coronavirus. you can watch all of c-span's public affairs programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app. and be part of the national conversation through c-span's daily "washington journal" program or through our social media feeds. c-span, created by america's cable television companies as a public service and brought to you today by your television rovider. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we're joined next by john dicken with the government accountability office. he's public health and private markets director, here to talk about the newly released g.a.o. report on infections and infection control in nursing homes across the united states. john dicken, what prompted the report? was it driven by the covid response? guest: certainly the covid issues have highlighted

concerns about infection prevention and control in nursing homes. both as part of the g.a.o.'s broader overseist federal response to the covid pandemic, as well as a request from the ranking minority member of senator widen of the finance committee in the senate. g.a.o. conducted a review of looking at what the issues were in nursing homes in terms of finding deficiencies and infection prevention and control prior to the pandemic, what the history has been in terms of what's been reported to h.h.s. host: and here's some of the top-line data out of that report from the g.a.o. over 13,000 homes from 2013 to 2017 were cited with infection prevention issues in one or more years. 6,300 -- over 6,300 homes had multiple consecutive years of citations for deficiencies, and the g.a.o. report says nearly

all deficiencies were classified by state surveyers as not severe. medicaid and medicare enforcement actions against nursing homes were only taken for 1% of these deficiencies. tell us about who is responsible for monitoring infection issues and other health issues in nursing homes in general. guest: sure, for homes participating in the med and air medicaid program, this is a joint federal and state responsibility to our nursing homes. those that are receiving funding are being paid through medicare and medicaid. there's federal standards that the state will have inspections that are occurring regularly in nursing homes to ensure that the nursing homes are meeting those federal standards. as you know, if there are violations, there is both a

need for the nursing homes to correct those deficiencies, as well as, in some cases, if they're more severe or repeated or not corrected, then there could be enforcement action, such as training and those are put in by federal enforcement actions. host: and you mentioned some of the responses there in terms of actions that nursing homes could or should take according to your report. what are the top responses that the g.a.o. feels that nursing homes need to take, particularly in light of the exacerbated problems from the covid-19 pandemic? guest: right, well, certainly many of the things that we reported on that were identified in nursing homes prior to the covid-19 pandemic were fairly basic techniques that are needed to present the spread and to prevent or limit the spread of infections, like the basic hand washing, the

isolating residents that are sick, not having staff that are showing symptoms of being sick, working directly with residents, a range of basic steps. if nurgs homes were not meeting those standards and inspectors found some of those deficiencies, there would be a requirement of the nursing homes, identifying and correct those particular deficiencies and that they not occur further. certainly since the covid-19 have ic, the c.d.c. targeted inspections more on nursing home infection control and provided a series of guidance to nursing homes on steps that they need to take to both bolster their infection prevention control and hopefully limit what's been really a devastating experience in many nursing homes. host: we're talking about infection prevention and control with our guest, john dicken. he is with the g.a.o., the government accountability office.

their new report on the issue. we welcome your calls and comments if you live in the eastern or central time zones, that line is 202-748-8000. mountain and with a terrific, 202-748-8001. and in particular, if you've had experience with nursing homes, yourself, a friend, a loved one, that line, 202-748-8002. the role of infection control and prevention is obviously a pivotal role in american hospitals. what's the difference between how it's handled in a hospital situation or is there a difference in how it should be handled in a nursing home in the u.s.? guest: right. there certainly are common themes, but also differences, certainly in nursing home settings, residents are needing assistance with basic activities of daily living, whether it's helping them move so eing fed or bathed

there's congregate settings often. some of that has been reduced in the current covid-19 pandemic. residents are not eating in a common area, but they're eating separately and not eating because of the infectious disease crofmente certainly these are 24 hours, seven days a week that residents will be in group settings, having direct care by a range of nurses, nursing aides, others, and so the risk of infection is spreading of a very vulnerable population that may have other underlying conditions that need daily assistance and direct interaction to staff. it's very high. that's why it is critical to take these basic steps of hand washing, not sharing medical equipment on residents, and isolating residents so they are not spreading infectious diseases with others. host: give us -- first of all, how does the g.a.o. define a deficiency in nursing home

