on the agenda, a bill change ofmission in effect disclosures and individual investments. in the evening, president trump hold a rally. on c-span two, the senate is back and will vote to override the president's veto of a resolution terminating his national emergency declaration at the southern border. anators will consider resolution from democrats it would reverse the administration's new epa rule on carbon emission standards. committee onhouse elections hold hearing on voting rights. coming up on today's "washington journal" chris died and rick santorum join us to discuss their -- chris dodd and

frank santorum join us. bridget bowman talks about the key house and senate house and o watch in the upcoming 2020 elections. ♪ yeas are 354, nays are 64 recorded as present. two thirds being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended. the joint resolution is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. ♪ host: in a bipartisan vote with 129 republicans joining democrats, the house of representatives voted to oppose president trump's decision to withdraw u.s. troops from syria. the resolution also calls on president trump to present "a clear and specific plan for the enduring defeat of isis." good morning, everyone.

we will begin with your take on this debate in washington. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independence, your number, 202-748-8002. you can text us with your first name, city, and state at 202-748-8003 or join the conversation on twitter at @cspanwj and facebook.com/cspan. we will get to your thoughts on syria in a minute. we begin with breaking news. we have learned,"'s been elijah cummings passed away earlier this morning at the age of -- elijah cummings passed away earlier this morning at the age of 68. you can see his long career if you go to our website. we have featured over 900 videos with the congressman. elijah cummings passing away at the age of 68.

the debate yesterday on the noted, aor was, as we bipartisan one with republicans and democrats coming together to oppose the president's decision on syria. eliot engel drafted a bipartisan resolution. here he is talking about why he thought it was needed. [video clip] >> what kind of message does this send to the world? how can america be trusted to keep its word when we betray one of our close partners -- loyal and faithful partners? just throw them out like an old shoe. how can america be trusted to keep its word when we make impulsive decisions that have such an immediate, catastrophic impact on thousands of people? congress must speak out against this disgrace. the measure we are considering will send an unambiguous, bipartisan, hopefully bicameral rejection of trump's policy in

syria. this measure calls on the white house to develop a strong, clear strategy on how to defeat isis now that president trump has sparked its resurgence. it expresses strong support for syrian kurdish forces, recognizing their commitment and sacrifices in the fight against isis, and it calls on turkey to immediately stop the lee terry action in-- military syria. american foreign policy has become nothing more than a tool to advance his own interest. today, we make clear that congress is a coequal branch of government and we want nothing to do with this disastrous policy. host: congressman angle is the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the house. republicans who opposed this resolution agree with president trump. some of them spoke on the floor. matt gaetz, here is his argument. [video clip] >> if turkey is not acting like

a nato ally, perhaps the sensible solution is to remove taking -- turkey from nato rather than keeping the united states inserted in syria. i have heard my colleagues say we should not leave without a strategy. perhaps it is logical we should not stay in syria without a strategy. we have tens of americans stuck between armies of tens of thousands who have been fighting each other for hundreds of years and who will likely be fighting each other hundreds of years from now. our mission to deprive isis of caliphate land has been accomplished with the help of the kurds and over $9 million being paid to the kurds. they have been trained, funded, and equipped by the united states and we cannot accept the proposition that if we support a group of people because our interests align in one case, they somehow morally binds our country to every conflict they have, past, present, and future.

this would constrain the utility of america's future alliances. the blood of america's patriots is our most sacred currency and must be spent when -- only when absolutely vital. we are not the world's police force. we are not the world's piggy bank. i support an american first policy. host: republican matt gaetz the floor when the house abated a resolution that opposes the president's decision to -- debated a resolution that opposes the president's decision to withdraw from syria. congressional leaders went to the white house, as many of you know. in that meeting, according to the new york times, president trump said they wanted this meeting -- i don't want this meeting, but i am doing it. it was the white house that called the meeting. he also referred to general mattis as the world's most

overrated general and the president went on to say at another point he told speaker pelosi he cared more about defeating terrorism than she did and he said to her, you are just a politician. she said back, sometimes, i wish you were. following that meeting, chuck schumer came to the cameras to talk to reporters and here is what he said about the context of that meeting and what followed between the leaders and the president. [video clip] >> the president had no real plan for containing isis rather than relying on syrians and turks. decade,we spend a billions of dollars and lost lives trying to curtail isis if on a phone call, on a whim, the president is going to undo all of that and turn this over to the turks and the syrians? i would also say one other

thing, he was insulting, spit it -- insulting, particularly to the speaker. he called her a third rate , he said there are communists involved and you guys might like that, this is not a dialogue, it was sort of a diatribe, a nasty diatribe not focused on the facts, particularly the fact of how to curtail isis, a terrorist organization that aims to hurt the united states in our homeland. host: that was minority leader chuck schumer, democrat of new york, after the meeting between congressional leaders in the president. after they gathered and after democrats went and talked to reporters, the president weeded nancy pelosi needs -- tweeted nancy pelosi needs help fast. there is either something wrong with her upstairs or she doesn't like our country.

she had a meltdown in the white house today. sickfor her, she is a very person. this is an official white house photo -- she took that photo and put it on her twitter page at the top of her twitter page yesterday. rand paul, the senator of kentucky is defending the president's decision and writes this in usa today's op-ed pages. during every conflict as we attempt to extricate ourselves, there is always a chorus of hawks who scream about what will happen when we leave. stayually happens if we anyway. iraq, afghanistan, now syria. we hear our presence could be needed for decades. to what end? i don't see what our national interest is in policing the middle east in nation building.

thankfully, neither does president trump. we turn to all of you to get your take on this debate happening in washington. matthew in pittsburgh, and independent. go ahead. caller: good morning, greta, how are you today? host: i am doing fine. what do you think about the decision to withdraw from syria? caller: i think it is a terrible shame what he did to our allies. we have kind of forgotten about thekurds since the end of first world war when we were supposed to be signatories to help them create their own country, so we have abandoned them for the last 100 years. we finally get them back, they i thinkr us and president trump should be ashamed of himself. i also think he should resign. he seems to me to be a perfect russian agent, does whatever

vladimir putin's wants. i am really disappointed for our country, i think he is the worst president we have ever had. host: many of the papers reporting inside that meeting between congressional leaders in the president, the speaker of the house told the president -- paraphrasing here, all roads with him lead back to mr. putin. let's go to mark in lexington, missouri, democratic caller. what do you think? caller: i think the president usingto start taking and our government before he makes decisions because when we pulled out of the middle east over said took pullout, he just made the decisions for himself and it seems like lately, he has been making the decisions without our

representatives to back him up. host: did you vote for him, by the way? caller: no. needs toyou think he talk to the officials, the military, lawmakers, etc. before he makes this kind of decision? exactly.eah, presidentthe other said -- host: stephen in windham, connecticut. caller: thanks for taking my call, lady greta. i think this argument that they have been fighting for hundreds of years, these are radical groups,s, transnational they haven't been fighting for hundreds of years. gaetz honestly think a

battlefield victory against the united states of america are going to make these radical kinder orgentler and do you think it is going to supercharge them? opening ups is just islamic phase of radicalism. this is a really bad move. forces inst 6 special the last 5 years. it was a price worth paying and nobody wants to see our good people die on the battlefield. sometimes, we have to let them do their job. it is degrading to see this go down. ,ost: if you go to house.gov you can find the language of the

resolution lawmakers voted on yesterday. in it, it says this is a nonbinding resolution. it says whereas in january 2019, dan coats stated in congressional testimony the conflicts in iraq and syria generated a large poll of skills and battle hardened fighters and the group has returned to roots.la warfare isis is intent on researching and the resolution goes on to say whereas during the counter isis campaign in syria, thousands of isis fighters were captured including foreign fighters from around the world allies. threats to our approximately 70,000 women and atldren are currently held the internally displaced persons camp and another camp in southeast syria.

-- isis is already "seeking to establish safe haven in this place, aiming to recruit individuals for -- who are 'susceptible to coercion and enticement.'" let's go to doug in arkansas, a republican. what do you think about the decision to withdraw from syria? caller: i support president trump. i just wanted to make one correction. it is alaska, not arkansas. right. am sorry, you are not thinking this morning. caller: president trump has just ien gradually -- as understand it, gradually withdrawing our troops and he hisbeen spot on as far as

explanations. was to our main purpose solve the isis problem and that has been done. i think the kurds are good fighters. i believe we still might be able to support the kurds. americans -- to hear them talking about the kurds and turkey and all of this, it is silly. i don't think americans in general know much about the area . i think president trump is doing a great job and i am disappointed that congress did what they did -- or the house, anyway. host: just so you know, there is matching language that is being proposed in the senate as well. it is a bipartisan resolution that could come to the floor in the senate soon as well.

caller: well, it is too early to tell. happens. what turkey is very capable of handling their commitment in the area. the russians have been there supporting syria a lot longer than we have and i just think president trump has got a better feel for what is going on and even some of the military people -- military people like -- our army, our military did a great job minimizing isis. i believe we even had a coalition to fight isis with the russians in syria, as odd as that may be. you might know more about that than i do. i think president trump knows what he is doing and just let him be commander-in-chief. host: okay, doug.

the president yesterday according to the new york times in that meeting cited a letter he had sent to president erdogan october 9, three days after the phone call with erdogan in the white house and three days after the president made the decision to withdraw troops. he starts by saying let's work out a good deal, you don't want to be responsible first louder -- for slaughtering thousands of people and i don't want to be responsible for destroying the turkish economy and i will. you can make a great deal. he goes on to say history will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way, it will look upon you forever. don't be a tough guy. don't be a fool. i will call you later. sincerely, president trump. according to bbc, the reaction to that letter from president he rejected it and

threw it in the bin. presidential forces the letter was described as void of diplomatic grace. the best response was the start of the syria operation on the same day. north carolina, democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i really disagreed with that last caller. i don't know where he gets a lot of his information. i am so disappointed in our president. we just had a few fighters in .yria they were there to train them. the president knew once he pulled those troops out, there was no way they could fight against turkey. i think the president is only thinking about his own interest, where he has towers there. why would you remove military

from syria and put a bunch of them in saudi arabia, who has plenty of military power? i am very upset about this. yemi in bowie, maryland, what do you think? caller: i think president trump should remove the troops. that was a good one and we should give him credit for doing that. we cannot be the police man of the world. action foris removing our troops. why are we going to let our -- i came to this

country about 40 years ago. i went to school here. good one.ry is a i lost a lot of college students in that war and i have some of our friends now. donenk what donald trump -- this time we should give him credit for that one. host: al is also an independent in tennessee. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. these 300 or so congressman and these callers that want us there, we need to ask them can you define the conditions we need to see to leave? if you can't, i guess we are going to be there forever. europeans are wringing their

hands that we are going to leave, except they don't have the capabilities to back us. they spent all their money on social programs. let me give you a demonstration or illustration. i can drive around in a walmart parking lot here in tennessee nic purple heart tags, bronze -- tennessee and i see purple heart tags, bronze stars -- if i drive around the shopping mall, you will not find any license tag that has anything to do with the military. host: the new york times notes this morning about this boat, vote,ntions 354 -- this now mentions 354 members of congress. three are its,nd chip roy, jodey heights, and bob gibbs of ohio voted present.

