public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> up next on c-span, "washington journal"'s live with their phone calls on a look at today's headlines. british prime minister boris johnson will testify on the pandemic and post brexit trade policy at 10:30 a.m. and this afternoon, president biden is in illinois to discuss his american families plan which calls for investments in education, child care and paid leave. >> this morning on "washington journal," rice university's baker institute for public policy will talk about the one-year anniversary of the u.s.-mexico-canada trade agreement and national health care reporter talks about the biden administration's vaccine

strategy. later, the michigan farmers market association on efforts to increase the use of food assistance the food assistance benefits at local farmers markets. ♪ host: it is the washington journal for july the seventh. concerns about covid vaccination rates in the united states, the biden administration announced several new initiatives to increase awareness in the hopes of improving vaccination rates. we will show you the plans of the administration and ask if you support these renewed efforts, or if you oppose them. let us know on the phone lines, if you support the biden administration,.

you can text us if you wish at (202)-748-8003 or post on our facebook page. you can also follow us on instagram. the topic of vaccination rates across the united states, and concerns about them are the subjects of many of the local newspapers of today's date. we will show you some of them. headlines this morning, unvaccinated face peril. if you go onto the morning news of south carolina, their headline is vaccines ho-hum. the hartford current, hospitals taking the role when it comes to mandating shots. other papers this morning, the town talk of louisiana, new covid-19 delta variant spreading. out of missouri, covid-19

surges. if you go to the news a son -- news sun out of illinois, in light of concerns over -- the administration ramping up a new set of approaches to talk to people about the vaccinations in hopes of improving those vaccination rates with a short summary of what the administration plans. the president spoke yesterday. [video clip] >> we are continuing to wind down the mass vaccination sites that did so much in the spring, to rapidly vaccinate those eager to get their first shot and their second shot for that matter. now we need to go to community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood and often times door-to-door, to get help to the remaining people. equity, quality remains at the heart of our responsibility and ensuring that communities that

are the hardest hit by the virus have the information and the access to get vaccinated. as we shift from these centralized mass vaccination sites, doing thousands of people a day, we are going to put more emphasis on getting vaccinated in your community, close to home, conveniently at a location you are already familiar with. the first thing we're going to do includes 42,000 local pharmacies, where folks with questions can talk to pharmacists they know and have already dealt with. these locations overwhelmingly allow you to walk in without an appointment, get the vaccination when you are picking up a prescription or just going in to get toothpaste or something else you need. second, i team is going to place renewed emphasis on getting the vaccines to more and more family doctors and health care providers, so more americans can

get the shot at their doctor's office, from the folks they know and trust the most. the third thing we are going to do, we will step up efforts to get vaccines to your family doctors and other doctors who serve younger people, so that adolescents can get vaccinated as they go for back-to-school checkups or getting ready for fall sports. we are also intensifying efforts to meet people where they are, outside in their neighborhoods. this includes continuing to work with employers to make ask a shots available at work and the work site if possible, or give employees paid time off to get vaccinated at a nearby facility. finally, we are sending out more mobile clinics, to help people at special events, summer

festivals, sporting events as well as places of worship. wherever we can find people gathered. host: there was more to this announcement. you can find it at [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its -- you can find it at c-span.org. 67.1% of adults with at least one vaccination, currently in the united states. the administration initial goal, you heard president biden talking about these renewed efforts to increase vaccination rates. we want to ask you about these renewed efforts and what you think about them. for those on our support line, (202)-748-8000. if you oppose it, (202)-748-8001 . text us if you want. you can also post on social media. we will start with rory in california who opposes the new efforts. you are on, go ahead. roy oliver -- rory out of california?

one more time. hello? caller: hello. host: you are on, go ahead. caller: basically, there is no point. you gave everybody the chance to get vaccinated and if they don't want to do it, then they take on their heads, that they are responsible for refusing the vaccination for their own depth -- their own death, and they and their family cannot sue anybody if they die, and they cannot force everybody to wear a mask because they are not vaccinated. it is on their own head and that is the beginning and end of all that. host: what do you think is driving this renewed effort? caller: i don't know. i got vaccinated a long time ago under trump, when the left one of them to not do it because trump was in charge. basically if they want to do it, then do it.

but i'm saying there is no point in it. if they don't want to do it, they take on their own responsibility for dying. host: that is rory. we will go to kathy in michigan on the support line. caller: good morning. he is doing the right thing, but everybody is vaccinated in my family except my youngest son. it has been a real fight to get him to the pharmacy. i would start setting up clinics in grocery stores and i would hit the places where people frequent a lot. i know it sounds absurd but it is not. the governor put up the my shot to win lottery. i entered that yesterday, so you could enter into different categories. i want to thank her and our two

u.s. senators and president biden for showing up in michigan. that would have been a place to have your immunization administered. we have to think very straightforward about this because we are getting to the end, but we really have to impose upon people the seriousness of the situation. host: let me ask you about your son. as far as his hesitancy, i suppose it is not access but what is the hesitation on doing that? caller: he hears a few things. people talking to him. the girlfriend he has. it is not from my side of the family. i think it is because he is so young and he thinks he is invincible. i don't know who raised him to be that way but for some reason he has adopted this contrary attitude.

we are working every single day with him. my younger sister and myself, really going after him on the telephone. host: kathy in michigan giving her story. let's hear from todd in california on our oppose line. caller: we have essentially reached heard immunity. it would be a further waste of money for the federal government to try and get people to take it . if you want to get vaccinated, they can get vaccinated. my doctor has recommended i not get vaccinated, due to the multiple health conditions i have, but i wasn't going to do it anyway because i am concerned with the very serious potential side effects. host: side effects such as what, considering your health? caller: i've heard of blood

clots. i'm already taking a blood thinner for that. i've heard about side effects such as spinal cord inflammation. some people's skin starts peeling. it is way more serious side effects than a standard flu vaccine. i wouldn't want to go anywhere near that. host: when you talk about heard you -- when you talk about herd immunity, you have seen the statistics with pockets of certain states with low vaccination rates, but overall you think herd immunity is developing? caller: yes. host: ok. todd in california, giving us -- did you have something else? caller: just saying thank you. host: todd in california. let's go to lori in pennsylvania on the support line. (202)-748-8001 --

caller: good morning. what is not to support here? he is mobilizing units to go out to rural areas, and like your first caller said that i tuned into, it is on you individually if you want to do it. nobody is forcing you. i don't know why people wouldn't support it. host: the previous caller brought up the idea of herd immunity and that if people were going to get the vaccine that they were pretty much solidified at that point. caller: they certainly are. host: but in light of that you support this increased effort? caller: absolutely. host: that is lori. the washington post this morning -- the new york times highlights some of the states when it comes to individual states and vaccination rates, saying alabama has vaccinated only about 50% of its adult population.

mississippi is at 46%. louisiana and the virgin islands have each vaccinated less than half of their populations. numbers were down across the united states as of tuesday. providers were administering 0.8 million doses per day, a 74% increase -- 70 board -- a 74% decrease from the peak numbers. again, we are asking you what you think of this new effort, if you support or oppose it. if you support it, (202)-748-8000. oppose it, (202)-748-8001. mary lou from facebook says the more people vaccinated, the healthier our country is. greg in cleveland says if you want to get vaccinated, you would have gotten the shot by now. people have already made up their minds.

it is futile at this point to try and motivate people to get vaccinated. followed up by timothy on the facebook -- on facebook, asking how soon until we have a federally mandated vaccine. >> from facebook saying i'm all for promoting vaccinations and dissemination of accurate information. i also expect the right of the individual to choose for themselves to be preserved. facebook is a way to reach out. from dan in new york on our oppose line. you are up next. caller: good morning. i oppose this, this effort that the white house is making. i think that people should really look at the information being compiled. 7000 dead from this. normally if a vaccine or drug is put out on the market and more than 50 people die, the fda pulls the drug and yet this goes

on and on in this country. it seems to me it is never ending fear mongering. if you look at the headlines yesterday, now we are up to the -- version of this virus. it seems like these so-called vaccines are not effective against this. this particular strain. there is going to be a lot of different strains of this coming out and maybe some of these strains will be more verlander than others -- more virulent than others. as a strain of the virus evolves, it is usually less lethal than the strain before it. that is not to say everyone. people need to do their homework because there is a lot to this. right now, this so-called vaccine is nothing more than an experimental drug, approved for emergency use. there are tons of different

places where you can look. c-span, please make some effort to get these doctors around the world, let them talk out in front of the people on your program. host: we have had plenty of doctors over the last year and i have to talk about issues concerning vaccines and issues of covid. particularly from the information you gather as you make your decisions, where do you go and what do you trust as far as information? caller: whether it is the university of pennsylvania or your show, or i look at nbc or what cnn did just a couple days ago. they are fear mongering. there are people out there gooding -- putting out good solid information, but when you have 7000 people in our country alone who have died from this, and a lot of them with horrific injuries. a 13-year-old boy the other day. host: what site are you basing

that off of? caller: you can go to numerous websites. zero hedge is a great place to go. there is lots of information. go to banned.video. listen to alex jones. host: in light of this renewed effort by the white house to increase vaccination rates. a supporter of this effort from south carolina, we will hear from paul. caller: my positioning on it is if they are so serious about getting the vaccination in this country, how can you leave thousands of people across our border and nobody knows who they are and you know they are not being vaccinated and they are letting them in the whole country. thank you. host: before you go, because we

asked people to comment on the recent effort by the white house, do you support it? caller: no. host: i will stop you because again, you calling on the wrong line. going forward, pick the line that best represents you. other people make their best effort to pick the line that represents them, so that you can come forward and make your thoughts known. vicki from tennessee on our oppose line. caller: hi, how are you? host: i'm good, go ahead. caller: i oppose and this is why. if the fda and the cdc can approve this for usage in an emergency, but they can't allow us to sue for the side effects. until that is allowed, i will not take the shot.

host: so it's that ability, that is the only thing keeping you from doing that. caller: no, that is not the only thing that is keeping me from doing it. i have been around people who have had it. i live alone. i don't see anybody, ever. i don't get around people. why force an issue on someone who does not even get out there to where they can get it? you see what i'm saying? you don't force people to do something. i am a president trump fan. it doesn't matter if trump rotted out or biden or anybody -- brought it out or biden or

anybody. this doesn't have anything to do with politics, and this is being politicized. i can tell you right now, somebody knocks on my door to force it, i will be a rich woman. host: the statewide newspaper on the -- on tennessee when they talk about those who are unvaccinated facing perils, you don't envision yourself in peril considering your current state? caller: i can tell you right now, i would rather covid-19 take me down then my own government take me down -- down than my own government take me down. host: vicki in tennessee, on why she opposes that. when it comes to the vaccines she talked about and its status, the near times does highlight the fact that all 50 states require certain vaccines for children who attend school but those mandates only apply to

vaccines that have been fully approved by the food and drug administration, adding the status of the coronavirus shots have not yet reached any state mandates. that would almost certainly allow students to opt out for various reasons. you saw little bit of president biden talking about efforts. if you support them or oppose them, as many of you have already heard, you can add your voices to the mix. (202)-748-8000 for those who support. (202)-748-8001 if you oppose it. from anne, in shadyside, maryland on our oppose line. caller: hi. i am from hunting town, maryland. i do oppose it. i believe i had it early on, and they don't mandate having you checked for antibodies.

