jason with "a good provider is one who leads," "the plane of you jonesnd site talks about his memoir, "how we fight for our life. " at 2:00 eastern, suzanne nine , astalks about her book samantha power talks about her book, the education of an idealist. livese to watch our weekend coverage of the southern festival of books, starting today at 11:00 a.m. eastern in at 1:00 p.m. sunday on booktv on c-span2. this morning, we will talk with journalists around the country for a look at how the house impeachment inquiry is impacting congressional districts in virginia, utah, nebraska, texas,

west virginia, new york, and california. as always, we will take your calls come and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter as well. "washington journal" is next. host: good morning. it is saturday, october 12. welcome to "washington journal" as congress continues its recess over this long holiday weekend, we continue to track house and senate members at town hall meetings. the number of town halls is up this year, due to the increase in freshman lawmakers. lawmakers of course are spending lots of time on local issues as well. -- thesion is when question is, when lawmakers return to washington next week, can they balance impeachment legislating? can they do both at the same time? participateyou will tak

in this program, we will take your calls over whether lawmakers can balance impeachment and legislating. republicans can call (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independence, (202) 748-8002 is your number. several other ways to take part in the conversation, you can send us a text, (202) 748-8003. just send us your name, where you live, and leave us a brief comment, if you can. @cspanwj is our twitter handle, and you can also post a comment at facebook.com/cspan. so lots of different ways to take part in this conversation over these three hours about congress and impeachment and legislating as they come back for the fall part of the session. we have many, many clips from town halls around the country to show you, but first, a quick look at how town halls are faring this year. the townhall project, the organization that tracks town

halls around the country, takes a look at the january through august period -- or mid-september period -- over the last three years. in november 2016, 681 townhomes between january and mid-september. last year, that number dropped considerably to 995, and this 2111 town halls in 2019, so that number is way up, and they are saying in 2019, the townhall is making a big project. here is what is happening out there on the topic of impeachment article of different town halls. [video clip] >> read the transcript, then come to your conclusion. me, when someone says, "i need you to do me a favor, then that favor is to investigate a political opponent, and you met that person to your personal attorney

and the domestic attorney general -- we're not talking about a foreign secretary -- that to me is a crime. and again, we may disagree, and that is totally fine, but that is why i invite our constituents. read it yourself. >> what we are trying to do is put this narrative for this is, look, if in fact this is the right thing to do, then vote on it on the house floor and trigger the normal process, which the impeachment inquiry rules, lawyers are present to protect his constitutional rights as well, so put it on the floor, and let's have that vote. no to far, she has said do it on the floor. rather than speaker pelosi and a of folks, being led by

that small group, but that on. host: a small flavor there. issues ase whatever well as we ask you whether congress can balance impeachment with legislating. one of the "new york times" headlines focuses on the state of new york and asks just that question, raises the question. "new york democrats balance impeachment issue with local concerns." this piece takes a look at various members and town halls and what folks are feeling out there. marlon byrd on twitter writes that "congress can't. workess cannot into goma the same time, so, no, they cannot balance legislating and impeachment." gary, what is going on out there? caller: i think we ought to use satellite computers to analyze, subsidize, design our

infrastructure, because or else we end up with more projects like the big dig up in boston that went from $55 billion to over $200 billion. host: so, gary come on the project piece that you are talking about, we understand the issue that you are talking about. can congress do both at the same time? can they take up legislation and this impeachment process? caller: i don't see why not, do not that way they have their finger in the pie. that is why we could use satellite van computers to problems, and even the subsidizing of the projects. this was save us a lot of money, and we also should take advantage of the bonanza natural gas, if we convert all of our trucks to natural gas, we not

only meet but exceed the paris climate records, and we send $130 billion a year to saudi arabia. host: all right, gary, thanks for calling. roy from florida come outside orlando, democrat line. roy.morning, caller: yeah, i think they can legislate, as they have been legislating. there are already a lot of bills on the table that republicans won't touch. another thank him about the impeachment inquiry, when someone commits a crime like this, it is a slamdunk or the. i do not know -- slamdunk for impeachment. i do not know anyone who has read that transcript could say otherwise, except for the republicans, who believe the moon is made of cheese, if trump tells them. what about other issues that are on your mind that you want your lawmakers to take care of this fall? i want them to

start -- i want them, first of all, to get decent health care. that is something we need in this country, because every other country, you can get health care. poor people do not have any rights to go into a hospital and get stuck with these large bills. i would like to see something done about that, or a cap on that. all sorts of's things, but our dignity of this country is being ruined by one man. -- ionstitution -- i'm a mean, i used to be a republican. i switched because of donald trump. donald trump is a menace and a danger to this country, and we are losing our dignity and our soul if we do not put him down the road. the republicans have completely lost it, i think. we have lots of calls coming in as early on saturday. marco. caller: hi. i want to address something's

not talked about in the on the democratic side, regarding the way they are violating their requirements to use these procedures while at the same time they keep running this mantra of doing it to save our constitution. the reality, it seems to me, they are the ones running ramp shot over the constitution. i would say it is almost criminal in the way they are doing it, because they have to know this is not a coincidence. this is a form of manipulative, verbal jiu-jitsu, and they are doing it by oppressing those elected by the people, and they are taking him from us, so they donot do the best job he can . ask you, whatt me

is the biggest issue, not impeachment, but hawaii right now? what do you want lawmakers to work on? caller: the biggest issue as they were spying on this campaign, which is why carter page was being tagged with the fisa warrant, ok? and then when they could not get , then theyoffice went to states to, phase two of the plan, which was a more .ggressive attack in and on numerous parts, john clapper, and, oh, by the way, nancy pelosi's son also worked for a gas company in ukraine. host: mark, let me ask you, then congress handle both of those things at the same time? can they handle impeachment and lawmaking?

caller: i have been watching democrats for the last two years, and i do not think they have accomplished a single thing. they run around attacking with verbal assaults, and i cannot compare it to anything other than schoolyard violence. mark, thank you calling. steve in los angeles, steve, can congress balance impeachment and legislating? caller: absolutely. congress is professional. they know exactly what they are doing. it is written and the constitution, how to balance everything. guy who called, talk about trademarks for ivanka or whatever her name is here it all these kids, mar-a-lago, they raised the membership rate, do you know about that? $100,000 since he became president. they are making so much money off of our backs, our taxpaying backs. approaching $500 million for all of his golf

trips. i mean, obama did not do that it has entire -- he did not take hardly any of these types of trips. improving infrastructure is what i am interested in, which i want to do, the democrats, which nothing has been touched. are focused on is one thing, which is talking horrible -- i mean, presidents do not talk about this usually. if you saw his rally last night, it was full of, like, you know, really bad words, let's just say this. you do not see a respected person, let alone the person that runs the free world talking like this. health care, immigration, all this stuff. my taxes -- i have never had to pay so much, and i asked alex padilla -- i was at an event, and i asked alex padilla, "why are my taxes so expensive this year?" and he said "trump." i mean, my taxes that before trump was in office, i paid,

like, $6,000 a year. all of a sudden, i am paying $16,000. my health care, because there are no subsidies, i am now paying, as a single person, $860. i am not even ever sick or anything. it is just paying about a month. now it is going up to $940, and that is all because of trump. before trump, i was being 400 $30, because we had subsidies from obama. so trump is horrible. has been horrible. he is a crook, he is a con man. host: all right, steve. i'm going to let you go and get some other viewpoints income including bc venice off of twitter. process shouldt not be affected." "trump is nottes interested in signing anything at all from which he does not personally profit.

until he is out of office, the government will not function. " and a text message here that says "meaningful legislation will be nonexistent during the partisan impeachment inquiry." that is from larry from richmond, virginia. steve, that last caller, innging up interests to him los angeles. some other non-impeachment issues voters are bringing up to lawmakers. >> i am a small business owner here in carroll county, and i want to know what your concerns are, and what you are going to do about these tariffs. a letter fromd one of my suppliers, and my product that comes from china is going to be 103%, in addition to the 25%. >> yes, and right now, negotiations are ongoing with the china tariffs, and so i continue pressing the president on this. i would like to see the chinese trade deal done sooner rather

than later. it is one of the trade agreement that will not come through congress 30 it is being negotiated by the u.s. trade rep and the president and the team. so yes, i understand it needs to come to a close. we will continue working with the president on that, trying to provide whatever support we can ask congress, enable him to get this done in a timely manner. [inaudible] >> for folks who did not hear the question, we seem to have nixed the power outage this time, but what is going on? i am so frustrated by what is going on. a terrible job, and i admit, it is a tough situation for them, where you off, orple's power you are worried that you have fires, like what we had happen in paradise, not far from here. we should not be in this position to begin with.

i would contrast with pg&e has done with some of the irrigation districts. one of the reasons our area has been more insulated from pg&e problems is because our irrigation districts do not have the same problems, so i think we can be able to learn a little bit about that. host: california congressman josh harder at his town hall, which you can find at c-span.org . ernst,s preceded by joni the senator from iowa, republican. and many of these town halls we have been covering this month. others we are taking pieces from youtube and other places. we will continue during these three hours, a look at town halls and let you know what lawmakers are hearing from their constituents. we have a caller from bowie, maryland, democratic caller. tell, can congress handle both of these at the same time?

impeachment and legislating. caller: most definitely, and they have been walking and chewing gum at the same time. as you know, i sent information in to c-span, indicating that the house of representatives had sent over 500 bills to the senate, whereas the grim reaper, mitch mcconnell -- i call him has let those -- bills just sit there, and they are sitting there for no good reason at all other than just too deep dive them. now, as far as the impeachment inquiry is concerned, all the republicans are doing is complaining about process. about why talking there is an impeachment inquiry? our is because constitution, our democracy, our

republic is under assault by that man in the white house, and, yes, the democrats are doing what they are supposed to do. ability the article i to make sure that we the people are protected from all enemies, foreign and domestic. is man in the white house the enemy for the people here in the united states. did you notice at that rally last night, this man said that he was going to do everything he democrats,feat the socialism, and send a man to the moon. host: that was brewing, maryland -- buowie, maryland, calling. we have luke calling from pennsylvania, independent caller .

can congress do both, impeachment and legislating? cannot so far, they handle both. they may have tried, but they have not succeeded your daughter not consider it legislating until the bill is actually signed into law then it is legislating. what i would like to see done, passed, is the usmca. why they cannot agree to do that, i do not know. that would benefit mexico, the united states, and canada. and i guess that is all i have to say, but i do not have much hope for anything changing into laughter the election. host: thanks for calling -- on until after the election. host: thanks for calling. terri is on the line, republican line. i am a vietnam veteran. i have worked for the federal service. presidents come and go, but the senate is doing what it is

supposed to do. the house may or might not do what they are supposed to do, but this whole circus, there is so much news that came out, president trump calls "fake news," i will not call it fake news, they just think they are doing their job, but they do not have facts. all of this should not come out until it is factual and it is done. host: ok, we are moving on to joliet, illinois now. margaret, democratic line, go ahead, please. caller: are you talking to me? host: yeah, are you margaret? caller: yes. i just want to know why people can't look at this. take democrats out, take republicans out, take the color out him and look at right and wrong. look at it from right and wrong. to do't have anything with whether you are democratic, republican, or independent. would you want your kids to act like donald trump? that is all i am asking. is, look at it for what it and would you allow your kid to

act like donald trump acts? it does not matter your color, it does not matter what party you are from, you need to look at right and wrong. if you have one for doing wrong and the other foot doing right, that is not ok, and we need to look at what happened. we need to know what happened. if trump done nothing, ok, we can live with it, but if he did wrong, he needs to go. host: ok, thanks for calling from illinois. lots more time for your calls. we will get another taste of what is happening in a town hall with virginia congresswoman elaine luria. she is a democrat who held a town on meeting of the earlier part of the topic of gun control came up. here is how it played out. [video clip] can youassurances give us that the universal background checks that you are supporting will not result in the confiscation in california and connecticut. the bill does not

