and on wednesday, on c-span.org and the c-span now mobile video app, airline ceo's discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their industry before the senate commerce, science, and transportation industry. watch this week on the c-span networks, or you can watch full coverage on c-span now, our new mobile video app. or you can head to c-span.org to stream video live or on-demand, anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. coming up on today's "washington journal," we will talk with jackie nowicki from the government accountability office, discussing any report on bullying, hate crimes, and other hostile behaviors in schools. then a chief medical advisor of the bipartisan policy center, dr. anand parekh, talks about

the latest on the coronavirus pandemic and a new report on how to improve the u.s. public health system. join the conversation with your calls, texts, and tweets. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: yesterday as part of the g-7 nations the united states joined his six other partners in issuing another warning to russia for its increased troop presence and imminent threat to ukraine. president biden spent two hours last week speaking with the russian president. no real breakthrough was announced and the threat in ukraine remains high, preventing an immediate and urgent challenge to the biden administration. this is "washington journal." welcome to the program. this first hour, we will ask

about the foreign policy of the biden administration. how would you rate president biden's foreign policy? for republicans, the line to use is (202) 748-8001. democrats, it is (202) 748-8000 independents and others, (202) 748-8002. you can send as a text. that is (202) 748-8003. tell us your name and where you're texting from. we are on facebook. we will look for your questions there and welcome your comments on twitter and instagram at @cspanwj. there is a new poll by abc which we will touch on momentarily that covers not only foreign policy but a number of areas for the biden administration. first, a piece in politico. the headline of that piece saying, old photos -- foes. president biden wants to pave it u.s. foreign policy to the future but has not been able to

shake the past. -- casting side the trump years in favor of rebuilding alliances and proving that democracy can still deliver for citizens. the clear premise, that going forward the united states foreign policy would be centered on competition with the world's other superpower, china. but he writes the administration has had to contend with the war it inherited, a challenge underscored this week when it was forced to address saber rattling by flood rebooting -- vladimir putin. biden staged a virtual meeting with his russian counterpart. he also writes that withdrawing troops from afghanistan and ending the nation? largest war, conducted by three u.s. presidents, harrowing

images of violence and fear shook the faith of allies and americans in the administration's confidence. efforts to restart the iran nuclear deal are on the verge of collapse and the emergence of a new covid-19 variant quickly raced around the globe, underscoring the pandemic was as much a national security crisis as a health one, restarting cries for the u.s. to step to the forefront to vaccinate the world. question for you on the foreign policy of the biden administration. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. for independents and others, (202) 748-8002. abc has a new presidential rating poll that came out yesterday. president biden's job approval syncing on inflation, crime, and covid is the headline of the piece. in that poll, particularly on

foreign, abc finds biden's recent video with vladimir putin did not appear to have impressed the american public. most americans disapprove of how wyden is handling relations with russia. only 38% of americans trust biden to negotiate on america's behalf with putin, down from 49% in june. president biden was asked saturday after his announcement on the tornadoes in kentucky about the threats from russia and ukraine. here's what the president said. [video clip] >> here's the deal. i have made it clear to president putin. if he moves on ukraine, the economic consequences for his economy are going to be devastating.

we will find we will have to send more american and nato troops, all those nato countries where we have a sacred obligation to defend them against any attack by russia. number three, the impact of all of that on russia and the rest of the world's view of russia would change markedly. we are going to continue to provide for the defense capacity of the cranium people. -- ukrainian people. host: and news reported in the washington times. the g7 morning rush on ukraine invasion. foreign ministers in the group of seven nations issued a blunt warning to russia to draw down forces that have amassed on ukraine's border, accusing moscow of trying to intimidate its neighbor and vowing strong action if russia does not relent.

g7 industrial powers joined by the european union are united in condemnation of russia's military buildup and aggressive rhetoric toward ukraine. secretary of state antony blinken on that discussion, part of the g7 yesterday, we will hear from him momentarily. let's hear from you. ronald, how do you rate president biden's foreign policy? ronald is in hollywood, florida. caller: right now, i am approving of his foreign policy. president biden is doing his job. when it comes to putin, he put his foot down, and that is what he has to do. of course i am a democrat. i voted for him. host: to john on the republican

line, virginia. caller: i think the withdrawal, the way they did it from afghanistan creates other problems. some of them might be with the chinese and taiwan. some of them may be with ukraine. ukraine is a tough issue. we do not understand that this is a redline issue for the russians. when this soviet union broke up, there were 25 million russians living outside the soviet union, plus ukraine is considered the birthplace of russia. there is a lot of stuff going on that is a mixture of ethnic and political. we have to be careful about this. the expansion of nato probably was not the smartest move.

ukraine is one of those issues we will have to deal with. host: you mentioned the withdrawal from afghanistan. what do you think our allies and foes see in that withdrawal that concerns you? caller: everybody wanted a withdrawal. trump wanted a withdrawal. the way it was done had bad theatrics to it. unfortunately, when the president said, they have to work out their own civil war, china could say we have a problem with taiwan. they are part of china. should we work that out the way we want to? it does create some difficulties. it was a tough move, but it would have been done one way or another. maybe biden did it in a way that was maybe not the best way. i am not going to be super critical of him except to say that he -- that it was done not

the best way, although everybody was moving in that direction. host: to san clemente, california, ron on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking the call. i have mixed views about the foreign policy but i think we should clear away some of the degree that has been out there in the media. number one is good as you mentioned about afghanistan, i think that was probably the smoothest withdrawal the americans have ever had from a location, in spite of the 13 lost soldiers. i can see nothing wrong with that part. there is something about the biden administration that has been extremely good. one of those things was the

renegotiation with the european union, reestablishing our ties there and the fundamental basics of our society. we have to come to grips with one thing that is so important, and that is we are in overpopulated planet. if we do not get along with each other, we are going to be in real big problems. as far is -- as china is concerned, that is a canard. china's threat is economic. we had tariffs. it raises the price here and therefore inflation continues to go up based on that kind of thought process. we have to do away with tariffs on all scales.

how the world got mixed up with that to begin with is silly. host: heather says presidency -- president xi uses capitalism. biden should focus on adjusting to this geopolitical shift of power with diplomacy, not aggression. the bbc reporting on that announcement made by the g7 nations, russia, ukraine massive consequences if moscow invades, g7 says. the u.k. foreign secretary speaking after a summit in liverpool said the group wanted russia to stop its aggression. president putin told president biden last week that russian troops did not pose a threat to anyone. russian media reports tensions are growing as moscow masses

troops. the secretary of state at that meeting had these comments. >> i want to go back to our european allies, the ones who are hesitant, and stronger action than what you would like to do. >> i am here at the meeting of the world's largest economies, including many european partners. we just put out a statement in the name of all of our countries that warns of massive consequences of russia commits acts of aggression against ukraine. i was at nato. i found all of our allies resolute in their concern about what russia may be doing and maybe planning as well as their determination to take strong, coordinated steps if russia does act aggressively. that is the best way to deter russia. there are other steps we have been taking as well. we have been continuing to shore up ukraine's defenses.

we are looking at what nato can do to defend itself. what is preferable is diplomacy and dialogue. if russia moves in that direction, we can avoid another crisis. we can avoid the potential for conflict. that is in our interest, and russia's. host: how do you rate president biden's foreign policy? republicans, (202) 748-8000. democrats, (202) 748-8001. all others, (202) 748-8002. "washington journal" -- "washington post editorial writers writing about what area they see as a success of biden's foreign policy, fighting corruption. they write, the white house beat

a deadline it imposed on itself for a study on how the united states and its allies might go over global hypocrisy, delivering a report in advance of last week's summit. past efforts to stop malign finance have mostly followed headline making scandals for the legislature. think of the post-watergate era that ushered in the foreign corrupt practices act, improvements to foia, and more. the salvos have proved inadequate to stop the flow of illicit wealth. anyone unconvinced need only look at the leaked pandora papers cataloging elected officials buying secret vias -- villas or human rights violators stashing earnings in south dakota trusts. anticorruption was a theme of mr. biden's presidential campaign and the document is not

just rhetoric but has teeth. san jose, california. let's hear from doug on the republican line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i rate the biden administration's foreign policy as a failure from the start. the withdrawal from afghanistan was an unmitigated disaster. we left behind allies and americans. his weakness against our sworn enemies, china, russia, iran, north korea, and others allows them to smell blood in the water. he is not capable of standing up to them, whether anyone likes it or not. when trump was president, the fact that he was bellicose and a tough guy put our enemies back on their heels because they

realized that president trump, even though he tried to negotiate with people, was willing to stand his ground and put the military of the united states on notice to stand up to our enemies. that is why trump supported the military. overall, the biden administration's foreign policy is a disaster. thank you. host: to sydney calling from louisiana. caller: i have confronted two your guests about the ukraine. the lady said she did not want to talk about it. it was too early in the morning. she was there talking about ukraine. the man said they used colorful language. we started that mess.

how much money we spent to overthrow them. john was over there pushing it too -- john mccain was over there pushing it too. you all just seem to want to have the opinion shows. you always talking about our government the other day. we have a government that commits crimes, puts it as a secret, and then the whistleblowers go to jail. why don't you all start using some facts, not propaganda? i hate bush, i hate donald trump, i hate ronald reagan. it is just propaganda is all you are putting out now just like the rest of the news media. host: so garland in texas. how do you rate president biden's foreign policy? caller: i guess i give him about an eight.

it is said that people are against biden like they were obama. i guess they think obama is still in there. trump never said nothing to putin about his soldiers or nothing. he gave north korea free reign, no check on them, and pulling the united states out. biden is doing a terrific job. people need to back them up like they backed trump up when he was nothing but a crook. host: our caller mentioned north korea. this is a report from axios. end to korean war agreed to and principal. again, axios saying the south korean president said today the u.s.-north korea -- his country and trying to have agreed in

principle to declare a end to the korean war but they have yet to meet on the matter. moon believes the move would help restart stalled negotiations between the countries on pyongyang's denuclearization. a spokesperson said the u.s. officials were prepared to meet without preconditions. here is paul in florida. what are your thoughts? caller: good morning. overall, i think the biden administration foreign policy is a complete disaster. the point i want to make due to limited time is this with regard to red china. when you are boycotting red china, the reason is incomplete. the main reason is this tennis star, the disappearing or whatever. to me, the main reason should be

the fentanyl that red china is purposely flooding the united states and killing 100,000 of our young, best citizens when red china said it was a redline with taiwan. we should have said, when you kill 100,000 americans purposefully, we do not give a damn about your red line pr you have already crossed our redline. if you want to have a redline, we do not give a damn. when you flood our country with these drugs, you can go to hell. thank you. host: this is the new york times with the headline, meadows played key role in bid to overturn vote. the house committee investigating the january 6 attack on the capital released a report sunday that laid out his

case for contempt of congress charges against mark meadows, chief of staff to former president trump. presenting evidence of his involvement in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. in the document, the committee said it wanted to question mr. meadows about an email he sent to the day before the attack advising the national guard would be used to defend trump supporters. the panel also wanted to ask him about an exchange with a senator about rejecting electors for president joe biden. the committee will meet tonight. that is coming up tonight at 7:00 eastern. it will consider the contempt citation against mark meadows. we will have live coverage of that here on c-span and our mobile app coming up tonight.

