>> you are watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. c-span was created by america's cable television companies in 1979. today we are brought you by these television companies who provide c-span2 viewers of the public service -- c-span to viewers as a public service. >> good morning to you, you can start calling now as we show you president-elect joe biden from wilmington, delaware from last i on why a major new relief package is needed now in the united dates -- united states. >> during this pandemic, millions of americans through no fault of their own have lost the dignity and respect that comes with the job and a paycheck. millions of americans never thought they would be out of

work, many of them never even envisioned the idea are facing eviction, waiting for hours in their cars to feed their families as they drive up to a food bank. millions have kept their jobs, but have seen their hours and checks reduced -- paychecks reduced. that is happening today in the united states of america just in the midst of a dark winter, this pandemic has cases, hospitalizations, and deaths spiking at record levels, there is real pain overwhelming the real economy. one where people rely on paychecks, not their investments. to pay for their bills and meals and their children's needs. you all see this pain if you -- if your scorecard is that she

will not see this pain if your scorecard is how things are going on wall street. >> president-elect joe biden's answer to those issues in the united states, a $1.9 trillion american rescue plan is what he is calling it. here's what is in it, $1400 in direct payments to americans, that on top of the $600 payments will hit the $2000 mark that had been argued for at the end of last year. it would include $400 a week in additional unemployment insurance, and eviction moratorium, $400 billion to fight coronavirus, $350 billion in state and local governments. they are proposing a $15 an hour federal minimum wage in that

plan as well as expanded pay sick leave for workers, increased tax credits for families with children. we will break down that plan even more throughout this first hour of the washington journal, but as we do, we want to hear from you, did you watch the president-elect's speech last night. what do you think about the need in this country for another 1.9 trillion in federal spending to respond to the economic situation and fight for coronavirus? getting your calls on phone lines, we will start on that line for frontline workers, wayne is in maryland, good morning. caller: good morning, yes, i am a construction worker. an electrician. there is a new hospital being built right now and many other facilities and i think 1.9 trillion does not nearly fit the bill, i think we need an

infrastructure bill along with an economic bill that would put people back to work, our infrastructure is disastrous. our water systems are bad, there nearly -- and our electrical systems are 50-60 years old. host: the biden administration is promising a plan on that, on infrastructure and other spending on that to be paid for through perhaps tax increases on the wealthiest of americans and a rollback of some of those tax cuts. what we are concentrating on is this sort of immediate response to coronavirus in the economic situation in this country and this 1.9 trillion on top of the 900 alien -- 900 billion that

was passed at the end of last year. caller: i understand that and absolutely we need that money to the poorest of the poor instead of the richest of the rich. that is what happened to the stimulus from back in march, most of that money went to the richest of the rich, it did not -- they expected it to trickle down to the poor. we know happens to the poor when stuff trickle down on it, they simply get urinated on and dumped on. host: this is rachel, that line for those who are unemployed. how long have you been unemployed? caller: i have been unemployed for some time now and i think this plan is going to work. with the money he is going to give us, i think we will all be able to stay inside, quarantine and wait this out. thank you for taking my call. host: staying on that line, tony

in west virginia. caller: good morning, i have been unemployed since last april and the covid situation i had warned -- about back in december. i called my senators daily telling them what was going on and what the donald's plan was. the donald had a plan and his plan was not to worry about it. he was going to let it just go through the whole country, he did not care. he was protected, he did not worry about the people. and, if the fbi could get the tapes from all my calls to our senators, this was preventable

from the very beginning. these senators a year ago what was going -- coming, but they did not listen to me, they do not listen to people. everything that the donald has done is from putin's playbook. host: that is tony and west virginia. to this morning some congressional reaction to this $1.9 trillion american rescue plan by the incoming biden administration. speaker nancy pelosi with this tweet, when president-elect biden was elected he told the american people help is on the way with the covid rescue package. the president-elect announced today he is moving swiftly to meet the needs of the american people. from bernie sanders, president-elect biden's covid rescue plan will begin to provide our people with much-needed support such as the direct payments and a $15

minimum wage, i look forward to working with him and my colleagues in congress to urgently provide bold relief to working families. bernie sanders who of course challenged joe biden in the presidential primary. mark ash marco rubio saying joe biden can unite the country and help begin restoring states if you focus first on helping working families with $2000 and a 100 a vaccination push, but we will have more of the same partisan fighting if the plan is loaded up with a liberal wish list. taking your phone calls this morning, asking you about this plan. two of the main components of that plan that we have been talking about is the additional $1400 in direct stingless payments to do visuals, -- stimulus payments to individuals. we have shown you that graphic with some of the aspects of the

plan, but joe biden addressing those top two points, the direct payments and the unemployment insurance at the top of his speech yesterday, here's part of what he said. >> the very health of our nation is at stake, a rescue plan also includes immediate relief to americans hardest hit and most in need, we will finish the job of getting a total of $2000 in cash relief to people who need it the most. the $600 already appropriated instantly not enough, we just have to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table. even for those who kept their jobs, these checks are really important. if you are an american worker making $40,000 a year with less than $400 in savings, maybe you have lost hours or maybe you are doing fewer shifts, driving a truck or caring for the kids or the elderly. you are out there, putting your life on the line to work through

this pandemic and worry every week that you will get sick, lose your job, or worse. $2000 will go a long way to ease that pain. it will also provide peace of mind for working families by extending unemployment insurance beyond the end of march for millions of workers. that means the 18 million americans currently on on the plane the benefits as they look forward, can count on these checks to continue to be there. plus, there will be a $400 per week supplement so people can make ends meet. this gets money quickly into the pockets of millions who will spend it immediately on food and rent and other basic needs. as the economists ls, that helps the economy grow. host: the president-elect from wilmington, delaware. you're talking about that plan

that the president-elect unveiled last night. on phone lines of this morning, a little bit differently, if you are unemployed, (202) 748-8000. if your a small business owner, (202) 748-8001. on this friday morning, a beautiful sunrise here on capitol hill, we will hill -- hear from will, a small business owner. do you want to make a comment or do you just want to sing? we will go to richard and nashville, front-line worker -- in nashville, front-line worker. caller: good morning, i lost my job about 20 years ago. i was in sales and i went into a grocery store and i went in and got me a job and i got a job making considerably less money.

trying to get -- get to retirement. i work for a major grocery chain, they own everybody, they are not walmart and i'm telling you, there is no cleaning of carts, very little, there is no sanitation, there is no social distancing. you have people that are stealing groceries, you have people that are standing in lines. i will give you an example, have you ever been into a retail center and they have got 15 registers and only have one or two open. you are stocking the shelves on and i'll and all of a sudden you look up and there are 20 people around you. half of those 20 will be complaining because your mask slip down over your nose when you have been squatting and -- host: on this relief plan, is what you're hearing about it, do you think it will be effective? what do you think is needed for

the on the ground in those stores -- the boots on the ground in those stores? caller: the hero payment went away, that is a farce. when you look in these stores, they have not lowered their prices, they are lying to us left and right. i am telling you when you can buy a loaf of bread for $.99 and one of these stores and you look up a month later it is $1.39 -- host: what do you think about a $15 an hour minimum wage? caller: i think it will help, but every day i take a break and i walk out in front of my supermarket and i look out into the parking lot and i promise you i see cars out there that average $30,000 and then they

walk in and pay in food stamps. i think the working people deserve the money. i have been working -- i have been working nonstop. i have not tested positive for the virus, i am not asymptomatic , i know all there is about the stuff. i'm telling you there needs to be a hammer put down because the guy that owns the market makes -- he is shut down but we are open. you cannot just close grocery stores because people have got to eat, but this is a farce. the $2000 will help. host: that is richard in tennessee, orlando is in georgia. front-line worker as well, what do you do? caller: i am a truck driver and i think the plan that biden has is a great start. you cannot solve everybody's

problems, but the thing of it is, a lot of people's problems are stemming from having little income and struggling over the bills they have to pay. they need that money. it is hard to get up and go to work every morning and i think joe biden understands how hard it is for somebody to get up and go to work. i am up right now driving an hour in the snow, it is snowing out here. host: why do you feel like he understands that, what about him makes you feel like he understands what it is like for you to get up and the an open road truck driver? caller: i don't know if it is because he owned a business, but just by listening to him when he talks, i really feel he can understand -- just like what he said yesterday about families

being poor and not having enough food. that is the case, i trade stocks and i have made -- i made $60,000 on bitcoin alone. i invest all my paycheck into bitcoin and since july, bitcoin has went from $12,000 to $40,000. i don't have a house, i don't have a car, anything, i put all my money into bitcoin. if you have got three kids and you have got to pay bills, you cannot afford to invest in stocks. you cannot afford to invest in bonds because you have to buy food and clothes and bags for the kids. i think he understands that just by his speech yesterday. host: thank you for the call. one of the key components of the

joe biden american rescue plan that would focus specifically on families with children, increasing the tax credits that are available for families with children. that is just one part of a wide ranging plan that joe biden released yesterday. new york times diving into that more on the tax credit expect -- aspect. it would temporarily increase the size of tax credits for more families, make them refundable meaning people would get cash even if they do not earn enough to on income taxes. children under the age of 13 -- families making less than $125,000 per year would receive the full credit as those earning up to $400,000 a year would receive some partial credit.

the fine print column breaking down some aspects of this bill that joe biden plan, $1.9 trillion release yesterday, what he will be doing at the start of his ministration after he is sworn in next week. anna good morning, you are next. caller: good morning, i thank god for joe biden and i think that he understands and that he is going to stay true to his word. i have a niece who has her income tax mailed in a year ago and it was mailed in, it is sitting somewhere on a desk. maybe those types of people can be looked into. what if the riot on wednesday was a form of a trojan horse planting bombs from the bottom to the top of that, i think there should be a bomb squad. host: i don't presume to know

about the inside workings of security when it comes to that, but there has been lots of security sweeps on capitol hill and a very heavy security presence appear cents the roadblocks around capitol hill, even overnight this morning has been spreading farther and farther from capitol hill, plenty of national guard troops around, stationed along fences. multiple different fences around washington and around the capital this morning. just showing you some of the scenes, that over by union station this morning. john is next out of new mexico, small business owner. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span and thanks as always for this great service. i think it is a good start, clearly what was done so hastily and politically ham-fisted lee,

-- ham-fistedly between pelosi and mcconnell. that gridlock politics where everybody is testing to see which way the wind is blowing every 10 minutes really drives me nuts. now with both houses of congress , even with a narrow majority i think it is a whole different interesting topic right there, the incredible power that kamala harris will have given the bows -- balance of the senate and her being the tie-breaking vote. it will thrust her immediately into a more powerful vice presidency. the stimulus money of course, any economist will tell you what is the number one thing that drives the economy? consumer spending, especially when people are in debt and need basic essentials in their homes, that money is going to go right into the economy. it is a perfect kind of stimulus

because it is support, it is life support at this point. as far as the covid deployment, i do not want to get too much into the legal ramifications right now. lawyers will be doing that, but the criminality that this trump administration is ending on -- listen, as a christian, i want to reach out to president trump. he is alone in that white house practically and so all of his sins, he is a human being and i am required by my code to reach out. president trump, if you ever should hear this, listen brother, you are loved. as much as you are hated and many, i am going to take the time to send you some love and hope that you search your heart and for these remaining days, just do what you can towards

love. i heard it in your voice once, everybody check out the clip of him when he got print on howard stern's show and he thought it was senator menendez on the line. he was extremely empathetic towards the man he thought was senator menendez. a side of president trump that he does not like to show because he was taught that shows weakness, it is not weakness, sir, it is a strength and i hope your lie on it now in this darkest hour. host: that is john out of new mexico this morning. to follow-up on two of your points, you were talking about the 50-50 split in the senate, the power of the incoming vice president. we actually talked about that back on tuesday, a guest took a deep dive with us into how a 50-50 split works in the senate, the power-sharing agreements reached and the power of the president of the senate. and to your point about stimulus

checks and their effectiveness, john cogan and john taylor would disagree with you. john cogan and author, john taylor a professor of economics, they co-authored a column in today's wall street journal. the headline, those $2000 checks will not boost the economy. they write, history shows such spending does nothing to steam let the economy, it only as to the federal debt. they take a look at report that studies the effects that cash payment authorized by the cares act last march that reports finding that most respondents primarily saved or paid down debt with their cash payments with only about 15% reporting they mostly spent it. thus the payments have done little to boost the economy, and another round of checks they write would ring the total cost of direct payments to more than $900 billion greater than the military budget.

they say it can be testified on humanitarian grounds, not on the discredited idea of stimulating the economy. if you want to read more on that , the opinion page today of the wall street journal. kenny, a georgian, small business owner. caller: what i am saying is i do not know why republicans are not on board with the $15 an hour minimum wage, because i see it as the government is subsidizing walmart. these adults with kids working at walmart making nine dollars-$10 an hour and so there -- they are on food stamps, taking vouchers, when school is in session, their kids get free lunch tickets so all of that money is coming from the taxpayers supporting walmart. finally, if the republicans support the bill, it will force walmart to pay the people a living wage and reduce taxes on

the rest of us, thank you. host: madeleine in indiana, go ahead. caller: i think this is all a joke if you want the truth. i want to know why these measures were not passed before hand. before biden took office. we all know that nancy pelosi, fully admitted that he held off, we have a new president. i want all you politicians to know, it you all have made millions off the american people and all you have done is divide, race bait, and push fear mongering. you shut our businesses down, you cost us millions of jobs, thousands of incidents have closed aoc. this whole situation is not ok, $1.9 trillion, we will get 1400, whatever. that does not help, what helps

us is lowering our taxes, lowering our insurance, lowering cost, period. 1.9 trillion, what are we going to be paying in taxes in a few years? host: your question of why it did not happen before to go back to december, a $2000 direct payment was passed in part of the house, supported by president trump, it did not get a vote in the republican senate. the biden administration are saying that with democrats in control they have a better chance, although they would still have to clear that 60 vote hurdle in the senate to move legislation. caller: what was the last bill they passed and millions went to other countries? host: i am just answering your question why i did not happen before. caller: that is my point, we passed millions and millions, aliens to other countries during a so-called pandemic as american

people are either dying and out of work and our kids are screwed when it comes to school. you want our opinions, let us talk, the whole point is that -- this whole situation is screwed. yeah, it will help to a point, but it will not help in the long run because cost is going to be raised. host: that is evelyn, this is brian out of marilyn, how long have you been unemployed? caller: since the start of the pandemic. i have got to say, i disagree with bidens $15 in our plan -- an hour plan and the tax breaks for people with excessive amounts of children. i think you are encouraging people to not aspire to be anything. the caller before talking about walmart and those people making $15 an hour, is that the pinnacle we aspire to?

to be the head bagger at walmart? or are we going to try to get educated and get a career and then be punished for being successful? i feel like as a single male with no kids, that i am being punished when it comes to tax season where people who have made poor decisions and decided not to go to college and have five kids are getting gigantic tax breaks. host: that is brian in maryland, this is widely out of aurora, colorado. how long have you been unemployed? caller: my name is wally, not wiley. i have been unemployed sometime because i am in cancer recovery,

still trying to believe god for my healing which he promised he would do for me and -- any day now. so how are you this morning? host: i am doing all right. so what you are hearing about this plan, is it something you would be able to support or parts of it you would support? caller: i cannot support joe biden. i especially do not like the part where he invoked the name of brahmaputra in the hall. host: let's go to christian out of woodbridge, connecticut. caller: thank you much -- very much for taking my call. i wanted to add a few thoughts if you could please give me a moment. i think the number one news story that is completely blocked by the media since this pandemic began is what the federal

reserve has done to save the stock market. they pumped $5 trillion into these wall street banks, the cares package currently put all of this money into the treasury with steve mnuchin, he has got 500 billion in the exchange stabilization fund which is purposely used to prop up the stock market. 90% of the people in this country do not have a significant horse in the stock market. all this cares money has gone to the stock market, you heard that guy talking about bitcoin before. i know it, i watch the stock market every day, this is the biggest double sense -- bubble since 2000. nobody is talking about all of this -- trillions upon trillions

of money that has gone directly to the wall street banks and they are using it to boost the stock market. i mean, how do you have the biggest pandemic in our history with millions of people filing for unemployment every week. the financial crisis was only like 700,000 people and that was the peak, it never got higher than that. this is the most important story that has never been reported over the last seven months. the federal reserve is backstopping the stock market, not just backstopping, but dropping helicopter money on it that nancy pelosi has admitted on the house floor. nine out of 10 economists say the federal reserve is one of the sole reasons for income inequality in this country. we have got serious issues with our monetary policy.

host: you mentioned the on employment situation, we mentioned the weekly on reports yesterday and they are making the front pages of the national papers today, the new york times noting that more than half of the 22 million jobs lost last spring have been regained. a new surge of infections has prompted shutdowns and layoffs that have hit the leisure and hospitality industries especially hard, the only setback came yesterday when the labor department reported that initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose sharply last week, exceeding one million for the first time since july. this is mary out of orangeburg, south carolina for front line workers. caller: hello, i've been trying to get a hold of you all week, but what i want to say -- what i do is work on the food bank. i give out tons and tons of food

to people and we do it at least four days out of the week because you have to use the other time to pick up the food. the point i was trying to get a hold of you because i had my granddaughter here, she had to go back to virginia. she left me a five-page letter to give the highlights about the incidents that happened at the capital -- host: we do not have time for a five-page letter, can you sum it up? caller: i was just going to give you the highlight part explaining -- i will not mention , i want you to have a pencil and paper. i will give you the name she wants you to have these guests on and that will kind of put a light on what happened last wednesday. host: sure, i will take your suggestions go ahead. caller: the title of one book, " rising out of hatred" she would

like you to have rick wilson back because the stuff she was going to talk about here when she was here, they know a lot about what went on and can give -- shed some light on it. also she wanted to explain on the part of antifa and black lives matter and being that we are on a different -- i will not go into the highlights about it, but it was not planned. host: i appreciate that and thank you for the suggestions, always appreciate suggestions. i just wanted to point out that rick wilson on this program -- i guess it was september the last time he was on, but we are a daily program, we invite guests on a daily basis, so i appreciate your suggestions. it works better when it is a back here and we can respond to you. thank you so much for the call,

thank you to your daughter and her suggestions. i want to come back to this topic of this $1.9 trillion american rescue plan that the president elect proposed yesterday and he will be pursuing in the 117th congress, a closely divided congress. this plan likely a test of his ability to move legislation, to work across the aisle as he has promised to do and we have been breaking down that legislation throughout the morning. this is charles out of columbia, south carolina, small business owner. go ahead. caller: good morning, i wanted to ask you a question. i have called over the last couple of years once a month maybe, i think i have been pretty reasonable with my comments and my questions. lately, and leading up to the election i have gotten two different phone numbers, the other number i call in on -- it has happened five times where

the screeners picked up, put me on hold and then they come back on in less than a minute and hang up on me. i am concerned with the steve scully incident and i would assume there are very few trump voters in the c-span building that you guys are censoring your calls and you have got screeners there that might have gone to some ivy league school or whatever that her back there tagging phone calls. host: -- >> we will leave us here to bring you live coverage of gavin newsom's coronavirus response briefing, live coverage on c-span. >> tommy lasorda spent many of his days and the ce used to sit in right behind home plate -- seat he used to sit in right behind home plate. i know you are looking down on us but we miss you every single day. today we are here to announce something big, not just the biggest in los angeles, but what

ne