gavel-to-gavel to gavel coverage of the house as a debate a short-term spending bill. discuss the shutdown with california democratic congressman salud carbajal and with washington examiner contributing editor jason russell. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ good morning. it is thursday, january 17, day 27 of the government shutdown and speaker pelosi says no state of the union until it opens backup. your take on that this morning. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. and independents, 202-748-8002. if you are a federal worker, we want to hear from you. 202-748-8003. join us on twitter @cspanwj or facebook.com/cspan. in a letter to the president, nancy pelosi wrote this, both the u.s. secret service and the department of homeland security have not been funded for 26 days with critical department hamstrung by furloughs. unless the government reopens this week, i suggest we work together to determine another suitable date after government has reopen for this address or for you to consider delivering your state of the union address in writing to the congress on january 29. here she is yesterday in the hallway in an interview with cbs. [video clip] >> the statement by the secretary of homeland security about all the resources that are needed to prepare for a state of the union address, which she calls an event of sacrament -- special security. these people are not working and we have never really had a state of the union when government has been in a shutdown since the budget act in the 1970's. this is respectfully and sadly the government to shut down, that we would have the president of the united states -- the vice president of the united states, the entire congress of the united states, the house, the senate, the supreme court, the joint chiefs of staff, the cabinet of the united states, did i say that? and the diplomatic corps all in the same room. hundreds of people working on the logistics and security of it . most of those people are either furloughed or victims of the president's shutdown. that isn't the point. the point is security. host: the washington post says the speaker of the house has up to the pressure -- the shutdown pressure on the president and they report this morning by paul kane, philip brecker, and josh addressing a closed-door meeting, the speaker read a letter she sent trump asking him to postpone the speech until the federal government reopens or deliver the speech in writing. if the government stays shut down, pelosi would deprive trump of the spotlight he craves. to a president sensitive of acts of disrespect and one for a hearty appetite for pomp and circumstance, the so-called un invitation was not just a power play, it was a personal slight. in the two weeks since she reclaimed the speaker's gavel, she has moved to leverage her years of -- swipes at his competence and masculinity. the leaders are locked in a standoff over government shutdown instigated by trump's demand u.s. taxpayers fund a portion of his promised border wall. apollo tsipras challenge comes with a degree of risk -- pelosi's challenge comes with a degree of risk. republicans will use her unpopularity to label democrats as pelosi clones, a potentially potent line of attack against city lawmakers who cast votes in lockstep with party leaders. your take on this. eric in atlanta, georgia, a democrat. you are up first. good morning. caller: good morning, greta. i am proud of you. -- there is no reason to put president trump on stage so he can tell a lie. nancy pelosi, there is a new chief in town. she needs to assert her authority on trump. that is why i voted to put her in a place where she could put a check. they need to come out and make a statement like mitch mcconnell said. we want to make trump a one term president and be frank, he is destroying the constitution. what we found out is they used to say this is a country of laws. this is a country of men. when you get men like trump that need to be checked and we want to make him a one term president and i wish one of the people running for president -- if he does give a state of the union, would get up and call him a liar. host: the optics of this, the washington post writes steve cowan, a democrat of tennessee said the speaker possum move was smart for two reasons. number one, pelosi would be right behind him and have to sit there as he puts onus on her for the shutdown. number two, it gives him a reason to end the shutdown because he loves a tv audience and the attention. in nevada, a democrat. caller: hi. i would like to address the 400,000 federal employees affected by the shutdown. host: i think it is more like 800,000. guest: 800 -- caller: okay, 800,000. the government has decided to use 800,000 employees as pawns in their political game and what they fail to realize is 800,000 awns carries much more weight than a king and a few bishops. the only ones feeling the pain of this shutdown are the federal workers and it is time to share the pain. on monday, january 21, this coming monday, 800,000 federal employees should take and i need my paycheck day and stay out until the federal government reopens and i guarantee it will be reopened by friday. host: here is the president -- here is the majority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell talking about the shutdown yesterday. [video clip] >> recent years we have seen democrats vote for billions, billions of dollars in physical walls and fencing. recent years have seen a democratic administration build the same steel barriers, the very same steel barriers this president wants to expand. these days, it seems like democrats are happy to take their cues from the dental lady from san francisco and her extreme fringe position. --ls have now become issueday president trump yet another bipartisan invitation for members of congress to meet at the white house and negotiate and yet again, only republicans came to the table. for the american people, who deserved both a functioning government as well as a secure border, it is really not a promising sign. host: it is day 27 of the government shutdown and the speaker of the house suggested they postpone the state of the union, which is supposed to be at the end of this month. charlie in cleveland, georgia, what do you think? caller: good morning. how are you all? host: morning. caller: i have seen a lot of politics in my 63 years and i have never seen anything like this. i have seen chuck schumer and nancy pelosi make speeches about how important a wall is on the theyr and -- but yet continue to have the government cents, iover one believe 1% of our national budget. media, a few watched certain states -- i watch it all because i like to hear both sides, but i know for a fact -- other people from all over the world coming into this country and the places they come through is where there is not a barrier. they are not going to try to come through a barrier or a port of entry. it seems like so much common sense. that is why so many people voted for trump, including myself. host: do you want him to stand firm on this? caller: absolutely, ma'am. by the way, i am very sorry for the government employees that are not getting paid, but during the eight years of obama, we had a 10 million people unemployed, 7 million people quit looking for work, and we starved. they got a great job, great mattia meant -- retirement, great health care and they are going to get paid and i am tired of the crying. do you think, what of some democrats and republicans proposing the idea the two sides meet in the middle and the president come down on the $5 billion figure and that democrats meet him in the middle? onlyr: well, ma'am, the problem with the money issue and i think that is all we are dealing with today. the money issue is what the border patrol and the people who -- our border patrol and the secret service and everyone who protects this country has requested. he is only asking for what the people that do the job has requested. host: charlie in georgia. the washington post says there is no indication the president plan to yield on his demands for $5 billion in border wall or agree on a short-term spending bill. democrats continue to reject border money beyond $1.3 billion for barriers and fences that would extend existing funding levels insisting that they will not even negotiate unless the president signs a bill to reopen the government first. we are getting your reaction to the shutdown on this 27th day speaker ofa that the the house has to postpone the state of the union. the reaction from capitol hill from members of congress on the democratic side of the aisle, johanna hays saying delaying is the right choice. we are in a crisis concerning our government and must end the shutdown before we act like it is business as usual. steve cowan, pelosi calls for postpone state of the union address because of the trump shutdown. new ayanna pressley, freshman representative, what speaker pelosi said, the state of the union -- the occupant of the white house continues to act callously. do your job and reopen the government and we will let you make your little speech. congresswoman bass, the state of the union is an unnecessary crisis that left us unsafe unless the president agreed to reopen the government, a written speech is more appropriate so hundreds of secret service agents do not have to work without pay preparing the for his visit. the state of the union drains resources from law enforcement officials not getting paid. there should be no speech until the trump shutdown ends. if you wants 45 minutes at the capital, he can go see speaker pelosi work to reopen the government. told reporters that her department and the secret service were fully prepared to support and secure the state of the union. monterrey, tennessee. a democrat. hi, ron. caller: good morning, greta. how are you? host: i am doing well. what do you think of this? caller: good. i have some comments that i have been thinking. president hashe done this deed of shutting down the government and it bothers me because i remember on inaugural day, he walked along the path in employeeshe federal and that whole section was empty. that really bothers me because i have heard -- other than being , his family is not allowed -- his family is not allowed to own charitable organizations anymore in new york because they stole all that money. i really do have a lot of concern of what this man is really up to. i am not saying that he did that purposefully on the federal employees, but