western u.s. , as always, we will take your calls -- as always, we will take your calls, "washington journal" is next. host: it is saturday, july 27, 2019. good morning. welcome to "washington journal." this past thursday, the department of justice announced it would resume executions of federal death row inmates. ding a moratorium that had been in effect since 2003. the first of those executions is scheduled for december 9 of this year. as we start, we will ask you if you support the federal death penalty. if you support the death penalty, the line is (202) 748-8000.

is (202)hat line 748-8001. we also welcome your comments on twitter. tweet us @cspanwj. post your comments on facebook. we are talking about the federal death penalty being reinstated by the department of justice effective as of thursday. the executions set to begin in december of this year. the justice department plans to restart capital punishment after long hiatus. the attorney general william barr ordered the euro of presence to schedule executions for five inmates on death row. each was convicted of murdering children among others. owe it to the victims and their families to carry out the sentence imposed by our justice system." they write that by diving into the death penalty debate, the

trump administration is pushing back against the country's recent trend of declining executions. more on the washington post. one of the authors of that piece, mark berman, is on the phone with us this morning. what was behind the administration's decision to reinstate the federal death penalty? guest: as the attorney general said this week, they feel this givenenalty that has been to prosecutors to use. the justice department can seek it. presidents of both parties, president obama under his administration sought it in hope rifle -- high-profile cases. they say they feel they owe it to the victims. host: for a number of years, there was concern over the mixture of drugs used in executions. past the department of justice

resolved that at all? guest: they think they have. it was a three drug cocktail that was used generally in most places that carried out execution until recently when a shortage of one of those drugs caused a bunch of states to change their drugs. the federal government has been undergoing this review of the death penalty protocol, and they announced they would switch to one drug, which has been used by other states to carry out executions, notably texas. the last federal execution was in 2003. why was the moratorium imposed? guest: the moratorium that was imposed that was more recent than that, they were reviewing their policy and protocol. they had this three drug combination. they could not get one of the drugs. they were reviewing how they did

what they did. we don't actually know the specifics of the review. we know it was ongoing under the obama administration. when president obama left office, as far as we knew, it was still happening. we know it is done. the government has not said what if anything it found. host: was this announcement anticipated? guest: it was anticipated broadly. i spoke to some death penalty experts who said they expected the federal government would do this eventually. some pointcted at the government would try to find other drugs and change course. host: we are focusing on the federal death penalty, announced by the justice department. executions set to begin in december. what sort of crimes get the federal death penalty? guest: typically, those kinds of crimes are -- there are 2600

people on death row nationwide. only a fraction of them are on federal death row, 62 currently. those cases might be crimes that occurred in some places where there is a federal jurisdiction, such as someone who killed somebody in federal prison. in other cases it is high-profile heinous crimes. the surviving boston marathon bomber was sentenced to death. the trust in church shooter was -- charleston church shooter was sentenced to death. the justice department says they are supposed to focus their resources on something where there is particular severity. host: not surprisingly, civil rights and justice groups have announced opposition to this. do you expect legal action attempting to forestall or stay the order? guest: we do. we expect there will be some challenges.

i believe the aclu has said they plan to challenge it. one of the attorneys for one of the inmates that was scheduled to be executed has not said whether they were going to file a lawsuit, but has said they are reviewing all their options. berman, think you for joining us this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we are asking you about that announcement, whether you support or oppose the death penalty, the federal death penalty. (202) 748-8000 if you support the death penalty. (202) 748-8001 if you oppose. of thequick snapshot federal death penalty history. in 1972, the supreme court ruled the federal death penalty was unconstitutional and changed that decision in 1976. the death penalty was reinstated . in 1988, the last federal reinstated.

we will get to your calls. david in oregon. go ahead. caller: good morning. it seems pretty obvious to me that our thinking that we can kerosene is with the way i look at that. over bench,inciple punishment. they seem to go against any moral understanding. on the state level in oregon, what does your state do with capital punishment? to tell you the truth, i have lived here a little more

than a year. i'm not certain. i think i have heard it both ways. oregon is a very liberal state. i suspect -- it's just me guessing about it. i would say most people in oregon would oppose the death penalty. host: that is david in oregon. thank you for calling. we go to michael in california. michael opposing the death penalty. go ahead. caller: thank you. how are you doing? host: just fine thank you. caller: i oppose the death penalty because i think over the years we have been seeing people haveand time again who been executed, and later on, we find out they were not really guilty.

not only that, our justice system is looking for a culprit whoo -- actually committed the crime. people are paying for with their lives. you are seeing people who serve 10 or 20 years, and find out they did not do it. we should take the death penalty off the books. i am for everything else. to give another person the right to take someone's life, i think society would be just as guilty as a person who has been the can't be ad we just double standard like that. host: thank you for your call. getting your thoughts on the

announcement by the justice department to reinstate the federal death penalty. (202) 748-8000 if you support the death penalty. (202) 748-8001 if you oppose the death penalty. we have heard from oregon and california. atthe state level, a look the death penalty project. in those states, there is no death penalty in oregon. californiavin newsom recently imposed a moratorium on the death penalty. daniel ining from florida supporting the death penalty. good morning. caller: yes, sir. host: you're on the air. go ahead. caller: i support the death penalty. we have dna and stuff that prove that people have done these crimes.

i think it should be more widely used i think it should be -- used. i think it should be public. i think these executions should be public. teach people that you have to make an example out of people. host: you think those executions should be televised? caller: absolutely. we have a right to see them. our states convict them. we have the right to see that. i think it can teach people a lesson. this is what you get if you do some things in our country. host: that is daniel in florida. the federal death penalty in 1999, the federal bureau of prisons converted an old cellblock into a new facility. the government established an execution chamber. all federal executions have taken place in indiana. just to take a look at

publication from the indianapolis star. the five men on death row who will be executed beginning in december of this year, looking at some of them. daniel lewis lee, a member of a whoe supremacist group murdered and arkansas family of three, including an eight-year-old girl. execution is scheduled for december 9. desmond mitchell. death a 63 euro grandmother and her nine-year-old granddaughter. of texas beatlk to death his two-year-old daughter. for januaryn is set 20, 2020 -- generating, 20. honken.lee morga

the first five scheduled for federal executions in terre haute at the facility under the new ruling. this is jean. welcome. caller: good morning. how are you? host: fine. thank you. caller: i am a disabled veteran, and i don't believe in the death penalty. the only one that is going to tell me when i am going to die is my savior. i am a catholic boy. nancy pelosi, do not try to impeach the president. i'm a liberal democrat. don't do that because donald trump is nothing but a racist. she has had it made all his life. listening, ii is .m a good friend

god bless america. thank you. host: the half post this morning, house judiciary committee is investigating possible impeachment of donald trump as they head into the august recess. back to our topic on the federal death penalty from the wall street journal. this headline, the u.s. is set to resume executions, and they write that civil rights groups criticized the decision, noting that it comes as deep-seated problems remain unresolved, including racial disparities in its application. we will challenge this move, which is out of step with the american people and justice at large. the doj is on the wrong side of history again said the director of the capital punishment project at the aclu. the department said inmates will drugecuted using a single

as opposed to the more controversial three drug cocktail that have been the subject of widespread criticism and lengthy legal challenges. this is tessa in missouri. she supports the death penalty. caller: hi. i cannot say i totally support it, but when it comes to somebody that has murdered children and murdered people indiscriminately and has gone out to do this on purpose, i don't know why i should have to take my tax dollars to let this person have three squares a day and house them or feed them. i have not had experience with this, but my child has been indiscriminately murdered. one man said something about being religious. i for an eye.

i kind of believe that. i don't agree with our current administration on many things, thatn this case, i believe i don't want to see you having three squares a day when my child or grandmother or grandfather has been murdered by somebody who has nothing but a thirst for blood on their hands. i don't want to see anyone die. approaching -- opposing the death penalty in connecticut. caller: dna has freed many people. they were innocent. they sat on death row. statistically it works out to one in nine of the people on death row. how they can risk killing innocent people is beyond me, to take the chance that the person

is innocent, and there have been many innocent people. back to washington state, the west coast. we hear from joe. good morning. caller: yes, i support it because these bleeding heart liberals don't have a problem of unbornng on burn -- babies by the hundreds of thousands. when an individual is proven beyond all doubt, i don't have a problem -- execute them. joe. that was the justice department announcing reinstatement of the federal death penalty beginning in december. good morning. caller: as someone whose sister was a homicide victim and whose sister-in-law was also a homicide victim, i am totally

against the death penalty based on the fact that we know that at some point innocent people will be executed. i don't trust cops. i don't trust lawyers. i believe they will lie through their teeth if they believe the suspect is guilty. host: do you think there is still too much uncertainty in terms of people being exonerated after the fact? certainly in some cases that happens. caller: i definitely think that. in the u.s., justice is like health care -- you only get as much as you can afford. if you have the money, you get the full run. if you don't, sorry. host: here is a look at the pew research project. most states have the death penalty, but significantly fewer use it regularly, and they have a chart looking at states where

the death penalty has been carried out within the last five years. really just a handful. south dakota, the graseck, ohio, texas,i, arizona, virginia, pennsylvania. for many it has been 10 years or more since they have used the death penalty. this is allison. good morning. go ahead. you're on the air. you are on the air. caller: yes. penaltye in the death like scott. prison up there in that where he is having breakfast, lunch, and supper. we know he killed his wife. people like o.j. simpson, we know he killed his wife. why aren't they already dead?

i believe in an eye for an eye. if we know these people are guilty, yes, they need to be electrocuted. they punished other people. they should be punished. in the case of o.j. simpson, he was cleared by the jury in california in the criminal trial. caller: yes, he was cleared, all right. that comes from having money. the golden state not. i'm assuming his wife did not have enough, but we know he did it. blood in his bedroom -- let's get real. , let's down the highway get real. this world really sucks. we are talking about the federal death penalty. it is being reinstated as of december.

december 9, the first federal execution will resume. if you oppose that, (202) 748-8001. here is what some people are saying on twitter. penaltyays, our death with the death penalty on the central park five. they have been exonerated. timothy mcveigh wanted the death penalty, and they gave him what he wanted. it would have been better to keep them alive and not give him what he wanted. those who don't need to be kept alive and studied for prevention. ann is in golden valley, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. i believe in the death penalty. haveieve that we should public hangings. host: did you say public hangings? caller: yes, i think we need to

show people there are consequences for your actions. .hey don't believe in god i have never seen a man create a tree. i think they would get shook up if they thought it would actually have consequences to their actions. it is just a maze of lawyers and courts and bales, and everyone is making money, but nobody is getting fixed. and the bible has all the laws, chronicles, leviticus, deuteronomy. announcements the the other day from the department of justice. they said congress has authorized the death penalty through legislation adopted by the people's representatives in both houses of congress and signed by the president. the department of justice has sought the death penalty against

the worst criminals, including these five murderers, each of whom convicted by a jury of his peers after a full and fair proceeding. the justice department owes it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system. we read the first five meant to , scheduled to be executed, and the crimes they were convicted of. here is that schedule. it would happen beginning in december. daniel lewis convicted in may of 1999. mayie mitchell convicted in 2003. inred forth while convicted march 2004. all of them would be the first five under this new announcement from the department of justice. kyle is in california on our proposed line.

