debt ceiling and federal spending with north carolina democratic congressman david rice. the former nato secretary general talks about the future of nato and global security. "washington journal ♪ host: there's brighter news on the covid vaccination front. five to 11 news will sue me online for their jab -- five to 11-year-olds will soon be in line for their jab. raising questions about how to handle employees and others who do not comply with regulation. good morning, this is "washington journal" thursday, 21st of october, 2020 one. our first hour will ask you

about those mandates. have they impacted your community? the lines are set aside by time zone. in the eastern or central time zones, the lines are (202) 748-8000. for the mountain and pacific region, (202) 748-8001. if you are an employer, particularly one who has implemented or is trying to implement some of the mandates, (202) 748-8002. our text line, (202) 748-8003. we are on facebook, of course, and feel free to send your comments on twitter and instagram @cspanwj. interested on the impacts that it is having on schools, perhaps your workplace, public services in your community. we will get to phone calls momentarily. new york city announcing an implementation of a mandate. municipal workers face a mandate is "the washington journal"

story. all municipal workers must be vaccinated against covid-19, setting up a conflict with unions who opposed the new rule. mr. de blasio's new rule ended an existing option of existing testing meaning 46,000 city workers need to get their first shot by october 29 or potentially lose their jobs. a spokesperson for the democrats said that the order covers 106,500 workers, of whom 71% are partially or fully vaccinated according to official estimates. the city says 70% of police and 60% of fire department personnel have received at least one shot. your thoughts on how the mandates across the country -- and even if you have mandates in your community or state. (202) 748-8001 is the line for those in the east. in central time zones, (202) 748-8002. the biden administration plans to vaccinate 28 million children

whose parents await the decision of federal regulators to authorize the pfizer biontech covid vaccine for children ages five to 11. the biden administration says it is ready to mobilize doses as soon as it gets the green light. a plan to provide enough vaccine for 28 million children. about 50 million doses will be available within the first week. shots should be authorize the first week of november, they write. a key food and drug administration advisory committee is expected to make its recommendation october 26. the center for disease control and prevention independent advisory committee will weigh in november 2 and third. recommendations must be approved i both agencies had. -- both agency's heads. the administration stands ready

to supply more than 25,000 to pediatricians offices in other primary care sites and more than 100 children's hospitals and health systems and tens of thousands of pharmacies and hundreds of schools and clinics. officials say they are working with states and located -- and localities to enroll more sites. back to the issue of a vaccine mandate, one of the things that we are waiting to hear about is a federal mandate, a vaccine mandate, a federal rule for businesses by the office of safety and health administration from the federal government.this is the headline and bloomberg news, the deadlines cost raise in osha. unions meeting with the white house staffers want to know who pays for testing and how quickly businesses must comply with osha's impending covid-19 shot or test standard.

the white house office of information and regulatory affairs scheduled 59 meetings about the ruling through thursday. the biden administration has not said when the standard will be issued. the issue continues to come up at white house briefings, including on tuesday in questions from fox news to jen psaki. [video clip] >> if the whole point of a vaccine mandate is to make people safer, it also means tons of police and military may walk off of the job. at the end of the day, does a vaccine mandate make people safer? >> where are tons of police and military walking off the job? >> hundreds of thousands of u.s. service members remain unvaccinated, which is leading to questions about possible military readiness. the l.a. county sheriff says 5% to 10% of their workforce could walk off the job. so, considering -- i mean, is

there any concern about that? >> i would say what i would point you to is evidence with a range of companies and organizations. frankly, the department of defense can give you up-to-date statistics on members of the military. i believe it is over 90%. >> there are other problems in the world than covid-19. international care, gang violence, murder. is there any concern -- >> what was the number one cause of death among police officers last year? covid-19. that is something that we are working to address. that police departments are working to address. if you look at seattle as an example, 92% of the police force is vaccinated as our 93% of firefighters and 93,000 employees have submitted verification or an exemption request. >> all of these other problems, terror, robbery, kidnappings, is

there concern that if the police forces shrink or the size of the ready military force shrinks that the united states or localities may not be equipped properly to deal with it? >> more than 700,000 people have died of covid, the number one cause of death among police officers and police officers, something we should take seriously. departments are trying to save people and we support that effort. there has been success across the country in that regard. host: has vaccine mandates impacted your community? in the eastern or central time zones, it is! full -- it is (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. employers, (202) 748-8002. the wall street journal article that we touched on, they write that the deadlines and some other states and cities that require employees to get vaccinated without a testing option have arrived in recent

days. governments in those places are taking steps to deal with thousands of employees who have not complied. some have quit or been dismissed, some have been placed on leave, some have been given months long extensions to get their shots. many of the unvaccinated work in law enforcement, firefighting, and correctional institutions. the question of to fire such employees is challenging as many governments, like private businesses, are struggling to recruit and maintain workers. -- retain workers. in panama city, yes, anyone getting paid by taxpayers, like tops and first responders, should take the shots or lose their jobs. ray, independent, in d.c., the mandate in my area appears to be working. when positive cases happen, unvaccinated staff and students have to quarantine for extended periods of time. in this time some who quarantine and are unvaccinated decided to

get vaccinated to avoid the inconvenience of not coming to work or school. let's get to calls and hear from alan in scottsdale, arizona. caller: good morning, thank you for c-span. upfront i am an employer for 35 years. i just recently had one of my employees come down with covid who had the vaccine six months ago. so, that is one statement. the other is there are 287 departments in the federal government. to have a mandate and shut down air traffic and the most critical thing is hospitals -- the federal government has never mandated. let's look at the flu shot. i have never been mandated to have it, and there has never been an employer to mandate the

flu shot which is probably the most deadly one that we had before covid. it is unconstitutional. the federal government needs to get out of the way of doing business in this country. and you see everything that's happening with the biden administration fuel costs, everything. the california governor cannot even get out of the way to get the containers off of the docks in california and hasn't even made an effort. biden just started to do, what? to say we need to have the containers with the people working on the dock 24/7, and this is october. where was he in january or february? host: south lyon, michigan. caller: good morning. i hope everyone has a good day. where i am things seem quite

normal. people are going to supermarkets and eating at restaurants and going out to cars, kids are going to school and there is not a lot of discussion amongst people about covid. i just don't think that it is a top thing to have discussions over since we don't know what it looks like. everyone has a different case of it. moderna is 330 three dollars a share. it started out at $4. president biden says that he is purchasing the vaccine. he says that it is free. they are putting out the amount that they are purchasing of what? pfizer is at $48. who is buying the stock? someone is making a fortune. what does covid look like? we know what mumps and

measles looks like, we know how we feel if we have whooping cough, we know what cancer is, what smallpox is, but what is covid? host: daniel in stamford, texas. how -- have vaccine mandates impacted your community? [video clip] i don't think that mandates are going to work, because we are a free country. it is our freedom of choice. the thing is, even colin powell was fully vaccinated and still got the virus and died. the vaccine doesn't work. it is an experimental drug. they are experimenting. we are like guinea pigs. host: you yourself did not get the vaccine, daniel? you yourself did not get the vaccine? caller: no, sir. my mother is 85 years old and she is not going to get the vaccine and she is not going to

be forced to take an experimental drug. it is basically experimental. it doesn't work. colin powell was fully vaccinated and he still wound up getting covid and died. host: massachusetts, good morning. caller: good morning, bill. the mandates have largely not affected me because i am in a location where people are highly vaccinated. i am in an area with highly-educated people. the mandates not being accepted by a fraction of a percent of various people around here has not really affected much, whether it is police organizations or hospitals. i think that these mandates have made our area safer. i can rely on our hospitals being open, where in other parts

of the country, like where daniel is from, even basic care is not available for people who do not have covid. i would like to remind daniel that colin powell was immunocompromised, he was fighting cancer, and he was 80 four, and the vaccine is not experimental. it has been satisfying for me to see the mandates put in place, because it is not the right of my fellow citizens to shut down my access to health care and hospitals. so, thank you to everyone who has been vaccinated, and that's all i've got to say. have a good day. host: this morning from townhall.com, the indiana senator has an officer for chicago police officers punished over vaccine mandates. he told fox news that the state of indiana is more than ready to hire any chicago police officers who are punished or fired for

refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate. "our police do the hardest job in the world and they deserve respect, not losing their pay or being fired for refusing to comply with their ridiculous vaccine mandates," he said in a statement. indiana police department's are hiring and will welcome you with the respect that you deserve. dan is on the line from georgetown, massachusetts. caller: good morning. thanks for having me on. yeah, i -- you know, this covid really exposed some things that i already knew. i've done a lot of research. one of the things it exposed is our capitalistic medical system, it's just that. it is very broken. i will give you some for instance.we have a couple of drugs that have proven to be very effective

scientifically in numerous tests, it was admitted that it was an effective drug and cnn was lying. ivermectin is a free drug that is extremely effective fighting covid. host: isn't that the one that is largely used on animals? is that the one you are talking about? caller: no, sir. what it is is a drug that was developed for humans. the guy who developed it won a nobel prize for how effective it is. host: right, but it has been used on animals, correct? i think that is the one you're talking about. caller: no, you are paying attention to too much propaganda. ivermectin was made for humans. after it was approved for humans they used it for some animals, just like a whole bunch of other --

host: the guidance after that from the food and drug administration is that it should not be used for humans, right? caller: i'm sorry, you are completely wrong! ivermectin is used for people who have had lice, scabies. it is a human-approved -- host: but there are specific guidance that it should not be used took -- to treat covid. we will go to allen, texas. go ahead. caller: it is amazing the gentleman before me has talked about ivermectin. that is precisely why i am calling, ok. the difference in what you are talking about -- the fda did in fact come out with a statement that we are not horses and we are not cows. the fda position is that yes, it

is an approved drug. it is approved for those issues, human speaking, that he talked about. it is approved for the de -warming of horses and animals in very large doses -- de-worming of horses and very large animals in large doses. but it has never been approved for ivermectin -- excuse me, specifically been approved for covid. the point is there are many tests going on all over the world. for actual application on humans. it was approved for humans in 1975. it has awards for how good it has been.

it is very, very safe to take. they have never had incidents. all of the people, and this is worldwide in countries that have been using it, so its efficacy could be 90% plus. host: this morning, the impact of vaccine mandates in your community. the lines for eastern and central time zones, (202) 748-8000. mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. for employers, (202) 748-8002. the headline in "the new york times," u.s. details plan for vaccinating children 5-11. comments from the covid-19 response group at the white house. [video clip] >> we have secured vaccine supply to vaccinate every child ages five through 11. as soon as the vaccine is authorized by the fda we will begin shipping millions of doses

nationwide. states, tribes, and territories are working to ensure that doses continue to be distributed efficiently and equitably across their jurisdictions. importantly, we worked with pfizer to modify the packaging of the pediatric doses to make it easier for pediatricians, family doctors, and providers to provide vaccines to children. the doses will be shipped with all of the supplies needed to vaccinate kids, including smaller needles. next, on getting kids vaccinated. we know that parents rely on a range of health care providers to meet their children's needs, including pediatricians, family doctors, children's hospitals, pharmacies, and community and rural health centers. we are doing the work to make sure that parents can get their kids ages five through 11 vaccinated with these trusted providers. we have already enrolled more

than 25,000 pediatricians, family doctors, and primary care providers to administer vaccines and are working with states and localities to enroll more. host: back to your calls on our opening topic. we will hear from eric in new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. caller: the thingrstanding is tf african-americans don't trust the government because of past racist use of the medical system against them. i think that they kind of have a point. honestly, sometimes i think that joe biden wants 80 million vaccines for political purposes and he doesn't care if kids don't need it, if people who have natural immunity have it.

