Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20161114

Made in his administration. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus will serve as chief of staff. , former ofn Breitbart News, will be chief counselor and strategist. We want to get your thoughts in the first 45 minutes on these appointments, what they suggest to you about the administration of present elected donald trump. 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. Independents, 202 7488002. If you want to post on twitter, do so. You can also post on our facebook page. Journal haseet the pictures of both of these appointments. Not to serve as chief strategist, steve bannon, he is formally of Breitbart News. There is some biographical information. Priebuscomes to reince and his ties to the president elect, saying that the relation developed during the campaign providing a bridge to the gop establishment. He urged mr. Trapp not to run as an independent and and to sign a pledge to support whoever was nominated. He also gave access to donald trump to the party get out the vote machinery. When it comes to Stephen Bannon and the relationship he has with donald trump, saying he has known mr. Trump for years. Right partners into a strongly prodonald trump media voice during the campaign. He was brought on as the chief Campaign Executive in august, part of a Major Campaign shakeup. There is some reactions to these appointments, particularly coming from capitol hill this morning. Of only the appointment Reince Priebus but steve bannon paul ryan saying that he is very proud for his friend Reince Priebus and offering congratulations. Also when it comes to those who the spokesman for ,he Senate Minority leader harry reid, saying Donald Trumps choice of bannon as his top eight signals that was atmises will be represented the highest levels in trumps white house. What they might suggest about the donald Trump Administration. 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. For independents. There are people posting on twitter. Who isthis, anybody chief strategist knows it is a donothing job. Steve bannon is the only one who can russell Donald Trumps twitter only from him, that should seriously alarm the free world. We will talk to you. Joe is up first. Georgia, republican line. What do you think about these appointments . Caller i have been calling cspan 30 years. I think they are good. One suggestion, steve moore as the chief economic advisor. He was on fox saturday. For 22s to cut taxes million Small Businesses. Donald trump will be the Small Business president. And very much previous Reince Priebus and i think they are very good. I think steve bannon is the best appointment he could make. I have known steve 14 years. Host joe, what do you like about Reince Priebus specifically . Caller he has great people skills. He knows how to get along with people inside washington and outside washington. He has a great personality. He has traveled the country. He knows the people on the inside being the chairman of the rnc. I think youll be excellent. Mainly he has incredible people skills. I think that will serve donald trump extremely well. Host steve bannon, what do you like about him . Caller i like the fact that he is very conservative. Benin is a dedicated conservative and highly respected in the conservative community. I think they are just too. Im so fired up, i cant barely sleep at night. Wasirst birthday present donald trump being elected. Saint rose, louisiana, our line for democrats. Herman, go ahead. Caller i am a retired veteran who celebrated the weekend. Laste a question, cnn had week. I have been trying to get through her a while. Host before we go down that road, can we get to our question as far as these appointments . I really dont know too much about them to pass any type of statement on that. Host ok. Lets go to cj from minnesota. Republican line. Caller thank you for allowing me to be on. And allowing me to talk with you on this matter. I dont have a lot of knowledge about those people you are talking about, but if that is what the president wants, that is what the president wants. Host nothing you know about Reince Priebus or steve bannon previously as far as their roles in the campaign . Host i have caller i have never heard of them before now. Priebussar as reince relationship to the rnc and Steve Bannons previous job at Breitbart News and now working for the Trump Administration, that is where they are coming from as far as their background. Caller i think i trust Donald Trumps judgment. He wants to do a good job, and all the people that get into this position are going to help them further their cause. I pray that it works out for him as well as the country because whoever he picks is going to make the improvements, and if they dont, im pretty sure mr. Trump will have a say so and fire them just like he always does. Host lets go to stand in new york. Go ahead. Caller this Reince Priebus guy from what i have been reading the last day or so seems to be another washington insider. I am a democrat that voted for donald trump. Last night on 60 minutes, they asked a bunch of questions to mr. Trump, and one of them was about a special prosecutor for hillary. They are out and says, good people, and i dont want to hurt them. Both hurtilm them. When good people steal 13 million from haiti . My what they give money to their kids . Would goodell people sell plutonium to the russians . Host any thoughts on the appointments he has made . Caller this Reince Priebus guy, if he is a washington insider, that is not what i voted for. Donald trump said he was going to drain the swamp, not jump in with them. Hillary clinton needs to be up in front of a judge and jury. Caller that is stan in new york. 202 7488000 for democrats. For republicans, 202 7488001. Independents, 202 7488002. One of the chief job requirements of the chief of staff, revising the white house is number one. The chief of staff often plays a Critical Role in setting white house strategy on everything tom the legislative agenda public facing communications as well as the administration of foreignpolicy priorities and controls president ial access, being gatekeeper to the president can mean anything from deciding which decisions need to be personally made, which will be delegated, and controlling who gets meetings with the president. Lets go to ken in arkansas. Independent line. Caller how are you doing . Host you are on. This country has years back about 60 or 70 with trump. Hasnt know what the heck happened to america. I mean, i am an African American , and im kind of afraid myself. Host off of twitter, this is carol, donald trump will have a diverse candidate, dan and is harvard educated, humble and pleasant. Identifies Reince Priebus as great. Larry from North Carolina, democrats line. Caller i love your show. It is fair and balanced. You take calls from both parties. I appreciate that. I voted for donald trump. I think his judgment has been good choosing mike pence and the selections he made. Host why do you think those elections are good . Caller i think that they have a proven track record. Reince priebus has proven to be a genius in the moves that he has made as well as the importance of the media with bart. Par breit i think they are both good candidates. I am very excited about the future of the company the country now, the potential to do some great things for the country. Trumpsom mr. Perspective, saying these are hollow quiet highly qualified leaders that led to our historic victory, and now i will have them both with me in the white house as we work to make America Great again. Colorados sandra from calling on our line from democrats. Go ahead. Caller thank you for taking my call. It is kassandra. Host sorry about that. Caller i dont know enough about some of these people that trump is i him if state of shock and in a state of shock like many of my friends are. I know people that are actually afraid right now. They are pretty happy having health care, and it was not perfect. It was a beginning. I know a lot of people that have expressed fear to me. I think it is a terrible thing. This is a country that i love. I have always been really proud to be an american. I have lived a diverse lifestyle. I have always been really proud. It seems so completely apart right now. I cannot imagine what would bring it together. Certainly not trump. Bannon will bring that awesome Goldman Sachs populism. Democrats line from mississippi. Go ahead. Caller im concerned with who donald trump is picking because of the simple fact that he has got to pick who he is got to pick to get what he wants done. I was concerned when Hillary Clinton did not pick Bernie Sanders. I dont understand why we are worried about that now when she should have gotten bernie, and we democrats would have taken control of the white house. Host you have no initial thoughts on these selections that have been made so far . Caller no. He has got to get done what he has got to get done. I dont think we would be right for criticizing him for getting done what he needs to get done. He has an agenda. For 202 7488000 democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. And for independence, 202 7488002. Your thoughts on the naming of Reince Priebus as chief of staff in the donald Trump Administration, Stephen Bannon as chief strategist and advisor. Court forlook at the the future of the court under the donald Trump Administration. The Washington Times starts with the Supreme Court, saying it is not uncommon for the court docket to change when one party replaces the other in the white house. That change in direction is magnified by the high court seat donald trump will fill after Senate Republicans refuse to Obamas Barack selection of merrick garland. They will consider a case considering a transgender teen who identifies as mail and wants to use the boys bathroom at his virginia high school. Donald trump referenced his thinking about the Supreme Court, specifically about judges who are interested in possibly overturning roe v wade, a Court Decision on abortion. Here is some of his thinking from yesterday. [video clip] trump i am prolife. The judges will be prolife. What about overturning the law . Comment i am prolife mr. Trump . I am prolife. In terms of the gun Second Amendment, they will be very proSecond Amendment. Having to do with abortion, if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states. Then some women will not be able to get an abortion . Mr. Trump it will go back to the states. Perhaps they will have to go to another state. We will see what happens. It has a long way to go. Just so you understand. Host one more story about the courts and donald trump. The washington journal this morning saying that mr. Trump promised to appoint judges in the mold of Antonin Scalia of who entered office with at least 16 vacancies on the federal court of appeals, and another 25 judges will become eligible for retirement. The federal trial courts have 81 a confused, an unusually high number driven by republican control of the senate. A dozen more trial Court Agencies are expected soon. Good morning from jacksonville, florida. Line for democrats. Hello. Caller hi. Steve bannon has been manager of Breitbart News for several years, and he has been at Donald Trumps side since before the one the nomination. Breitbart news is a platform for the alt right. According to employees of Breitbart News who quit because the site had become a vegan for neonazis beacon for neonazis and racists and antisemites, and that is who donald trump has chosen to be beside him at the way. We have elected a racist. Host the Southern Poverty Law Center when the announcement for steve bannon came out said that steve bannon was the main driver behind Breitbart News becoming a white f no nationalist propaganda mill. Anthony on our line for democrats in washington, d. C. You are on. Caller i want to make a comment saying that one of the main things for donald trump when he was running talking about draining the swamp, unifying the country, and obviously i knew that his cabinet that there would be some concerns for his cabinet picks. When you talk about draining the swamp and you pick establishment folks and these extreme rightwing media people and place them in your as president cabinet as president , that is not unifying the country. Especially if we are talking about rainy and Rudy Giuliani and chris christie, this is not an indication he will unify us. I did not think he would anyway. But now we are seeing what is actually happening. This is not an indication. Host similar reaction on twitter saying, Reince Priebus is to work with paul ryan to get the gop establishment onto the truck train. I thought he was going to drain the swamp. You can post on twitter and facebook. Make sure to take time to follow us on those websites. You can call us, 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. For independents 202 7488002. We will go to steve on our independent line. Caller thank you for taking my call. I think Reince Priebus was a great choice. I dont think that president elect trump could have one without him and Kellyanne Conway. Steve bannon, obviously he feels comfortable with. I think Ronald Reagan had nancy to protect him and a real feel of those people around him. I think steve bannon fits that mold as well as his family. I would like to see Kellyanne Conway have a role. But i think she may want to have fromwn business and help that standpoint. I would like to Say Something to all of the people who seem to be so worried and fearful of the Affordable Care act. Nothing will be done without a bridge. On repealhung up versus fixed. The main thing is to make it right for everyone. They will always build a bridge. It would never pass without a bridge. Dont fall for the fear. Everything is going to be done in an orderly manner. There are a lot of people there to protect you. Dont fall for the broad brush that makes everyone from washington, d. C. , bad people. There are a lot of people that really do work for the American People. Host lets hear from josh from baltimore. Republican line. Youre next. Caller i agree with the last caller. I dont think the sky is falling just yet. The inclusion of steve bannon on the cabinet, i feel like because he is a media figure and because he is going to sort of polish the image, i think it is going to lead to not just a schism with the American People but also how they get their news between democratic news and republican is. It creates an obfuscation and in we make quality decisions this Midterm Election and upcoming elections. Host give us an example of how you think news will be delivered because of Steve Bannons inclusion . Caller i think donald trump has changed the world with twitter, which i dont actually have, but having more and more outlets that have poor journalism and how do i say this, and skewed facts. People have very democratic facts, and republicans have their facts. Whether it is television, internet, twitter. It creates a circumstance where we cannot talk to each other. When you settle facts on the is a situationt where you dont know who you are voting for, what you are voting for, the facts are plastic. On thehat is josh republican line from baltimore, commenting on the selection of Reince Priebus, current head of the rnc, and about to become as to trance steve of mr. Trumps chief of staff. We will continue on these calls. If you are on the line, stay there. Joining us to talk about issues of