market. bitid start to see a little is selling this week, because we have multiple strikes sessions in a row of triple digit losses in the doubt, but remember, we also had some hedge funds closing by the end of the air, and that is sucking a load of liquidity out of the market. it has been a bad year for hedge funds. so a lot of them are closing. whether that liquidity returns to the markets next year certainly is a possibility, but

it is drying up. that is intervening to what we are seeing. host: this is gina in alabama. good morning. and merryod morning christmas, pedro and mr. gamm. i have got a couple of things, and you may want to write it down if you have a pen. if if the two-year yield gets yield than the 10-year -- i have heard that means we're going into a recession. and mortgages go to a three-month high. i am about to close, thank the lord i locked in a ring with ava v.a. -- a rate with a loan, but i am wondering what will happen with fha loans with the shutdown. guest: first to the yield curve question, that is a great

question, something that has dominated the headlines and financial media over the last couple of months. yes, historically, an inverted yield curve, especially when you look at the two- versus the 10-year yield curve, it will not happen immediately, it still takes a year or two once the curve inverts, and it has not yet. the three and the five how inverted, but that is not an indicator of recession. also, stocks rally before a recession starts. it sounds scary, the initial headline, but when you look under the hood, historical data actually supports continued growth in the stock market. the other thing i would point out about the yield curve is some experts are saying the bond market has been a little bit distorted over the past decade just given the $4.5 trillion that the fed has spent pumping

liquidity into the system, so i think you can make an argument that the current state of the bond market, the current state of the yield curve may not be as accurate of a recession indicator as it has been in years' past. that is something to think about . . i your question on mortgages, rented it was a three-month low, and if you are looking to follow the mortgage market were closely, you might want to look at the 10-year treasury yield. that essentially moves in lockstep with mortgage rates to determine what mortgage rates will be. in terms of the fha impact, that is not an area i cover, but i will say, you know, the 10-year treasury yields crossed 3% a few months ago, and you saw mortgage rates rise, and subsequently, use a home sales take a dip. concernthat was the big about the federal reserve, that

they were going to aggressive, they were raising race too quickly, and that was having an immediate impact on the housing market, which is such an important sector of the economy. host: scott gamm joining us from yahoo! finance. from newan investor jersey. caller: hi. i may not be working this greatly, but isn't the stock market controlled by some kind electronics? in other words, it is not about how many people pull out of the market, it is the electronics. i may not be wording it correctly, but i think you understand what i am saying. the other thing is i think a lot of business people control the start market, and if they want to influence what the president does -- in other words, make it look worse, trying to influence it, how much influence do they have? as far as the shotgun goes

affecting us -- shutdown goes, affecting us, i hope people realize that these nonessential workers do not even have to come back. i am hoping that we realized we actually do not meet these people, and we are paying them, which is costing in the budget. itm really hoping smartphones up and corrects some stuff and we find out through the department that we do not even need these people and it might become more permanent. host: thank you, jerry. appreciate that. mr. gamm. guest: i will talk about electronic trading. algorithmic trading, you essentially have machines buying and selling stocks, and they are algorithms that are written by humans, but essentially, this is one of the reasons we have seen these big and stunning moves in the stock market as of late. you will see a headline, and the algorithms will scan the

headlines and cause an immediate reaction. i was actually talking to certain stock traders down at the new york stock exchange, where i am based almost every day, and they remember a time when the market was less driven by machines and more driven by humans. you kind of had a moment to react to various headlines versus a knee-jerk to one specific catalyst. yes, the market has been driven by algorithms. of the other sort of pillar machine trading or the rise of exchange-traded funds, which a lot of investors have been flocking to. there is some concern about what we call the etf-ization of the market, so let's say one stop as an issue, like facebook or apple, instead of selling one of those names, a lot of investors own the entire tech sector or

the entire etf, so they will sell the etf, and that triggers a decline in other tech stocks that have nothing to do with facebook or apple or whatever tech stock is being viewed at that moment. i think there is concern is this bear market continues, if this happens ifnues, what we are all selling the same etf for the same mutual fund, how does that work? there is a concern about market structure, and that is something we will continue to watch in 2019. host: those that you talk to and wall street, do theythere is see coming in terms of a drop, or do they not know at this point? guest: that is the big question. i think it is a little bit too early to say. december, we had been waiting for what we call a santa claus rally on wall street , which is essentially saying we should get some storable strength in the market at the nce thedecember, hec

santa claus part, and the tradition of a santa claus rally is the final of december and the first two of january. we will haveay, five more trading sessions of 2018. i guess there is some hope for stocks as we close out 2018. we do tend to see some strength in the final week of trading. in terms of a floor in the market, that could be caused if a selloff comes out in january and kind of reverse its course a little bit. we kind of saw that on friday. gave ant john williams interview and set of the market is listening, which is what the market wanted to hear. there was a word that jerome powell was tone death. john williams made those comments, the dow surged 400 points, it quickly gave back but that reaction

shows just how addicted the market is to the fed. if i can come out and kind of calm -- is the fed can come out and kind of calm down be marketed it, that shows. arestors have not really dissipated in the bull market of the past decade, so if we do start to see folks kind of move money back into the market, especially after the declines we have seen, a buy low, sell high phenomenon, that can help as well. host: there is another publication talking about the a spat withving jerome powell, talking about possibly even changing him as the head of the fed. are you hearing similar things? guest: i saw the bloomberg report this morning, talking about how president trump has

talked about the possibility of removing jerome powell as chair. whether or not he can do that remains to be seen. i mean, i think the lost days that the president can remove a fed governor for cause, and the chair is considered a governor, so you would think that that standard applies to the chair, but you are given -- the many departures of the trump administration, removing the fed chair could create a lot of additional uncertainty for the market, a lot more volatility. and we have seen, if you go back in history, anytime there is a transition in fed chair, the markets get very concerned. there is a lot of volatility, a lot of uncertainty, because look, this has been a market that has been addicted to fed stimulus over the past decade, and what i'm hearing from certain traders is that the fed is not necessarily making a mistake right now. the mistake was years ago when the fed decided to keep interest rates so low for so long.

