Transcripts For CSPAN3 Politics And Public Policy Today 20240622

Your successor to do the same. There are two women who appear to be completing the ranger course. Beeve been told theyve gotten through the hardest parts. Im wonder if you can take a step back and look at that as you view your career and whether or not this should inform the armys deoigs on whether or not the open the infantry to women. Your name may not be on the recommend additions that go to the secretary. I would say that first off, as we continue to move forward as a military, the most important thing for us i always talk about talent management. You have to pick the best people who can perform to the standards that weve established in our army. And the women in Ranger School are another example of if they can meet the standard, they should be able to go. And i think thats how we want to operate as we move forward. If you can meet the standards that weve established, then you should be able to perform. And i think thats where were headed. Weve not made any final decisions on infantry or army yet but i think those are coming sortly. Weve really connected some significant analysis. Incredible studies over the last few years. Weve integrated women in and its about whether they can meet the standard or not. And if they can, we would lean to the fact of letting them serve. I dont know how its going to come out because you never know. Theres several days left yet in Ranger School. But the feedback ive gotten with these women is how incredibly prepare they are, the effort that theyve put forward has been significant. Theyve impressed all that theyve come in contact with. They are clearly motivated and frankly thats what we want out of our soldiers. This has been a great effort. Well run another course in november that will be integrated. Thats where were headed right now. Then well make a decision after that about whether we make it permanently open to women. Yen, given the fact that youve done, you know, as many hard tours in iraq as anybody has and you look at it now, one, could you reflect a little bit on your perspective of what happened in iraq and how it came to this point and the solutions that you see out there, because everybody has their own list of solutions. Do you think, sir, a nofly zone would make any sense and do you think it is time to put u. S. Troops, soldiers on the ground with iraqi forces, even potentially with syrian rebel forces, truce troops on the ground to help them further train on the ground. Is it even feasible . So i would say this. First, as i look at iraq, and ive said this before. Its frustrating whats happened inside of iraq. I believe a couple of years ago, 2011, we had it in a place heading in the right direction. Violence was down, economy was growing, the politics were okay. And we turned it other to them by the agreement that we had made back in 2008, that they would take full control of this in 2011 and we would leave. As it turned out, they werent prepared to handle it. And i think its more politically than i guess else. The political factions werent able to Work Together. Based on that people became frustrated. When people become frustrated, they tend to turn to violence if theres no other way to get their point. That allowed a group like isil to exploit the fish sures that were occurring inside of iraq. Thats kind of how we got to where we are. Same thing happened at syria. Two countries right next to each other had the same problem and you gave them a significant piece of ground that enabled them to build their capabilities. I believe so first off, i absolutely believe that the region has to solve this problem. The u. S. Cannot solve this problem for the region. Theyve got to get involved and be part of the solution. I truly believe that. Ive said before, we could probably go in there with a certain amount of American Forces and probably defeat isil. The problem is we would be right back where we are today six months later. For me its about changing the dynamics, the political dynamics, the economic dynamics and it has to be done by those in the region. Its important for us to support that. Its important for us to support that by training and try to develop capability and capacity. I believe that if we find in the next several months that were not making the progress that we have, we should absolutely consider embedding some soldiers with them and see if they could make a difference. That doesnt mean it would be fighting, but i may be embedding them and moving with them. Thats an option that we should submit to the president when the time is right. When you say that, do you mean both in iraq and syria . Originally i would say iraq. I swrould to look a little harder whether we do it in syria. My comment is mainly iraq. I know generals normally dont comment on politics, but youre about to go. What can they do to you. So very bluntli bluntly when yo donald trump say we should mo in with our troops and take the oil and bomb the Iraqi Oil Fields and take the oil away from the iraq iraqis, does that have military authority . Heres the thing i learned. Theres limit to military power. We can have on outcome. The problem weve had, do we achieve sustainable outcome. And the problem weve had is weve had outcomes but theyve only been short term outcomes because we havent properly looked at the political and economic side of this. Its got to be all three that come together and if you dont do that, its not going to solve the problem. Thats what i continue to look at. So i think for me, if you ask me if you said to me, if we didnt right now isil is a direct threat and its imminent and theyre getting ready to have an attack on the United States thats going to be devastating, thats a different issue. Thats a different issue. Then maybe we have to look at putting troops on the ground. But thats not where we are today. What we want to do is try to stop a we have to stop a Long Term Group thats potentially attempting to be a long term influence in the middle east. That is clearly promoting extremism. And frankly suppressing the populations in the middle east. In order to resolve that, you need the countries in the middle east and those surrounding the middle east to be involved. Do you disagree with donald trump . I do. Right now i do. I want to try the iraq question again. Theres a rolling debate on who lost iraq. The debate narrative goes Something Like brilliant surge succeeded, obama abandoned iraq setting the stage for a sectarianism to return and the rise of isil. I dont think its black and white. I think its gray. I remind everybody that us leaving at the end of 2011 was negotiated in 2008 by the bush administration. And that was always the plan. We promised them that we would respect their sovereignty. So i think based on that that was always our plan. Now you can argue whether we could have adjusted a little bit and could we have had a better outcome. Im not going to get involved in that argument. Its not black and white. What i would say is having military on the ground allowed us to be honest brokers between some of these groups. And i think maybe as we all look back, leaving some soldiers on the ground might have helped a little bit and prevented where we are right now. Given sustainable archives, judged against that, was the iraq invasion a mistake in retrospect . Tony, i dont like going back there. Its like monday morning quarterbacking. Heres what i would say. All i know is Saddam Hussein was an incredibly ruthless person suppressing his population. We went in there, there were in Nuclear Weapons. Heres what i will tell you. I talked to all ive said this for years. I talked to all of the iraqi generals. Theyll tell you there were Nuclear Weapons. You know, they believe they were. So the bottom line is they absolutely believed there were Nuclear Weapons on the ground. So to say we shouldnt have went in there u no because we know there wasnt any or we didnt find any is a little bit of hindsight. And we dont know where we would be right now if Saddam Hussein was still in power. He was moving to terrorism. You dont know what he might have done in terms of being part of the problem with terrorism. Its very difficult to say was it worthwhile. The bottom line, the decision was made, we did the and now we have to deal with it and make it come out the best way we can. General, given your experience in iraq, and you talk earlier about the growing conflict between shia and sunni and the increased influence now of iran inside iraq, even militarily, do you see any possibility that there can be any reconciliation in iraq between the shia and sunni ever . I think its very difficult every day. There might be some alternative solutions that come of this sometime in the future where, you know, iraq might not look like it did in the past. But we have to wait to e so how that plays out. We have to deal with isil first and then we have to decide what it will look like afterwards. Are you talking about the possibility of partitioning . I think thats for the region and politicians to kind of figure out, diplomat to figure out how we want to work this. Its something that could happen. Might be the only solution but im not ready to do that. For the second time now isis claims to have hacked into u. S. Military Computer Systems and retrieved vital personal, even some classified information. What do you know about that . And you mentioned cyber defenses earlier. Are we inadequately protected against an attack even by somebody like isis . I would tell you i dont want to downplay the incident but this is the second or third time theyve claimed that. The first two times, whatever lists they got were not taken by any cyberattack. They were kind of lists that were really off the side. And right now so far ive not seen the list myself. But what i believe is this is no different than the other two times. But i take it seriously because its clear what theyre trying to do. And so its important for us to make sure that our force understands what theyre trying to do, even though i believe they have not been successful in what theyre claiming. Jennifer. Sir, do you think that isis is winning right now . And do you think that the u. S. Betrayed the sunni tribes that rose up in Anbar Province . I think isil has been blunted somewhat. They have not made any progress since we started air strikes. I think weve gained back some territory, mostly by the great work of the kurds, some work by the Iraqi Security forces. I think right now were kind of at a stalemate frankly. The kurds