>> on sunday, kiersten gillibrand hosts a rally. coverage on our free radio at. -- app. mcbride with american university center for congressional studies, also served as the former chief of staff for former first lady laura bush. can you scope out recent developments? guest: one of the most recent was this opportunity she used to convene all the agencies programs funded through the federal government. but i found gratifying about that was it was continuing to work of another first lady, laura bush, helping america's

youth initiative, after three years led to the executive order signed by president bush on establishing interagency youth working group. trum is nowp using that as a convening power. be best is the initiative she announced in may, 2018 in the rose garden, that this would be her signature initiative that would look at all of the social issues that health children face in our country today. where she can shine a light on programs helping them be the best young people they can be. host: they look at social media, opioid use, overall well-being? guest: absolutely. mostlye found is

so manye programs, but agencies of the federal government have money, resources and initiatives directed toward these components of improving life of children. she has added another agency. drug enforcement agency. here is something from the first lady on monday about the initiative. [video clip] has and always will be on our children, the next generation. they are our future doctors, nurses, firefighters, generals,, teachers, pilots, designers, reporters and missionaries, just to name a few. be best, i launched my

initiative. throughout the past year i've had the opportunity to work with many of you, traveling domestically and internationally best.er to promote be well-being, online safety and opioid abuse. host: how does this effort differ from others? guest: it is an excellent example of how first lady's can be focused on issues they care about. she cares about children. we see the genuine nature of her interaction with children. laura bush cared about it. michelle obama took on the childhood obesity initiative. president obama supported her work on that. that fit directly with health care reform. this is a perfect use of a first lady's platform, without a doubt. with the social media

effort, she will be asked about her husband's use of twitter? guest: she will be asked about it. every parent knows social media is having a dramatic impact on the health and well-being of children and on their mental health. she is right to talk about it. that cannot be divorced from the fact that she is living with someone who uses social media in a variety of ways, not all of which we would condone for our kids. host: does it complicate it? guest: great question. i don't think it should mute it. it may complicate it but it is important to talk about it. host: let's hear from some calls. somerville, south carolina, republican line. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. trump is think mrs.

doing a good job. laura bush also did a good job for the children. michelle obama seemed to have started some good things for the kids but didn't follow through with the lunches. that didn't work out in the schools. the kids weren't eating the lunches, i guess because the parents were taking them to these fast food places maybe after school, for dinner or whatever. thank you so much. guest: i think you find it is difficult to implement something in the school lunches was controversial. no doubt about it. i think over time, even that begins to work itself out and people are more mindful of healthy eating. launchrything that you

has the success you might want. host: are there federal dollars behind these efforts? guest: in each of the agencies, that are already appropriated and have been utilized for many years. what she is doing, and what other first ladies before have done, which is really important, is they can shine a light on what the programs are doing, and make these travels to cities around the country from coast to coast that are the benefit of those federal dollars but also there are a lot of private and volunteer and nonprofit programs that exist as well. carolina,us, north democrats line. marcus is gone. from montana. i agree with this. sure, we needke

to find a way where we can help. we want to help but we don't use a computer here. we don't seem to have any connections on how to contact anyone, not using the computer. my heart goes out to the children. they are the future and they always will be. the most innocent of all. we need to help them. we need to help moms and dads. i totally agree with it. i think she is spot on. again, for people that don't use a computer, what can we do to make contact with people so we can make an effort to help them? guest: that is a great question. one of the first things to do is see what in the community you are living in, are there children's youth centers, afterschool programs, things going on where you could be a volunteer or mentor. you could read to children after school. help children improve literacy.

