attorney general jeff sessions were not introducing a bipartisan prison sentencing reform bill. will talk about criminal justice reform and the role of prosecutors. president trump: i want to speak now, directly to america's children, especially those that feel lost, alone, confused, or even scared. i want you to know that you are never alone and you never will be. you have people who care about you, who love you, and you will do anything at all to protect you. ♪ president trump yesterday speaking to the nation about the school shooting in florida that left 17 dead and over a dozen injured. good morning everyone, the flags in washington remain at half-staff in memory of the victims and their families. the front pages of the news this morning centering on school safety, and that is where we begin our conversation with you. how to we keep schools safe? parents and students, we want to hear from you. (202) 748-8000. educators, (202) 748-8001. .aw enforcement, (202) 748-8002 all others, your line is (202) 748-8003. on can also go to twitter @cspanwj or join the conversation on facebook. let's listen to more from the president yesterday and what he plans to do, his administration, when it comes to mental health and school safety. [video clip] trump: our administration is working closely with authorities to investigate the shooting and learn everything we can. we are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health. later this month, i will be meeting with the nation's governors and attorney general's , and we will make -- and making our schools and our children safe to will be our -- safer will be our top priority. actually make that difference. in times of tragedy, the bonds that sustain us are those of family, faith, community, and country. then bonds are stronger the forces of hatred and evil, and these bonds grow even stronger in the hours of our greatest need. today,ys, but especially let us hold our loved ones close, let us pray for healing and for peace, and let us come together as one nation to wipe away the tears and strive for a much better tomorrow. president trump yesterday at the white house addressing the nation. ,he front page of usa today taking its toll. schools at continued to shootings that schools continue to ponder our hallways. what is the best way to keep our schools safe in this country? , since sandytimes hook, more than over 400 people shot in 200 school shootings. when a gunman kills 21st-graders and six adults with an assault rifle in 2012, it rattled newtown, connecticut, and reverberated across the world. since then, there have been at least 230 nine school shootings nationwide. in those episodes, 438 people were shot, 138 of whom were killed. let's listen to floyd, in jonesville, virginia. good morning to you. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. the best way i see, there were two teachers, that i understand, that were killed in that shooting. if they had a gun to protect themselves with they could have stopped that right then. we need to find out which teachers is the best to carry a weapon and knows how to use it, and they are right there on the spot. they are right there when it was happening. host: there was a security guard on the property who had a gun, but could not get there. as far as you know, he did not engage the shooter. caller: right, but there were two teachers that was there. there was two of them, and if they had a gun, they could have put a stop to it really quick. they need teachers that know how to use a gun and not just any teacher, because not a lot of them know how to use a gun and do not want to. a lot of them believe in abortion and do not believe in rights. physically, is that possible? if we take a look at this graphic of the wall street journal put together, the shooter entered the school at about 2:21, started at the first floor, and goes up to the second floor, where he shot another there, and goes up from to what looks like the fifth floor. caller: that is why you need teachers. host: i'm sorry, that was the fifth step. he entered the school and makes his way through the school. caller: that is why you need teachers with guns. uns, they were trying to save their lives, save the kids lives, and if they had a gun, they could have stood up -- the gun he was shooting, as i understand, it only carries the and with a22, pistol, you can carry a .45 or something. to train teachers, not just any teacher, but those that wants to be saving lives. host: all right, let's listen to fred, newbury, florida, a parent as well. what do you think? caller: yes, i am against the ar-15. i am a veteran, and the simple fact is they can ban that 11. .ot banning all weapons they want to ban north korea of , if they justs ban that particular weapon, it seems to me that is the weapon of choice for people who want to commit these mass murders. banning allh weapons, just the ar-15's. i have used that weapon. i'm a veteran. host: and what do you want people to know about that weapon? a hunting is not weapon, per se, it is an assault weapon issued by the military. why it is not just a simple matter of banning that particular weapon. i do not know why the nra is against banning that weapon. that is a military weapon. headline in the washington post. the ar-15, a symbol of america's easily used and obtained. randy, chicago heights. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say nothing is this.to get done about something is going to get pushed in the closet and happen again, but i do have a solution to stop this. it is for every state -- it might cost a little bit of money -- but for every state to put an entry door, one or two into each there is ae vegetable. when you walk into the first door and get x-rayed or whatever, you get some kind of scan. if you are clear of any kind of metal or guns or anything, the other doors will open, and you enter into the school. this is the only way. it might cost extra money, but every state could do this. nothing is going to get done about this gun control, but if you spend a little money with these doors, i have seen these stores in stores , where the person gets trapped between these two doors, and can't get out until the police get there. that is the only way. but these doors on the school. host: and do you think the federal government should pay for that, taxpayers? caller: the federal government is not going to do nothing. they are not going to do nothing at all. every state to protect their own schools. host: the wall street journal says the semi automatic rifle allows the user to fire rapidly and use high-capacity magazines. four of the five deadliest mass shooting's in modern u.s. history have taken place since 2012, and all four of those shooters used ar-15 model rifles in their attacks, including stephen paddock in las vegas and adam lanza in newtown, connecticut. mark in michigan. good morning, you are a parent. share your thoughts. how do we prevent these cool puddings -- school shootings? caller: i am trying to figure out why can't the nra pony up ,nd pay into a security guard and you have a rifle and/or ar shotgun security system behind the person guarding the door. you have tasers throughout the school system, in case someone actually gets in. and you also, of course, since we have to allow the bible and the koran in our school systems, help the public or citizens know that they are the children of love, and if they want to love, they become a new creature, that might determine this type of attitude that they do not see our government trying to pony up to. that is my point there. the nra pays for the security system. why not? host: don, in greenville, ohio, and educator. i believe the public school system of ours is hurting right now. we have two a policeman within our school system here, and plus toing to teach the teachers defend themselves with guns. what i am saying is we might as well change the public school system, which is hurting now, over to a military run school system. simple as that. dawn in ohio. let's listen to representative robin kelly, on the floor yesterday, talking about shootings in the chicago area and whether or not congress will act. [video clip] >> mr. speaker, i rise today because when this is a day that schoolchildren's should be thinking about baseball tryouts, prom, and college selections, they had used will again living the reality that a gun may strike them down at any moment. today, 17 children will never again return to their school in florida. casualties in america's 18th shooting in 44 days. once again, parents and counselors have to bring the comfort and security that this congress refuses to offer. this weekend in chicago, a decorated police commander, paul bauer, was shot and killed. another officer lost in a disturbing trend of police shootings that we have not addressed either. teacher in that school asks when congress will do something? a student said the country needs to look in the mirror. he said we cannot get used to this. his cannot become the norm. do you remember the terror you thatas grown men on baseball field? imagine those young people in that school, in our neighborhoods, at home, in a park. despite your words and your prayers, you have proven over and over you do not care about anyone but yourself and your contributions. it is sickening, and shame on you. on the floorelly yesterday. take a look at the statistics the wall street journal put together in their paper this morning. these go back to 1990, these statistics, and they categorize mass shootings, where in the u.s. at least three people were killed or injured. of those, 24, in 24 of those instances, the shooter had a relationship to the school, a and 23 a former student. these are the shootings by type of school. 22 have taken place in high schools, for in elementary, six in middle schools. by citye the shootings population. there are more happening in rural populations than urban populations in these mass shootings at schools. what is the best way to prevent school shootings? withis our conversation you this morning. ed, winchester, virginia. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have two comments i would like to make. first, i would like to address the ar-15. i served in a combat unit in vietnam. i carried a cold m-16 rifle. it shot a .223 round, which is used in every ar today. i carried magazines that carried 20 rounds. i heard that the shooter yesterday had 20 rounds of magazines. that is exactly what i carried as a combat soldier indian on. .t 18 years old -- in vietnam at 18 years old, i saw firsthand the devastation that a .223 round can do to a human body. that was burned in my brain and will always be there. the ar-15 has no purpose but to kill human beings. are weak,cians spineless men. paul ryan, marco rubio, marco rubio -- he got a check yesterday for his little speech on the senate floor. we need to outlaw this weapon, we need to do it now. aboutliticians care more the grade they get from wayne lafayette and the nra than they do from the children -- then the children in this country. putting in more guns, like the first caller suggested, we need to be training our teachers to be shooters? no thank you. i do not want my children or grandchildren going to a school where the teachers have to be armed to protect them. we need the ar-15 outlawed. mean, you heard marco rubio on the floor yesterday, it sounds like. when folks that argue someone is convinced that this is what they want to do, it is very hard for any law to stop them. the band ar-15 and then what? ok, if he had a 12 gauge semi automatic shotgun, he would have had five rounds and that done. -- in that gun. he would have had five shotgun rounds. he could not have done the devastation with a five shot magazine. he would have had to stop to reload that gun, which would have given unarmed teachers plenty of opportunity to subdue him. you do not hear about they walked in with a bold action 30 -- bold action rifle, everyone of these shootings, there is one commonality. they are. -- commonality -- ar. in virginia legislature just this month, they had the opportunity to ban bump stocks in the state of virginia, and did not. the state of virginia is an open carry state, which means they lover a second amendment can carry his ar-15 on his back in the state of virginia. now, he can carry his ar on his back with a bump stock on it, which makes it a fully automatic rifle. what kind of people are we putting into office that allows this to happen? again, they are spineless, weak men. the sooner we get women into duties elected off -- into these elected offices to start running the country sensibly, that will help. these politicians should have to walk through the crime scenes, pick up the children and put them in body bags. stand in the more while their parents come in and look at their children with these holes in them. believe me, as your first caller said, it is a pity point to be around -- a little bitty .22 round. if you have ever seen the devastation from an ar-15 bullet, it is not a .22 round. it is devastating what it does to the human body, and every time i think of those little children at sandy hook, who at five years old had to face that, it is disgusting. and our politicians need to do something. host: tony, little town, colorado, a parent. what do you think? myler: thank you for taking call this morning. your previous caller from virginia, i think he really describe this problem eloquently with the weapons and so forth. but i want to talk about a two-step solution. the first is -- our politicians today say this is a mental illness and an evil issue, people are evil or have mental illness, and that argument is absolutely taking us down the wrong path for a couple reasons. i do not believe we are anymore evil then we were 50 years ago. i do not believe that man has somehow gotten more evil today than we were then, and i do not believe we are more evil than our cousins in the u k or australia, and they do not have this. so saying it is evil and mental illness is not the problem. is we puts problem these semi automatic weapons, large magazines, and just so your viewers know, right now there is legislation that is going to allow silencers onto weapons. why would we possibly do that? that is the problem. we have turned this into a cultural issue. turn this -- it will not be the legislation that gets passed by our congress and the next year or two, that is certainly not going to happen. this is a cultural issue. as fast as we saw gay rights change, almost overnight, what will happen is as these teenagers that are in these schools -- it is not the 15 that were shot in the 15 that were injured, it is the hundreds of students that have ptsd from each of these events or from the movie theater or from the las vegas shooting. these people are going to become voters, the millennials and the pre-millennials that are coming into voting age -- when they hit --ing age in 10 dante years 10 years, these guns will be banned so fast that the nra is going to lose their power. today, that is what is moving the needle, is the money that the nra infuses into these politicians. the millennials and pre-millennials will have nothing to do with this, and it will change almost overnight. to add to that, the washington post this morning, frontpage, has this headline. new critics emerged for the lack of action on guns, and it is the students. you have probably heard the interviews they did on msnbc and cnn, where one student said we are the children, you are the adults. how come you're not doing anything? we failed them. i am in the boomer generation, and we absolutely failed them, because we allowed it to become a cultural issue over protecting our second amendment rights. we have no right to carry an assault rifle. what is next? we have the right to have grenade launchers? i realize that is extreme, but there is another argument that says we have to arm people up, metal detectors, guards, teachers with guns. their argument becomes the only way to stop a bad pablo with a gun is a good pablo with a gun. that is the extension of their argument, and it does not work. host: i will leave it there, and give viewers an update on where legislation stands in congress. after the las vegas shooting, which left 58 people dead last october, there appeared to be bipartisan agreement to take some kind of narrow legislative stocks,o ban bump and the sensory that can effectively turn a semi automatic rifle into a machine gun. association rifle even appears to endorse restrictions. as attention faded, that influential organization and republican leaders changed or, bureau ofat the alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives would be best prepared to deal with the problem through existing regulation. since then, public officials have publicly and privately indicated that they think they do not, in fact, have the authority to regulate v devices. with the official review still underway, that has effectively suspended the proposal. -- allowing a lapse in the gunmen in sutherland springs to a by his weapon, despite a demented violence conviction. proposal incentivizes state and federal agencies to report criminal offenses and other information to the national instant criminal background check system. the house passed the measure last december, but only if it was attached to a dramatic expansion of the right to carry concealed firearms virtually anywhere in the country. that is a nonstarter in the senate, and the background check bill has yet to see a vote. none was planned. esther cornyn took to the senate floor thursday to urge its consideration. ands hear from mike, educator in maryland. good morning to you. hi, how are you? i would just like to say that this whole argument is ridiculous. the caller who said that .223 established 80 rounds, it leaves a .22 size hole, there is or an extreme exit wound different ballistics. it will cause more damage than a .223. you can drop a mac in one middle second -- mag in one second and reload. everything is semi automatic, that is just -- i heard people on the news saying semi's have been converted to fully. none of these guns are fully. no fully automatic gun has been used in any type of shooting. -- three automatic gun automatic guns have been used in crimes. it is a ridiculous argument. the only thing that stops a bad goodn that a gun is a person with a gun. you can throw a chair at them, block the door, hide under the desk, but that is the only thing that stops it. in europe, oh my gosh your uneducated listeners, in europe, it is required that you have a silencer on your hunting rifles so you are not disturbing your neighbors. it does not silence it either, it is a suppressor. would you call something a from 120if it goes decibels to 90 decibels? there are so many fallacies in these arguments. you do not even attempt to look at the real facts. you have 75% of african-americans rowing up in able parent households, compared -- growing up in single-parent households, compared to this 1960. the whole way we look at life in this country, 55 million babies aborted since roe versus wade. if you look at the families, guns are tools. who cares? these people attending they were in the military and staying how devastating a .223 round is? these are just people calling and saying things. they do not know anything about guns anymore than somebody who has never had any experience around them in their lives, which these people have not. it is a ridiculous argument. guns keep people safe. less homicides, less gun crimes with less gun control laws. we all support the right to defend ourselves. that is what national carry reciprocity is. the ability to carry in between states reciprocity. we wanted to have that for gay marriage and everything else, why not have it for handguns to protect ourselves? yourghts do not end when feelings begin. that is what has to be understood. host: i will leave it there, mike in maryland, and educator with his thoughts. what is the best way to prevent a school shooting? the papers this morning full of headlines about warning signs of the shooter, what has been happening in this country since the new town victims. what are your thoughts? how can we make schools safer? forget to more of those calls, an update on immigration debate in the senate. the new york times this morning, u.s. votes falter on immigration, paralysis sets in. senators voted overwhelmingly 39-60 against the white house backed bill, which would have committed $25 billion for a wall on the border of mexico, placed strict limits on legal immigration, and the diversity visa lottery, and offered 1.8 million dreamers and eventual path to citizenship. senators were 21 votes short of the 60 required to open debate, and the rejection of the president plan was bipartisan. its get toughsed approach to legal immigration, while many conservative republicans derided it as amnesty. before the vote on mr. trump's clan, senators rejected to bipartisan measures, including one written by senators john mccain and chris coons. and another drafted by a broad bipartisan group of centrists calling themselves the common sense collision. with no consensus on a long-term solution inside, senators that they might try to attach a spending bill next month, attached to a spending bill next month a short-term path shielding the young immigrants known as dreamers. there might be a short-term solution to this. take a look at the reaction on twitter. president in with the , who said the schumer around collins immigration bill will be a total catastrophe. it would be the end of immigration enforcement in america and creates a giant amnesty. he also says lottery continues -- does not build the wall, expands chain migration, keeps the visa lottery, and bars enforcement for future illegal immigrants. voting for this measure would be a vote against law enforcement and a vote for open borders. that is what the president said about that vote. susan collins was one of the senators, saying today's vote was a missed opportunity. have had countless hours of negotiations in the common sense coalition.