for legislative business at noon to continue a war powers resolution that would end u.s. military assistance to saudi-led forces in yemen's civil war. the senate continues at 10:00 a.m. eastern to continue the debate on the nomination of william barr to be u.s. attorney general. on c-span3, representatives from t-mobile and sprint testify at a joint house subcommittee hearing about a proposed merger between the two companies. later, there is another hearing on efforts to combat sexual assault at military service academies. coming up on today's "washington journal," republican congressman ben cline of virginia on a tentative border security agreement reached by house and senate negotiators that would avert another government shutdown. after that, we're joined by congressmen tom malinowski of new jersey talk about his role on the house foreign affairs committee as it

provides oversight of the trump administration's foreign o'toole debate in congress over border wall funding and the number of detention beds being used by immigration and customs enforcement. [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: the house armed services committee holds a hearing on a sexual assault in the military at 2:00 this afternoon. it that on c-span 3 and c-span.org. executives with t-mobile and sprint will appear to discuss their proposed merger. watch that at 10:00 on c-span 3 and the web. this is the "washington journal" for february 13. we want to hear from you about the proposed border deal and we want to get your thinking on if the president should except the accept the deal.

republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. .or independents, 202-748-8002 if you want to post on social media, you can do so at our twitter feed @cspanwj and our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. the latest headline from politico says the president is panning this deal, using their words and their headline as congress moves toward a vote and joining us to give us the latest on where negotiations are and when a vote may take place is caitlin emma who reports on budgets and appropriations matters. good morning to you. guest: good morning. host: could you remind our viewers what is being offered in this deal and what the current -- the president's current thinking is on it? guest: the president sent many

mixed messages about his support for this deal which includes about $1.4 billion for 55 miles of fencing along the border. that is far less than what he requested in terms of the $5.7 billion demand he has been making. on twitter and in comments, it seems like he might be supportive. last night he sort of tweeted to the effect republicans work really hard to craft this deal and he is working -- looking at it. yesterday he said he was not necessarily happy, but he is studying it and might add to it. we've got no firm no and not a firm yes. host: when it comes to republicans and democrats on getting the president to support this deal, we heard from mark meadows last night in the house downplaying this deal. how much pressure will the president receive from republicans on rejecting it.

guest: he is definitely going to receive significant pressure from members of the house freedom caucus like mark meadows and london's like sean hannity like sean pundits hannity and ann coulter. they see the president getting short shrift from democrats and that influence has been shown to impact the president thinking before. he shut down the government in december over a sort of outcry from conservative television pundits saying he has to stand strong and deliver on what his base wants. whether he listens to them this time around remains to be seen. i think everybody realizes a second government shutdown would be catastrophic. host: the president talks about looking for these other sources of money. how easy of a task will that be for him? guest: the fact that he is

looking at these sources of money, it is a less significant or drastic move then clearing a national emergency. disasteround funds for relief or army corps of -- those funding actions, if he takes them, will likely be faced with legal challenges. to helpcause -- just our viewers understand, if money is appropriated to a certain amount or cause, can it be used for other purposes? guest: right. the deal they are crafting would likely give him some amount of transfer authority, this is what republicans are stressing, saying he will have lots of flexibility to shift around funds and possibly increase the .umber of the tension beds right now, the deal funds about

45,000 detention beds. republicans are saying if they use the most? ability allowed, he could get 52,000, which is a huge number. in terms of using his executive ntp unspento tap it funds elsewher,o that will be challenged -- tap into unspent funds elsewhere, that will be challenged by democrats. host: this could appear as a house vote as early as tomorrow night, is that what you are hearing as well? guest: i think we could probably see text today or tonight. i think there is interest in the house moving as quickly as possible. we could see a vote possibly tomorrow. political playbook reports at some staff the negotiators are drafting, the actual text, they are running into snags. it will be interesting to see how some of those potential

pitfalls when it comes to language, whether that holds up significantly. the president does shut down friday at midnight. they need to move quickly. some of these issues they have to work through whether or not there are enough to sink this deal remains to be seen. host: caitlin emma joining us. we want to thank you for giving us your time today and informing our viewers about this. thanks again. guest: thank you. host: those are the parameters set up. we want to hear from you in his first hour about this proposal on the table when it comes to the money matters, detention beds, and other elements when it comes to the border deal and the larger effort to keep the government open. here is how you can let us know. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. an independents, 202-748-8002. our twitter feed available @cspanwj and if you want to post

on facebook, you can do so at facebook.com/cspan. westwood, new jersey, republican line. this is harold. what about this deal do you support or oppose? caller: i am doing a lot of thinking right now. i am a 96-year-old veteran of world war ii, served in the 104th infantry division. at the end of the war, we came home and there was no fake news. there was no hate. my concern right now is when the democrats begin to love our country more than they hate donald trump, we will make progress. this is a terrible deal. donald trump. at democrats cannot accept that. it is hate. host: what is wrong with the deal as it currently stands? caller: it does not protect us.

the caravan represents invasion. we are being invaded by people. when they come here, they throw rocks and attack our people. horrible. world war ii, when we were invaded, we fought back. host: let's hear from james in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, independent line. what do you think about this deal? caller: for one thing, thank you, c-span. good morning, pedro. forgive me for loving the world. i am a world die and i don't believe in the border -- i am a world guy and i don't believe in the border. nra guy said -- if they had weapons in the senate, that would not have happened. i don't believe in walls. host: as far as this specific deal, what is wrong with it?

caller: what is wrong with it? please, i am independent. we need a new democracy. i studied world war i and world war ii. we lost vietnam. look at korea. the ss arizona still spits up black tears. host: democrats line, good morning. caller: good morning. i have mixed feelings about this deal. i want him to continue pursuing for the full amount, but i really don't want to see another government shutdown. i would like to see some stipulation in the deal to where this is only a start toward settling the border security issues. this isn't going to put an end to it. if he accepts this money, they have to realize it will be back

up on the table to renegotiate for more money right away. i do believe in the border. i am in a border state. i live below poverty level and i do not get food stamps. hispanics that come over here that are illegal, they get food stamps. they have even told me how to cheat to get food stamps. i don't do that. that is wrong. host: if the president excepts the deal, do you think it will make it harder to get money in the future? caller: it could and it could not. it just appends on how they word the -- they need to put some kind of clause that this will not cover what we need. we do need the wall. i am all for legal immigration. i am colorblind. i don't see color. host: that is karen calling us.

in the washington post, it is reported more than 1800 central american parents and children crossed the border on monday, the largest unit -- number of "family unit apprehensions." that includes two groups of more than 300 people. the same day the president held a rally to tout his plans for border security. 59% of all border apprehensions were composed of migrants traveling in family group, a trend that accelerated in recent months. apprehensions of family members 290%.-- soared donna in florida talking about this proposed border deal and whether you would support it or not. caller: i do not support the president giving in because it is not enough money and i feel

like your last caller -- he takes this bit now, it will be harder to get the rest of the money. if they come up with a plan where they talk about the entire amount he needs and give it over a year or 18 months where they would get the rest of the money and increment, i think that would be a good idea. if we stop funding other countries as much as we do, that would be a way of saving some money. the past caller, i agree, i have been fighting illegal immigration for 25 years. nobody believed this was going to be a problem. people thought i was a racist .nd it is a humanitarian issue people that come to this country, my grandparents, they had to be sponsored and have a way of making a living.

like the previous caller, the people that come here illegally, they will get food stamps, rental assistance. they go to the emergency room, they are taken care of. ne in let's hear from ge new york. what do you think about this proposed deal? caller: thank you for taking my call. problem hasthis exacerbated over the decades. it's like an open wound we keep pouring salt into. i wish the parties involved would sit down and get together and understand we are a sovereign country and we have a right to take a stand on how are our -- how our country works. whose race hasn been dealing with so much

problems with our structure. our country. host: when it comes to this deal, specifically what is wrong with it? caller: what is wrong with it is we are capitulating to an of events.e turn we are doing the same thing all over again, finding new ways to do it. i applaud the president for attempting to make things better. sometimes when he speaks or does things, it does make me cringe and roll my eyes a bit. it is the first time we have been moving forward with this. ist: status gene in -- that gene in new york. our guest talked about not as much money when it comes to the initial request for border structure, there is an issue about detention beds that will play out during the course of

the week in an effort to keep the government open. on the phone lines, it is 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. the president sending out a recent tweet saying when it comes to negotiations, i want to thank republicans for the work you have done dealing with the radical left on border security. the wall is being built and will be a great achievement and contributed toward life and safety in our country. no indication on whether he would accept the deal or not. gave comments yesterday. [video clip] >> as i am going on stage to speak, they are telling me the committee came out with a deal and they went over it briefly and i went over it briefly last night, but it was 3:00 in the morning. i cannot say i am happy. i cannot say i am thrilled.

the wall is getting built regardless. we are doing other things beyond what we are talking about here. we are having a meeting on it later. truction.lly obs the democrats want everyone to be able to come into our country. host: we will go to patty in wisconsin, democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. there is an expression the devil is in the details. i have been trying to listen as much as possible as to what this latest proposal deal is between the president and the democrats. i just think it is the logistics with the border. put forth humanitarian efforts, process those fleeing for their lives and deal with that. if we can move thousands of can dealom a to b, we

with this issue. i am against the wall and we need to be kinder to our neighbors. what goes around comes around and some day we may need support and care from others. i think the good lord will remember. let's show mercy to our neighbors. host: the border deal is a pointless exercise in futility, another scam i the biggest con man in modern history. congress is wise to his lie. twitter, schempp on democrats were never serious about negotiations. another ploy. kilroy brown says we need more security by means of surveillance and boots on the ground. there is a poll on our facebook page you can participate in and register your thoughts as well as leave comments. you can make comments on our twitter feed @cspanwj. from pennsylvania, democrats

line. actually, john in alaska, republican line. go ahead. caller: that's the reason i live in alaska. since the 1980's, mexicans have been crossing the border coming up california into oregon and we have had terrible problems with them. the government did nothing prior to that in the 1950's and 1960's, they used to shoot them at the border and things would take care of itself. it's like people who have a sense in their yard to keep -- fence in their yard to keep things out. host: you are saying it doesn't achieve anything? caller: no, it doesn't. they have been coming across per 30 and 40 years. host: what is the difference between what is being offered and what the president wanted? caller: i don't know all the specifics because i just got

back into town. we need to close down that whole -- we areuit paying paying for it in so many ways. host: one of the people giving comment on this political story we referenced earlier is kate granger, the top republican on the house appropriations committee and said one of the negotiators on the agreement said the reaction was mostly affirmative in the room and republicans should vote because we had "more wins than losses." this are consequences if doesn't happen, the possibility of a shut down and a resolution to keep the government open. we are hoping he will sign this. this is the opinion of chuck schumer yesterday when asked about the border funding deal. [video clip] >> we have a bipartisan

agreement. everybody had to give something. we are urging the president to sign it. the president should not make the same mistake he made a couple of months ago when there was a bipartisan agreement and he would not sign it and caused the shutdown. please mr. president, no one got everything they wanted in this bill, but sign it and don't cause a shut down. the leaders of the conference committee found an agreement in principle to keep the government open. the details are being hammered out. the tentative agreement represents a welcome path forward for our country and a way away from the dreaded shutdown. hopefully this means the country will be spared from another nightmare. host: a couple other opinions includes ann coulter who sent out this tweet, saying trump