extends to helping adults as well. one of the projects barbara bush worked on was adult literacy. mothers, who if have the lion share of responsibility for their kids, if mothers and fathers are not reading to the level they should be, it is more difficult for their children. there are wonderful adult literacy programs as well. the 30th anniversary of barbara bush's foundation on family literacy, would be a great place to engage in something like that. host: shirley, baltimore. i would like to talk about school lunches in the government getting involved in what our children eat. that is a very bad idea. i don't understand why the mom and the local school district is not deciding what the kids will

eat for lunch. i want to remind you, michelle obama did start some kind of butram on eating healthy president obama did not support her, because he made jokes about it all the time. that is not a president who is supporting that program. thank you. guest: this starts with what happens in the home, with families and parents and the influence they have on their children. what was important about the initiative that michelle obama launched is really helping to bring the dialogue into the national consciousness. over time, it can have an impact. i absolutely agree, we are a country of free will and choices. i remember growing up, it was the moms that cooked lunches in

school. that does not happen now. it underscores the family influence. the government can only do so much. saying,rper on twitter "do we even see melania trump." is this a perception issue? guest: it has been an issue since her first speech, july, 2016, cleveland at the convention where she delivered what would otherwise be considered a good speech, where her heart was and her pride in being an american, then the next day she wakes up and there is a complete storm around it because it had been listed. skittish aboutou getting out there. she also has said from the

beginning, november, 2016 after donald trump was elected, she was going to take her time in what she was doing and assemble a staff overtime, perhaps a smaller staff. all of those things are getting a little bit stronger and more streamlined for her. she has a few more people on her staff. she has made visits to seven cities. she has done town halls. she is doing a little more. the speaking in the east room, the state dining room, on a covered event with cabinet secretary's is a great step. host: north carolina, independent line, daniel. caller: i am a christian and as far as donald trump's wife's political doings, all god wants us to do is always do our best. donald trump is the best president we have had since ronald reagan. he was the best one in american history. host: ok.

guest: i worked for ronald reagan. i would agree, he was one of the best. host: joanne, arizona. caller: good morning. c-span isy people say showrat, because you don't -- you don't show melania trump, her speeches, or when she talked to anyone. host: we just showed you a bit of a presentation she made. me, i ameople like disabled, people want the government doing everything for them, believe me, you don't want to be dependent on the government to live. i cannot afford c-span2. i have to pay more to get c-span2 and 3.

you are not for the working class. host: i will stop you only because our main channel carries a lot of the presentations we have including the presentations of the former first lady. if you don't have access that way, go to our website at www.c-span.org. if you type in, melania trump, we will show you every event that features the first lady. nancy, queens, new york. caller: hi. i'm calling about the fact that the school lunches, my granddaughter has a pre-existing condition, obesity. they serve the children chocolate milk. not serve them regular milk? it is like america is addicted to sugar. --t: this lunch program, guest: i am listening to that touched for people, and it comes

back to a comment someone said earlier. we don't want to be told what to do or what to eat. and the school lunch program is ground zero for some of the issues particularly our liberties. did --h the first lady but what the first lady did was race and national consciousness a stuff like this who has propensity for obesity in their family. it makes you more conscious of your choices. ultimately, you get to make the choices. host: is it fair to say the real impact of this program won't be seen until overtime?

guest: it does take time. programstime for the to really have their impact and have some measurable results. but the most important thing is that you can never stop talking about it, and never stop working towards it. the white house life of a first lady from issues they have worked on, issues they feel deeply about our important for the country and a need to keep talking about them. one of the comments of one of your earlier comments made about not covering -- one of the callers that commented about not covering the first lady, it is hard to get coverage when you are the first lady because people are more concerned about what the president is doing, which is fair. gettingcoverage she is

his better than before -- is getting better than before. >> c-span's washington journal. coming up sunday morning, kc new reportusses his on staffing trends. and a proposal to expand the number of justices. and then come of the 30th anniversary of the exxon valdez disaster. join the discussion. a,sunday night on q and bookt caro on his

"working." >> he went up the stairs into this modest -- he had torn out of the walls. he sat in the center of this black leather chair. if you look to the left of him, the robert moses bridge, causeway to fire island. there is robert moses sabine framed by his monuments. intimidating. charm ands wonderful he smiled. still at the height of his power. he