- our amendment had broad, bipartisan backing, as demonstrated by the 54 senators parties, 47 of them democrats, who voted in favor, and received more support than proposal.immigration unfortunately, it fails to receive the 60 votes necessary to advance. and senator dick durbin, the daca fiveended months ago, and set in the process a motion threatening the crisis -- the lives of young people and their families. this crisis is not going away, -- i tom cotton said the senate's failure to pass immigration legislation shows just how unserious the democrats are about illegal immigration. that is where immigration stance for now, both the house and the senate are in recess next week. bonnie, livingston, new jersey, good morning. you're on the air. caller: good morning, thank you so much for the mission of c-span. i really appreciate it. i am a teacher at a community college, and i feel like i am on the front lines and protecting my students and myself, and i feel very good when i pull into the parking lot of my school, because there is a vehicle, a police vehicle in the parking lot. visually it makes me feel good. i walk in the door, and there are security guards in uniform, and they are the nicest, most wonderful people. i am so happy to see them. yesterday, i think every single one of them. this is an immediate thing that may happen. i feel like there are long-term solutions that would be debated by voters and congress and whoever is president. so right now, that visual is important to me. secondly, i am a parent and a grandparent, and i wonder what the pta, are they still active? parent-teacher associations, i remember it being very strong when i was in school, and they need a roll. parent-teacher associations, grassroots parent-teacher associations are extremely important. need to be very well informed about what the nra and what the congresspeople, what are the people we are voting for like? this is long-term, because we do not have a midterm until november. we are not going to have -- this is a slower process with the voters, but they need to be informed. host: go ahead finish your thought on parents. caller: we have parents and grandparents really have to be involved in the system. host: do you practice at your school drills for shooter situations? jumped, so iand i come there occasionally. as i said, the visual helps me junct, so i come there occasionally. and i said, the visual helps me. we have fire drills, and i do not know what is going on with the alarm system there. the students are not worried. that makes me feel better. host: bonnie, would you want to learn how to use a firearm? if the school came to you -- >> absolutely not. i'm 76 years old. i would have to buy a gun. and then i have to go for lessons, who is going to for that? and then when a 19-year-old shooter comes in with that kind of rifle and he is 19 and i am 76, i would lay my life down for my students, but i do not think i am equipped to help in that way. john in pinkney, michigan, and educator. caller: good morning. host: same question to you. would you want to have a firearm to protect students and be trained, if the school offered that? caller: well, i do actually have weapons and i do have a concealed weapon permit, but as far as that goes, i have a couple of comments. first of all, there is something out there called a wasp and a hornet spray that i just saw an article on. this would be a simple thing for actually this spray kills wasps and hornets, but it sprays up to like 20 feet. if the teachers were armed just with those, that would be some protection in a classroom. it is nonlethal, but it immobilizes that person with a gun immediately. the next thing i have to say is the person from virginia was 15, and heut the ak was saying about the capacity of , and comparing that to a shotgun, which only carries five shells. what he did not mention in that is that in a shotgun, in those five shells, if you had double holds 10-12 .38 -- ammunition in there, you could shoot that once and that would be 10-15, 10-12 things. you have five of those, that is 60 shots in probably less than 10 seconds. so you could go into a classroom, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. that is 60 shots. this is the part that the people who own these weapons, which i do not own one of those, are concerned about banning that, because the next step will be oh, somebody's shotgun out there. somebody goes in and does that. the guy in the theater had a shotgun. that is just my point of view. let's hear from mike in alexandria, virginia, law enforcement. good morning to you. are you still a police officer? push thehave to button. good morning. are you a police officer? caller: [inaudible] the message we get from the media. hello? host: hello, i think you are a little confused, mike. let's go to jerry in overton, nebraska. believeyeah, i something has happened with the kids over the last 30 or 40 years. i do not know whether it is because they took religion out it is becausef parents and educators cannot correct their students anymore, their kids anymore, but when i was in school, the everybody -- not everybody, everybody carry their rifles and guns to school to hunt after school, and you never heard of this kind of carnage going on. happened something has with the kids over the past 30 or 40 years. i do not know whether it is the or whether it is the lack of being able to correct the students and kids or what it is, but something has happened. thank you. host: the front page of the washington times, a member of the trunk cabinet yesterday said -- trump's cabinet yesterday said they are willing to study gun violence. this is the new hhs secretary, and the washington times says were more than to not take decades -- says for more than -- twoke decades, decades -- the senate bill does not anyway impede the ability to conduct our mission, it is simply about advocacy. 'sre is what the president attorney general, jeff sessions, had to say yesterday. he was at the sheriffs of america conference in the city, is what he and here had to say about the shooting. >> also, as a native floridian, i know this is a painful day to , a tragedy we have seen there. all americans feel the loss that we have seen in that school and the young people we lost. certainly, it is a tragic event and we are going to work on it in many ways to do something about it. it cannot be denied that something dangerous and unhealthy is happening in our country, and we are once again watching the images of children terrified, screaming out of their school, hands over their heads. it is an image we do not need to continue to see. and once again go to sleep in your full -- and fearful that their kids will not be safe, even when they go to school, gangts have told me in infested neighborhoods that children can no longer stand on the bus stop by themselves. terrance take turns being out there every morning and afternoon -- parents take turns being out there every morning and afternoon. attorney general jeff sessions yesterday, reacting to the school shooting in florida, where 17 were dead and more than one doesn't hurt. kathleen, dayton, ohio. you are a parent. how do we stop school shootings? caller: i am a parent, grandparent, and i did teach were about seven years. for about seven years. our hearts clearly -- i cannot even believe i agree partially with what jeff sessions said, i am surprised i find myself in agreement with him, but clearly our hearts break for the families and the victims. however, they are not our children, and one does not like to think of it happens to you directly, someone like michael, the earlier caller who wins on and on about guns and his rights to assault the fence -- assault weapons and lacks complete empathy and compassion. it would be sad for that to happen to any of us. however, one sessions -- one thing sessions said that i do not agree with is yes, our hearts break, but when it happens to you directly, those family members and sandy hook and florida and the nightclubs, but when it comes to the children specifically, our hearts break even more. it seems like a three-pronged there is only one psychologist to every 1500 students in the nation in regard to mental health issues. this young man needed not only to be diagnosed, he needed to be in on the national registry regards to mental health issues so that guns could have never been sold to him. we need more serious gun egislation that -- democrats, republicans, and independents support. we need all of the above, and less access to these assault weapons that mike describe so clearly, the guy who lacked empathy and compassion, explains so clearly how they work and how many -- another caller explained how many rounds could be put up in a minute. we have to do something, and thank goodness teachers are talking about doing a walk out -- may 1. high school or's in florida are pushing for walkouts and deeper, more serious gun legislation. this is insane. the moments of silence. we have got to do some very serious gun legislation changes and mental health access for people who are troubled. host: coming up on the washington journal at the top of the hour, we will talk to a former fbi agent about background checks and those with who, in thiss case, nikolas cruz, how he was able to pass a background check, or the loopholes when somebody is mentally ill, trying to get them treatment and get them help. we will talk about that, coming up. ron, michigan, a parent in michigan. massacrees ma'am, this is due to nra gunmen. and the people who put them in there. fewrepublicans, a democrats, but whether they are pulling the trigger or voting the legislation to allow the nra to allow guns, silencers, whatever weapon they can conceive of in the people's the nrat is the nra and gunmen. i'm a vietnam veteran. i shot the m-16. these are and 16. that bullet goes in your body, in your leg, it will tumble inside you, ripping up flesh. -- my wifee who say is a teacher. what is she going to do? terri her books, computer, gun, bullet-proof vest? the student knows what the teachers are. the first teacher they will go for are the teachers who are armed. they knew who they are. it is a foolish request to put another burden on teachers. we need to ban assault rifles, plain and simple, and we need legislatures, legislators that are willing to fight against the nra gunmen, whether they are in washington, d.c., or on the streets. host: and what are you going to do to make your voice heard? i'm going to let people know about it, plain and simple. i am trying