million american visitors touring these iconic sites so as the summer travel season begins to wind down and on this anniversary we'll be devoting the next 90 minutes learning about your park service experiences and we want to hear from you. our phone lines are open at 202-748-8000 for those in the central and eastern time zones 202-748-8001. what had been your experience at national parks across the country, including a new one designated this week in the state of maine. you can also send us a tweet at spambingswj or join us on facebook.com/c-span. good thursday. thanks very much for being with us. if you pick up today's "wall street journal" or "washington post," two editorials commemorating the national park service including this from terry anderson. happy 100th birthday national parks and jonathan janis writing these lands are your lands, america. read them online at wsj.com. some background on the national park service. it was signed into law on this date by president woodrow wilson in 191. congress established yellowstone national park back in 1872 as the world's first national park. 1916, the date president wilson signed the law creating the national park service and the system began to include areas of historical significance back in 1933 designated by president franklin d. roosevelt. and earlier this summer, president obama commemorating this centennial anniversary. president obama: we have to have the foresight and faith in the future to do what it takes to protect our parks and to protect this planet for generations to come. and that's especially true for our leaders in washington. it's what lincoln did when he set aside this ground for all posterity. that's what roosevelt did when he inspired the national park system. that's what our generation has to do. we have to sum up that same vision for the future. we made good strides and we're reducing carbon pollution and preserving landscapes. we're rallying the world to tackle climate change together but we've got to do a lot more. and on this issue, on like a lot of issues, there's such a thing as being too late. the good news is i know we can rise to the challenge. over the last seven years we've proved it and if we keep at it, we're not just going to safeguard this place, we're going to protect our communities from rising fees and stronger storms and brutal droughts. but we're also going to protect our children's lungs from breathing dirty air and protect vulnerable people from displacement. we'll protect our national security because we won't be seeing refugees displaced because of conflict and scarcity. and we'll build on that legacy of all those who came before us, who stood in these parks a century ago and talked about an america that lasts through the ages. host: in june the president commemorating what is a summer of celebration for america's national park service. again, we want to hear from you. when you send us a tweet, if you have a photograph, if you've visited one of the national parks or historic sites, you can do so. tweet your photos at c-spanwj and show them on the air as we commemorate the national park service centennial. let me read what terry anderson writes in the op-ed at washington journal, a fellow at the institute, called happy 100th birthday national parks and writes the following, few federal agencies command more widespread support than the national park service. a 2015 gallup poll found 73% of americans were satisfied with the government's handling of national parks despite their overall dissatisfaction with the federal government. there are now 84 million acres in the national park system, including 59 national parks, 20 of which were added after 1980 and 353 national monuments, battlefields and historic sites. every year congress creates more marks, often referred to as park barrel politics. but loved as they are, the national park systems and monuments are not being treated well. adding more makes matters worse. there is already a backlog of maintenance projects including deteriorating roads, buildings and sewage systems that will cost $12 billion to fix. this morning from terry anderson and his op-ed in "the wall street journal." e're joined in washington with noel straub and covering for green wire and thanks for being with us on the washington journal. guest: thanks for having me. pleasure to be here. host: let me begin with the disrepair in america's national parks. what needs to be done that isn't? guest: as you heard, there's a $12 billion backlog with the national parks. there's a whole host of projects all across the country that need to be done. it's an astonishing task they have to accomplish. the park service in addition to the normal monuments you would think of also has more than 5,000 miles of roads under its care, 1,000 bridges. it's got pipelines bringing water into the parks that are often failing. so they have a lot of infrastructure that they need and it's easier to get donations to repair the washington monument or lincoln memorial and the well known parks and harder to get money for the basic things like keeping the water flowing into parks or keeping their roads paved. host: the washington monument having its own problems with the elevator which is now shut dunn because of disrepair and was recently renovated but still a lot of issues for those who want to travel to the very top of that iconic, historical ite. guest: it's going to be shut for nine months to fix the elevators. they've been closing it on and off for a day or two here or there and it's scary for visitors who get stuck at the top and have to walk down or get stuck partway up and they decided they need to take it out of service for a good nine months and go ahead and redo the elevators. host: that are the problems with the washington monument elevator and why wasn't it fixed right the first time? guest: some of the problems started with the earthquake which was five years ago. there was quite a bit of damage to the washington monument. some of the blocks at the top came loose and that sort of thing. but they've been having problems for years. and they've tried to do more temporary fixes to try to get it up to speed so people could use it but haven't done a full shut it down, repair the whole thing so that seems to be what needs to happen now. host: you put together a series commemorating the 100th anniversary of the national park service. take us through from 1872 when yellowstone national park became the world's first national park to 1916, the law that president woodrow wilson signed. guest: yeah, we actually have 14 articles in our series on the national park service, the last one coming out today, is a look at how the park service was created, so it's right on topic for today's anniversary. but yes, the first park, as you mentioned, the world's first park was created and then 35 other parks and monuments were created, but they were being overseen by the interior department but not a specific agency within the interior department, just the larger department. and eventually, you know, lawmakers realized they probably needed its own agency so that there is unified management over all of these 35 parks that existed. so there's a lot of congressional wrangling as you can expect. it took about six years from the time that the first bill was proposed to when it actually passed. there were fights over jurisdiction and whether the forest service should get some of the sites or whether the park service should get them. there also is wrangling over whether there should be grazing allowed in parks, livestock grazing. so they deliberately -- the way they ended up passing the bill is they deliberately kept it a little vague and had an overarching mission statement but didn't have too many specifics so there wasn't too much people could object to, so they ended up passing the bill in 1916 and the park service went on from there. host: let me go back to the bill signing ceremony and what congress and the president hope to achieve, the fundamental service of the national park service, to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. and since 1980, we've really seen a huge growth in the number of designated areas of national parks and u.p.i. pointing out that president obama has designated more areas of national parks than any of its predecessors. guest: he has. yesterday there were 412 park units and then yesterday there were 413. president obama has created a dozen parks in his tenure. president bush, the younger, created one. president clinton created three. so as you can see, president obama has created more and there's been some controversy over whether additional park units should be created. both the president and congress can designate parks. congress by passing a law and the president by using the antiquities act which is a 1906 law that lets him bypass congress and do it on his own. but some people think given the $12 billion maintenance backlog and all the -- what the park service already has to take care of, it's not a good idea to give them additional parks to add to their growing list. host: we move into late august and the 25th of the month, the 100th anniversary of the national park service. we want to hear from those who live in the eastern time zones nd for those out west, 202-748-8001. your thoughts on the national park service or send us a tweet. there's this from dean who says walking down from the top of the washington monument is awesome. you get to see all of the artwork. let me go back to your earlier point about the new park that was designated just yesterday in the state of maine but not without controversy. what's this area about and why are some questioning the president's motives, including the governor? guest: the co-founder of burt's bees, roseanne quimbley, wanted to give 80,000 acres in the maine north woods which contains a lot of beautiful woods and streams and she wanted to donate it to make it a national park. there were opposition in maine and people were worried about restrictions as far as access, hunting, getting into the park, and they also, you know, wanted -- people were worried about the government taking more land. so yes, there was quite a bit of opposition. the park service leaders held several public hearings up there which were pretty controversial, got a lot of good comments on both sides. and the co-founder of burt's bees had been pushing for congress to make it a national park but the legislation stalled in congress so she then turned her attention instead of pushing it through congress to get president obama to create it through as a national monument and what he did yesterday. host: from "the washington post," these lands are your lands, america. and this tweet from jan who says everyone should see the ken burns series about the national parks. he is a national treasure. and we'll be joined by noelle straub and her work is available online at eenews.net. first we want to hear from you. michael from new kensington, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: yes, steve. thank for you taking my call and c-span as usual. it's a great program. i have done a good deal of traveling throughout the park system, death valley and the grand canyon are my favorites. but i do think you bring up good points with the maine acquisition. there's way too much parkland -- too much land under federal jurisdiction and i think the atistic was 75% of nevada or something was federal lands. i think that's outrageous. there was even a controversy when clinton was president, they took all this land in utah nd just for the escalate mountains and one of the mountains, the main purpose -- i think it was nevada. the main purpose was to keep them from the yuca mountain that was going to be used for a nuclear storage facility, to keep it out of the hands of the public -- of the private industries could not be used for that purpose. and i think that they could sell some of these federal lands. roles ep adding to the and can't roles and can't maintain them, as your guests pointed out, they keep it limited to the public in certain areas. host: thanks for the call. you're seeing some of the iconic scenes of just a few of the national parks as we devote the first 90 minutes of our program on this send tennial -- centennial anniversary of the national parks system. there's a tweet with a photograph of yellowstone national park and this from kybel who has a question, is the most visited national park still the great smokey mountains in tennessee? i know it has been for years. you know the answer for that temperature guest: yes, it is still great smokey mountain national park. host: you have been there? guest: no, it's high on my list and would like to make it soon. host: we'll go to allen who joins us from brooklyn, new york. caller: great topic. i noticed when you had the language of the act on the screen it said specifically to leave it unimpaired for future generations. when they passed the laws as when they pass laws about landmark preservation or species preservation, the intention is that we can look at the specific objects we're going to present from specific hark we can see and as president obama emphasized in his talk there are other ways we can lose these pressure -- treasures even if they're not attacked or taken directly and that's through climate change. i don't know if the people who started the park system can imagine that kind of threat but their obligations to be adult enough to realize that kind of threat and protect our parks and landmarks and our species from loss to future generations given that they're under the effect of climate change. this campaign has been marked by an infantile focus on distractions from things that allow us to act as adults. and we can't protect our parks from climate change unless we're did dult enough -- adult enough to realize we're responsible for our actions and responsible for the cause and effect knowledge of scientific truths about how climate is being harmed. and also we finally have to recognize the future has the property interest in the atmosphere and we cannot take it from them without violating the conti substitution spirit. we don't own it but are holding it in trust. host: thank you for the call in brooklyn, new york. we have an email from the great smokey mountains and this one with this photograph which is a spectacular place in tennessee. another tweet, i've been to many national parks, i believe one should tour the u.s. rather than europe for bragging reasons. and "the washington post" has this piece, national park service turns 100 and some sites are showing their age. the story available online at "washington post."com saying yellowstone national park interior secretary saly jewel is expected to kick off a commemoration of the 100th anniversary. on c-span 3 america history tv we'll have our own celebration and take you to arlington house at the robert e. lee memorial at arlington national cemetery across the potomac in northern virginia and our live coverage at 7:00 plm eastern time live on c-span 3, part of american history tv and check it out online at c-span.org. to howard. good