include any of those provisions. it is purely universal background checks, so that every cell of a weapon -- every sale of a weapon undergoes the same procedure. whether it is between husband and wife, spouses, a deceased spouse, as well as grandchildren, so there are takes that have then into account, to not make an overly burdensome, if your spouse is deceased, and you inherit a firearm, there is not a background check in that is its. i was at the hampton convention center for martin luther king day, and downstairs is a very large gong show that happens at the hampton coliseum, and i will tell you, it is very easy to walk in there and walk out with a gun, and background checks are not required for private sellers. host: representative elaine luria there. wilson.creen is patrick

good morning, patrick, thanks for joining us. guest: you are welcome. good morning. host: we just heard from representative luria, a democrat represented byen republican spirit she is for impeachment, we know. about itrned are we playing out with her constituents? anything,l, like there is a mix of opinion and congresswoman luria's district, and to be specific, elaine luria and abigail stamper has said they want an investigation, but they have not directly said "i think the president needs to be impeached," at this point, they are trying to walk a line there. both of these women are in districts that traditionally in modern times have been spanberger more so than elaine luria in virginia

beach. they are trying to block a middle ground, they are trying to be moderate, they are trying to focus on kitchen table issues, health care, prescription drug pricing, and they eventually reach a point where they have no choice but to address the impeachment issue. is that inting thing both of these districts, i do have ank we would hav democratic member of congress right now but for donald trump being elected to the white house. if hillary clinton was president right now, i think there would be a republican in both of those seats, so there's enough support for democratic policy and anti-truck sentiment in these areas to elect a democratic member of congress, but, you for someone like elaine luria, they are tried to be very careful to listen to all constituents, trying to walk a

middle ground on impeachment. host: as we enter another election year for 2020, how is the competition shaping up for each of them, based on what they are saying on impeachment but also in other issues? look ahead to their next campaign. are two seatshese that definitely would have been targeted anyway, especially spanberger in virginia's seventh district. the republicans would be trying to win these seats back. with impeachment on the table, that gives republicans some more ammo to say, "wait a minute, these members of congress said they were going to represent everyone, they were not going to be partisan, and they were going to work across the aisle, but now, look on the they are investigating the president, which costs taxpayers money. it definitely gives them an issue. outside of protest

abigail spanberger's office recently with a little more than 50 people, and vice president mike pence is supposed to be coming to virginia, and i think the seventh district, for some type of event in the near future. we do not have details yet, but this is all art of shoring up ,upport for president trump support from his base. these seats would have been targeted anyway. whether theo say impeachment issue right now is going to be, you know, popular enough for these members if they, you know, hold their seats. it is hard to know what will happen on that, but i do not think they are in tremendous peril over it. they both got elected on an actually'swave that got started in virginia in 2016 when the house of delegates, which had been strongly under

republican control, 15 seats flipped from republicans a democratic, so there definitely is a trend going on in virginia, and these two districts, people are very divided on republican versus democrat. host: and we asked viewers this morning, can congress balance impeachment with legislating? patrick, broaden the conversation out to the entire state. you mentioned health care. what other legislative issues are most important to folks? guest: well, the interesting thing is president trump, who dominates the discussion and dominates the issues, but one issue that abigail spanberger has focused on, and her district , because shedband has areas of suburban richmond, which are very populated,

america roads, suburban , all of those churches, shopping centers, and stores you could want, but there are also very rural districts, from culpepper county and down. so in those areas, people have to sit in a mcdonald's parking get on wi-fi.o that is an issue that she is focused on in her district, can be donee what about getting high-speed internet to people and very liberal areas of virginia. host: patrick wilson is the state politics reporter for the "richmond times-dispatch." thank you for taking time to talk with us. guest: you are welcome. thank you. host: can congress balance impeachment with legislating? gordon is calling from valley springs, california now. independent line. gordon, thanks for hanging on. go ahead, please. caller: there are a couple of things i would like to save your

i would like to recommend that every member of congress and anybody watching the show go on amazon prime video and watch "the best democracy money can buy," which shows pretty clearly how the president stole the 2016 election. but it also shows how they are planning to work to steal next year's election. i think election theft or election fraud needs to be out as an impeachable offense and, you know, be shown on national tv, because it would probably prevent the president from stealing next year's election. host: gordon, thanks. deborah calling from south bend, indiana now, republican caller. hi, deborah. what do you think? caller: good morning. household,is, in my we still cannot have a discussion about the president's accomplishments or even talking

about -- they are still stuck on his character. did prisonll, he reform -- they do not want to hear that. they do not want to hear anything good that he has done. all they want to talk about is character assassination, his morals, his this, is that, and to legislate, for the democrats, they are saying that they are point to do more than what the president is doing now for their constituents. and talking about impeaching him , because half of the country don't like him, i do not see how you can do both of those. i wish some kind of way, they would calm my family down, so that we can accept that this man is the president, let's work

talk aboutnd then legislating, but as long as you my house isment, ready to explode. we are not getting anywhere. host: all right, deborah, thank you for explain your situation. more calls coming. on twitter, "they are not undertaking an impeachment process." other comment on future all"in democrats. now the media and democrats believed trump's enemy number one for wanting corruption look at, but by insurer did make trump look like a hero. more of your social media comments as well. it is about 7:30 a.m. in washington, spending the three hours of the "washington journal " on your phone calls with the question can congress balance , impeachment with legislating? with lawmaking. congresswoman back on tuesday

for the fall part of their session. matters to take up, the funding of the government. we are also hearing about possible deals on the usmca, that if the trade pact between the u.s.-canada, and mexico. the area's legislative issues that they are looking at picking up, but also impeachment as the inquiry continues. taking your calls. this one from tom in new york, independent caller. hey, tom. caller: thanks for taking my call. host: you bet. caller: i looked through the next and impeachment, i think i was about 17 when the nixon impeachment happened, obviously i live through clinton's. and the idea that he may have been elected president, trump elected president, but his conduct is of justification of human beings, the way he talks about women, the when he talks about people trying to immigrate to this

country, illegally and legally, the activity he says from regions of the world, that he would like more people to come from, versus other people coming from what he characterizes in a profane way, characterizing their countries as blank, b blank-hole countries. you talk about legislating in the congress -- we are not legislating now. we cannot get together as a public event democrats to talk about gun control in these issues. we should have some objective measure on. i think at least we could leave a message of prosperity for the generation to succeed us, but a man mike that is not suitable to be president, even though he got elected, and we in peach tempter other piece of -- we impeached him. when a to think about our young people coming behind us. it is a message for governments around the world and the citizens around the world in america, the shiny country on

the hill, maybe we made a misstep, but we made steps to rectify, and we do not stand with the values he is espousing. host: thank you. "gop backs trump at a town hall," a picture of chris emerson, republican from minnesota, this was this past tuesday. the host: story goes on to talk about some new host: polling that this tuesday shows 31% of americans approve of the house impeachment inquiry. while additional 20 4% say enough evidence already exists for lawmakers to remove president trump from office.

poll shows a sharp partisan divide, 84 percent of democrats say the accusations against mr. trump are serious and merit investigations, while 78% of the public agree with the statement that the accusations are "more of the same politically motivated attacks." here is more from a town hall, this one from new york, the congressman from new york, antonio delgado. he is a democrat, and he is responding to a constituent who asks what crime he thinks the president has committed to cause an impeachment inquiry. [video clip] range.omewhere in that the statute makes it pretty that it is a crime to --

of power from a foreign national . that is the letter of the law. [indiscernible] rep. delgado: what is the thing of value, if you say "hey, would you investigate my political rival?" i do not know if it is that far-fetched, by the way, investigation that has already been undergone. [indiscernible]

host: representative antonio delgado, democrat of new york. keith is on the line, democratic caller. keith, can congress balance impeachment with legislating? what do you think? isler: what i think democrats really messed up when they push of the inquiry, then all trump does, he keeps feeding it, he feeds it. this gives him an energy, i think. he loves this. he enjoys it. they all remember when trump ran for president, he got all that free publicity from all the networks, because he was doing stuff, butrazy and all of that free stuff turned into negative stuff, the media

and all that, "fake news," he calls it, but it is fake news out of the white house, too. i think trump is doing it to himself, and if he is not guilty, then why is he trying to cover up everything? and that is my opinion, and i appreciate you taking my call. host: all right, keith from iowa. let's go to jacksonville, alabama, rita, what do you think? what are your thoughts this morning? caller: well, i think they need to go ahead and get rid of him while times is good. andin't nothing but a thief a liar, and all of them better for him is to be checked out there selves. host: rita, let me ask you, in jacksonville, alabama, what legislative issues are important to you? caller: well, stand up for the right and the law and the declaration of independence. has every american ever read the declaration of independence? and that is all i have got to

say, and thank you. host: all right, thanks for calling, rita, from alabama. mark stone o on twitter "congress cannot legislate even without an easement inquiries, much less this one." "we want regime change in the white house, pick one." irena's calling. caller: good morning. host: good morning. sayer: i would like to thank you for taking my call this morning. as far as impeachment, i think they should let the process go ,hrough, and see what happens whatever happens, happens. if the republicans always calling and complaining about the democrats, i would like to say one thing. the republicans realize this is their last stand, you know, in america, because, you know, them fore been telling

years they are going to become a minority for once, so they feel they need donald trump, because they want different things that he can do with the religious, the voting, and so far, but at the end of the day, the democrats are going to win. you are going to have a democratic president, whether you like it a lot, and the house is going to stay democratic, and the senate, they might not win the senate, but they will have a good shot to get a in 2022, so i just want to say to all of the republicans, like you used to tell us when obama was president, "just calm down." me personally, i liked donald trump. i always liked him and "the apprentice." i do not like him of a president, but i liked him as a showman on television, because that is all he ever does everyday on television. but otherwise, america, we need to get together, stay together, and just let this process -- but at the end of the day, donald

trump is a crook, he really is. host: all right, irene, thanks for calling. there is plenty of other news out there this morning, including this, if you have not heard. the acting chief of homeland security is out after criticizing the tone of trump's policies, talking about kevin mcaleenan, the acting homeland security secretary while trying to manage his turbulent relationship with the president, intent on restricting immigrants. they had flown out here, they did an interview last week with the "washington post." mcaleenan talked about it enraged trump and his allies, who already targeted mr. micacaleenan. that is the "new york times" right up on all of this.

there is also this headline appeared we mentioned president , over the impeachment inquiry, this is from the hill. this happened at a town hall meeting that he held or a rally yesterday in lake charles, louisiana, with many callers have been talking about. here in this clip, the president is talking about congressman schiff and the speaker. [video clip] pres. trump: he comes out, and he made up my conversation, and i was watching for it, and i said, "i never said that!" pelosi, nervous -- y -- nervous nancy [crowd booing] pres. trump: nervous nancy.

nervous nancy. i used to think she loved the country. she hates the country. because she would not be doing this for the country if she did. she hates the country. nancy pelosi hates the united states of america, because she would not be doing this. and i am telling you, foreign nations, foreign people look at us, they honestly think we are nuts. host: the president in lake charles, louisiana last night. you can watch the whole rally at c-span.org. just type in "president trump lake charles," it will be right up there, just type it in the search bar. we are going to go out to utah, where thomas burg, "salt lake tribune," is joining us via skype. good morning. guest: good morning. , paul, how are you? host: good.

