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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 caller: good morning. you should be going after theca n.i.h., the c.d.c. and gates who discussed releasing a virus in october of 2019, not fellow americans. host: let me stop you for a second. where did you get that information from? caller: just type in event 201 and you can watch videos of how they discussed the breakdown of the entire world, not just our country, in great detail. host: that's information you say you got off the internet? caller: you can easily find it. even though our mainstream media refuses to discuss it. host: ann marie, have your public views on covid-19 changed? have you decided to mask, to not mask, to get a vaccine, to not get a vaccine?

caller: not at all. after reading the fauci dossier and list of patents taken out to make this virus, my opinion hasn't changed in the least. i am a patriot. so is my husband. forced vaccination may be the rule of law in fascist, communist countries but this is still the united states. host: let's talk to rich, who is calling from st. petersburg, florida. rich, good morning. caller: good morning. my views haven't changed at all, but what i feel is being thrown under the rug is the pharmaceuticals that are still in china. both trump and now biden has done nothing to get our pharmaceuticals out of china. host: what do you mean but that, rich? are you saying that medicines should not be imported from other countries? caller: not -- well, they should be with allies and certainly any type of activity that happens

with taiwan, we will be in a very weak position. that's really what needs to abe dressed. those pharmaceuticals need to be taken out of china and started to be manufactured under allies or internally to our own country. host: do you think the u.s. government should take over making medicine for americans? caller: well, the defense production act could be utilized to do that in an emergency, but i think it will be too late. i think we are naive to think china will be our friend and continue supplying those pharmaceuticals to us, and especially if we are in a conflict with them. host: we would like to thank all of our callers and social media followers for joining us for that first segment. coming up next, we will talk to two former capitol hill staffers about the busy stretch ahead in congress. brendan buck, a top aide to former speaker john boehner, and paul ryan, and blake androff, a

top former top aid to nancy pelosi. we will be joined by the president of the driving force institute for public engagement on his group's push to promote u.s. history and civics education. we will be right back. ht back. >> weekends bring you the best in american history and nonfiction books on book tv, we feature current and former members of congress discussing their favorite books, including former south carolina governor mark sanford with his book, a second chance for the republican party, the conservative movement and ourselves. representative davis with her book, a native kid becomes a congresswoman. and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell shares his reading list. senator nelson talks about his

book, my front road seat to the divides of the world's greatest deliberative body and his recommendations to restore it. he is interviewed by senator ben sass. watch book tv every weekend and find a full schedule on your program guide or watchline anytime at booktv.org. >> tonight on q&a, brookings institutions fellow david wessel discusses his book only the rich can play. >> teunts opportunity zones create -- opportunity zones created tax havens across the country and they gave wealthy people an incentive to put their money in those poor communities in exchange for a capital gains tax break. unfortunately, we don't really know how much money has gone into them as a result of that arcane senate process known as reconciliation, which is now a household word in washington.

the provision that required reporting was stripped out, but i would say based on the stuff i've said, we are talking about tens of billions of dollars going into opportunity zones, but unfortunately i think the bulk of the money is going into zones that didn't really need the money. they were already improving or went to projects that probably would have been built otherwise. >> david wessel with his book "only the rich can play" tonight at 8:00 eastern. you can listen to all of our podcasts on our new c-span now app. >> watch the day's biggest political events live or on demand anytime, anywhere, on our new mobile video app. c-span now, access top highlights, listen to c-span radio and discover new podcasts all for free. download c-span now today.

>> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back with brendan buck and blake androff, who is here with us this morning to talk about what's going on in congress and president biden's necessary particular agenda. brendan buck served with house speakers paul ryan and john boehner. blake androff served with house speaker nancy pelosi. good morning, gentlemen. >> good morning. >> good morning. host: let's get right into it. we will start with you, brendan. how are president biden's major initiatives, the budget bill and the infrastructure bill, faring in congress right now? guest: infrastructure could be a win if they just chose to. it's sitting there in the house and they're making a political calculation not to pass it. what is in real trouble is the broader reconciliation that build back better act. frankly, i think they are nowhere right now. they talked for many months

about a $3.5 trillion plan. it's very clear at this point it's going to be much less than that, but there are some really pacic fundamental questions -- basic fundamental questions that they don't have answers to yet and it tells you, you are a long way away. they don't know what the top line number is going to be. they don't know how to approach writing a bill at a lower number, whether the question they're debating is whether you do fewer things in a bigger scale, do them better, or do a lot of things and just spend a little less on them. then you go another layer below, they haven't figured out the substance. what is going to be in the bill? they have some big differences. a lot of people are reverting to let's focus on childcare and climate. you have joe manchin who has already said climate is not necessarily anything he is interested in focusing on in this legislation. so pig fundamental questions -- big fundamental questions that get down to the details and they have none of that yet.