to teach my son, who goes to college, trying to talk to people. talking to people does no good. they will have to be taught, and touched. and even if you are touched, like the republicans who were touched by gunfire, that does not change their minds one bit. they vote for every nra gunmen to load up with automatic weapons. they have to be taught. maybe students in private schools have to be touched somehow by the m-16 round. that is the only thing that will change their minds. we sat down with a republican for our newsmakers program, which airs on sundays. this week's guest is the chairman of the judiciary committee, bob goodlatte of virginia. this is what he had to say about school violence. [video clip] the education, secretary, has made some comments that congress needs to hold some hearings, looking into these kinds of issues dealing with school shootings. your committee and your leadership on the committee, you have not chosen to go that route and hold hearings into gun violence. voss -- ms.at mr. recommendation is a good one. >> we need to make sure communities are doing everything can to make schools secure. i know a lot of measures are taken today that were not taken 20 years ago when i first started visiting schools as a member of congress. each time, we have a major tragedy like this, i have stuff on my -- staff communicate on the fbi level and the state level so we can look at what might be done. i think most of the things that need to be done relate to laws that are already in existence. obviously, we need to do more. almost all of these mass shootings involve an issue of mental illness. we need to do more to make sure that people are getting treatment, but also people who -- in these educations situations are not getting access to guns, or when they act out they are probably reported so that people can get systems to them rather than getting into a circumstance like we have seen. also been a very strong advocate for enforcing the hundreds of federal and thousands of state and local gun laws that are already on the books, and there has been an uptick in this administration. i commend the justice department for making that a higher priority. i think even more can be done to make sure when people have straw purchasers, rely on instant check forms, when people do other things to purchase firearms that they are not entitled under the law to have, either because they have a mental health commitment or they have a criminal conviction, much more can be done. host: this week's guest on "newsmakers" will be a congressman from virginia, chairman of the judiciary committee bob goodlatte. you can see it on c-span, listen on c-span radio, and watch it on www.c-span.org. back to our conversation with all of you, how do we keep schools safe? how do we keep these happening -- from happening in schools? anthony in new york. caller: as we all know, we have guards in front of banks. any of the buildings in manhattan have armed guards. i do not understand why we have armed guards in front of the schools after these shootings? if anyone believes taking away the guns is going to stop it, i do not think so. if you look at the happy land disco in 1987, that gentleman killed 87 people with just $1.50 worth of gasoline. what would be the purpose? you are going to go to another source to kill if you have it in your mind. no. what you need to do is guard the schools like you guard your money. i am positive that every parent in those schools would gladly pay an extra couple of dollars a month to have an armed guard in front of that school protecting their most precious assets. i called my senator and recommended that, that we would be more than happy to pay for that. host: anthony in staten island. east chicago, a parent. allen, what would you do? caller: good morning, thank you for c-span and thank you for taking my calls. my youngest son was in the iraq, and heer in was in the navy. what he came to find when he got out, he used his funds from the navy to go to college. i was thankful for that. he is out of the service, no more war, he is safe in the middle of the heartland of america. i come home one morning, and what do i see on tv? somebody walks into a classroom at northern illinois university and started shooting up the place. i lost my mind. good lord, he was in a war, and now he is at home and you think he is safe, and someone walks into a classroom in the middle of america and starts shooting up. you can have armed guards at every elementary, middle school, high school and college, community college across this country might be a good idea, but it is going to be highly expensive, especially since the administration is cutting the education department by 10%. maybe they can take some of that $700 billion for the military and employ that, but that asely, i feel -- long as the republicans are dominating the federal level, nothing is going to be done to eliminate this support. there is only one clear law, at least in my position, that would help, and that would be a total ban on the sale come you manufacture, -- sale, manufacture, and possession of automatic weapons. the judiciary ranking member came to the floor yesterday, and this is what he said the house should do about gun violence. [video clip] >> i want to address the horrible school shooting in florida yesterday. we mourn the deaths of both shot and killed, and we support those that were injured in the families of the victims. we must also do more to prevent future shootings in our schools and on our streets. there have been 18 school shootings so far this year, and it is only february. according to the washington post analysis, over the last 18 or 19 years, more than 150,000 least 170ttending at primary and secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus. that does not include violence outside of the classroom. we cannot allow this to continue. it is long past due for the house to consider legislation on helpfloor to combat fun violence. -- help combat gun violence. congress did nothing after columbine 20 years ago, and nothing after sandy hook five years ago. inaction is unacceptable, and moments of silence are completely inadequate. our citizens demand that we act without delay. host: the congressman from new york, jerry nadler. tricia, brooklyn, and educator. what should be done for school securityaller: upgrade and put scanners in these schools, and check these children's book bags for weapons. so are you, as an educator, practicing these types of situations? to you talk to the children about them? toler: what i do is i speak the inspectors of the education department, the commissioners on education. the superintendents on education , i tell them to upgrade security, put some scanners in e and check these children's book bags. they think it is bad because they are promoting jailism. this is necessary to do. we saw what happened in florida, over in chicago, everywhere. to prevent it, you have to check these children's book bags and put scanners and make it like a state office building when the children enter the school. it has to be like state office buildings, we have to develop police states. host: when nikolas cruz was in school, one of his math teachers was told by school officials not to let him come into your classroom with a backpack. he asked why? caller: c? they need to be searched. they need to be searched. host: do you have a process at your school for reporting children who you think might be mentally unstable? this should be watched. caller: sure we do. unstable.w who is you can tell when they start throwing chairs around the room at the school teachers or when they start acting violently on a daily basis. host: so what do you do? caller: you send them out to the mentally ill hospital. you send them to the hospital to be protected and look at whether social workers. -- by the social workers. there are social workers that can identify the behavior of these children. host: deanna, colorado springs. good morning to you. your thoughts? opinion, i am an educated person in the bible, but the only way to solve the problem of the world is the whole world, from one corner to the other, to believe in one god and one god only. that god created the world. until then, what is going on right now is going to be going on all the time. florence,robert, kentucky. you are a parent. what should be done? caller: yeah. i will tell you what should be done. the thing is, this whole scenario that is being reported by the media, everything, it really stinks. there is something that stinks about it. reporting that the shooter was brought to the school by a number driver. i do not know how many people are watching this right now that are a number driver -- an uber driver themselves, but what if someone came up to your car and they had a gun with them. does something sound fishy about that? robert, he had a bag with him. caller: i understand, but there are questions. there is a girl that was interviewed, a student, and this was a small station in houston. it is not being covered by anyone. it said that she heard positive there were two shooters inside the building. there were shots going off on the other side of the building, there is another student that he had seen secret service people there. there are a lot of things that are pointing to a false flag, and that is what -- host: what are you saying, that this is a conspiracy? caller: i am saying that there has been a number of false flags , taking away second amendment rights in this country. you had someone on just a minute ago saying we should put up a police state. we have people who are willing to go along with this stuff. i want to put the message out there to all gun owners. the guy from maryland was on the ball. a law, no matter what they do, if they get the population to go along with it, it was a guy talking about the millennials going along with this, because they have been brainwashed like everyone else with these false flags to believe that there is a need to take away second amendment rights. one can takehat no your gun away. someone has to take your gun away and you have to agree to let them do it. ok, we believe your thoughts there. some quick news before we wrap up this conversation. washington times -- democrats against steves tonon after he declined answer questions posed by the house intelligence committee. if you want to hear what the e acting chair of the committee adam conway and -- steve conley and adam schiff had to say, go to www.c-span.org. is from the new york times. the president's ban already headed to the scene for -- supreme court and is rejected again. a second appeals court ruled against president trump's latest effort to repeal travel from other countries. that decision from the united states court of appeals for the fourth circuit in richmond. it will have no immediate impact. the supreme court agreed to hear an appeal