saag. be sure to join your -- the discussion with your phone calls and tweets. washington journal is next. ♪ host: this is the washington journal for june 28 with the announcement of a framework on a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package by president biden and a group of senate republicans and democrats. we want to hear from you on what you would tell congress about those current negotiations on that package. you can talk about the price tag, the bipartisan efforts being made, or you can relate the infrastructure needs where you live and relate it to this proposed spending. here is how you can reach out to us. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000.

independents, (202) 748-8002. if you wish, you can text us at (202) 748-8003, post on our facebook page, and you can also tweet us @cspanwj. to give you a summary of this framework that was announced last week, cnbc breaks it down into these broad categories. $974 billion and five hunter $79 billion in new spending. $312 billion of that going to transportation related spending, including $109 billion for new growth and -- new roads and bridges and 266 billion dollars for water, broadband, and other non-transportation infrastructure. here is a breakdown of the pacific's -- specific so that deal. -- specifics of that deal.

today, several legislators on capitol hill and on the sunday shows talking about those efforts when it comes to where this transportation bill or infrastructure package bill is. one of the people on there was the white house senior advisor, asked if the president would signed this infrastructure package if it was sent to his death without a larger bill going through the process of reconciliation. here is cedric richmond. [video clip] >> can you clarify once and for all -- biden will come if it happens, that the bipartisan infrastructure bill lands on his desk on its own, if that were to happen, he would sign it? yes or no? >> i do not think it is a yes or no question. people underestimated president biden since day one. we pass to the rescue plan. we are going to pass the drops plan -- jobs plan and the

american family plan. we keep leading with strategy in making decisions based on the people. we expect to have both bills in front of us to sign. i expect that president biden will sign the infrastructure bill. he will sign the family's plan. >> so he is not going to commit to signing the infrastructure bill if it lands on his desk on its own. it has to come with the other bill. >> i think the important point is to focus on the statement yesterday, where the president's words speak for themselves. i speak for the president but i do not put words in his mouth. where he has a clear statement, i let that do the speaking. the important thing is to focus on how historic this infrastructure bill is. host: politico talks about some of the things that have to happen before this bill is put on the president's desk. one of the things facing it is the congressional budget office.

politico adds that all three options would create uncertainty about the bill's passage. when it comes to that reconciliation part that you heard cedric richmond talk about, politico says it will hang over the process all summer and remain a handy excuse for any republican who does not want to back the bipartisan bill. a republican of kansas, and initial backer of the bill, indicated he wants a commitment from senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema not to support the reconciliation bill that is as much of a looming goalpost as the veto threat. that is just some of the things going on in the background when it comes to this infrastructure package by the white house and senate republicans and democrats. we want to get your thoughts on it. you can talk about the price tag, what is in the bill, or how it relates to where you live when it comes infrastructure.

(202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. let's start with les in nevada, democrats line. what do you think about this process so far? caller: good morning. it seems to me that mitch mcconnell is doing the same thing he has done for 12 years, obstruct. he will lollygag around and stretch it out until he gets to next year. then the big red flags go up and everyone goes, it is an election year. can't pass it now. the public has decided. the public decided they wanted everything biden is doing to get done. host: when it comes to this

package, what do you think about its chances? caller: frankly, i am dubious. i think the senate, schumer and all them guys, if they want to get reelected, if they want to hold the senate, they need to stand up and make it a talking filibuster. when the break comes in august, old schumer stands up and goes, nobody goes nowhere until we get votes. host: one of the people also talking about this yesterday was republican senator bill cassidy, talking about the point of view of republicans when it comes to this infrastructure bill and the minority leader of the senate's approach to it. here he is from yesterday. [video clip] >> what is your case to some

skeptical republicans who on one hand want to say, hey, i did get some work done. i was able to secure funding for this bridge over here or this restoration project over there. but somehow the political chattering tells them you are going to give joe biden a win because you are supporting a bill he supports. i know we are so politically cynical in this town but there are quite a few senators who stick their finger in the wind with the political base and make a decision on it. how do you walk that line? what is your message to those senators? >> if you go home and talk to constituents stuck in traffic for a hour and a half getting to work and getting home, three hours a day that they do not spend with their family, they want these. they want a bridge coming to a town near them. my wife says that roads and bridges are a woman's problem because often it is the woman taking children to school or

doing shopping. the more time she spends on this road, the last time she spends doing things of higher value. if you speak to her, she is going to say this is a good bill. if you speak to communities which have flooded, which have been in danger -- you just spoke about hurricane striking miami. my coastline in louisiana has been melting away. if you speak to those communities, they like the resiliency. if you put your finger in the air, you will see a breeze blowing in favor of this bill. >> senator mitch mcconnell, if he does not like something, he can convince more than 40 republicans to vote no. how much are you consulting with him and is he still comfortable with where this deal is going even if he does not personally support it? >> mitch has been -- if we can pull this off, i think mitch will favor it.

he did not like the president throwing the wrench in their, saying the two are tied together. that is not what we were told, so that caused a let's think about this. i think mitch mcconnell wants infrastructure as much as anyone else. he wants the jobs this will create. leader mcconnell will be for it if it continues to come together as it is. guest: you can respond to some -- host: you can respond to some of those things he was talking about when it comes to the infrastructure situation in your home or talk about the political process as it plays out. you can post on our social media sites. off of facebook when it comes to the topic of infrastructure, my message is get her done. also off our facebook page, tax the wealthy for something. tom says only infrastructure. keep the price down to this generation. the great, great grandkids do

not need to pay for it as well. also on our facebook page, do not include electric vehicle charging station installation in this bill. if elon musk want people to drive his electric cars, let him pay for charging stations, not u.s. taxpayers. what is your message to congress as this debate goes on? this is from ken in illinois, democrats line. caller: a housekeeping question to c-span first -- is steve scully finally going to be leaving? has he left c-span? host: it was regionally announced that he has taken a job elsewhere -- recently announced that he has taken a job elsewhere. caller: good luck to him. i am a fan of c-span. i am sure he will be a fine addition -- you will find a fine addition to take his place. i think the --

host: when it comes to the infra structure debate, what do you think? -- infrastructure debate, what do you think? caller: it should be closer to what the president says. roads and bridges, yes. there are other assets that need shoring up and improvement as far as infrastructure. wireless broadband, as much as can be developed. also, i think support for unmarried's as far as childcare, very important as well. as far as raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for these programs, the money that is part

of corporations offshore but they make the income here should come back here so that part of the system should be changed. host: why do you relate things like the broad bad things -- broadband thanks similarly to roads and bridges? why do you make that connection? caller: it is part of the ability for the economy to operate without hiccups and smoothly. the more people can feel notable that they have support -- comfortable that they have support should they have a family emergency, that they will not lose their job if they turn some of their attention to resolving that, and that is unfair. i bet rich can do it.

host: that is ken in illinois, giving his thoughts on the infrastructure package. you can make comments on the phone line, some people texting us. why aren't states response will for their own infrastructure? depending on federal funds has proven to be a failure even when former clinton promised it. if states wait on federal funds, it will be on's -- eons before state see help. from kentucky, kentucky's highways and bridges are the worst in the nation. i am sure mitch mcconnell will not want these union jobs in his estate. this could be thousands of good union paying jobs for kentucky on the president's desk but the gop do not want the rich to pay their fair share. you heard about the president's comments over the weekend. that possibly put the state of

this infrastructure package into play. the president issuing a response over the weekend, saying this. i will ask leader schumer to schedule the infrastructure plan and reconciliation bill for action in the senate. i expect both to go to the house but ultimately i am confident congress will get both to my desk where i can sign each bill promptly. the president also stating one of his goals even if he does come up with a deal with these group of senators is the passage of the american families plan, which you have heard about previously. some of the price tags connected to that, $800 billion to permanently extend the child tax credit, 200 when he $5 billion for child care for low and middle income families -- $225 billion for child care for low and middle income families, $109

billion for community college for two years free. again, this idea of the infrastructure package is being debated by this group of senators in the white house. what do you think about that, whether it be price or what is included or how it could impact where you live? republican line in virginia, this is jerry. caller: i do not think this bill is going to go anywhere because democrats are not going to send him one single bill. republicans are not going to send him two bills. it is just going nowhere. i do not think democrats have enough votes among themselves to pass reconciliation on their own because democrats are beginning to realize their jobs are at stake. if they keep going along with this craziness, they are not going to get reelected. host: is that what you are convinced no bills on this are going to go to the president's desk? caller: that is the reason. host: let's hear from mark in

kentucky, independent line. caller: actually, i am in michigan. host: there you are in michigan. go ahead. , i wanted -- caller: i wanted to tell all the politicians on the hill to get off there stacking posteriors -- their sagging posteriors and get the job done. i have been around a lot of crumbling infrastructure and my 20-year-old vehicle is taking a beating on the pavement every day. host: do you think with the package being negotiated by the white house and senate republicans, if something comes to the president's desk for a signature, how do you think it would change things in michigan? caller: they would probably start at least trying to fix the roads at minimum.

host: is it just your major highways or are you talking secondary roads? caller: plenty of secondary roads as well. i am sure the state would like to get adequate funding to handle secondary roads as well as the main highways. host: there is mark, talking but the personal stake and what you want to see done in congress when it comes to this topic. you can continue to call us. again, the number is (202) 748-8001 for republicans. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. people have been for -- posting on facebook as well. you can continue to do that. we will continue to take calls on this topic for the remainder of this hour. for a few minutes, we want to talk about efforts and actions at the white house. brett samuels, good morning to

you. guest: thanks for having me on. host: can we start by the -- with the decision but he present on this airstrike ordered yesterday? talk about it and the justification the white house has given for it. guest: this came in late sunday night. the pentagon alerted the country to these airstrikes that the administration ordered, that the president ordered and the rationale given. they said these were defensive airstrikes on facilities housing weapons and ammunition, that were being used in attacks on american personnel in iraq by iranian-backed militia groups. they said these were defensive moves tied to those attacks on american personnel. certainly we would expect the president to address this if not today then certainly early this week.

