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collins takes questions about the tax filing season stepped joined the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages and tweets. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: that is data from johns hopkins university you are looking at, showing worldwide coverage when it comes to covid cases. that's the united states. you can see the numbers there. covid cases dropping and in light of that governors across the states are considering redoing their mask mandates and a recent poll from monmouth university asked americans specifically if it was time to accept covid and move on from it. 70% said it was time. we will show you some of the data from the pole but from the first hour this morning we want

to ask you, when it comes to covid and any -- everything surrounding it, is it time to move on from hit? if you say yes, (202) 748-8000. if you say no, it is not time, (202) 748-8001. if you are not sure, call us at (202) 748-8002. you can text us at (202) 748-8003, post on facebook at facebook.com/c-span and post on twitter, @cspanwj. the monmouth university poll asked americans overall if it was time to accept covid, as they framed it, and move on from it, as far as they phrased the question. 70% of americans in the pole agreed that it was "time to move on" from it, with 88% of republicans sharing the seven -- sentiment, 71 percent of independents, 41% of them a kratz sharing the sentiment done in late january as the data is

available at monmouth university and in light of that, even the last couple of days, several democratic governors across the united states reconsidering mask mandates because of data coming out around covid and other factors, "the wall street journal," highlighting that fact, saying that officials in rhode island, new york, and other places wednesday said that vaccinations and other measures would end measures and tempted to stop the spread of covid would end by march again, in the first hour, host: your host: thoughts on covid and if it is time to move on from it. give us a call you say yes at (202) 748-8000.

if you say no, (202) 748-8001. perhaps you are not sure, (202) 748-8002. the story mentioned that list of governors across the united states making that decision. the new york governor yesterday talked about changes to covid mask policies for businesses, not for school. here is democrat kathy hogle yesterday. [video clip] >> i've been talking to everybody. local diners, businesses, dr. felty -- dr. fauci, health care experts, consulting with other national leaders in neighboring states. talked to labor leaders, elected officials, health care leaders, hospital ceos, business leaders. talked to many business leaders over the last few days. educators, school superintendents, parents, leaders of the teachers union. everyone i could think of has received a phone call from me to

ask them about how they feel about where we are, where we are going and what we should be doing next. all of that has given me not just data, but the on the ground view from the people most affected and that is how i make my best decisions. so, we had a mask or vax requirement for businesses. it was an emergency temporary measure put in place nearly two months ago and at this time we say that it is the right decision to lift the mandate for indoor businesses. let counties, cities, and businesses make their own decisions on what they want to do with respect to max -- masks or the vaccination requirement. given declining cases and hospitalizations, that is why we feel it's possible to lift this in effect tomorrow and i want to thank all the businesses and the county leaders and the health department in places as far away

as syria county who did the right thing to help us get through this. i believe it has made a huge difference and it has given patrons of businesses the comfort to know that they are safe when they went in these stores during our most vulnerable time when we saw those numbers literally off the charts and now the numbers are coming down and it is time to adapt. host: do you think it is time to move on from covid? mitchell from new jersey starts us off on the line for those who are not sure. mitchell, go ahead. caller: i am not, i'm not against getting rid of the mitigation measures that we have. in place. and we will have to move in that direction i think and certainly we should go there soon. however, i do think that there are some measures that are still a little bit worrisome. one of them would be the hospitalizations. i was looking at a "new york

times" chart of hospitalizations recently and icu admissions. i'm in the suburbs of new york city. two of the hospitals, i was pretty surprised, a couple of them were over 100%, hospitals by me were still in the high 80's. i think we are probably a few weeks away from getting that number down, which i would feel a little bit more comfortable with. the other thing is the vaccinations for the children five and under, they are talking about rolling it out perhaps in march, which is another good sign. i think some of the antivirals should be coming out in force in a few more weeks. i would say i agree with what they are doing in concept but i think we are probably a few weeks to scene -- too soon on some of these measures. host: similar sentiment from our

facebook page by holly robinson. she said to ask the nurses, doctors, and hospital staff. i had a three day stay at a hospital to have a cancerous kidney removed. patients did not get care as quickly as they needed because the nurses and the aides were overwhelmed. you can send us a text or reach out to us on twitter as well on this idea of moving on from covid. south carolina, lee, hello. caller: i believe we can move on. if people haven't learned yet, they will never learn. what we are doing is pacifying ignorance, selfishness. people think of themselves. the talk about the stop the steal rally, things like this,

to obfuscate an excuse their behavior. i just think we are wasting time and we have other priorities that are more pressing. such as documents being flushed, destroyed, etc. host: ok, we will hear from time -- from tom on the no line in florida. caller: in other countries where they removed the mandates, more deaths came. we have right wing and tiebacks, anti-science and others, it's incredible. we had more deaths than the 1918 pandemic. 675,000 this year in the united

states? i mean, this is incredible. like the last caller said, the ignorant and the stupid, they need to look in the mirror and realize they are the ones who what deny science. host: let me ask you, what would you have to see in order to "move on" from covid, to become tribble with that? caller: listen to the experts. listen to us. for gods sake. if trump did what biden did and took seriously the pandemic, he would probably be president right now. host: you are saying listen to experts as far as the cdc and those people? caller: if trump took seriously the pandemic, he would be president right now.

now he's gone. he's done. he's never going to be president. host: ok. that was tom in florida. when it comes to actual numbers of covid cases, they are plunging across america and the omicron death toll is headed down as well and that nationwide the u.s. is averaging 240 thousand new cases per day, 60 1% drop over the last two weeks. maryland and washington, d.c. have the lowest case counts in the country -- host: we showed you that map at

the be getting of the show, covid deaths, 900,000 plus, that number. factor that into your calculus as far as it being time to move on from covid in the life we live due to it. craig, hello. caller: i think the red states have had it correct for the last year and the blue states are just trying to catch up now. these studies, facts, and figures show that lockdowns haven't made any less severe, the covid-19 problem. the democrats are chasing the parade right now. host: from mike. mike, in ohio on the yes line. hello. caller: good morning, pedro. let's talk ignorance. ignorance is what has been going on for two years. our experts are incompetent.

let's find out where this originated. the faucher she alliance, they were being fed money to do these experiments in china. the reason we can't get anything done is because we have individuals in the building behind you, pedro. pants in your pockets -- hands in their pockets getting kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies. how much of the shots costing us. host: dr. fauci has been questioned many times on these fronts and had answers for those things. if you want to go to our website, c-span.org, you can see the hearings with dr. fauci answering questions and accusations about covid. you can go to the website at c-span.org.

carlin is in reno, nevada on the no line. good morning. this idea of moving on from covid, what do you think? caller: good morning. i think it's terrible. i'm 78, my husband is 84. people come in, living in reno, the flights come in all the time. we are just, you know, dooming people from everywhere. people dying, even though it's gone down a little bit as far as how many people only 63% of the people vaccinated.

host: what's the change in your mind as far as things cited, what has to change? caller: for one thing, if the people would have gotten vaccinated, like they should have all along, we could have been there by now. but they didn't, you know. you got these people that don't believe in it, i don't know what their ideas are. you see them on fox and all that. anyway, if everybody would have gotten vaccinated, we could have been there. as it is now we will have to wait until it kind of wears down and until it does, you know, here with the casinos and everything, close by other people, they have to wear the masks and keep their hands washed. host: ok, ok.

that's carla in person -- carla in nevada giving us her ideas. this from a republican leader, " science hasn't changed, politics has, democrats have been the party of shutdowns and mask mandates even when the ruinous impact was clear." our question, sean patrick maloney adding that democrats plan to fight covid and the plan is working, science is our guide and we are ready to start getting back to normal. legislators on their twitter feeds giving input. you can do the same on the phones, post on our facebook page, twitter feed, or text us. newport news, virginia on the not sure line. good morning, carlton. caller: i'm not sure, pedro. because the fact that the death toll is still so high.

the cdc is being rushed by these outside groups that can't get a handle on whether it is safe or not. we are just going to play it safe, my mate and i. we both had our shots. it pays to play it safe until the death rates come down and free up some of the hospital spacing. we are going to follow cdc guidance and play it safe. host: what do you think of this rash of states changing policies around masks in light of the cdc guidance? caller: i think it's something that i hope doesn't come back to bite them on the but. they think everything is over, they wanted to be over, but covid is not finished with us and i would hate for them to have to find out the hard way. host: one of the people asked

about the decisions highlighted in the paper today, dr. rochelle lewinsky talking about what's going on in the states, what's currently being offered for mask guidance when it comes to the cdc. here's a portion of that from yesterday. [video clip] >> the last recommendation was that there should be indoor masking in public settings where transmission is substantial or high, according to cdc data that appears to still be the entire country, the case for the entire country, where community transmission is high. is that still the recommendation and furthermore, you also recommended that there be universal masking in schools. is that a recommendation that you stand by as states moved to drop or lift mask mandates for teachers and students in schools? >> yeah, thank you. we certainly understand the need and desire to be flexible and we want to ensure public health guidance that we are providing meets the moment we are in.

as was discussed and noted, cases and hospitalizations are falling and this is encouraging and it leads us of to have a look at all the guidance, the latest data, the science and what we know about the virus. as jeff mentioned we look to hospitalizations as a barometer of how they are doing locally. so that those decisions can be made at the local level in we have course at the cdc will keep the public informed on our guidance and clearly communicate our recommendations to the public if and when they are updated. host: there was more to that white house covid briefing yesterday, it's available on our website and if you download the c-span now app, you can view it there, too. ty, los angeles, on the no line, go ahead. caller: no, i really don't think we are ready to move on from this, these efforts to end covid.

