[captions copyright national cable satell >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. brought to you by these television companies and more, including media,. >> the world changes in an instant. we never slowed down. businesses went virtual and we powered a new reality. we are built you ahead. >> mediacom support c-span along with these other television companies, giving you a front row seat to democracy. coming up this morning on "washington journal," mark morreale discusses the organizations 2021 state of black america report. nina rees on reducing federal

funding for charter schools. washington journal is next. ♪ host: first lady jill biden stepping off the plane yesterday in tokyo. at this hour leading the u.s. delegation as the 2020 one ceremony for the olympics gets underway. strict guidelines in place this year and no spectators. the olympics showing the optimism and the continued caution covid is still causing all over the world. it is friday, july 23rd, 2021. we start the program asking you your top news stories of the week. issues of the week include the

rise of covid, the rise of the delta variant. the reemergence of mass mandates -- mask mandates. the continued migrant search. that and more, your top news stories of the week. democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can also send us a text at (202) 748-8003, include your name and where you are texting from. leave your comments on our facebook page and send us your thoughts in a tweet or instagram post. that is @cspanwj. other stories include the western wildfires and the drought out west and more. start dialing with your top news story of the week.

the olympics getting underway in tokyo this morning. usa today with the headline, the covid olympics begin. a moment of joy and relief in tokyo is cloaked with fear and uncertainty. writing is sports columnist christine brennan, the ones postpone, much discussed, long-awaited, olympics are finally upon us. they did not begin until friday's opening ceremony but we already know they will forever be known as the covid olympics. the other story is kind of where we began yesterday, the decision by nancy pelosi to prohibit two republican members on the select committee for the january 6 investigation, jim banks and jim jordan. the republican leader pulling all five republicans from the panel. the one remaining republican is liz cheney.

the headline from the washington times this morning, pelosi: trump obsessed republicans will derail the january 6 to probe. a tweet here from politico, speaker pelosi is weighing new ways to beef up the bipartisan credibility of the january 6 pro after mccarthy and republicans walked out on it. she is considering adding adam kinzinger and hiring the republican as an outside advisor. here's what she had to say yesterday. speaker pelosi: the select committee is bipartisan and it has a quorum. it will do the job it is out to do. that is to investigate the causes of what happened on january 6. to find out who paid for it, who

message to get those people here for the assault on the capital. over 100 people or injured, some died. i will never forget the trauma it caused not only for our members but our staff and people who work in the capitol. some of you were here that day as well. you can attest to the fact that it was not all love, hugs, and kisses. as you know, the committee is bipartisan. staff is being hired to do the job. we are there to get the truth, not get trump.

trump seems to be what the other side is obsessed with. as legislation allows, two of the five people were appointed and they made statements in taking action that i think would impact the integrity of the committee. the work of the committee. this is deadly serious. this is about our constitution. it is about our country. it is being mischaracterized at the expense of finding the truth. i am very pleased, the response be received across the country on this subject. i'm very pleased with the leadership of our chairman, the

other members on the committee who have experienced their calling card. it is my responsibility as speaker of the house to make sure we get to the truth of this and we will not let their antics stand in the way of that. host: our coverage of the january 6 attack continues this weekend. sunday we will show you a presentation with interviews with members of the house who were there that day. views from the house comes out sunday. the committee itself, the select committee is having their first meeting on tuesday, live on

c-span three. it will also stream live at c-span.org. you can follow it live on the c-span radio app. washington journal, your top news story of the week, (202) 748-8000 if you're a democrat. (202) 748-8001, for republicans. (202) 748-8002, independents and others. a check on the vaccine. vaccine count across the country , the numbers here at the centers for disease control and prevention saying thursday about 187.2 million people have received at least one dose of the covid-19 vaccine. across the country, fully vaccinated, nearly 49%. let's go to your calls. this is carlos. caller: could you hear me? host: yes we can.

caller: top news story is the covid-19 vaccination rollout. i have personally not been infected with covid-19. people i have known, people who i do know who have been vaccinated, healthy people have had to report to the cdc, over 400,000 people. to have this constant push into take these vaccinations in the midst of a pandemic that has been 20 months.

it is astonishing, the fear that is leading the people to take these vaccines without questioning the corporations that are not held liable for any type of reaction that is adverse. for a virus initially that had a 99 point 9% recovery rate. host: mark in schenectady. caller: my top news story is the potential passing of the infrastructure bill. what that might lead to is no one has explained to me how congress is going to pay for it. how are we going to pay for a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. if they try to raise taxes i will be very unhappy. they consistently bring up the idea of taxing the rich. i don't want that. i get my job from a wealthy

person. stop taxing them, please. the infrastructure bill has not passed yet. they are trying to get some republicans over to vote with the democrats. they have not explained how they will pay for it. they will run a huge deficit. host: chuck schumer yesterday talking about the failure to move forward on the legislation. they will bring it up again. here's what senator schumer said. >> my colleagues on both side of the aisle should be assured i have intentions of passing both packages. a budget resolution with reconciliation structures before we leave for the august recess. i laid out that precise schedule at the end of june and intend to stick with it. a new report by the chief report -- someone who served as an

economic advisor to senator mccain concluded both major infrastructure proposals are essential to maximize our economic potential. not just one, both. together, they would give a massive boost to the economy, increased productivity, and reduce income inequality. the senate will keep working on infrastructure in order to achieve these goals. host: let's go to port st. lucie, florida. host: my top news story -- caller: my top news story is a comment made by former president trump. it is a beautiful word, disinformation. that's what he did with this covid virus the last year.

why is there not a massive class-action lawsuit against him by relatives of people who died from the virus? thank you. host: mark in arkansas. republican line. caller: the top story this week was the exchange that happened between senator rand paul and dr. fauci. i don't understand what the technical definition is but if they were modifying an animal virus in a way that it would have been affecting people, that was a horrible idea. these people have to be held accountable if they were doing that. host: was this the first that you had heard of the issue? caller: i had heard the term. i don't know that technically meets the definition. i never heard dr. fauci deny that is what they were doing, modifying a virus that could

affect people and giving it the capability to affect people. that is entirely too dangerous no matter how necessary the researches. host: thanks for that. i direct your attention to a piece in the washington post. they write about that conflict between dr. fauci and rand paul this week. hearing we covered, you can find that at c-span.org. we would like to hear about your top news stories of the week. this is robert in massachusetts, democrats line. caller: good morning. i hope you show that tape between dr. fauci and rand paul. dr. fauci really blasted rand paul and called him a liar, basically.

the other is donald trump's campaign manager. the trouble he is in and the things you have done will get donald trump, his children, wife , mccarthy, remember donald trump said i have a bigger crowd than obama? where did all that money go? millions and millions of dollars. one last thing. mitch mcconnell's wife work side-by-side with donald trump for four years. mitch mcconnell's wife is a shipping tycoon out of china. he is a senator. she was very close to mr. trump. thank you very much. host: back to our previous car that asked about the conversation, argument between

senator rand paul and dr. fauci. this is not the first time the two have had disagreements in a hearing, this was the latest. it happened on tuesday. this is only part of a hearing of dr. fauci, rachelle wolinsky and others testifying before the senate committee. here it is. >> knowing it is a crime to lie to congress, do you wish to retract your statement of may 11 where you claim they never funded research in wuhan? >> i have never lied. senator paul, i have never lied before the congress. i do not retract that statement. this paper you are referring to was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being

gain of function. let me finish. >> you take an animal virus, you are saying that is not gain of function? >> you do not know what you're talking about, quite frankly. i want to say that officially. you do not know what you are talking about. could i answer the question? >> this is your definition that you guys wrote. it says the scientific research that increases the transmissibility among animals is gain of function. they took animal viruses and they increase their transmissibility to humans. how you could say that is not gain of future -- function. you are trying to obscure responsibility from 4 million people dying around the world. >> now you are getting into something -- the point you are

making is the grant that was funded as the award to wuhan created sars covid2. let me finish. >> we don't know. all of the evidence is pointing that he came from the lab. it will be the responsibility of those who funded the lab, including yourself. >> i totally resent the lie you are now propagating, senator. if you look at the viruses that were used in the experiment that were given in the annual report that was published in the literature, it is molecularly impossible. >> no one is saying those virus because the pandemic. what we are alleging is the gain of function research was brought on in that lab and nih funded it. it meets your definition and you are --

>> i am not office getting your truth. i want everyone to understand that if you look at those viruses, that is just by qualifying virologists and biologist, those viruses are molecularly impossible to make the sars covid to. host: part of a hearing we covered this week. you could find all of that at c-span.org. an opinion piece by josh rogan, who has covered foreign affairs, written opinions about them. washington post.com. what the fight between anthony fauci and rand paul is really about. more than 18 months into the pandemic our leaders cannot manage to have a rational conversation about a crucial public health question. how did the crisis begin? we are losing sight of the need

to investigate the origins of the outbreak including a full investigation of the labs in china. yesterday's yelling match between anthony fauci and senator rand paul of kentucky brought the origins issue back into the public eye in the worst possible way. this was not their first public fight on the matter and both came prepared to do battle. their class was all heat and no light. they got bogged down in a debate over coronavirus researchers funded in wuhan qualifies as gain of function research. i will point you to washington post.com if you want to continue to read that piece this morning. your top news story of the week, (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans.

let's hear from shirley in newcastle. caller: thank you for taking my call. the first thing is just the talk of going back with these masks again is more than most people could even fathom. this dr. fauci, he has lied so many times and changed his story so many times. i don't think the man knows the truth for the job he is doing. does he need to be penalized? does he need to go to jail? the question i want to at why haven't the republicans? i'm talking real republicans, why haven't they started impeachment proceedings with this president? they have our country turned completely upside down. host: we will go to miller in

maryland. -- i'm sorry we will go to -- i'm losing them all here. we will go to lynn in atlanta, georgia. sorry about that. (202) 748-8000 is the line to call. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. (202) 748-8002 for independents and others. i just hung up on a bunch of you and i apologize. republicans warn of battle over debt ceiling. top senate republicans as the gop made line up against any effort to raise the government's borrowing limit this year adding to the uncertainty surrounding how congress will address the

issue after the limit is reinstated next month. democratic plans to advance president biden's for trillion dollar agenda could cause republicans to oppose the debt limit increase. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell made these comments earlier. they write that congress suspended the debt limit for two years and 2019 as part of a broader agreement on overall spending levels brokered by then treasury secretary steven mnuchin and house speaker nancy pelosi. that suspension is set to expire july 31. the limit will be reinstated at roughly $28.5 trillion and the government will no longer be able to have bond markets to raise cash to pay its bills. the senate minority whip, here's what he said yesterday on the floor. >> the crisis spending is for just that. crisis.