it is like the government is the hammer and everything looks like a nail. this playing of politics, honestly, every day this administration gets caught in a live. they are not just little lies or trump lies, they are big lies. host: taking away from the federal, what about states, localities, and businesses in -- businesses imposing vaccine mandates for their employees? caller: as a constitutional matter states have every right to do that, but that doesn't mean that the states -- a lot of the governors seem to relish their roles. we are in charge, they are not in charge. we pay their salaries.

using this covid to achieve all kinds of political objectives, ok? this is not letting a crisis go to waste. i think that the american people honestly need to wake up, because we are losing our democracy and it is not because of qanon and all this other crap. it is our own government taking our freedom from us. host: a tweet from derek says, most people in my community, concord, north carolina care about community, but i'm sure that the mandates are making a difference in making us safer. james is in durham, north carolina. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thanks. caller: my comment basically is that this country has become so polarized to the left and polarized to the right. they don't even teach civics in school anymore. the bottom line is that it

doesn't matter. any topic that you pick no one wants to agree on anything. it is at the breaking point. why why don't -- why don't they just do the civil war over again, get it over with, and then try to get back together. everyone is pulling this country apart and no one wants to try to put it back together. host: florida, mark. your thoughts on vaccine mandates. how are they affecting your community? caller: i am in favor of vaccine mandates. i think a lot of people who are against that, their employees are speaking up against it. but when it comes time to take the shot or get fired the overwhelming majority are actually going ahead and taking the shot rather than facing losing their jobs. i also wanted to comment on the ivermectin. the callers didn't really give

very good information. the cdc, nih, national institute of health, american medical association, and fda have come out and warned against using ivermectin for covid-19. the latest study published by the nih shows that it is not that effective at all to treat covid-19. doctors are prescribing it off label to patients anyway. other people are hearing about this ivermectin and some people are getting it from farm stores and veterinarian places. that is extremely dangerous. host: i don't want to go too far afield. we are focusing on the vaccine mandates in communities. hampstead, maryland, mark. good morning. caller: good morning. your previous caller, the guy that was just on, was spouting

statistics by nih and the cdc. we have to keep in mind that there is a profit motivation. of course they don't want people taking ivermectin. you were talking to the caller and were quick to point out that it was used for veterinary -- host: we will focus on vaccine mandates. let's keep the conversation on that. we are not doing an open forum on ivermectin. we are focused on vaccine mandates. iris, good morning. caller: i am against the mandates. i think that every way that they can this administration -- hello? host: i am here. go ahead. caller: good morning. i think that every way this administration can attack our freedoms and take them away they

are doing so. when you acquire the covid naturally, your natural immunity, you've had the covid virus, your body's antibodys remember all of the virus. it is broad and it helps you to maintain your health. with the vaccinated it breaks the memory of antibodies and you keep getting it. that is what we are seeing. we are seeing different pharmaceutical companies announcing -- it keeps going down. the last from pfizer was that it has two months efficacy. like the previous caller that you cut off deliberately, it is all about money. follow the money! it is all about a moneymaking scheme and corruption in our government. host: at 10:00 eastern, they will be in at noon for legislative work. a headline from roll call on the work ahead, down to the wire on the budget bill as democrats

haggle over details. the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, spoke yesterday about the reconciliation package, praising the president's efforts to come to a compromise. [video clip] rep. pelosi: we could not be better served than by the president of the united states. joe biden has been so visionary, a big vision. knowledge over the years in the senate and as the vice president , judgment over what can work in terms of reaching out to members as he does, and the authenticity in this issue. when i say how come we can't, he says you don't have to tell me that. i wrote this bill. i want to pass it in as big a form as i possibly can. host: our opening conversation on vaccine mandates, how have they impacted your community? anna in de soto, texas. caller: yes, sir. good morning.

i am for mandating these vaccinations. i am sick and tired of in our little community you have people who are getting sick, dying, and then they want someone to go fund them. my thing that joe biden can do is get a premium policy for some of these people, pay $35 so that when they die the rest of us do not have to pay for them. i am 73. i don't know what my mom told us every day when we went to school when it was time to take shots, and i am african-american and i hear people talk about that african americans don't trust this. yeah, well we took every shot that could have been given to anybody. we had polio -- i don't know what is in polio or ebola, but i know that more people have survived.

right across from us, right across 35 from us, the mother, the father, and the two sons died last year. the daughter and the mother died this year because of ignorance. i am so tired of blaming joe biden and the ruler of the chinese and all that. host: in your community do they have the schools, has the local government implement it any mandate, have businesses implemented that? caller: yes, because we are in dallas county. clay jenkins has done a wonderful job of mandating. it is governor abbott that people follow to say open up the restaurants and open up this. you have to be careful. i have just had my booster shot two weeks ago. i have had all three. i look at it this way. my mother was a divorcee back in

the day. she says, i don't have the money for y'all to go to a hospital. you will take those shots. we took every shot that you could. it was probably experimental on us. don't care. i have one child who says you don't know what is in the shots. i say, you got a shot from birth. host: thanks for the call. the headline in the associated press, new york city requiring the vaccine for cops, firefighters, and city workers. in nearby new jersey, this is mickey. caller: good morning. i have a short statement. i am against the vaccines. until you identify, isolate, and eliminate the source of this virus you will never stop it. that is all i have to say. host: our employer's line.

lexington, kentucky, paul. caller: good morning. i run a small construction company. in june i told my men, i got them all together and i said that i want you to get vaccinated. i will pay for you to have time off to go get your vaccines. i said if you do not want to get a vaccine the only other alternatives are to quit or you can go and be tested and every monday morning i want you to bring your test sheet back showing that you are covid-free. i lost two men. one retired and i lost one who went to better wages. the one who went to better wages came back this month asking for his job back, because that job ran out. that is typical in construction.

my argument was, i want them to be healthy with one another. i want -- i wanted them to be able to work without running the risk of getting covid. it helps me in business. when i contracted out i can tell my clients, everybody is tested. host: typically how big is your crew? caller: i run four crews of four men. host: so 16 total. out of that one retired and one who left but came back asking for his job again? caller: yes. he wanted to come back. he was making more money was the reason that he left, but now he has decided he wanted to work. because i can tell my clients, i feel like that helps me stay busy. so -- host: have your clients asked

you out, are your men vaccinated? caller: almost to the one. when they have people coming into their house they want to know, are you treated? do you wear masks? on my home job sites, i do construction and handiwork, when i send out my men they do not like masks. i do not require it on the jobsite, but when they go into someone else's house they have to wear a mask. host: how is business in general in the construction business? caller: pretty good. i pay my men well. i don't have a problem finding workers. i try to find people who are skilled. host:host: thank you for the call. that line, if you are an employer we are interested in your experience.

(202) 748-8002. one of the notable governors who opposed mandates in his estate is ron desantis -- in his state is ron desantis who in brevard county said this. [video clip] >> you have to look at, what is the broader issue in terms of policy and what, these heavy-handed mandates, what does that do to public trust, to people who may have been on the fence? i don't think there is much evidence it is doing much positive. i think this has caused huge fissures in our society and has been very divisive. it has taken people who were agnostic about the vaccine and turned them into major opponents. it has taken people who are vaccinated and gotten them on the others where they are upset about what is going on. i think it is inappropriate that anyone would lose their job. we will enforce state law, but at the same time we will make it to where there are even stronger

protections. i think that is something that would make sense. you will look to see -- the u.s. had a weak jobs report in september. the state numbers will come out on friday. it will be interesting to look at those numbers and see which state's punched -- states punched above their weight and which did poorly and where the heavy-handed mandates may be contributing to some of the states who may not be doing as well economically. i can tell you that if you just take a small percentage of folks -- actually, orange county was ready to walk. they wanted to fire people over that, but they knew that they couldn't because they would lose too much of the force.you are seeing that in other instances. even if it is a small percentage of folks, you will not be able to run a lot of these operations. from individuals perspective it should be the individual's choice. when you have it mandated against florida law, that is a

problem. when you have divided mandate through osha, which hasn't come out yet, that's not constitutional. there are legitimate constitutional and legal issues at stake. from an economic perspective, you will be leaving some of these areas very shorthanded, and i think that it is fundamentally unfair and unwise. host: governor desantis mentioning the upcoming rule from osha come the occupational health and safety administration. a story about that from the washington post says that federal officials are plowing through meetings requested by more than 40 groups and individuals who have raised questions and concerns about the coming rule that will require many companies to implement coronavirus vaccination or testing protocols for their workers according to records posted on the government website. lobbyists as well as private anti-vaccine individuals are lining up to take meetings with the office of management and budget in the process of finalizing the rule that would apply to 80 million

workers before it is expected to be released at the coming weeks. on vaccine mandates and the impact on your community, this is anne in tennessee who says that our governor does not want to make a mandate and that parents know what is best for their school-aged children. for over 70 years schools have required that they have the shots for measles, mumps, and childhood diseases. the vaccine is safe and will save lives. over 100,000 people have died from the covid virus this year. this is from charity. no, i'm waiting to see if there will be a mandate for schools when it is approved for kids. i'm hoping going into the next school year it will be required along with the other immunizations and i am ready for mask mandates on a federal level to be lifted. in virginia, we go to bob. caller: good morning. i own a small business and have been in business for 30 years and i have 35 employees.

we have government contracts and are in the transportation cycle. we are familiar with the distribution problems, etc., so on and so forth. we have had to sign various types of amendments to the government contracts that we have that state that we have a covid policy in place that meets the government mandate. we have done all of that. we do, i do, encourage people to get the vaccine. however, that said, we do have 35 people. seven people said they are not doing it or they will quit. at this point we have until december 18 to convince them to do it or not do it, and then we have to make decisions. the problem you have is one, currently the labor force, because we do warehousing, packaging, and all of that manual labor, it is a problem to find people who will come back or even hire because there is an employee shortage big time.