it sure seems to me that the man holds a grudge and it seems like he did that purposefully to hurt america and steal those people's paycheck. all these people will look into the facts and see what this man is really about because frankly, it scares the heck out of me. thoughts in tennessee. we will go to florida, phil is watching. caller: as far as the shutdown, i find it funny that the democrats and nancy pelosi is on noncitizenst immigrants we don't even know attempting to get into this country illegally, not through ports of entry, over the people,s of american reticular early residents and citizens of this country. states --losi's states that it is immoral. it has she seen the poor people of her state? rectify the done to greatest immorality of this country, which is slavery. she hasn't done anything. she hasn't done anything. host: here is the reaction from gop lawmakers area to kevin brady saying it is revealing, the speaker trying to delay state of the union with the president citing security question. why is security of congress so important, but not the security of innocent families and communities harmed by the lack of border security? if the speaker does invites the president to provide the state of union address in the house chamber, i will call on mitch mcconnell to invite president trump to give his speech in the senate chamber. rick crawford, as a former bomb tech who served on secret service detail, i know how to sweep a room and make it secure. i will volunteer to help ensure the chamber is a cure for the president and state of the union. i am sure my friend and fellow bomb tech can help. steve scalise, shutdown nancy, shut down the government and now state of the union. what are democrats afraid of americans hearing? 17,000 plus criminals were caught at the border? 90% of heroin comes from the southern border. illegal border crossings dropped 90% plus in areas with a wall? and mark meadows, nancy pelosi's claim she is canceling the state of the union related to the shutdown would almost be believable if she hadn't scheduled and invited the president to speak on january 3 when the shutdown was two weeks old. what are your thoughts on this? jerry in mississippi, and independent. hi, jerry. caller: good morning, c-span. host: good morning. independent.an i am not for a government shutdown. it is not a good situation. it is 800 plus thousand federal workers not receiving a paycheck. some of them working without pay even though they will get paid. is our people in washington, democrats and republicans, they won't work together. trump becauseld they need some kind of something down on that border to stop people just coming in the country, drugs coming in. is go aheads to do and declare a national emergency and take the fund from wherever and get the military to start building that wall. in mississippiry calling on the president to declare a national emergency. more on your calls and want to update you on a story many of you are reading and saw yesterday, the washington times front page, syria attack in flames debate. a deadly suicide attack by the islamic state that claimed the lives of four americans and injured others in syria has reignited the debate in washington over the trump administration loss claim -- administration's claim they have been defeated and raises questions about the withdrawal ploy -- withdrawal. it says the vice president proceeded with a speech hours after the attack saying the islamic state has been defeated. the chairman of the judiciary committee, lindsey graham took time out of the confirmation for hearing onirmation the attorney general to speak about this attack. [video clip] >> this is not the subject matter of the hearing, but i want to make a statement. my concern about the president made by president trump which is set in motion enthusiasm by the enemy we are fighting. you make people we are trying to help wonder about us and as they get bolder, the people we are trying to help are going to get more uncertain. we saw this in iraq and we are now seeing it in syria. every american wants our troops to come home, but i think all of us want to make sure when they do come home, we are safe. i don't know how we are ever going to be safe if people over there cannot at least sit down and talk with each other. the only reason the kurds and the arabs and the christians were in that restaurant is because we gave them the space to be in that restaurant. think what you want to about those people over there. they have had enough of killing. they would love to have the opportunity we have to fix their problems without the force of violence. i would hope the president would .ook long and hard i know people are frustrated, but we are never going to be safe here unless we are willing to help people over there who will stand up against this radical ideology and here is the good news, very few fathers and mothers over there want to turn their daughters over to isis, their sons over to isis. they just need our help. to those who lost their lives arey in syria, you defending america, in my view. to those in syria trying to work together, you are providing the best hope for your country. i hope the president will look long and hard about what we are doing in syria. host: senator lindsey graham's message to the president in a hearing on capitol hill. other reaction from senator mark warner of virginia. my heart goes out to the families of the americans killed and injured in syria. the cowardly attack highlights the danger service members face every day. his ongoing threat demands a coherent strategy informed by military leadership. marco rubio, isis claimed credit for killing american troops in syria today. if true, it is a tragic reminder that isis has not been defeated and is transforming into a dangerous insurgency. retrieving will only embolden and strengthen them. back to our conversation with all of you about the border debate and the government shutdown if it extends today 17. a new paul by pew, most border wall opponent supporters say shutdown concessions are unacceptable, but the partial shutdown in third week both opponents and supporters of expanding the u.s.-mexico border wall overwhelmingly oppose making concessions to end the stalemate. the pew research center finds the majority of americans continue to oppose substantially expanding the border wall while 40% favor the proposal. opinion on the wall is little changed from last year. these views have never been more sharply divided along partisan lines. with that, take a look at the front page of the washington times story written by maggie in anne a west wing transition. here's a quote from the president. or can getting crushed "why can't we get a deal? " mr. trump told his staff he believes overtime the country will not remember the shutdown, but it will remember he stage a fight over his insistence that the southern border be protected. do you all agree with that? we are getting your thoughts on the government shutdown and postponing the state of the union address and a special line for federal workers, 202-748-8003. let's go to john in pennsylvania, republican. caller: hello. onave an interesting twist this. i am a musician and i used to play broadway shows in new york and the theaters would have a minimum -- if a show came in, they had to hire a minimum number of musicians. if a show came in that didn't use the minimum number, they still had to pay musicians to fill out the minimum. so i was able to be what is called a walker occasionally. congress passed a law saying they are going to pay all these federal workers. why not pay them now, but treat them like walkers? they cannot take a vacation or other job, they have to be on call. if the shutdown is solved at to beomorrow, they have to work at 2:00. why don't they pay them now but they are on furlough? host: a lane tyler, texas. what do you think of this? caller: greta, i love your red. you are looking good this morning. host: thank you. caller: i want to make two points. the wall is a big zero. trump wants to make himself look like he has somewhere he can put his damn name. the people are coming through to border -- are they going the wall at the toll? it is a big myth. those people are hungry and need their jobs. i bet nobody and his family is hungry. it is a shame before job what they are doing. ,ost: jack in falls church virginia. an independent. good morning. caller: good morning. it seems both sides are being disingenuous. the wall in part, i think most people can acknowledge -- will acknowledge it can work. it worked in san diego. fundedn't the wall during the two years when republicans controlled congress and the presidency? it did not get done then? you cannot blame democrats. host: finish your thought. pelosi is being disingenuous saying walls are immoral. we help fund a wall between israel and palestine to the tune of $3.8 billion a year. that money doesn't go directly to a wall, but makes other money available for the wall. she is funding a wall and she thinks it is immoral. a potential death it sounds itny -- a potential deal -- sounds kind of funny, but mexico is about to start work on an airport, the new president. i could see a potential deal where mexico invests $5.8 billion in a wall and we invest $5.8 billion in their report, letting that continue, the wall gets continued and it is not a huge amount of money for any country, but it is the principal. regarding syria, we have no business being in syria and it is the one thing i think trump is doing right, getting out of syria. host: scott in illinois, republican line. hi, scott. caller: yes. good morning. i just have a thought about the border wall and the $5.8 million mr. trump is asking for. a theory he may be in so much debt he wants that funding for the wall because he is in the construction business so building the wall, money going back to him might help him get out of debt. that is just a thought. host: senate democrats took to the capitol steps yesterday to talk about the impact of the shutdown on federal workers. here is senator murray from washington state. [video clip] >> 26 days of people across the country paying the price. that is why we are here today because, to us, this is about all of those people. it is about their families. it is about their communities. the people we represent who are being hurt for absolutely no good reason. homee like shirley from my state of washington. she is a furloughed employee with the faa who shared her story with me through my website. she told me hers is a single income family, monthly bills to pay and not knowing when her paycheck will come is very stressful, to say the least. she isn't sleeping at night, worrying about how she can cut expenses to pay her bills as the shutdown continues. she does not know how she is going to make it and she told me she knows so many others in the same position who are desperate for their country, for their government to fix this problem and this is just one story. look at all these faces. these are pictures, there are so many more, people whose stories democrats are sharing on the senate floor. people just like them whose lives have been offended and in some cases, destroyed because the person elected to serve all the people is focused on serving himself and playing political games. the: it is the 27th day of government shutdown on the speaker of the house says let's postpone the state of the union until it opens backup. we are getting your thoughts. the hill newspaper notes president trump retweeted an op-ed from a writer claiming to be an anonymous senior member of the administration who harshly criticized federal workers as disloyal to the white house and worthy of losing their jobs. it was penned on the daily caller website. this anonymous senior member of the administration wrote on an average day, roughly 15% of the employees around me are exceptional patriots serving their country. i wish i could give competitive salaries to them and no one else . 