at least it should be. democrats have never met a temporary government dollar that they didn't want to keep spending. temporary government programs aren't really a thing for my friends across the aisle. our economy was rebounding, democrats bound on the crisis spending and passed a massive covid relief bill filled with unnecessary handouts. hundreds of billions of dollars for state governments. the majority of whom were doing just fine without it. they had many running surpluses. schools had barely made a dead in the billions of dollars they had already been given. republicans and at least one liberal economist said the massive spending plan could over stimulate the economy. the democrats did not listen. it is most prized the flood of unnecessary dollars currently

help to boost inflation. here's the kicker, after flooding the economy with unnecessary money, democrats are planning to double down. that's right, despite passing a largely unnecessary $1.9 trillion bill, democrats want to spend an additional $3.5 trillion. $3.5 trillion. the truth is that number is likely to be even higher. a lot higher. one estimate suggests the $3.5 trillion will be more like $5 trillion or $5.5 trillion. that is from an independent analysis. president biden's own treasury secretary serves on the board. that would -- that is an inconceivably large amount of money. the entire federal budget for 2019 was less then $4.5

trillion. the entire federal budget. democrats are just casually tossing out a new spending bill that might very well exceed the entire federal budget in 2019. i can assure americans that much money would fuel increased inflation. host: your top news story of the week, send us a text at (202) 748-8003. bob in illinois says this. big tech and mainstream media censorship. jen psaki expressed concern about freedom of speech in hong kong. meantime americans are being misled and stifled. our first amendment is under attack. caller: good morning. i just wanted to ask about the

crt and why --host: make sure you mute your volume and continue with your comment. we could hear you fine, just make sure your television is muted. caller: ok. better? host: yes. caller: i was listening to this over the weekend on one of the social media sites. everybody in an uproar about this. my question is why do they think kids are so gullible when it's an issue for them to learn about the world history. when slaves were being lynched and killed -- why is that not

being taught? it is not being taught in schools, at least elementary and middle schools i don't think. that is my question. host: we will hear next from charles in illinois. good morning. caller: i actually sort of agree with the caller admitted to go about the censorship issue. i don't think another administration in history has publicly announced they will track down people on the internet and silence them. nancy pelosi kicking several people off the committee saying we don't like quote they will say. the real story is that a group of people the size of charleston, south carolina and

sarasota, florida combined short up at our border in june and demanded to be let in the country and we let them in and did not check them for covid. we don't know at the about them. having 200,000 people ushered in and sent to the center of our country without knowing a thing about them is probably the biggest story of the week. host: a couple of stories on that. the front page of the washington times. at least 270,000 migrants have sneaked into the u.s. and burrowed into communities across the country. according to the latest border patrol data. agents know them as got a ways, who present an acute national security list. another story on that is from the wall street journal this morning about what the state of texas is doing.

texas steps in as immigration agent. texas has begun jailing migrants for trespassing as greg abbott pursues a new plan at border crossers. the first three migrants were sent to state prison tuesday on charges. judge lewis owens role is as an elected representative. according to u.s. customs and border protection, mr. abbott, a republican last month declared the border situation a disaster. a classification typically used for events such as hurricanes. he says state troopers would be arresting immigrants for trespassing. numerous quote -- a new result to increase border traffic. let's hear from reese in florida, independent line. go-ahead. caller: --

host: we will go to pat -- excuse me, frank in new york. caller: i have three things to say. the caller was saying some crazy stuff talking about critical race theory. wasn't it general who got tired of the senate and cut off the hands and mailed it to the chamber door? as far as the insurrection, covid, found she -- found she is on top of his game. rand paul, isn't he an eye doctor? that is like the garbageman trying to tell the surgeon what is going on.

the insurrection, back in the day if you tried to overthrow your government they would line of the conspirators and shoot them. the countrymen watch what happens to people who tried to overthrow their government. some of these people, i think they are tired of living. host: we will hear from some members of the house who were in the chamber on january 6. all history, views from the house will be here on c-span. it will stream sp span.org and you can listen to it as it airs on the c-span radio app. on tuesday of next week we will be airing the first of the select committee hearings on the attack on the u.s. capitol. that is at 9:30 eastern on c-span three and also streaming

online at c-span.org. reporting from the huffington post here with the headline republican stumbled trying to show more urgency about covid-19 vaccines. several high-profile republicans have re-braced -- embrace the coronavirus vaccine. sean hannity, who previously called covid-19 a hoax promoted the vaccine on his show this week. steve scalise said months ago he would be getting it soon. florida governor ron desantis has been urging floridians to get vaccinated. mitch mcconnell has repeatedly encouraged vaccination in previous days. kevin mccarthy of california rejected the idea thursday that republicans have been speaking differently about vaccines. i don't think we shifted our tone he said. explaining the rapid development has always been an achievement under former president trump. some other republicans are not

quite ready to ditch the skepticism about the danger of the virus in the effectiveness of the vaccine. here's part of kevin mccarthy's briefing focusing on the committee. >> i would hope so. what the speaker has done has been a great deal of doubt in it. at no time in the history, i checked with a historian has what speaker pelosi done ever happened before. the idea that she will pick and choose. she is picking and choosing, she put a chairman on that objected to the election of george bush. she put a chairman on this committee that just had to now pull back on his lawsuit against president trump. she questioned having jim banks, a naval officer who served in

afghanistan that she somehow predetermines. it doesn't matter today what she does with that committee. it is not going to change the outcome of an already written report. the fbi has investigated. what it really comes down to is there are two questions. why are we so ill prepared? why were we so ill prepared? second, we have to make sure it never happens or has the ability to happen again. in the meantime, we lost officer evans on good friday. from a driven individual. it could be politically motivated.

i think everything should be looked at. host: congresswoman liz cheney the only republican remaining. she was chosen by house speaker nancy pelosi. a story about her political future this morning. inside trump's intense search for a cheney challenger. there republican has been holding interviews with republicans running against cheney. your top news story of the week. caller: the question i would like to ask because i see a lot of different democrats, republicans basically pawing our nation. like with the shots, everything going on in this country. this country does not need to be split between democrats and republicans. they need to join forces and

worry about our country and our people. they keep going back and forth with trump, joe biden, this and that. why don't i get to the bottom-line problem? our country is at a deficit because of this epidemic. instead of crucifying our country, why are we not take into the country where it came from. why are we talking about how it got here? who funded it? the person that did fund it, why are we stepping up and taking care of the american people instead of going back and forth with each other. people sticking together, democrat and republican, joining forces to make our country and our nation the best it is. you could never make america great again because this country is the greatest country in the whole world. host: to gerald's point of

finding the origin of covid, reporting and the washington post this morning, china rejects world health organization proposal. chinese officials on thursday rejected a who proposal for next steps in the origin of the coronavirus. questions about if and how the pandemic will be fully investigated. complicating a standoff between the who, china, in the united states. caller: i'm calling basically in support of the lady in those previous segments that ask you about starting impeachment process on joe biden and you hung up on her. i would like to understand why did you hang up on her and not let her finish her comments? host: her question is why is in

congress starting it. i hung up on her unintentionally. that happens sometimes. caller: it seemed very biased on your part. i was concerned about that. the lady had a legitimate point that a lot of people have. why haven't we started impeachment process against joe biden? caller: thank you. host: we will go to sam in tucson. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: first time ever calling into c-span. i just wanted to follow up on something, a bit of good news. the hubble space telescope has completed a major repair. there's a lot of thought there that it would be gone for good this time. as far as concerning news, the

pegasus story caught my eye this past week. the israeli company would be able to execute these hacks on people's personal cell phones, their iphones, android devices. the potential for future spyware hacks and the idea that if the technology is disseminated, we have the wild west of 21st century wiretapping. i wonder what your thoughts were on that and what the u.s. position would be. host: i'm glad you brought that up. washington post reporting all week about the spyware used hacking journalists and other activists.

we barely touched on that story. in the coming programs on washington journal, thanks for pointing that out. caller: i commend you on using old-fashioned journalism. you take notes. i haven't -- i have been in the business 60 years. if you really want to know about the covid origins, i would suggest you forget the consumer press and go to those of us in the business and trade side of the business. covid was first reported in early october of 2019. the world's largest home furnishings market was being held in high point, north carolina. every important business trade

and consumer trade from the world was in attendance along with a very large number of chinese based companies. at that time we were getting a lot of reports from reputable journalists and reporters out of wuhan on this event. we knew about it before anywhere else. in early november the national amusement park association was having their get-together in orlando. many chinese companies, many international reporters were there any topic of discussion was the wuhan situation. the facts were coming out and being disseminated before the chinese government shut us down.

if you want to really know what happened, sop to the business and trades press community. we know where it came from and we were reporting it and passing information along. i thank you for your help. you're doing an excellent job. host: thanks for your insight. a comment on the olympics, cynthia says japan's insistent on letting old, incompetent men rule their country to the ground could be a cautionary tale. shameful organizations didn't take covid seriously in the country will lose billions. this one says the president wants to replace defund the police with psychologist and social workers to reduce violent crime. violent crime was escalated. my top story is the 9.3 million job openings. the white house is destroying our economy says sue in ohio.

the olympics get underway with their tweet here. fireworks light up the sky during the opening ceremony of the tokyo. maybe they are still saying 2020 olympic games. bill is in michigan, good morning. caller: yes, just two things. trump was president, he gave away over $3 trillion to the superrich, which did nothing for the rest of us. biden wants to spend a little over $1 trillion that would be good for all of america, which would put people to work. the other subject is i feel the vaccine, the people who refuse to take the vaccine, which is free. they end up in the hospital. they should have to pay for the medical out of their own pocket,

not the insurance companies which cause all of our insurance rates to go up. thank you for the good job. host: usa today with a story -- a statement made by the president the other night is the reason they are writing about this. president biden is optimistic vaccines for children under 12 could be available as early as august. a town hall hosted by cnn biden said he wasn't promised a specific date but he did have an expectation saying my expectation, over 20 scientists and others in the field was sometime maybe in the beginning of the school year in august, september, october they will get final approval. usa today wrote that is an unlikely timeline. the result of the trials are expected in the fall, not within weeks.

the vice president of vaccine clinical research and develop an fis pfizer said and emergency use authorization was planned for the 5-11 age group in september or october. during a presentation at johns hopkins university on june 30. let's hear from max in doylestown, pennsylvania -- ohio, go ahead. caller: the congressman from tennessee said we are getting paid well but we want to bundle everything because the house said it would take too long to do separately. now they are taking a break in august. how many hours do they actually work not counting time at home. thank you. host: we will hear from tom in

bethesda, maryland next. caller: mccarthys pick scott scrapped, putting a bunch of clowns on the committee to spread the big lie and all of the other dangerous lies. it caused that insurrection anyway. host: the hill has a story about one of those charged in the riot. it was found using facial recognition. on wednesday -- a federal judge on wednesday ordered an alleged january 6 capital -- we will have to read that story in a second. we will go to mark in new york and hear from -- we will go to new york and hear from gretchen. caller: i'm calling about the

texas and trying to pass this abortion law in the first six weeks for women. it is so creepy that strangers could report women and get compensation if it turns out to be true. usually i have a lot to say. i don't have anything more to say this morning. thank you very much. host: this is the story about the use of facial recognition software. a federal judge wednesday ordered an alleged january 6 rider, unlocked his laptop use facial recognition. she granted a request from the government to place him in front of his microsoft surface pro to unlock it. his lawyer confirmed to the news

network the laptop was unlocked during the hearing. let's go to andrew in massachusetts. good morning morning, republican line. caller: one of the first problems i have, the top news stories in the nfl, how they will hold unvaccinated players responsible for game checks. i would like to know the statistics of how many athletes have been reported to have a test positive for covid and it was proven to be false? we have players and athletes constantly in the protocol and none of it turns out to be legit. no athletes have died. it is all a joke. i'm not getting the vaccine. host: are you still on the line? we lost him. chris in north carolina, go ahead. caller: how are you doing today? host: fine, thank you.

caller: i'm just listening to a little bit of the news this morning and you are going to touch later about the january 6 thing and everything like that. i was a white man being oppressed in our country right now. i didn't know if everybody felt the same way. host: did you say you feel like you are a white man being oppressed? tell us why. caller: absolutely. we are just being oppressed because our voices are not being heard. we are getting labeled different terms. everybody is angry at one group of people. it happens to be a white man.