this will affect us considerably . the problem that we also have is we need to do special things with the government with our staff. at this particular point i think that it affects small business. we are busier than we have been because of the transportations that people are deciding that they can ship, but they cannot get containers, but they want to be prepared when they get ocean containers, and they want to ship more airfreight. if i have to fire or let seven people go, this will be a huge impact on a company of 35 people. the administration in trying to understand and the legal fees i have to pay to make sure that we understand the laws correctly before with the policy in place is an added cost and burden. host: the potential osha rule, there is no option for those who do not want to be vaccinated can continue to be tested on a

weekly basis to maintain their jobs. caller: my understanding is that that has been rescinded and they can't do that. if they do it we would offer to pay for it. at this particular point that is why we have legal counsel involved. it changes. as it changes we are trying to understand it. we have until december 8 to submit what we understand as our policy. we have set one up, but it changes, and as it changes we need to make the changes that go with the mandate. host: a company of 35, that is 20% of your workforce you may have to fire? caller: yes, or let go if they don't get vaccinated. it is hard to convince people who do not want to get vaccinated to get vaccinated. a lot of our employees come from rural areas, and that's it, i'm not doing it.

normally it wouldn't be a problem, but right now there are no people to find to hire to even ask the question. that makes it a little harder. host: the headline from cbs, in-n-out burger on the west coast close in san francisco for refusing to check patrons' vaccination status. in roswell, new mexico, this is robert. caller: how are you doing? host: do us a favor and mute your volume and go ahead with your question. caller: my wife is 75 years old. she has liver cancer. she cut covid in the hospital. i don't know what all they did, but i took my shots and she took her shots. my v.a. gave me mine and i'm fine.

i don't see why people don't get the shots myself. i got two. host: gwen in birmingham, alabama. caller: good morning. i don't want to get emotional because i believe in the mandates. my niece was in the university of alabama hospital for three weeks on a ventilator. she could have died from covid. we just buried her brother, my nephew, from covid. he had been vaccinated. this is very serious to us. very, very serious. i believe in the mandate. i am so sick of people with all of these can spirit th -- these conspiracy theories, and i'm talking to my black people now, the african-american race. this is very serious. the majority people who have

died of covid have been african-american will step check the stats and see that. these young black people like tyree irving talking against --kyrie irving talking against these mandates, and he is a mandate, very wealthy. we are poor people and have to get up every day to go to work. we need to take the vaccine. it's very important. you go to the hospital and the doctor tells you that you have cancer, you take chemotherapy. you don't ask what is in the chemo medicine. when you have a headache you take aleeve for advil. i've never seen someone do research before taking it. we went to god, and we said help us with this vaccine because it was killing some and people. the majority of everyone in my family has been vaccinated. host: this is from usa today, the van and contempt charges signal the house is poised to

hold steve bannon in content today over his refusal to cooperate with the panel investigating the january 6 attack, handing out a sanction that lawmakers said can send a signal to other potential witnesses. bannon, who served as the chief strategist for the first two months of the trump presidency, ignored to some meters from the house select committee investigating the insurrection by a pro-trump mob. the senator from california said that the messages that the committee is trying to send to him is that he has violated the law and he should be prosecuted for it. secondly, if other people are thinking about violating the law they might know that they could be in the same spot. the house select committee voted unanimously on tuesday to hold bannon in congressional contempt. last night the rules committee met to debate the rule for discussion that will be on the house floor today shortly after noon eastern. this is matt gaetz, republican.

[video clip] >> my friends, republicans need january 6 more than ever because they cannot pass -- democrats need january 6 more than ever because they cannot pass this bill. this was not republicans. this was others saying we were promised a vote on the infrastructure bill and it is a betrayal of the trust that we have with speaker pelosi that that vote did not occur. here we are. we cannot get and if the structure bill, the border is a mess, afghans are coming in unvented, the dollar is crumbling, supply chain issues are hurting americans' families, and you desperately need to obsess about january 6. i would suggest that we need to move on and the american people are ready to move on. if we are going to obsess about calls to violence, it would be important to note that there is a good amount of hypocrisy in this democrat-led effort.

for example, when congresswoman maxine waters called on democrats to physically intimidate president trump's cabinet officials there was no such effort for contempt, review, committees, or commission. congresswoman waters said let's make sure that let's show up wherever we have to show up. if you see anyone from that cabinet in a restaurant, department store, gasoline station, create a crown and push back and tell them that they are not welcome -- create a crowd and push back and tell them they are not welcome. a state senator said, i hope trump is assassinated. it was eric holder who said, no, when they go low, we kick them, referring to republicans. physical kinetic energy against your political opponents. host: liz cheney is a member of the january 6 select committee and on the front page of the hill. she becomes the gop trump foil. she spoke yesterday at the rules committee meeting. [video clip] >> let me address my republican

colleagues specifically. i've heard from a number of my colleagues in the last several days who say that they "just don't want this target on their back." they are just trying to keep their heads down. they don't want to anger kevin mccarthy, the minority leader, who has been especially active in attempting to block the investigation evidence of january 6, despite the fact that he clearly called for such a commission the week after the attack. i asked each one of you to step back from the brink. i urge you to do what you know is right. to think of the long arc of history. we are told that it bends towards justice, but only because of the actions of men and women in positions of public trust. in many nations democracy has failed because those with

authority would not act to protect it because they sat in silence. history will judge those of us in positions of public trust. remember that as you cast your votes, as you think about how you will answer when history asks, what did you do when congress was attacked? when a mob provoked by a president tried to use violence to stop us from carrying out our constitutional duty to count electoral votes? when a mob provoked by a president tried to overturn the results of an election? will you be able to say that you did everything possible to ensure americans got the truth about those events, or did you look away? did you make partisan excuses and accept the unacceptable? host: that contempt of congress resolution against a steve bannon comes to the house floor shortly afternoon today.

live coverage of the house is always here on c-span. fox's congressional reporter tweeted about the process earlier today saying that if the house approves the resolution it goes to the justice department, it is then up to the doj to prosecute bannon. it is more likely because there is a democratic administration. any court battle could take years, he says. 10 more minutes of your calls on the impact of the covid vaccine mandates in your community. julius in brooksville, florida. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: i am a democrat for 50 years. the vaccine that they are putting on us, why don't they reveal the effects that it is giving people, all that stuff? but they are not. they are just talking about, get your vaccine, get your vaccine. i'm going to a funeral on monday

of my niece who got the shot and died. another thing, they need to stop dreaming and start helping the people. it isn't helping people having the dream of impeaching the trump -- impeaching trump anymore. he's not even the president. i am a democrat, and i swear to god in front of everybody i will never vote for a democrat ever again. they better get it together. host: georgia, john. caller: how are you doing? we have a republican governor who has to answer to dear leader. he is afraid of him. he pushes it down to the school boards and then all of the fights happen at the school boards. we have these colt people who follow trump and he has lied to them so much and they don't believe anything anymore. the mandates don't work.

what we need to appeal to for these people is patriotism. when we were fighting the nazis we had all kinds of mandates. we had rationing. we had the government ordering factories to produce things they didn't ordinarily produce. now these people, we need to appeal to their patriotism to fight this enemy that is now called the virus. just because you can't see it, it is no different than the nazis. these are people who scream at kneeling for the flag, and then they don't mind people using the flag to attack the capitol. it is incredible the amount of stupidity. we need to say that they are too stupid and won't listen to mandates because they have been brainwashed by their cult leader. their patriotism is the thing that we need to appeal to. it is their patriotism -- they won't take the virus because they are against the american system. we are fighting an enemy.

let's do our part to fight this enemy. our part is to not be afraid and take the virus. host: reaction on social media, mandate saved the nursing home industry. in paris one can visit a museum of one is vaccinated or have a negative test. in new york city a negative test is not an option. i am mostly housebound, it is exceedingly depressing to think i will never be able to go to a vaccine in new york city in my life. a cloth masks provides 30% protection, a medical mask 40% protection, and in 95, 90 5% protection. sadly masks were demonized. caller: i am a registered nurse, i practiced for 30 years and retired.

i my friends sit around watching people who refuse to get vaccinated and are astounded. it is more than i can bear to watch nurses and hospitals taking care of these people who absolutely refuse to take the responsibility to protect themselves. people don't understand what they are talking about. having been educated in infection control as a registered nurse and beyond because i was an iv therapist, i can tell you that vaccinations for the most part are a homeopathic product. homeopathy is a different form of medicine. it isn't even allopathic medicine, the type of medicine that we normally think of as being your doctor's way of approaching disease.

vaccinations are a very old form. they are tried-and-true. the latest technology is astounding and miraculous. people need to really educate themselves, because the ignorance and the lies have absolutely put us all in a situation where we are all at risk because any one of you out there who is not vaccinated is a potential laboratory for a virus that could mutate and kill every human being on the planet. host: here a potential ramifications in the private industry in the media world, a radio host threatens to quit radio giant over vaccination mandates. in late may the massively influential radio network debuted a new daily talkshow from dan, a former secret

service agent and new york city cop who gained stature in conservative media during president trump. he is one of the key challengers for his audience. in two months the show reached a distribution of 300 stations. the company describes it as impressive growth. now he is threatening to walk away completely and has taken issue with the vaccination mandates imposed in august by the westwood 1 owner. all employees were given until september 27 to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus before an expected return to the office, "it would neither be fair nor do we have the bandwidth to make exceptions based on individual preferences ," according to the publication inside radio. tennessee. caller: how are you doing this morning? i will start off by saying that i am fully vaccinated and i'm

glad that i did so, but i would also like to say that we need to stop calling people stupid for making a choice of not getting the vaccine. i feel like these are our personal bodies and we have a choice if we should take it or not. number two, i would like to say that i believe in the mandate. i believe we need to try to stop the virus, and the best way to do it is by getting vaccinated. we are not scientists, so it is hard for us to do our own research. there is a lot of stuff online. there are a lot of theories. there is a lot of stuff online that is confusing a lot of people, but i would like to urge people to do your research and make the best decisions. host: this is the headline in

the washington this morning. president biden's trip to scranton come he makes a pitch for economic agenda. he is urging congress to pass. it is amy in orange park, florida. [dialtone] sorry, did not have amy there. other line. caller: hello. the virus is just starting to improve in terms of our cases. they have gone down definitely since the mandate has been enacted. we are still at the top as far as the country. since last year we have had the most -- we have been at the very top in terms of cases and deaths. i think -- had ron desantis last

year, we would've had over million deaths by now and he has been worse than trump. we just had a chief of police die here in the county. we have had several police officers -- [indiscernible] host: you got your message through a little but you are breaking up. i apologize, it is some interference on your phone will stop houston, texas. caller: how are you? i am from the great state of texas. all i have to say about the mandate -- i am independent. on the social side i feel compassion for the dying. on the conservative side, it is good for business. i just dispatched three more vans to pick up covid patients.

the funeral home business is thriving. a year ago we started stocking up supplies. people out there, make sure that your family has their policies paid up. one day you will see the it is coming. have a nice day. host: still to come on "washington journal," a lot more ahead. up next, we are joined by north carolina representative david price. joining us to talk about the debate over president biden's proposals, the build back better agenda. later, we will talk about the future with nato and the threat posed by china with former nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen. >> here is a look at what is live today. on c-span, the house will vote on a resolution to find steve bannon in contempt of congress for ignoring a subpoena from the

january 6 select committee and their investigation. they returned at 10:00 a.m. eastern for general speeches. on c-span2, the senate is back at 10:00 a.m. to take up judicial nominations, as well as douglas parker's nomination. later, supreme court justice clarence thomas and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell speak at an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of justice thomas's commemoration to the court. at 10:00 a.m. on c-span3, merrick garland testifies. you can watch online at c-span.org, or with our new video app, c-span now. >> you can be a part of the national conversation by participating in the studentcam video competition.

