c-span, your own filtered view of government. c-span was created by television companies in 1979. today we are brought to you to provide c-span to viewers as a public service. >> here is a look at what is live today. at 11 coley third -- at 11: 30 a house appropriations subcommittee looks at challenges facing the v.a. health system. at 11:00 a.m. there is a joint hearing from two house subcommittees. on c-span three, microsoft president brett smith joins media industry officials to testify about maintaining a free and diverse press. coming up this morning, we will get your reaction to the coronavirus pandemic one year later with your phone calls and

tweets. later, mike kelly and bonnie-coleman join us to discuss the federal response to the pandemic and their own experiences battling the virus. "washington journal" is next. pres. biden: and history, i believe, will record we faced and overcame one of the darkest periods in this nation's history. the darkest we have ever known. i promise you, we will come out stronger. ♪ host: that was president joe biden last night in his first primetime address. it was a 24 minute speech to the american public, timed to the one-year anniversary of the world health organization declaring covid-19 a pandemic. this morning we are spending all three hours of our program hearing from you. we want to know how your life has changed, what you will most

remember about the past 12 months. the lines are split by region this morning. if you were in the eastern or central time zones, (202) 748-8000. if you are a link the mountain or pacific time zones it is (202) 748-8001. you can also send us a text this morning. that number (202) 748-8003. if you do, please include your name and where you are from. otherwise catch up with us on social media. a very good friday morning to you. you can start calling a link now. as you do, look at president biden's schedule today. courtesy of jennifer epstein of bloomberg, noting that president biden signed the 1.9 trillion dollars american rescue plan yesterday. he and vice president harris are hosting a celebration today with members of congress.

that is set to happen at 2:30 today. jen psaki saying that the invitees are not bipartisan, since the bill was not bipartisan. to the days ahead, two at o'keefe of cbs news, noting that the first stop of the president stewart to sell and explain the american rescue plan will be delaware county in pennsylvania. next tuesday. the president's travel plans for later in the week. the white house announcing that the president and vice president will travel to atlanta next friday on march 19 as part of what they are calling a "help is here to her," to tout the american rescue plan. spending our morning mostly focused on you, hearing about the pandemic.

what has changed? how has your life changed? what will you remember the most? david is up first out of calling, new york. good morning to you. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. this has been the most unusual year of my life. of course, heard about the pandemic last january or february when everybody else did and i skated through and play by the rules and made it right up until about three weeks ago until it mailed me, then i got very sick with it. i am fine now, thank you. it has been the most unusual year of not visiting, not seeing people, and sort of isolating yourself. you know, i live with my wife. we have certainly spent a lot of time together. i am looking forward to an end.

last night i watched that speech. it did give me hope. it did give me the feeling that the end is inside -- in sight. i am glad to see that we are progressing and making progress. host: before you go, what do you think when you look back will be the hardest part? will it be catching it and the symptoms or do you think it is going to be the isolation you were talking about? caller: no, definitely the isolation. i am a social person and i used to have a little route, like -- i'm retired, so tuesday mornings i stopped and had coffee with my boys at the auto body shop. i sort of bounced around and had my weekly schedule like that. that has all and it. host: david, have you talked to the boys?

when is the next time you get together at the coffee shop? caller: well, we have this thing that is a little video chat we are going to try to set up. we are not too technically savvy, but we were talking about that. we are at least seeing that the possibilities could be june or april or may, something like that, possibly. we are looking forward to that. host: hope you do get together with the boys again. thanks for the call this morning. president announcing some time frames that he hopes america could get to in that white house address last night. wrapped up in the headline in today's "new york times," july 4 gatherings is the president's goal, also telling states to offer shots by the date of may the first. therese is next. good morning. caller: good morning.

you just brought up the topic i wanted to talk about. he talked about him talking about -- joe biden saying that by july 4 all of the sheep together and take the vaccine that they dictate we might have a little bit of celebration on july 4. we are sick of it. you talked about year from hell is what it has been. having people tell us when we can go and what we can do and what we can wear. i did everything they said. i wore my mask. i haven't worked in a year. i stayed in the house and i still got the coronavirus. my husband got the coronavirus. most people got the coronavirus after this stupid mask mandate. i was so disgusted and sickened to watch this man that has opened our borders wide open and collected disease it -- diseased

illegals tell us that if we allow that poison into our arms he might allow us to have a july 4 celebration. we are not taking it anymore. host: when you say we ain't taking it, are you not going to take the vaccine? caller: i would not take that vaccine if it was an issue of life and death. no, i will not take it. host: that is teresa in tennessee. this morning, a new poll out from npr. one of the issues, if the vaccine was made available to you, will you choose to be vaccinated? some 30% of adults responding note to that question. 45% saying yes, along with the 22% that have said yes, and they have already received it. broken down by political party, one of the categories, among republicans, 49% of republicans a link the u.s. said they would

not take it. another 50% saying yes, they would take it or have already taken it. you can see the rest of those numbers in that chart. as we hear from kimberly. you are next. caller: hi, my name is kimberly from new york city. this matter is close to my heart. i was fighting for affordable housing before the coronavirus started here in new york city. i was forced into a shelter where i was beaten because of my race. then make -- then they sent me to a place in queens, in flushing, queens, college point. they did not move any of the women from the shelter out of the shelter until june, july, september, even october. many women left and never came back.

i just wish we would do something more to help the homeless. i understand the black lives matter movement, but homeless lives matter the most, because they have nowhere to isolate. in so many people died because they didn't have access to masks, hand sanitizer, or proper-cleaned bathrooms. they were not given the chance to isolate or separate. people forced to live in a room, 45, 50, 100 people with no washing machines, no access to tide to close. we need to bring up the fact of all the homeless people that died, because they did not care about the homeless. host: do you feel like you are in a safe place now? caller: i finally made it to affordable housing. i wouldn't be alive today if it was not for housing rights.

if there are homeless people out there, especially in new york city, please get in touch with breaking ground. please call 311. we need to get to the public. all of the homeless people that died, that were forced to stay in the shelter and were told if they did not stay in the shelter & the paper every night they would never get affordable housing. there were women that were elderly, disabled, blind, wheelchairs. these people should have been brought to safety right away. the blind cannot see to social distance during coronavirus. i have been here in times square with my son every morning. i have been outside the hotel where the people on the upper west side are telling homeless people to please move out of the shelter. well, the homeless have nowhere to go and they have no money. we have over 600,000 empty apartments in new york city. it is time to fill those apartments with the people that could afford to live there and

make prices more affordable, because right now we are in coronavirus. it should not be about money, it should be about the quality of life and for everybody having the right to social distance. host: thanks for sharing your story this morning. mark is next, staying in new york. good morning. caller: good morning. my experience with coronavirus has been very little. i work in a central business. i have been going to work since the start of the pandemic. the only difference has been the wearing of the mask. other than that i have not caught the virus and neither has anyone close to me in a family. i understand that a lot of people have suffered greatly. i can tell my story that under my life has not been effective

very much at all. like i said, i work at a central business. i had not been laid off and things have been almost normal. host: at this point, more than $5 trillion in federal money has been appropriated over the course of several different bills. have any of those federal programs, any of those federal dollars impacted you? have any of those programs something you have taken advantage of? caller: obviously the stimulus check has come to me. whether i wanted to sign up for it or not. of course i could use it. i'm not necessarily in dire straits, but of course i'm going to take the stimulus check. i'm going to put it toward something i'm going to want to use it for. other than that, i have not needed unemployment and i have not needed the sort of paycheck protection program for something

of that nature. so that is the only area of the stimulus bill i have used. host: mark, thanks for the call this morning. the covid money tracker is a production from the committee for responsible federal budget. not including the latest numbers , that bill was signed into law yesterday, but they did look at legislative actions congress has taken leading up to the american rescue plan. some 3.1 trillion dollars has actually been disbursed and committed of that money that was appropriated before the american rescue plan. $1 trillion still left unspent. the american rescue plan, signed by joe biden yesterday, and that

ceremony set to take place at the white house today at 2:30 p.m. eastern. richard is in alabama. you are next. tell us about your year of coronavirus. caller: just a second. i haven't had too much experience with it. i don't let anyone tell me what to do, you know? i wear a mask just for the safety of other people when i go to the store, but i take it off as quick as i get out. i am a disabled veteran. 100%. our medical care has been kind of shut down. i will take the shot. i took the first one the day before yesterday. i went there at the v.a. anybody who doesn't take it, i think they are playing with fire. i wanted kind of talk about this rescue america plan. i think people do need some help.

but i really don't think we need a bridge from canada to new york. and i don't think we need underground tunnels in san francisco. lord help me, all of these money going to all of these things that have nothing to do with covert relief, i don't understand and i'm very conservative, but i'm not a republican. i'm more libertarian. so i don't understand what these people are doing, and as far as mr. biden goes -- in my mind he is treasonous for doing stimulus with china, russia, and everything else. so was donald trump too. i don't need somebody who never served in the military, who refused to serve -- not that he

wouldn't, not that he couldn't or anything, he would not serve. host: that is richard in alabama. richard started by talking about taking the covid vaccine, just getting it earlier this week. a new ad being launched by the had counsel, an ad with former president's urging americans to get vaccinated. here is that. >> right now the covid vaccines are available to millions of americans. soon there will be available to everyone. >> this vaccine need -- means hope. it will protect you and those you love from this deadly disease. >> i want to go back to work and i want to be able to move around. >> to see michelle's mom. >> i look forward to going to texas ranger stadium with a full

stadium. >> in order to get rid of this pandemic it is important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. >> i'm getting vaccinated because we want this pandemic to end as soon as possible. >> we urge you to get vaccinated when it is available to you. >> roll up your sleeve and do your part. >> now it's up to you. host: from the ad council yesterday. coming on the same day that president biden's health and human services secretary nominee moved closer to confirmation. california attorney general, there is his picture. the senate poised to take final action next week on mr. bescera. it was an extra step required after the senate finance committee split 14-14 last week

on his nomination along party lines. the story noting that republicans waged a battle over his lack of health care qualifications, left-wing record on abortion, immigration, and religious liberty, starting with his lawsuit seeking to force catholic nuns to provide birth control. james is in lawrence, massachusetts. you are next as we look back on one year of the pandemic. caller: good morning, john. host: go ahead, sir. caller: yes, i am a democrat. i have been a democrat my whole life. but i've got to tell you last night that performance i saw over the pandemic from that president last night was the biggest pack of lies i have ever seen, practically in my life. i have never been so disenfranchised as a democrat in life by this bunch of communists running this country under the

guise of trying to protect us from a pandemic. will i take the shot? yes, i will take the shot because i feel it is a fair thing to do for my self -- myself in the public. we have been hermits for a while and we are trying to get out, and we want everything to go away, but i'm going to tell you, i have never seen how masterful the media has been protecting the president that we have right now, right down to you folks, and you just refuse to say anything bad about joe biden. this man is a draft dodger, just like donald was, and he is no better than anybody else. host: did you say -- caller: i'm not happy with him being a shadow president. host: you say it is a pack of lies. what would you specifically point to? caller: everything he claimed

trump did not do. he claimed there was no supply chain, no vaccines, everything else. i would refer you to the new york -- not the "new york times" the journal article today. it will echo everything i'm saying to you now. host: that is james out of lawrence, massachusetts. here is president joe biden from last night at the white house. pres. biden: first, tonight i am announcing that i will direct all states, tribes, and territories to make all adults 18 and over eligible to be vaccinated no later than may 1. let me say that again. all adult americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than may 1. that is maturely expected -- much earlier than expected. that does not mean everyone will

have that shot immediately, but it means you will be able to get in line. to do this we are going to go from one million shots a day that i promised in december before i was sworn in, to maintaining, beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world. secondly, at the time when every adult is eligible in may, we will launch with our partners to tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and way to get the shot. including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. no more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. thirdly, with the passage of the american rescue plan -- and i thank again the house and senate for passing it -- and my

announcement last month of a plan to vaccinate teachers and school staff -- including bus drivers -- we can accelerate massive, nationwide effort to reopen our schools safely. and meet my goal that i stated at the same time about 100 million shots. opening a majority of k-8 schools in my first 100 days in office. this is going to be the number one priority of my new secretary of education, miguel cardona. fourth, in the coming weeks we will issue further guidance on what you can and cannot do once fully vaccinated. to lessen the confusion, to keep people safe, and encourage more people to get vaccinated. finally, fifth, and maybe most importantly, i promise i will do everything in my power. i will not relent until we beat

this virus. i need you, the american people, i need you. i need every american to do their part. that is not hyperbole. i need you. i need you to get vaccinated when it is your turn and when you can find an opportunity, and to help your family, friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well. because here is the point. if we do all of this, if we do our part, if we do this together, our july 4 there is a good chance you, your family, and your friends will be able to get together in your backyard or neighborhood and have a cookout and celebrate independence day. that doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together. host: president joe biden last night from the white house. via twitter last night from the

minutes and hours after that speech. here is congressman jason crow. tonight americans saw leadership from the white house. calm, steady, clear. president biden showed us the way out of this crisis and he will help lead us there. the democrat of new york, president biden tonight showing a profound empathy for the collective grief this past year. shining a light on the steps we can and will do to get through this pandemic together. the american rescue plan is on the way. then from the republican side, kevin mccarthy, the minority leader in the house saying president biden's plan is to rely on the work already done by operation warp speed. that is why only 9% of his relief went to defeating the virus. what americans need is to fully reopen our economy and classrooms. this from jim jordan. here's an eye you mr. president, freedom.