i believe wednesday the full house will take it up. asking you this morning about how you rate the foreign policy of the biden administration, let's hear from john on our republican line in california. caller: good morning. i would like to make the comment that the southern border is a foreign policy thing where biden has failed in allowing all these immigrants into our country with not knowing who they are and whatever. my main concern is i do not trust him. i do not think he is a competent leader. he is going to get us into a war. he is talking tough and then he will back down and get us into a war. i hope americans realize if you look at afghanistan -- he does not have a handle on things and

now he talks tough. what is he going to do when he is backed into a corner? he is working himself into a corner. if he had only not set the date and just taken more time, none of that would have happened, but he set a date. on the border, look at what is happening. in ukraine, he is talking tough. he is going to back himself into a corner and get us into a war. please don't do it. host: this is writing about president biden's foreign policy. biden must choose between appeasement and deterrence in ukraine. it writes that joe biden's virtual meeting with blood and reboot and did not resolve the military crisis threatening ukraine but did clarify two matters. it confirmed russia's demands for legal guarantees to constrain future nato enlargements without a quid pro quo from russia.

second, u.s. sources made public details of the sanctions russia could expect if it carries out fresh invasion of ukraine. these developments help resolve the debate on how the west should respond to russia's military buildup on ukraine's border. russia's determination to alter the status quo has created the crisis. there are probably three positions. -- positions. that moscow was bluffing, that it poses a threat, or that washington and its allies must threaten a strong response to deter further russian aggression. mitch mcconnell on the senate floor recently my of the administration's foreign policy. here are his comments. >> the democratic party does not make the policy decisions of a

party that is serious about protecting our country. a budget proposal proposed a defective cut in defense spending. that was before the president's own supercharged inflation cut the purpose inc. -- purchasing power. his botched afghanistan retreat shattered our allies' trust and delight the terrorists. in 10 months in office, despite naive talk from the administration, the threats we face are worse. the vacuum they left in afghanistan has emboldened terrorists from iran's militias to the highest ranks. their desperation to return to a failed nuclear deal has given around the upper hand in negotiations. for four years, my colleagues

constantly focused on putin and russia but now, with putin flaunting his power and russia engaged in ongoing attacks, weapons tests, and troop buildups, crickets. for all their talk about china, we have seen no evidence that democrats intend for the united states to keep pace with investments in nuclear and hypersonic weapons. the bipartisan national defense strategy commission has made clear we cannot shortchange our military modernization and have a prayer of competing with the people's republic of china or even the declining but dangerous russian republic. my colleagues across the aisle have missed one opportunity after another to right the ship. they have used the reconciliation process without a

cent for defending the nation. despite the strong work of our colleagues on the armed services committee, democratic leaders kept the defense authorization bill in limbo for months. host: this sets russia will not be happy until it gobbles up free nations like ukraine and rebuilds the old soviet union. we and our allies must stand against russian aggression. russia is disturbed it no longer has a puppet in the white house and must rely on tucker carlsen's propaganda to destroy american democracy. and we must fix our own government before we fix someone else's. we are not a united country. listen to some of the calls taking points from white supremacy television. it is john, tulsa, oklahoma. >> i am very pleased with president biden's foreign policy

after four years of dealing with the former president who got along famously with just bits -- despots and was a puppet. i am glad he pulled out of afghanistan. there is no easy way to do that. we should have done that 10 years ago. i am not worried about getting in another war. with russia or anything like that. i am not worried about china. we are still number one. we just have to get past these republicans because they are destroying our country. host: let's hear from elizabeth in louisiana. caller: good morning. i would rate president biden's foreign policy with an a because the former president did not do

anything. he was a pushover for putin, for china, and all these authoritarian leaders. it was what he wanted to be. he wanted to be an authoritarian. he was a crook, a thief, a liar, and a cheat. he should never be able to get back in the white house again. to finish what he started with his cronies. host: some of the trump administration foreign policy is continuing with our relationship with israel. here is the headline from the washington post. it really prime minister makes first visit to ua. -- israeli prime minister makes

first visit to the ua. the country has established diplomatic relations last year. washington post writes that israel has objected to the biden administration's efforts to broker a new multinational effort to rein in iran's nuclear research. israel cheered in 2018 when present in -- president donald trump announced his intention to draw out of the deal. the government has tried to marshall diplomatic resistance to a new deal. officials have warned washington they have not ruled out military strikes against iranian facilities they consider threats. this was broker largely by two leaders who have since fallen from office. trump and benjamin netanyahu. their successors have pushed to grow the fledgling ties.

let's hear from joe in alabama. good morning. republican line. caller: good morning. it is a crazy question. how would we rate the biden administration's foreign policy? obviously it is a disaster. it is hard for me even to understand people calling in saying it is perfect. another thing is watching things go on. i kinda feel sorry for you guys having to make things sound good. i have something specific to say. i noticed this is our subject but one of your cutaways, you went to a new york times article

speaking of mark meadows. are you there? host: yes, we did. caller: you spark -- spoke of mark meadows and how he met -- you used the word and this word has been overturn the election. there was no such thing. nobody has tried to overthrow the election. they were questioning the election, which is natural and people have done it in 2016. many republicans did it. that was not called overturning the election. they questioned. you are insisting on calling this an overturning of the election. host: i am not insisting. we were reading the article from the new york times. that is their writing. when we read an article, we try to adhere to what those folks have written in the article.

i read from the new york times. caller: the new york times now. and the washington post. you people believe that stuff? did something happen here like last week where it out of nowhere that putin was going to attack ukraine? now we are on that. there will be no such thing. it is just a made up -- everything i am seeing now on the media, the washington post and all of this and even you guys coming in is just trying to somehow make this disastrous administration sound good. you have an impossible job. good luck to you.

host: let's go to tommy, kentucky, on our democrats line. caller: i was calling to give my opinion. that last caller, i do not know if he is russian or not, but it seems to me they always want to go on the news. do they forget about trump going to helsinki for three hours for a secret meeting? do they also forget that they did attack the capitol and did want to steal the election? they wanted to make trump their dictator, and my opinion. i served my time in the military. and the hanging of mike pence. how can anybody step on the capitol grounds and wants to hang the vice president? if you do not read the electoral

votes in the favor of a dictator? trump was a dictator want to be a. they can believe it or not, but he wanted to give putin our country. i hope and pray that we stop him in any way we can, that that will never happen again. host: you are calling us from kentucky. how are things in your town in belcher, kentucky? caller: in belcher, you have people running up and down the road in their vehicles, running boxes past my house because they know and i do not agree with republicans much. they are out there trying to intimidate people i guess to come and vote. i do not intimidate. host: thanks for your opinion

this morning. the opinion here of the lexington herald. their headline, what happened inside in tornado's path and questions kentucky needs answered. they write that western kentuckians continue to clean up after possibly the most -- most deadly tornadoes to ever hit the state. why is one town destroyed and not another? there are other things about the storm that we need answers on immediately. most involve the storm's deadliest target, the mayfield consumer-products factory where 110 people were working the night shift. only 40 people have been accounted for as of sunday morning. by sunday night, better news had emerged as the associated press reported that 90 people from the factory have now been accounted for and survived. a spokesman said eight people were confirmed dead by the factory. many of the employees were gathered in a tornado shelter after the storm was over and

left the plant hearing with the power out and no landline, they were hard to reach initially. we are hoping to find more of those eight unaccounted for as we try their home residencies -- residences. let's go to dennis on the independent line. how would you rate the biden administration's foreign policy? caller: good morning. i think biden is doing a very good job. there are a few things he needs to take into consideration. one is the united states of 2000 two is not the united states of 1950 that controlled about 75% of manufacturing in the world. all we had to do was tell another country we will do a sanction if you remember the cliche in the 1960's. why are you trying to do the right thing and establish or

reestablish or fortify? he is not doing it on the same circumstances as the 1950's and 1960's. a lot of european countries have strong ties to china. they have strong ties to russia economically. he is doing the best he can within the framework that he has. trump's approach of stubbing your finger at the rest of the world in my opinion was a catastrophe. last of all, as for what mcconnell said, this was the same gentleman that in trump's words needed to come before the american people and tell them how many chinese corporations he and his wife are board members. he is the same person that stood on the same senate floor and

said his president, the president of his party, was responsible for an attack on our nation's capital. yet he gets there, stands up, and criticizes biden. i think it is laughable, to say the least. host: there were diplomatic moves last week regarding china with the u.s. announcing a partial boycott on the upcoming winter olympics. here is press secretary jen psaki. [video clip] >> the biden administration will not send diplomatic or official representation to the beijing 2020 winter olympics and paralympic games given the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity and other human rights abuses. the athletes on team usa have our full support. we will be behind them 100% as we cheer them on from home. we will not be can to being to the fanfare of the games. u.s. diplomatic or official representation we treat these games as business as usual in

the face of egregious human rights abuses and atrocities. we similar cannot do that. standing up for human rights is in the dna of americans. we have a fundamental commitment to promote human rights and feel strongly in opposition. we will continue to take actions to advance human rights in china and beyond. host: asking you this morning about the president's foreign policy. (202) 748-8000, the -- (202) 748-8001, the line for republicans. (202) 748-8000 for democrats. the senate returning this week for work and what may be ahead for the build back better plan. politico writes about that. there headline, all eyes on the joe's, a picture of west virginia. politico writes president joe biden is spit it -- set to speak

with senator joe manchin as early as today and what will be a make or break moment for passing the build back better plan before christmas. senate majority leader chuck schumer has been adamant that his chamber will clear the $1.7 trillion social spending package before senators leave for the holidays. yet everyone knows that will not happen without the west virginia democrat and democrats are looking for some presidential arm-twisting to get him there. back to your calls. perry on the republican line. caller: i find the biden administration foreign policy to be a failure. this goes back to 1989 and george h. w. bush and every president that followed him other than trump. we seem to want to build these consensuses with the european

union and these countries that have their hands out on the back of the middle class. it seems the only people who speak to us honestly are russia and israel. all these other countries just seem to want to take our power, our jobs, our money, and that is the mentality of this foreign policy. george bush called it the new world order back in the day and that is what we are looking at. i do not understand where people cannot see what a horrible path we are going down. donald trump's all right through that. it was clear. he saw what it was and tried to bust it up. unfortunately, the government was too powerful, just like during fast and furious with those whistleblowers' lives were

destroyed for going forward. that is where we are. host: donald in virginia, independent line. go ahead. caller: my biggest concern is the china-iran deal. jack sullivan and tony blinken have failed to bring us back in and made iran feel they needed to sign a treaty with china, which is giving china a port on the street for her mood -- strait of hormuz. the treaty is for security as well as economic. it will be involved in developing infrastructure and iran and building out the iranian security systems. they will have access to all the oil that iran has.