we take a look at congressman ben mcadams, reelected to gain his house seat. it is true he is the only delegation in the house, is that right? by a verybeat him small percentage, one of the smallest in the country. host: what specifically has he had to say about impeachment? guest: he has followed senator mitt romney's lead in many ways, and i am sure we will get to that, too, but ben mcadams has been very careful, this is not a place a democrat usually wins, especially in utah, so mcadams has had concerns that we should get to the bottom of this. he first did not back the impeachment inquiry. days beforeout 5, 6 he finally said that, yes, he supports nancy pelosi's impeachment inquiry, and after a , he wasressure

going to events and things came up, he also said "we need to find all the facts. we should not make a prejudgment." host: you mentioned mitt romney. how do folks in utah feel about this back and forth between the senate or the republican senator and the president over various issues these many months? guest: you know, it is very interesting. romney is a beloved figure in utah. he is a mormon. most of utah is part only mormon. and he was the first mormon to ever lead a presidential ticket. of course he did not win in 2012, but huge support in utah. he won handily his senate seat, yet there are some trump reporters in utah, and some are angry that romney is speaking out, but there are some who are very proud of romney to spe step to this president and not just cow at some other republican senators haveer,. host: talk to us about some

other issues that folks in utah are interested about here we have been talking about impeachment to a certain extent this morning, but what other issues are driving folks at the town halls? guest: health care is an issue, tax is an issue, the same things we hear over and over again. utah is also a very specific state about public land, because about 76% of the state is owned and managed by the federal government, of landmass. so that is a big deal that may not get brought up in a presidential debate or, you know, at the white house very often, but it is a big deal to people who live in rural areas and look at their livelihood. cold production is a big deal in utah. and i think ben mcadams has made a really good point about this, yes, impeachment is on the minds of everyone and is washington area, but when you get into other parts of america,

you are seeing that turn to -- what about my job? am to have health insurance next year? issues ofn to those putting food on the table that americans are concerned about more than what we are talking about here in washington all the time. host: yeah, which is the thing this morning, so i guess the last question i would have is -- how do members in utah balance the two? questions about appeasement coming in, but there are concerns about other issues. it is a delicate balance, i would assume. how do members play that? guest: it is. i think we lost thomas burr. he froze up on us. we will say thanks to thomas burr from the "salt lake tribune" -- are you back, tom? guest: i am back.

there is a pivot back most .ongressmen in utah make some are very staunch supporters of the president, there's mitt romney, there is mcadams in the middle, they pivot, but that is not the main focus. if you are from utah, you say "why is the president focused on the border, why is he not focused on the health care and issues you care about?" if you are mitt romney, you try to avoid the question, and the way that he has, but he feels very strongly about the issue, and he is not going to let it go. host: glad we got you back, thomas, washington bureau chief for the "salt lake tribune," thanks for your call. let's go to georgia have been hanging on, a republican. what do you think, george, can congress balance impeachment and legislating at the same time?

caller: well, congress is doing nothing come as that is all they have got to hang onto is to down trump. greatest jobg the for our country, and i do not see why people can't see that. he is just a great man, and he is a big this man -- a businessman, and the rest are just politicians. trump, be a tattle tale. tell on these people. look at what biden has done. people will say, well, he ain't done nothing. well, people don't give money for nothing. just keep doing trump, that is what i am for, i am 100% for trump. lord have mercy. i just hope our country can all get together and do what is best for our country instead of fighting. congress eighain't gonna do

nothing. they are not going to do anything that will help trump or help our country, evidently. they are going to see trump fall, or the country fall, as trump do good, and i think he is doing the best job of any president that we have ever had. host: all right, george, they for calling. on to david now in massachusetts. go ahead, david. caller: hello, sir. thank you for taking my call. host: you bet. caller: just a lot of great things you are covering today. in theory, yes, congress could handle impeachment and legislation, but i do not think that is wheretheir head is at. with regard to some of these folks calling, i mean, trump's derangement syndrome is alive and well. here in massachusetts, i have met mitt romney. i have spoken to him on three separate occasions. he had charlie, our governor,

charlie baker, if i am in the same room with him at a political get together, he will turn his back and walk away from me. many people in public office have walked across the room to say hello to me. i am not bragging, but, i mean, it just goes to demonstrate we have two different republican parties in the united states today. you know, you look at these trump rallies, and those are the people that would not support mitt romney, do not support charlie baker, once they got to know him, so right now, you look at these rallies, these people love donald trump. so for anybody out there in any public office to be railing against him, they are just playing with fire. it is not the right way to handle it. host: thanks for calling, david. moving onto latricia in rochester, new york, independent caller. hi there. caller: hello, sir, thanks for

taking my call. host: sure. what do you think? can congress balance impeachment and legislating at the same time? caller: at this point, i'm going to say no, because of the strike and conflict i am seeing amongst both parties is ridiculous. it is just a circus. donald trump may be doing some very nice things. i can say that this presidency has definitely made me be more aware, um, of what is going on in our nation, in our country. um, it is not so much as what you do but how you do it, that is what my mom always used to tell me. what you say but how you say it. believe that his rhetoric is what is causing him the most problems right now.

and it is not a good look for our president, for our country, for our youth, for our future, we look divided. we look terrible right now. that is my personal opinion. we look very divided, as a nation, as a country. i honestly believe that other countries are laughing at us, because this is ridiculous. something needs to be done. somebody needs to move in one direction or the other. either you are going to impeach him, or you are going to let him run for election next year. we have to come to a common ground so that we can do what is best for our country, for our people, for our children, for our children. border, um,n at the it is just egregious. thanks foratricia,

calling from rochester, new york as we ask folks this question -- can congress balance impeachment with legislating? funny, they"that's cannot even balance a budget." , "no, theyssage can't, they can't fix medicare, medicaid, and fraud, when you think about it, they cannot do anything but fight down party lines, leaving the citizens as collateral damage." "there will be no significant legislating for the country while congress and the white house are divided. removing the cancer from the white house has to be top priority." yes, they can legislate and balance impeachment the same time. the house has passed six bills already. it is mitch mcconnell who is stopping anything from happening." at melissa sloan in her district and addressing

her support of an impeachment inquiry against president trump. [video clip] >> to go monday, myself and six other members, all former weitary or former cia, acknowledged our support of impeachment inquiry. [smattering of booing and applause] i knew it was going to be an issue back here at home. but i made that decision because sometimes, there are some moments in life that are beyond -- and i felt that this moment was one of them. [applause]

[indiscernible] a foreign later and asked him to dig up dirt on american. [indiscernible] this is something the president himself acknowledged. this is something the president's lawyer acknowledged. he is not disputing that fact. what he is disputing, and i d indirectly, was military aid in exchange for information and or. host: -- and dirt. host: representative slot kin. as an analyst for the cia. dolores, what do you think, can congress handle impeachment with

legislating? caller: my answer is no, because they cannot compromise. they don't know how good i am not a politician, and i thank you very much for taking my call, but i believe that donald trump, who has a definition and an explanation for every situation, i think that the old people used to say "it takes want to know one," so all of the things that he describes about other people, all of the negative things must first exist in him, because he would not recognize it in them. that is my opinion, and i thank you for taking my call. i am not a politician, but i do vote every time i need to. thanks so much. host: thank you, dolores. lee is calling from over it, tennessee now, independent caller. hello, lee. yes, i would like to say

that president trump talked about his phone call to the ukraine being "beautiful and perfect," well, he knew that that own call was going to be recorded before he ever made it, so that phone call should be perfect, which it is not. puttingou think that $391 million in the hands of the ukrainian president -- don't you is that this ukrainian guy going to put about $5 million in his own pocket? and the thing that really worries me now is that i hear that this guy has decided to let the people of eastern ukraine secede from the ukraine and russia take the eastern part of the ukraine. well, is this president getting

paid to allow that vote? if so, don't you see that the baltic states our next? this is a serious problem. thing that mr.us trump have got going on here that people need to be aware of. another thing, these trump supporters claim that he is iing such a great job, well, little to fix up a report card, and the first thing that he took on was mexico , and soor the wall everybody knows that never happened, so he gets an f there. then he was going to tax the mexican president. another failed idea, and he gets an fe there.

he was going to abolish obamacare. well, we still have obamacare, so he gets another f there. he was going to balance the budget, and look at what that is doing. singlelook at every issue, he has failed on every single issue. he said the gdp was going to be where obama said it was going to be, at 2%. this guy is an idiot, and we have got to get rid of him. .ost: all right,, lee republican jeff, this is your turn to talk. i believe so. that last guy put me to sleep. gosh darn. hey, why do you lie without

impeach -- and like host: which lies? caller: impeach for what, what are you going to impeach him for? meane way, what did trump when he called vladimir and said he would have more flexibility? oh, it was not trump. it was obama. of a is a great video out guy spitting on a trump supporter in minnesota. can you play that or does that not fit your narrative? host: thanks for the comments, jeff. two hours left in this saturday addition of "washington journal." ifspent the last hour asking congress can balance impeachment and legislating. you can text us. we are reading through some of the news and watching town halls from around the country. i want to let you know the president will be on again today at the values voters summit at

6:15 p.m. eastern time. we have covered it for a couple of days in washington. it is an annual event. p.m.ll speak at about 6:15 eastern time. the house and senate come back into session on tuesday. in the senate, they will continue more on nominations and the house has a variety of bills, and we do expect them to take a look at turkey and possibly come up with a turkey'sn's with actions on the border. there is also news about rudolph giuliani in "the new york times" lead story. he is being investigated on his work in the ukraine. personal prosecutors in manhattan are investigating trump'spresident personal lawyer, mr. giuliani, broke laws in his dealings with ukraine, according to two people familiar with the inquiry. they're examining his efforts to undermine the ambassador to ukraine. one of the people said she was

part of trump's broader campaign to pressure ukraine into helping his political prospects for they go on to say "mr. giuliani has denied wrongdoing, but he acknowledged he and associates worked with ukrainian prosecutors to collect potentially damaging information about the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, mr. trump, and his allies, including joe biden, his younger son hunter." mr. giuliani shared that material this year. so the headline -- "giuliani being investigated over his work in ukraine." we go back to calls with roger from hurley, virginia. democrat. what do you think about this notion of congress coming back, balancing impeachment with the legislating they have to do? can they do both? caller: yeah, they could if mr. mcconnell would do something in the courts. i have three points i would like to make this morning.

spent $10per pac has million on biden in this campaign alone, trying to undermine. and then i was wanting to bring where trump pulled back to give putin the vote they get. i can't believe that. citizens of this country are going to stand with him? the third point i would like to make is the hatred you see at these rallies all the time. he never tries to govern the democrat party in this country. he is always spouting hate against them. he is a boy. he needs a smack in the teeth. host: what other issues are important to you at this time legislatively? anything else you want congress to be working on? caller: i wish mcconnell would

do something about infrastructure. the roads around here are terrible. internet, you have to pay out of the teeth for it. i am a disabled coalminer. i am the son of a veteran, and i have seen my country fall apart over the last nine years. i watched the united states congress under republican rule destroy hillary clinton, along with this fake news channel fox. and then, now, they have the gall to say democrats cannot investigate this president? host: thanks for calling, roger. kenneth, tampa, florida. independent caller. what are your thoughts? caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing fine, how are you? caller: i'm good, i'm good. i don't think congress can do the balance of impeachment law and just like a lot of people

have been saying. understandust don't how people cannot see the hate that this guy disseminates all over the world. , andgot a comment to make i've called a few times, and said a few things, and i am a retired military guy. the problem is that, you know, we have people who are injured in iraq and afghanistan, because i've been there, and there is a fund for these people because they cannot do some of the becauses far as travel their families don't live in the washington, d.c., area, and i'm talking about personal knowledge here. set asidend they had for these wounded soldiers or warriors, to her got

in a lays on that will make -- that got a lays on, to make accommodations for travel so they can visit their family or whatever because of their medical condition, and those has beenw, that fund diverted to build a wall. now, these people that are injured at all the so-called fundsican support, those now are being diverted to go to a wall, and these people either have got to pay out of their pocket, or they have to make their own coordination. and how can they win a lot of them don't even know? these are seriously injured service members. host: kenneth, inc. you for calling and sharing issues of importance to you. here is "the washington post" headline -- "pro impeachment group to spend $2 million

targeting senate republicans." the story says republicans are ohnching -- they say impeachment groups are turning their fire away from democratic holds out and toward members of the president's own party. impeach,alled need to funded mainly by tom steyer. top executives have said that more than half of the campaign money will go toward television spots with the rest in underwriting digital ads. they will focus on republican senators, susan collins, joni all ofmartha mcsally, whom are seeking reelection next year, and could cast votes in the coming months on whether trump should be removed from office. here's a look at an ad from this group targeting senator mcsally. [video clip] >> what does it mean to be an american? with all that our country stands for, how can we have a