present.ash also voted the resolution was not the first bipartisan rebuke by congress of mr. trump's mercurial approach to foreign policy. they are most comfortable criticizing him on matters of international affairs and have previously joined democrats to denounce the administration's unflagging support of saudi arabia after the killing of jamal khashoggi. bill in georgia, democratic caller. say it i would like to is a terrible mistake trump did doeshe only reason trump

these things is he wants to be able to keep his towers in turkey and stuff. being overseas for a long period of time is not unusual. we are still in germany, a whole bunch of countries. we have bases in afghanistan and iraq. we are going to be there for a heck of a long time. important to bring everybody out of where the kurds need us to be? we never learn from our history. after -- lost a lot fighting against russia and taking russia out of afghanistan, we abandon them and by abandoning them, they became the taliban and other groups. we have nobody to blame for what is going to happen but ourselves because a lot of these people

are going to lose family members and hate us. terroristsecomes against us. we are creating the next generation of terrorists to come here. host: john in indiana, what do you think this morning? is john and i am a 1956 vietnam veteran and i voted for democrats, republicans, and independents. pulling people out of syria is a good idea no matter what happens to people from other countries, sorry. california, independent, your take on this debate in washington. in, i am just called kind of unprepared because i just woke up. what i want to say is i think

trump did one of the worst inngs he could have done pulling troops out and this toves it open for the turks up. these kurds i was in korea right after the war was over and i, myself, had i know howkorean -- i would've felt at that time had we pulled out of korea and left those guys there to fight the north koreans. i think we should have stayed there because we were not fighting, we were supervising like i was doing over when i had 11 guys i supervised.

his bone trump, with spur bailed out of going into service in vietnam, i don't see how he can figure that he should .ave abandoned those kurds they saved us a lot of bodies by fighting in iraq. toust wish he had gone over vietnam like the man he tries to claim he is now. host: listen to the argument made by some republicans who voted against this resolution. this is tom reed, a new york congressman on the floor yesterday. [video clip] >> i want to remind my colleagues one of the problems we face in turkey and syria today is a failure of congressional leadership to address this issue.

when i stood on this very floor during the obama administration and the question of syria came up, i remember many of my colleagues agreeing with me that we should not be in a syria with boots on the ground rushing -- risking our most precious asset without a clear resolution to do so. we failed in the leadership in this body. that is why as we go through this resolution, i understand the turkish sanctions, but make no mistake about it. by voting yes, you are authorizing the use of military force of our men and women on syrian soil. if force needs to be reapplied, i do not to be -- i do not hear from and remember -- any member that we have not authorized our men and women to be there. it is time for us to set aside political cowardice because we cannot make the hard forces of

approving a military force resolution. we should join and unite the house, the senate, and the white house in one declaration that if we put our men and women in harm's way, stand by it and stand by the commander-in-chief with regards to that request. host: part of the debate on the house floor yesterday when 354 voted tof congress oppose the president. 354 to 60 voted to oppose the president's decision to withdraw from syria. it is your turn to give washington your take. john in tennessee, a republican. go ahead. withr: i agree completely low call and the column you showed a few minutes ago. we are over $22 trillion in debt and we have spent trillions all

over the middle east for the .ast 18, 19 years all they have done is create more enemies for this country. i appreciate president trump, his heart is in the right place trying to bring these troops home. we should not be so eager to send our troops all over the world. -- modern-day winston churchill's, so i support congressman reed in the statement he just made an president trump. host: patrice in indianapolis, democratic caller. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i was wanted to say

pretty scared about what the president did. as the president of the united , you need your departments to discuss a plan to pull those troops out. you cannot announce on television after you get a call and sit back and allow another tontry you just talk to overtake the country while your troops were there. prepare. no time to bush went after because of 9/11. they did the best they could to dismantle that group. i was thinking we should oppose it. we should send troops to get

back online and get the weaponry they need to protect themselves. ist is so wrong and he making statements, the president is about how they did not help us. they did help us. and theyfor their help did accept us. as a country, we should acknowledge that. we have all stood on their word. to go back on our word, there is something wrong with that. to saudi arabia? --hink there was a plan i believe everything he is doing russia. is to help

i don't know why he is doing this as the president of the united states. i don't know why he is embracing a lot of things and saying they are good people -- they are good people, they are bad people, no. think of what they have done to people. why thenfusing to me --sident would not sit down sit down and discuss what is our strategy? what should we do? let's give a date to them and -- don't announce it to the world, do it quietly. host: i want to know for you and

others in the washington post that they note for many in the region, trump's abandonment of erosion ofa long trust that began under the administration of barack obama. his decision not to stand by the 2011 is president in frequently contrasted with russia's unwavering support for assad. obama's a treat from his redline ultimatum on the use of chemical weapons by the syrian government after hundreds of -- died in an attack outside damascus called into question washington's credibility. his nuclear deal with iran was seen by some as a capitulation to iran and a betrayal of u.s. allies in the middle east who were more concerned about iran's pursuit of ballistic missiles and regional expansionism.

that is the washington post noting criticism of president barack obama's administration toward syria as well. bill in georgia, independent. caller: how is it going? good morning. it is quite chilly here in evans, georgia, it is in the 40's, believe it or not. getting back to the things on the world scene, i am not a trump supporter at all, but i have to say i support his actions for withdrawing our troops and the reasons behind them as he stated, we should never have been the police force of the world. that is why we have the united nations, in my opinion. that is who should be taking over control. go along with military action, which i think

the only time that has happened is in the korean conflict and the only reason that happened was because russia was boycotting and they were on the security council so they were not able to veto that. host: as we noted at the top of today's program, we learned earlier this morning around 2:00 a.m., close to 3:00 a.m., congressman elijah cummings passed away. according to his office, it was due to health complications. his colleagues on capitol hill are reacting to the news on twitter. hakeem jeffries tweeting out deeply saddened by the passing of chairman elijah cummings. he represented west baltimore with strength and dignity. heaven has gained an angel of justice. may he forever rest in power. that is one reaction from members of congress.

senator roy blunt saying elijah cummings was a good friend and powerful advocate for what he believed. the last time i saw him, he thanked me for working with carla hayden, the librarian of congress. he saw a lot of things change in we lifetime, but understood were not where we should be yet. my heart is broken. as i weep personally and for his family, community, his unmatched integrity and leadership leaves a remarkable integrity -- legacy. his struggle for justice and freedom lives on. may his memory be for a blessing. some of the reaction from elijah cummings'- of elijah passing away.

robert in pennsylvania, republican. back to our conversation. what do you think about republicans, democrats coming together? vietnami am a disabled veteran and i agree with the syria.nt to get out of speaking of abandoning the kurds, how many people did we abandon in vietnam? host: robin in cleveland, tennessee, it is your turn. caller: first, i would like to

say these republicans are not telling the truth when they say weren't fighting. -- we were fighting. the kurds lost people for us. when a democrat says something you don't think is like, you always chime in. i noticed that about you all the time. what we need to understand is why is it that donald trump does benefit?g for putin's everything he does goes back to putin. for future reference, your job is to sit there. if you cannot correct republicans telling lies, don't correct no democrat. host: we will go to debbie, ohio. caller: hi, greta.

the president, he is the commander-in-chief. he has all -- more details then these republicans and democrats running around acting like they know what they are doing. i agree with the veteran who called in about bringing back the draft. take a vote and they said our military commander said 28 of our soldiers would have been massacred in this mess, but the -- we have paid them, send them all kinds of military equipment and republicans and democrats voting against their commander-in-chief because he is involved.they are all follow the money. it is about lindsey graham and lockheed martin and their military contract.

they started this. obama was a loser and president trump is having to clean up all of their corruption. they are all guilty. involved with son ukraine -- they are all criminals and they should go in there with the marines and evict those republican's that have been involved. and the democrats, they are trash. they are destroying their republican i am sick of this coup going on. host: listen to the debate from the floor, this is jason crow who is a veteran himself who spoke in support of this bipartisan resolution. [video clip] >> has a combat veteran, i know the strength of our nation is tied to our partnerships and

alliances around the world. during my deployments, i counted on our local partners for the safety of our partners and those partners appended on the u.s.'s commitments to them. that relationship is built on trust and the belief that our word is our bond. the administration's reckless decision to withdraw forces has undermined the value of our commitment not only to our kurdish allies who are isolated in fighting enemies on all sides, but our other allies around the world. the message we are sending is the american handshake doesn't matter. an abdication is of our responsibility to the kurds and undermines the belief resolute partner and led to adversaries like russia, iran, the assad regime and isis asserting greater influence. the president's decision makes us less safe and isolates us

from the allies from whom we have drawn strength. the president must immediately reverse his decision, recommit to our kurdish allies, and take a firm stance against any further aggression by turkey against the kurdish people. crow, aat was jason democrat from colorado, a veteran on the floor. he voted along with other democrats and republicans to oppose the president's decision to withdraw from syria. your turn to tell washington what you think about this debate. junior in texas, a republican. good morning. caller: hi. i would like to say first of all, i think there ought to be term limits for the house of representatives and senators and supreme court justices because they don't want to go along with anything the opposing presidents of a different party have and they don't work together at all. they get up there and get to

name-calling like the syria thing, the president trying to withdraw troops from another country. terroristsilled the -- they get put in prison, they come back here disabled and blown apart and the v.a. tells them they have diabetes, but we youot give you test strips, need to buy your own and things like that or your medications half the time. our veterans get treated really bad after they go to syria and all these other places and they come back here disabled and torn apart and mentally disabled and their entire families, parents, children's, wives, cousins, everybody is affected by how they come back destroyed and yet our politicians get on national tv -- i will not let my children

or grandchildren watch them on tv because all the time, they calling names, making accusations -- accusations they are not allowed showquired to back up or what is true and they are not a good example for children to sit here and watch. i would not want my children sitting here and watching, they are not a good example to look up to. --sident trump republican in texas. host: jackie, in pennsylvania, democratic caller. hi, i wanted to make a few comments on my observations which i think this handshake

agreement between the united states and the kurds is based on have ads' belief they -- ie on a homeland which believe the kurds fought so hard because of their motivation of a promise of their homeland. the kurds -- although most of them are muslim -- are circular -- mother -- of a other faith, christians or jews and it would be to the united states' geopolitical interest to

have an ally like that to have an ally in the middle east. they were promised and region after the war saddam hussein -- they were not promised what they were led to believe was promised and they have a large presence in northern syria. there were no other troops available or motivated to cities. those

i think it is to our benefit we muslim presence in that region. host: thank you for calling in. an impeachment update for all of you. gordon sondland, who is a supporter of president obama's, contributed to his inauguration campaign and serves as the u.s. to -- he will be asked about those, of course. the washington post notes the timing of the impeachment -- -- expectedop

pelosi to hold an impeachment vote by thanksgiving and the senate should try to dispose of the issue by christmas. he also noted motions of dismissal of charges in an impeachment trial are handled at the discretion of the chief justice who presides over the trial. john roberts would have the final word on how quickly the senate would move, potentially, getting the efforts to short-circuit what could become a lengthy trial. one issue that came up in this meeting according to senator cramer was the fine line republican senators walk between the impeachment inquiry and maintaining neutrality ahead of the trial. said members should not weigh in at all since they will be jurors in the process. -- is defending the president from this impeachment inquiry and they have put out ads -- they plan to put out ads against

republicans who are criticizing the president. the club forsed by growth against senator romney. [video clip] >> mitt romney had us fooled. >> being in trump's hotel and having his endorsement is a delight. the very man who can lead us to that better future. >>'s cover is blown, exposed as et.emocrat a secret ass quit colluding with democrats on impeachment. new adlub for growth's against mitt romney. let me clarify what i said, scope. gordon sondland is a supporter of president trump and contribute into the inauguration campaign for him. he will be on capitol hill talking about his role in ukraine.

