records -- patrick riccards, president of the driving force institute, will talk about teaching u.s. history and civics. all that next. washington journal starts now. host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. it has been more than a year and a half since the discovery of covid-19. the disease has become one of the most deadliest pandemics in human history. more than 700,000 americans have died from the coronavirus. the country has gone through lockdowns, tests and vaccines and scientists continue to look for a cure. everyone has been affected by the pandemic. what we want to know this morning is, have your views changed about covid-19? do you think differently about

masks, vaccines and other measures than before? how have your covid-19 public health views changed -- have your covid-19 public health views changed? if your answer is yes, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000. if your answer is no, your number is going to be (202) 748-8001. keep in mind, you can always text us at (202) 748-8003 and we are reading on social media on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter, @cspanwj, and you can follow us on instagram, @cspanwj. we want to know about your attitudes over covid-19. have your public health views changed? do you think differently about masks, vaccines? do you think differently about vaccine mandates?

we want to know what your public health views are. there have been several polls taken on the american public and what they think about covid-19. i want to bring some of those numbers to you this morning. yahoo! news/yougov did a poll in october of americans on their attitudes about covid. americans are not as divided as you might think according to their poll. here is some information. according to the latest yahoo! news/viewgov poll of u.s. adults conducted october 1 through october 4, just 15% say they will not get vaccinated, down from 19% in august. only 17% say they have never worn masks during the previous week.

just 16% say that face coverings are not effective at all in transmitting the spread of the virus. even opinions on masking and vaccine mandates are not as polarized as most political issues tend to be. only one quarter of americans, 27%, say kids should not be required to wear masks in school. meanwhile, 34% are against requiring as many people as possible to get vaccinated if delta surges again. we want to know what you think about coronavirus and what you think about public health views and has it changed. let's set the stage on where we are now. according to johns hopkins, we have had 44 million cases, confirmed cases, of covid in the u.s. so far as of today. the number of americans, the

exact number of americans who have died from coronavirus, is 724,166. that is what we see now from coronavirus. what are your attitudes about public health in the u.s. when it comes to covid? do you think mandates should be required? do you think people, children, should be required to have coronavirus vaccine shots before they go back to school? we want to hear your opinion. again, those numbers. if your public health views of coronavirus have changed, call 1-800 -- sorry [laughs] -- call (202) 748-8000. if your attitudes have not changed, call (202) 748-8001. keep in mind, we are reading on social media as well.

so, earlier this week, president biden came out to speak about the current state of the pandemic and the continued push of the u.s. government to vaccinate people. here is what president biden had to say. [video clip] pres. biden: nationally, cases are down 47%. hospitalizations are down 38% over the last six weeks. the past two weeks, most of the country has improved. case rates have declined in 39 states and hospital rates have declined in 38. we are down to 66 million, still an unacceptably high number, of unvaccinated from almost 100 million in july. that's important. that is important progress, but now was not the time to let up. we have a lot more to do. we are in a critical period as we work to turn the corner on covid-19. first, we have to do more to

vaccinate the 66 million unvaccinated people in america. it is essential. the vaccine requirements that we started rolling out in the summer are working. they are working. the labor department has issued an emergency rule for companies with 100 or more employees to get the vaccination requirements among their workforce. every day, we see more businesses implement a vaccination requirements and the mounting data shows that they work. organizations that implement requirements are seeing their vaccination rates rise by an average of 20% or more to well over 90%, the number of employees vaccinated. let's be clear -- vaccination requirements should not be another issue that divides us. host: once again, we want to know your attitudes, views about covid public health.

what do you think? have your views changed? do you think the government is doing the right thing? let's start with barry, calling from independence, missouri. very, good morning. -- barry, good morning. caller: you are being played. i keep hearing this number, 725,000 or something, those deaths, those deaths are with covid, not from it, so get that through your head. with it, not from it. host: you think the data from johns hopkins university is incorrect? caller: they die with it, not from it. most of the mortality from covid is from obesity and old age. host: so where are you getting your information from? caller: masking children. children don't have a problem with it, like a 1% death rate from covid.

they have got children running around with masks on and parents supporting masks on! yeah! host: all right. let's go to audrey, who is calling from macon, georgia. good morning. caller: good morning. i am fully vaccinated. my entire household is fully vaccinated. i have even had my booster. i noticed last year there were not nearly as many common colds and flews -- and flus because of the mask. if people do not want to be vaccinated, they do not want to wear masks, those women of childbearing age is, please, do not have your child take shots when they are born, because at the time a child comes into the world, they have to have a series of shots. they cannot go to school without shots. they are vaccines.

nobody knows what is in them, but they are required to give to kids. these vaccines too are required. if you don't want to get them vaccinated, don't get them vaccinated for anything else. host: there seems to be a split in the american public over vaccine mandates, but according to a recent poll, the majority of americans seem to be supporting vaccine mandates. this comes from an axios/ipsos poll. "a majority of americans support vaccine mandates for companies with 100 plus employees and two thirds back vaccine requirements for health-care workers a new poll from axios/ipsos shows. 60% favor vaccine mandates or regular testing mandates at

workplaces, jumping to 65 percent for workers in health care settings. -- this coming amid president biden pushing for more vaccinations and the highly contagious delta variant, even with cases declining in recent weeks. the survey also showed that trust in biden on the pandemic continues to wane -- after months of pulling well on his handling of the virus -- as public experts --" once again, what are your views about covid-19? do you think we should have vaccine mandates? should we be requiring masks? once again, those numbers are, if you think yes, your views have changed, your number is (202) 748-8000.

if you think, no, your public views on covid-19 have not changed, (202) 748-8001. let's talk to ted, calling from warrington, oregon. ted, good morning. ted, are you there? caller: good morning there, sir. anyway, yes, yes, i am here, and i just want to say that anybody that doesn't listen to the medical community is playing a fool's errand. i live in a town of 5000 people. we have got police that are not vaccinated. most of them are morbidly obese by definition. we've got firemen, some of them volunteers, some paid, and most of them have refused -- refused -- to give vaccinated. we have a mayor who is -- i wouldn't call him mayor, i would

call him more along the lines of an errand boy. we have a city manager that cannot manage. if i get pulled over in this town by a policeman, my first question to him is, where's your document? prove to me that you are vaccinated before i rolled the window down. and this is the point that i am trying to make. host: so let me ask you this question -- do you think police should be required to get the coronavirus vaccine before they interact with the public? caller: absolutely. positively. if you are making one nickel off the public side, you had better be vaccinated. i am a military veteran. i was in the air force a long time ago, and we never, ever were able to refuse a vaccination, ever, so i just

think to myself, if these morbidly obese cops do not want to get vaccinated, then don't let them give vaccinated, but clearly marked down that they are a -- clearly mark down that they are a hazard to the rest of us. host: do you think they should lose their job if they don't get vaccinated? caller: absolutely, positively. if they don't have the sense or the ability to go get vaccinated to maintain their job, that i just think they should be doing something else, you know? i just find it shocking and appalling. and i will end this up very simply. please, please give vaccinated. i know a lot of people -- i will not call them my friends, more

of an acquaintance -- but i know lots of guys that are dead. d-e-a-d. so do what you want. i really do not care, but as far as people on the public payroll, they need to be vaccinated, or they need to be clearly marked that they are not vaccinated. host: let's talk to marie, calling from fremont, california. marie, good morning. caller: good morning. my views have not changed. i believe everyone in america should get the vaccine, simply because if you call yourself a patriot and you care about america -- can your me -- can you hear me? host: we can. caller: if you call yourself a patriot and you care about america, you should get the vaccine. if you have some type of fear about shots or vaccines, then you should wear a mask every day and get tested. host: you are saying people

should get vaccinated. do you support people being required to give vaccinated to have certain jobs, like teachers, health care officials, public officials like police? caller: yes i do. i think if you have contact with children they cannot give vaccinated or you work in -- host: are you still there? caller: can you hear me? host: we can. go ahead. caller: if you work in a position where you are around a vulnerable population like little children or sick people or if you are an essential worker, you should get the vaccine. if you have some type of qua lm about not getting it -- about getting it, you should be tested on a regular basis and wear a mask. that is the way i feel about appeared host: what about people who say they need religious exemptions, people who say this against their religion to get

this? do you think there should be an exemption or what should be done for those people? caller: i did a small amount of research and i didn't find any religious organization that said it is ok not to get a vaccine. i think that's just not true. and the ones that even say that they should have a medical exemption it is kind of strange that no doctors are doing it. there's not that many doctors doing it, so i feel as though that might not be true too. if they have a medical problem and they think it will scare them or make them sick, then a doctor should back them up. host: let's go to brenda, calling from saint stephens, south carolina. good morning. caller: yes. i really agree with everyone getting vaccinated, because everyone needs to.

to the previous caller that called earlier, the young man that talked about not getting the vaccine, children, so, when school started, my niece caught the covid because children came to school and their parents had the covid. the school was not aware of it and all the children had to be quarantined, so, you know, saying children should not get it, that's not true. i feel that if you do not want to get the vaccine, don't go to the hospital and take up space from someone who had the vaccine or someone who is sick or need surgery or as a serious illness. i have had family members die. host: we are talking about whether people should get the vaccine. do you think people should be required to get it? caller: yes. my son is a police officer. my daughter is in the medical field.

she had cancer. she was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. i think it should be required that everyone should be vaccinated. it don't make sense for some people to be vaccinated and some people aren't, and if you get the covid, you still have a possible chance of getting it even after you get the vaccine, so to be on the safe side, everybody should be required to be vaccinated, especially in the first responders fields. host: that was going to be my next question. should they lose their jobs if they refuse to give vaccinated, brenda? and the second question is, should children, once a vaccine is available for them, be required to get the covid-19 vaccine before they can attend public schools? caller: yes, because they are required to get other booster shots before they attend schools, and everyone against the vaccine, their kids cannot

even attend school if they do not get these shots, so i don't see the problem for them. my daughter is a nurse practitioner. she got it because that is her way of living. if you want to jeopardize your way of living for not getting it as a requirement, more power to you. you should get fired. host: florida governor, republican governor, ron desantis said on tuesday in st. petersburg that there should be protections for workers, private-sector workers, who are fired for not getting a covid-19 vaccine. here is what governor ron desantis had to say. [video clip] >> i think the issue is going to be now, looking at the private sector, biden announces this mandate on private employers. what was that, a month ago? 6 -- a month ago. it has been issued yet. the reason it hasn't is because it is a definite loser in court.

we are prepared to test that immediately. i know other states will do it as well, but you are in a situation where you are going to force -- the businesses i talked to need employees. they want to hire. now you are in a situation where you may be forcing them to fire employees. totally unacceptable. i think what is happening in the private sector is some of these businesses are scared of the feds and think they need to do that, and i think every worker, not just police and fire, but i think every worker should be protected from losing their jobs over this. this has become a political issue unfortunately. it has become about politicians wanting to control people and why would you want to see people lose their livelihoods? the place where this is most outrageous is with the hospital workers. these are nurses who have been working entire time.

