the impact that her actions had on her and her daughters. >> her life is such a mirror and window into this big thing of abortion in america and the pro-life wish to say, ah ha, look at the cost of abortion. she never had an abortion. what she actually is is a fascinating testimony to the cost of adoption. she struggled enormously emotionally with what it meant to relinquish her three children to adoption. announcer: joshua and his book sunday night at 8:00 eastern on q&a. you can also listen to q&a and all podcasts on the new c-span now app. ♪ ♪ host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal."

the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse by the day in the united states, with schools and universities shutting down, professional sporting events delayed, and large jumps in that affected around the country. with the holidays days away, doctors and hospitals are worried a winter surge of covid-19 may bring the health care system to its knees with the sick and infected patients. divided administration is pushing to get as many vaccinated and boosted as possible -- the biden administration is pushing to get as many vaccinated and boosted as possible, but there are still those who do not want to take a chance adding the vaccines. our question to you, what do you think about the current state of the coronavirus pandemic and the response? we will open up regional lines this morning. if you are in the eastern or central time zones, your telephone number is (202)-748-8000. if you are in the mountain or

pacific times and, your telephone number is (202)-748-8001. keep in mind, you can text us at (202)-748-8003. and we are always reading on social media on facebook at facebook.com/c-span, on twitter at, @cspanwj, and you can always follow us on instagram, at, @cspanwj. we are seeing incredible jumps in members of the infected with covid-19 being reported from all around the united states. let's look at some headlines this morning from throughout the united states. in new york city, "the new york times" has a story say new york is reported a record number of single day infections have coronavirus since the earliest days of the pandemic. you see the story from the new york times. also, the nfl has scheduled -- had to reschedule three games

this weekend, including one for the washington football team amid an outbreak of coronavirus amongst the players of the teams. keep going around the country, the fox news has a story saying that the u.s. military has started disciplinary action against members of the u.s. military who refused to take the covid-19 vaccine. also, we have a story here in the capital region, where one of the largest school systems, the prince georges county school system, has shut down and sent students back home for virtual learning in the middle of a huge jump of covid cases among students. finally, we have here where "the wall street journal," we see a u.s. appeals court has reinstated the biden administration's covid vaccine rules for large employers.

we see all the stories from around the united states about what is going on with the covid-19 pandemic. we want to know what you think about what is happening with the covid-19 pandemic and the response. before we go to your calls, yesterday, at the white house covid briefing, the white house covid response coordinator warned him vaccinated americans about the upcoming dangers of the omicron variant and what actions the white house is you need to take now. here's what was said. [video clip] >> as we have explained in prior briefings, the omicron variant is more transmissible, and her medical experts anticipate it will lead to a rise in cases. but unlike last winter, we now have the power to protect ourselves. our vaccines work against omicron, especially for people who get booster shots when they are eligible. if you are vaccinated, could test positive, but if you do get

covid, your case will likely be asymptomatic or mild. we are intent on not letting omicron disrupt work and school for the vaccinated. you have done the right thing, and we will get through this. for the unvaccinated, you are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals he may soon overwhelm, so our message to every american is clear, there is action you can take to protect yourself and your family , wear a mask and public, indoor settings, get vaccinated, get your kids vaccinated, and get a booster shot when you are eligible. we are prepared to confront this new challenge. we have plenty of vaccines and booster shots available at convenient locations and for no

cost. there is clear guidance on masking to help slow the spread, and we have emergency medical teams to respond to surges as necessary, so this is not a moment of panic because we know how to protect people, and we have the tools to do it. but we need the american people to do their part, to protect themselves, their children, and their communities. the more people get vaccinated, the less severe this omicron variant outbreak will be. 160,000 unvaccinated people have already needlessly lost their lives since june. this number will continue to go up until the unvaccinated take action. so, i will see it once more, get vaccinated. [end video clip] host: we want to know what you

think about what is going on with the coronavirus pandemic and the response, not only from the government, but from private businesses, schools, and community organizations. let's start with sonny from maryland heights, missouri. good morning. caller: good morning. i have been listening to all kinds of news from all over the world. i do not just listen to fox or cnn, so people who tell the truth, dr. lee merritt, peter mccullough, these people tell the truth. everyone else is essentially lying. omicron is weaker than all the other variants, even though it is more transmissible, but the original coronavirus is only .03 mortality rate. this is all rain washing. alex jones was right. host: are you saying that you do not believe that the 800,000