talks a good game, but it is clear he is afraid to fight for it. this yellow new deal. laura ingraham saying let's stop calling the $1.7 billion proposal wall funding, it's more like stall funding. adam in maryland, democrats line. you are next up, hello. caller: hi. host: you are on. caller: thank you. i don't support the deal. first of all, we heard reportedly mexico was going to pay for the wall. i don't understand how is supporters are sitting here saying it is a good thing to down -- thel government down if mexico is going to pay for the wall. york,south wales, new democrats line. caller: hello. i think this is a bad deal. i think the president should

hold out. we should fund his wall and i think we should embrace the new green deal and shut down the airports. host: when it comes to border security, tell me why you think it is a bad deal? caller: i think we need a strong southern border. i think we should fund the wall. host: do you think the initial request from the president would made that were changed what happened on the southern border? caller: i do. host: why do you think that? caller: i think we have people coming across unsecured spots on the border. host: in texas, republican line, ivan. you are next up. hello. caller: howdy, howdy. came up with a deal. use his money. that way nobody in the united

date has to pay for it. host: what do you think of this deal? caller: i don't think that deal is a very good deal because it doesn't cover -- too many illegals loose in our country and doesn't give us a wall. donald trump needs to go back to build5 billion and let's the whole wall. it would cost us more than that in the first month to take care of illegals in the country. that needs to stop and we can build the wall and keep the scum out and remove the scum from our country. that is ivan from texas. he referenced ted cruz, $14 billion in drug profits and other assets could be used to fund the wall. barton heinrich saying the president is determined to force taxpayers to pay for this border wall even if it means taking

funds from military families and disaster relief efforts. senate majority leader mcconnell saying the agreement provides funds for barriers and completes the appropriations bills. eric swalwell saying i will not support anything -- i am going to support anything that protects our border and takes care of refugees and we don't have to demolish the statue of liberty to put up a wall to do that. it's the difference between house democrats who want to govern and donald trump, who wants to rule. when it comes to legal challenges to the efforts on the wall, katie from the washington post this morning talks about the national butterfly center in mission, texas, asked a federal building -- to stop from building a border wall on

its property. customs and border protection and other law enforcement agencies have been driving heavy machinery through the property without permission or notice. the director alleges the number of law enforcement officials on the land has dramatically increased for february, something that is intimidating and restrains the movement of .uests and staff federal officials decided to build a border wall on the property without complying with existing law. the government petitioned to have the case dismissed. independent line, your thoughts on proposed border deal to keep the federal government open. ken is next, independent line. caller: good morning. i completely disagree with anything this businessman, white supremacist has done.

largemportantly, a percentage of illegal immigrants in this country have overstayed their visa. i am not sure where the vast majority of supporters get their information from other than him. let alone trust somebody that has negotiated actual successful business transactions and the thestill refuses -- previous democratic caller made it clear this guy is not to be believed and he is not, he will not even show his taxes. if you don't show your taxes, i don't share my taxes. host: arnold is next in texas, democrats line. caller: is this me? host: go ahead. caller: first of all, it is tennessee. before i get to my statement, i would like to ask are you all going to go back into your old

offices? host: thank you for asking. for those of you who have been following, a few weeks ago we had a fire in the building on the eighth floor which affected some of the other following floors including our studio on the upper floors. that is still being assessed. we don't have a timeframe of when we will be back upstairs in the old studio. that is being worked on, but we don't have a timetable. thanks for asking, go ahead. caller: i was concerned if maybe your move had something to do with the government shutdown, but i guess not. host: we are not government-funded, so that does not affect us one way or the other. it is just the situation with the fire. caller: thank you for that info. folks have got to start asking themselves and do this 24/7, .hat would jesus do

if you are not asking yourself what would jesus do about every situation that comes up, you are endangering your soul. that is my opinion. we have to love one another. that is not an option. we can find humane ways to handle this situation, which has been manufactured by the gop. they have been manufacturing this situation of illegal aliens since ronald reagan and his administration changed some laws in 1986 which started this illegal immigration problem rolling and the gop has been rolling ever since. host: when it comes to the proposal on the table, why do you not support it, specifically? caller: i do support the proposal strictly for the reason that i want to keep the government open. as long as you don't compromise

politician isng a about compromise. nobody gets everything they want. i like to put in a good word for love. there was a special on the other rogers, pbs about mr. fred rogers, he has a great quote. he said love is connected with everything in every situation in life is either love or the lack of love. host: for the first half-hour, we have been taking a look at this proposal that negotiators were tasked to find a proposal to keep the government open and talk about border security issues. the proposal on the table when it comes to the money side, not as much as the president was initially asking for. and whether it will become signed into law and keep the government open is yet to be

seen. we are getting your thoughts on the proposal. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. you can write on social media. a couple of opinion pieces taking a look at what has been proposed. this is the wall street journal. trump's wall crumbles under the law of diminishing returns. if he cuts a deal for less than he is asking, his mainstream antagonist will mock him. he will be doing his party a favor and his base will stand by him no matter what. mr. trump promises to be a dealmaker. what matters most to his core supporters is what he symbolizes, not the purity of his policy a compliment. mr. trump must decide whether to declare a minor victory and move on for now, or double down on a

strategy that is producing diminishing returns for him and his party. that is jason in the wall street journal's pages. -- for weeks the president has had his acting chief of staff scrounging under agency sofa cushions for unspent cash. clawing back money tends to make members of congress cranky, especially of -- if any of it was destined for their state or district -- recently predicted any move in this action would create a firestorm as mr. trump finds himself walled in by border promises with no clear way out, having exhausted the patience of his own congressional team. you can add your thoughts to the conversation in this following half-hour. line, goodpublican morning. caller: i want to tell you i

myport trump and i am in 70's. because i was depressed it always sounds so negative. i checked with people i knew and it was 15-1 for trump and would vote for him again. i am so elated. --t: 15-1r: when i heard it was supporting trump for the wall and everything else, it was marvelous. host: should the president take the proposed border deal? caller: should the president what? host: should the president take the proposed border deal, that is what we are talking about. get somethinguld better than what they are doing. something is something. that's all i have to say.

host: illinois is next. caller: this is all about money and we do have the money. mexican got convicted and he is going to jail for the rest of his life, i heard he is worth $15 billion. why can't trump take half of that? i think it was ted cruz that said it. we can take half of his money because he doesn't need it anymore. then trump could say a mexican paid for this border. host: that is randy in illinois. some of the other congressional input on these proposals include senator lindsey graham saying democrats hatred of president trump resulted in them make -- missing an opportunity to provide border security and a and tpsife for daca

recipients. youpresident, i encourage to say no to the tentative deal, forced congress back to the table for meetings and immediately invoke your constitutional reform -- authority to build the wall. mark meadows adding democrats applauded sending $1.8 billion to iran under obama, i cannot find that much to secure america's borders. at this point, i -- it is clear the president should take executive action. kathleen chicago, democrats line. caller: can you give me a couple of minutes? i want to really say something. i want everybody to listen. republicans are really serious about securing the border and keeping immigrants from coming in here killing innocent americans, listen to me, why isn't he as

50h concerned about all states getting walls to keep american citizens from killing innocent americans? like the guy in las vegas went up and killed 59 innocent people and wounded 500. the guy went to south carolina and killed nine innocent americans in church. these boys going in these schools killing babies from five years old to up. if you want a wall -- they always name one american the immigrant killed, but can they name the 59 americans these white boys are killing? host: aside from that, the deal on the southern border, what are your thoughts on that? caller: i understand what you are doing. if you are going to build a wall, why not do it in america? do you support the deal or not?

caller: listen. if you are going to do it with immigrants, do it with national america --natural americans. host: on the republican line, hi. caller: good morning. oh my. i support the president. hello? host: you are on. i support the president. i think you should take the pins they are giving him. -- pittance they are giving him. can you hear me? host: i can, go on. to -- i support .im completely host: if he takes this money, what do you think of critics who say he has lost if he takes the deal as proposed? caller: he cannot shut the government down again, democrats

would love to see him shut down the government again because it democrats will never take responsibility they also shut the government down. this president, i back him completely. when my family came here, we were supported by our church. ibody provided people -- when went to school as a country, to speak my ukrainian language. we need the wall. i am all for immigrants, illegal myigrants completely with open heart, i what -- want them. we cannot just have them running in. host: if he takes this money, do you think he loses leverage on negotiations concerning money for the wall? caller: i think he has people that believe in him and support him and realize he has to take what they are giving him. democrats need to remember, one

day there will be a democrat president. host: steve is next, houston, texas. independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. i don't support the deal. i am pretty sure he is going to have to take it. the biggest reason i don't beds from thethe criminals they are trying to take out, which is going to be turned loose in the united states. . see it firsthand all the time our wage stated down and that is mostly politics. i stand behind trump. most of the republicans, the swamp, and the democrats, they both want open borders. we need the wall. richard shelby

talking about this border security deal. [video clip] >> any negotiated settlement, nothing is perfect. you don't get everything you want. i did not get everything i wanted. overall, considering we are dealing with a republican senate and republican president and democratic house, this is a down payment on where the president wants to go and where we want to go with him, to secure the borders of the united states and we have concessions, but we -- we made concessions, but we got some, too. we believe the caucus will support this. i believe the house will support it and we hope the president will support it. as we release more and more of the details, we are putting seven bills together, not just homeland, which has been the linchpin, the other 6 bills,

too. we hope to file them late tomorrow night or wednesday and go from there. you will have a lot of details then. in the meantime, we reached agreement on the principles and we will be looking at the language we agreed on with the house conferees and the senate conferees and go from there. i hope to speak with the president later today. i last talked with him last thursday when we had a candid and i thought reasonable discussion about where we wanted to go and he told me he thought the best thing we could do is open the government and try to work this out as best we could. this is a down payment because we are going to build the structures. we are going to bring the technology and the people and secure america. martin of the associated

press reports when it comes to figure,onal debt, a new 22 trillion is the amount saying the treasury department's daily statement showed tuesday the outstanding public debt stands -- $22.01e billion trillion. the figure has been accelerating since the passage of the $1.5 trillion tax cut in 2017, to increase spending on domestic and military programs. the national debt is the total of annual budget debt deficits. a 15.1% increase over last year. deficitforecasts the will keep rising and top $1 trillion annually beginning in 2022 and never drop below $1 trillion until 2029.

linda is next, democrats line. caller: hello. on the proposed trend they put together, i think what a lot of people are completely missing is $1.7 is also i believe million in there to hire additional border agents to use drones to monitor people trying to come across the border illegally. i believe a couple of other .hings additional money -- money for additional agents at legal crossings to examine vehicles and semi's and so forth. ands amazing to me thatessing having families

fought in world war ii. how many americans are showing a lack of courage on this whole thing. what has happened to us. they don't pay attention to the facts. host: when it comes to the proposal, is this something you can support? caller: absolutely. anything that would prevent another shut down. i think shutdowns should be made illegal. i am harassing as many people in congress as i can to come up with a bill that would do that. are immoral.owns i would absolutely support it. host: we will hear from michael next. caller: hello. i am with the bill, it is better than nothing. anotherhink it is agentsd, paying more ice is an ongoing forever payment process. building the wall is forever.