i expect the ministration to put out more details soon certainly transparency about these airstrikes is a big issue for congress, so i expect we will hear more from the ministration. late last night is when we first heard about these strikes. host: do you know to what extent the white house informed congress of this decision? guest: it does not seem congress got much of a heads up. we heard from senator and tim -- from senator tim kaine and others who are asking for briefing on this. certainly with the repeal of the authorized use of military force a couple weeks ago i think we expect to see pressure on the white house to be quick as far as briefing lawmakers and getting more information and being transparent. host: we have been talking about the infrastructure bill this morning. what are the next steps for the

white house now that this framework has been developed. what does the president plan to do to sell this to fellow republicans and democrats on the senate side? host: -- guest: we saw within 24 hours of the president announcing a deal at hand sort of the deal on the rocks already because republicans were upset the president seemed to tie passing this bipartisan deal to passing the reconciliation bill just with democratic votes potentially. that did not sit well with republicans. saturday, president biden tried to clean that up, said he did not intend to make a veto threat that he would not sign the bipartisan bill if he did not get the reconciliation bill, which is what he had said thursday. the white house was on a bit of cleanup duty over the weekend. that seemed to do enough to get talks back on track and i think we will see whether it is

president biden making calls, members of the team. we will see a concerted effort from white house officials to make sure that bipartisan bill is on track. certainly it is a difficult tightrope they will be walking, trying to satisfy moderate democrats, republicans, as well as progressive democrats who say this bipartisan bill does not do enough and will be clamoring for more action. host: senator bernie sanders speaking out strongly about the reconciliation package. who is along for the ride as far as his way of thinking on the senate side? guest: these more progressive senators who talked about climate in particular is an issue, that there cannot be any have measures here, that they would like to see a bolt bill. the question is whether the white house can convince them that it is worth backing this

bipartisan bill and making assurances they will get to that reconciliation bill but then does that put off republicans they need to pass the bipartisan bill? it is a tricky wire the white house will be trying to walk. i think we will see how they decide to approach that. host: when it comes to covid related matters, has the white house revealed what they will do on efforts to increase vaccination rates? considering the announcement that the president originally wanted to see by july the fourth that will not be reached, but how they plan to at least up that part of their efforts? guest: it is definitely a tricky issue. we have seen vaccination rates stall out in a lot of states. president biden went to north carolina last week. they had the first lady joined by dr. fauci in florida. the vice president did outreach. the second gentleman was in

chicago for an event last week. we have seen them deploy top officials to really put the focus and onus on this effort to ramp up vaccines, but ultimately it is tough because these are local level issues in a lot of cases. as the white house has said, in a lot of cases, people who have not gotten vaccinated yet are not listening to the -- looking to the president or officials for guidance. they are looking to pastors, local leaders, celebrities if they are young people. it ultimately may not matter much what the white house is saying. i think we are continuing to see a grassroots push by the white house. they are not losing sight of the need to get people vaccinated. they will not hit their july 4 goal, but that is not going to stop them from celebrating progress they have made against the virus. host: give us a snapshot of what

to expect from the white house this week. guest: we will see the president of israel in town today. we will see president biden traveling to wisconsin tomorrow, tuesday, to talk more about the infrastructure deal, talk about the benefits. i think that will be a big focus throughout the week, the infrastructure bill, what the white house is doing to sell the bill on capitol hill about what the white house is doing to get the entire democratic party unified on that front. host: brett samuels is a white house reporter and you can find his work if you go to thehill .com. thanks for your time. you heard our guest talk about the efforts of the white house on infrastructure. we want to get your message to congress on infrastructure, on this effort being done from the white house and members of the senate, of a group of members of

in the senate. talk about the overall infrastructure bill if you wish to. this is mike. thanks for waiting. caller: thanks for taking my call. i support both the bills. i would like to see them both bigger if possible, but this should be a signal for democrats , for everybody that is really paying attention that democrats and president biden are trying to get things done. republicans are trying to hold things up and we do not want to get anything done. these bills are so crucial to the country going forward. we need these bills to pass. i hope this is a sign for democrats across the country that we need to rally and all these states to start voting republicans out of that are not try to get things done and prevent donald trump from ever getting back into office so we can get things done. we need a lot of roads and bridges to be maintenanced and

rebuilt. i like the package. democrats are trying to get things done and we need to prevent donald trump from getting back in office. host: you said republicans are holding things up but you have a group of democrats working at the white house with this effort. caller: they are only working together because they are trying to -- they only want this bill to benefit their agenda. they do not really support what president biden is trying to do. i think they want to get something done, but not on the level that democrats are trying to get things done on. i do not by their participation -- buy their participation in bipartisan bills. i think they want to get stuff done but not on the level he needs to get done on. host: that is mike in maryland. we will your next from marvin in

new jersey, independent line. though ahead. caller: i am calling on the independent line. i voted democratic, but my statement is really about i think this whole situation with this infrastructure bill unfortunately is a charade. i think the democratic party needs seriously to deal with this woman from arizona and joe manchin. they need to somehow punish them for what they are doing. to me, it seems like they are almost as much of -- these two are almost obstructing as much as mitch mcconnell and mccarthy and the others who are right-wing fanatics. i do not know what the problem is with this guy, what world he lives in, this joe manchin. this olive branch to republicans

to me is nonsense. host: what exactly is wrong with senators mention and kyrsten sinema -- senator manchin and senator kyrsten sinema working on this deal? caller: there is nothing wrong with that, but i do not believe it is sincere. i believe it always comes down to republicans basically handpicking what they want, what is best for them. they are the party that lost the election. to the winner goes the spoils. i do not think the republicans are in a position to be dictating anything to people who do not trust them anymore. they are not to be trusted. guest: -- host: that is marvin in new jersey, bringing up senator joe manchin, also on the sunday shows. asked about some of his own priorities when it comes to how he approaches his more progressive democratic colleagues. here he is from yesterday.

[video clip] >> bernie sanders is talking about a bill that is $6 trillion. i know you suggest that is a little rich in terms of what you want, but what is your bottom line? how much more do you want? the bill you're negotiating with republicans will be the biggest in the history of the united states. how much more are you willing to add on top of that? >> we pay for all of this. this is not going to be added to death. the infrastructure bill we have done the bipartisan way has pay force. we have moved money we have not used yet to make sure it was used in the most productive way. i think we have done a good job. that is what we have to look for when we do the next piece of legislation. i understand the concerns, the desires of everybody in my caucus and on the republican caucus. i know we can work together. look what president biden has

accomplished in five months. i have never seen this type of accomplishment in modern history from a president coming in. then we do bipartisan bills, the hate crimes bill that we did. we just did the competition with china bill in a bipartisan way. so many good things. we can work this out. >> what is your bottom line? this is over $1 trillion. bernie sanders wants $6 trillion more. >> i never thought the net corporate tax should have been 21%. i felt 25 was balanced. i think capital gains should be at 28%, not when 1%. there are changes we can make that still keep us competitive. i am not going to be supportive in voting for things they do not make us competitive.

we are in a global economy. i want to make sure we are the leader of the free world, that we can still pay good salaries with benefits. when we do that and make the adjustments, how much money do we have? this is how you run your household. it is how i run my household. how much can we invest and how much return do we get on that investment? i do not want to add more debt on. i want to make sure we pay for it. whatever that comes out to be over a ten-year period, that is what i will be voting for. host: several of you texting us this morning. tim and ohio says nothing will change. bridges and roads will to new to crumble whilst congress keeps the status quo of nothing getting done. scott san congress is not going to be much help, too divided. and then ash from newport,

kentucky says the infrastructure bill should be limited to the traditional view of what constitutes infrastructure. here is a tweet from steve duncan on our twitter feed. repeal tax cuts to pay for it, fix the grid first and then roads and bridges -- fix the grid first and roads and bridges. again, many ways you can reach out to us. this is nancy in nebraska, democrats line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i thought i would add a woman's voice to this conversation. host: please do. go ahead. caller: let's go ahead and pass this infrastructure business. republicans want violence and poverty, the rich ones.

we need to stop this. let's balance the budget by ending the warring. host: when it comes the -- to the infrastructure package, how do you think it benefits? caller: it benefits our jobs. we need to maintain a country appearing you cannot build a house and not maintain it. i know that building mined from the ground up. and we need to stop warring. you need to deal with climate, to call out the rich who are promoting poverty and violence. it is over, boys. host: we will hear from greg in pennsylvania. you are next. caller: good morning and congratulations. of the c-span moderators, whatever your official title is, you do the best job by far.

you allow many more voices to be heard and stop going to the new york times and washington post, as does mr. mcardle all the time. we know what they think on every issue. you do not need that. congratulations. as to the infrastructure, we need to keep to the traditional definition of infrastructure because that is what needs fixed right now. what part of that don't the democrats understand? host: would you extend that to water, rail, broadband as some people have defined it this morning? or is it just roads, bridges for you? caller: roads, bridges, and that kind of thing. those are the things that need to be fixed. you can argue all kinds of sides to every issue. nothing is all white, nothing is all black nobody.

not anybody that calls in. you have to make a decision and to do what you can do on the things that need fixed now, not the things that you are thinking about building tomorrow. as to the callers that call and, it seems to me that callers who identify as black and as democrats are more racist than anybody else who calls in. host: i will stop you there only because that goes beyond everything we are talking about this morning, but thank you for the call this morning, particularly your thoughts on infrastructure. this is grace, independent line. caller: i am black and offended by what he said. my thing is this. i think the republicans are trying to obstruct things. i do not think they are trying

to do what is right. i think the bill should be passed. the bill should be passed and everybody can have jobs come infrastructure for the bridges, the water, whatever. we can do another time on climate change. right now, let's get the country together with bridges and water, clean water for everybody, clean air. that is what they should do, go ahead and pass this bill and to do that other time. host: some republicans are on board with this. why do you think they are obstructing? i think grace has hung up. one of those republicans on the sunday shows, senator mitt romney m a part of this negotiation back and forth when it comes to the white house, talked about the president. his initial comments about a possible veto of this, pulling that back, and where he is as

far as trusting the president to make something happens -- something happen when it comes infrastructure. here is mitt romney. [video clip] >> listen to what president biden said about his faith in you and this agreement thursday. >> mitt romney has never broken his word to me. the people i was with today are people i trust. i do not agree with them on a lot of things, but i trust them when they say this is a deal. we will stick to the deal. >> you just heard the president say he trusts you. based on the whiplash over the past few days, do you trust the president? >> i do and he made clear in the larger statement that came out over the weekend, a carefully crafted and thought through peace by p's, that if the infrastructure bill reaches his desk and comes alone he will sign it. at the same time, i recognize he and his democratic colleagues want more than that they want

other legislation as well. we republicans are saying we will not support a bill with a massive tax increase and trillions of dollars in new spending. that is not something we will support. fixing the infrastructure in our country, our airports and roads and bridges, those are the kinds of things we will support. don't raise taxes. fix infrastructure. we can get the job done. host: you heard senator romney reference the statement from the white house, the president saying i will ask leader schumer to schedule the bill and reconciliation in the senate. ultimately, i'm confident congress will get both to my desk so i can sign each promptly. for the next 20 minutes or so, we will take your thoughts when it comes to efforts on passing this infrastructure bill, some of you talking about the political back and forth, some of you referencing where you

live as far as how it would impact that. let us know on the phone lines. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. independents, (202) 748-8002. mike is next in north carolina, republican line. caller: disillusioned, i think that sums it up. you would think something as relatively simple and straightforward as appropriating funds to repair and fix highways and bridges and water systems and sewage and stuff like this, that this would be at least a relatively easy go, but no. a lot of great comments on both sides. i think you guys need to do a better job on screening your calls.