it is 98% curable for those who get it. none of my family had had it, yet we are at the same time -- as far as the vaccines, we are healthy. we believe in doing to hers -- doing nutritional things like zinc and vitamin c and other things as well. my sister who is a nurse in san diego opposes it. she has been in a hospital for years, and she says there are certain kinds of normal drugs that work very well. i'm not sure exactly what she meant, but it is 85% curable for people who may have had it and could still be alive today. i believe in hippo laws. no one -- hippa laws. no one has a right to ask me if i have had or not had the vaccine. i believe in free speech. host: what is it about the

specific new efforts that you oppose? caller: no one is going to come to my door and asked me. that is my personal right. that is a free speech issue. in addition to that, the border is not consistent. they are not making all these people they cram into places get the vaccine. they don't seem to care about that. they are not consistent. host: that is anne in maryland, giving her thoughts about the administration. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell in kentucky as the house and senate are both out on break, saying it was on tuesday, a push to get -- this story from the hill adds that mcconnell call -- that mcconnell has long advocated for americans to get the coronavirus vaccine but his latest comments come as the usa today found that

covid-19 cases were up nearly half and there are worries about the spread of the delta variant. it is a short bit of comment from the minority leader of the senate. here he is from yesterday. [video clip] >> and i might say, getting back to a football analogy, we are in the red zone for vaccines but not quite the end zone. i want to say again, there is no good reason not to get vaccinated. we need to refinish the job -- we need to finish the job. i know there is some skepticism out there. let me put it this way. it may not guarantee you don't get it, but it almost guarantees you don't die from it if you get it. i hope we will continue to emphasize the importance of finishing the job on vaccination, and get this into the end zone once and for all. host: let's hear from jesse in

florida, who supports this new renewed -- supports this renewed effort. caller: i consider this vexing to be a miracle drug. where i get my information from is looking at what the effect of the vaccine has been on the american population. that virus was killing a lot of people, until the vaccine was available. all of these people that are doubting the validity of the vaccines are just not looking at the facts. they can listen to tv guide spouting off on why they shouldn't do this or that, but they need to look at what has happened with the vaccine. the vaccine works, and it is crazy not to get it. host: what do you think of the renewed effort by the administration? why do you think it is necessary? caller: i'm not sure that -- i

believe the administration to make this available, i don't think you can make people take it. what i'm saying to the public is don't believe these people who say the vaccine don't work. you have proof that it works. host: jesse in florida, supporting this effort. there was a cbs news poll and one of the questions asked was about the delta variant. when it comes to the risk posed by the delta variant, are u.s. officials accurately describing it or exaggerating it? among all adults, 45% say it was accurately described versus 35% saying the u.s. officials are exaggerating it. among those vaccinated, six to 1% saying it was actually described, only 19% saying it was exaggerated when it comes to the threat of the delta variant.

when you go to those unlikely to get the vaccine, only 10% say u.s. officials are accurately describing the impact of the delta variant versus 73% of those saying it is being exaggerated by u.s. officials. there is more data from the washington post abc news poll, if you want to read that considerate -- concerning the delta variant. this is jeff from twitter, saying i support it, i am fully vaccinated and i still mitigate and keep distanced. stay safe. lynn from twitter says people have to stop living in the all about me world. it is about the health of the american people, not just about them. they need to stop making this all about themselves. from brooklyn, new york, tony says let's treat people like adults. if you don't want the vaccine, give it to those worldwide who do. those are just some of the ways you can communicate with us, outside of the phone lines if

you wish. from tom in massachusetts, on our oppose line. caller: hello? host: you are on. caller: i oppose it. i am fully vaccinated, but it was my choice. i don't need anybody coming to my door, telling about it. if people don't want it, they shouldn't be forced to take it. if you are a hospital patient and you don't want to be treated, they can't force it on you. i believe the same should apply to vaccines. host: tom in massachusetts giving his thoughts. that other grant from the washington post abc news poll, the other question is vaccine intentions among the unvaccinated. this is from now versus april, the blue being likely to get vaccinated and the purple being unlikely.

apologies to those listening on radio this morning. on june 30, 24% saying they were likely to be vaccinated, 76% saying they are unlikely to get vaccinated. april 21, 41% of those polled at the time said they were likely to get vaccinated and only 55% saying they are unlikely to get vaccinated. that is from the washington post abc news poll, taking a look at questions of vaccination rates. this in light of the administration's new effort. in michigan, on our support line, this is chuck. caller: good morning. i support this because i believe it is truly patriotic to help your fellow citizens. a lot of my customers in my job are older customers, and i would not want to kill somebody because i didn't get the vaccine. i consider it highly patriotic.

host: if you wouldn't mind, what is the requirement in this covid world of your job? caller: there really isn't. my boss does not trust the issue. we are landscapers in my whole crew is vaccinated. i wouldn't want to hurt my customers, because of my negligence. it is highly patriotic. host: because you say that, we have heard other people on the line this morning, saying as far as the government intervention in this, maybe because people have already made up their minds, why make the effort? how would you respond to that? caller: i would say you did not make a very good effort and that you need to follow the science. follow somebody smarter than you. i wouldn't take my advice from somebody who has failed fourth grade science. host: from jeff in maryland, on our oppose line. jeff, good morning. caller: good morning.

i oppose this, but in states where not too many people have been vaccinated, i can understand it happening there, but in states where many people are vaccinated, i don't see the point. i purposely didn't get it. i want people to understand, the purpose of myself not getting it is not to be selfish but because i don't know that it's safe, and i don't want any harm to be done to me or anybody else. that's all. i think a lot of people don't understand. they think we are just being selfish. if you want the vaccine, go ahead and get it.

it is your choice. if i don't want to, i don't think they should be coming to our doors. host: how does it affect your daily living or does it affect your daily living? caller: myself, no. i am disabled, and i don't have a job where they could ask me to be vaccinated. constantly, my family is trying to get me vaccinated and the doctor. it is constantly on the news. i made up my mind that i don't want it. i just wish they would push back from it a little bit. if i make the choice in the future to get it, then i will get it. they are pushing so hard.

it is annoying at this point. host: ok. jeff england bernie, opposing -- jeff in glen bernie, opposing and telling us why. we have been showing you headlines across the united states of today's papers. the republican out of massachusetts, their feature story on the front page is mass vaccination sites closing after five months. that is the republican out of massachusetts. other front pages throughout the morning, as far as how they are taking the issue of vaccination rates across the u.s., how they highlight to where they live. we are talking about this new effort by the biden administration. we heard from president biden earlier. you can call us and let us know if you support it or oppose it. if you support it, (202)-748-8000. if you oppose it, (202)-748-8001

. texting and posting on twitter and facebook is available as well. when it comes to efforts, you heard the one viewer talking about signing up for a contest or cash prize in order -- as part of getting vaccinated. there was a study done on some of the states, particularly ohio, saying big cash prizes aimed at boosting vaccination rates might not be as motivating as organizers hoped as registrations opened last week for the massachusetts vaccine lottery, where thousands of people were expected to enter for a cash prize or scholarship grant. researchers are reporting findings from a similar ohio vaccine program that launched in may. in ohio, five $1 million prizes were put up for grabs, in hopes that it would increase efficacy of the covid-19 vaccines and

provide incentives to get ohioans to get the vaccination. but it is not clear if the promotion played a substantial role. researchers analyzed the vaccination data one month before the announcement and one month after the announcement. they found no significant change in ohio's vaccination rate. more there if you want to read the story. that is available online. alex in new york, a supporter of this effort. go ahead. caller: good morning. i do support the effort by biden. i think it is important, that people get vaccinated. just listening to mitch speak about how there is exigency -- there is hesitancy. there were a lot of republicans playing this down, and now you see the delta variant. i am in new york and we saw this

in the beginning and it was scary. i got vaccinated. my parents were hesitant. but they understood, and now they are vaccinated as well. we do have some sense of normalcy, but if someone called and said if i live in a rural area, i don't see the need. yeah, perhaps. it is important that people are educated and that there isn't politics behind it. it is better to be safe than sorry. host: aaron is next, from baltimore, maryland on our oppose line. caller: good morning, fellow americans. i am opposed to taking this vaccine because you are violating my hippa rights by even asking me if i took the vaccine. that is first and foremost which is medical determination. second, you are talking about a

vaccine that had no approval in this country. it is emergency authorized vaccine, which means it is not even actually tested or proven to work. with that being said, it is no way i'm going to take that, no way. host: he hung up. robert in missouri, on our support line. caller: yes. i support it, because these people saying they don't, how any people died before they got this vaccine? it is stupid. i am a vietnam vet. the hospitals that i go to were full of people. i don't know why these other people think it is stupid. that is all i've got to say. host: more from president biden yesterday on the flipside of talking about efforts to increase awareness of vaccination rates. he also was talking about efforts to prepare for outbreaks

among the unvaccinated, particularly in light of news about the delta variant. here he is from yesterday. [video clip] >> in addition to these initiatives to continue to vaccinate the unvaccinated, we are stepping up our preparations to respond to the outbreaks we are going to see among the unvaccinated. for that, we are mobilizing what i'm calling covid-19 surge response teams. these are made up of experts from fema, the cdc, and elsewhere across our government. they are going to help states having particular problems, prevent, detect and respond to the delta -- to the delta variant among the unvaccinated. some states have very low vaccination rates. we will be able to deploy things like testing to expand detection of the virus, medicines to help treat the infected and we are

going to provide federal personnel to fill gaps in staffing and technical experts to help investigate outbreaks, because they're going to happen in states with low vaccination rates. the bottom line is my administration is doing everything it can to lead a whole government response at the federal, state and local level to defeat the pandemic. we need everyone to do their part. host: in recent efforts by this administration, it prompted a response by tweet from a percentage of thomas massie of kentucky, -- from representative thomas massie of kentucky. he said no one should be forced to coerce to take the vaccine -- forced or coerced to take the vaccine. science and reason have been drummed out by politics, profits and superstition. that is thomas massie on his twitter feed. npr drawing parallels between what happened during the polio outbreak, and making some

parallels to what is being done by the administration. they hallett the fact that president roosevelt, who essentially himself lost the use of his legs after an infection of polio in 1921, launched the national foundation for infantile paralysis, a charitable organization in the late 1930's, and later the march of dimes took the lead on the efforts to research. it highlights the fact that an army of volunteers for the march of dimes, largely mothers went door-to-door disturbing the latest information about polio in the effort to stop it. they also asked for donations. they said a little as a dime would help. cases of polio may have peaked in the u.s. by 1952 with nearly 60,000 children infected and more than 3000 died. roughly a years worth of comparable statistics for the covid-19 pandemic revealed more

than 32 million reported cases in the u.s. so far and more than 573,000 deaths. this npr story is available online. on our oppose line from pennsylvania, this is robin. caller: i oppose it, and i'm going to tell you why. i am so angry with myself. i didn't want to get the shot. i really was afraid to get it, because i didn't know what the side effects were going to be. my family cap saying please get the shot, please get the shot. with the pressure from every buddy telling me about getting it, i finally did get it, and now i am suffering terribly with a rare skin disease that i got two weeks after i received the shot. my body is covered in blisters the size of silver dollars. i can't move. i am on all kinds of medication. i am not saying it was caused from the vaccine, but i'm saying there's got to be -- i believe there is a reason, whatever

reason in that vaccine to mess up my immune system. so right now i am suffering very much. now i won't get covid but i think i made the wrong decision. i don't think anybody should pressure anyone to take it. do your homework. i wish i did more homework before i got it. thank you. host: robin telling her story in pennsylvania. the daily item, a newspaper out of pennsylvania, on their front page today, a story looking at children saying vaccine tests in children are progressing. that is available online if you want to read it. the university of maryland's website talk about the testing process for covid-19. they highlight the fact that the vaccines for the novel coronavirus went through the same players of review and testing as other vaccines. due to the dire nature of the pandemic, barriers related to funding and manufacturing were removed.

to understand how this is possible, as far as the testing of -- the testing process, the university of maryland medical system -- talking about the covid vaccine and the testing process involved. on our support line, wilbur from ed richburg, virginia. -- from fredericksburg, virginia. caller: i support the vaccine, just like anyone else. i was apprehensive. however, if there is any possibility of this medicine succeeding in helping all people, i am for it. i did not enjoy the process i had to go through, to get it, but i am thankful that my wife and i both got this, and that i don't have to be worried about having something to give to my child, my grandchild. host: wilbur, if i may ask, at

this stage where we are as far as distribution, we are talking about renewed efforts. why do you support the renewed efforts specifically? caller: anything that will help our country and our people. we've always got complaints from people. i believe our leaders today are trying to do something for all people. as a retired military person, i believe that it is absolutely best to help every fellow american in the united states, and this is very little to give, to just deny that something doesn't work. i didn't enjoy the results of the test, it hurt a little bit, but i am thankful i did, and i am happy that i support it. host: wilbur in virginia, talking about that.

-- from alabama talking about the vaccine, saying we need to move his fast as humanly possible to move from emergency use authorization to full approval. irish people were given the shot. other partisans and paranoid people can leave the rest of us alone. we will trust the improving therapeutics and social distancing. this is from russ in texas. reporting 5200 plus deaths from december of 2020 into june of 2021 of covid vaccinated people. all cases now fully reviewed. three people out of that link to the vaccine as the cause. continuing to press for vaccine shots for all. a variety of information. if you want to reach out to us on twitter or facebook, post a

text to us on our text line at (202)-748-8003. one of the people getting into the business of making awareness of vaccines possible as the national association of manufacturing. releasing a promo, talking about this topic. here is the promo. [video clip] >> i am getting the vaccine because i love frank. >> i love you too man. >> why are you getting the covid-19 vaccine? >> i'm getting the vaccine because i love john's wife, and john. >> i'm getting the vaccine because i love the lancaster high tigers. >> i'm getting the vaccine because i love margaret. >> i love you too. host: that is from the national association of manufacturers. from michigan, on our oppose line, good morning. caller: good morning. i do oppose getting this

experimental jab. nobody really knows what is in it. i did watch a video yesterday, dr. jane ruby was explaining that they did test a vial of the pfizer vaccine, and it was found to have 99.99% pressing oxide and it, which is a toxin. it is toxic. everybody is saying follow the science, follow the science, get in line and get it, but they are not talking about what is in these vaccines, and people are dying. people are being injured permanently in some cases. it makes zero sense. there was a 13-year-old boy who passed away, two days after he got the vaccine, just recently near the end of june. i have a 16-year-old son. i am not going to subject him to something that is at this point experimental. host: and the administration's

renewed effort to get people vaccinated? what do you think about that specifically? caller: it is interesting, the hard push they are doing to get people vaccinated. i have never seen anything like this in my life. it doesn't add up for me. people calling those that choose not to get the vaccine stupid or whatever, which i've heard this morning on your show is absolutely absurd and they just might find out in the end that they are the ones who got played. do your research. host: another person on our oppose line from portland, oregon. this is marsha. caller: nice talking to you again. it's been a couple years. i haven't had any type of vaccines. i don't do flu shots. i haven't had anything since

1977, when i was a 13-year-old getting ready to visit japan. my concern is that none of these vaccines, as they call them, are approved by the fda. i've read that they have all been -- they've all put in applications, but yet, they have not any of the three have been approved. host: fully approved. they do have emergency use authorization. caller: emergency use authorization, but they are not approved by the fda. i feel that there is some ethical concern. my concern is ethical, because unless you can assure the population 5000 her sand that this vaccination has been tasked to do that we know what the side effects are, and i read, i went

to all the websites. that's it -- that website said 64% success rate, and it also said do not take this vaccine if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in the vaccine. do the people know what is in the vaccine? host: let me ask you this. the fact that 57% of the adults have taken at least one shot, what does that say to you about people's general trust in the vaccine? caller: they are trusting because they are listening to the media. they are not doing their due diligence on their own. i can assume what people are doing and thinking, but they are coming up with new things every day. you will have to have a booster shot. it is only active for six

months, up to six months, and then you will have to take another and then maybe one every year. host: since you have talked about your own experience primarily, what about this renewed effort by the white house to increase awareness and improve vaccination rates? caller: i am kind of iffy of the government. they are offering them in the minority communities, free, you don't have to have insurance. i am always a little bit -- host: it is not just in certain communities. it is free widespread. caller: that is also very iffy. anything that is offered for free, there is no such thing as a free line. host: let's hear from dj in maryland who supports this effort. caller: good morning. i am a first time caller. my question is for these people

who are refusing to get vaccinated, if you were to get sick, who is paying for you to go to the hospital which is a very expensive treatment? i support them continuing the effort because saving more lives is worth it. host: that is dj from capitol heights, maryland. kimberly is next in virginia on our oppose line. caller: hi, good morning. thank you for having me. first, i wanted to express disagreement for people who got the vaccine and were on the program this morning expressing their stories where they had side effects. personally one of the most frustrating things has been the

active suppression of these kinds of stories that are necessary for the american citizens to be making informed decisions, about their own personal health and safety, the health and safety of their family members. i personally am opposed to the vaccine for myself, because of everyone on the side of support is saying they are following the science, which i am glad that they think they are doing that. but there are studies out there that have shown the protein in the mr -- the mrna vaccine to be harmful and not doing with the vaccine is intended to do. i think that information is being suppressed and not being put out there on equal footing with the current mainstream

narrative, which i think is problematic for people to make a decision. host: who do you think is suppressing the information? caller: i try to not put nefarious intent where it isn't obvious, but i think the social media platforms have been actively, throughout the coronavirus, putting to the side what gets promoted and what gets taken down and what is monetize a bowl -- monetizable on youtube or facebook. they are able to be that filter and say what is right or wrong, even though they have been wrong in the past, specifically on the coronavirus information. host: that is kimberly in virginia, expressing her thoughts about what we are asking folks this morning, as far as the renewed effort by the biden administration to increase

vaccination rates. democratic representative debbie dingell at a vaccination site yesterday, using her singing talent in order to encourage people getting the vaccinations. here is a bit of that. [video clip] >> i'm spreading the word. these nurses are lonely. they need you to come in and get vaccinated, so they can get back to their regular life. please come to lincoln park and get vaccinated. host: again, that is from represented of dingell -- that is from representative dingell. mark in new jersey on our support line, you are next up. caller: hi pedro. thanks for c-span. i just wanted to counter all of the antibacterial sculling in,

and i want to ask them to think about how money people they know who have gotten smallpox recently. have any people have gotten polio recently? vaccines are the best way to fight disease and it is very important. it is a fact that 99% of the people in the hospital with covid right now are unvaccinated. if you want to be part of the 600,000 people who passed away sadly, then continued to take your chances. i've been vaccinated since february. i have a lot of health problems but it has absent -- but it has been absolute fine. the people who have side effects, it is because they have a very strong immune system and the immune system react strongly to the vaccine because it is powerful. they have been working on this vaccine for over 10 years. they did fast-track it because of the pandemic, but they've been working on sars and all of these other viruses. i trust science and people should too. host: what do you think the

point of a renewed effort is? caller: there are some people who are on the fence. the people who made up their mind, they believe everything is a big conspiracy and all the scientists in the government and everybody is out to get us. that is just negative thinking. it is not going to help anybody. i think we should get the people who are on the fence to go ahead and do it, because we should do it for our fellow human beings so that everybody is safe, so you don't pass the covid variants onto other people. you might have it and not even know it and be passing it around. i want to ask people to continue to wear masks and social distance as you can because to me people are acting like it's all over now, and i am scared there is going to be a spike again. host: mark in new jersey. john in california on our oppose line. go ahead. caller: yes, i do not appreciate

the disinformation, the scare tactics and the bullying going on to push people into taking this vaccine. i and not against the vaccine. there is a small sliver of our population that needs the vaccine, but the disinformation like the variant. you know what he variant is? it is not a mutant. a variant is like a redheaded corona. it is no more deadly. it might be slightly more catching. it is nothing to get all squeamish about and go running screaming back into your basement and put on a mask. if you are in general good health, you are not going to die. you can get full-blown covid and you are not going to die. it is not polio. how dare this be compared to polio. how dare this be compared to smallpox. host: what do you make of these

renewed efforts are the administration then? caller: it is a waste of time and money. we know who needs the vaccine. give them the vaccine. there is something scientific about virtue signaling. there is nothing scientific about somebody who had corona getting a vaccine, when they are already immune to it. this is unscientific, this is stupid. people need to look in the mirror and ask themselves, am i stupid? why am i doing this, why am i allowing the government to bully me into taking a vaccine but i don't need? there are people who do need it, but most people don't need it. it is not that bad of a disease. host: we will go to alexis in north carolina on our support line. caller: oh my gosh. why can't people think logically? throw away biden's initiatives.

how many people have actually died? how many family members have called in to say i lost my uncle, i lost my brother, i lost my son? in two months. why aren't we being logical? we know people have died. the fact is, the vaccines will help you live. it will help others live. that is the whole point of the thing. host: on the basis of logic, what is the logic of the administration making this push, considering a lot of people have already made up their minds? caller: any way to get it down the kids throat, to take the medicine that will help them, you do. host: to the previous caller's point, is that bullying? caller: bullying? bullying is taking this public

health situation and turning it into something you have to stand for, you have to be a part, you. i am not a vaccine taker. i don't like shots. that's my reason. a very close friend of mine had to have a kidney replacement and could not be around people. host: ok, let's go to lisa, portland maine. last call on this. go ahead. caller: it be will there's me how people think sometimes -- i watch tv and i see these ads for medicine, and the warning label -- it is like, do you really want to take this? because what you are getting or what it might cause seems worse than the disease that you might have that you advertise you take

it for. so there are side effects. i took it. my son took it. i would have to chase my son around the doctor's office to get him to take a shot. he is just over 20, and he still hates shots. but he got the shot because he realized how important it was to get it done. and we are thankful that it was available. i think it is pretty cool how they were able to make it the way they did. you know, this new way. host: that is lisa in maine. i apologize, only because we are out of time for the segment. thanks to all who participated in the call-in segment. the first of three guests joining us up next to talk about trade issues. it is the one-year anniversary of the u.s.-mexico-canada trade agreement. the biden administration's approach to trade. david gantz joins us.

the admin attrition works towards more people getting vaccinated. we will discuss that with the national journal's erin durkin. those segments coming up next on "washington journal." >> british prime minister boris johnson testifies today on the coronavirus pandemic, post brexit trade, and climate change. watch the committee hearing live at 10:30 a.m. eastern live on c-span, on c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> saturday on the communicators -- >> republicans and democrats have been attacking big tech from all sorts of angles, and antitrust is just one of them. we need tougher antitrust laws, we need to use more antitrust enforcement to go after tech

companies. but they have very different reasons for doing so, even though they sort of coalesce on the same solutions. for democrats it seems to be rooted in -- typical for democrats -- animosity toward big businesses in general, corporations in general, shrinking them down to size. the republicans, it is really tied to the culture war against technology companies in general, where we perceive them as being that's where they perceive them as being biased in the way they moderate content. so the antitrust against big tech is tied to the feel that tech companies are out to get them. >> watch the communicators with elizabeth nolan brown come on her article against big tech. saturday on c-span at 6:30 p.m. eastern. >> washington journal continues.

host: our first guest is david gantz, with -- a professor of law emeritus at the university of arizona. anchor for joining us this morning. guest: my pleasure. host: we are under, when it comes to trade concerns, something called the u.s. fda. it is the one year anniversary. could you remind people about not only what the new trade agreement is, but what brought on its, i guess, what led to it being created? caller: a number of forces there. basically this is a revised version of the north american free trade agreement that was in effect beginning in january, 1994. that agreement was negotiated in 1991 or 1992 and in many respects was seriously out of date. there also was a lot of political opposition to nafta on both sides of the aisle, and the previous administration, some

logic that a new version would be attractive to a wide swath of members of congress, members of the public as well. host: some of the specifics of the usmca, ordinance for cars and trucks, protection for property, it would strengthen labor and environmental protection, would have protections for financial institutions, and increase -- what are the notables compared to the new agreement? caller: i think the most important -- guest: i think the most important issues are the incorporation, the modernization, the e*trade, the digital trade, and better to literal property, things of that sort, and some improvements in agriculture like better access to the canadian market. 74% of the u.s. fda is taken

right out of nafta. it keeps in beneficial trade agreement that is going on for almost 30 years, keeping it going forward. i think we can all be grateful for that. but does make significant improvements in labor and mexico, and quality enforcement. host: is there a way to measure the effectiveness of the agreement? also because of the impact of the pandemic? guest: i think it is very hard to look at the agreement as changes, improvements. the three trade ministers are meeting in mexico city today, and they will talk about those issues. but by and large, the two issues, one being covid-19, which has overshadowed everything, and the second is that much of the new material is phased in over three to seven years. there are some changes that you can see.

