views should be involved with the olympics. host: let's go to dan calling from clarksville, tennessee. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, dan. caller: i oppose it. the whole thing that gets me is i have given up on sports in general starting with the nfl, went on to basketball, and i just do not have time for it. the last thing i want to see when i am watching sports is people take a political stance. i watch sports to get away from politics and those that are taking the knee, it bothers me because it is a question. if you are taking the knee against a government, i support you 100% because i support freedom of speech.

but when you are at the olympics you are representing the people. taking the knee against the people, well, that just don't cut it for me. host: the first protest actually came during the u.s. women's national team competition on wednesday. i will bring that story to you from yahoo.com. the u.s. women's national team and other soccer teams knelt before kickoff of the olympic openers on wednesday. the first demonstrations under slightly relaxed restrictions on protest at the games. the demonstrations were preplanned as they have been before various international soccer matches for over a year now as collective statements against racism and other forms of discrimination. the english premier league players first popularized the gesture last year in the aftermath of george floyd's murder and the subsequent racial

injustice recognition spreading from the u.s. around the world. as the u.s.-sweden game in an empty stadium got underway, all 11 starters from both teams, plus the ref dropped to one knee, stayed for about 10 seconds with music playing in the background. they then rose and a countdown to kickoff commenced. the u.s. women's national team were among the first teams to do a protest during this year's olympic games in tokyo. we want to know what you think about political protest at the olympics. lewis is calling from new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to remind the people that the 1980 protest. they are hypocritical saying the united states people don't have

the right to protest. host: let's go to lisa calling from ohio. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for this platform. i think that the classic example is the israeli not wanting to go against the palestinian. that has nothing to do with an athletic event and i think this is exacerbating the hatred and division in our countries and our nations. there is a platform for speaking out and i am very discouraged that we are protesting add an olympic event. it is not a political -- it should be an athletic event as always. host: just in case you were talking about the incident earlier, it was an algerian who refused to compete in case he

would come up against an israeli athlete. but your point still stands. let's go to gentry calling from paris, california. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm fine. go ahead. caller: i support the protest. the protestant church was protesting against the catholic church. the founders of this church protested at the boston tea party. are we invisible that we cannot stand up for our rights to be recognized, the controversy in our lives? don't we have the right to stand up and have them be accountable for their actions these days? yes, i support the protesters and i don't agree with these people -- i am a u.s. marine.

once a marine always a marine. i served my time, i earned my time, and i have the right to protest. i give that right to the people of my community against the evil that is going on. thank you, jesse. thank you for taking my call. host: let us see what our social media followers are saying about political protest and the olympics. here's a tweet that says, plenty of platforms. how many olympic athletes ever get famous? these are devoted athletes who will never be famous. they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring a worthy cause to the spotlight. leave them alone. here's another text that says, the protest is not political, it is human rights protest. if you say they cannot protest at the olympics, cannot protest any games, yet you claim to believe in the freedom of speech, you are part of the problem.

here's a tweet that says, how many anti-protester's think the capitol was the right place to protest? here's a tweet that says, i will be honest, i am supporting any athlete that beats any american protesting athlete. do you care about the sacrifice the athletes make? let's go back to the phone lines and talk to eric calling from texas. good morning. caller: good morning. i support the protest at the olympics. number one, the olympics makes a great deal of money from the athletes. it is a great place to tell the world that we are being

mistreated, things are not right. lastly, i think the athletes should be paid since the olympics make so much money. thank you. host: sylvia is calling from new bedford, massachusetts. caller: good morning. i just have one comment. shame on these people, athletes from the united states. they should honor our country because that is the best country in the world. shame. host: dave is calling from charlston, west virginia. good morning. caller: how are you doing brother? host: good. go ahead. caller: it don't make any sense. that is why i don't watch sports anymore.

thank you for your time. host: ralph is calling from augusta, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. what i want to say is people from afghanistan, africa, other places, these people who come over like we are bringing them over now, we have had several discussions about the treatment of blacks in america. not to take up too much time but if we want to take politics out of the athletic game, don't have commercials during the elections for these people. i saw biden and other people. 1.i want to make very quick is when vice president pence went over to korea he failed to stand

up and recognize their country. i think we should all work together but these people have an opinion and they think that we, as black people, are second-class citizens. thank you. host: there are other changes going on in the olympics right now when it comes to society and i will bring a story to you from cbs news about another change that will happen this year. laurel hubbard qualified for her first olympic games and when she competes in tokyo she will make history as the first openly transgender athlete to ever do so. representing new zealand she will compete in the women's super heavyweight 87 chela graham category august 2. the 43-year-old will also be the

oldest lifter at the games. i am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support given to me by so many new zealanders, hubbard said. in the last 18 months have shown us all there is strength in community and in working together toward a common purpose. this year's games will also feature the first transgender athlete to compete in the olympics. coming up after the break, we talk about the future of space travel and tourism with john logsdon, father and former director of the george washington university space policy institute. later we turn our attention to health care and the role of community health workers. that conversation with noble magazine contributor and uc santa barbara assistant

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announcer: washington journal continues. host: we are back with john logsdon who is here to talk with us today about recent flights into space by private individuals and its potential impact on space travel. good morning. guest: good morning. host: you are the founder and long-term director of gw's space policy institute. i am going to ask you this question, what is the significance of jeff bezos and richard branson conducting private flights into space? guest: well, the reality is the significance is not that great. these were not journeys into orbit, just up and down flights. but symbolically i think they are significant with all the attention being paid to them

because these are private citizens going to space on technology developed by private citizens. it is announcing the arrival of opening the access to space to fair paying private citizens. host: what is the impact of those private flights not only on tourism but on the commercial spaceflight industry? does this mean we are going to see several companies touting themselves as intergalactic companies where they can take people who afforded away from planet earth -- people who can afford it away from planet earth? guest: perhaps. we have to put into the mix spacex led by elon musk which paved the system that can carry people into orbit.

again, neither blue origin's new shepard nor virgin galactic's spaceship ii can go into orbit. the flights are very short. spacex in september has a totally private flight with four people aboard into orbit for several days and musk's ambition is to move large numbers of people into space. elon's goal was to establish a one million person city on mars and jeff bezos' stated goal was to move industry into deep space and have thousands of people working in space. host: there have been quite the

criticism of jeff bezos and richard branson with the rich guys who can afford to go to space or can bring anyone they want to space with them owning their own companies and being billionaires. there is no limit to what they can do. but of course, not all of us are billionaires. what do you think about the criticism they are using their money to go into the next frontier, places all the people cannot afford to go? guest: i think the criticism is understandable. it is a little unfounded. nobody criticizes a billionaire for buying a bay yacht. . they are able to use their money as they see fit. they are not philanthropists particularly.

they put their own money into creating this capability and they understandably want to use it. host: have these companies brought anything new to the spaceflight industry? are they coming up with innovations that can be used by nasa in the future or are they only doing what they can do because of innovations brought about by nasa? guest: well, nasa is 60 plus years old and has developed various engines, controls, and so certainly virgin galactic and blue origins are benefiting from what nasa has done over the years. but the innovation of putting

all that together in the system for their use -- they are not intending to contribute to the broader capabilities for spaceflight. they just do what they do. host: i want to remind our callers they can take part in the conversation about the use of private industry going into space. we are going to open regional lines. that means if you were in the eastern or central time zones, we want to hear from you at (202)-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is (202)-748-8001. keep in mind you can always text us at (202)-748-8003. we are always reading on social media on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter @c-spanwj, and on instagram