that will give iran a huge amount of currency for the belgian military as well as their country. iran -- this -- i feel this is a gateway for china to have influence as well spread into those countries with presence on the persian gulf to the mediterranean. i feel eventually saudi arabia could come under the influence of china and the emmons -- yemens. i would wish that c-span on the journal would have an expert on the subject one day for the discussion.

host: we will likely do something like that in the coming weeks. in the washington times, a piece by a former pentagon official in the george h. w. bush administration. is russia about to invade ukraine? he writes, there are two huge problems in mr. biden's approach to deterring russia from invading ukraine. first is that, although his administration insist all options are on the table, no one believes we would intervene militarily to defend ukraine against russian invasion. second, the talk of economic and political sanctions against russia, if it invades ukraine, have been wrong. mr. putin is not deterred by threats of sanctions or their actuality. sanctions against russia for its conquest of crimea, its war in eastern ukraine, election

interference, malicious cyber attacks, and the use of chemical weapons in attempted assassination, illicit trade with north korea, and support to syria and venezuela have fields to change his behavior. that is from the. the former acting ambassador to ukraine was on abc's this week yesterday and was asked about possible russian invasion in ukraine and whether there might be possible chinese moves against taiwan. [video clip] >> the ramifications extend beyond ukraine. he mentioned the possibility that china may feel emboldened to move on taiwan. >> china is looking to see what president putin gets away with and what president biden resists. if president biden is tough as

he has been and ready to impose serious sanctions and serious costs, president she -- president xi will hesitate. host: how do you rate biden administration foreign policy? ? caller: what i wanted to do was mention a book that gives the opposite viewpoint of this problem. it was written and entitled war with russia, from putin and ukraine to trump and russiagate. on page 147, he says, at the time it was known that president george h. w. bush had especially persuaded gorbachev through the not one inch promise. ever since, bill clinton began

the ongoing process of nato expansion, insisting there was no such promise to gorbachev and it had been a myth or misunderstanding. now the national security archive at george washington university has established the truth by publishing on december 12, 2017 not only a detailed account of what gorbachev was promised but the documents. the list was published in 20-19 -- 2019. i just wanted anyone interested in the other side of this story to check with their library to see if they have a copy of "war with russia? " with a? host: democrats line.

caller: on the foreign policy issue for president biden, i think what he did for china as well as with russia, i thought he could have been tougher with them. also, i understand what mr. biden is going through is a rough patch, but i think what he is doing is also making it a little tough for us to stand out in the world. i might disagree with the caller from west virginia who may have put out something about russia gate or something like that, but i think what president biden is doing may a little bit complicated for putting himself in measures related to this. what article or what part of the coverage where you archiving it from?

host: his comments from saturday? caller: now, i think it was from -- from abc this week with george stephanopoulos. host: it was from yesterday. caller: it could have been a little more tough. he could have been more tough on the issue regarding the foreign policy between him and president xi and president putin of russia. speaking of putin from russia, i wanted to comment about the democracy summit that president biden held last week. what my concern is is that even though he was tough on the issue with democratic related topics such as voting rights, president

biden, i do not know if he ever notices, but some countries he was hosting, he also forgot to mention some of them were authoritarian rulers. i do not know why he was able to do this. here in the united states, we have a very problematic issue with voting rights. i do not understand why c-span or any of the other news media coverage is talking about the march happening here in the united states at 12:00 p.m. at union square that is going to be led by the poor people campaign led by reverend william barber. why is he not announcing his stance on the filibuster reform? host: that is happening today, you said? caller: it is happening today. it is on the poor people campaign website. it is meant to pressure president biden and joe manchin

to pass the bills back better plan. host: you are not the only one to comment or criticize the dissidents -- dissonance. the news media and elsewhere reflected on nations invited to that summit. why do you suppose they were allowed to attend? it is escaping me which nations received the criticism on that. why do you suppose the administration continued to allow those nations to participate? caller: it is not from me. it is from a watchdog. it is also from don winslow, an award-winning author and democratic activist. i get my information from them because they always try to say what is transparent in the news

media and what is transparent in the administration. i am not trying to criticize the news media for that. i'm just saying i think they need to do a better job of making sure we take care of not just what is happening overseas but also what is happening domestically first. host: thanks for the call. to new jersey, democrats line. caller: good morning. i think biden -- i think biden is a pathetic type of leader. he has a spiritual side and a physical side. he tries to do things with decency and respect. he is not a stupid person. he has experience. i trust him because he has experience with people and foreign countries with great

leadership with barack obama. what the problem is in the united states is racism. republicans hate biden. it is a shame nobody is helping him. republicans are not helping him. if you're not helping people solve problems, how can you talk and run your mouth? they ain't in reality. i think biden is doing a pretty good job so far with the mess he is dealing with. even in life, people give you messes. this is a struggle. donald trump left this country a mess. host: the president and his administration also facing problems with not having personnel in place, particularly diplomats. joe biden's diplomatic appointments hit a roadblock. it will be a year into his inauguration soon.

joe biden has appointed ambassadors to only eight countries so far. much of the world with which the u.s. has diplomatic ties remains without an american ambassador, including india, afghanistan, china, japan, australia, and russia. india, australia, and japan -- australia and the u.k. form part of the new military trilateral and are therefore important. china and russia are key appointments. so is pakistan, important for its regional location. various domestic reasons have resulted in the slow process ranging from domestic politics, differences between biden and the vice president, and republicans in the senate who have been successful in blocking appointments. u.s.'s are political appointees, even those who hail from the

foreign service. the process for clearing a person for an abbasid door -- ambassadorial post is a prolonged one. caller: good morning parent to god be the glory. i have been listening to all morning. our president is one of the most experienced presidents we have had on foreign diplomacy, and he must not hesitate to do what needs to be done. germany has not apologized for world war i or two and they already have world war iii in the bunkers. -- not just black people but poor people period. god has put a man in place so that he will hear -- heal from

the bottom up, nothing top-down. the propaganda remind me of what hitler's said hearing if you tell -- said. if you tell lies long enough, people believe it is the truth. right now, democrats in control, they need to go forward in the name of jesus. host: to bill on the republican line in montana. caller: i am going to quote bob gates, the secretary of defense for bush and barack obama. he said, biden has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy issue over the last four decades. i think he has managed to maintain that same standing over this last year.

host: we have a moment or two left. we can get a call or two. headline here on the president's foreign policy. we will go back to presidential job approval numbers, presidential job approval sinking on inflation. warhead here on washington journal. next, a new report on bullying and hate crimes and other hostile behaviors in schools. it is from the government accountability office and jacqueline nowicki will join us to talk about that report. later, the chief medical advisor on on parikh -- anand parekh will talk about how >> this week on the c-span networks. congress returns with a shorter

workweek. the senate takes up a bill increasing the nation's debt limit. the senate also continues work on the defense bill. today at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, a house committee investigating the january 6 attack on the capital meets to consider citing mark meadows for criminal contempt of congress are refusing to cooperate with the investigation. tuesday at 10:00 a.m. eastern, confirmation hearing for commissioner of the food and drug administration before the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee. wednesday at 2:30 p.m. eastern on cspan.org, airline ceos discuss the impact of coronavirus pandemic on their industries. watch this week on the c-span networks or watch full coverage on c-span now, our new mobile video app. also head over to cspan.org for scheduling information or to

stream video live or on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> many people don't want to believe that the citizens of the southern states were willing to fight and die to preserve the morally repugnant institution of slavery. there has to be another reason, we were told. there isn't. the evidence is clear and overwhelming. slavery was by a wide margin the single most important cause of the civil war. these are the words and opinions of retired southern born army general ty sijili. he lays out his views in his book, robert e. lee and me, subtitled, the southerners' reckoning with the myth of the lost cause. >> but notes plus is available on the c-span now app or

wherever you get your podcasts. >> c-span offers a variety of podcasts that has something for every listener. weekdays, washington today gives you the latest from the nation's capital. every week, book notes paul -- book notes plus has interviews with elitist writers and looks at how issues of the day developed over the years and our occasional series talking with, features conversations with historians about their lives and work. many of our television programs are also available as podcasts. you can find them all on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are joined next by jacqueline nowicki, the education workforce and income security director of the government accountability office . here to talk with us this

morning about their new report on hate in u.s. schools and violence in u.s. schools. jacqueline nowicki, welcome to "washington journal." guest: thank you for having me. host: first, tell me the overall mission of the government accountability office. guest: gao is a nonpartisan congressional agency. we are tasked with providing objective fact-based analysis for both sides of the aisle. gao analyzes and audits programs and provides information to congress for them to use in their decision-making. we are not policymakers ourselves. host: the way your reports are generated, you get a request from a lawmaker or somebody else within the administration to follow-up on this particular issue? guest: correct. like almost all gao work, this work was punted by congressional interest.