80% feel no pressure to produce results if they don't feel like doing what they are told, they don't. the author states the first goal of the shutdown should be to win that her security particularly at the southern border. border officials should be paid, but nonessential employees should be let go. for lloyd and nash furloughed employees should find other work and never return and not be paid. the second goal should be savings for taxpayers. if the shutdown is about rhetorical bickering, it is a loss, but if it proves government is better when smaller, focusing only on essential functions that serve americans, president trump will achieve something greater than reagan was only bold enough to dream. at share the op-ed on tuesday by the daily caller. by re-tweeting a seat -- tweed by his son, donald trump, jr.. federal workers, we have aligned for you to tell us your reaction to that and the government shutdown on day 27. let's go to donald in indianapolis. a democrat. hi, donald. host: thank you. caller: good morning, we are listening. -- caller: thank you. host: good morning, we are listening. caller: in regards to the state of the union shutdown by nancy pelosi, i feel like nancy pelosi is the gift that keeps giving. host: what do you mean? caller: i believe she is great in her shutdown and directing the president to maybe give the state of the state address from the oval office and not giving .t from the house [no audio] host: donald, indianapolis. kelly is an independent in jackson, michigan. c-span.good morning, i just want people to remember that during the state of the union, everyone in the government is in one room. everyone. that doesn't seem safe to me. especially right now with the shutdown. saying people have to go through this because of a wall that is not going to get built and not going to happen. i feel sorry for trump voters because they got sold the car, but they got taken for a ride instead. they did not realize what they were doing, not voting in the celebrity apprentice guy in the big chair, that is not really him, that is the man behind the curtain. that is all i have got to say. host: in dallas, texas, on our line for republicans. welcome to the conversation. .aller: good morning, greta i believe we do need a barrier. i am in a border state. border.a barrier on the i don't believe in the shutdown. i don't know why he has done that. ist result does he think he going to get from it? know wet to let people are really affected here in texas by the illegal people that come over the border. and ourols are so full pay a lot.ooms and i i am 77 years old and i pay a lot in taxes because of illegal people and you cannot go to the emergency room. it has affected us greatly. yet, my heart goes out to those people when i see them on the road trying to have a better life. everybody a piece of america. we are not able to do it. i am disappointed in president trump and i wish he would do things a little differently and i voted for him and i am beginning to regret it and thank you for taking my call. host: what do you think about 2020? if the elections were held right now, would you vote for him again? caller: no, i would not, and i don't think he will get reelected. kasich will run maybe independent and i think someone will oppose him where -- democrats will probably get in, but i am not for them either. i hope not. in dallas, texas. for those of you following the nomination of william barr to serve as the president's next attorney general, the acting attorney general was at the heritage foundation yesterday and recovered his remarks and here is what he had to say about the confirmation hearing for mr. barr. [video clip] >> before i start my official remarks, i want to take a personal moment to say how exceptionally well i thought l barr did yesterday. i always believed he was the right person to take over the department of justice and lead us into the next chapter in the department of justice's history. he comes from the perfect place where he is raising his hand willing to serve, but doesn't need the job and that is always a good place to be. i will be happy to hand him the keys to a well oiled machine at the department of justice and allow him to move forward with his agenda and especially the president assad agenda. host: that is the acting attorney general talking about bill barr's hearing. he testified on tuesday. on wednesday the senate judiciary committee heard from character witnesses. dianne feinstein had this to say about whether or not she would support mr. barr/ [video clip] >> yesterday, many of us from i think both sides of the aisle asked mr. barr about his legal memo and i was allowing the special counsel to complete his work unimpeded and making the report at the end of the investigation public. his answers were good. he clearly understands the need for independence and the importance of protecting the department as well as mr. mueller from political interference. i was concerned by his equivocation regarding the report at the end of the special counsel's investigation. mr. barr was clear he would notify congress if he disagrees with mr. mueller, which i am grateful for, but his answers on providing a report to congress at the end of the special counsel's investigation were confusing. when i first asked him about the report, he said he would make it available. however, it seemed as the day progressed, he referenced writing his own report and treating the mother report -- mueller report as confidential. i will follow-up with him on writing -- in writing on this. i think it is essential congress and the american people what -- know what is in the mueller report. i met bob mueller when he was u.s. attorney and i was mayor in san francisco. i know his reputation and his integrity. this is a big report and the and witheds to see it exception, a very real national security concern -- with exception of real national security concerns, i don't believe there should be much redaction. i am hopeful that report will be made public and my vote depends because mr. chairman, an attorney general must understand the importance of this to the nation as a whole, to us as a congress as well as to every host: american. senator feinstein sang her vote depends on it. republicans have the votes, they are in the majority. they have the votes they need to get bill barr's nomination onto the senate floor. new york times this morning, months in the making, much to talk about and it might never be public. the special counsel is working on a report, but it is not clear what will happen to it. what information might build barr withhold if he does win confirmation? ends upmr. barr relaying a redacted version or writes his own, he most likely will have to keep grand jury testimony secret and he may withhold classified information that could reveal -- mr. barr noted the justice department typically keeps confidential so-called declination memos where prosecutors explain what they uncovered about anyone they decide not to prosecute. what else can we find out about what mueller learned? information could leak to the news media. if any report is leaked, that would cause a firestorm contained if it unredacted classified information. could the president block or edit a report to congress? rudy giuliani suggested in addition to revoking executive privilege, the white house may seek to edit a report so he can correct it. mr. barr said he would not allow such a move. that will not happen. if you missed the confirmation hearings, you can go to our website. let's hear from jeff, a federal worker in vienna, virginia. what do you do? caller: stay the course. by definition as a federal employee, i am in support of the president. situation has been fortunate. endress has the power to this. they can always come to an agreement amongst themselves. they could do that. i think this is really just pelosi and company trying to pick on the president. host: janice in brooklyn, new york. a democrat. hi, janice. caller: i totally disagree with the last collar for him to be a federal worker. for him to be a union employee, he should be supporting his fellow coworkers. i don't think there should be a state of the union address because they are going to look at a bunch of people not getting paid listen to number 45 who will tell a night of lies. i am a federal worker. i think we should have a massive, national strike. to walk.rs need all federal workers need to walk off the drop -- job and the truckers and all union employees should support them. there should be a national day of outrage. why is the government allowed to make people work and don't pay them? we are going to sit and support that. it should not happen. i believe it was hungary a couple of weeks ago, they went to the streets when the government said they were not .oing to pay them for overtime we are here and we are allowing the government to not pay employees and sit down and be happy with it. there should not be a women's march. there should be a national day of outrage march for the federal workers. those