Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 08102019 20240714

202 7488001. That enthuse those of you without Employer Health care plans. We would also like to hear from you on social media. But first, how many people get health care from their employers, the average annual 7,000, 6896nearly single coverage, 19,660 contribute workers 18 of the premium for coverage, 29 for family coverage, and 89 of workers have an annual , the average is about 1500 to 1600. Thats from the Kaiser Family foundation. The issue of employersponsored plans really came into focus in the most recent debates. The Los Angeles Times writes about that with this headline, news analysis, Democrats Ask americans, are you ready to give up jobbased Health Care Coverage . They writes that sharp disagreements among president ial hopefuls have crystallized a critical and explosive political question. I democrats willing to upend Health Care Coverage for their fellow americans . The party is closer than they have been to embracing a Health Care Platform that would move all americans out of their current insurance and into a single, government run plan. Pushed by three of the four leading candidates, Bernie Sanders, elizabeth warren, and Kamala Harris differ in their particulars. But would all end of the jobbased system that provides coverage to more than 150 Million People. Your employersponsored Health Care Plan, doesnt work for you, 202 7488000if the answer is yes. If it does not work for you, 202 7488001. The issue came back to the eye was state fair, as joe biden spoke for the group at the Des Moines Register soapbox. Our coverage continues through the weekend. Here is what the former Vice President had to say. We are able to go out and make sure everyone is protected by building on obamacare. Restoring historic deals we did. In addition, adding a medicarelike option to it, so you could buy into that if you wish to. If you are able to keep, like, your employerbased policy. You can keep that policy, as long as they keep the policy. , 740t a lot of money billion over 10 years. But it does not cost 30 trillion that the other plans will result in the raising of taxes. Bernie is honest enough to tell you that. Canan cover everybody, we do it in a way that allows people the choice that they want. Host joe biden at the i was state fair. Just to remind you, coverage is removed resuming at 10 00. We are asking this morning about your employersponsored Health Care Plan. Are you happy with it . Does it work for you . 202 7488000if the answer is yes. If the answer is no or you do not have that employersponsored Health Care Plan, the line is 202 7488001. Janet is up first in tacoma, washington. Thank you for calling in. Caller i think everyone should have Health Insurance, because its the most important part of everyones life. Nothing comes before that. I think joe bidens plan works the best for everyone, it would take less from the government and still cover everyone. I know that obamacare saved a lot of lives. A lot of people would have died of heart attacks, and many other illnesses because they could not afford it. And it was worth it for the people, even if some have to pay a little more, they can afford it, because these other people dont have money and they have to think of the poor. Host you are calling on the line for those with employersponsored plans. If your plan working for you . Caller i have medicare. That works for me. I have had surgery, both hands operated on, i need back surgery but im afraid to get it because with my next surgery i did not have a heartbeat and i was not breathing. I got purple, my body swelled, my neck expanded and they had to put tube down my throat and im afraid that my back surgery might be the same way, maybe i wont wake up. Thats the only reason i have not gotten it. But as far as anything i ever needed with medicare, i was able to get it. For which im thankful. Cheryl, in hear from castro valley, california. Caller good morning. Host make sure you mute your television. Go ahead. Worker,i am health care i have been with the system for 36 years now. , as a healthfor me care worker. Its part of the benefits of working in health care. I dont know thats part of the problem or not. But the health care i do receive works for me. Host you are in the health care does the potential of losing that system that that 150based system million americans are covered by, could you see potential problems in terms of chaos and lack of coverage by many individuals . I am over 65 now, i have Medicare Coverage as well. But my employerbased Health Coverage covers the other 20 . And my cost is minimal. So it is frightening to me to think of, as i age, the older we get the more like we are to develop Health Related issues that need treatment. If that when he percent is not covered by my employerbased health care, im gonna have to go where for that money . Thats frightening. ,ost lets hear from tracy from blue earth, minnesota, who said through employersponsored plan is not working. Hello. Im currently unemployed and disabled, im not receiving health care through my employer. I am covered under my wifes at what would be considered a rural hospital as a nurse. Our town has a population of about 4000. You showed a video clip of joe biden at the state fair. One of the things he said today was he believes in truths, not facts. I have is thats before obamacare, when i was working, i received full family coverage, Health Coverage eyewear. Dental, and after, when i began to start , i hadhealth Problems Health insurance for a while through my employer and i was covered as a secondary under my wife. And havinge copays such a large deductible, we had to declare bankruptcy. We could not pay the bills, just on the copays. We lost our home. Host you said you lost your home . Caller yes. Host one was that . When was that . Caller a few years ago. I just dont see things heading in the right direction. Wouldre for all, i feel, be a drastic step in the right direction. Ofther fact is that 80 these socalled rural hospitals would have to shut down, because to giveld not be able this sort of care. Host i hope youll stay tuned, were talking about the state of rural hospitals in our next our. We are spending our first hour talking about employersponsored Health Care Plans. Are they working for you. 202 7488000 for yes, 202 7488001 no. This has been a topic in the most recent debates. All the stuff at the i was state fair as well. And as headlined in bloomberg, trump to unveil drug price index in september health care speech. He seeks to compete with democratic puzzles. Here is what proposals, heres what Kellyanne Conway had to say. The democrats are attacking obamacare. We dont need to bother to do that. Whats the core of it . Presenting preexisting conditions. , making sure there is freedom in the Health Care System, so people are not stuck with the plan. Individual mandate is gone. We had 3 million americans paying 6 billion in penalties, rather than pay for this wonderful thing called obamacare. They are willing to pay billions of dollars in penalties instead. So we need to put the patients in charge of their health care, we are also looking at strengthening medicaid, and making sure its there for the people for whom it was intended. Obamacare covers a small percentage of the country, three and 30 Million People, about 315 million are not on obamacare. It should not be that difficult to explain to the rest of the country why they can have Better Health care than what they have. But we are not going to allow people to take away private insurance from 100 77 million americans who are happy with it. Were7 million americans happy with it. And medicare is the largest entitlement ever. We dont have the money for that. Costpart from the monetary , theres a moral cost. With the last administration did for veterans were dying waiting for care last month. In a way that we are waiting for care and waiting to see the doctor. A lot of americans are happy with what they have. Hour, wethe first talked about whos getting it, 100 52 million americans, who is 152ring it question million americans, who is offering it . We have this chart. 89 of firms with 50 to 99 workers offering coverage, and 96 of firms with 100 or more workers offer some kind of Health Care Coverage to individuals and those with families. From the Kaiser Family foundation, this chart in terms of tracking, where people are thinking for medicare for all, certainly among the democrats proposals, half of the public favors medicare for all. Down slightly from recent months. Lets hear from gregory, in rockville, happy with his Health Care Plan. Go ahead. Caller im very happy with my Health Care Plan, but there were so Many Americans who feel they have to stay at a job that they are not happy with just to keep health care. So senator harris and other candidates have started to talk about the fact that maybe its time to separate your Health Care Plan from your work. For me, im happy but there were so Many Americans who would have a better job than they would be happier with, if it meant being able to go would not worry about their health care. Im not saying we should but we should start a conversation about separating your job from your Health Care Plan. Host he spoke about senator kemal harris, in the most recent debate, she talked about how she would decouple the employerbased plan. My plan does not offer anything [video clip] offer anythingot illegal, that means that the kind of health care you get will not be a function of where you work. Ive met so Many Americans who stick to a job they do not like, when they are not prospering, because they need the health care. Its time that we separate employers from health care. Under my plan we do that. Teresa, in go to pensacola, florida. Caller good morning. I want to say that i approve of Employer Health care. I work for the state of florida. My Monthly Contribution is a little over 50. When i had a family it was little over 80. My employer share was over 800 a month, which is one of the reasons why our raises were few and far between. So i dont want my health care touch. Host are you happy with that arrangement . Caller oh yes, im very happy. Host what is your deductible if you dont mind me asking . Caller i dont understand how all that works. Ive been having physical therapy, three days a week for the last four weeks, my copay is 40 for specialist. 20 i see my doctor is copay. I dont know if theres a limit of how much i can get a year. I dont know any of that. I am prettylthy healthy, i do cardio, i. E. Well. Host thank you. Lamar in connecticut is not happy. Doing phil . Are you . Bill host im fine thank you. Caller i work with three parttime jobs, none provide benefits. Basica. Provides me with care. They are very thorough and socialized and i am all for bernies plan. He was the first one to talk idea. It, he has the best for those who do not have jobs that provide health care, what else can they do . Host to be clear, you are working three parttime jobs but you dont need health care through your employer because you get it through the v. A. . Caller thats right. But thats not the point. Host what about fulltime employees at the places where you work . Employees, fulltime as far as im concerned, they dont get enough either. Their Insurance Companies want to limit what they can have for coverage. Theres a constant battle going on between the Insurance Companies and the doctors and the patients. Host appreciate that. Lets hear from claire, in wisconsin. You are on. Caller good morning. I do have Employer Paid health also on medicare because im over 65. The thing that i have found, having worked for 45 years or longer, all of that time i was not covered. In the job i have now, if i go week, i wills a not have coverage. Employersw most coverage goes. You have to have a minimum number of hours a week you have to work. So many people are like this person you just spoke to, he worked three jobs, and doesnt have anything. We really need a plan that throughout thes, country. Once we get that plan, the Insurance Companies we cant do both. Insurance company saying employers can keep going, and employers are going to look at it from the point of view of why are we spending these millions of dollars to provide and oure when taxes government can cover it better, more thoroughly, and we will not as Kellyanne Conway said, have lines waiting to get in, unless we continue with paid insurance bargains who will make with the hospitals and things and give them perks until they run out of people who are willing to pay that extra premium. Host thank you for your comments. Jill is next, in illinois. Calling in on the no line, not happy with her coverage. Go ahead. Caller hello. I believe the Insurance Companies at cost. Thats all they do. They add cost. Can you give us an example of that . Where you have encountered that where the cost was added by Insurance Companies . , when you goxample and have an operation, the prices get jacked up because they can. They can jacked those prices up because they have the Insurance Company. And the Insurance Company passes on that cost. Its too much expense. American people are paying the highest expenses for medical. National healthcare the cost would come down. And they would not be taking as much out. Sure, they will take money out for taxes, but they are taking money out now and you are paying for your insurance policy. So the price for medical would come down, lowering it for everybody. Uses the cost of health care would come down if everybody were on a similar plan . Caller thats right. Because Insurance Companies are just a middleman and they add cost. Host thats jill, in illinois. Sandra in nevada is not happy with her Health Care Coverage. What is your story sandra . Aller im retired now when i was working i worked for a company that was doing well. The owner died, five employees purchased the company from his wife. A year later they said they were not making enough profit. Insuranceremely high and i was fired. I dont believe in employer insurance. Host we started the program reading something from the Los Angeles Times, looking at the analysis of the debate, particularly among den among democrats. And from the