infection control, and secondly, give us a range of the sorts of issues you found in terms of deficiencies at nursing homes. guest: right, so h.h.s. establishes under federal law what the standards are and the inspectors will go in and cite what we're calling a deficiency. those could change in terms of both the severity. they could be at the most serious issues that are causing actual harm or immediate jeopardy to residents, or they could be something that's somewhat less severe of having a potential for harming residents. that's where we saw most of the deficiencies in terms of infection control, about 99% were at that potential to cause harm as what was cited by inspectors. they could be for individual residents or wide spread across a broader group. certainly that rake of deficiencies, we saw a whole range of them, most of them were when inspectors were in

the homes and seeing things at the lower end of severity so that they were things that had the potential for harming residents, but that the inspector did not determine there had actually been harm. we did see in some of the more severe cases, though, that there were situations where residents of the nursing homes were not able to identify residents who had had respiratory infection that spread through the nursing home. they had not demonstrated they isolated them and there was common sharing of waste wins, for example, with things that were not to be out in the open for a nursing home resident. host: go ahead and finish your thought. guest: just that there is a real range from those that are basic techniques. host: you had mentioned senator ron wyden, that he had asked for this survey of infection.

guest: senator widen is the ranking member, to do a broad evaluation of infection control in nursing homes. this was really the first part of that, and based on that request, g.a.o.'s overall responsibilities in overseeing under the cares act, congress has asked to evaluate the federal response to covid-19, so we will be evaluating the response. host: let's go to our first caller, ricky in north carolina. go ahead with your comment. caller: yeah, hi there, mr. dicken. my mother-in-law, she actually works at a nursing home. i'm calling on behalf of her. i believe there's more than 200 cases now, and the federal officials will not display the names of these nursing homes. was just wondering -- host: let's flare joyce in brian, ohio.

joyce in ohio, go ahead. caller: yes, sir. i used to work in a nursing home years ago. and i've had friends who put atients in after i left. and the cleaning is not what it should be in these homes. the patients, of course, with the number of people are given a shower once a week and then just cleaned up, you know, i call it a spit bath. but the beds were washed once a week. but a lot of the nursing homes don't take the time to change the water or the mop heads on their mops. that they clean the rooms, with fine even clean it once a day. there's a problem with cleaning supplies, i think.

it's a low part of the job, and, of course, more put toward the patient. but when you pay over $8,000 a month, you should get a little more than what you're getting in these nursing homes. and as far as transferring patients, they put them from the hospital because they can't treat them anymore. they go to the nursing home or they go to hospice, and then to the nursing home. this maybe should be looked into. i don't know what else could be done. but there's a bottom line here that isn't being looked at. it's just the fact of the way the patients are treated now. i appreciate your time. host: thank you, joyce. john dicken? guest: yeah, appreciate the caller sharing their experience from working in a nursing home. the important point, some of the issues that are occurring are basic things that need to make sure that there are basic

techniques, such as cleaning supplies, areas that are common to residents and staff, also highlights the important role of staff here that the staff themselves have often faced infections, and so both the protection and the prevention controls efforts are both to protect residents as well as the staff. host: some of it seems so solvable. the problem she points out are just sort of fundamental collegeness and hygiene issues. guest: yeah, and i certainly don't want to underestimate the challenge of the covid-19 pandemic. we realize this is this has really been devastating in many nursing homes. but it is a number of fairly basic steps that all of us have been doing now our everyday life of washing hands, of wearing protective masks. certainly in a nursing home setting, the need for steps beyond that. given the vulnerability of population in nursing homes and

the direct contact where social distancing isn't an option in a nursing home. so the needs to take these basic actions, to mitigate and minimize the spread of infection -- infectious diseases is highlighted in covid-19. but there's been a persistent nishe nursing homes, whether it's influenza or staff infections or urinary tract infections. infection prevention control is a long-term issue in nursing homes that has continued to be a challenge. host: we'll go next and flare deborah calling from north carolina. caller: yes, i worked in a nursing home for 25 years. and what i have to say is the nursing homes are not cut out what they should be. you have a status once a week. they run around like chickens with their head cut off trying to get everything straight for one or two days and say

