c-span has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court and public policy events, from the presidential primary to the impeachment process. now, the federal response to the .oronavirus c-span, created by america's able television providers as public service, and brought to you today by your television provider. coming up on today's washington journal, we will get the latest on the u.s. response to the coronavirus with dr. anand parekh.

later, cnn political analyst bacardi -- bakari ,ellers discusses his book his lifediscusses experiences. this good morning on friday, may 22. president trump has ordered flags flown at half staff for next three days to mark the death of nearly 100,000 americans due to the coronavirus pandemic. eight out of 10 of those deaths 65 years and older, so we are talking to seniors only this morning. how are you responding to the covid pandemic? if you live in the eastern and central part of the country, (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific area, (202) 748-8001.

you can also join us if you text us with your first name and , or post(202) 748-8003 your comments at @cspanwj or facebook.com/cspan. seniors only this morning. how are you responding to the coronavirus pandemic? hill, theon capitol select committee on aging held a hearing on the impact of this pandemic, on seniors. republican, talking about an impact on seniors in his state. of all covid-19 deaths in south carolina happen in a nursing home or another senior care facility, so this is an incredibly important issue and an incredibly timely hearing. states, the numbers are even worse than in south carolina.

some encouraging numbers recently, and our governor of south carolina and the governors around the nation, i would like to highlight the governor in florida as well, desantis, who decided to focus the attention on the nursing homes. that is exactly where we should how wehis challenge, should face this challenge is by focusing on the most vulnerable populations. i have often thought about how important it is for us to recognize that nursing homes are the epicenter of activity. the folks that take care of the patients are disproportionately minorities, african-americans, who have the second most vulnerable population in our nation. states like louisiana, where 70% of the deaths are african-americans, only 33% of the population. 53% of thestate,

deaths are african-americans. have one vulnerable community being served by another vulnerable community, and that only highlights the importance of testing, testing, testing in our nursing home facilities. host: that is tim scott, a republican senator from south carolina, at that aging hearing yesterday. we'll show you more of it this morning as we have a conversation with seniors only, but if you missed it, you can find it on our website, c-span.org. let's go to george in highlands, michigan. good morning to you. how old are you, if you don't mind me asking, and how are you responding to the coronavirus pandemic? i look like67, but i'm 22. [laughter] [inaudible]

with his pocket handkerchief, so i hope [inaudible] i'm doing well. i don't have to go out, i'm not tired, money is coming in into the checking accounts with pension and social security, i go out once every couple of weeks to buy groceries, and last night we paid $310 at kroger. that should last me two or three weeks. i'm doing well. you gohen you go, do during special hours? what precautions do you take when you go to the store? caller: i go later in the evening, around 6:00, and i wear

a winter hat that covers my face and everybody stares at me and looks at me, but i always joke about it with everybody until you get a big laugh about it, you know? most everybody there has got a mask on except for the young , you know, you're too it,ng and you'll never get a couple high school girls walking around on their phones, laughing. host: what goes through your mind when you see that, george? caller: the question that people protecting myself, but you're not protecting me from you, how you

could spread things. i guess we are all stupid when we are younger. by the way, [inaudible] host: [laughter] yeah. 78, looking 22. mark and rally, north carolina. how is it going for you? north carolina. how is it going for you? caller: hi, greta. i am in a retirement home right now. it is kind of lonely. i miss seeing my grandkids. fishing every weekend, but everyone is wearing , and itsk, all this feels so surreal when you go to grocery stores and you see all this glass on the counters, on the tv you see the case numbers,

and i was watching fox news together night, looking at all and i had abers, moment there. essie in tyler, texas. good morning to you. caller: good morning. i am 67 years old and an african-american female. whenever i go out, i wear my mask, because i have a husband that is a disabled vet. we both have underlying issues. i have to protect myself as well as my husband who is home, sick in bed. i wear my mask, i stay six feet from people. the stores in my hometown have a station where we can sanitize , before we come

out. i try to be cautious of what i am doing and cautious about where i am and who is around me. like the caller was saying, most masksnot still wearing are the younger people. i have grandchildren that are in their 20's and early 30's. they do not want to mask up. like i tell people, this covid-19 doesn't care about any kind of, equality. what kind of money you got, it doesn't care. we all have to because she is around one another and tried to protect one another -- be cautious around one another and try to protect one another during this covid-19 era. how are you meeting people? caller: by telephone. i do not have many people coming over. my husband is a disabled vet.

the only people that come over are the providers and they wear a mask at the house. we just try to protect one another. that's the thing, everyone should try to protect each other out here, because this virus is not going anywhere soon. host: when things have started to open up in texas, have you even considered going to a restaurant? will you consider going out to eat? caller: no. i will not do that. host: when will you feel safe to do so? caller: in my hometown -- because texas is a big state -- i go by what is going in my county. cases are still rising. deaths are still rising. we only hadgh, about five deaths, but the cases are almost at 200. us.i tried to be precautio

it is not essential for me to go out to eat. host: is your community and elderly community? most of your population older? caller: there are quite a few people that have moved into this city that are 100 miles east of dallas. a lot of people have moved into the city have retired. and we have a big lake here, so they come here to retire. the older population -- it is quite a few of us around. going upage range, into the 70's and 80's. i just feel for the people who are in nursing homes. i feel for them. host: that is the front page of the new york times this morning, an in-depth look done by the new york times into our nation's nursing homes. a racial divide of nursing home outbreaks, and this is what they report. the coronavirus pandemic has devastated the nation's

nursing homes, intervening to 20% of the nation's covid-19 death toll. the impact has been felt in large facilities and small, in poorly rated homes and those in -- with stellar marks. covid-19 has been particularly tor -- virulent african-americans and hispanics. -- more than 60% of nursing homes where residents who are black orchid -- or latino have reported at least one case of the coronavirus. that is twice as many as homes where black and latino people make up less than 5% of the population. that was brought up yesterday during the committee's aging

hearing. here is susan collins of maine talking about that issue. [video clip] >> one issue that we have is are people who are older being increasingly isolated, and can have a very detrimental impact on their underlying health and thus makes them more vulnerable to the coronavirus. could you comment on how home health visits can help keep a senior more connected and less isolated? chairman collins, absolutely. home health is a way to show known andt they are worth something, that they are about you. it is an act of humility, really, and in this crisis it has been even more important. sometimes our nurses are the only people that are even

checking in on a frail elder, tell have heard them stories of having to go out and make sure the person had a food supply, undergarments or other things that are essential, so the isolation is critical. the focus on telehealth also adds -- although it is not perfect -- making sure the people that are homebound that need home health also have access in between the visit to some interaction via telehealth, but also improve the amount of attention that our older patients are getting. inis a real crisis loneliness and isolation, so we are trying to do all we can. agingfrom yesterday's committee, the hearing on the impact of this coronavirus pandemic on seniors. we're talking with seniors only this morning.

they are talking about seniors that are at home. we will show you what they had to say about seniors in nursing homes, coming up, but let's talk to another caller in washington, d.c. good morning. go ahead. i am 76 years old. i own a small business, a barbershop and -- in d.c. i live in maryland. i ate take the bus -- i take the bus back and forth. i'm not scared. i am ready to go to work. i have ordered face shields and masks, and we have bar beside ide spray.arbic we are going to get rid of the waiting chairs. it is not going to be people waiting in chairs. we are going to take a customer every hour at the beginning so we are given enough time to sterilize the place after every

checker, going to the temperature of the people who come into the shop, and i something wish that like that will help us with equipment, because that is going to cost a lot of money. i'm ready. i don't have grandchildren. my grandchildren are my customers. not a lot-- there are of barbers that are still working. we are out of business. it is an artistic and we fully love what we do. that are american females are still working, cutting hair, and we're not going to stop. [inaudible] and grandchildren

who come to the shop, please don't come to any barbershop without a mask. protect yourself and protect your barber, please. host: james in hinesville, maryland. you're next. caller: good morning, c-span. i'm a male, recently retired from government, 66 years old. i've been doing a lot of shopping online. i've been avoiding crowds. i think my government officials have been doing a good job. i formerly worked for the d.c. government, and i like the leadership of governor hogan in maryland. [inaudible] the most infected zip code in the state of maryland. theuse a lot of

implications in this pandemic have been technological, we have a digital divide and we need to expand broadband and things like that. my main problem during this epidemic has been the behavior of the president. [inaudible] at the ford plant in miss again yesterday -- michigan yesterday without marrying a -- thisut wearing a mask, infantile attitude and his refusal to wear a mask. i'm really troubled by that. i think it eggs on these protesters. you feeles, when will comfortable going to a restaurant, going out into gatherings? the last've been --

time i really did business with the restaurant was carry out, and that was probably sometime late in march. i'm retired, so i am at home but i the day anyway, have been doing my grocery shopping online and having it delivered to my home. as long as people are kind of backing off, wearing a mask, iking proper precautions, fear that americans have a very short memory. i do not see anytime in the near future me going out to any public event. in hinesville, maryland. bob in beatrice, nebraska. how old are you and what is it like where you live? caller: hi, greta. and i am ars old retired civil engineer.

i look alone. . am a bachelor -- live alone i am a bachelor. it is not bad here, a small town of about 13,000. the first i heard, there is a nursing home east of here, about hadiles away where they six or seven deaths, and that was about a month ago. we do not have that many here. of going out, although i don't go out anymore than i have to, because that's what we are supposed to do and that is what i normally do anyway. i do go to the grocery store once a week and go to walmart and i alwayseeks, wear a mask when, and i tried to to do thecing -- try spacing. it has not affected me from a personal standpoint other than,

it would be nice, if i needed something, i could go down and get it when i wanted to. but i am doing fine. host: what about socializing with your peers? haver: i really did not that many friends. i did have my brother, i have a brother that lives here in this small town, and i did see him yesterday. but his family -- because i am a family, we used to get together, and my sister lives in another town not too far, we would get together every few months, but we have not been doing that. but like you that, said, living alone anyway, it really has not been affecting me that much. i would say that i think it is prolonged because

people are just not following the rules. they want to get together in groups of more than 10 and so forth, and i am afraid it is going to keep carrying on because people are not -- if they would just listen to what, you know, the experts say to do and do it, i think it would eventually go away. i did get a haircut the other day finally, and i had to wear a mask and the barbers wore a as for the grocery store, i go a week at a time without talking to anybody. living alone. host: bob, i am glad you called in and talks to us to -- talked

to us today. thank you for the call. mentioned nursing homes where he lived and the rate of death in nursing homes across the united states is high. look at this headline from the canadian newspaper, the star. 82% of canada's covid-19 deaths have been in long-term care, according to new data. yesterday, the select committee ion, theydiscuss spoke about nursing homes. here is part of that discussion. [video clip] >> we are learning a lot as we go about how best to fight this virus in nursing homes. ondon't have great data yet exactly what testing strategies have been used and how successful they have been. on isof what we are going anecdotal evidence. but what i can see is that there have been a few key lessons learned. one is that it is very important to test all residents and not wait until residents are asymptomatic -- excuse me, until