eddie in the bronx, independent. good morning to you. caller: good morning. yeah, i actually called to express -- i do not agree with trump's pulling out and abandoning our allies. i am not crazy about theaters of war, but representative crow was correct. it is a huge mistake. the world is complex, we need allies. now is proofdone we are as unreliable as nations thought we were. trump opines early in his tenure about using nukes -- nuclear weapons. he doesn't care about loss of human life, he doesn't care about our troops.

trump only cares about his personal interest in this proves .hat 100% as divided as we are right now, we really need to investigate relationships around the world headed they that we are down a really dark path. host: aurora in florida, republican. debate you think on this , aurora? caller: i totally support trump for pulling our troops out. the only concrete ally we have is israel. everyone else in those regions, whether they be muslims or kurds or isis or whatever name you want to -- whatever label you want to put. in the true end, they hate america. they use us for our money, they

use us for our equipment, they kill our men, they have no respect and when our soldiers try to defend themselves, they come home to be prosecuted, to be put in jail. america, wake up. host: according to one reporter on capitol hill, defense secretary esper and joint chief of staff's chairman millie will be on capitol hill providing a classified update on the security situation in northeast syria following turkey's destructive actions. members will be getting a briefing on capitol hill about the situation. to 60use voted 354 against the president's decision. the senate could take this up soon. here is mitch mcconnell on the president's decision. [video clip] >> what tools do we have?

we have the potential for turkish sanctions, we are looking at that. any president has a lot of latitude in deploying troops and many have been arguing this is a mistake. it should not have been done and hoping he would reverse course. there seems to be no evidence of it so far, but i think it was a mistake. this not too late to stop aggression. wasessy as syria was, this working pretty well, pretty well. 1000 troops were keeping the russians out, the iranians out, isis bad guys in jail and the asds did the heavy lifting secretary mattis pointed out sunday, they lost 11,000 people.

i think we lost 10. of thed the lions share fighting and deserved our loyalty. host: the majority leader in the senate yesterday talking about his position on syria. we are asking all of you at washington what you think. caller: timothy, florida, democratic caller. caller: everybody is talking about we should be helping syria out, but syria is not helping themselves out. our country has to help keep everyone else out -- we are not getting any of that money back. why are we doing it if they are not helping themselves? it is like raising kids. host: tim, what do you think? caller: i have always been interested in the effects of colonization. there was a book written about

it called "things fall apart." i heard this republican talking and he was saying they were fighting for 100 years, they just want to fight and i heard people say they just hate america. those countries were carved up post world war i, post world war ii. another thing with the kurds people are forgetting that we go way back to 2003 with them and they were promised a lot of things, they were our allies. most of the guys in syria are special forces and i heard one of them say he was ashamed to be an american. we should not have done that. i don't agree with the war anyway, but we should have stood by the kurds. that was wrong. that was a bonehead thing to do. ant: tim in minnesota, independent caller. there is an election in canada. justin trudeau facing a tough

reelection. he got a boost from former president barack obama yesterday when he tweeted out "i was proud to work with justin trudeau. he is a hard-working leader who takes on issues like climate change. i hope our neighbors to the north support him for another term." this is the washington times headline on that election and a note headed into the 6 week election campaign with 34% support, liberals hope they could give him a second 4 year term. trudeaumerged of justin wearing brown face at costume parties. cash personal attacks against andrew scheer -- personal attacks against andrew scheer. what carolina, republican, do you think about that debate yesterday in the house and the

vote to oppose the president on syria? think president trump is making some really decisions and there is a book out that tells about 27 of thetop psychiatrists united states and they say he is narcissistic and mentally unstable to be the president of the united states. this book, i just finished it and it is right-o because he is doing exactly the mistakes he -- they say he will make. the republicans will swing over in chains. if they don't, they will never get reelected, the ones that stick by him. host: how did you vote in 2016? caller: high did not vote for

him. i would have voted for another republican, but i just did not like him because he is for himself instead of the people. he is just about money. that is not what we need as a president. we need friends in the united states. we need to have a lot of countries that stick by us and we should stick by them, including the kurds. host: some developing news this morning, here is nbc's headline, the u.k. and the e.u. have agreed to the new divorce deal, so-called brexit and a key brexit breakthrough is the headline. that is the story we will be watching today as well. lena in virginia, democratic caller. good morning to you. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i don't always agree with

president, but on this matter, i do. the reason is that all of this iney that has been expended the middle east can be used. look at all these homeless veterans in the streets. it breaks my heart and i don't want more of them in the streets. besides that, the kurdish people for centuries, they have been attacking defenseless, rural areas, taking their money, taking their lives. communist.dership is peoplee opportunistic that have been supporting russia in the past. --the 1960's, recent history was an ally of the russians. it is a

host: jim in north carolina, independent. caller: i am a 20 year army retiree. i support pulling donald trump and pulling the troops out of syria. the entire middle east we need to get out of, but be careful and what we ask for when we say we want to support the kurds because he may contract that out to eric prince. i think you guys do a great job every day. host: we will leave the conversation there and return to it later on. we will take a break and come back with two former members of congress to discuss their effort on paid family leave, governor rick santorum and democrat chris dodd. the latest fundraising numbers

are in. bridget bowman will break them down for us a little later in the program. ♪ >> sunday night on q and day, american university distinguished professor of history alan kraut looks back at policies on managing immigration. >> i would argue the current wave of nativism, xenophobia is not different from what we have seen in the past and while it seems to us to be peppered with acts of violence and ferocity,

there have been other acts of violence, anti-immigrant riots before the civil war, in the 1880's. there have been a lot of moments in american history when the anti-immigrant sentiment has been translated into true ugliness. >> watch sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's q and a. thinking about participating in c-span's studentcam 2020 conversation but you have never made a documentary before? no problem. we have resources on our website to get started. our website for producing information and video links to footage from the c-span library. teachers will find information on the teachers page. ,> anyone that wants to compete

find a topic you are passionate about and pursue it as much as you can. >> we are asking middle and high schools students to create a short documentary on an issue you would like the presidential camp -- presidential candidates to address. a $5,000 grand prize. >> get a camera and a microphone and start filming, and produce the best video you can possibly produce. >> visit studentcam.org for more information. "washington journal" continues. host: this morning, two former senators, chris dodd and rick santorum. cochairs of the task force on paid family leave, a bipartisan family center.

i want to begin with the clinton impeachment trial. you were both in the senate at the time. if i could ask you to tell our viewers what you think are the lessons learned for the members that are serving now facing this impeachment inquiry. senator santorum? guest: if you go back and look at -- there is lessons learned from the standpoint of what folks up there and folks down the street at the white house. let me talk about at the white house, because that is the lesson learned that has been heeded. bill clinton went on a charm offensive, just went out and tried to build popular support untenable and make it for republicans to be successful in getting the votes to actually convict him.

it was a pretty foregone conclusion, as i think it is today, that the house will impeach the president. the big question is not whether he is impeached but whether he is convicted. this president did not learn the lesson that allowed bill clinton to survive the peach meant -- the impeachment process. that would be one lesson learned i would give to the president, building your popularity and support more broadly is probably a good idea at a time when you will be under this kind of scrutiny. with respect to the house, one thing i learned as a house member -- and i was a house member for four years -- and recently before the impeachment is a boilinghouse cauldron. there was a lot of boiling going on in the late 1990's and there is today.

i don't see anything that speaker gingrich or speaker pelosi are doing to calm the boiling. that is why i think it is a foregone conclusion that nancy pelosi would not start this can do -- start this unless she fully intended to have a successful vote on impeachment. she is building the case. not sure if there is any advice, other than i do not think it is a great political winner. it was not in 1998 in the situation with clinton, but it was not a great political loser. it did not destroy the republican party and i don't think it will destroy the democratic party either. in the senate, everybody sort of stood their ground and i think that will be the case here, you do what you think is right. that is what most members felt they were doing and that is what you will he -- see happen here. i want tost of all,

mention elijah cummings. rick knows him as well, and a wonderful friend, great personal loss. we have lost a wonderful member of the united states congress. our sympathies go out to his family and friends. process, i just don't understand it. we may disagree about whether to go forward or not. it is a wrenching experience and the founders extent -- intended it to be a profound course of action. elect would much rather someone to the office of election -- office of the presidency. there is a reverence. involved, thel be media is involved. becauseed so rarely

people have been cautious about going down that path, recognizing the cost to the country. it absorbs everything else in terms of the other issues we need to be grappling with. it is one that we ought to use very rarely and there are circumstances that are warranted. vague, theguage is founders anticipated not being able to anticipate the future for violating the law. back in the nixon impeachment process, there were about four or five republicans on the house judiciary committee like congressman hogan, tom railsback virginia,nia, from caldwell butler, who decided before the articles of impeachment, there was not a large number of people but a

significant number of people, and that changed things in my view when that happened. there are republicans in the house and senate who feel it is more warranted, that could change everything quickly. it does not take a lot of people for the ground to shift. pelosi is trying to handle this well and not to jump to an impeachment process until she felt it was warranted. one of the most important meetings that rick and i had was in the old senate chamber. tom daschle organized it, just 100 of us in the room before the trial. andecided we were on trial needed to conduct ourselves fairly well. the country was watching, not to mention the american public. i think the leadership of the senate did a good job reminding

everybody we did not want to end up like a caning of the sumner case but trying to work through this intelligently and calmly given the volatility. guest: let me pick up on that, because i was involved in planning that in the leadership. guest: i was also speaking at it. guest: there were very high passions on both sides. senator daschle and the democrats did not want anything. they did not want to give the house the chance to present any evidence or call any witnesses. republicans were like, we want a full-blown trial and we want to bring the president up. talking about how contentious and how hard it is to get bipartisan agreement, it is hard , but i feel proud of the fact that we found a middle ground. it is not everything the house wanted in a trial and not

everything the democratic base wanted, which is don't give any recognition of what the house did, just vote it down. people say, it is so contentious now. it was contentious then. it was a very difficult time, pointaders -- this is the -- leaders were able to step forward and lead. hashed ithave to -- out. guest: we brought ourselves to the old senate chamber where some of the greatest debates in american history took place, and we put ourselves in the moment. that is what these members have to do, put yourself in the moment that this is more than just a partisan vote for this time. you are setting a standard by which future congresses are going to have to act.