-- opposed line. caller: hello, hello, hello. host: go ahead. caller: hello. i oppose the death penalty. it could solve the state of emergency at the border. about stemiscoveries cells, there seems to be resurrection. people are using leftover food to make stem cells. fromseem to be getting it weights we will be glad to turn into stem cells. i'm hoping instead of the government trying to spend time figuring out if they should execute people, i would like if they would see if the stem cell health care right for resurrection could be in the day for the democrats to legitimize

the aca. and for republicans to prove that they understand there is a real excitement that started with the tea party. a continues today. that is about a right for resurrection. thank you very much for hearing me. the house wrapping up their work ahead of the august recess. congress idle as trump administration as justice restarts death penalty. prosecutors can consider when deciding to pursue the death penalty.

a long-standing legal challenge to the old federal legal injection protocol for death row inmates along with the lack of -- availability of drugs. the government repeatedly updated the judge in that litigation that it was working on a new protocol. the trump administration notice thursday of that new protocol. we are talking about the reinstatement of the federal death penalty. (202) 748-8000 if you support that. (202) 748-8001 if you oppose it. we go to massachusetts and hear from steve. i support the death penalty under two conditions. the accuser must admit to the crime, and he must be willing to be executed. i think this is both humane --

more humane than what the criminal gave his victims, and this is just. do you know if that method has been tried by any state? caller: i do not. i was just watching your show. that just came to my mind. it seems fair. host: thank you for calling in. we go to adam in salt lake city. hello. caller: hello. be sure to meet your television. i don't have at them. i will go to adam. go ahead. caller: i can hear you now. i oppose the death penalty, but i also support it if it involves children. that seems like more of a major crime to me if it involves a minor. anything involving adults, whether it includes murder, i

believe the death penalty should saided, but like the lady about how we're wasting our taxes, and we don't want to waste our taxes on these prisoners it is kind of just i have mixed opinions about it, so i don't know. childrenke involving it should. the death penalty should be used on them. president trump has voiced his support of the death penalty on a number of occasions, at theng most recently law-enforcement moral event earlier this summer. [video clip] the ambushes and attacks on our police must end. they must and right now. now.d right

we believe that criminals that murder police officers with trial should get the death penalty. it has to be fair, but it has to go fast. [applause] and that is happening. fair but fast. fair but fast. host: president trump earlier this summer at the national law enforcement memorial in the nation's capital. he also received news yesterday on the border and immigration front. the supreme court ruling the president can proceed with using $2.5 billion of pentagon funds to advance his border wall project.

a split supreme court saying writing night the administration can proceed in its plan to use $2.5 billion in pentagon funds to build part of the president's wall along the southern border. the president yesterday in the oval office announcing an agreement with guatemala. this story from the wall street journal. the wall street journal, u.s. reaches one-mile asylum packed. what a mall up agreed to become a key keeper for central american asylum-seekers trying to get to the u.s.. the agreement would require that migrants traveling through guatemala on their way to the u.s. seek asylum in guatemala. we will you discussing that more than about half an hour. we continue with your calls and comments on the federal death penalty. reinstated by the justice department thursday. let's go to ray in pennsylvania.

go ahead. caller: good morning. i am a former police officer. i believe in the death penalty. i have been on the scene. a lot of your callers have not. they have not seen or smelled or felt what family members go through. there was a misrepresentation by an individual that said one in nine are found from dna not to have committed the crime. not in murder circumstances. it is rare that someone convicted of murder is put to death. it is overwhelming evidence whenever they are put to death -- what he was talking about is yes, there are people convicted of rape and other crimes that dna later finds they did not commit the crime, but you cannot put those in the same category as murder.

where other circumstance they said it was cruel and unusual punishment that the individual receiving this intravenous -- whenever you go in and get on a slab for an operation, once they put you out, you feel nothing. you can have a heart operation. you can have a colonoscopy. you feel nothing. those arguments are nothing. some of your people, i wonder what they have been smoking. it is like the guy from california. you are calling from pennsylvania. your governor recently proposed a moratorium on the state death penalty, noting the difference, the state death penalty. do you recall his reasoning for that? basically all political. democrats for years in

pennsylvania have always said they were not enforced the death penalty because of their base. it is strictly political. for him not doing it, i understand. he said he would not do it. , the reasons are always clouded. when the death penalty is imposed, there is overwhelming evidence presented that this subject did the crime. once in a while, it slips through, but that is not worth throwing out the whole system. host: thank you for calling in. pennsylvania one of three states with governor imposed moratoriums. california and colorado being the other two. let's hear from michelle in maryland. good morning. i very much oppose the death penalty.

who should dieay and who should go free? there are institutions that create death every day. man causes more deaths than at the hands of single individuals. they say they are for the death penalty because they say it is biblical. it is actually not. we're not living under the old testament. jesus said turned the other cheek. this is the age of grace and love and mercy. placek this is a terrible in our history where we are that we are going back to where we should not be. penalty,and the death we should keep it in our past. host: here are some of the

numbers from the death penalty project. there were 34 federal executions 27 in 1988. and 1988. and 2003.1988 there are about 60 prisoners on federal death row. fromr: your caller pennsylvania, i work in pennsylvania a lot. i totally agree with him. the death penalty for police it is getting worse every week and month. now in broad daylight, they are throwing buckets and hitting them. the police cannot do anything. the mayors don't stand up for them. it is ridiculous. now to my point.

i am pro-life. my taxpayers pays for that. they make millions of dollars of money. the ones -- planned parenthood. selling the body parts and everything else. those babies come out. months even on that table still alive, and they butcher them. my wife was killed by a drunk driver. the seventh time in a row. did not have a license. country?ith this those two guys in canada have killed three people. there is a manhunt going as we talk. to keepch them, what is them from spending 20 years and $30 million in appeals? they did not care about the ones

they murdered. 99% of people, they cry. they are all reborn missions when they are convicted host: i wanted to correct something i said earlier in terms of the number of states that have government opposed moratorium. there are four. let's go to louisiana. let's see if i've got that. hammond, louisiana. you're on the air. go ahead. you are on the air. we will go to duke. ok. you are on the air. those poor kids, not letting the take a bath. they need the death penalty. i don't wish that on them.

the lord is going to take care of everything, but what goes around comes around. host: finish your thoughts. go ahead. realize, heoesn't has a family. the same thing he did to his family, the same thing will happen to his family. i think it was wrong. i cannot even rest at night. i pray that they get a better place. to brush their teeth. that hurts me. i cannot even rest at night thinking about them kids. host: we will take a look at what some of the political candidates on the democratic side think. capital punishment and the death penalty. 20 candidates have declared a position.

there are three policy positions outlined so far. among 18th of the candidates, their view is abolish it. they say inmates sentenced to death should have their sentences commuted to life without parole. ryan is of a different view. his view is that he would support a moratorium on the death penalty because the punishment is being unfairly applied to american citizens in its current form. also a couple of different views for keeping it. noting issues with capital punishment as it is carried out now. he would take it off the table in the most extreme circumstances. caller: hello. i think we should have the death penalty. unfortunately in america we have

a feminized criminal justice and approach. ecclesiastes 11 says an evil work not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the son of man -- we showed a whole generation of people that homicide is on the level of stealing a mercedes-benz. we don't have consequence for this. if you take a life, your life is to be taking for that. when someone kills a police officer, it should not be -- the police should have this person. a piece of rope should have this person speedily just like ecclesiastes says. the message would go out. our police would be safe. this is happening all over the place. ecclesiastes says it must be a speedy execution. host: that is duke.

we will go to larry. caller: i am against the death penalty because a lot of black people, men especially, have been on death row for years. we find out they were innocent of the crime they were accused of. some of them were in jail 20 or 30 years. another reason is because you have white police officers that kill black people every day, and they don't go to jail for it. they even keep their jobs. a 12-year-old black boy was shot down in cleveland, ohio. this white police officer, he is still working every day. people are killed for killing police officers, but what about when police officers to people? -- kill people? they don't even lose their job. the government, police officers are murdering people, especially

black and brown people. they get away with it. host: here is the reporting from the new york times. they write the announcement reversed a moratorium on the federal death penalty since 2003. five men convicted of murdering children will be executed beginning in december. they write that prosecutors still seek the death penalty in some federal cases, including --r they white supremacist .or the white supremacist timothy mcveigh, the oklahoma city bomber in 2001. lewis jones junior was executed in 2003 for the rape and murder of a female soldier. fred is in alabama supporting

the death penalty. good morning. caller: good morning. i tell you i am pretty ambivalent about this, but i think it should be carried on. the death penalty should. they should be very careful and make sure they review the cases. make sure the people are guilty because some people just deserve to die. that is how i feel. ohio next. this is fran. go ahead. caller: no matter how many confessions, no matter what the evidence, it is always possible for an innocent person to be executed. if the system cannot prevent the crime, the system cannot be perfect for deciding who committed the crime. i am opposed to the death penalty. host: you're feeling is that those people, the worst

punishment we could give them is life without any possibility of parole? caller: life imprisonment is enough for the guilty. capital punishment is too much for the innocent. this always possible to make a mistake. supporting theen death penalty. caller: good morning. host: go ahead with your comments. ,aller: on the death penalty their cases should be reviewed, make sure they are not innocent. anybody convicted for homicide in the late years now with dna being available, they should be put to death because there is no question if the dna points to them as the suspect as a criminal. arizona. clayton is next, opposing the

federal death penalty. tell us why. caller: i oppose the death penalty because our criminal justice system has become a racket. it is all about racketeering. it disproportionately affects african americans, hispanics, and other people of color. in addition to that, my sister was killed by the mesa police on february 4, 2016. those officers are still on the horse. they have not been charged it is a problem. host: has that shooting that investigated? caller: yes, but they claim the officers did no wrong. her name was danielle, jacobs. when they want to talk about having the death penalty for everyone else except

for the cops. who brutalize and kill people every day. host: that is clayton in arizona. we showed you president trump's comments from earlier this summer. he also talked about the death penalty last year in one of his numerous events looking at the opioid crisis in america. here is some of what he had to say. [video clip] >> drug traffickers killed so many thousands of our citizens every year, and that is why my department of justice will be seeking much tougher penalties than we have ever had, and we will be focusing on the penalty i talked about previously for the big pushers. the ones that are really killing so many people. that penalty is going to be the death penalty. ♪ --

[laughter] countries, at other i will not mention names, but you know the countries i'm talking about. how is your drug problem? we don't have much of a drug problem. how come? we have zero tolerance for drug dealers. what does that mean? that means we have the death penalty for drug dealers. we don't have a drug problem. take a look at some of these countries where they don't play games. they don't have a drug problem. we have court cases that last 10 years. then they get out at the end. we have got to be tough. we have to be smart. we have to change the laws. we're working on that right now. the department of justice is working very hard on that. be ultimate penalty has to the death penalty. maybe our country is not ready for that. it is possible that our country

is not ready for that. i can understand it may be. personally, i cannot understand that. there are good people that are strong people, and they would differ with most of us. that,k unless you do unless you have a really powerful penalties led by the death penalty for the really bad pushers and abusers, we're going to get nowhere. i am telling you we are going to get somewhere. president trump from last year. his justice department announcing the resumption of the federal death penalty with five executions set to take place between early december and and 2020.y of 2019 getting your reaction and your thoughts on that, whether use of work were opposed the federal death penalty. on twitter, this is from cap. once we're as certain as our

