new report on working americans financial security during the coronavirus. we'll take your calls and you can enjoy ♪ good morning and welcome to washington journal. it is the talk of the election campaign now. americandent called war dead losers and suckers. president trump denies saying it back end 2018 but organizations have confirmed the report independently. joe biden is a slimming the president as are some veterans groups and surviving families. our question for you this morning, what do you think about this story? does it affect your thinking about the presidential election? tell us your thoughts on

president trump in the atlantic story. if you are a supporter of joe biden, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. if you are a supporter of president trump, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8002 -- (202) 748-8001. if you are undecided or supporting another candidate, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8002. ofyou are a retired member the military, i really want to hear from you this morning. (202) 748-8003. you can also text us your (202) 748-8003. story talking about the

that came out in the atlantic magazine yesterday, which has been the talk of the election so far. i will give you some context on what we are talking about. trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would be disheveled in the rain and because he did not believe it important to honor american war dead. according to four people, in a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, trump said "why should i go to that cemetery, it is full of losers?" more thanrred to the 1800 marines as suckers for getting killed. the is the story from atlantic magazine. president trump is flatly denying these claims. here is a little about what he said about the story yesterday

from the white house. >> what a second rate magazine. i know very little about this magazine. when a second rate magazine can write things like that about someone who has done so much for the military and get away for -- get away with it -- you ought to be ashamed of yourself. i watched the interview with sleepy joe biden and he did not ask questions like that. read the questions. they were like meant for a child. those questions were meant for a child. smiles on the faces of a reporters. not like you and you. what do you think? look at the questions they asked him. there were not meant for a grown-up. i just wanted to tell you it is a disgrace. again, this has become the talk of the presidential campaign.

opponent in the upcoming election has comments about this. i want to show you what joe biden had to say about this issue. >> quite frankly, if what is in the atlantic is true, it is disgusting. it affirms what most of us believe to be true -- that president trump is not fit to be commander in chief. reportedlynt said that those who sign up to serve instead of doing something more lucrative are suckers. let me be clear -- my son was an assistant u.s. attorney and he volunteered to go to kosovo. as a civilian. he was not a sucker. volunteered and joined

the united states military as the attorney general. he went to iraq for a year, won a bronze star and other commendations. he was not a sucker. the servicemen and women he served with, particularly those who did not come home were not losers. if these statements are true, the president should humbly apologize to every goldstar mother and father and every blue star family that he has denigrated and insulted. who the heck does he think he is? is it true? own, we have heard from his mouth his characterize asians of john mccain a loser in 2015. donald trump said he was not a war hero. "i like people who were not captured." good for him. host: we want to know what you

think about this you -- this story. let's go to the phones and talk to paula who is calling from woodbridge, virginia. she supports joe biden. caller: good morning. host: all right, paula. caller: i thought his comments were awful. i served in the military. it was very hurting and it is very harmful to the united states of america and for any military person who has served, whether they were in any branch of the service, it is awful. deserve to be in charge of the military. for that reason, he is also dangerous. inc. you very much. -- thank you very much. host: let's go to maxine. she supports president trump. caller: here we go again.

the democrats are doing everything they can to hamper 'sump success -- trump success. these are anonymous sources two years ago. where have they been for two years, if they heard this? we are in an electronic age. if he said it, there would be a tape, something on it. what you does not care put on it. you can print whatever you want, you just don't have to back it up. feigned anger --wasn't that something? only a democrat would believe something like this. i am so outraged at the democrats, i cannot stand it. danny calling to from atlanta, georgia. danny is retired military.

caller: like the last color, she is upset at the democrats. ller, she is upset of the democrats. she is not upset at donald trump. that is the problem. we know trump is people and we l and wemp -- is evi know trump will continue to be evil. donald trump can tell these people -- i served in the marine corps for the best years of my life, but right now donald trump can tell his supporters that dog food is good for you and they will be in line to get a can of dog food. the problem is not trump -- we know trump. thank you for your service. i say to the people who support trump, screw you. scre

screw you! from new's go to lloyd jersey. lloyd is undecided. caller: abc news has an article -- they have not confirmed the atlantic report, which sites for unnamed sources with direct knowledge. s four unnamedite sources with direct knowledge. this is why you can't trust of the media. they can't tell us the information they have so we can make up our own minds. there is no proof anything was said. i want to see the proof. host: what would you say if i told you that the associated press have confirmed that owned -- that story through their own

stories -- their own sources? caller: is it just another unnamed source? host: so you would have to see audio or bully -- video to believe this story? caller: absolutely. ish the media the way it today, you can't trust anything they say. they should just be reporting, reporting what they know, not coming up with the stories that are unnamed sources. host: now, there have been other news organizations that have confirmed this story through their own sources like the associated press. fox news has not confirmed the story but they are confirming some of the verbiage that has been reported in the atlantic story. i will read some from the fox story. the story says according to the former official, their source,

trump also said of the vietnam war, it was a stupid war. anyone who went was a sucker. that term to use refer to war dead. this former official also heard the president say of american veterans, what is in it for them? they don't make any money. multiple sources have confirmed it trump said something to this a 2017 visit at arlington cemetery as described in the atlantic piece. trump's military parade planning, a source reported the president said regarding the inclusion of a wounded veterans "that is not a good look and americans do not like that." we will go back to our phone lines. i want to know what you think about this atlantic story.

let's talk to james who is calling from a newark, new jersey. james supports joe biden. good morning. , but --i was a moderate i can't do this without crying. ii.ught in world war -- supported eisenhower. , but it is a damn shame. who: let's go to richard, is calling from lynchburg, virginia. richard supports president trump. caller: donald trump not say this. this is fake news. donald trump did not say this. i live in the greatest country

in the world, sir, the united states. who iset's go to gary calling from orlando, florida. gary is retired military. caller: this is the first time i have called in five years and the first time i have gotten through. i am a disabled vet. i have served my country honorably. i came to this country when i was five years old. i came with my brother and sister, all three of us have served in the service. marines, army, and air force. we are all retired. ofave seen this coming out donald trump's mouth since i was nine years old. i remember writing a report when i was in school about how he and his family discriminated against minorities. he and his family used to have please comment whole veterans --

veteransme and pull off the streets asking for donations. he says this all the time. mccain.isparaged he has disparaged just people in general. i do not understand the man's heart because i do not think he has won, but i do understand that i have fought for this country. i am a disabled vet because i care about this country and i believe like my brother said simplified, i will not leave a man behind. this is not a man who will leave you behind. he will trap you in the grave himself and start shoveling dirt on top of you. to robert calling from worcester, massachusetts. caller: good morning. i would like to make one point -- my father fought in vietnam and donald trump called

my father a sucker. he was in korea. he was in the invasion of the bay of pigs. what really disturbed me was the an. he treated mr. kh khan died for this country and he disrespected that man so horribly. it is like today. david duke is in the white house. duke in thevid 1970's and i never thought we would ever see any with thing -- anything like david duke that he is in the white house today. everybody remember this right now -- you remember when donald trump had to go to the hospital? -- it isl health

unbelievable. then we have mr. barr, the sticking up for putin? it is the worst thing i have ever heard in my life. you understand what i am trying to tell you? the first thing we have got to do is get rid of mitch mcconnell. we have got to get rid of david duke type of people, but i'm going to tell you my last thing i want to tell you right now -- my father and relatives fought for this country since the civil war. he is calling all of the people in my family from the civil war to the iraq war suckers? i am very sad. bless everybody. greg froms go to mechanicsburg, pennsylvania.

he supports president trump. caller: i think most of your callers this morning have been screened by the people who answer the phone -- the election this year is not donald trump versus joe biden. it is donald trump versus the mainstream media. the mainstream media, including c-span is upset with the fact that hillary clinton did not win in 2016. these stories continue to come out again and again. saidf the first colors you you had saiders this happened two years ago. there has been an impeachment. nothing came out until now. what does that tell you? pointvietnam, i am a west graduate. i was in vietnam.

my dad had three tours in vietnam. believet but -- do not this crop about donald trump saying these things. what he has done for the military -- does that make any sense to you? khan. mr. i am an attorney. attorney.s an i spoke to him after he raised the constitution and said donald trump does not know the constitution. and i go to arlington, my father and mother both served, they are both in arlington. every time i go, i go to see mr. khan's son every time. median -- the mainstream don't like donald trump. that is what this election is about. host: i want to make sure

something you said was correct -- you said you and your father both served in vietnam at the same time? is not what iat said. host: i thought i heard you say your father also served in vietnam. i wanted to be clear. caller: he had three tours in vietnam. and 71. in vietnam host: when did your father serve in vietnam? caller: 1958. he was one of the original advisors to the vietnam army. host: got you. caller: he was there in 1963, 1964, 1968. host: i wanted to be clear because i didn't want anyone to doubt your story. i wanted to be sure everyone was

clear about what you're saying, greg. caller: i hope you are. by the way, yesterday you got very personal about the calls into the issue of racism. i do not think that is your job to get personal. i got stories about reverse discrimination, believe it, but today's topic is a different topic. i think your hosts should be moderators, not advocates. host: let's go to another greg calling from jacksonville, florida. greg is also retired military. caller: good morning, jesse. viewer of c-span. i am also a vietnam combat veteran with the 101st airborne. my words ofely -- exactly how i am feeling is i am devastated. absolutely devastated.

i became particularly devastated even with the prior call from greg from mechanicsburg, who is an attorney who suggested that this article from the atlantic is some sort of conspiracy by the mainstream media. he claims he is a vietnam --eran, he claims his daddy i don't have any reason not to believe that, but i don't understand his mentality. i don't understand trump supporters mentality that they would not believe a story where there are four sources who said -- theident said and president said what he said. put their life on the line for the country, suckers and losers. country iscut --

headed for total destruction if donald trump is elected again to office. i am an independent. i try to keep an objective outlook on all the news, but trump supporters are way out of line on this one. way out of line on this one. to continue to support someone who would make those disparaging remarks about americans -- here is a guy who had five deferments for some kind of bone spur. five deferments. he could not serve when he was young enough to step up. if he was so supportive of the military, why did he not do his turn? my comrades died in vietnam for that. it is indescribable. you can feel the angst in my voice that people who are calling in like this would take away the sacrifices these men and women of the united states

army and all the other branches would not condemn what he said about the soldiers and women who served in the military, even if they may not have been in combat. you don't know what it is like to defend the country when you are getting up at 5:00 a.m. to go on the next assignment and don't know where you will go the next day. host: talking from the oval office yesterday, president book invoked john bolton's when he refuted the atlantic story. here is president trump again. >> it is a fake story and it is a disgrace that they are allowed to do it. i hate to bring up this book, but john bolton, no friend of mine, i didn't know too much about what he was doing, he did not know what he was doing, but he wrote a book. he talks about this incident and

he does not mention it. readly, a lot of reporters that and that was the end of the story -- frankly, a lot of reporters read that and that was the end of the story. those who have given their lives in the military, to me, they are heroes. it is hard to believe how they could do it. the level of bravery -- to me, they are absolute heroes. host: president trump there is bringing up the room where it happened, i want to read to you the passage that he is referring to there. --m john bolton's book deck canceling the cemetery visit became a story that president trump was afraid of the rain and other world leaders traveled around during the day. none of them were the president of the united states but the press did not understand that rules for u.s. presidents are different from rules for 190

other leaders who do not command the world's greatest military forces, so that was president trump's response using the book that john bolton roque -- wrote to refute the atlantic article. let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the story on president trump and the atlantic. here is one text that says "imagine if barack obama would have said this. crosses would be earning, but what do we hear from god fearing republican party? crickets." "if thetext it says statements are true it is unforgivable. i do know the president said heroes do not get captured in reference to senator mccain's vietnam career." " american brothers and sisters, do not believe the media.

