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wi-fi enable zones so students can be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> lot to get to on this thursday. begin with the front paim of "the washington post," from san jose, california, overnight the death toll has increased to now nine in the california rail yard. the latest mass shooting in our country. next to that, the president asking for a report on the virus' origins. in a statement from the president yesterday that reads in part, quote, i have now asked the intelligence community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion and to report back to me in 90 days. as part of that report i've asked for areas of further inquiry that may be required including specific questions for china. the statement goes on to read the u.s. will also keep working with like-minded partners around the world to press china to

participate in a full transparent evidence-based international investigation and provide access to all relevant data and evidence. we carry the senate debate live last night on c-span 2. here's more with the missouri republican as he outlined his resolution that did pass unanimously. >> now we've seen a parade of government officials speculate about the origins in one place or another and there's increasing speculation and, indeed, increasing numbers of statements from government officials saying that perhaps this virus originated in a chinese lab, in the wuhan institute of virology. i think it's time that the american people got to decide for themselves. it's time they actually got to see the evidence that the united states government has collected on this issue. that is exactly what the measure that we are introducing here tonight would do. it would make available to the american people the evidence that the united states government has about the origins of this terrible virus and this

terrible pandemic. >> that's from senator holly. this issue on both ends of pennsylvania avenue with the white house statement by the president and last fight's debate in the u.s. senate, and the reporting from "the washington post" with this headline washingtonpost.com as biden asks the intelligence community to redouble efforts to determine the definitive origin of the coronavirus. it reads in part the new message reflects a notable shift in some prominent scientist assessments that the virus all but certainly jumped from an animal spee sheesh to humans. the theory that has gained track shup is the pan may have accidentally escaped from the wuhan institute of virology in china. that is far from conclusive. biden ordered intelligence officials to deliver a report within 90 days that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion. annie is following the story and

covers the white house and politics for the "post." thanks for being with us. >> hi there. good morning. >> let me begin with the statement yesterday, just how significant was that from the president? >> i mean, it was a significant statement on a number of different fronts. the first piece of it was that biden was really reversing a position that his white house has been quite dug in on, which had been that the world health organization should take the lead in investigating the origins of the coronavirus. a problem with that has been the w.h.o. had tried and failed in the past to do that and sort of seen as being quite deferential to china. it was a little bit like having, you know, the foxes investigate what happened at the hen house. but there are other parts of the statement that are remarkable. one is sort of discussion of a

debate within the intelligence community that is unsettled and typically presidents do not reveal those kinds of discussions, particularly of intelligence that's considered of low to medium confidence, which the intelligence that the president discussed is categorized as. so that was a bit odd too. the president also took a veiled dig at president trump in his statement sort of saying that he as a candidate -- that biden as a candidate had been urging more transparency from china, urging the trump administration to push china harder to let investigators on the ground there, and sort of making that point and putting some sort of, you know, reminder out in the air that biden had wanted the trump administration to push china at a time when trump was

saying a lot of very positive things about that country. >> let me follow up on that point in a statement the president is saying there are specific questions for china, the chinese government, and president xi jinping saying that investigation is now closed. what tools, what pressure can the west put on china to reopen this investigation and specifically to find out what answers they need with regard to the lab in wuhan, china? >> well, there are quite a number of tools that can be used. sort of overt and covert tools, right. one of them is the specter of sanctions, diplomacy, of, you know, pushing, you know, the chinese leadership to be more open using those methods. one of the really striking aspects of the statement that the president put out was he requested -- direct the intelligence community to analyze -- this is a keyword --

and collect more information about what happened on the ground in china and the intelligence sources that i've been talking to have said that that second word collect is particularly significant because the president is sort of directing them to do more, you know, what we would just call, you know, spying on china, which is something we obviously do and something we don't, you know, typically talk about and doesn't come from a presidential statement. >> we're talking with annie, a white house reporter for the "washington post." back to your reporting front page in the newspaper and online, quote, the origin of the deadliest pandemic in recent memory carries implications for public health and beyond. if investigators point to china one of the most powerful and sensitive countries in the world, it could ignite a global diplomatic firestorm. health officials complain that china has hampered investigation into the matter and a finding could remain elusive despite the

president's directive. wednesday's move is suggesting he's growing concerned about china's possible role and some scientists caution despite the renewed interest no significant new information has emerged in recent weeks and urge the president to ensure that intelligence officials provide clear evidence in their report which they are typically reluctant to do. fill in some of the pieces in that excerpt from your story this morning. >> yeah. i think one of the keys to remember here is that there isn't actually any new development that is fueling this flurry and this renewed attention on the theory that this virus could have come from a lab in wuhan. it's not as if a major scoop has been had. there's -- what has happened, this is just sort of unusual in big stories like this, but what has happened is, a lot of facts that have existed in the world