we had the first interest rate hikes in the financial crisis only three years ago in 2015. so you had seven years of record low interest rates, and strategists tell me perhaps that was the mistake, and that is kind of why we are in the situation right now where the to highere so unused interest rates and a declining fed stimulus. host: let's hear from west virginia. this is mike. hello. caller: hey, good morning. i am here in west virginia, part of white america, i guess. my comment is a class-based comments the four-year trend for the stock market, we are living beyond our means, but if you are a laid-off factory worker in pittsburgh or you work -- afull three line in nebraska, yes,

you might say they are invested in retirement incomes, but most people down here are living paycheck to paycheck. they. do not benefit from wall street's wall street never seems to get the message to pass off forit to thriving wages employers and increased benefits. ever get theeet message, because they do not get to enable market because they rationalize corporations need subsidies and help, and they definitely have not done it in the last four years. -- 40 years. i mean, they have not done in the last 40 years in a bull market, so in a bear market, they might finally get the message. host: thank you, caller. thank you very much. wages have, look, been stagnant for decades, and even with the tax cuts that were

passed about year ago, we have only started to see a little bit of wage growth in the last couple of months. hourly earnings, which are now up 3.1% year-over-year as of november. of companieslot get $1000 bonuses to their employees back in january. but a bonus is much different than a wage hike. a bonus it's sort of a one-time sugar high where a wage hike is more substantial. we've seen a lot worse companies resort to buybacks and dividends to help their stockholders versus wage increases, and i arguments oldsters the of why people need to be invested in the stock market, so that they, too, can participate in the dividends and the sort of wealth notion machine that is the stock market, which has been the case for a century now. ast: from linda in missouri,

stock market investor. hi there. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. my concern is now that the corporations, you know, to me, have no retirement plans, and all you have left is your 401(k), and i am about getting ready to retire in two years, and i see the stock market is falling. i am about ready to take my money out. thed live through 2008 when stock market just fill, and i felt so sorry for everybody that lost all their money. i need to get ready to retire in two years. i am not ready to quite lose all my money yet. it is a shame that i heard you talking about the investments, the tax breaks. my company did not give us any type of a bonus. they got that tax, they did not share with us. they just kept it, you know.

a 401(k), i think that is why they are wanting people to join it, because companies are not giving out retirement plans in a more. that is all you have forward to look for is a 401(k), or think there were some savings on your own staff. thank you for michael. -- my call. host: mr. gamm, go ahead. guest: look, i think this sort of pollsters the argument of 401(k) participation. how many people have access for a 401(k) but do not even sign up for it? saving for seeing is retirement and america is falling more and more on the shoulders of people versus the government, versus corporations, and that is just the sort of unfortunate reality, as social security faces issues, as health care costs lives, people sort of have to take matters into their own hands, which certainly asked

to the challenges of saving for retirement. host: the average investor, if they are going to pull out of the market or stay in the market, what do you sense is going to happen? think there are dangers of trying to time the stock market, because think about it, you have to be rich twice. you have to get out at the right time, and you have to get back in at the right time. what i'm hearing from strategists is the long-term strategy seems to work best. that is what the data says. if you have a shorter-term time horizon where you need that money, that is where things get tricky, but hopefully at that point, you are in more safer investments, like bonds, stocks with higher dividends, stocks withinnd to do well recessions, we call them recession-proof stocks, versus the highflying tech stocks, the highflying growth stocks that

are a lot more volatile, a lot more risky. i think it all depends on your asset allocation, it obviously folks should be talking to their financial advisors, talking to assetbrokers to see what allocations for their situation best, given their age and risk tolerance. host: mr. gamm, you heard the president take credit for the rise of the stock market because of his election. does that mean he also gets credit for the current condition of it? guest: well, we certainly hearing that argument from that perhaps president trump should acknowledge the declines of the market. and he has. he has been blaming the federal reserve for the decline in the market. look, i think you can make the argument that the fed has contributed to the stock market decline in recent months, but the fed is in a tough position. they need some dry powder available should we go into a

recession in the next couple of years. they need some tools at their disposal to be able to save the economy from the next downturn. 0 interest rates stay near forever, what is the fed going to do, put rates into negative territory? we have seen japan do that, but necessarilya effective strategy. what we see jerome powell wanting to do, needing to to theerest rates back neutral level, where the fed is not helping or hurting the economy, where it is just sort of their. re. once it does that, then the fed will have the tools for the next recession, which will inevitably happen. host: we go to georgia, this is rob, and investor. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. sheet,ng the fed balance

i want some clarification as to how the transaction is related to unwinding the fed balance sheet, and also, the infusion of liquidity into the market that will impact the interest rate and the fed policy. guest: this is a great question, and it is a pretty wonky subject. i do not think it is getting enough attention. essentially what happened is after the financial crisis, the federal reserve fought that crisis in two ways. they cut interest rates to near 0, and they started buying bonds. 4.5 trillion dollars by bonds, and that gave the bank money to be able to live out money, so it really did this sort of artificial stimulus, and that kind of juiced the economy, and it also juiced the stock market, because what we saw is

markets,the other alternatives to the stock markets plummeted. your only way to get returns from your investments is by going into the stock market. so you have all of these people going into the stock market, so that is one of the reason why the stock market went up over the past decade, 2017, last decided to start shrinking that balance sheet, it let the it was bonds on its balance sheet expire. it did not reinvestment. that is what is going on in the background, the fed is allowing $50,000 worth of bonds every month to expire. yellenfed chair janet famously said this process would be like "watching paint dry." i think some investors would disagree with that, given the volatility we have seen in the

market over the past couple of months, but the balance sheet is still about $4 trillion in size. before the financial crisis, it $4 trillion. will it go back to precrisis levels? probably not. will it stay at a range of $2 trillion, $3 trillion? perhaps. that seems pretty accommodated to the economy, but as i said before, unwinding the balance sheet kind of removes the punch bowl from the party. we have never unwound it balance sheet before. we do not know what impact it will have a market. you can argue it helped on the way up, so if we are shrinking the balance sheet, that will cause the opposite effect and bring it down, but we do not know. this has never been done before. that is why the fed has got to be really careful with this process. what caught investors by surprise and what disappointed

investors wednesday with chairman jerome powell's commentary at his press conference, he said the balance sheet unwinding process is not up for negotiation. so is the time needs to deteriorate a little bit, they will not need to change their plans of unwinding the balance sheet. i think investors wanted to hear that the balance sheet was part uice theed's tools to j economy should we go into a slowdown in the coming months. what powell said his interest rates is essentially the only counter a going to potential slowdown in the coming months or years. host: scott gamm covers wall street for yahoo! finance. you can see his work at finance.yahoo.com, here to talk about the stock market losses and what he is expecting. thank you so much for your time, sir. guest: thank you. host: that was the only guest we had today through the remainder of the show is devoted to the shutdown, eight hours and 38 minutes into it, and get your

thinking on it, not only the shutdown itself but the larger issues of border security. if you support the shutdown and what the president is doing, (202) 748-8000. if you oppose it, (202) 748-8001 . if you are a federal employee and want to give us your thoughts, (202) 748-8002. senatoresterday that mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader, went to the floor talking about at that time the state of negotiations between republicans and democrats in the senate. here is that state of play from earlier yesterday. [video clip] sen. mcconnell: republicans support the house-passed bill, which includes border funding, and we are eager to approve the senate funding bill, which the senate has already passed. however, any eventual solution

requires 60 votes here in the senate. it has been clear from the beginning that two things are necessary. support from enough senate democrats to pass the proposal at 60 and a presidential signature. as a result, the senate has voted to proceed the legislation preserve in order to maximum flexibility for a productive conversation to continue between the white house and our democratic colleagues. i hope senate democrats will work with the white house on an agreement that can pass both houses of congress. president'sthe signature. so colleagues, when an agreement is reached, we will proceed to vote here on the senate floor. majority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday breaking the

plusplus our vote -- five hour vote. c-span, particularly on days like these, we rely on reporting of capitol hill reporters, congressional reporters. they help us understand what is going on on the floor and off the floor as well. one of them, chad derman, tweeting "the house meets at new today, but only a skeleton crew remains on capitol hill. for untilem recalled after christmas, best is scenario is a deal which is considered late sunday. some sources expect a long shutdown." gk butterfield -- "most americans don't support building the wall." many branches of congress will be open today.

