Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20240622

Distinguished news man. He was kind of embarrassed by this. He was moderating but he disappears for sometimes five or more minutes at a time. Today, you would not have a moderator jumping in every 30 seconds. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on cspans q a. Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari met with president obama to talk about the boko haram and violence in nigeria. Later, president buhari spoke in an event hosted by the u. S. Chamber of commerce. [applause] Muhammadu Buhari please sit down, ladies and gentlemen. When we read our speeches in the other room, the audience was so small. In fact, i wondered why some of the governors turned down our invitation only for me to find in here. I, too will reread my speech. [laughter and applause] the governors here. The governor of river state, b orno state, the central ground of boko haram. The governor of ibo state. The governors of other states, and the rest of my team. Ambassador adefuye. And corporate sponsors and captains of industry are present. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I was not surprised to meet a close friend of mine. I am referring to the chief executive. I was not surprised to meet him. I was surprised to meet the chief executive of a bank. Maybe he was brought by the governor of the central bank. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by saying how pleased i am to be here tonight and to be treated to this elaborate dinner by the Corporate Council on africa. To have so many entrepreneurs and captains of industry here tonight speak well between of the relationship between nigeria and the United States. I would like to commend the chamber for assembling leading United States companies. Whose top executives executives have taken me through their vision and activities in nigeria. My intention here tonight is to simply to bring a message of hope about my countrys future and opportunities available for the United States investors. Ladies and gentlemen, due to the excellent relations between nigeria and the United States, our two countries found it necessary to sign a binational agreement in 2010 as a framework to guide our interactions. The agreement provides a template to effectively and efficiently manage the growing political, diplomatic, social, economic and security corporations between nigeria and the United States. Cooperations between nigeria and the United States. The need to strengthen our bilateral relations, business, investment and organize power agriculture and infrastructure. These interactions have led to increasing economic and investment activities between nigeria and the United States. I would like to see these interactions brought in. A huge potential is there in our two countries to improve economic and trade relations beyond the current level. It is my intention to create the necessary environment for future investment in nigeria. We are the most populous nation and largest market in africa with a vast human and natural resources. And an abundant young skilled , workforce. Where therefore a prime candidate to become the destination of choice for the United States investment in africa. [applause] president buhari dasani investors know from experience that nigerian market provides a better return than any in africa. I would work to welcome new investors to our country. The challenges that i lay on the table tonight is for the Business Community of the United States and nigeria to take advantage of the excellent political relations between our 2 countries to expand activities including joint Venture Projects in priority sectors of the nigerian economy, including power generation, gas, agriculture, mining, health sector, tourism, and other sectors of our economy to take advantage of the United States Africa Growth and opportunity act. Ladies and gentlemen, while i recognize the role of governments in facilitating and promoting Economic Growth, the private sector must assume an increasing role as part of an engine of growth. This is even more so for us in nigeria as we take steps in diversifying to a nonoil driven economy. In particular, we will welcome investors who are willing to come to nigeria for minerals exploration. Generating employment was one of my key campaign promises. I will do my best to keep this promise. I will do my best to keep this promise. [applause] president buhari is there is no other way to explain Economic Opportunities and create employment for millions then boost domestic manufacturing and undertaking infrastructure and industrialization. Nigeria will partner with the general investors or willing to join us to achieve our economic objectives and at the same time, to reap handsome returns for their investment. There is more to nigeria than oil. This is why i will continue to stress of the need for increased United States investment in our nonoil sectors. In this respect, the present administration will be attentive to the needs of the Business Community. And provide policies that will strengthen the sector to drive the growth. [applause] president buhari we intend to reduce waste and focus on freedom, accountability and good governance. Respect for the rule of law strict compliance with and levels of agreement and ease of doing business and removal of bottlenecks are some of the measures that the federal government will promote. Ladies and gentlemen, nigeria has Enormous Economic potentials that require heavy funding which cannot be sourced locally in nigeria alone. In this regard, i want to use this platform to encourage United States, Foreign Investors and funding agencies such as overseas Investment Corporation and United States Exportimport Bank to include access to capital and funding of such businesses. Unfavorable on favorable returns. As you are aware, stable power reduces the cost of doing business. Nigeria therefore requires investment of the United States Energy Companies to improve our power supply. While im aware of some of the challenges confronting the Energy Sector in nigeria i want , to ensure you that the government of nigeria is set to tackle the challenges as it relates to gas shortage and power line utilization, which are new into in recent times affected the transmission and distribution of power to the consumer. Ladies and gentlemen, the kind of environment i envisage can only thrive in a secure and stable environment. As sense as such, i have given full attention to the fight against the boko haram insurgency in collaboration with nigerias immediate neighbors. To this end, nigeria has placed 100 million United States to the dollars Multinational Task force of the lakeside recent commission to provide resources for the tax force to effectively function. Last month, nigeria released a sum of 21 million United States dollars of this pledge and stands ready to liquidate its pledge when the task force fully becomes operational. Nigeria recognizes and thinks the United States so much for their contribution of 5 million to this campaign. Every little bit helps and this allimportant fight against terrorism. This is aimed at the insurance of protection and federalization of every inch of nigerias territory. By the resettlement of displaced persons and providing the atmosphere for resumption of normal life. In conclusion, i would like to remind you all that we are continuing with major privatization programs and sectors ranging from telecommunications energy, gas aviation, health, and Infrastructure Development which will improve rural agriculture. We will also simplify visa procedures on principles of reciprocity. And i, therefore, see this opportunity to formally invite the american Business Community to take advantage of our liberal trade and Investment Climate to do fruitful business and nigeria. I thank you very much for your attention. [applause] on our next washington journal, an update on the white house and congressional agendak. Kristina peterson and jeff mason. Then we talked to Mark Hugo Lopez about childhood poverty rates. Washington journal is live at 7 00 eastern. We take your phone calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. Cspan gives you the best access to congress. Live coverage of the u. S. House, congressional hearings and News Conferences. Bring your events that shape public policy. Every morning, washington journal is live with elected officials, policymakers and journalists and your comments by phone, facebook and twitter. Cspan created by Cable Companies and brought to you as a Public Service by your local cable or satellite provider. Following the ceremonial raising of the flag at the Cuban Embassy in washington, secretary of state john kerry and his cuban counterpart held a joint News Conference to discuss u. S. Cuba relations. Secretary kerry will travel to cuba august 14 to attend a ceremony to raise the American Flag over the u. S. And is a. He will be the first u. S. Secretary of state to visit the island since 1945. Mr. Kerry good afternoon everybody. I am pleased to welcome to the state department, my colleague bruno rodriguez, the foreign minister of cuba. I apologize for our being a little late, but we were downstairs. We had a lot to talk about, not just u. S. Cuba relations, and i think we had a very constructive conversation. This is the first visit to the department of state by a Cuban Foreign minister since 1958. Today marks as well the resumption of normal diplomatic ties between our countries and the reopening of our embassies after a rupture that has lasted 54 years. So it is an historic day, a day for removing barriers. [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] of course, this milestone does not signify an end to differences that still separate our governments. It does reflect the reality that the cold war ended long ago and that the interests of both countries are better served by engagement than by estrangement and that we have begun a process of full normalization that is sure to take time but will also benefit the people in both cuba and the United States. This shared resolve to look ahead is what drove our conversation today and what has brought us to this moment. The foreign minister and i touched on a wide range of issues of mutual concern including cooperation on law enforcement, counter narcotics, telecommunications, the internet, Environmental Issues human rights, and we also discussed the openings of our embassies. We want to make sure those embassies are able to function fully and im confident diplomats from both countries will have the freedom to travel and to converse with citizens from all walks of life. To help lead that effort i am , encouraged we have a first rate embassy team in cuba led by jeff delaurentis, one of our finest and most experienced public servants. I look forward to making a trip to cuba and holding a comparable ceremony in havana. Before closing, i want to thank our colleagues from switzerland for the vital role they have played as the protecting power for what has obviously proven to be a much longer time than originally anticipated. I thank our friends around the hemisphere who have urged us, in some cases for decades, to restore our diplomatic ties and have warmly welcomed our decision to do so. And i am grateful for the outstanding leadership of Roberta Jacobson and the efforts of the many u. S. And cuban representatives whose hard work made this day possible. I want to knowledge the commitment of all the care about u. S. Cuba relations whether they disagree whether they agree with the decision to normalize or not, change is rarely easy, especially when earlier positions have been so deeply ingrained and so profoundly felt. Although we can and must learn from the past, nothing is more futile than trying to live in the past. President obama believes and so do i that our citizens benefit far more from policies that aim to shape a Better Future. There is, after all, nothing to be lost and much to be gained by encouraging travel between our nations, the free flow of information and ideas, the resumption of commerce, and the removal of obstacles that have made it harder for families to visit their loved ones. Make no mistake, the process of fully normalizing relations between the United States and cuba will go on. It may be long and complex. But, along the way, we are sure to encounter a bump here and there, and moments even of frustration. Patience will be required. But that is all the more reason to get started now on this journey, this long, overdue journey. Today, with the opening of our embassies and a visit of the foreign minister, we are taking a historic and longoverdue overdue step in the right direction. To keep moving forward, both governments must proceed in a spirit of openness and Mutual Respect. I can assure the world including people of cuba, that the United States will do its part. [speaking spanish] including the cuban people, the United States will do its part. And now it is my pleasure to yield the floor to our guest foreign minister bruno rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez good afternoon. Sorry for being late. We just had a respectful meeting with secretary john kerry, with the secretary of state, we had an exchange on the issues discussed between president raul castro and barack obama during their historic encounter at the summit of the americas in panama. The current status of the bilateral relations and the progress achieved since the announcement of december 17, 2014, including cubas removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and the expansion of official exchanges on issues of common interests and the establishment of diplomatic relations and reopening of embassies. I conveyed the recognition of our people and government to president obama for his determination to work for the lifting of the blockade and for urging congress to eliminate and his willingness to adopt executive measures that modify the implementation of some aspects of these policies. Their scope is Still Limited , but these are steps taken in the right direction. Likewise we have emphasized in , the meantime that the president of the United States can continue using his executive powers to pay a significant contribution to the dismantling of the blockade. Not to pursue changes in cuba something that falls under our exclusive sovereignty and but to attend to the interest of u. S. Citizens. I emphasized that the total lifting of the blockade, the return of the legally occupied territory of guantanamo and the full respect of cuban sovereignty and the compensation to our people for human and economic damages are crucial to be able to move forward in the normalization of relations. We both ratified our interest in normalizing bilateral relations knowing that this would be a long and complex process which will require the willingness of both countries. There are profound differences between cuba and the United States with regard to our views about the exercise of human rights by all persons all over the world and also issues related to International Law which will inevitably persist. But we strongly