host: that is michael in new jersey. spending this first hour taking a look at a proposed border deal . we will see what happens as far as the president signing it. you can give your thoughts on the phone lines. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. a couple of activities going elsewhere on capitol hill today. 10:00, you can see a hearing before the house joint committee taking a look at the proposed merger between t-mobile and sprint. 3, can see that on c-span c-span.org, and our c-span radio app. at 2:00 this afternoon, a hearing in front of the house armed services subcommittee on military personnel on the topic of sexual assault at military academy. if you want to see that, go to

c-span 3 or find more at our website and you can listen to it radio app. john mullaney will share his thoughts on why he is interested in running for the highest office in the land and talk about policy proposals. in new york, independent line. caller: hello, sir. the lady of few moments ago who wanted to put the border walls around every state, she is pretty much the voice of reason of the democratic party at this point in my opinion. at the one man who wanted to take the drug lord's money and a badit to the wall, not idea. i am not a 100% supporter of a wall, but i wanted to ask my joint chief of staff as an american citizen for 50 years, where have you been with your

massive military defense budget and not be able to defend your southern border? what is up with that. basically, i cannot even pay attention to the democrats any longer. they are an extension of the u.n.. i say go in. we have compromised our nation into nothingness. i am done compromising as a citizen. let's get something done. for democrats. david in missouri, hi. --ler: when he does this sign this deal and he is looking for money, i suppose he will turn around and take it out of social security and medicare and build his wall with that. it sounds very republican and it

sounds very trumpy. thank you. host: that is david in missouri. if you want to post on social media, you can do that. mark off facebook saying it is not enough money. try to declare an emergency and get it done. it has been an emergency for decades and gotten worse. you can do that on many fronts. if you want to go on twitter, it is @cspanwj. our facebook page is facebook.com/cspan. there is a poll on our facebook page you can participate in. monica from anderson, south carolina. you are next up, republican line. caller: good morning. i support the wall. i support president trump and the reason being i work in the public school system in south carolina. friday, we back up, along with the united way and our uplic school system, we bag

food for children to take home for the weekend where the parents cannot even provide a meal for them. many of these children are living in cars. they are going from place to place just to have a place to sleep. havingntry cannot keep all these people coming in, they are going to need help. we will have to provide help for these people. host: you are saying the president should take the deal at hand? it may befortunately, the only deal he can take. i am for anything after what ic seet here on our soil -- i right here on our own soil. children who don't even have decent meals to eat. host: do you think the president

should hold out for more money? ? cannot answer i that. i really hope he can do something to control all of the folks coming in here that are going to have to have help and the money is going to be used somehow. it the democrats to sit on the congress -- for the democrats to sit on the congress floor and roll their eyes in support of our country, they are disgusting. host: let's hear from mike in texas, independent line. caller: yeah, pedro. deal.al isn't much of a i think i share the opinion of the other callers that we do not want to shut the government down. if the president wants to put pressure on them, we ought to start closing the border. closinghe should start

it in california and see if we can get their attention that we really need to work out a solution. i think the bigger issue and you can hear it in all of our move -- set a new tax bracket, tax return for undocumented workers and charge we put% of their income, the burden on the employer. to get somebody seven dollars an hour undocumented, the employer would have to pay $20 and $13 of it would turn around and come back to the treasury. host: do you think most supporters of president trump will be okay if he decides to except this deal? turns: i think if he around and makes other moves, he will do that. host: other moves such as what?

the ones you are proposing? getting more money? what? caller: the wall isn't near as important as our policies, as the anchor babies, the catch and release. that is what is upsetting half the country. host: that is mike in texas. the new york times profiles some recent hires of the house judiciary panel. this is nick writing under the headline trump legal critics hired. jerry nadler has not committed to opening a formal impeachment inquiry, but the addition of two lawyers indicates democrats do robertend to wait for mueller to finish his work to begin weighing issues that could ultimately be wrapped up in such proceeding. the story profiles these two saying -- served as the white --

top white house ethics lawyer under barack obama and ambassador to the czech republic. he emerged since mr. trump's election as one of the president's most recognizable legal critics. ess well known in washington, -- his practice primarily deals with complicated financial and tax crime. he has written with mr. eisen about obstruction of justice and legalesident's other vulnerabilities. from kentucky, carolyn is next. go ahead, democrats line. caller: hello. am i the only one out there that is so sick of hearing about this border wall? i am so fed up with this border

wall. god bless the caller from tennessee who said what would jesus do. thank you so much, pedro. host: from virginia, robert. republican line. caller: i am calling in part to suggest that members of both parties of congress have for, as many decades, abrogated their responsibility to protect our country and create a more comprehensive immigration plan which would allow for appropriate workers to come into .he united states legally the wall is necessary as a physical barrier along with revision of our overall immigration laws. simply allow can anyone into the country while it may seem christian like in many caller's opinions is full hearty

-- foolhardy. cost themmigration united states over $100 billion a year in health care costs alone. i think we need a wall along with comprehensive immigration policies to allow for a foreign worker program in the united dates. host: what -- united states. host: what would you advise the president in terms of what is being offered, less money than requested. what would you tell him? caller: quite frankly, people have kicked the can down the road, if you will, for many decades. my personal belief is he should turn it down. i believe we need a physical barrier to impede illegal immigration. not just the transfer of drugs

across the border, but help control the influx of people who wish to come to the united states for a better life. i admire that. when they are here, they need to participate in our system in a legal process. the only way to do that is to foreign worker policy -- appropriately taxing them and asking them to pay their fair share of the expenses that are created by allowing people in the united states. host: that is robert in virginia . one related shutdown story in the wall street journal and how it affected the internal revenue service. the recent shutdown damaged the irs, and agency struggling with budget cuts and aging computer systems. in the week after the shutdown ended, the wait time on the irs accounts management phone line minutesinutes, up 4

last year and only 48% reach day liveperson, down from 86% last year. wait times were even longer on other irs phone lines. these numbers translate into real harm to real taxpayers. nina olson in a report, she operates as -- within the irs employees who assist the public. program appear on this a week from today and talk about the condition of the irs. look for that next week. bob is next from tyler, texas. independent line. caller: thank you very much. we have a law for this and it is america's reason for being. our original 13 states united to

write the constitution and the only written guarantee in the united -- the constitution and that was to protect each of them from invasion. the techniques they were using back then were not awol, but a but a -- not a wall, bullet. that is very blunt, but the truth. host: in terms of the current deal in place, this is something you do not support, i take it? caller: our reason for being in the united states before sending a penny for anything is to protect our borders from invasion. that is our preeminent reason for being. host: jared in new york. he is on our democrats line. go ahead. caller: everyone in this country wants border security. awol is not the way to do it. it is a waste of money.

people who work in border security will tell you that. it is a waste of money, not a democrat or republican thing. i think he should except the fact he is taking a beating on this one. host: republican line in utah, good morning. caller: i appreciate c-span and taking my call. budget appropriations something that should have been a september 30 of 2018. in it to still be ourtiations shows a lot of representatives performing their jobs. the constitution says they have a budget and they do these continuing resolutions on deals and they don't function. there comes a time when it must be abolished and start a new.

i think it has become too big, muchureaucratic, too bureaucracy. there is too many people sucking the system. host: relating it to the topic at hand, this proposal, is it something that president should take? caller: i think we should turn a quarter away from the president and stop listening to everything he does and says. i don't think he is good for the country. the country is set up to where we don't have to listen to one man. we don't have to treat him like he is the only voice. host: he is ultimately the one who will take the deal or not. caller: two thirds of congress could override his veto. it doesn't take him to approve it. two thirds of legislation can override a president's veto. that would take republicans and democrats getting together. forget what he says. everybody should turn about a

quarter away from him. host: nancy, last call on the topic from north carolina. caller: it seemed your point. nancy, republican line, hi. caller: it seems like no one is going away from this problem. americans are hiring illegal aliens. trump has hired thousands of them to work at his company. he has gotten away with that, and now he claims he wants to build a wall. hiredars, he has thousands of illegal immigrants. the man is able to. ast: ok, that is man's become last call on this topic there and we will think of this discussion on this proposed bill and other topics. freshmen members of congress will join us.

we will your first from representative ben cline, republican of virginia. later in the program, representative tom malinowski of new jersey. was yesterday that memorial services took for john dingell. what the people that spoke at that memorial service was former vice president jill biden. -- joe biden. [video clip] mr. biden: all across the americans across the country is celebrating the life of john dingell, not because they knew john come up with a new john knew them. i remember when i introduced my son to john years ago, and my granddaughter, who is a second year student at columbia law school was in a room with us, and after we walked out, she why do yousaid "pop, like him so much?" [laughter] and she was

impressed, she could tell i really like him. why did i like him so much? knew heit is because i knew me. he gave me confidence. he gave me confidence. believe more with myself than i had. john had that special capacity to do so, because when you were with him, you knew you were with greatness. justnew he was a man who into years of his career did more than most people do in their entire career. i told my granddaughter what i liked about john had nothing to do with the fights that we were in together and won together. up in one word why i cared so much for john dingell.

everyone would believe , everyone, without exception, was entitled to be treated with dignity. >> "washington journal" continues. host: our first guest of the morning is republican ben cline, who serves on the education labor committee. guest: thank you. host: your first time on the program. for those who do not know you, give a sense of who you are. guest: i am from shenandoah valley, a little town called lexington. i live with my wife and daughters. i am a small town lawyer who worked with a little while with congressman bob goodlatte, prior to my being sworn in. have beenalues i seeking to bring to washington, faith, family, community, and those are the values i am fighting for every day. this idea of border

security, particularly along the southern border, what you make of the proposal we have been hearing about and it comes to the money for border security and keeping the government open? guest: border security is a critical, core function of government. if we cannot do that, then it falls that we cannot do so many other things, and it also hampers us when it comes to crimes, drugs, so we do need for security. bill, fromink this what i can tell, delivers border for us. it includes a lack of funds for new construction and really is only place in my money, and we need more to address problems with border security in this country. so it is a start, and if it keeps the government running, i am understanding that the president is going to support it & it, but i wish we could have gotten a better deal for the people. host: would you support it? guest: i have to look at the

exact language of the parameter, but i have to say it is unlikely. host: why? is $5.6he president he billion to make sure that we have that barrier in place in all of the areas that it is needed, and we end up with $1.3 billion for replacement barriers, nothing new other than the type of barrier that has to go up, from what i understand, additional language in there about no new wall construction, that is a nonnegotiable to me. host: why is that a prerogative? guest: i think there is an emergency on the order. i think the president is correct that we need to take additional steps. i look forward to him doing that as well, whether the combination of the money in this deal combined with the additional money that can be accessed

addresses the problem is yet to be seen, but i hope that the president will take what steps are needed to make sure that he does get that border security that he has promised, that i promised in my campaign, and that the american people are expecting. host: would you support that effort to lift money from other -- even some appropriated moneys, to complete this job if that is the only money he will get> guest: well congress controls the power of the purse. it is congress' responsibility to appropriate to funds for specific purposes. if congress gives india are and the ability to redirect those funds, for things that are critical, and border security is critical right now, and we need to address it. host: how many republicans share your view currently, do you think? guest: i think it is a mix in the party, and i think you will see some support it, some oppose it.