@c-spanwj. john, is there anything our governmental agency in charge of spaceflight, nasa, can learn from what is being done by bezos, branson and elon musk? what can the government learn from private industry? guest: let's take one step back. nasa has nothing to do with these flights. they are regulated by the federal aviation administration of the department of transportation which has the issue license for the flight to take place. again, they are not making contributions to the programs. they are starting new businesses, they hope to make money with these businesses, that have regulations associated with them coming out of the department of transportation. host: but is there anything being done by these private

companies that nasa may want to emulate in the future? guest: no. [laughs] i don't think so. nasa has have the capability of putting people into orbit since 1962. alan shepard in may of 1961 and grisham in 1961 were often like these flights, quick up-and-down. host: what is your comfort level right now in leading private industry take the lead in the space industry that is going on right now? guest: well, what segment of the space industry? there is a $300 billion space industry, mainly private but also government, in things like communication satellites,

duration satellites. there is a thriving private business in space already. you know, i don't want to make it trivial but this is a bit of a sideshow. host: let's let some of our viewers take part. let's start with steve calling from montgomery, illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, john. i would like to shout out on your book "after apollo." it was a great book about how the space industry changed after apollo and i have a two-part question. my first part for john is, how much more of the commercial market can spacex acquire toward space? my second question is, the nasa

administrator has said that china is our main competitor to get to mars or deep space. how much more can the government stay out of the way for a company like spacex to leave a path for america to get to mars or the moon before china? i will hang up and listen to your response. thank you. guest: thank you for the comment on the book. it is part of a series i have written on the space decisions of john kennedy, richard nixon, and ronald reagan. i enjoy doing that work. china is the country together with the united states developing capabilities for journeys into deep space. there is currently a rivalry, i

do not think it is a race because there is no finish line, to develop the capabilities to return to the moon and eventually journey to mars. the united states is ahead in that competition with the artemis program. but it depends on whether we maintain that current lead, competitive lead over china. it takes many years and sustained support from the government to do these undertakings. that being said, elon musk and spacex are developing a new spaceship called star liner which is supposedly going to fly soon in the next few months and eventually be able to carry a large amount of people, maybe

100 people, to the moon and eventually to mars. the united states, you know, the government is not competing with spacex. elon is using his profits from the business. you mentioned spacex competing with the european company. they seek contracts to launch communication satellites and spacex has been incredibly disruptive. a reusable booster and the price point that undercuts competitors. that is virgin galactic and blue origin having nothing to do with that competition. host: you brought up the elon musk star liner.

you say the government is not competing with these private companies. do you think the push for private companies to get into space in any way diminishes nasa's plans for manned spaceflight? guest: that is a good question. 250 miles up or so were the international space station is currently operating, nasa said it would like to get lower earth orbit and turned over to the private sector. it is a risky commodity. nasa says we would like to stop

doing that and concentrate our efforts in going places. going back to the moon and beyond eventually. it depends on how much you believe the spacex claim it is going to develop that capability. they proved it worked better than the advanced system. i think the government would going to partnership with spacex in exploration. the exploration is not turning a profit. it is to experience new places and see what is there and i think it is going to be government led for a long time. but if the private sector can contribute, why not? host: speaking of nasa, in a recent presentation nasa

administration lead to bill nelson let out his spaceflight efforts including going back to the moon. i want you to listen to what bill nelson had to say and john, i want you to react to it. [video clip] >> we are assembling the rocket at this very minute down at the kennedy space center. it will pave the way to return american astronauts to the surface of the moon. that rocket is the space launch system. it will launch our orion spacecraft and cargo on missions to lunar orbit and beyond. soon, like, days, we are starting to stack that massive stage between the two boosters. the sls will be the most

powerful rocket in the world, 8.8 million pounds of thrust at launch. all this means is we are on our way to land the next americans on the moon and this time we are going to learn how to live and work on another world. america's long-term presence at the moon, both robotic and human, will help develop the experience and capabilities we need to eventually send the first astronauts to mars. host: first john, i want you to react to bill nelson's comments. guest: well, i mean he described accurately what nasa is currently doing. the sls is now stacked at kennedy space center. its first flight is scheduled for early this year or early 2022.

this will be a flight without humans aboard to send the orion capsule around the moon. the second flight scheduled for 2023 will carry a crew but not landing. they hope that the third flight will carry a crew with a landing system which is yet to be begun to return to the moon by 2024. i think that is a very optimistic schedule but yes, this is the program that nasa is carrying out that is costing multiple billions of dollars of your public money. host: let's let some of our viewers take part. let's start with sharon calling from hanover, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: yes, thank you. many of us view this entire thing as extreme human hubris,

ego. these projects certainly require resources, fuel, they pollute. the so-called missions may involve things like mining the moon, an idea brought out by newt gingrich of all people long ago and it also serves to distract the population from urgent problems. certainly top among them is climate crisis. so, all of this to many of us is egocentric, wasteful, and i am

not a religious fanatic but all of this is godless. thank you. host: what is your response, john? guest: clearly this is an act of hubris, of human ambition, of human pride to go and explore other worlds. whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, well-meaning people can disagree. sharon thinks it is the wrong thing to be doing. she is certainly entitled to her opinion on that. others see it as part of creating a future that has optimism associated with it. mining the moon, yes. the resources of the moon will help support this undertaking in the long-term. you know, is the moon a pristine wilderness or a resource for humans to use? human ego is involved.

nasa does not cost much money. it is less than one half of 1% of the global budget. there is lots of money left over for addressing issues like climate change, which nasa is very much involved in with its conservation satellite. to me human exploration of the solar system is the kind of activity that we should be doing as kind of a window to the future while we address the problems on earth. host: john, can we judge yet what the biden administration's commitments to space travel and nasa is? we are still in the first year of the administration. do we know how they feel about space travel? guest: every indication is they are very positive about it. the first indication was mr. biden handing a piece of the moon -- having a piece of the

moon placed in the oval office as part of his declaration as he assumed the presidency. he requested a budget for nasa that represents a significant increase. but basically he said we are going to continue the plans that were set out during the trump administration as a sustained program of space exploration. every indication is that they biden administration is supportive of the current direction. host: let's go to michelle calling from arcade, new york. good morning. caller: hello. i just have one question. what about that vanallen radiation belt? thank you very much. guest: ok. for listeners who may not know what the vanallen belt is, it is a belt of captured radiation

that surrounds the earth, discovered by jim vanallen back in the late 1950's. you would not want to put an orbiting station in the vanallen belt because that would be unhealthy for everyone and we don't do that. but on the way up or back down you are not exposed for the radiation to have any negative effect. the negative effects are much more from cosmic rays that can act like radiation bullets on astronauts which is a very serious worry for long journeys out to mars. not so much for three days to

the moon. host: we have a question from one of our social you followers for you. they want to know what is the extent of the carbon footprint from these additional space launches? are the significant contributors to global warming? guest: that is a good question. i mean, at this point we are only talking about a few launches a year. i think blue origins said they are planning two more launches this year. the virgin galactic schedule, i don't think it has been made public. at that level the carbon emissions are insignificant. if it got to be the point of a launch today or a high-frequency of launches, then i believe there is an issue -- not a major issue -- but an issue in terms

of carbon emissions. that is compared to air traffic and automobiles and other carbon emitters. i still don't think it will be a significant impact. host: let's go to frazier calling from houston, texas. good morning. caller: hello. i am asking about spacex's starship. it has no launch abort system. is this safe and responsible? guest: well, you know more than i do about the technical design of starship. i would expect there is some form of abort system or safety for people aboard. it is a system that can land -- there are two parts.

