>> comcast supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers. giving you a front row seat to democratcy. -- democracy. at c-span debbie . a group of republicans went to the capitol steps yesterday to protest mask wearing among other

policy differences, a country in crisis. >> we have a country in crisis. a recent poll showed american's optimism about the direction of the country over the next year has limited 20 points since may. this should surprise no one. every time americans go to the grocery store, they are paying more. every time they turn on the national news they see crime. every time they get updates about our southern border, they see reports about migrants that are illegally entering our country every day. every time the cdc releases new guidance, nunnally does it contradict information they have released, it punishes americans

who have already done everything they were asked to do. they were told to be vaccinated. think about what the cdc did this week. they forced vaccinated americans to wear masks because of a study in india about a vaccine that is not in america that has not been peer-reviewed. the cdc has become a political arm of the administration. they want to control every element of our lives. what's interesting is we stand out here in front of the capital. as you look across the other steps at the senate, i'm not quite sure where the cdc got it, the science changes. if you are a capitol police officer, you got orders.

if a vaccinated staffer comes across without a mask, you are ordered to arrest him. this is not the america we know. this is the people's house. host: republican leader kevin mccarthy from california on the steps. get the headlines. the date masks returned to congress. then you've got this from the associated press. mask guidance met with hostility from leading republicans. a poll from nbc showed the breakdown by party. republicans, 48% say they wear it every time. 71% of independent voters.

86% of democrats say every time. the washington post headline, the rate of new infections is twice as high in red counties as blue counties. we turn to you this morning and ask how did mask wearing become political? you are up first. good morning. caller: i wonder how it happened. i was born in the 50's. back then, we had to get vaccinations for polio and all kinds of things. it stopped those diseases from flourishing. this is a disease. it has nothing to do with politics, race, gender. i feel the politicians stood lettuce made our own choice about whether we want to be vaccine.

my husband and i are vaccinated. we got the pfizer. if i have to take a booster, i will take a booster. i have grandchildren in their 20's and 30's. some will vaccinate and some won't. i try to talk to them. i know there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. then we get politicians involved. leave people alone about this. these are lives being lost. i had a sister who had covid. she was 73. she doesn't know how she caught it. she almost died. she made it through. you can see the suffering that covid causes. get off this bandwagon of

politics. this is life-and-death here in america and all over the world. we just need to get vaccinate. host: i am going to go on to arlene in michigan. what the you think? caller: mask wearing became political as soon nancy pelosi started screaming at donald trump was racist because he wanted to shut down our borders. right now, it's just a way for the democratic party to throw their power around. if you've been vaccinated, you should not have to wear a mask any longer. host: listen to tim ryan of ohio. he took to the floor wednesday

to push back against the republicans who are pushing back against the cdc. this has gotten one million views. >> fear, fear, fear. the attending physician of the united states capital, the top doctor for congress asks us to put on masks when we come to a chamber with 435 people. i hate these things. it's terrible having to put this back on. we do it because the top doctor for all of us asked us to. i may not be from a hotspot, the speaker may not be from hotspot, somebody in this chamber is coming from a hotspot. somebody represents hotspots.

they get on a plane and they fly here and they interact with all of us. we leave here and we go home to our families. some take care of their sick parents. some take care of kids who may have an autoimmune disorder. i just find it absolutely immature and appalling to somehow diminish it, to try to score cheap political points. host: how did mask wearing become political? mark is in milwaukee. what do you say? caller: i would have to say it started with trump downplaying the virus at the very beginning. the republicans wouldn't wear the masks. they are the ones that wouldn't get the vaccine. i got the vaccine. i enjoy not having to wear a mask.

i am concerned about a new variant coming up. i would have to blame it on the republicans and the anti-sirs -- vaxers. caller: it became political when the democrats and china released the virus on our country. that's when it became political. it was politically used to try to keep donald trump from becoming president. i don't know why you act like that's a surprise to you. host: you've got to turn down the television when you are called on. just listen and talk through your phone. kevin in frankfort, kentucky. caller: that was just imbecilic. i would have to say from

personal, i'm afraid i'm going to lose my brother and his entire family because they are listening to whatever it is out there on the internet. they can make up anything they want to on the internet. it can be truth by their reckoning. i am going to lose my entire brothers family because of this. they refuse to believe the truth that this virus will kill you. host: kevin in kentucky. gina, what do you say? caller: i find it interesting, when there was a caller that made masks and headpieces to keep viruses out. he said the masks do no good.

they do not work. this is the subject of interest. people just ignore that fact. this became political so the democrats could have mail-in voting again. that's all it is. it's to scare the people. it's a travesty. host: two newspaper articles this morning. this is from the washington examiner.

the washington examiner. compare that with the new york times. alarming findings drove the mask reversal. this is what they say.

kevin in jacksonville. what do you say? how did this become political? caller: it became political in the constitution. it says to promote the welfare. it tells us that they have to promote for the general defense. that's what they think is the most important thing for us. even though coronavirus -- none of us knows where it came from. they just want to keep us divided. united we stand, divided we fall. as long as we are not looking at them, they will continue to

oppress us. have a great day. host: this is pam in north carolina with her text. let's go back to the former president. in april 2020 as he announces then the mask guidance, this is april 2020. this is four months after the virus is in our country. >> the cdc is advising the use of nonmedical cloth face coverings as an additional health measure. it's voluntary. you don't have to do it. they suggested. this is voluntary. i don't think i'm going to be

doing it. they have a lot of ways you can look at it. the cdc is recommending that americans wear a fabric mask. they can be made at home. these face coverings can be used or washed and reused. the cdc is not recommending the use of medical grade or surgical grade masks. we want that to be used for our great medical people that are working so hard and doing some job. medical protective gear must be reserved for the frontline health care workers who are performing those vital services. the guidelines do not replace guidance on social distancing, including staying in your home when possible. standardly six feet apart for a. of time. we are all going to come back together.

we can practice hand hygiene, which we should do anyway. a lot of things i think are going to spill over. shaking hands, maybe we will stay with our country for a long time. one of our great doctors was telling me we have the flu every year. the number of people killed by the flu is very substantial. if they didn't shake hands, that number would be substantially lower. maybe some of these things long term will be good. those guidelines are still the best and safest way to avoid the infection. with the masks, it's going to be a voluntary thing. you can do it. i am choosing not to do it. some people might not want to do it. host: the conversation on the

website had a piece about the psychology of wearing masks. their headline from the conversation, we will show you that. they say : what do you think about that? how did mask wearing become so politicized. a deck rat in oklahoma, what do you say? -- democrat in oklahoma, what do you say? caller: a lot of it goes back to trump. i don't know.

he thinks everything is going to be just fine. everything is good. we all know it's not. anyway, my sister's boyfriend just got out of the hospital with pneumonia and covid. the doctor told him he has -- is a very lucky man to have survived from that. the pneumonia part, he plays drums in his church. the man sees that he's got a second chance. he said that he is going to start helping people. god gave him a second chance. host: got it. kevin is in arkansas.

it challenges our sense of exceptionalism. host: janet in jacksonville. what do you say? caller: it got politicized when we see these people pouring over our border unmasked and unvaccinated and untested. what are we to think? we are just ignoring the southern border. my husband and i are vaccinated. we are fooling the american people by lying to them. that's my point. host: ray in colorado.

a little history for you this morning. this is from a washington post article where the headline says the battle over masks has always been political. they went back to the 1918 flu pandemic. during that time, directives to wear mastic apolitical battle over gender and power. although they did not necessarily accord with partisan division. part of it was because of the different political situation in 1918. the pandemic coincided with 19 -- world war i and americans were more likely to side with the government.

host: frank in pennsylvania, and independent. good morning two. caller: good morning. the statement you read a few moments ago regarding the psychology belonging to groups. that is a beautiful way to describe how it becomes political. the fact is this virus is nonpolitical. it is a scientific problem we are having. this is something we learned decades ago. the problem comes from the individual. it shows how the democrats and republicans blame each other. the individual has to make a decision.

do we get our scientific information from politics or from scientists. we all have an individual duty to follow the science. forget about what religious leaders say. it's not going to wait miraculously. it has nothing to do with either party. that statement you made about the psychology, we want to belong to a group. follow the science in the truth. have a wonderful day. host: william in connecticut with a text. robert in florida, democratic caller. it's your turn. caller: good morning. i got my shots, my first and march and second one in april. i've been wearing a mask even though i got the shots.

right now, here in florida, this is spreading like crazy. they are overflowing hospitals. this governor we've got, he was declaring mission accomplished. this is two times now. now we are in this position. i'm going to keep wearing a mask because it's the right thing to do. host: more of your phone calls coming up about how this mask wearing became a little. democrats, republicans, independence. your lines will be on the screen. continue texting us at (202) 748-8003. you can go to facebook. you can send us a tweet with twitter. on infrastructure, as we told you, the senate is moving forward with that $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure agreement.

another hurdle will happen today. they will begin debate on the senate floor, whether to begin debate. there could be more votes as well on this infrastructure agreement. tune into c-span 2 today. they could work into the we can. here's chuck schumer on the senate floor yesterday, talking about the way forward on this deal. >> i want to commend the senators who worked with the president to reach the deal. it will ultimately dedicate over $1 trillion to strengthening every major category of our physical infrastructure. the vote last night means the senate is on track to reach the two track goal i laid out at the beginning of the month. the first track, a bipartisan bill post on traditional infrastructure projects.

