it live on c-span. ♪ host: good morning on this friday, december 28th. the government shutdown is in day seven. the washington post reports congress effectively gave up yesterday over breaking the impasse of order while funding. there were no signs of negotiation. this morning, we want to hear from federal workers, how is this going to impact you. 202-748-8000. all others, please tell us your thoughts on this as well. .02-748-8001 you can join us on twitter

@cspanwj or go to facebook.com/cspan. start dialing in now and we will get to your thoughts. federal workers, we want to hear how this will impact you. and the president did not have public meetings and no negotiations were happening. he was tweeting. border patrol agents want the wall and democrats say they don't want the wall even though they know it is needed and they don't want ice. the large scale crime was -- that comes with stuff -- comes with such stupidity. they almost all recently agreed it would be built up seated only ruction of 350 people wanting and expecting to come in to government. write theto right -- reason for daca for wallach deal didn't get done is a court decision allowed daca to remain.

democrats dropped the deal. that is where we are today. obstruction of the needed wall. accused of shooting and killing a police officer during a traffic stop. time to get tough on border security and build a wall. this is an about the wall, everybody knows a wall will work perfectly. in israel, the wall works 99.9%. this is about dems not letting donald trump and republicans have a win. border security, 2020. he also said have the democrats finally realized we desperately need a border security and a wall on the southern border? need to stop drugs, human trafficking, gang members, and criminals coming into our country. most of the people not getting paid are democrats. federal workers, you can respond to that.

senators from states that represent federal workers like mark warner in virginia said this is outrageous. federal employees don't go to work wearing red or blue jerseys. the president is treating them like poker chips at one of his failed casinos. chris murphy in delaware, this is a political game to the president. no member of congress of either party thinks federal workers -- and thinks of federal workers as republicans and democrats. christmassy -- chris murphy of connecticut. i am sorry. their response to the president's tweet storm yesterday. it looks like this government shutdown extends into the new year. there is a live shot of the capital in washington as the folks here and around the country wake up today 7 of -- wake up to day 7 of the government shutdown. feds, here are sample letters

you may use as a guide when working with creditors during this furlough. if you need legal advice, consult with your personal attorney. want to get federal workers reaction to that guidance as well. adrian -- avery in kansas, city -- kansas city. caller: good morning. thank you for having me. i think this whole ordeal about the wall and the $5 billion is just turned into a circus. it is a political play, they have put almost a million people out of work over the holidays. i think we need border security. border a $25 billion wall can be overcome by a $25 shovel. we just had the president go see the troops and he turned that into a political debate and lied. it told them they had a 10%

raise. they got a 2.6% raise and they have had a raise every year since the mid-1980's and that year was basically a flaw. it was a mistake. i don't know how this man can go on tv and lie over and over and over again and have anybody expect to believe a word he says. host: joe in georgia. caller: hey, greta. love c-span. i totally support donald trump. i think he is the best president in history and i am all for the wall, we need it to protect the border. we cannot allow this immigration to come in. beforeaid the day yesterday, now is a great time to buy stock. right because is the market went up 1100 points the day before yesterday.

i totally support donald trump and i think he is the best president in world history. host: here is the president when he was in iraq. he was asked about the standoff between republicans and democrats over the border wall and here is what he had to say. caller: whatever --[video clip] >> whatever it takes. we are going to have a wall. we have terrorists coming in through the southern border. because you know what? it was always the easiest. we have made it tough, i won't put that on the -- put them on the spot, but i guarantee they will say, you don't have a wall. folks are saying can we have drones, technology. technology is bells and whistles. you have to have a wall. you have to have protection. in addition to drugs and human trafficking and mass numbers of

illegals coming in, many of whom are criminal. 618 so far we found, in some cases very serious criminals. in some cases, murderers. you saw that yourselves. it was on your cameras for everyone to see. we need a wall so when you say how long is it going to take? when are the democrats going to say -- don't forget, democrats all agree you need a wall until i wanted it. say they are not going to negotiate on giving the president the amount of funding he wants for the wall and they say they don't need to because there is money that hasn't been spent from the last couple of cycles that they agree there should be border security, but not that amount of money spent on it. both sides not talking -- have

not returned to washington. yesterday, the house and senate came in for minutes, gaveled in and gaveled out and no sign of leadership in town or negotiations happening. what do you think of the shutdown extending into 2019? we especially want to hear from federal workers. let's go to james in kansas. caller: good morning, greta. you look nice today. host: thank you. caller: i wanted to say i think we don't need the wall. we could use technology. donald trump made a campaign promise and that is what he is sticking to. i just don't think it is necessary. host: okay. all right, james. barbara in georgia, federal worker. how is this impacting you? caller: i am wonderful. yes, i am a federal worker.

i think this wall thing is ridiculous. over 550 put a wall up miles. host: ok. happen?you want to see come tothey need to's some type of meeting of the minds because the government is bigger than the people sitting in congress and the president. it is the people, the military, the people who it affects. they are not affected by all of this rhetoric going back-and-forth. they need to dilute the power instead of nancy pelosi and i forgot the one in senate, the republican. host: mitch mcconnell. caller: mitch mcconnell, what goes forward and what doesn't. on the floor, the members should have more power. i think everything is becoming

too concentrated. they need to set standards for a president because the standards we have now are really embarrassing. times ae washington front page, no side of deal for shutdown resolution until the new year. the administration is considering the next step and mr. trump's plans to find other ways to pay for the wall using leftover funding is still in play. the border wall fight should be postponed. they try to force action in the on a bill thatay would fund parts of the government until february 8. that was gaveled down quickly and the house went out of session. according to a reuters poll conducted and recently released thursday found 37% of american adults hold mr. trump responsible while 33% say congressional democrats share

the bane. another 7% say republicans are responsible. with an incentive not to negotiate now. house democrats poised to seize the gavel last week -- next week. tweeted thates yesterday. he is part of leadership. let's go to david in madison heights. caller: hi, greta. how are you today? thank you very much for taking my call. i call it total republican failure. they have all the power. democrats have no power so i don't even know why people are thinking of blaming emma kratz or independents. republicans have all the votes to vote anything they want. this is a republican. this is a trump shut down. i can tell you how to fix it.

mexico is not going to pay for it like trump promised. go ahead and try to get into area 51. five miles away, they know you are they are. try to get within a mile of area 51 and you get picked up. put that technology on our southern border because the republican run border states cannot keep their borders safe. it is total republican failure and i thank you very much, greta. host: on that attempt by democrats yesterday to fund the government, reopen it and fund through february 8, it was congressman jim mcgovern of massachusetts who was denied on the house floor a vote to fund the government, said it was urgent -- the only people who don't seem to be in a hurry are the republican leadership and the president.

watch this moment on the floor yesterday. >> pursuant to section 2b, the house stands adjourned until monday, december 31, 2018. host: with that, the house gaveled out until next year. the senate came in late afternoon yesterday and quickly went out of session until new year's eve day. they are not in town and they are not negotiating. tim in deltona, florida. what do you think? caller: this has been going on ever since 1986. i hate to say it, but these clowns you have in congress seem to always want to kick the can down the road. they never want to solve the issue. as far as i am, concerned, is part of border

security. you are not going to be able to put a wall up. it has been a proven fact it does deter illegal immigration or people trying to come into the country illegally. we have got a lot of loopholes. that's why you get these caravans because they are being told how to exploit our loophole and asylum laws. you've got a congress that doesn't seem to want to take up anything to try and fix the problem. the gentleman that talked about get tiredicans -- i of hearing people because it is a democratic talking point about how they have control of the house of representatives, the senate, and the white house so they can't get anything passed. in the senate, you have to have 60 votes to pass anything, which means you have to get 10 democrats took come along to ins any type of legislation

senate and people seem to forget that. republicansl on the . host: those negotiations by senate democrats led by chuck schumer and the white house because they need 10 democrats were happening headed into the christmas holiday. this is from the holiday -- the washington post. vice president pence visited schumer for what has been the last face to face bipartisan talk. made a new offer. it democrats projected that, holding firm no funds go toward a wall and accuse pence of not ofng care oval -- capable assuring trump's support. democrats do not want to support something presented by pence only to have the president balk

at the idea and move the goalpost further right. congressional democrats are adamant they will not be caught flat-footed like they did last week when the senate approved a temporary funding plan to keep the entire government open until february 8 to learn later the president would veto the bill. what do you make of that? you are right, they need 10 democrats. caller: basically, that is what is going to happen. it's all about power with these people in the house of representatives. pelosi, it's all about power. schumer, it's all about power. they don't really care about the american citizens in this country. democrats care more about people coming into this country illegally than they do our veterans or homeless out there in the united states and other

people. for once, i would like to see true -- come up with a how much it costs the american taxpayers. the people here in this country illegally, what it costs the taxpayers. pelosi talks about they are going to pass a straight funding bill without the border wall. go ahead and pass it and if i was trump, i would veto it. host: that is a good segue into how the washington post describes -- their description of how this can play out. foot a billan is to that does not fund -- the legislation will probably extend government funding through february 8 according to a democratic aid, mirroring the bill passed last week before

trump withdrew support. the senate, which will remain under gop control, would have to re-pass that legislation in january and trump would have to sign it. neither outcome is assured given trump's opposition to legislation debt -- that does not provide the border funding he wants. the leaves it uncertain how standoff will get resolved in the new congress. joining us on the phone is steve, the executive director for the national federation of federal employees here to talk about the impact on those federal workers. workers does your union represent? guest: we represent a federal employees across the government, affected by this furlough predominately in that apparent of agriculture, department of the interior. eta housing and urban development and a few other smaller independent agencies

around the government. tohave about 40--- 40,000 50,000 members affected, but that is nothing compared to the overall 800,000 federal employees estimated to be impacted either through furlough having their paychecks withheld. host: 25% of the federal government is impacted by this shutdown. you are talking about 800,000 employees and you represent 40 to 50. how are those you represent impacted? caller: they are concerned about their personal finances. this comes at a very bad time of the year for families. these are all middle-class working families. some making as little as $20,000 or $30,000 a year. some making more. either way, they are concerned about what will happen january

1. especially after some holiday spending. they are very concerned. many families are paycheck to paycheck. they don't have the money to set aside and whether a storm -- weather a storm for multiple pay periods. they are very nervous. for the furloughed employees, having extra time off over the holidays doesn't make up for the anxiety it causes and it does change your lives. you have 800,000 middle-class american families affected by this shutdown. 85% of federal employees live outside the washington, d.c. areas. these are states and regions and communities that will feel the impact as families withdraw from post holiday spending to put a little extra money aside in case

this drags out a while into january. not: when will these folks see a paycheck? when is the first time they will either not get a paycheck or get a partial paycheck or whatever? guest: it will be two weeks from right now. federal employees are being paid for the time they worked before the shutdown. they are off the books now so that means two weeks from today, the paycheck that won't come in will come in or it may come in diminished amounts for those who are furloughed. if you are working right now and you are a federal employee, your leave was canceled, you are a essential personnel, so you have to go to work. when congress opens the full government, they are guaranteed .o get paid by law it is furloughed employees, the 300,000 or 400,000 furloughed

employees and their families that are not guaranteed a paycheck. host: has congress done that? caller: there is interest with house democrats and senate republicans to pass a law to do that. there has been resistance in the house by some house gop members mostly within the house freedom caucus that challenged. i think it is mostly a symbolic challenge to paying employees that have been furloughed. the effort was there in the past . we had two shutdowns in 2018 and there were rumblings out of the house freedom caucus not to pay anyone who had been furloughed. because of the interest of both senate republicans and house democrats that we have seen currently in this congress, we expect that to continue and we are hopeful employees will get paid. whether president trump will

veto such a bill, i don't know. i believe the intent of congress is to get everyone paid. host: furloughed means these are the people who are deemed nonessential and they are not allowed to report to work. caller: not essential is a harsh term to use for somebody who is an employee with the federal government and does serve their country and performs a very important service. for instance, the white house out evenike to point though we have a shutdown, law enforcement is on the job, national security personnel on the job, firefighters, other essential services and that is true for the most part. what is also true is a lot of the people who service those first responders and other security employees are not there , including contractors and other federal employees who provide them with logistics and intelligence analysts and other

services to keep them on the job and keep them safe. are now working without that support staff and they are in a place of more jeopardy then they would be. they are on the job, but taking unnecessary risk because of a shutdown. host: when will americans who are not federal workers feel the impact of their government not working for them? caller: i think they have already -- guest: i think they have already felt it. a lot of people who tried to access national parks have found the parks have been closed. a lot of visitor centers have been closed. small businesses -- for the small business association is closed. they don't have access to those loans. closed. that will delay homebuying loans and home construction loans. it will affect markets in industries that work with the

governments. logging and so forth. they will be put on hold. we have a bare-bones staff for food safety at the food and drug administration. if we get another vegetable on the market that is tainted, it will take longer to figure out where that came from and figure out what to do about it. irs will be prepared for tax season. even the federal courts will close their doors january 11 when they run out of money. it is going to get a lot worse than it is now. we are kind of tempered because of the holidays. outside of properties and national parks closed, the economy will start to feel it shortly if this continues any reasonable time passed january 3 or fourth. in thehere is a headline wall street journal the initial impact on the economy is likely to be minimal. do you disagree with that?