there is a super heavy booster to get the ramp off the earth. that has yet to be tested. i think it has been fired once and then there is the actual spacecraft which is a window vehicle which hopefully will be able -- wind vehicle which will hopefully be able to land. i think it would be irresponsible and i suspect it would not give a government launch without a safety system for the people aboard. host: since you brought it up i will ask you this question. what type of regulatory parts does nasa play, or the government play, when it comes to private space ventures? are they regulated by the government? did they have to follow government safety protocol or are these companies just making it up as they go? guest: first of all, nasa is not a regulatory agency and has

nothing to do with these flights. the regulatory authority is with the office of commercial space transportation in the federal aviation administration of the department of transportation. that is kind of a mouthful. these launches are licensed by the faa and they have to meet a whole set of criteria to gain that license, including not posing a danger to third parties, anybody on earth. there are very specific regulations. the hope is that regulations are not so strict that they discourage the private sector from trying the sort of thing, but there is protection for us on earth in terms of government regulation. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to julius calling

from chicago heights, illinois. good morning. caller: yes, i would like to say hello and ask, isn't the speed of light unattainable? it is too slow for space travel. this whole thing is bunch of nonsense because there is nothing worth going to the moon for. mars, there is nothing worth going for. what is this all about? guest: well, let me break that down into a couple of things. speed of flight, 186,000 per second. a light year is 7 trillion. unless einstein was wrong of course. this is derived from einstein's general theories of relativity

so it is much faster than anything sent into space so far has been. there is an effort by a group to take a very small spacecraft, propellant by laser propulsion up close to the speed of light, to journey to the nearest star. still four light-years away but that effort is quietly ongoing. it has nothing to do with human journey to the moon or mars. why did we do them? because we could. kennedy in his 1962 speech said why do we do these things? why do we climb mount everest? they are demonstrations of human

capability that are intended to inspire and think about what humans working together can do. and eventually something we need a planet b to get off this earth so that the human species will survive if we succeed at destroying ourselves with either climate, nuclear weapons. i don't particularly subscribe to that is a major reason for sending people to other places in the solar system, but very serious people, including stephen hawking and elon musk, subscribe to that theory. host: john, i want you to react to this social media post that has a pretty down view on private companies going into space. the privatization of space is one of the most horrifying things to ever happen in the

history of our species. instead of being motivated by scientific discovery and the joy of exploration and the possibilities, we are going to commercialize space. we will ruin it. do you agree or disagree there, john? guest: first of all, space has been commercialized since the 1960's. most of the money spent on space and made from space is from private companies launching satellites, particularly the various forms of communication satellites, but also earth observation satellites to deliver services to people on earth. so, i don't think the privatization of space so far has ruined space. there is a very successful coexistence between government-sponsored and private-sponsored space activities.

i see no reason why they can't extend to human, private human activities in space. there is a legitimate concern of private people going to other celestial bodies and disrupting them, kind of messing up the site where the apollo missions landed, the spoiling the pristine character of mars. we need to make sure that doesn't happen. there is an outer space treaty of 1967 that says no country or citizen of a country can claim sovereignty over the moon or other celestial bodies. the united states, when it went six times to land on the moon during apollo did not plant the

flag and say this is now ours, that would be a violation of international law. as the exploitation of space proceeds, certainly there is need for new norms a behavior to say what is permissible and what is not. host: which brings up the question, have someone like jeff bezos or elon musk wants to build a city on the moon, who have them permission, or do they have to even get permission from anybody? guest: i'm not a lawyer. this is the sort of thing that space lawyers love to debate. my impression is that there is no permission needed to build an outpost on the moon. you can go, you can land, and

establish an outpost. it is going to be a long time before we have cities or settlements on the moon, but not so long before there will be scientific basis -- bases and maybe mining operations to extract oxygen from the water ice. i don't think there is any particular permission, except the suggestion of so-called keep out zones so that private entities or governments can operate in a particular area and not be subject to interference for -- interference from someone else host: are there already those zones on the moon? for instance, where neil armstrong set foot? guest: the u.s. has passed

legislation declaring the lunar landing sites the equivalent to national parks or national monuments. that is only u.s. law, that is not international law. on an international basis the answer to your question is no. host: ok, let's go back to our phone lines and start with freddy, who is calling from dover, florida. morning. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on and great conversation with the professor. my statement was regarding an earlier comment about how the billionaires, you know, they can build yachts and go to space, but my point was they are also providing great jobs for stem folks and scientists, and also support personnel who operate these launch sites, and also the fact that there has been some innovation in terms of reusable boosters by spacex.

that is my comment. i will take my answer offline. guest: the comment is well-said. these are new businesses, and new businesses contribute to the economy, create jobs. they have enough innovation to do the jobs they want to do, so in the economic terms is like virgin galactic are economic pluses. it is not government money being used to fund these things, as jeff bezos said, it profits off of the people that buy things on amazon that funds blue origin. indeed, reusability of rockets by spacex is a disruptive innovation.

it makes space access much easier and less expensive than it has been historically. i think there is a net positive in economic terms from these undertakings. host: we have another question from a social media follower that wants to know, are there any rules, are there any regulations, rules, responsibilities for the billyclub adding to the already-existing issue of space debris? guest: well, there -- they are subject to the same guidelines -- they are not binding. [coughing] binding laws about creating debris. which is a real problem, by the way. do origin and virgin galactic don't go to orbit, so can't create orbital debris, almost by definition.

every launch into orbit is a potential for failure, the potential for creating debris. there are guidelines of how to avoid that. they don't add to the problem in any significant way. host: let's talk to chris, who is calling from pennsylvania. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. on the surface you could say these programs appear to be frivolous and wasteful by nasa and spacex and blue origin and virgin galaxy, but when you watch people working together, drawing in young people who are attracted to working in science and technology, can with the

older people that have been there and lay the ground and are entering them, all focused on a goal, it is such a relief to see this type of energy working and solving problems and doing something together. i think it is just wonderful to watch. guest: that was very well-stated. clearly one of the side effects of these undertakings is to create a sense of motivation or technical excellence. one of the people on the virgin galactic flight was one of our former students at george washington university. it is not very long ago she was ending a classroom studying state -- studying space policy. now she has gone into space -- maybe not into orbit. there is that motivating impact, and i think there is an

inspirational impact. we still use the image of the american flag on the moon, of buzz aldrin standing next to that flag, as a symbol of american achievement, of american capability. it is part of our heritage you have done these grand things. i think there is an intangible but real element of space exploration in particular, and creating a sense of, hey, i could do that, that has a very positive impact on society. host: we know that these new companies like spacex and virgin galactic and blue origin are leading right now. what roles do longtime firms like going and lockheed martin have in spaceflight efforts? guest: they are heritage companies that do their space

activities 90 percent-plus on government contract. they are partners in the government's space exploration and space science program, but they are not investing their own money in creating -- i'm thinking as i say this, i have to amend it. they are not investing much of their own money in creating new capabilities to do new things. lockheed martin is developing a new launch vehicle, but it is mainly for watching commercial satellites and for government contracts. neither of those companies -- boeing is not talking about a commercial space liner as part of its future ambitions.

it is the entrepreneurial companies that i think are leading the way in private activity in space. host: we have another question from a social media follower. i want you to talk about this specifically. nasa has contributed to our daily life in countless ways. velcro, flame retardant close, and enriched baby food formulas, to name a few. what are the spaceflights taken by bezos and branson contributing? guest: a sense of possibility that i, someday, can go to space also. it is not what these flights are for. i have said a couple of times, i will say it again, they are business ventures to try to create something people will pay for, and eventually to turn a profit. they are entrepreneurial space ventures that are businesses, not social welfare programs.

host: we would like to thank john logsdon, professor emeritus at george washington university and the founder of the space policy institute for being with us and talking us through these private ventures into space. john, thank you so much for your time. guest: happy to be with you. host: next we are going to go to open forum. that means we want to hear from you on what you think your topic of the day should be. you see the numbers there on screen. we will be right back. ♪ bikes sunday on q&a, washington post finance columnist michelle singletary on her book. >> is not a matter of if there is going to be another economic crisis, but win. so we want to set you up,

actually, for the next crisis. it is not all about covid, but what recession is going to come down the road. it may be long, it may be short, but life is going to happen and i need you to prepare now. you know, i do a lot of financial seminars in my community. it is so hard to get people to save up when they are doing well. because they are doing well. i don't think that tomorrow is going to have an issue. oh, yeah, i'm going to get to it. in a crisis hits everybody is in frugal mode, but that is too late. the time to do that is when you have the resources, when you have the ability to cut. it is easy to cut when you can't pay for anything or things are shut down. so, i wanted to say, let's prepare, let's be like that fireman or fire woman who is

ready for that next fire. they hope it won't happen but they are going to be prepared for that. >> finance columnist michelle singletary, sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on q&a. you can also listen to q&a as a podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back and we are going to do open forum for the next few minutes. that means we want you to call in and tell us what you are taking about. we are going to use our regular lines. means democrats, (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. independents, (202) 748-8002. you can still text us that (202) 748-8003. we are reading on social media.

