4:00 a look at russia featuring the book "putin's people" and then women in medicine with author of "the doctors blackwell." at 5:00 p.m. democratic representative charisse davis talks about her book. watch book tv's coverage of the 21st annual national book schedule sunday, october 10 at 2:00 p.m. eastern on book tv on c-span2. ♪ announcer: washington journal continues. host: we are back and we are opening phone lines for our open forum. that is when you, our viewers, can call and talk about what the

most important political topic is to you. as we wait for our calls to come in let's look at the major stories going on in the united states right now. the new york times has this story about the coronavirus pandemic. the united states surpassed 700,000 deaths from the coronavirus friday, a milestone few experts had anticipated months ago when vaccines became widely available to the american public. an overwhelming majority of americans who died in recent months, a period in which the country has offered broad access to shots, were unvaccinated. the united states has had one of the highest recent death rates of any country with ample supply of vaccine. the new and alarming search of deaths means the coronavirus pandemic has become the deadliest in american history, over taking the toll from the influenza pandemic of 1918 and

1919, which killed 675,000 people. that is from the new york times. the coronavirus death toll has surpassed 700,000 despite availability of vaccines. let's go to the phone lines and see what our viewers want to talk about. we will start with carlin calling from reno, nevada on the democratic line. good morning. caller: oh, yes. i cannot understand why people will not get vaccinated. for the good of not only themselves but for everyone. living here where so many people come in from all over, it is kind of hard to want to go out and do anything. i just don't understand people. the folks that go on about the

vaccines, i mean, it is just ridiculous. i think everybody should get out there and do their part just like we did with polio or any other thing. i just cannot understand -- i just cannot understand how people can make it a political thing. that is the most odd thing. host: brad calling from london, kentucky on the independent line. good morning. caller: i think i can help the previous caller understand because that is what i was calling about. biden's vaccine mandate, it is a very concerning thing for me. the other day he said 98% of the country needed to be vaccinated and i am afraid this is going to a place where he is going to

have to physically make 40% of the country do this. there is nothing political to not wanting to be vaccinated. it is not political. a person either has the right to their body or they don't. i don't understand the onus and for people to support the government wanting to violate, say, my free will to decide what i use for my body, in my body, there is nothing political to it. you either have the right or you don't. biden by doing this, you have the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. that is what i thought we held to but we are saying all men are not created equal, they are made equal by big pharma. host: jim calling from idaho on

the republican line. good morning. caller: yes, if you do a little research, all of our elected officials -- democrats have stolen from our first amendment and biden is stealing from our second amendment. word is out if you do not have a copy of the constitution, get one and hide it. host: let's go to diane calling from key west, florida on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning, good morning, everybody. i would like to see the $3.5 trillion go through because i would like to see progress and success from the democrats. when obama was president the first two years they had the

majority congress senate and presidency and he could have done anything but he didn't. now biden is trying to help the little guy and we are suffering. i cannot believe all the people, republicans, democrats, independents would love this program. it has education for the young children and that is when they are developing their brains, language. 2 years of college for free, it is so expensive. the poor people cannot afford college education and college opens your mind and let you realize what is going on in the world. for the elderly, we are in our -- boomers are retiring and we cannot afford dental, we cannot afford if we get sick to have in care for your house. it is totally out of your budget. but i would like to see cuba open up and i will biden

would open the doors for the cubans. host: lynn calling from parkville, maryland on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: just fine. go ahead. caller: i am calling about the government in general. i wanted to ask you a question if you will bear with me for a second. what form of government or how do you think government will function in the 23rd century? host: no earthly idea. caller: you have no idea? of course not. why are we still trying to function under a government that was formed in the 18th and 19th century? it has no purpose in today's world. it is defunct, it is completely ineffective, they do nothing for the average person, all they do is fight amongst their selves in

a two-party system that it was not designed for. i don't know how we think we are going to move further when all they are interested in in government is their own political agendas and stuffing their pockets. host: let's go to ramon calling from florida on the republican line. good morning. ramon, are you there? let's go to lisa calling from albany, new york on the independent line. good morning. caller: i think we have major issues in this country and it is stemming from this coronavirus. i think we have turned a medical issue into a political issue and it is pulling our country apart. i think everybody needs to be vaccinated. i think biden needs to grow a

pair, i think he needs to mandate the vaccine for everybody that is physically able to get the vaccine. and it needs to be worldwide. it needed to be free for everybody in the world. it needs to be free. host: here is a story that comes out of business insider that talks about the current split in the politics in the united states. a majority of people who voted for former president donald trump are in favor of breaking up the country, a new poll from the university of virginia. uva surveyed 2012 voters, have who voted for trump and the other for president biden. in late july, in order to better understand the growing split between the democratic and republican party, the results

show a country at ideological war with itself. more than half of the surveyed trump voters, approximately 52%, said the situation is such i would favor blue or red states seceding from the union to form their own country. approximately 41% of the biden voting responded similarly. and that is coming from business insider with the majority of trump voters believing it is time to split the country in two. what are your top political issues? doris calling from clarksville, tennessee on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm fine. caller: i was just saying when they are talking about the inability to find workers we do have to realize that, in less than one year, we have lost