morning. >> i don't know if your book touched on the homeless population in the national arks because -- hello? obviously the homeless -- and almost homeless people who can't survive, they can't pay their rent, they're literally starving in order to pay rent. and the park service has a crackdown on anyone camping for an extensive length of time in the park. i thought as a citizen i had a right to camp indefinitely in the national park and seems and that this service paid for by taxpayer money won't allow camping. i remember going to boy scout national park living in their cars in bad economic times in a national park and didn't seem to be a problem. what's going on? do you have any idea? host: let me turn back to noellestraub. she's the editor of natural resources issues and put together a series available online at eenews.net. what about the homeless and people who want to camp out in national parks around the country? guest: each park has its own set of regulations and rules where it will allow camping and where it won't. i'm not sure whether there is extended camping allowed or what the time restrictions are. it would be -- the park service mission is to protect and take care of the parks as well as allow them to be enjoyed by the public. they do need rules and regulations that would govern where and when people are allowed to camp. it can't be a free-for-all because the park service needs a little bit of management and guidance in there. there were articling saying it was a national forest more than the national park which is are dealing with the homeless problems. there are more people camping out in forests than actual parks. host: a related story available at nytimes.com with the headline focused on the homeless who want to visit national parks and camp out as they find refuge in the forest, the anger is palpable in nearby towns. let's go to derek, annapolis, maryland. caller: thank you for taking the call. host: have you visited the national historic sites? caller: i have and enjoyed many parks throughout my visit and can't say enough about the services provided there. i think the ranger staffs i've encountered at each park have been absolutely phenomenal with their wealth of history and excitement about and passion for the lands they are taking care of. i wanted to touch base on climate change and do agree with his point there. my question is, is there a movement coming from obama and maybe even other administration officials to get that groundswell population back, to have that ccc and wpa kind of atmosphere to help restore some of the parks that we have? again, thanks for the call. host: thank you. we appreciate it. let's go to cecil joining us from pittsburgh. good morning. >> i'm really thankful for c-span and i have to admit the first entrance into a park was grand canyon, but yellowstone was impressive because of the geyser. and i think we ought to preserve these parks. i had an easy time getting in and think you ought to know, i've been trying other times and i really admire the parks and the project that franklin delano roosevelt put people to work in because of this, we had a depression -- were coming out of the depression but everything but slowly entered slowly got de and us out but the parks are beneficial to this country. and really enjoyed it going across route 66. host: thank you for the call. we appreciate it. victor sending this fweeth, my best visits are yellowstone and the grand canyon. we'll be back. send us a photograph and we'll show your photos as we continue to look at the 100th anniversary of the national park service and we welcome our listeners on c-span radio. join in on the conversation, the eastern 000 on half of the country and 202- 748-8001. before his death, kennedy toured parks and here are some of the highlights. president kennedy: this country has become rich because nature was good to us and because the people who came from europe predominantly are also among the most vigorous. the basic resources were used skillfully and economically and because of the wise work done by theodore roosevelt and others, significant progress was made in conserving these resources. we made the proper position today in how we should use our our and air and land and ocean and unless we make the com probable efforts, an effort theodore roosevelt and others made years ago we're going to waste it. today the conservation moments are to embrace discipline well known in the past. it must marshal our vast technological resources and be part of our resource supply. it must concern itself with nuclear energy as well as agriculture with the physics and chemistry, as well as t.b.a. with the economic and engineering factors of open pace, we save our scenic treasures. our task now is to increase our understanding of our environment, to appoint but enjoy it without defacing it, use its bounty without detracting permanently from its value. and above all, maintain a living balance between man's actions and nature's reactions. for this nation's great resources is a lasting and productive ingenuity can make it. our national asset belongs to all of us. children born in the west will grow up in the east and the east will grow up in the west and define by contraiting our energy on natural resources on conserving them and not merely saving them but by developing and improving them, the united states will be richer and stronger. we can fulfill our responsibilities to ourselves and those that depend upon us. host: from september 24 to september 28, 1963, you're watching and listening to president john f. kennedy as he traveled to a number of national park services and site as and in fact was an 11-state tour and those were the highlights traveling from utah, california, utah and nevada. at 7:00 plm eastern time we'll look at the 100th anniversary of the park service and hope you tune in live on c-span 3 and every weekend we focus on american history tv. the national park service by the numbers, 307 million visitors in 2015 and counting. a budget of over $2.6 billion. 20,000 permanent employees as well as temporary and vonal workers and 246,000 volunteers that donate 6.7 million hours annually according to the national park service. ore details available at nps.goff. we're joined by a listener in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. good morning. you with us? pam is next in florida. good morning. caller: good morning. host: you're on the air. go ahead, please. caller: i wanted to say i've been to several parks and love them. i can see what happens, though. you have to draw the line somewhere because there's so many people that love to get out and camp and get out and see nature. i've been to the red woods and sequoia. i've been to the oceans. i've been up in washington. i just love going there and that's all i have to say. host: thank you for the call. let's go to noelle straub. she works for e and e green wire and someone saying we need more dollars to maintain them. how much more money does the park service need and want and what are its priorities? guest: the park service asked for $3.1 billion for fiscal 2017 so for next year. congress is still working on its appropriations bills so the house and senate are still working out how much money they'll actually give the park service. right now it looks like they'll probably give the park service $2.9 billion which is slightly less than the park service asked for. but on a separate track, both democrats and republicans have introduced separate bills in honor of the park service centennial that would provide additional funding to the park service. the democrats introduced the version that the obama administration would like which is -- which would provide the park service $1.5 billion over three years and would be a funding boost for the park service. republicans have said that that figure is not very realistic and introduced their own bill that would give the park service quite a bit less guaranteed funding but would change how some endowments work with the national park foundation, which is the charitable organization linked to the park service and change how money could be spent out of the endowment and make more funding available. they have different takes on that. the one thing both bills do agree on, senior citizens can for $10 buy a lifetime pass for all the national parks and both the republicans and democrats would like to change that to $80 for a lifetime pass and would also bring in a little more revenue for the park service. host: as part of your special report you take a look at hampton, virginia, at fort monroe and i want to focus on this for a moment because it's an area some question its historical significance and also struggling to maintain a lot of visitors. what are some of the challenges with the lesser known historic sites, monuments inside the national park service? guest: president obama, the first park he declared, it was a military base and it was changed through brac with the military realignment commission and handed it over to the park service. it is the fort where the very first slave ship bringing slaves to the english colonies,ening learn at the time, colonies came through and then in the civil war slaves fled to fort monroe and sought refuge and was given shelter by the northern side. so it did play a big role in the history of slavery. . and the park service hasn't gotten all its signage up and it isn't clear when you go to visit but it's actually national park property there. you still work on getting signs up and the word out that this is somewhere to go and visit, so it takes a lot of effort to -- effort to get the word out there that the parks are out there this you can visit. host: we'll be joined in 15 minutes on the mall here in washington, d.c. which is operated by the national park service, and we're looking at the centennial on this date as in woodrow wilson signed into law the creation of the national park service and we're taking your tweets. we're asking for photographs. this is from one of our viewers, steve, who says rats, no available photos but i like yosemite, glacier, acadia, grand canyon. do you have a favorite? guest: mine i think would be a little bit different. when i first got out of college i worked for a national park, worked for homestead national monument of america which is in beatrice, nebraska, 45 minutes south of lincoln, and it's one of the very first homesteading sites in the country. so they had the cabin there where the homesteader lives and they have a hundred acres of tall grass prairie and was there summer into fall so the tall grass really by the end is six or seven feet tall and was taller than i was and can you go out and stand in the middle of the prairie and be completely surrounded by this amazing natural beauty. so i have to say i am partial to that park. host: keep the tweets coming in. we love them. this from steve harrison with a photograph in independence, missouri. harry truman's iconic home, the national park service also manages places like harry truman's house which is a must-see place if you're in independence, missouri. and deedee fredericks who tweets quite often said money to rebuild the world, no money to rebuild our parks. from johnson, south carolina, good morning. your thoughts on this centennial of the national park service? caller: i think it's an amazing thing that we have, the park service, and the natural forest service because it gives us a chance both to see our heritage and our history in the smaller parks and just to connect with nature. i spent many years happily riding my horse in the smokey mountains. they were kind enough to provide us with access and trails even though, of course the horses do have a larger impact on the trails than human footprints but it's a wonderful thing. passport golden age that gives me camping anywhere i want to go that honors that. i can remember 30 years ago in the smokey mountains, there was the effect of acid rain in the higher elevations. and it just pointed out to me that we need to have conservation in place and not just pretend like this will always be with us. travis smiley interviewed betty reed hoskins who works for, i'm sorry if it's the national forest service or the park service, and she is a national treasure. i urge people to engage with the officials of the parks and the volunteers to learn more about the area and just find out what motivates them to become either a volunteer or an employee. i worked with the forest service many times to help put in new trails in different areas. it's a great experience for anyone and i urge everyone to get out and enjoy it. host: thank you very much for the call, connie. jan has this, my sister and her husband visiting all of them as a bucket list item. tell us your thoughts of the national park service and share your tweet with us at c-spanwj. let me go back to two photographs from 1903. this is president teddy roosevelt and conservationist john pure at 234r5eusher -- flasher point in yosemite. and many would have thought it was teddy roosevelt who created the national park service but came during the woodrow wilson things. -- wilson administration. you know why? guest: it took a while to push the bill through and there were 35 parks in existence by the time the agency was created so it wasn't that they weren't creating parks, they definitely were creating parks and teddy roosevelt was very in favor of that. they just didn't create the agency to oversee them until the woodrow wilson administration. host: we want to share with you some exclusive photographs, exclusive because shawn duty of our staff just returned from yosemite national park and you'll see these only on c-span because our c-span employee took them. let me share those with you. john, good job. we go to neva joining us from oregon. good morning. caller: thank you. thank you for carrying my call. my question to you is who owns the mineral rights under the ground? because right now in burns, regon, we have hillary clinton and sold 18 million pounds to yellow cake to russia and iran and there was a newspaper in oregon and reported on january 8, 2012, would you please tell me who and why they can do something like that? host: thanks. i don't have the answer to that. let me turn back to noelle and see if you can answer that issue of the mineral rights. you know the answer? guest: sometimes there's a situation called split estate where one person owns the mineral rights below the ground and somebody else owns the surface rights above the ground and is actually a fairly common practice especially in the western united states where they split the two ownerships and can lead to conflict, naturally, as somebody above the beyond and someone else owning below the ground might have different intentions on with a they want to do with the lan. host: when you think of the national parks, there's seashores and parkways to reserves that make up the national park system, 413 in all. talk about some of the lesser known national park service designations. guest: we did one story looking at parks that are less visited than other parks. we sent a reporter