believe we can both cooperate and coexist in a civilized way based on the respect for these differences and the development of a constructive dialogue oriented to a wellbeing of our countries and peoples and this continent and the entire world. I expressed to the secretary of state that he will be welcomed in cuba on the occasion of the ceremony to reopen the u. S. Embassy in havana. So, mr. Secretary, i will be waiting for you. [speaking spanish] translator we have just had a constructive and respectful meeting with secretary john kerry. It was particularly significant to see that the cuban flag was raised for the first time in 54 years. We would not have been able to make it through these date without the historical leadership of the revolution headed by fidel castro and without the resistance and selfdetermination of the cuban people and the Firm Determination to continue walking down the path that was sovereignly chosen. Weve been able to make it with the support received from latin america, the caribbean, the overwhelming majority of countries around the world, u. S. And cuban patriotic citizens to reside in this country and who persevered for so many years in their efforts so that cuba and the United States could have better relations. With the secretary of state, we have an exchange of issues discussed by president raul castro and president barack obama during their historical time at the summit of the americas in panama. They progress since december 17 include cubas removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism a place where cuba should have never been included, and the historic meeting between president s raul castro and barack obama on issues of common interest. I can take the recognition of our people to president obama for his determination to lift the blockade and having urged congress to eliminate it once and for all and his willingness to adopt executive measures that modify the implementation of some aspects of these policies. Although the scope is limited, these are steps taken in the right direction. We both emphasize the president of the u. S. Can continue to use executive powers to pay a significant contribution to the modification of aspects of implementation of the blockade with the purpose of eliminating it. Not seeking changes in cuba which fall under the exclusive sovereignty of the republic of cuba and cubans, but rather to attend to the best interest of american citizens. Weve insisted that the total lifting of the blockade is essential to move on towards the normalization of bilateral relations, as well as the return of the territory of guantanamo as well as the full respect of , cuban sovereignty and the compensation to our people for human and economic damages. We reiterated our invitation to all u. S. Citizens to exercise their right to travel to cuba as they do to the rest of the world and to the companies that country to take advantage of an equal footing of the opportunities offered by cuba. The secretary of state and i ratified our interest in normalizing bilateral relations knowing this will be a long and complex process. Which will require the willingness of both countries. I reiterated to the secretary of state the cuban governments willing to move on in the process toward normalizations with relations on the basis of respect and sovereign equality and without any interference in our internal affairs. It is true there are profound differences between the governments of cuba and the United States with regards to our views about the exercise of human rights by all citizens and in the whole planet and also when it comes to International Law, which will inevitably persist. But we strongly believe we can both cooperate and coexist in a civilized way based on the respect for these differences and the development of a constructive dialogue oriented to the wellbeing of our countries and people and the entire world. I expressed to the secretary of state that he will be welcomed in havana on the occasion to celebrate the opening of the u. S. Embassy. So i will be waiting for you and i thank you for your hospitality in washington. Thank you. Our first question question comes from Andrea Mitchell at nbc. Mr. Foreign minister, mr. Secretary, the foreign minister said today at the opening of the embassy that the continuing hold on Guantanamo Bay on the naval base is a nefarious consequence of u. S. Attempts to dominate hemisphere and only the lifting of the trade embargo and the return of Guantanamo Bay would lend meaning to todays historic events. Can you respond to those comments and what the foreign minister just said come which seems to indicate does of the preconditions and he did not want any interference by the United States in the domestic policies of cuba. And what would you like to see in terms of human rights changes or other policy changes, even absent those changes which are congressionally mandated . Mr. Foreign minister, welcome to the United States and welcome to the state department. For all of us who have watched the relationship for so many years, this is truly an historic event. But you seem to be indicating that there are preconditions including the lifting of the trade embargo and the return of guantanamo. Do you see any other changes cuba might be willing to afford under the request or influence of the u. S. Prior to those events taking place . Thank you. Thank mr. Kerry ill go first. It is absolutely no surprise because it has been a subject of , discussion over the course of the time we have been examining our relationship and working towards today that there are things cuba would like to see happen, there are things the United States would like to see happen. We have both been Crystal Clear with each other, there has been no pulling of punches. That is one of the reasons we built up an ability to be able to get to this moment. With respect to the embargo, president obama could not have been more clear the president has called on congress to lift the embargo. It is our hope that over the course of the development of the relationship in these next weeks and months and years, and hopefully not too many years that people will begin to see the benefits that are emerging in both countries as a result of this change today. We would hope, obviously, that the embargo at the appropriate time will be lifted and a great deal more foundation can be built for this relationship. With respect to and obviously, that is going to take more time. We all understand that. At this time, there is no discussion and no intention on our part at this moment do alter to alter the existing lease treaty or other arrangements with respect to the naval station, but we understand cuba has strong feelings about it. I cannot tell you what the future will bring, but for the moment, that is not part of the discussion on our side. On the other hand, both sides have very strong feelings. We have expressed and we will always express because it is part of the United States foreignpolicy and part of our dna, and that is our view of human rights and our thoughts about it. We have shared good thoughts on that and had good exchanges. Part of this arrangement that took place involved an exchange of people as well as the release of some people. Our hope is that as time goes on, we will continue to develop that. But we did what we did talk about today was how to further the relationship most effectively. And perhaps through a creation of a Bilateral Committee that might Work Together to put focus on these issues so that we can make the most out of this moment and not lose the future with respect to the embargo and other issues. We are going to work at that. Today is the beginning of a constructive effort and that is the way we want to keep it. Translator we have completed the exchanges to reestablish diplomatic relations as we open the embassy. We have managed to achieve the very important progress in the last few years and the u. S. Government has recognized the embargo against cuba is the wrong policy, causing isolation and bringing about humanitarian damages and deprivation to our people. And has committed to engage congress in a debate with the purpose of lifting the blockade. Second, the president of the u. S. Has adopted some executive measures which are limited in scope, but which are headed in the right direction. I have had an exchange with secretary kerry with regard to the purposes for the following period aimed at the normalization of bilateral relations. We have not spoken about conditions, but rather the need to move on through the dialogue on the basis of sovereign equality and Mutual Respect and create a civilized behavior despite the profound differences that exist between both governments to better attend to the interests of our respective people. To me, it is very important the fact that today, an embassy was reopened in washington and the diplomatic instruments could be created to carry full mutual recognition, which is a practical contribution to the development of bilateral dialogue. Ive also said that to cuba, the normalization of relations principles is a series of problems. Among them is the ceasing of the blockade against cuba, the return of the territory of guantanamo, and the full respect for our country. We have confirmed this morning there are conditions so that a dialogue can be expanded with the purpose of expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between both countries and of course, taking into account the fact the situation between the u. S. And cuba is asymmetric because our country has not implemented any policy against american citizens or enterprises. Cuba does not implement any unilateral coercive measures against the u. S. And cuba does not occupy any piece of u. S. Territory. Through the dialogue, were supposed to create the proper conditions to move toward the normalization of relations. I can say that i have been pleased with the exchange with secretary kerry. And as to the announcement of december 17, we have been able to establish diplomatic relations, we have been able to reopen the embassy, and now i have the opportunity to welcome secretary kerry to havana for the opening of the u. S. Embassy there in the next two weeks. From cuban television. Thank you very much. Minister rodriguez, i would like to know what are the advantages that are now in place if the blockade is still in place and what are the advantages now that we have an embassy. And secretary of state john kerry, the government of cuba has said several times in the past that american diplomats in havana have violated the Vienna Convention on relations with cuba. Is it going to be like that in the future . Or are you going to respect the Vienna Convention . Thank you very much. Translator the fact that diplomatic relations has been reestablished and embassies have been reopened shows the initial willingness to move on toward the improvement of relations between our countries. Second, new instruments are created to further deepen this dialogue under the circumstances i have described. Third, during the process of our previous conversations as expressed by the historical letters exchanged by president raul castro and barack obama the basis of the function of normal diplomatic relations with the the purposes and principles in the u. N. Charter of International Law. The regulations containing the the and the conventions on the Vienna Convention on diplomacy and popular relations, therefore we have reached agreement in these areas and i can say cuba would absolutely respect those provisions. Cuban diplomats will strictly abide by those rules and create in cuba every necessary condition for the functioning of the new u. S. Embassy in our country. Mr. Kerry let me reinforce what bruno has said. Honestly part of the , negotiations leading up to the opening of the embassies was a matter of coming to agreement with respect to all the diplomatic functions. We spent time, under secretary assistant secretary jacobson was negotiating with her counterpart in the foreign minister and i then met and signed off on an agreement which is in accord with the Vienna Conventions and meets both of our countries understandings of what is needed and what is appropriate at this moment in time. It could be subject to change, but for the moment we are satisfied and we are living within the structure of the Vienna Conventions. Next question, from voice of america. Good afternoon. Welcome, foreign minister rodriguez. In your discussions today, did you establish any sort of roadmap for talks Going Forward . If so, what are your priorities . Do you envision a political opening in cuba in areas such as greater freedom of speech and assembly and the legalization of opposition parties . And, secretary kerry, if i could ask you about iran nuclear, the u. N. Security council will vote today on the iran resolution. And critics are saying of the nuclear deal that this vote will lock them in because it has taken place before congress has had the opportunity to debate the deal. What is your response to this criticism . Mr. Kerry let me remind you that in the case twice of going to war in previous administrations, the u. N. Security Council Voted before the congress. But more importantly, in this particular case, with respect to this agreement, we took pains to protect the prerogatives of congress. We got our colleagues in sovereign countries who had no obligation to the congress to agree to accept 90 days of no implementation of the resolution they voted on today. It is all well and good for congress to interact with the executive department and require us to do things, but frankly some of these other countries were resistant to the idea as sovereign nations that they are subject to the u. S. Congress. So we worked out a compromise. And in working out that compromise we did so in a way , that fully protects the prerogative of the United States congress to review this for the next 60 days. We put a 90 day period in during which there will be no implementation. No ability of the congress has been impinged on. The rights of the congress to make its evaluation have not changed. On the other hand, when you are negotiating with six other countries, it does require obviously, a measure of sensitivity and multilateral cooperation that has to take into account other nations desires at the same time. They were insistent the vote take place because they were negotiating under the umbrella of the United Nations and they thought it was appropriate when they completed their work for the United Nations to make its judgment. I look forward to continuing over the next 60 days to having , discussions and testimony in private meetings in whatever form is necessary to help convince the congress that this deal does exist. This deal does exactly what it says it does. Which is prevent the possibility of Nuclear Weapons from falling into the hands of another country while simultaneously opening up the opportunity for the United States to at this moment in time put to test the verification measures and all of those things iran has agreed to rather than choosing today to force the potential of a conflict