Transcripts For CSPAN Washington Journal 20141006

Independents, 2025853882. If youre outside the u. S. , its 2025853883. You can also catch up with us on all your favorite pages on witter, facebook, or email us. A very good monday morning to you. We begin with the front page of the American Press from lake charles, louisiana. Supreme court in session, justices expected to take on the issue of gay marriage. That headline dominating several of the major papers today and over the weekend. Heres the front page of the usa today, justices term starts slow, could explode is the headline there to yesterdays front page of the Washington Post. The defining moment possible for the court. The prospect of a major ruling on gay marriage looms large. And read you a bit from the reuters story previewing todays opening day of the new term. This term, which runs to the end of june, is expected to be defined by whatever action the justices take on whether states can ban gay marriage. They have not yet agreed to hear any of the seven cases already decided by federal Appeals Courts. For more on that topic, we turn to the author of that story, Lawrence Hurley, the Supreme Court correspondent for reuters. Want to talk to you, lawyerness hurley, first about why the Supreme Court has not taken up this issue yet as so many people expect it will by the end of the term. Guest well, the court often delays action on big cases, so its not hugely surprising, but the seven cases that are before the justices, and theyve had time to consider it, and were expecting that well hear something in the next couple of weeks. Host is there any expectation the court could take a pass, or is everyone fairly certain at this point . Guest thats always possible. Of course, if they decline to take the cases, that would leave the Appeals Court ruling intact, which would immediately lead to a whole series of other states getting gay marriage, and that would obviously cause a lot of uncertainty in the court system, because then youll have a part of the country where courts have ruled that its invalid and other parts where its still up in the air. Host is there one specific case that is more likely than the seven others that are before the court that the court might take up . Guest well, thats going a point of discussion amongst legal experts as to which of the cases might be best. Its possible the court could take more than one. Some of the cases raise slightly different issues, not just about whether a state can ban gay marriage, but also whether a state that doesnt allow gay marriage has to recognize a marriage that takes place in a state that is legal, so there are a couple of different issues there. Host is there a court could avoid the issue of gay marriage and the overwhelming issue of gay marriage here . Could they do Something Like they did with the proposition 8 case and decide on a more narrow term . It would seem to be pretty unlikely. If they agree, it would be pretty unlikely they could avoid the big question. Host Lawrence Hurley is from reuters. Heres another one of the stories previewing whats happening today. Are arriage business cases on the docket. What else is on the docket starting today . Guest the court doesnt have any blockbuster cases yet, aside from the gay marriage issue, but theres some quite interesting cases both on the business side and general interest cases, some of which the criminal cases and some more kind of technical businesses. One of the interesting ones being argued tomorrow is about a muslim prison inmate from arkansas who wants to grow a beard in acourtance with his beliefs, and the prison officials said he couldnt. Hes sued under a religious freedom law, and the court actually agreed toer that case after he initially wrote a handwritten court filing himself, which is pretty unusual. So the court will be hearing that tomorrow, and thats an interesting issue, especially coming after the hobby lobby case at the end of last term, which also raised the issue of eligious rights. Host what cases get the honor of going the opening day . Guest the court is hearing a criminal case about a man who was stopped, his car was stopped by police in north arolina because one of his taillights the car was initially stopped because one of his taillights wasnt working. When the police searched the car, they found drugs. But the issue there is whether the Police Actually could stop him, because in North Carolina you only need to have one working tail light. So technically he actually there was no reason for the police to stop him. Scommoip Lawrence Hurley, are you heading up to the court today to watch todays cause . Appreciate your time this morning to preview the cases. Well get back to you later in the term. Thanks for joining under the circumstances. Guest thanks a lot. Host were asking our viewers, should the Supreme Court take up the issue of gay marriage . Were taking your calls. Our phone lines are open. We can also follow your tweets as well. cspanwj. O us one of those tweets, Supreme Court should take it up. The civil liberties, etc. , need to be protected. Were taking your calls and comments for this first 5 minutes this morning on the washington journal. Well begin with shirley calling in from michigan on our line for democrats. Shirley, good morning. Caller hi. I believe that the Supreme Court should take it up, because theyre american citizens. Theres no ifs, but and ands about whos who. Scommoip shirley, how should the Supreme Court decide down the road if and when they do take it up like you say they should . Caller what do you mean after they take it up . Host how do you think they should decide on the case . Caller oh, they should decide, yes, they should be able to marry, because theyre american citizens. Host thats shirley from michigan. Were taking your calls and comments all morning for the first 45 minutes. Anita is next, calling in from North Carolina on our line for republicans. Anita, good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host good. Anita, go ahead. Caller ok. I think gay marriage should be taken care of by the Supreme Court, because theyre adopting children, and any situation where children are involved should have government supervision. Just like i would think a 14yearold girl having children, the government should have some say over how things should happen because children would be would be involved. Anything outside of what they will call them now and female relationship, including those relationships have to be governed by, you know, and supervised by a government, and i think the government should have a lot of psychologists involved so that for some reason the children are involved, that, you know, the issues can be taken care of professionally and also the business of, like they say, they want healthcare, they want to be able to inherent property. Im not gay. I dont practice that. But i feel people going to do what they want to do, and if this government allows people to live the way they feel comfortable, that they should allow them to do that, but they also should protect the rights of other people being in a situation with them. Host what do you think about the evolution of the gay marriage debate in this country . Res a Pew Research Center polling showing those in favor. Those in favor as of 2014, 54 support samesex marriage as of today. Does that sound about right to ou as you watch this debate . Caller do i think its increasing . Host yeah. Caller well, i think more people are probably understanding, and yes, it is increasing, because you cant tell an adult what to do. You really cant. You have to i dont think they should allow, you know, ke they wouldnt let a heterosexual, you know, molest a child in a school situation. I mean, homosexuals or whatever you would call them could have to follow those laws also. So people are understanding, as long as theyre following rules too that, you know, we cant stop people from wanting to do the things they feel comfortable doing. Host anita in income n. Donald is up next from arizona on our line for democrats. Donald, good morning. Caller ok. Host hi, donald. Youre on the washington journal. Caller yes. Host go ahead, donald. Just turn down your tv and go ahead. Caller ok. Good morning. Host just go ahead, donald. We can hear you. Caller ok, yeah, i think that the Supreme Court should take up the issue of gay marriage. And i think they should rule against it. Host why is that, donald . Caller well, because number one and foremost in my mind, the gay activities, they dont ever talk about the dark side of the gay activity. And the activity in my mind, its an act against nature. And foremost and utmost in my mind is not morally, its not religions, but act against nature is gods law, and its also the law of the universe. Host do you know gay couples in arizona . Caller i have known a handful of gays. Theyre all around you. But i think the populace of the United States, in my mind at least, is against the idea of recognizing and making legal gay marriage. Host thats arizona this morning. Were taking your questions and taking your comments this morning. We can take your questions on this issue in our later segment of the washington journal. Were going to have a panel talking about the new Supreme Court term, and we can get into some more of your questions about it. But right now were just asking, should the Supreme Court take up the issue of gay marriage this term . Heres a chart from usa today showing the 19 states where samesex marriage is allowed, and then the states where there are bans on samesex marriage listed as well. The bans would be lifted in some of those states pending appeal. Those states are in blew that chart there. If you want to go to the usa today or several other news sites as well having listings and graphics about this issue around the country, but we just want to get your thoughts this morning. Bar radio is in red rock, oklahoma, on our line for republicans. Barbara, good morning. Caller good morning. Yes, i think they should take it up and deny it because its not natural. Its supposed to be a man and a woman in a real marriage. Good thing they didnt live back in bible days. Theyd be stoned to death. But i am hardly against it. Host all right. Barbara in red rock, oklahoma. The Washington Post story on the history of whats been happening on this issue since the windsor decision, the historic decision about the defense of marriage act. This story noting that same sex couples can marry in 19 states, including maryland and the district of columbia. Judges have ruled in favor of it to some degree in 16 states and three Appeals Courts have found a constitutional right. That story noting that no Appellate Court has upheld a marriage pricks. Only one Federal District judge in louisiana has done so, but more than 30 states and some of the nations biggest corporations have asked the court to settle the issue now. Lets go to our line for independents. Caller i actually got married. I am of the gay, less bee, and bisexual and transgendered community. I got married two days ago. I honestly feel that it would be the best decision to take on the case, because im from georgia, and i had to drive all the way to illinois to get married. I completely feel that that is unfair. My family couldnt be there. Nobody could be there. I dont feel its right. And having them look over this and take on this case would be a tremendous change for us. It really would. Host do you think the court ill decide in favor of gay marriage . Theyre entering their 10th year under chief john roberts. Caller i hope so, but there is a lot of controversy because of e fact that theres things like this and a lot of people dont agree, so i completely understand why there is such a big situation with it. But i am hoping that it goes through and works out great, in our favor, but also has our limitations to where we dont understand or affect anyone else. Host thats tonya calling in from fort campbell, kentucky. Peggy is up next from florida on our line for democrats. Caller good morning. First of all, i want to say that host peggy, i can hear you. You want to say what . Caller first of all, i want to say good morning, and to say that i am against it also. I am a christian, and somehow r another, and they just dont seem to understand that if youre christian and youre against this, they hate you. They dont want us to hate them, but they hate us. So im totally against it because i am a christian and i love all people. You say that to them, they look at you like youre craze. Well, how could you be a christian and be against Something Like this . Its because i fully believe in the bible and the word of god. So thats my statement. Thank you. Host were showing live shots this morning from the Supreme Court. The new term opening today, and well be previewing later in the show some of the many cases that are on the docket, but theres no gay marriage case currently scheduled for the Supreme Court docket, so were asking our viewers this morning, should the Supreme Court take up the issue, and if so, how should they decide it . The history of the gay marriage issue, first legalized in the netherlands in 2001. Gay marriage, gay and less bean marriages have spread to 19 countries and, of course, 9 states, as wee already noted. Before the samesex marriage went on the current winning streak, there was a very long losing streak, according to the story in usa today. He notes that in 1972, the Supreme Court tossed out the first gay marriage lawsuit for want of federal question n. 19 6, the justices held up states rights to ban homosexual sodomy. In 1990s brought progress, but not victory, from hawaii to vermont. If you want to read more on richard wolfs story, that came out on friday. But were asking our viewers, should the Supreme Court take up gay marriage this term . Lets go to North Carolina on our line for democrats. Good morning. Caller good morning. How are you . Host im good. Go ahead. Caller yes. Im a person who believe in god , and i love people, and i know that god is love, but i just cannot agree with gay relations, i really cant. There are so many more important issues in the world that we need to address. I can just name a few. But anyway, i think we need to ddress more issues like war, injustice, you know, we have racism. We have so many things that are going on. My thing is we need to address these issues and if people are going to lose to be, you know, woman and woman, man and man in relationships, then let that be their choice, but i dont feel that they should exploit it as much as they are doing, you know, publicly and everything, because it really does affect not only them being satisfied, but it dissatisfies and just shows a lot of, you know, remorse with, say, children and everyone who has to be a part of it. You know, do it discretely, but not publicly the way that they have. Thats my statement. Host what do you mean by exploit publicly, if you can explain a little bit more . Quhipe i mean is that, you know, when as a scomman a the together, which is natural way to be in a relationship, we dont do things as publicly. You know, theres just so many public things that they do that could be done privately. In a relationship. If theyre going to choose to do it, and they accept it and they, you know, they do it together, then do it privately and not just be so exploitive out in the public where everyone can see you do it. Im not saying dont come out, you know, that you need to address your issues, because you can handle your issues better when you address them, acknowledge the fact that you are gay, you know, you want to e a less less bean, whatever, but then just dont be so exploitive, because it affects everyone in the United States. Host can i ask you, can there be a difference between the religious aspect of this that youre talking about and sort of the societal contract aspect of marriage . We have a tweet from ross who says there is a difference between the religious covenant here and the societal contract of marriage. Hat do you think about that . Caller ok, my point, because i in ot to get too indepth lets say religion, because thats a deep thing, as well