i'm a teacher and, you know, i am, i am just, i can't believe that we really are handling it this way. we have someone out sick, we have staff out sick all the time . we are short substitutes in our district. students are out all the time. just maybe a week ago or so i had a student that had to go out and the children that were near him had to be quarantined and i'm just saying that you guys are really wrong when you think we are surviving and i really don't appreciate that you guys have forced us teachers to be at risk under the guise that it's for the children. i mean ultimately people aren't even going back to work and really, it's disgusting that

people have taken on this posture of defeat by saying -- whatever, everyone's just going to get it. but they are so ready to fight people who want to fight the virus. can we stop fighting each other and fight the virus? it's ridiculous and i'm tired of this. host: i assume you are teaching face-to-face. what kind of rules do you have to follow when you are teaching now? caller: well, we have safety cautions that we have had since school started. plexiglass shields. i make sure that my students get hand sanitizer before they eat. at the beginning of the year i use to do that before they enter the class. host: i think the call dropped, but that was a caller from california giving her perspective as far as teaching

is concerned. teachers are welcome to give input. other people as well, in their walks of life, how they are dealing with covid in this idea that it is time to move on from covid. shirley says yes, it is. surely, hello. caller: good morning. [inaudible] this has costs a lot of jobs, you can't get a job if you don't get the shot. partially i'm afraid of the shot because i don't know what's in it. credibility for the cdc, found she lost that when he was caught in several lies. teachers need to be in the classroom teaching students. it's causing a lot of stress for my grandson and my granddaughter in my small parish. i have seen teachers without

their masks. if they can go out without a mask, they can teach in the classroom without the mask. personally, i feel everyone needs to get back to normal and as far as like i said, the faucher that ability, it's gone with the wind. host: ok. that was surely in louisiana. on the twitter feed, saying let the independent medical professionals be the voices that inform the nation. jd reading from the twitter feed saying it's endemic, the reason the plague occurred in the first case is the research and michael saying that everyone will be -- will be exposed to covid, and how each one's body reacts remains unknown, it has been and

make for some time. thoughts from twitter viewers there, you can add yours to the mix there at c-span wj or our facebook page. frank, maryland on the yes line saying it's time to move on. frank, hello. caller: i just want to say yes, it's time to move on and has been for about a year now. the democrats are just doing this politically. they have known for the longest time that we didn't know these masks. three quarters of the masks don't even work that they got out there. look, the bottom line is that you have made moderna, pfizer, and all these other companies so filthy rich, they will never have to make any more medicine. they are being played and they know it, the democrats. that's all i have to say. host: joe, ann arbor, on the no line. you are next up. caller: i hope i'm the right

person. host: if you are joel from ann arbor, michigan, go ahead. caller: correct. we may want to move on from the virus but the virus is not moving on from us. people are continuing to die. particularly children. adults, even boosted adults run the risk of a moderate disease perhaps followed by long-term covid symptoms. host: so, what has to change, then? caller: i think that we have to have some reason, more reason, apparently, to wear masks. to be careful about distancing, washing, and all the things the cdc has suggested. host: when you say more reason,

can you elaborate? considering we have been told a lot that on these ideas of masking and washing, we have to go further than that? caller: i think that we can change the opinion of what is being published by certain elements of the press. and that will be a matter of, well, action to the court. host: "the new york times," highlighting efforts from the state and on the political front. "if the drop in cases and hospitalizations continue as many experts and set -- expect, biden himself will have to make a tough decision, should he declare the end it to the national emergency that his predecessor called for in 2020

host: again, from "the new york times" this morning. darrell, time to move on, he says yes. darrell, hello. caller: yes, we need to get rid of the mask mandates. i live in california. doctors will in ski and found she need to go. they have been inaccurate for over a year about the masks. i'm a retired medical professional and i assure you that masks, that we have been walking around in the street, in

the car by yourself, has gone to the point of absurdity. it's ridiculous. they want people to be afraid. there is going to be another variant mutating from the vaccine. it's just going to keep going on and on and as long as people can be afraid -- host: who is that they that you say want to be afraid? who is they? caller: biden and the cdc cannot even get their story together, obviously. it's hurting the kids. i have a grandson that has to wear a mask. he can't even see faces. you know? it's really hurting the kids. the teachers that are whining that they are afraid and everybody is sick? you know, it's gone around.

omicron has gone around. teachers are vaccinated. kids are screened to death. they are still putting in the fear from weingarten. it's ridiculous. host: ok, that was darrell in california. now joseph, hello. caller: how are you today? host: fine, thank you. how about yourself? caller: good. i don't know why they are making this politically huge, democrats, republicans, or anybody else. we seem to be caught in this football political thing. it doesn't make sense. we are all in this together. we are all american. let's be done with the democrat republican thing. let's do it as the american people. host: you say it's not time to

move on yet. why is that? caller: because it's not done with us yet? it's going to be here for a while. this is not a moneymaking thing for drug companies. that's not the reason covid came here. we have it in we have to deal with it. host: as you say that, you said you had concerns about another variant. are you saying that as long as those concerns are there we should take the precautions and steps we are taking now? host: if we don't cap -- caller: if we don't, we will be setting ourselves up for going back to the way it was. host: ok. monmouth university is taking a look here, we saw a bit of it earlier about moving on from

covid, americans responding to that, we are asking you the same type of question. if you say that is the case, yes it is, call (202) 748-8000. if you say no it's not, (202) 748-8001. if you are not sure, call (202) 748-8002. talking about those political breakdowns, monmouth added that only one third of the country felt that the country would get the outbreak under control and return to normal by the end of the year and more than one and 4, 20 8%, believe a return to normalcy will never happen, up from 22% who felt this way in september and 6% who were similarly pessimistic a year ago. the monmouth university poll, by the way, monmouth.edu if you want to check out those findings for yourself. let's hear from stephen san jose . says it's time to move on. hello, steve.

caller: as long as we hover consistently around 2000, 2500 deaths per day, my first thought is for teachers. teachers ought to take into consideration the virus when they go into the career. they should get their education to become a teacher by the age of 25, that way they can retire at 30 years at the age of 55 and if teachers have comorbidities, diabetes, overweight, they should give strong consideration to getting out of the business.

we need to get our children back in school. the second thought is i just hope, i pray to god that this was not deliberately unleashed on the world because people, some folks, some folks thought that the world would be better off to be culled of the people over 65 because there are thoughts among environmentalists especially that we are overpopulated. host: where did you get that idea? caller: the idea comes from the beginning. this was deliberately, deliberately foy stirred on the

world population and i just pray to god we don't find this to be true because this would be an people, evilness. host: montgomery, alabama, on the no line. caller: i'm in no because i got pneumonia and i'm still getting over it, the strain that i have. it was like everything they had seen in covid but because i had been boosted, they couldn't say definitely that it was covid. but all these people calling in here saying the democrats, the democrats, the democrats? this all started under a republican. this isn't a democrat or republican thing. they have made it that way. they blaming faucher and everybody else but found she is

just like any other person, could make a mistake. they are holding him to one or two mistakes and what about all the things he's gotten right? the omicron variant is running rampant in alabama. there is no way that we should be, i mean i'm not a yes or no on the mandate, but people should be taking precautions. the doctor that called in and said mask this mask that, why do they wear the masks in the hospital? to protect them from things, from other people that come in who are sick and what they have. the same thing should apply for us going out or just being in offices shut up with other people. my brother just got covid. he was outside, forgot his mask, this man was standing behind him breathing on him and within a day he was sick.

that's the mindset these people have and it is just wrong. host: let's hear from eric in louisiana. caller: hello, eric broussard. good morning. this morning i watched c-span and turned it on and i saw time to move on from covid-19, which is true. and i heard president biden talking about mask mandates ending. i believe most people need to see the person that's talking to them because most people are hard of hearing and they are what you call, they don't understand you with these stupid masks on, you know? host: why do you think it's time to move on from covid? caller: it's been two or three

years since donald john trump was in the white house and biden said it's not going to last forever, it's going to go away. well, it hasn't gone away yet. most of the most of the kids that go to school have to be on computers, not in class. in my time, everyone it -- was in class in school. host: many students are in class now. caller: i understand that but most of these time these kids are online schooling. it's time for it to go away. host: ok. winston, durham, north carolina. winston, do me a favor, before you go on, before you go on, turned on your tv, please. caller: gotcha.

[feedback] caller: ok. host: if you are there, go ahead. caller: yes. i like what the guy said earlier. it's not, covid is not going to move on from us, we are ready to move on from the covid. it's not a democrat republican thing. it's a people thing. the covid is reaching out to get anyone it can get. what i would do is call your local hospital and find out what the rate of covid is. if it's high, wear your mask. so, i have to say no and that aspect. if it's low, i say it's time to move on. so, we have to look at it in two different ways. that's my thoughts on it. host: ok. winston, north carolina. thanks for the call, thanks for turning on your television. viewers waiting online to talk

to us, please do us a favor and do that. there is a bit of a delay and it can slow the conversation. (202) 748-8000 if you say yes it's time to move on from covid. (202) 748-8001, just like winston, if you say it's time to move on. (202) 748-8002 if you are not sure. in the metro, they were discussing a recent move by the virginia senate on wednesday passing a bill allowing parents to ignore schoolboard mandates on children wearing masks in school, several democrats joining republicans, they passed sb 39 allowing parents to elect for their child to not wear a mask on school property. it will go to the house and is expected to pass and if it does, glenn youngkin says that they will probably be moving against several court cases --

host: here is governor youngkin on the sean hannity show yesterday. [video clip] >> the issue of children's schools was a huge issue in your campaign. you kept your promise and then school districts decided not to listen to you and now apparently got democrats in the legislature going along with you? >> this is a defining moment for parents and kids in virginia. we have a bipartisan movement to get parents back in charge of the lives of their kids. remember, parents matter. voters said that loudly in november. suddenly now where virginia had been leading, we are seeing the rest of the country come around.

it's time to get back to normal. time to empower parents. i'm so excited that virginia is leading in a bipartisan way to give parents the power to choose whether their child wears a mask or not in school. host: dennis, dennis from williamsport, pennsylvania on the no line. hello. caller: good morning, thanks for taking the call. the virus isn't ready to let us move on. we have the network that you just mentioned, fox news, and right wing hate radio, they never, believe me, never mention the number of people in the hospitals and how the staff is overrun, overburdened, and they have to put people in hallways and stuff. that is something never mentioned on their. if you solicited them you would

think there was nobody in the hospitals and nobody dying from this. we can't even get people to wear masks? and do simple things like that, like getting vaccinated? so have a nice day, thank you. host: from a mike. mike in nevada. on the yes line. hello. nellis air force base, go ahead. caller: that's good, no problem. i think we are ready to move on. it's a situation where the people who are fully vaccinated like my son could get it. my wife and i are not vaccinated. we got it. i thing it's a tossup. i don't think the masks have mitigated much. we were told any kind of mask could work, cloth masks won't work, n95 wouldn't work. i think the omicron is very mild. like i said, i had it for six

days, was back at work. all i had was a fever for two days. my wife only had a sore throat. when i see my granddaughter get into my car and i'm not wearing a mask and she's covering her whole face with her hands the whole time she sitting there, i think it's time to remove the masks. that's my opinion. it's going to dissipate and become a part of life like any other flu or cold. that's my impression. host: that is mike on the yes line. we have set aside a line this morning for those of you who are maybe not sure where you are at on whether it is time to move on or not. texas, good morning. caller: i appreciate. i want people to turn to the good lord. read revelations 13, 1413, god is what matters here.