some democrats support it at some oppose it. will probablyll pass, the bill will probably be signed into law. that being said, the american thate is more, and i hope the president will deliver more when it comes to border security. host: this is representative ben cline, republican of virginia. he serves on the judiciary committee and the education and labor committee. you can ask him a question at (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and (202) 748-8002 for independents. if you want to also tweet you can do so, @cspanwj. as a member of the judiciary, what you think of the direction it is taking? host: guest i was in the tone of -- guest: i was disappointed in the tone of the hearing, which was supposed to be an oversight hearing, which was how it was built when it was first advertised. was the majority

party trying to dig in and elicit responses from the acting that gaveeneral information about the mueller investigation, when the mueller report has not been filed yet. so i think it is presumptuous to information out of the acting attorney general when there is an ongoing investigation, and i think we should wait until the mueller report is filed and then see where that report leads us. but for n i was disappointed in the tone ono fridayw,. several questions about immigration reform, because it is important for us to reform our legal immigration process in order to address a lot of the problems coming from a legal immigration in our communities, drugs, sex trafficking. these are problems i see in the shenandoah valley, i am sure they are around our country, and we need to make that our

priority rather than a pip bipartisan preemption into an ongoing investigation. we should wait for the report. host: do you think the goal of the committee is to ultimately talk about impeachment? guest: i think there are some on the committee who would pursue and easement. host: the chairman? guest: i think that is a question for the chairman, and i think that the chairman is going to have a challenge on his hands when it comes to his members of the majority on the committee, as they are pushing hard, some are pushing harder than others, but there are some who are already out there vocally advocating for impeachment. host: when you say the challenges, will the challenges be those as he listens to those members or those who may not want to go that route?" guest: the challenge will be for those, for the chairman to lead and have those members follow him. wants to lead a specific pace, it may be too slow for some, too fast for others. there are always challenges as the chairman. i was chairman at state

legislature in virginia, and that is a challenge for every chairman. hopefully he will be able to manage his majority instead of letting the loudest and the most vocal to lead the dialogue. [inaudible] host: our guest joining us for the first time, and this is our first call for you. joe from new orleans, democrats line. you were on with ben cline, republican of virginia. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. why is it that you in congress, republican congress, don't hold the president's feet to the fire, when he claims he andthe greatest negotiator that mexico would pay for the wall, why don't you all hold his feet to the fire with that as opposed to having us as deficit? add to the

that is all office, republicans say is "the deficit, the deficit," i do not want my grandchildren to pay for the deficit. but now on c-span, they show how the deficit has risen since donald trump has been in office. and you all know this man is crazy. why is it that you don't stand up for the american people? host: ok, thank you, caller. guest: i think that the deficit is a huge problem. i am coming into a democrat congress, so the house is by democrats, and i hope we address the deficit and debt, which is $22 trillion and it is going to be an issue that my children, future generations are going to have to deal with. and i am hoping that we can introduce four words that we hear in richmond all the time --

"we can't afford it." we have to balance our budget in richmond. states have to balance the budget every year. we cannot get a handle on washington if we prioritize the four functions of government, border security and one of those things, but the president is trying to lead. unfortunately, we have an establishment that likes to spend tax dollars, and they are spending too much on tax dollars right now. host: from missouri, democrats line, hello. caller: hey. i am getting a delay here. let me turn my tele down. first, thank you, representative cline, for being a public servant. but on the wall, man, i cannot see how it can work. most illegal immigrants come from a port of entry, which is either an airport or any other regular way people come through things. how can i will fix this, sir? i think the wallace

part of an overall package to address border security. borders through improved ports of entry. comes through improved and deportation procedures. judges, to make sure when they sustained, that process moves quickly, and the person who comes in a legally is quickly deported back to their country of origin. so we have a lot of different angles to come at this problem, but we do need to address it, and deal that is on the table does not seem to fully address the problem. host: this is bill in illinois, republican line. caller: yes, good morning. guest: good morning. message for democrats, first off, just in case they did not get the memo, in 2016, we held an election. a gentleman named donald j. trump was elected president, not

nancy pelosi, not chuck schumer, not dick durbin, donald j. trump. theif he does not have weight to bring up a couple proposals and get congress to carry them through, why are we electing a president? and my solution to the problem would be do an executive order and reimpose the -- i forgot the name of it now. .he restrictions on spending if the democrats understand they are allowed to lose up to $55 million based on current revenue, i am sure they would negotiate very quickly on money for the wall. host: ok, thanks, caller. it is important for everyone to come to the table and negotiate. i think that the people who were appointed to get this deal

needed to stand up a little bit stronger for the wall and for funding for the wall. the money that was appropriated for this deal, $1.375 billion, is not enough, and i am disappointed in that. so i hope that we can add to that package, the president has money available, and we ultimately will be able to secure our borders. host: do you think this rises to a national emergency status, should the president want to go that route? guest: there are different provisions of code that allow for a national emergency declaration. believe in some cases, the president does have the authority to declare that emergency and use existing funds. i am sure that if he does that, congress will take a look, and i am optimistic, though, that he has that authority to do that, and if he does, i will support that. host: our guests served in the virginia house of delegates from 2002 to 2019.

does it surprise you that governor ralph northam is still governor of the commonwealth? hostguest: i am disappointed the has not put virginia fourth and step aside. the yearbook photo that was in his medical school your was apparent, racist, terrible, and has no place in virginia today. the activity is something that agree on today is bad. i called for him to step down, not only because it is a bad image for virginia, but it also hurts our ability to bring jobs into virginia, it also hurts his ability to recruit businesses into virginia. we need a chief executive who can go to other countries and other state and say "i'm to virginia, this is where we want you to bring your jobs," and not have this cloud over his head as

he does it. the attorney general has similar issues. he has apologized. the lieutenant governor has different concerns of his own that are illegal in nature. it has been a bad couple of weeks here in virginia. we are hoping to move beyond it quickly. host: is there a position within the house of delegates that directly address the issues against the governor and lieutenant governor? guest: impeachment is an option, but i a do not think it is one that will be pursued. i hope the government will put the state first and set of his political viability and step aside. host: do you think that these elections come november could be affected by governor northam's still in office? guest: absolutely. is a general unhappiness with the way things are going in virginia, the way our leaders are failing to leave. i think that will definitely affect turnout, and who comes out to vote in november, and

how they vote. host: this is representative ben cline. the next caller from vermont, independent line. this is chris. hello, chris. you are on with our guest. go ahead. caller: good morning. listened to this debate. finallywe are all feeling and thinking what the native americans must have felt a few hundred years ago when all of us were showing up on the shores and borders that they were privy to. but my question to mr. clin e's i was wondering when will congress bring in the chamber of commerce small business associations and question them e are why they hir undocumented workers. that seems to be the main attraction or pull, if you will, for many of these undocumented

workers. you have small businesses, very wealthy business enterprises, farmers in california that would prefer to hire undocumented workers instead of treating domestic american ofizen workers with dignity treating domestic american citizen workers with dignity and paying them a living wage. so i am wondering if mr. cline would commit to congressional hearings that focus on small medium-sized businesses, and question them about why they continue to create this pull for a document workers. thank you. host: thanks, caller. guest: i think that is a great question. there are bad actors out there. most businesses try to follow the law, but there are businesses out there that try to , andillegal immigrants e-verify, a program that we are trying to implement in this country, where business is verify the legal status of their

employees, that is a program that should be encouraged. it should be used. we need to reform our legal immigration process as well, so that we haveemployees, workers,e programs that actually address a need in this country. make sure that when people come to this country, that their visas are processed quickly, that they can come here and leave and come back if they follow the law. and programs should be efficient and effective. insect, we have a broken legal immigration process, and that contributes to illegal immigration. host: from annapolis, maryland, republican line, tim, go ahead. caller: hi. hello, congressman. i am calling regarding the "new york times" article that talked about the hiring of attorneys that seem to come in with a fair towards ourejudice president, and i thought the idea of hiring attorneys was that they were supposed to be there would so that

be objective missed in any type of hearings that would go on or any type of, for lack of a better word, trials that would go on regarding the president. i am wondering how is that possible that they would bring in biased attorneys like that. guest: i have not read the article myself, but if we're talking about the house judiciary committee hiring additional attorneys to assist with additional investigations, that is within the power amp review of the judiciary committee majority, so if the chairman decides he wants to hire additional attorneys to handle those questions coming is unfortunate, because it is a diversion of resources, when we are not waiting for the mueller investigation to conclude, for a report to be filed, when a chairman wants to go ahead based on limited information and use resources to go in a direction that the majority of american people are not interested in pursuing, yet right now we are waiting for the fact -- we have

other issues that are important, immigration, crime, you know, and the judiciary committee,'s subcommittee on intellectual property, we have china trying to steal intellectual property from this country. we have terrorism in this is anothert subcommittee i am on, the constitution is another subcommittee i am on. these are areas i would love to pursue instead of having to devote time and energy and additional resources to an investigation that is not ready and has not received all of the information yet. host: one of the things you will have to vote on his hr 1, which the democrats unveiled shortly after taking power. it speaks to several voting issues, including making election day a federal holiday. what do you think about these proposals, particularly what it does for voting? guest: i think it is unfortunately a political package designed to maximize and entrench their control of the system.

when it comes to taking public 1ollars, about a 6-to- matchup american dollars going into campaign coffers, that is not what americans voted for, and that is not what americans want. i support increasing the access to voting, but when you combine it to measures that are simply cales touro tilt the s the democrats, and that is what public financing of elections is meant to do. it is meant to take more taxpayer dollars and send them into the current majority's pocket. that is not electoral reform. that is just simply entrenching your majority. host: you reject all of those world, including making election day federal holiday? what is wrong with that? guest: i think that could be a solution if viewed separately and apart from all of these other proposals. unfortunately, you don't have in washington what we have in virginia, which is called the view.ofe single-purpose

instead of cobbling together different things, you can separate them all out into separate votes. that is what we need in washington, because then good ideals will move forward, and the bad ideas that have been attached to them will fall away. host: this is charade from south carolina, republican line. caller: yes. host: you are on. go ahead. caller: ok. because i have a few statements and a couple of questions. i would like to know these people who are calling for who are these people calling for impeachment when we americans voted our president in, and we want him to fromthese immigrations coming in, people who are illegal, and we want the wall for protection.