-- ken. once we're certain, execution should be within a year. when we wait 20 to 30 years, we are executing the wrong person. reinstating the death penalty is a means to accelerate the genocide of lachman in america. the death penalty is a voluntary choice. if you don't want it, don't commit murder or rape or espionage or treason. raymond supporting the death penalty. i believe in the death penalty only if you use it for falsely accuse likee of doing bad deeds, part five.al

found innocent to dna, and also the president had been harmed. the president should be the first one executed. here is silas from vermont opposing the death penalty. caller: thank you for taking the call. good morning. the courts are looking at individual acts of individuals. that is often what the public sees. evidence fromy of the scientific level that there is some chain functions with certain individuals which have a predisposition for very

aggressive behavior. that is a very small percentage of the population. almost impossible to detect in the general population study. there is evidence that some of the side effects, and you could probably get your prescriptions and the list of potential side and various painkillers and types of things. even if you go under for a colonoscopy or something, the anesthesia that they give you is a side effect that a head of surgery told me from a medical school who i was talking to a ptsd. ptsd is an alteration in behavior that can result in overly aggressive behavior. 20 different genomes in the world can produce different that we dna changes

potentially don't know about yet that would alter behavior. some of the individuals, a lot of the individuals that would be convicted may be under some influence of drugs and alcohol. this would be something that the courts need to get into to determine who is under what influence when a certain action happens. the act may not be themselves pulling the trigger, but there lists thise that schoolteacher who is dead now over 5000 cases of an influence of just that one class of drugs that alter behavior in many different directions, compulsion, suicide, murder. when you are looking at killing somebody, the question is is it down, or is it something else

that is in the environment that they are taking by prescription or not that may be at fault. how do you blame the person when it actually is something that is in the environment that is causing it. host: we are focusing on the federal death penalty. how determinative do you think those sorts of influences, medically induced or the after effects of medication should be? the judge disposes of the actual sentencing of the convicted criminal. how much weight should that have? how many resources can we as a nation afford to devote toinvestigating that ? -- devote to investigating that? >> i have talked to different lawyers on this. the law has not caught up with this. congress has not caught up with

it. the state legislatures have not research that the from manyed widely psychology departments. there was one done at the mayo clinic. they saw people with no compulsion developed into a whole range of convulsions. when they took the drugs away, the convulsions disappeared. the problem is that the courts can only respond to the law. they are locked into that. the legislators, which are typically liberal arts lawyers for the most part don't have the science background to fully understand this. many people in the psychology departments and the modern researchers that are working in ofse areas are fully aware

what the side effects are. ritalin as a side effect of aggression. you sharingreciate that information. it was the execution drugs in this case that propelled the department of justice to move forward with this decision. fda cannot control death penalty drugs. the justice department issued a legal opinion that it could lead to more executions in the u.s. by easing the availability of drugs. the opinion from the office of legal counsel says the fda lacks the authority to regulate drugs or other items when used in connection with the death penalty. the immediate effect of the decision is unclear because of a court injunction issued in 2012 bar in the fda from the lab the importation of key execution drugs. shortages have led many states to scale back or halt executions

in recent years. we have a couple more calls. this is charlie. go ahead. yes, i am for the death penalty. i'm from california. in turn the other cheek. however, in the case of somebody warranting the death penalty, it personbe clear that the wants the death penalty. yes. if they commit a crime against somebody, and the intent is toven, and they are able worm through everything that has to do with their psychological makeup at that moment due to influence, and it is the feeling that the person did undoubtedly commit that crime against another person, i believe in the

they penalty because if are in prison for the rest of their life, they are paying a payment that they do not have their freedom, however that is a burden on our taxes. that is a burden on money that we have to pay for that. i would say as a christian, send him to god. he will work it out. thank you very much. host: this is janice opposing the death penalty. caller: good morning. excuse me. thank you for taking my call. i oppose the death penalty mainly because we have a racist justice system. you reach the death penalty, you have to be convicted, and because we have a

racist justice system who chooses the jury, who is not a jury of their peers, that is why i oppose it. my reason for calling is because i have heard the callers that called in and quoted scriptures, and i don't know what church they stepped in and the 21st century, or where they have been all their lives that it sounds like they live in a cave and just came out and made a phone call this morning. then jim's belongs to the lord. he will repay. matthew 2237, in love the lord thy god with all thy heart and all thy soul and all i mind. neighbord is love thy as thyself. the one who called in an eye for an eye for an eye,

they don't know god. when jesus died on the cross, he fulfilled all the law and the prophets. host: we will you go. one more call on this topic. thank god for c-span. i'm for the death, but not in the united states of america. we don't get it right. expressed some of judicial system. i know people personally who done did 20 years and more for a crime that they just did not commit. believe that we should put people to death, but

not in the united states, because we just don't get it right. that, remember, you just showed of this so-called president that said, for the high crime. who had ollie north crass with the plane and was coming into the urban communities, yet was pardoned? listen. .e don't get it right we could, but we just can't. thank god for c-span. host: thank you, joe. morehead here on washington journal. we turn to the border next and migration issues. news on that front, we will be of theby anna giaritelli washington examined who covers home a security for the examiner. later on, we look at the new

british prime minister and the future of u.s. u.k. relations, and heather conley will join us for the center for strategic and international studies. ♪ reagan is an intellectual. he is an intellectual, comfortable with ideas. he understands the power of ideas. with that kind of foundation and intellectual foundation, a political leader can do all kinds of marvelous things. announcer: author and historian, lee edwards, is our guest on in-depth, sunday, august fourth, from noon to 2:00 p.m. eastern. .e is an author join our live conversation with

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>> we don't want any under aged consumers using this product. we need to work together to make sure no underage consumers use this product. it is terrible for business, terrible for public health, and reputation. none of this is good stuff. announcer: watch monday, on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen wherever you are with the free c-span radio app. announcer: "washington journal" continues. coversnergy artillery --anna giaritelli has spent a lot of time on the u.s.-mexico border and we look at her recent piece, construction or lack thereof of border wall funding . a single mileuilt of border fence after 30 months

in office. the supreme court will let president -- let the president do just that, accessing pentagon funds for $2.5 billion for those funds. you have been on the border and you looked at this. why hasn't the new areas of fencing been installed why haven't knew border walls been built? guest: it's a combination of factors. the first two years president trump was in office, he had republicans in the house and senate, so there was no excuse not to move on this. it also comes down to how they plan during the transition, and during the end of the election, they got about $340 million of funding for 40 miles of wall in got, and in 2018, they $1.37 billion for far more. the issue they have had is senior administration officials will choose to work on the replacement project because it is easier, they have already --

they are replacing somebody so they don't need land approvals, the environmental approval, which they have been throwing around and a lot of the cases. they can move on those, but the other long-term projects, the new fencing and new areas, some towns on the border are not open to it, so that is making it more difficult. but, it comes down to planning and really moving on it. the army corps is putting up 1.7 miles of fence per month for a this point.at host: historically, is that a lot? guest: it is pathetic, tiny. the bush administration, under the secure fence act, put up 600 to 700 miles of fence. half of that was the normandy barrier, a vehicle barrier, kind of like a metal, steel version of what you see at gettysburg along the fields there.

so it is a lot easier to put up, but certainly, the army corps is taking forever to get anything done. the trump administration has a 2020 to keep, right? host: what does that promise practically entail in terms of policy? what does the administration want to get done by 2020? guest: the army corps top officials said we are going to have 450 miles of border fence done by the 2020 election. host: new fencing? guest: total fencing. there is 50 right now, so they are 1/9 of the way. you heard that earlier this spring, he was saying that. now, you are not hearing that so much. the white house contacted me after my story went up and pushed back very hard. customs and border protection and all of the border patrol regions tweeting, posting on instagram saying "we have put up that," but the truth is

there is not a single mile offense in a new area. i think they are realizing that we are not getting construction done as fast, so it is something they have not been messaging on because who wants to say "hey, it has all been replacement." even in the response to the story, the white house said "we are focused on going forward, focused on having 120 miles done in the next year and a half." until it is done, it is still being built. host: the supreme court okayed the administer ration tapping into $2.5 billion of the pentagon funding. you mentioned the frustration the administration has had with getting funding. what will that $2.5 billion by them? guest: it will do a decent amount, if they can get it done by next november, when trump needs to show he has done something. they have projects in all four border states, replacement

projects, but they have new projects. thee are 70-80 miles in south texas rio grande valley they are moving on. the money approved yesterday, so to speak, will go to new and replacement projects across the southern border. they are working on stuff right now in san diego, california, new mexico, in yuma, arizona, in el paso, texas, but again, by the time -- now that the court has approved this, it delayed them for months and months, but this has been approved in the spring. that pushed the administration's addenda -- agenda getting it done. they often sub contract the process out giving it -- taking more time to get it out. it will probably be one of those things where you don't see the administration messing into -- messaging a lot on. is ournna giaritelli

guest. we talk about border security and we get into other issues as well. we welcome your phone calls. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 four independents independents and all others. usa today said we looked at every mile of u.s. mexico border and you can too. there's a real gap once you get down to the rio grande valley. where are the biggest challenges for the administration and getting border off -- border wall funding up? guest: the areas hit really hard, there is nine regions along the southern border, according to border patrol. the second most arrivals are coming right now in the el paso, texas region. the region includes all of new mexico. there is no border patrol new

mexico area. new mexico, you largely have barbed wire fencing. i have been down there a couple of times and climbed over it just to say i am now in mexico, it is that easy. those areas are also the areas where two kids died in december after coming into border patrol custody. it is where 100, 200, 300 people at a time are being dropped off on a charter bus, crossing the same fence, and surrendering to border patrol agents at that base. it is completely unsecure. the issue is that you have so many people crossing in these areas without any fencing that the administration is focusing on securing areas near the rio grande, where you have populated areas, so if someone crosses they can immediately -- host: blend in. guest: exactly. traffic, i've seen it

before, where you have the fence completely down to the ground, they have taken the wire down, and vehicles go right through. vehicles will typically carry narcotics, not people. host: in your interactions with customs border patrol, has it been fairly open in terms of showing you access on reporting on? guest: in san diego, california last week -- they are very open with showing the outdoor spaces. i have not been a border patrol or ice detention facility station going on 13 months. host: you did get pushback from the actin customs -- acting customs and border patrol commissioner. said to lou dobbs on foxbusiness the other night. >> let me tell the american people the facts, the truth. right now, there has been miles and miles of new wall being built. currently, 52 miles at strategic locations in el paso, san diego,

and the list goes on. replaced allhave dilapidated and ineffective wall. if you ask the men and women of border patrol, each of those 52 miles was a new wall. right now, under construction is another 50 miles of replacement border of the old dilapidated, plus 13 linear new miles. in addition to that, we have another approximately 100 miles of new, linear wall approved, funded, and we are getting ready to construct in the rio grande valley, one of the central and strategic locations for that. this will all be completed in 18 205hs, with almost 205 -- miles of border wall being built. we are still counting on the funding to come through from dod which will produce another 200 200 -- 200 to 250 miles. the: the reporter on

report, from the washington examiner. guest: i like mark morgan. he is a good leader and very open with the press. i notice he is calling the report ridiculous but not denying it. he says miles and miles. 13 to 1400 miles -- 1300 to 1400 miles that the resident promised in his most infamous promised, to secure and put up a big beautiful wall, are still wall is. they don't have a fence, probably don't have a barbed wire on a lot of it. the administration is pushing back hard, but even in pushback, if we have miles and miles of it, they are not explaining we have 52 miles. they are talking details or saying what is being done. they are focusing on long-term. it will be interesting in the next few months to see how much they are able to get done, especially in light of the campaign coming up. host: has their task been more complicated by the influx of migrants from the border, having to focus on the migrants instead

of focusing on construction projects? guest: it's not something the border patrol would do. customs and border protection's, they are the ones overseeing construction. they have resourced that out to the army corps, but in terms of agents, they are totally focused on people, not touching the wall in any physical way. host: we have a number of calls including jimbo here. go ahead, jimbo. caller: thank you for the opportunity. "washington journal" is the last place where the average man can get up and speak and have everyone hear them on the entire planet. a couple of comments here. first, we could build a great wall of china from brownsville to san diego, and it won't stop the three fourths of the people who have overstay their visas. three fourths of the people who have entered this country illegally have done so by overstaying their visas. building a great wall of china

