as always, we take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ host: good morning. it is monday, february 4, 2019. the house will meet at a brief -- in a brief pro forma session. with you for the next three hours on the "washington journal" this morning. we begin on that controversy over the racist photo in northam'ss ralph yearbook. we wanted to know what you think this incident says about race and its role in american politics in 2019.

republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can catch up with us if you are a virginia resident on 202-748-8003. on social media, you can join on twitter. it is @cspanwj. on facebook it is facebook.com/cspan. in light of the scandal that -- engulfed the headlines since friday. northam scandal rips open old scars with race relations raw. there is still work to do, is what the headline says and from the washington post, implications on election 2020, democrats fear the incident will

hurt their 2020 message. the episode may complicate moves to draw contrast with president trump on race. this is the subject of a lot of discussion on the sunday souls and -- sunday shows including "meet the press." karen bass talked about why she thinks it's important for him to resign. [video clip] >> i think he has been dishonest and disingenuous. he knew this picture was there and he could have come clean and talked to african-americans he is close to decades ago. given the overall climate around race in this country, especially over the last two years, it is unacceptable. the good news is there is a zero resignce and he needs to immediately to stop the pain in virginia and around the nation. >> i wanted to follow-up up on something governor northam said.

he was making the case if he quickly left office and this gets swept under the rug and we don't have a conversation. he is making the case somehow he him staying in office as the harder thing to do and forces a conversation we don't normally have on race. >> he is forcing the wrong conversation. he should resign and if he has any integrity at all, he should participate in that conversation. he was completely disingenuous when he talked about he did not understand this in 1984. he is basically saying he participated in it and when he describes the time he did the michael jackson impression, he acted at the press conference like he was willing to moonwalk until his wife stopped him, which shows he does not understand seriousness of his actions. host: taking your phone calls on the washington journal, asking your thoughts on what this incident means about race and

its role in american politics in 2019. here is the editorial board of the wall street journal, one of their editorials about the incident saying democrats believe they must sacrifice ralph northam to preserve the sword they made of racial politics for routine use against republicans. becomeocrats, racism has the default charge for any gop policy they dislike on crime or immigration, education, the environment, you name it. this political exploitation of race runs the risk of devaluing outrage against racial affronts. show mercy for errors in his youth, but that is not the democratic party that made him governor. also the topic of conversation in several other papers. we want to make it a conversation this morning on the washington journal. charles from richmond, virginia, a republican. your thoughts.

it is a very interesting conversation. guy. northam is a good you see thiss and photo -- recently he made a abortions i think the democratic people took notice of. i, myself, does not like abortions. physician. is a children born in bad shape and made a pretty cynical remark about abortion. right after that, these

so-called politicians and talking heads jumped on him. i thought about it when i looked at this photo. first i examined the photo. ralph northam is left-handed, he is even left-footed. you don't see a person that kicks his ball with a left foot. when you look at the picture, in aee a person painted costume using his right hand to hold his beer can. it really doesn't make too much sense after i examined the picture and then i looked at the thing about him in his yearbook. name they puts a -- this is typical of

what young whites would do if you were sympathetic to black people. in the yearbook -- i have more criticism of the yearbook people for putting that name in that book. after that name in the yearbook, i think they really had put in d andbook using the n-wor lover after that. host: you are in richmond, the state capital. the washington post reporting northam is still mulling pl ans including quitting. what do you think happens today? caller: i would rather see him stay. let me tell you what democrats

do and politicians are dirty. they would rather sacrifice northam just to gain one more black individual. there are 30 million black people just to have one more person -- a black person which means nothing to me because just one more black person in politics doesn't help me at all. i have one more thing to say. i have something to say to all those democrats, goody two shoes democrats out there ruining people's lives. i have something to say to them and those democrats will understand this. streams.rivers and they will understand what i am talking about. host: that is charles in richmond, virginia.

this is theodore in arkansas on the line for democrats. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for receiving my call. i think america should think about cindy hyde-smith, u.s. senator from mississippi. we should talk to her about lyncghing someone a. should change from looking at the russian conspiracy the trump -- trump is in do something else, invading venezuela. this gentleman is the governor of virginia, we should look at the real story. the real story is donald trump creating chaos in the united states. i think we should look at this in a straight up way and those supporting him and the military supporting donald trump, why are

we letting this man who doesn't know nothing about anything direct our society? think about cindy hyde-smith before you talk about northam. host: that is theodore and this is tricia in indiana, independent. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i have a comment about this. i have a problem with it in the fact that in the year it occurred. this is not something that occurred in 1954. this is something that occurred in 1984. this is very current to our time, not something that happened during the jim crow era. it happened fairly recently. this is not a useful indiscretion. he was a young adult. he was an adult. this is not someone who is a

teenage boy doing a prank, this is someone in medical school. we really need to look at the -- the adults are having. these are not useful pranks, these are attitudes of adults. to make my point, mr. steve king, who has for years been making statements that have been incendiary about racism -- and nothing has been done for it a lot has been said, but nothing has been done until recently about his comments i am just thinking there is still a lot of work to be done in our society. we really need to talk about this, not just when something comes up, but have an honest

discussion about it. it is not a democrat or republican problem, it is a human problem in our country today. honesto you think those discussions are going to happen this time? have they not happen in the past when other stories about racism and politics come up? we start to, but then blaming get in the way, pointing fingers gets in the way and i think it turns into more of a back-and-forth blame game. it democrats versus republicans and i think that gets in the way and we need to stop with the blame and just face it and honestly talk about it and accept the fact that there is racism today. say, yes, it is a fact and i think that is where we start,

excepting that we still have racism today. host: floyd is in jonesville, virginia, republican. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i think governor northam, he is our governor here in virginia and i think he should resign. talking about the history, if you look at the history of the democrat party, raymond byrd was a senator in west virginia for years and years and he was a member of the kkk and the democrats kept him. planned parenthood was created to kill black babies. plannedter of parenthood -- and the democrat party backs that. i can't see why black people back the democrat party. there have been millions of a beast and this is one of the things we talked about the other day, letting babies be born and

they lay there until they died. there have been dickstein million babies killed in america due to abortion and a lot of those were black babies and still happening. he should resign. god is coming soon and he will put a stop to all of this, but he should resign. host: on the issue of abortion and governor northam's statements last week on abortion , charlie hurt in today's washington times takes up that topic in his column, the headline of his piece. outrage over blackface, silence over killing babies. sean in tennessee is next, independent. amazing thoughts and history and truth. the number one question that should be asked is what do white

peoplehave against black ? the hatred. you have to understand where some people come from. animal instinct, it is something you have to hate. i know you look at the united states and what it is made of. look at the history. look at the history of the people who come through the office of the white house, even the bush's. prescott bush ran a crew to try to overthrow the government. you have to understand -- coup to try to under -- overthrow the government. you have to understand the people. shadyt the football game, lady. money -- shady brady. money. host: we will stick to the

discussion on politics and this photo that emerged on friday. the washington post reporting today that governor northam whether tong possibly quit the office of governor in light of this incident noting last night and the governor held an unscheduled senior staff meeting before the start of the super bowl. of the people familiar with the meeting set the governor had not reached a decision on whether to stay although he pledged on saturday to lead his ground and said he would reconsider if he thought he would no longer be effective. he scheduled a larger meeting this morning around 9:00 a.m. for administrative staff. more on that if more developments happen throughout the morning. we will be with you until 10:00. having this conversation in the first hour of our program. many of you joined us on social media. on facebook, jessica saying this

incident says nothing in particular as this person is only one person with an individual behavior that happened years ago. cap saying say no to identity politics and another tweet from cynthia saying it says as much as you think you know about your country, you can be surprised. i am shocked so many people are saying this was acceptable 35 years ago. it has never been acceptable in my community. it is shocking this happened 35 years ago when i was in college. in my wildest dreams i would never have imagined there was a culture where this practice was considered acceptable. this has been a wake-up call. andrew says it says too many people are more concerned with 35-year-old halloween costumes and not enough concern with endorsingvernors infanticide. in buffalo, new york, a

democrat. you are up next. caller: i am calling on the democratic line, but let me say this first. i think black people should reconsider starting their own independent voting block because politics is about power and control and distribution of money. this shows you whether you are republican or democrat, it is still one branch. at two different branches, but it's about white people owning and controlling everything. as far as some people saying they are surprised -- i don't --w why if you know history the history of blackface and what it means. it is meant to demean lack folks. black folks. i am exhausted by this conversation about racism and politics. white people are not serious about changing. they want control and power and

that is what they need. i am not surprised this person blackface.rat and in if governor northam resigns, would that be a sign we are serious about having this conversation in this country? caller: no. how many other times have people done the same thing or said something and they come out and apologize? does that change anything? do we still have this conversation, yes or no. host: we are having it this morning. do you think it advances anything? caller: i just told you it doesn't. this is not the first time white folks have been in blackface or said something crazy and they come out and apologize. it doesn't change. we have to stop kidding ourselves about having these conversations.

white people are not serious about changing. as black people, we have to stop saying we are surprised. we need to wake up and i don't care if they are democrats or republicans, you have white people that feel the same in both parties. this man in medical school about dressing up in blackface. it don't give me that crap he was young and did not know. these are the same people that are doctors and get into politics. the average person is prejudice, you can be prejudiced. when you are in positions of power and carry that mentality, that is when you can really pass laws that discriminate. i am tired of these conversations and this is more for black people, wake up. in virginia. anne go ahead. say, i amjust want to

a republican, i did not back northam, but i want everybody that is talking like they are to look back at their past and let me tell you, are you clean as a whistle? did you do everything perfect in your past? i don't say this man was right or wrong, i don't even know if that was his picture. it doesn't matter to me. what matters was he was a young man at the time and it looked like he might have been partying if he was in that picture. i cannot blame him for that. he is a democrat, i don't back him. let's give him a break. and let met our past tell you how clean you are. had aby the way, we have pull up yesterday asking the question should governor ralph northam resign over this incident.