-- very -- handled ourselves very well. i remember a critical moment in that room that day, because it was an important meeting. it was ted kennedy and phil gramm who piped up about how we needed to go up as an institution and people would cast the votes the way they wanted to. the media will cover this will be very important. that will be involved at some point. everything is on trial in a sense. my worry is it is becoming routine and we ought to be careful. host: before we move on to paid family leave, i want to give you a chance to talk about elijah cummings. guest: first off, i did not know elijah very well and he came to the house two years after i left

but i did have some interactions with him. every interaction i had, he was a complete gentleman on a personal level. we did not agree on very much, but he was a decent human being and someone, from everything i have heard, did not look at ideology, looked at the decency and the person you were and had friends across the ideological spectrum. that is not always the case. host: you do agree on paid family leave. guest: we agree somewhat. we have some disagreements there too. host: i want each of you to tell our viewers why you have come together and how you have come to this issue. didt: first of all, we bills together on autism, online disease. while we have this -- on lime disease. disagreements, it

was not a story that two different parties got together. it is not routine now. my story was a constituent i ran into at church. she had a child that had gone through a birth defect. she was a single mother pretty much at that time. she probably should not have lived to be more than two or three but lived to be 23. she was sort of the genesis for me. one individual, one constituent, this is crazy, how is this woman going to do this? , manyhroeder in the house countries had already done this, and the demographics were changing, so it seemed to be a logical step to provide support

for families, particularly working families that do not have the resources or the time to be a caregiver of a child who parent, family member, a , we know that sandwich generation taking care of young kids. i have siblings that are older that i am taking care of. i have two daughters that are buttively young, 18 and 14, i'm taking care of my siblings as well along the way. i am caught in that. my parents died young. 80% of the american public not knownt, maybe do the details but believe there should be a paid family leave bill and only about 18% of americans have that because only some businesses are doing it. a growing number are. employers areial for paid leave, less so with baby boomers, it is more like

50% or less. ,n the senate 25 years ago passing the family medical leave act, i had a difficult time because it was a foreign subject. they grew up in a difficult time coming out of world war ii when families were different than they are now. it was a harder sell to get people to understand this was not the 1950's. that is where it began. bipartisan center brought us together to see if we could not find some common ground. there was a lot of common interest. whether we agree on the not, i am a great supporter of several in the house and senate. supportt the house will rosa delauro's bill in the house. we will see what happens in the

senate, but things are moving and if we can find support, we are delighted. duck to bee the odd here, because chris talked about the family medical leave act which was passed during the clinton administration, and i voted against it when i was in the house of representatives and believed that it was an imposition on business and could cause problems for smaller businesses. later,e i am 25 years and i'm saying, we should do a paid family leave bill. several things have happened. not as dire ase predicted in part because not very many people use it. some do, but not as many as was predicted, and it has not had the impact on the business community as was and pick -- anticipated.

thing, andportant chris highlighted this, the family structure has changed dramatically. the workplace has changed dramatically. the trends that were beginning and accelerating through the 1990's have continued. 40% of children are born without a father in the home. half of those children will grow up without a father in the home. you have a lot more pressure on the family unit and make it more difficult for moms mostly to deal with managing a life of raising a child. in particular -- and this is where i focused my attention -- there is a lot of social science evidence that has come out that talks about the critical bonding that is necessary for a healthy ,hild to have with a mom generally speaking, with a

mother to provide the stability and security for that person to be able to be successful in life. if you look at children who have not bonded with a parent, did not have that time immediately after birth to have that type of familiar bond, they have much more mental health issues. they have much more economic issues, and you can go through situation,y type of and they will have a much more difficult time in life because of that insecurity that comes or detachment that comes from not having had that secure relationship. for me, the combination of change in family structure and the overwhelming evidence that a mom staying home or dad staying home and creating that attachment to create that stability and security for that child at a young age can

determine their path in life. we have to make sure to the best of our ability that that occurs. host: i want to invite our viewers to call in. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. we invite you to join the conversation. west: this is where digressed a little bit in a sense, a newborn child, i could not agree more with that. there are other circumstances that arise in that same family unit and the facts do not change and no indication that is abating. the waiting room at the children's hospital in washington is full of people having outpatient issues with

their children and i suspect they have jobs. they can only afford to take so much time. have theople do not resources to sustain themselves over time. family medical leave is a wonderful thing, and there were 200 million instances when people took family medical leave in the last 25 years, and bill clinton, i called him to congratulate him. one of the first things he did february 1993 was signed this bill into law. the one issue people bring up more than any other issue is family medical leave, passing it. we have other circumstances. you have one quarter of millennials who are the sole caregiver for their older parents. old toials are 20 years

30 six. you do not retire until you are 65. that is a young crowd. we are having wonderful miracles in medicine, so people who passed away in their 60's are living until their 80's and requiring more care, so that becomes a burden on a family children.arents and see everett koop, at the time i it, i apologize , he wasng against him the savior of the bill because he was a pediatric surgeon. he testified and said, you want to have a child recover, have someone in a white coat standing around. there are other circumstances -- i agree with rick on the birth of a child -- but there are other circumstances people are

grappling on. ont: where do you two agree what should be done? guest: where i come down to is this is a matter of limited resources, we are going to provide a paid program, a very expensive thing, so there is limited resources. i would make the argument that a child, thatof to me is the highest priority. there are others that are important. i am not suggesting these things are not important, but other family members can fill that void. when a child is born, that mother or father is the only option. it cannot be a brother or sister. you have a small circle of folks that can have a profound impact on the lifetime of a child and for society, whereas in a lot of other situations they are not

life-changing events, and there is other people who can fill in. let's focus on, where i think there is broad agreement, to focus on the birth or adoption of a child, let's get something there. we want to take a second bite at the apple. this is where the priority is. this is where the most need is and this is where we should begin. ift: let's get to calls, and you could take turns spawning to calls, or if you both want to respond -- responding to calls, or if you both want to respond. caller: i want to talk about this legislation. ,hen an employer hires a worker the first question they ask is what is the total price of hiring this worker? when you look at other congressional legislation, the americans with disabilities act, that harmed the disabled because

employment for disabled men was 60% before the law was enacted but 45 -- 49% after implementation. when you look at the family and medical leave act after 1993, women were 8% less likely to get promotions. what are your thoughts? guest: we are the only developed country in the world that does not have a paid family medical leave program. -- 70%, at least the younger employers believe it works. you have a bipartisan bill in the house with chris smith and rosa delauro, bipartisan working groups. 16 republicans joined me in that bill. it was vetoed twice and this is a bipartisan effort. hasick has pointed out, it

worked a lot better than people anticipated. they will have to have a cut out for smaller businesses, but you want loyalty and productivity. telling that employee that, if you are in that tough situation, you will not get full pay in many situations. you have loyalty and support and a country taking care of people in circumstances beyond birth. tell that to a family at st. jude's hospital with a child suffering from cancer, sorry, we cannot help you. i think we can. i understand the concerns, but i think it has been beneficial to the country. we need to change it now. the world has continued to change. california, new jersey, rhode island, new york, d.c., washington, massachusetts, connecticut, and oregon are the

eight states. guest: the answer to your question is how do you do this? this is one reason i am a strong supporter of a lot of the proposals that have been put forward in the senate. senator rubio and senator lee and senator ernst have put forward proposals. unlike some of the other proposals, some are partisan and some are bipartisan, but they focus on the individual. they are not a tax on the business or a general tax. what they basically do is take a federal benefit that you are due at some point, whether it is a social security benefit or a child tax credit, and advanced that money forward at the time you are having the birth of a child so you can take that money

now instead of in the future, prioritize it to move resources and credits or benefits that you would get in the future, have those come now at a time of great need so you can take that time to establish that bond and relationship with the child. it is not an imposition on a business any more than a mother or father will take time off with the birth of a child. they can do so being paid and maybe for a longer period of time, but it is necessary, and the evidence points to that. if we can keep it without having to charge the business and the individuals making this choice of how to allocate their resources, it is an interesting way. host: your proposal with rosa delauro's proposal, their idea is 12 weeks of personally paid leave for new parents.

wage -- i am curious what don't you like. guest: i don't like the broad scope of it and i don't like the broad taxation. those are the two problems i have. folks love to rush to solve every problem, and i get it. folks want to create a problem -- create a program to do it. there are consequences to solving big problems in a big way, and we don't know what the impact will be. one way to solve the most severe of those problems in the most targeted way and see how that works, and you can noise come back and say, maybe this is a good idea -- you can always come back and say, maybe this is a good idea or maybe we can do it

a different way. i have no doubt these people are well-intentioned, but you don't know the consequences of your actions and it is important to take this -- families are fragile. has a dramaticcy effect on family and family structure. let's quit taking it as we have the answer and do a more targeted and responsible probe. maryland, aeade, republican. caller: good morning. i fear that i caught the backend of a conversation when i called thebut i wanted to say that biggest effect we are having on family units in the united states is the fact that single parenthood has been incentivized since the 1960's. if you look back briefly at history after the civil rights war was964, a quiet

waged on the african-american household and soon after that, the war on drugs policy hit after the clinton administration. therefore, a lot of incarcerations began and forced a lot of single parents, mostly women, to run for the hills for federal assistance. because the federal assistance over the years, you have children grow up on welfare and food stamps, that is how they were raised, it begins to trickle into future generations. you have this thing, i don't agree with the term, this whole welfare queen, people will see, especially young women, will see that it is easier to produce children with no responsibility and have a taxpayer take care of them. host: let's take the point. guest: let me go back. the states are doing -- it is

interesting to watch what the states are doing. in connecticut, it is a cost borne solely by the employee. in others, it is employer and employee. the burden is falling on the actual person financially to pay for it, so that is an idea. the idea of having people defer from social security, talk about having an intergenerational war. retire,never going to you are never going to grow old, so you reduce your benefits as a retiree, you will run into a huge problem with that. elderly groups are hostile to that idea. a payroll tax is distributed among employees and employers in a far more equitable way without cutting into social security benefits. with an aging population, there

will be pressure on the program. we disagree with that approach financially. it is a debt now if you start to do that. i cannot imagine that could carry in either house of the chamber, given the strong feeling about getting social security. at a situation where more single parents and so forth, we can argue about why it happens. the fact is, it is. innocent children, family members and elderly who are dependent need help. you do not go around and wonder, what did they do to cause them to get that? if they are addicted to a problem, are you going to say, i am sorry, you shouldn't have done that and i will be darned if we will compensate to help you get out of that situation? i think we are beyond that situation.

families taking care of each other is something we cherish and if you can provide that for an elderly parent or a child, we should provide for that. the burden is borne by employer and employee. after 26 years, despite the opposition, people recognize it has worked. we are a better off country because we took the decision to say to families, if you end up in trouble in your household, we will help out and get you through that. employers will tell you it has worked. it has been an effective program. you have to go way beyond maternity, paternity leave, a fair bill. guest: on the social security issue, chris is voicing an opinion that is a legitimate concern. i am concerned about the future of social security and trying to

do things to shore it up. i did a lot of that and took a lot of arrows for trying to address that. i remember going to kansas city, missouri with bill clinton on air force one for a summit to address the social security issue. we never did, impeachment came along. this has been a problem for a long time that has been recognized. we need to be careful in dealing with it. the proposals being put forward, to be fair to senator lee and senator rubio, our revenue neutral to the social security fund so they are not transfer of money or robbing anybody any benefits. it is an offset that is done in a revenue neutral way. caller, he is right in some respects.

"don't agree with the term incentivize" having children out of wedlock. i was one of the reformers of well-formed in 1996 which bill clinton signed, and i remember putting up a quote of franklin roosevelt because we were trying to replace aid to families of dependent children. franklin roosevelt made the comment, we will not give benefits to anybody -- this is for widows, for people who through no fault of their own need help from the government as opposed to having children out of wedlock -- and he said he does not want to create a program that creates improper incentives. there is a consequence to government money. he makes the point real.

birthrate was the in the single digits and low double digits. now, it is in the double digits across all races. it is a huge problem and one of the reasons i agree with chris that we need to resolve this problem without creating incentives that could exacerbate the problem. ands better to go modestly understand that there are consequences to government be not would you would like to see. host: james in corpus christi, texas, republican. go ahead. caller: thank you for c-span. without the paid family leave, i would never have been able to spend two and a half years traveling to my brother while he was suffering from cancer in the va hospital.

, he was thenkful last person alive in my family, so it was very important. thank you. diego,lise in san independent caller. we have to get the democrats to call in. caller: good morning. i would like to make a comment about the family paid leave. i agree with family paid leave for children, but i also think it is necessary to have family paid leave for elderly parents or immediate family. i work with patients in the hospital, and so many people without nuclear families to help, and often depends on one person to take care of elderly parents, and there are terrible situations. sick,appens often is the elderly person ends up being

left alone because one family member cannot take care of them. , it makesfamily leave worse. , soelieves the government we need to be kinder to each other with our family members. our parents took care of us and we need to take care of them. host: senator santorum, why don't you take this first? guest: thank you, elise. it is just a reality, more people support the other forms of leave then parental leave, if that makes sense. parents, veryew few people having children in the population. everybody has somebody, a family

member, who may be sick. everybody would benefit from some form of family or medical small and only a very percentage of the population would benefit from a parental leave program when you are talking about those having children. the problem is that having children and that bond between children is unique, whereas there are many alternatives to dealing with these others. there are lots of other programs at the state level in private sector. people do have medical leave. most people have some sort of personal time they can take to meet the occasional needs, as opposed to a specific time for the birth of a child. she mentioned the term kindness. i don't look at the government as being kind.

kindness comes from individuals. we need to look to our own capacity to be kind to take care of others, but that is not the situation with parents. you have got to create a window of opportunity so that bonding to happen and that is unique. guest: the department of labor statistics has some numbers. areof women with children in the workforce. if you look at the average millennial family, they spend 21 hours a week -- that is a part-time job -- and one in five is doing 40 hours a week as a caregiver additionally to week -- to work. andle are using retirement personal savings to pay for caregiving. more than half of millennial

caregivers our soul care gophers -- soul caregivers and are alone. the smaller family size is putting a tremendous amount of burden on individuals. this ought not to be a huge debate in our country, and given how the costs can be borne by employers and employees, this ought not to be an issue. we cannot afford not to do it. about 80% of the american public when asked about this, support this. to provide for the family they love and the job they need, you ought not have to make that choice and people are having to make that choice because we have not provided benefits for people during that time when they are away from their job caring for a parent, sibling, or newborn. host: maggie in georgia, republican. caller: i am a stay-at-home mom

of five. before that, i was an oncology nurse in a pediatric unit. family leak is necessary for the elderly and the young -- family leave is necessary for the elderly and the young and the chronically ill. it needs to happen to take care of people. host: she is a stay-at-home mom of five. if you want to take maggie's call. guest: i understand that people would like to have the government help them with a lot of things in their life, and i'm not suggesting that people would not benefit from this. the question is, you have limited resources, chris talks about it. 70% of families being raised with moms working, and half of the families, and i assume almost all of the 70%, but half

of families in general do not have a father in the home. there is a tremendous need. the question is, where is the most need? how much money do we have to do this, and what is the impact overall of doing it? i would make the argument that there are other alternatives to dealing with the problems that come with medical issues or parent issues or other family issues. the government should focus on where you get the biggest bang for your dollar, because there are limited resources. that is where you will have the most profound effect on society. the evidence is very clear. bond, youn do not will have serious long-term issues for that child. -- not a sure short-term problem. it is a long term, chronic problem.

that is a critical issue. these other issues, taking care of parents is one thing. my 100-year-old mom just died and i had to take time, but that does not have a consequence to society. i am just being honest. i understand we want to help and be kind, but we have to look at where we have limited resources. this is not a honeypot -- i am looking at the capital -- and there is a limited amount to do things. the government cannot and should not do everything, so focus on where the greatest long-term needs, and just to talk about the elderly because this is a big issue on the table, if you look at generational wealth, the wealthiest people in this country are over the age of 65. the people who are struggling the most are young couples having children. they are the ones that need the help.

there is social security, medicare, medicaid to help folks who are older. there is nothing for that young parent trying to have a child. the idea that we will take a program i think is important to be targeted for those in the least healthy financial situation who are struggling and stressed the most, these young parents, and we will give more money to take care of elderly when they get the huge lion share of money are ready spent in washington, if we are going to prioritize it, let's take it to those who are in the most need to get very little help. host: james, a democratic caller. caller: thanks for taking my call. it is all about what the people will-- retire less and that has proven to be wrong.

costco gives all the benefits, gathers the best workers, and it forll about the position people to take little wages, no benefits, have 3, 4 jobs, and for the person to keep going out on the rallies and talking about the lowest unemployment. they have no benefits, have to have 2, 3 jobs. they don't have no health care and they are sick. are we better than germans? it is a healthy economy. they have all the benefits. it runs well. i don't understand. we are the richest country in the world with the best in everything but when it comes to spending on -- host: james, sorry, i lost you, but can you talk about the cost of what he is getting out and

helping out as many people as you would like to? guest: we have a massive migration of gig workers who are not employed in a traditional sense. they are moving around a lot. they do not have benefits they need. you have -- there is changes occurring. we are talking about a payroll program.a government it is a shared cost between the employee and employer. these are not small issues people have been grappling with. we have not even talked about elderly care. i have a brother with alzheimer's. that is 24/7 care. health insurance is so expensive, many people cannot pay for it and companies will not provided along the way, so what person can spend 24/7 caring for alzheimer's? it is a growing problem in the country.

we are not conjuring up issues. these are real problems we are facing. we are a great country. we have always taken care of people and that is something we do better than other people do. this is something almost every country in the world provides. major corporations have more flexibility than small businesses so we cut some exceptions out. the head of the small business administration in the obama administration understands that and is right about that. rosa delauro and chris smith's bill does that. coats, ile like dan had 16 republicans as my ago,ipal sponsors 26 years a quarter of a century. that was the 20th century. we cannot come up with a paid leave program to take care of families and children be the birth of a child?

of course we can. the fact that we are working on this is because members of congress want to work on it. what are the prospects of getting an agreement between republicans and democrats, and a signature from the president? guest: i don't know in this environment. i think chris made the comment about impeachment. it has taken all the air out of everything. difficult see, bipartisan bill would be hard, but i am really happy that you are seeing bipartisan cooperation on an issue here. chris and i agree but disagree. i think you find that out. where is the middle ground? maybe the fact that impeachment is going on creates enough distraction where people can work and try to figure something out. host: and not get noticed. guest: believe it or not, media

attention to these issues is not always the best thing. i don't know about chris -- well, i do, because we have worked together before. we have negotiated bills not in front of the cameras. we have talked to stakeholders and people interested like in the case of autism, we met i don't know how many times, but not in public forums. we did it where people can tell us and we can work together and come up with something, and then go public and have it subject to public scrutiny. ofbe having the distraction impeachment will create opportunities for bipartisan things to happen. host: madison, new york, matt, a republican. caller: before i moved to the people's republic of new york, i was a lifeline -- lifelong resident of pennsylvania and i

proudly voted for rick santorum. you hear that the pro-life people only care about the babies and that is it. rick santorum had to spend a lot of time doing what he is now, there is time not having the baby. bathe worked five years in for an umbrella organization that administrators -- likeisters social programs early childcare. out mr. santorum thought that some of these programs to facilitate bad decisions about people having kids. two examples, a young woman comes in with two babies in a double stroller and she is visibly pregnant and happy as heck. she is visibly present -- pregnant and receiving all the

programs. i did not see a male with her. host: i am going to leave it at the first example because we are running out of time. who, inhere are people any program, there are people who take advantage of the program, use the program, don't use the program and the way that people who passed the program thought they would use it. that calls for restraint and that calls for, let's look at the consequences. you don't want to create negative incentives. you don't want to create a situation where people are not taking responsibility. and the waybout -- people in this town think is collective responsibility. i have always thought first it is personal responsibility. i have a mother. did my mom have medicare?

sure, she had medicare. that is a collective responsibility. there is a collective responsibility but there is also a personal. the idea that it is a burden, of course, children are a burden. i have seven of them. my parents are a burden. that is life. life is dealing with different struggles. nobody has a life where somebody else takes care of all of their problems and the idea that we are selling that, that is not how it works. there is a responsibility to balance some collective responsibility with personal responsibility. host: final thoughts? guest: people are doing that. they pay more for childcare than they do the mortgage on their home because they are at work. we can decry single parents and so forth. that is a pointless argument. it is there. these are good people. these are not bad people because

they are single parents. they are trying to raise their kids, keep them in a safe setting, take care of their parents or a sibling, this is not an outrageous request. the wages are harder today with gap betweencap -- younger and older people. the middle is getting squeezed out, and they are the ones raising the families, taking care of their parents and doing the things they can. these are not bad people because they have children and a parent who is sick. we ought to be able to do this. there are responsible, balanced approaches that ask people to share in the cost of this. it is long overdue. the united states of america is a great country and we ought to be able to take care of people. host: do you miss the senate? guest: i do, but not the senate. guest: i agree.

[laughter] host: why is that? guest: it is such a contentious, difficult -- i talked to my former colleagues. there is not a lot of happiness. it is a difficult place to work. a lot of the gratifying things of being a senator is accomplishing something and working together to make things happen, and that is not happening much. it makes it a frustrated and thankless effort in many cases, and that is what we would not miss. guest: they are ruining the place. the senate is a unique institution that the founders created. can --a now that you that we have done away with a filibuster, what is the point if you have a unicameral system? guest: i think the filibuster -- guest: you have to be patient

and disciplined about it, but the idea that we have lifetime appointments by a simple majority, both parties will suffer. guest: i agree. i say this in front of conservative groups all the time , we need to eliminate the filibuster so we can get things done. no, we don't. the idea of washington and the rules of the senate were so we did not get everything done in the passion of the moment. we need to get strong support for these things, not flash support for something at the passion of the moment, and i think the senate provides that, as jefferson said, where you pour the tea in the saucer to cool. getting rid of the filibuster would be a disaster for the country. host: senators chris dodd and rick santorum, thank you both. we are going to take a break. when we come back, we will talk

with bridget bowman about how much money some members of congress are raising to keep their seats and how that compares to their competition. we will be right back. ♪ >> this saturday on american history tv, we're featuring political cartoons at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the influence on world war ii. have theirnd robin fingers up in the v for victory sign. they are saying, keep the american eagle flying. >> at 10:00 on a real america, on the 1944 presidential

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republicans were losing some ground on this. democrats were proposing legislation. failed to support women. with thed very closely office of women's issues to get more appointments of women in the federal government. onexplore our nation's past american history tv every weekend on c-span3. washington journal continues. host: we are back. the president has just tweeted -- we want to share this with you -- about the late elijah cummings who passed away earlier this morning. he writes on twitter, my warmest condolences to the family and many friends of elijah cummings. i got to see the strength, passion, and wisdom of this highly respected leader. his voice will be hard if not

possible -- if not impossible to replace. training is now is bridget bowman. she is politics reporter with cq roll call. remind our viewers why these numbers are coming up now, and what do they tell us? guest: which is passed to the fundraising deadline for the third quarter of 2019. this is from july through september. all the reports came out on midnight -- at midnight on tuesday. we've been looking specifically at members of congress and candidates in competitive house and senate races, trying to get early clues as to which incumbents might be struggling. even though it is early, it gives us a good look at who are the races to watch? host: major takeaways from these numbers yucca guest: there are -- from these numbers? guest: there are a number of takeaways. one of the major takeaways is the so-called green wave that brought a bunch of democrats to

congress in 2018 has not been going away, especially if you are a house democrat. so on average, house democrats who are i are in competitive races, -- were in competitive races, they raised a lot for one quarter. we saw several freshman incumbent democrats raise several hundred thousand dollars, trying to fortify themselves going into 2020. the fact that that enthusiasm among the democratic base has not left is notable. there were real questions going into this election cycle as to whether donators -- whether donors would still be excited about donating. they still seem to be tapping into the email lists and the energy among democratic donors. host: are we seeing high profile freshman like representative omar anton to leave anacostia cortez -- are they bringing in strong numbers that show they can be reelected? guest: they are still raising a

good amount of money. it is likely they will be reelected. they are using their high-profile status to raise a good amount of money. but i am especially interested in are the high-profile democrats were in high competitive races. we saw democrat katie porter. she has had viral videos of questionings at her hearings. a million over dollars in one quarter, topping the list of house democrats, raising the most out of that group. she can really use that money, especially in california where it is really expensive to air tv ads and campaign. host: any other democrats, freshman, who may be the president won their district? guest: we saw several of the democrats. congressman matt rhodes of staten island jane -- staten island. we did see a bunch of these

freshman democrats in competitive races pulling in some big numbers. millionthem had over $1 on cash in hand. to money that they have spend, i believe it was 28 house democrats, had over $1 million. all but one were freshman. they have a lot of money to spend going into next year. host: any of these democrats -- do any of them look vulnerable? what are bad numbers versus good numbers? guest: it depends on the district. if you are running in place with an expensive media market, you want to be building up more money than someone who has a cheaper media market in terms of buying television ads. we did see a couple house incumbents out raised by their challengers. freshman were both out raised by their republican opponents this quarter. that can sometimes be a warning sign.

but it comes to congressman tj cox, he is facing a potential re/max -- potential rematch between former congressman david bella deyo. the fundraising experience. the most part, we did see good numbers across the board. minnesota's democratic congressman, can't -- collin peterson, raised the least --unt that might raise come the least amount. that might raise some concern. trump carried his district by about 30 points. could be a tougher race this time. democrats are still fairly confident he is in a good spot. host: i went to invite our viewers to join this conversation and tell us what you are watching for in house and senate races and why it matters for you. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. .ndependents, (202) 748-8002

you can go to facebook.com/c-span. how did these freshman or any number of congress go about raising that amount of money? they get help from veteran lawmakers or their leadership? guest: for the most part, when these democrats were candidates in 2018, so them capitalizing on -- we saw them capitalizing on small dollar donors. platform use an online caught at blue. they were reporting throughout the 2018 cycle, record numbers of money flowing to congressional candidates. they tapped into this digital aspect of fundraising and have continued to build the fundraising list online. the value of having the small dollar donors is they can keep going back to the donors every quarter. can you chip in another $10, $15? the've really tapped into

grassroots energy on the democrat side. host: what about republicans in the house? a couple republicans who have drawn some criticism by their colleagues or under indictment in the case of steve king. criticized by his colleagues on capitol hill. how is he doing? is he going to win? guest: congressman king is really struggling. by democratsised raining against him chain -- democrats running against him. primary.ng a tough we saw congressman duncan hunter who has been indicted for misusing campaign funds. he was out raised by one of his challengers. the democrat also raised a good medical money. those folks look like they are in -- a good amount of money. those folks look like they are in trouble.

congressman hunter did raise a good amount of money. his campaign also reported around $400,000 in debt. overall, house republicans in competitive districts, there are obviously fewer incumbents than there are democrats. we did see freshman congressman dan crenshaw from texas writing over a million dollars himself. he is kind of a rising star in the party. he gained some national fame after appearing on saturday night live after he won /host: on the 3 -- after he won. thousandthe three have -- on the target thousand dollar -- guest: a lot of folks are still jumping into races. democrats largely are on defense. the question for these house

republicans is, are they being out raised by their democratic challengers? we did see a couple cases were incumbents were out raised by challengers including congressman hunter in congressman king. it is still kind of early at this point. we will have to keep an eye on what the challengers raised. host: we went our viewers to call in and let us know as well what you are watching for in house and senate races. we will go to steve who is in california, an independent color. caller: hi, i wanted to talk about the rust belt and the bible belt. i think that -- i was republican. let me tell you, i was considered a rino. moderate who leaned to the right. you, i thinkl you're going to find in the rust belt and bible belt, they have concerns right now -- and i do not know how the money is coming

out in those areas for the republicans, but i want to tell would have concerns -- i do have concerns -- with the corruption and lies. right now, ma'am, they are saying the consumer is holding up the economy. the consumer is doing it on credit. those house of, cards are going to come down. in what theterested fundraising is like for the republicans in those areas. about sure, in thinking republicans in these areas of the country, in places where democrats were able to win in some of these areas in 2018,

they are still pulling in a good amount of money. one thing we will be digging into is how much money is coming from these areas, and how much money is coming from out of state court in state echo in in state?xample, -- in iowa for example, we saw both iowa democratic congressman raise a good amount of money. the question is how they are going to use it and communicate with voters. the more money they have, obviously helps them for sure. host: gary in new york, democratic caller. caller: i live in the 27th district, which has been rocked by the congressman who got convicted, mr. collins. i wonder if you could project any ideas for who would be good candidates. we have never had in the last year, any kind of meetings with the congressman -- like the

regular little town hall meetings. it was to say -- to pay to see him at coffee clashes. i would be interested in your comments. guest: is a good question. that is my hometown area. i'm from buffalo, new york. congress collins resigning raises questions about the future of the district. governor cuomo has not set a date for the special election. congressman collins resigned, it opened the possibility there could be a crowded republican primary for his seat. there were a lot of republicans interested in his seat. special election process is interesting. it is unclear right now in the 27th district. the democrat who nearly defeated collins last time is running again, nate mcmurray. he is still raising a fair amount of money. state senator chris jacobs has been fundraising at a strong clip. the political environment right

now is so unclear. emme kratz believe they have a -- democrats believe they have a better shot. it is a very republican district. it is district president trump won by the widest margin in new york state. controversial republican on the bout, it seems republicans have a better chance of holding the seat. host: we will go to both amor marilyn. bernie is a democratic caller. caller: my, is on the fundraising. if someone is raising money from a corporation, there is only one reason a corporation is giving them money. that is they went influence so they can get influence later. if someone is raising money from the voters themselves and small donors, they are working for the people. there are so many other issues. the gerrymandering that is going on. the voter suppression.

just really -- voters feel like they are not being represented. -- there are too few people running who do not take corporate money. guest: think we saw in the 2018 set -- 2018 cycle is -- democrats that were running took the no corporate pledge. there are some interesting caveats when it comes to fundraising limits. but democrats were using the message for was to try to make the message you are talking about. that they would be beholden to their constituents and not just special-interest. we saw democrats seize on that message. groups that work in this area think this is a winning message, especially to win over people who support president trump did

people who were drawn to his during this want message in 2016. i think we can expect to continue to see democrats use this message going into 2020 as well. host: what is average raise cost in 2020? guest: that is a good question. it varies by district so much. overall, we can expect to see a lot of money in 2020. 2018 was the most expensive midterm ever. i think we can expect to see that going into 2020. it varies by the media market and all of that. host: let's talk about some senate races. ittor susan collins, how is -- senator susan collins, how is it looking for her? guest: she is one of two republican senators running in a state that senator hillary clinton won in 2016. gideon actually out raised senator collins in a most recent

quarter. democrats were happy to see that. they're looking at that as being a sign that gideon is a strong runner. i think republicans will tell you that senator collins has a strong brand and name. she has been around for a long time. she has personal connections with a letter voters. it is going to be a tough race. it is one of those very closely contested races. right now, i think some republicans acknowledge your other republican senators who are looking at them more vulnerable than her including gardner, maybe senator thom tillis in north carolina, just because collins has such a strong brand. host: what about senator martha mcsally? remind our viewers how she made her way to the senate. guest: she actually lost her race in 2018. that was one of the democratic pickups in the senate.

and she was appointed by the governor to fill the rest of the late senator, john mccain's time. she is now running in 2020 a full term. she is facing a tough opponent who has been raising a lot of money. she is running against democrat mark kelly. he is married to former congresswoman gabby giffords. he outraised her for the third quarter in rope chain raised over $5 million -- in a row. raised over $5 million. senator mcsally has always been known as a strong fundraiser. she is reading a good amount herself, but she keeps getting out raised by mark kelly jane -- mark kelly. arizona is one place where democrats see the changing demographics as moving in their favor. it is a diversifying state. they see trump's popularity may be dwindling a bit. host: what about senator mcconnell? guest: kentucky is a tough state

for any democrat. he is running against amy mcgrath, who ran unsuccessfully for the house and 2018. you may remember her from the viral video where she talked about being a pilot not hearing back from senator mcconnell. she raised over $10 million in the last quarter. she raised more than senator mcconnell. that was pretty remarkable, a big number for a senate candidate. also remember that senator mcconnell also energizes democrats. it may be would not be as difficult to raise a lot of money raising against him. that is still a big number. it is still an uphill crime -- uphill climb, given the partisan dynamics of the state. host: and senator gary peter of michigan. guest: he is the one republican that democrats really feel they .ave a shot at defeating t republicans see james as a very strong candidate. democrats cautioned that senator

won competitive races as a congressman chain he is raising consistently good money. democrats look at michigan is the place where the president's popularity will be a major factor. democrats see the popularity dwindling there. they think it will help peters going in the 2020. host: let's go to michael who was in wisconsin, republican color. mentioned something about money in state and out of state. this rollcall published that and does that get to the media as far of -- as far as money going into the state? guest: the federal election takes into that. they will publish that on their website. .e will be digging into it too it takes a little while for the fcc to go through the data and sift through -- the sec to go

through the data. host: how many candidates are self funding? guest: we saw a fair amount. i think it was merely 20 or so who donated or loaned more than hundred thousand dollars to their own campaigns. some interesting numbers that stuck out -- we had one democrat running for senate in iowa who loaned his campaign a million dollars. that is a good amount of money. he is running in the democratic primary against teresa greenfield, who is the ds cc endorsed candidate. i am curious how he is going to spend the money. does that mean greenfield might have it over time getting out of the primary then maybe she anticipated? democrats think she is still in a good spot. that is still one to watch. orlando. democratic color. -- democratic caller.

know, withanted to the socialism, if they are going to get all these democrats into the offices -- i am a democrat. i am worried about the socialism part. if they get them in and nancy and them want to go along with socialism, what are we going to do? guest: i think the message you hear from democratic leadership a lot of these democrats in vulnerable and competitive districts is they do not subscribe to socialism. that is a small segment of the democratic caucus. a small but vocal segment. we have seen this message coming a lot from republicans. this is something we hear coming from the republican campaign committees. warning that the election will be about a choice between freedom and socialism. that howion i have is much voters are going to look through the lens and buy into that? it is going to be interesting to

see how the house democrats warning in competitive seats counteract that and how much questioning they are getting about it. it is a little early to see what kind of impact that might have. host: what are you watching for next? in the next fundraising cycle. guest: still watching for a lot of these challengers. we are seeing people get into races. we sell for the first time this last quarter -- for some of these candidates, their first full quarter. in the first quarter, sometimes, you can post a big number because it is the first time you're going to donors. the interesting thing to watch in subsequent quarters is whether the fundraising continues. how sustainable is it going into 2020? that is going to be -- keeping an eye on the challengers -- that i'm going to be interested in. bowman, thank you

for the conversation. of you to note for all that flags in washington, d.c. at the white house on your screen and behind me at the u.s. capitol are being flown at half staff to mark the passing of representative elijah cummings who died earlier this morning from medical complications, according to a state may put out by his stuff. elijah cummings, 68 years old. we are going to take a break and then come right back. the house voted yesterday aerwhelmingly, bipartisan, on resolution that condemned the presidents withdrawal from syria. we want your thoughts on that debate. there are the lines in your screen. we will get to it after the short break. ♪ >> c-span's campaign 2020 coverage continues. life tonight at 8:00 p.m. on

c-span, president trump holds a keep america great rally in the american airlines center in dallas. p.m., elizabeth warren hold at town hall in, virginia. i've saturday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, senator bernie sanders edited bernie is back really in new york city. -- bernie is back rally in new york city. listen wherever you are using a freeseas been really rep. -- review app -- a free c-span radio. >> but tv has live coverage of the wisconsin book festival in madison. featuring former diplomat for a panties, offering her thoughts on combating terrorism. on herrazil reflects career. author and national book festival director provides a history of latin america. megan phelps roper recounts

growing up as a member of the westboro baptist church. watch our live coverage of the wisconsin book festival saturday at 11:30 a.m. eastern. be sure to catch the texas book festival in october. on book tv on c-span two. washington journal mugs are available at c-span's new online store. go to c-span store.org. check out the washington journal mugs and see all of the c-span products. >> washington journal continues. votedyesterday, the house 354-60, with 129 republicans joining democrats to oppose the presidents withdrawal from syria. we want you to let us know what you think about this debate. here is eliot engel. during the debate, he drafted

this bipartisan proposal with mike mccall, who is the wrecking republican on the homeland security committee. [video clip] >> what kind of message does this send to the world? how can america be trusted to keep its word and we disc -- when you betray one of our close partners, loyal and faithful partners? just throw them out like an old shoe. how can america be trusted to keep its word when we make impulsive decisions that have such an immediate catastrophic impact on so many thousands of people? congress must speak out on this disgrace. the measure we are considering today will send an unambiguous, bipartisan, rejection of trump policy in syria. this measure calls on the white house to develop a strong, clear strategy on how to defeat isis now that president trump has sparked its resurgence. it expresses strong support for

syrian-kurdish forces, recognizing their commitment and sacrifices in the fight against isis. calls on turkey to immediately stop its military action in syria. at president trump's hands, american leadership has been laid low in american foreign policy has become nothing more than a tool to advance his own interest. today, we made clear congress is a coequal branch of government. we wants nothing to do with the disastrous policy. host: that was eliot engel, chair of the foreign affairs committee. matt gaetz, republican of florida, argued the president made the right decision. is not acting like a nato ally, perhaps the sensible solution is to remove turkey from nato rather than keeping the united states inserted in syria presumably forever. this is why i oppose this

resolution. i've heard my colleagues say we should not leave syria without a strategy. perhaps it is equally logical we should not stay in syria without a strategy. in syria, we have tens of americans stuck between armies of tens of thousands who have been fighting each other for hundreds of years and likely will be fighting hundreds of years from now. our mission to deprive isis of caliphate land has largely been accomplished with $9 billion being paid to the kurds. the kurds have been trained, funded, and equipped by the united states. we cannot accept the proposition that if we support a group of people because our interest a in one case, that this somehow morally binds our country to every conflict they have. to do this would constrain the utility of america's future alliances, not strengthen them. the blood of america's patriots is among our nation's most sacred currency.

it must be spent only when absolutely vital to protect american interests. we are not the worlds police force. i support and america first policy. i oppose this resolution. host: let's get to your thoughts on this debate. peggy in ohio a democratic color. what do you think? . -- a democratic caller. what you think? caller: i think we should stay because somebody has to stop this resurgence. the united states has always been there. our veterans have been there. they are paying the price. the u.s. should support our veterans. host:, in woodbridge, virginia. republican color. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am running for u.s. senate in virginia for 2020. i do a facebook live post every night. last night i was talking about this issue. what i think people need to

while weut is that have made a strong commitment to the syrian kurds the iraqi kurds as well, we have gone in and supported them -- this is a regional issue between the turks and the syrian government. if we do not have a clear strategy and end goal with regard to the syrian kurds, we knee -- we cannot be as a half measure between these two factions. these are my battle buddies. i am 28 year army veteran jim we need to -- army veteran. we need to think about, what are we putting these guys in if we are not going to have a clear

strategy? my hope as a member of the dod and of the intelligence community, i do not speak for them. this is my own personal opinion. i want to make that clear. personalust my opinion. this may be an opportunity for the kurds to fight for their own freedom. to get their own country. go ahead should go ahead. host: are you concerned about isis? in this resolution was voted on write, in they january of 2019, then director of national intelligence, dan coats, in congressional testimony said the conflict between iraq and syria have generated that a hardened fighters who remain dispersed throughout the region. the group has returned to guerrilla warfare roots.

isis is intent on researching. are you worried about that? caller: i could not agree more. this is something they are going to have to deal with. we are going to have to go in there and help eventually. -- this iso something they have to start to resolve on their own and deal with isis on their own. they are very well trained. i have watched the training of the syrian kurds, the isis fighters, as well as the iranian she alleges in the iranian -- and the iraqi government. the militia under the influence of iran. we have watched -- all of these forces has become extremely battle hardened and extremely capable. at the very least, light infantry forces. and they are able to use tanks and uavs.

become a very sophisticated asymmetric force on all sides of this. that is why it is so dangerous for us to be in there with only 50 to 100 soldiers. this is a regional crisis. have-- the biggest fear i with regard to isis is that europeans did not take back their own citizens that we tried to ask them to take back from the kurdish present. -- kurdish prisons. fear is that if they get out of prison in syria, these people could easily get back into europe because they are european citizens. if that happens, that poses a if thedangerous problem ice is foreign fighters are able

to get out of syria and iraq and into europe. host: let me pick up on that because this resolution that the house voted on ends with this. it calls on the white house to present a clear and specific plan for the enduring defeat of isis. do you think the president has a clear plan? i know that these types of plans are being worked on. there are many plans to deal with this. there are many plans to deal with this. the problem will be navigating the foreign relations piece of, how much are we going to be able to do for this? --, thehese entities turks, the iranians, the syrians -- they all oppose isis. it is a question of putting together a plan that will

accommodate over recognize -- or governmenthe foreign role in doing it. host: i have to run because i went to get some more voices. we will go to greg was in florida. what do you think? caller: i simply support the president and what representative gaetz said is entirely true. we have gotten to the point where we are no more than targets. talktened to joe biden about president obama having 81 nations supporting us in our fight against isis. how many of those nations beingsy lost their human who live in their country? virtually none other than a few countries. we have been the targets for all these different organizations.

call it pkk, caught isis. we have done our job. we tried to nation build in iraq and afghanistan machine what is our goal in syria? -- and afghanistan. what is our go in syria? this is patent ted lieu ridiculous. patentedlylet -- ridiculous. it is a ridiculous political game they are playing. we do not need to be there. we can send our funds, which we have been doing for years, but we do not need to send arguments. as a father, i would not send my son. i had four brothers fight in the vietnam war. n.would not send my so up until this point, i would want him to be in the army, but if i had a president sending my son to fight someone else's

strategic battle for a piece of rock on a hillside, we do not need to be there. thank you for the opportunity to express my feelings. host: greg, a democratic color in florida. an update on the impeachment update. political -- the hell is reporting that -- gordon sondland plans to break sharply from president trump, tongue impeachment investigators he opposed the request to run policy through rudy giuliani. he said he contacted giuliani anyway trump direction and that giuliani drew a direct link between scheduling a white house visit for the newly elected ukrainian president and -- mr. -- this is a quote, mr. giuliani mentioned the 2016

twotion and burisma and topics. biden said hunter sat on the board. he did notded that realize until much later that giuliani was seeking a ukrainian led investigation into joe biden and his son. billy house who covers capitol hill is tweeting out that sondland has arrived for his testimony. said,hment officials have after much deliberation, we have decided to go forward with the deposition with ambassador sunland because that is what the chairman would have -- would want. ray, in texas. good morning. caller: i just wanted to say i agree with representative matt

donald trumpsident i tell you hello you be isis. -- how you be isis. stop letting muslims into this country. you start profiling people for what they are. think --g, why do you ray, why do you think all muslims are a threat to this country? what evidence? caller: their religion is dangerous. ago,four or five summers that boy sat his daughters in a cab because they were not come home. host: they are religious the religion across -- the religion across the board is not dangerous. clan in johnson city, tennessee. republican. hi, glenn. caller: i definitely agree with the president. if you listen to him when he was talking --

host: glenn, i'm going to let you go. chris, in pennsylvania. againsti am absolutely trumps plans to withdraw. minion would his break in his testimony today because of what happened in ukraine is evidence to me that trump cannot be chested. all he cares about is himself. there is going to be something fishy that comes out about the petition for trump to let erdogan do his thing from turkey into syria. i think families are getting slaughtered in syria because of his haphazard elementary third-grade decision on the part of trump to pull our soldiers out. moral -- we have moral obligations in the united states to support the current -- the kurds who have fought

against al qaeda for years and years and have been the leaders in fighting physically. we promised we would support them. we cannot pull out because of some decision some afternoon by trump. host: chris in pennsylvania. voted, 354-60, to oppose the president, the congressional leaders according to the new york times were invited to the white house to talk to the president, including democratic leadership. your times reports that in that meeting, president trump said to them, they said you wanted this meeting. i did not want this meeting, but i am doing it. he also said about general mattis, former defense secretary, he called him the world most overrated general. he said that he cared more about the feeding terrorism then nancy pelosi. he said, you are just a

politician to the speaker of the house. she responded, i wish you were. the minority leader, chuck schumer, went to the microphone along with the speaker of the house and described the meeting and his concerns with the president syria decision. [video clip] >> the president had no plan for containing isis other than relying on the turks. decade -- spend a billions of dollars and lost lives in trying to concerto -- trying to curtail isis echo the president -- curtail ice is? the president is going to undo all of the internet over to the turks and syrians. i will say one other thing. he was insulting, particularly to the speaker. she kept her cool completely. he called her a third rate politician. there are communist involved, and you guys might like that. this was not a dialogue.

it was a diatribe. it was a nasty diatribe. not focused on the facts, particularly the fact of how to curtail isis, a terrorist organization that aims to hurt the united states in our homeland. host: minority leader chuck schumer at the house yesterday after meeting with the president. president trump tweeted a undescribed meeting this way, nancy pelosi needs help fast. she had a total meltdown in the white house. it was said to watch. she is a very sick person. he tweeted out this official white house picture of the meeting. the speaker took that picture and made it the banner picture on her twitter page. rand paul is writing in support of the president in today's usa today opinion pages. he writes, during every conflict

as we attempt to extricate ourselves, there is always a chorus of hawks who scream about what will happen when we leave. it usually happens if we stay anyway. iraq, afghanistan, now syria. we hear a prisons could be beded -- our presence could needed for decades. what do we hope happens during that time? i do not see what our national interest is in policing the middle east. thankfully, neither does president trump you charles in brooklyn -- president trump. what is your view on this? caller: hi, how are you doing? host: good morning. caller: i want to say my condolences first to the family of representative comments from marilyn. -- represented of cummings from marilyn. -- from maryland. i wanted to make a reference to the article you read guarding the washington post. americae distrust in

from the syrians, from obama's time. it bothers me when i see articles write things that they have clear knowledge about because we know why obama -- he drew the red line in the sand. we know why you never did anything. he never got the approval from congress. of -- by the off law of the country. he was not going to go to war without congress approving him going to wear. when they comment and say, he backed off -- he backed out because he was scared, that was not the case. he did what he felt was the right thing. he got the chemical weapons. he felt he got the chemical weapons out of the country through the help of russia. obviously, we know we cannot trust russia to do anything. when they were articles saying

obama -- when they write articles saying obama -- that is nonsense king that is like john -- that is nonsense. see --ers me when i especially the washington post. host: they were quoting people who were saying that. perceived in the middle east as weakness. they were quoting people who were making that argument. i understand your point. let me go on to rough. in florida, a republican. caller: good morning. i am all for the pullout. the bushes got us into that quagmire. they have been feuding for millennia's. why are we there.

could have -- why are we there? we could have won the first time around. i am all for pulling out. plain and simple. host: ok. ralph agrees with the president. pat in new york, a democratic color. where you come down on this -- a democratic caller. where do you come down on this? way we withdrew from syrian support was way too abrupt. everyone but president trump seems to know that turkey was waiting to roll on the kurds. it demonstrates the fact that trump does not understand foreign policy at all. sometimes, he is able to arbitrarily make these decisions without his age intervening. -- his aides intervening. it is another example of how he does not get it.

the united states was the country that under bush's invasion, we destabilized the entire region. we were responsible for it. the pullout abruptly, -- we have to get out of there -- but to do them abruptly and leave thehe turks -- that is why country is so upset about it. that is why congress -- the majority of congress is completely opposed to it. host: as the new york times reports, the resolution drew support from 129 republicans including all three of the house leaders while 60 opposed it and three representatives, chip roy of texas, jodi heights of georgia, and bob gibbs of georgia voted present. the resolution was not the first thertisan rebuke of approach to foreign policy.

the allies on capitol hill showed their most comfortable criticizing him on matters of international affairs and had previously joined democrats to did not the administrations support of saudi arabia after the killing of jamal khashoggi and they declared their disapproval this year of the withdrawal of troops from syria. senator marsha blackburn, republican of tennessee, she erdogan'st yesterday attack on cordage partners have served to liberate isis sadsoners, bolster the as regime -- the invitation to the white house should be revoked. thank you for taking my call. my condolences go out to a large of cummings is -- to elijah cummings. the world was a better place

with him. i appreciate the republicans and the democrats got together on the resolution. there were not even 50 troops that were pulled out. president trump said yesterday only 28 people were keeping all of the peace. he has not reduced troops in the middle east. general moly and secretary as per, they have andd 3000 in the past month 14,000 since may. i'm glad that michael mccaul was for the resolution, but that he went to the driveway yesterday afternoon after being at the white house all done with mr. mccarthy. he said general millie was the one who ordered the troops out. i did not hear that in the press conference. i would like to know who the remaining democrats were in that meeting yesterday. we need a copy of the transcript from that call with president trump and mr. erdogan.

my feel is that this is exactly what president trump would do when he gets himself in a corner. he creates another click -- another crisis to deflect. i believe donald trump and mike and need to go. they need to go now. i called the white house yesterday and said they should both resumption -- both resign. host: about the letter that president trump sent to president erdogan, three days after they discussed leaving syria on the phone, that letter, according to bbc, and it was received by president erdogan, in this tweet, he rejected it and threw it in the bin. the letter was described as avoid of diplomatic grace. void ofvoid -- was diplomatic grace. the president has sent vice president pence and mike pompeo to turkey. here's the first picture of

erdogan and pens meeting. this person notes that no one looks happy in this picture. to trye president there to negotiate some sort of cease-fire with the turkish president. in little rock, arkansas, a republican. caller: hey, thanks a lot. it is amazing that when things , they arey this man suddenly condemned, but when the exact same things are done by our last president, they were thought to be fine. as far as erdogan, as soon as he took office, he has been wanting to rebuild the ottoman empire from the return of the century. whereight be some point we are putting erdogan on the spot to we are going to have him make a move and be able to bring all the other countries against

him. he already turned on us earlier jets and bringing in russian antiaircraft setups in order -- of the russians can learn about our jet fighters. erdogan is there. all of the other countries we have started to put financial strains on. it did not take the kurds more than one day to make deals with the russians and syrians. that part of the world -- that is the way things are. host: dominic in ocean, new jersey. caller: good morning. against [indiscernible] show the goodwill. more of these types of foreigners. it is an awful thing for us to

abandon a group of people. that is very concerning. secondly, i do not like the way we can see turkey becoming emboldened. i am a greek american. theymake me very concerned could down the road cause some issues for the greeks. who are they to trust the united states will protect them? we cannot protect never greatest partners in the middle east in our war on terror. it is about muslim relations from you. it is really upsetting. thank you for dealing with that color from texas to meet all of the remarks about muslims. it is not right. school freshman in high on september 11. i never bought into any of the anti-muslim stuff. glade like that -- i am they will be shuffling on in the

next 10 or 20 years. that is not the kind of mentality that represents us. thank you for the time. you are fantastic. host: we will go to helen. caller: good morning. i just wanted to say i approve .f trump pulling our troops out the generals were the one who have him make the decision. i sell a meeting at the white house. -- i saw a meeting at the white house. you: helen, let me show what lindsey graham says about the president's decision-making. mr. president, forget about what i'm saying. listen to your own national security team who are telling you about the consequences of your decision. president trump is being told exactly what president obama was told before he withdrew from iraq. he appeared to be hell-bent on making the same mistakes in syria as president obama made in

iraq. worst thing a commander-in-chief can do is give land back that was made through blood and sacrifice. lindsey graham sang the president is not listening to his advisors. -- saying the president is not listening to his advisors. caller: he is listening. i saw him sitting at the white house. lindsey graham is ok. i like him. the republicans that voted yesterday opposed their muchrawal did not know about the situation. trunk does listen to has military people. trump does listen to his military people. syria is about the size of north dakota. turkey is about the size of texas. they are small countries. they are a lot of desert land. turkey did take at least a million refugees from syria.

looke they were -- they were looking at it for two years. not hurt the syrian people. i do not believe. another thing -- we ought to get out of afghanistan. all we are doing is protecting the poppyseed, which produces cocaine. as president trump and pens, they are doing a fantastic job protecting and providing for the american people. i-83 with trump wholeheartedly. thank you. -- i agree with trump wholeheartedly. thank you. host: thank you, helen. mark meadows is a republican who often mentioned in hearings that he was good friends with alessia cummings. he tweets this out, there was no

stronger advocate and a better friend in elijah cummings. i am heartbroken for his wonderful family and stuff. please pray for them. i will miss him dearly. elijah cummings passing away earlier this morning due to health conditions. he was a member of congress for a long time. if you go to our website, c-span.org, you will find over 900 videos of him, the hearings that he led if you are interested in watching those ago -- those again. linda in utah, independent caller. welcome to the conversation. what you think about syria? caller: good morning. i think the consequences of transactions are going to create a complete genocide. this morning, the forces of russia and turkey are already in the north that was completely

settled. it would have been so much as nancy russia, pelosi said yesterday to him, all roads lead to russia. in 2014, i watched the syrian war go on day after day with no help. every time the united nations tried to take in humanitarian aid, the bomb to them. they tried to keep them out. it is an amazing thing. that thee callers -- middle east has been fighting hundreds of thousands of years is sickening because the middle east is the cradle of civilization. it is really sad to hear people talk about syrians this way. host: i have to jump in at this point because the house is about to come