guest: i would disagree because i think it depends on what you consider minimal and what scale you are using. right now, there are federal parks losing revenue from visitors and i mentioned all the other businesses being affected. industries affected by it 800,000 middle-class families will pull back on spending until this is over. if this ends soon, the impact will be minimal. if this continues for a while, the impact could be stark. host: let me add to your list of federal agencies, the washington post notes the federal emergency management agency said the national flood insurance program would not issue new policies during the shutdown, a potential nightmare for would-be homebuyers who need the insurance before closing. about resources for furloughed workers. is there any temporary assistance. we saw from opm yesterday a tweet giving sample letters to federal workers they could send

to creditors and banks. shot. it is worth a a lot of creditors and banks are not particularly interested in personal issues. the burden is on the federal employee. in the advice that came out of opm was the advice to contact a to help withrney legal issues. if they cannot afford mortgage or rent, they don't have money to hire an attorney. that maybe fruitless advice. the education and assistance fund. have some emergency funding for feds who have been furloughed or working without pay. they provide temporary loans for employees so they can pay rent and keep lights on in the home. if you are in need of that, go

to fea.org. it does take time to issue the loans, so the sooner you get to them, the better. host: steve lenkart, thank you. guest: thanks, greta. happy new year. host: happy new year. wanda has been waiting in california. a federal worker. good morning. caller: good morning, greta. i hope you can hear me. host: we can. you are on the air. theer: i hope you give me same amount of time as you give that last guy that talked before the federal worker. but anyway, i have several things i would like to say. no, i totally disagree with the wall for many, many reasons. alongwere to ask citizens the border wall will their homes

willands be impacted and inshut down countless years legal fees deciding whose land through eminent domain you can come in and take my land and put a wall there, that is number one. number two is why would i need to suffer for something this president said someone else -- mexico was going to build? now i am suffering for his lie? tape. three, there was a i am pretty sure trump wanted it scrubbed when the -- when the mexican government told him flat out he was not paying for it and trump decided to say, can you fake it and pretend you are going to pay? that video was out for a while.

number four, why is it you always allow these republicans to say it is the democrats fault when they have the house, the senate, the white house and win obama was in office, they did obstrucbut op struck -- t and then blamed democrats for every shutdown. ted cruz was up reading green exit ham and obama had the white house -- green eggs and ham and obama had the white house and they couldn't get this stuff. host: i never said it was the democrats fault, the caller was noting it takes 10 democrats in the senate because they need 60 votes, he was noting a fact of the u.s. senate. the associated press notes the 25% of the government that is shut down includes treasury,

agriculture, homeland security, interior, state departments, housing and urban development, transportation commerce, and the justice department. included in the homeland department is the u.s. customs and border patrol agents and henry cuellar, who represents many of them in his test -- texas district notes in this story that about 54,000 customs and border patrol agents are working without pay as they are deemed essential amidst this u.s. government shutdown. they will be working without pay , nonessential, typically administrative positions are not working. they make up about 2% of the department of homeland security. dennis in fairfax county, virginia. caller: good morning, greta treat happy 2019. i wanted to encourage president

trump. because of the nature of what is going on, terrorists and all manner of folk who have ill intent for our country and our people to declare a national emergency at the border and use the military and the corps of engineers and military budget to build the wall. that wall will be built even if they have to bypass congress and a national emergency is the only way i think we are going to be able to build this wall. i wanted to encourage president trump to do that because it is a national emergency. host: hang on the line and let's get your reaction to this tweet. we will be forced to close the government entirely -- change the immigration laws our country is saddled with. hard to believe there was a congress and president who would approve. caller: yep. host: go ahead, your reaction. caller: my reaction is good.

i agree with president trump's intent 100% because his intention is to protect the american people, you and me and sleeper cells at home, all manner of people are coming through as a threat to the united states. host: have you looked at the statistics of who comes through? caller: the statistics are so skewed based on who is doing it i totally ignore that. i reject statistics because of the biased nature. i want to say one other thing. author you female had on this morning and they were discussing -- i guess it was a phd gentleman who called in complaining there are so many foreigners with phd's. host: that was yesterday's program. caller: yeah. the lady's answer. i can't remember what the author's name was. host: alyssa quart.

caller: yeah. her answer to illegal aliens and was the problem. she said -- she came back with an answer saying the foreigners coming in with a green card -- it is technology displacing your jobs. if it is technology, shouldn't we stop more people from coming in to create an even bigger problem? being --no reason to bring in more foreigners if technology is displacing us with the job -- host: several workers have been sharing their thoughts on twitter about the impact of the shut down on them. dana tweeted work security for trump's inauguration and because of unrealistic demands, i am my vacation ig

bid on a year ago. securityud to work -- for you, referring to trump's inauguration. how are you proud of shutting us down? mother, is one of several hundred thousand federal employees working without pay. we are fortunate she is financially secure. that is not true for everyone. another tweet from retired master chief, just transferred money into my son's bank account. he is in the coast guard and won't getting paid. i am glad we are in a position to do this. i am sure there are some stressed coast guard spouses. david in corpus christi, texas, federal worker. caller: good morning. i wanted to make a comment that everybody seems to take trump

seriously when he says he is building this wall. as far as i am concerned, it is a metaphor read it is a thing to get the broader point across that we need border security. we need a wall in certain places. i think everybody knows we cannot build a wall across the entire border. larger point the he is trying to make, we need a wall in certain places. i am on little willing to make the sacrifice because i can afford to as of right now. somebody is going to have to reopen the government at some host: host: time. how long can you go, do you think? caller: well, i am retired military, so i can go a little longer because i have a retirement check coming in.

, i would say also, the cost of the wall versus the cost of pretty much the social in ringing inved people that rely on those is kind of like a balancing act. that is all my comment. host: eugene in clinton, maryland. what do you do? caller: good morning. i am the father and father-in-law of two federal workers. i have a comment to make in regards to my calling the white house. i called the white house forerday to leave a message the president of the united states of america and would you believe i was told that because of the shut down, i could not leave any messages? that concerned me a great deal.

it concerned me as much as it concerns me about my son-in-law and my daughter, who are federal workers in the washington, d.c. area who could not go to work and will not be receiving a check. america.to all america, do this for me. as invery voice and sing the negro national anthem and for those who don't understand national anthem, just google lift every voice and sing . lift every voice and saying, that is dr. eugene williams senior. and mr. president, i want you to learn lift every voice and sing because we will be singing for those federal workers and we are

praying you will understand what this is all about. host: help them understand by telling us the impact on your daughter and son-in-law. what are they going to do? they are furloughed workers. they might not get paid. congress could approve legislation that would give them pay for this time. what are they doing? caller: i will tell you. one thing we have taught our children is to always have a backup plan. we would back them up as well. my wife and i are retired, but we are retired in good standing and we will support them all the way. this son-in-law did something for me that makes me so endeared to him. when i started the project on lift every voice and sing he dod to me, i am going to

something for you and this is very important to me. he said, i am going to buy you a baseball cap with lift every voice and sing on it so you can pronounce all over the world we should be singing this great anthem. host: rob in new york. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i am democrat who believes in border security, but i believe in technology. we have the technology. we don't need a fourth century stonewall or cement wall, whatever. would have say i more respect from republicans and trump if i heard them every time they said the word wall, they said the word e-verify great if they pushed the concept of e-verify as much as they push this, we could get somewhere. e-verify is a real answer. i wanted to say something else. all the chaos trump creates is

intentional. all the fires mr. trump starts is intentional and it is intentional to distract us from his incompetent, his non-insight , his ignorance of history and government, his lack of self-development. he doesn't want us to see who he is. he acts like a child. i took a job as a substitute teacher many years ago and i was completely unqualified and i stood in front of a class of middle schoolers and tried to distract them from the fact i did not know what to do. i did not know what to teach. i did not know really how to go about doing anything in that class, but i was a reasonably good maybe not so good distract her in chief of this -- distractor in chief of this class and in a grand way, i think that is what our president

is doing and lastly, if you let me finish, i think it is absolutely gross negligence to disregard lifelong -- a lifelong military expert, our generals who have insight beyond -- way beyond what normal human beings have. these are expert generals and to fire these people, to disregard what they have to say and not be able to communicate with them. host: we heard your point. jean, lexington, kentucky. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a message for mitch mcconnell. -- we need the border wall and it is because technology cannot stop somebody from crossing the border. when they step a foot in this country, they are aced it -- a

citizen and that is stupidity. the underlying crime is the illegal crossing and if the democrats would use their own mind and quit letting chuck schumer tell them what to do, we would get those 10 votes. mitch mcconnell, the state of kentucky is watching him. this is on democrats because they don't think for themselves and they need to pass this. all the technology in the world will not stop somebody from rushing the border. federal workers, once they have been furloughed, they can go on unemployment, they did last time. they will get some type of money . this is on the democrats completely and i support some democrat policies and republican policies. this is on them because chuck schumer won't let them vote for it and they won't think for themselves. host: the washington times, irs

unable to recoup nearly one billion in health subsidies. the irs overpaid nearly $4 billion to obamacare customers and because of the way the law is written, it cannot try to collect on a quarter of that. with averages accounting for 3.7 billion of that read only $2.7 billion was recaptured. the $1 billion is small compared to the overall budget, but 20% of the border wall funding request that spurred the current government shutdown. the washington times front page has the story about fentanyl and the threat of it on the street and the decontamination costs. police pulled over two suspected heroin dealers moving a drug in a rental car. smaller than a grain of sand,

fentanyl is so lethal even trace amounts can kill. the rental car company called the ceo of crime scene cato -- crime scene cleanup company and she said it would cost $30,000. theirecutive told her risk management team concluded they would rather clean the car themselves and hope no customers would be exposed. it was a huge gamble by the rental car company. exposure to less than two grams could kill an unexpected person who thinks it is merely sand. an update on saudi arabia and the front page of the financial times, the king shakes up the centers of power in the wake of the khashoggi killing. the king announced changes to the cabinet as he ordered his first shakeup of the power structure since the killing. the crown prince implicated by

u.s. lawmakers in the death, retained his wide-ranging powers. the reshuffle was likely viewed as an attempt by the king to clean house and signal to the international community his recognition of the concern over .he killing front page of the financial times this morning. cindy in new jersey. good morning to you. what are your thoughts as this government shutdown extends into the new year? caller: we have such an unqualified president, if he feels this wall should be built and it is so necessary, maybe he should use his own money. thank you and have a good day. host: cleveland, ohio. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am not in favor of building a wall. use the technology or robots or the military to keep undesirables out.