over 13,000 of you voted in that poll, 76% saying yes, he should resign. not.aying he should this controversy is subject to plain discussion on the sunday shows. one of those counseling governor -- governor northam against resigning was jim moran and cautioned against rushing to judgment in this discussion. here is what he had to say. [video clip] the want to put up, jim, on screen, a statement you made yesterday. ralph will work harder to redeem himself. i think he should ride this out. do you still think that is tenable? >> i don't know whether it is tenable, i do think it is the right thing to do. i hate to be on the other virtually all my friends, but i disagree with their judgment. i think it is a rush to judgment before we know all of the facts

and before we have considered all the consequences. the facts that we do know are that ralph has expanded medicaid to hundreds of thousands of uninsured virginians, a disproportionate number of whom are african-americans. he has promoted the career of his very talented lieutenant governor in every possible way, he has invested in better preschools and public schools and minority neighborhoods. we know what he has done as governor. even if the worst case scenario is true, i think there is an issue of redemption. redemption is a very powerful factor in what people are able to accomplish. ralph understands the endemic ofism that has been part virginia society for so long. it was 400 years ago to this

year when the first african-americans were brought as slaves to find comfort -- forte comfort. legacy moreds that than many people are able to and i think we ought to give him an opportunity . host: former congressman jim moran yesterday on the sunday shows. having this discussion on the ralph northam scandal and what it means for race in american politics in this first hour of the "washington journal." andrew in waldorf, maryland. independent, good morning. caller: good morning and thanks for taking my call. let me begin by saying -- needs to go, that is the first thing, first. beyond that, think for one minute if he was not dressed in blackface. let's say he was dressed in

hitler attire and the mustache and everything, would people be as simple -- sympathetic, then? i don't want us to miss the trees through the forest, i think we need to hold the school accountable. when black people talk about systemic racism, this is a perfect example that something like this for 30 something years could go unnoticed at a school and nobody at the school saw an issue with this. is the school allowed to turn a and show themt that this type of stuff is acceptable. school is a place of higher

learning and we hope when we -- howr kids to school you deal with people in society of different race and different cultures. host: that is andrew and marilyn and this is edward in washington, d.c., good morning. african-american scientist, i am a phd physicist and when i was growing up, my grandmother and my grandfather voted republican. the republican party was different than it is today and all these parties have changed over the last 50 to 100 years. i wanted to say this to my caucasian people -- caucasian citizens of the united eights of america. this governor has to remove himself. we cannot condemn this governor -- i am christian and also a scientist --

, i cannot tellan him to resign. he has to remove himself. the governor cannot effectively govern under this scandal. only jesus can judge him. the united states of america is the only country in the world that has two voting systems, the electoral college and the popular vote. keep in mind my favorite white people, i know you are good people. this to you, the electoral college was founded in .787 by the founding fathers from 3/5 of a white man protocol in the constitution.

.ead your history books host: that is edward in d.c.. this is a chris in alexandria, virginia. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i would say i am not a fan of ralph northam for his policies and what he stands for, but i don't think you should resign. i think this is the democratic party eating their own. what he said about abortions last week was much worse. i think this is the kind of thing where people get whipped up. it's like the kavanaugh hearing. let's dig up something from when someone was young. it was a different time. i am not saying it is acceptable. as a person who believes in getting people there opportunity

to do what they need to do to atone for a past indiscretion, i don't think we should jump to conclusions. host: what would ralph northam need to do if he doesn't resign? caller: i think he would really have to say i went about this the wrong way and i don't think he has to do any sort of policies or anything like that, just admit i was involved in a group of men that were not doing the right thing at the right time. culturert of what the was in virginia than. i grew up in maryland and we had -- not anything like that, but i grew up around kind of things like that and it is a choice you have to make as an individual, that is not what i am a part of, not what i stand for. on the others, it is kind of this mentality from the left, we have to prove we are clean and

one of the previous callers said ,his is what they are all about republican or democrat, it is just white people. i take offense to that. throughout my life, i have tried to not perpetuate that stereotype. i have tried to give everyone equal footing and it drives me crazy when people get all this energy and say things that are absolutely ludicrous. host: ruby in richmond, virginia, a democrat. good morning. caller: america has a long and ugly history of institutionalized racism and white supremacy. i am from michigan, so when i came down here, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. i think you ought to give the man a chance and maybe he can find some way to make restitution's or just give him a chance. we don't need to be about getting whitey.

host: what is some way he could do that, and your mind? some blackbe look up history or make some speech or talk with somebody, some people who have a long history of dougng what goes on like wilder or whoever, people who have been here a long time. host: that is ruby in richmond. some of the viewers -- mentioning how this story came about on friday, a story in the wall street journal about the website that broke this story and had that picture first on friday. dig leak politics was the first to post that images -- image of governor northam's facebook page. -- founded in early 2017 by patrick howley, a veteran of conservative news sites including breitbart and the daily caller. the majority share in the site

was bought by mustard seed media , a north carolina-based company whose owners -- owners include political consultants riley o'neill and both worked for republican candidates. mr. howley said he was alerted to the yearbook page by a tipster saying this was a concerned citizen who got in contact with me as many whistleblowers do and gave me a great piece of information according to the interview he gave to the wall street journal. alabama isrmingham, next. caller: i would like to ask , to bar themselves from recommendation of the resignation of the governor. do you not know progressives and black democrats barely

raised a finger in response to that confederate statue? there's another one that flies over a slave graveyard and blacks and progressives did not do anything when angela davis -- i stood out and demanded some members of the civil rights institute resign. i could go on and on. even talking about martin luther ong's birthday celebrated the same as confederate general robert e lee. i could go on a litany. i am asking alabama progressives , in particular, blacks, this indiscretion this governor made, let's fight about this confederate monument in the

heart of birmingham, alabama. you doow long ago did that and how did you start doing that? caller: high started in 2015. fred shuttlesworth, a great civil rights person -- we were against two individuals responsible for bombing the church. they were going to claim he had dementia without being diagnosed. anything about buffalo soldiers and all of that. when i saw that monument, i questioned him about it and he said -- when the opportunity came after -- was killed, i appealed to the city council to get it down and to the mayor and the board voted

unanimously get it down and they under pressure because the mayor compromised with some republicans and we have the act protects it from going still standing proudly. they ruled the state cannot tell the city what to do, but the attorney general filed an appeal to keep it up. . appeal to alabamians blacks and progressives, you all you fightut up until a real battle. in birmingham, alabama, we march backwards the original route from the protest when children cced on them.si

there is so much we need to fight for. that is what we need to do concerning this governor and blackface crude i am one of the -- i thinkocates this is enough, i wish the governor had not tried to say the picture was not his. call c-span for this governor to resign until you demand this confederate monument come down and that 100 foot flag comes down. thank you for letting me rant. host: you mentioned protest, there were protests outside the mansionnt -- governor's over the weekend.

we are asking for your thoughts this morning on what this incident meant for race relations in america and american politics in 2019. we mentioned this is the topic of several comments on the sunday shows. one of those gas -- guests was harry mccullough. [video clip] >> if it is not him in the photo, why do you think he should resign? >> first he said it was friday night and if it wasn't him in the photo, he should have said that on friday. i have no idea what was going on in the governor's office on friday. if you are not -- instinctively you know if you put black paint on your face. you know if you put a hood on. if it isn't you, you come out immediately and say this is not me. ralph is a good, moral, decent

man and may have made some mistakes in his past. we all have made mistakes. ralph will do the right thing for the commonwealth of virginia. he will put virginia first. host: the editorial board of usa today saying ralph northam has lost of the moral authority to serve as governor, particularly of a state with a tortured racial past. going forward, the northam case is fodder for several different questions about democrats who made a former kkk officer, robert heard the senate leader in the 70's and 80's and republicans, which are quick to condemn northam, but give donald trump a pass for racist rhetoric and his actions. there are important conversations to have. if ralph northam has something to contribute, he can best do so from the private sector. madeline is next from new orleans. toler: i think we all need

do a better job and i include everyone in this country, african-americans, whites, everybody to sit down and discuss these issues. we are still a very segregated society in many ways. people don't understand and don't know what offends the other group. as a longtime teacher, i can tell you i have in by many african-american students called all sorts of horrible names which i am sure they learned at home and i am sure there are white students who have called other people horrible, horrible names and this is something we need to work on. changeot going to immediately. stuff like this takes time. history takes time and change takes time. anybody who thinks we haven't

made enormous progress in my 70 years just doesn't understand and do we have enormous progress to make? absolutely. everybody needs to work on this and think about this. until we do, it is going to continue to bubble up and be an issue. host: if ralph northam does resign, would you consider that a sign of progress? justr: no because that is politics and he may have to resign, but you have got to change the way people are thinking on both sides about these issues. resigning, that is the easy thing, staying, that is the politically -- i am important thing. getting to the bottom of this is something we have to do and i don't know that either one of those solutions is going to get to the bottom of this.

host: what would be a sign of progress in the wake of this incident? caller: i think we need to reach out to each other again, absolutely, we need to reach out to each other and sit down and discuss like they did really in south africa. this reconciliation committee. we need to really think about how we reconcile these feelings on both sides and deal with it over and over and over again, not just once, but year after year after year to work these issues out of our past and build our future. host: this is robert in baltimore, maryland, a democrat read good morning. caller: thank you for allowing me to speak. can you hear me? host: yes, sir. caller: when it comes to this

governor not being aware of whether or not he had donned klansman or put on a -- this is a very intelligent man, but he made a comment over this weekend and said why would i put black polish on my face? that is hard to get off. how would he know that if he had not done it before? a man that says that wasn't me, i can't remember. alreadyy is questioned based of -- based on what he said out of his own mind -- mouth.

certainly, as an african-american, i have gotten really tired of when people do crazy, careless, insane things and say i did not know it was wrong. that is bs to me. has aadition of blackface long-standing history in this country. how can anyone claim ignorance when this has been going on for literally almost 100 years? he can reconstruct this as his personal persona, but he should not be in the governorship. he can do this and repent outside of being the governor and if he really wants to demonstrate some type of progress, let his lieutenant governor, the african-american step in his place. host: here are a few more tweets from members of congress who weighed in on this yesterday.