congress, the lameduck session of Congress Comes in today. And those people who just won election to congress who have training to do as they get ready to take their positions next year, joining us to walk us through what happens to these newly minted members of congress is Bradford Fitch of the congressional management foundation. Guest good morning. Host could you tell us a little bit about your foundation and its role . Guest we are about to enter our 40th year. We wanted more assistance in the management, the running of these Small Businesses that is what they are. 435 Small Businesses. We have added an element of Citizen Engagement training. Now there are thousands of americans that go to our training event that learn how congress works. We help congress try to do a better job of engaging and interacting with citizens. We help citizens do a better job of understanding and interacting with congress. If we do our job right, but are laws are made. Host tell us what goes on for those newly elected numbers of congress. Houston do they start training, and what will they learn . They started their training the morning after they got elected. There is really no break after you get elected to the house and senate. We turn on the firehose the morning after. It is a difficult and challenging task to set up a congressional office. I was chief of staff for a freshman member of the house of representatives if you years ago. I felt like there were all the headaches of starting a Small Business with all the red tapes of starting a bureaucracy. They have to get staff, offices, and a jerk. It is like running a Small Business. They have to think it through, and at the same time make policy decisions and come up with different positions that they did not have before. Maybe they came from the state legislature and had some positions on local issues, but now they have to have a position and opinions on a Iranian Nuclear deal Climate Change, or an infrastructure bill. It presents a policy challenge and an operational challenge. Host from now until they are seated in Congress Next year, do they come to washington and stay for that education . Is it done in several steps . How does that work . Guest congressman do it a little different. The orientation starts for the new members tomorrow. They will be here on tuesday. They going to meetings with current members of congress. They meet with the institutional staff. They find out everything from what are the operational roles i have to work by, to what are the ethics rules, which are stringent and very transparent that they have to learn. They get a lot of education from mentors. Members of congress will turn to other people and their delegation, their party, and they will try to get a little bit of what happened to you experience. That happens for the next couple of weeks while they are in washington. Then they will go back home and get sworn in in early january. Get their do they office, when do they start hiring staff . Give us those details. Guest members of congress dont officially get the keys to their office until they are officially sworn in, probably january 4 this year. They do not get office space or official tools to do hiring or sign contracts the United States senate provides each senator elect one staff member. The house members dont get any staff. They have to do this from volunteers and campaign staff. Host Bradford Fitch with the congressional management foundation. What doe let you go, you think is the most important lesson for an incoming member of congress . Not, it iseve it or being disciplined in what you want to do. Most members of Congress Really want to change the world. They want to do everything. You really cannot do that. If you want to change the world, you have to run for president. You can maybe do two or three things as a member of the house of representatives. If you dont have a strategic plan, they will become one of two types of members. If they are in a safe congressional district, they will become ineffective. If they are in an unsafe district, they will become a former member. Accomplish a few things, and the voters will usually reward you. Host that is Bradford Fitch joining us to talk about this process. Guest thank you. Host 202 7488000 for democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. For independents 202 7488002. We will go to ron in michigan. Republican line. Good morning. Caller good morning. Compromise,king for the democrats with the republicans. I dont feel like they gave us any compromise. I feel like he ran roughshod over our country, unbelievable. It is just unbelievable. I think it is time for us to stand up for our rights and bring back the revival of the United States, in god we trust. Host what do you think about these appointments though . Caller i think we ought to pray to god that he is president. I wanted carson in there. But we have donald trump. Maybe he will be a good president. We hope for the best. Host the counsel for american muslim relations sending off a tweet on these nominations, we urge president elect trump to reconsider the illadvised appointment of the White Nationalist steve bannon. That is some of the reaction over the last 24 hours or so, a little less than that. We are getting your reaction. Jim is in lancaster, new york. Our line for independents. Go ahead. Caller good morning. America needs to relax and take a deep ref. Let him a point who he was still a point. Wants to appoint. Everybody is overreacting. Lets him get into office and get his staff. Lets see what he does first. Host no need for overreaction . Caller i dont think so. Lets see what they do. If they are out of line and races, then we will take care of , then we will take care of the issue. Lets relax and see how this plays out. Host what about the reaction for steve bannon and his background with Breitbart News and some concerns over that . Would just let him in the office, let him do his thing lets see how it plays out. Florida,astian from independent line. Caller good morning, pedro. Host good morning. Caller i was hoping donald trump would raise the animal wage. But that is minimum wage. But that is pretty farfetched. I thought he would be prounion considering the amount of people he has working for him. I dont think that is going to happen either. I think he is really going to put it to the workingclass people of this country. As far as his Affordable Care act, i dont think he is going much with that because i believe it was a mitt romney program to begin with. Go, i donte wars know, he does not seem like too much of a peacemaker to me. That is about all i have. Host another concern as far as epa issues. On team, this is a story in the washington post. Selectedump has skeptic of Climate Change for the epa. Fixture who has long been a cheerful warrior against what he sees as an alarmist Environmental Movement that has used local warming as a pretext for expanding the government. He has argued for opening up more federal lands or coal and gas and turning over federal authority to the states. He has urged the senate to reject an International Climate toward signed last year in paris. Theas long made his home at competitive enterprise institute. Receivedzation that considerable funding from exxon mobil. An organization that is not by law required to disclose its distributors. If you are interested in reading more, that is in the washington post. Julie on our line for democrats. Caller i voted for trump this time. I think we forgot about the people in the heartland and rust belt. These people, their infrastructure just does not exist. They dont have jobs. I think that he addressed them and made them part of his campaign. I think they have to be considered in any administration. Host the current president of the United States, president obama on a trip overseas. This will probably the his last world through tour. Saying he arrives tuesday in greece, spence todays in germany, and plans to stress a unified europe. E will end up at the apec he will face World Leaders who for various reasons are uneasy about a Trump Administration from the german chancellor to the chinese president. Of his presidency was tailored in part to reflect his deep concerns about the future of your which has been embroiled in populist political movements, and a newly aggressive russia. That is from the wall street journal. Mike from indiana. Go ahead. The American People caller the American People have voted for a new president. Lets see if he does not do a good job. If he does not, then we can impeach him. About doing a good job, what do you think about the people he has selected so far . Caller that is totally his choice. That is what we put him up there for. He is trying to turn this country around. Host that is mike in clarksville, indiana. 202 7488000 our line for democrats. 202 7488001 our line for republicans. For independents 202 7488002. A story this morning off at yahoo news. This story about mike pence. Has the headline, planned parenthood is getting a bunch of donations for mike pence. Ever had the phrase hell hath no. Hath nwomans current o like a woman fury scorned . The former governor of indiana slashed funding for planned parenthood in his state. Even prolife republicans were concerned. Many people are standing in defiance and donating to planned parenthood, but they are donating in his name. Many people have donated to planned parenthood in his name. It gives information if you are interested in making a donation yourself. That is off of yahoo news this morning. Takes a york times look at immigrants and abortion on twitter. About the issues regarding the two advisors, saying, mr. Trump passed over Stephen Bannon, but he named him as chief counselor, embracing he french ideology long upported by mr. Bannon. Lets go to vicki in minnesota. Our line for democrats. Caller how are you . Host fine, thank you. Caller im concerned about the Stephen Bannon appointment. I was online looking at articles. Almost all of them are talking about how he is a racist. How can that unify our country . Putting someone so important in the white house who is already a racist. Thank you, pedro. Host john comes to us from new hampshire. Independent line. John, hi there. Caller good morning. Is comment i wanted to make what is deeply concerning about ofald trumps selection Reince Priebus and steve bannon, i understand it is early on for donald trump to set up his appointees, but it this is a reflection of his appointees to start with, i think america has to be concerned with the remaining appointees, especially the judges on the Appeals Court and so on. That is all i really have to say. Host what makes these selections concerning to you . Examplesteve bannon for , just the issues he has been surrounded by with the alt right. And in selecting a divider as president bush would say. Host at least some report coming for Reince Priebus from senator lindsey graham, who congratulated him in a tweet. This shows me he is serious about governing. Our own twitter feed this morning, you can add to that online, i hope donald trump hires tom coburn. He would be great in the effort to drain the swamp. That is from the twitter feed this morning. Lets go to cynthia in maryland. Our line for democrats. Good morning. Thank you for calling. Caller good morning. I dont think steve bannon is great for us. Host why so . Caller he is not going to unite us. There is too much racism going on. It is not a healthy thing. It is not healthy at all. I feel sorry for us that we cannot get along. We have to still fight to have our rights and have womens rights, and it is very sad. Host the concern for women coming from california this morning, saying that the selection is unsurprising but alarming, and outright misogynistic view does not belong in the white house. Independents 202 7488002. New jersey is next. Democrat line. You are on. Caller hello. I am extremely happy about the choices he has made. Im a democrat that but for donald trump. I think he will honor his pledge that he is going to keep a diverse, not all establishment, but he is going to be split. I think it is a good thing. I think it will help everybody. I think everybody has to give him a chance. I think you will do a wonderful job. Host when it comes to the men involved, what are you happy about . Caller because he is antiestablishment. A lot of people voted because of that. I am really not happy with all of the establishment. I think they did not do what they are supposed to do. Im notneed saying all antiestablishment, but i really want more than establishment opinion. Host anything you could add about Reince Priebus . Caller i think he is a great choice. He did so much. The guy is a genius. He is a genius. The democrats thought they had it so that. The republicans just ran circles around the democrats. It is amazing. Host tricia from indiana. Independent line. Caller good morning. I am like as that lot of other people in the country, very concerned about Steve Bannons appointment. Withsomewhat familiar Breitbart News because i have a friend that i love very much who constantly posted from Breitbart News on facebook, and i had to block that website is the things coming across during the election i just did not want to see that at all. I am hoping that Reince Priebus can mitigate some influence that he may have over President Trump , and hopefully you will be kept in check. Host do you think they will work well together or be at odds . Caller im not sure. That is also a little bit of a concern that they will butt heads. I dont get the impression that steve bannon is one to change his viewpoint. That is a little bit of a concern within the circle that they get people who are so different in their viewpoints. I understand it is important to have people with different ideas to bounce off, but at the same time that could cause some real problems also. I feel like it is our job to Pay Attention to what is being said and what is being done, and if we see problems starting to emerge, we need to speak out and say no, this is not the way we want our country. That is not the direction we want to go in. Host i may have missed it at the beginning, and you support donald trump . Caller i did not. I watched the 60 minutes interview. If donald trump had been that donald trump, i could see myself voting for him. If he had been the person that he was on that interview. A lot of the rhetoric during the Campaign Just turned me off so much that i cannot vote for him. How andy he will know come more center. I am hoping that he is a good president. Host lets take one more call. This will be from diana in maine. Line for democrats. You are on. Caller i honestly believe that if Hillary Clinton had moved left, she would have had a landslide win and probably 20 of the republican vote. We have this right wingnut instead. I think this is a bad day for our country. Host joining us are to reporters who cover capitol hill on an extensive basis. Theyre going to talk about the congress, not only about the issues they have to take up from now until the end of the year, dealsso how this congress with the incoming president , donald trump. Francine kiefer of the Christian Science monitor and Niels Lesniewski from roll call will join us to talk about his issues. Later on, what happens to Donald Trumps businesses once he takes office . Their operation serve as a potential conflict of interest . We will hear from attorney Kenneth Gross later in the program. A conversation that took place with