to thomas stone historic site in rural, maryland. he was a signer of the declaration of independence. but even in his own park they admit that he wasn't too charismatic and didn't speak up much in congress. so nobody really knows too much about him. so this is a park that was created in 1978 when congress passed what was known as the park barrel bill where it's the biggest park bill that ever passed congress and affected a hundred parks and conservation projects across the country and created 11 new parks including this one in maryland. so sometimes the parks that were created were pet projects of local politicians, and the park service didn't always want those sites to join the park service. this one in particular, the park service didn't want. but once congress tells them, you know, this is going to be a park, they take it on and do the best they can with it and include it in the system. host: victor has this tweet, the grand canyon is worth several visits. it's almost spiritual if if not least a out of body experience. we're joined by a listener in maine. maine is the most recent designation as a national park service site. good morning. caller: good morning. yeah, it's very hot weather up here today, as it is everywhere but i would like to say that my favorite national park is j.f.k.'s birthplace. john f. kennedy's birthplace in brookline, massachusetts. you can go in and look at the room where he was born, where his kitchen, everything where the family lived. and it's a very moving experience. and i do commend the new national park in maine. i wish all of maine was a national park. and i need to stress to everyone that the national park service must begin to curtail and stop the massive amount of hunting of our wildlife animals and birds. times have changed, it's year 2016 and with the almost constant forest fires going on, we must protect and preserve the birds, bears, deer and fish. just don't gaga at the beautiful scene you encounter, look in and see weas happening. we're losing so much wildlife to hunting and to the wildfires. and money and effort has to be put in by the national park service, volunteers, everyone, to take this new problem and stop it and make national parks with a they're supposed to be, and e for our wildlife nature to be preserved so we can enjoy it. host: thank you for the call. jody has this point, there's a national forest a few miles from my home so i feel like i live in one. let's go to debbie joining us from naples, florida. good morning. caller: good morning, sir, how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: we went this vacation with the kids, we live in naples, florida, and we traveled to jackson hole, wyoming, and then we went to yellowstone and it was just beautiful. from there we had, you know, a whole day in yellowstone and it was just the most wonderful thing you can see. ou know, the kids go to play in the mountain because my daughter never seen the snow so we had a very nice time. so from there we went to another park, the rocky mountains. and it was just beautiful, too. so we had a very nice time in vacationing in those parks. i think it should be preserved and, you know, we all should give a little bit of our money get that place maintained and for the future generations. host: debbie, thank you for the call. marie is joining us next from reston, virginia. good morning. welcome to the conversation. caller: yes. good morning. it's a wonderful show. and years ago i saw a program about the national parks and so forth, and they interviewed a native american that his tribe lived out there in the yellowstone auerbach in the 19th century, and they -- the natives that lived out there got pushed off of their land and this happens in many, many areas in this country where they have national parks, this native man said it's wonderful the white man loves the trees and nature and animals but what about the humans, the indians that live there, the indigenous people? didn't they have a right to live there in the beauty there? they loved it there and why they lived there throughout the centuries. my point being that i think it uld be nice if the land in the park possibly a 1/3 of it might be made available to people from tribal descent, native american tribal descent in the various states they're from, which we live in all states. and it would be a wonderful thing. and also, i don't think any of the parks should be spoiled by mining and so forth. let them stay in their beautiful natural state. what does your guest have to say with regards to that? host: if you want more information on the park service, it's nps.gov. the iconic hat worn by the park ranger with confetti celebrating 100 years. let me go back to virginia and really take it one step further, whether or not there's anything future presidents can do that would rescind an order that would create a national park put in place? guest: i don't believe the president can unmake a park. they can make parks but don't think they can unmake them. congress would have more control over that and often passes bills that change the boundary of parks and may add or subtract certain amount of land from parks. the congress can do that. but i don't think any parks are going to be -- once they are a park, they're pretty much always a park. host: let me go back to the issue of drilling rights and issues in some of these national parks and maybe not necessarily yosemite or grand canyon but areas that are designated wilderness area that might have potential for energy resources down the road. hat are the guidelines if any? guest: certain parks had is ing going on and cypress where there has been controversy in the park for oil and gas deposits. there's a limited number of parks that do have development going on inside their borders. host: a few more calls. i have one final question for you before we wrap it up. michael has been waiting from hyattesville, maryland. good morning. caller: thank you, c-span. good morning. i love the parks and i love wildlife and i love animals and everything. but let me ask, i want to know one thing. where are you getting $2.9 billion to take care of the park or take care of these parks when you have people out here starving? i'm sitting in my car right now looking at these homeless people sleeping in the park, in the park they're sleeping, these homeless people but yet you say you have -- congress is going to give them $2. billion to run these parks and all that. well, i'm going to say why don't you take the state prisoners over there and let them take care of the park and congress give the $2.9 billion to these people that are sleeping in the homeless park right here? why, what's wrong? the human race don't have a right no more? host: michael from maryland. we'll go next to dottie joining us from port angeles, washington. good morning, dottie. caller: good morning and thanks for taking my call and i live on the northern border of the national park and was raised in this area. it's really beautiful. i invite everyone to come and visit us. but my question is, the mineral rights question, that wasn't eally answered like who does own them? there is maybe a difference between the surface and underneath, but does the united states own those or does a previous owner where the national park was established, does the family, person still own them? what is the split? host: dottie, thanks for the call. let me go back one more time to noelle straub who has been with us 45 minutes. a lot of interest in mineral rights and ownership. can you illuminate further on that? guest: in the parks it's on a case by case basis. i can't say the federal government owns all surface rights and other people own -- you have to look at it at each park. there's a different owner for where they are split, there's different owners for the mineral rights but you have to look at it on a case by case basis to see who owns which areas where. and i just wanted to make one point to the previous caller who talked about the park service budget. congressional funding for the park service is .07% of the overall federal budget. so i just wanted to put in perspective, $2.9 billion seems like a ton of money but in relation to the overall federal government spending, it's .07%. so just to put that in perspective, there are other programs that deal with poverty and other issues that are also very important. host: and your centennial series available online at eenews.net. what one thing surprised you the most? guest: i guess it would be some of the parks that are the least visited. you always think of -- when you think of parks, you think of yellowstone or yosemite and some of the very well known parks and you know, when we looked into the least visited parks there are some that only get a couple hundred visitors per year. and some of those, granted, are in alaska where it's difficult to get to and that sort of makes sense but there are historic sites that don't have a lot of visitors and that kind of surprised me. e straub.oell the full series is available online. thanks for being with us. guest: thanks for having me. i appreciate it. host: c-span's john mccartle has moved outside the studio and one of the iconic sites in washington, d.c. along the mall with a member of the national park service staff. john, good morning. john: good morning. we're out here with the deputy director of the national park service, mike reynolds is our guest. we're at one of the most highly visited national park sites. this is the national mall. a term that's been thrown out this morning is happy birthday to the park service so happy birthday. mike: thank you everybody. john: talk about what's happening here specifically on the national mall today? mike: the national mall is often what we call america's front yard and it's the place all americans can come see their heritage. so today we're going to celebrate with over 1, 600 people will join us just over here to do what's call a living arrowhead. you ever seen marching band do their symbols on the field, we'll do something that will match the arrowhead on my sleeve here which is symbolic of all of america's heritage the national park service has. we have ranger palooza for the kids to try on uniforms and understand what it might be like to be a park ranger, celebrate heritage. we have one of the more important things today is a naturalization ceremony and at least 40 to 50 people will be sworn in which we do all over the united states. there will be 450 people sworn in today. john: the naturalization ceremonies have been happening all year during the centennial year. why is that such an important part of the park service of the centennial? mike: not only must it be terribly exciting for people to become american citizens and be their dream but can do it in a place that represents the heritage, the history and resources of the country they've decided to love and embrace. so imagine being sworn in below mount rushmore, here at the washington monument or the lincoln memorial and what it might mean about freedom and what their lives are ahead. john: 413 national park sites around the country. do you have a favorite? mike: my favorite was the last one i was in. john: which one was that? mike: the national mall today and i look forward to seeing our 413th which was named yesterday by president obama. john: what is that? mike: katadin woods and waters in maine. we're looking forward to being good partners with that state and those communities. john: 100 years since woodrow wilson started the national park service. what are the big threats to get you to the next 100 years? mike: climate change is a very large threat. we have a very large science teamworking on that with partners in the science community and we're very concerned with how to deal with species at risk, for example, and landscapes and maintaining places, even historic areas. we have certain weathering that goes on now even in the monuments in washington we're studying. so climate change, staying relevant to our constituents, to the american people, making sure we tell the stories, a full diverse story of the american experience. those would be a couple things i would be worried about. john: when you talk about climate change are there parks that you think might not be around in a hundred years? mike: i think the parks will be around and will be different. we may have in glacier national park fewer glaciers. we're trying to figure out how to change that process, mitigate those processes. we may have to show stories and show parks in a different way ahead. i hope not. john: when you talk about staying relevant, who is your average visitor to a national park right now? mike: we tend to have a lot of the boomer generation that grew up in station wagens that faced backwards and families had two weeks or more and could travel the country. we still have many of those people and families but are trying to appeal to the newer generation. we have an awful lot of the millenial generation and we have a very diverse country and it's growing in that diversity and want to make sure everyone knows and understands with a their heritage is in the 413 units. john: what's the pitch to the millenials. mike: come out. and you can me your interest and there's a national park. come out and experience it. john: several of our callers are concerned whether the park service has enough funding and whether it's properly taken care of by congress. what are your funding challenges, do you have enough to keep the parks going? mike: we do. congress has been helping us as of late and had modest growth and reaching out to new generations and dealing with our infrastructure. we're 100 years old and have things to refurbish but we're on the trend. we think it's going the right way but want to make sure the american people very much support that. john: you're here with us on the mall. where is director john jarvis? mike: in yellowstone national park and there will be a few people at the roosevelt arch where theodore roosevelt celebrated years ago, along with a lot of other people. john: director jarvis had an editorial in today's "washington post" and mentioned a lot of those that work in the park service end up staying for life. why is that? mike: it becomes for many a job that's a lifestyle as well as a life. i think maybe military families can understand that. you often live and work together in places and you are transferred and moved around so you develop sort of a family across this but you also become very dedicated to the resources. we have very passionate people and look forward passionate peo and look forward to improving their lives, too, in this next century of service. john: how long have you been in the service? mike: 30 years. john: what are some of the parks you worked? mike: yosemite, olympic national park, fire island national seashore to my friend in new york which is right off the long island barrier islands and i've been a fortunate person to have this chance. john: mike rind is the deputy director of operations. appreciate you taking the time this morning. back to you, steve. host: john, thank you, on the mall in washington, d.c. this tweet from jim with reference to those station wagons that face backwards. yep, that was me. we all remember if you're old enough the space station wagons that face backwards. we're talking about the 100th anniversary of the national park service. we'd love to hear from you. at 7:00 eastern time tonight we'll devote 0 minutes to the anniversary, part of c-span 3's american history tv and be live in northern virginia at arlington house and the robert e. lee memorial. we hope you tune in. hn mccartle was mentioning mr. jarvis's contribution to the park service and he has an op-ed entitled "these lands are your lands, new york." and he concludes, it is pretty hard not to feel a wash of pride for our country when you stand at the rim of the grand canyon national park and the alpine glow of the grand teton national park on the steps of the lincoln memorial or the ood stained field of gettysburg national military park. these are our american cathedrals. enjoy them and refresh your memory of what it means to be an mesh from jonathan jarvis, director of the national park service. 