caller: my top thing is the afghanistan's coming to america. they didn't say if we will get more, 2500 that brought it in. about 6000 people from afghanistan. they didn't tell us how many people in the immediate family they are bringing in. they did not say. host: the u.s. house expediting a bill for visas. this is from page of the wall street journal this morning. the u.s. military is prepared to house as many as 35,000 afghan interpreters at two american bases in an expanding effort to aid those who face taliban

retribution for helping american forces. on the floor of the senate yesterday the minority leader, mitch mcconnell spoke about his concerns over the surge of migrants at the southern border. caller: -- sen. mcconnell: with covid-19 cases picking up we are talking about re-imposing this on the american people. the lets you legal immigrants pour across our southern border. reportedly they are considering loosening our border security even more. when the biden campaign rhetoric and then the biden administration's early actions lead to a rush on the border, they tried to wave it off as a seasonal springtime surge. of course, that was not true. the numbers just keep climbing.

they had more encounters on the southern border in june then they had in may. 190 thousand encounters last month alone. the highest number in 21 years. law enforcement is coming across huge groups of hundreds of individuals. with almost three months remaining in fiscal year 21, cbp has already encountered more than it did in the entirety of fiscal year 2019, before covid. we've exceeded that total with almost three months to go. the administration claims they are addressing the clause by speeding up the rate at which they get migrants out of custody. as of simply reducing the headcount was the goal. that is no solution at all.

the individuals in the interior of our country. host: talking about the top news story of the week. kevin from nebraska said i just wonder if we should not have sent our athletes to the olympics. i am worried about covid. violence in our streets is the top story in our weekend will remain so until global heating pushes humanity off the planet. my top stories are the 1 -- the fact that 90,000 doses of the vaccine have been destroyed because they have not been used in a timely manner. gary in atlanta. a previous caller brought up this story about the nfl. this is politicos reporting on it. covid outbreaks among unvaccinated players could mean forfeits. they write that the country's leading professional sports league announced that covid outbreaks among unvaccinated players could force teams to have to forfeit games that cannot be rescheduled.

the organizations reported that the national football league sentence memo to 32 teams that any game postponed will not be granted time to be rescheduled outside of the designated season. here is diane in michigan. democrats line. caller: thank you, good morning. sue want to exercise their right to choose to get the vaccine are overlooking something. they are taking the chance not only for themselves but if they are getting sick or become sick and are around children. they will pass it on most likely to the children. they are really the victims in all of this. we are trying to open up the schools this fall.

with this delta virus coming in, they are making children our sitting ducks. they have to look out for the other person. i know their freedoms mean everything to them. we make the choice to look out for others, thank you. host: mark in pennsylvania. it is marked on the independent line. caller: how are you doing? i know what we could do. with all of them billions of dollars sitting there not being used, give that to the american people. with the money they are trying to raise, how about congress -- fire them all. they have enough money. give that money to the american

people and we are good. the word of pelosi. host: let's hear from freddie on the republican line in north carolina. caller: my story is about gretchen whitmer. they are saying the fbi those people up. host: there's a story on buzzfeed about that? caller: you're reading that this morning? host: it was about two days ago. thanks for that. caller: i was calling in reference to the 12-year-old getting the vaccine. i called a month or so ago.

i have had terrible adverse reactions, it went from 6000 two 12,000. all of the people being injured, who will be liable for that? the nfl that forces these players to get the vaccine? when they have adverse reactions or something happens? no one is helping me with my adverse reaction. host: you're still having those reactions? caller: yes. so are thousands and thousands of other people. they are trying to block all that. you follow somebody on facebook. people who are having terrible reactions, they take their stories down. a 20-year-old girl just died the other day. her family tried to post on facebook, they took it down right away.

this is ridiculous. this vaccine is very dangerous. it is insanity. it truly is. all the mainstream media will not report this. it is terrible. something needs to be done. host: the cdc director was part of the briefing yesterday from the white house. spoke about the possibility of further mask guidance from the cdc. here is what she said. >> is the cdc considering changing its mass guidance for people fully vaccinated? >> we are always looking at the data as the data comes in. it has been clear since we put it out a month ago. if you're unvaccinated you should continue to wear a mask and protect yourself and others around you. you should going get vaccinated. we have always said local

communities. if you're unvaccinated you are wearing a mask. you have protection levels from that vaccine. you may choose to have an extra layer of protection by putting on your mask. host: see if we get one more top story here. eddie is next in massachusetts, republican line. caller: my contention is global warming. the carbon tax they talked about. you could probably subsidize the industry. why should we ship all of our goods over to asia and bring it

back again? make it here. compensate for that and you could get rid of the food tax in restaurants. i have to pay tax on a sandwich. that's american food, american chefs, american everything. don't tax that. the sales tax because we import so much. thank you. host: more ahead on washington journal. we will be joined by mark morial, the president and ceo of the national urban league, here to talk about their latest report, the 2021 state of black america report. later we will turn our attention to education funding, and charter school advocates say a proposal on the house democrats education budget put charter schools at risk for losing funds. later in the program, we will hear from one of those advocates, nina rees, the president of the national alliance for public charter schools. that is coming up.

this sunday, c-span premiers january 6, the views from the house. 14 members of congress share stories about what they saw, heard, and experienced that day, including colorado democrat jason crow. he talked about how he felt as people tried to breach the house chamber. >> if you are not scared in a situation like that, there is probably something wrong with you, or you don't realize the magnitude of the situation. there's a moment when i was going to ask one of the officers for his firearm because i have used firearms. i know i'm capable of doing what's necessary to protect myself and others, but i did not know whether the officers dish where the officers were. mike's parents in combat is that you never know who is willing to pull that trigger -- my experience in combat is that you never know who is willing to pull that trigger, but i could.

i decided not to put an officer in that position. but i never thought that my -- i am a very different person now than when i was a ranger. i'm a father, a husband, a member of congress. i thought that i had left that life behind me. and i have changed. i never thought it would converge again, that i would be in a position of having to think like that and potentially act like that. and certainly not as a member of congress in 2021 in a house chamber of the united states capitol. >> this week you will hear from oklahoma republican markwayne mullin and new jersey democrat tom malinowski, generally six. views from the house on c-span.org. or listen on the c-span radio app. announcer: washington journal continues. host: he is the former mayor of

new orleans, the president and ceo of the national urban league . marc morial, welcome to "washington journal." guest: great to be with you, thank you. host: on this morning, the state of black america. how long has the national urban league been putting out this report? guest: we began publishing this report in 1976 at the behest of our than president, the now late great vernon jordan jr. it is an interesting background as to why vernon jordan published the first report, and it had to do with the state of the union address that president ford gave in early 1976. , wherein he discussed the problems of the nation, did not mention black america, did not mention civil rights, did not mention cities, urban communities. made no mention at the time of the raging unemployment rates

that were affecting american cities. 10 years after the civil rights movement and still many of the challenging issues remain. so vernon said i will do my own report, and assembled a team of experts, and thus the state of black america was born full-time in 2021 we were publishing in the spirit and in memory of vernon jordan as a special section in the report on vernon jordan and his contributions not only to the national urban league, but the great contributions to the nation. host: can you have put together a report covering the wide range of areas, including this year, the issue of vaccine hesitancy. what do you hope will be annually -- what do you hope the state of black america does in the country? guest: this year it is a call to action. you cannot understand 2021 without understanding the pandemics of 2020.

the racial justice, the george floyd moment, the way covid ravaged the nation, the impact on our economy and our schools. so 2021 is a call to action to create not a normal but a new normal, a more equitable normal when it comes to policing and police-community relations. when it comes to how our economy functions, when it comes to public health and health disparities. we are seeing this pandemic reemerge as the delta variant, once again challenging us. but what is different about 2021 versus 2020, we now have a tool. it may be imperfect. that tool was a vaccine, and that vaccine notwithstanding, some of the challenges we face, we believe is a better option than the risk of being infected,

hospitalized, and perhaps dying. so for americans who may be out there listening, it is a public -- it is a choice. there is no perfect choice. to stay home and be unvaccinated is not the best choice. so we are encouraging people as we create this new normal, we have to focus on health disparities between black and white. i would say that now we have -- now that we have declining life expectancies and the nation, building a new public health infrastructure that ends disparities but also does a better job for all americans is implicit in what we call for in the state of black america report. host: we will get into some of the topic areas of the report. we want to open our phone lines and invite people with their calls, comments, and questions. 202-748-8000 is the line for democrats.

republicans, that's 202-748-8001 . independents and others, 202-748-8002. lots of data in there, marc morial, but personally, how would you describe the state of black america in 2021? guest: i think the state of black america is strong and resilient, but under great stress and challenge. the great stress and challenge stems from the disproportionate deaths and infections to -- due to covid, the stress and anxiety and challenge stems from this pandemic of police killings of citizens, and now the rising spike in gun violence. the stress and concern stems from the unbridled, unjustified attack on democracy and voting that we now see in 47 states with 400 bills, some 18 states i

believe have passed bills that would make it more difficult for people to vote. we are at a time of friction and challenge, and black americans have a great concern but are energized to be, i think, activists, energized to be educated and informed, and be a part of this 21st century civil rights struggle, which i believe we were in because 2020 showed the disparities. 2020 the disparities between policing and justice in a way maybe some americans had not understood. black americans understand because it is a part of our day to day lives. 2020 m in strata, if you will, january 6 -- 2020 demonstrated, if you will -- january 6 demonstrated that american democracy can be very fragile if it is disrespected and people

resort to violence because they disapprove of the outcome of an election. so a great deal of stress, but a determination to create this new normal, to create and build the 21st century america that we could all be part of, we could all fly in, we could all prosper in. and we can all continue to enjoy. but it's got to be grounded in equity. it's got to be grounded in justice. it's got to be grounded in a new normal for 21st century america. host: let's talk about economics, and we will show charts from the report on a couple of issues, on the difference in the median income and net wealth in this country, and also the cost of housing, the cost burden of housing among the black community. tell us a little bit more about those issues. guest: i want to say, looking at statistics -- and i know we have a very diverse audience -- that

the disparities between black and white americans are real. but it is not to suggest that the condition that white americans face is a perfect condition or an optimal condition. it is just a better second of circumstances -- set of circumstances than black americans face. there are why disparities, as the report indicates. net income -- the family income that you bring in primarily through your earnings, probably a $30,000 to $35,000 a year difference in black americans when it comes to well. that disparity is not only big -- 10 times -- but it is growing since the late 1990's. it has really grown since the late 1980's. that is a tough thing for us to recognize, is that on these scores, things are not getting better.

the racial income gaps in black and whites is part of the bigger problem. it is a key component of a larger problem, of wage disparities and income disparities in the united states , with those at the top of a house, at the top of the american economy, doing well in the last 20 to 40 years. whereas for many, life has stalled. incomes have not kept pace with inflation. housing costs for white middle and low income families as well. so i want to underscore that these disparities place black people in the position in the american economy as being the caboose on the train. when the train slows, the caboose slows. when the train speeds up, the caboose speeds up, but the caboose is still the caboose. host: you brought this up in

earlier comments, a new area for your report to cover, i assume. guest: yeah, we dove into responding to the pandemic across the urban league network of 91 affiliates. our local leaders, our local staff, our local volunteers dove into, number one, providing food to address food insecurity. helping people to transition if they were unemployed, filing for unemployment, or transitioning to different jobs, to supporting those who had to continue to work. we did not shut down, and we recognize that we could not address the economic challenges that had gotten so much deeper if we did not address the pandemic or find a way out, which is why we encourage people

, when it comes to the vaccine, to educate and inform themselves. to speak to experts and read and make a good judgment, not based on conspiracy theories, not based on just abject fear and anxiety, but based on reason to do what you have to do, to do something that all human beings want to do. we want to live, we want to survive, we want our families to live and survive. so we lean into educating people about preventive health, about which the vaccine is a component of preventive health at the local levels because we must. without getting past the pandemic, our ability to get people back to work is going to be affected. our ability to get those businesses that were battered by this pandemic, and especially the 41% of all black businesses that closed temporarily or permanently, is going to be affected by this continued

pandemic. so we have got to get past the pandemic, while at the same time try to rebuild our economy, get our kids back in school, and address these long-standing issues that structural and institutional exclusion and racism have created for our nation. host: still, the percentage of the vaccine among the black population is lagging behind other populations. in the other chart we showed, the vaccine hesitancy rate over time, with that rate among the black population declining, that has to be looked at as a success story of messaging and effort in in the community, the black community in particular. guest: i'm going to make an appeal to all of those watching to make an intelligent judgment and an intelligent choice. what struck me is when i heard the health officials talk about the -- some 18,000 people who had died over the last month or 2 -- i'm not sure what the number is -- and that almost

99.9% of them were unvaccinated. i'm here to make the issue of a call to action. to people. we have a campaign at the national urban league.org where you can get information, frequently asked questions about the vaccine so you can make an intelligent choice. i had covid at the very beginning of the pandemic. i had it, members of my family had it. we almost did not know we had it. and it was challenging. it was difficult. we don't want to go through that again. when it came time to make a judgment about whether to take the vaccine, i decided i had to read everything i could get my hands on.

i consulted my physician, i consulted my sister, who is a physician. i wanted to be sure that as i made this judgment i was not just looking at some television clip or reading something on the internet and making a decision based on scant information. so i am encouraging everyone out there to understand these are life-and-death issues. what is the best chance for you? and i hear people raising concerns about the vaccine. i don't dismiss those concerns. what i say to people is you have got to balance. there is nothing perfect, there is nothing foolproof, there is nothing that is going to work 1000%. but we have to balance and make a judgment call. for me, taking the vaccine was not just about me, it was about protection of my family, my friends, my loved ones, people

in the community. because the coronavirus is contagious. it is not like a cancer, it's not like an asthma, it is not like a diabetes. it is contagious. it is not something that will affect me, that could affect me and i could spread it to 20 or 30 people. in the report in is a call to action more broadly about health disparities, as the government and communities rebuild the public health system. we don't want to build it back the way it was. every hospital, every public health department of every city, county, and state. i know the biden administration at hhs, cdc, and nih, they are leaning into the president's call to make racial justice an operating theme with respect to how they proceed going forward. we have got to have that kind of energy and determination on every front, because it is

essential to the future of the nation. host: we brought up the federal report on life expectancy, the headline in forbes, u.s. life expectancy to plummet, especially among black and hispanic americans, with life expectancy between 2018 to 2020 dropping for black americans 3.25 years. for hispanics i believe it is 3.8. for white americans, 1.3. did this finding surprise you at all? guest: it shocked me that it was such a dramatic shift in just two years. when you're talking about a three-year shift, we are losing ground as a nation. this has to be a wake-up call on multiple fronts as to why we have to extend health coverage

to all americans. why americans have to be aware and woke about utilization of health coverage when they have it, about why we have to continue to work to make medicines and other therapies affordable and available to everyone. why people have to engage in preventive self-care, to pay attention to themselves. all of those things are important for the black community, they are important for all communities, and this life expectancy -- we have had a remarkable last 100 years when it comes to life expectancy. life expectancy increased since 1900 across-the-board at a level unseen in the previous 75,000 years that human beings have been on this earth. but the disparities remain. there was disparity between black life expectancy in 1900, and white life expectancy in 1900, and there remains one today. so the reality of disparities is

there. but all groups -- black's, whites, latinos -- losing ground in the age of the pandemic. this should be a demonstration of how devastating this pandemic has been and why we have to be determined. this in many respects is our world war iii, to overcome a global pandemic that is ravaging not only this nation, but nations across the earth. and within that, we are going to do everything in our power to hold hospitals, insurance, nice, federal, state, and local governments accountable. to encourage people to be in the community and as individuals, focused on their own self-care. in as assertive a way as possible.

so this false conversation that goes on sometimes about the government is -- it is everyone, it is a call to action across the board to confront health challenges and health disparities. host: marc morial, the president of the national urban league. president and ceo, and the state of black america report is out. let's touch on the criminal justice aspect in the report, marc morial. a couple of findings there. the report found that black's are 6.5 times more likely to be stopped then writes -- then whites in a police stop. blacks are 20 times more likely to be searched than whites, and more likely to be searched when stop then whites. you are the first black mayor elected in the city of new orleans. what is the answer for some of these cities?

guest: i was the third african-american mayor. my great-grandfather was the first. when black's are stopped by the police, it is less likely to result in the finding of contraband or a reason to arrest or detain. what that shows is that black communities are policed in a more aggressive and less effective way. what this demonstrates to me is that the police philosophy of stopping and arresting people as a strategy to either prevent crime, deter criminal behavior, or address criminal behavior, is

a failed policy. and i was mayor of new orleans, we instituted an assertive, conch -- police strategy. we brought down violent crime and murder while at the same time reducing arrests. it was a philosophy that every encounter between a police officer and a citizen should not be judged whether it led to an arrest or apprehension or search or detention. to build relationships which were designed to create cooperation. so when we talk about police change in this nation, police re-envisioning and reform, it has got to be comprehensive. it is about accountability. but it is about a different approach, and no one should suggest that community policing is "false on violence."

what it is with community policing is focused on big problems. drug trafficking, shootings, things that really people in communities are concerned about. while not becoming obsessed over making arrests for things like marijuana, making arrests for littering and loitering. which ends up being a drain on many police department resources, versus focusing on the more violent crime which afflict many of our communities. so this conversation is going to be a tough but continuing conversation about how we build trust between communities and policing, but also how we do it and balance the principle of both justice and safety. host: let's get to our callers.

we will hear first from richard in brentwood, maryland. caller: good morning, gentlemen. first of all, i would like to ask mr. morial -- were you ever approached by any administrations to be part of the cabinet? i always wondered why not. but that is not my main call, why i'm calling. i see the historical black unemployment and disparities, and also the white disparities brought about by the opiate crisis and that has been devastating to this country. what i don't hear talk about the infrastructure bill, that it should be citizens first. i see this as a great vehicle to uplift both of those communities, the blacks and the whites, so that they might turn the page in their lives to restore themselves economically and things like that, and hopefully they won't be held back by those same petty charges

that you would -- that you spoke about that would impede them being hired. something needs to be -- a partnership made with social services. i retired from social services, and on any given day there is a lobby full of people sitting there waiting to be called, and could some spokesman from your organization or robert woodson center be dispatched to motivate folks to wake up, be a part, turn the page on their lives to recover themselves economically and get the credit cleared up by having gainful employment? i would like to know what you think about citizens first for this infrastructure bill. mr. morial. i appreciate you. i listen to you intently while you are there.

best of health to you. host: thank you, richard. guest: thanks for the compliment. i love the work i do at the national urban league. there is no higher honor than to be mayor of your hometown, my beloved new orleans. so i have had an opportunity to work -- in fact, yesterday i was on the phone with secretary martha fudge at hud, and a number of others. let me address a really good question about the infrastructure bill. we have been advocating for national urban league has, and we began five or six years ago calling for a 21st century infrastructure bill. we called it the mainstream plan that put people first.

we identified helping people, helping them get encouragement and skills and connection to the jobs that this infrastructure bill will create. we have encouraged secretary walsh, secretary buttigieg, secretary yellen, members of the house and senate leadership and appropriations to ensure that there is a people component to the infrastructure bill, a job training, a job preparation, a small business access, a minority business access composed of the infrastructure bill, which is why we cannot allow the mindset that let's just do traditional infrastructure, which says let's do an old-fashioned infrastructure bill versus a new 21st century bill that will put some investments in people -- after all, what is an

infrastructure bill? it is a jobs bill. we ought to call it a jobs bill because it is a job creator and it creates jobs that cannot be outsourced. construction jobs, design jobs, jobs related to rebuilding of parks and playgrounds, buildings and roads and water systems, and also broadband, which is something we need. so i agree with the caller, and we are going to continue to push so that those types of components are in there. the other thing i will say is, at the national urban league across the nation, jester everyone's that if it, we work -- just for everyone's benefit, we work for the technology industry, construction industry. we don't have every program in every city, but if you are there and you know someone who is looking for work or looking for better work, refer them to the urban league in your hometown if you want to find out if there is

one in your hometown. you can go to our website and simply put your zip code in, and it will identify the one closest to you. we have in these communities across the nation dynamic leaders and people working every day to help people find employment but also to help people get the additional skills , and also to open doors of opportunity for them in both private and public sector jobs. host: let's hear from fred, st. paul, minnesota, on the independent line. caller: i was under the impression that life expectancy was getting longer, and that is why i called in, to find out more about it. but you haven't talked more about it since i called in. where was this article again that came out that said life expectancy is shorter? host: it is from the centers for disease control, a report that came out earlier this week.

we will go to iowa and hear from kim in ottumwa. on the democrats line. you're on with marc morial. caller: hi, mr. morial. i really like you a lot. i see you all the time on the media. if our president is supporting the filibuster, why are we hugging the filibuster that is stopping civil rights? all the bills that the democrats and you guys are advocating for, we are asking these -- i call them small league democrats like joad mansion -- like joe manchin , lobbies like big oil, it feels like we are begging for what is right for the country. voting is a right. why do joe manchin and -- do

they believe it is a right or is it just a game? host: marc morial? guest: thank you. let me say that i support enthusiastically, wholeheartedly, without reservation, that we have to pass a voting reform bill, and the one that is pending now -- we also have to pass an updated version of the voting rights act. those bills, we have to pass by whatever peaceful means are necessary, meaning if we can identify 10 republicans who cross over and coalesce, to do it, so be it. if it requires reform of the filibuster, so be it. i don't think we have heard the last of the president's and the filibuster. here are a few things i want everyone to keep in mind when you talk about the filibuster.

let's remember that mitch mcconnell created a wide exception to the filibuster to allow the confirmation of supreme court justices. the senate didn't fall apart, and while we vigorously opposed it, it was the biggest exception created to the filibuster in decades. harry reid, democratic leader, created an exception to the filibuster to allow presidential appointees to be able to be confirmed without having to deal with the filibuster. there are other exceptions to the filibuster, budget reconciliation is widely known. trade promotion authority is another one. the congressional -- there are multiple exceptions to the filibuster. the filibuster is not one of the 10 commandments. it was not handed down in the bill of rights by jefferson and

madison. it is not part of the long-standing constitutional or statutory fabric. it is not even a bill passed by the congress. it is an internal senate rule. i want to encourage you all out there to continue to say and advocate that the filibuster must be reformed. it must be substantially reformed. it was never designed to be a permanent hold on all legislation. it was always thought of as -- for those rare instances. the truth is it has been primarily used over the years to block civil rights legislation. and when i think of the filibuster, i think of someone like strom thurmond standing up in the well of the senate, way back in the 1950's, to try to

block civil rights legislation. so it is archaic, it is antiquated. i understand why some members may want to keep it because they don't want to give up that power. but in this instance, the protection of democracy, the depressed -- the protection of the right to vote is bigger than the senate rules. it is more important than an archaic construct called the filibuster. so we have to continue to push and move to pass these bills, and if it requires an exception to the filibuster, then we have to call on everyone -- everyone -- to support that. host: let's hear from walker, louisiana, next. this is james on the republican line. caller: good morning, bill, mr. mayor. you might as well just call it the national democrat league, because you haven't said a single word that is really

focused on the urban community. the interests don't always align with the urban community and the national democrats, because crime in new orleans is beyond the pale full-time i don't know if you're still living in new orleans, but there is a carjacking every day, and it is all over the town, all over the city. the disparagement of the police is what is causing the crime wave, and we need the police to do their jobs. when you talk about community policing, you know in your heart there is no chance community policing is going to stop the carjackings, the shooting. i have two kids in new orleans come and i pray for the police to do their jobs every day. you are siding with the national democrats and not your people in new orleans. think about your people in new orleans, not the national democrats for top thank you. host: marc morial. guest: i don't know if james lived in new orleans in the