continue to make progress. I think its important that we continue to support them. The reason its that way is we are continuing to retrain the Iraqi Security force to build up the capabilities so they can conduct operational again. Probably getting ready to see one in the next few days. Although its not goon as well we would would like for it to, its important to continue to train the syrian forces. As a military strategy you want to have our enemy respond to several different fronts. In my opinion we want to try to develop capability so they have Iraqi Security forces from the south, kurds from the north and we have Syrian Rebels helping in syria pushing on the west. Thats still something we have to work at. Obviously we have a lot of work to do a better job in how theyre working with Syrian Rebels. But we have to stay focused on that and try to continue to do that. Thank you very much, general. Two part question. One, what is the future of afghanistan now because talibans and al qaedas are still in afghanistan and pakistan and still waiting for the interyashl community to leave, and the u. S. And nato, the future might not be bright or darker. And second part, how much are you worried between china and pakistan because china is pakistan is doing what china is telling them and china is expanding in the region. With the taliban, they claim a lot of things, first off. And so i think that, listen, theres violence inside of afghanistan. Its less than what it was. The afghan Security Forces are doing a good job of going after that. The pakistanis have done good work here. Its interesting to watch what the future of the taliban is going to be. I think swre to watch that carefully. Things are still on a path where i think it can be successful. I think we have to continue to support the afghan Security Forces, we have to continue to support die lag between afghanistan an pakistan. Listen, pakistan has a right to deal with a lot of countries. We have a Good Relationship with pakistan. I have a Good Relationship with the general and we talk regularly. He talks regularly to general campbell in afghanistan. Do they talk china probably. Thats their right to do that. We have to continue to work with them to solve this difficult problem. And i think afghanistan, pakistan, the United States and other countries have to Work Together to solve this problem. Its in our interest to do that. Are there other countries that you might ask for, including india i think we have to judge the environment. And if we think its the right thing to do, we certainly would have that conversation. You mentioned at the beginning that there was a decrease in resources. What can other areas of government to, lawmakers do to support the military . In the whole four years i was chief of staff of the army, weve been in a deadlock where were in a deadlock were worried about the debt, which we should be. And in my opinion weve held the military hostage because of the arguments were having over the rest of the government. I guess the point im trying to make, its coming to a point now where i think we should be careful. Because i think were in a point of potentially degrading ourselves where its going to be really difficult for us to meet ore requirements. Whether it like it or not, were a world leader and we have to lead in many places around the world. And we have to have the capability of to do that. And i worry in the years ahead if we dont solve this problem, we wont have the capability to do that. Couple of questions sir. Can you confirm or deny that u. S. And turkey have agreed on safe zone in northwest syria . I have not been involved with that so i cannot. I cannot discuss that. Okay. Can you update us on how many iraqis including kurds and sunnis have been trained by the u. S. As of this morning, about 16,000 have been trained this year, since the beginning of the year. And also according to fox news on my right, in northern iraq, came too close to the u. S. Where the kirds have been trained. How close i dont know exactly how close, but obviously weve had conversations about this to make sure it doesnt happen. Yeah. Go ahead. There are casualty reports from a camp in syria as a result of the Coalition Forces air strike. Can you update me. I didnt hear what you say. Air strike reports in at a camp in syria. Im not aware of that. I cant answer your question. Thanks, general. What do you think is the top military threat to the u. S. . Some leaders have said russia. Just wanted to know if you agree with this and also if the iran deal goes through and it has billions in assets, do you think that it will spend more money on supporting terrorism in the region and other malign activities in. I would say that russia has i believe russia is the most dangerous because of a couple of things. They are more mature than some other of our potentialed a very varies and i think they have some stated intents that concern me in terms of how the cold war ended. And so for me, im concerned. And they have shown some significant capability in ukraine to do operations that are fairly sophisticated. And so for me i think we should pay a lot of attention to that. What was the second question again . On iran and yeah. So first, i support anything that reduces the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. That supports the nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Excuse me. And so i support that part of it. As ive said before, we cant be naive and we must understand that iran is conducting operations, several different countries, whether it be yemen, syria, whether it be iraq, and we must be aware of that and assume that some of the money they get, if the sanctions are left, will be used to continue some of this activity. We have to be aware of that and watch it very, very closely. Thank you, general. Mayor acquisition programs during your tenure have not been terribly successful but as you said youve been in budget deadlock the entire time. What are you saying to your successor . How do you feel passing the modernization of the army toward and what are the priorities i would tell you because of the new Army Operating concept, for the fist time we absolutely have a good understanding of what we need. For us its about protection, situational awareness. Were looking at developing mobile protective fire for our light units, medium units and haef vi units, pass information quickly and we have programs in place to do that but we have to continue to push on those programs. And i think those are the ones for me that are the most important. And we also have to consider continue to workman on man capability, autonomous capability. All of those things are important to us as we move to the future. Thank you, sir. In your view, what went wrong with the syria train and equip program. And should the u. S. And military continue to fund the program . I think a couple of things. I think the training went fine. I think its how you employ the forces. And i think we have to we learned some lessons from that and figure out how best we can employ them to ensure their survivability in the region. Centcom is working hard to make sure that we do that much better than we did the first time. What would be some of the Lessons Learned . I think its about you know how you use them, where you use them, what kind of can we provide some protection. I think those are all of the kind of things that we have to take a look at as we go forward. Sir, going back to the withdrawal from iraq, could you talk about why leaving troops in iraq could have made a difference . What it is that they would have been able to do that could have changed the situation sure. What i said, what i always kind of you know, so one of the things that i believe happened is the Iraqi Security forces became significantly politicized. And what happened is leaders were taken out, leaders had to do with not who was loyal to iraq but who was loyal to the leaders inside of iraq and that caused problems. You no longer had an army that had representation from many different parts of iraq, you had it from certain parts of iraq. I think if we were there, we probably could have prevented things like that from happening. And i think we could have reassured some of the other groups that they would continue to be able to participate, not only in the military but in the government as well. Do you think thats a lesson that could be applied to afghanistan . Absolutely i believe it is. I dont mean top you know, the reason everybody always says why cant we do what we did in germany, korea and japan. Everybody tells me that all the time. Because we kept people there for very long periods of time. Were still in europe 70 years later. Were still in japan 70 years later. Were much smaller and its a much different relationship. But thats how you help to establish long standing institutions. Im not trying to compare germany or japan or korea to the middle east. Its a different environment. Dont get me wrong. But what i would say is having us there helps to establish an institution that is capable of being more sustainable and lasting for a much longer time. Can i just followup on that . Sure. Was there a way around the legal the issue over whether or not there were Legal Protections i mean the bottom line is, you would had to have had the Iraqi Parliament approve that. And that was the problem. So i dont know if we could have convinced them to do that or not. I will say we had the same problem initially when we initially hammered out the agreement in 08 as well. So i dont know. I dont know the answer to that question. That frankly is it. Could we convince them it with us in their best interest and our breast interest to stay longer. Would you have stayed without no. Was it the right decision no. What happen is you put your soldiers and marines at risk of being arrested. Were in violation of international law. We were there under a u. N. Mandate and then have agreement with iraq that ended in 2011. We would have been there illegally. The way you framed that, you make it found like there was never a serious robust effort to convince the Iraqi Parliament. I hesitate to say that because frankly i was not there during that time. Im told there was an effort to do that. I cant tell you if there was a robust effort. I simply wasnt there at the time. If i was there i would give you an honest answer but i simply was not there at that time. Back on syria, how do you see the future of syria . Do you believe that any political solution could take place without having the