202-748-8000, if you live in the eastern half of the country and those in the mountain an pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 and for those listening on c-span radio, join in on the conversation. stephanie is joining us from mammoth cave, kentucky. good morning. caller: hi. host: good morning, stephanie. caller: i live at mammoth cave and that's my actual zip code. i under out here at sequoia and you apparently have to pay to even just get on to the park is what i'm understanding. at mammoth cave, you can drive all over the park, walk all over the park. you only have to pay if you take a tour. so on this weekend, is that free to take any of the tours? do you know? host: stephanie, i don't, i'm sorry to say. our guest is no longer with us. we'll look into that and if we have an answer we sure will. what do you like about where you live and for those who haven't been here, tell us a little bit about it. caller: oh, goodness. the county has a lake and a cave so we have pretty few residents and we have zero stoplights. so one of the few counties with no stoplights. we have two caution lights. host: you recommend we come and visit? caller: oh, certainly. and the last that i heard a few years ago is they've mapped mammoth cave to 400 miles. so it's the longest cave. host: thank you, stephanie. we showed you a moment ago the statue of liberty which is of course part of the national park service as well. and a must-see visit in the greater new york city area. frank is joining us, houston, texas. good morning. frank: good morning. the lady asked me which was my favorite park. yellowstone national park is my favorite but my home state of national padres island is my second. i make two visits per year, one from texas, padres island and one to yellowstone national park. yellowstone national park in the wintertime is completely overrun with snowmobiles. it's really gotten out of control. a lot of people are making a lot of profit. you go into the nearest town and it is just discovered with snowmobiles to be rented. host: thanks for the call. cape lookout national seashore in north carolina is part of the national park service. this is what it looks like as we listen to barbara joining us from marlton, new jersey. caller: hello. host: go ahead, please. caller: when i was working, i'm retired now, when i was working, every day my friends and i would go right across the street from where we worked to independence hall. and we'd have lunch right on the grounds. and once in a while we'd go inside. it was very easy to do. that was when the liberty bell was very close by and since then has been reliked but was wonderful working right across the street from the national monument, independence hall. host: we were there for the democratic national convention. matter of fact, the backdrop of the washington journal was independence hall and it's amazing how much is around there not only independence hall but the quaker meeting house and other locations that are within a short walking distance of that location. >> people from all over the world would show up in the park. as tourists. and we'd make friends >> people from all of the world would show up in the park. we would make friends with them. they would have many questions. very positive. is a beautiful park. great to work next to it. i loved it. pay has this tweet -- olympic national park is one of my favorites. mount rainier national park is located in washington state. we will show you that. caller: hi. my favorite is grand teton national park. it is the all caps of the united states. most gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful place. and there is a big financial thing going on right now where we have the world leaders there. it is the most magical, wonderful, beautiful place that you can go. many people forget that it is down from yellowstone. there are fires there right now. i went to encourage young people and educators to get people to go and work there in the summer. now the parks at concessions are hiring people from poland and russia instead of colleges and universities here. want to gos need to to the national parks because it is the best experience you could have in your life. i have friends from working in the 80's -- in the 1980's who are my very best friends, it was a wonderful experience we had in grantee to national park. it was magical and it still is our lovely home. we had a wonderful experience and i encourage everyone to go do that. you meet people from everywhere. i had a lady who was a rod way choreographer. people who were amazing who we got to work with in a national park. he met people from everywhere bank urged everyone to get their and do the trips. it is one of the best things you can do. host: your enthusiasm is coming through in your voice. caller: i love it, i love it. how many children do you have? caller: none. i am single. i have nieces and nephews and all of my buddies should do that. thank you for joining the conversation. we appreciate it. this is the badlands national park in south dakota as we listen to beverly. caller: good morning. we live in texas and our land that we live on orders a national preserve. there are so many wonderful programs and activities to get our young people involved. i want to commend my seven-year-old granddaughter. she has received all of her jr. ranger granddaughter -- her junior ranger badges. i know it was a great experience that she will never forget. caller before -- our young people really need to get involved with promoting all of these parks. thank you for the call. we go to tom in chicago. caller: good morning. how are you? thank you guys for everything. without you guys, i don't know what america would do. sporting --you for thank you for supporting c-span. the 100th anniversary of the national parks, one of my guys they went to college with was in vietnam and he went to the same high school i did. him andund up meeting he became one of my best friends and he became a national park service ranger. he was in many parks. the indiana sand dunes. the smokey mountains, the parkway all the way to lakengton, d.c., crater and he finished his career at the grantee 10. i got to see many parks and all of the back country which was phenomenal. i just am letting everyone know that we have to back the national parks. they need more money and we have to keep them up or else it will be a sin that they will deteriorates. thank you for c-span. thank you. back to america's front lawn, the national lawn. we are joined by bruce mcpherson. he is part of an exclusive club. all 412 units of the national park service. how does one do it? guest: it takes a lot of time, enthusiasm and ambition. host: how many years did it take to do for hundred 12? guest: 30 years. do it in time for the park service centennial. host: and you have one more you need to visit after a new designation this week. guest: yes, a new park designated in maine. now we are up to 413. host: are you going to go? guest: i'm going to have to. host: there are a club of folks who do this. talk about being part of the club. guest: it is called the national park travelers club. we have thousand members from all of the country. our goal is to visit as many parks as we can and tell the public about the parks. we collect passport stamps as a record along the way. there have been so many. people ask, what is your favorite? the park southwest and in alaska but there are lots of small parks that people need to see. the small parks you have never heard of. bute are 59 national parks a whole lot of other units that are historical, battlefields, seashores and lake shores. host: and parks as far away as america samoa. yes, that was probably the most expensive trip. there is a national park of america samoa. you have to be ready to invest some time into that. host: is this something you do with family? yes, my wife goes with me. we have a good time visiting the parks. they haven't been to all of them but my wife got me started on this adventure so i have to give a shout out to her. wearing the centennial t-shirt today you will be part of this demonstration that is happening to celebrate the hundredth birthday? do a giant we will arrowhead today. they are looking for 1000 people to hold up various umbrellas to make the symbol of the national park service. host: the deputy director was talking to you and heard you had said it412 units and was an important thing to do and to write it down for the next generation. what would you say to the next generation? guest: the national parks are the national treasure. we need to get out and see them. the next generation needs to be the stewards of our national parks. our kids and grandkids need to feel to see the treasures. get out of the house and see what our country has to offer. host: thank you so much for your time. back to you. host: good for you for finding someone who has visited all 412 and now he has to travel to maine which has the 413th designation as a national park. is in commemoration of what we are focusing on on thursday. 100th anniversary on this date when president woodrow wilson signed into law the creation of the national park service. here is this tweet from edwin who says, my family and i have visited almost every national park. every summer to get to three of them. tim is joining us from massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. 400 13 but it to is my life mission to go to as many as i can. i have been to a great many of them. i am a disabled veteran and i was at the dedication of the disabled life memorial when they dedicated it and i got to stay up on the day they dedicated it. host: they're interesting. thank you very much for the call, we appreciate it. you have been to washington, it is one of the most often asked question. you can look at the washington monument. midway on your screen you see two different types of stone because construction came to a and resumed after but a different quarry was used. there was still a distinct difference between the lower portion and a proportion. paul is joining us this morning from san diego. caller: good morning. i want to urge anybody out there with kids, young kids or teenagers. are planning a trip to mexico, put it off for a while and go to the national parks. we went to mount washington and mount vernon and monticello -- when i was 13, i took a road trip with my uncle for an entire whenr, two days after school let out in the summer until the week before it started in the fall and we went by car and south dakota, montana, wyoming and idaho and little bit corn, the badlands, mount rushmore, yellowstone, it was just magnificent. and i remember it like it was yesterday. now but i5-year-old remember the meals i had there. i've never we got chased by a bear in yellowstone. we saw bison and mountain sheep and it was just wonderful. more kids need to be taken to those places. host: thank you for the call. parks ine national alaska, the alliance national park and reserve, one of 413 national parks and designated areas and battlefields and iconic strikes -- iconic sites that make up the national park service. wendy has this tweet -- i support all the national parks except those which commemorate rings like robert e lee and others that are proslavery, including washington's birthplace. cnn has taken a look at the national park service. the story is available online. the entire that country of switzerland would fit inside the u.s. largest national park. alaska. and it would take 2400 of the smallest of the headliner national parks to fill the biggest parks pristine mountainous terrain. elsewhere in alaska, climbing the tallest peaks, 2-4 weeks round-trip. the lowest and driest spot, travelers are advised to be prepared to survive. the longest cave system is not completely explored. america samoa, guam, puerto rico, u.s. virgin islands -- you can reach the details online at cnn.com. caller: good morning. i have been to a lot of national parks and i really enjoy them. the question i have -- a lot of people know about this and i'm why diding it myself, the united states get over to the united nations some of our national parks? host: we believe that there and go to stuart from virginia. welcome to the conversation. stuart and ime is am in virginia. battlefield parks, civil war -- i myself live on land -- i have my own museum here in petersburg, for genia -- petersburg, virginia. our land, this is an awesome place. host: we took a look at the anniversary of the end of the -- tick of the field c-span.org.time at it was called the organic act which established the national park service signed into law by president woodrow wilson on this date in 1916. it goes as follows -- the fundamental purpose of the national park service is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects at a wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means to be left there to enjoy by future generations. john? host: ellen is with us with her daughter here on the national mall. they are from arlington, for genia. how many have you been to as a family? guest: maybe a dozen or so. hard to keep track because you forget the national mall is a national park. our most recent one was the belmont house on the other side of the capital to learn more about women's suffrage and the right to vote. that was just last week and that is how we found out about the event here today. host: i don't know if our viewers can see but she is wearing her yellowstone national park t-shirt. did you go to yellowstone? guest: i did. i liked seeing geysers and the bison. it was fun. host: do you think camping is something you want to keep doing? guest: yes. host: why did you bring your daughter to the celebration today? we are big supporters of the national park service and the idea of being here once in a 100 year event seemed like something fun to do today before she has to get back to school, a big sendoff for the summer vacation. host: a big push is to appeal to of next generation, the lot the baby boomer