people who have died so far from this died of covid-19 and you think they died of something else? i think he hung up. let's go to ethan, calling from bay cliff, texas. good morning. ethan, are you there? ethan, going one more time. all right, lorene from redwood city, california. good morning. caller: good morning. i would like to say that every american that is not vaccinated is being very un-american, and they are scum as far as i'm concerned. host: what do you think should be done at this point because we are seeing the numbers of people infected with whatever variant of the coronavirus you want to talk about, delta, alpha-beta, we are seeing the numbers go up, so it should be done to stop the rise? caller: i think there should be

drastic vaccine mandates. there is no reason why every american should not have a shot in their arm. there is no reason why coronavirus should be running rampant in the country, and it is all because of these trumpers that are throwing a tantrum because donald trump lost and did not get credit for the virus. that is all this is about, and they should be mandated to get a vaccine right away. host: let's talk about the word mandate. when you say people should be mandated to get the vaccine, are you talking about everyone? are you talking about people in public jobs? all children? who do you think should be mandated to have the vaccine? caller: unless you have a medical condition that does not allow you to get a vaccine, you should have to get a vaccine. if you are a child and cannot have it, that is fine, you

should not get it. unless you have a medical problem or the medical teams have said you cannot have a vaccine, everyone should be mandated. i do not care who you are, your religion, you should be mandated to have a vaccine. this is because trumpers are mad donald trump lost i did not get credit for the vaccine. i have heard it all over. this is all because of donald trump, and i am sick and tired of hearing it. host: let's go to maggie from roseburg, oregon. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wanted to say something, make a comment, and ask you a question. i served in a military 35 years, and i am also a nurse. i saw what was happening to my soldiers when they were given the experimental anthrax. my father-in-law died after taking the moderna. the spikes proteins caused him

two heart attacks. my mother took the moderna, and she died eight days after my father-in-law on the fourth of september from taking it. she had pre-existing health conditions. they should've have known better than to give her that. i lost two cousins, a fourth and second cousin, to taking the pfizer within the last month and a half. i personally believe that saying trumpers are the ones to be blamed for this or that they are stomping their fits, i, licensed nurse. i have seen with these so-called inoculations have done to family members. i lost four family members in the last months to taking pfizer and moderna. if you are going to out there say that when it comes to abortion, my body, my choice, i as a military member and nurse aide, it is my body and my choice, and they really feel -- i don't know how you feel about this -- but i really feel that all of this hype and the

cdc jumping back and forth, wear that mask, where a double must, when i wear a mask, i am breathing back my own bacteria, and it is unhealthy and causing worse respiratory problems and i already have when i wear a mask. host: first, condolences to you for the loss of your family members. the first thing you said was you saw what happened with the military and the anthrax vaccines. tell us what you mean by that. are you same people died from getting the anthrax vaccine? caller: i know three personally did died the military tried to cover it up. i know my soldiers were going over seas during desert storm, and they said they were given so many vaccines and were not told. host: so they did not know it was the anthrax vaccine or something else? they'll just blaming it on the anthrax vaccine? caller: they were told about the

anthrax, and they said they started breaking out in rashes, women were coming back in their early 20's who never had children, and they had to start wearing [indiscernible] the rest of their life. host: the next thing is you said you lost four members after they took the coronavirus vaccine. was the cause of death declared to be the vaccine, or was it declared to be something else? caller: what it was was blood clots went throughout their body after attacking their hearts and lungs. everything is covid because the government will give every hospital in additional 30 to $36,000 for every covid death listed. host: so the actual cause of death was from the coronavirus, not the vaccine? caller: it was listed also as blood clots throughout the body. host: that's good wade from

florence, south carolina, good morning. caller: good morning. i am very concerned about the way they are turning it back -- turning their back on science. very concerned about that. host: in what way? what are you talking about? caller: well, i feel like i am being constantly lied to and manipulated to go along with the pharmaceutical industry, which is huge. they contribute about 75% of income of my news stations in south carolina, and they do in your state, too, wherever you are. it is huge. you seek equal ads, ask your doctor about this, ask your doctor about that.