plenty more adding their opinions yesterday afternoon and evening. this is jamie raskin, democrat from maryland, ralph northam should act with honor by resigning. america has moral clarity on this and northam should have recognized long ago racism is dangerous and disqualifying for political leaders. congressman al green, democrat from texas who called for the and peach men of president trump said yesterday democrats, can we embrace the impeachment of governor northam for bigotry while rejecting the impeachment of president trump for his guidry? -- bigotry? calling onrom genia ralph northam to resign along with bobby scott, democrat from virginia and from the senators of virginia, tim kaine saying i don't longer believe governor northam can effectively serve as governor of virginia. the events of the past 24 hours

have irrevocably broken the trust virginia must have in their leaders. he should step down and allow the commonwealth to begin healing. thoughts onet your the washington journal. about 15 minutes left to have this discussion. donna in ohio, an independent. good morning. have a few issues with this. --, it has already been he actually did this and it hasn't been proven in a court system for sure, but a hard time have understanding why an educated person would have done this 35 years ago. however, you've got trump and kavanaugh. people said he was young and

then they say a college student isn't an adolescent. when you are in college. i went to college. delayed.t of a it is sort of adolescent-y, different then when you are just working. it is just different and there are some aspects that are mourad like adolescence or delayed adulthood. host: you would count medical school in the same equation is that? caller: pardon me? host: you would count medical school as part of that? that is where this yearbook is from. caller: school is school. as you age, you should learn a .ittle bit more if he actually did this in

medical school, i have a hard time accepting that because that was long after the civil rights movement of the 1960's. i was in college of that time. people continue to mature all their life. even in medical school, you still have some of these immature things because there are aspects of you being employed even though it's called med school as opposed to undergraduate. i grew up in what was an integrated neighborhood and then our family was the real minority because we were the only white on the block. i wasn't taught racism. i thought nothing different of my neighbors, but i knew very well going to junior high that

there were some african-americans or blacks who me just because of my color. not on my block, but further down. i think sometimes in this country, because i live in an apartment that is totally integrated and i would not move because i love the aspect of dealing with everyone -- however, i also know some blacks from africa and they don't seem to be -- they don't seem to white.e me because i am i have two best friends and one is black and even my best friend has sometimes assumed something racist.s

i just think sometimes in this some african-americans cannot get over the history. i have been in ohio all of my life and i haven't had the problems that earlier times had, but earlier times were earlier times. host: that is donna in ohio. this is tom in fort lauderdale, florida. go ahead. caller: good morning. what i am observing here is if you are looking for something intensely, you will find it. what happens is you are characterizing what you are seeing to fit the narrative of what you are looking for and i see a lot of that going on right now. i would just like to say to the

black people of this country, if every vestige of racism somehow miraculously goes away, beappears, you will still judged. if your standards are too low for the job you have, the other guy is going to get promoted. if you commit a crime, you will still get arrested. my advice to black people in this country is look at your standards. would your standards hold up if every symptom of racism disappeared from this country? i grew up short. i was discriminated as a white person because i was short. i used to stand in lines with football teams in elementary school and everybody would be chosen with me. aboutyou are talking

symptoms of racism in this country, can you name a few? caller: i don't deny that if you look for racism, you can find it, but it has taken on a .ccarthyite kind of thing there are black people in this community i live in that i love, they are great. the characterization of what is going on, they take northam and say all white people or the majority of white people or many white people are doing this. that is terrible. it is going to hold black people back because they are always going to hold onto the fact they don't have to have the standard that will make them successful. host: that was tom in florida. in new york, a democrat. good morning.

caller: good morning, sir. i find that photo very disturbing and it was in the 1980's and it was a yearbook from a medical school, that is disturbing, sir. to the person that you can see their face was smiling and you know the person under the hood, they probably were smiling and laughing, too. it's not that he did not know it was wrong, he did not care and that was something he wanted to do. i am 56 years old. when i was a little girl, i remember watching the news and seeing kkk marching in the thatt and all of craziness. you don't am older, see that like you used to see it.

in my mind, i am thinking to myself because a lot of them, kkk, if not all of them, are in the closet. i truly believe kkk is in law hospitals. i truly believe that. news --long ago on the came out where you could hear these officers talking while they are in pursuit of someone and bringing them down to the ground and saying the n word, really? that is so wrong. host: fred is next in alabama, good morning. hi, c-span. good show. i would like to slow everything down for a moment. i want everybody -- when the

show is over and you have a moment within yourself and your time to just think. pictured someone put a in a magazine or a book of themselves in color -- another color -- why would they do that? educated,ou that are sink. those that are not, you might have a problem. why would somebody do that? why? fred in alabama. just about five minutes left about this -- in this segment of the washington journal. asking about the photo of governor northam. attention being paid to an old photograph of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. this is the washington post as

democrats deal with fallout from a northam photo, a long circulated picture of mitch mcconnell is getting renewed attention as democrats point to it as evidence gop leaders have not been held to account for past offensive statements or appearances. in that picture, macconnell is seen posing inside of a confederate -- in front of a confederate flag. you can see the picture on your screen. jon stewart was contacted by the post and said the picture is apparently from the sons of confederate veterans event from 30 years ago. 2015 statement where he called a confederate flag "a painful reminder of racial oppression and argued the time for a state to fly it has long since past. stuart did not provide more information about why macconnell was at the event in the picture. rich in ohio, republican. good morning. it seems that 30 years

comments that were not right. even last week we had comments about the racial slurs to the high school kids that hit everywhere. on blackface, it seems like will be goldberg had a blackface incident and she is still working. it depends on who does it and when. i will hang up and listen to your answers. host: matthew is in alabama next, good morning. caller: yes, thank you, c-span. is dangerous.ing i see it more as an economic issue. during world war ii, the slaves fought against the north. even in the 1960's, the black

community did not want their children going into a hostile environment with white, racist kids or teachers. these are things they push on us, they use this to cross off our track. i think it is more of an economic issue. host: harold is next in california, independent. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am calling because yes, i feel , he should notm resign. this picture has not even been confirmed that it is he or is not he. we are taking the word of whatever is put out there and we don't understand you need to confirm before you judge. what has happened to america where we take whatever has been put out and pile on top of a

person without even knowing whether they are guilty or not guilty? give the governor a chance. he has done great things from what i have heard. i have heard he has done great things for the people of virginia. let the people of virginia pass judgment on him, not the politicians. politicians are going to do whatever they want to do that fits their agenda. host: how do you see the people of virginia pass and got -- passing judgment? caller: basically, they can vote. state.heir choice, their stop letting all these politicians and people who jump on the bandwagon with agendas come in and tell you what to do with your state. that is what our federal government is doing. in the different states. we are all different. host: the governor of virginia

cannot run for reelection in the virginia constitution. how else could they show their displeasure or their support for him? what should he be paying attention to? caller: they take polls all the time. the people of virginia should be taking polls. today should be voicing their concern whether they want him to be removed or not. the bottom line is it is their state host:. host:to stacy in silver spring, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things. look in the mirror and say, yes, i can identify i am racist or i am compliant to people who are racist around me. other than that, there is so

much racism going on and it doesn't just come from the old picture. in,old picture northam is has he changed the way he thinks? i don't think so. ask some virginians how racist virginia is. did he help any black folks in their community? fromwill be a start fighting all these racist people that just called talking about let him be. it's not let him be when you know blackface is very offensive. thank you. host: our last caller in this first segment of "washington journal," but stick around. we take a look at the week ahead in washington. highlighted by the president's state of the union address tomorrow. we will be joined by anita kumar and eric wasson and later in our

weekly your money segment we will talk about what happens to mike slater for teacher pay and whether it is making it to teachers. darrell burnett will join us to have that discussion in our your money segment coming up at about 9:00 this morning. we will be right back. ♪ >> over the last year the world ,as seen what we always known that no people on earth are so d forg or determine fearless as americans.

if there is a mountain we climb it, if there is a frontier, we cross it. if there is a challenge, we tame it. if there is an opportunity, we seize it. let's begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our union is strong because our people are strong. [applause] first state of the union postponed because of the government shutdown will now take place on tuesday night. watch as president trump delivers his state of the union address live from the house chamber beginning at 9:00 p.m. eastern on c-span followed by the democratic response by former georgia gubernatorial candidate stacey abrams. at 9:00 eastern on c-span, c-span.org or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> this week on the

communicators, a technology update with assistant attorney --eral make and delro you have heard sprint and t-mobile merging. fox time warner, disney and . those are mergers and go through us and him not they violate the antitrust laws by reducing competition in certain markets. >> also how do we benefit critical infrastructure because that is where the most damage can be done. ourge can be done to electric grid or hospital system, banking system. there are major things that are in place to protect us. we need to continue to strengthen public-private

partnership going forward to make sure we are better protected. increased capability, functionality but we've also got less resilient. a single issue can cause widespread disruptions. that is what we grapple with as new sectors of the economy adopt technology. >> join us tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. >> washington journal continues. mondays when congress is in session we like to take a look at the week ahead in washington. this week the state of the text top billing amid a busy week otherwise in washington. joining us for the discussion, eric wasson is with bloomberg news, and even kumar is associate editor at politico. upanita kumar with a story asking whether president trump

will play nice at the state of the union again. will he? remind us his reactions last year. speechthe first was an address to congress and that his first it are the union last year. both of those surprised people. he spoke from the teleprompter. his normal thing. he did not talk about the election he wanted, hillary clinton. he just talked about things people talk about in the state of the union. a laundry list of policy ideas and that is what we are hearing he will do again. bipartisanship and unity and we hear he will do that again. he's going to be talking about immigration and the whole fight with house democrats over the border. we expect him to have some outreach to democrats but as we all know days before he speaks or days after he speaks he will say other things.

host: in the past we've seen presidents hit the road to take their state of the union message on the road. is the president going to do that? anita: we don't know anything about his travel plans. although we don't usually get a big heads up with this white house. when we'd heard the state of the union would be on the date thought it was, we could go, we've been told you be heading out so we are waiting to say. host: this address comes 10 days before the deadline for another government shutdown. unless this conference committee can come up with a deal the president will sign. your thoughts on how much the president's speech tomorrow night might impact those discussions. erik: as anita was saying he's going to try to turn the page and talk about bipartisanship yet these order negotiations are going on. trump said he is threatening to declare a national emergency. try attempts to turn the page in the future.

