underway and students around the country are busy at work and sharing the experience with us through twitter. it is not too late to enter. our deadline is january 20, 2017. in your documentary, tell us what is the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to address in 2017. our competition is open to all middle school and high school students great six through 12 -- grades six through 12 with $100,000 awarded in cash prizes. the grand prize of $5,000 will go to the student or team with the best entry, and the remaining will be awarded or shared between 150 students and 53 teachers. for more information on our competition and contest rules, go to our website. studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. is at our sherman

desk representing california's 30th district, a senior democrat on the house for the relations committee. your senate colleagues this week will be hearing testimony and the nomination hearing for rex tillerson to be america's next top diplomat. i know you do not get to appear on that panel, but if you did, what questions would you ask the secretary of state nominee? guest: we want to know what his viewpoints are. we are told that everything he said in the last 40 years does not count because he was just promoting the interests of exxon. he tried to- when influence american policy, it was not out of patriotism, just loyalty to his shareholders. i would ask him about russia and try to get some assurance that our policy towards russia will utin hasverything pr tried to achieve. host: what is your expectation

for who will run foreign policy? do you think it will be the white house? will rex tillerson be stepping up? guest: i think a lot of our foreign-policy will be run out of the state department on those issues that do not rise to trump 's personal level. host: what is an example of that? our policy probably to south sudan. human rights in kenya. a host of issues will probably i don't think you will have a white house. you will have a president, not a whole bureaucracy in the white house. if it is not make it to the rexe house, determines what the policy is.

you have to follow the president on twitter. if he gets a bit of information about something, he tweets it 140 characters. host: we asked republican viewers about whether they think trump should keep tweeting or scaling back. how do you think twitter will factor into an american foreign-policy? guest: well, under the old rules it would be out of character because the slightest statement, the change of a comma can send shockwaves in various parts of the world. trump may have changed the rules. it could just be that people regard the statements of the white house as just the current emotional state of mind rather than a change in u.s. policy. we will see. i would say under the way the a.m. used to work, 4:00

twitters from a president would be a bad thing. adon't want to call trump hothead, but he is hotter than obama. forhave hothead in korea example, and they may rise. i would hope that at least in the foreign-policy area, trump would discuss with staff before the tweet goes out. host: i want to invite our viewers to join the conversation with congressman brad sherman from california. 202-748-8001 if you are a republican. 48-8002 if you are an independent. are you satisfied that congress

part in is ouits investigating the russian cyber hacking? is this any doing a better job of that in the house? guest: the senate is doing a much more active job than the house. i have asked the president to brief in a classified, and i don't mean him personally, but we have a secure auditorium for over 500 members suitable. we have other classified briefings. we need a classified briefing of everytire house because policymaker, every legislator needs to know what is the proof that says putin interfered? and what was he trying to get out of this? a lot of that has been made public. very convincing, but it will have a real impact when the colleagues here from the leaders

of the intelligence community. host: with us for the next 20 minutes telephone lines are yours. let's start with ron and west chesterfield, new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning. c-span, i get, you guys -- again, you guys are the greatest. i only wish you were on for eight hours a day. i have a couple questions if i may. putin is worse than a redneck basically is my opinion of him. i would like for c-span to try letter he wrote to the american people at the time of the syria conflict when that began. it was directed to the american people, not the president or congress, but everybody here. i would like to see that reviewed. , the approval

ratings of congress have been so , i am wondering h congress congress will have better approval ratings or are we ready for more filibusters with more gridlock? thank you very much, c-span. guest: congress gets a low rating in large part because there is something in it for everyone to disagree with. they don't ask the questions, do you support democrats or republicans in congress? you get better numbers there for either party than congress as a whole. as to whether we will be any first isan the past,

this ethics move in the house. it is one more strike against congress. that oversight board needs to be reformed, but in a bipartisan way and not in a way that guts it. so manyr thing is americans say we hate gridlock. gridlock is not the very worst thing congress can do. worst thing congress can do is move the country in the wrong direction. obamacare, we ought to approve it, but if we have gridlock and keep it the way it is, that is a lot better than suddenly revealing it -- repealing it. democrats may need to find another word because gridlock is a really bad brand. host: question on the institution of congress that you were just talking about. we found out that on my past

tradition, cory booker is going to be testifying against senator jeff sessions in his hearing to become attorney general. what do you make of the breaking of precedent there? guest: senators testify before senate committees often. host: not necessarily against the colleagues. guest: but not against a colleague. i think they are holy sessions up to the same standards that they would if he spent his last decades in state government and had been a governor rather than a senator. they are not treating him like a member of the club. they are treating him like someone who has to be evaluated to see whether he should become attorney general. he made statements. most of them long ago that are really troubling to a lot of us. we are just as concerned about what policies he will be voting in the department of justice. host: patrick in oklahoma on the

line for republicans, good morning. caller: good morning. the biggest problem was the democrats lost and they forgot about the middle of the country. they think we are all stupid. the foreign-policy of obama stuck. his domestic, $6 trillion more in debt. what do we get more out of it? obamacare that is a disaster. this is his legacy? hillary clinton lost not just because she was a bad candidate. it was the policy. she had none. it was just a continuation of obama. trump came in and it was a refreshing there is a middle of the country and not just the two coasts. that was left out of everything i saw on tv. people out here, that is all they talk about. i just want to hear this guy's comments about that. republicans will get things done because there is no more harry reid. come on. this guy stopped everything.