everything's ok. but it's not ok. it's not ok. the infection control, nursing homes are very dirty. yes, they are, agree with the caller that says about the mop heads. they don't have the supplies that they need to clean with. you're running from here to there to try to get a bargain. you're getting none. i agree with what the lady said. the nursing homes are dirty. they need cannot a of inspections to make sure that everything is straight. i appreciate you taking my call and have a blessed day. host: thank you, deborah. john dicken, let me ask you, a tweet near one of our viewers this says, let's be clear about this. the residents in nursing homes are not out on the town. the spread of infection among the residents begins with persons from the outside. does the report that g.a.o. has

published address that in terms of visitors, etc., coming in, and staff, actually? guest: right, and i think you highlighted a key issue with the staff. our report was looking prior to the covid-19 pandemic. certainly since then h.h.s. have issued guidelines, so right now nursing homes are not having visitors from outside of the home. but certainly staff themselves, as well as other employees, deliveries that will necessarily occur in nursing homes means there are interactions into communities where covid is in that community and can still enter even with the limitations on family and other visitors right now in the pandemic. certainly the color also raised about inspections on average about once a year in nursing homes. inspectors in typical times also can go in more often when

there are complaints or when there's a need to revisit the home. but outside of the pandemic environment, a key part of quality demare nursing homes is having families visit and observing the situation. that's not able to occur right now, at least in person. there can be calls and electronic efforts because the priority is on reducing the spread and having people coming in other than staff for people that need to be providing care have not having those people visit nursing homes to mitigate the spread of covid-19. host: next up is abby in anderson, south carolina. ok, we lost abby. we'll go to rick, council bluffs, iowa. rick, go ahead. caller: yeah, how old you got to be to be in one of them nursing homes? i just seen a video of a 20-year-old, and they're just pummeling an old gentleman

there. what was his symptoms to get nto that nursing home? host: let me ask you about a proceeds posed rule on infection that is being considered a rule proposed by the center for medicare and medicaid services, would modify the amount of time an infection prevention must devote to a facility from at least part-time to sufficient time, an undefined term that lets the facility decide how much time should be spent. regulation has not been finalized, but c.m.s. last week defended its proposal saying it aims to reduce regulatory burden and strengthen infection control. this person who is a specialist, infection preventionist, these are typically not full-time positions at nursing homes?

guest: so you're right that c.m.s. has issued guidelines that would affect that necessity need to be infection control, but not always been certainly a full-time position. that's something that as we continue to look at issues that the covid-19 pandemic has highlighted in nursing homes, certainly evaluating the role and need for infection control and prevention. there are requirements, preexisting requirements that nursing homes have, systems to try to identify and prevent and control infections, but certainly dedicated full-time staff has something that's been subject to debate with the proposed rules. host: at what point does medicare and medicaid personalize a nursing home for bad practice? guest: so certainly there are a tier of enforcement action that is can occur either for very

severe deficiencies or when there's a pattern of deficiencies, especially a pattern where the nursing home has not corrected them. but the goal is not punished, but to bring about the change that the nursing home needs to make. so what we found in looking at our report for infection control is only in a very small percentage of cases was for those that are less severe was an enforcement action actually imposed, and then often those are not implemented because the nursing home has an opportunity to correct before then. the actual pent the, which could be requiring training or monetary policies tend to be reserved authorize those nursing homes that have most severe, most repeated, or have not corrected the deficiencies that have been cited. again, the goal is to bring nursing homes into compliance, not necessarily to require

punitive actions. host: if they fail to remediate, what do penalties typically involve? are those financial fines against the nursing home? guest: there are financial fines, and those can be per day, per resident. they can vary. again, other actions could be requiring training, requiring a change in process. at the very extreme, and i don't think we have seen this infection prevention control, but certainly in other types of problems at the very extreme you can deny payment for medicare or medicaid or even terminate a nursing home's license. states themselves also may have separate enforcement actions they can take, but the federal, the most common federal enforcement actions beyond training would be fines. host: a couple more calls here. we'll go to maur na wisconsin. caller: no, madison, virginia. host: i'm sorry.

