>> next, live, your calls and comments on "washington journal ." after that our road to the white house coverage continues as editor kiersten gillibrand meets with voters in goffstown, new hampshire. a.m., they do what work attending a campaign house party in bedford, new hampshire. and democratic presidential candidate john delaney meeting with voters in hollis, new hampshire. >> this morning, ariane tabatabai with the rand corporation has the latest on tensions between the u.s. and iran. and then sarah warbelow from the human rights campaign talks -- later,rts to amend robert atkinson discusses his

recent article examining china's economic model. and we will take your calls and and we will take your calls, and you can join the conversation on face book and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal." past couple of years, america's farmers stuck in the middle of a trade war, seeing rice's down, credit dry up, and -- prices go down, credit dry up. for many, it is going to get worse before it gets better. with this in mind, we are turning over our first hour to america's farmers so they can tell us what they think needs to be done. first, we will open up our phone minds to farmers only to hear what their top public policies are. if you are a farmer in the

eastern or central time zone, we want you to call (202) 748-8000. if you are a farmer or in a farm family from the mountain or pacific time zone, we want you to call (202) 748-8001. and keep in mind, you can always reach us on social media, on twitter @cspanwj, or on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. let's first set the stage here, so we are all knowing what we are talking about. coming from the "des moines week, a" earlier this story talking about what is going on with farmers in iowa. cold, crumbling trade talks with china, northern iowa farmer brent renner struggles to be optimistic. renner,challenge, said a 43-year-old who farms near kiemme, a town of about 500

people west of clear lake. a lot of us think it cannot get any worse, that it can only go up from here, but that is probably not a safe bet, he said. prospects for improved prices are dimming, experts say come up with record supplies, disease sweeping through china's pig herd. earlier friday, president donald tariffsushed to 25% from 10% on $200 billion on chinese goods, and the president is threatening to slap tariffs on another $325 billion. and these are happening at the international level, directly impacting the bottom line of our producers and affect the economics of our communities and our county, said jay, the

economist, and importantly, i think it shows that you continue to see a downward slide of some of these things. said the environment is not as dire as past farm crisis, the devastation of the mid-1980's, but the situation will continue to take a toll unless it is resolved. wrapping up a high profile trade agreement with china and japan as well as a replacement for the north american free trade agreement. news and world report talks a little bit about what the administration is planning to do right now. u.s. agriculture secretary sonny perdue said on friday that president trump had asked him to create a plan to help american farmers cope with the heavy impact with the u.s.-china trade war on agriculture.

it would be the second round of assistance for farmers after the $12 billion plan last year to forensate for lower prices lost ale simmering from trade dispute with china and other nations. from sonnyweet perdue. "while china may backtrack, potus is steadfast in his support for u.s. farmers and usda to work on a plan quickly." that is a tweet from friday. here is a tweet from him from today from president trump, from early from yesterday. s will bring in ,ar more wealth to our country and much easier and quicker to do, our farmers will do better, faster, and starving nations can now be helped. waivers on some products will be granted or go to know source."

remaining $325 billion. the u.s. only sells china approximately $1 billion of goods, a very big in balance, with only $100 billion in tariffs that we taken, we will buy. " so once again, keep in mind that this hour is open for farmers only. if you are in the eastern and central time zone and are in a farm family, we want you to call (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zone, we want to your from you at (202) 748-8001. we want to know if you are a farmer in a farm family, what is your main concern right now? what is your public policy concerns that you want your public officials to be discussing and talking about? so the house agriculture committee on thursday had a hearing, and they heard from farmers from across the country

on a variety of issues. here is the response from a minnesota state farmer about how these trade battles have impacted his business and community. [video clip] >> it all comes down to markets are you mentioned our community. our community is pretty diversified and resilient, kind of its own economic engine, but if we go farther out into rural america, there is my concern. it is about the communities, it is about the farmers that can spend money in those communities. that keeps schools, that keeps the medical industry, that keeps infrastructure, fire departments, rose, bridges, things like that, just commerce. rural communities, smaller towns are so vital to our whole demographic and their ability to and family farmers on farms keep our cropland from being owned by corporations which, i feel, would turn into foreign investment and farmland, and eventually, possibly, some of the loss of our own food supply

or control of our food supply, excuse me. so to answer your question, you know, and put it into numbers, i am not going to speculate or guess, but when farmers do not have money, they cannot spend it in town, and not having the markets that are checkoff dollars and our negotiators in the past have negotiated for, we need to get ships tied up to dock in foreign countries, and i do not think we can accomplish that by telling our customers how to act. host: let's go to jesse, who is calling from pennsylvania. jesse, good morning. [no audio] good morning. how are you? host: i am doing fine care what kind of former are you, jesse? caller: pay in grain. host: gotcha. what do you think official should be concentrating on right now to help farmers get over

this hump? think first of all, push local food, and second , opened dairy experts and obviously grain exports will help a lot, but i think a lot of what we are hearing in the media is fake news. they are all trashing trump about tariffs and everything. but in the long run, i think we are going to benefit from it. thank you. host: here is a story from the "wall street journal" that talks about what is happening in our farm communities as far as bankruptcy. bankruptcy is sweeping the u.s. farm bill as trade disputes at spain to the low commodity prices that have been grinding down american farmers for years.

throughout much of the midwest, u.s. farmers are filing for tax bank up to protection at levels not seen for at least a decade, a "wall street journal" review shows. bankruptcies in three regions covering major farm space last year rose to the highest levels in at least 10 years. the seventh circuit court of appeals, which includes illinois, indiana, and wisconsin, had double the bankruptcies in 28 compared with 2 008. in the eighth circuit, which includes states from north dakota to arkansas, bankruptcies swelled 96%. the 10th circuit, which covers kansas and other state, last year had 59% more bankruptcies. it is nearly half of u.s. farm products, according to u.s. farm agriculture data. ese rises in farm bankruptci

represents a reckoning for rural aerica, which has suffered multiyear slump in prices for corn, soybeans, and other farm commodities touched off by a worldwide glut, made worse by growing competition from agriculture powerhouses such as russia and brazil. trade disputes under the trump administration with major buyers of u.s. farm goods, such as china and mexico, have further roiled agricultural markets and pressured farmers' incomes. prices for soybeans and hobbes plummeted for those countries -- after those countries retaliated against u.s. steel and aluminum imposingy duties on u.s. products like oilseeds and pork. don, good morning. caller: i am talking more about the issue of the historical facilities against black farmers

and minority farmers, if you want to categorize that small group that has been discriminated against for years. from everything from loans to shenanigans by the county s to confiscate and take the land from they have a land sale of black farmers. this has been going on for, since the friedman's bill was intact. we are talking about over 100 years. black people used to own almost 20 million acres of land. now we are down to 5 million. texas has the largest amount of land owned by blacks. that is almost 900,000 acres. while we have these big multi billionaires, ted turner and john malone, they own 2 million acres of land by themselves, so land is a very important issue. discriminatoryen

, and the usda act, there was a case that said that the black farmers was ruled out of farm programs, loans, and all of these kinds of things. we are not going to blame this current administration for that issue. like i said, this has been going on for decades. so this is a historical issue that needs to be brought to the table, and that is the problem with government. government roles things over, good and bad, fortunately and unfortunately, to the next administration, and they take brunt of it. but we have congresspeople that have been in office for 30, 40, 50 years that have kicked the can down the road for far too long, and black farmers are standing up. ed that received a bad se don't yield the proper crops and all of this type of discrimination that we face year after year after year, and it has to stop. we are bringing it to the table,

and we are on the front lines, trying to protect not just the black farmers, which is a small group, but all minority farmers. host: are you still farming? caller: my family farms in washington parish in louisiana. host: what do you form? caller: everything from sweet all kinds ofkam, issues. it depends on the time of year that we farm. it is a small farm, a family-owned farm that we have been able to hold onto. host: what do you think needs to be done to help black farmers and other minority farmers in the midst of this crisis? caller: well, first, there needs to be fairness by the usda, and there has to be, the issues of loans and credit. but this is a historical issue, so there is no band-aid fix.

what we need to have is black farmers and others at the table, definitely put black farmers way behind, because we are already facing discrimination from some companies. so we need to have the people compensated, they need to be paid off by the farmers, the money, and we need to have a seat at the table when it comes down to policies and procedures of loans and even equipment and everything else that goes along with being a farmer in america. because we feed the world. ont: once again come thursday, the house agriculture subcommittee held a hearing on the state of the farm economy. california farming vegetable executive dan sutton discussed their domestic labor shortage with a domestic labor pool that seemed to be

slowly going away. here is what he had to say. [video clip] 10 years ago, we have the ability to access domestic labor and pay those folks that work on our farms the current wage. what has happened here in recent years is the domestic labor pool has gone away. please understand our operation is one of several hundred in california that are working in the specialty crop industry. and our labor needs are pretty intensive, because no one likes a head of romaine that does not arrive to your refrigerator that does not look good. crop takes that personal touch. it takes hand labor to get that crop as it is out on our farm to your dinner table. because of the shortage of labor, we have had to start more the h2a program

efficiently. 85% of the labor that we need is h2a program.he us what wegram gives need to get the crops out of the ground, but it is expensive. it is not only the adverse effect wage rate that has to be complied with, it is also the california laws with minimum wage increasing, ag overtime decreasing. we have to provide housing for and all ofworkers, these things that go in, when whenook at a per box rate, you factor in all the things that go into the per box production, at times, that does

not is allowed, and then we have to make the decision of -- do we harvest this crop are not? host: we heard during that a reference to the h-2a the subprogram. let's talk about what that does. helps2a visa program farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from foreign countries. it also helps the shortfall of , andomestic workforce foreign workers perform temporary or seasonal agricultural work. this is temporary work that can last no longer than one year. once again, we are opening up our lines to farmers this morning and farm families to talk about what is going on with american farm prices to find out what your issues are cared once again, farmers and farm families, if you're in the eastern orthodox and so, we want you to call (202) 748-8000. if you're in the mountain or pacific time zone, we want you to call (202) 748-8001. and keep in mind, we are always

reading on social you on twitter @cspanwj, and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. that came outicle in bloomberg earlier this week talking about what the actual prices are the having on the mental health of america's farmers. the worst articles are of downturn since the 1980's is taking a toll on the emotional well-being of america's farmers. , andntucky, montana, elsewhere, a doubling of context from everything from financial. counseling to crisis assistance. . in wisconsin, dale meyer has started holding monthly forums in the basement of his church following the suicide of a fellow persian or, a farmer who had fallen on hard times. in minnesota, ted matthews says he is getting more and more cars. can you imagine had doing your job and having your boss say well, you know things are bad

this year, so not only are we not going to pay you, but you owe us, matthew said by telephone. that is what is happening to farmers. glutted grain markets have sparked a year-long price love withworse by a trade slump a trade war with china. farmers have piled on record debts to the tune of $427 billion. the industry's debt to income ratio is the highest since the mid-1980's, when willie nelson, neil young, and john mellencamp organized the first farm aid concert. farme or are conditions in country that senator joni ernst, and iowa republican, a wisconsin democrat, push for mental health provisions to be included in the 2018 farm bill. the legislation allocated $50 million over five years to address the shortfall of such services in rural areas. ernst said she spoke with a woman whose former husband died by suicide.

while there has been progress on trade resolution, the ruckus has been very, very hard on our farmers, she said in a television interview. we have had such a depressed farm economy. let's go to some of our tweets that we have gotten in this morning. here is one tweet that says "farm subsidies are too small to help most farmers. big farmers know how to work the system." here is another tweak that says atl the farmers can work walmart or the dollar stores, but this is a national security risk to have nobody growing food." aboutgain, we're talking the farm crisis going on in the united states right now. farmers, we want to hear from you. this is your time to talk about what you think public policy should do. now, once again, congress has been talking about this issue already with the house agriculture subcommittee hearing on the farm economy.