these liars want to take away your free speech. president trump has done more to rebuild the american military than any president and american history. joe biden is unfit for president and everyone knows it. despicable democrats cannot run our cities." " funny the says biting campaign had an out about this the same day the story broke." reminiscent ofh the lie about mitt romney not paying taxes. despicable and typical of democrats." we will go back to our phone lines into talk to you about what you think about this story and president trump. let's go to lupe who is calling from california. she supports joe biden. good morning. caller: thank you very much for taking my call. i am 74 years old. i could not wait for this.

i do not have a computer. i depend on what i see with my own eyes and leave me when i say when the president was being interviewed by somebody, he said "my uncle told me just tell anything over and over again and they will believe you." who would you " be running for? a democrat or a republican?" he said " the republicans. they will believe anything you say/" coming out of the airplane with his wife and it was pouring, he grabbed the umbrella and his gesture was enough. he did not want to get his hair wet. another time he said "i cannot believe about mccain -- i do not like people who get caught.

they are not heroes." i do not have a computer, i cannot look anything up, so i believe what i see and what i hear it with my own eyes and ears. if anyone has a comment on that, look it up and come back and say i am a liar. i do not judge anybody. i only go by what i see and what i hear. host: let's go to diane who calls from arkansas. she is a supporter of president trump. caller: thanks for taking my call. we do not know that this is true. this could be just another tactic to spread rumors and lies . let's look at the facts. he gave the military a raise. he has been rebuilding the military. he makes it where now, if you cannot get into the v.a., you can go to a public hospital ok?

let's look at benghazi. biden was vice president. overlet them boys die there. they knew it was under attack. let's look at the truth. obama, he didn't care nothing about our military. he raped our military, clinton did. he honored our military that every time he has a rally or anything, he brings the military in and honors them. and apology campaign across the united states about how terrible america was. host: diane, would it make a difference to you a fox news was reporting the same thing? caller: if i heard him say it was in hisnd it voice, and i heard it, i would believe it.

the newssked -- one of organizations reporting is fox news. i was asking, does the fact that fox news is reporting the same thing make a difference to you? becauseno, it does not it is hearsay. hearsay is not allowed in the court of law because it is hearsay. i could say you could say anything. that does not make it true. hearsay is hearsay. host: let's go to add, calling from wisconsin. ed is retired military. ed, good morning. go ahead, ed. caller: ok. i was watching on the screen but have you muted. i am a veteran of world war ii. i'm going on 94 years old. i have never seen this country in such shape is now.

i think it is terrible what people are doing. no one uses any common sense anymore. truman decided to drop the bomb on hiroshima. he could've saved my life, because i was ready to go over there and fight for my country. everybody ought to step back, start looking at what they really think of themselves in their hearts, and do the damn right thing. i don't know what more i can say. to audrey, go calling from macon, georgia. audrey supports joe biden. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. how are you? arkansas,a woman in barack did eight years. you're talking about the people in benghazi, four people killed, donald trump has killed 183,000 folks.

i have four brothers in the military, three went to vietnam and two went to vietnam more than once. my daughter is retired military. not believe -- we hear donald trump say out of his own mouth that he did not like john mccain because he got captured. he says he doesn't like people who get captured. all he does is call names, losers, dogs, suckers. that, why notid believe that? all you do is call names like a third-grade child. if you tell him you don't like him or show him that you don't like him, you are a dog. i'm not surprised donald trump -- at donald trump. i'm surprised at the people who keep supporting him and that heg in the things says. donald trump has destroyed this country, and if he gets another

four years, god help us all. host: several of our calls have brought up president trump and john mccain. president trump spoke again about john mccain on thursday after arriving at joint base andrews. here is president trump on what he did after john mccain's death. pres. trump: it's unthinkable. as far as john mccain was concerned, i was never a fan. i disagreed with him on the endless war, disagreed with respect to the vets and taking care of the v.a., i wanted to do it a much different way and i think it has been proven to be a much more successful way looking at the success we have had with the v.a. and our vets. with choice, accountability, all of the things i got. i disagreed with john mccain but i still respected him. when he lowered the flag, i had to approve that.

back, i had to approve air force one or a military plane to go to arizona to pick up his caskets. i approved it immediately. i had to approve the funeral, because he had a first-class funeral that lasted for nine days, by the way. i had to approve it. all of that had to be approved by the president. i approved it without hesitation and without complaint. i felt he deserved it. i disagreed with him on things, he was a tough guy, but i felt he deserved it. or somebody to say the things they say i said is a total lie, and news, is a disgrace, frankly a disgrace to your profession. host: once again, this story put out by the atlantic magazine as itsanonymous sources proof of what they say donald trump has said.

other news organizations are also reporting similar or exact same thing through their sources. here is a tweet from fox news's channel jennifer griffin on the story. two former senior administrative officials confirmed president trump disparaged veterans and did not want to drive to honor some outside of paris. she says, according to one senior trump administration official, when the president spoke about the vietnam war, he said it was a stupid war and anyone that went was a sucker. the officialwith said about american veterans, what's in it for them, they don't make any money. it was a character flaw of the president, he cannot understand why someone would die for their country, not worth it. the associated press is also confirming the same story through their sources. the reported comments, many of which that were confirmed

independently by the associated press, are shining it slight on trump's previous public disparagement of american troops and military families. that opens a new political vulnerability for the president less than two months from election day. we want to know what you think about president trump and the atlantic magazine story. let's go back to our phone lines and talk to jane calling from new york. jane supports president trump. morning. good morning -- caller: good morning. how are you? host: just fine, go ahead. caller: i would like to remind people that these are former employees. it is always said behind closed doors. as far as the fox news story, i was just watching it and they say everything was not verified. some of the story was verified, but some was not. tople should learn change the channel and look at other news. i watch you guys, i watch fox, i watch all of these other

democratic channels. it is a real mess. i think people need to learn how to change the channel. i feel sorry for the older people. you, at least you can get all of the news and sort through it. rally, hemp, at his just talks and talks. he would have said something like this right out in the open, because he does have a big mouth in certain areas. i think this was said behind closed doors just like the spooky russian hoax. all of those anonymous sources, and it was nonsense. i think people should learn to change the channel. host: let's go to christina calling from riverdale, georgia. christina supports joe biden. good morning. caller: good morning. something to the people that support trump. best, i could shoot

somebody and they will still vote for me. if they don't look at that statement, it doesn't matter what this man says or does, it is evident. ago, he about two years didn't want to see the name of mccain on the ship. he had said publicly, there are recordings of him with mccain, so what more do they need? the bible says during the end of days, a lot of people would not be able to see the truth. again, it wills be horrible in this country. another thing, i want to make another statement. , people every crime that support trump, they never have empathy for everything else. even his sisters, there are

recordings with his sisters saying how forward he is. to anne calling from arlington, tennessee, supporting president trump. good morning. caller: good morning. i support president trump. i don't care if he said it two years ago or two seconds ago, i'm still voting for him. host: ok. there have been other tweets from other people who were on that trip with president trump that are denying these statements were ever said. here's one tweet from sarah huckabee sanders who says the atlantic story on president donald trump is total bs. i was there and one of the people part of the con -- the discussion. this never happened. i sat in the room when our president called family members after they were killed in action. it was heart wrenching.

these were moments i saw the president demonstrate his heart and encourages men and women of our military. i am disgusted by this false attack. let's take a second to go back to our social media followers and see what they are saying about president trump and the atlantic magazine report. useris one tweet that says brain america. if president trump really said that, he would come out in the media immediately, not wait so long to get it into the media. another tweet says, if you can't see this issue as a political hit job, you did not see the question asked by the atlantic reporter to joe biden. a mega donor owns the parent company of atlantic. meghan mccain's husband has backed president trump on this issue. more slander from the dnc. sayss another tweet that who are those that lined up to vietnam,ur vests from

-- vets from vietnam, the dems and government. another says last night i had a conversation with a trump supporter and his words said, i don't care if it is true. he has the right to say what he wants. saysast tweet says, potus avoiding vietnam was enough for me. one more tweet says, think logically, trump is right in this is a lie. why would trump travel halfway around the world to honor fromers and stand 40 miles a soldier's grave and dishonor. let's go back to our phone lines and see what you think about president trump in the atlantic magazine report. let's go to tom calling from colonial heights, virginia. tom is retired military. caller: good morning, jesse. coward.rump is a i would ask you to not cut me off.

for someone that spent 20 years in the military defending his country, what he said about my fellow comrades is disgraceful. for all of you donald trump supporters out there, regardless of what he says, what he does, you are going to continue to drink the kool-aid and support him. so america, wake up. host: let's go to jenny calling from stow, ohio. she supports joe biden. good morning. >> hi. good morning, jesse. i believe it is true. there's a lot of things he says, and all of the trump supporters, no matter what he says or if they even heard it, they would still support him. a couple more things to say, ok? just think what he did and he

still does not bring it up about the russians, what they have done to our men overseas. bounties on our soldiers heads over there. he still won't bring it up. to thek at what he did kurds. how we turned their back on them , and it was a shame. everything he has done is shameful. in reason the media treats that way, he is so nasty to them. press talking about the with biden, but biden respects -- and they respect him -- because of the way they treat him. trump treats the media nasty. ok? that is all i have to say. host: let's go to raymond calling from lexington, south

carolina. raymond supports president trump. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. when it comes to this stuff, i will say believe nothing of what i hear under only half of what i see when it comes to these people. we have to keep in mind, when all of this anonymous sources said trump was with the hoax in russia turned out to be a bunch of nonsense. they want to get trump out of the way, and they get him very desperate. i go by what i see over these past three years. heart ont he wears his his sleeve when it comes to veterans. the veterans, some of them say i believe it. trump is a bare knuckles street fighter from new york. he says what he says, and does

not walk away from anything he says. people don't understand this man by now, they will never get it. this is going to be a crucial time for us, because in the selection, we will end up like minnesota. there is no doubt about it. host: there's a lot of conversation about what president trump said about former senator john mccain. i will play for you president trump's comments on john mccain from the 2015 family leadership summit in ames, iowa. here's exactly what he said back then. pres. trump: 1000 people showed up to see me speak, bigger than everybody and everybody knows it. a beautiful day with incredible people that were wonderful, great americans. boy, trump goes, "oh makes my life difficult. he has 15,000 crazies show up. he called them crazies.