almost immediately, which is what would happen if congress does not accept this agreement. Translator my plans are much simpler, which are to welcome mr. Secretary kerry in the next the next several weeks to havana to continue our talks to , establish the appropriate mechanism to expand the dialogue in areas related to bilateral cooperation oriented to the common benefit. And to retake our talks about the existential aspects of the bilateral relations i have mentioned before that will determine the outcome. Ive said that the political opening in cuba happened in the year 1959. The flag we raise in the Cuban Embassy waited for 54 years to be back to the flagpole. And we cubans feel happy for the way which we manage our internal affairs and feel optimistic when it comes to the solution of our difficulties. We are serious with our sovereignties. We will maintain and permanent consultation with our people to change everything that needs to be changed based on the sovereign and exclusive willingness of the cubans. A question. I have to admit im a little lost with the language. Because i hear secretary kerry speaking perfect spanish and mr. Rodriguez speaking perfect english. I dont know which language in which i should do my question. Lets start with secretary kerry. Do you think this new era of relations with cuba is the recognition that the u. S. Policies of isolating countries and latin america that differ from your political views do not work . And b, do you think recent trips to caracas by mr. Shannon is the beginning of trying to rebuild the relationship with venezuela . [speaking spanish] if you promise to have relations when the u. S. Has given every signal that is willing to lift the blockade and not withdraw from guantanamo. For this skeptical people who really see a change of strategy with the u. S. , form more than half a century they tried to change cuba from the outside. It is now implementing a creative way to change cuba from the inside . Thank you. Translator i can say that the fact that diplomatic relations are reestablished and that we are reopening both embassies show the mutual willingness to move on towards the normalization of bilateral relations. In 14 or 15 minutes on december last, we heard the president of the United States, barack obama , recognizing that u. S. Policies against cuba had been wrong, causing damages and causing isolation to the u. S. Today, we have opened an embassy of a country recognized as a sovereign country. Although this is a small and neighboring island. I should say that the reestablishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of embassies is appreciated in my country as a signal towards progress towards a civilized relationship despite the differences. If, only if the blockade is lifted, if we are able to resolve the pending problems and we are able to create a new type of relationship between the u. S. And cuba different from what has existed all along in history. In fact, we feel that the recognition of the need to lift the blockade against cuba, the fact that during the talks we have had, including this morning, we have perceived respect for cubas independence and the selfdetermination of our people, the fact that we can now talk as the secretary and i have talked on the basis of absolute 20 despite of absolute sovereignty despite differences show that the u. S. And cuba, by the American People and cuban people are conditions are in the condition to move toward a future of relations different from the ones accumulated throughout our history. Responding precisely to the best interest of our citizens. There is an international order, International Law recognized as the civilized behavior to be adopted by states. There are universally accepted principles and these have been the ones that have allowed us to reach this date. And the ones that will orient our behavior in the future. Mr. Kerry i have learned through my public life that there is nothing harder than trying to change deeply ingrained attitudes and beliefs that are based on personal experience in the case of many people. I learned obviously in the experience of where i joined with senator john mccain in a 10 year effort to try and change our relationship with the vietnam. And to really finally make peace and end the war more than 20 years after the war allegedly had ended. But there were still deep battles in our own country over that issue. Over time, with a great deal of effort, we were able to slowly work to show to people that there was a better path. Just a week or two ago, the Party Secretary of the communist party of vietnam was here in washington visiting with the president. And we are today trading and working and things are changing rapidly in that country. Maybe not as rapidly to some peoples desire as they might want, but they are changing. So it is in many ways with cuba, where the passions ran deep and run deep to this day in the United States there are many , cubanamericans who have contributed in so many ways to life in our country. When i served some of whom are still opposed to the change and some believe it is time to change. When i served in the United States senate, there were many of us who believed that over time, our policy of isolating was simply not working. We are isolating ourselves in many ways. We felt after all of those years, it was time to try Something Else. President obama is doing that now. The president said when he announced this shift of policy if you are digging a really deep hole and you keep getting in deeper but youre not finding what youre looking for, its time to stop digging. It is clear we have chosen a different path. Already, people tell me when they visit cuba they feel a sense of excitement and possibility. I am convinced as we work through these issues, we are going to find a better path forward that speaks to the needs of both peoples in both countries. That is why the president has set us on this course. For years and years and years, it was his perception that the people of cuba were paying the highest price and we were not achieving the kind of relationship we hoped to have. With respect to venezuela, the counselor of the state department, ambassador tom shannon, has had several conversations with venezuelans. We had a very productive conversation prior to the summit of the americas in panama. The United States has said many times, we would like to have a normal relationship with venezuela and have reached out in an effort to try to change the dialogue, change the dynamics. There are differences we have with president maduro and his government. And we raised those differences and talked about them. Just today, foreign minister rodriguez and i talked specifically about venezuela and our hopes that we can find a better way forward because all of the region will benefit if no country is being made a scapegoat for problems within a country and in fact all countries are working on solving those problems. That is our objective. We hope to continue the dialogue with venezuela. We hope our diplomatic relations with cuba can encourage not only greater dialogue with venezuela, but perhaps even efforts to try to help colombia to end its more than 50 years war and perhaps even other initiatives. We are not going to be overflowing with expressions of excessive optimism about where we will find this capacity. But we do know we are going to look for it. We do know that we think it makes a difference and we are going to try to work at it. I think that is the ultimate benefit that comes out of today. With the beginning of diplomatic relations, we are pledging to engage with each other, to talk about our differences, to find places of common endeavor and to try to build a relationship that benefits the people of cuba, the people of the United States, the people of the region. Thank you all very much. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] secretary of state john kerry will be on capitol hill this week for a hearing on the iran nuclear agreement. He will be joined by the Energy Secretary and treasury secretary. Live coverage from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee thursday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan3 cspan radio and cspan. Org. Washington journal is next. At 10 00 et, the Senate Judiciary committee will look at the enforcement of immigration laws. The house is back at noon eastern. There look at a veterans bill and another measure that would allow the state department deny passport cards to individuals affiliated with terror organizations. Watch live house coverage on cspan. Coming up, we will get an update on the white house and congressional agenda. Christina peterson and jeff mason will join us and then well talk to lopez. You can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. Host in light of the Iran Nuclear Deal, members of house ordered classified briefings with john kerry. Those briefings will take place wednesday and thursday. Both of those men will appear and the senate before a hearing thursday. You can see it at 10 00 on cspan three. The Ohio Governor enters the race for president today to see that at 11 00. Turning to the president ial campaign with more information coming to the candidates about their economic platforms would like to hear from you about what you want to hear from the candidates and what they will do to support the economy. Here is where you can give your thoughts. 202 7488000 hour line for democrats. For republicans 202 7488001. For independent 202 7488002. You can tweet out your thoughts or post them on our Facebook Page and you can email them. The New York Times takes a look at the 2016 president ial race and in terms of the economy. A column in which they asked economic for cast hers to give a sense of what the economy might be like. A wide range of Political Science Research Suggests that if you want to know who will win the presidency and how Economic Conditions are changing it matters a great deal. Even more how charismatic than how they are the election is 16 months away. What you would expect the American Economic backdrop. Talking to the researchers they continue saying that they believe that unemployment would be the lowest it has been since george w. Bush and al gore faced off in 2000. The medium forecast for the Unemployment Rate in november 2016 was 4. 8 which would be down from 3. 35 last year and they only saw a 15 chance of a recession starting bite next election day and gasoline prices should all be higher than they are now are staying quite low by historical standards for it Economic Forecasters about how they think the economy will be. For the first 45 minutes the economy is the topic and specifically what do i hear about from the candidates about. Our line for democrats is 202, several 48 8000. You can put out your thoughts on our social social media pages as well. The former Florida Governor jeb bush speaking in tallahassee yesterday. Part of it takes a look at his economic holocene. The headlines at the Washington Times bush says if he was elected he would cut spending and shrink government. Here is more from jeb bush yesterday. I know in my heart that real and sustained Economic Growth is possible. I believe that this country will be the first developed country to be able to renew ourselves and grow at a sustained rate where people can be lifted out of poverty and where the great middle will get a raise for the first time in 15 years. But the driving force of this will be president ial level leadership. This is essential and i believe it is achievable in one term. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise. Do not let the cynics narrow down our aspirations. We should have lofty aspirations and challenge everything we can to make it happen. A little bit about his Economic Policy and what he thinks about it from you. What do you think and what do you want to hear about the candidates from the economy . We will start off with rob in poughkeepsie new york. What do you want to hear from the candidates . Caller thank you for cspan. You do a wonderful job. We havent heard much talk about trade policy or trade deficits, particularly with china. Back to the same old but we are losing hundreds of billions of dollars annually in a trade deficit and another issue that has been swept under the rug. As a democrat i will tell you that donald trump has some sort of appeal even for me. I think that even a he speaks very unwise, part of his appeal to the masses is that he does not talk smart and that is what makes him appealing. Quickly i want to say that i have met Hispanic Women who when they came to this country illegally, have told stories of being physically abused at some point during their journey. So even though trump said it wrong about that they are rapists, i think the point that he was probably trying to make was that women, Hispanic Women who come across the border often at the hands of these awful men who bring them across, do abuse them and do rape in some cases. Host that is rob from new york. Economic policy, what do you want to hear from candidates . Caller thank you for cspan. I would like to talk about the economy. The governor is going to announce his presidency today and i would like to see how he changed the state of the economy in ohio. He will talk about how he cut taxes and balanced the budget but what he never tells you is how he did it. He cut state income taxes. The average person got a 40 per year tax cut. Then he cut state funding to the cities and the polls which meant the average taxpayer had to raise local taxes. The economy improved in ohio but the average taxpayer like me i got a 40 per year tax cut but ended up paying 200 per year more and local taxes. This is how john kasich balanced the budget in ohio. That announcement will take place at 11 00 and you can see it on cspan3 as well as cspan radio. In the lead up to today, a video being put out about his candidacy, here is a bit of it. What are we going to do about america. And how did we end up with 20 people running for president and i think about who is it that has the experience to balance the federal budget. Who is it that had the experience and turning a major state from big deficits and high unemployment into prosperity. Who is it that spent time working on the National Security issues . Of all of those people running there is not one that has experience in all of those critical three areas. Who needs one more person running for president . We do. John kasich was elected to congress at the age of 30. My mom and dad didnt live in ohio. When i won that first election, the reaction was johnny, what are you doing . He was chosen to serve as chairman of the Budget Committee when the federal budget deficit was almost 3 trillion. When he stepped down, that deficit had become a 5 trillion surplus. I was one of the chief architects of balancing the budgets the first time we did it since men were walked on the moon. We will learn more about that announcement in 10 to 15 minutes. Your call up until then on what you what to hear from candidates on the economy, joe from new jersey. Hello . Lets move on to robert. In do fall, washington in duvall washington. Caller the way that i feel about what needs to be said is something about income reform and Campaign Financing reform. I really believe that the candidates are dancing all over the bull very bush. If they tackled that problem they would handle 80 of the problems in the United States. So what are you looking for . Caller they need to make it more level across the board for everybody when it comes to income taxes. Host everybody pays a flat rate or are there other ideas . A flat tax . Caller they have come up with all kinds of ideas but they havent really tackled the real reform. It is still either the extreme to the left or the right. They need to get more central on their ideas as what they can do for everybody not just the rich or the poor but to concentrate on what to do for the people that do most of the work in the middle class. Host jordan on the independent line. Caller i wanted to see with each president ial candidate what background in economics they have and what understanding of economics they have studied. Host what would you like to see as far as an economic background . Caller well versed and well read in everything from game to osberg and murray. I would like to see host go ahead. Caller i would like to see them express a sound background an ace sound position of judgment so they can demonstrate the policies they talk about. Host rick is from idaho on the republican line. Top of the morning to this is a retired gunnery sergeant. Authorizing the interest on tax reduction, that is one. Authorizing mortgage on mortgage payments for a 30 year note to 3 there is two. Reduce the monthly payment. Three allowing americans to increase Social Security and a minimum debt percentage of 50 as an annual. Pretax and four, the shutdown foreign aid and foreign spending we have been at it for over 626 years which comes to a grand total of 1. 28 billion dollars. No complaints, thank you for your time. Host before you go he is gone. Donna from massachusetts. Caller this is donna calling about the economy. I would like to hear about the economy. I would like Hillary Clinton to get in as president in 2016. She would make a good president. She speaks on the economy and when she does get in the economy will improve. And about the tax cuts, that has been going on since 1980 and this country has got worse since the republicans were elected in 2010 and 2014 and 2016 we want the Democratic Party to come back as the majority of the chamber of the house in the senate. Host what is it about her economic all see that you like the most jacob what i like the most is that she will improve the economy and it will probably get better under her administration. Host donna from massachusetts giving her thoughts on what she wants to hear from the Hillary Clinton campaign when it comes to the economy. You can share your thoughts as well on the phone line on the screen. Calls from West Virginia republican line. Caller i tell you what i dont want them to tell me is that they will give me free stuff if they vote there are too many people that never read a newspaper that never watch the news never watch cspan but they walk into that booth booth and vote. They are voting for free stuff and somebody has to get out of bed and go work to make that free stuff. You are to start considering the taxpayers more and these people on disability. I bet you if you poll the people that called into your show every morning. The majority of them are on Social Security and disability. I watch the show every morning and that seems to be a pattern. If you ask what do they do for a living i am retired on Social Security and disability. I know a bunch people that is retired on that and there are a lot of a lot more healthy than i am. That is what i want to hear. Before you go, tell me who you like as far as the candidates and it comes specifically to Economic Policy. That guy k6 is probably the more experienced when it comes to dealing with the economy. But i like arena because she is not a politician, she has been in business she is an intelligent woman and i have watched her give speeches on tv. She is an intelligent woman and if she cannot the president i would like host joe you are next. My concern is around april we have these struggles. That it impacts reporting. [indiscernible] what it should be is at the governments reporting to us so they can compare host apologies. I think the connection got lost. If you cant get back on the line please feel free to do so. The sea of tranquility says my message to the governments stop trying to fix the economy get out of the way turn on the capitalism switch and watch it boom. Dwb saying i want to hear that trickledown is a fraud. It says that spending on Political Television advertising is expected to jump 16 to a record 4. 4 billion compared with four years ago showing a continued belief by candidates that broadcasting on cable tv is the best approach to reach voters. So far the rise has been steady in the total Political Television ad spending in 2012 was 3. 8 million and it 2008 it was 2. 7 5 billion and the author who heads the campaign treated the increase in political ad dollars and part to the Citizens United ruling. New hampshire, mark you are next on what you want to hear from the candidates on the economy. Mark caller the thing i would like to hear in 2016 is that there seems to be a disparity in these reports about how well or how bad the economy is doing. There are some states that might have unemployment of 5 or less but there are still states where it is 10 and up. Give you an idea where i live he Unemployment Rate is pretty good at 5 with just a half an hour south their Unemployment Rate is 11 . I have friends that work in New Hampshire and massachusetts and for some of these people they are educated people with degrees and everything in some of them have to work two to three jobs each just to make ends meet. The economy is not growing or bouncing back as quickly as it should. When i grew up, you might have a recession but it might be four years at most and we are talking about 6. 5 or seven years and it is still not housing back and i would like to hear from both sides, what are their plans to bring the economy back and jobs especially manufacturing jobs to america. Host pennsylvania, that is steve. Good morning. Caller what i want to say is that the economy is in the toilet. I live in pa and the gas industry isnt even doing anything. And both parties republican and democrat wont jump out of the election so they can keep washington running the same that is my thought on what is going on in the world. Posts brian is in maryland on the independent line hello. Think you for taking my call. I guess one of the main things for me was income inequality which a lot of the candidates are talking about but Bernie Sanders is out there really pushing that home. One of the things i was left to work with was the idea that collective bargaining is a detriment in some way. Some people are really proud of the fact i was hoping that people would explain why it is an issue. Host surge in bloomberg, indiana. What do you want to hear from the candidates . Caller i think that what needs to be addressed is a twopronged strategy. Were looking at the Global Economy in our position in the world. And it is rationalized by corporations and its a real concern. We do have to have a strong essence and we do. But granted we have deficits. On the other hand there is income inequality. So that the value of labor has been underrated. There has been a trickle up trend for 30 or 40 years and it is time for the congress to address the overriding strategy which benefits the United States for Global Presence in global strength and on the other hand reasonable value of labor so that instead of corporations they need to be taxed. We keep talking about it for the congressman addressing those overriding issues. There are more details but that is why i am calling. If youre are interested in giving your thoughts on what you want to hear from the candidates continue to phone in on the line. We will continue on with those calls in just a moment. A little bit more about that announcement from john kasich in the Columbus Dispatch on its front page talks about its candidacy with the headline, can k6 off. Public Affairs Editor for the publication, start by talking about how does a governor plan to separate himself from the others in the republican field. On the claim campaign trail so far he is really pushing his experience in congress and he has talked about his time in the private sector. And his time as governor. He just recently one with 61 of the Democratic Candidates here in a coyote and they have their own issues but when he took office they were facing in a billion dollar shortfall and he has been able to turn that around and have 2 billion in the rainy day fund. He is saying that he is experienced and he has the Foreign Policy experience and the budget experience. What will his critics say about his candidacy . Caller they were really pushing some in the media portrayed him as kind of a moderate. And a critic said he is not a moderate. He has signed budget bills that included abortion restrictions. He is not quite the moderate that some have painted him to be. There is the issue of his personality. He can be kind of prickly and some have described him as a jerk. He is not your typical blowdried hair allocation. You never know what you will get from him. After he makes the announcement what does his Ground Campaign look like and how much money does he depend on getting and how will it help or hinder him Going Forward . As soon as he is done with his announcement today he is going to New Hampshire through thursday and he will hit South Carolina and then iowa and often michigan this weekend. His big push recently has been South Carolina and New Hampshire. He has raised 11. 5 million with his 527 nonprofit and they said after that came out a couple weeks ago they had a couple more million pledged and more raised. He will not bring in bush money but he is trying to get enough to keep the campaign going. One of the things he has been talking about is on the military side. Why is he talking about it and why is this important . Caller he has been pushing that because his view is what is happening in the south china sea. He thinks we need a bigger fleet in order to show them and isis that they cannot keep doing what they are doing. But his critics have said that just because our fleet is not as big as it was that we have fewer carriers and ships, but what we have now is more technologically advanced. They are faster but they can do more things. The ships that we have are doing what we need them to do. Host that is the assistant public Affairs Editor talking about the announcement and take you for your time. We will continue on with your calls. Joe in spring, texas. Thank you for holding on, you are on the line. The only way the economy will get better is to get republicans out of office and put democrats in there. They talk about the working people but they are on the interested in people with money and big business. They have been in office since they have been in office they havent done a thing. All theyve done is fought everything obama try to do to help working folks. So republicans, theyre not helping people. Host so what policy do you think will help improve the economy best and who who is best for that policy on the democratic side. Any one of those democrats running would be any republican. Any republican democrat would do better than any republican because the conversations that they talk about you cant even compare them with the republicans. Republicans arent talking about nothing. Host john from new york, go ahead. Caller the issue with the economy is that they are facing a huge obstacle. I just have options for anyone. The first one is all of the warfare factories or the factories that produce nothing but guns and the second one is i want them to close all of these war bases around the world in an effort to bring billions of dollars back home. And the third one is to support the methods that can fix and reform. To try and fix the economy not only bite words but real action. In a talking about any deficit that we have very but if you could bring to office of president with economy issues and security and education. It would be there cheaper for our country and the people there it i believe it is not only these two parties burning and candidates. We could actually have candidates and i should propose their own deals and plants. But specifically not the ones related to the economy. It is getting really terrible. Our nation must be really aware what and who they will vote for and the reasons behind that. And all of those differences can make us stronger it is normal and logical if we could once again there will be nothing related to that. Host thank you. Gabby from baltimore, maryland on the democrats line. I was calling because i would like to hear what all of our candidates have to say the fact that they are trillions of dollars in debt for having to pay back those Student Loans and referring to the gentle man from New Hampshire calling earlier for the people he knows working two to three jobs i am one of those people getting might masters and working 70 hours per week on top of that paying off Student Loans so it would be good to hear what each of our candidates have to say about that. How much are your Student Loans looking like. 1200 a month. That is gabby from baltimore maryland. Hillary clinton last week talked a little bit about economics. Here is what she had to say. [video clip] i am proposing a rising income sharing profit tax credit that would encourage more companies to provide profitsharing by giving them a 15 tax credit of the amount of the profitsharing for two years to get that started and to see that it works like so many of the other companies that already do it. I think that by providing examples and incentives and comparing what works to what doesnt work just like economic policies and corporate policies that work and dont work, we have to do a better job using information as a tool for changing corporate behavior and corporate purpose. I think it is a big part of what we can begin to implement when i am president. And i believe that if we do more of that we will send a strong signal. I will have more to say about corporate purpose next week. About how we need to get businesses back looking after their employees and their customers and their communities and the country. Not just their executives. Host National Journal this morning takes a look at the agency that would be the chief inspectors in that Iran Nuclear Deal in the ia ba talking about its budget this morning saying the fund known as its regular budget the United States is the largest contributor to the iaea. Japan comes in second at 10 . The poorest Member States generally pay less than 1 each on top of the Technical Cooperation fund is supported by voluntary contributions including using Nuclear Technology and other programs that reliant other physics in the developing world. That is on the National Journal website. Lets hear from david in new jersey hello. Caller i would just like to say to america that the problem we have is we have infrastructure crumbling and what is never explained in a way that the American Public can get it is Interest Rates. I want to take people back to 2005 and 2006. With that meant was for the bank to borrow that money from the government, they paid 2. 