Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20160420

Next week in connecticut, delaware, pennsylvania, rhode island and maryland, we want to get your thoughts this morning. Republicans 2027488001. Democrats 2027488000. 488002. Pendents 2027 also, you can send us a tweet cspanwj. Cspan. O facebook. Com let me show you the results from the New York Primary yesterday. We begin with republicans and donald trump heading more than 50 of the vote. 60 . John kasich came in second with 25 and ted cruz with 14 the on the democrat side, Hillary Clinton, 58 to Bernie Sanders 42 . This is where the delegate count stands as of now. For democrats, Hillary Clinton, when you add in the superdelegates, 1893. While Bernie Sanders has 1180. For republicans, donald trump has now brought his delegate lead to 845 over senator ted cruzs 359. 559, excuse me. And Ohio Governor john kasich 147. Lets listen to what donald trump had to say in new york with his big win last night. Mr. Trump we dont have much of a race anymore, based on what i am seeing on television. Senator cruz is just about mathematically eliminated. [applause] won another state. As you know, we have won millions of more votes than senator cruz. Millions and millions of more votes than governor kasich. Weve won, especially after tonight, close to 300 delegates more than senator cruz. Were really, really rocking. We expect were going to have an amazing number of weeks because these are places and theyre in big trouble. When you look at pennsylvania, when you look at india, when you look at maryland and rhode island an indiana, so many places we have problems everywhere you look. We are going to solve those problems. And one of the big problems one of the big problems is the economy and jobs and that is my wheelhouse. Host wall street journal reports that trump clear the 50 threshold to win all statewide delegates. Says that result would give mr. Trump 90 of the states 95 delegates. Drubbing makes it mathematically impossible for him in the remaining primaries bound to the needed 1237 delegates before the july convention. He could still collect enough delegates to keep mr. Trump from clinching the nomination. An independent in pennsylvania. You are going to be voting next. What do you think about what happened last night at what it means for the race Going Forward . Caller well, let me just say, i had to change my registration to be able to vote in pennsylvania. It is like new york with a closed primary. Probably the biggest take away threehis for me anyhow is Million People are ineligible to vote who are eligible to vote in new york with these closed primaries. Excuse the whole election process completely off the charts. The whole election process. Im not sure how many close theirare. Im a Center Supporter and unfortunately, it, hes left out in the cold because the independents will carry sanders. Host we heard from a democrat yesterday who said i have been a democrat. I could you be to the party. It is a private institution. Ive campaign for democrats my whole life. An openld there be primary . Making the argument that you should be able to as an independent if you are not loyal to the party be able to vote in a primary. Caller well, it illuminates 40 of the people. The democrats and republicans the carry like 30 each of total population of voting population. 40 have declared themselves independent. There is a reason for that because neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party really listen to the, what the people want. That is why so many people are souring on both parties. The voter turnout is bad. I think there were less than 2 million votes or right around 2 million votes total. 3 million votes were eliminated. Host and thats something a Bernie Sanders talked about yesterday, too. He went on he did not state in new york for the final results. Went back to vermont. Take a day off. Listen to Bernie Sanders yesterday before the new york results were known. Lastor sanders in the couple weeks, a few National Polls have had us in the lead. [cheering] shes getting nervous because democratic voters now that in virtually every national matchup, general election poll, we beat donald trump than wider numbers than she does. Wider numbers that she does. And the American People are catching on. Host Bernie Sanders yesterday saying he plans to stay in this race till july despite his loss in new york yesterday and the delegate gap getting wider. John in pennsylvania, republican. How do you plan to vote . Caller greta, i have been voting for 45 years in pennsylvania. And because of the rules, because of the close primaries, even though i am an independent, i figured out a long, many years ago i would either register as a democrat or republican so i can vote in the primary. I still remain an independent but im registered as a republican right now. Votean simply so i can in the primaries. I do understand. You do not want a whole lot of democrats. If you want a person to represent the Republican Party, you do not want a hold much of democrats going out there and voting for, in the republican primary. But i would just like to make a comment on the Election Results yesterday from new york. And that would and that comment would be that 7u had a vermont senator, got 52,000 votes. You had a lifelong new york votes. Sman got 518,000 and you had a carpetbagging first lady from the state of arkansas who got 1 million 37,000 votes. So, i do not see how this looks anyway like the donald trump can carry the state of new york in the general election. Thank you. Host did you say who youre going to vote for . Caller i will vote for john kasich in pennsylvania if i can arermine which delegates supporting john kasich, because it seems like they are not acknowledging that. Host before you go, let me ask you. Exit polls last night for new york republicans found that folks said that i think, more than 7 in 10 new york gop voters say the candidate with the most votes in the primary should win the partys nomination. A quarter favor a contested convention. What do you think . Still hoping i am for a contested convention. I would prefer that, because i do not think donald trump will win in november. I think what the polls have been showing so far as theyve been pretty accurate in all the states, and the polls show that the only one that can beat hillary is john kasich. Host that is the argument john kasich has been making as well. Jack in providence, rhode island, democrat. Caller i happen to be one of the few conservative democrats. Host you also get to vote next week. Caller thats correct. And im voting for mr. Trump most likely. I happen to like ted cruz, too, even though i am a democrat. I like trumps populist nationalism and cruzs brilliant mind. Ted cruz is a brilliant guy. The media hates his guts. But he is a brilliant man. Take a look at the acceptance speech he made at liberty university. Everything was from his head. Now, let me tell you why im going to go with mr. Trump, because he can take it to Hillary Clinton in the general election. Yerascondly, hes 69 ol years old. God almighty is he physically fit. He starts early in the morning. He goes well into later tonight. He never seems to tire out you need that in a president. And secondly, what i do not like is the double standard of the media. Practically all the reporters are big Hillary Clinton supporters. And her husband was the biggest sexual abuser i think in the history of this country. He even raped a woman and got away with it. Host jack, the donald trump yesterday in new york during his speech said that he will not be taking a day off like he has in the past. Morning andrly this went on to indiana to continue to campaign. Eric, west plains, maryland, independent. You get to vote next week. Im an actually, independent. And i am black. And i am going to vote for donald trump. Comment this morning is that both parties, republican and democrats, i am just disgusted by the way they dont want to hear the american voice. Democracy used to be the government of the people, by the people and for the people. The government of the elite by the elite and for the elite. So, donald trump is waiting. But actu donald trump is winning. What they want to do is have a congested convention where they want to a contested convention where they want to play somebody who has not been in the primary. When you go on the democrat side, your super delegates who have already pledged before they vote. It is just a shame for american democracy. Host for you and others who are hoping the new york win for donald trump would make the picture clearer, the wall street journal says littlelvania will offer clarity. This is another big state. The statewide winner. This is why, because the statewide winner nabs just 17 of pennsylvania 71 delegates. The rest are directly elected and are not bound to support any of the gop contenders at the july convention reagan won the lions share of the states delegates the state is one of five to vote on april 26. It says for the democratic race, it is much more straightforward. Hillary clinton and vermont senator Bernie Sanders are running for a share of the delegates toedged be allocated according to the canadas performance statewide and it each of pennsylvania is 18 congressional districts. Tony in sarasota, florida. Independent. Good morning. Caller i just want to say the republicans, donald trump as a nominee because he wants to secure Social Security. And the republicans they want to destroy it. But they use the word privatize. Basically they want to give it to wall street on a silver platter. So, wall street can disappear like david copperfield. With the money of americans, they worked all their lives in savings. That money is going to disappear. Thats why the republican establishment, they do not want donald trump. And thats the reason. I think in louisiana or mississippi, donald trump won big time, but somehow ted cruz won most or all of it of the delegates. It does not make not sense. So, donald trump is making a big host did you listen to Donald Trumps speech last night . Caller yes, maam. But we have to listen that donald trump is making a good point because, i mean, hes hes got a lot of people. I know somehow donald trump is making a good point on i mean, he makes a good point on , using the he gets. Nobody likes ted cruz. Doesnt takecanada back if we deport ted cruz back to canada, canada will say no thanks. Host the reason i ask you, the New York Times front page story said his speech sounded more president ial than any other he has given on an election night. A focused, titans message about trade and the economy as a focused tightened message. Did you detect a change last night, tony . Caller yes. Sten to donald trump. I know many people do not like him. The reality is he wants to secure Social Security. Broughts sake, who Social Security . Franklin delano roosevelt. Host we brought you the from donald trump and Hillary Clinton. We covered john kasich and Bernie Sanders as well as ted cruz. If you missed them, we want to hear what these candidates had to say on new yorks primary day, go to cspan. Org and watch the whole thing. We showed you the whole speeches, all the entire speeches last night with our primary coverage along with the results. Of course, your phone calls, like we do this morning and we will do it again on april 26 next week. 8 30 p. M. Eastern time, we will have the Election Results, speeches and you reaction. Hi, jean. What you make of the results in new york yesterday . Caller im glad hillary won. I am glad that bernie was there to bring our party to the left side and to concentrate more on the working people and what has been done to the middle class. I thank bernie for that. I thank donald trump very much for sending jeb bush packing, for bringing the issues of frontg people also to the of the Republican Party. For offloading all those issues they have always had about values and abortion and blah, blah and bring it back where it should be to what is happening to this country economically. Host do you think then Bernie Sanders should stay in this race all the way to the convention in july . Caller yes, i do. Think he should take it to the end because number one, the republicans are bringing the email scandal. Their hearings on benghazi right to the end of june or maybe the beginning of june. Tos taken them 7, 8 months decide what should be done. They are properly timing up for the convention, for the election. Ofy can open up their can perhaps an indictment or who knows what they have . You know what i mean . So, they are planning to open up a can of something during the conventions and say, it took us long to do these investigations. We have just now found this out. So, we would have bernie behind for a trump card and thats a good word because they are definitely going to do Something Like that. To take her out. Say New York Times stay underdogs, stay. The reason why is because mr. Sanders has voiced the concerns that energized many young people. His candidacy has forced the party to go deeper on addressing issues like wealth inequality, globalization. Important points of the stages with the republicans. Sanders commitment to small individual contributions has put the lie to democrats excuses that they must play the bigmoney game to win. Seldom a message to heard and a party that first champion campaignfinance reform. Jim, north dakota, a republican. Hi, jim. Caller hey, greta. I grew up in pennsylvania. I go backandforth. Ill probably be back there in time for the election. I grew up outside of philadelphia, bucks county. And i think trump is going to win that one, too. And i wanted to say the one guy said what trump is, a populist and a nationalist. And there is nothing wrong with the word nationalism. He believes in langauguage and culture the same things Michael Savage talks about. The things that Bernie Sanders talk about i want, too. But you cant have that until you secure the border, until you assimilate the people that are here. Has, and credibly bravely has stood up against orthodoxy and taken the heat. He has never called for a ban on muslims. He called for a moratorium until we get it straight. We did it with a germans. You are of german discent. In 1914, we halted migration because they were chance that too many would slip in when germany was becoming a hornets nest of militarism. Open during was not world war ii. The Great Depression we halted migration from 