article, a little bit here, they say for decades voters have repeatedly punished president s and congresses, democrat and republican alike, with thread to away existing health plans, no matter how flawed. Last to the gop suffered historic losses in the house of representatives after the unsuccessful effort to roll back the 2010 Affordable Care act, known as obama care. But at a time when rising insurance deductibles and medical bills are crippling a growing number of american families, Many Democrats believe the discontent with the Current System has changed the dynamic. And it came to the front and the most recent debates. Heres the backandforth between john delaney and senator Bernie Sanders. [video clip] we can create a universal Health Care System to give everyone basic health care and i have a proposal. But we dont have tight be the party of subtract we dont have to be the party of subtraction telling people that private Health Insurance is illegal. The Union Electrician that is my dad loves the health care he got and he would never want someone to take that away. Beneficiaries would take that away. Its about policy. We will come to you in one second, lets go to senator sanders. Is,he fact of the matter tens of millions of people lose their Health Insurance every single year when they change jobs, when theyre in short there employer changes insurance. , assistant stability gives you freedom of choice to go to a doctor or hospital, a system that will not bankrupt you, the answer is to get rid of the profiteering Drug Companies and Insurance Companies. Host on this first hour of the washington journal, asking about employersponsored Health Care Plans. In other news this morning, the atsidents offer vacation bedminster. But yesterday he had a couple of fundraisers in the Washington Post we reported it was reported that he raised 12 million at two hamptons fundraisers, adding to the Nasa Campaign war chest he is amassing for his 2020 reelection campaign. They write that President Trump national the republican chairwoman, saying thanks to the unhinged mob on the left, he raised 12 million in support of the president. The support is unprecedented and growing. , ins hear from sharon westport, washington. Good morning. Im a federal government retiree. While i was working, our Insurance Programs were great, and asble for my family an individual when my children were older. Changedetired, thats for federal government retirees. More, the coverage is less. People in the United States, americans, need Health Coverage. There are some any people that dont have coverage and they just wont go to the dock where the doctor. Im also at the point, if i got sick, it would cost too much money. Ive had cancer and gone through that, but i would not go to the doctor yet. I have federal Health Care Coverage, but when you are in rural america, the Insurance Companies that cover federal its notetirees honored where i live. No doctors handle those insurances, making it really difficult to get coverage. Go forow far you have to coverage . Go for majorhad to if i change plans about 90 miles to a hospital. Im 70, i dont drive very much, my car has a lot of miles on it. I believe in Health Coverage. I know federal government retiree Health Coverage is substantially less then if i was not working for the federal government. Host thank you for that. Kim is next, in indiana. Go ahead, but make sure you mute your television. Thank you. I have a phd and i worked as a consultant for companies. One of the things you find when companies, is that as their health costs get more and more, they will switch to another company. That is when you get kicked off. , iad triple bypass surgery had a leg cut off because of diabetes and my toes cut off on my other foot. I was way up there and the corporations, but when they switched plans, my health care went out the window because the new company would not cover me. Hat is the company save money they get you with your preexisting conditions kicked out of plans. And it makes their plan less expensive. Host how long were you on that previous plan . Caller ive been on a few previous plans. Im a consultant in indiana and i worked with highlevel Vice President s. Thats how they work. Its a scheme to get you kicked off. Lucky, i have socialist health care from the government called v. A. So i got to get my coverage from the v. A. , and i have to tell you its no worse than independent health care. People say they have to stay in lines and stuff, but thats not true. They get you in and out just as fast. Thats all i have to say. Host lets see what people are saying on twitter. If you say Insurance Companies add 2. 5 and employ 500,000 people, its like saying breece baristas arista at cost. No, they run the cash register. Please dont make me pay for other peoples insurance. Mary says everyone like Kellyanne Conway says they are afraid something will take some thing away from them and they are so afraid that making someone elses life livable will into the needs than. Inconvenience them. And with so many governments so many plate so many places try to find employees, i would think they would be happy to have Government Insurance and they could pay more they wanted to. Lets hear from florence in west virginia. Caller how are you doing this morning . Host im doing well. Caller there are a few different things. I was involved in union , part of what we negotiated was health care for members. Im curious to know how many people that are satisfied with their health care, and have a low premium because the company pays the rest of it, how many of them are through union contracts. You know what im saying . You could be satisfied with it. I understand that because i have been on both sides. But people call in and say they are satisfied with it, it was negotiated, more than likely in one way shape or form, even though Union Enrollment has been forced down. As i can remember, that was the best health care i ever had, through unions. Host what union was that . Caller brick and glass. Host are you retired . Still with the union . Caller im 72, i hung it up a while ago. Host good for you, thank you for calling. Heres what Kaiser Family foundation said, how people feel about their Health Care Coverage. There youre somewhat favorable view of medicare, 80 2 , employersponsored insurance, of, medicaid 75 , in terms employersponsored insurance, heres how it breaks down among party. Percent,ns, 91 independence 77 , democrats 68 . Next yearng to ohio from kay. Caller good morning. When i was working my insurance worked well, it came out of every paycheck but came but worked well, the deductible was high. As you get older you need it more. I went on my retirement, medicare kicked dixon kicks in which was paid for out of my paycheck, and i have secondary insurance. Thats working out well. I think the problem is not so much that we need medicare for all, its that the government needs to stop being best friends with the people in the pharmaceutical and Insurance Companies. They had the power to tell them you are charging too much coming you are not reimbursing enough, you are not covering enough. You pay for this insurance and then they say we dont cover that. We only cover 20 of that. We are paying them to cover you and that is where the government needs to step in and say what you are doing is illegal, and change that. And then i think we would have Affordable Health care that has better coverage. Stop manipulating us by being in bed with Insurance Companies. For people who think Medicare Fraud scheme to be great. I want to emphasize that we will never get the insurance that Bernie Sanders and the rest of the people in washington, d. C. Get. Have their plan and it will trickle down and they will give us what they want. Like with welfare. You can stay home and we will give you a check. Its wonderful to sub exist, people bought into that. Thats what they want us to buy into. We are not going to get the same insurance the people in washington, d. C. Get. Calling fromay, ohio. The most recent rally in ohio had President Trump talking about his Health Care Ideas, hes excepted to announces plan according to Kellyanne Conway sometime in september. Lets listen to President Trump. [video clip] never beens have farther outside the mainstream. Liberal politicians want to eliminate private health care, and force everyone onto the government plan. Remember the lies from the previous administration, if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can octor. Our d another, and it turned out to be a total live. Lie. My administration is defending your right to choose the plan and doctor that is best for you. We are offering right now plans up to 60 cheaper than obamacare , and we will always protect patients with preexisting conditions. Always. Host President Trump on his most recent rally, look at his approval ratings. Heres the headline, the latest at 42 . Back to your call on employersponsored health care. Does it work for you . 202 7488000 if the answer is yes. 202 7488001if the answer is no. To maurice, in georgia. Caller how are you . Host im fine. Thank you. Caller you can purchase private Health Insurance even if there a singlepayer Health Care System. You can do that in canada, britain, any number of countries that has universal health care. Thats a fact and thats what would happen in this country that is what will happen in this country when we employ singlepayer health care. Please stop with that republik and talking point. Republican talking point. There is wait time in private health care. 62 of bankruptcies in this country are because of Health Care Costs. Those are facts. Nations industrialized already have singlepayer universal health care. We are the outlier. Not these other countries, they already know whats up and what works. We have these right wing Republicans Holding up progress for the rest of the country and we need to stop that. Insurance, by its definition, it. Thank you. Host let me ask you quickly. I think we lost them, michael, in new york. Hello. Caller hello. How are you . Host im fine, thank you. Caller great. I like my insurance, im with the union. I like the idea that the union can negotiate with the company to get fair and good health care. I dont like the idea that i have to pay for other Peoples Health care. I work. I pay for my own. I believe in being responsible for my own self, i dont like the idea of people coming here because they get benefits or entitlements. Nobody is entitled to anything except life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I dont like paying for other peoples things. Are happy with your employer plan, has your cost risen . Caller most definitely. Obamacare limited the ability my union had to negotiate Different Health cares. Neighbor sticking on the points of what this is what the Affordable Health care act said. We cannot go to that, cannot give you this, cannot give you that. We cannot go on a gold plan anymore. My Health Care Cost went up and my benefits went down. Host but you are happy with your plan now . Even though its more expensive . Caller im still happy with it. Its not what it used to be. Costs go up, things happen with the government. I couldnt control that and i vote. But i could not control who got in and what they did. The government things they are doing well for us, they need to step back and look at the real people and what its doing to the majority of us and who is paying for this. Because we are paying for this. And too few are receiving benefits. Host lets hear from herbie, in North Carolina. I hope youre doing well. , thatrry to sound rude guy from new york just now, the way i see it, this is the United States of america. We are supposed to take care of one another, period. I was a union worker. I had the good benefits. Im going through it now, thank god im a veteran. The v. A. Takes very good care of me. These people that dont want to peoplepitch in, help out with dirty feet, have no education, whatever the case may you should trye that. Help with your health care. If you were to a point where you we, as the United States, should pitch in, period. Host thats herbie, in North Carolina. Another story we are following in the wake of Mass Shootings, President Trump talking about potential Gun Legislation as he departed from the white house. A few stories on that. This is the wall street journal this morning. Trump is optimistic on gun talks, the president says the senate gop end and ra are open to background checks, neither have endorsed. We will pull that off and show you the headline in the Washington Post. A similar tone, President Trump is confident on Gun Legislation. They write that he expressed confidence that he could rally republicans around legislation strengthening background checks and persuade the powerful gun lobby to drop its longstanding opposition to such measures that have proved elusive following other Mass Shootings on his watch. The white house before a lengthy summer vacation, he claims that conversations has yielded strong congressional support for meaningful background checks and his party, which has stymied gun control efforts by democrats, would take the lead in passing new legislation after returning from the august recess. Back to calls on health care. Lets hear from karen, in iowa. Hello . Caller good morning. With the Rural Electric cooperative for 24 years, we are happy with our Employer Health care coverage. Having said that, there is good and bad. Im on a prescription that i have to pay because i cannot take the generic because of reactions. I have to pay full price, which cost me 100 every three months. And we have a daughter in college and under our Insurance Plan until shes 26. So we cant complain, very happy with it. Host its good to hear from you. Ann, in virginia, welcome. Caller i have the best insurance now that i have ever had, im on medicare. I had blue cross blue shield, i had theplan, advantage medicare, it pays everything that i need. It added forto see everyone, if we could go on medicare for everybody. Then everybody could also have , and they could have the super advantage. My husband is also going to the what people say is not our experience and not the experience of most people that we