syrian president part of it . I also have a followup . I dont know. You know, my assessment would be its going to be difficult to have a syria that looked like syria the way it did before. I think its probably forever changed in some way. I think one of the things we have to work through with our partners in the region is what will it look like. We have to think about that. I dont think any of us have a solution right now for that. And whether that includes the current leadership to still be in place or not, i dont know. But thats something we have to think about. When you say partner in the region, do you mean iran is part of those partners . I would just i dont know. We have to see. I think the best solution would be where you get everybody to agree to it. I think you would want everybody to be agreed with that. Whether that comes up with the right solution or not, thats probably yeah. General, you called the war against isis a stalemate and u. S. Intelligence agencies estimate that isis is the same strength, 20,000 or 30,000 fielthers as it was at the beginning of the war. Dont you think its time to change the strategy . They might be at the same strength, but i will tell you based on what ive seen. Weve significantly reduced the leaders that were in there. That makes a difference. Because now youve got second, third, fourth stringers coming in. The problem we is theyre still able to recruit to stay at 20,000 and 30,000. Thats concerning. Theyre not as capable as they were a year ago or 18 months ago. But theyre still able to recruit and get people to come in and fight. Theres got to be other solutions. Theres an Information Campaign that high ear successful at to recruit people to come in there. That hes what we have to do with our partners is have a more moderate voice that doesnt make this look like its a great cause. Thats part of what we have to work through as well. Yeah, jim. You mentioned ukraine. Concerns in of further advances of russian forces. As you leave, talk about whether the strategy is work in iraq. Do you have any evidence that the strategy, the Administration Policy in terms of deterring russia is working there . And im curious as you look at next stages, you talk about russia as the pry pir threat. How concerned are you that russia will try the same strategy with bordering agencies . My comment is russia is constantly acitizening the action of nato to any of their actions. What i worry about is miscalculation. That they perceive maybe that nato right not be as concerned and they make a mistake and miscalculate and do something that would violate article 5 of or nato agreement. Thats something that greatly concerns me. I would say that what we have to do is continue to we have to continue to refocus nato in our inop rablt with our nato partners. We have a long way to go. We have to continue to increase our ability to move quickly there. I think that we can do that by positions equipment, we can do that by helping to increase inner op rablt between the nato forces to have an understanding of what the nato capabilities are available. And i think we have to keep working. A true deterrent is where people are worried if level of response. I think we have to continue to improve what that level of response might look like so we can deter any further action. So youre saying theres a long way to go, that deterrent is not there at this point. I think we have to turn it there. I think were doing a good job with that. I think what we have to do over the next several years is continue to increase that so the risk goes up for anybody who might consider conducting operations in Eastern Europe. Sir, can i follow up on that, please . You talked about russia and the threat it poses, yet your army has not been preparing for conventional warfare in the way it used to because of the war against isis in iraq and afghanistan. Is this army prepared for a conventional confrontation with russia given that it hasnt been doing that kind of preparation . Well, we started in 14. So in the last 18 months we have really started to train for what we call a hybrid warfare, which is actually the warfare i consider russia is, in fact, conducting. We are doing about ten brigade rotations at our Training Center this year. We did about eight last year. That was specifically focused on this. So we have. We are in the process of increasing our capabilities to do this. And your point is a good one. I mean, we came off of ten years of doing counterinsurgency operations. And what weve had to do is very different. That goes back to my worry about dollars. Because what we need is we need the dollars in order for us to continue to train and build capability. Weve been doing that for a year and a half now. But all the sudden sequestration comes back in, in 16, that will be an impact. Thats one of the concerns i have. We have been there. Were not where we need to be. I think ive said we got about 33 of our brigades right now who can about 33 who can operate at that level. And we need to my goal is we should have about 60 . Thats what were working towards. So were hoping by next couple years. I dont want to give a date. And one of the exercises, the nato exercises in terms of the limits of what areas need to be improved in terms of military r readiness . The last time we were doing this in europe, i remind everybody that our job was to protect western europe. So one of the things weve learned is the logistical challenges we have in Eastern Europe. For example, Eastern Europe has a different gauge railroad than western europe does. So moving supplies is more difficult. So learning great lessons like that. You know, our ability to sustain ourselves over time, our interoperability and the capabilities that nato now has and now we have to better integrate those is another lesson. Were using our Readiness Center that we have to do that. We have a large exercise going on there right now with our partners to continue to work this problem. Well do two more. Ill get you too. Do you have any updates or details about the Helicopter Crash that occurred in okinawa . No, still waiting to find out what happened. I dont know yet exactly what happened. I was briefed on it this morning. The briefing was we had a Helicopter Crash, and were not quite sure what happened yet. We have investigators there taking a look at it. Can you speak to the type of training that was taking place . Well, i mean, its training of special Operations Forces with several different nations. Sorry, there are two Japanese Selfdefense force personnel on that . Again, i do not have i do not want to comment because i do not have the facts. Theres been some conflicting reports, so im not going to comment on that. And do you want a couple more . Sorry. I just wanted to ask about the if there was a concern that would have an impact on the greater strategy or the security of the relationship between the u. S. And japan, especially given the opposition to well, im not going to overreact to one incident, okay. So i think, listen, its important that we work with our allies. Its important we work with our japanese allies, and we have to continue to do that. Im not going to predict what the issue will be with inside japanese politics. But i think its important as allies we Work Together. As i said when i started this, there are risks in the work that we do every single day. And unfortunately, we understand that going in. We obviously want to prevent any of those risks, but sometimes, unfortunately, we have accidents. A few weeks ago, general hodges told reporters about a plan currently the United States is helping train ukrainian, the equivalent to the international guard. He said that would be completed in november, and theres a plan out there to train military forces of ukraine. At the time, he said it had not been approved yet. Do you have an update for us on that . I would just say that we do have a plan developed to do that. We have not yet made a decision on whether we will move forward with that. Also, you had said that the deadlock was holding the military hostage. If you had extra money to use, where would that money go in your budget . Itd go directly to readiness and modernization. And the other piece is it also is about end strength. Its about keeping end strength no lower than 450,000 in our active component. We want to keep that end strength and invest in readiness and modernization. Im going to take one more question. Barbara, im going to let you ask it, which ill probably regret. So go ahead. I dont think you will. What i want to ask you about is i dont want you to walk away without us asking you about a decade of remarkable survivability of americas war wounded and veterans. This is something we all know that you know an awful lot about. So as you finish up your service, what concerns do you have that over the long haul because, again, its a longterm issue, doesnt go away that americas war wounded of the last 14, 15 years really over the decades ahead will get the care they need and that there will be the money there for them to get the care they need, the other side of the equation from the act of duty. Yeah, so first off, i would tell you i do worry about that. Im encouraged, though, by what im seeing. But again, as you mentioned, were in the beginning of this. We have soldier and its not only about the soldiers but the caregivers as well and the sacrifice their caregivers make in assuring these soldiers are able to live a long, viable life and the sacrifice they have to make. We have to make sure we provide them the resources necessary. Theres a couple things. I think first, as a military, we have to be cognizant of that and do everything we can. We need a strong Veterans Affairs. I continue to support them. We also have to ease the restrictions that we have on using those organizations, private organizations, that are out there helping our soldiers. Were much better than we were five years ago at this, where were able to combine private enterprise whos trying to help our Wounded Warriors with formal department of defense programs, Veterans Affairs programs, so we can combine those resources to make sure were taking care of these young men and women long term. Were getting better. Weve had some relaxation of those restrictions weve had, but we have to continue to watch it. I worry about longterm pts. I think thats a longterm problem. I think we have to continue to invest in that. I think these centers that have been donated to us not only at walter reid but at satellite sites plays an Important Role in that. I worry about our senior leaders, that we have you know, we were talking yesterday in my office. So in 2003, someone whos a captain is now a colonel or brigadier general. They have probably had six or seven deployments over that period of time. We tend not to talk about our leaders. We have ncos who were probably sergeants or privates back then and are now majors who have had six, seven, eight deployments. Theyre doing well, but we have to make sure we have programs in place to take care of them as well as they continue to lead our great soldiers. So things like that we cant forget. We have one of the most important things for me, we also cannot forget those families whose sons or daughters or husbands or wives gave their lives over these last 10 or 12 years. We have to remain connected to them. As i go around, i have meetings with our families all the time, and all they love staying connected to the army, to the units their children or sons or daughters or husbands were in. And for me, thats incredibly important that we do that. Because we should never forget the sacrifice that they made and the sacrifice their families continue to make because their dad or mom is no longer here. Thats something that i will live with for the rest of my life, is thinking about that and the sacrifices that they made. And the reason for me, its hard, is not because, listen, we all understand why we do this and the risks associated, but i had the opportunity firsthand to stand side by side by these young men and women who they really cared about what they were doing. They showed incredible selflessness and courage in what they did. For me, we should be so proud of them and their sacrifice. Its important that we remember that, and we do that by taking care of their families, their children as we go forward. So thank you very much. Ive enjoyed it very much. God bless all of you. Thank you. Today on cspan3 between 1 00 and 8 00 p. M. , after washington journal, programs on future technologies, including google Vice President , also known as a cofounder of the internet. The development of nextgeneration lithium ion battery technology, and the emerging industry of Online Medical care, also known as telemedicine or telehealth. Cspan is in des moines for the iowa state fair and road to the white house coverage of president ial candidates. Our live coverage is on cspan, cspan radio, and cspan. Org as the candidates walk the fairgrounds and speak at the Des Moines Registers candidate soap box. Heres the schedule. This morning at 10 30 eastern, republican jeb bush. Starting at noon on saturday, republican Rick Santorum at noon followed by democrats Lincoln Chaffee at 12 30 and senator Bernie Sanders at 3 00. On sunday afternoon, republicans ben carson at 5 00 and George Pataki at 5 30. Cspans campaign 2016, taking you on the road to the white house. Former Iowa Democratic senator tom har kin and his wife ruth are endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. In his Des Moines Register oped, he writes, quote, we all know iowans have a sincere responsibility in nominating our next president. This year that responsibility is as important as its ever been. As democrats, he writes, were fortunate to have candidates that are all fine individuals, but we need a fighter who has a record of getting things done and the vision for the future that will build on the progress weve made. For my wife ruth and i, that candidate is Hillary Clinton. Thats from former senator tom harkin. The former secretary of state is due at the iowa state fair tomorrow, but its not clear if she will be speaking. Republican president ial candidate donald trump will be in New Hampshire tonight, and well cover live a town hall hes holding at 7 10 p. M. Eastern time in hampton. Good morning. Its friday, august 14th, 2015. On todays threehour washington journal, well discuss Health Care Spending in the United States. Todays 80th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security act into law. Well also take a look at the state of the foster care system in america. We begin this morning with the increased speculation about a potential joe biden president ial campaign in 2016 with reports that the Vice President is calling close political supporters this week to discuss the possibility of joining the democratic president ial primary contest. Were opening our phones for our first 45 minutes today to hear your thoughts on that topic. Were asking just democrats and independents to weigh in on this topic this morning. The line for democrats for just this first 45 minutes, indepen 2027488001. You can also catch up with us on social media. A very good friday morning to you. Much of the speculation about a potential joe biden run this week came in the wake of a story yesterday on the front page of the wall street journal. Biden is sounding out allies on 16 wbid is the headline. That appeared on the front page. Since that story came out, several other stories, the hill noting its crunch time for joe biden. In the fix column in the Washington Post, Bernie Sanders should be rooting like crazy for joe biden president ial run, the headline there. And from the new york times, biden vacations but keeps grappling with a 2016 bid. We want to hear your thoughts this morning. Joining us on the phone now is one of the reporters who worked on that wall street journal story, Colleen Mccain nelson. Appreciate your time in joining us this morning on the washington journal. Thanks for having me. So talk about the headline in the wall street journal that joe biden is sounding out his allies. Which allies in particular are we hearing about . Well, its interesting. Hes vacationing this week in south carolina. We all assumed that he would be talking with his family and weighing this decision, but hes actually doing more than that. Hes been reaching out to political allies, people who have backed his previous president ial campaigns, people he has built relationships with over the years in the white house, and he is talking to them about just kind of the logistical challenge he would face if he launched a campaign at this late date. So its a shift in what weve seen in the past. Previously people were coming to joe biden and urging him to run, and he was kind of just listening and taking that in, but now we see him proactively seeking people out and asking them questions and taking kind of a deeper look at the possibility of doing this. You mentioned this late date. What is the timeline here . There are president ial primary debates for the Democratic Party coming up this fall. What kind of timeline is he looking at . Well, he all along had said he would make a decision by late summer. Then the timeline started to shift a little bit, understandably, with the death of his son beau in may. At that point, a lot of people assumed that he wouldnt even consider making a bid, but eventually it became apparent that this was still on the table. So the signals have been that he likely would announce a decision in september, which at that point youre less than five months away from the iowa caucuses. Even though he would come into the race with a lot of builtin advantages as the sitting Vice President , he hasnt been secretly building a campaign organization, so he would have a lot of catching up to do in simply bringing together advi r advisors and getting donors. Hillary clinton certainly has not only a huge head start but already has wrapped up a lot of key people and gotten commitments and endorsements from them. You mentioned Hillary Clinton. How much has her issues with her personal email server and the investigation surrounding that played into the chatter this week about a joe biden nomination . Well, thats a really good point. Thats kind of the backdrop to all of this. The controversies that have been dogging the Clinton Campaign certainly have been fueling speculation about joe bidens candidacy. In talking with democrats, you hear a lot of them say what if theres more to come on Hillary Clinton . What if it gets worse . We might need a plan b. So even though a lot of democrats will argue that the email issue is a partisan issue or that the Clinton Foundation donations are not of great consequence, they think she could probably survive the storm that were seeing right now, but they worry whether theres another shoe to drop. And if there is, theyd like to have an alternative. And does joe biden have a natural base within the party . What is going to be sort of the divvying up process of democrats if he does jump in . Well, i certainly think he would make more of a dent in Hillary Clintons support than in Bernie Sanders support. Hes not as far to the left as Bernie Sanders is. Bernie sanders has kind of staked out his own spot in this race. So joe biden isnt likely to peel off a lot of those folks, but he would be competing with Hillary Clinton for the same voter voters. He also has his own constitue sy in that he would appeal to a lot of catholics, a lot of bluecollar workers. You know, certain states where he has a constituency. South carolina is a state where he has built up a lot of relationships over the years and has strong support and they have an early nominating contest. So there are a few states along the way where he could do particularly well. And before we let you go, whats been the response from particularly the Hillary Clinton camp to some of these stories this week . Well, so far Hillary Clinton has had very little to say about any of her democratic challengers or wouldbe democratic challengers. Shes really focused on talking about the republicans and whats wrong with the republican candidates. But i was with Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire earlier this week. She was asked about the prospect of a joe biden candidacy. She noted hes a friend. They both served in the senate together. She attended beau bidens funeral earlier this summer, but she said she offered very little on this subject and said we need to let him be with his family and make his decision and she said i will respect whatever decision he makes. Colleen Mccain Nelson helping to reignite some of the chatter around a potential joe biden presidency with her story on the front page of the wall street journal. Biden is sounding out allies on 16 bid. Appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so much. And were asking our viewers to weigh in, just our democratic and independent viewers this morning. The line for democrats, 2027488000. Independents, 2027488001. Well get to the line for democrats with james. Good morning, james. Caller good morning. Your thoughts on a potential joe biden candidacy. Caller well, i love hillary. Dont get me wrong. Ive been a clinton supporter for years. And i dont know, im just concerned about these emails. Its just going to drip like water, but the drip is going to get bigger and bigger. And the republicans are just going to drive us in the ground. Like i said, i love hillary to death, but i think wed be better if joe biden would go ahead and jump in. I hope he jumps in sooner than later. I hope hell make a decision at least by the end of the month. And james, what do you like about joe biden . Is it his style, is it certain things that hes done as Vice President . Caller well, i like the character. Hes got good character. Hes never had baggage like the clintons. Hes just a good man. Hes smart. And theres nothing he cant deal with. To me, he dont even need a secretary of state if hes president. He could do president and secretary of state. Hey, james, let me bounce this tweet off you from monte, whos watching and writes, the nation needs an injection of new blood from untraditional nonstatus quo politicians. Do you think thats the problem a joe biden candidacy would have . Caller no, i dont think so. Hes different from most. Hes very trustworthy. People trust him. I never heard anybody say anything bad. The people i know never said nothing bad about joe biden. People just love joe biden. Hes himself. You know, joe biden, when he says something, people listen. Even though it might not come out right, but still it dont hang around his neck like a rope. The clintons, it seems like when they say something, it just sticks with them. The media is all over them. Thats james in virginia this morning. Were getting your thoughts. The headline the hill newspaper from their story, crunch time for joe biden. Lets go to our line for independents. Alice is waiting this morning in owings, maryland. Caller good morning. I thank you so much. I think joe biden needs to relax with his family, continue to grieve, spend time with his grandchildren, and be a supportive person to a new uprising candidate. And i think someone just stole my thunder from either twitter or facebook, you just read. Weve had enough of clintons. Weve had enough of bushes. Weve had enough of biden. It doesnt mean theyre all wrong, but just support somebody new. Support new ideas. And whos a new candidate in your mind, alice . Caller i dont have one yet. The person i would support hasnt said she would run. And who might that person be . Caller that person would be the senator from massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren. Alice in owings, maryland. Elizabeth warren also the subject of a gallup poll alongside joe biden that measured democrats desire for an additional candidate in the 2016 field. 36 of democrats saying that Elizabeth Warren should jump in. 49 saying that she shouldnt jump in. When it comes to joe biden, 45 of democrats said that, yes, the Vice President should run for the presidency in 2016. 47 , no. Most democrats say they would consider voting for biden, but few are certain about it. Some of the results from that gallup poll that came out this week. Back to our line for democrats. Virginia is in huntsville, alabama. Virginia, good morning. Caller good morning. Thanks for cspan. Ive been listening to you for years. I like joe biden, but this is hillarys time. Hillary has a love for our country that started years and years ago. Theres something wrong with our country that they just dont think a woman is capable of being the president. Why would they want to bring in joe biden just because his son passed and his son told him to run for president . I do know and do believe that Hillary Clinton has been taken advantage of. All the democrats are well aware that we were prepared that they are going to go after hillary. Theres something concerning the news media with the clintons that they actually hate the clintons. Our country thrived under bill clinton. They did everything they could to him. They even impeached him. But our economy thrived. And i want to tell you this. Donald trump will take a Vice President just to get the womens votes. Virginia, on that question, on the primary, do you think it helps hillary if joe biden jumps into the primary race and she beats him . Does it make her a stronger candidate, give her more of a challenge in the primary to sort of prepare her for a general election . Caller its very possible. I like joe Vice President joe biden. I really do, but to be president , its just Something Different about it. Hillary to me has a fight. She really has fought throughout the years for what she believed in, and she hasnt got in the mode of really being a candidate for president as she did the last election. Im sorry, yes, with president obama in the first election. I just would like to see her be more forward in telling the things shes going to do for this country like she did before. She has got to make a stance and make it strong. Fiorina is really speaking out. The way she talks about hillary, calls her a liar, trying to annihilate her character. Its just not right the way theyre treating hillary, as much as she has done for our country. Thats virginia in huntsville, alabama, this morning. Along with virginias endorsement, Hillary Clinton picked up an endorsement from those who are familiar with congress. Former senator tom harkin, important voice in iowa, put out his endorsement of Hillary Clinton yesterday. He wrote as part of that endorsement, it was over a year ago that i said that though i was retiring from the senate, i would not be retiring from the fight for social and economic justice. Thats why today i am proud to endorse my longtime friend and colleague Hillary Clinton in her candidacy for president of the United States. Were getting your thoughts, though, this morning on the potential president ial candidacy of Vice President joe biden. Davids up next in jackson, mississippi. David, good morning. Youre on our line for independents. Caller yeah, i think there are two joe bidens. The real joe biden and then this joe bidens big mouth over which he has no control. I mean, hes gotten away with it. Hes embarrassed obama several times. As Vice President , hes gotten away with it. I dont think we should have ever have a president who lets his mouth run away from him. Besides, you know, hes been in the establishment for his entire career. I think as the caller suggested, he should just retire and enjoy his grandchildren. David, whats an example of an incident where hes embarrassed the Obama Administration . What do you think comes up from what youre talking about here, if he does run for the presidency . Caller well, he endorsed gay marriage well ahead of obama, and obama was forced to jump in to watch up. Thats just one example. I mean, there are many. Do you think that hurts him in a democratic primary . Caller oh, i dont think it would hurt him in a democratic primary, but who knows what hell say as president. He doesnt know what hes going to say. Therein lies the problem, i think. As a caller said yesterday and a caller said earlier, hes been in the establishment for too long. I think america wants a change. And i think he should just retire. Thats david in jackson, mississippi. Edwin on twitter says, i think he should run if he wants to, but im not sure he can win the nomination. He has a history of wrong turns. Cnn also writing a story fin th past 24 hours. They note amid the swirl of uncertainty, there appears at least one truth. The Vice President s supporters are ardently hoping hell run, even though they appear to be hearing little from the man himself. One person familiar with bidens calls this morning down played their significance, noting the Vice President makes calls all the time. Thats a story on cnn if you want to read more. Sheila is up next on our democrat line. Were talking to just the democrats and independents our first 45 minutes this morning. Good morning, sheila. Caller yes, hello . Yes, sheila. Go ahead. Caller i had written well, i had called the white house comment line here quite a long time ago and urged Vice President biden to run. And then when his son died, i had sent him a condolence letter. A couple of weeks ago, him and jill sent me a letter back. They are such kind people. And i want him to run. I would vote for him. Sheila, what do you think is his strength if he runs . What do you like about him . Caller i like everything. I like the fact that hes out there. I mean, yeah, he says some silly things and, yes, hes for gay marriage. I dont have any problem with gay people at all. I know gay people. And im sorry the president didnt come up with it first, but anyhow, thats my comment. Thats sheila in carrollton, georgia, this morning. Jan writes on our twitter page, what about feel the bernie . Why isnt bernie plan b . The fix column in the Washington Post noting that Bernie Sanders should be rooting like crazy for joe biden to run for president. Thats what Chris Cillizza writes. Consider that biden and clinton occupy lots and lots of the same space within the Democratic Party. Sanders is unlike both of them. Hes totally antiestablishment. Sanders problem in this race is that the establishment lane isnt divided up nearly enough for the senator from vermont to have a chance of running in the outsider lane. Lets go to peter waiting next in tacoma park, maryland, on our line for independents. Peter, good morning. Caller good morning. I just wanted to say that if it were joe biden circa 1988 when he ran, when he was really electrifying, then it might be worth considering. But i think 2015 joe biden is an endearing fellow but pretty gaffe prone, and if by some chance he did win the nomination, the republicans would have an easy time with him. So thats those are my two cents. Peter in tacoma park, maryland, this morning. The white house also getting questions about joe bidens plans when it comes to the 2016 nomination. Here was a recent White House Press conference where spokesman eric schultz was asked if the president talked about a potential run. I have not spoken to the president about his conversations with the Vice President. As you know, the best political decision hes ever made in his career has been to ask joe biden to run as his Vice President. So he could not be more impressed and appreciative of the Vice President s service than he is. And joe biden, of course, on vacation this week but stories noting that hes reaching out to political allies. Hes expected to appear in chattanooga tomorrow at a Memorial Service for those killed in that shooting in chattanooga last month. Thats his next public appearance that is on his calendar. Were talking about a potential Vice President biden run for president. Delano is in missouri. Caller hi. Thank you very much. The lady that called in prior said how the economy was so great under bill clinton. This has spread all over the world how great it was. Let me read up. He signed off on glass steigel. He signed off on nafta. 