also, i am 100% for president trump. he is our president, and they need to let him act as though he is our president. and we need the wall to protect our country. i don't understand why anyone build thesent to walls and protect our country. host: ok, thanks, caller. guest: i agree with the caller. i think the american people voted for president trump because he articulated positions on illegal immigration, on building the wall, that a majority of americans supported. the is trying to implement that agenda. i support him on that. i hope we will continue to get that issue address on illegal immigration, continue to get the wall built. unfortunately, with the democrats in control of the house of representatives, they are going to try to block him on many of these points, and so i will do my best as a member of the minority in the house of representatives to make sure that my district's views are

represented, that illegal immigration is addressed, and that the wall gets built. host: from new york, democrats line, eric, hello. caller: the bottom line is trump is a con man. he hired illegal immigrants himself, and just recently he fired them. --ple consider these guy this guy is a con man, this guy is the biggest fraud of all time, and you know it, and everybody knows it. bye-bye. well, i think that the american people voted for president trump, and he articulated a great need in this for border security in this country. he is the one who chartered out a solution to this problem that the american people for embrace, and we need to recognize that and moved to implement that agenda. this country may not agree, but that is what the american people voted for, and i

ran on those same issues, on the border security, on fighting illegal immigration, and that is what i am intending to do in congress. host: democrat line, laurie from georgia. hello. caller: yes, i have a couple of comments. one, just to go back to an earlier statement that was made about the mueller investigation, and citizen, i do promote for the investigation to go on, and to whatever is found at the whatever he finds to be satisfied with that. but i do hope that goes on, and i do hope that if there is any findings in it, that people are held accountable for their actions against our country, because this is a very serious situation. and i did notice the results on the internet, on facebook and set like that, when i would go

on there, and i would see people that i knew and have known for years, but i would see stuff that would pop up on their accounts, and i would see the way it would play into people's attitudes and personalities. and changes that was made. as far as the border is concerned, my problem with this is, with the media, you have one station will tell you one thing, another station will tell you another. for correctd c-span information, and if the statingt is up there facts to people at rallies or anyplace else, that is information that is not adequate or accurate, i expect our government station to give us the facts, to give us the truth. host: ok, caller, thank you for

a much. just to clarify, but when you say government station, we are not funded by government. it is a long known fact that we are funded by the cable industry. mr. cline. guest: c-span does a great job of giving americans a view into how the government works. i grew up watching c-span, watching the house of , and nowatives on tv that i am here, it is amazing to happen be a part of telling the story of what is happening in their government, in the people's government. and so i am working hard to make sure that my constituents back home hear about what we are doing here in congress, what i am working to accomplish in congress, and what is being considered, whether i am in the judiciary committee, the education and labor committee that i am sitting on, on other committees, the deal that is happening right now on border security, the judiciary committee awaiting the mueller investigation. hopefully we will wait until that report is filed before we

make any moves to have additional hearings or additional investigations, because, really, as a prosecutor, when i was a prosecutor back home, i did not move to end night before the police report was filed. i waited. that is what we need to do here. host: you are saying the judiciary committee has taken the opposite approach. guest: from what i hear, if the judiciary committee is moving wasd, the hearing on friday certainly premature, because questioning the acting attorney general on conversations he may or may not have had with the president about the mueller investigation, which is not concluded, yes, that is premature. we have to wait for that to be finished. host: as a prosecutor and a litigator, to you think this kind of report, was and is filed, should be made to the public? guest: i think transparency is important. it will be left to the president

whether that specific report will be made public. i am an advocate of transparency, always have been, and i think the more the better. host: let's go to one more call, val death in illinois. hi. -- valdez in illinois. hi. caller: mr. cline, you said you grew up watching c-span. perhaps you should have listened to american history more. i am a mexican-american. i am also retired law enforcement from california. if you go and review that, and you can tell your audience, because as an example, the lady from south carolina seems completely ignorant how we got to this album. we at -- this problem. we invited illegal people to come to get into the fields, and everybody was ok with that until they started getting into the fields. if you look at california, again, that is where i'm from, it was completely latino dominated, and we are moving east. virginia will have its problems,

if they do not already. if you want to be honest, explain how we got to where we are. and i will submit this to you. it will never change. the demographics are changing. i married into white people out of my four brothers, and that is the way it is going to be, so you had better get used to it, or you can move. host: ok. guest: immigration is a part of this country's history. we want to encouraged legal immigration. the rule of law must prevail in this country. reason.laws for a region when it comes reason. when it comes to integrating to this country legally, people should have to go through the process, and work visas and other opportunities to come into for areas of the economy that are needed, we want to encourage people to go through that legal process, but when it comes to illegal immigration in this country, we need to take steps to stop it, end it, and that is what i am

fighting to do. host: a first-time visitor to this program, representative ben cline, republican from virginia, thank you. guest: thank you. host: up next, representative tom malinowski, democrat of new jersey, will join us. '"ter, "los angeles times molly o'toole will join us to talk about order funding and attentio detention beds. those conversations are coming up on "washington journal." ♪ >> there are nearly 100 members of the house of representatives this year. virginia, maryland, mississippi, and washington are

addedf the states that one new member. representative anthony gonzalez was a football star at ohio state before the indianapolis colts drafted him in 2007. after injuries cut short his professional football career, representative gonzalez earned his mba at stanford business school. electede first latino to ohio's congressional delegation. representative carol miller served over a decade in the statehouse before voters in west virginia's third district elected her to congress. politics runs in her family. she is the daughter of former congressman samuel devine. congressman michael guest was a local prosecutor in mississippi for nearly 25 years, the less ast decade as district attorney, before going to the house. he is also a sunday school teacher at his local baptist

church. representative -- and his brother opened a liquor store in the 1990's. company eventually moved headquarters to maryland and has expanded to become the largest independent fine wine retailer in the country. and washington's eighth district, representative came sure your, a pediatrician, and the only female doctor in congress. new congress, new leaders, watch it all on c-span. . >> "washington journal" continues. host: representative tom malinowski is joining us to talk about foreign policy. good morning. guest: good morning. host: as far as the compromises being reporting, where do you stand on that, and it is something you can support? guest: yes, i can support it. i do not want to close the government again. the american people desperately do not want us to do that again.

host: what about the lower dollar figure? is that something you are comfortable with? guest: absolutely, yes. look, this was a debate that we do not need to have. for two years, president trump had control, the republican party had control of the house and senate. at no point did he request $5.7 billion for a border wall. only after the midterm elections did he suddenly come in, late december, and threatened to shut down the government if he did not get what he wanted, and that is what the debate was about, whether the president of any party, over any issue, can take the american people hostage, and he cannot get his way from the united states congress. i think we settle that pretty clearly. the answer is no. we need to move on. host: when you hear this as a matter of national emergency or national concern, where do you stand on that? guest: if it is an emergency, why didn't we hear fro about it

for two years? it is clear it is the president trying to brief this new democratic house with a crisis. think he knew where he was going or what he was doing with this. the border wall we felt was wasteful and unnecessary, and we are where we are right now. let's move on, find the government, get back to a positive agenda on health care, infrastructure. level oft is your satisfaction with the current amount border security that takes place, particularly on the southern order? -- border? guest: there are needs that can be met, and they can be made with technology and with evil. we can use technology better to monitor the spaces between the border crossing. it can be done relatively cheaply with more modern technology that is coming

into use right now. we do not eat a massive wall that will make america look foolish. and we should not just be talking about foreign policy, we need to be talking about , and asylum policy, we need to talk about the fact that we have stopped admitting refugees in america almost entirely, turning our backs on a tradition that goes back to our generosity for years after the second world war. this is hurting the economy, and we are not talking about it because of the president's of session with the wall. let's get back to talking about the real issues. host: part of the debate over border security, the compromise over the topic of detention bads. -- beds. where you stand on the number being floated and what is being offered?

guest: i am fine with the number being floated. let's move on. we certainly do not need to expand facilities at the border for the detention of people who do not need to be detained. we do not need to be detaining families. these families do not pose a threat to anybody. these are people who are escaping violence in central america. we do not have to let them into the country, but they have a right to ask under our law. the law allows people to claim asylum if they are fleeing fleeing violence. we can hear them out. host: representative tom malinowski of fleeing new jersey joining us i'm a member of the foreign affairs committee. if you have a question, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, (202) 748-8000 for democrats, and (202) 748-8002 for independents. being a freshman member of congress, tell us your background. you were in the obama administration. guest: i was. i was in the u.s. state department.

i was there for about three years. host: how does that influence your experience on the foreign affairs committee? guest: it applies to everything i am doing. my job was to stand up on behalf our values, the rule of law, are thingsand those we have to fight for in the united states right now. it is one of the reasons i ran for congress. my service across the board is influenced by my background. on the foreign affairs committee, i want to make sure that the united states continue to stand by our allies around the world and for values of democracy and freedom and human rights. host: one of the debates going on amongst republicans and democrats is what to do about yemen, particularly the role saudi arabia plays. what is the best way forward on that approach, do you think? guest: the war in yemen has caused the greatest military

crisis that the world is facing right now, tens of thousands of civilians killed, hundreds of thousands of civilians competing for men, women, and children becauseg from cholera, humanitarian aid has been blocked. we have no interest in helping saudi arabia continue this catastrophe, and we need to extricate ourselves from this. i think you will see strong action from the house and the senate, it is partisan, to start challenging the policy that we have. arguments fromhe the administration, we are not directly involved in the conflict, and it espouses further influence in the region. guest: we are directly involved. when you are refueling aircraft on the way to bombing targets, when you have them on the ground, when you're providing targeting information to the aircraft, which is what we have been doing, of course we are directly involved and complicit.

has been taking advantage of the united states for many, many years. us more thany need we need them. certainly it is a partnership that has helped us in some respects, but saudi arabia, without the united states, cannot continue as a country, and we have leverage that we need to use to end this. host: let's go to our first call, baltimore, maryland, this is tony for tom malinowski. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. but heuestions for ben, is not there. i'm wondering, after 9/11, the republicans could have gotten -- hello? host: you are on. go ahead. caller: after 9/11, republicans could have built a wall around the country. the whole country would have voted for that. they did not do that. they did not talk about building

a wall. went trump got into office, he had two years he controlled everything. he could have built his own wall. he could have built it all across the country. the republicans would have done it if he had asked for it, but he just wants the controversy. he does not want a wall. that is my opinion. host: guest: i kind of guest: -- guest: i kind of agree with you --t certainly mr. trump his party controlled the house and the senate for two years, and at no point did the administration ask congress for money to build the wall. it was only after the midterm election. so my conclusion is, just as the caller sai heat is notd 18, wlal, -- said, he does not want wall, k ones a fight, because they fight is a destruction over this controversial issue rather than getting to work over a positive agenda that the american people sent us to work on. host: from our democrat line,

pat in new york, go ahead. caller: good morning. youesentative malinowski, gave the impression this morning onlypresident trump recently has shown a concern about the wall, border security. it was his whole platform that he campaigned on was building a wall. my other concern is earlier this week on your show, on the "wall street journal" here, somebody stated that the government shutdown costs the federal government $11 billion, $8 billion that they will recoup. that is $3 billion that they will never get back. now they are giving him $1.3 billion, when they could have saved $1.5 billion or so not having the government shutdown, just giving him this. a political game, and ultimately, when you have a shutdown, you are playing a political game with people's

livelihoods. be moreeds to reasonable negotiation between legislature and executive branch here. be nancy pelosi seems to more occupied with showing her influence in washington and not negotiating with the president. host: ok, thanks, caller. guest: of course it's true that president trump has been talking about the wall from the very way thingsbut the work in our democracy is if you want to spend money on something, you are the president, you go to the congress, and you make a proposal. he was giving speeches, but he never actually proposed money for the wall in his budget requests until december of last year, when we all thought we had a deal, republicans and democrats, to fund border security without a wall. we thought that president trump was prepared to sign that, and then he tore it up at the last moment and shut the government down. yes, that is wrong, whether it is a democratic president or a

republican president. the issue, we should not be shutting the is working with my colleagues on legislation that would make it almost impossible is working with my colleagues on legislation that would make it almost impossible to shut the government down again. it is a bill that says if we cannot agree on a budget, eventually both members of congress and senior executive branch officials will stop getting paid until we agree. host: from therese in michigan for our guest, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. let's not forget that donald trump's platform is mexico was going to pay for that wall. and i would like to point out that i am understanding there is, like, 3000 jobs that are not even filled down at the border. if he felt concerned about it, fill those jobs import more judges in so that they can get rid of all of those people that are in cages.

