Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal Del. Stacey Plaskett 20180215

Different immigration proposals. They have been voting. They just began. Senator toomey on the floor right now. All those proposals dealing with border security, allowing socalled dreamers who came to the country as children to remain in sanctuary cities. Each of those proposals need 60 votes to advance in the senate. You can watch those votes as they take place live on our companion network cspan2. In just under half an hour here on cspan, Supreme Court Justice Clarence thomas will be sitting down at the law bry lear in congress about a conversation of his life and career and. And until then a conversation from washington journal. First guest of the morning, delicate Stacey Plaskett delegate Stacey Plaskett from the u. S. Virgin islands. Good morning. Your thoughts on the shooting from yesterday. We have been through this before. What do you think the reaction from congress will be . Will havehink members a moment of silence, they will say that this is a tragedy. Unfortunately, i think that the majority will move on from there and we will talk about the things we have been talking about. This raises so many issues, not only about shooting, gun safety, and gun control, but about mental health, support systems in the school, all things that embers of congress should be having hearings, discussions, and bringing bills to the floor for regular order. Host by you think on those issues there cannot be a coming together . Guest we have seen so many of these tragedies occur, whether it be in schools, places abortion, nine clubs every venue we have had Mass Shootings places ofg worship, nightclubs, everything youve we have had Mass Shootings nothing has been done. This will hot them for the rest of their lives. That my colleagues, who have the ability to have discussion and debate, are willing to do so. I member of the House Oversight and reform committee. Trey gowdy announcing that he wants to look at the vetting process. What is your view of the vetting process in light of rob porter . Guest it would appear that the white house and the executive branch has some issues with their vetting. We know that there is an allowance for an interim security clearance. We are aware that old mentally the president has the same someone security clearance. A would appear there quite number of members of the white house who have problems. Have not an usual to people on an interim security clearance for a number of months after a new administration. The amount of members that have antrim security clearances, and the length of time of those interim security clearances are tremendously problematic and raise quite a bit of questions about the safety of the country information. People have questions and flags raised about their security clarence because security , because of issues. Whether they are related to personal behavior, etc. , that need to be vetted through. That is why we have the fbi and the process it goes through. Very concerned for the safety of this country and our own security because of the number of people for whom flags have been raised on their security clearance. Host the chairman announced he would look at it. What was your reaction . Guest surprise. Since the election of Elijah Cummings has issued at least 14 letters to the chairman and the white house related to this topic, which have gone unanswered and have not been taken care of. That led me to believe that this was not an issue that the chairman or the oversight and Government Reform Committee wanted to take up. The say in he has what hearings we have and if they will be if there will be new investigations, along with speaker ryan determining how resources will be run in an investigation. Ive asked for details and to what the investigation means. Is it going to be the majority and minority staff working together . Will there be a panel of members that work on this investigation . Those things have not been fleshed out, for i am not aware of them. It is my understanding that this will be bipartisan in terms of the staff working on the investigation. Says he isan gowdy going to do something, he is usually forthright and goes through with them. I have been frustrated with the amount of briefings we had rather than hearings. He is more amenable to having closeddoor sessions where members meet with individuals and ask questions. It is his belief there is less grandstanding and politics in that venue. My concern is that when members come out of it they can spin that to how they wish rather than the general public getting a sense of their own. Host 202 7488001, republicans. 202 7488000, democrats. 202 7488002, independents. Robdo you think it took porter to bring this to the committee . Guest that is someone so close to the president to have a flag in his security clearance. We asked for information as to why he was kept on in the manner that he was after having so many flags on his security clearance. I cannot say with the breaking point is, but sometimes it is a small thing, the feather that finally pushes something over the cliff. Host when it comes to security clearances, what should disqualify, even on the personal side . Guest that is what we have experts for. Isil recently that another member of the white house resigned because of his security i saw a recently that another member of the white house resigned because of his security clearance. Is that something that should disqualify someone . There are various degrees of thought. We have all of the agencies that go through