once again, this is california vegetable farm executive dan sutton discussing closing the southern border with mexico and how this would affect farmers. this is what he had to say. [video clip] dan: so our southern neighbors to our southern border are one of the largest recipients of our only that, butt in specialty crop industry, our market is a global market. mexico is definitely part of that global market. one, it is not good for u.s. farmers. it is not good for u.s. businesses, and it is not good for the u.s. economy. immediately after the announcement was made that that may happen, the price of an avocado went up 34%. that is how significant our neighbors are to the southwest part of the global economy, so

closing the borders to the south of us would have drastic effects on the ag economy. host: so here is how this farm crisis is actually affecting the political races. here's a story from the "washington post" that talks about this. president trump's aggressive trade policies are running headlong in his campaign for reelection appeared as trump prepares to run on the economy, his increase on tariffs and china have sent the stock market diving. u.s. farmers and x orders already bearing the brunt of china's retaliatory tariffs now face the prospect of an escalated trade war in which states that need trump to win reelection would be in the crosshairs. the trade wars have also exposed a rift inside the white house with some officials pushing for calm marksolution to

is ahead of 2020 and others warning the president that a weak deal with china would leave him politically vulnerable. we do not want the 2020 election-year to greatly intensified friction with china trade issues. we want a deal that works, says michael pillsbury, a china expert at the hudson is a too, who has advised the troubled mr. jean trade. one way to unite all tweet one democratic primary candidates is if the president is a quick but flawed deal that inevitably leads to friction when china is caught cheating next year. let's go to earl in georgia. good morning. caller: what happens, i think, my opinion is that these tariffs are going to bankrupt a lot of these large farms, corporations, and they are going to be sold the debts when they are sold off, to china and their

representatives. i have a small farm here. i have christmas trees. it is connected to the property back here, and i am going to use the property, whether they like it or not. i am going to put some cattle in ther eventuallye, and maybe i can make something out of it. i have never made money off of anything. it is too big of a job. , somehas bought some farm property in the desert, 4000, 5000 acres. i saw this in the news somewhere. and they'd rolled a well down in the prehistoric waterway, the author for, and it is draining the water, they are going dry come all of their wells are going dry. so get ready for china to take over this country, and their way to do it through these tariffs. host: now, earl, how long have you been farming? caller: since i moved back from

cherokee county from new york city, i was in construction, if you can believe that. my family had a 4000 acre farm here, the etowah bells farm that was here long before. i have 40 acres of it left down through the three generations. now i have got about 30 acres back there with the property along the river, and there is a lot of land down there that cattle can be grazing on that is just sitting there for nothing. and i am going to use it, whether they like it or not. host: earl, i take it from your tone, you're doing cattle. are you farming anything else besides cattle right now? caller: well, i have not got the cows yet, but i think the goats are the best thing for now, cold army, the court came in there and gave off a contract, it has been about 20 years ago, they mowed it down. there was pine trees in there,

and now it has grown back, it looks like a briarpatch, you cannot even walk through it. if we have a fire, if we have a drought, that will be a problem. during a drought, the annual --d it will bells farm etowah bells farm, my uncle told me, they have things that rotted in the fields, they could not get it up. host: earl, you are in georgia. like a lot of southern states had a farm-based economy. are your local and state officials paying attention to the farmers when they are complaining about what is going on? caller: well, it seems like they are. this is a red state. i am a democrat or do i have been in a labor union my whole life. they are paying attention because of what president trump said that is all they will do and all they have done. think you are getting

enough support from your local in your state representatives, it is just on the national level where the problem is? caller: well, the local and state, you know, like i say, i have been in construction, and i don't hardly know anybody here. . i have lived here most all of my life i am a was 70 now. i have lived in the area all my life, but i have been all over the place, since i was five years old, i did not stay. the rest of them didn't. but i do not think they are doing anything, really. i called to get my water checked one time, they said there is nobody here. i wasanted in the where at, what i was going to do, tell me all about this and all about that, and that is what you get from people here in canton. i am sorry, people in canton, but you are not nice to me at all. host: now, a lote of people

-- now,ng troublearl, earl, a lot of people are having trouble finding people to work their farms. caller: $15 an hour for people to plow grass or mow your yard, that is a lot of money. eventually, i will find somebody that will help me. i am married, but i am separate, but i ain't got, you know, if i had help from somebody that could help me, then i would be good it i'm looking. i do not see anybody here in canton. host: all right. let's go to jim who is calling from iowa. jim, good morning. caller: good morning. good morning. my comment is about these trade policies. i think, as the country, i think the united states has to be very comfortable in selling off our

land, like the man was talking about before, selling off our land to foreign countries. i really think that, you know, the chinese government has lots of money, and they go off in different parts of the world and and land, like in africa, take advantage of us. but anyway, i think mainland china, they can financially choke a country, because they have so much money, that they buy off land, so when they buy this land, they can get a foothold in that country, and it can control that country, you know. and so i think, as a country, america needs to be careful in selling off our land to foreign people,s, to foreign because i really believe it could hurt us, you know, and so with this trade war going on, i think you have to stick to your

guns and what you believe, what is right. , you know, and stick to it. host: -- you know, and stick to it. host: jim, what kind of farming do you do? ladyr: well, i told the when i called that i do not farm. i was just convicted to share my opinion on the subject. host: so, jim, how would you stop foreign companies and foreign countries from investing in american farmland? do you think this is something congress needs to take up? caller: well, yeah, i think it would be wise. we get in a situation where, you know, he is hurting financially, and also maybe he is going bankrupt, so, you know, he says hey, i need to sell this land off, a corporation wants to sell this land. well, i do not think it is a wise thing to do, because, you know, i think it can hurt us and

hurt people. congress would be good, that would be a good idea to at least take a look at. host: do you think there is going to be any political consequences on the current administration, or do you think this is going to be something that is going to be talked about in the presidential election? a lot of these farm states being actuallys that supported president trump the first time around. it seems like these farmers are the once getting the worst of these current trade negotiations. sure it will i am have an effect on this next presidentia political presidentl election. i do not know how it is going to go. like, i know what the government come over $1, what bution to give to farmers, i have not asked personally if they have received any money

from the government, from the federal government, so, yeah, i if the government feels like this is truly the right thing to do about this trade war against china, well, i think they should stick to it, even though there will be some suffering for some people. but it is the right thing to do, and you have to stick with it. so that is all i have to say. thanks a lot. host: once again, going back to the house agriculture subcommittee hearing, this is texas after vigorous man -- agr ibusinessman and former matthew discussing the difficulty farmers face getting loans in their industry. [video clip] matthew: as you said, credit is a problem right now. in problem is most credit

our area is calculated based on your historical productions time they given price, and that is are the beginnings of loans built out of, and as prices decrease, so does your ability to finance up to that level or secondly, as crop insurance values decrease and the ability to collateralize therefore decreases, that changes your ability to borrow. so both of those have put a squeeze on. and the third, which is the one i guess i did not anticipate individually is that as my fellow growers -- i am grateful that thus far my lender has been supportive, although we have had to refinance some things, i have got some fellow peers who have not been as fortunate as i have, and in scenarios where they owe money that is unsecured, for example, i picked cotton for a

neighbor last year who could not afford his own three-quarter million dollar cotton picker. i did it with the exultation that he would pay me. he has not been able to be refinanced, and he owes me $100,000. so i guess i am not going to get paid. we have three different issues there in my mind related to just sort of the total shrink in what has been able to be borrowed from credit. host: once again, we are opening up our phone minds to farmers around the united states to talk about what their public policy issues are right now and how this may affect their vote in the upcoming election for once again, if you're a farmer in the eastern or central times um, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. if you are a farmer in the mountain or pacific time zone, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8001.

once again, we are always reading on social media, on twitter @cspanwj and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. here is a story from reuters from earlier this year -- earlier last week that talks about how farm incomes are looking in the united states. "u.s. farm incomes in the midwest in mid-southern states declined yet again in the first quarter of 2019 amid ongoing strain from lower commodity prices, trade uncertainty, and severe weather, according to surveys released on thursday by the federal reserve banks of st. louis and kansas city. most bankers said one of the biggest risks to the farm economy this year remains a trade fight between the u.s. and china. it marked the 21st consecutive quarter for farm incomes dropping in the eighth federal reserve district, which includes all or parts of seven midwest and midsouth states -- arkansas, illinois, indiana, kentucky, mississippi, missouri, and tennessee.

farmers are running out of capital, one arkansas banker told the st. louis fed, according to the survey. commodity prices are too low for input costs and rents and land payments. agriculture also deteriorated for parts of illinois, indiana, wisconsin, michigan, and i will, according to a banker survey report released by the federal reserve bank of chicago. repayment rates for non-real estate farm loans, such as loans farmers would take to pay for operational costs, were lower than a year ago and renewals and extensions of such loans were higher, according to the report. let's talk to frank, who is calling from harrison, tennessee. frank, good morning. caller: good morning. the problem that we are having here in middle tennessee, and i would like to say i am a full-time farmer, have been for nearly 50 years, is that urban

sprawl is creating a problem for us, generating tremendous increase in the value of our land and property taxes, of course there is nothing that can be done about that, but that is a problem. labor is another problem. it is hard to find good, dependable labor. the third thing is, i know the , most of thern folks, i kind of gather the way y'all are talking this morning's trade policy. i am a firm believer, have been for years, that the government stay out of -- do away with all of our subsidy programs, which contrary to what most people think, is not that much to help us out, and do away with all of the subsidies, and let us have our own free trade. let us trade with whomever we want to, and let us negotiate

our own prices. host: now, frank, first of all, tell us where you are. you say middle tennessee. how far are you from nashville? caller: i am 60 miles from nashville, 60 miles from chattanooga. host: so when you say urban sprawling is causing problems, are you talking about the cities, people from the city's moving out and building mc mansions and driving up the prices of the land? is that what you are talking about? caller: [laughs] i do not know if you would call them mansions, but our property values have increased dramatically, and most of the folks, most of my neighbors now are people that are not from this area. my nearest neighbors are from florida, new jersey, i have got some folks here from washington state, and we farm about 2000 acres, scattered around this portion of the country. most of my neighbors are not old-time neighbors. they are not folks who have had

their roots here. they are still selling what is left, but not many of us are left. what exactly do you farmer near 2000 acres? caller: corn, wheat, soybeans, we do some produce, we raise dairy cattle. we have done some produce. we have little businesses on the side, because, believe it or not, these old forms this year, there is nothing out here in our culture this year that is going to make any money unless things turn around. folks do not understand, and this is an extremely high dollar business to be a. you have to have a very good letter, and you have to have some assets when you walk into that lender. you cannot walk into a letter today and put anything on a piece of paper that would show -- and lets your lender has a lot of confidence and faith, unless you have a lot of equity, which is generally your real estate, and sit down and show a

profit today. host: now, frank, you said you have a lot of people from a lot of states moving into your area. are they coming in farming, or are they coming in just to live on the land? caller: they are coming here for cheap property. middle tennessee is very active now. there is a lot of business. nashville is just booming, all of middle tennessee is booming. those people are coming here for jobs. and they sell their land, our land here compared to lots of other areas are quite cheap. you have got to remember that tennessee does not have an income tax, and our taxes are considerably different, and our government is very conservative. a lot of people are moving in here from places where they are not -- they are kind of excited about the extension to their state government, not including their federal government. host: let's talk to chris, who

is calling from richmond, missouri. chris, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. , chris, we can hear you. caller: we raise cattle here on about 400 acres. we have been doing it now for about just a little over 15 years. these last couple of years have been particularly challenging, up basically our trade policy seems to be a trade policy. it kind of comes at us scattershot. we do not seem to lay down any real good expectation for farmers. to have any real what is comingf out here from washington, and really not a lot from our own state representatives. this drought we had last year

forced me to spend pretty much everything that we made on feed, just to continue to feed our cattle, and now we have got a market that keeps declining because we cut ourselves out of some of the biggest markets in the world. host: now, chris, i know you're in missouri, for some of your neighboring states, talking little bit about the drought last year, some of your neighboring states have been having problems with flooding this year. are you having problems with missouri with all of the rains that have been coming down recently? caller: we come up right here where we are, are not having terrible problems. we are hilltop. further north of us, there has been a considerable amount of flooding in the same joseph area -- st. joseph area. in fact, one of the interstates was shut down for a considerable amount of time there due to

flooding, and there will probably be a lot of land. it will cause problems for even more people. we have another problem with the credit issue. not just the fact that credit is to runing, but we tend our operations a bit more conservatively. i have intentionally withheld -- we had intended to buy a new tractor this last year, and looking at the policies of the current administration, we decided it was not a time to we stoppede debt, so any purchases of new equipment. we are running a 20-year-old pickup truck that we had planned to replace, but we are to keep working on it, because putting

ourselves in further debt with the administration we have in place right now makes no sense at all. to me it looks like you are just going to harm yourself. host: chris, what type of tractors are you all running? new holland, fords, or john deere? caller: we are running old ford tractors and old case tractors right now. host: do you think things will change and you will be able to upgrade and replace what you have with new equipment? uh, under the way things are right now, i do not see it in the near future. host: and what breed of cattle are you doing? dairy cattle or beef cattle? caller: we are beef. -calfn a cow operation of we were up around 75 head until the drought hit.