they have beautiful scenery and they spend a lot of money on these ads, big-time production because there is a lot of money at stake, and there has been a huge transfer of wealth from our government and taxes that have been sent in to the pharmaceutical companies during this crisis, and it has been a crisis. yes, people have died in hospitals get paid more if they write down a certain thing if they get less, and hospitals code things. this is nothing new. hospitals sometimes get more money if you have a particular complication because it costs them a little more to deal with the publication. the government tends to reimburse -- deal with your complication. the government tends to reimburse that. there has been no exception to that when it comes to the crisis we have been in. now i feel conflicted because i feel like now they do not want to let it go. they have this money train flowing, and we know omicron

virus -- i apologize if i am not pronouncing that correctly -- we know the death toll nationwide is like 10, yet, they found in florida, they have sampled and tested the waste systems in the state of florida for every municipality, and they found the new virus was present in this way system of every community in florida, a monumental test, and it tells us a lot, that this thing is going to our community -- going through a community like wildfire. host: there was major breaking is about the coronavirus mandate that broke late yesterday, and i want to bring you the story from the wall street journal -- from "the wall street journal," really u.s. appeals court reinstated the biden administration's covid-19 roles. i will bring you the story.

a federal appeals court friday reinstated the biden administration rules that require many employers to ensure that their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for covid-19. he divided panel of the sixth u.s. circuit court of appeals, issued by another court, that had blocked the rules. the majority in a 2-1 rulings and legal challenges to the administration's vaccine and testing requirements were likely to fail. the ruling is a near-term boost for the white house but was immediately appealed on an emergency basis of the supreme court by employers who oppose the mandate. the requirements issued by the occupational, safety and health administration are scheduled to take effect in january and apply to businesses with 100 or more employees and cover roughly 84 million workers. employers who do not comply could face penalties of up to

$13,600 a violation. requirements do not apply to employees who do not report to a workplace where other individuals are present, employees who only work from home, or employees who work exclusively outdoors. once again, that is the story from "the wall street journal" saying the appeals court has been stated the biden covid-19 rules for large employers that were scheduled to go into effect in january, two weeks. yesterday at the white house's covid briefing, the cdc director discussed the latest data on the omicron variant in the united states. here is what she had to say. [video clip] >> at least 39 states and over 75 countries have reported confirmed cases of the omicron variant, and although delta continues to circulate widely in the united states, omicron is increasing rapidly, and we expected to become the dominant

strain in the united states, as it has in other countries, in the coming weeks. you have seen cases of omicron among those who are vaccinated and boosted, and we believe the cases are milder or a symptomatic because of vaccine protection. what we do know is we have the tools to protect ourselves against covid-19. we have vaccine, boosters, and we know multilayer prevention strategies, masks and public indoor settings, practicing physical distancing, frequent handwashing, improving ventilation, and testing to slow transmission are vitally important, especially as we prepare for more omicron, and even if you are vaccinated and boosted. host: let's see what some social media followers say about the coronavirus pandemic and response. here is a tweet that says, how could usa lead the world in covid cases and deaths from almost the beginning of the pandemic?

now more than a hundred thousand deaths. another that says -- 800,000 deaths. another says, i have never had covid-19 and have had three pfizer shots with no side effects. please get the shot and go on with their lives. here is a tweet that says we plan to travel to colorado over christmas and beyond. now it is at risk. we still have a few days to decide, but it is not promising. ground for pandemics. another post from facebook that is, once again, front-line workers are put at risk and overworked because we have a group of americans that are idiots. my heartfelt thanks to all of the front-line workers who are out there. once again, we want to know what you think about the current state of the coronavirus pandemic and the response. let's talk to walter, calling

from palm springs, california. good morning. caller: hello. i remember i was a kid back in the 1950's, and when the vaccines came out, men, we were rushing to get in line to take those vaccines, but why? because we do not want to get polio. i remember seeing these cases where other kids my age were having to be with a respirator, the iron lung, that would barely keep them alive, and we were terrified. i do not remember anybody saying anything except, hey, let's get the vaccine as quickly as we can, so we did. and it boggles my imagination that so many people today are resisting something that can save their own lives. here is what i think.

