i went there -- beer. your prescription i was standing in line. a man -- >> coming up on c-span, your calls, comments and tweets on washington journal. joe biden makes a campaign stop at a restaurant in detroit. trump's by president rally from last night in cincinnati. >> coming up on washington journal we talk about facebook's digital currency with a professor from georgetown in her -- georgetown university. then we hear from the health and human services department on a

new report. and a health policy reporter for bloomberg news on rising levels of vaping and e-cigarette use among teenagers. ♪ host: it is the "washington journal" for august second. we want to hear from those of whomurrently undecided on you will vote for in 2020. specifically, we want to hear about what is the most important issue you will consider when choosing a candidate you will support. may be, perhaps immigration or another issue entirely that has you concerned when making the choice of who you will vote for. for undecided voters only, here is how you can let us know your most important issue. 202-748-8001 for republicans.

202-748-8000 for democrats. and independents, 202-748-8002. if you want to post on our twitter feed, you can do so at @cspanwj and you can also do so on our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. it real clear politics through --ir opinion did an opinion a poll looking at issues -- the topor those was health care immigration at 11%and making a tie for education and the environment coming in last. when it comes to issues important for voters, that is foreign policy. -- when ites to comes to undecided voters, here

is what the washington post says. those who will always support trump, 40% of those respondents giving that indication. always support a democrat, 41% and when it comes to undecided those, this is 19% of indicating currently they are not sure about whom they will vote for. when it comes to making those choices about who you vote for, what is the most important issue for that you are listening to? maybe there is a candidate addressing those issues, maybe not. if you are undecided currently, 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. and independents, 202-748-8002. for those interested in the topic of health care, it was one of those topics addressed by president trump last night in cincinnati. here is what he had to say about

the topic of health care. [video clip] never beens have farther outside the mainstream. liberal politicians want to eliminate private health care and force everyone onto the government plan. remember the lies from the previous administration. if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. 28 times, one lie after another. 28 times it was said and it turned out to be a total lie. my administration is defending your right to choose the plan and dr. that is right for you. 60%re offering plans up to cheaper than obamacare and we will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions

always, always. host: maybe health care the top issue for you. maybe there is something else. for those undecided, call and let us know. .emocrats, 202-748-8000 independents, 202-748-8002. judy starts us in pennsylvania. republican line, go ahead. caller: i am confused over social security. i am a republican. i was a democrat. i changed to republican and i would love to know who changed the rule that if you have an investment or win money, you can change somebody's social security. i was getting social security for a long time and all of a sudden i won $5,000. what did they do? they adjusted my social security

and put my medicare up so high. andy $4000 for medicare here i am a senior citizen and what the heck? who changed that bill that they could change my social security? host: will social security always be the top issue for you as you decide who you will vote for? caller: not really. -- weering for president believe in god and our family and working. i worked all my life and never collected a penny and they changed my social security amount because i won $5,000. host: that is judy in pennsylvania. maryland.orge in go ahead on our independent line. caller: i am undecided recently

because of the democrat debate. i thought tulsi gabbard came across pretty good. my biggest issue would be immigration. i like what the president has done up to this point. gabbard thetulsa last couple times i have seen. undecidedsay you are to this point. immigration, is that the top of your list or are there other issues he will consider in choosing who you support? caller: that is the top of my list. i think the economy is doing well. national security, foreign trump is the way he is, nothing will change that. host: you are saying you could be swayed at this point? caller: i think so.

i would like to hear more from kelsey -- tulsi. other than that, i think i am going to wait. host: let me ask a couple more questions. you said the democratic debates was one of those things. the peopledebate for involved? can you expand on that? caller: i think she is kind of an underdog and i like that she .erved in the military idea ofshe has a clear what she wants to do. kamala harris flip-flops quite a bit. i can imagine wanting to go back to biden. other than that, that would be my pick at this point with democrats. host: that is george in chesapeake beach.

we will air the debates on saturday at 10:30 in the morning and the one -- on tuesday and the one that took place wednesday, we will air that sunday at 10:30 in the morning. you can go to our website for more information. this is mary in michigan, democrats line. caller: hello? host: go on, you are ahead. caller: yes. i would like to say i am undecided who i am going to pick. host: why is that? caller: because i am looking at all the issues and i am looking in michigan.ing on but i ammocrat, undecided. host: what is your top issue, if you had to pick one? caller: my top issue is health

care. host: and what would you like to see as far as health and what the candidates are saying about it? caller: for one thing, the this -- andst had said the democrats are going to take away health care, private insurance. .hat is not true republicans right now are in care --ying to take take away all the affordable health care and that includes pre-existing conditions and everything. host: when it comes to the democrats running, you said you were undecided, but out of all of them, is there one you like

more than the others at this point? caller: yes. like joe biden because he is moderate and down the road, down the middle. i am more decided on joe biden. if you aree way, waiting to talk to us on the line, if you would turn down your televisions down -- while you wait, that's cut -- that cuts down on the feedback and we can have a conversation. joe biden was in detroit after the bates and one of the topics that came up with reporters when it comes to the democratic party, if it moved too far to the left. [video clip] >> it's not about moving left or right, i represent the party. i think my views are where the vast majority of the democratic party are. there are good people that got

elected. it is healthy to do that. the idea that they represent what the party is today does not elected.ith who gets it is a totally legitimate debate to have. the one thing i agree with cory on last night, let's focus on what it is we can do together. every one of those people on that stage has a fundamentally than the present president of the united states and let's argue who has the best path forward to lead this country to greatness. for grabs,up registered voters lean toward a party, but they are more likely to identify as moderate or independent adding that roughly half the voters do not consistently support the

president or democratic hopefuls identify as political independents. over two thirds of them said they lead to one party or the other, roughly 4 in 10 lean democrat. the rest lean toward neither party. a 54% majority identify as moderates, significantly higher than the 37% of registered voters overall. eddie in maryland, on our independent line. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: how are you? caller: ok. i was calling saying, i voted for trump last election and i still haven't changed my mind about him because i think he represents policies better than democrats do. host: we are talking to undecided voters today only.

you are saying you already made up your mind? -- i amright now registered as an unaffiliated voter -- undecided voter, i can go either way. my last couple elections, i have been voting strictly towards the democratss because have not been representing what i stand for. host: let's hear from jerry in ohio on the republican line. hello. caller: good morning. host: hi. caller: how are you? host: fine, thank you. go ahead. caller: i guess my comment is for all these people talking about all these free things they want to give this country, i haven't figured out how anybody is going to pay for it except for me. that is my fear. the other fear would be immigration, very scary to me

because you have people going down the border sent making comments -- how they are going to be mistreated and they try to portray this -- the american people are not stupid, they know what is going on. they know this is a political tool and we are not buying into it. they have to get it together because right now, they do have it together a bit. host: nothing about those issues were addressed by democrats that took place this week? caller: they were addressed and not answered, that is my opinion on it. toolnswers are a political for them to try to move to the next advancement in the election. it is not believable for people like me and people i know. host: what do you think is the right answer or the acceptable answer to these in your mind?

caller: the right answer is following the letter of the law. if you want to be in this country, you have to do what everybody had to do the last 40 and 50 years of this country. i welcome immigration. when we force our hands and cross the borders illegally, i have to be honest with you, i don't have any sympathy for these people when they know they are doing it the illegal way. i feel terrible for the children for thefor the -- and adults. it needs to be done right and i think it is common sense. i don't know what a wall will do. justroblem is you cannot cross into a country and should not be allowed to. it is the fact these people are saying you can and should be able to and we should welcome then is -- them is absurdity.

host: undecided voters for the next 45 minutes. let us know the top issues you have in 2020. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8000 for democrats. independents, 202-748-8002. connecticut.n good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: fine, thank you. go ahead. caller: i am an undecided voter and marianne williamson seems to have a pretty good platform in regards to reparations for people of color. host: would you say that is a top issue for you? think: yeah, because i host: corrected. host:can you expand on that? reparationsink once

-- it is probably one angle of handling the problem with people of color. that were listed descendents. host: when it comes to marianne williamson herself, were you familiar with her about the debates and before what she said about reparations? herer: i just came across in my research. host: is there anything else stand out about her other than her stance on reparations that you would endorse or support? caller: i think the health care one. is a big basically, once those two problems are handled, it will have a domino effect in our

world. from that is van calling middletown, connecticut. this is from galveston, texas, kevin. vote, ias far as my will stick with donald trump no matter what. host: i am going to halt you only for those calling in, we are looking for comments from those who are undecided as far as presidential candidates are concerned. let's hear on our independent line, virginia. go ahead. 1980, in order to , we beganverything the statement of intent

of the constitution named the preamble. in order to make everything about money. no one pays attention to the law & order statement anymore. in order for me to vote for someone, a presidential candidate -- everything now is about animalistic competition .bout money if you just give me a minute -- we talk about what has been happening for the last 40 years. since all the legal minds of the country have been doing sayything they can to constitution, paying attention to the constitution, but avoiding the law and order statement, which is the intent of the constitution. host: because you are getting technical, boil it down for us.

adherence to the constitution is someone you are going to support? caller: maintain the content of the constitution, domestic tranquility beyond the manner of commerce you follow. host: when it comes to that idea, who closely follows that idea currently? whoer: do not follow anyone monetizes life. in other words, you must maintain a single-payer health care system whereby the people maintain -- host: go ahead, finish your thought. caller: heisey you talking, i don't know if you are saying anything or not. host: that is why you have to pay attention to your phone. caller: there are things you must follow for a civilization, you must follow a single-payer health care system where you have, in your brain, we know

sgacc. host: a little too technical. let's go to richard in tennessee. go ahead. looking atthought the democratic debate, i really .id not see any forethought i heard snippets of people with health care, things of that nature. i am in african-american that has come through poverty and i am working upper-middle-class in the city, ceo of a nonprofit. even with trump and republicans, i don't see the way forward. i see divisiveness on both sides of the aisle. i deal with people in poverty and things of this nature. i don't see these things affecting this level of life. as a voter, i started out as a

young man that was a democrat of the one doing the research and anding out the specifics researching the thoughts -- i found some of it was forced and some of these people are projecting well beyond their limits because you only get 8 years in the oval office a few wind the second term. tom saying that -- we need take a real, objective view of where we are going, what it looks like and really analyzing. whether it be the level of america as a whole, the government, or even local government. i think a lot of times we delve into personalities and chaos. candidate would a

have to say or endorse that indicates they have given some level of thought as far as the way forward? the next step? caller: when we talk about environmental things, let's deal with fact, what is true. capitalism desires resource and profit. at the same time, we know this environment is being affected. so many people over the last two years have been talking about -- it continues to erode. we are talking about changing health care, but every commotion i see is about some new drug for counsel. there is people making money off

the disparities of individuals who cannot afford these things. that is my point in general, i need to hear someone giving a plan that will go beyond them. host: that is richard in tennessee. let's hear from south bend, indiana. don, hello. caller: i am a little confused. i am looking at three democratic people. warren, gillibrand, and biden. i like biden. i like what he says. --ike jell-o brand because ndll-o brand -- gillibra because she needs the same kind of money as any man. then you have warren. she is out there, she is a fighter and kind of reminds me as -- of trump.

