transportation, and housing. on c-span two, live coverage on the senate as they debate a vote on a bill that would suit -- andide security to israel impose sanctions against saudi arabia. democrats blocked the measure earlier in the week as part of their effort to get senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to bring up legislation to reopen the government. ofc-span3, u.s. chamber commerce president and ceo thomas donahue gives his annual state of american business address followed by a news conference with reporters. afl-cio holds a rally with congressional democrats to call for an end to the partial government shutdown. >> coming up on today's washington journal, we look at how the debate over border security relates to the government shutdown with republican representative paul gosar of arizona.

representative gwen moore of wisconsin talks about the impact on food stamps. we get a preview of president trump's visit to the u.s. mexico border today with texas tribune reporter alana rocha. ♪ good morning. 10,s thursday, january 2019. day 20 of the ongoing government shutdown. after a contentious white house meeting yesterday when the president and democratic leaders met, we are no closer to it being result. we're open to your ideas. your best compromise? a deal that might work for both sides? we want to hear it. .emocrats, (202) 748-8000 republicans, (202) 748-8001.

independence, (202) 748-8002. morning.od thursday it you can start calling in now with your ideas for a compromise . that meeting yesterday started off well enough. the president offering candy to his congressional visitors. it did not end well. here is the presidents tweet. just left the meeting with chuck and nancy. a total waste of time. i asked what will happen in 30 days. will you approve border security? nancy said no. i said, bye-bye, nothing else works. here is chuck schumer's recollection of what happened at the end of the meeting yesterday. senator schumer: he asked to speaker pelosi, will you agree to my wall? she said no. he got up and said, we have nothing to discuss in just

walked out. again, we saw a temper tantrum because he could not get his way and he walked out of the meeting. i asked him to open up the government. that tomorrow, so many people will have trouble paying their , paying their bills. dealing with situations where they don't get paid. why won't you do that? we will continue to discuss. we will discuss anything. , if i open up the government, you won't do what i want. that's cruel. that's callous. that is using millions of innocent people as pawns. shortly after that statement, vice president pence came out to the same microphone spot outside the white house grounds and defended the president's handling of the meeting yesterday. pence: in this brief meeting, once again, the

democratic leaders are unwilling to even negotiate to resolve this partial government shutdown or address the crisis at our southern border. they demanded that before negotiations could begin, that we would have to agree to reopen the government. the president called the question in the meeting. he asked speaker pelosi that if he opened the government quickly, would she be willing to agree to fund a wall or barrier on the southern border? when she said no, the president said goodbye. know that millions of americans, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are as disappointed as we are that the democrats are unwilling to engage in good faith negotiations. that weican people know

face a serious humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. president, our entire administration working with republican leaders will continue bring reforms to see today safety and security of the american people. with the president made clear today is that he will stand firm to achieve his priorities to build a wall. the southerner at wall. additional people, services, and weorms to stem the crisis face on our seven border. we are grateful for his republican leaders here and others gathered with us for their support. day 20 ofapitol hill, the ongoing government shutdown. one day short of tying the longest government shutdown on record. ? what is thed it

compromise? what do you think both sides can agree to? that is what we are asking in this first hour of washington journal today. democrats, republicans, and independents as well. is what christopher said. deal for daca and the wall where it is needed most and then go from there. theld saying open government," or, that solves a lot of problems. matt, what is a compromise you can offer? trump wants to build a wall so he can stop these illegal aliens for working at his golf courses and his hotels. the hypocrisy knows no bounds. he has changed the h1 visas so immigrants.

map, take us to the deal that you think both sides can agree to to end this deadlock. i don't know where to go. republican hypocrisy knows no bounds. us yourat we want, give best ideas for compromise. how do you see a way out of this? a republican, go ahead. what is interesting to me is that we already have a wall several hundred miles long. why don't we just finish it? he's not trying to stop the good people from coming over. he's trying to stop the bad people coming over. in order to do that, you have to build a wall.

china built a wall hundreds of years ago. 15,000 miles long. finish the wall? if chuck schumer is so against it, is he getting paid? is he losing his money? maybe he will put up a wall if he is. we can move onto something else. rich in hickory hills. what is your plan to compromise? what is something both sides can accept? i don't think that there is a compromise if you are not willing to compromise. if your only solution is a wall and is not about border security , it's a wall, there is a difference. keeps talking about a wall and they keep talking about

security. the issues are different. if all you want is a wall, we've got nothing to talk about, that is where the problem is. host: would you be ok with some portions of a new concrete barrier or steil flat barrier being built? we have walls. they go over, under, around. this is the issue. we talking about having a wall or security? host: this is don and washington, d.c. do you have a plan for compromise? caller: yes, sir. the best thing the president should do is put the military out there. coast guard, reserve, national guard, army, air force, marines guards. we need to put those guys out

there. that should be the wall. put the money in their pocket. the steil wall, they will climb over it or go under it. you need the military. we are asking for your ideas this morning. lines, (202) 748-8000 if you are democrat. (202) 748-8001 if you are a republican. (202) 748-8002 if you are an independent. something you think both sides can agree to. here is a reuters story about a potential compromise that could emerge, including a potential compromise around dreamers. those brought to the country illegally as children. from could protect them deportation in return for wall money.

was nearly achieved previously, but it had collapsed. president trump has insisted on funding for a wall but shifted to talk about steil fencing -- steel fencing. tall slatted fences are in place at some spots. alternatives to concrete could let president trump declare victory and let democrats say they blocked the idea for a wall. additional ways to fortify the a tv's, border guards, and metal detectors at border crossing points. follow the money. a dollar figure bargain could be reached somewhere between president trump's demand for $5.7 billion and the democrats offer of $1.6 billion for border security. a few scenarios they've run through.

we want to hear your thoughts on potential areas of compromise. newspaper.he hill affiliated with to stop any pledged good of a give stream is permanent immigration status in exchange for border security .unding just before the government shutdown started in late december, the group the libra initiative talked about this area of compromise. >> we have a moral responsibility to act now and protect dreamers. >> a daca resolution should be paired with solutions at the border. >> we have to be able to do something. >> 90% of americans say it is important to an act a solution

for dreamers. come together and increase border security. daniel gaza, the president of the libra initiative and the group that if i did that ad will be on this program tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. to talk about their efforts. nextpe you join us in the 45 minutes to continue giving us your thoughts on an area of compromise. a deal you think both sides have agreed to. we've heard from partisans on both sides of this issue and we are looking for middle ground. some sort of deal that you think they would come together. caller: good morning. how about this? your $5.7e is billion. in exchange, amnesty. long as you don't have a criminal conviction, here is your green card. $5 trillion.s your

this is john in baltimore, maryland. similar to what the last caller said, i think we should have some sort of amnesty. but it needs to be combined with full and complete funding of the wall. as much as border security would gain -- would deem. something else i would like to put in with this, the 2020 census is going to be a massive eye-opener for the country. the 2010 census showed 15 million increase in hispanics in the country. and that isn't just from birth rates or from legal immigration. 2020 i predict will be

another 30 million or 45 million on top of that. and that is where we will have to tie in the amnesty program. host: when you say amnesty, who would that apply to? anybody in the country illegally or dreamers? caller: at this point, you will not be able to get these families that are already entrenched in this country whether they are here illegally or not -- there is no way of getting them out. no one is going to go for going door-to-door. census, you live here, you in on illegalre immigrant, you go through a program to do your background checks. streamline the process. start paying taxes and reporting who you are. if you don't, zero tolerance. off.census is your cut the wall gets built and we have

a new wave of a new population of america. upset,f people will be but there is no solving the problem with this back and forth and kicking the can. from the numbers migration policy institute on the unauthorized immigrant population in the u.s. they peg at 11.3 million people in this country. unauthorized immigrants living in the u.s. the numbers are looking back to the census bureau numbers. the 2012n this decade, to 2016 american community survey data is what they rely on . that map on your screen showing the numbers of unauthorized immigrants that they found in the different parts of the .ountry of the state, the larger the unauthorized immigrant

population. sophia, good morning. i would like to make a point that it is people like hiring immigrants to work at their properties and businesses. and they don't leave. they stay. these 11 million illegal that are here, they are firemen. they contribute to society. they have been here 20 years or 30 years. they are not criminals. we had a chance to spend $25 billion for a dr. bill -- for a daca bill. it doesn't make sense. willing to gou be back to $25 billion for a daca deal? caller: we have walls. -- a wall- you need

is big, ugly cement. host: would you support the deal back then when it was on the table? down.: he turned that get $25he chance to billion. going to be freezing. people will be starving. farmers are on welfare. federal workers are on welfare. they are talking about yard sales. just to make this 30% of the country happy. host: this is alan in eastlake ohio -- eastlake, ohio. what is a deal both sides can agree to? caller: a lot of people have alluded to daca. these people are part of the fabric and they should stay.

back to south american countries, are you real? that should not happen. of me says ifde you really want to open borders, let everybody flood in. a wealthy country next to a poor country, the poor country will always influence the wealthy country. that is a given. but i think we need the wall. i don't care if the government gets shut down. i don't care if the part of the government shutdown stays shut down. i want the wall. i can see both sides. i collect allen's wall. the heck with trump. it's my wall. host: what is the compromise? think it's important to from the conversation in a more direct way. the southern border is a

humanitarian crisis, definitely. and the immigration crisis exists at airports. that is where people most likely came from, right? security,o be border funding in the amount of $5 billion, it should be put towards overstaying visas and all of that. into put that money security, the compromise should be winning hearts and minds. [indiscernible] and also at airports, people will have to check in with their visas. republican, there is a contentious debate as to whether or not a wall is the right

answer. we already know that that doesn't work. we know it is not the most thing.ve host: keep calling with your compromises and ideas. it is about 7:20 a.m. on the east coast. day 20 ofe we are on the government shutdown. texas,sident headed to expected to view the border and talk with security officials. we will talk about that trip later today with a reporter from the texas tribune. and today, the house and the senate in session. the house in session at 10:00 this morning. expected today continue to try to test republicans on whether they are with the president on keeping the government shutdown amid this impasse. -- to mcbath have pushed

house democrats have pushed funding those outside the department of homeland security. vote to reopena the treasury department and they got eight republican members of the house to join them on that legislation. that legislation expected not to be taken up in the senate. mitch mcconnell will not be taking up funding bills unless the president supports them. -- but thell push house will push funding bills for the rest of the week to try to get more republican support. they are expected to vote on housing and urban development, the epa interior which has to do with national parks and other spending measures for the rest of this week. look for that action. at theith that meeting white house, the president met with senate republicans to talk about the status of the shutdown.