5 in the bank charged us a premium depending on your credit score and that is where the bank made their money. What has now happened is the Interest Rates are down to . 25 as supposed to two dollars and . 60 it is now down to . 25. Imagine if we were able to rebuild our infrastructure at . 25. Now we are hearing that the rates are getting ready to go up. If they go up from . 25 to . 50 they have been out double. The Republican Party has kept this president from building infrastructure. If we could rebuild the infrastructure everybody would go back to work new jobs would be created and you would have new people paying taxes and this would be winwin but the republicans have kept us from doing this and it is time for americans to say what is going on here and how do we change this. It is up to us the voters to stay to the republicans stop holding us back to it is treasonous. To keep the American People from excelling in this country. I would like to hear the following from any candidate for the president ial race. If we are going to be messing around with the tax code i would like to see us raise Capital Gains tax to the level of income tax and cut them both to a level that is sustainable. Second, if we can start truly investing in Renewable Energy in this country in solar, wind biofuels storing any excess energy that we produce and hydrogen for fuel cells, we would be create in a large number of jobs for the economy. Couple that with the remaining program to allow our lowest income people to work those jobs and get the skills they need to work those jobs. We will see a much Better Future for those at the bottom. Host michael, good morning. Caller i have three things i would like to hear from the candidates. The first is what do they specifically propose to do to close the widening gap and those fatcat overpaid ceos reaping them to what they specifically propose to do about the fact that 45 million americans are living in poverty highlighted by the fact that there is literally 23 of our kids living in poverty. We happened to be the wealthiest country on earth and finally they give our infrastructure the d . There are 2 trillion infrastructure deficit and they want every candidate should come up with specifically what are their plans to work to rebuild america. Host Bernie Sanders speaking about income inequality. On his platform that took place friday here is that. Sen. Sanders here is Something Else we all want to know. We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Today. In the history of the world. But most americans dont know that because almost all of the wealth rests in the hands of the few. America now has more wealth and income inequality than any major country on earth, and it is worse today than at any time since 1928. The issue of income and wealth inequality is a great moral issue of our time. It is the great economic issue of our time. The great political issue of our time. Together, that is an issue we will address. Host if you want to hear these speeches, go to our website for more information. Dont forget that 11 00 today it is the republican governor of ohio and his Campaign Announcement and his interest in running for president United States. Can see that here on cspan radio and watch it on cspan. Org. Later this week a hearing about Irans Nuclear deal. That will be thursday at 10 00 on cspan three. Go to our website for more information about that hearing. On the republican line john is up next. Thank you for taking my call and thank you for showing the senator sanders clip and thats what i want to talk about the redistribution of wealth. If you look at the last two elections that was the way that our president was elected and yet you have guys like sanders the clintons and president obama who are some of the wealthiest americans out there talking about these issues and then governor omalley who wants to talk about social Economic Issues and he gets booed offstage for trying to make a point. I would like to hear the democrats talk about that more i also think it is interesting that trump seems to be leading in the polls because of Straight Talk that i think it is time americans are hearing and im curious about the white house putting their flag at half mast for the terrorist issue earlier. Those who received health care from the president S Health Care law us is junior writing saying more that 700,000 obamacare customers claim tax credits but did not mile to file their taxes, essentially jolting the government at of 2 billion in payments. That was the chairman of the finance committee and president of the senate demanding that the Inspector General investigate the tax players and for the iris trying to track them down thing the number of delinquents was quite astounding. The irs commissioner alerted congress to the 7000 potentials in a memo friday in which he outlined the agencys experience. All taxpayers were required to file their returns or request an extension in about 7. 5 million of those were expected to claim a tax credit for buying the plan. Asking for a reimbursement when they filed this year. Inspector general said that some of those claimed too little so even more were overpaid when they owed money back. Kathy in michigan we are asking about what you want to hear from candidates on the economy. I would like them to seriously address federal minimum wage. In michigan it is a dollars . 15 an hour. Subsidized housing in harvard springs it is 5. 65 for a two bedroom apartment. You pay electric 39 a month and Everything Else is covered. Your food 300 your phone 70 gas 120, youre left with 110 and i am being really generous here in terms of what people spend. Host jimmy up next on the independent line. Caller i would like to hear them tell the truth. If i get elected i will do the best i can and what congress will let me do. Host before you go, on the economy what do you want to hear . Like i say there is not a lot any one person can do. There is a great disparity in the income but thats going to have to be up to the people who own the companies. For the president there is not a lot he can do about it. Larry from albany georgia, good morning. Caller i just want to say im glad to build a speak on the phone on cspan and i am talking about host keep going. Caller what i wanted to say was i wanted to forget that when president obama took the chair that we were 13 unemployed and we were so far with unemployment the people were about getting paid. We were losing 3000 jobs a month and now that the president has got the economy growing, it is growing slow and we are better than all the nations in the world right now and i want senator clinton i want her to stay with what the president has got going right now. Post that is larry in georgia on the front page of that wall street journal. Look at the economy and how it might affect elections for democrats in future years. They write this morning after two president ial victories mr. Obama presides over a democrat party. A net loss unmatched by any modern u. S. President. And also lost 11 governorships as well as the majorities in legislatures in 23 states. Republicans control the governor esther office and democrats only seven. In few vices are the democrats troubles more apparent than in ohio. Ohio democrats lost every contest in the november midterms allowing the gop to build super majorities in the legislative chambers. The local masters of landuse as well as a host of government services. More available to you on the story with the wall street journal. Caller my comment on the economy is the fact that in 1980 manufacturing represented 70 of u. S. Gdp while Financial Services represented about 12 . Today the reverse is true. We are a nation of consumers. Well make anything anymore and the Financial Services industry essentially has u. S. Workers and denture, in debt for their entire lives. And the only way that wages are ever going to start growing again in this country is if manufacturing improves. It is Manufacturing Industries that pay good wages. Not everybody should get a College Degree so that they can work at a coffee shop. That is my comment. Host one more candidate to show you that is scott walker recently entering the Leadership Conference in iowa talking about his plan for taxes and job creation or it creation. Governor walker is what we are looking at. What president reagan did in 1986 when i was in high school. Two lower marginal rates. To me, the laffer curve and i sometimes call it the colts curb because i sometimes talk about buying clothing it kohls in the recently lowered prices was to broaden the base of volumes of products that they sell. You lower the rates and broaden the base and there is a greater value of people participating in the congress. Back in the 80s, it worked under ronald reagan. Lowering marginal tax rates and reforming the code i think to move forward we need to work backward and the other part is that we need to lower the burden on job creators swim a competitive rate in the world again so we can bring more jobs back from overseas. Host any of these candidates we have been hearing from this morning you can see on our website. Coming up, we will talk about the weekend ahead in washington looking at the iran deal and how it is affecting relations between the white house and congress. Kristina peterson and jeff mason will join us for that discussion next. Later in the program a focus on Child Poverty taking a look at Child Poverty rates across the country. Mark hugo lopez will be along later for that discussion. There are features as well as stories about the raising of the flag at Cubas Embassy in this took place yesterday after the announcement of improved relations between the two countries. We wanted to show you a little bit of some of the remarks that were made. Not only by the secretary of state and also by the Cuban Foreign minister ennis was just after hours when the flag was raised of the embassy for the first time in five decades. Changes rarely easy especially when earlier positions have been so deeply ingrained and profoundly felt. Although we can and must learn the past, nothing is more futile than trying to live in the past. President obama believes and so do i that our citizens benefit far more from policies that aim to shape a Better Future. There is nothing to be lost and much to be gained by encouraging travel between our nations. The free flow of information and ideas. The resumption of commerce and the removal of obstacles that have made it harder for families to visit loved ones. The process of fully normalizing relations between unite states and cuba will go on it may be long and complex but along the way we are sure to encounter a bump here and there and moments even of frustration. Patients will be required but that is all the more reason to get started now on this journey. This long overdue journey. It is true there are some differences between the government of cuba and the United States. With regard to our views about the exercise of human rights by all citizens and in the whole planet. Also when it comes to International Law which will inevitably persist. But we strongly believe that we can both cooperate in a civilized way. Under the development of a constructive dialogue richard to the wellbeing of our country and peoples. Host that whole is event is available to you to watch whenever you want at our website. For the next hour i am taking a look at the white house and Congress Talking about specific issues and two guests joining us for that discussion and were joined by Kristina Peterson also jeff mason of reuters, he is there white house correspondent. To both of you, good morning. I cannot think of any singular event that deals with these two bodies. Kristina peterson lets start with you, what has been the announcement and where is congress at on the deal . Republicans were very skeptical in the week leading up to the deal and it became clear that they were probably not going to like the deal very much and that has been reinforced since it has been released. There has been no outright gop support that i can think of just people expressing deep skepticism and very doubtful at this. Iran for producing a Nuclear Weapon. Democrats have been more guarded and have said they want to take time to read the bill and talk to experts. I think what we will start to see is democrats deciding one way or another if this is a deal that they can support. So far we have seen some cautious encouragement but so a lot of questions that people say they have about the deal. A lot of them making statements of the u. S. Has passed its plan for iran as well. I think they felt the white house is not respecting the fact that they had fought quite hard to get this legislation in place to give them 60 days to review the agreement and they felt that the white house going to the u. N. First did and and dont run around them and end run around them. There are still be time to give Congress Time to conduct its review and you didnt see democrats saying this is the reason im not going to vote for, it was more a sense of irritation that it was not necessarily a dealbreaker. Host so what is the white house stance about what is going on with congress . The white house Knows Congress eighth a look at it and they are trying to put on a show of patients, wanting to answer questions and get out with lawmakers and say this is what is in the deal but behind that the near of patients there is some impatience already from the white house about, look we spent a lot of time on this deal it is a good one dont question our motives behind it and dont question the fact that this is something that will be good for the American People. Guest i dont think the white house wanted this 60day review period. There was a lot of resistance when it came up and it seems like the white house openly allowed it to go forward when it became clear that there was a veto proof majority. It is kind of funny to listen to turner say it is only 60 days because congressmen and women will take a 30 day recess, i would spend a lot of time on the golf course. Host you also see secretary of state carol carry on capitol hill and it is a hard sell by this administration. Guest it is a really hard sell. Theyre not only appealing to people here and congress but the allies across the world. You have the defense secretary carter going to israel and saudi arabia so it is heartfelt a home at home and abroad but clearly here it is especially important because in many ways the administration feels like it would lose face and a more than that if congress does not support the deal. If you like a would not go through and be that the sanctions regime that helped give the United States and its allies a lot of credibility would fall apart. As