let's start with patrick, who is calling from maryland on the democratic line. patrick, good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to discuss about the protests at the olympians are doing. i find it very courageous. i don't believe people truly understand what it takes to get to the point where you are in -- are an olympian. essentially what is going on is young people are getting fed up with what is going on a link the united states in terms of how we treat our fellow americans. it seems like, i have heard a lot of excuses that former vice president pence could be able to protest and people of the united states did not have a problem with it, but now that it is exposing a lot of great protests

that should be going around the country, people are having a problem with that. people are having a problem with what is going on between palestine and israel, people are having a problem between what is going on within the races in the united states and the division, people are having a problem in terms of january 6, which i wish i could be able to say. people need to understand that america -- the world, globally, we see the problem. i recommend and i applaud the athletes for exposing and addressing the problem. thank you. host: let's go to mark, who is calling from illinois on the public in line. mark, good morning. caller: yes sir. i was wondering about the story that the fbi was -- infiltrated

part of the gretchen whitmer kidnap and the fbi participation on january 6. is there any stories on that? someone asked yesterday and you didn't. host: we will see if we can find anything on that. let's go to clyde, who was calling from akron, ohio on the democrat line. good morning. caller: how are you doing, sir? host: just fine. caller: it is a free-for-all, i can talk about anything, right? host: talk about your favorite topic. go, clyde. caller: i wanted to comment on this, you know, the people who don't want to get the shots versus the people who got the shots. i'm a 64-year-old black male, college-educated. my parents worked for general motors. mother worked for a school district. shielded me from all they had to go through as they grow up.

when i first went down south with my father in 1958 the only thing we could stop for was gas, ok? i thought eating at a rest stop was normal, eating at a gas station or parking lot was normal. anyway, getting back to the shots, all of these people talking about, they don't think it is safe. some people cannot even say they researched it when they are asked. they would not be here today if their parents had not gotten them their shots when they were kids. polio, measles, and mumps, the things i got that my parents never questioned. i'm asking these people just to go out here, the shot is it safe, get it. get it. your rights are not being taken. tell me when in this country's history that a white man has had his rights taken from him. host: let's go to richard, who was calling from sparta, new jersey on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning to you.

at my age i have gotten into art. artists get into caller. when i think about that, i realized that there are no white people and there are no black people. if there were we would have little gray children running around. the reason is, we are all a shade of brown. white people are really beige, which is really described as a yellowish brown. of course, your africans are very dark round. we are all a shade of brown. if we solve that, all of us in those terms, there would be less of a hard edge between black-and-white. it is about as different as you can get, but we are not. we are all a shade of brown, and that is a fact. thank you very much. host: here is a story from the hill.com that talks about an issue one of our callers talked

about earlier. this is from thehill.com. the men accused of attempting to kidnap gretchen whitmer are saying the fbi set them up, according to court filings, evidence, and dozens of interviews seen by buzzfeed news. there were at least 12 fbi informants involved in the investigation into the group for months while they were allegedly planning to kidnap the governor. the fbi's involvement was much bigger than previously known, as the agency was involved when the plot began and allegedly encouraging the group to further its plans. that is coming out of the hill.com. the men accused of trying to kidnap governor whitmer are saying the fbi set them up. let's go back to our phone lines and talk to lori who was calling from woody a, north carolina.

good morning. caller: good morning, how are you? host: just fine. caller: i was listening to the professor talk about the civilian spaceflights and what i was wondering was, with the pentagon and everybody coming out about the uaps, that they are real, who or what are the protocols that are going to be written or enacted should the civilians who go up into space encounter an encounter, if you will? i just wonder what those protocols would be. host: all right. let's go to rudy, who is calling from daytona beach, florida on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been vaccinated, and i don't like looking at needles

going in people's arms all the time. every station is showing needles going in people's arms. i don't think there is anybody out there that really likes that. why did they have to show the needles and make people who are squeamish more squeamish? that's what i'm saying. host: all right. that's go to doug, who was calling from laramie, wyoming on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to ask people in america not to complain against risks to one another's health. at least moderate social distancing was regarded as a common decency and courtesy, even in the 18th century. number 12 of george washington's rules of civility and decent behavior says, bedew no man's face with your spittle when you

speak. host: all right. many of our callers have said things about the current coronavirus pandemic, and i will bring to you a story in the washington post that talks about the attitude that is going around america about the current coronavirus pandemic. seven months after the first coronavirus shots were rolled out, vaccinated americans, including government, is this, and health leaders, are growing frustrated that tens of millions of people are still refusing to get them, endangering themselves and their communities, and fueling the virus' spread. alabama governor kay ivey on thursday lashed out and a surge of cases in her state, telling a reporter it is time to start laming again vaccinated folks. the national football league this week imposed new rules that put pressure on unvaccinated players, warning their teams could face fines or be forced to

forfeit games if those players were linked to outbreaks. i think for a lot of leaders both in government and in business patient has more than, said mac gorman, a republican strategist. once again, this comes from the washington post. we want to know what is on your mind. let's talk to terry, who was calling from washington, d.c. on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you very much for taking my call. i just want to comment on the situation happening right -- in cuba right now. i just find it so sad. i thought biden was much more -- my god, i thought he would at least get rid of the sanctions that trump put on these people, but no. he decides he is going to make it even worse. the cuban part about it is suffering because of the sanctions, not so much from their government.

it amazing -- it amazes me, america is, communist, communist. everything they have is made from a communist country called china. i can't understand why biden would end down -- bend down to those fascists in florida. fascist and rabidly racist people in florida who will not vote for him. i don't care how much he tries to appease them. so, he needs to get rid of the sanctions. i think the american people need to stand up and scream and holler. i was going to walk down to the capital with a sign, "help the people for real, remove the sanctions." the media has been, as usual, totally silent on this atrocity.

host: let's go to ernest, who is calling from philadelphia, pennsylvania on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning, good morning. i just have a brainstorm. california is running dry. if they make pipelines for oriole, why don't we make pipelines for water? host: all right. speaking of california, there is a story in today's new york times talking about the record high temperatures that is being -- that are being suffered through in states across america. i will read a couple of paragraphs in that story. this summer has produced record high temperatures across the united states have caused hundreds of heat related deaths. the forecast for next week suggests there will be few places to find relief. the hot weather recently blanketing the montana area, billings has already had 12 days above 95 degrees this month,

we'll head east throughout the northern and central plains. i next week the great plains and midwest -- along with parts of the east -- will have highs that are 10 to 15 degrees above average, according to weather service projections. heat, combined with high humidity, could make it feel like temperatures have reached the 100s in some areas. again, record high he is going to cross the country. you want to know what is on your mind. let's go to nancy, who was calling from wisconsin on the independent line. nancy, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for c-span. doing a great job. i just want to say to all of the people who won't get vaccinated because they feel it is emergency use only or that there is not enough research to take a look in their cupboards or things they have bought that were not approved by the fda.

what do i mean? vitamins, probiotics, there is food, i could go on and on. they are not approved and people take them. if you can take that, please, please if you can put that in your body, get vaccinated. it is a multibillion-dollar business, so people are taking them. get the vaccine. host: let's go to richard, who was calling from kingsford, michigan on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to make one comment. sometime ago a very intelligent man, dwight eisenhower, said, politics is like driving a car. if you go to too far to the right or too far to the left, you are off the road. this country has never been more divided in history than it is today, and it makes me sick.