the president they are to shore up his support from senators. we have seen statements this week from republican senators concerned about the ongoing shutdown. lisa murkowski is quoted as that she asked president trump to reopen the government. trump said that he was doing everything he could, but he would not end the standoff by taking nothing. reporters, i shared my support for the need of border security and what we should do from a humanitarian perspective. that when the government is shutdown, there are consequences and people are starting to feel those consequences. it is the president after the meeting yesterday. trump: republicans want border security. they want national security. steelant a steal -- barrier, a wall, whatever.

we need a barrier to stop traffickers. they don't come from checkpoints. we have hundreds of miles without wall and without barriers. party, i can say i just left in our meeting with meeting withur them. we had a great time. we discussed nothing but solidarity. we want border security. host: we are asking for your best ideas on how to end the shutdown with compromise. go ahead. caller: i really love c-span and i wish i could get it in hd. host: you can in bedford, texas. caller: i know. i have the app, so it's ok. get the government

going again and he needs to understand that he's not going to get a wall. and in return, the american people will accept his resignation. he's not even a republican. host: is there anything he two sides can agree on? -- these two sides can agree on? caller: both democrats and republicans can agree. he's not a republican. host: you are a republican? caller: yes, sir. i'm a texan. i'm a conservative. the first thing you do is balance the budget. we are not doing that. we are talking about walls. republican, he would do one thing. and nobody ever talks about it. he would make sure every american can get c-span in hd. in washington, an

independent. go ahead. think we are fighting a nonsensical battle. we are americans. we sent a man to the moon. we solve a lot of issues. here is my solution, cut and dry. ok? all of the above. put the wall. focus on border security. do a daca program. everyone walks away a winner. on someto stop focusing of these corporations in america that sign up illegals. we need a green card program where they have to verify the individuals working for companies. all of the above. let's do all of it. time,do all of it at one we will solve the immigration issue. we need to stop beating our head against the wall. one person against the other.

let's do all of the above. a broad brush,h get out of the way, and move on. are quitting, they are retiring, they are doing a bunch of stuff they would not normally have to do if we would just come to some sensical conclusion. i will not belabor this thing. thank you for listening. you talk about people losing their jobs. today,s an op-ed in usa i lost my job because of the shutdown. was able to get a apps forsign, creating people serving our countries overseas. my husband can expect backpay whenever the government reopens as a contractor, i won't be getting any backpay.

i love my country, my husband, and serving the u.s. but we will be unable to keep doing it without a paycheck. she was told her long -- her job was no longer available. she says we need to end the shutdown now. we have been talking about the impact of 800,000 federal workers that are either for load or not getting a paycheck. we have talked a bit about the government contractors that are impacted as well. thatll talk more about this weekend on washington journal. david is next. good morning. caller: good morning. i don't think while work. let me tell you why. we have a wall in detroit that has been up since the 1940's. royal erected to separate

michigan from detroit, michigan. they were not lend any money to that hadct african-americans in their community. so they put the wall up. direction,n the same i would invite all of your audience. one simple question. how many minorities live in your community? if you live in an all-white community, why is it all white? how is it all white? the lowest point of this country, a lot of counties, ,tates, and cities in the north they chased black folks out.

and the same rhetoric, john. they are going to bring crime and drugs. it is eerily reminiscent of that same period. it seems that we're revisiting the same period. have a drum major that is constantly pounding the drum of hatred. i don't think we need a wall. i don't want a wall. i want us to build bridges. host: would you be willing to accept some wall to end this impasse? caller: let me tell you something. that would be a compromise to me. would be awall complete waste of money. that is $5 billion a year. it will be built in the budget. they have already given him money for border security. he turned it down.

let me say this real quick. --s is the same guy that [indiscernible] he wasn't satisfied until he imploded the league. host: in charlotte, north carolina. go ahead. caller: how are you? david is talking about things that happened decades ago. make anything of themselves today in america. that is why people are fighting to get here and will just about kill themselves to get here so they can make a better life for them and their family. i'm sorry for david. 11 million illegal immigrants in andcountry earlier, mit yale say it is more like 22 million. the center for immigration studies says 63% of all illegal

immigrants are on some kind of government aid. let's freeze all the government snap, the benefits illegal immigrants get today. freeze it. going to many veterans, half the money going to border security. two. western union. it when people make money under the table and send it back. put a 20% tax of all money being shipped back into mexico. earmark that for border security. take the money, beef up border security. host: just after 7:30 a.m. on the east coast. we want to keep hearing your ideas for compromise. there was a lot of speculation about if the president would

declare a national emergency to be able to reprogram funding, perhaps from the military, to find money for his border wall. today's wall street journal headline notes that president trump is nearing that declaration of a national crisis. a bill signingr ceremony, president trump was asked about declaring a national emergency. we may work ap: deal. if i don't, we may go that route. i have the absolute right to do national emergency. my threshold will be if i can't make a deal with people that are unreasonable. i think we have tremendous republican support. to people in the house. we have tremendous support. the senate has been incredible. mitch mcconnell has been incredible. if the president won't sign it, i'm not going to waste my time. he is very strong on border

security. we have tremendous support in the senate. we have tremendous support in the house. that --, is it true [indiscernible] once in a while, you will have that. the democrats have that, too. you know why? they know you need border security. but you don't report that. the fact is, there is tremendous support. i would be the first one to know . i may be the last one, too. but there is tremendous support. something that was foolish like give up on border security, the first ones that would hit me on my senators. they would be angry at me. the second ones would be the house. my daysd ones would be and a lot of republicans out there. and a lot of democrats that want

to see border security. host: on the idea of a national emergency, andrew napolitano rights for the washington times. can the president alone build a border wall? in a word, no. requires all ordinary assets be determined useless but for lawful emergency can come into effect. andrew napolitano asked, is the military useless? why did an emergency, the president wait until it abated before announcing at? he cannot authorize anything the constitution prohibits, nor can it avoid anything the custody russian. if you want to read his column, nor can it avoid anything the

constitution requires. if you want to read his column, check out the washington post. -- washington times. caller: i do not believe it needs to be a physical wall. if we create an economic wall, something that welcomes the immigrants that want to achieve the american dream and keep out the people who are seeking to come to the country illegally, we can achieve that by establishing a work permit. apply for a permit. come here and work. have either verification by employers. any employer -- have e-verifi cation by employers. any employer that does not abide by this will be fined $10,000.

pay taxes. renewed,nt your permit you need proof you filed taxes. it contributes to our economy. years, we ought to be welcoming those people. these people create a great nation. that a grandse deal is coming together? are you hopeful at this point? mailed an outline to representatives and senators throughout the country. i don't know if they will accept it or just go into the pile. we may not be interested in solving problems. we may be more interested in the political battle. host: have you heard back from any members of congress? caller: not one. host: have you ever mailed a proposal to members of congress before? caller: no. host: what inspired you this time? sense that wehe

have common ground. both sides agree that we need a diverse society. we need to welcome people that are seeking the american dream. and we still the to keep out criminals. anyone who crosses the border illegally would not have the days.for 30, 60, 90 to the nearest point of entry and push you back across the border. 1800s got an the welcoming hand but they did not get a handout. come to this country, support yourself, support your family. if you can't, leave them home. a lot of scandinavians came here to acquire wealth. and then we will bring our family over. you should get a welcoming hand

but you should not expect a handout. host: how long did it take you to put it in writing? caller: it took a while. of experiences with the government and i've been through a lot of shutdowns. problem-solving -- my , helpingroblem-solving agencies come together. sometimes they had opposing viewpoints. host: his government getting better or worse at doing that? i think there is a sickness in both parties. we are more interested in proving the other side wrong than we are serving the people. when the cameras are turned on, we have to call each other's names -- call each other names. it is a sad commentary. host: what agency did you work

in? caller: i would rather not say. that we dealt with national emergencies and we dealt with issues that involved many government agencies. host: south park, texas. good morning. i would like to suggest a repeal the trillion dollar tax cut they passed for funding for the wall. host: you think that is something both sides can agree to? caller: i think so. i know democrats were opposed to the trillion dollar tax cut. host: staying in texas, this is bob. good morning. caller: good morning, john. you really engaged with that collar a minute ago. he had some good ideas. i will offer a quick solution.

a lot of the public likes a simple solution. a third grade solution. for elites, they can use occam's razor. the simplest solutions. trump wants $5 billion for a walk, nancy wants zero. split it. $2.5 billion to $3 billion. it is simple. if democrats were to agree to do it, what would they get out of it? the government would open back up. effectively, they are shutting it down just like they claim trump is. and trump claims he is shutting it down. both of them are shutting it down. they will get the government open again and can move on to biddingo what the house is.

let's do something simple. time and what happens next we come to a funding impasse? an incentiveate for either side to work together again? callers.isten to your you engage very well and the public wants compromise. and trump is claiming that he is trying for compromise. the democrats are saying, no compromise. if they voted for a barrier trump is willing to get some sort of barrier and reduce the funding amount he is requesting, it is a simple compromise. host: up to new york on the republican line. good nine -- morning. caller: i think the key word here is compromise. as the last gentleman said.

i think president trump should he does not like the suffering of his people and will reopen the government. give people their paychecks. i am retired, but i have a part-time job. someone that works with me is a tsa agent. he is getting worried. the younger people are not coming in. i think it will be something pervasive. i think president trump should swallow his pride and say i'm the bigger man. i am going to compromise with the democrats. i would say, instead of a wall, go for security. these drones are fantastic machines. they can see everything from five miles up. number ofse the border patrol agents. case closed. move on.

i don't think a national emergency is the route to go. i think the people that would get really ticked off, i think they are called the freedom coalition. host: the freedom caucus. caller: and i think that they are a minority. a president is supposed to deal with the majority and lessen the impact on the minority. and i think he has to compromise. he has to say i am the bigger man. i don't think he can do that because of his track record, but that is my idea of compromise. just compromise, for crying out loud. this is ridiculous. no national emergency. yesterday, we hosted a republican from the brass cup. he tweeted out yesterday after -- from nebraska. wetweeted out yesterday that

have to find common ground and do our job in congress. do not leave this to the presidential executive order for declaring a national he. -- national emergency. the democraticys compromise is give us what we whatand we will negotiate you are asking for. that's not how negotiations work in the real world. contractors are struggling to pay for food and medicine. republicans are worried about their constituents, they will urge president trump to take speaker pelosi and chuck schumer's deal to end the government shutdown. members of congress will be back in today. we will take you to gavel-to-gavel coverage on c-span and c-span2. wanthe next 15 minutes, we

to ask you for your best deal. what is a compromise you think both sides can take. caller: good morning, john. don't think this is a compromise anymore. and maybe it started as one. trump, he already opened his mouth one time on national tv saying that the wall will be built and it will be paid for by mexico. and the second time is on national tv, this ain't no phony news or what he says. to the oval coming office and saying that i will take responsibility for the shutdown. he's already dug a hole. he jumped into it. the democrats know they got him.

