coming up this morning, the hills ellen mitchell discusses the future of defense spending and the national defense of the racing -- defense authorization act signed by president trump this week. and we will feature a pacific standard contributing writer as he talks about his recent piece on the secondary market. then, a senior research fellow shares his view on bitcoin and the future of cryptocurrency. be sure to watch "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span3, today at 6:00 p.m. on the civil war, generals we love to hate, general johnston. >> his critics argue that his timidity with the enemy and combativeness with the confederate government so undermined the southern war effort as to making bacon -- as to make him a contributing factor in confederate defeat. to these critics, johnston was the real mcclellan of the west. [laughter] a man who lacked the moral will to commit troops to battle unless it could be absolutely certain of victory, and since those circumstances never obtained, he seldom, if ever, s

morning, ellen mitchell, defense reporter for the hill, talks about the future of defense spending. and then, andy kroll from the pacific standard talks about his recent article and what happens to retail goods that are returned. and later, brian knight talks about bitcoin in the future of crypto currency. we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter as well. "washington journal" is next. ♪ morning.d it is saturday, december 16th, 2017. topping the headlines, president trump yesterday called actions by the fbi this graceful. -- disgraceful. this referred to revelations that two fbi officials working on the probe of hillary clinton's private email server and special counsel robert mueller's probe of russian election interference exchanged pro-clinton and antitrust text messages -- anti-donald trump text messages. the president vowed to rebuild the

host: we are joined by ellen mitchell of the hill.are talking about the defense budget bill that was signed into law this week. she writes for the hill, and what you wrote about was the role that matt is played in having a seat at the table. you said the former marine corps general presence was meant to be in adult in the room and impart the importance of listing long plays defense spending caps as president trump seeks to do with congressional democrats to fund the government in the next year. mattis is perhaps the most respected figure in trump's cabinet, and was confirmed in an overwhelming 98-1 senate vote. trump seems to be aiming at harnessing the political cloud in the bargaining session. so talk about, you mentioned the fact that the government has to find a way to keep itself funded over the next year. how does the ndaa and mattis' presence plays into that? guest: i think republicans are certainly hope it helps. right now, we have got until december 22 before the next resolution is over. right before christmas. the republican

coming up saturday morning, the hill's ellen mitchell and what was included in the national authorization act was signed by president trump. in our spotlight on magazines segment, we will feature andy peace.s he talks about then senior research fellow shares his view on bitcoin and the crypto currency. the sure to watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern saturday morning. join the discussion. today, president trump spokes of the graduates of the fbi national academy at the agency's training facility in quantico, virginia. the graduatestold that he would back them 100% in the future. this is 50 minutes. [applause] -- i'm going to ask all of our students to raise their hands. you all just admitted to the president you are skipping school today. [laughter] when you return to class, tell them that you met the president in a very special place. quantico was home to native americans for thousands of years. general washington marched his on the wayh quantico to our victory at yorktown. camped onion soldiers quantico during the civil war. marines trained at quantico to join world war i. in t

coming up saturday morning, the hill ellen mitchell discusses the future of defense spending and what was included in the national defense authorization act that was signed by president trump earlier this week. and in our spotlight on magazine segment, will feature pacific standard contributing writer andy kroll as he talks about his recent piece on the secondary market for goods. then spencer senior research fellow brian knight shares his view on the future of crypto currency. be sure to watch c-span washington journal live in seven eastern saturday morning. join the discussion. >> jefferson probably knew more about more things than any single man in north america. and i would include franklin in that. who would be his only rival. and everyone was impressed by jeffersons extent of his knowledge. adams was smart but he did not have the depth. but he had depth in history and law jefferson did not have. not because jefferson could not. he just was not as interested in the law as items. sunday on q&a, professor and historian gordon -- on friends divided. about the relationship and differ

coming up saturday morning, ellen mitchell discusses the future of defense spending and what was included in the national defense authorization act that was signed by president trump earlier this week. and in our spotlight on magazine segment, we feature specific -- pacific standard country reading writer andrew kroll as he talks about the secondary market for retail goods. then senior research fellow brian knight shares his view on bitcoin and the future of crypto currency. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at seven eastern on saturday morning. join the discussion. >> as president trump to part of the white house to speak at the fbi academy graduation ceremony, he took questions from reporters for about five minutes.

. >> reporter: debbie's friend ellen mitchell noticed a change in debbie's behavior when she returnedips. >> she would come home from some of these trips and say, hey, let's go get a drink, let's have some dinner. and your expectation would be, i want to get home to my husband. she didn't seem to be in any particular hurry anymore. >> reporter: looking back now, debbie's parents wondered if the marriage frayed because debbie, a modern woman, wasn't meeting lars' old-fashioned expectations. >> she was not the kind to stay home and bake cookies or walk in the door and serve you a meal, because she'd worked just as hard, too. >> and all these friends, she goes and spends tennis time, does things -- maybe just -- you feel like you're gettin' shortchanged. >> he wanted more of debbie? >> right. >> he did want more from debbie. >> reporter: all marriages have problems. very few end this badly. so investigators decided to take an even closer look at the husband who pulled the trigger. >> coming up, lars seemed upset. was he? >> these bits of emotion are only done in front of the detective. t

coming up saturday morning, the hills ellen mitchell discusses the future of defense spending and whatwas included in the national defense authorization act that was signed by president trump earlier this week. in our spotlight on magazine segment, we will feature contributing writer andy kroll as he talks about his recent piece on the secondary market. then the senior research fellow brian knight chairs his view on bit coin in the future of crypto currency. be sure to watch c-span "washington journal" live at 70 string saturday morning. in the discussion. >> sunday night, steve koffler and his book bannon, always the rebel. >> we spend a lot of time with steve bannon. you've heard his goals, you've talked about what he wants to d do. what odds do you give him for being able to help reach those goals? >> you want me too be utterly honest or utterly hopeful? >> i do tend to agree with a lot of what he says. i think there is a decent chance, because i think the belief that the electric has already changed, even in the general election, trump was victorious despite obvious flaws. he was n

coming up saturday morning, the hill's ellen mitchell and what was included in the national authorizationct was signed by president trump. in our spotlight on magazines segment, we will feature andy peace.s he talks about then senior research fellow shares his view on bitcoin and the crypto currency. the sure to watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern saturday morning. join the discussion. today, president trump spokes of the graduates of the fbi national academy at the agency's training facility in quantico, virginia. the graduatestold that he would back them 100% in the future. this is 50 minutes. [applause]