we have to realize that everybody tries to exist, everybody has a right to, you know, freedoms and doing things that are good for not only themselves but for all of the others that are trying to exist on this planet. thank you. host: let's go to tim, who was calling from murphysboro, illinois on the republican line. tim, good morning. caller: good morning. host: tim, are you there? caller: yes, i would like to say that we need to do away with -- all of these mass shooters should be executed. i think they ought to put it on the ballot. it is obvious they are not going to change the laws. i think they ought to throw out the insanity plea, because

everybody says they are insane when they kill lots of people. i think i would pull the lever of the electric chair. i would be there. that's all i wanted to say. host: let's talk to tony, who was calling from south carolina on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning, thank you. i don't want to sound brash, it seems like somebody looking from the outside could say the american people are categorized in two different categories, none of them complementary. they are either stupid, right, or just plain ignorant, or apathetic. things are going on in this country. let's face it, i may have called in on the republican line, but i missed what was on the thing. i am an independent. if somebody was dressed in a soldier's outfit from china and

came in here and turned off our keystone pipeline we would wonder what the hell is going on, right? they are letting all of these people coming in that are not vaccinated. nobody is saying anything, but some woman just made a big story about people who are unvaccinated, these american people have to be vaccinated. nobody is saying anything about the thousands of people, maybe millions, coming in, eating bust -- bussed to strategic locations to spread the virus. host: let's go to toby on the independent line. good morning. caller: i called in to talk about medicare for all. people may not know, there is actually going to be 50-plus marches across the country today in support of medicare for all.

because people, you know, in the richest country in the history of the world are fed up with not being able to afford health care. we have medical bankruptcies in this country. just suffered a historic pandemic where hundreds of thousands of people died, and we still have millions of people in this country that don't have adequate access to health care. in majority of americans in polls support the idea of medicare for all. it is frustrating the idea has faded from the public spotlight, because for a lot of people medicare for all is as necessary as ever. thank you. host: let's go to larry, who was calling from illinois on the republican line. larry, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i wanted to call and let you know i watched your earlier segment about the olympics and turning their back on the flag or whatever they might want to do.

i did not quote, paraphrased what you're caller said on my facebook post this morning. they banned me forever because of that. i have no idea why, when all i was doing is repeating what your callers were saying, and i even said i was listening to c-span, but facebook booted me practically immediately. i am gone. so, i just want to warn everyone out there, if you quote anything or paraphrase anything from c-span that is against facebook's opinions, you may be booted for life, just like i got. i am not trump, ime social security board guy. -- i am a social security board guy. host: let's go to dan on the independent line. good morning. caller: i got the vaccination a few months ago and my wife has not been vaccinated. it is a discussion we have in the house.

now all of these mask mandates and everything are coming back and she is again refusing to go get the shot because if we have to go back to masks, people feel like there is no sense in english. on the call about the guy who said medicare for everyone is highly voted on or people want that in america, if you tell someon they get something for free, they are goinge to say they wanted. if they tell -- if you tell someone it is going to be 70% of their income tax, the kind of change their mind. it is not free. you're going to have to pay taxes to get that. it's up an honest question about something like that. it is not just for free. host: let's see what is on the mind of some of our social media followers. here is one text that says, i would like to bring up the revelations regarding the pegasus spyware and the fact

that spyware intended for use in counterterrorism was instead used to spy on political dissidents, journalist, and is this man, especially in countries where democracy is backsliding. it is really concerning. here is a tweet that says, one of my biggest concerns is this delta variant and how everyone in the america needs to mask up. it brings tears to my eyes to see kids in stores with no masks on. one other text says, it is very simple, if you fail to get vaccinated and get sick, don't blame anyone but yourself. realize you may get other folks sick. before we go back to our phones on want to bring you a story in "wall street journal" today that talks about the rising costs of goods. american companies are starting to test the extent of their

pricing power. companies are charging more for products from metal fasteners to oreo cookies. helping fuel inflation like the u.s. has not seen in more than a decade. as customers except the price hikes, some companies say they are expected to raise prices even more. others are more cautious, unsure if u.s. consumers have the appetite to absorb additional increases. what companies decide will go a long way to answering a question that has surged to the top of economists' agenda this year. is the recent jump in inflation transitory or persistent? that comes from the "wall street journal." let's go back to our phone lines and talk to doris, who is calling from holyoke, massachusetts on the republican line. doris, good morning.

caller: either. my name is doris and i am massachusetts and i'm currently a college student, for psychology. i wanted to say that, don't trust any of the mainstream media, don't trust the government, any of the sites, left or right, they are all lying. don't trust any of the new stations at all. they are going to lie to you. it is all lies. host: ri, let's go to peter, who was calling from lakeland, florida on the independent line. peter, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm headed to tampa for a medicare for all march. they are happening all over the country today, or at least in 50 cities. it is a start. i am on the independent line for a few reasons. one reason is, the democratic party uses medicare for all as a campaign issue to get donations, and then votes.

then when they get in the power like the house they sell you out. they refuse to even have an up or down vote on medicare for all. we know the first time it might not pass, but then we can primary the democrats that are owned by big pharma. you know, james clyburn is one of them. make him make that vote. the other thing i wanted to say about the last gentleman who said, oh, it's free, it will be 60% of your check. i wish he would have gave him a little payback. go ask the people who might be making $15 an hour now or less if they can afford to get can pain -- to get financed health care. that is taking $250 a pay period out of your check, and it doesn't carry the deductibles, and if you get something serious you still have to file medical

bankruptcy. the democratic party, they are going to get crushed in 2022 because they have sold us all out and they can't even get $15 an hour, which they ran on. host: let's go to susan, who is calling from fort myers, florida on the independent line. susan, good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. very briefly, i have three subjects i hope you let me finish. first of all, this medicare for all, i have worked 63 years, i was injured at work, not my fault. i can't even use my medicare because i don't have the money, ok? number two, all of these horrible, horrible fires nationwide -- and actually globally. i understand russia has a huge one going too. you know, of course i don't want any human lives taken or anything, nobody mentions the

hundreds of thousands of innocent animal lives that are taken. they don't get out of it. they die from smoke inhalation, etc. all sizes. the third 1 -- gosh, i'm talking too fast and forgetting what i want to say. oh yeah, the abortion issue. that is a personal thing, i can tell you -- and i am not for a gender war by any means, but there are those men who are -- who need to assume responsibility for some of these pregnancies. not always the female, you know? think about it. men need to step up to the plate too. and with dna can be very easily traced, and they should be held accountable, financially, to

take care of their offspring. thank you very much for your time. host: there is a story in the new york times today talking about whether new york city is going to mandate businesses to get -- to make employees be vaccinated. i want to bring a couple of paragraphs from that story that talks about the rest of the country. across the country government officials and private businesses have increasingly debated whether to require vaccinations as the highly contagious delta variant surges in many regions. still, moves to adopt such measures have been limited. hospitals and health care systems, including new york-presbyterian and trinity health, have announced vaccine mandates, in some cases touching off protests. the national football league said it could penalize teams with players who refuse to get vaccinated. delta airlines will require employees to be vaccinated, but

it will not expect the same of its current workers. a federal judge this week ruled that indiana university could require vaccinations for students and staff members for the fall semester. requiring vaccinations has been less common among when this book governments, which have strong opposition from unions. last month san francisco became one of the first major american cities to announce all of its workers, with an 35,000 people -- more than 35,000 people, would have to receive a vaccine or risk disciplinary action. we want to know what you think. what are your most important topics? we have had a great conversation here. coming up next, we are going to go to miya barnett, and we will turn our attention to health care in the united states and the role of community health workers. that conversation with wilbur magazine contributor and uc santa barbara assistant

professor miya barnett will be next. stick with us, we will be right back. >> weekends bring you the best in the american history and nonfiction books on tv. an in-depth look at the trump administration's handling of the covid-19 pandemic when they discuss their book "nightmare scenario." retired marine lieutenant colonel phelps talks about the increasing reliance on drones affects combat and the military units that operate them. he is interviewed by cornell university professor and former u.s. air force sarah kraft. watch book tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online at booktvtv.org.