they are waiting to fill the hole up. democrats are waiting and trump's wedding to see who can get him out of this without getting much involved. does anybody come out looking good? caller: i don't know. wall or immigration anymore. running forho's president again. if he compromises on this -- say that again? host: go ahead and finish. caller: if he gives in, it will ruin his run for president. and the democrats know that, too. they are both up against this. bere is not going to compromise on this. host: jim in missouri.

democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. myself, i think mr. trump cannot be dealt with. the man is dishonest. and i think mr. mcconnell should get off his death -- his duff, pass the democratic bill, put it on the president's desk and let him do what he will. but the president is no longer relevant when he says it is my way or bye-bye. host: the democratic bills coming to the house floor. spending bills that would reopen parts of the government not related to homeland security. .raig kaplan laying it out the agricultural department, snap foodstamp programs, the fda. that is one of the bills.

andell as transportation housing and urban development. open part of the government not including the department of homeland security. they want to keep these other parts of the government going. howard is waiting in vienna, maryland. caller: good morning. i would love to see the government shutdown if it would work both ways. people are trying to come here to work for companies. the bordere to see and the docks closed. that way, we may have a good country. host: how would that make a good country? caller: how would it? -- [indiscernible]

the people shipping the jobs out of the country are doing more harm to the united states than anybody in the world. host: in north port, florida. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i would welcome nancy pelosi and chuck schumer to florida. there are places all over the state of florida where people have homes and developments with walls all around. that's not just to make it look good. the walls are put there for people not to go into the community. it works both ways. there will not be compromise. nancy pelosi said no to the wall. you have to sit down and keep talking, but it seems like you can't talk to people that don't want to compromise. they need future,

politicians not to be paid if they go into shutdown. not just other government people. thepoliticians on republican and democrats should not be paid if there is another shutdown. host: sam in hornsby, tennessee. what is a deal you think both sides can agree to to end the standoff? caller: first, though, the house passed a bill before the shutdown started that did everything. but chuck and the democrats filibustered it. bearsn pull up pedestrian between mexico and the u.s. -- barriers between mexico and the u.s. they are not going to put

ladders. you can't hide both ends out in the desert. , sheittle girl that died walked with a group of over 100 people and turned herself in. drive across that part of the country and look south, you see there is nothing across there to stop anybody. there are vehicle barriers that look like world war ii antitank barriers. but they can step across that. there is your compromise. mainstreamts and the media are lying to people. i've driven across there. host: we have 10 minutes left in this segment of washington journal. we want to keep getting your ideas. what is the compromise? this 20th dayt on

of the government shutdown, the president is heading to mcallen, texas, as greg allen notes. chad is with fox news and noted on twitter that texas senators john cornyn and ted cruz are expected to join president trump on the trip to texas. he will head down to the border. in the meantime, more of your calls. miami, florida. go ahead. caller: when i think needs to happen is that both sides need something that acts as a face-saving measure. they both have made commitments to their parties and they need to deliver on something. so this is my proposal. give the president half of what he's looking for now. the government will reopen. will negotiate for

an additional 30 to 60 days and if nothing can happen in that time, the government will shut down again. what surprises me is the comments that many people have no savings at all. what would they do if they were fired and could not go to work? how would they survive? it is shocking that people don't even have enough to go beyond paycheck to paycheck. also, what i would like to know is, how many of the democrats have actually visited the border? saysure the president would to representatives or senators, get on a plane with me and let's go check it out together. thus far, i have not heard from any colors -- callers, proposals. they primarily want to sweat out the president and haven't offered you any solutions or any compromises.

,n my last comment would be representative pelosi's statement a few days ago that the best thing would be to fortify the border don't really make any sense. aliens are not coming through the border checkpoints, they are coming through other places. having a drone spotting something a hundred miles down doesn't necessarily mean that a border agent can rush down and apprehend them. they can see them coming and that does not necessarily stop them. host: issues you bring up on border crossings. from the washington times, these numbers being reported in other publications. the department of homeland security saying parents and children travel together and were nabbed by border patrol -- a 27%rking a 20%

increase in november, nearly twice the worst months of the obama years. setting a new record for illegal immigration in the latter months of last year. but both categories of immigrants trying to cross illegally dropped in other areas, including fewer unaccompanied children caught at the border and if you were stopped at ports of entry. arrested 50,753 people that try to sneak into the u.s. between ports of entry while customs and border protection officers encountered another 10,029 people that try to enter without permission through official border crossings. those numbers were down from the month of november. those were the numbers at the end of last year. pam is in florida. good morning. would like to make a

comment or two real quickly. i'm tired of the border thing. you can't call it a border, you call it slats. it's a bunch of bunk that borders don't work. .t's all over the place if you don't want to believe them, sorry. over 90% success where they are put up. borders work. they work everywhere they have been put a long our border. -- along our border. in at therugs come port of entry because they have been driven by the border wall. let's just fix that. has alreadyt negotiated.

he has thrown everything on the table that democrats want. he has already said they will give everything they want. finishthat he wants to the border wall, the fence, whatever the hell people want to make semantics out of. all we need is democrats to budge an inch instead of attacking him. that's all we needed. he will accept any reasonable offer by them. but they will not give it. host: you are calling on the line for democrats? i'm not goingbut to be very long because they are acting like fools, scioscia lists -- socialists. host: what makes you a democrat? caller: i am a long-term democrat going way back. i believe in a lot of those things. -- what kindhings

of things? caller: those things are compassion. i see nothing but resist and violence. here for a now her and tell you all the things. they will never denounce antifa and other violent factors. they push violence. presidentter the every minute of every day and fact check this and the other. they all lie. host: only about a minute or so left. tony is in colorado. good morning. i will try to frame this and hopefully you will ask the congress people you have coming through. i listen every day to the arguments back and forth. this whole debate has been framed by campaign promises to build the wall. mexico will pay for it. now we don't care mexico is not

paying for it. countless experts say immigrants commit less crimes than citizens. drugs don't come over the border, they come through the port. most of the illegals that are here are overstaying visas. thisder wall salts none of -- solves none of this. i want to hear what they say. we have a situation where we have jobs. we are hiring people here. we are asking the american citizens to pay money to stop them from getting those jobs. why is there not a push to implement e-verify first? down, that when we clamp there will be so many job openings. there won't be people in restaurants.

it will be devastating to the economy to not allow these people to do these jobs that other people don't want. thereart their -- start anyway. actually try to come to the country. it will drop significantly. after that has been implemented. do we need a wall? three need more fencing? other kinds of technology. do not try to solve the problem of the wall when we are offering jobs to people. that is the argument i would like to hear you put forward to the congresspeople. go with the problem, not the symptom. the symptom is the wall. we are arguing about the wall, when we are offering jobs to people. it makes no sense. host: this is george in clarksville, tennessee. republican.

whyer: i would like to know government employees are made essential employees, therefore they have to go to work when there is a shutdown, they will get paid anyway. nonessential, government shutdown happens, no one would be affected. i don't understand why if you're working for the government, andssential, you get paid all those at work do not get anything extra, so they get -- [indiscernible] when the government shuts down -- what sense does that make? host: our last caller in this first segment. stick around. up next, arizona republican paul gosar joins us, a member of the border security caucus. we talk about the shutdown.

gwen moore will be with us later, democrat from wisconsin. we will be right back. ♪ >> the senate confirmation hearings for william barr to be the next attorney general of the united dates begin on tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern. begin on united states tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern. william barr is now at the law firm of kirkland and ellis and served as the u.s. attorney general for george h w bush. watch the confirmation process live tuesday at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span three. texas sent nine new members to congress in the elections

including four democrats. the 32nd district. former linebacker left the nfl for law school, afterwards he worked for the obama administration, then later in private practice. voters in the 16th district elected veronica escobar. she was previously a county judge in el paso. she taught english at the university of texas in el paso as well as literature at the county community college. she is one of the first two latina congresswomen elected by texas voters. the other is sylvia garcia, representing the 29th strict. she previously served in the state senate, also holding elected positions including on the harris county commission.

voters from the seventh district sent an attorney to the house. this is the first time the seventh has elected a democrat, since it was constituted on the west side of houston in 1967. the first to hold the seat was future president george h w bush. watch it all on c-span. >> washington journal continues. host: paul gosar joins us representing arizona's fourth district, serves on the border security caucus. 36 hours or so since the president's first oval office remarks. do you have a sense that he moved any opinions in congress? are we any different place today than we were before the oval office address? guest: i do not know if he has moved anyone in congress. the sides are entrenched. he moved to the american people. people get. walls work.

-- people get it. it slows people down. arizona, we are flooded in this country, our major artery for the major flow of illicit drugs in this country and human smuggling. there is a crisis. people need to address. host: how do you know? guest: we had a town hall last night. we invite everyone who wants to chime in and talk. overwhelmingly, people brought up the understanding of what the president hit. one of the key points he made is, walls are not because we hate people. it is because we are trying to protect the people we love. that helped people understand, this works. host: day 20. how does this and? end? guest: the president is

frustrated. i think he challenges the emergency doctrine. i think he will come forward trying to reallocate money. we reached out to the administration and said, you have jurisdiction over army corps of engineers, you can throw a fastball and say, i intend to do this, redirect money from the army corps to engineer to southern arizona where we have water flooding, open sewage running into arizona. this is a catastrophic event. listen. i am prepared and away we go. host: does that could challenged in court? guest: it does. you will see it get a quick hearing from supreme court based on rhetoric. host: you think he wins customer guest: i think he does. -- you think he wins?