from the gulf of mexico to the pacific ocean will not stop that. the other thing is this, these moneys would be better off spent enhancing our port of entry, because that is where most of the drugs come through, parts of entry -- port of entry. if we were to invest imports of entry into system in which a travelingre people's or student visas expire, making sure we know where these people are, that would be so much more successful. host: jim, thank you. guest: i did a story a couple of months ago because i wanted to see where are the are coming in. has three arms, aaron marines, the port of entry field operations, and border patrol. the seizures and pounds were split between a third of each of those branches. it was interesting to see that there might be more cocaine or

something coming off of the sea, but in terms of pounds of drugs coming in, it was split between the port of entry, and at the air and sea. host: in terms of hardening points of entries, are we doing that? are they strengthening those places? guest: the cbp is doing that. one of the places they are focusing on is laredo, texas. they are strengthening the technology they have there and using it as a port of the future to see "hey, let's try this new infrastructure, and if that works, we will deploy it to the other parts." there are 328 port of entry across the country. host: what new technology are they using? use a large x-ray machine, which is used across the southern and northern border to scan trucks on secondary inspection at they expect might have something on board, but the

new stuff they are getting into, they haven't totally shared what they are using, for security reasons, but they will eventually share it with oppressive it goes well. that might be something that brings democrats to the table to say "we can work on this together." host: roger is in ohio. the democrats line. --lo caller: caller: hello? host: you are on the air, roger. caller: somebody said a while ago the problem is not the border. keep talkinguys about wasting on the damn money on the wall that will do nothing? host: we will hear from ralph, washington, d.c., independent line. go ahead. caller: i'm kind of getting tired on the democrats side. they want to include these people in the census so they can

get more representatives in the districts. on the republican side, they want cheap labor and want to break the back of the unions. built, andn be democrats are saying "it won't be effective because all you have to do is take a camera down there and see it." it's a total indoctrination. this poor woman has her husband and he got kicked out of the country. npr is supposed to be neutral is now saying -- now putting a woman on for an hour and a half being a victim of their family. you knew you were illegal, set up illegally, and we are breaking the back of the blue-collar worker. then, the democrats say we will give free medical care for

illegal immigrants. we don't even have medical care for blue-collar american workers. then, you wonder why people are flooding across the border, because you have these sanctuary cities. if you ask them, it is continuous victimhood and republicans or anyone who does these things, whatever it is, you ask them for solutions and they don't have a solution. caller: that is ralph in washington. the bbc is showing tijuana, on one side of the wall, is tijuana, the other side is california near san diego. you were recently in the california area and the san diego area. youru watch, and in experience, are there more people than ever that you saw coming through, more traffic coming through? caller: there is -- guest: there is. there is a most since 2006-20 07.

they had the highest apprehensions in the border patrols 95 your history. in the border patrol last week, they have two walls in san diego. it is really unusual. they have what they call an enforcement area so you have one wall 18 feet tall in the front, closest to mexico, and then you have an open area called the enforcement area, where if someone gets over the wall, they are stuck there. there's a second while parallel to the first 30 feet tall. bordereas at the don't have this, but san diego, in the 1990's, had the most people coming over in that region. they really stepped up their approach. they are finishing the second wall. one funny thing i saw, the reason, the last part of the front wall, there is a house on the mexico and tijuana side that backs up to the fence. construction has been stalled as they are trying to figure out a way to keep the house up in tijuana and put the fence

literally right along the backside of it. certainly, they are moving on the replacement ball, it is just a matter of how fast the army corps can build it. host: those issues must come up all along the border in terms of obstacles in the way, homeowners, private property, and the federal government can't cut in by imminent main and claim that's property, correct? guest: they can't. they can skirt environmental laws, and they have done it in a handful of cases, even so, you will be dealing with smaller, local issues. host: let's hear from auburn, washington. david is on the republican line. caller: maybe they should ban legal immigration, because if the whole purpose of this increase of the population of our country, that is what donald trump doesn't like and is ,laming it on illegal aliens

but there have been illegal aliens come into this country for years, not to recently -- not just recently. this has been happening for decades. [indiscernible] it's not just the illegal aliens and immigrations, but people having children. caller: another -- host: another piece of the immigration process announced yesterday, with the announcement from the trump administration that they have reached a deal with guatemala. the deal would require migrants traveling through guatemala, the nation next to mexico, to seek u.s. asylum in guatemala instead about the u.s.-mexico border. what sort of effect might this have on the flow of traffic from central america? guest: i reached out to dhs to a few senior officials after this because i wanted to get their non-press office opinion. since october, the start of the fiscal year, you had 737,000

people apprehended at the southern border. one third, 240,000, were from guatemala. affectt might really about 500,000 people coming through from the south guatemala border to its northern border, you still have the country with the most people illegally crossing into the united states being able to leave that country, theoretically -- country. theoretically, they would have to apply for asylum in mexico, but we haven't seen that yet. host: here's ed from new jersey on the democrats line. ed, go ahead. caller: ok. motherm haiti, and my -- i don't know if she grade -- school

thing, but she bring me here. i got here and i graduated college, and i went to school. when it comes to immigrations, right, i've been working since 87. -- right now, i'm working with white males and -- not even don't like a college degree. but, i have a college degree. host: what is your question or comment? caller: my question is, what is the whole thing about immigration? threat?he when trump started talking about , people that are coming from outside, or when he --ls haiti

caller: ok, ed, we will let you go there. is there any reaction where the president makes strong comments abound migrants? has that had an effect on the flow from the people from central america? guest: if anything, it has worsened it. since he came into office, in early 2017, you had apprehensions at the southern border hit the lowest in 45 years. it was 13,000 people being taken into custody for illegally crossing in those months. that is when the acting dhs secretary took over the country's top border all. at that time, in those two plus years, they went from 13,000 people crossing illegally to 132,000 in may. there's a lot of things my sources throughout border patrol, cvp, and dhs have said

that he should have done at that time, but certainly, you have had president trump in office -- besides the economy, probably the biggest topic to come up -- pews research released a report saying immigration became a bigger issue on top of what it was. whether it is because of what president trump is saying, it is certainly a forefront issue. it seems to be getting a lot of global attention as well. caller: going back to that -- host: gordon -- going back to the border wall, one of the bbc charts of the entire border from san diego to mata morris, a number of years ago, there was a talk between the joint park between the u.s. and mexico. there are difficult stretches for them to seal, if you will, between california and the gulf of mexico. have they thought at all about how they will do that? caller: at this point --

thet: at this point, one of border patrol sectors, has one of the lowest seizure rates. from eagle pass all the way out to el paso in january on a back road, to not even i-10. there is no radio, you don't get a station. so, the threat for border patrol is so low that, unless something started moving through the area and was seen to continue, i don't think you will see any type of barrier erected in that region. host: let's hear from terrence calling from hollow lulu, on the republican line. caller: good morning. to answer the previous caller's question, the problem trump avenue is not with legal immigration, it is with illegal immigration. it is about securing this country not only from drugs and people sneaking into the country, but also human trafficking. they don't traffic humans for

prostitution or whatever, or the sex industry, through the port of entry. that is a big issue. i'm not concerned because i see what is happening that the democrats so discredit themselves that trump will only -- not only when the reelection, but he will take the house and keep the senate. it where we will have lawyers won't be able to hire illegal immigrants. -- employers won't be able to hire illegal immigrants. then, if you came across the border illegally, you will never become a citizen. you have to leave the country and apply in your home country or apply for whatever citizenship or whatever you want. you have to apply in your home country or another place. caller: thank you, -- host: thank you, terrence. anna giaritelli, thoughts? guest: the democrats have leaned with the squad, as we are calling it, does that

help republicans take back the house? if they do take back the house and keep the senate, and president trump, have stalled on the wall, can they do what they need to do? do they have a plan saying they will move on this funding for this type of border barrier? we will move on these legislative fixes you hear everyone in congress talking about, but no one necessarily moving on in a meaningful way. host: i want to go back for a little history. in your article, roughly 700 miles of the 200 mile border fence has some sort of barrier as a result of the secure fence act, passed by congress during the george w. bush administration. it was the first major piece of legislation that funded the construction of berries -- barriers along the southern borders. what with that act do if it was fulfilled to fruition? guest: it was fulfilled to fruition. he finished it. i believe, last time i rode on it, it was about $2 billion

towards 600-700 miles of barrier , which is about 15 million miles -- $50 million per mile not going very far. that ended up costing about $3 billion putting up that much. they finished it right before 2010. host: how controversial was that? guest: it was not controversial at all. now,,ed to how it is granted, this was four to five years after 9/11, but democrats were supportive of this. everybody seemed to agree that we need to strengthen our southern border because there could be -- there is the potential for someone to come over who is not seeking asylum, not even may be a drug smuggler or human smuggler, but someone with bad intentions. it was done at the time and they had it done for a lot less money. host: we will go to charlie in atlantic, texas.

let's go to him on the republican line. caller: thank you. what is the federal penalty for visa over stays and/or fines? guest: there's not really a federal penalty. when you illegally cross into the country your first time, it is a misdemeanor. the second time and after is a felony. for visa over stayers, what the cvp has been doing at airports, specifically, they are using facial recognition now at a number of airports nationwide as a pilot program to see, this person did overstay may be a year, and they will have a cbp p officer- cv correspond that person and say we know you have overstayed, but typically, they will put that person on the plane, make a note in the file, and that person is out of the country. they will not say, let's bring ice in and report you.

you are already leaving the country. host: here is silver spring maryland, john, democrats line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i think we are missing the whole point. donald trump is using immigration to get his agenda. he has his talking point that this judge has already given to him last night. that is beside the point. what needs to be done here, congress should do their job. if the republicans and democrats don't come up with a solution about immigration, we will have this talking point. i'm sick and tired every time democrats, attack and democrats attack the borders and show pictures of kids, remember, this country has laws that we need to follow. as an immigrant who came to this country, we followed the law. you have to go through the right door and apply.

you have laws that provideyou hu asylum. donald trump cannot stop that asylum. i think we need to understand one thing, some people are abusing the system. when you see kids coming, the parent they are with, they are not their parents. it is mind boggling that we have this kind of issue. i feel sorry about the immigration officers who are standing there, doing what the congress is supposed to do. ina, realistically, appreciate the things you have done, the investigative things, but the reality is, unless congress makes laws, we will have this confusion. that is the bottom of it. caller: all right, john. anna giaritelli. guest: i agree with him. every time i talked to a border patrol agent on to rank-and-file, a regular guy or woman working the job, it is, we have no way out. we are working overtime and doing everything we can. we are waiting for a solution and nothing is coming.

we don't see an end to this. host: the associated press, the numbers, migration to the u.s.-mexico border, an unprecedented number of families are coming to the border, resulting in dangerously overcrowded detention facilities, and they are just looking at one day in the el paso dell norte processing center. detention center is operating at a drizzly overcrowded levels. let's hear from al in watertown, tennessee. independent line. caller: here is some basic finance. will have paid for itself, because each and every one of these illegals consumes far more government welfare than they will ever produce in tax revenue because they are on -- are all non-educated. the democrats want illegals as voters, the republicans want illegals for cheap labor. how do you stop it without a wall?