if you need help with social security, medical care, or veterans benefits. signing into law yesterday, abolishing human trafficking act, port of entry assessment, and also the first step act, this is the bipartisan justice .eform bill that passed sheldon whitehouse tweeting "president trump rejected a 100-0 senate compromise, manages over 47 senate votes for big bill -- 48 with broke thepence tie vote -- "shuts down government, chaos and incompetence reighn." only wayassley tweeted "

i know to salvation were shutdown is for schumer and trump to be locked in a room and money forement on border security various obviously must stop drug dealers, human traffickers, and criminals from entering country. what is the big deal, senator schumer." "trump ballhaus tweets spent wednesday night watching two of his allies on the hill -- mark meadows and jim jordan -- bash him over the border wall on fox news." and in the "wall street journal," "trump doubles down on campaign promises in turbulent week." attackeding roundly by other conservatives as "gutless" for not taking the issue all the way to a government shutdown.

mr. trump decided "let's have this fight." it speaks to mr. trump's impulsive leadership style, one as he tries to placate one link in the party on wall funding at the risk of ruffling another link at the same time, deciding that those in two long foreign wars should not return home. read more on the "wall street journal" website. host: to get the perspective of federal workers and how they are being impacted, jackie simon is joining us on the phone, the policy director for the american federation for government employees. ms. simon, good morning to you. guest: go ahead. host: as far as your organization, who do you represent? most of thepresent employees of homeland security, female employees, transportation officers, tsa, border patrol, ice ages.

we represent, federal correctional officers, and we 700,000. host: how many will be affected if the shutdown continues? they brought estimates are around 800,000 federal employees will be affected one way or the other, forced to go to work without a paycheck and others that are furloughed and locked out of their jobs. host: when it comes to congres'' actions to a patient, what is congress have to do to ensure a paycheck? guest: they would have to pass separate legislation that would ofvide pay for this period time, when those who are coming to work are engaged in what can only be described as involuntary servitude. host: the house or the senate

passed legislation to that effect. what is your confidence in the house doing the same? guest: it is very hard to speculate. anybody who try to predict what would happen this week, quite a few people have been shown to, but it is not a good idea to try to second-guess what the congress and what this administration will agree to. host: so you have very little confident that the house and senate will follow its lead? guest: we will put every bit of them to do can on the right thing. it is all up in the air. host: how much communication have you had with leaders on this issue, and what responses are you getting from them? guest: well, the most important communications we have with lawmakers and others has to do with the hardship being imposed upon our members. there are a lot of people who try to create this illusion that federal government employees are

lazy, affluent bureaucrats, but the reality could not be more different from that. most of the people we represent are modestly paid, they take on less than $500 a week. they absolutely cannot afford to go without a paycheck for a day, a week, any period of time during which this drama plays out on capitol hill. are people who can barely make ends meet on the pay that they do receive, and when they don't receive it, it is a financial catastrophe. host: those who you represent, do you think they were accurately informed or at least prepared for the possibility of a shutdown? guest: oh, god, no . it was complete chaos. thisf the hallmarks of administration has been making it up as they go along inside the agencies, and we all know that several members of the cabinet strongly opposed the

mission of the very agencies that they are supposed to be running, so you see evidence of that all the time, but you certainly evidence of that yesterday. it was not until the very, very any kind ofay that information was given. matter isf the many people will not begin actual instructions on how to prepare for an orderly shutdown until the day after christmas. host: is the impact lessened because this is taking place during the holiday period? guest: no. it is not lessened on the american public, and it is certainly not lessened on the federal employees who have worked to do, who want to do their work, and are being shut out, locked out, and some people are having to go to work without a paycheck. again, like i said, involuntary

servitude. nobody i know can afford to work without getting paid. not only is the absence of a but justa hardship, getting to work cost money that these people will not have. getting to work, transportation costs, childcare costs, having your uniform cleaned and pressed. i mean, everything associated with working, our law enforcement officers, correction officers, tsa officers -- i mean, it is just a disaster. simon, the policy director for american federation of government employees, afge.org if you want to find out more about their organization, ms. simon, thank you for your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: your calls on this day of the partial shutdown, a call from maryland, a federal employee. this is caroline. go ahead. caller: good morning.

thanks for taking my call. i joined public service for many reasons, but one, because i thought i would have stability. for our using us government shutdown as if it is a game. it impacts us directly. we are people. they do not realize that. they look at us as game pieces to play with. untilay keep us shutdown they realize this is not the way way to handle a solution. keep it shut down until they grow up and start negotiating the correct way. then as far as the wall, come on, the democrats already promised $1.6 billion. so now and let the at administration gets $5 billion, they will shut the government down for a wall that we were not supposed to be paying for in the first place? it is just totally ridiculous. i think, as a government worker, i am tired of the game. host: when you say keep it shut

down, are you part of the agency that will be directly affected by this? caller: yes, i am. host: so you will not get a paycheck until this is resolved? caller: exactly. and i am so frustrated with it. i will deal with the circumstances and the consequences. we cannot keep doing this. host: how much preparation did you get from your superiors as far as preparing for this actual event? our superiorsll, did not know, either. they throw it out and say ok, just in case, and sometimes we will get a letter in advance, but not much, because we do not know, from day-to-day, you do not know. host: let's go to stand. . stan opposes this shutdown. he is in florida. caller: yes, how are you doing? first of all, we cannot have a president who watches fox news and then make the decision. second of all, the guy he has going around with him, mick

mulvaney, i heard him last year when he was running for congress, and he said when he asked if walls worked, he said walls do not work, and he also said that trump is a terrible person. so i think he should find somebody else to be walking around with, so -- host: as far as the government shutdown, why do you oppose it? caller: because walls do not work. they have to get permission from landowners to put the wall of yous up. there are places where we do not need walls. first of all, these people are going to the walls, it is not mexicans that are coming here, it is seldom dorians and other people. they are coming here because they are being attacked, they d, they are being

murdered. the way to stop that is to have judges i their country get them what they want, not make them walk 3000 miles. a good case, maybe they should come. if they had a bad case, maybe they should stay there. but it is not mexicans, it is el salvador, it is other countries that are running because they are scared to death. host: ok. this is jeffrey from georgia, a federal employee. hi. caller: good morning. how are you, sir? host: i am fine. go ahead. i am a federal employee. i see the lunacy that is taking place in d.c. what needs to happen is those who have not done their job need to not get paid.