they're talking about trying to pass something by the end of this month that doesn't seem likely. i still think they will get something done only because they have to politically at some point. but this could easily last into next year because they are so far away from having a bill that they could pass right now. host: blake, do you agree with brendan? guest: not surprisingly i don't. the build back better plan president biden ran on and won on is about leveling the playing field. it's about making america more competitive, strengthening the middle class, a host of things that unite democrats across the caucus. brendan is right, right now we don't have a deal. whether it's made in a week, a month, president biden with the leadership of speaker pelosi and leader schumer will get this across the finish line. they realize they have to deliver for the people. while the legislative process is messy and it's slow and it's by design a little frustrating for

those watching from the outside, the reality is tremendous progress is being made. there is a lot of enthusiasm around this. members will come back to d.c. this week after having spent two weeks at home listening to their constituents, talking about the importance of this build back better initiative and i think that we are going to see this get across the finish line. host: blake, all we have heard about lately is the negotiations that's going on between democrats. so is the failure to pass either one of these bills solely an intraparty fight or -- between progressives and moderates, or is there more to it? guest: the raility -- reality is there is more that unites the democratic caucus than divides us. i think it's very healthy for the democratic process to have progressives and moderates and other folks within that spectrum talking about how they want 0 move dosh move the country forward. that's a good thing to happen.

there is nothing that prevents republicans from joining in the fight. the bipartisan infrastructure deal is a perfect example. this has historically brought democrats and republicans together and should continue moving forward. there is more that unites us than divides us and we can agree to disagree around how we de-- the size and the scope, but the reality is democrats are united in lowering health care costs. p democrats are united in tackling the climate crisis. democrats are ewe niefted in making sure people can take care of their families and have good paying jobs and be competitive against other countries like china. it's going to continue to come together, but the reality is i think we will get it across the finish line. host: brendan, should republicans take any responsibility for the infrastructure or this social spending bill, not being passed? guest: republicans in the senate who helped put together the bipartisan infrastructure bill are urging the house leaders to put the bill on the floor and pass tb. i think -- pass it. i think republicans have shown

that when there are shared priorities, they're willing to work together with democrats, actually a big vote in the senate, another reason i don't understand why the house decided to sit on this bill. but on the other piece of legislation, no, i don't think republicans have any obligation to help democrats pass something that they fundamentally oppose, a bunch of tax increases, massive expansion of government. policies that no one should ever be confused by thinking republicans would support. frankly they haven't had to do a whole lot to stop it. democrats are doing that quite well on their own at this point. it's been interesting, republicans haven't really engaged too much in the substance of this battle. they've been happy to sit by and let kyrsten sinema or joe manchin be the ones to control the pace of this legislation. i don't think mitch mcconnell or kevin mccarthy sticking their knows in it will help anything, it would probably only motivate democrats to work harder.

so republicans are going to work together with democrats when they agree on things, and there is proof of that. that is the infrastructure bill. it's crazy to me that democrats won't pass it in the house. but there is no reason to believe that republicans should or would want to work with democrats on something that would so fundamentally change the scope and scale of the government in a way that they oppose. host: blake, is there a timeline for getting these bills done or -- should democrats face if they can get these bills done? guest: the reality is there is too much at stake not to get things done. i am optimistic it is going to happen. there is a deadline before the surface transportation programs are set to expire. they were extended 30 days and the speaker and others in the leadership have the opportunity to extend them again if conversations are heading in a productive direction. i think there is a ton of enthusiasm to get this done. there is a lot of excitement across the democratic caulks

to -- caucus to deliver for the people. the president will continue to take the show on the road, to make the case directly to the american people about the importance of this program and i think if you look at polls across the country, 2-1 majority, americans overwhelmingly support the ideas in the build back better plan. lowering health care costs, tackling the climate crisis, making sure people can take care of their family, creating good-paying jobs. these are things americans fundamentally agree with, so it is a delicate balance. speaker pelosi has a thin majority, but as i said before and i will say it again for the people in the back who can't hear, never bet against speaker pelosi. you do so at your own peril. she's in deal mode and i think at the ends of the day, we will see this being signed into law by president biden. host: let me remind our viewers that they can join in on this conversation. we will open up our regular lines. that means republicans, you can call 202-748-8001.

democrats, your line is 202-748-8000. independents, you can call 202-748-8002. you can always text us at 202-748- 800 approximate and we are always reading on social media and twitter and on facebook. now, this question is going to be for both of you, because you both worked with house speakers who have had presidents that tried to push legislation through. right now there is a lot of talk about how president joe biden is negotiating with two senators and trying to push through this bill. how much influence does a president actually have over congressional leaders when they want legislation pushed through? i will start with you, brendan. guest: they should have a ton of power and influence, and especially with their own members. you are the president.

you have the bully pulpit. you have so many levers of power that you can pull, but it depends on the president. donald trump was very influential within our conference, but he wasn't necessarily particularly helpful outside of it in terms of rallying public support. the problem for joe biden, i think, while he is a congressional insider and knows how to negotiate, the problem for him is he doesn't have a lot of political cache right now. i am not saying he is unpopular. i am saying he doesn't really move the needle in a positive way. perhaps in a way, it contrasts with barack obama, who i think had a lot more political juice and was able to go out and sell things in a positive way. joe biden isn't really capturing anybody's attention and frankly the two people that he is most concerned about bringing along, manchin and sin eam, seem unimpressed and don't seem any closer today to coming together

on a bill. so yes, to do something big and hard, you need a president who can bring the country along and who can unify your team. if it ultimately fails, it will absolutely be a failure of joe biden. but i think that is one of the problems that they're having right now. joe biden is not a powerful enough president or popular enough right now to go out and say i need this, you have to do it and have people come along. host: blake, you've talked about how we shouldn't underestimate nancy pelosi. but what about joe biden? what should he be doing differently or should he be doing anything differently to bring democrats along and on to this bill? guest: well, i would agree with brendan that presidents have enormous power. they have the bully pulpit. i think that's what president biden is doing and will continue to do. the reality is, this president, his negotiating style does not make for reality tv show

