reentry programs for ex-convicts. we will take your calls and you can joinwashington journal is n. ♪ host: good morning on this easter sunday, among the holiest of holy days for christians around the world. congress in the middle of a two week recess. president trump spending the weekend at mar-a-lago in florida. we are waking up to a news of a suicide bombing in sri lanka. that country imposing an overnight curfew. it is sunday morning. we begin with your calls and comments on the issue of religion and politics. does religion impact your political beliefs? if you say yes, 202 is the area code. (202) 748-8000. .f you say no, (202) 748-8001

you can join us on social media and facebook. good sunday morning, happy easter to you. let's begin with the news from sri lanka and this headline from cbs news. at least six blasts rocking sri lanka on easter sunday. the death toll according to cnn in excess of 140 with another 560 injured. here is what cbs news is reporting. the cause of the attacks remains unclear. security officials say they expect the blast of the two churches were carried out by a suicide bomber. images showing the inside of one of the churches. ceiling andttered blood on the pews. foreign tourists may be among the casualties. in a blasts were reported nearby catholic town.

the explosion ripping off the roof and knocking off doors and windows at saint sebastian's where the people were carrying the wounded away from toodstained pews, according local footage. security guards standing outside the church, the site of that explosion. the death toll is at 140 and is expected to rise. the president a short while a what with this tweet -- our condolences to the people of the u.s. to the people sri lanka about the horrible terrorist attacks. 138as killed at least people. badly injuring 600 more. president.he we want to begin on this easter sunday with your thoughts on the issue of religion and politics and whether or not it influences your own political beliefs. if you say yes, (202) 748-8000.

for those of you who say no, (202) 748-8001. joining us on the phone is a political science professor. thank you for being with us. good morning. -- biggest find releasably recently are people with no 21% have no religious faith. in 1972, that number was 5%. it was 9% in the mid-1990's. it has steadily increased over the 1990's. catholics are 23%. evangelical protestants are 22.5%. many say that they do not believe in any religion. how secular are we as a society? caller: it depends on how you

want to define sector. this is the shrugged category. thee are about 5% of population are atheists. about 5% are agnostics. ofewhere between 15 and 20% americans when asked about religious affiliation kind of shrugged her shoulders and say they do not want to affirm a atheist belief or agnostic belief but they don't want to affirm being a catholic or protestant or anything else. 25 andomewhere between 30% of the population that we can call secular today. host: why is that? guest: there is a bunch of social science reason for that. one of the oldest reason is called secularization theory. heargues that a country comes more economically prosperous and has higher levels of education, it will drift away from religious beliefs.

the prime example of that is a europe where most countries are 75% secular, 85% secular. that is part of it. washer reason could be it hard to find atheists and agnostics in the 1970's and 1980's before the internet. they were there, but you might not admit that in a room of people in those days because it was considered to be culturally wrong. we have a civic religion in america, a belief in god. with the rise of the internet, it is easy to find people who share your beliefs now. it is the kind of thing where i believe as more people came out and said they are atheist or agnostic, it makes it easier for other people to come out and say they are atheist or agnostic the process snowballed and snowballed and snowballed. what we are seeing is people are answering survey questions about religion and honest way and not

in the way their parents think they should respond. host: we are talking with ryan burge. he teaches at eastern illinois university. we are getting early reports about the situation in sri lanka. i was wondering if you had any thoughts on what we are learning. there were two churches and a suicide bombing attack. more than 140 confirmed deaths and more than 560 injured. the churches were the targets of this bombing attack on the holiest of holy days for christians around the world. terrorism has a religious component to it. there is no way to minimize that impact. i think we have to be very careful in separating political christianity and religious christianity. political islam and religious islam. sometimes these attacks are more about making a statement about a group of people or net this city or a racial group that is about

specifically the religious aspect of it. for instance, there were three black churches that were burned down in the south in the last week. i think that has a lot more to do with racism than it does with the religious aspect of everything. we have to be careful when we see a church being bombed. is it really about politics or is it really about religion? have become political symbols as much as they have become religious symbols, here and abroad. if the socialious beliefs such as views on aortion or lgbtq issues are factor in one's religious beliefs? caller: absolutely. the data says -- it is become clear on this. gay marriage has faded into the background of the culture wars for almost every group in america today. i looked at data recently that said young evangelicals between

18 and 35, 55% are in favor of same-sex marriage. that is a big deal when you consider that was the group that was most reluctant. of 65,icals over the age only 25% of that group are in favor of same-sex marriage. by and large, vast majority of americans, around 70% of americans, are ok with same-sex marriage. abortion is a totally different story. hastion is an issue that basically stayed pretty static in public opinion research, going back to roe v. wade. the same americans that were pro-life then are pro-life now. evangelicals are just as opposed to a portion now estate -- opposed to abortion now as they were then. abortion is the key culture war issue going forward. stay with us if you could for just a moment. this is what the president said

earlier this year at the national prayer breakfast. [video clip] toas part of our commitment building a just and loving society, we must build a culture that cherishes the dignity and sanctity of innocent human life. [applause] all children, born and unborn, are made in the holy image of god. [applause]

thank you. every life is sacred, and every soul is a precious gift from heaven. jeremiah,d says, in before i formed you in the womb, i knew you. for you were born, i set you apart. host: two months ago at the national prayer breakfast, the comments of president trump. we are speaking about the issue of religion and your own political beliefs on this easter sunday. this clearly will be an issue in 2020, moving ahead. caller: i think it is interesting that when donald trump talked about the safety of life, turned it toward talking about one type of sanctity of life, which is abortion. there are many other areas that tie into the sanctity of life. the catholic church teaches what is called the seamless garment

or the consistent ethic of life, that life should be protected in every stage. whether it is pre-born or the death penalty or assisted suicide. the catholic church teaches we should be opposed to anything that should limit life in the beginning, middle or end of life. donald trump only talks about the sanctity of life and it comes to abortion rights. at the same time, the death oralty was not discussed, assisted suicide was not discussed because what he knows is, very few republicans are anti-death penalty and antiabortion. the vast majority are pro-death penalty. the sanctity of life argument -- he talks about abortion as a specific piece of that but it is a much bigger argument that he misses out on. host: your day job is a teaching students but on sundays you are a pastor, correct? caller: correct, i will be preaching on easter sunday morning in three hours. host: your message to the

congregation is what? caller: it is a passage out of john or jesus tells mary do not hold onto me, go back and tell everyone what you have seen after he has been resurrected. the idea that god calls us forward to what we have to do and not hold onto the past, our own sin and failure, reach forward and move on and tell people the good news. live a life of redemption and the desperate host: -- --emption and goodnew goodness. host: this says morality is important for good government. nazi germany passed the loss they lived under. --ezuela past lost a blue venezuela passed laws that they live under. politics is our new religion. from another viewer, i would say being told by people they want

to pass laws based on biblical passages to try to enforce their particular religious beliefs on others seems like a serious problem to me. another viewer says i steer clear of supporting any overly religious candidate who is seeking political office, especially if it is an office that has any power over my life. james is joining us from pittsburgh. the question is whether religion impacts your political beliefs. good morning. caller: good morning and happy easter. yes it does. he will not hear our president of the united states say jesus. he will not say jesus. i am very religious. i blame the aclu for ruining america. accept the adoption of children. if you want to live that lifestyle, you have that choice. when it comes to adopting kids,

i have a problem with gay people adopting kids. i have the problem with the drug war. cops are killing kids daily. i have a problem with that. i am trying to run for office and it is hindering me. host: golden valley, arizona. good morning. are you with us? caller: i have a couple comments. i hope you are still listening. i think he confirmed everything in the holy bible. god and the people who blew up the churches are cowards. there are thousands of babies being killed a day. i don't see anybody on death row being murdered.

i believe in the constitution. i meet muslims all the time. when i speak to muslims, i tell our religionica, is the constitution. host: thank you for the call. let's go to joseph. you say it religion and politics do not mix. why? caller: i am from massachusetts. i am an atheist but i grew up in new york city. i was there after 9/11. i saw what went on. i decided to leave america because i saw the days ahead. i am outside looking in. i learned to tolerate religion. i would to catholic school, i would to church, but what i see going on, we are in a dangerous time. this is not going away anytime soon. i support donald trump and i will tell you why. we have a right to agree to disagree but now the attitude is

i am right you are wrong let's move on. as an atheist, i have no problem with religion because i grew up in a multiracial, multi-religious environment. i would to catholic school. i support donald trump because of that reason. say aresaw george bush you with us or argue with the terrorists? as a psychology major, i don't see that as a motivator. sri lanka, the bombings, there was peace. bangladesh, sri lanka was a tolerant place. a color from virginia, good morning. the version did inform our founders in the constitution

on this passover and easter, christ was destroyed because he cleansed the temple. sellers, wereof crafting -- they were feeding back money they were receiving and selling doves sacrifices inside the temple, for the people who had tobuy these sacrifices during passover. that was distracting from the missions of the people who had to concentrate on the mission of passover. christ drove these people sacrificed sellers in the moneychangers out of the temple. the corrupt priests destroyed christ because he drove these people out of the temple. host: thank you for the call.

your reaction, you can also send us a tweet. the question is does religion impact your own political beliefs? white housermer press secretary who served in the clinton demonstration. following -- the upcoming election cycle is a huge opportunity to gain ground on tromp in just about every religious sector in america, with his muslim band, his valorization of white supremacists, his turning away of people fleeing people seeking asylum, trump has directly assaulted and repudiated many of the most deeply held religious beliefs. this includes his white, evangelical base, to say nothing about catholics, mainline protestants, historically black , muslims ands

others. back to your phone calls. from virginia, james, good morning. you say religion does impact your political beliefs. why? you believe what you grew up in. religion has been all around us. is how it affects your political bullies. what i want to talk about is how the world can get together and barrage thatlear we have going. start getting read of nuclear weapons. is to tell to do it your leaders that you do not wanted. -- do not want it.

and you will be backed by christ. thank you. host: next is judith joining us from austin, texas. good morning. caller: religion does impact my political beliefs. candidates whoe i think are really good people. as a person, if i go around and start telling people how to live their life and be judgmental, they would turn me off. we must live by example. that is it. host: thank you you for the call. this from the president a moment ago, tweeting on this easter sunday -- happy easter, i have never been happier or more content because your country is doing so well with an economy at the top of the world and may be stronger than since ever been. have a great day. the president is spending the weekend at mar-a-lago. the house and senate are in recess for the easter, passover holiday. next up is a call from jacksonville, florida.

good morning. caller: all i wish to say is i wish the people -- and i have called you many times before, you are excellent. i wish people would read these three books i offer. deceptions and myths of the , god man or myth? and the translation from the german, the christ myth. all of this stuff is ridiculously built on mythology and i talk about the .laughtering of the infants the old testament were told by jehovah to have the women slaughtered, their bellies ripped open. that does not sound like protection of the infants to me. this can be found.