if people are going to be so insistent on not getting the vaccine, ok, let's say that they are right, but if they do not have vaccine, then if they get sick, do not expect to go to a hospital, where the hospitals are overworked, and the poor workers there are putting their own lives on the line, so don't expect to be treated in the hospital, stay home and recover or die, whatever happens to you. host: let's go to sean, calling from laurel, maryland. good morning. caller: the morning. in a sort of funny because i have been waiting to hear back from our governor and i representative and the school board because monday, my son was sent home with a bunch of other kids from schools who were asked to take a survey, and one question, do you have a covid shot? they were all dismissed. nobody from the school board

knew what was going on. now i got an answer this morning watching the news. i was going to call monday and ask what the reason was because they said the basketball team got sick and they sent everyone home to do not have a shot. i guess -- if you got the shot, like the man said on the show, and it says you are fine and good, why do unvaccinated people bother you? i don't understand that. they say your body, your choice, but they convince crazy women to say everything -- believe everything they say out there. if you are safe, you are safe and protect yourself. host: let's talk to jeffrey from oklahoma. caller: god bless you and god bless all the listeners to c-span. my biggest concern is no one is addressing the real issue, and

that is the incredible obesity rate in our country. if you go back and talk about the 1960's, when there was a pandemic in 1968 and all the vaccines that were basically made available in early 1950's, one of the biggest things that was different was the entire health of the country. the last 60 plus years with high fructose corn syrup, all the fast food, with inactivity. people are basically compromised. i am certainly not a person who was fearful of vaccination, but basically gene therapy, i am not a big advocate of, but i am a person who thinks that making sure you eat right, you know,

eating healthy fats as much as possible, as much protein as possible, keeping your carbohydrates low, exercising vigorously, and getting as much vitamin d, direct sunlight as possible, so your immune system is strong. obviously, ninja, garlic, to merrick. -- obviously, ginger, garlic and to tumeric. fear is one of the biggest things that causes stress that causes a lot of problems people are having. host: i don't think anybody would argue that being as healthy as possible will make your immune system stronger and will make you have a better life, but if i am understanding you correctly, you are trying to save the coronavirus pandemic is only affecting the people who are not healthy? caller: no, again, i think the coronavirus is affecting everyone in a reasonable manner.

the way the flu is affecting everyone, no more than the colds and other seasonal viruses and those sort of things . as a person who s taken many of the vaccines, light, obviously, polio, yellow fever, measles, those vaccines dealt with the disease and being given the concerns so your body will build up and immune system. host: i think we are beyond the comparisons to the flu and pneumonia because we did not have a hundred thousand people died from flu two years ago -- 800,000 people died from flu two years ago, so i think this is a little more. caller: we do have enormous amounts of people percentagewise

equal to that are dying from the flu. host: equal to covid-19? i don't think your numbers are correct. caller:caller: again, when i say equal, i say over the course of the years, people have been taking the flu vaccination every year, yet, we still have people dying from the flu, just like we are having people taking the vaccine. host: that is correct, that is pretty well-known and should be pretty well known by now that vaccines do not mean the disease vanishes. caller: yes, but when we had the gentleman 15 minutes ago talk about taking the polio vaccine, the reason he took the polio vaccine was not to get polio. the reason people are taking the gene therapy or the vaccine, it does not prevent you from getting it. what prevents you from getting it is to have a strong immune system. host: let's go to sally, calling

from auburn, washington. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you doing today? host: just fine, go ahead, sally. caller: i am hearing a lot of shade thrown at people across the americas here. people are talking against, you know, unvaccinated people as if what that lady caller said crop or something. i have not been vaccinated. i believe i have had covid at least twice. i lost taste and smells, still kind of dealing with that. my family have been tested for antibodies, and they are positive or have great antibodies against this. my point is, people are talking about not being able to have

choices put in front of them, but if you go to the cdc site and see the facts that they are not accurate right now i don't separate the variants, so those 800,000 who have "died from covid," i will have to argue because those are not accurate numbers, in my opinion, because they have put in motorcycle accidents, heart attacks, that i can tell you from personal experience. they tried to put a person who had a heart attack and died under covid, and we told him no. it did not show up on their death certificate as covid, i will tell you that. our new states here with masks and the kids, now they want to stick swabs of the kids read times a week to test for covid for sports. what are you testing for? is this a club you all want to be in? why are you testing and there are no symptoms?