>> officers from the u.s. capitol police and washington metropolitan police department will tell members what they saw and experienced on that day. watch the hearing live tuesday on c-span3. online at c-span.org. or listen with the free c-span radio app. >> "washington journal post quote continues. -- "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with miya barnett. she is here to talk with us about how u.s. health care be accused -- can be improved with community health workers. good morning. guest: good, jesse. thanks so much for having me. host: first of all, tell our viewers what knowable magazine is and what topics knowable covers. guest: knowable magazine is a nonprofit publication that is seeking to bring scientific knowledge to make it more

accessible to individuals. it is associated with the annual review publications, which tend to have those rather dry journal articles that academics read, but we really want to have opportunity for everybody to be reading interesting things happening in science and how it is relating to other life. host: in addition to the more than 600,000 covert casualties we have had so far, has the past 18 months shed any additional light on our current health care system and what flaws we have in that system now? guest: absolutely. you know, the u.s. health care system has been taxed for many years, as many people know. i am a clinical psychologist, so i also look at how the mental health care system has been. we know we have had mental -- workforce issues for a long time. that means there is not enough doctors, not enough

psychologists, social workers, nurses to meet the need. covid has obviously made this worse. there is also challenges with financing and insurance. one of the things i am most interested in is how the health care system is not able to serve all. there is real disparities based on where you live. if you live in rural locations or socioeconomic status, and for communities of caller. we know that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive high-quality health care and mental health care. all of these things have gotten worse throughout covid. we have seen vast disparities in care and challenges in meeting the needs of all. host: you wrote in a piece in knowable magazine that said community health workers can be a solution to some of those problems. first of all, for our audience, define what a community health worker is and what type of training they get.

guest: community health workers are trusted members of the communities they serve. that means they come from the same neighborhoods, from the same culture, the same racial or ethnic background, for example, as the patients they are working with. they serve in the roles to increase access to health and social services, to increase equity in care, and improve the quality and cultural competence of services. they can really help bridge how complex our health care system can be to navigate, especially for individuals who might have a harder time due to poverty or chronic diseases they are facing. host: what would be the difference between a community health worker and a nurse or nurse practitioner or doctor? guest: great. thank you for that. something to think about is

community health workers don't necessarily have the same type of health care education that you would see with a nurse or physician's assistant or doctor. they are more likely to be -- having less education in that field, although it is possible they might have it. their role is more specifically in this region role in providing support. community health workers potentially have received some types of these backgrounds if they were ending a different country before they moved to the united states, or even here, but it is not that they are providing professional health care needs. they are more helping with the access. host: our community health workers paid? and if so, by whom? guest: great question. this is so important. the answer is both. some community health workers serve as volunteers through networks in their own community.

a lot of times a community health worker, before they start to associate with one of these networks are one of those individuals people are turning to for advice, saying, my kid is having this issue, how can i do this? they are seeking out information, they are trying to help navigate that. some of the positions are paid in hospital-type settings, health care settings. something that has been challenging is often those payments are made through grants or foundation funding. they very rarely are reimbursed. those states are starting to pass different legislation to make sure community health workers' services can be covered by medicaid, for example. that is a really important step to increase what community health workers are able to do and how much you might get to see them in your own community

or within your own health care setting. host: are community health care workers being used in the united states? if so, how many are there? guest: that is a great question about how many there are. i don't have the numbers for that. there is a call from the national association of community health workers to do a survey, because they are volunteers or called by many different types of names like wellness navigator, patient navigator. there is not certainty about the number there are, but there definitely exists in didn't -- in the united states. there is the national association of community health care workers, and they have been prevalent here in the united states for a long time doing

work, often unseen, trying to make sure the communities they live in are getting the best health care and mental health care and social support they need. host: let me remind our viewers that they can take part in this conversation. you're going to open up regional lines. that means if you are in the eastern or central time zones, your number is (202) 748-8000. if you are a link the mountain or pacific time zone, your number is (202) 748-8001. we are going to open up a special line this morning for community health workers. we want to know what your experiences are, what you are seeing, and what life is like as a community health worker. if you are a community health worker, want you to call in at (202) 748-8002. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003. we are always reading on social media on twitter, on facebook,

and you can always follow us on instagram. miya, what was life like for community health workers during the pandemic? what were they doing and what was going on with community health workers during the pandemic? guest: community health workers have been a vital part of the workforce during covid-19. it is important to recognize that community health workers are part of the workforce in other countries. the world health organization has wrecked their importance. here in the united states they have been serving an important role to increase contact tracing, let communities know about testing and vaccines, and addressing those social needs that have been so much more prevalent -- food insecurity, housing, unemployment.

it is critical to recognize the challenges that health care workers have faced over this year, helping to address telehealth, facing the trauma of seeing so many individuals get ill and die from this, and recognizing that community health workers, being from underserved communities, were most likely to experience the effects of covid. we know that racial and ethnic minority communities had higher rates of covid-19. and were more likely to lose individuals to the pandemic. there was higher rates of unemployment and poverty, so all of those challenges -- in a -- being a health care worker and being in the communities that were most impacted due to structural disadvantages in our society really has put community health workers in a hard position. they have been on the front

lines helping to make things better. the american rescue plan actually included $330 million for community health care workers, recognizing the importance they are going to have in helping our country overcome this pandemic. host: let's go to our phone lines and talk to sharon, who says she is a community health care worker out of gettysburg, pennsylvania. good money. caller: good morning. host: sharon, tell us what life is like as a community health care worker. what do you do on a daily basis? caller: i work for a agricultural program. go out to the camps and we registered them for a program which provides primary health care for agricultural workers. we educate them on various health needs as there are a lot of problems, especially with the latino community, which are the predominant workers that come

here. educate them and do screening for things like hypertension and diabetes. we also educate on covid. we provide vaccines for the workers and do covid testing. host: do you have a question for miya? caller: not really, but a comment that in order to become a certified community health worker in pennsylvania there is a process that you go through, and i just recently got my certification after having taken some training. you have to also have a number of hours put in. i think it is 2000 hours you have to put into -- put in to become certified as a community health worker in the venue.

-- in pennsylvania. guest: congratulations on your certification. i want to thank you for the work you are doing. it sounds like it is important in your community and i respect everything you do on a daily basis. host: meyer, we know that the number of doctors in the united states is increasing. how can community health workers fill in those gaps of doctors and nurses in the future and right now? guest: that is a great question. i think it is important to recognize that community health care workers are going to be part of a solution to improve our health care system. it is not going to be the full solution. we need to be putting steps in place to make sure we are still recruiting doctors and nurses from every community, taking education available to them, and making their jobs feel possible to do so that they are not leaving the profession.

that being said, i think community health workers have an important role in doing that. we know that doctors and nurses can feel great stress when they are recognizing that there are innings impacting their patients' health that they cannot address in the doctor offices. doctors often have very short visits. they are not able to address if somebody's diabetes is being impacted by their access to food, for example. what i have seen in my own research and work with community health care workers and doctors is that having community health workers, -- health workers as part of the system next dock years feel more effective at their jobs because they are able to help their patients in different ways. i think to really look at how we are going to address these issues with health care workforce, it should be all hands on deck. doctors, nurses, and community health care workers.