i said they weren't crazy, they were great americans. i know what's crazy is. i know all about crazy. [laughter] these people aren't crazy. so he insulted me and everybody in that room. i said somebody should run against john mccain who has been, and my opinion, not so hot, and i supported him for president. at least $1 million for him. he lost. he let us down. so i never liked him as much after that because i don't like losing. [laughter] but frank, lets me get to it. >> a war hero. pres. trump: he has a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured. i hate to tell you. -- wara war here hero because he was captured. perhaps he is a war hero, but right now, he said very bad things about a lot of people. host: let's go back to social media followers one time this hour and see what they are

saying about president trump and the atlantic magazine story. here's one tweet that says -- one text that says democrats think a story from democrat support or anonymous sources, fake, will help biden win. john bolton, who hates trump, a real source, present at the event says it did not happen. another says donald trump has an uncanny ability to do that, calling the military suckers and losers may be -- may be has big mistake but if they vote for him, maybe he was right. another says do i believe trump said veterans are losers? i do. he can't hide from his history of similar comments. it proves he is unfit to be commander-in-chief. a post from facebook says i reject this. fake, denial. is a fakeays trump and a disgrace. let's go to our phone lines and

talk to you about what you think about president trump and the atlantic magazine story. let's go to connor, calling from houston, texas. connor is retired military. good morning. caller: hey, how is it going? my name is connor, i'm a veteran from the navy, an and annapolis grad where i should vote -- shook joe biden's hand at my christening. i support -- i'm a libertarian, but unfortunately there is a two-party system. i think actions speak louder than words. what trump has done for the v.a. and military speak louder than his disgraceful comments. the v.a. is a shining example of moral good -- is the v.a. a shining example of a moral -- is he a shining example of moral good? no. but i think he will do good for our economy and military, despite his despicable comments. host: let's go to maria, calling

from washington, d.c. maria supports joe biden. in morning. caller: good morning -- good morning. caller: good morning. oh my goodness. first, i want to say about those denying it because this offers -- because the sources are supposedly anonymous. they are not anonymous to the reporters. they are just not publishing the names. but these are not anonymous sources, they are known sources. also, it is easy to believe that because we have just seen it. you just played it. it is a pattern for him, not just the mccain comment. many other comments, the widow said he knew what he signed up for. also -- so it's not like he has

been in the media. those are his words. [inaudible] i think we were losing maria, so i will go to taylor calling from clifton, virginia. taylor, good morning. caller: good morning to you, sir. i don't know whether to believe it or not because it is hearsay. because they don't have any sources. what i do know is what i saw on tv, when the world war ii veterans are going to the memorial and nancy pelosi shut them all down. she took a bunch of dreamers there and would not let the world war ii veterans go to see the memorial. that is what i do know, and is documented. it is everywhere on tv. thank you for your time. host: let's go to sandra calling from alabama. sandra, good morning. caller: good morning.

i'm beginning to believe it is true. i have been keeping notes on everything that president trump has done. the bounties russia placed, he never came out forcefully against of that. i have a lot of family members in the military. he took money from the military to pay for the wall he promised andco was going to build, nobody is perfect at everything, but when it comes to him, he's consistently saying, when it is something negative against him that it is a hoax. everything can't be a hoax that comes on negatively against him. we all know he is a liar. i'm a little concerned about that i do think character should start to matter to us.

if he could not stand up to vladimir putin and say to him, don't ever threaten our military true,rs, whether it was the bounties being placed on our soldiers or not, he still should have stood up, forcefully, to bladder mere putin -- vladimir putin and said under no circumstances will america tolerate this. thank you. host: once again, former white house officials on that trip to france with president trump, some of them say those comments, as reported by the atlantic, are not true. here's a tweet from dan's camino who says i was with president trump in france with sarah and has bit add -- and have been at his side. complete lies by anonymous sources dropped as he began to campaign at surge. a disgraceful attempt to smear potus. 60 days before the presidential

election. disgusting. once again, this is becoming part of the conversation about the presidential election. i knew ad is based on reporting last week about president trump's comments about members of the military. they are running this ad and i will show you here. ♪ [birds chirping] >> my stepson was not a loser. >> my son is not a loser. >> my son is not a loser. >> my stepson was not a sucker. >> lance corporal alexander scott died in 2004. gave his life in afghanistan in 2010. >> [speaking spanish] >> honorably serving this

country. >> that is something donald trump will never know. >> that is something donald trump will never understand. >> my message to donald trump as you have no right to be commander-in-chief. >> [p speaking spanish -- [speaking spanish] ♪ host: let's see if we can get a few more calls before the top of the hour. let's start with eva, calling from dale city california -- dale city, california. she supports joe biden. caller: good morning. i don't think trump ever thinks when he opens his mouth. once, he said when they told him russia interfered with the election [inaudible] and we know that. i'm here because of a dictatorship in my country, but i would never say, if i am a

president, something against my country. he believes everybody before him . to saves he came america. america was great. now we have a dictatorship here. it reminds me why i left my country. host: let's go to paul, calling from wellsboro, pennsylvania. paul supports president trump. in morning. caller: good -- good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, paul. caller: i support president trump. i can't believe he would say that. joe biden, you got to remember all of the veterans that have come home from vietnam. joe and nancy pelosi stood there when they got off of the plane and spit at them and called them they be killers. let's not forget that. host: i don't believe -- i personally have never seen any video reports of joe biden spitting at any veteran. caller: there was a whole bunch

of democrats doing it. go back and dig up the old films. host: let's go to gail, calling from flint, michigan. gail supports joe biden. gail, good morning. caller: good morning. en donald trump went to the pentagon, he called the general's losers that day, and that was widely recorded. he has taken money from the , andary for his wall fund another thing, his son, don jr., when he was considering serving for our country, donald trump said if he did then he would totally disown him and would have nothing to do with him, ever. his second marriage, saying if included

his daughter, tiffany, joined the military, he would quit giving maple child support. also, i would like to say one more thing, this man has lied to us over 220,000 times. of course he will lie about this. this is devastating to his reelection. but i believe it. he only uses the military as props to make himself look stronger. this is his only reason for acting like he respects our military. he does not. host: let's go to david, calling for massachusetts. david supports president trump. good morning. caller: good morning. i do support president trump, and i will make a direct comment and stick with the its lansing magazine report. the woman went off on every other tangent. someone moment -- some women

before said it is anonymous but they know who it is. what does she not understand about the word anonymous? it is anonymous for a reason because it is not true. and i do support the president. ban, callingo to from woodstock, connecticut. -- ben, calling from woodstock, connecticut. good morning. caller: first of all, jesse, you might 20 check your facts. katherine harris does not work for fox news anymore. -- might want to check your facts. katherine harris does not work for fox news anymore. as far as the people saying president trump cannot denounce putin for, what do they call it, on the soldiers? they came out when obama was president -- host: let me interrupt you quickly. i don't know who katherine harris is that you are quoting. the person i said from fox news

reported her tweet is jennifer griffith, pentagon correspondent. caller: excuse me? host: a person from fox news that i said confirmed the story is jennifer griffith, the pentagon correspondent. you said something about katherine harris and i do not know who that is. caller: jennifer griffith does not work for fox news anymore. host: she still works for fox news. keep going, ben. caller: the same thing came out. when obama was in office, he didn't say a single thing about it either. this is all fake. this is all fake. i have been watching your program for years, and i mean years. americans need to wake up and see -- host: we like to thank all of our caller for that segments. coming up, we turn our attention to the topic of racial disparities when it comes to

health care and health outcomes. that conversation with dr. yamicia connor from harvard school of public health and cofounder of the group race to better health, will be coming right up. which are on this labor day weekend, this saturday, karlyn bowman of the american enterprise institute joins us to talk about her new report, looking at how american workers are faring six months into the coronavirus pandemic. we will be right back. ♪ >> labor day weekend on c-span, today at 4:00 p.m. eastern, a hearing on college athlete compensation with ncaa officials, university leaders, and former student athletes testifying before a senate commerce committee. >> legislation of this magnitude, dealing with student athletes'personal image and how a compensation model could be implemented, must be done an --

in an a thoughtful manner -- in an thoughtful manner. >> then, the democratic national convention. >> [inaudible] more than once. >> we have literally had to reinvent our business several times since the beginning of the year, just to stay afloat. >> on sunday at 10:00 am eastern, a look at the legacy of john paul stevens with perspectives from her former -- his former law clerks. >>'s job was to do what he felt right under the law, and not only that but to be transparent and honest about his best understanding, about what the law commandment was. former chief of sevento the past presidents on how they dealt with crises during their respective administrations. informationssing of

, while always important to a president or any leader, becomes extraordinarily important when dealing with crises. and you have to stick with the process the chief has created and who the president has empowered to make sure the president gets all of the information they need to make the right decision. >> watch c-span, this labor day weekend. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with dr. yamicia connor, the cofounder of race to better health. she is here to talk to us about racial disparities in overall health and available health care. dr. connor, good morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: let's start by defining what your group, race to better health, is and what the group does. asst: race to better health a professional society that is

dedicated to the elimination of health care disparities. one trend we have noticed is that there is not enough of interprofessional coalition buildings between people of different backgrounds like academia alice -- like epidemiologists working with scientists and physicians. that is the work we hope to do, bring these teams together. given the complexity of health care disparities, it is difficult to solve such a large problem without a lot of intelligence, powerful minds working on it. let's define the beginning of this conversation, because it is something you talk about. what exactly is health? what are you calling health? guest: so health is an interesting concept. traditionally, the thought of health is that health is just the absence of disease. however, i think we can all see from what is happening in the covid epidemic, health is much more than absence of disease.

it is a state of being, physically, mentally, socially well. in order to achieve that, there are components that the health sector can provide, but then there are full of the other things around you, which are equally, if not more important, to contribute to your overall health and state of well-being. host: is the united states health system and are the people of the united states focused enough on the well-being of the whole person, or do we just concentrate too much on the little diseases and pains? guest: traditionally, the american health care system has been largely focused on disease management. and not even prevention of the disease, but when a person is actively suffering or has a the work going into

preventative care and identifying differences in population, i think those are very actively working on it. as a system, i think we could do better to focus our energies on that. that is, ultimately, what is going to ring us the type of health value we all want. we spent a tremendous amount of , yet, basedlth care on statistics, looking at our mortality rates, looking at infant mortality, maternal morbidity, we are not really getting the bang for our buck. we havethat is because not invested in other infrastructures that are equally important to good health. host: there will be some people who will say why are we talking about health care when we are in the middle of a pandemic right now. what is the relationship when talking about the health care and well-being of the whole person when we have so many people who are worried about coronavirus right now? once we cannk

realize, as we are all trapped in our house, even if you are not suffering from symptoms of coronavirus, there is not a person in this country, or very few people whose lives are not completely transformed by this epidemic. you can take it from people who are going to experience -- you are experiencing or will experience homelessness soon. you can see in the amount of job loss that has decreased in social conductivity, and how that affects mental health. so i, as a provider, have found that more than ever people are recognizing these things jan -- these things beyond just their comforts important to creating a good and healthy, and fulfilling, life. host: one of the things you talk

about a lot is health care disparities. can you tell us the difference between health disparity and health care disparity? guest: yeah. it is a confusing term. it is often used interchangeably, but i think of health disparity as differences in health outcomes between populations of people. however you want to define that. it could be across racial groups,, ethnic minorities, it could be an immigrant populations, compared to native populations. but health care disparities really focus in on the health care system. so when you interact with your doctor, when you go to the pharmacy, when you go to get any imaging tests, are you able to do it effectively? and do you have the access and quality you need or that other people have? don'ting that i think we

think enough about is, even if we were to completely eliminate health care disparities, giving everyone equal access, that does not necessarily mean we will achieve health equity. though that would be a tremendous step forward. justh is much larger than what the health care care system can provide. what is humbling as a physician is that many of the things outside of our office is what guarantees people good health. play, although it is incredibly importance, it only falls in the context of the larger structure. host: one of our social media followers has a question already. directly about that. they want to know, does talked her connor believe in -- does dr. connor believe in personal accountability in health and health care? that was something you were just talking about. guest: of course each individual is able to transform their