ratings. he doesn't legislate by tweet. these are things that are very different from the last four years. it's not all that surprising that people think that he is not moving the needle and not making a brig grand slam. the reality is he spent 36 years in the senate, eight years as vice president negotiating on behalf of the administration with the senate. he knows exactly how the building works. he knows his way around it and i think that he is making tremendous progress. i think by and large people in d.c. constantly talk about programs and policies and price tags and we really should be talking about impact on people. i think that's what the president will do to do is talk about how this legislation would impact the bottom line of people, how it would make people's lives better. it's really about issues that matter, issues that people -- keep americans up at night, worrying about how they're going to pay their mortgage, how they're going to open their envelopes at the ind of the month and see what their health care bills and be worried about.

these are things that matter to the american people and i think the president in leadership with speaker pelosi, leader schumer is going to continue to make their case to the american people and they're going to get it done. host: speaking of speaker pelosi, she was asked earlier this week about the status of the social infrastructure bill. i want to bring to you all what she said and get you to react to it. [video clip] >> you said you should be doing fewer things well, the guidance you got from members. are you suggesting this package may drop universal pre-k, tuition free community college, paid family leave or medicare expansion? speaker pelosi: let me say $3.5 trillion, we are doing everything well. not a question of now we are doing it well because it's less money. but the fact is, is that if there is -- 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 transform tiff nature of what it is and it is -- some members have written back to me and said i want do everything. so we will have that discussion. but again in the family section of it, the transform tiff nature of the biden child tax credit, childcare and universal pre-k, really go together. that's sort of a -- they go together. they're part of the same -- meeting the same need. issues that relate to home health care. there are certain things that wt a couple trillion dollars, but it's not -- it's much less. so mostly we would be cutting back on years and something like that. but those are decisions that -- excuse me? >> would you have to drop one of those programs?

speaker pelosi: we hope not. we have to make sure we have a bill which i also said that we have to have something that will pass the house and pass the senate. pass the house and pass the senate. i am not asking members to vote for something that has no chance to pass in the senate. host: blake, you said that speaker pelosi is in deal-making mode. what should she be looking to cut? what should she be looking to sacrifice to get this through? guest: i think the most important thing she said was at the very end. she's going to find a bill that can pass the house and the senate and be signed into law by president biden. if you look at everything that the speaker has ever done, she's often five steps of people on the other end of the negotiating table. she's going to direct at a member level with her caucus. she's going to continue to figure out how she gets to 218 votes in the house and how it can pass the senate and into law.

whether or not that's including everything at a shorter period of time, whether that's including only certain provisions and not others, those are conversations that she's having with the caucus as well as with leader schumer to figure out what can ultimately pass the senate. i don't think those conversations are finished. i don't think they've reached a conclusion on that, but i think the speaker will have a good sense of where she can get 218 votes. no one counts votes in d.c. better than speaker pelosi. she's going to figure out exactly what it is to get that across the finish line. host: brendan, is there anything speaker pelosi can say to get republicans on to this bill? guest: no, and i think that press conference reaffirms what i said in the very beginning, that they have absolutely nowhere right now. i promise you, she's not five steps ahead of everybody because they aren't answers some of the most basic fundamental questions. that kind of answer is the kind of thing you would say when you plan on working on something six months from now, not something

that you plan to pass in a week, which is the fantasy that they have been throwing out there. they have been stumbling through this process all along and i have been amazed. i think they will find a way to get something done at the end of this, but it will probably be in spite of and not because of the leadership in the house. they continue to make promises to people that they can't keep. they pulled bills from the floor because they don't have the votes. they are making this up as they go along. after months of working on it, you can't answer fundamental questions about how big the bill is going to be, what your approach is going to be to cut the bill and what programs you are going to keep let alone sort that out with the other chamber. they are a long way from anywhere right now and so i don't know -- there is no reason to have confidence that they have momentum. the only reason to think they're going to get it done is the political necessity that they have to. host: let's let our viewers take part in this conversation.

we will start with steve from florida on the democrat line. steve, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you. i am calling in to talk about one of the items in the infrastructure bill, which is the mass transit. the reason why i think it's so important is because i am looking at the cities -- transport down south and i am looking at cities like orlando and nashville, where they've rejected mass transit. a lot because of lobbying efforts by the koch brothers but the cities not only are becoming extremely congested with traffic, with the air pollution that comes from the traffic, but they're becoming a city of highways, it seems like the more people that move down, they 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 build. when you say mass transit, you can think of two things. you can think on a national level where people go from city to city and you can think within the 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. but there is one more comment i'd like to say. observing it seems like the republicans and democrats here in the house and in the senate, that their top priority is to make sure that the other side doesn't get a success and in the meantime these very, very important bills that could be passed, that could be put into action are left sitting on the

table. thank you. host: we will start with you, brendan. let's talk about that infrastructure bill. what should be done to push that through? guest: i think that caller really reaffirms an important point that the infrastructure portion of what congress has been working on is really popular, and it is something that could be passed right now and it was bipartisan. it was democrats and republicans coming together, and the mass transit portion of that is in that infrastructure bill that's already passed the senate and is waiting in the house. that could be done right now. as a matter of improving people's lives, i think it was a mistake for them to hold up on it because people care about these types of things and they wish that that bill was already passed. also as a political opportunity, this could have been done months ago at this point and republicans and democrats, democrats could be out there talking about how they improved mass transit in cities like