guest: i think he does. barack obama created an emergency declaration for the migrant crisis. children,0 migrant unaccompanied, 160,000 family units, this is the first time, this is the biggest population base trying to cross over illegally. host: did you support the obama administrations use of emergency powers? guest: absolutely. i went to guatemala, el salvador and honduras to look at the problem. when you have children and elderly traveling, they do not have reserve volumes that men and young people do. you have seen deaths. if i took my children across this country, unaccompanied, accompanied, child protective service would take my children away. this is arduous. when you take seven out of 10 people crossing, coming for criminalsaulted with

activity, one into women are sexually assaulted. this is a humanitarian crisis. women out of every two are sexually assaulted. this is a humanitarian crisis. host: (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. we will start with peter on the line for republicans, valley cottage, new york. gosar, iepresentative am a republican. i voted for president trump. i support the president. i support is border control policy. but, i do blame republicans, my party, for the shutdown. i will tell you why. ryan made it clear that he did not believe in the wall. i do not believe mcconnell is

strongly for it either. bill lastd the tax year under reconciliation. they could have given the president's money this year under reconciliation but they would not do it. we are the reason why having this problem now. i hope there is a solution. it does not look like there will be anytime soon. is notve the president going to be able to put this wall up. i blame the republican party for this problem. guest: i couldn't agree more. last year, when we had the schumer shutdown, we had what we needed to get good behavior back. we could have funded the military for the full year and require the senate to have one month to do discretionary spending or else there would be

mandatory cuts. rewarding good behavior. the power of congress is that budget. establish parameters of getting back to good behavior. i agree. i have been one of the biggest proponents and trying to hold my leadership and control as well. i was not a big supporter of paul ryan. i lead the charge when he ran, against him. not that he is a bad person, it is just i did not feel he was a leader of speaker quality. i agree with you. part of this is our fault. host: should republicans have done the wall before they tried to repeal the affordable care act and went forward with the tax cuts and jobs act? guest: we made promises. when i came in on the big wave of 2010, obamacare was a big deal. 19% of gdp. even when senator mccain did the thumbs down that cost us that

reveal, we should have pushed forward. we can chew gum and walk at the same time. multiple things at the same time comes with leadership. people, you can do several things. that is not the way we should be doing things. host: alan in illinois, democrat. caller: my question is, rather than the president going down to the border, why doesn't he go to nicaragua and try to figure out what can be done to alleviate the problem at the source? guest: great idea. i have gone to el salvador, nicaragua, guatemala, honduras, to see the problem. we sought it in 2014. one of the things, people need to be shown about our country.

we do not have jurisdiction in those countries down there that are sending so many people. look what the president has been doing with the president of mexico. establishing new parameters of how we inventory asylum-seekers who are truly asylum-seekers based on coming for work, and that is a not -- that is not that type of application. visualize. allow the american people to see what is in our backyard. we have to live with this. many people around the country have to be able to see what that deterrent is and what the problem is. once people see that, they understand, they can live it. it becomes more real. independent, west virginia. guest: good morning. caller: good morning. this is getting past the political thing of democrat and republican. it is an american thing.

walls have been proven as a deterrent and i think they need to talk to more voter -- the more border security to prove that. they talk about drones and e-verify. those only show anyone coming across, it does not stop them. they are not able to have enough protection to stop them and once they get into the united states, they are here. it is a drain on our economy. we have homeless and people out of work and things. we need to take care of our country, first, then take care of the others. i would ask these people who think walls do not work, like reagan said, tear down that wall. tell nancy pelosi to two down that wall and see if she is willing to do that as a compromise. guest: perfect segue. the president has listened to

democrats. he put together in this plan, $5.7 billion -- not only does it include 234 additional miles of barrier, once again, it is not a wall from sea to shining sea but also the protocols and security measures border patrol and experts have brought forward, for example looking at new equipment to look at freight coming in and out to make sure there are no weapons, drugs, paraphernalia coming into our country. additional money for beds, also. we are seeing this migrant chase different. they are young kids, unaccompanied minors and family units. there are no beds. he has articulated that. more ice agents, more border patrol. from this stand. more medical supplies. this is a comprehensive pack of

applications. you put up a wall and people will find a way to get over it. it slows them down. it deters a number of people who will not challenge it as well. that allows us, as i was hearing this morning from president clinton and president bush, people to the border crossings, where we have a better way of concentrating efforts and decide who comes in this country and who cannot. hour of spent the first the program asking viewers about the compromise. you were talking about exchanging wall funding for democratic infrastructure. is that a deal you think is still possible? guest: in new york they have the gateway project. estimated $29.5 billion to get this done.

infrastructure project on the southern border is $25 billion. chuck schumer, governor cuomo, here is your chance. here is your gateway project. i want my $25 billion to get this done. from that standpoint, going, going, gone. if you need it bad, we need it bad. i am not telling you how to do your infrastructure. please do not tell me how to do mine. host: jeff, republican, kentucky. caller: i do not know if the question has been asked. when they do a government shutdown, instead of taking money from the low-wage worker, why doesn't it start at the top? president and congress, stop taking their money and let the low-wage workers do the work they need to do and get paid. thank you. guest: that makes perfect sense but once again, this is now my fifth term. what we found out in previous shutdowns is that congress has

to pass a law or resend a law so that they do not get paid. that is the sad part. this does not make sense. in the real world, i was a health care provider. many times, i was the last person paid. my employees got paid first. i got what was left over. that is not how this american u.s. government runs. it is so off-track. the other part two this is, you do not get rectification or solution until you have a crisis. remember the adage from harry reid and nancy pelosi. do not let a crisis go untethered. utilize it to your benefit. unless we start having some pain, we will not get a solution at all. host: you're still taking a paycheck? there are members who said they will give their paycheck to another cause. you are not doing that? guest: happy to defer that to

whatever. i do not see the point in giving my paycheck away. all these workers are going to get back pay. the government is sound on that process. from that standpoint, it is more about making sure they are mortgageo pay their and from that standpoint, 90% of government is working. that is why it is not a shutdown. it is a slowdown. host: idaho, craig, good morning. caller: good morning. i have shut my mute off so i am watching your tv channel. one fellow was quite, he was republican. i'm nonbiased. how come we did not start at the top level and shut down congress and senate and make them not get paid and shut them off first

before we shut off federal employees on small salaries? theard the congressman, fellows comments, saying he did not want to donate his money toward that. host: what is your question? caller: i think that should have been done from the top, from trump down. they should have left one or two people in congress, sent the rest home to home offices, they can vote at their homes and we should cut their wages off and their benefits, right away. that should have been the first thing done. then we go from there. we could have gotten compromises between democrats and republicans to get this problem solved. host: what is the compromise you would offer? caller: you did not hear me? the compromise was they should have started from the top down, send the congressman and the senate home. host: in terms of the impact over border security and opening

the government? caller: it has all got to do with the democrats against republicans. guest: i agree with him. the only thing i would say is i do not think you send people home. you make them sit and stay back and forth and eventually you will get something done. if you send people home, they do not have to address it. they can find a different appetite for something else. make them sit here and make them be part of the squalor. that is the only way you will get a solution. host: democrats of been trying to push various bills in the house to reopen other parts of the government outside of homeland security. are any of those bills something you could support? guest: no. this is all tied together. if you do not have some type of pain associated, you will not get a solution.

the comment that nancy pelosi made yesterday to the president, reopen, then we will talk. what is in it for them? host: should the president be concerned eight house republicans voted yesterday with a bill to reopen treasury? guest: i don't think so. you will always have people cross. they are not team players. they do not understand the scenario. from that standpoint, no. i think you will have that. from the standpoint, they have their reasons. i will let them be to those reasons. for now, they do not have those numbers. host: 10 minutes left with paul gosar. greg is in maryland, democrat. guest: good morning. caller: good morning. wall and immigration, illegal immigration is a political football on the right and left. both sides want immigration here and illegal immigration here.

i do not know why we don't think out-of-the-box. employer who hires the illegal -- make them subject to a $1000 a day fine. the kicker would be, whoever turns him in gets half of that. stop illegal immigration. it will dry up so quick when you don't have jobs. simple solution. guest: most people believe everyone has the right to work. the problem is when you have essential welfare programs. you cannot afford to do this for the world. beaconted states is a for people to make themselves better. you are dead on. mandating e-verify, identifying businesses that follow through with that. once again, we tried to include that in the farm bill and other

applications. it has been stripped. applicationnt that to be held accountable along those lines. what is in it for the american worker? there is a lot. people saying, over and over again, these are jobs no one wants. that is not right. many want these jobs. we ought to be incentivizing people. that was one of the things in the farm bill, looking at, if you are single individual between 18 and 59 and you do not have dependence, get a job and be part of the american solution. john f. kennedy made the perfect comment. it is not what my country can do for me, but what i can do for my country. we have to get back to that. host: green bay, wisconsin. independent. caller: good morning. i appreciate you being there today. i used to work for a republican congressman during watergate. there does notu, need -- [indiscernible]

-- there is part of a wall already. there should be other ways. -- other thing is, [indiscernible] day, it is like, it is just bad. host: on tariffs? guest: on your wall comment. most people need to take a viewpoint and walk a mile in my moccasins along our border in arizona. like chilton.s they have a barrier that does not facilitate any deterrent. they have people backpacking with bales of marijuana and drugs on a daily basis throughout their property along

the border. i disagree with you. a wall, from sea to shining sea is not appropriate, nor will it happen, but you have to have some way of making a deterrent that works. walls work. you see it around the world, whether the great wall of china to israel, they work. but, by themselves, you need other things. if you get people to the ports of entry, so you know who is coming in and leaving, that is important. if you are having a salad now, between the end of april -- from october to april, 95% chance it comes from one of three districts, one of which is mine. i am aware of what is happening around the world, particularly with our farmers. we need disaster aid relief to farmers in florida and the southeast. because of that, they will lose

two years of crops and be deeper in the hole. i am not a big tariff guy. when you see the problem that china has extorted, what do we do? stay with the status quo and hope for the best? expect a different result with the same protocol that is not working? or do you get tough? sometime short-term pain for long-term gain, and putting people on the same protocol. i am willing to work with the president to try to see, to go longer. i think china is starting to show, there are changes that are starting to matriculate. what is your solution? do not tell me to do the status quo, because it is not working. host: walking in your shoes. this is the first time we have seen you since the election. i wanted to ask you about the

viral campaign add, where your siblings came out for your democratic opponent. how did that impact you? what impacted your family? we seeit is sad that people go to the extremes like that. i want to tell people, it is interesting who they endorsed. here is a gentleman who was the head of primary care in the v.a. in the area. we are at the epicenter of the v.a. problem. veterans not getting care. this was a guy coordinating that out of prescott. he knew, that our veterans were not getting care. that is a disgrace. it shows you how divided our country is. of ae in the middle political civil war. no one wants to budge. why is it always the conservative that has to bend and accommodate the liberal perspective?