residents are symptomatic, because then it is too late. there is a symptomatic spread and the fact that staff go to day,ent to resident every until people get symptomatic, the virus can spread throughout the facility. we have learned that lesson, that all residents really should be tested and not only tested, but tested regularly. what i have heard from geriatricians is that weekly would be good, at least biweekly so that residents can then be transmission can be stopped. it will be very hard, especially relax some of the restrictions on visitors, which is essential to prevent the sense of social isolation among our seniors. as we lessen those restrictions, it will be very hard to prevent all cases in the nursing homes. the key is a rapid response to

prevent transmission to the rest of residents and staff. host: yesterday's aging hearing up on capitol hill talking about nursing homes. the new york times front page this morning delving into the deaths that nursing homes and the racial divide that they are across thetatistics country. they note that 1.3 million people live in the nation's nursing homes and about 80% of those residents are identified as white by nursing home administrators. but as we noted earlier, more than 60% of nursing homes were a quarter of the residents are black or latino have reported more cases, and those populations are getting hit the hardest in nursing homes. they also note in this story that nationally, at least 106,000 people have been sickened by the virus and more than 4000 skilled nursing facilities, which do not include

stand-alone assisted living centers. you can go to the website, newyorktimes.com and see this interactive map they put together on nursing home deaths across the country. let's hear from dave in fairfax, virginia. how are you doing? greta, andd morning, thank you having me on this morning. i'm doing fairly well this morning. i live in my own home and fortunately i have a son that is living with me. he is considered an essential worker and has been working through the entire coronavirus outbreak. does he do andt how do you take precautions, since he is coming in and out of your home? caller: two great questions. number one, he is an electrician, and he has been exposed to three times. what we do is practice social distancing as best we can within the home, so we are trying to

keep a six-foot parameter, however we don't wear masks inside the house. he washes up as soon as he walks in the door, and we have tons of hand sanitizer around. fortunately for me, he does my grocery shopping and any other items i might need to pick up the i can't get online, but point that i wanted to make this morning, greta, is that because tohas been exposed, he went get tested. he asked if he could be tested, and he was asymptomatic and could not get a test. because i am not symptomatic, therefore i cannot get a test. think that the key, or one of the keys to overcoming this problem is that we need to do frequent testing, and i don't think that the testing is available -- you know, we've heard the line that if you want a test, you can get a test.

i don't think in my particular case that is the case. host: how did your son know he had been exposed? did officials call him to say, you have been in contact with something tested positive? how did he know? caller: they reported it to their supervisor, and the supervisor disseminated that information to the crews. host: i see. dave, thank you for calling in this morning. we will go to ed in raleigh, north carolina. your next. go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call. i recently relocated to raleigh, north carolina. i'm 69 years old. i'm essentially doing everything they say to do. i don't wear a mask, i bought face shields so i can cover my es,ire face, eyes ever

everything. -- face, eyes, everything. i go out to the grocery store. i try to do everything i do normally, but i avoid crowds. i won't eight in any restaurant in anye now -- won't eat restaurant anywhere now where i can't see what is being prepared and who is preparing it. i went to a couple of drive-through's to observe the mask pulled down around their chin, no gloves on, decided food, and i that even though we are being told, this is what we need to do to protect each other, not all people are following that. i think that if you are going to open a business that serves the theic, you better make sure people you are employing are following the standards that are

set, and not pulling their masked down like our president -- mask down like our president because they are afraid it does not make them look good. he is afraid the media might see him covering his face. i do what i can to stay safe. i missed the heck out of my grandchildren. heck out of my grandchildren. i see them now through various ways of communicating, with skype and things like that. but for the most part, just take it easy. out: and ed, will you go when and if there is a vaccine? caller: oh, well yeah. if there is a vaccine. i am not holding my breath for this year. i am probably thinking sometime in 2022 is when we will see vaccines that will be available for the public. of course, the vaccines when they first come out are going to

go to the front-line workers, the nurses, doctors, people who are fighting the war against covid-19. i hope the president of the united states is the last person to get the vaccine, because his behavior says he thinks he's safe. he doesn't need to do anything that anybody else has to do. so he should not need a vaccine. host: ok. and ed, you mentioned economies opening up. writing today in the washington post, we have to reopen for our health, he writes. the economic rice is brought on by the virus is a silent killer. in thecentage increase unpleasant rate leads to a 1% cide deaths and a more than 3% increase in opiod debts, which means this virus will likely cause tens of

thousands of excess deaths. one study of the 1982 recession found that americans who face higher unemployment suffered approximately 40,000 excess deaths. he goes on to write that the covid-19 has also restricted to health care data. hospitals are seeing as much as 60% revenue decline from the vencellation of electi procedures. hospitals in rural america operate on a 2% to 3% profit margin, and urban hospitals have about a 5% to 6% margin. this may permanently close some institutions. the health secretary is arguing that the administration has a strategy on how to move forward, and he says this -- a combination of surveillance, widespread and easily available contesting, containment of isolated outbreaks and rapid development of vaccines and therapeutics means we will

continue making progress against the virus in the months to come. george, pittsburgh, pennsylvania. seniors only this morning. hi, george. caller: how are you doing this morning. host: i'm doing fine. how are you and how are you coping? kind ofit has been hard. let me give you a little background. i am a dialysis patient, and when all of this started, my pcp , so me it doesn't cover it don't be playing around with it. i live in a town where 50% of andle are african-american, last time i looked, 40% of the people are dying over this. so i'm having a whole lot of anxiety. they areed to go out,

trying to open up the thing, and undere've got a president pressure about getting everybody back to work. it's insane. , give me sometor drugs. [inaudible] everybody else gets drugs. give me some. [inaudible] maybe talk to a psychologist and sociologist about what is happening to me, no doubt. my governor seems to be doing a good job on opening up the state very slowly, and i commend him for that. .overnor wolf because right now my population is dying.

friendsersonal who are not around anymore because of this stuff. social distancing seems to be right on point for me. i don't even know how to handle this. why are you standing around in the coronary? -- in the corner? what am i supposed to do? [inaudible]reciate if it wasn't for all of that, we would be in the grave. we would be walking single file. host: ok, george. you mentioned the demographics, the breakdown of the statistics of the pandemic. if you are curious about that, if you go to johns hopkins' website, you can see how this is impacting different populations in our country.

specifically, your county in sotsburgh is on our screen, you can do it by county as well on the johns hopkins website. brenda and los angeles. hi, brenda. caller: good morning. i am the am a senior citizen. i'm 71. my life -- i am a senior citizen. i'm 71. my life has changed in that i am not going to doctors appointments, i am not going crazy going there, i go grocery shopping by bus once a month. i get meals on wheels delivered beena week, which i have doing for years. i'm in my room, and i am frustrated when i go out and do the young people not wearing masks, not staying six feet away, and i will speak up. some people call me paranoid. that's fine. you can have your opinion but don't buy the rules -- go by the rules.

i'm frustrated that people do not go by the rules whether they believe it or not, but as far as these people speaking up, surprised that people are dying in these homes, it is obvious they have never visited one on a normal day, because then it would be very obvious them -- to them why. they are horrible places. the ones -- i have been in three since 2014, only for two weeks for physical therapy. the last one was horrible, and i went online, giving my opinion of it, and i have written to my mayor and i'm going to write to out,rent senators to check google the place where i gave my opinion and i am getting my phone number, and saying if you have any questions, give me a call.

i did not write down all the horrible things that happened to me, and i was not as sick as the other people. ok, brenda in los angeles. more from yesterday's hearing on capitol hill with the aging committee, here is one of the witnesses you heard from both talking about, the importance of nursing homes sharing covid information in their facilities. [video clip] think data and transparency are critically important in this crisis. often in the crisis we are tempted to downplay the need for collection of data and prioritize other actions, but it is essential in this case were three main reasons. to know whered resources need to be directed. are outbreaksre in nursing homes, we can direct resources to them and also identify the communities in which the virus is probably .preading second, as we look back on this

crisis, we need data to do the hard research to figure out what works and didn't work so we can make better policies in the future. their consumers and families really need to have this information. anybody looking for a nursing home placement right now or worried about their loved one in a nursing home right now really need to be able to know what is going on in a very timely way so they can make their best decisions. the exact resources, a lot of it is about staffing. we have had a problem with chronic understaffing in nursing homes, and the kind of resources that could help most on an emergency basis for a facility is toas an outbreak strategize to ensure enough staff. this means providing paid sick leave, this means providing adequate ppe, basically putting nursing home staff on par with

what we naturally want to provide for hospital staff. it is the same situation. sharinge importance of information in yesterday's hearing, according to the wall street journal this morning. we won't know the full toll of the nursing homes because of a new rule passed by the trump administration, and they report that a recently lost federal effort to collect data on the impact of the coronavirus in nursing homes will leave the old whole unclear because the new rule does not require facilities to report death and infections that occurred before early may. may eighth,sued by compels nursing homes to submit data on the coronavirus cases to the cdc. according to a form posted, the go back toto only the week leading up to their first filing.

our next caller, good morning. caller: greta, i want to say that you are the sweetest, kindest most beautiful woman. it is a pleasure seeing you. host: thank you. caller: you are so welcome. it is so true. me and my husband are 62. he has congestive heart failure with a defibrillator, so i am mostly worried about him. it is interesting, the different levels of emotions that we have been through for us whole thing. if you look at it, the numbers are exactly what they said they ,000d be, close to 100 deaths, and the fear was so high. me and my husband are done with the fear. we know we have to do to protect ourselves. i miss my kids. i have one grandchild -- we have five kids. two are out-of-state. none of our five kids have been laid off, they have all been

working. forof them have been tested coronavirus, one is a nurse and optometrist, is an and they both were negative, so that is good. my husband and i know, the tests are not going to come here. we have been isolated, so the only time we are going to be tested is if we get sick. if we get sick, we know that is if we getappen exposed. we are trying to protect ourselves. we go out -- i saw a couple people arguing in the grocery store, like the lady before, says she makes a comment. these people were arguing back and forth in the store, one with a mask, one without. you just smile and go on. everything is good. i am looking forward to seeing things opening back up, going in and giving them my business.

but like the caller said, i will make sure the safety procedures are in place. everything looks to be good. i don't feel any fear anymore. people are not fearful. let's get it back rolling, as far as i'm concerned. host: ok, darlene. some text messages from seniors, dale in north florida says i myy have myself and huck, rat terrier dog to worry about. main recreation. luckily florida did not then not. i think it is funny that masks are supposed to protect others from me and me from them. what about i then years, the medical specialists is and i've years and throat doctor, if you don't protect all of them are you really safe? selfish to feels say, but for an elderly person like myself, the covid crisis has shown me the hubris of youth and how dangerous the attitudes

toward the aged and infirm have become. i feel like the emerging survival of the fittest mentality is a bad development in our society. another, i am in my mid 60's and have been self-isolating in my home since march. this was my first mother's day without my family together and it breaks my heart. just watching the media and scrolling facebook brings me down. jersey, good morning to you. caller: thank you, greta, and thank you for c-span. doing?ow are you caller:caller: i am doing pretty well. i am 71 and i am retired. new jersey is running second in the united eighth as far as concerned cases, and unfortunately the people we have lost. new jersey is also under indefinite stay-at-home orders. for myself, i have been going to the supermarket maybe twice a week.

