visit to alaska. watch it on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the app. now a on u.s. preparations in the event of a plague. this is about 30 minutes. washington journal continues. is the united states ready to battle an epidemic? guest: i feel like it is not. i have been talking about this for a while. the u.s. has many strengths. ishas got the cdc but it disturbingly honorable. recent crashes with pandemics have shown that. in 2009, which was it won and swine flu, the u.s. was caught unprepared. it's network was looking in the

wrong part of the world, its ability to make vaccines were too slow. the epidemic after had peaked and hospitals were stretched thin as is often the case with our decentralized health care. there were vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a deadlier pathogen. host: what is the scariest thing you found out? world i think it is the -- just-in-time the economy. we rely on supply chains that could be fractured during the event of an easily spreading disease. hit puertoane maria rico, a knocked out a large proportion of the manufacturing capacity for iv bags. doctors had use the ridges to

inject fluids. we started having a shortage of syringes. a lot of the supply chain problems extend through our health care system and make us vulnerable to something that spreads quickly and causes large amounts of societal unrest. we have two lines open for you today. if you're in the eastern or central time zone, call-in. if you're in the mountain west -- or pacific time zones, call-in. what they do decide to concentrate on this topic now? guest: we are in peacetime. there is not a major crisis banging on our doors. it is now when people relax their guards and this is part of

history dealing with infectious disease. a crisis hits, everyone throws money and investment. crisis abates and everyone forgets. dooms us to this level of constant unpreparedness. now is the time when we need to be raising awareness of the threat and what we can do to fix it. this is not a problem we need to be that act but we need -- be bad at but we need to make investments now. host: what should the government be doing to prepare for that pandemic? guest: i would say more investment in public health. the basic things people do like training epidemiologists like getting -- epidemiologists, like getting jobs in. they have been increasingly

underfunded for a long time. money doing it hospitals to prepare themselves has been cut. that leads to increase. and we need to step up our game in terms of helping other countries to increase their health security, by investing in the ability of poorer nations to control the thesis -- diseases within their borders. that is the best way of ensuring the rest of the world is safe from diseases in an era of globalized travel. host: is this a critique of the current ministration or is this a problem we have seen with previous residencies -- presidencies? guest: this problem extends without -- throughout administration's. the one we have has a few unique problems, firstly a lack of

expertise. armscientific advisory administration -- and in this is desperate administration what to do are absent. time soome in all the there is this lack of expertise. we can look to how president past has reacted to outbreaks. was not seeking out scientific evidence and issuing, messages to people that provide the unifying spirit you need during an outbreak. it was probably the opposite and that is concerning in terms of how our leadership would react to the future disaster. med from baltimore is going to join us. weler: i am so glad to see

have a gentleman investigating this. to a group all for confiding malaria. out the mosquitoes in africa in no time by tree huggers who are worried about eggshell fitting. we lose a million babies a year in africa to malaria. it seems to be of no concern to anybody. i hope this gentleman will undertake the investigation and -- back how we can get into the system. we can save lives. it is the reason we do not have malaria in the western hemisphere, for the most part.

they were wiped out. the regardless of the details, i think this color highlights the importance -- this caller highlights the importance of health. you help countries deal with their health problems. everys important now when -- diseases can spread. they used to be diseases are one countries problem. they are everyone's problem. the most cost-efficient way of world ino protect the this country is to help nations improve their ability to prevent and control outbreaks. we see the value of investments already in places like uganda

where investments have helped them stand outbreaks of things like ebola and other diseases. in places like nigeria, when aola threatens to arrive in west african outbreak, polio investigators who were funded by the u.s. and other places who had been trained were able to keep it under control. evidencehistorical that our investments in global health have paid out in those investments need to be increased. they look like a are set to be in the future and that is going to be a problem. guest: -- host: kelly from west virginia. caller: i think it is a problem that needs to be addressed just like all the other problems in

the united states. our politicians seem to be grandstanding like with immigration and saying we need to do this for the immigrants while ignoring their own people and i think the united states needs to be taking care of its own people first and invest in money in the united states and quit trying to save the rest of the world. i do not think you can do that. , theyike with immigration do not grandstand like the democrats and republicans have been doing. i take the point of grandstanding. the problem is the threat posed by diseases extends over time scales that go beyond a political cycle, which is why people get shortsighted. america hasay that

