of facebook and twitter and google that if we are going to be on that platform we expect they will respect our ability to communicate. if we don't like it, we can click. >> to me it seems -- we can quit. >> it is in no way in net negative to conservative speech when someone is getting a billion views on products and values he is putting out. announcer: watch the communicators tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. >> when it comes to potential for gun legislation passing to the senate. eing signed by the president, joining us on the phone to talk about what has to go into play to make that happen is scott long with the hill. he is there senior staff writer. guest: good morning, pedro. this a story you posted morning on the 5 factors that will determine the gun control

debate, of that list, what is the strongest factor? strongest factor is president trump himself, as well as mitch mcconnell. men -- withoutwo support from those men, no gun control measure will move through the congress and get to the president's desk and be signed into law. a lot of this has to depend on how serious president trump is when he says he supports and endorses background checks. we have heard in the past after the parkland shooting in florida, the president say that he supports background checks. of course, as we know, that was anybacked up that -- by sort of action on capitol hill. it was uttered, but never followed up on. instead, after strong lobbying on behalf of the nra, president trump and his administration

shifting -- shifted toward what they called was a hardening of schools really boosting and ramping up security of the public school system. that became the focus rather than any background checks. it remains to be seen whether the president will put some teeth behind his words. host: what is the most appropriate -- comfortable approach senator mcconnell is taking? visit background checks or are there other avenues the senator could be comfortable with pushing in the senate? guest: few reporters and i were surprised that mitch mcconnell, who has been a staunch nra ally is up for reelection in 2020 and needs the support of his conservative base to turn out to push him over the top for another 6 years in office. we were surprised friday when which mcconnell said he was open to the idea of background

checks, among other measures including red flags legislation. that was encouraging to some although as i mentioned before, until we really start to see this process kick into motion and see activity on capitol hill, there is a lot of skepticism, especially on the part of democrats who feel like they have seen this movie before and seen a lot of inaction in the past. host: we heard the president talking about these issues with senator pat toomey, senator joe mansion. what are they endorsing when it comes to legislation? guest: toomey mansion are known forthe past -- in the past background checks legislation. legislation to close gun show loopholes, loopholes regarding internet firearm sales. right now, you can purchase guns at those two venues and without

going through background checks whereas if you go to a regular gun store, you need to go through a federal background check process. these two bipartisan senators in the wake of the sandy hook wasting in -- i believe it 2012, these senators came awful close to pushing something through the united states senate. they fell 6 votes shy when it was all said and done and we have not seen real movement on any sort of major gun reform legislation in the remaining years, even as we have seen a number of high-profile shootings ranging from parkland to orlando to las vegas where the most lives were lost. this is seen, i think, as a critical moment because it seems

a number of americans are simply frustrated at the volume of lives that have been lost and are really looking to our leaders for help to sort of stop the bloodshed. guest: at that -- host: at the top of that list in your story on the hill, you put public sentiment as a major driver on whether something gets done or not. guest: exactly. the washington post over the weekend had quite a jarring image of the faces of the victims. massthan 1100 victims of shootings in the course of our nation's history over 50 years. when you have that many people lost to mass shootings, it is seems after a while that everybody has some kind of connection. every american has some kind of connection. those are all communities,

families broken apart. even thinking about my own family, thinking back to an uncle who survived a mass shooting in the 1980's and seeing some of the victims of that mass shooting, everyone has a connection now to something that has happened regarding these mass shootings and i think that is really driving a lot of this frustration and anger. whereas, in the past, a lot of americans turned to grief and sadness in the wake of these events, people have grown so frustrated and really are looking to the united states congress and this president to do something and that was a chant we heard at the mic to wine, the ohio governor event last week. heard that message and quickly, the very next day, he heard that message from his constituents and endorsed more

gun reform he had never endorsed in the past. it seems like that frustration is boiling over and having an effect on some politicians. the story our guest referenced from the washington post, pictures from those lives lost. politicians started their summer break. by the time it concludes, what is the likelihood this issue will be front and center then? guest: that is exactly right. with this president and this trump era, where it seems like we go through 10 different news cycles in the course of one week, we have four weeks remaining of this congressional recess and that is a long time before congress reconvenes in washington and starts to begin to have a real, genuine debate

about gun reforms. everyone is sort of scattered in their respective districts. 40 lawmakers were on a weeklong trip to israel led by steny hoyer and kevin mccarthy. members are on vacation. everyone is dispersed around the world during this recess. the real test will be what happens, whether there is any sort of momentum that is able to be preserved after this long four week recess and my earlier it seems like the media and the american public has often been distracted in afterrump by controversy controversy. it will be a real test to see if the american public and the people can stay focused on the issue of gun reform by the time congress reconvenes on september 7. host: scott wong's story appears

this morning at thehill.copm. announcer: white house announced a new rule on the use of a look assistance by legal immigrants. ken cuccinelli is the acting director of u.s. citizenship and immigration services. he briefed reporters this morning at the white house. this is about half an hour.