we put ourselves back down to around 50 had to be able to feed what we have from our own farm. so that is also going to cut into our bottom line. work and are you able to the farm just yourself and your family, or do you have to hire out? caller: we do most of the work ourselves. i worked in the city for a little over 30 years, and i spent the last part of my career in the city also farming, and now i am farming full-time. it is pretty labor-intensive, and it would be nice to have some folks to be able to hire, but you do not see anybody consistent, you know. farm labor is not a job that pays a lot of money. [laughs] teenagerstly look for or out of work others. host: ok.

on what that conversation was we just had a couple of seconds ago, here is an article from cnbc talking about credit problems that farmers are having right now. "farmers continue to feel the pinch of the economic stretch of the first quarter, resulting in further deterioration of credit conditions in the nation's heartland, according to the federal reserve bank of kansas city agricultural credit survey. recent flooding and severe weather and some farm bill states brought additional challenges for borrowers, even as the damage is still being assess, the report added. the floods that hit the midwest facing tough times due to the u.s.-china trade war and low crop prices for key commodities such as corn, wheat, and soybeans. while some areas were heavily affected by spring flooding and

blizzards, it may be months before the full impact to form income is realized as immediate damage and implications for the 2019 operating cycle were being evaluated. survey, the the majority of agricultural bankers in his district continue to report increases and farm income during the first quarter. a similar decline was expected in coming monster one bright spot, however, was a slight improvement in livestock prices toward the end of the period. in hog prices in the final weeks of the quarter ended to april boosted revenues for some livestock operators. struggling farmers are increasingly having trouble paying off their loans. onh low income weighing farm finances, the pace of decline and farm loan repayments has increased slightly." let's go to rich. rich, good morning. caller: good morning.

thanks for taking my call. i just want to state that farming is a rough, rough business to be in. it is very stressful. and the prices as far as we're concerned, we see this up and down all the time, and you grit through it. as far as president trump and his tariffs and people saying oh, this administration is so horrible, we have gone through tough times before, and my point is, we are selling our products costeas all the time at a of below production a lot of times, and that is foolish. feeding china to come back and eat us up, we cannot continue doing that. china owns smithfield farms, one

of our biggest hog producers and processors in the united states. why we ever let that happen, i don't know. it should be america first. and we raise cattle here. in this part of the country, you and to have a lot of acres stuff to be able to make it. we run about 900 head of cows. we have a farming operation that goes with it to support the cattle. host: so, rich, do you think you are getting enough support from your state and local officials and from the federal government to make farming worth it for you? caller: well, in this country right here, we are in agriculture-based state. they have to pay attention to us. as far as on the federal level, we have had years and years of neglect, even being punished through epa and their waters of

the u.s. rules that they were trying to put in. president trump is trying to stop this. the more -- i cannot tell you a more environmentally friendly because theyarmer, depend on that land to support their family, to grow their food mostheir family, and farmers are going to take care of the land. host: and so -- what effect has deals so farrade between canada and mexico and what is going on with china, has it had an effect on you and your form specifically? probablyh, i would say not as much, because i am in the cattle business. chinaogs, a big deal with exporting all of that. now on the cattle side, we have opened up a lot of markets, and

in our exporting, they claim about -- a value of 21% more in value of meets the countries -- as a worlduntry, so appetite for a better product, the u.s. has the best product in the world. we take great care in that. run a operation here, we drug-free, hormone-free cattle operation. they do not receive antibiotics or growth hormones or that, and it is kind of a niche market. a lot of the cattle will end up going overseas to be consumed. and it has been a good deal for me. host: let's go to todd, who is calling from baker, montana. todd, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i agree with a lot of your past guests, and one thing that we

have to contend with is the costs with the fertilizer, the cost of chemicals, cost of fuel, the cost of everything else. but another one is, and i do not think people understand it, is we are mostly all self-employed, and when the affordable care act come on, we pretty much lost all of our regular insurance and had insurance,ying our and our insurance went from $800 a month to $2100 a month, and that was with a family of five. were $10,000tibles per individual, so basically we ended up having to drop our medical insurance, and now we we run ainsured, and 400-cow outfit and farm 3000 acres, and if you wanted to look at our costs and expenses, we

can actually apply for medicare. i mean, that is where our businesses are. that is where a lot of agriculture is. high-equity, low-cash flow type of operation, and i guess i just wanted to put in huge, huge care is a expense when you are looking at the overall part of it. not show a cash flow, you do not apply for obamacare, the of four carat, ye affordable care act, yet you can have $3 million worth of equity out there. so it is a strange position we find ourselves in with health care. host: now, tod,d, are you doing most of your farming? is this a family farm, or are you having to hire out? caller: no, we are a family

farm, and we lease a fair amount of our neighbor's property, and my wife and i are doing, just within the last 15 years, what six other complete families have done. i mean, that is where agriculture is going, the smaller producers, they cannot let, i mean, you either expand or get expand upon. like i said, my family is barely eking out what other families have done in the last 15 years. that is what time does. if you look at our operation, since the 1930's, we had 35 homesteads on our operations now. it is just that's what time does. but the fact that just within the last 15 years, seven families could make a living on what one family is having a hard time making a living on, uh, and we farm 3000 acres also. it is not a small operation, and we have a hard time finding labor.

and we are in the oilfield area also, so we have to compete against the oil fields for labor. so that just drives the expense of labor up also. host: let's talk to steve, who is calling from arcadia, florida. steve, good morning. caller: good morning. the, i am calling that, farming business -- i grow oranges down here in florida, and everything that you sell, you sell wholesale, and everything that it takes to grow it, you have to pay retail for it. prices are going skyhigh. $12 lastrs that cost year now cost $20. the processors have all gas and together, and they are offering with three-year contracts caps on the prices. there are a lot of people that did not take it this year, and got close out of the market. i was lucky enough to build a so

my fruit, but there are a lot of people who of several hundred acres of oranges on the trees, and no one is able to buy them, because the markets are closed to them. that is going to hit the ground. next year, i do not have a contract, and it does not look like i'm going to get one. and this will be my last year in the citrus business, because it takes five years to bring a tree to maturity where it produces a crop. you just do not plow off your trees and plant something else. host: so, steve, what do you plan to do? you said this year or next year will be her last year harvesting oranges? what do you plan to do? caller: well, i will probably just let this grove go to waste. i have got 65 acres, and if i innot sell my crop, cannot put $50,000 a year into fertilizer and herbicide to grow a crop that you cannot market.

and like i said, some of these processing plants have been bought up by foreign countries, and it seems funny to me that the first time since 1989, uh, nobody is buying any fruit. before at afruit low cost, and i've always been able to sell it, but to call up a centrist plant -- a citrus plant and say "what are you paying for fruit this year?" "well, we are not buying any." they are buying it from brazil and mexico. they took away all the protections for florida citrus growers. they are buying it from brazil and mexico, because it is cheaper down there. we got some aid last year from hurricane emma, which was very buyscule, and we had to

crop insurance with it, or you have to give the aid back, and of course the first year, the crop insurance was $700. the second year was $2200. next year, i am not sure what it is going to be have to be, but i'm going to have to buy crop insurance on a crop that i cannot sell. host: so do you plan to sell your a acreage, or are you just going to let it sit? , i will probably let it sit in the hopes that somebody wants to buy it one day. host: i want to thank all of our callers who called in on this topic today. up, airy and topic tabatabai arianne topic top will be here from the rand corporation. later, sarah warbelow.

but for first, c-span's "newsmakers" interview someone who discusses president trump's losses against deutsche bank and capital one prevents them from complying with subpoenas of his financial records. you can see the entire interview with representative mchenry i thinkt 10:00 a.m. and :00 p.m. on c-span. you can also here on c-span radio and watch online at c-span.org. here is a little bit of representative mchenry. [video clip] >> to ask you about a different kind of oversight, the president has gone to deutsche bank and capital want to prevent them from complying with subpoenas last by democrats on your ,ommittee, financial services do you have any concerns about what kind of precedent that would set in terms of limiting congressional oversight in the future? well, this is a risky proposition. it is a risky proposition,

because as congress is the first branch of government, and we are a coequal branch of government, i thinkbranch. and executive branch agencies. proper oversight to get documentation to make law. thisush and pull about legal issue at stake is deeply problematic. if the courts ruled against congress they can have a long-term negative effect for our branch of government. concern which is the obsession with the president as a person, his family and his businesses. could curtail our coequal status in the courts, right? the request for this documentation is not about proper legislating. it's about getting something

that was not legally required to be provided. you can comply with the financial disclosure such as it is for presidential candidates, and he did not comply with the tradition of letting his tax public.made butomplied with the law there is still the obsession with his business dealings a lot of these requests go to the third point, the molar report. r -- mueller report. they have come to a conclusion and that has been expressed and i think the team and how deeply they went into this should be the better understanding we would have been getting documents directly from these institutions about things that have been queried by the special

spent 30 million dollars and spent a significant amount of time trying to get to the bottom of the question of the 2016 election and the president's business dealings and how they could interact. i think this is a deeply fermata -- problematic approach. that is why i have been skeptical of this type of request. >> washington journal continues. host: we are joined by ariane tabatabai of the rand corporation. discussion about the tensions between united in the future of the iranian nuclear agreement. week, john bolton said the following about what is going on. "in response to a number of troubling indications and warnings, the united states is deploying the uss abraham lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the u.s.

if a command region to send a clear and unmistakable message to the iranian regime that any attack on united states interests or on those of our allies would be met with unrelenting force. united states is not seeking a war with the iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the islamic revolutionary guard corps, or a iranian forces." what is going on right now? guest: there is a lot going on between the united states and iran. the move of sending a carrier to the persian gulf is not that unusual by itself. we frequently have assets that go there. unusual is the statement you just read out where john bolton essentially sent a direct signal to the iranians. is toallenge here distinguish routing the policies

of what is going on in the things we do normally and the things that are perhaps a bit out of the ordinary, like the statement itself. as john bolton said, i don't think united states is looking for a war or the iranians are looking for a war. the challenge is because we have no channel of communication between washington and tehran, because tensions have been building up, we may find ourselves entering into a confrontation because of miscommunication or miscalculation. host: there have been some ports, including cnn, that iran is moving ballistic missiles around the region. networkran has a broad of malicious and terrorist groups they support throughout the region. weapons. them i have not personally seen evidence of this but is not

unusual for that to happen. host: since the nuclear deal was signed has there been any has not been in compliance? it was started to be enforced by your later. the national atomic energy agency, the independent international body that verifies these types of agreements in various countries' nuclear programs has said and verified iran is implementing its nuclear provisions. things may change soon. they stated on wednesday if iran does not get the economic benefits it is looking for, they may start to violate some of the terms of the deal. host: here is a tweet from ronnie. -- rahani.