it says wisconsin. sorry, go ahead. caller: yeah, yeah, i was transferred to a nursing home after being in the hospital for a gastro g.i. bleed, where i had five replacements of blood. so i was brought in on a stretcher, stayed there for three weeks for physical therapy, and the nursing home was incredible in charlottesville. but the only recommendation i would have for low staffing and low pay. they hospital gets -- they t from bhutan, and provide the visas and housing and training. and even in the hospital, i hardly saw an american. they were from all over the world, the people that drew blood. so in the nursing home, and thew blood. in the nursing home, the staff

was overwhelmed and they had very little pay. in the meantime, the nursing homes are making a lot of money, but they have to pay more to get better or more staff. that was my only recommendation, because i did get a letter from a law firm in florida. and i am in virginia in a nursing home, saying that they want -- how are you being treated? we were looking for lawsuits against nursing homes. my it is a big business, but heart goes out to the workers. host: ok, john? guest: right. as far as the turnover that the the point about, that can add challenges. having adequate levels of staffing and write staff that

right staff care -- that provides the care has been a long-term challenge. and in this environment that is further highlighted. not bey be coming ill or providing patient care, if there at a high risk of getting covid. so there are challenges to training, making sure that there is adequate training, not only for infections you can control but appropriately movie residents to the appropriate care. that is another challenge. host: betty in georgia. caller: hello. host: you are on the air. caller: i want to say that nursing homes have big problems, and had big problems before the pandemic. my daughter after having surgery had to go to a nursing home at least two times.

she was in the hospital for maybe about a year. gone from stonebridge to the nursing home. bed was on the whole time i was writing -- riding to the nursing home. the pewter workers low wages. you will not be excited about helping people when you pay them $10 an hour. not seem that enthusiastic about helping people. host: we have talked about the workers a little bit. what about the response from congress? this report requested by senator wyden and others, what is expected from congress in terms of reaction to the report? guest: so, separate from our report and our ongoing work,

where we will continue to do work for committees of congress and congress as a whole, but certainly the cares act, which was a large effort by congress to provide some funding, trying to provide for the protections. rther protections. my need to go to nursing homes to make sure that they are purchasing protective equipment and things. so there have been preliminary steps. authority,existing have been strengthening guidelines and inspections. that is something we will continue to evaluate. and we will report our findings to congress, if there are further lessons to be learned from -- from the pandemic. host: brenda in south carolina. caller: good morning.

thank you for taking my call. i have a a lot of feelings about nursing homes. can you hear me? host: yes, we can. caller: my daughter was born in 1969. her nerves -- all came out the back, so that made her crippled. she has been in a wheelchair all these years. she has been to nursing homes. she stayed out one for a pretty good while. hill, got her to rock where i live. ot arthritis ag while back. thatas staying at a home she was out for a long time. we loaded over there. it was two miles from my house. i could drive there. and take care of my daughter. host: do you have a question or comment for our guest? caller: yes, i do.

we need new nursing homes built. inneed -- my daughter lives one across from the spartanburg hospital in spartanburg. they took her down there. and made me think they were taking her to magnolia manor in rock hill. i was getting ready to visit here, to go over here to visit was in spartanburg 100 miles away from me. host: we will let you go. we are about the let john dicken go, but any thoughts on that call? guest: it raises the issue of many families having loved ones where the families are not proximate, where they have to go a great distance to the nursing home. that is a concern. some nursing homes are closing. and why there has been a move

also to other types of long-term care settings. people may not needed for nursing home, or may need different types of assistance. a new reportcken, just issued on infection control and prevention in nursing homes across the u.s. thanks for being with us. guest: thank you. host: we will continue our conversation about the unrest in the u.s. over the past week, after the death of george floyd in the hands of the minneapolis police. the president's leadership in response to the unrest. your thoughts. republicans at (202) 748-8001, democrats at (202) 748-8000, and independents at (202) 748-8002. your calls are coming up next. ♪ on "ther: tonight communicators," susan ness talks

about ways to reduce hate speech and extremism online. susan: they find terrorist so othersthey will -- do not copy it. now there is better, breach and -- better cooperation, but the pressure needs to be there. announcer: watch tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. ♪ c-span has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court in public policy events. from the presidential primaries through the impeachment process, and now the federal response to the coronavirus. you can watch all of c-span's programming on television, online or listen to our free radio app. and be part of the national

conversation through c-span's daily "washington journal" program or through our social media feeds. c-span, created by america's cable television companies, and brought to you today by your television provider. ♪ "washington journal" continues. host: asking you this morning about the president's leadership in this time of unrest and civil disturbance. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8002 for independents. the president tweeted this morning about a half-hour ago, "sleepy joe biden's people are so radical left they are working to get the anarchists out of jail, and probably more. joe is clueless, but they will be the real power. we will be calling the shots.

big tax increases for all, plus." the headline in usa today -- or the hill. alex bolton -- that is the wrong piece. i thought i had the other one. "strife turns the heat upon trump, the greatest civil unrest piling pressure on a president who has exploited america's divisions. protests sparked by the death of george floyd in minneapolis have touched at least sony five cities. throughout the weekend -- 75 cities." throughout the weekend, viewers saw aggressive policing, militaristic vandalism on the part of protesters and everything in between. the nation hoped with respite on monday with no clear sense on whether the strife would recede or ratchet up." it is a "sea of troubles that encircles his reelection hopes."

here is denise in maryland. caller: good morning, think you for having me. i guess i have two comments, one on how trump is handling this protest and everything going on. i think he is handling it the same way he has handled past crises. way we could have these many people dead ever. this is the first time it has ever happened. as far as the protests are concerned, it is citizens using their bark to get rid of people out there protesting and lock them up and call them terrorists , he should be calling to find out what happened with those four officers, get them arrested, get them charged so there can be a trial. because the people in the u.s.

are all over the world, as you can probably see, they are fed up with their children being murdered. they are tired of going to bed at night praying a cop will not kill their grown sons, not just their little sons. and it is rude to goes. host: gary on the republican line, west liberty, kentucky. go ahead. caller: yes, i am speaking out about how the president has done up until this point. he has done an excellent job up until this point. unemployment is down. everything that is going gray, was going gray up until the pandemic crisis. everybody was hurting to stay safe, keeping a distance. then this thing comes up about george floyd. ok? granted, anybody can see the television, they can see what happened to the man. sure, it was wrong. but we have a judicial system.

and for people to take it in their own hands and go out and rob and steal and burn the country down, it is only setting us up for communist countries to say that they have no law and order there. that we are disrupted. we can be attacked at any given time, because we are dealing and protesters. protest is one thing. the men are locked up, they will pay for what they did. and i believe they should pay. but that is not say one race is guilty for what four people did. host: let's hear from jason calling from montgomery, alabama on the independent line. caller: good morning. i wanted to comment -- i heard the interview earlier with mr. armstrong, and i have to say that i think drum is a devout comrade.

it is hard for him to do anything good when he relishes being such a scumbag and the people around him cosign on it. people who support him do not call him out. it is nice for mr. armstrong to present his position in defense of donald trump in such an elegant way, but the fact is trump is incapable of doing that, and he has shown that. the media laid into it. they have a weird relationship with trump. but the media, they do not doate these headlines, they not force the criminal justice system to sentence black and brown defendants harsher than white defendants. they do not do that. you conduct by the mainstream media playing into it, but there is a larger issue at hand and that is why you see writing. as far -- rioting. whenr as people looting, the conversation devolves and

people focus on the rioting and looting instead of what triggered it, which was a terror attack of four police officers on a man on video, they do not take offense to that. that bothers them only minorly. when people start looting, all of want a law and order? unless we can get that from the police, from the people who are expected to protect everyone, you will continue to get more rioting and there is nothing that can be done about it. we do not have a leader currently who has the fortitude or morality to actually lead us in a way that is better. host: your comments are welcome on twitter as well. this is what one viewer says, "he is incapable of real leadership." and coulter tweeting yesterday, is ane worried that trump welcome a rest assured i i am told he is tracking down leads."

why ares said, " stopeaders telling them to from going out. we are not supposed to be going to church? instead they are burning them down." and an opinion piece, "there seems to be nothing our black sons and daughters can do to remain alive.' " "since my son was in middle school i've counseled him on how to avoid interactions with law enforcement. i i prayed for him to come home safely as a teen driver, college student and now as a young man. why? because there seems to be nothing that black sons and daughters can do differently to remain alive. nothing about your clothing, behavior, activity or location. nothing about your education, car, job or agent alters the outcomes. my son is exhausted of this burden and angry it has happened

yet again. i am exhausted and angry, too." read more at washington post.com . in oregon on the democrats' line. this is michael, go ahead. caller: thank you, c-span. um, there are so many things i could say about this conman of a president, by will just go through a short timeline. january 3, donald trump was notified about the virus. nothing., h january 18, cabinet member says this is serious. so, january 19, first case of covid-19 in the u.s. he golfs. staffy 27, the chief of holds an intervention to get donald trump to pay more attention to the virus. february 1, he golfs.