health outcomes. i'm not trained to minimize personal economy. but as you can realize, we have less autonomy than we sometimes think we do. for example, if you are limited by financial resources, then in reality, all of the options aren't really available to you. when you are making decisions about the types of food to eat, or how to invest in physical activity, or reducing stress in your life, that is not really easily accessible for all people. so i think individuals can and should, and that is one of the major goals of our organization, to empower patients and bring them on to do that work. but i think that is only one piece of the very large complex

puzzle. host: our viewers can take part in this conversation. we will open up regional lines this morning. that means if you are in the eastern or central time zone, your number will be (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain and pacific time zone, your number will be (202) 748-8001. i want other medical professionals to get into this conversation about racial health disparities. we will open up a special line for other medical professionals, and that number will be (202) 748-8002. keep in mind, you can always and us at (202) 748-8003, we are always reading on social wj, and ontter @cspan facebook at facebook.com/cspan. dr. connor, what are some of the drivers of the racial disparities in healthcare and

health in the united states? guest: i don't know if your viewers have heard of a concept called social determinants of health. rode around pretty usefully and people -- throw it around loosely and people use it differently. have a health, you biology portion. things that are intrinsic to you, your genetics, things about your personal behavior, etc. in addition to that, there are things that enable you to be your healthiest self. those are all of the things around you. when you think about what things impact your health, stress, having chronic stress in your life, whether it comes from joblessness or living in a neighborhood with a high crime rate, lack of access to health care, lack of access to

wecation, those things intuitively know will affect the health we feel. and we can see evidence of that and we look at biological consequences of individuals who are living in this chronic stress. host: once again, we have a couple questions from our social media followers who want to ask about something specifically when it comes to health and health care. here is one of our social media followers that says, "can we finally discuss obesity?" another wants to follow up with, "obesity is one of the biggest indicators of health problems. someone shopping cart and frequency of fast food consumption correlates to that person's weight, irrespective of their race. talk about obesity for a second -- race." talk about obesity for a second. guest: it is an epidemic in this country and it crosses

ethnic and racial lines. it is something we as a society need to address. the idea people or a population will just intrinsically make all healthy choices without having the infrastructure to do so, i think is a fallacy. populations or countries who have been able to successfully improve the diet of their citizens, they do it through a variety of different mechanisms. one is through policy. people will eat what they are supposed to. people will eat what they can afford. if we are not really incentivizing people to eat healthier foods, we will continue to see this rise in obesity. inkedee, obesity is l to almost all negative health outcomes. it increases your cardiovascular risk, but also associated with

your cancer risk. profound implications on a person's health, and that is one of the biggest challenges i think will face us as a society going forward is how really manage this quickly becoming an overwhelming problem. host: let's let some of our viewers join in on this conversation. we started with lloyd calling from brooklyn, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: yes, i would like to make a correction here. we always refer to it as health care. we do not have health care in this country, we have sickness care or sickness management. for us to really have health care, we should be taking care of people and addressing the issues before they get sick. we only address it when you get sick. that is sickness care.

we do not have health care to address taking people -- taking care of people, to give them healthy things to do and how to take care of themselves so they will not get sick. i think that is something we should really address. guest: i agree. i think there are dedicated and intelligent people trying to think about how we can transform our health care system into one just focuseds not on sick care or catastrophic care, but is focused on preventative care. that would have implications on not only a population health of people of color but also the entire nation. i agree there is a lot of work to do, by many different sectors. some of this work will happen within the health care system, but some of it has to be driven

by policy. we really, as a country, as a nation, need to define what it is you want -- we want from our health care system and actively work together to achieve it. host: let's talk to marissa, calling from montana. melissa, -- marissa, good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for everything you do, c-span. i get up every morning. thank you for these regency lies because it is so much easier to get in. i think this young lady you're speaking to has a lot of ,nteresting things to say especially about how diet influences our health. that is something not brought off -- brought up often. i wonder if she could address animal husbandry and the poor lack of care of our animals and lack of being able to report on their welfare. and nobody ever talks about the

safety and welfare of the how their poor treatment is very badly influences everybody's diet, not just -- poor and rich alike. host: do you want to get into that? guest: what i will say is, that is kinda beyond my expertise, but we -- but what we can say is that the american diet is high in animal protein. although it has allowed for populations to get more nutritious value from their food , at this point, there is data to suggest the amount we are consuming is having a harmful effect. what that means is unclear going into the future, but kind of thinking about this holistic apart from what we need to do as a nathan -- a part

from what we need to do as a nation, is give people good and healthy options. if that involves changing the way we do farming, then we need to change the way we do farming. if it involves something else, we need to do something else. we need to take these into account and study them in a while we have not -- in a way we have not in the past. host: let's talk about racial disparities in health and health care. there's a story out that specifically talks about coronavirus. these numbers are pretty shocking. cases,the coronavirus per 10,000 people in the united states, the new york times says in july, if you counted those people, 23 people who are white would have coronavirus, 62 people who are black would have coronavirus, and 73 people who are latino or hispanic would have coronavirus.

these hugesing changes in numbers in coronavirus and covid-19 in the united states? guest: i think one of the interesting things that this epidemic has done is revealed all of the things that we have tried to hide about the disparities and inequities that exist between populations. it is now causing it to come to the forefront. these problems have always been there. these problems have always been known. that populations of color traditionally will have worse health outcomes, but now, under the pressure of the coronavirus, all of that is becoming more evident. sayof the reasons we communities of color are experiencing more infections of coronavirus is, they tend to be the front line workers, so exposure, especially early on in the epidemic, they were the ones

getting exposed to the virus. communities of color traditionally, a large percentage, are able to do jobs where they are able to work from home. so the concept of social distancing, if you are required to every day going to work, it is different. the other thing to take into account is how people live. if you're are living in a household with 8, 9, 10 other people, how can you effectively social distance? not something you can put into practice. ways that housing, poverty, and segregating neighborhoods, the ways they have impacted health are now becoming much more pronounced in a time of corona. i just want to emphasize that this stuff has always been present, and corona has always shed a light into something --

has shed a light into something we should be paying more attention to for a long time. host: let's let our viewers join the conversation. let's go to our next caller calling from silver spring, maryland. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. time, i am a registered nurse. host: go ahead. i'm also a graduate nursing student at this time. i have two questions. the first one is, what do you you think health care is a privilege or a right? -- iecond thing, i know read there is a conflict between nurse practitioners and physicians. there is now, like you said, a allowing nurse practitioners

to practice fully, to close the , thehat we have disparities we have at this time. do you think that will help, too? host: go ahead and respond. guest: i want to summarize, the first question was asking about -- letting nursebout practitioners getting more involved in health care. go ahead and answer that one first. guest: ok. i think there is a growing understanding in the medical profession that we need more medical providers. as physicians become more and overwhelmed, the fact of having a lot of mid-level providers like nurse

practitioners makes a lot of not only intuitive sense but also a lot of financial sense. a lot of the data shows people get better care many times when they see nurse practitioners. i think that is one of many options we have in terms of trying to achieve more health equity. expanding our workforce, terms of the- in number of medical professionals, has to be a part of the equation, but how we expanded is equally important. host: his first question is, do you believe health care is a privilege or right? guest: one of the founding principles of public health is really that health care is a right. you can quickly see when you are sick, in order to practice or express your other human rights, health is a

prerequisite. in order for people to achieve all that they are possibly able to achieve, and to live the best life they can, health is necessary. -- necessary in order to make that happen. host: david is calling from inglewood, new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning. since wanted to quote, she has used economics as one of the major factors as to why there is such a health disparity, i have one comment and two questions. my comment is quoting dr. thomas soul. he said 85% of black poverty would be eliminated if there were a father in the house. problem.hat is a major my question is, obesity also. she knows this, what percent of black folks are obese?

the number is outrageously hi. my third question is -- high. my third question is, where does personal responsibility come in? i have friends, educated people, black-and-white, and they will not go and get tested. i don't understand it. we know how this is being spread, by people who think they are healthy. yet people will not get tested. andink personal behavior change in behavior, which is difficult, that has to come into play. lastly, i want to say, i would like the doctor to talk about how she got to the position she is in. one of the things we need in the black community is for people to start investing. you can invest for as little as $200 to $300 in the stock market. with discount brokers. i would like to tell her

personal background, because how she got to her position may -- position, maybe others can do the same thing. i know it involved a lot of personal responsibility and discipline. host: go ahead and respond, dr. connor. guest: those are several questions, but i will try to address them. in terms of my own personal background, i was raised in jacksonville, florida. my father is retired from the is an st in mother a by training but stayed with us as kids. i have a wonderful childhood and a supportive, incredible family. i would love to say everything i have is because i have worked so the, ind that is one of think, ideas people like to perpetuate. that only if you work hard then you are able to achieve all of these great things, but the more experience i have, the more i

realize that is simply not true. i have been blessed with a lot of different advantages, including strong family support. goave had the opportunity to to some incredible universities, which allowed me to get into the in places i would otherwise not be able to be a part of. what i want to emphasize is focusing on individual stories is not how we as a population should think about our policies. aboutlly have to think everyone, and how can everyone be given the opportunities to achieve their best self? i can say, right now, the more i look at the data, the more i deeper -- the more -- the deeper

i go into this issue, it is clear that most people don't have a realistic option of achieving their best self. in terms of investment in the black community, i am not an expert by any means in the racial wealth gap, but there are excellent books i would recommend. once you read them, and get a sense of the legacies of slavery, and terms of why there is such a large and really unyielding racial wealth gap it really changes your perspective. one is called the racial wealth gap. i would recommend people read it and get the perspective. so much of what we think is really based on a lot of assumptions that we have been programmed to kind of think, over time. the more we talk about it, especially in the historical context, the more we can realize that maybe some of the underlying assumptions were not

completely accurate. host: i will actually add in that you did your postdoctoral work at st. jude's children hospital, which has a great location in memphis, tennessee and does great work for children around not only the united states but around the world. i would just point that out for you. let's go to mike calling from semi valley, california. -- sunny valley, california. caller: good morning, how are you? host: just fine. go ahead, mike. caller: should i be commenting or questioning? host: whichever you prefer. caller: i guess i will just run my mouth then. basically, everything the doctor said is everything i was kind of going to go at, wealth and equity in this country is at -- wealth and equity is at its highest point as it has been in this country. equity is at its highest

point as it has been in this country. it is what breakdown -- break stun empires over time. the biggest concern i we have a president and a party that pushes dignity -- dignity through work. there is a whole swath of this country that understands their dignity is not being set by work. they're not getting the health care they need, they are not getting the support they need. they are told the middle-class is built on the backs of hard work. they're not being told the tax code has been swept out from under them. they need a proper tax code and a living wage. that is what we need to get to. ahead, dr. connor. guest: i agree on many of the points. i think the way that i have been trying to frame this for myself and the organization is that

this country is more than just leadership. it is people. i think that, for a variety of reasons, the country is -- and a lot of countries throughout the world -- struggling at the moment, we as a people have the opportunity and the ability to come together and support one another in ways we haven't done before. way thate same coronavirus has swept across the country, there is also one thing to be optimistic about. never before have we been having the type of conversations that i am able to have on a day-to-day basis. it is -- we have a tremendous amount of work to do. i don't want to minimize that, but we are at least beginning to talk about, what are some of the infrastructures that have led to this large inequity in our

population? this is beyond -- this crosses beyond glacial -- racial lines. the inequity in this country is terrifying. there are predictions saying that up to 40 million people may be homeless in the next month or so. that is -- we need to decide what type of country we want to live in. and i believe that the american people are going to decide that they do not want to live in a country where we turn our backs on 40 million people. so, although there might be people who disagree -- and i understand that -- for those who are in line with this thinking, this is the time to get involved. get involved with your community, it involved with an organization. help a neighbor. we talk a lot about personal responsibility.