i always allowed my siblings to have their point of view. where is their respect for me to have mine? host: have you talked to them since the election? guest: i have not. it is sad. the real fallout has been my kids and their kids. i have had a number of conversations with a number of those kids to explain my point of view. i am not there to persuade them. i am here to give them my side. they can take their parent side. they have to be big google to come up with -- they have to be big people to come up with their solutions. when you see people like this, you see an angry part of america. that is not right. it tells you how intolerant the other side is to listen. until we start listening and respecting other people and their viewpoints, understanding where they came from, what they do, we are not going to see the

revenues, until we see crisis. just like this. host: john is in alabama, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: let me see if you can help me with something here about the lies being called into this program, allowing them to carry on. you know the freedom of information act? after one year, trying to get democrats that run up last year, chuck schumer and nancy, $25 billion for the funding of the security of the border. they call it in saying he turned it down. i got it. 648 pages. i have not completely read it but i have got to the part of where it says in there, they

wanted immediate legalization for the dreamers but in the other part is, the money that , would befor that examined every year. what it was, is that they were going to give, they wanted the oed in butll to be sh one year later, they could have cut it off and the dreamers in theave been here mexican people would have been shafted? am i right about that? guest: there were proposals that leadership in the senate voted for, full funding that the president asked or. that is absolutely, it has been reported by numerous news agencies as protocol. that process did not go through. there are conversations going on

as we speak in regards, particularly the senate, into how to mitigate this by looking at certainty for the dreamer 700,000+n, estimated that are sitting there. we are not seeing rectification. part of the reason you're not seeing it is that the status quo benefits the democrats. let me explain. that is, democrats need victims. i am here to empower people. to be a solution in their lives. instead of being dependent on the federal government. sadly, the most ultimate and that individual is a victim, is an illegal immigrant. that is what is so sad about this application. they are being used as pawns. that is the wrong way to go. that is sad. that is not the way we should be doing this. we have a crisis. regardless of what the democrats think, young children, migrants, unaccompanied, family units

coming across, priority, first time in u.s. history they are now the majority of those people crossing over. we have an epidemic. we have a problem. match that with drugs and the trade coming through, particularly fentanyl, you do not get second chances with that no. that is why you are seeing the opioid deaths. host: paul gosar, republican from arizona, member of the congressional border security caucus. appreciate your time. guest: thank you, john. host: up next, gwen moore, democrat from wisconsin. later, as president trump heads to texas today, we will be joined by a reporter from the texas tribune. we will be right back. ♪

>> i remember, as a little kid, you knew when the flag went by, you were to stand up and put your hand on your heart. stand and sing the national anthem. he learned to recite the present with legions -- you learned to recite the pledge of allegiance. said, doing nothing encountering,s what i have to say is the total media distortion of the process underway. i cannot understand. i, as you know, the day after that leak revealed the covert

operation, i went before the press and told them exactly what the operation was. we were not doing business with the ayatollah. we were not trading for hostages. word by way of a third country, israel, that a delegation of people, at a time when everyone was saying the ayatollah was not going to live out the week, the factions were rising up as to who was going to be the government of iran. this group was vouched for by a third country as responsible citizens who wanted a meeting somehow with representatives of the united states as to how there could be a better relationship between a government of iran and the united states. >> watch real america this weekend on america history tv on c-span 3. >> washington journal continues. g -- congresswoman

congresswoman gwen moore, of wisconsin. you have been concerned on the status of social safety net programs like snap. talk about snap. where that program stands today in terms of funding over the course of the shutdown? concernedm very, very that the shutdown is going to wreak havoc on families struggling to get by, especially those families that have disabled members, children, elders, which is the majority of those folks who receive food stamps. we mightropriations, have enough to ride through february, but beyond that we see the inability to provide that benefit. of course, through our leadership, nancy pelosi, we have put on the floor a bill to

of $23ap at a level billion in discretionary funding. host: is that through the end of the fiscal year? guest: yes. the 2018ion above $2.25 million above the 2018 level. we are concerned this shutdown thing is about this wall. food stamps has nothing at all to do with it. we have six bills, appropriations bills, we could pass to keep government running, including providing funding for those folks under snap, and still those negotiations around the border wall, curtain, whatever you want to call it, could still be underway. host: headlines in the

washington post, food stamps at risk as standoff lingers. we are focusing on snap. earlier this week, sonny perdue said the agency would rely on a little-known budget provision to give states money for snap assistance for the month of february. they are doing that, going out in january, january 20 to circumvent separation of federal appropriations rules. february?ns after how much uncertainty is there for recipients? guest: there are provisions to provide benefits through february. what that will also do is it will require them to recall folks furloughed, folks who will be required to work without pay in order to administer the program. host: how can you recall certain

people and make them essential when they were not considered essential at the beginning of the shutdown? guest: we have many hundreds of thousands of employees in that predicament now. when you think about the agriculture bill, for example, there are folks that won't be able to do regular food safety checks, which is a concern for moms putting chicken nuggets on the table every day, and there are some things government absolutely has to do. bringave also promised to folks back to the irs, so that they can process tax refunds that folks depend on. i am thinking of one person in who, shortlylvia, before the shutdown had started, found herself in a car accident, and had savings and plans.

she used up all her leave for that and took unpaid leave to try to recover, and now is frantic about what she is going to do going forward. what if we were to call her back to work for the irs? someone who has been off, exhausted her savings, will have to have gas money -- she is a ingle mom -- have gas money, order to be able to work for the american people? host: gwen moore with us until the top of the hour. taking your calls on washington journal. (202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. we started off talking about snap, food stamps. special line for folks in that program. we want to hear your stories and how the shutdown has impacted you. (202)-748-8003.

staying on snap for a moment. this is a program you had personal experience in in the past? guest: the snap program saves lives. fruit withanging regards to meeting basic needs. to be able to say to children, elders, disabled who are the primary beneficiaries of this program that, as a community, as a country, we will make sure one of theot problems you have to negotiate in the wealthiest country, in america. the other side of that is there are farmers who benefit from the agricultural program. they are suffering as well. i have had personal experience. i have three grown children. my daughter and i, in particular

benefited from snap. i feel so grateful to have had this program in place. i cannot imagine what people will do. certainly our food pantries are already overwhelmed. i do not know how we will fill in the gaps and meet the needs. host: how long were you on that program? what is it like for someone who doesn't know about it? how did you get off? guest: here's the truth. snap works very well in a countercyclical economy. folks are on and off the program. there is no long-term dependency on snap. snap findple ever on there are temporary interruptions in their ability to work. they go and receive food stamps to fill in the gaps. that is what our family did as well. as soon as people got gainful

employment, income increases, they devolve off the program. it works well. it is one of our best run social safety net programs, and it works very, very well. host: we can talk about that and other programs and day 20 of the other shutdown. gwen moore with us until 9:00. jerry is with us from new jersey, democrat, good morning. caller: if you could please answer my questions while i am on the phone so we can discuss it. do you believe the democrats should compromise with trump to give him part of that wall in order to be able to get funding back for the government? that is number one. number two. how many illegal immigrants stamps,welfare, food all this stuff, how many illegals?

illegals, collect the stuff? if you get rid of them, you will have enough money for the program for the people who really need it, the legal, americans here. do not go to anything else. please answer those directly. guest: thank you very much for your questions. you.t to quote you talked about "part of the wall." the problem is, this $5.7 billion would only fund part of a wall. i have heard estimates like, the lowest i have heard is $30 billion, such a wall would cost. billion, that such a wall would cost. i have heard from all nine congressional, members of

congress who represent order said with mexico, have that the terrain and the ability to seize land from private homeowners would really be something too great to overcome and it is not really practical, including representative will who wasxas republican, also a cia operative, someone who is very close to the notion othersillegal drugs and flow into our country, drugs and so on, and he is adamantly opposed to building such a wall. you cannot build a wall over the mountains in the rio grande. if we were to "compromise" on the wall, we would set ourselves

up for continuous blackmail from more and more money. billion we get the $60 to pay for such a wall? $60 billion may not even be enough money in the long run. host: the other question with snap, illegal immigrants collecting social welfare benefits in the united states? guest: we have a rigorous effort not to provide benefits to people who do not qualify for these programs. there is an application process. provide -- i do not moneythat denying people for food, will in any way reinforce our budget or increase our capacity to fund the wall. some nonresident,

someone who has slipped into the country unknown to anyone and tablets from a meal, at a -- that is something that is a meal but it will by no means solve our budgetary problems. i thank you for the question. recipient,stamp karen, north carolina, independent. caller: the previous caller, i got sidetracked. how are you doing? guest: good. happy new year. caller: happy new year to you. a question about the illegal stamps,ts, getting food you do not want them missing a meal but they should not be here in the first place and there are charities beside snap and ebt,

which is abused. if we could save the money -- i am for food stands for people that need it. sometimes people need it to get through. but not to live on it forever. there are jobs for able-bodied out there. we could save so much and build that wall. the wall is necessary. i hate to say that. the wall is necessary. have a great day. guest: $5.7 billion is a lot of money. nonresidents, non-us citizens are not needing $5.7 billion worth of food. true, you would give a meal to a stranger. biblical principles, whether christian or muslim, or people of no faith, they would not deny people a meal. we have a snap program that

seeks to provide a basic safety net for people in our country. we should not allow a president to negotiate away that benefit. host: stats on snap. distributing $4.8 billion in in thes each month united states. a reserve of $3 billion. the washington post story pointing out that shortfall that would occur if funding stops. the story in today's washington post, if you want to read it. vanne in manchester, tennessee, independent. caller: good morning. representative to know that if she and the democratic party really wanted to do something for the people

on food stamps, so they would not have deaths or anything, they would compromise and work with trump on the wall because as soon as the government reopens there will be no negotiation. nancy has already said that. basically, i don't know how she would feel if her job was at the border and she had rocks thrown at her while she was trying to work and possibly could be shot or hurt in some way. you know, they are not considering that we need to take care of our border patrol. we need to make their job easier. as one of the other caller stated, the wall is not effective, you cannot put it in certain terrain -- that is not even discussed. guest: it has been discussed, in fact.

again, the nine members of borders whose district mexico are against building the wall. nine of them. including a republican former c.i.a. officer. i want to lean into their understanding about how impractical it is. again, i am a member of congress. i was independently elected as a member of congress. i do not have to be blackmailed by the president of the united states in order to provide services. i am prepared. i am voting every single day on bills to open the government and people,nds to flow to including those border agents who are there and being paid. i want them to be able to pay their mortgages and rent.

i want them to be able to buy gas sohey can get to work. i want them to be safe. again, i think everybody in congress wants to make sure we have border security. that does include fencing, and places where the army corps of engineers and others believe it is practical. let's face it. this wall was a campaign slogan. there was not something anyone really thinks, at a practical level, is really necessary, and orton or -- important or affordable. host: food security programs in the segment. morning, aeeted this d.c. food bank is saying it is seeing influx of furloughed and unpaid government workers as the shutdown continues, as part of

the shutdown series. special line for food stamp recipients. michael has called in from texas on that line, democrat. caller: how are you doing? guest: hi. , three things.ng host: give us one or two. recipient,year-old taking food stamps. they cut her 50% from $140. over 200,nce went up life, water, gas. i do not see how they can justify that. illegals are, taking the stuff away from people. i got to provide more documents.