orlando. instead the bill is sitting in the house, doing nothing, while they fight with each other. i think that was a fundamental mistake. getting big bipartisan wins is hard. take them when you can get them and i think this caller showed that there is an audience for it. they're not talking about it. host: blake, do you agree with brendan in should democrats take the win on infrastructure or is -- are they holding it up and it's going to cost them? guest: one thing i would point out to you, we are nine months into a four year term and people on the sidelines are already ready to write the political obituary for biden's legislative agenda not even at the end of the first quarter of his presidency. there is plenty of time left on the clock to get these things done. there will be a bipartisan infrastructure deal signed into law. there is going to be the build back better bill signed into law. president biden will continue to look for opportunities to work with republicans as he has in his entire career in d.c. to get these things across the finish line. this legislative process is messy. it's slow.

it's dirty by design and it will take a little time to get that done, but it's going to happen. in the infrastructure package, there is money for rail, money for roads, there is money for airports and seaports and bridges and a host of different types of things to make sure we are taking care of america's crumbling infrastructure. these are things that put people back to work. these are things that make sure commerce gets to the consumer in short periods of time. this is all stuff that's incredibly important for the growth of our country to make us more competitive and i think president biden will continue to look for similar opportunities to work together moving forward. host: let me ask you about this. the deadline for reconciliation comes at the end of this month. the deadline for reconciliation is on october 31. is it possible to get some of this done before october 31? i will start with you, brendan. guest: i can't help but smirk at

the concept. they are so far away from that. they will have to i think do another extension of the infrastructure -- the highway bill, which is the same infrastructure bill we are talking about. there is a hard deadline. they'll probably have to extend that. my expectation is no matter how hard they would like to think that they are close, they're months away. maybe they'll get wise and they'll pass the infrastructure bill at the end of the month and let that hostage go, but reconciliation, that separate piece, i will be surprised if they are not well into december if not next year by the time they wrap that up. host: reconciliation, blake, brendan says it's probably not going to get done. do you agree? guest: i don't, jesse. we are in a similar situation this year when the house passed the american rescue plan, the historic legislation, several days before that passed there were stories all across the platforms, broadcasts, democrats

in disarray, speaker pelosi doesn't have control of her caucus, the sky is falling kind of stuff. reality is the speaker is making tremendous progress, whether it's behind the scenes, whether it's at the poadz yum at her weekly press conferences. the speaker is making tremendous progress. she's going to get this done. i have full faith that she'll get this across the finish line and deliver for the people. to be clear, i think they will get something done because they have to. i just think they're nowhere right now. the idea they're going to be done by october 3 is -- 31 is nonsense. host: let's talk to tim, who is calling from fairview, pennsylvania, on the republican line. tim, good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to comment on the president's agenda. i don't think that president biden is doing anything for america. i think what he is doing is doing things to america and the things that bother me most are

wide open southern border in the midst of a pandemic, flooding thousands -- i read two million people a year to date have come over the southern border. i don't for the -- i don't understand why in the world a president would have a wide open southern border on energy. he kills our two major pipeline projects, still burning the same amount of fossil fuel we ever did, except it's not american fuel and american jobs we are burning. he is out there begging the saudis to open up the pumps and in afghanistan, what a disaster afghanistan was. the equipment we left behind wasn't just trucks and artillery. it was our most sophisticated attack helicopters and the supply chain fiasco. i don't see anybody working on the supply chain fiasco. i don't see anybody rolling up their sleeves and getting that done. by the way, why don't they just take all of those ships out in the pacific, offload them in mexico and let the haitians

carry that stuff across the southern border. we would fill up our shelfs overnight. they have taken 11 cabinet members and flying off to a climate somewhere. think the people -- the country is falling apart. the wheels are coming off. i can't make up my mind. i think it's by design. is it pure incompetence or is it completely by design to just -- host: i will let you start there, blake. you have a caller 0 who is not happy with president biden and the democrats. what do you say? guest: we should look at the facts. since president biden took office, five million jobs have been created. that is 10 times the monthly growth rate than the previous administration. wages are up. unemployment is down for the first time it's been below prepandemic levels, growth is up. 2/3 of americans are fully

vaccinated and eight out of 10 americans over the age of 12 have had a first shot. the president came into office and he had two missions that he was squarely focused on, getting americans vax naipted and get past this global pandemic, all of this done and the second is getting americans back to work. i think he has delivered on both of those. so the raility is -- reality is there a whole host of issues the president has to deal with and i think he will find he will continue to focus on these issues be, but i think we need to keep an eye on the facts. host: brendan, for some reason, i don't think you will agree there. guest: i think the dynamic that caller raised is an interesting political one in that it shows why republicans aren't focusing as much on the two bills we have been talking about because there are so many other issues that are motivating people and i think that's what republicans are going to be focusing on to try to fire up voters. it's the supply chain challenge. it's rising prices.

inflation will be a big tomorrof conversation going into midterms because it's hitting everybody. rising energy prices, rising prices at the grocery store. the border, afghanistan. there are a lot of issues you can motivate people with. that's what republicans will be focusing on and the caller is right, that democrats aren't doing a lot to put a lot of attention on them. they seem to be trying to look the other way or downplaying them and maybe there is a short-term bet that that works but the longer something like inflation or supply chain challenge goes on and the more it looks like they're not -- leaders in washington aren't putting their full attention towards it and instead are trying to pass their bigger package that isn't really as focused on those urgent crisis of the day, i think they're at a political risk there. host: speaking of republicans, let's move over and talk about the debt ceiling. the congress got a dt ceiling passed -- debt ceiling bill

passed earlier this week and extended it to early december. we have heard a lot of warning from corporations, from the treasury secretary, about the united states possibly defoughting on their debt. but republicans are saying they're not going to help democrats do it through reconciliation or do a long-term fix. markets actually reacted direly to this early -- over the last couple of weeks, the debt ceiling crisis. where will republicans be on this issue come december? guest: if you are going to be passing a massive iks pangs of -- expansion of government, spending trillions of dollars, you shouldn't expect that they are then going to help you raise the debt ceiling to go along with that. i think that's a very reasonable position to take. but they have helped democrats in a way because they just enabled a short-term extension and ha democrats have said is

that they refuse to use the reconciliation process, which allows them to do this all on their own, all democratic votes. which is what they should have done this last time around. mitch mcconnell for months has been saying here is how you do this without us. pass it it and democrats said we don't have time. they actually ran out of time. they did an extension. there is plenty of time to do this. the democrats can raise the debt ceiling completely on their own and i think that's what they'll end up doing. republicans have given themle runway they need to do this but republicans have made clear, not just mitch mcconnell, that they are not going to be part of raising the debt ceiling when it's in the context of such a massive expansion of government. host: ha do you think, blake? guest: jesse, the reality is leader mcconnell has made a political calculation that if he can tie the debt ceiling discussion to the reconciliation package in future spending,

there is a political advantage there to take advantage of. the reality is the debt ceiling is about money we have already spent. this is like you or i going to the restaurant and ordering a hamburger and when the bill comes, we skip out before we pay. this isn't a discussion about whether or not we go to the restaurant next week. this isn't a discussion whether we eat out or have the budget to eat out. this is about money we have agreed to. this is about money that was already spent by the previous administration. guest: that's fundamentally wrong. a debt limit increase is to enable the next year or two worth of borrowing. there were plenty of debt limit increases during the trump administration. those took place. you need a debt limit increase to fund the borrowing that is going to go on for the next years or months or however long they go on. i know it's a talking point the democrats like to use but it's fundamentally not true. guest: in reality this is about funding that's already been spent and to get this across the

finish line president biden has said this is not going to add a penny to the deficit. this has been paid for by making sure millionaires and corporations pay their fair share. so the idea that we are going to have to continue to go in debt to pay for this is dishonest and so i think what we saw with leader schumer working with speaker pelosi to try to get a short-term patch across the finish line is something that i think will continue to happen again and i don't think the country will -- i don't think it's helpful for anyone. i think you see leaders of corporate america reaching out to the white house, reaching out to leader mcconnell to say this is crazy that we would be in a situation like this where republicans have decided there is political pressure they could use here and i think they're dpog wisely use it every time they can. host: are we going to see the exact same concerns come up right before christmas, right before the big holiday season? are we going to hear the rehash of all of these same arguments,

blake? guest: the sad reality is that nothing motivates members of congress reentsly more than a deadline and when the smell of jet fumes coming out of the d.c. airport that nothing is standing between them and their spouses for the holidays, we tend to see more action towards the end of the legislative season like that. so it is my hope that we don't get to that point where we are up against a deadline, but oftentimes that's simply a way you can use the negotiating powers to your advantage. host: brendan, blake says that the smell of jet fumes as members get ready to go home for the holidays will end some of these arguments over the debt ceiling limit. do you agree? guest: yes, it's a motivator although i will say we have had a lot of holidays ruined by deadlines not getting met but there is no reason for that. the recent short term extension they did of debt limit will take them into late december, if not january, so we have plenty of time. democrats can pass a debt

ceiling increase in a matter of two weeks. they could do it two weeks from now. they could do it a month from now and avoid the drama. there is no negotiation taking place. it's whether or not they do it. republicans aren't asking anything for their votes. they're saying do it on your own. i am hoping with all this free time they have on the floor because they don't have an agenda to pass yet that they will take care of this in november. host: let's go back to our phone lines and let's talk to carl who is calling from michigan on the democrat line. carl, good morning. caller: good morning, gentlemen. thank you so much for taking the call. mr. androff, you paint a sunny picture of what is going to happen, but i think mr. buck has the inside track here. this is about power, as usual. the flailing democrats can't pass a last gasp spending bill or bills that are connected to each other. that's part of the problem because it's demonized by republicans as outrageous

spending, even if it has support of the public. the president's failing support plays into that. as well as the fact that the democrats will lose the house next year just based on census seats losses alone. they'll also lose the senate as well anden then chuck and nancy head for the exits and the president is left as a lame duck one and done and i would add that when it comes to picking someone who is more conniving and dlefer at negotiating this stuff -- clever at negotiating this stuff, i will take mr. mcconnell over miss pelosi any day. thank you so much. have a great day. host: i will let you tackle that one first, blake. guest: well, look, midterms are always a referendum on the president's agenda and i think that historically since world war ii, the president's power -- those in the president's political party have lost two dozen seats. so i think this will be a very difficult midterm and i think the speaker and leader schumer

know they need to deliver for the people. as brendan points out, they have to deliver and twhreas we agree -- that's where we agree. something will get done. i think i am an eternal optimist. i think there are opportunities to work together to move this country forward and i think that that's exactly what the leadership will try to do. host: what do you think, brendan? guest: yeah, look, i think that nancy pelosi and chuck schumer realize they need to get wins and put points on the board. they know that their majorities are at risk. the problem is your membership doesn't always appreciate that and i have seen this firsthand. members, particularly when they're new to a majority, when they have an opportunity to govern, they get greedy and he think they're invincible and that just because they have control of the floor and the presidency right now that they have all the time in the world to do whatever they want to do, and i think they will realize they have wasted all of this

year. i speak from experience. we didn't get tax reform done until december, the first year of the trump presidency. we wasted a lot of first year and it came back to bite us. we lost the house. so i think that you often run into this situation where the rank and file membership don't necessarily appreciate how important it is to get wins and how important it is to sell an agenda to to show that you have working for your constituents and they get yeed i greed -- greedy and they end up making promises they can't keep. they would be wise to get things done, compromising, because as blake said history is against them. as the caller said, redistricting alone makes the house a tossup. very likely that democrats lose power and it would be obviously in their best interest to try to take advantage of the time that they do have.

host: which is a perfect segue into the two of you giving us your midterm outlook for your parties. what does the -- not only the house but the senate look like for democrats and republicans and let's not just stop there. let's talk about the governors races in the united states. we will start with you, brendan. what does the house and senate look like for republicans coming up on the midterm? guest: look, i think you have to give the advantage to republicans in the house, between redistricting, which will basically erase -- democrats only have a four-seat majority in the house right now, historically very small. you take redistricting and you may already be at a plus republican one or two. and then history, midterms often lead to a revolt of the president's -- the party of power. i will say, it's no sure thing. one of the reasons i say that is i don't necessarily see the

groundswell of opposition to joe biden in the way that i did see it for donald trump with the resistance and the way we saw it with barack obama with the tea party movement. there doesn't seem to be quite the same energy, but the bar is so low for republicans to take back the house that i do think you have 0 give them the advantage. republicans are making a bet that the way to win the house is to focus on turning out the base, focusing more on cultural issues, less on policy agenda and it's probably a bet that's going to work out. the senate is much closer divided. i don't think you can necessarily guarantee, isn't necessarily as good for republicans as in the house. if i were to guess, i would say republicans take back the senate, maybe by a single seat, but that's much less assured than the house. it will be an interesting governor race, to take a look at right now is nearby in virginia. for virginia, it's funny.

basically everybody in politics had written off virginia as a blue state, that republicans can't play in, last several presidential elections have been easily won by democrats. but now you have a really close race. terry mcauliffe and glenn youngkin are polling in close single digits. i expect mcauliffe will win just because i think virginia has gone so blue, but the fact that this is a close race does not bode very well for midterms for democrats in general, and i think that democrats will be wise to take a look at how close this is and realize they need to put points on the board because the worst thing they can do is take it as affirmation that they're doing great because polling shows the democratic base is lacking enthusiasm and independents are losing confidence in their ability to govern. host: blake, brendan is predingting a republican sweep in congress and a close race for

the virginia governorship. do you agree? guest: well, not surprisingly i am cautiously optimistic we will keep the house and senate in democratic control in the midterms, but that being said it's going to be very difficult. historically the president's power -- the political party tends to lose two dozen to three dozen seats. speaker pelosi doesn't have two dozen seats to lose to maintain the gavel. so it will be a very difficult year. that being said, blen dan -- brendan mentioned the tea party revolution. i remember the tea party protest of town halls and inkredzible excitement that was in the streets against those efforts. we are not seeing that today. the reason we are not seeing that against the build back better agenda is that the policies are supported 2-1 by americans across the country. there is tremendous excitement for the president's agenda. there is tremendous excitement to continue to git out of this -- git out of this pandemic that is impacting our daily

lives. i think if you look at next fall which is a year from now, a tremendous amount of time for things to happen between now and then, i think once we turn the corner on covid, once we get past the delta variant, get folks back to work and the president signs these bills into law and the american people see the benefit of them, i think there is a real good chance democrats keep control. if you look at the third quarter filing of the fundraising by the democratic congressional committee versus republicans, democrats outraised republicans by $10 million. that's historic levels for an off year election. i think there is tremendous grassroots support on the democratic side. i think there is tremendous movement and excitement. the reality is it will be really tough next year and democrats, this is their game to lose. they have to put their best foot forward, continue to take their message to the american people and make sure they understand they're the party that's fighting for the people. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to glenn, who is calling from lancaster,

california, on the republican line. glenn, good morning. caller: good morning, america. we have had a supreme court ruling that the tax on native americans land since 1906. you have stolen from the native american people on every reservation. the supreme court has ruled that you have had to pay it back. is joe biden going to give the native americans their sovereign rights back and pay the people all the billions, probably trillions of dollars stolen from the knavive -- native american people? host: i will let either one of you jump into that one. guest: i will dlefer to blake on the biden agenda. guest: with the president's historic nomination of the department of interior, a department i served at, i think

we will make tremendous progress in our nation to nation relationship with native american tribes, america's first people. i think this administration is firmly focused on these efforts. this administration is very exited to -- committed to upholding our treaty obligations, with deb holland at the interior department, we will see tremendous progress on this front. host: former president trump last weekends spoke at a rally in iowa and listed a litany of complaints against what the biden presidency has done so far. here is what former president trump said. [video clip] >> as we gather tonight, 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. after just nine months ends biden, violent criminals and 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 takingen over afghanistan. lunatic leftists are taking over our schools and radical socialists are taking over our country. and we are not going to let that happen. we are not going to let that happen. and you can't say i didn't warn you, but i also can't say you didn't get out because you got out and voted like no sitting president has ever received votes before. the election was rigged. but as disastrous as the biden administration has been, no one can blame the great state of iowa because boy, we did really good here.