this is also personal responsibility. you can choose how you use your agency. and how you help others. where thee time choices we make may have profound effects into the future. host: dr. connor, you co-authored an article last week colon cancer and chadwick boseman. the actor died last thursday i'll -- while fighting: cancer. -- colon cancer. it totally shocked me. i did not know this. non-hispanic like individuals have the highest rates of colorectal cancer infection and death across the united states. african-americans have a survival rate of 58.1%, while that survival rate is 64.2% for americans.

the gap is understood, it is due in part to a lack of research into minority health outcomes. the national institutes of health considers health care disparities one of the most important issues facing the u.s. health system. i know a lot of us begin talking over theorectal cancer last week and a lot of us scheduled our colonoscopies because if someone like chadwick boseman, a successful, wealthy die, themerican can rest of us can too. those racial disparities in that article really surprised me. talk a little bit about those disparities. emphasizesink this why it is so important to get this information out to people. because none of the things we wrote in the article were new or recent developments. they have been persisting for a very, very long time. disparities,ial

they are likely mostly factorial -- multifactorial. black men are likely to be diagnosed at later stages and more likely to have a lower five year survival. what goes into that is complex. screening.e another option could be differences in diet. another option could be exposure to chronic stress. you really don't know. that is one of the reasons why i am very interested in this field. my background is in science and engineering. i did cancer research for many years. looking at the health care disparities that are present, i felt compelled to use some of those engineering and science skills to tackle this overlooked problem. i hope that many more scientists will start to engage in this issue.

because it is incredibly important work, but is incredibly -- from a scientific perspective, incredibly interesting. why should this be the case? i hope in the future we will understand more. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to actor butler, who was calling from portsmouth, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. virginia has an interesting law. it is called donations of professional services. it is a tax credit for doctors, dentists, and lawyers who help indigent people. if this law were to be adopted, not only by the other states and commonwealths, but also by the congress of the united states, it would help every american gain access to care. i wife is a pediatrician. i am a retired surgeon.

we were stationed with the virginia governor in the army in europe. i have written to him. he knows about this law. other governors probably know about it too. i mention it because your program is watched by everyone in our country. host: what do you think about that virginia law, dr. connor? guest: i think that is a very interesting concept. moving toward more innovative strategies is definitely going to be incredibly helpful in reducing the inequity that we see. as a physician -- i can speak for some of my colleagues -- that would be something many of us want to do. we want to work more to help people. but the pathways in order to do that are not always as transparent. especially when you think about the busy lives that physicians lead and the number of hours

they are in the hospital. providing opportunities where you can use your bandwidth to help others and really incentivizing lots of people to do that i think is an excellent idea. will that solve the problem? no, that i think it is an incredibly important step forward. not only will it help make physicians more empathetic and allow them to interact with more underserved populations, but i think this could serve as a model of different types of laws and policies you can put into place to start to close the gap. host: let's talk about covid-19 again. representative karen bass, chair of the congressional black caucus wrote an op-ed in the washington post calling out the nih and pharmaceutical companies for not enrolling enough minorities in late stage covid-19 vaccine trials. want to read you a little bit

about what she said. pharmaceutical companies can make it easier for people of caller to enroll in vaccine clinicby -- by extending hours, reimbursing or providing vouchers to help cover transportation costs, and providing consent forms and other materials and make language other than english. researchers must counteract our nation's legacy of medical abuse by being utterly transparent. clearly communicating risks and making sure patients understand how the data collect it is being used. i want you to react to what representative asked says there. second of all, -- representative pastor says there. given the history, how can we ensure that we are safe with any vaccine, and that it is not been experiment onr communities of caller? guest: this is, again, another complex issue that without

historical context is hard to discuss. one thing i have come to the conclusion is that if we as a health care system do not restore the trust that has been broken and if we don't do that in a systematic way, then it is hard for me to see how we can move on these milestones like, for example, having more patients of caller in clinical trials. the problem is, we only invest wean idea or policy when need it now. trust, as anyone can tell, is not something you develop overnight. this is something you build over time. and you build it through elation ships. and you build it through good wi ll. that is one thing i think the health care community has not done sufficiently with populations of caller. that is why our organization patients into

the fold. we want to hear from patients. we want to understand, one are the life circumstances that are preventing them from potentially accessing this care or exhibiting the choices they want to choose. trust-building, i think it would be hard to see how we can move on a lot of these targets. this is going to create another opportunity where disparities are going to manifest. patients of caller are poorly represented in the covid vaccine trials. although they are the populations who are maximally affected. it is unclear how the vaccine itself is going to be distributed, so that is another potential opportunity for inequities to emerge. there is a lot of hard work that has to be done, but it is

critical to start doing it. otherwise i think these disparities could get worse. host: let's go to bishop jordan, who was calling from freeport, new york. good morning. .aller: good morning to you dr. connor, i am overwhelmed. i service the health for our chapter of the naacp. i also serve in the clergy. we had a monthly meeting and this was the topic of discussion for me. the elephant on the zoom, if you will. health disparities. i mentioned a word that was -- it wasn't necessarily shunned. i touched on the word genocide. it was kind of pushed under the rug. i want to get your views but i also want to encourage your intellect and fervor and

complement you on your good work. could you touch on that as far as the disparities with the coronavirus and covid-19? in the sense of genocide, is your view on that? guest: my view is that, we look back 30 years from now at the inequities that we have allowed to persist, i think that is going to be a point of shame for us. as a country, as a health care system. there are things that we know how to do in order to improve the health outcomes of people. that is people of caller, that is people who are under the poverty line, that is impoverished children. a lot of people fall under the fold of not achieving the maximum health outcomes that they potentially could achieve if we were to apply all of the knowledge we already know. so, this is a moment in our

country's history where, again, we have to make a choice. we have to define who we are as a people. treatf the ways that we people who are suffering the most from this epidemic will unfortunately define us going into the future. the work that we are trying to help motivate and galvanize communities, as well as physicians, as well as other professionals think about, how are we prioritizing human life? how are we enabling people to be their best selves? and how can we best use our skills and talents in order to not only elevate ourselves, but to elevate others? dr.: we would like to thank yamicia connor, cofounder of race to better health for being

here does today and walking us through all of these fascinating issues when it comes to racial disparities in health and health care. thank you so much for spending time with us. guest: thank you for having me. host: coming up, we are going to start talking about the economy and jobs in the united states. first, as talk about the news that came out yesterday about the unemployment rate dropping adding% and the economy for thellion jobs american workers in july. the -- to give us context, have with us this morning had a long, the economic correspondent with the washington post. good morning. guest: good to be here. host: take us through this latest job report. was this considered a good job report, a fair job report, a bad job report?

give us some context on what we heard yesterday. guest: great question. overall it was a good job support. certainly every job we can bring back right now after we lost 22 million in the spring is welcome. figure wasllion better than anybody had forecast. this is a big asterisk to report, and that is a quarter of those jobs added back for temporary jobs. wererticular, 238,000 census worker jobs. those jobs are not going to last. those of those people who have been knocking on your door, asking questions about the census 2020. those jobs will be gone in the a few more weeks. certainly in the business sector, over 100,000 jobs were added that our temp jobs. those going to last? we hope so, but probably not.

that was the big asterisk in this report. host: which sectors of our economy fared the best in july? in getting those jobs back? which ones were they and why did they do better than others? guest: great question. so, the biggest job gain was those census workers. part of the government sector we were just talking about. werether two big gainers retail jobs, 249,000. and the hospitality sector -- that is your restaurants and hotels. 174 thousand jobs in that sector. what is important is to step back and look at the bigger picture. yes, those two areas at a lot of jobs in august, however if you look at all of the job losses that have happened since march, most, atill down the

quarter of jobs are still gone in the hospitality sector. we all can walk around our own neighborhoods and see those restaurants are not back at full capacity. a lot of bars are not open. coffee shops, these sorts of things. that is where the pain is still most pronounced, even though some of those jobs are coming back. the figure i keep in my head -- about 50% of jobs have come back that we lost. is that a class half full or a glass half-empty story? different politicians are spending it differently, we still got a long way to go. host: i don't know if you can answer this questions from the numbers we got this today, the jobs that were gained, are these jobs that people -- are these jobs that people got back? jobs they were working already or are these people moving to new jobs, jobs they did not hold before the pandemic? host: it's a great question -- guest: that's a great question.

we don't have as much intel on that as we would like. we do know is some of the jobs were people returning to jobs they had held before. i tweeted this out yesterday. the most alarming thing to me in this report is we got confirmation that permanent job losses are rising. that is the really nasty scarring, where a lot of people at the beginning of this pandemic, about 80% of people who lost their job. they would be rehired quickly. but they would be rehired by the summer. over,e are, the summer is only half the jobs are back. the people who are now being told that they are permanently off, thereeir is -- is no chance of them coming back, has reason -- has risen to 3 million. that is the permanent scarring we have to be careful about. host: can we tell from this job

report whether the government stimulus programs past earlier earliering -- passed this spring boosted job creation we saw in july? guest: in august, yeah. host: in august, sorry. guest: there is no doubt that the government stimulus programs helped. we would be in a worse situation without them. there is different studies that have come up with different numbers, exactly how many jobs were saved by things like the paycheck protection program that helped a lot of small businesses keep their employees. those numbers vary, but everybody comes to the same conclusion that that extra stimulus money was a huge help. question is, a lot of that money is now gone. a lot of those program loans and grants are now used. they are over. of course, those unemployment

by august 1, so we have gone a month without it now. a lot of fear is that the job gains we have been seeing that were pretty strong this summer, they just going to stall? they have already been slowing. july was slower than june. august was slower than july. we certainly don't want to fizzle out or have a backtrack here. host: we would like to thank heather long for coming in for us this morning and walking us through the august jobs report. q so much. guest: -- thank you so much. guest: thank you. host: we are going to continue talking about jobs, but we are bowman. move to karlyn she is going to discuss a new report on how working americans feel about their job and their financial standing during covid-19. good morning. guest: good morning.

host: first of all, as labor day approaches, we are in the saturday before labor day. this is six months after the coronavirus pandemic. he looked at several opinion polls about how americans feel about their jobs and finances. walk us through some of your top line conclusions. guest: i think i would echo some of the comments of your previous guest in saying there is a lot of hurt, a lot of pain, a lot of americans are struggling. is aso see -- and it paradox in the data -- for those who have jobs, they are actually doing pretty well. to take the report further, we looked at those people with jobs , and most of them are very high on what their employers have been doing in terms of giving them guidance. they also feel their employers have done a lot to protect them overall. again, a lot of

new surveys on whether or not people like to work remotely. it turns out that the classes are greater than the minuses. a lot of people would like to work remotely every day. host: you looked at several areas in your study. i want to talk a little bit about those areas with you. one of the questions you had for the furloughed and the employer shut down and the laid off, you asked about, have you personally experienced the following? have you been temporarily furloughed orcs -- or suspended from work? are you being laid off? almostumbers seem to be -- really, outstanding -- not outstanding, but those numbers seem to be concerning. 11% said their business was shutting down completely. 60% said they were being laid

off. tell us a little bit about those numbers. guest: those are very worrying numbers. i agree with your previous cast that there is a lot of pain out there. two major pollsters have tracked these trends every week since march. the numbers, again, are very concerning and reflect the deep hurt we are seeing. those are very high numbers for people who have been permanently let go, permanently lost their jobs. for those who have been laid off , a lot of people do not think they are going to be rehired. host: going back to that report. here is another question that was asked. have you experienced any of the following changes to employment? these are for people who had jobs, and they were asked about their jobs. how many people had their hours reduced? how many people have been temporarily laid off?