this to determine, will they be compromised in the position in which they are holding . Host do you think that there is an issue with the process, the length of time . Is there a way to streamline it and make it more efficient . Guest that is what the government and oversight reform out. Ttee is trying to find that is why we have issued the request for the files and asked chairman gowdy to have the hearings so that we can determine if something needs to be changed. So many people think that the oversight and Government Reform Committee,s a gotcha that we should be reforming government. We need to understand what happened in the past so we can fix it for the future. Our first question comes from jeff and nebraska, the republican line. Go ahead. Caller when they changed over from the white house he we v860 theyto the went to the marine corps and said that they wanted 20 radio operators out of the marine with the president and provide communications for the white house. I was one of those individuals. I was next to the president. I know what this guy is going through. They stopped my clearance 4 different times and told me, they had to tell me, they couldnt tell anyone else, but they told me you have to figure this out. It was about parking tickets, one time in 1954 disturbing the peace in salem, west virginia. It was ridiculous why they would stop the clearances. When they stop it, they do not start until you come back with the answer. I cannot believe that anybody that people do not know this. Host thank you for telling us your story. Guest 2 things to what he was saying. Of, there is a long period clearances. Urity i had it happen to me at the Justice Department as a political appointee. The Oversight Government Reform Committee needs to look at the process to see if there needs to be changes. That is on the one line of questioning. For many of us, the issue is not that it took this long, but the number of people in sensitive positions. Rob porter is seeing every piece of paper coming before the president as his secretary. That puts him in a position to be at a level in which he could be compromising the security of our country. Buts not just one person, numerous people in the white house who are in sensitive positions. That in its totality is why this is problematic. Host joe is the next. Caller good morning. The white house knew about this guy. They knew for months. It is all going to come to light, all of this, pretty quickly. I was cleared for topsecret. I was in the air force security service, a 19yearold sergeant. The office of special investigation went to my high school, people that i worked for in the summers, they asked about my character. You are either cleared or you were not. It was done quickly. I i was a young wife beater, would have been off the radar quickly. This white house thinks they can do anything that they want to without any oversight. I wonder what mr. Trump is hiding. What do the russians really have on him . Why wont he show us his tax returns . He is not worthy of a clearance. Guest what did the white house know and when did it know it. It raises the issue of character in some respects. In particular with the chief of staff, general kelly. We went into the white house understanding that this was someone who would bring order and discipline into the white house because there was concern on both sides of the aisle that there had not then that kind of order in the white house upped to date uptodate. General kelly is someone that is allowing things and exacerbating the issue. Whether it is statements about a member of congress that turned out not to be factually correct in terms of what was said or not said by that member of congress. Statements that he makes about dreamers. We now understand that he may have very well been not only aware of what the allegations were and what the issues were with regard with mr. Porter that hehite house, but went talking to members of the press and others gave erroneous dates on when he knew the information. Host democrats line. James, you are on. Caller have a couple of things that i will say quickly. All of the listeners and all the colors that will call in. We are going through a trying 45 president. Come october, i dont know what your religious belief is, but i prayed on it. That died, myuals heart goes out to them. We did nothing because of the nra. We can tame the beast. Is 666, the sign of the devil in the beginning. . The turnover in guest the house that is something im hopeful for host the turnover in the house . Guest that is something that for. Opeful their working hard to organize and put mechanisms in place at the Grassroots Level to do that. I think we are at a disadvantage because of how many lines were drawn quite a number of years ago that makes it a push for us and an uphill battle, but i think that it can be done. For democrats right now it is to try to get a message out there that lets americans know what the Democratic Party is working on and what we are doing, to not get so much in the weeds in speaking in policy. The Democratic Party is trying to show americans what this tax bill is going to do to them. What so many policies of the regimental toare everyday americans. I think that that message is resonating. Detrimental to everyday americans. I think that message is resonating. President unveiling his plans for infrastructure. Allowing states to get access to money. What you think about this plan . Aest i think that it is hollow plan. You cannot have a federal infrastructure plan that does not put federal dollars and. Incentivizing