february 2, he golfs. february 19, i think it will work out just fine, he says. democrats'is is the hoax. fairbury 29, first u.s. death. on the, democrats work weekend to craft a relief bill. concerned., i am not it has all worked out, we have done a great job. he golfs. host: michael, we have several months going so we will follow along your timeline a bit here. tell us the point you want to make in your own words. caller: people are talking about him doing such a great job, how can you say that he is doing such a great job? he may not be responsible for the virus, but he is responsible response of the federal

government. the people that are dying, there are thousands and thousands of people who are dying unnecessarily because his lack of response. march 13, -- host: i will let you go, michael. we will go to jim in texas. go ahead. caller: am i on? host: you are. go ahead. caller: we had a march here on sunday. and the police walked with the marchers. we did not have any burnings or cop cars set, or turned over. we did not make the news because we were responsible human beings. if you notice, there are no reports about texas, because texans have kept their cool, believe it or not, in the 90

degree weather. we are not animals, like the ones up north, who just want to burn and loot and steal and everything else. we are decent human beings in texas and we do not get any news coverage. and i am proud of that. host: this is the front page of the washington post. "the u.s. has demonstrations intensify. 26 states call in the national guard, two dozen cities impose sweeping curfews." they say six people were killed in violence that flared as demonstrations in parts of the country developed into mayhem. you can read more at the washington post.com. in florida, mike on the independent line. caller: donald trump does not have a clue what is going on. you look at his tweets, nothing to do what is going on, it is all about his reelection. i am in my 70's. i remember in the 1960's, the same thing happened back then

that is happening now, with cops abusing their power and convening up on the blocks for no reason. or either he has to get out get somebody who knows what they're doing to get involved in to fix this mess. richard from missouri, good morning. caller: as a farmer, i sympathize with the guards people because they are in a bad position to do their jobs, you know? and it is a tough job the national guard has. these demonstrators, they can go vote. they can do that the same as they can riot. most of them look like young people. now, we have all given donald trump heck. he has done pretty good for the republican party. he lowered taxes for the rich folks. and gave everybody a little tax break. and put the supreme court to be

conservative and all the judges know, thate, so you is unfortunate that some people have to riot and tear things up, because a lot of them look for an excuse to do that type of thing. most people really were now,nstrating to show -- one other thing i noticed on the news, they are kicking people out of their houses because they cannot pay their rent. there will be more of that before this is over. thank you. host: washington times, the headline, "massive protests spark fear of an outbreak." it is an associated press story writing as more beaches, churches and businesses reopen worldwide, civil unrest in the u.s. over the repeated racial injustice is raising fears of new virus outbreaks in a country that has had more infections and deaths than anywhere else.

hosted a large antiracism protest on sunday that certainly violated social distancing rules. and the covid-19 numbers across the world, as reported by johns hopkins university, now at 6.1 million, almost 6.2 million worldwide. u.s. cases and nearly 1.8 million. thethe number of deaths in withnow at 104,000, 383 brazil moving behind the u.s. with the second-most cases worldwide. we will go to tom in wilmington, delaware. he is on the republican line. you are on the air. say thateah, i want to a fully support president trump. riotingthat his latest anotheratest rioting is in a series of synthetic crises,

which i think is just a derail 2016.lar mandate from ever since the election, these fake crises is have been -- cris es have been hyped up by the media and make it impossible for trump to do his job. it is like he is placed in a position where he cannot really win. here he is presented with, whether it is the riots or the pandemic, when it became clear people were not going to tolerate the lockdown any longer the glamour had worn off of that one, suddenly we get these riots out of nowhere. we have seen the pattern of, whether it is bricks being stationed where the riots are occurring or the instigators wearing earpieces, clearly directing people to destroy property, i do not really