from a broadly similar decision on the night circuit in san francisco -- night circuit in san francisco. if you want to listen to the debate that took place in the fourth circuit, you can go to our website and find it there. let's go to christine in new hampshire, a parent. you're on the air, good morning. caller: good morning to you. i think one of the biggest issues we are not talking about, we are talking about what the nra is doing and the gunmen, i think the general problem lies with the parents. i do not know how any child who goes to high school, can get out of their own home with a gun at their parents have no idea that these children have this issue, whether it is a one parent family or two family, that is not the point. how are the children getting out of their own home with a gun or getting it from a friend, but their parents have absolutely no idea? that would be the question. it is not just up to the gunmen to do all of these things they are not responsible for. we do not want them to be responsible for everything we do, but now we will lay this on the children? to me, the person responsible is the parent. this are you aware that shooter's had died in november from the flu? he lost his dad a while ago, he was adopted. huge,: there should be a a huge hint that this child has some serious issues, ptsd, he has his mom and his dad no longer with him, and i feel star a for the shooter as well. i do not want to, because he has taken the lives of children. wasdid no one make sure he taking care of? now he has a terrible situation going on in his head. he is a child. he is a student, not an adult. we have to help him. someone pointed out that you cannot get a drink until you are 21, but you can buy a gun when you are 18. the point made is when your brain is still developing at that point. caller: i believe that too. quite frankly, i think we all wee to be about 30 before should be voting, drinking, or getting guns. i think this child is missing a lot of lessons. he does not have his parents anymore, and maybe the parent relationship was not all that great in the first place because they did not get to that point yet. parents really need to be involved with the schools. we should have more meetings with the schools where it is practical for the teachers and parents to get together with their work schedule to talk about her in improvements. -- improvement. and with children they know who have problems already. and would be a good idea, the government will not change overnight, but we can change our children's mines. he can form their opinions and -- we can inform their opinions and their judgment. host: lorraine, having to, louisiana. what are your thoughts on this? oh, we lost her. they key well for the phone calls this morning and for the conversation on that. we will continue, but we will focus on the fbi side of this, talk to former agent jeffrey backgroundiscuss checks, etc.. and also talk about security clearances for the white house. later, the national association of assistant u.s. for the white. and later the white house association of assistant leiser willlawrence be here. we will be right back. ♪ q&a, theday night on back"clash .> there is a public shaming china has lost a lot of face. it is hard for westerners to know if that means to the asian culture, especially someone as big and as proud as china. they came away with a never again mentality. off on at, they set mindset that we will build up our navy and missile defense forces in such a way that we never lose face like this again. >> sunday night on c-span's q&a. afterworday night on s, former u.s. trade negotiator ira shapiro with his book "broken: can the senate save itself and the country?" >> politics was supposed to be about finding a way to overcome some of those differences through extended discussion and a real legislative process through principled compromise. it was not supposed to be about one party winning on their own. history when one party has been able to do this on their own are very few. 1933-1934, fdr dealing with the depression. 1964-1965. even he reached out to republicans and fdr had republican support for the first two years. tv.n c-span2's book c-span, where history unfolds daily. as a79, c-span was created public service by america's cable television companies. we continue to bring unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court, and public policy events in theington, d.c. and around country. c-span's brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from new york is jeffery ringel, a former fbi agent in the new york field office. we will start with the shooting in florida. if you look at the front pages of the newspapers -- fueling debate over law enforcement response. what is your reaction? apparently he said on youtube that i'm going to be a professional school shooter. the youtube user was nikolas cruz. the fbi was alerted. what is your reaction? not seen today's papers, but something like this, the fbi gets leads that come into the office from someone who see something they do not like and report it to the fbi. the fbi try to identify nikolas cruz on facebook or youtube. they could not. there are different steps and different levels of investigation. there are different investigative steps that can be taken at each level. in this case, someone reported ube, the fbi can do so much work but it is in the assessment phase. they could not use legal processes like grand jury topoenas or search warrants get further into identifying who cruz was. host: the washington post says after that tip 2 fbi agents interviewed the caller, mississippi bell bondsman -- bail bondsman bennight. what he made when you can only do so much? guest: there are three levels of investigative steps. in this case, the caller called it in from mississippi. that is an assessment. the fbi can use public databases, fbi databases, law enforcement databases to run the name, the handle, or anything that could hope fully identify was.ruz there have been other reports, similar reports, on a person named cruz. that would give investigators more when doing their investigation. without concrete information, and i have seen this from investigations i have had where ,omeone makes a generic threat "i am going to blow up the tunnels." it doesn't identify what state, what tunnels, when, where, how. the fbi did everything they could do with their doctrine and procedures to identify him. when they could do nothing further they have to close the lead out. five months later he walked into the school in florida. when the fbi is trying to connect dots? here is the wall street journal, shooter showed warning signs. the team left behind worrying warning signs that in hindsight seem to have gone unheeded. classmates said that he was obsessed with guns. campus security considered him trouble. why is that information not given to the fbi? whenbi cannot access it they are following up on a tip? what needs to be done? tost: when people are going local law enforcement and saying my teenage neighbor is troubled, and that is all they tell the police, the police don't have much more that they can do. they can talk to the individual. if he is underage they might need to have a parent involved. they can do some of their investigation. the information goes to local law enforcement, the first place this could be addressed. fbi,you talk about the that is federal. we are looking across state lines and nationally. if local law enforcement is told in highs individual school is troubled, the school security and local police could possibly come up with a plan to talk to cruz, figure out who he is and what he's up to. until certain tripwires are crossed, law enforcement has their hand tied. they can talk to the individual and look at the individual. the fact that cruz purchased a weapon and local law enforcement was monitoring him, that would be a tripwire that was crossed. they stuck what he was saying and that he purchased the gun, moreaw enforcement can be proactive and get more investigative steps. law: how would local enforcement know that he just purchased the gun? would that be the fbi tells them? guest: the fbi is not told -- i take that back. when someone buys a weapon there should be a background check. gun dealer hase to do to make sure the individual does not have a criminal record. that would go through the fbi database on criminal records. that is all. the fbi does not track people who buy weapons. they just provide the background check for a criminal check for gun purchases for the gun dealers. tosounds like cruz was able buy the weapon and leave that day. there is no waiting period. host: having no criminal record, he cleared an instant background check via the fbi database? .uest: correct in the fbi is not contacting local databases saying this is who in your area just bought a weapon. other than locals that identify him as a disturbed individual, nobody else knows who cruz is as wise law enforcement goes. host: for the local people, his neighbors, the police alerted to officials, isl there something that they can do that gets somebody like him on the radar screen so that when he that thaty a gun information is alerted to somebody? guest: i understand what you are saying. take a step that. you have an angry 18-year-old, 19-year-old. the neighbors don't like him because he is angry. laws. not broken any he is authorized by the weapon. he has no criminal record. even though people may not like , he has notaying been deemed mentally incapable by any authorities. he does not have a criminal record. those are the two places that law enforcement with look to be able to stop someone from purchasing a weapon. even though on social media no one is tracking his social media beforehand because unless they have an investigation on him, nobody is looking into his social media, what he is saying, or what he is doing. host: do you have thoughts about mental health laws in this country questio? usa today says if someone is defective, mentally he or she is prohibited from possessing a firearm under law.al getting someone adjudicated mentally defective or committed, do you think there are enough laws on the books for that process to happen? guest: i do not know enough about the mental health laws. taking a step back, when they had the university of virginia student a young doing well in school, the pressure of school, he killed a bunch of people. was.get how long ago that if we were to put a black mark on everyone that goes to counseling because they are going through stress because they are having a problem -- i thinking a former military people that have come home and get backunseling to into society because of ptsd or stress that they encountered overseas. toall of a sudden we were say, now that person is on our record and forever they are not going to be authorized to get a aapon or authorized to get security background check because they had mental health problems, that will prevent people from seeking the help they need. is a double-edged sword. i think that there can be more in fornd more stops put purchasing weapons. i would like to see a longer wait between when you go in to purchase the weapon to when you can take it out of the store. also, other restrictions, but the mental health problem is tough for law is enforcement to address and tougher for the government to address. you are stepping into people's individual rights. from usa today says 1998-2014 the fbi rejected over 16,000 potential gun buyers because it backgrounds on mental health adjudication. 