numbers, 15%hose of the people who still have their jobs had their hours reduced. 10% have been temporarily laid off. and 3% have been permanently let go. those were from people who still had jobs. what do these numbers tell us? guest: these numbers tell us that we have a very long way to go. again, i think we learn from the employment report yesterday that half of those jobs have come back, have have not. certainly the numbers in these surveys reflect what the government reports are suggesting. they're telling us there is a very, very long way to go and that a lot of people have been deeply hurt. host: let's talk about those numbers a little bit. for the people who still have their jobs but are still furloughed or have had their hours produced, can they expect changes in their work status

going forward? can they expect to get their hours back? can they expect to be moved off furloughed or do we see things getting worse between now and the end of the year? guest: for those workers there is much more pessimism than there was in april. that is what the survey shows. we also see that the picture is not entirely bleak, because in those surveys a small number say they did get rehired. that is positive news. there is a lot of competing storylines in the data, overall. host: let me remind our viewers that they can take part in this conversation. you're going to open up special lines for this conversation. unemployed because of this pandemic and you are unemployed right now, i want to hear from you. the telephone number for those who are unemployed is going to be (202) 748-8000.

underemployed, if your hours are being cut, if you have a job that used to be full-time but you were forced to move to part-time, if you are underemployed your numbers going to be (202) 748-8001. if you still have a job and if you are still employed throughout this pandemic but you want to talk about this issue as well, i want to know how you feel about your job. are you worried you are going to have your hours cut? are you worried you are going to be furloughed? .hat number is (202) 748-8002 of thosen't fit in any categories. and you havetired, another employment situation, maybe you own a business and want to talk about this issue the number for everyone else is going to be (202) 748-8003. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003.

we are always reading on social at twitter and on facebook. one of the things you looked at is comparison between the attitude of the american worker now and attitudes of the american worker back during the great recession. is there any difference between the attitudes of workers then during the great recession and workers now during the coronavirus pandemic? guest: the attitudes we are seeing today are very similar to the attitudes we saw during the great recession. i think we know how long it took america to recover from the great recession. if you look at people's views about whether they are thriving or falling behind, again, a little bit more optimism in recent months, but again, a lot

of people say they are falling behind. if you ask them, have you lost a job, is it likely you will lose a job, are there good jobs in your community? again, doubles of pessimism similar to what we saw in the great recession. host: let's let our viewers take part in this conversation. quita is from st. louis, missouri. caller: good morning. i am an assistant manager at portman's. closing, then opening, then closing. it caused us to go bankrupt and i am out of a job because they had to let all of us go. that is really something we haven't talked about yet this morning. employers who open and then there is a surge of covid-19 in their community. they close down, they open again

, they have to have limited hours. how is all of that affecting the attitudes of american workers right now? guest: i think it is the uncertainty. again, i am sorry for your collar. uncertainty is driving the pessimism we see in polls today. don't speak to people who have been hired and let go, hired and let go. does contribute to the uncertainty we are seeing in these public opinion polls. host: as part of your study you ask people about whether they know anyone personally who has been laid off from work due to covid-19. half of the people who responded said they did not know anyone who had been laid off. -- the rest of the people that were asked in that survey said either they had been laid off themselves, a family

member had been laid off, or they knew of someone in their circle, in their orbit, that have been laid off. it seems that for -- we can fully half of the country knows someone or has been laid off themselves because of the pandemic. but to those numbers tell us? guest: that is an extraordinary number. it has been remarkably consistent in that survey. it is a very big number. again, you have this picture i was describing of the economy where so many people are struggling. so many people know someone who is struggling. there are a lot of people who have not been affected, at least thus far, by the pandemic. host: let's talk to deborah, who is calling from new haven, connecticut. debra, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm -- thank you for taking my call.

i am self-employed. can you hear me? i heard a beep. host: go ahead, deborah. caller: thank you. i am self-employed. was,f the questions i had does the data include the self-employed? and connecticut they have had a lot of programs to help us. after march we did not have most of the childcare providers -- because i belong to some facebook groups, childcare providers. we stick together and keep each other abreast of what is going on. connecticut has done a pretty decent job of making sure that we have money for when we have to close down. in the middle of march, i didn't have any children. with partialafloat payments. for three months i was ok. i kept the mortgage paid, lights on, that kind of thing.

interestingreally is issued as childcare providers, because we could have decided to work and take care of what they call frontline workers, which connecticut was really good about giving us incentives. incentives to stay open and take those. services to frontline workers. it's been pretty good -- not great, but it has kept me afloat. it hasn't been a serious hardship on me. what i don't see in those figures -- because there are a lot of self-employed people. our income really does depend drawwhether or not we can income from that sector that is working. host: go ahead and respond. guest: the data do include people who are self-employed. when they asked those questions they definitely include the

self-employed. deborah, you point to something that i think is very important. people are pretty negative about what the federal government is doing. they applauded the first relief package and they gave bipartisan credit for that in the opinion polls. the state governments consistently have done better than the federal government in public perceptions of handling coronavirus, but, yes, the data do include the self-employed. host: in our earlier segment how was talking with heather long about the jobs report. i asked her about whether people were getting the same job back or were people getting new jobs because they could not get their previous job back? that was one of the questions you asked during -- one of the questions we see in your report that was asked. i want to talk about that. here's the question. would you or the person in your

household be able to go back to the same job? back in april, 78% of people said they definitely wore probably will go back to their same job. definitelyobably will not. 5% in may said they were already back at the same job. let's move forward to august 20. the number of people who think they definitely or probably go back to their same job they had drops to 39%. people who say they probably or definitely will not get their same job has jumped up to almost half, to 49%. 11% of people say they are already back at that same job. it looks like those attitudes about whether they are able to get their job back changed tremendously over the summer. guest: they certainly did. a lot more pessimism about

eating able to be rehired. no question about it. there is a bit of a silver lining. some people have been able to get their old jobs back. that topline number going from 78% saying they thought they would be rehired to the much lower number suggest the pessimism we are seeing is widespread. host: does the presidential campaign have anything to do with these numbers or is this -- these economic concerns, these attitudes about working, is a completely separate from the politics during an election year? guest: i don't think you can separated. the pollsters don't necessarily make the connection. some posters to ask questions about which candidates are able to handle the economy, and their president trump has a slight lead over joe biden. that is the area president trump is light consistently throughout the year. that said, if you ask about congress people are very

negative about how congress is handling this. as i said earlier in the year, they gave bipartisan credit to democrats, republicans, congress, the white house for that first relief package. now they are giving bipartisan blame. there is definitely a connection. yearsknow, in election the economy is a very important issue. people will be taking that into consideration. health care also an important issue that affects coronavirus. again, this is an area where joe biden has a lead in the polls. hison't know too much about approach to coronavirus, so they are both confident and uneasy. they are split on that score about how he would handle it. he has an advantage on handling health care. host: let's talk to jonathan who was calling from seattle, washington. jonathan is currently unemployed.

the morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. it is the second time i am calling. i called once five years ago. contractor.ing as a the pandemic hit we were all to work from home. we were working from home for about a week, then we all got put on a conference call and about 300 of us -- all contractors -- got laid off. we were told we were going to go back. my recruiter texted me a few months ago and said, hold onto your computer, old onto your badge. you're going to go back in. at some point. then two weeks ago i received a text from her that they are not going to bring anybody back in. foreseeable future as to when they are going to make that decision. i also have a brother who is working at uber. these are all tech jobs, design,

development. he was there for about a month or two and then they laid off all of their contractors. guest: yes, jonathan. you see the ripple effects of coronavirus in this economy. the initial optimism that this recovery hasshaped not panned out, though many jobs are coming back. said, again, there has been a lot of pain and i'm very sorry you have been let go or laid off for the time being. and that your brother is having the same kind of problems. these are the ripple effects we are feeling everywhere in this economy. host: what does doing surveys and polls about american worker attitudes, what does that tell us? why do we do these polls? what can we learn from this type of information? guest: i would like to give the

pollsters some credit. we mostly hear about election polls, that this year the major pollsters have done an extraordinary effort tracking our feelings about coronavirus, our experiences with it, and our views about jobs, finances. they have covered virtually every aspect of what is going on. this informs decisions that policymakers make, but i have in thebeen interested ordinary life of americans. i think it tells you so much about what makes a complex public tech. polls are very well suited to that. the election polls get the most attention -- and they are invaluable in an election year -- but what we are looking at in terms of health aspects and the financial aspects of coronavirus, i think give us a much richer picture of the society. host: let's go to jack who was calling from champaign, illinois. good morning.

caller: good morning. i'm glad you got the speaker here. maybe they to see -- ask this question, maybe they didn't. who willnt of people be inclined to vote who may not have voted in the past just because of -- they were laid off or, you know, they know they have been affected? -- let's see, the probability of voting as higher --s year, or lower core lower, or about the same? guest: there is much more interest and excitement about the selection we have seen about any recent election. i cannot tell you specifically to coronavirus, because enthusiasm was high even before the pandemic struck. much higher than it had ever been in the recent election years. we are expecting a very substantial increase in turnout

in 2020. host: we talked a lot about attitudes of american workers toward their jobs. let's talk about attitudes of american workers toward their employer. we have a pole here that, back during the beginning of the pandemic in march, the question was asked of employees, who they trust their employer to look out for the best interests of them and their families? the number seems to have stayed pretty much the same from march all the way through august. back in march it was 68%. in august it was 70%. the question of, the people who responded, they do not trust their employer to look out for their best interest was actually a little higher back in march. it was 32% in march, and now it dropped to 29%. what can we tell from this number? guest: i think that is one of

the most interesting questions and all of the surveys. this is a poll taken every week. it is a panel study. they are talking to the same people over long period of time. i was very surprised by the high levels of confidence in one's employer overall. that was much higher than confidence in the federal government, much higher than people's confidence in their state government. it wasn't quite as high as local health care workers. i was stunned to see the number being very close to people's very high regard they have for local health care workers. i think this is one of the most interesting findings that we reviewed. have a number in the 70's. as we now have with that question, you don't see 70% of

americans agreeing on something. this is people with jobs. they do believe their employers are stepping up. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to cassie, was calling from fremont, california. good morning. caller: i have two jobs. one is that the library. teacherr is substitute for fremont unified. i thought i was going to use my job at fremont this week. hired back. i have worked there a long time. subs back, going on date of hire. i have been working, except i have had to get a new computer to do that home learning. i had some trouble working it. the teacher did not put the zoom link in properly. i cannot access it and they gave me a unified email and i had not learned to use that yet.