we are tired of the upper echelon getting everything. everybody is hurting and they are talking about, let's do this and let's do that. we have republicans saying i will vote for mitch mcconnell, the guy that does not want to let the free vote happen. he is undermining that. in hisot trump going rally bashing the american cities. he cannot say anything about anybody now. three you to the originally talked about and what you liked about them. what -- out of the 3, how does one seal the deal for you? host: i am leaning toward warren. she is a fighter. i want someone who will fight

for the middle class. biden, i don't know where he is going. he will say this and that, but he has loyalty to other people and he wants to reach across the aisle. look at lindsey graham in the committee the other day. he threw his hands up, broke the rules, and decided let's go on with this bill he wants to cramdown everybody's throat. giving us of folks the undecided voters giving their thoughts on issues important to them. he listed off several issues, several other callers doing that as well. for republicans. democrats, 202-748-8000. and independents, 202-748-8002. in all the newspapers today, the lead story for most talking

about the president's's intentions to put more tariffs come december. here is some of what the president had to say. caller: --[video clip] >> we have taken the toughest action to stand up to china and i announced another 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of chinese products that come into our country. and that is on top of the 25% we of of -- the fact is china devalues their currency, they are pouring money into their system and because

they do that, you are not paying for those tariffs. china is paying for those tariffs. for the last 20 years, china has taken hundreds and hundreds and billions and billions of dollars out of our country and now we are stopping the theft of american jobs. host: let's hear from mike in florida, republican line. caller: first time caller, glad .o be here i voted for trump and i am a little concerned right now and up in the air. first of all, he said mexico will pay for the law and they are now taking money from the defense budget. issue.y, the health care

issue. i could have swore he promised he was going to have big, beautiful health care on the first day. we did not see that. what really tipped me off was the tax cuts. i ended up paying more in taxes in 2017.then i did where is my tax cut. stands, as currently it -- when it comes to that, who are you looking at, if anybody? caller: i am trying to get an understanding of the candidates and i am leaning toward several. i am concerned and this russia thing totally there's me. of the names,some

who are you leaning toward? i like elizabeth warren, cory booker. i am 62 years old and i am not be.uick as he used to he is 77 and slowing down. i cannot go with him. i like pete buttigieg, but i if he is there. host: that is mike in florida calling on the line for democrats. undecided voters is who we are interested in talking to. our twitter feed, a viewer says we need a balanced president who can unite our people, someone motivated by truth and morality.

jody said climate change is the largest threat. goodff of facebook saying the debt spending -- get the debt spending under control. united -- citizens the topic of health care, concern for paula patrick off facebook saying we can no longer have health care tied to unemployment. we must move forward. .acebook is c-span.org our twitter at @cspanwj. don is next from virginia, independent line. hello. caller: thank you for c-span and i have two points i want to make . is going to make

a great ticket and if they were to win, they would be a great --m be great and buttigieg would be a great team 8 years. said foreign policy is the number one issue, that puts us back before we were before the invasion of iraq, which seems the american people don't care about our troops. these are the lives of american troops at stake.

host: let me ask you, the candidates you listed, what is it about their foreign policy that appeals to you? , --er: i think sanders they shut iran and him down. --hink sanders i am pretty sure warrant is not although i have not heard her speak much. host: i will leave it there because you are breaking up a bit read terry in nebraska. .aller: i am undecided ands thinking about biden .arren they should be talking about

what they are going to do for .emocrats i think they should be talking about what they should be doing thinkerica and i don't asocrats are as strong need toans because they be stronger. look how many years it has been --ce host: you said the candidates

have to do more about what they are going to do for america. what is on top of that list? give us a specific of what they should be saying about what they will do for america. the medical and i since i wasileptic three years old and i have fibromyalgia and arthritis and my doctor said it would be best if i lived in a warm climate and my sister lives in texas. rent is tooid the high for me as low as my income is because i am on my father's income. . just don't know what to do

host: it was in detroit yesterday the former vice president joe biden talked and answered questions about what he perceived were attacks on he and barack obama upon record while in office by other democrats. here is some of his response. [video clip] >> i hope the next debate we can talk about our answers to fix broken, notrump has how barack obama made all these mistakes. he did not. what i want to make clear is going back 10, 20, 30 years, weay is a day to make sure hand the republicans and election coming. there is a lot of things people have done in their past that no longer have context today. they are taken out of context and i wanted to make the point that some of these assertions absolutely --e

how can i say it nicely? -- true and >> do you think your party has gone too far to the left? has changed since obama and here is the deal. this is about future, taking the same kind of integrity and moving beyond it. by the time the president term notd, he was able to just keeping the car fm into the cliff and into the -- into the depression, he was able to focus. he focused on immigration. he changed the dialogue, he changed the whole question. the idea that somehow it is comparable to what this guy is doing is absolutely bizarre.

three years later. president trump has turned it upside down internationally, economically. people are hurting badly. there is no response. we faced a different problem 10 years ago when the economy collapsed. now we face a problem that the economy and the soul of this country is collapsing because of this president. host: let's hear from tom in texas, republican line. caller: good morning. i am one of those republicans who voted against donald trump and did a write in vote for evan mullen from utah. i am a ted cruz supported. i am interested in the democratic field. i want the most moderate democrats to be nominated if he were going against donald trump. the most important issues are

immigration and medicine and george will did a great column that democrats believe in science, but they don't believe in arithmetic. one of the things -- these democratic candidates get up -- getting up there telling us these things, they need to do the arithmetic. medicare for all for everybody on a subsidized program is certainly going to limit medical procedures all of a sudden are going to be rationed, et cetera, because we cannot pay for it all. people are going to have to start cutting back, you could say. i think we need to look into that plan and the immigration crisis. that is awful. host: you said you wanted the forward.rate to go

of the current crop, who do you think fits the bill as far as moderate? caller: amy klobuchar. steve bullock. i wish mr. bolton from massachusetts made some of these debates because i think he would have been a fantastic candidate. texasthat is tom in giving his take on issues important giving his take on issues important to undecided voters. that is what we will take for the next 20 minutes or so. will hurt shook the political landscape in washington by seeking -- announcing he will not seek reelection. "pursuehe wanted to opportunities outside of congress.

i want to use the knowledge and experience to focus on generational changes in new ways. it was never my intention to stay in congress forever." dallas news reporting that. when it comes to the debates you just saw, there are other debates set in september, october. here is the current list as far as who you will see in the debates, seven of them so far. former vice president joe biden will be one of those candidates. --y booker, p judi dench pete buttigieg, beto o'rourke, kamala harris, bernie sanders, .nd elizabeth warren i should have showed you this earlier, but here is the criteria that has to met saying the first two sets of debate included 24 candidates.

only 10 to 12 candidates are likely to make that round and there is more of that if you go to the new york times about the debate candidates you will see come september. richard, hello. how are you doing, pedro? host: find, thank you. caller: i am undecided read i think it is early to be locked in on anyone. the most important thing in 2020 and now, hopefully we look into securing the ballot box. i think they stuck their next out by getting information to america that we need to focus on that because otherwise, we don't know who we are getting. host: election security the top issue then? caller: definitely. we need oversight.

we need them watching what is going on and making sure there is no tomfoolery. our elections are being messed up. until we get that taken care of, what use is anything else? crop none of the current tops the list for you? caller: warren, definitely warren. i love bernie. i hope he is not caught up in any of this, but those two are top of the list. host: vincent in sterling, virginia. democrats line. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. there are so many important issues, it is hard to put one above another. we have tons of problems with the economy, but donald trump has done what he thought he should do. it came -- it comes down to character and person and donald trump falls far short of that.

anyone who claimed this man was worth voting for should throw in their christian flag. the worst candidates are elizabeth warren and joe biden. elizabeth can be a little bit far left and joe biden can be a .ittle slow i think those who put their money on donald trump as far as character goes need to throw their card away. host: what is it about the character of the two you listed that you like the most? caller: elizabeth warren will get in your face and tell you the truth. she will not call you pocahontas or from those type of countries. the fact democrats attacked what that does is prove democrats cannot get their act together. until they do that, they don't deserve the white house.

blasio -- bill de blasio, what he had to say was irrelevant. they need somebody who has character. you voted for policy over character. host: that is vincent in virginia. the wall street journal taking a look at a field of democrats running for president and how small contributions our can contributing to their campaign. accounted for at least 90 million -- the dollar amount is nearly 85% of all small dollar money brought by presidential campaigns in the first half of 2019. the story also adds former texas

representative beto o'rourke, amy klobuchar, and pete supportg are enjoying among people donating small amounts and while not on the same magnitude of bernie sanders, the former vice president and senator elizabeth warren and kamala harris are drawing in donors across the country. that is a sign of their wide appeal. from washington. good morning. host: good morning to you. most important on my agenda is international relations. everything else is tied into that. we have a military that needs to protect the sea lanes. ships. 355 all that international relations .tuff ties together

as far as candidates are concerned, i have been around for a long time. or another one way with one campaign or the other. what is going on on television now you see done within the party confines. agenda to push and the other has another. each of those talking heads prize onto one candidate that seems to have an agenda to push and not necessarily the others. will you vote for me because this is important to you? what is important to the united states? host: on the topic of foreign affairs, is there a candidate

you think would be best on those issues? biden. yes, that is joe he has the demeanor and the tact and the background and the therience and also, connections with other countries to help us in that area, tremendously. my second choice would be amy klobuchar. she has a level head that i think would be a great act up in case the worst was to happen to the president. elizabeth warren would be a good fit at the treasury. -- is a great man as far as ecology is concerned. pete buttigieg would be a good fit at the fence, he has that experience.