those in congress, those legislators who have not done their job, not the ones who are there every day working for the american people, i fortunately am one who will get paid. i work for dod. we have already been funded. as reallyseeing disturbed me because this country, the democracy of it, we should not be faced with this game that is being played easy between these two parties, republican, democrat. i think we need a third-party to actually break up the stupidity that is taking place. host: ok. that is jeffrey in georgia. we will continue with her calls, but first, this update from bill. coversric lawson, who capital for bloomberg, says no breakthrough overnight in talks

to reopen government, which midnight.ts down at steve womack, who you often see in the chair, says the senate will have to take further action before the vote can happen here in the house did pass a cr on thursday, which funded the wall aid.rovides disaster negotiations will likely continue throughout the day and possibly throughout the week. from susan brooks, congresswoman at indiana, she tweeted this morning "i requested a letter requesting my pay be withheld during the shutdown. " another tweet from set moulton, "the president of the united states just shut down our government and a political stunts to get american tax ayers to foot the bill for his ineffective order while that he promised mexico would pay for, and he can't even get that."

--resentative don bacon "work with the president and seeks to compromise. to say not a single dollar is not right." and iraq war vet, brian calls it, so far, as of this age, it is over $14 million in funding for a border wall. why didn't ther, president hold back $5 billion for his while when the gop handed out the tax cut last year? john on facebook says he could not care less about what is going on. securityr says "border should be something all politicians should care about. " a support this effort from indiana, this is eddie. hello. caller: good morning.

president on this wall. i support the president on this shutdown. if anybody has watched c-span or c-span2, they had watched the district of corruption people do nothing for the last few years. this may be the only way, sir, that the president can drain the swamp. have a safe holiday. host: before you go, why do you support the wall specifically? watchedwell, i have pbs, i have watched, like i said, both c-span channels. something has to be done to save america and to make america great again, and the people we have an office, sir, they could care less about the people, the only thing they care about is their jobs. host: what do you think a shutdown will accomplish, then, as far as this wall effort? caller: what i think it will accomplish is kind of what i said a minute ago, when people

get set up, the next thing they go to the polls, they will drain the swamp on their own. this may be what the president has in mind, sir. he is a businessman, not a government official. host: from bob, bob is in the bronx, new york, a federal employee. good morning. caller: retired federal employee. i have a surefire way to change the way this is handled. it is like a kabuki dance when they do this. did you ever notice when they have shutdowns, may never shutdown the tsa, to keep the planes flying? my proposal is the first to give up work are the tsa. without planes flying, the congressman cannot fly home, and they will be stuck at work doing their jobs. host: ok, that is bob, a retired federal employee. would welcome his comments as well as the current ones,

particularly if you will be affected directly by this shutdown. in fact, we devote this program largely to this topic among the first day of the shutdown. almost nine hours now since that midnight deadline has come and gone. the house and senate scheduled to be in, whether an effort happens on resolving this shutdown is still yet to be determined, but we are getting your thoughts on it for this timeline. of our if you support the shutdown, (202) 748-8001 if you oppose it, and (202) 748-8002 if you are a federal employee. you can go to our social media sites, to. o. caller: good morning, pedro. i hope you're having a good day today. my first comment is for all of the trump supporters.

america never stop eating great. they have looks to us for an example and we have set a good example. on the wall, i live in arizona and i am originally from organ. -- or gone. .-oregon florida and georgia and indiana want to complain about some importers when they have opioid epidemics of epic proportions and -- my first brush with illegal immigration was illegal canadian immigrants in washington. howne ever talks about porous the canadian border is. we will leave you there because i think you may have called earlier current bill, go ahead. from pennsylvania. i'm going to take

something, i am proud of donald trump. please don't come yacht. -- cuts me off. only way you're going to change that is this. i'm republican 100%. -- way are going to change donald trump is the best present we ever had. he wants to get rid of the swap. that is their job. the only way you're going to stop that is this. they don't get paid. they can't use no airplanes. they can't use nothing.

they are the ones decorated the problem. host: you think the current shutdown is going to a compass that? -- accomplish that? caller: the government people should have to go to work. it's not the president's fault. it is their fault. democrats, we need a third-party. about us. give a damn host: whitey think a shutdown is go to cheap with the border wall? voter: they are going to for the man that is doing the job. host: let's go to frank in california. a federal employee. frank, good morning. thanks for calling. that bothwant to say

sides of the aisle get together and hopefully come to a better compromise. i have been with the agency for 24 years. i work for the department of justice. i have to work into my service -- and do my service. i hope the president and both parties sit down and compromise. this is not fair for the government employees. it seems like it is normal. let's just shut the government down. it -- i don't think it's fair. we voted them in. we should vote them out. host: do you think a compromise means a request from the present or something different from that? caller: i think they should maybe give him half of it. because, it holds up a lot of stuff.

host: what do you do for the government? caller: i work for the department of justice, i am a federal corrections officer. i think people forget about that sometimes. we are asking to be funded accordingly. i just hope that both parties come together today and keep this government going and get these people their paychecks. host: do you continue to get your paycheck in the shutdown? caller: no. host: but you still have to report to work, i assume. caller: that is correct. host: what kind of preparation for you -- were you given for this? caller: not very much. we will survive. depending on how long the government shutdown is, we will continue to do what we need to do. i will continue to do what i need to do support -- to support my family. that is frank in california. here is bill scanlon. >> just under three hours until

both the house and senate come into the session, ray saturday sessions but necessary during the partial government shutdown. we will have coverage on c-span. two, membersn talking about the shutdown. here is mike of illinois, tweeting this. just in time for the holidays, the president has made a shutdown that will strip these of mine from families, businesses and communities that need it most. dave joyce is a republican from ohio since on the appropriations committee. we must come to an agreement on the senate that includes border security. the doorsunding out as quickly as possible and into the committees that depend on it . from john from new york, incredibly disappointed democrats and republicans have failed to work together to avoid a shutdown. now, critical funding for programs like the violence against women act, at last,

there is no winners when congress fails to keep the government open. we must come together to find a solution. this from john bennett who covers congress. just in, the biggest hurdle appears to be that our president is unsure how much border funding he would accept. writes that as senior white house officials huddle in back rooms with democratic leaders, as the government shutdown beckons, a cable news anchor dramatically called the last-ditch meeting a sign that something bit is best big is going to happen. differences remain with no clear plan on resolving them. mike pence, acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney and schumer,hner and chuck outs, as the clock ticks down. mitch mcconnell was involved in the 11th hour talks.