one more from senator john cornyn. if every willing person in america is vaccinated for covid-19 by may, as the president has said, why put our lives on hold until july 4? some of the comments from members of congress. we are spending all three hours of our program this morning talking to you about a year of the pandemic. what will you remember the most? how have you been impacted? tell us your stories this morning. on lines by region. (202) 748-8000 if you are in eastern or central time zones. (202) 748-8001 if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones. james is in idaho this morning. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, sir. caller: i live in an assisted living facility, a long-term care facility. i was graced to be able to have my second covid vaccination about three weeks ago.

there has been a lot of changes, obviously, in the care facility. from what i have observed, they are pumping a lot of money into these assisted living facilities, giving them a lot more than they need. a lot of the money was spent around the facility remodeling bathrooms. the bathrooms were already beautiful. they were great. they did not have any flaws. the bathrooms are being replaced. the old flooring in the building is being replaced. it may have been a couple scratches here and there, never than that it was in pretty nice condition. hotdog dog steamers and offending machines being put in. he is really excited about this, the owner is. it is all coming from the covid relief funding. he is going on a shopping spree,

but i have not seen any spending down to mitigate risk from the actual virus itself. there has been no change in safety equipment put in. there has been no sanitization equipment put in. literally it is all done to increase property value, i feel. host: what is the response? have you brought that up to the ownership, and what response have you gotten? caller: agitation, aggression. i got a three day eviction notice. so, disagreements. host: where you going to go, james? caller: to a different assisted living facility. i have a great care team. i have medicare and medicaid looking into the situation. this facility has had too many complaints and too many substantiated complaints.

they are going to find one without so many issues, track record of issues. i think they are dumping money into the wrong places and giving them a lot of money too. host: that is james in idaho this morning. the 1.9 trillion dollars american rescue plan officially no longer a bill, signed into law yesterday by president biden. here is what it will do. direct payments, $1400 for individuals, as well as $1400 for dependents. $300 a week for unemployment, the supplemental there. $350 billion for state and local governments. $160 billion for vaccines and testing. $50 billion for businesses and restaurants assistance funding. that is just some of what is in that bill. margaret is in texas. good morning.

you are next. caller: good morning to you and all of the listeners to c-span. i had my second pfizer shot on march 3. i live alone, so i have been perfectly fine. what i have observed around me has been terrible. i have always volunteered and worked at food pantries. i feel a great deal of sympathy for those who live below the poverty line. and by the way, the poverty line said here is far too low. i think one thing about this pandemic -- i think it has been an eye-opener for many people, or should be, who say this country is the greatest in the world, exceptional. and yet, so many more people have suffered since this pandemic started.

it has shown to many, i hope, the level of poverty in this country, that the safety net is so low that their friends and families, many of them are sinking below the poverty line now. so, i am really hoping that will bring more awareness. tomorrow, because i have had the two shots and i wear a mask anyway, because i know i can carry it and transfer it to other people even if i did not get ill -- and by the way, thank goodness for this new administration. tomorrow i am working at a food collection place. we are collecting, of course, for the poor, to try and help them get by. even when this pandemic is over we are still going to have huge amount of poor people that are homeless, that geithner -- that

cannot put more than one meal -- if they can even do that -- upon the table for their family. that is when i am hoping this pandemic will do. to show how the billionaires during this time have gotten wealthier and wealthier, and the middle class and poor people have sunk lower, and lower, and lower. they are the people who are dying. host: to your point about opening eyes about whether america is the greatest country in the world, when was the last time you think america was the greatest country in the world? caller: probably after second world war when people got together and knelt a sense of community -- and felt a sense of community to get over what had happened in the earlier years and rebuild the country from a war economy to a peace economy. i was probably when there was

more wealth spread around more evenly for people. but since then -- i hate to say it, because i don't want to sound political, though it is. ever since the reagan years the wealth has gradually gone more and more to the top, and those in the middle and lower class have sunk lower and lower. as i say, below the poverty line. in other industrial countries it is not a minimum wage, it is a living wage. for example, in australia 30 years ago the lowest wage was $16 an hour, whether you worked in the grocery store, retail, whatever you did. you got at least $16 an hour. in this country, it is shocking

how we don't value host: the humanities of people. that is margaret out of texas -- the humanities of people. host: that is margaret out of texas this morning. some 29 million cases so far since the beginning of the pandemic. yesterday, 60,000 new cases reported. 529 thousand 714 deaths in this country, including 1571 that were reported yesterday. vaccine doses administered, that final number, some 98 million doses at this point. yesterday, 2,400,000 doses given just yesterday in this country. dan, georgetown, massachusetts. good morning. you are next. caller: hi, thank you for having me on.

this pandemic thing for me has been kind of like a long, extended twilight zone series. just to begin, very early on, you know, everybody is going crazy, we are going crazy about hydroxychloroquine. guess what? it has been used many places in the world super-successfully. south korea used it to keep people out of the hospitals and keep people from dying. i think it is ironic that after all of this time now we are getting the vaccine and we are being told well, see, you can still spread it, it's going to keep people out of the hospitals and everything. so, in this twilight zone half the president of the united states -- right -- who has

gotten both shots over two weeks ago, and he is still walking around with two masks. right? this is the twilight zone, folks. host: a question for you posed by usa today a link their health section yesterday, asking the question, when can we declare victory over coronavirus? what will be the criteria in your mind of one we can declare victory? caller: declare victory over coronavirus? i'm sorry, that question and statement is in itself absurd. listen, there has been essentially no flu for the past two years, ok? the number of coronavirus deaths they have categorized has encompassed a whole bunch of people that in the past would be

dying of underlying causes instead of the flu.when we are looking at this coronavirus we are not looking at apples versus apples. they put in a whole new category for coronavirus that encompassed this whole area of people dying. the numbers are outrageous. he failed doing we should have protected the elderly the most. the fact that our schools will still not open just tells us how our government handles and what our unions are doing to us. everybody has said schools, restaurants, and being outside is the safest place you can be. "twilight zone" folks. host: gary is in west virginia. you are next. caller: good morning, how are you doing? the coronavirus, i had three of my grandchildren that had it.

she is from kindergarten to third grade. host: how are they doing, gary? caller: they are doing well now. my wife and i have had the shots. our governor here in west virginia, believe it or not, has done a fantastic job on keeping up with everything. i'm not a republican, but that's ok. he has done a fantastic job, and that's all we are worried about here. keeping healthy. i listened earlier about the bridge going into canada, well, the bridge is already there, they don't have to build it. it has been there for eons. from western new york state. i know where it is at. i just listen to all of this stuff that the other side puts

down, and unfortunately i put most of the death on the former president, because he did absolutely nothing except for what he wanted for himself. so, i'm just glad we have somebody that is trying to do something. and victory for the corona. i am figuring at least 85% of the people in the united states get vaccinated, and we should be in pretty good shape. we really should be. i don't see why it shouldn't. i'm going to be frank, i'm going to listen to the cdc and listen to what they recommend. i don't like walking around and makes -- around in stores, our kids are going to school every day. host: when you get together with

the grandkids again? caller: they will be over here today. host: that's great news. thanks for the call, gary. that question that was posed by "usa today," of one we can declare victory, just a couple of responses to the medical professionals. one, a structural biologist at the california institute of technology saying it is the smallpox scenario. wiping out the virus is when we can declare victory. she says victory is coming when everyone in the world is vaccinated. others see it as bringing covert in-line with other diseases that humans have learned to coexist with. for one of the other doctors interviewed, an infectious disease expert, the pandemic will be over when deaths from covid-19 fought a levels typically seen from the seasonal flu. some of the answer to that

question posed by usa today, when can we declare victory over coronavirus? elaine out of connecticut, good morning, you are next. caller: hi. when can we declare victory? never. we have all of these open borders. 25% of the people coming over borders have the virus. they are testing positive. what is the president going to do with that? since he got in my gas went up $.60 on a gallon. my oil and up. when trump was there he said he got in there to clean up washington. and he did a good job. all of the media was against him, all of the shows like "the view," the night show, they were disgusting about how they talked about the president of the united states. and i still say he won. he had millions and millions -- 84 million votes. he won.

it is a disgrace and this is what i want to know -- when are all of these people going to be vaccinated? all of the people coming over the borders? when are they going to be vaccinated? do you have an answer? host: i do have a story on that i want to share with viewers, one question for you. what is it going to take to convince you that joe biden did win? caller: i would never be convinced, never. host: nothing would convince you? caller: i think our country was doing great with trump in there. it was doing great. host: that is elaine in connecticut. the topic you bring up about migrants testing positive for covid-19, that is the lead story in today's "washington times." migrant families are testing

positive at 10 times the rate of american families. u.s. immigration and customs enforcement told the times that the families it is processing our 5% to 10% positive. in brownsville the city is saying it is saying -- is seeing a 12% positivity rate. in the homeless shelter where families are dropped off reported a group at 25% positive for covid-19. if you want to read more on that story, the lead story in today's "washington times." rita, good morning. caller: why don't these trump people except the fact that he got beat? but i get my shot, tuesday. when he took office in 2016,

what was the $23 trillion in debt we work? now it is $30 trillion and something. why did he do with all of that money? have a good day and a blessed day. host: sharon, beaverton, oregon, you are next. caller: i feel that it has been a hard year. i have been blessed because being retired it not affected me as much, but it has affected people around me in a terrible way. i have an 84-year-old friend who has not been out of her house since last february. she got the shot last week. it just really feels like a light at the tunnel. my sister worked 22 years for the hospital system during covid , clear through june she worked. she was at the front line,

testing people coming in, patients, etc. she was laid off. it has been a hard year for her and i have tried to support her. i got my first shot, my husband got his, several of my brothers and sisters. my one sister is just antsy because she is the youngest. i think oregon has done well. if you look at the statistics -- because i want to stick with the topic. you know, the states with the highest covid positive rates according to the cdc is north dakota, south dakota, rhode island, utah, arizona, tennessee, oklahoma, iowa, arkansas, and wisconsin. the 10 states with the lowest covid-positive, hawaii, vermont, maine, oregon, washington, new

hampshire, d.c., maryland, michigan, and virginia. i think if you look at the two lists there is definitely a reason why the states are in the different lists. i think oregon has done well. she shut down things when she has needed to, opened them up when she has needed to. she told the teachers just the other day, you were put on the line to get your shots first. you are going back to school. so, i feel very good about what our state has done. host: that is sharon out of beaverton, oregon this morning. we ask you to share your stories, your comments via social media. i do want to check in on a few of those. from our text messaging service, this is michael in portland. i was infected and diagnosed in the mid-march 2020. the symptoms have lingered. formerly a marathoner, there are days i cannot go upstairs

without getting winded. the scans show scarring in the my lungs. i am now wearing a heart monitor. the virus was in my lungs, but it spread from there and i doubt i will ever get back to where i was. my prayers are for the deceased and for the "recovered." this from david in orlando. i have sympathy for those who lost someone. i feel for those who do nothing but complain about everything. we need hope to return to normal, not constant hatred. god bless us all. this from joe in kentucky. i lost a year of my life. i live in the middle of trump country. no one will wear a mask. i have not seen my grandkids for over a year. i have got my first shot to protect me from ignored people. one more, sue in new jersey. i think i am in a better place. a pandemic accentuated the need to be grateful for the everyday,

because we never know what is around the corner. i hope it will bring about an awareness when being in the public places. john in north dakota, good morning. you are next. caller: good morning. my life in the past year has been pretty much normal. i don't really know if anybody that had gotten it or had any kind of problems with covid. nothing really shut down. i south dakota, we did not have any kind of business shutdowns, and everything is really good. the only real reason why i know there is a covid situation going on is because i watch c-span everyday. that's about it. it is kind of like the crash of 2008. we felt anything here.

i don't know of anybody who lost jobs or any banks that closed down. it is kind of like we are in a different world here in north dakota. host: have you felt anything when it comes to the impact of the now more than $5 trillion in federal spending? did you get a stimulus check? caller: sure, yeah. we got the last two stimulus checks. we used it for paying bills and buying stuff for decorations of the house, things like that. he did put it back into the economy, like you're supposed to. but i don't really know where the big deal is. every day i would watch the governor's report on hospitalizations and deaths. i never really looked at the

amount of, you know, the infection rate because that really doesn't matter. hospitalizations, deaths, and here in north dakota where they always put the age of the person and whether they had underlying health conditions if they died. so every day you would hear a 90-year-old died with underlying health conditions, an 80-year-old died with underlying health conditions, and you would hear that all the time, then you would start to think to yourself, well, i haven't heard anything about anybody dying just due to old age, you know? it is always dying with underlying health conditions, 80 years old. i think i heard one report of somebody dying under the age of 50 in the whole year. and they had underlying health

conditions. host: that is john in bismarck, north dakota. john saying he received money through the stimulus program. more stimulus money on the way through the american rescue plan. i want to take viewers back to a year ago. a year ago today, march 12, 2020. congress debating one of the very first response packages to the stimulus. the families first aid package. this is house speaker nancy pelosi addressing some of the highlights from that package a year ago. rep. pelosi: listening to health care professionals, governors, mayors, etc., put families first legislation together. it has free coronavirus testing, i am large for almost everyone in the country. we are having some discussion about that with the administration.

by large, free coronavirus testing so that everyone will be tested and no one will say i can't afford it. paid emergency leave with 14 paid sick days. very essential. as we deal with this like health challenge we have. enhanced unemployment insurance that would extend protection to furloughed workers. strengthen food security initiatives, very important. kids get their food security from being in school. if schools are close, we have to make sure that the food gets to the children. the food is already paid for and allocated, it is just a question of getting the food to the children. that has some cost to head. we also have to get -- that is the school lunch program, etc.,

but in terms of snap and food assistance for seniors, people with disabilities, helping the nonprofits who are on the forefront of helping people have access to food at this difficult time. host: house speaker nancy pelosi from a year ago today talking about the $192 billion families first coronavirus response act. also speaking that day, house minority leader kevin mccarthy. here is his comments about that piece of legislation. >> there is a couple of major problems with it. here is one problem. the social security administration would be set up to administer the paid sick leave program. this will take more than six months, so it will not work in time. it will also hamper the administration from putting out social security for those who need it right now that are in harm's way. this will hurt the very population we are supposed to be helping.