not democrats and republicans. if we don't turn back to god and start loving one another, people gonna make it worse. thanking god, you all hate him worse more. host: for you yourself and not being sure if it's time to move on, what do you think about that? caller: it's kind of hard to say. you have got people saying that if you wear the mask, you are democrat and you love your kids. if you don't wear a mask, some people don't wear the masks and their kids get sick, they say you don't love your kids. i don't understand. they say taking the vaccine is ignorant but then they go take other medicines.

they need to have love in their hearts and turn to god. host: all right, you made that point. op-ed's from various places in the world of science making this argument, we are in the middle and not the end of the pandemic, making the argument that the flu and other illnesses are a reliable guide that fluctuations might develop and widespread prior immunity and possibly vaccinations are likely to hold each iteration in check, the virus will be endemic but not as costly as when it is pandemic

host: online is where you can find the op-ed about being in the middle and not the end of the pandemic. if you want to read it for yourself, we have mike here now in georgia. caller: what's going on, pedro? i would say yes, time to move on. common sense tells people to protect themselves and their family. my only concern would be the hospital. if you go to the hospital and you can't prove that you are vaccinated or immune compromised, something like that, you shouldn't be given any type of health care. to me that would be the solution to the problem.

host: from brad, he's next in london, kentucky, on the not shoreline. caller: yes, we need to move on. it was the single most dedicating -- host: you are calling in on the not shoreline, where are you on this? -- not sure line? where are caller: no. -- where are you on this? caller: it's yes and no. everyone will wind up getting it, but we can't move on from it because there are certain things we have to find out and be moot -- be made accountable. for example, whether there are american elements or taxpayer money into the creation of it. how the function of it works. the extent of our bio weapons program. the extent of our biowarfare if we are into that and what happened with it. human rights violations that

took place over the course of this that we have to look at and answer for. at what point the mayor of l.a. threatened to cut off water and power to homes in violation of policies. the kentucky governor and state police taking down license plate numbers in a church on easter sunday. the use of the phrase taking up space in hospitals. to speak to some of the human rights violation issues. host: ok. that's brad in kentucky. this is harvey rich in the op-ed pages of "the wall street journal," at the yale school of public health, making this case --

host: more on that available if you want to read it online, available at "the wall street journal." seymour, scottsdale, arizona, seymour saying no it's not time to move on. hello. caller: thanks for providing

this venue for all of us to speak. my friend spoke to me yesterday, from scottsdale, she says she has covid. she doesn't go out, is very careful and now she has got it. where did she get it? from the students. the mask philosophy of the students is i don't need to wear a mask and can get away with it. teenagers are teenagers. so i checked with my doctor. i have friends who are doctors. every one of them says when you have a problem that is medical, you go with the majority of the doctors, the cdc, those things. so, i claim we have got to go and do this correctly. fight this thing that we have no control over until it is out of our system. aren't too thousand people dying

every day? nobody cares about that? it's an incredible situation that people are acting this childish way. thank you. host: seymour, arizona. this is wanda on the s line, california. caller: ok, pedro. a few minutes ago you asked about population control. host: i didn't ask about population control. someone brought it up. go ahead. caller: ok, ok, robert gates stated last year, i cannot tell you the source, that the world population was very overpopulated and that they should only have 500 million people on the planet and we have 7 billion people now on the planet. so, i do think that china and robert gates are in cahoots with dr. fauci to reduce the world population. host: and you base this on what?

caller: it was on the internet last year. i believe it might have been gateway pundit. every therapeutic has been pooh-poohed. they don't want them getting well, they want them to die. this new vaccine called novavax, suddenly much safer now? host: ok. next caller. caller: i'm a trauma nurse. people need to take care of themselves, get healthy, lose weight. when they go into a hospital they should never treat anybody based on a virus. based on your smoking, drug abuse, or alcohol is what they

should treat you. we have overfilled our hospitals many times long before this covid. they have been over stressing hospitalization. i have seen the flu, pneumonia, copd exacerbation over fills the hospitals and icus. they die, they fill the parking lots with medical tents. really, america. stop letting politicians drive your fear. protect your loved ones, especially those at high risk, the elderly and those with comorbidities. stop letting governments scare you. host: that was cheryl on the gas line. you heard from a host of governors this morning. charlie baker recently announcing changes and mask requirements for schools by the end of the month. here's a part of his reasoning from a press conference. [video clip]

>> the administration pulled out every stop so that kids can stay in classrooms to learn safely. we are running vaccine clinics in schools across the state and established the country's first free testing program and recently launched the take test program available to every child a nasa choose its. -- in massachusetts. we have put the education and safety of kids at the forefront of our decisions and the same is true today. we have learned a lot about how safe schools keep kids in class, learning over the course of this pandemic. we have far more tools available to us to deal with the pandemic and we had back in the beginning. we know young people are at very low risk of getting seriously ill from covid and we know that fully vaccinated people also are at extremely low risk of getting seriously ill from covid. this is of course even more

pronounced for vaccinated children. the testing resources we developed were never before imagined. there has been ample opportunity for people to get vaccinated at this point. massachusetts ranks second in the nation for the highest share of fully vaccinated kids at this point in time. we know that all of our testing programs are rarely sources of covid transmission. our kids have had to put up with a lot of disruption and time alone and have suffered a real learning loss over the past two years. no debating those points, no matter where you stand. for free and convenient testing, everyone has the tools and the knowledge to stay safe with respect to covid.

host: mona, south carolina, go ahead. caller: science is a medical impression -- medical opinion, not an impression. it can depend on where you live. january 19 in my state, we had a 14% positivity rate. we don't test enough. we don't even know how much disease is present. all 66 of our counties are still in high transmission rates. it depends on where you are. if you think its masks or non-masks, there are no mask mandates here. if you think that education in classroom is normal, elevated or

with masks, we need to take a moment. we have teachers who have retired and no one to take their place. we have substitutes, which i would be willing to do in other circumstances, i don't want to put myself at risk. we are combining classes, having high school graduates serve as substitutes. it's not a clear either or. it depends on the transmission in the community. schools need to get back to him normal, wearing masks are not. thank you so much. host: jerry, minnesota, on the s line. hello. caller: that retired teacher, my

one child, my grandchild went to school with no masks. the other one has no with masks. it has made no difference. here's the thing, it doesn't matter. we are moving on from it. they know they won't be elected if they don't say it. listen, more people have died in the last year with the vaccine and the mandates. that's the bottom line. all this stuff, talking about kids and everything, it hasn't worked. you know what? it is time. i have been vaccinated twice. i know that isn't all. but they promised us. when are we going to learn the difference between who died from covid and who died from related? all of these deaths that they

report as covid related, for the sake of real information, they told us those numbers. host: ok, i've got to get more calls. reva, gaithersburg, maryland, hello. caller: the first person who said move on, what do they mean by that? in my area, the first thing to move on from is masking . there is no lockdown. any of the callers who say move on, i want to know specifically what they mean. i think that most people think of covid as coming to the beach and in some ways it is. we also have an insular look on it. . i don't think we are going to move on from covid until most of

the people are vaccinated. until 64% of adults, the rate for kids is very low. they want the masks off the kids. let your kids vaccinate, then. i mean really, that's what's necessary. as far as moving on, 2000 people per day are dying on average. cases are going lower but we don't know if that is right because of the home tests. hospital death rates are down and that's good but my goodness, 2000 people per day? we can move on vaccinated. host: let's hear from alan in

washington state on our yes line. caller: you listen to that? fat she, -- that wuack --quack fauci, did they put all the hospitals in mexico out of business? today flood the mexican hospitals quite -- did they flood the mexican hospitals? he is a quack. host: the reason you think it is time to move on is why? caller: just look at what goes on around you. host: that is alan in washington state finishing office hour, thank you to everyone who participated. two guests, michael kofman with the center for naval -- discussing the conflict between

russia and ukraine and the implications for europe. later on, we will have erin collins talking about potential problems for the irs when it comes to the 2021 filing season. those conversations coming up on "washington journal." ♪ >> book tv, every sunday on c-span2. features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 4:25 p.m. eastern, a discussion about the u.s. election system and the heritage -- the authors of "our broken election: how the left changed the way you vote." connecticut democratic state will haskell on his book "100,000 first losses" where he talks about becoming a state senator at age 22 and what he has worked on. he is interviewed by ceo and

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exploring the american story, watch american history tv saturday on c-span2. find the full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us is michael kofman with the sensor for naval analyses -- center for naval analysis to talk about russia-ukraine tensions. thank you for your time. guest: thank you. host: can you elaborate more about the center, the work you do, the position it take, and how it is funded? guest: we are a federally funded research center that is nonpartisan to provide research and analysis for the government and other organizations. the center is also housing a larger corporation called the

cna corporation, similar to the ram corporation. host: when it comes to actions involving russia and ukraine, a lot of ways of looking at it, what do you see playing out not only between the two countries and the united states and europe, but also the leadership involved in decision-making? guest: it is rather dangerous. there is a higher chance of conflict today than there ever has been since the military operations in 2014 and 2015. it is a standoff. it does look like russia is putting the pieces in place to conduct a large-scale military operation. whether they intend to do that has been the subject of extensive debate. russia denies they have any intense. -- intents toward ukraine

despite launching a number of offenses. you can take that for what it's worth. there's a great deal of concern of if there is a renewed or reignited much larger war, the wars continue between these states since 2014 and will fundamentally change the security order. host: you write in a recent op-ed, a large war in europe is likely coming in the current weeks. the architecture of the continent, future of nato, and america's role in shaping security outcomes -- ukraine whose fate hangs in the best -- in the balance, but -- a revision of the security order. can you elaborate? guest: in the months up to this, i thought a conflict was more likely than not and most of the evidence unfortunately points to that conclusion. the russian demands issued in december are not specific to

ukraine. they are about relitigating the post-cold war settlement and security architecture. how security arrangements in europe are decided, by whom, how security options are decided, russia wants to be the determining power with a voice in europe and with a deed over secure -- a veto over security arrangements. it wants privileged influence in the geopolitical space and sees its interest in security concerns as having supremacy over the ability of other countries, particularly neighboring countries, being able to choose their own alliances or strategic orientations. this is a defining moment because it fundamentally conflicts with the order in europe that european countries and the united states as well, and the united states has been clear it will not compromise on russia's principal demands.

those are first, no more nato enlargement. the top of the list, no ukraine and georgia. no further defense cooperation when it comes to key systems amongst non-nato members, selling key weapons technologies or deploying u.s. weapons in these countries. third, russia demands that nato and the united states pulls back military deployments in europe that of taken place since 1990 and calls for a return to pre-1997 military posture which tells the united states and european states to go back to germany and the posture at the end of the cold war. none of those are acceptable to the other -- to the united states or europe. host: we saw the german canceler -- the german chancellor come to the united states and the french president speaking to president putin himself.