everybody in this country is an immigrant. the only people who are not are the native americans. i do not want my tax money used to build a wall. thank you so much. host: more tweets from federal workers with their story. matthew smith saying good evening, congressman. i wanted you to know as one of your constituents that i am disappointed you did not do anything to ensure the members of the u.s. coast guard would not miss a paycheck and the president tweeting out again this morning, the united states loses so much money on trade with mexico under nafta, over $75 billion a year not including drug money, which would be many times that amount that i would consider closing the southern border a profit-making operation. nothing --wall or apparently. timothy and washington, d.c.

ma'am. yes, i have been working all my life. i work for a contractor in alexandria, virginia. laid off and then we were called back. we were called back and it was straight spanish making $10 an hour. why would we want a border wall to keep the illegals out so we support our jobs and our families? it is not making any sense. host: thought you were done, sorry about that. teresa, a federal worker tweets out it is hard to wrap my head around the fact my husband is deemed one of the 400,000 federal employees called to work for free. he was forced to give up

scheduled time off yet lawmakers not only get paid, but now closed for the holidays. represented of mark meadows, i depend on you to find some form of compromise. i took a job with the u.s. forest service a month ago. i had to move to an entirely new state. i stretched thin to get here just to be shut down. the government shutdown is forcing me to work with no guarantee of backpay because i am deemed essential personnel. going oven -- going on day seven. i will be asking creditors for extensions. my kids got a zero presents for christmas. dave in ohio. what do you do? ?ave let me try again. david in illinois. caller: good morning. host: not a federal worker, go ahead. caller: thanks.

my heart really goes out to these federal employees whose tweets you read and i wanted to make the point that this shutdown solution is not really effective and the long-term solution to border security that i think everybody wants is going to be in technology and things like someone pointed out earlier, e-verify. those are the solutions that will really help stem or regulate the flow of immigration and $5 billion for a wall is not going to solve the problems because of the eminent domain issue and because a wall as a physical barrier is not the best way to do it. host: mary in chattanooga, tennessee. a federal worker. what do you do? mary, good morning to you. caller: hello, hi. i am calling because i don't understand why when there is a shut down that anyone has the

not to fund people that work for the government. there should be a process in place that the federal employees continue to receive paychecks. my concern is i don't understand how people would want a wall -- the majority of americans do not want the wall. that has been proven. the wall will not prevent anything that someone wants to do. there are ways to get around anything. they can just go around and come through the northern border. it is ridiculous. i don't understand it. my concern mainly is president trump. he seems to have no compassion for anyone. host: let me read something to you from roll call.

in the story, they end with a recent and p.r. pbs newshour paul showing 65% of surveyed republicans want to the president to hold firm on his border wall demand while only 21% of democrats do. republicans -- republican voters seem to be holding strong and supporting the president on this wall. caller: i am sure they are and those are the only people he is president of, his republican base. there has never been a president in base that has been that way, that the only people he governs is his own base. he should be the president of all the people. his base, they are the most selfish, ignorant people i ever ran across. it is as if they cannot understand, they cannot read, comprehend, understand. host: why would you say disparaging things like that about those people? caller: listen to the things

they say. they say president obama gave thisoney to -- we need wall to keep people out. makes nos they say, it sense. it is as if they don't want to understand it is as if they are stuck and don't want to move any further. i don't understand why anybody would want -- not want to expand their mind. they believe anything he says and it has been proven time after time that he laws pretty wants american taxpayers to pay for the wall that the majority of the country does not want. that is the part i don't understand. let republicans pay for the wall by themselves. host: more shutdown stories on twitter. holly. at 40, i pay a few of my mom's bills. i can afford it. she is a trump supporter and she offered to loan me money through the trump shutdown.

i don't know if she changed her mind, but here we are. union, i have lost two family members to illegal drugs smuggled in from mexico. i am willing to endure short-term hardship in order for gain in theterm form of a wall. freddie in indianapolis. he is a retired federal worker. have you live through past government shutdowns? caller: yes, ma'am. i don't want to speak of that. i want to speak about the first lady who spoke before me. i would like to say, you go, girl. i believe in border security, but i do not believe in this trump wall. i keep hearing republicans say the wall will work because it worked in israel. yes, that wall works in israel along with the signs on the wall that says if you touch the wall,

you are going to get shot and there are machine guns looking at you along with landmines. proposingpublicans that is what we put out there? military personnel with machine guns and landmines? i don't understand these republicans. i do not these people from central america just walking in on my country. at the same time, i do not them nor do i want them to be treated inhumane. welcome to the conversation. you are in arkansas, good morning. caller: i want to agree with the last gentleman. i don't think we need a wall. we need to take care of people that are starving and homeless instead of spending that kind of money. worst president we ever had. host: what do you think

democrats should do? caller: they should fund not for the wall, they want border security and that is all i think we should get. theyore people on because need jobs. hire people for security. host: we mentioned this story earlier, the wall street journal impact ofhe economic a shut down and read the bedline they say it could minimal, likely to be minimal and the danger lies in the prospect of a prolonged stalemate. coming at a time when investors and businesses are jittery over multiple factors including u.s.-china trade tensions, rising interest rates, decline in stock prices and slowing economic growth. s&p estimates the third shut down this year could shave 1.2 billion dollars off u.s. gross domestic product for each full workweek it continues.

a relatively small hit in a $20 trillion economy. historically, shutdowns have not affected emmett -- economic output. growth accelerated and the unemployment late -- rate fell to historic lows propelled by tax cuts and an agreement to boost federal spending. the story was similar in 1995 with two shutdowns of less than a week each. another concern is an extended budget shutdown and hardened gridlock could make it difficult for the white house and congress to agree to raise the federal borrowing limit next year. the government would on -- the unable to pay all its bills, potentially hurting the economy. andre in illinois. you are a federal worker. what do you do? caller: i work for the

department of justice federal bureau of prisons. host: are you an essential employee? are you furloughed? caller: i am an essential employee. host: so you are reporting to work? caller: yes, i am. host: you are reporting to work with no pay? caller: as for right now, as an essential staff, we are paid, but our leave days are not guaranteed. we are not guaranteed payback. i wanted to give perspective on doing.nd what he is trump has a plan and if you could follow me for a second, it is equivalent to this. if you walked in a home and instead of upgrading the bathroom or upgrading the kitchen, trump is the one saying we are going to knock the house

down and rebuild it. to the process of knocking this house down might seem to be far-fetched, but he is total internal way of operating. i really think he has a plan and i think it will be effective at the end of it all. when you see the house being knocked down, it is devastating. when you rebuild the house and it is built fully, it will prove to be worth it. andre in florida. we are going to take a break. when we come back, we will talk about the politics of the wall funding and the government shutdown and other top little stories of 2018. ofn later on, it is a 6 washington journal's weeklong author series, 7 days featuring what we think are some of the

interesting books of this last year and in 30 minutes we will speak to mona charen about her book. ♪ ♪ announcer: california will have seven new members of the house in the 116th congress, all of whom are democrats, and all of them represent districts previously held by republicans. first inta is the orange county, south of los angeles, a businessman and attorney. he and his wife also opened a homeless shelter for families when they lived in ohio. katie porter in the 45th district saw the limitation of a $25 million settlement on behalf of the state of california.

she is also a law professor at the university of california irvine. toe levan was elected represent the 49th district. he's worked in environmental law and the clean energy industry for most of his career. he also spent time as the executive director of the orange county democratic party and as a fundraiser for hillary clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. gil cisneros is a navy veteran. he was laid off from his job in 2010 when he won $266 million in the mega millions jackpot. he and his wife used some of the money to establish scholarships and an educational foundation. democrats picked up a fifth seat in the los angeles area. katie hill was elected to the district just north of the city. she used to run a nonprofit for the homeless. she will be the youngest number of california's congressional delegation. the 21sts elected to

district, south and west of fresno in the san joaquin valley. he has a degree in engineering and worked for a time as a mining engineer. he later received a business degree and opened several businesses in the area, including two companies that process locally grown nuts. arter was elected in the 10th district, a venture capitalist who taught business at a local community college. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: back at our table this here to josh kraushaar talk about shutdown politics. there's been shutdowns before, obviously. we showed our viewers the many every sometimes. how has the political pain of these changed?

is their political pain anymore? guest: the incentives for both parties suggests this could be an awfully long shutdown. president trump, as we've seen with his twitter feed, knows that his base wants the wall, once the funding for the wall, and seems intent to shut down the government and play this out as long as possible. but you have house democratic leadership coming in. nancy pelosi be the incoming speaker next week. the democrats no public opinion is on their side. there was a new reuters poll out today showing only 35% of the public supported the $5 billion in funding for a wall, and only 25% of registered voters said they would want government to be shut down as a result of that. the sides are dug in. chuck schumer earlier in the month laid down a redline of sorts saying he won't find any additional money for this border wall. i think we will see at least a week, if not longer, of

recriminations and a real battle being fought in the new congress. host: will there be political fallout for either side? the political pain is least significant now because we just had an election. the next election is in for another two years. that also creates incentives for both sides to stick it out and see how the political chips fall. i think democrats hold the upper hand. they have leverage. they have the incoming house. it is unlikely they will give a lot to trump, president trump seems inclined to draw this thing out. host: the reuters poll also said 45% hold president trump responsible, while 33% lead democrats in congress. will that matter? guest: it matters a little bit, but president trump's strategy has been to focus on the base. when you have a clear majority of republicans that support what he is doing, there's not a lot of incentive for him twofold without getting some sort of concession. host: we read this poll earlier,

the npr/pbs poll that showed republicans what the president to hold firm on the border wall. 'sest: a big part of trump's base, the border wall is the trump presidency. the campaign rallies, including the ones in the run-up to the midterms last year, were all about the border wall. for trump do not get anything, he would consider that a political loss. he does not want to lose support from his hard-core base. host: a republican supporter of the president last week called it custer's last stand for the president. he has to hold firm on this. guest: it looked like we had the makings of a that partisan deal. mitch mcconnell was getting a little more funding for some kind of security measures. the border wall wouldn't have been funded. but trump changed his mind. he decided he couldn't risk losing support from his hard-core base. host: is either side missing an opportunity to task the other

here? responsible know what is in town. lawmakers -- no one is in town. lawmakers have left. guest: there certainly would be a political incentive in this town that has been gridlocked for a couple of years for one side to be the adults. for democrats to say we will take more money and see if we can get halfway, or for president trump to at least say he's cognizant about the pain government workers are experiencing. one thing that was interesting from the determine election is that among the voters who decided in the last week, the late deciding voters, swung overwhelmingly to the democratic party. exit polls back to the data up. a lot of that was because the president focused so much on immigration and the caravan. that turned off even republican voters. they voted more for democrats than for republicans. the long-term play for

trump is to close the government for not getting funding for the wall, that is a long-term political loser. what couldost: democrats get in return from the president that would boost their numbers with their base? guest: the risk for democrats is that they are unconcerned about border security generally. when you look at the polling, trump wins on the sort of general feeling that democrats don't care about the border, that they don't have a real serious concern about what is going on with immigration policy. but when you get to the when you shut down the government over the funding, that is where he loses those swing voters. i think it is really important that the democrats not seem ignorant or naive about the challenges that come with border security. may be more funding would be a half measure, but it seems like

both sides are hardened into their positions, and not a lot of short-term compromise. host: would want to invite our viewers to join in on this conversation. what do you think the political fallout would be? what you want to see from the president, if you support him, or the democrats, if you support them? the numbers are (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and independents (202) 748-8002. let's hear from bill in chicago, an independent. caller: yes. we need e-verify. a wall will not keep drugs out of this country. it is ridiculous. there are airplanes and drones. and through the open ports or whatever.

