razom for ukraine. dr. anand parekh for an update on the coronavirus pandemic. you can join the conversation iphone, facebook, and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ >> american history tv saturdays on c-span2, explain the events -- host: struck down the travel mandate and yesterday, the cdc asked the justice department to appeal that ruling. what is your thought on that this morning? republicans dial in at 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us with your

opinion at 202-748-8003. include your first name, city and state. you can also go to facebook.com/c-span or send a tweet with the handle @cspanwj. we will get your thoughts on the latest travel mask mandate, the cdc asking the justice department to appeal a decision by that judge. let's begin with the cdc's statement. "it is the cdc's assessment that an order requiring masking in the transportation corridor means necessary public health. cdc will continue to monitor health conditions to determine if such an order remains necessary. cdc believes this is a lawful order well within cdc's legal authority to protect public health. a recent poll done by the associated press conducted last

thursday to monday, right before the judge dropped the mandate. this is what they found. americans are somewhat more likely to work in mask mandate for people traveling on planes and public transit than those at crowded events or workers interacting with the public. 56% favor people traveling on airplanes, trains, and public transit wearing a mask. workers who interact with the public, numbers get lower as well as attending crowded events. that is the latest polling. it was done before the judge ruled against the biden administration's travel mask mandate. what do you think of this? tyson in california, we will go to you first. caller: thank you for c-span and for taking my call. i hope everyone stays safe. everyone has their right in

their sovereign territory to do what they wish. people don't want to wear a mask, they don't have to wear a mask. host: what about doing it for the good of everyone else? caller: exactly, that was my next point. if you are on an international flight -- i have flown all over the world with my folks. i was privileged to be on planes and stuff. if people are flying internationally, do you really want someone that close to you without wearing a mask? are you that comfortable, especially with what is going on overseas? especially with people's

flatulence. host: let's go to this opinion piece. trent is a scientist and mr. blackstock is an hiv physician. this is what they wrote. "when a virus capable of serious illness is so widespread and not everyone has the access to tools to protect themselves, the best way to keep them safe is through collective policy. this is by overturning the mask mandate for transportation is disastrous. many essential workers, low income communities, and immunocompromised rely on buses, trains, and subways. they should not have to make the impossible choice of going to work, grocery stores, or health appointments and contracting the virus. let's keep these spaces accessible to all.

they are more effective when everybody wears one." what is your reaction to this opinion piece? marsha, republican. what do you think of the travel mask mandate? caller: i think it is silly. i think no one needs to wear a mask choose not to. i think the cdc is not part of the federal government. i feel the cdc has done enough damage. there is no virus. it is a cold. if you look up covid, it is a common cold. they are hurting people. you are not getting the oxygen you need. i know because i have copd. i put a mask on, i cannot breathe. i think it does more damage. they never found the so-called

virus. host: renee in detroit, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i wanted to make a statement. all of these people opposed to the mask ban, what if they had to have surgery and their doctors decided not to wear a mask? would they be offended, then? host: will you continue to wear a mask when you travel? caller: i wear a mask every day. where i work, you can wear a mask if you want to or not. they have even taken out the sanitizers around where i work. not a lot of masks. but yes, i wear my mask. host: what do you do for a living? caller: i really don't want to

say. it is a top company i work for. no one wears masks. i wear a mask everywhere, in the store, when i go to the bank. i will continuing my mask because that is my right. host: is it a right for others to not wear one. caller: if there is a mandate that says you must wear a mask, you should wear your mask. i don't get how all of these people are just like ignoring it. it is not just for yourself, it is for other people. my mom has cancer, breast cancer. she goes to chemotherapy. in the hospital, you have to wear a mask. on our way or -- on our way there, no one is wearing a mask

and i am concerned for my mother. host: what sort of transportation are you taking to get there? caller: i drive her. but in between adding to the parking lot and going to the hospital, there are people who don't wear their mask. last week we were there for a treatment. this man came in the hospital and did not want to wear his mask. it is crazy. i am so scared for my mom. like i said, if the doctor decided not to use his mask when operating on them, how would they feel, these people who oppose the mask. how would they feel if their doctor wanted to buy them open and not wear a mask meant breathe everything in them? how would they feel? host: from usa today, they have this headline, "flyers are