inle news and twitter lit up declaration that a deal was imminent. as the afternoon twilight faded into an unseasonably warm washington night on the first day of winter, all they agreed on was to keep on talking. more to the point, they agreed to nearly start negotiating. you can read all that. maryland.ur from if you want to know what's going on, you can do so on several different platforms. you can watch it live on c-span on the house side. on the senate side it is c-span2. or our go to c-span.org c-span radio app. arthur england bernie, thank you for calling. caller: good morning. thank you c-span. becauset the shutdown at the very least, it is a clear indication of the executive branch putting its foot down to stop the southern border

invasion. it is a plainly obvious, undeniably irrefutable invasion. the biggest problem i have with the wall is the cost. paide american people their taxpayer dollars, we are financially plunging ourselves for our success as a country. on disparaging president trump by saying mexico will pay for the wall, trumps rhetoric was always about expressing that mexico would pay indirectly through trade negotiations. it was never a notion that mexico was going to our right pay for the wall. that estate media.

no border barrier of any design can ever be expected unless there is a fear of death element built in. an earlier call mentioned the berlin wall. it worked for one simple reason. if they breached that border, there was a good chance they were going to die. that's why it works. i have not heard anybody in any of the programs mentioned this. host: can i ask you a question? we heard earlier that the president was willing to accept a compromise to this idea of border wall, what were your impressions of that then, compared to now? caller: i did not get all that. i absorbed that it is media spin. that's not what i smelled it all. trump is resolute. we will see what is going to go

on over here. host: we'll have to move on. rob is in tulsa, oklahoma. go ahead. caller: merry christmas to my c-span people. i oppose it. i am on disability and i worry right now, for my check next month. wall so badly and i don't understand why. we have foreigners that fly into this country that just stay. them come into the border in mexico or california or texas, are we going to stop all the borders? i am scared of this man in washington. and i do agree that the senate and the house do not do a lot. host: ok. let's go to michelle, a federal employee from columbus, georgia.

caller: yes. pedro, listen. man, thatupport that fill in the white house. toon't want the democrats budge, not an inch. pedro, this man is nothing but a white nationalist terrorist. and he is a threat to every black and brown person in the united states. of america. i have gone out and bought me some guns because the biggest threat is not the ms-13 members. it is that piece of trash that sits up in the white house. host: a couple of questions. what federal agency do you work for? caller: i work for the department of families and children services. host: that they federal entity? 1 yes, it is. -- caller: yes, it is. host: will you still get a paycheck?

caller: guess who benefits more, it is the white human trash. host: we will leave it there. ron in pennsylvania, hello. caller: hello, pedro. i have three comments to make about the wall. first of all, it has more to do with racism than with immigration. in the countries, these people are time to run from. i think there is a lot of collusion and corporations working with some of these countries. he is so demented. he has diminished social ambition. the guy is totally unhinged. we are at a critical point. the constitution was never designed to handle pull we are having right now.

for: we will continue on the remainder of this hour until 10:00. taking a look at and getting your reaction to this first day of a government shutdown, phone lines will be available. if you're on the line, stay on for just a few minutes. we have an update on what's going on in the process of the shutdown, on the first day. alex joins us, good morning. good morning. how are you? host: thank you for joining us. paint the picture of what could we expect on both the house and senate side. guest: it is hard to predict, the senate and house are coming in to evaluate any potential deal. we are waiting to see. the talks last night were focused on a scaled-back compromise. ofething along the lines

$1.6 billion for border fencing. it passed by a vote of 26 25. -- 26-5. for border fencing, that would be a $300 million increase over the amount for 2018. the president could claim some victory. as republicans were saying yesterday, it was not clear what the president would sign. there was a breakdown in communication in terms of what the president was willing to except. beliefas a consensus among republicans that trump was going to sign the gap. without any extra border fencing, funding, they did a u-turn on that.

that upset expectations and people don't know what to expect. back to your earlier question, they are coming in at noon. and we will take it from there. host: that compromise that you talk about, how do you think that might settle in for republicans in the house, among the freedom caucus was calling for this fight? guest: the members of the freedom caucus will be disappointed. at least they can claim they got something. something is better than nothing. we all know that christmas is only a few days away. have morning -- my for border fencing, you can claim a partial victory. so, it would be a small victory for republicans. it would be disappointed among conservatives for sure. improvementinal over the stopgap that passed

earlier this week. host: on the senate side, you talk about activity on both sides. how does that settle in with the senate? i think most will be thrilled to be done with it. they voted unanimously for the clean stopgap that provided 1.3 2018 for border fencing. that is a prorated number. intopending bill goes february 8. they were the ones behind it. when ther question is democrats except that. are they going to back off or backtracked on that earlier amount, which they supported. clear that it is

good with the house democrats. off, theas backed question is whether he would get back to it. host: as far as what you're watching today, what are you watching for activity wise? so-called process that mcconnell and schumer came flake of arizona. they will have to have the agreement. the agreement of the president and house and gop leaders. bipartisan leaders. i'm not expecting a series of political votes as we have seen in prior shutdowns. remember in 2013, during the 16 obamacare,n of

there was a boat to address the health care system. i don't to that having this time. -- happening this time. i think there's going to be silence as parties try to negotiate something. i would expect to get an announcement in short order, if the deal can be reached. knowing there is going to be a whole lot of haggling or successive votes, i think it is going to be a negotiation with the principal. mulvaney, jared kushner, the present himself, paul ryan in the house and schumer and mcconnell in the senate. host: alex wubbels and joining us on the current status of the shutdown and what we might expected a. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: kerry is next. from fort worth, texas. hello.

hello? yes.r: yohost: you're on. caller: i am for the shutdown. i don't think any of the republicans in the senate and the house, and i don't believe the president knows what happened to us texans the last time they brought in people into our southern border from south america. and then they dispersed throughout texas. in fort worth and arlington, and all of the surrounding areas, when they did that, after they did that, and they spread them out throughout our stay, all of our babies and our young children came down with put in mouth disease, which is spread to people by cattle. it is a cattle disease. if theould you accept president accepted a lower figure than $5 billion?