the second track is a budget reconciliation bill where democrats will make investments in american jobs, families, efforts to fight climate change. in order to start work on a reconciliation bill, the senate must pass a budget resolution first. we are on track for that as well. it's been my goal to pass both a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a budget resolution during this work. . i understand that. because of the vote last night, the senate is moving forward with a bipartisan infrastructure bill and we are on track to pass both elements of the two track strategy before we adjourn for august recess. it took some prodding and a few deadlines. it has worked out for the better. host: the democratic leader in the senate talking about the

agenda headed for the senate. on the second part of the push for infrastructure, the human infrastructure package, mitch mcconnell came to the floor to oppose that proposal. >> we are familiar with the bottom line. we all know it would only amp up inflation. in large part, because of the last partisan deluge of spending a few months ago, the parade of left-wing ideas that comprise this mess. turning pandemic welfare payments with no work requirements into a permanent goal. shoving through big chunks of the green new deal. government price-fixing that will leave us with fewer new medicines and new cures.

there is an effort to inflame the border crisis with a far-left amnesty. we have seen the highest unaccompanied child arrive or's on record. the biggest month for immigrant encounters in 21 years. this month, apprehensions for the calendar year are expected to top one million. we still have five months ago. one might think they would try to avoid repeating the missteps that created the crisis. apparently, democrats intend to do the opposite. their spending spree will include a bigger green light in this crisis. host: mitch mcconnell there.

back to our conversation, how did mask wearing it become political? here is one of our viewers saying the delta variant is getting our children sick. i can only hope that your fellow americans care more about your family than you do. take a look at the hill newspaper with the headline u.s. has the highest number of new cases in the world. the u.s. tallied 500,000 new cases for the week ending to lie 25th. the delta variant is driving the surge. what do you think? caller: i think it became

>> acommend a made a few months ago about how most americans get their information from facebook. they actually believe it's true, greta. i'm looking at a pew research poll taken from tech crunch dot-com. 36% of u.s. adults say they regularly access facebook to get news. these people don't -- they don't understand fake, reality. for all they are concerned they think this is a big hoax even today. host: mark, do you think that's the driving force behind -- you said it was the former president. how much does disinformation -- caller: misinformation. i live in massachusetts. we had one of the worst

outbreaks, initially, new york, too. charlie baker, republican governor, callers, republican governor, we had a mask mandate in one of the first states. over 70% vaccinated. one of the lowest rates in america. i'm looking at the chart, florida has 186,000 new cases in the last week. we have 8,000 as a state in massachusetts. i would say obviously some misinformation. i think education in general is the biggest -- we have a bunch of morons in america. thank you. host: dee, vero beach, florida, hi, dee. caller: i think we kind of need to get back to -- ok, it's been political from the get-go. but it needs to be political on both sides, red or blue. if you go the basics, 100 years or so ago, we didn't know about sterilization even, bacteria,

antibiotics. but we take them on faith. they are a protectsant or healer. -- protectant or healer. just if you go out in a rainstorm you rare rain gear, umbrella. if you are in the cold you wear a heavy coat. these are the basic things that protect us. .

people stop believing what they want to believe but it's up to scientists and the medical profession to heal this virus, not the politicians. host: eddie, do you think the c.d.c. has done a good job communicating why they make the decisions that they make? caller: well, i think the water is being mucked because of politicians. one side said it's being this and one side is being that. it's being mucked. host: tensions flair of the c.d.c. guidelines. if you are fully vaccinated, you still need to wear a mask if you are indoors. house republicans are protesting the mask mandate by walking to the senate where masks are not mandated by the capitol

physician. you can see marjorie taylor greene there. other republicans as they walk over to the senate. also in that crowd was congressman chip roy of texas. he's a republican. he came to the house floor wednesday protesting the reimposition of mask wearing in the house chamber. here's what he had to say. mr. roy: we have a crisis at our border and we are playing footy with mask mandates inside this house. it's an embarrassment. it's a mockery. the american people are fed up. they want to go back to life. they want to go back to business. they want to go back to school. their children are being forced to wearing mask. to be put in the corner, having mental health issues. the speaker comes down here at 10:00 in the morning saying we got to wear masks in the people's house whiling we have thousands -- while we have thousands of people pouring

across the border and democrats don't do a darn thing about it heavily infected with covid-19. we have "the new york times" today, what a mess. c.d.c. about to reverse on indeer masking. this -- indoor masking. this is nanny state stuff. no kidding. magnified here on the floor of the house of representatives. host: congressman chip roy of texas, a republican on the house floor wednesday. now, matt in dallas, in a text says, masks are political based on your political view of freedom. we as democrats believe in achieving freedom from the covid-19 virus. republicans will protect their own individual freedom no matter the human cost. yesterday at the white house, the president was asked about his previous promise that if people got vaccinated they wouldn't have to wear a mask. here's what he had to say. >> heard you said if you're

fully vaccinated you no longer need to wear a mask. [indiscernible] reporter: in may, it sounded like getting vaccinated was losing a mask. president biden: that was true at the time. they're getting vaccinated may make a difference. what happened was a new variant came along. they didn't get vaccinated. >> i'm j. stephen morrison where i head up csis's work on global health. this events is -- event is sponsored jointly with the kaiser family foundation, a close partner over many, many years. my co-host is jennifer kates, also a close friend, who is the