people to go into building is one thing, but to put the onus on the states is a nonstarter. I think that the leadership of transportation, as well as other members, met with the president yesterday to talk about his. Nfrastructure plan there seems to be some confusion as to whether or not the president is for or not for a gas tax. The newmber of Democratic Coalition and cochair of the Infrastructure Task force. We are interested not only in increasing funding by the to fix ourernment crumbling infrastructure, but also an Infrastructure Bank and putting serious money into the areas that have been left behind. ,reas, like the Virgin Islands which will not be able to provide 80 of the funding necessary to build our roads and ports the way they should be. Durham, north carolina, independent line, richard, good morning. Caller i would like to say to the Virgin Islands delegate today that the biggest problem that we face in America Today is the race problem. Permeatingoblem is everything that happens in this country am top to bottom. Thised to really recognize. ,eing led by the United States israel, eastern europe, western europe, all is infected by the race problem. Even the issue yesterday with the guns is affected by the race problem. Until we make up our minds to solve the race problem, we are not going to solve any of these problems. It is only going to get worse with the election that put trump in. We have relatively few delegates in the Electoral College of color. White, and they a gerrymandered Voting System that is rigged from top to bottom. We do nothink that have a race problem today, there has always been race in this country. If you look at the foundation of the country and how it was built, what we are seeing today is that this is coming to a head and we are hearing it in a louder fashion. Are not as cautious as expressing issues of race and animus towards other people. I see it in the immigration policy where they are pitting dreamers against those of african, caribbean, and other dissents, whether you will allow diversity lotteries. Speech it in much of the that was given to us at the state of the union address. Trying to color the dreamers as gang members. Of thethat individuals nfl who were speaking out in a patriotic manner, in my mind, were unamerican. An issue that goes back almost 300 years and is now just coming to a head. Host republican line. Caller good morning. You. Reciate sometimes i agree, sometimes i disagree. The vetting in the white house, i dont believe any of it. I believe there is a conspiracy. Every day the president is attacked. Out. Nk the truth will come im glad trey gowdy is investigating the fbi. Also, i do not believe that there is a race problem. I am white. I did not vote for obama, but i tolerated him and respected him as our president for eight years. I think it is violating disrespectful that every day the president is bullied. I really think that he wants to help the dreamers. I think that the democrats, it is very sad, they have gone so far left that all they do is obstruct. I do not believe that there is a race problem in the country. We took care of that years ago. Im very grateful that she has an opinion and feels free to express it. I do not necessarily agree with the opinions she has. We do have a race problem. I have four sons that are black young men who have been doing the right thing, yet every time they go out in the evening i am concerned for their life. That is not because they are doing anything bad, but for the color of their skin. You you talk about that tolerated president obama, that speaks volumes that you would think that someone as educated and sound of mind as he was that he needed to be tolerated as an individual and the president. First, lets be clear that trey gowdy is not investigating the fbi. He is investigating the process. To say that the president is being bullied is not true at all. I think that there are issues with which the president has operated that are outside not just the norm but the process. He is being pulled back into the process, because there is a reason that our founders put it in place. It is the institution of the United States that is more important than an individual. That is what this president will know at the end of the day. Thelly, when you talk about democrats being obstructionist, i think that the democrats are standing to a set of principles and values that they hold. When the president is willing to work within that value, we are willing to work with him. That is why you had a bipartisan budget that passed last week. Throughout the eight years of president obama the leadership of the Republican Party said publicly that we will obstruct and not get him anything that he is looking for. That, to me, is the ultimate in obstructionism. Host remind viewers of your relationship with james comey. Guest james comey was my boss. I was the appointee at the Justice Department. I worked for the Deputy Attorney general. James comey asked me to stay on and work with him. Wasrestingly, chris wray the chief of staff for Larry Thompson when i worked on that staff with about 12 attorneys working for him. I had a very Good Relationship with chris wray. I considered him a friend. I think that he is an amazing, upstanding american and will do what is necessary for the institution of the fbi. Host when he tells the version of the vetting of rob porter, do you believe him in what the process played out . Is contradictory to the white house and to the chief of staff. He is an appointee of the president. I think that chris