i think beto o'rourke is a great on, for the future. we need him to replace john cornyn and with more experience, he would be a better fit. host: that is al giving his picks not only for people he likes and what positions they might serve, talking about issues that are the most foreign to him. reuters reporting the united states withdrew from a landmark nuclear missile packed with russia after determining moscow was in violation of the treaty, something the kremlin denied. president trump made the determination the united states would terminate adherence to the control act known as the nuclear forces treaty. it bans either side --

washington signaled its intention 6 months ago. candace -- kenneth is next from florida, independent line. caller: good morning. so youmple, very quick can get other comments. just consider i have not decided as far as what i am going to do with boating. i crossed parties and voted obamaat in 2012 with mr. expecting we would have financial securities in the country secured or taken care of. what we have seen, as we can see in history is trillions, the highest deaths we have had in america since we have been established and it doesn't seem mr. trump and republicans are actually doing anything in order to bring that down far.

more special interest and special situations they want to get involved in instead of considering the american consumer, which they should be considering. what is going on right now, it is the same. there are many trying to say they will help out. i will end with this, very few comments as far as the american deficit and keeping it down and bringing it back down to 2012. honestly, i don't know if i am going to vote this year, that is a shame. host: it was president obama's former chief of staff who made comments on the website medium after the debates talking about how democrats could appeal to swing voters. when you are looking into the camera, imagine you are speaking to a voter who holds two core beliefs, that the economy is ok and that trump's presidency is

worse than bad. showing you understand those points will yield electoral gold. convinced that voter to fire the president. while at her kitchen table, explain why you are the candidate best to secure the candidate's future. everything else is secondary. if you want to read more, you can find that on the website m edium. joy, you are next up. caller: first time viewers of the show and first time caller. it is interesting to hear other people's perspectives in a live setting. i followed politics my whole life, but i am over the media outlets that push their agenda, don't give me an unbiased opinion of the issues and kind of cloud everything with their own perspectives. this is a refreshing station to

be watching and program. richard from chattanooga. demographically, we could not be more different. he is a 50-year-old male, ceo in the inner-city. i am from florida, a business owner myself. i am voting for a candidate that will deal with the actual causes of problems and not just the symptoms. top issues are health care. i was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. goingis debate on who is to pay for health care and what it will cost of the country and the real issue is preventative care. marianne williamson stood out to said candidates want to deal with the symptoms. prior to this debate, watching her in the first round, i

thought there was no way i would vote for this woman and hearing her have the chance to speak in this next debate changed my perspective. i thought i would be more of a supporter of biden with his foreign-policy experience. i have been disappointed in his experience. i don't think he is grasping the issues like i expect him to. the biggest thing for me will be voting consistency. i don't like the policies of bernie sanders, but there is something to be said for a career where he has been nothing but consistent. he always seems to vote with what he believes in. no matter what party you are affiliated with, it is my opinion -- i don't represent the entire united states, but i think most people are tired of politicians and tired of

inconsistency. for me, i am looking for those foreign-policy, health care, immigration will be a top issue for me. i am looking for real solutions and not just -- ken, good morning. ken in texas, hello? he hung up. let's go to jack in falls church, virginia, independent line. hi. caller: hi, how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: the caller a couple calls ago and the most recent caller, health care, having a public option and reducing the the twoin my opinion biggest issues and the deficit is part and parcel with the growing defense budget. we are spending as much as the

next 8 countries combined and it is unsustainable. i think the current president's strategy for making the debt upller is to juice ouration, which will make retirement our retirement savings smaller because it will devalue it. i think it is a dangerous course he is taking. inflate it away basically to devalue our savings. particularly vote the two main parties or do you consider a third party and what you consider as far as who you will support? caller: i always consider the and did notimarily vote for any of the major presidential candidates in the last election. host: the federal election commission just to remind you about the swing voters -- a total of 136,000,969 --

back cast in that election in 2016. 65lary clinton grabbing million of those votes. the president with 62,900 8428 votes. 4 millionon garnered votes. and jill stein with one million votes. if you go to the federal election commission's website, it has a breakdown on the list of presidential candidates. paul, good morning. caller: thank you for letting me call in.

one about that williamson girl on last night. she mentioned something about antidepressants. i got injured years ago and the first thing they did was put me on antidepressants for pain. i have been through 15 surgeries and the second part is why did harris decide she would not run ?or vice president under biden than donald other everybody'stroying kindness to each other? int: we will hear from tim wisconsin, democrats line. caller: hello? host: you are on. --ler: i consider myself number one, i am a democrat, but i consider myself a slightly left of center democrat kind of leading towards biden.

it is like there is 4 or 5 of them. they all have good ideas. it would be nice if you could combine them into 1. i am from a very red district in wisconsin and i argue with people all the time that i work with and no are republicans and they are good people. these people are really good people. they go to church and all that stuff, but for whatever reason, i don't understand it and i see south, evangelicals down i don't understand how these people who are very good people and believe in god and they go to church and they are decent, why they follow this guy. i don't know if maybe some of your callers can answer that, why they are willing to cast aside everything they believe in about god and decency for this

guy. host: because we are asking undecided voters the top issue they have, what is the top issue for you? caller: health care. host: what would you like to see done in the world of health care? particularly what you heard the last two nights about the topic? caller: caller: here's what i think. the medicare for all thing sounds great. i think we can work our way into that. a lot of people in this area -- like i said, this is a red area -- a lot of people don't have enough in the government that they can run medicare for all. i have private health insurance. it is ok health insurance. i would like to see some sort of youdicare buy-in so that have your choice if you do want to stay on your own insurance through work, you can.

i would like to see that instead of just forcing you to accept what bernie is offering or whatever. host: tim in appleton, wisconsin. florida, robert will be the last call. independent line. caller: i would like that lame-o cash break for millionairesh and billionaires reversed. what a sham. we can build bridges, build roads. you can do a thousand things with $1 trillion. you don't need to give it to billionaires and millionaires. host: last call on this topic. facebook recently introduced a concept they are considering taking a look at digital currency. it has caused some concerns for the white house and on capitol hill, too. chris bremmer from georgetown university joins us to talk

about those concerns. from on, we will hear aaron bliss -- a new report on the condition of hospices in the united states. we will talk about those findings. that and more coming up on "washington journal." >> this weekend on american history tv, saturday on lectures and history, comparisons between abraham lincoln and andrew johnson on the constitution. >> take a look at the whole cartoon. it is a very different impression of what people thought of johnson and the constitution at the time. that he did not understand the constitution, it was above his ability, and that he was acting in unconstitutional ways. >> on american artifacts, a preview of the 19th amendment exhibit at the national archives. beginningn new jersey

in 1776 when new jersey became a the new jersey state constitution made no mention of sex when discussing voting qualifications, it only had a property requirement. women who owned enough property, primarily widows and single women, could and did vote in elections at the local, state and national level. >> at 8:00 p.m. on the presidency, john farrell talks about nixon's early life and career. >> he campaigned for the marshall plan. he went to every rotary club, every chamber of commerce, every vfw and american legion hall, every crowd that would take him. he told them he owed to his best judgment and he convinced them.

primaries were held in california, richard nixon did not just when the republican thenation -- win republican nomination. he won the democratic nomination. >> every weekend on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this is chris bremmer. he is the faculty director at the institute of international economic law at georgetown university, here to talk about a concept from facebook taking a look at digital currency. good morning. what is facebook trying to do and why? >> two very interesting questions. aresimple answer, they trying to create a digital currency people can use across borders. not necessarily a government currency, but a private currency that people can use and it is

shipped to one another in different parts of the world. the reason they are doing this is a little bit complex because no one knows exactly -- they have certainly explicitly said they want to -- i'm reading this because it is useful for your to enable aear -- simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people. there are financial motives as well. host: as far as the current system, what would facebook's plan do that others do not? guest: facebook is planning to create this global currency and by doing so has established a consortium of different kinds of larger global technology companies, a couple nonprofits, the global currency is called the libra currency and the

consortium is called the libra association. through this libra association, they are trying to build a platform that would enable different kinds of uses for the and alsoivate currency to help assist in the adoption and memorialization of the bookkeeping of transactions based on that currency. host: one example i saw, if i wanted to send money to another foreign country that doesn't have a strong banking system, this would alleviate that. guest: that is the goal, the concept. sending money across borders is extremely sensitive. fees.ld be enough in the concept or idea of a faster, cheaper global payment system is one that a lot of people have been very interested in. there are real goals and benefits particularly for people

who don't have access to those kinds of banking services. from there was pushback the white house itself about this. what is the concern from everyone involved? guest: that's really interesting. the pushback was bipartisan, different sources of emphasis. a lot of people on the democratic end, republicans as well, were concerned about consumer protections, money laundering. cryptourrency's use graphic techniques, there is behind those transactions -- anonymity behind those transactions. there is a line ofent -- a new argument from the president saying is this an american

device? is this something that is good for the united states? there are a variety of interests. host: if you want to ask questions about this idea or this concept from facebook, republicans,for 202-748-8000 for democrats, for independents.8-8002 let's hear from steve nguyen. -- steven mnuchin. [video clip] guest: a consortium of 28 businesses announced it is developing a cryptocurrency called the libra. the treasury department has expressed very serious concerns that libra could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers. bitcoinrrency such as

have been exploited to support billions of dollars of illicit activity like cybercrime, tax evasion, extortion, ransomware, illicit drugs, human trafficking. many players have attempted to use cryptocurrency to fund their maligned behavior. this is a national security issue. the united states has been at the forefront of regulating entities that provide cryptocurrency. we will not allow digital passage service providers to operate in the shadows and will not tolerate the use of the cryptocurrencies in support of illicit activities. host: pull something from that. what is he saying? guest: the concern coming out of the treasury department is one of financial crime. that bad guys can use the proceeds from their illicit activity and abscond away with those proceeds.

he's taking aim not only at libra but at other cryptocurrency as well, like bitcoin, which is the most common cryptocurrency. he's taking aim at all cryptocurrencies saying we are going to start stepping in and thet trying to regulate intermediaries to ensure some i quit -- to ensure some market integrity. people can hide their money via these cryptocurrency's -- via these cryptocurrencies. host: you invest in bitcoin and it grows in value. does libra have that feature? guest: they are entirely different concepts, even though both raise a certain kinds of money laundering concerns. entirelys decentralized.