as, you know, say politically that would be deep, but i would go as to say, you know, there are certain covenants. You need to just stay true to a man and a woman being married. If you choose to do differently, then let that be your individual choice, but then dont take it as far as where theyre going, say taking it to court and everything like that and then wanting to, you know, like the young lady said, she had to go from georgia to kentucky to get married, ok, if thats what you have to do and you really and truly believe this is what you want out of life for whatever the reason is, and i dont know, then do that. But dont, you know, feel like we have to just go all the way to the top and then make it be etched in stone. Host es si freeh kentucky. Were taking your calls and comments for the first 45 minutes this morning, as we also show you some of the live scenes outside the Supreme Court this morning. Well be talking about all the Different Cases the Supreme Court is taking up this term. On the issue of gay marriage and the issues of gay republicans spefbling, heres a headline from the hill newspaper, boehner raising cash for openly gay republican candidates. That story from the hill, noting that john boehner vowed last year that hed back gay g. O. P. Candidates, and now hes making good on his word. The Ohio Republican is headed out to california this week, where hell raise cash for one openly gay candidates. He shot down calls to abandon gay g. O. P. Candidates, arguing the party needed to make better inroads with gays, women and minorities following the partys poor showing in the 2012 election. If you want to read more on that the hill newspaper, and speaking of the election, just 29 days now until the midterm elections. Lots of discussions on the expectation games and seats won and seats lost. That actually played out yesterday on meet the press. They talked about expectations specifically for the senate. Heres a bit of what they had to say. You look at arkansas, south dakota, west virginia, louisiana, did you to colorado, youre seeing republicans in the lead. I mean, so, look, with a month out, id much rather be where were at than the democrats. You dont win the senate, failure . I think weve got to win the senate, absolutely. If you dont, its a bad election . I think thats fair. I think we will win the senate. The question for us is are we going to win with six, seven or eight seats . Thats whats up for grabs right now. Host thats the r. N. C. Chairman from yesterdays meet the press. The frontpage story in todays wall street journal fwalks the expectation game and efforts by Democratic Candidates specifically to control, keep control of the senate. The headline, democrats, tough task should not obama, woo blacks is the headline there. These democrats in North Carolina, louisiana, and georgia, like others running around the country, are trying to distance themselves from a president who is deeply unpopular among white voters host should the Supreme Court take up gay marriage this term . Georgia on our line for republicans. Thank for waiting, kenneth. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller yes, i think the Supreme Court should take up this issue and settle it once and for all and also change the name of our country to the United States of sodom and gomorrah. Host all right, kenneth in georgia. James is in winsboro, georgia, on our line for democrats. Good morning. Caller how are you today . Host good. Caller yes, i think they should take this up and outlaw it. Listen, im not against gay people, but if you are gayless bean, keep this behind closed doors. Do what you got to do, love each other, whatever. But out in public, dont try to force this down our throat. We all know that this is wrong, immoral, whatever you want to call it. Youre just flat out wrong. Dont try to force it down our throat. Outlaw it in the Supreme Court and be done with it. Host a little bit more history on this issue with the Supreme Court in congress. Samesex marriage battle began more than 20 years ago in hawaii when they almost became the first state to approve t. Opponents moved quick until 1996. Congress passed the defense of marriage act which didnt allow federal recognition of samesex marriage, and then the first bans were imposed. Of course, leading to that decision by the Supreme Court, in the windsor case, which we talked about already this morning. Were getting your calls on this topic for about the next 20 minutes or so. Tracy is in high yatsville, maryland, on our line for republicans. Tracy, good morning. Good morning, yes, i believe the Supreme Court should take up the issue of samesex union, but my position is that marriage contributes to the situation of a nation. It isnt only for pleasure, it is to bring forth children. And samesex unions cannot do hat. Whatever it is, it has to have its own name, because its unfair. If they cannot give to the nation what married couples do, which is bring forth citizens, they shouldnt be classified in the same way. So it isen fair. Its unfair to those people who ontribute, have the same designation as people who dont contribute. Thats my comment. Host a question for you. What is your thoughts on adoption by gay couples to be able to have children . Caller i really havent thought that through, but i would say we just stop there. I havent thought that through. Ost trass i calling in from hyattsville, tracy calling in from hyattsville, maryland. Now charlotte on our line for independents. Good morning. Caller my opinion is, if you want to do it, thats your business. But do not try to shove it down everybody elses throat, and i think they ought to take it up and vote on it so we can get this out of the way and life can go on for people. But my opinion is do it, but shut up. I dont want to hear it anymore. Thank you. Host charlotte in knoxville, tennessee. Another story that is on lots of folks mind is the Ebola Outbreak in west africa and concerns about that ebola case that was diagnosed in texas. Heres the front page of the Dallas Morning News this morning. Health officials confident, talking about the containment effort surrounding that one individual, the one confirmed case of ebola in texas. The story on that, the subject of ebola also a topic of discussion on the send shows yesterday, one of the Top White House advisors was on nbcs meet the press to talk about the situation. Heres what he had to say. I think the first thing we need to do is make sure people understand how hard it is to contract ebola and no other country better to deal with it, the best doctors in the world. Were even preparing for this eventuality since the outbreak in west africa started seven months ago. I guess go back to the question, i understand about the outbreak, but are you going to try to do more measures . I think this is a public that is very fearful right now, because you say one thing here, and then all the sudden ebola walked into a dallas hospital. Well, i think were going to constantly evaluate all the measures we have in place. Its important for people to understand this outbreak has been happening for seven months, and this is the first time someone has come to the United States. Were prepared to this, but the president is focused on this every day. Host speaking of the white house this morning, president obama yesterday attended a ceremony for the dedication of the American Veterans disabled for life memorial in washington, d. C. At that ceremony, president obama vowed that he will move heaven and earth to ensure veterans get the care that they deserve. This ceremony coming just four months from the scandal that forced thenveterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki from his job. The Washington Times story on it, the ceremony yesterday noted that host 15 minutes left in this segment. Should the Supreme Court take up the issue of gay marriage this term . Paul is in new york on our line for democrats. Paul, good morning. Caller good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Im very excited to make a comment. I think its a very important one. I happen to be gay t. Wasnt my choice. It was my orientation, predominantly determined genetically. I cant tell you how awful it is to live as a second or thirdclass citizen. For people that say that their religion doesnt approve, it i think its irrelevant. I mean, we are spirits, and it happens inspect nature, it happens with all with every breed of animal, and it happens with humans t. Is human nature. We are not doing it we dont choose to do it. I think it will help repair if the Supreme Court takes it and passes gay marriage. I think it will repair a broken community that is acting out in so many ways because we are treat like this on the down low. Host how confident are you that the Supreme Court would approve gay marriage under the Roberts Court . Caller im fairly confident, but im scared. I really am. Its such an important thing. It will really help the marriage contract and making people, either samesex or, you know, it will make them toe the line and be responsible and be treated, be treated with the advantages that straight couples have. I mean, i just think that the gender should be irrell rant. Host paul in new york, new york, this morning. Jodie asks on twitter, how can this be a constitutional issue . Theres no mention of marriage in the constitution, but there is pursuit of happiness. Michael is waiting in hermosa beach, california, on our line for republicans. Michael, good morning. Caller good morning, john. Have you noticed i guess you havent and thoughts not why i called, but while i was on hold and listening to the show, the majority of your democrat callers are vehemently opposed to gay unions or gay marriage, just something for everybody to think about. When the propaganda is spewing out about the war on gays next, most democrat callers were against it. Most republican callers were ambiguous. The reason i called is i was very how can i say it i was in support of gay unions, and then i moved to San Francisco and got to watch the hate and the intolerance, and i say to my wife, and i say, well, i stopped supporting gay marriage when i saw the gay activists interrupting religious services and disrespecting and desecrating peoples deeply held religious thoughts, and most importantly, not one straight evangelical has ever attempted the mass murder of 37 volunteers at a center like the Family Research to er, and he was going mock god and put a chick faley sandwich in every one of the 37 corpses that he was going to generate, but not for that security guard, a vietnam vet that saved 37 lives at the research center, and we never hear anybody mention that about the hatred and the attempted mass murder of christians for their beliefs by radical gay activists. Im out. Host michael in hermosa beach. Bradenton, florida, on our line for independents. Good morning. Caller i have several comments id like to make. First of all, im a certificate heterosexual religious man. Im jishe. I have a few points to make. Number one, to the religious people, jesus never, ever said anything about homosexuality, but he spoke a lot about love. Number two, the color is where most people who are opposed to gay marriage or gay relationships, the quote in the bible says thou shall not lie with a man as thousand layeth with a woman. The operative word is has, meaning you can have gay marriage or gay relationships, but you shouldnt number groups or you shouldnt be you can be bisexual, but only one at a time. Another thing is if youre talking about the bible, the ible also condones and accepts polygmy. I dont hear anybody saying no to to that. Next thing is people opposed to kissing in public never seem to mention being opposed to people who are heterosexual kissing in public. The last thing is this even if you truly believe that gay relationships are wrong, even if theyre wrong in the eyes of god, heres the thing as i see it, god is concerned with us being in loving relationships, and even if god himself thinks theyre wrong, i think in the final analysis, god is more understanding, more forgiving, more accepting, and ultimately more loving than to reject people because they fall in love with the wrong person. Host on twitter, the debate over the constitution and what the Founding Fathers would have wanted continues. Mason writes, our Founding Fathers fought for freedom from religious control, paid in blood for separation of church and state. Let people decide for themselves. Well keep looking out for your tweets. You can also send us emails as well, or contribute to the conversation on our facebook page. Want to keep you up to date on Foreign Policy news, specifically the latest from iraq and syria. Heres a story from mcclatchy noting that the United States sent attack helicopters into combat over against the Islamic State targets west of baghdad yesterday, the first time that lowflying Army Aircraft has been committed to fighting in an engagement that president obama has promised would not include boots on the ground. They were likely the apache attack helicopters that were deployed to baghdad in june to provide protection for u. S. Military and diplomatic facilities. Until sunday, u. S. Air strikes in iraq have been limited to fastmoving air force and navy fighter aircraft, as well as drones. For more on whats going on in iraq, specifically the debate that continues on capitol hill about an authorization of use of military force against isis, the New York Times this morning has a frontpage story talking about virginia senator tim caine and his efforts authorizing a new use of force, the story noting in may, tim kaine wanted to repeal the authorization of force that has paved the way for the invasion of iraq. Then in september he drafted his alternative, a narrowly tailored resolution to give congress his blessing to a war against the Islamic State with a one year limited and explicit language ensuring that the mission could not expand to Ground Troops or other targets nick up to the read more on that piece focusing on tim kaine, thats in the New York Times this morning. Have time for a few more calls. Lets go to carol waiting in salem, massachusetts, on our line for democrats. Carol, thanks for waiting. Caller hi. Y got to speak up for nature. I hear people emphasizing that theyre christians and emphasizing the talking of the on as an authority nature. Well, nature was around, and so was homosexuality long before any bible, long before ristianity, and when we want to know about nature, we should look to science. Science knows what is natural and what isnt. And im neither gay nor christian nor jewish. I am a pagan. Pagans, by definition, is nature religion, and if anybody cares what a pagan has to say, well, nothing is unnatural exists except for corporations maybe. T i mean, the ignorance, the callousness that im hearing and the stupidity offends me deeply. What if i said to these people, well, your ignorance offends me, so please dont exploit it, please do it behind closed doors, but dont shove it in my face and shove it down my throat . Nobody is trying to shove anybody down those peoples throat. Theres no laws being proposed that everybody must be gay or that everybody must enter a homosexual marriage, and homosexual marriages do not affect other people who are nonparticipants in any way, and they prove to be healthy for all concerned, and homosexual parents are raising heterosexual children quite children ly and the seem to be happy. And this bizarre thing about some kind of a massacre, oh, my god, gays have killed a bunch of christians for their faith, did that ever take place . Question, in what form is the is the court likely to take up the issue of gay marriage . Host well get more of that in our least segment of the washington journal today, having a discussion with two former Supreme Court clerks who currently serve at firms specializing in Supreme Court practice and Supreme Court cases on the show later in our 9 15 to 10 00 time frame. Well talk about this subject again, along with all the other cases being taken up this term that begins today at the Supreme Court. But want to get to as many calls as we