at 9:00 p.m., vice president pence and senator harris take part in that first and only vice presidential debate in salt lake city. wednesday --tern thursday, irs commissioner charles rettig testifying at a house subcommittee hearing about agency operations during the pandemic. and theptroller general budget office director appear before a subcommittee to talk about the u.s. economic outlook. we will preview tonight's vice presidential debate by looking at the record of california senator kamala harris. then former indianapolis star editor andrew neil talks about the political career of vice

president mike pence. later, an update on the u.s. response to the coronavirus with a doctor from the bipartisan policy center. ♪ host: good morning. it is wednesday, october 7. after announcing yesterday that he was cutting out talks for more coronavirus relief until after the election, president trump appeared to reverse course last night and signaled he would be open to signing specific measures as lawmakers try to get a handle on where negotiations are. your reaction to the latest relief talks and what you need in your part of the country. you are unemployed or

furloughed, the number is (202) 748-8000. if you are a small business owner or employee, (202) 748-8001. if you are an essential worker, (202) 748-8002. all others can call in at 748-8003. that is also where you can send us a text. if you do, include your name and where you're from. catch up with us on twitter at c-span w j and on facebook.com/c-span. you can start calling in now as we take you to the president's tender -- twitter page. last night, the president andting this "the house senate should approve $25 billion for airline support and $125 billion for paycheck section program for small businesses. these will be fully paid for with unused funds from the cares act. i will sign now!" 20 minutes later, he said if i

sign a stand-alone bill for stimulus checks, they will go out immediately. now.ready to go -- sign are you listening, nancy? then ccing the leadership of the house and senate. those tweets came after this series of tweets from yesterday afternoon starting at about 2:45 p.m. eastern. for $2.4 asking trillion for bailouts of democratic states. we made a generous offer of $1.6 trillion. she is not negotiating in good faith. i am rejecting the request and looking to the future of our country. i have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election, when, after i when, we will pass a bill that focuses on small business. i have asked majority leader

mitch mcconnell not to delay but to focus on appointing my nominee to the supreme court. the stock market is at record levels. jobs and unemployment coming back in record numbers. we are leading the world in economic recovery and the best is yet to come." those tweets from the president separated by a few hours after the president's afternoon tweets saying he was cutting off negotiation. the reaction in the markets pretty immediate. this is a headline -- "about-face on stimulus causes stock market to fall." -- the dow wast down 1.3% yesterday. the front page of the new york times had an image of the s&p 500, showing the moment the president sent his two-week at 2:48 2:48 team eastern --

p.m. eastern. president'sn to the late-night tweets catching the attention of members of congress, who were placed -- up late last night. several democrats tweeting back, including tom buyer, talks a fewnded the hours ago. do you not remember? amash sayingustin expect another tweet in a few hours where he says, site. -- psych. from the republican side, if you ofets about the status -- you tweets about the status of negotiations. this atcarthy tweeting 5:30 yesterday "nancy pelosi's

approach has derailed relief negotiations every time. today is no different. at a minimum, democrats should rejoin republicans in refunding the paycheck protection program." this from chuck grassley, president pro tem of the senate, the democrats are using coronavirus as an excuse to pass trillions of dollars on unrelated issues. hopefully they can get together bills,rtisan relief small business owners -- to help small business owners and farmers. your thoughts on what happened yesterday with negotiations and what you need in your part of the country. the phone lines. if you are unemployed or furloughed, (202) 748-8000. if you are a small business owner or employee, (202) 748-8001.

if you are an essential worker, (202) 748-8002. 202-748-8003. we hear from tom in clinton, maryland. tom, your thoughts on all of this yesterday? caller: good morning. can you not see that there is something wrong with this gentleman? he is on medication for his problem he is having with the virus. his behavior was erratic in the beginning, but even more now. someone needs to step in and take him by the hand and lead him to his destination. there is something wrong with the man. about the way you want to vote -- vote the way you want to vote, but this man is out of the

realm. our country is at stake with this man in office. stake with this man in office. i do not know what to tell american people. how stupid can you be? host: that is tom in clinton, maryland. as tom brings up, four white up, four white house officials testing positive now, including stephen miller, advisor to president trump, bringing to 14 the total number of people carrying the virus in the white house or in the circle.t's close the entire joint chiefs of chairman,luding its general mark milley, went into quarantine tuesday after coming chairman,ct general mark milley, went into quarantine tuesday after coming into contact with admiral charles ray, the vice commandant of the coast guard, who tested positive. bradenton, florida, good morning. go ahead. caller: america, you are getting just what you deserve for electing this man. this is the most ridiculous.

can't nobody justify this. host: how are you doing in bradenton, florida? what do you need down there caller: i don't need nothing. i am retired. i am good to go, but my daughter just got coronavirus. this thing is a mess. we have a mess in the white house. the man needs to be voted out. he never should have been voted in, which has been proven. he never should have been voted in. host: that is already in florida. the line for on those that are unemployed. what kind of work did you do, april? caller: i was disabled before all this happened anyway, but i have a very strong opinion on stoppedp went in and

the negotiations for some relief. and he it is as petty did not like the polls. he is punishing america. he is a baby. he throws a temper tantrum. he does not think about anything. he does whatever he wants. until november 3. host: vinny is next. brockton, massachusetts, a small business owner. caller: i am in the automobile industry. i have been fortunate, but it has been tough because they told people to stay home. i lost a lot of employees and i have had to work 80 hours a week. that this country is about jobs. if you do not have a job, you not have any wealth in the nation. joe biden has exported all of the jobs out of this country,

using the coronavirus to try to bring down the chance for americans to have a fair playing field. we have the ability to stop all this outsourcing of jobs, and by putting a democratic ticket in , they will take all the jobs out of the country. they do not care. they want to support major manufacturers like microsoft and big corporations. a lot of things going on. host: what do you think happens to jobs if there is not a new stimulus bill passed? yesterday, on capitol hill, in thehearing, the chairman of federal reserve, jerome powell, saying little or no more federal aid could lead to economic hardship, a weak recovery, using

the word tragic when talking about the possible slowdown that could come. i was in an industry that has given money from -- that was given money from the cares act. they need to get together and come up with a package. they do not need to be giving money to the kennedy center. they cannot be giving money to these big constituents or other businesses. host: that is vinny in massachusetts. did you have anything else you wanted to add? it is all about not outsourcing the jobs. biden made a statement this morning, you know, abe lincoln said we need a clear playing field and a clear view. well, if they keep sending these jobs overseas, people have no money in their pockets. another thing is energy.

four dollarsaying a gallon for the last 40 years? outsider, in as an and now fuel is at a reasonable cost. the average household spends $20,000 a year on two cars. i bet it is down $11,000 a year. that is why people have money. host: that is vinny in massachusetts, talking about a gaveh by joe biden he yesterday in gettysburg, pennsylvania. here is about a minute of that speech. [video clip] >> for all that americans accomplish, after all the years we have stood as a beacon of light to the world, it cannot be that here and now in 2020 we will allow the government of the

people, by the people, and for the people to perish on this earth. no, it cannot and it must not. we have it in our hands, the ultimate power, the power to vote. it is the noblest instrument ever devised to register our will in a peaceful fashion. so we must. we must vote. we will vote. no matter how many obstacles are thrown in our way, because once america votes, america will be heard. lincoln said the nation is worth fighting for. so it was, and so it is. together, as one nation, under god, indivisible, let us join forces to fight the common foe of injustice and inequality, heat in fear. -- hate and fear.

let's conduct ourselves as americans who love each other, our country, who will not destroy, but will build. we owe it to the dead buried here at gettysburg. we owe that to the living, and to future generations yet to be born. you and i are part of a ofenant, a common story divisions overcome and hope renewed. if we do our part, if we stand faither, if we keep the of the past and with each other, our divisions will give way to a brighter, better future. this is our work. this is our place. this is our mission. division, this era of -- andt hate and fear the hate in fear, the what we are at our best, the united states of america. host: joe biden yesterday in

gettysburg, pennsylvania. taking your calls this morning as we talk about the latest on coronavirus relief talks. expect that topic to come up with the vice presidential candidates in their debate tonight, taking place at 9:00 p.m. eastern in salt lake city, utah, at the university of utah. that on c-span, c-span.org. you can enjoy it on the c-span radio app. we show you the inside of the hall were that debate will be taking place. some updates on that debate and some of the issues that campaigns have been arguing over heading into that debate when it comes to safety over coronavirus. mike pence and team yesterday evening agreed to allow the commission on presidential thetes to her

commission on presidential debates to her wrecked a plexiglass -- debates to erect a plexiglass barrier. that the vicer president said it was unnecessary and opposed it. senator kamala harris wanted plexiglass protections in place. that story from cnn. taking your phone calls. phone lines split up differently this morning. you can keep calling in as we keep hearing from you about the coronavirus relief negotiations. this is gina in texas. good morning. caller: good morning. i am from east texas. i am a first time voter for 2020. and did notver vote have any want to vote before because i could see what was going on. i could not that can anything. now that the trump -- and astion is in

far as the coronavirus, i think he has done everything possible that one man could possibly think of doing to make our country better, getting us all the supplies that we needed, stopping all the moving around, but now it is time to open up -- open the country backup. i do not really see a difference in anything happening, because everybody is still moving around, still going to lowe's, still going to walmart. i mean, let's get back to normal over here. the coronavirus package relief that nancy pelosi -- if anybody gets online you can read anything, she is lying to this country. she is wanting to bring in more forgrants, support them

their weird agenda they have going on behind the scenes, the deep state democrats, far left side. i just think president trump does not need to give her what she wants because it will be against our country. oft: gina in texas speaking new people oc -- nancy pelosi, that series of tweets from the president saying he is cutting off coronavirus relief. this is the statement speaker pelosi put off. again showedump his true colors, walking away from coronavirus talks, demonstrating that president trump is unwilling to crush the virus as is required by the heroes act. he showed his contempt for science, distain -- disdain for heroes, workers, teachers, and

others, and refuses to put money in workers pockets unless his name is printed on the check." that coming before the presidents series of tweets in which he acknowledged that he is open to a few specific provisions when it comes to new relief. we will see what happens today. annamarie out of philadelphia. go ahead. caller: i have been unemployed mid-march. i come from the hospitality industry, which has been decimated during this time, of course. and all of the industries that are living off of the hospitality industry. and so it has really been something. i have been employed my entire life, you know, with all sorts of seeking further education to improve myself. i cannot find a job to save my

life and i have been looking in associated,are where my skills would be translatable, but, you know, i police --d -- i had i apply at least to two jobs a day, and the trouble is this. to,every job that i applied you are looking at 200 plus people, most times, applying to that very same job. when this cavalier attitude about not wanting to extend pandemic pay to people who are unemployed -- it is not the lack of wanting to be employed. it is not about sitting back and watching netflix. we have to maybe readjust our thinking that, instead of giving money so easily to big business and taking these wonderful tax