winging it without a mask." they note this, "a group of airline leaders wrote that an airline cabin is one of the safest indoor environments due to highly filtered air coupled with the downward direction of the air. -- the downward direction of the air." they note a study conducted for the department of defense that found the risk of aerosol dispersion was reduced 99.7% because of the height air exchange rate. recirculation and downward circulation of the air. this is only when the aircraft is in the air. crowded airports and jet bridges do not have the same air circulation. does that change any of your minds? gordon in kansas city, republican. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my

whole. i want to give a shout out to to jesse holland. the dude is a college professor and one of the smartest guys you had on your show, even if he is left-leaning. we live in a free country, right? if you want to wear a mask, wear a mask. you are protecting yourself. if you don't want to wear a mask, you are free to not wear it. i don't care what cdc over president says we have to do stuff. we are free to do what we want to. thank you very much. host: do you believe you are endangering others by not wear a mask. we lost gordon. ms. hill in new jersey, we will go to your next. caller: i want to nuance review on this. i think legally this is not a

good decision. i don't think it is the legally correct decision. i think it is important our public health institutes we entrust to safeguard everybody be allowed to institute a uniform policy for the good of all of us. as far as masks go, i don't know how effective it is at this point. we have everybody wearing different wally masks, people wearing their masks incorrectly. they are more correct on planes because they are enforced. i personally have had both of my booster shots and i feel fairly comfortable. i always thought that was operably the best defense against covid.

the cdc was going to reevaluate this according to the report. i think what they are fighting for, as much as maintaining or not maintaining a mask policy is the ability to set the public policy which i think is very critical. while i personally am somewhat happy policies going away, i do understand their right to do that. i certainly understand that it is incumbent upon all of us to look after ourselves and travelers while we are in public transportation. host: the washington post has a piece, when you should wear a mask. they talk about what you are saying. your chances of getting the virus are lower when getting a mask -- when wearing a mask. it goes even lower if you have a

tight fitting one. if it is a n95 or kn95, that is your best protection. what is your reaction to that? caller: i think they are right. that is why my default has been to vaccinations more than masks because people don't wear them correctly or where different types of masks. i was involved in distribution of masks. i work for a health care related agency. we had to distribute thousands of them and they were all different types and equality -- types and quality. as someone who is compromised medically, and 95 -- an n95 would be best. you would not necessarily have to worry about someone on a

plane or on a subway who was not wearing one. that just is not the case. i have always believed the only measurable protection against covid will be when a person got a vaccine, what the vaccine level was. it is a complicated issue. what is your personal health? what is your personal tolerance for risk? host: will you wear one on an airplane even though you may not have to? caller: i probably won't. but then again, i got my second booster if you weeks ago. i want if i don't have to.

if i wasn't protected, i would. host: as you get months away from your next booster and you become more vulnerable and you are on a bus without the ventilation system or a train, what would you do? caller: if the level in the area was beyond a low level and the extent of the variant at that time -- then i would put on a mask. host: the wall street journal this morning reporting the appeal from the doj came more than a day after the administration waited the political and legal consequences of such an action. a trump appointee on monday

struck down the mask mandate, concluding it exceeded the authority given to the cdc under decades-old law and violated rulemaking procedures. the justice department said tuesday it would appeal only if the cdc found such an order necessary. the move does not change the state of the mask mandate. it cannot be enforced unless the biden administration wins its appeal or a stay of the court's order. right now you do not have to wear a mask if you are in a trick petition corridor. if there is a stay or they win the appeal, the mask mandate would continue. karen in alabaster, alabama. republican. let's hear from you. argue there? -- are you there? caller: i am here. host: go ahead. caller: first of all, we don't

trust what the cdc says anymore, at least i don't. they withheld data about the effectiveness of the vaccine and admitted to that. everybody says we have to follow the science. i went to the university of minnesota and they are saying the effectiveness of cloth masks offer very little -- for the particles we believe are possible for transmission. whether they work or not, it does not sound like they were too well. if you want to wear a mask, find. if you don't want to wear one, don't wear one. the supreme court has ruled against doing the mandate. that is what is going to happen with this one. they are going to say no more mandate. the airline ceos have said it is

filtered, we don't need the mask. host: sometimes you are stuck on the airplane waiting to take off. it is not filtered then. it is only when the engines are running. or if you are taxiing at the gate and you are stuck for 20 or 30 minutes and sitting in close proximity. would that make you feel concerned? caller:. . no people have been flying on planes with the flu and the cold. the cases have gone down. covid is basically nonexistent. the only people who talk about covid anymore is the government. host: many of you may have seen this video from the new york times. when this ruling by the judge happened on monday, striking down that mask mandate, look at the reaction from some airline

passengers on board. some of them are cheering. [video clip] [cheering] >> the mask mandate is gone. masks are no longer required on airplanes. [applause] host: from the new york times, reaction from airline passengers and we are getting gore thoughts on the judge's ruling. the cdc is asking the justice department to appeal it. earl in ohio, independent. caller: i am thinking it is going to take more than a mask to protect this country from our improper weight of protecting our borders -- improper way of protecting our borders. host: more rain in massachusetts, democratic called. caller: i am actually in

independent, i called the wrong number. i apologize. i want to agree with karen who said the cdc has been so unreliable from the beginning. with all of the unknowns of covid that the cdc explained to us and somehow decided everything they said was experimented through, investigated. i think their unreliability is why we are where we are now. for the department of justice to appeal this mask mandate is ridiculous. i think people are free to wear a mask. i think the sound on the airplane the other day was the sound of freedom. if it the cdc had stood with their honesty from the beginning

that we don't know what the vaccines will do, will we need a booster? how many boosters are needed? all of these questions, i think we can handle the fact we did not know the answers to them. you had a caller who said would you ever want to be operated on a surgeon without a mask? of course not. that is not the same thing as the freedom to wear a mask on a bus or public transportation. i think america is free first and we have a tough time with mandates that are willy-nilly on people. especially when you see, they were everybody uses, the elite who choose to wear a mask. when they choose to wear a mask when they are on film and not even. i think it is a waste of our time. host: do you wear a seatbelt

when you drive a car? caller: i do. i choose to wear a seatbelt. in massachusetts i would be ticketed if i did not wear his seatbelt. host: so it is a mandate for the greater good? caller: yes. host: it is a mandate for the greater good that you wear a seatbelt. caller: it is also an insurance requirement, it is in my car, it beeps the entire time. i see a seatbelt different than a mask. and i think people should be free to wear seatbelts. i would have to look at that further. host: what if this was not a government mandate and instead the airlines decided it is an insurance policy, we don't want to get blamed for you getting covid so we will mandate you wear a mask.

then what? caller: then i would have to make that choice to fly or not. i could drive if i did not want to. i have been to concerts and they required a mask. i had to see -- had to wear a mask if i wanted to see that performer. if i did not, i would not go to that concert. you are free to choose. i think when the government does it, that is more on our freedoms than a business. there you go with the word free again. a business should be free to pretty much do as they please within certain realistic guidelines. host: maureen in massachusetts. here is a tweet from a viewer, "callers opposed to wearing a mask don't have to. we have about 500 americans die every day. some have to keep the funeral homes and business."

a congresswoman and tweeting out of this, "the white house will not appeal the ruling from overturning the mask mandate. what is infuriating is it took years for this to be overturned. the american people are owed an apology." that is from congresswoman lauren boebert. jennifer in new jersey, republican. hi, jennifer. caller: good morning, greta. host: good morning. what is your reaction to all of this? caller: my reaction is thank god. someone has the wherewithal to stand up and say it is time to take these masks off. you were talking about this seatbelt thing. a seatbelt is made a law. if they want us to wear a mask,

they have to make a law. it is that simple. host: that is where you think something should have done by congress and signed by the president, not an executive decision? caller: absolutely. we have these channels for a reason. they should have passed a law if they wanted us to wear a mask. host: i want to hear what other viewers have to say to your argument. john in minnesota, independent. caller: jennifer is correct. it is not a lock, it was an administrative rule. the judge had a right. they overreached. it was arbitrary and capricious. this is just all theater. the white house did not want to do it so they had the doj do it.

there is no emergency, it is ridiculous. host: what do you mean there is no emergency? for legal reasons in that the judge -- there is no emergency for this appeal -- for the judge that here's the appeal to say i am putting a stay on this lower judge's decision? is that what you are referencing? caller: the judge followed the constitution. this rule by the cdc -- biden's mandate was overturned by the supreme court for other mandates. this cdc guideline is capricious. it is an administrative move for clinical reasons.