generation, they're working to get younger millennials out. what do you think the best way to get that generation involved is? well, i think for the millennials, some sort of social media push? once you're there, the parks sell themselves. when we were in yellowstone, you are just looking from horizon to horizon. -- it is see wires just the sense of the great outdoors and the idea that these really are the crown jewels of the united states. it isnique landscapes and all inexpensive. i think it is one of the biggest bank for the buck vacations you can take. and there is a really wide variety. if you're interested in history there are locations. if you're interested in nature and wilderness, there are places you can go to. they really have something for everyone. host: we are asking viewers what their favorite park is -- do you have a favorite park as a family? guest: we go to as a deacon because thathore is nearby. and some of the other coastal communities. it is gorgeous to be a will to see the uninterrupted ocean and the seascapes and the dunes. and you don't have hotels right up against the beach that you can just look around. and boogie board. did your family grow up going to parks? guest: we did, somewhat. i went to the grand canyon with my parents and my family. my sister and i explored out west. we went up to rushmore and the badlands and arches. we went on to the grand canyon also and yellowstone. that was the first time, with my sister. was a lot of fun going with my daughter and seeing it fresh through her eyes. host: before we go, is there a place in the country that you want to go to? i want to go to paris, france. [laughter] no, not really. comesthat's all right, it like mom has a few ideas in mind. back to you. wholethat would be a different question if paris became part of the national park system across the country. we have 10 more minutes in our focus on the national park service and we would love to have you join in on the conversation. we are live tonight, 7:00 eastern time on c-span3's american history tv. we are at arlington house, commemorating the centennial of the national park service. jonathan jarvis, i want to share you more of what he wrote -- we must recommit to national parks, america's cathedrals. he writes the following -- in 1956 when planning for our 50th anniversary, the park service invite it veterans to come and see what they fought for. the service invited them to see the usa in your chevrolet. veterans came out with their children in the back seats of their station wagons and from those experiences group a groundswell of some word for historicion and preservation. those children today are the baby boomers. , weour 100th anniversary invited everyone to find your park, to foster the creation of a new generation of park visitors, supporters and advocates reflecting the diversity of our nation. david is joining us from wisconsin. caller: good morning. inc. you for having me. thank you for c-span. what a great service to the american people. the truth as it happens, right out front. host: we love our viewers and listeners. thank you. had a great experience, my wife and i, at sunset crater in arizona. i'm interested in planetary geology and this is volcanic traps that spewed from san franciscan creek and its evolution. it was terrific to see the landscape. it was so alien -- you get a feel for what is out there. in the solar system. here it is, right on earth. butk landscape, black lava green trees growing out of it. alien but familiar. a beautiful chance for education and my brilliant wife said for $10, you can join for life and i said, what a deal. so we did. we visited our son in waco, texas and we happen to come across another great park. it is one that president obama, in his wisdom, recently had dedicated. i think it is called woolly mammoth park? something like that? and at there with our son couple of boys had gone for a walk and found a mammoth bone and that led to one thing and another and there is a great trap, geologically, where this heard of mammoths, they were trapped in a mode flood. and left their fossilized fossils for us to view. and it was just incredible. that was a two-acre site and it was a terrific experience. and a brand-new one. and baylor university stepped up and bought more land. so the park originally had two acres baylor university stepped up and now they have 175 acres of land to continue their scientific exploits and sharing with the public. just fantastic. and i totally agree about recommitting financially to our national parks. the way, we are looking at the badlands national park in south dakota and we have been shown you some of the iconic locations including yellowstone and mount rainier. the licking memorial, ellis island and yosemite national park. 413 parks andhe sites that make up the national park service. united press international -- the president expands public lands more than any of his predecessors. more than any other u.s. president. says,tweet from edward they favorite park is yellowstone. mike is joining us from ohio. good morning. i am a geologist and i view the parks a little differently. one of the things i think the american public needs to understand is that the national parks are not simply for recreation. they are repositories of national history. is unaltered,nt as much as we can keep it unaltered. one of my concerns about the national parks is the tendency to see them just as a playground. just a medium for recreation. and i can tell you, as a rocks in the environment are far more fragile than people realize. i am an aging rock climber. that the boom in rock climbing is having an impact, climbers sometimes stick bolts and the garbage they use. -- the number of visitors that go through our parks is mind-boggling. of thebeen to nearly 60% national parks and i have spent extended amounts of time so i do get a good view of it. but we really need to be protective of them. things like allowing vendors to come in and sure in places like yellowstone into an arena for snowmobiles so the local vendors can make a lot of money, we really need to cut back on that. i would usually is to preserve these places for future generations. but anyway, i just wanted to throw that in. the parks are fragile and they need to be treated gently. host: from the washington post. point 3 million people visited d.c. last year. coming to visit the white house and other areas. than 307 million americans and tourists around the world visiting america's national parks according to the service. and to go back to the earlier interview, a tweet from a viewer who says -- but for the united states, there would be no paris, france. maybe we could have a piece. there we go. host: nick is one of the millennials that the national park service really wants to reach out to. in their next 100 years or sooner than that. 22 years old from louisiana wearing his jr. park ranger badges from glacier and for the 100 anniversary. how did you get into the park service? guest: ever since i was a kid, we were the family who road trips and we would stop at parks on the way. so ever since i was born, i got my national passport and i have handwritten stamps almost full from where we have been all over the country. this summer we went to a road and thatin yellowstone is a good time. every summer we try to do a little bit of the country. host: is this just a family event or is this something you would do with friends? guest: this year, i called up my best friend from high school and i said, you are coming on a road trip with us and we took her with us and it was a good time. host: the park service would probably be interested to hear from someone like you on how to draw in people like you? guest: i think they are doing a pretty good job. and always been interested i think it is partly because of my parents for bringing me and for such a young age. it is always nice to see something that is protected. it shows what the country looks like since it was founded. host: is there something more the park service can do themselves? guest: more events like this? my dad sent me the e-mail and i always have love to do things for the national park service having this out here has been nice to do. more events like this, more awareness. i know right now they're are doing free admission which is cool. but just in general -- i think they're doing a good job. i think they are doing a good job. host: at 22, can you still be a jr. park ranger? guest: they make it a little harder when you are older. bunch ofet contains a different unity's do throughout the park. you have to find the animals and take pictures of tracks so it does force you to go around the park and do different things usually 40-12-year-olds and if you are 25, you will do the whole book and then you bring it bring it back and you get to say an oath. host: do you know what the oath is? to protect,omise we had aand defend -- fun park ranger who said, don't feed ravens and it was a really fun time. host: thank you so much for joining us today. a couple more minutes with your calls and comments. jonathan jarvis, the director of the national park service and his op-ed is today in the park -- in the washington post. he has said -- one of those locations is ellis island in new york. is joining us from johnstown, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: i just wanted to mention acadia. that is one of my favorites. a dramatic coastline meets a tall, towering pine tree. a beautiful area that draws thousands of visitors. i raised my kids between gettysburg and valley forge national park. one thing i would like to ask or bring up, i have a 17-year-old daughter. we are both avid wildlife photographers. interestas expressed in trying to volunteer to pick up trash and things like that. i would like to be able to direct her on how to do that. maybe see the national park service organize a mass effort to do that? host: thank you for the call. parkway is in north carolina and that will be the last stop on this centennial anniversary as we listen to duane joining us from illinois. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. theve enjoyed many of experiences in the national parks that have been mentioned this morning but the one i want to throw into the mix is the minuteman missile national historic site in south dakota. my wife and i stopped there several years ago and it was an interesting experience. you get to go underground into the launch site. they preserve one of the missile silos and have a training missile in it. if you grew up during the cold war, it was really something very interesting to see. we always heard about the doomsday button and we got to see it and actually, that is a myth, there is more than one. the rangers took you through and also they had former air force personnel that show to some of how it all worked. how neat, what made you go there? what prompted you? caller: we were on our way to go to mount rushmore and yellowstone and i just saw it accidentally online and somebody casually mentioned in some comments -- make sure not to miss the minuteman missile conference and we just put it onto the itinerary at the last minute. we stopped at the badlands national park and it is adjacent. it was a last-minute thing. we found it and we went and it is one of the newer national parks. very interesting. host: i'm going to stop you there. thank you very much for adding your voice to the conversation. we appreciate it. you for your tweets, calls and comments on the centennial anniversary, we hope you tune in tonight as we take you into more of a look into the national park service from the arlington house. the robert e lee memorial. just across the potomac in other virginia. live at gets underway 7:00 p.m. eastern time on c-span3, american history tv. attention to politics and a book getting a lot of attention. the co-authors, michael kranish and marc fisher. the book is titled "trump revealed: an american journey of ambition, ego, money, and power ." back in a moment. >> coming up this weekend on american history tv on c-span3, the abraham lincoln presidential library foundation published a book of musings by public figures and ordinary americans, celebrating or responding to lincoln's gettysburg address. -- reads passages from the book. saturday night at 8:50. >> his presence still resonates from the words he has written and the artifacts and documents he has left behind for our posterity. he was a simple yet deeply complex man. who looked at complex issues plainly and purely. he accepted and spoke the truth. many believe lincoln transcended all other presidents to have served before him and since. his great american story has reached and continues to reach , racesborders and oceans and religions, politics and party lines. then, at 10:00 p.m., the u.s. information agency filmed the march on washington for jobs and freedom and produced a documentary for foreign audiences. sunday at 4:30 p.m. eastern, this marks the anniversary of the nasa viking mission landing on mars. discussed recently the viking program which landed the first u.s. spacecraft on mars in 1976. >> the events surrounding the week of that were incredibly exciting. when it landed, it was almost powered up and the team had programmed in two photographs to be taken. >> historians look at president harry truman's leadership and how he interacted with three prominent interactive politicians. then madeleine albright speaks with a historian about harry truman's commitment to public service as president and vice president. >> this is someone who should have gone to a great college and graduate school. if there's one thing he felt strongly about, when he became president he wanted to help others. one way he did that was to strengthen the community college system. >> for our total schedule go to c-span.org. >> washington journal continues. next hour, a conversation with the co-authors of the washington post book titled "trump revealed: an american journey of ambition, ego, money, and power," an and joining us now the table is marc fisher and michael kranish. what kind of reaction did you get from donald trump? guest: for this book, donald trump was gracious with this time. he spent 20 hours with a team of reporters doing interviews. the day before the book came out he tweeted, don't buy the book, it is boring. he cannot have read it because he did not receive a copy. people will see this is a thorough biography. let me beginsher, where you begin, his life story. he knew how to be famous, he knew how to win numbers, to get ratings. he made a lifelong study of how to create buzz. let's was one level up from flash. can you explain? guest: he has a hierarchy of reaction he can get from the media and he has made a lifelong study of manipulating the media and using the media. he learned at a early age that all publicity is good publicity and he genuinely believes that getting his name out there in all of these different ways through his entire life, from being seen with the prettiest models and celebrities in the 1970's although we up to his rallies today with lots of stocks on saturday night live what