cuts, as the president has done, money, etc., maybe the that generates these taxes should go back to the worker. that is all i have to say. host: anne-marie in philadelphia. this is julia in clifton, arizona. good morning. go ahead. caller: hi. i am an unemployed worker in arizona. since around the first of february. receive -- it to have applied for unemployment and have yet to receive it because of the fraud situation. i think it is pretty horrific that they spewed the money out in the beginning without checking, double checking anything, and the wrong people got the money, just like with the businesses. they need to have better checks and balances, but, as we all

know, it is just par for the course, standard operating procedure of how things have been with past administrations. trump comes in. he wants to drain the swamp. ows who has had their hands in the till. billionaires. they are career politicians. it is time for them to go. we need new blood straight across the board, both the democrats and the republicans. new blood. new, young blood. get rid of these career politicians. they are stealing the money. i have hunter biden's phone number, maybe he could give me alone. i do not need much. -- this is harry in tennessee. good morning. caller: i want to thank our president for stopping this ludicrous stimulus bill nancy

pelosi wants to put through. she wants us to bailout states in this country that have overspent, did not live within their budget. you have school teachers retiring in illinois making over $90,000 a year. i work every day. why should i bail them out? why should california bring in illegal immigrants, pay their health bill, up to $15 billion -- and askd deat other states to pay this bill? that is what she is asking for. trump's stimulus would be for working people and i feel so bad for him. host: this is what the president said late last night. he said he would approve. i want to see how you feel about these issues. he wants $25 billion for airline payroll support, 135 billion dollars for the paycheck protection program, and in a

second tweet said he also wants a new round of stimulus checks, those $1200 checks to taxpayers. are you ok with those issues? caller: i am ok with those issues. these are people that worked. this pandemic has put them out of work. banks will fail, airlines will fail, business will fail if they do not relieve that, but it is not like they were living beyond their means. they were just operating businesses that got hammered. but why should we -- to go back to illinois, and i have family years, people25 have been running for office for governor and people say you have got to do something with this pension program. they get voted out. they do not have a prayer of getting elected.

they tax the businesses to death, the hone owners to death, to keep paying this bill. they do not live within their means. host: that is gary in tennessee. david is out of l.a. good morning. caller: it is interesting that i should follow this fellow. i would like to go back to those two original callers and ask what is wrong with the american people. i would suggest to them how, when trump first started, he made a comment something to the effect of he can see somebody in -- he can shoot somebody in broad daylight and get away with it. so here we are with 200,000 of our citizens, you know, symbolically shot by this fool, by his neglect and stupidity, but now what is going on that makes it possible for the

americans, some of these people, to continuously support this fellow? like this guy that just got off the phone. what kind of universe are we living in? where are they getting their information from? own lyingot see their eyes are telling them that something is wrong here? and if they cannot, why not? right? trump is kool-aid and if you listen to him they have these talking points. this is the kool-aid, fools. are you still with me? host: yes, sir. david, go ahead and finish up. caller: i am saying to you we are in a hell of a fix. anyone with an ounce of cognitive -- plugged into reality can see this. host: that is david nla york on the new

line for those for load go ahead. caller: i am unemployed. i have a question for you. was nancy pelosi trained to say that she don't want to do this, she don't want to do that, she wants money for this and that? and when president trump became president, you had maxine waters from california saying i want you to abuse all the republicans that are out there. if they are eating dinner, you bother them. if they are getting gas, you bother them. i mean, this is what the country became.after 9/11 together, andose now all the democrats, now nancy pelosi saying she don't want to discuss about the money. yes, we all need the money, but the people that don't need it do not care about us. host: that is anthony in new

york. larry is out of tennessee. good morning. that line for all others. caller: i would like to other -- all those from tennessee. host: let's not call other callers names. . dryer: was the ink even -- those other people are calling it into wanting to blame maxine waters and nancy pelosi. they are not president. he has never been good for anything. bankruptcies, seizures. it is funny they can find money for millionaires and billionaires, but these people who are unemployed are struggling. they have to get on here and whine, and they are the victims.

he has taught them that they are victims of domestic abuse. milani you could be in there with a black eye -- -- milani a could be in there with a black eye -- host: got your point. caller: i am an essential worker. you have people that need the money. this guy is throwing temper tantrums. you have to understand -- biden is not president. he is not the president. and the senate is run by the republicans. every time we get in this predicament. hey, let's bey, republican still. you guysemocrats bail out, and you want to go back to this train wreck. this guys just a big baby. he is trying to

promote the vaccine. he goes in and makes money on bankruptcies and stuff. thought.t common you deal with a big baby. host: let me ask you. biden is running for president. next week.debate is do you think you should participate? caller: yes. he was yelling and screaming during the first debate, trying to get joe biden to say something. i do not put anything past trump. they need to make sure that the re and protecte joe biden. this guys planning on be there to promote something he wants to do. he has money behind the vaccine.

some of his friends have money behind the vaccine. he is not taking a paycheck from being president. he is going to make money. that is what trump does. he sells stuff in order to make money. host: president trump said on tuesday that he did intend to take part in the next debate, tweeting i am looking forward to the debate in miami, saying it will be great. joe biden yesterday spoke to reporters for boarding his plane in hagerstown, maryland, was asked about that debate on the 15th. here's what he said. [video clip] what they are doing at the harris debate -- what i was told -- they are using plexiglass and following with the cleveland clinic said. again, negative. i do not know exactly what the rules are going to be and i am

not sure what president trump is all about now. i do not know what his status is. i am looking forward to being able to debate him. i just hope all the protocols are followed which are necessary at the time. >> [indiscernible] >> well, i think if he still has covid, we should not have the debate. >> [indiscernible] >> by the way, i think we are going to have to follow very strict guidelines. too many people have been infected and it is a very serious problem so i will be guided by the guidelines of the cleveland clinic's and what the doctors say -- of the cleveland clinic and with the doctors say is the right thing to do. host: joe biden speaking there. back to your phone calls. the president saying yesterday afternoon that he was ending the

relief talks until after the election, and adding last night that he was still open to certain provisions. pat from connecticut, on the line for essential workers, what do you think about this? caller: i am just disgusted. i am wondering -- back in the spring there was a bipartisan effort to recognize health-care workers, essential workers. hazard pay has been forgotten. it was not addressed in either republicans latest stimulus bills. we are low-wage employees to begin with. i saw people on unemployment making twice as much as i am. i got a lot of red hearts out of it. i would just like to know why hazard pay was forgotten. we bailed out airlines. disheartening.

host: are you still on the front lines? what do you do? caller: i am a nurses aide. and have dress, feed, been out there during the whole lockdown. we have just been forgotten about. we are just out there working. i am tired of hearing you are lucky to have a job, but it is difficult when people are making twice as much not working as we are out there every day dealing with the risks. i just -- i don't know. host: thanks for what you do in connecticut. robert is in pennsylvania, that line for those unemployed or furloughed. how long have you been out of a job, robert? caller: i have been disabled for several years. i did not see any category for disabled people, but i was laid off before i was disabled. wife was laid my

off in march and got her job back in july. she is not making as many hours as she used to. state unemployment is not equipped for that. everybody $1200 for or everybody -- i would rather see them bolster state unemployment and give extended benefits to people that have been out since march or people that are making less money. we live about 50 miles from gettysburg. -- 15 miles from gettysburg. today is my birthday and i am going to go to gettysburg with some hand sanitizer and whatnot and see if i can clean up the battlefield, where it was yesterday by a future communist, future socialist, and i think it is disgraceful.

that whole area needs cleaned up and i am going to do it on my birthday. happy birthday to me. host: that is robert in that is robert in pennsylvania. juanita next in ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. first of all, i would like to my friendiend o -- a happy birthday in gettysburg. i have been there. call a few minutes ago about giving money to other states. openedor, a democrat, we our energy center. democrat people gave our city five million up dollars for everything, not even ohio only, but kentucky and

indiana. when the state found out did we did not get any money from northern kentucky -- we did not get any money for mr. bashir. beshear. taxpayersnati's giving these tax breaks? i am frustrated with people from states,h who call about a state like new york. they need to rethink that. and yes, we democrats in cincinnati, bailout kentucky all the time. we never get paid back. a congressman's

house? in your i called the office. please. blue states into socialist democrats a break. we get absolutely nothing back. thank you. host:host: that is why nita out of cincinnati -- -- host: that is why need out of cincinnati. some tweets from senator bob portman of ohio on what happened yesterday when it came to coronavirus aid talks. tweeting weening,

need another targeted covid-19 relief bill now to help families and small businesses and give the economy a shot in the arm. let's not throw in the towel. let's find that reasonable compromise, not $2.4 trillion. canportman saying we continue unemployment benefits, increased testing and money for vaccines and distribution, and help schools, airlines, and airlines, andl state and local governments for under $2.4 trillion. republicans and democrats need to set policies aside and hammer out a consensus asap. other tweets for you. dusty johnson, a member of that caucus,solvers caucus, democrats and republicans who came together to offer their compromise bill to the tune of something of $1.5 trillion. these two tweets from the congressman, dusty johnson,

saying families and small businesses are hurting and cannot afford more delay, especially when a deal is within reach. importantoversee how -- cannot overstate how important it is that leaders the table and agreee to a package. inaction is not an option. back to your phone calls. angela is next out of maryland. good morning. caller: hi. it seems like it all comes down to this money for the states. and the states do need help. i believe you have had my governor on there a month or two ago, governor larry hogan. he said he is going to lay off state workers and without any hope for more funding, he will lay off more. that is not going to help the he will lay off more.

that is not going to help the economy. the state had to put out money early on with this coronavirus, and trump is just trying to punish states now that do not vote for him, instead of looking at the big picture of keeping these workers employed. he is the one that told all the states in the beginning. you have to go by your ppp you have to go on the open market and compete against other states, against the federal government for supplies. shortfall, and they are laying off workers. that is not going to help small business. that is not going to help the economy. trump is trying to lie about this narrative. it is not a bailout. states are not allowed to have debt, so they are going to lay off workers. that will put our economy back in the hole and heard all businesses and all sectors. i wish you would play that clip from larry hogan, from when he was on your show promoting his

book. he explains exactly why the states need funding. at ourhat clip available website, c-span.org. larry hogan's appearances. you can find them on our website. i have my fingertips -- at my fingertips for you larry hogan's tweet from yesterday when he talks about what happened to coronavirus relief negotiations. .congress's failure there is no shortage of bipartisan and commonsense proposals. put aside the politics and get this done." larry hogan on twitter yesterday. we mentioned c-span.org. i want to bring viewers back to today isg to note that the 40th anniversary of the first viewer call in here on c-span.

there it is. it took place at the national press club. the first viewer call taken here on c-span was bob from south dakota. in preceded byl a speech by the then fcc chairman. you can see at the table for that first: a group of journalists -- for that first call in a group of journalists. mike kelly, a professor at george mason, pat bushman of cablevision magazine, and hosting that very first viewer call in, brian lamb at the desk as well. the 40th anniversary of that first:. we are about 16 calls into this program. taking your calls.