can. Greg in chattanooga, tennessee, on our line for independents. Go ahead, greg. Caller good morning. How are you . Im glad you took my call, but boy, that was a mouthful. I wish i wrote half that have down so i could answer her back, because i think the problem is everybody aint reflecting on our bill of rights. We had something that reflects a greater power. Thats why we put god in the bible. Im not a big religious type of person, but i do have that owledge that in order to implement gay folks into the institutes of a marriage, that would upset everything so bad because its not the same type of relationship. They cant produce children. And we know thats why god wanted man and woman to be together, to produce children. She said a whole lot of stuff. I wish i could have thought of half of it. Host jeff writes in on the topic of being able to have children, what about men and women in heterosexual kids who dont end up having kids . Caller what about it . Host whether that goes along with what you were saying about the reason for marriage. Right, you dont have to have kids. Its not a law. Of course, dont tell the government. They might make one. But yeah, i see what youre saying, and i dont condone it or democrat it. You know, gay actions. But they need to make a new institution. They cant call it marriage, because that is not marriage. The standards of this country is a bill of rights saying we see it in our eyes, the people that live here that found this had place and knew what we had in our past, sodom and gomorrah and all that, it dont work. Host greg in tennessee. One other bit of news we want to let you know about one of the members of congress, the oldest ever member of the United States house remains hospitalized after being injured in a weekend car accident, according to the wall street journal. Texas republican ralph hall was in fair and stable condition on sunday. A spokesman said hes expected to recover. Ralph hall, the congressman, lost his Fourth District primary challenge in a Runoff Election in may and is scheduled to leave office in january. Well keep you up to date on the congressmans condition. But have time for just wanted two more calls. David from arkansas on our line for republicans. Good morning. Quick comment on the gay situation. You know, i know a lot of gays, and i cant i dont even know anyone that doesnt know gay people, and i really get tired of hearing about these gay people talking about how theyre secondclass citizens. Are you kidding me . Gay people in northeast arkansas, theyre extremely successful, and generally, if you look at gay people around the United States, theyre the wealthiest people in the United States. Scomplat west coast, man, listen, if you want to be on the in crowd, youre gay. If you want to be a movie star, if up to the really get popular, be like ellen. Im gay. Host and well try to get in linda from woodbridge, virginia, on our line for democrats. Linda, good morning. Caller hello. I just hello i just think its odd that people think that people that are born gay, youre born. Its not a choice. And where does it say in the is itution that the bible not the constitution. Not everybody is christian. Not everybody is muslim. Not everybody is jewish. I just think that these people that stereotype, like the caller that just said that gays are the richest people in the world. They are entitled to the same life as any heterosexual couple in my opinion. If they get married, i think that the Supreme Court should make it so its a federal that its ok for every state, any couple can get married. Host thats all the time we have in this first segment of the washington journal this morning, as we show thaw live shot of the Supreme Court, where the new term begins today. Well be talking about that later in the show. But next, well talk with dan weiss of the league of conservation voters about Environmental Issues and the 2014 election. And after that, the chairman of the National Rifle associations Political Victory Fund will join us to talk about that groups efforts ahead of november 4. But first, as we noted, president obama made remarks at the American Veterans disabled for life memorial dedication yesterday. Heres a bit from that. When the mission is over, as our war in afghanistan comes to a responsible end in two months, let us stand united as americans and welcome our Veterans Home with the thanks and respect they deserve. [applause] if they dont come having left a part of themselves on the battlefield on our behalf, this memorial tells us what we must do. When our wounded veterans set out on the long road of recovery, we need to move heaven and earth to make sure they get every single benefit, every singe bit of care that hey have earned, they deserve. If theyre hurt spg dont know if they can go on, we need to say loud and clear as family and friends, neighbors and coworkers, as fellow citizens and as a nation, you are not alone. Its all right to ask for help, were here to help you be strong again. Because our Wounded Warriors may have a different feeling to life, but when we are truly there for them, when we give them every opportunity to their and continue enormous contributions to our country, then our whole nation is stronger, all our lives are richer. If youre an american and you see a citizen, maybe with a prosthetic arm or leg, maybe burns on their face. Dont ever look away. Do not turn away. Did you up and you reach out, you shake their hand and you look them in the eye and you say those words every veteran should hear all the time. Welcome home. Thank you. We need you more than ever. You help us stay strong. You helped us stay free. Every wounded warrior, every disabled veteran, thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of america. Host washington journal continues. Today marks 29 days until the midterm election, and with less than a month to go, the washington journal is spending this time focusing on the issues and groups playing a role in campaigns around the country. Today were joined by dan weiss, Senior Vice President for campaigns for the league of skmbings voters. Dan weiss, how much money is your Group Planning to spend on the 2014 election, and how do you spend it . Guest well, this cycle were going to spend 25 million on the elections. This is five times more than what we spent in 2010. This 25 million, about 1 5 of it, or 5 million, will be spent on state races, which is five times more than we ever spent on state races. Were basically spending our money in several ways. First, like many others, were running Television Ads to highlight the records of the candidates were supporting and opposing. But more importantly, were spending more than half of our funds on whats called voter contact. Talking to people on their doorstep, on the phone, through the mail, urging them to get out the vote. And remember, were focusing a t on socalled dropoff voters. They vote in president ial years like 2012, but dont often vote in nonpresident ial years like 2010. Our plan is to contact two million dropoff voters in just a handful of states to make sure that they remember to get out the vote and vote for the proClimate Action, proenvironment candidate f. We do that, were confident our candidates will win. Host you smentioned some efforts on state races, state and local elections. Isnt the focus right now it seems like all about the United States senate . How much of your efforts are specifically on the senate and how much is on the house and all the other elections . Guest were primarily focused on the senate. We want to preserve the environmental firewall where we have enough votes in the senate to defeat antienvironmental legislation that the house of representatives will pass next year. Theyve already passed a handful of antienvironmental laws this year, and theyre certainly to do more next year. We want to protect that environmental firewall. Were focusing on races in the following states, colorado with mark udalls incumbent, iowa, which is an open seat. Bruce brayley is the candidate were supporting. Michigan, another seat, were supporting gary peters. And New Hampshire with incumbent jean that even in North Carolina with incumbent kay hagan. In addition, were supporting conservation voters, which is our state l. C. D. In alaska thats working hard on behalf of mark, also an incumbent. Host we can show some of those ads as we talk about the Environmental Issues that are playing a role in the 2014 election, and as we take you through the toings, our phone lines are open if you want to talk to dan weiss of the league of conservation voters. Republicans can call in at 2025853881. Democrats, 2025853880. Independents, 2025853882. If youre outside the u. S. , 2025853883. Of course, you can also send us an email or tweet or post on facebook, and well look for your questions there. But dan, before we get to phone calls, want for ask you, do Environmental Issues drive out voters . Heres a poll from the Gallup Organization about the most important problems facing the country, economic problems, of course, continue to be the most important problem for the vast majority of folks. When it comes to noneconomic problems that are listed in the gallup listing, the decision satisfies with government, immigration, a illegal alien problem in the United States, ethic and moral religious declines, threes all topics that have a lot more interest as the most important issue for people, environmental and pollution issues are listed as the most important problem by just 1 of the people polled by gallup in their support 4 through 7 poll. Does this issue drive voters to the election box . Guest its interesting, john, because the Cook Political Report just did an analysis and found that as on the environment, Climate Change and oil were the most common ads compared to any other topic. Number two was the question. Whatever gallup says is fine, but if you look at what campaigns are doing and outside Interest Groups are doing, theyre talking to people about Climate Change, clean air, clean water, and oil security. The report just had this analysis that came out on friday so that those topics are the number one topic of all political ads. Host the impact of those topics are having on the economic issue, will the president s Climate Action plan, will it result in job losses . Guest just the opposite. Theres already analysis that shows that the president s clean power plan, which would require power plants for the First Time Ever to reduce their Carbon Pollution would actually create jobs. Why . Because Power Companies would have to invest in new cleaner technologies, whether thats helping peoples homes become more energy efficient, whether its helping businesses become more energy efficient, whether its installing solar panels or building wind turbines. All of those efforts require people to do work. And in fact, investments in clean energy create about three times as many jobs as investments in sandoil Gas Production. Host were talking about dan weiss of the league of conservation voters. Hes here to take your calls, your questions on this topic. Well get to some of your ads in a second, but rico is waiting in detroit, michigan, on our line for republicans. Rico, good morning. Caller yeah, hi. I have two questions for you. One is, did you take a bicycle over to the studio . Because we want to keep the air clean. And also, theyve shown that we understand power mills have been carrying a lot of killing a lot of birds, so if youre a conservationist, then youre kind of hypocritical there. Guest well, first, rico, my condolences about the Detroit Tigers being swept by the orioles. Im from detroit, and thats my hometown team. Second, in answer to your question, i took the subway here, which is a much more fuelefficient way to get here than driving. Third, the number one source by far of bird deaths in the United States are cats. So if were really concerned about protecting every single bird in the United States, then we have to address the cat problem, because that by far is the larger source. Yes, its unfortunate that some birds are being injured or killed by wind turbines. Theyve already done a lot to reduce that. Theyre working to reduce it even further. Host josh subpoena next, arlington, virginia, on our line for democrats. Josh, good morning. Caller really exciting the conversation and to learn about the league of conservation voters. My question is, as an environmentalist, i have never fully understood why there would be members of congress who are against cleaning up our environment. Can you try and help me understand that . Guest thats an excellent question. Poll after poll shows that by 21 or more, for example, americans want the government to reduce the Carbon Pollution responsible for Climate Change, but theres a lot of vested interest and a lot of money like Billionaire Oil executives, or the American Petroleum brothers, which represents all the big oil companies, or the coal companies, all that make a lot of profit off of the status quo. They profit from pollution. Never mind the cost paid by the rest of us. And right now, as you know, we have a congress thats dominated by money and the search for money for their campaigns. Thats one of the reasons why were going to spend a record amount of money to educate voters in key states about who wants to address our climate problems and protect Public Health and those who are more interested in doing the oil company and the Oil Billionaire agenda, which is keeping things the way they are, lets keep the air and water dirty. Scommoip yet some candidates spending a lot of money to run against the president s carbon efforts in an attempt to run on that economic message that we talked about earlier, saying that the president s plan will impact jobs and the economy. Heres one of the recent ads, this from virginia. Ed gillespie, republican running for senate, his ad hitting virginia senator mark warner on supporting a coal tax, this from Ed Gillespies campaign. Directly or indirectly, we are going to put a price on carbon. Mark warner and obama want to tax coal, which would kill thousands of good paying virginia jobs in our communities. The obamawarner anticoal agenda will raise electric bills, devastate the local economy, and kill thousands of good paying virginia jobs. Ill fight nicole tax. My plan will grow our economy by lowering the cost of energy and creating good paying jobs. Im ed gillespie. I approve this message. Guest first of all, Ed Gillespies nose ought to be growing, because that ad is not true. Mark warner does not support a coal tax. Secondly and more importantly, ed gillespie is ignoring the fact that Carbon Pollution and other air pollutants are costing us billions of dollars every year. The tax isnt paid on coal. The tax is paid on kids who have to miss school because of respiratory ailments or asthma attacks. People have to miss work because of respiratory problems or asthma attacks, and even people have to pay with their lives. In fact, the benefits to the cost of president obamas proposed clean power plant is at least 7 in net economic benefits for every 1 in n cleanup costs. Thats a great bargain for the American People. Its unfortunate that ed gill else pee, who is a lee beist for the Company Enron that drove up Energy Prices until tself went bankrupt, that ed gillespie, an enro host we are talking with dan l. C. D. s effort head of the 2014 midterm in tions and efforts advertising and some of the they distribute to get voters out to the polls. You want to talk about your door hangers that you brought . Guest sure. E will be contacting two million dropoff voters in the key states reminding them to get vote. He we will stop at their house, they arehem, make sure registered to vote, urge they vote for the climate champions. They are not home we will leave them a door hang er. You have one from michigan and two others. We will remind the voters that creates g clean air jo jobs. Companies will have to make in cleaner equipment ever and ore Energy Clean Energy all of which will create jobs. Others are ates and the pro clean air and pro jobs candidates. Wayne is from shreveport, louisiana, on the line for