we don't test for colds or the flu. we go to the doctor. we just go home, drink lots of fluids, stay warm, do normal things with our antibodies. what is the problem that people are not seeing here? i don't understand. host: let's go to our caller from fresno, california. caller: good morning. i am a 60-year-old african-american male. i had open heart surgery, i have sickle cell anemia. i have taken the pfizer, both shots. i am getting ready to take the booster. it is one thing i can say that a lot of the callers are not saying, i am healthy. i am healthy because i have a good position. -- a good physician. i follow the rules. 800,000 people are dying because they either caught a virus or do not take the shot. well, i am an american who sees

the world stage, 4 billion chinese, there is heroin, fentanyl, all kinds of things happening in this country, and we are going to stand by and diminish our population because we will not take a shot? the coronavirus is killing us, not the shot. i have heard a lot of people speak on this program where they assume because of information they are getting from who knows what source that the shot has some this or some that, but as an american citizen, i think we should be concerned about keeping ourselves healthy because outside the borders of this nation, countries want to destabilize and take over america. that is pretty much why i called because as i stated, i am 68 years old, had open heart surgery, i have sickle cell anemia. all of these pre-existing

conditions, i took both pfizer's, and i am healthy. host: last week, wisconsin senator ron came out to the senate floor to discuss the risk from -- ron johnson came out to the senate floor to discuss the risk from covid and his opposition for the need for vexing mandates. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> i don't see how anybody can take a look at the response imposed on our country by covid guides and say it was a success. now it is the fact that there are still so much we do not know. i would appreciate a little modesty on the part of the covid guides. i would appreciate that we actually follow the advice i have heard when dealing with serious medical conditions, get

a second opinion, get a third opinion. as i said, that is not allowed. i think it also calls for a little respect for our fellow citizens. these are some tough decisions. they are tough decisions, whether or not you want to get vaccinated. even more gutwrenching are tough decisions based on these idiotic and pointless vaccine mandates is do i subject to the coercion, to the pressure? to the freer of reprisal -- to the fear of reprisal? and take the jab or lose my job? these are tough decisions. i am a big supporter of

operation warp speed. i have had every vaccination until this one because i had covid. the covid guides are not acknowledging natural immunity. they're not acknowledging vaccine injuries. they are not acknowledging the fact that even if you are fully vaccinated, you can still get covid. you can still transmit covid. so what is the point of the mandates? of course, that is not what we are getting from the covid guides. [end video clip] host: let's see what some social media followers are saying about the coronavirus pandemic and response. here is a tweet that says covid continues to rampage through certain populations. yesterday, i had to cancel the hearing of three inmates because there jail was on lockdown due to an outbreak, so they lost their chance to make rail before

christmas. real-life consequences of not vaccinating. another person says why has the virus gotten worse since biden took office? he ran on getting rid of it, did he? another process i think pharmaceutical companies need to go back to the drawing board. create something that actually work so people do not need 95 boosters. another post from facebook that says, the pandemic response could not have been any worse. almost like politicians of both parties did their best to make it worse. instead of actually listening to doctors and researchers, they meddled with the process and actually caused unnecessary deaths. one last facebook post, well, i get the flu shot every year. probably will need another shot against covid from time to time. in 1918 influenza virus, often called the spanish flu, infected roughly 500 million people in the u.s., 675 million people died -- 675,000 died.

in the 1980's, the hiv and aids virus caused thousands of deaths. about 35,000 cases are reported each year. we can probably expect some new, nasty thing to come around now and then. once again, we want to know what you think about the current state of the coronavirus pandemic and the response. before we get back to your calls, i want to bring you a story from fox news that talks about the u.s. military moving to discipline people, the troops, who have not gotten vaccinated. here's what the story says. u.s. military services have begun disciplinary -- today disciplinary actions and discharges were troops who refuse to get vaccinated against covid-19. as many as 20000 and vaccinated forces of the approximately 1.3 million active-duty troops are at risk of being removed from

service. neither the navy nor marine corps have released refusal totals and remains unclear how many could end up being discharged. the navy has already fired one sailor from his command job for refusing to be tested while he pursued an exemption. the marine corps said thursday it had discharged 103 marines thus far, the army has reprimanded more than 2700 soldiers and will begin discharge proceedings in january, and the air force announced earlier this week that 27 airmen had been discharged. at least 80,000 service members are not getting vaccinated, but several thousand have been granted temporary medical -- or permanent medical exemptions, and more than 12,000 have sought religious exemptions. this comes as there is a controversy in texas over whether the texas national guard will have to take a coronavirus

vaccine or not. texas governor greg abbott has said he will attempt to protect the soldiers and the members of the texas national guard. i want to bring to you this statement from texas governor greg abbott. if unvaccinated guardsmen suffer any adverse consequences within the state of texas, they will have only president biden and his administration to blame. the state of texas will not enforce this latest covid-19 vaccine mandate against its guardsmen. the federal government keeps threatening to defund the texas national guard, and i will employ every legal tool available to me as governor and defensive the american heroes. that is a statement from texas governor greg abbott, who has refused the military vaccine mandate for his texas national guard. let's go back to our phone lines.