president who does not think the law applies to him? who would bargain away the security of our nation and elections for his own political gain. we are patriots who have always protected democracy. will our senator? tell martha mcsally to put country over party. need to impeach is responsible for the content of this advertising. host: now tomorrow your calls. we will continue to look at town halls around the country and more ads. indiana. in republican. good morning. caller: good morning. no, i don't think congress can legislate anyway. they have not been able to legislate anything for years, so this is nothing new. how can they start now? they haven't done it for so long. i wanted to bring out a point about the article you prefaced about the homeland security director? or interim director stepping down? you said trump was against immigration and he is not. he is against illegal

immigration. i think the media needs to be careful how they phrase things because that is how people form their opinions and america, don't fall for it. think for yourself. go seek the facts out, think for yourself, and don't choose aside, get your own facts. that is about all i had to say. have a good day. host: thanks, sherry. harry is calling from california, independent caller. can congress balance impeachment and legislating? caller: good morning. i don't believe the democrats should impeach donald trump. the private sector is so strong, and that is where the democrats get all their positive tax dollars from, and if the democrats get in, i believe they are going to fall apart because the private sector will fall and i justovertaxed

don't think it is going to work unless he stays in there keeps building the country. host: herbert on the line from fort washington. hey, herbert. democratic caller. you there? fort washington, are you there? caller: yes, yes. good morning. host: good morning. you on the phone now? caller: yes, sir. host: go ahead, sir. caller: i don't think they will ever be able to do anything with mitch mcconnell there. these people are not christian. they are senators. about what ist happening to our country. trump is going to destroy our country. thank you. have a good day. host: lisa is in pennsylvania, republican. what do you think about this

question, lisa? caller: good morning. i want to thank you for having this. i was a democrat for 38 years. after seeing what i have seen over the last three years with the riots, the democrats constantly trying to take president trump down is very disrespectful and unbelievable. i have never seen anything like this in my life, and i hope that nancy pelosi, chuck schumer, and everybody that has statement against them can be charged. even hillary clinton destroying all of those emails. she should have been prosecuted. instead, they let it go. i don't understand why they are letting stuff go to where there was actual evidence against her. i am a republican now. i changed my party, and i will vote for president trump, like i voted for him in 2016.

i saw nothing wrong with the phone call that he made to ukraine president, and, also, bill clinton passed a treaty and he was in office to where the president has a right, t -- has a right to investigate or talk to another country to investigate. i'm not sure why nobody is bringing up the facts about the treaty past bill clinton. president trump, if you are watching this, thank you, and god bless you. host: thanks for calling third one thing i should mention news lies, in case you missed it, the treasury secretary talked a little bit more about turkey yesterday and that it might face the threat of u.s. sanctions. the trump administration said it was preparing to impose sanctions that could shut down the turkish economy, following operative decisions to launch military operations this week against kurdish forces in syria. syria plans to sign an executive order, the president does, and it would allow anyone associated

with the government of turkey, this from treasury secretary mnuchin yesterday, adding that they had not been activated and were contingent on turkey's actions in the future. there is also this news "washington post" announced we are adding 1800 troops in saudi arabia in a signal to iran. the pentagon will deploy 1800 troops to saudi arabia, a modest increase, they write, in the middle east, meant to deter iranian aggression. that came from the secretary yesterday, mr. espera. that is the "washington post" version of the story. debbie calling from elizabethtown, north carolina. what do you make of the work of congress ahead? can they balance impeachment and legislating? becausei don't think so they have nothing concrete to go trump andresident impeachment.

way [indiscernible] investigate, but there is no motive. they accuse him of doing that, so he don't have to do that because [indiscernible] right, and sarah is on the line from rocklin, california, democrat. caller: hi. thank you for having me. host: you bet. caller: no, i don't think they can manage both at the same time. i think our country has been going downhill since the 1970's, and me being a 60-year-old woman, lower middle class, i am happy that somebody is not playing politics, you know, and playing the game of re-selection

over taking care of our country. -- reelection over taking care of our country. i am glad something is being done to make it an even playing field with other countries, to where we are not paying more than our fair share to other hastries, and our country been in a mess for so long, it is not an easy fix. there is going to be a domino effect. some people will be hurt by change, but change has to happen to save our country. what i am seeing from c-span, and thank you, and being able to go online and actually look at the documents and read for myself what is going on, what i have written, i have written to nancy pelosi, my representative harris, dianne feinstein, and i have expressed my

embarrassment over the half-truths is what i call them. they take something, they make a spin on it, and they are not telling the whole truth. they are purposely making the president looked badly, and, yes, he is vulgar when he speaks at times. he is not a politician. him, but not vote for i am happy that somebody is making an effort to make change, and i am very upset with my democratic party. i am upset actually with both parties because all of this fighting is dividing us. nothing is getting done. there is no common sense of politics anymore. it is all about getting with what they -- i wouldg up now like to know if nancy pelosi was

running for presidency, and then a month after she was elected would she give up all of her monthal assets within a after being elected to the presidency? why should he give up his as nurses -- his businesses when he is giving away the government? i just don't get it. host: thanks for weighing in. lots of more voices on social media, also by text. you can send a text. this is bob from illinois -- "no, unfortunately, this congress cannot," meaning balancing impeachment and legislating. "democrats need to cooperate with the president and move forward. in 13 months, we will reelect or elected president." a republican from texas held of townhall meeting and was asked about the topic of u.s. debt and

the budget. here's what he had to say. [video clip] the city council and the county here have to, by law, and is school district, and it hard. they have to make tough decisions. they have to say yes and no to good stuff. no to the silly stuff, but no to really good things because they have to. we don't have that same at the district level. theoretically, we should make those decisions on her own, but so far, we have not been able to. back in the late 1990's, the federal government actually ran a budget surplus for two years. previous presidential wannabe said it was four, but two of those years we were using social security surpluses to augment it and get there. there would never be an easier time to implement a balanced budget, which would

then force congress to have the same fiscal discipline the school district in santa ana or the city does. host: mike conaway, the republican from texas. you can watch the whole town hall at c-span.org. just type in his last name -- conway. you will be able -- conaway. welcome. what do you have to say, can congress balance impeachment and legislating? when clinton was president, even though he was facing impeachment, he balanced the budget. independent. i have not been a democrat since 1968. basically because of the trash they did in chicago. i could not possibly be a republican, mainly because i would not be in the same party of the ku klux klan and the

white supremacists are in. that is basically the way it goes. host: what other issues are interested in legislatively, paul? legislatively? host:host: yeah, what is important to you in rhode island. caller: basically, i am pretty proud of all the people that i have representing me in rhode island. i think they are doing a great job. host: did you ever go to one of these townhall meetings? caller: no, i have not had a chance. i don't really get out much, but i do pay attention to what is going on. host: thanks for calling. paul broun is calling from ohio, democratic caller. what is your opinion this morning? caller: my opinion is that he should be impeached. they should have started -- i'm very nervous. they should have started after the mueller report came out.

is just attorney general barr's tack on it really discredited it, but i'm sitting and looking at analysis this man lied, and he did obstruct justice. not only that, i also watch his rallies. of other rallies. yes, he should be impeached. host: do you think congress can handle that work and the work of legislating at the same time? caller: the house can. the senate won't. host: why not? caller: because they are obstructing. the senate is obstructing the house the same way that president obama was obstructed.

mcconnell -- i can't say enough bad things about him, so i won't. host: all right, ron. we will move on to other voices then. you made your thoughts clear. angelina on facebook is writing "they are crooks," talking about congress -- "stealing our tax dollars, wasting time on this bs impeachment. the crooks are hiding their crimes with the distraction of impeachment. during the swamps," she writes. another writes "of course they can at the same time. that is why they have committees." we also hear from sebastian on facebook -- "three years of trying to impeach, trump doesn't lead them much time to do their job, that and the time off they take." we welcome your comments on social media, send us a text, call us for it we are hearing from any of you, including dolores. a republican. -- call us. we are hearing from many of you, including dolores.

a republican. caller: definitely they can balance impeachment and legislating. that is basically how i feel. there was a caller who did mention the treaty, where the -- actually, talk ukraine is mentioned in that treaty. but the thing is, i think what you are asking viewers what is concerning. my main concern is the news going to the facts as far as really what was in the conversation? and then who wrote the transcript? and if there are differences. just so people can get along. also, there is the concern of other countries. let's just say china, hong kong,

and then also health care. the medicare for all, and i don't think people realize medicare for all, people have to pay 20%, and then they have to pay for the prescription, whether it is part f or part d. i am not at that age, but i have helped my family and have been through people who have had illnesses, so basically, i just give theink we need to news anchors not poor ratings, we need news anchors to help people understand both sides. that is why i think the independents are growing more and more, which i am leaning towards. host: thanks for calling. on "the hill," several caller mentioned the majority leader, where they are talking about mitch mcconnell on "the hill."

they write, saying, the senate would have to take up a trial if the house were to impeach. that is the last major comment we have heard from him. he has since gone quiet, according to "the hill." here is another townhall, a republican from nebraska, being asked about the impeachment inquiry. take a look. [video clip] >> [indiscernible] i applaud "the new york times"" washington post" this week. [indiscernible] when you witness that compared that we havears

had, with the unethical collusion. [indiscernible] [applause] [booing] [indiscernible] however, if someone in the oval office broke them -- and booing] host: we are going to stay in nebraska.

is joining us, a localcs reporter for newspaper. talk about how congressman bacon has handled the impeachment question. we heard a short piece from the town hall. how is he doing on this topic? guest: i think what you heard there is a pretty good representation of his position. he said, repeatedly has said from the beginning that he does not like everything the president dies, but -- and he does not like how he says it often times. he does not always agree that he would do the same thing, but he doesn't see it as wrong or as illegal, and in the case of impeachment, he says, maybe it is wrong in the sense he should not have done it, but i don't think you should be impeached for it, unless something new comes out. host: how do voters feel about impeachment in nebraska these days? so, nebraska is

interesting. it is a very red state. -based.ery ag and then you have his district, which is much more urban than the rest of the state. it is a typical suburban district. the ones everyone looking at to flip in the house. in this district, from omaha, which is the biggest city in the state, and then some of the suburbs. i think the cheers in the booth you heard louder and louder from the town hall the other week is pretty good representation. people are really mad that he will not support impeachment, and that he is not on board with it, and people are also really glad that he has drawn a line in the sand and said i don't support it. i think you can kind of see the polling as it is shifting. we have a pretty big split in

the district of what people want to hear from him. host: we also caught the headline to your piece in the paper "don bacon to donate campaign funds he received from and indicted giuliani associate." can you tell us what is going on? guest: probably most of your viewers have seen the news. these two men were indicted and then arrested as it looked like they were trying to flee the country and they were involved in a scheme to allegedly bring foreign money into federal campaign finance coffers. bacon was one of the recipients of the money. he got it through a joint fundraising committee, so they for money to fund it was republican incumbents and close districts. some of that money came to bacon. the indictment actually mentions that one of these guys tried to getting itnations by

by switching the letters in his name. that is how it showed up in his report. when i brought it to his attention, he said he did not know about it, he never met these guys. the money is already spent since .t was from last cycle host: we are talking to roseann moring, a politics reporter from "omaha world-herald." i wanted to bring up another republican from nebraska, elected back in 2014, so still first term. well, the president --, he has pushed back against the president, i should say, regarding the president suggestion the chinese government should investigate joe biden. it was a little insight into that story. this is an interesting case because he was a really trident

anti-republican. anti-trump.- he made it clear. and then he dialed it back for a while. he is gearing up for his own reelection, and then trump endorsed him, so there are questions about, well, did he sasse saysbut then he did not ask for the endorsement, and now he turned around and is working for the republicans on trump in the china-ukraine conversations. so it is a really interesting shift in the dynamic between sasse and trump. he said basically that what he sees as troubling, he does not like what he is hearing from both sides, and he wants people to get more information before they commit to any actions. host: as we wrap up, you

mentioned nebraska being an ag state, what other issues are important? you touched on agriculture a bit, we talked about impeachment, what else is driving folks in nebraska? sayt: statewide, i would trade. we have a lot of farmers who sell a lot of crops to other countries, so tariffs affect their bottom line, and they are already struggling with commodity prices in omaha. a lot of the typical, you know, health care, obviously, people see their health care bills going up. they want something to be done about that. and then omaha, specifically, we have a military base. there was a lot of military here, so that is also an area. host: roseann moring is a reporter for "omaha world-herald " joining us by phone. thanks for the update and nebraska. guest: thanks for having me. host: we are continuing to take

your calls for another 1.5 hours on this saturday edition of "the washington journal." can congress balance impeachment and legislating? congress is coming back into session on tuesday. we expect regular legislative action, some nominations, and maybe legislation the senate and more bills in the house, but lots of talk about impeachment we expect. we expect to see the two coexisting the next couple of months. robert is calling in utah, independent caller. caller: hello. host: good morning. caller: as far as them being able to legislate, they can, but they won't. it is the ideological divide that keeps them from compromising. compromising is the only way you can legislate. these republicans keep getting on here, talking about facts. here are three facts to consider. trump is a habitual liar.