republicans. Caller mr. Weiss, we talked this propaganda you are putting out about Climate Change . Ho pays you to do all of these lies . I have been here 68 years and changed a bit t since i have been here but you democrats are communists, you just want to and that is alism what one of yall people said would imate change destroy capitalism. Up. Dont you fess you know you democrats will destroy the country. Wants to destroy it before gets out of office. Is nothing but propaganda and lies. Dont lunch of all, Climate Change. Listen to the finalest finest ts in the scientists in the world. The largest scientific in the world says Climate Change is real and caused by humans. National kad pheuacademy of academiesd scientific across the world. Even communist countries like believe it is real. And it is having real impact. In e was just a cover story New York Times magazine yesterday about how louisiana is erodedmiles of its coast every year. Level son is due to sea rise related to Climate Change. Impacts in ing waynes own state. Shreveport butom i hope he goes to the bayou and sees the horrible impact climate having on his home state. Ost are you getting involved in the senate race in louisiana . Uest we are focusing where there is a clear difference between the candidates where one supporter of climate on like mark kwraou call udall in colorado and cory gardner. He has voted to block e. P. A. Pollution standard to control car been conclusion. Mercury, smog, acid lead. Ll those chemicals from power plants. We dont have any limits on Carbon Pollution. Gardner would keep it that way. Mark udall wants us to invest in Clean Energy Sources like wind and solar that will create jobs the air clean are. You are not raoeeason getting involved in the louisiana race her lifetime over 50 , not a ood rating as far as you are concerned. Guest you can go to lcd. Org and cleric on scorecard and we have i have member of congress and vote he or nmental she cast since in congress. We are focussing on races where a clear difference between the candidates. Lifetime has a 95 voting record. Co 4 voting er has a record in 2014. In other states we have kay hagan has an in North Carolina. One opponent is ignoring climate since. Polls tell us when young voters candidate like wayne change exists they think they are ignorant because dont know why they are ignoring the mountains of that climate ng change is real. Host brooklyn, new york, in the line for democrats. John, good morning. Caller good morning. Our just wondering political system is in a stalemate and it takes a lot of get anything done. Why should democrats and about s care Environmental Issues with any of more important issues . Guest the good news is, john, who voted, a majority voted for president obama and president obama is on Climate Change. Hes produced a clean power june thatosed back in would dramatically viewers foron pollution responsible Climate Change. Power plants the number one source. They would produce 7 economic benefit for 1 of cleanup cost need congress to do it. Spenders or er of people in open seats lose and he senate fire wall is destroyed then the senate like the house will pass laws or pass bills that will undo existing environmental protections from water pollution, toxic pollution. How do we know this . Of use the house representatives has passed they passed them but still he president would need to sign them if democrats lost control of the senate. The president could still veto the bill but they could be or senator mcconnell who will be the majority leader a said that he will put measure to block e. P. A. From Carbon Pollution standards in the budget process have a ans we could Government Shutdown if the president vetoes a bill with such provision. Is better to elect a senate that will prevent the bills from oming up which is why aware active in these six senate races new wa, colorado, hampshire, michigan and North Carolina. From republicans from nevada. Jeff. Morning, caller mr. Weiss, listen. I think it was eight to 10 years when they first started not when they first started all of this garbage at they found that all or least a large group of scientists got caught cheating paying and talking about umbers that were just so farfetched and they got caught in a lie. Caller is referring to a series of emails from england in 2009 that were stolen probably by syndicates. Te there were five investigations thered out whether or not had been any manipulation of data and all five government of the u. S. S government and British Government found there was nothing of the sort. So, the claim that the caller made is not true. Prestigious scientific bodies including the so, of advancement of cience, fat academy of National Academy of science have ome to the conclusion that Climate Change is here, real and human nantly due to caused pollution. KnocNorth Carolina. Donald on the line. Here in North Carolina a person running tillis who hagan tom s the North Carolina congress he is the speaker of the house there. Nd he and the governor just igned into legislation the draconian what is it when drill for gas. Fracking. Hos aller yes and the way they signed it you cant complain. Ou might get locked up for complaining about it. And duke energy has a policy their coal ash, and i think it is going to be a backlash. Do ink kay hagan may something about this . Guest he is right. Gillis has been named to dozen list because science is a climate denier. Doesnt believe in it. Percent es got a zero voting record in 2013 according to North Carolina l. C. D. Third, he helped push through a weak bill that would North Carolinas rivers vulnerable to coal ash spills. When the coal is burned in a power plant in they s tons of ash and keep them in poorly regulated ponds. Arlier this year such a pond owned by duke energy burst open and all of the coal ash spilled river. E dan it was not named after me but i that is ersonally contaminated my river affecting drinking water. The speaker passed a bill we will cally says require four of these coal ash up but the rest which is about 30 we dont have to get to them. We will take time. It is a great break for duke energy and the others that own in northbad for people carolina who depend on surface water for drinking water. Why tom the reasons tillis is one of the members of dozen. S dirty time on the linois line. Caller good morning. Mr. Weiss, i have a little comment here. 80yearold man and i have been around a long time and one of these every rich people that live in drive they fly all over the world in their jets. They drive porsches, all the big cars, and they are the ones that are pushing this Climate Change. You guys want is all of us ordinary people to have to suffer suffer. When they show how many in the air, is that pollution . I want you to answer that for me. Guest thank you for the question. I tend to think of it as you are 80 years young. We are interested in the suffering that happens every day children, Senior Citizens and people suffering from other ailments and are impacted by air pollution. Including smog, acid rain, mercury, lead and pollution. If Carbon Pollution goes unchecked we will see much worse smog because we will have hotter temperatures and that is one of the conditions for smog. Children will have to stay inside, seniors will have to stay inside. More asthma it attacks. It will lead to more respiratory ailments. It will lead to pre matumature deaths. Studies by d on doctors and scientists. Relieving ted in suffering of children, seniors and others vulnerable to air pollution. In fact, it doesnt happen to be choice that you have posited. The reality is that we can have a growing economy. Chamber of go the commerce said if we reduce the mercury pollution from power we would have rolling lack outs in this country, rolling black outs. They havent happened and we are in the middle of implementing mercury rules. So the claims that the caller as reiterating have been made every time theres been an effort to try to protect public pollution and ic every time the claims have wrapbgong. To be host the chamber looked into tacklent obamas plan it Climate Change and came by a few numbers saying that the could on control effort force more than a third of the coal fired Power Capacity in the 2030 states it chose by close by 2030 with an 50 billion a of year and alumni nation of 224,000. Came out before the resident even issued his clean power plant. In other words, the study is based on what the chamber with do, not an what it actually does. Second, that has been looked at debunked by politifact. Com and Washington Post claiming cited it were possess four yos which is wing the worse so they are lying to their constituents because that has been tkae bunked. Debunked. A study of the actual plant, not the chamber thought but the actual plant found it will economic benefit for 1 in cleanup. A caller on have a call er the line, malcolm. We have all of this sea rising. The seas are rising so much, goingin the heck is miami and all of new york and all of these places . They havent will a sea rise up there. What is happening in south louisiana is man has interfered spring floods l that used to happen every year up silt that would build that built up the lower part of the state where i live is no coming down and going out danica patri deep waters. As far as the other stuff, if and hink it is so great wonderful, ask the people of pain how well their Energy Efficiency is when they tried to go solar and wind energy. They lost two jobs for every one they created and their energy out the roof. Same thing is happening in germany. Their energy cost is going out and i think this whole b. S. And you h of are just another socialist liberal that wants everything where people just have to do it your way and nobody can other way, ay, the because of the fact that you know the best for everybody. Jump it. Dont you guest the caller is right that a large part of the erelation in is erosion in louisiana is due to humans the natural th hydraulic systems there and part oil and Gas Production there. Pose a threat. Es he says he hasnt seen sea level miami. New york or in new york one reason Superstorm Sandy was so the sea ng is because has risen and the infrastructure there has not been adapted to seas which now they are doing. In miami they have huge plans to prepare their city for rising water because they anticipate to sea level will continue rise. As far as the other claims, what is re interesting in doing protecting the health and safety of the American People. Right now, if you are getting which red electricity, any people do, then you are paying too little because other people pay in terms of sickness, lung disease, lost work and premature death. Far to see ve to go a place where they use a lot of clean energy. As a which is not known big socialist place gets almost electricity from renewals proceed dominantly wind. Gets about 27 . Ven texas which is the king of american oil and gas gets 11 of electricity from wind. I dont see the symptoms that the call are described occurring here. Illinois, in n, connection, todd on the line for independents. Caller gardeniood morning. Got to say i e think you are a propagandaist for this whole thing. It is funny to me that i have for 20 years that the climate is this big deal and i see this stuff, then the big picture and read between the lines that the bottom line money. Ing is cap and trade. Carbon tax. If about that a little bit you would. And get into the guts of it. Dont really understand the last part of the question but in addressing the first part Climate Change are here. Weve had 10 of the hottest record have occurred in the last 14 years. Be could be on track for being the ever worldwide. Last year when we were having they were ortex setting record temperatures in australia where they had to stop open stralian tennis because the thermometer hit over 110 degrees. In addition, the prolonged aware facing in the southwest and in california related. Khraouplt climate related. Scientists predicted we would terrible wildfire season this year and that is what we had because of Climate Change. Hotter temperatures means drier and ground cover. We are seeing the impact of Climate Change here. The last 10 minutes with the league of conservation voters. How long have you been working on Environmental Issues . Guest a long time. Since the last time the tigers won the world series which was 1984. We have made a lot of progress. George h. W. Bush we signed the Clean Air Act that reduced emissions rain. Ng acid cleaned up cars to make them pollute less and reduced smog pollution. Air is clean are and the amount. Has grown a huge we looked at came the Utility Industry made before the acid was passed. They predicted that 10 of the states would g have much higher utility rates. Eight , those 10 states, of them have lower utility rates for inflation than they did before the Clean Air Act was passed. So all of these claims that callers are making or the chamber of commerce makes that is falling you will makes r make us clean up toxic and carbonnd mercury pollution. They have never come true. In 1990 s they made rates. Igh qualiutility they are lower now. The claim that the chamber made n 2014 that we would have rolling black outs if we introduced mercury controls havent happened. Spokesperson said we will lose several hundred thousand jobs in indiana. Are 100,000 more jobs than when he made the claim. All of these claims are false. Sorry that some of the callers are duped but they need the record. Host call from arkansas now. Caller mr. Weiss, at one time people thought that the earth and now when you have electorate you get those types of politicians in to ce that are not going write laws in your interest. One thing you need to look at. Say you are going door to door with the hangers. One key thing you need to do, people in the states that were denied healthcare, you have millions of people that would like to have healthcare. Concentrate on those and they are going to bring race there black president that is going to be the major problem. Every candidate against Climate Change they are going to make the people go against president. This is going to be their bjective to use that black president to defeat these candidates in office. Guest the caller is right. It is unfortunate the governors a number of states turned down federal funding to expand medicaid coverage for low income people in their states. In fact, i believe most medicaid re septembseptembe eseptemberrecipients are Senior Citizens. That is really unfortunate. Who have se people lost or didnt receiver medicaid because their governor refused at the polls and support candidates that medicaid expansion. Spartanburg, south carolina, bill for republicans. Caller good morning. The good lord was taking care of there environment you got here. Fore guest i didnt understand the first part of the question but a group of evangelicals ho are very concerned about claimant change. They are interested in creation created earth and provided this bounty and we need protect it. Or those like Reverend Richard sintic and others who are trying change because it will damage gods creation. Host dennis on the gone for democrats from pennsylvania. Weiss. good morning, mr. I dont hear nobody mentioning agriculture. Has polluted every waterway in this country. Sprays that cause mention rm flag is not warming that is not mentioned. They have bought off politicians republicans and democrats. They have cased cancer. Hildren go to school here when 5 years old of age they qualify for disability. Im a man without a country my state senators, my even in washington dont call you. I have been fighting this. Guest i appreciate this effort and keep up the fight. A is unfortunate that theres lot of toxic pollution released a e even after we have made lot of progress. The air and water is cleaner ago, in doubt that. It is not clean enough. Can esting enough, farmers gain a lot in efforts to slow change because plants absorb Carbon Dioxide. If we invest in the right kind grow them d try it without the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers there to gain for t farmers in addressing Climate Change