i went over to the high school here, kennedy high school, and they did not want me at the schools. they sent me home and wrote me up as a no-show in my computer because it was not working properly. i really thought i was going to lose my job. i didn't, but i did discover in the next class that the teacher is having a learning curve to get the learning distance going because that is all on their computer. it is kind of interesting. some of the kids are having trouble accessing. they have wi-fi, they have to be able to do the things that the teachers asked them to do also. anyway, i am thankful for my jobs. because i was sent home in march, i had a little bit of unemployment from that. anyway, i think it is a learning curve, but very difficult sometimes. guest: there is no question that

the transition has been rocky for many people. and very, very different. we are all adjusting to a new world. it has certainly had its challenges. host: one of the other issues we people'sur report is thoughts about their job prospects in the future. this chart that goes all the way back to 2001 ask people if they think it is a bad time to find a quality job or a good time to find a quality job. 2001.all the way back to in 2150 -- 56% thought it was a bad time to find a quality job. timehought it was a good to find a quality job. see, numbers, as you can go up and down, but as we get to this year we see that 77% of

aople right now think it is bad time to find a quality job and 22% of people think it is a good time to find a quality job. we see how those numbers just really shifted over the last few years. what does that tell us about the attitude of the american worker right now? guest: that chart is a real roller coaster. as you correctly noted, people were very pessimistic during the 2008 and 2009 especially. incompetence increased sharply and before the pandemic we were seeing extraordinary numbers about confidence and people's belief that it was a good time to find a quality job. as soon as the pandemic struck, that number just plummeted. that is where we are today. again, are very

pessimistic. that chart actually -- we didn't show that chart -- that actually goes back to the 80's -- 1980's. we are seeing pessimism at a level we saw in 2008 and 2009. pessimism, for those who remember, is similar to what it was in the 1982 recession. three very big hits for our economy and pessimism has been reflected in those poles. host: let's go to john was calling from st. louis, missouri. good morning. , and thanklo, c-span you for taking my call. my father is a worker. they are not safe. there is no social distancing and anything else. administration not only does not care about workers, but students and teachers. i wanted to say that we cannot trust this government anymore, thousands are killed just in one

day. how can we face this disgusting situation except removing him from the office? i didn't mention the bad situation of joblessness, because it is crystal clear for all americans. thank you. questions, there is no that people are very dissatisfied with the way the federal government has handled the pandemic. we didn't go into the lyrical aspect of this in this particular report, but i look at many other polls that make that point emphatically. that said, not to disagree with the caller, but when you ask most americans about what your reporter is doing, is he trying to make sure there is social distancing, that you have ppe, most people with jobs are saying their employers are doing that, but i guess your family members place of work that is not happening. cynthia.'s go to good morning. caller: good morning.

how are you? host: just fine, go ahead, cynthia. caller: i'm calling for a little different things. i work in health care. of course, nobody got laid off. --y hired people host: cynthia, did we lose you? caller: i'm right here. host: keep going. caller: they hired people instead of laying off people because it was so bad and we had covid and everything else. they did the best thing. a lot of the staff had the covid. i didn't get it, but a lot of the workers -- sorry, the workers and patients. time. was just a bad it was a bad time. i hope it doesn't come back. host: go ahead and respond. guest: i certainly agree.

this was a terrible time for the country and we are not out of it yet. let's hope that a vaccine is on its way, one that can be deployed first to health-care workers and essential personnel. that will be very important. you in the health care field have done such an extraordinary job in this difficult time. host: talking about the attitudes of the american worker. this is one of the charts that surprised me. as we are moving forward, the question was, thinking about the next 12 months, the person was asked, how likely do you think it will be that you will lose your job or be laid off? this chart goes back to 2001. if we look at it right now, 25% full fourth of people asked -- think they will be laid off or lose their job within the next year. that is a high number for people

who have jobs right now, but think their jobs are going away sometime in the next 12 months. guest: you see an enormous amount of anxiety right now. that is what that number reflects, i think. this goes on and on. many people are becoming more pessimistic. it is pushed that number up to 25%. i think that is significant and something public policymakers need to be aware of. host: speaking of public policymakers, you work at aei. what do you hope policymakers take from this report about the attitudes of american workers? guest: what a wonderful question. i hope they will study it because there is an enormous amount of interesting data here. they will see many people are struggling, twice as many as those who are getting ahead. the vast majority saying they are keeping pretty stable, as a number of your callers have suggested.

there is a number of pain and i think the poles documented well. poles should not be used to make policy. they are too blunt an instrument. i think they can tell us about what makes a public tip. that is what i hope policymakers will use it for. i hope they can inform in some general but not specific sense what americans are concerned about. we did not focus on health care concerns, we certainly did focus on the employment aspect. the health care concerns are also very great right now. host: let's see if we can squeeze a couple of more callers in. let's start with rich who was calling from madison, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning. i am very conservative, which you were the only news channel that is not biased in any way. he was a host -- i've seen you take some crazy calls and you are very professional. guest -- i ask your

wonder if it is different in small towns. i am in a small town and it seems like businesses keep putting out more hiring signs. guest: i think that is a reflection of the fact that jobs are coming back. he would see that, i think, because it is so apparent in small towns. none of the data i looked at -- i didn't have an opportunity to break it out by urban, rural, suburban -- but that is an encouraging development and one i think was reflected in job numbers yesterday. from let's go to heidi davenport, florida. caller: good morning. my daughter in california is one of the people who did change careers as a result of the virus. she was in the wine and spirits previously, and now she is studying to be an emergency medical technician.

she is very happy with her change. i would also like to say that with regards to the last caller, sometimes it surprises me that there is not more news about the businesses that have been booming, like construction work and people making home improvements and all during this time. because i traveled quite a bit in northeast in june and i was so surprised at how much construction and all is being done. i guess the people that are working and staying home are using their money for builders and construction work, home improvements. i just think that is wonderful and i'm sure there are other businesses, like plexiglas businesses, that are doing well. guest: there is no question that is the case. we are seeing that in some of the polls. not in polls i included in this report, but that is the case.

you see it in terms of real estate and construction, as your callers suggested. there are some businesses that have weathered this pandemic very well. questions interesting asked about whether or not people were able to -- people with jobs, are they saving more, were they paying down more debt than usual? he saw a substantial chunk of americans in the pulsing they were doing -- the pole saying they were doing those things. away,g one away -- money paying down debt, may have more money for home improvements. thenow that home depot and like, business has been good. more let's go to one before we end this segment. this is something that really surprised me. when people were asked, if their

employers are currently taking certain steps to avoid spreading the coronavirus we see from this chart that people think their employers are screening people and customers for symptoms. that number went up from april. but we see the number went down when you start asking about enforcing the six foot distance between employees and customers. and the number went down, again, when they were asked about adopting new or more frequent workplace cleaning. this number went up and we started talking about ppe, but those two numbers, enforcing six foot distance and adopting more frequent cleaning -- it's shocking to me that businesses are doing less in any shape, form, or fashion. guest: i think they may have instituted some practices, so they may not say they are doing

more of it. you are right to point to those two figures. i think the social distancing poses real challenges, as we have all heard on news stories. businesses and others trying to get people to wear masks in your store. again, it has been a real challenge for many people. i'm sure businesses are having more trouble in that area in particular. again, the start was rocky in march and april, trying to get these new systems working. i think those numbers are still very high overall, in terms of work places. that is the big category we looked at. always doing this. a lot of them are doing it somewhat, but not always in the way they did initially. they are just learning the ropes in this very new environment. host: let's see if we can squeeze one more collar and. that is going to be kurt.

good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say that, when we shut the economy down we knew little about the virus. at this point we know it affects all people and people with underlying conditions. i have suggested to my senator here that we open the economy focus on taking care of the people who are most at risk. or i work, because i am at high risk, i am in my 60's, i am allowed to work from home. in my office all of the young people who are healthy are working. we are an essential group, mechanical contractors who repair hvac systems, which is something everyone has been trying to do to get back to a healthy environment at the workplace. office, no to the social distancing, wearing a

mask, or any of that is taking place. they have taken me, i am a very responsible person and look out for myself, field and stick my head into air conditioning systems to do surveys, but i am allowed to work from home and it is because i am blessed with a great employer to allow me to do that here in florida. my suggestion to mr. yoho was get the economy back and going, get that young people back to work go are not going to die from the virus, take the people who are sick and who are old and a social security disability until the virus or vaccine, or we have come to conclusions about how we can deal with this and get the economy back open. host: go ahead and respond to him.

concernedricans are about getting the economy functioning again. we see that in survey after survey. as they are also concerned about the health aspect. i think the caller is correct. i am in the senior citizen category and my employer allowed me to work remotely. many people at the american enterprise institute want to get back to work. those with underlying conditions, for them being able to work from home is an extraordinary blessing. americans are concerned about the health aspects and to the economic aspects because they want to get the economy moving back as the jobs reports adjusted yesterday. a long way to go but i am glad we have been able to document through public opinion polls how americans feel about what is going on today. carline,want to thank

senior fellow at the american enterprise institute for talking us through the numbers about the covid pandemic. thank you for your time this morning. guest: i love c-span. host: thank you. we will be right back with your calls about the august jobless rate and the new job numbers. you will see the numbers there on your screen. we will get to your conversation in just a second. we will be right back. ♪ >> american history tv on c-span three, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. coming up this labor day weekend at 6:00 p.m. on the civil war, kevin love in talks about how we about howevine talks

we remember the civil war. on american eastern artifacts we will preview photographs of native americans which includes half a million images. on the presidency, a look at presidential retreats, including herbert hoover's shenandoah mountains fishing camp and conversations about martha's vineyard. we marked the seventh anniversary of the bombings of reshma and nagasaki. we look back at the events that led to the bombing and their legacy with ian toal and president truman's grandson. exploring the american story. watch american history tv this labor day weekend on c-span3. ♪ >> washington journal continues. and: once again we are back

we are going to talk about the august jobless rate into the unemployment numbers as the jobs ored during this last month so. once again, the report shows from august that the unemployment rate dropped to 1.3 7 milliond jobs were added in the month of august -- 1.37 million jobs were added in the month of august. president trump talked about it yesterday. here is what he had to say. >> last month we saw large declines in the unemployment rate for asian americans and african-americans. we are seeing the fastest labor market recovery from any economic crisis in history by far. the contrast, the last administration had the slowest

and worst recovery in american history. that was well documented. this year the u.s. has seen the smallest economic traction of any western nation and we are recovering at a much faster rate than any other nation. as this confidence is higher in america today than in any other g7 or eu country. that covers a lot of territory. business confidence is higher than any of those countries. in july, retail sales not only recovered but reached an all-time high. retailbout that -- sales. that is a basic statistic and a big statistic. it not only recovered but reached the highest level ever. auto sales have surged to a 74 percent since their april low and are nearly back to their pre-virus levels.

that has been a tremendous thing. beeninto new cars have doing well. mortgage applications were 27% higher than during the same period last year. homebuyer sentiment indicates that more high-paying construction jobs -- host: we will spend our last segment of the show listening to you talk about the economy and your job prospects. here are the numbers for this last segment. if you recently have gotten a job during the pandemic in the last few months, we want to know how you did it, where you are working, and what sectors you think are open for other americans. if you have recently gotten a job, i want you to call (202) 748-8000. job, inecently lost a the last month of -- or so, i want to hear from you as well at