caller: i will be ok with whatever it is going to cost. granddaughter my came down with quote and mouth disease and it was spread like wildfire. the reason i don't think the president nor any of the republicans in the house and senate knew is because they shut it down. they did not put it on any of -- local news janice channels in fort worth and arlington. they do not put it on the news. host: let's hear from craig in tolls are, oklahoma. -- tulsa, oklahoma. caller: you can't have a country unless it has borders. a country does not exist at all without borders. as much as anyone can support the shutdown, i do. however, that is not the point. the point is not his wall. it is our wall. want him to follow the

preamble of the constitution which is insured domestic tranquility. part of our defense is having borders. with domestic tranquility, it is no more drugs and no more illegal gangs coming in. trump is doing the right thing. i am tired of the emotional leader, maryut the and joseph tried to go to read -- he did. they are not reading the bible. there was a wall in egypt. were at thethers wall and some of them were jailed. host: why do you think it is a good strategy to use that as a mean to get it done? caller: in our time, other presidents have had to run up against this. that schumer is making this happen. it is his fault, as well as

close it. blackant to use it to while the president and give negative statements about the president. host: host: pres said he would take -- host: the president said he would take full responsibility. caller: you want to play the game, i will take the heat. he is taking the heat for the american public to give a security to cut back on drugs and crime and give us an actual border which is supported by the constitution. he wants to say you want to pay on me? i will take it. he is taking it for our defense. he is doing what is right for american so i don't disagree with him saying i will take the heat. i would have done the same thing. host: let's hear from joe in florida, a federal employee. you are next. caller: good morning, pedro. that there to say

are 1.5 join cuts to the rich. second, don't pay the congress. third, i agree with the caller that the china and berlin wall did not work. host: tell us what branch of the federal government you work for. caller: social security. host: you work for the social security administration? caller: yes sir. host: will you be open during this time, do you still go to work? caller: yes. we still don't get paid. don't pay the people in congress. host: that is joe in florida. a federal employee. , if you want to call and give your opinion on the activity and the event of today, we will hear from both of you who support as well.

but first, -- >> this is a quote of politico. saying i'm going out with a bank with the chaos and uncertainty and chama i have come to expect out of congress. do expect anything other than unpredictability out of trump is foolish. from arizona, drugs our killing our children. mexican truckers are expanding their operations. the republican led trump shutdown allow the violence against women act to expire. republican french hill from arkansas, among another -- a number of members who have set that i cannot, in good conscience say that -- utah, theator from

trump shutdown began, rather than agreeing to a bipartisan cover my's. if you're planning for the holidays, no matter where you're going, keep in mind, the national parks may be close. the plan established in the wake of the shutdown, keeps the grand canyon fully open for holiday visitors. directore, a political , says the talks continue. they are not close to a deal. talks need signoff from schumer, pelosi in the present himself. -- president himself. florida made a gofundme to pay for the presence wall. we found this on gofundme. summary has a campaign out there to go over the presence wall.

they have raised $118,000. host: deborah in massachusetts. , thank you for having me on. post -- i oppose any government shutdown whatsoever. it is a waste of taxpayer money. it is basically a political stunt. the president decided he wanted a wall. then he decided he wanted to change his mind about what kind of wall he wanted. he keeps changing it. is that been reported there was a compromise earlier in the week and he decided not to sign the bill because he decided to listen to the fox news channel. it is unfortunate to have to put so many employees out of work this winter. whos listening to jackie represented some sort of union from the government. when she explained how

incoherent missile process fears -- is, it is sad to know we don't not -- don't have any leading government. trump is doing this to get attention. economically, $5 billion is a lot of money. just recently, we spent $9.6 billion bailing out farmers because of terrorists that trump put on. now, we get down to this. there is no reason for a shutdown. it is a political stunt. we should never have a shutdown whatsoever. host: that is deborah from salem, massachusetts. theas brendan who took to -- our great country must our great country must have border security. we don't want people coming in that are not supposed to be here. we want people to come and 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 fence or whatever you want to call it. we need a great barrier. if we don't have it, it is never going to work. last night, the house of representatives passed this important bill, to 17-185. some people were surprised by the number. -- 217-185. some people were surprised by the number. i was not because everyone wants to see the border protected. now it is up to the senate and it is up to the democrats because we need their votes. there is no way it can pass without their votes. we are going to have a shutdown. there's nothing we can do about that because we need the

democrats to give us their votes. call it a democrat shutdown. call it whatever you want. we need their help to get this approved. so, democrats, we have a wonderful list of things that we need. to keep our country safe. let's get out and work together, let's be bipartisan. let's get it done. the shutdown, hopefully will not last long. thank you very much. host: we have about a half hour left in this program. we are taking your calls. it is (202) 748-8000 if you support the showdown. , if you oppose it. if you're a federal employee, (202) 748-8002. arehouse and the senate scheduled to gavel in later today. .o compromise stay close to c-span for that. a couple of stores on

international news, this the new york times about syria, saying about the pentagon, a possible shoji for how to handle that. in light of the president's announcement this week. american -- --re an estimated 5000 and are deployed. according to military officials who spoke on anonymity, the strikers are one of several options, including continuing airstrikes. this story adding that the pentagon will deliver options. jim mattis stepped down at the end of february. afghanistan is a topic as we go to the wall street journal. saying mr. trump's decision to of 14,000 u.s. military personnel in that country could upset the

calibration. according to us and diplomats. it was not clear which troops would be leaving and how the us with bounce the troop of afghan forces with being need to maintain the balance of the islamic state. or even whether it would privatize part of the american war. paul is next. a supporter of the shutdown in pennsylvania. caller: i think that this shows commitment on the part of president trump. that is why i think sometimes, you do have to take a stand. if that means a shutdown, so be it. i don't think a lot of people or theand that the wall fence or whatever you want to call it, what it does is it also adds technology to the whole system. and it pushes people out from

that are easier to navigate. it pushes them out to a more remote area. will bee, border patrol notified through electronics. they will be able to get to them faster. because they are going to be notified. it is going to take them a while to get over that. why is the whole reason they want a fence. hear from a man in nebraska. he is a federal employee. good morning. caller: how are you doing today? host: fine, thank you, go ahead. caller: i just think the whole process of using a shutdown to move legislation is implemented of the inability and incompetence of our legislators

to take care of the country's business. it causes lots of problems. and it results in a lot of frustration. i am tired of the name-calling back and forth and some of between tweet you cited earlier, they did not talk about how to fix the problem. they talk about blaming the other side. thanks. host: do you blame it on republicans and democrats equally? caller: i do. host: tell us about you being a federal employee, are you affected by this? caller: i am not. i am an employee in the department of defense. host: from main, a supporter, this is jim. caller: hello, how are you? host: i am fine, thanks. caller: one of the things we are seeing and it is disingenuous, senator schumer talking about the lack of funds and that it is wasteful spending. lehman, 5 billion is

used. for the government, it is not that big of a number. that is laughable to come out and say it is too much money. off sexualre to pay allegations against congressman and senators, taken from taxpayers. that came out a year and a half ago. they can't find a money? i think that is totally disingenuous. i may lehman, i'm not in politics. bring back the troops. they have -- this is not rocket science. bring back the troops is a positive move. bringing back the troops from afghanistan where there is no clear at -- objective, it is a travesty. host: that is jim. here's senator schumer from yesterday. senator schumer: president

your, you will not get wall. abandon your shutdown strategy. you're not getting the ball today, next week, or on january 3, when democrats take control the house. ago, the senate --e together to support unanimously, every democrat and every republican to extend government funding without partisan demands. the government would not shutdown. were happening would be postponed to a later day. millions of -- host: this content we are showing you is available at c-span.org. if you want to see the various back and forth on the positions taken in the border wall -- on the boardwalk. the website is c-span.org.