1.2 millionroughly background checks resulted in denial. good morning. you are on the air with jeffery ringel, former fbi agent. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a question and a comment. didn't someone from tennessee who had the same instagram account get in touch with the know they've is this individual who had been posts onorrendous instagram? to thei am not privy current investigation. i think that i read something similar, but i cannot say for sure. host: do you think that background checks work, the current process? guest: for weapons? host: yes. guest: i think it is one step of many that need to be done. at the very least background checks will stop people with convictions from getting a and possibly people who have had domestic abuse charges leveled against them and/or convicted. i think that is one step that needs to continue. yes. host: maryland. caller: good morning. i think that the missing pieces the mental health institution. everyone knew that cruz was a bomb.g time with a needed to do was involuntarily lock him up into a mental institution and evaluated him for months until he was deemed to be well enough to be on the street. we need to strengthen our mental health infrastructure. each state has to look into it. that is the missing piece. if they would have locked him up and voluntarily, humanely, we would have fixed that problem. i think that that is the missing piece. guest: it is interesting. when you lock someone up in voluntarily that is jailing them. the civilw get into rights issue. under reagan we got rid of the mental institutions. that is a big thing to do. , eachk that we can offer state needs to offer, battle mental health services to its population. that is costly and will not necessarily stop everything. who's to say that cruz would have availed himself to these services an? getting back to putting people in voluntarily into mental health services, in new york involuntaryhours commitment, but then they have to let you go. host: good morning. caller: i was feeling sorry for the young man because i know most of the time there is a problem. i'm going to think that there was a problem before the gun. the fact that he was in this world, all alone by himself, even the children i'm hearing on the tv know that there is more that could be done in supporting people like him who have fallen through the cracks. i am hoping that someone looks into the bullying and has a hotline for that. i don't know if he was bullied or not, but i do know that the young man looked like he was disturbed. host: you have any thoughts about bullying? online, social media, how social media is being used in our society and the impact that that has on criminal activity or crimes being committed? guest: in my opinion, i think gives peopleedia the capability of being a keyboard hero. people can save things without actually having to see the person they are making statements to. insulte can be brash and people online and say things they would never say face-to-face, because that would be too difficult. also, social media is sometimes used to help promote from infamous to being individuals that are lost in looking for something. they use social media as their last hurrah to get their last shot at fame. ande that often with teens the jihadist terrorists that are the last minute will claim to be isis or al qaeda and they go from obscurity to front-page news for seven days because of that. host: let's talk about security clearances. we invited you on to talk about that. explained to our viewers the process for someone to get a security clearance and what that means and what level of clearance is available. guest: security clearances basically all the rise of person writee access to read and classified information. the different levels can be confidential, whatever is being written if released to the wrong person could damage the u.s. national security. level.is the next higher that would result in the release of that information to the wrong individuals would create grave damage. top-secret, that information if released would result in extremely grave damage to national security. there are different levels of information that the security clearance holder has access to. in order to get a security clearance, it depends on which agency you are working for. if you're working for the military, the dod will do your security clearance background check. if you're working for the department of energy, they are responsible for your security background check. anybody out of the executive branch, white house personnel and federal judge appointments and u.s. attorney appointments, will be handled by the fbi. form thatll take the every applicant needs to fill out, a very long, detailed seekerthat the clearance needs to complete. the person needs to put down everywhere they lived within the last 10 years so that there is no break in time. they have to list for the last seven years any employment, any foreign contact, any foreign business, any foreign travel, off of your family members, your spouse and ex-spouses, your financial situation, military service, a sickly it's a background on who you are. -- basically it's a background check on who you are. the background check is to determine if you are person of good character to be trusted with the nations secrets. thatf-86 -- that sf-86 will go to a particular field office. if i'm in new york and they are investigating me it would go to the new york field office. they would be responsible to cut leads to the other field offices to follow up on people i listed form. they would go to my brothers in colorado, my sisters in washington, my cousins in texas, who'd be approached by the fbi agents in those field offices and questioned about my credibility, trustworthiness, and anything about me. host: why would they interview a landlord? somebody who doesn't have day-to-day contact with a person? what are they trying to get at? what types of questions are they asking? i pay my rent on time? did i cause problems? throw wild parties? were there incidences that the police had to be called to my apartment and why? where their problems with me? did i consort with suspicious people that looked funny? what was my schedule? normal or a person that went out mysteriously in the middle of the night? a landlord is a great person to investigate because they don't know me personally, but they have observed by actions. that is what the fbi wants to see, who am i and what am i doing? see how you react to director christopher wray testifying on capitol hill. this is his exchange on the security process and timeline for former senior staffer rob porter. [video clip] fairlyprocess involves standard protocols and agreements that have been in place for 20 plus years. i am confident that in this particular incident the fbi followed established protocols. >> was the white house informed that this could affect the security clearance? yes or no? >> i cannot get into the content , but what i can tell you is that the fbi submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in march. and then a completed background investigation in late july. soon thereafter we received request for follow-up inquiry, and we did the follow-up and provided that information in november. we administratively closed the file in january. earlier this month we received additional information and pass that on as well. do you make of the process and timeline of the fbi's background check on rob porter? guest: it sounds good. [laughter] host: it sounds thorough? guest: i'm sure that it was thorough. it is not the fbi that issues the security clearance. the fbi is working for the client, in this case the white house. the fbi does the background investigation and verifies and vets all of the information form.on the in the process, they will talk to multiple people to get a better idea of who the person is looking for the security clearance. and this is what i've asked people that have done this work and they clarified it some point when the fbi has completed their work or come across something that causes concern, they go to the client and say this is what we found. you have to make the decision because you issue the security clearance. in this case, they were talking to the 2 ex-wives and the accusations of domestic abuse. that would be something that the it would note, go back, run to ground, make sure that it is accurate and not just what we -- that someone is not just angry that there is validity and the allegation can be substantiated to some level. then they go to the client and say that this could be a problem. again, the fbi does not issue the security clearance. host: in this case, it is just an accusation. there were no criminal charges against rob porter. if he did have them, are you automatically disqualified? guest: that should disqualify you. the general standard is that any case where there is an allegation or anything that intent is upon your good character, something that makes you prone to blackmail or shows , the party that is sponsoring your clearance should drop you. host: you don't have to be convicted? guest: it is up to the person that is requesting the security clearance. i think that i read yesterday that 6 people on interim clearances in the white house have been let go. the white house should want to make sure that everyone they bring in is pristine with no problems. if something were to happen at a later time and information is through a person pushed and given a clearance despite warnings and fbi investigation, if that person turns out to violate the security procedures it makes everybody look back. it could possibly put people up for criminal charges. host: louisiana, democrat, good morning. i don't understand how these people could be in a position of having sensitive information about security and not have a security clearance. if president obama would have -- [indiscernible] host: more than 100 staffers securitynterim clearance is one year after the election. is that unusual? guest: the use of interim clearances is not unusual in itself. when you people come into the government these background checks take from six months to nine months, generally.they could even take longer if you are a