the army secretary, the navy secretary, and air force secretary. This took place at the center for a new american security. They talked about the various branchesapproach to transition from one administration to another. [video clip] both in the present administration from the first day. I was in this administration very early on. I think there are two phases to a transition. There is a lot of work taking place now where we pull together our governing documents, information papers, information on the budget, and what were thinking about the budget we are getting ready to submit. In mycond phase kicks in experience, and michelle would know this as well the day after the election. The teams are thinking about staffing, their thinking about substantive issues. He kicks into high gear the day after the election when the teams show up at the pentagon. Then you are really just on making sure the needs of those teams are met as they try to get a sense of, in my case, the army, what the issues are, what issues they are concerned about, with the budget is, what the budget should be organized differently. Us really prepare for that, to be available right after the election so that we can make the election as smooth as possible. Transition as smooth as possible. We have a lot of Information Available for the team when it shows up. Theyre going to give us guidance on that day. I dont think i can improve much on that answer. Transitiony today to the programs on the budget on the way forward. After the election, it will be more of the oneonone, it will be explanations. One thing the pentagon does very well in my experience is get you of greatgo in in terms things, in terms of where we are on any specific thing, in terms of making sure nothing falls through the cracks. Because as michelle knows better than anyone here, there cannot. E a seam there is no luxury of having a couple of days after the inaugural to figure things out. Atyou have got to be ready 1201 on january 20 to meet whatever comes. For the department of defense, it is a centralized effort for us. Effort,unning this gathering these papers and documents. Each of us has thoughts about what the next team needs to know about. At the moment, all that is being given over to the office of the secretary of defense for Central Management so that we will be ready to go. Washington journal continues. Host two longtime observers of congress to talk about what the new Congress Faces from now until the end of the year and what the Incoming Administration of donald trump. Francine kiefer with the Christian Science monitor. Niels lesniewski is a senior staff writer for roll call. Let me bounce a headline off of you. The republicans will use the lameduck session to set the stage for donald trump. How much truth is in that narrative . Guest we are not sure how republicans will use the lameduck session. The main job is to get the budget done. Party,the republican there are conservatives who want to push that into next year so that they have a friendly president to deal with their budget, and the Republican Leadership wants to get the budget done now so that they can have the new president start with a clean slate. Will not clear which side win out on this. My guess is the leaders will win out and do what they can to move the ball along, and as speaker ryan says hit the road running next year. What a lot of that may be the president elect decides to say. Tohe were to let it be known the more conservative members of the house and his supporters, people who have endorsed him that he wants and is on board senateeaker ryan and Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell in a longerterm agreement on appropriations so we do not have to do with that is in as he takes office, people will probably go along with it. What is interesting here is that because the president elect is a complete outsider to this process and has never really made this sort of sausage before, the Vice President elect was certainly in house Republican Leadership for a fair amount of time, so he may be the one who is not necessarily calling the shots but has significant influence in how this process gets done. That is the question. Whether the president elect and Vice President elect are going to insert themselves into this process in terms of how they want to see this done. Host we saw donald trump last week making the visit to congress. Did we learn anything as far as what mr. Trump is interested in . Guest he gave a list of three priorities leaving Mitch Mcconnells office at the capital. He said he was interested in health care, immigration, and what he calls big league jobs. He left vague what he meant on any of those three. There is some more detail in the 60 minutes interview that aired sunday evening, but there are still a lot of holes to be filled in and details to be written. Jobs couldbig league include any number of things. It could include tax reform because republicans leave that tax reform will stimulate the economy. It could be infrastructure, which would be a big jobs greater in terms of Capital Spending and bridges and highways. Or it could be rolled back of regulations that republicans think are repressive and keep the economy from growing. It is probably all those things because last night on 60 minutes president elect trump talked about tax reform specifically. House majority leader mccarthy yesterday talked about infrastructure. I think that could enclose all three of those things. For 202 7488000 democrats. 202 7488001 for republicans. 202 7488002 for independents. If you want to ask our guests about the agenda for congress this year. We will take your calls in just a moment. Infrastructure, a lot of people can agree on this subject, but the number one thing is the cost. Guest it is huge. One price tag that has been put on what is actually needed is 1 trillion. President elect trump has been talking about half of that much. Even half that much is a big price tag. One idea is to involve the private sector so it does not become what is expensive for the federal government. You have democrats and omming onto this idea is generally because the country needs is so bad dly. Badly. Guest once you have that price tag, the question is how do you pay for it . If everyone agrees they need half 1 billion, to use roughly the trunk figure four infrastructure projects, there are those who say it should be paid for by increasing the gas tax. There is then no interest in that among republicans. Proposals forr people who want to put more tolls they want to construct using that source of revenue. Then there is the question of whether or not you can repatriate foreign earnings, whether you can use proceeds from dollars that have been kept offshore that might be part of a tax reform plan. You could use some of that to pay for infrastructure. There are a lot of Payment Options out there, but they all involve the tax code. No one has come up with a way of rebuilding highways and bridges and tunnels without going through the tax code. We will take some calls from our viewers. Florida, republican line. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Obviously, this year we saw very radical ideas from the left and the right. What is the move for donald trump, politically speaking, to bring the country together . We know mike pence will lead the legislative aspect. What does donald trump do to bring the country together . God bless. Host maybe you want to put your thoughts on the legislative aspect. I suspect there will be inviting on both sides. Infighting on both sides. Guest i think there is this question of whether or not when donald trump becomes resident and working with mike pence and the leaders on capitol hill should start with something that has come in terms of the legislative agenda, has some bipartisan buyin. We know thats one of the Top Priorities for the president elect will have to be this vacant seat on the Supreme Court. Every indication that he has given is that he is going to nominate a conservative in the mold of Antonin Scalia to fill the seat that has been vacant since scalia died. That is probably not going to be an area for broad bipartisanship. If you have this one partisan i dont that will immediately be on the agenda, maybe you need to figure out something with respect to infrastructure or some other sort of job creation measure or something that has been sitting out there. If they dont get, in the lameduck session, this bipartisan package of legislation that is a big investment in Public Health research, if that does not get done this year, maybe you pick that up in january and february to foster some goodwill. Guest i was speaking with senator Susan Collins of maine last week. She is one of the few remaining moderate republicans in the senate. She said quite explicitly that she helped the first move hoped the first move would be on infrastructure. Sjudgment oniel bringing some piece of legislation back, if they bring back senator mcconnell preference, then they could bring back Mental Health where there host ray, you are next. Caller good morning, cspan. I watched the think tanks for the Republican Party six or seven years ago. He made a statement that they would obstruct everything president obama tried to pass and then come 2016, they would blame everything on the president. It really worked. The american electorate was so illinformed and uneducated that they would believe anything. I want to take my hat off to him. It worked. Guest i think what we are going to face this time is an issue of High Expectations for this presidency. Trumpestion is can mr. Build his wall . A realdeal with replacement of obamacare . Theraised the way presidency is won, you get votes by making big promises. Mr. Trump is getting votes by his big, bold promises. Even with a United Government under oneparty control, it is not so easy to get some of those big promises done. Guest lets take obamacare, for instance. The reason why that was able to get enacted into law in the first place was because a democratic president combined with the democraticcontrolled house and a Democratic Caucus in the senate that have, for a brief period of time, 60 votes, super majority needed to overcome a filibuster threat. Republicansly 52 likely in the senate in the next session. Frankly, if the caller was from the louisiana, there is an outside possibility there are only 51 because there is still a runoff to be had in louisiana the democrats are suddenly interested in. Either way, it is such a narrow margin, that people like senator collins of maine and other moderate, more moderate republican members and moderate democrats will all have to be on board in order to get much done, particularly on obamacare, because it is an easier lift to just flat out, largely got the theent program gut current program, but that does not seem to be what mr. Trump is talking about. That may be procedurally more complicated than to roll back what happened in 2009 and 2010. Host is that because of what he said keeping about keeping childrens on until they are 26 and the preexisting conditions clause . , the the more you keep more difficult it becomes to draft a reconciliation bill. That is a budget procedure to pass with a simple majority vote through the senate. More complicated the legislation is, the more complicated it will be to get the parliamentarians to buy in to that it fits into the arcane budget rules. Host we saw republicans releasing policy papers to move forward. Does health care fall under that plan . Guest speak a ryan is very proud that he has been busy behind the scenes getting chamberan by an on his in his chamber on his program called a better way. That includes things like tax reform, it also includes health care reform. Actually, he and mr. Trump do have some commonalities. They both say that Insurance Companies ought to be a will to work across state lines, so that people can have, so that there would be a larger Insurance Exchange to buy from. They both want to kick the Medicare Part of obamacare back to the states and have them manage that. Here is the thing. Even though speaker ryan is very abouted with this buy in his broad principles, none of that is in legislation. It is not a legislative language and that is when the trouble begins, when you start hammering out the details. Host i suppose that is one mike pence is going to be very valuable. Guest i think thats quite right. For viewers, when speaker ryan was on one of the sunday morning programs yesterday, he got into a rather Testy Exchange on cnn with jake tapper about whether or not you dont really want me to ask you answer how we are going to pay for that to read were questions he was being ofed about the particulars how provisions of his Health Care Overhaul would be paid for. Ryan was insisting that they were in the plan, but he was basically saying, do you really want to waste the audiences time with the details and the interview moved on. Host lets go to houston, texas, the independent line. Reginald. Caller good morning. Good morning. Host you are on. Caller i think you should talk about repentance, about crimes against humanity that america on extorted around the world wars that have not have been undertaken that should not have been. If we took all of that pentagon budget, he would signed enough find the money for social create a new deal like the roosevelt plan. That could help with some reparations of something that could go to blacks for all the crimes against, they have been exposed to so many against the holocaust of slavery and things that are going on. Now that we have maybe this new mold, maybe he can shine some light on america, so that we can be a better nation by taking care of the last, least, and lost. Reginald, thank you. I will take an element of what he brought up. Even in this conference, they had to do with the National Defense authorization act and there is a story today that talks about defense spending in the future, increases anticipated. Talk on those fronts. Guest sure. The Trump Campaign and the president elect himself and who work for him and have been associated with them talked about increasing the size and scope of military. Manpower, ships, there has been a lot of talk about increasing the size of the naval force under President Trump, and that is all going to be costly and will create a situation where it is going to be less likely we have recently talked about equal cost increase between Discretionary Spending and defense spending it does not look like that is the way were going to be going. It looks like we will be spending more on defense and wondering how we are going to pay for it. Guest i would like to the caller said about reparations, slavery, issues that african america has with this presidency. Int has been raised so much this campaign and over the weekend, we saw demonstrations, and people all over facebook and social media have been talking about heightened crimes and andests against minorities the way minorities are treated. I thought it was interesting that that was brought up in the 60 minutes interview with mr. Trump, asking about the harassing of minorities that has been reported in the last week or so since the election announcement. He looked straight into the camera and said, stop it. I saw a Facebook Post from one of my friends who said, problem solved. It is not that easy. I think people welcome that mr. Trump has made a direct statement about this now, that this is not acceptable behavior, but the problem is not so easily