verse 35, it says and there was a holy thing in the womb. these books are supposed to be inspired. it should say holy infant. i wish you happiness on this spring day, as usual. we wouldh this tweet, never have advanced in civilization without the moneychangers. somebody had to exchange purple rocks for orange leaves. if not, there could be no intertribal congress. thomas in south carolina. you say religion does impact your political beliefs. how so? caller: actually, i say the politics should not have anything to do with my political beliefs. i believe the politics itself are trying to change our views

when it comes down to religious beliefs. we all have to remember that we are getting away from our own culture when we put god last and put politics first. what we need to do is go back to the basics. you need to read my book called god, the devil and me. i have warned the people of this world, including the bush administration and the clinton administration for 9/11 took place. i am a prophet and those things really took place. they can't say they did not know about it. i would like for the people to read the god, the devil and me. you will find it online and on any bookshelf. you will understand what the message is about. it is about the relegation's of the holy bible. is then in-depth report cover story of the new york times. a photograph of the plant in south carolina with the headline -- safety concerns plague the

boeing dreamliner plant. a new york times review of hundreds of pages of internal emails, corporate documents and federal records, as well as interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees shows a culture that valued speed over quality. facing long manufacturing delays, boeing pushing its workforce to quickly turn out the dreamliner's, at times ignore issues raised by employees. in an industry where safety is paramount, the collective concerns involving two crucial andng planes, the 737 max 8 the 787 dreamliner ran into a potentially systemic problem. the story from the new york times shows claims of sloppy work from a popular jet. a whistleblower citing retribution. back to phone calls. james is joining us from white plains, new york. good morning.

caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i question is, under christianity, there are so many jesus.nt gods and this collection under the umbrella of christianity, it is not. that is why the impact upon the questions of your program is doesn't impact my politics? it impacts everyone. host: how so? caller: it impacts them because now you are taking in people who are methodist and how they believe in christ and god. you are taking in baptists and how they believe. have their own belief or support of their

politics. their politicians have to pander to their whims. this tweet.with religion has provided the opportunity for some megalomaniacs who manipulate mines made week by absolutism to be victimized criminally and for perpetrators of genocide like hitler to commit atrocities. from the new york times, some of , leading theers list is a book by former first lady michelle obama titled becoming. pageatriarch by susan recently on c-span's q&a program. the book on barbara bush. four ben shapiro at number with the right side of history. number six is maybe you should talk to somebody. commander-in-chief by rick riley is number seven. number nine is the unwinding of

the miracle. some of the top 10 books from the new york times'sunday magazine. bobby and a tyler, texas, good morning to you. texas, goodler, morning. caller: the government was made for a virtuous people that had to fear something other than who their president or governor is. they had to fear god. we are a christian nation. the constitution was assigned in the year of our lord by everybody under those words. 53% -- 54 ofon was the guys who signed it were christians. one was a catholic and one was a jew. the great thing about america is our constitution and that we

have states rights. every one of the states had their own different denomination. they were so passionate about it. they feared their god and that denomination. the way we have gotten in america, we have gotten so tribalist that we have tried to force everyone to do the same thing. that is secular humanism. that is crippling america. sensing frustration and your voice this morning. caller: i am very frustrated that we are being forced to pay taxes for education system that has pulled the very reason for success throughout history, pulled god and the children of the bible out of our children's education because that is where all of our loss came from.

there is a three volume set of books called god and government that was written in the 1980's and it is so profound in the biblical references of our government and why it was set up. trying to run everything nationally and having everyone do the same thing is the wrong thing to do. host: finisher point, i am sorry. your point, i am sorry. caller: if we get back to state's rights and governing ourselves first, and that our community and then are state, and that everything that we can't handle or locally, gets offended -- handled on a federal level and that can of stuff. that, we wouldto be so much happier.

there would be fewer scoundrels that are vying for positions of power in the national government. host: happy easter to your edger family. caller: same to you. host: another fewer says our country is based on religious freedom. that means the equal protection because -- equal protection clause applies to everyone. good morning. caller: thank you. a great question for a sunday morning on easter. religion isn is based on our reliefs -- delete system. -- based on our belief system. will vote on a belief system that they have that is derived from their religion. that makes sense because it is about right and wrong, what we think our government should represent.

however, what i want to point out is i am a christian and i have no problem saying the word such aecause i see difference between what we call the religious right, which in my mind has repeated the story that went on when jesus came off the mountain after his fast, and he was offered all of the power in the world. he could enforced his religion through laws, rules, regulations and that was a story between a conversation between the devil and jesus and he rejected it. what i see happening now is that people somehow think government will do that very thing that jesus rejected and that is the issue i have with religion being involved in politics. i have no problem with people believing what is right and wrong and how that gets represented but i think the whole thing with the religious right is nothing but a deceptive tactic to get people to vote for them and i think it is not

christianity. that is my take on it. host: thank you very much for the call. i want to share with you what historian wrote recently about the democratic party and religion. since the 1970's, none of the presidential nominees has captured jimmy carter's ability to speak easily and openly about his or her faith. the party has become a bastion of secular liberalism, winning elections as a 1992 and 2008 by addressing the economic concerns of a slowly collapsing ideological center. this secularization of the left has reverberated across generations and manifested itself in millennial voters. the apparent 40-year-old ascendancy of the religious right has met -- left many liberals suspicious of religious activism and politics.

for lgbtqt event rights, this from the mayor of indiana. he officially announced his candidacy. he is 37 years old and running for the 2020 presidential nomination. [video clip] >> you might be religious and you are not, but if you are, you are also queer. you have come through the other side of a time in which she gets worked. you know that message, this idea that there is something wrong with you is a message that puts you at war not only with yourself but your maker. speaking only for myself, i could tell you that if me being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far above my pay grade. [applause] that is the thing i wish the mike pences of the world

understand. if you have a problem with who i am, your quarrel is with my creator. host: that from pete buttigieg. the comments were aimed at vice president mike pence. next up is john from staten island, new york. morning. caller: good morning morning and happy easter to all christians. trop is the best thing to happen to religion this country. host: why do you say that? he gives you freedom and he is basically a good person. we are aborting babies at nine months. thaty on the planet except , but the democratic push it. host: good morning in colorado.

[indiscernible] host: we are going to have to let you go because we are getting feedback. if you want to dial back in, that would help. we will go to a from sacramento. caller: good morning. these tell you something, people calling in and talking about the bible, they don't really know because we have been taught the wrong things. aregion is man-made and you going to have problems anytime you are dealing with man-made subjects. the bible has nothing to do with religion. the bible is about the hebrew israelites, who are the black hispanics and native american people in america right now and scattered about the world. these people need to get together and listen to the hebrew israelites on youtube as soon as they can so they can

learn that the bible relates to them and them only. onlyord is a dealing with one group of people. all the rest of you people are doomed. the lord is not dealing with white folks, he is not dealing with africans. israelites are not africans. that is number one. we are not africans. we are own race of people. frome israelite jews israel. blacks, hispanics and native american people are the real jews of this world. nobody wants to hear that because they don't want to hear the truth. they know that if they have to come back to the truth, they have to come back to worshiping black people. host: thank you for the call. we are getting word from cnn

that there have been eight explosions across sri lanka. the death toll in that country in excess of 140. more than 560 others injured. the president earlier expressing his sympathy and support on twitter. we are asking you about the issue of religion and whether it affects your clinical beliefs. the next color is from dayton, ohio. good morning. next caller is from dayton, ohio. that you am shocked can't separate religion from your political beliefs. religion is what it is. it is religion. spirituality, to me, that is something different. when i am looking from a political standpoint, i am looking for my leaders to represent us as human beings, what is best for us as a country to go forward.

religion intohis your political beliefs, this is what you hear from all of these different callers. they never understood or had the time to think about that question of what you are asking. and theee sri lanka bombing and all of this, it is because they are looking at it as religion. if you want to have a spiritual conversation, that is something completely different than religion. i am disturbed that so many people who have called in cannot separate that question of what you just asked. i hope that you have a wonderful day, but that question, i think maybe they do not understand it. maybe you should be asking it in a different way. what i am hearing right now, i am just totally floored that so many people are following a

religion versus their own spirituality and beliefs and who they are as a human being. i thank you for your time and you have a good day. is an associated press story on the yahoo! news website. trop brushing off mitt romney's criticism, pointing to his loss in 2012. utah senator mitt romney said he was second by the decidedly -- the dishonesty. the president firing back that mitt romney should have the same energy in running for president in 2012. tweeting thatso in reading the special counsel's report, he was appalled americans working under the trump campaign at welcome tell from russia. saturday, the president responding via twitter, saying if mitt romney had the same energy fighting barack obama that he does fighting donald trump, he could have won the race, maybe.

back your phone calls. jim from georgia, good morning. caller: good morning. becky for taking my call. a fantastic program, i really appreciate it and listen to it as much as i can. thank you for that. goes, i thinkgion that is an existential question. the woman who just called and was talking about spirituality versus religion, she makes a very good point. it is one that should be thought about. spirituality is part of my religion. i think of it all is one thing. it forms my decision-making. i go to church and i encourage folks to do that because you can learn a lot about the bible. i have been in sunday school lessons where i was like, i have never thought about that way.

going to church is a good way to find out more about the bible. for me, it is an existential question and is part of who i am. it informs my decision-making. trump, despite all of his policies and actions, which are pretty bad, i think, for all of that, he seems to have a pretty strong spirituality, which i am grateful for. if nothing else, at least he seems to be a spiritual person. host: we are basing this question in part on research from a professor from eastern illinois university. if you want to watch that video, as with all of our programming, it is available at the free video library at c-span.org. you can type in exactly which were looking for, including this program.

ian sank religious beliefs rotted to a work environment -- a tweet from ian saying religion brought into the work environment is toxic. announcer: i happen to be of the lgbtq community and i can tell you right now, our creator made us. religion has no bearing on how i vote. i just vote for the best person i think will do the job. honestly don't feel that somebody has the right to tell somebody what they are doing is wrong. the only person who could do that is one that is not on this planet, the one who will judge us all. if anybody it does not care

about abortion, that is not for us to decide. that is for god to decide, not us. we cannot say abortion is wrong. the only one who could tell you that is the one you will be facing you leave this earth. if you arealler said gay or transgender you should not be permitted to adopt. what you say that? caller: that is way off base. this is not a lifestyle, this is not a choice. 10 and into their teens killing themselves because they know who they are. they know who they are. i know kids who are five years old who know who they are and one kid asked his mom to take him back into her womb so he could come out a girl.