.e is a serial adulterer and he is a five deferment draft dodger. that is who you are supporting, ok? , i would the issues like to see them take up health care prices and the prices of prescription drugs. i had to take a lifeflight helicopter flight a couple of years ago, and the bill for was, just the life flight, $50,209.09. i do not want to buy the helicopter, i just wanted to ride in it. thank you. host: robert mentioning prescription drugs, another issue congress is dealing with. some say a deal might be reached onn between various parties legislation, and we are also potentialr word on a

trade pact between the u.s., canada, and mexico. just some of the many issues congress will be dealing with in the fall. jenny is calling from carolina, republican. caller: hey. ,efore i answer the question what i want to do is you have all these newspaper clippings, and you read all these newspaper articles. do you have "the washington examiner?" they were saying two of the whistleblowers worked for schiff and it was all coordinated. so to be fair and balanced? but i also want to say that they are talking about trump's rallies and everything. this impeachment is going nowhere. it is just a democrat rally to rally up the people. democrats and republicans are not going to change their mind. there is nothing you can do to change it. i would like to see the media to

be a little bit more fair. the impeachment is going nowhere. if they wanted to help legislation, they could do it, but they won't because they don't want trump to win. i am listening to all these people. trump is defending himself at the rallies because i don't hear anything from cnn, msnbc, i am not hearing anything going on. all the things trump is doing, all they play is impeachment, impeachment, impeachment republicans are getting to the point now where the polls mean nothing. we will get out and vote, and trump will take the vote. and they are pushing hillary -- i don't know why because she is as corrupt as can be. i did not think you could run when you are corrupt. to comeing for barr out, where all the investigation, she paid for the dossier, everything was fake. noti'm hearing, and i did

know all of this was lies, i don't know, i listen to all these people and why they don't like trump, but listening to mexico, and mexico is not paying for the wall. mexico is doing more right now than the democrats. maybe we need to find out how much is mexico paying for their 27,000 people on the border. host: thanks for calling, jenny. here is the article that she speaks to from "the washington herald." yesterday came out afternoon. they say the head of the house intel committee recorded -- recruited two who worked along the whistleblower at the nsc during the obama and trump administrations. the examiner has learned abigail grace, who worked at the nsc until 2018, was hired in february, and then joined adam schiff's committee the same month. the whistleblower submitted a complaint.

the whistleblower worked with former vice president joe biden with expertise in ukraine. you can read more at "the washington examiner" newspaper on their website. more comments coming up at a town hall, where members and their town hall meetings, issues you are interested in, and can congress balance impeachment and legislating? here is a look at alexandria ocasio-cortez. she held a town hall. here is her response when she was asked about immigration by an immigrant, and 9/11 by a first responder. [video clip] >> one of the bright spots we have had this year's we did pass , and we victims fund finally got that through, there is much more work to do, so if my predecessor had picked up a piece of legislation that you see we are dropping the ball on, i can give you my word today

that we will pick it up, and i'm happy to take a look at that. [applause] talk aboutople immigrants in this country, we becausetell your story i am tired of people acting as though we are a merciless nation that is willing to throw people because you make less than a certain amount of money, because you lack a certain piece of paper. i will even human dignity. i don't care what your status is. i don't care what your past is. the only way we improve as a society is by giving people the opportunity to give. we need to take care of each other, and we need to have a commitment to take care of you. host: that was alexander kaiser cortez. that was alexandria

ocasio-cortez. you can type in her name on our search bar and you will see it pop-up to watch. mary from clarksdale, democrat. caller: good morning. seems like we it have a haunted white house. everybody is leaving, and for darn good reasons. i am definitely for impeachment, and i think if the republicans would just wake up and let this impeachment go through because it is so obvious that we need it, that they could get somebody in the republican party that is honest with integrity, and has values, and by the time the election rolls around, they will have somebody that we can all support. right now we cannot support a liar and a cheater, and all that. we need toislature, get more infrastructure. we need to keep obamacare.

we need to keep our democracy as it has been. i am a senior in the rural area, turns blue.rizona we are heading that way, and i hope it happens. thank you. host: we have been watching various caller town halls, ands have been -- various town halls, have you ever written your congressperson about anything? caller: i am really active. i have a nephew with me that does that for me, and he is in the paper constantly, and i try to get out as much as i can. i work for the democratic party during the election time, and i support as much as possible. host: thanks for calling. laura is calling now from georgia. independent caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. host: good morning. caller: good morning.

my comment is i do think that congress and the impeachment can occur. i am an independent. that when fear is putinent trump sent to happy birthday. het was frightening because is throwing the ball at america. and that is the only thing that scares me about trump. i lived in new york. i have used to the talk. every new yorker talks like trump, so that is just makeup. he does not have any intention of getting too much done. that is what we know. and the people in new york, especially harlem, the manhattan area, first thing they say is, a man, we have a master conmen in the white house.

i am from georgia. i am like, what? he is a master con. and now that that is what i am seeing, he has conned america, especially the southern states, which i grew up in. i grew up hearing all my life, don't trust a yankee. don't trust a yankee. this is so funny because this is all i am hearing. think nancy pelosi the democratic party, and i hope mitch mcconnell can get on board to do his impeachment to keep us knowing what is going on. just like the lady said. host: thanks for calling. i want to get some other viewpoints and. we will go to michael in texas. then we will hear from a reporter in texas. first, go ahead, michael, a republican. caller: hello, how are you? host: what is on your mind? caller: i guess what is on my mind is joe biden and hunter,

and all the other people involved with the corruption in ukraine. i felt like the people elected for congress who said it ought to be happy with the salaries they make and the insurance that they have is better than anybody else in the united states has, so i would like to know why the democrats have not brought that up? the obama presidential campaign with joe biden over there telling ukraine, either put my son and there, or we will cut off your money. host: do you support impeachment? caller: no. host: no, how come? caller: no, i don't. well, because i think -- like that one person said, it is not with the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. . am tired of the corruption

i think mr. trump is going to try to do some things to help get that corruption out of the senate and out of the congress, where they can get something done. that is why that news came out about pelosi, she and her husband made all that money on that bill, that visa, that was trying to go to congress, but they are over here on the side, to $300,000 off of that. they all do it. nobody else in the united states do it, but the congressman, they do it and hold a bill from going through congress. it is just corruption, like epstein with bill clinton, and hillary clinton, acid-washing, and all the crap going on with corruption in the democratic people. host: michael, thanks for calling. several points made by that last caller.

joining us now by skype is abby livingston, the washington bureau chief for "the texas tribune." we just heard from someone from texas, concerned about corruption, not necessarily for impeachment right now. talk about how texans are reacting to their lawmakers and their various stances on impeachment. what is going on in texas? guest: i think we are still trying to figure this out. the polling is still pretty unclear, but what it seems to be is that this is a very gerrymandering state and folks in the republican district are happy that members oppose impeachment and democrats are happy their members are for it. i think the most interesting places to watch our north dallas and west houston. these are the two extremely competitive zones held by democrats, and they are part of that big wave of freshmen who

came out in favor of an impeachment inquiry. neither member seems to be backing off of it, and they are comfortable where they are. host: we hear that there are a number of retiring texas house members. we will put their names on the screen, but several republican retirements. what is the impact going to be of all of those folks leaving the house representing texas? guest: well, i think it could go good and bad for the state. for someone who has watched this delegation a long time, particularly on the republican side, this is an extremely powerful block within the .epublican conference many of these members in the house are leaving. ranking members who have been term limited running committees. so they don't want to go back to rank-and-file. the publican operatives will say, this is good to have fresh blood. on the flipside, one of the roles of politics in general is

it is almost always easier for the opposition to take an open seat rather than ousting an incumbent. some of these retirements may further make these seats more vulnerable. host: we know that texas is a very big state and diverse, but what other issues are driving texans these days? anticipate in our primary, which is in march and in the pulsing in february, on the republican side, you can those guarantee that primaries will be litigated on immigration on which candidate can take a harder line on it. i anticipate health care on the democratic side to see a major issue. in competitive primaries, trying to figure out which candidates are for medicare for all or a less liberal option and how that plays in these districts, where the democrats and republicans need to nominate a candidate who can win the general and how they maneuver the waters. host: how about texas as a

whole? we regard texas as a red state. so much information coming in suggesting it is turning more and more blue. tell us about the future of the lone star state. guest: well, i will go back a little bit. all of this changed on election night 2016. i know for decades we have been talking about texas demographically moving toward the purple column, but everything changed in the numbers on election night 2016. this is all about donald trump, but where i see things headed is less about his major statewide charismatic figure that can flip the state for the democrats, but i think it will be ground up. in part because of retirements, party building at the congressional and state legislative level, and that is where i think has kept us moving toward purple. from "the livingston texas tribune," thanks for your time. we will move on to linda in

illinois. democratic caller. can congress balance impeachment with legislating? caller: yes. i really believe they can, but we as americans need to be aware of trump because when he was running for president, he said if he did not get to be the nominee, there was going to be a civil war. every time i hear this manna town meetings or wherever he is speaking to his people, he is not -- she does not show love. he is so negative about everything. he does not care that the children are watching television. he does not care that a lot of people don't want to hear the message she brings. he does not tone it down at all. -- message he brings. he does not tone it down at all. and we brought our soldiers out of syria. why do we do that? the soldiers are not complaining. but he takes them out because

that is what putin wants. trump has got to do whatever prudent -- putin wants. he does not love america. he loves his own finances, him and his family because they can go anywhere. if someone starts messing up our country, he can go somewhere else. people need to think about this manna. he is not a god loving, god-fearing person. and all these religious people are backing him, but they are not religious either because they are not supposed to be behind him like that. host: in raleigh, north carolina, j, independent. what do you think about the upcoming work of congress? can legislating and impeachment both happen? caller: yes, it is just we have to get someone who is really serious about revelations and and for foreign relationships, we have got to know where to cross the line. i mean, we have to know where to

stop at the line instead of crossing it. i heard a lot of other callers mentioned that trump is doing too much, too less, but we have a democracy in america, which we love. we cannot live on dictatorships. to me, he gravitates towards the dictatorship of a country and wants to do what they do. well, we americans do it different here. we have equal rights. we have unity, things of that nature, so trump has to understand and realize it is country first. he says it all the time, but he has got to start putting his words to actions. and as far as impeachment, i think dividing us, whether it is fox news, cnn, which is mccright and republicans, we have to stand strong together because of anything was to happen like a war, which i hope not, we have a whole of things

to look at. we have to start standing together, no matter what what president dies or what a past president has done. we have to stay united for the time being, right now. i would look at impeachment as a negative because it will keep us divided. host: jay, thanks for calling. to the bronx, new york city, sophia, republican. what is the most important issue to you these days? caller: well, the most important peaceful, but a for the line you gave of congress and can they do impeachment and legislation, they did. by now, it is like 243 legislation stated. to understand what is

going on to our country, please, i got nervous now because i have so much on my brain. when president trump -- i voted for him. had ahe fired james comey russian ambassador, in the oval office. have an american reporter, american media was not there. they had to hear it from russian reporters and a russian photographer in our own country? to show us what happened. trump,ughter, president his russian counterpart, and