the shutdown having just ending and another one looming going to be hard for them to do that. staff has worked over the weekend to try to have it on some sort of compromise that might involve democrats agreeing to some fencing money. they've done that in the past. , nancy pelosi said zero my for the wall and trump said he's not backing off $5.7 billion. we are seasoned negotiators trying to thread the needle but the president and speaker are being somewhat hardline about it. we will see on tuesday caucus meetings. host: what do you think is the biggest obstacle? erik: the symbolism of the wall. border agents safe the physical barriers help slow down migrants and there is some case for answers in certain areas however feel it is a bit of a racist symbol. they don't want to give those people joy or happiness in building the wall. president has made a central

campaign promise. nancy pelosi has talked about ,his normandy style barrier that does not look like a wall to anybody. that's not going to work. host: what do those barriers do? erik: that's vehicles if you're going to try to bum rush the border with pickup trucks will of people that would slow you down. that does not look like a wall. there are things that look more like a wall that democrats might be willing to call a fence and that is where the deal might lie. host: we were talking about the wall just now. parts of the president speech have been released. how much does he talk about the wall and his tweets in recent weeks -- anita: the white house is telling us there is five big points to the speech and they are things you would expect. health care, foreign policy. one of those five is going to be immigration and we are told,

i've been told by various people tone is a lot like the tone he took in the oval office address where he talked about it as a humanitarian crisis. you've seen him in the last couple days talk about human ,rafficking, drug smuggling although sorts of things. we hear he will be talking about it that same way. the need for a wall and how he wants to work with democrats to get there. there will be people sitting with the first lady who are victims of some kind of illegal immigration in the country. maybe crime victims or people who have suffered because of drugs or whatever. he's trying to get the message across that this is a problem that we need to solve and that is what he has been doing. host: the week ahead of you want to- if join the conversation you can do so. republicans, (202) 748-8001, democrats, (202) 748-8000,

, (202) 748-8002. wasson.mar, erik what else is happening on capitol hill this week? there will be hearing and legislation outside the state of the union. erik: one thing we are looking at is the slow confirmation battle over william barr. a lot of impact on the russian investigation. expecting that to go forward since the lord the threshold for people to get confirmed. that's going forward in committee. seeing a short week because the state of the union and other legislation has been kicked to the side. host: i knowhost: speaking of confirmation hearings you have a recent story about democrats looking ahead to possible next supreme court nominees president trump. can you talk through what they're focusing on? anita: we are hearing that the

white house, before president trump was in office he had a list of people he said he wanted to possibly put on the supreme court and he sort of stuck to the list. we here in coming months he's going to be updating his list again and there are people conservative groups and people lobbying him on whom she on the list. one of the names we keep hearing is naomi rowe who's going to be .n capitol hill she's been nominated by president trump to be replacement for brett kavanaugh on the d.c. court. i think that hearing is on tuesday. there's going to be a huge fight because a lot of democrats maybe don't want her. republicans really like her. she's considered a de-regulation queen. one of those things republicans really love that president trump has been doing, getting rid of a lot of regulations. she has been the point person

for that. of course she does not have a judicial record so if does get on that court and replaced brett kavanaugh people are saying she will be there for six months, 12 months b on the list to fill a vacancy down the road. host: your story viewers can see if they go to politico.com. who should she expect the toughest questions from? anita: that's a good question. what we are hearing is that this is going to be a huge fight and there's not even one particular person. it's that --brett kavanaugh's seat, who she is, it is going to be a battle matter what happens. erik: she does have a long track record. under the office of management budget where she has overseen much of the from the regulatory agenda. what comes to chemical reviews

and so forth i think democrats the be quick to point out effect on the public de-regulation has made. host: one issue we have talked about on this program, in the upcoming days, the green new deal. remind viewers what that is. erik: an amorphous concept that has been embraced by alexandria ocasio-cortez and others, to become carbon emission free within a dozen years. you see all the presidential candidates talk about it. leadership embracing it and the energy and commerce committee has committed to working on it as we don't know what was look like. she is talked about large tax increases for the wealthy, 70% rate to pay for them real buildout in clean energy technology. the could be scaled back. these ideas are being developed

in the context of the 2020 presidential campaign. they could very well be the first thing on the agenda under a new president. host: how does the white house feel about alexandria ocasio-cortez? how do they plan to deal with her as a force in the democratic party? anita: it's interesting because we hear so much about her. we have to remember she's a freshman. bills haveke her gone straight anywhere and she's getting anything past. i think they are more worried about the leadership in the senate and house. my colleague has an interesting story about how all these people in the right, even lawmakers, really, they don't like her policies and they don't like her opinions, they value her becoming a thing in the democratic party. they realized that she has turned into this star and they want to be that person on the right. i don't think the white house

talks very much about her. they have their hands both nancy pelosi trying to figure out how to work with her. i think that is focused. host: if you want to join the focus, best buy the discussion, -- join the discussion, (202) ---8001 four republicans and threeio-cortez other regressive members of the house of the c the don't want a dollar more for the department of homeland security. learn to look like the freedom caucus on the republican side. a group of 30 people pretty much threatening this or should into profound legislation to wag the dog. a small group of people with just enough margin in the majority to cause policy changes. or fives group of four and of being a bigger group

thatforward? i think that could be possible. host: we will find out together what the president has to say and reaction. he did talk a bit about these discussions on border policy in that interview with face the nation. this was the president in that interview that aired yesterday. >> we will have to see what happens on february 15. i don't take anything off the table. i don't like to take things off the table. it is that alternative. national emergency. it's other things. plenty of national emergencies called. this really is an invasion of our country by human traffickers. horrible people bringing in women mostly and children into our country. we are going to have a strong border in the only way you need a physical barrier. you need a wall and anyone who says you don't they're just playing games.

>> you had quite the showdown with speaker pelosi. what did you learn about negotiating with he? .> she was very rigid>> bad for our country. she knows you need a barrier. we need border security. she wanted to win a political point. i happen to think it is bad politics. she does not mind human trafficking. >> she offered over $1 billion for border security. she does not want the wall. >> she's costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars because what's happening is when you have a court-ordered and allcore in and people dying over the country because of people like nancy pelosi who don't want to give proper border security for political reasons she's doing a terrible disservice to our country. on the 15th we have set the table beautifully because everyone knows what's going on because of the shutdown. people that did not have a clue

as to what was happening now know exactly what's happening. they see human trafficking, drugs and gangs and criminals pouring in. they're them because doing a great job. if we had proper for securities would not have to work so hard and we can do a better job. nancy pelosi is doing a disservice if you will of our country. she can keep playing her games but we will win because we have a better issue. host: both comments about nancy pelosi, who is going to be sitting behind the president when he gives his speech tomorrow night. anita: this will be interesting because for the first time she will be right there behind him. we get to see her face the whole time he's talking. this is what i'm hearing from whate, that we kno he's probably going to say, bipartisanship, unity, but two days before the state of the union saying nancy pelosi is bad for the country.

it's probably not best to say she's back to the country if you want to make a deal with her. host: the week ahead in washington. we will start with helen calling in from cheverly, maryland. a democrat. i'm calling and because i'm totally against caller: the wall. i hear he needs money for the wall but during his campaign he was supposed to be getting this mexico now it is coming from our taxpaying money and we did not know that upfront so we would have disagreed with that. my concern is this, where are the prototypes for the wall? who is going to get that did? would that be given to the guys he just lifted the sanction on with the aluminum? , i don'tconcern is want to see the government shut down again. we had 35 days of people out of

their jobs. they're going back to work and they will get paid for those 35 days so why would we take someone off of their job and then pay them? they should have been on the job. host: a lot of questions there. erik: those echo the sentiments of lawmakers we here on capitol hill treated trump didn't say mexico would pay for that. the president does say somehow through the renegotiated nafta agreement that mexico will be paying for that but there is no evidence to support that claim. there's also the idea of another shutdown. why is that on the table again? democrats say that should never be on the table and there has been discussion about putting a shutdown prevention measure in whatever legislation comes out before february 15. an interesting debate on capitol hill. get about -- every time you

to the spending cycle if you don't have the bills in place you go to automatic spending resolutions. however, appropriators don't like that, members of the spending committee. led conference talks. appropriators feel if you get to the point where it is automatic stopgaps you will never do a real appropriations bill again. there's been talk of no budget help pay. the idea that lawmakers should not be paid if they don't do their jobs but not all lawmakers are rushing to embrace the idea. host: if you want to learn more about who's on that conference committee, the dealmaker, of the story in bloomberg. stacked dealmaker not bomb throwers. eric wasson, one of the reporters on that story. ohio.n in canton caller: i've got a question about how nancy pelosi acted

like a little child. .he lives in a gated community i'm reading a book right now on alcorn.rom randy the new jerusalem, which is heaven for us, getting a wall around it. host: we've heard this from the president, pointing to democratic leaders they have walls anita:. he has said there are many places that do have walls and that they are effective and the only reason nancy pelosi doesn't want to do this is for a political point and not for anything else. one of the big talking point on the republican side is democrats work for a wall or poor security back in the day, a few years ago even hillary clinton when she was in the senate was for that.

i think a lot of it is semantics . what are we calling this thing? .emocrats are border security we heard even less democrats talking about a smart wall, different enforcement mechanisms. question is whether it's going to be a big wall that you can see or something else. host: back to the story on dealmakers who to the president work with in that committee that interesting? 17 lawmakers. erik: i'm not so sure the president can work with richard shelby, head of the appropriations committee in the, nita lowey, also kay granger, top republican in the house, they'll have a large history of striking deals. they have said repeatedly that if they could get in a room amongst themselves the this out. 10 senate drafted a bill democrats worked for. $1.6 billion for new financing -- convincing.