700,000 americans. they did work. they did have jobs and most people have been taken out of the population. the pandemic is a big issue and people fighting with one another about -- you are talking people say they would rather have civil war and divide the united states because they will not just sit down and talk to one another. everybody has ideas but to go back to dividing the united states simply because you are not getting your way on anything, we are going to fail. host: let's go to steve calling from california on the republican line. good morning. caller: thank you. good morning. i think we should be talking

about the free speech suppressors they were doing earlier. they think they are going to read a book and inform people but america is not just books and ideas. they can have an ergonomic workplace that is functional for all of us that produces a living and promote our values, sustainability as a country. i think that is primarily to all of us. don't you think? host: let's go to vee calling from michigan on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning to you. when people talk about the vaccination the issue is more health than it is politics.

so, if the immune system is what is important, we need to deal with the issue of our digestive systems before you talk about anything. i think that is highly not talked about. we have silicone and of these products in our grocery stores. that plays a big part. nobody is talking about those issues put in our system that deletes us from dealing with our health. host: let's go to jamie calling from maryland on the democratic line. good morning. caller: how are you doing today? host: i'm fine. go ahead. caller: two tiny -- one big problem until we get it sorted out his we have to get the politics away from science. -- is we have to get the politics away from science. that is plain and simple. mandating the vaccine, if they do not get the vaccine, they have to get tested.

that is obvious. our parents when they raised us they said, talking about politics is cliche. it is rude to talk about. i don't know. i was raised that way but also have the ideology that politics are supposed to better people's lives in the only way politics and policy will better people's lives is they sit down and talk and our political parties stop tribal lysing one another -- tribalizing one another. if we try to come to compromise, i think our country would be in a much better and safer place. host: the house may be gone but the senate is still in session. i want to bring you a story from axios to talk about what the senate will be doing today. the senate will attempt to pass a 30 day short-term extension of

federal highway programs saturday after republicans prevented the chamber from clearing the stopgap bill friday night. roughly 3700 sanitation department employees have been furloughed as a result of the roadblock, per reuters. the deadline expired at midnight on thursday. the house's stalemate on the if a structure bill forced members of the senate environment and public works to committee to discuss the possibility of passing a short-term authorization earlier this week according to the help. it sailed through the house on friday night but senate republicans objected. the senate will reconvene at 1:30 on saturday to try to send the bill the president biden's desk. if you want to watch with the senate is doing, you can always tune in to c-span. you can find us at c-span.org and always on the free c-span radio app.

let's go to don calling from houston, texas on the independent line. caller: good morning. i believe the state of nebraska is probably the most progressive, the most balanced state politically when it comes to proportion of congressional appointments based on population. here in texas, texas has gained 2 additional congressional seats based on population growth. but if you look there is 254 counties in texas. as far as population, california i believe has 59, 57 counties. new york has 50 something, 57. as far as size, alaska has the most land. they have 29 counties. texas has 254 counties, 36

congressional districts, and now you have 2 more. if you look at the states around texas from new mexico, colorado, oklahoma, kansas, missouri, arkansas and louisiana. you add all these representatives and it equals texas representation. i don't know why they removed section v of the voting rights act for preclearance but the state legislatures and governor will try to attempt to make those 2 seats very red representatives which is in proportion to harris county, the largest in texas. but we will have taxation without representation and i believe washington, d.c., based on its population and the history of the northwest ordinance, should become a state and no longer just a district. host: michael calling from

paducah, kentucky on the republican line. good morning. caller: yes, i would like to say if the democrats pass this $3.5 trillion bill, this country is going to change and it will never be the same again. thank you. host: we go to eva calling from henderson, nevada of the democrat line. good morning. caller: i don't know what the big problem with getting inoculated is. anybody that went to our schools for years, as long as i can remember and i am 81 years old, had to be vaccinated in order to go to school. i had them all. polio, pertussis, i have had

two covid boosters and nobody had demanded anything. common sense told us that the doctors and scientists proved, and 600,000 people have died, we did not need to be mandated to be told it was intelligent to go get that vaccine. host: let's go to catherine calling from north conway, new hampshire on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. concerning the infrastructure bill and any congressional money bills, i have the following comment. some money is really necessary and then there are the wish list ones, unnecessary stuff. how much money is pork? like roads to know where and you know what i think?

from myself, when i hear different stuff going on moneywise i think, oink, oink. host: stephen calling from dover, florida on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to mention a few things. one of them is on the covid vaccine. can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: oh, ok. it was very simple from the beginning of this whole mess we are in with covid. wash your hands, wear our mask, and get vaccinated as soon as possible and we can put this behind us. some people decided not to do that. to me, it is totally insane. the other one is on the economy, on the $3.5 trillion bill they are trying to pass. i lived in the trickle down and

the trickle up economy in the 1960's and 1970's. in the 1980's with ronald reagan -- i call it the dark ages -- trickle down has not worked. if we get this bill passed, people will see trickle up economy is the only way to move forward in america. thank you very much. host: i will bring you one last article. this comes out of new york where the supreme court justice sotomayor has declined to let teachers teach without the covid-19 vaccine. this comes out of the washington examiner. supreme court justice sotomayor declined to grant reprieve from teachers requesting emergency injunction over school staff covid-19 vaccine requirement. sotomayor, an obama appointed who oversees the second circuit,

has the discretion to address emergency applications and did not issue an explanation or statement friday. this comes after the city told it's nearly 148,000 education employees to receive their first vaccine by 5:00 p.m. friday or be suspended without pay when school resumes classes monday. a petition was filed on thursday by attorneys representing the teachers, rachel, evelyn, diana, and corinne, saying it violated due process and equal protection rights. that comes out of new york with sotomayor refusing an emergency injunction to stop teachers from being suspended without pay if they do not have the vaccine. let's talk to john calling from oregon on the independent line.

good morning. john, are you there? let's go to cass calling from cedar falls, iowa on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for c-span. i just wanted to respond to the gentleman who said america would change if we pass that bill and indeed it will, but it will change for the positive. especially low income people. another point i would like to make is that people who refuse the vaccine or wear our mask talk about personal freedom. to my point of view, my personal freedom is being affected

because i can't do the things i want to do even though i am vaccinated because they refuse to stop the virus from spreading. host: let's go to carson calling from ann arbor, michigan. good morning. caller: hello. i just wanted to call in and comment about the previous segment. i am at the university of michigan and my experience with free speech on college campus has been mixed so far. in one instance my first week of classes one of my graduate instructors basically put it out there that restricting abortions is the same as -- i am pro-life independent and i would not be comfortable in that class, speaking out about my views. i have also had a lot of good

conversations with people that have been respectful of my views. i am not really sure what to think about it at this point. my second comment is that i think it is a shame that the progressives are holding up the infrastructure bill. we need the infrastructure bill right now. the roads in michigan are really bad and i think it is a shame they're holding that up until they get everything they want. thank you. host: let's talk to barbara calling from wilmington, delaware on the democrat line. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. i just wanted to make a comment about the mandate for the vaccine. here is my point and this is what i tell people. i am unvaccinated and will not get vaccinated.

everybody in the whole world, not just the united states, but other countries as well could get the vaccine. the coronavirus is still floating around in the air. the government is telling me to get vaccinated but they are not telling me what they are going to do to kill the covid virus. you know what i mean? they are telling me if i get vaccinated, i still have to wear our mask. there is confusion so i choose not to partake in the vaccine. i still wear the mask. i wanted to say about the infrastructure bill, here in delaware they are doing the roads over which is a good thing. but i am looking at the amount of money they are spending on

the highways here and if you look down under the overpass of the highway, there was tons of homeless people. i really think it is good for the infrastructure to be taken care of because that has been on hold for years. host: you go to oliver calling from falls church, virginia on the independent line. caller: hello, jesse. can you hear me? host: we can. go ahead. caller: i always seem to get through when you're working. i appreciate c-span so very much. we talking about the issues with the country being in such turmoil right now. jesse, i am telling you and i am hoping the american people wake up to it, that donald trump has done this to this country.

he has lied, he has stole, he has done everything he can to bring this country down and cause confusion. some of my friends think i am crazy but i really believe he is working with the russian government right now. host: we would like to thank all callers who called in for that segment. coming up next, susan minato, copresident of unite here local 11, will be here to discuss her recent piece in the nation that urges congress to pass the freedom to vote at. stick with us. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ announcer: weekends bring you the best in american history and nonfiction books. on book tv on afterwards, columnist george will and his book on what he calls the unruly

torrent years between 2008 and 2020. he is interviewed by cnn political contributor amanda carpenter. on in-depth, a conversation with historian and activist roxanne ortiz, author of several books including outlaw woman and indigenous peoples history. in her most recent, not a nation of immigrants, she talks about native american culture and history, the women's liberation movement and founding of the united states. watch book tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at book tv.org. ♪ ♪ announcer: sunday night on q&a, on the eve of the supreme court's new term we look at the light and legacy of a major figure in the court's history's,

justice john marshall harlan. politico's editor at large, peter canalis, tells us about the great dissenter. >> he dissented in all cases that took away the rights of african-americans because he knew the post-civil war events, that were added to the constitution and ratified as a price of reentry into the union for the south, and ratifying it under the normal process, that was intended to preserve the rights of african-americans. and when his colleagues, for reasons that were very suspicious, basically tried to keep peace with the south -- when they began to retreat from that it was the right of the supreme court to say that this was not really in the constitution and not really what was intended. harland stood up against of that. announcer: peter canalis, sunday night at eddie clock p.m. eastern on