19241965. We slowed it down. That is why, all of us in her 40s or 50s and 60s, we are the products of that diversity, of absorbing everyone into one common language. Trump does not talk about race. He talks about america. He wants to destroy hyphenated americanism which will destroy us, and thats what the democrats are about. Host finish your thought and then i have a question for you. People out white there, did you hear what he said a mother to a month or two ago. He said, white people do not know what it is like to be poor. White people do not know what it is like to suffer. Hillary got in trouble for saying colored people. Then she gives a snarling speech, saying white people have to be more humble. These people will sell us down the waiver. I dont know why you working class whites cant notice that. Host i lost my train of thoughts. We will leave your comments there. Tim, an independent. Good morning to you. Caller good morning. Host you are on the air, sir. Caller yes, my comment is about mr. Trump. I think i just heard it, if i heard it correctly, they said that senator cruz is mathematically not able to beat mr. Trump. Kasich cant be trump either. We are coming up to vote next week and im concerned about the delegate process. And about how i can get my voice heard. The previous caller said, donald trump is the front runner heading into the pennsylvania primary in that state. The wall street journal says hes primed to steamroll his rivals in pennsylvania. Irwin in florida. Caller thank you for taking my call. I was i live a half hour from donald trump. The problem with donald is hes a psychopathic lair. Iar. This is the same donald trump who said that 1000 people were dancing in the streets of new jersey. Piece of not one media. The police said it never happened. A couple of weeks later, donald trump never spoke about it again. Saidis the same man who john mccain is not a war hero. I was in for america where they debated in london in the house of commons if he becomes president , they will keep him out by law. It was brought up in germany. How about our mexican people down south, south of the border . These people, he have called them murderers, rapists. Its like certain americans are. How do they feel north of the border in canada when trudeau. My family is in toronto. Likef them said, hes just barack obama. I met another canadian who said the same thing. He said, what do you think of Justin Trudeau . How do we deal with them . He will be an american disaster. Willools who vote for him pay the price. Host little bit more about the primary in new york. A primarygbuoyed by electorate that was less conservative and more supportive of a political outsider that is an the Washington Post. The New York Times reports the Sanders Campaign spent 2 million more than the Clinton Campaign on Television Ads in new york. The magnitude of the laws and the popular vote and the delegates was steep. He intended to get recharged and take a day off. Clinton receive reports from six in 10 democrats on long island. Were closelydates matched among voters in the Hudson Valley which was seen as sanders territory given the enclave of liberals and college student. On a major issue, 2 3 of democratic primary voters says that wall street does more to hurt the American Economy then help it. Those voters backed mr. Sanders but mrs. Clinton received stronger support from those who said wall street helps the economy. Jane, oak hill, florida, republican. What do you think after new york roads . Votes . Caller i think were seeing flashbacks of 2008. The popular won vote and lost the election, she was little upset. Im not a hillary supporter but you could see people were getting frustrated then. Now its become quite obvious with some of the states not even allowing the vote. What do think wouldve been the outcome of this election cycle in new york had been allowed to vote for the democrats or for Bernie Sanders . Do you think that hillary would have still won and held that vote . If we go to a one person one point, really should not matter if you want to vote republican or democrat. Au cant go and vote for republican in move over for a democrat. And vote for a democrat. We have the technology to give everyone in the country an opportunity to vote. Do you think that if independents have been allowed to vote in new york, that Bernie Sanders would have the outcome would have been different . Caller i think it would have been considerably different. The one you mentioned that was a college town, most of those students are not registered as and they did not realize no one could for see where Bernie Sanders is now, a year ago, in order to switch off of independent, to be able to vote for him. There should have been something in there, and that is where you can see the parties to control. A republican say that the Republican Party is a private party. Did the democrats see their private party as a private party as well . Is a republican in florida. Look at this headline from new york magazine. Donald trump on the lost in one place in new york, is home. Donald trump was the clear victor in the gop primary. He won every single county in except one, his home county. He lost manhattan county to john kasich. Bob, independent, good morning. Caller good morning, thank you for taking my call. I think that the most important question to be asked, regardless of the president ial aspirants, is where did they go to select their expert advisors on Foreign Policy, economic policy, domestic policy, and i think we will find that they are the same think tanks from elitist foundations. Host is that bad . Arent those the experts . Caller they are the experts, but it seems to me that regardless of who wins the office, things never change. Washington times this morning, front page, new york values, thatll trump and clinton is how they play it on their front page, lets listen to what the former senator from new york who served two terms had to say last night. New yorkers, you have always had my back. Tried to haveays yours. Again together, we did it and i am deeply grateful. There is much more that unites us than divides us. We started this race not far ,rom here, on Roosevelt Island pledging to build on the progressive tradition that has done so much for america, from Franklin Roosevelt to barack obama. Tonight, a little less than a year later, the race for the democratic nomination is in the home stretch, and victory is in sight. Host hello to clinton after beating Bernie Sanders by a little over 15 points in that contest. We are getting your thoughts on this, what does it mean for both parties Going Forward, the wins by donald trump and other clinton. Republicans, 202 7488001. Democrats, 202 7488000. Ndependents, 202 7488002 Washington Times front page about that bathroom bill in North Carolina. Governor says he will abide by transgender restroom court rulings. The fourth u. S. Circuit of appeals tore a hole in the North Carolina bathroom bill, ruling in a separate virginia case that public students at Public School students may use bathrooms based on their gender, not necessarily their biological sex. State willor the figure out the details. The richmondbased Appeals Court said that a Virginia School board violated the title ix law by denying a sexual student that identified as a boy access to the mail facility. Institutions that receive federal townline prevents institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating based on sex and equality inn for female sports. That in the news, also from capitol hill, this is in the New York Times, a bill exposing saudis to 9 11 lawsuits. President obama will be in saudi arabia today, meeting with mccain and the prince edit is that a bill opposed by the Obama Administration that would expose saudi arabia to legal jeopardy for any role in the september 11 attacks appeared to Gain Momentum on tuesday when a senator holding it up said he would be open to supporting it. Has beeninistration vigorously lobbying against the september 11 bill which was brought broad bipartisan port and says saudi arabia this could come up next week in the senate. Front page of the Washington Post on cancer, optimism increases for treatment. Scientists reported on two new studies, medication that marshall the bodys own immune defenses are having affect against recurrent, difficult to treat head and neck cancer and extremely lethal skin cancer. The cancer can be caused by healthyand data shows a immune system can recognize cancer from either cause. Frank in virginia, democrat. What are your thoughts on campaign 2016 . Caller you did a wonderful job comment, thatrief i am very distrustful of donald trump, because he reminds me in a way of a very intelligent and educated george bush, whom i voted for when i was a republican, but because of the stupidity and chronic decisions of his administration, i became a democrat and im glad that i did. What i am worried about, is, i dont think the american will electreally him, i dont think he has much of a chance, but there is a chance and if that chance that it is worrisome if he were to get in, i dont know where we eightgo, but having seen years of what george bush did and where we are in the wars in the middle east, it is very scary to me. Host you think the american electorate would vote for senator ted cruz . Caller no, i dont think he has a chance either. Host why not . Caller i think he has several issues regarding number one that sticks with me is abortion i cannot imagine a 13yearold raped and being forced to carry the baby and raise a child. To me, that is very cruel. He isk another issue, doing some things which are illogical, putting taxes on a postcard. I dont think that is logical. Host i want to show you and others a wall street journal editorial, clintons negative majority pointing out that the share of richard voters with a negative view of 23rd of how the clinton from 2013 to 2016 has risen. Republican should be poised to take the right the white in november if they nominate someone remotely tolerable, but it does not appear they will. Donald trumps negative ratings is an astounding 65 , ted cruz he finishedby 49 , a distant third in new york to john kasich. Hard to believe, but donald trump and ted cruz maybe the only two republicans they could lose to Hillary Clinton that could lose to Hillary Clinton. Paul, you are next. Caller i want to congratulate Hillary Clinton and donald trump for winning the primary, and it is wonderful and it is more about the man bites dog story we call in journalism. , inng up here, we have november, we will have all 430 seats in the u. S. Of house of representatives up for election and in the senate, i think it is , so i dont i have heard this on cspan and another network, but i want to mention that you should make sure you register to vote in the august primary, you have to be 2016, and by july 5, i dont know about the other states, but something to think about, make sure you get that done in that way you can vote in the august primaries and that way you can vote in the august primaries. Host we will of course be covering those congressional races on cspan but heading into next weeks contest for president , this is a breakdown by the wall street journal of how things could play out in each of them. Finish in maryland for governor kasich that helped commits delegates that he is a viable contender as the primary race continue that increasingly focuses on donald trump and ted cruz. In secondnd kasich place with daily 27 and 14 behind 14 points behind donald trump. Donald trumps schedule has stuck merely to new york and pennsylvania. On wednesday, ted cruz. Out of new york to hold rallies in maryland. Side, hillarytic clinton holds a point lead over Bernie Sanders. Sanders appears to be within striking distance, the paul has Hillary Clinton with a narrow lead, 49 to 43 . Mostkasich has secured the endorsements from connecticut republicans. Also rhode island and delaware and pennsylvania as well. Fill in florida, republican phil in republican in florida, republican. Caller i just want to point out that we dont have competition in these elections, i dont call them fair and open, we have two parties the control everything, they control the debates, who can get into the into the debates, they control to counts the votes. The way we should be doing the ballots these days, to be fair and open, we should have the offices listed on the ballot, no names, the right and the names of whomever we wish and that is definitely not the way it is done and we have the same results each time, we have a choice of two and most people arent happy, that is why mr. Trump has done as well as he has. Host mark in ohio, independent. Supporting . Am i i dont think it matters. If you talk to gore of it all, he will tell you that our elections are decided before any ballot is cast and all of europe knows that. America is naive, this is all a charade. You dont have any negative reporting on people like john kasich and if you talked to a notof ohioans that are millionaires or make under 500,000 a year, we would like to tell you a lot about that, but im not going to go there. Said, your last caller mentioned it, it is really not fair. A lot of people are tired of the twoparty system, they wont let independents in their. Ron paul himself told me over the phone, thats the way it works, and he was the best at the time because we need to get back to the constitution and the bill of rights, two things we dont cover at all anymore. Laws being broken, people like me who are poor, have to pay ridiculous amounts of money to stay in our homes that have been paid for numerous times through property taxes alone. We have no representation at all. Host couple of other headlines on capitol hill, political politico reporting Lindsey Graham is going to be meeting with merrick garland, president obamas nominee for the Supreme Court and also the hill newspaper reporting that senator john mccain plans to skip the Gop Convention in cleveland in july, because he will be focusing instead on his race for reelection against democratic representative ann kirkpatrick. Else has to worry about elite primary which is scheduled august 30. We will take a short break and when we come back, we talked to members of congress including representative Robert Pittenger who chairs the Congressional Task force on terrorism and Unconventional Warfare and later, brad sherman will be here, he sits on the Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs committee. We will talk about president obamas trip to saudi arabia and all of the gop political issues playing out in the middle east. American history tv on cspan3. This weekend, saturday evening at 6 00 eastern, story and discusses his book, the myth of the lost cost, lost cause, why do south thought the war lost war and why the north one. Monday disputes, myths of the civil war including the reason that it started and how it ended. Southerners felt compelled to explain why it was that this devastation had occurred and that for example, 25 of southern white men between the ages of 20 and 45 were dead. Not just casualties, they were dead as a result of the civil war. Onsunday morning at 10 00 the road to the white house rewind, the 1988 campaign of every heart that began with a former colorado senator announcing his candidacy in denver. A New Hampshire News Conference where he faced charges on an alleged extramarital affair and finally, his withdrawal from the race. Smithsonian National Portrait gallery curator on the life of civil rights activist the laura swear to enter involvement in the farmworkers movement. They would send out anyone from her, but she was at the forefront of that effort for a reason. Because sting [inaudible] at 8 00 on the presidency, he tensed up and said those sons of bitches, the day ever invite me to play golf at their fancy country clubs . To the ever invite me to their clubs and he just goes on and on. His lip was quivering. One of the few times in all of those years that i was so close to him, that he was a very well contained and discipline man, and he knew how to keep centered, but he erected then when he was talking and he was just saying not a god damn thing. And bobnder Butterfield Woodward reflect on the former president s personality and policies from watergate to vietnam. For the complete american tv his American History tv weekend schedule, go to cspan. Org. Washington journal continues. At our table, congressman Robert Pittenger, republican from North Carolina and chair of the National Task ors on terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He sits on the Financial Services committee. Thank you for being here. Force,egin with the task why was it formed and what is the goal . Force was task chaired by a former majority leader several years ago and he asked if i would like to succeed him in chairing the task force, so i did that and i have been working on that very hard, since then. We have had three forums to date and we have our fourth in june with members of Parliament Coming from 25 European Countries and the purpose is to address intelligence, oversight, preserving, integrity of what we have, looking at Terrorism Financing as well as Civil Liberties protections and also cyber worker. Host what our countries saying to the United States and what is your impression of other countrys willingness to combat terrorism . Guest the world looks to america, there is no doubt. America is the hope of the world. They see the security of the world and america is strong and they depend on america in every respect and i think that is where the disappointment lies, that we have not been out there in front in terms of more clarity of the mission in what is needed and expected. 1980sit so well in the and the challenge with the soviet union. Ronald reagan effectively assembled World Leaders and we had an economic sanction put on russia and build that our military. Pope john paul got involved with human rights and religious liberties issues and never as result, the soviet union collapsed without firing a shot. We cant say that, today. Wherever i go throughout the world, our allies and partners in the gulf states are hurt. They dont understand the lack of focus and direction of this administration, and they are inquiring into that and our partners in europe, they want to believe in us, certain things happened that raise issues and concerns and that is why we started these forums, to answer the questions, that we do have in august protections and privacies in this country and we want the American People and the world to know what we have. At the same time, we need to know who the bad guys are contacting and what that is about and having a access is very critical. Host president obama is in saudi arabia, today. What should his message to them on combating terrorism . Guest the saudis want to hear what his plan is, what does he plan on doing to address assad. He said assad must go, yet at the same time, there have been restrictions on those weve recruited and trained and even signed statements that they could not take out a sod. I think it is important that we have a clear plan and mission that enables our friends and allies throughout the middle east to work with us and they want to do that, but they need to know what the expectation is, what their role is, and they will commit themselves. Have 120,000 troops, they are not ready to commit that without clear direction. And focus. Host what are they doing in their own country to address terrorismlam and within their own country . Challenge, is a real they play both sides. Why did they do that . Would it be because of the lack of confidence in our mission, because they dont see the clarity and focus and we do need the saudis to be more assertive and aggressive in the restraint of engagement. By individuals inside the country. I cannot believe the country itself, the saudis are engaged in any way or manner to advance the terrorist, i think they work against them but at the same time, there are dispensed inside the country who have. Host the wall street journal says the United States is pending its hopes on the prospect that it can encourage a working relationship, but mr. Obama has called a cold peace between saudi arabia and iran. He meets today with leaders of arab nations in the gulf coast all Cooperation Council gulf Cooperation Council. Att at the same guest the same time, they want america, the crown prince it to withhey want to work israel and the United States to combat islamic terrorism. I have had discussions with and he said they would fund the training of the refugees and ablebodied men to go and take back their country. I mentioned that the president and not get a positive response. Mean . What do you guest he did not seem that interested. I thought it was a compelling wanted thathat he he had such a concern over the role of the sod inside syria and how pivotal that is, that he was willing to fund and train and equip whatever is required to take care of the families. Ablebodied refugees could go and take back their country. I thought it was an interesting concept, people who want their country back, and it nothing was ever done to pursue that. Host lets get to calls. Lee, republican. Trump im sure glad mr. One, but i was not happy with mrs. Clinton, because our terrorism will be worse with her in the office. Done, hehat obama has has destroyed our country, letting all these terrorists comment and if you put Hillary Clinton in, it is going to be the same and maybe worse, because look at the poor people that we let die over there and i cant imagine our children going to war for her, because she would not have their back. We would lose a lot of our children to someone like this. Host congressman . Those frankly, i share grief and i will admit that the reality is the perception and reality of how this within his peers how mrs. Clinton is perceived in america. The world is looking for a stronger america and to the end that we can be perceived as that and have that, then the world is safer and that is what i appreciate so much about ronald reagan. The world was secure in that time, and yet he never fired a shot. World looks to this country, and i hope and pray for the day that we can be strong, we can be an ally and a friend of the world and know that we stand and liberty stand for liberty and democracy. Host which one of the republican candidates would per tray strength would portray strength . Guest any of them can, and will. Host who do you think . Guest i think all three of them from my understanding and listening to them. We have talked at great depth and in my discussions with them, they fully understand our adversaries and know what America Needs to do to be strong. Anyone . Ve you endorse endorsed anyone . But whoever is off our bench will be a far better contender than the other side. America needs one strong leadership and we need to understand the importance of free markets. We are in total bondage with regulatory impediments and Financial Systems that cannot give capital to Small Businesses. That is notssion matched, only with rhetoric and not with a real plan, and that is what is needed. Host dawn is next, great falls don is next, republican. Problem, and violence begets violence and why cant we take care of this terrorist ,ituation over on their soil violently, using extreme methods and get to the point where nobody will bother with the United States any longer . To me, all we do is muddy up the waters by trying to go over there with soldiers and fight their war on their terms and we have to use all of these rules and regulations. That we need to do is viciously attack these people and take care of the problem over there, now. Thank you. Guest very good statement. I concur with your concern. What that addresses is the lack of mission. The lack of clarity. The part of our country that would engage the rest of the world. The world will be fully involved with us, not just on paper or when the when addressing as iny nations have signed on support of our mission but are really not, not in any meaningful or material way. I think we can take this to the enemy. We have certain tools that we need to make sure we can access. One is good intelligence. We have to work with our partners throughout the world with access to good data and no where they are and what they are trying to do. The second is financing keep abilities and it is such a key element, involved in what isis needs to do in funding their own army, they require millions of dollars a day to sustain themselves, and yet right now, they have broadened the scope of their capabilities. I just returned from south america, two weeks ago, meeting with officials, leaders and four south american countries and right now, they are fully aware that there is money that is being transferred through their financial system, they do not have the cable with these. We had very Sophisticated Technology that we have to export and work with our partners to enable them to be able to access the data and help us intercept the transfer of these funds. Intelligence are two phase, we have to really strengthen and be it within our best capabilities. Colombia, a little terms ofed, there in them not spraying the cocoa plant anymore. We were also in paraguay, paramount panama and argentina. Argentina is probably the most equipped and able. They have the ability to prosecute, but they dont have the technology to be able to adapt. And work with us we have to find ways to support that it will of the. Host ruddy chairperson of the Bipartisan Task force on terrorism. You had a meeting yesterday on isis using antiquities to fund their terrorism. Why is there a market . Guest antiquities are very much appreciated in the Arts Community and are very valuable. Please go back for centuries and thousands of years and they have been exploited by isis in syria and iraq and the Christian Community and muslim community, all these very valuable antiquities that they have taken and seek to put them through the market to sell them as part of their building their Financial Assets and kick the lefties. Host eric, new york, democrat. Caller i have a comment and a question because i am curious. I am a vietnam veteran. Guest thank you sir. Caller when the president is negotiating with other foreign diplomats, the Congress Never contradicted them, almost never. And never made president look negotiation. E is,uestion for you everybody blames this Current Administration for all the problems. Anytime he goes somewhere, they want to beat him down and criticize his tactics, his method and his intelligence. Wouldnt it be better if you allowed the negotiations to go butnd not criticize them, what is most troubling, you reference ronald reagan, back in those days, both the democrats and republicans had a common goal when in office. Once they got in office, they really tried to work to solve problems. Nobody got 100 of what they wanted, but they had the interest of the American People at heart. All i hear from you and many of your colleagues is you want to blame, you dont pass any bills, you dont make move the country forward, and you dont Work Together and i think that is what the typical problem is. Host i want to have the congressman respond. Guest i appreciate the sincerity and frankness of your question. My answer is to not. Undercut the president whatsoever. I think what is needed in the dialogue is a clear understanding and perspective of our friends and how they view us at this time. This is rightly my analysis having returned from saudi arabia late this last year. A clear understanding of what they are thinking in my intent is not to undercut the president but to recognize and consider what the problems are out there and what we are trying to resolve and have a clear and fromding of that the proper standpoint, can we address the situation . Host saudi arabia borrows 10 billion as oil pumps drain reserves. They borrowed the money from a consortium of global banks, the First International borrowing in 26 years to counteract dwindling reserves. What do you think of this . Guest they pushed the lever on oil ability and i think they are seeing the impact on them as well. Not just on russia and iran and the United States. That when i was with the saudis. If you really are our friend, what you are doing is destroying our oil market. Host that is Cutting Oil Production to put pressure on other producers. Guest that is absolutely what they have done. I have honest dialogue with our partners as well, i dont just try to placate what they are doing. When he to have an Honest Exchange of communication. I our friend i just talked to want our listeners to note that America Needs to have a clear and direct communication with our allies so we understand the outcomes of the policies that they are doing and how they affect us. Host george in new jersey, republican. Caller thank you for your service. I believe that the fastest way to win a war is when you get every american into that war and give us all a method to fight it. I also believe fdr is the model for success because he used the outrage from pearl harbor to give every american and its and took to get off the couch and write a common foe. Todays leaders have failed to utilize the outrage from these terror attacks as an incentive for americans to take action. I feel passionately about this that i started a website. Gets a nonprofit effort to every american to voluntarily train their pets to smell explosives. Maximizingeed in this effort to get americans involved by training the pets to spell explosives, we leave terrorists with no place to hide and this is not just work in america, it works around the world. The problem is, i never like this cannot go anywhere without leadership from people like yourself and i wanted to know what your thought. Guest i love it, i think we should use every tool possible. I think to your point, that the president and the Administration Needs to be clear on the mission and we need to call out who the adversary is. We need to call them by who they are, islamic terrorist and i the americanables people to focus on what our mission is about and who it should be directed to. President obama visited the cia headquarters last week, this is what he had to say. We have seen so tragically, where i sold slaughter children were isis slaughtered children. Watching soccer they still have the ability to inflict horrific violence upon the innocent. With attacks like these, they hope to weaken our collective resolve. Once again, they have failed. Their barbarism only stiffens our unity and ambition to drive to wipe them off the face of this earth. Today on the ground in syria and iraq, isis is on the defensive. Our Coalition Including arab partners is on the offense. We have momentum and we intend to keep that momentum. Than 11campaign, more 11,500 strikes so far, continues to pound isis targets. It is harder than ever for them masses d for their for them to amass forces. When they try, we take them out. They have at managed to advance in some areas, but it is not they have not had a single offense of success since offensive success since last summer. I agree with the assessment of who they are, but i cant say that the president kept up to measure that inpped up to measure that weight in terms of how to measure the problem and keep them. To say there are six other nations involved is basically windowdressing, they say they are with us but materially, they are not. We have been very restricted. The president was concerned about oil spills hitting a tank and that is not where we need to be thinking, in terms of the real priority. Host are you talking about airstrikes . Guest yes. It is pretty easy to identify oil trucks. Host they are worried about civilian casualties. Guest and oil spill and Environmental Issues in contrast to the real horror that will be afflicted as a result of the money that will come out of selling that oil and funding terrorism. I think it was misplaced priorities with misguided policies as a result. Now, they have stepped up, the saudis, in some measure, but i believe there is still been a restriction still a restriction on where they are allowed to bob and what they are mb and whatdo bo they are allowed to do. Page of usa today, the pentagon has delegated more authority to the commander of the army who are proof targets when there is a risk that civilians could be killed. Have been, authority made by the higher headquarters of u. S. Central command, seeking approval from above takes time and targets of fleeting opportunity can be missed. That has changed now and several of the pentagon describe how isis targets are selected and attacked. There is a sliding scale of probable civilian casualties based on the volume of targets and the location. Guest we are late coming to the table. A lot has happened as a result. The president should have engaged this far earlier. Look at what has taken place from the time he took out all of our troops from iraq and that left the openness for adversaries to build and sustain themselves, on down to the three limited nature in which he fought this war, and we stepped up and so much has happened. Water has gone under the bridge that we cannot retrieve and we can only hope and work with our allies that we can recapture this momentum. Host catherine in ohio, democrat. Caller i am a big cspan watcher and my question is, are you sitting there on cspan, trying to tell us that the , our main allyel in the middle east supports this, going to bed, americans with the saudis . You are not telling us the truth. Host why do you say that . Caller because israel does not want us to be in bed with anybody in the middle east, especially not the saudis. They want us to do their work, because they are not physically, morally apt to do it themselves. Host lets get a response. Guest thank you for your inquiry. I will say that israel fully recognizes the threat of islamic terrorism. Not only to israel, but to the middle east and the world. Frankly, they work with our other partners in the middle east. They have been unable enormous asset they have been an enormous asset. Let us not discount the role that they have played. They have been very effective. Host norman, independent in massachusetts. Caller it is disgraceful that president obama and publicans are supporting the gulf states in this, they are slave states. One thing, it is Climate Science these gulf states are slave states and right now, the u. S. Is supporting slave states in a war against yemen, the only country on the Arabian Peninsula that is not a slave state and is not have royalty. The u. S. With its allies is trying to impose royalty and slavery in yemen. If it is to get oil, it is still stealing. Completely immoral and president obama and republicans are working together on this. It is really antithetical to our democracy. They did the same thing supporting the nazis in ukraine for fossil. Fossil fuels are not the future and id rather see democrats and republicans going for peace in said of supporting slaves as an excuse for war. Guest i appreciate your perspective and thoughtful insight. There is nothat form of government. We have our own struggles inside our own country. As we look at the rest of the desirable to replicate who we are and what we believe and the foundations of this great country and the freedoms and liberties that we have that dont exist in many parts of the world. Adversariesssion, and many people will play a part and i think if we get so. That we cannot get so. Purist that we cannot work with other countries for example in egypt, there has been enormous transformation in egypt. They elected a president with a constitution and parliament. They said this will not be a regime and they will not serve more than two terms. I believe him because i spoke with him when he was the leader of the military. Egypt is not a perfect state, today. I have concerns with what is taking place, yet they have enormous challenges. The same is true of the saudis and other friends we have. In qatar, i also have major struggles. They have a major base for us and at the same time, we have problems with funding. We have issues with turkey and kuwait. This is very complicated and we cannot just discount the rest of the world and say we will not work with them because of the problems they have that we dont respect and approve of. Host jaclyn, republican. Guest i want to say, i am an 80yearold woman. Saying d me to saying sing. In a kindergarten class, sometimes i am left alone and my partner has a step out and the children get out of hand, it is like the world. I stop and say they are out of control. It is like the world, sometimes sometimes ie force, have to say sit down and dont move. Look at the world stage like that, sometimes you need a father figure or a mother figure to take control, look at the situation, then take control. That is what needs to be done. Thank you, representative. [laughter] guest thank you for calling in. Sovereignling with states and sovereign countries and we dont want to be paternalistic, but we do want to provide leadership and a clarion call. There is a great person in corinthians that says if the call is not clear, who will follow . I believe in that. I believe that america is so respected and esteemed throughout the world, people love us, even if you disagree, you respect america and we need that moral clarity of mission and what we are about and i think people will be led more by the promise and hope and what we in real leadership, rather than badgering them and hitting them with a stick. Some of our allies have not been our friends. For example, the United Nations has worked against us and i have talked with them and asked them why they vote against us, so we have a respectful dialogue and i that ouris important allies can see sincerity of our objectives and also that we want them to be responsible friends in the process. Host news from your home state about this bathroom bill on the front page of the Washington Times. The governor says he will abide by a latest ruling in virginia, the fourth u. S. Circuit court of appeals for whole and the bathroom bill, ruling Public School students have a right to use the facilities that they self identified gender, not necessarily their biological sex. What do you think of the North Carolina law and is it good that the governor says he will abide by this ruling . Guest certainly, you abide by the law, that is the law. I think, regrettably, all this got blown up. You have a mayor who is very much a brandnew mayor. Group that she wanted to pay allegiance to and pass this legislation without any dialogue. Andink there is a problem you need to bring people together and talk and say what is the resolution. Instead of just sticking our stake in the sand and being immobile, need some ability to provide agreements. Legislation comes in and we react and this all got blown up and it has been unfortunate. We are seeking to have a broader dialogue on this issue right now, because i think these things need to be addressed and we need to have respect for people, but also respect for women and children in these withities who somebody some emotional disturbance, going in, even someone who does not have the check transgender and advocation who might want to use that to exploit. Ande are broader issues when you write good policy, you have to think about outcomes, unintended consequences and i think there are so many unintended consequences that need to be addressed and that only happens when you quietly sit at a table, not clamor your sabers and force things to happen without good discussion. Host it sounds like you support the spirit of the law. Guest i think it is misdirected. It brought to enable transgender persons to come into a bathroom. I think that has consequences. Host you support the governors position. Guest i support the governors position, but i dont support this process. That is a reluctant position that the governor has had to take and a legislature had to take. It was forced by the mayor and the city council, activity Constituency Group that they needed to show some support. I think these things should be processed out. If we are going to be really follow that Public Policy people in the interest of the public, you sit down and you talk through an resolve this without polarizing everyone and without making it such an inflamed issue that gets everyone charged up and youll lose sight of what you are trying to accomplish. Yes . i want to thank the representative for his service and time, but i did want to say, and believe that the wars so forth should be left to the government of that part of the world. The president has made enough mistakes for us. He has messed us up in health care. As far as the next president is concerned, i hope it is donald trump. That is all i have to say. Host let me give you david as well, in georgia, a democrat. Caller good morning. I noticed you have given us a lot of rhetoric. I went to your website and it appears you are not a veteran or do not have kids. Guest i have four kids and nine grandkids. Served . Have any of them guest they have not. Grandchildren are seven and under. Caller and your personal children . Host his son did not serve. Guest i did not serve either, medical situation. Caller here is a story. I think that congress is too easily getting us into wars that their own children are not serving in. Child is eligible to serve up to age 42. Is eligible to enlist up to 42. Why dont we make it that congressmans kids are required to serve . That would put our involvement, give a lot more respect to with the i agree fellow from new york. Not enough and fitness is being put on personal service in the United States. A that, i mean you could have vista, peace corps, i have posted three Different Exchange students. The drivers and heres your point and i will have him respond. Guest i appreciate is in syria ever comment and i lament the fact that i could not serve. I was at 13 on monday visiting serviceman. I go out there fairly often and i see our soldiers from all over the world. They are valiant individuals. Humbled to be able to serve them. My interest is frankly not for america to ever be provocative, to engage in militarism throughout the world. As i said earlier, my reference to ronald reagan, if you happened to be on the air then, is the mobile clarity of mission and purpose, a real strategy that worked, the soviet union collapsed without firing a shot, there were no soldiers lost. It is not a matter of deploying hundreds of thousands of people. For ise world is looking as i meet with leaders throughout the middle east is moral clarity from the United States and what is your mission and how do we see quote how do we seek to work with you to accomplish that mission . Most all of them did not like the iran agreement. One of them said to me, this negotiation that we were in the process of having, they said it is like if they went to moscow and negotiated a treaty with the ukraine without discussing it with europe. They said that is about what we were doing. We have our allies and i think we should be listening to them, and i think we should be responsive and by no means did i ever say that we should put the full force of american troops all over the world. I think the world would join with us. The saudis have 120,000. They would be more engaged if a solidarity of mission on the part of the United States. Host sarah is next, virginia. Aller i wanted to make remark on the root of terrorism. It seems to me that it is not being addressed. It is an extremely conservative branch of islam that is in saudi arabia where they stone people it is being exported, not just in the middle east. Saudi arabia actively sponsors these radical schools all around the world, and it is that form of islam that is causing the terrorism and that is where isis , the taliban and al qaeda has its roots. What disturbs me more than anything else is my government in washington, d. C. , the congress and the president and also other leaders from around the world dont call out saudi arabia for its role it has played in the last couple of decades with this extremely conservative form of islam that teaches hate against anyone that is not sunni muslim, because that is the thing with iran. Is the least of our problems as far as i can tell in the middle east because even shia muslims are not accepted in this conservative form of islam and somebody needs to call saudi arabia out for its role that it it has played in 9 11 and the act of spunk active sponsoring of schools around the world. Host couple of issues that i want the congressman to respond. Inside thathappens country do not approve of. Much of which is approved by the royal family, but it is allowed. That is why we have difficult ing, and complicated relations with our partners. We do call them out and this has not been an noticed unnoticed. Clearly the been atest of october provocateur of terrorism than any country in the world. Host there is a bill on capitol hill that would allow victims of 9 11 to sue Foreign Governments like saudi arabia for the role in that terrorist attack. President obama says that he opposes it and will stand against it. Where do we need to hold saudi arabia accountable . Guest twin extent, people should be able to take the grievance to a court to an extent, people should be able to take their grievance to a court. Do you agree that the 28 pages of the 9 11 Commission Report should be made public . The 28 pages that have been redacted, should be made public about saudi arabias role . Guest i think we would be better served if it was. It should be made public to all of the agencies. Host the 9 11 Commission Said it found no evidence that the saudi government as an institution, or senior saudi officials publicly funded the attack. The saudi government denies any if open and has called for the 28 pages to be released. Guest there could be information there that would be relevant for intelligence. I would like it to be reviewed by intelligent prior to the public release. Host the New York Times is about this debate, according to is axpert, wahhabism bedrock of saudi society, and the kingdom is never likely to abandon it. Mark in ohio. Go ahead. Caller good morning. How can theis, congressman be flying all over the world in regards to Foreign Policy when he was elected by the constituents of the ninth district in charlotte. What is he doing for them when he is all over the world . Host were running out of time so i will have the congressman respond. Guest thank you, mark. I serve on the Financial Services committee. The Financial Services committee is one that is important for my region. I am not all over all the world of the time. There are cases where i do go and take strategic trips. You will find out that my voters recognize that i work hard for my region, particularly in the areas trying to reduce the burden of Regulatory Environment today that is crushing small banks. We have not discussed that, that wasnt the topic today. They wanted to talk about terrorism. But much of my time is spent on Financial Services committees addressing this regulatory issues to give relief to Small Business or small financial institutions. Host congressman, we appreciate the conversation today. Next, we will continue our conversation about geopolitics in the middle east. We will talk with presented of brad sherman on the Foreign Affairs committee. Later, we will talk with the National Parks Services Director jonathan jarvis, because the itss service is celebrating 100th anniversary today. Pictures tweet us your of your favorite National Parks cspanwj. Theaturday, april 23 is 400th anniversary of William Shakespeares death and on that day, the Folder Library here in which has thec. , largest collection of shakespeare member billion in the world, memorabilia in the world, will be celebrating his life and history. Book tv will be covering that live. Afterward, well have a live nationwide colin with shakespeare scholars say you can join in the conversation as well. Henry folger was the standardbearer of the shakespeare company. He and his wife spent many years and dollars collecting documents and memorabilia. Saturday, april 23. We will be live for 400 years of shakespeare on book tv. Host back at our table, congressman bed sherman brad barack obamaident meeting with arab leaders in saudi arabia. Lets start with saudi arabias leadership. What should his message be to the country . Guest this is a complicated government. We are dealing with some elements that are proamerican, and other elements that had been funding for almost a century w wauhabbi influence around the world. I think in the shorter term, it has to be that saudi arabia needs to be in a position to take care of itself. At the same time, i understand that the saudis have a point, that it appears our administration is getting closer be. Ran than it ought to you dont cut this kind of nuclear deal with your friend. You cut a nuclear deal like this with a country that poses a real threat to the world. I think that the saudis are concerned, and i think they have a right to be, that we are a little too close to iran. Host do you think there can be what the wall street journal says that president obama hopes to be, a cold peace between the u. S. , saudi arabia, and iran. Guest right now, it is a hot war. People wonder how evil the iranian government is. Dhey have no doubt that assa has killed hundreds of millions of people and forced them to move and risk their lives in the mediterranean. A lot of that is financed by a run by iran. Iran has sent its own troops to support hezbollah ad assad. There is blood not only on the hands of assad, but iran. Would hope that we would get a permanent truce of all the reasonable parties in syria, and that we would get reasonable parties in syria, and i would hope we would get a truce with iran. Guest host rebels dig in as Syria Warplanes strike. Sharply to a tone of conflict over conciliation as peace talks teetered near collapse on tuesday. Amid a new surge, including airstrikes that left dozens dead. Guest part of the problem with our policy in syria is that we syriansing to arm those dedicated to democracy, but only if they promise not to fight assad. Kild is a butcher who has led hundreds of thousands of people. How are you supposed to find a reasonable syrian who is not against assad . I think it will be very difficult to make peace with assad, but one could imagine that the different territories will de facto be controlled by different militia. At least some arabs will find a place of refuge. This Washington Post editorial calls it a zombie ceasefire. They write, since president obama refuses to take steps such as setting up a save some for refugees, the United States likes leverage over the regime of peshawar alassad and its russian allies. Guest our rules of engagement in syria have been too timid. Have 2040 troops. In the field that we have armed. Pass thishas to incredible test where you have to a patriotic syrian, dedicated to democracy, not from assad. Our rules of engagement in bombing happen so extreme that we continue to see isis getting free electricity from the Iraqi Government through generation and transmission facilities that we will not bomb. Todayhe message in usa is that president obama is stepping up the efforts. After a string of successes against isis, there are loosening restrictions about what u. S. Troops can do there and sending another 200 Additional Service members as they try to recapture mosul. The president wanted to withdraw from iraq. Does the president have the authorization to up the fight in iraq . Guest legally he does. Congress should have a new authorization to use military force that defines what our National Policy is now. We passed resolution into those in one and have not spoken since. When you look at the 2001 resolution, it is, do anything you want, ground or air, or dont do it, as long as the people you are going after has something to do with 9 11. Isis says it is independent of al qaeda, but it is a faction. Legally, the president is in a strong position because congress has not acted. We need to repeal what we did in 2001 and replace it with a good policy for 2016. Host adam is our first phone call for the congressman. Good morning, adam. Caller thank you for taking my call. I would like to know why we are still even involved in the middle east. The amount of money that we spend on bombing people whom we get nothing from. The biggest question is, why are we still involved . Betweent win a holy war two factions of the same religion. We cannot keep supporting and paying for bombs to be dropped and we keep supporting countries like saudi arabia who dropped the bombs. Why . Because they keep buying them . I dont see the point. Guest when you look at the mess in the middle east and so many forces that as you point out are not reflective of our values, it would be nice if we could build a wall and be on a different planet. The fact is that weakening or the middle east, but the middle east will not ignore us. Al qaeda was in a fight for power in the muslim world, and they discovered on 9 11, if you blow up a building in the United States, that is a way to go after the worlds only superpower and acquired notoriety, donations, and volunteers in your fight for power. A nonmuslim are state, but the largest and most fightingforce, those for supremacy in islam will think that killing americans, whether it be on youtube, whether it the inspiring folks in san bernardino, or whether it be 9 11, whatever they are given the freedom to do, they will do. We tried to ignore the middle east, but the middle east could not ignore us. Host luanne, oklahoma city. Good morning. Caller yes, sir. Wanted the man who was talking earlier and talking about all of the wars we have be en in. When are we going to get our act together and do something. If we do not do something about these terrorists now, they will be here in our streets. Host congressman, what should be done . Guest everybody wants an immediate solution, and anyone who promises an immediate solution is leading us down the wrong road. There is no way to send over 200,000 troops and have it be done and all of a sudden, it is won world like we war ii. This is a problem. It is a problem that will come after us, and it has to be managed. Youquestion is, how do manage it at the lowest the lives of our men and women of service. If it is in the news and we are involved, it seems like a day in twice 16 is like a day in 2003, but it is not. One person or two Service People being killed over a couple years in a rock is different from losing in iraq is different from losing 100 per month. There is no system that will eliminate allcash at these and all costs all you will tease and all casualties and all costs. Losing one per month is different than those in 100. The policy that we have now, of trying to manage and move and improve, but not to think that you can control that middle policy between the two callers we just had. One said, when can we turn our back and the other who said, why cant we win . As president obama is in saudi arabia to meet with arab leaders. The congressman is taking your phone calls and questions. More of your phone calls her coming up. The congressman will be with us for another 25 minutes. I want to talk about this front the financial in the Financial Times as well. The first time that saudi arabia in 25 years has started international borrowing. Is this an opening for the United States. If so, in what w . Guest 40 per barrel oil weakens quite a number of countries around the world, most of whom are not our best friends. Evenarrel an oil would be better. The saudis are not broke, that are not desperate. They are borrowing 10, they have hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and reserves. Other countries such as iran are in a weaker position. Effect,n, we , in compelled this savings problem on the. Problem on them. So now it has been returned to them. They are more liquid than they have been in a while. You see other countries in the gulf, in venezuela and other countries, that are dealing with lower oil revenues. This is audis, longterm situation. They could stop pumping oil t oday and keep spending at the same rates for several years. They know that longterm it is not a good policy. Host this is a longterm game . Is it a strategy on many fronts . Are in ae saudis Strong Enough position to think longterm. You have elements in the middle thinking ory be dreaming longterm, but how do we get to the next month . The saudis are thinking longterm. They realize that this decline in the price of oil hurts them, though it does not deplete them immediately. They would also like to see less Oil Production in the United States and in other higher cost areas. Drop,now if oil prices that is bad for them, and it is bad for their competitors. I am leaving aside all of the environmental reasons. From their standpoint, they see positives in cutting the price of their export. Iranrts their enemies like and their competitors. F hurtsaudi arabia rebuf other oil exporters. They wanted a deal that would freeze production at january levels and begin dealing with the global glut that has sunk prices. Lets go to virginia. You were leslie, you are on the air. From virginia. Caller i have a couple questions for the congressman. Is, why do youon not think we should just bomb the ones we are at war with. You keep saying there are children,eople and but those children are being raised to believe like the adults. Years from now, they will be just like the adults. If that is the way that it is, this war will keep going on . Our bestll, bombing is ittic in the sense that minimizes our casualties, and has a tremendous effect. The question is, what should the rules of engagement be . I think it is a terrible and negative thing if we kill a child through our bombing. Notwithstanding, that child may the educated right now in a proterrorist family. Effective said, an humming campaign will inevitably Bombing Campaign will inevitably involve civilian casualties. If we see a tanker truck carrying isis oil, to support isis, to help them behead people, and we know they will export the oil, we do not vomit if it is moving. If the driver takes we do not bomb it if it is moving. If the driver takes a break, and is far enough away, then we bomb it. We do not want to hit the driver, who may or not be civilian. Compare that to what we did in france in world war ii. Something like 70,000 frenchman died due to our bombing. We were welcomed as liberators because the french new that we did Everything Possible to minimize civilian casualties, but they were an inevitable outcome. A train failed to bomb in germany or occupied france because it was moving. Host in the Washington Post, what young arabs want. He writes about the recent poll men,ung arabs, women and and they find that 52 say that religion plays too big of a role in the middle east. 61 , including saudi arabia sharing that view. He goes on to say that young arabs are freer, but wiser. They are skeptical about easy answers from religion or democratic elections. They know they are in a long transition and they become more pessimistic that they still affirming each survey, our test days are ahead of us. They want the same, secure world that most people do. Guest i think that is accurate, but only as far as it goes. He is describing maybe a 52 majority of arab opinion. Even if islam would only be 10 supportive of al qaeda, and well over 50 in support of things , 100nd i might agree on Million People who are terribly right as think he is to the majority, but we would be kidding ourselves if we thought that the only people who support isis are the ones actually fighting for isis. Caller thank you for taking my call. I am a little star with the congressmans last two comments. I think our native americans would be frustrated about his comments about killing an innocent. They would have clearly a different view of bombing of innocents. Call incidental damage. Secondly, the Truck Drivers have iraqsmuggling oil out of and other areas in the middle east for at least three generations. These have in Family Businesses that have gone on and all i can militaryhankfully, our has avoided bombing them whil e moving, and allowing them to move away from the truck. Guest i dont understand the comment about native americans in the sense of bombing. Our treatmentut of native americans was obviously horrific. To say that is the same as our treatment of occupied france during wwii, i dont of the connection. To say it is a Family Business to help isis, therefore it is that. I odndont see i think that we need reasonable rules of engagement to minimize civilian casualties. Zero you want zero civilian casualties, but if you have a policy that says he will not bomb any isis asset if there is a possibility of a civilian casualty, you will have an ineffective campaign. Host usa today says that policy has been eased up. Pentagon oks strikes that are putting more civilians in the line of fire. Caller thank you for taking my call. Thank you congressman. You speak so clearly and you sound so balanced i could not tell if you are republican or democrat. You are grounded the way that you talk about these issues. There are some congressman who want to blame obama for everything. I believe that obama is against that bill in congress, trying to protect the bush families and all the business relationships they have with the saudis. Imagine if 9 11 happened during obamas tenure. Guess what . Like trump said, it happened during bushs tenure. You cannot blame somebody else. James, lets have the congressman tell us your view of this legislation. He is referring to this 9 11 bill that could be voted on next weekend in the senate. It would allow the families and victims to be able to do Foreign Government if there is evidence through aticipated terrorist event like 9 11. Guest the devil will be in the details. I want to see how that comes out of the senate. We have had a world of sovereign immunity. I would want to see what the rules were for punitive damages, as opposed to compensatory damages. Look, we are incredibly angry, and if you said every victim of 9 11 got to sue individually so that the saudi said 3000 suits, 2500 ofs say they won them, that would still mean that a view juries could offer unlimited punitive damages, even if the vast majority of the cases, the jury concluded that the saudi government was not responsible for 9 11. Details, howk at the procedure will work. One thing a want to get back to, the civilians who currently live you couldou kid say we are being good to them that leave them under rules of engagement under isis. The fact is, they are being raped, slaughtered, but headed isisheaded, in the center is a, the better they will be. There was a reason we were welcomed as liberators with the french, even with the casualties due to bombing, and that is because we liberated them from the nazis. The New York Times notes that the saudi government, which warnedight involvement, it might liquidate hundreds of billions of dollars worth of American Assets if the bill becomes law. This tweet from john cornyn saudi arabia threatening 750 billion in u. S. Assets, talk about an empty threat. Guest the one thing, especially when the world is in some financial turmoil, people want u. S. Bonds. The idea they would sell 750 billion, if they did, they would sell it at a loss. One return, we would find buyers for those bonds. In their reason for doing it is supposedly not to punish the United States, it is to make it impossible for us to execute judgment from any of these lawsuits. Saudi arabia is too big. We are too big or they will overlap, these two countries, and there is going to be a way to see that. Hide. Not run and they cannot run and hide. They are too big. We are too big. Lets take a call from a democrat. Good morning, congressman. I have been looking at relations between america and the middle east, from even before i was born. Honestly, i feel, and you can tell me if i am wrong, i feel as though the hand we have had in pursuing and spreading democracy with the a turn majority of the people in the middle east who are very true to their islamic beliefs and do not want any part or any hand in democracy. Can you say that a lot of the things occurring today has a lot to do with the choices and our hand in trying to pursue a push democracy in areas within the middle east, which goes against a lot of their religious beliefs . Democracy isk that compatible with islam. We had a vibrant democracy in turkey. Unfortunately, president and the gan is president erdo moving the country away from democracy. We see a number of arab and towardstates moving democracy are practicing it. At the same time, democracy is not as easy as it sounds. It is not just majority rule. Counterintuitive, the need for it to work. One is majority rule with minority rights. So if the majority wants to they cannot be, done. The second thing is the idea of adversaries, just because they won an election, that the electoral process is just as important as holding on to power. That is a difficult thing. What we saw as an example in egypt was the Muslim Brotherhood was in favor of democracy and one person, one vote, one time. They thought they could seize power, and then they would begin dismantling the democracy. We have a longterm interest in moving towards free speech. Civil society and democracy. But that has to be one of our value speared we have to be practical about it. Host gary is a republican in georgia. Good morning. Caller congressman, i have a cousin that married a saudi from and she went to saudi to visit four kids byhas this guy that are not allowed to come back into the United States. She has very little contact with the kids. And this guy was here just before 9 11 happened. And he left the weekend right before it happened. How doing with sallys, we deal with them . Dealing with saudis, how do we deal with them . Maybe she can get her kids back into the United States. Is there anything she can possibly do . Aboutt of he, talk getting her kids back in the United States contact somebody. Problem with aa lot of countries. I have a constituent that has a problem with peru. Countries take the side of whichever spouse that happens to be from their country. That spouse pulls the kids into the country, and there is an International Convention on how. O resolve these in some cases, peru, and in many cases, saudi arabia ignores international norms. The saudi focus is a lot more parental rights than maternal rights. In that may be their internal system. When they start composing it in an international situation, that is wrong. I dont think that the cousins husband knew anything about 9 11 to fled because it was going happen. There were an awful lot of saudi americans, saudi arabia is living in the United States, and some of them left after 9 11. But you did not see in accidents before. What this person can do, contact attorneys who specialize in this , contact your member of congress, because that member of congress can push the state department to make this an international issue. Congressman, call an attorney. The attorney will cost money. Host a domestic issue, another gas leak reported at what is happening here . Guest all over this country, we have had a feeling that natural gas was only dangerous if you are within a couple hundred feet. And explode but if it escaped in large quantities, that would be fine. It would just go straight up. It might have a tiny effect on the whole worlds global planet. But what we have discovered, instead, is that gas in very large quantities can be an air toxin to do you have the methane they putdorant that in. And the way natural gas is stored in most places, it has oil and other organic compounds with it. We have build, in los angeles and other parts of the country, a too big to fail storing system. Almost all the guests for the le ellie mae glop is this four all of l. A. Is stored over the ridge of my home. Generateatural gas to electricity, especially in the coming summer. In the only place to store it is in a place that does not have the right safety. Because we do not have safety regulations for gas storage on a national level. The state regulations were terrible. We are going to do something about it in california, but we have to do something about it nationwide. I have talked to the president about it. Have tough we Natural Gas Storage regulations nationwide, and people should be pressing for that in their own states. We have proven that we have a lot of natural gas. Is not just the Global Warming impact, but it is an air toxin to those miles away. There were headlines about Southern California Gas Company Spending months to shut down a leaking well that prompted thousands of residents to relocate. Paul in connecticut, democrat. Caller good morning. Thank you for cspan. My question to the congressman is, why is it that we do not wage the war of ideas more forcefully . You have spoken this morning about bombing, etc. But the war of ideas and waging that is something that we seem to be hesitant to do. For instance, we had the kabulble bombing in cob yesterday with much loss of life, and i imagine the majority of the people that were killed were muslims. And it would seem to me that by publicizing that and perhaps listing the names of all of the people that were killed that we could begin to peel away some of the support that the terrorists have by shaming them. Doing more of that kind of think, turnld, i the tide against them. Answer, ibefore the want to show at least 28 died as taliban strikes kabul. Guest we do have to do a better job. We do have a substantial Public Diplomacy effort. Televisionradio and broadcasting. But we have tied our own hands in some important ways. You go to the state department, there are experts in the International Law of europe in the 1800s. They have not hired anyone who would really be considered an islamic, like an expert in the theology or jurisprudence of islam. Why . People they want to hire from princeton or top graduates from ucla. That is not where you memorize the koran. If we are going to communicate with people, we start with the idea that if you put up a video showing that isis is killing civilians,hildren, that that is going to hurt them they put up that video. They think it helps them. So you cannot just assume that everyone starts with one mindset. If we had a picture of alba a leader eating a ham sandwich, that could do as much to discredit him than pictures of him smiling as children are beheaded. Nebraska,in republican. Caller thank you. Congressman sherman, i was intening to Hillary Clinton a Congress Session just after 9 11, and she was kind of describing this al qaeda that we needed to go after that was responsible. As she was describing them, she. As calling them mujahedin she was saying they were radical that we kindists, of imported and used in afghanistan to help us fight against the russians, and that we kind of left that cell there. We can all see videos of her saying that on the internet if you look up Hillary Clinton says we created al qaeda. We know now that al qaeda is more like boko haram or al nusra d isis and so forth. What are you really wondering is, when we first went into afghanistan and iraq back , wend, what, 2002 or so were a good 10 years fighting this al qaeda enemy. Did anybody ever bothered to look at the flag that al qaeda afghanistan and and ever happened to notice that it is the exact same flag that flies over the Saudi Arabian embassys . Believe, and i will certainly reverify that that is true obviously, the isis flag is more familiar to us right now. Thishe fact is that wahhabi extremist view of islam goes back to the 1700s, as does a family withf that strain of islam. We are so selfcentered, we think that if we put a dumpling in a giant vat of soup, they made the soup. We made part of it. In fact, we had some involvement with al qaeda in the 1980s. The fact is, we wanted world war ii, one of our allies was stalin. Andon the world war, we cooperated with some mujahedin in afghanistan. Now that is a problem. But that does not mean we created stalin or that we created al qaeda. It means that we had a temporary alliance that has some effect. Of the United States to think that everything we touched, we created, that is simply not true. Host another quick issue well, not a quick issue, but i will try to get an answer. Vice president biden, the headline in the Washington Post discusses frustration with the israeli government. He and secretary kerry attended a propeace twostate solution here in d. C. , a gala. He said, at the moment, theres they willal will that move forward with negotiations. The trust necessary to take risks for peace is fractured on both sides. He singled out the study israeli expansion of settlements on land palestinians desire for a state as a step in the wrong direction. Guest look, you cannot equate the two things. But israel will build an Apartment Building in a place where the u. S. Government would prefer you not build the Apartment Building. Enemies will go blow up a bus and kill a lot of people. Those are not the same deep the same thing. I look forward to a twostate solution in the middle east, and a twostate solution will mean in israel, the bargaining position israel has adopted will not be a reasonable peace solution. They will have to make some concessions. To the extent that their current right at theot final solution, we can say, well, they are being unreasonable, because there has to be more that is ultimately settled for. We have to understand that israels enemies are demanding the destruction of all israelis, and not just in mosques. Even the Palestinian Authority says, well, it can be in israel, but every arabic speaking person who claims that, at the time of the ottoman empire, their ancestors or any one of them that lives in israel has the right to return there with their extended families. And could lead to chaos jihad by immigration. Israel willthat have to give up some apartment israels enemies are going to have to give up on the idea that israel can is sit can exist as a state only if it is an arab state. Host thank you. When we come back, the Parks Service is marking its 100th anniversary, so we will talk to its director, jonathan jarvis, and we will talk about part visitor ship and the latest challenges facing the service. We want all of you to tweet pictures of your favorite National Parks. Spanwj, and we will show some of those pictures right after this break. This sentiment on q a, a historian talks about the hit Broadway Musical hamilton, about alexander hamilton. He will talk about his consulting work on the musical. I was reading a book on a vacation in mexico, and a pops the started coming up off page. I was like, really . Think he had a worldclass ignoramus about hiphop on his hand, and my first question was, can hiphop be the vehicle for telling this can a very large and complex story . He said, i am going to educate you about hiphop, and he did on the spot, pointing out that hiphop can pack more information into lyrics than any other form and it is a very dense. Hasaid that hiphop internal rhyme. He started educating me in all these different devices that are very important. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on cspans q a. Washington journal continues. Host it is National Park week, and we have the director of the National Park service, jonathan jarvis, with us as the Service Marks its 100th birthday this year. What is the state of the National Parks . Guest i think the state of the National Parks is pretty good. We said record visitation this past year, 307 million visitors across all 400 plus National Parks. Wee a fee challenges have a future is, but it is a great year to celebrate our 100th anniversary. Host the secretary of interior yesterday gave a speech, and she called for a correction in our conservation efforts in the next 100 years. What did she mean by that . To address ae number of challenges related to conservation. One is that the American Public in terms of diversity, ethnicity, is not participating in conservation, in Outdoor Recreation in any sort of equitable way. So reaching out and inspiring the next generation to take on population issues and take on the experience of parks and public lands is one of those challenges. Certainly, Climate Change and its impact on our parks and public lands, recognizing that we need to be thinking, acting, managing sort of at the landscape scale. That was another big part of her speech. Host how do you tackle diversity at the parks . Secretary jewell saying the people that visit look like her, older and whiter. Guest historically as she said in her speech, in the 1950s and the 1960s, the park service ran a Public Campaign inviting all americans to see the usa in their chevrolet, and they came in droves. It was basically the return of world war ii veterans and their kids. Those kids are today boomers, the constituency of all parks and public lands. In order to change the paradigm, we needed a Similar Campaign now, as part of a centennial, an invitation for all citizens to find their special place that is meaningful to them. That is not enough. There are other aspects were doing to sort of diversified our base. One is Youth Program spirit were working with youth serving organization, particularly those that work with youth of color. Their great traditional organizations that serve young people and get them into the outdoors. The second piece of this is making sure the park service , sos the story of america as we celebrated or commemorated we shifted to civil rights, emphasizing the civil rights fight across the nation. Selma, montgomery, the musky airmen and we added new parks are just last week, we added the belmont hall Equality National monument and the National Womens park. Jarvis is here to take questions and comments. Millions of you have visited National Parks since the 1920s. Million of you visited the National Parks. Tell us about that. Eastern part of the country, mountain pacific here are the numbers. [video clip] you allthrilled to join in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Parks service. Part of this celebration, mrs. Laura bush and i are challenging every american to get out and find your park. You can experience natural wonders like yosemite and the grand canyon to it you can learn about our history at the statue of liberty and gettysburg. You can take a moment to pause and reflect at a National Memorial or monument. I do this every single day, because to find my park, all i have to do is get out of bed. That is right, the white house is actually a National Park. I can also find my park and a little bit of my familys history at one ever one of our newest National Parks in my hometown of chicago. Monument showcases the incredible stories that unfolded, stories of the Industrial Revolution and the bor movement and the fight for civil rights, stories that are a vital part of our national heritage. So i want to challenge you all to show me how you find your park. Share your experiences online findyourpark and visit the website to find more. My husband launched the every kid in a Park Initiative so that every fourthgrader in this country and their families can visit our National Parks for free. So get out there and have some fun and experience all the beauty and history our great country has to offer. Thank you, and god bless. Host director, how is the initiative going . Guest it has been great. The Campaign Launched about a year ago. We now know we have had 6 impressions. The target market is the mill 18eles the millennials, to 35. We know we have reached about one in four millennials, and we are seeing the kind of support that we think we need. Host lets get to calls. Wayne is first in nebraska. Good morning. Caller hi there. I am a retired fireman. [indiscernible] host control what . Guest noxious weeds is what he said. We do have exotic plants, not just weeds. We actually do quite a bit of control in the National Parks the cosby do not want them spreading because we do not want them spreading. Host is the National Parks Service Responsible for fighting fires if one starts in the park absolutelyrk guest it we work on an interagency is with firefighting. We join forces to take on all wildfires. Host is it a challenge for the parks . Guest it is a challenge to Climate Change is affecting the way fires burn. They burn hotter and longer. They can be replacing the current native vegetation. It does not come back the same. They are more expensive because more people are living in the interface between the lands and developed areas. And were asking congress to wildfires asphic they would major disasters, like floods and hurricanes. Host how much of your budget goes to things like that . Budget,ur overall fiscal 2016 budget was just shy of 3 billion. A request7 budget has of just a little over 3 billion. Most of our budget is operating funds and we operate parks. It is not much of a grandmaking kind of organization. Fire is not directly funded. It just comes up of our budget. And we have to pay for it when fires occur. Were taking your questions and comments about the National Park service. It turns 100 this year we want to know what it has been like for you to visit the parks over the years. You can tweet a picture using c spanwj. Lets go to phyllis. Caller yes, hi. Why dont you have more electric card charges at all of the National Parks and National Monuments . Ok, great question. It is actually an area we are expanding. We are working with, particularly in california right now, to put in a series of electric card charges across the National Park system. Seriesly need to have a of them so that an individual that has an electric car can recharge within the range of that vehicle, so were working with the National Park foundation to help us and stole a number of these. That i absolutely think this is something were going to pursue in the future. Jewell yesterday said you have a backlog, a maintenance backlog. What is going on here . Guest for the last decade or several decades, we have been inadequately funded, basically flat funded, by the u. S. Congress. As a consequence, our infrastructure the park service has an infrastructure of roads, bridges, tunnels, and then we have buildings, many of them his doric and we have water systems, wastewater plants, visitor centers, historic homes. When you look at all of that together, about half of our backlog is roads and bridges. Memorialhe arlington bridge here in washington, which is a 250 million project. Over time, those assets and gone into decline. You can see it in the field right now. So we are asking congress to appropriate Adequate Funding to address this over a series of years to really bring all of these assets back up. Host what is the most threatened . Guest one example, one of the complicated issues is the grand canyon. The southfor all of part of the grand canyon, which the vast majority of visitors come to, comes from the north rim of the grand canyon. It is a water line that goes all the way down the canyon and back up to the other side. That is about 60 years old and breaks constantly. It is going to cost us probably 150 million to replace. That is a perfect example of old infrastructure supporting the hundreds of millions of visitors. Judy, goodnia, morning. Caller i would like to thank mr. Jarvis for his service in the park service. I think the park service is just a wonderful treasure to this country. My more direct question is, as i aroundying walking Fletchers Cove in d. C. , i am astounded that there have been logs smoldering by the river for over a week. Host say it again . Logsr blogs have been have been smoldering at people build fires. They go fishing there and set up camps. Areas of authorized fires, and theyre using unauthorized areas to cook their fish. Not beenll, i have down to fletchers in a while. Of course, this time of year, there is a big run on the river and a lot of fishermen in that area on the potomac. Ome are doing illegal fires that is something we are concerned about. We had a big fire burning in shenandoah National Park right now. There is a high vulnerability this time of year of wildfires. Theink it is indicative of decline in our operating budget, and we do not have enough staff to get out. We rely heavily on volunteers with our organization to it we have 440,000 volunteers. But i will send our ranger out there to check it out. Host what happens if the ranger catches somebody . Guest they will get a ticket. Host how much . Guest i have no idea. Host a call from colorado. Caller thank you for taking my call. My question was about zen terra and a lot of the, historically, kind of that contracts and deals that the National Park is made with santara. My understanding is that the National Park is had to did their own funds, millions upon millions of dollars, and even for low many of its employees. I would love to hear and update on the latest with the contracts santara and Going Forward with solutions, the National Parks do not run a lot of these concessionaire stands that we all use. Uest that is a great question i could spend the rest of the day talking about the complications of our social services. The Park Services private sector logicf the organization, lodging, food service, theyre run by private concessionaires. Xanterra is one of them. There are a few others. A unique law Congress Passed back in the 1990s that requires as to put this opportunity for business out for bid. They bid on it and pay as a franchise fee. We do get some revenue return from that, about 80 million a year about 80 million a year after a 1 billion industry. We are asking congress for some reform and those laws so that the park service, the federal government, the american taxpayer gets a better return on this man Services Overall can be improved for the public, as well. It is a complicated question, and we are working with xanterr and the other concessionaires to improve overall services. Host ohio, good morning. My comment is that i think the National Park service is probably one of the best things. It makes the , as far asommonality it does not matter who your Party Affiliation is. It just brings america together. Host do you agree . Wholeheartedly. The National Parks or something this nation should be very proud of. They represent the best of the country and americas best idea. It crosses all lines, ethnicity, politics, age, and it is a place you can sort of go and experience your country and feel a sense of patriotism. So thank you. Host on twitter i have not been to a National Park since they started charging an entrance fee. When i was young, we could just walk in. 411 National Parks, only about 125 charge fees. The rest of free all the time. You can also purchase a pass for 80, and you are in for free for life. And if you are 62, you can get a golden age passed for 10 and you are in for life for free. It is a pretty good deal. Host and this week, all the parts are free. , all partsrk week are free through sunday. Mary in california. In the yes, i lived National Park service, national seashore, for over 30 years. I know it like the back of my hand. I am horribly concerned with the the glaciers. The grasslands are gone. There are no wildfires out there. It is all brush. There is going to be huge fire out there again. I would really recommend less Political Science and some real science, keeping the brush from overtaking most all of the trails. It is really not a wilderness. Community. Local it is more of an urban park in a way. But you do not have a grasslands. The grasslands are gone. The fuel load is enormous. I wish we could have more Public Private arrangements to keep some of that country open. Host director jarvis . Guest it is an extraordinary park. I agree, it is a wonderful place. The staff on the ground have been working very hard for the ongoing dairy operations, the dairy cattle, and finding a balance with the elk, and those ers in the area. Meaning maintaining that landscape is a high priority for us. Workr thank you for the you do. I love the National Parks. I understand the challenges, but i am concerned about the december repair about the atrepair on the monument theodore island. Addressing that. We had a meeting the last couple weeks with a member of the roosevelt family, greatgreatgrandson, and the National Park foundation. We have a philanthropic effort to restore the Teddy Roosevelt memorial itself, the plaza area, and actually enhance the history of teddy around the trail system stories. Ries of you will see a significant improvement in the investment on that memorial and the island over the next year. Mike from North Carolina, welcome to the conversation. Caller thank you very much, and good morning. I first want to say thank you for the Invaluable Service the National Park Service Provides our nation. , anve witnessed firsthand officer saved someones life on the national seashore. They responded even before the coast guard or lifeguards at the beach could respond. Their knowledge of local ecology and history in any location is unmatched. What role does the National Park service play and conservation beyond simple Law Enforcement activities . How can we get congress to offer better funding and educate the why we need to support the National Park service is. The National Park service, the way i view our role in conservation, it is sort of a he anchor storet in a larger systems are you have yellowstone, yosemite, the grand canyon. We try to manage these places to a very High Standard of an impairment. Un we allow fires to do their thing. Wolves back into yellowstone. We manage that as close to nature and natural as possible within the larger context, as well. We have been asking congress to increase our budget, and they were very generous in 2016. I have to say, the largest budget in our history, but it is not enough. I think part of the Centennial Campaign has been all about reconnecting with the American People. We are at the will of the people, and the people need to speak, to say that this is an investment that they think congress should make. As the American People become more diverse, you would like to see more diversity at the parks. How are you going to achieve that . What can you do to make sure that the rings within national ks are diverse, as well . That the ranks within the National Parks, as well . About 80 are white. Guest absolutely. It is a major concern to the good news is we will probably see one of the largest retirements in our history. A lot of folks in our agency have been hanging on until the centennial, and many are past retirement eligibility. We have been building our farm team, and we have the Youth Programs, and urban initiative. We have encouraged organizations to work to diversify their workforce. These can feed right into the National Park service. We have new hiring authorities at opm. Asyou work for us two years a seasonable, you can be permanently hired to were very interested in hiring veterans. Veterans are a great source of skills and capacity for the park service with all they have learned. Obviously, we have a very diverse military workforce, as well. All of the components were working on at the same time, i think, will change the overall workforce at the park service. Left we have 15 minutes with director jarvis to take your comments and questions about the National Parks as they mark their 100th year. Remember, you can send your pictures of your favorite park if you tweet cspanwj. There is one on your screen right now. Good morning. I want to mention a couple of the National Parks i have been i really enjoy, and i have been to a lot. Voyagero mention National Park, which is on the minnesotacanadian border. We took our canoe and went up there, and they provided a larger canoe. Then another boat trip takes you over and tells you about the fur traders years ago. It is a beautiful country. A place where you store your things is up in the trees because of the bears. Another National Park we went to was big bend. That is on the texasmexican border, and that is really interesting and different. Theourse, we have been to Teddy Roosevelt, and i like learning all the history while there, in addition to the beautiful scenery. Host that was jackie. William is next, lafayette, louisiana. Caller good morning. Thank you, director, thank you. Hello . Host were listening to you. Caller i want to say, first, that i am a great supporter of the National Park system. I have been going to the half of parks more than the century of the history of it. I started going in the 1950s. I have been to 42 of the regular National Parks. Have been to probably 100 of your other parks in the park system. Thank you, william. Great job to just keep coming. There is more to see. Byt top National Park visitor spending, 2014 numbers. Blue ridge, great smoky mountains. Why is that . Guest a lot of things to proximity to large public populations, public knowledge, gasoline price, and i think our promotional campaigns, as well. Some parks, it is a family thing. Multigenerations, people go every year, and they bring their kids and grandkids. It is just part of their lives. Host yellowstone was on that list are that was established i congress is the nation and the world as it first National Park on march 1, 1872. California, lori, good morning. Caller good morning. I heard him say that if you are 62 or older, 10 would get you a golden pass for life. If you are disabled, is that the same . Can you do that, too . We have anlutely it access pass for those that are disabled. 62,er way, if you are whether you have a disability or not, for 10, you can get a pass and that is good for you not only you, but those in the car with you, for life. To sarah, andgo we will show you a little video here of the National Parks. Is from the National Park it is from the National Park service. Sarah in New Hampshire, good morning. Caller thank you, and happy birthday to the National Park system. Guest thank you. Caller i am concerned about indigenous animals being pushed out by nonindigenous species and the plight of rivers, the what we would call a trickle brooke by the time it ends up coming to its ocean exit. But my main thing today is to ask you about the Tonto National landt, which was apache and was supposed to be protected and is now being sold to an Australian Mining company, which is going to make an open pit copper mine. I do not understand the process here. , thought this land is our land and how could this ever happen . And could this happen in our lands . Rotected i am not familiar with that particular issue on the tonto National Park. The National Forest system is departmentferent than me, the department of agriculture, not the department of interior. They are multiple use lands. They are available for mining and gravel extractions, cattle grazing, and the like. The National Parks under the department of interior are not open for these kinds of activities. A law i congress was passed that theibited mining in National Parks. This is something you do not have to worry about. On the Forest Service lands out there, there are proposals for mining and other types of resource extraction that can have a direct impact. Massachusetts. Om ,aller director jarvis congratulations on the centennial of the National Parks. I am calling from massachusetts, the home of john adams. The National Park Service Across the country, after the release the hbo series on john adams, we saw a tremendous significant jump of visitors around the country to the adams mansion here. What about people coming from other countries . Servicehe National Park posts about 60 Million International visitors from all over the world. We are currently in a campaign to promote the National Parks internationally. Brand usa. The imax film just produced is designed to be shown around the world, inviting International Visitors. The american for economy, new dollars coming to the United States. They love to come to the National Parks and learn a little bit about this nation. There is a focus in the Pacific China and asia, to invite that community. The United States is the number two destination in the world for international travel, just a little bit behind france. France is a little easier to get to. But we want to be number one. We really do want to draw International Visitors to come see our National Parks. Host our next call is from michigan. Caller hello. I love cspan. My question here is i have , and what iowstone have noticed is a lot of Foreign Workers from many Different Countries working at the parks in these, i guess, private concessionaires. That disturbed me a little bit. I wonder if you would comment to that . Guest thank you. Our private for concessionaires to hire workers that work in hotels and restaurants from other countries , and come here on work visas. And we have been encouraging them through the new contracts to hire more americans to work in these National Parks. I know, in talking to folks from my generation, they remember in many cases working in their summers out of college in National Parks, working at a restaurant or working as a guide or in a hotel. So i think there is a real opportunity for employment for American Students to work in these places, and we have been encouraging our concessionaires to do that. Director jarvis, you mentioned Climate Change at the top of your remark. What can the National Park issue, do to combat this and how is it impacting the parks . Fx of we are seeing the Climate Change in our National Parks right now. The poster child of Climate Change is really glacier National Park based on our modeling, we think there will be no glaciers and punk glacier National Park within 20, 25 years. They are disappearing. They are the refrigerators and water storage and tenders of our parks. We lose that, and the streams will change downstream. Different species and different vegetation types, as well. Fires are burning longer and hotter, more destructive. Level, storm surge, like Hurricane Sandy that came across the new england part of the country, all had in tax to places we had not seen before. The park service has a unique role to one is science and monitoring the impact of climate coal mineterms of the metaphor canary in the coal mine metaphor. We have a role in education, helping to understand impacts of Climate Change. ,e have a role in mitigation using the most sustainable methods to construction operation, biofuels, solar, all of that. Last but not least is ,daptation, really adapting thinking about our parks 25, 50, 100 years from now. Host richard is in missouri. Go ahead. Caller i have a comment. We have this Wilson Creek National Battlefield in springfield. I want to commend the rangers there at the park. They helped me find my. Reatgrandfathers war records it is a beautiful place to come see. Host thank you. Richard. Ank you, that is something that our employees, our rangers, really have a passion to find that connection. I was just in kennesaw battlefield in georgia on saturday and talking to a young man who went through that same process of records and found out that his, one of his ancestors actually was at one of the cannon batteries there during the kennesaw battle. So there are these deep familial connections that we can help. Host we have just a couple minutes left. Paul is in cambridge, massachusetts. Make it quick. Caller director jarvis, thank you for what you do good good morning. Appreciate your comments with respect to hartford, connecticut , site recently decimated recently called a National Park location. Funding, with respect like that, if you could comment on plans, time frames, and funding required. Guest congress authorized coatesville as a new unit of the National Park system. Were working through a transfer for part of the property to the National Park service. A had to do a little bit of fix in the legislation. 2017cycle of the fiscal budget has an operating budget for coatesville, so we can get rangers on the ground. Host carol in connecticut. Caller hello, mr. Jarvis. Love watching the channel i live in connecticut. I am not aware of where the National Parks are in connecticut. , i am jumping and it i hate to be rude, but the house has to gavel in. Guest the best thing is to go nps. Gov and type in connecticut. You will pull of our state page. It will list all of the parks and whether or not there is even a map. You can find which ones are really close to you. [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] market 100th anniversary, what do you want to tell our viewers . Guest the centennial is all about creating and connecting with the next generation of National Parks. It is an invitation to go out there and find your park, find that place that is really special to you, and then share that with your friends and your family. Host thank you for being here this morning. Appreciate it. The house is about to gavel and a thank you for watching it we will be back here tomorrow at 7 00 a. M. Eastern time. Ive coverage of the house here on cspan