we will start with cassie, calling from louisiana. good morning. caller: good morning. it is great to have a place where our voices can be heard and not censored. that is a very important thing to me. everything has been tested as far as what it means to be an american. i have to admit that i did vote for trump, and i do not breathe through my mouth. because i voted for trump does not mean he did a great thing in getting this vaccine out here. people have a choice, and if he had been in office, it could have been terrible for him. people have a choice, and they should be allowed to have a choice because if you take the vaccine, why do you take it? you take it because you do not

want to have to get the disease. from what i understand, the wards are filling up with people who have been vaccinated and boosted. how is it that americans are forced to take the vaccine, but the people coming across the border are not mandated because there are legal ramifications for the pfizer and the moderna pharmaceutical companies that they would have to face? not americans. they cannot have any legal ramifications because of injury from the vaccine. host: so, what i understand you are trying to say, are you saying you think pharmaceutical companies would be at legal liability if they were sued by undocumented immigrants while they would not be at legal liability if they were documented by american citizens? caller: yes, sir, i do.

when you think about it, we are at legal liability for separating these undocumented families. why wouldn't they be at legal liability for immigrants coming across the border? host: let's go to leicester, calling from sandy, oregon -- lester from sandy, oregon. caller: good morning, how are you? host: i am fine, go ahead. caller: my family back in january, they told us the virus was going around. i believe it was maybe the covid-19, and, lately, all this stuff going on, i had a shot. it took me a year before i could have the shot because i have an immunodeficiency called igg4 and it creates lumps in my body, and

infusions are about $20,000 each , and my son has one kidney. they told him that he could not have shot because it could cause him to die, and things like immune, things like that, most of these soldiers, maybe refused to have the shot, maybe they have some immune deficiency or something else going in their bodies. you do not hear all of that. i think in america, we have a right to choose what we do, and but at the same time, i agree with shot if you can have it. in order to do that, you have to see a doctor. in my case, i have to have specialists.

anyhow, that is what i feel my concern is, safety. oregon has a higher immune against it because like down in louisiana, the lady was just talking, we have -- they have warmer weather than we do, so oregon is known for colds and flu's. host: let's go to denise from new jersey good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things to say. first, the pharmaceutical company is profit driven, and we all know that. the bottom line is there concern. the covid-19 vaccine is a juggernaut. they are making billions of dollars. i really do not think that we

are taking their j&j vaccine when they are being sued for their talcum powder. don't forget, they pushed how many people? nothing happened. the vaccine does not stop you from getting covid or from transmitting it, so, why are we taking it? also, there is no open debate. this is the first disease there is only one choice. this government is only saying vaccine. in the beginning, we found out vitamin d, you have a less chance of getting covid if you had a high rate, and if you do not, of getting over it. host: let me stop you really quickly. the government mandate that president biden is talking about is either vaccine or submitting

to a test weekly, so there is a choice. caller: that is not a choice though, it is either if you take the vaccine or nothing. there is no choice to combat the actual disease. there is vitamin d, like the other gentleman said, there is boosting your immune system, staying fit. here we are in covid where we are doordashing fast food. host: let's go to tony for maryland. good morning. are you there? caller: yes, can you hear me? host: yes, go ahead. caller: i agree with that last caller. some of the other callers who have similar views to the last caller. i think this is all money driven. the pharmaceutical company stocks are the highest they have ever been. host: do you think we should be surprised at a capitalistic

system that something is money driven? caller: i am telling you that i am not surprised that you are asking me a question because you seem to be asking questions to people who do not support taking this vaccine, but you do not do that to those who do support taking it. host: you have not been watching the show long enough then, tony. caller: i did not call you for that anyway. i am telling you for some reason -- this is what i am not taking it -- i don't think the viruses is that serious, for one. for another, they rarely mention, and you get this on tv all the time with different medicines they tried to sell on us, they tell you the side effects before you and the commercial. you don't hear about side effects from this vaccine. you don't hear about adverse reactions over the vaccine deaths, all you hear about our covid related issues. nothing negative about the vaccine. you seem like you may even be