he didania -- with that is the idea of donald trump as a brand and image. someone that people could aspire to be like. he did this very thoughtfully. you write just as he did at school, donald trump rebelled against the rules. arguing with his father. nonetheless, fred told his son he was a king. host: -- he was giventher, the award for coming up from modest means and becoming a big success. and what he told him was that you have to do what you love orals you will be a nothing. throughout his life, donald trump has tried to live up to his father's admonition to be something big. host: that explains the from the book. "though a creature of his father's business and a and forary, he year something more. his father's outer borough empire -- donald trump wrote, it was not a world i found attractive." aest: fred trump was successful builder. donald trump saw this as not reaching for the sky. not reaching for the oppression on of the business. going into manhattan and the toughest real estate market in the country and being around all -- wealthythy will people. he wanted the challenge of taking on the world. so he loved his father and what his father taught him about the business but he wanted something more. he thought of his father as not quite having the killer ambition that donald trump found in the mentor and in the exciting society of manhattan in the 1970's. host: his dad did not understand that early on? guest: his dad had a philosophy of building study and doing things as cheaply as possible and he advised his son not to go to manhattan. and his son did go to manhattan. he advised his son, don't go into debt and his son proclaimed he is the king of debt. guest: this is a foundational story for donald trump. donald trump and fred trump were running a company in queens, there are this -- their office was a modest place. they had thousands of apartments they rented. when daily pursuit for racial bias. they were not renting to blacks. decideald trump had to whether he would settle the case or fight. boy: advise donald trump -- thet settle, fight government. when they hit you, hit back 10 times harder. so he was a very important advisor and they did eventually settle the suit against the government but it was important to understand donald trump's arc that he kept this philosophy -- when you are hit, hit back harder. host: two more sections from the book. you write "donald trump built his rotation selling real estate but the thing he had always wanted to sell was donald trump. his career would finally make trump into a household brand." guest: this was an interesting transformation from the real estate developer role, holding buildings in new york city and around the country to realizing that he didn't need to put up his own money. he didn't need to finance projects. he could make a lot of money simply by selling and franchising his name. of hisecent years, most projects in the united states and around the world have been cases in which donald trump has rented out his name for a guaranteed annual income that he perceived, whether those projects received or not. likent reporters to places panama who look at some of the donald trump projects that are not donald trump projects. other people put up the money. other people create these buildings and golf courses and donald trump rents his name. get if the building doesn't off the ground, he has a guaranteed stream of income. much more secure than the type of risk that a developer takes as he did earlier in the career. host: you write about the letter that donald trump received from he had beenn, how eyed as a potential politician, about his visit to new hampshire in the 1980's when he was talked about. in 1980n you write -- " seven, trump declined the democrats invitation to raise money. prominent republicans continue to court him as a donor, donald trump reveled in the curiosity about his ambitions and emerging political profile." guest: that's right. chapter 16 is titled "political chameleon." donald trump changed party affiliations seven times. republican, independent, reform party, and change positions on abortion, immigration, taxes. he hadn't seen himself as a member of one party or the other. he sees himself as a business person who has tried to court politicians who would be helpful to him in getting tax breaks. he has seen himself as an outsider and what that has meant is that he is not on a uniform track. we asked him about this. , what do you say to potential voters who say, what are your core beliefs, since you have change positions so many times, and he didn't push back and found his desk with his best and say, of course they have wase beliefs -- instead, he a business person and he needed friends and that was the way i viewed it. host: i want to share with you, this is a brief interview we did in february of this year in new hampshire on the weekend before the new hampshire primary. just want to share with you what we saw. we are going to change and renegotiate our trade deals and you are talking about tremendous numbers of hundreds of billions of dollars. with that i have thousands of people back here and i have to go. host: what would your father think of this? would be very proud. he was a great guy who had a lot of confidence in may. host: what has this experience been like for me -- for you? >> amazing. i've always been a businessman and a builder and a jobs producer. host: are you willing to spend what it takes to win? >> unlimited. host: have you been in the white house before? >> 25 times. host: how would you change washington? >> i will change it by getting the greatest people in this country, the greatest people in the world, to help me run the country. host: we show that interview because it gives you a sense of how he is focused on the questions but also the crowd waiting for him he kept referring to them during the course of a five minute conversation. guest: he has an uncanny knack for reading a crowd. of his genius performance in the primary season was his ability to those liveh settings. he feeds off the crowd. he obviously has a big ego. crowds.d by the kind of awkward sometimes to see him in the more constricted settings like reading off a teleprompter. he doesn't look comfortable there. donald trump truly believes he is best when he is going from his gut and instinct. he is not much of a reader. he is not one to study issues. he is skeptical of things like reports and briefings. he wants to learn about issues by hearing a quick summary from someone and then making his own decision on the spot from his gut. marc fisher, senior editor for the washington post and michael kranish, part of the team to put together this new book, "trump revealed: an american journey of ambition, ego, money, and power." cassie is joining us from colorado. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i had a couple of things -- first off, i think our nation, as a whole, should take a strong the mobile labs on computers and we should update our capitalistic government to puts us into the space age. a terribly cold, calculating, everything has its price. i always have. within that, you have people limiting a president to a total of eight years to get elected, get used to the country and have them get used to them and then start different programs, which president obama did and with great skill. i'm a big fan of his. but then, at the end of eight years, obamacare has glitches. it has problems that it needs to work out. he can't do that if he is kicked out. after eight years. you need time to be able to put those into practice and say, this works and that doesn't. throw out what doesn't work. host: so you're saying it is time to change the constitution? caller: well, for an update. do -- if we are not changing, we are dead. host: let me take her point a step or there. donald trump says he will fundamentally change washington. we have heard that from jimmy carter, ronald reagan, bill clinton and barack obama. caller: washington is broken. most people would say this. the nation is divided. so i think a lot of people are looking for an outsider to come .n and change the experience you need the cooperation of congress. here's a man who is obviously not liked by democrats and by a a lot of the members of his own party. he calls himself a deal maker but he has turned off a number of people he would need to make deals with, including paul ryan. so to get things done he needs to work with those folks and that remains to be seen, as to whether he can have a big victory. host: these are two photographs. you talk a trump and his second wife. he has reportedly said he was bored with his second wife when she was walking down the aisle. that after two failed marriages, he appeared to a found a partner who will filled his long-standing desire for a no maintenance woman who did not generate headlines or seek to upstage him. donald trump, especially with his first wife, had someone who was his match in beauty and brains. was a he actually business partner. he put her in charge of one of his casinos in atlantic city and later at the plaza hotel. he came to regret those decisions. tooame to feel there was much competition going on within the marriage. he questioned her management skills and decisions and he resolved after that to have future relationships be with women who would not be a challenge to him or competition to him in business. and his third wife, melania, has a very separate business life and is more of a homemaker and business person. but donald trump's view of women is controversial. a number of people around the country see him as insulting or offensive to women. he contends that he has promoted women to the very top of his business throughout his career and certainly, at least one of theexecutives was one of first women to run a major construction project in new york city. so he has done that. but when it comes to his wives, he wants a more traditional wife like his mother. host: could you make the argument that his daughter, he is on the trump, in the same mold of donald trump in terms of a business empire? guest: no question that he is close to his children and he takes great pride in to what they have done. when we interviewed him, his children came in, we don't know if that was something stage for our benefit or they just happened to be there but you could see there was closest there. coming in and talking about going to florida where they have a golf course in development and she was going to talk about that. they had a very nice conversation back and forth that we were able to observe. you mention the marriages and reminded me, in the book, on we quote donald trump talking about the day he got married to marla maples -- he said, i was bored which he was walking down the aisle. pontificator's. we are trying to go in and write a full story that tells the donald trump story. inks donald trump has said over the years to fill in gaps. so that gives you insight into his thinking. he then divorced her and married melania. they have a young son. but that is part of the full story. understanding his relationship with women is understanding the story of donald trump. guest: and the interesting connection between his attitude towards marriages and his attitude towards politics. faceted --he is most most fascinated and he is at his best when he is pursuing the hunt. he says, when he gets things, he is not so interested in them. are michaelests kranish and marc fisher, the co-authors of the new washington post project, "trump revealed: an american journey of ambition, ego, money, and power." we will be covering the events as part of c-span2's book coverage. caller: good morning. perfect persona that we need for president. ,omebody to go out here and say let's build something. let's do something. instead of the trash that we have had for eight years. this failed obamacare. the throw the police under the bus -- why don't you write a really nasty look about the eight years of destruction that 722-year-old, have lived. the news every day on donald trump and hillary clinton. and i want to tell you. she is absolutely the worst person. host: marc fisher? guest: well, we set out not to write a nasty book about anyone. we set out to write a book about who donald trump is and how his values and pencils were formed. why he believes what he does and so whether you think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread or a menace to society, i think what american voters need is a comprehensive look at the life. the first person since dwight eisenhower to run for president as a major party candidate without previously having held elective office. so he is not being vetted in the same way candidates usually are. have a lotoliticians written about their lives at every stage in their career and that is not happening to donald trump so that is what we sought to do. caller: good morning. you know, i am the latest appointed in the degradation of the quality of your programming with these two fellows on here. this is really nonsense. what are they, psychiatrist? trying to do psychoanalysis of donald trump? i'm going to vote for donald trump. the clinton foundation -- look at her husband. what do i care that he has been divorced several times? a nice-looking guy with big money is going to do that. so this whole thing is nonsensical. these two guys wrote this book to make money and attacked donald trump? to try to influence the election? opinion and imy am disappointed in c-span. it set of talking about the bring on these two fellows. it is really disappointing. michael they are here at our invitation and we are talking about the book because it is a newly released publication. looking at the full life of donald trump and it works because you weigh in and share your calls and express your point of view and that is what we are all about. so thank you for the call. guest: we appreciate the call. we understand the behavior that is out there about what is going on in the country. this was done at the washington post -- it is a very evenhanded job. the effort here is to try to understand the rise of donald trump and the stagnation of the economy has led to that. talking about the president, it is important to know personal writing aand biography helps you to understand who the person is and how they have done things in the past. see you can dig a list of campaign proposals but you need to understand what they have done throughout their life. host: and this weekend on c-span's two as part of booktv, we sat down yesterday in an interview with ann coulter who is out with her own book on donald trump. she did sit down with tucker carlson, the editor in chief of the daily caller and a host on the fox news channel. here is a portion. trump sodonald loathsome, it is his opposition to immigration. if you narrow down what makes is hisealing it opposition to immigration. is the greatn unifier. >> factoring in the fact you just wrote a book on immigration, do you think there is evidence of this? the exit polls do not tell us that. when they say that, i look at what people do say is their number one issue. all of these things like jobs, terrorism. cultural changes. they are synonyms for immigration. americans are nice people. the cents, with the media telling them this, if they say it is immigration, it is as if they are saying something mean about immigrants. we like immigrants. hispanics.p loves that is my favorite tweet. >> you like the taco bowl treat -- tweets. her interview will air this weekend. our afterwords interview. you can check out the schedule at www.c-span.org. there are a lot of books on the market that are pro-or anti-donald trump rants. 