today, the e3 plasty will face iran's action if they cannot fulfill their obligations within the next 60 days to secure iran's interests. what do we make from that? guest: the broader statement is actually 30 minutes. saidtatement essentially iran is giving some time, 60 days to the europeans, chinese up russians who were still limiting the deal after the u.s. withdrawals. get somehere is to sort of window to the rest of the party to continue the implementation of the deal if -- it signedfits the deal largely for sanctions relief. it is -- they are sending strong

signals and its response to domestic pressure that has been nothing against rouhani at home. host: we are speaking with ariane tabatabai about what is going on between the united states and iran. we are opening up our phone lines to you. you can call us if you're a democrat at (202) 748-8000. if you are a republican, (202) 748-8001. your phone line is (202) 748-8002. we are always reading on social media, on twitter and facebook. oft is the current status iran's nuclear capability? guest: we have a very clear picture of a lot of their activities. certainly being observed by the international

atomic energy agency, which reports frequently saying what is going on, how they are implement the deal, their capabilities. the program is largely verified by the international atomic energy agency, and it's largely adhering to the terms of the deal we have been discussing. is calling from compton, california on the democratic side. good morning. caller: good morning, america. could you please explain to america based on the you areeaty -- un treaty there no nuclear weapons allowed south of the 33 parallel line. iran sits south of the 33rd degree parallel line. they have already sworn they will not make nuclear weapons. the 33rdea sits above

parallel line. they have every right to make nuclear weapons. explain to the world why we are being misled, misinformed, not just by donald trump but also the media. there are no nuclear weapons allowed south of the 33rd degree parallel line. tos is misinformation to try get another war. guest: the nuclear nonproliferation treaty you are discussing here does indeed bar a number of countries, most countries of the world from acquiring a nuclear weapon. north korea was a party to the agreement before. it has withdrawn from the agreement so it is no longer bound by it. the efforts to bring north korea's nuclear program under check are different here tha 's.s -- than iran

part of the reason why we had these tensions with iran and why they were negotiations to begin with and we wind up with an agreement between the world because iranfact was violating some of the terms of the obligations it had under the nonproliferation treaty. it was undertaking activities it was not supposed to under the treaty. the negotiations were meant to with iran into compliance its international obligation. peter from talk to lakeland, florida on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. -- i wish weguest could get some people that are saying this is just insane, a starting another war with iran.

we tore up the agreement. if this is truly about nukes, can she tell us what israel gets 200 nuclear warheads and nobody else in the middle east does? tired as an american citizen. we took out iraq overlies, and now we tear up an agreement with iran. we are putting aircraft carriers in and we are ready to start another war. do does this benefit because iran is not a threat to us? we are setting things up just like venezuela. youead of a naval blockade, do a banking blockade that they can't do business. our foreign policy is turning to insanity. guest: there is a lot to unpack here. i want to start with israel. israel is reason why not brought into the conversation about nuclear

weapons, and it is a legal one. it goes back to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. israel is not a party so there is no legal obligation from --ael to appear to you point out, and i think you are right to highlight it, that iran is not just a nuclear threat to the united states. it also has a number of other activities that challenge the u.s. you are right to point out iran is not an existential threat, micah china like russia or china could be -- like a country like china or russia could be. largely undertake activities that are supporting various groups throughout the region to make up for the lack of conventional capabilities. important to put it all

into perspective. i don't think the u.s. is necessarily looking to enter a conflict. a lot of the reason we flex our muscles in the region is to avoid it. it's important to keep up and be clear about the fact that things can escalate quickly. and when you have two countries that operate in such close company with one another in different places in the region. host: president trump was asked what iran did for him to send the aircraft carriers to the region? here is what he had to say. [video] pres. trump: we have information that you don't want to know about. they were very threatening. -- we havet to have to have great security for this country and a lot of other places. reporter: are you risking military confrontation? pres. trump: i don't want to say

no but hopefully that won't happen. we have one of the most powerful ships of the world and we don't want to have to do anything. i would like to see them call me. the abrahamnot just lincoln carrier group that is going to iran. here's the story and usa today talks about another group. the pentagon announced a marine transport ship and a patriot missile battery be added to the forces. arlington, which carries marines and amphibious vehicles and helicopters will head to the region, along with the patriot missile battery. patriot missile's can shoot down tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and warplanes. patrick shanahan approved the deployment of the ship and the weaponry to fulfill the request from u.s. central command to counter with the military has said are credible threats from iran to u.s. forces in the

middle east. the pentagon announced the aircraft carrier uss abraham lincoln would arrive in the region sooner than originally planned, along with b-52 bombers. will stop complying with some parts of the nuclear deal. what is going to happen over the next few days? what is going on here? guest: both sides are trying to send a signal to each other that whatever threats they see from the other party is not going to --ain -- they will be neati meeting the threats from the other party. for the u.s., the threats are mostly again nonstate clients iran has in the region, and for iran it is the perceived buildup of military power in his backyard. what is going to happen in the next few weeks? several things. one issue on the nuclear front

remains to be seen whether or pushran takes action to and test the limits of the nuclear deal. trying tore reach a settlement about how to facilitate trade with europe. if that succeeds in the next 60 days, we may just go back to continuing implementation of the nuclear deal. if that doesn't happen, we may start to see some violations which would trigger a number of actions from the international community. in the persian gulf region, well, i think both parties are trying to avoid an all-out conflict but it is really difficult when you have this level of activity and two countries that are not talking to each other. host: the administration announced more sanctions on iran . here is what they had to say about it. it is also the policy to deny the iranian government revenue

derived from the export of iron, steelom iran's and copper spectrums that could provide support for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist groups and networks, campaigns of regional aggression and military. what effect have sanctions had on iran and what additional effects will these new sanctions have it any? guest: the sanctions is one of the most challenging ones for the u.s. for a long time but we tried to do with make -- was make sanctions as tough as possible but not affect the lives of ordinary people. in the past year the administration has focused on mounting pressure on and imposing as many sanctions as possible on iran. there is virtual no recourse. the problem is it is affecting not just the regime.

i'm not convinced it's changing the behavior. it's affecting the lives of ordinary people. and hearing from and seeing reporting that cancer patients don't really have the treatment they need because of expenses. prices have skyrocketed. people are having a hard time making ends meet. that is challenging for the u.s. because in the long run if we are hoping to work with the iranian people, this is not the best way to do it. host: let's talk to vincent from tulsa, oklahoma on the republican line. good morning. caller: hello. i have a few muslim friends. say it is less of a faction in iran that will get rid of the tension. host: what was your question? i think we lost vincent.

from go to chick washington, d.c. good morning. caller: good morning. what is this cnn is propagating about something that is not even in reality? when there is a conflict that will happen, there is a buildup. you see world leaders. this is all of a sudden we got up and all of a sudden we see ships, carriers moving towards iran. there is nothing there. right after netanyahu was see all this activity within a day or two.

you have somebody sitting at c-span that is propagating that. we -- the united states is not going to do anything and iran is not going to do anything but the people -- this person is sitting there. this is diplomacy. this is strange. there is nothing going on and all of a sudden because iran said they would not negotiate with the administration. i want president to say somebody to pick up and call me, is this even diplomacy? let's talk about how we deal with this kind of behavior. host: is there any possibility of a high-level meeting between president trump and the leader of iran? guest: that's a great question.

i don't see it happening anytime soon, not in the next couple of years. not while trump is finishing up his first term. i think the iranians are waiting to see what happens in november 2020 and make a decision then. that is the reason why the announce they are going to give the europeans some time. it is the by themselves some time and capital at home while they continue implement any the nuclear deal and waiting at the trump administration. what we have seen this past week from the administration has been a clear signal it wants to negotiate. pompeo tweeted out where he first said we will meet force,activities with essentially deterring the iranians. at the same time he tweeted sayi we are willing to

negotiate. the president's comments earlier, same thing. for the first time in a long time we are here to negotiate. i don't think there is any appetite for it. the iranians said they will negotiate within the nuclear deal. he had a states is not going to go back within the nuclear deal so we are at an impasse. the fact we are starting with some signals the u.s. is willing to negotiate is a good start. host: what does the iranian government think it can gain with a change in the administration? you said they are waiting for the 2020 election. what are they hoping for? guest: a number of democrats said they would rejoin the nuclear deal if iran continues to comply. what the iranians are waiting for is to see if there will be a change in administration. a democratic president reenter the deal?

if president trump is reelected, whether or not they want to negotiate because four more years of economic challenges and sanctions may not be beneficial. host: pete from phoenix, arizona. caller: good morning. i believe the united states has lost its moral compass. states is already at work in the area. they are not allowing iran to sell any of its oil anywhere in the world. countries, the europeans are afraid of disrupting business. this is what you call total war. it were directed at the people. people intoe rebellion, just like they are doing in venezuela. they are also engaging in total war in yemen.

saudi arabia is trying to keep the people from getting food. thousands of children are dying every day. they are on the verge of starvation. the president will veto it. iran and its allies have been attacked by u.s. and its allies. revolution. we backed saddam hussein. raw had a 10 year work. 1982. attacked lebanon in to drive the pelo off of its borders. lo off of itsp borders. they stayed there for 18 years and refused to leave. iran gave some support to

lebanon. that is why israel despises iran . yahoo! was voted out of office because of it. netanyahu was voted out of office because of it. guest: it is true that some u.s. interventions in the region, starting with afghanistan in 2001 and iraq in 2003 have very much helped iran. some of the things secretary pompeo and john bolton were putting up are actually largely thanks for the opportunities they got after 9/11 with the u.s. invasion of afghanistan and iraq. we have to be careful when we think about military intervention in the region. it has typically not turned out to well for the u.s. to say the least. in some ways it has been very counterproductive. host: let's talk to chris from

boston on the democratic line. caller: good morning. stateve a secretary of who was on the record as saying trump was sent by god to protect israel. the same lunatic secretary of living in said we are end times and the rapture is due. we have a sociopathic, warmongering national security advisor. who gets histrump instructions on middle east policy from his donor who so far has donated over $25 million to to make all those enemies of israel to weaken. that is all you need to know about the middle east and have a nice day. host: any response?

guest: one thing here is there is a lot of tension within the administration about foreign policy in the middle east in particular. a long trackas record of winning more pressure and muscled response to the middle east. iran especially. you have individuals, the president himself that are much more reluctant to use military force. focusnt to draw back and on some other issues. there is a lot of tension and we are seeing that play out as we watch what is going on between the u.s. and iran. host: let's see if we can get to tom who was calling from california. good morning. caller: good morning. i think the way this stuff in the middle east is going is we should not be intervening and stuff.

we should keep watch on guys, but i really think if the united particular --mpet trump in particular don't watch it, they will get the fear of god put into them. these guys are tired of what we are doing to them. i think they ought to understand things can go serious real quick. i don't think we should be doing what we are doing. that is really what i have to say about that. thank you. u.s. is the policy of the regime change? guest: there are people that would like to see the regime collapse. generally speaking since the revolution we have had a lot of challenges with the regime. i think in general no one would be sad to see the current regime collapse. the big question is what comes next? who replaces them?

will it be a government we can live with that is not doing all the things we don't like about iranian policy right now, or will it be an even worse alternative? there are people in the administration and the foreign policy establishment who are seeking regime change, but there are people who would genuinely like to have negotiations and try to settle all the problems we have with their policies in a diplomatic way. host: this is washington so we have to ask the election question. playill tensions with iran in the 2020 presidential election? deal was anuclear major foreign policy issue in 2016. president trump started campaigning by talking about withdrawing from the nuclear deal. he has done exactly that. i think in 2020 we will be talking about it, if the deal steel exists -- still exists.