promoting taking the vaccine. you asked so many questions to people who are against taking it. host: i believe there was a story earlier this week where the cdc suggested people take the pfizer or moderna vaccine because the j&j vaccine was had a problem with blood clots. did you see that story? caller: speaking of the cdc, it is strange the cdc knows how many people who have had the virus and have been vaccinated but do not know how many people that worked out the cdc, of all places. they don't even know how many people are at their own agency are vaccinated. at a senate hearing, 75% of the cdc employees are working from home. so they do not know how many at their own agency, but they know how many in this country. host: several major sports organizations around the country are canceling or postponing

events because of the rise in coronavirus cases around the united states, and i will bring you the story from cnn. let's start with the nfl. the nfl is postponing three week 15 games due to covid-19 issues around the league. they announced on friday. this saturday scheduled game between the cleveland browns and the las vegas raiders was rescheduled for monday at 5:00 p.m. sunday scheduled games between the washington football team in the philadelphia eagles, and the seattle seahawks and los angeles rams, will both be postponed until tuesday. both tuesday games will kick off at 7:00 p.m. eastern. that is in the nfl. in the ncaa basketball calendars, they also are changing because of the coronavirus. that ncaa ends basketball calendar has been turned upside down with more than 1000 games canceled or postponed in recent

days. most notably, games between number two duke and loyola, and between number four ucla and north carolina, scheduled for saturday, have been canceled due to covid-19 issues in the ucla and loyola programs, the schools announced friday. we are beginning to see now public changes from major sporting legs and colleges and universities because of the uptick in covid-19 cases. let's go back to our phone lines and talk to jerry, calling from waynesboro, north carolina. good morning. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: just fine, go ahead. caller: i am one of those nonbelievers, too. if you believe that 800,000 americans have died from this virus, and i have got some prime property in florida i want to give you. host: let's go to kathleen, calling from los angeles, california.

good morning. caller: good morning. i am up early early in los angeles. wait, this is the thing i want to start with. you read from "the new york times," "the washington post," msnbc, cnn. they reported that the russians colluded with trump or russian collusion involved trump. he reported that for three years. first of all, a mask immigration, illegal aliens have squelched the wealth of black americans for 200 years. the book is "back to the hiring line" by roy beck. yet, you ask people who do research or outside of social -- mainstream media, you denigrate or look down on people who do

research outside of washington, d.c., or outside of "the washington post." first of all, this is not even a vaccine, it is gene therapy. the fda has not approved it, and they have not even manufactured the vaccine that is supposed to be approved by biotech. it has not even been manufactured yet, so it is gene therapy. second of all, look at studies outside of the united states, look at bangladesh. they do not have any covid cases. why? because they do the nasal tests, and the other thing is, what about monoclonal -- host: i guess kathleen dropped. let's go to andrew, calling from oklahoma. good morning. caller: good morning morning. how are you? host: just fine, go ahead. caller: can you hear me? host: yes, we can.

caller: they were talking about these shots. i have had all three of mine, and they did not bother me at all. these people talk about their rights of not being able to do what they wanted to. they got the rights to pay their own hospital bills and stuff, too, if they are not vaccinated. that is all i got to say, thank you. host: let's talk to lewis from cambridge, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. i played cards all the time on a sunday from 10:00 in the morning until 8:00, 9:00 at night. everybody who do not have the vaccine got covid severely bad. everybody who was vaccinated did not get it, so i just got to understand, why don't everybody get vaccinated? i have a mother-in-law who was big against abortion, but she says, my body, my choice.

but she is against abortion. that is your body, your choice. there are lots of things i can go on about the vaccine. if more than 800,000 people died of covid that they reported, but i know a fact that my nephew died, and they put it down as overdose, when he was clean for over a year and had his test every week, and he died, and he had covid, but they put it down as an overdose, and he did not have no drugs in his system, other than the ones he was supposed to take. i just do not understand these people. there are way more people who died the just over 800,000. host: on wednesday, several airline executives came to capitol hill to testify about the federal aid they received during the pandemic, and before

the senate commerce and transportation committee. here, southwest airlines ceo is asked about whether passengers will be ever able to get back on airplanes without masks. here is what he said. [video clip] >> mr. kelly, on the air quality , and, mr. parker, would both of you briefly comment on that, and will be ever, do you think, be able to get on the airplane without masks? >> i would echo my colleague's comments on the quality of the air. the statistics i recall was 99.97% of airborne pathogens are captured by the epic filtering system and turned over every 10 minutes. we use stamford school of medicine, so we will add to the prestigious list. yeah, i think the case is very strong that masks do not add