as far as allies in this effort, what do they face and the risk they face in how far they engage with ukraine? guest: they are challenged because the united states and european allies have to coordinate. working at the situation today, not all countries agree about their interpretation of vladimir putin's intentions. the united states and u.k. are on one page and germany and france might be on a different page and less concerned that a war is likely and seeing the case of diplomacy where russia is trying to get -- trying to see what they can get. ukraine is in a difficult position because if they acknowledge an invasion is likely, they will create panic. the economy is under pressure, investments are running away, and there is concern that invasion or not, russia could collapse the economy simply by the threat sustained over time. he is trying to paint the tone

that russian aggression -- there is danger but he is trying to downplay it saying it is unlikely and the united states is exaggerating for political and economic reasons. host: michael kofman joining us. if you want to ask questions about news you've heard about russia and ukraine and the role of europe, call us at (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8000 democrats. independents (202) 748-8002. you can text us your thoughts at (202) 748-8003. the lead editorial in "the washington post" talks about the minsk arrangement and they highlight in part -- the doctrine signed by russia and ukraine calls for resuming control over the borders between russia and -- which has been

wiped out. ukraine insists its borders to be restored for the election and russia manipulating the vote through proxies says no. it goes on from there, but can you talk about the minsk arrangement, what it is and it's importance as far as you see when it comes to this discussion? guest: as a result of the fighting in the winter of 2015, the two sides, the minsk agreement, a cease-fire agreement was basically signed at gunpoint. ukraine was not successful so it was imposed on ukraine and deeply unfavorable. in that agreement, russia stipulated essentially that ukraine would have to change its constitution, grant a greek -- a degree of autonomy to separatist regions and eventually there would be elections and ukraine would can gain -- regain

control. the agreement was very different, which is actually it is russia that should surrender control and give ukraine control of the borders. russia said, no, were not going to do that. if russia is wrong, ukraine will do whatever it wants and trina on the agreement. -- reneg on the agreement. the foreign minister basically trying to find a way to get the sequencing right of the agreement but the long story short, this deal has largely been dead and has not progressed forward. the last hope for it was when zelensky got elected, moscow hoped he would make major compromises. it became clear zelensky will not go forward and make the compromise russia seeks because they might -- big parts of

ukraine society don't agree with it and it is political suicide. long story short, there's been no progress on the deal. from the russian point of view, there isn't the likelihood of global compromise which is one of the driving factors behind why they began their military deployments a year ago, to pressure ukraine and if they don't get something significant along their list of demands, they won't actually conduct a further, much larger invasion. host: mr. cough man -- kofman, the german chancellor was in the united states visiting with the president and what came up was the support for nato and the nord stream 2. i want to play a question to the president and get your response. [video clip] >> mr. president, once again a question with regards to arms and -- is it ok that nato partners with others on the nord

stream 2? do you think the current positioning of germany with regard to the russian threat is ok? president biden: look, there is no doubt in america's mind that germany is an incredibly reliable ally and one of the leading physical powers in nato. number one. number two, the notion that north stream 2 would go forward with an invasion by the russians is just not going to happen. host: mr. kofman, the first part of the statement, germany as a reit liable ally, -- reliable ally, what would you make of that? guest: germany is one of america's most reliable allies and has been. host: as far as the nord stream 2, what is its importance?

guest: russia and germany long had an agreement that russia would build a pipeline to germany called nord stream 2. russia currently supplies a considerable amount of gas and oil to europe. much of the transit pipelines that transverse ukraine and the ukrainian territory, it would allow russia to directly supply gas to germany along with another pipeline and this will essentially -- the need for ukraine pipelines and ukraine would lose leverage. the pipeline is completed but not active. gasp is not going to the pipelines yet -- gas is not going to the pipelines yet. in the event of a large military operation against ukraine, germany will scuttle the deal and russia will spend a tremendous amount of money to build the pipeline and essentially lose out. it is not going to somehow and

gas to europe -- end gas to europe. it is not operational. it is a threat. i have often found nord stream 2 be a political issue, significant political issue in europe because it was controversial in the sense that germany was more interested in having a secure line access to russian energy to the detriment of the foreign policy of certain other european states. that's where the controversy came from. the impact on the russian economy, it's not very significant. this is one of the most minor things that we or anyone else could do in response to renewed russian invasion -- invasion. we talk about it kind of like small potatoes in terms of potential u.s. sanctions or moves to economically punish russia. host: this is michael kofman with the center for naval analyses. (202) 748-8001 republicans.

democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. you can text the comments at (202) 748-8003. james, newington, connecticut, republican line. caller: michael, i would like to say that the american news media often does very little actual news reporting to explain the background of any situation and i would like you to comment on explaining to people about the pipeline itself in ukraine and how that pipeline actually is the reason for the initial russian incursion into ukraine when the ukrainian prime minister who took over tried to raise the price of moving gasoline, natural gas from russia through the pipeline to europe. that precipitated the very first ukrainian-russian international

issue where the russians decided to try to take it over because they wanted to get that pipeline under their control. i would like you to comment on the second part, how the weakness or perceived weakness of our president joe biden, under trump, not one inch of ukrainian territory was lost but we have to remember the invasion of ukraine in crimea and northern ukraine started in the biden administration with obama. if your perception of european leaders regarding our old president is that he is too weak to stop the russians. host: that was james. guest: the first part of that on background, the answer that there is a pipeline that runs to ukraine, the pipeline origin is quite old. the soviet union began to supply energy to europe starting in the early 1970's.

soviet and russian addiction to gas and oil imports dates back to the history of russia inherited an addiction to natural resources going back to this time period. there is a severe history of gas price disputes and transit disputes between russia and ukraine in the mid to thousands. i remember winter 2000 and nine and there about this long predates the crisis. the crisis and the war itself was not caused by an energy dispute and is not directly related to the gas pipeline, nor was the flow of energy disrupted during the course of the conflict. it is fortunate that the revolution in 2013, yana covid -- yanakovich fleeing in 2019

and then there was a russian seizure of crimea, and operation in late february 2014. russia answered but at the same time countered with a separatist movement in eastern ukraine which led to fighting that escalated and led to a russian military operation in august 2014 where real conventional fighting in the country. long story short is that there is a history of gas pricing disputes between russia and ukraine. those are primarily economic disputes but at some point they reached crisis levels where gas was briefly cut off to europe. that is not the cause of this conflict. the conflict that are looking into now is essentially interstate war but dates back to 2014, very different. the origins of the current

dispute and the current standoff have to do with russian policy. it has occupied a piece of ukrainian territory and use that as a grabbing foot for ukraine's strategic orientation. that is not proven successful for moscow since 2015. it looks like russia has basically come back with a much greater threat and series of old demands of the united states and european countries. ukraine is the center of the crisis. host: david in florida, independent line. caller: do you think there's any chance that the u.s. navy is going to be patrolling in the black sea? if any of these conflicts erupt? and what do you think the chances are of a naval skirmish? if you do see a naval skirmish, what do you predict the outcome

will be? guest: thanks. the u.s. is currently deployed in the mediterranean and there is substantial russian naval presence gathering in the eastern mediterranean as part of a naval standoff taking place. actually, the focus is on the russian ground posture and what's going on around ukraine but both sides are bringing in forces. there is nato ships as well. with regards to the black sea, while the united states does regularly have a naval presence in the black sea for exercises, relations, and the like, i don't expect a strong u.s. presence in the black sea. i expect much of the naval standoff will be in the mediterranean but it is hard to predict how a conflict will evolve. the u.s. navy as an outside

actor, the black sea is heavily restrained by presence. naval presence to the black sea and access from the old treaty stipulates a real restriction to the types of ships and the placement of the ships, the fleet you can deploy and the amount of time, the duration of your stay in the black sea, it is constraining and it is controlled by turkey. that placed pretty large restrictions on the united dates. a conflict is very unlikely but if there is a renewed russia invasion, i think there's going to be some very tense periods and interactions between forces. it will get tense. host: nbc and others today about

russia beginning military drills with ella roos. what's the importance of that? -- belarus. what's the importance of that? guest: this to be frank seems largely a cover being used by russia do have a good dory as to why to deploy such an immense amount of military power in the past month. russia said it will withdraw forces currently in belarus, however it is very clear that a large number of units deployed are not there for exercises and are not in the training areas. they are concentrating in the southern part of belarus on ukraine's border so they are positioning for a northern front in the potential military operation, and they are not far from the craney and capital of kyiv. we will -- ukrainian capital of

kyiv. we will see what happens. russia is gathering more forces and moving them to the border. these are manned formations. it is behaving in a way that suggests they are seriously considering a large scale military operation. this is an incredibly convincing one and coordinated one because they are engaging in all the actions and behaviors of a state about to invade another state. host: when it comes to timing, do you see this happening in weeks or does president putin play a longer game? guest: that has been a function of some debate. i think russian political leadership is entering a go or no go posture where they will make a decision in the coming weeks and this will play out within the month. i do believe that they have the ability to -- if they draw down

forces and leave equipment positioned in the area and take some of the units back, but this is deeply unlikely. if they do that, it will be clear to many they are in many ways, the cost of invasion is high for them so i don't think they would be successful knowing that. host: bill in scottsville, arizona, independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i like the portrait of the card. my question is, when you characterized putin as trying to revive the post-cold war settlement in europe, which makes sense in a way considering that russia's power position in europe is different today than it was in the immediate aftermath of the soviet collapse. i guess bigger picture, i'm

wondering if you see a possibility for a renegotiation of the terms of the post-cold war settlement that is agreeable to the west and russia, that does include limitations whether explicit or kind of behind the scenes, on nato inspection. others were cautioning against nato expansion in the 1990's so it is strange in my opinion, but it has become kind of a given to me. in u.s. foreign policy circles, that nato expansion needs to be held as a possibility. host: thank you. arizona. guest: i think from the russian

point of view, they see nato as the united states building and the order of exclusion. it excludes russia and european six -- european securities determined by the united states and europe. the point of view that russia has been historically one of the key powers to determine the security architecture in europe, they believe this was created at a time of russian absence and weakness and they do not accept it. russia is militarily the most powerful country in europe. putting aside the naval alliance from an individual state perspective, it is the most powerful and if it is not a stakeholder in a security architecture, it is not long term sustainable situation. it means you are one major crisis a way that could turn into a regional conflict and could potentially undermine the system.

we think a lot of things were granted about -- we take a lot of things for granted about european security and the stability that maybe we shouldn't. can the united states and europeans renegotiate? that's what russians are trying to see. when this quarter was created, there was a belief that russia would come to see the benefits and could be included that russia would join the west and the global community and become a democracy, and russian community -- security concerns could be allayed. the soviet union didn't break up in one day. the dissolution of the soviet -- soviet union is not an event, it is a process. russia is not equal to the military state. they want influence and geopolitical states outside of russia's border they are trying

to claim, and they have the power to fight for it. their biggest challenge is with accepting this kind of position from moscow, on nato policy, the challenge is that open-door policy is at the heart of nato. i think obviously there is a call for a prudent approach where countries want to join nato. many countries can block nato membership. it is clear the ukraine and georgia are not getting into nato, if not now, perhaps not ever. many countries disagree with their exception. this is not precipitated by some looming ukraine succession to nato. the united states is painting themselves into a corner that they are not willing to say that ukraine or georgia will not be members, especially because

moscow demands it. it is essentially encouraging other states to change their policy and that makes it less likely that russia will get what they want. it is not an easy one to untie but i don't see a revision of nato's open-door policy. i think it is deeply unlikely and seen as a principled position. one that factors back to the origins of the alliance. at the core of the belief that states in europe should have the ability to choose their alliances freely and not have them determined by other great powers who claim that these countries are actually in their sphere of influence and they have to deal with moscow or somebody else. host: bill in massachusetts, independent line. caller: i wanted to ask, what is the difference between us putting people -- lining up troops on nato countries when

russia is in nato so they will not attack any nato countries. the same thing of when they censored kyrsten sinema desk censured kirsten -- censured kyrsten sinema and then talked about the republicans centering can zynga or and cheney for going away from their party. host: that is not relevant to our conversation but if you want to address the first part of the question, go ahead. guest: i'm not sure i got the first part. u.s. troops in nato versus something in arizona, i may have missed the second part of it. host: roger in michigan, independent line. caller: yes, hi, mike. i'm kind of off-base here a little bit but as far as i'm concerned, the whole russian-ukraine thing is insanity of putin. the guy is power-hungry just

like donald trump was. my question is where did you get that painting over your right shoulder of jean-luc picard? i really am fascinated by that. host: we will leave it there. as far as the follow-up to that, when it comes to prudent or perceptions of -- putin or perceptions of him, do we look at him as power-hungry or someone who is a post power? what is the perception of putin and russia to the united states and how does that factor into how the united states and nato acts over the next few weeks? guest: russia is an authoritarian regime so what they do matters because at the end of the day he will decide what happens by talking with himself in the mirror. there are very few who listen to russian foreign policy. countries are run by people but they are not people so we do not

fixate on putin at the same time and forget there is 145 million russians and it is important what they think too. that said, he is a -- leader, russia matters to him. he has a strong belief that ukraine and belarus belong in russian space, doesn't want to be the leader who lost in his mind ukraine. he doesn't see these as independent countries. people like him are from a generation of leaders who particular during the last part of the cold war, they remember when all of this was one country and to them, states like ukraine are not independent, not sovereign. he sees the ukrainian government as a state of the united states which is why russia is pushing the ultimatums through the u.s. it does not see ukraine is

making its own decisions. i think leaders can be rational but not necessarily reasonable and this is the difference. rational means, ways, ends, and the like of how they will get where they're going but the his very emotional about the subject. when you hear him speaking about ukraine, he is rather angry and it is clear from his writing that he feels russian policy has not been successful post-2015 and is not willing to let ukraine become -- join the west and is not willing to cede what he sees as russian influence. there's a strong sense that russia was betrayed and promised something at the end of the cold war about no farther nato enlargements which is the russian narrative. most people in the united states and western europe do not

subscribe to this interpretation but it is kind of a sense of betrayal. and an attitude when it comes to these parts of historical russia. host: the significance to you of president putin and president xi of china meeting before the olympics and the implications considering what is going on in play. guest: russia and china have had an enduring alignment. one of the most consistent factors of russian foreign policy has been to approach china with a more strong alignment. china is very supportive of russia. coming from that summit showed a fairly strong chinese support for the russian position and russian demands on security guarantees from the united states and nato. there are significant disagreements between the two countries and china is not willing to do a great deal to backstop russia.

if you look at whether it's recognition of the fact that russia annexed crimea or secondary sanctions, china probably enforces u.s. sanctions of russia better than european states because it is afraid of the consequences from noncompliance. the long story short is that the two states are aligned in a lot of visible ways. they are pursuing competition with the united states. as russian analysts like to say, together but separately. from a standpoint of practical policy, there are major differences and china is not historically shown itself to be willing to take on significant costs on behalf of moscow. host: jim in st. louis on our independent line. caller: thanks for taking my call. when biden first approached the whole subject, he kind of slipped out that it was a

limited invasion. could this be like a charlie wilson were coming about? secondly, with china, it's a dangerous partnership with russia. that's very concerning. is that perhaps showing them together at the olympics, a sign of things to come? guest: i don't interpret president biden comments -- president biden's comments although he mentioned it could be a more limited military operation. i suspect there is strong alignment on policy and statements and there is a large scale of russian invasion. lush -- russia has a large range of options and it is hard to predict what they will do. it doesn't make sense for russia to conduct a military operation

at any time at this point. there is an acknowledgment they could achieve their political ends with this kind of military operation compelling ukraine to sign one agreement and then another. here we are many years later and russian influence in ukraine is waning. ukraine influence with the west is increasing and participation with key nido members -- nato members is increasing as well. from the standpoint of russian military posture, there is only one input in how you analyze these things and russia demands and claims, it looks like they are pursuing a more maximum solution. i would paint a dire picture for them looking to encircle the ukrainian capital to impose a russian regime or using ukraine's easternmost regions. they have the force to do that. worst-case scenarios from the.

i don't think it will be a limited incursion or operation. i don't think it will be a repeat of the fighting we saw earlier in 2014 and 2015. host: cna.org, michael kofman, thank you for your time. guest: thanks for having me. host: we will take open forum up until 9:00 and if you want to participate, (202) 748-8001 republicans. (202) 748-8000 democrats. independents (202) 748-8002. we will start taking those calls when "washington journal" continues. ♪ >> c-span shop.org is c-span's online store. our latest collection of c-span apparel, books, home decor, and

accessories. there is something for every c-span fan and every purchase elves support our nonprofit operations. shop now or any time at c-span shop.org. ♪ at least six presidents recorded conversations while in office. here those conversations on c-span's new podcast, presidential recordings. >> season one focuses on the presidency of lyndon johnson, the 1964 civil rights act and presidential campaign, the gulf of tonkin, the march on selma and the war in vietnam. not everyone knew they were being recorded. >> certainly johnson's secretaries knew because they were tasked with transcribing many of those conversations. in fact, they were the ones who made sure that the conversations were taped as johnson would signal to them through an open

door between his office and there's. >> you will also hear some blunt talk. >> yes, sir. >> i want a report of the number of people assigned to kennedy the day he died, and if mine are not less i want them less right quick. i promise you i won't go anywhere. i will stay behind these black gates. >> presidential recordings. >> "washington journal" continues. host: you can also text us on this open forum at (202) 748-8003. several stories about former president donald trump, "the washington post" asking the justice department to examine if the former president's handling of records sparking

investigations -- conversations of whether they should investigate the president, the referral came at -- amid recent revelations they uncovered 15,000 boxes from the president's residence at mar-a-lago that were not handed back to the government as they should of been. the select house committee invent -- investigating the january 6 capital riot investigating records from peter navarro. it wants to question him because of his own public statements and reporting that he indicated he was involved in efforts to delay the certification of the 2020 election which was won by president biden. the efforts to undo his when involved -- his win involved top

white house officials, steve bannon included. if you want to make that part of open form or anything else you've seen, on our independent line, this is just from pennsylvania. -- jeff from pennsylvania. caller: i'm just interested in the last segment there. i grew up during the cold war and i served in the military when jimmy carter was president and my wife actually was over in russia whenever they were dismantling the missiles. i'm just sitting here scratching my head about trying to understand this whole ukrainian-russian thing here. it's like, why don't we send five or six brigades over to poland?

and just say, here we are. you are going to injure one of our men. then all of nato is going to come after you. i don't think putin will stand up to that. host: that's -- let's go to bob in illinois, republican line. caller: good morning, pedro, love c-span. i got an idea of a couple executive reporters for president biden. one, every body of government in the whole country should immediately get paid even with the male counterparts so equal pay for women. two, pick several cold cities like fairbanks, alaska, fargo, north dakota, and also washington, d.c., every federal fleet of cars in those two states and washington, d.c. should immediately become

battery-operated electric vehicles. nancy pelosi should resign immediately. host: one more story about the former president, the topic of a new book coming by a former white house reporter, from axios -- while president trump was in office, staff and white house experts frequently discovered wads of paper clogging the toilet. that is according to maggie haberman's book. the revelation whose coverage as the new york times white house correspondent was followed obsessively by the former president adds vivid new dimension to his lapses in preserving government documents. axios was provided an exclusive look at some of her reporting. timothy in washington, d.c., democrats line. caller: i just wanted to comment on the fact that donald trump was actually elected i believe

by accident. i believe they didn't ask him any tough questions and then once he become president, it was a shock to him and now he's in the white house with all this classified information and a lot of things he did he knew was not ethical. but he had to get rid of some of the evidence. it was clear from the very beginning. host: why did you think he wasn't put under scrutiny leading up to his election? caller: because no one thought he could win so they asked -- add job -- ask jeb bush and marco rubio the tough questions and once they knocked each other out, he was the last and standing. he just tiptoed right to the white house. i think hillary clinton dropped the ball. she had so much on him but figured, i will look bad if i pounce on him because i will obviously be president and she was shocked when she didn't become president and writes a

book and says, all of this stuff i should have said, how he grabbed women or did this or did that. it's clear. accidental president. host: chris in arkansas, democrats line. caller: hello. host: you are on. caller: yes, entirely off the subject -- it's open forum -- i would like to know the tune you play when "washington journal" comes on. i would like to listen to it in its entirety. host: that's a good question and at one time i did know this. we have an in-house music expert that does so hang on. we will try to get you that information before the end of the segment to keep listening. caller: thank you so much. host: let's go to josh in fond du lac, wisconsin. hello. caller: you know, it's really sad. as for everything this man --

after everything this man has pulled, there is no reason he should be charged with a crime or unable to run again as a president. host: what makes you say that? caller: because of how dangerous he is to this country. some people said they don't understand how much danger we are in, in this country. host: what do you mean? caller: trump will do things like stay in contact with people like that we know he took documents with him when he left the white house. look what happened on january 6. that right there is enough reason to label him dangerous. host: let's go to nadine in maine, nadine. caller: hello. i'm calling because i'm wondering -- i hear a lot about president trump but nobody seems

to care about hunter biden's laptop or joe biden taking showers with his daughter -- host: weight. these act -- wait, these accusations, i'm going to leave it there. caller: thank you for taking my call. why is mainstream media or c-span not talking about the border? or all the drugs coming in and the government giving $30 million to these drug addicts for drug paraphernalia? they ought to be helping people get off of drugs. cnn, msnbc, all they talk about his january 6. that's over and done with. the drug problem is killing our young people from 18 to 45, fentanyl coming into this country. the government is doing nothing to stop that. host: jerry in chicago,

illinois. to answer the viewer's question on i believe our twitter feed -- the theme music is based on the third movement of voltaire's second concerto in d major. i may have said that wrong but at least the starting point. bernie in louisville, kentucky. caller: good morning. that was great. good catch on that last call before it got out of hand. especially looking up the music for "washington journal," nice job. i have to put you on the spot. i need your super bowl pick. host: i am not a sports guy. you don't want to ask me. caller: that's all i really had to say. host: what's your super bowl pick? i'm probably making a mistake asking but what's yours? caller: i am in kentucky so our

home team is the cincinnati bengals. host: that is the last question i will take on this topic. ray in glendale, arizona, democrats line. caller: i would have guessed the volte. -- vivaldi. host: i may be wrong. caller: i have a suggestion, proposal. they should take each one of you guys and give you each a week to guest host jeopardy. i think you all would be great at it. host: i'm not against that idea but thank you. ray in glendale, arizona, one thing "the washington times" is reporting is what is going on between the border of canada and the united states. prime minister justin trudeau's firm against an easing of covid restrictions amid mounting

protests, including the economic vital bridge to detroit. a growing number of canadian provinces have lifted some of the provinces but mr. trudeau defended the measures that the government is responsible for, including one that has angered many truck drivers requiring truckers entering canada to be fully vaccinated. one thing we have the opportunity to do is bring in canadian parliament during their question time as it is known, and this was the question posed. it is translated, but here's a bit of that exchange. [video clip] >> mr. speaker, i recognize that we have recognized this for over a week, that this siege is on acceptable. -- unacceptable. impact on businesses, manufacturers, the supply chain are ongoing, whether it be barricades at the borders or

siege in ottawa. we have to do everything we can together at every level of government to end it. what would really help is for the conservative party to tell its supporters to stop blocking our economy and go home. host: if you want to see more of that, if you are interested, we have the chance to bring in canadian parliament at times, british parliament. go to our website at c-span.org. scott in hutchinson, kansas, independent line. caller: i love those lighthearted questions. that's always good medicine. i was just calling -- i've watched every president's address to the nation and i remember reagan's when he asked for a line item veto. all of the republicans stood up and the democrats sat down and when clinton asked for a line

item veto, all of the democrats stood up and the republican sat down. people here locally on a radio station are complaining about the drug crack pipes or paraphernalia being provided and they blame biden for that, but he might have been able to have crossed out some of the silly things that might be in huge bills. it happens a lot where they put in a poison part of a bill that makes it unpopular and they can't scratch it out and i just wonder when we blame the president, actually it's a lot of the congress and the senate that creates some of the problems and we don't address that as much in our public 80 a. one other comment, people need to slow down with the rhetoric and name-calling. i think it's just so destructive because words do matter. those are my comments this morning. have a great day, pedro.

host: thank you, scott. marshall in florida, republican line. caller: what i don't understand is why the media wants to bash trump all the time. i'd like to know exactly what biden has done good for this country does -- besides put us in a great deficit and creating problems for everything and everybody. small businesses, you don't hear much about the people we left behind in afghanistan anymore. why is that? do we always hear everything bad about trump and nothing about biden at all? i just don't understand it except you get a republican online once in a while and they will say something bad about him and they are cut short.

i just don't like the idea of the way the media keeps bashing trump. the democrats do not want him reelected. why don't they leave the families out of this? that goes for everybody. and act like a true american. host: "the washington examiner" picking up a story from statements made by the administration, the department of health and human services will not distribute crack pipes after a program implemented at hhs drew strong pushback. they were never part of the kits. it was inaccurate reporting and we wanted to put out information to make that clear. marco rubio and tom cardin have decried the program, sending free crack pipes to minority

communities in the name of racial equity. hhs confirms the biden administration is funding crack pipe distribution. there is more if you want to read that. phoenix, arizona, independent line. caller: good show as usual. just wanted to say hi and had a couple of things. agree with a couple of past callers. the rhetoric between the two parties is crazy. we need to think about this whole russia situation too. nato needs to be supporting, a.k.a. europe, if this is going to be a big thing, it is in their backyard. america should not be the only country that does stuff. also, we are tapping our oil reserves and telling other countries to pump up production in oil. maybe we shouldn't have cut our oil production off if we are going to go into another war.

i don't think trump should be the president in the future. it is too divisive. if people can't realize their was a lot less drama when trump was in office than when biden is, i don't see what people are looking at. we have a lot of issues. host: let's hear from john, johnstown, pennsylvania, democrats line. caller: two things. the music that they play, i can remember a time when they use the orchestral version with actual violins and violas. it was not done with synthesizers and so forth. i think both versions are great but i really preferred the more original version that was actually done with string instruments. secondly, i just wish with politics in general that there was a much less focus on winning arguments. often false arguments. and more focused on fixing

problems. thank you for c-span. host: chris, annapolis, maryland, independent line. caller: i truly believe that mr. pruden, president -- mr. putin, president putin and russia -- in russia is a psychological and strategic master. i think what he sees in the united states right now our internal disagreements, the current administration. i can't help but think that's part of his strategic equation that now is the time to move. i think the old saying, divided we fall, united we stand, right now we are so divided in this country that i think that he is calculating that we are not going to come together and it

will -- it is the time for him to move. i wish people would see that. i think that's the biggest issue we have in this country for all the things people dislike about former president trump. i think president trump probably would have negotiated or at least handled putin better. i think part of that is because they speak the same language. i get it. people dislike former president trump. host:. you. thank you for calling. "the new york times" has a story looking at threats that have been laid against specific members of congress in various ways. the story says the cases were part of a new york times review of people charged with threatening lawmakers in 2016. a flurry of cases said -- shed

light on a trend. a growing number of americans have taken ideological grievance and political outrage to a new level, launching against congress. the threats come in every conceivable -- many were fueled by the forces that have long dominated >> if there is more there, that -- you are the last call. guest: i am calling to encourage -- to plead with some of the people that were calling. particularly the young men in florida who complained that the media does not attack fighting but -- biting --biden but is

attacking trump. does he understand why -- i think this is because of what he has done through the years. my point is if they are living under a rock, they don't see what is going on with trump wacko -- drop --trump? host: that is cheryl in georgia and thanks for everyone who anticipated. next we are spending an hour with an advocate with the irs as he -- she talks about problems with the tax season. she will be taking trouble shooting issues too.

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>> weekends on c-span two are an enjoyable feast. sunday, book tv brings you the latest in authors. learn, discover, explore. weekends on c-span2. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome back aaron collins. can you remind people what the job of the irs taxpayer advocate

is? guest: the position was created by congress 20 years ago to help taxpayers. basically our mission is to assist individual taxpayers and that could be individuals and companies and businesses as well as on a one-on-one basis. if they are having a problem with the irs, we are here to help them with challenges. we have the ability to help -- make recordations and to resolve challenges. we also have the ability to make legislative recommendations to congress. we represent or assist taxpayers but we also get to work with treasury and the irs and the hill. host: as part of your job, you have to make a merely or to congress. in your most recent report, you

highlighted excessive processing and refund delays for taxpayers. talk about those problems as people start filing this year. guest: we identified that as the number one problems for taxpayers and tax professionals face last year. i have concerns about the challenges last year going into the start of the filing season for this year so we have real concerns. there was an adjournment -- eight permitted amounts of individuals who received their refunds wait -- late or are still waiting. folks 10 months or longer are still waiting for refunds. host: is this a manpower problem or are there other factors? guest: there are lots of challenges the irs had. we did not have enough employees

are working on the campuses that do the processing of the returns. where having a challenge hiring. -- we are having a challenging -- challenge hiring. if anyone is looking for a job, irs is hiring but we do not have enough staff in the locations that handle paper return so that is a challenge and last year, ers had to -- the irs had to implement the third round of the them -- stimulus payment and we did the monthly tax payment and we have a change of the unemployment compensation which was a great benefit for taxpayers because congress reduce the taxability for unemployment for the first $10,200 which is helpful for taxpayers. the challenge was a came in after march 11 so that was right in the middle after taxpayers

were filing so the irs had to recalculate those terms while trying to process the new ones coming in during -- the stimulus pants -- payments. host: your report has statistics about backlog. about 10.8 million unprocessed returns and 5 million pieces of general taxpayer correspondence. what would it take to go through that paper load? guest: the challenge is the paper tax return. anyone who is watching, please file electronically. paper is not the irs's friend. it is the irs's rep tonight and they are struggling to get through it. -- crypto night --kryptonite and

they are struggling to get through it. irs works first and -- in an first out. they will process the 2020 paper returns before they process the 2021 paper returns. electronics will go straight through and that is why we are pushing to file electronically because it will go through much forget than a paper return that has to wait for the 2020 returns. host: i guess you're talking about people. what would it take to make it a more efficient process? guest: the irs has a good system. they have i.t. that has a lot of reviews so we don't need employees to do it. we need to increase the amount of employees that are working on

those 2020 returns and the commissioner announced that we are going to have a and for jerry -- inventory surge. i think we will need additional assistance and we will need to get into the 21st century. the irs should not manually process these returns. we need to set up the system so we leverage our i.t. capabilities. host: this is aaron collins. if you want to ask her questions about returns, you can call us and let us know. for those you in the eastern time zones, (202) 748-8000. for those of you in the central or western time zones, (202) 748-8001. you can text us at (202) 748-8003.