you jail. you don't crime but incarcerate employers that employ illegal aliens. how many employers have been jailed? hardly anybody. the next thing you do is stop all of your welfare payments to these non-businesses. they will self departs. there is no reason for them to be here if you can't get a job and you can't get welfare. they will leave on their own. caller: ok, al. anna giaritelli. guest: that is something ice, homeland and security -- homeland security investigations are doing. hsi has moved significantly on -- i believe it was up 400% under trump last year, the employment verification and going after people. you've seen a lot of -- but they call them enforcement operations, going after places where they know they are hiring people illegally and they will arrest a person working

illegally, but we are really going after the employer and company for engaging in that kind of activity. host: next is dan in jackson heights, new york. republican line. here as anh, i came immigrant a long time ago. nation status and it took us 10 years -- 20 years to get in here. so, i really think a lot of -- can be a real problem. on the other hand, you think these people who are over stays, these people came here for a reason. they usually had to have a good reason to get a temporary visa to come here. people, ifter these don't think would be very fruitful. what is the real problem is people who come here or are brought in here deliberately to violate a law and be a law

violator when they are here. you can count on these people being caught up in the dark side of our society. i think you should distinguish between the different kinds of people you have, the different kinds of contributions they make, the different kinds of burdens they impose, and statistics suggest it is not very useful, because this country has got to have a more open and inclusive system. we depend on these people. we need them. host: that is dan in york. anna giaritelli, i want to go back to your story on the administration not building new wall. you got a lot of pushback, perhaps from the president himself. one of his tweets, he retweeted your story and said when we ripped down and totally replaced the dilapidated barrier on the southern border, something which cannot to the job, the fake news media gives us zero credit for building new wall. we replaced many miles of

new barrier -- old barrier with new walls. what's it like with the iron directed at you? guest: it's not the first time. a lot of people know, do we take this seriously and say conservative leaning outlets doing a conservative story very critical of the administration. the most hate mail i have ever gotten from a story was one about congresswoman aoc. the second most would have been the story right here. the imo's i got from readers saying fake news. one thing i wanted to say was, read the story. everything is there. i've had people in dhs and the white house reach out to me privately in the past we can say it was accurate, we didn't like it, but it was accurate. that's all i would say. host: let's get one more call from washington. this is lester. caller: hello? host: you are on the air, go ahead. , i only have the

question, what is the wall going to prove? when it has been proven time and time again that everyone has been able to climb over it. that is the only question i've actually had. caller: we will wrap up there on the wall. back to the decision by the supreme court allowing the administration to move ahead with $2.5 billion. ideally, what with the trumpet administration like to get? what is their dollar figure, the most recent dollar figure, for most recent wall construction? guest: in december, the administration asked for 5.7 billion dollars, and when they didn't get it, they moved to take $8 billion from congress. at this point, the administration is not putting too much out there. they will wait until the end of the year to start working on appropriations. at this point -- it is

so difficult with democrats in the house to actually say we will ask congress for more money. i think you might see, similar to what they did this year, since the court did rule in favor of them, it might be the way to go come next year, until they can possibly win back the house. then, actually have legislators who might be willing to give them money for border security improvements. host: anna giaritelli covers border security and homeland security issues for the washington examiner. you can read her report on ngtonexaminer.com. ask to a political view and about immigration, is it a top immigration for you in 2020? if it is, call (202) 748-8000. if it is not so much, less important to you, (202) 748-8001 . we will be right back. ♪

announcer: this weekend, on american history tv. today, at 5:00 p.m. eastern, it is about the 1980's refugee act. >> i think president carter's actsion on pushing for that and implement it was a hugely ,mportant humanitarian decision every bit of the credit we have heard here today. that said, we have to be realistic and say that doesn't solve all of the problems, and in fact, creates some. announcer: at 6:00, on the civil war, gary gallagher. >> whatever i did in academia should have some dimension that reached out to people who were interested in the era, the way i had been when i was growing up. it seemed there should be more bridges between academia and the public then there are.

one of the key places where that can happen, i knew also from experience, was at battlefields, where you can make a connection to the past and away you can't. announcer: sunday, at 4:00 p.m. eastern on railamerica -- reel america, a video details civilian injuries and deaths caused by bombing in north vietnam. >> before the rate, i used to come home from school heavy with my folks. mother,, grandfather, all of them, including an unborn baby, have been killed. even little babies are victims of these american air raids. announcer: at 645 time p.m., historians discuss health care policies since world war i. >> trumans would have covered everyone. initially, a majority of the public, up to 75%, supported the idea of health insurance for all via the social security system.

announcer: explore the nations passed on american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, only on c-span3. announcer: "washington journal" continues. host: we continue to look at immigration, focusing it -- focusing on it as a political issue. isn't important for the 2020 election? if it is, (202) 748-8000. if it is not, (202) 748-8001. president trump is getting two it's a positive news yesterday with the agreement with guatemala and the announcement from the supreme court on allowing the administration to move forward on using at least $2.5 billion of funding for border wall construction. the new york times, with their leader, and only opinion this morning in the paper of the new york -- nytimes.com. they write the entire system of

checkpoints, detention centers, and immigration agents hunting for hispanics, along with all of ennedorror of children p in disgusting conditions, perverts american values and traditions. it is a victory for the xenophobic and racist vision promoted by president trump's far right advisor, stephen miller, and exploited by mr. trump from the day he announced his candidacy. president trump, yesterday in the oval office, announcing an agreement with guatemala on asylum issues. here's what he had to say. >> we are doing a very important agreement historic between our two countries. a very important event. we have long been working with guatemala, and now we can do it the right way. it's going to be terrific or them and terrific for the united states. this led mark agreement will put the coyotes and smugglers out of business. these are bad people, very, very

bad, sick, deranged people make a lot of money off other people's miseries. it will provide safety for legitimate asylum-seekers and stop of silent fraud -- stop asylum fraud. it is also transformative in the step it will take and many steps it will take toward security, safety for guatemala, and signifies the credible, bright future for their country. this agreement will usher in a new era of investment and growth for nation -- their nation, and sets the stage for cooperation with their countries and expanding access to the h2 a visa, which is your agricultural workers and farmworkers. we will have them coming in your --ntry in an easier pressure easier fashion than before. it is very important for our farms and ranches, and we are

going to make that a very, very much easier, less cumbersome program. host: from usa today, a bit more on the guatemala deal. president trump says he is the third safe country. after months of negotiations, president trump said he has reached a safe third country agreement designed to reduce the number of migrants claiming asylum in the united states. if the agreement takes effect, there could be legal challenges. the u.s. could also deport migrants to guatemala under those circumstances. your thoughts on immigration as a campaign issue? you -- isop issue for it a top issue for you? if it is (202) 748-8000. if it is not, (202) 748-8001. it is for charles in florida. go ahead. caller: my comment is, 12 years

ago, they were telling us there were 10 million illegals in the country. the democrats today are telling you there is 11 millions. -- 11 million. those numbers are not right. we have to address the true number of people here illegally, and we have to deal with it. look at europe and look at what has happened over there. it will happen here. , and weto have borders have to have control of who comes in. the government is lying to you on the true number of people here. i am in florida. some of the cities down here, you would think you are in a different country. that is my comment. the numbers are wrong. we need to count who's here, and we have to know who is here. next caller inhe minnesota. caller: i just want to say it is not about immigration to me. it is about health care.

that's it. host: so health care is your number one issue for 2020? caller: yes. host: dave is next up in huntsville, arkansas. dave says immigration is a top issue. ahead, dave. caller: good morning. -- go ahead, dave. caller: good morning. i think it is the top issue because it comes to our nation parse security. we are in a dangerous world today. -- nation's security. we are in a dangerous world today. the numbers on the books need to be changed. it is so unfortunate that it has been made political. this is security. thank you. host: we are talking about immigration as a political issue, it certainly was in 2016 as we talked with our previous guest on border wall construction. this is from --. mentions of immigration as best

they write after hitting a new high last month, mentions of immigration as the most important problem facing the u.s. increased further to 27% in july since gallup began regularly according mentions in the issue in 1993. issue has -- immigration has been cited by 6% of americans, though it has been higher in recent years. there have been typically short-lived spikes when major immigration events were occurring, and you can see the late 2016, 2017, and into 2019. let's go to a border states fort worth, texas. let's hear from austin in fort worth. caller: good morning, c-span. host: good morning. caller: as i spoke to your operator, i have been aware of this problem since i wa 10 years old. i was born in texas, and have been listened to every sad story that has ever come out of the comingrom the immigrants

up, our brothers and sisters from the south. the problem does not lie with trump. he is just the top law enforcement officer. the problem has always been with congress itself. who, in my opinion, plays politics with these people's lives. right now, it is the democrats, squawking about children being separated and the like. due to thecreased fact of technology, i believe. and, everybody has a cell phone now. the understand the democrats are at war with the president's administration, and by cell phones, they have learned they can game the system by bringing children up. , andcreates a problem these children are not always with their parents. that has been proven. they are brought up per se sex traffic, slavery, or rent a

child. they are brought back across the border and rented again. the cartels do this. this is new. the thing that makes it possible is the cell phone technology. an idea right now be broadcast in minutes to thousands, whereas before, it had to travel village by village over a period of months. on an idea of how to get across the border. he also have gps with these phones. that technology allows them to find places across the border. the fence itself, as i understood it whenever they first reposed this, was supposed to funnel the migrants to the port of entry. andve hunted along arizona texas, along the border. there are places out there where you don't want to be without whereor the knowledge of you are at. every year, we have the border

patrol finding a skeleton or bodies of people who could not by the or were abandoned people bringing them across. we don't need a fence in some of those areas. we can build a fence and had a -- have a gap area that would easily be able to be watched. the fence itself could, with technology, be where anyone trying to cross it could be spotted. it is unnecessary to build an entire fence from the gulf to san diego. host: let me ask you about -- go back to the question about immigration as a political issue. of a -- is it more winning issue for the president steel and a losing issue for the democrats? caller: i think it is a losing issue for the democrats. the migrant to have population come in legally. the reason for this is we have a retiring population here, where

social security and everything, i think it's like to .5 people now support a retiree. it takes four, four to six people to do this. , so we need -- so, we need the immigration population. statistics say the anglo population is decreasing while the minorities are growing. of course we need these people. host: i appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us this morning. i to the political aspect of things, a look at fundraising, this is the report from the new york times on the democrats side. they say elizabeth warren has received $1 million to her campaign for president, her team set on friday, making her the only democratic candidate aside from bernie sanders to announce reaching that threshold and the 2020 cycle. the milestone further affirms miss warren as a top fundraiser

after a slow first three months in the presidential race, during which she raised $6 million, despite having sworn off private fundraisers. she raised 19.2 million in the second quarter, placing her behind only mayor pete buttigieg of south bend, indiana, and joe biden during that period. let's hear from dayton, ohio. not such a political issue for kathleen. good morning. caller: good morning. it is not my number one issue by any means, however, i see the importance of how we treat people, including children, of course, at our border, and how they are treated once they are in some sort of safe houses or whenever they are in the country, so that is important to me. what i have observed, and i spend my time between boulder, colorado and dayton, ohio.

dayton had been a manufacturing town where there were good jobs decades ago. i went, as a sanders supporter, to a trump rally in the summer of 2016. i had a sign that said i am a sanders supporter and wanted to talk to trump supporters. i had an insightful time and talked to numerous contractors. i talked to numerous gm workers who had lost their jobs and were upset about that. that is how trump put them, they claimed. i hoped they talk to contractors put out of business in columbus, ohio, by those who will hire illegal immigrants and cut the prevailing wage. then, those guys who don't want to hire illegal immigrants are put into a corner. in boulder, colorado, earlier, you had a caller bring up companies who hire. in boulder, i see white, wealthy , often so-called liberals

hiring illegal immigrants. there's a trailer court in boulder. i don't blame the immigrants, but i blame the people who hire. individualsi see and i have talked with people who hire people working at eight dollars per hour, watching their kids, cleaning their multimillion dollar houses. i think there has to be more oversight in how illegal immigrants are treated, and what they are being paid, and how they are being treated. no one goes after those who hire illegal immigrants. it is not their fault that they are looking for work. host: here's robert calling from michigan, who said immigration is a big issue for him. tell us about it, robert. caller: thank you for taking my call and my hat is off to all border patrol agents. they are doing a fine job. congress has to get their stuff together. you've seen what is going on.