host: let's talk to roy, who was calling from north carolina. good morning. caller: hello, c-span, and good morning, miya. i want to ask a question on, what do you think? how much of an impact do you think medicare expansion is going to have on community outreach? for the past 10 years they have drugged their feet on medicaid expansion, despite the popular support it has here. i want to ask the question, how much do you think medicaid expansion, or rather, do you think the profession will have been -- will have an impact and will that impact be positive or negative? guest: thanks for asking that question. medicaid expansion, access to insurance is critical to meeting the health care needs for all. so, community health workers are, one, initially going to benefit if they can bill under

medicaid. that is something that can help finance them and support the important work they are doing. one importantly, community health workers are helping individuals sign-up for insurance. their role is to increase access to health and social services. when there are fewer barriers because individuals are able to have insurance are more often able to do their job. medicare expansion would be a piece of that puzzle. thank you so much for that question. host: let's talk to christine, who is calling from rhode island. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. i was calling to bring up the issue of the elderly, nursing homes, and the people in group homes. these are the most fragile people we take care of. it is always short of staff, even before the pandemic. you don't get paid enough, you don't get benefits. so, now, ab you will be

recognized for all of the hard work that we have done. thank you. guest: thanks, christine. i agree, there in health care helping to take care of our elderly and not getting the credit they deserve so it is important to lift up those workers. host: one thing we talk about a lot is health, physical health of your body. but community health workers also deal with mental issues as well. can you talk about how community health workers are addressing the mental health crisis in the united states? guest: i am a clinical psychologist. 'i work in children -- i work in children's mental

health. before the pandemic we had high rates of mental illness that was not being treated in the united states. it is important to look at how community health workers can be addressing mental health. this can happen in many different ways. for one thing often being involved in physical health, one of the roles of community health workers is to offer in her mouth counseling and social support we find that when patients work with community health workers that can help improve their mental health just because they are getting this support that they need. i am looking at how we can improve community health workers' ability to address these problems coming up.

for example, a project i am leading has community health workers working with spanish speaking families and making sure that they are accessing children's mental health services and sticking with the program, even when they are on the waitlist. we know waitlists can be a challenge to getting mental health services. the community health care workers are letting these parents know what treatment is going to look like and supporting them in the meantime to make sure they can get the care that they need. host: in your article you talk about a study done in philadelphia with the use of immunity health workers -- community health workers. " by the end of the study, compared with patients who set health goals but did not meet

with community health workers, those who participated in the intervention reported significantly better mental health. they also tended to smoke fewer cigarettes per day and seemed less likely to be hospitalized after one year. a subsequent cost-benefit analysis that every dollar spent on the community health worker intervention would return nearly two point $50 in health care savings within -- $2.50 within a year." guest: i think people will hear this and say " i want a community health care worker in my doctor's office!" look at the policies they are advocating to make sure there

are more community health care workers. you can do a search for what the community health care worker network may be in your community. not everyone has a community health care worker. that study showed what a benefit it can be. because of that study the group in philadelphia has done so much work to expand community health workers throughout the united states, using that program. , at the same time we want, to see more community health care workers in health care settings. host: one of our social media followers has a suggestion -- this person text in, " the service of a community health worker should be collaborating with that of a social worker." are those two positions that collaborate together? guest: absolutely.

they already do often. that is a good point. i mentioned before, this seems to be a team effort and a community health worker is not looking to be a nurse, a social worker, do all things, but be part of this team. community health workers should work with social workers. i see that in the projects i work on. we have community health workers hand in hand with social workers, making sure families get the services they need. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to jeff calling from nebraska. caller: good morning. as a community health worker, you may know the answer to this. right now our government is pushing everyone to get the shot for the virus, even people who have had contact with the virus

and got in immunity -- gotten immunity naturally. right now they have estimated there are over 500,000 people who have crossed our border in the south, and they have not tested them. they know that they have the virus. they know some of these people have the virus, and they are shipping them all over the united states. what good does it do to get the virus shot if they are shipping them all over the united states? what are you doing to help that situation? guest: ok, jeff. i am lucky enough to work with community health workers. i am not a community health worker. i lift up their work. community health workers play such an important job in the covid-19 pandemic, working with the different communities to make sure that they understand the safety of the vaccine,

where to get it. they are working with immigrant communities to make sure access is there. it is important for community health workers to be part of outreach and getting the vaccine, and all of the responses that we need to make sure everyone is staying safe during the covid-19 pandemic. host: let carlton calling from maryland. caller: i greatly appreciate the whole discussion that has been happening. the last point that was discussed about the collaboration efforts within either the hospital setting or clinics, wherever the facility may be, i find myself in the program that i am working in,

there is a need constantly for interpersonal communication and coordination of care, that the work of community health workers and social care aspect of care programs. we are running the same race, but there is a certain access that they community health worker does not have. if ever we had a patient who would have needed referral for behavioral health or mental health services, that is something that if it required license sure, that it -- licensure, that is something they would have to follow through on. we do not have licensure. there is the aspect that there are social needs that need to be

addressed that community health workers are aware of, but when it needs a higher level or licensed authorization, that is something the social worker tends to more regularly to the point of previous experience in the nursing field, or medical assistant, or scheduling skills, many have those other skill sets, but are deployed in the role of community health worker. whatever skills you bring in that side of the actual function that we hired you, it is a plus. my i.t. background helps me support the team with all of the business computer functions in

our efforts to provide patient-centered care. there is the need for communication on the team to be clear, but it requires every individual understand their role and how to respect the other disciplines on the team. host: let me ask you this question quickly -- how many patients do you service during a week or during your working hours? are you seeing multiple patients? are you seeing one patient per week? tell us about your workday as a community health worker. caller: the process where my ambulatory services are engaging patients, our medical team will make a referral to our service. our coordinators will engage that patient as to inquire of them are they opened to engage in the service, because we

cannot force coordination of care on any patient. if this individual is opened to allow us to follow up, at that point to that person is then enrolled. from that standpoint, the nurses identify some needs the person has medically. the people on the teen then make an assessment on the patient to find out what those other needs are -- community resource needs, education needs, medication management needs. on a day-to-day, it is likely that i will have at least 7 people whose concerns i need to address in some way, shape, or form that come to my attention. there it -- because we have a timeframe in which we are giving this service, there is a census

of persons we are coordinating care efforts with. at any given point, 20 of the 56 patients in our program may reach into the service, but depending on the need, it -- host: let me bring miya back to this conversation. is that a common experience for community health care workers? guest: one thing carlton illuminated -- i'm so glad he called in -- for community health worker program will look different depending on where you are. as he said, there are some things in his system he may be able to do, but the social worker is the one who is licensed and has to make that referral. what is common is you are having

doctors or other health care providers ask patients if they want to work with a community health worker. the types of issues carlton is helping different patients work with sounds familiar to the community health worker programs i have seen. i appreciate the carlton -- insights carlton is bringing. host: as a psychologist, how damaging has covid been to the state of mental health across the united states? how do community health workers help with this? guest: cobit has had a tremendous impact on the mental health of our citizens. we have seen increasing rates of anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress because of the

amount of individuals who have died and lost individuals. the impact has been large, and it has been very based on what your experience was with the pandemic. we know for example that over 40,000 children lost a parent. as a child clinical psychologist, i am thinking about what supports those kids will need in school, with their families moving forward. the impact has been large. community health workers are important in meeting it. another impact of this pandemic is the number of individuals seeking mental health care. it has put a greater strain on our mental health care system. we see long waiting lists and a lot of desperation for individuals to get into treatment. the role of mental health care workers can be -- community

health workers can be -- not everyone needs to see a therapist. many, their anxiety or depression will be helped by more informal support or social support they can have with a community health worker. it is important for mental health care providers and health care providers to be partnering with community health workers to have them learn different skills they can teach individuals so the community health workers can be teaching opportunities and deleting groups to make sure more people are able to access the type of -- leading groups to make sure more people are able to access care. host: we know that the new