i want to commend the stop & shop company, because they have designated early hours for us seniors. early, a smallre group of us, we get in and we get out, and other than going to a laundromat once a week, i have been staying off the streets as ,een requested during the day and obviously when i go out i am wearing the gloves and mass. just coping i'm with it. i am the am not 100% happy with this whole situation. -- i am not 100% happy with this whole situation. i'm worried for everyone. i know how it is holding up. host: when will you feel safe? caller: i would like to say they get a vaccine, and i am not afraid to go out, i am just

using common sense and not going out if i don't have to. john in new jersey. steve in san jose, california. caller: good morning. to say that, i want you are my favorite host, and it is due to your patience that you have with the callers, so i'm glad you're on this morning. jose, california, in the bay area here. i am 67 years old. i had the flu once in my life. i'm handling it really well. to begin with, so this is fitting in with my lifestyle just fine. spend all day watching tv and fox news, and the history , and i haven't been impacted at all about it. however, i do have a very, very --p fears about how this is

do have very, very deep fears about how this is affecting our economy, the value of the dollar. i understand that 600 doctors wrote the president expressing fears of the suicides that are now starting to sweep across , and i'm afraid it will take us years to recover. i'm waiting for inflation to hit and our dollar to become and -- ngly worthless, host: steve, can i ask you, given your worries, do you think that congress should pass more stimulus, more economic aid like the house did last week? or do you agree with republicans, that we need to allow this to filter through the economy, the previous bill that they passed? caller: god bless you for asking that question.

i think that we should wait until we can see the effect of what we passed already. it was obvious to me and anybody that pays attention to the truth, which is from fox news, that pelosi loaded that bill up with so much, so many things that had nothing to do -- it was a wish list for the democratic party. the democrats have stated time and time again not to let a crisis go to waste, and they have recently stated it in regard to this crisis. i think that mcconnell will sit down with the republicans, cut the fat and the pork out of it, and should throw it back at nancy. this is what we need. this pertains to the issue at hand. it's in your lap -- pass it. are goingrican people

to know the truth of what you did and why you did it, and where your heart really is. that all ofearful these billions and trillions that are being passed, that our children are going to be indebted -- it is going to devalue the dollar to such an extent that it will put so many more people in the poor house. after all, from my perspective, the democrats like poor people, because poor people look to the government for handouts and they keep voting for that party that gives it to them. host: i will leave it there, because i want to show you and others a myriad of headlines on this issue. this headline, senate leaves for recess without passing more coronavirus relief. the three-week session ended with no bills passed to deal with the crisis that has caused

nearly 100 thousand deaths. the hill newspaper quoting what mitch mcconnell saying that the next coronavirus bill is not too far off, but he told reporters yesterday that this is not going to be the $3 trillion economic aid package passed by the house. all.com, have rollc the senate load of small fix is is on hold for now. it would give small businesses six weeks to spend loan funds, restaurants and others want an extra 16 weeks. they did not pass this before leaving. cory gardner, a republican in colorado up for reelection, was going to demand and not allow the senate to recess until the fix was made. said that he got assurances from majority leader mitch mcconnell that they will deal with this when they come the memorial day

recess. he also got assurances that the majority leader would deal with some national parks legislation that he wanted. he was blasted by his opponent in that race, the former about notickenlooper, standing his ground and allowing the senate to recess. campaign speaking of 2020, has this story about vulnerable republicans. trump advisors are warning that martha mcsally, who replaced late senator john mccain is in as white house polls show the president losing to joe biden in the state too. back to our calls with seniors only, catherine in concord, new hampshire. good morning. catherine, are you there in new hampshire? catherine --ce for maybe you can call back. colleen, kansas city, missouri. are you there?

caller: yes, i'm here. host: go ahead, we are listening. caller: i've got a few things. first, not everybody is looking for a handout. there are a lot of people who are poor and we have senior citizens who hardly get anything for food. they don't get food stamps because when they want to give them out, they give us 10 or 15 when they give the groups like the younger people and maybe those with families 600 and 700. we are not getting anything. early in the morning i go to the store. i might go twice a week. i walked to the store and get my exercise, i wear my mask. on me, likeomes up a lot of them do, especially young people, i tell them get back, get back. you got to be six feet. i look out for myself. we have food drives -- they are not going to the poor.

i was at a food drive yesterday, they gave me a bunch of bananas and that was it. then we had people in cars, they are taking advantage of food drives. what about senior citizens who are at home and they don't get any food? people are so inconsiderate of them they will not give them food, they will not think of giving them food, like the nursing homes. there is poor care. ,y dad was in the nursing homes he was sent for a broken hip and he fell in the nursing home. nobody cared, we died. and stay informed -- i stay informed with the news every day to see what sort of progress we are making. i use sanitizer in stores won -- when i go in and go out. my granddaughter comes over -- i have a house, a big yard, we set chairs in the yard, sit more than six feet, and she is real considerate. when she comes in my house, she looks out for me and my husband. she has been around a lot of

people and says she does not want to give it to us. she is real considerate and a lot of these young people are not considerate. colleen, what does it mean to you that your granddaughter makes that visit to you? caller: it means a whole not. i want to hug her but she will not hug me. she will not come in my house. host: thank you for the call. here is a text from one of our viewers. anna in texas says, we are both 73. my husband has several underlying serious conditions. we were scared to death to do anything with all the over hype on tv. we stayed in, canceled three cruises and a trip to vegas. in new york stats showed two thirds of the new cases were people who had sheltered in place. who the heck do you believe? we are not traveling, mostly because there is no place to go. tom in dayton, ohio. how are you? caller: i'm doing really well

myself. i'm 65 year and about a couple about a 65 here in couple weeks. i only know one person who had it, my cousin in virginia, and she is fine now. i have four members of my family that work for a trucker company, and none of them have caught this. i put my mask on won in the store -- when i go in the s tore, and now you wonder if you are being told the truth. youif you touch a surface do not catch it like you used to, and i do not think anybody really knows exactly what this virus does or what it catches yet. i think i may have had it back in january. my son was real sick and we hung out together all the time -- i never thought one thing myself and if it was the flu, i figured i would have caught the flu. until we get a lot more

information on this, i think it is time to start opening the country back up. i don't want nobody dying or get sick, but we cannot politicize this and it seems like that is what is happening right now. it is a shame. it is a shame. i have told older people, especially in the nursing homes, i have heard people call out people calle heard out donald trump. cuomo is the one who sent them back into the nursing homes. other democrats do the same thing -- i do not want to get politicized. come on, america. we've got to work together on this thing. you know china is the culprit -- i will say it right now. this is a china virus, people. china lives to everyone of us. down luhansk, throughout their whole country, but they sent it throughout the world on purpose.

we need to get together as americans and say hey, it is china, not us. host: are you able to sayhostee are you ableost: to see your son now? withr: oh yeah, he lives me. this was right in the middle of january, and now i found out january here in ohio, it actually was that. allnd him set here together the time, he woke me up one morning just to sit, and said to her three days later, i feel like i am going to die. you know what? i never had a headache or anything from this, i would get us both tested to ind out, but on the flu, would have caught it. host: understood, tom. us to say, she lives in michigan, i am a

healthy 78-year-old woman and in doing just fine. i do my grocery shopping on and linercise dance. i also walked just about two miles every day and stay in touch with family by phone. also, radcliffe is confirmed in today's 39-44 vote to confirm mr. radcliffe fell along party lines. they were either confirmed by consent org overwhelming majority. he is now the intelligence chair -- excuse me, the director of national intelligence. let's go to ann in sugar grove, north carolina. caller: good morning, greta. thank you. thank you for c-span. i am 65. i turned 65 in march. i go to my library, my community toter, but i miss being able

visit my mom. she is to be 90 at the end of july. i am the oldest of eight children. the youngest is 51. she has 14 grandchildren, pages to 22.2 -- ages 41 she has great grand children, ages 18 to one month old was just born april 25, so tomorrow he will be four weeks old. but we did not get to see our mom for mother's day and we will not be able to have her birthday party -- you know, at the end of july she will be 90. she lived through the depression. she was so poor. she could not live with family in 1937 through 1939. she raised us so well. we got by. my father -- he is deceased but he was a schoolteacher, so we

live pretty frugally. senior the grocery at hour, which is no problem, because you get up every day for work for 40 years at 5:30, 6:00. thereast week, i went and was an elderly couple behind me, about my age -- she had a lot more gray hair than me, and they were not wearing masks. our two senators -- richard burr has been seen with a mask on and he needs to go to prison, and tom challis, we have not seen him for 5.5 years, but he has telephone town halls. he says i wear mask, where a mask, where a mask -- wear a mask, wear ka mask. feet behindwas six me, and i said, wired you wearing a mask a

she said to me, you must be an obama lover. host: your mom lived through the depression and did not live with family from 1937 to 1939. how come? caller: they were so poor. she was born in arkansas along with her five siblings and my grandpa had a tiny country store about the size of a living room from the 1950's, not from this era. chickens, iow, think they had a pig or two, a garden and everything, but they were so poor they could not afford to keep two of their children, so my mom and her brother, who was in world war ii , all her brothers fought in world war ii, they had to live with a cousin in kansas.

i cannot remember the city. this is the funny part of it. her cousin's name was joanna and my mother's brother was named , joe, andwas anna joanna. host: i want to wish your mom a happy 90th birthday. sue's a in maryland heights, missouri. susie in maryland heights, missouri. caller: i am 87 years old. heart, 40% of my kidneys left, so i have three strikes against me before i go out the door. i have not been in contact or to a store or church since march 5. i have wonderful neighbors that

get my groceries and i watch mass on tv and pray the rosary. toave called over 100 people say the universal our father with me for this coronavirus to end. i am an author and poet, so i write and i have written a poem, ," survive if you would like to hear it. flowers from my garden to porches, get back in my car, call them on the phone and then leave. "survive."entitled wash your hands, clap your hands, don't touch your face. wash your hands, clap your hands, keep a six foot space. wash your hands, clap your

hands, stamp your toes, don't touch your nose. wash your hands, clap your hands, wiggle your hips, don't touch your lips. wash your hands, clap your hands, stay at home, do not roam. call your family and friends on the telephone. wash your hands, where your mask, and don't panic. together we will be able to end this pandemic. wash your hands, clap your hands, applaud the entire medical field. we say thank you again and again. you save lives. you give us hope against coronavirus. you are our greatest friend. wash your hands, clap your hands, say a prayer. help each other be as safe as you can be until a cure for coronavirus sets us free. host: thank you so much. we will and that there. -- end it there.

when we come back we will talk to dr. anant parikh -- dr. anand parekh. later, bakari sellers discusses country,"my vanishing a memoir. yesterday, an event sponsored by the hudson institute, kelly kraft was at the world health organization's recent resolution to investigate its handling of the covid-19 outbreak. here is what she had to say. about's start out talking the who annual assembly that was held this week. a resolution was passed approving an investigation into how the who handled the coronavirus outbreak. it called for an impartial, independent, comprehensive evaluation of who's response, not -- resolutions have

will not begin until the pandemic is over, so the question is do you trust this process, this investigation? i the most important thing think president trump has highlighted is letting the world know that the who ignored credible reporting on the virus and on the virus spreading and will hand -- wuhan. they said there was not a case of human to human transmission. not only did they make this continued to they spread fake chinese disinformation. this cost lives and is continuing to cost lives and billions and trillions of dollars, and this has demonstrated to us, the u.s., that the who and other member states have not been up to the task to mitigate, prevent, use

their transparency, and they have a choice. they have a choice. they can become more transparent. they can change their ways if they would like to have the rest of the funding from the united states. my goal is to be able to restore who's independence. we want this to succeed because there are areas of the world , theythey are allowed in are mitigating the country, and it is only to our benefit that they listen to president trump and they follow through because they need to be fully transparent and fully accountable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us this morning is dr. anand parekh, the former deputy assistant hhs secretary for health during the george w.