the president should go ahead and start to take these illegals and ship them to these areas that they have in sanctuary cities. appropriations should be cut off to these cities. we have people sitting on the streets in california, and our veterans and stuff that has to be taken care of. all of these freebies these guys are getting, ladies, are just drawing down on our economy. it is a shame. let's do this legally, and maybe pick up the pace of people who are waiting in line to get into the country so we can have something done that way. host: some news on the economy reporter here in the financial times, u.s. growth slowdown points to a rate cut they say the u.s. economic growth cooled to a rate of 2.1% in the second quarter, increasing the chances the federal reserve cut interest rates by one notch at its policy meeting next week.

let's hear from lauren in alexandria, minnesota. lauren, go ahead. caller: i think this is a top issue. i think trump is 100% right. people say most of the drugs come in through port of entry. until they can tell me all drugs come to the port of entry, i am not satisfied with that. a lot of these people are coming from krapp countries. when they turn this country -- crap countries. when they turn this country into a crap hole, where are they going to go with this? host: gary, go ahead. caller: let them all in. we will go into total gridlock. nobody will be able to drive like washington dc 95, crime will be outrageous, nobody will understand anybody. that is how the tower gets built to heaven. we are going to be completely

destroyed by our politicians, and our politicians are m -- our enemy number one. the democrat party is very disturbing group of people who appear to not care about anything. that's a terrible thing. i like people very much and i like a lot of the democrats very much, but their ideas are very hard on all of us. the white population is pretty much gone. that will be destroyed. they don't stand up and work upo get things to take place in our country that are good for our country. fantastic job a although i hate some of the things that he has been associated with, and i am embarrassed for him and ashamed that anybody would do anything like the things that he has done sexually and things like that. if those things are true, but other than that, he certainly seems to have the type of mentality that my grandfather and great-grandfather had to make things take place.

host: thank you for the call. we will take it to overseas issues, and particular, the new tri-minister of britain's, boris johnson, in the future of u.k. -u.s. relations, we will be joined by heather conley. later, our weekly spotlight on magazines. we will speak with stephen drick about examining suicide in america. garrett graves from louisiana, he talked about the select committee on the climate crisis and what is going on in his state. [video clip] the committee was created largely to continue driving a political wedge when in reality, if you look at this issue, there are a lot of areas so we need to be working together to cooperate. --hink speaker pelosi's

pelosi probably set this up to distinguish between republicans and democrats come up on the democrat side, you see a civil war occurring. the folksat some of in the climate committee have been trying to gain traction and there and sliding little bit and certainly with some of the legislative tactics earlier this year, and you've seen folks advocating for the green new deal also trying, so watching this from the republican side has been interesting because we are not real sure who we should be talking to and negotiating with. toyou have a great threat our climate, absolutely. we have some of the fastest sinking rates in the nation. we are experiencing sea rise like the rest of the world. we are subject to hurricanes and other intense storms. we had an unnamed storm just three years ago that dumped 36

inches of rain within some of our communities. we had rain just about three weeks ago that dumped seven to eight inches of rain in one hour. certainly, we have some challenges. the reality is when you look across all of the threats that are state is exposed to, the greatest one is attributable to how the core of engineers, our own federal government has managed our river system that has resulted in the majority and wetlands which is our buffer from tropical storms in the gulf of mexico. "washington journal" continues. host: heather conley, a former secretary of state for eurasia affairs with the bush administration, she is now here to talk about the new prime minister of britain, boris johnson who just came to power this week. what is behind his rise to

power? where did he come from? guest: that is a great story. he was a journalist and a correspondent in brussels covering the european union. , verys where he began controversial start. he fabricated a quote and was fired and then picked up by the alegraph, which is basically conservative party paper of choice. he wrote on the european union, became a favorite of margaret thatcher as a good journalist covering the eu, very skeptically. after coming back from journalism, ran as a member of parliament but then left in disgrace after disclosing an extramarital affair. then he ran for the mayor of london, very unexpectedly one, was extremely successful, two runs as mayor of london, and

then 2016, ran for parliament, was successful. referendum 2016, he attempted to run for prime minister. he was unsuccessful. when theresa may became prime minister, she named him her foreign secretary. he was there for two years, left after disagreements with the handling of brexit, and she stepped down, and he won finally the prime ministerial leadership havest, and then we boris johnson as a minister. host: he was a big part of the leave campaign in the brexit vote. this headline in this morning's financial times says it all in terms of where he is now three-month from the deadline. brexit or bust, they write that the conservative party is now unashamedly the brexit party. the centers have been pushed to the sideline and for many and seems that mr. johnson has chosen a path of

confrontation rather than compromise. guest: absolutely. i am glad you had me walk through his resume because before he joined the campaign, he was not sure about this decision about leaving the eu or remaining, but what he saw was the political opportunity to fulfill an ambition. infamously, as a columnist for the telegraph,, he had two positions on leave and the no leave at the time of the referendum. it tells you, he was not sure. he saw this as a leadership opportunity and as you rightly said, he became really a leading face of the lead -- leave campaign which catapulted him to where he is today. he is so flamboyant, so charismatic, and this is what the face of what leave needed to really build drama and focus. typically been't

sort of a finger to the wind going with the popular flow of things or is he grounded in real political beliefs? guest: he is an incredibly strong intellect. is the mostord, he extraordinary academic pedigree. classics,d the greek so he is intellectualizing all he rune things, but yet so fast and loose with the facts. during the leave campaign, the very infamous when they would leave the eu, the u.k. could return 350 million pounds to their national house service and that was incorrect. even last week, boris johnson said that the reason that fish are packaged in the u.k. is because the eu required that regulation. it is false. it is the united kingdom that

requires the regulation for that packaging, so for big and small, very loose with the facts". but his charisma and his enthusiasm, i think he believes he will always win the day. host: boris johnson, the new prime minister of the u.k. our guest heather conley helping us figure it all out. (202) 748-8000 is the number to call for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 four independents. we will get to your call in the moment. of brexit deadline, the end october and it sounds like the prime minister on the floor of the house of commons the other day full speed ahead towards brexit. what might that mean for the united states? guest: let me first explain why boris johnson has taken this position right now and then absolutely, when we talk about the really important implication for the united states.

what the conservative party fears the most is a split. europe has split the conservative party for the last failed five has conservative prime ministers. why boris johnson one this leadership contest is in part because they believe he can unify the party and there is this new party that has been created, called the brexit party to compete in the european parliament elections and that is doing extremely well. that is an existential threat for the conservative party. boris johnson has to be the brexit party to eliminate an electoral challenge from nigel faraj brexit party. was in the front row seat for a speech that president trump gave, and he has to win in general election so that is why he is doing this now. the implication for the united

states, the united kingdom is a narrative strongest intelligence partner, close, close security partner bilaterally in nato, and we have an extraordinarily important to trade and investment relationship. if there all of that, is a no deal brexit on october 31 -- host: it has been called a special relationship, washington both thes cover with president and boris johnson, can boris make it great again faced with trauma. what do we know of the relationship between donald trump and boris johnson? guest: it is quite positive. certainly, they do have a lot in common, they really understand whatan feel instinctively publics want to hear and to sell that very enthusiastically and energetically. they sell it very differently.

they are popular within their own political parties, but their unfair ability ratings in the general public are very high so they share those similarities. and they are is sort of an enthusiasm that this making the country great again, that you can do it on sheer will of the person. governingchanics of institutions matter less. thematically, they have a great deal and, but they are very different coming from very different backgrounds. said the prime minister something to the effect of making the u.k. the greatest place on earth. we have calls waiting for heather conley. in minnesota on republican line. welcome. caller: i am not in minnesota. host: i am sorry, that is michigan. caller: we are close, right. host: yeah. caller: i agree with your young lady there.

johnson is like a mirror image of trump. growth and promote job security, and i think that the brexit deal is something that has been long called for by many, many, many people in england and the u.k.. it has been mostly ignored. people willthe stand. i think it is the same way here. back to your border issue if i we cannotst a second, allow everybody in the world to just pour into our country unvented -- unvetted. the reason there is so much , we have had no

funding, there has been no participation from the democratic party and it is just sinful. host: on fulfilling the will of the people in the leave vote. thet: this is exactly point, 62% of those participating in the referendum in 2016 voted to leave the eu. i would argue that the public did not have the information they needed to make the decision. it, and have made theresa may tried to fulfill that well. she could not. the challenge we have with the referendum, you have a referendum which is a popular will but you have the parliament, the sovereign, the representative of the people and in some ways disagreeing with the referendum. this is really the constitutional crisis that the u.k. finds itself into the last three years. noted,tion as the caller

it was very important to the referendum, but the facts were fast and loose. the united kingdom controls its immigration policies but because it was a member of the european union, it allowed the 28 countries of the european union the free movement of people, but the pictures and the images of the referendum were primarily, and this is very controversial move with immigration, but that was not -- the u.k. controlled that immigration but not within the european union. but they are now going to exit unless the parliament decides that there is another course of action. host: we mentioned the prime minister statement, his first before the house of commons. c-span covers many of the deliberations of the house of commons in this was one of them. his very first statement where he talked about what is ahead for the brexit negotiations.

[video clip] johnson: and fulfill the repeated promises of parliament to the people by coming out of the european union and doing so on october 31. i and all ministers are committed whatever the circumstances and to do otherwise would cause a catastrophic loss of confidence in our political system. it would leave the political -- british people wondering whether their politicians can never be trusted to follow a clear democratic instruction. i would prefer to leave the eu with a deal. i believe that it is possible even at this great stage and i will work flat out to make it happen. but certain things need to be clear. the withdrawal agreement negotiated by my predecessor has been three times rejected by this house.

it's terms are unacceptable to this parliament and to this country. no country that values its independence and indeed, it self respect could agree to a treaty which signed away our economic independence and government [indiscernible] if an limit is not enough agreement is due to be reached, it must be clearly understood the way to the deal goes by way at the abolition of the backstop. tot: i want to get quickly that phrase, the backstop, what is he talking about? he is talking about the border between the republic of ireland and the united kingdom as a part of northern ireland. the backstop is really an insurance plan and it is written that thehe agreement u.k. and the eu negotiated under theresa may, and all it says is that both sides want a

frictionless border. that was part of the good friday agreement in 1998 that restored peace to northern ireland, but because the united kingdom and ireland were both in the united nogdom, they had restrictions with border goods, but after the u.k. leaves the european union, that becomes the external border of the european union. both sides want to make sure that there is no hard border checkpoints because if you will recall, those were militarized checkpoints. we had bombings and loss-of-life, it was a point of conflict. what prime minister johnson does not like about that backstop is that they believe that that will keep the u.k. tethered to the european union forever. because the requirements of seamless and this means that the u.k. has to make sure that it is in harmony, regulatory harmony with the european union on goods and actions and regulations and

that means they cannot leave, but the eu will insist on that johnson insists that it not be there and that is what we are going to be not dealing with on the next 90 days. host: let's hear from george in florida on the independent line. caller: good morning, thank you c-span for all of the good work that you do. that is one of the best explanations i have heard of the irish backstop. i think brexit is going to be great for england because it secures sovereignty and stops the flow of harvard earned -- hard earned british taxpayer funds to be redistributed to all of europe. that is why the british people are so opposed to this globalist reality that was going to remain.