and we hope to see that happen. Fort lauderdale, florida, on the line for republicans. A question about the nature of Climate Change. This earth has been around for hundreds of wants toof years and i a know that nature would have way of purging itself. Of the t this be a way earth purging itself like the ea with purge itself from toxins and the earth might just aturally go through an ice age after a warm climate. A could that not be possibility without hustle and bustle. For thank you very much that, caller. The reality is that this was a Scientific Study by the federal government, government scientists found that an infrastructure buildings, sewer lines, electric lines, telephone lines, cell owers built for a very stable climate. Thanks it Climate Change our unstable. Becoming Scientists Say we can expect heavy flood , more and more droughts in the california. Nd what we are trying to do is we carbon ng to reduce the pollution responsible for there chaos. And we have to prepare cities climate for changing because a lot of change is baked in. For the First Time Ever theres consistent 400 parts per illion of Carbon Dioxide and other green louse gases in gas. Louhouse that is the first time in tens of thousands of years. We need to reduce pollution and prepare communities for the superstorm s like sandy and drought in the southwest that were seeing that unavoidable. Be host right now you focus on the 2014 election. Looking at the election. Hillary clinton speaking at a league of conservation voters this coming december. Has Hillary Clinton proven herself on Environmental Issues . Guest absolutely. She had a great voting and leadership record when she was a senator from new york. As secretary of state, she launched the Clean Air Campaign with other countries to reduce super pollutants, climate pollutants that are not Carbon Dioxide that are more potent and create more heating. She is working with other countries to address those. She is a strong supporter of investment in wind, solar, Energy Efficiency, so she has a strong record of leadership in this area. Has not taken a position yet on the keystone pipeline, an issue very important to you. Does that concern you . Guest she has said she is waiting to see what the final studies say that go to the state department. In nebraska, there was a Court Hearing a few weeks ago about whether the line was a dignified and created legally. There is a long way to go in the process. I am confident people who care about Climate Change will reject this pipeline because it would dramatically increase Carbon Pollution compared to generating gas. Kinds of oil and host appreciate you coming by. Next, chris cox is the chairman of the National Rifle associations victory fund. Later, we will take a closer look at the cases that will be decided in the coming months. We will be right back. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] grant talksjeremy about ways to increase Data Protection with alternatives to passwords and basic security. The government is not looking to endorse a particular solution but ascribed the attributes of what these solutions should look like. They have to be secure, easy to use, and interoperable, and let that be a guidepost to the industry to start developing solutions around it. At the pilots, we have some that are looking at smartphone based apps that will be used in lieu of a password to log into different sites. Others are tested biometrics testing biometrics. Will beyone of these the solution for everybody, but they are the kinds of things we are testing out. Cspans 2015 student can competition is underway. This nationwide competition will award 150 prizes totaling 100,000. Create a documentary on the topic, the three branches and you. Videos need to include cspan programming and must be submitted by january 20, 2015. Grab a camera and get started today. Washington journal continues. Continue our focus on the issues and groups playing a role in campaigns around the country this election cycle, we are joined by chris cox, chairman of the National Rifle associations Political Victory Fund. How much money does the in a race n. R. A. Plan to spend on congressional races and how many will you be involved in . Guest we will be involved in thousands of races around the country. As for the overall budget, we have roughly 5 million members who support our efforts and will as they areh willing to send us. That is still to be determined. My guess is around 15 or 20 million. Host how do you pick the races you will play in . Guest there is a lot of focus on the senate. That is getting a lot of national attention. Gun owners across the country are concerned with the direction the country is going in. They are concerned what the president will do over the last two years of his term, and very interested in making sure the senate is not a rubber stamp for antigun Supreme Court justices, federal judges, you entreaties there are aaties, lot of issues around those. We are engaged in races down to the Milwaukee County sheriffs race primary we were involved in not long ago. Last proposal did not make it out of the democratically controlled senate. Of much of a threat is there new gun control proposals coming out of congress . Guest we are always concerned because theres always a threat and effort. When we are winning in congress, the guncontrol groups tend to go to the state legislatures. When we win the state legislatures, they tend to abuse the state court system. We watch it closely and take it seriously. Host either larger battles coming from the bottom up as opposed to the topdown . Guest a lot of the battles are coming from this white house, from a billionaire from new york, Michael Bloomberg. The average American Sports this freedom across the country. We are dealing with a billionaire who has committed significant resources to try to impose his agenda on the American People. Our job is to educate the American People on what that agenda is about and turn people out of the polls, which is something we do effectively. Host Michael Bloomberg is spending 15 million this cycle to support guncontrol efforts. How controlled are you about bloomberg and spending money this cycle . Aroundthe guy is worth 40 billion so we take that seriously. Michael bloomberg has money but what he does not have as the hearts and minds of the American People who support this freedom. If Michael Bloomberg wants to have a debate of ideas, we will engage him. We would love to have him come out and talk about what he is interested in doing, not just telling you what to eat entering but and drink but also telling you you cannot have a gun to defend yourself all he is surrounded by Armed Security. Americans do not like hypocrites. We want to make sure americans know about Michael Bloomberg. To answers cox here your questions ahead of the midterm elections. Phone numbers are on the screen. You are outside the u. S. You can always send us email or a tweet with a question. Sticking on this election cycle and political debate, the sandy hook shooting happened weeks after the 2012 election. How did that tragedy change the political debate around them control in this country . Guest you saw a lot of efforts to exploit what was one of the worst tragedies in american history. N. R. A. Members across this and lawabiding gun owners want to live in safe communities. We want to address the underlying problems. There was an opportunity to do something meaningful with regards to Armed Security and bad deficiencies in our Mental Health system. Unfortunately, we saw a political sales job and effort from this president and his supporters to propose an agenda that would not have prevented the underlying tragedy. The National Rifle association offered then and now to work with any elected official who wants to work in good faith to address these underlying problems. That is something we will continue to try to do. It changed the exploitation because it took it to a higher level. The column today notes a recent a. P. Poll noting 63 of theicans are not confident u. S. Government can effectively minimize the threat to americans from mass shootings. Guest the government needs to respect the rights of honest people to be able to defend themselves anywhere they have a legal right to be. There are things that can and should be done. We have a borderline Mental Health crisis in this country. We need to do something about civil commitment proceedings. We need to address underlying problems of security in our schools and across this country. One thing they can do is respect the right of lawabiding people to take care of themselves. Host there is an effort in california that is the topic of an editorial today in the new the change inting the California Law would for the first time in the nation allow Family Members in court to see the guns of a Family Member they fear is on the verge of harming himself or others. It notes that law can help families prevent suicides. How does the n. R. A. Feel about that . Guest california is great at passing them control and terrible at anything else. They failed to address the ongoing problems of Mental Health issues. We had a highprofile shooting in california where you have some of the most strict guncontrol laws ever imposed. They have background checks. The shooter past three times. He registered three times. He went through waiting periods three times, but they failed to address the underlying problems this young man and others across the state have. Those are Mental Health problems. They get a plus on gun control. On Mental Health issues. Host daniel is on the line for democrats. Thank you very much. Please to have the opportunity to speak to mr. Christopher cox. I want to salute the National Rifle association for the simple fact they are adamant defenders of the Second Amendment. I tell you one thing, without the Second Amendment america may germany,ecome nazi iraq, syria, or whatever. It is incumbent upon the population at large to enjoy the freedom of gun ownership and firearms. That is the extent of my contribution to your program. Host mr. Cox, did you want to respond . Guest thank you for your support of the Second Amendment. That is what this is about. To thegether to say government to respect this freedom and treat it as a fundamental freedom, that is what the National Rifle association does probably every day. I appreciate your support for what we do. Host ashley from orlando on the line for independents. Caller thank you. Thank you for the passion with which you speak. I keep my guns on me. I am a 26yearold female. I keep them not to hunt animals but to defend myself in case a person does come into my home or instances like that. I have found Third Party Candidates are often more proliberty than the main two parties. The hindr. A. Got groups like the libertarian party, i think liberty could begin to flourish. I would like to know how much money the n. R. A. Spends on funding thirdparty candidates and do you have an example of a thirdparty candidate you are actively funding . Thank you very much. Guest she asked a couple of questions so i will address both. Selfdefense,o the Second Amendment does not have anything to do with duckhunting. It has everything to do with your godgiven right to defend yourself and your family. I appreciate that acknowledgment. With regard to thirdparty candidates, as far as the overall libertarian party, there is no question our freedom loving libertarian brothers and sisters support the Second Amendment and all our constitutional freedoms. We send out thousands of candidate questionnaires across the country. We do at times support libertarian candidates. Between a is the race republican and democrat, so that is where the majority of resources are spent. But we are supportive and of recognizing the overall support libertarian candidates provide for our policies. We appreciate it and will continue to work with libertarian tenets where they are competitive and have an opportunity to win. Your moneyajority of going to support republican candidates. Are there democrats you are supporting . Guest absolutely. Number of a factors making investment decisions. We look at voting records, candidate questionnaires we send out to candidates, statements made to the press or in debates. One thing we dont factor into political consideration his party affiliation. Whether democrat, republican, or independent, we dont care. We care about where you stand on the issue. We were involved in the democratic primary for sheriffs race in milwaukee against Michael Bloomberg who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars against a proSecond Amendment sheriff, happened to be a democrat. National Rifle Association supported him and we are rather he beat Michael Bloomberg and we are proud he beat Michael Bloombergs candidate. Host good morning, janet. Caller i live in bowie, texas. I believe in the Second Amendment. I do believe we need guns to protect ourselves. The edge of mexico, we have people snaking over all the time. Thank god i dont live that far down. Protection. For we also need them for hunting. I do believe in hunting, but i believe if you kill anything, you need to eat it. You dont does kill for pleasure like a lot of millionaires do. I support the n. R. A. Completely. Host jeanette calling in from texas. Vivian has a question on our twitter page. It talks about upwards of 20 million already being spent and no estimate yet on how much you will spend for the midterm elections. How much money does the n. R. A. Get from gun manufacturers . Guest our average contribution is about 25. When you talk about millions, Michael Bloomberg is writing eightfigure checks, average americans are writing 20 checks. That is where our average contribution comes from. The firearms industry supports a lot of programs, shooting competitions, primarily advertising in our publications. But our average contributor is an average american like some of your callers today who support us and send us five dollars or 10 to send in critical elections. Host bill is calling on our line for independents. Good morning. Caller i would like for the n. R. A. To discuss other parts of the Second Amendment, specifically shall not be infringed. I have a grandson that lives in another state and i want to give him a gun. It would cost well over 500 to transfer the 75 gun with no way of knowing if it would meet the requirements or not. Hitting thestop numbers on your phone. I think that the basis for your question. Guest thanks for your call. I share your frustration of the laws of the book that make no sense. A lot of the war before the background system check for online. A lot of them unfairly make it harder for lawabiding people to exercise their fundamental rights and do nothing to focus on criminal elements causing the problem. I can assure you the National Rifle Association Works everyday to address these problems. We appreciate your support. Host lets go next to bill in these bird, georgia, on our line leesburg, georgia, on our line for republicans. Caller i want to say i am surprised cspan is having the segment. I want to see mr. Bloomberg throttled. I would like for the n. R. A. To push a National Concealed Weapons permit system instead of a statebystate because all states dont honor that permit weapon, which i have one and i carry my gun religiously when im traveling for protection. I am a hunter, and i do support the Second Amendment rights to its fullest. Thank you. Guest appreciate your question with regards to the national right to carry. We have led the effort to expand right to carry across this country. You are right. A lot of states dont respect it and recognize it the way they should. The best way to address that is through a National Reciprocity arrangement. The majority of the senate has supported. That, the majority of congress. If we can get a progun president in november of 2016, we have a good chance of doing that. Host we have about 25 minutes left with chris cox. Than true there are fewer restrictions now than when president obama was elected . Guest it has nothing to do with president obama, tina. The United States congress has addressed some of these misgivings