tsa workers need to walk off the job and the truckers need to follow. no truck should go onto any airport that day. they should all sit on the road and support the workers. if the government don't want to come and supporters, fine, then we should, as citizens, support the workers. that is all i have to say. jersey, republican. gregory, what do you have to say? caller: i have a lot to say and so many issues. i don't know where to begin. . democrats have no problem spending money, it is trump. they will not work with him on anything. it has been an edict, it is the resistance. the state of the union, he should go. i know it will be a mess because they will probably turn their backs on him. let's see them be disrespectful to the president. syria is a complex issue. caller: i am going -- host: i am going to stick to the topic this morning instead of going on to syria. having all of you respond today 27 of the post found state of -- union certainly is postponed state of the union. robert in virginia, independent. , robert. -- hi, robert. caller: i have a problem with president trump. he said during his campaign he would not accept money during his tenure in for the global office. -- oval office. if he is getting paid, they need to stop it like any other federal worker, put his money not into escrow, but the employees of the federal government. host: he has quarterly can tribbett it his check to different agencies. it is something the white house has done publicly. caller: yes, and he is still rich. i know he receives money back from his businesses. host: okay, you are talking about the income from businesses? caller: yes. a lot of that is not checked and he will not release his tax information. as far as the border wall, he is -- somebody release better get together because this government will stay shut a long time until they give the man what he wants and let's go back to business. democrats'snate efforts to stop the administration from lifting sanctions on a russian oligarch failed yesterday. roll call with the headline. the effort to block russia sanctions relief comes up short schumer came up short in his legislation, blocking the treasury department from using sanctions less than 24 hours after securing 57 votes to pursue a motion to proceed -- disapproving of the move to lift the sanctions. the same number of senators voted to lift debate, three short of the 60 needed to cut off debate and get the measure to final passage. schumer had been bullish tuesday night about the chances of getting 60 votes. richard in arlington, massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to point out what the implications of this shutdown are for decision-making. if trump gets away with this, they can demand anything they want. they will bypass the entire constitutional system whereby congress initiates spending -- approves spending. he can get anything he wants. this is a total reversion, undermining of the constitutional system of decision making. that is at stake. host: linda in staten island, new york. what is your take this morning? caller: good morning. i have a comment -- a question and a comment. my question is what is the specific job duties of some of these federal employees from these agencies such as the equal employment opportunity commission, the united states department of labor, the united ortes apartment of justice the house urban development agency when the states are not performing for people like -- we are the people -- we the people and we are complaining. since they are federal and state, what specifically do our federal departments do when we complained the states are not performing in those areas? if someone could call in if they have a job in that area. thank you so much for putting me on air. host: linda with a question for all of you. the new york times has a special edition on the women of the 116th congress and it features the speaker of the house in a section that was distributed in the washington, d.c. area. inside this special edition, you will find pictures of all the members of congress and they write that women of the 116th congress just over a century ago, jeanette rankin of montana won a seat, becoming the first woman elected to federal office. in 1917, 120 eight years after the congress convened, she was sworn in for the 65th session. becomers later, one has 131. the number of women serving in the chambers of the 116th congress. you can see they featured republicans, democrats, those that are new to this congress and those that have been reelected as well. inside the new york times this morning, they write this about the women of congress. unlike kennedy's portrait, which was painted after he was dead and noted for its melancholy tone, pelosi is looking directly at the camera. her arms are uncrossed and she appears a ready to return to her post as speaker of the house. the photographers wanted to reflect the significance as pelosi as a key newsmaker. the times is printing 27 eachons of the section, addition will feature a different female member of congress on the cover according to a print site's location. the washington post also with a feature in their style section of ayanna pressley, democrat of massachusetts suited for this office is the headline. --m the outside of room 1108 is unremarkable. inside, even less so. presley, it is everything. the office symbolizes a spiritual lineage for her. 58 years ago, the space was occupied by the nation's first lacked congresswoman. this -- first black congresswoman. -- part of the most diverse freshman class in congressional history. i love the floorplan, i love the history. that in the washington post. check out the washington post in the new york times, special addition. nathan in california, independent. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: as an independent, i used to vote more democratic. i have come to the republican party a lot more. i think the cost of illegal immigration. we have 20 million people and the cost puts a burden on working class and poor. i don't care of the shutdown takes mom's or years, we have to need tond to it read we talk about border security, not just a border wall. lee in nebraska, a democrat. what do you think? caller: what i think is i have been a democrat for 41 years. are you there? host: we are listening. caller: i have never been more embarrassed to be a democrat with schumer and pelosi. i have never been more embarrassed. days.y 27 the most federal employees, do they work on the weekends? do they work on christmas and new year's? what about new year's eve and christmas eve? i think they better recalculate the days and i hope trump does his state of the union because if he doesn't, they will let a lot of people down. host: tsa workers and others do work on the weekend. harold in florida, republican. caller: i am for the shutdown and i am like the other gentleman from florida, that i really want the border security maintained and improved. i want a wall, if that is what it takes. whatever it takes, we have got to stop letting in illegals. we should let in perhaps far more legals, but we have to stop people sneaking in, for security reasons, a lot of different reasons and we have to get everybody who is here somehow in the legal system because it is crazy, we have so many people off the books and hiding their identities. it is just crazy. host: wall street journal with this headline, house democrats target mulvaney. a picture of maxine waters, the first woman -- african-american to lead the house financial services committee. we covered her remarks at the center for american progress yesterday and here is what she had to say about the agenda for her committee. [video clip] >> in addition to conducting robust oversight of the trump administration's activities, i will be introducing the restoring housing protections act. my bill to reverse the harmful steps taken by secretary carson and the trump administration to undermine fair housing. i promise to continue to stand up for fair housing opportunities for all people. a word about something new i decided to do with this committee. this is another very important issue that i am going to continue to work on as chairwoman and that is diversity and inclusion. as a nation, we are becoming increasingly diverse racially and ethnically. the u.s. census bureau estimates more than half of all americans will belong to a minority group by the year 2044. at the same time, there is a growing body of research showing a connection between the level of diversity at a company and its strength of its financial performance. the government accountability office, the gal has found a continued trend of low representation of minorities and women in the financial services industry. minorities and women have particularly low representation at the senior levels within the financial services industry. this needs to change. a diverse representation in these institutions and particularly at the management level is essential to ensure that all consumers have fair access to credit, capital, banking, and financial services. host: joining chair waters on that committee is freshman congresswoman alexandria ocas io-cortes. she secured a position on one of the house's most powerful committees, pitting the new york democrat against wall street banks she has long criticized. with a seat on the committee, she will be at the center of discussions about whether big banks deserve regulatory relief, the need for housing affordability, and the independence of the federal reserve. back to our phone calls when our -- our conversation with all of you about the shutdown, day 27 and the speaker suggesting no state of the union until it opens up. clarence in south carolina, good morning. caller: good morning. host: what are your thoughts? caller: first of all, let me begin with the president's statement. mexico was going to pay for it and i think everyone has forgotten that. the president is not fair. he does not care about anybody. stomping his feet until he gets what he wants. host: in detroit, michigan. a democrat. caller: i want to say a couple of things. all, i don't think there should be a state of the union until the shutdown has ended. on the immigration portion and the illegals coming in, mr. trump or president trump had prototypes built and he asked for them to be tested. all of them were breached and i think until you have comprehensive immigration reform, changing the laws that it is not going to stop. if you build a 20 foot wall, people will build a 24 foot ladder and it has already been shown they tunnel under the wall . as long as you hire illegals and as long as they get paid and they can send the money back to okayo, as long as it is for them if they set foot on american soil they can stay, it is not going to change. you have got to change all of that, the laws, the hiring of the illegals. why isn't more being done? the other thing that bothers me is business. hiring them and then when you call to a business, you have to press one for english. why? in united states of america do we have to press one for our own language? the laws need to change and that is all i have to say. thanks. host: john in bethesda, republican. hi, john. caller: hi, how are you, greta? host: good. caller: i appreciate that woman's comments about tainting the laws and the range of issues she addressed. very good. the shutdown is impacting a lot of people. with respect to the democrats, the longer the shutdown goes on, the less likely they are going to get any of their issues in front of congress as well and nancy pelosi's 10-year as a congresswoman is going to be severely impacted on this. she may not think that is the case, but it is. the longer it goes, her agenda will not be fulfilled. i would say both sides need to come together on this to make it resolved and i think they can. host: some stories we are following on c-span, programming notes for all of you. on saturday at 1:30 p.m., the women's march taking place in washington, d.c. and across the country. we will have coverage on that at c-span, c-span.org, and the radio app. on friday, the march for life, the annual march for life rally also happening in d.c. in our coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. eastern time on c-span, c-span.org, or the free c-span radio app. also, we are following the story out of england about and theresa may's leadership. some of you may know she survived another no-confidence vote yesterday. 325house of commons voted to 306 to reject the opposition motion of no-confidence. financial times this morning has this headline about what's next for theresa may and this breaks it negotiations. delayss chief urging exit and a second referendum to the people. so you can follow those stories at c-span.org. theresa may addressing the no-confidence vote led by the labour party. corbyn yesterday. we have her remarks if you go to our website. , democrat. our last comment for this conversation. caller: i just wanted to say that this president is more of a circus clown than anything and circus tohowing the the whole country. and start stop this attacking him where he belongs. he's making everybody crazy but he loves that. that's the kind of stuff he loves the most. that's all i have to say. goodbye. with thewill speak congressman who is here to talk about the shutdown and later we will be joined by jason russell of the washington examiner. first yesterday's senate finance committee chair chuck grassley acknowledged that there is a among -- angst among taxpayers. >> this filing season is just around the corner. this has never been anyone's favorite time of the year, paying taxes. created byertainty the government shutdown is understandably creating a bit tax angst than in a usual filing season. the treasury department and the irs have been proactive in taking steps to minimize the burden of the shutdown on taxpayers. they recently announced the tax season will start as planned on january 28. confirmed that taxpayers can expect refunds to should thisas usual slowdown to drag on. and of course this is the right conclusion legally and the right call for the taxpayers. opportunity to tell -- when we spoke recently. providedhas explicitly permanent appropriation for the irs to pay tax refunds. this makes common sense. represents the taxpayers money. not congresses. not governments. but the taxpayers. despite what some people in congress seem to think that this money belongs to the government. returned thenbe in a timely fashion and thank god with their decisions that's going to be the case. with around 75% of individuals receiving a tax refund on an annual basis many have come to look for their refund to make important purchases whether that's to replace an old water heater, make a down payment on a reliable vehicle to get them to work or just to make ends meet generally. it would be wrong for the to impose undue financial strains on families becausehe country congress and the president can't get their act together. as we continue to work through our differences and there isn't a lot of work being done on that that i can see and that's why the shutdown is historically long now. do is returncan taxpayers their own money. >> washington journal continues. host: we welcome to the table congresswoman salud carbajal who represents santa barbara and santa maria area. also a member of the armed services committee. thank you for being here. you for having me. host: you recently went to the board. tell me about what you saw. guest: what precipitated that was the death of the child. it was the second child that died in the same region so a number of us went to discuss with cbp agents what transpired and to see firsthand the facilities. the facilities were deplorable to say the least. i didn't have portable water in some instances. the food they were providing to these migrants was haphazard. they would go to the nearest walmart and get frozen food. there was no vendor to provide meals. host: is that because of the shutdown? guest: no. just in general. i didn't have shower facilities so they were taken up to an hour away for showers every two days. the facilities were just inadequate. so for me it was a real eye-opener to see that we had inadequate facilities to house the influx of these children and families. i had an opportunity to talk to custom border protection agents. they told me what they really needed was more technology, more equipment, more personnel to boots on the ground to really do their job effectively. the wall did not come up once. president said in front of the cameras that only counts for 6% of our apprehension. where we don't have a wall where apprehending 90% of people to try to cross the border. guest: are not sure that that's quite accurate. since the year 2000 we've had an entries to illegal this nation from the southern border. that's significant. host: 90% of what. perhaps there's not as many coming across. guest: exactly. host: what gives you that notion? there were not one individual in either of the stations that i visited. i got the sense that certainly but thishese influxes crisis has been fabricated by this president. certainly has policies have led to this humanitarian crisis by metering dealing with asylum-seekers. americanng the central miners program where individuals could petition in their own central american countries for humanitarian eight instead of making the trek all the way down to our border. certainly separated families. he has created a crisis and now he is unfortunately trying to sell to the american public a national emergency which didn't exist in the last two years and now all of a sudden that exists because democrats have taken control of the house. respond to theu president and republicans who argue there are criminals crossing the border? and is 13, gangs, drugs. guest: i would say the vast majority of people are trying to come as they always have to this country. for better opportunities. certainly we have some felt --als who better fit that bill. we are all for border security. we need to make sure that we are being effective in how we are wetecting our borders, how are tracking and apprehending individuals that do fit that held. we more technology. we need to provide that are equipment to our border protection agents. we need to make sure we have more boots on the ground. vacancies that exist that need to be filled. we can start their -- there. also technology. sensors so that we can identify people trying to come to this country illegally. that's an effective way that i think is a bipartisan agreement that we have on how to address this problem. but a symbolic xena phobic wall that's a waste of taxpayer money and a campaign promise. not good policy, but a campaign promise is not really the reason why we should have this government shutdown. we need to open up our government. it's shameful what we're doing to the 800 and a hundred thousand employees and their 800,000 employees and their families. and all of the american people that depend on the safety and security services that many of these provide. host: we have had a few calls this morning. perhaps federal workers should walk off the job. the rest of the american public feels if the -- the pain that they are feeling. do you agree with that? guest: i think employees are suffering. certainly they are considering what's in their best interest like anybody would. essential employees that should stay on for the safety and security of the american public. what's really alarming and absorbent is that this president has cherry picked which employees should come and work on projects that he thinks are essential. and working on developing offshore oil outside the outer continental shelf is not one of them. but he's picking and choosing which employs should come back to work. now 70,000 --e over 800 miles of walls have been built in europe since 2015. all know walls are antiquated. people go through them. they may provide some temporary relief but that's not the answer. better technology, their personnel and better equipment. to do.what we need and filling of vacancies that we have. that in itself will provide the type of resources on the border that we need. host: tell us your personal story to read how you came to the united states. harder -- father was part of the program. he emigrated our family. i was one of the lucky ones. i went through the normal channels. i remember going through the american embassy in mexico city and justg a physical going through the whole process and that actually immigrating and it seemed like a five-day trip. day and nights traveling to the united states. i feel that i'm one of the lucky ones and i think it's our immigration system is broken people don't have the same opportunities as they are now trying to come in different ways to this country as immigrants have always come. thei think that's difference between my story and those that have immigrated through the proper channels and those that don't have those same opportunities are now trying to come in any way that they can. dan is first in pennsylvania. democrat. caller: i wanted to say that i agree with what representative is saying. the lineren't just between the u.s. and mexico. are at international airports and pollution inspections. which is why i agree that we need a comprehensive personnel driven approach. i don't really care what we call it. we can call it a virtual wall. just employ u.s. citizens and pay the ones we already have on the payroll. i think mitch mcconnell needs to pass the bill in the senate and when the president refuses to sign it they need to override that. that's what i had to say. -- guest: it's nice to hear when people agree with you. think your comments affirmed what many americans believe. do better but there's a smart way and a wrong way and fulfilling a campaign political promise is not really a crisis and it's not really any reason why we should be having our government shutdown. host: fred is watching in new york on the line for republicans. caller: good morning. don't understand where this man is coming from. the obama administration for eight years did nothing. never accomplished anything at the wall yet they are saying that something has to be done with immigration coming in. i wish they would play all the clips of what pelosi said, what schumer said, what president obama said and what the democrats were putting across if we needed the wall. sudden our guest -- we need a wall that's built right. they are not going to go over it or under it. it's going to be done right this time. to say it's not a problem is just plain crazy. host: let's get the reaction to that. guest: i'm not sure that's completely africa. in 2013 there was an extraordinary achievement. a bipartisan piece of legislation to address comprehensive immigration reform that addressed technology, investments in the border in a bipartisan way. so during the obama years we had this extraordinary partisan legislation that came forward in the senate. obviously there were a lot of politics that prohibited them from moving forward as well. but that was a real loss of an opportunity to have comprehensive immigration reform and have given relief to many individuals that are under documented in this country and at the same time shore up our economy. make sure that our agriculture farmers throughout the country have access to the labor that they need which they are now experiencing a huge labor shortage so that we have the investments in technology for the border. that's what transpired. so i think while there might have been some support for some limited -- this is a totally different concept. it's a massive symbol of xenophobia. that's what this is. host: would you support a deal like the chicago tribune endorsed that would see money for trumps wall in exchange for an agreement to maintain the deferred action for childhood arrivals program and the thousands of young immigrants known as dreamers. would you support that? guest: we shouldn't have a government shutdown for any reason. . to hold our government hostage for a wall is not the right way. we can negotiate any and all issues. but to shut down our government for a wall is not the way to go. host: bob in bowling green kentucky. independent. caller: i think we have a border security problem. guess only history would tell that. some would say that we put our troops down there. you put a 25-year-old down there that has never been in that kind of situation with a loaded gun, i don't think that's a good scenario. understand that the people doing the border security are undermanned and underfunded. were to increase that it would be a better situation. i understand that we could have hired technology going on. think this would be more of a cost-effective situation. and as far as government shutdown there's no win or lose. this is just some kind of compromise between a hard-hitting guide -- hardheaded guy in the white house and a bunch of hardheaded people in the congress. guest: i couldn't agree with you more. you are right on point. i certainly nine states marine corps. to protect the security of our nation. i know what it's like to be on the front lines and sending our military from other important military duties to the border where they could only provide limited supportive role was again a waste of money. a lot of politics and play instead of really focusing on the really its of providing for our border security. i think everybody agrees that we need to secure our borders. we are at a point where we have a government that is shutdown because we have a president that is having tantrums trying to sell to the american people that we have a crisis that he has fabricated and at the end of the day to move this political campaign for the wall forward. we should open up our government and if this president wants to continue to negotiate a wall or whatever there are proper channels to do that. but governing is not shutting down our government for a wall. host: james is in jessup, maryland. democrat. i spent three tours in and i spent them in border operations. observationsaerial on helicopters and i was an observer. along the border. we had foot patrols. we had towers. the only wall i remember was in berlin. we had barbed wire fences and tripwires. foot patrols. we worked pretty good and they -- border guards. border dogs. and that's what we need on our border. host: ok. guest: absolutely. that's what i heard time and time again from the individuals i met with from customs border protection division. that we need more boots on the ground. certainly we are hearing from border agents what they really need. we rarely tell our bosses that they -- that we disagree with them. so it's important to recognize that. when we say or here that many officers that he met with at the border said they agree with the wall. host: stanley and theory, pennsylvania. republican. caller: i disagree with that because the wall and the fence and everything else. you have to have all three of them. it may not have to be a wall. it can be a fence. the point is you've got to use all three. you just can't use technology. that's not going to stop anybody from coming in. is letgoing to do somebody know. you've got to use all three of them. with the shutdown -- some people might not like it. instead of shutting people out your tsa people without paying , im and stuff like that found in my own state. to and then let all the other lower people get paid. the politicians are still getting paid. host: some congressmen have still not taken their paychecks. guest: i'm one of those. i asked that my pay be withheld like all other employees that are not getting paid to stand in solidarity with them. in the past of done something similar. i have done that in local government. you raise some good points about redundancy and having multiple barriers. who workhere's people on securing borders and they're the ones that are saying technology is the way to go not a wall. certainly i respect your desire to have a more robust approach to the wall. experts haveur really been speaking to us about that. and i share your concern. u.s. district i have forest service, firefighters, coast guard, military personnel that are not getting paid. many are furloughed. some are doing essential duties. i had one individual who is a cusp of who is on the getting his faa certification so he can become a pilot. we have to stop certifications because of this furlough so he go't get a certification to get gainful employment and provide for his family. that's just one example of the hurt that i think we are seeing throughout our country. not just the 800,000 federal employees but all those who rely on our safety and security. food security. exists isrisis that the shutting of this government down by this president for a symbolic political promise of a wall. carbajalgressman salud of california. o'dell. independent. caller: good morning. i work for the federal government and i'm currently furloughed. i worked for the federal prison system and i am required to be i amrk not today but required to be at work. most of the people that i work with are for security, for this country and for a barrier. i work in federal prison. all we are trying to do is keep people out. thatee with the president the border needs to be there. i also believe that we need security. a fence.have just we have other types of electronic surveillance as well. opinion all of them need to stop acting like a bunch of children and get to the table. negotiate this and get it done. guest: certainly. we need to open up this government now. negotiating and whatever the present -- president wants to continue to negotiate. close it down for a wall or any other issue is not the way to govern. we should be negotiating and keeping the government open. i agree that we should be coming to the table. everybody should. would you agree to half the amount of money that the president wants for the border wall? president has only put the wall on the table. he hasn't put anything else on the table. the wall needs to be taken out of the equation and just open our federal government. that's what we need to do. host: if he does that, how does he negotiate money for the wall if he opens up the federal government? guest: are we going to close the federal government for everything he wants now? is that how we govern? that's not how we govern as a country. there's been shutdowns in the past but nothing like this. the self-imposed national security crisis he's trying to create. if this is the way we function as a country now, to shut the government down for everything, that's not the way we do things. host: to you support speaker pelosi's suggestion that the state of the union not happen until the government reopened? guest: speaker pelosi asked for a postponement. it's terrible that we are asking our furloughed employees to take up the security of this huge event for all the officials that will be present at the state of the union. it's the right thing to do to postpone it and reschedule it. she's not saying cancel it. she's saying let's postpone until we get the on this crisis that's been created. host: berry is watching in south carolina. democrat. caller: thank you very much. i will try to make my points quick. representativee to talk about the bill that the senate passed and how it came about that we ended up in this with the senate passing and then going to the house and untilagreed to it as well fox got involved and rush limbaugh. the second point is the wall itself, they asked for $5 billion but the total cost to build that wall is something around $46 billion? the third point is how long would it take to build a wall? it probably would take years and so we need something comprehensive. guest: thank you for asking that question. it allows to get test -- perspective. the president agreed with united states senate on a bipartisan bill that was put forth and voted on by the united states senate to keep the government open. because hent reneged was watching fox news who suggested that he not move forward with signing the bill. in this session the house democrats have voted since january 8 times. eight times to open up this government. becomeublicans have now entrenched in joining this president on the wall. but slowly we are seeing a lot more republicans come forward saying let's just reopen the government. and you are absolutely right. partillion is only a small of what the actual bill is for this wall. to $30talking about 25 billion that would actually take to build such a wall and it will take a long time to build it as well. so you're absolutely right. we're in this crisis because this president has reneged on moving forward with appropriation bills to fund the government that he initially agreed to and as a result, here we are. in waynesboro, pennsylvania. republican. go ahead with your question or comment. caller: i think there should be a state of the union address and i think the wall should be built and i wish the democrats would stop crying. mr. trump is the president whether they like it or not. and i don't know why they want to get rid of him. acause he's going to get special counsel to investigate the obama administration and all those democrats that did something crooked will end up in jail and they don't want to go to jail. that's the reason they don't want president trump president. this aboutessman is a political when? guest: it wasn't the cancellation. it was asking that this very important speech be postponed because security issues. you can't furloughed those that are providing security for the united states supreme court, the cabinet of the president of the united states, the president himself, members of congress. everybody that attends the joint chiefs of staff. it's a huge undertaking. to put that on top of the circumstance that our furloughed isloyees are facing unconscionable. it's not being sensitive. agree we should have a state of the union but at a later time. host: thank you for being here. guest: thank you for having me. host: when we come back we will continue our government shutdown with washington examiner's jason russell. >> watch c-span for live coverage of two marches in the nation's capital. friday march for life starts at noon eastern and on saturday the women's march beginning at 1:30 pm eastern this friday and saturday. live on c-span. the c-span cities tour, exploring the american story. we take you to independence missouri. saturday at noon eastern on booktv. we will explore the roots of independence and wyatt served as the starting point of america's great westward trails. >> downtown was the place to be. we had several blacksmith shops there. several places you could get hoisted. outfitting general store. if you needed anything that gets you out west you were going to get it here. so just a big buzzing community downtown. >> a tour of president truman's historic sites including a visit to his home and library. sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. working with our cable affiliates as we explore the american story. sunday on q&a, patricia miller and her book bringing down the the late 19th century sex scandal. >> william campbell preston breckenridge. he was in the southern elite. he's been a confederate colonel. very well-respected cavalryman in the confederate cavalry. at the time of the lawsuit he is in his fifth term in congress. she was by contrast nobody. she was a poor girl from kentucky with a literary aspirations who was very hungry for an education. she ran into him at a time when she was really desperate to get an education. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. >> washington journal continues. russell, editor with the washington examiner to continue our conversation this morning with all of you on the government shutdown. it's day 27. you were part of a piece that the washington examiner wrote. vote on the wall and bend the shutdown. what are you proposing? is basically a compromise that i think it's simple in my own mind and a pretty common sense compromise for democrats and republicans is to fund the border wall construction the president is asking for in exchange for a deal on daca of some sort. that gives trump what he wants and democrats a big win insuring people who came here not of their own accord and have not been criminals are able to stay here legally. so that's a pretty simple compromise and it seems like a commonsense idea. but apparently not something congressional leaders are interested in. host: why do you think republicans are not interested? why do you think democrats are not interested? what are the politics? trump wants his win and he wants the democrats to say trump is right and it's a great idea. democrats want to make sure trump doesn't get the signature win on the wall. he's been saying calling for a wall since june 2015 since he first started this whole campaign. finallyng him that wall is going to be a huge win if they sign on to that. and really they have dug in their feet pretty far for this point. it's tough for them to go back and let him have that win on the wall. members are saying that any kind of border wall is a and things like that. now its ando say it we will let the wall go through. host: what do you think about this proposal that jason russell is putting out their? chicago tribune also has that same endorsement of this kind of idea. a republican, democrat, independent, what do you think? give the president of 5.7 billion for the wall. democrats get the permanent daca program for the so-called dreamers. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001 and .ndependents (202) 748-8002 for the democrats, why is there a motivation to get these dreamers that permanent status? what happened to that? guest: it's a great question. i think a lot of it has to do with the politics. they've always been able to campaign for dreamers and say this is important and it needs to be done. i think this has been going on for almost a decade. they have been campaigning trying to give dreamers permanent status. it does help that it keeps those voters who agree with them engaged on that issue. #will that the voters might think -- if you finally fixed that than voters might have less of. -- a reason to vote. it's complex. what is your perspective on who is politically -- who will politically feel the damage of this shutdown? guest: i think it's increasingly going against republicans in the polls. took basically responsibility for the shutdown even before it happened saying i'm going to shut down the government. so naturally the polls are showing that this is going poorly for republicans. some republicans including listening -- lindsey graham are saying let's open the government if only just for three weeks. i think that would be huge. that ensures that federal employees who have been going without paychecks can come back to work. the federal contractors who have been out of work are able to come back for a little bit and get some more revenues they can help pay their own employees as well. and i think that would make a big difference if the government opened just for three weeks and even if it shut down after that over the same issues in the same problems than at least there's little bit of a mitigated damage. host: let's hear what our callers have to say. caller: immersing these dreamers haven't broke the law. they broke the law when they got here. laws work. walls work. we breakck people when the laws we get put behind walls. as those black leaders up there in the gym a credit party should be assumed of yourself. your children are being punished and put in jail for breaking laws. making excuses for these people that are breaking the laws. you were holding up this man from trying to get this thing in order. they broke the laws. either you get them out of this country. the only thing you have to do is tell donald trump to give them six months to get out of the country and if they don't get out and we have to catch them and put them on a chain gang. host: what about the dreamers who came here -- their parents brought them here. caller: their parents are wrong. our parents -- we were living in ghettos and stuff and we can't get out of the ghettos. things for with crack cocaine to put us in jail for years. call the wall what we've got going on with this illegal immigrants. because the thing with black people coming into this country, you will find a way to solve their problems. colorcode you raise an interesting point about -- you raise an interesting point. we were protections are for immigrants who are already here. it's not forward-looking. what we have increasingly seen of programse kinds and protections have encouraged more people to come along over the border and to bring their children because they are saying it is possible not right away but in 10 to 20 years there is a political constituency that will be there to say, yes we should protect these people. we should give them temporary if not permanent legal status here. so it's an interesting issue that should definitely be part of the discussion over the border wall. john is watching from oregon. republican. i think not funding the wall is kind of like funding the military but don't let them have any bullets. just give them everything else. i think they need all three things. remember pelosi has to the house is not her house's house. and if the president gives his speech there, that's where you should give it. guest: obviously it's a big political event. threat/request is kind of heightening the drama over the state of the union. and democrats have been known for some stunts in the past. there was a caucus of democratic members who dressed up in all white either last year or the year before. so it will be interesting to see lots of democratic members might boycott. we are nott say going to let this happen in the house chamber itself. i think president trump said that if steve -- steve scalise comes to the capital we will find a place for him to speak. i think even more people are going to watch because it's going to be even more interesting. host: independent. i think that you have a good idea about putting out a compromise. i would make the compromise like this if i was trump. 5.6uld tell them give me billion for the wall and a tax on mexico on goods coming into the united states and all mail going to mexico. that would pay for the wall and mexicans would pay for the wall and trump would have his base would be happy with that. in return i would give pelosi that daca. and i would add to that the prescription drug bill that the democrats have been wanting. they can negotiate the price of they candrugs and import drugs from canada. so the price will come down. people are hurting out here on these prices. they are ridiculous. 300 dollars to $500 co-pays. trump could come out a hero in this and reverses bad numbers. inc. you. guest: that's an interesting idea. to bring in prescription drugs in the immigration debate. since the shutdown is related to all government funding i don't see why they couldn't try that. i don't see it happening for political reasons for the same reasons i mentioned earlier the democrats don't want to give trump any kind of win on the wall. of hesitant to give them a win on daca because it's certainly a good portion of his base is going to attack him for amnesty. it's interesting to see a large portion of trump space -- trump's base including ann coulter and other extreme conservatives complaining about , theng for the wall construction has been these steel slats that stop someone from walking straight through. certainly there are videos of able-bodied men climbing over the steel slats. so they are not satisfied with that. they want a concrete barrier like they were promised from day one. they are still going to be unhappy because it's not the concrete terrier that the whole length of the border. host: how would you describe washington examiner conservatism? guest: certainly our editorial pages center-right. our opinion pages. we like to publish all kinds of things. we like to publish good arguments and to respond to those good arguments and have strong policy debates. we also have our strong object to news side. host: in missouri, democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. first of all i take issue with some of the things that you've commented. especially about pelosi. taking her stunts. the women wearing white were because it was in the face of some of the things and misogynistic things that trump has done. the second thing is on daca. we don't negotiate with terrorists. the united states has a policy that we never negotiate with terrorists and donald trump is a , this is a terroristic tactics that he's using. think he hasn't even used the money that they already gave him for the wall. and trump touts it as they are doing work on the wall and they haven't done anything. if they wanted to pass additional funds for the wall they would have done it when they had control of both houses and the presidency which was just before the midterms. guest: she makes an interesting point about president trump's two years in office with republican majorities. certainly they didn't have a super majority like barack obama did in 2009 and 2010. if trump wanted to make a priority then he could've had a stronger majority in the house to push that through. now he's got to deal with rancid -- nancy pelosi rather than paul ryan. obviously it wasn't easy than because you still had moderate republicans who were either leery of going all in on a wall or spending so much money on a wall. make that ated to priority he could have said we are going to do wall funding before we take care of tax reform. we are going to do wall funding before we try to do obamacare repeal. years, legislating takes time. you have to set your priorities. even though trump said from day one that this is his biggest didg congressional leaders kind of set the priorities with what they were doing in terms of tax reform and health care. host: in virginia. cheryl. republican. caller: corrected me if i'm last act of the last house, they did pass the 5.7 billion and that was the last thing they did and that was right after that night that pelosi was some more dancing and happy that they didn't pass -- they didn't vote on anything but they did pass 5.7 billion. that was the last act of the last congress. corrected me if i'm wrong. i believe that's what happened before the democrats came in and also i'm wondering if c-span is lexit which is b the black exit from the democratic party. it's a rally happening in l.a. county and the reason it's happening in l.a. county first is because the sanctuary city and the sanctuary county and state that's going on is affecting the black community there. it's uncivil in the schools. the kids are being told to go back to africa from kids that are not even citizens of this country. almost no one will cover the type of frightening situation where the cars are being car bombed. fireballs because they are black people and they are in the illegal latino community. i'm not sure exactly what's going on down there because people won't cover it. the examinery from can go to these sanctuary cities. there are having a terrible time with this illegal immigration in the sanctuary cities and it's not being covered. guest: there is interesting point. interesting point. democrats assumed that their constituencies are all on board with their immigration. there is a growing sentiment among african-americans that the democratic party does not speak for them. i think the african american man for was also the representative that. he was saying congressional leaders had betrayed the party. so certainly it was something that from the start donald trump was painted as a racist candidate. his approval among african-americans is still incredibly low and he is wildly unpopular in general among african-americans. he is actually slightly more popular with african-americans than previous republican presidential candidates. host: in jacksonville, north carolina. independent. isler: what i wanted to say the wall is one thing. they are still allowing hundreds to come in through the doors every day. but how much money is spent care,month on health unpaid -- no taxes brought in every month from the illegal people. onlyst seems like there's one fourth of the population that actually carries this whole country. guest: i think that is something conservatives are concerned about when it comes to giving illegal status to illegal aliens. i think a lot of republicans would say let's make sure that welfare programs and government programs are only available to permanently to citizens of the country. and they want to basically make who aret the people paying the most in texas are eligible for those programs. and that does seem like a reasonable compromise that people who are illegal immigrants who come here and if they can pay their own way and still make sure that they can make a living without needing government assistance and that seems like a reasonable compromise. host: george in ohio. democrat. caller: yes. i have a question for him. for jason. host: we are listening. jason, in 2016 didn't trump's sake mexico was going to pay for it yet out guest: he did. -- pay for a? guest: he did. caller: isn't he a liar? guest: he's making the interesting claim now that the new north american trade deal is going to have mexico pay for the wall and its very indirect logic. that weically arguing are going to make more tax revenue because mexico is going to have increased trade with us and that's going to be better for the economy so indirectly that will pay for the wall through higher tax revenues. that.t fully buy free trade is absolutely good for the economy and i support that. sayingtill basically that americans paying more in taxes because the economy is doing better are going to be the ones paying for the wall. host: how do you see this ending if at all and do you see a solution in sight soon? guest: yeah. i think a week or two ago when we were having the debate whether trump can declare an emergency at the border, i could see him trying to do that at some point. the state of the union happens as scheduled, perhaps he will make a grand show of it and say i'm declaring tonight with the whole nation watching that a state of emergency exists at the border and we will use emergency funds to build the wall. that case say that he expects democrats to fund the government now that he doesn't need border wall funding that way. democrats might just say we are mad that you are doing that. host: and note the optics of him saying that with the speaker of the house directly behind him. interestingalways watching the reactions and who stands and applauds. host: friend. republican. on the air. go ahead with your question or comment. governmenta -- this shutdown is not all trump's fault. my husband served this country all his life and he died for this country. then my son died after that of drugs. he take his own life and he died. grandson also on drugs and he's going to die, too. we need the wall. nancy needs to fund money for trump to build the wall. of drugse drug issue brought from latin america and mexico into the u.s. is always interesting to look at. that is something that certainly affects lots of republicans and democratic districts as well. reason we see some african-americans and democratic voters saying we need to build the wall to stop the flow of drugs. you don't see congressional democrats doing that line. certainly there is a growing constituency of voters saying that. democratsou think come up with anything the president could support? guest: that's a great question. trump is only going to say that he wants wall funding and i never see democrats saying ok we will give you wall funding. maybe they will say we will give you $2 billion for border security or something like that. tough to walk down from saying building a wall is immoral to saying ok we will give you some money for that anyway. host: republicans controlling the senate and the democrats starting up the legislative session early this morning. they are about to gavel and any second for the legislative agenda on this thursday and they are talking about canceling a scheduled break for next week if this government shutdown continues. jason russell, you can follow and washington examiner.com. thank you for the conversation. the house is about to gavel in so we of course go there live. live gavel to gavel coverage here on c-span.

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