most of them have probably already had covid and recovered. and now they will be out of jobs when nurses have been shortstaffed the last year. what is going to happen in the north? you are starting to see these cases rise. unfortunately, i think you are going to see a wave there. are they just going to do this shorthanded without those folks? so i think in florida, we should be providing protections. i think the legislature should pass a law. i don't know that it can be done unilaterally through executive agencies, although we will look, but i think there ought to be a law that you cannot be terminated for this reason, and i think that would give a lot of people peace of mind. host: let's see what our social media followers have to say about their public health views on covid-19. have they changed, what they think should be done. a comment from facebook that says "public health measures keep the majority healthy and disease free.

if you choose not to participate, that's selfishness." a tweet that says "everyone needs to give vaccinated." -- to get vaccinated. we need to protect infants and children who cannot get vaccines and cancer patients and elderly." another tweet that says "you have the right not to give vaccinated, and a company has the right to fire you were not let you enter if you don't give vaccinated. freedom is a wonderful thing." another tweet that says "absolutely. i was pro-lockdown in march 2020 but have now seen the toll it has taken. totally not worth it." and one last tweet that says "i haven't been vaccinated, but i still do wear a mask everywhere i go, even at my job, and i have not had seasonal allergies nor c

old for well over a year now, but it is still a bit scary than most people are walking around like nothing is happening." we want to know your views on covid-19 and the public. have they changed? do you still believe the same thing? let's talk to tony, calling from beaver falls, pennsylvania. tony, good morning. caller: good morning, c-span. i have a couple of questions. i heard callers talking about everyone should get vaccinated. i don't believe in the vaccine. i don't trust it. i don't even trust the virus. i think this is overhyped. for one, how are we still in a pandemic. everything is practically open and we are still in a pandemic? [indiscernible]

-- 87 hospitals, 12 states.i mean , this is crazy. host: well, tony, first of all, johns hopkins or not the only people tracking covid numbers. the world health organization and others are also tracking covid numbers as well as the federal government and state agencies. caller: no, they are the only ones we hear about. they are the only ones you just

used. how come you didn't use other agencies? that is why i am not taking it. there are too many unanswered questions. host: tony, what are you doing to keep yourself in getting covid-19? are you wearing a mask? tony decided to hang up. let's talk to barbara, calling from california. good morning. caller: i'm calling because i oppose it. host: you oppose what, barbara? caller: i oppose the vaccine. host: i don't -- ok. caller: i don't oppose it for people who want it. i know of two young people, 26. one had the vaccine, went to the hospital, and another one, worked in health care, had the vaccine and, a week later, she died. host: what are you doing?

are you social distancing, wearing masks? caller: yeah. i wear masks. host: you are not vaccinated i assume. caller: no. i wear masks. i already had covid. i have my own antibodies. i don't need a shot that's not even approved. host: how do you know you had covid? were you tested positive? did you go to the hospital? tell us what happened. caller: no, i didn't go to the hospital, but i was sick and think god my doctors treated me. host: what did they give you? caller: a normal regimen of antibiotics and steroids. host: and when was this, barbara? was this this year, last year? give us more information. caller: last year. like i said, if these doctors would treat people and not just send them to the er when they cannot breathe, they would get better, and still, your show has not had opposition on there to

let other doctors express their concerns and how we can be treated before we have to go to the hospital. why are you doing that? -- why aren't you doing that? host: we open up phone lines every day. if doctors want to call in, the lines are open. let's go to pete, calling from pennsylvania. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning to you. i want to bring up some points that are interesting. i am 90 years old. when i was young, there was no vaccine for polio. i had two kids in my school who had polio. one of them, i went to visit in an iron lung. it is not nice. thank god they came up with a vaccine for polio. when they come -- when they came up with this vaccine, i was one of the first and line -- first in line. when you see somebody in an iron

lung, you never forget. this vaccine is very helpful to you. it saves your life. please, people, listen to me and take that vaccine. thank you very much. host: let's talk to diane, calling from de soto, kansas. diane, good morning. caller: i want to get my thoughts together here. first of all, i am 75 years old. i am fully vaccinated and i will get the booster when available through moderna. however, my father-in-law is not. he had covid in march and he recovered, along with my granddaughter and daughter, actually. anyhow, everything was fine. he works from home alone. he does not have any contact with any other people, except, once a year, his group, they get together. they haven't for two years because of covid.

so it has been two years since he has seen a living soul in his place of employment. they announced they are requiring vaccinations. he filed for an extension and is still waiting to hear whether it will be granted or not. ok. while i support vaccination, i do not support mandates, so in that sense my view has changed. there is no consideration for natural immunity, no consideration if you even see anybody that you work with, and there's no consideration for people that i believe have -- etc. number two, if our administration is so concerned about vaccine mandates on the american people, then why are they letting over 2 million people -- immigrants into this country over the border untested

, unvaccinated and -- and they just go all over the country themselves with not only covid but probably many other diseases ? so i cannot support a mandate, but i will support vaccines for those who want it, who need it, but i think we have to be cognizant of the fact that people have extenuating circumstances and treat people well. treat them fairly is what i want. host: well, some states are making moves to ensure that vaccine mandates don't happen, including the state of texas, where governor greg abbott has put out an executive order trying to fight against covid-19 vaccine mandates. here is what governor abbott's executive order says.

"no into tea in texas can compel a covid-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employer, employee or consumer who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from covid. i hereby extend all relevant statutes to the extent -- hereby suspend all relevant statutes to the extent necessary to enforce this prohibition." white house press secretary jen psaki was asked about this executive order. [video clip] >> what is the president's message to businesses in texas when it comes to what the federal guidance is now? what would the president say to their companies as they determine what they should do now for the vaccine mandates? >> well, we know that federal

law overrides state law. i would note that, earlier, we put out our guidance on the president's announcement about mandates several weeks ago, it made clear that, again, as i said earlier, requirements are promulgated pursuant to federal law and supersede any state law or municipal ordinance. we put out guidance weeks ago conveying that clearly. but beyond the legal aspect, which is unquestionable in our view, the question for any business leader is what do you want to do in your company? how you create a workforce where people feel safe to go in to their workplaces/ we have seen from economist

after economist and frankly many business leaders who have implemented mandates that they increased certainty, increases -- decreases the number of people out of work sick and worse, and that is good ultimately for businesses, the economy, but saving lives is something they can do. a lot of businesses are doing them on their own to date. we still have the osha requirements at the federal level. go ahead. >> clearly, governor abbott knows that federal rule supersedes state rule. can you elaborate? >> i think it is pretty clear when you make a choice against all public health information and data out there that it is not based on what is in the interest of the people you are governing. it is, perhaps come in the interest of your own politics. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about their public views,

their views on covid-19. a post says -- i was for masking and social distancing at first, but the overreach is hypocrisy by power hungry liberals. a text that says -- my view has changed. our governor is a bigger fool than i thought. please give vaccinated. a text that says i wish we had done the mandate sooner. i am glad we have a president who will not equivocate. he has been decisive and figure out how to work with those in tandem with the -- here's another that says -- i am vaccinated and got the booster. one last text that says antibodies are not given the respect they deserve. they should not -- there should

not be mandatory vaccination. again, have your views on public health and covid-19 changed in the last year? do you think there should be mask mandates? let's talk to john, calling from liverpool, new york. john, good morning. caller: hi, jesse. my views have not changed. i believe that vaccines should be mandatory. if you don't get one, you should be fired. and if you don't have the vaccine and give the disease to somebody, you should be arrested and sent to jail. what else do you want me to -- host: so there should not be any grace periods or exceptions to vaccine mandates? caller: no exceptions, zero, not for religion, not for i am an

american and i have freedom. that is garbage. if you give somebody the virus, you should be charged with a crime and sent to jail. host: let me ask you about another topic that's coming up. do you think there should be a mask mandate? no. --mandate? caller: no. not if you are vaccinated. that should be a choice. i am vaccinated, will get my booster. i have to get a mask -- i have to wear a mask at work, but you should not have to. anyone who has not had a vaccine comment, these people suck. -- vaccine, to me, these people suck. host: i have been traveling recently and some businesses in some cities require a vaccine card before you are allowed to

enter. should they do this? caller: absolutely. i got my card, you know? everyone should have one. there should be mandates and if you give the disease to somebody, you should go to jail. host: let's talk to glenn, calling from detroit, michigan. caller: my situation has changed. last year, i thought america was serious about the vaccine when we had sports but they didn't have people attending the games. i thought that was smart. and they were even debating on whether they would have sports, but now, if you look at sports, the only mandate america has ever had is money. if you look at these college games, you have 5, 6, 10

colleges in every state, college games all over the u.s., spreading this virus throughout the country. there is no mandate on that, no mandate on whether you are vaccinated or not. there's no mandate on the sick people. the only mandate they have is that your credit card must be valid when you swipe it. and you won't see a corporate commercial on the weekend. i tried to find one. every commercial that comes on has nothing to do with covid, so covid must only run monday through friday, because monday morning, you hear, oh, we are on the rise, 90 cases over the weekend, 100 more deaths. i guess so. host: let's talk to sherell, calling from greenville, north carolina. sherelle, good morning.

caller: good morning. i was born in 1960 -- in 1950. i i-71. -- i am 71. we had a date where we had to go get our inoculations. when i was a child, we experienced polio and every one of the children in my school had to go get inoculated. i still have my cards that show that i have been inoculated from the time i was born until now and it has served me and my family well. my children are inoculated, and when my grandchildren are able, i pray their parents will do the same. i have seen ebola, sars, mad cow

disease, all these issues going through the world, and my concern is that, if there is something that will allow us to get back to normal, or the new normal, then we would look at what we are doing, understand we should not just be thinking about ourselves and politics at all those types of things, but that we should be able to want to do this for one another. host: well, there's another poll i want to read you from you research -- from pew research about what americans think will happen in the future about coronavirus. "more than a year and a half until the coronavirus -- half into the coronavirus outbreak, more than half of americans see the virus as a major threat to the public health and economy. 65% say the worst is yet to

come. -- deeply felt across overwhelming majorities that restrictions have done a lot for some to hurt businesses and economic activity and keep people from living their lives the way they want. a smaller majority say these restrictions have built at least some to prevent hospitalizations and deaths from covid and slow the spread of it. still, when asked to issue an overall judgment, americans on balance viewed the public health benefits of these restrictions as having been worth the cost." have your covid-19 public health views changed? let's talk to kate, who is calling from conway, south carolina. kate, good morning. caller: good morning. i just want to say that we have constitutional rights for a reason, and it should not be

mandatory to be vaccinated. it should be a coy's -- be a choice. you should not be fired for it. i have not had covid yet but three of my household members have. three got it and three did not. one of them was my spouse. my grandson. both had covid. i did not get it. that does not mean i am immune, but i do have an autoimmune disease. i will not get vaccinated but i protect myself. i wear a mask everywhere, sanitize. this is part of our new world and you have to adapt to those habits to keep yourself clean and free from this. it is very scary but i believe we have a choice and should not be made. people are dying from the flu all the time, and we are not made to get flew vaccinated. -- get flu vaccinated. host: you said you had

autoimmune disease. did your doctor suggest you not get vaccinated because of the days these -- of the disease you are living with? caller: no, it was a choice. my doctor is the director of his program, so he is a good doctor. i do think we have a choice and those that choose not to should be taken precautions to protect themselves and people that believe they will get it because we are not vaccinated. host: let's talk to melissa, calling from kokomo, indiana. melissa, good morning. caller: good morning, and happy sunday, jesse. my views have not changed at all. i have been pro-vaccine, pro social distancing, pro masking this entire time. in fact, i would probably be on the more hard-core side of mandating a lot earlier.

however, it has not gotten us very far. host: now, melissa, you say you have been on the pro vaccine, pro-masking side. are you also pro-mandate? do you think it should be required for everyone or for public service officials like health officials and police and teachers? caller: oh, absolutely. i also believe it should be allowed to be accessible by our grocery workers, the people who are out there making a living and don't have the ways in means -- the ways and means. they might not even have the knowledge or wherewithal to even attain this, but currently, it is not working. when people are left to their own demise, their own choice, people suffer. we should not have to be wearing masks in 2022.

host: let's go to mike, calling from norwalk, ohio. good morning. caller: i am just stoned with all these comments. you know -- i am just stunned with all these comments. i am a veteran and i have been inoculated for everything and i refuse to get the shot. do you know why? because biden and crew are allowing up to 3 million people to walk across the border, no vaccine, no nothing, to enter our society. if this vaccine was so safe, why aren't they inoculated everybody that's coming through? and why is it everybody that is vaccinated are worried about us that are not vaccinated? we better wake up and realize the problem is right behind you, jesse, in that building. host: does it make a difference that they have now said any international traveler that comes into the united states

must have been vaccinated? caller: every country has their own rules and laws and we've got a bunch of idiots running this circus. jesse, i mean, come on. if this is such a bad outbreak, and the reason there is an outbreak is because people are walking across our borders. if they were so worried about our health, don't you think they would build a wall? wake up, america. host: let's go to jordan, calling from terra haute, indiana. good morning. caller: good morning. like your previous caller, i thought everyone was taking it seriously and we were on the right track, and it's definitely feeling like we have gotten more complacent here lately again. the mandates are going to be bad. i am a firm believer in science. i believe in biological

evolution, every way, shape and form. i'm a firm believer in messenger vaccines and i am vaccinated myself. so is my daughter, but that said, the vaccine mandates are going to cause me to lose a lot of employees and my line of work -- employees in my line of work. i know that for a fact. and besides that -- i know this is morbid -- but the people who won't get the vaccine, let them go. again, i am a firm believer in natural and artificial selection, so -- host: jordan, tell us what line of work you are in, because we are hearing there are a lot of police officers and health workers who do not want the vaccine and would rather quit than be forced to get it. are you in one of those lines of work? caller: no. i am not. i am in construction,

specifically wind turbines, but a lot of the guys are -- again, it is just the construction aspect of it. they are kind of ironworkers, so to say, and most of them are previous oilfield workers, and since that's kind of gone down, they've have moved over to wind, but i know a lot of them are diehard republicans, refused to get a vaccine, and they still worship the ground that former president trump walks on. host: will come on tuesday once again -- well, on tuesday, once again, the white house press secretary, jen psaki, talked about vaccine mandates. here is a little more from jen psaki on questions and answers about the vaccine mandates and recent workforce disruptions. [video clip] >> what is the white house answer to people who say that the mandate has reduced the workforce and contributed to the problem? >> i know world-renowned business travel and health

expert senator ted cruz has made that point, but i would not say that is widely acknowledged or echoed by business leaders who have implemented these mandates, by health experts who have conveyed the way to get out of the pandemic is to ensure we are doing exactly the steps the president has announced and we are working to implement. it does not mean it is not hard and challenging. of course it is. we are in a pandemic, but ultimately the job of the president is to lead, follow the advice of health experts. i know there was hubbub over the last few days about southwest airlines. we now know that some of those claims were false and, actually, the issues were completely unrelated to vaccine mandates, but again, what we have seen business-to-business across the country as this is a way to create -- it is good for

the country and something we are doing. host: let's see what some of our social media followers are saying about covid and their public-health views. one post that says -- yes, i was terrified in spring of 2019. now i know we need to go on with our lives. eventually, everyone will get this virus and natural immunity is so far the best. here is a tweet that says i have changed my views not so much about coronavirus. my views have changed that i used to have before the pandemic that most americans are good people. the ones who rejected any mandate to keep us all safe are the ones i've changed my view of. uncaring and childish. another facebook post that says, no, public-health measures are intended to end this pandemic.

most of those hospitalized are unvaccinated. anti-vaxxers are being unfair than to themselves, the community and health care workers. another that says "i never listen to the right wing media." again, have your covid-19 public-health views changed? let's go to george, calling from bangor, california. george, good morning. caller: good morning. my views have not changed, you know? i firmly believe in vaccinations, especially when the cdc has -- people to have the vaccines, so vaccines, it should be mandatory and that is the only way we will get over this pandemic. let's take an example. smallpox. how did we get rid of smallpox, which was a devastating disease

in the past? purely by vaccinations. so vaccinations are an absolute must. host: let's talk to lynn, who is going from connecticut. good morning. are you there? caller: yes. hi. the fox news organization has mandated the vaccine for tucker and others, but they tell their viewers mandates are bad, making fools of the fox viewers. thank you. host: let's talk to ellen, calling from deerfield beach, florida. ellen, good morning gerd caller: good morning -- good morning. caller: good morning. i am also a phd rn. i have been a nurse since 1973. i've been looking at the numbers worldwide in terms of vaccination rates and the up and down movement and the normal

sideways curve of the virus, and there's very little tracking of increased vaccination with, necessarily, correlated with decreased incidence of coronavirus, but there are a lot of people i know personally and in my practice who are getting all kinds of strange illnesses after getting the vaccinations. i don't think they have been tested long enough for mandating them. it is great that it is available for those who choose to use them, but i am 100% against mandating it. host: so, ellen, you said you are a phd rn. can you tell us what information you look at? you said you have been looking at information that's -- caller: i have been looking at the new york times. they have really good tracking of incidence of coronavirus and also the vaccination rates all over the country, not only our country but around the world.

host: all right. let's talk to andy, calling from michigan city, indiana. andy, good morning gerd caller: hey, -- morning. caller: hey, jesse, how is it going? host: good. go ahead. caller: social media. hello? host: you are on the air. go ahead. caller: yes, sir. social media. joe biden walks through a washington, d.c. restaurant without a mask. how do you feel about that, jesse? host: all right. the administration and the cdc and the fda are moving forward on booster shots, so here is a story from cnn that talks about what they recently did with booster shots.

"vaccine advisors to the u.s. food and drug administration voted unanimously friday to recommend a booster dose of johnson & johnson's vaccine at least two months after people get the first dose. the fda's vaccine advisory committee voted 19-0 to recommend the extra dose for all recipients of the j&j janssen vaccine, which is authorized for people 18 and older. they asked to simplify the original question posed by the fda, which had asked the committee to say whether the data showed that waiting six months or longer after getting the first shot would provide an even stronger immune response. -- mix and match boosters, not to decide whether the specific combination might be better, but to wait and on whether it might be all right to give someone a booster different from the brand originally administered. the fda will consider the

committee's advice. then the cdc will be asked to consider it." so they voted unanimously to recommend a booster dose of johnson & johnson's vaccine for at least two months after people get their first dose. have your covid-19 public-health views changed? let's talk to diana, calling from huntsville, arkansas? -- arkansas. diana, good morning. caller: i was scheduled to get my vaccine. i had no problem with it. i went to my doctor and because i am a breast cancer survivor, he recommended i should not get it because it does affect your lymph nodes and i could get a disease and i had also corrective surgery with silicone implants, which it could cause my body to reject them. host: so, diana, what are you

doing to ensure you don't get covid-19? are you just masking and social distancing? caller: yes i am. i wear a mask all the time and use hand sanitizers. host: do you think there should be masked mandates, diana, for everyone? caller: yes, i do. host: ok. let's talk to anne-marie, who was calling from bahama -- who is calling from bahama, north carolina. amory, good morning. caller: you should be going after the nih, cdc, fauci, and gates, not fellow americans. host: let me stop you for a second. where did you get that information from? caller: just type in events 201 and you can watch videos of how they discuss the breakdown of the entire world, not just our country, in great detail. host: that information, you say,

you got off the internet? caller: you can easily find it. type in 201 even though our mainstream media refuses to discuss it. host: ok, amory. have your public views on covid-19 changed? have you decided to mask, not mask, get a vaccine, not? caller: not at all. i read the fauci covid-19 dossier and the list of patents taken out by dr. fauci to make this virus. my opinion has not changed in the least. i am a patriot and so is my husband and vaccine mandates might be the rule in fascist communist countries but this is still the united states. host: rich in st. petersburg, florida, good morning. caller: my views have not changed at all, but what i feel is being thrown under the rug is the pharmaceuticals still in china, so trump and now biden

have done nothing to get our pharmaceuticals out of china. host: what do you mean by that, rich? medicines should not be imported from other countries. -- countries? caller: not critical -- well, they should be with allies. anything that happens with taiwan, we will be in a weak position, and that needs to be addressed. these need to be taken out of china and manufactured under allies or internally to our own country. host: should the u.s. government take over making medicine for americans? caller: the defense production act could be utilized to do that in an emergency, but i think it will be too late. we are naive to think that china will be our friend and continue supplying us pharmaceuticals, especially if we are in a conflict with them. host: we we would like to thankl

of our colleagues and social media followers. coming up next, we will talk to two former capitol hill staffers about the busy stretch ahead in congress. a top aide to john boehner and john wright -- john boehner. we will be joined by the president of the driving force institute for public engagement. we will be right back. >> weekends been you the best yet on book tv, we feature current and former members of congress discussing their latest and favorite books, including south carolina governor with his book. a second chance for the republican party come the conservative movement, the

nation and ourselves. she's david's with her book, charisse's big voice. mitch mcconnell shares his reading list. then nelson of nebraska talks about his book, dance of the senate, the front row seat to the demise of the greatest deliberative body. he is interviewed by a republican governor. watch book tv every weekend and find a full schedule, or watch online anytime on book tv.org. tonight on q&a, brookings institution economist david wessel discusses his book, only the rich complaint. >> opportunity zones created tax

havens across the country. they gave wealthy people an incentive to put their money in those poor communities, and exchange for tax breaks. we do not know how much money has gone into them. the provision that required reporting was stripped out, but i would say, based off what we are talking about, we are talking about billions of dollars going into opportunity zones. much of the money has gone into zones that did not really need the money. they went to projects that probably would have been built otherwise. >> tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. you can listen on our new c-span radio app.

>> get c-span on the go. watch the biggest political events live, anywhere, anytime. c-span now, access top highlights and discover new pike casts, all for free. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back with our guests to tell us what is going on with congress and the domestic -- the democratic agenda. good morning, gentlemen. guest: good morning. host: let's get into it. we will start with you, brendan. how are the budget bill and infrastructure bill staring in congress right now? guest: infrastructure could be

something -- a win they could have at any moment. they are making a political calculation not to pass it, but the real trouble is the build back better act. i think they are nowhere right now. they talked for many months about a 3.5 chilean dollar plan. it is very clear it will be much less than that, but there are basic fundamental questions that they do not have answers to the. they do not know what that top line number is going to be. the question they are debating is whether you do fewer things in a bigger scale or a lot of things and spend a little less on them. you go a layer below and they have not figured out the substance, what will be in the bill. there are some big differences.

focusing on childcare and climate. climate is not necessarily anything he is focused a lot on. big, fundamental questions and they have none of that yet. they are talking about passing something by the end of this month what it does not seem likely at all. this could easily last into next year. they are so far away. host: do you agree with brendan there? guest: i do not. it is about leveling the playing field and strengthening the middle of the class. it is about a host of things. right now we do not have a deal,

but whether a deal is made in a week or a month, they are going to get this across the finish line. they have to deliver for the people. while the process is messy and slow, the reality is tremendous progress is being made. there is a lot of enthusiasm. talking about the importance of this build back better initiative, i think we will see this get across the finish line. host: we have heard about the negotiations going on between democrats. you do not want an interparty fight? or is there more to it? guest: there is more that unites

the democratic caucus then divides us. we are having honest debates about how to get this across the finish line. it is important to talk about how to move the country forward. nothing prevents republicans from joining in the site. it has brought them together and should continue moving forward. we can agreed to disagree on the size and the scope, but the reality is, they are united. they are united in making sure that people can take care of their families and be competitive against other countries like china. it will continue to come together but the reality is that we had going to get across the

finish line. host: should republicans take any responsibility for this not being passed? guest: republicans in the senate who helped put together the bipartisan infrastructure deal are urging the house leaders to put the bill on the floor and pass it. when there are shared priorities, they are willing to work together with democrats. another reason i cannot understand why. i do not think they have any obligations to pass something that they oppose. massive expansion of government, policies that no one should ever be confused by thinking that republicans would support. democrats are doing that quite well on their own at this point. it has been interesting because

republicans have not engaged much. they have been happy to sit by and let others control the legislation. i do not think sticking their nose in it will help. republicans are going to work together with immigrants, when they agree on things. there is proof of that. there is no reason to believe that republicans should or would want to work with them on something that so fundamentally changed the scope and scale of the government. host: is there a timeline for getting these bills done? should democrats face a penalty in the next few weeks? guest: there is too much at stake not to get this done.

there is a deadline at the end of this month. they were extended to 30 days. i think that there is a ton of enthusiasm to get this done. i think there is a lot of excitement to deliver for the people. the president is going to continue to take this show on the road about the importance of this program, and i think, if you look across the country, americans overwhelmingly support the build back better plan, tackling the climate crisis, making sure that people can take care of their families. these are things that americans fundamentally agree with. it is a delicate balance. i said it before, never bet

against speaker pelosi. you do so at your own peril. i think at the end of the day, we will see this. host: let me remind our viewers that they can join in on this conversation. we will open up on our regular lines. democrats, your number is (202) 748-8000. republicans are (202) 748-8001. independents are at (202) 748-8002. there is a lot of talk about how president joe biden is negotiating with two senators to push together this bill.

how much control do they have over leaders when they want legislation pushed through? guest: they should have a ton of influence. there are so many levers of power that you can pool. donald trump was within our conference, but he was not necessarily helpful outside of it, in terms of rallying public support. the problem for joe biden, while he knows how to negotiate, the problem is he does not have a lot of lyrical cachet right now. i'm not saying he is unpopular, but he does not move the needle in a positive way. barack obama had a lot more

political juice and was able to sell things. frankly, the two people he is most concerned about, seem unimpressed with the white house operation. they do not seem any closer today to come together on a bill. to do something big and hard, you need a president to bring the country along and unify your team. if it ultimately failed, it would be a failure of jill biden come up that that is one of the problems they are having right now. jill biden is not powerful or popular enough to go out and say, i need to do this and have people come along. host: you say that we should not underestimate nancy pelosi, but what about joe biden? what should he be doing differently? or should he be doing anything

differently? guest: i would agree that presidents have enormous power. i think this is exactly what the president is doing and will continue to do. this president has -- his negotiating style does not make for a reality tv show ratings. these are very different from the last four years. it is not that surprising that people do not think he is moving the needle. he spent 36 years in the u.s. senate. oftentimes negotiating on behalf of the senate. he knows exactly how the building works. talking to those within the administration, he is making tremendous progress. people in d.c. constantly talk about policies and price tags. we should be talking about the people. we are talking about how this

legislation would impact and impact people. it is about issues that matter. they are issues that keep americans up at night. how they are going to open their envelopes at the end of the month to see what their health care bill is. these are things that matter to the american people. leader schumer is going to make the case to the american people and get it done. host: speaker pelosi was asked about the status of the social infrastructure bill. i want to bring to you what she said and get your reaction to it. >> he said that you were doing fewer things well. i suggesting that this package

-- or even the medicare expansion? speaker pelosi: we are doing everything. not a question of are we doing it well? the fact is, if there are fewer dollars to spend, there are choices to be made. members have said, let's get the results that we need, but we will not diminish the transformative nature of what it is. some members have written back to me and said, i want to do everything, so we will have that discussion. in the family section of it, childcare and universal pre-k really go together. they go together. they are part of the same need. they are issues that relate to

home health care. we are still talking about a couple trillion dollars, but it is much less. mostly, we would be cutting back. excuse me? reporter: do you think you would have to drop one of those programs? speaker pelosi: we hope not. we have to have something that will pass the house and pass the senate. i'm not asking members to vote for something that has no chance to pass in the senate. host: speaker pelosi is in dealmaking mode. what should she be looking to sacrifice to get this through? guest: the most important thing she said was at the end. she's going to find a bill that can ultimately pass the senate.

look at everything they have ever done. i think she is going to continue to listen. she is going to figure out how to get those votes in the house. whether that is including everything, as she mentioned at a shorter period of time and not others, i think those are conversations to have with the caucus and leaders schumer to figure out what will pass the senate. i do not think they have reached conclusion on those issues yet, but i think the speaker will have a good sense of where to get. she will continue to figure out what it is to get across the finish line. host: is there anything speaker pelosi could say to get republicans on her side with this bill? guest: no.

that press conference reaffirms what i said in the beginning, that there -- they are absolutely no way right now. she's not five steps ahead of everybody because they are answering the basic fundamental questions. this is the fantasy that they have been throwing out there. i think they will find a way to get something done at the end of this, but it might be in spite of and not because of the leadership in the house. they continued to make promises to people that they cannot keep. they are making this up as they go along. that is why you have a situation like this. you cannot answer fundamental questions about what your approach is going to be and what programs you are going to keep,

let alone sorting that out. they are a long way from anywhere. there is no real reason to have confidence that they have momentum. the only reason to think they will get it done is the political necessity. host: we will start with steve calling from florida on the democrat line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you. i am talking to talk -- calling to talk about one of the issues, mass transit. the reason why i think it is so important is, i am looking at these cities. i have a transport down south and i am looking at cities like orlando and nashville, where they have rejected mass transit because of lobbying efforts.

the city is not only becoming extremely congested with traffic, with the air pollution that comes with traffic, but they are becoming a city of highways. they just want to build highways. the city of orlando is basically under this mass conglomeration of highways. the more people that move down, the more highways they have built. two things you can think of on a national level, where people go from city to city, i am assuming that this bill, the mass transit part of it refers to both, but i am curious as to the comments on that.

one more comment i would like to say, observing, it seems like the republicans and democrats in the house and in the senate, that there -- top priority is to make sure that the other side does not get a success. in the meantime, these important bills are left sitting on the table. thank you. host: let's talk about that infrastructure bill. what should be done to push that through? guest: i think the caller we have firms an important point. the infrastructure of what congress has been working on is really populated. it is something that could be passed right now. it was partisan. the mass transit portion of that is in the infrastructure bill. it is waiting in the house. that could be done right now. it is a matter of improving

people's lives. people care about these kinds of things. they wish it was already past. republicans and democrats need wins right now. the bill is sitting in the house. it was a fundamental mistake. take them when you can get them. you can use this to show that there is an audience for it, but they are not talking about it. host: do you agree? should they take the win on infrastructure, or are they holding it up and it will cost them? guest: we had nine months into a four year term. people are ready to write the obituary for joe biden's agenda. there is plenty of time on the

clock to get all of these things done. there will be a build back better law signed. he will get these things across the finish line. the legislative process is messy and slow. it will take time to get it done, but it will happen. there is money for roads. there is money for bridges. a host of different things to make sure that we are taking care of the crumbling infrastructure. these are things that reduce congestion. making sure that congress gets to the consumer. it is stuff that is incredibly important to make us more competitive. president biden will look for similar opportunities, moving forward.

host: the deadline for reconciliation comes at the end of this month. it is on october 31. is it possible to get some of this done before october 31? guest: i cannot help but to smirk at the concept. they are so far away from that. i think they will have to do another extension of the highway bill, that same bill that we are talking about, there is a hired deadline. my expectation is no matter how hard they would like to think that they are close, they are months away. maybe they will get wise and passed the infrastructure bill at the end of the month and let that hostage go. i will be surprised if they are not well into december, if not next year, by the time they wrap

that up. host: he says it probably will not get done. do you agree? guest: we were in a similar situation and several days before it passed, there were stories all across the platforms, speaker pelosi does not have control of her caucus, the sky is falling, that kind of stuff. the speaker is making tremendous progress. the speaker is making tremendous progress and will get this done. i have faith and confidence that she will deliver for the people. guest: i think they will get something done because they have to, but i think they are absolutely no way right now and it will take a long time. the idea that they will be ready by october 31 is ridiculous. host: on the republican line.

tim, good morning. caller: i would like to comment on the president's agenda. i do not think biden is doing anything for america. i think but he is doing is -- the things that bothered me the most are wide open -- are the wide-open southern border in the middle of the pandemic. 2 million people have come over the southern border. i do not understand, southern border. he kills our two major pipeline projects and our building -- burning as much fossil fuel as ever. he is out there begging the saudi's to open up the pumps. what a disaster. the equipment that we left behind -- it was not just jeeps and trucks.