either about an alternative or which we should be doing. the bigger question is, does foreign policy matter for most voters when they go to the ballot box? host: we would like to thank ariane tabatabai of the rand corporation for coming in to help us figure out what is going on between united states and iran. guest: thanks for having me. host: coming up, sarah warbelow will join us to talk about next week's vote in the house on the equality act. will be robert atkinson here to discuss his recent piece looking at china's economy and the role of the chinese comet's party. stay with us -- chinese communist party. stay with us. ♪ book, "the newest provides insight

into the lives of the 44 american presidents through stories gathered by interviews with noted presidential historians. explore the life events that shaped our leaders, challenges they faced, and the legacies they left behind. order your copy today. is available as a hardcover or e-book at www.c-span.org/thepresidents. tvon american history tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern, 1970'sms from the dealing with the vietnam war. >> american boys have been fighting and dying in vietnam. negotiatorss, our have been talking with the other side in paris, yet the fighting goes on, the destruction continues, brave men still die. the time has come for some new initiatives. >> each day it becomes clear to

us that we consumers must act in self-defense, in defense of the house of -- health of our families and society. we must stop buying war. tour ofy at 6:00 p.m., the rise of exhibit at the museum on the 50th anniversary of new york's stonewall riots. >> they prayed on the gay wall street workers who socialized there. nothing nice is placed but at least it was a place that gay people could call their own. >> at 8:00, here about the watergate tapes 45 years later from jeff sheppard, who worked with president nixon's defense team. >> the president said this, the president said this, the president decreed that. you will not find anything that says the president gave an order

or acknowledged criminality. it is just not there. >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span3. washington journal continues. host: we are joined by human rights campaign legal director sarah warbelow to discuss the efforts to at protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. good morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: can you tell me what the equality act is? guest: the equality act is an amendment to our nation's civil rights laws to ensure lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people have equal protections in our country, equal opportunity to have a job, rented apartment, obtain credit and serve on juries. host: why do you think this is

needed right now? lgbtq people, one in four experienced discrimination in the last year. that is not even over the course of a lifetime. discrimination is real and prevalent and we need to have policy solutions that are permanent and guaranteed for all americans. bet: there are -- this would a national law if approved by congress and signed by the president. are there state versions of this law already? guest: yes. we have 20 states and the district of columbia that have comprehensive nondiscrimination laws on the books for lgbtq people. this is nothing new. the city of minneapolis was the first place in the country to adopt these protections in 1975. host: what is the human rights

campaign's position on this law and what are you doing to advocate for or against it? guest: we believe the act is the right solution at the right time to address widespread discrimination against lgbtq people. it's for women, communities of color, faith. we are advocating and talking with people all across the country about why the law is so important. host: there is some opposition to this law. here is ranking member doug collins talking last week about his thoughts on the equality act. [video] >> if they do advance this misguided bill, they admit it creates millions of losers. necessary won protections, but this puts 166 million women at the mercy of a

biological man that identifies as a woman. precise consequence this bill would have. biological differences remain scientific and certain. giving any men identifying as a woman protection, and the words of the women's liberation front, nullifies women's and girls as a coherent legal category where the of protection. hr five does not just marginalize women, it jeopardizes their health and safety and demonizes them if they object. navratilovaartina wrote the evidence is unequivocal that they will be significant numbers of boys and men it would be the best girls and women in head-to-head competition. listen to a key point. is a public space where

relative sex is undeniable. the equality act suggests it will harm title ix. host: what is your response? guest: that's an incredible misrepresentation of this bill. the act improves lives for women. it adds critical nondiscrimination protection in areas like public places and spaces, and with respect to federal funds. a major organization that advocates day in and day out for women and girls, including the national women's law center, now, the women's sports foundation have all endorsed this bill and made very public any claims this bill would harm women and girls in sports, let alone any other area of life are simply false. host: if you want to join the conversation, we are talking about the equality act.

if you support this, (202) 748-8000. we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. only do we want to know if you support it, we want to know why. same if you oppose it. if you oppose the equality act, (202) 748-8001. if you oppose the equality act, (202) 748-8001. why.us keep in mind you can always reach us on social media at twitter and on facebook. passed out of the house judiciary committee on a partyline vote. when will it get a vote in the house? guest: we expect a vote this week and we know it is a bipartisan bill. it has republican endorsements. we expect it will pass in a bipartisan manner out of the house next week.

host: what is the state of the senate? guest: that is up to senator mcconnell. we are calling on him to bring this for a fair hearing into the floor. he has the opportunity to really make a difference in this bill, and he needs to do it. host: have you heard from the administration whether they support or oppose the bill? guest: the administration has been silent on this particular bill. when the president ran he said he would be the best friend to lgbtq people. it has not panned out to be quite true, but maybe this is his opportunity to put his money where his mouth is. from let's talk to lena jamestown, new york. guest: i -- caller: i think people should have their own choice. rapedwhat if someone was and did not know they were

pregnant and all of a sudden to have that happen. this is a choice for the mother. have does the equality act anything to do with choice? guest: the equality act ensures andq people and women people of color and faith have the opportunity to go to a medical care facility and not experienced discrimination, not receive unequal care. host: let's talk to marty from wyoming. he opposes the equality act. . caller: it is a she but that's all right. we just had this bill in the wyoming state legislature. we asked the proponents to define sexual orientation. does your bill define sexual orientation and does it contemplate any future

permutations of sexual orientation? we understand the american psychiatric association is on the verge of deleting pedophilia from the dsm, navy get a sexual orientation -- naming it a sexual orientation. does this bill contemplate future iterations of sexual orientation? guest: this bill does define sexual orientation very clearly as homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality. covering not only people who are lesbians, gay and bisexual, but people who are straight as well. it is a clear definition that does not cover criminal behavior activity. host: let's talk to robert from portland, oregon and he supports the equality act. caller: good morning, sarah.

how are you this morning? guest: how are you? caller: i wonder if you have information about the matthew shepard love. -- law. 2009. it passed in it was an amendment to our hate crimes act that at his sexual orientation, gender identity, sex and disability status. host: there has been a lot of forms of this question coming up from our social media followers. i will try to sum up what they are asking. there is talk about women's sports and whether transgender men should play in women's sports. whether it is track and field or any other sport. does this address this in any way, shape, form or fashion? guest: this is part of the conversation, although unfortunately there is a lot of

misinformation. it prohibits discrimination in areas like education, and it ensures transgender girls are treated as girls and transgender boys are treated as boys. it does not prohibit reasonable regulation in elite athletic competitions. in fact, many competitions like the olympics are governed by completely separate bodies and would not be affected by the law. from maine. good morning. caller: hi. just a comment. i agreed with what representative collins said a few minutes ago about the bill. also i had a question. if it is not ok to discriminate against lgbtq people, why is it ok to discriminate against straight men? guest: i agree that it is not.

that is one of the reasons sexual orientation is defined to include heterosexuality, to cover straight people as well as lgbtq people. lawsiscrimination disproportionately are used by women because they experience discrimination more frequently. they have been used by men when experiencing discrimination. host: a couple of tweets from lawmakers. one is from josh gottheimer. "equality is a core american value and the equality act will ensure that all lgbtq americans can enjoy the most basic human rights, no matter where they live, work or go to school." kamala a tweet from "same-sex says, couples are being denied mortgages at astonishingly high rates. this is all the more reason

congress must pass the equality act and ensure the sexual orientation is a protected class under the civil rights act." are there any other supreme court cases you are watching the deal with these issues? guest: there are three cases accepted by the supreme court. two deal with whether or not our nation's non-description nation laws prohibit this cremation on the basis of sexual orientation. one deals with a question of whether it also provides protections on the basis of gender identity. these cases will give us a clear answer on whether or not those protections will continue to be extended to lgbtq people or if they will be stripped away. from let's talk to sheldon shreveport, louisiana. caller: good morning. just like the question around

abortion, the government has played a negative role in terms of how they deal with people in our society. beene that are gay have beaten, killed and are still being killed and murdered all over the country. things people point to to say the reason why they dislike or hate gay people, they use the bible as a prop. the same way they do with women's rights in terms of controlling their own bodies. beings that wen should be better than this. people andook at judge them based on their character, not on what they do

with the bedroom or who they love or why they love someone. we should loveg, each and everybody. guest: thank you so much for that. we wholeheartedly agree. nobody should face discrimination because of who they are. person,you are an lgbtq a person in the public squares to be treated equally and that is what the bill aims to do, to create equal opportunities for everyone. host: there have been some people who are objecting to this bill on religious grounds. daily signal columnist sarah parker wrote this. "religious freedom goes out the window of this bill becomes law. it defines itself as overwriting the religious freedom protection act. they will be no more legal protections for christians in commerce or in any other

circumstance to enable them to avoid complicity with behavior that for them is a sin. a bizarre list of behaviors will become legally protected and enshrined in a new america. it will be the total antithesis of the ideals of liberty envisioned by its founders." guest: unfortunately that is simply untrue. this will expand protections for people of faith. it creates new opportunities for people to be able to have equal opportunities in the public square. it does essentially say government has a compelling interest in ending discrimination, and the religious freedom restoration act should not be misused to allow for discrimination. i would also note the baker he references brought his case under the first amendment. we are not changing the first amendment and would not change the first amendment. host: let's talk to james from raleigh, north carolina. good morning.

caller: good morning to all. i would like to say i oppose this bill on so many levels. beis difficult for me to concise but i will give it a shot. 2020 --emocrats lose in they did that in 2016 with gay marriage. it was politically incorrect probably, but obama spent the last two years of his president on gay marriage and cost him the election. was pretty much midwestern white men that opposed the legislation. those of the folks that work for donald trump. take this up as a centerpiece again. plus, the 13th, 14th and 15th vii andts, and title

the civil rights act of 1964 were intended to be for black people. not people of color, not lgbtq. they were intended for black people. i'm getting a little annoyed by this legislation is for people of color. -- blackyears people people have been worn down .ecause other groups come in you can't change that. it is what it is. it's an incident of nature. whereas it is something you can change. thank you. guest: 70% of the american public support the equality act. that's available in public polling, including from the public religion research institute. this is not an electoral issue that is going to harm anybody who votes for this bill.

exampleive a concrete about how this expands protections for people of color. black people and also latino people, asian americans. publicnds what is a space and place under the law. if you have a group of black teenagers who are being tailed through the mall for no reason except the color of your skin, they will be recourse under this law to be able to and that type of discrimination. -- end that type of discrimination. host: eric from california. caller: i had a question and a concern. law,is country, under this is it possible that transgender inen, a former man would be sports leagues and would be forced to compete against

biological women? they would have a massive advantage genetically if that were the case. is it possible that it would come down that they would be forced to allow former men to compete with the women? guest: transgender women and girls would be allowed to play athletics consistent with their gender identity, but they would not be given unfair advantages for the opportunity to compete in ways that would be harmful for other women and girls. in fact, research and science demonstrates that transgender women and girls competed very similar levels to all other women and girls. this really is not an issue. we have 15 states and the district of columbia, many school districts all over this country that allow transgender women and girls to compete in the really has not been a problem. host: let's talk to andrea from

florida. good morning. caller: i wanted to mention when i lived in london and i was said if, the doctor you're going to take the pill, the office for at least a year because again affect the gender of the child. i had a son. he was gay. i think there is a prevalence of chance gender and everything based on the american society and how we have built our world on chemicals, and the contraceptives given to children who have cramps, it is in the waterways, the hormones from the cows are in the waterways. this prevalence is due to the government who now wants to create all these difficulties with a person being born because they are not providing the right things.