solved. From thecine kiefer Christian Science monitor joining us. Niels lesniewski from roll call joining us. What will it like to be a democrat come january . Guest democrats are going to look at this like a twopronged opportunity. They see themselves as a last. Astion against trumpism on areas of common ground, they are ready to go forward. They also have a special challenge, they have so many members of their own caucus up for reelection in the senate in 2018 that those senators will have specific and unique leverage on what actually gets done. It is not just that there is a lot of democrats up in 2018, it is that many of them are from states that president elect trump carried and some states that he carried fairly handily. Upre are Democratic Senators in places like indiana, north dakota, West Virginia. And they are going to have to run on their own records, on one hand, someone like joe manchin, someone who used to be the governor of West Virginia, who has a significant stake in his own state, Everybody Knows him, but there are going to be some on theting movements part of some of those senators in terms of where they find commonality with the trump agenda. On the other hand, the democrats aow that they may have to be bulwark because some of the things that have said by mr. ,rump and by his supporters certainly by steve bannon, who is going to be a Senior Advisor in the trump white house, a lot of these things are just outside the realm of normal conversation in the United States. So, if they are taken literally or if it looks like the white house is starting to take them literally, the democrats have a whole different job on their hands because they are going to have to be pushing back constantly. Host from mike in kentucky, republican line. Caller good morning. Thes calling regarding taxes that this gentleman from roll call was talking about earlier. The tax structure trump is talking about in regards to 10 for the working man and 15 for corporations, that alone is going to give a definite refund and then weve got the United Nations that we give a billion dollars to for year for no reason. Im signing the checks. Is going to be sent 90 day notice to requalify on Social Security, whatever you ,re in, if im signing a check you are getting it pink slip, you get 90 days to respond. After that, you dont get the check. I will start to put that money back into this lameduck whatever that thing is called. Mike, thanks. Guest well, this raises the whole budget deficit question and what we spend our money on. That gets paul ryan, the house speaker, all excited because he wants to be able to reform medicare and Social Security, our main entitlement programs. That puts him in direct conflict with what president elect trump said on the campaign trail, which is weve got to preserve Social Security and i wont be touching medicare. I had an interesting discussion last week with one of speaker , thes close allies congressman from oklahoma, who intimated to me that he thought the president would soon realize that everything does not add up and that these reforms are going to have to take place. My thought, although i did not voice it to him, was, i wonder if congress is going to have to change its view because americans dont want to see Social Security changed and they dont want to see medicare changed and the president is with popular opinion on this one. You were to, as the caller said, do Something Like or if president elect trump were to come around to the view that something needed to be done with Social Security, these are not things that can be done by one person. You cant actually just send a pink slip out to everyone and say, in 90 days, you dont get more money. These are all things that require negotiation with congress. It is outside of the realm of the pen and phone aspects of the presidency. Long gone probably far too since we have been able to have , but wouldsation really need to happen for it to happen and not to be too pollyannaish about it, but the old stories about president reagan and speaker tip oneill getting together and talking these things out. What is going to be fascinating is a more general question. Who exactly is going to be trumps democratic dance partner . I dont know what one yet, but that may be a fascinating thing to know. Guest dont you think the natural person for that would be Chuck Schumer . He would be the minority leader in the senate and they are both new yorkers. They have that new york thing going for them. He seems to be the natural partner. Guest he sure does. Do they just start meeting . I dont know. I wouldnt rule out the conversation possibility that they start having conversations at trump tower. Im not sure speaker ryan or senator mcconnell would much like that, but Chuck Schumer seems like the logical fit. You mentioned the antiestablishment republican caucus. What is the future, especially with the infighting . Guest this is such an interesting possibility opportunity. The hardline republicans in the house have been a thorn in the side of the speaker, whether it was Speaker Boehner or speaker ryan. Speaker ryan has gone to a great deal of effort to include them, especially since he became them speaker, make them part of the conversation, change some of the house rules, so that it is fairer and this group of republicans feels they are part of the game and in the game. As i mentioned earlier, spending is often what the fights this group divides this group. Cole felt the presidency could unite everyone on the hill. Republicans now have a chief standardbearer, it is the president. They have this opportunity to get some of their chief agenda items done and that ought to be opinion the unifying factor. There is candy being dangled in front of all of them. They can make progress on taxes come on border security, and that this leadership from the white house ought to be everyone in line. There is also the point that trumps antiestablishment, just like the Tea Party Folks are now, who now call themselves the House Freedom caucus. The problem is that ideologically they are not all on board. There is still tension involved if progress on republican goals can be made. Especially on spending goals. Guest thats right. The other question on the other whether the divisions in the Republican Party or the divisions in the Democratic Party and capitol hill are going to be more pronounced . If the democrats in the senate, but also in the house, our theding united against trump Ryan Mcconnell agenda or whatever it turns out to be, then the people in the Freedom Caucus groups need to be on board because the numbers are such, they are necessary. You are doing infrastructure packages and whatnot, on the other hand, things like congressman cole would be favorable to come you dont necessarily need the Freedom Caucus types to get Something Like that done because you probably will be drafted in such a way to pick up democratic votes. Host zach is up next from vermont. Democrats line. Caller hi. Hello . Host you are on. Caller good morning, cspan. I would like to make a quick comment and a statement. I predicted trump was going to win because i knew the country is divided. The United States is still thatering from slavery they have done to africanamericans and i knew that trump was taking advantage that a lot ofknew africanamericans like myself did not go out and vote and that is why he is president. So, the democrats are going to have to do some rethinking. 2020, heant to win in is going to do a lot of damage when he is in office. Another caller said something about reparations. That is impossible. He would never give africanamericans reparations. Guest can i ask the caller why you did not go out and vote . Host he is gone, sorry. Guest that would have been an interesting discussion. Has call reminds me of a discussion i had with a voter in pennsylvania north of philadelphia. I was in one of the swing suburbs. This gentleman said to me, and africanamerican, he felt that trump had opened a pandoras box of race issues. His preference was that that lid kept closed. So that america could kind of proceed on some of these bigger issues. We will see whether he is right about that pandoras box being opened even more largely than it has been in the wake of ferguson and things like that. Host he mentioned 2020, but isnt the emphasis 2018 and the midterms . Guest i was reading something the other day that suggested that not only the midterms, but the democrats are really so far potentially, potentially they are so far in the wilderness that the real focus should be on races and statehouses because redistricting comes up after 2020 and the way that house districts are drawn, they basically need to be playing a really long game, not to borrow the name of Mitch Mcconnells memoirs. They need to be playing a really long game, but which is really hard to believe that we will have gone from a democratic presidency and the democrats controlling the senate not that long ago to their needing to be a conversation about whether democratic resources should really even be put into 2018. Host margaret from oklahoma on the independent line. Caller hello. We have first got to do something about our military. I was talking to somebody working in the military thing the other day. We have a lot of homeless and a lot of people who need help and we need other people who are well able to get out and work. The thing im really speaking of his there was a documentary on the news a few weeks back and it showed our military. They went into the hangar and the commander looked stressed beyond belief. He had to go to a museum to get parts for our plans for our guys to fly. Or 20 years old, the planes are 30 years old. In other words, it is ridiculous that he has to go to the plane junkyards and museums to get parts for our plans when 200 abrams tanks and fighter jets are given to egypt a year or two ago. Then, he said, this is not even my job, my job is to teach them to fly. He said, they are supposed to be getting 18 hours. He said, they are getting four hours. I dont know about anybody listening, but i would not want to get on a plane with somebody with four hours flying time. This goes to the recurring question of military readinessnd military and have sometimes, as a result of the sequester, these mandatory acrosstheboard spending cuts that have been in effect for the last couple of years, how you can allocate money within that what needs to be spent. There are some parts of the military budget that are pretty fixed, so you cant necessarily upgrade everything as you would need to. Frankly, there have been some terrible failures in terms of developing new equipment. There are airplanes, there are helicopters that dont fly. Some of the reasons we are using older military technology is because the replacements never really came online like they were supposed to. Host to both of you, there is a they that stemmed out past election, the future of the Transpacific Partnership and not much of a future if you read some stories. Guest i dont think there is a future for the tpp. I think it is dead. I know think will trump i dont think trouble try to push it or revive it. I think it is kind of a closed case. Wouldnt you agree . Guest i would think so. One thing on which the president elect has been fairly consistent on and he has not been consistent on everything, but trade has not been an issue of differing statements from president elect trump. He has been very consistent. The only way i think Something Like the Transpacific Partnership comes back even is something that restarts negotiations altogether. There is no way that the deal, ands, that i can see granted ive been wrong in predictions on this program before in the not too recent past, but as far as i can tell, there is no way the deal, as agreed to by the obama administration, ever comes back. Host that was already an issue among democrats and republicans both among the house and the senate. The election gives them cover to let this one go. Guest the thing that is so interesting is the democrats that supported this on the hill, like senator ron wyden, argued for super asleep that they had gotten argued that they have gotten the best deal they had ever gone before, that they had taken into account complaints, that this was going to be the perfect deal. Obviously, their arguments were not very convincing. Host darlene is in loma linda, california. Darlene . Caller im right here. Hello. Host go ahead. Caller i wanted to make a comment about obama care. Host you are on, go ahead. Caller ok. Have said that obamacare created thousands of jobs. I had to go to three days of training and then be tested to pass to be a health care agent. The doctors got paid, people got taken care of, the hospitals got paid. I think that needs to be pointed out. Thet well, that gets to point that they would like to try to save some parts of obamacare. The questions are, which parts are they going to save. What has been mentioned here already is the keeping people on their parents insurance policy until 26. And not having people with preexisting conditions to be denied coverage. But those are two things and how much of it they are going to be keeping is not clear. And what is going to happen is not clear until the jobs situation is also not clear. Would point out Something Interesting to me. I went on a trip to arizona where obamacare was ground zero, as part of the campaign raised between senator john mccain, the incumbent, and ann kirkpatrick, his challenger. Saw the biggest collapse of the Obamacare Exchange system in the country. For a while, it had one company county with no Insurance Companies on the exchange. Medicaid expansion has worked very well to cover people in rural areas. To republicans and the republican head of a crisis and hel in a tiny town was arguing to keep Medicaid Expansion because that was helping him reduce the number of charity cases they were having to pay for. In washington, Medicaid Expansion is not something they want to do and Many Republican states have decided not to try Medicaid Expansion, but it was interesting to go to a republican state and have republicans in health care tell me that Medicaid Expansion is one part of the law that is working. Host lets go to beachwood, ohio. David, good morning. Caller good morning. Thanks for the topic and the knowledgeable speakers. For either or both of them, a question about what glimpses, what episodes of emergent Cooperation Among the different partisans and segments of the parties are they seeing in either the house or senate . A name withoute causing trouble for the individual. That onere, i think area, if i can pivot the to something that is going to be interesting to watch next year. One is how the Civil Liberties coalition adapts to the presidency of donald trump. This is an informal contract cadre. Often, we said it would be ron wyden, the democrat from oregon. Rand paul, the republican just reelected to the senate in kentucky. People who have more libertarian or personal privacy leanings on issues like government incursionse and on into what your private life is your private life. I have a feeling that that group is going to be very active in the next coming months, as the trumpt ministration Administration Starts to get underway. You are hearing people talk about whether President Trump will bring back the task tactic of waterboarding government detainees him of how much surveillance there might be , of restriction for journalists that are concerned