linda and davidson, michigan on the line for those who are unemployed. good morning. caller: why are you talking about ending the money when he tweeted back that he is willing programs for the taxpayers and not for nancy pelosi's side deals? presidenta, the saying yesterday afternoon that he was cutting off negotiations. he said late last night that he proposalsfew specific and people are trying to wrap their hands around that today to understand what that means in the state of negotiation, so that is what we are talking about. caller: yeah, i think they should give the money to the people that need it. you are not talking about what came out yesterday about clinton? gettinge instigator of

the russian thing going? it was false. linda, go ahead. what do you think is the most ahead.nt news what do you think is the most important news today? that is what we are here for, to hear your call. caller: i feel bad for trump. he is a good guy. ofgets harassed every step the way. i think it is disgusting. i think they ought to get rid of those old-timers. they do not have any computer skills, so i do not know what the heck they are talking about. you can just see the chairman laughing at these old-timers that they do not know what they are talking about. and happy birthday, robert. a smile to myught face when you were going to go to gettysburg and clean up joe biden. it is sad what is going on in this country. it is disgusting.

i wish trump would put a list of all the people taking kickbacks in washington, d.c. thank you for letting me on. thank you, bye. host: thank you for calling in linda -- and, linda. this isconniff he -- connie in california. caller: the checks. are they still for illegals like nancy pelosi wants to do? host: to get the checks, you have to file a tax return, at least that was the way it was last time around. caller: if they are not like they did the last time for everyone, including illegals, i do not think that is right. that money that they do for illegals should go to veterans veterans and our

soldiers that are trying to make it. because they fought for our country. i do not hear biden or any of the democrats apologize for all of the rioting that went on in the different states and all of that happening. -- unless i am not listening, but i never heard them apologize or say, please let it go, we will settle this in the election, and do not be destroying our country anymore. do not be destroying your states where you live. that is not right. host: do you think the elections will settle much in this country? caller: depending. and ilmost 83 years old have seen a lot of this going on. i think this virus is the worst i have seen, besides tuberculosis and all that, and we should come together.

we are so divided. and ever since trump got elected, oh my gosh, all these things going around in everything. it is not right. we should just vote for what we for the saket and of our country. host: connie in california. this one out of stroudsburg, pennsylvania, vinny. what kind of work do you do? caller: i work in a chrysler facility. host: what your thoughts about what is happening when it comes to relief? caller: i have said since the set we have two america's. we have those crying for finance and those for safety. reliefolding the further

based on an election for a judge, that's ridiculous. it is going to happen, but the people are suffering. illinois, that line for all others, good morning. you are next. caller: first of all, i thought that our country was a capitalist country, that we should not be handing out money to -- host: to the what? caller: to the airlines. outan, why should we lend $160 billion to the airlines? i thought stockholders and bondholders are supposed to have debt. if they lose out their money, they lose out their money. host: what about the ppp

program, the paycheck protection program to help small businesses? are you ok with money going to that? caller: yeah. that i am ok with. trillion,ou take $2.2 130 million people would get $14,000 each. $130 million -- 130 million $13,000 each.et it is messed up. this is all messed up. host: stephen illinois. this is dolores in maryland on that line for those unemployed and furloughed. how long have you been out of work? caller: good morning, c-span. trump's coronavirus

relief. all this other stuff, some of it is not even on-topic. that nancy pelosi is putting out the $2.2 trillion. they keep denying it. no, she goes down -- no, let me get it right. -- no, shes down comes up again to $2.4 trillion. she added more and more stuff to the bill. ok. the republicans are not going to approve it. in maryland, the people are really hurting. i see people getting evicted on theeir homes, relying stimulus package coming or more money for the unemployment. in the package that came out, they offered $400 a week added onto your unemployment.

$1200 for the stimulus. she would not even negotiate it. i am a democrat and i signed my ballot and everything yesterday to put in the mail. host: you are talking about the compromise bill by the problem solver caucus? caller: yeah. host: that was about $1.5 trillion. you think nancy pelosi should have come down? caller: she should have come down to the number. she kept adding more and more stuff onto the bill, rising from 2.2 to 2.4. host: this is ocala florida. your next. -- you are next. caller: i voted for trump. i thought there was no way he was going to lose. the senateo way that was not going to be republican, but this is ridiculous.

trump deserves to lose and the senate should go democrat because the democrats in the house did their job. they passed $3.4 trillion first. trump said he would sign $1.7 trillion. they came down more than halfway to the $2.2 trillion last week. all he had to do was send it to the senate and vote on it and send it to trump and sign it. all of a sudden, trump has to stick his nose in and say we are not signing it. it is ridiculous. they deserve to live the white house and the senate and that is the way i am voting. host: before we go, you said you were pretty sure president trump was going to win and the republicans would retain control. were you a trump supporter in 2016? was, but this is ridiculous. the senate goes on vacation all summer long and mcconnell comes in with some $500 billion garbage, ok?

they passed 3.4 trillion dollars, trump said $1.7 trillion, they came down more than halfway, all they had to do was send it to the senate. host: mary lou out of maple shade, new jersey, good morning. caller: good morning, john, and thank you for c-span. john, a couple comments if i can. first, regarding the stimulus package. i wish people would understand that the reason trump has stopped negotiations on this is because nancy pelosi expects the entire country to bailout those states that have acted irresponsibly, mainly democratic states, and i happen to be in one of those states, new jersey. and there is something that i want to say to the people that live in my state. i do not know if the people are aware that, when you go to the polls in about a month, you are

not going to be able to vote on a machine. they are going to have you do what is called a provisional ballot, which is going to take up time. there are probably going to be long lines outside of the polling place. i do not know why he is doing this because he is allowing mail-in ballots to flood the system. and you do not know who these people are. whereby if you go to the polls, you certainly could show id and prove who you are. this should not be going on in my state and people really need to call the governor's office about this. this is really disenfranchising people who want to vote on a machine. we should be able to do this. the only ones they are allowing to do this, i understand, are disabled people. so please, call the governor and tell him you want to vote on a machine. and, john, one more thing. i would appreciate it if you would have on your program talking -- your program someone

talking about these new revelations about the russia collusion. this is very important before the election. thank you for c-span and for listening. and, although viewers out there, have a good day. -- all the viewers out there, have a good day. host: we have been taking your calls all morning and working on c-span ahead of the supreme court confirmation hearings, also bringing the voices of the senators who will be at that hearing. we will have the questions for judge amy coney barrett as she looks to a seat, possibly, on the bench of the supreme court. we have senators from both sides of the aisle joining us. one of them this morning, democratic senator chris coons. good morning. i want to get to judge merrick, but first -- judge barrett, but first your reaction to those

series of tweets late last night from the president that seem to reverse course on the stimulus talks? guest: this is part of what makes negotiating with president trump so difficult. on women and gut rather than strategy. -- whim and gut rather than strategy. i feel sympathy for secretary mnuchin. he says a few hours later, perhaps, in the middle of a pandemic in recession, another package of relief for businesses, small profits, -- nonprofits, families, would be good. i think this has thrown more sand in the air and terms of the path forward. six months ago, we unanimously passed the cares act, which had about $2.3 trillion worth of

smallt for families, businesses, nonprofits, health care, vaccine development. point where we should have had more relief. jay powell, the fed chair, said yesterday we need robust relief. the house has done their job. they passed a big package three months ago. frankly, majority leader mcconnell took himself out of this, did not participate in the ensuing rounds of attempts at negotiation. speaker pelosi came down by $1.3 trillion in an attempt to meet the white house in the middle, and, so far, white house negotiations have failed to so wee any more progress, are very close to the election. just 27 days. if we are going to get support for small businesses, families, unemployed americans, state and

local government, we should be busy doing it. -- whathat she we should be focused on in the senate, not racing through a partisan nominee. host: i understand you will have a phone conversation with the supreme court nominee. what do you plan to talk about when you talk to judge barrett? caller: -- and why -- guest: -- guest: i have been reading judge barrett's law review articles and her opinions. i thought it appropriate to have a conversation with her to ask her some questions about her views on jurisprudence. she cites justice scalia as her mentor and role model, and there are some ways in which her writings and public statements suggest she is even to the right of justice scalia on her willingness to overturn long settled precedent. i will ask her questions about

that. i will ask her about the cobit outbreak at the white house. -- the cobit outbreak at the white house. -- covid outbreak at the white house. that may have been the event that infected three of my theeagues in the senate, president of notre dame, where she attended university, well-regarded in our country. i may ask her about how she given the supreme court is hearing fundamental challenge the affordable care act week after the election. host: three of your colleagues in the senate, to minute steps to members of the judiciary committee, what are you being told about how these hearings go forward, the precautions that will be put in place and the role members will have and how

much attraction there will be? been discussing this with other members of the senate and the committee. my expectation, i joined all the other democrats on the committee in a letter to the majority leader mcconnell demanding that no one physically attend these hearings next week unless they have had two negative tests recently, that everyone should be wearing masks, that everyone should be socially distanced, that we should have partitions between members. there is no president -- no president and her history for a senate hearing and nominee this close to the election. more than half the states are already voting, others began today. i think it is irresponsible for us to be moving ahead with his nominee. we are long-term going to be facing challenges due to the legitimacy of the court under the circumstances in which this

is being jammed through to rule on any decision to affect the outcome of the election and to rule on a decision that would promise totrump's repeal the affordable care act. host: i percent you coming on and taking questions -- i appreciate you coming on and taking questions. towill work to continue bring other members of the senate judiciary committee, reaching out to republicans and democrats. i want you to hear from them on this problem -- on this program. on the hearings, they are scheduled to begin monday at 9:00 a.m.. you can watch them here on c-span and it c-span.org and you can to them on the free radio app. that is going to do it for the first hour of washington journal. coming up, we will dig into the

records of kamala harris and mike pence, focusing on them ahead of their debate. we will talk to san francisco aboutcle's tal kopan senator kamala harris. we will be right back. ♪ >> the u.s. supreme court again it's new term this week via conference call. listen to oral argument live at c-span.org/supreme court. cases,life today to two google versus oracle and the consolidated case between ford motor company versus the district court. listen to the oral arguments live or on-demand at c-span.org/supremecourt. ♪ >> the contenders, the men who ran for presidency but lost but to change political history.

tonight, candidate and inventor of the national stuffing tour, liam jennings bryant. bryant.ams jennings tonight at 8:00 p.m. on c-span3. you, inestly will tell don't think when the dust settles in this election it won't be whether america becomes more republican or mentor, whether more liberal or conservative, more red or blue. i think the choice in this election is whether american maids america -- whether america remains american. >> as joe biden has said, it is about the soul of our nation, who we are and what we stand for. maybe, most importantly, who we want to be. >> watch the vice presidential debate between vice president mike pence and senator kamala

live from the university of utah insulting city. listen -- in in salt lake city. listen live on the c-span radio app or at c-span.org. there is a link to each debate question and answer. see social media feeds on debate happening said reactions. watch archival debate video from the video library. >> washington journal continues. host: taking some time to focus on the vice presidential candidates ahead of tonight's debate. tal kopan has covered kamala harris as a correspondent for the san francisco chronicle. how much do you think senator harris is going to be introducing herself still to voters when she steps on the debate stage tonight? guest: certainly a large part.

