test by the us firm ets so that they finally have the chance to clear their name? >> my right hon. friend the home secretary has made me aware of the issue to which the right hon. gentleman refers. i will make sure that we write to him about what we are doing to address it. as he knows, i have a long-standing commitment to supporting the freedom of people of talent to come to this country. if he looks at my political record, i do not think, genuinely, that he will find anybody who has done more to champion the rights of immigrants to this city or to this country. : 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

-- >> c-span's washington journal. this morning, we will discuss renewed tensions between the u.s. and iran with a professor. and, we will talk about flood preparation and the national flood insurance program. then, quincy institute for responsible statecraft cofounder and.s. foreign policy diplomatic efforts. watch c-span's washington journal. join the discussion. niels lesniewski, senior senate staff writer for roll call. on monday, the senate begins a very busy week before recess. the chamber holding three votes monday on whether to override the president vetoes, resolutions blocking u.s. arms sales to saudi arabia.