it is obviously a high interest topic. this specifically was done in response to a request from the house committee on education and labor. host: this report was generated, covering what years? guest: we looked at nationally generalized survey data over a series of years, from about 2014 to the most recent data we used was school year 2018. host: for our viewers and listeners, that report is in the k-12 education. the title of the report is students' experiences with bullying, hate crimes, and victimization in schools. jacqueline nowicki, how do you begin a report like this? what are you looking for? what kind of data? guest: in general, the first

thing we do is consider what congress wants to know, and like most researchers, we create research questions that are unbiased and objective, that will help us answer those questions or uncover information that would give congress information about what it wants to know, and we look for data that is reliable, available, validated sources. in this case, we used two nationally generalizable surveys. one was a survey of school principals, and the other was a survey of school students. we also talked to federal civil rights groups, the department of education, those sorts of things. host: the headline from the washington post reporting on

your report. students have faced a huge jump in hostile behavior. attacks with weapons doubled. one in five students ages 12 to 18 were bullied during the 2017-18 school year. 2018-19, one in four students saw bullying related to race, national origin, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. one in four saw hate symbols or words in their schools. give us a sense of how this compares to previous data that gao may have reported on, or other available data on that. guest: for bullying specifically, that has remained relatively constant over time. it is really hate crimes, physical assault with a weapon, those specific types of hostile behaviors have significantly increased.

those in particular have doubled. i wouldn't say it is a mixed bag but while bullying has been around for a long time and isn't new, certain types of bullying really seemed to have ticked up in the last several years. bullying based on identity, things like race, ethnicity, sexual identity or orientation, physical assaults with a weapon, sexual assault. those kinds of specific incidents have definitely ticked up more recently. host: did you find that the internet social media in particular is exacerbating reports of bullying? guest: social media and cyber bullying is not new. it has definitely been getting more attention, lately and

social media and the internet, like they say, the internet is forever and with respect to these incidents, it is a double-edged sword. because the incidents are hard to get rid of, they can continue harming students, and people who have similar identities as the victims but because they are hard to get rid of online, i think documenting them and awareness of them has certainly become a little easier and perhaps more prevalent. host: i want to ask about two big numbers, attacks with weapons and the threat of an attack with weapons. from the 2015-16 school year to the next, 5300 reports. the next year, 11,000 physical attacks with weapons in the 2017-18 school year. the threat of attacks, 18,000 in

the 2015-16 school year and 27,000 in the 2017-18 school year. what is behind that huge jump in numbers? guest: the data we looked at for this report doesn't allow us to know why these numbers are increasing. i will say we did find that schools that are associated with widespread disorder, disrespectful behavior, more commonly has issues like this, but the data that we have come of the federal data doesn't tell us why instances are increasing. host: also physical and sexual assaults increasing. in 2017-18, about 64 attempted

rapes occurred in 726 schools. sexual assault other than rape increased by 17% during the same period. nearly 1000 schools reported sexual from staff against students. this is also an increase. are the schools themselves taking any measures based on what your report is finding? guest: yes. we did find a lot of schools are taking steps to improve their school climates in general. confident school climates are associated with less frequent instances like these. things like anti-bullying training, they are increasing the types of social emotional learning programs. creating and for the and improve

it -- creating empathy and improving problem-solving skills. we also found a number of instances where schools are ignoring these behaviors and sometimes with serious consequences for sustained periods of time. that is up and when the department of education or justice will get involved and initiate and it -- initiate an investigation. host: how long did this together? guest: on average, gao reports take somewhere between nine and 12 months. this took slightly longer than that. this one, it took us a little bit longer to get the data that we needed.

host: jackie nowicki, spearheading this report, she is the director of the education workforce insecurity at the government accountability office . if you are an educator, that number is (202)-748-8000. for parents, (202)-748-8001. for all others, (202)-748-8002. we welcome your comments via text at (202)-748-8003. on twitter, we are @cspanwj. a question for you, jackie nowicki. this was sent in. my massachusetts town schools never reported a leading incidents as if we never had them. is there a source for student reported built -- student reported bullying or does it all get filtered by staff?

guest: there is a general nationalized survey that goes to students. because it is a survey sample, it does not go to all students. school districts, they report regularly on bullying incidents in their schools but that is from the school district, not from students. if anyone has instances that they feel are connected to identity, those sort of civil rights issues, you can file a complaint directly with the department of education office of civil rights. host: quickly before we go to calls, the headline from the wall street journal over the weekend, schools see a rise in student misbehavior, school district across the u.s. say they are seeing a surge of student misbehavior in the return to in person learning after months of closures and disruptions due to the pandemic.

i know we will get questions about that. your report focuses on the school year 2017-18, correct? guest: our data went from 2014-15 through school year 2018-19. that was the most recent data available at the time we did this report. i will say that in general, returning to in person school as we all know has not been easy for many students. there has been a rise in exam t and depression before the spring of 2020 but the pandemic has definitely accelerated that. we've spoken to dozens of parents, teachers and school officials this year over the course of different engagements we are working on and it is not uncommon to hear from them about increased behavior and a lack of socialization. host: let's go to calls on our

subject with jackie nowicki. robert is first up in randolph, massachusetts. caller: thanks for taking my call. i have a question or comment. my question is we harden the school by putting insecurity and all that. i don't think that hardening the school will be the answer alone. i know that it will be a deterrent but i think we are focused much more on hardening the school. what we need to do is prepare the students to know what the problem is. the jump from 5000 to 11,000 is the fact that we had a presidency for four years that encouraged this kind of behavior. if it's a rally happening, he would say let's kick them where they belong. if it's at the top, in the bottom up becomes normal with

four years of the trump presidency. if you have a president who does not set an example to calm down that kind of behavior, you've got kids coming in with a gun to shoot because they don't see that there is a problem to be solved. they don't talk to their parents or these kinds of steps. hardening the school would not be the solution, because he can't solve this problem with guns. host: ok. jackie nowicki? guest: your caller is raising a good point. there needs to be a multipronged approach. students, parents, staff, the entire community, school officials are really responsible for creating positive, safe environments in their schools and communities. schools are microcosms of their

community. there are a number of steps that schools are taking, some of them are named -- some of them are things the caller was mentioning. teaching problem-solving skills and empathy to prevent those kinds of behaviors in the future. we did see an increase in the use of school resource officers in schools. it is unclear, the degree to which school resource officers improve school climates. the data is mixed. is a multipronged approach, and i think -- it is a multipronged approach and i think a safer more positive school environment is depended on everyone behaving in ways that we would want -- dependent on everyone behaving in ways that we would want. host: casey is next in rhode island. caller: good morning.

a good topic. i have a solution. get rid of all the phones, from these teenagers, these young kids walking around with to phones where they don't need them. they need new ways of teaching in the schools. it's not the school's responsibility to teach our children how to be kind to other people. it is up to the parents. may be the children and teenagers should get more involved in something they can do for their communities, or help each other out. i tell my grandmother -- my granddaughter that was suspended last week for taking a picture of somebody that has a disability. that broke my heart, because that is how i made my living for 35 years, taking care of other

people. it is sad what is happening to our children, and the parents need to check themselves. they are looking at the adults behaving like spoiled brats, so who is the adult in the house and also i agree with the person that just got off the phone, from massachusetts. everybody have a good morning. take the phones from the carriage. -- from the kids. they shouldn't even have it. host: we talked a little bit about social media. that is part of having a phone, if you want to expand on that. guest: we haven't looked specifically at phones and how they play into school climates but we do know that cyber bullying and social media bullying are significant

problems. schools struggle -- the definition of what it means to be in school has changed. it was changing before the pandemic but when school becomes online, that becomes a real challenge for schools to sort of figure out where their authority ends and how to address those issues. for cyber bullying, there are steps you can take to report it. you cannot respond to social media posts, you cannot share them. to the caller's point, thinking about kindness and ways that you would want to be treated goes a long way. host: they question from you from ohio. do you think our children are safer in the charter and public

schools? does your data separate it by that? guest: we did not look by school type for safety. we do know from past work that we have done on violence in schools that incidents are -- the types of active shooter type schoolwide targeted shootings, we know a little bit about the commonality or the more frequent occurrences of those types of shootings, those tend to be more in suburban and rural wealthier waiter schools -- wealthier whiter schools. but we have not looked at charter schools versus other types of schools.

host: you had statistics about attacks and threats with weapons. typically in a school situation, what types of weapons are we talking about? guest: everything from guns and knives, everything in between. host: next up, travis on our parents line. caller: thank you for c-span and thank you for your guest. i just wanted to bring up a point. it seems like a lot of people are hitting this point. it is the parents that need to be more involved and this tribalism going on right now, i'm 55 years old, i was in the army and they grew up in the midwest. the point i'm trying to bring up is that the tribalism is ridiculous. my kids grew up in the army going from place to place and they were around many different nationalities, around different

people and they had to make friends, and they had to see people for who they were and not from what other people said they were and i guess that is just the biggest point is that the kids are just inundated like the caller before said, with the social media, and the whole tribalism stuff is just ridiculous. i remember when mulatto used to be a popular word meaning you were part white and part black but the tribalism is what i think is driving everybody to this hate. host: jackie nowicki, any comments? guest: we did see some examples of school communities responding to these types of incidents and showing that hate has no place in their schools. programs that are meant to bridge those kinds of differences the caller is talking about.

we have also seen students take matters into their own hands and tell adults that we need to do better. we are seeing walkouts and other student actions demanding that hateful behavior occurring in their schools be addressed. host: does your report look at attempts or threats against teachers or attacks against teachers as well? guest: i believe it is not just targeted against students. a number of the incidents that are in the data involve both students and staff. i don't believe they are separated out to no percentages of who is involved in what. host: this is the education headline on the gao report. violence and hate crimes in schools surge. our guest is from the government accountability office, jackie nowicki.

we welcome your calls. for educators, (202)-748-8000. parents, (202)-748-8001. all others, (202)-748-8002. in new york city, we will hear from edward next. caller: hello there. can you hear me properly? host: yes we can. caller: i had a quick question about this situation. you are talking about hate rising in schools. obviously we can agree that the rise in hate is very much digital and a sense but there is not much we can do as parents or teachers to combat that, other than the mental health of the students themselves. what do you plan on doing for the mental health of these students? caller: a couple things -- guest: a couple things. in terms of cyber bullying itself and trying to get a

handle on it, the federal website stopbullying.gov has information on how to report cyber bullying. parents and students can take immediate steps in their own lives are not responding to posts, documenting the bullying, blocking the bully on social media. you can report the incidences to online service for right -- online service providers, law-enforcement and school districts. to the point about mental health, the availability of mental health services is so important for a variety of reasons but we also know from research we have done in past years that mental health professionals are not as widely available in all schools. only about half of schools across the nation offer mental health assessments in school your 2017-18 and only a little more than a third of them offered mental health services and it is a big part of addressing the whole child.

