2021 conservative political action conference and future of the gop. later, john berlau on his book, "george washington, entrepreneur." washington journal is next. ♪ host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. the house passed a $1.9 trillion covid relief package last night on a nearly partyline vote. all but two democrats voted for it. all of the republicans voted against it. the bill is now headed for the democrat-controlled senate which is also already moving to change major portions of the bill including a measure that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15. what do you think about the house passing a $1.9 trillion

relief package? we are going to open up lines for this discussion. if you are unemployed, you can call (202) 748-8000. if you are a small business owner, (202) 748-8001. essential worker, frontline worker, we want to hear from you about the covid relief package at (202) 748-8002. everyone else, your opinion is just as important. your number is (202) 748-8003. you can text us your opinion at (202) 748-8003 and we are always reading on social media, on twitter, and on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. early this morning, the house passed the $1.9 trillion covid relief package. the new york times has a story.

i will review the first couple of graphs. "advancing a sweeping pandemic a package that would provide billions of dollars for unemployed americans, struggling families and businesses, schools and coronavirus vaccines. the vote was to 19 to 212 with democrats pushing the measure over republican opposition. after hours of debate past midnight, two democrats broke with their party and voted against the bill. before that final vote, the house majority leader talked about the importance of the bill and looked ahead to what is going to happen in the senate." here is a portion of what he said from friday. [video clip] >> more than half a million

americans have died from this disease. it is hard to contemplate anybody thinking that somebody would attack us and kill 500,000 of our people. that is what covid-19 has done. 10 million more americans are out of work. today's vote is a crucial step in our fight to defeat covid-19 and build our economy back better. the senate will return to the house within the next two weeks. we need to pass this bill prior to march 14 so that millions of people are not falling through the crack's. we are determined to send the rescue plan to president biden's desk before march 14 so we can begin providing american workers, businesses, schools, communities, men, women,

children with assistance they so crucially need. we need a bold plan, not just a temporary measure. the chief economist of movies said another relief package is needed to get the other side of the package. a joint analysis of the american rescue plan by the hamilton project and brookings estimated that it would boost economic activity by 4.5% this year. that is a shot in the on the economy needs, madam speaker. host: let's see what is in this 1.9 trillion dollar rescue plan. it starts out with $400 a week for unemployment insurance supplement, $400 billion to fight coronavirus and reopen schools, $350 billion for state and local governments, expanded

paid leave for workers, increased tax credit for families with children. it also includes that $1400 direct payment that the house and senate have been talking about. what do you think about the bill going through the house and headed to the senate? let's start with danny from greenville, mississippi. good morning. caller: how are you doing? host: go ahead. caller: it is a good idea that they allow this bill to be passed. it is a lot of different people that are hurting in my area. i think it is a good idea. they should pass it because it is going to help a lot of us. that is my thought on it. host: what type of work do you do? caller: i am a nissan technician. i work at the dealership. i work on different cars were

people. it is essential that people have their vehicles to get back and forth. that is essential for people to half. host: how has the pandemic affected you-all's business? caller: it has slowed it down. people don't have the money to get the cars. host: danny, are you still there? keep going, we lost you for a second. caller: i was just saying, it has been affected because i saw business fall off greatly in areas of people trying to get cars fixed. a lot of people cannot afford to get it fixed. i can see the effects of it and i can tell in my check that it is not the same as it used to be. host: let's talk to dominic calling from jersey city, new jersey.

good morning. caller: good to hear you this morning. this is a wonderful conversation. i am excited about the bill. i am unemployed due to the pandemic. i work in the hospitality industry. the numbers are not there. people are not able to gather in hotels and restaurants. that is why i am unemployed. i think that this bill directed at people who are unemployed is a shot in the arm until -- and to all americans, a shot in the arm. host: do you care that the senate may not have raising the wage to $15 part of the bill that was passed in the house? caller: i care in the sense that the polls are showing that all

americans, whether they are democratic at 80% and republicans at 60%, approve of the $15 an hour. it has not been -- there has not been a federally mandated raise in the minimum wage in 12 years. $7.25 throughout the country's not going to get it. this is something that is going to be a shot in the arm. biden has staked his presidency on stopping the pandemic. one last thing, i find it amazing that during a democratic presidency, the republicans get religious and they worry about deficits. they did almost a $2 trillion tax cut for wealthy people and they did not seem to care that they were blowing the deficit. but now, they've got religion

about deficit. host: let's go to mike calling from south carolina. good morning. caller: good morning. i generally support most of the things in the bill that was passed. i do not support the minimum wage only because it has been obvious for some time that it is going to be stripped out in the senate. i think that is something that should have been handled separately and sort of damages the reputation of all of the democrats in the house who are striving for something they know is not going to happen that way. go ahead and put your efforts against everything else and move on and see reality for what it is. you are only damaging the overall cause. host: go to britney calling from

jacksonville, florida. brittany, good morning. caller: good morning, sir. is this for the pass of the bill? host: yes it is. caller: we all need it. here in jacksonville, we really need it. there are people who have been on government assistance that have needed the help in the court area in jacksonville, florida. i, as a single woman not receiving the assistance, i could use it because i don't have the children, nor the assistance coming from the government to make it. i am living in a hotel now due to selling my home and not being able to financially provide for myself as a worker. the cut hours from work has me

out here and by needing assistance, i am actually needing the help. i could not have seen this for myself within the last 10 years of my life. host: let's talk to mitchell who was calling from new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning, jesse. i am an essential worker in a healthcare related industry. i have certainly been impacted by some of the cuts in state spending. i want to push back on two points the republicans have been arguing about with regard to the relief package. one is the money that is going to the states and the argument has been that we don't want to fund these wasteful blue states because they don't know how to manage their budgets. it is ridiculous. first of all, states across the

country, red and blue, are having shortfalls. it is easy to understand. the level of economic activity has been very depressed. hotels are not operating, restaurants are not operating, other forms of commerce are not performing as they had before the pandemic and the amount of revenue that the states generally take in his far lower -- is far lower than what is needed to provide service and they are having severe shortfalls. it is a ridiculous argument. the other thing is, one of the of the arguments has been that, there is almost $1 trillion less on the prior packages. if you dig into that, it is another ridiculous argument. money that has been appropriated for schools in the prior

packages, some of that cannot be allocated because of the declining methods. schools cannot build for certain things to utilize the services. they are committed to utilizing them. in a simplistic matter, it would be if you went out and bought something, we gave you $10,000 to purchase a car and you bought the car on your credit card and the bill did not come in yet. you say, the bill is not here, the money is still there, it is not. it is committed for a service you already paid for. i think the bill would be a help. certainly in the industry i and in which is providing relief for people with disabilities, one of the things the state had to cut back on are housing payments for

people who have developmental disabilities. they have cut back almost 20% on the reimbursements. someone has to make that up. our agency has made some of that up temporarily because we believe we were getting reimbursed on it and now we are told we will remain 5% short. host: let's go to anthony calling from arkansas. good morning. caller: yes, sir. host: go ahead, anthony. caller: i am from arkansas. from what is going on down here in el dorado in the pandemic, places that are closed, even churches have never closed their doors, but everything has slowed

down and you see more people in line at the soup kitchens and the salvation army, in places that i used to go and a lot of those places done boarded up. it is a good idea to pass a bill like that. if they pass it, you see more suffering and you hear more people going through changes, especially the schools -- they need to open the schools. i love going to church and i have not been to church in like three weeks because of the pandemic. when we are in charge, we all have to wear the mask of course. i pray to the lord that this thing would pass over us where people can get back to their normal lives because it is taking lives that people are

close to and everything is off balance. host: at a hearing before the vote on the package, the committee ranking member criticized what he saw as wasteful spending in the bill. here is a portion of what he said. [video clip] >> congress has enacted five separate covid relief bills totaling $4 trillion. roughly $1 trillion remains unspent. yet, the democrats want to push out another $1.9 trillion including an additional $350 billion in funds for state and localities. this is not about providing covid-19 release. it is about shoveling billions of dollars to partisan pet projects. this bill does not provide targeted covid-19 relief for struggling american families, workers, small businesses, schools and communities. the money for schools cannot even be spent until 2021, 2022.

are we going to make our kids wait that long? there are no guard rails ensure the funds are tied to covid-19 release. this will increase fraud, waste and abuse. under this bill, states and localities will have the authority to transfer funds outright to write it -- to private nonprofit organizations for any use. they are giving them hundred and $70 million -- $170 million in paid leave. under this bill, if you are a government employee, you can stay home because your child's's goal is virtual. let's safely reopen schools instead of paying folks to stay-at-home. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the house-passed relief package. here is one that says, "our representatives make $83.65 per

hour and that number is fine. but $7.25 an hour is fine for the workers who make this country what it is today. a tweet that says, "finally the u.s. government is taking this pandemic seriously." another says, "all republicans voted against it. why they vote for people who go against their own interest." another says, "people are struggling because of the pandemic. they only believe in giving tax cuts to the wealthiest people and businesses." another text says "the last time , there were complaints about the bill containing things that were unrelated to coronavirus. i think the stimulus check's

will help americans. i hope congress can take out components that are unrelated to the pandemic and economic situation before they send the final product over to president biden." one more text, "get rid of the $15 an hour minimum wage. pass the bill, help americans." we want to know what you think about the house-passed relief package. before we go back to our phone calls, part of the bill is a $1400 direct payment to american citizens. cbs news has a paragraph that talks about when you can expect your stimulus check. i will read from that article to you. "the administration remains focused on signing the american rescue plan into law by march 14. that is the day when the current

$300 federal bonus expires. assuming president biden can sign the package on march 14, direct deposit would start the week of march 22 with checks beginning to arrive the week of march 29. that is with the $400 direct payment is in the american rescue plan -- $1400 direct payment that is in the american rescue plan." let's get back to our phone lines and see what you think about the covid relief package. let's go to shannon calling from ohio. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i think this relief package is disturbing because very little of the money is actually going to the people. host: what do you mean you think very little is going to people?

we just talked about the $1400 direct payment going directly to american citizens. caller: i understand that people need that money, but i think we need to focus on -- i am a single mother and i have children. they said 9% of the package is actually focused on covid and the rest is going towards different agendas and i think that is very worrisome for our children and my grandchildren and the future. host: where did you get the statistic that only 9% of the bill is focused on coronavirus? where are you getting that statistic? caller: i actually watched the house, i actually watched the whole thing when they broke down the numbers and percentage. they said it was less than 10% that would actually be going towards covid, schools and then the $1400 for the families. i think that is worrisome

because i think $2 trillion in the long run is going to put us in a huge deficit and that is going to go towards our children and our grandchildren. host: let's talk to tyrone who was calling from illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i really wanted to bring up -- i am a small business owner in the state of illinois. we are starving to death due to financial straits. the biggest thing that i am seeing is the $15 minimum wage that you brought up in the relief bill that they took out, illinois has already gone to $15 an hour. as a small business, that cripples what we are allowed to do. we were closed down for six

weeks in illinois, my business was, due to covid. bigger stores like walmart have 400 or 500 people in their store a day but we only have 30 or 40 people and plenty of room for social distancing. i believe it is not fair to a lot of small businesses in the united states. small businesses have been putting a burden on us. i think it is going to affect how many small businesses will hire the younger generation. it was only the steppingstone in the past for younger people to get some work experience to move on whereas it keeps going up, the minimum wage, we will not give as much work to the younger

generation who really needs to be trained and brought up in this country. the other thing i am noticing is, you take stores like walmart, they are going high tech. walmart is talking about phasing out all cashiers and going to automated cashiers. that does not help our job situation in america. if our bigger businesses are going to do this, we are going to lose jobs. there have been estimates of 1.2 million jobs being lost in the future. host: let's talk to caro calling from jonesboro, arkansas. good morning. caller: hello, good morning. i know that there is a lot of suffering going on, but there has been several things that there is a lot of -- several

things that people are not considering. i live on a budget. i have lived on a budget all my life. i was raised by two working parents. both my parents struggled. they raised six children. how ironic, the man before me spoke about walmart. my mother worked at walmart. she worked with mr. sam walton. he was a kind gentleman. my father was a contractor. he worked from dawn until dark at night. we never went hungry. it might not have been what we always wanted, but it is what we got, what we had to eat.

but what i am trying to say is, it might not be what we all have to deal with, but we all have to be kind to each other. we all have to show a little love to each other. what i am trying to say to everyone in this world, if you see someone that needs a little help, i don't care if you don't like them, you need to lend a helping hand because that is what god did for all of us. host: we had a caller earlier talking about some of the things in the bill, the $1.9 trillion bill that were not directly related to covid relief. the new york post had a story

where a democratic house member said he was also not comfortable. "new york democratic center -- senator said he is not comfortable with spending unrelated to the pandemic and president biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill which is expected to pass the house on friday. he admitted his misgivings when pressed by a cnn host on $1.5 million for the bridge between mezzina, new york and canada and $100 million toward the construction of a rail line linking nancy pelosi's san francisco district in silicon valley." "any bill that has $1.9 trillion , there will be one line that is embarrassing." that is coming from the new york

post story where at least one democrat also said that he was a little embarrassed about some of the things that were inside that bill. we want to know what you think about the house-passed $1.9 trillion package. let's talk to bobby from mississippi. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been watching the package pass, the $1.9 trillion package. everybody is saying it is not dealing with covid. covid did not just start this year. covid started four or five years ago when everything was taken from we the people. we the people consist of everything he is trying to put back to get us back where we were. everybody is so concerned about the money. we can make our own money.

they are worried about the deficit, of who is getting it, how it is distributed, they are forgetting the main thing in our constitution, we the people. it does not matter what color you are. it does not matter who you are, where you live. it is the fact that he is helping everyone. the package, they say the connection to the bridge from canada to new york. all of our imports and exports have stopped, which hurt the united states and other countries, which caused more confusion. it is time to get it back like it was in the 1970's and 1980's. we are the people of the united states that create the united states. it seems like they forgot that. host: let's go to rich calling from new jersey. good morning.

caller: good morning. first off, let's straighten out a few things. the $15 minimum wage was stricken by the parliament. because it was illegal to put in this bill because it has to be voted on a separate issue like every other minimum wage. also, you showed that with the bridge and the subway in california and these other things in the bill, c-span would do the viewers a lot of good if they post everything on the screen like you do with all of these articles. all of this bloat and fat in this bill, like the woman said, 9%. it is proven by congressman that there is 9% that goes directly to covid people.

$21,000 per federal employee are going to them to cope with virtual learning for their kids. $21,000 they are going to get, every federal employee. if you want to be fair, c-span, put up all of the things in this bill. post it on the screen so people can actually see what is in this bill. that would be great if c-span got more clearer. it is ridiculous. but i want to thank c-span for letting me have my voice. i hope c-span becomes fair and starts saying what is really true. just like the narrative that the media is pushing and the democrats are pushing about the 76% of people approve this bill. that poll was taken well before they even knew what was in the bill. thank you. host: for anyone is -- who is --

for anyone who is interested in finding out what is in the bill, you can find a link to the bill passed by the house right here on our c-span website. go to c-span.org. you can read the bill for yourself and find out exactly what is inside it. you don't have to depend on us. read it for yourself. let's go to james calling from west virginia. good morning. caller: yes, on the minimum wage. i would like to see the senators and congressmen voting against this live on $15 an hour for three months. i am sure they would change their mind after they lived on that for a while. also, i have a suggestion. let them put their salary and their benefits and all of the perks they get under their name when they are speaking. then bring up their last rays

and how much it was and let the people see what these people live on that are fighting this $15 an hour. i am sure they would get some responses from the people. host: let's go to iran calling from kimberly, west virginia. -- that's go to -- let's go to ron calling from kimberly, west virginia. caller: first of all, thank you for letting me speak. the stimulus bill is good for the people such as the $1400 and the $400. as far as the minimum wage bill, i worked for minimum wage three times in my life. you cannot make a living.

and the reason why is because, way before they raised them in wage -- raised the minimum wage, prices in this country goes up. you can have minimum wage at $30 an hour and it is not going to help anything until people or businesses in this country controls, or the government, controls prices. host: let's go to lindsay calling from san diego, california. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i did call in on the essential workers line. i work in telecommunications. my job has not stopped since the pandemic has started. i have been working since all of this started happening. what i want to say is, we need

the bill. we need help for people, there are people that are hurting. i know that the $15 minimum wage is contentious with people. that needs to happen also. minimum wage has not gone out with the rate of inflation. it has not kept up with keeping people able to pay their bills and stay in their homes and right now, that is what we need people to be able to do. i think we need the package. it is interesting that the republican party, republicans in congress, like the caller earlier said, when it is them trying to pass packages to support big business, they are fine with it. they don't talk about the deficit and, this is going to hurt our children. when the money is going to big businesses and we are keeping people in wall street from using

their millions and billions of dollars that they gambled, they are fine with it. but when the money is going to go to people who are suffering, americans who are suffering, who don't have jobs, who don't have a way to keep a roof over their head and food in their refrigerators, they won't talk about that -- they want to talk about the deficit. host: we have had several callers talk about the percentage of what is in the bill. a monitor did its own analysis of the bill and they came up with percentages that i want to bring to you so you can see what it is saying is in each percentage of the bill. one of the big things is the stimulus payments of $1400 a month. they say that is 22% of the house-passed package.

the $1400 stimulus payments will cost the government $422 billion. 18% of the bill is help for state and local governments. that equals $350 billion in funding that will be allocated not only to population, but would also be based on unemployment rates. 13% of the bill would go to on employment programs. the bill proposes extending emergency unplanned programs which enhance the amount and duration of regular unemployment benefits and extend them to people who would not normally be eligible. that will cost $242 billion. k-12 and higher education would be 9% of the bill at $170

billion. the expanded child tax credit and earned income tax credit would be 6% of the bill with testing, tracing and vaccine, 5%. that is the breakdown from the christian science monitor of what is in the bill that has passed the house. at a press conference, katherine clark spoke about the bill's potential impact on a resident of her state of massachusetts. here is a portion of what she said. [video clip] >> she lost her job shortly after the pandemic, lost her apartment, lost her childcare, and did not have a way to be able to feed her child or afford diapers. with this bill, i am so grateful to the leadership of my colleagues, one of the one in four american women who has been

forced out of the workforce, of the 140,000 jobs that were lost in december, every single one of them was held by a woman and predominantly, women of color. this bill will say to her, there is a tax credit that can lift your child out of poverty. there will be a survival check to help you put a down payment on a new apartment. there will be food available for you. there will be vaccines and testing so that your job, you can get back to your job. this is what this bill means to americans, that we see them, and that is why we are so united behind this. it is just not the democratic caucus, it is the american people, because we are seeing down and we are meeting their tremendous suffering and loss with tremendous solutions and help.

host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about the $1.9 trillion covid relief package. "we are the only major country not to give citizens monthly checks. millionaires in congress are slow walking crumbs to desperate citizens." "why don't republicans want to give republicans -- why don't republicans want to give americans a living wage? always expecting democrats to cater to them? another tweet says, "payments to people not hurt by the pandemic, money for pet projects, $15 minimum wage the senate cannot have in their bill. the house is playing games." another says, "i'm glad biden went big. it is hard to believe this would be a partyline vote when people are suffering and the need is great.

i hope voters remember who was out there helping those in need to put american workers food on the table and money in their pockets so they can pay rent." one post from facebook says, " good. americans need the help." another facebook post says, "do we expect anything less from these useless politicians but to enrich themselves and stiff the american people? " we want to know what you think about the house-passed package. let's talk to cat from connecticut. good morning. caller: good morning. there are quite a few things addressed in this bill as there have been in the past one. there is something i am not seeing recognized and that is the essential frontline workers. a year ago, i heard ted cruz and chuck schumer, everyone had a

bipartisan agreement that they should be recognized. none of these bills in the last year have addressed any of that. the heroes act sat untouched on mitch mcconnell's desk, probably still there. host: let's talk to roger from virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes, we can. go ahead, roger. caller: i watched the vote last night. what that reminded me of was the tea party of 2010 to 2016. no on everything. this republican party has died. we've got something of a new, i don't know what you call it. donald trump has split me and my

family up. i have not seen my brother in four years. we cannot see eye to eye on this thing. i think the relief package is needed. i also think that they should fire that woman in the senate who was against the $15 minimum wage and go ahead and pass it. it is time for democrats to stand up. host: let's talk to brenda calling from montgomery, alabama. good morning. caller: good morning. people need this money. i know a lot of friends in construction work and a waitress and they want to work so they can pay insurance for their children. this and got anything to do with that. you know they need money right now.

my god, they are out of homes and everything else. most people in america, they are not bombs -- they are not bums. they want to work. they are not just laying up. you cannot go in a closed business and make them open up. it is the weight things are going. -- it is the way things are going. we have to live through it. we are american people and we need to stand up. when we need help, we need help. if we can get back to work, we will pay our taxes and get back to where we work. host: let's talk to tom calling from georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a question about $15 an hour. i have been working five years for a and now i am working -- making $15 minimum wage.

now that every untrained person can come in and make exactly what i am making now after five years, are the companies like the one i work for, are they going to be required to give me a double in pay or am i going to have to take a lower status because somebody just comes in and makes exactly what i am making now after five years? host: what do you do for a living? caller: an electronic technician. host: you are saying you worked there for five years and you now make $15 an hour? caller: i retired from the air force and got a job as an electronic technician. i was making minimum wage and after five years, 15 in our -- $15 an hour. host: you are saying it would be unfair to you if you don't get a raise and everyone else makes $15 an hour, right? caller: correct. host: let's talk to robert

calling from augusta, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, robert. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: go ahead, robert. caller: i agree with the bill passing. there are a lot of things in there i don't agree with. they are sending so much money overseas to help and we have people right here in the united states that need the money. they got to jump through hoops to vote and decide that we need the money when you know we need the money. you know what is going on, people out of work. it is just not fair. then the pcp, they give out money, but they don't give it to the small business. small business have to go through so many challenges, this and that.

you give them $2000 or $3000 when you give other companies that don't need the money millions. but the small businesses, hallmark and all the big companies, they don't need the money. i just don't see where it is fair. the bill got all this flimflam in it. let them deal with overseas. we need help in the united states. host: at a budget hearing committee before the passage of the bill, budget committee ranking member jason smith criticized democrats about what he called a lack of transparency about the bill. here is what he had to say. [video clip] >> the president and colleagues want to push this bill through congress before the people have time to realize what is in it. that less than 9% of the bailout actually goes toward crushing

covid-19 and putting shots in people's arms. this bailout would destroy job after job and increase the cost to put food on the table, close on your back or heat in your home, hurting over 41 million senior citizens on fixed incomes. $1 trillion in funding remains unspent from the five prior packages. the economy has estimated the return to pre-pandemic levels of real gdp this year without any further stimulus spending. the highest gdp in 15 years was predicted. when all is said and done, if this bailout becomes law, cbo has confirmed it will cost $36 billion in cuts annually to medicare, $36 billion in cuts to medicare starting next year. the maximum level allowed.

mr. chairman, this is the wrong plan at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons. host: let's go back to our social media followers and see what they are thinking about the house-passed package. here is one that says, "relief for the democrats, blue states and their bank accounts and taxpayers have to pay for it. just another waste." another says, "too much political force, another failure." another says, "they enrich themselves. stop supporting these career criminals." a final facebook post says, "will not pass the senate." let's see what you think about the house-passed covid relief package. let's go to kay calling from

florida. good morning. caller: good morning. this is why people need to vote. then, you vote for your representative. that means your representative supports congress. this is why the democrats need to vote. thank you. host: let's go to anna calling from chicago. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say, i want to thank president biden fighting for us. thank you so much. host: let's talk to brett calling from nevada. good morning. caller: good morning. this subway deal for pelosi, they have two high speed trains they have not completed. they are over budget and behind schedule. this subway is only going to help the people out in georgia

and even people in nevada. that is fantastic it is going to help out those small businesses. just great, you know. thanks, politicians. that's all i've got to say on the matter. host: let's talk to debbie from philadelphia. caller: thank you. i wanted to respond to the comment about the bridge to canada and the money in california. they explained that in the hearing. i watched the hearing. the representative from oregon broke it down and candy is paying for most of the money -- canada is paying for most of the money about that bridge and the money about california and what they are calling pelosi's district. that was under trump's administration. he explained it here at i watched the hearings. the gentleman is talking about

there are going to take money from medicare. the republicans wanted to take your healthcare altogether. we need to watch what they are saying. thank you for the bill. host: as we talk about the coronavirus relief package, we have to keep in mind that the coronavirus pandemic is still going on in the united states. looking at the coronavirus tracker by johns hopkins university, they have confirmed more than 28 million people in the united states have been infected with covid-19 and there are more than half a million people who have died because of this disease. president biden was in texas on friday touting the successes the country has had with vaccinations, but he also had a warning about what could become a spike. there is what he had to say.

[video clip] pres. biden: we are going to save peoples lives as a result of these efforts. in five weeks, americans administered the multishot of any country in the world. that is great progress. it is also true that vaccinations are up, cases and hospitalizations are down. i need to be honest with you. i have said from the beginning, like roosevelt said, i will shoot you straight from the shoulder, cases and hospitalizations could go back up as new variants emerge and it is not the time to relax. we have to keep washing our hands, staying socially distanced, and for gods sake, wear your mask. wear your mask, it is not a political statement. it is a patriotic thing to do. host: let's go back to our phone line and take john calling from

chicago, illinois. good morning. caller: i am very happy that the covid-19 package passed. i think most people are. it is going to help us in schools. i am a teacher unemployed right now. i am looking forward to going back. the republicans spent months not doing anything. this is going to be a welcome relief for everyone. thank you. host: let's talk to ed calling from king of prussia, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: yes. there is no discussion as to what the money is going to be spent on. real leaders are going to say, if you spend the money on cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, gambling and the sex industry, it is misused. see what i mean? host: let's talk to gary calling from indianapolis, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning.

i have been watching your show. i really enjoy it. i am speaking about the relief package that congress passed. i do not understand people. i have had several businesses. i am 83 years old, retired police officer. i have a budget. my wife passed away two years ago, 60 years. i don't understand why these people do not understand we are not on the same playing field. it is not level right now. i don't understand at all why -- i understand politics, i get that point. but why can't they understand, you take care of the things that are most important. businesses, people, children not eating, families not eating. all of this stuff about tunnels and bridges -- i mean, why can't

they do like most american families do that have common sense? you take on one thing at a time, you have a budget. you save for it or you find ways. you do one thing at a time. if you try to do everything, you are going to be bankrupt and i think that is what they are trying to do with our country if they don't slow down. do what is needed. help the people. get this virus under control and we will have a much better country. you just add too much pork to all of these bills and it is just not right. i understand why a lot of people are upset, they should be upset, that is our tax dollars being misused. host: let's talk to frank calling from ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple of problems with the stimulus packages. i have a 21-year-old son home from college and he has got

nothing from the stimulus because he did not file a tax return in the previous years, which i think is very wrong. if anybody is hurting, it is a college student with debt. also, i have a friend in the same boat as i am, 63 years old, retired, social security. he has a seven-year-old daughter and she's got all the money from the stimulus is -- stimulus and i feel that is wrong. host: let's talk to keith calling from washington, d.c. good morning. caller: i wanted to make the point that the republicans talk about there is too much pork in the bill. once they take out the pork, they are not replacing it with, let's say, extra funds to individuals. if you are going to strip away $500 billion for the bridge, put that into direct payments to

individuals or increase the federal unemployment. do not just take out the money and lower the ad on and lower the individual payments as well. their $600 billion plan does not only take away the bridge, but it lowers the individual payments and the ui add on. if you are going to take away one, do not take away both, if that is what you want to do in order to compromise. thank you. host: we would like to thank all of our callers and all of our viewers that watched that last segment. coming up, former fda chief scientist dr. jesse goodman will join us to talk about the latest news on covid-19 vaccines. later, we will turn to politics in this year's conservative political action committee

conference going on in florida. that conversation will be with washington post's david weigel. stick around, we will be right back. >> today on the communicators, tech reporters talk about the issues facing the telecommunications industry including net neutrality. >> emily was talking about net neutrality, this is an issue that was a huge divisive issue between democrats and republicans during the trump administration which overruled on net neutrality after the obama administration. now the biden administration has decided to step back from that and allow states to go ahead with their own individual rules. what we are likely to see, if the government does not act, net neutrality rules state-by-state, making the >> watch the communicy

on c-span. >> tuesday, christopher wray testifies before the senate dysuria committee regarding the fbi security and planning in advance of and during attack on the capital january 6. watch live coverage at 10:00 eastern on c-span three. listen live on the c-span radio app. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back with georgetown university medical center dr. jesse goodman, the former scientist at the fda. he is here to discuss covid-19 vaccines and coronavirus. good morning. let's get to the current news.

yesterday, the fda committee approved the johnson & johnson vaccine for emergency use authorization. tell us what that means. what happens now? guest: it means the fda weighed the evidence for large clinical trial of over 40,000 people and determined it was safe and effective in reducing covid-19 illness. that means if the fda goes along with the advisory committee deliberations, that vaccine will become available relatively quickly, as early as next week. the company has going to be ramping up significantly and increase the vaccine supply. it's good news. host: what are the differences between the johnson & johnson

vaccine and the ones that we have heard so much about, the ones being used right now? guest: one big difference is it is one dose. that makes things much simpler. it also doesn't have to be stored at ultra frozen temperatures. that makes use simpler. it is less effective for 75% of u.s. versus 95%. it is quite effective in reducing severe illness that resulted in hospitalization or death. host: if you are waiting for your vaccine and you haven't gotten that yet, should you wait for the johnson & johnson? should you get the first dose of a vaccine that requires two doses? guest: i would take whatever is available when you can get it. i think they will both have

impact against serious infection. if you know you can come back for the second dose, i would get what's available now. host: are there certain professions or certain groups of people you would say go get the -- go wait for the single-dose? is that advice for everybody across the board? guest: i would say for everybody across the board, if you feel you can't come back for a second dose or it's too much to deal with, this might be preferred for you. otherwise, the vaccines are really similar. they are going to protect you and help and the pandemic. get vaccinated when it's available. as we go forward, we understand differences between the vaccines better. if the rna vaccines turn out to be more effective, maybe they

will be preferential in high-risk people. right now, we are approaching three good alternatives in the country. host: you brought this up a second ago, is there a concern that the johnson & johnson vaccine won't be as effective as the pfizer and the moderna? is that something we should be worried about right now? guest: i'd that we should worry about it right now. it does appear to be slightly less effective. the good news is it's quite effective at presenting severe disease and putting people in the hospital. a very important piece of information is the clinical trials for this vaccine were performed in brazil and south africa. some of these variant viruses have been circulating.

this vaccine also protected pretty well, not quite as well, but significantly against those variants. host: you brought up the topic i was heading toward. the variants we have heard about, are any of these particular shots better or worse for those variants? is that something we should worry about right now? guest: right now, let's get our shots. the form of virus circulating in the united states, all of these will be highly effective against. we will see information on how the vaccines will perform against the south african variant. there is good evidence they will provide significant protection. the j&j vaccine, they did do

tests in south africa. i expect others will provide protection as well. host: viewers can take part in this conversation. if you have questions about the vaccines and the variants, i want to hear from. if you have already had your first coronavirus vaccine shot or if you have had both of them, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. if you are waiting for your coronas virus vaccine shot, if you are waiting to get it, i want hear from you as well. you are going to call (202) 748-8001. if you've decided you are not going to get the vaccine, if you're not going to get any of the vaccines, we want to hear you tell us why. your number is (202) 748-8002.

keep in mind, you can text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media, twitter. last week, the fda said the modified covid-19 vaccine, they won't need large clinical trials. why not? guest: we have very strong information from the clinical trials of the original vaccine. to adapt to these new strains requires mild modification to the vaccine. it's kind of like how we change flu vaccines every year. the fda has wisely said there could just be limited clinical trials to make sure the vaccine

reacts as we expected to. host: we have seen a lot of people have received the vaccine. if we go to the information from the covid site, 94 million vaccine doses have been delivered to the united states. they have administered 70 million of those doses. will the new johnson & johnson single shot dosage increase the numbers of people who have been getting vaccinated because it is easier to be stored and doesn't need those ultracold temperatures the previous two did? guest: i think it's going to help when you think about that a call centers in the u.s. that may not have those capabilities, it's going to make it easier to get vaccine to them. when you think about the global

need, countries like the u.k. and israel are doing pretty well wrapping up vaccinations. most of the world does not have access to vaccines. restraints like the multiple doses are significant. i think this vaccine could play a role helping throughout the world. i want to emphasize to your listeners this is critically important. unless week control this around the world, we will have new variants pop up everywhere. helping the world is a priority as well. it's not just the right thing to do from a humanitarian point of view. it protects our country as well. host: we have a question from social media. the social media follower once to know was the johnson & johnson jab made with mrna

technology? what is the difference? guest: it's a different technology. the way the johnson & johnson vaccine is made, they constructed a virus that can cause colds like illnesses. they have taken that and made it so it can't replicate in normal human cells. what that virus has had inserted and it, the genetic information for the most important protein, it shows that protein to your cells. it doesn't replicate. it makes your immune system ready to defend against it when that virus comes along.

it is similar in the sense that both teach your immune session of to recognize and fight the virus. it uses a replication virus instead of rna to do that. host: we have noticed from new data from the cdc that shows nearly 3 million americans never showed up for their second dose of the pfizer or the moderna vaccine in time. are those americans who did not show up in time for their second dose of the vaccine, are they still protected? guest: they are probably not fully protected. we have limited information on that. clinical studies, everybody got both doses of the vaccine.

what we do know is between the first and second dose, there is some protection that could range between 80%. we don't know how long that lasts. i would urge people listening to get that second dose. host: is there an amount of time that would give them some protection? for them, is that just like getting the first dose all over again? guest: as long as it's within two or three months, we don't have all the information, if we take it from our experience with other vaccines, i don't think it's too late to get that second dose now. host: let's let our viewers take part in this conversation. don is calling from washington. don is not getting vaccinated. good morning. caller: good morning.

host: go ahead. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have two quick questions. i was wondering what dr. thought of two separate things, the first being what he thinks of hydroxychloroquine and regeneron. the second question, if he believes there is medical value in marijuana. i will take the answers off the air. guest: i would say there were hopes for hydroxychloroquine. every well performed study has not shown a benefit. unfortunately on that one, it's not like taking candy. it does have some risk. there is no evidence that is a benefit in treating covid disease.

that's unfortunate. regeneron, their anybody treatment, that and other monochrome all antibodies have been effective in treating people with early forms of disease, mild disease who are at high risk of ending up very sick and getting in the hospital. it appears to reduce hospitalizations and those people. that's a clear goal for those treatments. they are being used in outpatients who are at risk for severe disease and get covid. one important things about those , if they are prone to the problem that variant viruses may escape from them, regeneron is a cocktail of two different.

some of the others that are a single antibody, you can imagine if that protein is directed against makes changes and could escape. that is going to be important to track going forward. i am forgetting the third question. host: medical marijuana. guest: i think there are many people who feel they have various symptoms. there are some studies for rare forms of seizure disorder that show the key chemicals in marijuana and be beneficial. i think we are at a state where there is promise there. the well-controlled studies tell us who it might help.

there is still so much work to be done. i would say it's promising. we need data. like so many of these things, it really needs to stand under the light of science to help us determine who benefits. host: i have a time sensitive question from one of our social media followers. i will bump her to the line. this follower says i am scheduled to get the first vaccination today. i got a flu shot two weeks ago. will that affect anything? should i postpone? guest: i don't think that should affect it. you might call the clinic where you are getting it if there is not too much to do. make sure they don't have a policy against that. the flu vaccine is a fairly

simple thing we understand well. i don't think it would interfere. we don't have a lot of data. i would say congratulations that you are on the list. they might ask you to delay for a week or two. i would expect not. host: let's go to ralph, calling from connecticut. ralph is looking for his vaccine shot. good morning. go ahead. caller: i had a question. march 9, i will get my first shot. what if it's the one from johnson & johnson? will that be appropriate? guest: that's a great question. i think there will be a time where people have a lot of questions about numbers of doses and different vaccines. right now, the recommendation is

you stick with just one vaccine. if you get moderna or pfizer, you would come back four weeks later. it's three weeks for the pfizer. if you happen to get the johnson & johnson vaccine, there is not currently a second shot recommended. you would not be expected to do that. we would not mix-and-match. we don't have the studies to support that yet. someday we may get to a situation where we know we can do that and the best ways to do it. right now, stick with the first vaccine. i will say there is ongoing studies of two vase -- doses of the johnson & johnson to see if that improves the efficacy further or make it last longer.

when we get the results, the recommendation could change and people will be offered a second dose. host: that brings up a story that was on npr this week when they were talking about companies not only producing vaccines but trying to come up with booster shots. that is something you were just mentioning. do you think we will get to the point where a booster shot for covid-19 will be similar to what we are getting as a flu shot? you have to take one every year to make sure we are protected? guest: i think that's very likely. i would love for covid to disappear. clearly, it has thrown us curveballs, these variants. we don't know how long the

vaccine will work against the current variant. we may be in a flulike situation where every year or less often, we will need to get boosters, probably tweaked to make them more active against these new variants. host: sandra is calling from maryland. sandra has already been vaccinated. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i got the infusion the other day as a result of the positive test. you mentioned the antibodies are not very effective or as effective in fighting the variance. are they at least effective as any of the other vaccines? guest: the monochrome all --

there are two things. what you got will probably protect you for some time. plus any immunity you got from testing positive. you are probably protected against covid potentially for a few months. the antibodies have not been extensively studied for use in prevention. we think they probably work. they go away in your body. they are like a medicine that over the course of a few weeks to a month, the levels begin to go down. ultimately, after a few months it will not be at a level to protect against infection. people who got it should ultimately be vaccinated. you sound like you got infected

and got it to keep you from getting sicker. i would think after several months, you probably should get vaccine. it may not take the way it normally would because it would fight against the vaccine. host: that brings up a question one of our social media followers has. this follower once to know, should you get tested for covid-19 before getting the vaccine? how does the vaccine affect asymptomatic carriers? guest: currently, testing is not recommended before getting the vaccine. it would introduce a time-consuming step. the tests aren't perfect. we don't know the level of

antibody test might get. it is recommended that we vaccinate people without specifically testing as to whether they were previously exposed. what we are seeing is some information starting to emerge from studies that suggest if you have covid, it may be true if you have covid without symptoms. you may only need one dose. in the next couple of months, we will see information and a recommendation that people who have had proven covid with a positive test, they may only need one dose. i think they should be vaccinated.

both to protect against the antibody levels going down in time and helping to protect against other variants. we are learning how this disease acts. we are learning how the vaccines act and how long they protect area i think you're going to see some recommendations change over the next several months. host: bob is calling from indiana. bob says he's not getting vaccinated. good morning. caller: i am 75 years old. i have shingles. they have come back. i am going through it now. i should not take the vaccine. i am highly allergic to a lot of medication. should i take the vaccine? guest: these are really good

questions. i think talking to your doctor is a good idea. what i would say is the frequency of severe allergic reactions are mostly the rna vaccines. as of yesterday, the cdc updated. it seemed to be about one in a couple hundred thousand for one of the vaccines. that is very low in terms of things like medical attention. i think you need to be aware of that. wherever you get a vaccine, it's been recommended that they are equipped to handle emerge -- allergic reactions that take place. in terms of your age and

shingles, i would probably argue that tells me your immune system is not what it was 20 years ago, like everyone. if anything, it might make you more at risk for severe complications. i would discuss it further and think about getting vaccinated. it's probably going to be beneficial. that is a discussion you should have with your own health care provider. host: one of our social media followers seems to think that the media and doctors are downplaying the side effects of the vaccine. the side effects are being misrepresented and downplayed. my daughter is a frontline employee. they report feeling flulike

symptoms, vomiting. why is this being hidden? i get mine today. i am disappointed in reporting of effects. what side effects should people affect from their first toast or the second dose? -- first dose or the second dose. guest: that has been presented at the fda advisory committee. i agree with the caller that it's important that people understand so they can make decisions. what i would say is things like pain at the site of injection occurs in the majority of people. in a smaller number, things like muscle aches, fevers, almost

flulike. it doesn't occur in most patients, it occurs in a lot. my health care workers, myself included, thousands in our system, what i saw in my immediate colleagues it was about one out of 10 had to miss the day of work because they felt so miserable. in the overwhelming majority, within a couple of days they are back to normal. so far, those haven't been detected in patients receiving the vaccine. there is a lot of safety monitoring going on. i would say these are side effects people can live with as

long as they are aware of it. you can have fever and chills. my own personal experience was pretty benign. i had a sore arm. everyone is going to have different experiences. be prepared that you might feel sick for a couple of days. host: william is calling from nashville. william has had at least one of his shots already. good morning. caller: good morning. i had both of my shots. i only had a little soreness in my shoulder. i am a vietnam veteran and i got my shots at the v.a. i advise all veterans to get your shot. it's good for you. thank you. guest: congratulations and thanks for your service to our country. host: bill is calling from marilyn. he is waiting on his first coronavirus vaccine shot. caller: i had my first one

yesterday. i wondered if the doctor could go through the procedure, what he knows. when the pharmacy gets the vaccine at their facility, what is the procedure of how they prep it to make sure it's not been tampered with so i can have confidence it wasn't tampered with. when i got a flu shot, they brought it to you on a plate and it was still sealed. if you could go through the procedure. i could have some comfort in what i have seen that everything has not been tampered with. guest: that's a good question. i would urge any person getting vaccinated if you are in an

environment, ask a question of the vaccinator. have you had this with you at all times? how has it been controlled? pharmacies are regulated by the state, in addition to federal regulations enforced by the fda. what is done it, packages are sealed. they are tracked. they are inventoried very carefully. if a vaccine is out of a multiple dose vial, that is the situation right now, that may be done outside your immediate vision. syringes could be used to inject vaccine. you should be reassured that a

reputable pharmacy or health care facility will follow those procedures. if there is any concern all, you should ask. host: one of our followers want you to look down the road into the future and talk about another vaccine coming down the pike. what is your thought about novavax? it's the only one with effective prevention against the spread of the virus. if approved, order prospects were returning back to normal without masks or other mitigation efforts? guest: specifically about that vaccine, what we've seen so far is early data. maybe they had a study.

that is quite promising. it looked like a high degree of protection similar to these other vaccines. there was some information from part of their trials that suggested some protection against that strain. i think it's promising. we will just have to see when the final data comes out. it does have some advantages in terms of storage being simpler. it would add to the global supply. large amounts can be produced. it will be a good thing. when we put this all together, all are looking like they are performing reasonably well. we are getting to a point we can have vaccination have a real impact on the pandemic. we just saw information in the last few days.

outbreaks in nursing homes are much better controlled. i think that tells us this could really help. it probably is not going to be overnight. we have tons of virus circulating an hour communities. the outbreak is not going to be stabbed in the next month or two. numbers will go down. we have the issue of the variant to come along. i am optimistic and hoping against hope. maybe by the fall when most americans felt they can trust the vaccine and there is enough and most are immunized, we could end restrictions. it will take continued

monitoring for new strains. we may need to be repeatedly immunized. i am hopeful we are on the right track. don't let down your guard. the enemy is on the ropes, you really got to be sure you are finishing off the job and don't turn away from it. host: jane is calling from california. she says she is not getting the shot. good morning. caller: i would like to say i'm not going to get the vaccine. i am not going to be a guinea pig or a pincushion for all of these pharmaceutical companies that have all had lawsuits against them. johnson & johnson can't make talcum powder it hurting somebody. for me to say that i trust any of these pharmaceuticals, the

profits they are making. the knee-jerk reaction of getting a vaccine out, i probably won't get one. i do have a question. what about dosage? if i get a vaccine and they give me so many cc of the vaccine, but the guy behind me is 60 years old, does he get the same dosage? guest: with respect to your question, the same dose is used in all adults. all the adults regardless of their weight, their age, their conditions in the trials, these are very large clinical trials, they received the same dose of vaccine. those groups seem to all respond

well in terms of protection. in some cases, the elderly may not be as fully protected. it's been great to see most of these vaccine, the extension -- protection extends to the elderly. i think the benefit is there for everyone. i hear you on the trust issue. take a careful look at it. the data have been vetted by the independent fda. they have been presented publicly. don't forget there is a reason, there was a time when measles in our country or polio in our country were just like covid

now. it was part of life. people were dying. a lot of the reason we are confident about our health right now is vaccines. i people to know. these were developed quickly because we were in a pandemic. as a physician having seen many people die from covid and seeing what it's done to our economy, this outweighs may have. people need to make their own decisions. look at the information. talk to others who have received the vaccine.

make an informed decision. host: you were talking about dosage. how far away are we from a coronavirus vaccine that could be used on children it? guest: i think a few months. in doing studies of medicines and vaccines given to healthy people, we like to see the information in adults and sure there is not a safety problem and get understanding of the dose before we go into children. some studies in adolescence, older children, are underweight or beginning. when those are completed, we will have information to support. if those data show safety, they will proceed to younger children. it's going to be a while. the good news is most children

aren't significantly affected. for anybody listening who is aware, there is a rare and severe syndrome that can occur in infected children. if we can prevent that, we would prevent a lot of heartache as well. i hope the vaccines will be studied in children, that they will be safe and effective. we need that information for it can be recommended to children. host: rick is calling from los angeles. he is looking forward to his first vaccine. good morning. caller: thank you. i have two questions. regeneron would've been my first choice. that's what they gave president trump. he called it a cure. why haven't we heard more about that? why is it on the shelf? the second question is, there

were picketers at the testing site. they said modernity is not a vaccine, it is gene therapy. what is the difference between gene therapy and a vaccine? guest: first of all, the regeneron product that the president has gotten is an antibody. it's not a vaccine. right now, it's only authorized to treat people with mild disease to prevent them from getting sicker. as i mentioned earlier, the effect of that diminishes with time. the system breaks down and it doesn't text you indefinitely like a vaccine. it's a treatment. it's complicated because it has to be given into a vein.

it doesn't appear to work in severely infected patients. it is for patients who are more mildly ill. they are at high risk because of their age or underlying conditions of getting severe disease. it is being used. we use it in the hospital i practice at. it's not for widespread use like a vaccine. on the issue of gene therapy, there are a lot of things people who are opposed vaccines have put out there. to try to either -- scare others. what they are referring to is the rna vaccines are made from the chemical our genes make. it's part of all of us.

our bodies are filled with it. these vaccines contain an rna, this protein on the surface of the coronavirus. what it does, when that vaccine gets injected, it uses the cell to start making that protein. it teaches our body to remember that. if it comes along again, to fight against it. it doesn't alter our genes. it doesn't stay around forever. it uses genetic technology, it's not a gene therapy in the sense that you might try to correct roque and jeans and someone with sickle cell disease or something like that. that's a scary sounding thing that is not accurate. host: darlene is calling from

las vegas. she says she is not going to get the vaccine. did morning. caller: good morning. i was curious, did you watch the response. ? a doctor was very adamant about a prophylactic. all the testing they have done has shown that people who received it did not contract it. it absolute destroyed because of the antiviral property. i was curious about your thought. the vaccines being offered are deadly to someone like me. guest: i think it's interesting.

it is kind of at the point where there is a lot of advocacy of it. most of it is from very small studies or personal experience. we need to see what larger studies show. unfortunately, a lot of things look good with anecdotal experience. most people who get covid don't end up dying or in the hospital. i gave a bunch of people and they didn't end up in the hospital, it may or not suggest something is going on. we will have to wait for the studies, so far they have not suggested it. i am open to it. there are reasons to study it. what was your other point? host: we have lost her at this

point. they were out of time. this was something we could talk about for the next three hours. unfortunately, we are out of time. we would like to thank dr. jesse goodman from georgetown university for taking time out of his morning and answering our questions. dr. goodman, thank you so much. guest: i hope everybody stays safe and healthy. host: coming up, the preview of president trump's appearance at this year's cpac conference. later on, and author will join us to talk about his book, how our founding fathers had business pursuits that changed america and the world. stick with us. we will be right back.

>> watch coverage of the annual conservative political action conference today at 1:35 eastern. speakers include mike pompeo, kevin mccarthy, r cpac coverage continues sunday. speakers include larry kudlow, match lab, and donald trump. watch the cpac conference live this weekend on c-span and c-span.org. listen live on that c-span radio app. >> sunday on q&a, erica armstrong dunbar from rutgers university talks about her book on the life of harriet tubman.

>> we know she made at least 13 trips to and from the eastern shore of maryland. that is one thing people don't know or confuse. she wasn't running all over the south. she made specific targeted trips to the state of maryland to rescue her family and her friends. we know that she touched the lives of many emancipated people, at least 70 people on 13 trips. >> sunday at 8:00 eastern on q&a. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back with dave weigle, the national political reporter for the washington post

and author of a newsletter. he is with us to tell us what is going on at cpac. good morning. guest: it's good to talk to you. host: what is going on at cpac right now? what are you watching for right now? guest: there are changes to the schedule. marco rubio is not on the schedule and more. donald trump will close on sunday. that is one event based around. the conference, a lot of reporting has reflected it's about continuing donald trump's leadership role in the republican party, his agenda. it's much more than individual things that democrats are doing. there is no discussion of the covid bill moving through congress. in washington, that is the story of the day.

host: what do you see so far at cpac that is different from previous years? we know they are in florida this year. it is normally here in d.c.. what is different about the conference? guest: that is a big difference. there is a convention center similar to watch d.c.. it is warm and pleasant. events are being held outside. it has shrunk down quite a bit. the attendance is a little bit less than half in the big years. this will be about 4000 people. the media presence is much smaller. i am the only person here for

the washington post. the scale is different. in terms of the agenda, it has carried on as if donald trump won the election. i can think of things they would be celebrating that are not happening. in terms of the focus, there is no rethinking of what we need to do, none of that. it's very much about the republican party being on the right track posttrial. -- post trump. host: why is it in orlando? it was in washington dc for a long time. why are they in orlando? guest: the build is the same. i'm in the main conference room. because of covid. until november, they were wondering if they would be able to have the event in maryland.

it's at a hotel just outside washington. when they realized florida was going to have the ability to hold a large indoor conference, they moved here. the actual reason is covid. if the pandemic was over two months ago, we would be in d.c.. a lot of the themes of the conference, florida is open for business. it's been about the lockdown has lasted too long. the states like florida that opened things up faster than others are doing it right. that's been a big theme of the conference. host: let me remind our viewers that you can take part in this conversation. we are going to open up our regular lines for this conversation about cpac. republicans, you can call in at

(202) 748-8001. democrats, your line is (202) 748-8000. independent voters, you can call in at (202) 748-8002. keep in mind it can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media on twitter and on facebook. you already mentioned this. president will speak tomorrow. what are you hearing the thrust of his speeches going to be? -- speech is going to be. guest: he tended to speak for more than 90 minutes. they said the speech will go from topic to topic. they tended to be explanations of what he had achieved, sometimes with falsehoods.

there would be aggression's. -- digressions. the thinking is he is going to defend his administration. he will make a case against the biden administration. we don't know what direction he will go in. they won the election. for the time being, donald trump in the face of republicans is keeping them from rebranding. they are happy with that. we will say after the speech. he is in a weak position to do so. he left office very unpopular. his approval rating was in the mid 30's. the time outside of this room,

people are about how everything was great under him and everything is terrible now, outside cpac that might not be popular. host: let me remind our viewers that you can see former president trump give his speech sunday at 3:40 p.m. on c-span, c-span.org, and on the free c-span radio. one of the republicans we know is not it cpac. that is mike pence. what is the story there. guest: he is not making any political speeches at the moment. joe biden after the white house in 2017 was doing campaigning for democratic candidates. mike pence is following the

tradition of a former vice president not jumping right back into politics. i would expect to see him return at some point. if he were speaking at this convention, there are people at this who are frustrated that he did not find some way to overturn the election results. i'm not sure he would have gotten a good reception. marco rubio was supposed to be here. the question hanging over a lot of things, publicans who did not vote to overturn the election are not as welcome here. josh hawley got a lot of applause for mentioning it. a speech in which he was defended the trump legacy would be more popular. host: if viewers want to see the speakers who are actually talking today, you can join our live coverage of cpac at 1:35

p.m. eastern. that will begin our live coverage. you will be able to see what's going on and see some of the people you see right there on your screen speaking today. mike pompeo, kevin mccarthy, the governor of north dakota. you will see them live today. those are the one we know are showing up today. let's take some calls from our viewers. let's start with morris, calling from ohio on the independent line. good morning. he seems to have dropped off. renaud is calling from madison, wisconsin on the democratic line. caller: i want to ask the reporter why the republican

party seems to have a major fracture in it, a significant number don't think donald trump should be the party leader. look at the seven people in congress that voted to impeach him, look at the senators that voted to impeach him. considering the elections are close. why isn't anyone discussing donald trump being destroying the republican party and making sure they will be a minority? i will take the answer off-line. host: go ahead. guest: i think it's being covered. one way republicans are united. early this morning, every house republican voted against the stimulus package. that's what they did in 2009.

with trump and his role in the party, it's complicated. most republicans supported. they support a third party. not many republicans really want trump to go away. on the agenda, there is real division. whether it's the party driving with this branding on immigration, that is being debated in the party. smb who has can severed -- covered conservatives after they lost to barack obama, it is more contemplative.

some the conservatives -- jeff flake voted for joe biden. a number of legislators voted for joe biden. they can't be divided if you're the longer part of the party. host: one of the things we do have to acknowledge, at amy: -- host: at least eight that will vote and they will have a straw for those. who are you watching besides former president,? guest: i mentioned rubio is not speaking at the moment.

josh hawley spoke yesterday. the former secretary of state and kristi noem. i went caution there is not a presidential primary for two more years. you don't have the same rundown. there is a straw poll for members of the congress. it will be interesting to watch.

trump will win it. i am curious who else gets any balance and who will make a big play and spend a lot of money to bring people in, even though it is very unscientific. host: one thing are -- we are seeing is conservatives attacking republicans. donald trump, jr. spoke at cpac. >> can be seamless liz cheney's poll numbers?

the one thing i will say is i am sure she has a lot of bipartisan support, because if it is one thing she and joe biden want to do is bound the middle east. everything else is a disaster. everything out -- else is just the kind of policies that put the republican party in a position where they needed a donald trump. seriously, liz cheney enter politics are only slightly less popular than her father is at equivalent. -- at a quail hunt. what? fact checkers, fact checkers, please have edits. fact check true.

right? like i said, liz cheney hates donald trump and his policies because her family has a long history of friendly fire, but she also hates them because she is tied to an establishment that has done nothing but fail us time and time again. you heard the rhetoric and now you have seen that change very quickly, because if there is one thing the republican party has been really good at over the past few decades is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. they caved to every special interest, orbit america and bowed to the radical left that hates their guts, their values, and their freedoms. lincoln project liz, as i like to call her, is the leader of that movement. if we want to go back to losing,

if we want to go back to and america last policy, we should be following that. i don't and i don't think anyone in this room does either. host: is that speech we just heard from donald trump, jr. typical of what they said at cpac this year? guest: it was not that different. it is not new at cpac, when he was vice president, cheney came but he has not come in years. the point that donald trump, jr. was making is that even though

he used others asians -- used authorizations to bomb, but the attitude that donald trump was the president and democrats will bring us into another war, it has been willed into existence. it is popular on the left. conservatives see advantages for certain reasons and disagree with the biden administration. it will be separated. heard you stuff -- the stuff you heard from donald trump, jr. are some new arguments. we will find new voters. we are the piece party.

it has been true very recently. host: one of our social media followers has a question for you. is there any reference to mike pence and or january 6, referring to what happened at the capitol. and are you worried about your own health reporting on an event that has such a large indoor gathering in a community that tends to avoid covid-19 safety recommendations? guest: people have been asked in the hallway. if someone is doing a quick tv hit, you can take it off but my policy is not to. on the first part of the

question -- host: have you seen much reference to mike pence and or what happened on washington, d.c. in january 6? guest: you have seen a few of them. jeff hawley did not go before and say anything about january six and the capital attacks. -- capitol attack. the media, including myself, we covered and tried to demonize conservatives and an overall reaction with people being angry and people thinking the election was stolen from them.

at a conference last night that was not cpac, they had a number of defenses and videos. it is more complicated. it is more of a -- that we face. host: let's take a call from ruth from with constant -- from wisconsin. caller: can you tell us whether cpac is going to be discussing the issue of white supremacy? are they going to try to ignore that topic or is it likely there will be some discussion about that issue? guest: there are two parts to

that peer cpac has -- there are two parts to that. cpac has policies. this year, there are people at the conference who who babble in that -- you dabble in that behavior. it is explaining the idea of white supremacy to suppress speech on the part of the democrats. the attitude is that the media is overemphasizing it. to be fair, they have in the past when what nationalists

appeared -- host: let's talk to catherine calling from pennsylvania on the independent line. good morning. caller: i have for david, you asked him why do think the republicans are acting like tom one -- like trump won? well he did. pelosi and those sold us out. it is communism. donald trump junior and all the speakers are right on in this journalist and the rest need to start doing their work. host: you are hearing a lot of reaction in florida like that caller? guest: some of it.

people are generally feeling the election was stolen. this is outside of this conference and an issue going forward. they think the last election was stolen. most democrats don't. typically when parties mobilize around a view that two thirds of the company are against doesn't go well. when you are talking to people, when they say the election was stolen, how do you cover that? we urge you to do your own research and they are being careful with misrepresentation.

some of the stuff you are seeing on stage might not be true so we are cutting away and it is very much unsettled but the majority of the opinion by far is that the election was stolen. host: let's talk to randy who is talking from -- who is calling from kentucky on the republican line. good wanting. caller: -- good morning. caller: i don't have very many black friends and they're just that many in our area, but i don't have anything against them. i went to virginia just a few days ago and was going to do a

purchase from a seller who was black. he was just the most racist person i met. he was scared to death of white people or something he just didn't like them. dino the democrats all the way back have scared those people to death. they have destroyed those people's minds. that is so sad. is it intentional, just the same way it is with our side, but it is a shame how the press and media has dealt with both sides. you are going to kill us all. host: do you want to respond to that? guest: i'm not sure which one to respond to. i don't think there is extremism in politics but there is stream is him in people.

the leader of the party is joe biden who is not going out and saying the things that the caller was mentioning. there is a difference between what the leader of the party is saying and what extremists are saying. host: at 1:35 p.m. eastern here on c-span, on c-span, and on the free c-span radio app, you can watch. if you had to choose one speaker to here today that would represent what is going on at cpac, which speaker would you tell our viewers to look for? guest: i would say kevin mccarthy. he is not somebody with a very

visceral connection to the base. he speaks in the afternoon. the panel here -- for example, about messaging, about whether votes were stolen. host: let's talk to stevie who is calling from reno, nevada on the republican line. good morning. caller: i want to quickly address this, the media, big tech, and the democratic party have essentially declared war on half of america.

i have never seen beyond politics such a lack of respect, humidity, and calling everybody a racist. i have heard the word so much and it is so overused. this is not politics. these are insensitive people. have of america, how do you get off kong 75 million people racists and -- calling 75 million people racists and supremacists. politically, it is stupid. host: do you want to respond? guest: i think the 75 million is probably a reference to the election.

no one thinks every single trump voter represents the absolute worst. the discussion is more about what sort of attitudes have trickled into mainstream politics from the fringe. to be fair, those who oppose are the worst. democrats are fairly angry at republicans because of january 6. you can see that attitude sometimes. you don't see that in the average suburbanite. i have friends who voted for donald trump twice.

i think everyone does. host: let's talk to linda, who is calling from tampa, florida on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i don't under stand which part the republican party doesn't get. january 6 changed the whole game. it makes no sense that they sit up there and producing hate. that's all it is, hate. after a while, you are going to see a domino effect. the 75 million people, if you just gave a one dollar to trump, it means he will have that much money. i don't understand what is going on with them.

you cannot prosper off hate. you cannot get anywhere off of hate. that is just the bottom line. host: go ahead and respond, dave. guest: i agree with that. a lot of people at cpac agree with that. there is more to the conference than that. it is a good position to carry in. host: go to joanna who is calling from massachusetts on the democratic line. joanna, good morning. caller: two questions for you. the name of this conference is the conservative political action conference, and it is

providing quite a national space on this wonderful c-span to enable those conservative views to be held. what is the equivalent event on the democratic side and what is the parallel word to conservatives? can you tell me whether there is a large-scale event that will enable democratic people to get views out? guest: there isn't one at this scale. the parties and ideologies are run differently. they have all these groups that have their own events. there is a conference that happens every year but it is not the same. the organizers will have a few keynote speakers but they don't

do what you see here, which is a lineup of four or five hours for panels. having been to both of them, there have been years i have been at cpac there were 700 voters. and the democratic side there were 30. they are not all in one room together good that is unique to this. host: we would like to thank david weigel , reporter from the washington post, for being with us. thank you so much. guest: thank you for your time. host: coming up next, with george washington's birthday, author john berlau discusses his book "george washington, entrepreneur."

it is about how our founding fathers pursuits changed america and the world. we will be right back. ♪ >> sunday, march 7 on in-depth, and live conversation with an author and writer for the new yorker about a most recent book. her other books include pulitzer prize winning the sixth extension -- extinction. join with calls, texts, and tweets. before the program, be sure to visit the website to get her books. >> american history tv on

c-span-3, exploring the people and events that tell the american story every weekend. coming up this weekend, today at 6:00 p.m. eastern on the civil war, a discussion with an author about the struggle for american freedom. someday, we mark the 80th anniversary of the u.s. auto with films -- the uso with three films. one is hosted by bob hope and a defense department film and a visit by sammy davis junior. on american artifacts, the author of 18 tiny deaths, the untold story and the invention of modern forensic shows several

dollhouse-sized crime scenes and tells a story about dioramas in the mid-1940's and pioneered crime scene investigation. at 8:00 p.m. on the presidency, a discussion on elizabeth powell, george washington's political confidant, and a surviving eight-page letter which provides a glimpse into her role as the confidant. watch american history tv this weekend on c-span-3. >> "washington journal" continues. we are joined by john berlau who is the author of “george the book washington, entrepreneur.” good morning. guest: good morning.

it is great to be on. host: before we go any further, tell us what the competitive enterprise group is and what your role is. guest: it is a think tank founded in 1984. we are concerned with red tape that is hindering america's entrepreneurs and investors and consumers, keeping them from building wealth or having access to capital and looking for ways to get rid of red tape and having more financial inclusion. i look at some of the financial regulations like dodd frank and how it is harming community brinks -- banks and credit unions how to get crowd money funding. we also are interested in the long view of american history and how are -- how our country

was rooted in under p to worship. -- entrepreneurship. host: what made you write about george washington's private pursuits? guest: this is an unique aspect of his life that shows he had a level of creativity. i would say it on par with benjamin franklin and thomas epperson and shows the struggle -- thomas jefferson and shows the struggle in his life. he couldn't for to go to college and had to take care of his family. he was self-taught and he read a lot of books and went from being a land surveyor to owning land.

he had very innovative enterprises, mule breeding to branded trademarks throughout the colonies. host: how did you go about researching this? did you spend a lot of time in mount vernon? where their papers you went to find? how did you find out about this? guest: i started writing articles when mount vernon rebuilt the whiskey distillery eight or -- distillery he had. they were very helpful. they answered emails and i spent days there. so much online that i was able to look at" from and your

viewers -- and quote from and your viewers can do the same. host: you write that george washington was a different type of innovator. you compared him to franklin and jefferson but you said he was a different type of innovator. what did you mean by that? guest: in the modern sense, he was kind of like steve jobs and elon musk. he was able to integrate his enterprises. heat stopped growing tobacco because he thought it was running the -- he stopped growing tobacco because he thought it was ruining the soil. he had a fishery. a vertically enterprise -- integrated enterprise like steve jobs and elon musk today he was

in modern entrepreneur. host: one of the things you say in the book is that part of his reasons for wanting to slip away from the then ownership of the colonies by great britain was because of his business. i want to read a line from your book. one of washington's reasons for contemplating rebellion was the increasingly arbitrary taxes and edicts from the british that he felt was threatening his enterprises in mount vernon. tell us more about that. guest: great britain, in addition to taxes like the stamp act, were really cracking down and other scholars have written about this, and any domestic manufacturing. you literally couldn't make nails. some of these laws were enforced

in other -- more than in other places. he felt and expressed fear to george mason in a letter that could they seize my manufactures ? that was one of the things that motivated him. he was looking at some of the other abuses that were going on and that was what pushed him toward deciding with the other founding fathers that we should have a new nation based on universal natural rights. host: let me remind our viewers that they can take part in this conversation about george washington's business pursuits. we are going to open up lines,

republicans can call (202) 748-8001. democrats, your line is going to be (202) 748-8000. independents, you can call (202) 748-8002. you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media, on twitter@cspanwj, and at facebook. john, we have talked a little bit about the innovations that george washington came up with. let's get more specific. what were some of his innovations. you talked about the distillery and whiskey. were there more? guest: he was where the first americans to breed mules and this was after he had retired as general. he would get mail donkeys and

bring them with mares and he would sell them. when he quit growing tobacco and diversified his crops, the sibling conservation -- these civilian conservation -- he was interested as a private citizen and as president about helping inventors. he was responsible for a patent and getting federal and state -- and was interested in innovation and would try new businesses and would help inventors and innovators. host: we can't talk about george

washington and mount vernon and his business pursuits without talking about the role of slave labor in his businesses. can you talk about how slave labor was used in washington's businesses and how it affected his life as a businessman? guest: that is in my book about him and the other founding fathers. they would work the tobacco fields and when he had these new enterprises, they certainly played a role there. one of the things i write was that he was able to see as far as the enslaved workers adjusting to different roles that slavery was really holding them back. they could change and adapt and do different types of inns. -- types of things.

he inclusively started -- increasingly started talking against slavery and wanted to stop it. the northwest ordinance band slavery -- banned slavery in the upper midwest. he would free all of the slaves he owned outright in his will as well as make provisions for their education as well as old age care and disability that his heirs in mount vernon paid out. i write in the book that he led the way to a more perfect union and was better and improved. host: one of the things you discussed in the book is about how george washington would look

at our current american society and the business community, and i want to bring up a paragraph from your book which says, washington was able to advance rapidly in many fields, such as surveying and real estate because there is relatively free entry into those professions. today there are restrictive licensing laws for almost every trade. the good news is that in recent years, many conservatives and liberals have begun pushing back on the licensing requirements that harm low wage workers and small entrepreneurs. what would george washington say today about our current regulatory and licensing environment? guest: i don't think he would like it because it is limiting opportunities for the lowest income and that is an issue we really work on at the

competitive enterprise institute as far as promoting and getting rid of the red tape that hinders financial inclusion. he also mentioned in his farewell address, which is most known what he set about foreign policy and alliances was insightful, but he talks about being the legislative power being concentrated in the executive branch and the executive branch making laws rather than the representatives. he warned against that. that is sort of what we talk about here at the competitive enterprise institute, no regulation without representation and that the agency should not be able to make the law without congress acting. host: before we get into our calls from viewers, you also talked a little bit about the role of his wife, without

washington. what was her role in george washington's business pursuits? guest: she was a pretty savvy business woman herself. she had married one of the wealthiest men in virginia for her first husband who had passed, and she was running a lot of his business affairs, tobacco fields and other things when she met george. and then she would do a lot of things in mount vernon. george was away as far as the battlefields and other things, and she was there and would run things like textiles, making clothes, and supervisors -- supervised the making of bedspreads. there is a connection between the sales and some of the things they did. host: let's go to the phone

lines and take some calls. let's start with scott, calling from hutchinson, kansas on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i have enjoyed listening to this. i am going to have to get the book. george washington -- i have read a few things before we talk about business. he was quite a personality. he liked to tell dirty jokes. he had a good relationship with mason and i read not too long ago that george mason in his declaration of independence in virginia actually penned the words white liberty and the pursuit of happiness and a longer phrase paragraph. thomas jefferson clipped that down his words that he had written into a more concise

declaration of independence. i guess what i would think in today's world, would george washington wants regulations that limit pollution? how much of an environmentalist would he be to balance business interests plus the public good of keeping things safe, like safe food, water, air? i guess that would be my question for you this morning. thank you for c-span and an interesting topic. guest: thanks for your questions and comments. i want to go back to what you previously said. i have never heard washington making any jokes, but i do have in my book that he was a good guy to hang out with, that he would invite writers and

philosophers to his home where he was staying at during the war, and they would do things like put paper torches and do a scientific experiment and put paper torches into the river in southern new jersey and light it on fire which proved there was natural gas in the rivers. he was a good guy to hang out with. he was good friends with george mason. they wrote the precursor to the virginia bill of rights and the declaration of independence. it is hard to say how he would view modern public policy, but i think he would be very interested in new sources of energy as he was and helped

james, one of the inventors of the steam engine. he wouldn't like seeing a crackdown on energy use. i don't think he would -- one of his issues was lawmaking being consolidated in the executive branch is how a lot of regulations are made that the agencies write the laws instead of having congress, the people's representatives do it. the way the regulatory process is done today, he would be disappointed. i can't necessarily speak to individual regulations. host: one of our social media followers has a question -- how did taxation affect george washington's business and political aspirations and vice versa? guest: that is a very good question.

he was not, that i could find and others could find, directly affected by the stamp act and other things, although he worried about the effect on his customers. what he was worried about though is the fact they were asserting regulation or restriction on manufacturing on making iron because they wanted all of that to be made in britain and the colonies to be customers. that was in a lot of ways the real issue for him. a professor called the texas the straw that broke the camels back as far as britain's trade routes and having all these arcane laws

preventing colonists from making everything from wool to nails and hammers, because britain one of the colonies to be the breadbasket to ship them things like tobacco but wanted to force the colonies to buy the manufactured items from great britain. host: let's go back to the phone lines and talk to dave, who is calling from new york on the independent line. good morning. caller: just a quick question, i know because england had a lot of industrial advancements, didn't we send people to england to spy on manufacturing and try to steal some of the ideas to bring them here so we could manufacture? how similar is that to what is happening now in china? i know we do exploit the cheap

labor over there as far as slave neighbor, whatever. what kind of similarities do you see now is a juxtaposed between england and china? with corporate ideas incorporate technology? guest: i don't write about this in the book, but i think some of the things looking at glenn's technology may have taken place during -- looking at england's technology may have taken place during his presidency. great britain guarded some of its technology secretly. we were the first to have the steamboat running, but we could not get james watts' steam engine for another 20 years, until robert fulton was able to

get it at 1807 when he became the henry ford of steamboat and commercialized that. washington recognized intellectual property was important back in colonies when he stamped the washington signature on his flower to make it distinctive and a brand 104 -- 100 years before the same thing would be done. he shipped the flower through the colonies all with the washington name and had registered the trademark in the fairfax county courthouse and the patent office signed it. he recognized its importance and what you are talking about is very good chapter that needs more examination. host: you talked a little

earlier about how george washington would look at the current division in washington, what i want to read a paragraph and i want you to give -- get more into this. norge washington would be dismayed -- george washington would be spayed -- would be dismayed of the redtape. the founders investigated powers in congress in article one section one of the constitution. they set up the executive branch overseen by the president to enforce the laws written by congress. the chambers of the american people and the sideman -- and the sovereign states. the agencies use the thinnest of pretax and statutes from congress to make their own arbitrary rules. what would george washington say about administrative law? guest: i think he warned about that in the farewell address

about the legislative powers being concentrated in the executive, that that is not what the constitution envisioned and that could create some of the abuses like we had in england. that is something we are very concerned about at the competitive enterprise institute is regulatory agencies seizing power. if congress has a tax rate at 35%, the irs can't say that it is 40%, even though we would argue that taxes are still a burden. but they can use the thinnest of pretext to make a regulation, even if congress never envisioned it. host: let's talk to brenda, who is calling from greenville, north carolina on the democratic line. good morning.

caller: i am enjoying everything everyone is saying. the questions are so detailed to the point that in comparison what we are going through today, it seems like we are backwards, backwards and we don't care to put out the effort to come up with new adventures to help with the economic position -- economic situation. have you noticed how high our gas has gotten? getting back washington, he did a lot of viable things and get things patented and it took so long before it caught on. he did a number of things according to what you told in your book, and i have to get that book, because there are only three other presidents that

i loved what they were doing, although they had slaves, but i liked washington best of all. he chopped down the tree and i talked about that with night kids from the ministry. thank you so much for writing that. host: -- guest: thank you so much for your kind words. i hope you enjoy it. i agree he is an inspiration for innovators and that is what we champion at the competitive enterprise institute and we talk about with the challenge of the pandemic and looking at getting rid of some of the redtape we never needed. one thing i am going to have to comment on is is -- is there is no proof he chopped down the cherry tree and that he cannot tell a lie.

what i discovered is the written record is so much more exciting than the myth. there is no evidence he chopped down a cherry tree there is evidence he had a greenhouse build to plan lemon trees which would not grow in northern virginia. he had taken a trip to barbados with his ailing brother and built one of the few green houses here to grow orange and lemon and grapefruit trees. it is now 20 supposedly -- it is not the tree he supposedly chopped down but the trees we know he planted. host: we know george washington serve for a time with the british army and we know he was the general of the american army. we know he served two terms as president. at what point in his career did he have time for his business pursuits? guest: well, he retired from the

french and indian war as a colonel around 1759, then for the next 15 years he worked in mount vernon. that is when he stopped growing tobacco and grew wheat. he became a general in the mid-1770's and then came back as president in 1797 even when he was away, he would write as general and as president what to plant, different types of manure and very detailed. he would try to put all these details in his letters. host: let's go back and talk to howard, who is calling from

salisbury, north carolina on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i have a question. we note that george washington had 350 slaves and during the revolutionary war, is it recorded that george washington used some of his slaves also as military or anything and also helped to fight in the revolutionary war and what do you think about what george washington might be thinking of the smooth transition we had in the last election on january 6? what do you think about what george washington would think about the smooth transition of storming the capital? guest: he would be appalled at that.

he would certainly be appalled at the violence and what happened. in the book, i don't really talk about him as a politician but i want the readers to decide for themselves on what kind of leaders they want. one other thing i wanted to comment on, there were over 300 enslaved workers at mount vernon. not all of those were george washington's. the majority were from martha washington's first husband and they were endowed and they couldn't legally free them because they were entrusted to the grandchildren. he freed all the slaves he owned and provided provisions for education and old age and disability. host: i will also add into that that washington took at least

one of his slaves if not more with him during the revolutionary war and his slave, william lee, who crossed the delaware with washington and his troops. there is a painting of that in the u.s. capitol. when washington released slaves, he put in his will they can only be released after martha washington's death, who then leased him year after george washington -- who then released them a year after george washington died. host: let's go to joe on the independent line. caller: i want to compliment you on your tie selection. i like to tune in on the weekends to see what superb colors you wear. two things, john, you seem to have solved the dilemma of the birth of a democrat involving the donkey and the horse. the descendents of which are

serving i think in congress today. but another point, a book was written called intellectuals in society, and it warned against the in telogen's of the elite who go outside their area of expertise. one example is paul ehrlich with the population and he warned against mass starvation in the 1970's and that did not occur, of course. the other is rachel spring, who warned against basically elimination of all life in about 10 years. those are things that george washington didn't have to put up with. i will get off the air. jesse, i would like to know your tight retailer. host: -- your tie retailer.

host: go ahead. guest: i have written about the devastating times when malaria shot back up in times. i think george washington was self-taught and read books on things like agriculture and laying the foundation for capitalism. he also would listen to people. he was famous for sitting days on end at a convention barely saying a word and he created the presidential cabinet, where you had people like jefferson and hamilton arguing. it became a tradition after george washington started it. as well as building his green house and when he wanted to build a distillery he asked his irish friend, john fitzgerald, who was also a merchant, about

building it. washington knew the value of listening and i think many of our leaders and other people could learn from that. host: let's get one last quick question and answer in. we will try joe calling from new orleans. can you get a quick question in? caller: i would like to know what type of credit does he give the slaves of washington in helping him become an entrepreneur? you mentioned about the development of the mules. i bet you any money it was one of his slaves who bread the two animals -- who bred the two animals. host: go ahead and respond. guest: very good question. mount vernon, washington would

talk in his letters all of the different things that his enslaved workers could do. more importantly today, mount vernon is doing painstaking research and trying to give credit to all of the enslaved workers in the distillery who made all of these contributions. research is ongoing, but i would urge if you are interested to contact mount vernon. they probably have more information than i do and that is why it is worth a visit to mount vernon to see. that is an area we should and scholars are researching more. host: we would like to thank john berlau , author of the book “george washington, entrepreneur.” thank you for being here.

guest: i hope everyone enjoys the book. host: i would like to thank guests, callers, and viewers. stay safe and continue to wash your hands and have a great saturday, everyone. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ ♪ >> late last night, the house passed a $1.9 trillion covid relief package including checks for individuals, funding for state and local governments, and an extension of unemployment benefits. after the mostly partyline 219-212 vote, the measure heads to the senate. the house is back on monday.

when the senate returns, they will continue to work on cabinet nominees, with votes on the educational secretary, and you never moaned out to be the commerce secretary. as early as tuesday, the senate may take up the covid relief package. it would need a simple majority to pass. the sentiment parliamentarian ruled the minimum wage provision is not allowed under senate rules. >> watch this weekend's coverage of the annual conservative political action conference also known as cpac. today at 1:35 p.m. eastern, speakers include former secretary of state mike pompeo, house minority leader kevin mccarthy, and south dakota governor christie gnome. coverage continues sunday at 10:15 a.m. eastern. speakers include larry kudlow, the heritage