i have documents myself. inon't see how they can get without more documents? if you do it wrong -- [indiscernible] guest: that is exactly right. it is a rigorous process to apply for the snap program. you have to check in regularly to make sure you are still eligible. it really is hard to game the system for any long periods of time. month, billion a benefit, that you referenced earlier, john, it goes primarily to americans. i want to point out that it is something like $1.40 per person per meal. we are not talking lobsters and steaks. this is a bare minimum dietary budget.

i just want to say to those charities out there, churches and other food banks, thank god you are there. i know that they do not have the capacity to meet the food needs of everyone who will find themselves suffering from the notdown and there just are that many canned goods out there. host: less than 10 minutes in the segment. we found out you will be joining the ways and means committee. your priorities for that committee in the coming congress? guest: i have been seeking that appointment since 2005. under seen the programs the jurisdiction of that committee, social security -- which supports elderly and disabled people and families, your parents die, your child, you receive social security isefits and medicare --

under the jurisdiction of the ways and means committee. childcare, foster care, unemployment benefits are under the jurisdiction of that committee and taxes. we just passed the tax bill in the last session. no 0 hearing. largest benefit to the top 1% of the population at the expense of the rest of our country. we need to revisit that as well. i am certainly wanting to serve on the committee. i am eager to get in there to revisit the tax bill and make sure we preserve the social safety net rubric that has been put in place since the new deal, the great society and the affordable care act to preserve those programs. host: back to new jersey, sheila, republican, from ridgefield park. good morning. caller: good morning.

i would like to make a comment, that i am a republican for a short time. none of this behavior, with the president, believing that he has all the power. it is only normalized by hyping into his actions. mitch mcconnell, if he would do bodyob, the legislative are there to make a law. not the president. no one should be negotiating with the president about the shutdown or the appropriation. they should be negotiating with each other, which has always happened in the past. this country has been covered bytwo parties for centuries. it works. that is their job. democratsman moore,

-- [indiscernible] caucus,n in the freedom republicans -- [indiscernible] . mitch mcconnell knows better. host: congresswoman? guest: i am looking for a republican hero to protect the institution of congress. we are a separate body. step twot there to what the parties says. sayseptoe what the party says.p to what the party senators voted for the very bill now that mitch mcconnell will not bring to the floor. it is his job to bring it to the floor. it is our job to bring it together and work out any differences we have between the houses and put it on the president's desk.

if you wants to veto it, that is his prerogative as the chief executive, as the president, then it comes back to us and we can decide whether we can override it. that is how the framers, how alexander hamilton -- that is how they saw it. we are looking for a republican hero. mitch mcconnell -- i hope you are watching. host: jeremy is on. caller: a pleasure to talk with you. i love and live in milwaukee. i love the south side and the north side and the downtown library. i truly do. guest: the milky way. caller: i love wisconsin. fromur point about hurt texas and the cost of things, when one is only receiving $200

on ebt to become healthy and a disciplined form to find $250, theymployment, are talking about spending $50 billion, looking at technology, that they do not understand the cost -- i guess my question is, extra $75 on an ebt card -- why are we even discussing, technology, which is, the prices unbeknownst to us? fort: thank you, jeremy raising important issues. right now, the coast guard is not being funded. it is one of the places -- i mean -- where weekend intercept the most drugs -- where we can

intercept the most drugs that come over by water or airport. we can use more border security for agents on the border to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis and to do a more thorough search of big of big rigs that come in from mexico. we can use drones and more electronic surveillance. the great wall of china is something the tourists go visit. it's not something that you build in 2019. i think i've got a piece of the wall that we tore down in germany in 1989. this is not a modern idea. it's a campaign slogan. host: tom is in pittsburgh, california. caller: i'm a former federal employee. in this bigg to get

debate about the wall. i understand a few years ago there was something past and he reneged on this. is the shutdown because of a budgetary issue. i don't have a shutdown because of a campaign promise the president wants to fill. the federal employees are not paying the price for these things. i want to know if there's going to be any legislation that says enough is enough. you are pushing federal employees because you people can't get your act together. not the point of shutting down the government and federal employees paying the price for. we all have federal employees, we have had enough of this. guest: thank you for calling in.

there are 800,000 federal employees that are impacted by this. some who are working with no pay. people who are furloughed who will never get any back pay. there arebeyond that people in the private sector that are suffering. as well and i could go on with a whole laundry list of people in your local communities who are suffering. i heard someone from the nail shop complained that now that we have been furloughed they have a shop very near the capital and very near where federal employees come to work. they are not getting any business now. just there is a multiplier impact on this. said why don'ter you guys just compromise and give him the $5.7 billion. we can do this for the next two

years and every time he wants imposeng he can just upon mitch mcconnell who seems to be totally in his corner and say i'm not going to sign it unless i get this or that you needompletely obviate the for the united states congress. we don't have kings. this is why we had a revolution. the american revolution it's called. because we did not want a king george. we have a president and a separate body called the united states congress. host: congresswoman gwen moore, democrat from wisconsin. appreciate your time. up next, we will be taking your calls specifically on this issue of a border wall.

special lines for those in border states and all others. we will put those on your screen and we will be right back. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme policy eventsic in washington, d.c. and around the country. -- c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> sunday on q&a, author and columnist james grant. >> i make my living talking about markets.

is much too expensive for some of the people out there. i think the trouble lies not so much in wall street to wall street is what it is. it has been mostly an infamous name. wall street is an epithet mostly in american history. think what we ought to be more on our guard about are the institutions in the federal government that are avowedly benign in their intentions. the federal reserve for example. the treasury. the securities and exchange commission. these institutions set up as benefactors to the public. i think increasingly they are not so. >> author and columnist james grant sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. washington journal continues.

host: is the border wall necessary? that's a question for the next 25 minutes. we have broken our phone lines down a little bit different we want to hear from border state residents in particular. is the number. all others can call in at (202) 748-8001. president trump is headed to touren, texas to view and the border. we will have more on what the president's schedule is today a little bit later in our program. we will be joined by one of the reporters for the texas tribune covering the president's trip. simple question, is the border wall necessary? jerry in kingston, arizona. caller: absolutely. it got to know we have some issues. on the border. these things with some of your guests that they have on there.

i know they like to tell stories. that as fair as you people are at the station, i think need to come back and ask them some questions because all i hear is wise about the president, he's no good, he's this companies that. let's talk about good things that he's done which is never mentioned by any of your senators from the liberal side. i cannot believe this president is that you i know he's not that bad because i know he has some good things. host: what would you praise him for? was one of those good things you think he's done. caller: let's talk about the economy. the jobs he brought back. the people from north korea.

he's done a lot of things that mr. schumer and mrs. pelosi should probably learn to put a wall around their home because they have also got walls around their homes and stuff. it's not immoral. the bible says you have to have a wall to protect your people. i don't understand it. i don't know how many people are out there that drink the kool-aid and i just don't understand it. if you have any common sense do you know what's going on. we have people who have come here illegally who have killed her people and no one used to ever talk about that. about-- no one ever talks those things. there are some good will. i'm an immigrant myself. i love this country. i would like to see it continue to get the other -- get that her. host: that's jerry in arizona.

again that phone line (202) 748-8000. scottsdale, arizona. chris. is the border wall necessary? good morning. i think border security is absolutely necessary for arizona and all states. is everyone is talking around it. the wall is a political term. even trump has said he's willing to call it a fence or barricade. it's part of border security. we already have walls in some places. what really bothers me is we are just talking past each other right now in these discussions really generate a lot of anxiety , anger and polarize us. they really don't solve the problem which i think they all

agreed you need a secure border and that's a combination of walls, barriers, fences drones. whatever it takes. mizer says texas politicians and some in the gop express skepticism about from small in his story today. he notes the debate playing out in texas. the state with the longest order with mexico. that's more nuanced than the one taking place in washington with points of view that differ between the border areas, the statewide politicians who have to take those voters into consideration and the more sharply republican areas of the state. many in texas. say that much more news to be done along the border. more officers should be added. have also beens pushed by democrats in washington who opposed the wall. the story today if you want to be in the washington post.

from borderear state residents in particular about the idea of a border wall. john in san antonio, texas. go ahead. caller: i find it a little ironic that we weren't having any of this debate or discussion in 2006 when the secure fence act was appropriated at $50 billion. texas.in south i can tell you that we 100% need a secure border. the population here in san antonio has just grown exponentially in the past 10 years. and it's a lot of illegal immigrants. they are in my neighborhood. they are everywhere. they are driving with no insurance. no license. they are getting an accident. such a burden to the american taxpayer. versus anthony in arizona.

good morning. good morning. i would like to say that i truly believe that there is not a need for a border wall. and one of the things that i see happening is michael jackson made a song and it was called living off the wall. and if you go back and listen to that song you understand believe that nine to five back on the shelf and just enjoy yourself well. book byn reading the michael bolton and i've encouraged others to read that. it's not what america does to you to what you do to america. immigrants have done a lot for america. .o what are we doing to others the caller just before anthony brought up the secure

fence act of 2006. more information on that act from little fact took a look back at it recently. just over half of the democrats in the senate voted for the secure fence act of 2006 which was signed into law by president george w. bush and included barack obama, chuck schumer and hillary clinton as well. most democrats in the house voted against it including nancy -- whybecause the law 2015 u.s. customs and border protection had constructed 654 miles of fencing. the fence was different from the wall trump has promised to build on the campaign trail which he said would be made of hardened concrete. trump derided the 2006 fence act as too modest. he said it was not a wall but a little sense that could be scaled with a letter.

ladder. elizabeth is next in rock, texas. good morning. good morning. yes. of all is necessary. our small business has been affected by individuals from el salvador and i can't say enough about securing the border and stopping the flow of the criminal element that coming through. host: can you talk more about the impact on you and your business? caller: we own a construction equipment rental company. we are just a small business. however we have a good business. we had some illegals still some equipment from us. it's been approximately two years ago.

fortunately the carrollton police were able to assist us in recovering our equipment. but upon locating the equipment they were able to acquire warrants. they were able to get into the home before the equipment was. --y were tracking trafficking drugs. there was a 14-year-old girl in the back of the shed. the criminal element is there and it's rather disturbing when thanke faced with it and god the carrollton police were able to assist us. host: how far is rock off from the u.s. mexico border? caller: my business is not actually in rockwall. but the carrollton police were able to assist us. host: we have a phone line for order state residents.