that is just ridiculous. he is just playing games. , while hee border screws over people in all of the -- in america in other areas. wake up. guest: a very good point. what we need at the border is people to do these jobs, to fill the border patrol positions. ist the caller mentioned very important, because there is a very big backlog of asylum cases, people waiting to have their cases adjudicated, and we need to hire the judges that are going to do that work. it is not as glamorous, it is as amenable to soundbites and bumper stickers as "build a wall," but that is the real stuff that we need to be coming together around if we are truly concerned about the situation at the border. host: independent line, carol, good morning. you are on with our guest.

go ahead. caller: hi. host: carol, go ahead. you are on. caller: the first of all, a lot of callers say we had an election in 2015, but we also had an election in 2018, so when they say let trump have its way, i think they also need to recognize that 2018 was a repudiation of that. second, i have a couple responses to the guy before, but -- he says that the democrats brought in the acting and it was not an oversight committee. i want to point out there were jimral on the gop side -- jordan and the ranking member had plenty of theatrics, and jim jordan was actually worse than the dems, in my opinion. host: caller, sorry to interrupt, but that was the last guest. do you have a question for our current guests? caller: a representative

governor northam, and i'm from virginia. 58% of black voters want him to stay. host: got you. make your point. caller: ok, for him, hr 1, that seems to have lots of things that people i agree with, but if there is one thing that, like the republicans will not go for, how can you do a compromise? the other thing is, the big issue on how can we be against illegal immigrants when we had a illegals.that hires it is just ingenuous -- it is disingenuous. host: caller, thank you. guest: yes, actually, he has hired illegal immigrants right in my district in new jersey, on his golf course. americans are divided on immigration policy. i do not think we are divided on

hypocrisy. we can see hypocrisy when it is staring us in the face, and it is another argument for dealing with a much more complicated, much more important question of how to reform our immigration system and what to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants who are working in the united states today. thethen on hr 1, this is bill that we will be presenting to the house to make it easier for americans to vote, to fight fightsuppression, to corruption in our politics and in our campaign finance systems, to try to increase the standard of ethics for our congress and the executive branch. we will present this as a package to the united states congress, because we think it will give us a chance to make a very powerful statement on behalf of integrity and honesty and against corruption in our country. if we can find agreement with cases,cans on individual

-- individual pieces of hr 1, most democrats, including myself, would be very happy to eize those opportunities. if it to pass all of hr 1 can, but if we can only pass parts of it, that will still be a victory for the american people. host: you serve on the foreign affairs committee. there is a lot of discussion about a tweet from a fellow representative of yours from minnesota. what did you think of those tweets? guest: i thought they were wrong. i condemn them. i think we can have an honest debate, amate substantive debate over israel. it is determined by jewish money. anti-semitism, and it has no place, whether it is coming from the left or from the right. apologized, unequivocally, from that statement, which is very good. hopefully this will lead to a

dialogue, that she will be a part of, that she can grow from, from,ll of us can grow and certainly i hope the colleagues on the other side will also be equally vigilant in policing anti-semitism that comes from the right, because it is a problem on both sides. host: there are some calls to remove her from the foreign affairs committee. what do you feel about that? she has been a member of congress for a month. she has unequivocally apologized for those comments, so i want to see how she evolves over the coming weeks and months. i think some of those calls are very hypocritical coming from republicans who have never taken president trump to account for making, using equally anti-semitic tropes throughout his presidency and campaign, attacking "globalists," who

happen to be jews, telling groups of jewish donors that he wants their money, and that is the reason he is speaking to the. he is the president of the united states. he is setting the example everything ok with his comments about white supremacists in charlottesville. there is a reason why anti-semitic attacks have risen by more than 50% in the last two years. a lot of it is rhetoric coming and he isery top, legitimizing these old hatreds in the minds of people who are very disturbed. host: so you draw a line between those two things, what the member and what the president said? guest: in my district, in new jersey, is a lot of people who were there under the surface, these attitudes have always been there, but who now feel things

publicly, to spray graffiti in schools, to march in rallies, to go on television, and to use these dog whistles like "globalists." and yes, i think that is coming from the president and his supporters, and it is something that needs to be called out by leaders in the republican party who are genuinely sick anti-semitisme in , as i am. host: here is jane on the line for representative tom malinowski. caller: good morning, gentlemen. allo, don't cut me off, public supporters, not all voted, the electoral college got him in, not the voters. let's get that straight. you can pull it up, any of his supporters can look it up on his moment on a townhome meeting with chris matthews after numerous questions, i think it was in ohio, but i was not sure.

host: caller, because we are short on time, you will have to direct the question or comment to our guest directly. caller: it has to do with e-verify. did he use e-verify in his business, and he said yes? in all his businesses, he said he uses e-verify. hello? look what just happened. he is a liar, he has always been a liar, and nato, he wants to pull us out of nato. that scares me to death. host: ok, thank you. guest: a lot of us share that fear, not just democrats but republicans, with respect to pulling out of nato. is the most successful alliance in modern history that in helped to prevent war europe and to keep america for from having to fight another war in decades. russia wants us to pull out of nato. russia wants to break up nato.

the idea that an american president would align himself with our way of thinking is very scary. the house of representatives, a short time ago, overwhelmingly -- republicans and democrats -- came together, passed a bill to fromnt the withdrawing from nato, and we will continue to serve as the checks and the balance against those extreme ideas. host: when it comes to the republic of north korea, what about the second summit that is scheduled for february? what you think that will come from it? guest: i am in favor of diplomacy and dialogue with north korea. not in favor of giving kim jong-un presidential summits when he is giving us absolutely nothing in terms of nuclear disarmament of his country. no progress has been made in terms of denuclearizing north korea, as far as i can see. but certainly progress has been made from kim jong-un's point of view. we have expanded military exercises in south korea. president is talking about falling troops out south korea,.

which i think would be a disaster. he has been given this extraordinary platform, presented as an equal with the president of the united states on the world stage. should we be talking? yes, absolutely. far better than a war, far better than the "fire and fury" rhetoric of last year, but i do what empowers and legitimizes one of the worst dictators in the world in exchange for a session on nuclear weapons. host: and you think that the summit, the perception is that we give that legitimacy. guest: i worry about what will be said. president trump is really interesting, and his state of the union, he made this really strong statement against socialism in venezuela. he said "america will never become a socialist country."and then he goes on and tweets basically praise of communism in north korea and says it is going

to be a wonderful, prosperous country, and all we have to do is get them some money, and they are going to have the most amazing economy in the world. what is that? when aes it say president says he is "falling in love with kim jong-un." this is not normal, and we have to be careful not to treat these kinds of statements from the president and a policy that seems to be based on those statements as normal or in the interest of the united states of america. you brought up venezuela. what did you make of the approach that the united states took towards it?? guest: i actually agree with that, and i want to give the president credit where i think he has done something right. it was able policy. they took a very bold stand for democracy and human rights in venezuela -- uncharacteristically for them, they did it with our allies.

they brought the organization of american states, latin american countries, on board. they brought our european allies and canada on board. so we are doing this with fellow democracies around the world. it is very important that we stay together in this process until there is the change in venezuela that all of us seek. ist: this is joe calling us on the republican line in new jersey. go ahead. caller: either question for this representative. sir, i would like to know what you and the democrats never think outside the box. you always think small. the wall is not necessarily just for immigration. did you realize that the pentagon, back in the 1980's, i think it was during president mexicos era, is that would become a failed state. hey are seven to 10 years away from becoming a failed state. general persian, general douglas

macarthur had to go, and we had to send troops and because of what they were doing to our border towns. can you realize it is not just what president trump said it is? it is needed now because mexico is going to fall apart. do you want them lobbing guest: on not sure what a wall is going to do for a country that is lobbing missiles into the united states. last i checked, missiles can go over a wall, as can immigrants, as can drugs. as john mccain's had a number of years ago, show me a 30 foot said a as john mccain number of years ago, show me a 30 foot wall, i will show you a 35 foot letter. -- 35 foot ladder. inwant to meet those threats

a sensible way and not with a campaign soundbite. host: republican line. sayer: i just heard him about north korea, the problem with north korea -- trump is the only one who's done anything. he brought hostages back. he got them to stop firing missiles. can't you give him any credit? what's wrong with you democrats? nancy pelosi and chuck schumer just want the power. that's why you don't want a wall. you want the mexicans because they will vote democrat. just gave president trump credit on venezuela. i'm willing to do that when i think he's done something right. allhostages, we are grateful to see americans who were held illegally and north korea come home -- in north

korea come home. that's happened in every past administration. they've managed to get americans home from north korea. this administration, we got one person home who had been tortured to death by the north koreans. say -- to then say we are falling in love with that dictator who tortured that american to death is something i would hope all americans would be disturbed by. we should talk to the north koreans, but let's not be falling in love with people who do that to an innocent young american. host: representative elliott ingle wants to look at business interests by this president, how it could affect foreign policy decisions. what do you think of that approach? guest: i am very concerned that

this president is the first president who has not divested his businesses, who continues to profit from businesses that have a major presence overseas. he may be under the influence, his family may be under the influence of foreigners who have poured money into his businesses, into his real estate holdings over the years. president trump could have avoided that scrutiny by divesting. that's what every ethics expert advised him to do. he refused to do that. therefore, it is legitimate that are elected -- our elected representatives be vigilant, making sure there's no line for influence. host: the foreign affairs committee holding a meeting on venezuela today. time.you for your

in the ongoing discussions security, on border one of the topics, the tension facilities and what should happen there. coming up next is molly o'toole, who reports on border and immigration issues for the los angeles times. she will join us to talk about that topic, coming up next. ♪ >> there are nearly 100 new members of the house of representatives this year. ohio, west virginia, maryland, mississippi and washington are five of the states that added one new member.

representative anthony gonzalez was a football star at ohio state before the indianapolis colts drafted him in 2007. after injuries cut short his professional football career, representative gonzales earned his mba at stanford business school. he's the first latino elected to ohio's congressional delegation. representative carol miller served over a decade in the state house before voters in west virginia elected her to congress. she's the daughter of former congressman samuel devine, whose seat will later be filled by john kasich. congressman michael guest was a local prosecutor in mississippi for nearly 25 years. for the last decade as district attorney before his election to the house. he's also a sunday school teacher at his local baptist church. david petrone and his brother opened a small liquor store in

delaware in the 1990's. they eventually moved their headquarters to maryland. districtn's eighth elected kim schrier, a pediatrician, the only female doctor in congress. congress, new leaders. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this is molly o'toole. good morning. can you tell us where we are at currently when it comes to the negotiations over border security? aest: monday night, we had per luminary deal that emerge -- preliminary deal that emerged. $1.5 million for 55 miles of wall. there had been a major impasse over detention beds. democrats, it seems dropped their proposed cap on the number of people that immigration agencies can detain.