doctors are giving out hormones to everybody and anybody. guest: i am not a medical professional but we do know lgbtq people have existed since the beginning of time. maybe we did not have the language for 200 years ago, but our literature and documents are full of examples of people who are lgbtq. this is not a modern phenomenon. host: what is the business coalition for the equality act? corporations all over this country that are advocating on behalf of the equality act, to come out clearly in support. we have over 200 major corporations, over $4 trillion of revenue they are responsible for. the range ofpan corporations. manufacturers,, hotels, airlines -- tech corporations, business is open

to the public, retail stores who are saying this is what is right for our employees and their families. that they need to be able to be protected in this country no matter where they live. these corporations are concerned when they are not able to transfer an employee from one state to another because somebody is afraid of living where they don't have protections. host: do you see a contradiction in that some of these companies in this coalition have also aven almost three quarters of million dollars to mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham, who could be some of the obstacles in the senate? guest: hopefully the two of them will take into consideration the money they have raised and how important this is for these major corporations. this is a top priority for them. they have been incredibly clear. we also have over 40 associations of business, including the national association of manufacturers who

have made this a top priority as well. host: let's talk to janet from milton, massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling in opposition to the bill. i am reading the daily signal this morning. i am a pediatric nurse practitioner. there is a huge study out of sweden that followed transgender individuals for 30 years. 10 years from surgery through mental health was worth than the general population. the transgender population had suicide rates 10 times greater than the general population. these surgeries may not really be helping individuals who are suffering. the equality act forces the medical professionals to treat patients with hormones and provide surgeries for transgender people that might be in opposition to their personal opinion because it really does not look like it is helping them.

as a nurse practitioner i don't really want to be forced by the equality act to treat people with hormones that he think and go want to cause them -- the hormones can cause them heart attacks and all kinds of problems. that is my take. i am reading the daily signal this morning so that is where my ideas came from. guest: i'm not a doctor and i cannot speak to that particular study, but what i can tell you is the overwhelming body of research shows allowing transgender people to live consistent with their gender identity is what is in their best interest. that is supported by the american medical association, the american psychological association, the american academy of pediatrics. every major medical and mental health organization in this country affirms the right way to -- transgender people is consistent with their gender identity.

host: michael from baltimore, maryland. good morning. can you hear me? michael, can you hear us? are you there, michael? there you are. caller: sorry about that. i want to support you in your effort and wanted to make one comment. color, a blackf person, african-american. i prefer to be called a person of color versus a black or negro. i am not black. the color of my skin is not black. it is brown if anything. have a great day. guest: one of the reasons i use the term is not only to encompass the black community

but also the latino community, and asian americans, api. it's about improving lives for everybody. host: what is the next thing we can afford to hear about in the news? guest: the houseboat. the house -- the house vote. it will be in a store in deciding moment when the bill passes for the first time. it has been introduced for several congress is now in momentum and history are with us and the american people. host: we would like to think sarah warbelow, human rights campaign legal director for talking to esther the equality act. --talking to us equality act equality act through the. --talk us through the equality act. host: robert atkins will talk us through the chinese communist party and the role it plays in that. ♪

some of our look at featured programs this weekend on booktv. tonight at 9:00 eastern, economist joseph stiglitz looks at the contributions to an economy and growth slowdown made dominatingnomies sectors of the economy. joseph: so trade agreements are dictated by the united states largely, and the problem was not was snickered by south africa or other countries, the problem was what the united states wanted, and the american trade agenda was the corporate trade agenda. it was at the expense of american workers. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, melinda gates discusses her life and work with women around the world.

melinda: she looked me in the eyes, and she said "the truth hope fore no hope, no soning this son or this when i am finished breast-feeding, nor educating them." all she knew is i was a woman with -- a western woman with khaki pants, and she said "would you take them with you." that is their only hope. and the overreach of government in colonial times and today and his latest book "a lost declaration." georgetownviewed by law professor rosencrantz. >> when you have got a specific segment of government insisting that people who remain in power for decades never standing for elections, never really standing ,ccountable to anyone accountable to people through an election, that is a problem.

that is a deep state. that is a form of tyranny. >> enjoy booktv this weekend on c-span on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are with robert atkinson, contributor to "national review" and president of the information technology and innovation foundation, and we are here to talk about china's economy and the part that china's a communist party plays in it. good morning. guest: good morning. host: before we get into the economy of china, we spent the first hour of the show talking about farmers and how the u.s.-china trade talks are affecting them. where are we in the latest round of u.s. china trade talks? guest: well, the u.s. and china multiple meeting colt times. the president said there was not enough progress, that they have backpedaled, he went and opposed on three25% come

hundred billion dollars, a bunch of money, a bunch of products, and said if there is not even more products, he will put 20 5%, on all products. it is not clear that that is going to come to play. they will go back to china soon to have new negotiations, and the hope is that the chinese will respond, half compromise, make the changes that the administration wants, and then we would not have to tariffs. host: so the talks ended when isy with no deal the next time that we will see the u.s. and china sit down and talk this through, or do we know? guest: we may know it i do not know. [laughter] guest: i would be surprised if they are not within the next month. there is a commitment to keep this moving. everybody wants to see it resolved. nobody really wants to keep these tariffs in place permanently. they will be expeditious about this. host: your article for "national review" looking at china's

economy and discussing whether -- or basically where the economy is in china right now. you wrote this about china that i want to read to our audience. privatepropelled by forms, has transformed itself from a communist basket case wore suitsmouse is into the economy, because china is less communist than it once was, many simply assume that it has become capitalist, but just because china has many private companies, has allowed jack ma to become a billionaire, and translates classics into mandarin does not mean it is capitalist." so what is china running right now? guest: china is running a state economy that uses capitalist tools to allow them to progress.

they are not like germany or the united states or canada where we have a big separation of government and business, where business pursues its own goals. in china, business is chinese party goals. the chinese government uses a whole set of tools, many of them as they are, to discriminate against american firms, to give their firms unfair advantage, to hurt us, and that is really what this is trying to fix. explain to us a little but that's because we know the american company, x way and how the government -- explain how the government operates with private businesses. guest: there are private businesses. there are also state owned businesses. aircraft toing compete with boeing. under no circumstances would a private capitalist company build aircraft because you have boeing and airbus the only way you can get into that market is to have massive state

intervention. , ahear about huawei telecommunications covenant, it is a massive company, but they are in service of the chinese government may times. they get assistance from the chinese government, for example, big loans for them to sell their thirdm products in countries come up big government loans. the government has a lot of different tools by which it helps "private companies" in china. host: when you say "in service of the chinese government," what do you mean by that? politics?r internal is this about external, international relations? when you say the company serve, what exactly do you mean? chineseell the government has set a goal, multiple goals, they have five-year plans, but most recent goal is made in china 20 35, and they identified 10 industries that the chinese government wants to have massive market

share, for example, semiconductors, they want to have 70% of all semiconductors sold in china made in china. pharmaceutical drugs, again, they want 50% to 60%. and then they want to go outside and take over the global market, if you will. that is a direct threat to many american industries and american workers. we are good at that. we have worked to be good at advanced technology in advance industry products. the chinese government goals are to dominate these industries globally, not just for commercial reasons, but for military reasons. host: here is what you wrote about the number of state-owned in china. "china has more than 150,000 state-owned enterprises, accounting for 40% of industrial assets for it however, chinese state capitalism is not just or even principally about the number and size of such

enterprises. it is about the central role the chinese communist party plays in virtually all aspects of economic life. officials are part of many chinese companies to make sure the company follows the law. " my next question to you is how does the government actually companies?se they actually put government party members in as part of these companies to make sure they do what the government wants them to do? guest: absolutely. virtually every major moderate company in china has a chinese party member as company.he their job as the party member is to make sure that that company is following general guidelines and directions of what the chinese communist party wants. the other thing you have to understand, imagine general motors having a government official on it, and their suppliers having a government official.

we would never do that, but it is worse than that, and the reason it is worse than that is if an american covenant does not like something the u.s. government is doing, they can bring a lawsuit, and they can go t, and we have an objective judiciary of law. you do not have that in china. the chinese government can do pretty much whatever it wants. so chinese companies, even private ones, are very in tune. where the government wants to go, and they naturally follow in that direction, and if they don't, they know they will have some pushback. host: in america, our theories is that private enterprise works better without government interference. does this affect how chinese companies -- their profit and loss margin, or does the government manipulate it for them as well? guest: as i mentioned, 40% are state-owned enterprises. there was a study done by a think tank in china before the government shut it down, pretty much shut it down, it found that the average profit rate of these companies was -5%.

host: wow. guest: imagine you are competing with a company, you have to make at least 10% to state in profit, otherwise the market will not sustain you. you are at a 15% price disadvantage right there, because you are competing with somebody who can lose 5% every year. how can they lose 5%? the government just writes them checks. even in the private sector, though, these companies have big advantages, because even the u.s., our companies compete with companies all around the world. but in china, they haven't protected market. theyf the big advantages have is a lot of the technology they get, they did not have to pay for it. they did not have to do a lot of r&d, although some companies do, like whilhuawei. they do not have to pay because the government allows the threat of that, they spy and so forth. they get a lot of their r&d and their technology for free. host: we are talking with robert

atkinson about the chinese economy, the chinese communist party's influence of it, and how it will. affect the rest of the world if you want to ta part of this conversation, we will open up the phone my spirit democrats, you can call (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, your line is (202) 748-8002. and you can always follow us on twitter @cspanwj and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. we spent a lot of time talking about these companies. is there any transparency about how these companies operate or regulation or any kind of regulation on how these companies work? guest: not really. one of the complaints that a lot of americans or foreign cubbies have in china is in the u.s., if the government is going to do a rule or regulation, there is a large transparency.

there are notices ahead of time. companies and other parties are allowed to comment on it. they have to take those comments seriously. you do not have that in china. the chinese communist party makes the rules they want to make. they are capricious, shall we say. so, for example, if the chinese government does not like what you are doing, you might be subject to a dawn raid, a 7:00 a.m. raid, going into your office, pulling out your files, on a trumped up charge that you have done something wrong, some sort of a monopoly problem. the chinese government is more than happy to do that. they do not do that all the time, but they will do that to keep you in line. host: let's go to larr bradley from virginia on the democratic line. bradley, good morning. caller: good morning. i enjoy watching c-span on saturday mornings.

what they need to do is, you know, we talked before about these tariffs and stuff. my opinion, and i have a strong opinion. i am a vietnam veteran. we need to shut the walls down, the borders down and all this stuff and start making this stuff in america and stop buying the stuff in foreign countries. you cannot buy nothing anymore that is not made in a foreign country. putting these cars -- i looked at a brand-new purex, kind of like a station wagon, and guess where it is made? in germany. that is pitiful. people in america is buying this for an junk because it is cheaper, but yet they want to make $20 an hour or $30 an hour. a large town is an example, shut down and make them in mexico. ain't going, they to make the small cruz in mexico, the hatchback feared i won't buy it. there are times you have to buy it.