bush administration and the obama administration. thank you for being here. let's talk about "the new york times" front page that found it social distancing had been put into place a week earlier it could have saved over 30,000 deaths. guest: that's right, and i think we have talked about this a couple of weeks ago when dr. fauci was on the air. unfortunately, that blew away the case. in january and february there was discussion of how we were not able to ramp up testing and that is true, but towards the end of february when we realized our testing capacity was not up to par to ensure containment of this virus, that is probably the time when we could have shifted gears towards what is called committee -- community mitigation or social distancing and that is important to reduce

the contact rate. we started as a nation doing this around the middle of march, but i'm not surprised the models are showing if we had done it a week earlier, 50% reduction in deaths, two weeks earlier, 80% reduction in deaths, so not surprising. it is a concerning study to see. host: did we know that we needed to do that? we just heard from one caller but said the information changes all the time and there are so many unknowns about this virus. guest: that is absolutely true as well. we are learning every single day more and more about this virus, so that is absolutely a valid point. some jurisdictions and states, particularly the bay area in california, they were among the first to put forward a stay-at-home order and that may

be one of the reasons they have relatively done well compared to other parts of the country that put in an order toward the end of march. this is how epidemics work, and if you can really nip it in the bud early enough and reduce the transmission chains, then you can reduce the chances of the exponential growth that we saw in late march and april. host: what is your advice to people heading into this memorial day weekend that are thinking about heading outside and possibly gathering with others? guest: i think absolutely, go outside, but remember, this is a new normal now. hand hygiene, respiratory ,tiquette, physical distancing staying away from individuals, making sure there is a six feet distance is critical.

and also, the use of cloth face masks to reduce either those droplets or even the small aerosol particles which may be important in transmission. both of those things not going out. if you feel ill, not being around people who feel ill, so we are entering a new normal and this new normal will stay with us for quite a while until we have a vaccine. i think it is really important that the american public realizes we are all in this together and we will beat this pandemic, but this new normal will require some changes in behavior that all of us will have to adhere to. host: where are we now in this pandemic? guest: we are certainly off the plateau of april where every single day in america there were at least 30,000 new confirmed cases and 2000 deaths daily.

we are still coming down the pandemic slope pretty slowly. every day it is about 20,000 plus confirmed cases and 1000 to 1500 deaths daily. we are not out of the woods when it comes to the first wave of the pandemic. in the united states, we do not just have one pandemic wave. every state has their own so the new york/new jersey metropolitan area are coming down and other states and jurisdictions are on the rise. many others are stuck in a plateau. there is a lot of heterogeneity across the country. a lot of states are in process of lifting their social distancing measures so there will be more of a contact rate. we are entering the summer months now and there is some preliminary evidence that heat and humidity might reduce the

transmit ability of the virus -- transmissibility of the virus, long we continue to maintain the physical distancing , the use of cloth based masks, etiquette.e, and we still as a nation are continuing to ramp up testing and tracing, and what that means is the importance of testing more americans so we can identify and isolate cases, and then doing that detective work, that contact tracing to make sure that contacts are quarantined as well. doing that, along with adhering to these evidence-based best practices, that is how we get through this first pandemic wave and reach our new normal. host: dr. anand parekh is here

to take your questions. for the eastern and central part of the country, (202) 748-8000, mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. medical professionals, (202) 748-8002. as we establish this new normal, should we, should companies who have successfully checked workers working from home continue to do so? facebook on the front page of "the wall street journal" says they will shift nearly half of their workers, 45,000 to remote working over the next months to years. guest: i think that is a really important question that every employer needs to ask. in some cases, face-to-face interaction, in person interaction will be critical for a particular business transaction, but many companies are asking that.

telework, the move to telework has been progressing, but should telework in some businesses and some cases be the norm? going into work physically be the exception. this is causing a lot of discussion amongst the employer and business sector, particularly in the knowledge transfer community where you are not providing in person services. to what extent can our work continue in a virtual way? these discussions will continue moving forward. host: what is your thoughts on this response that we are seeing in children who have been exposed to covid-19 and then later their bodies have this inflammatory response? theyew york governor said have seen even more cases of this. and given that, how do schools open back up in the fall without

a vaccine if this is what we are seeing in children? guest: this is somewhat of a new development. it is a syndrome called multisystem inflammatory syndrome. closehave been over 100, to several hundred cases in the united states, many of them linked to coronavirus. it is a post-viral syndrome so in many cases children have a ands, could be coronavirus, you are seeing essentially an array of concerning symptoms from fever, conjunctivitis, red rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and this is fever that is sustained. that is why there is a call to all parents to look out for these symptoms and notify your pediatrician if your child has these symptoms. it can be life-threatening. i think we are also looking at the number of cases, cdc is

trying to collect the number of cases we have seen. the highest number of cases in the new york area, and more and more states and jurisdictions are reporting cases. we will have to see how common this is. right now, the numbers are low but it is concerning. to your point about schools as parents think about the fall, i think some of this is how much we can learn and how quickly we can learn, what are other countries seeing as well? as far as schools, there are many factors that play. we likely will not have a vaccine it is pretty sure we will not have a vaccine before september even though there is tremendous work ongoing around the country and around the world. september is pretty early to think we may have a vaccine to vaccinate our children. it is going to be a lot about for our kids, our schools

prepared to offer and provide an environment where physical distancing and the use of cloth based masks, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette is an environment that is safe for our kids. there are a lot of questions. there are countries around the world that send their children to school year-round, like east asia, so the next couple of months we will offer a chance to learn from other countries to see what their experiences are to inform us in the fall. host: george in raleigh, north carolina, good morning to you. caller: good morning and thank you. i just wanted to make a quick comment. just wear your mask whenever you go out. the fact that a world leader, our president does not wear a

mask during this worldwide mask every wear a time i go out to protect others from getting this disease. i don't know why people want to brag about not wearing one. just wear your mask. protect people, protect myself. people should do the same thing, protect one another. this is a crazy pandemic and people are dying every day. the least you can do is wear a mask. they are giving out free ones. it, inow important is your medical opinion, that people wear a mask? guest: thanks for that question. i know it is somewhat confusing to the american public because many remember early on in the pandemic when the instructions were don't wear a mask. some of the confusion is at that time, the focus really was on

medical grade masks and surgical ,asks that health-care workers who were fighting on the front line needed. that was really the urgent call to the american public, let's not hoard these medical grade masks, surgical masks, because health-care workers need them. the evidence for nonmedical grade masks has increased. there was a recent study demonstrating that if 80% of people in a closed area actually were wearing a mask, that could reduce transmission up to 90% of the virus. the evidence for cloth based masks, nonmedical grade masks is increasing and that is why the ac has released recommendation that all americans ought to be wearing a

mask in public. the latest polling and survey data demonstrates the majority of americans when they go out in public are wearing masks. this crosses party lines. the majority of americans in some of the latest polling data that i saw see that wearing a mask as an issue of public health more than personal choice. respect it as a sign of and whether you are a democrat or republican, they are wearing a mask the latest science is telling us this is an important add-on to the physical distancing and respiratory hygiene and etiquette we need to adhere to. overall, the country is listening. there are some distances based on gender and political affiliation, but i agree with the caller that we need to do everything we can, not only for

ourselves but the most important point is for others. you wear a mask to protect others. others wear a mask to protect you. that is a critical message for the american public. host: kay in new york, good morning. caller: i am a senior citizen and i live in new york city. i have been sheltering in place, staying at home, and my made -- maid/aid has not been assisting me and i am in desperate need of help. i cannot cook and i have no clean laundry, but i am very concerned because the people who have been sheltering in place and dying in new york city are getting infected from their home health aide. i have known a number of people that that has happened to, so i'm anxious about her coming back to help me.

exceedingly difficult for me to go out while she is here. i live in a small studio apartment. host: what do you say to her? guest: that is an all too common predicament and i understand how difficult this is. tapsnk we are seeing more by making sure -- steps by making sure they are testing regularly their staff so they are not unknowingly bringing in coronavirus to your home. all of these things from hand hygiene to respiratory etiquette, the use of masks as well as physical distancing are important for anyone coming into your home. that was that recent study was mentioned, particularly in new york, that the majority of

cases were coming from individuals who had stayed in their homes. the reason is people coming in and out of the home, so it is important to reduce that household transmission, that we take care who is coming into the home, who might expose someone else, and we adhere to the best practices. there is so many americans sheltering in place for so long now and we need to make sure that they get the services they that and we also ensure they know how to safely come out of their house. and the fact that they can go outdoors and spend time outdoors, they just have to be very careful in terms of the interaction with others for potential exposure, because the elderly and those with chronic conditions are more vulnerable. host: lynn is watching from

killeen, texas. caller: thank you for taking my call. retired, retired military. i have been married for a long time. you are aware that the instructions you gave out came from our congress. advice aware that the you gave out changed from our congress? are you aware that it came from congress? host: i am not following. what is your point? caller: did it come from our congress? are they responsible? host: the guidelines, are they coming from congress or are they coming from the cdc? guest: thank you, for your

service. as guidelines, we are talking -- cdcdc seat guidelines, opening up america guidelines? i did not catch that. host: please ask the doctor to explain to us heard immunity and how it has been used -- herd immunity and how it has been new in the past versus this approach of locking down the country, quarantining the entire population, and masking the population. guest: herd immunity is a concept that the majority of a population has either been exposed to a particular microbe or virus, or we have been immunized via a vaccine. example, for main childhood

illnesses like measles for example, where we know that 90% to 95% of the population has been immunized, there is herd immunity and if there is an outbreak it will be limited. herd immunity is based on a whole number of factors including how transmissible a if one person has the virus, how many can they transmit it to? for this novel virus, you need about 70% of the public to really have that immunity before the virus really doesn't have a lot of host,s to content -- hosts to continue to infect. multiply the number by 10, we probably still only have between i percent and 10% of the

american public -- 5% and 10% of the american public exposed to this new coronavirus, so we still have a long ways to go using the herd immunity approach where you need to get to 60%, 70% plus to say that is the way out of this. that is why a vaccine is still our best bet. the faster we can collaborate and work together to come up with a vaccine, scale it, distribute it, and get into people's arms, that is the way to immunized the majority of the population quickly so that we can achieve a situation where the virus really cannot continue to propagate in the american public. host: cnn reporting this morning, these cdc statistics. 35% of the u.s. cases are asymptomatic. .4% die from the virus.