dropped.was a lot of posturing in the last one he four hours or so. liberal democrats and the president's republican allies saying they cannot stomach this bill. once the language is hammered out, that's when we see the tensions emerge. host: what is the policy? guest: generally, when we are talking about detention beds, it's how immigration agencies measure the space they have for people to hold. debate emerged -- what it comes down to is democrats who think the immigration agencies should be focusing limited resources on the most dangerous offenders,iolent focus on them first for

deportation, whereas republicans criticized the obama administration for this so-called catch and release, not enforcing the law. discretion and tended to focus on the immigrants with criminal records . that's really the tension. democrats in the funding negotiation were trying to place a hard cap on the number of people that immigration agencies could detain. they were initially going for 35,000. they have settled at about 40,000, which is where the funding levels were before. guest: how do these numbers -- host: how do these numbers get developed? guest: they are supposed to be informed by the agencies themselves. they've done modeling based on immigration levels, the detention space they know they

have. detention space has been an issue for some time now. the levels that they were funded at before was that 40,500 number. ice is currently holding around 48,000-49,000. they've been routinely exceeding the funding provided to them thatgh congress, treating number as a bottom rather than a ceiling. the democrats were trying to turn that funding number into a hard cap. agenciesration shouldn't be exceeding the funding that congress has given them, but that's what's been happening. host: that number would go from 35,520.o guest: they argued they would to really focus their

efforts on the hardened criminals. republicans argue this would force them to release hardened criminals onto the streets. we had a lot of rhetoric going back and forth on this. in the end, they seem to have settled around this 40,000 number they mentioned before. over howimpasse was many ice specifically can detain in the interior of the country. we are talking about these workplace raids, people who've been in the country for a long time, interior enforcement, they were looking to put a hard cap on that at 16,500. that proposal appears to have been dropped. host: republicans were looking for an increase in the number of

beds to 52,000. guest: the white house has requested around 52,000. that's what we've had ice officials saying they needed to do their job. right now, they are holding around 40,000-49,000 overall. host: a discussion about detention beds with molly o'toole of the los angeles times. republicans.for 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8002. once someone gets a detention bed, how long can they stay there? guest: we have different populations. when we are talking about immigration detention, we are not talking about undocumented youth. there are restrictions on how they can be held. they are moved into shelters that are specific for youth.

families is another one. there are court cases that dictate children can only be held for a certain amount of time. family detention is something different. thate talking about adults can be held for a long period of time. there are currently hunger strikes going on among some people being held in ice detention who are asylum-seekers. there are options generally where they can be term called paroled where they can be released awaiting their proceedings. there's a backlog in the united states. the trump administration has discouraged people being released while awaiting their proceedings. some of these asylum-seekers have broken no laws and are trying to claim refuge in the

united states. these are the different populations we have to be careful about who we are referring to. host: john from pennsylvania, republican line. our first call for molly o'toole of "the los angeles times." caller: california spends over $20 billion to take care of illegals. texas bends over $10 billion to take care of illegals. and you people, the democrats and liberals, are worried about $5.7 billion for a wall? that doesn't make sense. host: if someone gets a detention bed, what services are they entitled to? guest: there are laws in the united states about obligations you have to humanely detain someone. whichare some cases in there is overcrowding in federal detention facilities that are geared more towards immigration. takete contractors will

detainees -- immigrants who are detained when there are limits. there could be many conversations that occur about government spending. when we talk about the wall and the $5.7 million for the wall, it should be noted that for fiscal 2019, the trump administration only requested about $1.6 billion for the wall. that was to go to 66 miles of wall in texas. where these funding negotiations seem to have ended up, slightly less than that number for 10 miles fewer. this was the white house's initial request. then we had this dramatic jump up to $5.7 billion. people were questioning whether that $5.7 million is really necessary. -- $5.6 billion is really necessary. on bordere spend

security is a valid question. you can see that dramatic jump that happened that led to the government shutdown and valid questions over which amount is necessary to ensure border security. host: when it comes to the itself, how much does this cost? guest: it is expensive. that would be true whether you're talking about an immigrant population or prison population, it is expensive to detain people. democrats arguing that these people should not be detained if they don't have a criminal record. if you limit the amount of detention bed space, you are focusing resources on this population you might want to consider for deportation. isher than this dragnet that

more expensive because you are detaining a larger number of people. host: ohio. democrats line. caller: how are you, pedro and molly? host: you are on. go ahead. caller: i would like to put together the green deal and this wall and immigration. why can't we make it like ellis island, make the wall a housing can teach these asylum-seekers to speak english like we would like them to and check them out so that we know that their health is good. i could think of a few other things. the green deal --

guest: asylum-seekers have to go through an extremely stringent process. it is not an easy process by any means. asylum laws has you have to ,resent yourself at the border has a credible fear test -- twoum law says you have present yourself at the border -- you have to present yourself at the border and pass a credible fear test. pasties fear screenings -- 10-20% pass these fear screenings. there's many legal proceedings. these central american migrants -- eleeing poverty

salvador, honduras -- if you were in that situation, think of what that kin kind of documentan you would be bringing with you if you feed for your life. -- feared for your life. there is a pretty strict process already for asylum-seekers. within a year, they have to apply for legal status, that would give them permission to work. there have been many studies that show that asylum-seekers in really benefit a lot and really contribute resources in many ways. they want to work, they want to torn english, they want adopt the united states as their home. twitter, this question

-- guest: it depends on which population you are referring to. that is a little more complicated to answer. circumstances, it is not provided by the government, but they have access to -- they can obtain their own legal counsel. they do have the right to do that. depending on population, it is not necessarily provided by the government. asylumances of getting are astronomically higher if you are able to obtain a lawyer and legal counsel. without it, there's very little chance that you can get asylum. particularly if your central american. -- if you are central american. host: from annapolis, democrats ryan -- minneapolis, democrats line, this is ryan.

caller: i want to ask about that price tag for the wall. people tell me that is just a drop in the bucket. it doesn't seem like any border state district can come up with reason, any positive thing that can come from the wall. most of the land is privately owned. there's some sensitive environmental reasons like the rio grande valley where certain endangered species would be affected. issues?u speak to these guest: definitely. i was just looking at this last night. see interesting to it all laid out. miles of border -- all of that will be in new mexico arizona,

and west of el paso in texas. that lines up perfectly when you see the amount of federal lands versus private land along the border. state is texas. that's primarily because of these issues you mentioned. a lot of it is private land. it's more difficult for the government to come in and ask people to sell their land. border, there's a lot of and by mental issues. -- a lot of environmental issues. some environmental groups have brought suit against the trump administration for border and for sector projects -- border infrastructure projects, arguing it could violate these in my mental laws and public thesecation laws -- environmental laws and public notification laws.

the homeland security secretary can waive any environmental law if it is for the purpose of a border construction project. the trump administration has used that authority more than any other president. times.ne it six from virginia, republican line, susan, go ahead. caller: good morning. hope everyone is doing well. ladyistening to this young -- the magnitude of the money, the numbers, the detentions, the people going on hunger strikes just take a-

faraway look at the whole picture and it's a racket. the u.n. is pushing all of these people to the united states to crash our economy and to crash the united states. it is a you employ dust u.n. ploy -- it is a u.n. ploy. guest: i have no evidence that the united nations is pushing migrants to the u.s. border. a are in the midst of historic refugee crisis worldwide. displacedmore people on the planet right now than at any other point in history. ii, which world war was the previous largest. generally speaking, the united states has been that has not

seen any effects of that. we've seen the european crisis in 2015. the united states has been somewhat removed from that. there are record levels of violence, particularly outside of a war zone, in central america, which is the primary country of origin for most of the migrants coming to the united states. a lot of improvements have been made in terms of violence. homicidesking about no one would be familiar with. poverty, conflicts, corruption, gang violence pushing people north. pushinge other factors people north. based on the way our laws are

written, if someone presents themselves at the border and claims asylum, they are given a chance for those claims to be heard. the united nations is not pushing people north. there are a wide array of push factors resulting in people coming. the united states has a strong economy. there's some debate over whether the way u.s. immigration laws are written, people understand that due to the backlog in immigration cases, if they present themselves at the border, they will be allowed to stay for some time, essentially until their cases are heard, or allowed to stay even longer. people in 2018 had who wereconvictions detainees. how does that compare to the

total amount of immigrants detained? guest: it is difficult but important. we've heard the president talking about detention beds, we will have violent criminals released into american communities, the trump administration saying democrats wanting murderers released into communities. when you look at the detained population, there are 54,000 criminal convictions. crossing the border is now treated as an administrative violation, as a criminal violation, a criminal act. some of those people will have things on the records. number, 54,000, some of those are immigration violations

, a traffic stop. the most significant number within those criminal convictions are duis. trafficher drug immigration violations. when we have the president talking about murderers being it wasd on the streets, about 1600 convictions for homicide. , ite that is a high number is a small fraction of the total that we are talking about. there are many studies that have consistently shown that immigrants commit crimes at a lesser rate than u.s. citizens. that is true for undocumented and documented immigrants. ratet crimes at a lesser and the border cities are among the safest in the entire united states. there's a lot of misinformation that fuels the political debate,

but it's really important to understand that we are not talking about violent, serious criminals to a larger extent. host: this is molly o'toole with "the los angeles times." this is casey from maryland. independent line. caller: thank you, molly, for what you just said. it's really wonderful what you just said. about not really talking -- to complete the wall donald trump wants to build would cost closer to $130 billion. the $5 billion as a down payment. -- is a down payment. it comes nowhere near the cost of the whole thing. border crossings have gone down

consistently over the years. even before the trump administration. walls lead to more people staying in the country, which means the cost of taking care of immigrants or immigrant up.es the wall actually increases the cost of dealing with issues related to border security. guest: a lot of really good points he made there. ifs important to note, lawmakers are in the middle of negotiations over a spending agreement to avert another shutdown, it's important to note the measurensions, most people use for illegal migrantson, how many

order authorities are apprehending -- border authorities are apprehending, they have gone way down to historic lows. routinely more than one million every year. , it was around 500,000. we are about half of where we were. that used to be the goal when officials would talk about border security or control of the border. those are the kinds of numbers they were aiming for. that's where we are at now. ofre are a record number significant rise in central american families and unaccompanied youth. many of them are presenting themselves for asylum.