host: your report was generated by a request from the house education committee. what happens next to this report with that committee? what will that committee do with your report? guest: historically, congress uses gao reports in any number of ways. they may hold hearings on the topic, form legislation, raise awareness on issues when there are recommendations. this report does not happen to have any recommendations but the federal agencies may take action in response to a gao report as well. we know the department of education is beginning to look at and revisit some of its guidance to schools around dealing with these issues, so we may see some changes in the future. we will have to wait and see. host: next up is mary on our

parents line from wisconsin. caller: good morning and god bless you. i just wanted to mention that in one school, a soccer coach shook my daughter and my daughter ended up getting her fired because my daughter was secure in using her voice. altogether, only one girl stood up to her and supported her, and that was after she graduated from high school. that teacher was a bully. the other person was my son. my son got caught speeding -- my son told me, and we went and talked to the principal. i thought i would have to defend my son from bullies at school but not from the teachers. teachers should be held

accountable for their actions and the subject matter they teach our students. the salaries should go to how well they teach. if you don't take -- if you don't teach patience, you will not get paid for very long. parents need to be responsible, to get teachers held accountable for their actions. another thing really quickly. there was a man who tried to give her a hug and she said i don't give hugs. i shake people's hands. he ended up in prison now. she said inquire, girls, stay away from this man. is not good. is going to be working on somebody else because he tried it on me. host: was that person employed by the school? caller: yes. he was in the newspaper.

my daughter went to his house, and he was married and had children, trying to get to these other girls. they have way too much power, and educators need to be hired by the parents, not by this system. host: several things there, jackie nowicki? guest: and the data that we discussed earlier, the problems are not just student on student. they do sometimes involve school officials and teachers. there are very public and sadly recent cases in a couple school districts around the country with documented incidences of the types of behaviors that the caller referenced. if your child is experiencing

situations like that, parents can report them to the schools, the state board of education and they can also submit complaints to the department of education's office for civil rights or the department of justice education opportunities section for those types of instances that are either related to identity, or if you feel that the school district is ignoring or not addressing those situations like that. host: let's hear from our teachers line -- educators line. patty is next, from wisconsin. caller: good morning. i am recently retired but i worked as a school aide in a midwestern town of about 5000 students. i was shocked when i was hired. i did a one-on-one with autistic children, but our homes reflect our schools and what is going on at home, so we have excellent teachers, mediocre teachers and

lousy teachers. so much of this involves lawsuits. you may report something and it goes through the channels if you are fortunate and usually nothing gets done. parents need to be involved. also the schools need to be involved. we can't just blame it on any one particular group. this was all present before the pandemic showed up, it just brought it out. thank you for what you are doing. keep us updated and keep us informed, and tell your children to be kind to one another as they go off to school. host: thank you for your call. comments about male students. one by text from delray breach -- delray beach that talks about the gender gap in education.

i've heard recent high school students report an undercurrent of antimale sentiment in the school environment and another look at boys in schools. this one tweets that 96% of school shooters are boys. how do you reconcile the bullying data to that statistic? guest: the last point is not easily ignored. we know that from a joint report from the department of education and justice, that those kinds of school targeted shootings often involve a single male shooter, between the ages of 12 and 18. we know those types of shooting incidents from the data we looked at for 2020 over a 10 year period tends to happen in suburban and wealthier schools. we know they are the most fatal types of incidents.

the more schools understand about the kinds of situations that may occur, the better equipped they will be to address them. host: let's go to new jersey. james, good morning. caller: good morning c-span. i already know what is happening. in the cities, maybe in suburbia [indiscernible] guns and all kinds of weapons. teenagers by them -- buy them. one year in prison and --

it's uneven. [indiscernible] this way they can get the message on board. host: are you talking about a high school? caller: young kids and everybody else. they buy guns. [and audible] getting guns by the trunk load in the back of the cars. host: jackie nowicki, we talked about the hardening of schools, making it tougher to bring weapons of all kinds into schools. if you would expound on if your report found that was a deterrent for violence in schools? guest: i'm thinking about a really did report we did on the

characteristics of school shootings in 2020. and number of schools were increasing the hardening. half of all school student -- school shootings take place outside the school building, so there is that to think about as well. we did see an increase in the use of school resource officers. people refer to that as police in schools. the data is mixed on the efficacy of those officers and how well or whether they improve the school climate or address the issue. it is a bit of a tough nut to crack. host: maybe it is too early to ask. if you have been asked to report on the return to school post-covid and how the behavior has changed or if it has, since the return. are there any indications that

you will do that kind of report? guest: i have not received a request like that yet. i would not be surprised if we do. host: let's hear from our educators line. sarah is in riverside, california. caller: thank you for taking my call. i noticed the dates of your studies, and i was a substitute during that time. i wanted to call in. i was a substitute over several districts. all of them were title i schools. i was noticing, i forgot that the very first caller refreshed my memory that there was a lot of turmoil going on in everyone's homes, especially because title i schools in california, there are high

populations of immigrant children which is not a bad thing, but the thing was that at that time, everyone was really afraid of their status in the country. trump was really coming down on illegal immigrants, but that definitely was creating this toxic environment. i felt that a lot of students were coming to schools stressed. they had displaced stress. families were struggling, because -- i don't want to go into all of those details, but i feel like parents are forgetting how much of an impact they have on their children and they are sending these children to school stressed out and depressed and now that i am an actual teacher,

i have so many hats to wear, and why do i have to care so much about something that is none of my business? at the same time, i can only be effective if the student is able to focus and isn't hungry and is feeling safe. i do have to worry about social and emotional learning. it is sad to hear parents continue to call in and continue to put so much on the schools. i want to encourage all of you to make sure you are sending children who are ready to respect every adult on campus. make sure they are ready. host: what grade do you teach, and do you still like it? caller: i love it. i love the cast room -- classroom. i am a fifth-grade teacher and i love it.

i absolutely do. i wish i could focus on making sure my children -- my students can multiply, but now i have to spend an hour or so with social emotional learning and building extra community or providing additional activities so that we are building community in our class and everyone is feeling safe. i love that, i love that my classroom is this safe comfortable place for my kids to come to all of -- come to. all of my students talk about how they look forward to coming to my class and that is awesome, but i am exhausted. host: remind us again, you said title i school. remind us what that means. caller: title i means that the children qualify for assistance with their meals and also there are additional services, but basically it is an indicator of

an under resourced community, underserved community. like i said, they receive assistance, they either receive free or low-cost lunch. host: thanks so much for calling in. jackie nowicki, your thoughts? guest: the point about low income unrated -- under resourced schools is a good one. you're talking about schools that serve some of the nation's most vulnerable children. 80% of black and brown students attend schools that are low income schools and the connection between race and poverty is difficult to ignore. the way schools are funded in this country, it is generally bistate and local revenue, often

property taxes. the federal share of funding for schools is between 7% and 10% on average over many years. there can be a real disparity among schools, particularly among title i schools which by definition are much lower income than others. showing up ready to learn is a challenge. i am a parent as well, and it is heartbreaking to know that the education my children receive in their public schools is not the same one that all students across the nation receive. host: on to our parents line, diane from new jersey. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. let me turn this down.

the school where my grandchildren go to, there has been such a problem with -- beginning the atmosphere of the principal who was actually a child molester, all the way down to the point where bullying and the principal not even sitting with me to address the problem and it has gotten so bad that local pastors got involved. i guess you would say this is a title i school where they have metal detectors before they can even get into the school. i've gone to the people, the counselors in charge of the bullying. we had marches and i want you to know that i am going to email you, because the department of education won't even sit with our board of education people to try and get to this. the only way i was able to address them was one of the math

teachers was talking any appropriate to my grandson. i had to call -- and they had to go in and stop the problem. why did i have to do that? why doesn't the department of education sit with our board of education to try and stop this poison that is going on? i will tell you, this is pleasantville high school, near atlantic city. i will never stop fighting. we will have another meeting. we've even gone to governor murphy. host: diane in new jersey. jackie nowicki, any last thoughts for her or the report in general? guest: stories like that are so hard to hear and they are heartbreaking for us all. i am glad that the caller has taken some steps to try and get

these issues addressed, starting with the school and moving to the school district and state board of education. folks can submit complaints to the office of civil rights and the department of justice, which may trigger a federal investigation, when bullying has not been sufficiently addressed at the school level or when it is perceived to be connected to identity, as that could be a violation of federal civil rights laws, which education and justice are jointly tasked with enforcing. host: this is the report just released last month from gao. report to the committee on education, labor, the house of representatives, k-12 education, hate speech, hate crimes and victimization in schools. jackie nowicki with the government accountability office , thank you for being here. guest: thank you for having me. host: up next on "washington

journal," the bipartisan chief medical officer, dr. anand parekh joins us to talk about the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, the omicron variant and the new bbc report on how to improve the u.s. public health system. ♪ >> the senate is back today at 3:00 p.m. eastern and will vote only 2022 defense program and policy bill. editors may consider the president's climate and social spending plan. the house returns tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. eastern time and plans to take up legislation in the week to raise the debt limit to avoid a default. members will also vote on whether to hold mark meadows, former trump white house chief of staff and north carolina republican congressman in contempt of congress for refusing to cooperate with the january 6 committee