and people think this is a choice, they are way off base. host: thank you for the call from philadelphia. let's go to chuck in colorado. good morning. i would like to say that anyone who is born in a barn that has no money, no army, who , and who wase tortured and executed, and all we know about our memories written decades later of what he said and did. what he said and did change the planet. that, to me,an do is not with us. we celebrate the day he rose, giving us the love of god. that is what today is. i thank you for your time. everyonether tweet,

should have a sense of right and wrong and want to help the less fortunate improve their lives, even if it is just to prevent their being next to encounter misfortune. i am allike to say faith and no religion. faith carries on my life after religion lost its authority, after the church got politically involved. mark said why is it always about politics? you can't even talk about religion on easter sunday without politics coming into it. dennis in west palm beach, florida. good morning. caller: good morning. the question is does religion affect your political beliefs? my answer is definitely. i am roman catholic. what i want to say is, there is no religion on the face of the earth that writes more about

political and social issues than the catholic church. it is all based on what is said in the bible. i can start quarter you all the different things. for example, there are three major writings by the catholic church dealing with homosexuality. -- if you rotate now, you would think the pope is prosthetic about what would happen. point thatake the catholics have to wake up, they have to read what their own church rights you will change the whole world. one of the biggest problems we have in america today is the fact we have the biggest hate crime in the history of the u.s. and nobody acknowledges it is a hate crime and that is not letting people choose the schools that their children will go to, especially religious schools. it u.s. supreme court said was constitutional in 2002.

there is nothing wrong with it. the biggest theft in history of the u.s. has been to make jewish people, catholic people, non-catholic christians have to pay for public schools all of their adult lives and then have to pay again to have their children actually exercise their freedom of religion and go to a school that is of their -- a religious school. host: this from another viewer. mary and joseph were illegal immigrants. take that, donald. among theo presidential candidates. in her web video, she talked about religion. [video clip] first brought into congress in 2012. practice, my relationship with god something that is near and dear to my heart.

muslim,it is hindu, atheist, christian, whatever the path that people have chosen for their lives, it is important that everyone of us stand up, call out and condemn those who are seeking to incite bigotry based on religion of not allow them to try to use that to divide us, because that is not who we are in this country of freedom. we saw devastatingly the impact of that in pittsburgh, with the shooting at the synagogue. this is what happens when this is allowed to continue without being condemned and stop. we are tracking her and all of the candidates as part of white house coverage. we are up in new hampshire this week to cover events and words that joe biden will officially enter the race on wednesday.

the new york times sunday magazine, make america pay again , how the trumpet ministration took apart the agency built to protect us from predatory lenders. from the washington post sunday magazine, 24 magazine covers about climate change. a different way to read and think about what is facing the earth. good morning from los angeles. caller: i am not going to base my vote on religion. i am going to base it on the person himself and what they want. i am nervous. i want unity and i am going to crooky vote on the lesser . host: the washington post front page story is the dangers of the

brat -- alaska's warm spring. more on climate change and the mueller report. it is also available online at washington post.com. good morning from pittsburgh. caller: good morning. sayinging to respond by religion does affect my politics lankae the attacks in sri , notice the targets. they were christian churches. religion, ae has a so-called religion, that is against them. therefore, that affects my politics. sayingians, instead of our thoughts and prayers are thanks,, should say, you have identified yourself, and we will take care of you and

you are the enemy and that is politics. host: thank you. this is the headline from cnn.com. --s story says 140 people the death toll has climbed in excess of 160 confirmed tests. well over 560 are injured. place, a totalok of eight explosions in sri lanka during easter sunday services on the holiest day in the christian church. back to your phone calls. joining us from north carolina, good morning. your thoughts about religion and politics and whether your religious beliefs affect your political ideology. caller: i would say yes. my religious belief does affect my political ideology. i think the same should be for the politicians. who want toticians

take away the medicare, medicaid and social security from people, what are they looking at? what is their ideology? how can you make a determination to take things away from people who really need them? ideology when you don't want to treat people equally? i think there is one party right now who is saying they are interested in taking away the social security, medicare and medicaid and i think that is something that is significant. some of the pictures in the churches, those bombing attacks that took place by apparent suicide bombers. cnn has confirmation of eight explosions that took place. u.s., them the netherlands and portugal are feared to be among those either

injured or killed in the blast. this video released a short while ago giving you an inside look into what happened on this easter sunday in sri lanka. phil is joining us from texas. caller: i believe it is probably the most important thing of all. onhink what we are having the political scene today is a spiritual problem. we all believe in something. we either believe there is or is not a god. as religion impacting my belief, it has everything to do with it. is the numbertion one of all. i believe the nation is blessed, whether they shed innocent blood

or not. host: that will impact your vote in 2020? caller: absolutely. it is going to be one of the major things that a lot of religious people look at. abortion andth even after is appalling. most christians, even if they are democrat, are appalled. i am looking in that direction. i hope christians around the world are waking up to this. that is my major thought this morning. , who isnda feldmann bureau chief and white house correspondent for the christian science monitor will join us of the hour, along with emily larsen who writes for the washington examiner. we will look back at the mueller report and what is next when the congress returns a week from monday. diane in kansas, good morning. caller: good morning.

the answer to your question for me is yes, religion does impact my political beliefs. to thecally with regard interpretation of the first commitment and the supreme court. amendment and the supreme court. an example would be when the sisters of the poor did not want to be forced to provide abortion coverage with their insurance. another example would be -- i think his name is jack the cake maker -- who did not want to be a lgbtq takevide -- cake for the customers who came in there. therek the point is should be fairness and equality but i think that drifts over into the aspect of forcing

people to give up their religion at some point. it is very difficult, sensitive situation, that even the supreme court has had a hard time dealing with. politics, i ammy going to look at who will be sitting on the supreme court, more from the point of view of protecting religious rights. that is my comment. host: thank you and happy easter to you. polls andthe exit evangelical vote. this assessment on how religious groups voted in the midterm elections. james from akron, ohio. good morning. don't -- my i religious view does not have anything to do with my vote. let me tell you why. , there areays lesbians, there are blacks,

there are whites that vote based on religions and they mostly vote republican and a vote because of abortion. here is my problem, i have listened people debate late-term cases, they those are making the decision do i want to kill the wife or do i have to kill the baby? somebody has to die because of complications. a few of them are stillborn. it may cause complications for the mother. as we talk about abortion and what abortion does, and this has been a political campaign for many years, because that why it was determined that they could do late-term abortions. late-term has to do with disabilities to the child that is 99.9% correct. stillborn, or a death of the

parent or child. we start throwing abortion in as a reason for voting. we are depriving ourselves with our needs and wants of this country as you see people of all genders that are deprived because of people voting for abortion. been is writing about the research -- jen is writing about the research. organized religion is a losing followers. she says for the first time no religion has topped a survey of religious identity. the nonreligious edging out catholics and evangelicals in a survey. john from new york city, good morning to you. caller: good morning. the separation of church and state should be going on in the country. oron't think any doctors

nurses are trained to kill babies. abortion is a necessity sometimes. that is what happens. i think the secular view is very important. want c-span2 help the population learn. science has not been mentioned. the christian science monitor where is theve, other side of that? religion has hurt people throughout history. inquisition, just in , -- these are people. let them in the church. it should not have taken 300 years for that. to manipulatey people like that.

we mutilate our children's genitalia due to a religious reasons. i can't believe c-span is not more helpful in guiding people and showing the history. i could go on for hours. host: you have been helpful in sharing your point of view. caller: even yesterday, it was about the mueller report. the country is $22 trillion in debt. perpetual war. we fight amongst each other. we have talked about the debt countless occasions over the last couple of months, the last couple of years. you are right. when we reach that $22 trillion

mark, another milestone to reach it in another 20 years. --caller: our government has failed a spare the people who try to come over to the border, is what happened in their countries. we'll should be meeting them with tents and cups of hot coffee, trying to help people. we don't do that to people in our own country. we should be doing it here. we shouldn't have military bases all over the world p we should have help centers. we need some organization to spread the word and have scientists on the program. where is gnome chomsky? it is nice to have us all spout out opinions, but there are facts.

science is what brings us facts -- those facts to the people. c-span should be helping that. proven why this program works. adding your voice and your view is the purpose behind this. remind you, we -- continue to follow us on facebook. a lot of tweets including this one thing separation of church and state. keep sending those tweets to us. a reporter for the christian science monster -- monitor and white house. chief will join us. as we look at the motor report and what is next. .lus, activist john koufos ahead of the health-insurance matttry, our guest is

eyles. that.kers follows here is a portion of the conversation. >> do you think the medical community has done a good enough job backing up the aca as it has been criticized for many years during the term -- the turmoil. it seems -- was a little quiet on that. >> i do not think there is any other thing trying to make it work. when you think about all of the we had to make to help states expand through the medicaid program particular not allmanaged care, states have gone there but the vast majority have. the aca is not just a that the

individual mandate. that is a big component but it touches the entire health care system here we have and i think out there actively trying to make it work for consumers to ensure that everyone has access to coverage in that way. think a little issue in the sense that we haven't been supportive of it. proposals andic ideas on how to make it better. i think we have been saying, let's fix what is not working. people who don't qualify for subsidies have been priced out. the cost of prescription drugs, leading to higher premiums with respect to hospitals consolidating and leading to higher prices. i think there are a lot of areas where we could find some

consensus on how to make the health care system work better and more affordable and taxpayers who pay so much for the medicare and medicaid programs. ,ost: our guest is matt eyles the president and ceo of america pluses health insurance than also available on the free c-span radio app and online as c-span.org. "newsmakers" at 10:00 a.m. eastern time here on c-span. our sunday roundtable with linda feldmann, washington bureau chief and white house correspondent for the christian monitor. and emily larsen, reporter. i want to begin with your piece, "impeach or pivot"? they have had days to assess or

-- the report from robert mueller. democrats saying is time to begin impeachment proceedings. >> elizabeth warren was the first top-tier candidate to come out and say the house should begin impeachment proceedings against president donald trump a somewhat she read -- based on what she read in the mueller report. that is different from nancy pelosi in another house leadership, that we should begin otherigations and look at things in the mueller report. it was before and, a lot of them are trying to hang back and fix campaign issues. bernie sanders put out a couple of tweets on the report but did not answer questions from reporters at his rally yesterday in south carolina.

hisid not mention it in speech is appears bit overworked also said people don't ask about it on the campaign trail. a distinct difference. we will see of it helps elizabeth one a little more support. 20 presidential candidates for democrats? we are approaching that i know. >> on wednesday, that will be the big elephant jumping into the pull. the motor report, i think a lot of people who have gone on the campaign trail and talked to voters themselves say repeatedly they want to hear about issues, they want to know, if they are democrats, who is person more capable of beating donald trump and what are your position on issues? how will you preserve access to health care, what will you do about workers rights.