host: he had a litany of complaints against what the biden administration has done so far. do we expect to see similar attacks on the biden administration as we move into the 2020 midterms? i will start with you, brendan. guest: you know what, i bet democrats would love that. i think that is a gift to democrats. donald trump is clearly re-emerging, not that he ever went away. republicans are in a situation where they can't live with him and they can't live without him. they've clearly made a political bet that they need the trump coalition to turn out in the midterm elections and that's why you see the leaders stick by him so much even after what happened on january 6, but the reality is just as much as he motivates and turns out republican voters right now, he motivates and turns out democrat voters. the longer he is out there spouting nonsense about the

election, some of these things, that those are the types of things are the reasons why republicans have been losing the suburbs, losing eds kateed voters, losing women voters, and the more he is out there reminding them that this is the same party i think it's a political vulnerability. so he can't really help himself from get being out there -- getting out there and i know there is some base political benefit for republicans to having him do so, i just fear that the longer this is the trump party, the longer republicans are going to have trouble winning back those voters who used to be so important to our coalition. host: blake, is this midterm election about joe biden or donald trump? guest: look, there is a reason that the head of the republican congressional campaign committee this week said president trump is a private citizen and is allowed to say whatever he wants. he tried to distance himself from it. the reality is democrats are

having honest conversations about whether or not we extend the child tax credit for six years or 10 years. republicans are having a discussion whether or not they double down on the twice impeached former president and whether or not they follow that trap or they go in a different route. spreading conspiracy theories that are dangerous to our democracy as well as public health. so i think there is a real vulnerability for republicans to continue to follow the trump train. he is not going to be on the ballot next fall, but i think the more he is out there and the more he is holding rallies and discussing conspiracy theories about the last election which his own attorney general has debunked, the better for democrats. host: let's go back to our phone lines and talk to eva from georgia on the republican line. good morning. caller: yes, good morning. thank you so very much for all the wonderful programming.

the topic this morning is very timely. actually i am one of those suburbia 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 and i have been living in it now for 60-plus years. i also see an innovative, creative world. the gentleman that called -- let's get to this dangerous catnip. i appreciate the two gentlemen because these two gentlemen this morning represent the dichotomy of our leadership. speaker pelosi along with paul ryan, as he was generationally was, a different generation than she, and of course she is in her

season, as i am. i think the context is we just had an election, not even a year ago, koj into a year -- coming into a year, and we have a coalition that came together with women, educated, integrated, modern women, and their families, elders, young people, rural and urban. you can come up with any kind of descriptive, but we did elect joe biden and the democratic house and senate. that is what we live in this morning, thanks be to god. so we have the virginia race. we are working this morning on the get out the polls, the women whose coalition -- doing a virtual campaign. we brought together people on the telephone to rise up.

now, we are talking about paul ryan's leadership. paul ryan, they called him the top gun with kantor, with ryan, i can't think of the other person. now we have who? who do you have on your side that you are calling the young gun? you have the hawley man, you have cruz, rubio, these are people who are regressive people. they're talking the same talk that they were talking 40 years ago. host: i will let you yump in there, brendan. who are the next leaders in the republican party? guest: yeah, i think there is a big debate going on within the party about what direction we want to go in. she's right. you have a lot of people who are following the lead of donald trump and nobody is donald trump, but what i mean by that is they've chosen -- rather than being an ideas party, it's going

to be a populist party. it's not necessarily a direction i agree with, but it's a direction that is defining the party. the caller makes my point. you have eds kate -- educated women, suburban voters, who are no longer part of the coalition that used to be so important to republicans because the populism, nativism really turns off a lot of people and i understand why you have a josh hawley or ted cruz trying to emulate it because that's where pace republicans voters are -- base republican voiters are and for 99% of republican politicians that's all you care about and particularly if you care about being president some day 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 other than just the base, but parties are so weak today. individual members of congress

have so much of their own authority and their own brand that they don't -- there is no real party that sets the agenda. you are seeing a lot of people, basically everybody who wants to be the future leader of this party, have adopted populism. the trump revolution will be with us for a long time because it seems everybody has made the political calculation that being a populist is what gets you ahead in the republican party. host: blake, who on the republican side are you looking at and saying this might be someone we might need to worry about in the future? guest: i think brendan answered the question. no one really knows who is in charge of the republican party or -- other than donnal -- donald trump. until they make the decision to allow other people to grow up in the system, i don't know if we know the answer to the question. what i will say in response to the caller is it is unfortunate