the processet into of memorializing these transactions, creating a node on the network. it is not only cross-border but it's hard to censor, it's hard to unwind transactions off the bitcoin block chain. libra is highly centralized. facebook for the moment is driving the bus. it says maybe in a year or so, they may end up handing the baton to the libra association writ large. so far, there are 28 entities. it is different from a world of far-flung nodes you see in a bitcoin decentralized universe. they are very different concepts, even though they can both raise different kinds of red flags depending on the jurisdictions in which they are operating. likely regulated jurisdictions

can create a portal for illicit funds. host: on the topic of jurisdiction, does the u.s. congress have a say or oversight over such a thing? guest: the challenge of financial technology is they fit in the gaps of different regulatory rules. it's hard to define, for example, how should one classify bitcoin? even if you do classify it as something, do the rules relating to that something -- are they up-to-date enough to deal with the risk bitcoin poses? facebook'se, currency of the libra, many say this looks and smells like an exchange traded fund or etf. the structure for how this is done, creating this portfolio of assets where i give you my

money, i get libra in return, that money i'm giving you is deposited somewhere and invested somewhere else, this looks a lot like an etf. the word used to describe the different into mary's and facebook -- intermediaries and facebook's own description, it literally takes the words used to describe etf's. if you call it an etf or a security like a stock or bond, do the rules in place speak to this? that is something congress is trying to grapple with. host: mark in hollywood, florida. go ahead. caller: good morning. sayingn to what you are and i've been telling friends and family for a decade that the world is going to be moving towards centralized electronic

money. there are a lot of risks in this as well. for example, you are not going to have any anonymity anymore. everything is going to be electronic. it's going to be centralized eventually. this sounds like a world currency, which i'm not in favor of. anytime you consolidate power and the currency into a global currency, which is what everything is being pushed to, there's some negatives to that for the people. if you get that one centralized sudden -- is all of a there is a term that has power corrupts and ultimate power corrupts ultimately -- you run into problems. host: we will let our guest answer. guest: that is a great

observation. becauselly a red flag it is facebook in particular that is bringing about this particular idea or facebook has been the face of this particular venture. one of the concerns is, number one, what happens when you have a company that already has a lot of data -- facebook is a data company -- now wanting to reinvent itself and make itself a financial services company? facebook has created a code co-idiary called -- colibra.ry called what are your transactions in the wallet? they promised there will be some strong safeguards to prevent that sharing of information.

concernses privacy because they were just fined $5 billion for privacy violations. what happens when you have a major technology company also going into finance? as you mentioned, that anonymity that people have always assumed to be inherent in a lot of cryptocurrency transactions, it is not quite as anonymous as people thought. you still track transactions, even if you don't know exactly who a person is. once that person jumped out of the cave into the light and try to liquidate their ies, theyrenc reenter the regulated financial system. the treasury department has crated techniques to identify people at that pressure point.

this is larry in minneapolis. republican line. caller: thank you, c-span. chris, i was wondering, don't you think for central governments, this kind of thing is their worst nightmare? what central government wants to give up control of the payment system, the currency? wouldn't it have a data devastating effect on the ability for government to raise money? i almost think when they talk about money laundering and all these things as the reason -- what happens now with the current currency and payment system -- this is almost like a nuclear option to them. because of that, i don't see

central governments allowing these kinds of initiatives to come to full bloom. i would be interested in your thoughts on that. guest: what a great question. one of the best vehicles for money laundering is cash. that is quite anonymous. significanten a amount of discussion as to whether or not particularly libra could create all kinds of challenges for central banks in part because the way in which they are creating the currency is they are saying we will have this libra and we will back it with government currency and government securities. it depends on what currencies are in that basket. of waysimagine a number in which there could be a run on the currency. i will give you a simple example because it is something everyone can understand. weht now, facebook is saying

are not going to track your financial transactions, how you spend your money. we will keep that information separated from our data that we keep about you in terms of how you use facebook as a platform. imagine if people have tons of facebook orey learn another member of the libra association can access that information in the never one runs to the door and tries to sell their libra -- and then every wine runs to the door and tries to sell their libra -- and then everyone runs to the door and tries to sell their libra. banks are wary of this. particularly central banks in developing parts of the world. although they've said the major goal is to increase access for these banks, the country with

india, has said they don't want it. it could threaten their own monetary sovereignty. have theoment, we global currency, but if you have a weaker currency, you can imagine all kinds of potential instability where people decide to buy or sell your currency if it's included in the basket. twitter -- ifoff we have those means of transferring funds electronically, why the need to add this to the group? guest: there was a congressional hearing just this week. one of the comments or one of the ideas expressed was, you facebook isnow,

trying to come up with a technological solution to this remittance problem. it is so expensive to send money overseas. it takes so long for money to clear in the united states. if you get a physical check and you want to deposit it, it could take 4-5 days to clear. you can get into problems and that cap. -- in that gap. , theynate banking hearing said it is a policy problem. things the fedin should do to accelerate payments and begin to crack the oligopoly on cross-border fees that are being charged. host: this is chris bremmer from georgetown university joining us. matthew from pittsburgh. go ahead. caller: good morning.

i think the cryptocurrencies are somewhat like a religion. i've tried to do some research into cryptocurrency and i don't find anything that backs this. nothingnothing hard, tangible. this currency could be valued whatever they decide to make the price, it seems that's what they can come up with. seemsd be wrong, but it to me every time i try to get some research to see what is this cryptocurrency based on, i find there's nothing there but thein air. guest: you are not the only one to have made that particular critique. it is very important to distinguish cryptocurrencies and emphasize two things. number one, how they are

structured can be very different. the libra cryptocurrency is backed by something. it is backed by other currencies, national currencies and government securities. it will have something there. it can introduce exchange risk. then you get into something like said, bitcoin is self-referential. the value is determined by demand. useful and can be used in lots of different places and the technology behind a lot of these could do currencie -- , the cryptocurrencies block chain, that's pretty interesting stuff. how it program money and

is spent and when it is spent, there could be useful applications there. cryptocurrencies are very different and people are trying to figure out what constellation of features will be regulatory compliant and have a real-world use value for people whether it's payments or processing transactions, memorializing different relationships. that conversation has become quite technical. host: from chicago, marcia, independent line. caller: i might have missed out a bit on the conversation. i'm a bank employee. deposits?this affect the bank could lose a lot of interest money on these deposits? guest: what an interesting

question. was whyhe first issues getting into the financial services business? it's quite interesting. i had the example of when you dollars, money in u.s. get libra coin in return, that money has been put into a bank account or some sort of government security, notice when i give you that dollar, i is a customer and not receiving interest on that money and ,nstead, the money generated facebook or the investors are able to earn returns on the money given to them. deposit no interest

subject to some kind of foreign exchange risk. it is true that from the customer standpoint, you are not going to be able to get interest-earning. the libra, association will be able to earn therest off of the float, money that has been given to them. the consumer will not. host: will the stakeholders be required to put in some sort of cash to get this started? guest: each of the members have been required to put in $10 million. that has not yet happened. the agreements between the 28 members, it is still somewhat tentative. that is the expectation. that is the floor and other members are urged to contribute more money.

filingsook's latest with the ftc. , they recognized that this is attracting much more scrutiny on capitol hill and with the ftc and international regulators and they have signaled that this whole project could cost a lot more than they had anticipated. because of the scrutiny they are receiving and the extra steps they may have to take to ensure the project is safe and sound. host: if facebook itself is part of the initiative, does it get more say because they are the founders? guest: right now, yes. until they decide to pass off the baton, facebook is driving the bus and is able to shape and fashion this libra ecosystem in a way that suits its interests. i assume they will negotiate

with those on board with $10 million for how they shape out the margins of that system. once they go live, facebook has memberst each of the 27 and ultimately 100 members will have an equal say. even when they invest more money, the amount of say for each of those members will be capped. if one always query member builds more infrastructure -- each of these members have this investment opportunity where they can build different apps, one could argue that facebook could build a whatsapp,using through its messenger system, if more of the transactions are going for your infrastructure, that could give you more

defective control over the factotum -- de facto control over the system. caller: facebook intends for this digital currency to be global. i'm wondering what the implications are for those living in the third world who don't have access to electricity, let alone electronic devices. guest: that also is a wonderful question and a very interesting question. premise has been we will create this global currency as a means of increasing financial services and access to financial services for people in developing countries. in many parts of the world, particularly developing countries, people tend to have cell phones. you can jump over a stage of development by leveraging the fact that they have cell phones and they can use their cell

phone as a bank. it is an important thing to emphasize. if you can use your cell phone and get online, maybe that is an access portal to financial services. includingf reasons, , inregulatory concerns order for this to likely work, you will have to set up an account, people will need to have some indication as to what your identity is. if it is an etf, you will have to go through a broker. whatu don't have a bank, is the likelihood that you will have a broker-dealer? in partstical leaders of emerging economies are very skeptical of the project, in part because they are concerned that by introducing this currency, it could end up messing up their monetary

systems and domestic economies. if you can create a portal for cross-border -- could it come back to haunt those people, widely destabilizing their local economies? host: is there a rollout date? guest: there was a very ambitious rollout date. in number of members of congress -- a number of members of congress have asked for a moratorium until they hold all the regular tory compliance. -- until theyory hold all the regulatory b compliance. host: coming up, we will hear from aaron bliss about a report on hospice violations in the

united states. on the risena edney of teen vaping. that's coming up on "washington journal." ♪ >> this weekend on book tv, saturday at 7:45 eastern, the former policy director for senator elizabeth warren talks about the effectiveness of government involvement in promoting opportunity and equality. >> the public option for broadband would go a long way in addressing the challenge of access while introducing competition into some of these concentrated markets. this is not a pie in the sky idea. has hadoga, tennessee one gigabyte download internet, extremely fast internet as a public option since 2010.