-- for new fencing. they are dealmakers. to could see that brought up two point $5 billion and call it a day. with the president accept that? .hese are not chain-link fences these are the steel slats he's talking about as a wall. he's indicated he's my that he might. anita: he said both of those things. he goes back and forth area is the problem with trying to negotiate with this president. caller: thanks for taking my call. good job, c-span. regarding the wall, one caveat i don't hear, the wall can keep you in as well as. regarding policy and schumer we don't hear -- regarding nancy voted okd schumer, he for israel to have a wall.

i don't know if -- anyway, both these people, pelosi and schumer, been in for years, but what have they left us with? thank you for your time and attention. host: you want to talk about president trump's relationship with chuck schumer? anita: it is an interesting one when he first came and to office, president trump, we thought these are two guys even though they have different policy views they might get along. two new yorkers. they might speak the language. it did seem like they could get along at the beginning. senator schumer is not running for senate. that is senator mcconnell, republican. and like they were stricken deals and then it kind of blew up. this is one of the things that struck a deal on, a border security package for daca, so dreamers actions.

that kind of blew up and did not have been partly because the president changed his mind on that. i don't think they had such a chummy relationship. the democrats control the house now and that is anything. you need the support of house democrats it anywhere. host: what do you think this first shutdown has met for the dynamic between 80 -- has meant for the dynamic between nancy pelosi and chuck schumer when it comes to this discussion about the wall and president trump? erik: house democrats wondering -- midterm elections and she there was some doubt and she had to cut some deals in order to secure the votes she needed. but the shutdown really burnished her image. her staring down the president not flinching. there was the moment when she was considering flying

commercial afghanistan to divide the president. y the president. as anita was mentioning, schumer is perhaps more willing to do a deal. he really got burned by the president. for $5 billion in exchange permanent path to citizenship for the dreamers. while from made signs he would go for that he came out and set your to cut legal immigration. prevent family reunification, .hain migration he's not really willing to go out on a limb with trump's he has been burned by him. in this town your reputation is everything. i will say that the shutdown has changed the relationship between senate republicans and the president. we saw before the shutdown ended senate republicans in a meeting with mike pence, very angry excoriating him for allowing this to happen and signaling

while not necessarily saying they might fill for a veto override if this happened again. i dig it is more likely we will see an emergency declaration because trump is the support of the people he needs in his own party in the senate. host: how do you think the president would react to a veto override? anita: not well. the dealmaker.s he talks about being a dealmaker. call about transactional. he wants this, he must this, he will give you something else. the problem is, people feel like they have a deal with him and then he is not really involved in congressional talks right now -- he has to agree to everything there and sometimes he will say he agrees and then he changes his mind or someone else pushes on him and he might change his mind.

the funny thing people tend to say about this president, he always agrees with the last person who talks to him. you always want to be the last person in the room otherwise it is difficult. they don't know what he's going to agree to. host: about halfway through our week ahead roundtable. taking your calls about a busy week highlighted by tomorrow's state of the union address. we want to know what you want to know about. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 caller: thank you for taking my call. i don't believe we need a wall. 's arena i don't believe a physical walls going to do more than a digital wall. something that can monitor, that a --can areas instead of

it's not even a solid wall. it is proven people can climb over it. whatever like to hear trump talk about in his state of the union is what he's going to do for everyone else. he seems to be a president that is very spoiled. if he doesn't get his way takes it out on the american. i don't think that's right. that's not the place for president. i told people the last verse and we need running on being in charge of this country is a businessman. businessman only care about money. they don't care about the people . this is a country of people. host: you say you want to hear from the president about what he .ill do for everyone else on what subject matter could he talk about that? on health care? infrastructure? where you think he could do that? caller: for sure, health care.

the rates for people having to pay for health care is ridiculous. he wants to get rid of obamacare were some people have been signing up to that. the infrastructure. things that are falling apart around the country that need to be repaired and all he is focusing on or seems to have focused on since he's been in office is tearing the country apart. host: that is any in georgia -- that is emmy in georgia on health care. anita: immigration is the big fight on capitol hill. what we are hearing is there will be five points on the speech. only one of those points the immigration. it is an hour-long speech. but you talk about other things. he will talk about health care and specifically talking about how he might work with democrats to lower prescription drug costs. of the issue democrats and

republicans think they might get along on. another issue is infrastructure. how can we spend more money on roads, bridges, other things that are not doing too well in the country. another thing democrats and republicans talk about getting together on. also talk about foreign policy. host: where's the president's best chance for a deal with congress? erik: how this border wall talk plays itself out could set the tone for the rest of congress. tom cole says how can you do with the big infrastructure package? how care was the most salient issue that voters that in the midterm election. i think they will be disappointed by this congress because the issues remain deep. however, there is a fight in the courts about that which could end up doing most of the same --

much of the same. the democratic party is trying to work out its own approach. a lot of debate about medicare for all and that has not been defined exactly what that would be, single-payer or beyond. host: are we looking at committee hearings coming up on this issue of health care? erik: certainly. i think the top priority of democrats, a their agenda that has been pushed aside by the shutdown. the top bill is about voting reform and while that may be dead in the senate there is something that they want to have discussed. they will be -- there will be a hearing on legislation to require president and vice president to disclose the exact returns. and oversight agenda, all of which has been sidelined by the shutdown. host: house democrats in the majority, where are we expecting them to use that power in the coming weeks? erik: white house security

clearances. an interesting personal that apparently they have a lot of information on whether that has been mishandled and we will see that investigation open up. as far as the core russia stuff they're letting the mother investigation proceed with keeping an eye on. the lawyer for president trump will be coming up to testify at some point and that will be a bit of a blockbuster. i believe it is next month. anita: i think it is friday. i think there are three committees that want him to testify. i think the couple are unknown. i believe it is behind closed doors. host: you want to talk a bit about how the white house is prepared to deal with subpoena issues? anita: it has been interesting. i wrote a story back before the election when we house might go quoting republicans were close to the white house

saying they are not paying attention. they are doing other things and not preparing. a lot of ways when houses can chambers change parties and you know you going to have investigations and they needed to hire more attorneys and they have since done that. they needed to take attorneys and other people in the white house and say the only thing you're going to work on his oversight. let them only do that thing and separate them from the rest of what was going on and really worn the agencies that is really the first place a lot of these requests from committees go for documents and other skin called to testify. sort of one agencies this is what you need to do. people need to hire their own outside attorney. you can't have a government attorney helping some of you are called in and oversight committee to testify you have to get your own attorney.

lots of things they could've done. a lot of people were worried they did not do it. bet they will resist efforts to turn over things. sayingt was a week ago the shutdown is preventing them from turning over documents. secretary nielsen think acting attorney general both used the shutdown as reasons they could not come in front of congress. those were the initial reasons they said we cannot get these things together. we have to deal with the shutdown. i've heard house democrats were not pleased about that. host: this friday the house intelligence -- we will not be to have a camera to show that. rosemary is in pennsylvania, independent, good morning. caller: good morning.

i have a couple of comments and i will hear your ideas about it. earlier you were talking about sio conseil cortes -- ms. oca cortez. do we have enough land for solar ?anels what is that affects going to be with our competition? if we go green and other countries -- china wants to overtake us. i would like to hear your comments about that. host: you think she's trying to make a splash. can you talk about what you mean by that? caller: with the percentage of tax on billion. i'm on a fixed income but it's a capitalist country. i don't know how that's going to be possible. i don't think people are going over that.

host: do you think she will have pushed back in her own party? caller: i think more left-leaning democrats, absolutely. , iala harris and cory booker think they will go for it. middle-of-the-road democrats, and like you were saying before, with nancy pelosi, the left-leaning democrats may try to persuade her and the other leadership to pick up some of the radical ideas. host: that's rosemary in pennsylvania. erik: i think the big question for a lot of these candidates will be how do you pay for these plans. everyone was love to have free health care, free college tuition, pollution free economy. how do you pay for it?a lot of analysis on the implementation of the wealth tax . it may be unconstitutional. the amendment allows -- you can

specifically that it is more on their income. also, how do you implement it? always being pushed off continent implementation nightmare -- kind of an implementation nightmare. higher income tax rates however so many deductions and exemptions people hired accountants and it was an implementation nightmare. of ank her ideas are sort opening bid from the left. i don't think that is where necessarily end up. as far as environment, china is starting to take more of a lead in the u.s. remaining in the paris accords. there may be a balance that can be struck. host: you got janet in saint albans, west virginia. caller: good morning. what i want to talk about is to

-- everybody wanting freebies, sure you want to support them $76,000 a year going to school, hospitals, putting them in housing, paying their food stamps or whatever? why can't we build a wall? what makes them think they can invade this country? i know pelosi has a wall around her house and i know there were a lot of others named. trump threw up one in washington dc. why couldn't we have a wall there? what is wrong with the democrats? host: i will let anita kumar respond. i believe $76,000 a year? caller: that is what i heard.

this a lot of separate things they have to have done. how are we going to support them? it would take more to support them than it would to build the wall. anita: i will say a lot of republicans, conservative groups c say they want border enforcement but they want a lot of other things. they want cuts to legal immigration, cuts to illegal immigration, it is a bigger problem than just a wall will solve. change, rewrite the immigration laws in this country and change the way we have people come into the country. the president is focused on a wall but there are other people in the white house saying we need a bigger deal. as you know we always talk about a bigger deal and it never happens. if you go back to last year state of the union he talked about getting a big deal on immigration and it has not

happened. there are other issues congress can take up on immigration because it has not really happened. host: the conference committee last week we heard members talk about a deal going big. erik: the issue has become so politicized. the caller does express what we hear from a lot of conservatives . this idea that immigrants will be taking government services. evidence shows a lot of immigrants documented and and document -- and undocumented provide a lot to the economy. when certain proposals to reduce immigration are costed out it had -- ends up having a big hit on the government. we have an aging population. that is a deeper debate that is going on and the wall has become a symbol of that. the counterargument is that the

wall is not the most effective. it would probably cost more than $50 billion you also have to maintain it. how is now saying you can't do it in many places. if you look at the map going throughout the border there are areas that frankly you cannot build the wall along. huge canyons where a wall does not make sense. eminent domain, we hear that from texas republicans as well as democrats. who all caps to have access to the rio grande water. is the government going to seize the land and what to going to mean for the border? involvesise probably physical barriers. also a wall would not be a panacea. if you want to reduce immigration of all sorts, even

numbers usa says you've got to do either verify. you have employers forced to check the immigration status of people they are hiring. -- the trump administration has not done that. anita: a lot of the groups that want to cut immigration sayoc boardwalk folk it's not the top of the list. it is not want to solve the problem. these are people that generally support the president. host: only about 15 minutes left in our segment. ray is in california. good morning. caller: good morning. my issue regarding the wall is that i don't believe candidate beforeid any research saying we're going to build a wall in mexico is going to pay for it. i think he pulled that idea out

of his own mind without looking into whether the soil will support a wall, whether it interrupts weather patterns or animal migration, whether chemicals leach into the soil, so i don't think i wall would be effective and every time i have seen photos of the wall people are sitting on top of it, people have cut through it, tunnel andr, shimmied up the slats helped each other over. i do think something that's a little more high-tech would probably be more effective. we havel over the world been asking people to tear down

walls so we're putting up one? it seems contrary to what our values are. host: thanks for the call from california. are we going to see the president on the border again before the end of this discussion over -- i anita: would not be surprised they have not announced anything else. when nancy pelosi said you're not invited to the state of the union we heard there was a rumor he might go give a speech again and go to the wall, the border and give a speech. we have not seen signs of that. --t: have a talked about there some discussion about possibly going to the border. erik: i think house republicans have considered it. , at leastquestions rumors they might try to do that. others including senate republicans saying that will not help them get through deal. they need to come to some agreement. at this point mines are mostly

et. host: 11 days of deadline to some sort of deal or the government shut down again. an independent, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. god bless america. 50 years of a failed drug war. you cannot defend that and say we don't need a wall. wall is effective in san diego. senator ted cruz said let's take some of that money from el chapo , massive murderer, no mercy in all. corruption on both sides of the border. ocean somecross the of them get rusty and hard to open. --y guys in customs and say

passthe seal off, inspection, they were coming from everywhere. host: considering your experience where your thoughts on more money for the ports of entry and the places where shipments coming? do you think that would be more effective were as effective as the wall? do you think we need money for both?