our politics have become so toxic. when i got my start on the hill 20 years ago, most members stayed in d.c. on the weekends. they got to know each other's families. they spent time together, republicans and democrats. now the reality is as soon as the last vote, members head home. they don't see each other on the weekends. they don't hang out and don't really get to know each other. it has become very hyperpartisan. i think it would be good for our democracy for some msnbc viewers to watch a little fox news on the weekends. it would be good for fox news viewers to watch cnn. these would be good things. we would realize there are places we agree. at the end of the day, we are americans together. we may go about solving problems through a different way but there is a lot more that unites us than divides us. i think there are opportunities for both parties to show more bipartisanship. i think that would be a healthy thing. host: i am sure you would both agree they all should be watching c-span especially for conversations like this. let's go back to our phone lines

and talk to ned who is calling from idaho on the caller: i don't know if spending beyond the infrastructure is going to do anything to help that. then we've got foreclosures up 34% this quarter. 58% from a year ago. that's all coming down the line here again. we have an energy crisis which

is going around the world and hitting us here as well as the supply chain breakdown. that is a serious problem hitting our country right now. guys have got to pay attention in washington to what's going on. host: we will start with you blake. we have. had a chance to talk about inflation yet. what should congress be doing to help americans seeing gas prices and grocery prices go up? guest: any there is an increase, it affects families across the country. the biden administration knew as soon as we turned the corner on the pandemic there would be huge economic disruption. i think it will stabilize over time, but there are huge bottlenecks at the supply chain. the government does not own or operate the supply chain. it's the private sector and it's affecting countries all over the globe. the reality is the administration is going to use every tool in their toolbox to

make sure things get from ship to shelf as past as part -- as fast as possible to make sure we are moving commerce as fast as possible to the consumer. the reality is this is often done on a global scale and there's a host of things feeding into it. at the end of the day, that is why the build back better plan has focus on driving down cost. one of the things we can do is tackle the high cost of prescription drugs, the number one concern of americans across the country and we are talking about a high percent of what goes to their income every month. and it's the stuff that keeps people awake at night, figure out how they are going to pay their doctor bill and just one sickness away from foreclosure. these are all things that as we emerge from a global pandemic are things the market is going to have to figure out. host: brandon, we will give you the final word. guest: this reiterates that

there are some real issues that frankly washington is not paying too much attention to. i will be clear that i really hope we don't have an inflation problem because once we do, it is really hard to get out of and there are not a lot of great options for policymakers to stop inflation once a get started. the solutions are pretty painful. 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. i think what the color was saying was he echoes a lot of what joe manchin is saying and joe manchin has been making this point as he puts up resistance to spending three chilean dollars is we have this inflation as lingering concern out there and if we decide to spend a lot right now, we could make that worse. i know democrats can say we can make up for that in taxes but

there is a short-term spending increase. once inflation kicks off, both what are you doing to stop it or what are you doing to make sure you are not making it worse is something congress needs to be thinking about, and i don't think they are thinking about that at all. they would like to look the other way and plow ahead with their agenda. host: we would like to thank both of you for being with us this morning and walking us through congress and president biden's domestic agenda. thank you so much for our great conversation. host: coming up next, we are going to 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 richards, from the institute for public engagement on his groups push to promote

u.s. history and civics education. 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 visits while president to the 13 original states. what came from this venture is his latest book titled "travels with george -- in search of washington and his legacy." the first u.s. president said his goal was to bring the country together and he traveled as far as north as kettering, maine and as far south as savannah, georgia. >> historian nathaniel philbrick on this week's episode of book notes plus. you can listen on our new c-span now app.

>> you can be part of the national conversation by participating in c-span's studentcam video competition. if you are a middle or high school student, we are asking you to create a five to six minute document rate that answers the question how does the federal government impact your life? your document re-must show supporting and opposing points of view and a program that affects you or your community using c-span video clips that are easy to find at c-span.org. the competition awards $100,000 in total cash prizes and a shot at winning $5,000. entries must be received before january 20, 2022. to get started, 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 aren't in the -- are intellectual fees. you will find people who explore our nation's past on american history tv. on sunday, book tv brings you the latest on nonfiction books and authors. learn, discover, explore -- weekends on c-span two.

>> 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

>> coming up monday morning, we will preview the week ahead in congress.

with axios congressional reporter and a discussion on the rate of covid as in rule -- rural areas of the u.s.. and, syracuse university's patrick benfield talks about the delays in the u.s. supply chain. watch washington journal live at 70 clock eastern sunday morning on c-span or on c-span now -- 7:00 eastern sunday morning or on -- on c-span or on c-span now, our mobile app. join the conversation with text messages, posts, and tweets. resuming considerations of judicial nominations in the afternoon. later in the week, lawmakers are expected to vote on whether to debate a bill on elections and voting rights. across the capital, the u.s. house is tuesday for legislative work. as -- next week schedule includes bills provide --

preventing family violence and strengthening the rights of nursing mothers. majority leader hoyer expects work on infrastructure and social spending in the next three weeks. he said democrats are exploring options to change or modify the debt limit and may consider legislation to do so as early as this month. watch the house live on c-span and the senate on c-span2. both are available online on c-span.org or on the go with c-span and now, our new video app. ♪ >> download c-span's new mobile app and stay up today -- up-to-date, from live streams of the house and senate floor and key congressional hearings, white house events, and supreme court oral arguments, even our live interactive morning program washington journal where we hear your voices every day. c-span now has you covered.

download the app for free today. c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> charter communications supports c-span along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. next, a look at weather forecasting as a tool to prepare and defend against extreme weather. the house science space and technology committee heard from witnesses about whether medication, stem education, and, improvements to the national weather service.