what are your thoughts on those numbers? guest: the first statistic shows how difficult it is to contain wheno mitigate this virus such a large percentage of individuals who have it don't even know it. they have no symptoms, so it makes it very difficult to be ,ble to control the virus another reason why it is so important that we utilize cloth-based masks. often times, we don't know. you don't have to appear ill to have this virus and transmit it to others. that 35% is not surprising along the lines that we have seen. in terms of the mortality rate, if you look at the crude numbers today where we have about 1.6 bill -- 1.6 million confirmed cases and half a million

americans lost -- quarter of a millie -- million americans lost their lives, that is about 5%. asn if there are 10 times many cases, the case fatality ratio is about point 6%. -- .6%. that is a virus that is pretty lethal, especially when you compare it to something like flu. the fort -- the mortality rate is .1%, so you were talking about a virus that is four or six times deadlier than flu. , as is still something again pretty transmissible virus, still a lethal virus, and that is why all the precautions as we enter this new normal where we open things up, it is going to be so important that we adhere to those precautions. coloradoh in trinidad,

. caller: we are at the lowest rate in this county in the entire state and we have taken the precautions that we are supposed to. , havingocial distancing virtual graduations, and i am from michigan. thank you. guest: thank you for all the sacrifices you are making. i am from michigan as well. that is my home state. we are seeing in every state in america, every state has its pandemic curve. every region in every state is experiencing the pandemic differently so there are some parts of the state that are hotspots, if you will, and other spots that are not seeing as many cases. this is one of the challenges of responding to the pandemic. you are seeing more and more

states take a regional approach as they open things up, and starting a little slower with areas where there are a lot of cases or where the trend data are going in the wrong way, versus allowing regions that have been less affected a little more leeway. while that is fine, there are a couple more cautions. sometimes the regions that seem to be less affected, sometimes they have from a health care capacity and a public health capacity, limited infrastructure so even a couple cases can quickly explode and overwhelm a local system. you have got to be careful. another caution for a regionalized approach, one part of the state opens up faster than another and that attracts so many people who want to get out and about and go to an area where there are less restrictions. that is what governors across the country in all states are

wrestling with year, that when you use a regionalized approach, how we make sure we do it safely. host: thomasville, georgia, scott, good morning. caller: i hope everyone is doing well and i appreciate your hard work. why do you think -- because you mentioned doing all precautions and something we support, all the social distancing and the mask and all the guidance -- but one thing that we all know if you are watching c-span you know this, but not everybody watches c-span. we all know that self-care during this time is absolutely critical, meaning diet, lifestyle, the things you do and don't do to yourself such as alcohol consumption, smoking, all that, and you never hear the medical community or the media encourage people. i think there should be a covid

diet. i know when i.e. well, i feel stronger. -- when i eat well, i feel stronger. if something were to happen to me and i were to get it, my system were to be stronger. i don't understand why that is not put forth more. i have been watching cnn for three months and not once has signed a group to said anything --ut -- sanjay group to gupta said anything about that. guest: i want to thank the caller for that point because it is a great one that all of us need to keep in mind in terms of one of the things we can do, whether it is continuing during this occult time, to continue doing physical activity, eating nutritious meals, getting enough sleep, watching the stress level , making sure you connect with family and friends.

it is about physical as well as mental health. the reasons to do that are multiple. it is not just for covid-19. all of the other chronic conditions and diseases we face individually and as a society, those do not stop. high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, stroke, we want to continue to prevent all of those and that is why a lot of these behaviors and practices are important. even for covid-19, those individuals who are at most at conditions andic are not adhering to these important lifestyle that you are mentioning, and preventing covid-19, and if you get it, more importantly, to ensure you do not have a severe course. there are things we talk about all the time. -- do you take for granted

how do you prevent chronic disease? it is important not only to reduce the usual conditions that cause morbidity and mortality in the united states but also for covid-19. it is an important reminder of things we can do in our daily lives every day. host: what role does inflammation in the body play in your response to the coronavirus if you get it? what are some of the causes of inflammation? guest: what we are seeing is that of course covid-19, one type of coronavirus, as it comes into the body and infects cells, that revs up your immune system. sometimes what is happening is your immune system can go into hyperdrive, if you well, and cause inflammation -- if you

will, and cause inflammation especially in the lungs. in your lungs gets filled and it makes it difficult to breathe. inflammation in a sense is contributing to a lot of people, causing them to have difficulty breathing and in many cases causing them to need intensive care units assistance as well as ventilator support in certain cases. inflammation is a really important part of the pathophysiology of this disease, and particularly for those who were quite ill, the immune system going into hyperdrive causing this inflammation not just in the lungs but we are learning every day about inflammation in many different parts of the body, whether it is blood vessels or the heart or the kidneys. that is why one of the promising

medications that are currently being investigated are some of these anti-inflammatory medications to reduce the inflammatory proteins that the immune system releases. if we can blunt that inflammatory response, maybe we can reduce the mortality for americans suffering from severe cases of covid-19. host: what if your body is already at some sort of inflamed state, and what would cause that? is that a complication? usst: again, i think all of staying as healthy as we can in general, that is critical to prevent chronic diseases but also i think it is critical if we end up having covid-19, to ensure that our cases are not severe. in terms of reducing inflammation, lifestyle, things we can do, everything from

reducing stress, making sure we sleep well, physical activity, all of these things have been shown to reduce inflammatory markers in your body and all of those are things we can do. host: brooksville, florida, muriel. caller: good morning. what i want to mention. yesterday, it was such a wonderful program to watch about 1918, when they had the virus. people, whole families were dying. caskets were out on the streets. war and were sent to were giving it to everybody around the country. it was worse than this could every be -- ever be, and what happened at the end of the program? it showed how the virus all of a sudden disappeared. that was interesting.

plus, they had on about cuba. but is a vaccine for cancer for some reason the united states are against it, getting it from cuba. i wish the doctor would talk andt what happened in 1918 the injection for the cancer from cuba. very interesting yesterday. host: doctor? guest: i think the caller is referring to the great influenza pandemic of 1918, righted the tail end of world war i. -- right at the tail end of world war i. that was a global pandemic that caused approximately 50 million people to lose their lives, a million in the united states. we did not have vaccines or treatments. social distancing, physical

distancing was thought about and yet different metropolitan areas that adhered to social distancing, we can see a difference looking back 100 years ago to see how jurisdictions responded. we did know a little bit about physical distancing back then. sanitation, hand hygiene, sanitation practices were different back then. outit eventually petered was overtime, a couple of years, enough people going back to herd immunity, enough people contracted the virus and that is how it petered out. that occurred about 100 years ago and now again we have a virus that is pretty transmissible, pretty lethal. times have changed. we have many additional things we can do.

we know a lot more about the importance of hand hygiene and physical distancing. there is tremendous research going on for vaccines. pandemics,k to past 1968, 2009. fields of medicine, vaccines are being used to prevent or to killer types of cancer. in terms of vaccines for covid-19, there are many, many dozens of projects ongoing all across the world to try to accelerate the development of a vaccine, and we are seeing some small but, seeing signs. -- promising signs.

we can be cautiously optimistic that things are moving forward, but it will be a little while before we have a vaccine. host: charlie, palm city, florida. caller: i had a couple of questions. , i was watching a program on novi the other night about the shortage -- nova the other night about the shortage of lab capacity. i am in kentucky and there is -- in florida, there are only five labs state. i know there was a shortage of swabs and reagents, but it seems like the backlog now, we still don't have enough labs. the second question i had for you, i have diabetes and i had the flu a couple of years ago, and it was really bad.

i cannot imagine what this would be like. i kept getting a flu shot every year. i get the pneumonia vaccine. has anyone studied or looked at whether the influenza a or b vaccine has any effect on this virus? one more question, go ahead quickly -- host: one more question, go ahead quickly. caller: has there been any research with what we have gone through with the sars virus? it seems we nipped that quickly. just do kentucky, we not have enough people to call 500 people who were infected at a church or grocery store. guest: in terms of testing, that beeneen something we have

talking about for several months. a lot of this applies needed for testing have been difficult to obtain. many come from outside the united states. part of the issue has been the places where the tests can be processed, and really it is all hands on deck at this point. commercial labs, we need academic labs, state labs as well. some of this is getting the material we need, getting the tests done and quickly processed. the country has seen some progress in increased testing capacity. one of the statistics i saw yesterday was upwards of about 2.5 million tests per week in the united states and most experts would like to see that closer to 4 million or 5 million tests per week so we can get out

of this pandemic wave. there are some issues about whether some of those numbers are inflated, whether they are combining the test for the virus as well as antibody tests to see if you have had the virus in the past. some of that needs to be sorted out, but there have been many issues with testing. hopefully we are moving forward there. the testing piece will be critical for us moving forward as we approach this new normal. i will combine it with your second question. the third question is about checking -- tracing. to do that detective work and figure out who the contacts are is really important, and you want to do that fast because many individuals are asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic. testing and tracing helps us

control outbreaks and will be critical as we open up. both of those are really important. the influenza and pneumococcal vaccine, these are important but they are different viruses in the case of and full lens a, and the pneumococcal vaccine is getting at a specific bacteria. all of these are good things to do. they prevent you from illnesses but will not prevent you from getting covid-19. they will keep you in better health so if you get covid-19, perhaps you will be in better health. important things to do, but cannot be directly preventing covid-19. host: ken, reston, virginia. caller: last summer, the cdc closed down the biolab at fort dietrich for sloppy practices and in november they released a

report listing three serious safety violations, any of which could have caused a worker to be infected with a pathogen. if that worker proved asymptomatic, the lab would not know there had been a leak. with all of this talk about a leak and china, why was the possibility of a leak at fort dietrich not discussed? guest: i am not aware of the the cdctrich report but is one aspect of the after actions as we look back in terms of our response, is asking the labs andthat are our bio containment units as safe as possible? there areensure hygienic practices occurring so individuals do not get infected? there will be a lot of questions around laboratory best practices

that will be asked with respect to fort dietrich as well as cdc. host: kathy, orange, virginia. caller: thank you for taking my call. i had a suggestion or a question about why we don't have some kind of public service announcements about the benefits of masks? hospitaler works at a near washington, d.c., and she has made and donated almost 400 masks. i tell everyone that i come in contact, close enough contact with, thank you for wearing a mask. i just think it is important, and they tell me back, thank you for wearing a mask. there is some camaraderie about that. in tractor supply the other day i was standing in line and there was a gentleman who was standing way back and i had my mask on

and i said, you can move a little closer because i have a mask on and i will protect the bus. protect both of us. guest: thanks to you and your daughter. you are leading by recommendation -- example. for themmendation is use of cloth based masks in public, but they need an awareness campaign that reaches all parts of the united states. some segments of our population to inform and educate, partner with the american public. it is not just about each of us, it is about other people as well and what we can do to help and protect other people. host: howard in hernando, florida. caller: thank you, c-span, for taking my call and doctor, thank

you for answering these questions. it is quite a bit and it is interesting. my wife works as a traveling nurse in new haven, connecticut for the yale hospital in new haven, in the icu. she is knee-deep in covid patients of all types. so when she comes home to protect me, i pick her up and we she undressesd downstairs, takes everything and puts it in the washing machine, and comes up with a towel wrapped around her and takes a shower immediately. itraveled back to florida so could take care of the house we left while we were in new haven, and i had to now, since yesterday, start a quarantine for 14 days before i return, or

whatever the lesser is, when i return. my question is really, off the beaten track there, continuing on the masks, i have heard so many stories about whether you are wearing this mask or that mask, which one is better, which one is not, but the thing that gets me is they start talking about what you are inhaling while you are wearing the mask, the fibers that can be breathed in, if you will. anybody with prior asthma or copd could really be affected. could you address that? guest: thank you for your question, and your wife's service on the front lines as a health care worker. what you are describing is what i hear from many health care professionals as they come home trying to reduce household transmission, which is a significant factor in this pandemic.

i think all of these things in terms of ensuring not only physical distancing, but even in some cases the use of masks within the home, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, a lot of individuals are sleeping in different rooms to isolate themselves in a home so they don't unintentionally pass on the virus to one of their household members. that is what is going on. in terms of the use of masks and whether if you are wearing a mask for a long time, inhaling parts of the fibers of the mask from a respiratory perspective might exacerbate asthma or underlying conditions, i don't think there is a lot of research into that area and it is something we can take back and take a look at. in most cases, we are talking about a cloth based mask.

it does not have to be anything special, but it is a physical barrier over your mouth and nose, and you are trying to orvent these large droplets unknowingly, smaller particles. it has got to be a pretty good fit but should not be so tight that you feel like it is uncomfortable. in most cases, you really should not be necessarily inhaling parts of the fabric, but it is an interesting question that i'm sure folks are researching as we speak. host: sean in washington, d.c. caller: thank you for taking my call. i wanted to share a common with the viewers and the doctor regarding vitamin d deficiency in the inflammatory immune response that seems to be killing so many people with the covid-19 outbreak.

there are a number of recent studies, citing one particular irish study, vitamin d deficiency in ireland in the introduction, it states maintaining a sufficient vitamin d status in the adult is beneficial in prevention of ari, acute respiratory infection, and may therefore be a benefit in the covid-19 pandemic. host: let's get a response. guest: i think all of these lifestyle, behavior, and preventative measures are important. wether it is ensuring that go outside, are exposed and get enough sunlight, whether we are physically active or eating a nutritious meal, whether we are reducing stress, getting enough sleep, all of these things keep us healthier.

while they may or may not reduce the probability that we get covid-19, certainly if we do, it puts us in a better position to fight off the infection. we are learning a lot about individual preventative measures , but in general the key point is we need to stay as healthy as we can while this covid-19 pandemic is ongoing. host: dan, falling waters, west virginia. caller: i am wondering if prednisone is a treatment for covid-19. it seems like a tremendous inflammation suppressor. thank you. guest: in terms of prednisone or steroids, which is a type of steroid, i think there are a lot of health care professionals who when they are taking care of patients with covid-19 who are are looking at

anti-inflammatory medications like that to suppress perhaps an immune system that is in hyperdrive. i think a lot of these treatments and medications are currently under study. at what point you give these medications, to which cohort of patients, how can you maximize the outcome? there is a lot that is ongoing from a research perspective as to which of these medications, and when you give these medications in a course, when is it most appropriate. host: dr. anand parekh, thank you so much. guest: thank you, greta, stay safe. host: up next, author and cnn analyst bakari sellers discusses america:"my vanishing a memoir."

yesterday, the select committee is an coronavirus -- here emergency medicine professor and physician at round university discussing the lack -- brown university discussing the lack of ppe and the mental strain on workers. >> a little over two months ago, the lives of health-care workers changed for the worst. preparing forbeen the pandemic since the coronavirus was first reported. we have done our best to build up our store of masks and downs but as cases started to skyrocket, our ppe burn rate had gone through the roof and has been described, the supply chain completely dried up. statesls, counties, and were running out of essential

protective gear and there was no more to be had. overseas manufacturing had been diverted to other hotspots like italy. our national stock file was inadequate and quickly depleted. u.s.d not ramped up our production in time and we were told by the cdc to use bandanas. they have no protection in the health care setting. without ppe, frontline workers were unable to protect ourselves from being infected. i have innumerable colleagues across the country infected by covid-19, many hospitalized, and some have died. in emergency medicine, we are used to doing without. every single day, emergency departments have our finger in the diked of the broken american health care system, but nothing has prepared us for covid-19. edie'sovernight, our

were filled -- ed's were filled with patients that we could not help. health-care workers were scared hurting ourick or patients. we could not sit by their bedside and hold their hands and we often could not save them. we began running out of not just ppe but other central -- essential supplies, like the drug use to sedate a patient on the ability to give albuterol. many of us on the front lines felt abandoned like we were on our own. the secondary trauma from this experience is only beginning to be felt. i am frustrated and exhausted.

on behalf of my colleagues, we are seeing high levels of burnout, anxiety, sleeplessness, ptsd, and much worse. died ofy colleagues suicide less than a month ago. faced with covid-19 herself and trying to run an emergency department that could not take care of the patients coming through the door. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from south carolina, bakari sellers, a familiar face to those who watch book,nd author of this "my vanishing country: a memoir." "my vanishingt country," why is that? guest: thank you for having me. thank you to everyone who woke up to be with us.

rural america that used to be the epicenter of upward mobility used to have small businesses that flourished. due to the politics of the times, due to the economy that has passed us by an elected officials that is not pay us attention, any culture that does not hear our voices, these communities have all but tried up and vanished. that is on the micro level. on macrolevel -- on the macrolevel, this country that is supposed to afford us so many benefits and promises of freedom and hope, not just life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, put all of these promises that are supposed to be afforded to us are not afforded to those of us of color, the low income, the immigrants.

the dream this country is supposed to provide to us is vanishing before our eyes as well. host: what failed? what worked when you were growing up and what is not working now? guest: i think it is a combination. i think we are not preparing our children for the 21st century global economy. we punish kids because of visit code they are born into now. when you grow up in a place like mine where we have a food access tou don't have quality care because the hospitals and doctors offices have closed down. the failed is a complicated answer because we have all failed our rural communities. we have all failed individuals. in this era of the pandemic, you ripped theid-19 has

band-aid off of systemic racism in this country. hopefully, we can adjust many of the issues are you dress in "my vanishing country." host: we want to invite you to join in the conversation. phone lines are on your screen. start dialing in so we can get to those questions and comments. you write that my dad's generation was focused on equal access. they wanted to empower their communities economically, politically, socially, but they also wanted to drink from the same water fountains, go to the same schools. i want this country i love to atone for slavery, jim crow, for the prison industrial complex, and for the attitude of invisible lives -- of ambivalence towards violence against unarmed black men.

guest: i talk about being a child of the movement and growing up with marion barry and .earning the lessons now, our journey continues. our struggle continues. father's generation, you had in itself -- emmett till. today, we have ahmaud arbery. the challenges we have about race are evolving as well. while we do not want to focus on the issue of integration, that battle, we just celebrated the remembrance of brown versus it board of education. we still have battles and issues of race before us today. many of those have transformed.

i will give you the perfect example. i am not concerned with the ignorant rhetoric people use in this country. i am not concerned if someone ignorant calls me the i"n" word. stokely carmichael says if you want to lynch me, that is your problem. but if you have the power to lynch me, that is my problem. i concerned with the systems of oppression in this country. in clinton, they still did not have clean water. there are hundreds of cities where black and brown individuals have a water condition worse than flint, michigan. in south carolina, kids go to schools where the infrastructures falling apart. we have to address that. one of the things i talk about my book is when my wife gave , by 10:00 mytwins

wife was near death. she lost seven units of blood. i had to be her chief advocate. the first 36 hours of my children's life, their mother, my wife, was in i.c.u. you say, what does that have to do with anything? african american female mortality is an issue we have to discuss because black women are four times more likely to die than whited pardbirth counterparts. i stand on the shoulders of those who sat down at the woolworth's counter. i am saying our challenges have grown and evolved. the systemic injustices today are different from those my father faced. host: tell us more about your father and mother and how they shape to. -- shaped you.

guest: my father is my hero. being able to grow up with your hero in your kitchen is an awesome blessing. the blood of my family literally runs through the soil of this free nation. no one can tell me i am not american and do not belong. my father literally shed blood for justice, truth, and peace. my father was shot in 1968 when others were killed. in whats were wounded is called the orangeburg massacre. state, we do kent not know much about south carolina state. my father was put on death row while his bond was denied. all of the officers that fired into the group of students were found not guilty. they convicted my father of writing -- rioting.

you asked about my mom. my mom, as i am writing this book, i realized my mom is probably stronger than us all. her oldestto carry child well my father was in prison. meanster's middle name "born while father was away." the burden she had to carry and witha she had to live with a political prisoner and whose name evokes fear from some, having to carry the likelihood of a family, having to carry the burdens of that emotionally, my mother is extremely strong. in the book, i talk about mental health and some issues we had to cut overcome -- overcome as a

family and the trauma we lived through. my mother was always the one who taught us to have an insatiable desire to learn as much as possible. titled "why are the strongest women the world dying?" to black women and my mother and the strength she displayed, as well as my father, helped me grow up to understand i only have to be three things in this world. i have to be a good husband, a good father, and a quality change agent. those three things are the values my mother and father instilled in me. host: our first phone call for bakari sellers comes from anne in tennessee. good morning. caller: and this memorial day weekend, i have a grandson who just got his golden wings in pensacola because he is willing

to give his life to support this country. i just listened to three hours on msnbc of the hate and rhetoric about this country. now, i turn to c-span and all we hear is criticism of america. when i was told about this murderer that went to pensacola and shot and killed three of our american history -- heroes, i did not dare go on facebook. it is all day all the time criticism of america. i am sick of this! host: mr. sellers, are you criticizing america? guest: no, i hope my book gets people to have a conversation. i hope ann is still listening. we come from different perspectives. i hear the trauma in your voice. i wrote this book and am on "washington journal" because i want you to know my trauma may

not be the same as your trauma, but we can persevere and get through this together. i do not hate americans. i love this country. this country has given me so much. this country has also taken so much. this country took years away from my father. this country took the lives of many young men of color, including henry smith. what i attempt to do because i love this country so much is challenge it. i do not think there is anything wrong with asking this country to be a more perfect union. i feel your pain and emotion. as someone who does not serve fromnjoys the freedoms your family member, i want to say thank you. as a black democrat who may not necessarily be your facebook friend, i am on cnn and i have friends on msnbc. we may be unlikely compatriots, but i want you to know we are in this struggle together.

i want us to have some empathy and compassion. i want you to have some understanding in knowing our paths crossed this morning for a reason. i am here to say i love you and i love this country. i want this country to continue to be the greatest country on the face of the earth. host: k.j. in northport, florida. caller: i have two questions. my first question is, how did integration play into "my disappearing country"? you talk about how there are businesses and so on and so forth. prior to integration, black people could not go to different hospitals and schools so they had their own teachers and their own communities. they could represent themselves. they were more in charge. , i noticed inon

history things kind of broke down. if you could speak to that in reference to your experience and what you are talking about in "my vanishing country" and how that plays. my second question, when it comes to the term "people of color," i think it is disingenuous because everybody knows you are talking about black people. when you say people of color, it includes brazilians, asians, indians. plaguedkinds of things by people is completely different from other people of color. when we are talking about certain issues, i think it would be more honest to just go ahead and say black people and african americans because i do not see disparities when it comes to the treatment of asians in medical

health and interacting with the courts. host: bakari sellers? guest: those were very good and poignant questions. the first question i will answer about integration. many issues we have seen in this country in terms of a vanishing country are not necessarily traced to integration. i think you asked a nuanced and powerful question. although african americans had their own teachers and businesses, the question was about resources. you would look at the schools, the environment, all of these things that were separate but not equal by any stretch. integration allowed the sharing of resources and the pouring in of resources. we have never truly fulfill that promise and provided the necessary resources. you begin to see many of these .usinesses leave

agreements inrade the early 1990's. that is when you're seeing a lot of the factories in the south dwindle. other than that, it has been a when thestruggle infrastructure is not invested in. you see these communities begin to dwindle. being people of , i do think black folks are different in some instances and the same in others. when you are looking at the pandemic and see black folk the facta high rate, is people of color in this country do have some shared sacrifices and struggles.