the auto industry is beginning to adjust to the new rules, but i think probably to use the phrase the jury is still out overall. because of covid-19, it is indirectly affected by the u.s.-china trade war, and there are other aspects of u.s. trade with mexico and other countries that have frankly been much more significant than usmca. host: if you want to ask questions about the current state of trade, 202-748-8000 free democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans, and 202-748-8002 for independents. one of them being enforcement measures, can you talk about what happens now when the country wants to enforce these verses what happened or nafta? guest: under nafta, the

enforcement mechanism -- we are talking state to state actions versus the country, which we could talk about separately -- under the nafta mechanism, it was easy for any members to stall the formation of a dispute panel indefinitely, simple by refusing to appoint panelists. under the new mechanism in usmca, there is a standing roster of panelists, and that means that as these cases go forward, they should be able to do so without any serious delay and get to the actual mechanism that is designed in the system. host: when it comes to the biden administration approach to usmca, how much do you think they agree with it as it currently stands? guest: i think overall there is quite a bit of agreement between the previous administration and biden on some of these issues. they are both very strongly -- they professed to be strongly interested in the increase of american jobs.

the buy american focus as well. they raiment past with enormous -- the agreement passed with enormous bipartisan support in 2019. it was relatively little disagreement in the final version among democrats and republicans, which free-trade agreements is extremely unusual in the united states. host: trade representative katherine tai appearing before congress, in a hearing, asked about some of those disputes, as you had mentioned, as far as those countries are concerned, do the disputes within the usmca. i will play you a little bit of what she had to say and i want to get your response to them. [video clip] >> usmca is a starting point that will acknowledge climate change, aggressively address global trade issues and address the benefits to women. i will enforce the new standard,

follow through on our agreement, and use the agreement to ensure that canada does, too. we are committed to using these tools. the mechanism will allow us to address wrong standing labor issues in mexico. i am proud to announce today the inaugural use of this mechanism in our request that mexico review whether workers at a general motors facility are being denied the rights of free association and collective bargaining. i commend the government of mexico for stepping in when it became aware of voting irregularities earlier this year. i am proud to partner on the shared goal of helping both mexican and american workers prevent a race to the bottom. [end video clip] host: in regards to the mexico situation, could you elaborate on her thoughts? guest: certainly a major aspect of this agreement, particularly for the democrats, is rapid

response labor mechanism, which make it much more likely that mexican workers will be able to form independent unions, affect collective bargaining, and that kind of thing. in this area, i think the biden administration objectives and the mexican government's objectives are really pretty much the same, and the mexican government has been cooperative in trying to deal with aspects that have been put forward, including this one with the gm plant in mexico. the dispute settlement mechanism has been used in the case of candida involving the dairy market provision. limiting the activities to labor. host: under nafta, would provisions as far as getting workers in mexico, to give them the ability to unionize, would that have been a thing? guest: in theory, yes, but the agreement on labor rights that

was enacted as part of nafta, was largely useless. it had no teeth. it was impossible to get to arbitration, and i don't think any of the three countries pushed hard to use it. the atmosphere has changed as well as the language. host: because you use the word rapid response, can you walk us through this rapid response? guest: you have consultations, and if that doesn't work, you have an arbitral panel that is put together very clear by arbitral standards. sometimes they take months or years. chosen by the parties together. you have essentially an independent fact-finding and legal analysis process that goes forward. they make a decision. if mexico doesn't follow it, than there could be trade sanctions. my guess is most of these cases will be resolved in the confrontation -- the consultation phase. the mexican government really

seems sincerely committed to making this work, even though everybody knows it is going to be a long and difficult process. host: when it comes to the actual deal, usmca, what does the united states gained from this, as well as mexico and canada? guest: i think the biggest gain was the integrated economic relationship among the three countries continues, with virtually no major interruption. i think for the stakeholders, and those are not just investors and companies but also workers in all three of the countries, and also consumers. the most important thing would be to eliminate the uncertainty as to whether nafta would go forward in some form or another. the labor and environmental issues -- there are significant gains. in some other areas like the auto rules of origin, it is still hard to say whether there will be gains are not gains. there obviously are a number of other issues, like reduced

investor protection, which some of us think is a bad idea, others are very happy about. so again, most of what was beneficial to the north american economy under nafta is still going to be true under usmca. i think for many, the most important changes are better environmental protection, even though the agreement does not mention climate change, and the labor mechanism. host: ralph and washington, d.c., independent line. you are on with david gantz. go at with your question or comment. caller: i just find it amazing you're talking about fair trade and fair labor laws, and the new administration just recently said open the border. they cannot make arrests going into a long bureaucratic process, which makes ice useless. we have gone from 20,000 illegals a month to 180,000. i tell you what, that is going

to increase. we will end up with a couple million the year. when you talk about labor, the blue-collar worker in this country has been devastated. is he goat -- d.c. where i come from, it is hard to find a blue-collar worker in this city. there are a few, because that is because they have contracts. host: do you have a direct question about trade, sir? caller: that is trade. the whole issue is on immigration law, protecting workers. host: we will get a perspective from mr. gantz. guest: there obviously is a relation, and there is very good reasons why neither nafta nor the usmca try to address immigration issues directly. i think i would agree with this and many others -- this caller and many others -- that our

immigration system in the u.s. needs serious reform. however, i am not really competent to discuss the detail. host: as the year anniversary takes place, the trade representative is in mexico city with meetings, with representative's from both mexico and canada. can you generalize what is on the agenda and what should be there? guest: i can guess what is on the agenda, and what should be there. they were discussing it yesterday in washington. i think in mexico the major focus will be on investment issues because the mexican government is extremely nationalistic and protective vest, and strongly favors that government owned entities, over private investors, some of whose interests could be harmed very seriously if the current

policies are continued. so i would guess that would be at the top of the list. there are some agricultural disputes between the u.s. and mexico which might be resolved. i'm sure labor will be talked about, even though it seems to be moving forward. i would guess those are among the top issues, but clearly there could be others. we will find out tomorrow. host: the usmca, because rules deal with things like digital trade and intellectual property, what happens for those in those markets? what do they gain out of it because of these trade agreements? guest: much of what you see in the digital trade and e-commerce areas are rules that make it more difficult for protectionist regulations to take place. data localization, for example, is essentially band. digital entities, and the biggest ones in the world of course are american companies, want somewhat higher assurance

that there will not be arbitrary regulation. what mexico is a country were of digital trade, particularly in the financial industry, is growing leaps and bounds. i think there are significant new protections for a lot of the relatively young companies in mexico that are selling banking and financial services not only to mexican citizens in mexico, but also to some americans who haven't had really good access to the banking system in the u.s. host: david gantz is our guest to talk about issues of trade, particularly in light of the u.s.-canada-mexico agreement. 202-748-8000 free democrats, 202-748-8001 for republicans. for independent spanning -- for independence bank, 202-748-8002. an article on monday stated that angela merkel and emmanuel

macron are in favor of -- talk about what this means for the united states, if anything. guest: for the united states, it may be more atmospheric than substance. it was an agreement that was rushed through into thousand. by those who were most in favor of it, which were basically germany and france, and then a lot of concerns erupted because of nontraded issues, because of the treatment of muslims, because of hong kong, because of incursions in the south china sea. china's activities elsewhere -- slave labor, some would argue. it essentially has been solved by the european parliament. i think it is very important for germany to try to get it going. germany is the biggest exporter in the you come up to curly for autos, and they would very much -- in the e.u., particularly for

autos, and they would much like to see further investment in china. i don't know how practical it is to assume that is going to be revived. it doesn't surprise me that germany and france are making another push after six months. host: when it comes to trade with china overall, how would you charge -- describe the biden administration's general approach, and how does that compare and contrast with the previous administration? guest: i think in substance there have been very few changes. the biden administration has made significant efforts over the last five months since he has been in office, to demonstrate that it would be "tough" on china, like the previous administration. i think there was -- they say it

is trump that matters. there is a lot more consultation going on today, and a lot more effort to get our allies to work with a more common china policy. the $375 billion in punitive terrorists on china -- in punitive tariffs on china has not changed. the trade agreement that expires in january of next year, in many respects the rhetoric is quite similar to what it was, and there is certainly no indication that mr. biden, who has very broad bipartisan support in this area, is going to do everything he can to affect national security, to improve u.s. technological ability, to counter china. i don't think there have been that many changes so far. host: we have if you were off of twitter asking a question, if you could address right to work legislation, and the non-sub attacks on labor unions and the attacks on collective bargaining

, what the effects are politically and economically and socially. caller: how much time do i have? the focus is on labor rights in mexico, not on labor rights in the u.s. states have right to work laws. i don't think those are going away. i'm no expert on u.s. labor issues, but the number of union members and nongovernmental positions has been declining in the u.s. for many, many years. i really do not feel comfortable . clearly it is a problem if you are interested in supporting workers, but i am not at all sure what the solutions are in a situation where the american states have pretty much done their own thing. host: when it comes to the political aspect that we talked about earlier, steve on twitter said that with everything that has happened today, many more in mexico that many workers in

mexico have organized as a result. guest: there is a process going on for the full year and may be before that you have thousands of businesses in mexico. most of them have their own labor unions. the typical practice in the past has been you have a union which was strongly connected to one of the older political parties, and they have sweetheart deals with management, and the workers for all practical purpose were excluded from the process. you could look at a lack of transparency, corruption, all sorts of things. there is a process going on where the entire union structure is going to be realized, and the old unions will be replaced. the union supporters have a lot of -- the union members have a lot of supporters. my guess is the issue with the gm plant is a result favorably from a labor point of view, and there a couple others -- there are a couple of others as well.

these changes are going to take place. i'm guessing we're talking about three to five years at least before you see a major shift in the way collective bargaining and the independent unions work in mexico. host: our guest wrote a book on the topic of usmca, the introduction to the united states-mexico-candida agreement, understanding the new nafta. can the average person get -- guest: i did my best to write clearly, and in basic terms. it is not a book that is for the technically oriented. if you are in the auto industry and you want to understand the auto rules of origin, you are not going to learn the details from me. so i'm hoping that it is useful to the general public so you don't have to be a lawyer or economist to understand what i'm

saying. but it is always hard to know from the author's point of view how that is working. host: one of the things we talked about is the idea of trade adjustment assistance. it is nuanced. but can you describe to the audience what that is and why it is important to discuss trade? guest: it is extremely important. workers displaced by trade agreements or internal outside trade -- it could be american workers as a result of nafta or american workers as a result of changes in our relationship with china over the last 20-plus years. the idea is you have funds for adjustment for retraining to try to cushion the blow. as everyone likes to say in the trade bureaucracy, there are winners and losers when you have expanded trade. in the u.s. over the last one he five or 30 years there have been a lot of losers, particularly with some of the blue-collar workers as one of the callers

was talking about earlier. it hasn't all been trade. the increase in the mechanization robot has been much more important in the auto industry than trade per se, but there are still issues. i think one can say if you look at the last 30 years of trade adjustment assistance, that neither party has done a very good job in implementing those potential benefits for displaced workers. host: david gantz, a professor of law emeritus at the university of arizona. thanks for talking to us about the one-year anniversary of the usmca. guest: my pleasure. glad to do it. host: coming up, erin durkin. that is coming up next. you're in the program, how are farmers markets doing in helping those -- later on in the program, how are farmers markets doing in helping those with food assistance needs?

later in the program, amanda shreve. >> president biden discusses the american families plan at a college in illinois. watch live today beginning just after 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. online at c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> the secret service was founded in the aftermath of the assassination of abraham lincoln, it was not until the death of john f. kennedy that the presidential protection service got closer protection from the wreck and people. carolinian began reporting on the secret service for the washington post in 2012. in the prologue of her new book, zero fail, she started her coverage on the scandal in which agents brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms while making

arrangements for president obama to visit columbia. we talk about it in her new book , "zero fail: the rise and fall of the secret service." announcer: listen at c-span.org/podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. announcer: washington journal continues. host: this is erin durkin of national journal. she reports on health care issues, joining us to talk about the new effort by the biden administration when it comes to vaccination rates. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having me. host: what is the best way to understand what put forth this new push yesterday? guest: the president had made a goal for july 4 to get one shot to 70% of adult americans, and right before the july 4 weekend, they were just coming in shy of that goal, but that was

anticipated. and so what you really heard yesterday was kind of a doubling down and really strategizing where to go from here, how to reach those last americans who are either hesitant to get the vaccine or are struggling to access it for other reasons. and certainly your hearing this shift. from where we were at the beginning of the vexing campaign, focused on mass fax sites, getting this out quickly and efficiently, you are switching -- you are getting it through family doctors and pharmacies, places that are easily accessed, maybe to answer questions. host: when it comes to those who are hesitant today, how would you categorize those groups? guest: i think it is hard to put them under one umbrella.

simply because you have people with personal concerns. but certainly you could break them down. maybe into a few groups. there are certainly some people who might be a little hesitant but they might be willing in the future to get it. and in might be dependent on the trusted messenger. there are some people who said they don't want to get it. the kaiser family foundation vexing monitor actually -- their numbers show that the people who say they don't want to get it at all attend to be white, republican, and younger. i think maybe it could break down like that, but i think this is where it is important to drill down to individual populations and individual neighborhoods, because blocking people from getting the vaccine could be pretty unique.

i'm talking about the attitude toward vaccinations, but there are also people who might not be able to take off work to get the vaccine. there are multiple reasons why people might not be able to get it. host: those populations and neighborhoods -- one of the commonalities as far as what makes those populations in neighborhoods where you find a lot of people who have not gotten the vaccine. guest: i just mentioned the kaiser family foundation numbers, but also a number of vaccinations come as we are getting more people vaccinated, you are starting to see certain population groups pop up, lagging behind. if you look at the cdc map, it becomes clear that -- the stefan mississippi -- mississippi has a much lower vaccination rate.

the government is trying to explore key messengers for these groups. i think what you're seeing is, you are having some populations like 27 and under that are lagging behind the older groups. so you have these numbers. they tend to be white, leaning republican, and younger. but there is also a concern about minority groups being able to have access, equitable access , and getting the correct information to them. host: when it comes to the efforts announced by the administration yesterday, can you elaborate on the door to door part of it? host: -- guest: what he outlined, it is really focusing on getting it to communities. if you want to focus on the pharmacy and the family physician use of this, these are

trusted messengers in the community. i know there was a hearing recently on capitol hill where witnesses were talking about the roles physicians play for people and how they are vaccine ambassadors. so i think it is going to be a really key piece of this, where people are comfortable. whereas mass vaccination sites are not probably the typical place where people get their vaccines. so i think that is kind of part of the door-to-door strategy. when i spoke to lawmakers on capitol hill, that is where they have their role at this point. these communities take their own initiatives to find out what works for them. host: our guest with us until 9:00, 202-748-8000, if you want to talk about the vaccination

strategy if you are unvaccinated. if you are vaccinated, 202-748-8001. you can text us at 202-748-8003. erin durkin, that is the federal government to parole when it comes to all of this. where are the states and localities as far as getting numbers up, especially amongst the unvaccinated? guest: lawmakers told me this is in the hands of localities. they are implementing the money that has been sent out by congress. they are sitting at these campaigns, they are searching for the best messengers for this and how to really allocate where to send these vaccines so that they can be reached. they were key in the beginning of this in terms of getting mass back sites up -- mass vax sites

up. they know their populations, and they know their communities, so i think where we are going to see them -- if they will be implementing president biden's agenda here, the door to door strategy, now of course governors have a lot of differences in their approach. it is going to be interesting to see how the remainder of the summer looks. and what different states and up doing. host: we have seen certain states offer lotteries to get people vaccinated. any evidence that this is working as far as upping those numbers? guest: i'm not sure yet. that is not something i have personally looked into, but i also think so that i also think that this is certainly something they are attempting to try and

get those numbers up, especially as we are entering the fall flu season. so i think some governors will pull out all the stops, including the lottery incentives to try and get more people vaccinated. host: do you think the opening of school in the fall will impact as far as the vaccination process is concerned? guest: that is a very interesting question. obviously there are certain vaccines that are mandated for attendance, and that is a question i also really wanted to explore, and what is fascinating is some public health experts were a little nervous about maybe putting in a mandate at this time for school attendance. because this has become very political, and reopening the conversation, i think they were concerned that mandates were

passed for other vaccines. you are also seeing some states preempt that and are wanting to block mandates and block vexing passports. so the conversation around school i think is going to be an incredibly fascinating one. it is going to be interesting to see how parents handle this, because we might see different sets of issues. it is one thing when it is the deal getting the vexing themselves, it is another thing when it is their child. it is going to be interesting to see what conversations emerge as september approaches. host: it doesn't matter that the vaccines for covid are not fully approved by the fda,'s far as the states putting in a mandate? guest: that is also something that i was wondering. but i don't know -- i do know

that, you know, some public health officials, public health experts think it is a good idea to explore. but while others don't even want to go there at this point, thinking that it is not fully approved could make the argument that people who are anti-vaccine , maybe give them more ammunition. host: our guest covers health care for national journal. she is erin durkin. miguel starts us off in maryland, on the line for those who are unvaccinated. you're going with your question or comment. caller: yes, how is it going? thank you for having me. i guess i do have a question. i don't understand why -- the

politicians or the people pushing this, why don't they just leave people that don't want to get vaccinated alone? i don't trust them. it seems there is some kind of witchhunt against white people in america today. they hate us so that -- so bad that they want us to get the vaccine to save our lives? they want to push us into being gay and trans. host: we will leave it there. issues of trust -- where do you think that is? guest: actually, i think there has been surprisingly a higher level of trust, given that this was a unique situation, and how quickly these vaccines receive authorization. i do want to address why the country is concerned, why officials are concerned about

reaching these populations. if you have exposed populations where they are not protected by the vexing, that means it increases spread. not only is that dangerous for them, but it is also dangerous for the community because that could lead to more and more variants. and variants that the vaccine may not be as effective against. officials are concerned about reaching hard-to-reach populations. host: in michigan in west olive, this is lee, for those vaccinated. seco while, what a great -- caller: wow, what a great segment. get this stupid little girl off. host: we will go to karen from fort pierce, florida. caller: good morning. i am vaccinated -- i am not

vaccinated, i don't have insurance. but my concern is that i have had blood clots. my have had a stroke back in february. i'm 64. i work at a small private christian school. my concern is that i have heard that these could put on another blood clot, which concerns me to no end. i also have a 26-year-old son who has a brain injury from a near fatal motorcycle crash five years ago. he tends to be a little bit wavering with the vaccine as well. he doesn't trust. i have no words to explain about trusting the government. i don't go there. i fully need to trust my government. so where does that leave me with the blood clot situation? because i'm very concerned about having any of the -- just for

that reason, it scares me. host: thank you, caller. ms. durkin, go ahead. guest: that is a great example where getting the vexing into doctors office is going to be key, because -- i really encourage, as far as consulting with her doctor, and maybe if there is a vaccine that they feel like would be safest for them -- we do have three that are authorized. and can be taken. so i fully appreciate that people have their own personal medical concerns, and this is something -- this is an example of doctors and pharmacists may be understanding this person's health conditions in speaking with them about how the vaccine might interact.

host: when it comes to the general side effects from vaccines, what do we know about vaccines being distributed among those? guest: in terms of severe adverse reactions, my understanding is that they are pretty rare. in terms of other side effects, i think the general side effects are that he might feel like you have the flu temporarily, but nothing permanent. but i don't want to give the impression that there have not been any adverse effect, so i really encourage anyone who has questions like that to either consult with the cdc or consult with their own doctor. host: if you want to ask questions about this tragedy when it comes to the vaccinations, call us at 202-748-8000. that is a line we have set aside for those who are unvaccinated. vaccinated, call 202-748-8001.

please use extreme decorum. we will hear from benny in stockton, california, unvaccinated line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i took the shots in february and march, and about six months later i began to have severe heart problems. i had problems before, but it seems to have intensified. i also saw on cnn, i think, where children were developing heart problems because of the shot. is there any literature to that, ma'am? guest: actually, i would encourage you to consult your doctor, and the cdc if you think it is related to your vaccine. obviously the fda is still in

the process of collecting data. so these are things that they will want to hear about. host: because a couple of people this morning have already mentioned where they get research, information about the vaccine -- how much is this a concern to the administration? guest: it is a major concern because there is so much misinformation out there. through social media. this is not just unique to the covid-19 vaccines either. this has been a major issue with vaccines generally for a number of years. but certainly covid-19, you're especially in a unique situation . a high stress situation. i think it is a major concern about getting the right information to people.

host: this is barry calling from pennsylvania on our unvaccinated line. caller: the problem i have with people in my area, it is not legalized. they say once it gets legalized, we will be more than glad to get the vaccination. host: you mean fully approved by the fda when you say legalized? caller: yes. host: gotcha. that is barry in pennsylvania. guest: i have heard that concern as well. that once it is approved. i do -- in order for the fda to even authorize them, they have to go through clinical trials. it is not like the fda could make this decision, as they really have to collect a lot of safety and effectiveness data in order to make these decisions.

so it is not coming out of nothing. they want to make this decision more quickly than the approval process would have allowed so that people could get therapy that would provide them safety from this deadly disease. host: if the biden administration is making this effort with 60% of people having one shot, is there a number they are looking for as far as where they feel comfortable as far as where the united states is at as far as full vaccination is concerned? guest: i think the last marker has been the 70%, but i think they are going to continue pushing to get the highest level possible. as we were just discussing, that is just are 18 and up. we now have the 12 and up the canal get vaccinated. there is expectation that

vaccines will come online for children. so i will peak keeping an that i will be keeping a nearby ee on the statistics for children as they are targeted. this is jason from ellicott city, maryland, vaccination line. caller: i want to call about an earlier caller who said she was not insured. when i got max -- my vexing, they did not care whether i was insured or not, i got it. will we see a vaccine administration in our workplaces? because those without cards find it very difficult to get the vaccine sites -- without cars find it very difficult to get to vaccine sites. guest: a person was talking yesterday about trying to get it through employers, and so i think that is the goal. i'm not sure how quickly it is going to get out.

and certainly -- i cannot speak to whether manufacturers have already been working on this or not. i would have to double check. i do know part of the transition might have to also -- even looking at vile sizes -- vile sizes -- vial sizes. it is the goal to get people to the vaccine sites who do have transportation -- who don't have transportation. host: this is eva, described herself as 50 years old and healthy, receiving her first dose of maternal full. then she said i waited because i could not get an appointment until just recently, and i didn't have time to wait in lines. is that a general experience? guest: it might depend on where she is. i cannot speak to every place.

the general impression i got is that things have slowed down, but especially -- i think it depends on the community. certainly this is not unusual just a few months ago, where it was very hard for people to get an appointment. then his people were lining up around the block, and so i cannot speak for her particular community, but for the campaign at large, that was not a new usual experience at one point. host: from georgia, we will hear from max on our unvaccinated line. go ahead, max. caller: good morning to you both. i have two quick comments. first one, i don't think the vaccine was tested enough. i'm worried about side effects. i think it will lead to more testing. the second comment i have is that i already had the virus last year, so i already have

antibodies. in the virus -- my age -- i am in my 40's. i have a 99 point 8% chance survival rate. i don't see the threat of dying to the virus as that big of a deal. i don't think it is that bad to my age group, so that was the only comment i had. you guys have a good day. host: that was max in georgia. ms. durkin, go ahead. guest: first i want to talk about antibodies prior to the infection. the concern is we really don't know how long that lasts come which is why they still encourage people who have had the disease to get the vaccine. and the truth of it not being dangerous to certain age groups, we saw that this was a disease that is more deadly in older

americans, but i think the concern is not just for personal safety, but it is also -- if there were so many people who got the virus, many did not get symptoms but they could easily give it to other people who are more vulnerable. that is really the concern there. the other concern is if there is more disease, that means there could be an emergence of other variants where it could be even more deadly. host: this is a comment made. she says regarding the emergency use authorization, if the vaccines were not safe, they would not have been approved for emergency use. guest: yes, the fda does take that into consideration. effectiveness data from clinical trials. i want to say i think authorization versus approval -- it is really -- like i was

saying before, they cannot just make an authorization based off no data. they have to collect a rigorous amount of data in order to make it safety and effective during an emergency. host: let's hear from bernie in kentucky, on the line for those who are vaccinated. hi, bernie. caller: hello, pedro. hi, erin. i asked my doctor if there would be any side effects for not taking my blood pressure medicine. she said yes, death. take the vaccine, don't be a baby. do you think this is the last time we will have to go through this, or is this rollout of the vaccination just good practice for the next one? caller: if i understood his question correctly, is this the

last time we are going through a pandemic like this? i really cannot answer that. i sure hope so, but that is actually something worth mentioning in terms of being good practice for the next one. this has certainly gotten lawmakers thinking about the next public health emergency. and one of the concerns and issues that we ran into was the underfunding of public health services going into this pandemic. there has been renewed focus on how we fund our public health system, how we remain repaired for when these things -- prepared for when these things occur. host: to go on the caller's, it's about where we go from here, there was discussion about possible boosters and the like being part of this process. what is the chance of that happening as it stands today?

guest: i still think that is being explored. it might depend on, again, variants that occur, whether this is a seasonal thing like the flu. i think that is still being really researched. host: this is sarah from michigan, the line for those who are unvaccinated. caller: i just wanted to make a come at about people in general, why they don't want to get the vaccine. it has everything to do with the eroded trust of our government and corporations in general. in particular, big pharma, that has injured a lot of people in the past with their products. it is kind of like a go ahead, throw it at the wall and see what sticks and what doesn't. people will not trust this until it is fully approved and we see in trials what is going on, because ultimately there is harm from the vaccine. but it is not really told to people. if they would just tell people

the total truth about what is going on, about the boy that died in michigan, and when somebody does get hurt, they say -- obviously if a boy goes out to get a vaccine and three days later he is dead, relatively speaking, logically wise, it is probably from the vaccine. so government and whomever else -- social media -- needs to be more open about everything going on. let doctors say what is going on. let them talk about the blood clot issue. let them talk about the heart inflammation issue. i can tell you, parents are not going to let their children get stuck with the shot if they don't know what is going to do. host: thanks, caller. guest: she was kind of expressing a lot of concerns that i have also heard. actually, it is not even just the vaccines but it is also kind

of something that is like the covid-19 response from the very beginning, which is trust in the federal agencies and the transparency. that they are providing. certainly we have seen the politicization when it comes to the response to covid-19 and vaccines being the -- we have seen that around mask wearing and things like that. i think it is a real challenge for the u.s. government in terms of something that the biden administration will have to encounter as they make the next push for the remainder of the summer to reach populations that are afraid to receive the vaccine. host: torrey in new mexico, are vaccinated line. hello. caller: i was wanting to know -- is she a reporter?

guest: yes. caller: has she been to the border? host: go ahead, ms. durkin. caller: just wondering what kind of vaccinations are the illegals getting? host: diana is our last call. homestead falls, ohio, our line for unvaccinated. hello. caller: hello, thank you. in the cases of the supposedly stronger variant, the delta and the other variants that come up, what are the differences in symptoms? no one is discussing how they are testing or how they know there is a difference between the original covid or any new variant. what test are they using to know the differences? this is not something i've ever heard anybody talk about. thank you. guest: that is a very good question. i would not say i am the expert on that in terms of what tests they are using.

the cdc website has information on the different variants and how they are different, and i think the uniqueness of the delta variant is very infectious. but i cannot elaborate more because i am not an expert in the protocol. but i do know that they are testing different variants at the state and local level and sending information to the cdc. i'm just not an expert in the process. host: erin durkin from national journal, covers health care issues. it is nationaljournal.com. thank you for joining us this morning. for the next half-hour we will invite you to participate in our open forum. if there are issues of politics that impact you, you can discuss them at 202-748-8000, the line

to call for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. and if you are independent, 202-748-8002. we will take those calls when we continue. announcer: weekends on c-span2, every saturday, you will find events on american history tv. on sunday, book tv brings you the latest. learn, discover, explore. weekends on c-span2. ♪ announcer: c-spanshop.org is our online store. browse to see what is new.

you will support our nonprofit operations. you still have time to order the congressional directory with contact info for members of congress and the biden administration. announcer: washington journal continues. host: if you want to participate in the open forum, the lines --(202)-748-8000 for democrats, (202)-748-8001 for republicans, (202)-748-8002 for independents. you can also text us at (202)-748-8003. post on twitter and facebook as well. the latest from south florida saying when it comes to the discovery of those from the building collapse, the death rising to 36 according to officials. miami-dade assistant fire chiefs saying the number of bodies recovered tuesday, the highest since the collapse.

international news. the haitian president was assassinated during an attack on his private residence. the first lady was hospitalized following the attack. the associated press noting the country has become unstable in the last couple months. the prime minister called it a barbaric act. sheldon, forest hills,, new york democrat,, you're up first. caller: thank you. i am appalled at the seeming ignorance of ms. durkin. the last caller she shielded

seemed to have these far-fetched ideas about how the virus is tested. the virus is on a regular basis. by the way, i am not a doctor or scientist. i am just a reader of national newspapers. i have a little bit of intelligence in that regard. the virus samples are taken on a regular basis across the entire population and they are then studied. their dna is interpreted. that is how they know how strains develop. there is no magic test. it is just standard dna typology. host: the cdc is the place to go if you want to find out about testing protocol leading up to the authorization or emergency use authorization.

sacramento, california, independent, arnold. caller: the vaccine was passed really fast and it saves lives, right? why is it taking so long to legalize marijuana? it saves lives. that is all. host: donna from fulsome, louisiana, republican. caller: good morning. i was watching the last segment and my thoughts are, basically, the government has locked down the country for over a year. then that is why everyone says don't have trust in the government because they locked down the country for coronavirus and all of a sudden we see all these people coming into the country. can someone tell us, all these

people before they set foot in the country, are they vaccinated? host: patricia, newcastle, delaware, democrat. caller: good morning. i tried to get in on the last segment. quick comment. the question for the young lady. the free and the brave. i am free to follow the facts and signs and brave enough to protect myself, my family and my fellow americans. the question i have for the young lady i wished i could have asked as i wanted to know is there anyone working on a vaccine to cure stupidity? host: arizona daily star on the front page this morning looking at the events of january 6, highlighting the law enforcement efforts to find those involved. usa today reporting this morning

the fbi released 11 videos tuesday showing suspects, some of them engaged in combat with police. this has become the largest criminal investigation in u.s. history. since january, 535 people arrested including 165 who have been charged with assaulting police. the white house putting out a statement yesterday, when it comes to the six-month month anniversary or the remembrance, president biden saying "we can say unequivocally that democracy did prevail and we must continue to work to protect and preserve it. it requires people of goodwill encouraged to stand up to the hate and the extremism that led up to this, so that we can remember it. it requires all of us working together on behalf of the common good to restore decency and

respect for the rule of law. it requires the government to take substantial steps to protect the right to vote." you can find more at the white house website. milwaukee, wisconsin, dan, democrat. caller: yes. talking about the virus. there is regeneron, zinc, antibiotic. why are we being forced to the vaccine when there are other treatments? 96% effective. china is using all three. they are quelling the virus much faster and better than we are. why are we forced into this vaccine? host: are you talking about

treatment of the virus or alleviation? caller: treatment of the virus. why are we not able to use those three i just spoke of? host: terrence, maryland, germantown, independent. caller: hello again. by the way, when the president was infected, he was not given hydrochloric when. i was going to talk about the poll. i realized there was a fascination with the rankings but not with the scores behind the rankings. people are getting mad about whether or not one president was ahead of the other one but we never knew how close the rankings were. thank you for having the scores up on your website. i did not understand the difference between number 11 and number nine. it is part of a larger problem. people get obsessed with the number.

they don't understand the rationale behind the numbers. i am hoping people who look at that fantastic ranking i saw are more willing to look behind the numbers to see where they came from. host: this is our presidential historian survey released recently, still online. the caller talking about a lot of factors when it comes to the various scores given by the historians involved in the project, on various categories. you can still find it online, if you are interested in finding out the rankings. westport, connecticut, republican, jennifer. caller: -- host: caller: go ahead. i'm wondering when they speak of vaccinating people, why they don't bring up the people that have strong immunity systems that have had the covid, got

over it, why would they need to be vaccinated if they are able to get through it, have no side effects? i don't understand why they are not talking about that. host: democrat, midlothian, virginia, janice. caller: hi, good morning. with all due respect, i am still on the fence about getting vaccinated right now. i agree with the caller previously. i don't think they have tested these vaccines enough. there have been different drugs for cancer and hiv that they have not tested for years. something that has been pushed through in 10 months -- i am just really leery and on the fence about it because i am concerned about possible side effects down the road. i guess i have been doing

something right. thank goodness i have not contracted covid. i still go out to the store, do what i need to do, but i just really feel that it just has not been tested enough. host: if i may ask, to what level of testing do you need before you would take it for yourself? caller: if i understand correctly, there are over 300 million of us in the u.s. and they tested that vaccine on tens of thousands. there is not a wide enough swath of different people it was tested on. host: there are several rounds in the testing process usually as drugs that go through the process of getting approval. we have had segments on this over the years on our program to look at testing and the problems of testing. caller: late at night when i am

at tv sometimes, i see all these ads now for all these drugs that were out here that are now have affected people and unfortunately -- it is like did you have hernia medicine? did you do this? did you do that? all these class-action lawsuits and these law firms that are going against a lot of drugs that were tested and approved and now people are having awful side effects from them. host: if i may ask, you not being vaccinated, you still go out and do things, for those people you closely associated with -- how do they react to you when you tell them this? caller: to be honest, none of the people i know in my family have been vaccinated because they feel the same way i do. we are still wearing masks and gloves.

we are still social distancing. since this is our little group, we don't have any issues with this because this is how we feel. it doesn't matter to us how other people think about how we are doing this. none of us has contracted this virus. we still feel like we are doing something good because we still get together for our family dinners and everything. we have been fine. host: janice giving us her thoughts. st. peter's, missouri, independent. caller: hello. my comment deals with the coronavirus. you played a clip earlier of joe biden saying the administration is doing everything possible to protect the american people, pushing this vaccination to everybody. well, i don't really believe that. one of the reasons why is because there are hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens coming across our border.

they are coming from several countries around the world. they are not vaccinated, not tested. the administration is distributing them throughout our country, into our communities and putting americans at risk of contracting this at a higher level than they would be if they would just close down the border, at least test these illegal aliens. host: how does this directly relate to yesterday's efforts to increase vaccination in the u.s.? caller: they are sitting there putting all of us at risk by putting all these illegal aliens into our communities that are going to infect us or possibly infect us. it doesn't make any sense to me. host: you said possibly infect. how do you definitively make the assertion you did before? caller: well, if people have had

only one vaccination, such as myself, or they have not had any, there could be illegal aliens coming across, they could be carrying this coronavirus and really putting us all at risk. i am just saying it seems as though the biden administration doesn't really care about the american people. if they did, what they would be doing is stopping letting all these -- host: i will hold you there since you made that point. president biden himself yesterday, we talked about it a lot but from his mouth, as far as the renewed effort by the administration to increase vaccination rates, here is a bit. [video clip] >> we are continuing to wind down the mass vaccination sites that did so much in the spring to rapidly vaccinate those eager

to get the first shot and their second shot if they needed it. now we need to go to community by community, neighborhood by neighborhood and oftentimes door-to-door, literally knocking on doors, to get help to the remaining people to get protected from the virus. look. equity, equality remains at the heart of our responsibility of ensuring communities hardest hit by the virus have the information and access to get vaccinated. so as we shift from centralized mass vaccination sites, doing thousands of people a day, we will put more emphasis on getting vaccinated in your community, close to home, conveniently and locations you are already familiar with. first, this includes 42,000 local pharmacies where folks with questions can talk to the pharmacists they know and have already dealt with. these locations overwhelmingly

allow you to walk in without an appointment, get the vaccination, when you are up your prescription or just going to get toothpaste or something else you need from a drugstore. second, my team will place renewed emphasis on getting the vaccines to more and family doctors and health care providers so more americans can get the shot at their doctor's office from the folks they know and trust the most. third, we are going to step off efforts to get vaccines to your family doctors and other doctors who serve younger people, so the adolescents ages 12-18 can get vaccinated, as they go for back-to-school checkups or getting ready for physicals they need for fall sports. fourth, we are intensifying efforts to meet people where they are, outside of the neighborhoods, pharmacies and doctors offices including continued work with employers to

make vaccination shots available at work, on the worksite if possible, and or give employees paid time off to get vaccinated at nearby facilities. fifth and finally, we are sending out more mobile clinic units to help people at special events, summer festivals, sporting events, as well as places of worship where everyone can find people gathered. host: that is from the bided administration yesterday talking about renewed efforts. in the washington post this morning, "if president biden wants to convince americans to get immunized, he should remind them that operation warp speed, was the greatest achievement of the trump presidency, clearing the way for regulatory hurdles, eventually receiving fda approval and critical

support from the administration." that is a perspective on the case of immunization and vaccinations. ken, tough carolina, independent, your next on open forum. caller: wow, so much to say about this vaccine. everybody, rappers, country singers, it is an unproven vaccine. that used to take 6-10 years for a vaccine to be approved. i heard a gentle man, i don't know why you never have a counter argument. it is always take the vaccine, take the vaccine. why is it such a push to take the vaccine? my wife had coronavirus. the doctor said she don't need to take the shot. there other physicians saying you need to build up your

r immune system. it is america. if you want to get vaccinated, it is your choice. if you don't, you should not be discriminated against. i think this is where this is headed. if you are not vaccinated, you will be discriminated against, going back to racism. the tuskegee experiments were supposed to help but it didn't. can i say something else? host: quickly. caller: i watched a video 3, 4 years ago where bill gates says we could reduce the world population by vaccines. host: ok. rockville, maryland, mike, democrat. caller: i am very happy so far. my county, i think we are very highly vaccinated. the word is out.

one of the things i don't think people are recognizing is that if you did come down with the virus, you probably do have immunity to the virus. i don't know that we are really -- there are zip codes in my area that were highly hit. some of them were poorly vaccinated. there is a lot of misinformation out there about the safety of the vaccine. i think there are very safe -- i think they are very safe. if you know people who have had reactions to the vaccine at this point, please call in and share those stories because we do not see that around here. i am sure they are around. the point is, if you have had the virus, you probably did form immunity to it and i don't know that that is discussed enough. host: ok, mike in maryland with those thoughts. the associated press reporting brooklyn borough president eric adams has won the democratic

primary for new york city mayor, promising to strike the right balance between fighting crime and ending racial injustice in policing. he would be the city's second black mayor if elected. there is a large democratic field, using ranked choice voting. adams would be the prohibitive favorite against the republican founder of the guardian angel. democrats outnumber republicans 7-1 in new york state. mark, massachusetts. independent. caller: i have a few opinions. there is over 100 million people in the u.s. right now that have had covid. he has reached his goal. he does not need to vaccinate anyone that is hesitant.

it is not an approved vaccine yet. ouchi needs to go -- dr. fauci needs to go. host: it is not fully approved. caller: i'm sorry but we already paid for this. it is enough that we have had -- i have had people in my family that have had covid. they have had the vaccines and have a bad reaction to it after being already infected. we do not need to vaccinate people that have been infected. host: joseph, pennsylvania, democrat. caller: good morning. ok. listen. [indiscernible] i have a medical background. you can call me back, if you want to put my number on

theree -- here's the story. get the mask on and keep it on, everyone. with a mask on, you are protecting yourself from someone who is infective and you are protecting them from you if you are a carrier, with or without the vaccine. you mark my words, ok, if you have any questions please ask me right now. host: caller: you could be a vector. i went to navy disease vector control school. i am telling you right now. you can be a carrier. if you are carrier, without a mask on, you could be working behind a counter -- wait a minute -- host: what is your medical background? caller: i have five years out of

medical college, i have pre-medicine, i have taught science for 20 years, i happen to teach german. i am not bragging. i am a navy hospital -- 43 years service u.s. navy hospital. i know what i'm talking about. host: fran, birmingham, alabama, democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. people please get vaccinated. let me tell you why. it will save your life and your family's and your friends. this is serious. remember, those who are hesitant because it has only been 10 months -- these people have been doing research for years and

years and years. save us and our children! thank you. host: when it comes to other news, wall street journal reports the biden administration is letting previous trump administration visa restrictions expire. in september, they proposed adding a fixed end date. most visas would expire after four years, even if the student needed more time to complete a degree. last year, 1.1 million students were in the u.s. on visas. the department of homeland security detailed the withdrawal of the proposal. federal registrar on tuesday. the agency received 32,000 comments the month the rule was recommended.

99% expressed opposition to the plan. that is from the wall street journal. craig, prescott, arizona, democrat, last call. caller: hi. i know this is a small percentage of people probably but my wife was very afraid of needles. i practically had to drag her to get her shut. host: she is not the first one probably. [laughter] caller: she almost looked like she was insane after she had her shot. a good side of this, our neighbors, we used to always get together but then when covid hit, we could not get together any longer. after she got her shot, we are back. we are having barbecues.

there is such a relaxed atmosphere. if anybody is afraid to get a shot, please get your shot because it will open up a new door for you and you will have so much fun. host: craig finishing off this open forum. for those of you who participated, thank you. we turn our attention to when it comes to those needing access to food, particularly how farmers markets play into this and how they are helping those on food assistance programs. joining us for that is amanda shreve, executive director of the michigan farmers market association, joining next on washington journal. ♪

announcer: saturday, on the communicators. >> republicans and democrats have both coalesced on we need tough antitrust laws. they both have very different reasons for doing so even though they coalesce on the same solutions. free democrats, it is rooted, it is typical for democrats,

animosity toward big business in general and corporations in general and we need to shrink them down to size. for republicans, it is tied to a culture war against technology companies in general where they perceive them as being biased against conservatives in the way they moderate content or in the corporate culture. big tech is tied to their general feeling that tech companies are out to get them. announcer: watch the communicators with elizabeth nolan brown on her recent article, saturday, 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. announcer: washington journal continues. host: joining us, amanda shreve, executive director of the michigan farmers market association here to talk about the role of farmers markets when it comes to food assistance benefits.

thank you for your time. guest: absolutely. host: can you tell our folks about your organization and food assistance issues? guest: i would be honored. i am representing the michigan farmers market association, a statewide member based nonprofit supporting farmers markets and farmers and vendors that sell at farmers markets across the great state of michigan. i am honored to be with you today to represent our organization and to speak from a national perspective as well on how farmers markets are expanding healthy food access by accepting food assistance benefits. host: when it comes to the people who are in programs, how many frequent farmers markets are a source of produce versus a general grocery store? guest: great question. usda tries their best to keep it at on how many farmers markets there are across the country and

how many are accessible to food assistance clients. around 8000 farmers markets across the u.s., nearly 40% of them except snap benefits. others may accept other forms. snap is the most common. around 3000, somewhere between 2800 and 3200 farmers markets across the u.s. are snap accessible. host: usda and others tell us about the breakdown when it comes to those markets that except those programs, 4000+ accepting, about 4000+ not accepting. how do you increase the ratio? what is being done to increase the ratio of the 50% that don't? guest: there are number of potential barriers that farmers markets identify when they consider accepting benefits. there are a plethora of

statewide associations like our own, regional and statewide networks that, also the farmers market coalition, that all of tenant to provide -- that all attempt to provide assistance to overcome barriers as they consider coming on board to accepting these benefits. some of the barriers, one, they need to know their markets are able to accept these benefits, how to go about applying and becoming authorized. we need access to equipment. at this time, since 2008, snap benefits have been distributed on electronic benefit transfer cards that act like a debit card where each month, benefits are loaded to the card and at the retail locations, food is being purchased, the card is swiped, the benefits are transferred from the individual to the retailer to pay for those food items. that requires each retailer

authorized have a piece of equipment, like a credit card machine to process transactions. that equipment can be expensive to purchase and maintain. it incurs transaction fees, monthly fees, annual fees. there are costs associated with accepting food assistance benefits. there is an application process you need to go through and train your market staff and volunteers on how to implement the process and the transactions and sustain that support as the program continues to operate in new markets. host: usda tells us when it comes to farmers markets and the programs they benefit, except, 79% saying they except those on snap, 58% for those on women and children's programs, the farmers market nutritional program, 57%, 26% the women's, infant and

children's cash value voucher. when it then comes to the decision to accept benefits at markets, are they made by the markets overall or by the vendors themselves? guest: both entities can decide to accept benefits. individual farmers and vendors can become authorized to accept and markets can become authorized on behalf of the farmers and vendors that sell at markets. both are an option. when you are deciding whether to accept or not, at the market level, that is a decision among market management and the operating organization. you have to meet the eligibility requirements for each program. it comes down to capacity. where the market can accept, having the capacity to work through the application process and implement the program. you need to overcome challenges and barriers associated with the cost. the administrative burden of

continuing to operate these programs, access to the equipment you need and the staff training. in farmer market settings, turnover, especially in our state is high and compensation is low. this is essential to ensuring farmers markets can process and accept benefits. that is why it is important that we invest in market managers and their compensation and training to ensure they are lending capacity to the markets they manage to participate in these programs. host: you can talk about michigan and other states, do the states give incentives to help farmers markets to be more open to these programs? guest: best case scenario, absolutely. the states are supportive. whether the state department of agriculture or health or human services, the entities at state level that implement snap and support agricultural endeavors in their state, it is certainly beneficial when those entities

come along and support these efforts. we have had great partnerships in michigan with our department of health and human services and the snap retailer division there and support from the department of ag but there are some states where those entities are not yet on board or they do not have the capacity at state level, the staff to invest in supporting. in those states that the number of farmers markets authorized to accept snap is certainly lower and they face more challenges working through the process and maintaining that ability. host: amanda shreve, michigan farmers market association here to talk about access to farmers markets particularly for those on food assistance programs. if you want to ask her questions about it, for the eastern and central time zone (202)-748-8000 . mountain and pacific time zones, (202)-748-8001. text us at (202)-748-8003. according to the usda,

individual producers and vendors, 4300+ accepting programs from national nutrition programs, 3700+ not accepting. you talk about the technical hurdles to overcome. what about the willingness? are most markets willing to work with these programs but because of the technical aspects, they are limited in doing so? guest: great question. contrary to grocery stores and corner stores, farmers markets are very mission based. they have missions around increasing food access or supporting local businesses or being a community gathering place. often, the ability to accept snap and serve a wide variety of customers in their communities and be inclusive to shopper shopping with all different types of currency is very mission based and aligned with the reasons why they are hosting

the market in general. most markets would be inclined to accept snap if they have the capacity to do so and other benefits. we did a study in 2012 about what the barriers were. capacity, both in budget and staff was a significant factor. also, a misunderstanding about the need for snap support in their community. as advocates, one thing we can do is help markets understand how many individuals in their community are utilizing snap and other programs and help market managers and operating organizations understand that the folks utilizing benefits live in every community and everywhere there is a need, especially now coming out of the pandemic. there are more folks who are

food insecure than ever before and need support. helping markets understand the need in their community can also be a great motivating factor. host: when you go to a farmers market on average, what are you limited to as far as what you can purchase on food assistance programs? guest: only to what you can purchase by the rules, parameters of that program. for example, snap, you can purchase any eligible food item meant for human consumption as long as it is not a hot prepared food item. for example, if there is a hot dog vendor that is handing you a hot dog in a paper sleeve and you are meant to eat it on site, that is not allowable to be purchased with snap, in the same way you cannot use snap benefits to eat at a restaurant. other than that, any other food items at the farmers market, you can purchase with snap. you can purchase plants that

produce food with your snap benefits. you are only limited to the parameters of that program. host: a viewer talks about what is going on where she lives in georgia saying "our international market matches dollar for dollar ebt purchases ." she adds that georgia produces the best fresh veggies. do you find that happening in other markets? guest: absolutely. incentive programs, particularly those matching snap benefits are widespread across our state. there is a federal program called the gus schumacher nutrition incentive program, a grant program through the usda supporting nutrition incentive programs, national programs and produce prescription programs which partner health care institutions and local food

entities together and the health care provider prescribes fresh fruits and vegetables as a means of reducing the risks associated with or combating chronic related diseases that are diet related and that prescription is filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. the gus schumacher nutrition incentive program has helped these programs expand across the country and has significant impact both for markets in increasing sales for farmers and vendors but also for customers expanding their buying power and access to fresh, healthy, local grown food. host: callers, (202)-748-8000, eastern and central time zones. (202)-748-8001, mountain and pacific time zones. one of our viewers texting us this morning.

guest: i don't consider this a barrier. in michigan, each state has different regulations and sometimes each county and city may have different regulations, that vendors selling food within those geographies must abide by. there is variation across the country. there also laws and regulations at the federal level that farmers are abiding by or small producers are aligning with federal standards. the food safety modernization act, as an example. for farmers might be seeking certifications around good agricultural practices called gap certification. food safety is something farmers are very cognizant of, very intentional about. i myself am very confident in the food safety efforts farmers and producers put in to bring safe food to consumers.

host: individual producers and vendors, 56% accepting snap, 67% with the wic program, 67% of the senior program, 30% cash voucher and 5% other. when it comes to the average user of benefits, is it families, older people? how does it break down at farmers markets? guest: let's talk specifically about snap. each program has different audiences. wic program is serving children ages 0-5 and mothers breast-feeding or have just recently given birth. each program has a different audience they serve. snap users are all demographics, a wide cross-section of our american population.

more than, excuse me, i'm not finding my notes, there's a lot of people using snap, especially as we come out of the pandemic. snap users are our friends, neighbors, colleagues, parents, schools, anyone who needs supports in feeding their family. we are proud one farmers markets can be accessible to everyone and their community part icularly families. host: as far as competition is concerned, one viewer asking do grocery stores compete with farmers markets? guest: great question. those of us invested recognize

each retail entity provides benefit to when we are talking about food access. the more the merrier when it comes to feeding families and neighbors. grocery stores and farmers markets both have their benefits and are both important access points. farmers markets in particular, especially markets located in low access and low income areas, they may be creating access to fresh fruits and vegetables that is not there because of the chain grocery store in their community. farmers markets are often creating access where grocery stores have not. we believe the more the merrier as far as access and we also see that in the way incentive programs are being implemented, those programs helping to expand the ability of snap users to purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables are being implemented in grocery stores and farmers markets and in some communities

the program is interoperable, which means you can earn incentives at the grocery store, spend them at the farmers market or vice versa. that can create really great connections between the retailers in the communities and increase and amplify access and allow snap shoppers to really meet their needs wherever they are shopping. host: as far as cost-benefit, our farmers markets purchases generally more expensive then store purchases? how does that factor into a decision being made where a person gets their food? guest: great question. it is a common misconception farmers markets are more expensive. it is something we fight against in the community. often buying in season, farmers markets are built on in season produce, can be more economical.

when we are talking about peak season production when all farmers and vendors selling have those beautiful ruby red ripe tomatoes, the price at peak season is going to be lowest on those produce. sometimes when you go to a market and you are seeing produce before or after peak season due to production techniques like rowing in hoop houses or season extension techniques, the prices might be more expensive on that produce when it is early or later then peak season. during peak season, shopping at a farmers market is more economical, oftentimes then shopping at the grocery store. host: dave on twitter makes the comment that where he lives there is a lot of amish farm markets and some of those are sizable. guest: the amish community has

specific religious and community beliefs around access to technology. oftentimes, when it is access to technology for their businesses, they allow exemptions. i think you will find variation in the amish community's adaptation of this to accept snap benefits. i would check with each individual vendor. at our farmers markets in michigan, we often have amish vendors participate. when the market is accepting snap at a market level, each of the farmers and vendors are participating through a token based system, are amish vendors are very welcome to participate in those types of transactions. i think you will find variation in the amish community and their participation in accepting snap. host: seamy valley, california, peter, you are on. caller: hi, amanda.

my brother who was an attorney lost his income during the great recession. he ended up on snap. it was $176 per month, as i recall. i actually went with him, i was a financial advisor and was curious. it hadn't been increased since 1976. it seems very stingy, putting it mildly for people on these programs. i don't know -- i know it varies depending on how many people in the family.

i don't know all the details about that. host: thank you for the comment. guest: peter, you make some great points. there are nuances as far as the monthly benefit amount that i don't know and especially across the country, there are nuances within states. the food and nutrition service out of usda issued a report in 2020 about redemption patterns of snap showing 17% of benefits are spent on the day they are issued, meaning that folks are hungry and in need of food and the minute they get their benefits they are out to shop. we also know 89% of their monthly snap benefits are spent by day 21. imagine if you had a food budget

for the month and that was all the money you had to buy food, by day 21, you have spent all that money. what are you going to do for the other 8-9 days for that month? certainly, our emergency food networks across the country try to fill the gap but we could certainly, through federal advocacy and federal changes and benefit amounts and the support we provide through the snap program, help to close that gap and make sure those receiving snap have enough food to feed their families for the entire month. host: the seasonal nature farmers markets, how did they factor in to these folks who want to buy from a farmers market? guest: that also varies across the country as we have a wide spread of different types of climate. in michigan, our peak season is really may through october and that is when we have the greatest diversity of fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the state for a residents to access.

through the use of hoop houses and extension technology, we are growing fresh, michigan grown produce all year-round. even in december and january with the coldest temperatures, we have some of the sweetest spinach and greens coming out of hoop houses. there is year-round access to two different production technology in most parts of our country. those are increasing. in their usage and so, as much as you can buy local, i encourage you to do so and i think we will find great local options all year-round. host: linda, orange, connecticut. caller: good morning. i was watching during the pandemic how there were organizations going directly to the farms and the farmers were giving their excess

produce and they were getting them directly to people through different organizations. do these programs, the farmers markets supplied during the pandemic, where they compensated in any way to help the farmers at all? are they still in existence? has it expanded farmers markets? in general, due directly to the pandemic? thanks and have a good day. guest: thanks, you too. during the pandemic, we sought innovation and adaptation be the name of the game and we saw farmers markets and farmers respond in a number of ways. we saw food insecurity and the need to feed our neighbors and communities grow exponentially. another thing we saw was an interest in local food. when you went to the grocery

store and experienced the first empty shelf you have seen in your lifetime, consumers started asking questions about -- where can i get my food more locally? where can i buy meat and produce from the farmers in myspace as opposed to grown in the grocery store? we saw significant interest in expansion of, interest in supporting local farmers and connecting with them directly. all different types of programs were created, ways for consumers and farmers to connect, whether that be through online markets, deliveries, pickups, drive-thru farmers markets, box programs, where producers put together a compilation of production for the week or the month and deliver it or have a pickup location where folks go and pick up. the innovation and the models were varied and community based.

producers could put forth and what organizations could think up and support them in doing it as far as connecting with consumers. we also saw incentive programs and farmers markets responded to the unprecedented need caused by the pandemic. we know some incentive programs doubled from the previous year as far as the amount folks were earning and spending through these incentive programs. that was amazing to see. the double up food bucks program across the country, 11.7 million dollars were spent on fruits and vegetables in 20 which nearly doubled from 2019. spot on, increased demand, service and tons of innovation. host: david, grand rapids, michigan. caller: my first comment is

because of the covid, i have been able to spend my cash money on things i need. i have been able to get ahead. i have been able to eat some decent food. because i can spend my cash on things, i have been able to contribute to the tax baseline. things like that. the other part is i see these commercials with this incredibly great-looking food that you need a credit card for. when is that going to get into that bargain? that arena? i am disabled. it would be fantastic to get my groceries at my door. host: thanks for the questions.

guest: hi, david, from a fellow michigander. what you are referring to is the ability to purchase groceries online. some of the biggest retailers in our country where the first to be able to adapt that technology and get approval through usda and begin facilitating online snap purchases. what we don't want to see is that markets and small producers get behind in adapting that technology. as technology makes huge leaps in functionality, it becomes more expensive. we recognize in the farmers market community and have felt the pains for years, when processing snap that we are ready, willing and able to make some of these bounds as far as processing and meeting customers where they are at, meeting needs, and we need that technology access to come with

it. we often need support to get there. technology is expensive to develop and expensive, especially when there are stringent federal regulations it needs to comply with. i will put the call out there to all those tech inclined folks to help us achieve our missions of food for people and money for farmers by helping us create and adapt technology to be able to process snap online forever farmers markets and producers. host: how did you get into the business? guest: good question to ask anyone in the farmers market community. there is no college degree to become a farmers market manager. there is a wide variety of backgrounds that folks come from. everyone has a unique story. i graduated from michigan state with a degree in horticulture, which is all about growing

fruits, vegetables and flowers. i really wanted to use my knowledge and better connect consumers and agriculture. in our country, many americans have lost touch with where their -- healthy, affordable foods, and i wanted to help bridge some of the disconnect between the consumers eating the food and the people behind the production. working with farmers markets has allowed me to do that. i see farmers markets as one of the best places to make that connection between your food, between who grew it and who will eat it. host: our guest is amanda shreve, thank you for your time today. guest: thank you so much. host: that is it for our program today. another edition of washington journal comes your way tomorrow morning at 7:00. we will see you then. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.

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christopher wray. then, testimony. on friday, the house oversight committee hears from former trump administration officials about their actions in response to the capitol attack. that is all this week, starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, here on c-span. >> saturday on the communicators. >> republicans and democrats have been attacking from all sorts of angles and antitrust is one of them. they have coalesced on, we need tougher antitrust laws in order to go after tech companies. they have different reasons for doing so, even though they call that a solution. for democrats, it is rooted in a typical animosity toward big

businesses in general and skepticism about corporations in general and needing to shrink them down to size. for republicans, it is tied into a culture war against technological companies, where they received them as being biased against conservatives and how they moderate content or in their public culture. it is tied to their general feeling that tech companies are out to get them. >> watch look communicators on a recent article, the bipartisan antitrust crusade against big tech, saturday at 6:30 on c-span. washington journal continues. host: our first guest is david gantz, with -- a professor of law emeritus at the university of arizona. anchor for joining us this morning. guest: my pleasure. host: we are under, when it