a lot of really fringe people are getting through, both sides. they do not stay on topic and you guys do not do a great job. i know you like to say it is our show, but i do think moderation is necessary. host: let me pull you back to the disillusioned part. is it a particular party your disillusioned in or the overall idea that so much debate has to take place on something like infrastructure? caller: i called in at the republican line. i am a conservative first, before i am a republican. i have to play on a team because that is who fields political candidates. i vote generally republican. they are not all great. not all of them are conservatives. many of them are what i call statists. they believe in big government, except there's is different from what possibly a progressive democrat on the left like

alexandria ocasio-cortez believes in. john mccain was a statist. he never met a war he did not like. host: are you disillusioned with republicans on this effort they are making with the white house or does it go beyond that? caller: on this one, it appears that they are trying to hold their ground and keep this to a reasonable amount of money hearing when i say reasonable, if only that word would apply to washington, d.c. when we are talking about $1 trillion. let's go back a few years. i do not know exactly when it was, but the year or the year after president obama took office. remember that $900 billion stimulus package? we forget so quickly. host: we have to leave it there.

i want to give other people a chance. sergio, florida, democrats line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i am well. caller: can you hear me? host: i can. caller: my response on the infrastructure bill is we need it especially in my state of florida, a better public transportation system and better bridges, highways, broadband and whatnot. we need better infrastructure, especially on airports as well. i support it. we need a better infrastructure plan. host: when it comes to your definition of infrastructure, you said a lot. i know some people only think about roads and bridges. why don't you think that way?

caller: i believe that because especially in my state of florida we have the most lousy transportation out here. people cannot get around. they need buses where they live and people are angry. they just want better buses. and trains and everything as well, especially in florida. people are crying for that. host: sergio there in florida giving us a call. this is buzz from arkansas, texting us this morning, saying the message to congress is to keep roads, bridges, airports, and broadband here and keep the things that have nothing to do with infrastructure out of the bill.

sue in new jersey says don't outsource. use american labor and materials for rebuilding infrastructure. roads and bridges should be priority before electric charging stations. host of us cannot afford electric vehicles. again, that is faith from california giving thoughts here and you can submit your own as well. you heard the previous call talk about reppo -- reppo senate of alexandria ocasio-cortez -- representative alexandria ocasio-cortez on the president and the role he plays in this. here are some of her thoughts from yesterday. [video clip] >> the flipped question that i asked center cassidy. president biden -- i do not know whether we call it a walk back or not, his clarification of his hearing was a veto threat -- of

his. was it a veto threat? what he said seemed to cheer progressives. are you upset by the walk back or do you consider it a walk back? >> i think regardless of the president's statements there are three key pieces we need to align to pass any legislation, the senate, the house, the white house. the president is more than able to take his own approach but i believe we also have to talk about this in the same piece, which is the house. i believe in the house house democrats are committed to making sure that, and senator cassidy's words, that infrastructure is centered on women. in addition to a bridge, you need a babysitter. it is important that we pass a reconciliation bill and family

plan that expands childcare, that lowers the cost of medicare , that supports families in the economy. >> would you like the president to issue a veto threat on the bipartisan deal if the reconciliation package does not come to fruition? >> i think what is really important is it is important for the president to know that house progressives -- i believe the democratic caucus is here to ensure he does not fail and is successful in making sure we do have a larger infrastructure plan. while we can welcome this work and cooperation with republicans , republicans are more than welcome to join so we can get this work on infrastructure done. that does not mean the president should be limited by republicans my particularly when we have a house majority.

we have 50 democratic senators and the white house. i believe we can make sure he is successful in a strong agenda for working families. host: this is ellen from virginia, democrats line. caller: i have a simple statement that i think congress should approve the infrastructure bill. that helps everyone out. we need to put money into things like high-speed rail. that could create thousands of jobs, increase our economic activity, and reduce congestion. it is good for the environment. there is no reason why we have to be behind other countries, why we cannot improve what we have and build upon it. also, the wealthy use infrastructure as well. they can afford to ante up more

money to help pay for it. thank you. host: where is dewitt, virginia? caller: probably about 30 miles south of richmond, virginia. host: what is the road situation like? caller: it has a lot of potholes, like most everywhere else. it is not as bad as some places i have been. i sometimes take road trips to massachusetts and the last time i traveled the roads are terrible. host: you said high-speed rail and mentioned job benefits. as far as the rail service itself, why do you think that is needed? caller: take a look at places like california. it has been years since i have been there but it was bumper-to-bumper traffic.

a lot of times people going to work -- there is one person for every car and thousands of cars on the road. if we had a high-speed rail system, it would broaden our choices of travel, cut our oil dependence. host: in to wit, virginia, giving her state of infrastructure. if you go to the infrastructure report card put together by the society of engineers, when it comes to roads they gave an overall grade of d on this topic. you can look that up for yourself on the website. one of the key people from this organization on this program not long ago, if you want to go back to our c-span archive, you can type in infrastructure and chances are you will see a listing of that program. he broke down the various pieces

of the report when it comes to roads, bridges. that is at the website at c-span.org. larry in north carolina, republican line. you are next. caller: i would like to make a comment about the hypocrisy of the republicans. they say they do not want to raise no taxes, no new taxes, yet in north carolina and all over the united states they are raising property taxes. property taxes here are going up right now. host: because we are talking about infrastructure, how does that relate? caller: you have to raise taxes to do the infrastructure. why do they raise taxes on just working-class people? property tax affects working-class people.

you have to have that for infrastructure. why do they tout no new taxes and turn around and raise taxes on working-class people, property tax? that is all i have to say. host: larry in north carolina giving the tax side of infrastructure. there was a recent poll by harvard on the topic of infrastructure and what people thought about passing things to improve it. according to the poll, 50% say they expect congress to improve -- approve and infrastructure reform bill by the end of the summer but voters are more comfortable with bipartisan legislation than with the plan initially proposed by president biden. 70% say they want president biden to accept the $1.2 trillion infrastructure proposal negotiated by the bipartisan group of lawmakers while 22% believe the president should hold out for a larger package.

there is more in the help breakdown -- hill breakdown if you want to read it there. on our independent line, this is ryan. hello. caller: good morning to all my fellow viewers. i was calling in today because i wanted to share with you and my fellow viewers what 2020 has shown me and my perspective of what i would consider infrastructure. i think we all experienced an unprecedented shutdown of our economy, not just in the nation come across the world. it showed me at least that as important as roads and bridges are, working-class and the people in this economy, they are equally as important. when i began to think about the

things we have to do in our lives to keep our families fed, a roof over our heads, if that is working from home, remotely am a that is going to take internet. that is going to take broadband, reaching that out to parts of underserved communities. incredibly important. right now we are seeing that we are coming into a part of our place as a country where we are developing beyond just roads and bridges, which do you need to be taken care of. i hope my fellow americans can maybe chew on that and think about that when we talk about -- and politicians talk about this new infrastructure, that it will greatly benefit all of us in this new economy. host: ryan in nevada. in florida, texting us this

morning, please fix u.s. roads, bridges first, u.s. workers and materials only. this improves safety and quality of life. how can there even be a fight about this? this is from david in michigan, saying when it comes to plans for infrastructure delete plans that include electric charging stations. instead, levy a $30,000 user fee for electric cars to help offset grid repairs. if you want to get your thoughts in on this topic in the last few minutes of it, you can do so. text us at (202) 748-8003. you can always post on twitter and facebook. people post on these all day long and have conversations even after this portion of the program is over. you can give us a call on the phone lines. donna in santa rosa, california, independent line. caller: infrastructure drives

our economic engine and infrastructure is 5200 years old. we have more than just roads and bridges. you talked about civil engineers . the great the united states gets is a c-and they look at 17 different categories. energy is one of them. all the people who live along rivers. our schools. we need to educate our children and our schools get a d+. there is also transit. you can look all of this up for yourselves, the american society

of civil engineers, and you can look up your individual state and the senator from west virginia, his state gets a d. he has the money. that is what gets me. host: as far as the dollar figure is connected to this, there's is currently a wide variety being discussed, what the republicans and democrats have brought to the white house, the president's initial desire for $1.2 trillion. should there be a limit at this point of how much we spend on this proposal? caller: these things are going to take billion's of dollars and years to do. you cannot rebuild a bridge in a little bit of time. we have bridges that are deficient. there is a bridge right now over the mississippi that they had to close down because one -- all

that traffic on that bridge has gotten rerouted to another bridge that is taking all of that traffic. our bridges are over 50 years old now. host: let me pause you there because i want to get more calls in before the end of this segment. she referenced the american society of civil engineers. that report card she referenced, you see what she said as far as the overall grade of the u.s. infrastructure. let's hear from iris, michigan, independent line. caller: good morning. a picture is worth a thousand words. you ought to bring up pictures of what is going on in michigan because buried in water. the houses are flooded, the basements. it is just terrible.

i would not worry so much about charging stations when you cannot get to them because you're being buried in water and drowning. they are warning against the water, people going in it barefoot. they are using it for swimming pools here and that tells you the story. it is critical. do not worry about your electric cars when you cannot get through and people are literally losing their lives on these roads. cars are underwater. the people that live around them , their homes are flooded. you cannot live in them. it is deplorable. and washington looks the other way. excuse me? you worry about your cars and

the president comes to test the electric car? he is going to put in 500,000 charging stations? our grids are down and we have candles all over the house. we have electricity issues here. what is he poking around for? come on parent -- come on. host: that is iris relating the current debate on infrastructure. on twitter, i live south of washington. i 95 is a disaster. the bigger they make it, the more bottlenecks. we need high-speed rail and to rethink transportation. let's take one more call. this will be from ohio, independent caller: good morning. i feel terrible about the tragedy that happened done in

florida, the infrastructure of failing. i can't figure out why they are not going after it differently. it is true that they probably won't find many people alive why not take the heavy equipment and start methodically at the top, pick the stuff up and pick up the bodies and go to the next floor down and do the same thing until they have gone through the whole country methodically. host: thank you to all who participated. we will talking -- be talking with katherine tully-mcmanus , cq roll call staff writer.