's is very much a pro book. we try to not take a side or look at the major themes in a candidate's life. that is what is most useful. you choose someone not because of their views on immigration, but based on how they make decisions, how they taken information, how they way what what to how they weigh do. how do you absorb information and pick what side is right. he does not like to read long reports and briefings. he prefers people come in, talk and tell him the merits or do of an issue and he will a decision from his gut. he thinks he can bring that to the white house. in 2008, thevoter, donald trump voter in 2016. what did you learn? what they were looking for in a president, a number of people kept telling me they voted for barack obama in 2008 are now supporting donald trump. spring to mind an obvious pattern, so i worked on the story. it was published about the obama trump voters. they are the hope and change voters. by thewho were drawn in idea that barack obama was going to change washington, bring people together, and the charisma that barack obama and donald trump brought to their campaign. a lot of those people feel burned by the presidency. them are regretful about their votes for barack obama. these are guys who wanted to come in from the outside and change washington. they are frustrated about the paralysis. host: improbable did not begin to describe what donald trump began to achieve. angry outsiders had run for president before, but donald trump was going to be crowned at the republican nominee. over the years, there have been third-party candidates who have made a big impact. in. perot came he was impact full in the 1992 race. ralph nader in 2000 might have bushnough votes to force w -- to force george w. bush. donald trump was able to tap into that same view. we have had a reform party, a tea party. there is no third party. we have the libertarian candidate who could make an impact in this race. party, he republican is not a natural fit. he wants to be an independent third-party person. he is within that party. that is the reason you see some of the pleasant poll within the party. to walk thattrying fine line. he does want the base, but he wants to go beyond the base. is carriedprogram live on c-span radio. we welcome our guests. us from saintng augustine, florida. caller: i would like to ask you what you think about the blurred line between celebrity and politics. i bring to mind john kennedy. for more than 50 years, the kennedy family has been on our consciousness. passed away orve had failed lives. we still elevate them to the point of a king or queen because they were glamorous, months like elania. like trump and mala value to know the true live by.iticians what the past behavior was, what they really believe, rather than what the media and television is trying to show us. you ask a really important question. the whole question of celebrity is one that donald trump has thought about for many years. we get into the evolution of him as a showman. it is not an insult or something we are laying on him. this is the way he describes himself. he went about creating this public character. there was a rhyme and reason to that kind of production of a public care of he was trying to as a cartoon character the tabloid reports about his marriages and break of he was trying to transform that. chose to do the reality tv show. it would create this idea of donald trump as a man people were drawn to and they would see him as a tough, decisive leader. he created the sense of someone who is humane. he came -- he became famous for the line you're fired. shows some humility. he listens to his advisers. he changes his mind when they have something persuasive to say. celebrity helped pave the way for this run. , the candidacy of donald trump would not have been possible without "the apprentice." to the lady that talked about president obama, why do republicans forget what bush did before president obama? you skip that over. how do these veterans vote for this guy who had 45 deferments because of bone spurs. you veterans vote for him? you veterans back him up. 45 deferments he did not have to go to. all of the bone spurs, you republicans, you veterans back this guy up. he had four or five deferments and sent you to die and to watch your buddies die. you sit up with your hats on. host: you can sense the passion in these voters. guest: i covered the john kerry campaign. campaign, a lot of people said yes, he served, but he left early. here is a candidate who did serve and people will criticize that. the caller said about deferments, donald trump went to a military academy. he did not volunteer to serve in the military. which got himurs out of potential military service. the comments donald trump made like john mccain, i don't people who got captured as prisoners of war, that is very controversial. his aides were surprised. was not something planned ahead of time. he is trying to walk around that. members of the same party. this is the position the party finds itself. the presidential nominee starts attacking leaders of their own party. that has been an incredible story of this got the, donald trump nomination and to go back to your point, the rules do not seem to apply to him. regardless of what happens in 2016, what happened in 2020? even before he was on scene, a gradual but clear decline. people have less and less of a sense of ideological detachment and. he of ideology. -- ideology of call -- ideological detachment and -- of ideology. he presents himself as a dealmaker willing to talk to anyone willing to go in any direction to get to the bottom line. is key to his success. from caller: las vegas, joey. what donald trump accomplished, if he was president, when they brought that bill about the big , it winds up costing taxpayers $24 billion. when they had that $50 million bridge to know -- to nowhere in alaska, that was -- that would have been left off the desk. look at the money i saved in two seconds. you understand? these people don't know what they are doing. it is sad. guest: it is interesting you mention the big dig. trump came to the attention of many people in new york city back in the early 1980's, when he came in to save the day. government had failed repeatedly, spent millions of dollars trying to repair an ice skating rink. donald trump came forward with a plan where he would pay for and fix this link in record time, under budget, or he would cover the whole cost. he came through. he built it in a matter of weeks and did it for less than he had said he would. he is someone who believes he can cut through the bureaucracy and red tape. as employees, he has hired thousands of employees over the years. a lot of times, when he has been in financial trouble, and has had corporate bankruptcies, the people who lose out are the employees, the vendors, contractors, the people who end up being stiffed. guest: one of the points the caller was making was the spending. he was able to get tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks. donald trumpdonald trump is benm things the government has granted him. he has talked about the need to rebuild infrastructure. know if he said specifically this is how i am going to take money from x to y. calling jeb bush sleepy and tired, lying ted, going took hillary clinton, this place with rachel maddow. it is an interview that was conducted. hillaryhe issue of clinton's health. guest: he likes to think of himself as a provocateur. he likes to tap into that and win a big reaction. coarse language , heinflammatory language learned in the 1970's and 1980's, that the way to get that kind of attention was to be inflammatory. he sees that as a way to get attention and build his brand. and localearly supporter of the birther movement. in his typical fashion, donald believes you do not explain or apologize, you just push forward. clip] , the letter is absurd. we contacted the doctor to get background. he was using a medical credential on his name that he is no longer entitled to use. for one, a gastroenterologist is an internal specialist. as the campaign manager, can i make a request to you, that we get a more substantial medical statement. the request.sed on i was told by an anchor that hillary's doctors had to release part of her medical history. i look at hillary clinton not being out there more as a strategy. it is scarcity as a strategy. people are reminded that she americanhe 70% of the spread she is a person who has i cannot imagine what comes after the but. host: there is a seed of doubt that dashes down on hillary clinton's health. guest: the full medical record from donald trump has not been released. those kind of questions are asked and you don't want to just let it lay there, the campaign will push back. you turn your focus to the sides. aten times a can sain is daily effort to throw things against the wall and see what sticks area this has gotten a lot of play. reduced moreon has records on her medical background been donald trump, her taxhas released returns. hillary clinton will say, where are your tax returns? a poker see this become game as we move on here. i am not going to vote for either one of these people. i am so upset with what we have to vote for. we have a generation that cut their teeth on talk radio. cable news of hate and anger. this is how we wind up with the people we have running today. said if he wasce to run for president, he would run as a republican. we got hillary. she is the one who first started issue withr president obama and found out there was nothing to it. she handed it off to the republicans. they pounded it until people started believing it. there was nothing to it. there are still people that believe his mother went to kenya or what ever and had him. it could go back to him going to school and find out he has been here all these years. he has a birth announcement that he was born in hawaii and it was the hospital that put that out. they are still arguing. there are stupid people holding onto this and will believe it. years, -- we have some crazies running today. what's clear about the campaign is that both of these candidates are deeply unpopular. it is hard to think of another race we have had where the two or asparty candidates unpopular as hillary clinton and donald trump are. there are in norman's differences between them in terms of policy and their personality background, the way they think about power. people are being forced to cross overcome their doubts about the candidates and make a choice based on those other factors, who are they, where do they come from, what are their true beliefs? she has a clear set of principles and values and positions on issues she has laid out in excruciating detail. in donald trump, we have someone who is vague on policy but is all out there as a personality. is give you a do sense, from his own voice and our interviews with donald trump and interviews with those around today, ofhe way up to who this man is, how he makes decisions, why is he running for president? find is a sense of where he came from and why he is running and what makes him tick. >> this review in the washington post. a portrait of a sad donald trump. a new biography reveals a troubling portrait of donald trump. the new biography offers a complex look at the man who would be president. are fair reviews. we are trying to provide a fair portrait of a complicated figure. they are not a straight line. they are a series of contradictions. if you go back to the founding of this country and you look at the people who have run for president, they are complex figures. thomas jefferson, who wrote all men are created equal, you can go back to the beginning and say we have to understand these are complicated figures. to understand how they come to these conclusions. see with, what we donald trump is a man who is pivoted throughout his life, changed positions many times. he talked about not wanting to pivot. he said he might soften his stance on immigration. like he ist sounds doing what he does a lot of. is this your photograph from the cover of the book? >> this is what we got from a photo agency. host: go ahead, marcia. the book.want to read i interested in finding out who is the real donald trump. he is pivoting back-and-forth on different issues. this will give him some type of character. -- he is ai can only promoter more than anything. he stirs the pot. the only figure i could think of king, in boxing, when he was a promoter. host: he was at the republican convention in cleveland. brought up the allegations he is fermenting racism or has said things that are racially of unzip. i told mr. trump about a cab the driver said i agree with mr. trump on a lot of things and would support him, peopleis against racially or ethnically. donald trump said i am the least racist person in the world. that donut a newspaper king publishes in ohio in which don king supported donald trump. this was his idea of how to defend himself against this charge. there is this question of racial insensitivity that boils down to donald trump being in the world view of the. period when he grew up in the 1960's. he thinks of himself as the least racist person in the world. she and the conservatives winning in 1979. at an event in jackson, andissippi, antiestablishment vote. let's watch what he said. [video clip] >> i would not vote for hillary clinton if you paid me. [applause] i would not vote for hillary clinton if she paid me. [applause] the message is clear. the parallels are there. there are millions of ordinary americans who have been let down, who have had a bad time. who feel so many of their parts of thees are liberal media elite. they feel people are not standing up for them and they had given up on the whole electoral process. you have a fantastic opportunity here with this campaign. you can go out and beat the pollsters and the commentators, you can beat washington. you will do it by doing what we did for brexit in britain. whoad our people's armie went to meet people, where they work and where they socialized. they inspired people to go out. vote for change. you want to you, if change, you better get your walking boots on. you better get out there campaigning. , anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment. farage made his comments in jackson, mississippi. he is behind the brexit vote. are there parallels between what great britain went through and what we see in the u.s.? guest: there is economic anxiety. to what is going on. what is the problem? politicians have been trying to come up with a solution. congress is not getting much