ofay, more than 100,000 their people and businesses take advantage of the public option there. >> in depth is live with lee edwards. at 9:00 p.m. eastern on afterwords, michael ballack talks about his first-hand account of the far right wing and its origins. favor ans those who authoritarian police state, there are anarchists, there are those with a sense of i don't owe an allegiance to any nation. you have little agreement other than who you are against. >> watch book tv every weekend on c-span2. "> "washington journal

continues. host: this is erin bliss with the health and human services department. good morning. welcome to the program. kenny remind people what the role of the inspector general's office is? guest: our mission is to protect the integrity of health and human services programs. such as medicare, and the health and well-being of the people they serve. we do oversight and enforcement of the programs of the health and human services department. host: you turned your attention to the topic of hospice. why is that? what were you looking to find out? guest: the health and safety of medicare beneficiaries is one of our top priorities. this is a particularly vulnerable population. we looked into information about deficiencies being cited at hospice providers related to

quality of care and patient harm. host: what did you find? guest: i report shed light on how common it is for hospice providers to be cited with some type of deficiency related to the quality of care they are providing. in some cases, these were very serious deficiencies. we uncovered gaps and patient protections. we've issued a call to the cms, to program, run by help fix these problems. host: what were the worst-case scenarios found? guest: we did identify some worst-case scenarios where patients were seriously harmed by their care. a one egregious example, hospice provider allowed maggots to fester around a patient's feeding tube and he needed to be hospitalized. that is a very extreme case, but that kind of thing should never happen. host: when it comes to the

medicare system itself, remind people what medicare pays to these hospices as far as dollars are concerned. 2016, in total, in medicare paid hospices $16.7 million for serving approximately 1.5 million beneficiaries. the number of patients electing hospice care is growing. likewise, so are the dollars. hospice care is a program that patients can opt into when they are terminally ill and expected to have six months or less left in their life. it is a decision to forgo regular curative treatment for their terminal illness and instead focus on services to provide pain relief, symptom relief, comfort, and spiritual and emotional support to their loved ones. host: the washington post highlighted a couple egregious

conditions, including some developing gangrene and others. what is keeping folks from finding out about it or not taking care of these situations? guest: we have identified gaps in the patient protection system. those are egregious examples. we found three and four hospice fourders -- three in hospice providers are found to have some sort of deficiency. they are not that serious. there are some serious eficiencies -- 1% with immediate jeopardy deficiency. about serious not made publicly available and easily accessible. patients and their loved ones would have a difficult time

finding the public information and some of the information is not public at all. host: one third had complaints filed against them when it comes to hospice providers, more than 300 were considered poor performers, nearly 20% had one or more deficiencies. if hospices were found in such a way, what is the remedy, is there a punishment as well? guest: state survey agencies will work with the hospice to try to correct the problem. medicare is very limited in the enforcement tools it has. right now, the only action the medicare program can take is to terminate the hospice or not allow them to participate in medicare. there are no other tools. this is in contrast to issues that might arise in a nursing home where the medicare program has an array of tools to help remedy poor performance.

we recommended that the medicare program work with congress to of enforcement actions for the circumstances. host: if you have questions about this report, 202-748-8000 if you live in the eastern and central time zones, 202-748-8001 in the mountain and pacific time zones, if you've had experience with hospice care, 202-748-8002. there is such a toference between money sent nursing homes and the money sent to hospice care. guest: we think it is time for that to change. we've made a number of recommendations to strengthen protection for patients, the transparency of information, the

enforcement tools that are available, to bring hospice care more on par with other types of care. host: what caused this report in the first place? guest: we've been assessing hospice issues for more than a decade. we are particularly concerned about quality of care and concerns about patient harm and abuse in a range of settings, especially hospice being an incredibly vulnerable population of people at difficult times in their life. host: are there standards for what qualifies as a hospice? guest: medicare does have conditions of participation for being a hospice in that program. that are the conditions the inspectors go out and look for. when we talk about a hospice being cited for a deficiency, it is related to not meeting one of those medicare requirements. host: such as?

guest: such as taking appropriate steps to prevent infection control or quality assurance, appropriate training of hospice staff. staffample, inadequate training is one of the most common deficiencies that gets cited against hospices. this can have real-world impact on patients. we cited a case where a patient in hospice had her leg broken because her aid was not properly trained in how to safely transfer her from her wheelchair to her bed. host: does medicare provide some standard of age or staff with any hospice and what level of education or training they have to have? standardsre are around the qualification and training that staff need to provide. medicare million bennett

beneficiaries enrolled in 2017. .ost were female, 58.4% -- 1.4 9 million medicare enrolled ins were hospice care for one day or more in 2017. how do they respond to this report? guest: there was a lot of attention to our findings within the media and general public as well as the hospice association. i cannot speak for this particular association. there is a chaired mission that there mission between -- is a shared mission between our office and this association. i really can't speak on behalf of the associations.

opinions some industry where they were reinforcing the need for adequate training, transparency and expressing concerns about the extreme examples that we talked about. host: erin bliss with the health and human services department joining us to talk about their report on hospice violations. we will start off with len in las vegas. independent line. go ahead. toler: i was just wanting make a comment. care fororks in health the elderly. -- 90 milligrams of morphine per day per person. she works in elderly care. she works regularly with

,atients and hospice comes in their maximum is 10 milligrams per hour. they can give a patient on , which 240 milligrams can be a lethal dose. everybody that gets put in hospice is dead within 10 days. they can nos in, longer do anything else with that patient. they can't even give them a glass of water. thank you for calling. guest: certainly, the use of opioids at this point is a national epidemic. it is something of great concern. the office of inspector general has a large body of work looking at opioid misuse as well. the cbc does put out guidelines

cdc does putges -- out guidelines for safe dosages. it is up to the position to determine what is the most appropriate and effective treatment given their circumstances. lookingdo our analysis at high levels of opioid use, we do exclude hospice patients from that analysis with the recognition that there are special circumstances in hospice. the purpose is to provide comfort and pain and symptom relief at the end of life. does have specific concerns that she has witnessed or is worried that there are particular hospice providers being irresponsible or abusive, i encourage her to report her concerns to the state survey agency that oversees

hospices. go all the way to a potential criminal situation, i encourage her to reach out to local police. host: the report you put out, doesn't name those providers -- does it name those providers found in violation? guest: no, we do not name the providers in our example. -- wentified a number wouldn't be able to release all of that information. opt to be inspected by private accrediting organizations, the results are protected from disclosure by law. we recommended that the medicare program work with congress gain authority to share that information. host: a hospice can decide to be inspected by the state or by a

private agency? guest: it has to be a cms approved accrediting agency, but that is the hospice;s choice -- hospice's choice. host: could they recommend a federal inspection? guest: we don't have a basis to compare the quality of inspections done by the state agency versus the accrediting organization. the big difference we are concerned about is state survey results are available to the public and the result of the accrediting organization surveys are not. that needs to change. it's important for all of that information to be easily and readily accessible. host: if a family is wondering at their place is ending up in your report, can they find out? it depends .

to the extent that it was based on information that was uncovered three state serving -- serving agency -- through a surveying agency, they could access that information. host: esther, you are on with our guest. caller: i'm interested in how you can govern the care of a hospice patient if you do not have the patient surrounded with governing bodies of individuals willre trained at care, protect their life to the end and not speed up the expiration of life. are you eliminating suffering? are you preserving life?

limitation as volunteer deaths. guest: you raise important questions about how does the medicare program help. we oversee the quality of care provided to hospice patients who oftentimes are receiving treatment in their homes. that's the benefit for patients who choose to be at home. it is a vulnerable population. the thinking around that needs to be strengthened. hospices are overseen by a state agency that goes out and inspects them and investigates toplaints, or they may opt use an accrediting agency, but they need to meet certain quality and other requirements to participate in the medicare program. medicare has a role in

overseeing the states and hospices to make sure the system is working. host: cleveland, ohio next. this is tom. caller: i recently discovered a couple months ago that long-term -- are forbidden from being mandatory reporters of elder abuse. they are not able to investigate complaints of elder abuse and neglect. that is just a starting point. i've spent 30 years dealing with these problems. i could go on for hours. i would like to know how to connect with erin bliss. i'm connected with groups who are complaining of problems. in california, the foundation aiding the elderly dealing with problems and nursing homes,

another is the national -- thetion of organization is run by carol hermon. another group run by dr. sam apg.r is called aa somethinghere specific you would like to discuss with our guest? communityers in the have been with mildly cognitive impaired individuals, they are totally negligent of that area, they specifically disregard it. guest: thank you for raising these important issues. is ant abuse and neglect very serious concern and a top priority for the office of inspector general.

we've been looking at this issue across a range of settings. specific to the recent reports looking at this issue in hospice care, we have identified vulnerabilities in terms of limited reporting requirements to medicare in the hospice program. for example, hospice providers are only required to report patient harms to medicare if they receive an allocation -- allegation of harm, the harm was involved someone providing services on behalf of the hospice and the hospice has self investigated and substantiated the allegation and only then is it required that that patient harm be reported to medicare. we want them to strengthen reporting requirements to

identify potential harm and abuse that might be going on when they are out conducting their surveys. there may be state laws that require reporting, but we are looking for some medicare requirements as well so that the program has full information into the problems happening and can assure appropriate information. host: how many hospices did you look at in this report? how many had serious deficiencies? guest: we looked over a from 2012-2016d at 4500 hospices that were surveyed or inspected during that time. one in five words cited with a citeds deficiency -- were with a serious deficiency. fiveentified almost one in that had a serious deficiency ored by a surveyor

accrediting organization or had a serious complaint that was in fact substantiated by the state. host: let's hear from steve in maryland. bliss fromwith erin the department of health and human services. i allowed to give a shout out to specific hospice? host: go ahead with your question, if you don't mind. caller: i want to mention st. mary's hospice. wifetook good care of my and her final days because of the training that is done with st. mary's county and with the volunteers and with the staff, they took real good care. it was a very come double setting, almost like being -- comfortable setting, almost like being in your own house. they offered grievance sessions for the spouse. that was very, very beneficial.

i wanted to give a shout out to st. mary's county hospice program. guest: i'm sorry for your loss. i'm so glad to hear about your good experience with hospice. i'm glad you raised that. it is an important point. many patients and their loved ones have very good experiences with hospice care. we are not looking to scare anyone away from hospice care. it's an important benefit that brings comfort to many patients and their loved ones. we want information to be made available not just about the problems but also information when the inspection turns up no problems. that's just as important as knowing which hospices are struggling, knowing which hospices are performing very well. the vast majority are working very hard, they are well intended and their goal is high-quality and safe care. maryland. is edo in

identifies as the president of the hospice care organization. caller: i'm president of the national hospice care -- we represent 1200 hospices across the country. by and large, we agree with much that is in the report. additional oversight of folks who are persistently bad is a good thing. additional oversight of those folks is a good thing. additional education is a good asng and additional sunlight the oig just said on the folks who are doing a really good job in the folks who are doing a persistently bad job is a good thing. we want consumers to be informed. we want people to be getting the best care they can get.

we are here to work with the oig and cms. host: did you largely agree with the conclusions of the report? guest: not all of them, but a lot of them. certainly, the themes we agree with. we don't think folks complying with the law are providing absolute care should be treated the same as those failing everyday. some room for the oversight to be tightened up and appropriately administered. host: would you like to address a question to our guest? caller: we've requested a meeting with the oig. we look forward to meeting with the oig and cms to talk about how we can work together. i hope they will schedule that meeting in short order and we

can talk about our work together. guest: i appreciate the work you do. we are working on scheduling that meeting. i will be participating along with our front evaluation team who did the work. thank you. we look forward to a fruitful partnership. host: if making things better is the ultimate goal, what is the positive first step to that? what is a definite first step your organization can take? isler: a good first step sunshine. has pointed out that there are 300 persistently bad performers. we want that information made public. a good first step is to make that list public. host: any response to that? guest: we agree.