through appropriations bills, but none of this has been initiated by the president. The president has worked through Supreme Court appointments and the blame game. Any protections expanded in this administration have nothing to do with this president. He has been clear in his opposition to the Second Amendment, and we have been clear in our support. Host North Carolinas next, jerry is on our line for independents. Caller good morning. I would like to see the n. R. A. Get behind this young lady from philadelphia they got caught going to new jersey with a legally registered handgun in her purse. She made a mistake. She went to one of the states where they dont allow you to carry your gun. The n. R. A. Needs to get behind her and see if they can do something to help her out. She is facing 11 years in prison for not breaking the law. She did not do anything wrong and she needs some help. At comes back to the deal about carrying your legally concealed carry permit across state lines. I live in North Carolina. I have got family in new york. When i travel up there, i want to take my gun but i cant because when i get to new york what am i supposed to do with my handgun . Throw it out the window . Host this medication are familiar with . Case you are familiar with . Guest it is. A woman who had the right to carry drove into new jersey, was pulled over for a lane violation. She told the officer she had her concealed weapon with her and was thrown in jail and faced years in prison. The National Rifle association provided legal representation. That case is been resolved somewhat favorably. But you are right. It points to the outrageous nature of these restrictions that focus on lawabiding people and do nothing to address the criminal element. Host from tennessee, diane is next on our line for democrats. Caller good morning. The n. R. A. Is talking about the rights of barrier arms. Yourrrier arms bear arms. I would like to know how criminals get automatic weapons. Someone is selling them these weapons. Man that sells guns came down here and was selling guns. He got killed. Found out he was selling guns to gang members. I want you to dress this. How are the gang members getting these guns . Answer me. Guest diane, i can understand your frustration. Gun owners share that frustration. With regards to how criminals get their guns, they get their guns illegally. Gunsindividual was selling that were not for themselves prefer other people. They should be prosecuted and put in jail. Criminals also get firearms from Family Members and friends. They get firearms from the black market on the street. The one place they dont get them is at the local gun store or local Retail Outlet because they would have to pass a background check which they would usually fail. It is a major problem with regards to the criminal misuse of firearms. The National Rifle associations position is clear. We need to do everything we can to prevent those who should not have firearms from getting access to them. When we catch people like the individual you talked about intimacy a legally selling in tennessee illegally selling firearms, they need to be put in jail for a long time. Int here is a campaign ad the senate race in louisiana we have talked about this morning on washington journal that has garnered attention specifically from the Washington Post fact checker. Here is the n. R. A. Ad. [video clip] the police cannot get there in time. How you defend yourself is up to you. It is your choice. Mary landrieu voted to take away your gun rights. Vote like your safety depends on it. Defend your freedom. Defeat Mary Landrieu. As the column noted yesterday, the ad cites her vote in favor of the memo to bolster background checks as the basis of that ad. He writes in his column that the offer has every right to its interpretation of laws or suggest a single change in gun law would take away a persons rights. Ad the vivid imagery of this goes beyond the facts. There is nothing in the bill that would have prevented a woman from buying a gun to defend herself on short notice. Post andshington they are wrong. If an ad is factually incorrect, they can get the ad pulled down. That has not been pulled down on one station. They complain about the imagery. We dont like the fact that Mary Landrieu supported banning firearms in the past. We dont like that Mary Landrieu has supported federal judges and Supreme Court justices who dont believe there is a right to own a gun at all in this country. We dont like that Mary Landrieu supports the banning the sale of firearms in louisiana without having eric holder approve the transaction. The Washington Post can complain about the imagery, but the ad is actually correct. Otherwise, it would have been pulled down. Host we will try to get to as many of your calls as possible with chris cox. Joan is next on the line for republicans. Caller my comments. The thing is there are a lot of mentally ill people that do not use guns, that do not kill people. Hello . Host we can hear you. It is a misconception. It is nonfact that all these mental ill publish mentally ill people are going out and shooting up these places. John, you are exactly right could someone who is mentally ill is more likely to be the victim of a Violent Crime than a perpetrator of a Violent Crime. There are people in this country that are sick and need help. We believe those people should be addressed and not able to legally purchase or obtain a firearm or they could hurt themselves or others. But you are right. It is an issue that is very complicated, but you cannot paint with a broad brush, which is why we have encouraged this administration and commerce to get serious about Mental Health reform and not his focus on the agenda of banning guns from law abiding people. Host glenn is next calling in from kentucky on the one for republicans. Caller i was calling about as Michael Bloomberg. I wonder if he has got bodyguards and if they are armed. Would he get rid of his bodyguards. I dont have that privilege. I dont have bodyguards like he does. Glenn, that ist a great point. I dont have a problem with Michael Bloomberg having Armed Security. The problem is the hypocrisy. He thinks his life is worth protecting but ours is not. Of hypocrisyght and arrogance to surround yourself with Armed Security would to four hours a day, seven days a week all across the world when he travels but tell the single mother living in new york city she is not allowed to have a firearm for selfdefense. That is the reason across the country Michael Bloombergs agenda is being rejected. Host lets go down to texas. Ulysses is waiting on the line for democrats. Good morning. Go ahead. Caller i understand there is a Second Amendment and people have the right to bear arms. But i feel the Second Amendment when it was written was not written for the way it is being portrayed today. I dont feel anybody should have , part, or bar supermarket. I feel you get a gun for hunting or sport, to protect your home, but you dont need a gun walking down the street. You dont need a rifle strapped over your shoulder. That is my comment. Guest thanks, ulysses. The Second Amendment is as relevant today as when it was protected by the bill of rights. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting or sports shooting. I enjoyed hunting and sports shooting myself. Ultimately, this is about whether individuals have the right to defend themselves from criminal attacks. The Supreme Court has viewed this most recently as a few years ago and said yes, you do have an individual right to own a firearm. We have said you should do it safely and responsibly. Those are two critical aspects of gun ownership. If you do it safely and responsibly, it ought to be respected. If you do it irresponsibly, he should be punished for it. Host californias next. Eric on the line for independents. Caller mr. Cox, i wanted to ask you a question about guns in schools. In a lot of places, teachers are being armed. How will more guns in school create a safer environment . Guest thanks for the question. The National Rifle association has said a sticker in a School Window that says no guns allowed is not much of a School Security program. To makea. Has called sure we protect kids and schools the same way we protect our politicians, athletes, and money at banks. It is with Armed Security. We have not said it needs to be armed teachers. We have said trained School Authorities or local Law Enforcement who can come and do their paperwork at schools. Justice in the message to the criminal element you will not have a gun free zone where you outunencumbered carrying atrocities. The good news is since these awful things have happened, there are more armed officials across schools making our kids safer. Host should teachers be allowed to bring firearms into the classroom . Guest that is not what we have been advocating. We have been advocating for Trained Personnel to serve in that role. That is up to the local district as to who that personnel will be. Host new york is next. Marianne is on the line for republicans. Caller good morning and thank you for taking my call. Mentioned the woman who carried her gun across the line in jersey. My sister also ran across the same thing. They were going to confiscate her gun. She was going to michigan to see her son. She went into into michigan. To the border, they never asked her. The young man at the station never asked her if she was carrying a gun. She would not have lied either. But when she came back through the same way, there was a middleaged woman there and she asked if they had any guns. She said yes. Sat back like, this woman is honest. She said, is it loaded . Said i am sure it is because what would be the sense of having an unloaded gun if someone is going to attack . Host in the course of the story, what is the question for chris cox . Caller mr. Cox is talking about being able to carry a gun from one state to another. A woman is traveling by herself and cannot protect herself any orer way except a loaded gun she is driving while she is driving. Host mr. Cox, if you want to comment. Guest she pointed out things people across the country face. That is uncertainty as to whether you can carry a legal firearm when traveling from one state to another. The protection act protects interstate transit to a certain degree, but not the way youve laid out with regards to a hand gun for selfdefense. Some states allow it. Some do not. We need uniformity and clarity so honest people are not racked up in paperwork are nations that could report result in losing her firearm and in new jersey potentially going to jail for a long time. That is not making anyone safer. It is not addressing gang problems or criminal misuse of firearms. That is where the focus should be. Not on punishing lawabiding people for making honest mistakes. Host you have talked about Michael Bloombergs efforts on gun control. Another Group Spending a lot of money this cycle, americans for responsible Solutions Run by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Here is one of those ads in arizonas second district. [video clip] my daughter was murdered by a gun by a man with a criminal record. He bought the gun at a gun show without a background check. No questions asked. Martha supports the gun show loophole. She got a lot of money from lobbyists who also support the loophole. To mcsally, it is just politics. To me, it is personal. Host mr. Cox on the efforts for Americans First possible solutions. Guest it is a beautiful ad. The newspaper in arizona slammed it. We are glad to say it was pulled down based on the backlash. Colha mcsally is a onel. She was the victim of a stalker. This is over the top. We expect that over and control groups. That is not a debate of ideas. That is a hit piece. It is not surprising but im glad they pulled it. Host Gabby Giffords and her husband, have they changed the debate around gun controls as they have gotten involved . Guest they or two of the most highprofile gun control supporters. We believe Gabby Giffords and mark kelly deserve our respect and appreciation for their service to the country. They deserve our prayers for the struggles they have had to go through as a family. But they dont deserve their own set of facts. When they are misrepresenting the truth and this organization, the National Rifle association is going to be there to tell the truth. Host tennessee is next. Daniel is waiting on the line for democrats. Thank you for waiting. Caller i appreciate you letting me on. I have a question for mr. Cox he did not want to answer from a previous caller. With all due respect, when they asked how much the generate receives from gun manufacturers, it was obvious he did not want to answer that. A little background from the scholar this caller, i grew up with guns on a family farm and continue to shoot with family and friends for pleasure. When i go to the Hardware Store and buy my ammo, i am buying my ammo because i am afraid of people like you and groups you represent. N bundy image comes to mind when i see you on this program. I am afraid of you guys. Host let mr. Cox respond. Guest you made a couple of points. One with regards to the industry. Over 90 of the money that comes to the National Rifle association comes from lawabiding people across the country who voluntarily join an organization that stands up for freedom in this country. We do so regardless of whether people like you want to call us names. That is part of political discourse. Youre welcome to your opinion and First Amendment right to call us names. I will stand up your First Amendment rights and not have a clue as to what youre talking about, just like i will stand up for the Second Amendment. Tennessee is next on the line for independents. Im sorry. We will go to scott from massachusetts on the line for independents. Caller i have a question for chris cox. Im wondering why sandy hook is being depicted as the worst School Shooting in american history. Whatever happened to that Indian School in oklahoma . I guess it was called when did knee, where the government moved in and shot all those people. What happened to that . Why dont they mention that . Guest with regards to School Shootings, as the father of 100 of n. R. A. Members and every gun owner i know wants their kids to go to safe schools. We want to live in safe communities. We all share that goal. The question is how we achieve that goal. Do we achieve that by making it harder for lawabiding people to have firearms . By keeping armed Law Enforcement personnel out of schools . Or do we send a message to those who would harm the most innocent that we are not going to tolerate it . If you try to cause a problem that one of our schools, you will be met with armed resistance. Thankfully, more that is happening. As a result, our kids are safer than they were two or three days yueears ago. Host dee is waiting on the line for republicans. Caller i have a question to make to mr. Cox. I am a proud member of the n. R. A. I have a 79yearold widowed woman. I have four firearms. One i carry all the time. The minute i step out the door, i have a gun in my purse. One in the living room, my bedroom, and one in my purse. He police are useless at the onset of any crime, they are useless. They are not there. If you cannot protect yourself, your dead. That was my comment. Mr. Cox, keep up the good work. Guest dee, thank you. Despite the best efforts of Law Enforcement working hard everyday, but Law Enforcement carries a firearm to protect themselves, not to provide security for citizens. If you want to own a gun safely and responsibly, you have a fundamental right to do so. If you want to learn more, you can join the National Rifle association. It is up to you as to whether you choose to make that decision and whether you choose to defend yourself. Because if you do, you have to recognize Law Enforcement cannot be there to protect you as an individual. They are there to protect and serve the community. Host lets go to pennsylvania, the line for republicans. Gregory is waiting. Caller good morning. Regarding the bit where you exposed hypocrisy. I had a chance to serve with a saudi arabian. That