it is true that the immigration system has been strained by this shift in immigration. the $5.7 million for the wall wouldn't come anywhere close -- it is hard to say because what the president has said the wall is or what he wants has constantly shifted. when we look at the 1000 mile wall he often talked about during his campaign, there have been estimates that anywhere billion,million to $70 some even higher than that. wall5.7 million for the that was the sticking point during the last shutdown, that's 230 miles. the going to settle on $1.357 million for only about 55

miles. these kinds of interceptor projects -- infrastructure projects are extremely extensive. host: catherine is next. democrats line from illinois. caller: good morning. thank you. my husband's mother immigrated from columbia in 1934. she came here, she was a very successful businesswoman. in 1983, a person came into her store, shot and killed her. it was not somebody from outside the rest of the world. it was somebody in the country. the point is walls don't work. look at the great wall of china. it kept people out, that is

true, but it was china's inside thate people brought china down. that's what i wanted to say. having these are negotiations going on that hinge on border security, obviously, that is a key question -- do walls work? there's some evidence for barriers that went up early on in the 1990's, among the first border barriers, there's some evidence that that in combination with a number of other factors may have shifted people elsewhere. in the border security's own documentation, that they were designed to get people away from .eavily populated, urban areas

formost significant factor contributing to what we were just talking about, this ,istoric drop in apprehensions is really the great recession. when the american economy and then the global economy severely contracted in 2007-2008. that's when we saw the most dramatic drop. successttribute this primarily to the economic recession and then some combination of other deterrent technology,riers, more border patrol agents. and illegalions immigration have gone way down, you've seen the number of border up.ol agents go way

there's more border patrol agents, more immigration officers now relative to the number of illegal crossings and more miles of barrier now relative to the number of -- the amount of illegal immigration. now 654 miles of barrier whereas before 2005, you were talking 100 miles of border. these $5.7 million that is thrown around -- $5.7 billion that is thrown around, everyone is attribute in this tubing to being tw trump's number.

that number came from immigration agents. take down theal, wall in el paso and the wall in san diego. mexico is a failed state. number of people caught and released under the obama has forcedwhat trump out to accommodate, what percentage of these people come back to get under a judge's jurisdiction? do they report back to that hearing? guest: there's a lot of debate around that. immigration lawyers and advocates will say it's a much higher number than the government wants you to believe.

more people come back before the court, but we also should look at the fact that it's around 800,000 is the backlog for immigration cases right now. so, it could be years before people come before a judge. it is a valid question as to whether people should remain in detention and the american taxpayer should be funding their detention for the entirety of that time or whether there release, particularly asylum-seekers who present themselves at the border seeking asylum, breaking no laws. should they be imprisoned for years or released so they can begin to work and contribute to

the american economy? hinges,here the debate because this backlog is so long now, years long . what should people do in the meantime? host: molly o'toole is in immigration and security reporter for the los angeles an immigration and security reporter for the los angeles times. we will continue our conversation about your support for the border wall. republicans can call 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. we will take those calls when we come back. ♪ >> there are nearly 100 new members of the house of representatives this year. maryland, virginia,

mississippi and washington are five of the states that added one new member. anthony gonzalez was a football star at ohio state before the indianapolis colts drafted him in 2007. after injury cut short his professional football career, he earned his mba at stanford business school. he's the first latino elected to ohio's congressional delegation. carol miller served over a decade in the state house before voters in west virginia's third district elected her to congress. politics runs in her family. she's the daughter of samuel devine, whose seat would later be filled by john kasich. guest was amichael local prosecutor in mississippi for 25 years. he's also a sunday school teacher at his local baptist church. one and his brother

open a small liquor store in delaware in the 1990's. they eventually moved their headquarters to maryland, expanding to become the largest independent fine wine retailer in the country. washington's it strict -- eighth district elected kim schrier, a pediatrician, and the only female doctor in congress. >> "washington journal" continues. host: several things happening in washington today. 10:00 this morning, the proposed merger between t-mobile and sprint, a hearing on that topic before the joint house committee. you can see that on c-span3 and c-span.org at 10:00 today. 2:00 this afternoon, a hearing on sexual assault at military academies. see that on c-span3 and c-span.org and our radio app.

johnrow on this program, delaney will join us starting at 8:00 to talk about why he wants to run for president, elements of his platform and to take your calls on the topic of the 2020 election. of your support for a border deal, whether you support it or not, here's how you can talk to us for the next 30 minutes or so. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. for independents, 202-748-8002. andcan tweet your thoughts participate in a facebook poll. ohio,ng us off from independent line, this is dennis. caller: hello. thank you for taking my call. i want to make a few comments

with some facts. i missed the first part of miss 's conversation because she had written an article 10 days ago that dealt with the american first policy of hiring the irish accounting firm center to hire more border patrol agents. 56,500 or something like that -- the highest median isome near any port of entry 50,600. that is in san isidro. the starting pay is $52,583. million -- out of

the $60.7 million that was theyted to trump to hire, gave this company that used to -- thatr anderson policy of giving it to a foreign country. host: tennessee. republican line. caller: hello. host: you are on. go ahead. caller: thank you. president trump was elected by the majority of the americans to protect our country and take advantage of all of the things that needed to be refined in america because he talks tough and at different -- acts different, he gets criticized on tv. i don't think it's fair. you are not talking about the inner cities, the large inner

cities in the usa. what happens with those people who come across the border? they should come into our country legally and our border should be protected. i don't think you all are aware of the inner cities, what's happening. they hang by convenience stores in bad neighborhoods. --y go out and lay and drink there's a real problem with this in america. wake up. they go to the large cities. go see what's happening. host: are you seeing for yourself in tennessee? caller: yes. i see this in memphis. it's in every large city. city, youeas of the see them standing on corners them are work, some of lying behind the store drinking

beer and whiskey. you hire them and bring them to work -- host: evelyn in tennessee. "usa today" highlights other elements of this order security -- order security -- border security deal. vowed to prevent -- president from that is in the pages of "usa

today." from virginia, this is alvin, democrats line. caller: how long is the funding going to last to keep the government open? i was wondering, if the uses his powers to fund the wall, could he end up in court? very 15th -- february 15 is the date i've heard. that would be friday. jason, independent line, go ahead. caller: this is a main reply to someone from the first segment who was independent. he talked about how bullets are better than walls and how the up for -- what

did he say, exactly -- to prevent invasion. up for colonists stood no taxation without representation. there was a king on foreign lands who was telling them how to live and telling them what to do. it's a problem. host: savannah, tennessee. republican line. keith, go ahead. caller: trump should hold up for all of it. build a wall and stop these democrats. the only thing they want to do is milk a cow that doesn't belong to them. they don't want to do what is right. if it's not theirs, they will milk it until it is dry. host: you would support another shutdown over this? caller: whatever it takes. you have to stop the democrats.

they will milk any cow that doesn't belong to them. host: kathy in oklahoma. democrats line. caller: hi. oklahoma.thy from host: you are on. caller: i totally oppose this border wall. i think it is ridiculous. we have other more urgent matters in the united states such as health care and homelessness, a multitude of problems, and i oppose the border while spending. host: even the lower number that is being offered? caller: i realize we have to compromise. i will go with this compromise, but not a penny more. host: that is kathy's opinion from a,. -- from oklahoma. knownn make your thoughts

on the phone lines and social media. this is from "the wall street journal" this morning when it comes to foreign affairs, particularly iraq. the pentagon chief trying to ease peers in that country -- fears in that country. he won to keep u.s. troops in iranto monitor neighboring -- after the president said he wanted to keep u.s. troops in iraq to monitor neighboring iran. also, in "the new york times,"

there's a story concerning the initial interest of the president to have a parade. about julynt asking 4 and if it would work. the commander-in-chief suggested tuesday that the fourth of july might be considered for a celebratory march. the president has turned to the interior department to engage him when the pentagon would not. called it more of a gathering , perhapsd to a parade at the lincoln memorial, then saying we will see how it works out with scheduling and every thing else while addressing david bernhardt. portland, maine. hello. caller: good morning, america.

deal.upport the border i'm a white guy who lives up here in the northeast in maine. i'm not a trump supporter, nor was i a hillary supporter. i do support the border deal simply because i feel it is time that we compromise and move on. as one of the previous colors was saying that scholars was -- callers was saying, there are other important issues we need to address. americansho says overwhelmingly elected trump, he won by the electoral college. hillary clinton got 3 million more votes than he did. i believe approximately 30

states have already passed legislation to eliminate electoral college -- the electoral college. it would only take a few more states to do that, in which case hillary would have been elected. host: charlie in florida. republican line. caller: good morning. stateal from the sunshine who sees a lot of issues related themmigration, i think president should take every little tidbit he could get. host: you're ok with this agreement? caller: i'm ok with this agreement. you have to start somewhere. we have to get our country stable. the people in washington whose salaries we pay must get back to the business of we the people. they are elected and put there to have us -- help us, not

illegal immigrants. i understand people's plight, i feel for them, but why are the concerned about noncitizens than their fellow americans? can somebody please answer this question? host: stephen in north carolina. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i can answer her question. it's because this country doesn't seem to care about people anymore. they don't seem to care about people who are coming because they are hungry and don't have enough food on their table. i'm really against the border wall because i don't think it's moral. i grew up in germany, in west germany. i remember the wall between east germany and west germany. there was nothing moral about that, either. but isn't the same context,

you can kind of compare it anyway. it wouldn't solve anything. this administration has been so cruel towards people seeking asylum. is -- to me, it is an acceptable. host: west virginia, independent line. carol, hello. caller: good morning. i agree with the border wall. whatever you want to call it. i consider it a layered system. just like my home, i have a layered security system. i have security lights. lightsere, i go to my that show my sidewalks. from there, i have locks on my doors. it all has to work together.

as far as health care, our health care system -- host: because we are talking about border security, what do you think about this proposal? is this a good compromise? caller: no, it is not. in there forg anything about hiring more agents. nothing about hiring more border agents. that's part of the security system. about nothing in there doing anything for ice, other than they want to cut the beds. if that's the case, people that are in prison or being held in jail canl, ok, our only hold so many, so which criminals are going to turn back out?

host: tony in ohio. republican line. caller: i am for the wall. it will solve a lot of problems and crime will fall. they fly a lot of people to georgia, the migrants, where they have fort bliss. --as trained to understand the money that will come from , some of it will come from gofundme. host: irvine, california. hello. caller: we don't need a wall. what we need is technology like drones and stuff. you need border agents. i live in california. the latinos don't have to come over here. visas.me over on the first thing you should do for the wall, make it when

people come here, they come here legally. they employer hires them, should go to jail. barrier need a concrete , spending billions of dollars. that is ridiculous. host: a couple more minutes before the house of representatives comes in. up until that, your calls. , little rock, arkansas. independent line. alan, hello. caller: three things. -- top 50google this most violent cities in the world. are from mexico and south america. , the sister city with el paso, is in the top 20.

they will touted as the most --e in the country because c init as the most safe the country because of the wall. molly was telling us about how illegal aliens commit a lower ratio of murders and crimes than americans. that is such a false equivalency. they should not be committing any crime. host: we are just about out of time. rose in illinois. republican line. caller: good morning. when i listen to the democrats for years putting a bridge to money, goingding nowhere, and then they are telling us that we are wasting our money putting up a wall to protect americans -- 13 colonies

got together to protect americans. we are supposed to be united. that is money we should spend wisely. not all these stupid things the democrats have been spending on for the last 50 years. my taxes went up. i'm paying more taxes because they changed it. what am i paying for? isr $100 billion a year spent on illegals. tomorrow on this program, we will take your calls, we will hear on the issues were going border security and we will tell you about the latest when it comes to the prospects of a border security wall. those hearings on www.c-span.org . john delaney our guest tomorrow at 8:00, one of the first democratic presidential candidates. he will join us to talk about

his philosophy, the things he will advocate for as a presidential candidate. coming up, we go to the house of representatives as it starts its work today. we will see you tomorrow. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., february 13, 2019. hereby appoint the honorable adriano espaillat to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2019, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties.