Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 11092017 20171109 :

202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. post on twitter, @cspanwj. you can also post on our facebook page. find that at facebook .com/cspan. "the hill" newspaper looks at its website, takes a look at tax reform efforts on the senate side, expected to be released today. the writers say that tax writers in the senate are expected to eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes in their legislation. that's a break with house republicans, who have proposed keeping it in place for property taxes up to $10,000. it also says that senate republicans are also expected to increase the threshold for the popular mortgage interest deduction to $1 million, a substantial increase over the house, which lowered the cap to the first $500,000 of a mortgage. they will also change the house formula for taxing small businesses with a new pass-through rate of 25% -- host: if you go to the pages of the "wall street journal," there's a story saying that when it comes to the white house's perspective on tax reform, at least according to the headline, the president touts, or at least approving of the senate version of the bill -- host: there's a story that takes a look at the house efforts, too, on tax reform, saying this, that the issue being, involving revenue gap. it's a $74 billion revenue gap in the house bill, and that stems from an amendment republicans made late monday that would scale back a tax on multinational corporations proposed in the first version of the g.o.p. bill. the change removed 95% of that key revenue provision, leaving the bill outside its budget target, according to an estimate provided on tuesday by the joint committee on taxation, a nonpartisan scorekeeper for tax legislation in congress. so those are all issues when it comes to the issue of tax reform. again, the senate taking a look at that and expected to drop their version of legislation today. if you want to comment on that or other issues, too, it's open phones, and you can do so. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. and 202-748-8002 for independents. if up to the tweet us your thoughts this morning, you can do so, @cspanwj. you can also post on our facebook page at facebook.com/cspan. there are a few opinion pieces taking a look at tuesday's election and the results, particularly in virginia and new jersey with the governor's races. the house of delegates still up for play in virginia, depending on -- it could see control moving over to the democratic hands, and that's still in play. there are other issues stemming from that, too. the editors of the "wall street journal" put it this way, the antitrust wave is how the editors write this morning, saying that the message for republicans going into 2018 is that they are in trouble in the swing suburban districts, where the house will be won or lost. republicans hold 23 zicts where mrs. clinton also won, adding that another message, that g.o.p. success now during the obama years can go rapidly in reverse -- host: that's the editors of the "wall street journal" this morning. it was yesterday that the democratic leaders, nancy pelosi and chuck shume, went before cameras, talking about the potential for 2018, especially for what they saw on tuesday. here's their thinking as of yesterday. >> the door is certainly open for us. right now president bush down to 38% in 2005. that's approximately where president trump is now. that opens the door. that means we get the fresh recruits, and they get the retirement. we get the 18 and the candidate is very important. >> wait, wait. in 2005, i was head of the d.c.c., and you could smell a wave coming. the results last night smell exactly the same way. our republican friends better look out. host: "the washington post" this morning takes a look at those retirements, many of them, including two announced just before the election on tuesday, saying this this morning, that house republicans are already reeling from those retirements in battle-tested incumbents in seats that could flip the democrats this year -- host: by the way, the house ways and means k on tax reform, several meetings this week marking up the house's tax reform effort, or the tax reform bill. if you want to see some of that debate that took place over these issues of taxes, suggestions and other things, go to our website at c-span.org. we have all the hearings there where you watch the back and forth and minutia taking a look at the markup of the bill and see some of the issues play out amongst debate among legislators. again, that's available at c-span.org. on this open phones, from arlington, texas, independent line. anthony, you are first. good morning. caller: good morning, and thanks for taking my call. i just wanted to talk about the tax bill and the reason why is because, with the recent release of the paradise papers and some really great research i think done by eric phillips, the senior analyst at the institute on taxation and economic policy, i really hope you guys would have him on, but he talks about all the money that's overseas or not being taxed and parked, and i listened to that and compare it to what republicans are wanting to do, which is give people at the very top really huge tax breaks when, in fact, they're saying we're going to go from 35 to 20, and in fact, their effective rate that they actually already pay is about 20% or 17%. some of them pay zero. so i guess, if they drop it to 20, they'll be paying 10% effective rate, or maybe even zero, and where they're going to be getting that money from to replace that revenue that's coming in, that's a huge concern. and what they're going to do is they're going to basically take it from public education or take it from some other services being provided that's really needed or healthcare, and that's really unfortunate. it's their ideology, and then on the flip side, they come up with a really fancy name, you know, tax cuts and jobs act. but we've already proven over history that trickle down really doesn't work, and jobs really don't get created. and the last thing i'd like to $1,000 a month or year that paul ryan talks about, like that's a big deal. you can keep that $1,000. i donate more than that to charity, and i'm just a working person. i'm not rich. host: that's antone in texas. he mentioned the paradise papers, the "time" magazine story taking a look at the release of the documents this week, 13 million documents pertaining to wealth snord off-shore tax havens as revealed information on tens of thousands of the world's wealthiest company and people, including high-profile figures from the u.s. commerce secretary wilbur ross to the queen of england. the documents were obtained by a german newspaper and shared with almost 100 media partners by the international consortium of investigative journalists. that's an international consortium of journalists. host:er it any north carolina, republican line. -- terry in north carolina, republican line. caller: good morning, c-span. i've got a little different take on this. i'm looking at the tax revenue that our government already kes in, which is around $3.2 trillion a year. now, c-span, you've never asked the question, how these politicians spend our tax money. i really think it should be itemized out so we know what we're getting our money from. i mean, most people out there don't understand it. barack obama did get his tax increases on the 1%. the only thing i see now with -- that the e is 1% really is politicians. the biggest, the richest, the most corrupt corporation in this country, pedro, is in that building right behind you, the u.s. government. instead of asking the question how we take more money out of the american people's pocket, why doesn't c-span ask the question on how the politicians actually spend our money. roads and bridges are in terrible shape. healthcare is in terrible shape. host: we do analysis all the time, and we talk about those issues all the time. i would 5d views you to go to our website and examine the ways that federal money gets spent and the way it's spent. will in ohio, democrats line. you're next up. caller: good morning, and thank you for taking my call. i would like to say, these republican tax cuts are nothing but a big con. i mean, think about who one of the biggest beneficiaries of this tax cut will be. it will be donald trump and his family. i mean, will they allow notice make up a tax cut for myself? i mean, on top of that, we're fighting two unfunded wars. we have social security and medicare that needs to be propped up. and i mean, we have disasters that we need to spend money on. we have all these things, and this tax cut to increase the deficit $1.7 trillion over 10 years. i mean, this is -- this is ridiculous. the wealthy do not need a tax cut. i mean, it's not going to increase the economy like the republicans say. that has never happened in the past. that is just an excuse to make the tax cuts. thank you very much for listening to my comments. host: fairbanks, alaska, galileo, and i hope i said that correctly, good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. thanks to you and c-span. i want to talk about the texas massacre. the real issue with the texas massacre is the department of defense's rampant coverup of domestic abuse within the military. you can't talk about that, because we have to pretend that every soldier is fighting for our freedom. you and i both know that's not true. host: why do you think that's the most important issue coming out of that? caller: because it is. because i think it was maybe senator flake or someone tried to get, you know, the military is not reporting domestic violence. they're trying to cover it up and downplay it. they spin it as just general violence. you know that's not right. and you know it's a systematic problem within the military. we can talk to harvey weinstein all we want, but we know that there's rampant sexual abuse in the military. you can look at the reports that our soldiers have done to children in south america. that's a valid international report, man. you know, this stuff isn't made up. but we have to -- loorks i want to get to this point, pedro. if we want to survive as a country, we got to channel the spirit of the 1960e's. bring back figures like ken leary, because that was the way to freedom and still can be. we got to start a new anti-war movement in this country, and we can start it now. host: ok. one of the things coming out of texas involves the shooter's iphone. this is a story from yesterday, late yesterday, saying that for about 48 hours after the rampage at a texas church, the f.b.i. and other law enforcement agencies did not ask apple incorporated to help them unlock the gunman's iphone or associated online accounts, according to the person that told reuters that on wednesday -- host: aaron up next in hammond, indiana, independent line. caller: thank you for c-span. thank you for taking my comment. you guys just started these comments about the -- i've been reserving the caller that called in. we had a republican caller, i think he was your second caller, and it was very interesting. the caller before him and the caller after him made very detailed and sometimes astute observations about the numbers and the facts and the shifting of wealth and everything about these tax cuts. but what the republican did is he says why doesn't c-span do this and why doesn't c-span do this and why doesn't c-span ask these questions. and it occurred to me that this is part of the modern climate that the trump administration has created by blaming the reality of things on a slanted media or a biased media. we had a gentleman just before me who talked greatly about the tax cuts, but they say, well, c-span is the problem, c-span isn't asking these questions. and this hearkens back to the fake news craze that seems to be everywhere, and that's a smoke screen. that's very unfortunate. i just want to comment about that and ask republicans to look with their own eyes and read numbers and stop blaming the media. thank you again for c-span. thank you, pedro. host: let's go to cynthia, fort lauderdale, florida, independent line. caller: yes, hi. i'm a person who's lived outside the united states, and when i came back to the united states in 1979, reagan no, ma'am i can was just coming in. as soon as that came in, the trickle-down thing did not work for this country. 70% of new income prior to that went to the american people. since that time, zero percent has gone to the american people, which is why the average citizen in this country is struggling so much. donald trump is the end rulet of that. what ideas does he have to help the american people? none. he's in japan telling people, oh, isn't it great i'm president? that's why he's in japan? what does that got to do with foreign relations? he's against north korea, yet what are his ideas? bomb them and threaten them? then we have paul ryan, who's talking about the shooting in the church. let's just all pray about it. how about let's get some gun laws like we used to have, which is to ban assault weapons? there's no reason for anybody in this country to have an assault weapon. and third, we have mike pence in the wings. what is mike pence going to do for this country, take it backwards into a theocratic state. there's separation of church and state in this country. it's how it was created. it's how it's supposed to be. i agree with the previous caller that we went back to some of the ideas of the 1960's, how to build this country under john kennedy, how to expand out into the world, how to create peace with different countries, and how to work together for the best in the world and the best in america. we'd be a better country. host: the president in china today, a tweet off his twitter account thanking the chinese president, amongst many things, a dinner at the forbidden city. thank you for such an incredible welcome ceremony. it was truly a memorable and impressive display. that's from the president's twitter account. the president addressing a speech with china, talks about trade issues, particularly the trade imbalance between china and the united states. here's the headline this morning, the president declines to hit the chinese president's trade, "i don't blame china" is part of the headline. you can see the whole speech on c-span at c-span.org. but here is trump in china talking about the u.s.-china trade situation. trump: my administration is committed to improving our trade and business relationships with china. and this relationship is something which we were working very hard to make a fair and a reciprocal one. trade between china and the united states has not been, over the last many, many years, a very fair one for us. as we all know, america has a huge annual trade deficit with china. a number beyond anything what anybody would understand. this number is shockingly hundreds of billions of dollars each year. estimates are as high as $500 billion a year. we must immediately address the unfair trade practices that drive this deficit, along with barriers to market success. we really have to look at access, forced technology transfer, and the theft of intellectual property, which just by and of itself is costing the united states and its companies at least $300 billion a year. both the united states and china will have a more prosperous future if we can achieve a level, economic playing field. right now, unfortunately, it is a very one-sided and unfair one. but, but, i don't blame china. [applause] after all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? i give china great credit. host: again, that whole speech available to you at c-span.org. that trip going on. the u.s. even announcing on wednesday it's going to carry out a rare exercise involving three aircraft carriers to send a message to north korea. the navy will conduct air defense drills, sea surveillance, and defensive air combat training and other drills over the sea of japan. that's east of the korean peninsula, according to the statement. multiple carrier strike forces operations are very complex, and this exercise in the western pacific is a strong testament to the u.s. pacific fleet's unique ability and iron clad commitment to the continued security and stability of the region, that from a statement from admiral scott swift from. pennsylvania, carnegie, pennsylvania, democrats line. we will hear from patrick, hello. caller: good morning, pedro. how are you? host: i'm well, thank you. go ahead. caller: you know, there's a marvelous saying from malcolm x, you've been hoodwinked, you've been bamboozled. that is the american taxpayer, not by foreign governments, but sect rporate jihadist that have essentially looted the national treasury of our country into ruin. they walk into boardrooms in china requiring them to not only surrender intellectual property, but they also require them to surrender part of their corporate infrastructure. all america has to do with china is say, ok, we're going to operate under a quid pro quo corporate alliance. if you require our corporations to surrender intellectual property, assets, corporate involvement, you are going to do the exact same thing. these are basic economic, negotiateable issues that the american people could demand from their politicians. but the american people sit on the sidelines and they allow their politicians, who are on the take, the media is on the take, the media is articulated with the military industrial complex, particular when will it comes to all these wars that we've become entangled in for decades on end. look at where we are in afghanistan. we're now approaching 17 years, and the american people don't understand that. and when you look at the words of donald rumsfeld, who said these were his exact words, we cannot account for $2 trillion from the pentagon. this money, how in the hell could you misuse or lose $2 trillion? host: ok, let's move on to tulsa, oklahoma, republican line. ellen, hello. caller: hi, pedro. good morning. all just calling to say the negative comments about trump all the time, they're getting a little old, because and me into the presidency no one -- well, quite a few people didn't vote for him, but quite a few people did, and he actually did win. and, you know, people are -- people wanted hillary, and we would have been just exactly the way we were before if she had gotten it. if she had came into the presidency, we would be in very bad shape right now, and at least we are moving forward. and the last caller said, you know, from pennsylvania, he really said the truth, he said we should demand that our trade be equal, and so trump is over there saying that out loud to everybody, our trade needs to be equal. anyway, that's about all i've got to say, thank you. host: on the topic of the trip, liz smith off of twitter says president trump is looking out for what is best for america, i have total confidence in his decision. this is one that says the president just told the world that he applauds the chinese for taking advantage of america. if obama had said this, question mark. if you want to post things on twitter, do so aacspanwj. jodie adds this, totally going away from the china conversation, saying from tuesday's elections that the people of maine voted to expand medicaid, but their governor says he won't, which begs the question, who works for whom? the bangor daily news talks about the governor and his decision, or at least the statement from that ballot initiative, saying that he's vetoed the expansion of medicaid five times, and in a statement wednesday, said that his administration won't admit it until the legislature funds it. without tax increases or a raid of the rainy day fund -- host: from tennessee, this is vivian, democrats line. caller: good morning. i want to say something real quick to you. trump is over there talking about trade with chinese people. he has companies over there in other places. why don't they bring back the jobs here, simple to america and for the people to work. that's one thing. number two, they are setting up there talking about what the democrats won't do, and some republicans, too, don't like the way our country is going on. we have had mass shootings. people dying from drugs. people dying because they don't have health insurance. here in tennessee, they murdering people every day. they're not saying anything about it. you trying to go over there and control north korea? why don't they help this country? bring our country back. they saying bring it back. this is what i mean. bring jobs for people. healthcare for people. make it easy for citizens to get their student loans revoked. the reason i say that, they are going to school to be something. they want to cut out student loans. what kind of country is this going to be? the world is looking at us. trump get out there, say one thing one day, then i say another, like he do over there in china. he's reneging on what he say. you can't trust that man. we need somebody in there who's going to work for us, the senate and the country. host: ok, that's vivian in tennessee. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. 202-748-8002 for independents. we've done about a half-hour of open phones so far. another half-hour to go. again, your chance to call in on those lines, give comments on what you like, and we'll take as many of those as we can in the half-hour. we end at 9:00 today because the house is coming in. then we will hear from a legislator in our first half-hour. that's representative tom garnet of virginia, talking about issues of foreign affairs -- garrett, foreign alayers and homeland security. later in the show, dan rather, former cbs news anchor, and the : thor of "what unites reflections on patriotism." we'll talk to him later. kansas, republican line. amber in kansas? caller: yes. my medicaid's been going downhill because of the president. he's wanting to cut everybody off of the healthcare. host: ok, gleets to mary in -- let's go to mary. caller: my name is mary, and i live in south carolina. i'm a trump supporter from the word go. and i'm tired of the republicans, like george w. ush, and john mccain and lindsey graham and bob corker, i'm tired of all these people. oh, yeah, those women, lisa murkowski and collins, they voted against everything for trump, that trump wants to do. i'm tired of doing that. i hope steve bannon can take these people out, some of them, and i'm really saying to george, with bush, because in my opinion, george w. bush got us into two wars we did not need to be in, ok? all right, so those guys were hiding in afghanistan in these mountains. you know why? i believe, i don't really know, but i believe that we had a type of bomb that we could have flattened those mountains. ok? and we wouldn't have had to put one boot on the ground. and then in offensive coordinator, -- and then iraq, george bush, who i think is a lightweight, he wanted to beat his dad and set the country free. well, that was ridiculous. we're still there. u know, it's like going into california, you get your feet in and you can never get out. host: mary, do you think it's not the role of former presidents to address a current president in this administration? caller: well, i'm going to tell what you. all the time obama was trashing him or at least his first term, everything was george bush's fault. i never heard a peep out of him. he's mad because he couldn't get his him elected. we are tired of the swamp. we need to drain the swamp. host: what do you think about the elections in virginia and new jersey, and do you think that -- it will tell us anything for 2018? caller: those are democratic places. what we need look on right now is sitting into places like missouri, like arizona, and other places where democrats are running next time, and work really hard to win that. host: mary in south carolina, calling us on this open phone. she mentions senator bob corker. a story in "the hill" says the senator announced yesterday the senate foreign relations committee will hold a hearing next week "on the executive authority to use nuclear weapons" -- host: tom, independent line, good morning. caller: good morning, and thank you very much to c-span. i just want to say that i think donald trump is the best president we've ever had in the entire history of this country. and i think he's doing a great job overseas. i think people are starting to come around and get used to the way he's operating. and i think the democrats are just pissed off because they lost. host: what sets this president separate from -- apart from others so far in your mind? caller: well, for one, he hasn't gotten us into any wars, and he hasn't listened to my fake people and fake news, and he's doing the right thing. he's taking these people on and trying to tell them that we're not going to take this nonsense anymore. you can't push america around like this. you don't get to do that. and the democrats -- host: your thoughts as far as his statements towards north korea and statements towards the leadership there, up don't have any concerns about the statements themselves or what they could lead to? caller: heck no. look what weave been going through for the last 20 years, the last two presidents, three presidents in a row, look what we've been going through. host: what do you mean by that? and he's gone. north korea being one topic that the president is addressing. cuba being the other. a story in "the wall street journal" today, changes to policy when it comes to travel to cuba, saying that many americans who want to visit cuba will now have to do so by traveling through tour operators and must be accompanied by a representative of a sponsored organization that is also subject to u.s. jurisdiction -- host: california is next, pam on our republican line. caller: hi, this is pam douglas. host: you're on, go ahead. caller: ok. well, pedro, i am really frustrated. i call every 30 days or whatever i can get through and try to explain to people what the tax structure is as far as who's actually paying the taxes. i get my information from the kiplinger tax letter, and they get their information from the i.r.s. so when people say tax cuts for the rich, i feel frustrated, because the only way that you can get a tax cut is if you actually pay taxes. nd according to kiplinger's, most of the taxes being paid by the people in the upper income rackets, the top 1% pay 40% of all of the taxes collected for income tax, but they only get 20% of the income. and if the top 5% pay 60% of the income tax collected, but of the y have 30% income that is generated for that year. host: so you're saying, with that in mind, you're ok if the higher income folks get that tax cut and get the benefit from it? caller: yeah, but i want people to have the statistics. that's why i'm calling you, pedro. e top 10%, which if you make $138,000, you're in the top 10% of the wage earners. you're paying 70% of the taxes that are collected by the federal government, but you're 47% of the ng income for that year. and the bottom 50% of the people that pay taxes, that file tax return, the bottom 50% pay less than 3% of the total federal income tax that's collected. host: ok, i got to stop you there only because the nuances of tax policy, we can go on for the course of all three hours of this program, but appreciate the call and the perspective you bring to it. michigan, democrats line, jesse, hi there. caller: good morning, pedro. i want to applaud the guy that called from pennsylvania. host: ok, go ahead. caller: yeah, i want to applaud the guy that called from pennsylvania, all this money that we waste on these wars. it seem like nobody really tells about it. i mean, it's a ridiculous that we've been in war for going on 17 years, like, it could be used on healthcare or things that are needed here in america, and when we in a war and if y'all don't have somebody that want to end these wars, i'm not voting for you. because everybody -- he got to be for war. and i just -- really makes me angry and everything, all this money that we wasted. we're all over the war, my god. host: ok, gleets to lou in outh carolina, democrats line. lou in south carolina, go ahead. caller: yes, sir, i'd like to make a comment. i'd like to thank my democratic party members, which i am a democrat, up in virginia and all the other places that people that went to the polls and voted. and i want to thank them very much. but i'd like to make a comment, i hear the lady, and she was talking, and i just want to say to her what she needs to do is start reading and turn rush and all these other people off of their entertainment systems at home and sit down and read about a few things before she makes those comments. host: why do you think that she made those comments based on listening to the radio and other sources like that? caller: well, because there's a lot -- there's a lot of things that are being said on conservative talk radio to me that just doesn't make any sense. maybe i could be wrong. i'm not saying i'm right, i'm not saying i'm wrong. host: what are those things on talk radio that you hear that are being said? caller: fake news. host: such as what? caller: well, they say -- they talk about fake news. i don't believe none of our news is fake. but that's what conservative people talk about, fake news all the time, fake news, fake news. and i've been reading the newspaper, i'm 72 years old. i've been reading the newspapers for a long time. and i don't think we have fake news. host: let me ask you for your criticism of conservative radio as it is. have you ever listened to one of these programs? caller: oh, every once in a while i sit down just to hear what the other side is thinking, yes, i do. host: and what -- caller: for curiosity's sake, die that. host: what do you take away from that when you do that? caller: i can't really base my life on a lot of things that are said. i can't. because, you know, i've been around a long time. i've seen a lot of things. i've seen a different america than what we see right now, and i'll tell you right now, i'm very nervous about what i see donald trump -- look what he just said in china. about taking advantage of america for their country. i didn't like to hear that. host: ok, that's charleston, south carolina, calling on our line for democrats, about 20 minutes left in this open phones in our first hour. if you want a chance to call in and give comment, 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. cnn has a story taking a look at the former c.e.o. of yahoo!, marissa meyer, who was before the senate commerce committee wednesday talking about security breaches. not only was she there, but members of he can we fax were there, and she specifically was addressing a security breach that compromised three billion user accounts, making it the single largest breach in history. that breach took place in 2013. one of the lines that came out saying, as c.e.o., in her opening statements -- host: here's a bit of exchange yesterday at that commerce hearing with the former yahoo! c.e.o., marissa mayer, grilled by members of congress, about that data breach. >> even after the 2013 breach became apparent, yahoo! significantly underestimated the number of accounts implicated by billions. and so i'll give you an opportunity to answer the obvious question, and that is with such a strong security team in place, how did yahoo! fail to recognize that all three billion of its user accounts had been compromised, and why did it take more than three years to discover and to disclose the breach? >> at yahoo!, we deeply valued our user's security and invested heavily in that security. as is frequently the case in these types of cyberattacks, they are complex, they are persistent, and in often cases, the understanding of the facts evolves over time. to this day, we, as i understand it, still have not been able to identify the intrusion that led to that theft, which is to say we've received files from law enforcement that contain yahoo! data, and we verified that it came from yahoo!. we don't exactly understand how the act was perpetrated. host: again, all of this hearing available to you when you go to the website, c-span.org. the front page of the "financial times" this morning takes a look at a deal being considered by the justice department, this between time warner and cnn. the headline says that the united states demanding that cnn is sold as a price for the at&t-time warner approval. the story says that the sale of the cnn, which president donald trump has fiercely criticized as a broadcaster of fake news, is just one of the demands being made by the u.s. antitrust authority in order to sign off on the deal, but those involved say the talks, according to the talks, that it could prove a stumbling block -- host: eli in michigan, from st. clare shores, on our republican line, hi. caller: this is not fake news. this is actual science. over the last 100 years, over 95% of the combat deaths of american troops have been under democrat presidents. ronald reagan was right when he said of the four wars in his lifetime, none occurred because america was too strong. in respect to the young lady who called earlier about the 3% paying the taxes, the top 1% paid almost 40% of the income taxes, she's right. and these are facts that liberal democrat voters don't know because they do watch cnn and read mainstream media news outlets, and they listen to pop culture. they're thoroughly uneducated. host: christine in new hampshire, independent line. hi there, go ahead. caller: hi, good morning. yeah, i'm commenting on the same thing as far as trump. he's the best president we've had. he's got the sense to go up and say what we need, to say that we're not going to expect less, anything less. on top of that, when you asked, when the gentleman talked about the 17 years and wars, this is absolutely true. and then he said about the comments of another president on trump and how he was working his administration, you asked what happened for the last 17 years, it's like holy crap, don't you know? everybody knows, and that's the whole thing. but i understand that cnn cannot give an opinion. you're there to hear both sides. host: well, first and foremost, we're not cnn, we're c-span, just to be clear. caller: i'm sorry, but the program is not about your opinion or who's sandrite who's wrong. i'm sure you're brought intelligence. you know how to speak. unfortunately, i don't. but you absolutely do not -- you're not able to give your opinion, really. host: correct. anything else? caller: no, i think that you cover it. but when you do ask questions, die hope that the people understand who -- i do hope that the people understand who -- understand that you cannot give your opinion on what side of is write and wrong. host: gotcha. thanks for the call. bob, texas, democrats line. caller: yes. thank you. thank you, pedro. i've got a couple comments, if you bear with me, about guns. the other day a fella from -- s called in, and he said he was stating that if you go to a gun show and buy a gun, you absolutely have to have a background check. that is a bald-faced lie. you can buy guns all day long. i live in texas. i own probably 40-plus guns. and i'll guarantee you do not have to get a background check if you buy it from an individual. host: if it's a private sale between two people, if i understand it. caller: that's exactly right. in fact, they walk around in front of the gun shows with guns on their arms for sale, and anybody with the cash, you don't even have to know his name, anybody with cash with buy that gun. now, i don't own a so-called assault weapon. i think they're foolish. believe it's a macho thing. but another thing i want to point out is that it's amazing to me that if you go duck hunting, you're only allowed three shots. if you have more than three shells in your shotgun, you're breaking a federal law, and boy, you can get in big trouble for that. but you're not limited to the amount of bullets that you can have in a gun to kill people. so i think that's a little bit strange, and i have one other .omment he stated that guns are not the issue, it's a mental issue, and he's right about that. and he's it. thank you, pedro. host: that's our caller from texas, calling on our line for democrats, bob. again, open phones, if you're just joining us, two-hour show today. we will end at 9:00. the topic of guns brought up by the caller. the larger topic of that shooting in sutherland springs, texas, which took place earlier this week on sunday. vice president mike pence speaking last night at a prayer vigil, looking at that and referencing that. here's a portion of that. vice president pence: my fellow americans, we flive challenging times. it seems like too often we hear of another tragedy, another senseless act of violence against the innocent. in these times, i expect it's easy for some to lose heart, but as the good people of sutherland springs taught the nation this week, faith is the antidote. to zpeer despair. -- to fear and despair. faith is now and always has been our source of strength, and the summit of our national ife. today as governor abbott just said, faith tells us we overcome evil with good. so this weekend, i hope a lot of americans do what we're doing here tonight. i hope the places of worship all across america will be filled to overflowing. i hope that americans of every ackground and belief will send a chorus of prayers from their hearts into the heart of heaven for these families, for this community. and for this land. to pray for those we lost and those they left behind. to pray for the injured and those who tend to their wounds even as we speak. to pray for the good congregation of first baptist urch, that they would soon fill that sanctuary with the sounds of praise and worship again. and to pray for all the good people of sutherland springs and of the special state of texas. and while we're at it, i'd encourage you to pray for america, because i believe with all my heart, as long as we remember that we are one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and justice for all, that god will yet bless america. host: that from yesterday. watch it at c-span.org. we'll go next to glenn in maryland, independent line. caller: hi. how are you this morning? host: i'm fine, thank you. go ahead. caller: i was just wondering what they're doing about deporteding the illegals. it seems like they are talking, but they're not doing anything. we need to get rid of them to open up jobs for the americans that was born and raised here. and we need to -- the older ones that was raised here, that was brought over and raised here, give them like a two-year period to become american citizens or ship them back. host: the topic of immigration-related issues came up during the hearing for president trump's nominee to head homeland security. during her confirmation hearing yesterday, pledged to be tough on border security, but also acknowledging that mr. trump's campaign promise to build a wall across the entire southern order was unrealistic -- host: that's available at c-span.org too. from gary in kentucky, republican line. you're next. good morning. caller: yes, good morning, c-span. i'd like to address the pension system in this country. i'm going into the central state and applied for relief ue to the act of 2014, the npra, and since then, five other pension systems have applied for relief. i live in kentucky and the state system here is going broke, and basically this is police, firemen, public servants, and they put their time in, and they put their ney in, and they work hard all their life, and they're getting it turned on them. i'd like to see c-span have maybe a guest on there to address this situation someday. i don't know what committees, what federal committees address this, but get some politicians on there to address the pension systems in this country. host: ok, thanks for the tip. texas, republican line, dalton, hello there, good morning. caller: hello, good morning. i have a comment about the insecurity i feel for my grandchildren and their children and the future, and the status of the country tself, because it appears that the senators and congressmen, representatives all take the same oath, but yet when they get elected, they're all on different battle fields. none of them ever unite to stand under the same oath that each one of them took when they were elected to office, and it's the same thing in our cities. i notice that our city councils throughout the united states, they all take the same oath as the military, and they all stand up and they say they'll defend this country, but yet once they become elected, they, like the nfl, try to destroy the country, disrespect the soldiers and the lives that have gone by in the past, have died and buried out there in our cemeteries everywhere defending this country to make it what it is. and now, in california, they want to change our national anthem. a couple of years ago, it was even suggested that they change the name of the united states. i'd just like to give, you know, i'd like to know, do they take the same oath, or is there a separate oath? why can't they come together and work under the same pretense to make america great? host: ok, that's dalton in texas. the education secretary, betsy devos, in puerto rico to take a look at the school situation there following the hurricane, saying that she met with puerto rico's education secretary and the governors to discuss how the education department might help the schools, some of which have been closed since maria ade landfall -- floip paul in fort lauderdale, florida, republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. sometimes i call in to your program, and i don't even know where to start. but my general impression of hearing people call in is how effectively the democratic party is controlling the minds of people with hot-button issues, and they're not allowing them to actually think. so the democrats and callers try to paint donald trump as loving the rich. so let's, if you really think that the rich are preventing you from achieving your goals, let's go out and screw all the rich people right now. and we've after we've screwed 200,000 rich people, if you're still not better off, let's go screw another 200,000 rich people, and we'll check back with you and see if your life is any better. do you really think that that's the smart way to go? and to paint donald trump as a racist. host: new hampshire, democrats line, hi. caller: hi. i have heard several people call in this morning and mention that the top 5% pay 60%, approximately 60% of taxes , and i would like remind these people that the top 5% only control approximately 90% of the wealth in this country. mathematically speaking, they should pay 90% of the taxes if they have 90% of the money. i'd like people to give that a little bit of thought. ok, thank you. host: on capitol hill yesterday, this is representative steve scalise. he was shot during the sniper incident while the softball team was practicing earlier this year. he's back on capitol hill, challenged representative sam johnson to a race on electric scooters, as they did yesterday. this is available from the congressman's website, also off of twitter as well. if you go to the twitter page, you'll see the race and one of the louisiana papers picking up the race comes six weeks after scalise returned to daily duty in the house after being gravely wounded by a gunshot to the hip. here's a little bit of that race. ♪ ♪ ♪ host: there is that part that to the congressmen's website and twitter account you the full retails. from louisiana we will hear from leo on our independent line. leo. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. pedro, there is discrepancy clear that -- scripture that says the truth will set you free. trumpld between 30 and 34 supporter calls and not one stands up on the truth. i'm a veteran and and i can tell , because arack obama he is african-american and male, for ery little or nothing veterans or nothing for black people. -- black people that. is statistically the truth. hear that from trump supporters. you though he is dead wrong do not hear that from his supporters. you know always that you free.will set millt as to resit rate i'm 25eur veteran and african-american male and did color. for people of my you do not hear that from the donald trump supporters. to north ill go carolina mary on the republican line. mary from pinehurst, north carolina. mary.re time for ok, we will show you the story washington times". talking about the congressional what would e and happen if the individual mandate repealed. care was their estimation savings of $338 billion. the report adding that premiums would rise an average of 10% years of the coming decade because healthier people would buy insurance to once they are no longer forced lead to the drop of 13 million. the individual mandate is the unpopular of the 2010 ealth law that president obama included. to balance out customers that could no longer be denied. repealing it would erase tax revenue and save money because would seek coverage subsidies.axpayer sheila is in washington, d.c. independent line. you.r: good morning to the reason for my call this address s i want to some of the callers that were calling in. the one thing i love about is you can call and give your opinion. just because you give your opinion doesn't mean that they are facts. a lot of, let's given ke facts that were this morning. one of the things i do regardless of who i listen to, it is cnn, fox or msnbs, go out and check political ly if it is true or not. there were more wars started nder the republican presidents than democrats. more military deaths under republican democrats.than and i really think that you listen to ho or who you get your news from, , u should always question always check that information hear urself before you something and go and repeat it. share what i wanted to this morning. host: let's go to troutville, virginia. hear from john on the democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. i want as to dementcomment on w our president that chase all a wild goose and there is nothing there and it is a witch hunt. some time we turn around new person popped up that met -- russians aqi but it is drip, drip, drip. more people. you can't say fake news every time something comes up when it true. like it is i just don't understand how the president can get by with this. host: last story from the chicago tribune about former on a new obama taking role that of a member of a jury, for jury duty. he won two presidential peace price nobel and wednesday he made cook exciting.y duty who was not juror hosen was accompanied by the secret service and rode a private elevator and greeted by and greeted others who were waiting to see if they duty.serve jury the paper reported he emerged madeng shaking hands as he his way to the jury assembly room. tribune n the chicago website. last story for this hour. left the house coming in at 9:00 today. congressman with tom garrett of virginia a discussion on homeland security the attacks in new york and then we will be new d by dan rather on a whatites unites us. words.ay night on of a >> it was imperative for me because i had a platform and if my 15 minutes here i am and i'm here today, i'm not behalf of the f.b.i. or any intelligent agency or but myself. i would like to say that i hope speaking on i am behalf of the millions of muslim 1.7 billion across the globe that don't think radically. i love them to feel comfortable and stand up and say that is not a religion. that is what is being warped by al qaeda and isis. the only ones with a voice. agentlim american federal who requested to remain fighting talked about terrorism in america with american radio calendar inside tpfrbrld of an undercover agent interviewed by michael authorize of thinking like a terrorist. 9:00 s sunday night at eastern on c-span 2 book tv. at his week on q&a we look the eight jewish justices who served on the supreme court. book of the themes of my s the declining anti-semitism from the time of brandeis and correspond doze zsa to ruth beginsberg. but mcreynolds was notoriously anti-semitic. i was going to mention the amous portrait in 1924 that he had to sitter. from advice vantage point hoover -- isasterity to udacity to say how dare you afflict the court with another hebrew. >> "washington journal" intelligence. joint by re epresentative tom garrett congressman from virginia. guest: good morning. host: violent events in new york and texas the last few weeks, particularly m what it means in terms of homeland security in the united states. don't think we need remind e reminders. we ave vegas as well, that are very vulnerable at home. he nature of the free society is that there will be risk. mitigate them to the best of our ability. will tell you without delving into areas i can't go that there are shortcomings in our defenses in any number of areas, whether flight safety which you would september 11 we would have gotten straight. new yber realm is a paradigm so we have to be vigilant and understand that bad are going to happen in a free society. we do everything we can to mitigate them. when it comes to the specific incidents say when it comes to texas shooting, there this whole conversation about the information on data bases approved for et guns. do you think there are improvements need there had? is not the first shooter who was banned from possessing firearms who them.sed you can always argue anyone who human life o take will break gun laws but we need laws enforced adequately. so there is a real dropping of the aeufrs and f.b.i. and processing entities. ironically in virginia i think one of two states that have the state background check on top of the federal background check. i arced against it and -- arced in this t but circumstance the failure to catch it on one might have caught it. is a mental health problem that s country and individual should have never been anywhere near firearms. prohibited under law and there needs to be soul searching expand on right-hand si. wouldn't that -- redundancy? you are the one availing themselves of the right to possess a firearm. taxpayers ndancy costs twice. but we know this person was dishonorable discharge. domestic violence. 'm not sure he didn't get a felony for fracture being the skull of a toddler. so, while i would argue against redundancy because it is of assets, why did the system not work? can assure you there are people looking into that. it would be -- accountability is good. to the discourages bad outcomes. in texas he incidents and las vegas open up new discussions? guest: it will whether we like or not. there are people that will go there. aving said that, we live in a country where the until of firearms is arguably greater and nne beings any roll back would cause those don't.on't obey but i would wage are there with be millions of firearms in irculation and we would have disarmed those who did nothing defend the raoeight to themselves and their families. we are going there whether we or not. i think that disarming law doesn't solve s the problem. the other thing is long guns, and rifles they are of homicides so 97.3% killed likely to be with a knife or hands and feet or a club. shoots it see mass s tragic and horrific but the instrume instrumentality of evil as we learned in new york can be any things.f the vast bulk of americans weren do you to protect ndowed themselves and usually that is a firearm. have to control and i don't think disarming law citizens is the right answer. i think we have a member health crisis we have failed it address. host: tom garrett our guest the next 20 minutes or so. democrats to call all democrats democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans and 202-748-8002. i mentioned the new york incident. whe investigating that? guest: well, we learned some things ly disturbing about when alarm bells do and do not go off. in the new york kiss and other kisses -- new york case and other cases recently. and there are certain things that i'm not at liberty to discuss on the air. you can make an argument that should have been on somebody's radar. marbury uber knew he was a -- a shady r knew he was character before the federal government did. having said, that i think -- i'm sure who in the administration before that said we have to be wrong once and to be right once. we can be right 99.9% of the the question then is what degree of scrutiny american be subjected to. he was here illegally. discuss diversity visas. host: is there a merit it visa?ity guest: we should have people something who bring but we've problems in america, to address, we look the other way. trillion it $20 trillion and i would argue that policy should be conducted like a professional the draft.ts we should have a healthy admissions process but hope that admit people who will be good from the get go. there are people who can generate economic activity and keep america at the idea war. is coming up ter with ideas. if you are nott, proficient in english and don't you a skill set that makes a commodity in demand tkpdness knows there are any number of heree that with love to be and i would submit they are the ones we should focus on allowing themselves of the gift that is u.s. citizenship. republican e the line with meridian, mississippi, alter on with our guess representative tom garrett of virginia. good morning. you really is, do think this fellow would have been on all kind of radar and passed, i'm kind of nervous -- if they would have what? host: we will leave it there and take your portion and let the respond. guest: i think where he was going is bad people will doed regardless.s there is probably some degree truth to that. that doesn't absolve us from the to try to protect the american people. about i think the answer is not americans fundamental rights. building up a ot uper surveillance state that goes into our reasonable expectation of privacy. iwill stand for liberty where can and against government intrusion into your private life where i can. do believe that as it relates it firearms we have a us by the estowed on government but our creator or ature or whatever you say it defend ourselves. tell a that it is ok to woman assailed that she doesn't him. the right to shoot host: from texas city, stocks, democrats line. rod is next. congressman, i assume as a conservative republican you in favor of bowe bergdahl getting the full impact not litary justice because only he abandoned his fellow troops but he caused other killed or injured because rescue him they thought he was kidnapped. assuming your answer to that is yes. herefore, will you insist on military justice and investigation and complete military justice for who have in air force failed it pass on the nformation about socieassociated with the person who killed all those people. trying to re understand where the breakdowns occurred. i think there was an error on but there may have been an error at the f.b.i. i do think people should be held accountable. i don't think we should be pursuing prison sentences for clerical ho made a error but they might ought to thraoz there r job. horrific to contemplate the results of that. i think the ahl caller properly assumes my position there having served in military. i have to believe that the judge had made the ruling never spent combat arms unit but went straight in the jog karns because he doesn't people in what the the front lines go through and fe were to give my true feelin feelings. ost: he was an artillery officer and brigade operation nd joint guard and joint endeavor. trevor from tulsa republican line. to thank would like you for your guest for standing up for liberty on the congress.d and in it is very refreshing. gun control and opioids. i thinks a result of -- it is a result of society getting so soft. a little take discomfort and they have to go ignorant something and evil and i think that if people knew how to cope with things that me and you used to cope with without people, that we wouldn't have this. do with the size of a magazine or semiautomatic rifle. uest: if you sit and contemplate that men can't be made by law. won't judge the individual who is prescribed opioids. i don't know what pain drivers them to that -- drives them it that in having said germany right now there is a case involving a nurse who is 102 ed to have killed people and we don't know his last name. only the first name because the media and legal system have decided not to tell us who person was. to some degree when you realize hat your life is not going where you wanted it to and you are amoral and without any plan it r your fellow might seem appealing to become worth and -- noteworthy and the american have a right ely to know all the specialist it'sity we can. we do not -- i could start aming mass shooters -- these people into antiheroes that are ingrained in the pop culture. blaming anyone but maybe we should see how we do business. west virginia, independent line, larry. aller: i would like to thank your guest for his service to the country and state that i new to school in upstate york and the school was closed the first day of hunting season we werea rifle team and able to bring our rifles on the school bus when we lived out of town. you hunted on the way to school and whom and you could put it in or check it and no one in our school got-shot and and in re on school bus the skaochool rifles. i think it is respecting themselves or respecting the them.ple around they have no respect for life or teachers or anything. lack of discipline. there was a dress code. you had to have cuffs on the man pants and shirt had to have a collar, the dress will to be their knee and girls took sewing and made their graduation gowns and didn't have to spend a lot of money on it. think it is a matter of the schools not doing their job. they don't have discipline and i and st the school today guys look like bums with pants falling often. asses hanging out. host: we will leave it there. i think it starts at home and schools receive the product them.d i think telling young people what they o value in look like helps contribute to that might be an encouragement better behaviobehavior. high 't graduate from school too long ago in where it season, rabbit season and there were not 150 shotguns in the parking lot something was wrong and nobody ever shot everybody. something highway we value legislative. we have plenty of fist fights they have re than today but young people never hought about retrieving a firearm. i don't know what we have lost it is too easy to say the schools have failed. we are the ones as participants the children in the schools who seem to be behaving differently. probably the most articulate thing out of george w. bush's mouth was the term the bigotry of low expectation. we should demand more from young people. fifthour guest serves the district o of virginia. om garrett a member of the foreign affairs and homeland security committees several incident in he charlottesville what is the thing you learned most from that younging the death of the woman? is t: what blue my mind there -- blew my mind is there re people to gather in the phupbdz who will judge somebody based on what they look like. that.our brain around a slave owner named jefferson enumerated the people that all equal.are then we had a document dr. king said we should judge individuals on content of character. on anything anybody except if you are so colored by you can look at another person or find out where at the better and say they are than me or i'm better than them. and is -- when i saw that my father worked years in charlottesville on the streets occurred and when i saw the images i couldn't existed in e people those numbers. ku klux klan was relegated to the history channel. took 40 states it create that real.ly but they are the tragic fact is that it co r our discourse to we are tearing at the fabric of this asserting hatred where it doesn't exist. if you label anyone that with you as nazi what did you do when you find the real ones? do you think of the movement.ut the guest: i got yelled who are chanted people mae blame was ony the k.k.k. they were there and acted like well but the but for withinf the assembly was of three human beings who was these extremist racist and because they knew these clowns were going to be there. i think that the first thing we needed to be done and were on air the day of condemning. i was therally it may first elected official who said you can talk about tree speech you wear up caring torches and i think you might another motive. once you fail eighth grade lift. condemn the but for clause but acknowledging they actors who who we are as bigger , but really the message is the vice president joe biden says they want to put chains, the republican doesn't give an expletive about people. the nominee says we must fight and i have atreets people engaging in tirades. we can disagree on tax policy nd health caper and without your opponent being communistsers . are real fascists and doiagoguery is mocrat and th the process dangerous. host: let's go to potomac, maryland, democrat. richard on with the guest. caller: representative, i would like to congratulate you for you sound and reasonable. where do you stop at allowing weapons? do you stop with bazookas, weapons? s i think the constitution and should be hts examined in the events at the time they occur. the underlaying cause for the sebcond amendment americans to the protect themselves from a tyrannical government. easy to determine by virtue of the fact they were ust completing a rebellion against a tyrannical tkpwfrlt. theoretical line would be what weapons would be sufficient to protect the the idual, which is ultimate minority, from an oppressive regime. we could have another program of debate. for a ou are not calling wholesale change of the second amendment? uest: i'm calling for the recognition of the purpose. it had nothing to do with the ight to hunt or shoot recreationally but the pop has an never subjugated by oppressive regime. >> augusta, georgia. republican line. ralph. aller: i understand 23 other people came in with the new york terrorist and er possibly are terrorists themselves. i would like to know what people? to these are they deported? are they monitor ed? know about the wife and children. i understand he had a 24-year-old wife and three children. they stay in the united states? are they put on welfare? going to live? guest: we talked earlier about to thetion as it relates needs of the team the united states and first responsibility of the flat government is to the national government is to the nation. if you look at the people on the diversity visa program there is incredible disproportionate assistance.deral every single person who has been citizenship or legal residence can avail themselves of things like due process. i don't want to see that change event.tion to this we have rights and they are entitled to due process and do-overs where we allow somebody in and we think you have to bad and go. we have to have evidence to that under. of our prablt within the parameters established by he founders as roots it our right to privacy we are trying and weed e bad folks them out. having said that, we have not paradigm the perfect and i am afraid if we ever did reate a circumstance where there were no acts luke there which i would -- like this we what the freedoms were and privacy we had to sacrifice to get there. a balancing act. sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither and will lose both. need to do is everything within our legal power to citizens e american while not eroding the freedom that make us unique. host: i want your thoughts on the election in virginia and if ing anything for republicans. guest: anyone who says it head in the heir sand. what we saw was about a 3,000 or 4,000 report is delta from 2013 gubernatorial election. every one of the delegates that last yesterday got more votes than 2013. which means that you can say the up.p voters didn't show they showed up but there was a wave of passion among democrats. party the republican needs it focus on a liberty message. ou content explain to me sufficiently for me it like why he federal or state government tells patients and doctors what choose or why can laws that prohibit people with consent from inaging in whatever activity their bedroom and the republican arty will win when we focus on an individual liberty message knowing the ultimate minority is the individual and we will bring younger voters and newer veterans but until then there is an energy gap and the tkplgs are winning. -- democrats are winning. -- thank you for your time. e will speak with dan rather logical discuss his -- who will discuss his new back what unites us. next.s >> 50 years ago the united states was at war in vietnam and day weekend american history tv looks back ith 48 hours of coverage starting saturday at 8:00 a.m. eastern we are live for the the backarchives among drop of three vietnam era helicopters to talk with who flew them then we take phone calls and tweets live historians about the war in 1957. at 1:00 p.m. from washington, d.c. vietnam veterans memorial a by the with remarks former defense secretary and the designer. 4:00 p.m. eastern on eal america a 1967 cbs vietnamese report. >> whether it is due to the tactics or bad fighting conditions, it seems clear that american military offenses hassing abouted down. tour the 0 we will national archive remembering on the and 8:00 presidency the 1967 president vietnam war n conference. >> made our statement of what we communist we had aggression in it part of the world in 1954. we said we would stand with those people in the face of danger and the time face we had to put up or shut up and we put up and we are there. >> watch the vietnam war 50 years later. historykend on american tv on c-span 3. c-span where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a america's ice by cable television companies and is brought to you today by your satellite provider. "washington journal" continues. joining us from hiladelphia dan rather authoriauthor of what unites us. guest: good morning. host: what compelled you to write a back and why do you was needed? . realization the that we have become so divided in concrete and partisan olitical and extreme ideological positions that the country is in peril. we are shouting that about to decline and are tegrate but there troubling signs. umber one, aware becoming so divide divided we could slide into a authoritarianism that with lead to extreme nationalism. economic national i. nationalism. that could lead to further decline. country and i e began it ask what is patriotism decade much the 21st century. as i sphrerd the question i great d i don't have any wisdom about it so my idea was let's start a conversation about and what it sm is isn't and during that conversation remind ourselves values that have been the cohesion that held the all of together through these years. people tend to forget the values that sustained us. that is the reason i wrote the book. i have vation was that my own facebook page and another where ied news and guts try to bring context and voice to e and steady some questions. frankly, the social media site successful i said to myself maybe there are other people who are thinking about i'm thinking about which is what is patriotism. o, i decided to start writing the book and it is out. democrats call 202-748-8000. republicans call 202-748-8001 and independents call questions and ask post on the twitter feed. was theto the back what perception of patriotism and what did you find from writing the book? guest: what i found out is there between patriotism and nationalism. they are not mutually exclusive. overlap. but the biggest difference is patriot i is humble and modest, it is grateful for where we have been and for the great strengths recognizes we but are not perfect. we can not be perfect. is our nation's history constantly striving for a more perfect union. that led me to say it myself i it think about my own patriotism because there's a deep love t it is a for the country that. is part of it. but the other part of it is to we need to keep constantly improving and particularly the most extreme version some of which has been preached from the most powerful positions in the country, has a conditiceit and arrogance and sometimes can take the we may to the be perfect but we are as close as we are oing to get and superior to anybody else so one big difference i learned between nationalism is patriotism includes humility. doesn't mean that we are constantly criticizing ourselves but does mean away keep ourselves about how we can make the country ever better. write there with a like the nistration trump administration where the thoughts came to you? guest: no. i can't and won't deny that where the current administration particularly the one of the current administration was a factor but not a motivate factor. book is not a criticism of the trump administration. do with the to book is make a book that even forceful and dedicated trump supporter could read it have some ly disagreements but say hmmm that is something to think about. give you an example. whathing that made america t is, is a strong sense of empathy. year of our every history but empathy is a word i don't know of people the meaning and i would recommend gently to look it up compare empathy with compassion. it is one of the values that held us together. dissent has been a strong force for good. ot every dissent in every decade but dissent is a key to as a are as people and tendency sometimes to equit unpatriotic.being that is an example of the iscussion we could have in the context of the present administration. i have deep concerns about the president trump and the 10 of his administration. it does have some as the senator said in the previous section has of demagoguery and he worst ks to t elements of bigotry and prejudice. only racial but religious prejudice and there is something phone.sorry about the i normally turn it off. i beg your pardon. back was not designed to say all over ng to jump the trump administration. ut it is inevitable some persons who read it will say what do i think about what is in this book as compared to what is happening. host: dan condition. co-author with elliott krischner. is? guest: he is a long time friend also fellow worker. he worked with me at cbs news. been friends a long time. was an important part of putting the back together. very good at taking what i say and writing and saying dan this is too wordy, this is way barring and sharpening it. in our first call is jeremy lawrence, kansas, independent line you are on with dan condition. stpwh caller: i appreciate the effort of this back. you, mr. rather, -- t the connection 2010 patriotism and courageous truth. new yorker t a article talking about the extent somebody like harvey weinstein to cover up sexual predation using corporate ntelligence organization involved with the security at the world trade center on officers trying to intimidate journalists -- host: jeremy, a direct question guest, please. caller: would you talk about the to not talk on you about the allegations about september 11 pointing out 7 as a controlled demolition. host: mr. rather, you can answer wish. guest: well, i felt no pressure left cbs ly since i news not to infer that i felt i was there when but i have been away from cbs news 12 years. guts my news content company is owned by me. to myself and i ave not felt any pressure to 911. i do think there are a lot of , false rumors directly but to answer i have not felt any pressure and i don't feel anything ow to report other than what i believe to be close to or to get as the truth as possible. that is where i stand and that going.re i will be >> robert on the republican line from indiana. rather, we elect hese people into office and i think that both sides should work together otherwise the work.ry is not going to you reported the news years ago than now.t different we do not get the truth. everybody is against each other wants their which but we should work together and get god back in this country. guest: well, i certainly agree. one of the fundamental -- these sees of the book what unites us. experiment.w there was never anything like the united states and the idea country ould have a racial, a strong mix of religious, ethnic, differences hold ourselves together united. that divided we fall, united we stand. it is a fundamental that has held us together. in the present environment as you point out in which so officialshave elected take the position don't better me with the facts, i have my up and i don't want to get into false equivalency but there is some in both parties. your point that we have to get along and the way we do that is o listen it one another and part of what i tried to suggest a united we stand is we need ore civil tone from learn and those as a whole to listen to one another. that do not mean to give,principles particularly on acial bigotry but have a civil tone and lower our voices, listen to one another and found ground. what works, what makes our ystem work is a general prop suggestion of saying we may disagree about 100 things, can thing, maybe two things in which we can reach on on ground and agreement things that will help the count country. so many cases what is happening is that people want to do what is good for their own futures and party. and what aware begging people to what we are being people to do particularly those in power is a fundamental of what nites us both in the book and larger sense is we have to get of the divisions in the country i think we saw it in the there is a eek yearning in the country to hear tone and hear more voices and more action along the be united want to rather than emphasizing pitting one race against the other and one religion against the other. we can't continue in this ountry -- i tkdon't want to preach but we know deep within us we cannot hold ourselves we are willing to get along and getting long r frequently is trying to reap common ground. a each give a little and get piece of legislation. host: if you go it his news an you can see the governor-elect of virginia. news an guts. guest: when i got into social very slow to get into social media, facebook and twitter. what i found was that there was audience for the position of books. smartest guy around but i have been around a long time and i have been a few and let me try to put some context and perspective with a steady and reliable voice. doing facebook my personal page i found there was we established news and guts a different page on each day's news to point out what we believe to important stories of the day and add perspective and context with it. the news and guts facebook site s. it is also the which i y news company own and operate. develop a strong news content. host: this is from nashville, robert, republican lane. caller: best to you, mr. rather. love what you have condition all of these years. -- what you have done. your reaction to the question of why 9/11 happened when you were on david letterman which did not knowas you why it happened. epresents the discontact that the american people have with our role or perception of the role in the world. for example, we george w. bush nd the senate led us into iraq it was an abuse of patriotism hat george w. bush had so much upport that we allowed to get us into iraq which is a trap. the same thing the freedom of be able to criticize our government and foreign example, the 3 r 3.8 million that goes it israel and best way it controlrorism is to get of israel and their because of he people and this country time have a hard expressing that without being smear ed meared and demon ice rized -- demonized. there's a lot in that question. making in back i'm ot sure i stated quite that directly but number one going into iraq by any reasonable was a strategic of historical proportion. for e in this country and that matter were of the world are paying the price for a long time. acknowledge what units us that with t unites us i along others didn't ask enough questions as we were going, as taken into the iraq war. we didn't ask enough tough questions. part as a mistake on my and on the part of were of the press. unites us n now what and what can we did going forward is to keep in mind some said. you just fierce ly independent independent press is the betting heart of freedom and democracy. ne role is to be a check on pho power and follow with tough questions and don't be afraid it ask them. what frequently happens and did happen in the roll up to the war and during the iraq war the at those in power made case and it was believed by many that to question the strategy of going into iraq was somehow un patriot kwreu patriotic. true.the opposite was the patriotic thing to do was to say i love my country. i'm going to back u.s. fighting en and women any time they are put in danger. but as member of the press i'm going to ask the tough questions. was the patriotic thing to do and it is now. host: you write that in the section about the press saying hat when it comes to the institution of free press it is greater tanf crisis i have evern seen in my -- ever seen. that on?ou base guest: i base it on what the president has said and done. every president we have had has had difficulties with the press had a have never resident who personally raoepbt pls ly attacked the -- relentlessly attacked the -- press saying things such as members of the press are among the most despicable people enemies of ss are the people. -- kind of ret ruck rhetoric from the president's own mouth we have never had this before. the nixon administration he had that attitude to some degree but used surrogates. so the reason i say the press is crisis is because that is what the facts dictate. singles out dent individual reporters you will recall when there was a reporter physical challenges and the president mocked him. unworthy of any presidential candidate much less a president himself. president threatening institutions. the "washington post" repeatedly because he doesn't like what they report. americans -- this includes many of the people who still -- the president trump tone of the presidency toward for a lot ess counts because of the power of the presidency. the president has tremendous through regulatory agencies and that sort of thing exert pressure on the press so the president is clearly penly and blatantly trying to intimidate the press not to do deep digging reporting. tough questions. and his relentless attacks on unprecedented in american history there's never like it.hing this is not normal. this is unique. it is very dangerous. host: independent line, -- pensacola, florida. frank. like to ask that carrying the e constitution in their pocket and they say we need to go back to constitution the way it was by the founding fathers rote it. but to -- wrote it but they are leaving out the amendments ecause if you look at the original constitution only white m men, property owners were allowed to vote. women were not allowed. blacks were not allowed. when they say we need to go i look the constitution at it that we need to go it our constitution now that gives the rights. this is a good point and brings one of the chapters in the book about and had you important a in cipled dissent has been the progress of the country. the caller mentioned a couple of instances. i would like to use the instance it vote.s right women started talking about this in the 19th century and they dissenting saying we should have the right to vote. widely and stigated they were sometimes called dissent ic but that eventually resulted -- it was not until the first fifth of the 20th century but resulted in women getting the right it vote. there's been time after time there was the case when principled dissent was season as un patriot ot kwreuipatriotic, but it turned out over a period of to be a way to advance the country to make us a more union. we will never be completely wrote there hen i back i wanted to put a chapter reason ssent it for the that the caller pointed out. in our id to p want to keep improving the country. continue to improve the country when we listen to the lourdes who say we want -- voice of leaders to return to america of the 1950's and the 1950's we had our problems. but even if you could go back to history,fer time in our even if you wanted to, you it.ldn't do the demographics of the country that hanged tremendously we are a rich are mix of diverse and race and ethnic heritage than we have ever been. any thinking citizen who stops and thinks about it knows this talk about let's return to some glory days of is just a way of trying it manipulate public pinion for something that is not going to happen. we have to move forward and look forward united. we are about done but republican lane from new jersey. caller: i wonder if there is a address the advocacy with the economic divide between country is a big factor and i guess i thank you. mr. rather. guest: i think there is a way to with the economic divide and take a deep breath. lower our voices, dedicate urselves to being civil and recognize that we have a problem. getting deep and deeper economic divide in which at the lowest end of the economic scale in many cases are off.ng worse are the in the pheumiddle middle challenges is somewhating nk rinking -- shrinking and the nos -- thy mls are getting millions are getting richer. what we have not had in our leadership is hraortleaders it and we recognize will address it and tpaupbd stop the trendnd widening eing an ever gap between those who have and those who do not. a constant in our country since the beginning but it has worse with each succeeding decade. united and stand move forward on this question grandchildren d will have quite a different country. what unites us. thank you. we go to the house of reserves. -- reference. the speaker: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. haplain conroy: the speaker: let us pray. merciful god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. bless the members of this assembly as they return to their districts to listen to and communicate with their constituents about the issues nd affairs currently being considered in congress. it is the weekend our nation remembers its veterans upon whom we ask your

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