the science is up and down. masks don't work. the deaths are up and down. they are down now so the media wants to move onto something else. the bottom line is it was -- the judge is correct. host: other newspapers are setting studies, here is one. this is the post, "a study that looked at mask use in california found people reported always wearing a cloth mask in indoor public spaces were 56% is likely to test positive compared with those who did not wear masks. the protection grew to 66% for those who were surgical masks and 83% for those wearing n95 or kn95 masks. masks offer another layer of protection as new variants invade vaccine boosted immunity.

the cdc look at at a convention where 30,000 people were gathered as the omicron variant began to spread in november and found only a fraction of attendees contracted the virus at a mask mandatory event. those who were sick reported being at bars and nightclubs, participating in karaoke, or eating or drinking near others for more than 15 minutes." let's hear from drew -- let's hear from joe, democratic caller. caller: i am a republican caller. sorry. host: that is okay. go ahead. caller: that lady wearing a mask wherever she goes, that is like the woman you see driving down the interstate wearing a mask i themselves. i have a procedure coming up, have to get my lungs checked. i have copd and they think i

might have cancer. she made me get an independent covid test. if they were so worried about people wearing masks and the spread of this, why were they not stopping people from lifting this title 42 and let millions of people in? this is all political. i cannot wait until we get a different president and a different administration running this country. host: go to jack in michigan. what do you say? caller: this is john, actually. host: john in midland, michigan? caller: that is correct.

where is the sample of this virus they tested for. there has never been an example, they have never isolated the virus called covid-19. we only know of it from conjecture from the world health organization. does the virus actually exist? they don't have any isolated sample. they are running too many cycles of a pcr tests. we are going to have all kinds of people testing positive. it does not even mean you are sick. this has all been political and there is a much bigger agenda called the great reset. cloud swab, if you look him up, all of your reporters are afraid to report on him. this was planned a long time ago. host: greg in mechanicsburg,

independent. caller: i am calling in because i had to. you are doing what you normally do. you cross-examine people who disagree with your personal point of view. i wish you would be consistent and cross-examine all of the people or none of them on this issue. this is not a question of whether or not cdc has the authority to issue guidelines and perhaps support a mandate. the judge who is being crucified because she did something the mainstream media, including you disagree with. she said cdc was outside their legal authority. i am a lawyer so i appreciate

that. i hope most people will. the executive ranch gets to exercise the authority granted it by the legislative branch. when it goes outside of that, then the judge should say they went outside of it. this does not mean the cdc has no authority. it only means they went outside the authority they were rented under whatever law they issued this mandate on. host: that is what i read in the wall street journal, that the authority to to the cdc -- and violated rulemaking procedures. we lost the color. -- we lost the caller. catherine in new jersey, democratic caller. caller: hello. i am going to go with the cdc.

i am a retired army in and i wear my -- i am a retired rn and i wear my mask all of the time. until they come up with a good reason to take it off for good, i'm going to wear my mask. i despise mandates, i don't want everyone to make me do everything but this is common sense and should not be political. i entered too much politics in public health. host: joey in atlanta, georgia. republican. your turn. caller: it is a shame that the cdc under factual has taken away -- the cdc under dr. fauci has taken away our trust. we don't trust dr. fauci, we don't trust the government. the corruption is such -- the corruption is so incredible. so many people were fooled and flight. they were misled to listen to these scientists and none of it

was based on actual facts. it is just a shame. you have to understand, when you talk about laws and policies, think about this. we have actual facts. the data supports why we wear seatbelts. the facts and the data does not support why we should wear masks. it is unbelievable how this country, the american people have been lied to. people just need to wake up. it is not what the government says. you have to listen to what the facts say. the cdc has led to us. dr. fauci should be in jail. he has done such a dishonor to this country. host: here are some tweets from the united airlines when this ruling came out by the judge. " masks are no longer required on domestic flights. select international flights depend on their arrival country's requirements or on the

u.s. airport. more comfortable keeping yours on? go ahead, the choice is yours." they also said that "filters remove 99.79% of viruses. the air is circulated every two to three minutes to protect you as you fly with us." virginia, independent. go ahead. caller: it is a shame how c-span has become so political. there is no reason for you to have republican, democrat, independent. you all want to make this stuff political. the bottom line is that most people who get covid don't die, like most people who get the flu don't die. to do all of this fear, scaring