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for competition rules, tutorials, or just how to get started, visit our website at studentcam.org. >> "washington journal" continues. host: dr. anand parekh is with us. he is chief medical advisor for the bipartisan policy center. he has joined us a number of times throughout the covid pandemic. welcome back to "washington journal." guest: thank you. it is good to be on with you. host: we will dive into the latest news of what we know about the omicron variant in just a moment but the headlines from the new york times sticks out this morning. it is not surprising news, just maybe the weight of it is notable. covid has killed one of every 100 older americans. as the death toll nears 800,000 overall, three quarters of those are over the age of 65. your thoughts on that? guest: it is incredible. almost 800,000 americans, three

fourths of the nation's seniors, 50 million cases confirmed. this has been heartbreaking, absolutely tragic over the last 20 months and we are seeing the impact not just in the united states but worldwide as well. clearly for our seniors, so devastating and it is all the more important that we ensure that our nation's seniors are not only vaccinated but boosted as well. host:host: should we have expected that number to fall, with all the measures, that group in particular taking. higher vaccination rates among those over 65, the isolation and social distancing. should we have expected that over time the death rate among those over 65 would have diminished somewhat? guest: we knew from the outset

that the brunt of the pandemic was going to be on those who were older and had comorbidities as well. we did focus a lot of attention. high rates among the elderly population but it goes to show you that it is not enough just to focus on the elderly. you can't control the pandemic unless you get enough americans vaccinated across the country, across all age spectrums and geographies. nobody is really protected a less we are all protected -- unless we are all protected. that is where we fell short, in terms of ensuring that as many americans could have gotten vaccinated. we need to do better and make sure more americans are boosted. we certainly need to make sure that we are masking and taking precautions as we get into the winter holidays. host: the latest challenge in the pandemic is the omicron

variant, first reported in south africa after thanksgiving. now cases are being reported in the united states. what we -- what do we know for sure and what is left to be known? guest: we have a twin challenge. it is the delta variant causing the current surge, at around 1200 deaths daily. now we have omicron, potentially more transmissible. there are three questions with respect omicron that we don't know what the answers are. with respect to transmissibility, the early indications are that it may be even more transmissible than delta. we have seen that variant take off in south africa. we are also seeing it take off across the united kingdom as well, and it may very well become the dominant variant. that could be a predictor of what happens here during the winter months, with this new

variant outpacing delta. in terms of transmissibility, there is a concern. in terms of the severity, we are still learning a lot. early indications were that omicron was causing quite a bit of mild infection. we have seen that in the united states, with respect to the cdc report we saw last week. we see it in south africa as well. the caution is that it could be that many individuals who caught omicron were vaccinated or had the infection previously and were reinfected and that could be the reason why their symptoms were more mild. we will have to wait and see over the next couple of weeks as we see cases go up and hospitalizations go up, particularly in south africa, we will have a better idea whether this is a mild variant or severe variant. it could be that for those who are on vaccinated this is a potentially severe but for those

who are boosted, this could be mild. the final question is certainly, does this variant evade our immune responses, either vaccine -induced immunity or natural immunity and we are learning more, it seems initial reports are that the variant doesn't fact with the mutations, it does partly evade our vaccine. however, two doses of the vaccine still does a pretty good job of preventing severe symptoms but the booster on top of that does a very good job in preventing infection. all the more reason to focus on boosting the american public. only 30% of those vaccinated are currently boosted and only 40% of those over 50 years old. only 50% of those over 65. that is why the early indications are that you have to

be cautious. it is likely more transmissible. not sure about the severity, but since it can evade your immune system, getting vaccinated and booster is -- and boosted is critical. host: what will it take to end these variants from developing? guest: vaccinating as many people around the world as quickly as possible. we have about 8.5 billion doses that have been administered across the world. many countries are doing quite well when it comes to vaccinating their citizens. of course there are many countries around the world that are lagging behind and it is all of our responsibilities to help every country that we can. most countries in africa, the fully vaccinated rate is about 10%. we need to make sure that we can reduce mutations in variants, we need to quickly redouble our

efforts in terms of vaccinating the world population. host: dr. anand parekh is here with us on "washington journal," taking your phone calls. (202)-748-8000 for those of you in the eastern and central time zones. (202)-748-8001 for the mountain and pacific region. if you have a question you want to send by text, that line is (202)-748-8003. make sure that you tell us your name and where you are texting from. we want to look at the new york times tracker. see how vaccinations are going in your state and county. looking at specifics. united states vaccinations for at least one dose, all ages, 72% now of the united states, at least one dose fully vaccinated, 61% and the children's rates. at least one dose, 76%, five end up.

65% fully vaccinated. does that number surprise you, dr. anand parekh? guest: this is really important. it is a safe and effective vaccine. we certainly want children to be healthy and back in schools. 5 million children aged five to 11 have received their first dose. the numbers in terms of adolescence, 12 to 17, at least 16 million have gotten there first shot and 13 million have been fully vaccinated. we are making progress and we need to continue to do better. i know parents have questions about these vaccines, but we now have over 500 million doses of vaccine administered in the united states, 8.5 billion worldwide. we know a lot about the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine. getting these messages out there, that this is our way out

of the pandemic, and it is safe and effective for kids, it is really important. host: our guest worked in the george w. bush and obama administration as the assistant health secretary and is now the chief medical advisor for the bipartisan policy center. anand parekh, your organization has released a report called public health forward, modernizing the u.s. public health system. what was the impetus of this report and in general, what are its findings? guest: this is a report from a bipartisan task force led by former governors john kasich, mike bb, as well as others. county commissioners, state legislators as well as leaders from the health care communities to put together a five year vision of governmental public health in the united states and an actionable framework for state and local officials as well as public health officials.

the thesis is that there is no health challenge in the united states, be it covid-19, substance use disorder, mental illness, diabetes or obesity. no health challenge that can't be surmounted without -- that can be surmounted without a well staffed public health system that fosters and engages communities. that is really the reason why all of these centers came together. public health has been in the news and unfortunately the covid-19 response has been politicized. you saw short-term infusing of funding and public health but not the long-term that we needed. this is a project meant to take back public health and so the public and policymakers understand not just with respect to covid-19, but how important public health is. public health is about clean

air, clean water, preventing injuries and reducing obesity and infectious diseases and providing services to moms and kids, and so it is really important to take that sort of message and ensure that policymakers understand the public health is about our nation's infrastructure. infrastructure has last six months. you've heard about roads and bridges and tunnels and electric grid. public health deserves to be in that conversation. host: you pointed out the pandemic has raised the awareness of public health to a level never seen before in this country. what is going to take for lawmakers, policy to come together and agree on some of your principles that you have proposed in this report? guest: it is an opportunity right now. there is much more attention on public health and the importance

of policymakers working together, the importance of building trust among the public and policymakers have an opportunity right now with that legislation before congress. there is a down payment right now in the build back better the capability that public health needs to address any challenge, so surveillance is important. lab capacity is important. there are resources there. this is up before congress, and i'm hoping both sides of the aisle can agree this is an important period not just for the next pandemic but to combat health challenges our nation faces. host: the centers for disease control has taken the lead on this pandemic and past outbreaks. is it still important for the cbc to take the lead in major public health catastrophes like this? guest: absolutely.

many people do not realize the cdc has ap -- a p at the end. it is the centers for disease control and prevention. it is important that the cdc continue to have that disease control and prevention and they are a critical agency. there are many other scientific agencies that do have a critical role. we see the nih, fda, even public and federal agencies like medicare and medicaid. they have unique levers to improve public health. there are agencies that have a critical role in ensuring the nation's health and ensuring populations can be healthy. host: it has been interesting to watch the response to the omicron variant because the

responses of various state and federal agencies to the variant have been informed by our prior response to the delta variant, to the original pandemic itself. over time, what lessons have the cdc and other federal agencies learned and how we have responded so far? guest: you are seeing significantly more genetic surveillance. you are seeing federal agencies try to track the spread of the omicron variant. we are seeing it in about half of states in the united states. soon you will see this variant in every state, so you are seeing more surveillance. you are seeing forward leaving messages ensuring americans realize there is a lot of community transmission ongoing. best to wear your mask in indoor public settings, to get vaccinated and boosted, ensuring that omicron -- getting tested whether you have symptoms,

whether you think you have been exposed, whether you have family members that may be vulnerable. all of those things. i think we are seeing forward leaning messaging, which is critical. host: it does feel outside of mandates for the military and federal mandates on vaccines and wearing masks for people traveling across the country, flying or public transit, it does feel like we have settled into more of a localized response to the pandemic. cities and states dealing with this, the omicron variant or delta variant. do you think many states have been effective in doing that? guest: i think that is where the focus needs to be. local and state leaders will have a huge role in dictating how the next few months go and messaging from local leaders and state leaders, federal messaging

and federal leadership, is critical. the pandemic is playing out in every community and every state a little bit differently but with a common enemy here in terms of the pandemic. i think it is going to be important that there is consistency in that message, that the population understands as much as we want this to go away and is much as we are tired and done with the pandemic this virus is not done with us. i think this new variant points to that, particularly in the northern states. it is going to be that much more important that the next couple months we work together. local and state leaders have a critical role to play in ensuring policies support that and messaging is clear to citizens. host: let's get the calls.

we go first to stuart in new jersey. caller: thank you for taking my call, big washington journal fan. the work you guys do is great. i am a little nervous. i want to try to make a coherent comment. can you guys hear me ok? caller: -- host: we can. caller: thank you. i have two comments. one is about mandates. one is about the political environment. first i will try to make my more relevant comment on mandates, which is that i noticed a lot of arguing -- i heard on channel two the other day where he was talking to the gentleman who is a republican congressman who is talking in favor of people's right and constitutional violation by having these mandates imposed.

i just feel this is an appeal to the political base instead of any kind of argument where mandates are really -- there is a mandate when you have to go to school you have to get a shot for smallpox, whooping cough, diphtheria, polio, measles. these are not constitutional violations. these are acts of public safety. the idea that including a vaccine mandate is a violation of constitutional rights is feeding this dialogue that we have to deal with on a daily basis. this is the second part of my comment, that you are providing -- thank you for this service and the courage to put yourself on tv. i am sure you get constantly -- you are in an environment where people say crazy things.

i do not pretend to have answers or know everything, but a costly have to hear -- when i listen to washington journal, i have a hard time listening because i find myself intolerant of other people's opinions. i suppose that is part of the problem. we seem to be in this environment where logic does not rule, where people are constantly advocating points of view to make political points and it makes it difficult to enforce anything because you require cooperation if we want our representatives in congress to do the right thing. they are mostly concerned with keeping their jobs to do the work their constituents elected them to do. the unfortunate part is that people are being persuaded constantly not by logic but by some sort of salesmanship to buy

this sort of anti-snowflake, pro-gun kind of lunacy. host: i will let you go there. we appreciate your call. guest: thanks for the question. the reality in the unit states is that it is 50% of our population fully vaccinated, 70% of adults fully vaccinated. that is a great tribute to the american public. when you are talking about a highly transmissible variant like delta, omicron, 50% and 70% is not going to be good enough. we need to get closer to 80% or 90%. we all want to first try to raise the vaccination rate, convincing our family, friends, and community members this is the best way out of the pandemic, so showing empathy meeting people where they are is

the best route. the reason vaccine mandates have come into play is we are not there. we are not where we want to be. it cannot be acceptable that 1200 americans are dying every year and it could be more in the coming months. that is why you are seeing a push to get as many americans vaccinated as possible. many federal vaccine mandates are now on hold. they are in the court system for federal contractors, for employees and businesses over 100 employees, for health-care workers. some of these are not really mandates. take the mandate for employers with more than 100 employees. there is a choice. ensure your employees are vaccinated. if that is not possible, ensure they are wearing masks and getting tested regularly. you can make an argument the

federal government should support testing programs. that is a valid argument. there is a choice there. we call a lot of these things mandates, but there is a choice in the matter. underlying all of this is a needed to raise vaccination rates so you -- we can get to the point where we are out of the pandemic. that is an important point when you think about these mandates. vaccine mandates are not a new phenomenon. kids in school, health-care workers, there are many segments of the population that need to get a vaccine before entering school or going to work. these are important points to remind the public. host: this is derek from minnesota. caller: good morning. i have a couple comments.