ambassador, that was deemed the impeachment or the removal or something to be done. you know what? i will not stop crying. i have been crying from the day after i saw him. , mr. trump billion loves money, and i would get my vote back. media, right now, one the , the reporters to be strong. not democrats, ok? host: thanks for calling. more voices. the text comes in, david from new york -- "the nation could only heal if a truly participatory convention lasting a whole year, followed by a referendum, could substantively update our checks to the 21st century level." jim from bakersfield, california texts "the issue of significance

to the house will be to bring up a full vote for the authorization of a formal impeachment inquiry, calling mccarthy's bluff. it will become formal and articles of impeachment will be voted on soon." we are going to go to upstate new york, where congressman -- where a democratic congressman there in the section of binghamton, he is one of eight democrats who did not voice support for the impeachment inquiry. here's a look at what he had to say at a recent town hall. [video clip] >> the impeachment inquiry is happening. i consider myself very much like a member of a grand jury, weighing all the evidence coming for for us, and i will way that as it comes. if there is a decision by leadership to put articles of impeachment on the floor, i will look at the evidence presented, weigh all the facts and make a decision at that point. we are moving forward with the

investigation, and i will look to see what the facts show up. >> do think trump should cooperate? >> absolutely. i think the president should cooperate. i think that whatever can be done to get witnesses to come forward to come forward to have documents represented should be done so we can look at this as a serious matter. it affects our national security, and i would hope the administration cooperates to move on from there. >> do you think this is taking away from other issues? >> i will not let a take away from other issues in my world. we have an opportunity to get things done, hopefully before the end of the year on trade. we have the opportunity, i hope, to get some thing on perception drug costs. as i toured this district and met with people, those are issues that come up every single day. the american people, despite what is happening with impeachment and congress working together, and we owe it to them to get something done. host: that was the new york democrat representative anthony brindisi, talking with reporters

on some of the issues he is interested in beyond impeachment. jimmy from sacramento, california, you are up. democratic line. what is on your mind? caller: yes. ever since donald trump has been elected, and the republican the three branches of the government, i would like to know what have they done in those two years when they had all those branches of the government? have they done anything? republicans are talking about the democrats and they don't do anything. ofl, and the three branches government, nothing went on. they did absolutely nothing. that is all i have to say. host: thanks, jimmy. duke is calling from wisconsin, independent caller. caller: hi, how are you?

thanks for taking my call. good morning. host: of course. caller: the question you are posing, can congress balance impeaching and legislating at the same time? i think we all know the answer is yes. the question is, why, and should they? i have been on hold for roughly 20 minutes. is i have to make a decision, am i going to do that? is it worth doing it? most people nowadays work very hard when they get to office. we want people to believe in the american dream and work hard to what is important with your family, and our government doesn't do that. president trump is our president. whether you agree with what he says, does, past comments or business doings, he makes mistakes like the rest of us. everybody else who has been president, presidentpresident, ,

president clinton, they weren't my president as well. we need to start getting behind and talking about the american dream again, because we are wasting our time. that is all i got. host: thanks for calling, duke. it is 9:00 now in washington. we have an hour left now of this saturday edition of the "washington journal." we are taking your call on whether congress can balance impeachment and legislating. more ofcontinue to take your calls and get your comments by social media. john writes on facebook, "the problem is not -- can they legislate? -- it is what they are proposing. they push their socialist agenda. "o the story in roll call says the senate democrats aim to force a floor vote, the greenhouse

emissions, which will place a significantly more stringent obama era regulation, a into minority leader charles schumer it will trigger a vote on a plan as part of a series of rollcall votes the democrats in the chamber plan to highlight bills and issues they say republicans, led by majority leader mitch mcconnell, or ignoring, schumer said on thursday, so we look forward to that action in the senate, coming up. that is a rollcall peace. -- piece. pat is hanging on in michigan. hi there. caller: two quick messages. earlierthe caller say that the treaty signed by bill clinton back in 1988 and 1999 did not involve ukraine. online, many go websites carry the treaty itself. you can actually read it yourself. i just want to read a couple of lines, to the senate of the united states with a view to

receiving the advice and consent of the senate to ratification, i transmit herewith the treaty between the united states and america and ukraine, a mutual, legal assistance in criminal kiev inwas annexed in july, 1998. then he goes on to say the treaty is one of a series of modern mutual legal assistance treaty is being negotiated by the united states in order to counter criminal activities more effectively. now, there's a lot more in there. they do you guys can find it and actually put it up and read it. the second thing i want to say is no, right now, in the atmosphere in washington, there is no way they will be of the and carry on impeachment at the same time. i think the democrats are just too focused on impeachment, and the republicans are focused on thatering all of the bills

the democrats wanted in the past that they are very much against. thank you very much. host: thank you. wanda: from hayward, california now. about, what do you think congress balancing legislating and impeachment? can it be done? caller: yes, it can. can you hear me? i hope you give me a little bit of time. i have not called in years. but if the democrats are so corrupt, why is the trump hisnistration, and all of staff, either in jail, indicted, or on their way to jail? fox news and the conservative d so much spewe propaganda. just listening this morning to the republicans call in let's you know that the propaganda

definitely done his job to misinform most of its and to keep them uninformed. if there was a congressman, a republican congressman, who was the first to come out for impeachment. when he went back home to his state, and he held a town hall to justify why he voted for impeachment, there was a little old lady in the audience, and i wish you would get that clip, and she was just dumbfounded. she said she had never, ever heard of all the things this man said trump had done. this lets you know that fox news has done a superb job of keeping theamerican republicans

most uninformed, misinformed -- i am not going to call them anything else but that -- people in america, and the world sees it. if obama had done half the things that they republicans have done, they have obstructed him, and then they will turn trump isd say, "oh, the -- he is the person who -- everybody has done everything to him." i guess they forgot the last eight years of obama, when they obstructed everything, even the supreme court nominee. i guess they forgot that obama had to try and do executive orders, because they would not allow anything to pass under him. trump came in doing executive orders, and he is still doing them. trump is golfing. they complained, if obama went to the golf course, but if you would put up who is doing the most golfing, was that obama, or

is it now trump, if you would just put things on there -- because these people will not know it, listening to fox. they will not get that. obama did not run of the deficit. republicans run up the deficit, and an estimate of the democrats get in, they will say "ooh, look at the deficit, look at the deficit," but when they are running it up with tax bills and everything else, oh, it is fine, deficits do not matter at that point. host: wanda, we will let you go and get some other callers in here. we have a couple from ohio waiting period we want to point out a piece from the "washington post." "new revelations test the focus of impeachment." they write --

host: we will see what happens when the house comes back this week. let's go to david. david is in akron, ohio, independent caller. hi, david. caller:hi. good morning. you, i just want to tell am an independent, i am neither democrat nor republican any longer, because i think that both parties are corrupt, and as far as whether or not the

democrats can get anything done, you know, along with impeachment, well, the problem is the all of our key, not they were tied up with impeachment. because the caller, i think two callers ago, i think rightly pointed out, when the democrats had three branches of government, not much got done, prosecute thenot wall street criminals. he was better than trump, but he did not really go after the oligarchy. economyfor a mixed cured i believe in free enterprise, but free enterprise with those that does not allow big money to have a corrupting influence, that they do not buy politicians, that they do not pollute the environment come as a free enterprise is good, but it has got to be regulated. now, i also believe in democratic socialism. you have a lot of people that cry about, acts like democratic socialism is so terrible. well, if they think it is so terrible, they should not take a social security check.

they should not a medicare check. they should not drive on the interstate highway. they should not call in the police and fire for help. they should not visit our national parks. if they are ever unfortunate enough to be in a disaster, they should not ask for disaster relief. this is all democratic socialism. it is not evil if it is democratic, that is the key, but we can have a make. ground, youa middle do not have to have extreme left or extreme right, you can have a middle ground, but money corrupts, and it will corrupt americans just like it corrupts anybody anywhere. you have put the people in the country first, and that is why i am a main street patriot in our wall street patriot, but god bless america, and let's use common sense, let's not let the oligarchy brainwash us with their propaganda. host: all right, thanks. let's go to iowa now, where senator joni ernst, the republican from iowa, has a townhall meeting. here is an exchange she had with

a constituent about the ukrainian whistleblower. [video clip] so mr. trump, i can nay, we could justa or make sure that we are strong in the face of adversity, and that is what we have to do is just encourage those other countries, so that is what we will continue to do. >> i beg your pardon, but all of our allies he is pushing aside, if you can find him on twitter, and he ends up with, "oh, we love people from north korea," or "we love russia," but where, and i understand the nonanswer and sir -- i get it. sen. ernst: i can't speak for him. >> i know you can't speak for him, but you can speak for yourself. : i can come and i've

said time and again, north korea, not our friend, russia, not our friend, and i have made that very clea. >> what about whistleblowers? sen. ernst: whistleblowers should be protected. i agree with chuck grassley. laws need to be enforced. >> yes, but we are not hearing -- sen. ernst: that is because our media is not covering those issues. >> you have to say it for our media to cover it. sen. ernst: whistleblowers need to be protected. host: that is senator joni ernst. michael, republican, can congress balance impeachment with legislating? can it do both? should they do both? caller: thank you for letting me speak for a few minutes. i am an autho orthodox priests. a politician, but

when i saw someone who was not in the pocket of anyone, i jumped on the bandwagon. ohio is an important state to win the election. he had his very first rally in ohio back in 2015. i said the invocation at the rally. and then in a private room, when i spoke with the president of the president, he said " father michael, let me tell you something. i am going to try a few things, i am even going to try to get prayer back in school," and you know the president, just recently, has gotten the bible back in high schools as literature, and they can have bible schools again. he went in as the president. he is not a politician. people that were his close allies, reince priebus and others, they were lego eventually, because they did not see the same vision, and they were not on the same page with him. and he went in there to try to clean the swamp, to get rid of the career politicians that are our taxing off of

dollars, and he was someone who was not afraid to speak at i have lived through 12 different presidents, and this is the first one and all those years that is not afraid to open his mouth and stand up for the american people. he has four countries, he is for life, he is for god. thishis witchhunt, impeachment is horrible, because you have a president who opens his mouth, a non-politician working for all of us, and it does not balance out. it does not balance out at all. so those are my comments. let's pray for our country. even if hillary clinton would have won, i would have respected the office of the president. i would have worked with the government as best i could to make our country what it is supposed to be, and that is what it should be, even with president trump. i have a friend who works in the white house, let me say one last thing -- you are not going to media,is on any news thoughts or where ever come up with the president has between 20 and 30 meetings a day in the white house, probably the most hellacious schedule that any

executive what have, and hear the president of the united states had at least one meeting, says to that group -- does someone have a bible? can someone starts with a prayer? and you will not hear that anywhere in the news media. god bless our president, god bless our country, let's get on with things and let us work for all of us. thank you. host: from ohio to texas, marshall, texas, to be exact, democrat, james is on the line. good morning. caller: thank you for letting me call. i want to say the lead level of incompe on both sides of this argument is deafening. the individual who said obama did not run of the deficit is clearly mathematically challenged. my frustration as a democrat is this -- i do think we can balance impeachment, but i do not think we can do it in the fashion that is being put forth here we now have the leaks coming out that the whistleblower had connections to had connections to

biden, so i the end of the day, if we are going to get an effective if easement, we need to go ahead and vote on it. let's get the salukis overcome -- circus over, let's get the facts out as they may be, so that blue dog democrats like myself can see the faqs for ourselves. the problem that i have as a democrat is that our party has fled so far left, especially here in texas with this incompetent fool that we put up that has a nickname, i happen to be married to an hispanic, that has a nickname that pretends to be hispanic, goes out and makes a statement that says, for all churches or all religious institutions that fail to a knowledge or recognize gay marriage, we are going to take their tax status, their tax protection away. that is the most ridiculous statement that i have ever heard of. is he going to apply that to the muslim mosques? i mean come on both sides of the aisle, we have gotten so radical and so far left and so far right, the division