>> lots of opinion on the sunday show this week. we re-air the sunday shows on c-span radio at the beginning, at noon eastern. also on the c-span radio app. cheryl, who has been on the program, who bucked on border funding, she writes that a republicans in the house join 177 democrats in voting against president donald trump border wall funding request. calling it a list of political suicide. half are leaving office anyway. one tweeting this morning, about a shutdown and from an inside perspective. i must say the instability and chaos of the government has been particularly pronounced. worse than at any point during my service in congress. and really, my lifetime. things are not well in the usa. from congressman steve: from

the 115th congress stumbling to the finish line as government has shut down for the third time. having lowerident taxes for the wealthy and increased the deficit. also from kirsten gillibrand, tweeting it does not have to be this way. this administration's constant chaos is embarrassing and more portly, harmful to the country. donald trump decide to force a shutdown and the gop went along even though bipartisan confliction was at hand. we will have live coverage from the house on c-span. the senate on c-span two. people areack, real the ones feeling the impact of no pay. dave said that 75% of the government is funded for 2019. the government will survive this shutdown as well.

dave russell -- you can post their, you can post on our facebook feed as well. and also make your thoughts note -- known online. jim, you're next. caller: thank you for taking my call, they keep her c-span. absolutely, if you don't think you can build a wall, you build in new york city. i don't think he's doing harm to the federal employees. that is chucky and nancy. on theichard in nebraska oppose line, hello. caller: hello, how are you? host: fine, thanks, go ahead.

caller: i personally think the wall is a joke. people keep calling in and saying this guy is a businessman. this businessman has declared bankruptcy five or six times. i don't know of any business people that have done that. host: back to the wall, whitey think it is a joke? caller: they don't work. a federal employee, this is tony from maryland. go ahead, you are next up. i wanted to say this is another example of the president and his base and the right wing having of the congress no ideology. this shutdown happened because the right wing media insulted the president and he went back on his word. there is no policy reason for it. it is simply doing whatever they

can to appease the folks, the havewho come over 35 years been convinced they have something to be a great -- angry about. it is the reason why they shut down the government to get president obama to repeal the health care to get people who cannot afford health insurance. it also goes back to a campaign promise he made. influencethis media comic is goes back to a campaign promise. caller: whether it was a campaign promise or not, he had reached an agreement and did not change his mind until rush limbaugh insulted him. not every politician can keep every campaign problems. -- promise. that is the reality. in maine, hello. caller: hello.

i called to say that i have been watching closely since president trump was elected. i also watched while obama was in power. how we cant know ever get anything reasonable has theen congress ability to pull them selves apart from the rest of the people in the country. this congress has not done anything since trump was elected. the democrats have done nothing but oppose him. now, walls do work. mentor monadnock you -- benjamin netanyahu said they are 99.9% effective. anyone with a brain can see that. if you have chickens, you keep them in with a wall. if you have animals of any kind, you keep them contained with a wall.

we can't go in like this. something has to be done about congress. i think, i have heard people talk about constitutional conventions where we change some things to make our government work better. we will look into that. host: the previous caller mentioned that congress had granted money to the present for this wall or for border security. why wasn't that enough for you? -- good enough for you? caller: the president was trying to correct the whole problem. he wants to end the lottery, where people come in with chain migration. he wanted to end all the problems that when with this migration. this illegal migration to our country. he was a little too ambitious. and they knew it. they knew it. host: what demings when he was too ambitious -- what do you mean like too ambitious? mind, does it have to be

5 billion or nothing? caller: -- caller: right now, that is all we are going to get. it is too late to do anything about the other. the time is gone by for that. that is going to have to be negotiated down the line. host: if the president compromises to a lower figure, would you be ok with that? caller: yes, i would. obviously, when it costs money, which i don't understand, to keep the government shutdown, i don't know why it costs us money to keep it shut down. host: ok. that is jean from maine. we will go to bill scanlon. on what the house and senate may be up to, the word is we don't know much. c-span2 hasn not had a scheduled release from the majority leader. it is possible that the house will take up the measure passed

late in the senate yesterday. when the shutdown and. and just a couple of more notes on the shutdown, this one from the statue of liberty national park, governor cuomo has provided the necessary funding to keep the statue open and left ellis island opened during the shutdown of the federal government. in the meantime, the d.c. government is stepping up. the district department of public works will take over collections for the national park service. the freedom caucus, scott of tennessee, a republican tweeted this yesterday. republican the congress have told the american people that we will fight for wall funding. the house of representatives took its first thought -- step toward propelling that promise. from john, a maryland congressman, democratic

candidate for joint labor present, president trump's shutdown is reckless and shows how incompetent he is. families should not be punished for his action. legislation that was passed by unanimous consent last night. in the u.s. senate. host: people making the arguments for the passage of that legislation to fund federal employees. chris van hollen, a democrat from maryland. senatorroposal that cornyn and i are putting forward is simple. federal employees should not be punished by the shutdown. they have nothing to do with the dysfunction that would cause a government shutdown. they should not be the ones that should bear the burden and the penalty of something totally beyond their control. like a government shutdown. that is what this is about. indicated, often

after shutdowns are over, the congress and white house do the ande thing -- right thing provide retroactive conversation to employees. it is not guaranteed. it always could be changed. it might not happen. so, what we are trying to do is make sure that as federal employees watch the spectacle on capitol hill, and they are thinking about joining their families for christmas or other things over the holidays, that they don't have to have the uncertainty about it there is a government shutdown. whether or not they are going to get a paycheck to pay off the bills that will stack up over that until of time. period ofver that time. let's make sure federal employees don't have to pay the penalty for dysfunction in washington. of the other

uncertainties is when legislators themselves will join families for the holiday break. that could be determined on the first day of the shutdown. bill scanlon and craig kaplan from our producers talk about the events of today, at noon, the start of what might happen today. stay close to one of our many platforms if you want the latest. ,ou can go to c-span, c-span2 c-span.org and our c-span radio app. if you go to twitter, take time to follow our capitol hill producer, craig kaplan prayed he will give you the latest on what is going on at capitol hill. keeping an eye on it here. that is all this twitter feed. -- all of his twitter feed. lewis in georgia, a federal employee, go ahead. caller: yes, my name is lewis. i was drafted during the vietnam

war. and i served my country then. and then i decided when i got out that i wanted to continue to serve the public by being a federal employee. federal employees are dedicated to their job. we don't get paid as much money out there. we try to help everybody. i don't think we should be used trump steals christmas like the crystal christmas great i think you try to still christmas from the american public. we buy christmas presents and all that. when we faced the russians, i got to see the wall that the russians had built. they were there to stop people and shoot people. we are a country of freedom. we have always been great.