do you think we need money for both? caller: that the ports of entry, those places top republican in the center operations committee wants to bring in experts . i think the thing is so emotional and politicized. is it real experts to come in and talk about what works. democrats brought expert opinion . this seemed to say the drugs are coming in vehicles stuck in engine blocks. they can by imaging equipment and could widen the lanes so they are not so rushed they might be of to catch more of this. they are saying drugs are not being hauled in backpacks over the desert. there is a real lack of information or agreed-upon act. host: you mentioned senator

richard shelby not necessarily the first face to russian front of the camera at a press conference but he was on cnn's state of the union talking about the compromise. [video clip] set think the president is on keeping his campaign promise. i support for security. all wall, offense, barrier. -- eight cents, a barrier. got to have a conference of approach -- eigh -- we have to have a comprehensive approach. it could happen. as a matter of fact, later this

week coming up we have asked professionals, the people that do the work that know something about the border, but know if aey need, a wall, fence, we will have them up before the appropriations conference committee and we are going to find out what they want. i think it's not what i need or what the speaker needs or even the president. if it is what we need to secure our borders and if we get this information from the experts and could move us off the dime. erik: richard shelby, he is very talented as a negotiator. articulate for his position. he tells me tuesday the conference meeting and the senate republicans caucus meeting among democrats, will nancy pelosi offer my for fencing -- offer money for .encing

if she is able to present that to her caucus that could be a deal. he could smooth it over. they can do things compromise is unpolarized rigors. finance imaging technology. also a sleeper issue of aid for puerto rico. the democrats want additional aid. issue?hy is it a sleeper erik:erik: i think people are focused on the border. disastera $12 billion package tied up with all the hurricanes and disaster recovery from wildfires. puerto rico is still suffering from its hurricane damage. the president believes they're using it to pay off the debt. disputed evidence on that. he may be saying it is a trade-off for the wall. that needs to be solved before the end of the week. host: that possible trade-off and deal? anita: i think the president is looking for a deal. he's about to run for reelection.

one thing people don't say is the state of the union address sort of sets the agenda. i think the agenda for the campaign. his for a deal and he would throw various things in there but he wants to say he has the wall. host: mary is next. brookhart, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. i am for the wall. totally. i think we need it. my son was hooked on drugs. cures now. the other subject i want to talk about is, in sixth grade when i went -- i lived in the projects and i went to a public cleveland school. the tallthat part of hat that the virginian governor

was accused of playing. host: you're talking about the picture of rob northam? caller: i believe that part in elementary school. does that make me a racist? host: what you mean you played that part? caller: they put that play in the schools and i played the tallof -- because i was so , but it wasckface not discriminating to me at that time. i don't know how far back to you people want to go back in people's lives and accused them of being racist? sixth grade, i did not know any better. host: does it matter to you that this occurred in a medical school yearbook photo? .aller: no it doesn't matter. how far back are you going?

you go back in everybody's life you're going to find something even in yours. it's disgraceful on how they are digging up past things that when -- are young and you do host: i know you covered virginia politics. anita: that's the debate i've heard in the last few days and we always hear when something is done up in a past we always hear. with brett kavanaugh, how far back does it matter? in this particular case the 25, studying to be a doctor. he is a doctor. people are saying he's an adult and he should know better. i think the situation is gone beyond that. we are beyond the picture. he has changed his story so people don't know what is true but we are also beyond it because everyone says they don't want work with him anymore and

when your legislature says that and other statewide officials and state senators say they don't trust you and don't think you should lead i think you've got a different problem than whether you are in the picture and not. not want to work with him he's going to be able to raise money for his party. when to be able to come up with deals. i think there are bigger problems now. host: danville, virginia. martha is a democrat. caller: yes. i have a question. how can we trust the president was no stated that isis longer a threat? americans died by the hand of isis. how can we trust him? his dealings with russia. he says he never dealt with russia, which is just not true. how can we trust him?

host: do you want to get into foreign policy? erik: an interesting question. testimony from the intelligence chiefs, dan coats and others before the senate in which they basically said isis is still a threat and talk about the dangers in syria while contesting some of the statements the president has made about iran violating nuclear arms agreements. the president lashed out at that . so these guys are naive. --med the fitness media blamed the fake news media. extraordinary vote in the senate disagreeing with the president's idea of a quick withdrawal from afghanistan and area. this really highlights the debate within the republican party. the orthodoxy is regarding security and russia differs from that of the president. anita: i think you will hear him talk about that.

the foreign policy piece on tuesday. the state of the union. i think he will address that issue and people will hear about it. host: police has been waiting -- elise has been waiting. i want to make a comment caller: that i live in a bordered city, san diego, california. all those people that don't live in a border city ought to listen more. here we are all laughing because of billion dollars building the -- let's make a good use of the dollars and i think you should not talk about the wall. it is not an effective use of our dollars. host: what is an effective use of dollars if we are talking about this immigration issue? caller: more comprehensive immigration would be better.

more ice, those kinds of things other than the wall. people, they're just wanted to build stairs up to the wall. really silly for us to build the wall i think. erik:erik: i think that really echoes a lot of what democrats have been saying. this idea that in this day and age you are technology. you might take home security system with sensors rather than building a wall with our wire under house is perhaps the best course of action. apparently a lot of this technology is readily available. i was told the homeland security department has these glimpse from afghanistan. they don't have it necessarily able or contracted to put on the border. tore might be ways in order be more cost effective. $5.7's a discussion of

billion for the wall that this would be the first down payment. there is a need to raise the debt limit. this is the first piece of a very costly project. host: let's get one last call. good morning. caller: good morning. aliens that are not educated it cannot come back to the country. there is a difference. democrats are supporting them because the poor start to do better, democrats want to control them. they don't want them to be free from their control. inns -- afford elite

aliens. american poor citizens, they are taking money away from them. guest: when thing we keep hearing from the white house is he wants a merit-based system. evidence come to the country, he wanted to be based on merit, what their education is. democrats of said that is not the way fully it should go. that is one of the big sticking points, not necessarily on this president's son-in-law jared kushner is trying to work on a bigger deal. he's had half a dozen meetings with various groups talking about how we can get to a bigger immigration deal. i think jared kushner

feels about the deal in the criminal justice report. there was a left right coalition that was building with people saying we were spending too much on prisons and it was unfair. there was a huge disparity. there was love groundwork for that. the groundwork is not been laid for this big deal. the trust is not there. host: thank you as always for your time. weekly your money segment. andill focus on teacher pay the issues facing school district when it comes to funding for teachers. we will be joined by daarel burnette for that discussion. stick around.

we will be right back. >> the last was seen what we always knew, that no people on earth are so fearless for daring or determined as americans. if there is a mountain, we climate, if there is a frontier, we cross it. if there is a challenge, we tame it. if there is an opportunity, we seize it. let's begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our union is strong because our people are strong. >> the state of the union postponed because of the government shutdown will take

place on tuesday night. watch the state of the union address live from the house chamber beginning at an :00 eastern on c-span, followed by the democratic response. the state of the union live tuesday at 9:00 eastern on c-span. you can listen with the free c-span radio app. week on the communicators, a technology update with the assistant attorney general. >> recently, we heard sprint and t-mobile are merging. fox, those are mergers to go through us and we determine whether or not they violate the antitrust laws by

reducing competition. that's where the most damage can be dumb -- done to our look to grid. our banking system, there are major things. stress to continue to the public-private partnership. we have functionality. we've also gotten less resilient. a single issue can cause widespread disruption. that's what we are grappling with as new sectors of the economy adopt new technology. -- >>going us tonight join us tonight on c-span two.