were -- have been kind of assembled, you know what i mean, i have to say like "the wall street journal" to give them credit has done a really good job in the last few days putting together a lot of information that information that has kind of already been out there into a sort of very clear narrative that shows more of a possibility that this wuhan lab could have been sort of the culprit, and also, scientists who are quite credible had early on dismissed these theories, but the scientists have also reassessed their views, and so that's different from the actual facts changing, and so i guess the kind of warning that many of the people i'm talking to would say is that, look, we're not -- it's not -- the facts haven't changed. it's sort of the political dynamic has, and i think some of the people i was talking to

yesterday who i quoted in the story were saying that the trump white house just lacked so much credibility in so many areas that when they were pushing this wuhan lab theory, it fell on deaf ears because so many of the other statements coming out of that administration were sort of demonstrably false, so there was sort of a reluctance for people to sort through what might be and what might no be and what has changed is trump is no longer in power and that has provided a little more space for consideration of this theory. and the other piece of it, too, is just distance, that sort of last year, as this theory was circulating, there was a lot of other things going on and the country was in the middle of a pandemic and there was concern and worry about the immediate future and the immediate crisis, and now that we are emerging a little bit from it, there's also more reflection about, okay, now

how exactly did we end up in this position? >> annie linskey, her story is front page of the "washington post" and on the web. she covers the white house. the president calling for a report within 90 days. thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> and with that background, we want to get to your calls and comments on this thursday morning. by the way, warren stroebl, who is one of the lead reporters for the "wall street journal," national security correspondent, who in part broke the story about this, he'll be joining us at 8:45 eastern time in about an hour and a half. but until then, for the first hour, as the u.s. now redoubling its efforts to investigate the source of coronavirus, tell us what you think. we're dividing our phone lines between republicans, democrats, and independents, and jeff, on the republican line, from williamsburg, virginia. good thursday morning. go ahead, jeff. >> good morning. thanks for the opportunity. i think that the journalist's last comment about donald trump is no longer in power explains everything you need to know.

i think it's very apparent that the vast majority of the media is basically an extension of the democratic party's propaganda and because trump said x, the media and the so-called fact checkers are quick to say, not x is true. x has been thoroughly debunked by everyone with a brain and this is sad because in our country, the reason the founders put a first amendment in there was to put a check on corruption, and we've lost that because corporate media, do include c-span, because it was clearly biased toward the democrats before that presidential debate. what we're hearing now is slanted. so the fact is that there was intelligence then, and it was trashed because donald trump said it and that is unfortunate. thank you for the time. >> we'll go to ben in alexandria, virginia, democrats line. good morning, ben. >> good morning, steve. welcome back on the air. i actually wanted to tell you, i think i first heard this comment

by senator tom cotton last year when he was pushing for this anti-chinese sort of things about, oh, it's probably the fault of china, this, that, because he serves on the intelligence committee, but then i had to think and look and do my research and so for -- i think it could be that china had the virus thrown at us, actually all over the world, but i'm not too sure of that theory. i think the element with the animal is probably what i think is probably feasible. and one other thing, steve. >> sure. >> i want to add about the commission on the september -- if i may, please, i wonder if some of those republican senators who are leaving congress can truly vote now their conscience because now they don't have to face the voters anymore, so it's possible for them to vote, like the likes

of portman or even, i don't know, people like that who are leaving. >> sure. >> and they don't really have to face the voters anymore. >> senator pat toomey, also, who's stepping down at the end of next year. you mentioned the commission, the january 6th commission. 60 votes needed. it appears as if the democrats do not have those ten republican votes, again, renewing the debate over the filibuster and the senate in session at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. live coverage as that debate unfolds on c-span2. this is from inside "the washington post," china's first covid patients. the op-ed says the following, in the hunt for the origins of the virus that has touched off a global pandemic, the very first cases are extremely important. they could reveal vital information about where the virus came from. china has stated the outbreak began in wuhan in december of 2019 but this may not be the whole story. next to that is this op-ed, editorial cartoon from the drawing board of the "washington

post" which shows the covid investigation hitting a brick wall. this is the china great wall, that, inside "the washington post." david is joining us from south carolina. republican line. good morning, david. >> good morning. this is kind of a classic flip-flop and i'll just give a couple quick examples and then make a prediction that might be far out there, but you remember -- you may remember it in a few years. first of all, when the trump administration's health officials allowed states to set their own policy on masks and localities, et cetera, it was called by the left, no national plan. now, of course, this is the national plan, to let states do what they want but it's considered wise. and when the former president said this virus may have come from the wuhan lab, he's called

racist. he was definitely called a racist comment. and it was shut down out of spite by the current president, the investigation into that. and now he's, of course, trying to look like a hero, and the other example i had is one of the reasons for the success of the vaccine, development so quickly, is that the prior administration guaranteed payment for hundreds of millions of doses before they were even produced, and the narrative that we hear in the press today is that trump couldn't deliver and it took biden to get the vaccines out. i'm going to make a prediction that i hope is wrong, but i think one of the reasons behind the huge push behind the new type of vaccine is that they are radically different from former antigen-based vaccines and they can be used to make the body produce any protein of choice