it forces permanent paid sick leave for all businesses without exemptions and no sunsets. instead we are committing to get this right, so we are working with the white house, with secretary mnuchin, and with the speaker. we should not rush because there is a bill. we want to make sure it works. there are a few ideas we have brought to the table that can help. employee retention credit, making public health emergencies major for major disaster programs, and finally, solving the problems when it comes to masks. there is a piece of legislation that would give millions of masks to health providers that were needed. we have overcome bigger challenges in this country. every time we have a disaster it shows the very best of this country, working together and coming together. and actually making us stronger in the end. i will make this commitment to

everyone. republicans will not play politics. we are going to work to make this right. i think the best thing we could do is take a deep wrath, let's work together to make sure whatever bill we can pass right here works to the needs best everyone. host: kevin mccarthy, the republican minority leader year ago on march 12 of 2020. the families first act, the 190 $2 billion legislation would go on to pass congress on march 18 of last year. fast forward a year later, the american rescue plan passes this week, a $1.9 trillion bill. now some $5.3 trillion over the course of six different major bills has been appropriated to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. taking your calls throughout the morning, asking you what has been the biggest impact on you?

what has your year been like, with one year of the pandemic? alla is in north miami beach. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to talk about the american rescue plan. you borrow 1.9 trillion in debt dollars from the american taxpayer, and interest on that debt, then take 36 billion of the $1.9 trillion to states that were bankrupted before the pandemic because of failed fiscal policies so they can afford to fail again. in exchange for the economic long-term burden of this debt spending, the government will send you a check for $1400 that you subsidized. folks, they are artificially inflating the economy without growth. they are going to be back for more money.

we have just been robbed in rod daylight, -- in broad daylight, and 2022 can't come fast enough. caller: this is joe in new york city. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say that ls says it all for me. that was a picture she took of what is happening as far as bills are concerned. i will tell you, yes, $1.9 million for covid, how many -- how much of -- what percentage of that is really for covid? that is a very important question i would like the answer to. i am in new york. i am an actor and i work for a living. my unemployment, there were promising 59 weeks plus the next 11 that were extended from the federal government. i went on unemployment exactly a year ago, give or take a day or two.

that is about 52 weeks. minor employment is about to run out already -- my unemployment is about to run out already. this covid bill does not address the unemployment. it says they are giving an extra $300, but if we never receive that 70 weeks of state unemployment we were promised, the 300 is going -- is not going to help, but actually it is going to be a decrease in help for people that are actually receiving unemployment, because they were working and probably won't be getting back to work until september. host: do you think another stimulus bill is going to be needed? do you think there will be more down the road? caller: i hope not, and the problem here is the stimulus bill that was already given to us was not really addressing the real problems. i believe unemployment, like i

said, is the first thing that should be taken care of. the people that are actually out of work who had worked in the past. not working now and may not get back until september. they are not even addressing that basic problem. host: one stat on spending here when it comes to the american rescue plan. julie pace with the associated press with this stat. to pay out this coronavirus relief package, president biden must spend an average of 3.7 billion dollars every day for the rest of this year. that is $43,000 every second of every day until midnight chimes on 2022. caller: yes. i think that is horrendous. it is not going to help anything in the long term. it is going to make people more dependent on the government. actually hurt the economy. i think jobs are the things that

can get people out of it. i think this is exactly the opposite of what should be happening. host: that is joe in new york state. dave, lakeland, florida, you are next. caller: good morning. everything that ls says is right. florida has done it right. i have a daughter who is a teacher. she started teaching in august of last year. our kids have been in school since last year. there is some school systems in florida, such as ones down in broward and west palm beach where the democrats control things, i don't think i have been in when they should. we have done things right in florida. we have been open. we've got the lowest -- one of the lowest unemployment averages in the country. we've got people working and have been working for a long time. so, these people on some of

these other channels that don't live in florida but sit there and spout off about what desant i is doing wrong just need to be quiet because they have no idea whats they're talking about. host: that is dave in florida. it is 8:00 a.m. eastern and we are one hour into the three hour washington journal, we are spending all three hours talking about the year of the pandemic, it was a year ago yesterday that the world declared covid-19 a pandemic. we want to hear how your life has changed when you look back over the past 12 months, what has changed the most for you. 202-748-8000 if you are in the eastern or central time zones. 202-748-8001 if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones. also having this conversation the morning after president joe biden's first white house

address, and in that 24 minute address he talked about some of the details of life that americans have been missing over the past year. [video clip] you've often heard me say before, i talk about the longest walk that any parent can make is up a short flight of stairs to his child's bedroom to say i am sorry, i have lost my job, i cannot be here anymore. like, my dad told me when he lost his job in scranton. so many of you have had to made -- to make that same walk. you lost your job, close your business, facing eviction, homelessness, hunger, a loss of control, and maybe, a loss of hope. watching a generation of children who may be set back up to a year or more because they have not been in school because of the loss of learning, it is

the details of life that matters the most, and we miss those details. the big details, and the small moments, weddings, birthdays, graduations. all of the things that needed to happen, but did not. the first date, family reunions, summer night rituals, it has all exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. we are fundamentally a people who wants to be with others, to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold another. but this virus has kept us apart. grandparents have not seen their children or grandchildren. parents have not seen their kids. kids have not seen their friends. the things that we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things that we could

not do, and broke our hearts. [end video clip] host: president joe biden from the white house. we are expecting more today, holding a ceremony in the rose garden to mark the signing of the american rescue plan. the president officially signing it into law yesterday and inviting democratic members of the house and senate to the rose garden today to mark the passage of that legislation and signing into law. the president headed to delaware for the weekend and then embarking on a multi-city tour next week to talk about the american rescue plan and he will be joined on that tour at various stops by the vice president and others. rich and marion, ohio. we are hearing about your year of covid-19. caller: es. it is fantastic that we get the shots and one year of thank you

for the people who worked on getting the shots out to help us. what terrifies me right now is leaving the door open on the border. the thing is to solve their problem, people are not getting shots. they are spread through every city in the united states secretly and we are not allowed to know it. and that we could have covid, crimes, and spies. we are not going to get jobs because the illegals are taking them. we may kick this out for another year, which our country will not tolerate. death is going to incur, it is a self-inflicted wound. with the phone call and a strike of a pen the president can stop that. the other thing that is going on we know there was fraud going on in the election. the other thing is that someone is trying to put a bill through

that anyone who was involved in -- and fraud has amnesty. that really should light everyone up. host: that is rich on ohio -- in ohio on border crossings. one of the stats that gets a lot of attention is that of the unaccompanied minors crossing the border and hear the latest stats in the "washington post." "the department of health and human services has more than 8500 minors innate shelter this week and an additional 3005 hundred are waiting for beds to open up and an additional 500 and more -- 500 and more arrive. 700 arrived this past wednesday according to the latest figures. if the climbing trend continues the biden administration will take in record numbers of unaccompanied minors, an influx made more challenging by the coronavirus pandemic." rory out of california, you are

next. caller: yes, i am looking at two things on this pandemic. one, the stimulus package from about january 2 on. i put in for the last two months for unemployment extended, all of the papers went through, but i never got money for it. apparently newsom has done some malfeasance in the unemployment. host: what line of work are you in? caller: basically, special security, it goes back to the aerospace days. host: how long if you been out of work? caller: about a year plus, january 2 of the year before before the pandemic. it has gone on to the stimulus, eight weeks all of the paperwork everything is right and they keep sending me two weeks on and on, but no money. and there is not any until this

bill got past. then maybe they will have stimulus money, what happened to all of the other money for unemployment? and that is what i am wondering. host: how are you getting by? caller: i get some work here and there. i mean, and i report it. i am not getting by that well. the other part is that i got two shots under trump, and both times there were state of california people trying to tell federal people to not give the veterans at the va hospital shots, they wanted to give it to the illegal aliens. now i do not think they care. they have 108 with a lot of covid and they are spreaders and they are out loose in the country. biden needs to continue the wall, and he needs to continue fossil fuels along with solar power. host: we will head to maine with

joan. caller: good morning. i want to take a few moments to say that i think it is time for us to stop infighting, and one of the things that i have noticed throughout this period was that the people who came forward who were volunteers, who were health-care workers, who were emergency responders, police, ambulance attendants, nurses and doctors all put their lives at risk to help us. and, all of the scientists, and the people that developed this private industry cooperation to develop the vaccine worked tirelessly to do something to aid the people of not this country, but of the world. and, i am amazed at the number of people who have manned soup

kitchens, food banks and other resources to help people who have difficulty during this difficult time for all of us. and, i think it is time to give them a big pat on the back and say thank you. stop fighting over political issues, let us get together and do the things that we as americans have done for decades. i had a great aunt who was alive during the spanish flu in 1918. she was a pbx operator and she said they could not find people who would remove the dead bodies from the streets, because they only had horses and wagons and nobody wanted to pick up the bodies and transport them. some people were left in the street dying and rotting, and she looked out her window where her station was and she could see people on the streets of portland, maine, just rotting

because i was no one to help them. i am amazed at the amount of help that we have gotten, and it is time to thank you. so, i just want to applaud efforts that have been put into all of this, and to say thank you to all of the people who have worked tirelessly to find a solution. let us be grateful and not lament the things that went wrong. let us be thankful for the things he went right. host: that story about your great aunt, could you think back to a year ago and was there a fear, more of a fear then of coronavirus land now? was there a stigma for people who had contracted the coronavirus? how do you think we deal with that fear and that stigma today if you remember seeing it? caller: i can only tell you the stories that she recounted to me. host: in your place and maine

right now -- in maine right now, as stigma and fear coronavirus and do you think there is now? caller: no, i do not think so. host: do you think there ever was? caller: initially, but i think, first of all our population is very dispersed. but, we have a high percentage of elderly people and i think those people feared it more than the younger people dead, but once everybody got on board i was amazed at the cooperation and the willingness to comply with cdc requirements. it was a very isolating experience for everyone, and i had not seen my family for over a year that had been difficult for my grandchildren. i think, for the most part, people had a sense of hope that we could conquer this, and i had to applaud all the people who worked tirelessly. host: when do you hope to see

her family again? caller: i have been vaccinated so i am waiting for them to be vaccinated. july 4 we will have a big barbecue. host: thank you for the call. that is joan in the pine tree state. this is christina in the peach state. caller: good morning. thank you for this opportunity. i am a health care worker and my experience was really awful. the hospital staff here in georgia really suffered for months and months. we had a shortage of ppe. and if you guys can think back, president trump never enacted the mass production act. we had no masks, we were told to use masks for two weeks and wash and we bought our own ppe. it was really bad. the half us -- the hospital

staff suffered and we lost several coworkers to covid. we also experienced loss of our family members, and also if we can think back about the vaccine , that u.k. was the first country that purchased the pfizer vaccine. the ceo from pfizer stated that they spent $21 billion of their own money for the vaccine production. president trump did nothing. and this i am telling you because i lived it. whatever people are hearing and think that president trump did a lot, it is not true. hospital workers suffered. we had no ppe, and we got -- my first vaccine was given towards the end of december. president trump only ordered 50 million vaccines, so i do not

know where people are getting their facts, they had better do their homework and really get the facts together. host: as a health care worker, you talk about we lost family members, as a front-line worker, did you worry about bringing the virus home? caller: of course. host: what kind of precautions you take? and how did your family members feel about that job and you being on the front lines? caller: well, fortunately it is just my husband and i. you know, i took the proper precautions. i am a registered nurse, but i was not doing direct patient care, i had a different position in the hospitals. so, i was not indirect contact with covid patients.

but, we had to change the way that we did things, we were not allowed to visit patients in their rooms anymore, we had to communicate with them via the phone. host: thank you for sharing and thank you for what you and your colleagues do. that is christina down in georgia this morning. christina also bringing up former president trump. it was a year ago yesterday that president trump made an address from the oval office conserving -- concerning the presence of coronavirus in the united states. this is from march 11, 2020. [video clip] >> my fellow americans, i want to speak with you about our nation's unprecedented response to the coronavirus outbreak. it started in china and is spreading throughout the world. today, the world health organization officially announced that this is a global pandemic.

we have been in frequent contact with our allies and we are marshaling the full power of the federal government and private sector there to protect the american people. this is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history, and i am confident but -- that by continuing to take tough measures we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens and ultimately and expeditiously defeat the virus. from the beginning of time, nations and people have faced unforeseen challenges including large-scale and dangerous health threats. this is the way it always was, and always will be. it only matters how you respond, and we are responding with great speed and professionalism. our team is the best anywhere in the world. at the start of the outbreak we instituted sweeping travel

restrictions on china and put in place the first federally mandated quarantine and over 50 years. we declared a public health emergency and issued the highest level of travel warning on other countries as the virus spread its horrible infection. and, taking early, intense action we have seen fewer cases of the virus in the united states than are now present in europe. [end video clip] host: that was former president trump on march 11, 2020 with his address from the white house a year later. now president biden giving his first primetime address a 24 minute address talking about u.s. response over the past year. we are taking these three hours of the "washington journal" to hear your stories from one year of the pandemic. here is a new poll out from the associated press about the

impacts to americans. about one in five say that they lost a relative or close friend to the coronavirus. highlighting the divisions between heart ache and hope -- hope as a country edges to get back to normal one year into the pandemic. the story notes that "a new poll finds that black and hispanic americans and americans in low income households are especially likely to say that they have a close friend or relative who have died -- has dies -- died of the pandemic. the results are on your screen as we hear from rob in grand junction, colorado. you are next. caller: this has been a difficult year for me. having heart disease, i had a very high risk of mortality, so i have been taking precautions in the beginning. i was wearing a mask before it was mandated. being a substitute teacher, i have not been able to be in a classroom this whole time. in june, i got an email from

colorado asking if i wanted to teach high school math, but i had to turn a job down. i have been doing contactless pickup of groceries the whole year. if i have to go to a store i go at 5:00 in the morning. on october 3 of last year i was called by my niece's husband in georgia that indicated that i passed away from -- that she passed away from cancer, and she was the last relative that i had that i had any contact with. luckily today, within the next hour i will be getting my second dose of the pfizer vaccine, so i will hopefully have an opportunity to go down and visit people who are like family for me, especially the one i helped raise since she was two years old and graduated last june from the university of california irvine with honors and had to have a virtual graduation.

it has been very difficult being alone in the house, and occasionally seeing neighbors to talk with them. so, it has been difficult. host: do you think you will be ready to get back into the classroom within a couple of weeks? caller: yes. i am lucky enough to live in the -- in a community, in the public health department has been extremely good. they started a five star program which gave businesses the opportunity to be checked for probate -- covid protocols so that they could open up a little better, and i am looking to get back into the classroom probably in the middle of april. there are people in a classroom with substitutes, because i am endorsed in five areas including mathematics and there are very few substitutes who can teach calculus. i am hoping to see the teachers i worked with a 202-748-8001 great deal and the wonderful

principles, -- i worked with a great deal and i am living on three retirement checks. host: what is your favorite subject to teach? caller: i am licensed to teach in five and i like all of them. i taught at the university level in town, but i like teaching precalculus and college algebra, and trigonometry because these of the students that appreciate someone who can teach the class instead of just sitting in the back of the room and babysit. i go in as a teacher and that is why the higher level math teachers like having me there. i also like teaching in the university level because my background is in statistics, because i see the pandemic a little bit different because i live by the numbers instead of living by what i see on television. host: thank you for the call. i hope you get to see the student soon. dave, clearwater, florida.

you are next. caller: good morning. can you hear me? host: yes, sir. caller: i just wanted to say that i am really tired of this whole thing and i am hoping that this is over as soon as possible. my wife shut down her business last march and we are thankful for the unemployment benefits that she has been receiving, and i am just amazed at the extreme difference of perspectives that are going on. i just find it hard to believe how far apart we are in our points of view and how things are, and it is amazing to me. i took my dog to get his haircut yesterday, and the lady is a nice lady, she is a diehard trump person.

she is still flying the trump flag in front of her salon. and, her opinions are just radical, and i just listen to her and it is just extremely radical. and -- biden is right, we have to think about this in a unified way and stop this extreme points of view. host: what was your wife's business that you had to shut down? caller: she had a hair salon that shut down at the end of march last year and we are thankful for the unemployment and the people who are saying that people are just living off the government, they are just -- i am sure it is true to a certain extent, but a majority of the people out there are

hurting. host: does she want to open it back up and does she have a plan? caller: we have plans, we are in our late 50's and we are both waiting for the vaccine to be offered to us. as soon as that is available, we will take it. we have had this discussion, and even after we are vaccinated, she is thinking about she will wait a little bit longer and then go and find another place and open up another salon. but, we are thinking that we are going to wait a little while longer before we do that. and, if you listen to dr. fauci, i believe that is how you pronounce it, it will be an ongoing thing. there will be booster shots and everything else, so we might as well get used to this, and hopefully it will become like a seasonal flu shot and we will live through it, just like we

have been doing with the flu and get by. host: thank you for the call. you bring up dr. anthony fauci. it was president joe biden who brought up dr. fauci last night. this is what the president had to say. [video clip] >> the scientists have made clear that things may get worse again as new variants spread. we have work to do to ensure that everyone has confidence in the safety and effectiveness of all three vaccines. so, my message to you is this, listen to dr. fauci, one of the most trusted voices in the world. he has assured us that the vaccines are safe, and they went -- underwent rigorous, scientific review. vice president harris and i know that we are safe. that is why we got the vaccine in front of cameras, for the

world to see, so you could cs do it. the first lady and the second gentleman also got vaccinated. talk to your family, friends, and neighbors, the people who have gotten the vaccine. we need everyone to get vaccinated. we need everyone to keep washing their hands, stay socially distant, and keep wearing masks as recommended by the cdc. because, even if we devote every resource that we have to beating this virus and getting back to normal, it depends on national unity. and national unity is just not how politics and politicians vote in washington. what the loudest voices say on cable or online. unity is what we do together as fellow americans, because if we do not stay vigilant and conditions change, then we might have to reinstate restrictions

to get back on track and we do not want to do that again. we have made so much progress. this is not the time to let up. [end video clip] host: president joe biden last night from the white house and one of the issues he talked about was vaccination rates. a story on that from " the new york times" racial disparities persisting. the story noting that "the vaccination rate for black americans is half of that of white people and the gap for hispanic people is larger that state reported race and ethnicity privation." the graph of the united states shows the vaccinations as a share of each group's total population. this on the left when it comes to white americans, the dark red states are where vaccination rates are at 15% or more. the middle chart, black americans. the areas in yellow are places

in the country where vaccination rates among black americans are at zero to 5%. the same chart and same map for hispanic americans. that from "the new york times" if you want to take a deeper dive. reed in washington, you are next. caller: good morning, i would like to state that the caller from florida is in a psychosis. the people in georgia said that trump did nothing about the virus, what he did was move the military medical ship and the psychotic governor in new york played politics. instead of moving the elderly people, he sent them back where they came from in the homes, and they died in massive numbers as a result and then he fudged the numbers. you just read a poll about how one in five, i am not blaming

you, that i forgot the source, but the poll said that one in five people have died of the virus. host: that is not what the poll said, it is an associated press poll about one in five american saying that they have lost a relative or close friend to coronavirus. so they know somebody who has died. a new ap poll out from yesterday. caller: ok, so what i am questioning, the country has 340 million people, does not come out to 68 million people, and that is far from the truth? "the washington times" said that the african-americans are zero to .5 print something percent, they are the smart ones not taking the vaccine. i will never take the vaccine. i do not need that drug. why do we have found she dictating -- fauci dictating everything? when you listen to doctors testifying about the vaccine, for every -- there are hundreds

of professionals equally as qualified to him that completely disagree with him or disagree with them. and my condition during covid for the last year is that i work for a living. so, i am self-employed and i am the one behind the tree being beaten down for taxes. i do not get a single sent from the government -- cent from the government. host: what do you do? caller: i am in the software industry. i worked from home and always had. i am in a condition where i am naturally sort -- sort of shielded from any flu virus, because that is what this is. maybe once a week i go grocery shopping, and i wear my mask and try to be prudent. you do not have anyone on this program that will testify to what about us? the people working for a living that make a money for not qualifying for relief and we pay for these people who sit at home day after day week after week

and do nothing all the government, not the people, the government destroys our lives and that is what happen through this whole virus. i think c-span from being here, and i enjoy watching this program that there is so much not talked about just to say the stolen election, why don't you bring on dr. sharma who testified from rudy giuliani that had a two hour presentation who has three masters degrees, two mathematics and one computer science that broke it down. host: same question to you from the previous viewer, what would it take to convince you that joe biden won the 2020 election, could anything convince you? caller: what would convince me is maybe c-span could bring on the opposing view. with all due respect, i do not know whether your handlers with the cable outfits that are dictating to you what to do and what not, i might be cynical. host: nobody dictates to us what

to do. caller: so, why don't you bring someone on for an hour-long presentation like dr. sharma, and they put on a three hour presentation and anyone who objectively looks at all of it would come away saying, 100% it was stolen. host: we have your point. this is terry out of west point, texas. good morning. caller: good morning from the lone star state. host: go ahead. you just has to -- have to turn your tv down and speak through your phone. caller: excuse me a second. host: as you are turning your television down, some more numbers to throw out to our viewers, that last caller talking specifically about new york and death rates in the state in metro area of new york. a total of 58,882 coronavirus

deaths in the new york metro area for the highest when it comes to u.s. metro areas, a rate of 294 deaths per 100,000 people, the next closest, boston, 10,728 coming to a rate of 220 deaths per 100,000 people. other large death rates in major cities, los angeles, 26,559 coming out to 201 per per hundred thousand people. in chicago, 16,283 total deaths and 172 per 100,000 people. that is some of the numbers from "the new york times." did i give you enough time? caller: yes, thank you very much. i think what the pandemic is really exposing the light on why we should keep our elected representatives feet to the fire.

it is like giving them a blank check. they have us so far in debt now that our great-grandchildren will be digging it out. but, they just throw that money around like it is nothing for these projects, i cannot believe. i heard on the radio the other day that even the criminals in prison, the convicts will get the stimulus. i do not understand why. these people should be given money, and we have veterans and everything else that really need the help. anyway, thank you c-span for all that you do. host: it is just after 8:30 eastern and halfway through our program this morning as we hear from you about one year of the pandemic. it was a year ago yesterday that the world health organization officially declared covid-19 officially a pandemic. you want to hear how your life is change.

taking your calls. phone lines in the eastern or central time zones, 202-748-8000 . eleanor pacific, -- mountain or pacific, 202-748-8001. new mexico next in truth or consequences. good morning. caller: hello and good morning. thank you for c-span and i love all of the humans and all of creation, and it is said that we attack each other. i think that this was a virus that attacked us like the flu and lots of other things out there. i think that it has shown us how susceptible we are to getting sick because of our environment, good environments and florida, they are lucky because i get all the sunshine and vitamin c in the oranges growing on the trees.

and, you know, no man is an island unto himself. we have to work together. the logistics sending the food to places and energy to where we need it. part of the logistics is the post office. that is in the constitution, and they were trying to destroy it. we need to strengthen it. the new post office in washington will be great for kids to go to for field trips. the post office has great fleets that people can go to a post office and charge up their electric cars or vehicles. host: we are staying on the topic of the pandemic and keep it to that and we want to have more calls and as we hear from the next couple of calls, we want to show you some of the headlines from major newspapers around this country marking the pandemic, one year of the pandemic in the latest news in

states out there and around the united states about what is happening when it comes to covid-19. this is dave, as you look at some of the headlines. he has a new york. good morning. caller: hello. i am trying to get my mind straightened out here a little bit. we are discussing the details and you want to discuss the details of $1.9 trillion and go forever. here is my point, we violated the basic law of economics, the law of supply and demand. what this country is demanding has committed a $30 trillion debt that is a demand and there is no way that the supply will ever keep up with that. they have shut down all of these small businesses. they are what make this whole economy work. now, i did not coined this phrase, never let a crisis go to waste.

that is what this has become. you have a government class that cannot exist without crisis, without saving us from ourselves, and until you reduce that demand, which is driven by the growth of government, you are not going to be able to supply base. this is what we are seeing. i think what we will eventually see is an inflation that will eat everything and melt your 401(k), or your pension, whatever it is. and you are seeing it coming. people mentioned the amount of spending. i am not alone in this opinion. i think that is about all i have to say. host: mary, bloomfield, new mexico. good morning. caller: good morning. i have three things that i want to speak to you just quickly. i just saw a news report about

those coming across the border in brownsville. 200 people tested positive for covid-19 that came across the border illegally, basically. but, the only thing the reporter did not say, and i would like this answered somewhere, where did those people go? into the general population? into quarantine? i do not know. i would like to see that answered. now, going back to the segment you had on racial disparity in the vaccines. in new mexico, you have to register to get the vaccine, and i think that is pretty standard across all of the states. where is the person responsible -- where is the personal responsibility of each of those people to actually register? you cannot get the vaccine if

you do not register? so the racial disparity probably goes back to who is registered and who has not. host: aaron in virginia, you are next. caller: hello, i just want to say thank you, c-span for doing a great job. this past year in august i graduated college and i would say one thing that has been made very clear to me is that people are less and less trusting experts, like scientists and doctors and things of that nature and more so trusting people like mike wentzel. you had a caller who said something about mike lindell, the founder of mypillow. and going to him for information about a public health crisis is like going to ronald mcdonald for information about how to buy

a car. so, it is the death of expertise. we need more education because people are blindly following what ever the most people are saying. host: you say you just graduated college, what do you want to do? caller: i studied atmospheric science and i want to fight climate change. host: how do you think we are doing as a country on that front? caller: i think we have a lot of businesses wanting to go in the right direction, but we have a lot of -- virginia passed an executive order last year pledging to be carbon neutral by 2050. we have some private businesses that are getting in on the electric charging stations across the nation. we are making some good progress, but there is a lot to

be done for sure. host: that is aaron in virginia. on the issue of trusting experts, it was march 16 when the white house coronavirus task force started its daily briefings in 2020, a regular voice at the daily briefings would be dr. anthony fauci. here is one of his appearances during those early days of the coronavirus pandemic. [video clip] >> in order to be able to contain and curtail the pandemic in order for it not to reach its maximum capability we have a two pillar approach, one of which has been effective in preventing the substantial seeding, namely the travel restrictions. the other equally if not more important is when you have infection in your own country, which we do, and it is essentially what you have seen yesterday, incremental increases

globally and in the united states. so, therefore, the kinds of things that we do our containment and mitigation. what we are mentioning now, the guidelines, when you look at them carefully, i believe if the people in the united states take them seriously, because they were based on some rather serious consideration back and forth, some may look at them and say they will be really inconvenient for people, some will look and say maybe we have gone too far. they were well-thought-out, and the thing that i want to reemphasize and i will say it over and over again. when you are dealing with an emerging infectious diseases outbreak, you are always behind where you think you are if you think that today reflects where you really are. that is not word speak. it means if you think you are here, you are really here because you were only getting

the results. therefore, it will always seem that the best way to address it what to be doing something that looks like it might be an overreaction. it is not an overreaction, it is one we feel is commensurate, which is actually going on with reality. host: dr. anthony fauci from march 16 of 2020. president joe biden ringing up dr. fauci again last night in his white house address. joe biden calling on americans to trust fauci and the signs. taking your phone calls this morning, one year into the pandemic and we have also been asking you to get in front -- touch with us via social media, twitter, and facebook. here is a few of those comments that we have received. this is tom in rhode island. "i am a firefighter, in millions like me had to go to work every day so nothing changed change

but more work. responding to calls each week business after business had close signs on the front window to the point of the city was turning into a ghost town. walmart could stay open but bill and mary's hard work stork -- hardware store had to be close. isolating the public or physically and economically. the cure hurt as much as a virus." this from kathy in california. "i was a junior in high school students and teachers were sent home. now opening safely cost money and this takes work to do. 185,000 plus, and it is the population of our city. our county library is opening gradually with a small amount of in person walk hours -- walking hours a day." a grandmother saying "i am about to get my second shot today. i miss traveling, in person church and spending time with my grand kids and family. recommend we stop complaining,

follow cdc and help with you can, god bless." this from jt from illinois. "it is nice getting the stimulus money. it has been over a year since i worked. i am 67 years old and all i get is social security. now it is not enough so now i will get $1400 and some good friends of mine will get $2800 and they do not need it. can we fix something like that." host: just a few of the comments as we hear from you about your your coronavirus. from north carolina. in morning. you are next. >> good morning. i am a teacher from north carolina and the thing that we -- we have been in school all year long. we have been in school all year long and have not had any problems. it could be very easily done, and all of this money that these teachers in the teachers unions

that are crying about needing and all of that, that is not what the real teachers want and not what real teachers do. we go in and teach our class every day no matter what the situation. host: what is the easy solution? caller: we went to a and b day, we get the kids two days a week and predates virtual. but the kids were coming in. we had three suicides because kids were not in school. and, that is the thing. and then these teachers -- i'm going to say it, up north where the teacher unions have all these crazy demands, you cannot call yourself a teacher if that is the reason you are not teaching kids. host: what do the kids tell you about being at home versus being in the classroom? caller: they want to be in school. they want to be there. that is their meal, they hot meal for the day.

that is the one place that they can come and if they are in an abusive situation at home they are not getting beat. if -- there is so much that people have no idea what these kids go through, and just listening to this stuff, and biden makes me so mad right now, because last night, biggest hypocritical statement of all. trump was working on the vaccines, they asked trump and kamala if they would take the vaccine and they said there was no way they would take the vaccine because there is no science behind it. the same companies producing them where the ones that they are working on them then. why is there science now, but not then. dr. fauci, he is not god. he does not know what is going on. two, the longer this thing drags out, the longer he is in the spotlight. and, right now he is already saying all the way up through

the 2022 election, it is not going to be safe. and, he is doing that because the longer he has got this going on, the longer he is in the spotlight. host: that is keith in north carolina, this is david and crawfordville, florida. caller: i want to make a few comments about different things that people have been talking about this morning. one of them is the stimulus check. me and my wife are both disabled, and we have been disabled -- i have been disabled where i could not hardly do anything for the last 15 years, but i have just been managing. she has been working. lo and behold three years ago she became where she could not stand on her feet or hear anymore. we tried to get money from disability, social security. and that was a fiasco. we never knew how much medical evidence needed.

in fact, if you simply had a little bit of depression you could get so much easier by taking depression medication, which you do not have to prove that you are depressed, but you have to prove that you have underlying conditions if your back, like my back. i have a bad back and bad angles. host: have the stimulus bills -- have there been programs that have helped you? caller: the stimulus checks have, the cares act that trump signed in was supposed to help me because i am not disabled by social security, but i am also trying to do limited work and sell my purpose in all properties deserve -- personal properties to survive in my local county agency told me that i am not in that criteria of getting any cares act funding, which i went through my federal and my state representative and neither one of them really know

what this cares act funding was all about. and now i think it has already been exhausted and nobody wants to call me back or check with the government that originally started this thing. i hear these people complain about stimulus checks. there are people like me hurting all over the united states, and it helps people like me. obviously, none of the stuff they are doing from day one is what it needs to be. but, when they put a lot of emphasis into these bills, they really do not take the comments from everybody. host: you brought up the cares act, a reminder to viewers that in a week that congress passed and president biden signed a $1.9 trillion response, the cares act was bigger than the american rescue plan, it was about $2 trillion past on march 27. some of the key items on that

legislation, financial assistance to large companies and governments. $500 billion, economic support to small businesses to the tune of $380 billion. direct payments to taxpayers, $290 billion. expansion of unemployment benefits and so on. the wrap up that we have been showing you of the various and six different major response bills totaling well over $5 trillion, the peterson institute foundation has a great wrap up of those. pgpf.org. that wrap up just coming out two days ago. earl in indiana. you are next. caller: i would like to talk about the teacher a while ago. he told the truth. i got my second shot yesterday and i have had no problem with either one.

but, i tell you what, how people can say that biden is president. he does not know he is living. he just rambles on, and he tries to take credit for what trump did. trump was the best president we have ever had. host: did you watch the address last night? caller: yes. and it makes no sense because he cannot think for him spell -- for himself. you have nancy pelosi, and schumer, and all they want is money for their state. they want to bail them out out of what they spend partying and goofing off, and nancy pelosi should be out of there. and that idiot new york, they need to get him out of there. host: that is earl in indiana. this is ken in columbus, ohio. are you with us? caller: yes. host: go ahead.

caller: i am with you. host: go ahead with your comment. caller: a lot of these people do not know what they are talking about. i appreciate biden, he has done a great job. americans needed help and that is what you are supposed to do, help your fellow americans. trump has been a big failure. he has been a failure, and he does not care about nobody but his rich friends. i am glad he is out of there. he would have done nothing for the average american. thank you. host: don in michigan. good morning. caller: good morning to the american people, to you, and c-span. for me, this year, my daughter committed suicide, but survived. i have lost two aunts and about six friends to covid. to everyone who says it is a

hoax and the democrats are lying to you, it is not a hoax, it is for real, and people are suffering. what really amazes me is the republican party, every time they get the white house, they start a tax break for the 1% in corporations. and i have heard people who are republicans complain about it. they are ok with trillions being given to corporation and the richest people in the country, one the democrat -- when the democrats help the working people, we have poor white trash talking about the democrats, wow. host: this is rudy in california. good morning. caller: good morning. just to make a note with people trying to compare this to a flu.

22,000 people from the cdc died last year from the flu. people ought to get that out of their heads that this is a flu virus considering that we have had 500,000 american souls lost. the second point i would like to make is i have not gotten my vaccine last year -- last week, and i am waiting to get my next one in the next few weeks. my family dynamics, half my family is white, i am african-american, and too many of them will not take the vaccine. i said, that is your choice, but this will be the second year in a row that i would not be coming for thanksgiving. and me and my wife have decided that. host: why don't they want to take it?

caller: the bogeyman, they are just -- they do not want to put themselves through that. they do not know what is in it, and they are not listening to the science. and like president biden is saying, listen to the science, and me and my wife, she is white. we are saying -- we are listening to the science of anything and not anything from any mealy mouth that we had last year. host: some 98 million americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine. are your family members, does that help convince them that there is nearly 100 million americans that have gone before them? caller: definitely, like my side of the family, most of my nieces and nephews, my mom, she is 84, she had all of her shots and stuff. most of my nieces work in the

medical field, they have had their shots. we are not messing around with that. there are plenty of african-americans that are just a little slow getting the shots, but there are plenty of us who are saying, we cannot live like this, and so we are doing our part to help stem the virus. host: that is rudy in california. this is amy and montgomery, cala -- good morning. i just want to say that if these fans researched this guys and realized who he is, they would realize he is a grifter. he is a common man. he has done nothing but benefit him and his cronies. maybe they should volunteer in the next election. host: the issue of the coronavirus, tell us about your past year.

caller: i am already retired, i don't do anything anyway. i am just disgusted with these trump people. trump is a crook. host: in winter haven, florida, good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to make a comment. first of all, i am calling on an independent line. at my core i am a libertarian. i am not a big fan of government getting too involved. we bail out countries, we bailout big, business the rationale being they are too big to fail -- bank of america comes to mind and chrysler comes to mind. and they came back. the american people cumulatively, we are too big to fail. i appreciate it appreciate the previous callers comments saying, i never got any help from anyone, these people at

home are slackers. that is not the case. i am college educated, i have owned a couple of small businesses, i have been in the boardroom, i have been behind the wheel of a pickup. it is not a matter of staying home and being a slacker. i believe that we cumulatively are too big to fail. host: thanks, tom in florida.

>> i don't how i carted. st. patrick's day last year. -- are reconnected? host: yes, sir. i am hearing you just fine. right around st. patrick's day. >> right, how i got it, i don't know. this runs all the way up the ohio line to lake erie. i would go out to work in the morning and i would come home, and i just wanted to get outside and get some air. next and you know, i started to have some symptoms. i called my doctor, went out to the hospital and they did a fantastic job. they had testing set up in the park cannot, where i got tested in the day. the doctor called me and said you have got covid. it started to get a little more difficult.

for 10 days i had almost no appetite. i couldn't taste things. i had chills. my neck and shoulders. i slept 18-20 hours a day. more than anything else, you feel unstable. you are trying to walk and you run out of breath and you run out of air. i live in a very old home. going up and down the steps, i would be completely out of breath and have to sit down and rest for a few minutes. for about 10 days, it was pretty bad. then i got better and i got tested and had antibodies. anybody who is watching right now, if you have this virus and you recover from it, please check to see if you have the antibodies. you can donate plasma and that will help.

what we haven't talked about, the therapeutics. what do we have for those who have contracted this disease to get through it? vaccines, fine, they keep you from getting very sick. those of us who have had covid-19, you can have antibodies that may be useful. i encourage anybody who has been through that so please go and get checked. host: plenty of individuals who might be interested in doing that. some 30 million americans, almost, at this point, have contracted coronavirus. the process of that, we have a picture of you donating plasma. how long does that take and how invasive is it for folks who may be a little bit unsure of that? guest: i would tell anybody who. host:. host: is unsure, this is the easiest thing you will ever do. you go in and use the down. they will hookup to you.

as your blood is leaving your body and going into this machine , your blood goes right back into your body. you lose no blood, you donate your plasma. it took an hour and 15 minutes from the time i got there. i sat back in the reclining chair. the technicians hook you up. it is totally painless. at the end of that period, they had me sit for a few minutes, give you something to drink, something to eat to make sure you are ok, and then you leave and go on to do whatever you have to do. very easy to do but it has such great value. my gp in pittsburgh has been doing great work on this. the whole community has been working as hard as they can, anything that is one of the things that has been missing in the conversations we have. people talking about vaccines, vaccines, but what about those who have it.

the therapeutics. that should be getting equal attention and getting more people, helping out and donating plasma and helping out. host: take us back to st. patrick's day of last year. it was still relatively early in the pandemic in this country. what was the reaction when you announced your diagnosis? did you experience any stigma from people that you knew or members of congress on the hill after you announced your diagnosis. host: not really. my chief and i -- he lives in new castle, pennsylvania -- we had a discussion when i first got the diagnosis, what do you think we ought to do about this? let's let everybody know i have contracted this, but let's keep in touch with them and let them know what i am going through, and if this happens to them, what they can do. so we were all kind of separated

so it really was not that intense. the biggest problem i had was trying to answer emails and texts on my phone of people saying "we are praying for you, get back on your feet." the feeling was at that point, who you can come in contact with, things of that nature. i can tell you, as much as people think that we are divided in the house, the number of members on both sides of the aisle that i heard from was about equal. people say we never get along. when it comes to each of us going through some personal challenge, we are all on board to help each other. we are learning more about others than we are about ourselves at this point. we want to make sure vaccines get there, especially for those who have optimized immune

systems. those folks -- who have compromised immune systems. they should be first on the list. as i mentioned earlier, let's get a therapeutic of ther so that ife you do contracted this, you have faith that you will be ok -- let's get a therapeutic out there so that if you do contracted this, you have faith that you will be ok. what i want to go through this again? absolutely not. i understand what people go through. it makes you think about -- will i be more careful where i go? wearing a mask, social distancing, doing all those things, and then being able to share, yes, i have antibodies. people want to get away from you right away, and you say, look, i have antibodies. i think 90% of the people i say this to say, i have no idea what

you are talking about. we have created this fear around us that is unhealthy in a lot of ways. it does not allow us to go forward to see what we can do to protect ourselves and others. host: have you and your staff been vaccinated at this point. host: i have not been vaccinated ? guest: our staff is still waiting to be vaccinated. we have older members of our staff, which is where i am very discouraged. you go online and you start in the morning and you go all day trying to get an appointment. that is why i said the logistics of this, it is really hard to get an understanding. each fall i get my flu shot and my shingles shot. i walk into the rite aid on main street here in butler, i say, i just came from mass, can i get my shot? they say, we will take care of

you. i don't know why there logistics of receiving a shot has been so difficult for people. some people have gotten theirs right away, but where we are right now, we are more concentrated than those who are most vulnerable and those who are more contagious. pennsylvania has a problem getting vaccines. i think we are 44th in the nation as far as getting people vaccinated, especially those in 1a. so we have to figure out, why not look at other things that we do in a way to fix that? there are 50 states out there. i don't know what the top 10 are doing, so i think i will start to look at my office and run my office the way they run their office. i don't understand why each state is in a capsule of its own trying to figure out what to do.

host: is pennsylvania making those changes? are they studying the top states? guest: i have spoken to governor wolf several times and encouraged him to look at what is going on and try to reevaluate what it is pennsylvania is so far behind the curve on this. again, it will depend on the pennsylvania department of health. still, we have a lot of vaccine we have not been able to distribute yet. i am trying to find out why can't we get this out? a lot of our senior care centers , those are the folks who have the most compromised immune systems, why can't we get them vaccinated? the numbers are very unusual for a state that i love and i have lived in all my life. what is going on in harris work that we can't figure it out.

if you look across the country, again, there are 50 models are there. i look at the top five and say, what are they doing. we are trying to push the governor and the department of health in pennsylvania. i will be at butler hospital this afternoon to talk with them about the work they have done. my question is why can't we all do it right? >> you mentioned the distribution process. what has been the biggest success? in this country, one year into the pandemic? guest: california and florida. gavin newsom in california, i

want to see what he is doing in florida. pick up the phone and say, governor, i am having trouble out here. what are you doing down there? i went to pick his brain, use the department of health and say, help us to help people that we represent. when it is so easy to communicate -- you and i are doing this right now. we are communicating back and forth. these are things that are not hard to do. get connected and find out. it better be a policy and good policy for the people we represent and people will live with, and all those people whose lives we cherish and we worry about.

why would this ever become a political issue and not a policy issue? the policy is out there. some states are doing it very well. other states don't seem to be able to find an answer. pick up the phone and get connected. i don't care how they earn registered, but i know one thing they are all right, white, and blue. they are all americans. let's get back to whatever the new normal is going to be. i would hope that it will be like the last normal, so that we can interact with each other. we got to get our schools open, businesses open, get back to work and start looking at living in the outside world. host: congressman, i look forward to the day you and i can interact with each other back here at the desk in washington. thank you so much for your time. stay safe. guest: happy st. patrick's day. host: same to you, sir. about 45 minutes left in

washington journal today. one year ago yesterday, the world health organization declared covid-19 a pandemic. we want to hear how it has changed your life. in the mount rushmore state, good morning. caller: good morning, everyone. i am sitting here on my couch now and i am seeing the kids waiting for the bus and i don't see any kind of mask or anything. we had the bike rally this year. and after that we had the big surge. my wife had cancer and i could not take her to chemo and she passed away. so -- a doctor out here for me. our state, it seems like it is all the way open. i go downtown and people are in

the saloons and stores and the businesses are open. it is kind of sucky, really, because i am 70 years old and i was exposed to agent orange. i have a lot of underlying stuff going on with me. i have already had my second shot. so i feel a lot more secure, but other than that, it seems like it is running pretty good out here. i think -- i thank c-span for everything. host: thank you for calling, and sorry for the loss of your wife. caller: hi, how are you? host: doing well. go ahead. caller: i am not understanding right now why the colors are not

understanding why things are the way they are. if you look at the parallels of the 1918 flu as to now. from 1918-2020, i do understand why this is a surprise to people, like, why it is taking so long. making these demands, like, these are my rights. they had the same restrictions for masking and socialist, closed down businesses -- masking and social distancing, they closed down businesses. you can look on wikipedia and see the exact same things. it is mind-boggling that youtube or whatever other news sources people are going by, it is just mind-boggling. host: michael in maryland, good morning. you are next. caller: good morning. let me say that, the pandemic

and everything, pretty much going normal. i am on disability, so i don't have to be around a lot of people. things are pretty normal for me. but my question is, the stimulus checks, for people who lost their jobs in 2020 but made a lot of money in 2019, they have not been able to get stimulus checks because of the money they made in 2019. they lost their jobs in 2020. and they are disqualified. and i am wondering, when you put your taxes in this year for 2021, will they adjust so that you are able to get the stimulus

money? thank you. host: michael, the treasury department is looking to move that money within coming days, and most likely they will receive it, those who have direct deposit, based on tax filings, as you pointed out. the latest stimulus does have urning limits for the $1400 payment. it goes to individuals earning under $75,000 a year, and couples earning up to $150,000 a year with some running room for individuals who are slightly over that. but the 1.9 trillion dollar american rescue plan includes those $1400 checks for individuals, dependents as well, signed by the president. we are expecting to hear more from the president today at a ceremony in the rose garden at 2:30 p.m. eastern. the president with democratic members of the house and senate

marking the signing of that bill into law. lindsay is next out of illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. my husband is an essential worker. my mom is homebound because she doesn't drive, so i have been juggling between the two of them and trying yesterday to get an appointment to get a shot, any shot, and i had a meltdown yesterday because there was no one who could help me. no appointment. no appointment. i thought i was doing something wrong. my mom is over 80. i am not even worried about me because i am just going to the stores. at got my gloves on and everything, trying to stay away from people. and even see my friends. i really had a meltdown

yesterday. i wish they could get it together. that senator or representative you had on, he had everything at his disposal. but us out here who are working and just living, we have nothing to help us, and that is what bothers me the most. host: do you think anything from this $1.9 trillion package that was asked into law, is there anything in there to help you? caller: unless they get more doses and more appointments available or make it easier to get appointments, i don't see it helping. thank god my husband has a job and we have health insurance. i feel sorry for people who don't, because we are not connected like the people in congress. we just have to go on our instincts. like yesterday, i have been

looking for an appointment for my husband. give us some more places where we can get vaccines. i live in the chicago area, i am sure that the people who live in the smaller towns, they are just as frustrated. host: thank you for sharing your story, liz. $5.3 trillion at this point has been appropriated in coronavirus response by the federal government over the course of the past 12 months. six major bills, one of the first major bills was working its way through congress a year ago today, the family's first act. on march 12, 2020, speaker nancy pelosi talked about that bill which came to the tune of about $190 billion. here is speaker pelosi. [video clip] >> to our constituents listening

to health care professionals, listening to governors, etc. put the family first legislation together. it has free coronavirus testing by and large, for almost everyone in the country. we are having some discussion about that with the administration -- there may be some people who want to pay, but by and large, it is free. no one will say, i can't afford it so i cannot. it is not a good idea when it comes to public health. paid emergency leave with 14 paid sick days -- very essential, as we deal with this challenge, public health challenge that we have. enhanced unemployment insurance. it will protect furloughed workers, strengthen food security initiatives, very important.

kids get the food security from being in school and schools are closing. we have to make sure food gets to the children. food is already paid for and appropriated for, it is just the question of getting the food to the children, and that has some cost to it. we also have to get the school ledger, etc.. in terms of snap and food assistance for seniors, people with disabilities, helping the nonprofits who are on the forefront of helping people have access to food at this difficult time. host: speaker nancy pelosi from a year ago today. also that same day, house minority leader kevin mccarthy talked about the family's first act. this was majority leader mccarthy. [video clip] >> there is>> a couple of major problems with it, one glaring problem. under pelosi's bill, the social

security administration will administer this program. it will not work in time. . it will hamper the administration from putting out social security for those who need it right now who are in harm's way. this will hurt the very population we are supposed to be helping. it forces permanent paid sick leave for all businesses without exemptions. instead, we are committing to get this right and working with the white house and secretary mnuchin and with the speaker. we should not take a rush just because there is a bill. we want to make sure it works. there are a few ideas i think we have brought to the table that can help -- employer retention credit, making public health emergencies eligible for major disaster programs. and finally, solving the problems when it comes to math. there is a nice piece of legislation that would give us billions more for the health providers that need it.

one thing i would say to all of america, we have overcome greater challenges in this country. every time we have a disaster, it shows the very best of this country, working together and coming together and making us stronger again. i will make this commitment to everyone. republicans will not play politics, we will not criticize and step back, we will work to make this right. the best thing we can do is take a deep breath. let's make sure we work together so that every bill we pass works for the best of everyone. host: a week later on march 18, 2020, congress would go on to approve the family's first act. $192 billion. just this week, congress passed and the president signed into law the american rescue plan to the tune of $1.9 trillion. . a story from the associated

press looked at what it would take to spend that $1.9 trillion. according from the story -- that payout from this package, by domestic spend an average of $3.7 billion every day for the rest of this year. $43,000 every second of every day, until midnight january 2022. the associated press taking a look at that story. sandra from ohio, good morning. looking back on the year of coronavirus, what is the thing you will remember the most? caller: first of all, i have a family. she should

host: is that you have three daughters that have gone into nursing? caller: have three daughters -- [indiscernible] working at the doctor's office. they all work. no one has been home. all the time and can find a job. yes, they can. host: sandra in marietta, ohio. next caller, good morning. caller: good morning. i have personally experienced the first pandemic, because my father was born in 1908.

and when the first pandemic came , he had to write through a snowstorm in north dakota, which was a very big deal. we -- when he got home, he wrote a story about it. and i do like thinking that it was his fault that his mother died. so here i am sitting here in this pandemic, watching everybody say, oh no, i can't go to the beach. or no, i can't do this. and this is not a democratic trick, this is a disease. we have got to get real here.

half-a-million people have died. i have multiple sclerosis, i have had it since i was 19 years old. this has been a year of absolute fear. i have lost three teeth in the dying days of the trump administration. and the way i see it, trump learned this news and he said he did not want to panic the american people. since when have the american people been known to panic? host: you say it is a year of fear. you feel less fearful today? caller: somewhat. some what. i just had a shot. i just had the covid vaccine. and i feel somewhat less fearful. however, there have been lots of statements about -- we know the virus is safe, we know the virus is safe, but we still have not

had a lot of time to determine how effective the virus is. host: that is ellen in new hampshire, this morning, about a half hour left in our program today. we have been spending all three hours hearing your stories about the year of the pandemic. you can continue to call in on the phone lines split regionally this morning. eastern central time, 202-748-8000. mountain and pacific time, it is 202-748-8001. we have also been looking for you, social media from text messages. this is tony in florida talking about the stimulus checks -- my wife and i gave away our first checks. we did not qualify for the $600. we are supposed to get $1400 each or some lower number. the ph is that we have lost over $1500 each in our ira deductions. this from patrick in michigan --

i am hoping the past year has taught people that it is possible to live with much less than we think we need, and doing so has the immediate physical effect of reducing our negative impact on our earth. from liz in illinois -- you can register for a vaccine using the website there. also on her website -- i don't think you have to live in the county to receive a shot. after you register, you will receive a text of vaccines available. dave in washington, good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. yes, two things i have not heard discussed in the overall scheme of things -- i spent years in medical

logistics. first off, i had a belief that maybe i had covid, like, on march 13. turns out it was a severe intestinal thing, gerd or something like that. so i called my doctor and found out that they have changed ownership. i have been with them since 1974 -- definitely 75. and i was not on their books. they have been bought out, unknown to me. i had last been in 1962. they gave me the opportunity to sign up again. but i would not -- my records are gone. so. host: how does one go about finding a new doctor during a pandemic? caller: i didn't.

i have had to actually -- i have got a low -- i believe a lot of the medical industry, right in front of my eyes, went from meeting a need, to and industry. now a lot of it is a racket. there's probably other people out there -- i never was notified that kaiser permanente bought out this medical practice. host: that is dave in washington. john in ohio, good morning. caller: how are you? my family, we have had one death , several family members sick. i have a nurse -- cousin who works giving eldercare, and she got vaccinated, but i do want to say that i couldn't disagree with the caller -- two calls ago

-- more, that talked about that joe biden cannot take credit for the vaccine, and that that was trump. what i would say is that the private sector with some help from the trump administration, did develop this vaccine in record time. but the amount of disinformation, deception, led and fostered a realm of disbelief in this country. and what a difference. 51 days makes. host: did you watch the speech last night, john? his address in the white house last night? caller: yes, i did. host: what did you think of it? caller: i was very impressed. i do think this $1.9 trillion package is absolutely necessary to be able to transform and get through this pandemic.

host: john in ohio. it was a bout a 24-minute address, president biden's first address last night from the white house. he ended that address offering a prayer for the country. here is president biden. [video clip] over a year ago, no one could have imagined what we were about to go through, but now, we are coming through it. it is a shared experience that binds us together as a nation. we are bound together by the loss and the pain in the days that have gone by. we are also bound together by the hope and the possibilities of the days in front of us. my fervent prayer for our country is that after all we have been through, we will come together. as one people. one nation. one america. i believe we can, and we will.

we are seizing this moment, and history, i believe, will record that we faced and overcame one of the darkest and toughest periods in this nation's history. darkest we have ever known. i promise you, we will come out stronger. with a renewed faith in ourselves, a new commitment to one another, to our communities, and to our country. . this is the united states of america, and there is nothing, nothing -- from the bottom of my heart i believe this -- there is nothing we can't do when we do it together. host: president joe biden from the white house last night. taking your phone calls, asking you about the year of the pandemic, what has changed the most for you. steve in atwater, california. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: doing well.

caller: i wish you hadn't put me right after the speech, but i guess you did. host: why not, steve? caller: because, i mean, ok -- ok, the numbers that elected -- the numbers say we elected biden as president. host: the question we are asking is about how your life has changed over the course of the last year. caller: it hasn't made a change in my life. as far as how the country and how the government has manipulated the system and they are wagging the dog. ok. as far as the pandemic and the issues that go along with that, the numbers don't add up.

. the deaths are the deaths. , absolutely. so are the deaths of world war i, ii, 9-11, as he said. the deaths are higher. the chemical deaths and in. whatever other diseases that came from the war. that number is greater than what he claims. host: the numbers right now -- this is the latest from the washington post -- as of 8:00 p.m. thursday, 729 million americans have contracted coronavirus -- some 29 million americans have contracted coronavirus, including 60,000 yesterday. 529 thousand 714 deaths -- 529,000 714 -- yesterday. thomas, northeast pennsylvania.

you are next. caller: i would like to comment on a call a little bit ago about a feller from butler, pennsylvania which is right outside of pittsburgh. pittsburgh has two of the largest hospitals in pennsylvania and i have a wife and a daughter that her nurses and they are in the sister hospitals of those two hospitals in erie, pennsylvania. me and my friends and everybody have talked to just around town had absolutely no that's, including myself and my family, getting our shots. we call -- i had my first shot like three weeks ago. the second one is this saturday. there are four places in erie that have people going through. it takes you about half an hour after your 15 minute wait. i don't know how he is having so much trouble there when he is in one of the biggest hospitals.

i had to call and make that point. and my daughter, who is a nurse had that covid, got the shot. she was off for a while. she is back to work giving people the shots my. . wife is donating her time on the weekends giving shots. absolutely no problem with anybody i have talked to up there. he is making it sound like there is no place to go, blah, blah, blah. he is a half hour drive from pittsburgh, these huge hospitals. i just wanted to make that clear. i don't know what he is thinking about, but i just wanted to make that point. host: thanks so much for your call this morning, thomas. yesterday on this program, we talked with the chairman of the house veterans affairs committee, democrat from california. you may be interested in watching that interview. among the things we talked about

yesterday -- the house passing a bill that would require the v.a. to offer covid vaccines to veterans and their caregivers. titled the v.a. vaccine act. it made its way through the house this week. still waiting for a vote in the senate. next caller, please. caller: good morning. just real quick you mentioned about the things covid has on people -- the effect covid has had on people. covid has had a bad effect on my life, as far as job wise. i just don't think our country should have been shut down for as long as it has. it is a bad cold to have a lot of the country shut down for all this time. and now, to have this president, yesterday with some more gloom and doom, telling us about we

just have to wait until july before we can have a good life and all of that. keeps pushing it back further and further. five she comes out every day, giving us misinformation. then the news media comes out every day -- fauci comes out every day getting as misinformation. and then the news media. host: what field are you in? caller: health care. it is amazing to me how much misinformation the news media and even the democrats -- host: what kind of work do you do in health care and what are you seeing on the front lines? caller: as far as the shots and all of that stuff, i really

don't believe in the shots. i am not going to take the shot myself. host: you are a health care worker who does not believe in the shots. caller: exactly right. host: what you do in the health care field? caller: i work in housekeeping. and i don't believe in the shots . i don't believe anything that the democrats are coming out with. i think this bill they came out with is overblown. we don't really need it. all the people talking about we needed the money, stuff like that. they have money they haven't even spent yet. i don't think they realize the money they borrowed, we will have to pay that back. it is not like we got the money -- we borrowed that money and we have two pay that money back. host: before you go on not taking the shots, have you told the folks that you work with the you are not taking the shot, or

what have you heard from the doctors and nurses that you work with on that issue? caller: what i have heard, a lot of people don't want to take the shot. a lot of people -- a lot of nurses and staff, they don't want to take the shot. what sense does it make you putting covid inside your body to offset that covid? it makes no sense. host: do you not believe in vaccines in general, michael? do you believe in vaccines? caller: not exactly. i don't take the flu shot and i haven't had the flu in my life. host: that is michael in baton rouge. donald out of west virginia, good morning. caller: good morning. talking about that covid-19 -- i am going to get my shot today, the first one. people that are not wearing masks, they come up in front of you, i ask them to get back.

they test you out. they don't care about the people. -- [inaudible] host: you still with us? caller: hello? i think people should get the shot. it is like the flu shot and all of that. you got the chickenpox shots. i think everybody should get it. host: that is donald in west virginia. as we have been hearing your stories about the year of covid-19, we have also been talking with some of the more than 60 members of congress who have battled coronavirus over the past 12 months. another one of those members is new jersey democrat bonnie coleman. congresswoman, remind viewers of the circumstances around your contracting coronavirus.

congresswoman -- we will work on getting your mic on and chatting with you. perhaps we can try again -- guest: can you hear me now? host: we got you now. guest: sorry, it was my fault. i was in d.c., at the capitol on the time of the insurrection on january 6. i was in a holding room with a lot of other members, and some of whom would not wear our mask even when they were offered. i came back home the following weekend. . by that monday, i was told to go and get tested because someone in the room who did not have a mask on or someone in the room tested positive. i tested positive. so i was infected with the virus. i had tested negative when i went to d.c.. so i tested negative when i left d.c.

i was given monochrome all antibodies infusion. i had already had my first inoculation in december 29. but i have not had my second one because i have to wait 90 days before getting the next one. i am looking forward to hear the next one. it hurts me to hear misinformed people saying that you are being injected with the virus. there is no virus within this vaccine. host: you have been very open about your health battles over the years. talk about january 6, talk about coming to congress and what you were planning to do that day, and your trepidation about coming back to congress amid the pandemic. guest: well, i had cancer a year and a half ago. thank god, i am cancer free. i do have diabetes, and i have

been working virtually from home. but on january 6, in order to be sworn in, you had to be in-person in d.c. and while you are there, you had to vote on a few things to organize the brand-new congress. so i was there to get sworn in and there to vote, and while i was there, that is when there was a breach of the capitol. i happened to actually see them as i was going down the hallway to go to an office, ended up being in a small office with five people for couple of hours, locked in. we could hear all the noise on the outside. then the police came to get us and take us to another room, which really wasn't such a smart idea when i think about it, because there were more than 100 people in a large hearing room, and as i said, some of them didn't have masks. up until that point, i had been very careful to work virtually until i was completely

inoculated. now, my inoculation will not be completed until april, at which time i plan to spend 10-14 days to quarantine so that the inoculation is as effective as it can be and should be, then i will go back to d.c. host: did any of the massless members in the room with you that day, after you announced your diagnosis, did any of them reach out to see how you were doing? guest: thank you, you are the second or third person to have asked me that question. i never actually thought about it before, but, no. no one in the room that did not have a mask on did not reach out to me. many members have but none of them have. host:. host: we have been talking to members about their experience.

we talked to congressman mark kelly from pennsylvania about donating plasma afterwards. talk about where you are in the recovery process. is that something you have considered doing? guest: doctors tell me i could be helpful in that way. of course, i will give up my plasma. i don't know if it is because of my pre-existing conditions or because i have antibodies, if that contributes to that, but i certainly would contribute whatever i can to make it better for somebody else. host: and other question we have been asking viewers all morning long is about the year of the coronavirus, the successes and the failures they have seen. what you think has been a success and what has been the biggest failure? guest: the biggest success we have had is collecting joe biden. he instituted a very aggressive

work on getting rid of this virus, on testing and on contact tracing. and now, ramping up the vaccine. that, to me, is the biggest accomplishment. the most troubling and dangerous aspect was having the former president who did not -- either didn't get it or didn't care to understand how it affected everybody else. i think my biggest -- the biggest think i am looking forward to doing is having my granddaughter around me. she is very close to me, she is seven years old. i will get to hug her and kiss her and hold her and spend time with her. host: when do you think you can do that again? guest: after i get my second shot and after i go through the 14 days. host: congresswoman bonnie watson coleman, democrat from the 12th district of new jersey. very much looking forward to have you on the desk with us. guest: thank you. host: have a great day.

guest: you too. host: just a few minutes left. we will continue to take your phone calls for the rest of our program. i should note, the house is not coming in at 10:00. there is a brief pro forma session scheduled today at 4:30 and the house is not started to come in officially for business until next week. mark has been waiting in omaha, nebraska. mark, talking about a year of the pandemic. what will you remember the most from the past 12 months? caller: i guess i will remember the most, not having freedom like we have always had in this country. i didn't like biden's comment during his speech yesterday about how after everyone gets vaccinated, and we social distance and wear our mask, that may be on the fourth of july we could have a small gathering. how dare he tell us who we can

meet with on the fourth of july? that is our freedom. i am big and the freedom piece of it. so i was not liking that part of his speech. everyone says the vaccine works, and i have taken the vaccine so i feel confident that it does work. but then, after everyone takes the vaccine, they will try to tell you if you can get together with a small group in your backyard on the fourth of july? i mean, we are not a dictatorship. that is another reason why i think flu deaths, we report them all, but for some reason we didn't have any debts from the flu this year. host: that is mark in nebraska. from arizona, good morning. caller: good morning.

the thing i take away from this last year is that bad government can do a lot of harm. we have really bad leadership over the last year. a lot of problems could have been minimized and debated if we had some real leadership and some forethought and some planning, and doing the things this government does. we had bad government. on top of that, a leader who misled. a leader who misled people. you can still hear it in these comments that people are making. it is perpetuating -- so this last year, i hope everyone --, because a lot of misinformation is still out there. understand that we have to elect leaders that are responsible, that are honest. that will put the public

interest ahead of their own interest. host: do you feel that way about joe biden? caller: oh, yeah. i do feel that way about joe biden. i do. host: chris in arizona. rita is next from bowling green, kentucky. good morning. caller: hello? host: go ahead. caller: i watch you sometimes, and i have been trying to get through. i just want the american people to know that we would not have a vaccine if it wasn't for president trump. he got the vaccine done and he has -- he had the plan to distribute it. i am so upset that people are so against him. because he loves the american people. biden doesn't even know where he is half the time.

host: how has your life changed over the past year? caller: it really hasn't -- just from being locked in. but now it hasn't really changed. for biden to say that yesterday, to say that we might be able to get together on july 4? i don't understand why that man thought he could sit there and tell us what we can do, when we can get together. host: that is rita in kentucky. event in california, good morning. caller: good morning. i would just like to say, i live out here in california. the biggest insurer for medical is kaiser permanente yet they cannot get the vaccines for their members because they don't get enough of them. in california, there is not enough to go around.

there are people that are cheating to get their way in. they had to close down the pasadena vaccine because there were people that were not in that category of 55 and over, and i keep calling and asking my doctor. he says, get with the counties. it is like nobody cares out here in california. i broke my knee at the beginning of the year, and i am, like, this has been one of the worst years for me. i am retired, so luckily -- i got covid and luckily it wasn't too bad. so i feel a little safe that i can't get it until i get the shot. host: do you feel hopeful about the next 12 months, if that -- yvette? caller: it is kind of scary.

our government spent so much money providing -- check and understand people need money, but there will be another pandemic. what will happen then? are we just going to keep making money? our four grandchildren and great-grandchildren, this will never end. it just seems like money going out the window. host: yvette is our last caller on today's "washington journal." we will be back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 a.m. pacific. have a great friday. ♪

announcer: was created in 1979 and is brought to you by these television companies as a public service. ♪ veterans health administration officials will testify this morning on health care, mental health, women's health and homelessness. we will have coverage starting at 11:30 a.m. eastern. you can also find it online on c-span.org or this with the free radio app. tonight, the senate judiciary subcommittee on federal courts and oversight with a hearing on special interest groups and dark money. watch that tonight starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. announcer: the white house chief of staff talked about the

administration's coronavirus response efforts with jake sherman. this is about a half hour. >> good evening, i'm anna palmer. i'm joined by jake sherman. and we are thrilled to kick off a three-part virtual event series focused on joe biden's first 100 days. a big thank you to edelman for making these events possible. we want to bring you closer to a key decision-maker in washington. tonight, we will be joined by ron klain to discuss the president's relief package, what is next, and much more. after our conversation, lisa ross will join us for a fireside chat. we would love you to share insight or big moments on twitter. we will also take questions, so

feel free to tweet us with any questions. let's welcome ron klain. ron: thank you for having me. jake: thank you for joining us, mr. chief of staff. we will give you a quick 15 seconds, or more, if we are feeling generous. the congress is about to pass the $1.9 trillion american relief or rescue plan. trying to set the tone for recovery. what have you learned about congress in these less than 90 days that the president has taken office? ron: it can do big things to help the country. that is what the american rescue plan is, it's an effort to beat the virus and get the economy moving again. we spent a year fighting the virus with half measures, without a national strategy or resources to implement the

national strategy. now we are where we are. even before president biden became president put this plan in front of the country and said, this is what i need to crush the virus and get the economy moving. and congress has taken this large package and has passed it pretty much the way the president asked for it. i think it is a significant piece of legislation. it helps with our fight against covid, it helps the middle class, it will help get schools open, helps small businesses and veterans, it lower health insurance premiums -- all the things we need to do to turn the country around. anna: one thing that did fall out of the bill was the $15 minimum wage. what's your plan to get a minimum wage hike approved? it is a priority for progressives. do you think the president would be open to less than $15 if it meant getting to a deal? ron: our focus is on the fight for 15.

president joe biden endorsed that in the campaign and that is what we will work on. we will talk with our allies, with democrats, hopefully some republicans in the senate about how to do that. and the raise the wage act does phase in over time, about five or six years, so we will look at how we can get this thing passed. people should not work full-time and be in poverty, so we need to raise the minimum wage. jake: i will push you on that, because i can tell you -- i have not met republicans who are willing to raise it to $15. is no minimum wage increase better -- or isn't it better to get something? it phases in. it gets to $11 within a year, upwards from there, so that is better to give people something at the front and. -- end.

ron: our position is it should be $15. that's what we stand for and at that is what we will fight for. obviously, we had a procedural problem with it in this bill, now we need to come up with a legislative strategy that moves that forward. jake: on that point, you are governing with bernie sanders and joe manchin in congress and one thing we like to say implantable news is joe manchin's vote is as important as bernie sanders's. i wonder if you have reflections, here we are 50 days in, on what it is like governing a democratic congress in -- a democratic caucus in the senate with bernie sanders and joe manchin? ron: i love senator sanders and joe manchin and i enjoyed my conversations with both of them. they have different points of view, but all of our democrats in the senate, and i hope more

republicans, recognize that this country needs action to be the virus, to deal with the economic crisis and go from there. i'm happy to work with any senator in either party that wants to help president joe biden move the country forward. senator sanders was incredibly helpful on passing the rescue package. as the chairman of the senate budget committee, he was a player in bringing the package to the floor. and senator joe manchin was also critical in delivering the final votes to get us over the hump. many have played key roles, starting with chuck schumer. and i could go down the list. so, obviously, it is a challenge to keep 50 democrats united. chuck schumer was able to do that on behalf of the president, working with his caucus, and we will continue to work with every member of the senate to move america's agenda forward. anna: the challenges going forward are clear. you are able to keep the 50

democrats in the senate together, and nancy pelosi kept her caucus intact, which is a phenomenal thing on such a massive bill. but going forward it will be harder. and many have been hesitant to talk about what specifically is next on the legislative agenda. give us your top bullet points for 2021. how do you sequence this to continue to get wins like you started strong? ron: i will let the president announced what's next. the way for me to shorten my tenure is to get ahead again, which i will not do. what i will say is obviously everything we have done in the 48 days we have been here is what he promised to do as a candidate. we promised the tackle the virus and economy first. we then said we would build back better, that meant trying to restore the economy, not just get out of the rescue phase, but get into recovery.

we want to strengthen the economy around manufacturing and infrastructure. so, i will let the president roll that out when we are ready. but, look, i hope in the next phase we can get bipartisan support. the thing with the rescue plan is it had bipartisan support in the country. republican voters, mayors, governors and business leaders. so we will never stop working to try to get the republicans in the country joined by republicans here in washington. we need the republicans in all zip codes. and that is going to be something that we will continue to work on here as we move forward. jake: i wanted to ask, on that point, many components of the bill had republican support when donald trump was president. many of the things -- i am not sure what you changed, but it was a big victory. and almost everything in here

has been voted on before. i assume that you think that it was just because joe biden was president and they didn't want to give him a victory early on? ron: it is a question of putting words in their mouths. i will let them explain why they voted no. i know why we proposed the plan, why the people who voted for it voted for it, so people who voted against it can characterize their own votes. jake: let's talk about priorities the president was big on on the campaign trail, like election overhaul, gun control -- these are big items we are not going to get if the bill buster is not blown up. how do you manage expectations on that? i think you can see none of those things will get done unless the filibuster is blown up. what do you say to the base that expects this? ron: we will work on all of these problems. i one not concede anything right

now. jake: i will concede for you. [laughter] ron: well, maybe your light is switched on then. [laughter] what i will say is we have been here for 47 days and in that time we have made history almost every single day, whether it is with the first openly altered bt -- lgbtq member of the cabinet, the rescue plan or rejoining paris, or any of them many other things we have done. we will continue to make progress for the american people, that is our goal. that is what we have done so far. that is what we will continue to press forward on. anna: so far, you've been able to keep aggressive's on your side, bernie sanders, elizabeth warren -- they have been praising this bill is the biggest thing since obamacare. but with immigration reform, there is strong agitation and desire to have something happen.

there's a crisis at the border in terms of separation of children from their families. so how do you propose dealing with that? will it be a piecemeal approach? just based on the context of politics in washington right now, or you think there could be a bigger bill? ron: we are not separating children from their families. we have some unaccompanied children coming here and presented themselves at the border, but the administration is not doing with the previous administration did in separating families. but to your broader point, immigration is a challenge. and we have had a system that has been broken for a long time. prior presidents have tried to fix it, but have been unable to. that's why we sent an immigration bill to congress on joe biden's first day in the white house. we know it is hard, it's hard to fix a system that has been broken for this long. but some republicans say they

want to be part of immigration reform. we know a lot of the basics, as jaek alluded -- jake alluded to, are things that are common sense. we will work with congress, we will try to move the reform forward. we think it is vital. we have more than 11 million people in this country living in the shadows with many who have been here for many years. we have the dreamers. we need to fix these problems as part of a long overdue piece of business in this country. jake: on immigration policy, the democrats -- you are getting criticism from both sides on the facilities on the border on the u.s.-mexico border. are the criticisms fair? ron: we inherited a mess, but we are committed to a policy that follows the rule of law and is

humane. and we are doing our best to he lp at the border, particularly with the children who have no parents, to house them in a way that is safe and humane and ultimately reunite them with family in this country or sponsors willing to take them in. that takes time. it's not something you can do overnight. jake: how much time do you need -- or how much time is fair to give the administration to get these policies in order? ron: i hope people will look at what we are trying to do and the judge is based on our actions. i think that we are open to suggestions and ideas. it's a hard problem. i will not deny that this is one of the most vexing problems that we will face. and it is a difficult situation. but i will tell you that we had senior advisors down there over the weekend and we are focused on this like a laser. secretary mayorkas is doing a

great job managing this, getting it going in the right direction. we need the secretary confirmed overseeing settlement. that's an office of asylum seeking people. and so, you know, we need the right leadership at hhs to solve this problem, but we are working on it. anna: i want to shift gears. talk about omb. the nomination has been pulled. mira was part of your opener. we wanted to focus on key figures and those in the biden administration. she has an official -- will she have an official role going forward? ron: it will not be a senate confirmed place or in the cabinet, but the president thinks that she is talented as a policy advisor and we will find something for her in the administration to bring those talents to bear. obviously, we have nominated shalonda young to be the deputy

director and we hope the senate will confirm her quickly, so that she can be the acting director and then the president will then pick someone to fill the seat vacant because of the withdrawal. anna: house democratic leaders have pushed for young to be the permanent omb director, but so far, no dice. ron: i did not see that statement. [laughter] i did not hear your question. anna: are you not moved by that request? i have never seen democrat leaders in unison push somebody for a position like this. ron: we are moved by it, but even more, the president himself picked shalonda for the number two post. that's a sign of the great respect we have for her. she's a serious candidate for the lead position there, but right now our goal is to get the key chairs filled urgently. that means focusing on the confirmation of those agencies

where we have cabinet nominees and no deputies in place. we are making progress this week, we are supposed to get three cabinet members confirmed tomorrow. so i think the most urgent way to fill that need at all and be get shalonda confirmed and then the press will have an announcement about who will be the nominee for director. shalonda is on that list. she is a talented person and we are grateful to have her as part of the team. and she is definitely under consideration for the top post. jake: we are running out of time, but we want to talk about infrastructure. it's a top priority. everyone else is thinking it's a top priority. and should we expect an infrastructure bill that is $1 trillion or more? ron: i didn't not want to keep repeating myself on this. but i will let the president announced that. we have governed the way that we campaigned. i do not together has been any

big surprises with what we have done. and the president ran on an agenda build back better, including a push for manufacturing and caregiving. you should expect that to go forward as part of the next things we are doing. i will let the president announced the timing, size and scope, but america has a huge infrastructure. and that is a reason why we are talking about it. and everybody knows it is a big problem. it's a bipartisan problem. we have had republicans at the house and senate tell us that they also share, not exactly the same way we want to do it, but the idea we need to do something on infrastructure. i'm cautiously optimistic that we can find a path forward that's bipartisan. jake: let me just drill down on that. infrastructure means a lot of things. can we dig in on that? how do you view infrastructure?

i have seen this com with less effortse -- come with less efforts. john boehner was not as committed as you are at this point. so how do you view infrastructure? ron: the kind of investments the country needs to get ready to succeed in this century, to defeat china in the global economy and create jobs, not just building infrastructure, but the jobs that the researcher powers in terms of bringing products to market. and it includes things, like hundreds of thousands of charging stations for the new generation of electric vehicles that will be on the road in the years to come. it includes investments in power transmission for clean power. and things like roads and bridges. but we need 21st century infrastructure to compete in a global economy. and i think that is at the top of the agenda. way back in january, he laid out the rescue plan, he said rescue

first, then recovery. a key part of recovery is being competitive. and if instructor is a key part of being globally competitive. anna: can you give us any sense of when the president will be giving a joint address to congress. people have been wondering why it has been taking so long. ron: we wanted to get through the rescue plan and get it passed. we will go to the country. we will take a couple weeks to explain the plan. shortly after that, he will work with congress on a joint address that's appropriate for covid and other things. anna: the white house chief of staff, inc. you for your time. jake: thank you. anna: we want to welcome lisa ross, a coo, to join us for a fireside chat. to talk about our conversation with ron, and how democrats are approaching the new washington, and more.

thanks for joining us. lisa: it is good to see you. before we get started, congratulations. and a great job. i remember the first time i met you and i was impressed with your composure and willingness to hear diverse points of view. and i am happy to see you at punchbowl. best of luck to you. anna: i appreciate that. we have a lot to unpack. we passed ron klain on many -- pressed ron klain on many issues. but there are a couple things that stood out to me. what would be your take away from hearing him about 50 days or so into this white house? lisa: i was struck by his competency. i was struck by his humility. i was struck, and i think it is such a contrast to what we have seen, not just in the trump administration, but in others as

well, and as a former appointee i could not stop thinking about three things. one, what they have been able to do in a short time. from the greenroom, we said that for them this is like the passage of obama care, it's huge. to be able to do it in such a short time, you know, experience matters. being prepared matters. competency matters. the way that they came in was amazing. his description of "i'm a staffer." and jake, you were pushing him on it. he was not as feisty as in the oprah interview. jake: nobody has ever accused me as being nearly as good as oprah. she is upon me in that category, to be honest with you. you served in the clinton white house, and you have a history of

being a staffer, right? how do you think joe biden -- by the way everybody is a staffer besides joe biden, which is the ultimate kind of -- lisa: not everyone knows that. it's true, but not everybody knows that. jake: that is true. if you go back a little bit and think about your experience and, uh, and just how obama governed, trump governed and how clinton governed, what is your take away or what is your general take away in that? lisa: he has good. he's ready. this administration is ready. the people he has hired are ready. it did make me think about my days as a staffer. and one of the things that really resonated with me was the day of the inauguration when joe biden did the virtual swearing in of appointees.

for everyone who has served in this capacity, it was a meaningful moment, but when he set the tone he will be honest, we will be transparent and forthright, and he did not use the word shenanigans, which i am happy about, but he said, if i do not see you living up to the values that we believe in, i will fire you on the spot. he said, i will fire you. and he has. or he has called for resignations. what struck me as an appointee was him and the administration as an employer and the things you have to do to make sure that people understand what the expectations are, they understand that we are staffers for the american people, not for the president. and this clear vision about, this is where we are going and come hell or high water, we will bring people along to get there. that's what struck me.

anna: one of the things i took from the conversation is, you know, they have such big problems they are trying to solve. have immigration reform, minimum-wage, all kinds of issues. and they have really been at loggerheads. so this congress is going to be tough. they were able to keep it together because this is his first priority. no president has more capital than when they first come into office, but from your perspective, you give advice to the private sector and corporate america is agitating on these issues to get something done. so how optimistic are you, given what he has said, what we are reading, that infrastructure -- which we tried to push him on -- can get done? lisa: i am optimistic, but i am also worried and concerned. we have a great lead for this

administration to succeed from a business perspective. we released our barometer in january and one thing that emerged this year was terrifying. and that was for the first time ever the global community distrusts american business. and you know what that does to our economy? it hurts. so i have to have confidence in this administration and that it will deliver, because the imprint for the trust data is we are global partners that do not trust the government. and that lands on businesses. it hurts our ability to participate in succeed and to thrive in a global economy. i'm confident because i have to be. but also, president joe biden gives you a sense of confidence. he's like, i got this. yeah, i got this. i think you can have confidence

whether you personally like him, democrat or republican, but he is safe. and i think that comes across. jake: i wonder what -- you answered this partially -- i wonder what, i mean, there are so many priorities corporate america has. there's immigration reform. but i am wondering if you can give us a couple things that you hear about the most from clients. what are the biggest things when you have to sit down and say, this is what corporate america is really concerned about, and what is that exactly? lisa: it is worried about infrastructure. look at texas. corporate america is worried about racial and social equity, because it has a huge impact on our employee base, a huge impact on our customer base. and corporate america is worried about the pandemic. and it was not funny, but during

the summer richard and i would be on any number of calls with global ceos with an agenda and before we could do anything, they would be like, what is going on over there? what are you people doing? and it was embarrassing. it had a really negative impact. so corporate america is looking for stability, innovation and for creativity. esg remains a really big issue. but the problem the government has gets in the way of businesses doing what they are supposed to do. if government is not working together, you do not have a safe and profitable society. anna: we are running out of time, but to your point, one thing that we were marked upon with this administration is yes, the competency and the people who have been in these positions before, and we have seen when they do roll out with big plans,

the companies are lining up. we have seen it from associations to downtown, the chairman of committees -- there's a sense that there is this firewall when they put something out. i assume that for you all, that that must be one of the benefits, right? if it is infrastructure or these other issues, that there is going to be some kind of return to, this is the process, this is where we way in, and this is -- weigh in, and this is how we can shape things. am i reading that right? lisa: absolutely. chaos is destructive. where you sit on your political spectrum, chaos is destructive. regardless of whether you agree gives you a sense of, we can work together, we can make a difference together. and we are also working for the

american people and we are looking for a way to increase jobs, increase opportunity, increase access across the board. and i think that business deals -- feel they have a partner with this administration in order to partner on those things. anna: we are out of time this evening, but thank you for spending a few minutes to get your read on the reaction to our conversation with the white house chief of staff, ron slane, as well as how the business community is handling the biden administration. thank you for your support. and i want to remind everyone that we will be back on march 24 at 5:00 p.m. with another conversation, this was centered on how washington is changing as more women and women of color are rising in the ranks on capitol hill. announcer: president biden will talk about implementing a covid relief plan signed into law yesterday.