far as the cell is concerned have you ever seen this activity on a specific effort . Guest we saw it in the trade when it was clear that would be a tight vote but what is clear about the iran deal is at they have been working with them for months keeping them briefed on the negotiations and really have in trying to do the groundwork and one of the most effective players in this has been the Energy Secretary. Democrats and republicans alike say he is really knowledgeable. They believe he is not spending them. It was interesting to see him at the talks looking unusual compared to the others but summit who really knows what he is talking about. Is trying to use that credibility back here in washington the same way it did during the talks. Host our guests are with us to talk about congressional and white house issues as we had for the break. Kristina peterson of wall street journal joining us. The numbers to call if you want to ask our guests questions about this or other issues facing congress or the white house. You can tweet your thoughts or post on the Facebook Page as well. Specifically legislators that the administration is targeting what are we looking at . Guest the big dog is senator charles schumer. He has not tipped his hand how he will come out on this deal. Because there are some powerful proisrael groups opposed to it that could be a factor for lawmakers from new york and new jersey who have large jewish constituencies and it is not clear how that will play out that he would certainly be an important person in this state. You also have some of the top democrats. Ben cardin is the top democrat on that panel and senator chris coons these are people that other lawmakers look to to see how they are reviewing Foreign Policy members. Senator menendez has been the most critical of any democrat on the hill so far. He hasnt said he would oppose the deal but he is sharply questioned many of the provisions. Those are some bellwethers aside from centrist democrats like senator joe donnelly and israel has been extremely skeptical with some of these new york, new jersey and Florida Democrats and it will be interesting to see if any republicans support this deal. There has been very little evidence that will occur. Host we see guest for sure. That is one of the hard sell we talked about earlier. The president in his News Conference last week began by saying take a look at the deal and study it closely. I want my staff to be available to we are available to answer questions. The stakes are so high for the administration. It is a legacy issue for the president as well. Getting support particularly from his own party is huge. As christina says, getting a nod of approval from republicans would be a real feather in their cap. Host the president played golf is this part of the strategy or is there Something Else going on . Guest it sure looks like it. It was said this was a game that had been in the works for many months and it was denied it had anything to do with iran. It was a pretty hot day so they probably would have preferred to be in an airconditioned room. On the other hand, the president does not play with members of congress very often, almost never. Saturdays and sundays, which she does nearly every weekend, it is with his closest aides or friends. It is hard not to raise the question, why these guys and why now . Host the president does not spend a lot of time with members of congress. Now these issues come up and yet he has his team doing that for him. Guest a couple flees ago it before the agreement was signed, you can tell when there is someone vote something the white house wants to see on capitol hill, there is an uptick in activity. It seems hard to believe it would be a total coincidence. Host scott is in san antonio texas. Thanks for calling and go ahead. Caller i just wanted, i would like to get a response. All we witnessed since the republicans were in office is they have gone totally against everything he has tried to do. They do not want him to have any kind of a positive legacy once he leaves office. I think it is so scandalous. I understand these people are politicians and everything, but you would think they would put the country ahead of their politics sometimes. Because, simply, they want his legacy just to be something that is totally negative. I would really like to hear you a that particular question please. Guest i think you are right there is a fair amount of hostility between Congressional Republicans and the president. There has been at least one take exception to that, which is we did see trade legislation passed through both chambers. There was support of a large number of republicans, given that so Many Democrats were opposed to this. Certainly on the iran deal, you are seeing republicans endorse a big part of what could be the president s Foreign Policy. On the domestic side, there is at least one counterexample and that is the trade legislation passing this year. We could see some more minor things like Cyber Security legislation, which obama said was a priority of his as well. Guest i would add the president realizing that republicans in many cases have not given him the support he wants for his legacy, brushing that aside and taking initiative to work on things that would affect his legacy that he does not need this up or four, what he has done cuba yesterday, you saw the flag go up again, the new Cuban Embassy here in washington, and also the cuban flag raised in the state department. Also the iran deal. He needs congressional support for the fact that he pursued the negotiations again is a way him showing this is something i will do, not just for his legacy, that because that is something he believes in and he wants his presidency to stand for arid guest it seems that stokes more gop opposition. The fact the iran deal is not coming as a treaty, an executive agreement designed to some extent, that does worsen the tension. Host from missouri mike, you are next. Caller i am no fan of president obama, but he must have at least one genius their ability to vote away creative solutions, my example is the iran thing. I heard the white house is floating some type of legislation to allow certain Social Security recipients not to own a firearm. What a great political move. This will hit the newspapers. I may marine corps and vietnam veteran. This will blow up that the president is trying to take away firearms. This will overshadow the iranian issue. Whoever came up with this idea needs a race. A brilliant idea. That is about what ive got to say. Thank you. Guest it looks like that is a compliment in a criticism caption one comment for the administration. The president obviously has political strategists working in his white house along with policy theyre working on domestic strategy all the time to i am not sure these issues are connected the way the caller suggests. For sure they have got people working on both of those things and thumb control is an issue they care about, though not something i think the president expect to make a whole lot of progress on the remaining months. Host george from West Virginia. Caller thank god for cspan and fox news. That is how i get all my news. I am a retired sergeant major. I cannot understand the Administration One bit. Im a conservative democrat and this administration went so far left, it is unbelievable. It will take 40 years for them to come back into the center again, the Democratic Party. They were showing what happened the last election, how they got wiped out of the congress and the senate and everything. I cannot understand where their brains are. And they learn a lesson let with the korean word deal . It the same thing all over again. Iran is worth worse than north korea. It is when they were negotiating, they had marches all over the place, down americans, this and that and everything. And yet this president , and john kerry all people, can negotiate with his deal in the vietnam war. Leahy downgraded our military and everything, going around the country and entice all veterans to go against this here deal 150 . Host let me take that on the iran deal. Especially in these last years of his presidency. Guest it does seem that is the force encouraging lawmakers to support the iran deal, that the days will want to see the Foreign Policy legacy affirmed. It is something that could stretch well into the next administration and that is where you will see the most support for it, representing states that have a large chunk of that left side of the base. Guest the president has had an off and on relationship with the ministration during his administration for sure. There were times when key supporters felt he was not far enough to the left. The caller obviously disagrees with that. But he has made some moves that helped shore up his base on gayrights. I think we will see more about Climate Change this year, which people on the left care about a lot. As far as Foreign Policy is concerned, one of the problems barack obama made as a senator and president ial candidate, that the United States should be open to negotiating with its enemies and that is what he has done, toward the end of the presidency. Not everyone like that and that is very clear. But it is not something that will hurt him with his base here it is something the president ial edits, republicans or democrats will have to deal with and discuss on the campaign trail. Obama does not have another election to run for. In terms of his own legacy with his base, i think he feels comfortable where he is. Guest trade is the one sort of Sticking Point that was a very tough vote for a lot of democrats. Deep backlash from union groups and democrats who ended up supporting trade could pay the price for that in 2016. Host district heights, maryland, tony is up next. Go ahead. Caller cspan, to me, youre nothing more than a big complaint forum. You are getting anything done. Every day, every month, every year. Let me say this about israel. Israel controls our congress. Unite the democrats and republicans. I am for the deal, but i am against war. Im a military veteran. I have served for 21 years. Though i cannot do nothing about that, they own them. Saudi arabia is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism, not iran. I guess if you sell us oil, it does not matter if you have terrorists. If you dont, it does matter. Amazing. Guest i would say, it is an interesting issue the caller raises. Both israel and saudi arabia are important allies. They are two allies the president in particular decided to send, secretary carter to speak to because they are critical in the region. There are clearly differences the u. S. Has, differences with Prime Minister netanyahu particularly on the iran deal, have been very clear and played out publicly here and in washington when the Prime Minister came to speak. Saudi arabia there are many differences there as well on many issues from human rights to this deal as well. You saw saudi arabia and other allies sent top officials to washington in the spring to talk about further cooperation because of disagreements over this. They are important allies, critical allies to this administration and Going Forward to washington. Guest it is interesting you mention netanyahus trip to congress this year. I think that is still playing a role toward the i run deal right now p are lawmakers felt that was a very political moment. Lawmakers do political things themselves all the time. But they felt they were being used in some sense ahead of the israeli election. There was frustration toward netanyahu that is lingering of israels lingering reaction being discounted from lawmakers who otherwise might feel more sympathetic. Host there will be lobbying members of congress as well. Guest absolutely. We see a variety of responses from these groups. Aipac is vehemently opposed to we will see that battle on the hill next few weeks. Guest we are approaching the 2016 election and those are important voices. Guest we could see a shift in Public Opinion of the deal p lawmakers are not expected to vote on this until they come back from the recess in early september. What the environment and Public Opinion of the deal is then could be important. We could have an opportunity for them to really make their point. Host especially how much they hear about it at home during the break will factor in, that is a fair assumption . Washington, d. C. , john, thank you for holding on. Caller i wanted to make a quick comment, implying that george leaders put israel first and not america, i think aipac has america passes interests first in the deal. I think one of the biggest things is to have not talked about the icbm. In regards to the last caller that somehow israel controls congress, if that were true, all of these groups besides an outlier and the opposition in israel, you know, everybody united not only because of israel being first because america is first. I just wanted to clarify that and thanks for your time and have a good morning. Guest thank you. I think many people on capitol hill and the white house would agree. Guest i would add it is true the concerns that aipac is raising overlap with concerns lawmakers are raising independently of them. There are questions over whether iran would be able to produce a Nuclear Weapon over the first after the last decade. Raising the arms embargo after five years concerns about whether inspections would be done, they would have anywhere anytime access to these sites. The concerns being raised by the proisrael groups are being found in many other places in capitol hill. Host Kristina Peterson and jeff mason with us. Other issues playing out, issues important to congress. Jeff mason, what else is the white house active on, aside from the iran deal . Guest the white house gets focus on certain things at certain times. We talked about trade earlier and that was allconsuming. He would walk back and talk to Staff Members during that time and they were all working on it. I think iran applies to that as well. Going forward after the recess and after people get back from vacations, we will see action on Climate Change coming up. There are international talks on Climate Change coming up that the administration will be very active in trying to get International Agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. I think trade has not gone away. He got what he wanted in terms of trade promotion authority. They still have to get a deal done with asian companies. At some point, a european one as well. I think we could expect to see both of those highlighted in the coming months. Host aside from trade, what other issues is Congress Interested in getting done . Guest there are other issues before they go on august recess. The trust fund at the end of the month unless lawmakers take some kind of action. What is interesting is at the house the house and senate do not seem to be on the same page yet here they are controlled by republicans but seem to have a different game plan for how this will play out. The house has passed a highway bill that would extend funding through december with the idea that that would buy them time to do