we are asking you to create a five to six minute documentary but answers the question, how does the federal government impact your life? the documentary must show supporting and opposing points of view. use c-span video clips, which are easy to find and access at c-span.org. the competition awards $100,000 in total cash prizes with a grand prize of $5,000. entries must be received before january 20, 2022. >> "washington journal" continues. host: congressman david price, represents the fourth district of north carolina for his 17 term. he joins us this morning from capitol hill. good morning and welcome back to "washington journal." guest: good to be back.

host: the first item on the agenda, your announcement that you would not seek reelection in 2022. tell us why not. guest: i do not have any elaborate reasons. i think the time has come. i have had a very good term of service. i am grateful for everyone who has made it possible and i think it is time to pass the baton. i said in my closing statement that we issued, if anyone expects me to say i have received closure, this is the wrong job to expect that in. there are some achievements for our state in the country that i am proud of and continue to work on, but it is a work in progress. a lot of storm clouds on the horizon right now, as well as a lot of hopefulness. we are sad about leaving, but i think it is time. we made the announcement.

in this business, what other retirement do you know of that you do it 14 months in advance? there is a lot of work to do in the meantime. host: considering all the reasons one runs for congress and serves one's district, on your view, looking back, is it easier or harder this day to be a member of the house of representatives that when you first started? guest: it depends on what kind of memory want to be. i think it is harder to be a productive member, especially in the lower ranks. i think in general, the house has become much more polarized, much more partisan, much more sharply partisan. partly as a result, the house is more centralized, committees count for less, individual initiatives are harder to pull off.

it is still a place where individual members if they work at it can figure out how to make a mark and initiate things. it is not the institution that it was when i first came here that when you did your work on committees and had some bills that you wanted to shepherd through, you could often do that. that takes more maneuvering these days. host: a similar sentiment expressed from a younger colleague of yours from wisconsin, he was lamenting the fact his committee, it feels like bills come straight to the house floor. they don't go through a committee of jurisdiction. has that been some of your experience? guest: yes. the centralization of the house is pretty easy to date that from newt gingrich's assent to the speakership. the house has not been that centralized under the speaker since a century ago.

when the democrats came back in control. it is not the institution where the longtime committee chairs pretty much rolled the roost. -- pretty much ruled the roost. we were a long way from the days of the -- the house needs strong central leadership. in a time of pandemic, it has been exacerbated. in a time of budget crunches, when there is a threat for shutdown, it goes to the top. you need centralized leadership to get through a polarized house. i would hope eventually the committees could again find their voice to a stronger degree. host: you are on both the budget and appropriation committees. in terms of the discussions going on right now about the president's build back better

agenda, the plan that had impacted $3.5 trillion, now appears to be less. how much influence are you able to have on those discussions and where do you think things stand in terms of passage of that large measure? guest: we certainly seek and have input. i am the chairman of the transportation and housing appropriations subcommittee. this so-called reconciliation bill would normally be an appropriations bill, as it was in the obama administration, the famous recovery act that we all worked on to bring us out of the recession. it would normally be an appropriations bill, but because of the situation in the senate, or we have 50-50 division, and the filibuster, which lets republicans basically stop almost anything, we have to work around that. that is why we have to use the

reconciliation process, which is kind of an arcane term for a budget process that is designed to keep the budget in line with revenues and expenditures and less you get around the filibuster. it requires only a majority vote. we are using the reconciliation process. what does that mean for appropriations? reconciliation is designed for all the committees to bring their legislation in line with the overall budget. the committees get into the act and they are responsible for the reconciliation bill. the extent to which appropriators and appropriation committees, who are in many case the experts, the extent to which we are involved in drafting the bill -- usually, we are ok in jing involved in havoc operators process -- ok in being involved.

host: i want to ask you about one of the items included in the reconciliation package that might be on the chopping block. the headline from the wall street journal says the community college proposal will likely be cut from the budget package. president biden told congress that providing two free years of committee college would help change the dynamic for students in the u.s. education system. tuesday, as the final elements of his package took shape, he told the committee college proposal would likely not make the grade. what is your view on that? guest: it is regrettable. there are good reasons for this. the package has to be reduced. we know that as a political reality. what stays in, what you save for another day?

the way i think about free community college is to think we are in the process of thinking of public education as k-14 rather than k-12. i think that is where we need to go given what most jobs require. i want to see more access to those two years past high school. there are some trade-offs in this particular bill. the president was talking about the possible trade-off with early childhood education. if that is the trade-off, i think we should seize the moment to improve childcare and improve early childhood education. it is a historic opportunity to do that. that does not mean we forget about making those grades 13 and 14 more accessible. in the regular appropriations bills, we can work on that with pell grants and liberalized

loans. it is not something we will just drop, but we will handle it in a different way. host: david price is joining us. we welcome your calls. for republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. what have constituents in your district said about infrastructure spending in particular? guest: i have a district in central north carolina, the raleigh durham chapel hill area. this is an area big enough to have about 2.5 districts. infrastructure looms large for us. we have worked on a highway program, but we cannot just pave more lanes of i-40.

we have to have transportation alternatives. there is a lot of interest in the cities and counties, and at the state level. a lot of interest in developing transit, intercity rail -- that is one area we have made good progress. we want to take that onto richmond and washington. the southeast corridor is a major project i am working on. we have a gleaming union station in raleigh now, built with part of the tiger grant funds. on the housing side, we get that affordable housing at the top of the agenda in our city elections for a number of cycles. great participation. choice neighborhoods, housing for the elderly and disabled. a lot of nonprofits ready to go

if we can just get more tax credits and more resources available. i would say our district is exhibit a for why we need an infrastructure initiative and communities that are prepared to take advantage of it. host: we have a caller from your district on our democrats line in raleigh. good morning. you are on the air. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. i do believe in the mandate that these people are continually spreading the virus. it is unfortunate that they do not go along with the policy. thank you very much. host: louise weighing in on our previous topic of vaccine mandates. how do you think the administration has responded in terms of the vaccine regulations

and mandates they have implemented so far, for example in the u.s. military? guest: i fully support vaccinations being made as widespread as possible. that is a matter of not just protecting the individuals were vaccinated but protecting the rest of us. it does not seem that complicated, but politically, it seems to have become an issue. i think mandates for government employees, military, people who serve the public, of course -- hospitals. people have to be protected and that is a basic way to do it. i also support good advice and enforcement where necessary of masking in public spaces and other things to get the virus under control. it is very ironic, the very people who complain the most about the virus not being under control are those often to resist the measures to bring it under control.

i have had it with that. i think most of my fellow citizens have. i want to see the administration take strong leadership here, and i think they are doing that. it is unfortunate that there are pockets of resistance, but i do think that is easing. partly as a result, the virus is waning. just hope -- knock on wood -- that this time it is real. host: let's hear from eric from new castle, pennsylvania, democrats line. caller: i was curious about the essential workers. we were told that we were keeping the country running. it has been two years, we have not gotten a pat on the back. you pay these people $600 a week

extra to take a year off of work. we are not getting anything. we were the first people on the chopping block. you are going to pay us not enough to live on. what is the point? host: what kind of work are you doing? say that again. caller: what is the point of going back to work if you have to work for slave wages? host: tell us what kind of work you are doing. caller: security. guest: of course, you are speaking from the heart and i am sure as a security worker you have been on the front lines and been well aware you were on the front lines. i do not know your individual situation, but i do think as we try to get the economy moving again, keep it moving and get people back to work, we have to pay attention to what you are saying.

people do not want to come back to substandard wages. they do not want to come back to bad conditions. there needs to be a dignity and support there, and government needs to be part of that solution. we need to enact the long-overdue $15 minimum wage. in expanding the pandemic relief, a lot is still being expended around the country, it needs to support good jobs as we build back better, mr. president likes to say. host: when you look back at 2020, do you think the response from congress has been sufficient? guest: are you talking to me or the caller? host: yes, you come up congressman price. guest: that is hard to answer with "yes or no." we have done some historic

things. the cares act, which had a wide-ranging payments, the ppp program for businesses, that was historic. unfortunately, when the heroes act came along, the second -- the republicans balked. mitch mcconnell said he would pause and see how things worked out. it was not until december that we got a serious additional aid package. the relief bill early in the biden administration, which was almost $2 trillion. we are still benefiting from that. you look at the good economic numbers and the way we are coming back, there was no way that would have happened without those relief bills. i remember very well how hard it was to get that done. we paid a price for that. we are now catching up. the slowness of getting

assistance to people who needed help with their rental payments, for example. we had an eviction moratorium. we did not have the money behind it to keep people current. that was late in coming, it is now online and working reasonably well. we paid a price for some of those. i think the governmental response has been there when people most needed it. host: let's go to richard, who is calling from west bloomfield, michigan. go ahead. caller: you seem like a pretty simple, normal guy. -- you seem like a pretty civil, normal guy. i want your opinion on how both sides can negotiate in good faith when nancy pelosi -- the state of the union address and smirked at the camera and expect the other side of the aisle to

negotiate a budget. guest: it looks to me like we are negotiating where we can with republicans at this point. we have negotiated an infrastructure bill, which i am eager to pass. on the democratic side, which we have no republican side for cooperation, we are negotiating among ourselves to get a second package on the recovery bill, which we also think of as human infrastructure. those negotiations are going on very well. nancy pelosi has been a master negotiator in both cases. i must say the handling of donald trump, the daily insults, the daily violation of just the basic rules of human beings

working with each other, she withstood that as well as any person i have ever seen in a very tough situation. i would not worry too much about nancy pelosi. host: you have been known throughout your 17 term career as one who not only could come up but did work across the aisle with republicans. i want to ask you about your reaction to comments from a guest we had on yesterday, former senator joe lieberman. in a book he writes that the problem now is centrists in both parties have what a hard time getting renominated in their party, and most have no viable third-party option in the general election. changing both parts of that political reality is one of the great challenges for american politics in the years ahead. does it feel like in the democratic party that there is a center -- and the republican -- a place where there can be some common compromise? guest: i know joe from way back

and i know where he is coming from politically, and there is truth to what he says. both parties have become more homogeneous internally and more ideological in terms of being identifiable, conservative and liberal parties. having said that, i do think it is asymmetrical as a political scientist has said. the polarization phenomenon the republican side look somewhat different. them driving away two speakers in the last decade. the tea party, the trump phenomenon, the freedom caucus, it has made it very hard for the republicans to govern. it makes it hard now for them to deal with the looming figure of donald trump. there is not much of a party

there to assert itself in the face of something like that. the democratic party has gone in the more liberal direction. in some ways, that is a very positive thing. the old segregationist southern wing of the democratic party, odthat was well underway by the time i got here. this country needs a center-left party, very broadly based where there is room for people like joe lieberman, but also people who consider themselves more on the cutting edge, and the republican party, i would hope, would reconstitute itself someday as a center-right party, where there is also a tolerance and people do not have to pass too many litmus tests. we have two parties -- only two