it was our most sophisticated attack helicopters and the supply chain fiasco. i do not see anybody working on the supply chain issue. why don't they just take all of those ships come off them in mexico and let the haitians carry it across the southern border? we would fill up our shelves overnight. they are taking 11 of their cabinet members and flying off somewhere. i think the country is falling apart. the wheels are coming off. i cannot make up my mind. i think it is by design. is it pure and confident -- incompetence or by design? host: there is a color that is not happy with president biden and the democrats. what do you think? guest: i think we should look at

the fax. 5 million jobs have been created. that is more than the previous administration. wages are up. the first time it has been below pre-pandemic levels. growth is up. two thirds of americans are fully vaccinated. eight out of 10 have had a first shot. the president came into office and had two missions that he was focused on. the second was getting americans back to work. i think he has delivered on both of those. i think you will find that he will continue to focus on those issues. i think we also need to keep an eye on the facts. host: i do not think you are going to agree with blake there. guest: it shows why republicans

are not focusing as much on the bills that we have been talking about because there are 70 issues that are motivated. that is what we will be focused on, going into the midterm elections. it is a supply chain challenge. it is rising prices. inflation will be a big topic of conversation going into the midterms because rising energy prices, rising prices at the grocery store, at the border and afghanistan, there are a lot of issues that you can motivate people with. the color is right. they are not putting a lot of attention on them. they seem to be looking the other way or downplaying them. the longer something like inflation or a supply chain challenge goes on, the more that it looks like the are not the leaders, instead they are

looking past a bigger package that is not as focused on the urgent prices of the day, i think there is political risk there. host: let's move over to talk about the debt ceiling. they got a debt ceiling past earlier this week. they extended it to early december. we have heard a lot of warning from corporations, from the treasury secretary about the u.s. possibly defaulting on their debt. republicans say they will not help them do it through reconciliation or do a long-term fix. markets actually reacted pretty direly over the last couple weeks. where will republicans be on this issue? guest: if you are going to be

spending trillions of dollars, you should not expect that they are going to help you raise the debt ceiling to go along with that. i think that is a very reasonable position to take. they just enabled a short-term extension. but they have said is that they refuse to use the reconciliation process. all democratic votes. it is what they should have done this last time around. here is how you do this without us. go ahead and pass it. we do not have time and we do not have time. there is plenty of time to do this. they can do it completely on their own. that is what they will end up doing. they will give all the runway that they need to do this.

it is not just mitch mcconnell. they are not going to be part of raising the debt ceiling. guest: leader mcconnell has said if he can tie the debt ceiling discussion to the reconciliation package, that there is a political advantage to take advantage of. the debt ceiling is what money we have already spent. it would be like going to a restaurant and ordering a hamburger, but we skip out before we pay. this is about money that we have already agreed to. it is about money that was spent by the previous administration. guest: that is fundamentally wrong. it is to enable the next year or two. there was plenty of increase.

those took place. you needed it to fund the borrowing that will go on for the next years or months. the talking point that they like to use -- it is not fundamentally true. guest: pacific -- to get across the finish line, this will not add to the deficit. they want to make sure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. i think, what we saw with leader schumer working with speaker pelosi to get a short-term across the finish line, it is something that will not happen again. i think you saw leaders of corporate america reaching out to the white house and leader mcconnell to say that this is absolutely crazy that we would

be in a situation like this. i think that they will widely use it, any time that they can. host: are we going to see the exact same concerns come up before the holiday season? i was going to be hearing the rehash of all of these arguments? guest: when nothing is standing between them for the holidays, we tend to see a lot more action. it is my hope that we do not get to a point where we are up against a deadline, but often times, that is a way that you can use negotiating powers to your advantage. host: the smell of jet fumes will end some of these arguments. do you agree?

guest: it is a motivator. but there is no reason for that. the recent short-term extension that they did, we take them into late december. there is plenty of time. they could do it to to be a from now or a month from now. there is no negotiation taking place. it is just whether or not they do it. i'm hoping that with all this free time on the floor, they will just take care of this, so we do not run up against that deadline. host: let's go to carl calling from traverse city, michigan. caller: thank you so much for taking the call.

he painted a pretty sunny picture about what was going to happen. this is about power, as usual. they cannot pass bills that are connected to each other. it is demonized by republicans as outrageous spending. the president's failing support plays into that. the democrats will lose the house next year, based on losses alone. they will lose the senate as well. the president is left as a lame duck one and done. when it comes to picking someone who is more conniving and clever at negotiating this stuff, i will take mr. mcconnell over ms. pelosi any day.

guest: midterms are always on the agenda. since world war ii, those in the president's political party has law -- have lost two dozen seats. the speaker and leader schumer know that they need to deliver for the people. they absolutely have to deliver. something will get done. i think i am an eternal optimist. there are opportunities to move this country forward, and that is exactly what the leadership will try to do. guest: i think that they realize that they need to put points on the board. they know that their majorities are at risk. the problem is that your membership does not always appreciate it.

particularly when they are new into a majority and have an opportunity to govern, they get greedy. they think that they are invincible. they think they have all the time in the world to do what they want to do. they will turn around and realize that they have wasted much of this year. we did not get tax reports done until december into the first year of the trump presidency. they wasted a lot of the first year. it came back to bite us because we lost the house. you often run into this relate -- into this situation. it is important to show that you are working for your constituents. they end up spinning their wheels and making promises that they cannot keep. they would be wise to get things

done and start compromising. as the caller said, redistricting alone makes the house a tossup. very likely that democrats lose power. it would be in their best interest. host: it is a perfect segue into the two of you giving us your midterm outlook for your party. what does the house and the senate look like for democrats and republicans? let's talk about the governor's races. what does the house and senate look like for republicans, coming up on the midterm? guest: i think you have to give -- redistricting will basically erase -- historically very small.

you may already be at one or two. midterms often lead to a revoking of the party of power. it is no sure thing. i do not necessarily see the groundswell of opposition in the way that i did see it for donald trump, with the resistance. there does not seem to be quite the same energy. the bar is so low for publicans to take back the house, that you have to gives them the advantage. they focus on turning out the base. it is probably a bet that will work out. i do not think you can necessarily guarantee that it is

good for publicans. if i were to guess, i would say republicans could take back the senate by a single seat, but it is much less assured than the house. taking a look at it nearby -- virginia is funny. the world of politics has written off virginia as a blue state now that republicans cannot play in. it has been easily won by the democrats. now you have a really close race. i expect terry mcauliffe will win because i think virginia has gone so blue. this race does not bode very well for democrats in general. democrats would be wise to take a look at how close this is and realize that they need to put

points on the board. the worst thing they could do -- i think pulling everywhere shows that the democratic base is lacking enthusiasm. host: preventing a republican sweep and a close race for the virginia governorship. do you agree? guest: no. i am cautiously optimistic. it will be very difficult. historically, the political party loses seats. it will be a very difficult year. i was on capitol hill when the affordable care act happened.

we are not seeing that today. the reason we are not seeing that the bill back that her agenda is that they are supported across the country. there is tremendous excitement, tremendous excitement to get out of this situation. if you look at next fall, each mentis amount of time for things to happen. once we turn the corner on covid, once we get past the delta variant and the american people see the benefit, i think there is a good chance that democrats keep control. democrats outraised republicans. i think there is tremendous promise. i think there is tremendous

movement and excitement. democrats, this is their game to lose. they have to continue to show up and bring their message to the american people so that they understand that they are the party that is fighting for the people. host: let's go to glenn, calling from lancaster, california. caller: good morning, america. was that a supreme court ruling, taxed on native american's land -- you have stolen from the native american people on every reservation. the supreme court's ruled that you had to pay it back. his joe biden going to give the native americans their sovereign rights back and pay the people back all their billions and trillions of dollars stolen from the people?

host: i will let either one of you jump in on that. native americans in congress right now? guest: here is what i will say. with the president's -- i think we are going to make tremendous progress in our nation to nation relationship. i think it is firmly focused on these efforts. they are focused on the trust and treaty obligations. we are going to see tremendous progress on this front. host: president -- former president trump spoke at a rally in iowa. he listed a litany of complaints about what the biting presidency has done so far. here is what he said.

mr. trump: millions of americans are realizing that joe biden and the radical left have brought our nation to the brink of ruin. there has never been anything like what has happened. nine months under biden, bloodthirsty gangs are taking over our streets. illegal aliens and deadly drug cartels are taking over our borders. inflation is taking over our economy. china is taking over our jobs. the taliban has taken over afghanistan. lunatic leftists are taking over our schools and radical socialist are taking over our country. we are not going to let that happen. you cannot say i did not warn you. i also cannot say you did not get out because you got out and voted like no sitting president

has ever seen. the election was rigged. no one can blame the great state of iowa because we did really good here. host: you have a litany of complaints of -- about what the biden administration has done so far. do we see similar attacks into the 2020 midterm? guest: at that democrats would love that. donald trump is clearly reemerging, so much that he never went away. republicans are in a situation where they cannot live with him or without him. they clearly made a political bed that they need trump to turn

out. that is why you see them stick by him so much. the reality is, just as much as he motivates and turns out republican voters, he motivates democrat voters. the longer he is out there, spouting nonsense about the election, some of these things -- those types of things are the reason why republicans have been losing the suburbs. they are losing educated voters and women voters. the more he is out there reminding them that this is the same party, there is a political vulnerability. i know that there is some base political benefit to having him do so, but i fear that the longer this is the trump party, the longer republicans are going to have trouble winning back those voters that used to be so important to our coalition.

host: is this about joe biden or donald trump? guest: there is a reason that the head of the campaign committee this week said that president trump is a private citizen and is allowed to say whatever he wants. democrats are having honest conversations about whether to extend. republicans are having discussions about whether to double down on the twice impeached former president and whether or not they follow that trap or go a different route. spreading conspiracy theories that are dangerous was democracy , as well as public health. there is a real vulnerability to follow the trump train. he will not be on the ballot next fall. i think the more he is discussing conspiracy theories about the last election -- his

entire cabinet pretty much walked away from it. it is better for democrats. host: let's go back to the phone lines and talk to eva. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you so much for all the wonderful programming. this topic this morning is very timely. i am one of those suburban, educated women that see the world that i live in, every day, that is integrated. i came out of segregation, but i see an integrated world that i live in. i have been living in it for 60 plus years. i also see an innovative, creative world. the gentleman that called, let's get to this.

these gentlemen represent the dichotomy of our leadership. they cross each other. i think that the context is, we just had an election and we have a coalition that came together with women, educated, integrated, modern women. their families are elders, young people, rural and urban. you can come up with any kind of dig -- descriptive.

joe biden and the democratic house and senate. we have the virginia race. we are working on the get out to the polls. i am all about doing a virtual campaign. we brought together people on the telephone. talking about paul ryan's leadership. he would call them the top guns. anyways, now we have -- who you have on your side that you are calling the young gun? you have ted cruz. these are people that are talking the same talk that they were talking 40 years ago. host: i will let you jump in on their. who are the next leaders of the republican party? guest: there is a big debate

going on about what direction we want to go in. there are a lot of people that are following the lead of donald trump. they have decided that rather than being an idea party, they will be a populist party. it is not necessarily a direction i agree with, but that is what is defining the party. this colliery accentuates my point. they are no longer part of the coalition because the populism and nativism really turns off a lot of people. i understand why you have josh hawley or ted cruz trying to emulate it because that is where -- that is where the voters are a. that is all they really care

about. you have to care about the base. we are stuck a little bit. it used to be such that the national party was able to control the message to make sure that we are thinking about people aside from the base. individual members have so much of their own authority that there is no real party. you are seeing a lot of people who want to be the leader of this party. if they have not adopted trumpism, they have a doctor populism. it will be with us for a long time. it seems like everybody is making political calculations that being a populist will get you far in the republican party. host: who are you looking at think that this might be something we need to worry about in the future? guest: i think he answered the

question. nobody knows other than donald trump. until they have made their own decision, they will allow trump to be the head of the party. i do not know if we know the answer to the question. in response to the caller, it is unfortunate that our politics have become so toxic. when i got my start on the hill, most members stayed in d.c. over the weekends. they got time to know each other. now, members do not see each other on the weekends. they do not get to know each other. it has become hyper partisan. i think it would be good for fox news viewers to watch a little bit of cnn. we would realize that there are places that we agree, where we are americans and we want all the same things.

we want to solve those problems a different way, but there is more that unites us then divides us. i think it would be a healthy thing to show more bipartisanship. host: they all should be watching c-span, especially for conversations like this. let's go to the independent line. caller: good morning, boys. i will get right to it. the number one concern -- i do not know what they are talking about in washington -- it is inflation. inflation is crippling. i think it is upwards of 12 to 13, but it is hurting us. i do not know that the spending beyond the infrastructure is really going to do anything to help that.

then, we have foreclosures that are up 34% this quarter. 68% from a year ago, so that is all coming down the line again. we have an energy crisis around the world. as well as a supply chain rake out. that is a serious problem. you have to pay attention in washington to what is going on. host: he brought up a lot of problems. we have not had a chance to talk about inflation yet. what should we be doing to help americans that are seeing gas prices and grocery prices going up? guest: any rise in price effects families across the country. we knew that that would be huge economic disruptions. this is simply a supply and

demand issue. the federal government does not own or manage supply chains. it is done on a global scale. it is affecting countries all over the globe. the administration will use every tool in their toolbox to make sure that we get goods -- that we are moving congress as quickly as possible. they are important things to do. there is a host of things feeding into it, but at the end of the day, that is why the build back better plan has such a focus on cost. we need to tackle the high cost of prescription drugs. it is the stuff that keeps people awake at night. they have to figure out how to pay their doctor bills.

they have to figure out how to avoid being foreclosed on. these are all things that come as we emerge from a once in a centuryhost: brandon we will giu the final word. guest: i think this reiterates their real issues concerning americans that washington isn't paying too much attention to. i really hope we don't have an inflation problem because once we do it's really hard to get out of and there aren't a whole lot of great options for policymakers in washington to stop inflation once it gets started. the solutions are pretty painful. i think we should hope this is a short term demand shock, supply chain issue but we should be paying a lot of attention to it on the policy side. what the caller was saying, he echoes a lot of what joe manchin is saying, he is been making

this point as he puts up a little resistance to spending three or $4 trillion as we have this lingering concern out there and if we just decide to spend a lot right now we can make that worse and i know democrats will say they will make up for in taxes and there will be at least a short-term spending increase, so if once we go down this -- once inflation kicks up it's hard to get it to stop so i think both what are you doing to stop it but also making sure you not going to make it worse is something congress needs to think about. i think they would like to just look the other way and plow ahead with their agenda. host: we would like to thank both brandon and blake for being with us this morning and walking us through congress and president biden's agenda. thank you for the great conversation. we will go to our open forum where you can tell us what you

think the most important issues are of the day. you see the numbers there on screen. later on we will be joined by patrick, the president of the driving force institute for public engagement on his groups push to promote u.s. history and civics engagement. we will be right back. ♪ >> in the fall of 2018, historian nathaniel filbert, his wife melissa and their dog dora set out on a road trip to retrace george washington's business while president -- visits while president of the 13 original states. what came to him as his religious book, in search of washington and his legacy. the u.s. first president said his goal was to bring the country together and he traveled

as far north as maine and as far south as savannah, georgia. >> historian nathaniel filbert on this week's episode of book notes. you can listen to that end all of our podcasts on our new c-span now app. >> you can be part of the national conversation by participating in the video competition. we are asking you to create a six minute documentary that answers the question how does the federal government impact your life. it shows a federal policy of programs that affects you and your community which are easy to find and access at c-span.org. c-span's studentcam competition rewards $100,000 in total cash prizes and a shot at winning the

grand prize. entries must be received before january 20, 2022. visit our website at studentcam.org. >> washington journal continues. host: we are going to our open form we want you to call in and tell us what your most important political topic is of the day. we will open up our regular lines. for republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, you can call 202-748-8002. you can always text us at 202-748-8003. we are also communicating on social media on twitter @cspanwj and on facebook at

facebook.com/c-span. one of the stories comes from the washington post which is talking about the climate carbon emissions story bills being pushed by the white house and its fate in the senate. the washington post says the white house is scrambling for a critical proposal to reduce carbon emissions and deliver on president biden's ambitious climate agenda as pushback from senator joe manchin put -- create new headaches for the administration. a fight revolves around the clean energy performance program which democrats are proposed as a way to report -- utilities that increase their supplies by 4% each year while penalizing those that don't. lawmakers concluded as part of the multitrillion dollar

spending package that aims to advance broader economic vision. the emissions reduction program has drawn fierce public and private opposition from joe manchin whose home state of west virginia depends heavily on coal . threatening to jeopardize biden's pledge to have emissions by 2030 just two weeks before the president and other world leaders are set to convene the most important global climate summit in a quarter century. bats from the washington post who says joe manchin pushback's the white house climate strategy. let's start with billy calling from texas on the independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you and god bless you. i want to speak on our nation

and the things we are going through, there's a lot of tragedy now, but there's more good people than evil people. we control the world. we've got negative people but the country is not negative. i just want to praise our president and vice president, they are doing a great job. there's a lot of things going on he had to straighten up with what happened on the white house when those people protesters came in january. i just want to say i want to thank c-span for what you all are doing. we are a nation of people who believe in god and we are going to win because there's more good people. host: let's talk to jim from virginia on the republican line.

good morning. caller: just want to say the most important thing would be to deal with fuel prices, it's the lifeblood of our economy, prices are rising out of control and grocery store shelves, i think that's the most important thing we need to deal with. host: let's talk to james from lawrenceburg, kentucky on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i think we are looking at things a little backwards. the real problem which addresses all the other problems we have is the fact that we desperately need term limits. the entrenchment of both parties , the activity of both parties are so dedicated to getting reelected that our

representatives are not really representing our best interest as citizens. host: let's talk to robert calling from henderson, kentucky on the independent line. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. my most important concern for america is for race relations. i would like for equality to be the center because racism is alive and well in america. it is alive and has been made acceptable by donald trump. i would like racism and anti-black-ism to be put to the forefront. thank you very much. host: let's talk to terry from ormond beach, florida on the democrats line. caller: good morning. i would like to make a few comments about climate change,

the thing trump aide just numbers don't believe in, you see the earth changing drastically, but william shatner from star trek took that trip into outer space. he made a great analogy, he saw the earth, the beautiful blue sky with the blackness. all the planets are just dead planets. they are interesting, but the military wants to use them as on the dish at a rocket off of. to be practical, the only things space technology is good for is to divert an asteroid. but these dead planets, you can grow things on them. that would be pretty expensive. the climate change on earth is

changing so rapidly, whether it's dry climate or it's too much rain, we will be having a problem producing food. we have to get real on this. host: let's go to harvey who is calling from rockaway new york on the independent line. good morning. >> thanks for taking my call. i think the biggest problem we have is the divide in our country and i think a lot of the issues occur with the divide and the people themselves. people in washington obviously can't get much accomplished, but we as a country have always been able to overcome most anything and i don't see any reason why we can't. our people need to get more involved, to be more patient and

understanding with each other's views. when we do that there's nothing that will stop us from solving these issues we have, every one of them. my feeling on donald trump, some of the programs he had i thought were good. he has a person is a disaster and unfortunately republicans need to wake up and see that. host: let's talk to george from michigan on the independent line. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i wanted to point out something i guess it's not overlooked when it's discussed, it makes you realize almost 80% or more of a lot of goods americans consume come from china and there is a tariff. i imagine the chinese did not

pay the tariff. if you consume goods, you pay the tariff. i think that's the rate of inflation plus all the distortion, you have zero futures in june of last year, and now you are at 80 plus, so that's not a distortion of what went on i don't know what is. i think things will level out because the cars are smaller, there's a lot of truck sales. i believe we will be going towards -- sooner than later and i think this will be and i think the country needs to work on the infrastructure and definitely getting people to make a real living so american families can prosper again. host: i will bring you next a

story on the washington post talking about the health of former president bill clinton who has been hospitalized over the weekend. the story says this. former president bill clinton will remain hospitalized saturday night as he recovers from an infection and is expected to be discharged sunday. clinton, 75 will be admitted to the irvine medical center on tuesday to receive treatment for a non-covid related infection. the spokesman says in a statement thursday clinton was diagnosed with a neurological infection that morphed into an infection of the bloodstream. according to a clinton aid. to discuss the former presence medical staff. clinton was never in septic shock.

that's former president clinton expected to be discharged from the hospital on sunday after recovering from an infection. let's talk to d who's talking -- calling from princeton. caller: good morning. i want to reiterate a call. i believe we have a group -- we have a group of individuals were generally in the age of 55 to 60 were running the country. when you're 25 or 30 you're not getting the opportunity to vocalize your opinion.

you're constantly caught between -- the last two colors you had on. i guess it's how old democrats were and then you have republicans who are sitting there talking out side -- out both sides of their mouth. one guessing spending is coming up. most of everything that's taken place today we can blame more on the past administration. they spent trillions of dollars and now we don't want to spend any more money. i find it to be ridiculous and it has a lot to do with the mentality of people running the country and those individuals are older. it's extremely sad and

disappointing. host: let's talk to lee from cleveland, tennessee on the republican line. caller: good morning. how are you? host: just fine, go ahead. caller: have you ever read the book how the poor can -- capitalism. i really think biden is trying, however on rote -- our roads and bridges, our trains, our economy, of the inflation, the taxes on the houses, everything is a mass. seven dollars an hour or is what people are working for. it used to put food on the table. they are defaulting on their mortgages. rich people coming in and buying all the houses.

they are causing the housing market, it's in a crash. my question is how do we solve these problems? how do we get joe manchin and kyrsten sinema on board? it's ridiculous the two senators can uphold the president's agenda. host: let's hear from mark on the democrat line. caller: thank you. i want to talk about two issues. a critical issue no one is talking about in terms of climate is the higher the co2 levels, the lower levels of nutrients in our crops like iron and zinc in the lower the protein levels in rice. so joe manchin may be pro-coal but he is anti-agribusiness and family farmers. people talk about the folders,

how about id the voting process. for example when we shop we get a receipt so we can prove what we paid and if we are not being charged correctly. and we go to the atm and a database to access to see if it's processed right. lastly, we audit casino machines. why can we audit computer machines for the forwarding. so climate and voting are two critical issues i would like to highlight and i appreciate the time and patience you gave me. host: we would like to thank all of our callers who called in. we are going to be joined by the

president of the driving force institute for public engagement and here's to talk -- and is here to talk about his groups push for u.s. history and civics education. we will be right back. ♪ >> weekends on c-span two are an intellectual feast. every saturday just like events and people that explore our nation's past history tv. on sunday, book tv gives you the latest. it's television for serious readers. discover, explore. ♪

>> washington journal continues. host: we are back with patrick, the president and ceo of the driving force institute for public engagement and he is here with us to talk about efforts to promote civics and u.s. history education. good morning. >> thanks for having me. tell us about your background and what is the driving force institute for public engagement. guest: in terms of my background i started off 25 years ago.

i was on c-span for the first time and after i left capitol hill i moved into education policy and advocacy for a wide range of organizations. two small state-based nonprofits and how we can improve public education. the industry was born years ago. we working with the woodrow wilson foundation and had done a national survey building a sense of what they knew about american history and recognized at the time we didn't know very much. so for the last few years driving force institute has been focused on how can we make the teaching and learning of american history more interesting and more relevant and have been doing this in partnership with a number of organizations across the country in really looking at how we can create short form videos, provocative two minute videos

about people and moments in history we may not have learned in school, but are essential to understanding our country and understanding our history and our future. host: this may seem like an obvious question, but why do we need to know more about civics and history in the united states? guest: it would be easy to simply say those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it. i think we as a country continue to grapple with issues and ideas that can quite honestly tear us apart. it's just important to understand where all of this came from to understand how this nation was born and understand the good, the bad and the ugly over the last 200 plus years. we look at the work of driving forces in organizations around the country. we talk about understanding history, it's really getting individuals to begin to think like a story. to ask questions and to push back and not accept what they

were given. to really give in and try to understand beyond the surface what it is they are learning. i've got to high school students for children. back in january my ninth grader had come to me and want to know what was going on in the capital. this was on january 6. i'm trying to figure out where she getting this from. she's getting it from tiktok. that i think further shows we talk about the power of video, of the importance of reaching young children, it's not can happen in a guest lecture, perhaps not even in a classroom. particularly as you see student activity being shaped, young people acting based on what they believe is their history realize how important it is. >> whose responsibility is it to

teach civics and history? is it the school's responsibility, the government? is it the parents responsibility? guest: i think it is a joint responsibility between adults and schools. i don't think people want to say the federal government should be instituting a national curriculum on history or civics or social study or government. but i think we all recognize if we look at states across the country we can see we don't do enough to teach history. typically american history is taught once across the average life experience of most students. we see parents have the opportunity to enhance that instruction to make sure there kids are taking those classes. when you look at the data you can see colleges and universities across the country if -- that students aren't majoring in american history anymore. the driving force institute is

based in south carolina and when you work with students, you understand how important it is. our students want to understand the good, the bad and the ugly history. they may not necessarily be majoring in it. but they are key parts of the experience that comes from their parents, their teachers they had and from society. i think it's a joint effort. you can look to one entity to decide what we showed or should not be teaching. -- what we should or should not be teaching. host: you conduct a citizenship test via a poll amongst u.s. citizens. tell us about that and what you are finding out the results of. >> we used the practice question , we did it really to see -- be mindful of the notion there is politics to everything. these are questions the federal government has developed for individuals to practice before the stand for the u.s. citizen

chip test. -- citizenship test. the majority of americans are still going to fail the test. they are given 20 questions, 12 questions correct is a passing grade. these are not challenging questions. they are pretty basic and they are essential when we begin to think about what we do as a nation. the intent here is not to see if the average american can pass trivia night at a bar. it really is to get whether we are understanding as we dig deeper as we really look to disaggregate the data to understand where we fallen short when it comes to teaching history. we see if you look at the results by age. 70% of americans under the age of 45 fail. that includes 77% of those who are non-college-educated.

only 50% of americans can pass this test. by contrast if you look at those over the age of 65. we see similar discrepancies in terms of race where you have 51% of white or failing the exam and 72% of people of color are failing the exam. 64% of women are failing this basic test will only 51% of men. they should be a clarion call to all of us. there are some issues here both in what we teach and how we teach american history that make it clear that all of us have to do a better job. host: i want to bring up some of the issues you put on your poll and the u.s. citizenship test. let the viewers know how americans dead.

only 17% knew the u.s. constitution was written in 1787. 27% correctly stated benjamin franklin was a u.s. diplomat and less than half knew that woodrow wilson was president during world war i. 51%, a little more than half knew the nine justices serve on the supreme court. so overall the percentage of americans who could pass the u.s. citizenship test was only 42%. what do we do to change those numbers? host: i think at the end of the day what you need to do is recognize that we need to rethink how we are teaching american history. two years ago we did a survey will we talked high school students really getting a sense of why they weren't learning history. quite honestly boring and

irrelevant to their lives and we see on the largest percentage of minority students in her schools , they are not seeing the connection to the way american history is taught. we largely look first we spent a semester focused on the founding of the country going up to the revolutionary war and then you come back after christmas break and begin to study the civil war and hopefully after student testing in april you get a little bit of world war ii. at the end of the day, we look at some of these pieces. look at the stats you just gave. when we began the survey, we ask that question about how many justices run the supreme court. we ask that a time when the united gates was tearing itself apart over the justice kavanaugh nomination. in the years since that the number of americans despite president biden wanted you talk about expanding the court we still have half the country only knowing we have nine members.

as we look at this, how can we teach american history in a different way. the way i learned from using dusty textbooks and i say this with all sincerity is the son of a presidential historian. the way we use books to teach present -- u.s. history isn't working. there was a study that came out that found for the average generation per year they were spending 2000 hours a day on youtube. in those we were there watching -- that's what we are keying in on. if you watch how young people consume information. the approach we've taken has created short videos, we look at provocative topics, individuals, moments of history, things you may not of learned. and really using those in the hopes of creating a discussion, in some instances hoping going video rabbit hole.

and others just giving tools to teach you so they can have a discussion beyond talking about white male land in their classroom. so we can really have a discussion on american history to determine not just the facts and figures, but to really understand what you put it as why this is important. that's the approach it's trying to take. host: we talk a lot about history. let's talk about civics. for our audience, define what civics are and why they should be a better known topic for students and adults. >> i would argue i think history should be better known topic. what we've done, of the definition of civics is one with everyone you talk to has a different definition of it. i can talk to some folks who say it's the lifeblood of this nation, they look at civics in terms of activist civics.

others say it is simply history told through progressive lens. i think when we talk about it in its true definition, i think you really start with american history. civics is the actions one can take once they learn that history. it's what we expect to see in terms of taking what we know from history and government and economics and really putting it to use and practice. host: viewers can take part in this great conversation about history and civics. we will open up regional lines. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, you can call 202-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is going to be 202-748-8001. you can always text in questions with your opinion at 202-748-8003 and we are also on

social media, on twitter @cspanwj and on facebook at facebook.com/c-span. how do we make the teaching and learning of history and civics relevant and interesting for students? guest: i think we need to make it more interesting. i also think when we look at the teaching of american history. we need to be more specific in terms of talking about the role women have played. they had a history back to the founding. often when we talk about the role, not just for african-americans. we talk about the role of native americans. we also need to talk about the role of my people during the civil war.

there are all sorts of stories we should be telling. we've been working with the kentucky valley education cooperative and developed a series of videos looking at the history and eastern kentucky. they feel are not cold. but also learning how they can use the class. for so long we had the last century we've had classrooms or teacher stand in front of a room , students are supposed to absorb that. we are really trying to do is how can we use these videos that we are shared for free online. how do we use these free videos to start the discussions to help

student start thinking about historians and ask questions that begin to also ask what else have i not learned as a result of a story that may have piqued our interest. host: let's let some of our viewers take part. we will start with chris from reston, virginia. caller: good morning. the divide in this country i think is based on we do not have a national standard. what i see is the self still raising the confederate flag in the north the union flag. the south locally they teach them different perspectives. making of facts about the civil war. so how can we be united if we

teach different history instead of national perspective. also i don't think it's important to know woodrow wilson was present during world war i or the court has nine justices. the number changed over time what's important to learn about gerrymandering, about equality. going back, what did we learn from history. why people are not changing. host: go ahead and respond. guest: i think he raises a couple of very interesting points. it's easy for us to assume based on our own biases with different

parts of the country are teaching and what they are learning and what becomes interesting as we look at a breakdown of these results, we surveyed 1000 individuals across the united states. the proper samples and all the demographics and what would surprise people i think is those in the south, the south was the second highest in terms of success after the northeast. those residents in the south when it came to history the opera from the midwest and the west. we can always say is this something we need to learn. it really becomes how we have the foundational building box -- building blocks. is it really important only half the almost half the country didn't know who our enemies were during world war ii. you can say it's nitpicky, of course they know who we were generally fighting. can you really have an important discussion in a history class

throughout japanese internment if the students in the classroom don't understand that japan was our enemy during world war ii. those of the sorts of things we are looking at. yes you can say is it important woodrow wilson was present during world war i. will yes, only think about all the issues over the last few years that have called into question woodrow wilson and is racism and misogyny and what that meant in terms of the foundation, the democratic party struck his name from buildings. when we talk about the work he did in terms of the league of nations and did that lead to the rise of what happened in europe later on, those are important questions to understand what happened at what point and why. the measure is not simply who was president, it's understanding who was president, how did he get elected. when we look at the commonalities between woodrow

wilson election and president trump's election. those are important discussions we should and need to be having in our classrooms. host: our next caller is lauren. good morning. caller: good morning. people can go back to do other things instead of being tied to the stupid gadgets. host: what you think? guest: i think it's interesting. i hear that argument a lot. what becomes fascinating we talk about the role of the internet and social media. i think we are not to be able to get rid of social media and the people they use. the question is how do we use it

better. how are we more effective at utilizing these technologies in these efforts. we see some successes and look at things like connie academy. -- at things like kahn academy. we can also look at how woefully unprepared our schools were to use technology in the classrooms. to go look at some charter schools. they are our children were not using laptops, they are not using ipads or tablets, everything they are teaching is on cell phones because it's one piece of technology that every middle school are in high school or is going to have. i think that becomes the question that we need to be asking. college professors on our campus effectively use twitter and other social media and having students make presentations. at the end of the day, we get

our information from social media. no one's getting a newspaper delivered to the driveway. the question is how do we use this for a better learning. host: your institute has established a set of criteria designed to help facilitate instruction. i want to tell us exactly what we are doing with this. what you're doing is supporting instruction for current history teachers for designing curriculum for traditional classrooms and out of school time environments and direct to consumer engagement. what do you mean by those. host: we are really -- guest: we reach that point where it could be very expensive to buy textbooks and even more expensive to update those to better understand what we are talking about. the videos are not created in a vacuum. every video we create is created

to address certain learning standards, every video was created in combination with some other titles. we released three new videos every wednesday that folks can find on there when -- folks can find there. we also produce materials for teachers so they can focus on high school but is also applicable to middle school teachers as well. they can use those materials in the classroom. how do you show two or three videos at a time and really use that anyway to start a discussion to launch a dialogue, to really develop more research. that's what we are talking about with the curriculum approach. how do we empower teachers, how do we empower teachers to better use video and media in their classrooms.