much, if anything in the air cabin environment. it is very safe and high-quality compared to any other indoor setting. [end video clip] host: just as the hearing ended, the person you just stop speaking, the southwest ceo, gary kelly, tested positive for covid the next day after he made this appearance on capitol hill, as he talked about whether masks should or should not be allowed on airlines. by the way, that hearing was massless inside -- maskless inside the building. let's start with laura, calling from massachusetts. good morning. caller: good morning. first, i want to say i think the mandates are absolutely is torry. i think it is based -- not based

on fact. the fact is that those vaccinated are testing positive just as much as the unvaccinated , and they are getting sick just as much as the unvaccinated, so i believe this is political. this is meant to single out who they think are all trump loaders, which is not the case. i am a liberal, i have never been a trump voter, and i think the government mandate is for this pharmaceutical industry, this is about billions and billions and billions of dollars. as a matter of fact, pfizer is talking about a fourth vaccine. where is it going end? when are they going to say, enough is enough? how about natural immunity and being able to fight the disease on your own if you are healthy? the whole point of this thing is

to make us dependent on pharmaceuticals. this is what this is about. when does it end? is it going to be another virus and vaccine? if we do not have a choice to do what we want with our own bodies, then where does this end? this is meant to punish us, as well. finally, i want to say, it is meant to punish you because you ask you to take a test every week where you put a swap up your nose, it will cause irritation and could cause infections. you are supposed to pay for it yourself, which is hardship. this is meant to punish people who are not being compliant with what biden and his administration and found she want -- and fauci once. host: let's go conrad. caller: some callers say you

should or should not take it but this is the bottom line. half the people who have called in when we were coming up in life, 20, 19, 16, when you were popping pills, taking drugs, it was not bad when you are sorting them, and when you were popping pills, now, you do not want to believe a doctor. you believe a drug dealer, i bring you heroin, you snort that, don't ask what is in it, but you want to believe -- you do not want to believe a certified doctor. people do not believe 800,000 people died. if they want to die, let them die. they are grown. you don't have to protect a grown-up person. host: let's go to jenny, calling from stone, ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. the reason i am calling is i believe it is real. my son is a police officer. he caught it from two other people, and he almost died, ok? so i do believe and it.

-- i do believe in it. he could not breathe afterwards. he had side effects, and he really almost died from it. and then, finally, the chief called him and told him that there were two other people that had covid, and these people were not vaccinated or anything. but he did catch it from work, and he really almost passed away from it. host: we would like to thank all of our callers who called in for that segment. coming up, a national alliance to end homelessness steve berg will be here to discuss homelessness in the united states and efforts to reduce it. later, beckett graham and susan vollenwider, the cohosts of the podcast "the history chicks" will be here to discuss their podcast and what is coming up in the new year.

stick with us. we will be right back. ♪ >> this year the u.s. supreme court took up two cases upheld the face of roe v raid -- roe v. wade. sunday on q&a, joshua talks about the complicated life and times of the woman behind the case. the activism of the court's position and the impact that her actions had on her and her three daughters. >> what is so interesting is that her life is a mirror and window into this whole big thing of abortion in america. and the pro-life wish to say, look at her and look at the cost of abortion. she never had an abortion. she actually is a fascinating sort of testimony to his the cost of adoption, she struggled

enormously, emotionally with what it meant to have to relinquish her three children to adoption. >> joshua and his book sunday night 8:00 eastern onq &a, you can listen to all of that on our new podcast -- on the new c-span now app. >> when roosevelt arrived the united states for the first time, he was 12 years old and his current book, "rescuing socrates," he writes that when he landed at jfk he had "a held -- a head full of lice and a body full of tropical parasites." the dominican republic native admits that he was an unlikely candidate, however montas eventually earned a phd in english from columbia university and went on to run the columbia core curriculum from 2008 to 2018. the subtitle of his life story " how the great books changed my life and why they matter for a

new generation." >> on this episode of booknotes+ which is available on the c-span now apps or wherever you get your podcasts. >> sunday, january 2 on in-depth allen joins us to talk about the early intellectual history of the united states. the civil war, and the reconstruction era. his book titles include " redeeming the great emancipator," "gettysburg," and "robert e. lee: a life." join with your phone calls, facebook comments, and your tweets, sunday, january 2 at noon eastern on in-depth. >> "washington journal" continues. host: