borders, no class, no breed. what we need to do is, we the people, need to follow these instructions, try to stay healthy, support those helping the sick, pray for the dying, and hope for a better day. host: the soul of america and the hope of glory, the two books from john meacham. a reminder, we are back tomorrow morning with another edition of "the washington journal" at 7:00 eastern time. residents have been told to stay home. near times writing, in a matter of weeks, millions of americans would have asked to do something unthinkable moments -- once ago. don't leave the house unless you have to, the directives that keep people at home have swept the nation today. a vast majority of states in the navajo nation, puerto rico, and

many cities and counties instruct the residents to stay home to something growth of coronavirus. the latest a to issue such an order, south carolina. the order went into effect yesterday. in columbia county previously ordered the residents to stay home before henry mcmaster ordered a statewide home or work order, requiring all south carolinians to limit movement outside of their home except for essential i timothy's. south carolina became the last state on the east coast to issue such an order. that is from south carolina. voters in one state yesterday asked to go to the polls to participate in a primary. this is the prompt -- front page of usa today. unlike any other wisconsinite to vote in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, that is from the milwaukee journal sentinel. that story noting the votes won't be counted until monday, another twist in the latest

chapter of this. only a wisconsin political story, but they note the main contest on the ballots, the state supreme court race between daniel kelly and joke are -- roski -- -- joke waiting outside riverside high school to vote, he said i don't feel i'm risking my life, but it is different. everyone is properly practicing social distancing. that is what we are talking about this morning on the "washington journal," social think -- social distancing. how it is impacting you and your family. phone lines are split of differently this morning. old,u are under 25 years -- 748-8003. tom is

host: tom is up first on the line for those 51 to 70. tom, good morning to you. caller: good morning. i would like to make a comment about the social distancing. i live in a motorhome pretty much by myself, with my cats. i have been to prison before. social distancing is not a big thing if you are used to this. when people go out and do not take it seriously, that is on them. you really should listen to your , people, and stuff. i would not listen to the federal government, especially not donald trump. people giving false information, that stuff is dangerous. host: do you think people are taking it seriously in california? caller: oh yeah. gete are signs when i frustrated trying to go to the store, and people are just

worried about getting their toilet paper or rushing in and there is no need for that. is nice in california. people are doing the right thing. that is why our death toll isn't so high. host: is your governor doing the right thing out there? caller: oh yeah. i love gavin newsom. he is telling it straight how it is. and i turned the tv to cnn or something like that, i can't even stand listening to the press conferences from the government, the so-called task force. that is like a joke. they are just up there lying and trying to get people, dangerously, like wisconsin, republicans said it was ok to go ahead and vote. you can't vote by mail, but he votes by mail. he got called out on it. like, come on. host: that is tom in california

talking about the press briefing at the white house yesterday, and we expect another today. speaking of california, california's governor, gallo -- gavin newsom, has been holding his own briefings. here's a bit from his briefing yesterday talking about coronavirus cases in that state. >> let me first give you the updated numbers. individuals are currently tested positive for covid-19. increaseesents 10.7% over yesterday. ofpitalizations in the state california and icu beds, these are the numbers i look out first thing every morning. the hospitalization numbers went up to 2611 yesterday. that is about a 4.1% increase from the previous day. cu's went up-- i

about 201% over the last 24 hours. -- 2.1% over the last two hours. that is too many. we want to see that number go down, not up, but these are not the dead -- double digit .ncreases we see that is not to suggest by any stretch of the imagination that we will continue to see these declines. it is only to reinforce the importance of maintaining physical distancing and continuing our stay-at-home policy, that it helped bend the curve in the state of california. but, that curve continues to rise, just not at the slope that was originally projected without the kind of interventions, these nonproduct -- nonpharmaceutical interventions, that these have provided for us. let us continue in that stead, in this in that spirit