because keep drugs out we have a market. not only are we faced with the drugs coming in, we've got big pharma. they are just as dangerous as the drugs coming in. host: ok. so two issues there. the border issue when it comes to illegal drug trafficking across the border, but also the magnet. ishear from our viewers that immigrants are taking jobs away from americans, and politically, how does that play? that trumpargument has made, you have a liberal immigration policies that hurt the ability for working-class americans to get a job. that does play well, especially with trump's blue-collar base, but again, the argument that is being fought maliki connect government funding to immigration policy, when you connect any of your pet issues to keeping the government-funded

, it is likely a political loser. president trump, usually also congress, loses when they pick a fight with the present over government funding. early polling suggests the president would be held responsible. but from a political point of view, the challenge for the president is to make the democrats seem intransigent, as unwilling to cover mice. to do that --as unwilling to compromise. to do that, he is not going to have to tweet. caller: how are you doing this morning? host: good morning. caller: my comment would be i think the trying to build the wall and the government shutdown , i think it could go in republicans' favor in 2020 because we cannot have illegal immigration keep taking our jobs. i know personally from myself they come in and rubbed my

family out of business -- and run my family out of business. the political implication i think is going to go well for republicans in 2020. host: why do you say that, ernest? caller: we just cannot keep having illegal immigration. they destroy everything our country was built on. i believe illegal immigration by all means. my family was immigrants back in the 1700s of a but not illegal immigration. first of all, it's breaking our laws. host: if the president says i'm going to compromise, i'm going to accept not $5 billion, but a number much less than that, but still around $1 billion, let's say, and democrats say ok, would you hold that against him? or are you ok with that? guest: no man -- caller: no ma'am. no compromise. the wall was estimated to cost may be 25 billion dollars, $30

billion, and mexico was going to pay for it. the american people can still pay for this wall. they can charge a certain percentage for sending me money back home. but no, no compromise. $1 billion won't do anything. host: ok. are you upset the president didn't fulfill his campaign promise that mexico would pay for it? caller: well, if the democrats would go along with it, the latin american countries could pay for it. but the democrats just said they aren't doing anything. myself in people like the 2020 election will taken into consideration. the democrats want to close the border. they don't want anything to help working-class people. host: ok. guest: as you pointed out, the

biggest challenge for trump is that he said mexico was going to pay for this wall. that didn't happen. as the caller suggested, trump supporters have shown in the polls in doesn't really matter. they are still pretty steadfast behind the president. but that is a big broken promise, and one that has created this situation. is mexico was really paying for a wall, this would not be the issue. echo exactly what he just got finished saying. the whole chant in the rallies was build a wall. mexico is going to pay for it. theymexico was saying weren't going to pay for it, he hollered 10 feet higher. he didn't say y'all were going to pay for it. and this government shutdown, i'm so tired of hearing about how the democrats don't border control. , and it soundse

so stupid to hear people say such foolishness as that. you know, here at christmas time, walmart had people literally standing in their of itemser pallets that were going to go on sale at a certain time. those people were getting paid to guard that palette of towels. we have people here that don't have proper education to be able to do certain jobs, and they are having hard time finding work. we have security places that offer after-hours security. put people to work out on this border, and have them guard the land. we can build structures like guard shacks and stuff like that. people would be there to handle paperwork, to see if there's a problem. we could put armed people out there that have the authority to arrest or whatever, if we have people coming through the don't

need to that are going to bring harm. host: ok. the president tweeting this morning again on the border wall funding. "we will be forced to close the southern border entirely if the obstructionist democrats do not give us the money to finish the wall and also change the ridiculous immigration laws our country is saddled with. was ao believe it or congress and president who would approve! i would consider closing the southern border a profit-making operation. we build a wall or close the southern border. bring our car industry back into the united states where it belongs. go back to pre-nafta before so many companies and jobs were so foolishly sent to mexico. , finish, theld wall or we close the border. forminga new caravan is in honduras, and they are doing

nothing about it. all aidbe cutting off to these three countries taking advantage of the u.s. for years." if he were to close the southern border, what with the effect be? guest: presidential rhetoric doesn't end up translating into policy. you hear him talking about the caravan again, which was a big issue just before the midterm elections, died down, and has not been in the news in many weeks. there hasn't been a national security issue. it is also worth referring that's also worth we would bring that the $5 billion is essentially a down payment on the wall. it shows how far apart both parties are. the democrats don't even want to pay for this beginning funding for a border wall. republicans are making it the be all and end all of whether we fund the government or not. i think there is a divided name -- a divide in the democratic

party. most of their views are to the left of where the american people stand. nancy pelosi coming in as speaker knows that, trying to strike a pragmatic alex. book -- pragmatic balance. but when you hear about democrats talking about getting rid of vice, that is -- getting rid of ice, that is as unpopular as president trump's plan with the average public, getting rid of ice or even speaking badly of ice. host: where do independents fall in this debate? guest: you look at the reuters poll and the pbs poll you talked about earlier, independents are very much on the democratic side when it comes to wall funding. independents of agree with democrats on the issue of government funding for the wall, and even more if the democrats on not tying this to government shutdown. host: mark in alabama,

independent. caller: good morning. i have two questions for your guest. first of all, i don't know if he knows the answers to this or not, but as far as the shutdown goes, what i've been hearing -- i've been watching your show all morning -- the essential employees, as far as i have report to required to work, even though they are not going to get paid. host: yes. caller: at some point they will get paid. but they have to report to work without getting paid. host: that's correct. caller: that doesn't make any sense to me because nobody can force anybody to go to work if you are not getting paid. you just don't get in your car and don't go to work. good to collect unemployment while the government is shutdown?

because they are out of work, basically, through no fault of their own. that is my first question. second question is why do congress people get paid during a shutdown? host: let's talk about the politics of that, josh. capitol hill lawmakers are gone. they are enjoying their holiday. federal workers who have been deemed essential can't take their vacations. they have to report to work. they are not getting paid now. they will get paid in back pay. but furloughed workers do not know if they are going to get paid. the politics and the optics of that -- guest: whoever is blamed for the government shutdown loses politically, and that is exactly why. you showed a lot of pretty poignant feedback from viewers and readers that this is affecting people's ability to buy christmas gifts for the family or have a vacation that was hardy plant. it has a real impact -- that was

already planned. it has a real impact. i think it has been a little muted because it is during a holiday and people already had vacations and weren't planning to go to work. the political brain is going to be more significant going into painew year -- political is going to be more significant going into the new year, with -- when the smithsonian closes after january 1, people start feeling what it is like not to have the government working at full steam. i think the political pain is going to increase and president trump is going to feel more pressure. host: silas is in vermont, republican. caller: hello. good morning. ,ne of the things about science bill nye the science guy brought up a while ago that mass migration from syria was induced

by a massive drought going on there, which people from the countryside were no longer able to feed themselves on their and farms, moved into the cities, and created social strife, and that resulted in political upheaval, so people are migrating away from areas for reasons other than political reasons. there was recent news that came out that i was tuned into that the central america region is drought.ering from a crops are failing, so the population isn't able to feed itself. some of these people are migrating away from that strife. building a wall at our border is one thing, but actually the is ensuinghe problem from the location. this may be a greater issue for the united nations to aggress because -- to address because as clever change presents itself, people are under strife because

of massive drought. the united nations is going to have to address this globally because as global warming advances, you are going to have changes in climate areas and mass migrations, which means people will end up at somebody's border, whether it is the united states, argentina. the solution may be having education programs at the consulates of these countries where people who want to leave because they can't survive for one reason or another where they are, that they should go to the consulates come over there is a welcoming program where they say, where do you want to go, what do you want to do, and then an education system put in place so areas they migrate to, they , likeivics lessons bachelor's and phd level degrees where they can go into a system where they are already

prequalified and understood as to what kind of job and how they can fit into society and they have an education. host: ok. i'm going to leave it there. might in florida -- mike in florida, a democrat. caller: good morning. i don't know how we are going to get back to a political place to do this, but we need to go back to having comprehensive immigration bill that really looks at some of these issues. one of the ways is they are going to have to go after the employers in mass numbers that illegally higher illegal immigrants. we should go back to some of the visa programs. bring them to america, make them pay taxes, give them the licenses they need so they are insured and everything. just common sense, reasonable things. as far as the wall is concerned, it is idiotic. it didn't work for the chinese 1000 years ago. they gave up on the wall. host: mike, i want to take your

point about a broader deal that could be made out of this impasse. comprehensive immigration reform. talk about the politics of that in past and present. guest: that seems like pie in the sky right now. president bush and president obama were unsuccessful in trying to reach some legalizing of the folks in the country who came here illegally, but trying to improve border security to prevent further illegal immigrants from coming into the country. bush faced republican revolt back in 2006. it cost him a lot of support with his base. obama didn't really focus on immigration, and when he did it was a nonstarter. it is interesting trump did have the contours of compromise on immigration which would have ,unded the initial border wall and the big exchange was that the daca kids, the children of illegal immigrants in the country, would be permanently, as part of the law, allowed to

stay. that was something that looked like we could see a sort of nixon goes to china, trump really comprises kind of deal. but there were hard-liners both in the chubb administration and the house that didn't want to do that compromise -- the trump administration and the house it didn't want to do that compromise, and the administration putting a lot of poison pills at democrats were not willing to accept. we had the contours of border wall funding for daca. it didn't happen. it is unlikely to happen with a democratic house. host: the president pointed out that there was a court decision on daca that allows those participants to stay here. they are in limbo. does that give the democrats any incentive, now that the court has made a decision, to negotiate on the wall? guest: in 2019 the supreme court may have a say, so we could have another hot potato on the daca situation. that is why trump maybe should

have made the deal because the daca kids are protected legally by the court ruling. he chose not to, and here we are. host: steve in illinois, independent. caller: yes, i had three things recently to say. should the daca people come in if they've been in the country for 10 years or more. think if thelly i people like the tv announcers and everybody that what the upigrants in, have them give their tax cuts and other things. three, guatemala and honduras have quite beautiful oceanfronts. they could use some of that resort money or something to go

ahead and stabilize their economy. plus, they have oil, silver and gold, too. host: ok. michael is in pennsylvania, a republican. your thoughts. caller: good morning. the last gentleman was quite correct. the development of central america is key. i personally think we should quit sending them money and give them in kind aid. tractors, plows. stuff like that. crisis, dronesr and electronics are the answer. this would stop anyone from coming across the border. more personnel won't stop illegals from coming across the border. the lady earlier wanted a welcoming committee for the illegals. paying for it? mexico is keeping and housing and feeding these people from the caravan down south of san diego. they are spending a lot of money on that.

i think they are already paying for a wall, if you look at it that way. so mexico will pay for it. they are paying already. that's how i feel. that's about it. of other thing is, because climate change, the gentleman obviously wasn't in mexico today. i don't know if you -- wasn't in new mexico today. i don't know if you know what the weather was today. host: michael brings up the border patrol agents. a congressman who represent a lot of border patrol agents noted that they are at work. they are showing up. they are deemed essential, so they are working without pay. the president yesterday tweeting out that, "don't democrats realize all these federal workers are democrats." is that true? guest: majority probably are. i haven't seen the latest data on that front.

but look, there's a lot of different federal workers. they are not all cut here in washington, d.c. in the arizona senator grace at the border, what of the candidates for governor was trying to show he was tough on immigration, meeting with some of the local officials who were mostly democrats, but very conservative when it came to border security, and very serious about trying to come up with plans that would prevent illegal crossings taking place. this is not a homogenous issue. they can be pretty conservative when it comes to these issues, so it is not just a one-size-fits-all of the --ocrats are far right democrats are far left, republicans are far right. close i 2018 comes to a want to point out two stories

you have written. political plays of 2018" and "biggest pleasures of 2018." guest: the democrats across the house incident map didn't talk about president trump. they didn't talk about immigration. they didn't talk about the border wall. they focused squarely on the economy and health care, and made the president's i figured out overturning obama care and preventing people with pre-existing conditions from getting coverage, that was a huge issue. it was a big theme for the democrats who one big races -- who won big races in congress. that was controversial at first. a lot of democrats but that should be the issue. hillary clinton, when she ran, talked about his failings of the candidate. democrats did not fall into that trap, that is a big reason why

they won. host: biggest campaign blunders of 2018? guest: one relates to immigration. the president's decision to talk about the caravan in the final week. there was a lot of conventional wisdom at the time that the president was getting his base out, his core supporters. but when you look at the exit poll data of all the results, the late deciders and especially these suburban districts, they swung away from republican numbers of congress. it is pretty workable that all but four or five were picked up in suburban parts of the country , traditional republican areas that had long voted for public and members of congress. but the cultural position on immigration that trump took in the last week turned them off from the republican party, they swung to the democrats. host: if you want to read these stories and more, you can go to nationaljournal.com.

josh kraushaar is the political editor for national journal. thank you. appreciate it. coming up, it is day six of "washington journal's" weeklong authors series. with mona talking charen on her book "sex matters: how modern feminism lost touch with science, love, and common sense." ♪ sends fournew jersey new members to the house of representatives, all previously held by republicans. mikey sheryl will represent new jersey's second district, a federal prosecutor during one of the debates. >> i began my service to the country when i was 18 years old. i was in the united states navy

as a helicopter pilot and policy officer. i served in new jersey at the u.s. attorney's office. after a lifetime of service, i decided the best way to continue my service to my country and to new jersey was to run for congress because i'm not just concerned about what's happening now. i'm concerned about the future of new jersey because i have four kids. i think we need to work in a bipartisan manner to get good legislation passed in congress. a tax plan that doesn't attack new jersey. quality and affordable health care for everyone in this country. working hard to bring costs down in our health care system. infrastructure spending so we can grow our economy now and well into the future. i have always put this country first. i have worked with people from across the country and across the world to get the mission accomplished. host: jeff van drew -- announcer: jeff van drew was elected to the new jersey state after previous

terms in the general assembly, on the county board, and as a mayor. he is a dentist by profession. andy kim will represent new jersey's third district. he served on the national security council staff during the obama administration. he had previously been a civilian advisor to general david petraeus in afghanistan. tom malinowski was elected to new jersey's seventh district, also a veteran of the obama administration, serving as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. announcer: sunday on "q&a" -- >> we are on the floor of the united states senate. this is unprecedented. know what else has ever gotten the opportunity to do this. it is for a production documentary on the u.s. senate.

on the floor and hour before they begin, we are going to get shots during the session, and afterwards back on the floor. it is really special. announcer: c-span executive producer mark farkas talks about his work on c-span's upcoming original production "the senate: conflict and compromise." >> is mitch mcconnell suggested this, how much controlled it he have over the content? >> zero. we had a couple of conditions. one was that you got to grease the skids with the democrats because if we get access to the republicans, we've got to have access to the democrats. and two, you don't get any editorial control. they said that is fine, but we don't want you to focus on the acrimony. we said, no, you can't ask us to do that. we are not going to concentrate on it, but we can't shy away with from it. we got to come out with a

product we feel people on the journalism side and the people who watch the senate can feel we didn't give a big, wet kiss to the senate, but did do a hatchet job either. announcer: mark farkas, executive producer on c-span's original production "the senate: conflict and compromise," sunday at 8:00 eastern on "q&a." announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we continue today with our weeklong authors series, seven days of what we think are some of the most interesting books of the year. joining us to talk about her book "sex matters: how modern feminism lost touch with science, love, and common sense ," syndicated columnist mona charen. thank you for being here. what is this book about, and what prodded you to write it? guest: it is about how we went wrong and a little overboard in the feminist movement and sexual revolution.

the feminist movement was necessary and did some terrific things for our society, but i very badly andd misunderstanding one of the basic things women and men need, which is love and security. those things are best obtained through traditional marriage. unfortunately, feminism or trade marriage -- feminism portrayed marriage and family as traps, when in fact they are necessary for the happiness and supplement of women, and for the stability of society at large. host: what profit you to write it? when and how did the feminist marriageerr to make look or sound like a trap? guest: first, let me stress this doesn't apply to all feminists. there are millions of women who identify as feminist and believe in equality, which i do, too.

absolutely. so what prodded me to write it? the 1970'sge back in when radical feminism was really gaining a foothold. ," i go into what was happening in the culture in the 1970's. it was a very turbulent era. many different things were going on. but the feminism that came out of that era, so-called second wave feminism, was different from its predecessors, which stressed the right to vote in the right to be full participants in civil society and so forth. it veered off into a kind of quasi-marxist critique of everything about bourgeois society, including sexual standards and including family life. 1970's, ands of the

, katen depth in the book millet was portrayed as the chairman mao of feminism. gloria steinem and others who attacked the idea of family life, of courtship, of romance. all of those things. we are done with all of that. in the process, they sort of joined forces with the sexual revolution, which was also happening at that same time in our history. the sexual revolutionaries tended to be men who were tired of the old standard that you had to court a woman and have a usually aip, marriage, before you could expect sexual intimacy. they were all about tearing down those standards, and in a way, as i argue, if the feminists had

not joined forces with the sexual revolutionaries, the sexual revolution of the 1960's, at the time of counterculture, would never have become what it is today which is the dominant culture. we have a kind of free-for-all about sexuality, and it has led to tremendous pain and dysfunction. there are millions of kids growing up in homes without their two parents. there are millions of men disconnected from their children, from their families, even from work because they don't have that fundamental building block of good society which is a family. that is where we all begin. host: what is the impact of that , and do you have data that accident? -- that backs it up? guest: absolutely. my editor cut a lot of the data

out. he said, you've made your point. there is so much. the evidence is absolutely overwhelming that the best place for children to corrupt, to be happy and healthy and high functioning citizen -- to grow up, to be happy and healthy and high functioning citizens, is in an intact family. the inequality people worry about over the past 50 years is driven in large measure by changes in family structure. kids to grow up with only one parent, which is now almost 50% of american children these days, will spend at least some part of between zeroods and 18 in a single-parent home. of course, many single parents do a fabulous job, and they are to be commended for their tremendous work. but it is really hard raising children. i raised three sons with my

husband, and i hope i was a good parent, but i know for sure that if i had not had a husband who was an equal partner in this task, i definitely would not have been as good a parent. it is just too difficult a job to do the best job on your own. host: so what happens to girls and boys, men and women, if they are not raised in this traditional family structure? stress, many do fine. but the numbers are incontrovertible. many more children wind up living in poverty, for example, if they are raised just by single mothers. that extra income a father provides is crucial. people are vulnerable to losing their jobs, for example, if they are single parents. why? to take one example, your child gets sick.

you can't find reasonable care for your child. you take days off from work. europe oil gets provoked with you, and you lose your job -- your employer gets provoked with you, and you lose your job. there are many other examples. we know that young men raised without their father's tend to have all kinds of psychological problems. they have more problems controlling their aggression. they are less connected to the workforce. they are less likely to marry themselves. they are less likely to be employed and to finish college. there are some really m.i.t.ting data done by looking at others and sisters in florida raised by the same single mothers. what they found is interesting. we know there are problems for girls growing up without their dads come but what they noticed was that the boys fared even

worse. they are the ones who are even harder hit. they are less likely to have high ambitions for themselves, to be able to self regulate. we now know from a lot of psychological research that the ability to delay gratification and be self disciplined is an incredibly important trait for success, more important, people think, than iq. host: you write that "from increasing income inequality to depression and anxiety to falling participation rates to declining female happiness, the retreat from family life has far-reaching consequences. the institution feminism assailed as oppressive as looking more like the key to human thriving for both sexes, especially for children." of that model, in your opinion, apply to -- does that model, in your opinion, apply to gay and lesbian couples? guest: yes.

the challenges are a little more complicated if you are a same-sex couple. women, i think it is really important lesbian couples know about this research about the important of male role models. for example, fathers have a natural tendency to roughhouse with their kids. out apparently, as it turns , is incredibly important for boys' ability to control aggression later in life. they learn rules in those early years. so it is important if it is two lesbians raising a son that they have somebody in that boy's life who can play that kind of role for them, teach them how to roughhouse, sports, all those kinds of things. for men who are raising girls or boys -- in fact, i had a conversation with a gay friend who told me he had his husband

had to learn by watching mothers how you handle it when a kid falls and scrapes in -- scrapes apes a knee. dependency if you are a -- the tendency is to say you are fine. but the mothers would say are you ok, let me kiss it. it requires a little more expanding your horizons. host: what do you say to people who are critical of your thesis and say why should we go back in order to be successful now? aren't we just evolving as a society? guest: that. is a great question here's -- that is a great question. here's what i point out. look at the way our upper third

of our society are baiting right now. arele with college degrees following all of these old-fashioned styles of life. they tend to graduate from college or high school. they tend to get a full-time job. , almostd to get married always, and only have children after they are married. to can't say it is going back. it is what's -- you can't say it is going back. it is what's being done right now by the upper third of our society. is our elites would simply preach what they practice, we might be in a better position, but the problem is there is so much reluctance to say this works. this is what people need. this is what everybody should do. in fact, it is arguably more important for people with lesser levels of education to follow those steps and be sure they have solid home lives and

networks of family support that it is for people at the upper end because they have more money, more cushion against life's shocks. people at the bottom really need that support system even more. host: let's see what our viewers have to say. vicki is in minnesota, a democrat. caller: i've been waiting a long time for a book like this to come out. i feel like growing up in the 1970's, it really seems like that is when feminism was really going crazy. the simple things like men not opening the door for women, it is like so many things went away. i think that was hard on everybody. i was a real shy person. it seems like the sexual revolution came around. we were raised even angela's and it was -- raised evangelist and

it was hard to get into that life that so many people around me were living. i lived in inner three for four years, and i think we lost a lot of the morals. we can be as tough as guys. in a lot of ways, we can. i was a chemistry major. i was smart, and i went to get out there and do better than what i saw my mother. she raised six kids alone and worked full-time. my question is who is raising the kids? who's running the house? that is a full-time job. coming from the 1970's to now, i would love to go back to being at least a halftime housewife. how can you do that when you have a full-time job? host: is that financially realistic for you? guest: welcome when you listen to c-span, what is the biggest thing they are always talking about in america?

we've got to grow the economy. we need to go back to simpler things. there's 3, 4, five cars parked in everybody's driveway. there's how many tv's in every room. we need to go back to similar times. do we need all that? host: ok. , and iit is interesting appreciate a lot of what the caller said, that women who have choices from higher income families and don't feel the pressure to work full-time, when they are asked what their ideal is when their children are young , in school, they say their preferences for part-time work. that is what the plurality of women say. the majority of those in the upper income say that they would like part-time work. relatively small percentage that want full-time work when their children are young. this is something you don't see

a lot because the assumption is when an all want to be working full time when they are mothers, and it is just not the case. a lot of women do want the kind of balance the caller mentioned. i think we should be doing more to make sure it is within reach for more people, but it absolutely really is impossible unless the marriage norm is reestablished. host: when you say the marriage about theyou talking mother at home and he has been working? -- and the husband working? guest: now. i mean -- no. i mean that you get married before you have children. and then people work it out. they have all kinds of system. sometimes the husband stays home and the wife works. it does happen more and more. very often they have split schedules or they work out arrangements. , to give an example of

myself, i was working full-time until we had children, and then i switched to part-time. that suited me. it was nice that we can afford help. but many women are willing to trade off -- and i talk about this in "sex matters" -- more time with their families for higher income. they want the time and the flex ability, and there's no reason we should disrespect that choice or say they are letting down the sisterhood. that's what they want. host: in florida, bill is watching, and independent. caller: good morning. i would like to address the lack of unionization down here in florida and all over the country. that, as well as collective-bargaining and the 12 -- the 12 hour work days they have here in florida for these poor nurses working three days, 12 hours a

day. an absolute disgrace that these people are working in such primitive conditions. host: and the impact of that on what we are talking about. lower wages, baby without union representation, as he is arguing, and these hours that these buddies are requiring to these12 hour shifts -- companies are requiring to work, 12 hour shifts. guest: well, i've always believed that unions should be negotiate collectively for their work. that is part of our capitalist system. i know some people have three days on, three days off. but without knowing more about the individual situations, i don't really feel competent to comment.

host: ron in california, a republican. caller: how are you doing? thanks for taking my call. thanks for writing the book. let's go back to the fundamentals of the reasons why we are in the case we are. people forget -- i happened to grow up during those days of the wonderful 1960's when the pill came in. if we went away from natural selection, natural selection means you pick a guy or girl because of who they are and what they are, what they represent. when those days went away because of the pill, it gave freedom for women to do exactly who and what they wanted to do, whenever they wanted to do it. as a result of that fact, you might notice in the black community, immediately they started losing all of their men. because of what? economics. there were no jobs. did put them into the army and sent them into vietnam, as they

sent a lot of others as well. that was to get us off the streets because we were causing social upheaval in the schools and everything else. it is a really fundamental issue here that when you would come back from vietnam as i did and run into girls that had decided they wanted to get pregnant because that was the only way they figured they could get a man in those days of a well, here's a beautiful little kid and you had to date them, and you had no way to feed them because you had no viable job to support a family. now it is even worse than it was then. there's no brady bunch world we live in now. we have to look at it and say give people a real job and give them some real support so they can raise a family with one income. host: ok. mona charen, the you have any

thoughts on that? guest: well, a lot has been laid at the feet of the pill. i am not so convinced that that alone was so influential. there were other forms of birth control that were available before that. i mentioned in the book the vulcanization of rubber in the early part of the 20th century probably did have a big impact on birth control technology, but and theg jobs relationship to family life, i do not think, nor do i recommend , that we have to go back to an era when a man's job was assumed to be supporting a family because i think that would put intolerable burdens on women who may doing the exact same job and lead to discrimination and so forth.

what i am saying is if we return to the idea that it is a disservice to your self and your future children for either men or women to have children without marriage, that you will have many fewer children growing and theut the skills emotional maturity and all the other things you need to be a successful worker. there's some really interesting about menis book talking about there are no jobs, but men with only a high school diploma who are married are more likely to be in the workforce then men who have some college but are not married. there's something about being married that makes men -- and by women, married

women, and single men all make roughly equal salaries. the people who really excel in the salary realm are married men. there's something that happened to men when they get married where they seem to be much more conscientious at work, more willing to work hard to get a raise. they become more ambitious. we don't really know exactly how that all works, but the data do show it. host: was their inequality there because married women and single moms might be just as motivated? guest: they may be working fewer hours, so that would of course account for it. they may be taking time off to care for kids or work part-time. and single women are really at a disadvantage because they are trying to do everything. they are trying to take care of the kids, run a family, it is extremely difficult for them. guest,ona charen is our

the author of the new book "sex matters: how modern feminism lost touch with science, love, and common sense." we will go to walter in indiana, a republican. caller: tax for taking my call. -- thanks for taking my call. i got a headache listening to all of this. i just don't understand for the life of me what women want or this or that. if you want to be a victim, go right ahead. men are supposed to be men and women are supposed to be women. there natural, genetic traits to us. when the lady said it doesn't seem like when a man is married he goes out and becomes more conscientious, that's because for thousands of years the man was the hunter and gather were. the woman was the nurturer. by now that are turning into women and women are turning into men. everybody is snow flakes. breaking the glass ceiling.

my mom came from ireland. she met a husband. she painted the house, worked hard, and never thought she was a victim. if all of these think they are victims, go ahead. a lot of it is anti-men. you have these lesbian organizations and they actually hate men because they wish they could be men. host: we will leave it there. -- charen?an note: i think i detected a of hostility toward women in general. you might enjoy a chapter called difference" where we talk about the science and how we are uncomfortable acknowledging there are basic biological and psychological differences between the sexes. i feel there is absolutely no reason to be afraid of the -- ity of this and people

think some people are afraid if they are honest about the differences between men and women, this will be used to women's disadvantage to say women are inferior. i think that is silly. the truth is the truth, whatever it may be. there really isn't any superior or inferior regarding sexual differences. different strengths, different weaknesses. a fun read about the ways in which men and women differ. example, little baby boys, right after birth are more interested in flashing lights and mechanical objects then little baby girls who are more interested and will stare longer at a human face. girls are more verbal than boys. oriented.ore math

geniuses --and math men are overly represented among the highest ranked math geniuses. women are overly represented when it comes to understanding people and psychological insight. some people call it emotional intelligence. these things are interesting. they don't need to be seen as hard and fast categories. men are overrepresented among math geniuses. does that mean there are no women who are math geniuses? absolutely not. it is a difference. anyway, i believe in being honest about our natures and i believe we get into a lot of trouble when we are afraid to confront those things, especially when it comes to people's choices. it is the truth women tend to working for people in

caring professions. for example, in medicine. women went roaring into the medical field and other professions in the 1970's and 1980's, but they did not go into all things equally. women dominate veterinary medicine, for example. why is that? veterinaryse medicine was less sexist then another field? i don't think so. women like caring for animals because that appeals to their caring side. to say there are no men who like to care for others is just a little different emphasis. host: lori, you are next. thank you. caller: thank you. am i on now? host: you are. caller: thanks for writing the book. i look forward to it. as for the gentleman in florida

who had some -- what did you call it? a little hostility with regard to his comments about the 12 hour shift, i have been a since 1998. the 12 hour shift did give a lot of my colleagues time to take care of their families. having four days off a week allowed for grocery shopping and soccer. the 12 -- not to mention hour split day is best with regard for continuity of care for our patients. that is very important to us. any nurse can go anywhere else 8, 12 hour 6, shifts. can i comment on the union? i grew up in honolulu and we have a union and it represented a lot of immigrant and first generation family members who became nurses to bargain for better pay, better hours and

everything. a lot of times with these organizations, they turn sour. hours stole from us and in this day and age where everybody's information is out on the internet. we no longer need collective bargaining. we know what is available and what our options are and what we can ask for. we don't need a third party with their hand in the pot. that is it. thank you so much. host: thanks, lori. guest: great call. thank you for that. host: what are your thoughts listening to lori? guest: it is great you have such a broad audience and someone with hands-on experience is able to give a different perspective. as i suspected, the 12 hour shift might work for some people and she confirms this. that was interesting. and right, unions are not perfect, they are man-made objects -- man-made things, i should say. as a german philosopher said,

out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made. of course, there is corruption and that can happen. host: what are your thoughts on the me too movement and is it related at all to what you are talking about in the book? guest: very much so. the me too movement i regard as a sort of belated cry of protest from women though they may not perceive it this way. one way of interpreting it is saying, look, we have had 50 years of a sexual free-for-all culture where all the old rules about how you were supposed to behave sexually were thrown out the window. i argue in "sex matters" that part of what happened is it gave carte blanche to bad men to haven like -- behave like louts. men in positions of power and men who were able to take

advantage of women, i think did it even more in the wake of the sexual revolution than before isn'te who is to say it -- after all, it was during the sexual resolution that even feminists said we don't want special dispensation, we don't want to be treated differently. don't put us on a pedestal. we are in with the guys and we have just as strong a sex drive. all those old rules of court and --s -- courtliness those rules were good -- not all of them, but a lot of them protected women from the sexual demands of men and in the interim, we found women are saying we are tired of being .bused

we are tired of the expectation being especially in the workplace that men can demand think, at is, i backlash really against the sexual resolution -- revolution in a way. i say the more women can perceive what we need is a honor andstandards of distance and respect regarding sexual behavior, the happier women will be and in the long run, the happier men will be because good men don't like this system. it is only the bad ones who take advantage. host: your thoughts on the kavanaugh supreme court hearings with dr. blowsy ford -- ford.asey what is your view of that and

was there an impact on feminism? guest: my view of that is if it matter of dr.y a ford's testimony versus judge kavanaugh's, it would have been difficult to make a judgment because first of all, it was more than 30 years ago. i found both of them very compelling. we are not god. we cannot know what really happened. judge deservede some benefit of the doubt is democrats on the committee really did seize upon any and all accusations. blasey ford accusation was credible. the others were absurd and it did begin to take on the feel of it other persecution of him and a kangaroo court. i was made uncomfortable by

that. i was made uncomfortable by lazy ford's accusations -- blasey ford's accusations, too, because i don't believe she was lying. host: i want to get your reaction to sexual assault prevention and women's rights issues talking about the kavanaugh confirmation hearings. here is caitlin flanagan talking about the testimony at the confirmation hearings. [video clip] >> so many people brought up the point she seemed to be so grateful to be there and polite and maybe that was a gendered thing that women have to behave a certain way to be heard and i think that was part of it. what was so magnificent about it, her presentation was she reintroduced all of public life to the old-fashioned idea of humility and she did have a big ask. she did not have witnesses or evidence beyond her own

testimony. there was reason for her to be humble so she sat there and had this truth that to me was undeniable. i am 100% certain. i remember them laughing at me when i was struggling and afraid. way, i think it was extraordinary that somebody who does not have evidence and i can see why so many republicans and particularly republican men are saying this is outrageous. there is an allegation in the nothing to corroborate it. as a woman who has been through i am gladsimilar, there was a context in which it was happen. aboutshe started talking dr. ford sort of exhibiting a difference between a man and a woman in the way she testified. been: it would have

different. we are not clairvoyant, so it would've been hard to know and it would've been useful if any of the people she mention who could possibly corroborate her story had been able to do so. them was able to. it makes it a hard call. host: let's go to paul in los angeles, a democratic caller. caller: how is everybody? host: doing well. caller: i support feminism and i support you, charen. i saw you speak in front of a republican crowd and you were booed. i appreciate strong women and their points of view. i would stand by them and i appreciate when they stand by me. that is what i have to say about that. greta, are you still looking for republican talking points that you said when you first came on?

that is what i want to know. host: i am not following. okay, we will go on to kathleen. independent caller. caller: good morning. it is early here. i want to get your book. i usually call it free sex feminism. i like that you are calling it the sexual revolution. i am a black american woman, not a person of color. note how nosting to black folks are calling in. when it is hate trump, all the black folks call in and they cannot make a connection. black americans cannot make a connection between black men having real wealth competing with illegal immigrants to gain real wealth and black men having families. they cannot make this connection . this is what i like to focus on,

liberal ideology has destroyed the black family. we have gone from 87% two parent today, 27% 65% to two parent families. all the people against illegal immigration to not understand black men are competing for drops -- jobs. black men are competing for jobs in los angeles. illegal aliens have all the trade jobs and construction jobs. black americans make up 40% of the homeless. marriageal families, is important and black men must have real wealth to be able to compete in a society and have a family. this is a basic thing to life. guest: it is a basic thing to

life. in the book, i talk about how well intact black families are doing in society. their kids have almost all the advantages of everyone else and their poverty rate is below the national average. their income tends to be almost comparable with whites. leaving all those statistics aside, let's talk about what people are like. we need one another. having someone in our lives we can count on. i know not every marriage is perfect and sometimes divorce is necessary. we had forgotten that that basic unit of society is where our strength comes from. without -- it is always going to have uphill climb to

strong communities and sufficient self-government and liberty really. if people cannot exercise self-control, which you learn in a family, you cannot expect them to be self -- good citizens in a self-governing democracy. there is all kinds of data that in communities where there are -- the boys in the neighborhood will be much more successful and ambitious. withfear problems joblessness and drugs and getting in trouble with the law. fathers bring a special elixir to raising children, especially boys and girls, too. girls who grow up with their dads are much less likely to have body age issues or teenage depression.

there has been a blind spot in our society for the last several decades where we do not want to talk about all of this and we itnk it is preachy or think is racist or sexist or whatever. the price we are paying is very steep. host: robert in brooklyn, a republican. welcome to the conversation. guest: good morning --caller: good morning. religious think on a -- very tell you are intelligent person, very sophisticated. everything you stand for, you .lip and change everything you speak -- is against it. jews livinglot of

as palestinian jews. i did not catch the first question, i must say. host: about fake organizations -- faith organizations and they roll they play. -- the role they play. guest: they have been falling down on the job when it comes to marriage. they have been shy about speaking about it. they are afraid they will hurt the feelings of parishioners who may not be married. there are ways to talk about this without hurting anyone's feelings. you acknowledge many single parents do a fantastic job. that doesn't mean you forget to emphasize the ideal and the easiest way to live is through marriage. regarding the palestinian issue, that kind of comes from left field. i try to be fair about every matter i address. in general, i think the problem in the middle east -- there are

many problems in the middle east going far beyond israel and palestinians. palestinians have not accepted the right of israel to exist as a jewish state and have ties to terrorists and therefore it is a stalemate. when the day comes the palestinian people are ready, truly, to accept israel as a permanent feature of the middle east, there will be peace. host: will israel except palestine? -- accept palestine? guest: yes, if they believe they are not just creating another gaza state. they offered back in the early 2000's. there was an offer on the table that would have given palestinians a state. would have asked for it to be demilitarized, but would complete autonomy and

palestinians rejected it. only one of many examples. host: we will go to christian in lexington, kentucky. a democrat. caller: i normally don't call book soundsbut your fascinating and i will buy it. i wanted to talk from personal experience if i could for a quick second. my father was a workaholic. he was internationally famous in the arts, a federal commissioner of folk art in the states and my mom helped him be successful. she would proofread his books and go through contracts and they were a team and she stayed at home. the one thing i promised myself i can remember as a child is if i could, if my wife was the breadwinner, i would stay home and take care of the kids and be wantedher that i always him to be. i know that is projecting.

it has paid off. we've got three beautiful children. they are all doing great and i found the talk. you did not talk much, but i hope you do, about dads and girls with body issues. my daughter, who is now 12. she and i, when she was younger, would go through vanity fair, for example, the magazine and i would ask, who do you think looks most natural? who do you think looks most happy? maybe there were two individuals in 500 pages where she was 6 then saying these people look happy. you can talk about dads and their daughters trying to raise happy kids. host: mona charen. guest: first of all, thank you

for being what sounds like a great dad. there are so many things all of us choose to emphasize to our kids where we think the messages of the culture sends are not healthy, not good. to get into sports -- an area where there isn't all this obsessive focus on a girl's appearance. many other things, the premature sexualization of girls is a terrible blight on our country. dadnt to emphasize -- this sounds very tender toward his daughter. there is really no substitute for the love and care of parents . there is a lot of talk about

what we need is more subsidized daycare and opportunities for people to leave their kids and go and be in the paid workforce. for people who need to have that, that is fine. i also think every investment you make with those children and are your own is unique it will last of those kids their entire life and they will never hopingthe time you spend -- helping mold your children at the end of your life. host: we will go to fred in auburn, new york. republican. caller: yes, ma'am. i want to thank you for having mona charen on. i listened to her throughout the more and would like to see of her on the local news like fox or something like that. i understand the man who called -- she feltshe felt

she had an ax to grind, i think he is some of the reason. what he was saying is there is so much of it in our face today. i was fortunate to have a mom that raised 8 of us. my wife and my sisters are great ladies. to sayd -- i don't want their job, but what was natural and common sense. that is what we get from mona charen, common sense. the country has lost their moral value. christianity is the answer. host: we will end by asking, what are your recommendations? first, i want us to be honest about the fact that men and have are different different goals and needs in

life. this book isn't prescriptive, it -- andng for a cultural focusing on love and intimacy as important aspects of life that young people should think about really cultivating. we give them so much advice m., youareers and s.t.e. name it. we don't tell them the most important decisions they will make our regarding family life and finding somebody you will commit to and stick with and who will stick with you and building your own private bulwark across the flings and arrows of the world. host: mona charen, the book is "washington journal: how modern ."the book is "sex matters:

we return to our question from this morning, your reaction to no deal on a government shutdown and it looks like the talks will extend until 2019. federal workers, we especially want to hear from you, 202-748-8000. all others, 202-748-8001. we will be right back with your calls. ♪ one of georgia's 14 congressional districts will send new representation to the u.s. house of representatives. lucy mcbath, a delta airlines employee for more than 30 years was elected to represent georgia's 6 district. she defeated karen handel. during one of their debates, she talked about how the shooting death of her son in 2012 spurred her to run with office -- for office. [video clip] >> in 2012, my son was killed in iat people have considered --

started questioning our leaders, why were these tragedies continuing to happen and as i continued to ask more questions, why were legislators not willing to keep our families safe, there was silence. there was complicity. i began to understand -- what i have noticed over and over again as karen handel and other republican legislators refuse to do anything about this unnecessary gun violence. they will not take action. the only things i am beholden to in this district are the people i talked to every single day and my son's legacy. i am running because i am a mother on a mission. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on c-span. >> "washington journal"

continues. host: we are back on this friday, december 28th. day 7 of the government shutdown -- the house and the senate gaveled in. they quickly gaveled out. the washington post notes the halls were largely vacant and the offices were shuttled -- shuttered. there was no sign negotiations were taking place. the president tweeting out several tweets critical of the democrats on this, saying they uctionist and not agreeing to the wall funding. craig caplan tweeting out government shutdown, day 7, shutdown will last through the weekend with house and senate not in session until monday, december 31.

you can follow this story live on c-span, c-span 2 or on c-span.org or get the free c-span radio app. we are asking federal workers and all others to call in and give us your thoughts. jim in new york, former federal worker. good morning. caller: can you hear me? host: we can. caller: this is a good thing the president is doing. i wish the media would stop saying trump wall, the people --trump's wall, the people need it. i am a pretty welcoming guy, but the people come in. we are overwhelmed in this area. it is completely invaded. to some of these houses have

five people to a room, cars all over the lawn. i cannot park in front of my own house. the schools, the marquees are in spanish. we've got like five radio stations in spanish. i don't get it. i don't hear any italian stations. i don't hear any french stations prayed i don't hear any russian stations. even if the president builds the bel, in my opinion, it might too late. for the other people that call in about e-verify, you've got a lot of spanish people running their own businesses, they will higher off the books. there is no answer. it might be too late. the guy called about the climate change. i think we need a wall because of that. i don't think we have seen anything yet. host: we will go to wade in

north carolina. your thoughts. caller: i was calling pertaining to e-verify. i think it should be hand-in-hand with the wall. my industry, i have struggled for 10 years. construction has been overwhelmed, taken over mostly by illegal immigrants. i would like to see trump push e-verify as much as he is the wall. i don't feel bad for the people most of themecause are democrats and support the illegals. you blame the president for this or you think the president should continue to demand wall funding? caller: i think the wall along with e-verify, they have to go hand in hand. i can tell the difference between a democrat and a republican. they all want this as far as

illegal immigration in the country. it's all about the dollars and that is the bottom line, the people wanting to hire them and they are going to hire them over americans and democrats and republicans don't care. her: kathryn writes in column for the washington post, our flip-flop or in chief. -- flip-flopper in chief. would have kept the government open to early february to be clear, kicking the can down the road is not exactly a sign of response will government. if you are republican, it seems true politically. the majorities of both houses shutdowns are embarrassing, which is why trump and mitch mcconnell decided to endorse the stopgap bill and allay a more substantial funding battle until democrats take over the house in the new year and then at least nancy pelosi could be scapegoated for any shutdown

related embarrassment. the senate passed the temporary funding measure december 19. the house was expected to vote the following day and the bill was anticipated to sale with broad support by both parties. trump suddenly changed his mind. egged on by fox news news, he announced he was torpedoing any funding bill unless it included money for his precious border wall. paul ryan decided not to bring the senate bill version to the floor at all. he concludes by saying -- she concludes by saying the president's gut tells him more than anybody else's brain can tell him. his gut seems to have a perpetual case of indigestion. the real question is why congressional leaders reportedly -- repeatedly cave instead of writing him off. why not exit the --

necessary to simply govern without him. the only thing you can rely on trump for is unreliability. richard in new mexico, you are next. good morning. caller: good morning. are you there? host: yes, we are listening. caller: i believe it is a good idea for trump or really, the democrats. they don't know it, but they are the cause of shutting down washington and because trump is doing good things for us out here. a lot of people, especially not recognizing everything he is doing that is important to all of us. i really praise him for getting the money or going to get the money for the wall so that way we won't have problems with anybody trying to destroy our company. i think of a lot of

investigations should go in and haul these immigrants from guatemala to the border of the united states got there. how many miles is it? 2000 and some miles. how did they get there? they look healthy to me. on the way, these little kids got sick somehow after traveling that many miles and they come over here and blame it on us. what is not to fault for happened to those little kids. host: nancy is next, a retired federal worker in kansas. caller: hi. am i on? host: you are. caller: i am a retiree. i worked for the government for 4 years and i went through a lot of these shutdowns. i always got paid and everything. i am upset about the fact congress isn't staying there to get this solved. they all went home and they are

all getting paid. notcoast guard people are getting paid. this is what is infuriating me. the president is there to compromise. he is ready to get with them and solve this. falling ands up they don't care about the american people or they would have stayed there. host: more of your calls coming up. federal workers have a special line. all others as well as we are in day 7 of the government shutdown and both sides are negotiating -- doesn't look like both sides are negotiating. we will wait until 2019 when they come back to see if they can compromise on the wall funding. more of your calls coming up on this. huffington post with this headline this morning. richard overton, the nation's oldest world war ii veteran died at the age of 112.

president obama honored mr. overton in 2013. [video clip] thetrive to be worthy of sacrifices you have made. that is what we owe all of our veterans. that is what we owe veterans like richard overton, who served in the army in world war ii [applause] [applause] >i want you to know a little something about mr. overton.

he was there at pearl harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. he was there at okinawa. he was there at iwo jima where he said i only got out of there by the grace of god. when the war ended, richard headed home to texas to a nation bitterly divided by race and his service on the battlefield was not always matched by the respect that he deserved at home, but this veteran held his head high. he carried on i lived his life with honor and dignity. he built his wife a house with his own two hands. he went back to work in the furniture business. in time, he served as a courier in state capitol where he worked for four governors and made more friends than most of us do in a lifetime. richard still lives in the house he built all those years ago, rakes his own lawn and every sunday he hops in his 1971 ford truck and drives one of the nice

ladies in his neighborhood to church. [laughter] [applause] this is the life of one american veteran living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free. earlier this year, the great folks at honor flight austin botta richard to washington, d.c. for the first time and he and his fellow veterans paid their respects at the world war ii memorial and they visited the memorial of martin luther king jr. and as richard said in a wheelchair beneath that great marble statue, he wept. the crowd that gathered around him wept, too, to see one of the oldest living veterans of world war ii bear witness to a day, to the progress of a nation he thought would never come. richard overton, this american veteran, is 107 years old.

we are honored he is here with us today. host: that was president obama back in 2013 honoring on veterans day, richard overton. he died yesterday at the age of 112, the nation's oldest world war ii veteran. the huffington post said the army veteran had been hospitalized with pneumonia, but was released on christmas eve. they had done all they could. he died thursday evening at a rehab facility in austin, texas. marion in daytona beach, florida. what are your thoughts on this government shutdown going into the new year? caller: something we have to look at the whole picture. we areo say offhand, turning into a fascist country. fascism is when corporations and the government are together and corporate rules. as far as illegal immigration.

after 9/11, the bush administration did not secure the borders. this was a contentious issue. there were so many people. it wasn't their fault, they wanted to make money. they were pouring over the border. in 2006 after all the companies and corporations got rich on cheap labor, then george bush called in the national guard. we have to do something now. pretty slick. mexico is so corrupt. it mentions the fox when george book -- george bush was president used to give his soldiers maps to give to the poor people to find that most easy way to get across the border. he even said, my people do the jobs even blacks won't do. george bush never said a word because his goal, which is trump's goal is to continue this

corporate control of our country and i think the people know exactly what i am talking about is date -- if they look at the prices. whether it is their cable, their rent. we are being played by trump in the republican party loves him. homestead, you are on the air. caller: thank you very much and good morning. happy new year. host: happy new year. caller: i hope and pray it is a new new year and not the same old, same old we have been experiencing for america. .ere is the solution if the president and with all respect what he is doing the

status quo has been doing since america's inception. the corruption has gotten to a head and the only reason why the greatestmp is of the corruptness is because he is white. he is a white, wealthy male. all of that is a weapon of male dominance. i am thankful you allowed me to can'ts this and if you say anything to help the situation -- on.: okay, we will go mick mulvaney, the incoming chief of staff for president trump talk to reporters in the driveway this morning and here is what he had to say on this impasse over border wall

funding. [video clip] >> we made an offer last saturday night and they told us they would get back to us by the end of the week and they got back and said they are leaving. negotiations have broken down. the smithsonian has been open all week. it will be closed after new year's. a shut down looks different under a republican administration. we will not be weaponizing the shutdown down to make it hard on people. was mick mulvaney in the driveway at the white house talking to reporters about the republicans -- the vice president and mick mulvaney offered to democrats. the washington post reports it was a brief meeting. the last face-to-face meeting that happened between the white house and senate democrats with made achumer and pence new offer that included half the original request, democrats

rejected that. they accused pence of not being capable of guaranteeing the president's support. it trump's position is a critical roadblock to any negotiating. it democrats do not want to support something resented by pence only to have trump balk at the idea. congressional republicans are adamant they will not get caught flat-footed like last week when the senate unanimously approved a temporary funding plan to keep the entire government through february 8 only to learn the president would veto the bill because it did not have the funds for the wall. joseph in philadelphia. good morning to you. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am calling because i really ful tot very distress see a government in the united states -- the best country in the world when it comes to like atic norms behaving

beanie -- a banana republic. the fact the congress is the deliberative body. that is where discussions take bait -- take place to gauge the desires of the entire country. the president is one person. the congress gives us a better idea of what the people of the country want and if we want to put a wall up to separate us from the rest of the world, that is where that discussion should take place. i don't think it is really proper for us to use bully tactics and strong-arm tactics or terrorist tactics to achieve deliberation. force a decision that has not been discussed properly by the people of the country.

nobody can tell me. i have been here for so many years. no one can tell me the question of building a wall has been discussed by the congress and decided upon as a policy. i just thought i should throw that out. let the people get back to work. they have nothing to do with the wall, the people who are not working who have been deprived of their income because they are not going to work, let them back to work and let the congress go back to work, the senate and the house of representatives. host: reuters is out with a new poll that found 47% of adults polled the president responsible while 33% blame democrats in congress. this was conducted mostly after the shutdown began. 7% of americans blamed congressional republicans. the shutdown was triggered by trump's demand that taxpayers

provide him with $5 billion to pay for the wall. 35% said they backed including money for the wall in a congressional spending bill and only 25% said they supported trump shutting down the government over the matter. ida in new york. a federal worker, do you support it? caller: i want to digress back to the gentleman from pennsylvania. has blindersica on. they think he is making a presidential decision. hear steel slats. who makes steel slats? russians. russian oligarchs. that is what that means to us. he, evidently has taken money and he is trying to repay the oligarch by building that wall. that wall is central to his development of trump

organization. that has nothing to do with america politics. host: where did you read that? caller: i don't need to read it, i know. go look it up. everybody has to research. host: that is what i am asking you. caller: you have got to stop listening to the news. he gave putin a yacht. he was the one sitting at the ..s. open with you ivanka trump 911, go look the picture up, she is sitting with his wife at the u.s. open. we know what this is all about. this country is under seizure by russians -- siege by russians. host: mick mulvaney talked about pay for federal workers. [video clip] >> a lot of folks people are reported -- a lot of folks reported people are working without pay. paychex go out today. the ordinary pay cycle would pay

today and those are paying out. the next payroll impacted would be january 11. the folks who are really at risk are the folks who are furloughed. the folks working are going to get paid. when they get paid is a function of when the government opens again, but they will get paid. no one works for free. the folks who are furloughed would need legislation to pay them for the time they were furloughed. this -- paychex go out today and the folks working today will get paid. they are due to be paid for the work on the 11th and if the government opens up, they will be paid on the 11th. host: mick mulvaney talking about the pay schedule for federal workers. they are receiving a check today for the work they did in december before the shutdown and those who worked during the shutdown that started on

december 22nd. myron, milwaukee, missed 4 -- wisconsin. caller: i would like to call in at first say i am quite tired of hearing the partisan issue as it relates to legal immigration and the building of the border wall when it is really just a humanitarian issue and i hate how it is being politicized. i think this is a humanitarian issue that we are not handling properly. for us to shutdown the federal government in order to fund a border wall is absurd. it is a band-aid for a bullet wound and it doesn't make any sense. a wall would not effectively stop illegal immigration. we need to understand the problem. mexico has a severe issue with drugs and cartels, the united states being a number one consumer of these drugs and the number one supplier of guns. guns are illegal in next excluding one military base and the capital. we are helping aid in the issue

pushing people out of the country. a wall would not do anything to stop that. five mexican states were declared as dangerous as syria, afghanistan, and iraq. mexicans are very proud people and they love their country and they simply just want a chance to live without bullets zooming passed their heads and the threat of death. i think the way the united states can curb illegal immigration and return mexico -- mexicans to mexico is sending the military there and helping restore order because mexico is entirely corrupt and i don't understand how the united states being such a great global power -- we are looking passed a country essentially on fire to the south of our border and i hate how the issue is being politicized. host: ulysses in new york, a retired federal worker. your turn. caller: yes.

am i on? host: yes, you are. caller: i am listening to this and the republicans are offering something. the democrats represent federal workers. i don't understand what the problem is. it is a humanitarian thing, you know. people are looking for asylum. i understand that. this is christmas. furloughed workers are not going to get paid? i was supposed to work. if i did not get paid, we live from check to check. this is christmas, for god sake, do something. i cannot understand what the problem is. democrats should have never left paid.ngress should not be that congresswoman from elmhurst, queens, she is the only one who comes out saying

congress has no integrity. giving --le are not getting paid for christmas and congress is home on vacation. host: ed in new york. good morning to you. your thoughts. caller: good morning. i have been sitting here listening to all the law --hoolah about new york and immigrants. my little town i live in now has no american owners. they are all some other nationalities. chuck schumer should be ashamed of himself. senator of new york state -- upper state new york, there is no more farmers, no more americans. we are all leaving. me included. i have to go somewhere it is more affordable to lift.

i don't understand. these people are opening up stores and they have homes and they are being taken care of by the local government. that is what turns people off, the people here are not being taken care of. the people coming in have everything handed to them. i want to add one little thing. these people are a lot smarter than we think they are. i found a wallet not too long ago and picked it up and wanted to return it. there were three ids for a foreigner. three different states worth of medical, three different states versus -- for food stamps. something is wrong. somebody is not checking what is going on and it is taxpayer dollars. our schools are filled with not locals, people being brought to the state. schumer will not have to worry about being senator of new york because we won't have new york

anymore. host: cindy in maryland, a retired federal worker. have you lived through a shutdown before? caller: i have lived through government furloughs and i was in the government for 13 -- 30 and each federal employee who works over 15 years gets 26 days of annual leave, 13 holidays, 39ve, 10 days paid per year. they need to save for a rainy day and the most important thing to note is furloughed employees are eligible for unemployment. they need to apply. i don't think they should be paid. host: you support the president? caller: yes, i do, 100%. host: janet in mildred, florida. caller: i am talking about illegal immigration, not legal.

illegal immigration has been kicked down the road for 30 years. everybody is trying to point the finger at who is wrong, democrats or republicans, the president or this one or that one. i blame anybody that has been in congress and the senate for the last 30 years and how dare they go home for the holidays. people in the military, i have relatives in the military. they are not home with their families. thank you for letting me say this. host: andrew in detroit. caller: how are you doing? am i on. ? host: yes. doing fine. go ahead. caller: a couple of your last commentators, ida from wherever said something about steel slabs and i would like to say trump and the trump administration pushed for a concrete wall.

it was a democrat idea to come up with steel slabs, something more humanitarian type viable. next, the guy from wisconsin sounded like he was suggesting we should invade mexico to restore order in a sovereign country? this type of foreign intervention iism has been the balance of the united states for 50 years. this issue with illegal immigration and these people pushing past the border, it is out of control. we should let the entire population of central america in? my girlfriend is a russian natural -- russian national and to legally immigrate to the united states, it is insurmountable and yet these people just decide to push past the border, we want a right to work, give us $50,000 to go home, it is really crazy to me.

host: we have come to the end of the program. we will be back tomorrow morning 7:00 a.m. eastern. continue to follow the government shutdown story on c-span, c-span 2, c-span.org or the free c-span radio app. thank you for watching and a happy new year to you all. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >> early this morning, president trump issued a series of tweets saying "we will be forced to close the southern border entirely if the obstructionist

democrats do not give us money to finish the wall and change the ridiculous immigration laws our country is saddled with. hard to believe there was a congress and president who would approve. the united states loses so much money on trade with mexico over not including drug money which would be many times that amount that i would consider closing the southern border a profit-making operation. we build a wall or close the southern border. bring our car industry back into the united states where it belongs, go back to pre-nafta before so many of our companies and jobs were so foolishly sent to mexico. either we build, finish the wall, or we close the border. guatemala, ult -- el salvador is doing nothing but taking our money. a new caravan --

those four tweets came between 4:16 and 5:06 a.m. eastern time. >> one of georgia's 14 congressional districts will send new representation to the u.s. house of representatives. louisa, a delta airlines employee for more than 30 years, was elected to represent georgia's sixth district in the next congress. she defeated republican incumbent karen handle. during one of their debates, ms. mcbath talked about how the shooting death of her son in 2012 spurred her to run for office. ms. mcbath: i am lucy mcbath and in 2012 my son was killed. i started questioning our leaders. why were these kinds of tragedies continuing to happen, and as i continued to ask more and more questions, why were our legislators not willing to keep our families safe, there was silence.

there was complicity. what i began to understand is no one was going to be willing to do anything. that's the reason why i stood up and that's the reason why i am taking action. what i noticed over and over again is that karen handle and other republican legislators refuse to do anything about this unnecessary gun violence. they will not take action. in the end, the only things i am beholden to in this district are the people that i talk to every single day and my son's legacy. i'm running because i'm a mother on a mission. here in marietta to represent everyone. >> new congress, new leaders. atch it all on c-span. >> today is day seven of the partial government shutdown. president trump says he will only sign spending legislation to reopen the federal government if it includes money for a border wall which congressional democrats oppose. the house and senate reconvene

on monday both at 10:00 a.m. eastern for pro forma sessions. no legislative work is scheduled meaning no consideration of legislation to reopen the government. possibly until the new congress comes in on january 3, when democrats take the majority in the house of representatives. >> the house financial services committee last week held a hearing on potential changes to the nation's housing finance system. we'll hear from witnesses representing real estate agents, mortgage lenders, home builders and people living in low-income housing. mr. hensarling: the committee will come to order. without objection, the chairman is authorized to declare a recess of the committee at any times and all members will have five days in which to submit extraneous materials to the chair for inclusion in the record. this