you talked about the new job set led to pandemic relief. i want you to walk through the forms. something called a letter 6419 connected to the child tax credit. why is that important? guest: one of the biggest challenges was the individual who had the first and second stimulus payment -- there was a discrepancy between the taxpayers record and the irs's record. they put out the return and processed it. there were over 11 million taxpayers that had a number that was inconsistent with irs records which required the irs to send out a notice to the taxpayer. hopefully, by sending out two letters, one is on the stimulus payment and one is on the child tax credit on the first six

payments that were made and the taxpayer will see the records. hopefully the taxpayer will have an online account that will show what that i -- what the ir record -- irs good has. -- record as --has. if you file electronically, it should go through the system without any challenges and if you are entitled to a refund, it should be paid under 21 days. host: you brought up 6475. guest: the child tax credit payment started going out toward the end of december. the eip one, that went out towards the end of january. hopefully those have been

received by taxpayers because you want to hold off and follow your return you have the data and the accurate data is important this year because of the challenges with paper returns. host: i suspect that there may be people in the audience putting their tax returns together and find out they don't have those pieces of paper. what is the recourse? guest: we have read that the irs is struggling with telephones. the percentage of times that taxpayers are able to get through last year was 11%, which was low. this year will be challenging as well. there will be difficulty getting an irs representative on the phone. if you have an online account or a few go to irs.gov, it provides you a -- record but it shows a

stimulus payment as well as the child tax credit, if you receive any monthly payment that started over the summer. host: eric collins joining us. deborah is from maryland. caller: i was wondering what you advise someone that has stuck in this hell of not being able to get there refund --their refund for nine months. we tried to file electronically and it did not work. we tried about five times so we filed a paper return. this was a very simple return. drop took away instructions so we had the standard deduction. maryland gave us our refund within a couple months but you

cannot get a hold of them and i think our recourse is suing the federal district court. what would you advise us to do? guest: when did you file the return? caller: april 17th, i think. some middle to and of april -- end of april. it was the regular deadline. we did not even defer, we filed in april. we had the federal refund in june or july. i have called -- we checked out right -- where is my refund thing? first, they said we do not have any record and now they say it is processing but you get the same message and even the same website says don't call us.

what would we be able to do? i know i would like to exhaust my options but there is no way to talk with you. host: deborah in maryland. guest: you are not the only one in this situation but a little bit of good news. the irs is in the campus city service center walking through and looking at the returns, they are approaching the april tax returns and they are starting to processed april so if i were you, record and represent -- your attorney and represent yourself. if you could be patient a little longer and you are correct, if you caller -- call irs or call our line, it will not tell you

because you're not in the system. that was the challenge with paper. they do not see your return. it is there and i could probably walk i and see the file of returns that were filed in april but it is not in our system. until it is in our system, no irs person can tell you where you are in the process but they got through march and they are in the process of going through april. fingers crossed but i am hoping in the next month or so they will get to the april return. host: you are the taxpayer advocate nationwide. is there a version of the office on a state-by-state level? guest: if you go to our website, we have a map of the united states. at -- it pulls up the map and it

has every city that we have our offices in it will have the local numbers. host: let us hear from nelson. hollywood, florida. caller: i just got through filing my 2021 tax returns and i did it the old-fashioned way with a prayer. i picked up the forms and the booklet and this is the story i have been doing for virtually my whole adult life. i am a little concerned about doing its electronically because of identity theft. every single agency in the united states and large companies have been hacked and until i know that the system really is secure, i do not intend to do it electronically. i was wondering if you would like -- might be able to address

that situation. thank you. guest: i understand your concerns. we are well aware of hacks into systems. the irs -- the number is over one billion attempts per year for people to get into our systems. i do understand your concern. that is the number one priority for the irs but unfortunately, by filing the paper return, you will have a delay. if you are looking for a refund, i suspect they will not even get around to the 2021 return probably until late spring. i want to manage sure -- don't want to manage your expectations but i understand your concern. host: a viewer has tweeted us this question, saying what do i have to do in regards to

reporting crypto assets. guest: that is more difficult. it is basically gains and losses similar to if you hold we'll estate -- real estate. it could be a loss or gain, you could -- you need to report it on your text return every year -- tax return every year. caller: thanks for taking my call. i was -- i have a question. i file on turbotax every year and this year i saw the word income credit. how long will that take to process because i saw that it might take an extra couple days. have you heard anything about that and also, in las vegas, i didn't see a option on turbotax to claim all my marijuana

purchases. any giving some advice on that? -- can you give me some advice on that? guest: if you claimed earned income tax but it, there was legislation passed that requires the irs to wait for the w-2s of the employer's -- are filed in those resources are not paid out until early march. they want to make sure that they match the income on your 1040 two your w-2. or if you are a individual, if you have schedule c. the law requires that the irs pull up those refunds until -- early march, folks receive their money by march 15 and i will

plead ignorance on the marijuana in the sense that i don't think your purchase -- unless you are saying it is a medical deduction, i am not sure why you would be deducting that. that would be my question. if it is a medical expense, you have the option on your schedule a. you can put it there. host: because people got child tax credits or economic impacts, they usually get a return every year. is it a possibility of that changing because they got that? a possibility of that return being affected -- could they be impacted? guest: no. the reasons that they return if there is a -- identity theft. you might be audited down the

road if the irs thinks there is a number that does not match. for purposes of processing, it is more whether or not the numbers are correct on the return. host: we had nina holston on the program and one of the things that she recommended was temporarily putting a hold on audits and collections. guest: i think that is a question that we are looking at when we talk about resources. what is the best use of iris resources? we have to get this filing season behind us your -- behind us. as to what employees we are -- have available, i do not think we will shut down all audits or collections that we will be leveraging those individuals to work on the backlog of the previous returns. host: here is ray in colorado.

caller: can y'all hear me? ok, good. i happen to be a former irs employee. i sympathize with the prior caller about that security default returns because as a secretary, i used to enter id theft calls and they all involved fraudulently before returns so that is why i file on paper but what i want to know from the irs is in light of the government mandate to go fully electronic, how is the irs preparing for that? guest: i don't think we are requiring the filing of returns to be all electronic. i think we are highly recommending that in trying to remove all the barriers for those folks want to file but

unless i missed something, i am not familiar with a requirement that it requires it to be electronically filed. if you go to the federal records center, think of a couple football field full of document s. i think the goal is to reduce that on a basis by requiring government agencies to digitalize their records when they raise -- once we receive them. host: what -- on your website, there is an irs roadmap. it has a lot of charts. you explain -- can you explain what this roadmap does? guest: it is a illustration. if you look at a metro map, it

is very similar. it breaks out from the time you are filing -- what are the different challenges in has a interactive notice. if you receive a particular notice, you can click the hyperlink and it will give you an explanation. it goes through the processing and returns if you would be selected for examination, if you litigate it, it takes you through all -- the system. most people want to stop at the first one which is get my return processed. if you have challenges, you can use it. host: that is available at taxpayer website -- advocates website. let's hear from frank. caller: i have a question. my question is -- separation of

church and state? i think every church in america [indiscernible] what they can be when they talk about churches. at that time, like purchase is -- like churches is all that -- black churches is all that people had. guest: our folks in the church giving text advice? -- tax advice? host: i think he was talking about tax returns overall. guest: the irs has very specific guidance. congress has created a law that allows people to qualify that the entity can come in and give a tax that is in there are a lot of entities out there that get a

status. it depends on the particular case. host: margaret is in florida. caller: thank you for taking my call. i want you to note that there are some of us that are waiting on 2019 returns. i had to file a amended return in 2020 after my cpa electronically filed a regular return and i noticed there was an error and at that time, it had to be paper file. it was documented and it went through austin, texas may 1 of 2020. i waited last year to see when that amended return would get finished and january of 2021, i gave my cpa a power of attorney

to talk to the irs because i couldn't get anywhere and he was not able to get any further either. june of this year, i received a letter on the irs saying they needed a few schedules they save were missing from my 1040. i called the number. the person i talked to could not talk to me. they didn't have access so i contacted my cp again. he was able to get the missing schedules. to make a long story short, that did not address my amended return. i was told i had to wait 20. december was the end of 20 weeks. i called to see where my amended return was and they said they couldn't find it. she suggested and she documented

that i should have my cp reef out and do it electronically but she said i would have to wait -- guest: you filed the second amended return and you have not heard anything? caller: he did. he found it in june -- the end of june, the first of july. host: let her go on for what she put out on the table. guest: if you filed a 2019 return and have not been processed or you filed an amended return and have not -- you can go to our local office. you can find your local taxpayer advocate and have your cpa or

yourself reach out to the office and walk them through your situation and see if they can assist you. we have a couple offices in florida. you might want to reach out to them. host: this is from victoria in california. caller: i was wondering if you could help me. my partner and i are both retired and we never had to pay taxes because we are a low -- below the amount you to make an yesterday, -- and yesterday, the person who does our taxes, he told me to bring all the papers with us and bring the papers that we got from this stimulus check that we received last year. we haven't had to pay taxes in the last 20 years and we cannot

find any papers referring to the stimulus check that we got last year. what would you suggest. i cannot get back to him. i waited around a week and a half before he got back to me to make an appointment. when we lived in san francisco, related that ran the tax place, she said we did not have to file because we are way below what we are required to make but she -- if she was us, she would file one anyway in case something happened in the government had to ask -- and the government had to ask questions. host: let her respond to that. guest: if you receive the full

amount of your stimulus payment which would have been early summer last year, you may not have a filing application -- obligation. the reason people are filing a return is to get there stimulus payment. if you got a direct deposit, you can go to your bank statement for the month of april and may and june and see the amounts. you can open an online account and you can see what the irs says you received in respect to the stimulus payment. typically, they are very good at assisting taxpayers so i would take their advice on whether or not you should or should not file. if you have received a sit -- a stimulus payment, you should have received a return. caller: we did not get a direct

deposit. we got a paper check. guest: same thing. if you deposited a check, hopefully you have bank records. host: this is probably the most technical question. there is a viewer saying questions for americans overseas. how realistic do you think that congress will take the recommendation to remove the duplicates of foreign -- thanks --banks -- guest: there are two different forms that text fails have to file. i will like to say that there -- they will listen to our recommendation. i am not optimistic that anything will change. if congress goes down the path

of having additional tax legislation, they may consider it but as a stand-alone item i am not optimistic that we will get someone to sponsor it within congress. it is a great recommendation. host: there was a story a couple days ago when it comes to the irs and the idea of requiring facial recognition to get access. could you elaborate on this story? guest: the irs is trying to increase the security level to reduce fraud. there is an organization, and what they recommend is if you have a higher level of security, you have some level up buyer metrics. -- biometrics. what they did is have a online

account. they used a company call id.me. you have a drivers license and you hold your phone up and it takes your photo and it takes your desk it authenticates you. there was concerns expressed and concerns of the facial recognition. the irs has reconsidered. they are not going forward with the facial scanning but that has been what has been read. what they have been trying to do is get the higher -- highest level of concert -- security and concerns about hacking. i think there were a lot of questions raised as to is the appropriate way to go and is this what we need to do to be secure in our environment? host: the irs taxpayer advocate.

cindy in woodbridge. caller: i will ask you two questions. i am new with social security. what is the top amounts of the benefit that you received for a year -- before i have to file taxes. my second question is for my son. say you get $2000 for each child credit. he has two children so that is 4000. at the end of the year, if he receives the checks, will that affect the amount that he received before he got the checks? will he get the 2000 for each child? is that extra money? guest: you stumped me this money

-- morning. i don't know the answer to the social security amount. it is ascertainable to get to that amount. i don't know the top off -- off the top of my head. it -- as far as a child text credit, it depends on the circumstances. if your son receives partial credit, he would be entitled to the second half of that if you house his tax return if he did -- returns. -- now or in the near future. host: from deborah in south carolina. you're on. caller: i have a question for my nephew who has filed his income taxes who -- since he was 21

years old. he did not receive his refund. he did not receive his refund or any other stimulus money. they know who is getting his money but nothing has been done. what can he do and who can he contact? guest: if it is recent, that is more difficult. if it is a prior year, he could reject -- reach out to one of the folks in my office. if you go to my website, you can get the local contact information. unfortunately, thank you for having him file every year but he should be receiving a stimulus as well as his refund there might be a challenge -- refund. there might be a challenge in their.

re. i would recommend that you call the irs and see if there is anything or a particular flag that he needs to resolve or possibly reach out to someone in my office. host: you testified what the house subcommittee on the topics concluding that the number of staff in brs. one of the stories came out from marketwatch and one of the headlines came out is the starting's -- starting salary. can you elaborate? guest: that is the challenge in what we call the -- in our paper return. there is a government scale called the gs level 3, 4, 5. those are usually entry-level positions in the government and unfortunately that living on

$25,000 a year is difficult. we have been talking about trying to raise the salary so we can get qualified people and also get people who need jobs to get them in the door but we are competing with every other company out there right now and it is a challenge because although there are wonderful benefits working for the government. people are sometimes trying to get that higher praye -- pay. it has been difficult for us to hire us -- folks. president biden signed an executive order increasing the federal government salary to be $15 an hour. i think the challenge is that taxpayers are looking at what is the best job i can get and if

you are looking for a long-term career, it is a great place. if you are looking for a higher salary, you may be going to other folks. host: what have you learned at your current position. you are at the office of chief counsel in the irs but what have you learned specifically at taxpayer advocate? guest: where do i start? i started a withdrawal in march 30 of 2020. this is when the irs shut down everything silly it -- facility. i think my experience has been different from my predecessor because we are scrambling and assisting as many taxpayers as we can with respect to my organization. we have had more cases in the

last two years we have had historically my staffing has not increased. we are struggling. we have trouble with phones and being as responsible -- sponsor. -- responsive. we are working overtime and that is across the irs. many have been on mandatory overtime since covid started so it has been difficult and the paper has been a huge challenge and having -- congress has been helpful to taxpayers but having legislation, especially late legislation creates humongous challenges in be irs. how to implement it. there have been a lot of challenges in the irs. kudos to our in tories -- employees. you may not feel like it because you have been frustrated and you

have not gotten your money. we understand and we feel for you and i have fingers crossed that we will get additional resources. host: jim in california. caller: i have all comments in question. i want to thank you on the work that you have done. i think -- i have worked. i cannot afford to put him in all old folks home. i have all the savings from playing the game because there are no more pensions. they want you to go to the stock market. i am afraid that when i come to -- when i pay my taxes, i won't have anything left. the churches do not have to pay taxes.

it is not enough money for people to live off of. host: do you have a specific question? caller: are we looking into helping people with their money that they have saved up so i have to pay taxes on it? guest: unfortunately, irs -- people think of it as -- we follow the law and administer it. congress is the one you need to go to because they established the policies and the law but thank you for taking care of your mom. as a mom -- i hope my kids are as generous as you are but it is a real struggle and if you do have to pay taxes, the irs does have a lot of pogroms. you can -- programs. you can do an installment agreement. they can work with you so you

don't have it hit once. host: previous members of congress have talked about making it similar to file taxes. as a process the -- has the process becoming easier? guest: it has become more difficult. the qualifications and figuring out the rules for earned income tax credit, which was specifically denied for lower income individuals and families, it is difficult to administer properly. that's how checks credit -- the title -- the child tax credit has been difficult to figure out. it has made it more difficult for individuals and lower income folks. folks in the middle range and wealthy individuals. if you were to put the irs code

together, it is very difficult. the only benefit is if you are higher -- income, you can hire someone. it is very complex. i think you should utilize aarp to find a program that has a voluntary tax system. that is a program across the country. they can help you file and we have the lower income tax plants. they have been instrumental in helping taxpayers host the filing of your return. if you have a problem with the irs, the clinics can be very and it just an official -- very beneficial. host: philip in maryland. caller: i have two questions.

there is no -- asking for exemption of two or three -- two grand exemption but now they want you -- specific people which i really do not know. is there anyway you can easily fill this form or the only drop that i am doing but i want to change my withholding? guest: i would like to say that every irs -- is simple but sometime it is not. the debbie for is important. there are a lot of folks that try to reduce their withholding so they don't have refunds but you don't want to have to reduce it too much. filling out the form is

important. those are things that you could maybe reach out to some of the biden folks or organizations that provide free tax advice. host: here is rodney. caller: thanks to both of you for all you do. my question is concerning my dad. he passed away about 15 years ago and we just got a letter from a lawyer stating he was an heir to a piece of property and we received $10,000 and we did not know how to file it on taxes whether it be income on property or inheritance. do you have any advice on that ? guest: i try not to give advice

on that. i will try to utilize some of the other free organizations that will help you provide advice to provide a tax return. everyone's taxes are different. host: from amin in virginia beach. caller: thank you for all the work that you do. i have a question about electronic filing. i have been filing or many years. i don't use the web. it should be easy for me to do the act -- electronic filing. when i try to go through the process, i find that my returns saved -- would be saved on the private company's server and i do not want that. this is the government that i am

working with why -- working with. i am worried about that. guest: the irs, depending on your income, i believe it is something like 73000 and below, there is something like free file. it is on irs.gov. uses outside vendors you can file through it and it goes directly to the irs but i understand people's concern. i know that the irs takes peak security of the data extremely carefully. that is something -- that is the ultimate goal. the challenge is if you file fruit paper, your refund --

through paper, your refund will be delayed. host: one of the feature to your report to congress, is saying that i rest is not have good functionality with existing tools with taxpayers and and you -- can you elaborate on that. guest: -- be able to have access to personal data and maybe chat with irs. you could talk to representatives online. i would like to see the irs get to that point. the challenge is the most -- more data they put on an online account, the higher the security is and that was the purpose to going to biometrics.

that gives the highest security. my concern is by downgrading and not using -- again, i am not an i.t. person" we have to have a secure environment. i want all tax papers -- taxpayers to have a secure environment. how do we keep the information secure and how do we keep the data to taxpayers so they have access to the information. host: what has been the response from the irs commissioner and various members of congress interested in the issue? guest: there is a lot of issues -- interest. i think all of us want the same thing. we need to get this fixed. the question is how can we get it done and how fast can we get it done? there is a lot of attention both

from congress as well as the irs and be treasury. for taxpayers, they are letting their voice be heard. we need to improve service and telephone service. for those who want to file electronically, we need to renew -- remove some of the barriers and improve i.t. so we can get through the filing season. and get the refunds out timely. there is a lot the irs has to do and the report we do touched on what our concerns are and things that the irs needs to do to improve. host: rachel from kentucky. caller: i had a comment. talking about the id.me. i use that last week and they

are asking to take a picture of your face. you take your iphone up to your face and they scan your face. they use the biometrics. guest: this is a recent decision that the irs and treasury announced. i think it is effective this week and as you indicated, i did as well to understand how the process worked. i think it is on a go forward basis and they are trying to figure out -- what do we do to provide the most protection of individuals, whether it be financial or health data across-the-board. all of the federal agencies are looking to what is the most secure fashion that we can do which is not intrusive? not a privacy concern for most individuals?

i would like to see i.t. expand and modernize the irs so we will have a struggle of how do we modernize the most secure environment and provide the most benefits of taxpayers. i am not an i.t. person but we really need to give people access to information and we need to have government agencies be a leader in i.t.. we should be setting the bar for what should be done and i am concerned that we are not going as fast as i would like to see it. host: there is a viewer who asks if a taxpayer files a case with your wing of the irs, that's that stop -- does that stop any action -- by the collections

division of the irs if you can -- until you can address their case? guest: assuming that they are aware of the issue, they should be putting a suspension on collection and one of the ink that the irs announced yesterday -- one other thing that the irs announced yesterday. the computer doesn't know it is backlog so the irs computers have been issuing subsequent collection notices before the problem is resolved so the irs has reprieved -- agreed that they will suspend subsequent notices. the first notice will go out to tell taxpayer you owe whatever the are now -- the amount is but subsequent notices will be suspended as irs work through the backlog so --

host: is it true the irs is still using old and antiquated code to process return that is so wide? it seems that the bottleneck is the lack of up-to-date data processing. guest: that is the bring. that is where all the taxpayer data is going back to. it is all in that database but that is it written in the old language. we have to modernize. everyone has been aware of it at the irs, in order to accomplish it, because it is a very large project, it will require congress to make a multiply -- two year equipment -- multiyear

of -- multiyear commitment. if -- we only have a one year budget. it is very difficult to have a long-term project to update the iron --it. host: where do you see as far as the irs resolving the issues? guest: on a good day -- this is a heavy lift. it is all hands on deck. on a year and, we come forward to a filing season clean without the backlog. that is the goal. i would like to be optimistic in thinking we will make the goal. we can, if we make the commitment. host: this is tayman in

maryland. caller: does your department help with the -- repoll of election for the income tax? guest: host: that's the last call we'll take. directing resources that you offer, if they have questions, that they couldn't get addressed today. guest: so again, if -- irs. com. senator hassan: a lot of useful information. our website, taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov also. senator hassan: a lot of information. those are two great resources. since it's filing season, if you qualify, if your income is below $73,000 or below, you can get assistance, free assistance from the volunteer. you can find the locations

through irs.gov. they're a great resource. host: thank you for your time today. guest: thank you for having me. host: that's it for our program today. another edition of "washington journal" comes your way at 7:00 tomorrow. we'll now take you to the senate. a senate health, education and labor subcommittee hear about shortages in the health care work force. you can watch it on c-span, c-span.org or c-span now. this hearing is set to start shortly.