there are viewers who tune into c-span, we feel like we know her. there is still probably a large population out there that may not. there are still folks who go2net into the presidential election until after labor day. preparing for this appearance and looked at the piece she wrote for her first debate in the president shall primary. that was exactly what her campaign was telling me at the time, that was her opportunity to deduce herself to america. the more people get to know her, the more people like her. i imagine that is going to be part of the game plan tonight as well. iscourse, adding into that drawing a contrast with the trump administration for those it that -- for those that do know her. sendfrancisco -- sa

nfranciscochronicle.com -- what part of her biography that she like to highlight? guest: for those of us who have been tuning in, we have probably heard the story of how she was carted around in civil rights rallies. that one might pop up again. those of us who are on the campaign trail with her, there are a lot of stories about her mom, a lot of quotes about her mom. her mother is in a a ported -- figure in hert life. she came from india, became a renowned scientist. she actively raised kamala harris and her sister mostly on her own. young andnts divorced

sheila saw her dad weekends and summers. -- she only saw her weekends and summers -- sheila saw her dad weekends and summers -- she only saw her dad weekends and summers. she was attorney general. she was a progressive prosecutor , as she calls her time, trying to reform the system one -- reform the system from within. that will probably be the general claim we hear from her which talks about her trajectory to this point. host: what part of her biography to her political pundits -- political opponents try to highlight. whether it was when she was on the debate stage or since she was picked to be joe biden's running mate? to thathe reason i went

prosecutor record is because that is where her opponents go. tension interesting within her campaign, within her life story. she is very proud of that record. she wrote a whole book theaining her memoir around mantle of being a progressive prosecutor. she bristles when anyone calls it into question. her opponents really take objection to that record. there are some on the progressive left who say she could never be qualified to represent them in national politics because she was a member of law enforcement. that in and of itself for them is unacceptable. there are those -- her record can be a mix back depending on what you look at. have gabbard who did not an incredible campaign, was never in the top tier, she

landed blows on kamala harris in that debate by going after that record, mentioning how in an laughedw kamala harris about marijuana use and mentioned the jamaican side of and her late husband a opponent of legalization and criminal justice reform -- reform. but as a prosecutor, it is not like she never prosecuted any marijuana related cases. she will say that she focused on more high-level cases, but that is the type of thing you see when her record comes up. it is a bit of a mixed bag. she focuses on the things she did as a reformer, but her opponents always tend to focus on the things they say were not reformed enough. host: we are poking on -- we are focusing on kamala harris ahead of tonight's debate taking place

at the university of utah. there is on your screen, that is what the debate stage looks like. there will be plexiglas screens in front of the vice president and senator kamala harris there this evening. we want to get your questions, your comments this morning with tal kopan. phone lines split up as usual. trump-bidenrt the -- the trump-pentz ticket, it is 202-748-8001. if you support the biden harris ticket, 202-748-8000. undecided, 202-748-8002 is the number. peter is up on that undecided line. good morning. caller: i would like to ask your guest, if you look at kamala

harris's record, it was exposed by tulsi gabbard and her run for president blew up. she didn't even make iowa. she finished last, she had to get out. if you look at her as a progressive or something like that, it is kind of comical. she kept people in jail so she could use their prison labor to fight fires. a top cop. i don't understand what joe biden is going to gain from having kamala harris. guest: you mentioned a specific incident for folks at home may not be familiar, when she was attorney general of california. there was court litigation over a caliph on your practice of using inmates in the presence system as firefighters. they are still dealing with the

fire season in california that is horrific and they are used as firefighters and underpaid. there was litigation. kamala harris's filed a brief in release-- against early because of the necessity of using that labor to fight fires. she says in defense of that incident, she says she is not aware her office files that. even when she -- her office files that. when she found out, she pulled back. that is how she would respond. you mentioned the tulsi gabbard moment, it felt like a turning point in her campaign. she withdrew from the race in september of last year. by the time voters in iowa were voting, she was off about. her name might have appeared but she was no longer running. that moment, while not everything gabbert said was notrely correct, was --

everything gabbert said was entirely correct, was difficult to come back from. on the line supporting president trump, ahead. -- go ahead. old -- when one ronald reagan was running, he carried all of the states except andopponents -- opponent's that was minnesota. , but the he carried district of columbia was voting against him six to one. that is how out of step the nation's capital was. i presume it is the same or maybe worse. of course the democrats want to make that a state. , they wouldtand why have an extra two senatorial votes all the time. another issue of course is

talking about his getting special treatment, that the president is getting special treatment with this coronavirus problem. if eisenhower got wounded back in world war ii, we would expect him to get special attention, wouldn't we? we are in the middle of a war and we need our generals. if we use our top general, we have lost the war. host: the issue of the president's health and how you expect senator kamala harris will approach that tonight? guest: we really got to see kamala harris in her own right -- as a candidate in her own right. but she is presenting joe biden at the end of the day. even though she had positions counter to joe biden in the primary -- she has adopted joe biden's positions and that is the job of the running mate.

as a preamble, joe biden has been clear with his team he does not want to go on attack against the president what he is sick. he wants to show some empathy in that regard. i imagine kamala harris will take her views from that position. at the same time, vice president was carrying the coronavirus task force and we expect her to go after the administration's handling of the pandemic at this point. well over 200,000 americans have debt, millions have been infected with the disease. there could be lifelong consequences of what they have endured. we expect to hear a considerable amount of that from senator harris and going after pentz -- pence and trump in their handling of that situation. we may not necessarily hear references to the president health other than wishing him well. we will hear about the president and the vice president record in

terms of handling the virus that has impacted him as well. host: this is linda on the line for those supporting the biden-harris ticket. that hetrump has said was a wartime leader and has left the battlefield before the war is over. pence was a leader of the task force until trump could handle it and had to have all the attention. i welcome biden and harris and i harris isla refreshing. she's an energetic, she is smart. i think it will define. host: tal kopan, your thoughts on that? --n joe biden [indiscernible]

one of the strong sentiments was that he would pick a woman, a woman of color and he needed someone younger than him which was one of the reasons i heard folks say elizabeth warren wasn't a great idea. as energetic as she was, she is closer to joe biden's age. when you mention harris's energy, i think that is what the ,iden campaign wanted to see and her as the next generation of democratic politics coming up as he they hope, since to the presidency. host: harris was for medicare for all before she was against it. how does she reconcile these opposing positions? as much as we mentioned the tulsi gabbard moment, you could say that that flip-flopping or continuous clarification on medicare for all was the hardest moment for

her in the presidential campaign. she raised it and then put out her own plan that she said was still medicare for all. and then on one hand, bernie sanders was saying she wasn't fully embracing it. on the other hand, her opponents to the right of her on health care, including joe biden, said she was fully embracing it. she never quite found her footing and ability to explain where her health care plan landed. other peoples to as putting her finger into the wind a little too much. that said, at the end of the day , now she's going to say she represents joe biden's position. believes inhe still the objective of health care for all, she will say sodas joe

biden and here is his plan to get there. she will defend that plan. she has been really disciplined on the campaign trail. as someone who -- it is surprising to hear how effectively she is adopting the biden campaign. she has embraced the role of running mate which is a supporting the person at the top of the ticket. host: this debate tonight is in salt lake city, utah. the next presidential debate is in miami, florida. that is where mike is on the undecided line. caller: [indiscernible] host: mike, are you with us? i think we lost mike. at the texas, on the line for those who support the biden-harris ticket.

i am a strong supporter of the biden-harris ticket. kamala harris is ready to be a voice for the american people along with biden. pence is just a henchman for trump. pence can't even give us a truth about president trump's status nor can he give us any type of information on the virus. he is hiding it. he was the task force main leader but he is mia. kamala harris is going to prosecute trump and the pence administration guilty as charged, guilty of manslaughter of the american people. this is why president trump was impeached. republicans removed him when he needed to be removed, perhaps we wouldn't have this occurring.

nowi can say is texas is probably a swing state. the registration of texans has been astronomical. we haven't seen this in ages. -- all wee to see have to say is trump -- using the term that she is going to prosecute the trump administration, that term prosecutor "--- " prosecutor." tal kopan on the term prosecutor. she was hoping the american people -- guest: she was hoping the american people

would vote for her because they wanted to see her on the stage with trump. this is not going to be that debate that many people had hoped for, but this will be her opportunity to go toe to toe with mike pence and by proxy go after trump. keep in mind that pence is a different debater, a different speaker. her campaign has been preparing the press to be impressed with mike pence, that he is difficult to pull down, his unstoppable, he is very smooth. she has her work cut out for her do as she does in the senate in hearings and questions trump's nominees. she's going to have to work that much harder if she is hoping to score moments against mike pence. host: you talked about her press team setting the bar, what do we

know about how she has personally prepared for the debate? guest: throughout her career i have been told by members of the staff who have known her for a long time that she prepares. reads, has material in advance, a throwback to when she was an attorney. you don't go into court, cross examination, without research. on top of that, preparing for senate hearings like the supreme court nomination. you have binders and binders of material. at the end of the day, you have a few minutes to decide what you want to drill down on. she has a framework for preparation for moments like this. we have to assume she's going in almost over prepared. she wants to go in feeling like she has done network. other than that -- has done that work. she is using a lot of the same team that prepared tim kaine for

his debate against pence in the 2016 election cycle. if holdovers from her campaign but also has members of the biden team that were handed to her when she was chosen of the nominee -- chosen as the nominee. she has been in salt lake city preparing for this. prep would debate apply here including standen's stand-insebates -- and mock debates. we will see how well that goes. georgia on the line for those who support the trump-pence ticket. i am a black american, i'm a black nationalist, i am a female. i am college educated. i will still be voting for trump.

regarding kamala harris to me, she is a chameleon. heritageses her indian winches in that surrounding. she stresses her black heritage when she is in that surrounding. is how she used those prisoners to fight fires, unconscionable. that reminds me of the policing program. also her stance as far as criminalizing parents of truant children. that is too much. that affects mostly poor people, not wealthy people. i don't trust her. she is a chameleon. host: tal kopan. the way she tells the story is that she realized the number one convectors of outcomes for young members of

society is how much they were in school. so to try to get them and be school more often, she established a program of truancy where there were consequent is for parents. on the one hand, -- there were consequences for parents. more kids were in school but there is that criticism now you just mentioned. committal orial civil penalties on parents -- but potential criminal or civil penalties on parents. say it was revolutionary to think about fighting crimes by going to the dropout rate and the truancy rate. then you have this other question of where you over criminalizing something else in the process? it is one of those moments in her record that is there to look at. you mentioned her multiethnic background.