and can even be used to instill new genes into our genome, and i won't explain the science, how that works, but it's very possible, and it could be that this virus was created with, you know, its infectivity and occasional severe symptoms and slightly higher cause of death than former flus is -- was as an excuse to implement this new type of vaccine and we're going to see greater and greater enforcement of it, but eventually, it will be used, i believe, to reduce fertility and longevity in certain populations that could be targeted, specifically. >> david from south carolina. inside "the washington post," looking at the risk factors of those people not vaccinated, it's also on the web at nytimes.com, the darker the color, the higher the risk of the spread of covid-19 if you are not vaccinated. it comes as an estimated 37

million americans preparing to travel for the memorial day break, and the cdc warning those who have not received a vaccine to follow safety protocols. a number of you mentioning president trump, former president trump in april of last year, at the white house, was asked about coronavirus and its possible source or sources. here's president trump. >> the question i had was, have you seen anything at this point -- >> we're looking at that, john, separately from -- we're looking at exactly where it came from, who it came from, how it happened, separately, and also scientifically, so we're going to be able to find out. >> and my question is, have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the wuhan institute of virology was the origin of this virus? >> yes, i have. yes, i have, and i think that the world health organization should be ashamed of themselves because they're like the public relations agency for china, and this country pays them almost

$500 million a year, and china pays them $38 million a year, and whether it's a lot or more doesn't matter. it's still, they shouldn't be making excuses when people make horrible mistakes, especially mistakes that are causing hundreds of thousands of people around the world to die. i think the world health organization should be ashamed of themselves. >> that from former president trump in april of last year. again, the u.s. to now redouble its efforts to investigate the source of coronavirus, the statement from president biden yesterday and michael is on the phone from bellville, new jersey. good morning, michael. >> hi, good morning. well, thank you for c-span. i definitely think that there needs to be more investigation into the sources of coronavirus. i've been following a lot of the reporting that's been coming out of "the hill" that specifically talks about dr. fauci's role in

pushing gain of function research, which is where they'll modify a virus to study it. apparently, this is a controversial topic within the field of virology, and this is something that was previously banned under the obama administration. and in 2017, anthony fauci pushed to have this research be allowed, and i think the fact that they're able to study this in these global virology networks, the wuhan lab included, without the proper safety standards is probably the most likely cause of the virus. >> michael, thanks for the call. a number of you with your tweets and your comments on social media and also text messages. one of our viewers saying that the caller that we just heard from south carolina will not explain the science because there is no science to explain his theory. this is from mlb. the current president is an intelligent person who believes

in science, unlike his predecessor, who lied incessantly. kirk says, based on human history, i would not be surprised if it was manmade. and this from elvin saying, they should investigate dr. fauci and his connection with the gain of function and the organization that is connected with the wuhan lab in china. dr. fauci getting a lot of questions on that yesterday on capitol hill. we'll have that later in the program. but back to your calls. republican line, debbie, columbia, missouri, good morning. >> i'd like to say that david from south carolina was kind of an target with his ideas about gene manipulation. i believe that china is looking at gearing people to be able to adapt to different food sources and efficiencies and trump is not stupid, and he's not a science denier. he was very on top of this

virus, and he did a good job. >> debbie, thanks for the call. mike in orlando with this text message. why are republicans concerned about the origins of the virus but no interest in getting vaccines to put an end to the virus? yes, let's investigate the virus, the attack on the capitol, trump's obstruction and criminal activity. front page of the "new york times" has the headline that we're talking about this thursday morning, the president ordering a report within 90 days on the origins of coronavirus. walter from waldorf, maryland, democrats line. good morning. >> good morning, steve. good morning, c-span. good morning, america. i'm a little nervous and my thoughts are all over the place here, but as to the first caller and a couple callers beforehand, they were claiming that trump was on top of the knowing where the virus came from. trump never actually -- trump never actually spoke up on anything about the virus coming

from -- oh my god, i'm confused -- trump never addressed anything about the virus coming from a lab in wuhan. he actually tried to suppress any discussion of the matter through january until the dow fell out because of -- it was affecting us here in america. and after that, he obfuscated and lied and just totally threw a lot of bull into the woodwork with the coronavirus. that's all i had to say. >> walter, nice job. thanks. don't be a stranger. we're glad to hear from you. yesterday, karine jean-pierre filling in for jen psaki was asked about the president's statement and what happens next. we carried the briefing live on the c-span networks. here's that portion. >> he said that he received the

report earlier this month about the origin and asked for additional follow-up. did that follow-up include the current position of the ic or, in other words, when did the president first learn about the ic's current position? that they don't have enough information to say if it was the animal host that caused this or a lab accident? >> well, from just his readout, it said that he learned about it a month ago, so don't have more to read out than that. you know, one of the reasons that we're doing it now is because classified information takes time to declassify, and so that is a process that takes some time. >> we'll leave this recorded program here. you can finish watching it on our website, c-span.org. up next, ceos of the nation's largest banks testify on their operating practices. live coverage he