18 trillion in debt. My take is the economy did well because of bill gates, silicon valley, the new transfer from 99 to 2000 on the computers. My agency, we went to all new computers across the United States. Bill was sitting there taking credit with monica over all these things, and mrs. Clintons office was right next to his. Thank you very much for cspan. All right. Lets go to rafik waiting in humble, texas. Line for independents. Good morning. Caller good morning. With all due respect to joe biden, nonetheless the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and each time expecting different results. This will be the case as long as we continue to vote for these establishment candidates, and that includes Hillary Clinton. My choice is for senator Bernie Sanders because he is definitely a nonestablishment candidate. All right. Thats rafik in humble, texas. Joe writes on twitter, we need change. No one running is an iotas difference but for trump and bernie. No difference in policies. Lets go to dee in st. Louis, missouri. Line for democrats. Dee, good morning. Caller hi, can you hear me . Yes, dee. Go ahead. Caller okay. I would love to see joe biden run. I have always liked joe biden. I find him to be a very genuine politician, as genuine as they can be in politics anyway. Primarily i want to see joe biden run for the same reason id like to see Elizabeth Warren run. We need more diversity of voices because the Democratic Party isnt just one idea, and it offends me that this second time hillary has run theres been this air of coronation of her being the first woman president of the United States. And im not saying we dont need a woman president of the United States, but weve got a lot of very capable female political leaders who just need to step up and stop trying its a competition. Its not a coronation. Make your case, be a grownup, stop trying to be polite about this. This is the future of our nation. So yes, joe biden, run. Put your ideas out there. Bernie sanders, run. Put your ideas out there. Elizabeth warren, run. Put your ideas out there. Nancy pelosi for freaking sake im sorry, for heavens sake. Run, put your ideas out there. Dee, let me ask you, some of the callers before brought up they think joe biden might be a bit too gaffe prone, that previous gaffes might come back to haunt him in a president ial campaign. What do you make of that . Caller you know what, heres the thing. The media runs on gaffes because they are great they make great sound bites. But i dont know a Single Person on this planet who hasnt put their foot in their mouth at one time or another. And when you do it on tv, its more noticeable. But weve gotten to this point and to a certain extent, it is this level of Political Correctness when you know what somebodys trying to say, but because they didnt say it the right way at that specific moment, it gets three days worth of news and four months worth of apologies and ends up in somebodys file to come back and attack them again. When you know what somebody is trying to say, let them elaborate on what theyre saying rather than just jumping on them. Thats dee in st. Louis, missouri. Weve been talking a lot about Vice President biden. As we said, hes on vacation this week. He did appear last month at the center for american progress. He addressed an audience of young people about ways that they could translate their interest in politics into positive change. Heres a bit from that address. Theres even more reason now to be idealistic and optimistic and tenacious and passionate in principle than any time. Think of it this way, folks, and ill get out of your hair. If youre ever going to be involved in Public Affairs in whatever form, this is the time to do it. Because things are changing. Theyre changing. Theyre going to change no matter what you do. The question is how they change. Theres very few periods in American History. I call them Inflection Points. I remember my physics professor defining what an Inflection Point was. He gave us a metaphor. He said its like driving down the highway, 60 miles an hour, both hands on the wheel, and you abruptly turn it ten degrees to the right or left. You can never get back on the path you were on. Thats whats happened. Not because of barack obama and joe biden or anyone else. Because these are moments of great change. That was joe biden speaking last month. Were asking our viewers, just our democratic and independent viewers, to weigh in this morning about a potential president ial run. Weve got about 15 minutes left in this segment if you want to call in. Conservative columnist happy to talk about a potential joe biden president ial campaign and mixing it up in the primary, Charles Krouthammer noting if clinton falls, joe biden fills the vacuum. Possibly even john kerry is what he says. In the wall street journal this morning, when mrs. Clinton handed over her private email server to the justice department, democrats sniffed fu vulnerability and took a wider look around. They see another part of the electorate thats fine with old blood so long it is any type but clinton blood. Joe biden, who isnt even in the race, is doing as well in general election matchups against republicans as mrs. Clinton. Two conservative come numb ilumk about a President Joe Biden run. Maxine is up next. New baltimore, michigan. Caller good morning, and thank you for taking my call. In respect to joe biden, i think hes a very good person. My concern with his running for president is the loss of his son and his grieving process. Mind you, his son just passed away in june. This is august. That is a major decision. Any grief counselor will tell you, you dont make any major decisions for at least three years. He no doubt would be president if he ran. And im just concerned about the pressure that he would be under. Thats just too much for one person to overcome, and thats my opinion. Being a person that has already lost a child, its not easy to get over. And thats my concern with joe biden, his grieving process hasnt completed yet. I wouldnt want to see him do harm to himself or the country. And thats all ive got to say. Thank you. Maxine, thanks for the call from new baltimore, michigan, this morning. Michael on twitter asks, what about omalley and webb . Some of the other democratic contenders who have already jumped in the race. Speaking of martin omalley, he has a story about him in todays Washington Post. Omall omalleys message in iowa, its still early. Jimmy is up next. San antonio, texas. Line for democrats. Jimmy, good morning. Caller good morning. I support joe biden. In fact, im a democrat having donated to dnc for a couple years. Im on a fixed budget, and im saving up my money to donate to Vice President biden should he jump in. I support him wholeheartedly. If he didnt jump in, i do not think there will be a viable debate. So him or senator sanders would be my choice. Thank you. Jimmy in san antonio, texas, this morning. Maria is up next. Bridgeport, connecticut, on that line for independents. Good morning, maria. Caller good morning. Go ahead. Caller i think we need more independent people coming up to the poll. No more people with more money. No more people with this in their hands like this. We going to do for the people. We going to do for the children. We going to do this and that. No, we need more independent people that dont have nothing to do with politicians here, in other countries, in china, in afghanistan. None of that. Because people in america need help too. We need help, so much help. It is no joke. Kids are dying in the streets. Yeah, uhhuh. Kids are hungry in america, yes, yes. But people talking about other countries. Help other countries. Help other countries. But in america, we need help, help, okay . Thats my opinion. Okay, because im independent so i dont even know what im going to do in 2016, but thats my opinion. Thank you and god bless. God bless america. Maria in bridgeport, connecticut. As the country waits and the political world speculates on a potential joe biden presidency, the 2016 campaign continuing this week in iowa, where democratic and republican candidates have been mounting the official soap box at the iowa state fair to make their pitches to iowa fair goers. Heres a bit of one of those candidates, mike huckabee, republican president ial primary candidate. But i think a lot of tiemes, you and i, we hear a lot of politicians talk. You hear a lot of people come to your state. This time 17 republicans are coming to iowa to ask for your vote and support in the caucuses. There will be a handful of democrats who will come as well. Hillary probably is not going to come. Shell email in her appearances. You see, i know the clintons pretty well. I was born in hope, arkansas, the same town bill clinton was born in. People wonder sometimes, how in the world is it possible that so many politicians would come from one small town . The answer is i dont know, but heres what i do know. That for the republicans who are deciding how to vote, who to vote for, a lot of the questions are, is there anybody on our side that has a Good Opportunity to take on the clinton political machine . Folks, im the only one whos ever done it because every election i ever ran in arkansas, every time, i didnt just run against an opponent, i ran against the entire political apparatus that the clintons had built over a 25year period. And cspan is continuing our live coverage of candidate speeches at the iowa state fair. Former Florida Governor jeb bush heads to the soap box today at 10 30. You can watch it live on cspan and cspan. Org. Two other campaignrelated events to tell you about. Florida republican senator marco rubio will be giving a speech before the Foreign Policy initiative in new york. Well be taping that event, but you can go to cspan. Org for scheduling updates of when well air it. Of course, donald trump is holding a live town hall meeting tonight in New Hampshire. Cspan will have live coverage beginning at 7 10 p. M. On cspan and again on cspan. Org. About ten minutes left in this segment of the washington journal. Want to get your thoughts about a President Joe Biden 2016 president ial campaign. Joe is in bronx, new york. Line for democrats. Joe, good morning. Caller good morning. How you doing today . Im good, joe. Go ahead. Caller im joe, and usually when i call, i said im joe that comes from the bronx, new york, not joe the plumber. Now, i want to give two reasons why i dont believe the natural born which is joe biden, will not run. One, i dont think he will want to go down in history like john mccain. Like john mccain was the one who run to prevent the first black man from becoming president. That will go down in history. Joe will not want to go down in history to say hes going to prevent the first woman from becoming president. Thats one. Number two, i believe hes going to listen to his best friend, his best confidant, which is the president. That probably will tell him, joe, it is not a good idea at this time. Thats my two thats really my two reasons why i believe hes not going to run. And i know people that will call after me, theyll say they will comment on what i say and then probably you, the media will say, well, joe from the bronx said this and that probably will become news, and i would like to hear that. Thank you very much. Daniel is in elizabethville, pennsylvania. Line for independents. Daniel, good morning. Caller hello . Hi, daniel. Youre on the washington journal. Caller hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. Im not real enthusiastic about joe biden. Actually, im not enthusiastic at all. I just i just think hes been there much, much too long. As far as Hillary Clinton goes, everybody must remember her ducking sniper fire in bosnia. In all actuality, she received flowers on the tarmac and not snipers bullets. You know, people embellish, but she was saying this story to a bunch of older women with round shoulders. You know, like working stiff people that were attending a st. Patricks day celebration. I mean, her aides, herself, how did she actually see these irishamericans . The fighters, the mighters, and irish dynamiters. Its so stereotypical. And by the way, who would spend 5 million to marry their daughter off into a family of swindlers . Thank you all right. Thats daniel in elizabethville, pennsylvania. Back to the subject of joe biden. Bjs writes on twitter, unless joe biden comes out nasty against Hillary Clinton, which he wont and cant do, his run would be a yawn like his previous run. Same as Hillary Rodham clinton. Irish eyes writes, i love joe, but he cant outfund raise the clinton machine. He doesnt have the buzz that bernie does, and its getting late to build a team. Want to hear from just democrats and independents this morning. Milton is in philadelphia, pennsylvania. Go ahead, milton. Caller thank you for taking my call. I would love for joe biden to run. You know, i work my tail off for both president obama when he ran for president and his reelection. I like the clintons. With joe, you dont know wh hn iraq. He voted against the war. He was right that the only way to put iraq back together is to have three autonomous regions. He was right on Foreign Policy. I hope and pray he gets in. And i believe if he gets in, hes going to be our next president. Thank you. Thats milton in philadelphia this morning. One rumor that was going around the internet that was quickly squash last night, the story in politico, al gore is not planning to run against hillary, according to his advisors after some reports about those who know gore saying that he might get into the race. A statement from betsy mcmanus, gores spokeswoman, theres no truth to it, hes laser focused on solving the climate crisis. And one other story to tell you about this morning. Happenings today in cuba. The america flag will fly over havana today. The American Flag is going to be raised at a ceremony at the u. S. Embassy that was recently reopened in havana. U. S. Secretary of state john kerry will oversee the event, which follows a similar flag raising ceremony outside the Cuban Embassy in washington, d. C. , last month. To help raise the flag, american officials are bringing back three of the u. S. Marines who lowered it 54 years ago when the u. S. Cut off ties with cuba at the peak of the cold war. That story in usa today this morning. Cspan will have live coverage of that ceremony to mark the opening of the u. S. Embassy. Coverage begins at 9 30. You can check that out over on cspan2 or head over there after our program ends at 10 00 this morning. One editorial in todays Washington Post about the same subject. The Editorial Board writing that cuban dissidents should have been invited to the u. S. Flag raising ceremony in havana. The Editorial Board noting that mr. Obama could have dead nated an engagement policy that made room for human rights and its courageous advocates, as he once promised he would do. Instead, hes bestowed all legitimacy on a government that can claim none of its own right that rules for force and not the consent of the government. You can read that editorial in todays Washington Post. Lets go back to the phones. Ken has been waiting in catskill, new york, on our line for independents. What do you think about a president 2016 joe biden president ial bid . Caller good morning. Well, i hope he does not run. I think hes probably a wonderful human being. However, if he is elected, we will not go anywhere. We need someone like bernie whos actually talking about the economics of this country. Delaware is a state which is basically an offshore bank. People dont even talk about this for some reason. Theyre too polite to mention that that state is famous for its financial shenanigans. If you want to open a company, you go to delaware because theyll work it out for you. And thats the gist. I just hope that joe does not run. Thank you. And merv is waiting in los angeles, california, line for democrats. Good morning. Caller mr. Biden has the leadership to drive the vision that it country needs. I invite everyone to visit the website the case for biden for president. This is one man who has the integrity and will also hes a super hawk will stand up our military again for all the devastating harm that mr. Obama has caused to it. Merv mentioning one website. Theres also a draft biden website that is getting a lot of attention these days. Lets go to reetha in iowa this morning. Caller good morning. No, i dont think joe biden should run. Im supporting hillary. Im a black 80yearold lady, and i want to see a woman president before i leave this earth. And i think she would make a good president. Let me ask you, do you think it makes Hillary Clinton stronger if joe biden does run and she beats him in the primary . Caller no, i dont think i think he should just go and retire and rest. You know, hes had a good life. So just enjoy himself. Thats reetha in iowa this morning. Lets get in michael in tucson, arizona. Michael, good morning. Caller good morning. Go ahead, michael. Caller i dont think joe biden should run. You had a caller talking about the joe biden who voted against the iraq war. No, he did not. He voted for iraq war. That was in 2003 right here on this very station, cspan2. Im sportding hillary. And i dont see i dont see that he shouldnt even get in the race anyway. This email server and all that other stuff, thats just a bunch of fiction, madeup talking points because the republicans dont have nothing to run on. They dont have nothing to talk about. They dont have no policies. Well see them in 2016. Go, hillary, and kick them republicans behind. Thats michael in tucson, arizona, this morning. Thats all the calls were taking in this first segment of the washington journal. One other story to note for you. President obamas Summer Reading list, his vacation reading list came out yesterday. Time magazine has a story on it along with several other sites. Among the books that the president has been reading on his vacation this month, all that is by james saltzer, all the light we cannot see, the sixth extinction, and washington a life. Just some of the books the president has been reading. If you want to read more about that, check out the store in time magazine. Next up, well be joined by margo sangerkatz and her piece on whether Health Insurance really does cut costings. Later, its the 80th anniversary of Social Security. Cnbcs Sharon Epperson will look at the procespects for the syst and what consumers need to do in order to manage their retirement benefits. Well be right back. This weekend on the cspan networks, politics, books, and American History. On cspan, live from the iowa state fair, president ial candidates speak at the Des Moines Registers candidate soap box. Beginning saturday at noon, well hear from republican Rick Santorum and democrats Lincoln Chaffee and Bernie Sanders. Sunday, republican candidates ben carson at 5 00 followed by George Pataki. On cspan2 saturday night at 10 00 eastern, missouri senator Claire Mccaskill on her life and political career. Sunday morning at 10 30, dinesh talks about his most recent book and Campaign Finance laws. On American History tv on cspan3, sunday morning, with many president ial candidates visiting the airz state fair, well learn about the fairs history and its tradition as a stop on the road to the white house as we look back at the 2008 president ial race. And saturday evening at 6 00 on the civil war, historian we will have a with the senate in its august break r well feature book tv programming weeknights in primetime on cspan2 starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. And for the weekends, here are a few book tv special programs. Saturday, august 22nd, were live from jackson, mississippi, for the inaugural mississippi book festival. Beginning at 11 30 a. M. Eastern with discussions on harper lee, civil rights, and the civil war. On saturday, september 5th, were live from our Nations Capital for the 15th annual National Book festival. Followed on sunday with our live indepth program with former se and senior fellow at the American Enterprise institute, lynn cheney. Book tv on cspan 2. Television for serious readers. Washington journal continues. Were joined by Margo Sanger Katz from the new york times. She joins us to discuss Health Care Spending under the Affordable Care act. One selling point under the law is that its Preventive Care requirements could save money as well as lives. On the cost side, has that proven to be true . Its actually quite a lot of medical research that looked at the cost of preventing health care problems. Its sort of an unfortunate truth that most of the time, doing Preventive Health care can be good for Peoples Health, can lengthen their lives, make them happier and healthier but usually ends up costing more money than it saves. I think this is one of these kind of persistent selling points for the law that have turned out not really to be very realistic. Are there certain kinds of Preventive Care that do save money and other kinds that just dont . Theres a whole research, a whole body of research that looks at this question. So there are a few kinds of prevention that seem to be really cost effective. One example of that is childhood vaccines. They save a lot of money, they cost almost nothing and prevent a lot of diseases that lead to a lot of disability and sickness. Low dose aspirin for people at risk of heart attacks, thats a very low cost intervention that seems to pay off. Contraception is another one. Providing women with information about contraception, that seems to be a really Good Health Care intervention because pregnancy and childbirth are just so expensive for the Health Care System when women dont want to have be pregnant. There are some examples of Preventive Health Care Services that save money and i think theres hope in medicine that as we get better at prevention, we can target prevention to the people who really need it and do it at low cost. Then it will pay off. But right now i think we have to think about prevention as a good investment in Peoples Health but not a good investment in our future Health Care System. So insured people end up spending more on health care than uninsured people who just use hospitals in emergencies . Yeah. Do we know about how much that is . Or what the difference is . So there was a recent study, really interesting in study in oregon where essentially what they did is they wanted to expand their Medicaid Program which is a Health Insurance program for low income people, but they didnt have enough money to expand it to everyone who would want to sign up. So what they did is they actually created this really interesting experiment where they said okay, if you want medicaid and you meet certain income qualifications, sign up and we will have a random lottery to decide who gets Health Insurance. In some ways its kind of unfair because a lot of people who were otherwise eligible didnt get it. But what happened is because they randomly assigned people to either get insurance or not get insurance, they could over time compare what happened to those two groups of people who were otherwise very similar. What they found is people they gave Health Insurance to, they had certain benefits that they got from having the Health Insurance but it was very clear that they spent more money on health care and they used the emergency room actually more than people who remained uninsured. If you want to talk to Margo Sanger Katz, about Health Care Spending in the United States, the phone lines are open for the next 45 minutes. As viewers are calling in, i want to talk about overall Health Care Spending. It ticked up in 2014 for the first time in several years after being at historic lows. What were the reasons for Health Care Spending ticking up . An interesting thing is we actually dont know. Its kind of amazing, were halfway through 2015 and we dont really know what happened with Health Care Spending in 2014. But these government actuaries who look at all this data and make their estimates, they sort of made an estimate for what they thought happened in 2014. Essentially what they found is it did tick up. So the last few years its been record slow, in the history of measuring Health Care Spending we have never experienced years with this slow growth. Now its come up a little bit. So it looks like 2014, there was more spending than there has been over the last few years, but not very much spending growth relative to what we have seen historically. The actuaries pointed to three main things that really explained that. One is the population is getting older, the baby boomers are retiring and as people get older they tend to have more health care problems. That was like an obvious and expected change. A second thing that they found is that more people were getting insurance because of obamacare and as we just discussed, when you get people insurance, they tend to go to the doctor and hospital more and use more health Care Services. A third thing that they found is that prescription drugs have been getting a little bit more expensive, particularly there are new drugs for this condition called hepatitis c which is a chronic liver disease. Those are really expensive drugs and it turned out a lot of people in the United States have this disease, so that has been a factor as well. So a chart showing National Health care expenditures changed from previous years is here. Its from wall street journal. You can see it tracking in percentages as compared to the previous years from the 1990s. Heres the most recent years when Health Care Spending was at historic lows and then it ticked up to about 5. 5 in 2014. Thats the estimate, yeah. In those years where it was at historic lows, werent there millions of people entering the Health Care System through the Affordable Care act as well . Not really. The Affordable Care act passed congress in 2010 but most of the people who got new insurance really didnt get it until last year. If you remember the health care. Gov launch last year, there were a lot of stories about difficulties with that but that allowed people to sign up for private insurance who couldnt get it before and the expansion of state Medicaid Programs for low income people so that more low income people could get insurance through the government. That also didnt really happen until last year. So there are some people who got new coverage between 2010 and 2014 and those were mostly young adults who were able to stay on their parents policies after they became adults. We are talking about Health Care Spending in this country. If you have questions or comments, feel free to call in. Lines for republicans, democrats and independents. We will start on that line for republicans. Chris is waiting in corp us christie, texas. Good morning. Caller so i have a medical background and i was kind of listening here. I think the biggest problem is a lot of people dont understand the fact the emergency room isnt an express lane but its a complete lack of understanding what a primary physician is to them. [ inaudible ] now its if i take care of that same person i actually get to get taken care of faster because they already know everything thats going on with me and is treated better. Thats a disconnect across the population. So chris, your concern is how people are using the system thats in place . Caller yeah. Of course insurance costs went up. Of course medical costs are going up. I have dealt with it for years. But a lot of its due to misunderstanding of the system. Because if they dont understand that emergency room is for emergencies only, not [ inaudible ] then of course the expenses of the emergency room are going to go up. I think thats a very reasonable point. I dont mean to say that just because some Preventive Health care is not costsaving that its not a good idea to do or that there arent less expensive ways a Health Care System could work. I think one really good example of that is that if people have primary care doctors, especially people who have chronic illnesses and those primary care doctors can help them manage those illnesses, first of all thats probably going to make them healthier and happier but also, i think it is going to cost the Health System less money than if they wait until they have a really catastrophic problem and are trying to get care in a hospital where things are much more expensive and their problem is much worse and will require much more substantial intervention. The reason why prevention doesnt pay overall is not for the individual person who gets really sick, that they wouldnt have cost less because they have regular care. It tends to be because a lot of the prevention measures that we do, we do them to a lot of really Healthy People to try to prevent them from getting an illness and only some of them if they were untreated would have gone on to have that expensive problem. I definitely agree, i think most Health Economists and doctors would agree its always better for people to have a primary care physician who can take care of them, who knows their health history, who can help them manage whatever Health Problems they have than for people to wait until they have some really catastrophic problem and seek care in the most expensive setting where the people dont know them well and they may not get all the care that they need. Maybe it would be helpful to define what goes into this very general term of Health Care Spending in the United States, what goes into those numbers that are calculated that picked up 5. 5 in 2014. Edwin christian says the Health Insurance companies raised deductibles and copays so you end up spending more out of pocket than before. Whose spending are we talking about when we talk about these terms . These terms, its called the National Health expenditure report. Basically that means everything, everything that is spent on health care. So that includes what your Insurance Company pays, what ann insured person might pay out of pocket, what the government pays for people that the government insures and also what you pay yourself. So costs for prescription drugs, for doctors offices, for medical equipment like canes and wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, everything you think of as being a health care expense is countd in that broad category. They are trying to track whats happening overall in Health Care Spending but there are lots of other studies that look at these Different Things people are paying for health care and it is certainly true that Health Insurance, especially over the last ten years, the amount that individual people are being expected to pay before their insurance kicks in, has really been increasing at a very rapid rate. I think it is causing a tlot of financial strain for american familiie families. Huntsville, alabama, mark is on. Caller good morning. My question is im not sure if your guest knows or not. What i did was i dropped my health care at work because i was in the military, 76 to 79, and i never joined the v. A. And i finally did. They are telling me why are you paying for Health Insurance, you join