a larger Corporate Tax overhaul that would generate enough money to pay for a longer highway bill. There is a lot of skepticism in the senate that could actually work. There is expected to be a vote in the senate today on a highway will, but it is still not clear what it will be. We think somewhere longer than 18 months is what they are hoping to produce, and they would like to do a sixyear bill, but it is not clear, ways to pay for that. We expect in the senate they would have some sort of amendment to reopen the import bank, a big target of conservatives in congress. They did successfully, they were not able to reopen it when it officially closed its doors july 1, but there is an expectation of support in the senate and likely in the house as well at some point this year. Host infrastructure being a big push by the administration so they are behindthescenes to get this done. Guest im glad you raised that issue. They care very much about it. The question of how to pay for it is an open one. I think the white house is often eager for a longerterm deal. They have been pushing congress to do that. They are sick of having to relitigate this debate every few months or years so that is something they care about as well. Another issue you do not hear that many people talk about because it keeps getting put off, but it is lingering, is the keystone xl pipeline. That is something people on Obama Policies based care about very much. It will come up eventually and i had an interview with the president earlier this year or i said, will you make a decision before the end of your term and he said yes. Many people thought would be much earlier than this, but that will come up. Host we waiting for the state department to weigh in on where they stand on it . Guest we are. Once they officially make their call, it will go to the white house and the president will make his final decision. It is hard to say what that will be. I think the president and the white house in general have tried to say, were letting the state department run the process , we are seeingof both sides of the debate. Speaking only for myself, they will not get it a green light. Host is there a sense republicans can do nothing else now . Guest now that it has fallen by the wayside in capitol hill, they set their sights more on iran now and are trying to get more support for that. Keystone, they sort of moved on. Host garrett from florida, you are next. Caller a caller came in and said so probably they only get their news from fox news. It was like he called in to say he is stupid as hell. Another thing i want to say barack obama, the public got the the republicans got the power of the purse, and they give him anything he wants. The man is the greatest president this country has ever seen. That is the way i see it. Guest i am not sure the president would agree with that. [laughter] but the caller did raise a good point about the power of the purse and one of the last battles we will see this year is government funding at the end of the fiscal year. Unless they want another Government Shutdown, and we might see a sort of shortterm measure passed through the end of the year of this could be another fiscal fight in december, that would be my guess. But certainly, the president and republicans have been on very different pages about what the spending levels would be so that is likely to be a fierce fight. Guest i think you raise a good point that is not in the republican interest to have another shutdown. The last thing republican candidates, of which there are many, and many of them coming from the halls of congress, want is to have to defend themselves to voters in iowa, New Hampshire, on the campaign trail, that this is a party that cannot government cannot keep the government i think you are right. It will be a tough debate as they always are. The administrations hand is somewhat strengthened in this particular one because the republicans will not have an interest in shutting down the government. Guest i think that is true. Related to that, they will have to raise the Borrowing Limit the debt ceiling, and that is a tough vote for republicans. Conservative voters do not like seeing the debt ceiling race. Similarly, i do not think congressional leaders want to be responsible with even flirting with the idea of a debt default. To make this is quite a fight as possible and just get it over with. Host there is a story on political saying this time around they do not have paul ryan and patty murray working together on this. Who is leading the charge and what is the nature of the relationship . Guest absolutely. There are not similar leaders among the rank and file here. The expectation is that it will be top dogs working with the obama administration. Some combination of john boehner, Mitch Mcconnell, harry reid, maybe the Appropriations Committee chairman to be involved, but it will not be a deal worked out on the sidelines and then embraced by leadership. Problem probably. Guest from the administration side, it will be interesting to see if biden gets involved again, particularly if it is those leaders doing it. He has got a Good Relationship with Mitch Mcconnell as we have seen in the last few years. If the Vice President decides to stick his hat in the ring for the 2016 campaign, maybe he will be less active here that is also an open question that will probably have an answer in the next few months. Host republican line. Indiana. Caller i am calling from indiana and although i am republic and, i like president obama. He has made some bad choices. But it is not all his fault because congress has been messed up. It is a little bit of both parties faults where we are. But i think iran is a bad choice. I do not think iran can be trusted. I Hope Congress can get together to her that is probably where most of the blame is. The way congress has been dysfunctional. To be a christian i hope you can try to get prayer back in schools because the war is not against flesh and blood, but against powers in places which are not of god. I hope we can get prayer back in school and all the christians which i to see if they could get their act together. Host thank you. Congress getting its act together to not the first time you heard that phrase. Guest there is not a high degree of Public Confidence and lawmakers are aware of that and they know it. It does not mean they drop everything get along. There are persistent reasons why they do not have any centrist lawmakers from either party anymore. The starting positions on any issue are just farther apart. Host the Washington Times has rational utility index. From genuine to june, at this stage, 27 bills signed into law 608 votes past, i think there has been a greater dont greater degree of bills. It does not necessarily mean that overall it means it would be more productive given that it we have a democratic president. We have seen majority leader mcconnell, on the other side of that democrats have been letting more things come to the floor. They have not lost as many things as republicans did to minorities. We have seen some changes. Guest i just wanted to pick up on one thing the caller mentioned with iran. A good one because it actually delays the breakout time for iran to get a Nuclear Weapon United States continues to have major agreements with iran and continues to see it as statesponsored terror. But believes this deal is good. The timeframe for them to be able to obtain a nuclear bomb. Guest one thing we havent discussed is the white house really does not need that many lawmakers to back it. In order to implement a deal. They just need to present a vetoproof majority. The bar is somewhat low here in terms of how much support they actually need to go forward. Host are there other factors there as well . Guest this did not come as a treaty but as an executive agreement, and believe. They are able to forward with it unless obama vetoes a resolution of disapproval and that veto is overridden. If that doesnt happen, the administration can go forward. Guest the administration is taking it seriously, the risk of that happened. They are fairly confident it will not happen. Guest i think lawmakers know that and they are not happy it is not coming to them as a treaty. Host ohio, good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. I want to comment. Remember that the u. S. Is not the only player here. The world is involved in this negotiation. Today, a high delegate of german is visiting iran. Regardless of what the u. S. Congress will do, it already been accepted by the world. Or it will mean nothing. The sanction will be lifted. Regardless what congress will do, it means nothing. We better get our act together and approved this. Thank you. Guest two responses to the white house would agree with you and say this is an argument for ingress as well to support the deal. Already has International Backing from the many negotiators who were part of putting the packed together but also from the United Nations security council. You raise a good issue about the fact some of the Companies Like germany countries like germany were involved, working with iran and opening up the possibility for their businesses to start doing business with iran. It is something, a door that has not been open to u. S. Companies. At some point, the iranian market. Guest lawmakers are saying if a resolution of disapproval were to be passed, and were they to override the president passes veto, he would not be able to wave that would derail the whole deal, other companies would not necessarily feel comfortable if Congress Passes sanctions were remaining in place care they still feel like they have some leverage here even as other countries are taking actions. Caller i want to follow up. If [indiscernible] in iran, and they will get an abomb which will not be able to compete with our farm, they would shoot off one bomb or whatever what happened when the deal went through and have their country destroyed by us and anybody else, does that make sense . I cannot believe they would get all of this going to get one bomb to destroy their own self. That is what would happen if a shot off your what do you do . Guest i think the caller is raising the possibility of a nuclear war. They would not be dumb enough to use a bomb and essentially destroy itself. I think there are a couple other issues at play. Both United States and the others involved in the deal would be lifting sanctions in iran and giving them considerably greater amounts of resources and money. They give iran the opportunity to continue destabilizing the region. There is no real argument among even the people or the countries that help negotiate a deal that iran has done some destabilizing activity in the region. That is the big for israel and the gulf states who say look, this deal is not good enough and it will give them a lot more money and resources and International Backing to do things in the region that are not right. Guest hi greek or just on the Nuclear Weapons peace, critics are concerned that if they were to increase their custody to build new weapons, it would create some sort of Nuclear Arms Race in which other countries in the region felt pressure to develop their own weapons. Just sort of escalating the threat level. Host scott in illinois, good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. There are plenty of muslims that actually endorsed jihad. 75 of muslims that are peaceful people. Doesnt that 25 equal [indiscernible] but then again, my father was a Nuclear Engineer for many years. Ive been looking into energy, i know that that energy is the safest in the world. Why are we not putting ourselves into that form of energy . I think it would be peaceful for everybody, especially america, and if iran had the Nuclear Energy, they would not be a threat because that cannot be made into a nuclear bomb. That is it. Thanks. Guest i do not think im qualified to talk about the point the caller made, but i think the concept of Nuclear Energy is one that will continue to be an issue for other countries in the world, to bring all of these issues together, we were talking about Climate Change, Nuclear Power is a clean form of energy not highly emitting of carbon. That would be on the table there. In terms of iran and its nuclear program, they have set the entire time is what they want is to produce energy, whether you believe that we do not, it is legitimate really for them. From their point of view, it comes down to having an energy source. Guest on the greater point of Energy Legislation and will be a tough thing to see advanced and signed by the president. There doesnt seem to be that much overlap between Congressional Republicans and what the administration agree on on that front. I am not sure we will see Much Movement there, though the Administration May do its best to push for some. Host the cuban flag now flies over the embassy here in washington. That took place yesterday. Talk about where we go from here and particularly where Congress Goes and where the white house would like to see relationships go. Guest there are two fronts, lifting restrictions on travel and trade, and there will be a push from the administration, we expect to restore more normalized relations. On this front, there is bipartisan support and also bipartisan opposition. I think we will probably see travel restrictions go first. There are a couple different dynamics here. There are some cubanamerican lawmakers who say they do not want to see the move that is seen as something that will make life easier for the regime in cuba, they do not want to see that dynamic restored. I am not sure this will be at the top of the agenda, but it is a tension we are seeing in congress. Guest it will be at the top of the agenda for many president ial candidates and you have heard many of them way and after an historic day as you mentioned. I think one will be travel by administration officials. You will see secretary john kerry travel probably sometime in august. The white house has made no secret of the fact that the president would like to go to cuba sometime before the end of his administration is conditions are right. Yesterday in the press briefing we asked about that and it he declined to say but clearly they want to see improvements on human rights and improvements on areas that continue to be Sticking Points between cuba and the United States. Overall, they see this as a win and it is something that is right for the United States and move forward after decades of policy at least from obamas point of view did not work. Host the topic of hostages has been the news for the last couple of days. Guest the white house made clear this was a separate topic. They did not want to be used as a bargaining chip. People feel differently as to whether that was a good idea. Secretary kerry raised the idea of americans being held in iran with his counterpart at the very end of the nuclear talks, once the pact had been agreed in the white house said it is working every day tirelessly to get the americans home. Guest that is definitely not satisfying some republicans who are not pleased that has been separated out from the rest of the nuclear agreement. Host john in georgia, you are next, go ahead. Caller two quick points and i have a question for your guests. On so many levels, this iranian thing is a joke. It is a joke because number one, iranians cannot be trusted. Their prime goal is to destroy israel and us. Here we are, the administration is basically appeasing them on every point. And i think obama of our generation, the Prime Minister of israel, with peace in our times, and hitler went right into czechoslovakia and if anybody thinks youll prevent war in the middle east, believe you me, saudi arabia saudi arabia turkey, jordan, are all nervous about the iranian deal. They will hold their own Nuclear Weapons. Remember, that part of the world is sunni shiite and there is no love lost between those two. Guest the caller raises issues being raised in the city and all over the world about the deal. Those are all legitimate questions and points. The white house has argued that israel is safer if iran does not have a Nuclear Weapon and they believe very strongly that the deal will prevent iran from getting one. In that sense, they also think it will prevent a Nuclear Arms Race from coming out of the region. Because it has these constraints on iran. Others see it as the opposite because of their concern, and move to pursue Nuclear Weapons of their own. Guest i think this is a big debate on capitol hill. Deal supporters say this is not a perfect deal that we do not see a lot of alternatives beyond sending troops to the ground. There is strong opposition to doing that. The question is, are there other viable alternatives, and that islamic is our way right now even as they raise concerns about provisions of the deal themselves. They say it is preferable to starting another military conflict. Guest your point is well taken. He said the president s press conference last week. Very clearly, lawmakers, if you are posed to the deal, do not just a nation of gotten a better deal. If you think the best alternative is to go to war saying out loud so we can have a legitimate debate about that. Guest he sounded very frustrated. That was an unusual press conference. Guest it was. He does not want others not at the negotiating table to make it seem like, we can get everything we want. His point was it does not work that way and if you want to go to war, lets talk about that. The truth is, americans do not. Host tulsa, oklahoma. Caller back to the discussion on the potential Government Shutdown in the study. The news media is complicit is it in the wasteful spending in the federal government. He does guests with their shallow response, Congress Giving him the right to spend anything he wants to stand no, no discussion. About the indications of spending 25 more of what you take and, trillions of dollars of wasteful spending. The news media and people represent them. Well respected organizations. What you need to have a discussion on what the implications are of darling and printing money and borrowing from our grandkids. Guest that is a good point here we are discussing the political leverage involved in budget negotiations between the administration and lawmakers. There is a substantive disagreement there have about whether standing should be capped at the levels of 2011 for both military spending and investment spending. Capping those spending is inappropriate for military spending that men and women in the services need more money and that it is our duty to raise budgets there. Democrats agree with that but they want to see spending race across the board. That is sort of the kernel of the actual policy disagreement there. Should you raise spending just on the military side will do it just for military and domestic . That is what we will see play out. Guest to address the caller passes criticism as well, talking about politics, the truth is, you cannot separate the politics from the policies, as you cannot in many issues. It has implications because whoever is in charge will be able to decide how much spending to increase or decrease in the same for how to tackle it that. Is clearly an issue that he does parties disagree on and it will have implications in the 2016 republican and democratic race. Host one more call, joseph in rhode island. Caller hey, america. Lets talk about israel. Hello . Israel is the part of the government 1948, you took away the black power over in israel and gave it to the way people over there, the white juice jews, young jews from germany and you brought my family in 1951, from iran. Host thanks. Going forward, what is the next thing to watch for, what are you going for . Guest it will be important to see how the white house keep that momentum on it agenda, be it iran or Climate Change or trade or the economy in the coming weeks and months. Clearly, some people are going on vacation, the president as well. After that, we keep talking about the election. At some point, the election will suck the oxygen out of washington and that will affect the power structure here. I think president is working very hard and the white house in general is working very hard to stay relevant and they are with them anything they are doing on a policy level, whether you agree or disagree with them. At some point, the election will take up a lot of that space and then the question will be, how do they continue to stay relevant and keep up the momentum on the policy agenda that he wants to achieve in the remaining months of his presidency. Guest i can see a lot of these issues coming to a head of december in an effort to get them out away before a president ial election takes over on the hill. The debt ceiling, potentially the highway site could all be wrapped up in one big struggle and ever. It will be interesting to see if the House Senate Leadership are on the same page that. Host Kristina Peterson, jeff mason thanks for the discussion. Coming up, we will take a look at Child Poverty Child Poverty in the night states. We talk about the conditions taking place. Mark hugo lopez joins us for that discussion. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] freedom breeds inequality. Always to the right. Anything complicated confuses him. Filmmakers talk about their documenting documentary about a conservative and a liberal over war, politics god, and sex. Very unlike today. Today, i believe there is someone saying the numbers are dwindling, talk about hot topics. Whereas then, i do not think it was the norm in tv at the time. I do not think these guys needed that. He mentioned the moderator, a distinguished news man who i think was really kind of embarrassed by this. He was moderating but he disappears for sometimes five minutes at a time. Today, you would not have a moderator not jumping in every 30. I think really everybody at abc just stood back and let the fire burned. Click sunday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on cspans q and day. Cspan gives you the best access to congress. Live coverage of the u. S. House congressional hearings and news, as, bringing you events that shape public policy. Every morning, washington journal is life with elected officials, policymakers, and journalist. Your comments by phone facebook, and twitter. Cspan, created by americas Cable Companies and brought you as a Public Service buyer local cable or satellite provider. Washington journal continues. Host joining us now, Mark Hugo Lopez of the Pew Research Center. Thank you for joining us. You put out regular reports take a look at Child Poverty in the United States. A recent one takes a look specifically at that population. Tell us what the most recent report found. Guest one of the striking things about Child Poverty is we have seen a decline. The rate is falling amongst children, for all groups except one, for black children, the poverty rate remains about what it had been in 2008, which is about 38 according to figures from the senses euro. For hispanics and whites and asians, we have seen a decline at least in the last year in terms of poverty rates. Host what is the reason . Guest we see an improvement in the labor market, and poverty is tied to income. When parents have jobs, the poverty rate tends to be lower. We have seen the employment rate particularly for blacks remained stubbornly high. The last reading from the Census Bureau the bureau from labor statistics sorry june, about half that. You can see a big difference in terms of Unemployment Rate. That has a role in impacting poverty rates as well. Host how do we define poverty in the u. S. . Guest we have a measure that looks at income. For a family of four, if you earn less than 20,500, that is below the poverty line. Host does that come with us as if they get to federal programs . How is that factor . Guest that is not factored in. The poverty line is the poverty line for a nation as a whole whether we are at mississippi or california, were using the same poverty measure. There are alternatives which do take into account programs like free reduced lunch or programs for children or even programs like Social Security. You take those into account and the poverty rates the different. Rather than the highest poverty rates being in the south, it would be california because the cost of living in california is so high, and new york. Host if the poverty rate in california has stayed the same, give a practical outcome of that. What is what is it like to be that child . Guest your living in an area where it may be hard to make ends meet, to eat every day comfortably. Parents do not have money to pay for the necessities like new close for school or supplies for school. All these things are things that could be impacted by living in poverty immediately. In the long run, you could have impacts in terms of educational attainment. Many of the children may not necessarily finish high school are going to college and finish college. The impact of childhood poverty is not only a short impact but a longrun impact on the lives of the people when they become adults. Host our guest is with us to talk about poverty the United States. If you want to talk about the findings in the overall issue if you live in an income below 20,000 and you want to give your perspective all others you can tweet and also post in our Facebook Page as well. Looking at the various breakout, black, hispanic, weights, asian talk about the hispanic community. Guest the hispanic implement rate has come down to disk at least since the end of the Great Recession. You have seen and limit far 9 in 2008 in 2009 to more around 6. 5 today. That is a significant decline. We are also seeing many his back are doing well on the labor market. They are doing well in areas like construction. On the other hand, we take a look at africanamericans. The Unemployment Rate has not declined quite as quickly and that is a big reason for why we see so much higher Child Poverty rates and also in general for the africanamerican community. Host what does the statistics say about support, and what about state supporters as well . What is the condition of offering help for those . Guest the official poverty measure does not take into account many potential sources of support. But the potential source of support our support are important for making ends meet ticket alien children. The way the programs work, they could help out with reduced price lunch at School Spirit a head start or Early Childhood education programs. They can help out with providing health care or at least a lowcost health care alternative for many of these children. These are all very important for Young Children and while many on children take advantage of these programs, not every child living in poverty is necessarily using all of these. Host we saw higher numbers in the 90s when you see significant dips in all factors. Why did that happen . Guest in the 1980s in 1990s, there were higher poverty rates for children. It was consistently that for many years. Part of the reason was there were not necessarily as many programs in place to help these children. Rates for africanamericans were quite high in the 1980s m in 1990s. In the 1990s, the economy as improved really saw the rate come down to record lows that we had not seen at the end of world war ii. Host for those of income below 25,000 all others where do these numbers come from and how do we face these numbers . What are we basing them from . Guest the Current Population survey. It is a monthly survey done by the u. S. Census euro and the bureau of labor statistics. The march supplement contains income, poverty, and Health Insurance. It is this data we use to generate who is living in poverty, and also Health Insurance trends in the united date. It has been a regular publication put out every year one that many people anticipate because it is one of the most important measures of how well the United States is doing in terms of income, in terms of poverty, and in terms of Health Insurance coverage. Host what else do we learn other than what we have talked about . Guest not only the poverty rate for children is now at 20 , and when we take a look of the total number of children in poverty it is over 14 million children who live in poverty according to the official public poverty measure. The numbers are down but we have had changes. There are more hispanic children living in poverty than any other group. Prior to that, it was always white children. One other fighting for the particular report we put out if it looks like there has been a decline in the number of white children living in poverty so much so that now the number of black children living in poverty is greater than the number of white children but just slightly. We are not sure if this is a real change or a blip in statistics. Guest i admit is or the slowing down is the white population in the United States and the aging. Hispanic children and black children are making up a larger share of the populations. Host this report is available at the Pew Research Center website. Mark hugo lopez joining us to talk about the findings you have heard about, particularly about africanamerican children and People Living at income levels below 25,000. Pewresearchcenter. Org is how to find out more about this. Guest our interest is to track what has happened with the Great Recession but we look at other aspects. For example, what has happened with household wealth, Unemployment Rates, income and equality. This is all part of our program looking at americans and how they view their middleclass status, where they see themselves compared to others and how they see their financial futures. Host lets start off with selena and houston, texas or those who have an income of below 25,000. Caller at one time i did work for the food stamp office. I am now retired on a fixed income but i see the problem that children have, especially with black parents is the parents have these [indiscernible] i think that is one of the major reasons. Guest that is exactly right. Then being gainfully employed was one of the challenges that many people face and this was partly but is causing some of the higher poverty rates we see among some groups of americans. Host