know. Some people take terrible advantage of their insurance policies, and i do realize they are unhappy. But theres enough, we are a great country, we do not need to have people suffer when they have terrible automobile accidents, or illnesses. Ages, all at all backgrounds, so medicare, or similar, similar for everyone as a baseline, and then for people who want more, as i did, let them have it. I think everybody can get good insurance, and people who are wealthy can get there exotic their exotic have their eyelids dr. Something. But theres plenty in this good country. And i thank you. Host thank you. We took comments from the detroit debates, Kamala Harris speaking about her plan, we will hear from her again among democraticup of candidates, and a republican candidate is coming up on sunday. Buchwald harris but kamala withs is speaking in iowa our covered starting this morning at 10 00. The Associated Press reported that she released her plan a week ago, it draws critics from all sides and she released a Health Care Proposal on monday that sought to bridge the Democratic Partys disparate factions and she drew criticism from rivals across the political spectrum. Withesses took issue stopping short of medicare for all. More moderate rivals said she was trying to have it all without taking a Firm Position on one of the most animating issues in the primary. Theeview was offered of democrat on democrat fighting that will likely unfold over two nights of president ial debates that began on tuesday. That was about two weeks ago on monday. Back to your calls, mike, in massachusetts. Caller hello. We have had Employer Health care for 19 years, my wife was unemployed, and then for years my wife was selfemployed and eventually she was like go. Month through cobra, after being we were pay 200 a month through cobra after being dropped from the company. After about 10 months it was getting really tight because businessfemployed, my ive been selfemployed for about 30 years. So we had to find some alternatives. Thank god living in massachusetts, it was government run at the time, the Health Care Plan that you had to be on if you were not covered. It was a small fee, but it was went fromncome and it 2000 to 700, which is more manageable. Host you said this was a plan that was developed under the romney administration. Caller yes, it was. Governor baker has done more for it. It brought the cost down significantly from 2000 to 700. I dont mind paying for health care. Thats not an issue. Very good coverage. We have a bit of a copay, some deductibles, but it was a little better than i thought the employee. Host when you were on cobra, you said you were paying 2000, how high was the deductible . 20 if i believe it was you went to your primary. , that under myd employee, i had a heat stroke and as i look up on calculating , what it wascost to lay in an emergency room. I asked the guy five was dying and he said no. So i went to my primary the next day and i refuse the ambulance cost thats how bad it was. Host you were thinking this as you were lying there after the heat stroke. Caller coming to after heatstroke. I was in a parade, i fell down. His is an average person my son cracked his head open at a friends house, mom called an ambulance, it wasnt covered by the employee insurance, that was a 1500 bill and they did not even put a bandaid on his head. I dont mind paying. Im selfemployed, it has to be done. Host im going to let you go, but thank you for sharing your experience. We have russell, in maryland. Caller good morning. I am a vw worker, we gave up wage hikes to keep the health care we have. Its very good health care. I would hate to lose that. It would not benefit me one bit. To lose my health care. Host obviously more important colleagues your ibew to get that health care covered ,ather than take a wage raise correct . Caller correct. Bernie sanders talks about canada, canadas not talking about giving health care to illegal aliens. Thats how they keep their health care down. That would go up when we have to go on to some Big Government plan that does not benefit anyone. For a guy like you, getting it through his union, i dont know how close you are to retirement, typically in your union, what happens . Do they continue Health Care Coverage after you retire and combine that with medicare . They have different packages you can enroll in, those come up six months before your retirement date. You can go through the coverages, and you have six months of health care after you retire, so you do have time to go over the different plans. Host is there mandatory retirement . Caller no, i work with guys that are 65 and 70. Marylandare staying in and hearing from harry. Caller how are you doing . Host good thanks. Caller i have medical, its great. I wanted to send everyone say to everyone, its like gas. Nobody has the exact answer on how to be able to fix it. If a student goes to school and pays a high tuition to be a. And the hospital has to pay him a high salary. Its just the fact of the matter. A form is suited that a pharmacist goes to school, his tuition is high, he works at a pharmaceutical place that makes medicine, they go for five years with the products they used to make the medicines and it may not even work, they have to recoup their money when they do get medicine that works. Thats just america. No one has the perfect answer to deal with medical. For the gentleman who said he does not want to pay for everyone, you still pay for everyone. If a person is sick tomorrow and they have no insurance they go to the hospital, they dont pay the bill. The state turns around and pays the hospital back for that person who did not have insurance. Then the state raise estate taxes on the individuals who live in that state, so you are still paying for these people who dont have insurance. Host we appreciate that. Some comments on twitter. One tweet is im lucky, i have not needed a doctor, some of the stories we hear her so sad and disturbing. Thatays lets not forget today has failed on health care, obamacare is still along the land. Steve says notice how republicans dont care about fellow americans having Affordable Access or Accessible Health care. The money pit of the military should be reduced to help with Health Care Costs. Mimi said the same doctor and insurance before and after the aca. Michael bennet participated in the recent detroit debates, he will also be on the stage at the i was state there state fair the iowa state fair. Here is what he had to say on health care. [video clip] job wehould finish the started with the Affordable Care act, with a public option that gives everyone in this audience the chance to pick for their family whether they want private insurance or public insurance. It requires Drug Companies to be negotiated with on medicare and provides competition. Thats totally different from the plan that senator warren, senator sanders, and senator harris has proposed, which would make illegal employerbased Health Insurance in this country , and raise taxes on the middle 30s to the tune of trillion. As joe biden said, we dont need to do that. It doesnt make sense for us to take away insurance from half the people and put huge taxes on a most everybody in this room when we can pass a public option and trust the American People to make the right decision and have universal health care in two years, not 10. Kurt back to your calls, is in brownsville, new jersey. Thank you for waiting. Caller how are you doing. Thank you. , i wonder atestion its wording. But the key for me is i have to work to have Health Insurance. I cant imagine free Health Insurance at my stage of life. I wouldnt work if i had free Health Insurance. As far as that goes, i have i cant imagine anything else. But i would like to stop working, but Health Insurance keeps me on the job. Host can we ask how old you are . Caller im 57. Host a ways away from being able to take medicare, eight more years or so. Caller thats a scary thought. Host thank you for calling. Next, wayne, go ahead. Ohio, i wasfrom declared disabled when i was 25 and im 33 now. I went off disability last year, and went back to work. They im working at now, dont have any employees working full time. So they dont offer health care. , i able to keep medicaid still have a lot of doctors appointments and i would not be able to the cost of that health care is really high. A lot of places dont offer it. I think medicare for all, or Something Like that, would be beneficial for everybody. Medicaid . Ou are on caller i went on medicaid when i was declared disabled at 25. About seven years ago. I went off disability last year, but they allowed me to stay on medicaid. , and i startedng to check out Health Insurance plans. But there are a lot of employers that are not that will not offer fulltime hours to employees, so they dont have to offer insurance. At least people without health care that leaves people without health care. And god for medicare for me, which thank god for medicare for me, which other taxpayers are paying for. If not for that i would be in a back in the erbe being treated instead of having a primary care physician. Host next up, alan, in pennsylvania alex, in pennsylvania. Caller ive been a machinist my whole life, worked up big and Small Companies area everyone i know companies. Everyone i know in pennsylvania pennsylvania, has that health care. Nobody can retire has bad health care, nobody can retire at 62. The bottom line is they get everything. Your home, everything. I dont know where these people work, that gentleman from maryland, i dont know anybody in this area that has health care that is not expensive and doesnt cover much of anything and you end up with huge bills at the end of anything. Host thats alex, from pennsylvania. We will stay on the issue of health care. We have our next segment on washington journal, with a closer look at the challenges facing rural hospitals. We will speak to Michael Braga, who is reporting on the issue. Later on we will speak to frank theub, the talk about rising domestic terrorism and how lawenforcement is responding. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] announcer cspans campaign 2020 coverage continues from the iowa state fair with viewer collins from president ial candidates. It is your tamps chance to talk to the candidates or engage with them via facebook or twitter. Today, with ohio congressman tim ryan. At four 30ibrand, pm, john hickenlooper. Eastern, at 1 00 p. M. Bill weld. At three 10 p. M. , investor tom steyer. At 6 00, bill de blasio. Call ins with the 2020 president ial candidates, live at the iowa state fair. Watch any time at cspan dont or listen live wherever you are, on the go, using the free cspan radio app. Tonight at 8 00 p. M. On lectures in history, female activists in the 1960s civil rights movement. While women were instrumental in helping to organize and put the marks together, the event was purely dominated by men. P. M. Eastern, 30 the global significance of the declaration of independence during and after the american revolution. Multiple translation of our declaration also made their way to colombia, venezuela and ecuador over the course of the 50 year period after 1776. A halfcentury known to scholars as the age of revolution. P. M. , eyewitness accounts from inside the white house during the apollo 11 landing. We staked ourselves into the cabinet room. Throughout the day, you can see the windows were dark. We are into nighttime. At 4 15 in the afternoon. The astronauts did not walk until later. Pastplore our nations every weekend on cspan3. Washington journal continues. Host continuing the discussion on health care, this time looking at the state of rural hospitals. Joining us is Michael Braga with gatehouse media. And the writer behind a number of pieces on the issue of rural hospitals, most recently a piece that says rural hospitals are floundering. Michael braga from tampa, florida this morning, tell us why you wrote this piece. What was your motivation . Well, we are the National Investigative arm for gatehouse news, which owns about 150 papers around the country. One of the hospitals in pittsburg, kansas, the morning sun was reporting about their inal hospital that shut down february. And, they called us up and said can you help us figure out why this hospital shut down . And maybe expand to talk about the crisis in rural hospitals around the country. Host the numbers of hospitals that have closed between 2010 and today continues to rise. We mentioned one of them. The expansion of medicaid coverage and their refusal to expand medicaid coverage is in some of those states. Can you give us reasons behind that you have found in your investigation, why rural hospitals are having trouble . Hospitals rural i think the best way to describe what is happening is to go back into history a little bit. , the world war ii general feeling was that every Small Community needed to have a hospital. Hospitals sprang up across the country. The problem was over the next 30 or 40 years, Rural Communities themselves shrank in size. People left to go to the big cities and it left some Rural Communities with older, sicker and more uninsured residents. At the same time, you also get a big change in the technology of hospitals. Where you are getting microsurgery and neurosurgery and you are requiring more expertise on the part of doctors, as well as a lot of equipment that is expensive like cat scans. It became more and more expensive for hospitals to operate. In order to cover those costs, they needed to be in larger communities. Communities with 1000 to 10,000 people could no longer really support all of the things that a hospital needs to have. People started migrating to the cities for care. And, as they did that, there were a few patients coming in the doors of the rural there were fewer patients coming in the doors of the rural hospitals. In order to keep their doors open, they had to specialize and do more emergency care. Some of them even gave up birthing centers. Care andt with senior may be some dialysis and those sort of things. They specialize and they needed fewer beds and, you know, the trend continues where people would prefer to go to large cities for their major procedures. Host the university of North Carolina helped us understand the spread of the rural hospital closure with a map from january of 2010 to the present, where those hospital closures are happening. In texas, 20 have closed since 2010. Tennessee, 12. Alabama, six. Missouri, six. Kansas, five. Mississippi, five, North Carolina, five. You also report a state like utah is a bit of an anomaly. They have not had the issue of closing hospitals, not as much as other states. Why is that . Guest well, utah is a really good example because it has about 21 rural hospitals. None of them have closed down during the period none of them have closed down at all. They are also the most profitable, collectively, those 21 hospitals are the most profitable in the country and they only expanded medicaid last year. The reason utah is doing so well is that about 20 years ago, the hospitals got together and the urban hospitals agreed to share some of the prophets with the rural hospitals. What you have going on in utah is socialism, where the rich urban hospitals are helping the rural hospitals. You have to credit the Mormon Church with a lot of that. A lot of the rural hospitals or a lot of Rural Communities in utah or mormon. E mormon and i guess they have more unity of purpose. More feeling that they want to take care of people in their state. That is really what saved them. Other states like texas and kansas and oklahoma, which are among the worst in the country in terms of hospital closures and hospital profitability, rural hospital profitability, dont have a unifying force. , you know,see the the benefit of the people within much of ae to be as good as the people in utah do. Host Michael Braga, based in florida, joining us to talk about rural hospitals. We would love to hear your experience and what youre are seeing in your community. 202 7488000 is the number for you in the eastern and central time zones. In the mountain and pacific time zones. There is a chart that shows the money being lost. In particular, among several states, the u. S. Average of moneylosing hospitals is 33 . Says that in the five states that refused to expand medicaid, oklahoma, 52 losing money. Same with georgia. 55 in South Carolina. 56 in mississippi. 64 in kansas. For was the common answer why these states refused to expand under obamacare . Guest right. The main reason was, for instance, texas felt that covering 10 of the cost of medicaid was too much money. And then, they felt that the eral government would stop federal government covers 90 of the cost. They were afraid that the federal government wouldnt keep up that end of the bargain. They would pay less and less and force the states to pay more and more. That is a fear argument that doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me. Host looking at the states that hospitals, the one that lead ones that lead the country, and refused obamacare are more likely to have shuttered. Look at that at gatehouse news. Com. Let me ask you about the idea of where the population is. You talked about the idea of rural hospitals came out of world war ii. Migrating to more suburban or urban centers. Is that part of the factor in the closing of these hospitals . Guest absolutely. Countrys of the population, 40 or 50 Million People are in rural areas, still. You think about where do you want to have that important surgery done, do you want it done in your local Committee Hospital or community orpital or in an urban area in rochester, minnesota . I think Everyone Wants to go to the best place for their surgery. The best place is usually where they do the most of that particular surgery. A Rural Community cant compete. A rural hospital cant compete on that basis. They have trouble even thereting doctors to live. So, it is a big problem. At the same time, there is no community in the country that wants to lose its hospital. The Community Hospital is the heart of the community. Once they lose it, it becomes extremely difficult for them to attract new businesses to the area. So that a community that might be dying, that death spiral is going to accelerate after a hospital host host closes. I dont know guest closes. Host i dont know if it is part of your reporting but patient first, have they filled a gap in terms of an emergency that rural hospitals or rural Emergency Rooms once had . Guest absolutely. My i have lost host we will let you get your earpiece back on. Michael braga joining us, talking about the state of rural hospitals. Welcoming your calls. The number to call for you in the eastern and central time zones. 202 7488001 for the mountain and pacific time zones. We will hear from stephen inman, South Carolina. Caller good morning. In South Carolina, i saw your chart, one of the things that affected the rural hospitals were the medicare cuts that were happening and accelerated under obamacare. Ist of the rural hospitals, position and i live in a rural the hospitalst of were depending on medicaid and medicare. The deeply affected operating ability of these hospitals to stay in business. That is number one. Number two, when the requirement came in for emr positions, a lot then were operating at a low profit margin. A lot of them were forced to sell out to be hospitals. A lot of them have been taken up thatrger hospital groups are in the big cities. They were closed out right if they could not be made profitable. It is a huge problem. It has been sad to watch. Unlike what your guest made a couple of comments about the care in these committees. I grew up in a Small Community in South Carolina. Some excellent physicians. A lot of the communities took pride in that. Now, of course, they cant make it in those places. What is happening is not good. I hope that whatever plan emerges in the future will ta ke some of this into account. Appreciate your experience. Michael braga, go ahead. Guest i mean, the hospitals closing in rural areas is a tragedy. Appreciate your experience. Michael braga, go ahead. The people in those communities themselves are electing to go to other areas. The idea that maybe after aies can survive hospital closes. And many have. They hospitals, when they close, other hospitals that are nearby open up facilities to help out. A lot of volunteers help to bring patients, especially elderly patients in hospitals and other areas and emergency vehicles and ambulances help to take people over longer distances. Harvard university did a study where they looked at 195 hospitals that closed. It found that the death rates and other measures did not increase dramatically because of the closures. Communities do respond to these closures. But, still, you dont if you are a community, you dont want to lose your hospital. Host lets hear from herbert from norwalk, ohio. Good morning. Caller good morning. I am a retiree on medicare, blue cross and blue shield. I love it. I have had it for several years. I retired when i was 62. Host ok. What is your question or comment for michael . We are talking about hospital care. We are in a very rural area. Expanded. Al it has built and we have several hospitals in different towns close to norwalk. We get wonderful care. If it is something very, very serious, we can go to cleveland. We can go to sandusky where they have specialists. A community where it works out real good for the elderly and younger people. Had issues through the time i 80 20. And it was now that i have retired, i have fell over into medicare and thataid and i got 80 20 in and i had one heart operation. I have had another operation on my bladder. Im doing good. Im wonderful and i am just glad to be alive. Host glad to hear that. We will go to christie in nashville, tennessee. Go ahead. Caller thank. Good morning. Host good morning. Caller i agree with the comments about the migration to larger communities or larger cities. However, what is happening in these rural hospitals is the payers. A mix of hospitalsords, these depend on a mix of private pay, insurance, medicare, and medicaid in order to remain financially viable. Under medicare for all, the problem is just going to become worse. Because all they will have is the medicare payments they receive now under obamacare. Think it is going to cause the closure of rural hospitals to become worse. In places like utah, what is happening is there is a merger, legally speaking, of tertiary. Ospitals and rural hospitals they are creating Urgent Care Centers and so forth, which is happening all over the country. Medicare for all is going to make the problem worse. Host i appreciate that. Michael braga, what are your thoughts on her comments in terms of the mix of payers and hospitals. Guest a mix of payers makes a big difference. I dont believe that medicare for all will calls more hospital failures. , many have this hospital access designation. Under that designation, if it costs a Million Dollars a year to operate hospital, and it only gets one patient and that patient is a medicare patient, medicare will pick up almost the entire 1 million cost of that hospital. Even if that patient only stays two days. Thingsips and paper and like that arent included in that. Medicare will pick up the entire cost of that hospital. If that hospital has two patients, one is medicare and the other is a private insurance , blueike blue cross shield, medicare will pick up 500,000 of that cost. Blue cross blue shield will pick up the 200,000 or 300,000 it costs for the patient to be there. That is why it matters so much. Hospitals need to have a mix of a different kind of payers. Host why do rural hospitals have trouble attracting doctors . Want toell, many dont live in a Rural Community that may be shrinking in size. They would prefer to live in the city, where there is more amenities. They can probably make more money in the city than they can in a rural area. Host here is richard in a south airliner. 202 7488000 for those of you in eastern and central time zones. 202 7488001 four mountain and pacific time zones. Richard, go ahead with your question or comment. Caller i am curious about the fact that the doctor from south duringaid that the the obama administration, medicare and medicaid payments were cut back. My question is is that because South Carolina did not expand medicare under the obama plan and they suffered and is kansas probably the same result . Thank you. Host Michael Braga. Guest sure. I believe that it would have been smarter for states that refused obamacare to take the money. Have given up, those 14 states have given up about 35 billion a year in money that could have come to their states. Moneyow, some of that would have gone probably to Community Hospitals. It may not have kept them all alive. But, it certainly would have helped those on the margins. Perhaps, more importantly, millions of people would have had Health Insurance so that they would have had peace of mind. They would have had security. They could have gone to preventative care, rather than wait until something bad happens and head to the emergency room where that is causing costs to spike. Host in one of your pieces, you wrote that high rates of poverty in rural areas, combined with the loss of jobs, aging population, lack of Health Insurance and competition from other struggling institutions will make it difficult for rural hospitals to survive, regardless of what Government Policies are implement it. For some, there is no point in trying. The result of the free market economy doing its job and a continued shakeout will be helpful but no community once that shakeout to happen in its backyard. It is a frightening thing for a small town. Said it places lives in jeopardy and has a domino effect on the community. Pharmacies cant stay open. Nursing homes have to close. Residents are forced to rely on ambulances to take them to the next closest civility in their vulnerable hours. Our emergency vehicles also affected by that if they dont somebodystaff to take 50 or 90 miles to a hospital, it makes it difficult for that sort of operation to continue. Guest absolutely. When a hospital closes down, emergency vehicles and ambulances have to take people longer distances. That can affect whether somebody lives or dies. Have s important to you know the real problem is does the free market should we have a free market system in health care . Or should we not . Hospitals cant survive economically, but do we still need them in case of emergency . That is the real question. I think that expanding medicare and bringing more money in will help. The other factor is states themselves have to get together come up with solutions. States like kansas and oklahoma and texas have no unified theory or plan for dealing with their hospitals. Utah does. We have seen that utah succeeds because they have a plan for the state. Other states should expand medicaid and come up with a plan to say look, we need a hospital centrally located between four counties. Maybe we dont need four. We need one that everyone can get to. Host we have a couple more calls but you are the lead editor for gatehouse media. Your company is in the process of buying usa today. How does that do you know will that change your job at all . Think so. Ont certainly not investigations. Investigations are something that newspapers are really big on these days. Do, itat the merger will will make our Investigative Team larger. Much larger than it is now. We will have about 54 investigators across the country, which is a lot. These people spend six months to a year working on a single project. That is a lot of salaries that are going to one or two things. The great thing about the merger is that our Investigative Team, there is not much overlap. They dont have a team in florida. We dont have a team in california. They dont have a team in texas. We do. Theyve got a very great ,ational team under chris davis which they used to work for us in florida. We know each other really well. We respect each other. We are psyched to get together and become one of the biggest players. I think that the New York Times and the Washington Post have reason to worry about competition. Host we have a caller from nearby sarasota, this is asia. Caller hi, my name is asia young. I am calling because i have question. Now that you know that rural hospitals are closing because of the people not getting medicare, do younk that they think that the people are going to change the policy to get medicare now . Host thanks. Guest i dont know. That is a good question. I dont know. I think that some of the feelings are so ingrained among politicians in the states that didnt expand medicaid that they arent going to act. I know that for instance, texas has no inclination. Aresome of the states forging ahead and their people amendmentsto get in mid minc where they can change the policies without going through legislature. That is what happened in utah. They expanded medicaid because the population voted, the majority of voters said they wanted that. Politicians still didnt give the voters everything they wanted. At least they were able to move the ball forward. Host Michael Braga with gatehouse media, you can read his reporting on this issues and more at gatehouse news. Com. Thank you so much for being with us. Guest thank you, thank you very much. Host ahead on washington journal, we will hear from frank straub. He will talk about the rise in domestic terrorism. On, Harry Bruinius talked to voters about the idea of socialism. You might be surprised about what he heard. We will talk to him at the top of the hour as washington journal continues. Q a. Nday night on [chanting] we were taken out of the hall and confronted this mob of angry people. Talks abouttanger being physically attacked in 2017, after an appearance by Charles Murray on campus. At the end of your discussion, you left that room where and what happened . I dont really remember much of it. I couldnt even tell you what door we went out. Of the halln out and confronted this mob of angry people. Some of whom were in masks. They were shoving and jostling. Their target was Charles Murray. Sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. This weekend on book tv, today at 5 55 p. M. Eastern, the boyarrell discusses crisis. Why are boy struggling and what can we do about it. Success is what makes boys and girls feel they are liked, they have friends. That is what prevents them from going into depression. When boys dont have that success, they tend to go down a slippery slope that can, in a worstcase scenario, moved to depression, anger, withdrawal, alienation and the Mass Shootings. At 8 00 eastern, in her book, girl,a pretty the author talks about growing up with the disability. My mother told the women already talking at 60 months and walking on my own, i was never sick until that fateful night, polio invaded our happy home and stole me from my family. Eastern, at 9 00 p. M. Terry mcauliffe talks about his book beyond charlottesville. Taking a stand against white nationalism. I think it signals wow, the president can say this stuff and now i can to double. That emboldened them. That is why they felt comfortable coming to charlotte so. If he can say, so can i. People used to wear hoods and do this at night. They dont think they have to wear hoods anymore. In charlottesville, they came out. This was their big comingout party. They got hurt badly in charlottesville. Watch book tv every weekend on cspan2. Washington journal continues. Host frank straub is a former special agent with the joint Terrorism Task force. Foundation he is the foundation domesticalk about terrorism and what Law Enforcement can do. A headline in the Washington Times this week, Mass Shootings call for domestic terrorism charges. And the numbers from the fbi, in terms of the number of domestic terrorist killings in the country over the past couple of years, 2015, 70 people were killed according to statistics. 2016, 72. 37 in 2017. 2018, 50 People Killed under what are termed domestic extremists. Frank straub, defined for us what the term domestic extremism is. Guest it is an interesting question. It depends on who you talk to. Refer to Domestic Versus International extremism, we are referring to people who are responding to, motivated by ideologies, beliefs, political or sometimes religious beliefs. They are domestic in nature. Traditionally, it has been supremacist organizations. We have also seen in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the puerto rican nationalists that were active and violent, extremist activities in the unite states. We saw the black Operation Army and the weather underground. Classic, some of the older examples of domestic extremism and domestic terrorist organizations. Then, we saw the attack on oklahoma city. Byindividual, motivated nationalism or White Supremacy. And then, we have seen other examples throughout history. Host in terms of, in particularly, in light of the Mass Shootings, how is a crime labeled a domestic terrorist or domestic extremist incident, how does it affect how Law Enforcement handles that case . Right now, the way laws they could country, be investigated primarily by Law Enforcement. So, they are acts of homicide. Fall underrders that state statures. Federal are not there are not federal statutes that apply to murder unless it is a public official, as defined in the criminal code, the u. S. Criminal code. When something becomes investigated as an act of terrorism, it allows the fbi to come in. It allows secret service, the department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to come in. Thate investigation shows it was an act of terrorism under the criminal law, then the federal investigative agencies can team up with the unite States Attorneys Office and investigate and prosecute individuals under federal terrorism laws. Joining us straub from michigan to talk about the messick terrorism. We welcome your calls. 202 7488001 four republicans. 202 7488000 for democrats. Others,pendents and 202 7488002. Whofor example, the shooter has been arrested in el paso, if to follow isisd considered a were threat of International Terrorism, how would he be treated differently than the case currently . Terrorismernational is broader in terms of the government ability to prosecute and investigate that individual than we currently have right now , on our federal statutes, regarding domestic terrorism. So, the ability to bring additional assets to do International Inquiries and work with international Law Enforcement and intelligence agencies is much broader undercurrent federal law, then some of those resources to bear when it comes to domestic terrorism. Host clint watts has an extensive piece in the wall street journal writing about a need for a plan to defeat domestic terrorism. He writes that americas nterterrorism system this has given focus and in the fight against jihadists. In the pursuit of white terrorists, you have local Police Forces who find itself restricted in various ways. The rulebook for approaches differ between the mystic and international rounds. Frank straub, if you were to advise on the one thing that the fbi or Justice Department or federal authorities could change in terms of their counterterrorism efforts or domestic terrorism efforts, where should they focus . You have to be careful every time we label something, i think in many ways, we restrict our ability to investigate those issues. I think where we need to be focusing is we have individuals in our communities that pose a risk of extreme violence. Topouse s that extremist ideologies. Domestic orm as International Terrorists or extremists can be somewhat limiting. I think we want to do is identify dangerous individuals in our community that pose a threat to our neighborhoods, whether it the Entertainment Districts or it is a church or a school. Individuals who have a proclivity for violence and have the means to carry out that violence, those are individuals we need to identify with the communities assistance. If they have not committed a crime, we want to connect them to services. If they have committed a crime, or it appears they will move forward with an act of violence, we want to use every means available to us, lawful means available to us to protect the community. Host in terms of identifying people, it was reported in the headlines, with cnn reflecting this, that the el paso suspects mother called the police with concerns about the gun he had purchased. In this scenario, how or what could Law Enforcement or others have done in advance with that sort of information . Very i think that is a interesting case. What we see is that most individuals who have committed acts of Mass Violence have, in proclaimed and let out information that they were going to commit that act, whether it was on social media, whether it was in conversations with if someone learns or becomes aware of the potential dangerousness of the individual. When you have someone pulling local Law Enforcement or federal Law Enforcement for that matter, it becomes important that we take those calls seriously. Those are calls for help. I think it is incumbent upon us as Law Enforcement to thoroughly investigate those calls to find out who is the individual. Why is concerned being voiced, in this case by a relative . Does that individual have a history that suggests that they may be a real threat to the safety of communities . Are they an individual who has the means to commit a violent act . Are there things that have gone on recently in their lives that for this. Ggers when we get these calls in Law Enforcement, we have to act. We had a Vigorous Campaign in communities throughout the country. See something, Say Something. It becomes incumbent upon Law Enforcement officials and judicial officials to do something with information that calls for help. Host in addition to being a member of the joint terrorism our guest lede ye indepth studies of the San Bernardino attack, the kalamazoo shooting and the orlando pulse nightclub shooting. We have stacy in mclean, virginia, thank you for waiting. Go ahead. Caller thank you for taking my call. I had two questions. One is what has President Trump defunding the fbi, hows that contributed to the rise in violent racist crimes . My second question is that why is it Police Officers do not fear white men who have killed mass amount of people with ak47s or ar 47s, how come they are not afraid to arrest them but if a black person has a bag of skittles or a cell phone that may look like a gun, how come they fear for their lives and they end up dead . Host thank you. First, the term violent remism while there were reductions in the funding, that program was funded. In fact, the National Police Foundations Center for Mass Violence response studies did receive funding which allows us to do an extremely good program up in boston, massachusetts, working with the community. It helped us build good relationships between the Boston Police department and some all talking about extremism but by talking about stereotypes and differences in culture. The Police Culture and the somali culture. That became important and we did it for two years. We had in excess of 75 young women and men participate as well as a significant number of Police Officers. It is my belief that the benefits of that program are going to continue well beyond the issue of extremism. I think we are seeing in the United States, our law stepping upofficers and performing heroically. When you look at what happened in dayton, ohio. Police officers who were working in the Downtown Entertainment district responded, according to the media, within 30 seconds. Not only did they respond but they took action that, in my estimation and in many others estimation, saved the lives of countless people that were in the Entertainment District and were in the club where they believe the shooter was going to enter. Had that happened, had the police not taken the action they did, had they not confronted this individual who was armed with a highpower rifle, we may have had another pulse nightclub situation. The United Police in states is extremely difficult. I have to complement the women and men who put on that uniform and a badge every day and go out and protect the community and do so, under extremely dangerous and very adverse conditions. Ist we will go to lee who calling us from new york. Republican line. Caller hi. I was concerned about the new red flag laws they are investigating. I know there are people who are depressed gun owners who will not take any medication because they dont want to go on record as having a gun that will be taken away from them. Second thing is there are many unstable people who are bored in life. And if they come up with these red flag laws and their neighbors and friends and so forth start turning them in, they could actually, even though they are subdued now, could become violent. We know i am out of breath. There are unregistered guns that dont have any background and we have many propers i am told. As they explore the new red flag laws, what is your opinion . Thank you. That is a very important question. Thatnk it is a good sign we continue the discussion around red flag laws and we are seeing states throughout the country enact red flag laws. And doing so in a thoughtful manner. I think there is a great beognition that we have to we walktuation where a delicate balance. We protect the Second Amendment rights of our citizens but we protect the community from dangerous individuals. Comingcommunity together, relatives, friends and significant others coming to law and going enforcement and Mental Health officials, that there are individuals who are contemplating violence and have the means to carry out that violence, i think potentially, red flag laws have the ability to separate those individuals from firearms. To separate them from the means of committing violent acts. At the same time, connecting them to very important and necessary Mental Health services. Host lets hear from james from hattiesburg, mississippi. Good morning. You are on with frank straub. Caller good morning. Guest good morning. Caller i wanted to say i was involved with an Organization Called the National Association for Mental Illness. I wanted to say that they have a campaign and have had a team for thing for years about getting rid of stigma. Stigma is what they call the negative associations with Mental Illness. I watched the president s remarks. I dont single him out in particular but people with Mental Illness are, it seems, being put in an awkward situation where you have medical Health Care Professionals saying it is the same thing as a physical illness, it is nothing to be ashamed of. Just go on with your life and do what you do. And then you have other people who are saying this is what causes Mass Shootings. It is absolutely horrible and it is not normal and you should be afraid of it. It is very confusing. Guest thank you. I think that is a very important question. Nami is anl, outstanding organization, both in terms of the advocacy they have given for many years for persons challenged by Mental Illness. For the training they do at the community level. For what they do with Law Enforcement agencies across the country. I have had the privilege through closelyr with working with them. Right. You 100 we have to be careful. When we blame Mental Illness onto any form of violence, statistically what we find is that people that are challenged by Mental Illness tend not to be violent individuals. Tim not to engage in acts of violence. Does that mean it is not a factor in some of the Mass Violence attacks that we have seen . It certainly is. Thing that one defines these attacks is that what we are seeing, in my opinion, is the pygmy of people. We are seeing epitome of evil. We are seeing individuals with total disregard for anyone or anything commit these atrocities that deeply affect families and significant others for generations. Be very careful. I said this earlier in the program, assessing labels to anyone or individuals. We have to look for those individuals in the community who, for a number of reasons, whether it is a life crisis or a grievance, whether it is their espousal of a specific political or religious thelogy, have now taken on thought that they are going to go and commit an act of Mass Violence. We have to intercede and intervene and we have to do so quickly. Our hopes that if we identify these individuals in a precrisis state, we can connect them to services that will help them avoid an act of violence. For those individuals who refuse help, who have the means, then i think we have to take, in those situations, Law Enforcement actions or judicial actions to protect the community. We have to be incredibly careful, in terms of labeling individuals and attaching mass to those with Mental Illness. Host a couple of things, the hill reported this past week that the white house dismissed a Homeland Security effort to focus more on domestic terrorism. Writere than a year, they the white house rebuffed to make his recent wray, in testimony, said that the bureau is addressing the issue of White Supremacy and domestic terrorism. Here are some of what he had to say. [video clip] your question. K needless to say we take domestic terrorism or hate crime, regardless of ideology, extremely seriously. I can assure you. We are aggressively pursuing it. Using both counterterrorism resources and criminal investigation resources and partnering closely with our state and local partners. In just the last little while, involving theses coast guard lieutenant, who was planning an attack on elected. Cials and tv anchors in th was that motivated by a White Supremacy believe . Focus is on the violence. Investigate dont ideology, no matter how repugnant. We investigate violence. Extremist ill yellow g ideology, when it turns violent, we are all over it. The first three quarters of this year, we have had more domestic terrorism arrests than in the prior year. It is about the same number of arrests we have had on the International Terrorism side. Let me ask you to clarify that. I dont know if we are talking about the same thing. When you talk about homegrown violent extremists and i talk about domestic violent extremists, are we talking about the same thing . No. We use the term homegrown violence extremism to people already here in the United States who are inspired by different parts of the Global Jihadist Movement to commit terrorist acts. We say to messick terrorism to determine a broader array of attacks ranging from anarchist ofremism to different kinds environmental extremism, et cetera. Host frank straub joining us this morning. Does note bureau investigate ideology, is that something that is within their realm, is that something they should be doing in future incidents . Guest i think the director did an excellent job in terms of explaining the fbi and the federal approach to Law Enforcement more generally. We investigate individuals or groups that are attempting, planning or in the process of committing an act of violence against our country, against our neighborhoods, against our neighbors and our citizens. That the director did a very good job. Even if we believe that an ideology or belief system is rightant, we dont have a to investigate that ideology. We have a right, and a lawful right to investigate individuals who are using a belief system and ideology to perpetrate a crime and, in this case, mass murder. Again, those individuals or groups that may be working in concert to perpetrate acts of violence is where we need to focus and stay focused. Host we have a few calls. Ramona in clarkston, georgia, democrat line. Caller im trying to understand. Thank you for taking my call. Terrorism is terrorism. I remember when al qaeda was a threat and they were recruiting thatcans in their ideology the fbi uses certain tactics and whatever to look at peoples social media. They act on it real quick. When it comes to domestic terrorism, it seems like you guys are relaxed. You have excuses for why you wont prosecute them. You dont see them in the same ealm. Terrorism is terrorism and i dont understand that. Circumstances, we are looking for individuals that pose a threat. That are dangerous. That are accumulating the ability to commit an act of violence against our citizens, against our country. We, the federal government, local Law Enforcement, even private organizations monitor social those to look for recruiting methodologies, there is not a crime per se to putting things on social media. The thing that we are looking who arehose individuals using that to further or , a rationale to go out and commit acts of violence. It is not the ideology itself that is a crime. It is not talking about it. It is when there is an activation or affirmative actions toward furthering an act of violence or an attempt to commit an act of violence that then starts the criminal host lets hear from david, who joins us from los angeles. Caller good morning. Thank you for your Impartial Program and giving people an opportunity to share their own opinion about why are lawmakers only talk and do not take action like passing a law preventing civilians from carrying guns belong guns should only to police and military personnel , like in many other countries. It is because our lawmakers do not want to lose the benefits. Host i think we lost you. What do think the next step lawmakers might take in terms of Gun Legislation which would be most helpful to Law Enforcement . Guest i think we need to continue to explore in a thoughtful, nonpolitical way, if that is possible, red flag laws. Ofneed to be very cognizant behavioral threat assessments, identifying individuals that have the proclivity toward violent action, that have the means to conduct an act of violence. We need to work very closely in collaboration between federal, state and local Law Enforcement, our Mental Health partners, school administrators, religious officials. This has to be a collaborative effort, where we bring thoughtful people together to think through these issues, to evaluate the threats, both on a macro level, as well as micro. I think the conversations we are having our healthy but i would agree we have to put things in action. Response studies at the police are doing, the database that tracks instances completed acts of violence, those and other Research Efforts going on across the country are incredibly important. Remarks, by complementing the women and men that serve american Law Enforcement at the federal, state and local level for their bravery, for their investigative skills, for every day putting themselves in harms way to protect the communities they serve. Host our viewers can find out ate about your Research Police foundation. Org. Next up here on washington journal, we are joined by Christian Science monitors Harry Bruinius after a tour through pennsylvania. He spoke to people about socialism. Cspans campaign 2020 coverage continues from the iowa state fair with viewer collins with democratic president ial Campaign Candidates on the cspan bus. Eastern,12 45 p. M. With ohio congressman tim ryan. At 3 40 p. M. , kiersten gillibrand. Former colorado governor. Eastern, at 1 00 p. M. Bill weld. At three 10 00 p. M. , and investor. At 6 00, bill de blasio. Collins with the 2020 president ial candidates, live from the iowa state fair. Watch online at cspan. Org or listen live wherever you are using the free cspan radio app. Tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history. Female activists in the 1960s civil rights movement. Instrumentaln were in helping organize and put the march together, the event was purely dominated by men. Eastern, at 4 30 p. M. The global significance of the declaration of independence during and after the american revolution. Tothey also made their way colombia, venezuela and ecuador during the course of the 50 year stretch after 1776. A halfcentury known to scholars as the age of revolutions. At 6 00 p. M. , accounts from inside the white house during the apollo 11 lunar landing. We put ourselves in the cabinet room. Throughout the day, the windows were dark. We were into nighttime, the module landed at 4 15 in the afternoon and the astronauts did not walk until later. Past onre our nations American History tv every weekend on cspan. Washington journal continues. Host joining us from new york is staff writer for the Christian Science monitor Harry Bruinius, joining us to talk about socialism in campaign 2020. He took a trip through a county north of philadelphia to find out what people think about the issue. Among his pieces he has written in this pennsylvania swing county, socialism is a hot topic. Thank you for being with us. Tell us about the county you visited in pennsylvania. County isthampton considered a pivot county. It voted for obama twice and that it voted for trump in 2016. Won by about 5500 votes and obama had won by 6000 votes the election before. It is one of those crucial swing districts and one of the most important areas in the country in a state, pennsylvania, it might be one of the most crucial states in the 2020 election. Betweencated halfway new york city and philadelphia. The lot of ways it mirrors wider demographics of the country. Easton, almost, mirrors it exactly. It is an interesting lab in which to speak to rural voters and urban voters, as well as the people in the middle, the suburban voters, all within 15 minutes of each other. It is an interesting crosssection. Host at the top of your story you said why we wrote this. People have strong opinions about socialism when our reporter Harry Bruinius went to pennsylvania to ask them about what they thought. The more they spoke, the more Common Ground he found. What kind of Common Ground did you find on socialism . Landscape,he larger ideas of socialism fall and they break down in different ways. Democrats are becoming more amenable to socialism and more skeptical of capitalism. Most republicans are real skeptical about the idea of socialism and are generally procapitalism. When you start digging down into and othere medicare social safety net issues, there is a very strong consensus, especially among Trump Supporters, ideas to start to regulate the economy and especially big corporations. You see both sides, Trump Supporters, democrats on the left and democraticsocialist, share views about Global Corporations that send jobs overseas. The idea of protecting the American Worker, the Bernie Sanders left and the donald ways right tend to in some be in lockstep agreement on what is threatening the American Worker and in general agreement on existing social safety net things like Social Security and medicare and Public Education, things of that sort. When we start breaking down differing views of what socialism actually is. Host for our conversation with Harry Bruinius, we are going to use our usual lines. Republicans, 202 7488001. Emocrats, 202 7488000 independents, 202 7488002. If you consider yourself a democraticsocialist, 202 7488003. Guest you do see, especially in some of the poll numbers and some of the people i spoke to, people in the middle, even some moderate democrats start to become wary about the term socialism, when people Start Talking about socialism. I think that is what many republicans have seen. Crucial swing voters, independents, democratic leaning independents and more moderate democrats. Especially if you are over 35 communistmember the bloc and the end to the p that americans have had toward socialism from the postworld war ii on. Younger voters on both sides tend to not remember that. Older voters, especially in the middle, are very wary and even skeptical when the word socialism is used and i think republicans have seen that and they have seized upon it. Most republicans that are talking will use the word socialism because they know it is one of those charged words that will make people a little bit wary. Host tell us about this person in your article, he has a tshirt, democratic socialism, the way life should be. What is his story . Guest that was a photo, i did not speak to him. I have a story coming out next week when i spent a lot of time with democraticsocialists in america and new york city, and talking to a lot of them what i found interesting was they dont understand themselves as marxists, they consider themselves democraticsocialist. Iny are very interested local economies that are democratically run and they are very against hierarchies. In energy that you see is some ways similar to what you see on the right, and interest in localism, local control of economies. Host go ahead and finish her thought. Guest i hear the same from a lot of Trump Supporters. An America First idea is a global anticorporate idea. You hear Trump Supporters talking about jobs going itrseas to cheap labor and gets them upset. They feel the government our President Trump should intervene to keep a laissezfaire global come modifying or and sending it overseas and you see this on the Bernie Sanders left, as well at the expense of the American Worker. Host we are speaking with Harry Bruinius of the Christian Science monitor who spoke to people and Northampton County about socialism. Caller hello, do you hear me . Host go ahead. Caller i have been serious about this for a long time. I read the bible almost daily. I have read it cover to cover many times. Becauseger go to church i feel our religious right is completely at odds with what jesus teaches. Socialism orabout any of the labels, jesus healed people. Jesus was against the rich. Refugee, youway a turn away me because i was once a refugee. Host does the idea of religion come up in socialism . Guest in general, no. What i find interesting on the left, the emergence of a religious left that is becoming more politically aggressive. Studies of the country, the story over the last couple of decades has been the contraction of what you would call liberal christianity, both politically and theologically. In the trump era, there has been a galvan is asian and a slight galvanizing of christians on the left, and perhaps i am agreeing with your assessment of the words of jesus in scripture and using that as a political motivation. On the progressive left, that does not necessarily have anything to do with socialism, per se, but on the progressive a new energy in liberal christianity, both theologically and politically. It is a complex landscape. Rejuvenation of christians on the left. Host for those of you who consider yourself a socialist or democraticsocialist, the number is 202 7488003. Next caller is from iowa. Good morning. Caller good morning. Socialism is explained to the American People. Absolutes an socialistic democratic republic. Bone when ito the hear socialism compared with communism. People, educate yourself. What you call social media . Social. You socialize. It represents people interacting with one another. People are being taken care of. Neighbors are taking care of one another. Socialism is not communism and for god sake, do not fall onto the bandwagon because it is horrid. Thank you very much, have a beautiful day. Host any thoughts . Question,is a great what does socialism mean . In many ways, there is no clear definition today that emerges. Past, when people thought of socialism they thought of marxist socialism, they thought of communism, more so than what we call democratic socialism in nordic countries like switzerland and sweden. Was it denmark . I forget the country. Those countries in Northern Europe that have this Strong Social safety net, high tax rates of the wealthy. I think especially among the young, they are not interested in marxist capitalism. They call it democratic socialism. They are not interested in the nationalization of industry or federal control of modes of production or state issued iphones or rationed products. They are interested in local economies and workers that can take control of their work environment, as well as larger programs like the green new deal. I think people on the left but are talking about socialism, as you suggest, are more interested in a local community. I think the antipathy toward socialism stems from that the u. S. Has long had a very antisocialist view in general and never wanted to use that word because it has always been a dirty word in american politics, conjuring ideas of state control of modes of production and industry. That is not what the young democraticsocialists are all of them care about the example of nordic countries. Host the most recent polling from gallup from may, four of 10 americans embrace some form of socialism. We are going to daniel in pennsylvania on our democrat line. Good morning. Caller hello. I find the people that are most adverse to socialism are retired Government Employees, which is a socialism. They are still taking taxpayers money with pensions and health care. Alwaysancial crisis is bailed out by the taxpayers. Pharmaceutical research is funded by taxpayers. There is socialism going on all the time. Arethese taxpayers that living in a capitalist society and is Government Employees are saying socialism is bad but they are on cradletograve socialism. Host your thoughts . Guest whether or not a government worker, whether government workers in general are considered socialism might be questionable, i have heard a lot of people talking about socialism. You brought up the financial and 2009, and even intellectuals on the trump conservative right are talking about the corruption of capitalism. That big corporations are able to rig the game for their benefit and there seems to be a clear all of the wealth that has been generated from the deregulation of banks and wall street in the 1990s seems to have benefited corporations and not the American Worker. As i said earlier, you see on both the right and the left a real questioning of that sense. Youre also right that people often say Social Security is a form of socialism, medicare and medicaid are a form of socialism, universal Public Education is a form of socialism, which is one reason theone of the planks of democraticsocialists is universal College Education which is simply an extension of the same principle of Public Education. I have heard that a lot talking to voters that there is already a strong structure of socialistic institutions and programs already in the country and has been for decades and in some ways there is simply a idea, to expand on that not to revolutionize the country. Host lets go to our independent line and hear from bill in illinois. Good morning. Caller hello, good morning. Commentant to make one before i get to my question. There is no question this has many aspects of socialism already. There is nothing in the constitution that says you have to have capitalism, but i would remind this country was basically founded on the liberal ideas of individual freedom. Peopleobject to is that who are talking about socialism, who are talking about the green everyone,medicare for you have now got into the realm that this is basically communism. You are basically taking over the productive capacity and owning it and controlling it by the government. I dont think people should be allowed to talk about socialism, and other words, they should why notstand up and say communism . That is my question. Why is this what they are pushing . Why is this not communism . Host Harry Bruinius. Guest when it comes to health care, in many ways the United States stands alone with a Health Care System that it has, employerbased, Insurance Companies that are underwriting hospitals and doctors, et cetera. It is a very complex question, whether or not the rest of the world is communist when it comes to health care is a sort of an open question. Certainly, your concerns about health care is one of the enormous issues American Voters on both sides most people are very happy with their employerbased insurance and if the government is going to get in having a singlepayer system, it certainly makes people very nervous. This is going to be one of the big issues of the election. Calling singlepayer ideas socialism has been a very effective, rhetorical tool in of past to kill these ideas broader universal Health Care Ideas that are proposed over time. Means thatnot that word, itism it is a is a label and how it is paid for is a complicated landscape, whether it is medicare or private Health Insurance. Host lets go to our socialist line, texas. Hello. Caller hello. Old and my mother in conjunction with our todamentalist church took us meetings when we were kids. The fundamental socialisml thinks of russiansism and the are out to get us. Workhat my children still i see that my children still work at minimum wage jobs and they are in their 40s and my grandchildren are in their 30s and they have no health care because they cannot afford obamacare. I thought what the democrats are talking about is good. Thank you. Host thank you. Guest i think you have very distinctly outlined very sick stemming from the financial crisis and beyond, there is a sense that all of the tremendous wealth that the economy has created over the last couple decades has gone straight to the top. Voters are talking about how millenials are staying at home economymany in the dont have Health Insurance, cant afford insurance with the obamacare subsidies. You hear candidates on the left talking a lot about wages and the middle class have basically millenials might be the first generation not to have more wealth than their parents. This is part more than anything american politics is in an interesting flux. Things are changing. The emergence of democratic socialism as a viable option in american politics is in many ways extraordinary. I think a lot of the reasons for that are what you mentioned. WroteHarry Bruinius, you about alexandria ocasiocortez and her victory last year. Democrats are being confronted by the energized leftwing that could propel the party and grow an internal divide. More than one year after writing that article about alexandria ocasiocortez, who calls yourself a democraticsocialist, where do you see things . We are at the beginning of a major of people. You see that in the republican party, as well. Kind ofp movement changed the republican party. On the left, you see all of this energy coming from younger and alexandria ocasiocortez is symbolic of the excitement. Vote on thers dont levels that older voters do. The question is about politically, the question is about how are people going to respond to ideas of socialism given that there will be razor thin margins in places like Northampton County. Socialismeas of versus the new ideas of socialism, which dont really overlap. It as close to communism and the other sees it as democracy. You see the Division Within the Democratic Party, the rivalries that you see with alexandria ocasiocortez and the speaker, ed came out before the united with some of the things the president said. There is simmering in the Democratic Party a young, energized, close to the democraticsocialist side that is starting to put pressure on the old guard and you can see the Democratic Party that was shaped in the 1990s and the socalled third wave politics of bill clinton and tony blair. Beenemocratic party has branding itself for the last few decades as progrowth and procapitalism. That brand is being challenged in a way it has not been since before president clinton. Host lets get one more color. Republican line from tampa, florida. Larry, you are on the air. Caller my question is about what you call this. The caller a few minutes ago asked isnt this communism . At the end of my question, i just kind of along question. War, 1945 to 1990, the collapse of the soviet union, russia, most americans went through the cold war and did not know what the word soviet meant. Soviet is a localized board, unelected, that controls the workforce and resources locally, a theme you have spoke about numerous times. You said socialism is a local socialism. What you are advocating here today, isnt this a soviet . A combination of panels . Arent you talking about soviet . Host Harry Bruinius is not advocating, he is reporting on his interviews with people and Northampton County. Harry bruinius, go ahead and respond. Guest the emphasis with democraticsocialist is about democratic control. Ideas of a nationalized state that is from the top down from what they have told me, it is something they are very much against. They see a role for the federal government in ensuring certain principles when it comes to race and gender, et cetera. Otherwise, when it comes to the workplace and when it comes to local economies, what they want to see his democratically consortiums. That is what they seem to be seeking and they are not at all interested in nationalized, topdown hierarchies and certainly not unelected boards that are going to determine various decisionmaking processes in the economy. I see that as a major difference in what you see from this younger, energized democraticsocialist left. You also brought up a point, if you were born in the 1990s or with, you did not grow up the soviet bloc versus western global and that bipolar world. Were born before 1990 or so, that was the world you knew and how you still understand the world, as well. The democraticsocialists today are definitely talking about something very different and something that is almost radically democratic down to the workplace. It is against all kinds of hierarchies in general that would be authoritarian or a topdown telling people what to do. Unquestionably part of the Keith Ellison of the democratic part of the ethos of the democraticsocialist left. Harry bruinius joining us this morning, thank you for being with us. There is more washington journal ahead. Well stay on the topic of campaign 2020. We have iowa state fair coverage coming up in less than a halfhour. Emocrats, 202 7488000 republicans, 202 7488001. , 202 7488002. Socialists, 202 7488003. Newsmakers interviewed Mary Kay Henry about 2020 issues. Here she speaks about the candidates for president and issues that are important to unions. Candidates ofree the 24 have offered specific plans and concrete actions that would make it possible for millions more working people to join together in unions and we are anxious to see more from the entire democratic field. I was with a Security Officer last week and she spoke about her life in protecting billiondollar buildings that are owned by major corporations in this country, but she does not earn enough to support herself and her granddaughter. She lives in subsidized public housing, she might have to qualify for food stamps month to month in that condition has to be spoken to by every president ial candidate. Pete buttigieg walked with her and spoke about how he wants to workingpossible to pole people and major corporations together at a National Bargaining table to raise the Living Standard for workers all across industries. Instead of just organizing security workers in detroit, she would be part of a National Bargaining table with 2 million Security