it is a long agenda. the ability to break out as a big challenge in an enormous field. i think that is why elizabeth warren took the outlier position on impeachments. as each candidate tries to find his or her own path or lame to get to this conversation -- really tougha challenge. she is from massachusetts, right next to new hampshire. and she's up against bernie sanders from vermont and bernie ran last time and did quite well, better than expected. i think if elizabeth warren does not win the new hampshire primary, she is in big trouble. i think coming out early and raised a lot of money and did well on the money front and is very well organized, has top-tier staff, and this is a big challenge for her to

breakout and do very well. 30 -- there are three tickets in a hampshire. thisyou're up against diverse field, like pete -- kamalaor, harris harris, another interesting prison in the race, it will be tough. the former vice president officially entering the race on wednesday. former vice president biden has recorded a video near his childhood home that will launch the third attempt at this man nation in his long career. atran in 1988 but it was best an uneasy effort marred by an inability to ever find solid footing as allegations of plagiarism and economic fraud. he tried in 2008, dropping out after a fifth place showing in

iowa. obama forming a sincere partnership and placing him on the ticket, using biden i has a top adviser on all matters although obama in his inner circle carried a deep apprehension about biden seeking the nomination. where does this put him in 2020? biden, it puts him in an interesting spot. qualifiedar the most if you look at traditional in thecations candidate race. he was a vice president for many years, a senator for a long time. a native of scranton, pennsylvania, and it really highlights that a lot, even if he is representative of delaware in the senate, there is a lot of hope among democrats who support him that he can reach the voters

who donald trump breached and who effectively won the presidency for donald trump by flipping pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin. 25% does not mean victory but in a 20 person field, 25%, if he stays at that point, could lead him to the nomination. guest: and a lot of what polls have to do right now has to do with name recognition and joe biden does have 100 percent name recognition. bernie sanders has good name recognition. should not discount how well they're doing in the polls. they are very much miss -- they are very much leading. the process has a tendency to chew up front runners. it could be dangerous for but an c had a large lead poster i talked to said he maintains where he is right now, he is doing pretty well, but not so far ahead that he is seeing a big threat, it could be very

good for him. democraticd guard figure and a lot of the party is looking for new at fresher faces. that is a challenge for him to forward. >> you mentioned experience. the last two presidents had little experience and they both won the nomination. does that matter? guest: it does matter but charisma is important. i know people cannot stand donald trump but he has his own type of charisma for his supporters. he can command the stage here he is a genius at driving a message. now that he is the sitting president, it will be even harder to overcome his message with joe biden, you have somebody who yes, to some people, is a dinosaur, but he also for a lot of people can go toe to toe with donald trump and

biden is a little older so the in issue could lay a role hurting joe biden i think, but i think if he shows a lot of vigor and steers clear from damaging gaffes, and joe biden has a history of gaffes, some of them are funny and some of them are damaging. he could stay lay from that, that would be helpful. part of it is sort of the authenticity. that is who he is. -- tactile form of reit -- of politics. with donald trump calling him sleepy joe on twitter. guest: not sure that is the most effective and main theater i think trump will do better than that. host: a legal dispute. want to share with you this

writing and get your reaction. the unusual ending of the investigation stemming from a key legal disagreement from mueller's team and attorney general towbar, opening the door to clinical fight over presidential power, putting houses and decision-making inside the trump administration, the redacted mueller report makes clear he and his prosecutors use the office of legal counsel opinion to mean they could not come to a conclusion about whether the president committed a crime because it would violate the justice department rules of fairness -- standards of fairness to make such accusation. it is sort of a constitutional issue as well, whether the president can be indicted while he is sitting. the office of legal counsel said he cannot. robert mueller went so far as to say that we would not even make

a determination. put all the evidence out there of many people say, sort spent all of his findings to say that congress needs to figure this out through the impeachment process. a lot of democrats think this is trying to hint that. -- at. , a lot of people thought he was downplaying the findings in the press conference thursday before the report came said they did not make a determination either way when the actual report, a lot of people thought it was more forceful that congress should look into it. host: you have had a chance to review the memo and the report. yes, it was a stark and

different approach to the the unitary executive. as william barr has made clear, he believes the president cannot and in charge of obstruction of justice. believes itler would have been inappropriate for him to even reach that determination. so it was not like robert mueller could not make up his mind. they listed 10 episodes of potential distraction. it is not like he was saying i am not sure how serious this is. thats making this clear they were serious attempts to attract justice but it was not his place as special counsel to make a determination. there is a lot of uproar in washington about william barr seeming to cover for the president and put his thumb on the scale, set the narrative for the report have been released,

about this issue of objection. now it is in congress passes lap. you have got efforts by committee leaders to get the full unredacted report, get the underlying evidence. to have robert mueller up to testify. william barr is coming on may 2. this story is far from over. occupies theeport top three spots on the amazon bestseller list. there is interest on what is actually in the report here there is a lot to go and also, 14 referrals made by the mueller team to other jurisdictions. we don't know what most of that is. a lot of black doubt stuff. we only know two of the 14. michael cohen and gregory craig, who are in legal trouble.

know.hers come we don't over time, we will find out. host: the mueller report is available on our homepage at c-span.org. we will have live coverage of the house and senate hearings when they take place and also robert mueller. two other points. in the season in the sunday opinion section of the lucky,ton post, trump is putin is luckier, describing the president as a survivor. going back to the front page story of the washington post, mueller might have felt hamstrung because he was laying not only factual and legal concerns but also justice department policy. policy concerns are generally in the purview of the attorney general. mueller may have felt he could not by himself work around the office of legal counsel opinion

barring a criminal counsel charge. i am sure he was feeling constrained in uncharted waters. issues, it has not been something that has been seriously dealt with before. it -- former attorney general jeff sessions recused himself from the case. william barr came in as it was being completed. there was a change in leadership there. he was on his own for a bit of the time and thought the best course of action to take would evidenceher all of the for instruction of justice there, and heut likely felt it would be taking his role is step too far to say whether to indict the sitting

if not for that opinion, he would be indicted. he took the force of putting it all out there and leaving it in the hands of congress. our: we welcome all of viewers on sirius xm and in great britain, returning live every afternoon on the bbc parliament channel. we welcome you as well. a couple of issues over there including brexit and climate change in london. larry in maryland, good morning. republican line. good morning. the mueller report is a counterintelligence deception. the russian operative is hillary here in mueller is connected with her. they find individuals to make up lies. it is very deceptive.

democrats want to push for impeachment. go right ahead. it will trigger a second american revolution which will destroy the republic. vice president biden is on video had-- recently bragging, he a loyal terminated to benefit his son. and it also ties in with hillary. there is a ukrainian connection. there is a bunch of deception. i have not done any reporting on the issue of joe biden's's son. doesassuming joe biden announce his candidacy in a few days and there will be plenty of opportunities to dig into that and many more shoes to drop on the issue of the hillary end of this. you have trump as president, he has got william barr justice, they want to push the counter

narrative about hillary. but i have to say, i know a lot but some are upset, trump supporters are upset about the coverage of the mueller report, but to me you have to take it at face value and look at, so much attention has been paid to obstruction of justice. two volumes. the russian meddling, potential collusion, conspiracy and then obstruction. but it is an amazing read. again, we had an incredible laying out of almost countless attempts by russians to reach to various people in the trump orbit including his son. it is amazing to me that president trump has not for you the idea that russia did metal meddle in ourn --

election. i know a lot of you to flip is a look at hillary, but donald trump is the president and she is not. gets theand why that lion share of the coverage. >> nancy pelosi on a congressional delegation allies.g meeting with she was asked about the motor report and whether or not congressional democrats should move ahead with impeachment. here is what she said. assure you that whatever the challenge we face, the congress of the united states will honor its oath of office to protect and defend the constitution of the united states, to protect our democracy. we believe article one, the legislative branch, has the responsibility of oversight of our democracy. we will exercise that. host: she did not say we will

move ahead with impeachment. she is trying to balance two distinct wings in the democratic already. >> she certainly is. the wing of the party that wants to move ahead with impeachment. but who are also in districts that are pretty safe. can give political capital to push for that without worrying about whether or not it will alienate their voter base. posey, while she is not on board she remembersnt, 1998 and the clinton impeachment and how republicans did that. at the same time, she is allowing room for people to keep pushing with investigations and trying to build a case against

trump used in elections against him or if it comes down to finding something extremely serious, and there is enough political capital and votes to move ahead with impeachment, leaving that are open as well, she's not saying impeachment is completely off the table. she is saying this is not the time and to focus on 2020 and to move forward and evidence. you covered the clinton impeachment frontline. much a lessonvery for everybody about the risk of impeachment. for bill clinton, it was happening the second term here there was not an option of waiting to let the voters decide in the next election -- election. it is really the matter at hand and the clinch -- clinton derangement symptom to get him out of there. now we have the reversed from

people who think donald trump is a terrible president and they want to get him out of office as soon as possible. we have got less than two years to go. what the trump administration has done effectively as delay and resist attempts to get information. it hinges on information and evidence. we have got the mueller report but there are redaction's, underlying evidence, and we did not see anything about donald trump passes financial information, we didn't get tax or financial stuff. donald trump will not give that up. for him that is the ultimate redline. if president trump is reelected, it could all bleed over into the second it -- term. and emilya feldmann

larsen. we sat down with a democrat from michigan, the wife of the late congressman and along serving member of the house of representatives. we talked about the clinton impeachment, the resignation of clinton and what john dingell remembers about that. podcast the weekly, which you can get for free. our 102nd podcast. back to your phone calls, good morning. are you with us? tim.ore time for we will go to henry joining us from michigan. good morning, henry. good morning. i'm a devoted supporter of the last legitimate president of the

united states, barack hussein obama, whose economy and economic policies we are now enjoying, who gave tens of millions of people health care, and his legacy i hope is perpetuated in the future and treated like it should be. machiavelli said that love is held by the tile of obligation which, because man is a sorry breed, is broken on every whisper of personal interest. attorney general bill barr, donald trump, mitch mcconnell, the republican party, and trump supporters, illustrate that port -- that point every day. the media has a huge role to play in why the american public is so confused that the smaller report and its results. host: thank you. think the angle about

the media is interesting, the and how different political figures respond to the mueller report and media coverage. i think president trump was an expert at getting media coverage whether it was good or bad. still on tvhe was and still able to reach voters and people were still talking about him. it is one of the reasons he ripped -- went ahead of 2016's thed and ultimately won nomination. the media coverage on him is extreme. his message and his team's message consistently over and over, was that there was no collusion and note traction. completely vindicated. for aakes it confusing lot of people because the media has to respond to that and say here is the gray area, here is what is true, here is what is

not. he isave to report what saying. that could be a reason for the confusion. you took a deep dive into stephen miller, it and the headline is "stephen miller is winning the battle over policy. he went back to his high school years, he is 32 years old? he was in high school in the early 2000's. he is from santa monica, california. what did you learn? where thousand able to reach a woman who went to high school with him. since middle school. she become a very outspoken conservative. she said it was soft lawyer. most of us in high school don't have the informed political views just yet. and we shouting from the rooftops.

stephen miller was very active not only at his school, running for student government, but had already found his way into the conservative radio world and was going out and basically trashing his high school. for being openly liberal and politically correct. he was antagonistic toward a people of color. this is a diverse high school immigrants.f the speak english or get out of so his rise is quite something. he was a very smart young man and has very strong views. into the office of jeff sessions and developed his ideology.