wray is not just looking to uphold the fbi, integrity ofat the the process takes place. When he gave the timeline under oath, i believe the timeline he has given. And john kelly and the president have spoken, they have not spoken under oath under pain of perjury and criminal charges. Chris wray did that. When we year the president or john kelly under oath, i will have to weigh what they say at that point. Host the president s treatment of not only the fbi but james comey still, what do you think . Guest i think our president is a smart man, and he understands if he continues to chip that the fbi and question his integrity that when it comes after him there are Many Americans like the caller who will not believe what the fbi says because he has made an effort over the last year to impugn the integrity of that institution and what it does. So that its credibility is now in question. Host next, we will talk about thebook the making of president. Guest im so past that election. We are where we are now. We need to work with what we have. It is like crying over spilt milk. I have Great Respect for him and worked for him. I think he believes in the integrity of the american people. Attorney, i dont think it was appropriate for him to make any of the statements that he made. Whether it was the first one saying that they had an investigation or the second one reason we are reopening the investigation. Heart of the feeling he had to come out was in part because of , the attorney general general at the time, was recused from the matter and could not make statements herself. Host hello. Hello, everybody. I am wondering aloud, even if most ofider requests, those are legitimate in my point of view, if you look at the past 10 products that somebody declassified, in most cases they were all political gain in some way shape or form. Imo the opinion that we have to have a bill or bureaucracy where ,hey handle all of the vetting classification, declassification of products from our country. Host lets leave it there. Guest i think what the colors talking about is in some incidents, the most recent is the memo coming out of this intelligence committee. , democrats were shocked that there was this memo that was going to be not only drafted, but potentially released by the republicans. This is something that has not been done in the past with classified information. What we have not done in the past is that we do have a system in place, the National Security , saying, agencies that they thought it was problematic and a bad idea to release the memo. It was done anyway. We have checks and balances in our government. I think that there is now becoming a lack of respect for each branch of government and people overstepping their bounds. I believe the republicans overstepped their bounds. With the democrats were trying to do was to bring balance by having their own memo put out, which we felt refuted and brought light to some instances drafted by that was the republicans. I think there needs to be an enormous amount of self correction done by congress. We are outside the norms of government. I believe they are taking a cue from what is happening down the road at pennsylvania avenue. Dd from michigan. Caller how are you doing . I have a problem with the fbi and the Democratic Party, and mainstream media. It seems like they are all democrats and the media is the propaganda arm of the democrats, including cspan. Ave actively try to unseat duly elected president. No one is talking about how bad the fbi has treated president trump, regardless of him saying he did not trust the committee, he has a right to do that. Guest i do not think that the democrats are trying to unseat. Good or bad nancy pelosi, the leader of the Democratic Party and the democrats in the houses that she does not want to talk about impeachment. The president is the president and she is willing to work with him. She has gone to the white house on numerous occasions to do that. Ive never signed on to any impeachment bills. Majority of democrats have not done that. We are trying to work with the president we have, donald j. Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Most of us have moved on with that. The distrust of the fbi, the fbi is not trying to beat up on the president , but they are trying to follow the law. If the president is outside of the law, i think god that the fbi will not only check the president , but each american that is not going to follow the laws put in place by the people of the United States. Host give the status report on the Virgin Islands post hurricane. Grateful that Congress Passed a bill that gave us disaster funding and support, particularly in medicaid which allows us breathing room to build. In terms of disaster and what is we areng on the ground, compromised and a lot of areas. Our hospitals are not functioning properly. Most dialysis patients are off. Our children, we have lost nine schools so children are on a split shift where they are in and sharing hours space. Im hopeful that with this money we will begin to rebuild. It will take many years. We have seen examples of this am a whether it was new york and new jersey through sandy, louisiana and mississippi havegh katina, but we do we are live this afternoon at the library of congress for a conversation with Supreme Court Justice Clarence thomas. He will be sitting down with a law professor from George Washington university. Hell discuss his life and career. The law library of congress and the Supreme Court Fellows Program are cohosting this event. Should start in just a moment