surely is in richmond, virginia. go ahead. caller: i don't think of border wall is necessary. what i think is border security is necessary. who's going to be supplying the materials? who's going to be the contractors? is it going to be donald trump's contractors? and who's going to take care of all the other stuff in the trash. think that money is necessary for a border wall and i don't think donald trump should get the contract to build the wall. host: can you define border security? i can't really because

i'm not down there. i think it would be better for drones in an individual to say that we need a wall so that they can get the money. half the money they got, where is it? host: we will go to new mexico. chris. good morning. caller: there's two debates always going on on c-span consistently and those are debates going to the general population and then there were the debates going to the electoral college. this debate that we are having right now if you take a look at counties, the democrats are losing this debate in those counties and those counties will decide the 2020 election. nancy pelosi always makes her arguments to the californians in the detroit. and i'm telling you right now this debate about work and jobs

appealing toon is the counties that decided the 2016 election and will decide the 2020 election. thing.e if you were fdr and wanted to have a new deal what wouldn't you look at the wall as a social welfare program for contractors in texas to build? concrete workers in new mexico to build? to put them to work. to people in california who need jobs. why don't democrats look at this as a social welfare program? and if the wall is immoral i would ask nancy pelosi and chuck schumer to stand up tomorrow and say i want the rest of the wall to be struck down because it's immoral. they won't do that because they supported it then. thank you. host: this is lawrence in florida. good morning.

caller: ways of that we have to be the ones to pay for this wall ? we were told that mexico was going to do that. come they're not using a driving force to negotiate with mexico? how come our people have to go without work? this is our country. who really cares for our country? howhost: mike in california. is the portable necessary? caller: i don't feel that the border wall is necessary but i think we can get the contractors that higher the day workers and bust them for not paying into taxes and knocking into workmen's comp.. there are ways of getting around this. theye jobs are there wouldn't be hired. if the contractors aren't hiring them the jobs won't be there.

host: randy in louisiana. same question. is the portable necessary? caller: that border wall needs to be built. if that disease makes it across to our side they are going to infect all of the people. there dopeople down you think have a bad case of tb that can't be cured and they go to work in a restaurant especially a mexican restaurant and you don't know what you've got. host: is that your biggest concern? disease? caller: disease and immigration. these people don't want to assimilate as an american. assimilate as their country south of the border. these people, they don't care.

host: what does it mean to assimilate as an american? caller: learn to speak english. learn the constitution. and get off the welfare system. that's the hope problem with -- whole problem with this welfare system ever since lbj. system was set up to help you get back on your feet. don't get me wrong. there are some good hard-working people down there but they need to assimilate into the system. stand in line like everybody else. is the part of george soros, the u.n. and everybody else in between and nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. these are the biggest narcissistic people i have ever seen in my life. host: using social welfare

programs should be abolished? caller: well, no. was saying earlier, the other caller. the fdr social will bear program. put people to work. the wall. because trump is right. what lucy and schumer are saying, they are causing a lot of trouble. two people ought to be a first edition charges. phoenix,s is axel in arizona. does the border wall necessary? caller: definitely necessary. people talk about the fact that , theed border security wall is just one part of it. it's definitely going to help. and we need to keep things from happening like the fact that

this happened where the police officer was killed recently. thate need to realize that would have never happened had that person not been allowed in the country. so we need to start to say to ourselves this was done a long time ago. politicians that were in decades past did not clean up this problem and we've been putting lookth the problem of, now , there are mexican people and people from central america that come across are good hard-working people. seen and worked with them. they are great family people and everything. youte when the left says don't want brown people to come across. we don't care what color they are. we couldn't care less what color was the person was that shot that officer. doesn't have anything to do with that. coming in andople getting the social welfare money.

it's about the fact that just like a caller had said earlier what about us? these representatives are there to take care of us as american citizens. that should be their first priority. they are putting other people first. host: how concerned are you about the northern border? caller: that's the thing. we don't have the same type of situation coming across from the northern border. it's possible that people could come through that want to do harm to the country but the thing is that when we have such a situation that's going on on the southern border we have to take care of that first. the trouble was done a long time ago. nobody cleaned it up. everybody kept passing the buck. it was like, we're going to get this taken care of and it never happened and now we are sitting here and we have to get it taken

care of because too many problems are happening. immigration is great. you had a caller who was saying they are the backbone of this country. that's legal immigration. it's not illegal immigration. we want people to come here. just come here the right way. that's all there is to it. host: you can join in the conversation on social media. here is one facebook post. kathy saying the portable is not necessary. root cause, our immigration policy. i do not want to throw $5 billion on a fabricated crisis because the president fears his base. we will turn to the president's trip today to mcallen, texas. day 20 of the government shutdown.

there's a shot of air force one at andrews air force base getting ready to take off for the president's trip. here's a compilation of order visits by presidents over the years. quarter drama is a headline from the washington times. -- has been the backdrop for major presidential theater. president bush's trip to yuma, arizona amid all of border funding. president obama pleading for conference of immigration bill when he was there in march of 2018 in san diego when president trump visited prototypes for the portable. that u.s. times presidents have gone to the border in recent years. hassan has been waiting here in d.c., good morning. caller: i just want to say i don't think the border wall is necessary. most people that are here

illegally are over stayers. there's have stayed too long. they are on vacation. they have come here with the work he said. that's about 50%. also if we build the wall all the way across the mexican the federal government is going to have to take so much land from private citizens through eminent domain battles. walls don't really work if that's really what you want to do is prevent people from coming in here. people will find a way. i think it's a total waste of money and i also think it's immoral to do it as well. very?is the border won't -- necessary? caller: yes. we need the border wall. when these undocumented people get a job at walmart or border or mcdonald's who gets money from the withholding tax that they pay but they can't retrieve it is the can't file a tax return because they don't have legitimate social security

number. who gets that money? host: sheila has been waiting in florida. good morning. caller: we do need security on our border. a double we have done system of congratulating people that want to come in illegally. we are a country of laws. we the legal immigrants and citizens held hostage by the democrats that are just resisting our president? let's do the right thing and help all of us. family that came from other countries, but they are legal. that's all i have to say. thank you. host: stick around.

we will focus on the president's trip today down to texas. we will be joined by alana rocha to talk about the president's schedule and who will join him on that trip. we will be right back. elect nine new members of congress during the mid-terms. five of them republicans. dan crenshaw is a former navy's deal loss denied to an ied in afghanistan. he was born in gotland and spent some of his childhood in south america where his father worked in the oil industry. voters in the fifth district elected lance gooden who also served in this legislature. he was insurance broker for energy companies prior to his election. a former u.s. senate staffer having worked or senator john cornyn and is the first chief of staff for senator ted cruz's. he also worked for then governor rick perry, and ghost writing a book for the government -- governor. didn't taylor now represents the

states third district. he was previously a member of the texas state legislature. representative taylor saw combat in iraq as a member of the u.s. marine corps. and ron wright succeeded congressman joe barton. earlier in his career he was on the city council of arlington, texas. new congress, new leaders. watch it all on the span. >> coming up this weekend on book tv. saturday california democratic senator kamala harris details her life and career through her book the truths we hold: an american journey. at 11:00 on skewness talks about his latest book, last call for liberty. afterwards journalist

request alan discusses her book it was all a dream. a new generation confronts the broken promise to black america. by the groupewed editor-in-chief daniel belton. >> washington journal continues. host: with president trump headed to texas today we are joined now from boston by alana rocha from the texas tribune. walk us through what the president will be seeing today. what we know about the details of this visit. guest: we know he's going to the rio grande valley. we have a reporter will be accompanying have who is based in -- him who is based in el paso.

aside from that we didn't know many details. we did get more insight from some of the state officials that will be accompanying him including u.s. senator john cornyn who will be meeting with a number of mayors in the region to get a picture on what the situation is down there. aside from that we are not really clear. all we know from the white house this is the president will be meeting with several local officials to get a better picture of what's happening down there. host: we have heard mcallen, texas. guest: corrected. -- yes. saying he reaction hopes the president doesn't come down and take his city as a lawless swath of america. but there is law and order and just to get an accurate picture of what's actually happening. guest: what should our viewers know about mcallen texas? guest: it's right across from the border.

i have been down there several times for reporting. of people down there and a lot of officials as far as being border patrol. militarylso seen the and the legislature is sending dollars of 800 million to up the ranks and address different technological advances down there as well. patrolled and there is law and order. they will tell you the same in. expecting the president to leave the white house. if you want to join us in the last half-hour of our program we are talking with alana rocha of about thetribune issue of border security and immigration in texas and about the president's trip today. you can join us in calling in.

alana rocha, you had mentioned that john cornyn and ted cruz were going to meet with some local mayors down there. what are you hearing about what they are going to hear from those mayors and the reaction to the president visit? guest: there were several reactions to the president's speech the other night. it was a nine minute. i came downstairs thinking i had caught the tail end and it was already over. a lot of reaction from the fissile -- officials on partisan lines. he didn't call for emergency at some expected to have him build the military build this walk-through congressman thornberry -- build this wall. congressman thornberry said the department of defense is not in the business of building walls

and has parted with the president on that front. we have done extensive reporting on what we are going to hear local mayors and officials and they are just trying to squash the stereotype depicted in washington on what is happening there. heavy security. they call el paso the safest city in america. they want to convey that is not a lawless part of america. host: what about other members of congress district's are actually on the border in texas? guest: you so one example congressman will heard who has the largest swath of the u.s. mexico border in his district. he cited with democrats the other day in voting for a bill to get the government back open and then maybe address border

security. he is a republican who has broken with the president will times and he's not in support of letting hundreds of thousands of federal workers go unpaid. and what's ironic about this is the fact that this partial is resultingutdown in a lot of key services like the tsa where they see more terrorist come through versus the border on foot. positionserent staff not being paid. a lot of people calling in sick. they have seen two to three times more people calling in sick. a lot of republicans and democrats say it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. does what sort of allies president trump have when it comes to this shutdown fight? guest: the republican leadership maintains forhich

narrow margins that day one of our legislative session happened tuesday and i was on the house or and in this and it and one noticeable absence was dan patrick we learned was actually in washington. he had gotten the call from the thee house to help president's team in drafting the border security oval office address that he gave tuesday night. he said when weighing whether or not to miss day one of the session, when the white house calls you respond. a lot of speculation if you could be up for a cabinet position and he squashed that yesterday before i even had a chance to follow up and ask him and said, i'm lieutenant governor and going to be lieutenant governor. even the turnover in the administration anything is really possible. host: if you had to guess where dan patrick's fingerprints were on that 10 minute address where would you guess?