i had to buy a kubota tractor. they did not make the tractor that i wanted your but why can't america, robert, make stuff here and make these companies -- countries take care of their selves? guest: well, i appreciate your frustration. we have to do more domestically to help make it easier for american companies, manufacturing in particular, to produce here. but i think the idea that we would somehow close of our border and become a self-sufficient country, maybe that worked 100 years ago when the republicans were the party of tariffs and they just wanted to have a closed market -- it really could not work today. we are a global economy. our manufacturing wages are not the problem. germany's manufacturing wages are about 45% higher than ours, and they actually run a trade surplus with china. things.combination of one is unfair trade practices, but canada,na,

mexico, germany, japan, it is really china, a little bit brazil, that is really the problem. secondly, we are one of the only countries in the world that does not have a robust manufacturing policy. we have a program that is run out of our department of commerce that helps small manufacturers become more competitive, more productive, help train the workers. we have not increased the budget of that and 10, 15 years. other countries are investing 10, 20, 40 times more to help their small manufacturers than we do. so there are things we have to do it home to help our manufacturers, and i agree that we should do that so we can produce more here. i do not think shutting the borders is the way we need to go. host: you actually talk a little bit about the international trade with china in your article. i am going to read a little bit from entered "there is a yawning gap between china's wto and its actual trade and economic complexity. is in a global

economy, two very different systems now exist. that coexistence has proven damaging to global innovation and economic growth." tell us what you mean by that. have an entity established in 1995 called the wto. if you think about it, it is kind of the judge and jury. put in policies that are sometimes austere, discriminatory, protectionist. organizationde is designed to adjudicate. it is set up for countries that have the rule of law, so you have to look at a law, a rule, and say oh, that is bad. china does not put these things in writing, so they were able to get a free pass for what must what they do at the world trade organization. the trump administration and their team are getting more reform feared i'm hopeful the japanese will line an agreement

and really push for real wto appeared as it stands right now, the wto cannot really discipline china the way that it should, and they have been able to get away with a lot of bad behavior. hasfe that bad behavior been damaging to global innovation good look at solar panels, for example. in america, to the last caller's point, we produce 55% of solar panels in the world, doing really well. the chinese came in and they targeted at as an industry that they wanted to take over, and they just massively subsidize solar panels and they decimated the u.s. industry now where we buy from china for that industry. in r&d, invest today file a lot of patents, did they do that? no. innovation is slower than it would have been had the united states cap that 55% of the market. that is the kind of damage i am talking about fear and we have seen that in many industries where they come in and just subsidize things at a low price, they do not invest in

innovation, and as a result, global innovation gets harmed, and american workers get hurt. host: let's talk to bill, who is calling from illinois on the independent line. bill, good morning. caller: good morning. enjoying the comments and discussion. itcomment first and then leads to my question. it, if i own a ,ompany in the united states like schwinn or ge or whatever, and i want to open a company in china, a branch, a manufacturing branch in china, i can only have , and the 51%ip must be owned by chinese entities of the government. ever protectd you your intellectual capital if you have that arrangement? uh, had a process like,

machines, etc., to manufacture things, and i went to china, i would want to have those machines in a manufacturing facility with no windows. i would allowed no photography. it would be a pleasant working environment, but i would not allow anybody to come in, decipherh, be able to exactly the secret sauce. general electric says they can go in there and that they do not show the secret sauce. i doubt it. how do you negotiate, if you are negotiating to prevent the stealing of our intellectual capital, how can you prevent that other than saying "you cannot have that arrangement of majority ownership by a chinese firm"? basically, that is my question. guest: you raise an extremely

important point. the number of studies, and there have been thousands of forced joint ventures between chinese firms and foreign firms, especially american firms. the more advanced to the technology in the industry, the higher the rate of joint venture. so the chinese really focus on it. now, to be fair, not every industry is a joint venture requirement industry, but many, many are. a law, you have to form joint venture if you want to produce in that market. why did that even produce in that market? because often times if you do not produce there, you are not allowed to sell their, which again is a violation of the wto. this is a mistake when the u.s. allow china to be in the wto, there should have been a precision that would've excised, those things should have been taken off the books to allow free, foreign investment, just like we do in the united states. we allow chinese coverings to

the united states and open up a factory, and they do not have to partner with the u.s. firm. right, keying the weapon or tool that the chinese use in order to get american or foreign technology, it has been quite effective for the. nothe way, the study shows only do the partners of the american firms benefit, but so do the chinese companies' competitors, so that technology does not just end up with the chinese partner, it ends up with a lot of partners in that same industry in china. what just to be clear, were they supporting going into the world trade organization, and has the reason been proven false? guest: the reason was optimism. is ae view was china developing country. sure, they have some problem's, but if we bring them in the wto, we will be able to discipline them, there will be a wto

regime, if you will, that can force them to change. again, the chinese figured that out. i talked to chinese officials who said we were initially worried about this, but we figure out a way to get by, we figured out a way that what we did was not wto actionable. the other hope was that the chinese government would become more like us, they would become more like a capitalist country with a rule of law, with companies allowing to be independent, with the recognition that foreign companies are good for china. that really did not happen. in fact, under president xi jinping, it has just gotten worse. people now, more and more people understand that. i am not saying people should have known that back then -- -- but a debatable point the end result is they did not do what we were thinking they would do. host: is there a chance they would be dismissed from the wto? inst: there is a provision the wto, at least in the china agreement, if not both, called impairment and altercation, that you could bring a case to the

wto that says we want to nullify this because the chinese government has not lived up to their commitment third i have not heard that the administration wants to use that. that is a big bazooka, if you will, an even bigger bazooka or that the tariffs. the europeans are showing they don't have a lot of stomach, frankly, for taking on china. they are more than happy to let the u.s. take up the battle, and they will pick up the crumbs, if you will. host: let's go to laura, who is calling on the republican line. laura, good morning. caller: nice to talk with you. host: laura, are you there? caller: yes, sir. host: go ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead, laura. caller: i was explaining that i met with a fellow in the area that i live where we used to be embedders, the

and they are trying to help us, but on some of our meetings, people from our the country came, and this one gentleman approached me when he heard what i had, he said he had a briefcase full of money to sponsor my company and make it grow big, which, as you know, need aus inventors little help sometimes. i started talking with him. he came from china and was explaining that the government themselves send them over here to buy products from us and to manufacturie them together. he wanted my formula for a product that i have. i will not mention the name. i kept meeting and met starbucks, and he kept asking for the formula. i would not give it to him to finally, he said, you know, that in their country, they even have out of thethe oil floors from the restaurants, because that is how bad they are.

he asked if i could come up with some other formulas for other problems that they were having, and i did. they never did get all of that, either, so he slammed his coffee on the table one day, he stood up, pointed at my head, and he said "this is not what we want. we needed you. that." and he kept pointing at my head. so i said next week, some of these things and actually be processed for medical use. it takes a long time for it to be approved. he said all we have to do is manufacture it and china, and it will come into the u.s. overnight. it does not have to be tested or approved. i did not think that was very good. so the next meeting, i came in with a policeman friend of mine, introduced him to him, he actually went outside of the restaurant and started texting and talking with some people, and i never saw him again until another meeting of the city here

again. and i got up and told everybody to be careful with him, and i even pointed out this man, and the city sent me a notice, telling me i was giving the city a black eye. what is happening in the united states is one of my personal theions, and i do thank president for standing up for us and making sure that these people do not take our properties, is thate they can also going to the patents -- because i had my product patented, they can go in and change in a little thing on something, and you have lost your patent. 1+1 my trade name, it is not going to try to make publicity here, and the chinese guy, he put it on amazon +1---, and it has negative

reviews. mine does work and they don't. host: go ahead and respond to some of that. guest: your story is unfortunately not unique. stories,ard similar and it is a big, big challenge for our country. one of the things that congress did recently as they passed a law to reform what is called the recipients bill, and this was to tighten up the rules around how chinese companies could come in and buy up american companies or invest in them, because congress and the administration understood that this was a threat to our intellectual property. but because of that tightening up, which has been done and was good to do, the chinese now have a newer strategy or an additional strategy of going after smaller, newer, younger companies like your own. so this is not unusual. there have been lots and lots of

cases where chinese -- for example, chinese venture capital funds, many of them, if not all the stateacked by have invested around $4 billion in biotechnology startups in the united states last year. that is the enormous amount of money. and they do that not because they want to make money. they want to capture the intellectual property and bring it back to china. i was talking to a government official recently who explained to me that there was a case where the chinese came in, they yours,to a company like and they said we want to invest in your company, we want to help you out, but you have to give us some information, more information, and we have to be able to tour your factory and really learn more about it if we are going to invest in your company. they gave them all of that, they gave them the tour, and i never heard from them again. the reason they never heard from it again is because it was all a to get order

information. this is a new vector that china is engaged in, and we have to be careful. rather than put a black eye on your city, i think you did a service by highlighting that for our innovators and entrepreneurs in america. host: let's go to jane who is calling from west virginia on the democratic line. james, good morning. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: can you hear me? host: yes. go ahead. we can hear you. caller: hi. i does have a question about freedom of speech in china, like, for example, is their speech protected? are very opinionated about the government or something of that nature? do you have to look over your shoulder or something like that? also, how about the freedom of

people to travel outside of the country, for example, going to las vegas or visiting other parts of the world. up and take your answer off-line. guest: thank you. there is not really freedom of speech in china. it is not like north korea, for example. there, butre freedom certainly if you step out of line, if you push back on some of the things that are important to the chinese communist party or even president xi jinping, you can find yourself in trouble. you have to also remember they do not have an open internet there. they have a massive number of internet censors, so if you try to post something on one of their social media channels, and the government objects to it, that post will be taken down. if you keep doing it, you can find yourself in trouble. with regard to travel, chinese travel is the fastest-growing travel in the world.

there are massive amounts of chinese visitors all around the world, which is a good thing. it is good thing for economies, obviously, they spend their money. it is also a good thing when chinese tourists come to other countries, they get a chance to maybe see how things work, and maybe things can be better. it is not clear what the long-term effect of that is going to be. host: we would like to thank robert atkinson, "national review" contributor who wrote the article "chinese capitalism for coming in" and explaining all of this to us. thank you so much. guest: thank you for having me. host: coming up, we will explain campaign 2020, and we will get your calls of how you think the presidential race is going. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will be taking your calls right when we come back. >> sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern,

in his first television interview about his new book "a ly," americans fami journalist and best-selling maranissavid manio discusses his new book about exploring. >> communism>> how long would you say they were communists? mother was a young, and is at the university of michigan. my father was not, but he was definitely a leftist. and then after he came back from i would say from 1956 until 1952. >> did they like the idea of the soviet union, and why? father said it was stubborn and ignorance. i think they like the egalitarian. particularmother in

enamored by the economic inequalities that grew out of the war and obviously the great depression when capitalism was being questioned more strongly because of what happened with the collapse of that system. and i think that the stubbornness and the ignorance had not seen the paranoia and the murderous history of the soviet union until later. aniss, sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> the complete guide to congress is now available. it has lots of details about the house and senate for the current session of congress, contacts and bio information about every senator and representative, plus information about congressional committees, state governors, and the cabinet. the 2019 congressional directory is a handy spiral-bound guide.

order your copy from the c-span online store for $18.95. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. to close the show today, we are going to open up up phone lines to do come our viewers, to talk about the campaign 2020 and all of the activities surrounding that campaign as we move forward into the presidential election season. we want to open our phone once all of you. river, democrats, your number is (202) 748-8000. republicans, your number is (202) 748-8001. independents, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8002. and we are always reading on social media, on twitter @cspanwj and on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. yesterdayad a story talking about president donald trump and what he thinks is going to happen in the democratic presidential primary. here is what the story says.