one is quit telling people to get vaccinated. we know the boosters. how many boosters are going to have? six boosters in six months? i went to a funeral service of a 35-year-old person whose name was andrew. he has a bead for daughter. he died not of omicron or delta or any of this stuff. he died of mental illness. nobody is talking about that. do not scare anybody with telling them to get a vaccine. the vaccine is not to be scared. god bless you. guest: the caller brings up an important point. there are many health challenges here. we are focused on the covid-19 pandemic as the public health issue of the day, but mental health, mental illness,

substance abuse disorder, obesity, tobacco use is going up. all of these health challenges have to be tackled simultaneously. we cannot get one versus another. when we talk about one, that does not mean we are neglecting others, so that is also an important point. this pandemic again is something that we need to take seriously. it does not mean there are not other things we should take it seriously. when 1200 americans are dying every year, it is a public health challenge. that is why you are hearing about it. the best way out of the pandemic is to get vaccinated. we have a safe and effective vaccine. that is why you have public health officials and most americans relaying the message that the best way out of the pandemic is to get vaccinated and early data from omicron

shows that getting boosted also will help prevent systematic illness as well as a severe illness. that is why we are talking about it. you never want to scare anyone, but informing the public is critical so they can make the best decisions for themselves as well as their families. host: the answer to this question on twitter may seem obvious. historically, vaccines were made to protect people from getting infected. why did that change? guest: that is still the case now. it just is also an added plus that, if you get vaccinated and you get ill, you will most likely have less severe illness. still vaccines are a preventative tool.

in some cases, they ensure your illness is not severe but mild. caller: thank you for c-span. i might recommend that a doctor from johns hopkins be a guest. host: he has been on the program and will return. caller: i am troubled by this. instead of waiting for a patient's lips to turn blue and then treat them, why not spend 10 minutes talking about monoclonal antibodies? why not talk about hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin when properly used? it is cheap and safe.

i have a feeling that the use of these older drugs that are safe and cheap is not what pharmaceutical companies want to talk about because they do not have a revenue stream from that. i'm interested in natural immunity. my sister has bone cancer and the cleveland clinic tells her under no circumstances get the shots. she has bone cancer, year five. i have another brother with diabetes. he is 68 years old. ivermectin. vitamin d. these things are not discussed. i do not know why they are not. what about preventative care once the patient is diagnosed with it? it is completely ignored. you have spent half the time today talking about what they should do when they are diagnosed covid positive, not when they are put on a

respirator or when they get the shot. people are still getting covid when they get the shots. host: we will hear from our guest. guest: i want to thank the caller for those questions. i will try to take each of them starting with monoclonal antibodies. the caller is right that we have treatments for individuals who are high risk. as soon as they are diagnosed, they should talk to clinicians and quickly ask them for treatments that are safe and effective and can prevent hospitalization. monoclonal antibodies are one. there are additional antiviral medications that will come out soon. there are opportunities. we need to get the message out for those individuals. if they test positive and they are high risk to reduce the chance of hospitalization and

severe illness, my tickle at a bodies are one. for ivermectin hydroxychloroquine, for these types of treatments, we do not have any scientific evidence, randomized controlled clinical trials, that these therapies are safe as well as effective in treating covid-19. with respect to natural immunity certainly natural immunity if you have covid-19 -- had covid-19 before can be protective for a short-term. when you compare it to vaccine-induced immunity, it is not as consistent. it is not as durable. the recommendation is, even if you have had covid-19 before and even if you have some natural immunity, it is best to get vaccinated. if you get vaccinated on top of that natural immunity, you have more significant protection. that is the recommendation there. it is not to discount natural

immunity but vaccine-induced immunity is more durable and long term. with natural immunity, you are risking many things. who wants to get ill from covid-19 and get along covid? -- long covid? getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent covid-19. if you have had covid-19 before and you are not vaccinated, please get vaccinated. that is the recommendation based on science. that will ensure you are even more protected. if the early data on omicron is correct that there is a higher chance of reinfection, all the more reason to get vaccinated. host: we will go to washington state next. cameron is in ocean shores. caller: i have a quick question to pose to your guests. -- guest.

i am someone who has diabetes and complications including heart problem. i am not going to take the vaccine because i have read a lot on the internet about people who are in high risk. they say if you get the covid that you could stand a chance of dying because of complications, but come on the other hand, people are having severe heart problems, even young people, after taking the vaccine. the question i have for your guest is let's think in the abstract for a minute. let's say the government by decree said to you, there are too many people in the world. the population is too much. the world cannot handle it. by decree, you have to be fixed. there is going to be in operation or if you are a female you have to get the same procedure done. what you submit to that? that is your question -- that is my question. guest: i do not think that is an

appropriate analogy. in this case, the scientific evidence tells us that getting vaccinated, particularly if you have diabetes, if you have heart disease, if you have chronic conditions, you are at higher risk for a poor outcome from covid-19. it is that much more important to get vaccinated. there are few medical contraindications from getting vaccinated. have a conversation with your personal physician. i think it is an important message that, if you are older, if you have comorbidities like diabetes, heart disease, it is so important to get vaccinated. there is a study that came out. the conclusion was two thirds of covid-19 hospitalizations could

have been prevented if or -- if it were not for chronic conditions. in particular for these populations, it is important to get vaccinated. host: put a fact responded to criticism of the covid vaccine from robert f kennedy junior. no, it is not the deadliest vaccine ever made. they write that robert f kennedy claimed the covid-19 vaccines are most deadly, citing deaths reported in the vaccine offense -- adverse reports system. pull affect says health officials find the vaccine is safe and comparable to other vaccines. typically, what is the worst sort of response to the covid vaccine and how often have we seen that? guest: there is a lot of misinformation out there. it is important that we have

people out there trying to ensure people understand the latest science that we know. science can change over time, but this is what we know now. i think correcting misinformation is important. unfortunately, there is disinformation as well, willful propagation of false information . this has been a challenge. as we all know from the outset of the pandemic. the best thing we can do is meet people where they are, answer whatever question they may have, not have any kind of judgment, respect people at all times, and provide scientific information they can use to make the best decisions for them as well as their families. as we come back to the core aspects of getting out of the pandemic, which include

vaccinations, which include ensuring we are carefully masking in indoor public places, which includes that we are testing appropriately, that quarantine and isolation when required is done, ensuring adequate ventilation is there, these are the principles that will get us out of the pandemic. that is important to communicate. host: our guest is a michigan wolverine through and through with his bachelor's and md in public health from the university of michigan. let's hear from troy, michigan. caller: i have had two vaccine shots so far and i'm scheduled to get my booster today. i am anything but anti-vaxxer as people would call -- categorize me because i am anti-mandate. when this started, we were told that once we had the curve of

people going to the hospital we were good to go. we could get back to normal. that did not happen. we were told stay inside, don't go anywhere, and the infection rate went up because people were locked inside. now we are told if you go outside you are ok because you are not around everybody. it keeps changing. it just keeps changing and changing. no matter what people do, we are still in the pandemic. this pandemic seems like it is never going to end. i am not alone in this thinking. we do not have public health care. we have government health care. you keep referring to public health care. it is actually government health care. we have seen what happens with public schools in this country, which are really government schools. they have fallen behind the rest of the world.

government control of anything does not necessarily improve it. it is usually the private sector. private schools do better than public schools. that is a fact. everybody is saying we have to go to public health care. host: comments on changing guidelines, if you would address that. guest: first, i think it is great the caller has been vaccinated already. i think public health officials want to ensure messaging is consistent and not uneven. one of the things we have seen, this virus is a tricky virus. circumstances have changed during this pandemic. we had the original strain of the virus in 2020 and the delta variant much more transmissible. omicron as well. a way to reduce mutations and

new strains not just in the united states but around the world. we have had to adapt east on the changing pandemic. the virus is a tricky virus. that is why we think we are out of the woods and then something new comes up. right now with omicron, we will have to see where that goes. we have to be careful. i am like everyone else. i wanted this to be done with. we all want this to be done with. hopefully 2022 will have not only more people in this country but around the world vaccinated and we will have a better handle on the pandemic. this will not go on forever. hopefully 2022 will be the turning point. the next 3, 4 months are going to be critical. the message right now is

everyone ought to respect each other's civil liberties. we have so many freedoms in this country we should treasure. with those rights come responsibilities to one another. over the next several months, if we can continue to do what we are doing in terms of being careful, being cautious, we are going to get through this quicker and then this will be in the rearview mirror. that is the critical message. host: we go next to betty in louisiana. caller: i wanted to ask the doctor a couple questions. i have been vaccinated and i got covid. what i'm listening to is even though i had covid and i had to be vaccinated i can still

spread. then i have another one for you. guest: it is great you have been vaccinated. if you got covid after that, that means you have a breakthrough infection. if you did not be a -- need to be hospitalized, that means the vaccine works. with more americans being vaccinated, we have seen more breakthrough infections. that is the vaccine working. no vaccine is going to be 100%, so we can expect some breakthrough infections. when you have had that infection, you are not when to be transmitting the virus. in many cases, that infection is almost like a booster. we need to remember that no infection -- vaccine is 100%.

some people will get breakthrough infections. in most cases, these would -- will be mild. caller: if i can spread the vaccine even if -- host: spread the virus. caller: i'm sorry, spread the virus, even though i have been vaccinated, this whole deal that people will be afraid that you're going to kill your neighbor, your grandmother, i am 77. i am a grandmother. you are going to kill people around you. that is not true. a lot of times when you give us information we are not getting good information. we are getting information like this, trying to scare people. you are going to kill your grandmother and so forth. that is not true. people do not believe you when you do not tell them the truth the first time. that is why all this has come up about people not wanting to get

the vaccine. another thing i wanted to ask, i have young grilled ship -- young grandchildren. you want to vaccinate these young children. you keep telling us the science says. the science does not say any of this. the science says medicines are going to help us not to die to help us, not anybody around us because we can still spread it. that is a lie. guest: to ensure that betty is comfortable, you don't have to worry about spreading the virus. as long as you have isolated for 10 days, you will not be out there spreading the virus. i don't think you have to be concerned about that. in terms of children, we have 5

million kids age 5-11 who have been vaccinated, 2.5 million fully vaccinated but millions of children 12-17 got vaccinated so this is a safe and effective vaccine for children as well and that's the best way to keep kids healthy and it's critical for families as well. it's getting adults back to work as well so for many reasons, it's important we continue to vaccinate our young population as well. if you are elderly and worried about transmitting the virus, to those you love, if you have been infected and are positive, you need to isolate for 10 days. once you are done isolating, you will not be transmitting the virus so that's important part.