person who has a lot of things that need to be investigated. they should be wrapped up after nine months. the white house is the one issuing the interim clearances, vetting theis information and coming back to the white house and saying everything looks good, you make your decision. to have that many on interim clearances, they should have those by now. host: we thank you for your time this morning joining us for this conversation. guest: thank you. when we come back the national association of assistant u.s. attorney's president will be here to anduss the florida shooting policies under attorney general jeff sessions. we will be right back. ♪ >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span3, saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern unlike shares in history, douglas wilder at virginia commonwealth university. >> i have a one word definition that i use for politics. can anyone guess what it is? the one word that would define politics? money. give me something that is a proposition before any tribunal that does not involve money. at 10:00 a.m. eastern at the west point center for oral history henry hank thomas, a combat medic during the vietnam war. >> my grandfather served in world war i. my father served in world war ii. man,s, for a black whenever you served it was your military service you hope would fidese as a bona first-class red-blooded american citizen entitled to. >> with the cpac conference in washington town next week we look at 1988 when president reagan spoke at a cpac dinner, american people know what limited government, tax cuts, de regulation have meant. the largest piece-time expansion guarantee they won't want to throw that away to budgets beholden to the liberal special-interests. >> every weekend on c-span3. series's history landmark cases returned with 12 new supreme court cases. each week experts and historians discuss constitutional issues and stories behind significant supreme court decisions. beginning monday, february 26 at eastern we have a companion guide written by tony mauro. landmark cases, volume two. to get your copy go to c-span.org/landmarkcases. "washington journal" continues. founder and president of the national association of assistant u.s. attorneys. guest: it is an organization that represents our nation's federal prosecutors. attorneys assistant across our country. our association represents those who joined our association's members. host: are you affiliated with the justice department formally? .uest: no i am an assistant united states attorney, and all our members are, but nothing that i say should be considered to be the representation of my office, for kenya, or the department of justice. i'm here only in my capacity as president of the national association of assistant u.s. attorney. to be a spokesperson for them issues that impact on what we do day in and day out as our nation's federal prosecutors. we prosecute federal and civil cases. any case before the united states district court judge will representing the government, criminal cases or civil cases. host: one's criminal justice reform. your thoughts on the florida by some for a call stricter gun control. guest: it is a terrible tragedy and something we have to fix as a country. assistant united states attorneys feel deeply about these situations. be potentially federal crimes. they tend to be more dressed at the local level. i think that we need to look at the frequency of the kinds of weapons being used and perhaps limit those kinds of weapons. we will not eliminate the problem. there will always be people that are deranged that do terrible things, but we should limit the causey of them to destruction by limiting the weapons available to them. host: where get this be a violation of federal law? are clearlyeapons probably not made in florida, so the interstate nexus would give us federal jurisdiction. host: what then? guest: we would prosecute them for a firearms offense. they being the people using the weapons illegally. the government would prosecute those who violate firearms laws. there may be a violation, i just don't know all of the facts to save we would go forward with a federal prosecution or leave it to the state. host: the company, the gun, explain that. guest: the possession of the weapon and the way that it was used, if it was manufactured in a place other than where the crime occurred, that would give us jurisdiction. host: will happen if the federal government took over the case? conduct thebi would investigation and present it to prosecution. we would bring it under the fifth amendment of our constitution. probable cause to indict, then the matter would be set down for trialing go before a federal district judge and the defendant would get his rights to counsel, trial by jury, etc.. host: how long do those cases take? we have a speedy trial act, 70 days from when the trial occurs the law requires us to bring it before the jury. there are some exceptions, but basically within 70 days. host: when it comes to criminal justice reform, i want to read an article to you. the headline is the attorney general faces multiple battles, one is the fight over sentencing legislation. the issue that sparked chuck grassley's comments on thursday is one of the most personal. he spent years pushing changes to the criminal justice system and producing legislation to cut mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders and establishing recidivism. confronting rising overdose focusingd efforts on providing law enforcement more tools. his legislation could have "potentially dire consequences mr.untering the efforts" sessions wrote in a letter to congress. what do you think? what are the provisions in it and your thoughts? the association's thoughts. to the letterrd by the attorney general we were with him. the system is not broken at the federal level and there are a lot of people that conflate the state system with the federal system of justice. they believe the federal system adequately addresses the crime problem, especially at the internationall at trafficking of drugs into the country. mandatory minimums are a vital tool for us as prosecutors to move up the food chain and prosecute those who are major traffickers and dealers in ,heroin methamphetamine, those types of drugs. the federal system is working well. there is a lot of confusion about how the system works. prisonersf federal are serving minimum sentences. anymore are charged with mandatory minimum crimes, but as a result of the mandatory minimums they cooperate and get sentences reduced. we have a safety valve to where if you are a first-time offender did not use a weapon, are not the leader, you avoid the mandatory minimums to start with. and: what are the myths misunderstandings/ there is a bipartisan push on capitol hill to do something about the nation's prisons and alleviate the population. some see mandatory sentencing as a way to do that. guest: the myth is the misperception that many of our federal offenders are serving mandatory minimum sentences. that is not the case. is that we have what they call low level, nonviolent drug offenders. we do not prosecute low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. possession is 4% of our cases, and most are on the border where we have people carrying in kilograms of marijuana. the numbers are so great that we plead them down to simple possession. the possession on our federal highways, those people are put in diversion programs. .o one is going to jail 96% to 97% of those we prosecute our drug traffickers, someone selling poison drugs for money. host: where is the myth coming from, the misunderstanding, do you think? guest: from a lot of people that provide congress with this information. in some ways, it is our fault. one reason i'm talking to you today is that our association decided that we need to get the truth out about what we do, why we do it, and how we do it. try tof organizations confuse the truth with their version of what they think reality is. host: you mentioned a difference between federal and state prosecution. what is happening on the state level? guest: i used to be a state prosecutor. i started my career in new jersey as a state prosecutor. the volume of cases at the state level to deal with is so overwhelming that often plea-bargaining cases to a lesser crime than the one actually committed does not really address the problem we thataced with and profits can be made from drug trafficking. at the federal level we have more resources and i think we do a better job and are more effective in dealing with the kinds of crimes that our congress has enacted. a renewed push for sentencing overhaul hits familiar roadblock. a new version of the measure passed the senate judiciary committee 16-5 on thursday. what happens next will determine whether that coalition can persuade senator mcconnell to allow a full senate vote. legislation,s which has the support of 120 democrats and republicans with significantly reduced mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenses has a new system for determining which would be eligible for early release and create programs to allow them to better returned to a life outside of prison. what are your questions and comments about the criminal justice system? those with experience, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8003. brian, independent, go ahead. caller: i have an older question, but it is relevant for today. in 2009 special counsel fbiler was the head of the and there was a special investigation around uranium one. the first time since 57 we did not have an inspector general with a staff of 300 at the state department looking at this. when you fast forward today, how can robert mueller not be conflicted? nows what went on with uranium one. we had 2 interim inspector general's, a critical position in the state department. i did not hear any crying out about it, not much. i do not understand how we are such a big country that we limit ourselves to someone like robert mueller. host: do you have any thoughts? [laughter] host: the inspector general does a great job in monitoring the activity of the department. if there is impropriety i'm sure that the general will act appropriately. we have a tremendous system of justice in our country. noted a study done by university professor over a 15-year period of people convicted for murder. was that in .003% of someone at the federal and state level convicted of murder was actually innocent. 