>> washington journal continues. host: each week, we take a look at how your money is at work in government programs. this week, we focus on state government and the topic of teacher pay. atning us is darell burnette education week. he offered a recent story about education spending. hasn't necessarily translated into higher salaries for teachers. why is that? the stateecially if level, governors are quick to say we want to give money to districts to give teachers pay raises. districtsppening is both superintendents, school board members, and unions are in charge of how the money gets disbursed. what happens is a lot of districts have other priorities a want to pay for, such as reducing class size, purchasing

laptop computers, they would rather spend that the give teachers pay raises. cost overy expensive years. unless they are getting hundreds of millions of dollars more, it's a difficult task. off, some numbers to start ontes spend a lot of money education. this is from 2016. this is the numbers from the national education association. $82,000 year.out california is $79,000 year. it's $45,000nia, per year. mississippi is $42,000 year. somelked quite a bit about

of the protests involving teacher pay around the country. remind us of some of the big ones. denver, lastgeles, year we had statewide protests in west virginia, oklahoma, arizona. this is getting a lot of parental support. they shut down schools for a week at a time, that causes problems for parents. the pressure is effective. a lot of governors say we want to give you some more money. the governors will say we will give more money, what happens is they gave pay raises for teachers. what happened this year was they got 85% pay raise, some got 18 percent. in tacoma, washington, they got 0% pay raises. host: what happened in arizona?

guest: there was a week and a half strike. we have talked to teachers there that are making $30,000 a year. they have a huge teacher shortage there is well. he wants to said cut taxes. he did not want to give teachers await -- raise. in arizona and the vast majority of states, districts decide to spend money. negotiations,o some districts said we will give that money to you guys. risell give you a 10% pay -- raise. arizona,districts in some want custodians to get pay raises as well. we want to hire more teachers. all of these competing pressures

for districts. some teachers and that getting very little pay raise. teachers are still upset. they are still threatening to strike this year if there is not going to be more money given to the districts. a lot of people say it does not address the problems, a shortage, teachers especially in rural areas. host: we are focusing on teacher pay. the phone lines are little bit different. if you are a teacher, (202) 748-8000 is the number. school administrators, (202) 784-8001. parents, (202) 748-8002. we want to hear from you as we have this conversation. we are talking with darell burnette from education week. you want to talk to some of

these superintendence why the money doesn't get to teachers to increase their pay. talk about the idea of backfilling positions. it was not long ago, 10 years ago, during the recession, school district affected the most. hiring, they laid off secretaries, janitors, i.t. people. a lot of districts laid off teachers. devastating several years for districts. now, they have surpluses, they are starting to provide schools with money. districts for trying to back fill all the positions they laid off. instead of giving an across-the-board pay raise, they are trying to build back to

structure they had before the recession. they -- there is only one person or zero people collecting data. a lot of teachers are saying the l.a. in, especially in arizona and oklahoma, not only do we want better pay for teachers, we want to hire more nurses, more school psychologists, more speed -- speech pathologists. these are people who are crucial to making schools effective. host: another competing pressure point is the obligation that school districts have for teachers and pensions and benefits. now, therees right is a tension debt.

these are promises they made to retire, wence you will give you certain benefits. it's one of the reason why teachers get into the teaching business. it's a social contract. that pension that is coming home to roost. they have to pay down this debt to avoid bankruptcy. california, the state has been giving billions of dollars, they told districts you need to pay down these pension costs. thanld rather go bankrupt satisfy teachers who are needed to pay raise. host: let's hear from some teachers. good morning. caller: i appreciate your guest today. i am a music teacher. i taught at a private school in south florida. the problem with private schools was the parents called the

shots. when i moved back to new mexico, i could not get hired in a public school. what i wanted to get recertified, it started at $32,000 a year. what would be the point of that? betsy devos needs to go. interesting, new mexico is one of the 17 states that has a pay scale. the new governor is proposing a large increase. this is a huge problem that districts for having. losingtendents are applicants to walmart, the local public industry because we cannot compete. we can't give the sorts of salaries to compete with the private industry here.

the district's are having to decide if we lower our requirements to have teachers, or if we sweeten the pot for teachers. attest, of callers will teaching is not easy. mexico,tricts in new they are driving the bus, they are teaching, they are the principal, they are collecting the data. there is a lot of pressure on teachers and administrators and they are not getting paid. host: a statewide pay scale in new mexico? guest: 17 states actually do this. it's a staple of american education. that those decisions should be made locally. we have given a lot of power to local school boards and superintendents to make decisions on how they spend their money.

inn we made those decisions the early days of america, we said we should make educational local decision. the difference today, states for spending a large portion of education dollars. 45%, they areing paying for the vast majority of education costs. legislators are providing the cost for education , local officials are making the decisions on how the money is spent. this causes a lot of tension. host: joe is in indianapolis. good morning. in the i taught indianapolis public school system. i left. i am retired now. the teachers unions are destroying the livelihood of a

teacher. they couldn't tell you what a noun or a noun or verb or an adverb is. there are significant issues you could see. host: you are going in and out. indiana, the governor during his address this year said he is going to pay down the pension debt. i'm going to spend $150 million to pay down the pension debt. he said he does not have the power to raise teachers's pay. teachers and been threatening to strike across the state. rural teachers are not getting paid. they can afford to pay the rent.

he specifically directed school board members, use this money to provide teacher pay. all teachers should be able to get a $1200 pay increase with this money. are they going to do that next year? we don't know. this is one of the frustrations teachers have. host: we have this tweet from an individual as we have this discussion. guest: this is a proposal in texas, where the governor wants to link pay increase to test scores. that, they areh way too dependent on test to determine the success of schools. the teachers who wind up getting

pay toses when you link the scores, we've seen this across the nation, the teachers aren't wealthier school districts. there is not concentrated poverty, they don't have limited english language learners. the kids in that coming to school tired. those teachers are getting pay where where in reality, there are teachers shortages in urban and rural areas, it's very hard to recruit and retain teachers. host: edward is apparent in ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. concerningestion teacher retentions. do the teachers contribute money toward their retirement system? turningr question can -- concerning pensions, are they

completely funded? are they unfunded liabilities? on which stateds or district you are in if teachers are contributing. times,e reported several , it's theion funds third rail of education. west virginia where they had a statewide strike last year, that was specifically over pensions. tried toky, the state change the dynamic of the system and get teachers to contribute more. the teachers were so upset about

this, they stopped going to school. rail.s the third a lot of people don't want to touch pensions. it could drive the state into insolvency. host: education week is where darell burnette works. you can find his reporting there. -- sheila is in washington, a teacher. caller: i am a preschool teacher. i do it for the love, not for the money. a lot of them can't read. school, theying to need to go back to the old way where they do it on paper and pen. they complain about. it comes from the homeowners. host: what do you mean by that? caller: it comes from people who

own homes. that's what i am saying. they do funding and they get paid. they don't bring that up. i was 18 and i am 63 and out. i am very involved in the community. guest: another interesting state. washington was in a years long legal lawsuit with the state supreme court over whether the state or local officials should pay for education. the state got rid of the pay scale. the governor contributed $1 billion more to schools last year. they put it in the general fund. the districts in that state said we can give you pay over the next three years. there are some districts in seattle that were able to get huge pay increases. tacoma, the district said no

say we willed to give you a smaller increase than what you are demanding. the teachers went on strike and delayed the start of school. one of the things that happened in washington was the teachers unions sent out a press release that said you can get a 30% raise this year. be what i'd be ok with that, i would recalibrate my budget. i would know what i could afford. i might have kids. when it came to negotiations several months later, the district said we will give you a 10% raise or a 5% raise. that upset teachers even more. you will see more tension in the coming months as states are giving more money.

those are one-time funds. recurring several years. they are not recurring is what i am trying to say. let's talk wisconsin. stephen is in racine. caller: thank you for taking my call. it's a very good conversation. is there any data available on the benefits of wages? that's what i bring home at the end of the week. what about my benefit expenses? guest: this is one of the things that's fascinating. i want to one of the protests in arizona. weot of teachers were saying

will give you a $2000 raise this year. you are going to have to pay $1000 more for your health care. one of the things districts are doing it, they are asking teachers to chip in more on health care costs. some people got no raise because they paid that same amount for their benefits. send thatrying to burden to the teachers. that's not really fair. host: shelley is a school administrator in florida. it's a university here with florida state. college.aching florida is ground zero for this issue. back 20 years ago, the

republican party took over the state. they instituted a testing accountability grading system. this was jeb bush. the behest ofat the koch brothers. they carried this forward. whererading of schools funding was tied to testing. on teachers and on school districts. most of the educational funding for our local school districts through the nation come from property taxes. what the lady was speaking of in washington. we have 10% federal funding. have a segregated school it, it we then find

wasn't until the 70's it changed , we were funding private segregated academies. this is what this voucher school choice is about. they complain they are paying property taxes. therefore, this is an underbelly fight about brown the board. we talk about paying teachers. in a segregated school system were my teachers who came whiter, it's an 80% woman profession in america. our children are 90% black and brown. i-20 use a number.

don't try to downgrade what i'm saying. that hasbout a system white women, the majority of teachers in america in public school teaching, then we have the funding coming from property taxes. i support general education retire, once you property taxes will not be sustained to increase this. it's also tied to funding. host: you bring up a lot of issues. jump in. aest: my grandmother is graduate of that teaching college. i wanted to point out the fact tied school has funding to property taxes. this is a key reason why a lot of states are having a difficult

time raising money for schools in the sense that a lot of voters do not what their taxes to be raised. one of the interesting political dynamics we see now which is a new phenomenon, a lot of people have a lot of sympathy for teachers. don't same time, they want their taxes to be increased. that propertyd taxes are the most reliable sources of funds for schools. it does not fluctuate dramatically. it's an even tax. time, people feel like their property taxes are too high. state and local politicians are having to decide, do we go to income taxes? sales taxes? some of those are regressive.

has different impact on different communities. phenomena interesting i see is districts have five different property tax values. afford large can teacher increases and the teachers are demanding that because they can't afford the rent basically. time, you see world communities that have low property tax value, they can't afford tax increases. there is a disproportionate impact on the halves and have-nots. teachers,g to recruit i can only afford to pay $30,000. average pay masks what happens in district. districts paying

$200,000 for teachers. there are districts in oklahoma in which teachers are maxing out at $35,000. differentiation based on where you were working, what kind of teacher you are. host: we have just a few minutes left. mike is in mississippi, a parent. caller: good morning. i lived in jackson. as far as the teachers and , whyistration, in jackson are they paid so much and the teachers paid less? is an opinion i want why are industries not

investing in schools? superintendence pays something people target and are upset about. one of the things for urban districts like jackson, which has a lot of turnover at the superintendent level, school boards have a hard time retaining superintendent positions. they are very political. it's a very difficult job to do. are going tocts teacher salaries. they are not going to overhead staff. even if you reduce the superintendent salary or reduce office staff, i have been in offices where there are no , there is no professional development for teachers, even if you get rid of

vast majority of money goes to teacher salaries. that is something to keep in mind as we debate these topics. host: good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. problem giving teachers pay. status, have a low pay teachers come in, but they are not qualified. kids, are they qualified to go to this grade level? why don't we test out teachers to see if they are qualified to teach the subject they are teaching. we have a lot of kids in georgia failing in reading and math because the teacher is low-paid. we are grabbing teachers from anywhere.