to deal with its own problems before helping the rest of the world because the point of the world we live in is everyone's problems are shared. that drawing a border around the country and only dealing with internal problems will eventually leave us unprepared for threats that spread through flights, through all kinds of travel. that ethic of helping other countries, even if you do not buy the moral imperative, is important from a completely self interested perspective. it is the best way of ensuring outbreaks do not go out of control over here. there is a huge bipartisan history of support for this idea and it is an idea the majority of americans support from different sides of the political spectrum, that health problems

are easy to control if we help other countries. host: john, from trenton, new jersey. we are waiting for you. caller: i did not know i was on. thank you. me,he gentleman, before talked about it being a politician's deal. it is not. your neighbor shares your community and the world globe community has all the same problems. my question for the gentleman is to getat are we doing rid of the mosquitoes, the bedbugs, the tics and whatever transmits these insane mutating

germs that are going around the earth? it through an do asexual. we can get rid of them. guest: there are several groups of researchers who think about creative ways of thinking of dealing with the spread of disease by insects. --,y book, i write about which is common. stopst is in there, it those mosquitoes from spreading the virus is behind things like fever, zika, you fever. it is an interesting technique that is safer than insecticide spraying. it has got potential but let's be clear that is it -- a small

portion of the diseases out there. ebola and other diseases are not spreads by insects. like a disease. is found inthat birds, in poultry come in chicken and docks. it is found in pigs. it circulates around the world all the time. this is not something that is going to be dealt with dealing with one particular better like insects. it is something we need to think about holistically in terms of surveillance. in terms of getting our hospitals ready. as we talked about, in terms of getting politicians on board with the seriousness. host: how much of a concern is

there that a pandemic will happen in the u.s.? butt: it is cliche to say, the only thing we can predict is its unpredictability. the 1980 pandemic was one of the greatest disasters in history. something like that could turn up again. flu pandemics have happened. 2009 was mild. much milder than 1918. thename kind of deadliness -- if the same kind of deadliness then or to turn up in the modern era, it would be a big problem. bill gates takes this seriously. epidemic of that nature could kill -- a pandemic of that nature could kill 1300 people. that is not taking account of

the economic harms. it will be a problem. it is a question of when. wherewe covered a hearing disease experts came and and were asked about what they saw as the biggest threat. there are so many threats emerging and i wish i could take some off the table but they keep coming at us. they can change the biological threats we know today and something different we may not be prepared for. our greatest threat is our response capabilities and being able to respond to anything that comes our way. is there one biological threat that gives you the greatest concern? >> i think influenza is to be at the top of my list. it can affect everyone rapidly and is constantly changing.

all of the population can be susceptible. the threat of a pandemic has to be at the top of the list because it can happen fast. my number one and number two and number three is influenza. for the reasons dr. shipman has mentioned. when you have a respiratory virus that can be spread and then you have a situation, you can have a catastrophe. we have experienced those types of things. when we talk about is the 1918 pandemic. it is likely it would be an influenza but if not influenza, and influenza like --an influenza like respiratory virus.

influenza or something like influenza is the one that keeps me up at night. article says the next leg coming is america ready. is that the biggest concern now? guest: i think so. we never know what is going to come next. diseases have a history of taking us by surprise. it was sweeping around the world. the threat that keeps people of that night. just because of its ability to involvesnd the fact it . flu is an odd one. we can make vaccines. we have surveillance networks. but even in 2009, all of that infrastructure was not able to prevent a pandemic.

even this year, the regular non-pandemic seasonal flu stretched america's health care system fan. harbinger ofing what can happen. host: carol, what is your question? caller: i have a couple comments. jesse, i have not been on with you and i thank you for having me on. thanks for this program. my first question is how far along is the zika virus and its progression into the united states? how soon do you think it will be here? we are already receiving warnings in public health. texas. -- public health in texas. you still my thunder on the 1918 pandemic but i know this killed