hopefully boris johnson will be successful. what is happening, perhaps our expert could comment on what is happening with the departure of a lot of financial tuitions to dublin. it seems like dublin, ireland is that aing by the fear lot of companies are aseriencing to go to dublin the next financial headquarters instead of london. host: thanks, george. guest: thank you. this is a very complicated story. thank you. it is hard for all of us to figure out. analyticallybrexit , we are seeing a great experiment. we just do not know how the experiment is going to work out. for 40 years, the united kingdom has been part of the world worlds largest trade

block -- the european union. but the u.k. is saying, i want a different model. a more flexible, nimble model that i can control, and we are about to see who is the better model. so this is in part, if you take away your passions one way or another, and analytical experiment. you are absolutely right. what we have seen over the last three years since the results of the referendum came through that companies, international companies have taken a couple of different courses. you're absolutely right. financially, many large firms and i am thinking of several major financial institutions remember the city of london as a major international financial hub. what happened was companies moved to dublin, some you still frankfurt -- some moved to frankfurt, so they incorporated headquarters into the country so they could maintain the

financial engagement with the eu , but it was not as if everything was ripped out of london which is why we did not see really the economic trauma or the job loss trauma that had predicted right after the referendum because companies really like working in london, english-speaking, great school infrastructure, so when they needed to pull out, they pulled out, what they kept behind, they could, but companies can be in many different headquarters, they can be incorporated in different places, but they can still do their work, so that is what we know now. in a no deal scenario and if the city of continue to trade as freely financially with the eu, they are still working out all , then that is a different story and the city of london would be impacted. host: let's hear from nancy and michigan. republican line. caller: hello, i've been watching boris johnson on c-span

, and he has that intangible quality of enthusiasm and a lot of energy, but what my question is this morning -- i think i read in "the washington journal," boris was born in new york and had american citizenship up to 2016. guest: yes, that is correct. i think he takes great pride in being american born in manhattan. his father worked for the world bank and they traveled extensively. boris johnson lived in brussels, the heart of the european union for many years as well. in 2015, 20 that 16, he did renounce his u.s. 2016, heip -- 2015, did renounce his u.s. citizenship. host: we will hear from gary next up in ohio. good morning. caller: good morning.

zone --hat the border boris johnson he is the european trump. he is just like trout. think heather conley there, given the best i've ever heard. she really outdid herself. host: we talked a little bit about the comparison between donald trump and boris johnson. let me talk about the potential economic implications for the u.k. there was a piece in "the washington journal" looking at that. for boris johnson, it is not about britain turning its back on the world. out afor britain to stake new, more free position in the

european economy. yet, if there was ever a bad time for a loan economy to put itself in the water, this is it. the same sentiments that drove the vote have manifested themselves from the u.s. to china to italy as protectionism, nationalism, and hostility to globalization. guest: i think that is characterized very well and a lot has happened in the last three years. as the u.k. leaves the eu october 31, we will assume that is the date, they enter a softening global economy. a trade war between the united states and china. the european union and japan continued to sign free-trade agreements of which the u.k. will not be a part of after they leave. as much has certainly as a president who is very enthusiastic about a prime andster as boris johnson

trade, the u.s. trade representative's is playing hardball and think about a u.k.-u.s. agreement using our considerable leverage to get the u.k. to make concessions. when president trump visited the u.k. for the state visit in june, he asserted that everything would be on the trade table and that bilateral negotiation, even the opening of the national health service who know british politics, that is a publiccow, and actually, opinion has grown against at u.s., u.k. free-trade agreement. this adds a huge challenge to a global economy that has really been challenged at the moment. host: the u.k. would have to strike new deal's with the eu as separate nations. guest: absolutely. for the last few years, they tried to create a department of international trade. the u.k. did not have trade

negotiators. they have to re-create their international free-trade system overnight. this,e with the spirit of but again, when you get down to the details of what has to happen, how weekly, it -- how quickly, it becomes incredibly complex. not impossible, but not easy. i think sometimes mr. johnson just sort of says, we can just do this with our enthusiasm and energy, it will be -- it is really complicated and not easy. host: we will go to boston and this is doug on our democrats line. brexit hi, the vote for is a vote for a breakup of the united kingdom. if brexit goes through, the people in northern ireland will probably vote for reunification, which is probably a good thing. the people in scotland will vote to remain. if that is the case, the united

kingdom will lose it see on the united nations security council which is probably another consequence that boris in publicly educated issues unaware of. anyway, have a nice day. guest: well, it was a great point to make. this is really where, it is not just the economic security, it is the integrity of the united kingdom. even yesterday, the irish prime minister made a pretty uncharacteristic, bold statement into domestic politics and united kingdom saying, northern ireland may not choose to stay within the united kingdom. that there may be, if this goes into a disastrous and, they may choose to take up a border poll, which is part of the good friday agreement to join and reunify with republican ireland -- with

the republic of ireland. seconde seeking a referendum. host: are they seeking that? did hold a, scotland referendum in 2014 and it was agreed and approved by the house of commons to allow that referendum. it was a one and done, the government is not interested in andwing a second referendum boris johnson is incredibly unpopular in scotland. this is an independence desire which is pretty muted. after the failed referendum lost by 10 points, this is pulling this out and northern ireland has not had an executive in northern ireland for two into half years. it has been managed, but i think we forget, it was 20 years, but this is still a very conflict prone region. the integrity of the united

kingdom is really a critical issue that is not getting a lot of attention. host: we will hear from boise, idaho. democrat. caller: you hear about the russian influence even in the brexit election. i do not know if there is proof of that are not, but could there be a lawsuit to force a new election or has that ship sailed? host: a new brexit election you are talking about? a lawsuitll, could being made to create a new brexit election. guest: well, you are right. the british government is now investigating possible russian influence meaning economic influence, so one of the main financial backers of the vote

leaves campaign was mr. aaron banks. are now some very important questions about his interactions with the russian , economic in london incentives that were being suggested and he was the main financial backer of the vote in the leaves campaign, so that is an active investigation for sure , and certainly we saw a lot of the amplification of the influence- russian focuses on division. divisive toively british society. another bite at the apple. where we are heading in the u.k. is now a new math general election. mass general election. most analysts are saying that

johnson pots cabinet, and again, he has fired or pushed out 17 government ministers. that is within his party. this is a government that is basically a campaign. i think that is where we are heading. in some ways, that is the upside, and that is the next referendum if you will because boris johnson will say he is the only person that will deliver brexit. and hoping to seize the opportunity. we just do not know when the election would be held. before october 31? could it be held after october 31? that is the big question mark. that is how they are going to approach the pre-affirmation of leaving the european union. conley, ourr viewers can keep track of the issues at your website. thank you. more "washington journal" ahead.

we will be joined by staff writer of the "rolling stone" with stephen rodrick. it is our spotlight on magazines and that is next on "washington journal." >> i was on an airstrip in the havingjungles of guyana just concluded a congressional delegation tour with then congressman leo ryan. and we were ambushed on the airstrip. and shot, congress or in ryan shotgressman ryan was 45 times. i was shot five times on the right side of my body. >> sunday night on q&a, california democratic congresswoman jackie spears talks about her memoir "undaunted." >> when people say it was a mass

suicide, it was not a mass suicide. they were forced to drink at -- drink thisw toxic brew by jones, and he had many of his guard surrounding the pavilion, i am sure, to make sure that people did as he was -- as they were told. >> sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q&a. "washington journal" continues. host: it is our spotlight on magazines segment here. up early joining us from los angeles's senior staff writer with "the rolling stone," an extensiveck, piece in the magazine "all-american despair: a suicide guns,ic fueled by poverty, and isolation. thank you for being here this morning and tell us why what

prompted you to investigate and write the story. guest: thank you for having me. that thered it was is a suicide epidemic across all graphics. that was something -- all demographics. that was something my editor and i talked about and the more we dug into it, the worst of it was among middle-aged men. as someone who is a member of the demographic, i became intrigued and fascinated about why this was and just kind of started to investigate it from there. host: let's give our viewers and listeners a snapshot from your extensive piece, men in the united states average 22 suicides for 100,000 people. 45 to 64, uped to 30.1% in 2017. the states with the highest rates are montana with 28.9% per

100,000. alaska, 27%. .9% which is all doubled the national rate. new mexico, idaho, and utah round out the top six states. what do you think is causing the geographic centrality of the state and these high suicide rates. guest: all of the states and even alaska which he really did not get into, but shares the same characteristics is that, these are states where men, speaking into the little bit of , these are kind of cowboy men states, so you have that. you have the isolation which middle-aged men tend to fall into the older they get and it is worse in rural areas, you have the accessibility to guns that many of the states, they

are in the top five or six, particularly in the mountain west that have the highest gun ownership rates of anywhere in the country, so as i kind of if you put in the story, take pills or you hang yourself, something can go wrong, but if you put a gun to your head, the chances of success are much higher. the other factor i would add is whether it is mental health or distance from rapid care, if you harm yourself, that is tremendous. in a state like wyoming, there 70 or 80 psychiatrist in the entire state registered to there is athat state dearth of services of people that are in trouble. on top of that, it is still where you see in other parts of the country where it is more open and people are more open to talking about mental health issues, i still think to some degree in the mountain west and the rural areas, it is taboo.

host: and you covered this story by traveling 2000 miles across the mountain west and elsewhere. have you ever driven that distance before for any reason much less to cover a story? guest: i have driven through many of the states and i'm kind of a navy brat so i do a lot of traveling, and across the country eight or nine times. the best way to approach this and get a sense of these communities was to drive through them rather than try to fly in and pop in for a day or two. host: one of the men featured in your piece is toby, who committed suicide in williston, north dakota last year. how is he typical of the men that you further reported on in the piece? guest: he has a lot of the characteristics. to traumatic childhood, his mother died fairly early,

abusive father who also died and it was a bit of a loner. what often happens with men in these situations, he isolated himself and in this case, he was literally living in a warehouse in a trailer, so from friday at 6:00 to a when people rolled around on monday morning, he was in his giant warehouse living in a trailer by himself, and the final step was he had a fascination which does not necessarily lead to these kinds of demise, but he had a fascination with guns, so he had bought a couple of guns for sports shooting. darknessind of hit the , he had the means in front of him. mentalmbination of

illness or depression, isolation, and access to firearms. host: we're talking about the rise in suicide rates in the u.s. in particular, this story rick from thed rolling stone. the) 748-8000 if you are in eastern and central time zones. for those of you and the mountain pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. i was struck by your inclusion of ernest hemingway in your piece, and i want to read a bit. you write that ernest hemingway suffers from many of the trademark maladies of middle-aged women. he endured mental illness, possibly bipolar disorder, and his family tree was wracked with suicides that continued all the way to his granddaughter. what really killed hemingway was one of the things that are killing men today. a man whontasy of

needs no one but himself. and used the term cowboy up. what do you interpret that as? motto inwboy up is a the midwest of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps. no matter what life throws at man,you are an autonomous you can handle anything and you do not ask for help. obviously, that can lead some men to great peoplelty when there are like toby, he had friends who would help him, but he isolated himself and felt embarrassed about the problems he was having that he did not reach out to anyone. i think that really is a problem in the mountain west and other regions of the country. host: i was surprised to read that i did not know the ernest hemingway, you reported he died alone in suicide by shotgun, but he was 61 when he killed himself. guest: yeah. i think he lives with depression

and had been hospitalized at the mayo clinic just a few months before he shot himself. he had been dealing with this for a long time. one of the misconceptions about suicide is the coward's way out. for most people, i do not let this a most people, but for a lot of people commit suicide, it is just to end the pain. i think someone like ernest hemingway just reached his limit that he could not take the pain anymore. host: was his age typical of what we are seeing in male suicides today? guest: yeah. i was looking mostly at 45 to 65 and he falls in that range, the area where depending on where you are in your life, your kids may be growing up or your career has stagnated, or you have doched -- someone at 52, you reach this now what stage of your life. many studies will save you can now what-- through the

stage, the rest of your life is much happier but it is a tough stage. host: without giving away the full story of your reporting, you said you are 52. you write about yourself and your struggles. how are things going today? guest: i am doing good. i have a five-year-old and i think that anytime i find myself in that kind of dark hole, i go spend a few minutes with him and it kind of inspires me to keep pushing on. piece is title of the "all-american despair." it is in "the rolling stone." our guest is the author of the piece stephen rodrick joining us from l.a.. will he go to gary -- we will go to gary and indiana. caller: i am glad to hear you are doing a lot better for one thing. he was talking about the guy that was living in the warehouse and what a downer life he was

living. by contrast, let's look at mr. elton john. stone,"g "the rolling you are aware of his story. he took pot when he was at the peak of his career. he told his family he would die and two hours, jumped into the pool, and the paramedics came and got him and two days later, he was playing for 100,000 people. so it also happens to very famous people as well as no neighbors. namers. anybody that is out there on the cusp of killing themselves, i guarantee you if you wake up on the others, you will be sorry. you will be going out of the frying pan and into the fire. isre is no way out and there no solution, it is a dead end trap. there are voices in your head that say kill yourself and it will take away your problems. it is not that simple.