are they qualified to teach that particular subject western mark we need to test the teacher before they go into that process. qualified to teach the subject that you are teaching to our youth? guest: when i was on this program last time, states have a hard time defining teacher quality. it's a very clean thorny subject. very thorny subject. everybody has a different quality. politicians have a different definition. states try to avoid the question. teachers are paid off years of experience. that is not a good indicator of how good you are teaching everyday. is a flawed way of

judging the quality of teachers. we don't want to be dependent on tests. do we depend on surveys? how manyend on bachelors degrees they have? this is a question the state has not tackled. it you --ng to can continued to see these debates. host: the last call is from wisconsin. caller: good morning. raising taxes for teachers in public schools. the problem is these charter schools are taking over and they are getting more of the funding when property taxes are supposed to go to public schools. i don't know how many jobs out aree where teachers

constantly taking work home. they start before students get there, they stay after school helping students, then they go home and grade papers. concerned, they are not getting paid enough. a lot of parents out there feel that. teachers have to teach morals and values. that should also be done at home. i support the local public school. charter schools are hiring teachers who are not qualified yet they get most of the funding. that's not what my property tax is supposed to go for. wisconsin is an interesting state. one thing to keep in mind, only 5% of kids attend private schools. studentssin, they lose

. i was in green bay a couple of months ago. of governor ran on the issue school funding. he said he wouldn't raise taxes, but he would find money. the problem with wisconsin is they are losing thousands of students every year. because they have a per-pupil system, they are losing money from the state and property value. etc., they have a large number of charter schools. states are losing kids left and right. host: darell burnette is a policy writer at education week. thank you as always. time to hear from you. we want to know what is on your mind. the phones are open.

they are on your screen. you can start calling in now. we will be right back. >> over the last year, the world has seen what we always knew, that no people on earth are so fearless or daring or determined as americans. if there is a mountain, we climate. if there is a frontier, we cross it. if there is a challenge, we tame it. if there is an opportunity, we seize it. that begin by recognizing the state of our union is strong. our people are strong. >> the state of the union postponed by the government shutdown will take place tuesday night.

lots as the president gives his stated -- state of the union address. willemocratic response follow. the state of the union, live tuesday at 9:00 on c-span. you can listen with the free c-span radio app. >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created the public service by america's cable television companies. today, we bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, public policy events in washington dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. >> washington journal continues. we have about 20 minutes

left in the program this morning. republicans call in at (202) 784-8001, democrats (202) (202)00, independents 748-8002. we will take you to the ntsb safety board unveiling of the 2019 most wanted list. 10:00 this morning. at 11:30 will be in a.m. the senate is in at 3:00 p.m. today. tomorrow is the state of the union. we will cover it as we always do. you can listen to it on the free

c-span radio app. we will have coverage on the c-span networks covering capitol hill. let us know what is on your mind today in washington. the phone lines are yours to do so. scott is in houston, texas. go ahead. isler: i think the president the right man for the job. he is 30 years too late. i am 70 years old. i see things he tries to implement. it is such a big mess now. to fix therying streets while they are flooded. pelosi hasnk nancy any intention of fixing the

country. it's been running loose for years. i go way back to carter and clinton. host: what do you expect hear from the president tomorrow? to tell usis going what he wants to hear. he always delivers a good message. i don't think -- that's his biggest problem. on what he'sct trying to deal with. money, he wants the knows a wall will not correct these things. he's looking at a way to get the money. host: that was scott in texas. this is barbara in oklahoma city. go ahead.

caller: i just wanted to say first of all, he told us wages would go up. they haven't went up. he told us we would have health care. he said mexicans would pay for the wall. andle keep calling and saying he's done everything he promised. todid nothing he promised what i expect out of him is lies. that's all we've gotten from him. there,want to put out people keep saying $1 billion is nothing. if you work at $50,000 a year, yearsld take you 20,000 to make $1 billion. host: what kind of work are you

in? caller: i'm 74 years old, i am retired now. childcare care and got paid nothing. we choose that job. i loved it. i didn't like to pay. i didn't get anything for pay. now i am paid to live on nothing for the rest of my life. makingchers should be the highest salaries. instead, we pay these people in washington and they do nothing for us. host: this is lincoln, nebraska. good morning. caller: i just want the to put more emphasis on infrastructure. wouldrightened of what happen to us in nebraska or anywhere up north.

it would terrace apart. it happens as it happens, having security of the infrastructure. it really worries me. host: we are expecting to hear from the president on the infrastructure issue tomorrow night. we will find out tomorrow at 9:00 eastern. mike is in florida. good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. how are you? i have two points i am curious about. rumors, i hear people talking in this area, the democrats plan to bring illegal aliens into the state of the union.

todaywe will find out where people announce who their guests are going to be. tune into this program and we will have more information on that. caller: all right. it would beit, within his rights to have the alien arrested and taken into custody, but the person who is harboring a fugitive. year, this was an issue that came up. guests invited by members of congress and what they should do if they are illegal immigrants. do you remember that debate? caller: i don't remember the details. host: we will find out more for you. tomorrowpend most of focused on the state of the

, what thethis topic president will say, reactions. the story from the chicago tribune, from late last week, democrats are sending a political message with their guests for the state of the union address. inviting immigrants who worked at trump properties while they were undocumented. a native of costa rica who worked at the new jersey trump golf course will attend the speech as a guest of jimmy gomez from california. that was confirmed last week. permanentegal resident now, she was undocumented when she worked at a trump property.

the two women met with lawmakers this week as part of a group of immigrants who worked for the crop golf course in westchester. they were not legally authorized to do so. that is reporting on the guests. there will be more tomorrow morning. we have an independent in michigan. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? i am calling about 2020. i just want to say that in the midwest, people are angry. we don't see anybody pay attention to us here. us, people are very angry at washington for leaving us

behind. one michigan.ump he promised jobs he was never going to give. , it's not a divisive issue. it could be an all party issue. you have a senate that is not performing their checks and balances. i think -- if they would run a case, they would have a good shot of winning. host: is there somebody that you have in mind who could do that? around, ill, looking

think they have to come together on this election. this is very important. i don't see anyone who has the people's year. always another senator from california or new york. a midwesterner could speak to the hard ships here. we were left behind long ago. if there was a midwesterner on think all, left, i don't think we are ready for that here. say you the right to are looking like radicals. we have to make a move inward. host: thank you for the call

from kalamazoo. arlington virginia, go ahead. caller: caller: good morning. thank you for having me. i just wanted to say that congress really needs to get working on issues that are important other than the politicking. there is infrastructure issues, issues with schools. if they would just start working they arentive things, going to help our country improve infrastructure and give people more jobs. i wish everyone would get along and respect one another. and someollaboration coming together on some of these issues. host: what is holding us back? unfortunately, people

like to get back in other people when they have an issue with him. i think we have to go forward. the congress needs to think of the american people, not if they are going to get reelected. we are going to go forward and do it we need to do to make things better in our country. there is a transportation system, why don't we have trains like they haven't japan? i appreciate you giving me the opportunity to speak on c-span. i love it. it helps me get to work every morning. host: we appreciate and hope you calling again. good morning. i would like to say , we based the house

of representatives on the population. 10% ofnia has more than the delegates in the house of representatives. my main concern is illegal's are whichd in the census, gives them more representation. states, there are 435 representatives. 53 house seats in california alone. i don't believe illegal's should be counted. that's the reason why we can't pass a lot of laws because there is so much representation from the state of california. win and getcan't the majority in the house because of california. host: what did you think about putting a about

citizenship question on the census? i agree. we need to know how many people are in each area, whether they visas, ifns, have they are illegal. host: this is by written in tennessee. good morning. i would like to bring you guys don't say anything about the conservative news network. we have the one american news network. they have a real conservative agenda. they also have a chart that day, what is costing every it's right around $24 billion.

anyone on c-span mention the one american news network. it's an at&t type of agenda. they are pretty dang good. costing $24 billion to build a lot of wall. i support donald trump. i hope he gets his agenda passed. that is the chart the collar is referring to, it's right there on the front page. the total they have is the cost this year when it comes to illegal immigration.

roy is in wisconsin. are you with us? caller: good morning. i would like to comment on the wall. i think the money could be better spent. lot, we could just enforce the laws we have on the books. in this country, we are facing a major health care crisis. money would be better spent there, lowering the age for medicare. can't afford health care. i think the wall isn't going to stop them from coming. maybe fining employers would be a better process. they come with visas and they don't go back. money, we all need

health care in this country. nobody is doing anything about it. host: good morning. caller: thank you very much for your show and so much information. there are a couple of things i would like to make. general, wes in lived in europe for eight years and moved back. is of the differences americans talk and don't listen enough. we are all americans, no matter what party you are affiliated with. i think people need to ask more questions and understand other opinions. i think more americans should participate in local government to see how difficult it is to run a government. that would open their eyes. they could make opinions without having worked in those positions.

would be better for our country and make our congress more efficient if we just allowed for the election cycle to be three months before an election. think we should hold congress and all elected officials to the budgets we have to live by. election ande an its on who is raising the most money, we need to be able to say that everybody gets $20 million. that's how we have to live our lives. just a couple of minutes left in today's washington journal. ,e will be heading to the ntsb one of their meetings is coming up in just a couple of minutes. we discussed the fallout from the racist picture in the medical yearbook of the governor

virginia. is mulling plans on possibly leaving office. he scheduled a large meeting this morning of his administration staff. times dispatch noticed that william and mary college in williamsburg, virginia is rescinding his invitation for the inauguration of the new college president there. we will keep you up-to-date. there is movement on that front throughout the day, head back tomorrow morning. we are in new jersey. go ahead. caller: good morning. i am going to talk specifically about the state of the union.

he's going to talk about how much money he needs for the wall. about, how much money he needs for the wall. i think most of your viewers would agree that if you need $5 billion for a wall, that by the way he said mexico was going to pay for, if you want to that much money, he should lay out penny for penny what he wants that for. we are all going to pay for that. my opinion is if he has that much money, maybe he should build a wall instead of levying yet another payment on taxpayers when the budget is completely out of control. cycling, the economy -- i -- the the drop support jobs report is up. people are working three jobs because they cannot make ends meet. our last caller. we have to ended there because that event featuring the national transportation safety unveilinghe