enforceple the laws. When we talk about bearing arms, we are talking about hands, arms, fingers. They can be used for more than just a gun. They can be used for pulling a knife or detonating a bomb, etc. Cut they do in islam is hands off because they know that arm is capable of doing just about anything. Isgets to the point where it destructive on a mass scale. That is where they justify the beheadings. Host what is your question for chris cox . Caller the question is, are you aware of the fact the second thatment does not specify you are allowed to carry a gun . It just says you are allowed to bear arms. That is your left and right. Host chris cox, jump in. Guest i would disagree. It is not the Second Amendment that gives you the right to have a firearm. It does not give you anything. It tells the government that right, that godgiven preexisting right shall not be infringed. This predates the government, our government and other governments. The right to bear arms is the right to defend yourself from attack with whatever arm you choose to use. This comment. Er, smart gun laws. Tuscaloosa,t, alabama, on the line for democrats. Caller im going to be quick with my,. Would he be to know willing to ask congress if they could pass a law to require those with semi automatic weapons, combat weapons, to require them to go on rifle every year orlify six months to use those weapons. You have a right to bear arms. But semi automatic weapons can kill people. The range of those weapons are 350 meters. That is at least two football fields. That is not the right to bear arms for using those for anything like that. If you can have your members support some kind of law that will require those people with those combat weapons to go on the rifle range and qualify to use those. Host mr. Cox, your thoughts on that proposal . Guest unfortunately, larry has read too much in the newspapers and on t v to fall into the trap of assault weapons. Semi automatics have been around for over 100 years. Of riflesand accuracy dont change based on whether it is a single shot or semi automatic configuration. The National Rifle association support some training requirement for those who own semi automatic weapons . Absolutely not . Host john is on the line for independents. Caller thank you for taking my call. My problem is i have a concealed carry license from another state. However, i am not allowed to legally carry in the state i live in. Luckily i was trained so i was able to fight them off and they were not carrying weapons. One had a knife but that is a different story. If i had a firearm in baltimore, iryland, and where to use it, would have been prosecuted. What the n. R. A. Is doing about that. I support the use of firearms for defense. Wondering, the laws around here are ridiculous. Guest john, your point of was being ridiculous in the state of maryland is no doubt accurate. The National Rifle association will continue to work with in array members and supporters like you to make sure we can get representation in the legislature and a governor who is not interested in focusing efforts on lawabiding gun owners but interested in focusing on Gang Activity in baltimore and other areas in maryland. It is a shame things are that way in maryland. I can promise you we are committed to turning things around the matter how long it takes. Host we have been talking about your efforts in the 2014 election. Are you going to get involved in the 2016 president ial election . Guest we will see what happens. We are focused on the first tuesday in november this year. We will focus on 2016 once we get through this one. Host any early favorites . Guest there are a lot of candidates who get attention that are strong supporters of the Second Amendment. Guys like robbie gendreau b obby jindal and jeb bush. I think we will have good choices and a good conversation with the American People who are going to support a candidate who supports basic freedoms. Host chris cox is the chairman of the n. R. A. s Political Victory Fund. Appreciate your time. Next, as the Supreme Court prepares to open its new term today, we will take a closer look at cases decided in the coming months. First, a news update from cspan radio. Time. 9 16 eastern the american journalist who contracted ebola in liberia has landed in nebraska and he will be treated at the Nebraska Medical Centers specialized isolation unit. He is the fifth american to return to the u. S. After contracting ebola during the latest outbreak in west africa. President obama is scheduled to get an update on the Ebola Outbreak today as federal officials consider possible actions to increase the safety of americans. Federal Health Officials say the u. S. Is waiting extra screening at u. S. Airports where travelers from ebola stricken african nations may be arriving. Political playbook shares the story from arkansas. She writes bill clinton tries to save arkansas from the gop. She adds he is out to spare some of his oldest friends in politics. His onetime driver, mike ross, now running for governor endangered senator mark pryor and a pair of household with whom mr. Clinton goes back decades. The former president has four rallies in two days scheduled across the state. Cspan is covered one of those events today in arkansas. Live coverage takes place at 1 30 eastern time. You can watch it on cspan or listen on cspan radio. Those are some of the latest headlines on cspan radio. Grant talksjeremy about ways to increase Data Protection with alternatives to passwords and basic security. The government is not looking to endorse any particular thetion, but rather ascribe attributes of what these solutions should look like. They have to be secure, easytouse, and interoperable. Let that be a guidepost to industry to start developing solutions around. Looking at the pilots, we have some looking at smartphone based apps which will be used in lieu of a password to log into different sites. Others are testing different types of biometrics. Not to say everyone will be the solution, but they are the kinds of things we are testing out. Tonight at 8 00 eastern on cspan2. 2015 student can competition is underway. This nationwide competition will award 150 prizes totaling 100,000. Create a documentary on the topic, the three branches and you. They need to include cspan programming and be submitted by january 20, 2015. Grab a camera and get started today. Washington journal continues. Host on this opening day of the new term of the Supreme Court, we are showing you live shots of the Supreme Court this morning. Wall, aoined by jeff former clerk for clarence to stephen prior from aiken gump. Several petitions asking the court to take up the issue. None were picked up by the court last week. Why was that . Guest i think there are three questions with the samesex marriage petition. If, where, and in what case. If the court is going to hear the case, i agree with the conventional wisdom the court will hear the case. The question is when. Indid not grant the cases the first conference, but that does not mean i cannot do it at any time it wants. It did not deny the petitions. Those are still pending before the court. Likely, the court wants more time to consider which is the right case and the right time to take it. There are multiple cases, i think seven different petitions out of three different courts of appeal that have all ruled on this matter. Likely the court is sorting through which of the cases it wants to take. One case, multiple cases, when does it want to do it . Doesnt want to wait for a court to come to the other conclusion . Rts haver cou invalidated the restrictions on samesex marriage. I think the court is in the course of sorting this out we will have to wait to see which case they take. Guest i agree. I think the court is likely to hear the case. Cases oftake multiple all the ones pending. My guess is the clerks and justices are sorting that out now. Host take us through the mechanics of rejecting or accepting a case and how long a case has to be picked up before it gets rejected. Participatejustices where the cases are doled out among the various chambers. The clerk will write a memo that will be circulated to all the justices. They meet at conference. They have all the memos in front of them on the cases that they have read through, and they discuss which ones to take. You need four votes to grant a case. If four or more want to hear, the court will grant. As in the samesex cases, they may wait and decide to put it over for a future conference. The big case in the last term was the hobby lobby case with the religious issues coming up in that case. What is on tap for religious freedom issues in the current term . Guest the court is not shying away from religious freedom issues. One of the cases is holt v. Hobbs which involves an arkansas prisoner seeking to grow a halfinch. Based on his muslim faith. The state said no. It involved almost identical statutory language to the lakewood at issue in the hobby lobby case where the court said a corporation has religious freedom rights to grant an exception from the deceptive mandate in the health care law. The court said that mandate would be a substantial burden on the corporations exercise of religious rights and the government has not shown it was the only way in which it could implement the contraceptive mandate. So it said the corporation could get an exemption. In that the similar prisoner is seeking exemption from a state ban on beards to all prisoners. He is saying it is a burden on my exercise of religious rights. There is no dispute about that. The state responds they have compelling security interest that motivate the no beard policy. You could hide contraband and prisoners might be able to change their appearance upon escape quickly. Those security interests while compelling, is this the least restrictive means, the only way the state can promote that objective . That is the burden congress has put when you are interfering with a prisoners exercise of religious rights. The arguments the prisoner is making, the first is the beards fors 1 4 prisoners with skin conditions. The second reason the prisoner points out is most other states, over 40 do allow prisoners to grow beards. That is the issue there. Coming on the heels of the hobby lobby case, i think people will be asking whether the court will pay the same solicitude to the exercise of freedom religious freedom rights as they did to hobby lobby. Host do you read anything into how the court will decide this case in the wake of hobby lobby . Guest i am not sure i do. You could see a hobby lobby overlay. But i think given the number of prison systems that would allow the inmate to grow the kind of suspect wants here, i the warden is going to have an uphill battle in front of the court. Host we are talking with pratik shah and jeffrey wall, both former clerks at the Supreme Court, both handling Supreme Court issues in their current roles at law firms in washington, d. C. Theyre here to take your questions and comments on the first day of the new term of the Supreme Court. Before we get to the phones, what case most interests you in the current term, the cases already picked up . Guest the court has a couple of very entrusting redistricting interesting redistricting cases for people concerned about the drawing of district lines in states. The first is alabama. After the 2010 census, the state legislature in alabama moved the districts in such a way that minority districts did not change. But they are claiming they were packed into certain districts in alabama in violation of the Voting Rights act. There is another case of arizona where the voters took redistricting authority out of the hands of the legislature and put it in an independent commission. The Republicancontrolled Legislature in arizona has brought a challenge claiming that violates the constitution, the elections clause. It says the time, place, and manner of elections shall be determined by the legislature of the state. The legislature is saying you cannot take it out of our hands and give it to an independent commission. For political watchers, i think those will be the two closely watched cases. Host the headline on the front page of usa today. Justices term starts slow, could explode. We are here to talk about any issues you want to talk about for the next halfhour on washington journal as we talk about the Supreme Court. We will start with bob from wilmington, North Carolina, on our line for republicans. Good morning. Caller i have more of a statement than anything else. I dont believe anyone in a federal or state penitential penitentiary has any rights other than to eat and get basic medical care. As far as catering to their religious needs and stuff like that, absolutely ridiculous to me. They should be thankful. It used to be bread and water. I fail to see the difference between that and the public schools. It is a state or federal rent penitentiary. If someone wants a bible in public school, they cannot have it. But they get all these things for murdering someone. That is ludicrous to me. I will listen to your comments. Host pratik shah, do you want to comment . Guest the important thing to note is the prisoner is not invoking a constitutional right in this case. The free exercise clause would likely be a futile claim. He would lose if the case was based on the free exercise clause. He is bringing his claim under a federal statute. Congress specifically passed this statute that would afford special religious freedom rights to prisoners and that states could only promulgate regulations in the interest of prison safety or security to the extent they really need it. If it was furthering a compelling interest and no other way to do it. Right. Under the constitution, he probably would not have any leg to stand on. But because Congress Passed this statute, he has a potential claim. The flipside you mentioned is prisons are different. Congress recognized that when passing the statute. We normally want to give greater deference to prison officials. They are experts in prison security. We dont want to be secondguessing their judgment. That is the argument the state is making. Yes, congress has passed this special statute giving prisoners doesious rights, but that not trump the expertise and sensitivity we should get to prison officials when they are regulating security. That is going to be the two flip sides of the coin the court will have to decide between. Is waitingornia, ken on the line for democrats. Caller i have an important question. Is there going to be any relief of american spying . We need some relief from this. Some privacy in this country but apparently we dont anymore. Guest there are a number of cases in the lower court challenges. None of those cases released in a National Security context are on the courts dockets so far for the coming terms. Im not sure that we are going to see any Major Development in privacy law this term. Talk about the facebook case . That is a fascinating case that brings an intersection of the First Amendment and social media. Obviously ais is troubled man. Wife of seven or eight years left him and took the kids. His facebooking on account, first under his own name and then under a he made it couple of very violent and disturbing posts. What makes it even more interesting is that he seemed to be aware of some of the First Amendment implications of what he was doing. He would either reference the First Amendment or he would say if someone came for it he was going to sue and he look forward to a huge settlement with the government. He was prosecuted under and under a statute for sending threats. He was sentenced to a little less than four years in jail. He is now challenging his conviction. Basically the criminals that chewed that criminalizes threats, it doesnt require that a reasonable person would understand what you said is threatening, but it is the object of intent that this intends to threaten and scare you. Hes saying they should have been required that he actually intended to make his wife believe that he was going to do these very violent things to her. He said the federal statute require that. It is