moment, and continue to do more to practice the physical and social distancing required. host: governor gavin newsom yesterday in california. we are talking about social distancing this morning in the first segment of the "washington journal." in california, fremont, california, you are next. go ahead. caller: my name is ken brown, and i live in fremont, california. it really seen -- stinks to have to stay inside, but i think governor gavin newsom and others have provided early, nonpartisan leadership and they are doing a fabulous job. i'm a republican, and i plan to but ior president trump, think they are both doing a fabulous job, and i think this -- i hope this covid-19 eradicates itself soon. host: are you living alone in

fremont? caller: i am not living alone in fremont. i have attendants who take care of me and live with me. host: how are you guys dealing with this whole social distancing, especially when it comes to the health care and having to help with some of your needs? caller: it is really hard. so far, my guys have not had to wear a mask around me. they probably should, but it is really hard, you know? hopefully, this will get resolved soon. i'm also a big sports fan, and they say that baseball season won't start until june, but i'm more of a football fan than a baseball fan, so we will have to see how things turn out. host: thanks for the call, and stay safe and -- in fremont. bill is next, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm calling because trump's leadership on the overall leadership of the coronavirus has been dismal.

he would not extend the obamacare enrollment period, so how does he expect people -- my doctors.n between how is she going to get treatment? this is 100% voter suppression. they engineer to make sure that minorities through public housing don't count as border id. the republican strategy is to suppress the vote, and make sure people don't vote. voting my mail -- by mail is closed. the republicans hate foreigners. they say illegal immigration is bad and legal immigration is good. death by 1000 cuts to illegal immigration -- legal immigration to its lowest rates historically. xenophobic, and

we have to call them out for it. host: we will be talking about the impact coronavirus has had on border security coming up in our 8:00 hour this morning, 8:00 on the east coast. tell me about brooklyn, and tell me about social distancing, and what is happening outside of your walls. caller: it is a mess. all of the courses are gone and migrated online for the college i teach at. host: what do you teach? caller: i teach philosophy. host: how do you find online teaching? our students joining? do you feel like they are engaged? caller: students are too distracted with the obvious situation. i can't go into canvas to even get the books. i have two male students copies of the textbook. mail students copies of my textbook -- the textbook. just trying to make sure online doesn't subtract from the quality of my course, and keep fighting the good fight.

host: is there something in philosophy right now that we could learn from, as we go through social distancing? guest: buddhism teaches -- caller: buddhism teaches affliction is enlightenment, so there is no constructive development. work -- you cannot work toward light mint without -- enlightenment without suffering. we have to turn suffering into enlightenment. host: our next caller, did you vote today? caller: i sent in an absent -- absentee ballot. i've felt bad that people have had to wait in line because we have had social distancing and have had to wait a couple weeks. i am lucky i am retired and kind of used to saying at home -- staying at home, but it is conflicting information every day. you don't know what to believe.

trump is a liar. newsd that there was some outlets that were going to do some fact checking without -- with all of these news briefings, because it is difficult to follow and to find out what you are supposed to do. i have to go grocery shopping, and i'm not sure if i'm supposed to wipe down everything or what. it is just really confusing. host: market, do you watch these briefings every day and will you watch again today? caller: i watch c-span all of the time, and it is just repetitive, lies. heard heia drug, now i has interest in, president trump has some business dealings with the company that produces that drug. the doctors aren't too thrilled about it, the ones i've heard about.

everything is conflicting, and i appreciate c-span offering both points of view, and helping me make my own decision, but what are we supposed to believe? host: that is mark in wisconsin this morning. one of the other topics that came up at yesterday's white house briefing, the subject of this story in usa today. president trump replaced glenn fine monday night, a move that removed him as a top watchdog for the covid-19 emergency stimulus program. selected by fellow inspectors general to chair the accountability committee. the inspectors general created the committee to oversee the $2 trillion still meal a steel -- stimulus deal. trump said he would ignore the portions of the law demanded by some democrats to give congress additional visibility in the

stimulus spending, arguing they would infringe on the separation of powers enshrined in the constitution. this is more from the president at yesterday's white house briefing, being asked about the removal of the inspector general. pres. trump: we have a lot of ig's from the obama era, and you know it is a presidential decision, and i left them largely. change some, but i left them. when we have reports of bias, and we have different things coming in, i don't know fine and i don't know if i have ever met fine. i have heard the name. i don't know where he is from, maybe from clinton. you should check that out, but we have about seven nominations in. i believe we put seven highly qualified people for the ig position, and that is a decision i could have made three years ago, and i could have made two years ago, but we are putting in so much for him, we are putting

in seven names, i think it was seven, and they are going in now. host: president trump at yesterday's task force briefing for the coronavirus. there will be another today at 5:00, covered on c-span. the president is likely to lead that briefing as he has done from the white house press room. the washington post editorial thed noting the removal as subject of their lead editorial, calling it another blow oversight. the editorial board writing it --difficult to of independent examination of the agencies under his administration. fromu want to read more the washington post. carol is in washington on the line for those 70 years old. how have you been doing with social distancing? caller: we have been doing well. my son and husband more or less theyocery shopping, and

wipe everything down, wipe everything down first when they go in the door. they wear gloves and a mask. take the hand cleanser, but they wipe everything down with alcohol, go in, doing the shopping. even theheard that packages, when you bring them home, you should wiped on your packages you pick up at the grocery store to be on the safe side. we have just now started doing that. when you bring them in the house. one of the things i kind of wanted to talk about a little bit, i had a doctors appointment for my back surgeon over at kirkland, at evergreen hospital, and the first day -- the first time i went over there to the that -- over at the old folks place, we noticed

there was an ambulance going from there to the hospital. we said too bad, somebody is going in there. come to find out, that was the first day people were coming in from that nursing home, coming right in here to the hospital. we were in a different building, in the surgery -- back surgery portion, which is a completely different building. what i wanted to say, and this paper called small the journal american. it just comes out here in bellevue, right around the kirkwood -- kirkland, sammamish, redlands area. just a small paper that comes out on fridays. the first i heard about it was, there was -- when they have the new year, the one thing the chinese love to do is travel.

boy. was a 14-year-old he went and visited his grandmother in that town where all of that began. so, bush put the notice they couldn't fly out from china. host: are you talking about president trump? guest: they wanted -- caller: they wanted their son to come home, as he was visiting the grandmother. they couldn't get him out because there were no flights from china. here he was, right in the very town. host: this was all in your local paper? caller: this was right in my journal american. host: how important do you think -- caller: what they did was they flew him -- they couldn't get him out of china so they flew maco. my cow -- they got him a plane from there to come home. on the line ages

50 to 70. stephen, good morning. caller: good morning. host: how has social distancing impacted you? caller: i was visiting my dying father who died last sunday, so it more or less put me in self confinement. host: i'm sorry about that, stephen. caller: it was terrible. we didn't know, and it took days to get the results. how are you to visit your dying loved one? we masked up and everything. there was a shortage. i want to tell people that we can always volunteer as far as masks. wonderful wife who made -- wonderful, and neighbor who made their own masks. host: was it coronavirus?

caller: yes, it was. it was determined later on that day. sisters in theirs, i couldn't -- she couldn't help but get close to him and work with him, and just give him some comfort. i'm really concerned about her more than me, but i was in the room as well and so were my other two brothers, so we are all in our own little self vindman tear, but there was a shortage of masks. no big deal, i didn't mind one bit, the wait to get in. i knew there were nurses asking for masks, so anything we can do to help these care facilities be wonderful. host: do you mind if i ask, what do you do for a funeral in this situation? what is your family doing, if you don't mind saying? caller: we more or less have discussed it and sent out the messages and everything to

extended family. everyone knows now. we are going to get the ashes, i imagine, deliver to my brother. we will put off a celebration of life with him, start celebrating his life, probably until may or june, or whenever we are able to at least get together. host: my condolences to you and your family. thank you for calling us this morning. johnny is next out of miami, florida. morning. -- good morning. caller: mi on? host: yes, -- am i on? caller: yes, go ahead -- host: yes, go ahead. caller: the stench that comes from hollywood and the stink that comes from new york, these people want to blame donald trump. blame donald trump. after this is all over, you will answer to the regulated militias. keep blaming him.