1990's, but no one -- no mayor in the history of new orleans was more successful in reducing crime and violence than i was. my strategies of community policing, investment in youth, made no audience safer. i don't lead new orleans today. i am not in charge of the crime-fighting effort today, but i do believe that the approach that we took in the 1990's was the most successful approach of any city in that era to bring down violent crime as well as to reduce brutality and corruption, and all that occurred. this is not a democratic or republican issue. this is an issue of what is smart, what is effective, what works when it comes to fighting crime. simply flooding communities with

more police officers did not work in the past. it won't work now. just arresting people and filling up the jails didn't work in the past, and it isn't going to work now. and i think that is what people need to understand. one thing louisiana could do is pass some laws that make it more difficult for people to get guns . the legislature just yesterday or the day before failed to override -- i mean, in a good move, didn't override the government's veto on one of these absurd bills where everyone can carry a gun anywhere without a permit. it is the easy access to guns that is helping -- not the cause, but a factor in the fueling of gun violence. anyone in law enforcement will tell you that.

every big city, small town police chief will tell you that. new york city is an example, where some 80% of the guns used to commit violent acts in new york come from outside of new york city, outside of new york city. so let's understand that it takes effective policing on one hand. i think community policing is the way to go. it takes reasonable restrictions on guns. number two, it requires investments in youth programs. as well. and in addressing underlying engines and causes of crime, that is not democratic. that is not republican. that is called common sense policies. that those who work on the front lines embrace and agree to each and every day.

so i think that -- i'm always prepared and ready to have a conversation about this because of the work that i have historically done in the national urban league. we are aligned with this. we are strong proponents of police reform. we are strong proponents of reasonable, rational gun safety measures. we are strong proponents of investing in young people, investing in opportunities for young people across the board. we have got to do things that work, and what doesn't work is using the same failed policies of yesterday, dusting them off because it somehow gives people a chance to beat their chests and say, boy, i'm tough on crime. that's what they say, but it isn't the case. host: let's get one more. los angeles. guest: and hello to everyone in walker, louisiana. host: lucille is in los angeles. caller: good morning morning,

everyone. i am concerned about the matters of the black people, white people, people all across the country. we only make up 13%, a little bit more than 13% of the population, but we make a larger percentage in arrests. and just to look at what happened in texas, due to the voting rights issues, people, elected officials, blaming texas like they were on the underground railroad, just to keep the voting initiative staid. you are going to have to come back to it. and there is a lieutenant governor who wants to make arrests on the people when they do come back. this is crazy. host: marc morial, any thoughts

on that call? guest: texas is a state that seems to embrace that the fewer texans who vote, the better off texas democracy is. and that is absolutely wrong. they are morally wrong, they are inconsistent with democratic ideals. what texas legislators are doing. and i think those texas legislators that left the state are demonstrating a great deal of courage in the face of an effort to bulldoze and steamroll bad bills, bad legislation, voter suppression legislation. that is not necessary because they are afraid of somehow losing the next election. their motivations are partisan. their motivations are racially motivated. we have to call it what it is. there is no shame in their game. those who are trying to pass these bills, not those who come to washington where i consider to be -- who i consider to be courageous leaders.

host: marc morial of the national urban league. lots to read about in the new report, the new normal and the state of black america. the annual report, since 1976. thank you for being with us. guest: thank you for having me come and good morning to all of your listeners and viewers. always good to be on washington journal. host: we will be back momentarily, asking you your top news story of the week. lots to choose from. you're free to call at 202-748-8000 if you are a democrat. republicans, use 202-748-8001. an independents and others, use 202-748-8002. weekends on c-span2, bringing you the best in american history and nonfiction books. saturday on american history tv at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, 650 hours of lyndon

johnson's white house phone conversations are on a website created by the johnson presidential library and the university of virginia. find out what the tapes reveal about lbj's presidency. with the story in michael bash loss, -- with historian michael best loss -- at 8:00 p.m., on lectures in history, a university of north carolina professor looks at -- including general macarthur's removal from command by harry truman. book tv features leading authors, their latest nonfiction books. sunday at 8:55 eastern, get an in-depth look at the trump administration's look at the covid-19 pandemic. the book "nightmare scenario." at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwords, how the military's

increasing reliance on drones effects combat in the military units that operate them. "on killing remotely." watch "american history tv" and "book tv" every weekend on c-span2. find the full schedule on your program guide or visit c-span.org. the house committee investigating the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol holds its first hearing tuesday. officers from the u.s. capitol police and washington metropolitan police department will tell nevers what they saw and experienced on that day. watch the hearing life tuesday beginning at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3, online at c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. announcer: washington journal continues. host: we will have about 15 minutes here and more later to talk to you about your top news

story of the week, whether that is the rising covid cases due to the delta variant, the demise of the committee, the january 6 committee, at least the republicans on that committee, or other stories. 202-748-8000 is the line to call, the democrats line. republicans, 202-748-8001. all others at 202-748-8002. a color on the previous segment called in alleging the number of deaths reported on the vaccines. thousands have died from covid-19 -- that does not support the idea that thousands have died from covid-19 for some it is important for you to know the facts to make an informed decision. some articles on social media, with data supporting the claim that thousands of died -- have died as a result of the covid-19

vaccine. this claim is false, they safe that is co-managed i the cdc and fda, which are credible sources. the agency says these claims are misconstruing the data. more than 334 million doses of covid-19 vaccines were administered in the united states from december to july 12, 2021, the cdc said. during this time, they have received 678 -- 6079 reports of death among people who received a covid-19 vaccine. that number is not a death toll. health care providers report any debts come even if it is unclear that the vaccine was the cause. anyone able to make a submission to database cases are not facts checked, aching them scientifically unreliable. in detroit, this is the top news story of the week. we hear from detroit. go ahead on our democrats line. caller: i would just like to ask

a question. why the national urban league, the head, the ceo president, whoever he may be, why he is not reaching out to all communities? i feel like if they reach out to all communities, then we can all come together, because we all need each other. host: marc morial was our guest the previous segment. scott in ionia, michigan, republican lie. caller: i would just like to know -- republican line. caller: yes, i would just like to know who killed ashli babbitt. that's it. host: the independent line. caller: hey there. i discovered a website called the real law news.com.

and it tells them about the military, the tribunals that they are having at various places, and the clintons have been sentenced, james comey has lost his head. brendan has been put to death, adam schiff is guilty of treason , susan rice and also william barr. it is very interesting website if people want to check it out. it is called realrawnews.com. host: what is the purpose of these obvious false reports? caller: they are not false. host: you are saying they have been arrested? caller: that's what i'm saying. they've been arrested, and hillary was hung back in april. host: this is the hill this morning, the opening of the olympics in tokyo. the headline, joe biden attends

tokyo olympics opening ceremony, leaving the -- leading the -- kicking off a unique olympics. the look picks are -- the olympics are his first international trip with the first lady, seen wearing a black mask. pennsylvania on the republican line. hello. caller: so top headlines -- it is hard to choose, but i would say any headlines that speak to our infringements on life, liberty, and happiness, which are spelled out in our constitution. i am going to pick on one that is starting to infringe on life, and it is the vaccine story. with all the deaths that are being linked to the vaccine, i can't believe the media is not reporting on it. host: we just read a story about that. caller: right, i know you did, and i think that's false. and i think anyone can access

that as public information, and people are reporting that -- i think there is a lot of looking away, looking the other way. i also think there is a lot of smoke around -- it says something that the cdc won't investigate or won't track how many of the vaccinated people are spreading -- are spreading covid. how many of these new cases are being spread by vaccinated people? there is some smoke there, and i think it needs to be tracked and publicize for the people instead of pushing this vaccine. host: this is a story this morning about the efficiency, the efficacy of vaccines. politico -- most vaccines offer protection against the delta variant. according to a study, just one dose of the moderna or astrazeneca vaccines offer protection, more so than previous studies have shown. a canadian study reported.

that is from politico.com. alex is in texas on our democrats line. we are doing -- top news stories of the week, alex. go ahead. caller: my top news story was -- i think -- i got jim jordan off the committee. that is the biggest clown in the united states congress. and what he had to offer, who knows? a lot of obstruction, a lot of crazy talk, and it is just the best thing when she kicked him off the committee. thank you. host: just want to remind our viewers that the committee will meet. they have one republican remaining on the committee, liz cheney, appointed by speaker pelosi. the select committee will meet next tuesday, 9:30 eastern, their first hearing with

witnesses. we will have live coverage of that on c-span3 full-time it will stream at c-span.org, and you can listen to it live as well. on the c-span radio app. in texas, we speak to tiny. go ahead. caller: my top story is dr. fauci, him helping to create this covid vaccine in the wuhan medical lab over in china. why they are not talking about that. and i think they need to bring up charges on him. and the entire democratic party, because i think they all supported it. even button. host: this is sterling -- even biden. host: this is sterling heights, michigan, the independent line. caller: hi. have a couple of things here. first of all, the voting that is going to be taking place -- i think that there is a lot of misinformation in both parties,

and if we could have maybe republican or democrat get together on tv and let's have a debate and less have both of them talk about the good points of it and the bad points, so that everybody can hear what this bill is really about. host: ok. thanks for your comment. no action this week on voting rights from the senate, but they did vote earlier in the middle of the week, on wednesday, and failed to move forward on the infra-structure bill. here is the reporting, the aftermath of that on rollcall.com. bipartisan infrastructure talks said to be stuck on transit. a member of the team negotiating, the $579 million -- billion dollar -- the 507 and billion dollar infrastructure bill -- the group of 22 republicans and democrats have ironed out dozens of differences

in the framework since they reached a deal with president joe biden last month, senator jon tester said the group, which hopes to finish its negotiations this weekend, is still at an impasse over and funding for transit. the disagreement could sink the whole thing, said the montana democrat, who has been traditionally one of the more optimistic members of the negotiating team, but i don't think it is going to. so negotiations continue this weekend on that. we will keep you posted on any news out of the negotiations. watertown, tennessee, good morning to al on the independent line. caller: i have about three topics. the first is when you have these individuals like the president of the urban league on, the first question you need to ask is, who funds your organization, where is your money spent, how many full-time employees, and where are your offices? it is quite possible that some of your guests are the only employee. i think for disclosure, any of

your guests to represent an organization, you try to find out on a consistent basis, these topics. the next thing is, you know, you claim that the cdc and the fda are credible sources. i question that. the thing that has happened just in the last few weeks is that the cdc is requiring a greater cycle threshold value to get a positive for someone who has had both vaccine shots. that is, there are two separate ways to see if you have got covid. if you haven't had a vaccine or if you have had a vaccine -- and that is to my mind what they are doing, they are trying to say that the vaccines are more effective than they really are. the next thing is on the urban league, he says that people that have black skin are more susceptible to covid.

that is simply scientifically not correct. when you control for all the other comorbidities, the susceptibility of the person, with black skin, is absolutely the same as anybody with any other colored skin. so the guy from the urban league is a grifter, and the cdc and the fda are not credible sources, and you need to drill down to find out who is paying these people that come on your show. and that is it. host: onto nathan in connecticut, democrats line. hello there. caller: thank you for taking my call. i did not like that last comment, and i didn't like tiny's comment linking biden with wuhan. i don't think there's any evidence at all of that. the reason i'm calling, bill, is that the less time you were on comey you were called by a woman named diane from new york. you will remember because she was specifically complement to reach you you, being very evenhanded. she was very heartbroken about

the condition of the country and the condition of the news media. the days of walter cronkite and peter jennings are gone because of the nature of 24-hour news and the loss of the interest in entertainment -- and the interest of the public in entertainment. i felt diane was a very caring person who represents a lot of people out there. i don't want her to feel lonely about that. i think that washington journal represents the finest in programming, because all of the hosts -- steve, yourself, greta, pedro -- are just so well-trained. not to react and to let the public share their feelings. i think this is the best, in

addition to c-span's coverage of hearings and statements from the floor of the house. so thank you very much for all you do, and thank you, brian lamb. host: thanks for the kudos. agri, thanks to brian lamb. mike in miami, independent line. caller: hello. number one news story of the week to me would be cuba, and along number two would be voting , and the question about voting, why can't we show id or anything else? just put out fingerprint on a ballot. host: thank you for that, i want to get to one more story, the caller mentioned cuba. the u.s. penalizes cuban forces over a crackdown on protesters, the biden administration thursday should do sanctions against cuba's defense minister and security forces over human

rights violations during a crackdown on protesters this month. ahead on washington journal, we talk about charter schools next, we will be joint after the break beit nina rees, the president of the national alliance for public charter school. this could put some charles girls at risk of losing federal funds. -- but some charter schools at risk of losing funds. we will be right back. ♪ >> this sunday, c-span premiers january 6, views from the house, 14 members of congress share

stories about what they saw, heard, and experienced that day, including oklahoma republican mark, he told us about his conversation with a police officer who fatally shot a woman in the capital. >> i guarantee you, he has never had to pull his weapon in a matter like that before. he was the last person in the world that wanted to use force like that. and he was not one to do that. i know for a fact because after it happened, he came over and he was physically and emotionally distraught and i gave him a hug and said, you did what you had to do. i mean that. unfortunately, the young lady, her family's life had changed. it is unfortunate that she lost her life and some people lost their loved ones. it is the first time you ever had to use lethal force, and it was not his choice. he did not show up to have to do that. he did not -- she was doing his job, he got put in a situation where he had to do his job.

if you present your weapon in a manner and they still do not listen and they do approach, you do not have a choice because either you have to at that point discharge or a weapon in a manner of self-defense or that weapon will be taken away from you, used on you and put our lives in danger. >> you will also hear from democrats jason of colorado and tom of new jersey. january 6, views from the house, starts this sunday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. >> washington journal continues. host: we are joined by nina rees, the president and ceo of the national alliance for public charter schools, talking in the segment about federal funding for charter schools. good morning. guest: good morning. host: tell us about your organization, who supports it,

and what is your mission? guest: the national alliance for public charter schools is the national advocacy arm of the charter school movement. we have been around for 15 years and our key goal is to advocate for the growth of high-quality public charter schools around the country. we are supported by philanthropy, we have government funding and we get a lot of funding from individuals who are interested in charter schools, we have an annual conference that attracts a good number of our advocates. host: how does the federal government define charter school? guest: charter schools our public schools. there are federal statutes that touch k-12 education and the impact charter schools. the definition of a charter school is in the charter school event, a program that offers funding for the lunch, replication, and expanding of charter schools. host: how many are there in the country? guest: a little over 7500, there are 3.2 million students.

only charter school in 43 states. host: are they in the elementary or middle in high school? guest: we are expanding in the high school, but primarily focused on kids. host: how has that number, you have been with the organization for a while, how has it grown over the years? guest: the number grew quite a bit over time, up until about five or six years ago and we have seen -- in terms of the share growth in terms of the number of charter schools that have open. the number of students in charter schools keeps growing and the wait list has grown. host: what you think is behind that? what are you hearing from localities in schools? guest: one is to the extent that in washington, d.c. where we have a robust charter school sector, the more these charter schools perform well, graduate

students go on to college or into good jobs, they become popular and more parents want to send their kids to the schools. it has to do with the quality of public schools and to some extent, defectors -- i would argue because we are specialized schools, if you are in a community that has a lot of english language learners and your school has a reputation for serving the students well, you are likely to attract those families. host: in areas where charter schools are robust, you would have to have good relationships with those school boards, the boards that oversees schools in general in that state, district or locality. guest: this is a very important point. having good actions in the community, even if you are not authorized by a school district, it is important to the long-term well-being of charter schools and those charter schools that have been well over time from a political standpoint have those

that have been those that made investments in communities that serve beyond offering education to better understand who is in the community and become partners. host: what has been the secret to charter schools in d.c.'s success and is that typical nationwide? guest: this eckert -- the secret is the d.c. charter school board which oversees the creation of these schools and they use a very rigorous process to select schools, school leaders to open schools. they monitor the progress of the schools. i would also say because we have so many people who live here, who are interested in policy, politics, and the public good, we are potentially attracting people with an interest in it running schools. the allocation in dcs higher than places like ohio. at that amount, it is important. last but not least, the statute

governing this law was passed by congress. host: in d.c. eco -- d.c.? guest: as a result, we have a healthy sector, we have a good number of schools in ward seven and eight which is great so students do not have a travel to other places in the community to get a good education. host: what does the money authorized by congress for charter schools nationally, year-to-year, what does that go toward? guest: you're talking about the charter school program? this happened in the late 1990's with bipartisan support. senators -- the goal of the time was to make sure that charter schools had funding before they open. if you are an operative in her -- if you are an option where -- an entrepreneur, you would not have money to pay yourself a salary and tables and what not.

the funding has been crucial in the creation of charter schools around the country, especially in communities that do not have a broad philanthropic base. as a result, we estimate that about 60% of all charter schools that are currently in existence have received some charter school program funding. host: talking about the effort to pass the education funding bill in the house in congress. headline from cnn says, house democrats are calling for cutting federal funding for charter schools. what is your take on that? guest: of course, as advocates of the program where we are unhappy with the numbers that have been offered, our request to congress, spent 500 million over time and congress has given us 440 million or requested a large number. this year, the $40 million

decrease is disappointing, especially at a time when the overall number of students who have saw it charter schools because the pandemic has gone up in every state. we have seen an increase in numbers, so given the fact that the school is so popular, the fact that the federal lawmakers are cutting the program, is disappointing, but in addition, overall, expenditures on k-12 and overall numbers for k-12 in that bill are higher than they have ever been, so the fact that this is being shaped while all other programs -- is disappointing. host: democrats say that it is still being funded at a historically high level, charter school funding in the education funding bill. how would you respond? guest: the current level as 440 million. that is spread thin bite and has budget, -- that is president biden's budget.

over the years, the number has been 440 roiling -- 440 million. host: the language it in the bill about charter schools saying that the language is clearly focused on ending the practice of charters, -- charters accepting federal funds only to have the school run by a low-quality, for-profit company right with conflicts of interest. a well-funded misinformation campaign is incorrectly claiming that this provision would prevent federal funds from going into any charter schools that contracts with any small entity for any service. this false claim according to the statement is being advanced by those seeking to continue federal funding for for-profit schools and should not be taken seriously. guest: this provision is in addition to the $440 million cut. it is in a different section of the language in which -- which

impacts all funding that goes to states including title i funding, special ed funding and whatnot. by doing that, she is -- wherever public education as mentioned in federal statutes, charters as public schools will apply for those funds. this language would create two separate systems whereby if you are a school district, you can contract with for-profit companies to offer services whereas if you are a charter school, you are not able to at this time. host: is this a new separation? is it not been done in previous appropriations? guest: this language had not been included in the context of appropriations or the context of discussions around the statute itself. host: our guest is nina rees, the president and ceo of the national alliance for public charter schools. we welcome your calls and comments at (202) 748-8000 for democrats. republicans, it is (202) 748-8001.

for independents and all others, (202) 748-8002. what is the timeframe here for congress getting this funding done? guest: that is a good question. they are considering amendments. it looks like the ruling committee will decide which amendments are accepted and if all goes well, the bill will be on the floor next week. host: what is your organization doing in terms of meeting with members or lobbying on this issue? guest: we have definitely raised our stocks about this language. we have told our community about the ramifications about the language and met with any and all members who have a place in charter schools in the district about this issue to educate them. host: what got you engaged in the issue of charter schools? what is it interest you? guest: i am an immigrant, i was -- i moved in 1983 and i was in high school, a small high school, in southwest virginia. at the time, the one thing that

most immigrants come to the u.s. for is a high-quality education and once you get that education, you are on a track for living the american dream. and fast-forward when i moved it easy to work on capitol hill, and later in public policy, i discovered the issue of school choice and families who are in low income settings who wanted access to high-quality public or private schools of choice. i quickly realized that if kids do not have access to a high-quality education, the odds of making it in this country would be substantially reduced and the communities were choice was popular, there were often schools that would have met the needs of these families at their schools were open to them another time when i started charter schools, they were not as prevalent around the country. what i love about charter schools at that they are free, open to everyone, and the attract teachers and educators often in public schools who want

to do good by their kids and who want to be -- reimagine public education as we know it. i think it has been the best in terms of engaging educators. because there are schools of choice, no one is forced to centered kids to their schools. host: what is the organization supporting public schools is the network for public education. they had a piece out called charter for profit, the hidden world of charter schools. i want to get your response from something where they right in there. -- they write in there. the for-profit management organization calmly referred to as an mo finds individuals operating a charter school and help them to create a nonprofit organization and apply for a charter license. the board enters into a contract with the for-profit emo run the school. is that usually the case? guest: only about 10% of charter

schools have a contractual agreement with an management company and only about 13% of students in charter schools are attending such a school. it is very important to note that the way this is described, the quality of the schools in many places, far surpasses the schools that the students attended before. our goal is to make sure every kid has access to a school that meets their specific needs, a customized education that raises student achievement and that authorizes -- to be accountable to make sure that students remain open or not. in that respect, more transparency about what these are is what we advocate for and more importantly, i think it is important for the boards of the public schools to be independent, the fire the company if they feel that that

company is not offering services. in many instances, the offerings are based on back office support and a host of things that they do not have access to because they are not connected to a school district and in states that do not have a high allocation, the data connect them to a judgment unit. your luck in your -- to operate your building. most charter schools do not have access to facilities, which is one of the reasons why we only get about 75 cents of every dollar that falls to traditional public schools. host: for-profit organizations that operate in more than one state? guest: 22 states allow for-profit companies to have this arrangement with a charter school. host: nina rees as our guest, we welcome your calls on comments -- and comments on charter schools. greg in ohio. on the independent line. go ahead.

caller: in all due respect to charter schools, i am concerned of the fact that you are a 501 tax deductible corporation so to speak. why is it -- your salary is 303,000 650 died -- 303,000 $655. many have taught in the public school system. i am wondering why is the salaries of all the people in administration so high? thank you. guest: thank you for the great

work you are doing. it is important to know that charter schools are very small percentage of the student population and schools around the country, roughly about 70% -- 7% of schools are charter schools. in terms of my salary, i run a nonprofit. your question has to do with the salary of the superintendents of our charter schools and those numbers vary depending on the community they serve. they are often on par with the salary of the superintendents of those local school districts in that community. host: you mentioned that one of the advantages of charter schools is that they are free. i think you said that. is there a case where there is tuition charge for some charter schools? guest: they are open to all, they come all of the civil rules and regulations that traditional public schools. host: michael in grand rapids,

michigan on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things. first of all. one is going to be special at, -- the other is going to be -- students actually under betsy devos and others are able to take money from the public system and deny a quality education. special education, charter schools do not offer special education. if you have special needs, they send you to a public school. as you look throughout the country, you will notice that

desegregation is happening. promoted by charter schools because of transportation and so on and so forth. some folks and i am sure d.c. is a successful place. [indiscernible] host: we will let you go there. issues including special education. guest: percentage wise, charter schools -- the students in traditional public schools and we are proud of those numbers, we have schools as an example like arizona autism which did last year -- a lot of school

district having questions about whether they could offer any services to students because of covid and the fact that they did not have guidance from someone in washington. in terms of desegregation, we are proud of the diverse by design schools in our movement. these are schools designed to make sure there -- they are attracting students from various backgrounds, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds in order for those types of schools that drive, you need to place -- attract from all walks of life. to the extent some of our schools are catering to a larger black or latino population, it is because they are located in a community that is predominantly black or latino and the performance of those goals, which is what is this all about, is extremely positive. host: we hear from the stand in -- caller: i really do not like --

host: you are on the air. caller: i did not like the idea of charter schools, especially private schools. i think they are a drag on the public education. over the years, here, the public education is not doing very well because the state runs that thing and my son, he teaches in high school and i tell you, and are very disappointed. some of the charter schools are placed in the same district as other schools and certainly, -- i think it takes away from the public schools. public schools need a lot of help arena. -- help right now. guest: first of all, i would

love to take you to a charter school if you have not visited one. we believe in public education, we believe in making sure all other schools do well, but we believe that a student is not being served in that school for other reason, they should have access to another public school that serves their needs and across the country, that is what charter schools have done. host: question from matt on twitter, what body if any regulates charter schools and their percolation is -- and their curriculum. guest: graduations, charter schools are free from certain rules and regulations when it comes to hiring, when it comes to it expanding the school day, they have budgetary control over whether they can buy paper in a certain date rather than contract with the office. they have flexibility when it

comes to academics. it is the same standards and accountability system that the state has in place. host: in terms of hiring, typically what is the retention of teachers like? guest: retention depends on the school you are in we have huge variations in how the teacher. the younger generation tends not to stay in one job for a long time. we are very proud that we have a larger percentage of teachers of color teaching in charter schools. and in terms of the ability to move up the ranks, some of our networks have been able to keep these teachers, turn them into master teachers or turn them into principles. host: the pay school is competitive with public schools, articulate in larger districts? guest: charter schools on received $.75 of every dollar that goes to a public school. in that respect, we are always

operating at a number that is below the same levels that traditional public schools get, but in order to attract teachers, we have to offer both competitive pay scales and our schools have been able to do that and two other things that a teacher once when they are in a high school, a school setting such as flexibility to create their own curriculum, expand the school day, school year and do the things that sometimes being in a highly regimented and bureaucratic system will not allow you to do. host: let us go to new york city and hear from carol. caller: hi. good morning. my name is carol. i am the executive director of the network for public education. i am the author -- author of the report you cited. i hope watchers will go and see and read that report on the website. to get back to the idea of the for-profit.

mr. rees is wrong. the intent is not to ban vendors from doing business with charter schools. the intent is to stop for-profit operators. the majority of the for-profit operators operate only one or two schools. what they are doing is they are trying to get around a law that says that federal funding cannot go to for-profit schools k-12. they formed the for-profit agency and they controlled the schools and they were able to take on -- all of the money. one of the largest changes, the national heritage academy, operates on -- what that means is every -- that goes into the nonprofit charter school that contract with them goes to national heritage academy. a lot of money is made on real estate deals. it has been problematic. it is not true that these are all outstanding schools.

studies show kids in these schools do per -- poor in math compared to nonprofit charter schools are schools that are run by nonprofits. they also serve fewer numbers of special education students, fewer numbers of english language learners, and fewer numbers of students with disabilities. this is a very problematic sector. it is a bit larger than mr. rees said. there are over 1100 charter schools operated by for-profits. president biden campaigned on this issue. when public schools contract, with services, for-profit services, they go out to bed. host: the caller was carol from the national education policy center. guest: nice to see you and hear you. next time, you should be in office so we can talk face-to-face about this issue.

we have to agree to disagree. he mentioned national heritage and credo in the same sentence. credo actually found that the performance of national heritage academy schools far outpace the performance of similar schools in the communities in which they serve. i think in our opinion, the focus has to be on transparency, making sure boards have the autonomy to select the providers they wish and i disagree with you that districts do not necessarily -- in a lot of instances where it is a rural district or a small district, some of the concerns that you raised can include a small district or rural district. it is a discussion that should have in the context of reauthorization, not in the context of a wider appropriations session. host: what are sweet contracts? guest: it is a term that talks

about how you're able to subcontract for services for a number of programs at once. host: pennsylvania, regina on our republican line. caller: hi, i am not a bite and supportive. let us get that straight. i am concerned because i am going to my school board meetings and i see how much these charter schools caused. i am trying -- they need to put more money into specific charter school funding because when i see figures and i have papers about this that have -- i have gotten for my finance minister, i believe one of them was 21,000. i do not have money for that. how about if they do like other people do, go out and spend their own chunk of money and they can pay property taxes also. like we people had to do.

find your own christian school, your own choice of school. and then you pay the bill and you don't stick me with how much of my school district has to subsidize cyber school, cyber school has no brick-and-mortar. there is no power bill. except any person's house. and where you guys reside, it is in administrative offices. there is no program that they have to set up that we have to have a system that shows that the children go to school to stay, there is no lunchroom, there is no employees to clean the school. basically, i know i am saying this very elementary, but i am tired about the addition to my property taxes. they do not go up to pay for people who have cyber school because it is their choice to take their child out. if you want to make a choice, and put your child in there and keep the christian, private, public school out of your own

money, keep it strong, that way separate from the public school. host: you mentioned that no charter are religious at all, they cannot be religious? guest: correct. they were created by a state entity and a state law puts them in place. that is because the students who attend charter schools are public school students. it is a question about whether we think the dullest belong to the students and parents ought to have choice as were they go to school or whether the school district should be in charge of the funds. we believe that parents ought to have some recourse if they are not happy with what they are getting. host: do charter schools have the same challenges other public schools did during covid and if so, how did they respond or did they respond any differently? guest: thank you for asking this question because this is one of the instances where we were

proud of the way charter schools showed up when covid hit. they are smaller and more agile and it running their schools, they were able to make course corrections, they were able to buy ipads and make wi-fi connections much faster for their students. a lot of charter schools also ran above and beyond and made their course content available on open platforms so that everybody could benefit from that. so networks, success academy, are examples of networks that made this information available for any teacher to access. we are also very proud of the partnerships we built over time with traditional school districts and in the case of covid, we were in it with them -- this was a situation where everyone was trying to help one of the -- help one another. we have been advocates on capitol hill asking for more

resources especially for wi-fi connectivity and resources to support our students, especially at a time where they got an achievement between -- right now, it is as wide as ever because of covid and the fact that some new students do not have access. host: has your organization given guidance for the upcoming school year as to in person, vaccinations, and masks? host: -- guest: we tend not to get involved in the details. we have told our schools to pay close attention to what states are asking their schools to do and make decisions ultimately that fit the needs of their own community. host: this is luther in massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i am a 73-year-old that. i watched the civil rights

movement over the years of my life. i can remember after brown versus, there were seven states that attempted to close schools and re-create those goals in private charter type schools. when i look at the charter school system, i see an intent to re-create separate but equal. it is really unfortunate that we cannot as a nation determine that we need to put good public schools in every neighborhood to meet the needs of all students. we should be able to do that. but like everything else in this country, race becomes a part of the equation. i am sure that there are charter schools that are doing very well, but the fact of the matter is we had to create this bizarre

system where you have nonprofits, prophets, etc., etc. why can't we put together simple, good public schools. thank you. guest: that is why charter schools were first created. this concept was born because of the former president -- vision that we need to have schools or teachers are liberated to teach what they want to teach and -- and so that -- president barack obama, president bush, all past presidents have been big supporters because they believe that by allowing this flexibility and freedom, innovation will come about. in many communities, charter schools have been just that. as far as the specific questions that the caller asked, he believes that the best thing

that anyone can do is to visit some of these schools and interact with those who are running the schools because they are often individuals who have similar concerns as with the caller has put forth. host: you mentioned president -- past presidents. guest: the budget has funded. he raised overall expenditures for public education in the past relief package and in the current, he has allowed those to reach charter schools. he has had a lot more about charter schools. we are looking to see more action and hopefully invite him to visit some of the schools. he has some great schools in his own state of delaware. it has a long tradition of charter schools. and a good variety of them. host: a question from andrew in texas who says he is a former charter school teacher, charter

schools positive, great for students and parents, negative teacher retention and low pay compared to isps. how can they reach -- raise teacher salaries to keep teachers around longer? guest: that is why we advocate for equal funding. they have economies of scale that they are able to raise more money and allocate more resources to salaries and benefits. some charter schools have resorted to those types of resources in order to offer greater pay for teachers. ultimately, the quality of interaction between the teacher and student is all that matters in terms of student outcomes. host: dave in long beach, mississippi. independent life. caller: good morning. 15 years ago, i was on the board

of directors at the start of the charter schools in south carolina. you might have heard of it, fox creek high school, it is one of the best. you need to balance. -- you need to be honest. there are no athletic programs unless they pay for it. you get the money for the team uniforms. we took every student suspended out of public schools for the first two years. and then i was off the board and then they started selection of students. not every student gets to go to a charter school. the principal and board has a direction of we do not want the student or not. there is no special education in high school. there is no cafeteria after 15 years. there is no title i. i was a teacher in inner-city, augusta, georgia, and we had magnet schools and that is good for the student, but worse because it funnels all of the

amb students out of public school into the magnet schools. when i was in south carolina, it became very segregated. we tried to take as many minorities -- there was a 30 mile difference in where the high school was in the charter school was off of i 20. i wish they would be more honest and let people know that you have the students pay for everyone -- everything they do. if you are not a wealthy family in these charter schools, you are going to miss out on everything from art and raising the salaries, we did a good job of that. fox creek high school is probably one of the best high school charter schools in the nation. guest: i look forward to visiting that school. if you're getting limited dell, especially in states where the allocation at the district level

is low, you will have to make concessions and unfortunately, a lot of things are thing's that go by the wayside. this is partially why a lot of charter schools have the raise money and they are part instructional leader and part instructional leader and port fundraiser for those goals. this is exactly why we need equalize funding and more resources and collaboration with public schools so that there is no tension between public and charter with discussions about whether local dollars are going to one or the other. host: is there a measurable way to discern how effective charter schools have been compared to other public schools are in the course of their history? guest: the best research on this has been done by the stanford unit is -- stanford university by a woman. she has done studies over the years that have been

demonstrating the benefits of charter schools and she recorded the benefits in terms of additional days of learning in math and reading and across the board, those numbers are very high and in some states, you can gain as many as a years worth of gain in math and reading if you are attending a charter school compared to similar schools in the neighborhood at the -- that the student would have attended. states like new york and massachusetts where they have done actual randomized field trials, the numbers are even better. in these instances, you see huge gains because when you do a randomized test, -- we gauge how engaged a parent as. we noticed that they are doing better compared to the students were not able to get into those schools because of a waitlist. host: how much is your job getting out and visiting these charter schools? guest: i make a point of visiting at least one charter

school per month. because of covid, i have not been to one in quite some time. that is also one of the most rewarding parts of the job when you go to one charter school, they are all different. that is why we do this work. the families and leaders of those schools are what makes this job special. host: nina rees is the president and ceo of the national alliance for public charter schools. thank you for being here. 20 men's left in the program, -- 20 minutes left in the program. we will hear your thoughts on the top new story of the week. the line for democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. and others, (202) 748-8002. we will be right back with her calls. ♪ >> today, the woodrow wilson center hosts a discussion on u.s. canada relations.

live at 1:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. online at c-span.org or you can listen on the free c-span radio app. >> saturday on the communicators. >> the white house to cite the technology policy under obama and trump and under president biden, -- that they believe in the future of artificial intelligence and self-driving and all these great technologies that are coming down, it is going to make our lives better. as much as we say about the white house, are we talking about the president or the people that do policy to get things done. i have to say, the last two administrations, we had terrific people with a consistent policy agenda. host: president -- >> president and ceo of the technology association talks about major tech policy, including online free speech, antitrust and broadband access. on the communicators, saturday

at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. ♪ >> weekends on c-span2 are an intellectual feast. every saturday, you will find events and people that explore our nation's past on american history tv. on sunday, but tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. it is television for serious readers. learn, discover, explore. weekends on c-span2. ♪ >> weekends on c-span2 bring you the best in american history and nonfiction books. saturday on american history tv at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency. 650 hours of president lyndon's white house phone conversations are available on a website created by the johnson presidential library at the university of virginia. find out what the tapes reveal

about his presidency with a story on michael, university of virginia school or melanie barnes and msnbc anchor brian williams. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on lectures in history, university of north carolina at chapel hill professor joseph looks at civil military relations during the korean war. including general douglas macarthur truck his removal from command by harry s truman. but tv features a leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. on sunday at 8:00 -- 855 eastern. and in depth look at the covered administration's handling of the colonizing panama. -- of the covid-19 pandemic. at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, retired marine lieutenant wayne phelps writes about how the military's reliance on drones affects combat and the military units that operate them. on his book killing remotely.

watch american history tv at book tv every weekend on c-span2. find a full schedule on your program guide our visit c-span.org. >> washington journal continues. host: we want to hear about your top new story about the week, the drought out west to the political goings-on in capitol hill. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. the supreme court is on its summer break, and here's the story about the fall term. mississippi asked the supreme court to reject roe v. wade calling it egregiously wrong. the mississippi attorney general -- to do away with the right to abortion and sustain a state law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. the court will hear arguments in a case in the fall, giving it

newly expanded conservative majority attempt to confront what may be the most divisive issue in american law, whether the constitution protects the rights of pregnancy. dave in california. on the republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i wanted to talk about your previous issue about the cutting of the federal funding for charter schools. the late thomas wrote a book about charter schools and their enemies. he documented how despite the fact charter schools get or less funding that he public schools, they outperformed the public schools to the point where the demand for charter schools -- at the time he wrote this book, there were 50,000 students in public schools on a waiting list

to get in charter schools because two thirds of the students in charter schools performed great in math and reading and writing compared to less than 10% of the students in the public schools. and there is an -- the number of charter schools are strictly limited by the fact that the democratically controlled governments in these large cities in the teacher school unions limit the number of charter schools that are allowed to open. and my feeling is that if competition -- the best thing for public schools would be more competition. competition and freedom of choice produce better products, low prices in other areas of society. why wouldn't the same principle apply to public education? that is my thought. i think that school choice may

be the next civil rights issue of our time. the polls that the majority of black parents want the opportunity of school choice, the same opportunity that white parents in the suburbs have, which of the opportunity to send their children to alternative schools. host: to new jersey, diane on the democrat line. caller: good morning. i would like to comment about the charter school bill. i have grandchildren who have been to the charter school system and they did not perform well. the teachers would change often. and even the people who were the secretaries in the front running the school before you get into the school were totally ignorant. the principal was the scaredy-cat. i cannot even talk to him about the problems that my

grandchildren were having on the school. it did not outperformed the public school. i am talking about an african-american community where it did not end. host: was going to the public school a better choice? guest: yes. we took the children out. we had to because their education was waning. they were learning nothing. everything was basically because of their inexperience on how to run a school was basically punitive. host: do you hear similar stories from people you knew that also had kids in that school? guest: absolutely. it was located in galloway, new jersey. my grandchildren, i am very much involved in their schooling. it got to the point because i let them know that what was going on was wrong. to the point where they became afraid of me. i cannot even meet with the principal alone, i had to have a

bunch of people in the office and finally, we had to take my baby out of the school. host: is that school in business still? guest: absolutely. the problem is a lot of parents do not fight. i am a paralegal and i know my rights as far as education. i asked them, how can i contact as far as the education, a department of education that oversees them. nobody in the whole school new. host: how are your grandkids doing now? are they out of school? guest: they went back to summer school. they had to be out of school for covid, but she is doing much better. she is seven years old and she is better out of the charter school because they have no quality there. host: good to hear. to raleigh, north carolina.

charles, hi there. caller: good morning. your topic about the top story of the week, i would say mr. schumer talking about the climate corps and how the federal government wants to hire you didn't people -- higher union people to run the climate corps. that does not make sense. host: to illinois, we hear from the democrats line. top story of the week. caller: hi. my top story of the week would be the january 6 commission that is being created by nancy pelosi and the democrats. that wanted to be bipartisan but leader mccarthy -- i would not

want to say bottom of the barrel, the democrats refused it. you cannot call that a partisan effort. host: this week, house speaker nancy pelosi refusing to seat jim on the panel. the five republicans in total were pulled out the panel by the republican leader kevin mccarthy. the wine republican remaining on the panel is liz cheney and she was appointed by house speaker nancy pelosi. there have been news reports that the speaker is interested in appointing adam kinzinger of illinois on that panel as well. we know that they will meet in their procession coming up -- i want to tell you about our program coming up sunday on c-span, sunday night, january 6 news from the house, it is oral history, conversations with members on the house floor in the capitol on the day of the attack on january 6.

that will air on sunday at 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span and on tuesday, we will take you like to the hearing, the first hearing of that select committee on the capital attack. that gets away on 9:00 eastern. it is on c-span3 and streamlined at c-span.org. in madisonville, iowa -- i am sorry, we will get to you in a second. joe in sun city, florida. democrats line. caller: good morning. i want to come in following up on the lady who just called about the charter school. i try to get through when you had your guest on. i have experienced too with a charter school. i do not know about the others. it was not a quality school. she was right that everything was punitive, the kids had to pay to wear jeans on friday.

your teachers were evaluated on how many extra curricular activities, all of the fundraisers and that step. and not on your performance as a teacher. it was one of the worst experiences i had as a teacher. i will never teach as -- add another charter school again. host: how long did you teach? guest: there was a high turnover. i did one year in the second year, -- and the second year, i put in my resignation. i cannot stand it. they gave us a principal who had never been in a classroom. she had been a physical head teacher. she had no experience in eight -- in a classroom. you could tell. she had no respect for us and was treating us like we were her gym class.

host: two different views on two different approaches to vaccination, bruce springsteen, you had to be vaccinated to get into that show. not so for eric clapton. vaccination mandates, a dealbreaker for clapton. he says he will not perform in venues that requires proof of coronavirus vaccination for people to attend, becoming one of the first major artists to rebuke a safety precaution being used for the return of live music. we go to madisonville, louisiana. caller: good morning. i live -- i was raised in the greater new orleans area. new orleans has only charter schools at this time. i am telling you. if i wanted to -- i would open a charter school. i could get online and get an application that has been filled out, put it in an open a school.

get that public money. i would not really have oversight. i could appoint a private board of my choosing. i would have at least three years to blow through that money. it does not matter what grade the school would get. if i did not do well, then they could shut down mice -- shut down my school. i would not have to pay anything back or i could keep going. they could say, we are going to give you another chance and so, this idea of high-quality charter schools is like a trademark. going back to your guy who called a couple of calls ago about competition being good and getting the products at the lowest price, do people really want to feel that a school is doing that in the education of their children? that a for-profit entity particularly, and wants a lower bottom line is educating their children? i would say no. i will leave it at that.

thank you very much. host: the olympics are underway in tokyo. the update from the new york times. just a quick comment that some of the reporting as it is underway, they write that as you watch the strange opening ceremony, the epitome of cognitive dissonance, it is hard not to be buffeted between two contradictory points of view. it is a wasteful, reckless miscalculation and a pointless exercise in a dark and terrible time. two, it is a stirring, a necessary reminder that life goes on, that there is a future that the world can still work together and that, as with any dark time in history, this too will pass. i am an optimist, so i will go with this hopeful vision, life goes on. in tennessee, on our republican line. go ahead. caller: yes, i was calling. i have not heard -- good

morning. i have not heard anything. i was watching on january the 6th when they broke into the capitol. and nancy pelosi wanted to send the national guard and she said no. and i have not heard anything about that. i was wondering, you know, -- host: we will find out more on monday, once the hearing gets underway on tuesday. here in washington at the capitol. in palm city, florida. on the independent line. caller: thank you for c-span and i wanted to comment about the charter school lady. you wanted to have two people on each side to discuss the facts. what charter schools have done

in florida is to destroy the public school system. when you put them in a public school system, you lose $8,000 of state and federal funding. 87% -- let me say it again, 87% of all charter schools in florida have failed because they do not know how to run a school bus system, they do not have certified teachers, they do not know how to have a physical building set up. there is no infrastructure for charter schools. the other example is, i grew up in kentucky. in a catholic high school. it caught $300 a semester. it is now costing $16,000 a year, one year per child at a high school in kentucky. the charter people do not want to tell you that there is a tax scam going on. this is for the rich people. the rich people send their kids

to a catholic or private christian school in the state of kentucky and they get a big tax break. it is an educational savings plan. they take that $32,000 that they pay for the private education and they take it off of the federal and state taxpayers. this is reason why the founding fathers put public schools at the top of their national agenda. host: we appreciate your call. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 with our program for saturday morning and hope you can join us then too. thank you for being here. have a great weekend. ♪

>> today, the woodrow wilson center hosts a discussion on u.s.-canada relations. live at one: 30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> president biden travels to virginia later today to campaign for a democrat running for governor. we will have the president and the candidates remarks live when they get underway. it set for 7:30 p.m., here on c-span. weekends on c-span two bring you the best in history and nonfiction books. saturday at 2:00 p.m. eastern on "the presidency," 650 hours of lyndon johnson's phone

conversations are available from the university of virginia. find out what the tapes reveal about lbj's presidency. at 8:00 p.m. eastern on "lectures in history," university of north carolina at chapel hill professor joseph bla ckhar looks at president truman's removal of general macarthur. on sunday at eight: 55 eastern, get in-depth looks at the trump administration's handling of the covid-19 pandemic, with the discussion of the book "nightmare scenario." and retired lieutenant colonel wayne phelps writes about how

the reliance on drones is --, in "on killing remotely." watch american history tv and book tv every weekend on c-span two. this sunday, c-span premieres january 6: views from the house. 14 members of congress shared stories of what they saw, heard and asked arians that day, including colorado democrat jason crow. >> if you are not scared in a situation like that, there is probably something wrong with you, or you don't realize the truth of the situation. there was a moment where i was going to ask one of the officers for his firearm because i have used firearms before against people, i know i am capable of doing what's necessary to protect myself and protect others, but i didn't know

whether the officers were. my experience in combat, you never know who is willing to pull that trigger and do what is necessary, but i know that i could. i was thinking about asking the officer for his firearm -- i decided not to, because i did not want to put the officer in that position, but i never thought that my two lives -- i am a very different person now than i was when i was a ranger. i thought i took the uniform off years ago and had left that life behind me. i've changed. i never thought it would converge again. i never thought i would be in a position of having to think like that or potentially act like that. certainly not as a member of congress in 2021 in the house chamber of the united states capitol. >> january 6: views from the house,