different points of view. we're awarding several cash prizes. >> to be able to express your view no matter how large or small the audience will receive it to be and know that in the greatest country in the history of the earth, your origin doesn't matter. >> for more information and to get started go to our website, studentcam.org. >> today the tea party patriots will be holding as preconference on capitol hill regarding gun control and protecting second amendment rights. live coverage starts at 3:30 eastern here on c spand and you can watch online at c-span.org or listen in live with the free c-span radio app. this morning, "washington journal" talked with a reporter about what congress is doing on gun legislation. ys to reduce gun violence in a minute. is a staff wrir r

roll call newspaper. let's begin with the timing of last night's marathon speeches by democrats read how? guest: the effort was organized by chris murphy from connecticut who many people might recognize as a strong voice on the gun control issue, especially since hook,12 shooting in sandy which was in his home state that spurred his interest in the issue. he put together the list of people who spoke last night and -- patonse, basically

-- and rightso now, senators are in a waiting game. mitch mcconnell has said he would not put anything on the floor that the president has not .aid he would sign that means right now everyone is waiting and as part of waiting, these democrats last night decided they needed to raise the issue on a louder scale and speak about the impact of gun violence on their communities, fears their communities are experiencing and also proposing solutions. they were talking about potential legislative fixes. host: what do the democratic senators, which piece of legislation do they want majority leader mcconnell to bring to the floor? differentre are a few variations.

senate minority leader chuck schumer spoke with trump over the weekend along with nancy pelosi and urged the president to approve a deal that includes the house-passed universal background checks legislation which would extend background checks to private firearm sales and give the fbi more time to do background checks on gun purchasers. trump has said he would veto those if they passed through the senate and came to his desk. that is why there is thi oth group doing negotiating that includes chris murphy, joe manchin, and pat toomey of .ennsylvania to see where they can get progress in their mind from the white house.

i think they need to see background checks as part of a deal, but they are also willing to negotiate further to get something accomplished, even if it is not everything democrats would want. barr was onday bill capitol hill talking to republicans. do you know what he heard from them about what rank-and-file could support if a bill is allowed to come to the senate floor? guest: what i heard about last night's meetings with bill barr was that everyone is still talking. no one has at least put their foot down and ended negotiations so for some on capitol hill, that is seen as progress. last night he specifically visited at least two republicans, ted cruz and josh holly of texas and missouri. he is expected back on capitol

hill today and later this week to have more conversations. senate judiciary chairman lindsey graham said barr still of not have a clear answer where trump stands on background checks. they are basically work shopping ideas to bring to the president to see how he feels about them because there is anxiety among republicans in congress to pass anything that the president might not like because of his repeated strategy of hitting hard on republicans who do not walk the party line. a party line is what the .residentants if the president doesn't like it, they could feel the political heat. host: what do we know that the president will accept and when might we hear his proposal?

those two things are very much up in the air right now. last week, chris murphy, to me, --toomey, and mansion thought they would hear a 24,osal from trump within 48 hours. we have gotten only glimpses of gun trump would accept as control legislation and he has been variable. he moved his position. immediately after shooting, he will come out in favor of background checks and all these gs democrats support and then we see him walk that back and retreat a litt bit usually after consultation with the nra and republicans in congress. that is part of the hold right

now, that no one on capitol hill iswshost: katherineully-mcmanus >> a live picture this afternoon on capitol hill where the tea party patriots are about to gatter to hold a press conference on gun legislation and protecting second amendment rights. as the -- as this briefing is about to get under way, the hill is reporting that senate republicans are respond cautiously to a new proposal to expand background checks for gun sales that the trump administration is circulating on capitol hill. president trump is yet to endorse the proposal, the white house is taking the temperature of senate republican support for the idea. there are some ideas that different members of the administration are coming up with. at this point, probably too early to say if the republicans will support it that from senate republican whip john thune of south dakota. read the entire story in "the

hill" today. again, waiting for the tea party patriot news conference to gets under way. live coverage here on c-span.