-- please listen to me because i am speaking from god himself when i say this area host: gary, indiana. any thoughts? did a story on elton john a couple of years ago and we talked a little bit about that. and i at a different age talk about anthony bourdain and , it is notiams exclusively limited to people who are suffering economically or nowhere points in their job. one of the point that suicide awareness advocates we are always telling you is do not try to convince someone saying it could be a combination of things. elton john was facing the overwhelming fame that he was dealing with at 24, 20 five and probably inherent depression. both robin williams and anthony

thedain, they had what on outside looked like great lives, but they are both struggling with inner demons. it really can hit anybody. host: here is trent from munro, louisiana. i am just here shellshocked because the subject is so massive in my life and others around me. i am 61. it has hit me all my life. end seem toric keep changing. can you go deep and not shallow on what you found is people who find hope in the spiritual and , because at the end of the day, do you have some goodness,mercy and

and again, i am struggling. when you live in a secular, materialistic society, when the predispositions of all of the media is secular and materialistic, at the end of the there is no hope being given to us, so the world tends to close in on you. and what i really, here is my real question -- all of the media needs to be more open theologically and intellectually to discuss where our real hope is coming. k, a: stephen rodric similar feeling echoed on twitter, what role if any has the decline of religion played? guest: it is one of the things, and i will be the first to admit that i have a lot of great

feedback on the story and one of the criticism i got was that i did not spend a lot of time on the issue of faith. what i would say is faith is it is the aspect of building a community. you can build a community through your church, through philosophy, or through your friends or serving in your son's boy scout true. it is the loss of community which is one of the things that is driving this epidemic. if you can get that community from church, then god bless. if you get from somewhere else, and that is great too. that is what i find and as a writer, one of my problems is it is a very solitary profession. you can easily isolate yourself. the more you isolate yourself and if you have a proclivity towards depression or one of these things, then you really can find yourself in a deep hole.

piece reports on the proliferation of gun ownership in many of the states but also, the absence of gun loss and gun stores, the resistance from gun stores to carry gun loss -- gun locks. why is there resistance to using the gun locks are making them available? guest: to put it bluntly, if you own a gun store, the last thing you want to do the last thing you want to do is if you want to boost sales is put a box of gun locks suggesting oh, things go badly. this pistol i am buying for shooting or the shotgun that i am buying to go out and hunt rabbits, i may turn on myself, and i just do not think from a cost-benefit business point of view that the gun shop owners are thinking, i really do not want that to be the association sitting there on the counter when i'm trying to make a sale.

host: sharon is up next calling from cleveland. though ahead -- go ahead. caller: good morning. i want to piggyback on what some of the early callers said about the country seems to be becoming more secular. i am 57 and i recently had some health issues and i am also very close to my church members. i have not felt one moment of my church because of family really embracing me in addition to friends from work and family, of course. i just wanted to piggyback on what some of the other callers said. i think it is important to have some type of community. host: we will hear from mike in arizona. you are on. caller: hello. 67 years old.

jobs ind the loss of this country going back starting in from the 1970's and moving up. i am from southern california. it started with the mexican invasion in southern california and that gradually got worse and worse and worse. we lost our jobs in the late 1970's to the mexican invasion, and then, we lost our jobs to china. held almost helpless without having decent jobs, the kind of jobs that we used it to have previously. what do you think that men are going to do? without jobs, jobs are what they live for. host: go ahead. not get into the immigration issue because -- but i think there is an important point to be made there. one of the things you see in the mountain west is that some of

the jobs have gone away. the other thing to realize is that some of the jobs being done up there whether it is working for the railroad are working for ranch hands or rustling cattle, it takes a tremendous, tremendous beating on your body. by the time you are 45 or 50, your body, you may be on workers comp or you may have arthritis, or you may no longer be able to do the things that you did in or working on a ranch that you could do in your 20's or 30's. and then when you hit that limitation of what you can do, then the walls can come crashing in. not just financially but also, what am i going to do for the rest of my life now that i cannot do what i love because my body cannot take it anymore. host: the piece is "all-american despair." the writer of the piece joining us from los angeles.

about 10 more minutes for your calls, for those of you in the eastern and central time zones (202) 748-8000, mountain pacific time zones, (202) 748-8001. you write in the piece about resources to fight suicide saying that wyoming, the suicide rate has risen for the past 55 years. the resources are often underfunded. 2018, naomi had the opportunity to increase its tax on cigarettes by the dollar. those funds could have been used for the mental health resources. according to wyoming's tribune eagle, it was not brought to the vote because the legislature check out early because the house speaker wanted to attend a football game. guest: it is a couple of things at work here. traditionally, rural and western lowat -- loathe to

increase taxes, but when you make that choice, and you look at the revenue that could have been made by taking that $.60 cigarette tax to $1.50. it is hiring more psychiatric nurses, it is funding hotlines, you are making a choice not to help take care of people, and it gets back to -- circle back to the cowboy up thing, there are people in the states at her like your problems are your problems, and there is no role for the state of play, and i personally think that is a big mistake. host: how much of the rise in suicides, particularly among men is due to affects of the terry service, ptsd? guest: there is a lot of that net could be its own 10,000 word story. it is one of those things that a couple of the people i talked to who had served and came back,

one person who made it in the story but we really did not talk about this part of it. he lives in cheyenne. is skype beingth to a rotating -- skype two rotating psychologists. not telling your back story over and over again is really key. it is a tremendous, tremendous issue, and as a of these veterans in this group of 40 and 50-year-old men, i think it will become a bigger problem. host: here is brady next up in detroit. good morning. caller: thank you for the subject. my heart goes out to these people who are suffering from this and the epidemic as well as andopiates -- on opiates,

people suffering from depression. my son hung himself in the garage when he was 16, about 18 years ago, so i know without a doubt that when someone tells you that i want to kill myself, how they are feeling and they really need to be listened to and that is a problem that we do not have enough support or enough hotlines, or congress. congress beingf elected and not doing the things they need to do. both democrats and republicans, i just thought it was supposed to be congress and doing what they need for the people because there is definitely an epidemic is reallyion and it getting rough and tough here for people. especially men, just like the jobs.

i am 63 years old and it is hard to get back into the work field. it is like you are lost. thoughts? guest: first of all, brady. i am so sorry for your loss. i sat in on some counseling women who lostnd children and it is just unfathomable tragedy. that this seems to theory, iy, or in will put the gun issue and gun availability aside, in theory, in terms of funding hotlines and public service announcements and stuff like this, this seemingly should be a no-brainer that does not have a republican or democratic component, it should have been something that we do to help people that need it. you'veou mentioned that have covered other stories for rolling stone.

could you have anticipated this, the reaction to this story we have people like the caller and other people after reading the story on the street or elsewhere to start telling you their own story in terms of suicide family? have been magazine writing for 20 to 25 years and this is the story that i got the most feedback on. people have tracked me down through email or twitter or whatever to tell me their stories, and it is heartbreaking. morekes you realize even than when i was writing the story what a tremendous problem this is. you are never going to completely eradicate suicide as a mental health issue. there is so much more we could be doing. ont: let's go first to stan staten island in new york. caller: i just want to agree

with what he said about the community. communityf years ago, and families live together, and everybody was in close proximity, and then there was a book about how everybody is moving away. without question, the point about community is extremely important because we have lost the notion of community. it does play a role because if you do not have a strong community where everybody is in close proximity to basically be there to help each other, it does exacerbate the problem. host: is there anything more you would like to say about that? guest: i would just agree getting back to my own situation. of community i have, a lot it is through parents and men and women that i meet there my son's school. that was not the intention why we had a child, but it does provide you community and whether it is that, or a church

group, or you are volunteering to do something like meals on wheels. i have a friend in this area was feeling lonely and she started groupng, just a kayaking and joined a kayaking group down in the pacific ocean and she met a community with that. the community can literally be anything but it is really important to have one. host: let's hear from cindy and st. joseph, minnesota. caller: good morning. groups can help, but only if you basically look at the the good works that they do. acts. relies on our own i believe very much that when man seems to think that he can take care of himself and he does not need god, we basically start to falter. god is goodness. , somethingfrom sin that a lot of us do and it is so

easy to do today. we need to repent. people come from satan. in the slumps, give theirtually lives away they ask our lord to forgive their offenses. but also, that they have faith that they know the power of god to restore you back to where he wants you to be. this is something that the world, the church is today, nobody is doing this. that is cindy in minnesota. -- >> that is cindy and minnesota. what is the suicide rate among women in that area? why isn't it as high as men? what is the difference you found? --the rate is significantly significantly but nowhere near the men partial rate. i hate to harp on this, and i realize it probably angers a

significant amount of your viewership, is that men have more access to guns. think gun for sports and hunting is totally fine, but the access to guns, and many of these states don't have any limitation if someone has a mental health problem. you can still go and get a gun. with women, not that there are not a lot of women who don't love to shoot, but it is not as prevalent in the culture as it is with men. from losis joining us angeles this morning. -- our guest is joining us from los angeles this morning. poverty, and isolation has swept across the u.s. with middle-age men dying in record numbers. it is up at amazon.com. thank you, stephen. >> that will do it for this

morning's show. we look forward to you joining , 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a good day. wise at her wives at her fo announcer: here is some of what is on c-span today. next, interviews with freshman members of the 116th congress. robert mueller's testimony before the house judiciary committee. then, judiciary committee chair jerrold nadler's friday news conference on steps for his committee. later, the swearing for mark

esper, to be the new secretary of defense and his official welcoming ceremony at the pentagon. president trump spoke at the event. announcer: this weekend, on c-span, garrett graves of louisiana will discuss climate change and the work of the select committee on the climate crisis. congressman graves sits on that committee. we'll talk about robert mueller's testimony before congress, the budget and debt deal the congress and president reached, and other issues. congressman garrett graves is on newsmakers, sunday at 10:00 a.m. and six a car p.m. eastern on c-span. p.m. eastern on c-span. >> i was in an airstrip in the remote jungles of guyana, having just concluded a congressional delegation tore within congressman leo ryan. we were ambushed on that airstrip. and shot. congressman ryan was shot 45 times and died on that airstrip.