later on in the program, a escutcheon on covid vaccinations, the rate of vaccinations in the united states with dr. michael saag of the university of washington. those discussions and more, coming up. >> tonight on the communicators, the key -- chief security officer rader -- operator of huawei on cyber security concerns in the u.s.. >> we have to look globally at what is necessary and possible to make for greater assurance and privacy globally. frankly, accountability and transparency are the key. germany is doing important

things to try to make sure the operators and equipment suppliers have good visibility and strong requirements. recent attacks are a wake up calls. kind was has dropped the ball and has not exercised oversights. there need to be requirements and objectives, funding, authorities, and heads need to roll if we don't do what is necessary to america safe. >> watch on c-span two. >> c-span landmark cases explores the stories and constitutional drama behind significant supreme court decisions. sunday, a landmark case, a man arrested for suspicion of kidnapping and rape.

he signed a written confession. the supreme court ruled the confession was inadmissible because he was not notified before being questioned of his fifth and sixth amendment rights against self termination and the right to an attorney. watch sunday at 9:45 p.m. eastern on c-span, online and -- on c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this is katherine tully-mcmanus discusses the week -- to talk with us from cq roll call. can you highlight some of the action going on? guest: there is a massive, over 7 million infrastructure package the house committee passed out of committee a few weeks ago.

this is a massive bill that while it was split along party lines in the committee, we could see a similar split on the floor. this is a more traditional infrastructure package. it is the kind that republicans want and are distant in the are not a lot of add-ons or tweaks that republicans wanted to see in committee. they considered hundreds of amendments overnight a few weeks ago that got contentious and lasted into the morning hours. this will be a shorter debate on the floor, but we will see is some of those issues that we have been talking about a larger package. this is almost like a test balloon to see how infrastructure talks may proceed . host: for those republicans

hesitant, what is the hesitancy? guest: on the larger issues of infrastructure, there is the divide between what has been traditionally considered infrastructure, roads, bridges, and broadband now agreed to and things like childcare, social infrastructure allows people to get to work and be at work and live a full lives. those things are what democrats are pushing in a secondary package that republicans are not on board with. we will see how this test balloon in the house this week affairs and we will -- this week fares. host: i wanted to talk about the announcement from speaker pelosi and how the events of january 6 will be viewed. what is the breakdown and what are some of the issues ahead for

the way it will go about doing so? guest: she will establish a select commission in the house to dig into the events of january 6, what happened, how it happened, who is involved and to make recommendations about what should be done. there are federal investigations ongoing. this is a compromise that republicans, we don't know how involved they will be. there was a proposal for separate independent commission that republicans could not get on board with peer they wanted to expand the scope to include things like black lives matter protests last summer. this is a congressionally led probe. that means that the dynamics of the house will be at play in the investigation, including democrats being the majority. the democrat will be leading the

committee. of course minority leader mccarthy will be able to name people to the committee but he has not committed to doing so. we are not sure if there will be any republican support to create the select committee. host: one of the questions of the committee going forward is the sense of a timeline. what is the concern of a timeline or lack thereof? guest: that was a huge discussion in terms of an independent commission. republicans did not want this to drag into the midterms to be a topic of discussion. they saw that as potentially tarnishing publicans because the writers in violence was done on behalf of supporters of president trump. there is also an interest in timeliness to get this wrapped

up potentially by the end of the year. we have seen those extended in previous years. the benghazi probe went on and on your but we do not have a clear timeline and we do not know who will lead the panel or whether the members of the panel will be largely made up of committee chairs and other leaders in the house or whether more rank and file lawmakers will be making these decisions going forward. at will all be things to be decided what's the resolution was forward to create the select committee. host: if you want to ask questions, you can call and ask. (202) 748-8001 four republicans, (202) 748-8001 for democrats, (202) 748-8002 for independence.

if the select committee comes to fruition, will it supersede the other investigations on this? guest: supersede is probably a strong word, but the intelligence communities are looking into this, the fbi and others will be continuing with their probe. this might consolidate the ongoing investigations that other standing committees of house and senate are putting together. we do not know if there will be senate cooperation, but things like the oversight committee, homeland security has looked into the venue or six attack and this might be able to collect that information in a consolidated place in the house. i would say this could lead the way for the house element of the investigation. i do not know if this will impact at all the ongoing investigations of the fbi and

other federal agencies. host: how much when it comes to this committee will subpoena power be a part of it and what other elements will be a part of it? guest: there will be subpoena power under the select committee, something that is a contentious issue is that it will be led by the democrats, because they have the majority in the house and because this will be a house committee that is how the power is delegated there was much more negotiation about that and concessions made for a proposal of the independent commission, but were public and still did not want to go forward with that and rejected those proposals. they now have this platform to say because this committee will be led by a democrat and they will have the subpoena power, that they are already calling this partisan probe.

what we do not know is whether subpoenas will be issued for people like minority leader kevin mccarthy who was in conversation with president trump on january 6 or whether trump himself could be subpoenaed as part of this probe. host: this is katherine tully-mcmanus joining us for this discussion. going into the summer, what are the major issues or agenda issues that house democrats want to achieve it before the summer break? guest: infrastructure is looking to dominate the rest of june, much of july, and frankly going into the fall. what was accomplished last week, this culmination of a bipartisan proposal is not yet text. we do not yet have a written agreement.

those issues that president joe biden has agreed to an summit republicans -- senate republicans and democrats. there is also the secondary track that resident biden wants to take with that, the social infrastructure, including childcare and things like that that bill is also met existing yet and needs to be put together . agreement on things like topline numbers are where we are at, but we don't yet have agreement between the further left progressives in the democratic party, including bernie sanders, and more moderates like joe manchin, and they need to get on board. this will dominate for months. host: we have a viewer from

twitter asking about the bipartisan bill passing in the senate. i am guessing, and it is just a guess that you talked about the transportation bill should it pass the house, what is the likelihood it will pass in the senate? guest: i think the senate would like to put together their own package. they like to do their own negotiating and they have a similarly slim margin but much slimmer than the house. they need to pass a bill that gets every democrat and some republicans on board and often that is not accomplished by a house past bill with the narrow democratic majority. host: on a related matter to the investigation of the issues of january 6 as far as the capitol police, the house took up legislation when it comes to

spending for capitol police. what does it do to improve security there on the capital campus -- capitol campus? guest: they have made it clear they were under sourced and did not have the equipment they needed it. so the damaged helmets and going into the hand-to-hand combat without they needed. the bill has been introduced in the house would make significant increases and investments in the capitol police. what remains to be seen is what kind of overhaul of management and oversight of capitol police per that is something lawmakers are keeping a close eye on. the police board that has oversight and control over the capitol police, frankly most of them have resigned and have now been placed by new faces who

were not here on january 6, and they will be tasked with doing serious overhaul of how capitol police work. they have discussed making it more of a protective service model as opposed to a more traditional police department. there will be costs associated with that. when i talked with republican lawmakers, they want to see those overhaul institutional changes made in concert with funding to make changes and to make sure the department has the equipment they need, and they are hoping those changes can be made before money is part of the problem. host: we have a call from robert on the republican line from augusta, georgia. go ahead. caller: the structure has not been overlooked. it's just the key issues have

been the pressing issues. host: you will have to continue on and not be tempted to listen to the television. go ahead, please. caller: what it is is that there were a lot of issues until the structure issue came ahead of it because of the infrastructure weakness and then it came in issue, being able to put it in better words, it was not overlooked, it simply came to a point where it was necessary. host: ok robert from georgia. anything you want to pick up on that? guest: robert is right that

there was deterioration of key infrastructure points, whether it be electrical grids or simple roads and bridges. drivers across the country now that there are significant issues with the bridges and that deterioration over time is why this is such a big deal right now and why there is partisan motivation to move forward, of course there is not agreement always on how to do it and especially how to pay for it. host: what does history teach us about when the bipartisan deals come to fruition whether they actually end up on the president's desk for signature? guest: this is a case where it does seem like almost every involved party isn't motivated and we do not have blanket naysayers like we've had in previous deals on other topics,

where people wanted just to not move forward on an issue. they wanted to vote against the spending or the issue completely. we don't see those elements rising right now. they agree that the country needs investment in infrastructure and getting to that point where there is agreement on how to do it and how to pay for is the challenge of the months ahead. host: here is a very from north -- barry from north carolina, on the republican line. caller: i think they should try to apply the cost to the user, increase taxes on gasoline and diesel, aviation fuel, airline tickets.

you can't tax all of it to the point where it would pay for everything. if you can tax 5% on gasoline and diesel, and then whatever the delta is, use that to try to figure out what the general text would be on the rest of the country. i think for the definition of that, i agree that railways should be included in it, aviation should be included in it, anything that has an impact on the country and its operation and the movement of people in general. as for the insurrection that occurred on january 6, i think it was an insurrection and i agree there should be further investigation, i do have a problem that we did not have the same level of interest in the

may through november uprising. many of those would be defined as insurrections by definition, especially with the courthouse, the overrunning of police stations. when you look at the results, the capitol was not burned down, there was not $5 billion done in damage to the capitol. there were over 30 from the uprising on the streets of america. i think it is also deserving of a congressional investigation to try to figure out the who, what, where, when, why. host: we will leave it there and let our guest respond. guest: i think he is saying very

similar things to what republicans up on the hill have been saying on infrastructure. i know a gas tax has been entertained, but democrats have been opposed to that, including vocally, president biden, because that is a tax that disproportionately impacts people of lower income and middle-class. it is a much higher proportion of their income to have a 5% tax increase on gas versus a millionaire or billionaire to pay that same 5% is a smaller slice of their income or that has been the democrats' argument against it and with president biden say he will not entertain that idea, i think the chance of that being included in the final package is extremely likely, but something definitely entertained by republicans on the hill. in terms of january 6, many

republicans rejected the independent commission because they wanted the scope to be expanded to look at the protests across the country last summer. democrats want to focus completely on the capitol where there was millions of dollars of it damage done and people were killed and died in the days afterward from that event. this probe is a second choice for democrats. they are moving forward with this democrat led select committee as a second choice they had preferred the bipartisan, independent commission option. host: has president biden weighed in as a part as his support? guest: i have not seen that he has really left it to capital

hello to make decisions -- capitol hill to make decisions about what happened in their own workplace. he had packed the idea of an independent commission and there is acknowledgment among democrats that this select committee is a second choice. of course, he would have preferred to move forward on the commission route but he is not going to stand in the way of the house led by the democrats creating a committee in their own chamber. host: here is bob in jersey, democrats line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i just have two quick questions about the roadwork and the money. this has been going on for years and years and years. the amount of money that has built up, has it surprised anybody? it is the same old story, we are going to fix this, we are going to fix that.

now you have astronomical amount of money and people are starting to react to it. any buddy that saw the attack on the statehouse should be just appalled at that. -- anybody who saw that attack on the statehouse should be just appalled at that. thank you for taking my call. guest: he is absolutely correct that this would be the largest structure package in history and the levels of money being considered on both sides of the aisle are eye-popping. but while there is disagreement about the total amount, there is agreement that massive investment is needed. of course how to raise that money, how to make that possible, how to fund it is the primary question at hand. host: this week there is action

expected when it comes to statues that exist on capitol hill, particularly statues of confederate figures. can you explain what is going on? guest: a resolution was introduced to precipitate the removal of a certain statues across the capitol campus, including the library of congress to remove likenesses, statues of people who served in the confederate military. they had the most famous insurrection against our nation by succeeding and attacking the united states. this is a follow-up to other actions that speaker pelosi has taken in an effort to decrease of the honorable figures, whether it be former speakers of

the house who served in the confederacy. last year just before juneteenth was celebrated, she requested those portraits be taking -- taken out of the lobby to not honor those. this is an extension of that action, a more rounded approach, where statues of people will be removed. this is a request to the library of congress to do so, but of course the speaker of the house does hold power in that situation. host: willow statues be sent back to the states? guest: some are owned by the states and some are in the house's own collection. i do not know at this point whether those will be housed

elsewhere or if they will be sent back to the states. states get to choose the statues that they send it to the capitol, and some have made changes, swapping out confederate figures but others are standing by the legacy of their southern states and would like to keep those statues in the capitol. this removal will likely not happen this week is my prediction. i anticipate it will happen soon after the resolution is adopted it. host: let's hear from larry in texas on the republican line. caller: it is on facebook that they are coming out with another stimulus check good i was wondering, is that true? guest: a broad stimulus check is not coming. what is coming this summer is a

child tax credit, i believe, where families with children will be eligible for a certain tax credit and can do the paperwork to receive that. they are working to make the barriers for that lower for families and more families than ever before are eligible. when you are talking about a stimulus check, it will not be like we saw in the last year and a half, where a check is either deposited in your account or comes to your home in the mail. this is more of a tax implication, but could result in money in families' pockets. host: is there any serious discussion happening on another form of stimulus or cash payments? guest: those are not the

sessions i have heard about going forward. democrats and especially progressives are pushing for policies like that, whether it be a more regular implementation of those kinds of direct checks to american citizens through other means, but i do not anticipate additional covid related checks being cut for the american people in the coming months. host: let's hear from oscar in houston, independent line. caller: good morning. i believe what we need to start doing is start taxing the churches. the churches have more money. they are basically a political party, and if we get the tax money from them we can build anything we want. the churches in texas are

radicalizing the american people. these people have their guns and are ready to go to war and it is coming from there church his. -- churches. take the money from the churches and you will see how the country will change. we also need to look at the possibility of letting texas go here they can't get anything by the way that texas -- texas go. they can't get anything by the way they pay taxes. host: let's hear from jack in florida on the independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for letting me voice my opinion. i am an independent by choice. we are all raised and are only here a short time. it is one nation under god.

common sense is, follow the money, tax the corporations, that the business done so that people can go to work, so that guy, the low end guy who is not paying the taxes is putting in the work for the corporations. they make trillions of dollars from us here they divide us by labeling us democrats and republicans and independents. i don't want to have to choose between a label. i want common sense politics. they need to get things done. they need to help the elderly and help people who need it. we need it. thank you for letting me voice my opinion. host: one more thing, the house judiciary committee holding a hearing taking a look at the trump administration's actions

in terms of journalists and lawmakers phone calls what do you expect from that? guest: i expected to be a heated one. the resin -- the revelation about the surveillance and data collection from the legislative branch and journalists was incredible and groundbreaking. i think lawmakers need to defend their independence from the executive branch and will be coming out swinging about those issues. this is also a major concern going forward as will the justice department put up more guardrails to prevent that kind of action at the direction of the president or an attorney general? will there be more guardrails on the behavior of the justice department as a whole? think it will be a heated

hearing with a lot of allegations flying. host: you can see the work of katherine tully-mcmanus at cq roll call for only a short time because it has been announced she is going over to politico next month. congratulations and thank you for joining us. guest: thank you. host: for the remainder of our time we will go to open forum. if issues he politically and you want to talk about them, here is your chance to do so. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000 four independents, (202) 748-8002. go ahead and call the lines. we will take them when "washington journal" continues. ♪

>> tonight on the communicators, andy purdy chief security officer of huawei with possible new opportunities and cyber case 30 -- cyber security concerns. >> you have to look at greater insurance and privacy globally. we need to think outside the box and not go with the same old stuff that is not working. accountability and transparency are the key. germany is doing important things to try to make sure that the operators and equipment suppliers have good visibility and a strong acquirements. that is one of the things that is missing in the united states. senator king was on a show and said that it is a wake-up call and america falls back asleep. they have not exercised their oversight.

there needs to meet requirements into the objectives, funding, authorities, and heads need to roll if we don't do what is necessary to make america safer. >> watched tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two. >> c-span's landmark cases explores stories and constitutional drama behind significant supreme court decisions. sunday at 9:45 p.m. eastern, the landmark case of miranda. he was arrested on suspicion of kidnapped and raped and signed a written confession. the supreme court ruled it was inadmissible because he was not notified before being questioned of his fifth and sixth amendment right against self-incrimination and the right to an attorney. watch the sunday night at 9:45 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen with

the free c-span radio app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: if it affects you politically and you want to comment on it, give us a call. republicans, (202) 748-8001, democrats, (202) 748-8001, independents (202) 748-8002. prosecutors have given former president trump's attorneys until noon to give arguments on why they should not face investigation into financial dealings. the deadline is a strong signal that the manhattan district attorney and the new york attorney general are not working together after they spent two years investigating the business of the former president are considering criminal charges against the company as an

entity. as of yesterday under the order of the president, joe biden, the u.s. military conducted airstrikes on what were quote facilities used by a ran backed militia groups between iraq and syria. it is said the militias were using the facilities to launch unmanned aerial attacks against troops in the u.s. military targeted three operational and weapons facilities, two in syria and one in iraq. it is described the air tax as defensive. that is just some of the news -- air attacks as defensive. that is just some of the news stories. host: bob in ohio, democrats line, you are up. caller: i would like to find out why the ohio people are so naive

and stupid that they would go to trump's rally and listen to him tell lies. this man should be in an orange jumpsuit. i know he is the orange dictator, but he should still be in jail and not allowed to be out walking free and doing these rallies, especially with c-span covering the rallies. it just kind of naive and stupid. host: we covered it because in essence he was going to talk about the upcoming elections. we will not air everything, but we make those decisions case-by-case, particularly when it comes to the upcoming election we think or more presidents when they speak, they deserve our coverage. you can see the rally on c-span and also former presidents who have spoken before after they have left office period of that

is available on our website, c-span.org. buffalo new york, go ahead. caller: you had a caller talking about churches. i have to agree on one point. churches are all over in my community. when properties go on sale, they i it up and this is tax-free property. i think they should only have tax-free for the church and ground around it. it doesn't have to be for the schools. then they have massive carnivals and such to raise money. a lot of that money goes to the pope. i think something has to be done about churches and i imagine there are churches all over this country that have vast properties what do you think? host: i will leave it to what you think and others will

possibly comment. lois and a palm harbor, florida, republican line. caller: this is my first time calling. i am nervous. i want to talk about the infrastructure. somebody should look into the big dig in boston. i am originally from boston. the big dig, i forget exactly what it was, but it was the biggest boondoggle in history. the money and the corruption that was spent was unbelievable. years and years are they couldn't finish it. the corruption and waste of

money and the time. if they do this, there should be something in the law that says every single nickel should be reported, somebody should be auditing it from the beginning, not when it is too late. it should be audited, every penny spent. they built office buildings for this in boston for the administration part of it. host: stay on the line, only because back in 2006, july 31, two thousand six, we did a segment taking a look at those -- july 31, 2006, we did a segment looking at that. go to our video library and it will probably reflect on the issues you are talking about and if other viewers are interested as well, they can do the same.

sylvia in virginia, republican line, go ahead. caller: i am from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. when i was six i remember around the sears and roebuck they were trying to fix the roads. it was mainly a democratic state at that time. when i had my second child, i went up there and they still hadn't fixed the roads. i am hoping they don't take the money and just do something else with it for the infrastructure. we need infrastructure and things fixed in the united states. host: if you go to the atlantic's website they posted and interview conducted by jonathan carl of bill barr and one of the topics discussed of fraud in the previous collection one quote was, it was put up or

shut up time. bill barr told me if there was evidence of crime, my suspicion was that nothing was there. it goes on to say the department of justice conducted no formal investigation of the fraud, but we asked the attorney general of michigan about the claim of the mysterious ballot dump in detroit. a lot more there at the atlantic website. let's hear from johnny in south carolina, independent line. caller: i am calling about this infrastructure program. it is a shame and disgrace to the citizens. they worry about the kids. people if they can't support kids should not have them. host: how does all that late to

issues of infrastructure? caller: that is $1400 they sent to a few months ago. that was going in one date. canada is not as rich as the united states, and they give the citizens $1000 a month every month. host: if you go to the wall street journal, i will redo the headline, "most americans got richer during the pandemic," saying households added 13.5 trillion dollars in wealth according to the federal reserve. the biggest increase going back three decades. many americans paid off credit card debt, saved more and refinanced into cheaper mortgages. that challenged the conventions of previous economic downturns.

in 2008, houses lost trillions. it suggest that it was more focused on the top based on income. more on that if you want to read it at the wall street journal's website. this is rob from new york on the independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. the reason people got more wealth during the pandemic is because our wages are terrible in this country. nobody can live on seven something an hour. every time i see joe biden speak i want to report the democratic party for elder abuse. that man has lost a lot of mental capacity and it is obvious to everyone.

your first caller said donald trump was talking about lies. the big lie is we had a free and fair election. dominion is still has not released to the arizona officials the keys to allow them to get into the machines to check. when was the last time a party, anybody who wanted to burn books and cancel people was the party of good? host: the atlantic just said the former attorney general questioned the idea of widespread fraud? caller: he is a traitor. he stood by and let this happen. what he said was they didn't see enough election theft to affect the election. he is not looking. he turned away from this country and that was not a free and fair election. if you watch the mike lindell videos, there is all the proof you need. it is funny you won't put him

on. host: this is linda from ohio. they need to repeal the tax breaks to the rich. i am sick of saying the democrats want to raise democrats and we need to repair infrastructure. it takes money. mitch mcconnell is an obstructionist. end the filibuster, get it passed. from alley in connecticut, republican line. caller: this is what i want to talk about. i finally got through to talk to some buddy about the president. joe biden is a good man.

the man is doing everything he is an old man. he hasn't stopped since he has been in office. he is a good man. leave that man alone. there are too many people out there coming down on this man for what he's trying to do to help people. let that man do his job. if you don't let that man do his job, got is going to make you let that man do his job. -- god is going to make you let that man doing his job -- let that man do his job. some people lost money and only had one income.

host: let's hear from oklahoma, this is jim, republican line. caller: i would like to talk about biden's in the constitution and second amendments in nuking americans that he stated and what is not being taught by the democrat teachers is how democrats have been under treason, starting with the civil war, formed a separate company to keep blacks in slavery. the democrats formed the kkk after losing the civil war. the democrats voted against equal rights. democrats have won 60 years of treason and it -- have 160 years of treason.

host: we will leave it there. bill and hyo -- in ohio, independent line. caller: i have a comment to make about immigration. this is what i am going to say. if we have 80,000 people in the united states die daily from cancer, old age, accidents, or what have you, out of that 80,000, we have a small centage of bad apples, now once they pass on, they no longer give to the economy of the united states . they do not pay taxes, buy groceries, i consumer products. -- by consumer products -- buy

consumer products. if we have 80,000 people from outside the country, we will get a small percentage of bad actors . when they first come in, they have to buy consumer goods. they pay state taxes if they buy gasoline and what have you. after a year, most of them have settled with jobs in the united states. if 80,000 people die and 80,000 people replace them, how is the population of the united states growing? host: miriam in texas, democrat line. caller: i wanted to talk about how greg abbott is being so stupid. he is putting in laws that don't pertain to teachers. i am a teacher. i don't teach critical race theory.

we are teaching about equity and treating everyone equal and open-mindedness. i don't know. what is this doing to the teachers while he is supposed to be taking care of electricity, and providing medicare and medicaid for the poor people. that is a great concern that i have about my state. another thing is, why are people in the north word about the borders here in texas. all of the racist states, don't they have their own people to worry about instead of worrying about our borders where it is ok, people come and go and circulate the economy and

contribute to the economy. why are they so worried about that? host: that is miriam in texas speaking of greg abbott and issues of immigration. this week, a visit on the border featuring greg abbott and former president donald trump landing a visit to talk about immigration enforcement. this is from the corpus christi caller times. you can read more on their website. from missouri, republican line, we will hear from joy. caller: c-span has fadeless programs, but so far you haven't dealt with the problem of the welfare program. welfare is destroying this country. keep up the good work. host: so exactly what is it

about welfare that concerns you most? caller: the expenditure and the children brought up on welfare are brought up in very difficult circumstances and they grow up and they are maladjusted. host: i will point you to the website if you have the capability, if you type in the welfare topic alone for this program alone, 4000 videos on topics ranging on a wide scope of issues of welfare and things of that nature. not all of them may directly apply to concerned that you have, but at least the topic is large there so if you want to check it out on our website, you are more than to do so and we invite you to do so. patrick in maryland, democrat line. caller: how are you this morning? host: i am fine, how about

yourself? caller: i am fine. in terms of what's going on in the world at present, it is really congress that is failing, and that what is happening is they are waiting until 2022 before it let's say the republicans say they are going to do something. for example, mcconnell stated he wasn't going to pass anything under the biden administration, and this is what i don't understand and where people are not understanding, the congress feels that all the senators are the employer's and the american people are the employees, where it is the opposite. we vote people in and they get cushy jobs. we vote people into work for us.

we vote people in an order for government to work. if you are playing games at the employer, i would fire people. i would fire people because they are not doing their job, and they need to do their job. host: have you addressed are specific concerns with their legislators in congress? caller: to be honest with you, no, because i feel that might governor is doing an outstanding job, because he is dealing and wants to work and is concerned with the people of maryland than his republican party. the next thing i wanted to mention is critical race theory. why would it be called critical race theory when it is actually american history aired i want to try that lastly to what happened on january 6. what happened on january 6 was

unconscionable, and i do not want the capitol police to be the scapegoat on what has happened. host: ok, you made three points. we will go to steve in clinton, missouri, independent line, go ahead. good morning. caller: good morning, pedro. how are you? host: i am good. caller: i am really enjoying the conversation this morning. i just move backed to my home town los angeles, california. i spent the last 30 years in los angeles and new york working on a professional acting career. i am about to turn 69 and i thought it would be a good time to come back and spend some time with my mom. we are having a big celebration coming up this weekend.

just really wanted to join in the conversation and say how much i appreciate your open forum. host: as far as issues of politics, are there issues you follow closely? caller: i followed them all closely and have for years. i have a degree in education and have been a schoolteacher for many years of my life, and then have done many things for a living in my attempt to work as a professional actor. host: anything we have seen you in? caller: yes, i did background work on star trek, the next generation, in the late 1980's. i worked on three or four episodes of star trek, the next generation, alongside will be go work -- will be goal -- next to

whoopi goldberg. i was in the background as a member of the starfleet. even though we weren't traveling through the stars, of course, through the magic of television we were. host: congratulations to you, especially on the move back. this is lizzie in bloomington, indiana. caller: caller: how interesting his life is. i do not understand why a lot of americans do not want to have a working president, actually helping the people and why we do not -- why they want one man to

run our country -- isn't that dictatorship? i do not understand why anybody would want dictatorship in america. everybody, have a happy fourth of july and be happy that we are on our way to getting red -- rid of the coronavirus. let's try to be positive and get rid of this negative lies that keep coming out of this one area . the republicans need to come clean and tell the truth to us. host: thank you for all of you that participated. she talked about covid-19 efforts and when it comes to vaccinations. that is the topic of our next

segment. our next guess we'll talk about the impact of the vaccine and how it is being distributed in the u.s., and other issues. he will join us next. we will have that conversation when washington journal continues. >> tonight on the communicators chief security officer of bolle technology -- huawei technology. >> we have to look at what is necessary and what is possible to make for greater security, greater assurance and greater privacy, globally. we need to think outside the box. accountability and transparency are the key. germany is doing some important

things to make sure that the operator and suppliers have good visibility and good requirements. the recent attacks are kind of like a wake-up call, but america falls back to sleep. i am not exercised oversight. they need to be requirements and objectives. funding, authority and heads need to roll if we do not make -- do what is necessary.

>> washington journal continues. host: we set aside time on the program to focus on a different aspect of the covid-19 pandemic. we are looking at vaccination waste -- rates. serving as a professor and director, good morning. thank you for joining us. guest: it is a pleasure to be with you today. host: what do you think is the main cause of vaccine hesitancy? guest: there are a lot of reasons. there is not just a group of

people that are staying no. one is that people are not sure. they are a little bit hesitant. another group, they are thinking this is a little too early. they want to see some more people go first. more people are distrustful and do not know who to believe. they are getting a lot of conflicting information and are confused. then there is a group that are generally unhappy with the whole rollout and the whole thing. they just are not going to do it. they do not like the politics of it. they feel like if they got vaccinated in some way, it is supporting the other side, even

though i am baffled as to why this is political. finally, there is a group of people who are just -- i'm just quoting information that is out there. a small fraction, but they are saying things like there is a radio transmitter or you name it. i do not think we will ever convince them to get vaccinated. host: if you had to make a elevator pitch, what would you say? guest: that the vaccine is our exit strategy for this pandemic. i, personally thought that it was not going to work. we worked on an aids vaccine for almost 45 years and we do not have one yet. when they said, you can get a

vaccine in eight to 10 months, i thought, i cannot imagine. it worked spectacularly. what if it had failed? what if we did have this rescue of us from this part of the epidemic? we would be where we were back in january and february with no end in sight. host: the cdc lists adults with the vaccination at 68%. what does that tell you? guest: a lot of people have taken this seriously and have gotten it. that is great. 86% to 90% is what we need to have a wall of protection and to really reduce our numbers to

zero. we have to help the world get to that point. host: do you think when the president set that goal, initially by july 4, was not a realistic goal at the time? guest: if we are at 66%, that is pretty close. it kind of spikes as to give a little bit of extra effort to make it happen. for those first groups that i mentioned earlier that need more information, i think that is a group of people, who in the next month or two will show up to get there vaccination. host: taking a look at the aspects of vaccinations and things related to covid. if you want to ask him questions

concerning the vaccine, vaccination rates or anything related, you can call. we have separated the lines. if you have questions or want to make comments, you can call or text. i want to play the outgoing response. he talked about vaccine goals and this idea of meeting americans where they were. i want to get your response to it. >> this intensity will continue for the foreseeable future until all american can get vaccinated. we will continue to meet people where they are. clinics, pharmacies, it will be

more convenient for people to get vaccinated. people have questions about vaccines. we want to make sure that we are addressing those questions through trusted messengers at the local level, so we are not slowing down at all. if anything, be are speeding up until we crush this disease. host: how do you think the federal government has done, giving opportunities for access to the vaccine? how do you think the states, individually have done? guest: really, it has been remarkable, the transformation from february and march where people were clamoring for a vaccine and there was not enough supply. we pivoted. the supply was penned of -- plentiful.

do not have any problem getting access to vaccine, as far as supply. you have the supply but how do you get it to people, where they live? his approach is the right approach. through doctors offices, churches or barbershops. they could go door to door and offer this to people. transportation has been an issue. one misperception is that this costs people something. it is free. the u.s. government has paid for this, say you just have to show up, sign up and it is given to you for free. the government is helping with that. that is what it will take. i am happy that the effort will be intensified over the next several months because that is

what we need. host: what is the vaccination rate in alabama and why do you think that is? guest: we are running behind. we are one of the states that has some of the lowest rates of vaccination. it goes back to my earlier comments about people being hesitant. some people are digging in their heels politically. i do not understand that. this is not a political issue. the vaccine was developed during the trump administration. it really enabled us to have not just the vaccine but to set up the systems where the distribution and production was already paid for, before we even knew if the vaccine worked. that is incredible. they paid the pharmaceutical companies upfront to parallel track, develop the vaccine through the studies but anticipate that it worked and

developed the factories and the plans to mass-produce, so if it didn't work, we would not have a hiccup of going from efficacy and safety test -- to mass scale production. tip the hat to them. they did a great job. in the biden administration, they are continuing to carry the ball down the field. this is a bipartisan approach and something that we should be proud of and embrace. host: let me read a tweet from a viewer. saying, i am not hesitant to take the vaccine. i refuse to take this experimental vaccine that causes inflammation of the heart. guest: ok. a lot to unpack. the vaccine was developed quickly, but it was not rushed.

the protocols that were used were state-of-the-art. the same ones that we have been developing in the aids community for three decades. so, the number of people that they needed to have in the study to prove efficacy might have been about 1000. not 1000, 40 times the number that they needed to show efficacy because they wanted to see safety. that is what they showed because not only did it work in preventing infection and disease, it was shown to be very safe. the point about heart inflammation is true. there are a small fraction of people who will develop some side effects to the vaccine. in the case of the heart, it is about 300 per 21 million. there is no invention in

medicine that is risk-free. this is not just risk of vaccine versus nothing. this is risk of vaccine versus the risk of covid. that is what we are weighing out. now with the delta variant -- the delta variant is much more infectious than even that u.k. variant. about 50% more infectious than the u.k. variant, which makes it almost 80% more infectious, may more than the covid we experienced in 2020. this virus, right now that is starting to pick up in the u.s. -- if you are in a room with somebody with the original covid virus and in enclosed space, it might take eight to 10 minutes for you to pick up the infection. this delta variant, you might be in the room for a minute or less

and you could pick up the virus. the people who are vulnerable are the unvaccinated. if you get a group of unvaccinated people in a room together and one of them has covid and you do not know it. it will spread like wildfire. that is why we are pushing so hard for the vaccine because it is a fireball between the person who is infected in that room and the person who is vaccinated. it protects that person and that is why we are so passionate about it. as far as the final comment, it is fda approved. it has been reviewed by the fda and the reason they do not give it full approval is that they want to wait six to eight months to see for sure that not just 40,000 people have a result that millions of people had a similar result. that is what we are seeing.

there have been over 100 million, almost 200 million people in the u.s. who have been vaccinated who are not seeing any surprises. this vaccine is living up to its ability and it will be fda fully approved in the coming months. there is no new intervention that is released and early use to save people's lives. ultimately, it will get approval if the data shows that it is similar to what the data said. that is what we are seeing now. host: patty from reidsville, wisconsin is up first. patty, good morning. caller: thank you. you are very articulate. i am a retired nurse.

we just got our vaccinations and no side effects whatsoever. i am so fed up with people who are so suspicious and paranoid. you are very articulate and we need to hear more from you. why is it being mandated for our military? why are they allowed to choose but this one? guest: thank you. good question. right now, because it is early use authorization, there is a little bit of hesitant to mandate. once the fda gets to full approval -- i suspect the military will be one and hospital workers like you will be required to get the vaccine, unless there is a medical reason not to.

i think we will start to see it mandated. some schools and colleges are starting to mandate it. as we get more comfortable with the efficacy of the virus and its safety, i think that we will be able to push this out, just like with the flu vaccine and in the military, i think it is very important. could you imagine, if we had a combat unit of unvaccinated soldiers, and they are in the theater of war and one of them gets covid? you know hopefully to could come down with it if they are not vaccinated. i do not think we will be seeing the military -- it will not be a choice for much longer. host: kevin from massachusetts. caller: good morning. dr., i was wondering if you could steer me in the right

direction. i am a recent transplant recipient and this was all brought on -- i was listening to the doctor a short time ago and she advised that all people that are taking immunosuppressant drugs -- which of course means transplant recipients -- they should have the antibodies test to see how they responded to vaccines, so i contacted my medical team in the v.a. and someone. no one has a protocol written yet to see, to give me that blood test. if i did not have any antibodies , would i get a third booster shot? thank you so much.

guest: fantastic question and write on the cutting edge of where our knowledge is. i know that people who have impaired immune system because of immunosuppressant drugs like you are on for your transplant -- they are at more risk for the vaccine not working 100%, as far as protecting you. the few patients that i am seen in the hospital who have gotten sick after being vaccinated are solid organ transplant patients and those who have had bone marrow transplants. that is what i know. i also know that the immune system is pretty robust, so even though you are getting immunosuppression and you get a vaccine, there are other parts of the immune system aside from the antibodies that are used to protect us. i'm not trying to get into a war of words with the doctor, but i

think we are on a frontier here and there will be varying opinions as we are all trying to assess the current state of things. my opinion now is that i do not know if i would get an antibody test because i'm not sure what i would do with the result. it does not mean that your cellular immunity is fully up to speed. here is my practical advice. monitor yourself for symptoms. if you ever develop anything that feels like it might be covid, a headache, but he knows or a sore throat, it could be a precursor. get tested. that will abort the infection. that is the first thing i would say. the second thing, avoid large crowds, in general.

especially if people in those crowns are not wearing masks. you can socialize with friends in small groups. that is fine, but if you go out into a larger crowd, wear a mask. whether or not to get antibodies is still on the cutting edge of our knowledge. if you test negative, -- i.e. have not seen data on that. she is certainly right at the heart of all of this and has her finger on the polls, so i will listen and yield to the data that she is seeing, but i am not seeing that data right now. host: next, jd from maryland. caller: can you shed some light on some of this concern that prior service members have and prior military members have?

prior to desert storm, they injected these vaccines for service members. come to find out, later, it caused side effects that they denied for several years before the v.a. came through and said, this did happen. can you talk about those, please? guest: i am not very familiar with the desert storm story. they were using some protection, not just vaccines, but they were using pills, in case of anthrax. every medical intervention has

side effects. every single one. if you take birth control pills, there is a chance that a blood clot could form. people choose to use birth control pills for their advantages. vaccines are used all the time to protect us against diseases that used to kill and maim. millions of americans -- think back to polio and smallpox. diphtheria. there are certain diseases i saw when i was an intern. a swelling of the throat and children. it happened a lot. i have not seen a case in 20 years. the vaccines are helpful, but they have side effects, every single one of them, and it is hard to predict in advance, fully what any single person will experience.

what we do is follow large populations of people. about 40,000 people in a study. there are hundreds of millions of people now who have had the covid vaccine and some have definitely had side effects, but weighing it out, the number of side effects are very low compared to the benefit of protecting against covid, and that is especially acute now. fortunately, the current vaccines, the pfizer, moderna and j&j will protect to roughly the same degree against the delta variant as they do against the original virus we saw in 2020. coming back to answer your question directly, the military is constantly weighing out these risk and benefits.

some of these biological weapons could be used. they needed to protect the troops. that was the spirit of their intervention back then. host: there are recommendations that children down to age 12 can receive a vaccine. are you comfortable with that idea? guest: i am. there are studies between five and 12. let me tell you why. there is really two reasons. the first is the protection of the child. people have said accurately, children do not get terribly sick with covid, and that is true. most children have had underlying diseases that put them at risk of coming more ill. with the delta strain, there was

a study out of scotland where the delta strain came out in march and april. it was a lot of young people becoming sick, not just mildly ill, but sick. since we do not know exactly how many children will become infected, i suspect many are in a school setting. we should be protecting them and that environment. the second reason, young people, in particular are a reservoir for continuing the propagation of the virus. from a public health standpoint, children should be vaccinated. most health officials agree with that position. host: she had to take your calls and questions about the covid

vaccine and related issues. one of those related issues, you directly got covid. tell us about your experience. guest: it was pretty horrible. i never went to the hospital but i became sick march 13, 2020. i did well for about five days and i thought it would be a mild case. in the evening, i had shaking chills, fever, brain fog, body aches and i felt horrible. i felt a shortness of breath. i watched my oxygen level and it dropped occasionally below 90. i considered going to the hospital, but i waited it out.

i thought that was it. it was like groundhog day. the same pattern, good in the morning and horrible at night for eight days in a row. the worst part of it was the unknown. what was the next 15 minutes going to breeding -- bring? i knew what happens when i get to the hospital. i knew a lot of people were going on ventilators. that is a good reason to prevent this. i heard a lot of people say, i'm strong. i'm in pretty good health. but it hits pretty hard. there is no reset button. you cannot say, start over.

we have a way to do that now. we have a vaccine and we should be using it. host: would you describe yourself as completely over those effects? guest: i am mostly over it. i had a lot of fatigue. i would lose my concentration and that went on for about four to six weeks and it ultimately went away. there are a lot of people who go through an unfortunate course, where those symptoms linger. it is called post-covid syndrome . i fortunately avoided that. i did lose some of my shearing. it happens, especially -- i keep going back to delta.

delta has much more hearing loss associated with an infection. i have to focus hard when i am on a show like this to hear what people are saying. host: people on twitter are talking about the delta variant. our hospitals prepared for a surge? guest: the hospitals are ready. a reactivation of plans that we had used from fall and winter of last year. nobody wants bank to do that. it was quite disruptive, but the plans were there, in case. i do not think we will see the types of surges -- i do not think that will happen, but what i know we are seeing now is a

plateau. the u.s. is drifting down, as a whole. we are plateaued and we are starting to move up just a little bit. i do not -- with vaccination meets relatively low for alabama , that means 60% of the population is vulnerable. it is like kindling wood for a wildfire. i see people acting as if this was over. many of them were unvaccinated people. going to bars, going to music events -- i think it is great that we are getting back to normal, if you are vaccinated. if you are not, you are at risk.

you can make your own decisions, but without the vaccine, it is like russian roulette with the virus. caller: i am a healthy individual and i got vaccinated in early april. i was surprised by the side effects. i never got a phone call back. i tried again but never got a phone call back. i am curious if i am included in any of the numbers that were reported within five days. i'm assuming i am not since they never even talked to me, but i

am curious. what are the symptoms of myocarditis? does it go away on its own? is there some kind of long-term effect? i am disappointed that they were unresponsive. if you could answer my question, i would appreciate it. guest: thank you for the question. i'm sure a lot of people are wondering the same thing. the heart is a muscle. the muscle is called the myocardium. what myocarditis is is an inflammation of the heart muscle. there are some people who get an inflammation of that in response

to viable infections. that is pretty common. as you rightfully point out, there are cases that happen for people post vaccination. what would be the symptoms? sometimes it can be chest pain. most often, it is a lack of heart function. the heart does not pump as efficiently. shortness of breath can ensue. it could be lack of exercise. someone who could run five miles finds they are not able to run as far or at all. they come in and they tell their provider and they can do something called an echocardiogram, which is a sound way to test the heart and look at how well the muscle is contracting. that heart muscle contraction is

impaired, so what you might see in your case might be some test disk -- discomfort. fortunately, 90% of the cases, the symptoms resolved. myocarditis come in and of itself, it is not common, but we see a fair amount of it over the years. it is almost always post bible or somebody got a viral illness and covid itself can cause this, so it is not a surprise that the covid vaccine could cause it, the reason being that it is the immune response to the virus. the immune response to the vaccine that charges up the immune system and the heart becomes an innocent bystander in that. usually it resolves and goes away.

if you are three months out from your vaccine and you are not having symptoms, i think you are good to go. if you are talking about the vaccine reporting center, the best way to do that is online and work with your doctor to do that. i hope that answered your question. host: good morning. caller: good morning. could you jot down my question? i have a couple. the vaccine is considered experimental, legally. somebody has bad results on the vaccine -- their insurance companies would not be liable to pay for any of that medical care, i believe -- if you would correctly or confirm that. would you let us know whether the booster shots or pills -- are they going to be free? lastly, talk about the vaccine

course -- vaccine court. many people are not aware. you very much. guest: a memory test there. the first question was, bill insurance pay for complications? the answer is yes. from a practical standpoint, the companies are happy for people to be vaccinated because it keeps people out of the hospital. that is much more costly to them . i am not aware of any cases where the vaccine has not been paid for. if we get a booster, villa cost anything else? no. this is a public health emergency. this is the reason that we have a public health system is to protect us as a population against stress. it is like we are at war, literally.

we do not pay for the military outside of tax dollars. we support it through general activities as a country and that is what will happen with the booster. whether or not we will need a booster, i do not know. the booster shots would be needed for two reasons. one, if immunity wanes. there was a study out yesterday that said that immunity looks pretty darn robust. our earlier guess that it might rain our may be wrong and we might see several years worth of immunity after the initial shots. that is especially true if somebody had covid and then got a vaccine. i am in that group. the booster is one reason, if the immunity failed. if one of these variants

escapes, meaning that the immunity from the original vax does not cover it, if that happens, we will be lined up for getting a booster quickly. are we preparing for that? absolutely. there are stumbles that we, as a country have made. i am telling you that what i am seeing right now is a pretty good response. a lot of activity. we are preparing to ramp up boosters just in case a variant emerges. your question was about the vaccine quarter. that goes back to one of the earlier questions of, how do we reach people, where we are? that is what i meant by door-to-door activity.

they might be housebound and the core will go out and find people where they are. host: i think she might have said vaccine court. guest: c-o-u-r-t? i'm not sure. there is a vaccine core, a federal initiative to be aggressive in getting vaccines to people, where they live. host: there is a viewer on twitter. we will take john's call first. caller: i have a few questions and statements.

the first one would be that this vaccine has been politicized from day one, when the pharmaceutical companies withheld -- right before the election come to the announcement that this was even going to come out, it has been politicized all the way through. secondly, i do not understand why they went everybody to be vaccinated, especially the children, when out of 6000 deaths in the u.s. -- i believe it is 400 children have died in a year and a half with this virus. it does not make sense. you want to talk about -- science. the science. come on. what you are proposing yes you just said not getting vaccinated

is like playing russian roulette. i have lived for a year and a half with this virus going around and i have not caught it and died yet and i hope not to, but the percentages of that happening to you is so minuscule that it makes no scientific sense for everybody to get vaccinated. i will hold, if he wants to respond to me. guest: thank you for the question. the first part is politicization . i hate that there is any. this transcends all politics. as far as drug companies holding back, i did not see that. they had to enroll 40,000 people in the trials. that takes a lot. you have to get them vaccinated, get the second shot in.

you have to observe people for three or four months to see what the level of protection is. the fact that it was all done between may and december, when the data started coming in, they analyzed as fast as they could, but i do not know of any way you could speed up time. it takes time. i do not think there was any active holding back because of politics. the numbers just add up that way. whether it could add up four or after is a question of how long it takes to develop the vaccine. we talked earlier about children. there are not that many children who have died, but i have seen as you get above the age of 18, the numbers start to increase.

here is some data for you. there were 18,000 deaths in the u.s., in the month of may. 150 deaths were among unvaccinated -- among vaccinated people and the other 17,000 were unvaccinated. that is a fact. that is why we are pushing so hard for everyone to get vaccinated. these are preventable deaths. in the tens of thousands that we could have. as far as the children, perhaps, if the virus stayed the same, we could maybe make an argument that the risk-benefit might not be there. we need to study the vaccine to see what the side effects are. what we are seeing is that the variants are more infectious and

virulent. that is what we want to prevent. we could have an honest discussion, back-and-forth about that, but looking at the larger public health view, i feel pretty strongly that the risk of vaccine to children versus the benefits to the population at large are huge. if we are going to prevent other variants from emerging is by replicating populations. take that away and they stop. host: our guest is also the author of a book. for those we might have saved yesterday, if only we had more knowledge. if only we had more courage.

does it apply now? guest: absolutely. the knowledge in the covid era is remarkable. spectacular. if you think about it. the virus was first described in december. some people could push it back to november. by january 10, we had a sequence. the vaccine moved forward and tests were developed. treatments were approved by may of 2020. this was all applied in the course of a year. we did not have good tests for the virus until four years after

the first cases. he did not have a treatment until six or seven years. that is the difference between aids and this. as far as courage goes, we all have fought this virus with courage. we have had honest debate. we can have discussion about data and differences of opinion, but we need to push forward. this is a front ta. when you hear a public health official or any of us get on television and gave an opinion, it is grounded in the facts that we know, but all of us are watching the horizon for new information. it is a little bit like weather forecasting.

you make a prediction about what you think will happen and sometimes the prediction is wrong but sometimes it is correct. what will be interesting is for all of us to go back and see how many of our predictions were correct and how many were wrong. but i would like to really emphasize is that all the people that i know who make predictions are doing it with an honest heart and an honest effort. that is what i am very proud of. that takes courage and commitment to science and doing things the right way. host: let's hear from tim in deltona, florida. caller: hi.

i am glad that you have this guest on. it is good to know. the state of alabama probably has some of the best schools. i have been vaccinated. i was very hesitant. i understand where a lot of it was politicized. i have also lost a family member to the coronavirus. i grew up and i had asthma and allergies, so i have taken shots. it took a lot of prodding from family members to get vaccinated and to get the flu shot. the family member that passed away had fluid in his lungs.

when you look at that comedy attributed it to covid because i had asthma growing up. i eventually outgrew that. that was always a concern. it could lead to walking pneumonia. my question is, with everything that happened with this disease and covid, it seems like everybody who passed away -- it was contributed to covid. they might have had underlying health conditions. my biggest point is, as far as taking the booster shot -- my doctor has always given me preventative medicine. it is to prevent stuff. i am very cautious about taking

stuff like that because you never know what is in it. part of our problem and the hesitance of americans is that they get in the way. they can come up with vaccines or ways to cure things. host: i am going to stop either because you have put a lot out there. guest: i am very cipher your loss. you and hundreds of thousands of family members have suffered mightily from this infection just through the loss of loved ones, so i feel for your loss. your question about how do we contribute a covid death -- it

is not as straightforward as it seems. the way that i think about it is using the term but for. but for covid, this person would have survived. if they had not had covid, the timing of the death would not have happened when it did. that is a practical consideration. it is very hard to say that this caused the death. somebody gets run over by a car and dies? that is pretty straightforward. somebody gets an illness on top of an underlying disease. did they die of covid or with covid? in most cases where i have seen, where i would attribute to covid

death is that the individual clearly -- even if they were sick before -- they would not have died when they did or how they did but for covid. that is how we determine deaths. i suspect there are a lot more people who die from covid that we did not capture, who maybe never got diagnosed, especially early on. it is always challenging, but there is no denying that people in this avenue make have died from covid and have left loved ones behind. that is a tragedy. host: good morning. caller: good morning. she lost her since of smell and taste. she had a covid test and it came back negative last week. should she get retested?

i'm trying to convince her to get a vaccination. she said she is afraid she is going to turn into a magnet. i'm telling you that is the dumbest thing i have heard because i had my test and i am not a magnet, but he is convinced that if she gets her test, she is going to turn into a magnet. shouldn't she get retested? guest: if she is having symptoms right now, she should be getting tested. if she is having symptoms of headache, fever, body aches or does not feel right, she should get tested again and let her doctor know the symptoms.

as far as the vaccine goes, when people get vaccinated -- the term magnet, that you attract the virus? that is not true. if anything, it is the opposite. your immune system will be prepared to fight and fight successfully against acquiring the vaccination in the -- the virus in the first place. that is what the vaccine does for you. host: we will hear next from leo. hello. caller: i was wondering why we are taking off our masks when there are variants, louis should be wearing our mask to protect ourselves, even though people are vaccinated. that is my question. guest: i'm not sure i heard the

whole question. host: could you repeat your question? caller: i was wondering why people were taking off their masks when they have been vaccinated because of the variance. will the mask still protect you from the variant, if you wear a mask? guest: yes. the mask will still work. the mask is a physical barrier and it does not matter what virus is protecting people from. the mask works best when somebody who actually is infected is wearing a mask because it reduces the amount of virus that is in the environment. if you do not have it and you are in the room with that person , that is the most protection you could have physically,

especially if you are not vaccinated. if i was unvaccinated, the same rules apply as before. during last winter, when most of us were wearing masks regularly, we did not see hardly any influenza. we did not see any respiratory virus, the number one cause of asthma and hospital admission in kids. yes, they work against all kinds of viruses, including the variance. host: as far as the next month goes, when it comes to covid overall, what else are you looking at, as far as things that concern the general public? guest: the number one day is, what we will see is the continuing doubling of delta.

it has doubled in the last few weeks. now 20% of cases and by mid july we will be at 40% to 50%. by august, the majority of cases will be from delta. that is what we should look for. what i am concerned about is the degree of penetration of that virus into the unvaccinated community leading to illness and death. i will watch for vaccination rates and i will be watching to see if children or young adults are getting sicker with this variant. i hope it does not happen. but i think we will probably see that. we will all be watching for the degree of protection from the immunity of the initial vaccine and when we might need a booster. i know that all of us went to get back to normal and a lot of

those variables, especially with young people, which should we be vaccinating young people? it is an absolute yes and if we do not do that pockets of infection within of infection within children that could spread to unvaccinated adults. host: dr. michael sack, professor of infectious disease at the university of birmingham, and also author of encounters with death and life in the u.s. health care system, thank you for your time. hope you come back. guest: good being with you. host: that is it for our program. another addition of washington journal comes your way at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. we will see you then. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national

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