thank you, and that is my comment. guest: first, democrats like to cling to the view that it is just the messenger, that we don't have to change anything about the program we have for the country. all we need is a spokesperson. that is like a football team saying the easiest thing to do is change the coach. even easier than that is to change the team spokesperson. if you want to know why we lost, look where we lost. we lost in the states affected by the trade policies that both parties have been following. when i say both parties, democrats in congress have been opposed to these trade policies for 20, 30 years. i am always fighting against nafta, shafta, and cafta. if you look at what happened, trump went to the upper midwest

and sounded credible when he said he was against the transpacific partnership and against our trade policy in general. unfortunately, the message from the democratic party, because they did not look at what people in congress were saying, but from the white house, there was a conference in washington just a few weeks before the election hosted by the president talking about how they were going to pass the tpp during the lame-duck. i think that probably cost us more than 100,000 votes in the upper midwest. host: is that the only place where the democrats need to change? guest: some of it is cultural.it is an appreciation both middleerica, america and education level, in terms of geography, in terms of income. i think the trade issue is right at the center of that. we have two be pushing for higher wages in this country.

if we diminish the trade deficit in half, wall street would be screaming because they would call it a labor shortage. we need a labor shortage. we need executives screaming at each other saying, why did you see all my employee and offer them more money? we get there if we change. friendly countries should have balanced trade relationships. host: shelbyville, indiana. cynthia is on the line for independents. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to make a comment about this election. we see these protesters to take place when trump gets elected. however, i want to say we in and sickwe are tired of being called racist when we are not. racism is a sin. it takes place in a heart of man.

jeremiah in the bible. the heart of the man. who can know it but god? we are tired of that. we are tired being told that islam is the religion of peace when we have seen the debate between imams and pastors. we understand. we can read the books for ourselves. we understand. do we love the people? yes. we are tired of being told these types of things. if you're going to hold jeff sessions to the standard of the comments he made in the past, we saw it on c-span yesterday, they represented two people representing two different points of view on jeff sessions. both of them were black folks. it is amazing to me how the democrats want to lash out and call everybody a racist. it is ridiculous. it is dividing. it is from the devil. it is called sin.

we would like to have some thought put into this. you need to go back and talk to the people in the democratic party. keith ellison, i guarantee you guys will continue to lose because american people have woken up to something. the lord has drawn more people into saving them. host: a lot there. guest: first, the people who voted for trump are not deplorable. they are not racists. obviously, there are a few exceptions to that. as to whether mr. sessions we set high standards for attorney general will have to be determined at the hearing process. as to whether any religion is a religion of war or peace, every religion has a phrase and part of its history that would seem to indicate it is a religion of war. every religion teaches peace and should be acknowledged that the mainstream of the religion is

peace. if you look at the old testament and what the people of israel pretty warlike. s of the at the conquest 700's, you saw powerful warlike muslim armies. the goose eggs are one example. -- the crusades are one example. every religion you can disparage my looking at this or that aspect of history. the fact is mainstream muslim religion is a religion of peace. host: the caller brings out the democratic leadership. you have an idea who should lead that? guest: every day, a new candidate emerges. i hope that we had a candidate who runs on the democratic platform that we adopted in philadelphia. host: columbus, ohio, kenny, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing?

host: go ahead. caller: my comment is about regional and call in about vladimir putin being a russian redneck. if vladimir putin is a russian red neck and donald trump is an american redneck, what is going on? we got to watch donald trump and vladimir putin like is this going to be a repeat of watergate? is he going to try to sell the country? i think it is more than meets the eye. i have a republican, but i mean, it seems like the lady said they are not racists or we are not racists, but barack obama had 500 filibusters. come on. they never gave them a chance. we will give donald trump a chance? come on.

we need to wake up, man. america is a dream shattered. is it really a dream or a nightmare? host: congressman. guest: there is a lot there. i think it is hard to identify what the cultural aspects are of a "redneck" and how to apply that to a national leader. is as tough and determined and sometimes as aggressive as any leader in the world, but is careful. he would not tweet. he would not break with policy just on his own. and ais a bureaucracy dedication to professionalism in moscow that is kind of a standard part of foreign policy. trump is outside the box. someone call and

spontaneity. others would call it a lack of professionalism. i think that is all i have to say about his comments. host: last week, the house voted to pass a resolution announcing 's fromma administration the un security council vote that condemned you as israeli settlements. 342-80. did you join republicans and many democrats in the? i joined the majority of democrats in voting for the resolution and almost every democrat who did not vote for the resolution cosponsored a put prices resolution, which is very similar. there werence is about 75 democrats who voted against the resolution. the almost all cosponsored resolution which lays out standards and says veto

resolutions that do not achieve these standards in the future but does not comment about the past. republicans about the floor something that had the same standards in but also says we should have vetoed the resolution last month that did not meet those standards. there is this effort for this huge partisan divide what our policy is the same. we want a two state solution and do not want the ui dictating terms to the parties because that will not work -- un dictating terms to the parties because that will not work. know.rd to trump said he would be evenhanded initially, which means israel would have no friend in the world. one referee for israel, and the rest of the world tends to be somewhat hostile. he is now appointing this david freeman to be our ambassador.

i agree that we ought to have the embassy in jerusalem. you put the embassy in the capital. reserved,hat has been which i visited, for the u.s. is iny for jerusalem the part of jerusalem that the arab league assigns to be israeli and a final peace settlement. it has been part of israel sin e and/or invite the israeli government since -- and been governed by the israeli government since 1948. it is a common sense and to do. we need to create better relationship. friedman's opposition to a two state solution is a huge mistake for israel and the world. it does not signal to certain elements in the israeli government that somehow

a one state solution makes sense because ultimately as john kerry says israel cannot be democratic and a jewish state unless it is part of a two state solution. host: time for just a few more calls with congressman brad sherman. californialinda is waiting in tennessee. caller: thank you for taking my call. i was going to talk about something else, but talking about israel, i think if they change and notd ,ive no money whatsoever everybody who voted against israel needs to be voted out, and we the people will see that they get put out. that is the reason obama lost. the people gathered and put themselves forward.

i used to be a democrat. all of his rules and regulations and everything else, you should know. if it does not work, people don't want it. thank you for taking my call. host: congressman. guest: i think you can criticize , but i would argue that the u.s. should not be part of . because if you disagree with it now, imagine what it would be without the united states. that would be a percent as powerful and relevant. it would have 80% as much money. it would be 100% more objectionable. the united nations just denounced in clear terms the attacks on israeli soldiers in jerusalem, the terrorist attack. right some ofe

the times, even on the middle east and so many other issues. the u.n. is very helpful. i like to see them do more about south sudan and issues around the world. the choice is not should we have a u.n. or not? the question is do you want to have one without the united states senate or not? the: just minutes before committee will be considering the nomination of jeff sessions for the attorney general post. the hearing room is filling out. we will show you some live shots. a very crowded hearing room. someone standing and shouting at this point as senator jeff sessions has entered the room. one more call in this segment. texas, in san antonio, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i amherman, it is odd

calling after the woman who just spoke because i have a different view. i think a lot of the american people are really upset. this morning, i listened to people calling in complaining $2 raise ongetting a their social security checks, but we are sending billions of dollars to israel to a country that basically uses the u.s. so they can be a bully. every time we do something that they do not approve of, they come back and tell us they need more money from us. -- the will get the president gets up there and gives speeches about how other countries should not be dictating to israel. they are their own country. they will run their country the way they see fit.

they do not want us giving our opinion to them, but they have no problem with constantly wanting money from us. also, the way they have disrespected president obama when he paid for that i forget how many millions of dollars we paid for them to have that defensive dome. now we will end up paying them another $38 billion. i feel like israel thinks we either private atm machine and they do not show us respect that they should. host: congressman, want to give you a chance to answer in the minute we have left. guest: i think obama has been a strongly pro-israel president and for good reasons. we have the best cooperation military to military and intelligence. we spent on aide to the israeli military one half of 1% what we spent on our national security.

there is not a better investment that we can make in our national security. israel is on the front lines against the terrorists trying to kill as many americans as possible. i think israel is right to say they are a foreign country. to assert that we work closely with them, i would like to see a few changes in their policy and in american policy also. host: congressman brad sherman, democrat from california, senior member of the foreign affairs committee. appreciate the time. next on the "washington journa " ," we will be talking about the many confirmation hearings that are taking place this week on capitol hill along with president obama's farewell address, president-elect trump's first press conference since the election. we want to hear from our viewers about your most an anticipated news event this week.

we could talk about any of those coming up. we will tell you about how you can watch them on c-span. you can start calling in now. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. if you are outside the u.s., 202-748-8003. in, we will calling take you to the senate judiciary committee hearing room where senator jeff sessions will begin testifying in a little bit about his nomination to be the next attorney general. senator sessions sitting there waiting for the given to begin begin.hearing to >> before we start hearing, i

will give a personal point of privilege to former chairman and my friend senator leahy to speak for a few seconds that he asked to do, and it is appropriate to do what you said you're going to do. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate the courtesy. the senate judiciary committee convenes for the first time in 115th congress. historic minute and the committee's history. feinstein was named the ranking member. the first time a woman has served in this capacity. having been chairman or ranking member for the past 20 years, i cannot think of anybody better. members have served on the committee and only five of those have been women. three of those five women are probably serving on this important committee today senator feinstein, senator

klobuchar, senator ron. welcome senator feinstein. we grapple some of the most pressing issues facing our country. we americans can be proud she is here, and i applaud you for this. >> thank you. >> thank you, senator leahy. good morning. i welcome everyone. host: if you want to continue watching the judiciary committee hearing on the nomination of jeff sessions for attorney general, you can go to c-span3. we are live streaming on c-span organ and the c-span radio app. this is one of 8 confirmation hearings taking place this week. we are covering them all on the c-span networks. later