host: the medical field is watching the u.k. they face a tidal wave omicron cases. you mentioned that most of what we are seeing in the united states, the surge is from the delta variant stop how concerned are you that the omicron variant can be just as strong stop guest: what we have seen is what happens in other places in the world first will then affect the united states. we have seen that with delta and the concern about europe and they are seeing a wave of omicron.

if it's more transmissible, that means precautions will be that much more wharton and even if it turns out to be less transmissible,. you will eventually have enough that will lead to more individuals being hospitalized. there is all kinds of shortages. the the best help that can be provided can be to reduce the transmission rate, less people getting infected and that means more of maxon -- americans getting vaccinated and wearing masks. that's the best way we can help our health care system. host: one more call from hawaii,

it is alan, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call and good morning. i took a look at the bipartisan policy report. i was startled. i've been reading about the conversion of the policy mindset that the rapid testing be taken out of the purview of the clinical and put into more of a public health mold in the fda may need to expand that for to completely change their paradigm in some other way.

maybe you guys can help in modifying your report in the future to understand that. the report doesn't really talk about the fda and how important they are to forming the thought process that goes into future testing especially for public health. it's a platform for public health and not clinical. the antivirals will require a short and do. -- a short window. host: let's let our guest respond. guest: it's a great point and it

goes to show you rapid testing and home testing really catches individuals who are infectious it would help to reduce this red of the virus and its connected to the antiviral treatment we are talking about. the faster they can get access to these evidence-based treatments that are coming down, it's important that we continue to ramp up rapid test as well as home tests. this is a really important issue. in terms of surveillance, in terms of visiting your grandparents, you want to make sure you are not taking anything with you and adding these home

tests are important. we need to really hone in on our testing strategy in the united states. host: you can go to bipartisan policy.org. thanks again for joining us. guest: thank you so much. host: we still have some time left in the program so we have an open forum to hear from you on orton issues of the day. we can talk about the omicron variant. here are the lines for republicans -- democrats- independents and start dialing k

to you in a moment. >> at least six presidents recorded conversations in office and you can hear them in our new podcast. >> season one focuses on lyndon johnson step you will hear about the 1964 civil-rights act, the march on selma and the 1966 election. not everyone knew they were being recorded step > johnson's secretaries new because they were tasked with transcribing many of those conversations. they were the ones who make sure the conversations were taped as johnson would signal to them through an open door between his

office and bears. > you will also hear blunt talk stop >> i want a report of the number of people assigned to kennedy the day he died. >> presidential recordings, bind them on c-span now, our app or wherever you get your forecast. -- your podcasts. >> c-span offers a variety of podcast that of something for every listener stop washington today gives you late -- the latest from the capital and there are in-depth interviews with writers about their latest work while the weekly's audio from our immense archives to look at how issues of the day have developed over years and error series talking with

features conversations with historians. many of our television programs are also available as part cast. can find them on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: it is open forum until 10:00 a.m. eastern were we hear from you on policy issues or news issues you are following. this is from the hill, their headline.

the select committee is meeting this evening to consider a contempt of congress citation against mark meadows in that meeting will be 7:00 eastern and we will have live coverage here on c-span and you can follow us at www.c-span.org or our mobile app. let's get to your calls and go to oxnard, california. caller: good morning. regarding the omicron variant, the significance of it being contagious, even though so far it is not as avirulent or doesn't make people as sick, it

spreads to a wider reservoir where it has the capacity to continue to mutate and at some point, it may stumble on a mutation that causes severe disease. that's the danger of it. it's going to spread so fast before people know. then we are in more trouble. host: john is up next in missouri. republican line. caller: i was wondering the

united states makes up about 4% of the worlds population. it seems like we have about 50% of the world's deaths. and we got the best hospitals and nurses and doctors. how can that happen? i wanted to ask your other guest but i missed him. host: what do you think the number one reason is? caller: i don't know. i thought maybe i could ask somebody who knew something. host: that's a good question but sorry didn't get through with our guest. kevin is up next in arkansas, democrats line. caller: thanks for taking my call. my comment comes from hearing a lot of the c-span callers over the past several months and not

only that but hearing from average, ordinary americans i interact with daily basis both the our educational system at all levels has emphasized stem fields are science technology and engineering and mathematics is a core feature of all the stem yields. you would think with all the emphasis that we americans today would understand basic science. the pandemic has revealed that the stem emphasis in education has failed to educate the public and that's my comment today . host: this is a media story from the washington times.

we hear from john in pittsburg, california, hello there. caller: this is my first time calling. i had to get up really early but

this is the greatest show on television. some of the people seem more like humans. the last guest you had on, i want to say i wonder if he's getting paid each time there is a vaccination. are they using reverse psychology to the unvaccinated? what's really happening? real people going do you real research. god bless, everybody and god bless america. host: this is kenneth in buffalo, new york on the democrats line. caller: the reason i'm calling is regarding the issue of the election, whether the president we have is legitimate.

you have people coming on your program, callers whose that and say they believe that it was stolen. it seems to me the truth is undeniably finis tablet that the election was fair and square. what bothers me is that c-span seems to treat this as if it's a matter of opinion. it's not a matter of opinion. a false narrative is a false narrative, thank you. host: loveland, ohio, we'll hear from gary on the republican line . caller: there is a question whether this is a legitimate

treatment because you hear so many things about it one way or another. is that a legitimate treatment or is this really a bogus treatment and should we have forgotten about it? i asked my doctor about it and i got such an evasive answer. you could keep hearing it both ways. i was just like to know definitively whether this is something that should be considered if someone does have covid. you can find our previous in dish interview on the c-span app. from kentucky --

richard and saint albans, west virginia is next, republican line. caller: good morning, i think what use guy is not -- what you

guys do is not easy to do. i want to make a couple of suggestions. when you have medical guests on, i would like to know when date last viewed patients. there is a wide variety between book knowledge and experience were between political and organizational skills and actual medical skills. i would suggest when you have those people on say when did you last to your last patient? when people express their could there -- their opinions on court cases, i would like to know that they actually listened to the testimony.

i think that would be a useful way for people to judge exactly what their information they are getting is. it might discourage people from uninformed opinions. i wanted to make those suggestions. host: good suggestions, thank you for that. next up is melissa, bloomfield, iowa, good morning. go ahead, melissa. ok are you there? the u.s. senate returns today for legislative work. they are working their way through the defense authorization bill and they will return live later today on c-span but the houses is only in for a pro forma session and they

will likely consider the contempt citation against mark meadows later this week. there is political reporting on action in the statement.

caller: i want to know why political campaign sites cannot be charged for what they are releasing full stuff host: are you talking about fines or things like that? caller: yeah, why can't we find them for spreading disinformation? host: two reverend cole from bryant, texas. the gentleman asked how is it we've got 4% of the world's but 15% of the people who are sick starving. our president knew about the

verlin's and airborne specific -- specificity of the virus but he continued to minimize the whole thing, saying the virus was not a big problem. he encourages people to wear a mask etc. he didn't just ignore the problem, he discounted the problem. when you have the chief executive of a nation telling people the wrong things and not encouraging them to do with the medical people say and based on the best science and evidence, the new got a lot of people who are working against what needs to happen. it is very politicized. our president let us down and misled his followers who mislead

the rest of the country. we've got a lot of people now gung ho from tonight that who don't want to vaccinate. it's really ridiculous that we are now in this situation we are in because of bad leadership. >> dr. anthony fouts he was at abc this week and talked about whether a booster would be needed to fight the omicron variant. if you look at that data, the more becomes clear is that if

you want to be optimally protected, you should get a rooster and we will continue to evaluate what the official designation is. if you want to be optimally protected now, get a booster if you had your primary and vaccination. > should we expect yearly boosters? > it's tough to tell stuff the third shot of an mrf -- mrna could do could dramatically improve -- increase the amount of protection but it could very well increase the durability of protection by things you cannot readily measure by the level of antibodies that you might have messing your super ration of you don't know unless you follow that over months. if it becomes necessary to get another boost, then we will have to deal with it. i am hoping that that third shot

of an m nra in the second shot of the j&j will give a much better durability of protection than just six months or so we are seeing now. host: paul is from south carolina, republican -- independent line. >> why doesn't anthony fouts he go down to the sun just southern border and find out what kind of shy people are getting. you wonder why there is no government. with the people -- what about the people bring it across the border? that's what he says the government feels host: indiana, republican caller.

go ahead. >> my friend had the call to king and i've been glued to the tv. i can't believe how vicious politicians can get. i am very disappointed. god bless america, the land that i love. i'm a very simple person, retired. on those educated people, they've turned into devils. thank you so much.

host: that will do it for the program this morning. thanks for being here with us and we hope your back tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. eastern, enjoy the rest of your day. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] + >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government and we are funded by these television companies and more including comcast. >> you think this is just a community center? it's way more than that. guest: comcast is creating >>

low income wi-fi hotspots. comcast support c-span is a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> this week on the c-span networks, congress returns with a shorter work week because of the holiday break in the senate takes up a ill increasing the nation's debt limit. the senate continues work on the consent till today. a house committee investigating the january 6 attack and capital means to consider citing former trump white house chief of staff mike meadows -- mark meadows for criminal contempt of congress. that's tuesday at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span3, the confirmation hearing for the commissioner of the food and drug administration.

on wednesday at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span ductwork and the c-span now mobile app, the airline ceos discuss the impact of the pandemic on their industry. watch this week on the c-span networks or you can watch our full coverage on c-span now, our new mobile video app and head over to www.c-span.org for scheduling or to stream video anytime all step c-span, your unfiltered view would government. >> next, remarks of former vice president mike pence on the economy. he spoke at an event in manchester, new hampshire. he is considered to be a potential 2024 presidential contender. [applause] >> thanks to vice president pence. he's