c-span.org/coronavirus. on wednesday,live the house returns at 10 neglect a.m. -- 10:00 a.m. eastern to vote on a one-week federal spending measure while negotiations continue on a full funding bill on c-span. on c-span two, the senate works on several nominations to the fec. later, a resolution blocking arms sales to the united arab emirates. a.m., the at 10:00 veterans affairs committee holds an hearing into the coronavirus response. future ofiscusses the the democratic party and congressional news of the day, including the government funding deadline and efforts to compromise on covid-19 legislation.

alabama a.m., representative mo brooks on his plan to challenge the electoral college vote tally. and georgetown university medical center's dr. jesse goodman, former chief scientist at the fda, discussing the covid-19 vaccine approval process. ♪ host: is wednesday, december 9, 2020. momentum built yesterday for a nearly $1 trillion economic aid package. as the outlines of that deal come together, it remains clear whether another around -- unclear whether another round of stimulus will be included. we are hearing from you on that issue. would you support another direct stimulus payment and what would another stimulus check mean for you right now? here is how we can split up our phone lines.

if you support another round of stimulus payments, (202) 748-8000 if you would not, (202) 748-8001. if you are unsure, (202) 748-8002. you can send us a text this morning. that number (202) 748-8003. if you do, include your name and where you are from. catch up on social media. on twitter, it is @cspanwj. on facebook, it is facebook.com/c-span. a good wednesday morning to you. you can start calling in as we turn to alex bolton of the hill onspaper, senior reporter, the latest negotiations on a new stimulus package. a couple wrinkles yesterday. hick ups through the new white house proposal that includes another round of stimulus checks. proposale white house is based on this bipartisan proposal that was unveiled last week.

it is slightly more. the bipartisan proposal last week was 908 billion dollars. this one would provide direct stimulus checks to people making up to a certain amount, less than 99 thousand dollars, if we use the benchmark in the cares act. the other big difference is there is much less unemployment benefit supplement. the bipartisan plan would --vide 30 dollars0 $300 a week in supplements, whereas this provides only a fraction. the bipartisan bill last week was $180 billion. million.nly $40 that is something speaker nancy pelosi and chuck schumer called out as unacceptable. another key point of similarity

between the bipartisan proposal last week and the proposal from mnuchin last night is that it would provide 100 $60 billion in additional federal aid to state and local governments, which is , top priority of the democrats and also robust liability protections for organizations for -- from coronavirus related lawsuits. the proposal that came out last week proposed only a six-month moratorium on coronavirus related mitigation. mitch has said he is pushing something more robust. that is a big sticking point with the democrats, who say it would basically give liability immunity unreasonably to corporations and it is something that, in particular, senators bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, and a couple others

highlighted as a major problem when they wrote an open letter to their colleagues yesterday, in which they called for another round of stimulus checks, $1200 stimulus checks. so there are lots of moving parts here. different folks agree with different folks on different elements, which makes it all challenging to put this together by either the end of the week or the end of this week if congress passes the stopgap to keep the government funded another week. host: the white house proposal, why that trade-off? why give the $600 in stimulus payments but take away what was in the bipartisan proposal, the extra money for unemployment, or at least lower that? i spoke to republican senator's yesterday about the bipartisan -- republican senators yesterday about the bipartisan proposal. they think it is important to keep the total size of

this package below $1 trillion. that is a key commonality between the bipartisan proposal last week and a white mnuchin put out last night. both are under that $1 trillion threshold. i think what senate republicans are concerned about is the sticker shock of another trillion dollar package. they are going to put in six or dollars stimulus checks for people. said that was going to cost about $150 billion. you need to find some savings elsewhere. they are taking it out of unemployment. side note, the proposal that mitch mcconnell worked out with the white house and mccarthy and he unveiled last week did not have additional unemployment insurance, so there is a commonality with republicans. that democrats

say this is a high-priority. they prefer that money going to unemployment assistance and not just indiscriminate stimulus checks. host: for a dive into this, a good place you can go is thehill.com. the headline, pelosi and schumer hit trump, progress with covid relief talks. what he watching today? give us the expected timeline if this deal is expected to come together. guest: what i think is interesting is what appears to be a lack of coordination between senate majority leader mcconnell in the white house. mcconnell came out around 2:00 on tuesday and said, look, why don't we just drop the state and local assistance and the

corporate liability protections, which also would cover businesses and churches and other organizations. those of the two most contentious issues. let's drop that, focus on the things we agree on, a new round of small business loans, money for vaccine distribution, resources for health care providers. he was trying to shrink it down. hours later, mnuchin comes out with a proposal that includes those two things, state and local aid and liability protection, that mcconnell proposed dropping and it is a package larger than what mcconnell was talking about. i think that created a buzz on capitol hill amongst the press, wanting to know, are these guys talking to each other? is mcconnell fully supportive of this new white house proposal? what i will be looking for today is where are the key republican players? are they on the same team? that's going to be critical in determining what is the timeline here.

so i think what the expectation has been is that when the over a threes month stopgap funding measure, a coronavirus bill would be attached to that. the question is how big is that deal going to be? it looks like there will not be time to get this done by friday, which is when the current government funding authorization runs out. that is expected to be prolonged taking them until december 18. the expectation is to get this all put together by next friday, but a lot of things would have to happen and, right now, a lot of folks are not on the same page. it would be a heavy lift to get this all done by next friday. on the other hand, there is tremendous desire and pressure on congress to get something done after months of failed

negotiations. host: you people know the ins and outs of congressional negotiations. you can find him on twitter. alexander bolden. -- bolton. thank you. guest: thank you for having me. host: we are talking about those direct stimulus payments. phone lines if you do, don't, not sure. we put those numbers on your screen. maurice, who does not. you first. i support it. we should have something like that because we do not have much .ood, much to eat so i support this stimulus

check. mean fort would $600 you and your family right now, maurice? caller: right now, it would help somewhat. not like the first one, but i would appreciate that. host: what would you do with it, maurice? caller: i would help pay some of my bills. that is mostly what i would do. and by some food. host: thank you for the call. out of kenansville, maryland, jackie, good morning. you are next. -- jackson, good morning. your next. are you with us? got to stick by your phone. you support00 if another direct stimulus payment, (202) 748-8001 if you don't, (202) 748-8002 if you are not sure. also texts, comments. here's a text from louis -- my

family does not need it. i don't know anyone who did. open up the economy and nobody will need it. mary -- for the unemployed and those making $75,000 a year or less, yes. essential worker should get hazard pay and access to free medical care if they contract the virus. todd on facebook -- $1200 is a joke. it should be a minimum $3000. right now we are talking about $6,000. john is saying -- we can get money from that magic money tree. doesn't anyone care about national debt? some comments. asking you if you support another round of direct stimulus payments. as alex bolton pointed out, this a topic on capitol hill. this was house democratic caucus chairman -- the house democratic caucus chair men yesterday.

here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> bipartisan framework discussed in the senate along senate is a foundation for a path forward. several members of the house democratic caucus chair as well as several republican senators have expressed an interest in someing that there are form of direct payments in this package. the problem, of course, as it has always been, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, dr. no, along with president trump, who is missing in action while the american people suffer. so it remains to be seen what will take place. it is important that the framework does include housing assistance for everyday americans, food insecurity assistance for everyday

americans, as well as a continuation of unemployment insurance benefits for everyday americans. that is a solid foundation to build upon. we will see what happens over the next days. there, onem jeffries house members of the their credit leadership -- house democratic leadership. framework or the the base framework that some of these other issues have been added to. of note, that $908 billion bipartisan proposal did not include another round of direct stimulus payments, but did include things like funding for small businesses, schools, health care, transit authorities to help with student loans, an additional $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits that would last for four months, funding for state and local governments. wanted to let you know one of

the reasons why there has been so much momentum around this wanted to let you know one of the reasons why there has been so much momentum around this. this.und it is the so-called benefits clip. programs set to expire by the end of this month, including an on a plum and insurance, student loan forbearance, eviction moratoriums, money running out were expiring. -- or expiring. that is why there has been so much momentum on capitol hill to find a deal to pick up where these programs are leaving off. tommy is next out of redondo beach, california on that line for those who would support new direct stimulus payments. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: caller: i wanted to say i support this regulation. i am not sure exactly how you get it or whatnot, but i think

in general it is very important for the global good of people who are unemployed and whatnot and cannot find a job right. our economy is stuck at the moment. host: two different things we are talking about. there is the additional $300 a week for people who are unemployed specifically to help with benefits that are running out. the other aspect of this is that direct stimulus check that everyone would get as long as you are below a certain income level. that would go to everyone who is qualified. it would not have to be unemployed for that. -- you would not have to be unemployed for that. do you support that idea? caller: good question. i think so. let's put it this way real quick. i was listening to am radio yesterday, driving around. they are based out of san diego.

i had no idea that suicide rates were through the roof as a result of covid-19, so maybe this will help things out and whatnot. i really don't know. but in general, i think so. i think a lot of people are hurting right now. i think a lot of people are suffering. and some people are better off and whatnot than others, if they are unemployed and whatnot, but like i said, i personally think that, you know, if we could push for something like that, then, you know, i think we could be better off, but i am really -- i am hard-pressed because i'm not sure how this would add to the national debt. i am sure it would go up, obviously. host: a reminder that the expectation from that first round of stimulus payments after the ones that were in the cares act package back in march and

paid out over the coming months expected to eventually cost some $300 billion. those were the $1200 payments that went out to people who qualified, mostly single people making less than $75,000 a year, households making less than $150,000 a year. there was a sliding scale after that, but it was based on adjusted income on your taxes. that is expected to cost $300 billion. the national debt is at $27 trillion. ken, san diego, california, would not support another round of direct stimulus. ken, why not? caller: hi. thanks for taking my call. i called in on the not sure line . is itason i am not sure seems like speaker pelosi and

the congress are constantly putting in unrelated pork spending, but my real question for washington journal is why aren't you covering election integrity every day, and incific the new taxes -- lawsuit?the new texas what do you think? host: stick around. very much a part of today's discussion. we are joined by mo brooks of alabama. he has challenged -- promised to challenge the election results when they get to congress in january. thanks for bringing it up. plenty of articles about the election. this is the lede in the washington times. "trump throwing a hail mary to block biden election."

"trump called on the supreme court to have the courage to intervene as his republican allies sued four swing states in what was described as a hail mary effort to prevent states from casting electoral votes for presumptive president-elect joe biden. the supreme court rejecting another case on tuesday in which republicans sought to overturn the certification of the election for biden. that lawsuit claimed that pennsylvania's legislature did not legally enact a law to expand mail-in voting during the pandemic. separately, the arizona supreme court dealt another blow to the president by rejecting a lawsuit from the state's republican party chairwoman claiming fraud." plenty of moving parts on that front. something we will cover starting at 8:30 a.m. eastern with congressman mo brooks. deborah is next, louisville,

kentucky. we lost that caller. carol is on that line for those who do not support. carol, go ahead. caller: good morning. one of the reasons i do not support more stimulus is because, first of all, the politicians do nothing but argue. they want to stick into these bills are pet projects. and nancy pelosi a good example of that. she supports things that have nothing to do with trying to help people out. the other thing is i think that there are an awful lot of people who call into your program and they are asking for money, they need more money, they think the government should give them more money. i would like to know the percentage of these people who are already dependent on the governor one way or the other. i agree with the previous caller. if the biden administration

wants to do anything, they should encourage people to get to work and get a job and support this economy. what people don't realize is our taxes are going to go up, because this has to be paid for. so just get ready. they are going to get taxes out of you. your services are going to go up, clothes, food, everything else. it may be coming out of your paycheck, but they will be getting it in other ways. host: can i ask, did you get a stimulus check? caller: no. and i'm not asking for it because i do not need it. i think there is an example of tom brady getting $1 million stimulus checks. i don't know the details, but that is disgraceful. the people who do not need it, should not get it. host: where would you draw the line at people who do not need it and people who do need it? is there an income level?

caller: i think the income level 60,000 dollars a year, providing they have a job. we are losing people. the mortality rate is going up in other ways, not just from covid. host: that previous round of stimulus checks try to -- tried to target the cut off at about $75,000 per single persons. of course, there was a sliding scale after that, smaller checks for people who made above that amount. there is also the $500 stimulus that went out for each qualifying child for people in those households. all part of the cares act. all part of those $1200 payments 160 went out to about million households over the

spring, summer, and those checks going out even into the fall. some reports about people who still have not received those checks. ken is next in dundee, florida. what support another direct stimulus payment. good morning. caller: good morning. , we had alook at it $1200 stimulus check. the democrats are filling their pockets with lobbyist money. and backroom deals. bunchre the crookedest that ever was. they all need to be removed from office. host: this $600 proposal came from the white house. was treasury secretary steven mnuchin's counteroffer in the package that came out yesterday. a bipartisan bill, a group of democrats and republicans, came in with a plan that did not include direct stimulus payments.

this is the white house counterproposal. caller: and joe biden is the biggest joke that ever walked. he's a joke. host: that's ken in florida. this is a in california on the line for those who are not sure. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to make a comment. everyone is bashing on nancy pelosi and biden. what about trump? he is the biggest liar on the disgrace to our and mytional countries, question was that i would support -- and the reason i said i am not sure is because the republicans want to put a poison pill to protect businesses, you the --

host: the liability protection? caller: yeah, the liability. i am not calling because i do not, as that other client called, i do not want to have any additional payments. that's not the problem. are in texas that and it just all over the country of people that are hungry, lines that are unbelievable, and i don't understand how people --and what happened to compassion, and empathy for those that do not have? host: that is anita in california this morning. speaking of congressional republicans, it was senate majority leader mitch mcconnell who came out after the tuesday lunches yesterday to talk about the republican position on this negotiation. did not mention direct payments specifically, but did mention that idea of liability

protection along with the issue of additional funds for state and local governments. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> let me say this about liability protection. this is not just about businesses. it isabout universities, about charities and others who see this developing epidemic of lawsuits heading their way. and it is not total immunity. it would not protect you if you were grossly negligent or engaged in intentional misbehavior, but if you weren't, this is a one time liability relief related to a once in a hundred year pandemic that kicks in for a period of time and then goes away. we cannot get the economy back to normal if we have an epidemic of lawsuits on the heels of the pandemic. it simply won't make it

possible for us to get back to normal. with regard to state and local, a lot of members on our side look at the various states that received $150 billion we did in the cares act and wonder if this is demonstrable need. so what is the way forward? we know the new administration is going to be asking for another package. what i recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local and pass those things we can agree on, knowing full well we will be back at this after the first of the year. host: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday on capitol hill. as we heard from alex bolton earlier, it was just hours after that that the trump administration proposed their new coronavirus relief bill, based mostly on that bipartisan proposal, but with important additions, and a higher price tag.

one of those additions -- $600 in stimulus checks for americans. and that is what we are asking about this morning. would you support another direct stimulus payment? it is (202) 748-8000 if you do. (202) 748-8001 if you do not. and if you are not sure, (202) 748-8002. a couple more comets from social media and our text messaging service. california,sfield, saying, i support more stimulus for people, not corporate welfare queens. pay attention, people. when it gets bad, they will bailout corporations again. anything thatort puts money in the hands of regular folks and takes away from the trillions funneled into corporate welfare every year. having the working people of this nation constantly living in fear, begging, and being kicked in the teeth is the real national security threat.

john -- our economy is based on consumption. when people stop spending, jobs are affected. one from conway, saying i do not support the term stimulus when the funding is emergency funding. is the fed still buying corporate bonds? republicans love socialism for the rich and corporations, just not the poor or middle class. that from your text service and social media -- our tech service and social media. on the phone, you are not sure. go ahead. caller: i do not support the $600 stimulus checks. i support the people that need the unemployment to get more. i mean, i don't see how they make it. didn't they say it was $100 a week? ursula, if this bipartisan

bill were to pass, they are talking about something in the area of 300 additional dollars a month for those who are unemployed. you are saying you would support that over stimulus checks for everyone. caller: i support $300. no, i don't support the stimulus. i don't. security, but i have made it so far, so i don't support that. that is a poison pill to keep those people from getting there unemployment. -- their unemployment. thank you. host: ursula in little rock in the natural state. we will head to the beehive state, salt lake city. this is eugene. good morning. caller: good morning. i do support the stimulus payments. i liked what the one lady said it, up to $80,000 to $100,000.

i get a big enough check that i do not need any extra help, but i know other people that are under $1000 a month that are in real trouble. in the corporate welfare has to go. -- and the corporate welfare has to go. money intoo inject the economy and not into wealthy people's bank accounts again. and then the last comment that i was is that this pandemic released on us and now they don't want to do anything about it. that is all i have to say. host: what do you mean by that, they don't want to do anything about it? caller: first of all, it was released. they didn't do anything about it. it is all ok. don't worry about it. it will be over by the summer. none of the senators -- i mean, most of the republicans, i feel,

they let the president do all this to us, release the pandemic on us, killed almost 300,000 americans, and now they do not want to throw him a lifeline. salons,usinesses, hair they have $10 million loan payments. and none of it went to the employees. suck thet went to help air out of whatever. it just went into their bank accounts. host: eugene out of salt lake city, utah. the death toll at this point somewhere around 285,000 americans dead, some 15 millions have been infected so far. -- 15 million americans have been infected so far. yesterday, joe biden introducing his health team in an ongoing effort to roll out his appointments. he talked about his biggest

priorities when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic and the effort to return america back to what it was before the pandemic. this is the president-elect. [video clip] >> we need congress to finish the bipartisan work underway now for millions of americans. before millions of americans have to wait months longer to get the vaccine than they would otherwise have to wait to get the vaccine. and we will have to wait until next year to fund the rest of the distribution efforts. the trump administration should act now and swiftly to scale manufacturing for u.s. populations and the world. this can be fixed. if it is fixed, my team will be able to get at least 100 million vaccinations done in my first 100 days.

the third thing i'm going to ask in the 100 days. it should be a national priority to get our kids back into school and keep them in school. if congress provides the funding we need to protect students, educators, and staff, if states and cities put strong public health measures in place that we my team willhen work to see that the majority of schools can be opened by the end of my first 100 days. that's right. we will look to have the most schools open that we can the first 100 days if congress provides the funding we need. it is not a secret how to do it. masking, vaccinations, opening schools. these are the three key goals for my first 100 days. i will still have much to do in the year ahead. and sadly, much difficulty as well.

far, far from done. host: president-elect joe biden yesterday. it was something of a split screen moment yesterday. president trump holding an event at the white house, touting the administration's efforts to develop vaccines and addressing prioritization. this is the president yesterday. [video clip] >> it has been incredible and it will end the pandemic. we are working with other nations, as you see by looking at your screen today. we are working closely with other nations also to get the vaccines out to other nations. and it is very important. we work with the world. we are working with the world. we have great companies and we are working with the world. in a few hours, i will sign an executive order that the united states government prioritizes getting the vaccine to americans before other nations. if necessary, we will invoke the

defense production act, but we don't think it will be necessary. if it is, it is a very powerful act, as you know, because we have used it successfully. while he began to swiftly deploy the vaccine -- we begin to swiftly deploy the vaccine, we april,ntinue -- since treatments have reduced the mortality rate by 85%. host: that was president trump. we are asking whether you would support another direct stimulus payment to americans. chris does not out of alexandria, virginia. chris, go ahead. caller: good morning. orm against this stimulus so-called stimulus payments. i am against bailouts generally. i am against bailouts for banks. i am against bailouts for corporations. the ppp. we need to become a nation of

bankers. -- we are going to become a nation of bankers, going hat in hand to the government in an emergency saying, we need bailouts. we have the student loan bailouts, politicians who do not want to hold people accountable for their decisions. what about those people who had planned, had emergency funds? i'm not going to the government, asking, hey, i need $1200 to do whatever. host: did you get one of those checks in the spring? caller: i don't believe that i did. if everyone got one, i guess i got one. i don't think that i did, though. but we need to be -- we need to be adult about this. if people did not plan and they do not have a backup, they cannot just expect the government to bail us out. it is turning the culture into a

nation of dependents. i mean, i remember when i was a kid. there was a stigma attached to that. , somethingoyment some people think they are entitled to. we have lost that stigma of getting things from the government and that is a pity. host: chris from virginia. this is henry from mount lebanon, pennsylvania -- if they want to give me free money, i will take it. that terry. harry.'s another comment -- it is our money, so there is no reason the government should withhold it from us. i guarantee the people of this country would prefer the money

to go to the taxpayers rather than corporations and airlines. this is rachel, amherst, massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i do support it. we sure could use it. this household subsists on a lot less than $1000 a month and it is hard. anybody who has never done it and who looks down on people who do it or wants to reinstate a stigma against it should try it for a while and see what it feels like to get $1200. important thing that i did not hear anything about it until yesterday in the news. i thought they were not going to send anything to the people at the bottom of the economic hierarchy, and i did not expect anything. i still don't know whether to hold my breath or not.

host: rachel, the latest proposal, $600 is obviously less than the $1200 that was approved back in the cares act, but what would $600 mean for your household right now? it would mean that a credit card we foolishly took out years ago hoping to help a child get married will go away and stop eating so much of our income away every month. it will make a difference. it will help. host: rachel, thanks for the call. this is ron in michigan. good morning. . you are next. caller: it is interesting to listen to the c-span because of the different way people express their opinion. i am an independent. i voted for trump and i am not going to get into negatives about what he did.

if the american public cannot understand what he did, then we need a better educational system. and i am a retired teacher, taught my students to respect all levels of government and to do more research into what is right and what is wrong. i only have two things to say here. people complained about the government -- complaining about the government, call them up. if people are too complacent, then you can only bring yourself -- blame yourself for the problems that exist. i do agree with the stimulus check. even though i didn't need it, i did receive one. i spent 60% of that money on local people who needed help with financials and food. and the rest i did spend on myself, obviously. thesecond thing is i think government should issue debit cards.

they keep on complaining about people who are fraudulent and that, well, issue a debit card. but a timeframe on that debit card and if you do not use it by that timeframe and that local area, then it will expire. -- in the local area, then it will expire. i agree that with the people who need help -- i live in an area that is relatively rich, but we have people in the outlying area who do need money. i think probably the american public has to wake up to the fact that we live in the democracy. we have a voice. pickup your phone, call your representative, tell them what you think. they will listen. host: mike, before you go. you are a retired teacher. the next generation, the kids coming up today, do you think they are too complacent? caller: i have two grandchildren. and every week, if not every day

when i talk to them, i explained to them the situations that are going on just like i would in a classroom with teachers. i do that in large part because i tell them you are the only ones who can make a decision. i will not force you to make a decision, but use the information that you have, apply your knowledge, and do what is necessary to uphold the values of our society. we have come along way. this is a great country. people don't realize. perhaps you have seen people in africa and parts of asia who are living on peanuts. i mean, literally peanuts. and here in this country, when i can walk down the street with an apple on my hand, people died for that. we have to change our attitudes in this country. let's not look at trump. he is gone. he's out of the picture. we have to support biden in whatever way we can, but i want to ready rate -- to reiterate,

pick up your phone, call your representative, expressed your opinion -- and express your opinion in a positive way. host: rua history teacher? -- are you a history teacher? caller: science and world history. i cann a position where recognize a lot of downtrends in our society. i am 79 years old. i really enjoy everything i have done in my entire life as a that,r, but i am afraid kidsme way, i have lost my in the past because of the decisions we are making now. a lot of elderly people better look at what is going on in this country and to stand up and help your children out, your grandchildren outcome it

explained to them what is going on. -- grandchildren out, and explain to them what is going on. we live in a country that nobody can duplicate, except for maybe the scandinavian countries. let's make our telephone calls, recommend what you feel is proper, and let them make a decision. i can express my opinion to washington, just like i do for the locals here, you know? if i have an opinion, i go to my local government and i explained to them. i will not change anybody's mind. i want them to understand what i'm trying to say. host: thank you. eric is next out of columbus, georgia. good morning. caller: hello, sir. thank you for taking my call. i do support the stimulus. mainly because, one, i feel that everyone can always use money.

caller, aou had a nice lady that called some time ago, and i was thinking this too. i have been thinking this for a while, wondering this, even though i did not vote for trump the first time, but i did the second time, when he did all the stuff with the taxes, all his friends and everybody who got money, i was wondering where does that money come from? at some point, there is a bill we all have to pay. i want everyone that is listening to kind of know all we are doing is talking. none of us can really change any of this stuff. these people are making the decisions and i do not trust them. you know, i received a stimulus check the first time. i used it. i could use the money this time. you can always use extra money, but i am always afraid that, at

some point -- the nice lady, i did not even think about it until she said it -- the money will be extracted from us, and probably crazy inflation. hearnk that, you know, you sometimes your grandkids are going to have to pay for that, but i think this will happen in our lifetimes. host: that is eric in georgia. the u.s. national debt $24 trillion and counting. that is the u.s. debt clock. c-span's viewers familiar with that website. frank is in palm beach, florida on that line for those who are not sure. good morning. caller: good morning. i am definitely against the stimulus. we, my wife and i, are both retired and we live strictly on social security. and anybody on social security should be able to get by, not handsomely, but we should be able to get by, so to spend more

government money is not the right thing to do. and i have something to say about two callers ago. you had a teacher on and he obviously was against biden and for trump. and trump, as everyone knows -- host: i'm not sure he said who he is for or against. caller: i am against the stimulus of $600. host: i'm talking about the previous caller. i'm not sure he specifically said who he is for or against. caller: that caller, it was a teacher, spoke out of turn against biden and for trump, who obviously has not accomplished anything good for the people of the united states. that's really all i have to say. host: frank in florida. to the lone star state. in houston, lynn, good morning.

caller: thank you for taking my call. first of all, thank you, president trump forgetting the virus vaccine out to everyone. i am retired. i am 73 years old. i am for the stimulus with the caveat. -- with a caveat. anyone who is already a government employee or whose job who hastaken a hit and [no audio]y -- host: -- additional support for

the unemployed versus a check for everyone that qualifies under a certain gross income level? caller: i am for the people who are currently unemployed. people, if they have taken a significant pay cut and they cannot make their rent or essential living expenses, they should get a supplement, but this should not go on for long, maybe three months. again, what others need the most is people who have job security ad infinitum, who are government employees, and who do not have to feel any pain. that's not right. even though i am on so security, my husband and i have worked our fingers to the bone and saw a lot of insecurity and pain

through the years and have saved and saved, and that we do live comfortably, but it was not that way when we were younger. we have to get back to this notion that the government is not going to be taking care of us from cradle-to-grave -- socialism. we need to plan our own lives and have some independence. that is my philosophy. i am in old-fashioned kind of a person. we take care of her selves. the government does not take care of us. in texas thislynn morning. we are talking about another direct stimulus check. senator bernie sanders very much in favor of stimulus checks. this was senator sanders on msnbc yesterday. [video clip] >> we are looking at the worst economic downturn since the great depression. we are talking about tens of millions of people who are either unemployed, working at

starvation wage jobs, they have no health insurance, they are worried about being evicted. we are seeing hunger at a higher level in america than we have in many decades. so to me, it is kind of a no-brainer that we have got to do what we did in the original and say to every working family in america that we are going to provide another $1200 direct payment plus $500 for their children. this is what working families desperately need, and it will be a stimulus forgetting getting our economy back on its feet. -- for getting our economy back on their -- on its feet. host: senator bernie sanders there. we are asking you whether you want another direct stimulus payment. keep calling in. some of the other issues taking

place today on capitol hill, events you can watch here on the c-span networks, including, this morning, government officials will testify on the veterans affairs department response to the pandemic. live coverage beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span.org, and the c-span radio app. has fired or suspended 14 leaders at fort hood as a result of an independent review of sexual harassment and assaults at the base. people will testify today before the house armed services committee's military personnel subcommittee. you can watch that live at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, c-span.org, and listen on the radio app. tomorrow, the fda will host a virtual open meeting to discuss the emergency use authorization for pfizer's covid-19 vaccine. watch that live starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3,

c-span.org, and the free c-span radio app. on that latter topic, it is a subject we will take up today in our 9:00 a.m. eastern hour. we will be joined by dr. jesse goodman, former chief scientist for the fda, to walk us through that process of vaccine approval, what's involved in it, sort of to give you a preview of what is going to happen tomorrow and what to watch for. so stick around for that coming up in about an hour. back to calls. this is jeanette from tennessee, that line for those who would support another direct stimulus payment. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, ma'am. caller: yes, i do support another stimulus check. it needs to be more than $1200. i believe it should be at least $5,000 because we have been waiting for months. people are hungry.

i am going through a church line every other day because i do not have any food. in $1200 is not enough. it is not enough. people need at least $5,000 so people can get on their feet again. host: what $5,000 get you on your feet again -- would $5,000 get you on your feet again? caller: yes it would. i don't get enough social security. and this pandemic, people are dying from it, and they are not able to work. yes, i support it. i really do. $1200 is not enough. it is not going to take care of your bills and feed your family and keep the lights on and keep the rent paid. you cannot do this with $1200. host: jeanette in memphis. mike in springfield, massachusetts, go ahead.

caller: i definitely support the stimulus plan. i think it is overdue for millions and millions of people, but i also would like to take it one step further. i think the time has come where we need to have our elected officials look at what are the chances in america, because of the way our economy has changed and so many of our good paying jobs have left or are automated by robots and are never coming back, what are our chances of getting a guaranteed annual income to become accepted in this country? right now -- host: what do you think the chances are of that? caller: right now, they are not very good, but it is something we are going to have -- somewhere in the future, maybe in the near future, if we do not

see a lot of positive change in our economy, we are going to have to look at it. right now, we have more people than any country on earth per capita in prison. we have a huge underclass. and a lot of people do not have the benefits they used to have. you once could go work for a company and spend your life with the company. things change drastically. a lot of the new jobs that have been created do not have the same pay and benefits that the other ones had. so as much of a longshot shot as it is right now, and a lot of people probably are laughing and say you can forget that idea, you never know. it could become a way of life in the future. host: mike in massachusetts. this is joe in the wolverine state. pronounce your city for me. .aller: i live in tenchlow

it used to be an air force base. host: i will remember that. caller: a couple points. i do support it. i do not support the republicans wanting that liability protection. obviously, what they are saying is it is not safe enough to go out to these businesses, because if you need protection for these businesses, then obviously does not safe. the other thing i do not agree for as the $300 extra week for unemployment. what i agree with is that the federal government should make up the difference of what they would not be making on their unemployment. you should not be giving more money for this pandemic, but you shouldn't be giving less. you should probably be giving equal. -- you talk about the host: what if it is somebody

with a $100,000 a year job versus somebody with a $35,000 a year job? do you think they should be paid up to what they were making before? caller: to my next point, you are talking about the lowest amount that qualifies for that stimulus. in my opinion, there should be a set amount. most of the people that are making unemployment are not really the high-paying jobs, they are the low-paying jobs. like you said, the waitresses and the bartenders and those kind of people. weekou are making $1000 a and they give you $800 a week for your unemployment. i'm just using numbers. you would be making $1100 or more. your conversation months ago

with people not wanting to go back to work because of that, but if they were actually making the amount that they were prior, then i would think that people would go back to work once caller: -- host: i want to give others the chance, we have a few more in its to take phone calls. several folks are waiting. in virginia, you are next on the line for those who would suit a direct stimulus payment. caller: i do support another stimulus payment. is it shouldo say be for people under $50,000. on $50,000, live there is a serious problem.

it should be for people who are for under $50,000. security, icial only make $1100 a month. because i live on social security, i can't get unemployment. i am struggling. yeah, i should get a stimulus check. make $50,000, who $70,000, they should be able to get the check. host: what would $600 mean for you right now? caller: it would be able to help me pay my rent, help me pay my electric bill, help me get my five-year-old daughter christmas. i have to go to the salvation army to get help for my

daughter's christmas. i will be lucky if she has three present. just so i can have a roof over my head. i won't be able to collect unemployment. i appreciate your call. segment,caller in this stick around, though. two members of congress will be around to take your phone calls. ryan to talk about the democratic party and looming shutdowns. republican mo brooks will be here to discuss his plans to challenge the vote tally when congress certifies the results are generally sixth. 6.on january

we will be right back. ♪ >> the 2000 resident show contest between george w. bush and al gore, saturday morning at the 8:30 eastern, we look back at the election. book "bushr's of the v gore", the commentary. watch it live saturday at 8:30 eastern on american history tv on c-span3 and washington journal -- "washington journal." >> washington journal continues. host: tim ryan is back with us joining us here zoom. he is a member of the house appropriations committee. explain where we are on avoiding a shutdown friday night and what it is going to take to get a

deal in the days to come. guest: hopefully we will pass a resolution that will keep the government open until december 18. we will go from there and have another week or more to plan this out -- to hammer this out. i think we will get everything done and get the pandemic package done as well and hopefully relieve the pressure the last caller was talking about. i'm getting calls like that all the time. i am getting text messages from people in that same position. obligation tol help those people. host: that last caller was on the line for people who support a direct stimulus payment as part of this package. is that something you support? do you see that making it into the final legislation? guest: i support that. quite frankly, we need a direct

payment that is monthly until we get out of this mess. we have so many people that aren't going on unemployment. if you are a waitress or a waiter or a bartender at a local restaurant, you are still working. you are not unemployed. but you are making about half if not less of what you were making. these are single moms, working-class people. helpfulect payment is for them to close that gap little bit to pay rent or meet the mortgage. original package in may we passed and sent to the senate. i am hearing that a lot of republicans and mitch mcconnell do not want a direct payment. we will see how those negotiations work out. the goal here really is to stabilize these families. we don't want to have millions of american families in june when the vaccine is out,

everyone is getting it and we have bent the curve or are moving heard immunity or on the other side of the pandemic. now we have millions of americans who have filed bankruptcy or destroyed their credit. that is not a recipe for success. these are disciplined people who have done everything right and yet they are being treated unfairly. i think we have any obligation to help them and the direct payment would be a direct shot them to be able to stabilize their own situation and have christmas with their kids. we should be bighearted in america enough to do that. host: that package you talk about sending to the senate, you're talking about the heroes at? guest: yes. that was a one-shot deal of $1200. we are supporting a $2000 direct

payment until we get out of this mess. we have been pushing this for a while. i think that direct payment would be the best way to stabilize things. it could go until may or june. we would no longer have situations like the one that woman is in trying to buy a christmas gift or her kid. she would be stabilized, she would get a couple thousand dollars a month into we get out of this. that would be the most efficient way to do this. we are trying to get support from conservatives that are saying the direct payment is better than unemployment benefits where you go to the state and it has been a nightmare for so many people trying to get on unemployment. these systems are integrated. it has pulled the veil back on how broken the government is whether it is a republican administration or a democratic administration. we need a reinventing government project in the u.s. whether it is around

distribution benefits or employment. --jump through so many hoops businesses who have not done anything wrong yet trying to interact with the government is a nightmare. levelraising the anxiety of many americans because the government is dysfunctional. we have got to get to work on that. to have an inefficient government in a time of crisis is a recipe for disaster. host: congressman tim ryan with this come out of the 13th district in ohio. he often gives us the view from the view from akron area. republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. this is sylvia out of memphis, the.

-- memphis, democrat. good morning. anyone did everyone or get that trump is still sitting president? why are they debating about what joe biden is doing? until he takes office, he can only stand by and watch. and as far as trump talking about the wonderful things he has done, as far as i know the fda has not approved any vaccine to be administered to any american citizen. the only one who is doing that is the u.k. wears all information he is seeing coming from -- where is all the information he is seeing coming from? guest: we are in that gray area. the president is not acting like he wants to be president. other than a press conference here or there to try to push the

incoming president out of the news cycle or at least capture sometime in the news cycle. things are progressing with the vaccine. the fda is beginning the approval process for many of these vaccines which is lightning speed. we have got to continue to support that and focus on distribution which joe biden was so articulate about yesterday. he has a great team around him. the politics need to fade away here. president trump is president but joe biden is laying out a comprehensive plan on how to get these vaccines to the american people weekly. host: a note for that viewer and others, the fda's open meeting to discuss emergency use authorization for pfizer's vaccine is tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern and you can watch it re-on c-span3,

c-span.org, or the free c-span app. this is janine out of decatur. caller: good morning. i have good news, none of these teenage boys have committed suicide. host: what you mean? caller: when i called earlier and talked to the psychologist and talked about how suicidal they had gotten because they could not go to college, didn't have money, didn't have a job, i just want you to know if they are doing well. host: this was one of your previous calls? caller: yes or. -- yes sir. host: thank you for the update. caller: congressman ryan, i noticed a sign behind the about the women's memorial bridge.

i'm a disabled veteran from the war. i don't want generic answer i always get. my congressman is mo brooks. he is coming on after you. i have called every office about my problem. with the health care my son had. once they graduate, if they don't go to college, and then if they don't go to college it cuts off at age 23 and they are always behind. i just got the affordable care act permission to buy blue cross blue shield through alabama. which i thinkonth is ridiculous. in the war, they still would have dropped his insurance. all i have been asking for is a

change in the school requirement and bump the age up to the age of 36 like they did in the affordable care act. on the affordable care act, toerans were put on page -- update the systems between the v.a. and dod. host: thank you for bringing your story of. congressman ryan, do you want to respond? caller: -- caseworkat is a situation. you have to go through your congressperson because my staff is overwhelmed with the 700,000 people we represent. i will mention to congressman brooks that you called and we will get your name and make sure your staff connects with you -- and make sure his staff connects with you. issues yoular

mentioned we want to get addressed. you certainly serve the country and let's try to work it out. that brings up affordable health care, there are people doing everything right. we want to make sure we prevent illness and keep costs under control for the health care system so businesses and government's get overwhelmed. -- and the government doesn't get overwhelmed. we need to make sure people can take care of themselves and prevent illnesses out there. we need to expand health care coverage and make sure it is affordable for people playing hard and playing by the rules -- working hard and playing by the rules. it is important to expand the affordable care act, not destroy it. host: congressman mo brooks is coming on to talk about the plan to challenge the electoral college results.

i wonder your thoughts on that effort? . i have a brother-in-law and sister-in-law in decatur, alabama. we have been down there visiting so it is a beautiful area and i know congressman brooks represents that area. senseoesn't make a lot of to do this. there is really no evidence. i know people are upset, i was we left ohio when and george w. bush won and there were rumors among democrats that the election was stolen and that the voting machines were rick. -- were rigged. i have played a lot of sports and you have heartbreaking games where you don't what to get out of bed the next morning. there are a lot of people

supportive of trump and it was a tough campaign ended tough lost. when you have republican judges appointed by trump that are writing scathing rulings to lawyers and the trump campaign about how there is no fraud -- to think about the vast conspiracy that would have to be in place in five or six key states with democrats and republicans all being in on it it and being in -- at the samecy time democrats get destroyed in races.ate this all happens while donald trump is the most powerful person in the country. he would not have found out about this?

is justice department would not have found out about this? -- his justice department would not have found out about this? we have got to move on. joe biden is probably the perfect person to heal the country. he has relationships with mitch mcconnell and others in the senate. we can take the temperature down , we can begin to heal the country and work on issues affecting all americans and making sure if you are out there working hard and by the rules, you are a disciplined person doing everything right, you will be rewarded. this economy will work for you and the health care system will work for you. there is plenty of common ground. let's bind those issues. i think what the congressman is for the not productive healing process we need to go through. he is free to do whatever he wants as sitting member of congress. i certainly don't agree with it.

it is not the right thing to do at this point. host: danny from missouri, a democrat. you are on with tim ryan. ryan.: thank you, rep. i think the children are the agitators. ont is your agenda progressing -- the children and and the health-care workers need to be taken care of. i particular time. -- i appreciate your time. guest: absolutely. i sent a letter to the house leadership making sure we don't have members of congress to jump in line to get the vaccine.

i think health-care workers need to be first in line to make that happen. i think that is ultimately the way it is going to be. in the heroes act that went to the senate on may 15 that we passed, we had in it hazard pay for frontline workers, including health care workers where they would get hazard pay rewarding the risk and effort they have taken on in the past several months. that is entirely appropriate. they are out there working on our behalf. we should be making sure we reward that effort. my wife is a first grade schoolteacher, we have a six-year-old in school, we have two teenagers that are in their senior and junior year. it is so complicated and tough on our teachers and parents trying to deal with homeschooling, virtual learning, trying to make sure kids have

access to the technology they have brought in -- to the technology. that they have broadband. we need to learn from this experience as we learn -- as we move forward. there are opportunities with education,irtual telemedicine. there are opportunities in those issues if we invest in broadband, especially in our rural communities. i think 30% of the kids in akron public schools did not have access to proper technology or access to the internet or wi-fi or whatever they would need to do virtual learning. it is not solely a rural issue. if you want to be competitive in the global economy, if you want to compete at the level we want to, we need to make sure our kids are confident, focused, and

disciplined. that they are getting the education they need. that when they leave that school, they are confident to go out and have a job or get a certification and be able to be free in the economic world, to be independent. that starts with education. that means we have to make sure our teachers are being taken care of, our kids are being taken care of, that they have the skills they need to go out and do that. a lot of that starts with investment in technology and making sure our schools are 21st-century schools that will allow us to compete with china, compete with india, compete with europe in a sophisticated way. that is going to take both democrats and republicans. host: less than 10 minutes left with cars been tim ryan. maryland, an independent.

caller: good morning. i have a brief comment. i think the men hit the nail on the head when he said we need to reinvent the government -- the man hit the nail on the head when he said we need to reinvent government. we are still trying to govern ourselves with the rules and regulations written 300 years landowners whote kept slaves and made money for themselves. our government is dysfunctional. if you can't see that, you have not been paying attention. that is all i want to say. this guy seems to know that. frustrating. i think what has happened since 1980, the backdrop for american political discourse has been how broken the government is.

the government can do anything right, the government is always wrong. that saidne party they don't want to get rid of the government, they just want it small enough to drown it. that is the republican approach. democrats would just defend the status quo. the underlying mission of the programs we are defending our but it doesn't mean the programs are working. i think we need to move into a new phase where we get the government working, where we use the technology, the metrics, artificial intelligence, new technologies we have. the government needs to use those to be serviced to the american people, to run a more

efficient, disciplined, focused government that is serving the needs of the people. whether it is education or people who have all in on hard times, it has been a disaster all over the country of people being able to get an unemployment check are in a pandemic. that is not what the american government should be like. it should be an efficient process, using technology. with a few clinics, you can get something delivered to your house in a matter of days through amazon or ups or whoever is delivering it. that happens in no time. you try to get an unemployment check and you almost miss your mortgage. this is something i hope the biden administration moves on. it is time for us to get this government up and running so they can be of service to the american people. host: i want to come back to

something you mentioned talking about the election. he said democrats were destroyed down bouts. -- nancy pelosi was selected to be speaker, the first vote in the next congress. challenged her in the past, why not challenge or this time in the wake of four performances in the 2020 cycle -- in the wake of poor performance is in the 2020 cycle? what happened there? guest: i think everything happened rather quickly. the bottom line is we have to get to grips with this as a party. we have a terrible brand. you can't sugarcoat it anymore. i was losing state senators and county commissioners in ohio down ballot that got destroyed.

the national democratic party brand is terrible. joe biden, fortunately, has his own brand. he has had a relationship with the american people for a long time. he ran as a democrat but kept saying i'm going to wreck -- i'm going to represent all americans. he has his own working-class brand. people trust him, he knows they understand what he is going through. he ran independent of other democrats. if you ask 10 people walking down the street what does the democratic already stand for, you will get 10 different answers. several maybe "i have no idea." partyd to get back to a of representing working-class people. democratsit was like are for the working class and republicans are for the rich people. that was it. we have got to have a bigger moral vision for the economy.

it is a moral duty of the government to kate an environment where people can thrive -- of the government to create an environment where people can thrive. we have to have a robust agenda about building things again, around manufacturing again, around electric vehicles, batteries, charging stations. we need to dominate his new energy economy and make sure we rebuild the middle class by doing this. we are obligated to make sure every kid in this country gets a good education so they can be free to compete in the marketplace, so they can be confident and have skills. people don't see that with the democratic party. i have been screaming this from the rooftops for years and i don't get anyone listening. that is the problem. while obama succeeded and joe biden succeeded, underneath that byare seeing -- we are seen

many people as out of touch and elite. your brand is not what you think it is, it is what people think your brand is. we have to be very vigilant. i would like to see ourselves get absorbed by the joe biden brand and that become the democratic brand. i think it could be if we play our cards right. to be very focused on that. tove got to be intentional become the joe bryden -- joe biden rent because that will be successful in michigan and ohio. host: harry has been waiting a little bit. belleville, new jersey, republican. $1200. i need the i am on food stamps.

if i wasn't on food stamps, i would be on the street. when are you guys going to get it together and give me something? host: i will give you the final minute, congressman. caller: -- guest: we passed the heroes act in may and mitch mcconnell wanted to hit the pause button. we are still having that final negotiation. all democrats support the $1200 check. they are in negotiations now, it will probably wrap up in the next week. i hope you will get something. we will extend unemployment, i would think, but there is another example of someone who has not done anything wrong but they are stuck. we need to help them. host: we always appreciate your time on the washington journal. guest: thank you so much.

host: next, we will hear from republican mo brooks on his plans to challenge electoral college book tally on january 6 -- electoral college vote tally on generate six. then, jesse goodman who served as chief scientist of the fda during the bush administration will be here to discuss the approval process for the covid-19 vaccine. ♪ meets in open session to approve the covid-19 vaccine. life coverage thursday at 9:00 a.m. eastern. maternalng for the actsing is next thursday. -- for the moderna vaccine is next thursday. watch live on c-span3, at c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app.

videoto c-span.org latest live and on-demand. president trump, joe biden, news conferences, and event coverages on c-span.org. >> washington trip -- "washington journal" continues. host: congressman mo brooks joins us. yes made headlines with plans to challenge the 2020 election results. how do you plan to do that? guest: underneath the constitution, the united states congress is the final arbiter of all election contests involving federal officials whether it be congress, senators, or the president. there is a process by which we do that and that is initiated on jeannie rhee six when we have a roll call of the states -- on

january 6 when we have a roll call of the states. at the appropriate time when a state's name is listed and they submit reported election results, if a house member and senator concur and be -- and we object to that boat, that triggers a floor debate in the house and senate and a vote in the house and senate on whether to accept or reject those returns. host: which states do you plan to challenge? example, way of pennsylvania, georgia, nevada, wisconsin, maybe arizona. host: why are you challenging those states? guest: their election systems are so flawed so as to render results on trustworthy. host: you have a senator who plans to challenge with you? guest: i have no clue.

i am doing what i am doing. i can either surrender or fight to protect the integrity of our system. i'm choosing to fight. have flawsent, we with our election system that have resulted in millions of votes being cast in voter fraud millions of out being voted and counted. it is my teaching to protect our republic and the underlying condition of any republic is the right to vote and to have that vote accurately counted. cast only cap lawful votes by eligible citizens and nobody else. that is clearly not happening in the united states. guest: -- host: what evidence will you point to for rod and illegal votes? -- for fraud and illegal votes? guest: i have made speeches before and i will make another one today. you have the 1993 national voter

registration act that makes it illegal for voter registrar's to demand documentation of illegal aliens and noncitizens that is necessary to stop them from registering to vote. voter registrar's don't have critical information to discern a citizen from a noncitizen, you have illegal aliens and noncitizens registering to vote. you may be surprised to discover that the democrats jammed and signed bynate bill clinton what would hamstring our voters act. we had a court of appeals decision in 2020 that struck down a kansas law that empowered registrars to need proof of leadership of citizenship in order to vote -- of citizenship

in order to vote. joe biden promised amnesty and the dozen ship to illegal aliens if they will vote for him. yet studies that suggested before this quid pro quo that roughly 10% of noncitizens. voted in american elections. . then you have another study by george mason university that asserted about 80% of votes by noncitizens go to democrats. you put all this together and it is clear there are hundreds of thousands not millions of illegal aliens dissipating in american elections. -- participating in american elections. back in 2010, there is a study from yale that suggests it is more like 22 million. that does before we get to the many millions of other people here lawfully but are not american citizens who are registering to vote because they

don't have the ability to stop them. you can't get the information needed. host: your interview with the an interviewin with the associated press, william barr said we have not seen rod that would disrupt the outcome of the election -- fraud that would disrupt the outcome of the election. what you say to them? bonk. absolute if're not going to see fraud you don't conduct the investigation to see it. of course the attorney general would not be familiar with it if his underlings if that are not doing the research -- if his underlings are not doing the research. name of one state where fbi or justice department went through the registered voters list and compared it to illegal aliens to discern how many illegal aliens were on the voter list? they didn't zero of that.

-- they did zero of that. host: is the chubb legal team supporters -- is the trump legal team making these cases around the country not doing enough? they lost 30 or more chris's -- cases. they were rejected in courts around the country. rejectedupreme court the lawsuit in which the pennsylvania republican party -- republican legislators sought to overturn the certification of their vote. guest: i would suggest that is misleading propaganda. the courts understand our system of government is not set up for the judicial system to evaluate these election contest. that is not their role. under the constitution, article one and article two in the 12th amendment, it is the job of

allress to investigate outcomes of all election contest involving federal elected officials. congress and senators and the president. in iowa, you have a republican who won the congressional race. what is rita hart doing? she is contesting it before the house of representatives and that is how it is supposed to be done. thate need to understand while the judiciary has a role, they are not the final arbiter. the supreme court is not the final judge. the judge and jury with final control over the ultimate outcome of all election contest is the congress. the real question is why is the congress not investigating -- doing the investigation to reveal this fraud and ascertain illegal ballots.

when i talk about systemic problems, i am talking big numbers. i'm not talking about little things where there might be 10 here or 100 there. i'm talking about 100s of thousands of illegal votes being cast many of which are due to voter fraud. , the the constitution election clause, the congress controls the means, the method, the manner related to federal elections. congress has decided that we have a 24 hour window that is going to be called election day. that is when citizens are limited to casting votes with minor exceptions provided by the congress. if you're disabled, there are special circumstances in which you can vote not on election day. if your military personnel overseas, special circumstances. if you're going to be outside your state of residence or not in that community on election day, you can get an absentee

ballot. all of these votes being cast are illegal and contrary to the statuen clause and the that have been passed by the congress. not an election week or month but an election day. if you look at a federal election report and study chaired by jimmy carter and republican -- and james baker released in 2005, they go into detail about the fraud risk associated with absentee ballots and en masse mail out ballots. we need to disallow those votes. to many are -- too many are illegal and fraud. already states that do mail-in voting in violation of that clause? guest: absolutely.

-- we member of congress have the final say on who wins and who loses these election contests. that is my judgment. ast: i want to give you chance to chat with callers. the full-length for republicans is 202-748-8001, democrats 202-748-8000, independents 202-748-8002. tim is out of arkansas, an independent. caller: there are three kinds of people. people who fight, people who don't fight, and people who help the fighters. energy,s you for your your clarity, your willingness to fight. i have been trying to call c-span. i told them this is going to happen. you just don't have chain of custody on mail-in ballots.

for the 40 account million ballots not used? know, because they were not used -- no, because they were not used. bless you. guest: today i'm going to get a floor speech around 10:10. that is going to quote extensively from a democrat professionally paid election expert out of new jersey. key details how he helped steal elections -- he details how he helped steal elections through en masse mail-in ballots. it will be on c-span, i hope you watch it. host: antonio, democrat. good morning. caller: i would like to ask you -- none of this would come up with any evidence to show in

court, right? you have a million words and pretty much everyone of them are empty. it is overwhelming, it is compelling and i am more than happy to engage in a public debate in a foreign with enough audience to defend my position. i will tear apart the other side because the other side has been blinded by propaganda. that not done their research, they have not studied the law. the law and facts are in support of what i say. the little bitty things in courts and all the place -- i am talking about the systemic problems that result in millions of illegal ballots. caller: part of the way you do this is to not let anybody say anything or question your wacky attitudes. that is the gist of your whole offensive. guest: what evidence do you have

that illegal aliens are not voting in the u.s. illegally. antonia.hink we lost guest: i can give examples out of nevada. james baker in his report to the itemizes two elections in which illegal aliens were significantly participating contrary to american law. it is irrefutable. host: janice from michigan, republican. good morning. caller: thank you presented to mo brooks for your appearance on c-span. thank you to c-span for having him on. keep up the good fight. i don't know what was going on in this country. this has been the year from hell

, never mind the covid. the blatant cheating and stealing of this election. if joe biden is inaugurated on january 20, the history books -- hopefully it is going to be explained to everyone and future americans. say.e one thing to -- sorry, i am just so upset. i am so frustrated at the media and even c-span in their american guests -- to republican guests. it has and booze old the boozeled the bam

americans. i am so upset, i can't go on. guest: contact your congressman and senators and demanded they do what is necessary to correct this honest elections to -- dishonest elections to prevent fraud. if you're not going to fight -- fight forca, america, tell them you will not put for them again. tell them you are fed up with election fred -- election fraud. the underpinnings of the republic are whether elections are honest, legal, and accurate. this one wasn't. there been other elections that also worked and it is time to clean up this mess.

by eligible votes by american citizens, they win. in that case where it is a legal election, the winner has more respect then -- from the losers then under this system which is tainted with systemic fraud. that is not the way to go. host: you think there is voter fraud in your own election to congress? i did not have a democrat run against me this year. maybe they got tired of it. in alabama, we have an election system that is superior to that in many states. identification -- photo identification. so when job shows up to vote, you have a filter id and you can

see that is joe. not so you can vote for somebody who is dead or out-of-state. with our absentee ballot system, you have to show cause -- you not to affirm that you will be available to vote on election day, that you will be out of the state or what have you. would not have this en masse mailed out of ballots that jimmy carter and james baker cautioned against using because they are so susceptible to voter fraud and election theft. in alabama, our legislature has done a good job. can be improved? absolutely. 1993e parted with the voter registration act that prevents registrars from preventing illegal aliens and nonlegal citizens to vote because we are barred from requiring citizenship. that undermines our election

system and that is one of the flaws we have in alabama. that is because of a democrat controlled senate and white house in 1993 and the absence of republicans to fight to reverse that flaw. host: just about 10 minutes left. this is lee in georgia, a democrat. good morning. theer: you reference security of elections in alabama. in georgia, we have had a republican legislator should stay thousand four. they -- since 2004. they set the laws for the election. lieutenantr, governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, with him having oversight over the election with gabriel sterling who was a republican party

activist, they have all contested we had a secured election -- a secured and fair election in georgia. if a person must an absentee ballot, they have to submit in writing, the signature is confirmed. when the person sends in the ballot, again the signature has to be verified. i hope you will take that into consideration before you go further with contesting georgia's election. you have to suggest the republican officials are incompetent or part of a fraud. i don't believe that to be the case because they put the rules in place and verified it. though they did not get the results they wanted, they certified it. guest: are you aware with the lawsuit that resulted in a settled agreement that tampered with the election system in georgia this year in violation with the united states constitution article four that preserves the manner, time, and and to thengress

extent that congress does not act in a particular field to legislatures and no one else? caller: know. no, but what i am aware of is that the people of georgia have spoken and the leaders in georgia agreed that it was fair. guest: having people georgia re-examine their voter list and -- past by thet as legislature was designed to prevent non-illegal aliens from voting. that does mean -- that is what i mean from systemic flaws. georgia's system is flawed because they violated the constitution and the laws passed by the congress pursuant to the election because that say we

have an election day, a 24 hour time in which american citizens can vote. with this en masse voting system where you mail out millions of ballots, we have people in alabama that got ballots. with people in texas who were called and asked if they voted because someone got their balance and -- ballots and voted for the. -- for them. to tell me there is not fraud in georgia tells me officials are not doing their research. when i first ran for the legislature, that is when i got an awakening. i thought we had an accurate system until election day i discovered that 25% of the voting machines had been rigged by democrats to register the votes for everyone on the ballot except mo brooks.

it was so bad that in the heart of my district, where there were five election machines, all five were rigged to deny voters the right to vote for mo brooks. they figured out we can fix this. they started to declare if you want to vote for mo brooks, sign a sheet on the wall and we will count that as a vote. i have been the target of election theft efforts. i have seen what it does and i have kept track of it in ensuing decades. we have to do better if we want any accurate and legal election system. i encourage democrats to fight for that. let's close the loopholes that allow noncitizens to vote. let's require photo identification to ensure the person walking in to the poll is who they say they are. let's make sure they comply with

the election clause and what the election period is. host: what you are saying is that they are going to the process of registering to vote and then asking for absentee ballots and that is how they are casting their ballot through the registration channels? they are being allowed to register? guest: i'm not limiting to absentee ballots. they can vote in person on election day and they are getting their election card because they are learning it is restricted by the 1993 act that does not require citizenship when illegal aliens walk and walk in and vote -- walk in and vote. -- caller: thank you for having me.

mr. brooks, i am very much find you. i believe there was so much -- i am very much behind you. i believe there was so much fraud it is sickening. legislation needs to do something. it is beyond corrupt. people are afraid to stand up against immigrants. against the democrats. s. against democrat i hope more people stand behind you. it is going to be ugly. they think it is ugly now, it is going to be ugly after joe biden takes over. guest: if we don't fight for our country, all americans are going to lose the republic that so -- so manysacrificed have sacrificed to get us. let me talk about what i call the socialist democrats.

you need to look at the history of socialism. the national socialist german nazis, thety, the soviet union, communist china, they exterminated tens of millions of their own citizens who believe in liberty in order to impose socialism on the populations of those countries. if they are willing to exterminate, murder liberty of their ownns countries or surrounding countries, you better believe they are willing to engage in something like voter fraud and election theft in their quest for political power. that is what is happening in our country. host: can you talk about the texas case they are asking the supreme court to take up? 10 minutes ago president trump "we will be

intervening in the texas and other state cases. this is a big one, our country needs the victory." guest: i hope the case gets someplace. i'm concerned that the supreme court will do what they routinely do. them to a hesitancy for be involved in these contests because the writers of the constitution did not want these things solved by judges. judges are unelected, their dictatorial -- they are dictatorial and in their for life -- and in there for life . it is resolved by elected people, in this case congressman and senators. were --ack in they though back then senators were indirectly voted.

that law was changed so there is direct election of u.s. senators. if the job -- it is the job of senators and congressmen to know the law and do their homework. from where i sit, far too many congressman and senators want to punt this to the court not realizing it is their responsibility to do the research and determine what they believe in. do they believe this was a fair and honest election? or they believe as i do that we are burdened with systemic voter fraud and election theft. as such, we have to start rejecting the submissions of electoral college votes by some of the states who have proven their systems are so badly flawed that their vote counts projected to congress are unworthy of support. host: time for just one or two more calls.

this is andrew, independent. good morning. caller: i want to pick up on something you mentioned. socialisthe thecratic party -- republicans are against socialism but they're open to dictators. about in 2016 where you objected to donald trump winning. thisme if trump had one would you be objecting? guest: i am fighting for freedom and liberty. the bedrock of freedom and liberty is an accurate election system. with respect to the voter fraud and election theft that has been occurring, i have been fighting this since the 1980's when the democrats made me the target of election theft.

even though they rate the machines in my district, we still won. that in a state where the democrats outnumbered us in the legislature. the democrats outnumbered us 31 to zero. i did not get any relief what was proven to be election theft activities by certain individuals. i have always been fighting to clean up the election system and i have been system and i have always been thwarted by the democratic party that engages in massive election fraud and theft activities, and are the beneficiaries of voter fraud and election theft activities. it is rare you see your republican candidate or campaign , but ifof voter fraud

they are, they ought to be denied office, just like the democrats should become and they should be convicted to the extent that criminal activity is involved. i want our system cleaned up. if you give me a fair election, i will respect he was elected in that system. as for donald trump and 2016, i do not know what you are talking about when you talk about election theft. the u.s. constitution gives us an electoral college that recognizes the sovereign rights of individual states, understanding that when the 13 colonies came together to form a union, they were actually 13 independent nations. this was one of the requirements, part of the compromise, that resulted in the 13 nations for me has become the u.s. that is what the electoral college is about. we were not have the united states of america with independent nations like delaware being a part of it but for the electoral college and other compromises to former

great union. host: we will have to end it there. mo brooks, if you want to hear e will be on the floor this morning. thank you. up next, georgetown university medical center's dr. jesse goodman, former chief scientist at the fda, discusses the approval process for a potential covid-19 vaccine. that conversation after the break. stick around. announcer: listen to c-span's podcast, the weekly. our guest will join us to discuss the constitutional steps that need to be finalized before joe biden is sworn in. find the weekly where you get your podcasts. announcer: with coronavirus

cases increasing across the country, use our website, c-span.org/coronavirus to follow the trends. track the spread with interactive maps. and watch updates on demand, any time, as c-span.org/coronavirus. washington journal continues. host: dr. jesse goodman joins us for a conversation on vaccine approvals. currently with georgetown university's medical center, previously the chief scientist at the fda during the obama administration. dr. goodman, what does the chief scientist do at the fda and what role does he or she play in vaccine approvals? guest: the chief scientist is responsible for all the scientific efforts of the agency. office as within our emergency preparedness and

response, response to public health emergencies, so the chief scientist plays a critical role in the emergency authorizations of medical products . withe that i worked vaccine regulation, where for the upcoming decision will be made. host: the advisory panel on vaccines is meeting tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we will be airing it on c-span3 for viewers. what will they be doing in the meeting and what should the viewers watch for? guest: both the sponsor, pfizer in this case, and to the fda will review all of the data. we had a preview of this yesterday. the fda posted pfizer's summary, and its review documents, or the

fda's review of the safety and efficacy. those are the things that will get discussed tomorrow in front of a group of a dozen or more outside experts, without conflicts of interest, representing those views and scientific expertise, including the consumer. host: what does an emergency use authorization mean? is a less rigorous process that vaccine would go through than the regular process? guest: an emergency use authorization is something that can only take place during or in preparedness for a public health emergency. that is a high-level public health emergency that could threaten our health security and national security. so, it's a special provision. it's not their normal approval that we see. requiring proof of

safety and effectiveness, it requires basically a positive inefit assessment that -- which the benefits of the product outweigh the risks. fda's vaccinethe center has made clear that the vaccines given to healthy individuals, that even in an emergency, they have insisted on high standards of safety and effectiveness. btu what people -- but what people need to realize is vaccines will not be studied for as long as they normally would, so we do not have the full set of data, but the fda has insisted that the efficacy be shown. and b safety data from at least two months of vaccinations. host: dr. jesse goodman, the

former chief scientist at the fda is our guest, currently with the georgetown university medical center. if you ever had a question about the vaccine approval process, now would be a good time to call. central u.s., 202-748-8000. 202-748-8001 if you are in the mountain or specific regions of the country. as folks are calling, you are on the board of the science committee for klein, what does that entail? are you involved in vaccine development now? guest: in that role, i help strategically -- devise the company, but i -- strategically and i am involved in advising the company. host: you let the response to much1n1 flu pandemic, how work did you do with the vaccine approval process, the vaccine eventually approved in that

process? guest: a tremendous amount of work. i worked together with my team at the vaccine center. as muchd to collaborate as possible to help the industry quickly produce the vaccines. public,xplain to the being transparent, about the vaccinations so they could make informed decisions. host: how long did that process take, the development of the vaccine, the approval process and then the eventual distribution? was ahead ofit where we are now. a communicable disease and there were no relative vaccines, really. for the influenza vaccines we have had for a long

time, but we needed to understand the doses we needed and whether there were special issues. given that, we were able to get from the pandemic first occurring to the first vaccines becoming available in several months, also. host: we want to get to some calls. we have a caller from burlington, north carolina. you are on with dr. goodman. i'm sorry, i thought it would be on with mo brooks. but i'm just really concerned that c-span had him on this morning. that was very dangerous. host: do you have a question about the vaccine approval process? caller: i'm sorry. host: do you have a question about the vaccine approval process? caller: i am comfortable with the progress on the vaccine, but i am really concerned c-span had mo brooks on talking about that

stuff this morning. host: this is lee from twitter. "please explain why the health ministers of japan and south korea are concerned about the safety of covid vaccines." guest: i have not seen those specific concerns, but i think it's right to be, you know, very wecerned and be sure that understand the safety of these vaccines. it's a new disease, these are new vaccines. with them having to be produced so quickly, using messenger rna technology -- we are using technologies we have not had before with millions of people. so that is partly why the fda has insisted that there be larger trials, over 40,000 people, 20,000 or so getting the

vaccine with a dose that would be used. and we have safety data from two months after the vaccinations for those individuals. so there is an effort to ensure that we have firm safety data. but it is still important to realize that even in a normal situation, not a public health emergency, sometimes there are rare adverse events that do not show up in clinical trials and even after it has been used in hundreds of thousands of people. that is why it will be important to try to detect problems if they may occur. host: is that system in place? i'm confident is in place, more so than it has been. weeks ago, the cdc presented plans and it looks like a strong system is really going to be in place.

that they will be monitoring those individuals, but also looking at health data from electronic records, from other systems, to try to detect problems in real time. that said, i would like to see it running and tested earlier than it has been. host: caller from north carolina. good morning. caller: hope you're having a good day. it's going to be a nice day in washington. you have been with the fda since 2009, for about six years. i would like to ask a question. my brother was a physiologist. in a national society. the covid-19 virus, we can all probably agree in the scientific world that it did come from china. theirey walked down population with machine guns and

did not let them travel to the rest of the provinces in china, yet china at the least managed the release of the virus via people flying on airplanes, which they allowed to go to the rest of the world. what do you think should be done to hold china responsible for the release of the virus, what amounts to a bioterrorism attack on the world, which has killed about 2 million people so far? what should we do to hold them accountable for that, my man? i will take my question offline. guest: thank you for that question. ado think that -- i'm not specialist in international law, or what consequences should be for certain events. i do not think there is any evidence that china did this deliberately. and as you said, they were able to control it in their country. but i do think it raises -- it's

not clear how candid they were, how quickly they detected it. there are ongoing investigations on that and i think that is important. we need to learn lessons from this of what those possibilities are from any country to all the countries in the world, to report and respond to diseases appropriately. i think this is a reason our country needs to be engaged in the who, so we can ensure our citizens' interests are being protected. there are traditions in china like the markets and close proximity of humans and wild animals, you know, some of which are ingested. those can be breeding grounds for pandemics. i think the world has the right to say, what is every country doing to control the risk they

may create for a disease that could spread locally -- globally. these are difficult questions, but i think that there are things of the world has to pay attention to, as we learn from the pandemic. host: this is steve in san diego. caller: good morning. i wanted to make a quick comment on dr. goodman's commentary. my experience in working with clinical physicians in biomedical research in san diego -- my opinion is it what has happened with the covid-19 virus, which was a bioengineered virus. the bottom line is most of the scientists in this country do not know how to deal with this virus. and as far as the vaccine is concerned, what normally takes

tors to approve, in order vaccinate the people, the residents of this country, that enough time has not been spent on the vaccine and they simply do not know -- and with all due respect, dr. goodman is part of the new -- host: that is out of san diego. dr. goodman, a chance to respond. guest: i appreciate the concern that i think i understand that given the pandemic, we -- the typical vaccines that take years has not been followed, and this does create potential increased risk. we do not have, although they the safety vaccines, follow-up is typically longer.

there is data that shows high levels of efficacy, but we do not know how long that will last. so there are uncertainties here. it is a question of trading off the fact that every day thousands of people are dying. that people are in harm's way. and sort of -- this can benefit degree with less data than we normally have, with potential to help the pandemic. people are able to make their own decisions about taking these vaccines. and we also have a regulatory understand people inre's expertise to bear these risk junctions. there are no guarantees. the fda's review that was posted yesterday, for example there's

the chance of palsy that was noted in four of the thousands of vaccine trials, and that warning monitoring. wasreason the caller concerned lends itself to a safety monitoring system, which the results from that should be available as quickly as possible and shared with the american people. host: outside of the transparency that you are calling for, what should be done to build public confidence in the vaccine? would you be in favor and having certain people go out and take the vaccine on camera, even if they are not specifically -- even if they are jumping ahead of the line of he would get the vaccine? who are other things -- of would get the vaccine? what are other things the government should be doing?

guest: i do think having trusted individuals, you know, to reflect the communities -- who reflect the communities that they communicate with and can talk honestly to people is really important. communication has been a terrible challenge in the pandemic. we have had conflicting messages about how serious the pandemic is, about what public health measures people can take to protect themselves. everyone know it has been horribly politicized. and millions of people have died as a result. and with the vaccine, i think that those individuals should be withhere presenting people what is known, what is not known, and helping them make those decisions. if those individuals decide to

take the vaccine, i think that can help reassure people. but i think it is the honesty and transparency that is key in building trust. i think that people can make their own judgments. there are some people that might will not try something that has been around for years. 2000 people aay, day dying, i cannot see my family, the schools are closed -- this is worth the risk. giving people the information to make those decisions is what is critical. host: dr. jesse goodman will be our guest for another 10 minutes, if you want to keep calling. we have our phone lines split up regent -- up regionally. we are one day ahead of the fda's special meeting on the vaccination, and open meeting that we will be carrying on

c-span3. you can also watch it on c-span.org starting at 9:00 a.m. nicholas out of new york. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. dr. goodman, i wonder what was the reluctance so far to date that an rna vaccine has never been approved? is it a higher barrier to entry? are there concerns on how the way it works? risk,for people and the reward, somebody who has tested positive, would it be worth them taking the risk to get the vaccination considering they already have immunity -- some immunity? guest: on the rna technology, no are specific concerns.

this is relatively new technology that has been mostly developed over the last 10 years or so. i should point out that the u.s. government, and other organizations, have been investing in this technology because it lets you turn around and develop a vaccine more quickly than traditional technologies. so it is not that nobody has done it or nobody has been working on it, it's been a cutting edge technology that has been being developed. my sense is several companies, mostly small biotech companies, have been working on vaccines using this, but we are doing it in a typical case, so we might've had one in five or 10 years from now if we had not had the pandemic. and the government injecting millions of dollars now to develop it.

there is not a particular concern. some people hear the word and they think it is genetic engineering, that is misinformation. but the most scientists, that is not a concern. it is more we do not have the oferience with hundreds moons of people using the technology. rna technologies are used for drug therapy. and there are several approved rna drugs. the second question? host: whether a healthy person should consider getting sick versus taking the vaccine? guest: ok, i thought it was also whether if somebody had had covid, if they should be vaccinated? host: yes. guest: i think if you have had covid, i would be interested in -- this may be discussed at the advisory committee. it may also be discussed by the

cdc's committee that makes the actual recommendations, you know, after the fda authorizes the vaccines. f a person hass i had a positive test for covid, they probably should be at the front of the line now. they probably have a specific degree of immunity for a few months, based on the emerging data. but i will wait and see where the other experts recommend on this. for example, i do not think anyone is recommending to test people to see if they have antibodies, then not vaccinating them. that is not practical. probably somebody that has been recently recovered from covid, they may not clearly benefit from the vaccine now. but that could change because we are learning more about the immunity. for other healthy people, i think that -- i practice and i

see people practice every day, you know, with covid. and some of them did everything they could right. rany might have lapses in thei mask wearing, social distancing, but other people, given how widespread the various is, i just getting infected despite their best efforts. and the vaccine, plus protecting other people like her family members, our health care system, tera, is a reason to take the vaccine. host: jake in massachusetts. caller: good morning. it was put out last night that if we have proven therapeutics, be able toa won't use the emergency action. can you explain what that is, is that right? i will take the answer off-line.

guest: sure. the emergency use authorization -- for therapeutics that have promising effectiveness. asking the fda to authorize for early treatment of twodisease -- from different companies, including whether the president received. so there is that option. the fda should look at the data scientifically, because there are claims being made that these are effective. i had a doctor who said 100 patients took x and they were all fine. that is not scientific evidence. but there is that option. we just need more effective treatments. they now, any of those, are not like magic bullets that

take somebody who is sick and makes them better. 12 are really sick, we do not have -- once you are really sick, we do not have a treatment that will work like occur. -- a cure. host: an emergency use process for vaccines? guest: i do not think so. it certainly puts the risk-benefit in a different situation. if you were exposed, or at the first inkling of disease, we have something you could take and you could avoid being really sick. but we need more safety data. there could be some alternatives. but the virus is so widespread and we are seeing people walking around fine one day, then in the intensive care unit the next day. for those patients, the treatments are not liable to work and we need a vaccine to

prevent the disease. hear this from other health care people, but it is not a joke. yes, the overwhelming majority people, and healthy who get the disease, it is not awful. areon the other hand, icu's filling up around the country. and even if all goes well, there are limited amounts available of the vaccine, so we cannot let down our guard. the president has promised to put out the vaccine in the next few months. and then hopefully we can go back to our normal lives. host: one or two more. this is james in california. good morning. caller: good morning. youroodman, based on experience and what you said about transparency, do you think that pfizer purposefully delayed

the 95% efficacy announcement until after the election? guest: i do not have insight or inside information, but i do follow things closely and my sense is they did not. anhink they had proposed early analysis after only 30 cases. when they brought that out publicly, to a previous fda advisory committee, the scientific committee felt it was a bad idea -- community felt it with itd idea, and being so early we would not be able to consider using it in healthy people. so i think that they readjusted their strategy. and the other companies deserve credit, as does operation warp speed, for helping get the studies done so quickly. but i think it is much more important that they get done right, that the fda gets to

review them, and then a few days here or there. so i really do not think that was part of the plan. host: melvin in fayetteville, arkansas. you are next. caller: i have a question about curefollow-up on the question. the therapeutics. i'm doing graduate research on this also. it comes to me from my own research that if the vaccine does not work extremely well, there could be 100 million people who would be affected next year. then the question will be, instead of trying to push everybody to the vaccines, to get everybody this choice of the therapeutics or vaccine. and instead of allowing another we could say we have a

new avenue here. what is the kind of level you need to say, we now have a proposal for emergency access, emergency allowance for therapeutics, and this proposal has how many, you know, successes? group onhere was a c-span yesterday with senator johnson, and the research doctors said the nih has refused to fund new therapeutics. and it is like there is a bias there. and so they do not know what to do. and they said, we need a large-size sample. but we do not know how big it is. it's a big mystery. host: i think we have your question. dr. goodman? guest: i think there is a

tremendous amount of work going on globally to find effective therapies. and i think they really could help us. not everybody may get vaccinated. we will also have future viruses and it would be great to have antiviral medicines that could be broadly effective against these. the problem has been that science is not there, we have not been able to quickly get things that are effective. aere are -- i think there's need to be able to do clinical studies, to compare people who got the therapeutic with those who didn't, to see how it has worked and how safe it is. i think our country has been behind on the ability to do those studies. we do not have a national health system. we have a lot of the aquatic impediments to get those trials going quickly. that said, there has been some

important trials. but we could be doing a lot more. trials,has a number of europe has a number of cooperative networks. so i think that that is there. we could do better. i do not think we have effective therapeutics yet. just somebody saying i give something to a patient, or i had patients and give them all drug x, and we have heard about hydroxychloroquine and that efficacy, but having worked at the fda for many years, and in academic medicine developing drugs, i can say that most things that seem promising, when you put them to real scientific tests, they unfortunately do not work. that is important, do the right testing and everything we can to accelerate that. that is what i would like to see as much better prepared to do. host: just a follow-up on that question. from your time at the fda, do

you think that the fda had a bias toward vaccines and away from therapeutics? is that with the fda wanted to see? no, not atot. -- all. they are completely different groups in the fda that regulate those. academic community that brings them in for evaluation, have not seen that all. and several of the emergency authorizations, there have been many more of them for therapies than for vaccines. host: dr. jesse goodman, currently with georgetown university medical center, come back and talk with us down the road. guest: my pleasure. take care of yourself and your family. host: thank you. ing.inutes left this morn toid relief negotiations set

continue on capitol hill today as momentum builds toward an economic aid package. as that comes together, we want to hear whether you think another round of direct stimulus payments should be included in that legislation. if you think it should, 202-748-8000. if not, 202-748-8001. if you are unsure, 202-748-8002. give us a call. we will be right back. ofouncer: 20 years ago, one the most highly contested presidential races took place, the 2000 presidential contest between george w. bush and vice president al gore. saturday morning at 8:30 a.m., we take a look at the election williamolumnist and kristol, coeditors of the book "bush v. gore." 20 years later, live,

saturday at 8:30 a.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3 and on "washington journal." journal" continues. host: the house will be coming in at 10:00 a.m. eastern this morning and we will go to the floor when they do. until then, we are asking your ideas on the latest stimulus checks in the latest covid relief negotiations. here is where we stand. we have been talking about for several days now, the $908 billion package put together by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, that spurred the momentum on capitol hill. the details continue to be worked out, but the white house with a proposal yesterday to include, in addition to that, a $600 stimulus check for americans that would go out in the same way that the $1200 stimulus checks went out in the

spring, summer and fall from the first cares package. we are asking you what you think about the idea of additional stimulus spending. what would you do if you got a $600 check in the mail? would that be helpful to you? republicans can call -- no, i am sorry, if you support the idea of additional stimulus, 202-748-8000. if you do not support the idea of additional stimulus, 202-748-8001. if you are unsure, 202-748-8002. that is how we have broken up the phone lines. you can start calling in. w york your -- in ne supports the idea. caller: i think it is a good idea that we do a stimulus program because there are many people out there that are hurting. and um, however, i think that there should be a litmus test on a financial sealing. in other words, if you are

making over $50,000 as an individual or $75,000 as a couple, you should be ineligible for this kind of payment. host: so you think that the ceiling was too high for the $1200 checks that went out back in march? caller: everybody got that, right? host: not everybody, but it was abouther ceiling -- $150,000 for couples, but there was a sliding scale after that, so you could receive a portion of that if you are higher than that, going up to $200,000 for those households. and there is also the $500 addition for each qualifying child. this was all be used on ad justed growth income on your tax

returns. that is how they did it in the spring. caller: if they could prove that they were unemployed, yes, i would agree. being ase ceilings little higher. but if they are still working or still have a substantial income stream, i do not think it should go to the higher income people. i get should go to people who are really desperate, like the people who are in the service industry, the waiters and waitresses, the blue-collar workers that lost their jobs. host: that is the wrinkle right now, because the white house's proposal would include $600 stimulus checks. the original bipartisan bill that spurred discussion this past week did not have stimulus checks, but what it did have was $300 in unemployment benefits, additional benefits, lasting fo r four more months.

it was more generous on the unemployed side, than stimulus checks for everyone. caller: i think that the emphasis should be on unemployment, because if you are still working coming do you really need a stemless check? if you are unemployed, you certainly do. i think that this should be more heavily leaning towards the people that are unemployed. host: thank you for the call. rodney out of savannah, georgia. you are next. caller: i think that we should support -- i would definitely support, i feel like, the food banks. i lost my job in july. i lost my father in july to the coronavirus. he was not allowed inside of the nursing home. host: i am so sorry to hear that. caller: yeah, it is rough.

i appreciate your condolences. i would like them to come together and help the people. the food bank lines are outrageous. there's no way you could say that $600 a week, i've made more than that for the last 15 years. i have a family and i am looking at it and it makes no sense. host: what kind of work? caller: paper machine operator. i worked with georgia-pacific. that was the last job i had. host: you are still out of work? caller: yes. the: how often do you visit food banks, the lines you are talking about? caller: once a week. i am serious. 306 to five dollars a week for 365 a week for unemployment. and i have a family of four. my wife works. she had to get a second job.

we are still not making it. host: what would $600 do for you? caller: $600 a week would make a total difference. host: if it is a one-time stimulus check? the $600. caller: that would get you through about two or three weeks. thank you for the call. thanks for telling us your situation and savannah. ann out of -- in savannah. ann out of florida. caller: thank god for c-span. i do support the direct stimulus payments. let me turn the tv down. host: why do you support them? caller: because i believe in power to the people. i do not think big business and should get stimulus before the people. and i am on social security. i had a summertime job. i would travel up north to do it.

i could not travel this year because of covid. that meant the taxes and insurance on my home, to be able to stay in my home. i think that everybody should get something. we have enough money in this country where we can do it. that's all i have. host: george on the line for those that do not support the idea of another round of stimulus checks, ur of corpus -- out of corpus christi, texas. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my phone call. i do not believe we should support any kind of stimulus payment to the people, because i think it should all go -- it will all go to the very wealthy. at one point, people have enough. and shut down this madness of the last 40 years of socialism for the wealthy. fell,- airlines

there were 10 airlines ready to take over. we need to get back to an economy that is not socialism for the wealthy. thank you very much. host: george in texas. "yes" onark writing, the idea of stimulus checks, "but target those in travel, the restaurant and bar business, those who have been hit hard." moneye in florida, "give to already lost -- to those who already lost their jobs." is another viewer, "europe paying those who have lost their jobs. washington says we cannot afford it. all of a sudden deficits matter, but the people be damned." we have a caller from texas. caller: i support the direct

stimulus payments to individuals who are deemed eligible and for the portions of the country that do not support the direct stimulus payments to individuals, just send the check back. send it back to the government. host: what should qualify one is eligible in your mind? caller: like you mentioned earlier, based upon the tax returns and if folks do not file tax returns, i suspect there is a provision to get tax payments or stimulus payments out to those folks as well. host: do you think a household you think it00, do is worth it sending them a $600 check? caller: yeah, everybody's situation is different. inousehold making $150,000 california may not be able to get as much as a household making $55,000.

if folks do not need the money, they can send it back. or if they need the money, then they can use it as best as their family needs the money for. host: albert in fort worth, texas. we are 15 minutes away from the house coming in. we will take you there when they do. but this idea of another round of stimulus checks has gained new life, especially yesterday, in the week that the white house -- tin the wake of the white house saying it should be included in the covid relief bill. numbers on capitol hill talking about -- the members on capitol hill talking about whether it is needed. mr. jeffries talked about the need for more stimulus, direct stimulus payments, and these are

his comments from yesterday. >> the bipartisan framework that has been discussed in the senate, along with congressman --, is a foundation for a path forward. several members of the house democratic caucus, as well as several republican senators, have expressed an interest in ensuring that there are some form of direct payments in this package. as itoblem, of course, has always been, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, along with president trump, who is missing in action while the american people suffer. so it remains to be seen what will take place. it's important that the framework does include housing assistance for everyday americans, food insecurity assistance for everyday

americans, as well as a continuation of unemployment insurance benefits for everyday americans. that's a foundation to build upon. we will see what happens. host: that was from yesterday on capitol hill. back to your phone calls about the idea of another round of stimulus. this is stanley in piedmont, alabama, on the line for those that support the idea. good morning. are you with us? then we will go to dorothy on the line for those that do not support the idea, out of pine bluff, arkansas. caller: i do not support more stimulus unless they put a limit on income. because,000 or $75,000, some people got stimulus last time, with a $1200, that they were earning higher, and i do

not think they should give it to everybody like they did last time. some people did not deserve it. i am in favor of unemployment. and i am in favor of small businesses. but limit the income on the stimulus checks. host: that is dorothy. this is ernest in north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i hope you are having a great day. host: what are your thoughts on the stimulus? caller: i think we should. because of covid-19 and people who are out of work, the food lines, and really something has to be done. host: that was ernest. a reason why congress is very much focused on this issue is

the fact that there is something of a benefit cliff approaching here at the end of 2020. many of the programs from the inginal cares act passed march, they are expiring at the end of the year, like state and local government aid running short, student loan forbearance, and eviction moratoriums. they are getting ready to expire. and there are concerns about what will happen to everyday americans in the wake of that. and members of congress are hoping to wrap up a new stimulus deal, along with the government funding bill. we are expecting an effort on the house floor and in the senate in the coming days, for the members to give themselves an extra weight to come up with -- week to come up with a funding deal, and to wrap in it

the stimulus bill. so we are looking at both of those measures become more clear as the days pass, but the clock is counting down. suzanne out of orlando, florida. you support the idea of a direct stemless payment, why is that? caller: i'm probably need that check myself. the last time we got the $1200, it was fantastic for me. i'm on social security, but i found out through the news that other people got this that should never have gotten it, period. forthe people that were abortions also got it, even though they were not supposed to get it. at this point i think that everybody should get the check. host: what did you do with the $1200? caller: i paid all of my bills. i caught up on my bills. but at this point, i am still

catching up. i have $35 for christmas at this point. does that help me,no. -- does that help me? no. i'm not happy with what is going on in the u.s. wanted to ask the quitter, why can't we impeach the governors or mayors created these problems in these states? host: how do you feel about your government? caller: i think he is ok. at least he is out there. and we are out there. i can go to the grocery store. even though i do not have any money to go. i go to places and people are wearing their masks. i have not gone one place where people are not wearing their masks. so at this point, i just cannot see what is happening out here. i do not want a socialist government. and i do notm 75

want a socialist government. ,'m glad i am that old because if we get a socialist government -- i do not know. i want to know if we can impeach thes governorse -- the governors and mayors out of these states. host: perhaps another segment down the road. frank in pennsylvania, good morning. caller: good morning. et sounds like to me that th supporters and people opposed to theyoney, it sounds like all have something in common. basically, if you have too much money you should not get it. i live on a small pension. it's enough for me. i live a humble lifestyle. so, covid did not affect me.

i did not deserve the $1200. so i took the $1200 and i donated it to people who could use it more than me. s, we areer officer all on a pension, but we are living. covid did not affect our income. i told them come and give the money away. -- them, give the money away. but they said no, i deserve it. so there it is. if you are honest, if covid did ,ot affect your economic status you can find someone who was affected by it who could use it. that's the reason for the stimulus plan. host: can you talk more about how you found that person and that person's need. caller: basically, i spoke to

people in the town. and i asked around, any families hurting? an peopled -- and people who lost their jobs, especially the restaurants, they were closed down. and basically from there, the neighbors told me that this certain family, covid-19 affected them. they are not working right now. i said, let me give a portion to them. if we all did that, then the argument of should we have more t seems likeort -- i everybody agrees. if people are not affected financially, why is the government sending the money? if everybody passed it on, there would be no issue. that is what we are here on earth for, to help each other. host: kirby ville, texas. good morning. caller: i agree with the previous caller.

we have become a nation of selfish individuals that believe that we should get money handed to us left and right. but i think this program should be called a relief program, instead of a stimulus program. the first cares act had no trouble passing because a lot of the people in congress saw their investments being affected by a drop in the interest rates on their savings. this one is more of a relief program, because it's more affecting the people in this country who are hurting and can't raise their children or pay their bills. and i think that is the reason it's having a hard time passing. was the.2 trillion

package passed in march, and now they are talked about $908 billion. but you think this one is needed more? caller: yes. we have been at this longer this time. more people are hurting. and people are sick. out of touch with the people who are getting the virus and dying. and it seems like the country does not care anymore. and i think it speaks a shame to who we are. host: thank you, johnny in texas. jason out of florida. you are next. caller: good morning. how are you? host: doing well. the house is coming in in a minute. go ahead. caller: am i live. ? host: yes.

disagree withe to some of the politicians. but sometimes you are supposed to be united, democrat and republican, and so come together, instead of blaming each other while people are suffering on the streets. i mean, i go to the food bank. i feel shameful, but i have to eat. and i have to feed my family. sometimes, like the $1200 i got, yes, it came in handy. i will not be ungrateful and say $600. people pay taxes. that is their money. politicians can go home to beverly hills or wherever they live, like nancy pelosi. i do not want to play the blame game, because it is better enough what is going on, but as soon as they come to an agreement, something else comes

up. they are on the tv like movie stars and they start playing the blame game. come together. i agree with some people, that some people do not deserve the checks. some of them making $50,000. but some of them have money and they are getting the money. and you have politicians getting upgrades, getting pay raises. host: are you working right now? caller: excuse me? no, i am on disability. i am on social security. but like i said, taxes. that is our taxes. that's our money. why should they say that the budget, this, that, all you talk about is -- i understand we want to the economy to be doing good. but right now the country is quoted so far apart. -- is pulled so far apart.

i'm independent. i like donald trump. i did not like him before, but he did a lot of good for the country. host: jason, our last caller. we will be back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. we now are going to the floor of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, 9, ington, d.c., december 2020. i hereby appoint the honorable to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. speaker ofcy pelosi, the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the