i was writing a story on her a few months ago ahead of the police reform discussion and talking to a woman in oakland was also multiracial who grew up in the bay area where kamala harris was born and spent a lot of her years. ,ne of the things that woman an name is amy, she led organization to promote women of color and politics. she said something about oakland for her is it is a place where you can be all of what you are. america, that is not really something everywhere in society has welcomed. it is hard enough to be one race in this country come in to be many races at once and try to embrace all sides of you -- kamala harris as much as she talks about how her other raised her knowing that society would see them as black women even though they were half indian,

she also spent considerable time in india with her extended family, with her grandfather who is a high-ranking diplomatic and worked in the devil medic community. they would have discussions about politics in india. that the different parts of her height -- different parts of her background it highlighted at different times, but some of that might be on us, the press, that we pick and choose what we want to focus on. i think she is all of those things all the time, we just don't always see it all the time. host: time for just one or two calls with tale kopan. this is larry in tennessee on the line for those who support president trump. the situation with harris and biden, she has called

him a racist and a sexist which he is. robert bryd'skk funeral. she has said that she herself is for legalizing prosecution i'm a legalizing marijuana, and she is also for abortions which are all forms of slavery. slaves and some of my family are traced back to being owned by her family. host: larry in tennessee. tal kopan, do you want to unpack some of that? guest: there is a lot there. i think they reference was to the high point of her presidential campaign which was an attack on joe biden. it was during the time there was a lot of discussion of how joe biden spoke favorably of segregationists he worked with in the senate.

spoke favorably with working with those segregationists. kamala harris specifically referenced her own experience as a young elementary schooler being on one of those first waves of buses that he segregated. he spoke about -- she spoke about how painful it was to hear joe biden's words. played is doesn't get that she began her remarks by "joe, i know you aren't racist but this was a painful moment for me and here is why." you can argue the application of that attack was calling his character into question, certainly. do an extent, that is always the hazard of picking a running mate of -- that you ran against in the primary. primaries get ugly and let's not forget that some of the things that donald trump, ted cruz, and

rand paul settings to each other and now they are. best of friends. extent to which that is how politics weirdly works in this country. that doesn't mean that those attack ads aren't going to get cut with your own running mate's words against you. some people may always believe that is your true feelings about each other and that isn't water under the bridge. of endinge weirdness up on the same team as someone who was your opponent only a few months ago. host: for more tal kopan's stories, you can go to sschro nicle.com. come back again. guest: thanks. host: we will focus on the other part of the debate stage, mike pence. we will be joined by indianapolis star reporter andrea neal who is the author of the book on the best present called "pence, the past, power."

later, dr. anand parekh will join us. he is an official at hhs. we will talk about the president 's fight against covid-19. we will be right back. ♪ >> book tv on c-span two has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. p.m.,ay at 9 p.m. -- 9:00 donald trump, jr. on his book "liberal privilege." cheney chronicles the leadership of the first five presidents from virginia, george washington, thomas jefferson, james madison, and james monroe. afterwards, john brennan speaks about his life and career in his book "undaunted: i fight against american enemies at home and abroad." he is interviewed by julian

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president's leadership styles. c-span.org/thepresidents and order your copy today wherever books are sold. >> washington journal continues. host: we focus now on mike pence ahead of his debate tonight with senator kamala harris. we are joined with andrea neal, editor of indianapolis star, pence: thethe book " path to power." -- where does that name come from? back: i suspect that goes -- soundbites," what is that come from?

guest: i suspect that comes back from -- he made a name from himself on talk radio. idea muste soundbite have stemmed from those years. host: five presidential debates usually only happened once in an election cycle. mike pence comes into this as the veteran. he goes back to 2016. what do we know about his debate style and what are your spec tonight? he was deemed the winner against the debate -- guest: he was deemed the winner against tim kaine and one of those polls taken after the confrontation. tim kaine did the interrupting and pence refrained. he remained unruffled throughout. this is a skill he honed way back in high school. he attended columbus north high school which had a nationally prize-winning speech and debate team. his senior year, he and the rest of the team went to seattle for

the national forensic league competition and he placed third in a category called impromptu. in that the division, you are given a topic right there on the spot. you have 30 seconds to think about it and then you must address that topic for five minutes. he is good at this and he has been doing it for a long time. host: he said tim kaine did interrupting and 2016, how aggressive do you expect the vice president to be tonight on the faces senator penny on the debate stage? -- senator kamala harris on the debate stage? do you expect harris to be more aggressive? guest: i think she will have zingers based on policy, he will be careful to look like he is not attacking her at all times. attacksup personal years ago after he ran a very negative campaign back in 1988. he is not going to want to look

like he is after kamala harris personally. i think he will stay focused on policy. he will attempt to show contrast on issues including law & order, foreign policy experience. i think he is going to try to show he has more expertise on domestic and foreign policy issues. host: explain what confessions of a negative campaigner was? 1988 campaign,s he went through soul-searching. a lot of it stemmed from the way he found people responding to him. in this negative campaign, he ran against phil sharp who was a well-regarded incumbent. in a desperate measure at the end, the pence people put out a push poll that was really not antually based and was attempt to paint shop are way and swing the election. didn'te, he said people return his calls. i understood his campaign made a

stake. he wrote a mea culpa and he explained why he felt negative campaigning was wrong. he didn't forsake all negative campaigning because he proceeded to say if your negative statement is grounded in policy then it is acceptable. but negative campaigning for the sake of negative campaigning is not moral, essentially. host: talking to andrea neal this morning, author of "pence: the path to power "-- cap the power -- the path to power" focusing on the debate tonight. here's a picture on your screen of kingsbury hall where the candidates are to be seated. we are expecting for plexiglass screens to be in front of them for covid-19 precautions. now is the time to call in. it is 202-748-8001 if you support the trump-pence ticket.

202-748-8000 if you support the biden-harris to get. if you are undecided, 202-748-8001. --202-748-8002. power?s the path to guest: it was a long road starting in high school when he first ran for student government office as a junior in high school and was defeated and took it personally. then he ran for senior class president and one -- won. that was the beginning of the path to power. he had several false starts running for congress in 1988 and 1990. wasorked for a think tank, a talk show host, and then saw an opening and ran for congress in 2001. he has been on that path ever since, including what some would say a path with ambitions toward the presidency. host: in usa today on the

opinion page, kurt cardella, a senior advisor with the lincoln project and a former spokesperson with republican committees on capitol hill. this is what he said about his expectations for mike pence. "he was deep with conviction, he won't be obnoxious. he will get the kind of performance that traditional conservatives, which donald trump was capable of living. pence is able to keep them on board and resist the temptation to jump ship to joe biden. this is the stop the bleeding debate. " guest: i agree to a extent. punchingrump is aggressively. pence is going to want to look moderate in style if not in substance and he is going to maintain a polite tone.

he is to maintain a courteous tone. i think it will be vigorous because he is a vigorous debate or and has a lot of facts at his -- and i think people use them. i think he will be prepared to scrutinize commie harris -- scrutinize kamala harris's record. host: what do we know about how he is preparing? who is helping him prepare? guest: i don't know so i can't enter that question. one thing i can be certain of is he has been preparing. that would perhaps be another contrast between pence and trump , who seemed to think the presidency itself was adequate preparation. spitz -- pence will have spent a lot of time repairing and getting ready to scrutinize harris's record. host: this is rebecca i'm a port orange, florida -- rebecca in port orange, florida.

on the line for those who support the trump-pence ticket. i don't have a question. with the concerned mail-in ballots. i don't see that many biden signs in the area i live in. i am just concerned about the mail-in ballots. host: do you think mail-in ballots is going to be one of the big issues tonight? i think theuest: trump administration has articulated the concern with potential fraud with mail-in ballots. indiana has any voter id law for some time. it is upheld by the courts and it is useful when you show up at the polls to cast about. in indiana, absentee ballot voting has been accepted for decades and that has gone well also. i am sure the trump

deployingtion investigators and lawyers to make sure that kind of fraud with mail-in ballots what occur. -- ballots will not occur. it is one of those issues playing out differently because of covid. yesterday was the first day for voting in her -- in indiana. the lines were very long. people want to vote in person to know their votes are counted and are willing to wait in line if need be and avoid the crowds on election day. i think there will be early voting in those states that permit it as well as the mail-in voting. -- a good time to go to a caller in indiana. this is gary on the line that supports the biden harris ticket. when i make a production on something, it is based more

-- rather than personal preference. with kamala harris, the way you , --talking [indiscernible] he's got everything going for him. i wish kamala harris the best of luck, maybe she can put up a good fight, i don't know. -- pence guest: he has learned from his mistakes. one of the most notorious ones was in 20,000 -- was in 2015. there was a dustup over the freedom restoration act which was signed and law by governor pence. he went on to defendant.

'sr the first time in anyone memory, he crumbled under george stephanopoulos's questions. it was pretty much a disaster. from that day forward, he valve that is not going to happen again. host: this is amy out of north carolina for those who support the trump-pence ticket. caller: i want people to understand what this election is about. it is not about trump and pence and biden and harris. or goingetween freedom towards socialism. they are talking about taking away the second amendment. they want to get rid of the electoral college. beto o'rourke is going to be in charge of taking away your guns. bernie sanders is going to be in charge of health care. that is what is is going to be.

-- that is what it is going to be. then don't believe in private ownership, the government controls everything. this is not about people and personalities, this is between whether or not we are going to save america, keep our freedom, or we are going to go towards socialism. host: does that sound like --? guest: i think that is the case that mike pence will try. to make tonight. we know mike pence is a strong defender of the free market and freedoms. he is a philosopher of the constitution, agrees with john locke and the natural rights of life, liberty, and private property. i think you're given a good preview of the comments he may make tonight. host: back to schererville, indiana. this is evan for the line of --se who support

what is your thought about what is going to happen between kamala harris and mike pence tonight? i think kamala harris she probably when it but shouldn't be running. to beould be wanting appointed attorney general of the u.s. i thick should be good at that -- i think she would be good at that. guest: i think people will be judging both candidates tonight not for their talent as vice president but as their potential for becoming president. in the case of donald trump and joe biden, there is concern among the electorate that for one reason or another they might not be able to serve out four years and that harris or pence could fill the shoes of the presidency. i think voters will be evaluating them as potential presidents as much as vice presidents.