-- there are reasons for that historically. both parties need to be expensive and inclusive. if they are not that way, if people feel there is no room for them in this or that big tent, they will become independents, and sometimes become seriously alienated. it is not a good thing to have people feeling there is no home for them in either party. i appreciate the spirit of what joe says. i hope in the democratic party we still have room, and i think we do, for people of various ideological persuasions. host: let's hear from our republican line. it is david in st. james, new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i just wanted to ask of you, make a statement or two and asked her question. the democrats really want in the

bill, reconciliation bill. i do not see a lot of common sense. i feel, personally, like they have already spent trillions of dollars on infrastructure. we gave obama $1 trillion for infrastructure, not much was done except given to the dnc. i believe there has been a lot of money taken the could have been spent on roads and bridges through the states, cities and counties. even after the states get money for the infrastructure, which is just a small part of the bill, and the rest of it does not seem to be helping that poor. the poor are still poor. it is getting bigger and expanding. i do not see how this money is

lifting them up into the middle class or rich class. host: we will hear from congressman price. guest: is $1 trillion was spent on infrastructure in the obama years, i missed it. i do not know what that could possibly refer to. i was here when the recovery act was written after obama took office. i wish there had been more infrastructure money in that bill. one of our lingering regrets on the democratic side, almost all of us feel that that bill -- i can remember when some of the infrastructure was cut out because some republicans had to have their votes, they insisted on a big chunks of money to maintain the liberalization of the alternative minimum tax. that is where it went. it did not go to the dnc, it went to wealthy people who did not want to pay the alternative

tax, and that was at the insistence of republicans. that is a major reason why infrastructure was not a more major part of the obama bill. if you are expressing regret there was not more infrastructure in the obama years, i feel that, too. that was something we did not give sufficient priority to. trump was far, far worse. there was infrastructure week, it almost became a punchline. where is the funding for this? are we serious? joe biden, to his credit, has taken a hold of this. he said we will do as much infrastructure on a bipartisan basis as we can and that is what bill 1 represents. it is also transit, rail, airports, broadband, sewer and water systems, the electric grid. there is a lot in that bill and

it is very good, but it is not good enough. if you are talking about whether money helps poor people or not, this debate on the reconciliation bill should interest you a great deal. we have to -- a 50-50 senate i do not need to explain more why everyone has to be on board. if you are going to get a bill that is more targeted, i think the principal for the targeting should be what kind of an effect it has on people of lower income. that is why i am pushing very hard for medicaid expansion in north carolina, medicaid expansion needs to be a part of this. early childhood, pre-k education, childcare needs to be a part of this. and the child tax credit, which is a huge anti-poverty instrument if we just use it well. those of the kind of things that need to be emphasized. host: and a procedural question

on the first bill, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. the senate passed the nonpartisan infrastructure bill that went to the house and sat there for two months. why are you not voting on the bill? guest: i guess we called it a tactical dispute, as far as i'm concerned, we vote on it today. for some members, they want to have some assurance that the bills are on track, so that is why they do not want to vote on them separately. that is kind of an inside baseball thing but i hope we can get past. host: let's hear from roz, california, on or democrats line. caller: hi. my name is roz, and i have known david price for over 30 years print i used to live in raleigh, north carolina. i now live in california. i want to thank congressman

price for his wonderful, wonderful service to this country. you have done an outstanding job as a member of congress and i am proud you have represented north carolina the way you have. my one plean to you is, i worked very hard when i lived in raleigh on the issue of child care. i really hope you could somehow get sue russell from chapel hill involved with somehow tying the increase in child care subsidy to quality. that has been her whole life. just to throw money into childcare is not good enough. if we are going to spend federal money into childcare, it should be going where the buck does the best success for these kids. i really hope that somehow that shelter money can somehow be

tied to what sue russell has done for her entire life, which is improved childcare across the country. thank you. guest: thank you. that is great to hear from you. and to have a shoutout for sue russell and the childcare association in north carolina. it is a great organization. they were ahead of their time for advocating and serving childcare centers. they help train workers. you are right. you need to have that kind of work going on on the gund to ensure the quality of childcare and actually be a service to those who are sometimes struggling to provide childcare. it is a double whammy. ironically, families often cannot afford childcare. there is all kinds of

information about how much of people's income is going into childcare. but childcare itself does not pay good wages at all, for the most part. the market is not working. i say that with respect to childcare. it is long, long overdue to pay attention to that. like everything else, the pandemic has shown a bright light on that. we are paying attention to childcare. i believe it will stay in this reconciliation package as an important component. the way that money will go out, there will be assurances that the money is accounted for and well spent. it is very important for any problem to not just throw money at it, but make certain there is

accountability for how the money is used. host: david price, we hope you join us again before you wrap up your 17 term in the u.s. house, representing the fourth district in north carolina. thank you for being with us. guest: thank you. i hope so, too. host: here on "washington journal," we hoped to have a conversation with a new york representative, but her office called us last night and said the congresswoman was canceling that interview. we hope to reschedule that. at the top of the 9:00 hour, we will be joined by anders fogh rasmussen, the former secretary-general of nato. we will talk to him about a number of issues, including the threat posed by china. coming up next on the program, we will open up our phones to hear from you on topics we have discussed this morning. the vaccine mandate, the biden agenda and more. it is open forum.

for republicans, the line is (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents and others, (202) 748-8002. ♪ ♪ >> american history tv on c-span2. exploring the people and events tell the american story. saturday on lectures in history, discussions about the american military in the revolutionary war. we talk about the capabilities of the continental army in the troops. advantages and disadvantages the american and british forces had. at 9:10 eastern, it is explained how the american and british militaries compared demographics, organizations and

the officer selection process. at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, a look at the life and times of abraham lincoln with historians. watch american history tv saturday on c-span2. ♪ >> download c-span's new mobile app and stay up-to-date with live video coverage of the day's biggest political events. white house events and supreme court oral arguments. live interactive programming on "washington journal," where we hear your voice every day. download the app for free today. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is open forum on the program. your comments, thoughts on any public policy or political issue we are talking about this

morning that you are following. one issue we have not talked about was a key vote yesterday in the u.s. senate. the story about that in the washington post, all eyes on joe manchin as voting rights legislation hits another roadblock. democrats -- voting rights legislation hit a roadblock with options for progress dwindling as senate republicans remain united in blocking debate on the issue. lawmakers and advocates have continued to elevate the political stakes, calling federal legislation essential to protecting american democracy from the efforts of republican state legislatures and officials to restrict voting access following former president trump donald trump's false claims that fraud in the 2020 election. they write that the procedural vote came after senator joe manchin spent the past month wooing republica

n colleagues to support it. the president of the senate and the vice president kamala harris after that vote said this. [video clip] v.p. harris: let's start with what just happened. the united states senate had an opportunity to uphold the importance of every american's right to exercise their fundamental rights in a democracy, which is the right to vote. presented with this opportunity, the democrats yeah mislead upheld the importance of that right -- democrats unanimously upheld the importance of that right. we will not give up. we are not deterred. there is still a lot of work to do. it is a sad day. the majority leader spoke well

and reminding us of america's history. we have seen these moments before. i would like to think we have evolved as a nation and we would not have to return to a moment where the united states senate would have to debate, yet in this situation fail, as a body to even move forward protections when it comes to the right to vote. we will not give up. we will never give up. those of us who have fought for the right of every american to vote. we will continue to do the work. host: the vice president yesterday after that vote in the u.s. senate. another key vote coming up today in the senate shortly afternoon on contempt of congress citation against steve bannon. the headline from the hill come up bannon eyed as key link. republican line, florida, michael, good morning. caller: good morning.

the one thing i want to speak on with infrastructure was, when they had the bipartisan vote in the senate, when you get into the bill, 15% of hard infrastructure, i do not understand why they compromised giving the soft infrastructure, they did that, it has been sitting in the house, yet they still want to tide that as a tactic to get things that normally could not get done. the american public does not know that. when they hear infrastructure, they are thinking roads and bridges. the other thing is, with the voters act, i wish they would be more transparent and say what that is. is that we will have paper ballots 24/7, no chain of custody on balance and vote from your phone? tell us exactly what it is, other than just giving us the

platitude that it is a fundamental right. we have had elections, and it worked and we had a transfer of power. if we are really going to make this act so important, tell us what is really behind it. does that mean we will keep the paper ballots going forward? thank you very much. host: pennsylvania next up, stephen on the independent line. caller: good morning. i would like to speak on the subject of vaccinations and those who might be hesitant. i have friends and neighbors who are still on the fence. what i hear a lot is the lack of research about the mrna vaccine, or the johnson & johnson. what i like to point out to them is, turn on your television and

watch commercials for pharmaceuticals. these are the drugs that have gone through the process, that have gone through the testing. everything that you say is lacking from the new vaccines. read the fine print on the bottom of the screen of all the things that can happen to you if you take this drug. and then, i would like you to pay attention to the commercials from attorneys who are suing drug manufacturers over terrible side effects from these fda researched drugs. i like to see the puzzled look on their faces as they try to sift between the lies and the truth. that is my comment. host: luis in rancho cucamonga,

california. republican line. caller: thank you for giving me the opportunity. i would like to provide my comments in regard to either the reconciliation bill for the bipartisan bill for infrastructure. i think what we are doing on both sides of the aisle as americans nationwide, we are avoiding the elephant in the room, the lack of electrical power, energy. in california, the renewables are doing their part but they are not meeting the requirement because they are not as efficient. solar is depending on sunlight. if you do not have any wind, the windmills will not function. what we are missing from a national perspective as we try to get our cars on electrical and power our homes with nothing but electricity, we are missing the discussion that should be in the infrastructure bills as to nuclear. america is not sustainable if they do not embrace the reality

of high-tech nuclear power. i know a lot of people like to refer to chernobyl, but to compare american technology to the kind of technology is an insult to american ingenuity. let me make this final point. france, which is considered the most progressive country in europe, 60% of its energy is produced by nuclear. small reactors throughout the country. we have the technology in america. we have to accept the reality that we are not going to make it happen if we do not want to do coal, it will not happen with the renewables because they are not as reliable. that should be a key point of the infrastructure bills. if we are talking about america's future, we will not be able to do any of the electric objectives. host: rancho cucamonga is in southern california, correct? caller: correct.