done. there is that parallel. we are not withdrawing from something. there is the sense of anxiety. answer to that? you want change and there is anxiety of how to we change things. a messenger.ar they don't have all the solutions, but they hear the message and this person is different. we have had clinton's before. there is an appeal out there that donald trump tapped into. the question is, what would you do? globalism is a big issue. people argue if you do that, it might be worse, then you get to the finer points. the message is a powerful one and has been. host: john, jonesboro, georgia. if mark is the editor reporter, iis the would like to know how many articles they ran on the hillary clinton e-mail scandal and on the hillary clinton foundation, bill.n the arkansas land guest: we have done in-depth ,rticles throughout the months going back more than a year, about both of those issues and other aspects of the campaign, raining questions about her candidacy, issues of honesty and authenticity that surround her campaign. what we have done with donald trump and in this book is to take a rigorous look at donald trump. we are doing the same project with hillary clinton and trading a long series of stories. same approach with both candidates as we do every four years. let me ask you about family influence on donald trump 's decision to run. guest: every four years, he stepped up and looked at it, he was on the ballot in two states. he said it was not going to work out. the story is told that his wife said if you are going to keep talking about this, you should do it. if you are not going to do it, you should stop talking about it. he decided he should finally run. him you'reably told going to do this. if you are going to do it, now is the time. an ah-ha moment? one of our visits, before we sat down to begin the interview, he said come with me, and he took us a ross bohol to a conference room. with stacks of magazines. on the cover of every magazine was donald trump. what he said was look what i found. even know this room was outside his office filled with magazines of hymns health on the cover. moment to have this man who is the republican nominee for president to be so enraptured with his own image on these covers. it was a revealing moment about in hise in ego plays life and his sense of self. it was fascinating and disturbing. it was fascinating and disturbing. host: our conversation with mike and mark, the co-authors of this project. thank you for being with us. made reference to the clinton global initiative. here is your chance to weigh in. you can begin dialing in now. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independent, (202) 748-8002. you are watching "washington journal." >> book tv, 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend. here are some featured programs this weekend. the presidential candidacy of donald trump is the subject of ann coulter's latest book. she is interviewed by the editor in chief of the daily caller. he looked around and saw so many things he could fix. he said something to the effect of, if we don't stop this now. moderates race in america. he10:00, antonio martinez, talks about his book "chaos monkeys." it examines the future and impact of online marketing and social media. also, the washington post reports on the nuclear arsenal. nicholas r irving recounts his missions in iraq and afghanistan. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to hear from you on the clinton global initial -- initiative. want to share with you a couple of headlines dealing with the earthquake in italy. three quarters of the town is not there anymore. the devastating earthquake that struck yesterday in central italy. this is a story from inside the new york times. why the damage was so severe, imparts because of the construction of the property. the death toll continues to climb. it is now at 240. front page ofy, the wall street journal. the clinton charity is rethinking changes. the foundation is considering exceptions to its plan to stop accepting corporate and foreign donations and reduce family involvement. the foundation was discussing what some allies plan for chelsea clinton to leave the board. yesterday, chelsea clinton will stay on the board. mr. clinton telling donors he plans to leave. share --ing to republican line. good morning. simple country boy. i think actions speak louder than words. i wonder what would happen if we could get leaders in the country , in general, all over the country, that would be honest and live up right and be an example. i am speaking about the clinton foundation. mainly because i am a republican. see a republican that was elected. host: thank you for the call. front page of the washington times, pay to play. eight years ago, hillary clinton was accusing barack obama of being swayed by his financial backers. manchester township, new jersey. good morning. the clintonink foundation has done a wonderful job for many years, has saved aids, otherfighting diseases, particularly in africa. whether the clintons are involved, after hillary clinton becomes president, on january 21, the clinton foundation will continue its wonderful work. make a couple of other comments if i may. the last program about the donald trump book and the discussion of hillary clinton, lockboxher in the same anh donald trump is absurdity. he lies. every word out of his mouth is a lie. has said whenn she is inaugurated on the 24th of january, she will become the greatest president in american history. one other thing, i am a veteran of world war ii. there has never been, in my , there is no candidate in my lifetime qualified to be president of the united states .han hillary clinton when she becomes president, i to salute her. i will be 90 in september. luck to you. thank you for your service. what do you think about the foundation? you can read the editorial online at usa today. i amtweak, i am rating -- waiting for the surprise on hillary clinton's e-mails. the senior communication advisor says the clinton foundation's attempt to address the issues fails to address its umbrella organizations, which alone represents two thirds of the foundation's spending. special interest would continue unabashed on their unacceptable proposal. nate, baltimore, maryland. good morning. i am also a world war ii veteran. us, namely him, have gone senile. fromwe need is change away this royalty we have established in the united states, where one or two families are royalty and congress is the nobility. justest of us are taxpayers. it is time to get donald trump to shake up the place. is the firsthe candidate like that, someone should read how teddy roosevelt was treated and seen by his own party. may be the clintons could not only change leadership away from family, but put the funds towards usa needs. -- if hillary clinton is elected, the itstable to limit involvement with oversee programs and its insistence that hillary -- that chelsea clinton remain on the board raises red flags. next is bob, henderson, kentucky. democrat's line. about the fund to get this medicine, there are millions of people that are receiving help from this fund. itss going to lose a lot of funding. who else can do the job they have done for the past 15 years. who is going to take on the responsibility of getting that funded with money to pay for all of this medicine they give to people that would never see medicine if it wasn't for bill clinton? has: the clinton foundation helped millions around the world. why not ask what the trump foundation has done. this piece in the wall street journal. clinton foundation already. clinton should close shop if elected president. south carolina. -- host: we will move on to barbara. good morning. caller: good morning. believe the clinton foundation should be closed down. the money they have gotten from terrorists does not make it to hand out that money. that is bloodmoney. there is not enough good enough foundation to keep it open. any educated person would have done their homework when these presidential candidates are announced. i have done my homework. i was born in 1942. i am 73. we need a change from this establishment. donald trump is the man. even in massachusetts, a democratic state. trump.e turning to he is telling the truth. that is not his opponent's habit of doing. he has nothing to lose. call.thank you for the we only have a few minutes. in, whate just tuning do you think about the future of the clinton foundation? the clinton campaign pushing back at the reports. you can read the story online. the foundation has already laid out the unprecedented steps the charity will take if hillary clinton becomes president. donald trump needs to come clean his network for -- his network of for-profit businesses that are in debt. donald trump should stop hiding behind the excuses and release his tax returns and disclose the extent of his business interests. he must commit to the vesting from his business conflicts. robert, rock falls, illinois. your sense on the future of the clinton foundation? caller: a lot of the people say ,rs. clinton has a good plan but she never states how she is going to do it, she just says she is going to get people working again without categorical plans. some say it she is elected, -- will fall for the final time. [indiscernible] host: thank you for the call. -- send ussaying your thoughts. your sense of what the foundation should do next. the foundation has helped millions of people. news, every channel you turn on, it is shut down the foundation, do this, do that. donald trump has a foundation. he has businesses tied to everybody. his campaign manager was a russian mole. nobody is talking about that. the fbi is investigating him. talks about chelsea cannot run the foundation. it fine for george bush to have a foundation? his father had his foundation. day --s announcing every to help the foundation. clinton is running not as a person, but as a foundation. another point of view from karen who says i think so, or put it into a blind trust. john cassidy has this from the new yorker website. how to save the clinton foundation. it is hard to keep track of the developments in the story of the clinton foundation and e-mails. if the clintons and their allies -- would put an end to the stories, they were disappointed. it has made notable philanthropic successes to name a few. you can read the story online. celeste is joining us from houston, texas. i think the agency should continue. i think the charity should continue. done wonderfulve work and helped so many people. to closereason for it because she is running for president. i would like to see some philanthropy on donald trump's side. i haven't seen him do anything for anybody but trump. i would love to see it stay open. itould still like to see stay open. they have done wonderful work for people. that is what is important. is the clinton charity rethinking some of the changes? inside the jump page, there is this headline. criticism continues to mount over donor access to the clinton foundation. tom, bakersfield, california. good morning. caller: thank you. there has been a lot of articles coming out about the clinton foundation. the more we learn, the more moving parts we have. i don't have a comfortable done.g everything is it keeps coming out in trips. to be something done where there is a cut from the clinton foundation, the clintons themselves. that is my comment. i appreciate the opportunity. has started sanders a progressive group called our revolution. pointing out problems with some staffers who left because of the involvement of jeff weaver. the story is available online. eduardoepublican line, is joining us from the bronx, new york. you are on the air. caller: good morning. say hillary clinton, her foundation has been a good ring for a lot of people. clinton has been more affected by the administration , less channel for i have been watching since 4:00 in the morning. i forgot what senator it was, they did not have any proof of terrorists [indiscernible] went over there and told them to stop killing them americans said they were terrorists and they had to kill them. she freed them all. a follow-up on a tweet saying you can only go into the presidential foundation business after you are president. the foundation was created by bill clinton. in this case, this is the spouse running for the office. us from st.ning louis, missouri. good morning. caller: a couple of things. this foundation has done a lot of good work. leave thiss need to outfit until they are out of office. donald trump needs to release his tax records. the media seems to have given up talking about it. he thinks he has something in there that would keep them from winning. is kind of making me nervous. every other presidential nominee has done it. he has something in there he is hiding. think he is lying about redoing the trade deals. i saw it when it was first on. he sits there and embarrasses donald trump because his stuff was made in other countries. none of it was made here. thank you. doesn't the foundation give money to inner-city schools? let's help the people in the united states. welcome to the conversation. caller: hello. host: good morning, craig. morning.ood i have a few comments. i would like to say i have been h trump supporter since day one. subject, i am voting for him, not because he is a republican or democrat, but because he is who he is. the news about this republican or that republican, not going to endorse him or any of that. heads up. we could care less with those establishment republicans talk about or whether they will endorse him or not. operationn foundation needs to be suspended. not necessarily shut down, but other people put in there who have more ethics. i think it is an ethics issue. i hear people calling in saying they have done good work. back in the day, gangs used to do good work in their neighborhoods, so did the mafia. did we allow them to exist? no. i think this falls in line with the clinton foundation. people need to start looking and think about who they want representing them, what kind of foundation they want to do that work. the needs to go back into the hands of the religious organizations that have a good grasp of what organizations are. follow thean conversation on facebook, or send us a tweet. you can have your friends and family follow us on twitter. tonight.r we are live 4:00 for those of you on the west coast. we commemorate the anniversary of president woodrow wilson signing the act that created the national park service. we hope you tune in. book tv, every weekend on c-span two. thank you for joining us here. we are back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. enjoy the rest of your thursday. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> congress continues its summer recess. here is what some of the members are doing during the break. texas senator john cornyn is traveling in afghanistan. he tweeted out these pictures this morning, with the 10th mountain division. he is traveling to several bases in afghanistan. kentucky senator rand paul joined the farm bureau ham breakfast this morning.