keep blaming him and you will watch what happens. host: do you think there will be violence coming? caller: i think -- i don't know if there will be violence coming, but i think if you stink, if you are going to blame donald trump on this, you have another thing coming. you watch what i'm saying. i won't do nothing. i will sit back and laugh. you have will be goldberg on the -- host: got your point. michelle, in new york, on the line for those over 70. caller: good morning. 74.st want to say that i am for the past 10 years, i have know, itll, i don't was five years ago that i had this dnr, do not resuscitate. i had a document with my lawyer that i gave to both of my children. actually, just three years ago,

-- hello? host: i'm listening, go ahead. caller: anyway, to make a long story short, i was in a dnr circumstance, where they were going to resuscitate me, and my daughter happened to be there, that i was a no, dnr. if they had given me compressions, it probably would have broken my ribs. anyway, they give me a little oxygen, and that brought me back , but i want to say, no, i do not want a ventilator, and i have to renew my dnr. as far as a quarantine, i basically have been -- as i can't walk that far, when i could walk and so forth, i would take public transportation. the only person i see is my

aide. host: when is the last time you are able to leave your house? gee.r: oh i can't remember. at least a month ago. how did i get a ride there? the office for aging took me to a doctors appointment. host: and if you needed that appointment now, could you still call on them or has that been shut down? to -- i had anad appointment for tomorrow, and i had to call them up and cancel it -- i just called them up and canceled it. i know if i have any problem, i call 911. thank god i haven't. i have not been tested for the coronavirus, so i don't know what they will do about that, but i did stay away from people. host: that's michelle in new

york. our questioning is asked ash question is asking how social distancing has affected you. if you are under the age of 25, (202) 748-8000. if you are 26 to 50, it is (202) 748-8001. if you are 51 to 70, the number is (202) 748-8002. then, if you are over 70, the number is (202) 748-8003. is on the line for those ages 26 to 50. thank you for waiting. caller: good morning. host: good morning. go ahead. regardsi was calling in -- i get they want -- guess they want people to go to work that still have to work outside of the home, but i don't understand like, why are we not getting hazard pay? host: what kind of work do you do? caller: i am a -- worker. host: are you going and every day? caller: just about every day.

the parts are still open. we are still out there, having to hold checkout outside -- checkup outside. there is no protection and we are like, why are these -- why are we not getting hazard pay? these ships are coming in from china. i'm in beaufort county. host: in south carolina? caller: yes. and i'm tried to figure out why did they take so long? this is predominately elder, most of the people are elderly, so i don't understand what's going on. host: do longshoremen have to stay away from each other on the job? how do you do that job if you have to stay away from other people? caller: we still have to interact and talk. we are not like up under each other, because you have the crane operators, the truck drivers, so you are mainly moving containers.

in georgia. but, the problem is, there is no protection for us. host: not even a mask? caller: not even a mask. this is a billion-dollar industry, and they give us suits and stuff to move brand-new cars because they don't want us to scratch the cars, but what about the person? what about when we leave these dealerships and dock and when i have to come home? what about my friends? host: do you use gloves? do you carry in sanitizer? what is your -- sprayed the truck stop because we switch shifts -- swap trucks every shift. but i'm still in the air. host: do you provide us stuff, the gloves and the -- caller: you have to provide everything for yourself and you cannot write it off. ever since trump changed the taxes, you can't write anything union off anymore, like union

dues. i don't know where the world is going. we went from him changing taxes and now we have diseases. know the little towns or little cities outside of beaufort county, what about the kids who don't have internet, who can't do their homework? confusing from the top to the bottom. this cam in south carolina morning, asking in this first hour of the "washington journal" how social this thing has impacted you. as usual, showing you headlines from around the country. the lead story in today's new york times, black americans bear the brunt as deaths climb. that story is also the focus of a front-page story in today's washington post. "covid-19, killing black americans at an alarming rate." >> we will leave "washington