host: this is -- caller: this is san bernardino county. in california, we are in the process of closing down. we have closed one of our two remaining nuclear power plants and there in the process of closing the other one down. it will not work out. if you look at the projections, we will not have enough electrical power. host: how do you currently get power to your house? is it nuclear-based? coal generated? caller: it is a mixed bag, but the bulk of it is but on the open market and brought in through various utilities. nuclear has been a portion of it. about 11%. if you get rid of that, where we'll get it from? if we are going to power our country and not do it with renewables only. if we do not want to do coal, we

have to embrace the fact we have to incorporate nuclear within the portfolio. host: thank you for the call. let's hear from tony in tampa, florida. caller: how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: i want to make comments on what the last gentleman said, the retiring congressman from north carolina. he talks about programs, pre-k, income tax credits, it encourages the poorest and least educated to keep having children. the middle class, who has to work and pay their bills, have less and less children. i look at the successful people in our country, like the obamas, bush, clintons, they have all had one or two children. with these programs, we have

moved the minimum-wage jobs to $14, $15 per hour, they cannot get any of these people to take those jgetting paid more to sta, have more children and be nonproductive. we spent $880 billion last year on all these programs for the poor and what has it gotten us? it is the wrong way to do it and they have not figured it out. thank you a lot, bill. host: a story out of fort lauderdale, florida. cruz pleads guilty to 2018 massacre. nikolas cruz pleaded guilty to killing 17 people during a rampage at his former high school in parkland, florida, leaving a jury to decide if he will be executed from one of the nation's deadliest school shootings. relatives of the victim shook their heads or broke down in tears as cruz entered his pleas

and later apologized for his crimes. we saw a cold and calculating killer confessed to the murder of my daughter. his guilty pleas are the first step in the judicial process but there is no change for my family. our beloved daughter is gone, while her killer enjoys the blessing of life in prison. the guilty pleas will set the stage for a penalty trial or 12 jurors will decide if cruz should be sentenced to death or life in prison without pearl. we go to tom next in hagerstown -- life without parole. caller: i find it hard to believe that joe manchin can be against the infrastructure

bills. almost all demographics, he is against it. it was recently reported he gets somewhere around $500,000 -- it seems like he is getting rich and the people of west virginia are getting poorer and poorer. host: let's hear from fran from jacksonville, florida. this is our democrats line. caller: i would like to comment on the person asking about what was in the voting rights bill. i would like to say that the things that are in the voting rights bill our common decency for american voters.

the reason this person does not know is because it is not allowed to be debated. republicans do not want the general population to see them speak out against what is good for the people. they want to keep it off the table. they do not want their names attached to a no-vote on voting rights, so they do not want to talk about it. they do not want anybody to see them speaking out against the people's right to vote. the second thing about people wanting to have more babies to get money, to me, i think education is the key. the pre-k, and even the two years of committee college, those people who take advantage

of that will transform this country. the poor will be reduced, and the people will go out and do what they were meant to do on their own. i thank you. host: this is the front page of the washington post. the headline -- southern border arrests at an all-time high. u.s. authorities detained 1.7 million migrants along the border during the 2021 fiscal year that ended in september. arrests by the border patrol soared to the highest levels ever recorded. illegal crossings began rising last year, but skyrocketed in the months after president biden took office. arrests increase this past spring. biden described the rise with historical seasonal norms. the busiest months came during the sweltering heat of july and

august, when more than 200,000 migrants were taken into custody. here is brenda in indiana, pennsylvania. caller: good morning. i want to correct the guy who called in yesterday when we were talking about the build back better plan. he tried to give us a math lesson on spending. he said if you spread out $1 trillion over 300 million people, it would be $3 billion per person. that is so way off. i hope he is listening this morning because i want to say he is the perfect example of why we need early childhood education. he embarrassed himself across the country. if you spread out $1 trillion over 300 million people, that is only $3000 per person, not $3 billion per person.

host: i am glad you caught the math error because we did not. we will hear from sandra in louisiana next. caller: good morning. i am calling concerning an earlier caller today who said that she was retired and had 30 years of experience. she was saying the covid shots were actually homeopathic medicine. that is so far off. i am also a registered nurse, retired, with 30 years of experience. the homeopathic medicines, the meaning is they are natural, or god created them.

those mrna vaccines, so-called vaccines, they are designed to override your natural god-c reated immune system and to actually force your immune system. host: thank you for the call. there was a mayoral debate in new york city last night between the contenders. the headline, the question was asked about the new york city mandate for vaccination issued by the current mayor. here is the question response from both candidates. [video clip] >> do you agree with the new mandate? as mayor, will you update the

bencing of police officers -- benching of police officers and firefighters who refuse? >> i am vaccinated. i saw family members dropping off loved ones to hospitals to never see them again. i saw how traumatized our businesses were. i believe the mayor's actions were correct. -- i stated this over and over during covid. credible messengers. i believe that we can come to an appropriate place where we can vaccinate every day new yorkers. we can never go back to where we were when covid hit the city. >> will you uphold the benching

of police officers and firefighters? >> i feel we do not have enough police officers as it is. after establishing the rules, that were get vaccinated, which i am, or get tested once a week, same with firefighters. what did we do to the teachers? what did we do to the health care workers who were crawling into the belly of the beast during the lockdown of the pandemic? taking care of the homeless and the subways. we cheered them. and then all the sudden, we decided that all the sudden, they would lose their jobs. we should never do that. host: that election coming up in just a couple of weeks. it is open forum.

responding to some comments on energy from our previous caller, this tweet said the windows in texas were seized because of an ice storm. people in l.a. do not have power since hurricane ida. let's hear from andrew on the independent line in north carolina. caller: hey, there. first time caller. host: great. caller: i have some things i want to talk about with energy and education. if food is part of the energy problem, we spend a lot of money into producing food for the country, but we do not educate the people in the country on where the food comes from and how it is produced. if people are able to learn and

understand the process growing the food and producing the food that they eat, then the education would increase. people would eat healthier, live healthier and live longer, and the medical system would not be plugged up with overweight, obese, diabetes. children seeing an increase in the juvenile diabetes, it is all because of the processed foods. processed foods are cheap. when processed foods are cheap, it makes it easier for the poor people to buy. where i live, i constantly see people in the drive-through at mcdonald's, burger king,

wendy's, you name it, they are wrapped around the corner down the street for breakfast, lunch. host: are there places you can go for a salad? fresh green? places like that that are an alternative to fast, processed food? caller: there are some alternatives here in the area where i live. they are more of a locally product. they source their meats, greens from local agriculture. those places tend to be a little more on the higher end, which makes it not so affordable for the low income. diet is directly linked to education. if you do not know how to eat,

you are not going to live well. host: thank you for getting through. call back when you get the chance. alabama, republican line. caller: good morning. host: good morning. caller: i have a situation i want to address, if anyone has an answer. i am on section 8, hud housing assistance. i have been on disability for a while, since about 2010. i reached the age of 66, they took me off of disability and put me on straight social security. i got a small raise. my rent went up from $331 to $443. that is on section 8. if i was not on section 8, it would be over $500.

the free handouts that the administration is doing, for the people coming over here illegally, all these people need to address the senior citizens. all i hear is give the parents a $300 of free money for each kid they have. and then they have children every 10 months so they get the extra money. that is unknown fact. that is not hearsay. host: coming up next, will be joined by the former nato secretary-general. he will talk to us about the future of the alliance and the global threats facing it. ♪ >> here is a look at what is life today. on c-span, the house will vote on a resolution to issue steve

bannon a contempt of congress appeal as part of the investigation. they will have general speeches followed by general speeches at noon. on c-span2, the senate will take of judicial nominations as well as douglas parker's nomination as assistant secretary of labor. later, clarence thomas and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell will speak at an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of justice thomas's confirmation to the court. i c-span3, merrick garland will testify, and an oversight committee will be held by the house judiciary committee. you can watch on the c-span now app. >> leading authors discuss their latest nonfiction books.

at 2 p.m. eastern, watch the coverage of the 33rd annual festival of books from nashville . christian debate, the officer of jesus in john way -- wayne. former tennessee governor and his new book, faithful presence. and at 10 p.m., congressman and chairman of the subcommittee adam schiff will talk about his book, midnight in washington which recaps his role in the first impeachment trial writ's interviewed by associated press chief congressional correspondence will be aired. watch every sunday on c-span2 and you can find the full schedule of your program to watch online anytime at tv.org. "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined by former nato secretary-general andrew

rasmusson on the future of the organization and the threats that it faces. mr. secretary general, welcome to the washington journal. guest: good morning. host: remind us again about the nato. it's historic and current emissions. guest: historically, the most successful peace movement in history has insured peace and stability in the north atlantic area since it was established in 1949. we still with challenges. russia constitutes a security threat to europe, but recently, we have also seen more aggressive chinese behavior that is also something that affects european countries, so, i see

china as a new security challenge. host: you served a from 2009 to 2014. not during the trump administration. largely during the obama administration. but as you look at the nato during the trump administration and now, the biden admits, is there a difference in the way the administration's approach their relations with nato? guest: there may be an difference in rhetoric, but when it comes to the substance, i think the difference between the american administration is the same goal. more sharing within nato. the me remind you that in september, 2014, that was during

the obama administration, we decided all nato allies should live up to the so-called 2% target. that is, they should invest at least 2% of their gdp and their defense. at that time, only three allies did so. trump stepped up the rhetoric, and he almost threatened european countries come in today, we, i would say, around have of the lado -- nato allies live up to the 2% target. i have no doubt that the biden administration will continue that kind. host: the rhetoric from president donald trump was successful as the nato countries

increased their contributions. guest: during the trump administration we strengthened the nato militarily, because nato allies increased investments in difference. -- defense. president trump raised doubts about his commitment to the famous g5. in the nato treaty, it states that we consider an attack on one an attack on all. president trump raised doubts as to whether he would come to the aid of an ally that was attacked if that ally did not live up to the 2% target. the differences that during the trump administration, nato was militarily strengthened but

significantly weakened. host: how many countries are currently members of nato, and are there places the data -- where nato troops are in service? guest: we have allies within nato. two of them in north america, namely north -- in the united states and canada. then, until recently, nato had responsibility for the operation in afghanistan, and it was engaged in iraq. it is still engaged in kosovo, just to mention some of the

operations. nato took over responsibility for the operation in in libya in 2011. it has really engaged in operations. the philosophy is that total defense is very much dependent on peace and stability in our neighborhood. this is the reason why china will also be included as one of her new security challenges. host: we welcome your calls and comments. the phone lines are like this. for those of you the eastern central time zones, (202) 748-8000. permanent pacific, (202) 748-8001.

shortly after the withdrawal from afghanistan, you had an opinion piece in the wall street journal. i want to read you an opinion piece. america and its allies cannot abandon the fight for democracy. you wrote that. it is time for those europeans to confront the new global reality. america is back but the world is changed. there are still security threats in europe, not the least from russia. but from russia, the campaign's hedge. it's the right priority. if america loses dominance in the indo pacific, it will cause a shocking power balance that will engulf europe, too. you see china is the biggest threat, not only to the united states, bill daley, but to europe as well? guest: absolutely. we have seen strength. personally, we have seen chinese

economic cooperation, for instance in australia and india, and europe. it has been subject to economic co-opting from china because they do not borrow chinese directives, and we have also seen china pursue what are called unfair trade practices and stealing of technology. for instance, chinese companies are competing with our private companies, helped by chinese state subsidies. that is not a level playing field. recently, we have seen that even more sophisticated chinese approach where they pursue what i call strategic investments in

infrastructure and business centers that are strategically important to us, and to counter this aggressive chinese behavior, we need to unite and strengthen the force of the world's democracies. we need to create lines of democracy to counter not only beijing, but all of the autocrats in the world. host: you are joining us on a week where, instantly, russia is announcing that they were breaking diplomatic relations with nato. how significant step is this to you? guest: in reality, it is not a significant step because the relations between nato russia have been deteriorating for years.

i do not consider this a big loss. i don't see this is a big change. the defector relationship with nato and russia actually is quite frozen right now. host: i want to get your thoughts on the comments of the u.s. secretary-general. he is in south america, speaking and could or yesterday, and he implored for nationals to watch for four nations to take urgent steps to demonstrate that democracy can yield prosperity and security. part of the biden administration's attempt to reverse what is a dangerous rise in global authoritarianism. here is what secretary blinken said. we find ourselves at a moment of democratic reckoning, and a question for all of us and believeth survival is vital to a shared future is what we can do to make democracy deliver on the

issues that matter most people. what are your thoughts on those comments? guest: i could not agree more. i think that is the most efficient response right now to the advancing a talker sees, namely -- a talker sees -- autocracies, namely that we represent 50 to 60% of the global economy. that is a familiar minimal -- formidable force that will create respect in beijing. president biden will organize and host a global summit for democracy in december, this year, and this first somewhat -- some would be virtual. next year, hopefully followed by physical summits for global

democracy, summits for government in free societies. this is the right approach to counter the advancing autocracies. host: the former prime minister of denmark and the formers secretary-general of nato. here with us in the nation capital. what brings you to the nation's capital? guest: i am in washington, d.c. to discuss how we could promote freedom and democracy in a much more determined way. in truth, a couple of years ago, i established a nonprofit foundation called the alliance of democracies foundation. each and every year, we organize an annual summit in copenhagen.

joe biden was the very first to inaugurate that summit in 2000. i would very much be pleased to help promote freedom and democracy, and that is why i was here to discuss with the administration and with members of congress how to build a civil society. how to run governmental organizations as the alliance of democracies to contribute to widespread, profound campaign for democracy. host: we appreciate you being here to speak with our viewers and listeners. let's go to our callers and hear first from ryan in albuquerque, new mexico. caller: good morning. i would like to focus on all of the western corporations that turn a blind eye to human rights abuses to chase the asian wage

labor. i think that when the history of the area is written, i will say that the american leaders back in the 80's decided to globalize the economy and allow their corporations to run to communist china to exploit cheap liver. it was a colossal mistake. and just unite states alone probably work north of a hundred million dollars a year, defending against communist china. i like to put forth the idea that we should put tariffs on chinese goods for all the defense budgets, all the weapon systems that we have to buy and upgrade to defend against communist china. the west is made a horrible mistake. we should always have conditional agreements with the chinese.

look what they are doing with taiwan. it is a joke. let's go after the greedy corporations that want to exploit asian labor. that is my point. host: your thoughts? guest: to a certain degree, i fully agree with your analysis, and i think an alliance of democracy should pursue a new economic strategy. i am very much inspired by the general of nato. i would create an economic article five. an economic article five aims at giving economic preferential treatment to free societies. for instance, australia.

lithuania. taiwan. to chinese economic coercion, we should help those countries by purchasing their goods and agreeing on free-trade agreements and i think we should expand to also include private companies that are subject to consumer laws in china. they should have a facility that could tell them who their supply chain is made from two more stable democracies in the neighborhood. host: the caller mentioned hong kong and the threats china is making. we see this in the wall street journal this morning. a photo of chinese missiles and shiny military tests with hypersonic missiles launched for non-nuclear applications.

how worried should the average american, the average australian, or european be about chinese military power and the threat of chinese military power? >> we should be very concerned about the military threat. personally, i do believe the most efficient deterrent would be to replace the current strategic ambiguity with all clear strategic clarity when it comes to taiwan, and i see the establishment of the new alliance between australia and the united kingdom and the united states, as as an instrument that could deter mainland china from taking

taiwan because the combination basing realizes is it would be too costly in treasure and lives to attack taiwan, and i think they would refrain from doing that. i am very much in favor of strategic clarity, and the kind of security guarantee from taiwan. >> and you think that is a new initiative spearheaded by the united states in terms of our defense agreement with i want, or spearheaded by nato? >> yes. i think the europeans should side with united states in that respect. we have already engaged in the united kingdom and france. we should see more teacher clarity from the european union.

you cannot stand as a balancing power or moderator between beijing. the world's democracies should be taking a strength in trying to land a corporation. >> let's hear from rick who is calling from fredericksburg, virginia. >> my call this morning is that i just want to say to you, what do you believe should take place? might thing should be that there is an incredible justice system south of our border, and why not show them that. there children of our country just like the united states america. they come here and they cost us so much. why not deduct that from the deficit before they reopen? they would certainly shut it down because they would rather have the money than their people. i thank you for your time and i greatly appreciate the very

thoughtful and honest answers. >> unfortunately, the line was not too good. i didn't hear the question exactly. >> he is asking about illegal immigration, and i will ask you more broadly, it is a world issue in terms of migration across borders. it is a domestic issue with united states. how do you view the issue of worldwide migration that it opposes? >> first of all, obviously, we should strengthen efforts to counter the illegal immigration. i would also remind you that the united states as an immigration country has promised -- profited from young entrepreneurs from

people who have new ideas, who have a strong desire for their society. that is been a valuable source for the united states many generations. so, i think it is a balance and basically, i am very much in favor of the same thing. i think we have all promised a more open society with a flow of information, with -- an open society that allows people to move where they want, to live -- illegal immigration is negative, but we should have an open

society that invites night -- young entrepreneurs from around the world to contribute in a valuable way to our society. >> let's hear from jacob who is in sydney, montana. >> morning, c-span. and what's left of america. do you think the united states can protect america and the world if biden and his ilk turn all of their resources to a woke military, abandoning our allies in top-secret weapons, and turning it into a [indiscernible] >> of virtually there were problems with the line. >> i cannot do a good job paraphrasing, so i will go to st. clair, michigan. joe. good morning. >> good morning.

thank you for c-span. he has mentioned that the democracies have to stand up against the autocracy. the autocracy -- this country has been an autocracy in itself. if you have a different opinion than the ruling elite, you are shouted down, you are told you are a racist, you are wrong. it is being shouted down at the council fire. we are becoming an autocracy in this country. we are at a tipping point, that, if we don't stand up and get out and vote in the elections that are reelections, it is all over. we will deteriorate to a third

world country. >> sorry to cut you off. mr. secretary general, do you have any comments. >>, of course, no democracy is perfect, and in an open and free democracy, you will have a critical debate. i think that is a strength. i have full confidence in the american democracy to my mind. the u.s. is still the shining city on the hill. however, i would add to that i think, politicians in congress should think about the negative effects of a dysfunctional

congress. if you get too partisan, if you don't get things done. if you cannot agree on economic policies, you cannot deliver concrete results, then, we doubt the strength of democracy. without them, interfering, i have an old view to demonstrate a good example of how democracy can deliver, that would be a very responsible method for the outside world. let me just add to this, in general, i think we will live in a free society, we should have much more self-confidence. in the past, free market economy

traits across all of this created so much progress, so much prosperity in the world. we should be proud of all progress we have achieved. of course, we should realize we are not perfect, but we are much better than an autocracy. >> let me ask you about reports that say the defense secretary plans to act the ukraine and georgia to join nato. would you support that? >>. yes. to be very clear. it is a long story. i recall a very famous nato summit back in 2008 in bucharest where we discussed whether we

should grant membership to georgia and the ukraine. it is not a guarantee of future membership, but it is a step towards a future membership. importantly, nato allies could not agree to grant neither ukraine nor georgia never shifts action plan. i think putin took advantage of that lack of decisiveness because he attacked georgia a few months after the nato summit. he got the feeling that he could attacked georgia almost without any cut. i think georgia and ukraine fulfill all necessary criteria

to become members of nato and that would send a very clear message to moscow. >> let's get one more call. this is michael in imperial beach, california. >> good morning gentlemen. speaking of the ukraine, do you think that when putin took crimea, and basically the world did nothing, it emboldened xi jinping just think he could take taiwan? what are your thoughts on that area >> i fully agree. the fact that putin legally annexed crimea into the russian federation without any consequences, it may have inspired xi jinping to a similar thinking when it comes to taiwan , that he could annexed taiwan into a mainland china.

almost without consequences. ever since, the run-up to the second world war, we have realized that whenever the free world demonstrates weakness, then, the world autocrats take advantage of that. they consider it to be a concession weakness that they can. this is the reason why buy the best affect is to strategically clarify. it is unity, it is force. the autographs -- autocrats respect the language. >> secretary rasmussen, former secretary general of nato. we appreciate you coming by.

>> thank you. >> ahead on the program, it will be open forum up to 10:00 eastern as we hear from you on global stories, policy issues. we will include some of the topics we've discussed today. here are the lines for republicans, (202) 748-8001. for democrats, (202) 748-8000. and for independents, (202) 748-8002. ♪ quick sunday night on q&a, a retort or -- retired judge will give suggestions on how to improve things. judicial independence. mandatory minimum sentencing, racial bias and jury corruption. police reform.

>> and particularly urban centers, they are not interested in the fact that you didn't have the traffic signal on. they are not interested in that. but they want to do is have permission to stop you and then engage you in conversation and maybe then search her car. u.s. supreme court as typically want to that. you can make these kinds of stops and and that is not what you really are interested in. i think what has to change is that the very nature of policing has to change. and we need to take that role of policing and use it to investigate crimes and prevent crimes. [no audio]

>> he will be barred to attend without a vaccine. djokovic's must be vaccinated if

he wishes to participate in the open. quotes i don't have a message to everyone who wishes to visit australia. they need to be double vaccinated according to the australian broadcasting corporation. the u.s. house is coming in at 10:00 eastern for their morning our speeches and then come in at noon and take up the contempt of congress resolution against steve bannon. this is our capitol hill producer tweeting about that saying that the house will debate and vote on a resolution to hold him in contempt of congress for refusing to comply with the subpoena of the january 6 select committee. houses coming up here on c-span at 10:00 and noon. just want to remind you, coming up at 10, the attorney general will be before the house judiciary committee for hearing, his first in person testimony

before the house judiciary committee. that is that live on c-span3. you can watch on c-span.org or stream it live on our new c-span now mobile app. opal forum. let's hear from james first in waldorf, maryland. democrat line. >> the morning. several things. i want to touch base on -- i will start with the vaccine mandate. the vaccine mandate isn't as huge of an issue in my eyes because we have been vaccinated since i've been had the chickenpox and measles, mumps. i didn't know i need to take it, but i took it because you go to school, and your parents make you take the vaccine because it was mandatory. i don't necessarily see why we

think there's a huge difference with this new vaccine the vaccines that we already have taken. the concern and that woke us of new medicine and deceiving humans. people don't really believe that you should trust the government. i trust that, but that different is not much from what we already do. thank you. >> colorado, next up. lori, independent line. lori, are you there? johnstown, colorado. >> thank you for c-span. on the vaccine, i completely agree. i believe the scientific method, which i learned in school, is not to be argued with. it is pure logic. i reason for calling is because

i really was sorry i didn't get into talk to mr. rasmussen. i have always wondered when we try to help you countries become democratic, and we help them develop their constitution, it seems like we leave out something, such as the right to bear arms, which i wondered how that affected afghanistan. then i wondered about, having heard about, not seen, heard new democratic countries where they still are socialist countries. there is entrepreneurship that he talked about. people tend to vote for the promises that government will buy me and give me and take care of me. so, i think it takes more than just democracy.

i think it also takes a free market. i also think that it takes individual protections and rights, such as the right to bear arms. i know that it's very controversial, but, also, the lack of including the electoral college. africa is a new democracy, and we hear the horror stories of these different tribes which are killed off. i think we have to have an electoral college to protect minorities. those are my concerns and we try to help other countries do their own democracies. >> lori, do you think it is still the primary role of the u.s., its responsibility, and is it in our best interest to help

spread this democracies around the world, and not build them up, or support them in some way. >> i do. i think we have a responsibility to reach out and care for the world. but i think we need to give them what we had. >> thanks for your input. sorry you missed the secretary-general. we will go to david in fully, alabama. independent. >> i was seeing on television on nato. everyone is trying to get out of nato. we have boris johnson and everything that got out of nato. it is a corrupt situation. as far as illegal aliens, --. >> they are part of nato. they are not part of the you. -- he you. >> boris johnson pulled out of nato. >> go ahead with your comment.