whether or not you are an immigrant, hispanic, black, or brown in this country, many times you are still fighting for your humanity in this country. it is understandingly have that shared struggle. i write in the book that you cannot be selfish in your struggle. i am not entertaining words. i use them quite -- i am not entertaining words -- entertaining -- interchanging words. thank you for making me tighten up my language this morning. both of those questions were profound. host: battle creek, michigan, good morning. yes, i have to say the country,lem in this i'm serving in the midwest. we are segregated in this city. i had to talk to this woman very upset about msnbc.

trump is elected and the constant misstatements, , false tweets, fact-checking, i thought seriously about going to canada. let me address the woman who called. you can tell donald trump that barack obama was born in hawaii. there are like two birth certificates. tos is such a waste of time have to talk about racial stuff and false allegations. andck obama, for the woman president donald trump, he was born in life. i don't if you want to comment on any of that. [laughter] is that to me? host: yes, that is to you.

guest: i think we are having a discussion this morning that is very emotional. i think that is important. when i wrote this book, people would ask me, why do you want to talk about issues of race? america, most people when they look at issues of race, most white folk with a look at issues of race, look at it through the context of their lifetime. what i asked them to do is talk about the history and give some historical context to many of the struggles we have present day to expand the worldview. i think it is important so we can have new laws in our in ourions -- nuance discussions and also have compassion and understanding. read "myhen people vanishing country," they will

get a sense of pride. others who do not have the same shared experiences i think we'll get a sense of understanding. hopefully, after it is in circulation a little while, maybe we can have difficult but meaningful and necessary conversations. as we are seeing in our first 20 minutes, these conversations are emotional and difficult but necessary. i will delve into something i told myself i would not this morning which is politics briefly. one of the unique things about a trump presidency that would not have happened with a hillary clinton presidency is we are dealing with the issues of race, for better or worse. we are dealing with issues of race because they are at the forefront due to the person inhabiting the white house. you write that former

president barack obama was too cautious about race. the thorniest issue for barack obama was the black lives matter movement. great deal of white frustration stems from the rise of black lives matter and obama's tepid defense. to go andou are going come and go all in because you are going to get blamed for it anyway. what did you mean by that? guest: it was pretty clear. i think barack obama got caught outside of what was a zone, a comfort zone around issues of race. i think because of the pain, the death we were seeing with our eyes, the bloodshed in back to thelet's go death of mike brown. people always talk about michael brown and say he did not have

his hands up or this or that. robbing a robbery or convenience store, the penalty for that is not a death penalty. enragednd, what really a whole generation is watching asphalt inlie on the ferguson, missouri, in the sweltering heat while you hear his mother bellowing and crying in the background. they left his body there for hours and hours. it just showed that even in death he did not get the benefit of his humanity. whoe were many of us rightfully wanted the president of the united states to step in in a more articulate

form i'm sure you could do, "stop killing us." i think he wanted to and was compelled to find some fine line to walk when there was no line to walk on this issue. was anwback and tenor untenable position for the president of the united states. although he attempted to give life to many of the protesters and give a voice to them, he was extremely tepid in that. and he still got blamed. my only point was in politics on issues such as this, you have to go all the way in. it is something he refused to do. and fan of proponent 44. i sent him a copy of this book. i am sure you will send notes --

he will send notes back of his thoughts. he has never been one to shy away. and father of black children, i wish you would have done more on this issue. i do understand the difficulty and pushback he had. host: south carolina, rose, you are next. caller: good morning. her 70's.y in i am so frightened of how the majority of people are dying from the coronavirus, especially the blacks. i am worried about america becoming a third world country. i want you to express your belief on what kind of leadership we need for the 21st century. .uest: ms. rose, thank you being from sumter, south carolina, you are not far from

me and where i work. just thank you for everything you have done in your 70 years of life and everything you will do in the future. coronavirus has ripped the band-aid off of the issues of race in this country. whether people want to see them or not, they do not have a choice but to see that. in places like detroit, new orleans, atlanta, charlotte, we see thehicago, faces of those dying at extremely high rates even though they are low percentages of the population as people of color. we have to ask the reason why. i do not want anybody calling into "washington journal" stating if black folks just drink and smoke less, they will survive the virus. that is intellectually dishonest

and actually untrue. untrue.ally i think it is insensitive to those who passed and lost loved ones. we have to have honest conversations about the recent we have systemic inequities in this country. , andther would always say he called it before this virus, he said this is going to be bad because we all know when america gets a cold, black folks get the flu. in this situation when america got the coronavirus, black folk died. ask yourself why. it has to do with what i laid out earlier. when you cannot get a healthy food alternative, you are more likely to get a bag of sugar and kool-aid and stretch it throughout the week and are more likely to have diabetes because of that. when you're southern legislatures do not expand medicaid and your hospitals and you do not have access

to care within 30 miles, you are more likely to have comorbidities. breathing in polluted air because you are living in cheap housing next to a manufacturing plant, you are more likely to have asthma. when you are drinking dirty water with high lead concentrations or chemicals that should not be used for clean water, you are more likely to have toxins in your body that cause various types of cancer. when you take all of this into usount, it is no surprise to who have been yelling this for years, that black folk have these preventable diseases and comorbidities, and now we have a pandemic. we have a pandemic killing us at higher rates because no one has cared or heard these voices. no one has paid attention to these systemic injustices and disparities we have. she asked an even better question about leadership for

the 21st century. i tell people having a good public health strategy is a good strategy for the economy as well. we need a leader who is a visionary. we need a leader who believes in science. we need a leader who believes in facts. has a senseader who of empathy and compassion for their fellow man. those values are something we have to get back to because those are the true values of what i think leadership in this country is, something we are void of right now. ike from florida, welcome to the conversation. caller: thank you for taking my call. bakari, thank you for writing this book. i look forward to reading it. i know our country has made so much progress through history. we voted in a black president. we have multiple people from

different races and backgrounds serving congress, our senators and professionals. the question i have is your thoughts on the left behind americans and puerto rico. they had been american citizens for 100 years and died and fought in every major war and still do not have the ability to have a senator or congressman represent them or be able to vote for their president that sends them to war. i wanted your opinion on that and where it should go in the future. thank you so much. guest: the first part of your question is correct. i am someone who says we have made a lot of progress in the country. a therelso put a comm and say we have a ways to go.

i understand the progress but we still have a long way to go. as for puerto rico, i'm tired of treating citizens like citizen unless second-class citizens. puerto rico and washington, d.c., deserve representation. they deserve representation in congress, voting representation. if you send somebody to war, they need to vote for their commander-in-chief. one of the things i am most proud of about the puerto rican community is the puerto rican community is realizing its grassroots power and pushing the envelope and still raising their voices and it is becoming more activated in the process. i am a very appreciative of that

and very appreciative of your question. host: we go next to tom in texas. caller: thank you for taking my call. incited people to attack the 16-year-old and he served mr. sellers. i was calling to find out the status of the lawsuit. is there a trial date set? are you still encouraging people to assault that 16-year-old kid? for thatank you question. to clarify, no one ever encouraged anyone to assault anyone. he did not sue me. even more importantly than that, i do wish mr. sandman and everyone well. providesis country access to the american dream and ability to do all the things

they want to do in their future careers. on a different note, i can say i say or write anything that says i am perfect. one thing we have to acknowledge about political leaders and those of us trying to do well is that we have made mistakes. ourt of things i talk about aspirational because i'm still working on myself as a father, husband, and throughout the christian journey. mistakes we have made in our lifetime, i think whether it is joe biden or any that we arecial judging or looking at, we have to evaluate the totality of their lifetimes. i write about some of my

traumas and some of the and successes i have had as well. i write about it all because i want people to acknowledge or have an understanding of myself as i attempt to become a better man. host: you are 35 years old? guest: 35 years old and i have already retired from politics momentarily. host: why write a memoir at 35? guest: good question. i will share this. write at want to memoir. i was trying to write a political book. many of my colleagues on cable tv, i wanted to write this book about living in the country of the trump presidency from my perspective being a young black democrat who no one wanted to buy that book. wrote sample chapters,

proposals. for all of those individuals watching who have projects they want to complete, for everyone who wants to become a writer, i got turned down between 20 and 30 times for "my vanishing country" or a book. tracy who i owe so much to. [dog barking] that is my yorkie in the background. ofcy was the editor-in-chief "amistad." she gave me the opportunity to talk about my story. that is how "my vanishing country: came about. stay with it and give yourself a chance. host: springfield, ohio, angela?

caller: thank you for c-span. i cannot wait to get your foot. i wonder if you think former sresident obama' [indiscernible] is due to the fact he did not have a slave as an ancestor? guest: interesting question. there were some issues different for the president. about is i dolk historical what colleges and universities did as well as they could have. i think it has to do with a lack of relationships with those institutions. it was cultural. he did not grow up on those campuses like i did. he did not grow up with an orerstanding of their value import. i think valuing them and

understanding their necessity was not necessarily displayed. that was culturally. i am not going to question barack obama's life. i do not go down a path of who is black or not and whether you are the ancestor of a slave or not. barack obama is a black man. about have any question whether he is a black man, you can see how he was treated some of his colleagues and voices pushing against him. not only that, but he is an example for black people and people of color and especially young people of color throughout this country which brings me to talking about barack obama in a way that i want people to understand his impact beyond the oflm of politics, regardless whether or not he had an ancestor who was a slave. there was a picture of barack obama with jacob philadelphia.

he was casket sharp with a white shirt and slacks. he had his shoes polished. he went in and got the opportunity to ask the president one question. he asked the president, does your hair feel like mine? barack obama reached down and he touched his head. it is the most powerful image to come out of the white house. that and the situation room when they killed osama bin laden. this image meant so much. it was so powerful. it was an example. for all of the temerity you may have shown around issues of race and my criticism constructively of wishing he would have done more, barack obama is truly an example for all americans but in particular black americans. he is a true example for those individuals that come from communities that are forgotten, he was a true example of what we

can be. is always off and my heart is always open for the 44th president of the united states. host: we are talking with bakari sellers about his memoir, "my vanishing country: a memoir." we go now to kentucky. caller: i have seen you on cnn. i don't understand good you have let them ruin your credibility. you have set back race relations in this country. it is unbelievable. i have never seen anything like it. i will take my comment off there. host: tell us why. caller: he gets on, they holler, " lack lives matter." don't all lives matter? i'm we all god's children? -- aren't we all god's children? that is what i'm talking about. guest: that is a good question.