Officers in the major corporations that employ them in this economy. We want to see the kind of imagination and concrete plan from every president ial candidate. You said three candidates. Can you elaborate on which three have produced plans you feel are detailed enough . Buttigieglee, pete and bill de blasio. We think jay insleess and Pete Buttigiegs plans have concrete action. And peteinslee buttigieg want to tie federal dollars that are used to contract across the economy for delivery, call centers and food service, tie those public dollars to the ability for workers to join together in unions and have a decent wage so they can support themselves and their families. Subsidy would be no tax for corporations that are paying poverty wages. Host you can watch the entire a. M. View sunday at 10 00 and 6 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, you can also catch it on cspan radio or catch it online at cspan org cspan. Org. We will have coverage from the iowa state fair. Republicans, 202 7488001. Emocrats, 202 7488000 , 202 7488002. Owa callers, 202 7488003 Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in jail. He committed suicide at a manhattan jail, officials said today. He hanged himself and his body was found at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in manhattan at roughly 7 30. Prosecutors last month charge mr. Epstein, 66, with sex trafficking girls in their teens. We go to a caller from georgia on the independent line. Caller good morning. Thank you for cspan and thank you for america, which is a democratic country. A democratic republic. Democrats who are being accused of being socialists, they are not socialists, they are democrats and they like social interaction with people and social involvement and people fixing their problems. The whole idea of socialism in medicine, that is applied christianity. Figure that out. Take care of the least of us. This is something we have been doing ever since we were a republic in the first place, right . I did want to Say Something about Jeffrey Epstein. I hate to see they are claiming he committed suicide. A lot of people wanted that guy gone because they are afraid of all the information he had. There hasderstand never been a communist society, ever, it has never existed. Karl marx said, you get to communism by first going through capitalism, then becoming socialism, that you get to communism. Today, mussolini said fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is in alignment of corporate and government power. That is what we have here in america today. It, the way we use corporations are in charge. When mussolini used it, the government was in charge. Host thank you for that. Lets go to steve and carlsbad, california on our democrats line. Caller in 1984, i walked more than 1000 miles. It was called the 1600 mile walk for the needy. We are talking about living wages. They need to start from the bottom and work their way up, rather than trickledown. I would really love to see that. The world has never seen true communism or even true socialism. Are a social animal. Just like horses. It is not taking away their freedom. Everybody has the same to do with what they will. Host our coverage of the iowa state fair is coming up in less than 20 minutes. Governor jay inslee will lead off our coverage at 10 00 eastern. Former Vice President joe bidens appearance fair the kids are theor same as white kids. He told a group of voters that poor kids are just as bright as white kids, triggering a daylong backandforth between him and President Trump. Joe biden has been leading and pulling for the democratic president ial candidacy. He was speaking in des moines hosted by the asian and latino coalition. Earlier they wrote joe biden had mixed up a line while speaking, saying people should truth choose truth over facts. We hear from houston, texas next, this is john on our republican line. Caller thank you very much. I do listen often and i appreciate the opportunity. From the fbits that you had done earlier, watching paint dry is what came to my mind. What is wrong with the government . Control real quick, and i would love to hear the thoughts of democrats. What is the root cause of this . Parenting. What happened to economic classes and homeequity classes as required courses in middle school and high school . We need better parents. We need the fbi to use local field offices to interact with schools. There is a threat assessment report they came out three weeks ago by the secret service. You guys had a lady on releasing that report. Is they haveroblem threat assessment policies and procedures, they are great. Guess what . Nobody reports. This mother in el paso knew her son had problems. Am i right . Why isnt she being held accountable . These parents and the people that raise these kids know their issues. Host just to your point, she did call Law Enforcement. Caller i know she did. Host who should be accountable there . The mother . The Police Department . Caller we have the best people to do investigative reporting and find out who dropped the ball. Just like in parkland. What happened there . Same thing. Nobody took action. We go to new jersey, independent line. Good morning. Caller how are you doing, cspan . I am a natural doctor and i am going to tell you something. It all started in the schools where they were making parents give students narcotics and it all happened in the White Community. This Opioid Crisis happened in the White Community, it is meant to destroy the White Community and they want to do psychological outcomes on these people. What you need to do is take the drugs that cause suicide out of the system. Completely. Because these are the drugs that all these gunmen are on. They have two different philosophies that they are attacking. The republicans have been nice because steve kellys was attacked and there were a number of other people attacked and you have antifa attacking people. The republicans have been nice because Steve Scalise was attacked. Medical doctors are poisoning our people with these opioids that are causing suicide and suicidal tendencies and then hollywood is at risk because when you watch shows like gotham host we are focusing this halfhour on 2020. An Associated Press story yesterday, too many candidates. Some iowa wins are tired of a massive 2020 field. Trying to get every president ial candidate to sign a baseball. He has gathered so many signatures, 16 in all that he had to get another ball. Part of our coverage yesterday included Julian Castro speaking at the stage. Here is a look. [video clip] be thee are going to fairest nation on earth, we need to deal with our criminal Justice System. Too many people from different backgrounds get caught up in a criminal Justice System that recordbig black x on the and they cant get a good job in the future. They cant get on the productive path they want to be on. We need sentencing reform. We need to invest in public defenders and do things like legalize marijuana. Get caughtple dont up in the system in the first place. We also need to make sure no matter what the color of your skin is or what neighborhood you live in that you are treated the same way by Law Enforcement. I am the only candidate who has put forth a plan to change policing in the United States. We have seen too many of these videos that show us, unfortunately, especially if you are young black man and the United States, that you are oftentimes treated differently. That should not be the case. Transparency add and accountability to Police Departments and make sure we invest in groups that are trying oftend the rift the you exist between police and communities. The criminal Justice System begins with our cops on the street and many of the cops do a great job. I dont think it is a case of bad apples out there, the system is broken and my plan would fix it. Host by the way, all of our coverage of the iowa state fair is available at cspan. Org, including last nights wing ding dinner. Some of the loudest applause at the fundraiser came from massachusetts senator elizabeth warren, who tailored her message to rural surroundings saying she would stand up for farmers against big agriculture interests. Caller this morning when i got up and saw the news that epstein had been allowed to kill himself, i dont believe that. Trump could and easily get to anyone in jail and kill them. Trump has every reason to want him dead because he knows things about trump that he does not want out. I dont trust him and i hate what he has done to our country and the obama legacy and what he is trying to do to our health care. If you want to place a name to blame on the guns going around, it goes right back look at what happened in the 1980s and you will see why it is the way it is today. Stop blaming black people for things they did not do. Host michigan, independent line. Caller someone once said politics is the practice of the art of deception. Twoparty system, same old, same old, one party gives the reins and then the other one does. Get used to it. It will be around for another 500 years. My opinion, it is working pretty good. The Associated Press tweeting joe biden remains atop early polling for democrats, buoyed by a long history with voters. He isvals are confident one fumble away from it all falling apart. This from politico, the tech entrepreneur spoke yesterday. Beto andasses qualifies for the debate. 2 at a poll in iowa. Ashburn, virginia, independent line. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller the system is not broking. We just have a couple of bad apples and bad actors in Police Departments. Most are good people. Churches,se big mega situation, the reason why it is not called terrorism is because they are white kids. These politicians wife or daughter in the mall and someone leaves a bomb, then you will get some action. Then it will be called terrorism. , there will beem information. The only way you can get things moving, when somebodys kid or wife get hurt. Host back to the iowa state fair coming up in a few minutes on cspan and cspan radio, and the Washington Post, why is the iowa state fair such a big deal . What happens at the iowa state fair can echo throughout the entire president ial race. It takes on political significance in the year before a president ial election because most campaigns circle this event in red on their calendars. Washington post reporters have covered the fair for years. Iowa is the first state to vote in president ial primaries when both parties hold their caucuses in january or february of the election year. Oft is coming up in february 2020. In akron,h, ohio ohio, we hear from jack. Caller i am a firsttime color. Have always been a democrat. I have stopped that. The reason i turned against the president now is that when john mccain was alive, the president i am a vietnam veteran and i disagree with the president. For sixs held captive years like john mccain was, i would consider him a hero, also. Host thank you for your call. Two before wee or hear from jay inslee. He is one of nearly 10 candidates who will speak at the iowa state fair. Onlineerage is available at cspan. Org. We covered last night the wing ding dinner. It is a big fundraising event in ion. Scenes from iowas rowdy antitrump wing ding is how politico is headlining it. They said there was a moment of silence, candidate the candidate photobomb and hugs between candidates. Candidates ripof each other apart on the debate stage in detroit transformed at the wing ding, making their best pitches to caucusgoers without even spreading each other. The 22 candidates unloaded on President Trump in a parade of speeches that framed the fight for the white house as a battle against hate and bigotry. They called for stronger gun laws and for a different approach to immigration. Lets hear from david on our republican line in milwaukee. Caller how are you doing . Called is because people have to look at politics and see what is going on. You are not getting any information from our news outlets. Host are you there . New york, independent line. Caller i think many of the candidates are missing a lot of the problems that could be fixed with the universal basic income. My candidate is andrew yang. He has beenieve addressing a lot of the issues in a way that none of the other candidates are doing. Gross 1400 every two weeks and i net half of what i make because of insurance costs. I have a domestic partner of 14 years, we always depended on my insurance and he is an independent contractor. He makes the majority of our money and i provide the Health Insurance. He had a stroke, he is in the hospital and now where am i . I believe until we get the boot off the neck of average americans who cannot afford an believeed 500 bill, i these problems with crime and drugs people on drugs are selfmedicating. Many,eve there are many, many more people like me. I live in upstate new york and i cannot afford my rent. This is a multifaceted problem that many people are not addressing the core causes of a lot of these problems. We are not even living as long as we used to in america and the gdp is not an effective tool in assessing our country, our citizens wellbeing. Host front page of the New York Times, one of things they are the iowa state fair, trying to catch joe biden, democrats ascend on the iowa state fair. This summer has been full of predictions about an early joe biden demise. Comment that poor kids are just as bright as white kids. Joe biden has rebounded. In ohio, we hear from george on our republican line. Let you we are going to go, we are going to take you to the iowa state fair live on cspan. State fair next on cspan. Let him talk. It also means if you have signs, do not hold them up, please. It walks other peoples views. I dont mean to call you out. I know we wont have a problem. Finally, when you get up to leave, some of you will stay here all day and thats great. When you get up to leave, take your trash with you. Your mother does not work here. Those small ground rules and we will have fun to get today. Our first candidate is washington governor jay inslee. Lets give him a hand. [applause] gov. Inslee good morning. My name is jay inslee. I am a jack hammering, bulldozer operating, concrete truck