into the trump orbit. is not in original on the trump campaign. there are few of those left. he is a think very skilled as an operator in the white house. you don't see him on television a whole lot. almost never appears in the briefing room to take questions. his influence is quite profound. all-powerful or the puppet master pulling the strings behind the scenes. you have as a counterbalance jared kushner. the president''s son-in-law who has been trying a more centrist approach, immigration policy. it is a little interesting as a sideshow in this very colorful trump white house. this easter sunday, jack, your next, providence, rhode island with linda feldmann

and emily larsen. good morning. jack. caller: good morning everybody and happy easter. i will be politically incorrect. the real issue coming up is this. wait for inspector harlots's report that will come out at the end of may and the beginning of june. secondly, something that is very quiet is this gentleman out of utah. dead silence on that. if you want to talk about obstruction, in my view, donald trump, his age saved him from crossing the line. but hillary clinton definitely did obstruct justice when she busted up those devices. that is a slamdunk case. because of the emails in there.

the point of the american people don't know about finding the missing emails, the national security agency has those. they monitor all communications across the globe. domestically and internationally. they do that. one final point. and iestry is dramatic didn't appreciate maggie a berman's insult to our people concerning a song. that really irritated me quite a bit. for your call. let's go back to his earlier point about 2016, hillary clinton, and the emails. it is now 2019 p or she is not running but that continues to come up from our callers. guest: especially more conservative and republican individuals. it is something that still , her emails are

missing. she faded out of the public eye a bit. no longer running for president and no longer in office. that is an issue that persists at the same -- but at the same time, it is the responsibility of the news media and congress, there is a lot going on with the trump administration and the people who are in power. it is in metal -- matter of balance that. there has not seems to be a lot -- and quite a while. that could be one reason why for the viewers that that is not continuing anymore. >> good morning and welcome to the program. >> i have a couple of questions for your guest. it seems like they are talking like to democrats.

-- two democrats. look at what we talked about earlier. about -- in talked his conversation with the press. he talked with smaller and mueller distinctly said, he side keep them fromt making a decision on whether he would prosecute or not. let's look back. what law did trump break to obstruct justice? those are my two questions. ?hat law did he break host: you wrote about this, emily larsen. guest: i cannot tell you the exact law that i will say and robert mueller,

william barr did mention in his press conference that they weren't would hundred percent on the same page as far as decisions on the attraction of justice issue. there are gray areas and fuzziness. the other question about at, you know, it is an issue for a lot of people. as opposedional one to the presidential power collection as to whether if the president tries to fire somebody who is technically under him, if that can be considered obstruction of justice at all. things the president can be charged with, and attraction of justice charge at all, it is a different issue when you get to the political process, which is why we're seeing congress talk

about impeachment, and you don't have to have obstruction of justice on a high legal where it is beyond proof of a reasonable doubt of black and white, more of a, what kind of country do you want and whether that is acceptable or not and if the questions are answered in congress, it will help fit -- shape future presidencies to come. .ost: that is emily larsen this report, the pressure is shifting to congress. republican line, good morning. >> thank you for taking my call. i would like to use the mantra of innocent until proven guilty. prior to the mueller report, democrats were praising miller -- mueller as the second coming.

well he proved apps will in nothing. i would like to add a final comment. the republican party consists of older white men such as myself. where does that leave joe biden? thank you very much. host: let me take that last point because you and others have basically said the same thing. biden is halfway to the nomination. is that somebody who can connect with working-class voters, established minded donors might be able to peel away at disaffected republicans and enjoy a solid relationship with african-american leaders. is that a fair assessment? >> i think so. a headline in the washington partycan the democratic be a white man? we have gotten so much into identity politics, and if you look at the current democratic

field, it is wonderfully diverse. six women are running. we have women of color. , ahave an openly gay person variety of religions and a variety of ages ranging from pete buttigieg who is 30 72 joe biden in his late 70's. they sayo voters, whoever can be donald trump, we don't care, but i think it will matter. what joe biden needs to do is demonstrate he can bring the and show theher voters he can really get them to turn out. barack obama was elected on a robust african-american vote. you can see joe biden emphasizing his connection to barack obama. some voters, if

they are not super motivated to vote, and you have african-american women, the bedrock of the democratic party, looking at a white male nominee, will they turn out? we just don't know. host: in the new york times, democrats ask -- if life -- white men are the face of the party. we will show this headline to you. from middletown new jersey, good morning. >> good morning, c-span. good morning. how are you? this is one of our loyal listeners who phones in every 30 days. we appreciate you standing by our policy. happy easter to you. welcome to the conversation. caller: thank you very much. and these two young ladies, good morning, young ladies. david is 94? caller: no.

95, steve. ast: may we all live as long it -- and as healthy as you. go ahead. i am a 90 five years young world war ii veteran and i have lived through every president since president harry who i consider the greatest president of my lifetime. , oruse it was not for him the bomb had not been dropped on japan, i wouldn't be in today. i would like to talk -- the thing is, president trump has indicated that there is no solution and no obstruction of justice. man who just spoke from louisiana spoke about a person is innocent until proven

guilty. that is a standard we should all live by. say that president trump has indicated he wants the country to go on with his business and stop talking about the mueller report. the most important thing is, looking for the truth, the most beautiful thing about the truth doesn't take sides. the truth is unbiased. there are people in our great country who don't like to hear the truth. i feel the most important people that should be satisfied or not democrats or republicans, conservatives or liberals.

the most important people that theld be satisfied are first two words to the preamble of a constitutional -- the constitution. "we the people." in and sayl jump thank you. we will talk to you in another month. we always appreciate your calls and your participation. thank you and have a happy easter as well. guest: wow. yes. i hope i have as much energy and engagement in the news when i'm 95. love his reminder of the constitution because that ultimately is what governs the constitution. all the official take an oath to uphold the constitution. members of congress, cabinet members, the president. we do not pledge loyalty to a president or a particular person. upholding thet constitution. what is striking is the ways in

which, so there is no judgment on whether he has done anything impeachable. but just how acai the norm he has behaved. there are certain norms that can -- don't go to laws but the way things have been done, he is so outside the oxen so many ways, that i think he has thrown a lot of people for a loop and force us all to go back and look at, what is the constitution? it is a real test for the country to have a president like donald trump who is so different and outside the box. not, in some ways, in many ways, not a trish will republican. -- a traditional republican. many people think he is an thependent who took over republican party. was elected by the american

people. to throw him out early would be to donald trump effectively a coup of some sort. indeed, the bar is extremely high to throw him out via impeachment and conviction in the senate. stressople call this a test of democracy that we are going through with donald trump. if you look at where things are in the country with an economy that is quite strong, in many ins, things are going ok this country. what is not to like? maybe the economy decides the election and not the mueller or tour the unorthodox trump presidency. host: nobody convicted in the u.s. senate. two presidents have been impeached. you can follow linda feldmann on twitter and our guest emily larsen.

rob, joining us from independence, missouri, hometown of harry truman. good morning. caller: happy. quite a transition from the last gentlemen, who is a fan. my question to both of the youes is what impact do think of the sheer number of democratic candidates with their very diverse opinions and views and selection will have in terms of how that will affect donald really haveoes not a challenger on his side. maybe there is one gentleman there, i cannot think of his name, but he does not have a challenger. do you think that is a negative effect or a net positive take? thank you for taking my call. i think right now, trump is definitely a snoring a lot of

candidates and only mentioning or referencing at the top here, joe biden. not officially a candidate but expected to announce. bernie sanders mentioned who is sort of skyrocketing to stardom in this election. elizabeth warren i think he has mentioned as well, but she has been in congress quite a bit. i think right now, trump is seeing this as a benefit and the candidates are trying to fight and in themselves another interesting fact is because there are so many democratic candidates, that will be interesting for how the democratic primary system works out in 2020. areuse all of the delegates

allocated proportionally in each state. there are no winner take all states. theoretically is a possibility nowhich there could be candidate over 50% of delegate votes for the nomination. issue. could be an additionally, i think it will depend a lot on the election who the front runners end up being and who the nominee ends up being. i think that is an important factor in this election. every candidate is anti-trump. was the firsten two, forcefully and say the house should come out with articles of impeachment but every candidate is anti-trump. they all want to be him. the question is which candidate is anti-trump vote here's what i bring to the table. former vice president joe

biden's plants. a video announcement is expected on wednesday. there was a report that he traveled to charlottesville, for a series of speeches. have you heard in the -- we have not heard anything definitive, have you? >> no. we don't even know where he will bases campaign. it be based in scranton, pennsylvania, his hometown? i think for joe biden, i'm not sure all of the early strategizing really matters in the end. joe biden is jumping in late and will have to post very impressive. the number is all about name recognition. it is difficult to break out of the pack and leap ahead.

a remarkable aspect of pete buttigieg's candidacy, that he has succeeded in doing that. the first round of debates are in june and that is a better opportunity for candidates to breakout. host: we will cover those as part of our white house coverage. rick in louisville, ohio, good independent line. it, i: about a year into got preferred to this. the way -- remember, george -- he became a born-again christian. he went and slaughtered a million iraqis, destroyed the

american economy, and kill themselves by going into multiple tours. you will get trump in this election, and this bill is a cover-up. the cover-up don't with hillary controlling the election between her and bernie sanders. >> i am not sure i agree with her analysis. i don't think karl rove turned george w. bush into a devout christian. i guess i don't really have too much more to say. host: mitt romney with this tweet. i have now read the mueller report and offered my personal reaction including the following year i'm sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and mis-direction of individuals

in the highest office of the land, including the president. a very forceful condemnation of the actions. a lot of people pointed to that and said this is where republicans should be, condemning what was in the motor report. but what is interesting about the tweet is he also notes he there was no structure of justice, unlike other democrats who are pointing to that and trying to its lore that point and continue hearings. i forgot the exact wording, but he said he is ready for the country to move on. continued investigations. i think that is something a lot of moderate democrats could use as a guide. acknowledging what is in the and the russia aspects of the mueller report,

, increasinganctions investigation into that. i think senator cory gardner mention of the rest aspect as well. while at the same time, politically beneficial for them to condemn the president to much, acknowledging for some members of knowledge and what have an moving past it is the plan. we have been following the developing story another death toll continues to rise now at 207 and for -- confirmed deaths. the apparent coordinated suicide americans may be among the casualties in the minority christian community on this easter sunday. back to your phone calls. tom in pennsylvania, good morning. i want to preference my comments with a revelation for you all that i grew up down the from new york

city. i know a new york con man when i smell him and donald trump fits the bill exactly. these empty heads calling in and great guyout what a donald trump is come you have to wonder, are these the same fools that sit on our juries, that they cannot see what is obvious and staring them in the face? do they sit around and gripe paying taxes and whatnot, but i noticed they use the interstate highway system whenever they need to. i noticed they don't mind availing themselves of police protection and fire protection, which is also socialism, you have got to wonder what people use for logic. as i said before, the scariest thing that these people who backed trump are the same fools

who sit on our juries. thank you. host: thanks for the call. republican line, gabriel. good morning. your reaction to what tom just said? caller: good morning. i am sorry to it i did not hear all of what tom said. host: what is on your mind this morning? a little wanted to say bit of a moral quandary with the presidential election, all of the democratic senators voted 311.st senate bill including cardon. he tried to send a bill to get us out of yemen, but then trump vetoed it. it is just come i don't want to vote for trump. i can't vote for any of the democratic senators.