guest: i don't know if i could exactly pinpoint it. they talked yesterday about the priorities for the session. they will have a healthy budget to work with for the next two years. they're planning to spend $800 million again of the states money on border security. what that looks like and what exactly that money will go to is not clear. lieutenant governor is among the state officials who will be with the president today. host: talk about the status of the border walls. guest: near el paso and new mexico there are several sections that are being enhanced built in past administrations. there are still slats along the rio grande valley that the president was today and the

consensus is that walls slow people down but you heard the other night the president mentioned heroine and the different drugs coming across the border. they are not coming across the border with people illegally crossing on rafts and things like that. they are coming through the legal ports of entry. the president will likely hear that today from local officials down there. host: the house expected to come in as usual at 10:00. taking your calls and questions ahead of the president's trip down to texas. withcallen area of texas alana rocha of the texas tribune. what's your comment or question? i wanted to see if i can ask and i will stay in line if she could answer. i'm in florida and we are can

injured i think now gradually becoming a border state to have several people here this week and during the week and ahead of this getting taken out of the miami locations down back to nicaragua by judges in south florida. story. a huge i actually know someone who does my hair who is leaving the country to go down with her fiance to go back. our sheriff here is actually involved with ice now. ice andnderstand is sheriffs across the country are now working together to have the same questioning, to have the same interrogation proceedings. to find out who these people are really. that's the story i wish you would talk about. here in florida. also can you tell me about the sanctuary cities along the border? thank you. host: we will take those questions in whichever order you

want to. guest: i'm authority and by birth from tampa. i haven't lived there for 15 years. i'm not exactly familiar with that exact situation. as far as sanctuaries these that's a bill that passed here in 2017. that allows the state officials here if there's a local entity is incorporating -- isn't ice orders toth detain people there are consequences for that to as far as along the border the focus there is a lot of cooperation there. as far as honoring those things.

you hear from local sheriffs in texas who say we are in the same business of keeping the public safe but they also have to walk a fine line and if somebody is pulled over for a broken tail light they can't hold them for a week. they are in a tough spot as well. sanctuary cities along the border, not clear. the president will get an earful today. abouti believe it was pace of deportations or deportations in general. can you talk about deportations from your reporting in texas and perhaps compare them to the previous administration? fact that we have unitsthe number of family crossing the border whether that has justy or illegally skyrocketed and we are expecting the same in december when those numbers come out. part of that is because they

know if they cross alone they are going to be deported. if they go to claim asylum and their fear is not found to be credible, they appeal to a judge and that's denied. if they come with a family they now know they will be detained but not for too long and then they will be released to a sponsor or whatnot. are immigration courts backed up. they already had a backlog years grow.nd we expect it to host: got the december numbers for you. a couple stories about that today setting a record for family units. 31,901 parents and children traveling together caught by border patrol agents in december. other categories of immigration inbers ticking down

december. few were unaccompanied children in december caught at ports of entry. market is next from florida. democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i actually shook john kennedy's hand. sharp andth very patriotic and write down the middle. after i left the marine corps in 1990i took the test for u.s. border patrol at the russell building in atlanta. i also passed the oral interview. to --ave some backup background. i guarded u.s. embassies. so i have a love and affection for the latin population. and it seems unfortunately the

conservatives never seem to pay attention to these numbers. there are currently 604 miles of existing wall. there are 22,000 border patrol agents. when i took the test i don't even think there were 5000. and that took place under george bush jr. and barack obama. barack obama's homeland security made more captchas on the border. if we look at sheer numbers. i do not see the emergency. i have devoted my whole life to public service. with publicvolved power as an electricity. been doing life has back to my country and my heart and my mind. i'm not a pr television person but it seems like donald trump is losing the pr war.

atlanta, did i get anything wrong? did i offend anybody? god bless you all and merry christmas. we do say that still. five. -- bye. guest: there's a lot there. just another viewpoint from -- they dom another deal with their share of immigration from cuba. i think he's entitled to his opinion and that's all i've got steve is onat host: the line in arizona. go ahead steve. caller: i do believe we need some kind of border defensive wall. what about families here who ones? there was

recently a rancher who lost his life. illegal aliens came over. it was all of the news at one point in time. it's these people that aren't really faced with this. of how do we prevent illegal immigration in a humanitarian or a kinder way? you know. company said something about a minefield. come on. we've got to be sensible about this. one of the things i believe is causing this influx of people trying to get into the americas from the south is our foreign policy and how we dictate to other nations have they should run their things. those people are fleeing because we have screwed up their country. let's face it. the honest. host: steve in arizona.

we hear a lot on capitol hill about how the debates are playing out in congress. some of those issues the color brings -- caller brings up. how are they playing out? guest: we just gaveled in on tuesday. speaking to the president and others talk about the incentive and we need to talk about the incentive that lures people to come here illegally and one of those tools is disabled at the moment is e-verify. the ability for companies to verify whether or not they are employing legal citizens of this country and that's the irony there. at the tribune we have looked at the rate of undocumented immigrants committing crimes compared to citizens and it is lower than people who are americans. it definitely does garner

headlines when somebody is here who shouldn't be and they commit heinous crimes. host: if that e-verify system is shut down and an employer hires somebody during this shutdown to they have to go back and run that person through the system? would think. i'm not clear exactly on the process. it is a tool that is not at their fingertips right now. it seems counter to what the president is trying to achieve when you're talking about securing the border and wanting to keep americans safe and you are not paying border patrol agents. and they don't have the tools of e-verify. democrats saying open the government and then let's discuss the wall. the wall is in many ways more orbolic than it is a useful efficient way to secure the border. host: our viewers have seen this headline already.

president trump nearing a declaration of crisis questions whether the president will declare a national emergency in order to be program funding to build the wall. some more reporting on that this morning. some comments from the president. is the president declaring a national emergency to build the wall. it maybeobably do definitely is the quote on twitter. we will look for more information today on whether that actually happens. can you talk about what that means in texas and how members in texas feel about the president doing that? guest: congressman mac thornberry is staunch against it and came out even before the president's address on tuesday night saying that's not the role of the military. the department of defense. one interesting thing is that unlike arizona or new mexico or

california a lot of the borderland is flexible. texas its personal property. some people got paid for land that they didn't even own. iners got highly undervalued the government seizing that land to build a wall. some are only partially built. it was a very visual story. we did a whole mini documentary on it. that adds a whole layer to this debate especially in texas among republicans talking about personal property rights and things like that. that adds a whole other level especially if you're talking about declare an emergency and the military just starting to build this thing. host: the website, texas tribune.org. the federal government's haphazard decade-long process of seizing private land for a

border fence. read the articles and multimedia pieces there. at 10:00 coming in today. we are taking your calls until they do. robert is in terry, mississippi. a republican. go ahead. caller: yes. i have a totally different view on this. i watch a lot of news and i do a lot of studying and this is president trumps only last leverage. heard from some hundred thousand to 1,700,000 dreamers and 11 million illegal aliens. the law should have been corrected and taken care of. if he loses this the democrats 15, 20ng to get probably

or 30 million votes and they will be taking over the country and we will 15, 20 go the way of venezuela. by the way, they say he ran up the national debt $2 trillion. he has not. if the democrats hadn't put bills through to get more money for people or whatever he was a 250 million dollars surplus. host: that's robert in mississippi. aboutrocha, can you talk this idea that has been flooded. a wall funding for daca compromised and how that's going on in texas. is anybody championing that in texas? >> along partisan lines you can guess how that would play out as far as democrats wanting to give these 11 million dreamers status. i have sat down with several dreamers talking about different things that they are not just on welfare.

misconception that we pay taxes and that we are americans without the status if you will. i think here in texas you are going to find for and against along partisan lines with that type of exchange. you do here with the caller said as well and the concerns with what that would do for democrats and how it would appear. as a political loss i think for the president that played out like that. host: mike is next. crystal city, florida. wall, ifn this border it was such a priority, held three branches of government for two years and never even mentioned it until the last month or so. so why wasn't that taken up then? last couple years congress has appropriated hundreds of

millions of dollars for border security which hasn't even been spent yet. so i don't understand where all of this money is going. melvin in north carolina. independent. good morning. about: i have a question the wall and a factual statement. the man said that the deficit would have a surplus. surplus inot been a the deficit since bill clinton turned it over to george bush. that's a fact. about the border wall. i'm against the border wall. i see no kinds of good things coming out of it especially since the border patrol is underfunded. they are not being paid what they should and there are an immense amount of availabilities for job openings there but only one out of every 2000 openers,

only one person is applying for the position because they are getting underpaid. and if we could just bring the money up. pull the wages up for the border patrol people than we would have more people on the border able to do the job that is set up to the republicans and our last president to do the job right. and then what about the drones. we don't even employ today's scientific knowledge that we patrol with less combat with drones. this is 2019. why are we trying to go back to 1969 methods? host: alana rocha, less than three minutes left. what do you want to pick up on? technology is employed. i think the wall is a symbol of

something politically that the president promised on the campaign trail and wants to deliver on before the next election cycle. hard to believe we are already in it. you do have to follow the money. here in texas we have been tracking where that $800 million goes every two years and how that continues to be 800 million and is it being spent wisely. i'm not clear on the turnover rates. being paid as part of the shutdown. people who are familiar with the border and territories -- it's unclear. host: we are expecting the president to lead from andrews air force base. marine one getting ready to basee at andrews air force . alana rocha, how long as he expected to be on the ground in texas today?

guest: just a few hours. it is just a few hours that he will be in mcallen. i don't believe he's traveling anywhere else. host: you talked about 2020 being underway already. can you talk about texas democrats in 2020 and what we know about announcements? guest: saturday here in san antonio former san antonio mayor and former hud secretary julian castro is set to announce his run for the presidency. and also a democrat, former whoressman beto o'rourke just wrapped up his term after losing to ted cruz in the fall midterms is taking a solo trip to meet voters outside of texas. he's growing a beard. he's doing a grassroots thing to get a pulse of voters outside of

texas on whether or not he will run for president. how much do castro and o'rourke's decisions impact each other? guest: they say not at all. that they are going to make their decisions independent of the other and encourage each other that they have been .riends for years acquaintances if you will as texas democrats. they will make their decisions independent of the other. host: is there a castro base and o'rourke base in texas? guest: yes? i think so. o'rourke, we just know what he looks like statewide. castro has never run statewide in texas. we don't know how he will do in this statewide. built a heck of a campaign and is credited wit