--t: from twitter, this is he or she saying thinks trump is a puppet. notis a credible pence does practice his faith as vp." his fate is sot: strong. i would say authentic. he has used whatever opportunity toore him as a chance promote his vision of the common good. looksk we can all say it hypocritical to be an avowed -- andtical christian about even juggle christian working for trump who is occasionally vulgar. view, donald trump is

the vessel god placed before him to achieve his own vision, his casesals, which in some might be religious in nature. his faith goes back many years. he was raised as a roman catholic. he had a conversion moment when he attended hanover college. the 1990's, he was still describing himself as a catholic but as an evangelical catholic. evangelicalith negative around the country and they believe in him. i think issues with his religious views can best be seen , one is abortion and his other is his view towards israel. i think his view above is grounded in his reading of the bible. he believes life

begins at conception but his opposition to roe v. wade is grounded in that it was improperly decided and should be more properly decided at the state level. there is no doubt he turns to bible passages to justify his policies on both abortion and israel. host: about 10 minutes left in the segment. on can call in online's -- lines split up. if you support the biden-harris ticket. the748-8001 if you support trump-pence ticket. undecided --four for undecided. caller: i flick trump had a lot going for him in 2016 and he had a lot of help. there are things in his favor,

no emails, no wiki leaks, no james comey. people know about russia, people know about facebook and they know about twitter. people didn't like hillary. [no audio] andrea neal? of socials summer unrest, the summer of mask wearing come the year of covid-19 are issues that are actually different from what the country was facing in 2016. some ways to think in the election is going to be a referendum on the trump administration's policies on covid, online order. i think mike pence -- on law & order. i think pence is going to make a case on law & order. i think he's going to blame

democratic leaders for some of the unrest we have seen that has resulted in violence. i think the republicans are hoping to capitalize on that. mike pence can claim a law & as he is a strong defender of law enforcement, full funding of police, and such. i think the 2020 election is a different ballgame from 2016. host: another twitter comment, this one saying "what do you think about pence's record in public health emergencies? outbreak and the pandemic task force?" caller: he took black -- guest: he took flak for underestimating committees being impacted by the

-- crisis. i think at the beginning of the covid crisis, donald trump appointed pence to the task force. i think that was a good call because one thing mike pence can do is bring a sense of calm to an issue. he does believe in science. critics aside, i think he was more than willing to listen to what the best scientific minds around the world had to say. early inhat happened the process is president trump was the one who wanted to be the face of the pandemic response which probably prevented mike pence from asserting leadership that i think he could have brought to bear on the issue. on public health, his record is mixed. if you go back to his days in congress, he voted against obama's affordable care act but he pushed for a state waiver that led to extensive expansion of state medicaid called the

indiana program. a is a mixed record but commitment overall to public health. sparta,is is george in that line for those who support biden-here's -- biden-harris. caller: compass what do be a dictator -- trump is wanting to be a dictator like the general of north korea. this is ridiculous. ohio this is sally out of on the line for those who support the trump-pence ticket. caller: i am proud and loving everything president trump has done for our country. i think he should go down as our best president. i love all he is doing. i encourage all that he is doing. i hope they can approve this new

judge they are putting in and it can go in before the election. people seepray more his goodness and his love for this country. i don't want to live under a communist country. i have studied communism when i was in school and i have seen this coming about more and more over the decades. coming, can see this the news channels are not covering our president. they are just telling lies and most people are watching all the various stations. we watch fox, that is the only station they haven't had control of. they are telling people the truth. host: andrea neal on the nomination and upcoming confirmation process of judge merrick -- of judge amy coney

barrett, howdy think that place tonight -- how do you think that plays tonight? guest: pence was largely responsible for convincing trump one of the biggest contributions he can make to the conservative movement was transforming the face of the judiciary. barrett wouldney be mike pence's dream justice on the supreme court. he is a strict constructionist, he is a lawyer. ofwas a student of a couple well-known conservative constitutional scholars. believer in the separation of powers and federalism. i think he will defend amy coney barrett tonight with every ounce of strength he has. i think her being seated on the

supreme court would be a great compliment and pence -- in pence's eyes. i wouldn't be surprised if pence submits a tie-breaking vote on her appointment. you: another tweet for saying the vice president is a career politician. when it comes to trump's criticism of career politicians, how has he square that with his vice president -- how has he squared that with his vice president? guest: i agree that he is a career politician, but that is what trump needed. he needed someone with experience with the legislative branch. i think that as trump was weighing the possible running mates that that weight in his favor. i think trump felt he didn't come with the kind of baggage

that chris christie would have come with or new anchorage. -- or newt gingrich. host: this is stacy who has been waiting in mclean, virginia on the line for those who support the biden harris ticket. caller: thank you for taking my call. pence cannot run on religion because religious freedom was discrimination based on religious beliefs. they heat -- he can run in the coronavirus because he handled it the way he did the hiv outbreak in indiana. far as the law & order. nazis andklansmen and white supremacists was shot until federal police officer, who shot police -- sen. lee: stations on fire, who tore down statues. those of the people the fbi have been arresting, not black people.

they've been blaming black people for the crimes the white supremacists commit. pence has no record to run on. he should be running from the law, not running for office. host: we will give you the final minute and a half or so. guest: i think pence is a man of moderation. he believes the old proverb moderation in all things, certainly when it comes to style. on matters of substance, you could arguably say his religious views inform his position on some issues. i think tonight he will avoid social issues to the extent possible. i think he understands the issues americans care most about involve right now public health, they involve the size and extent of government. one thing we have not talked inut is his fiscal views this regard differs from donald trump. pence off and went against a

republican party because he could not understand why they weren't doing something to tackle the deficit. i think if he has the opportunity to go to some of those traditional republican issues tonight, he might do so to firm up what i guess you would call the establishment republican base which trump obviously has struggled with. i think we may have some surprises tonight in some of the things he says. i'm looking forward to a spirited debate. offer --rea neil's author of the book any formal editorial page editor. thank you for joining us this morning on the washington journal. joined by we will be the chief medical officer at the bipartisan policy center. we will talk about the country and president's fight against covid-19. while the vice presidents or candidates preparing to debate

tonight, candidates and house and senate races will no head to head as well including the senate candidates in arizona. here is a bit from the debate last night in the grand canyon state, which included the issue of covid-19. how do you think the administration has handled covid-19? >> our prayers are with president trump, lamia, all those infected and the families of the loved ones who passed away. reminds as the pandemic does not care if your democrat or republican and we need to be vigilant and do our part. what i have been doing is fighting for arizonans. to get relief to small businesses, to workers at hospitals, to fast-track the vaccines and tears. reliefvoted for targeted to help small businesses. my opponent said he would not vote for that.

it's been a difficult year. what we don't need is another lockdown and that's what would happen if joe biden and mike -- and martelli are in charge. economic -- a health crisis which spurred an economic crisis. both have been made worse by a crisis of leadership. over and over again we have been a step behind. andhut down the economy then the administration and senator mcsally did not come up with a plan of what to do next. >> how do you think the administration could've handled the pandemic better? we hear from republicans in the president and the white house that they have done a great job of this. -- 200,000 dead americans is evidence we did not -- did not do a great job. we have 4% of the world's population. we have 21% of the deaths from covid-19.

if you go back to february, the administration knew that this virus was deadly and airborne. senator mcsally said she was briefed on this at some point, whether it was last week in january or early february. senator mcsally told people to go on spring break. and then shortly after that, when it was recommended that large gatherings like fundraisers be canceled. larger mcsally threw a fundraiser. infection rates were on the rise. that is not leadership. we need independent leadership focused on solving this problem. it is challenging, but if we listen to public health officials and do not ignore the science. we can beat this. that at the end of january, the president made a decisive action in order to stop travel from china. something that was highly criticized. mistakes were made at all levels. we are in this together and we

should be have learned a lot. this virus came from china. they destroyed samples and blamed it on the u.s. economy. while i'm standing up to china to hold them accountable, my opponent, while he was serving in the u.s. navy, went to china on an all expense paid junket to help influence in america and went back in 2004, back in 2005, said it was the most meaningful thing in his life -- besides going to space. they try to influence the elite and it seems to work. >> washington journal continues. >> a discussion on u.s. coronavirus response and the president upon diagnosis. by -- of theined bipartisan policy center chief medical advisor there. before he joins in, a few phone

calls letting you lead the conversation. phone lines split up this way. in the eastern or central time zones, it is 202-748-8000. in the mountain north -- mountain or pacific time zones, 202-748-8001 our phone line for medical professionals is 202-748-8002. on the your thoughts response to the coronavirus in this country and specifically, the president upon diagnosis. how and if at all it has changed your opinion about covid-19. you can start calling in. we show you this headline from usa today. president's post causing some alarm. the story noting his post concerning covid-19 on monday which he told the public, do not let it dominate you and don't be afraid, claimed he may have immunity for the virus have highlighted public criticism for

spreading dangerous falsehoods. on tuesday, facebook removed a post by president trump comparing covid-19 to the seasonal flu. twitter added a warning message to the president's post saying it contained misleading information. getting your thoughts, phone lines split up regionally and that special line for medical professionals. we start with mark out of clearwater, florida. caller: good morning. , i'm reallyf all not very political. with what's going on, i think all of the stuff being unfair towards trump, i, trump supporter. misinformationof over who is really at blame. concerned thatf harris and biden getting into think there is

not enough being said about what their ideal is of running the country. i think there is a lot of unfairness towards trump. him not running things correctly. he has not gotten a fair chance since 2016. information enough with voters being able to call in and express their concerns. horrible, i can't believe they are allowed to say some of the things they say. trump has done a lot for a lot of people. host: what is the biggest thing he has done for you down in florida? know, just tax breaks. everybody is complaining about from shouldn't have done it.

i think the tax breaks were awesome. i've never really been political until now. armen.lso in florida, caller: good morning. , new viewer to c-span. i would like to say you have a really nice format. everything i can tell about the coronavirus is the democrats, when you ask them a direct question, what would you do different than what president trump has done, they give you a long line of talking points. they don't say this is what i would do different. the things that they say they would do is simply the things president trump has already done.

cannot know why people get a democrat to answer the question direct on a most anything. host: that is armen out of middleburg. discussion,o the the chief medical advisor at the bipartisan policy center. former deputy assistant the health and human services department of the george w. bush administration. guest: good morning. host: we talked at the beginning about president trump's message to the country since returning from walter reed after receiving treatment for coronavirus. the president just yesterday saying this on twitter, flu season is coming up. are we going to close down the country? we have learned to live with it like we are learning to live with covid. in most populations, far leslie for.

i think that in particular is really an apples to oranges comparison. we know the seasonal flu and estimated 12,000 to 61,000 americans die from seasonal flow just over the last six months this year from covid-19. minimumamericans at a have died. context is also in the of us doing so many things to really stop the virus. when it's flu season, we take a lot of things for granted. the covid-19 response, everything from masks in public as well as hand hygiene in physical distancing. we had stay-at-home orders earlier. yet it done so much, and is not enough. think about if we had done that, the death would not be 210,000, it would be multiple times higher. i think if you truly want to do

a flu to covid-19 comparison, i think what the experts were telling us in april still hold. that covid-19 is about five to 10 times more lethal than the flu. statement that a virtually all i think public health experts would agree with. host: before we brought you want, i think you heard the caller, he was talking about people who criticize the president when it comes to coronavirus response, asking what would you do differently than the president. if you were in charge, what would you do differently, or do you agree with the steps the president has taken? >> i think it is really important, particularly in a public health crisis like this to let the scientists lead. really let the scientist have the podium because that is where the trust is with the american public.

i think that is really important. also so important despite misinformation and misconceptions out there. i think the second is where we have more and more science, we need to focus in on those areas. we know masks, the use of masks in public reduce the transmission of the virus. is important to reduce transmission to people around us. unfortunately, only about half of the public right now says they wear a mask all the time in public. we know it saves tens of thousands of lives. themnk it's important for to read those types of messaging. have enough't testing across the united states. there are 30 states right now that have a positivity rate over

5%, meaning there is insufficient testing. we need more testing, particularly in a cinematic populations. certainly we need to make sure as we are coming into flu season that our health care workers have personal protective equipment. there are many i think specific actions, as well as messages that need to be conveyed to the american public. we are not going to have a vaccine by election day. hopefully if all goes well we will have a vaccine by the end of the year. the majority of the u.s. population, this is what the cdc director says, the chief advisor to operation warp speed has said , we are not going to have a vaccine for the general public until spring or summer of 2021. what we have is all of us and each of us who are all in this together.

it is so important for a think leaders, starting with the president, to reinforce these very important messages that this is a highly transmissible virus. but we need to be extremely careful. wearing masks in public, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, avoiding large gatherings. particularly indoor. all of these things are central for us to reduce death in our country. host: no vaccine right now, but we have some treatments. many americans got an upfront view on what those treatments trump'sugh president covid-19 diagnosis in the treatment he has received. can you explain what these things do and what we are expecting in the days to come. the president is receiving antibodies, remdesivir and dexamethasone. >> i think the details are a bit

day onet it appears have deaf maven, october 1. about seven days now. this experience cocktail of two and what antibodies those drug -- drugs do, they are proteins that help the body fight off the infection. they are targeted towards the spike protein in the virus itself. those are drugs that are currently being tested. the president was given that cocktail and then given an antiviral drug. that has been shown in randomized controlled trials as the duration of illness and -- reduce the duration of illness. he should finish the course

yesterday. third, he also received dexamethasone, which is a steroid. both dexamethasone and remdesivir have been shown to in moderate toy severe cases when they need oxygenation, we did hear that twice the president's oxygen saturation did fall. we don't know how much it fell for. but he did receive dexamethasone. which is anedicine overaggressive -- for an overaggressive immune system which can get a lot of people in trouble. the last thing i would say is he is back at the white house right now, but i'm sure he is being very closely monitored, particularly his oxygenation saturation. his shortness of breath as well has when he is walking, it's

going to be harder to measure a fever now since he is on a steroid and the steroid blunts the fever. him and whyern for his doctor said he's not out of the woods is for many people you see him have a second phase of the illness for the next four or five days. there is a significant inflammatory response filling the lungs with inflammatory fluid, making it difficult to breathe. the president is a ready on steroids but he could still be in for that. i think the doctors over the next couple of days are going to symptomsttuned to his and his oxygen saturation. host: with us until the end of the program today at 10:00 eastern. we will start working her way through them.

this is allen in wisconsin, you're up first. caller: i live in northern wisconsin, is basically trump country. our mask wearing rate is 95%. the scientists and politicians are giving themselves a little bit too much credit. i think people have sense. i don't of a problem with the president's pandemic response but i have a big problem with his economic response. , butstreet is doing great we have 45 -- 55 million people in this country who are essentially conquered and enslaved under predatory student loan debt. now the president has the power to cancel these loans by executive order. he can do that without requiring one dime of congressional appropriation, without adding one penny to the national debt. the last time i checked, 80% of those 55 million people were never going to be able to pay their loans in the first place.

host: that is allen in wisconsin. about thetalking coronavirus response and the fiscal side of this as the caller was talking about, what more do you think the medical community needs in terms of funding, what needs to happen on that side rather than the business side and the individual side we talked about already in our first hour? i will just address that first question on masks. right now, wisconsin is really ground zero the last couple of days. they have experienced the most number of covid-19 cases over the last six months. the positivity rate is close to 20%. unfortunately, the masquerade is not 95% or anywhere near that.

frankly no state is anywhere near that. so there is a lot that needs to be done. i know the governor has issued some new mandates in terms of limiting indoor gatherings. in the state of wisconsin, it can be so important over the next coming weeks to ensure everyone is wearing a mask in public, that there is good hand hygiene. that there are good physical distancing limitations. answer to the second question, there are a lot of people who were hoping that both parties come together and pass a covid-19 stimulus package. i think we are pretty -- i think they were disheartened to hear there would be no new negotiations yesterday. i think both speaker pelosi as well as the treasury secretary had been working on a package

around a ballpark of perhaps $2 billion, usually the desk new republicans wanted to be under one trillion. there seem to be a potential compromise there in terms of the $2 trillion package. i think it is so important on the economic front, the caller mentioned the importance of student loans. everything from unemployment insurance benefit, additional stimulus checks. that is all essential to ensure the economy continues to move forward. also in terms of the public health response, there many elements in the package related to testing and tracing. there are elements related to vaccine distribution, the cec director is on record saying we don't have the funding for vaccine distribution. there are important elements related to rental assistance, nutrition assistance, these are

also important for people to get by during these hard times. i think it is pretty disheartening. this is a really concerning time for so many americans. i think there was hope that both parties could come together to pass an economic stimulus as to support the public health response. unfortunately, that does not look like it's going to happen. >> back to florida, this is lonnie, go ahead. i would just like to make a statement. i do not believe the president ever had covid. i think it was a sham. basically being released from the hospital in three days, the doctor being evasive, it does not make sense to me. and then taking the mask off to the public.

to me it was a total sham. host: your thoughts on that. caller: i think -- guest: i think it is pretty clear. i haven't myself seen the test results, but i think it is pretty clear that the president did in fact test positive for last friday, october 2. underwent his symptoms in his oxygen saturation, leading him to be hospitalized it walter reed. he has had pretty aggressive therapy. of the correct in terms caller there. he got quite a few treatments, it was hard to know exactly what was happening. we did not get a lot of data. we still do not know what his x-ray or cat scan showed. we still do not know how much supplemental oxygen he got.

how and why the decision was made. there were a lot of open questions and then how quickly he was released as well. i'm sure he is getting absolutely tremendous care. in a now, he is still pretty serious situation. i think the next four to five days, while he is in isolation, he has to be careful. justnk we really have to try and put misinformation aside and focus on the now and the reality. want the president to get better. we also want to make sure this white house outbreak, which is an outbreak, is controlled and there is enough contact tracing done. we want to focus in on how we can suppress the virus. we want to make sure that these

debates that will be occurring are as safe as possible. we want to make sure congress does its job. i think we need to focus on what we as individuals need to do, what congress needs to do. , ihink the misinformation think we cannot be attracted to that. host: this debate right now about whether the public has a right to know when it comes to the president's health. what test results should and should not be released. what is considered private information when it comes to the president. where do you fall on that? guest: i think it is a good question. i think physicians are trying to meet that balance. they are trying to provide as much information as they can. but i think there is legitimate criticism of the weekend when we were getting some very specific

data and we weren't getting answers to some very specific questions as well. importanthink it's and that he is the president of the united states, we want the best for his health. but the ramifications of his course are absolutely significant. doesthink the public deserve answers to the important questions. that does not mean all of the clinical scientific medical data out there. but at least i think answers to some of the important questions. host: good morning. i have a question for the doctor. trump that president received that cocktail that is experimental. and he got it under compassionate care.

is there any way that the president could make that citizens that.s. are suffering from the disease under compassionate care, or maybe under the right to try act. and that people would know yes it is experimental, that if it would save them or help them, does it give them the choice of being able to have that same cocktail as the doctor gave him? host: considering president trump received that, you think a lot of americans would make that choice if given the choice? i think we lost terry there. the answer to her question as we still don't know whether that cocktail works. it is experimental. we do not know the benefits.

clinical trials are still ongoing. it is not part of the standard of care. what is part of the standard of care is supportive care along with drugs like remdesivir which can shorten duration of illness as well. are in settings where individuals are hospitalized need supplemental oxygen. this experiment cocktail is still not part of the standard of care. there are probably a couple hundred individuals who have received around the country. there is a pathway that health care professionals can apply to try and get this medicine. i think we need to be very careful with the experiment of regimens there that may or may not help, it may not have an adverse effect. the president received that and receive that first. we will have to wait and see

exactly as the trials come out. cocktail of of that monochrome all antibodies. host: you can continue to call in as we talk about coronavirus response and also specifically president trump's case. if you stick with us here on c-span, we will take you over to the live supreme court oral arguments taking place today. a decades-old legal battle happening at the supreme court between oracle and google to silicon valley, a case that has some big implications for copyright in the digital era. that is coming up in about 30 minutes. stick with us after this program if you want to listen in to live arguments for that case. back to your phone calls, this is deborah out of washington, d.c.. caller: good morning. host: what kind of doctor or

nurse are you? n at howardm an r university. that was irresponsible and if the president did get the virus, it's not done with him yet. hopefully it is. he had got the medication he received. and he him a boost seemed like he had all this energy. he said he feels like 20 years ago. i believe he did have the virus. i don't think it is over yet for him. i don't think he cared anything about any of the people in this country. so we need to vote him out. thank you as at: nurse for everything you do and have done.

i think there is a lot of announcement of the supreme court nomination was what's potentially called a that spreader event given there are a dozen people now who tested positive. space in themall rose garden. all saw, as i think we no one was wearing masks. people were close together. itself.and of .ut really for all of this through risk reduction of covid-19, or is no silver bullet. you can just test and wear masks. you have to do all of these things to reduce the risk.

that is why any kind of gathering like that, anytime you are in public, wearing a mask and keeping your distance, it is really all of that. i think there was a lot of concern that that was a super spreading event. investigatingbe outbreaks and supporting it. and the white house medical unit ought to be working with the d.c. department of health as well on contact tracing. as for the president upon health, i think the next couple of things are still going to be critical. you're absolutely right that steroids can make you feel better than you actually are. there are different side effects to steroids and that is one. i think four or five days to make sure if there is an immune response. host: if you were advising the

commission on presidential would you advise about the debate? guest: they recommend 10 days of isolation after your symptoms start. let's say thursday he was symptomatic and got tested then i disclose to the public that night/friday morning. 1, you went with october advise lenny for 10 days, that would be october 10. if you have a severe case of cdc -- the cdc recommends you isolate up to 20 days. that would be october 20. the next debate is right in the middle. what is fuzzy about his case is from the outside it appears he probably moderate case,

but he is been treated as if he has a severe case. severe,it's moderate or we don't quite know. once you get to that 10 day mark, you have to be a symptom attic, you have to be fever free , you have to be able to hit that mark. 10,he very least, october if it's considered a severe case, october 20. it is in my opinion. we are all watching these debates virtually. we are watching them on tv's. i just think we are talking about the president of the united states, former vice president, a there's no reason we ought to take risks. we are all going to be watching them anyways. wanted this to be in person. in last i checked in miami

the evening it's about 80 degrees. they are to have it outside, under a canopy, make sure there is physical distancing. but there are better to take thisand chance, particularly with the diagnosis already, also a similar age and risk that. at this point, we don't need another october surprise. we need people to be safe and modeling good behavior. that would be my recommendation. left.about 20 minutes out theirt to check work, it's all available online at bipartisanpolicy.org. take yourinue to phone calls this morning. on regional lines. brad is from minnesota, thanks

for waiting. caller: good morning. listening to this interesting conversation. i have to tell you something that i truly believe this gentleman's -- is absolutely wrong about comparing with the flu, he is absolutely wrong. the only way i can tell you that i am absolutely sure of this is that the only way you can say that it is apples to oranges is let's take away the 40 million to 60 million vaccines for flu and then let's see what happens. i guarantee you there will be one million people that have -- that will use this -- flu-related deaths. flu can be -- it concerned and ammonia -- it can turn to pneumonia. when they say covid related deaths with covid deaths. getd related -- a guy can

runover out in the intersection and he can test for covid, it is a covid related death. not the car that hit him, it's the covid. gotten so farhave out of fetch on this is this wuhan virus is not going away period and now we are politicizing it to the advantage of get trump, hate trump. in this gentleman, there is no bipartisan with this gentleman, i guarantee it. host: we will give him a chance to address a couple of issues. guest: thanks for the call. i can say from a scientific perspective that those comments are incorrect. absolutely having the flu vaccine does save lives and without a flu vaccine there would be more deaths, but nowhere in the vicinity the deaths we are seeing right now

with covid-19, or if we hadn't done all these precaution, the death we would see with covid-19. so it is truly an apple to oranges comparison. no reallyeally disagreement among the scientific community, the public health community here. we are talking already 210,000 deaths, that is likely an underestimate. the point the caller made about somebody has a motor vehicle accident and passes away and they end up incidentally having a positive covid test. all of those factors have been taken into account. this is likely an underestimate because we haven't tested enough , particularly early on. toare probably closer 300,000, two hundred 75,000 to 300,000 deaths. think of how much worse it would have been if we hadn't done

anything and just let the virus take its course across the united states. this is the type of misinformation that we need to guard against and we just need to continue having these discussions and educating the american public. we are not talking about lockdowns or shutting things down, we are talking about caring for one another. we are talking about making easy common sense decisions. things that we can do for each other to really suppress the virus. that's what we are talking about and it's important we do that. until we have a vaccine and we can vaccinate the majority of the public. aboutdo you want to talk the work you do at the bipartisan policy center? guest: we are a nonprofit organization founded 13 years majorityur senate leaders, two democrats and two republicans, all with the intent to bring sides together to

promote health security and opportunity. we have programs around economic ,pportunity, around health immigration, infrastructure, early childhood efforts. there is an incredible amount of work that is done. know to some, bipartisan seems a relic. we passionately believe we need to bring this country together and we need to bring people try to dond we really that with congress and the executive branch. bipartisanpolicy.org is where you can find them on the web. caller: good morning. i would like to start out and say my mother was a registered nurse for 42 years. she has been the chief nurse at the field hospital in italy and africa during world war ii.

she spent the last 15 years of her life as a public health nurse. i got my first job out of high at a hospital because of -- in medical records of the hospital. i was the registrar for the county. they sent me down to miami to take a course from the cdc and i became one of the first 25 people in the state of florida to become a certified registrar. i ended my career a number of years ago working for the federal government as a contract negotiator. if you have worked for the federal government, i hope you can tell us something about what the defense production act could have done, it could have been enacted in february or march and where we might stand today and then just a final comment.

wishth bader ginsburg's had been honored, we would not be worried about a pandemic that is going on in the white house today. thank you. host: thanks. fort: first off, thanks everything that you have done in your career, as well as a mother as health care professionals. one of the things that was early the personalis of protective equipment and material we needed during a pandemic. it was very unclear how much we needed and how much we had. one would think that that gap analysis would then drive the actions and decisions and conversations with the private sector in terms of how we need the private sector's help. and when it could've and should have been invoked.

whether to face masks or two gowns or gloves or ventilators. instead, what we saw was an ad hoc use of the defense production act in limited ways as opposed to a productive use of the defense production act based on data and based on that gap analysis. it is so important as we go forward, our health care system will be faced with addressing or seeing patients both with flu as well as covid. and ensuring our health care workers are working so hard with the personal protective equipment they need. proactively using the defense production act, working with the private sector and also getting the private sector involved even when they don't make many of these products on a daily basis. that is what it is really about. i would advocate for more proactive use of the defense production act.

utilizing these types of gap analyses as well as data that's particularly important into the fall. coast,uts to the west leah is in california. good morning. herer: it is very early and i only got up because i am so filled with rage. has testedman positive and is suffering mild symptoms from covid. he is the first representative here in california. me,s just frustrating for knowing that my congressperson has to go through this and that he caught it needlessly. and who knows really where he gets it, but he was in a meeting lee likely -- with mike from utah. i'm so frustrated with this country, especially all of the 10 the hat wearing, it used to

be republicans, that will not accept scientific fact. they are so brainwashed by fox news and right-wing media that they cannot bring themselves to be the decent human beings that they used to be three and three quarters years ago. hope that the, i right is going to be able to cope with a president biden who is going to try and fix this la likeof going la la the current administration with their hands over their ears. i get where you are coming from, of the country is changing. host: got your point. go ahead. is a serious virus and illness. we talk about at least 210,000 cases in, 7.5 million

the united states that are confirmed. hope -- we do not want anyone to get this illness. but when an individual does and they are in a position where they have the bully pulpit or they are a public figure, you would hope they would use their bully pulpit again to really implore the american public that we are all in this together and we need to do some very basic things, like wearing masks in public. ,aving good hand hygiene ensuring we are distancing. that that is the best way you can by the time we need until there is a vaccine. again, this is serious. we need to treat it seriously.

we can't discount this. that is my hope for all public figures, whether you're a democrat or republican. these are the messages the american public need to hear over and over. the american public is really smart, they get it. the confusion is these mixed messages. the confusion as to be cleared by the leaders in our country. host: this is a statement from the office of the congressman. saying no one is immune to contracting coronavirus and congress is no exception. by taking every precaution including wearing a mask, social distancing and handwashing, i learned i was exposed to an individual who tested positive. i immediately got tested which came back negatively. that was a statement from monday and then followed up later that he had actually ended up in subsequent testing, testing

positive for coronavirus. yesterday,he put out saying after experiencing mild symptoms, i was instructed to take another test and tested positive for covid-19. you recalled the number of coronavirus cases in the white house an outbreak. i wonder what your thoughts are on the numbers climbing on capitol hill. this is the lead story from roll , covid-19 cases keep rising in the capitol complex. 100 23 legislative branch employees have tested or are presumed to be positive for coronavirus. going back to the congressman, it is also willtant, some people contract the virus. it is so important that if you are exposed to quarantine.

quarantine for 14 days, that the incubation period for the virus. irrespective if you test positive or negative. it is also very important to note what happens after you get a positive test and the importance of isolation and the importance of contact tracing. that is where we get through the white house and capitol hill. they weremportant together that contact tracing is up and running. anyone who is -- who has been exposed. hours of somebody being symptomatic. they need to be interviewed and they are likely a close contact. they need to be quarantine for 14 days. they will likely need to be tested as well to ensure there doesn't need to be contact tracing. it is really important to follow this through because that is also so important.

about isolating and identifying and isolating cases and then quarantining close contact. i think when you hear about the cases coming out of the white house, you hear about the cases on capitol hill, i think what a lot of people are asking is what is the coordination like between capitol hill as well as the d.c. department of health, what is the coordination like between the white house and the d.c. department of health, how much contact tracing is being done, testedle exposed getting maybe four or five days later. are people who test positive, are they isolating? these are the important questions we need to be asking and be sure occur. >> to follow-up on that roll call story. the one hunter 23 legislative branch employees, that is not members of congress testing

positive or even their staff, that is the people who work in the offices that keep capitol hill running. includes 46 capitol and 35employees, contractors working on the office building renovation project. from nbc's jeff bennett just a little while ago. an administration official tells me white house staff have been informed via email that all contact tracing has been completed for positive covid-19 cases identified at the white house. that news first being reported by cnn. can you explain what that means now for folks who work at the white house? what what that -- guest: that sounds like is they have gone through all the positive cases today to and they have

identified all of their potential close contacts. within 48 hours of a positive diagnosis. all the people who potentially could have been exposed. and then they have reached out to those individuals to really determine whether they are close contact and need to be quarantine or not. whether wet know is are talking about advisors and appointees or are we talking about more broadly, there are hundreds of employees who work, front-line workers who support the white house and who have been there for years and years. same thing with the capital. to your point in the rollcall article, we have to make sure we don't forget about them. they are interviewed and tested, contact tracing occurs. they are going back to their families, weathering in d.c. or

maryland and so forth so we need to look at the broader population here. staff andort front-line workers in the theral workers who support infrastructure and the efforts of our institutions out there, not just the staff if you will or the appointees, or the members. host: a couple of minutes before we end our program and take viewers over to live supreme court coverage. those who stick around after washington journal, that is where we will be headed. one or two more phone calls. gary out of blue point, new york. caller: good morning. i just want to say the coronavirus, we know he has had the best of the best treatments. not regular citizens get a helicopter ride, experimental

treatment, regular citizens don't get that. the only thing he has learned is that is great to be the king. this not transparent about and he wasn't transparent about his taxes or anything else. , he wants to make america great again, bring manufacturing back. but his companies are in india, china and mexico. his daughter's company is in china, why doesn't he realize -- lead by example? he is a disgrace. host: let's try and get one more voice in. this is joan out of new jersey. caller: good morning. i would like to make a comment or two if i may. first of all, you have about 1000 different doctors since this happened coming on and giving their opinion. and it is their opinion. they may be educated, but it is their opinion. number two, we talk about 200,000 people dying.

7 million people got the virus. 200,000 died. there are 330 million people in the united states. let me say that again. 330 million people. 7 million got it, 200,000 prospective. years ago we had the chicken spot -- chickenpox. ago, everybody got the chickenpox. we never said how many people died from the chickenpox before they develop a vaccine. the reason why they didn't develop a vaccine was because of the money. it took years and decades to get a vaccine. it has a vaccine today. they didn't rush to get it because for the most part it didn't kill you. so when we talk about this, let's talk about this in perspective. the finalll give you minute and a half or so here. gary, whethero

at --he president after going through what he virs to be humble about the experience and realize how difficult it is. thecourse that he had and level of treatment, most americans do not have any of those advantages. whether it's the diagnosis or the treatment. i think it is pretty disappointing to read a tweet like that to say that this is not a big deal. putting this into perspective is important, but when you do that what you find is that, this year, covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in the united states. we have not seen something like this from a new pandemic virus 1918,er 100 years, since 1960 7, 1960 8, 2 thousand nine

pandemics were not as lethal. -- this is a virus we need to be concerned about. the numbers, whether it is cases or deaths are likely underestimates. this is important. is there isd here no reason. nobody benefits from trying to cause unnecessary concern. we want each other to be healthy. what public health tells us is that we need to follow some basic evidence-based practices and we can all do that together and to get through this faster and stronger. medical advisor at the bipartisan policy center. thank you for your time this morning. that will do it for us this morning on the washington journal. stay with us here on c-span. we will take you over to the

supreme court which is set to begin oral arguments via teleconference on the decades-old legal battle between oracle and google over software rights. that is set to begin in just a minute. >> associate justices of the supreme court of the united states. all persons having business supremehe honorable court of the united states are admonished to give their attention for the court is now sitting. god save the united states and this honorable court. [gavel] >> we will hear an argument in oracle.. mr. goldstein? the murderin doctrine resolved of the copyright ability question in this case.