host: this is really a challenge on the war powers act, with windows and pennsylvania avenue. >> it is interesting. part, on capitol hill, they would go along with president trump. on the issue of war power, there is a difference. not just over yemen, but over russian issues, russian sanctions, it was a near tonimous vote in congress lock in sanctions and president trump had no choice but to sign it because there was no way he would override the veto. for people who believe in a ,ystem of checks and balances it is heart and to see moments when you see congress sticking up for this to show prerogative.

the president began expressing support and sympathy wishing them a happy easter. two new tweets from the president at mar-a-lago. the trump hitters and democrats who wrote the mueller report were devastated by the no collusion finding p are nothing but a total hit job which should never have been allowed in the first place. despite no traction or collision, the radical democrat to not want to go to the legislature for the good of the people, but only to investigate and waste time. it is costing the country greatly and will cost the democrats big-time in 2020. bill is joining me on the democrats line from., pennsylvania. good morning, bill. >> good morning. i guess the president addressed at that -- addressed that tweet to tom. tom, you need to get the hate out of your heart.

happy easter. i can tell you, i want to ask your guests here a couple of questions. one, i just saw an editorial in the washington post a couple of and it said all along, fox news was right. a couple of your callers had been talking on the subject of abuse of power by the obama regime. is, you know, trump will get reelected again because i think howard schultz will get involved because howard schultz doesn't want a socialist to take over this country, and , it may seem like a simple matter but can smith, the statues traced in black because of some songs she saying 80 years ago. normal americans are fed up with this kind of craft -- crap.

a democrat all my life. the democratic party left me and i did not leave it. a guy like rfk would not be excepted in this party anymore. this is the kind of stuff were people out here when the rubber meets the up. why would they put a black drape over a statue of kate smith in philadelphia. the lady that sang god bless america. this is exactly why trump is going to get reelected again. i'm going to say hey, tom, how do you like those beings? host: thank you for the call. we should point out that kate smith's song has been banned from yankee stadium. it had been played since september of 2001. his points. is thei think that bill kind of voter that i don't presume to say who he might support in the next election. there are a lot of people who feel like the democratic party

has left them. there is a progressive wing coming in that wants to see a maternal -- return to normalcy. that is what joe biden is hoping to tap into. the more moderate democrats and working-class democrats. the old catholic voter family democrats who were with the party for a very long time and re is this change with political correctness and apologies left and right. having to deal with political within theirssues own party with congresswoman's omar's desk congresswoman omar's comments and how to decide that. that is something that is on a s' minds.er it is something that a lot of older voters are not thrilled with. host: next saturday, we will

have coverage of the white house correspondents dinner. also present trumps campaign rally in green bay, wisconsin -- president trump lost rally in green bay, wisconsin. >> i am looking at what joe biden has to say. i think he will be an important much in this race, not so a voice from the past but i think he will attempt to center the party a little bit. i think what we are seeing right now is almost asymmetrical warfare. you have donald trump who owns the airwaves in the twitter messagingterms of the from the republican party. from the democratic side, you have all of these voices. some of the loudest voices are some of the most far left voices. i look sandra oh conseil cortez -- alexandria ocasio

cortez. rein thingsing to in without losing them altogether. is a huge problem for the democrats, frankly. it is great to have a robust debate bute image -- the image that comes out could harm the party when they boil it down to one nominee and try to defeat donald trump next year. host: we appreciate your keen insight. for those who want to follow your, they can do so on the website. and emily larsen, thank you very much for being with us. we wish you a happy easter. we have a redemption story on this easter sunday. that is our next segment as we talked to john koufos. he is an inmate turn activist. he was at the -- turned activist.

he was at the white house with president trump. this weekend, we are trash the link -- traveling to rochester, minnesota. program including the origins of one of the most renowned medical facilities in the world, the mayo clinic. it is an american institution. it is at the heart of our country in many respects. it is the world's first and largest private multispecialty group practice. it is a big formal term but it means the specialists are working together in a highly organized way, devoting a whole range of unique, diverse talents with the sole purpose of serving the needs of each individual patient. it is the model that the mayo family developed with the

franciscan sisters that has expanded and grown to other medical centers and has welcomed patients from all over the world for more than 150 years. this is heritage hall, a museum that was established with a generous gift from john and lillian matthews. they are patients of mayo clinic and they had a unique vision. they said we want to add more voices to the choir and tell the great stories of mayo through contemporary museum exhibits, designs and films. is important that our congress, and the members of congress, can come together and focus on having policy and legislation that is meaningful and impactful and important to people. dismiss party politics and come together and protect american people and do their jobs. >> this week on q&a, high school student from the u.s. senate youth program talk about their expend their it's -- experience

spending the week in washington. >> we are here because we want to make a better world for ourselves. >> i think that our young people are very inspiring and we are passionate about our deals, especially seeing all of the delegates here this week. i have confidence in us that we could come together to reach a andensus that educates informs us across party lines. >> the one thing i can say is that especially as i looked around me at so many future leaders and so many fellow members of this rising generation, we are also involved and we care so, so much. thing, if one incredible has come from all of this, we are all awake. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q and a. washington journal continues. host: john koufos, we described this as a redemption sunday.

you are involved in an organization called right on crime, which is what? guest: is a division of the foundationc policy and it is a conservative leaning think tank prioritized on public safety. the idea is, i'm sure many of your viewers have heard about in texas, texas led the way, closing eight prisons since 2005. the crime rate went down through smart criminal justice reform. right on crime was a big piece of that. in d.c., has offices which i am privileged to work at. states put together smart criminal justice reform that prioritizes public safety, victims and workforce development and ways to get people back on track. oft: eight years ago, june 2011, what happened? guest: june of 2011 was the end alcoholism andth

almost the end of someone's life. i was driving drunk and i hit somebody driving home drunk one night. and -- host: you left the scene of the accident? guest: yes. i tried to lie my way out of it for four days. when i cleared up and turn myself in-- turned and thank the lord that that person lived, it is something that haunts me every day. i do this work not because i can't find another job but because this is daily atonement for me. as -- if we can put the intervention first, we save tomorrow's victim. if you are an alcoholic or have an opioid addiction, if we can solve that, we can save the next victim. i am blessed that i did not kill anyone. you know what, that was purely by the grace of god. experienceu had an

with the criminal justice system, we want to hear from you. we are dividing the phone lines to philly. for those of you who have had expanse in the justice system. (202) 748-8000 for the east coast. mountain-8001 four the and west coast. you went to jail for how long? guest: i went to jail for six years. i was at bayside state prison. when i was practicing law, that was the place that my clients were afraid to go to. i represented murder cases and organized crime cases. it was an eye-opening experience. one i put myself in and deserved to be in. i do not make any excuses for what i did, nor do i call my sentence unfair. it was also a place where both

the best in some people and the very worst. host: you were also disbarred. was that fair? i think mines will disagree. the disciplinary review board actually voted to not disbar me and to suspend me for three years. in a 6-2 decision. the new jersey supreme court voted to disbar me by one vote. i guess in the political atmosphere, i won the popular vote but lost the votes that matter. i look at it like this. without that disbarment, i never would have been on the path i am on. i would have probably gone back to practicing law and then back into my old -- at least my old career, not my old personal life. likedk that i would have to have seen it go different leap but it didn't and here we are. host: during that time in prison, what were the days like? guest: prison is like watching a

clock that never moves. the lights go on at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. all you are trying to do is to get to the next movement or the next meal until the day is over. whereas you and i will chat for an hour and it will go by like that, when you are in prison, and our feels like -- an hour feels like the clock has never moved for many hours. you try to better yourself where you can. some prisons are better at it than others. for me, i was a janitor in the center building at bayside state prison. so, i did my morning's mopping floors there. i was a janitor in college so i returned to my roots in some ways. in that way, i worked on myself where i could. we had some limited alcohol programming and other programming. i had time to read and reflect and think candidly. it is general population. you have to dodge fights.

you have to dodge the drugs and alcohol. you have to dodge gang activity. there is a survival mechanism, of course. host: how did you do that and what carried you through? guest: i had great people on the outside. i had some great friends who sent me a lot of letters and visited me a lot. a lot of lawyer friends came and visited. a criminale, i was defense lawyer and an lawyer.ity -- and naacp the inmates were not the problem in most of the cases. the guards, not all of them agreed with my former life as a defense lawyer and they let me know that. some more forcibly than others. i really did not have problems with too many inmates. the system is difficult. you never want to be a high-profile guy in prison. you want to fly under the radar. that was never going to happen. i had tried murder cases all over the state. host: you were at the white

house for the first step act. let's watch a portion of that. blessing --e alcoholism sent me to prison. i was addicted years ago. and i was able to find sobriety, get clean. a job,lins gave me helping out in texas with reentry initiatives. jared andy banca have been -- jared and ivanka have been so wonderful. i want to tell you that this is going to lead to jobs. we will make folks job ready. we will make sure that people who may not have been contributing to taxes are paying taxes and will redeem their lives and be reunified with their family. god bless you. thank you. [applause] host: from the oval office, what did that feel like, having been

in prison and then being in the oval office? guest: it is surreal. this whole experience is surreal. blessed. i think the president needs to be commended for his courage on criminal justice reform. it is not exactly the most popular thing to do it in your first term. it is clinically insensitive to do that. number two, -- politically insensitive to do that. number two, to willingly police -- embrace people who have been to prison with open arms who want to be the solution. he has made it so that all of us feel like we have an opportunity. the first step back response to a number of things that went wrong in the 90's in the clinton crime bill and has gone wrong in states across this country. for me, personally to go from prison to helping build reentry programs for five of the former governors in new jersey to touching to resolute deaths and

having the opportunity to talk to president trump on camera was a blessing that can only happen in sobriety and service. host: this bill will do what? guest: a number of things. there is a prison reform and and a sentencing reform and. ,n the prison reform in, -- end we make sure goodtime credits happen. certain prisoners can go to custody where they receive services. you do 85% of any number you get and then you go out to supervised release. this allows pre-released custody so you can acclimate to the community faster. of the problems of the old crack cocaine sentencing disparity where you received more time if you had a crack offense instead of a cocaine offense. as far as retroactive resentencing.

it allows for the safety valve. it gives judges more ability to exercise their discretion for certain offenders, rather than be handcuffed by mandatory minimums. in addition, that pre-released custody ties in with job training programs. that way, we make sure people are incentivized to get programming, get treatment and get their lives back together. host: the president signed the bill into law. here is john kennedy opposing this legislation which passed and is now the law. >> i believe that the primary goal of a criminal justice system is not deterrence. most important goal. nor is retribution. nor is rehabilitation. rehabilitation, deterrence and retribution are important goals

of the criminal justice system. but they are not the most important. goal of amportant criminal justice system for most americans is justice. again, it is not to say that deterrence and rehabilitation aren't important but they go to the effectiveness of your penal system. they have nothing to do with justice. do in theat we try to united states congress when we establish rules for sentencing criminals. that, it is hear justice, it is not retribution or he ability. guest: that is somebody's definition of justice. we have to look at the reality of the system. -- 70 to72 80 billion $80 billion. 95% --

if we know that 95% of everyone locked up is coming home, if we know that we have a half or two thirds fell right, we know we have to -- fail rate, we have to take a different approach. we want the streets safer. we want people working and re-unifying with their family and paying job support and getting their lives back together. if what we know -- we know what we have been doing has -- it sounds like a foolish endeavor. host: our guest is john koufos. he is the director of the reentry initiative for an organization called right on crime. us foris joining mapleton, illinois. caller: i am a bit more cynical than you are. i am not as optimistic because i worked in law enforcement from 1981 through 2003 in california. back then, they were not called opioid addicts or anything like

that. they were called junkies. see a changing demographic of people going to jail. back then, it was brown, black and poor whites. and you talk about federal crime when the majority of people sentenced were in state statute courts and they are doing state time. that is different than doing fed time. if they are going to have reform, i will hold judgment until i see who it affects. my guess is this reform that we are talking about is to keep suburban people out of jail because they are the ones affected by this "opioid epidemic" which is a felony crime. and to be consistent, law & order types should be screaming for people to be in prison. host: we will get a response. thank you for your call. guest: thank you for your service. most of the people are locked up in state facilities. right on crime has state

directors across the country to respond to smart criminal justice reform in different states. with respect to who is getting locked up, i think that, look, a series of crime -- crime has evolved. back when you were in law enforcement, yes it was locked everyone up. everyone who does drugs is a junkie and let's just throw away the key. that clearly does not make sense. i am a living proof of a guy who was an alcoholic and although i went to prison and i deserved to go to prison, when i went, my life changed for the better. i am sitting on c-span with steve. if we continue to look at this as let's just lock up people who saying, theere is a war on drugs is over and drugs one. i think we need to have a different take on this. host: the next caller is thomas. good morning and welcome to the program.

caller: thank you for taking my call. congratulations to you, john. i believe you deserve it. guest: thank you. caller: my two takes on the prison reform and the overall umbrella of everything you are saying. my son is 47. half his life, he has been in state prisons. host: why? caller: after all that time, no skills. no recovery. he is back on the streets, literally. no success there. on the other site, my first cousin, half of his life in the federal system. and i will give him credit. he has stayed clean. visiting andr prisons, it ishe just for profit.

it is a moneymaking deal an. host: let me jump into talk about your son for a moment. what should have been done that was not done during his time in the state prison? caller: like john said, they watch the clock. they do menial jobs. no training. drug recovery or alcohol recovery programs are there and my boy did find success in that. only because he was lazy and did not want to go through the trouble to hustle for drugs. and he is still a lost puppy. at 47. it is a little late to be a puppy. areuld say prisons for-profit. it depends on which prison. i know there are some good ones pray there is christianity in some of these prisons. go andhad prisons

preach. god bless them all. overall, i do not see prisons doing anything in the big picture, as we wish they would. izedke the political specs of reform but it's not going to happen because it is too profitable. too much money being made behind the bars. there are good guys who deserve to get out. there are guys who don't deserve to be there. we know that. we have to change laws and we are trying to do that. i love president trump. he is jumping in. god bless any of you that jump in and try to do something positive. --made a distinguish he distinguished state and federal prison. you do not want to go to a federal prison. absolutely not. host: thanks for your story.

luck to your son. i hope he finds the right path -- good luck to your son. i hope he finds the right path. guest: feel free to reach out to me. right on crime is based in austin, texas. maybe we can find some help for him. just to respond to the lack of services in prison. where i was in new jersey, i was lucky to watch chris christie close midstate correctional. that is where i went to prison first before bayside. he closed midstate correctional and turned into a full drug treatment facility so inmates could get the same treatment they would get on the streets inside a prison. i think we are seeing this pop up in michigan. we are seeing vocational villages in south carolina -- we are seeing vocational villages. in south carolina, they have a reentry prison where folks are coming out with services. the times are changing, perhaps a little slow but we are getting there. i look forward to hearing from you about your son. host: if you want to get more

information, a look at america's prison population is committed to having the world's largest prison population. 2.2 million people behind bars. that is a 1.9 million increase since 1972. the next caller is from new jersey. dale, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to thank you for taking this call. i also want to congratulate our new jersey guy, john koufos for doing such amazing work and represent our state. as an activist in the state of new jersey, i want to say that prison reform has been a blessing here in 2019. awe of watching this

remarkable work in done. i worked with so many people over the last 21 years to get to this part. and so, i just want to commend you, john, for representing our state. you keep fighting to make these changes on a positive level. it is important to change the laws and the sentencing laws. many, family reunification is so important. ourselves asat people who have been incarcerated, not inmates and not ex-convicts. i think it brings empathy to the work that we do when you are looked at as a person who has been in prison. thank you, c-span. host: thank you. a quick look at what is in the first step back. it reduces sentencing guidelines for drug felonies.

mandatory minimum sentences in a number of cases. it makes retroactive -- the retroactive sentencing act of 2010 and expands sentencing programs. guest: those are major things. every one of those things is a public safety outcome. it forces a risk assessment when a person gets into the bureau of prisons that classifies them in certain ways. importantly and often overlooked is a dyslexia assessment. theexia is a huge issue in prison system now. it is misclassified as a literacy. cy.illitera there is a lot of great stuff in this bill. the bureau of prisons and the department of justice is working on implement to get. they have been kind enough to

invite people like myself to talk about those issues and have different listening sessions. i am encouraged by what i see. going back to the first caller for he talked about the issue being in the states and he is 100% correct, i think that one of the powers of the first step act is that we are seeing other states follow that lead. follow has something called the florida first step act. we are seeing other states seeing who can be smarter on crime. the catalyst for that was president trump and the first step back. host: let me go to something the caller talked about. if you are in prison and you know you're going to be out in seven years, why is it so difficult to retrain these inmates to make sure they can get back into the workforce and not end up back in prison two or three or four years after they leave. is it a cost factor? guest: i think it is a mission

factor. some view their mission as safety and security. we are here to keep the inmates safe. and theyt kill anyone don't kill themselves. many prisons have not sent -- seeing themselves as part of the broader public safety system. where if we fix the system, we get better inmates and better people coming out. we are seeing that change as well. michigan has vocational villages designed for this purpose. there is a great nonprofit called the last mile run by reveille -- beverley and chris. they are teaching coding in san quinn and coding in indiana prisons. programs pop these up. i had the pleasure in new jersey, thanks to our chairman of the board with former

governor mcgreevy and his relationship with the unions, as well as thanks to the motor vehicle office and my friends and the state bar. we developed a program which were stored over 400 drivers licenses in the three years i ran the program. thanks to jim, we were able to get so many of those folks into the building trade unions. you have folks who have never had drivers licenses going on to be laborers and carpenters. host: if you have had experience in the kernel justice system or if you have served time in a federal or state prison, we would love to hear from you. our phone number is (202) 748-8002. cj is next, joining us from richfield, minnesota. good morning. caller: good morning to you and happy easter. thank you for letting me get a chance to get in on this. back in the day when president obama went into the prison system, he was the first sitting president to go into a federal

penitentiary. democracy cover the story for the two weeks he was in there. when i heard it mainstream, it went like this. president obama is releasing deadly criminals. what was your take on how it was handled when obama did it versus trump? thank you for letting me get that in. guest: i think the first thing is when you say obama did it, president obama did go into the prisons, yes. and he did commute some towardes, many sentences the end of his term. what president obama was not able to do was to get meaningful criminal justice reform off the ground. that could be for a number of factors. so, yes, president obama did print clemency to many people on his way out the door. and that is common with presidents and governors around the country. we see them issue pardons or clemency or tackle things like criminal justice 25 seconds

before they leave office because then it is politically safe and expedient. i think that alone should tell you what we are seeing right now. when we are seeing the white house get out in front of this issue when they have an election coming up in 18 months, out in front of this issue when it is not the political playbook, i think that should give some insight into jared kushner's dedication to the issue and the president's dedication to the issue. senator booker's dedication to the issue for making sure the sentencing reform got in with dick durbin. i think that is the best response to it. what i hope this is is we saw president obama grant many clemency's on the way out the door. we are seeing president trump do criminal justice reform like it has never been done in the first term. let's hope it is the positive momentum to get us where we need to go. host: amy is next, good morning. caller: good morning.

i want to ask a question about profit prisons. i have a friend, my best friend is from south towards a. her nephew -- south georgia. her nephew has an opioid addiction. his father was an addict. he spent his time in and out of prison. he is currently in a facility in the georgia area. they only take money from the government. wasalso, the prisoners, she telling me the other day that they charge five dollars for something. do you mean a mini package of ramen noodles? she said no, one pack of ramen noodles, they charge five dollars.

this goes for any service they provide. their families have to pay fees which most people in prison are already poor. another question i wanted to ask , iut, not just the prophets b read a statistic recently where two thirds of private prisons have lockup quotas. they are contracted with the state and the average lockup quota is 90%. in florida, we have a 90% lockup quota. host: i will stop you there. you have brought up some important issues. this seems to be a theme with for-profit prisons. your response. guest: first, i was -- i don't have a lot of expertise in private prisons. i was locked up in a public prison. much't understand how worse a private prison could have been.

we know that most of the folks in private prisons today are on ice holds. that is the overwhelming majority of where private prisons are. the caller talked about the price of ramen noodles. that is canteen or called commerce area. prisonrivate and public has that. the amounts are too hi to buy food anyway. to buy food anyway. what i have heard and what i have seen our you have rates in the contract that give you a set amount whether you have that many inmates or not. ran aw jersey, we parole date community center. hadhat center, whether we 40 people on parole or one person on parole, we got the same amount either way because that is the only way it is profitable for anyone to get

involved in even doing the service and providing the service. i don't know enough about private prisons. some of the things the caller mentioned, the cost of phone calls are through the roof. at is something i have seen in public prisons as well. host: date is next in charleston, south carolina. -- dave is next in charleston, south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. it has been a while. as far as private prisons, if you follow the money, you can see what it is. dick cheney is invested in private prisons. there was a situation in pennsylvania, a few years ago where a judge and a prosecut ing attorney were getting people locked up for minor offenses because they had stock in the prison involved. war, it hase drug

been a cash cow for state and local governments. they get a large amount of their money from fines levied against people for minor drug offenses. i think it is like a $1200 fine. if you multiply that by several hundred people, you are pulling in some money. the whole issue of crime and punishment is rich, powerful people make mistakes. poor people display criminal tendencies. host: your response. guest: one thing i take from that is the fines and fees issue. they are exorbitant in this world. when i talked about those driver's licenses that we were, almost all of them were for unpaid fines and fees. we are not talking about tens of thousands of dollars. we are talking about a $200 ticket or a $50 ticket somebody could not pay. it becomes a warrant and the person gets arrested and the cycle continues.