questioningu about the impetus behind black lives matter. there is not a question about thisalue of white life in country prepares a question about black lives. of do not see the images white kids, young people unarmed, being gunned down by law enforcement. images of tamir rice who was playing with a toy gun in a park. you see alton sterling who was selling loose loosieettes -- cigarettes. ahmaud arbery was looking through homes that were empty,

did not even take anything. breonna taylor was a nurse who got served a no knock warrant at the wrong house and got murdered. till andogle emmett look at his face. he was brutalized and thrown in the mississippi. think about jimmy lee jackson. think about medgar evers. think about the four little girls who were bombed in the 16th street baptist church. also think about the charleston massacre with dylann roof. walked into a church and killed nine people because of the color of their skin. and so -- [no audio]

[sobbing] there is a question. there is a question about the value of black lives. host: bakari sellers, you go through the history, what has happened today, but also the history. i am wondering, is that what drove you to be involved in politics? how did that impact you? guest: growing up in this family, and i'm sorry, i get emotional. i get emotional. i think it is a unique burden that black folk in this country

have to carry. we have to carry the burden of racism. why are you talking about issues of race? implying it is on our shoulders to rid our country of the scourge of racism. it is not. yeah, i went into politics to be a change agent. to be part politics of something larger than myself. the neat part is my father and mother gave so much. i grew up in this environment where you had this culture where you had a level of high expectation. was trying to change the system from within. we still have a lot of work to do. don't get me wrong. but all of those names i named, the pain you feel when you name

those names, when i write about it, i left for them. -- i live for them. i went into politics to be an example for them. host: you ran into thousand six at 22 years old for a state into seat -- you ran thousand six at 22 years old for a state house seat. the day you decide to tell your parents, you walk into your home. your mom's cooking, your dad's reading the newspaper. tell the rest of the story. guest: my mom's cooking dinner. my dad is reading the newspaper at the end of the day like old people do. i tell them, i have always confidence built up, i tell them i'm going to run for the state house of representatives. my mom does not miss a beat and says i will vote for you. my dad says i will think about it. people myalways tell mom was always on board and i had to work for my dad's vote.

at a timeeople i ran when barack obama was a united states senator who gave a speech at the d.n.c.. the person we looked up to was deval patrick. i wanted to be just like deval reaching the mountaintop of being a black governor was all we knew it the time. i was excited about charging that territory. it rained cats and dogs that day. they all said i will vote for you but i do not think you will win, i do not think you will win but i voted for you anyway. i ended up getting 65% of the vote and became the youngest elected public official in the

country. how ironic is that? host: steve in greenwich, new jersey? caller: good morning. i am terribly frustrated with the constant racial is a she -- acializaationn -- r and looking back because it interferes with what we need to get done now. nothing you are talking about this morning will save one black life in the future under the current pandemic. however, we should all be what account to improve our immune system's and health. that is a body of research is growing that indicates vitamin d is a very important prophylactic in preventing respiratory infections from going to the extreme.

the estimates are that 40% of americans are vitamin d deficient. if you go to african americans and hispanics, it is somewhere between 60% and 80%. that is not a racist thing. that is not structural racism. that is because vitamin d often is absorbed from sunlight. if you really wanted to help people immediately today, and my fear is that information is getting slow walked because it does not fit the racist american narrative. host: ok. bakari sellers? guest: i have to put it back and say it is the height of intellectual dishonesty to say black people need more sun and we will not die from covid. i hear you. i take my vitamin d every day. tyler perry is a good friend of mine. he made sure people took their vitamin d. i am all for making sure you get your vitamins. but it is intellectually

dishonest. it does not do anything to help our country. i do not know why we have this fear around talking about issues of race. if you are black in this country, the chances of you having the lack of access to care is high. country, black in this the idea you will have preventable diseases and comorbidities is extremely high because of the communities you live in. you can can turn to turned a blind eye to that. i will not. i can tell my colleagues to take vitamin d and talk about systemic injustices we have. this fear we have around talking me,t issues of race is, for is very difficult to comprehend. people only want to look at race throughout their lifetime and say we have a black president when they do not want to acknowledge the trauma people of color go through in this country throughout time. pop a vitamin d. if you want me to be more of an

let met that you choose, utilize my platform on national tv to say please, black folk, take your vitamin d. but that does not solve the problem. be tollenge to you would open your eyes to the systemic injustices we have in this country. i think i can use my platform to do both. host: paducah, kentucky, sherry, good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. whyer: i just want to know, does everything they go on within our country have to be about black people? the coronavirus. i mean, black lives do matter. i just feel it, why does everything have to stem from color? why does it have to be about race? guest: well, everything does not have to do with race or have to

be about color. but we are in a time where the overwhelming majority of people dying are black people. so we have to ask the question, why are they dying? we have to ask the question, why are black folks dying at the hands of law enforcement at a higher rate? i really wish we have is talking about was untrue or not necessary. i am not making everything about race. i'm not trying to play a race card. i am black. but this is one of the most difficult conversations we have. neversay bakari sellers talks about race in his life. get better overnight? let's not talk about these issues at all, it will all get better. i do not think anybody can say that to be true. at least, honestly. that is why we are talking about these issues. host: anthony in las vegas. caller: good morning, mr.

sellers. i am an african american just like you and i agree with you something needs to be done about black people dying of the disease more than whites. i think i know the answer. cnn and i found out amy klobuchar's husband was saved from the coronavirus because he took hydroxychloroquine. i know they are not going to play that back. then i find out chris cuomo was saved by using a version of hydroxychloroquine. you do have a large black and all thecnn pundits are telling people not to look at that care\/ure.

it outrages me as a black man to watch a network with a high black viewership telling them not to take the cure that has been proven. only on your network can you see that and msnbc. as a black man, that infuriates me. host: we believe that there. bakari sellers, do you have any thoughts? guest: please do not take hydroxychloroquine unless you or unless your doctor prescribes it for you for a condition. do not pop hydroxychloroquine ctacs thinking ti it will prevent the coronavirus. we agree on some things. we will disagree on this. i think in this instance we need to follow the science and individuals who know. i do know many people who are taking -- have taken it and

suffered from fatal heart conditions. i want to be extremely clear. hydroxychloroquine thinking it will prevent the coronavirus. and withhing with care a prescription from your doctor. host: jerry hanel -- carrie anne? caller: another caller asked why everything is about race. america is about many races and always will be. until we openly worked to acknowledge this and make changes, the elephant will remain. we have to start with us and what we can do as individuals, regardless of race, to make changes in this country. thank you for having the guest and thank you for taking my call. guest: i agree with her. i think it is an issue we have to deal with. it is a conversation we had to have.

hopefully, people read "my vanishing country" and get some understanding so we can have those conversations. host: bakari sellers, what about parts of the country, the flyover country as it was phrased after the 2016 election, not just withated poor black people but white people, hispanic, etc., what is your political advice to the former vice president to reach those people before november? guest: one of the biggest political cons we have had in the history of this country was someone living in a golden tower convincing people he spoke for the common man. i think joe biden has a unique skill set and unique ability to communicate. i'm glad for the way you framed the question about flyover

communities, rural america, because a lot of people only consider that to be white america. you are right. it is the whole swath. the midwest and flyover country is comprised of us all. of the difficult things joe biden is going to have to do is he is going to have to meet people where they are. it is difficult because of the pandemic now. i think he is uniquely qualified to talk to many of the concerns of individuals who believe the government has passed them by. i believe he has to have a vice president who can help excite the base. i'm excited by the promise because joe biden built his career on being someone who can speak to the common man. pick as hisould he vice president? people used to call me

lot and i never got baracki until 2008. i like it. people who are in the know would say his choices are probably amy klobuchar or kamala harris. probably to say it is a more valuable pick that will help you win the white house if you pick kamala harris. that would be my two cents. host: spanish fork, utah? edrick.my name is i cannot wait to read your book. you make me be a better man and i wish you would be our next president. guest: i will thank you for that

and ask you to keep us in your prayers, my family in your prayers. am trying to be a better man every day. that is what this country is about. it is about coming together, understanding other people's hardships,es, successes, and failures, having a sense of compassion and empathy and moving forward. thank you for those well wishes and thank you for picking up "my vanishing country." host: do you have any presidential aspirations? guest: president of what? [laughter] i do have aspirations of running for congress soon. focus on raising these amazing 16-month-old twins we had to put upstairs with their to putter that we had upstairs he would not hear them during this interview. host: he said you are thinking about running soon. when? guest: the seat is currently

held by jim clyburn. we will make those decisions in the near future of what we choose to do. we will make those decisions after this election is had. host: linda, michigan? caller: hello, mr. sellers. i feel like i already almost no you because i watch you so much on cnn and i see you on msnbc. i say, "bakari for president." i am pretty upset with a lot of the callers that have called in. i think they have been angry, racist, and very unfair to you. know i am 71 years old. i am a white woman. and i have a lot of respect for you. and you did not deserve the ignorant remarks some of these people have called in. just ignore them because a lot of us love you. like i said, "bakari for

president." good luck. bye-bye. it is no good to just talk to the individuals in your particular style. being able to talk to the individuals that called in this morning is healthy. hopefully, they listened to my response because i listened to their questions. i hope we can all be better for it. we have to begin to have those conversations. i will sit in the hot seat. since when did "washington journal" become the hot seat? i will sit on the hot seat and take all of the questions. i will answer them and be honest and show you my truth and emotions and my love for this country because i think that is necessary if we are going to move forward. host: bakari sellers, we appreciate you doing that. i want to and with this last question from florida. what is the message to the youth? guest: the message to the youth is we can persevere and overcome.

every ounce of change we have had in this country has been led by young people. it has been led by -- the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the gay-rights movement-they've all been led by young people. two years ago, we were worried about this new generation and now they are the generation leading the gun law change in this country. my father was part of the generation that forced the country to deal with issues of race, housing, civil rights, voting rights, etc., and changed the world for the better. i firmly believe this generation will do so as well. we have to become part of something larger than ourselves and never be selfish in our struggle. host: the book is "my vanishing country." bakari sellers, thank you for the conversation. guest: thank you. it is truly an honor. thank you for this platform.

host: we will be back tomorrow at 7:00 eastern. enjoy the rest of your day and your weekend. ♪ >> here's what's coming up today on c-span, phil murphy will give an update on new jersey's response to the coronavirus pandemic, that set for 11:00 eastern and we will get you there live immediately after the house pro forma session, also getting underway at 11:00 eastern. later a white house reaping with kayleigh mcenany, we will have that live on c-span. democrats on the house judiciary committee will hold a discussion on the trump administration's response to the

spread of the coronavirus imprisoned in jails area watch that live at 4:00 eastern on c-span, and online at c-span.org. or listen live with the free c-span radio app. with the federal government at work and dcn throughout the government, use the congressional directory for contact information for members of congress, governors, and federal agencies. order your copy online today at the spence store.org area -- at c-span store.org [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] >> next, remarks by u.n. ambassador kelly kraft on u.s. foreign-policy during the pandemic. she talks about the problems between china and the world health organization, hosted by the hudson institute, this is 45 minutes. heather: good afternoon, i am a senior fellow at the hudson institute. i am honored to be joined by our