99.7% of the time the system of justice got it right. next --dependent, your you are next. while backittle there had been reports that trump was personally interviewing for federal ausa's for ther district where trump tower is located. i was wondering how your association looks at that. his federal judiciary nominations, a lot of them went through, but they were not approved by the ada. how do you and your brothe etheren look upon those things? justice, our system of the night before attorneys offices are manned by 93 u.s. attorneys. they are all political appointees. they serve at the pleasure of the president. they are traditionally interviewed by the department of justice and the recommendation goes to the white house. in niche instance the senators from the state for the u.s. attorneys offices are located heavily weighs in on who they think is the most appropriate to serve as the united states attorney. my colleagues are career professional prosecutors, not political appointees. we stay on regardless of who the u.s. attorney is from one administration to the next. host: next. mike, good morning. yes, i was wondering about what he thinks about the criminal justice system where it seems to me that poor people go to jail and rich people pay a pretty, get away with you know, criminal stuff. had --as i think someone host: let's take your question about poor people going to jail. guest: in our system at the federal level and the state level under this sixth amendment everyone is entitled to representation by an attorney, whether you are poor or rich. the system protects everybody and makes sure that everyone will get a fair shot at proving, or forcing the government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, the person is guilty. no one has to prove their innocence. the burden is on the united states to prove guilt unanimously. host: and want to have you reacted to congressman we had on our show. they were talking about their legislation, the safe accountability fair and effective state justice act. listen to congressman scott first, then we will get your reaction. [video clip] the problem is with the federal government does in terms of policy is mimicked by the states. when we had mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug haveses, they tend to three strikes and you're out. we passed in the early 1990's, it was picked up. we serve as a model for the states. the states have gotten to the point where they cannot afford to keep up. i know that washington state is faced with prison extensions. they did a study to come up with what has been shown to reduce crime on a cost-effective basis. they went to early childhood education, working with prisoners in second chance programs to reduce the in-prison rate, rehabilitation so they are better prepared to stay out. a continuum. then you have the fair justice of initiatives that is designed from a research-based perspective to reduce crime and save money. one is a significant reduction in mandatory minimums, which will require judges at some that to pose sentences defied common sense. because of the mandatory minimum he has to whether it makes sense or not. lawrence leiser, your reaction? guest: there is not a lot of accuracy in these reports that the state systems do it better system. federal we prosecute different kinds of crimes than the states prosecute, a different kind of instances. many we found out through research that the recidivism rate at the federal level three years out is 34% based upon re-arrest. some of these do not look at re-arrest, they look at re-conviction. they do not look at people who commit crimes in other cases or at a federal level. the statistics they used to claim that their system does better than ours is not true. is what isandard your cynicism rate -- your recidivism rate based on arrests? at three years out, 34%. some of the programs that we inmate,his is just one micro computing, plumbing apprenticeship, nutrition classes, pre-release personal health, pre-release counseling, wellnessse employment, intermediate, psychology of human behavior, job fairs, job searches. the prison does a terrific job at trying to rehabilitate our inmates and prepare them for release. one year before they are released they go to a more intensive program. six months they go to a halfway house will stop when they are released they are given supervised release where you u.s. probation officer -- where u.s. probation officer monitors with a are doing to help them get back into society. everyone wants to have a situation where no one who is convicted and served their sentence will recommit another crimes. host: senators consider revoking first inn pell grant's cars -- revoking pell grant's for incarcerated students. lamar alexander and the chair of thecommittee says that committee would consider reinstating the federal financial aid grant and the reauthorization of the higher education act under way. 20 make of that? guest: we should do everything rehabilitate our criminals. obviously, there are limited resources and there is much need for non-criminals to get benefits to advance their education and their ability to live productive lives. i think that it is an obligation of our society to do what we can to rehabilitate people who made the choice of committing crimes. host: republican, on the air. caller: good morning. i am in arizona. we have a girls prison, we have a man's prison, and my son six years ago got a dui. he went to the state prison. i'm so upset with my son because he was with a girl and got another dui and went in for four years. he had education, classes to go to for domestic violence and alcoholism. at the end of last year that he was there he did more classes. it did help. there are lots of people in the want thehat don't help. they want to go back because they are afraid to come out. my son cannot get a drivers license. he is home and doing great, but he can't get a job. a tempbeen working at service that pays minimum wage. he gets up every morning and we taken to the temp service at 6:30. hopefully he has a job, but no one will give him a chance. system is not helping those that come out. that is what i am mad about. it doesn't work. i sent a letter about how the prisons are working. did you know he didn't answer me once? host: let's take your story. that is a good example of the state system versus the federal system. in the federal system we monitor prisoners that we release during the supervisory time. then there is a determination to should be, from three to five years. unlike in arizona, at the federal level there is ongoing supervision and assistance to help the inmates turn the corner and make better choices. host: her son sounds like he is is up against roadblocks. he cannot get a drivers license or job. guest: i think people that are rehabilitated should have an opportunity to benefit from the advantages our society offers, including a drivers license and job.ent this checks the box that a lot of people are looking at in deciding if we should continue to punish these people beyond the time that they serve after they have been rehabilitated. is a form that many employers required to indicate if you were ever convicted of a crime. host: that could go away? it.t: they are discussing employers have a right to know what kind of person they are hiring. it is difficult, but we have to opportunityeople an to lead productive lives and not go back to lives of crime. host: independent. guest: good morning. you are excellent as always and i appreciate your guest. i have 2 statements and a question. i'm reading an article called no sexual wary from the rule of law. it states under article one of the constitution that congress has power for immigration and naturalization that takes priority over state laws. --intending sous deferred and established institution. i worry about attorney general sessions' priorities. it is clear that governor brown of california stated that mexico owns california anyway. rob emanuel is spitting in the face of americans and the constitution. mr. sessions is doing very little. he sat at a meeting and he was giggling. i don't know of someone is blackmailing him, but i want to ask your guests who will slay the dragon of international organized crime in this country? that is what it amounts to. guest: i think that we are trying to slay the dragon of international crime. we do it every day and we have some success. we would like to be more successful. this attorney general is a believer in the rule of law and is requiring, in the area of sanctuary cities, he is making it more difficult for these cities to continue to not conform to the federal system of rule of law. we have the rule of law under the constitution, the supreme law of the land, is the federal law. it has to be enforced. this attorney general is taking steps to enforce that. host: democrat. caller: thank you for having me on your show today. i appreciate what c-span does. about whated to ask his views are on privatized jail systems. host: we will take that, jacob. guest: the privatized jail systems, they have to abide by the same rules and regulations and provide the same services. issue orsee it as an problem as long as they are obligated to follow the federal rules and regulations to rehabilitate and provide the same services. it seems to be working. host: the house is about to gavel in. i will let the viewers know very -- they are just coming in for a pro forma session. we will bring you there when that happens. we have a couple of minutes left with our guest. comewe say goodbye we will back and continue on "the washington journal." or two.a minute what do prosecutors have in the thebox now that -- in toolbox now that you could lose under a new administration, and what tools would you like the government to give you to do your job better? .uest: the tools are efficient there is always room for improvement. and then a mums are critical told use effectively, fairly, and justly. it has provided for a safety valve where if it was your first leader into are not in a role you would get out from under the mandatory minimum. is ifelps us the most someone is trafficking and one kilogram of heroin, that is a mandatory 10-years. if it is their first offense they get out from the mandatory minimum. if it is not, they look at the mandatory minimum. the only way they can get out of that is cooperation. that is how we move up the food chain. host: explain that. thet: the people they got drugs from, internally in the united states, mexico, or afghanistan. that is the target. separates federal and state prosecution is that we have the ability to cross state borders and international boundaries and are interested in going after the more serious violator. mandatory minimums give us the opportunity. in the federal system there are only 13% or 14% of people serving mandatory minimums. they are people that did not meet the safety valve and refused to cooperate. the congress of the united states says those are the people that we want to serve the mandatory minimum sentence. mandatory minimums have been around since 1790. we have mandatory minimums today not only for drugs, but human sex trafficking, child pornography,and -- and identity theft. host:

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