between the two is almost insurmountable, and it is difficult for a blue dog democrat, such as myself, to even support my party any more by these far-left radicals such as aoc, such as ilhan omar. i would like to see someone pulled back to centerleft or center-right, regardless of which side of the fence it falls. at least in the early 1990's in late 1980's, when we had people like bill clinton, he knew when it was time to slingshot back to the center and become more, let's say, common sense driven. that is all i have to say. host: all right, james, thanks for calling. more of your calls in a moment, but back out to california for a short bit from the california congressman josh harder. he is a democrat, impeachment among the top of that is townhall. here is a look at the exchange. [video clip] i am up to here with that

impeachment stuff, all right? rep. harder: thank you. i thank you for your question, and thank you for your service. let's be clear, i did not run for office to be in this situation. iis was not my goal, and think it is a circus out there in washington, but it is a circus that we have to hold accountable. and as many of you know, i have to go in onluctant, ver this. in thehink what we saw ukraine phone call, where i saw and what i recommend i urge you to read it, is the president putting his vendetta ahead of national security, and i think that is blatant corruption, and i think it requires an inquiry. that is exactly what should happen. and i think the same standard we are holding here i hope would be my same standard we had a democratic president at another time that is doing the same thing, asking for political dirt

on a domestic opponent, with china or with the u.k. or some other ally across the country or some other person, and so that is why i think it is important. that said, my focus in this this or has not changed. the top priorities that i have a mixture sure we are securing our water infrastructure, we are bringing more doctors to the valley, we are fixing our transit, our transportation and infrastructure, for the 86,000 people that drive over the altar pass pass -- altamonte every single day, and i have a constitutional obligation to do my job, to make sure that happens, but the first focus is to make sure we are responsive for this community and delivering for the valley and reminding people that california ultimately is more than san francisco and los angeles, which is what i think my job really comes down to. dubuque, iowa, republican caller. pat, can congress balance impeachment with legislating? caller: absolutely not.

they did not do it in 2014, either, when obama was there, and they held up all them bills in the senate. the first caller in a long time on your "washington journal" that made sense was james. i just wish we would go back to our united states as a nation of laws. we have laws, and they should be, and that is the way it should be. the way it is going now, anybody can break the law. all this propaganda and all that, it is totally ridiculous. yes, for 40 years i was a democrat. i just changed to a republican, which i should have did independent, which i probably will yet, but this is all nonsense it i mean, let's go by -- you know the law. the law says you do it this way, the law says you do it that way,

but as far as saying that, trump done.getting nothing your house and your senate, bring up all these bills. the president just signs them. he don't bring them up. when heng with obama held everything up when the republicans have the house and the senate, and they had 387 bills. they never reached obama. was it his fault? nope. i don't believe it is his fault. i don't believe it is president trump's fault. thank you for taking michael. host: pat from dubuque, iowa. "toie sent us this text, be honest, legislation has not .een done for years mcconnell is the problem, not impeachment," writes maggie in a text for us. the president is tweeting this morning. i think we have seen one so far. he talks about that "washington examiner" headline that we discussed.

aides worked with whistleblower. is a lying mess!" if we get relevant tweets, we will share them with you. hi, tobin. before me, ialler agree with them. the problem is politics. can they balance both, or will they do it? nasty virus, and it is on both sides, whether republicans are inch control, democrats hold everything and up. when democrats are in control, republicans hold everything up. sayingitical parties are i want one house bill, but i will get three contractors to do it.

that is not even make sense. at the end of the day, both parties are failing. they are both failing the people, especially the senate. nothing has been done in 10 years. they talk about syria, troops being pulled out of syria. i want to know when democrats became warmongers, because it would have happened two years ago. in fact, that didn't happen, they said "we should not go over there." so it is politics. people playing politics mainly so because they do not like president trump. now, i am not for the man or against the man, but it is the politics of it all, and it is whatever advances the ball on whoever's side is what they are going to do. and they need to make this impeachment thing and vote on it. host: all right, tobin. thanks for calling your stephen wrightson facebook this morning, "probably not," responded to the question -- can congress balance impeachment with legislating? "probably not, they can't even .alance a budget

that is their main responsibility." another, "impeachment inquiry can go on and let the chips fall where they may." "they have not for the last few years. why should anything change?" don bacon, a republican from nebraska, was asked by prescription drug prices at this event. here is the exchange. [video clip] -- and i think we all agree -- but i am worried about what i , in the recent

inquiry resulted -- [indiscernible] preserve the research that we have. our country leaves the research into pharmaceuticals. you don't uphold the quality of the research, you will suffer. nebraska atcon from a town hall. broken bow, nebraska now, a democrat, chuck. caller: good morning, sir, how are you?

host: i am doing fine. caller: i am just amazed at the republican and nietzsche that they have, all of a sudden, the obstructions darted as soon as trump got into office. that is kind of hilarious, when mitch mcconnell said after obama was elected, the first day he was elected, that they were going to make sure that he was a one term president, and they had done everything that they could possibly do to make no legislation passed that makes anything look good for the country. it amazes me. and the things that a amazes me the most when c-span and other media asks -- well, what are the democrats going to do? my question is asked what are the republicans going to do to stand up to defend our prostitution in our country? i am a disabled -- defend our constitution and our country? i am a disabled vietnam vet. senators every

day, wondering why they are hiding in the bunker while this crop goes on in the white house area it is amazing to me why they just grow a blind eye into this thing. as long as it is a republican, it is ok. do you remember when this guy was, even after it was proven that obama was a united states citizen, he was still pushing the birther crap? host: chuck, thank you for bow,ng, chuck in broken nebraska. thanks for weighing in this morning. emily cochran is a congressional report for the "new york times." she joins us by phone. she talks about impeachment and other issues. good morning, emily. guest: good morning. thank you for having me. host: we will put your article up, which we looked at briefly, "democrats this,

balance impeachment with local concerns." this impeachment issue. guest: so i went to three town halls last week. all three representatives of eventually came out for impeachment, the impeachment inquiry, one of them actually at that town hall. sort ofe preempted any questions at the town hall with their own explanation of what the inquiry , where they stood, and opened the floor for questions, and for the most part, voters seemed satisfied with that explanation and instead wanted concerns,hem on local climate change, their personal policy platforms, and how that was going to get done moving forward. host: we featured anthony brindisi, one of the eight democrats who does not support the impeachment inquiry.

is he getting a lot of pressure? it is fair to say that he is getting a lot of pressure from both sides, because he is in a swing district that both sides know 2020,go either way, come but it seems like he is one of the few left who is really making that calculation. there are enough public is in his district that do support the president, that it is not worth coming out and supporting an inquiry. for someone like representative matt sholes, ultimately the allegations grew to a point where he felt he could come out and support the inquiry. house republican campaign was attacking him anyway for being in favor of it, even before he came out, so it really is kind of a calculation in the face of a lot of pressure, i think both in person and on social media. host: what about new york republicans?

how are they responding to impeachment? guest: for the most part, we see republicans across the country who try their best not to weigh in on this issue but emphasize that they do support the president. a couple whoen have said they would like to see all the facts come out, but for the most part, they are really avoiding weighing in on this issue. host: how about, speaking more broadly about upstate new york and other issues, what else is important to upstate new york these days? there is a lot a conversation about climate change, so what kind of legislation, for example, representative antonio delgado was a particular of the green new deal. aboutt on multiple panes the kind of legislation he was support for it. he spoke a lot about infrastructure and commute, and

even for representative alexandria ocasio-cortez, at one of her town halls, she was really pushing this new platform of helping just move america and level of the discrepancies between the classes. host: overall, which congressional seats are vulnerable in 2020 in new york, and how will impeachment impact those races? guest: certainly, as you said, indisi is onee brend of the most moldable canada, as our representative don't auto and representative rose. all are confident that they are able to hang onto their seats, but certainly there is a chance for impeachment, and the inquiry itself really wants to face full-size of the aisle to come defend these moderates or take it back. president trump won in 2016 by quite a large

margin, where there is room to see that see go back to republicans. host: emily cochrane is a congressional reporter for the "new york times," thank you so much for your time this morning. much appreciated. guest: thanks for having me. host: you bet. by the way, there is a story out of the new york city, police say four people were killed in a shooting in brooklyn, and also injured three others. police did not immediately released be addressed, but it is part of a social club on an online map. .olice will be speaking of it our next call out of oklahoma, craig, republican, good morning. caller: thank you. you have a shulkin i want to point this off -- you have an excellent show. i want to point this out. malcolm made a comment that was prophetic -- the critics of our time in this century are

thinking and categories instead of thinking. and what we need to do as a country is look for truth. well, the impeachment process is based by the founders of bribery, treason, or some high crime and misdemeanor that the president does in office. he is caught. there is a charge. and it was meant to be used when, not half the country, but both parties recognized that charge, and is split through he is impeached and the senate convicts. if it is really destructive to the country. that is what the process was four. if a president does something wrong, i noticed even with nixon, his own party jumped in and said, yeah, we need to act on this, and that is what would happen if president trump really do something. so we need to be objective and look for truth. as far as news people,

unfortunately, when you hear one-story characterizing the something one way and another news source the opposite, you have got to ask yourself the question -- who is telling the truth? fox news has never had to retract a story that we other stations have. i am not saying i am obedient to them, but i will listen to all sides, and i will trust the hard news from fox, because they have not yet been caught by a, whereas the other stations have, so we have to look for truth. that is what we have to look for, people. that is basically who america has to do. if they do something wrong, yes, if and convict, but they have not, don't do it. host: ok, craig p are we have about 25 minutes left in this program. onwill take your thoughts impeachment and legislating and whether congress can do both. the senate come alive gavel to

gavel coverage on c-span2. rest assured we will have plenty of hearings on c-span3 next week , and we will be watching any news coming out of the impeachment story. again come about 25 minutes left in this segment here. coming-- ardel is calling from temple, texas. caller: yes, thank you. it depends on whether the most important thing to you is truth or lies and it also depends on whether you believe that the constitution, the declaration of independence, all of the things that our founders put together for this country is more important than a man. a man can lie. president, over 12,000 lies he has told since he has been in office.

a man can do something wrong, but the constitution is something that is there for all of our protection. vet a 100% disabled vietnam this presidentr did everything in his power to keep from going in the military, and his sons are not in the hastary, but this president the nerve to tell us to stop supporting the kurds. the kurds, for the last two years, have lost 11,000 of their isis, fighting against and you know how many people we lost? we lost six, because the kurds was doing all the fighting. and now he has the nerve, with his no serving self, to tell us or we can given

turkey the permission to destroy the kurds, the people who helped us to fight. all he is doing is what trump wants him to do, and i pray to the lord that something happens to show the people how this man is so dishonest. host: all right, ardel from texas there. president trump announces a phase one trade you with china. this news coming out yesterday afternoon. this is the cbs news website. they report, as others, that the u.s. has three ship or luminary traded with china. part of the deal, china has agreed with some intellectual property protections and will step up with u.s. agricultural purchases, possibly up to $50 billion worth. suspendn, the u.s. will roughly $250ke on

billion in china. president trump says they will both sign it in a meeting in november in chile, and then they will work on other phases. the president was because the value voters summit conference later today. -- the startthat time for the live event at 6:15 p.m. eastern time. talkinge last caller about turkey, the "wall street journal" writing about it. they end the editorial this way --

host: "wall street journal editorial in the -- host: editorial in the "wall street journal" this saturday morning. thomas has been hanging on, guilford, massachusetts. sir, andhank you, thank you for taking my call. i am hoping to vote for a candidate in either party who would be willing to defend because of vision as is the presidential oath. at this point, it is just down to that. i want to find free and fair elections across the entire spectrum, both parties, republican and democrat, and that is really all i am looking for anymore. [laughs] host: all right, thank you,

thomas. stephen is calling from everett, massachusetts. hello to you, stephen. caller: yes, hi, good morning. how are you? host: i am doing fine. caller: i want to let you know that c-span is very fair and balanced. i love your program. i watch it on the weekend only, and you guys are great. to say,k thing i want and i want all of your listeners to understand this, no one -- the democratic house, they don't hate trunk. the media does not hate trump. what the problem is, and everybody should know this, is what the democrats are fighting khameneis donald trump has been doing good. whether you love him or you hate him, he has been doing real good , and what is going to happen is, if he becomes president again, which i think he is going he does great again for the next four years, who do you

think is going to run for president after him? mike pence. mike pence is going to run on allld trump's, you know, the stuff that he has done here so what the democrats are afraid is four more years of donald mike as a republican, pence, if he does the same thing, does good, there's another four years, and then he will get reelected. what the whole problem is the democrats have is that 12 more presidents.ublican that is why they are doing what they are doing. this has nothing to do with hate. they are pulling everything out to get this guy out, because they know he is going to win. he is going to win. this is my opinion. but this is what the problem is. if he becomes president again, that is four more years, and

then mike pence is going to run. that is another four years. and this is what they are afraid of. you are talking 12 more years of a republican president, and that is what they don't want. and i appreciate your time. thank you very much for letting me speak, ok? host: thanks for your time. more calls in a couple of minutes, but we will go to california with sarah, who is joining us by skype, a congressional reporter for the "l.a. times." thanks for joining us. good morning. what has been the reaction in california for the impeachment inquiry? guest: good morning. thanks for having me. it has come up in town halls, but it has not been the prevailing thing people are talking about. most people are focused on prescription drugs or gun control or immigration. once ore mentioned twice about impeachment, but it is not the main question. host: there are also the fires, the saddleridge fire, the "l.a.