1% of the u.s. population. this affected my great grandparents back in their day. here in texas. about thened are you lack of support on science-based ideas and theories when in texas , our official position by our state is there is no such thing as global warming and they tend to ignore the signs for that even while we had record rainfall from a hurricane last year and we have sea level rise taking place, how concerned are you about the governmental positions some take in parties in the partisan influence? guest: thanks for those points. on seeger, it is a great example of a disease taking us by

surprise. everyone neglected it. we only recently realized it can cause things like microcephaly in children. incursions in florida. it is going to be a recurring problem. it is a sign of how diseases can take us by surprise. to reach into your question thet partisanship, when zika epidemic was manifesting, obama asked congress for appropriations and they devolved into squabbling. appropriationse for several months. ebola or things like cancer or hiv.

that shows how partisanship can cause problems in our attempts to deal with these diseases. i am concerned about the lack of appreciation for scientific evidence. we need science to show us how best to fight diseases and to influence effective policy and the lack of advice in the white house administration should be a cause of deep concern to americans. there is no scientific advisor in place. the office that provides this service is then. there were a few qualified people to provide that kind of advice in the event of a future disaster. host: the torilla from oregon. victoria from oregon. nursed during the hong

kong flu. people forget about that. we lost a lot and i became a victim but our hospital was quarantined. it was scary. concern is the inequality of access to health care from state to take -- states. i see west virginia has not expanded medicaid and their problems would be a real set up for some type of an epidemic. the state next-door expanded medicaid so people have better access to health care. when are we going to have more equality in health care and how someat going to impact type of pandemic? guest: this is a good point. it is something that worries people. the decentralization of u.s.

health care means there is variation in how to print states are ready to cope with these diseases. i went to the university of nebraska medical center which has the best hospital for disease, deadly infections we know little about and they already, because they have had thoughtful leaders who have had facilities in place long before we were able -- those threats are manifesting at our doorstep and they campus facilities ready , even though they were dormant. it is that kind of commitment in the face of other pressures and the absence of any threat that source is needed in the system -- in a system in which it is

difficult to get everyone on the same page. it boils down to whether this administrator is ready to take steps necessary to become prepared for threats. it is not the best situation but it is the one we are living in. from corpus christi, texas. the u.s. supplies half of the $4 billion to the world health organization. it probably should be helping with the virus in china. country,g a communist it is not easy for us to help things beforee they migrate here. good: china has pretty history of late of addressing those threats.

h seven and nine flu is the strain most worrying the world now. china has taken good steps to control it. successes of those steps this year but that does not mean the u.s. has no responsibility or how to deal with threats in countries in the world in parts of africa and asia and the middle east. agreement called the global health security agenda, which says all the stuff i have been talking about, that the world needs to come together to prepare for these threats. the u.s. put money into that program and helped create it in the first place. those investments are being scaled back by 67% according to trump's budget.

cdc and operatives around the world will have to pull back and scale back on work that is already begun to build the capacity of other countries to deal with threats. that feels like a foolish waste of money that has already been expended. far better to build on that solid foundation and expand relationships around the world. host: heralds from california. and doctorsrnments have been pushing on flu shots. are they breaking down our immune system and are we becoming dependent? what is going on? guest: that is not how flu shots work. harm the immune system. they are meant to train immune

system. flu shots are a great thing. it is fantastic we have them. they do not always work well because flu viruses evolve every year. authorities have to look at the strains coming up and make predictions about which to include in the yearly vaccine, which is why sometimes they have less effectiveness and others. but that does not mean we should be ungrateful that we have a flu vaccine. that is not the case for the majority of other diseases. , ifgs like ebola or zika anything we need more vaccines. we want a situation in which vaccines are available and can be easily made to new threats. there is research going on. international agreements to get vaccines made for diseases that pose these problems in the future before they arrived.

vaccines are important -- an important part of our defensive arsenal. we need them. host: we would like to thank ed >> life every day with news and policy issues that impact you. dyson talkserin about race relations in the united states. -- the forces driving mexico and the united states together. and, "first it : the president, the vice president, and the pursuit of power."

join the discussion. >> this week, this is the unbiased travel to juneau, alaska, as part of our cable television tour. we stopped in the city of maine ahead of our stop in fairbanks. on c-span,a weekend c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. now, to a house hearing on using satellite for commerce and national security. we will hear testimony. this is about two hours and 20 minutes.