(202) 748-8001. that is for people who recently lost a job. we will open up a special line for employers. the people who employ workers. i want to know how you have been affected by the pandemic. have you been able to hire? have you had to lay off people? employers, your number will be (202) 748-8002. if you do not fit in any of those categories, we still want to hear from you --(202) 748-8003. you can text to that same number. we are all -- always reading twitter and facebook. we will start by talking to freddie who is calling from orlando, florida. good morning. caller: my concern is with the job numbers, i will say i am

partially employed. i have an issue about how they skew the numbers. most staffing companies also in the employment overall picture. jobs are normally day labor or have no fixed income or job title. the numbers look like we have all these people in the system and they work two days a week and they work one day a week, and they work three days a week so there is no continuity with that. i think there has to be some type of separation when they are reporting the overall employment. host: let's go to iris who is calling from south lyon, michigan. iris, good morning. caller: there is an old song " you have to accentuate

the positive, eliminate the negative and don't mess with mr. in between." needn't need a vaccine, we a cure. we need to eliminate the virus and then we can go on with life. six things that need to be fixed -- eliminate that which is bothering us and making us sick and hate each other. that is my recipe. host: let's go to alan, who is calling from east chicago, indiana. caller: yes, good morning. inc. you so much for the journal. -- thank you so much for the journal. have been watching you for years. these numbers -- they seem bogus to me. these departments are starting to lie to us. added -- theybs

said last week of august, there people1,000 jobs lost, who filed for additional unemployment benefits. the week before that, it was 1,006,000 people. i added up each channel, msnbc, fox, they have been keeping a running tally of people who filed. only include initial filings. they don't include people who filed for the second week or 10th week and i would like to know why. if you add them up, all three of the networks have the same thing. who haveillion people filed for the last 22 weeks for initial unemployment benefits. host: one of the things we have heard about these job numbers this morning is it has been government hiring that has

helped boost to those totals. here is a paragraph from cnbc -- government hiring helped boost the total with a growth of 344,000 workers, accounting for a quarter of the gains. most of the hiring came from census workers whose roles increased by 328,000. despite worries of a revenue crunch among the municipal level, local and government -- local government employment rose by 95,000. earlier,, as we heard those census jobs will go away before the end of the year. let's talk to kim to is calling from federal way, washington. caller: thank you for taking my call. i lost my job in march.

receiving unemployment at the end of april, which was grueling. at the end of july, my income 925 from $3300 a month to dollars. my rent is due today and it is $2000. host: let's go to james who is calling from atlanta, georgia. -- ir: i want to be brief got out and found a job within 24 hours of being released. i want to say to all those who don't have a job, you have got to apply yourself and go out and find a job. i got hired same day. if you don't go out and go find

a job, you won't have a job. stop relying on the government and stimulus check, unemployment check. it may not be the job you want -- you go to mcdonald's, burger wendy's, go apply yourself. they want workers. democratic presidential candidate joe biden spoke in delaware yesterday about the august jobless figures and at the same time tax to the trump record on jobs. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> the jobs report came out today and i am grateful for every one who found work again, found a glimmer of hope to bring them back from the edge, but there is real cause for concern as well. the pace of the job gains in august was slower than july. may and slower than

june. more and more temporary layoffs are turning into permanent layoffs. forillion have it filed unemployment and after six months of the pandemic, we are less than halfway back to where 11.5 million americans not getting their jobs back. we are down 720,000 manufacturing jobs. donald trump may be the only president in modern history to leave office with fewer jobs than when he took office. of real,to a lot working people, ask them if they feel if they are being left behind. ask them how they feel about the economy coming back. you will find they do not feel it. host: let's go back to our phone lines into talk to james who is calling from limerick, maine. caller: good morning. yes, every month we may come out

with the dutch when they come out with the job numbers, -- every month when they come out with the job numbers, i scream in my head, how many permanent, living wage jobs have been created? how many jobs have been created that allow someone to live in this country comfortably daca i heard that they count the job if you work -- in this country comfortably? i heard that they count the job if you work one hour a week. it is true that the numbers are skewed. thank you. host: according to a story from these jobing at numbers, the average hourly earnings rose 4.7% from a year ago, but they also say those comparisons are difficult due to the compositional effects from

the pandemic. exactly answer the colors question about living wages, but average hourly earnings are up 4.7% from a year ago. let's talk to derek, who is calling from highlands park, michigan. thatr: i wanted to comment depictionresident's on the video talking about the , he did not look believable. it was almost as if he was reading it just to bolster his own political ambitions at this point. and i amently working seeing more people laid off, i am seeing more people who are living on wages that are not paid just for basic necessities. i know people who are working two jobs and if they still are not making it.

i just to thank this is all concocted. the numbers, especially when the president tells us what these numbers are, i just don't believe it. he doesn't even look credible. he doesn't have confidence when he is saying it. someone gave him this information and he's just reading it. host: let's go to harvey, who is calling from lloyd, wisconsin. -- beloit, wisconsin. caller: i am concerned. i am not sure about this. i was once told that once you unemployment benefits, you are no longer counted in the unemployment figure. how many are just out there with no income? host: let's try ernest, who is calling from glam, massachusetts -- who is calling from a

massachusetts. -- thankhank you for god for c-span. they keep touting this then, we have created all these jobs, but these jobs are not ones where you can go out and purchase a home, a car. some of these people getting these jobs have to work three jobs. i hear this a lot. gone are the jobs like the last couple of colors, they worse -- talking aboutwere a living wage. it has to go beyond a living wage. if you have a couple that has kids, you can survive on one income. it is very difficult today for young families. pandemic, there will be a lot of people who are losing their homes, losing their

apartments. if they do get a job, it will not be a job with full employment and medical benefits. we have to get back to that type of structure in our economy and that is not -- what they are not looking at. we need good manufacturing jobs with very good benefits and retail jobs. at one time the large retailers -- i am going to use sears as an example -- those employees years they hadrofit sharing, a pension, and they had full medical benefits. they even had a stock option. you don't get that today. go to the average -- i am going to use walmart as an example -- they don't get those benefits today. a lot of them are on public assistance. host: let's look at where those

jobs are in the august report. let's go through sector by sector and to see where those jobs showed up at. we have talked about it a couple of times -- census workers were more than 238,000 of those new jobs. almost --ought in more than 249,000 jobs. the professional and business sector brought in 197,000 jobs, but more than 50% of those were temporary. 174,000and hospitality, jobs. education and health -- schools are going back to session -- running an extra 147,000. manufacturing brought in 29,000 new jobs. it let's see if we can get a few

more calls and before the end of the show. let's start with antoine who is calling from chicago heights, illinois. caller: hello. i was laid off because of the pandemic. i am laid off. i am not getting unemployment or reasong because for some i was denied. paperwork, check stubs, i have not heard anything back. it is hard, you know. host: how are you making your bills, and one? antoine?ills, caller: i'm making my bills with a self-employed landscaping business. i have to go out and try to earn whatever i can earn. in march, i was working. i was not able to set my business up seasonally like i

usually do. host: let's go to edith, who is calling from her can sop. caller: good morning. -- who is calling from arkansas. caller: good morning. are -- i am concerned because my town is known for logging. see how they are rating these jobs. there are no jobs in rural areas . warren is a town of 6000 people and almost all of these people are out of work. a lot of them got sick at these .ills in arkansas, a wholemeal closed down -- a whole mill close down

and laid off thousands. these small towns are suffering and for them to get up, for trump to get up and say how the jobs are coming back -- where? in the cellar, arkansas there is a walmart. those are about the only jobs there are in these rural towns. get up hutchinson to there and get on president trump's side and alive, these people in rural towns are suffering. people in, these rural towns are suffering. that usa today had a story compares with two policies of the two -- of president trump and democratic presidential candidate joe biden and asks which one will restore job losses from the pandemic. i will read to you quickly from

what candidates -- both candidates said. his markuprump from to taxes and regulations and it dangled the prospect of additional tariffs against china. we areuote we won't -- " taking our business out of china. we will continue to reduce taxes and regulations at levels not seen before." onen vowed to raise taxes corporations and spend the money to upgrade their nation's infrastructure and it shifted to the clean energy future, making childcare more affordable. " my economic plan is all about respect and community," biden said. " we will rebuild our economy and build it back better. " let's see if we can get a couple

more calls and before the end of the show. ron is calling from lincoln park, michigan. time thisam a long and are time caller -- listener, first time caller. the jobs numbers, i just can't figure them out. trump gets up there and touts the job numbers when they are good. what were the jobs added for the month? you said 1.37? host: you are right. though ahead. caller: through the month of august, the last four weeks of august, the month of august, the first time unemployment rate filers was over one million four how many weeks in august -- for how many weeks in august? three weeks of august? you have 3 million people first

for unemployment. if you only brought back 1.3 7 million, deducted that from the deduct thatmillion, from the job filings. host: what is your job situation? i am in my 50's. i got laid off in march. i worked for a contractor who worked for municipalities. when the shutdown came, a lot of us got laid off. lifted, some of the cities and been as a municipalities-- had some work, but not a lot. i found out through coworkers they are only bringing back the younger people were being paid guysess and not the older

with more experience. they are using the covid to not -- people whomore have been paid- more. they are bringing back these younger guys with less $14 to $16 any hour, when guys who have been $25 anonger are making hour. host: let's go to doran. good morning. caller: i recently lost my job. working for a particular company who also went through an honor ship change. i have been there seven years.

prior to beingks warned because they are mandated about the water levels they maintain. there are anomalies that cause the water level to rise and fall. theyn the downstream side, vary two feet. allshort of the story is in the different cases that they held against me, i have a coworker and it was his day to work. on the last day -- so, i was warned. if it happens again, we will probably get rid of both of you. it happened again because my coworker had it, but his mom had died, so i was checking up on him. technically, i supervise him

because i am the operator, even though he has been there longer into knows what to do. they got rid of me. i ended up getting fired, even though he was the one who made the mistakes, i am the one who got fired because basically i dollars, seven dollars an hour more. to california. good morning. caller: i have been listening all morning and we haven't talked about those who have a mental health diagnosis. i am on ssi. now i cannot find a job because i hear mental illness into they want to hire regular people who may be able to stay longer in their career. i am doing really well. i'm actually going to get off of ssi and be able to work

full-time, but i want a full-time job, because i have is keeping- my ssi me from becoming homeless again. all: we would like to thank our callers, viewers, for another great washington journal. we will see you again tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m.. stay safe, have a great labor day weekend, and remember to wash your hands. ♪ >> labor day weekend on c-span. p.m., a hearing on college athlete compensation with university leaders and

former student athletes before a senate commerce committee. magnitudetion of this must be done in a deliberate, thoughtful, and inclusive manner as it will shape the future of intercollegiate athletics. >> at 10:00 p.m., personal stories from the democratic national convention. fled communisms more than once. >> we have literally had to reinvent our business several times since the beginning of the year just to stay afloat. 10:00 a.m., at look back on the legacy of john paul stevens with perspectives from his former law clerks. >>'s job was to do what he felt was right under the law, and not only that but to be transparent and honest about his -- what the

law commanded was. >> former white house chiefs of staff to the last four they dealton how with crises during their respective administrations at 8:00 p.m. on monday. >> it becomes extraordinarily important when you are dealing with crises. you have to stick to the process the chief has created and hopefully the president has empowered to make sure the president is getting all the information they need to make the right decision. >> watch c-span this labor day weekend. affected by covid-19, violent crime into the economy spoke at the 2020 republican national convention last week. here are some of their comments. ♪ >> i am so grateful to speak