once he gets not elected again, this country will be great again. host: what federal rescue work for? caller: i work for the epa. host: are you going on furlough during this time? caller: we will eventually. host: as far as your preparation, what kind of notice were you given and how long did you happen -- have to prepare for this? caller: i was not at the office because i was getting surgery done. it was very short notice. we won't be able to survive very long. it will have an impact on the economy and stock markets. it is going to be a domino effect. host: we will hear from john, from north miami beach, florida. to support thee president. in doing most of everything that

he does. i am so happy that he got the .ocket man 22 presence before that cannot do it. i am so happy he is pulling half of the people out of afghanistan. it is about -- america should come home. host: why you support him for the shutdown? caller: i'm right there. you left out one thing. i will go to what you want me to. with the walling is the democrats are so stupid. they should forget about it. and give trump's $5 billion. this is what they should say. this is what democrats should say. listen, this president gave you -- a trillionlars dollar tax cut. aboutn't you do something

the people that augmented this? me among the lowest brackets, i have to pay more. i own two houses. this is going to be the big thing in congress. and i really think that he is doing a great job. the great jobs available more. from elizabeth, new jersey. caller: good morning. i am opposed to the shutdown. i am opposed to a president who is totally ineffective. he does not know what he's doing. and the people -- i'm a senior citizen. my family has been in the first world war, the second world war. my granddaughter was in iraq. i think it is a shame that we because he can't have his way, the government has to shutdown. host: why are you opposed to a

shutdown? caller: because he is suffering grow up.inability to i'm opposed because people are suffering from it. and all the people who will suffer from it. from all of -- all these people who need that money today. , fromthat is myrtle elizabeth, new jersey. let's go back to bill scanlon. >> we are hearing from nancy pelosi, a series of tweets. some of what she had to say. democrats have offered republicans multiple proposals to keep the government open, including one that has passed the senate unanimously. and includes funding for strong, simple and effective for security. not the president ineffective and expensive wall. if donald trump and republicans continued this shutdown, the new house majority will pass legislation to really government in january. from senator lindsey graham, his spendjustin, democrats

like sailors on everything except for border security. we need a border security to protect our country from drugs, crime and terrorism. hang tough, mr. president. thank you for coming along for the ride. we will go to chris in silver spring, maryland. caller: good morning. congress is to blame. this is a continuing resolution. this should have been passed by september 30 but it was not. the immigration process is a joke. the laws are ignored. i want to call out justice his asylum vote. no one should come to the back of the supreme court to demand a hearing. illegal immigration disrespects the people who follow the rules. they same maryland and a shame the united states of america. host: when you say it is a congressional in issue -- issue,

you hear the democrats wanted to offer some, 1.6 billion, not the 5.3 billion. what do you think of that figure? records fore are voting for $25 billion before. there is videotape of them saying that building a wall is important. vote for moreuld than the 5 billion or whatever it takes. they are playing a game. the congressional democrats are playing a game. it is their fault for not passing this back in september, too. congress, especially the senate. the house is been passing appropriation bills and doing their job. the house and the president are united. the senate is holding up this process. , if theu think president was offered a number less than $5 billion, should he change his mind? caller: he might have to weigh it. something is better than nothing. he should hold out for more than

5 billion. the various seven proven to work in san diego and other areas. it has worked well. makes a joke of the people who follow the rules. host: ok. that is chris in silver spring, maryland. in key west, florida, this is sean. caller: good morning. i definitely oppose this communist style wall between best being built between ourselves and the friends from the south. i think they should come to a compromise and announce that the copyright should be that the president has said he would get the mexican government to pay for the wall. our congress should propose to him that they will match any dollar for dollar contribution made by the mexican government toward the wall. involved anderyone out.

have a nice day. host: mike in connecticut, a federal employee. hello. caller: good morning. i am not a federal employee. that is a mistake. , i am inike to say favor of shutdowns but not this shutdown. if they want to shut down the government, shut it down where the senators and congressmen do not get paid. i don't think they would be so anxious to shut down. president trump is trying to shut it down for the sovereignty of the country. a country without borders is not a country. host: let's hear from tammy in minnesota. a supporter. caller: thank you for taking my call. the facts, he was offered $1.6 billion from congress, he refused it. that is more than the number he should've gone. he promised mexico was going to pay for the wall. that is not true. this is a chart shutdown. it is real difficult.

minority of people are trying to make decisions for the majority of people and it is not working. host: i'm confused. you are calling for those who support the shutdown. caller: i do. it shows that trump does not care for the american people. he does not care for anybody, except for himself. i have a poem, i will like to read it. winds for the ty had a greatrump fall. just about 10 hours in. we had -- heard bill scanlon say, stay close to c-span1 into as they -- and 2. as they stay close to these efforts. as was our radio app.

don, hello. caller: hello. am i on? host: you are. go ahead. caller: i would like to say a couple of things quick. of this should be done through technology. building a wall is archaic. by the time we build the wall, we will be flying electric jones -- drones. there is other ways to get for security dashboard security. policy,he immigration we have technology for that right now. i can put a chip on my dog and find out where he is forever. people if they want to put a chip in. it will lessen the demand on border security. you don't think that would

spark civil rights privacy issues? caller: that is something to think about. 61-year-oldi'm a and i did not know who i was the last three years. chip in me soa you can -- my kids can find me when i have dementia and there are no facilities to kick -- take care of all people. -- old people. host: that is the last call from his program. stay close to c-span1 and 2. tune into this program for latest best the latest information on the shutdown. thank you for watching the program today. at 7:00have another tomorrow morning. see you then. ♪

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] christmas day, at 11:45 eastern, a look back at this year's memorial services for barbara bush, john mccain and george w. bush. 3:30 p.m. eastern, the future of the u.s. military. at 8:00, former president barack obama, james baker and john meacham on the u.s. role in the world. >> if there's a problem around the world, people do not call moscow or beijing. they call washington. even our adversaries expect us to solve problems and keep things running. a conversation with

entrepreneurs on women in corporate america. >> women's networks tend to look very female heavy. men's networks tend to look male heavy. that may be fine when you are in your first position out of school. who do you think wins in the network by the time you get to senior leadership? >> watch c-span christmas day. c-span, where history unfolds daily. as a79, c-span was created public service by america's cable television companies. today, we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events d.c. and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. passed week, the senate

a criminal justice reform bill, making more federal prisoners eligible for early release. dick durbin and amy talked about the bill and the effort to get it passed. this is just over an hour. host: our first guest is the whip, theocratic number two leader, working on this issue for 10 years, makes a 50 round trips a year between the swamp and the heartland. senator dick durbin from illinois, welcome back. [applause] >> senator dick durbin, thank you for jo