times" peace, the city declares emergency as the saddleridge fire is in the valley. that is taking up a lot of the focus recently, huh? guest: it has, when you couple that with the state's largest ailities turning off power to million people, it is 3000 miles away from washington, and that is the big focus right now. host: back to members of congress, with members are having a tough fight in 2020, the you think? take us around the state? . guest: it is predominantly democrat. the democrats are going to target a handful of the republican fees, particularly duncan hunter in the san diego area. time, republicans

are trying to win back some of the seven seas they lost in 2018 , so those freshmen are those once we are keeping an eye on during this recess. ground ins lost orange county, which is a traditional republican stronghold, and we saw that only a few of those freshmen, democratic freshmen, held town halls this time, which is fascinating. one of them, cisneros, who is one of the freshman who signed onto this letter that kind of kick start of the impeachment effort here a few weeks ago, he did not hold a lot of public events him and he did not have a town hall. host: what other issues are out there that are not impeachment, related? what else are other people thinking about right now? guest: gun safety is a big issue in california. you know, there's the environment, controlled nuclear waste, things like that. i mean, a lot of global issues are taking precedent. host: how about the hollywood

community? how active have they been in politics this year, and what are you expecting from them in 2020? guest: you know, they are always active in politics. i think we will see them be more vocal again. moved toa, she washington and is getting arrested a lot, talking about the environment for the next few months. she had a story about that recently. so we will see them pop up here and there. we are not seeing a ton about impeachment just yet. i think people are waiting to see what happens. it is interesting you brought up hollywood, because the house intelligence committee chairman, adam schiff, actually represents the hollywood community, so they do have a direct line to his ear, that is for sure. host: some of the folks from california, they have really prominent positions. you mentioned adam schiff, if the closing, of course, maxine theys, a committee chair, have an elevated platform to act

from. guest: it is something i think a lot of people do not realize. california makes up one and five democrats in congress, so there are a lot of very powerful positions. you have got nancy pelosi and kevin mccarthy, you have got adam schiff leaving the intelligence committee and devin nunes as the ranking member. you also have the oversight committee on the judiciary, the intelligence committee, so they have some pretty big roles. host: we think of money as well when we think of california. we know president trump has been out there recently. how important is california in the bigger money picture this year? guest: i think it will continue to play a major role. the president came out and did a bunch of fundraisers a few weeks ago. he was in san diego and los angeles and went up to san francisco as well. the silicon valley and hollywood, between the two, it is kind of the wallet for

politicians across the country. host: what else are you focusing on as a congressional reporter for the "l.a. times"? guest: i am looking at how the scramble came together to pull the ukraine money together once the white house released it and what that looks like. and for some of the california member sue went to ukraine during recess and talked with on the ground,s, what it actually meant to them. sarah wire, congressional reporter for the "l.a. times," thank you for joining us. guest: thanks for having us. host: hiram, can congress balance impeachment with legislating? ? what do you think caller: yes, i think so. host: what other issues are on your mind? how important is impeachment to you? caller: it is very important.

host: how come? caller: i used to be respectful of the president of the united seees, and now i do not that anymore, because, the reason i say that is trump says he is perfect, so he is an a , when his followers are a d+. he is the smartest man in the world, that means other people must be stupid. what i am trying to say is this , laste said that, uh night in a meeting, he said he is going to be the person to take us to the moon. the people have already been on the moon, so what are you talking about? why -- if he takes a lie detector test, just for the fun of it, with adam schiff, he would lose every time, hands

down. wouldo not know why if he be truthful, if he were truthful, why wouldn't he block all of the subpoenas for people to go up there to testify? he won't let them do it. host: thank you for calling. anna is calling from new carlisle, republican caller. what is the most important issue right now? caller: that congress do something. you have roughly 500 people and then the senate house. each of them have a bunch of people working for them, 20 people, and we are putting all of the money for that. making $150,000 a year or so why are we paying congress $175,000, when they are not doing anything? host: what in particular, anna, are you looking to get done? caller: pardon me? host: what particular issues are

most important to you where you want to see some action? caller: i want them to start doing something. the democrats have had control, they have not done anything. they have started this appeasement thing, and they go on and on and on and on. they should have impeached obama thatver he said, talks to guy on the open mic, that after he was reelected, he would have talked to putin, ok? nobody investigated that. nobody investigated hillary. all of this was put on the democrats, but the republicans go gung ho. it is time for something to happen in congress, and i tell this man was put in there for a reason he is a businessman, not a politician. every single one in the house and in the senate need to bring

their tax forms forward for at least five years. host: ok, anna, we get the point. we want to get some other viewpoints and. we want to see another ad. we have been seeing clips from town halls and ads. called another one, republicans for the rule of law, this one targeting new york congressman don teco. [video clip] theepresentative ted poe, government is in crisis. >> president trump asked his andinian counterpart to investigate his political flow, joe biden. >> this is an abuse of power. he will not stop in less republicans like you say it is wrong. your voiceive katko, is critical. stand up. host: democratic line, hi, mary. caller: hi.

i have been waiting. some of these callers, it is like, i don't know, they are not paying attention. they are not listening. they just make up stories. and they talk about democrats not passing bills -- i have been watching the house and they passed a whole bunch of bills are they are sitting in the senate, but mcconnell will not bring them forward, because he knows, or maybe trump told him, i am not going to sign if any of those past. host: are any of those important to you? caller: well, the climate, the know, what are the other two that i am trying ?o think there are a lot of good bills that they have passed, and they are just sitting there appeared trump has been spending money on air force one, you know how much the debt is now? i mean, he has got the debt at trillions of dollars, and the deficit, i mean, he is spending

a bunch of money, and all of the security, and people do not see this. all of the rallies and all the profanities, his language, i mean, he is not presidential. he does not follow the cause of vision and our democracy. i mean, he is a racist. he started like that, dividing people, and i mean, how much more can america since a iustain this? i mean, it is ridiculous, and all of these callers are calling, these old people, they have not been paying attention. they don't listen. they are just like him. this country was found -- everybody kaman caravans, when came in caravans, with no papers, and this country was

founded with immigrants all over the world, and everybody knows that. you know that. host: all right, let's get that he the line from washington, d.c. etty is a democrat. can congress balance impeachment with legislating? one, congressk, already has enough to impeach this so-called president. i am all for americans, and i feel that he has endangered my reelected, if he is he wants to be just another hitler. -- if he gets impeach, he will refuse to be impeached, and he will refuse to leave, and ,hat if he does get reelected

after his eight years are up, he is going to refuse to leave. and i think the country is in danger with this man, because we are losing our allies, and we will have no friends in the world are we will be on our own, and that is what he wants. mainly, i am apprehensive my my family for mytributing children, grandchildren, and my five great-grandchildren, and they are -- we have given them a , but,sense of security racist raised

their heads down in charlottesville, it was an awakening that we needed to have , and i agree with the previous caller. this guy is a racist. this guy wants to be a dictator. this guy is walking all over the constitutional rules, and nobody seems to be stopping them. host: all right, betty, thank you for calling. a couple of program notes, we will show a couple of townhall's tonight at 8:00. prior to that, at 6:15 p.m. eastern, we will take you live to a speech by the president at the values voters summit. it live here on c-span kurils a want to mention -- youkers," with tears

can watch it live here on c-span. we want to mention "newsmakers," which airs here at 10:00 a.m. we have democratic national committee chair tom perez. take a look. [video clip] perez: security is a huge issue, and it still is, and we have built an incredibly talented team, but make no mistake, the russians are at it, other foreign actors are at it, and they are at it, and they continue because they can do it with impunity. you have a president right now who is sending his attorney general around the world to try what the senate intelligence committee on a bipartisan basis just said, which is "the russians tries to influence our election."

except todisputable donald trump rudy giuliani and a few of rudy giuliani's friends, who just got indicted. fromould be getting help the federal government to protect the integrity of elections, and the "we" is not just the dnc, the "we" is state and local government. >> and you are not? mr. perez: you saw the reporting chair ofrmer the elections in security, she was given the heisman, as we say, "don't bring it up," the president said. and i cannot trust this government to help us out. and you saw the mueller report. allegethe indictments that the russians were attempting to hack into state and local systems, and they got into one state and got roughly half a million names. this is really serious stuff. they did it before.

they will continue to do it. we have built a robust of a structure. i will never look anyone in the eye and say, "we are bulletproof," because we know it is an arms race. than wear better off have been then when i got there. we are continuing to fortify. we continue to work with partners. unfortunately, one of them is not the federal government. host: dnc chair tom perez on "newsmakers," tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and then again at 6:00 p.m.. james, republican, good morning. caller: i am calling about the impeachment here it i think they should drop it now, because the second they got isis, they were to impeach him on something, and nancy pelosi to move with the official inquiry, they should drop it. my biggest subject is, after 9/11, why are we even having issues with the southern

borders? bush and obama should have secured that. it should not be up to trump. they blame him for a lot of things, sure, he does not talk like a politician, he does not act like a politician, but to get some of these other people come on, like anybody you see, hillary, obama, and he talks like a rhodes scholar, but look at what he has done, nothing. and when they say that congress is pushing impeachment, no, it is the house democrats. a lot of people don't realize that. host: james will be the last caller there from pennsylvania, but we thank the close to 60 people calling it today, weighing in, plus those who texted us and sent comments by social media on this question of congress and impeachment and legislating. they are back in this coming week, so expect a full week of activity, news conferences, hearings, florida based on various issues this week. we thank you for joining us this saturday for your we will be back tomorrow, 7:00 a.m. eastern, just like every day,

for another addition of "washington journal." enjoy the rest of your day. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> next, a discussion on the trump administration's foreign policy strategy, including the president's decision to withdraw troops from syria, with former national security advisor a charming master. foreigndiscussion on policy with former national security advisor susan rice. after that, a conversation on the importance of military and civilian national service. book tv has live weekend coverage at the southern festival of books from nashville, tennessee, starting

today at 11:00 a.m. eastern, cheering chris edmonds with his book "no surrender," jason their paro, with "a good provider is one who leads," paul on his book "on the plane of snakes," and mmr on -- and a memoir. the live coverage from the southern festival of books continue sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern. susan nyman will discuss her book "learning from the germans." samantha power talks about her book "the education of an idealist." and the book discussion on "religion of fear." be sure to watch our coverage starting today at 11:00 a.m. eastern and 1:00 p.m. sunday on booktv on c-span2. >> former national security advisor h.r. mcmaster joined national security experts for a discussion on the trump administration foreign-policy strategy, including the