"president trump predicted friday that he would face former vice president joe biden in the 2020 presidential election, writing on twitter that aside from biden and senator bernie sanders, the democratic field is fading fast." here is a tweet from president donald trump, the tweet that we are just talking about your "it looks to me like it is going to be sleepy creepy bernie," trump tweeted, pinning nicknames for the two democratic front-runners. theier friday morning, in midst of touting his trade strategy amid an escalating trade war with china, trump attacked biden over his role in and itsa administration handling of trade negotiations with china. will make our country much stronger, not weaker. just sit back and watch!

in the meantime, china should not rea renegotiate deals with the u.s at the last minute," he tweeted. "this is not the obama administration or the before."ation good morning. caller: good morning. i have one comment to make. i am voting for joe biden or whoever votes against trump -- runs against trump. host: why? caller: i just a trump is a bad person. i never have liked him. everything he has done seems to hurt our country. he is out for donald trump. he does not care about the country. your pick insay the democratic field right now is joe biden? caller: yes. host: why joe biden over all the rest of the candidates? caller: because joe biden is an is a-tempered man, he

polite man, he was raised by a normal, working family. he comes from good people, so he is good people. if you start with good people, you will wind up good. monday,ming up on former vice president joe biden will actually make a campaign stop in hampton, new hampshire local community meet at a pizza parlor. you can watch online at on theorg or listen live free c-span radio app theater that is only one of the few presidential primaries, democrats and republicans, evidence that we will be tracking on c-span, so be sure that you follow us on our c-span ,ebsite, which is c-span.org series road to the white house. you can track all of the presidential appearances and find out the latest about politics on our road to the white house 2020 website here it was again, it is c-span.org /series/roadtothewhitehouse.

be sure to follow us on that website here let's go to rick, who is calling from idaho. caller: top of the morning to you. for president donald j. trump for the following reasons. americans, you may not know me personally, but he can tell what has in your purses. you do not have enough to get by on food stamps, which is on a separable. president trump is here to put the pork back on your plate, in your belly, it in your wallet, and you can bet on that fear the money train is here, because residents rep -- because president trump is here. you andrzej duda c-span, and god bless president trump because he is going to .ake america the greatest jesse, you just made history. thank you again, my friends. host: let's go to johnson, who

is calling on the democratic line in silver spring, maryland. johnson, good morning. caller: good morning. . thank you for taking my call usually, when a family has an issue, a doctor will handle the problem. joe biden will answer the call, and i hope he will take kamala harris as a running mate. a lot of african americans will vote for kamala harris as vice president. i think that will go very well. i think people do understand one thing. joe biden knows how to work in an international arena. he knows how to do things together. he knows how to do something with senators khamenei works without a fight, and this kind of powerful man can bring all-americans together and finally we will have our country back.

then we will be on top of the world, like we used to be. host: speaking of joe biden, a story that says "presidential hopeful joe biden is crafting and environmental policy hopes appeal to environmentalists and the blue-collar voters who voted for donald trump, according to sources. he will likely face heavy resistance from green at kins. the backbone will likely include the u.s. rejoining the paris theate agreement and admissions of fuel efficiency that trump has sought to undo, according to those sources. he previously advised president barack obama. the second source, a formal official advising biden campaign, who asked not to be named, said the policy can also be supportive of nuclear energy and false a few options like

natural gas and carbon capture technology, which limit emissions coal plants and other industrial facilities." let's go to joe, who is calling from dayton, ohio on the republican line. joe, good morning. caller: good morning. , sir. how are you doing? host: i am doing fine. go ahead. caller: i am itron supporter. i am definitely voting for donald trump. he has done a great job. our gdp growth, our unemployment, what he has done for the state of ohio has been tremendous. ohio was definitely going to trunk, as well as florida. the venezuelan people down there love him, and he is doing a great job. and also, i want to say something about this climate, these people who are worried about climate and this and that. i would like to know how kamala whatever cory booker, these people are, the liberals, are going to tell china and to controlindia how their climate.

remember, the wind blows from the west to the east. how in the world is he going to tell those people over there how to run their climate? so let us spend $100 trillion to clean up our climate, which is better than it has ever been -- i remember growing up as a kid, our climate was terrible. in dayton, ohio, back in the 1940's, they burned coal, and by noon, it looked like it was night. now, our climate is doing great. so how are you going to tell china how to run their factories? that is never going to happen. so these liberals again are blowing smoke up people's whatever. i appreciate your time, sir. you have a great day. host: democratic presidential candidate kirsten gillibrand was at a house party yesterday in goffstown, new hampshire. here is a portion of that appearance. [video clip] se>> a little boy was shot and killed. do you have any ideas or plans on how to make sure kids are

safe in their schools? sen. gillibrand: i would definitely oppose the president's ideas and other republican lawmakers ideas to armed teachers. but i will fight very hard to have universal background checks , to have a ban of assault weapons and military style assault weapons. i will try to support it as an anti-federal contracting law, but it can make a difference -- which will make a difference. you have to take the fight to the nra, because the truth is, it is about their greed and their corruption. the nra has spent so much money on the gun many fractures, and the fact is the same, actually. the fact that the gun manufacturers care more about money than our students and our

kids and our community because they want to sell weapons at all costs, so i guess a ban on selling weapons to someone on the terror watch list, because they want to sell weapons to someone on the tour watchlist. they are opposed to the background check, because they want everybody to buy a weapon, even if you have a violent mental illness or you have a violent criminal conviction or your wife andbeat she has a restraining order against you, that is why there is a violence against hown act, it is ridiculous corrupt the nra has become, and it really is just corruption and greed. host: keep track of the 2020 campaign by keeping your eye on c-span. beto o'rourke campaign at a house party in bedford, new hampshire. watch live at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen live on the free c-span radio app. morrimark, who

is calling from san diego, california on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i do not pay joe biden will be the democratic, knee. is just a wolf in sheep's clothing. the former mayor bob fella, he was a hugger, too. of course he never went to jail. he should have. but joe biden, i think he will be coming back to earth here in the polls, may be after the first debate. he has a way of self-destruction anyway. thoughts.ple of other i think it is going to be a blowout for trump in 2020. he is not going to have any competition on this. so it does not matter who the democrats nominate. a lot of people object to trunk bragging, but if he did not do

that, no one would know about it, because the media does not cover anything that he does, and he has accomplished a great deal. i look forward to his second term, and i think he is the best president of all time. and that is not just hyperbole. i really believe that he is the most accomplished president and our lifetime for sure and in our lifetime, but bring it on, democrats. willnk that bernie sanders emerge as the nominee, by the way. host: let's go to kristen, who was calling from baltimore, maryland on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: go ahead. caller: i am voting for bernie sanders. he is the only candidate brave enough to spearhead a progressive agenda, and i'm voting for him regularly to accelerate the collapse so that myself and other libertarians like me can finally lead an armed insurgency against the

government so we can finally realized part to the sequel. host: let's go to joe from fowler, michigan on the democratic line. joe, good morning. caller: yes, i'm calling about -- hello? host: we can hear you. go ahead. been over 60s years since the republicans have actually had a legitimate president. when you think about nixon, when he undercut lbj, 20,000 soldiers were lost after that. you think about reagan, 144 days, they would have it back 400 days before that, 508,000 he was inaugurated, he hened around and, uh, release the prisoners, the hostages. bush, if he had not part of the people, he would have been in jail.

and you have george bush junior, you see what he did. jeb bush on the supreme court. now you have donald trump using russia. i mean, when are they going to stop using other countries? you have giuliani going all the way over to ukraine, or he is going to go to ukraine, and he decided not to after someone talks to him. so they need to change their ways and start working for america and not the other countries. and look at saudi arabia. turnedi arabians around and actually did some pretty big damage on 9/11, but yet the nuclear information, how they make their nuclear bombs and their nuclear -- host: let's go to kevin, who is calling from troy, north carolina on the republican line. kevin, good morning. caller: good morning. hey, yeah, i am voting for trump. i do not agree with everything

he does, but one thing i do agree with is only tariffs. i have set it for years, that the tariffs need to be raised up, because what people do not understand, what the tariffs are, it actually helps the american economy. it brings our industries up. it makes everybody in our products instead of buying everything around the world. host: former georgia gubernatorial candidate stacey abrams was asked about her 2020 as is at an event here in washington yesterday. here is a portion of what she had to say. [video clip] i have run organizations, i have been a part of managing teams, and as you know, i recently tried to will gethe state -- we there. i am looking at executive level opportunities, and that means that i am going to look at the 2020 presidential election.

no, stop, stop, i did not announce anything. [laughter] ms. abrams: ok. crop of have an amazing candidates running, but as i tried to articulate, this is early, and it is early not only for the race, it is early i think for all decisions, and i want to see what these candidates talk about. i think a number of them have been doing the work that needs to be done. i want to see how many of them make it through the first gauntlet. and i'd like think about my future, my goal is to think about whether i should be a part of this conversation. i do not think he run for second place, so i am not running on a ticket with anyone in the not to, but if i decide run and someone decide they like me, i am open to conversation after that. there is still the state of georgia, and it still need the governor, so i am looking at that, too. [applause]

n, wholet's go to looudo is calling from silver spring, maryland. i know i probably butchered your name, so pronounce your name for me. caller: -- host: go ahead. caller: for may, the 2020 election is about 2016. i think the democrats have this challenge. half to solve the miller investigation. and if they do not solve it, there is no way to win in 2020 or so 2020 is about 2016. areso want to see what they going to do about the investigation. who wast's go to harry, calling from georgia on the republican line. harry, good morning. caller: thank you, sir, and good morning, everybody. you sort of stole my thunder by excerpt stacey abrams'

from her speech at the council for foreign relations. this is the smartest girl -- i voted for her for governor here in georgia. she did not win, unfortunately, persons is the smartest on any venue. i mean, you have got the smartest girl in the world right there. only put her neck, so to speak, in the ring, she would, hands down, beat anyone at any debate. this is a very smart woman. and thank you for this opportunity. ist: let's go to john, who calling from fort worth, texas on the republican line. john, good morning. caller: hey, good morning. . i just want to say i am all for donald trump. i've ordered for

trump is because he is a businessman. i love the way the democrats are going, because they just wasted of everybody's time trying to get trump out of office. they know he is doing a great job. he won the office on the platform that he is going to do what he says. your other politicians, they tell you really nice stories until they get in office. host: let's talk to joanna, who is calling from camarilla, california on the democratic line. joanna, good morning. you, c-span. i was a former republican until donald trump came on. what i wanted to say to the united states is that look what he is doing in venezuela. he is worried about those people , that they don't have food,

they want to shoot the people who close the border, you know what, the other day. and i might all of those people, donald trump being the president, he is recovering his money. his family -- his family, that is what he is doing. america, wake up. this guy is a buffoon. he does not know what he is doing. he is not a racist. he needs the support of the racists. that is why he supported them, not because he is a racist. he needs their votes. and for those deplorables who voted for him and called them christians and they do not care about those people, they should -- if they read the bible, they should know better. it is amazing what happened in people do notand

see, how about north korea, do they seem sorry for them? it is oil. it is all about oil. who iset's go to jimmy, calling from north carolina on the independent line. jimmy, good morning. caller: uh, this is jimmy martin. i am a republican. host: go ahead, jimmy. you are on the air. caller:. ok. done a good has job. he is the best president we have ever had. he is the only one that cares about america. if he stays, he will save america. there,democrats get in it will be the end of the days, because they will take everything that other people got, and it is going to be the worst world we ever lived in, and i hope and pray to god that because i amain, 83 years old, and this is the

first time i ever voted for a president or anybody, and i voted for president trump, because when the other president went three years one time to get a raise in my social security, and i don't understand that. so ever since trump in, i get a raise every year, and i hope he stay in there and win again. he is entitled to it. say you votedou for the very first time for president donald trump? caller: in 83 years, the first time i ever voted in my life for anything. and i voted for president trump. host: ok. let's go to byron, who is calling from cleveland, tennessee on the republican line. byron, good morning. caller: good morning. this is byron hendrickson, cleveland, tennessee.

i want to tell you that i support donald trump, and i will tell you why. the fact that you have a lady on in an ad there, she slammed the nra and the gun activists, what happened in , the government disarm the people, and that is why they are having such a problem. they do not have any means of protecting themselves from the government. that is the reason we have the second amendment. thank you. host: we would like to thank all of our guests, callers, and all of our followers on social media for being with us on "washington journal," c-span. tune in next time for another show, and everyone, have a great weekend. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> next, our road to the white house continues with democratic presidential candidate senator kierstin jill a van. -- kirsten gillibrand. she meets with voters in new hampshire. later, former u.s. congressman and democratic candidate beto o'rourke attended a house party in bedford, new hampshire. show canadawe will and former maryland congressman john delaney meeting with voters in new hampshire. democratic presidential candidate senator kierstin jill a brand met with voters last night >> [c