about potential restrictions of First Amendment and libel laws. I think that that group is going to have its work cut out for it in the coming months. Guest holding the line on those things. Host you two dont know it yet, but we have a camera located at the capital hilton here are new members are checking in. Could you tell us a little bit about these new members and their inclusion in the house and senate and the challenges they will face . Will start by saying that it is a very unusual thing for people who are not here on capitol hill. Basically, we are having freshman orientation this week. This is like if you were going away to college and when you show up on your College Campus for the first time and youve got your suitcase and they are coming to show you around and show you how everything works, everything from Health Insurance to the way your life is going to be for the next two years, that is a lot of nuts and bolts. What happens this week if you are in the capital building, as we will be, is there is a lot of people who are wandering around, some of whom will literally be stopped by Police Officers because they are unfamiliar people walking out potentially without carrying the id that we always carry around. So, it is a a lot of logistics. It is an overwhelming experience. Host dave is in northport, new york, democrats line. Caller good morning, guys. The agenda for the republican , the marketplace is interesting to look at, the financials. They have jumped last week because we will see a lot of deregulation. He is thish trump, businessman, he likes to load up companies with the debt and eventually goes bankrupt. , Interest Rates have also jumped in anticipation of a lot of debt, the government issuing a lot of debt, what do you think is going to happen with the debt ceiling coming up and how is that going to go . Thet that is milliondollar question, the trillion dollar question. Hardline republicans are going to be using that for leverage to rein in Government Spending and to ratchet back the debt and make Real Progress on that issue. It remains to be seen how mr. Trump will deal with that or how the Republican Leadership will deal with that. I have no idea how that is going to go down. It is potential for a huge fight. Guest i would say that the gentleman from long island has the milliondollar question this morning. And this is not a guess about how it will play out , it is more a guess about how it will play out and how it will end, is it time the democrats, given all the trouble that the republicans created really by votes there be democratic when the democrats were in charge to me raise the debt ceilings and all the democratic votes they needed to raise the debt ceiling even when there was some republican control, the thing to watch for me is whether nancy pelosi, the democratic leader in the house, Chuck Schumer will be saying, we learned our lesson, we are never going to play games with the debt limit again. Remember, they all said that it said that on the democratic side. Democrats go back to playing games on their side because can speak ryan get 218 republican votes to raise the debt limit would be a good political issue for the democrats . Even though it is really playing with fire, in terms of a policy question. This is lisa from shreveport, louisiana. Republican line. Caller hi pedro. Anyway, i wanted to say this, please give me a chance. First off, i think you need to fix the health care system. My son is a diabetic and he needs health care. Also, i would bring back tom coburn, put him in the cabinet. On the Supreme Court i would put someone like franklin graham. As far as the anarchists go, you put them on a helicopter and send them to syria. As far as that, i think everybody should boycott cnn. Host let me throw a tweet at you. Flint michigan is going to be an issue of the lameduck congress. Guest it remains to be seen if movement on that in the lameduck congress. There was supposed to be support fixing the water system and it is not clear if that should survive. Guest really good questions as that agreementot they are working on, on the flint situation and Water Infrastructure more generally, whether that will come through this year. Actually, the water , if they willes get put in the package in the early part of the trumpet ministration. Would be a thing you could take credit for without having much work on it if it has not gone through yet. Host kathleen is joining us on the independent line from los angeles. Caller good morning. Thank you, pablo. I want to Say Something it will take a little long. People, my people, black get the we do not issues. The issues are economic. Already, president elect trump is addressing issues that impact black america. ,mmigration, legal or not illegal or Legal Immigration black america loses 0. 3 of their income. There has been a 700 increase in immigration since the 1970s. We have gone from . 67 against the white dollar to . 54 against the white dollar. Tpp is another issue that impacts black america. President elect trump opposes it. It is dead in the water. The United Auto Workers is on nafta. Ing race, whichsing on is what the democrats want us to focus on. Guest that is a very astute comment. Race is exactly this question. Do you have a minority driven agenda or are you trying to lift all boats and just see it as an economic problem. Absolutely, the argument can be made that ilLegal Immigration has hurt working blacks. The argument can also be made that trade has hurt Manufacturing Industries where working blacks were employed. So, efforts to address these one could argue would naturally help black america. Host rod from toms river, new jersey. Caller good morning to your guests. To definition of insanity is impeach something that does not work and repeat it and expect different results. Ronald reagan, trickledown economics. George bush senior called them voodoo economics and he called did it. Ame thing and he what is donald trump going to do . Trickledown economics on steroids wake up, america. He is going to destroy the country. There is no question in my mind. Im not a genius, but i know what im talking about. They took over the country, they cant people. You have 40 governors out of the 50 states. You have the house of representatives, youve got the president. Now they will put the Supreme Court. It is over. The Republican Party is going to run the country and they are going to destroy it. Why are they going to destroy it . I have no idea. Host are republicans a rubberstamp for donald trump . Question thathe is really going to be the question is whether or not, is whether that is the question or whether the inverse question is the question, whether trump turns out to be a rubberstamp for the Ryan Mcconnell agenda that is already largely being drafted, though not in legislative language . The principles outlined by speaker ryan and the House Republicans over the last several years and whether the kevinform proposal that brady, the chairman of the ways and Means Committee were already working on, whether those proposals become essentially the trump agenda. One thing we know about the president elect is that the president elect is a high value on winning. You hear him talk about America Needs to win again. One way to get a victory, if you are the president elect and to is to do things that already have support on capitol hill or that will have support on capitol hill, so that you can hold a rose garden signing ceremony and claim victory. Some of this becomes, im not entirely sure that we know yet who is going to be driving the agenda, if it is going to be but i think that winning is probably going to take precedence over a lot of other things. Guest that is a great question about who is going to be driving the agenda. Trump has proved himself to have his eye on the ball of the big issues, but we know he is not a developed a guy who does not care about the details he is not a policy guy who cares about the details. That gives bigger right and a chance to move on the details, that he celebrates about. It will be interesting to see if ryan has quite a bit of latitude. Host do you think a lot of that legislative activity happens in the first two years . Guest i think you have to take ryan at his word, they will go big, they will go bald, they will try to get as much done in these first two years as possible. Is everything going to be through and through in the entire country . The senate is still a sausage making body where it takes 60 votes to get most major legislation done. That requires democratic participation. You have divisions within the Republican Party, as well. We cant expect smooth sailing, everything is going to be everything that trump want in the next two years no problem. Guest well, but i would add to that that if the goal, if my theory about the president elect about winning turns out to be correct, that also means that there will come times where he may end up be pushing ryan to , so theneed to win here house needs to take this deal that Mitch Mcconnell and Chuck Schumer worked out. I know it is not everything that , if you, but we need to want to build it needs to be signed into law, it needs to be something that schumer will agree to. That is where the tension may be. It is what happens not on the front end. The house can have whatever it wants to. It is what happens when things get kicked back from the senate that i think we will see things get really interesting between the speaker and President Trump. Host lets hear from one more call. Hugh from illinois. Go ahead. Caller thank you for taking my call, pedro. My question is what would happen to planned parenthood with regard to donald trump getting elected as president of this country . Host planned parenthood. What well, we know republicans want, which is not to have planned parenthood funded. Hen you run again into that the defending of planned parenthood is something the democrats will fight tooth and nail and will use the filibuster to try to prevent. Guest true, but the other thing is is that there is also this effort underway on the other side to make the height amendment permanent law. This is the restriction on federal funding of Abortion Services that has been in effect for decades now, but it has to be revived every year. Perfunctory, we all kind of know it is always going to be there. The democratic platform calls for taking it out, to the dismay of some of the antiabortion minority in the Democratic Party , but i think that question will be back on the table again. As well as with the planned parenthood question. Our guests today joining us talking about not only the issues that Congress Faces, but the future of president elect donald trump. Niels lesniewski from rollcall. Also, Francine Kiefer from Christian Science monitor. Both of you, thanks. Guest thank you. Host coming up, ethics attorney ken gross will join us do discuss what happens under a donald trump presidency, especially what happens to his businesses once he takes office. We want to show you from nina mcbride, last Months National press Foundation Guest to outline the role of an Outgoing Administration in ensuring a smooth transition. Here is part of her statement. [video clip] the role of an Outgoing Administration is setting the tone. It is really important that the president do that and do that well. By extension, that they give direction to all of their staff, not only in the white house, but to the departments and agencies. O be open and transparent what are the greatest obstacles for an incoming team . They dont know what they dont know. Trumpularly, if it is a people, because this has been an election based on dramatic change and overhauling the government from top to bottom, the anticipation that there are people who want to come in and blow the whole thing up is probably pretty highly likely. Setwhat tone is going to be by the incoming team . How open are they to learning how the government does work. It is extremely complex. Trillions of dollars. Hundreds of thousands of people work in these federal bureaucracies and then you have 4000 positions to put in to run the government the way you want it to be run. A great obstacle for the incoming team is admitting what they dont know, having good people on their transition teams, which are in place now, to really understand what is happening in the agencies. What are some of the things on the table . What are some of the things in the hopper at agencies with regard to regulation or policies . How is that different from what you have campaigned on . What you have promised to do . And the personnel that you need to select and be ready to go in the end of that 73date period to be able to execute on what the electorate has asked you to do . Washington journal continues. Host joining us now is Kenneth Gross. He is a political law attorney to talk about donald trump. Hello, sir. How are you . Guest good, how are you . Host fine, thank you. What faces president elect trump when it comes to his businesses . Guest it is going to be a challenge because he has an unprecedented number of businesses, according to the report that he filed with the federal election commission, over 500. Some of them are international, some are domestic. They are not particularly liquid, they are real estate holdings, golf courses, other things. This is a challenge because it theents entanglement with policies and activities as a public official that he will be facing once he is sworn into office area host one of the terms that keeps coming up this conflict of interest. What does it mean for trump . Guest the conflict of interest laws, which are very strict in the executive branch of the federal government, that apply thevery employee in executive branch, the cap an income secretaries, the undersecretarys on down, do not apply to trump when he is president of the United States. The president and the Vice President are exempt. About creatinges trust and conflict of interest on domestic matters dont apply to him. They have not applied to other president s, but other president s have followed the tradition of liquidating the holdings, putting them in blind trusts, Ronald Reagan, george h. W. Bush,. Resident clinton, george bush president obama did not do that, he just held his assets in a highly diversified index fund and that type of thing, which would be fine. The problem is that trump cant do that. To liquidate, which is realistically not possible, at least not in a short time. Some have said, why not put it all in one big basket and go public with it and have it traded on the stock exchange. I dont know if that even make sense. So, he has challenges and i understand them and i appreciate them, but i dont think you can just sort of ignore them because is thathe problems , inr the monuments clause the u. S. Constitution, it goes back to 1787, it says that a Foreign Government or a corporation that is controlled or owned by a Foreign Government cannot confer a benefit on the president of the United States or an employee of the executive branch. It sounds like some ancient law, this is very active law today. Any white House Counsel deals with this regularly and there were many interpretations from the justice department, the office of legal counsel. Its strictly is applied. For international holdings, if he has some business dealing with a government and the country where the government controls the company that he is dealing with, he has to make is no benefite embedded in that relationship. That is a real issue. If i were devising him, i would look internationally first at those entanglements because they carry liability. Host here to talk about the trump businesses and the central conflicts of interest. Ken gross, if you want to ask questions, 202 7488000, democrats. 202 7488001, republicans. Independents, 202 7488002. We have heard the term blind trust. Guest a real blind trust and when i say real blind trust, i say one that is unauthorized blind trust and authorized blind trust administered and prescribed by the office of government ethics within the executive branch of the government, that is a very tough standard. I have dealt with those laws and they require not only the liquidation of your funds, but so you dont know what you are putting in because you are tagged with the information that you put in, but also that it is run by an independent trustee. Isindependent trustee something that a lot of wealthy people are not that anxious to turn their assets over. This is not a trusted advisor. This is a trustee that you have not had a prior relationship with. It can be someone with a major bank that has good credentials, of course, but that is a tough situation. What he has been discussing is his kids taking over, which is great, they are obviously theird and have proven bona fide to the business world, so all of that is great, but it does not come close to meeting these standards. But again, he does not legally have to meet those standards because he is not subject to the conflict of interest laws. Way, but iit up this think it would be well advised to separate his political functions with his business function. If he is going to turn it over to the kids, ok, it is not really a blind trust, but not conflate the two for his own good, as well as these legal you get bets because making a decision is the president of the United States that is perfectly in the interest of the country and someone could say, i know a you did that, it is because you have property in some country that seems to benefit from this decision. He wants to say, no, that was not the case, i did it because i was thinking about the country, not about my business. Host the trump children were asked about this topic on 60 minutes. [video clip] so, we have an amazing company. One of the fortunate things for our father is that he was able to step out of his company to run for commanderinchief and i think he is going to rely on us more than ever. We will be in new york and take care of the business. I think we will have a lot of fun doing it and will be very proud. People think you are going to be part of the administration, ivanka. No, im going to be a daughter, but ive said throughout the campaign that im very passionate about certain issues and that i want to fight for them. But you wont be in wage equality, childcare, these are things that are very important to me. Im very passionate about education, really promoting more opportunities for women. There are a lot of things i feel deeply strongly about, but not in a formal administrative capacity. Host ok, if the children are running the blind trust, does that mean they can have no discussion with their father . I know the rules dont apply to him, but in a perfect world, they would not have discussion about the interest. Guest in a perfect world, yes. But there is no such thing as a perfect world. Host sure. Guest definitely, barriers should be built. They want to be able to say, this is a separate thing, he has come to that point where he seems to want to turn the business over. The kids seem ready for it. They said the right thing on 60 minutes in terms of not being involved in the government. Tohink that is important read we still have that international issue. He is so going to own these businesses. He is not turning over the ownership, he is turning over the management, which is a great start and a great way to do it, but it does not totally take care of the problem. There are still some lingering issues. They are not insoluble, but they are not easy to fix, either. Host 202 7488000, democrats. 202 7488001, republicans. 202 7488002, independents. George is in ocala, florida. George, good morning. Caller good morning. You really run a tight ship, pedro. I wholesale in 20 countries. Consequently, i use all wire transfers completely. I could bank here, i could bank in the bahamas. If hillary got in, i was thinking about it. Here is the thing. If they say that trump is going to rein in all of the offshore banking around the world, wouldnt that affect the massive investments internationally of the United States . One other thing you probably think is silly, why doesnt washington, d. C. Sponsor an International Lottery . Host thanks. , you werel, you know getting into very complex issues of offshore banking, which is a little beyond their topic today. Our topic today. Things that appear to have easy fixes, once you roll up your sleeves, and i think that the resident to be trump appreciates that more than ever, since he met with president obama, how difficult these issues are. You can fix this and do that and every time you pull a thread in one place, it is going to pop out. Host bloomberg lp. They it disentangled from the city of new york through beyond processs and that, he primarily put his of the ex funds outside business. Wall,investments creates a blindlike trust for mr. Michael loomberg, it worked beautifully, he separated himself from the business, decisions like selling or buying or totalo financing, he was absolutely out day function, which sounds like donald trump well. Do, as relationship with the city of new york, as big as it is and it is, it is not the United States of america. It doesnt have foreign relation, International Matter tis not the president of the United States, there is additional challenges. Lydia in clearwater, florida. Is cratic line, your line next. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my phone call. I would like that for someone to tell me how is it donald trump is going to sorry, imhen im a little nervous. Okay. Comment is that all donald trump is interested in doing is cap taxes for the rich people and especially for his own family. People something that will fall thinking hes going to help the poor peep nel this country. Own s just to help his people. Host thank you, lydia. A little off topic from what talking about. Kyle from buffalo, new york, republican line. Caller yeah, good morning. There was a caller that called n last segment, a black lady who gave out numbers about African Americans with gration host kyle, were not on that opic, we changed topics to donald trump business interest and if they present a conflict of interest. There . Have anything caller no, that is part of the thing i was talking about, i per se, he said he would turn over usiness to the family members and i dont perceive any interest. Of he is his family is capable of running the business part of it, im curious about the lobbyist, people he will bring onboard. Thanks. Ay, guest as far as disclosure, hatever he decides to do, required to provide disclosure as far as interaction with his elsewise about the business . Guest he does not have to provide disclosure, no reporting there is no restriction unless he runs into this foreign issue which is going to e there either way, even if he doesnt communicate with the kids because of continuing ownership in the business. As lobbyists go, he has aid that he is not going to rely on lobbyists, he has the ht in lobbyists into transition, but beyond that, i understand he is talking about quotes in the paper, maybe even phasing them out. He ery interesting because has never been in Public Office before. And he really does need the help of people who know how things work. T doesnt mean hes going to continue what weve done before, but just to bring in people who things workstand how is not going to be helpful to him. E needs a certain amount of that. Host disclosure he provided when running for president , is public . N to the general guest yes, the disclosure he filed with the federal election pages or , 100 whatever is available online. It is a tough document, you know, it shows over 500 businesses, llcs he has in. Rest i have 23 interest in, you special llc number three then ething like that and the value of his interest is in 100, between 50 to whatever. You get a look at it, frankly we saw see a lot more if we the tax returns, which he did not turn over. Would fill in some of the blanks, but youre never going to get a complete picture of out there. Announcer nat from baltimore, maryland, you are on Kenneth Gross. Go ahead. Caller hello. Thanks for cspan. A sort of odd question. Different that he will profit from corporations that he owns than congressmen taking lobbyists who feel they give them, give the congressmen, should their votes, which it certainly does. Think that is a much more serious problem for the population of the United States president is he going to profit from a corporation. Uest yes, that is an interesting point. Of course, were talking about two different regimes, influence and politics as opposed to a possible personal conflict of interest. We definitely dont want governmental decisions desire to by a increase your personal net wealth, we dont want that. That is clear and the law says you shouldnt be doing that, does nothe actual rule apply to the president. But you also raise the point and influence of Money Politics and Campaign Finance interesting topic how se we do have limitos much can be contributed to a congress, 2700 from an individual. See ll be interesting to how President Trump approaches that because hes spoken to the ones who arent the are moving and shaking washington necessarily and if and limits and rules restrictions are lifted through might atory scheme, it not be what was said to the people or what was promised as the effort to as he calls it, drain the swamp, see, i dont know where that is going. Interesting point. Twitter says financial connection to russia and turkey appear potential interest. Of guest yes, according to an with good newsweek, reporting there, showed interest turkey, n russia, azerbaijan and other countries hat are not necessarily friendly or frankly quite an area y, and thats of concern because if one of countries that controls the companies that hes dealing sweetens the pot in some sort of financial deal, that issues under this emol emolument clause. For his own interest, he certainly doesnt want to be saying, wait a minute, you took it easy on russia or turkey, thing to be the right do for the country, but, i know what that was about, that was have that company you there. Hat is an area where i host what about companies he to . Owe debt guest the New York Times reporting large loan from the china, controlled by the Chinese Government and other inancial institutions, his businesses are indebted to. Suppose they said, i know how to et a better deal out of the president , it will reduce the nterest rate to 2 from whatever it is, that would be an issue under the clause. Maybe can be restructured, moved, not anything in particular, but that would be on sort of the top of my list, how entanglements, which are daunting, but need to be dealt with. Ohio, leveland, independent line where madelyn is. Morning. Caller good morning. President nnounced trump said he would not be taking the 400,000 a year in expenses he was going to work for 1 a year, is that legal . He does that, will that impact his president ial pension . You, ill listen off the air. Donate the, he could funds toward the National Debt, fashion, he could handle not accepting the 400,000 or dedicated to paying off the National Debt and in 400,000, not accept which, you know, wont help the much, but sends a signal in terms of how to handle that in terms of what hes taking from the government. Ou know, beyond that, im not really sure of the implications of not accepting a salary. That, though. Rd host 2027488000 for 2027488001 for republicans. Independents. For trump businesses and potential conflict of interest. Our guest, Kenneth Gross, washington, in d. C. , with experience in these matters. Democrats line. Go ahead, youre on. Caller hi, kenneth. Pleased to listen to you today. Emoluments clause, i was unaware. How would i look that up and in realtime on the internet . I have a separate question after that. You have a copy of the institution handy, look at article 1, section 9, clause 8, or just google omshg emoluments clause. Is written in old english emoluments lity and on government officials. In e is good explanation modern language. This is currently interpreted the office of Legal Council department of justice and i think you will be to rested in what it has say. Host what is your followup question, randy . Question . Ur followup caller what was the clause you stated . 9, st article 1, section clause 8. Caller article 1, section 9, clause 8. Okay. The other question was, i had chinese rticle where investors had bailed donald deal out of a real estate in new york and then they had investment necessary california and they had es split and went another way and he ended up suing them. The thing is that it is so hard fathom that this man is and a lot of against votes went globalization and i just feel ever sort this thing out . Host thanks, caller. Ill not comment on the political or the legal, im here. Awyer it is true, there is i think 75 awsuits pending against trump, probably more than half of them therend of frivolous, but are some that are not and well hearing about Trump University shortly in that lawsuit. Extent theyre international, you know, we elected a businessman. People, healthy businessmen inevitably get actions and legal weve not seen this before, its unprecedented. Will see things we are not accustomed to seeing. Host in your mind, what is of the Trump University lawsuit . Guest the importance of it, if acted und to have been improperly, this reflects poorly on our president. That is out it there pending against him, but implications, l you know, i dont know what it ill have, other than the penalties that will accrue or the liability, it is a civil awsuit, not a criminal lawsuit liability that would accrue, whether president or not. Host then stories this morning lawyers for donald trump filed papers to have this he isorward, to the point already president of the United States. Greekt yeah, i dont think the will stop because of the United States. We went through this with president clinton and in other cases, most notable nepresident clinton on the paula jones case, it went to the United States Supreme Court. They were trying to put off his was president , hes too busy, hours too great nd the Supreme Court unanimously ruled, no, the president is not above the law. Subpoenaed, called into court, well work with your schedule, but it doesnt mean hook. Off the host if that date gets moved forward and found guilty while the United States, then what . Guest it would be liability, guilt. Than it is civil lawsuit, it would just be like any other citizen, to pay whatever was found to be by the court. In ourse, he can appeal it the district court. It will just play out as if he it ordinary citizen, which should be. I understand a deposition or Something Like that or appearing with rt, you need to work the president s schedule, but president , we know is not above the law. Host lets go to pikesville, democrat like, louis, you are up next. Caller yes, mr. Trump has a foundation, could he donate the profit from the country where he china, flict, russia, azerbaijan and have scholarships for students in the poorest the United States, appalachia, he have the name engraved for history and take that money and say, i made a contribution to poorest areas and remember, when cheney was in office and of haliburton did share in iraq, they that they did things were illegal and moved their headquarters out, so cheney did a conflict and got away with it. Mr. Trump could be the greatest had. Dent weve ever guest i continuing is an interesting idea, sounds like an op ed d be put in piece and maybe the Trump Foundation will take you up on it. It is possible, certainly for the Trump Foundation to donate abroad legally to help poor people abroad and if it is of scholarships, you know, that is fine, too. The only thing that cant happen is a foreign country subsidize public ow benefit employees here in the u. S. Host atlantic city, new jersey, independent line, boyd, you are next. Morning. Ood host good morning. Caller my comment is this. Years ago, approximately, george bush stole the election al gore, a man that was environment ut our and atmosphere, not turning the try loose to pollute air, our water and our means of planet earth. Is here comes donald trump, did the thing, same thing and hes polluting our air, polluting our oceans more, of doing uise infrastructure. Guest this is obviously off topic, but you do raise somewhat tangentially i think the issue of the Electoral College. The reference you are bushs o both george election in 2000 and Donald Trumps election in 2016, that lost the popular vote, their opponents got more votes they did and you know, the Electoral College goes back to of history and the wisdom of our founding fathers. Has a system that worked, but it only happened once before, in 1876, and Rutherford Hayes versus tildon and two times within our lifetime here, within span of 16 years, we have the popular vote and i think a lot of people are upset about that and at the be another look Electoral College. Asconched, to very hange it, difficult, there are questions how to do it statutorily, instead of by constitution. We have seen this happen twice in 16 year span. Donna on the republican line. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Making a comment mostly, i did read the art of he deal recently and was intrigued. It is over 30 years old, the information in it. Made have the holdings 500 throughout the world, but my thought is i see that as he plainly ause his Main Objective is not so much the money, it is making and if he can make fantastic deals and if hes actually increases leverage, i think it is possible they could. Is my comment. Thank you. Guest im not sure how that would play out. That troubles me is again, i think it is important him to disentangle his business from this political life. Be constant thorn otherwise. Some cases and in some cases unfairly. How lfrj would work. He could use business acumen to deals, trade deals and have good relationships with in his s, but not bring business interest as part of the lf leveraging of the deal. Is what hes run on, he has this skill, well see how it lays out, it would be best not to use the businesses in trying to carry out Foreign Policy. Next is pam, littleton, colorado, democrats line. Caller hi, im calling out nurse. 67 year old im trying to figure out why people are looking outside the been states when it has on public t. V. That donald trump a Million Dollar investment in the Pipeline Company that is ,utting in through north dakota and why areck sioux people so i know why people unitedcerned outside the states, but look inside our country and see the conflict understand whyt this is not illegal and what is the difference between this and Clinton Foundation that rocked this election . Explain. Guest well, very good point that we shouldnt just be ooking internationally, there are potentially conflicts internally in the u. S. , as well. Think weve had more fulsome discussion about nternational is because not only does it impact foreign relations, but also emolument i mentioned a couple times, where there are legal issues. A law or pushes for a law or position or executive some official decision that helps an investment he north dakota e in or in florida or arizona or wherever. If he were subject to the conflict of interest laws, that likely cause a problem. Treasury ecretary of comes into office, he cannot own shares in an investments banking will be regulating the firm. When secretary of energy comes own share necessary an energy company, he will be regulating the energy company. Of the president are presumed to be so sxraft complex be almost ld impossible to apply these himlict of interest laws to and the Vice President , as well, wo exempted officials, so for that reason, and it is really laws in the 1800s, some assed in 1887 and have been finalized furthener modern times, people may be bellyaching but that is where we are and i think that is why it that he turn these interests over, which he is to it is not really a blind trustee, he cannot erase owns. His mind, what he you dont get amnesia when you put thing necessary a blind trust. The Empire State Building and put in a blind know you own ll the Empire State Building. Entanglements that will exist, fairly or not. Host if put in place, how does workday to day . Guest he would have to liquidate, otherwise be totally with knowledge of what he puts into the trust, even if he compliant blind trust, it wouldnt blind what it is. You know. Be quite a visible trust, not a blind trust. Only because hes exempt, he wouldnt actually have to weredate the things, if he not exempt, if he were secretary of treasury, he would have to assets and then there is some tax treatment that would cudefer the l that gains if it sold for conflict of nterest purposes, but hes not required to do it. Host is there a particular twist to the story since story hotel that ump opened in washington, d. C. And if was a governmental building before that . Has been h, there discussion about that, ive gotten calls from the press t it, what characterize wait a minute, he will be the landlord and tenant, maybe hard it that way, but it is true. The property for the trump hotel u. S. Sed from the government, actually pretty good deal he got having nothing to do ith being president or candidate, it was done earlier and suppose they get into a debt e, there is a payment, suppose there is an issue that comes up about that,nt or Something Like and generally the General Services administration would that, gsa, he appoints the head of the gsa, then . Happens i would think great efforts would be made to ensure whatever there are, there is that it would be done in arms length employee gsa nly doing something to with his boss that might raise some questions. Host our guest, Kenneth Gross, coauthor of ethics handbook for entertaining and lobbying public officials. Talking about the trump pose sss and if they potential conflict of interest while donald trump is president of the United States. To dave, holing, new york, independent line. Morning. Ood great conversation this morning. I have a question. If we say hypothetically, did Electoral College, that would do away with gerrymandering, if that is true, know, but what has the rend been in gerrymandering over the past 8 or 10 year . Uest it wouldnt do away with gerrymandering necessarily. To draw ering is districts within the states, so legislature does that if it is republican or democratic controlled legislature, they to draw the districts most favorable to their party, get members elected to congress, congressional districts. It wouldnt necessarily impact Electoral College because number state ricts within a would be the same. And you determine who goes to Electoral College, very interesting issue, by the way, y the popular vote of the state, it only in two states is congressional by district, maine and nebraska, you are right there, impact the ing could Electoral College in those two states. Generally speaking. So i think gerrymander suggest away, certainly if a can draw districts in way, put what they call ajority minority district or dilute districts with a certain type of voters that are deemed way, vote in a particular democrat, republican, those legislatures take advantage of that. The eve of another census coming up in a few years, interesting to see what gets played out in remainder of this decade. Host indiana, democrats line, this is lee. Hi. Caller good morning. I want to make this statement, mr. Trump has gotten away with taxes in, got away with it f. Anybody thinks e wont get a check once a month or ever how they dish out checks from his own business, he will get away with it. If they dont believe that, i have property in florida i want to sell you, i believe mr. Trump gets away with what he wants to with. Ay his taxes. Where are they at . We dont know that. They n or someone else, have have impeached him. So how does he get away with all stuff and yet were sitting here talking about his business interests. His business interests may be to hell get a check just like he always does and we this. Ow and i didnt vote for him, i wouldnt vote for him. Would suggest within one years time, he will be resigned is mpeachd and my opinion because he hes a businessman, good businessman, but this is n, isnt the trump this is the america, not of trump america. Host thanks. If tax is be simplified returns came out or more clarity . Guest i think it would have dissipate some of the feelings about the situation and conflicts of interest. It would have been no silver no panacea, no cure for the feelings out as result of he election, true in most elections, but this one certainly has wound necessary minds. s host when it comes to conflict of interest, what would tax, have revealed . Guest we would have seen debt, which we dont see. We would have seen charitable deductions, a lot of claims made and things hes done and the press has reported hat he hasnt done some of that. So also some of the holdings, some income he received from the would not have been complete picture and peculation, which i think people ended up accepting he hasnt paid taxes in 18 years of a massive deduction he took in the 1990s, so i think would have diffused to some extent, but also may have further controversy. Host lets hear from jany, republican york, line. Caller yes. Well, as far as what you just on, he did lose a lot with his some of the eductions dnc wouldnt elaborate on. Yes, it was a mean campaign, but that knows donald trump pot in new elting york city and he does stand for new york. Base him as a o racist just on his skin color, people. R all omen and everybody alike, people need to do their research. I hope the parents of these oung children being traumatized, they didnt get their way, they give a hug. Janet. Kay, i hope you are right. People exaggerate what is said during a campaign, well have to process. H the healing host establishment of this trust sthere a simple document or forms have n you to go through before it is established . Isnt done directly . Guest i wonder if there will be trust document . Host really . Why . Guest i dont know, you can reins over to your kids through agreement, but not and sarily a formal trust since it is not going to really be a blind trust, it wont they have formats for it within the office of ethics, kind of went pretty good in terms of things i entioned before, independent trustee, liquidation of funds before you put it in there. Any time you create a trust document, you know, awyers get involved, lawyers get involved a lot of words and complications and well see if is created or whether it is some sort of memorandum or agreement not to about certain things. T is kind whaf we did in the bloomberg situation, blindlike trust. Effective. Just as host do you get the sense when the arrange cemetery made, will be form it takes, disclosed to the public, as well . Be. T its not required to i always think transparency is a good thing, i will always argue side. T so i can only hope that it will e done f. Donald trump is anything hes not followed blueprints, its hard to predict what he doll about that. Our guest is political law attorney in washington, d. C. And ethics handbook for entertaining and lobbying public officials. Kenneth gross here to talk about and his various business interests. Mr. Gross, thank you for your time today. Pleasure. Host remainder of the program for the next halfhour, open phones. Want to call on topics weve addressed or other, democrats. 0 for 2027488001 for republicans. Independents, 2027488002. You can also post on our social we will nnel, as well, take calls and comments and continues journal after this. Announcer monday night on communicators, president of audi talks about the hype from the industry and his on iction when they will be the market. If you read the headlines, Pittsburgh Penguins nd carnegie mellon, in the automotive business, were used to a lot of hype, and i think everybodied everyday matters, hype is okay. Comes to matters like this, it is disingenuous. Words are flippantly thrown autonomous,eone says consumer thinks, i come out of home, hit a button and that car will take me anywhere in america under any condition. I think we all know that is not the case. Announcer watch ommunicators on cspan 2 at 8 eastern. With donald trump elected as ext u. S. President , Melania Trump becomes second foreignborn first lady since catherine adams, learn about the influence of president ial spouses from first ladies, the book will look into the personal lives and influence in very president ial spouse american history. It is a companion to cspans ellregarded biography t. V. Series and features interviews with 54 of the nations leading ladies historians, biographies of 45 first ladys archival photos from their lives. Available es is wherever you buy books and available in paperback. Announcer washington journal continues. Current members of Congress Head back to today for the lame duck session between the year, butd of the newly elected ones also come well, tongton, d. C. , as get oriented, to learn about how rocesses work, to help with hiring of staff and the things theyll have to learn when they sworn in next january. That is part of what is going on today in washington, d. C. Outside of the capitol washington,hotel in d. C. , as people come for new member orientation. Talk a previous guest about making reference, like goshman orientation when you to college, that is the scene in washington, d. C. We show you a little of that, open phone for remainder of our time today. Democrats. 00 for 2027488001 for republicans. Independents. Or well start with ann, sugar is on North Carolina, she our independent line. Ahead. Ood morning, go caller good morning, pedro, how are you . Ahead. Well, thank you, go caller thank you for cspan and washington journal should be ade available to like all middle and high school students. Host we have a pretty robust here that works in the school system, they participate cam, make documentari documentaries. That. R im familiar with im cspan washington journal junkie. It. T we appreciate go ahead. Caller last topic about conflict of interest, i find it worked for d. Tlt o. J. S legal secretary, pair legal assistant, constantly changing our job descriptions. Work in another law firm like on weekends or to make extra money because it gave appearance of conflict of interest. Host right. It is amazing that the worker bees, you know, people get up everyday, not that the president doesnt get up everyday. Shots, different rules for them compared to what stiffs have to go through. Just, i just think that trump is conman and hes conned a lot of people and im just going to happens, but at im kind of nervous, the area where i live, there is a lot of in the western and from rth carolina young people to people my age going to so all im do is pray that host were you surprised your donald trump . Caller no, not really, not all. Ly at its really just so scary, the you know, and these people are in evangelical boggles my that mind, im going to plug along things better, although the spot i live in, ere like the little blue dot guae rth carolina in wata county. Host where is sugar grove compared to another major city North Carolina . Caller we are have you heard of boone, North Carolina, about miles from boone, North Carolina, and roughly 85 or 90 charlotte. Host got you. Caller thank you. Byebye. Host youre welcome. North carolina. Hubbard, ohio, republican line. John, good morning. Hello, how are you doing today . Host fine, thank you. Nice. R understand that we got a new president now. Nd im curious because hes prolife, and i would like an for my question, which is he says women should be punished for having an abortion. Exwife was 13 years old, she to town by two 17 year and got impregnated by one them. I want an answer, im asking all of america, but donald trump the general, n so host let me cut you off there, i want to point you to the 60 minutes interview you took place yesterday, can see online. One section, donald trump was presidency, winning asked about his thoughts on judges, particularly to the special ourt, and with attention to this idea of what happens to abortion laws like versus wade, what the donald Trump Administration comes in. Say. Is what he had to here is what is going to happen. Im going to put im prolife. Judges will be prolife. They will be overturning they will be prolife. Terms of the n whole gun situation, we know the and everybody t is talking about the Second Amendment and trying to dice it up and change it. They will be very proSecond Amendment, but having to do with if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states. Some women wont be able to get an abortion. It will go back to the state. Perhaps have to go to another state. Okay . D that is well see what happens, it go, long, way to to go. Host that is a portion of the minutes interview that took place yesterday. Jane, hello. Caller hello. Would like to get some we repeal the f Affordable Care act, i had a insurance e because wouldnt pay, i wasnt covered the day. Tion, back in will pregnancy be a preexisting covered . , which is not will Birth Control pills be covered . Next generation and wont be throw a lot of having unintended home birth . Shouldnt we be train something midwives . Wont that make more ladies have and ortion because safe clean and theyll live through it . Wouldnt that be unfortunate how i like little babies and im not for abortion. In ohio, lie up next republican line. Newark, ohio. Morning. Charlie, from newark, ohio. Kyle, from philadelphia, pennsylvania. Independent line. You are on. Orning, caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Y comment was in reference to he last segment, im sorry, of interest. Flict i cant believe anybody who has a business is potential conflict of interest and follow due course to make sure that they make the proper steps to make sure they dont have any conflict of interest. I think that it regulationike law of that once nominee gets taken on major party they are mandated o give up background financial potential so assess conflict. Was just wondering, there are laws or like if it comes out, investments in a company or Something Like that . Philadelphia. Dont have an answer for you on that one, kyle. If you want to rewatch the segment, there is something that could answer your question at see n. Org, if you want to for it later. These segments, everything will trump has said and say concerning his administration, other aspects of all available on our website. One thing that resulted were is ers of congress, today their freshman orientation, of sorts, here in washington, d. C. , are check nothing at the Capitol Hill Hotel that get the lay of the land when it comes to they expect when they take office. We will show you the activity intermittently t during this part of the morning, but well show you a little of talk to there as we conrad, plainfield, new jersey. Democrats line. Conrad. Morning, i consider this an honor to call in and chime in. The republican controls the hite house, the senate and the house of representatives. So, when and i emphasize when, when things go wrong because surely will, the republicansville no one to blame, but themselves because Democratic Party does not control anything in washington right now. Man had no this background in government, whatsoever. Hes going to be controlling with party that will enable him. When, like i said, things go republicansville no one to blame but themselves. Campaign, the he vitriolic, bitter, racist things out of this mans mounce were intolerable. The people that did vote for him had to have harbor racialan misto get this man to the white house. Contributing factor. No way around it when you vitriolic he most racial things that came out of this mans mouth. Committed are being against people who may be immigrants and people of color. By saying over the next four years, we have very dark days ahead. You for your time, and you have a good host before you go, conrad, you when thing guess wrong and emphasize when, what do that mean . Caller why do i say that . Host what do you think that gallon wrong . Has no political experience, never worked in government, never held elected office. When people come in, before they come to the presidency, they in congress, time either served as a governor. N other words, they know something about civics is what im trying to say and this man knows nothing about that. In fact, given the number of bankruptcies this man had, i he knows a lot about business, either. Host canton, North Carolina. Harry, republican line. Hi there. Caller good morning. Good morning. This is one of the deplorables from western North Carolina, the hating people. Lets not forget the last eight years, the Republican Party has blacks, sed of hating ating mexicans, hating women, hating gays, children, everybody. It is not the all right that is ut in the streets burning cities down and shooting cops. That is black lives matter. Last year during the campaign, we couldnt even our children to a trump rally for the peep theyll how up there to assault us, to urinate on our children and spit on the women. Why we want to punch you in the face. Host you are saying this to rience directly happened you . Caller yes. Right here in asheville, North Carolina. Was a woman, accused of punching her in the face. Shewas confronted about it, was found out to be a liar. Paidforadtajer. What we are seeing in the streets, we are seeing in the thing we saw after scott walker got reelected, the Democratic Party is nothing but socialists worthless and you see where they are at today. Host the pages of the telegraph newspaper, this is the United Kingdom talking about president overseas, the last world tour, as been dubbed, reassure is going to european leaders panicked by the president ial election marking of his time during the white house. He will fly to greece before Prime Minister and other necessary germany to bolster Foreign Policy ahead of of republican presidency donald trump. The european portion of the trip signal solidarity with closest allies in the world, rhodes and e n promote upport to economic growth, Economic Security and Global Cooperation issues. Le range of hill, north gold carolina, independent line. Caller hi. Host youre on. Caller okay. Wondering if resident palm balm could point judge garland, recess and if he could, why wouldnt he . Mayor ou want to see garland go to the Supreme Court . Caller yes. Host why is that . Caller well, the seat is open why wouldnt president obama power . Host what do you like about mayor garland so much so you see him on the Supreme Court . Caller well, i really dont opinion about him, but i mean, i think he would be better someone from trump, the trump side. Host mary is up next, mayor nehuntington, West Virginia. Mary, good morning, you are on. Good morning. Thank you. Im with a man from North Carolina. Deplorables e hillary talked about. Im registered democrat, but i voted republican. Voted for donald trump and im proud of it. Democrats overhe the last eight years not doing people of the e United States, bringing jobs, cut, ey have done is cut, cut and took jobs overseas. Thank you. New this story in the york times looks at something donald trump spoke about on the during the debate about the changing of liable laws against media companies. Story by sydney he said in g, february he would open up liable law fist he became president to make it easier to sue news organizations, the declaration sent shockwaves throughout the media world. Could he do it . The simple answer is yes, but it would be complicated and assuming established procedure the laws hold would be extremely difficult f. Mr. Trump laws,to seek to change the he would have to get the Supreme Court to overrule the rule sullivan imes versus and subsequent cases built on it and chip away at definition of actual malice or characterization of public barron fromid sandra Yale Law School Information Society project. The Supreme Court could overturn ruling, but would not be easy, for one thing liable and protection of free speech, not nature liberal versus conservative issue, even if mr. Appointed judge or two, modify principles, these justices would not necessarily in the majority. Rom massachusetts, robert, on our line for independents. Caller good morning. How are you . Because fellow just said couple minutes ago racial unrest. The racial unrest ive seen is guy in chicago getting beaten by a bunch of stolen ys and something out of his car. Ferguson, you of see it seems to be the blacks against society. The problem is i think the americans, african ave another 150 years of training before they become part of the society we live in. Too bad. Virginia, dford, republican line. Caller yes, good morning. On. youre caller yes. Comment on all the bad behavior going on, which is caused by the democrat thugs. Vote democrat in the last elections, ive been a republican, but i bit my lip and put up with it anyway. Democrats and thugs didnt get their ways, look how they after the election, destroying property, assaulting its anarchy and riotlike behavior, which should not be tolerated. They are sore losers in the worst sense of the word. Host joseph from bedford, virginia. U. S. A. Today looking at topic the portation under president elect. Things about what he can do or do. T this is their take say manager unilaterally under the deferred action for Arrival Program more than 840,000 undocumented approved have been for the program, protects them deportation and grants them work permit. It would be more complicated to revoke their work permit, under u. S. Law, Homeland Security must provide written notice it plans to revoke the permit and recipients have 15 but dont have right to Court Hearing to fight relocation. Bit from the story, the number of u. S. Refugee system by the president. President obama increased the to er from 70,000 in 2015, 110,000 in 2017. Bashd thatelect trump decision saying refugees from syria were threat to national they had not been properly vetted and could include serivitys. Refugees undergo strictest background check. President elect could drop total number of refugees to zero and ongress can ask questions and object to things, but ultimately that is up to the president. Next, virginia beach, virginia, democrat line. Years old. Y, im 79 id like to state what i view election and this what hillary was running. I have a lot of relatives out of West Virginia and appalachia, heard over and over was hate. Hese are evangelicals, who claim to be christian im ashamed to say im related to they were against obama, they said he run around upholding the blacks and they were not for hillary they felt she would was doing. At he me, so i shocking to was feeling all along she would though i did en vote for her. But none of my relatives or appalachia, and they would brag about it. He day when the election was settled, they called me on the so e gloating, it was embarrassi embarrassing. Dont host leave it there, norma, calling from virginia beach. Washington times looks at some of the pronouncements since the whenion about donald trump it comes to policy issues. This headline from steven washington time necessary a sense president elect trump plans to place me obama policy in saying he began to add caveats on 60 minutes that aired yesterday saying he will work to keep more popular parts in tact and focus deportation efforts on criminals. President obama has had and talks about efforts when it comes to second the supreme ue and court. That is in the Washington Times this morning. Conroe, texas, independent line. Caller good morning. Ahead. Youre on, go caller yes, sir, i would like a johnston, est, three, aybe the same show, same day, and Bernie Sanders and sitting across each other, that interesting day. Host why do you think so . Johnstonthey both tend, is a registered republican, i understand he leans toward conservatism. Interesting man, i like to hear what he has to say about tax policy and social healthcare and we know Bernie Sanders, like to to say and ey have call in to ask questions if i can get in. Host Bernie Sanders, i do cucheck the website, something related to his book that might be associated and you can see on his network, the other guest, David Johnston has been on the program, not sure about the lets see. , caller ive seen him on your show before, i hope, it would be on the show on washington journal in the questions i want to spew out, you are short on time, i would like to call and them questions sitting across from one another. Host got you. Bill in pennsylvania, republican line, you are in pennsylvania, go ahead. Caller good morning. I love to e to say watch cspan. On the o make comment election. I think that following the this g class people of country finally stepped up to the plate and made their voice heard. I watch cspan a lot and everybody i talk to, im from a in pennsylvania, everybody i talk to says that i watch nt is cspan, the politicians themselves says the government here a man stepped up to the plate and said, i will try of my this with the best ability that, is my call. Thank you. Host bill is the last comment call on this program today. Dont Forget Congress will come week for lame duck session, they close to cspan, for cularly cspan. Org, information on activities there. Another Program Comes your way thank tomorrow morning, you for watching today. Well see you then. A view outside the capital as republican candidates will be speaking at a form this afternoon and members but to recommend candidates for tuesdays election. The mme statement as there given here on cspan. Leadership elections for House Democrats are scheduled for thursday but politico and others report that a group is pushing to delay those elections saying democrats and more time to evaluate to the election results. Politico writing today the group is not explicitly calling for leadership but want a discussion about a. Top housesi and other democrs