>> you are making false facts when i am trying to make true fact and everything. not only that, but i am sick and tired of every day, you have to bring up trump. trump done a tremendous job and everything, and i am sick and tired of every day, everybody has to go on after trump did go after obama. go after biden. you know he is corrupt. you know how corrupt he and his family is. but nobody ever says anything about it. >> we will go to james in ellenwood, georgia, republican line. caller: good morning. as far as the vaccine, i agree with the vaccine, but i disagree with the mandate. i have a question for the guy you had on.

he had democracy and freedom over here, and on our response ability, and he talked about immigration, and his democracy thing, is a document citizens or population? so if you are over here, and you are not a citizen, it doesn't seem to me that you have a right to talk about any of our political process. if someone could answer the question, please do and good morning to you. >> climate change threatens to spread viruses through an unprepared world. climate change is creating ideal conditions for infectious diseases and transmission. the world's health care systems are not ready for the shock it will cause, according to a new study. nations have largely failed to stress test of covid-19. a novel virus decades and

control of ill misses -- illnesses, and there is a threat and less leaders commit to an ambitious climate plan. it was said in a study when state that in the journal, in named a countdown tracking 44 indicators tracking climate change and highlights worsening social inequality. here is carol in vincent, ohio. carol, i am sorry. i think i may have messed that up. caroline in vincent, ohio. caller: you got it right. host: 30 go. -- there you go. caller: i can't remember what channel it was on, but i just saw that ohio was worse on

vaccines, and i want to say, i have been having trouble, myself, going to the website, and there was a place you click for the coronavirus information for the health department in ohio. it specifically stated where you can get and what reasons you can get a booster shot. and, i am having a horrible time on being able to get my shot. it is over two weeks past the time i am allowed to get a booster shot. i think that is one of the reasons why we are 10th worst. there are so many problems in trying to find where you can get these vaccinations and boosters and what all.

that is all i had to say. >> do you feel it is an issue that is not handled by state officials, or it should be -- we lost her. sorry, we will move on. bob, arlington, texas. independent line. >> good morning. first thing, i want to -- i am depressed over the starry state of journalism these days. they have done a terrible job in letting biden get away with whatever he wants and not talk about anything. journalist just let it go by. that depresses me. the other thing that i want to say is, on c-span, when people go back and find what trump had done. there is a program number on the website for each event, and they can just put that number in and find it real quick. secondly, joe biden.

he is a granddaughter that he has kicked the curb. it worries to me as to why you do that. i finally figured it out. the reason he kicked her to the curb is that he wanted her mother to give her an abortion. he was not doing anything that would protect hunter except to keep this out of the news. hunter had to pay off her mother to keep silent. the journalist should have a hard look with the country. i doubt we are going to make it another three years with his leadership. >> maryland, independent line, open for them. >> thank you. i want to clarify what has been

going on with the booster shots. if the booster shots -- i want to clarify it is not a booster shot. they made it -- administer the vaccine. there is information out there. it is the same as the first news. first one, second one. we hear people say no, it is because they are talking but a booster or something. it is the same and the same second dose. i wish c-span would help and clarify. that is also the third dose. >> why do you think that is an issue? do you think it would be better to use your approach? this is your third dose you are getting rather than calling in a

booster. why do you think it is a disadvantage, and you appear to think that it is a disadvantage. why do you find as booster? >> if you listen to social media, [indiscernible] if you go to the clinic, you ask the president for a booster shot. it will be the same one you got at the first there, and you will get another booster shot. it is the third dose. i don't know why we have a booster. >> thank you. dominic, clarksville, georgia. go ahead. >> thank you, and good morning. i was listening to the comments and i think it was a pretty strong story. but the only thing he mentioned

was the strategic clarity. i don't think we have that. china is ready to leave, the idea that stopping them for now is the olympics. nothing is going to stop them unless we are really clear. i don't think we have clarity yet, and we have to tell them exactly what we are going to do. we have to make that. >> thank you. we are seeing some video from the capitol visitor center. merrick garland is testifying this morning before the house. just a few minutes, and a matter of fact. we will have that life on c-span3. some reporting from jake sherman this morning. he just sent this. they are shifting strategies. they now believe that it will be easier to get a deal with senator joe manchin, and they will try to isolate senator same.

-- cinema. their progressives that are trying to get cinema to disagree. maryland, next up. independent line. >> thinking particular call. i will try to be quick because time is getting short. i think the democrats should stick their guns on the $3.5 trillion package. oftentimes, these policies should be enacted years ago, or decades ago. i guess half a loaf is better than no loaf. that's the wrong analogy. if you're going to hawaii, oftentimes, the captain will say, ladies and gentlemen, we've reached the point of no return. that means if something happens, we are all going to get wet.

answer -- the republicans want to give you half a tank of gas. if you fly off into the sunset, you will never be seen or heard from again. the answer is not to take off until you get what you need. all of these policies are needed. they don't even want to discuss them because that would require the public -- they did not even offer a platform that would last election. what they did was have a three legate stone. they cater to the 1%, and nobody complained when it was 1.7 million going to the 1%. the second leg is to keep a certain portion of the white population in a constant state of agitation, and the last leg of the stone is that we cannot run things and we will ruin them. that's how i feel because of

that plane takes off, it doesn't matter if your first class, business class, coach, everybody is going to get the business. let's you happens. thank you for taking my call. >> this is from the nation. mansion tells the associates that he is considering leaving the democratic party and has an exit plan. in recent days, senator joe manchin has told associates he is considering leaving the democratic already. joe biden democrats on capitol hill do not want to take his demand for $3.5 trillion. they have heard mansion discusses. he says that if this were to happen, he would declare himself an american independent, and he has divide -- devised a detail exit strategy for his departure. this is for mother jones.

a response or follow-up to that is this morning in politico. political playbooks act story on david moran's mansion school. they write that joe manchin knows the report and mother jones that he is considering motoring his houseboat out of the democratic dock, but in recent days, joe manchin has told associates that he is considering leaving the capital. the quote from the article, a rather angry senator manchin told the story that it was be asked. it was 1000% sure that this rose correct. the sourcing was impeccable. even if he had told me it was false, the story was still have run. corn contacted senator manchin early on wednesday telling his press secretary that he had a time sensitive story and wanted to make sure he had a good senator manchin contact who

could respond. the press secretary asked the reporter to send it to her. you can read more about that back and forth in their response and follow-up on the story of joe manchin at politico. here's charles in washington, d.c. on the democratic line. how are you. caller: i have two points. one point is donald trump as it relates. they are charging him for dereliction of duty for lying to the country for the people that died and him not giving the information even though he had it. that is exactly what donald trump did. [indiscernible] they've got evidence to prove he would die because it was during the election. the second point is in west

virginia, there was an op-ed in a west virginia paper. west virginia newspapers, west virginia, one of the poorest states in the country, know what joe manchin is doing. he is derelict in duty as well. all the programs they're pushing, they would help people, but they have a lot of anger or fear and prejudice, more than they have simple understanding. they would rather people die than help people out. you have a great day. host: the first comment charles mae, this is from al jazeera. this is what their reporting on. the brazilian senate reports that bolsonaro, who faces an election year, and election next

year, is the main person responsible for the government's mistakes during the pandemic argyle, pennsylvania. republican line. hello. caller: how are you? thank you. i just heard the last caller, you guys were talking about some things, and joe manchin, you mentioned he was thinking about coming into the republican party? is that what i heard? caller: the report said that he is considering leaving the democratic party. caller: that's a dependable source, true? your broadcasting it, so it must be true. host: it is published. i'm not attesting to its veracity. i am reading the story as a follow-up to a story from politico area.

i have a statement to make, short and sweet. as a longtime republican i would have to say that we are a dependable party and open to new and innovative ideas, but we are allowed to have joe manchin come to light moment, and we would welcome him with open arms. and also that senator from arizona, what's her name? host: let's hear from jerry. go ahead. caller: i would just like to say global warming is something that the far left likes to blame everything on, from global warming to they like to blame inflation, the length of blame of innovation. i see the alaska pipeline and you can see the glaciers receding over two decades of

time, but by the same token, 2000 years ago, there were 2000 feats of ice in the same place. the reality is that geologically, we go through warming and cooling cycles. the oil comes out of the ground, and it flows right by the arctic ocean, and then it is a hundred seven degrees when it comes out of the ground, even though you can see your breath in shady places when it is the middle of july. obviously, they have to have very hundreds of thousands of tropical conditions, and so, by the warming and drying cycle, the earth is going to warm and

cool off at various times, and this is a climate change story. >> this is in the wall street journal. biking artifacts pinpoint europeans crossing. i knew look at wooden artifacts amid ruins of ancient homesteads showing that vikings crossed the atlantic and settled in north america as far back as 102180. exactly 1000 years ago. almost five centuries be or columbus's famous voyage. we will try to get in a quick call from ryan before the house comes in. republican line, 30 seconds of your thoughts. >> yes. thank you for taking my call. i wanted mention a few things about joe manchin. it could be a political thing that goes on, but if he is wanting to get out of the democratic party, that will really change things up. the other is, everyone takes

this vaccine freely, but they don't realize that your tax dollars are paying for it. the pharmaceutical companies are getting billions of dollars from . >> we have to rep it appeared. the house is coming in for morning hours. we will jump to legislative business at noon. we will see her tomorrow morning. lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. october 21, 2021. i hereby appoint the honorable susan k. delbene to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant seunt to the order of the house of january 4, 2021, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the