unconstitutional to say he has a right to say these things until he crosses a line or actually in tens to hurt her. Argument for that case december 1. I think sometime in the spring but it could go as late as zach is waiting on our line for democrats. Thank you for waiting. I have a question. Its what congress has done for the people. [inaudible] were talking about the Supreme Court. If you want to talk about the intersection of congress and the Supreme Court and the relationship between the branches. Guest there is an interesting case that involves the clash between the branches. It is one of the more interesting cases the court has granted so far. It is a provocative issue. It is whether passports issued government, whether they should be true slim or israel. Those passports will simply be jerusalem. Congress passed a statute that said for folks who are torn and in jerusalem, if they want it has to issue that passport so it reads israel. The executive branch saying we are going to write jerusalem. Its going to be a question. Virtually knows a Premium Court precedent. There is no on point constitutional text on this issue. Host protections on that case . Thet this is one where order of the questions that come up matters a lot. The argument at the time that this was a political question between congress and the executive branch and the court should not get involved. Thecourt says we think lower court should trust the merits of it. Im not sure it would have come out the same way if the merits had been there at the same time. It is a difficult question. It is anyones guess with the court is going to do. 20 minutes i want to talk about the cases you are interested in at the Supreme Court. On our line for republicans. Good morning. Caller my question is the Supreme Court taking up homosexual marriage. I dont understand how it could get this far. Youement is basically are talking about human beings, which we are created man and woman. The reason for that was for reproduction. Marriage was to consolidate that and creative family. Now if you have a homosexual marriage, which is totally there is note scientific justification for it, no legal justification for it. Daily theunded ama cap beat up until they said we are not taking that off of our books. It is a mental problem. Nothing has been proved one way or the other on this. Yet the American People get hammered daily that if we say or disagree with the homosexual way of life that we are homophobic and to and nasty people. He says he doesnt understand how this gets this far. Talk about the evolution of this case and how there is now seven petitions before the Supreme Court. We will start to terms ago, when the court issued its decision in two cases. One was the u. S. Of the winter case. In act saying samesex couples are lawfully married in the few states that allowed marriage at the time. The federal government still do not have to give him benefits. The Supreme Court held that law unconstitutional. They said it violated the equal rights of lawfully samesex couples. That has really set the stage for these samesex cases that have come since. The other case was the california gay marriage case, which presented the same broader issue about whether they can prohibit samesex couples from marriage. The Court Dismissed it on standing grounds. The party bringing the case was not the right party to bring it. These cases have now been percolating in the lower courts. Muchned much my faster than the court expected. By my count i believe there have fromaround 40 decisions different courts deciding the samesex marriage issue in just over a year. 39 of those have ruled in favor of the challengers based on the Supreme Courts decision and other factors. It even surprised the Supreme Court how much this issue has come back to the Supreme Court. Have three courts of appeal that have decided the issue so far, there are challenges pending in other courts of appeal. I think the only question is not if that when and what should case the court will take. The Washington Post has a graphic about the changing landscape in samesex marriage. It gives the status of samesex marriage in states around the country. Our next caller has been waiting in ohio on our line for democrats. Good morning. Caller good morning. Hereve constitutions out and yet a lot of the lower courts do not recognize unless somebody wants to sue about it. We have a problem in this country. Services istive taking kids left and right. To associateht with her Children Free from government interference. A lot of this is due to the government paying for every case they bring in. These are our children we are talking about. My grandchild was taken. Brother has a mental problem and they took the word of that child then to now we have been going through courts like crazy. Our children do not belong to the state or the grandmother, they belong to the parents. Concern about government interference, are there any cases that have to do with government overreach . In the last few years there have been a number of ,ases on grand parental rights whether you can recover children. They have had a number of cases on school plans and rights of parents to exercise some level and children with special needs. There are still several months to go before we know everything that will be heard between now and april. So far this turn nothing major on that docket. Host we talk about the new term of the Supreme Court. Lets head head down to atlanta georgia. Good morning. I wanted to talk about the redistricting of states and gerrymandering of the legislative districts. Would much prefer to see something come out of this that allows independent commissions or even new true computer out rhythms to set the congressional districts so we can avoid this extremely polarized congress that cannot work together. I think the arizona case is a fascinating one. Inherently political should have been in hands that should have been put in the hands of the mission. Of time, place, and manner representatives should be determined by the state. It is an interesting question, how much you think that text of that cause indicates that the legislator has to make a decision and how much do you think it is just designed to say the state is to make its own calls and the voters can determine whether that is the legislature or independent commission. I think this is one where you could see battles between history, purpose, a lot of these policy arguments. Think it is a fascinating case. Guest it is a very difficult call. Text, sense you have which says the legislature of the state shall make these decisions. You have a pretty strong command seems to put redistricting in the hands of the state legislature. Other hand it seems like the purpose of that clause, if you are going to look beyond that text, it is a federalism purpose. It is not the federal government but should be meddling rather we leave it to the state and it should be up to the state to decide how to do it. If the voters have decided to put that decision in the hands or actuallyssion decided by members of the legislature, then that is good enough to satisfy the constitutional requirement and therefore we should let the voters in the state itself decide what is the best policy way to make this process work. Is calling on our line for democrats. Good morning. Talk aboutanted to the case in North Carolina where the man was stopped by the police officer. I would guess he did not have a public defender. There is a law that you only tail light. One he was pulled over because he had one taillight. An arrest considered as far as probable cause was concerned. Im assuming the officer may be told the truth and he did not just know the law but the officer felt like what he was doing was lawful. Think it will be an interesting case for the lawyers chew up. Rea dead on. Ur caller is the basic question is what happens when an officer mistakes the law, pulls you over believing you are fire leading a state law and in fact the state law says you only have to have one taillight. Over ander pulls you they find evidence in the car. In this case it was drugs. Is that admissible evidence against you . It is hard to believe we caught a couple hundred years without having an answer to this question. We will see if we can get a sense of which way they are leaning. How many cases have you argued before the Supreme Court . Guest 10. Host how long were you clerking their . Guest i was there from 2004 to 2005. Host same question to you. We have him for the next 10 minutes to talk about the Supreme Court. John from philadelphia pennsylvania on our line for independence. Caller it seems to me that the Supreme Court over the years has theirly favored establishment clause under the First Amendment as opposed to the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Im going to have the two experts expand upon that. In the establishment and free exercise clause, some people call it threading the needle between the two. The government cannot establish a religion favoring one religion over the other. Government cannot interfere with religious rights. Term we had degrees case, which was an establishment inuse challenge to prayer legislative form. Court said the prayer in a local town Council Setting was ok. Arechallenger said if you ejecting those who come to the town council to seek relief, to sit through a prayer at the beginning, that infringes on their religious rights. That violates the establishment cause establishment clause. The impact was not significant enough on the exercise of to create anedom establishment clause violation. The Court Allowed the exercise of religious space. Use on that coming from the flipside in the hobby lobby case. Designed to increase the rights of the free exercise clause. This has been a trend in the courts, to allow a greater use of religious expression in the public space, whether it is coming from the state or individual. Im not sure the caller has been the caller is right, that the court has been any more sensitive. Exercise side, congress has been relatively sensitive to some of these concerns, passed this federal statute called the freedom restoration act that requires settings to accommodate religious exercise unless it could come forward and show a really compelling reason or substantial reason not to. While some of these cases have not been framed as free exercise cases,constitutional they are still coming up to the court. Clause has religion been getting a lot of hearing in the court. Some of the free exercise cases have been more statutory than constitutional. Do not think that affects the nature of the claims and ability of people to press for greater religious freedoms. Host john from mississippi is on our line for democrats. What is marriage, what is marriage, what we call marriage is not person told people about gay marriage, we would have less of it. There is the constant complaint about the century about the separation of church and state. It matters that it be governed by the church. If the bible do tell us about marriage, it tells us it is an abomination. Evangelicals want to they want the legislative and judicial bodies to do their job. If they would read the bible and tell it what it says we would not have this problem. They come on tv and tell people what they think with what they think about the bible. Can you talk about the biblical arguments this caller and other colors have brought up today. Guest certainly marriage has a law has a strong religious component in it. That is not the issue before the court. Whatever the courts decide, it will not beget hating to a particular church or religion whether it has to recognize samesex marriage. It deals with the governments recognition. In this case the states for civil purposes. Rights,for adoption family rice, although sorts of things. It was the eyes of the government rather than the eyes of the church. That said, there is a religious component even in this case and one of the arguments made by the defenders of the ban on samesex is one that this has long been the case, it is rooted in local traditions and religions and other religions. It is not something that is designed as a punishment or to show animist to samesex couples. That is the argument they are making. The other side is making, when those traditions and arguments discriminate or violate the fundamental rights of people in , then the constitution trumps those traditions. Did you want to jump in on this topic . This case is not about telling churches who they can and cannot marry. It is about affording benefits because obviously having a marital status makes a difference for a lot of different reasons. That is the constitutional question everyone is pressing. The Roberts Court begins its 10th term today. Roberts has been in that job for nine years. He is ready to start his 10th year. That compares to 19 years. 17 years for warren burger. A question from twitter. Guest one reason you get these war in for example the court was in more liberal court compared to the Current Court a decision has to be made one way or the other. While that composition is intact , they tend to come out in a particular direction viewed from that metric. A lot of it deals with the composition of the court right now. In which dealing with some of the more sensitive social issues of our time and we can look at the defense of marriage cap defense of marriage act, we have a 54 court. We dont know which way that court will go. That is what we have to look out for. Host from the ap this morning are there other cases besides the ones that are mentioned their . Wisconsin oma, guest and the court denied those . Has theoomberg also story, Supreme Court refuses to rule on gay marriage issues. I think those states comprise the ones currently before the court right now. There are other cases pending in the court of appeals. Cases out of texas, cases out of the sixth circuit. Case incircuit has a which the argument had already been heard. Some people have been thinking that the court wants to wait for that court to make a decision because there were some signs in the world argument that it would be a divided opinion. Perhaps the court is thinking that might provide a vehicle with different views, a case with different views. The court did deny all of the pending petitions. Host was that move surprising by the Supreme Court . Why not allow these cases to wait a little bit longer . I think it is surprising in the sense that the court may not grant those cases but hold those petitions and wait to see how the lower courts did, it is not shocking by any means because the court does know there are other cases coming up. Want to wait a little bit and have these views articulated a little more and maybe see what the other side is. The othererspective judge may have. The court would probably benefit from more time on this issue and further consideration. You continue to look for more news as this comes up this morning. Guest Justice Ginsburg suggested that the court deny these cases or hold onto the. Then case pending that has argued but we do not have an opinion of that court. Of the judges seemed skeptical. It is possible they could have upheld the van crashed up one. I think when he made those comments and number of us arent really sure. The predictions would be the case. The pendinged on petitions, then i think it turns out the surprise that Justice Ginsburg and which was talking about. You jeff. E with obviously for something specific in anyway that in retrospect that back, it makes it less surprising. I think the courts preference would be to have a little bit more time to see how these issues percolate. I dont think they are in any rush to decide this issue. There are plenty of opportunities. I think the question is whether or not they will kid a decision from the sixth circuit will get a decision from the sixth circuit. They will have to grant a case by january in order for their so it is not impossible or by any means out of the question that this would wait until next term. We appreciate both of your time this morning. That is our show for today. We will see you back here tomorrow morning at 7 00 eastern. Have a great monday