school year is just around the corner in addition to some students above 12 getting the coronavirus vaccine there is still that whole list of shots and vaccines you need to just. -- to just attend school. do community health workers work with children or are they just for adults? guest: i work with community health workers who work in pediatric offices. they are helpful at the front line with campaigns for letting people know they need to get vaccines. this is something they did before covid. a lot of people people missed tr pediatric well visits in the past year. we do know that there will be some challenges with kids getting the vaccines they need

beyond the covid vaccine, and community health workers are such good frontline public health workers who can be out there, letting families know what they need to do and where they can do it. i see that being, a really important role, getting ready for the school year. host: let's talk to tyrone calling from illinois. good morning. caller: good morning. my background is a retailer, but i have a daughter that is a nurse, a niece that is a doctor, and my sister is an emergency nurse. as a person looking in, the amount of money that it costs for them to go to college -- our college -- our universe --in our government does a good

job with the four-year, but with everything going on with the shortage, my daughter is a nurse and my sister are working 14 hours as a certain -- nurse. then they will spend 2 hours getting stuff done for paperwork. we talk about mental health for people in the united states, but what about our doctors and nurses who are being attacked so much to get stuff done? i would like to hear your comment on that and what the government can do to provide better student rates? guest: thank you and thank you to your family. they have been essential workers during this pandemic and have faced so much. the challenges of becoming a health care in this country with the cost of education and the

hardship of working when there is not enough providers can be extremely challenging. i want to commend your family for the roles they have chosen to do. i think we need to have more work done on how education can be affordable for the higher education of different health care positions. we know that we need to expand our workforce a lot. that is not my area of expertise. as i said earlier, we do not want to think of only one solution. we want health care workers to be a part of this puzzle. the government needs to be thinking about how we can make health education more accessible for more individuals so that we see doctors, nurses, pharmacist

coming from communities they are going to be working in. that is going to be key in addressing care and the impact - - the needs of our country being met. host: let's go to rudy calling from chicago, illinois. are you there? i think we lost rudy, so let's go to kenneth calling from buffalo, new york. caller: ok -- i'm just calling because i wanted to ask you about that story about the fbi and the governor of wisconsin. host: we are talking about community health workers, kenneth. caller: let's talk about that been. -- then. we have had 14 major diseases

that have been eradicated from the world because of vaccination. these people who do not want to get vaccinated, they claim their freedom their responsibilities -- freedom and their rights, but they never talk about their responsibilities. for civic duty is to get vaccinated. if everybody does not get vaccinated, we will have this virus with us forever. that will be a terrible thing. guest: -- host: how our community health workers dealing with helping to get people -- are community health workers dealing with helping to get people vaccinated? guest: they are trusted members of the communities they serve. they address a lack of trust to

that can exist between individuals in the health care system often for valid reasons. there are many groups especially racial and ethnic minorities who have a long history of being not served well or even mistreated within our health care system. they have concerns about getting a vaccine. community health workers are having conversations with individuals, answering questions and making sure they feel this is a safe option. we want to make sure every individual who has questions about the vaccine, who has concerns, that they can touch -- talk with someone they have a trusted relationship with. host: i want to bring in another paragraph from your story that talks about how community health workers are used not only in the

united states, but around the world. " in low income countries, community health workers have often been foot soldiers in the fight for public health, stepping in when people need help delivering babies, pressed feeding or learning how to prevent illnesses such -- breast-feeding or learning how to prevent illnesses such as malaria, tuberculosis and hiv. according to the world health organization -- guest: community health workers may be more of a phenomenon in other countries. the role they may play male look more similar to what a nurse or doctor dies because there is a lower workforce of health care

providers in those settings. all the challenges we talked about in the united states -- not having enough mental health care providers, not having enough doctors -- that is more of a problem in low to middle income countries. community health workers are stepping into those roles with training. how community health workers might help i providing informal -- by providing informal support, in middle and low income countries they are often providing those therapies. we have seen great success in them being able to do that. research is showing that community health workers can be part of many different types of mental health campaigns and i personally think there are lessons to be learned from countries that have even fewer resources than the united states about how community health

workers can address challenges in getting care. host: let's talk to johnny calling from san antonio, texas. caller: this is about the spotlight magazine? host: we are talking about community health workers. caller: like medicine? host: let's go to paul calling from boca raton, florida. caller: good morning. i have to give this girl credit for going on live tv and talking to people. it is the thought of getting schools involved on a vocational pathway with the senior citizens in health care and nursing homes. get them involved. create a student body that would help. that would create a connection between 2 generations, young

kids, old people, give them some perspective. it would also help with civics, teaching civics tickets. host: miya, exactly -- teaching civics two kids -- teaching civics to kids. host: miya, exactly how does someone become a community health worker? guest: you can look if there is a network of community health workers to learn more about it. community health workers are going through training so they can get certification as a

community health worker, but these are not necessarily housed in universities because this workforce is often more likely to be coming from the community, and not necessarily something you go to school to do. look in your own region to see what community health worker organizations there are, and what training opportunities there may be if that is something you are interested in. host: are there any laws or legislation moving forward to help community health workers on the local, state or national levels? guest: there are laws being put forward. different states are starting to place certification programs -- pennsylvania was one of them -- and that is to increase the types of training and regulation around community health workers

and also states are putting laws, policies into place to make sure community health workers can be billed for in surance. those are the types of policies that are going to help increase the number of community health workers that individuals are able to work with. host: does medicaid work with community health workers, or is that something you cannot use? guest: that is a state-by-state basis. it is difficult for me to answer with all 50 states, but some states allow medicaid to be billed for community health worker services. host: if you want to find a community health worker, the national society of community health workers is a good place to start. we would like to thank miya

barnett, who is a contributor to knowable magazine and assistant professor at university of california santa barbara for talking about community health workers. thank you for being with us this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we would like to thank all of our callers, viewers and guests for being with us this morning on washington journal. we will be back tomorrow morning for another e dish and -- edition. continue to wash your hands. we will seo tomorrow morning -- see you tomorrow morning. ♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered

view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? no! >> comcast is partnering with community centers so students from low income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. >> giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> dr. fauci, knowing that it is a crime to lie to congress, do you wish to retract your statement when you claimed the nih never funded research in wuhan? >> senator paul, i have never lied before the congress, and i do not retract that statement.

this paper that you are referring to was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain is not being gain of function. let me finish. >> you take an animal virus -- >> that is correct. senator paul, you do not know what you are talking about quite frankly. i want to say that officially. you do not know what you are talking about. >> this is your definition that you guys wrote. it says " scientific research that increases the transmissibility among animals is getting out function -- gain of function." how can you say that is not gain of function? you are dancing around this because you are trying to up

your responsibility for 4 million people around the world diane. -- dieting -- dying. >> if the points that you are making is that the fund created sars-cov-2 -- >> we do not know. all of the evidence points to that it came from the lab. >> i totally -- >> allow the witness to respond. >> i resent the lie that you are propagating, senator, because if you look at the viruses that were used in the experiments, that were given in the annual reports that were published in the literature it is molecularly impossible --

> what we are alleging is that gain of function research was going on in that lab and nih funded it. it meets your definition and you are up is getting the truth. >> let me finish. i want everyone to understand that if you look at those viruses, and that is just by qualified virologists and evolutionary biologists, those viruses are molecularly impossible -- >> we are saying they are gain of function viruses that became more transmissible and you funded it. >> senator paul, your time has expired. i will allow -- >> you are implying that what we did was responsible for the deaths of individuals. i resent that. if anyone is lying here,

senator, it is you. >> dr. anthony fauci answering questions on the origins of covid-19. he testified on choose day before -- tuesday before director walensky. you can see the entire hearing tonight at 9:30 eastern euros c-span. -- here on c-span. this -- cdc director michelle walensky spoke about the effectiveness of the vaccine and about how the business community can have a role in increasing vaccination rates. this is just over an hour. good afternoon to my friends on th