we sat there for 15 minutes in the dark -- 50 minutes in the dark. that's not how we consume that. we asked teachers to move beyond that and that came as a result of conversations with teachers around the country that recognize using them in the classroom was of great benefit. what they were doing was they were going in and pulling segments from drunken history and figuring out how to edit out the language so that something usable in their classroom. we are trying to get away with that. that can complement what they're learning in a -- particularly in the districts they can't necessarily update those materials. both the professional element they were creating. guest: a couple of -- host: a

couple of social media followers want your opinion on how or if topic should be taught in american history classes. i will combine a couple of tweets here. one person wants to know how should what happened on january 6 be taught and the second one wants to know your position on the 1619 project and should that be taught. host: i've written and spoken on the first question quite a bit. i believe what happens on the sixth needs to be taught. i think you've -- i think you don't teach that, it's not the item but it provides teachers the avenue to bridge for the topics we need to talk about, allow them to talk about the war of 1812 and the burning of the u.s. capitol, it allows them to talk about 1954 when they opened fire on the capital floor. it allows them to talk about people calling for the 25th amendment and what it is and

when it has been used in the past. using it that way becomes enormously important and it's something we need to allow teachers to teach and i think that becomes the greatest challenge. that's educators across the country, too often they are afraid of the superintendent with a principal or someone in the community coming down. i think we have been able to allow teachers to teach, particularly those in a social studies classroom. with regards to crt -- the 1619 project, that becomes another important question for us. i think when you look at what americans know, you look at our data and you can see 77% of people failed questions regarding the 1700s. so some of the founding's of our country.

the 1619 project provide some interesting materials in the classroom. i could say the same about the 1776 report. i would argue both of those are an important piece and understanding what we should be teaching and how we should be teaching. i think there's no question we should be teaching the significance of 1619 in american history. i don't think that means we shouldn't be teaching about 1776. it really becomes how do we find that balance, how do we provide the materials and i think you can find videos in our collection. how do we provide that content in a way so teachers can provide to students and have a robust informed discussion in their classroom in terms of what it means and whether that should be the priority moving forward and understanding what about the

history in the 1776 report is something that should be part of a high school classroom, those are the discussions we need to have. host: i won't let you get away with not answering. we've had a lot of talk about critical race theory. we know it is not being taught in high schools, it's being taught at the college level. could be part of our curriculum? host: how you define critical race theory seems to vary based on the individual. i think we take it a very specific look in terms of our videos making sure we are telling the stories of people of color. we are not afraid to talk about the more controversial issues with regards to race in our nations history, whether it was the good, the bad or the ugly side. what i worry about is look at the way we are trying to change the way we are teaching history.

we are looking for things that deserve our attention. we look back in the last year where we've talked about moving a statue of abraham lincoln from washington, d.c. whether one likes the statue or not, one cannot avoid the fact that the great significance of the statue is not that we have a bronze of lincoln in our nations capital. i would argue the great significance is the speech that douglas gave as he was dedicating the statue. frederick douglass's speech in talking about lincoln in a way that many historians still can't grapple with that complexity. but frederick douglass's remarks at the time in terms of lincoln and his impact on the nation are something we all should be studying. that becomes a key part is we look at this moving forward. host: let's talk to mark from

fort myers, florida. good morning. caller: i want to thank them. i taught a north carolina for about 20 years as a history teacher and what i'm seeing is i think it's more so not replacing the textbook because reading seems to be an issue with kids. i'm going to debate your guest on that issue. we need to get the kids to read more because they can't read the content and are struggling with with regards to critical race theory discussion, i don't know if you necessarily need a curriculum to introduce the subject because you still have bad teachers who are still going to be bad teachers. so maybe more so we should be looking to include more african-americans in the discussion and also maybe i haven't heard people rely on history teachers on the discussion and itself we talk

about trusting the experts. host: i think his points are well taken. one of the reasons why video becomes so important is that simply how high schoolers are getting their information. it also allows us for those students that are struggling readers, for those who are english language learners, it allows them to teach the history we all believe is so important even if they don't necessarily have the vocabulary and comprehension to get it. i completely agree with the perspective in terms of our struggling leaders, that's a problem we have to address before they had the fourth grade. once they hit middle school if they are not able to read it will be impossible -- to get to a reading level going forward.

i applaud them as their efforts being a history teacher. we need to spend more time talking to teachers. when i talk about the content of driving forces created, all of that content, every video script, every video production, we actually create in partnership with current high school social studies teachers. we make sure the content is right, it is teachable and usable. because there is no substitute for a great teacher in the classroom. host: let's talk to diane. caller: good morning. i am a former college instructor your and i worked in the college of social work and that for myself as a second career. my love of both history and politics seems to be the perfect intersection.

the thing my students learn from me is if you don't know history then you can know what you're doing now. just current day examples. if you don't know history, you probably didn't really have an understanding my many in the black community have concerns with the vaccine because you would know about the tuskegee experiments, you also may not understand let's say the passion behind women's reproductive rights if you don't know the history and how long they fought to have autonomy of their own bodies. one of the best things i learned years ago was about helen keller. we all know she was blind and deaf and mute, but do we know her influence on the americans with disabilities act. you can go forward if we don't understand what's behind us.

i'm seriously considering getting my masters in education so that i can go back and teach history. guest: i completely agree with you. i look at a place like our university which is our home and more than about 65% of our students are women. half of our students are people of color. almost half of our students are must first -- our first generation. one of the most popular majors we have on campus right now is criminology. an incredible number of students see that opportunity. you can effectively teach criminology unless you're getting into the issues you are discussing, talking about history and government and civics in a way that they are looking at their own degrees and study. and it's an important part of the undergraduate experience, i know it's important for those of us, but you're absolutely right. host: let's talk to joe from

california. good morning. caller: thank you and good morning. i had one of the greatest opportunities being raised here. in sixth grade i had a parent or took us on a trip and we were able to go to the pyramids in mexico. there's very few people of color but understand there's pyramids here on the continent. i see myself as an indigenous american. i was raised in the middle of america and i was raised here in compton. we also have this concept of the bible that brings history and life to the story we live here,

that we are able to see what has happened here, and unable to sit here today. i've also written a book for my family to express my visions of what happened after 9/11. it's expressed through relationship, i'm using the second act of the bible based upon his we experienced. then we watched the church elect donald trump as the president. the evangelist church made this move. everybody saw this. then he chose to go and choose and make this deal with radical islam. this is historical. host: go ahead and respond to him. guest: his talking about mexico and seeing the pyramids become so important. we look to partner with other organizations and largely look at how can we focus on events

and activities, artifacts that quite honestly we can travel to go see. we work with american battlefield trust to talk about the revolutionary war and civil war in the last year and a half folks just haven't been able to visit. we finished a series with the smithsonian looking at their new exhibit on the rolls young women had played in shaping american history. we have the ability through video to really bring people to those museums without being able to travel to washington, d.c. or being able to come to new jersey or maryland to see it for themselves. host: let's talk to barbara from oklahoma. can you give a quick comment or question. caller: i have a niece at the schools in new hampshire and they got the new history books and all the teachers refuse to use them because they said the

history was not correct. host: are we seeing a rebellion coming from history teachers on what they see as incorrect curriculum? guest: i think we definitely are. as you see states dealing with adoption issues, school districts debating over what should or should not be in their textbooks. we are definitely seeing that sort of. with all the talks in terms of the changes in florida, talk, governor desantis adding it as an essentialist part of their social studies curriculum right now for instance. that's why looking at video you adopt a textbook you are stuck with that for 10 years. it's very hard to make any changes beyond that. the pallor video, whether it be through us, through khan academy , all of those organizations who shown you can use video, it is simple and quick and can be adjusted on a dime to make sure our teachers have the material

they feel comfortable with and feel confident in and our students will embrace. host: we would like to thank patrick, the president and ceo of the driving force institute for public engagement for being on with us this morning and talking about the organization's efforts to promote civics and u.s. history education. thank you so much for your time. we would like to thank all of our viewers, our callers, social media followers and gas being with us for another addition of washington journal. we will be back again tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. have a great sunday. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021]

>> comcast supports giving a front row seat to democracy. >> c-span's washington journal. we will discuss the policy issues that impact you. we will preview the week ahead and congress including continued negotiations. also a discussion on the right

of covert related deaths in rural areas of the u.s. syracuse university talks about the delays and the u.s. supply chain. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments and tweets. >> the u.s. senate returns to resume consideration of the judicial nominations with votes and the afternoon. lawmakers are expected to vote on whether or not to debate a bill on elections and voting rights. the u.s. house is back tuesday for legislative work. at next week's schedule includes bills preventing family violence and strengthening the rights of north the best nursing mothers. majority leader hoyer is

expected to work on national spending. export options to change or modify the debt limit. watch the house live on c-span. also available online at c-span.org or on the go with c-span now, our new video app. >> downloaded c-span's new mobile app and stay up-to-date from live streams of the house to the senate floor. white house events, even our live interactive morning program, washington journal, where we hear your voices every day. download the app for free today.

host: good morning and welcome to washington journal. it has been more than a year and a half since the discovery of covid-19. the disease has become one of the most deadliest pandemics in human history. more than 700,000 americans have died from the coronavirus. the country has gone through lockdowns, tests and vaccines and scientists continue to look for a cure. everyone has been affected by the pandemic. what we want to know this morning is, have your views changed about covid-19? do you think differently about masks, vaccines and other measures than before? how have your covid-19 public health views changed -- have your covid-19 public health views changed? if your answer is yes, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000.