understand what the media or anybody wants from president trump right now. it seems like he has been intentionally placed in a no-win situation. host: you said the media is behind the rioting in the u.s.? caller: just briefly, i understand time is limited, but when you're talking about a problem like this, society is a dynamic system of systems. and the media is merely one part of it. theink that entrenched in they don't want to see a populist government. to point to any one of anything that is happening, that the root these many problems we are experiencing in this country would be simplistic, but yet, i would say the media plays a part. and i think by way of contrast, toldu saw how the media

us to support our government after 9/11. of one problemst after another we see attacks on the president, who like or not is the leader of the executive branch, elected by the people. host: we will go to our independent line. scott in new york. caller: good morning. i'm a god-fearing human christian. god bless all of us on this earth. i'm from up north. we're all humans. i see people protesting nicely, all different colors in those protests. ago i predicted we would be in a state of martial law before this next election. a little bit of looking into this, what it will take the president to pull martial law is you have to have

somebody like the attorney general, barr, who will do the bidding for the president. and a supreme court that will do the bidding for the president. and the senate that will do the bidding for the president. i thought that the racists were going to come after the hurricanes, but i guess not. yourverybody, do not lose fear or trust in god. you better start praying, because the end is definitely near. god bless you and talk to you in better days. host: this is the page of the sports section from the wall street journal, columnist jason gay -- "listen to what is being said. pay attention to what is happening in america, pay attention to who is laying low. pay attention to what is happening in the streets, the hearts that are breaking.

but also pay attention to the anger. the anger playing out, it is not new, it is built up over years, generations upon generations and it is foundational. listen to what your neighbors are saying. also pay attention to who is listening and it was just talking over what is being said. who is taking it in and who is making noise. i will get bombarded with sports messages, as if any part of the culture can be detached from the real pain people are feeling. i know folks turn to this: for entertainment, and i am grateful for that, but stick to sports feels like a plea to ignore the truth, besides let's be real friends. 98% of this time this column is about sports, but it belongs to all of us." john in pennsylvania, democrat'' line. good morning. caller: since we are number one in the world with this virus and

in deaths, we should call it the trump virus. we need a leader, not a tweeter. he writes his name on a lot of things, so let's name the virus after him. i think that is a good idea. we need a leader, not a tweeter. host: steve in south carolina on the republican line. caller: i am going to get on top of it real quick. i did not vote for donald trump. duever, i support him now, to the democrats' treatment of him. you cannot place the blame of the death of george floyd on donald trump. that is on the minneapolis officials. know, they should've recognized he was a brutal policeman long ago. he should've been arrested right away. you cannot do the investigation

first, then arrested the person. so this thing was botched from the start. want to talk about marion down here by the way, which was devastated by the tobacco problem. but donald trump has condemned the actions of the police from day one. he has supported peaceful protesters from day one. he has condemned the active leaders. the actions of looters. if you breach the fence to the white house that could be interpreted as a coup attempt and the full force of the military can be released on those people. i think they are trying to bait him and i think he has used restraint under the circumstances. host: thank you for all of your calls this morning on "washington journal." we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern.

hope it is a good morning for you. thanks for joining us. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ announcer: c-span has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court in public policy events, from the presidential primaries through the impeachment process. and now the federal response to the coronavirus. you can watch all of c-span's programming on television, online, and on our free radio app. and be part of the national conversation through c-span's daily "washington journal"

program or through our social media feeds. c-span, created by cable television companies as a public service, and brought to you today by your television provider. ♪ announcer: later this morning, the two u.s. astronauts that arrived at the international space station will join the crew of the iss for a news conference hosted by nasa. we will have live coverage starting at 11:15 a.m. eastern on c-span. announcer: tonight, three democrats vying for the party nomination to take on mitch mcconnell join a special edition of kentucky educational television. the candidates will discuss their campaign platforms and why they are running. live coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. on wednesday, former deputy ron rosensteinl

testifies before the senate judiciary committee on the five application process used during the fbi investigation into possible ties between the trump campaign and russian officials. the investigation was eventually taken over by robert mueller, who was appointed in 2017. watch coverage of the hearing beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, on demand at c-span.org, or listen live wherever you are on the c-span radio app. we are joined by michael starr hopkins to talk about the events in the country, race relations in the u.s. following the death last week of george floyd in minneapolis and the protests and civil unrest to follow. i want to point out that his podcast is available on apple podcasts and spotify. when we first booked you to come on the