we think empowering patients and their loved ones with access to good and clear and comprehensive information is a really crucial step. host: let's hear from anna. anna is in new york. you're on with our guest. thank you for waiting. caller: i have two very quick questions and then a brief comment. if your guest could explain if there's this thing which meant -- distinguishment between the state health department or cms oversight of a hospice versus what is common in our area, reference to two bed comfort homes. the reason for the two bed rest restriction, my understanding is they do not come under state department oversight.

restricted inmore the types of medical conditions they cancare. is --her question i have host: we may have to leave it there because of time and you are cutting in and out. guest: i appreciate the question. twm not from the year with -- familiar with two bed comfort home, if our provider participate in the medicare program there would be some type of conditions of participation or standards of requirement set at that level. if they are not providers that thereipate in medicare, may be requirements at the state level if they participate in the medicaid program. i am not familiar with that entity. host: now that the report is

out, what happens next as far as follow-up? guest: we do persistent follow-up with our colleagues who run the medicare program. we are in constant dialogue and they are making progress on our recommendations. there is much more to be done. we take the opportunities we have to brief congress on our work and in particularly the two recommendations that would require some congressional intervention to make happen, both giving the medicare program more enforcement tools and allowing them to release the results of inspections conducted by accreditation organizations. we are also continuing our work with work underway now looking at investigations of complaints whether theices and state agencies that conduct the investigations are meeting the required time frames. we will continue to push for

momentum on the work we have done any recommendations we have made and continue to enter and overturn new stones and look for new issues. you can find the report they get looking at hospice on their website. thank you for your time. guest: i appreciate the opportunity to talk about these issues. will talk, anna edney about federal oversight and federal concerns over teenage vaping, particularly the use of the juul product. that conversation continues next on "washington journal." ♪ >> saturday morning at 10:30 oftern on c-span, the first

two democratic primary debates in detroit hosted by cnn. sunday morning at 10:30 eastern, the second round of presidential primary debates, saturday and sunday at 10:30 a.m. eastern on , or listenpan.org with the free c-span radio app. ronald reagan is an intellectual. he is comfortable with ideas. he understands the power of ideas. with that kind of foundation, intellectual foundation, a political leader can do all kinds of marvelous things. >> lee edwards our guest on in-depth sunday from noon to 2:00 p.m. eastern, the author of just right, a collection of biographies of william f buckley, barry goldwater, ronald reagan. join the conversation with your

phone calls and facebook questions with author lee edwards live from noon to 3:00 -- 2:00 and the national book festival on saturday, august 31 on booktv on c-span2. journal" continues. with anna edney's bloomberg news as a health policy reporter and we are talking about teenage vaping. interest from congress. what is driving this? guest: interest started a year ago last summer when numbers show teenage vaping rose significantly between 2017 and -- 78% jump in the number of high schoolers and congressettes was concerned because there is a playbook from big tobacco that they think looks very similar

and their concerned we could lose all the gains we have made in getting people off of cigarettes. host: focus on the company juul, what is the company and why is that? francisco, is in san they have an e-cigarettes that is discrete and appealing to teenagers, a lot of talk at schools that you can hide it in your sweatshirt and people may not know when you are using it. there are some great flavors teenagers like that are sold in convenience stores. those are just online except for menthol which are still in stores. that has been the e-cigarette of choice for kids from the evidence from different surveys. that company has taken all of the focus of the teenage vaping epidemic.

host: a certain age you have to buy tobacco products, what is the standard for e-cigarettes? guest: they are the same because they contain nicotine. they are considered an addictive substance even if they do not have all the things cigarettes have any tobacco. the standards are the same. no one under age is supposed to .e buying e-cigarettes 21. the idea of marketing, what are the concerns of congress over this? guest: there were a lot of instagram posts from juul that have younger looking people that were appealing to the youth and juul was seeking influencers. the house congressional hearing revealed people who could make these look cooler on social

media and get kids interested. the marketing point of this is much and look to see how this is like what big tobacco did and could there be concerns that they are getting kids hooked on a new and addictive substance? is their marketing targeted towards kids versus adults they are supposed to be marketing towards. host: if you want to ask anna edney about the use of vaping products and specifically juul, 202-748-8000 in eastern and central time zones, mountain and pacific, 202-748-8001, perhaps user,e an e-cigarette 202-748-8002. a young person talked about a juul representative who came to their school. [video clip]

>> what grades were you in the year of the juul presentation? >> ninth grade. >> what were students told about the presentation before it began? >> we were told we were having a seminarealth addiction that we have three times a year and teachers are told to leave the room so it is a safe space for kids to talk. >> did most of your classmates believe juul was safe prior to the presentation? >> many were already using the product and had doubts whether it was safe but many kids still thought it was possibly dangerous. >> did the presenter ever mention his connection to juul and work your teachers in the room when he spoke? >> he did mention his connection to juul and my teacher for not in the room when he spoke. >> did he ever say juul was safe? >> yes.

>> did he call juul totally safe more than once? >> yes. >> what impacted those totally safe comments have on your classmates, some of whom may have already started vaping? >> my classmates are ready vaping it was relief because they could do it without concern. host: anna edney, how did juul manage to get in the schools in the first place to make these presentations? guest: the report from the house subcommittee that looked into this showed juul was giving ,oney to a lot of the schools $10,000, some were even more for more of a summer camp type thing and to go in for one day they were given money to gain access to the students. host: when congress heard about the young people or at least the ones we heard from, what was the reaction from legislators? guest: there was a lot of outrage because one of the

things missing from that presentation is any of the risk that could be involved with juul . these are not completely safe or totally safe products like the congressman said. like juul insinuated. concern they are selling something to kids that the teenagers do not know all of the risks and assume they are doing something that is -- a lot of them do not know they are using e-cigarettes. i have talked to him and other teenagers who have used these products or tried them before and they have no idea of what the actual consequences may be down the road. host: one of those italy's pressing outrage was -- expressing outrage was dick durbin. 2018 then 2017 and

number of american teenagers using any tobacco product increased by nearly 40%. this was the largest single year increase in youth tobacco use ever. all of our significant use-earned gains to reduce of tobacco products are being reversed because of e-cigarettes like juul any accompanying kid friendly flavors. all of the full-page advertisements decrying children, you see them in the --l, roll call, political politico, washington post, new york times, wall street journal, this is a new tactic, that is exactly what big tobacco did. when we said layoff tickets they bought full-page ads in the wall street journal saying we do not want kids to smoke cigarettes. how many kids do you think get up in the morning to read the wall street journal? nine. this is just a -- none.

campaign to save their business model does not relate to get but the facts tell us otherwise. guest: i think he is encapsulating a lot of concerns we have in big tobacco and that kind of theme over and over again. by, altriaught group, which makes malta but -- -- marlboroette cigarettes, phillip morris, 35% stake in the company and there is concern that big tobacco is losing ground on cigarettes and try to make it up somewhere and that this is not proven yet to be a totally safe alternative. host: senators claims about the rise in teenage vaping or use of tobacco by teens and the relation to juul, is that a true statement? guest: there has been evidence

of that and that is coming from the government. the fda ran the first tv ads against teenage vaping and one of the things they say is, you could actually be more likely to start smoking cigarettes if you use these e-cigarettes first. host: the first call from beverly and washington, d.c. you are on with our guest. go ahead. beverly in washington, hello? caller: yes. host: albert in maine, hello. you are on. again.ry beverly go ahead. caller: i am calling because it is very strange that the government would even let the children and grown-ups have access.

it is strange that the government and those in charge -- yes, good morning, thank you. host: just keep talking on the phone. that thetrange government and those in charge and putting that terrible thing out there for students and grown-ups to have access to, it appears they should be charged. it is like a crime. host: apologies for that. anna edney? guest: you raise a good point about teenagers getting access to this and that should not be happening. , in thernment's concern beginning the fda said they wanted to make sure i don't have access because of potentially e-cigarettes could be a good way to get adults to stop using cigarettes.

that is something that is still being studied and looked at cigarette companies need to turn in applications to the fda to get a marketing clearance. we will know more about the data on smoking cessation. to strike aing balance between adults of being able to use these potentially to stop using cigarettes and keeping them out of the hands of kids at the same time. more to keeping them out of kids and because the use of them has grown to epidemic proportions. host: and 2018 according to the cdc more than one in four high school students use the tobacco product in the past 30 days. product technically a secession device helping you to curb smoking? guest: it is not. it has to get approval from the fda, you have to put in an

application as an over-the-counter drug product to be a smoking cessation products. have that, no one has even tried to get that as far as an e-cigarette is concerned. there are the potential for e-cigarettes to go through a pathway at the fda where they would be designated as modified risk and legally say they are less risky than cigarettes. that has not happened yet. there has been back and forth on when the applications have to get in and a judge finally set the day of may in 2020, we do not know yet if they will apply for the modified risk or go to regular approval to say they can stay on the market. host: how are teenagers getting the product in the first place? guest: that is a good question. there is the thought that some of the -- if you have friends

who are 18 and you are 17 and 16, they are buying a lot of them and there is a movement to raise the tobacco age do 21 because more of a gap for kids being friends with that age. kids find ways around pretty much everything. that has been some peoples thought, if we do too much to keep it out of adults hands, kids find a way no matter what. to buy ithere a means online? guest: yes, you can buy them online and the flavors of feeling to youth, may go, cucumber,- mango, they are supposed to be age verified but how well the technology works is a question and something the fda will look at. host: greg is in arizona for our guests anna edney.

go ahead. caller: good morning. i have a comment and a couple of questions for your guest. 52 yearsigarettes or and i tried everything, i tried all of the gimmicks that were out there and nothing worked. i finally discovered vaping. -- the fda isal taking the option of away from existing smokers that have an option to get away from combustible tobacco and they are trying to do away with it. to comment onnna the extensive resignation -- regulation and hoops with the fda in order to get approval for a lower risk product like vaping . recently the chewable tobacco industry spent millions and millions and millions of

dollars, hundreds of thousands of pages over a 20 year study to get a label change on the reduced risk for chewable tobacco. to get anything clear to the fda is actually -- essentially does not exist. teenage vaping, teenagers will experiment, i do not care if it is drug, sex, alcohol, they will extreme it. -- they will experiment. the key to keep a teenager away from vaping is to educate them that it is totally not a safe product and never been recommended as a totally safe product. the vaping industry will tell you that if you do not smoke now do not start vaping. guest: congratulations on finding a way to stop using combustible cigarettes. as far as the fda regulation technically is

considered a silicon valley startup and we have seen a lot of clashes with silicon valley, other industries come to mind like the gene testing like 23 and me which clashed with the fda. it is tough because they want to innovate and do it quickly that we have regulations and washington exists across the country. they need to make sure the for wanton the market to make sure the products do what they say they will do and do it safely. it is a high hurdle. to the fda, go drugs, medical devices. hasof the things that juul an advantage would be that they now have the backing and the money out for you -- south korea ia has to offer and it

will not be as hard for them but may be harder for the smaller vaping companies we have not heard of or more like mom-and-pop kind of institutions. it will be tougher for them. they could possibly go out of business. the way we see a lot of things working with the fda, but there is the balance to make sure companies claim their products is what they are doing and they are doing it safely. host: what is the level of nicotine between a juul product and a combustible cigarette? pod is equal to the nicotine and a pack of cigarettes. i have talked to younger adults who use one pod per day, same nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. host: a caller from california, gabby. caller: it is abby.

i vape. it is the same as greg. i have been smoking cigarettes for a lot of years and i just quit recently. i do not use a juul but a different device. my question is, secondhand smoke saved, iher swears it am not sure what the research is. if you could help me with that. guest: i think there is a lot of research still to come on that and i cannot unfortunately give you a definitive answer. the government has not weighed in. these are products that do not just have nicotine but they do have flavors in them and flavors are something that are approved for ingestion. something that we eat. have not been something that

necessarily the fda has said is totally safe to inhale. with your lungs it is totally different. when we get some applications from the e-cigarettes companies and next year, i think we will start to see some of that data, at least what studies they have done because they have to show will be moreoducts beneficial than harmful to society. i cannot help you a whole lot now but i think the data is coming in the near future. host: water vapor consistent with the smoke somewhat is breathing out? guest: exactly, water vapor, not tobacco containing tar and other things in tobacco. it is water vapor that does have other chemicals as well, not just water. people think it is just water but that is not the case. host: sylvia in south carolina. caller: i watched the hearing on

c-span and i was still confused on how the product is packaged and where the warning was and placed in the stores. we got your thoughts, thank you. guest: there is supposed to be a warning on the package. and in any advertisement. i have seen them on store windows or doors that will -- they say juul and says this is a nicotine containing products. i do not remember exactly where it is on the package but if they go afterthe fda would them if that was not on their, so that on any of their advertisements. host: let's hear from the heounder of juul as

testified at the hearing and gave his perspective on this topic. [video clip] it is helpful to understand how this company came about in the first place. adam and i smoked. we tried to quit and failed. we were on our way to becoming one of the nearly 500,000 americans who die each year from smoking related disease. , giving up smoking required an alternative which did not exist at the time. we founded juul labs to invent one. it chronicles the promise to do what no previous technology has done, help adults who smoke stop smoking combustible cigarettes in a widespread and consistent basis. recent behavioral studies find that more than half of adult smokers who purchased and use juul products switch completely from smoking cigarettes within

six months. a fact we could not be more proud of. that study aligns with real-world experience, in 2018 cigarette sales declined 5%, the fastest rate of decline in a decade. mr. chairman, put simply, juul labs is not big tobacco, we are here to eliminate its product, the cigarette. host: he mentioned the word adult smokers several times, how do they address the teenage vaping side? said ishat they have that they were never intended for teenagers. they have not been trying to go after teenagers. and they are working hard to keep the product out of teenagers hands. take -- voluntarily after the fda caught on to them and issued some ultimatums, they did take their flavors out of

you now can only get the menthol and tobacco in a convenience store gas station or wherever. they are trying to show they are making efforts to not let teenagers get a hold of these in the future. host: more regulation? guest: certainly, they would rather not have more regulation but do that on their own. host: are there bills in congress or an effort in congress to put more regulation on the industry? tobacco 21 bill to raise the age and that is aimed at e-cigarettes. there are members who want to ban flavors completely. they do not want any flavors of these available because -- even meant and menthol are attractive to use and they want just the tobacco, that would be the only ones. host: linda in florida, you are on with our guest.

hi. i will push the button first. apologies, i did not get you right away, repeat your question or comment. caller: i have a question as far as dosages. other has been product, i dong not know if it is juul for whatever, i refuse to allow him, he does not smoke cigarettes in the house, he does not smoke them in the fairly new vehicle we bought. or around me. vaping does not bother me as much and he wants to quit smoking. are $400.isements he has been to hit noses. he has problems getting

the lower dose nicotine cartridges. if you are supposed to use this , why arequit smoking they sold that a higher dosage? host: thanks. guest: that is one of the big questions out there. these are supposed to be so adult smokers can get off of cigarettes but is that just addicting them on something else because there is a lot of nicotine in their and it can be -- stop usinge the e-cigarettes and that is what detractors of e-cigarettes have raised, there are other smoking cessation's, the gum,

chantix, and those, we heard from other callers that they do not work as well as e-cigarettes eventually the idea is to get off of some of these cessation products and not stay on them forever. host: another concern from twitter about e-cigarettes blowing up in hands and pants packets as they overheat because of cheap batteries. saw,: this is something i a psa from the fda the other day sure theyout making do not blow up and here are safety tips. thing outt the only there, the fda is looking to whether there is a link between e-cigarettes, there are reports of nicotine in high doses can be linked to that. there are researchers who think

their artifacts on the heart. none of this is definitive. host: roy in minnesota. good morning. caller: good morning. go with law enforcement these 21-year-old smoking laws and just another way for young males to enter the criminal justice system? guest: that is a good question. exactly what the penalties will something that is met for only people 21 and older. i have not looked closely at that side but i do think you raise an interesting question. particularly about the communities of color that might be affected. host: anna edney a bloomberg news talking about teenage vaping and recent hearings on

that. for the remainder of the program we will talk you about the top public policy issues, could be the federal government or in other issues you may have with public policy. for748-8000 --202-748-8001 republicans. democrats.0 for 202-748-8002 for independents. we will take your calls when we come back. >> a country with no public transportation, no cities i can walk, a woman to leave the house or do anything, she needs a car. the function or drive this car she needs a man. >> sunday night, the saudi arabia women's rights activist talks about her book "daring to drive: an awakening" about the saudi arabia government's ban on women

drivers. >> an act of civil disobedience because we are not supposed to drive and we show we are able, we are capable of driving and being in the driver seat. >> watch sunday night at 8:00 &a.tern on c-span's q watch our whose of interview with president donald trump as he reflects on his first 2.5 years in office, including the raising of the debt ceiling. president trump: european using -- european union is doing poorly and china is doing poorly and other countries not doing well, we are the hottest countries in the world, doing great economic ran otherwise with a very strong military, a lot stronger after this light is budget -- latest budget. soon i will be able to cut back but we had to rebuild the military. >> an interview with president trump saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, watch anytime

online at c-span.org and listen wherever you are using the free c-span radio app. continues. journal" host: what are your top publicly policy issues? republicans.for democrats call 202-748-8000. independents call 202-748-8002. let us know on twitter @cspanwj and facebook. perhaps the economy is a top issue for you with new statistics from the labor department saying that in july the u.s. economy added 164,000 jobs according to the associated press in an economy that appears poised to extend the expansion the labor department says you unemployment rate stayed at 3.7% for the second straight month with the hourly -- average hourly earnings increased 3.2%

from a year go up from annual gains of 3% in june and the associated press set the pace of hiring has slowed this year as most americans have jobs. average job gains was 140,000 down from 237,000 a year ago. recently the donald trump administration put out a goal to allow drug importation from canada and a follow-up the washington post from canada over concerns from canadians by that policy, saying that pharmacist patient groups and doctors and some lawmakers here worried the large-scale importation of pharmaceuticals could deplete the drug supply for the country's 37 million residents and exacerbate some of the drug shortages already in canada. that is the vice president of public affairs for the canadian pharmacists associations. we are not equipped to deal with a country 10 times our size.

the health ministry reports shortages1846 drug and 65 anticipated shortages in the country which causes include increased demand, shortages of ingredients, and delays in shipping. maybe health care is a top public policy issue for you. others can be added for the next 25 minutes. jane in new york, independent line, asking about your top public policy issue. caller: how come we are not talking about project safety? how come how to is used in children -- talcum powder is used in children and how come it has not been exposed? big-box stores are continuing to sell talcum powder for children and adults with no warnings that talk about the tainted talcum powder and the mixtures of whatever it is mixed with th.

they are being used in schools, with school sports, running, wrestling. they use top competitor and rise -- talcumof powder in powder and rison. why are my congress purple, patty murray, why has she not address what she called for in january? up thisve you taken issue with her and your other representatives? caller: everything get squashed by the papers. in phoenix, arizona, democrats line. caller: we have a proposition on august 27 on the ballot for a light rail expansion in our public transportation. a lot of the people in phoenix are against it because it has

been a 15 year project of putting in a train through phoenix, a light rail. this will go through central avenue in south phoenix and cut off a lot of small businesses, basically they will turn a four lane road, central avenue come into a one lane each direction. one lane is insane. that is are saying for the construction and it will take years to put the light rail through, three years in construction. the proposition is up for a vote. there is a lot of opposition to this light rail. host: do you think there is enough opposition to stop it or is it a done deal? caller: it is david versus goliath but it has a lot of public interest. megaprojectil is a that is costing $105 million per mile, the most expensive light rail in the country. with this per mile rate.

it is federal dollars but we say fix the roads. improve the infrastructure on central avenue and do not just close it off to what is a gentrification project. host: let's hear from william in houston, texas, republican line. is health top issue care in general but more specifically about how for-profit hospitals are creating unsafe environments in the hospitals around nurses and specifically patient nurse ratios. not see any agencies getting involved in looking into this until something bad happens. a good example is recently in houston there was a report of an elderly male that had been in the waiting room 12 four hours. -- 24 hours.

host: you are breaking up, apologies. kathleen in mississippi, democrats line. caller: good morning. the number one thing is the affordable care act and pre-existing conditions. everybody needs medicaid expansion because most just have medicare and medicare does not cover a nursing home unless you have medicaid. national security, the election. number three is climate change because bridges are underwater and they need fixing. so many i cannot think of all. combine, college high, everything is going high, we are paying more. sinceme thing and

president obama left office, nothing has changed, tell the president to tell the truth. omar representative sending out a tweet this morning now the house is on break saying this was a picture of her and nancy pelosi saying, they said send her back but she went back with me, so grateful for the honor to commemorate the year of return. oregon,s next in democrats line. howdy.: no one is talking about all these children they are torturing on our southern border. i do not know why every priest and preacher in the world is not down at the southern border because we would be invading some other country if they were doing this to these children. host: the washington times yesterday, senate

tensions reached a boiling point as republicans count a solution to the border crisis to a senate committee brushing aside objections of democrats, saying be extended powers and limits new asylum claims in the legislation, quote there is a crisis that is turning into a disaster and someone needs to shut off the flow quick shuts off the flow said lindsey graham , republican chairman of the committee who led the push. undo a 2015 court ruling and limit the time migrant families can be kept in detention to 20 days, that limit is too short to complete cases which means migrants are released and wants out there cases get pushed back. the bill would allow for longer detention so migrant families can be health until their cases are completed. if you want to see the hearing, go to c-span.org and you can view what happened from that exchange and everything else that played out from there.

c-span.org is where you can find that. this is from germantown, tennessee, republican line. caller: hello, hello. i would like to ask you a question about the sanctions brought down by the trump administration yesterday, the foreign minister of a ron. -- iran. this is the wrong move out of pulling out of the iranian deal which i think was flawed to begin with. how does the donald trump administration continually know let -- neglect diplomatic diplomacy as far as achieving its goals? when you talk about diplomacy, do you mean efforts that you would like to see in the reversal of the sanctions against iran? caller: i would like to see a coherent plan from the trump administration. it seems like this is a vendetta. i did not vote for donald trump

but i am a republican and i want to see our foreign diplomats have some kind of cogent strategy as far as dealing with problems across the pond. in toledo,is next ohio, democrats line. caller: i am not sure if anybody read this but it is in the guardian newspaper about how the pentagon is testing mass surveillance balloons across the u.s. and what they are doing is putting these balloons up into -- they are can unmanned and solar powered -- and they can see 250 mile circular pattern.

host: we will show the viewers the headline from "the guardian." go ahead. me, this is happening under donald trump and i always thought that he was against mass surveillance. i believe he was one of the people who tried to put, you know, mass surveillance and was always against people spying on his campaign. it is a democracy as far as i can sit -- it is hypocrisy as far as i can see. just more big brother. reporting that the president signed an executive order authorizing a second round of sanctions on russia as punishment for the

2018 nerve agent attack on a former russian spy in the u.k., the order was released by the white house late thursday and directs the government to attempt to cut off international financing and forbids u.s. bank loans to governments and subjects u.s. section for using chemical or nuclear weapons. gary, republican line, newport, kentucky. caller: how are you doing today? i want to say that nobody is addressing social security, medicare, medicaid. they are all going broke and we are talking by giving medicare away. i do not see how you can give by 2034 it is if gone. we have to start somewhere and they have known this problem -- pensions are another thing -- we have known these problem for a long time and people are just waiting to see what will happen. i think the day is coming. nobody says it will go broke.

i think those are the top issues for me and also drug pricing. how come we are worried about shipping drugs in from another country when in the united states, how come they are cheaper in another country then where they are made? thank you for taking my call. host: president trump this morning sent out this tweet saying really bad news, the baltimore house of elijah cummings was robbed. cbs baltimore following up on the story, saying elijah cummings'home was burglarized hours before the president , hiscized his leadership district, and the city of baltimore. saturday the president mentioned in press cummings conferences or in tweets every day.

other things happening in washington as well, comment on your top public policy issues if you want for the next couple of minutes we have in this program. 12 minutes or so. if you are a republican. 202-748-8000 if you are a democrat. if you are an independent, 202-748-8002. you can make thoughts on our twitter feed @cspanwj, or our facebook page, facebook.com/c-span. usa today says brett kavanaugh cannot be disciplined for his behavior during the senate confirmation battle last year according to a federal judiciary panel. agreed with federal judges that his elevation to the supreme court put him out of their jurisdiction, saying their chief circuit judges all lacked

statutory authority to review the merits against an individual no longer covered on the judicial conduct and disability act. is notreme court justice a judge subject to the act. that is usa today. has a storyimes taking a look at james comey and reaction from the president. saying the president was surprised by report that the justice department will not prosecute former fbi director james comey for allegedly violating laws on handling classified information, "i would frankly be surprised because of what james comey did was illegal." reportedat the hill thursday that the justice department inspector general referred james comey to prosecution for handling of his memos of fbi contained classified information but prosecutors declined to charge mr. comey partly because they knew or did not believe there was evidence to show key new and

intended to violate laws on handling classified information, that is according to the report. other things happening in washington. talking to you about top policy issues for you. new york, republican line, dave, hello. because, im calling am definitely republican but the democrats are making all these promises in these debates. probably 99% of them they will not be able to do. president trump made a lot of promises when he was campaigning for president. he fulfilled quite a few of them and stood by his word. i think he is doing a great job. i also think that -- i am all with him on immigration -- if people want to come in this country, they should come the right way, my great grandparents came from poland through ellis island and came in this country the right way and did not try to

sneak in. they came here to try to make a better life. host: if you want to see the debates we will air them again, the first saturday morning at 10:30 in the morning and the morning ate sunday 10:30 as well and you can see and find out more information at the website. mike in colorado, line for democrats. caller: good morning. i would like to remind everybody in the united states that all of these rat infested slums are owned by donald trump, his associates, and his friends, and they are all white. host: monica in bel air, maryland, also line for democrats. caller: i want to make a comment. i am glad president trump is continuing to assault elijah cummings because it shows the type of manner and his

character. cummings is ignoring him and going about his job. there are other things more important. host: of the other things more important, what is the top of the list? caller: the top of the list right now for americans is health care. i wish he would address it more. candidates that are running for president don't seem to even have a decent plan. the more attention the media nonsense, it is a waste of time. host: democrats, do you not endorse medicare for all? caller: i do believe in medicare for all but i do know that will not happen right away. that is a plan that will be in 10 years or so.

vice president biden is being more realistic. the only way to pay for that is to come out of fica and that is out of your paycheck. when will that change? host: michael in oklahoma city. good morning. caller: thank you so much for having me. i wanted to address a couple of things. a republican was just on talking about donald trump keeping promises and issues but hugh grant on getting wall street out of running our government. getting wall on street out of running our government but he has people from goldman sachs working for him and lobbyist running departments so he is not doing anything for the people. he is the king of the swap. -- swamp. the person who says met -- osos credit will be bankrupt by 2034, if we do not get medicare for

all, it will not but if we don't the prize for medicine, hospitals, of care will all go down. you may have to pay a little bit of tax but the average family will save $5,000 per year. host: albert from clearwater, florida, independent line. theer: i have a question on election security they are trying to pass. i am wondering if facebook and regulations are in that bill, because social factor inery heavy what is going on with the election. is anybody looking at that angle of it? host: joan in minnesota. you are next. caller: hi. we no longer have a draft for

young men are drafted into the services. it is my understanding that very now men in the armed forces are from other countries and possibly where some of the people who try to get into this country are inducted into the services because i remember when george w. bush was in office and he had a man from mexico who was killed in service. they tried to send his wife back to mexico. i am wondering what is going on in our armed forces and how many actual americans and how many actual people that were brought into this country just for that purpose are now in our armed forces. host: st. louis, missouri, hello. caller: i wanted to talk about medicare for all. this is single-payer. it allows no premiums and no

co-pays and deductibles. bits about the small health care and the overall thing is health care is a human right. we need to stop treating it like it is a business. it is people's lives. plan is not' medicare for all and neither is joe biden's, they are policies that do not bring us to full coverage. host: ok. linda in fremont, ohio, independent line. you are next. caller: i am calling in regards to health care. from what i understand, the policies in washington do not have to have the same health care -- policymakers in washington do not have to have the same health care that we do, they have their own system which they get for free and i do not know if it is the senators, representatives, or who it is

that get that but we cannot afford our health care. yet, we have to pay for the senators and representatives in washington who get free health care. unsure about bit how many people do. i would like to do research on that. host: we have done several segments on the topic of the benefits that legislators get, including health care, go to c-span.org, i would invite you to type in the key search phrases into the box and we will give you everything recently and going back in time significant as far as what senators or representatives get as far as benefits including health care. that is where you can start your research. the wall street journal reporting the escalating tariff this beats between washington and beijing causing china its position as the u.s. top trading partner in the first half of the year as exports and imports between the two largest

economies fell sharply with u.s. imports from china falling 12% in the first six months of 2019 from a year earlier while exports fell 19% according to the commerce department who make information available on friday as part of a monthly trade report with the president saying possible new tariffs on china could take place in early september. ann in connecticut. -- anna in connecticut. caller: i would like someone to investigate sean hannity, one of the three candidates -- what was he doing as a client? i want to speak on all the people who want social security now, when they die and all of their benefits are transferred to their families or whomever and they die, what happens to all that money? and howes it go back to

is that not a part of our economy? host: fresno, california, republican line, dee. caller was speaking about medicaid and medicare and medicare for all and no premiums, there is no out-of-pocket, there is no deductible, let me educate 1365body, there is a dollar deductible each time you are inpatient. it is 80% and there is a deductible, there is a premium for part b. ande is also a yearly lifetime cap. nobody is talking about any of this information. i work for an insurance company. 30 years. why aren't you telling the truth? missouri, call from huntsville, line.

caller: i wanted to make a comment. one of the representatives was on c-span going on about the mistreatment of the children and how terrible it is, but at the killsime, this country upwards of 4000 children a day through abortions. why isn't that so upsetting? they have no chance to live. the other children are just trying to get a chance. back, how did roe v. wade become law when it with the court system and then all of a sudden anything that goes through the supreme court becomes law? host: apologies for that. hate to cut you off but we are out of time. thank you for watching today. another program of washington journal comes your way at 7:00 tomorrow morning.

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>> i live in a country where there is no public transportation. a woman to leave the house or do anything, she needs a car. to function or drive this car she needs a man. >> sunday night, saudi arabia and women's rights activist talks about her book " daring to drive: a saudi woman's awakening about her decision to challenge the saudi government's ban on women drivers." is more ant to drive act of civil disobedience. a woman is not supposed toa womo drive. we showed we are able and capable of drivinga woman is noo

drive. we showed we are able and capable of driving and being in the driver seat of our own destiny by doing this active civil disobedience. >> a woman is not supposed to drive. we showed we are able and capable of driving and being in the driver seat of our own destiny by doing this active civil disobedience. >> watch sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. >> another republican retirement of the u.s. house, congress men from texas. "i have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd constructional district of texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of congress to solve problems between technology and national security. the headline from the hill, congress men will heard is the sixth gop lawmakers in the last two weeks to announce retirement. his congressional district stretches along the u.s.-mexico border between dantonio and el paso. dave wasserman tweets. "huge news for democrats. representative will heard to retire in 2020. he is probably the only republican capable of holding the seat. former vice president joe biden was in detroit following wednesday night's debate. he spoke to supporters. we will bring you both presidential debates hosted by cnn this weekend.