that is an issue that right on crime and many other leaders are working on. itnew jersey, we dealt with through the legal community. justice dismissed 789,000 old parking tickets and fees in response to this problem. we have seen the same in michigan before the governor went out the door. he is correct to the extent that we are trying to help people reenter society. it is a huge barrier. it is a huge barrier to getting identification. what are you going to do if you can't identification? host: the day he walked out of state prison, what were you thinking? the very first thing i was thinking was when do i get the chance to apologize to my victim? host: did you? guest: i was not permitted to try. i was able, when i was on bail,

i would talk to the lawyer privately on the phone and i did for an hour. that was the best i could do. when i got off of parole, once i have the certificate and handed 2016, i called the lawyer again and said i'm still here and i would like to apologize. there is no excuse for what i did and i want the person in the family to hear it from me. kind and i called again six or seven or eight weeks later. no response and that is there right. right, i injected myself into their world. this poorly killed guy who was doing nothing but walking down the street. there is no excuse for what i did. he has recovered from what i am told. injured that i -- for somebody like

me and it is timely for easter, i was someone who blamed god for g that went wrong. my father was a federal fugitive and my mom was a young mother. i was living under assumed names for a period of years. none of that is an excuse for what i did. i am just giving you context. every time something went wrong in my life, i blamed god. every time something went right, i want a trial or did something great careerwise, it was obviously all john. that is alcoholic thinking. that is not smart thinking. that it took me nearly killing somebody and watching that person recovery when they shouldn't have recovered. myself, at the medicals

they should have died. if you didn't believe in god before, you better now. r that was the crystallizing momenti in my life that got me -- that was the crystallizing moment in my life that got me to therapy. if they want to hear an apology 20 years from now, i am there. if they never want to, that is their right. there is a lot of people like me carehave victims who don't . but there are so many that do. van in courage by what jones is doing that speaks directly to the issues. have people that hurt show a perspective of healing. i hope to have the privilege to apologize to my victim one day. the organization -- host: the organization is right on crime. john koufos serves as the

national director of the reentry initiative. in california, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing this morning? >> wonderful. hope you're having a blessed holiday. caller: i'm having a better today than i was yesterday. why do you think there is a difference between men's and women's prison? guest: that's a great question. first of all, we have seen an explosion in the amount of women being incarcerated in this country in the last few years. i think part of it is that. the other part is the system has been built for the majority of inmates, which are men. but they don't take into account some of the specific problems that women face between family reunification. between medical issues and different products and even shackling. the first things that was done was banning the shackling

of pregnant women which seems like it would be a no-brainer. , iing been to prison myself have been to women's prisons, visiting as well. i remember visitation in a male prison and they were full of women visiting men. when you go to a women's prison, very few men visiting women. it is grandmothers. aunts. there is a drop-off in connectivity. i am inspired by seeing states picking that up and trying to make more specific programming for women. host: oliver from st. petersburg, florida. thank you for waiting period caller. whoer: i have a brother spent 27 years in federal prison. host: on what charges? caller: nonviolent drugs.

he was going to be released from n.ison b the problem is that the state of has a container on him in 1992 for a parole violation. they did not give him a chance for a parole hearing at that time. now, he signed a waiver that let them go ahead and do a hearing without him being present. commissioner on the review made a decision to bring for 24 moreflorida years in the state prisons, which i think is unfair. host: thank you for sharing your story. does this sound familiar?

guest: sure. hazelton, my heart goes out to you. that is one of the worst places to be in the federal system. i have old clients there. host: why? guest: hazelton is described as a dungeon. it is an old prison. the designation right away, all the usp's are of higher security classification then your federal correctional institutions and camps. it's starting from the bottom. you have a camp and you have federal credit external institutions -- correctional institutions. and then usp is, united states penitentiaries. those are the places where they withcally sent people long sentences or who cannot get along with other prisoners. peoples remember that as

writing me letters trying to help them get out of there. host: with respect to the detainer issue, this speaks to people having other things going on in the states. the prisons know they have this going on and no one is making an effort to resolve it. i am not allowed to give legal advice given my disbarment. hopefully this gentleman's family member will try to apply for credit. what i think, i will tell you a personal story. guest: i came from a place called brick, new jersey, maybe 100,000 people at the most. at one point, i was a public defender in the town. when i got arrested, when i got sent to prison, my house had rocks instead of a lawn. weeds grew to the rocks.

officer writes a ticket to the house which is linked to me. everyone knows i am in prison. rather than connect with the prison to figure that out, they go and suspend my license and issued a warrant for my arrest for failing to appear in court because i have resources and friends in the court was why that on handle before i got out. wereny of the things dozens of things that could have been handled easily while someone was locked up and nobody bothered to do it. host: eden, good morning. caller: good morning. you are doing an excellent job, c-span. let me step back a moment and talk about chuck. obviously someone who came out of watergate and spent some time in prison and was

, beingg, observing recruited by islamists and certain prisoners. throughout this entire discussion, i don't sense that cane is a way in which we divorce the radical islamists from the rest of the criminal population in the prisons. it is something which i have been scratching my head over ever since i opened up the wall street journal and saw that an op-ed in had which he mentioned my name and mentioned the fact that i had

been one of the early ones to observe this same trend. we have moved on. we have moved on. host: thanks for the call. he also wrote born again. guest: chuck colson, his work lives on in prison fellowship which is an amazing organization for those of you not familiar with it. they worked so heavily on the first step act as well. craig.ike heather and i think chuck colson did his great work -- his great work responded to more than what the caller described. his work has been redemptive across this country. the reason we have second chance month and the president declared april second chance month was because of chuck colson. we are lucky to have them working in the prison to bring spirituality to both state and

federal inmates soon. host: we will go to matthew in san francisco. good morning. caller: good morning. kudos to you guys, i appreciate the effort. withe direct experience the justice system. i was sentenced in 2017. of cap.participant it was a truck convention. -- drug conviction. someone who had never touched a drug in my life until age 40. because of that i was looking at 10 to 20. i got that down to four to six years.

of the opportunities i was sentenced to three years of federal probation. c.a.p., basically it is intensive supervision. there is judicial oversight. folks meet up with a team of prosecutors and attorneys, our judge, which ends up being our sentencing judge. i can't speak highly enough of it. i was one of the first right to its of the program. program.tes of the i have one year left on paper. up -- operation called code tenderloin. now, our job is a month-long program meeting three

days a week. at lincoln headquarters. they donate the space. we work with individuals that are in a halfway house. i am also in a residential program. , myit is an opportunity participation -- i am all over the place because i am excited about being on tv. , can ian opportunity to say judges names? host: sure. guest: -- caller: judge charles was my initial sentencing judge. i had a speedy trial. when i went to go get sentenced, the judge said it was a difficult case. i've been doing this for 18 years and i don't know what to do. he said i am convinced you are never going to sell drugs again.

i'm not convinced you will ever do them again. go get well and we will pay for. -- pay for it. my family was behind me. i had 17 years of education and had never done a drug in my life. my partner was killed by a drunk driver and that was a tailspin for me. i had just recently come out. --ppened, host: bottom line, how are you doing today? caller: today, life is great. i speak at the graduation sport cap. -- four cap. participate in the wellness program, working with

individuals that have mental illnesses. it works. incarcerating individuals for drug charges or what have you is not the answer. theing them help and resources they need, that is where we need to go. i believe you said that. you have addressed that issue. how we do that, i am lucky in san francisco, it is still not enough but we are able to help those or try to help those. i will be looking into the right on crime organization and may be reaching out to you. guest: we'd love to hear from you. thank you so much for all that you're doing and sharing your strength through some troubling times. what you hit on is the importance of diversion courts. mississippi just passed a law thanks to the leadership of governor bryant which adds diversion courts to their lineup

of options. diversion courts work well in states around the country. in new jersey, governor christie mandatory fort some offenders. it can be powerful. courts.e veterans i am so happy that you had the opportunity to get into a diversion program and you are making the most of that opportunity. i look forward to hearing more from you. host: matthew, thank you for sharing your story and good luck to you. those were some incredible stories. what is your takeaway? guest: i think that the viewers should realize that there is a lot of great people out there who are trying to get a second chance. people that would do anything for a second chance. system.t get out of the sometimes, when i talk about the system, i remind people about

the hotel commercials. you can check in but you can't check out because they are stuck on this flypaper between trying to get your life together and get a drivers license and report to parole and find housing and get job training. i am really inspired by what i have heard from people. i am inspired by what i am seeing. i think that criminal justice reform is a civil rights issue of our time. it is the justice issue of our time and it is the prosperity issue of our time. people as left as van jones standing with the president on the issue and coming together on one thing, that is probably the right thing. i am blessed to be here with you. i am blessed to be hearing from them. host: if you want to get more information on john koufos, the headline, debunking the lies about the first step act. in arizona, good morning

to you. caller: good morning. to those that are celebrating easter, happy easter to you. this gives me an opportunity to address the nation. crime andproblem with is we need to take an approach at things. i have spent more than 10 years in prison myself. having known that experience, i need to tell you first that long before i got locked up, i was trying to find an agency to give me help to deal with my problems. and because i did not have poor, youmoney or was -- i could not obtain any kind of preventative care, if you

will. up offending anyways. i made a big point of that to and all the things you get when you go inside. host: did it make a difference? caller: definitely. i am what you call a survivor. i have not re-offended and do not plan to. and othermy lesson lessons as well. host: i will stop him there because we are short on time but your response. guest: sure. what historic exhibit phis something we see all the time -- his story example phis something we see all the time. exemplifies something we see all the time. if we increase the social safety net, the services like this

gentleman was talking about which presumably involves mental health, addiction and housing, you will divert a whole bunch of people from the prison system in the first face -- place. we are seeing crisis intervention teams were people are in mental health treatment. that is maybe the second step of criminal justice reform, increasing the pre-entry. what do we do to make sure you never go into the first place. host: thank you for telling your story and thank you for being with us. guest: thank you for having me. c-span3's american tv is all day. we are back at 7:00 tomorrow morning. among our guests will be dennis hayes. he is the cofounder of earth day. our monday roundtable has two

authors. ana palmer of politico and jake sherman. that is tomorrow morning. thank you for being with us on this easter sunday, wishing you and your family the very best. enjoy the rest of your weekend. have a great week ahead. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, announcer 1: newsmakers is next with a perspective on health care for all, deductibles and how the law could be improved. at 10:59 clarence thomas talks about his future on the high court, the role of faith in the judiciary and his selection process for clerks. that is fun by remarks by one of

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