people have to death believing they are going to die if they get covid. to have the numbers on tv like they did at the beginning just to scare people is unconscionable. the way the government has scared, the media, c-span has scared people. you know there is a 98.98% you will survive covid. most people don't die. everything you cited, it shows test positive and test positive. it would take 3 million people to die in this country in order to get to 1% of deaths from covid. you all want to scare people have to death for control and political reasons. it is unconscionable. you, the host, you should be ashamed of yourself you are pushing the mask. goodbye. host: angela, are you still

there? let me explain to angela, we changed the lines from support and oppose not for conspiracy or political reasons because we were not sure if people would understand what you are supporting and opposing given other has been so much movement. so we changed the lines and we change the lines all the time. sometimes the reason we do democrats, republicans, and independents is it can give the rest of you listening context to a person's thoughts, opinions, setter. -- opinions, etc. that is what we did that. we will go to brooklyn, democratic caller. caller: it angers me to hear people attacked the host. you guys are more impartial than anything on this earth.

my idea is let's take cigarettes for instance. i am 73 years old. i remember surgeons smoking in the or. they came out with all of these rules about cigarettes, tobacco being hazardous to your health. they put it on cigarette packs. the doctors giving it to women -- to pregnant women. give the american people a choice as the inter-a terminal, a subway, what have you. just put a sign saying not wearing a mask is hazardous to your health. the ones who want to comply have the option. the ones who don't want to

comply and take a risk with their lives also have any option. i think that will solve the problem. i wear a mask because i want to live. but i think they should have the option of not wearing a mask. that is all i have to say. host: blaine, olympia, washington. republican. caller: you are just as vulnerable through the eyes so you are not protected with just a mask on. number two, the people who develop the sars vaccine also developed a vaccine for covid. our government would not fund it. they had to get philanthropists to pay for it, $7 million. they give -- they did not patent it, they give it to countries who wanted it. it prevents you from getting

covid. it does not protect you. right now, india has got it. i just think our government is being hypocritical. they're letting this disease come across our southern order. -- our southern border. colorado and polio -- cholera and polio, are you kidding me? and they are worried about covid? i think they are being hypocritical. i think it is a joke what they are doing. i agree with the woman who called about oppose and not oppose. i agree with that, vying one party against another political party does not serve a purpose. host: al, independent.

-- caller: good morning. the mask does not really do anything. it is fear. people who are sick with cancer, kidney problems, so on, those people are going to have problems. to shut down all of the businesses -- think about how many people have lost who have worked and saved all of their lives. everywhere you go you see for rent. stores are gone, the local coffee shop i went to, the mom-and-pop shops, gone. these people are living in hell. we have people coming across the border. open up your eyes, they are coming across the border. 7000 a day, operably 30 million in the next few years.

with every kind of disease from third world countries, who is going to pay for them? and we have two wear masks and they don't get a shot coming across the border? they're going to bring in covid and other things the chinese could bring with agents coming over here to hurt us? where is the decency of this government? host: thelma in alabama, democratic caller. caller: i don't understand the american people. the american people is to think of everyone else before the thought of themselves. when you go to church on sunday, what are you going to say to god about the way you are? host: what are you advocating for? caller: i am advocating that the american people go back to the

way we used to be. we used to care about each other. some people out there are sick. they cannot take care of themselves. the bible says to love your neighbor. that is what you have to do. if you are going to take off your mask like people did on the airplane and put yourself ahead of somebody else because you are selfish, that is selfishness. i don't care. i asked each and every american, if that is the way -- is that the way you were brought up? what about kindness? where is that at for your fellow man? keep those masks on for the children and everybody else that is sick. we are in a pandemic and we used

to be america. where is america? we wanted back. those people coming here are the ones changing america. host: let's hear from clifford in oceanside, california. republican. what is your take on this? caller: the other caller was very fun. i believe that this was a democratic ploy to gain more control. i hope the democrats who voted for joe biden are satisfied with the hypocrisy. they have hatred for trump. they are giving the powers that be to this man who, let's face

it, -- [indiscernible] the world would be over, we would be toast. as far as the mask mandate, that was all dr. fauci and trying to hide the fact that -- had given to the wuhan institute of urology -- of virology and saying it was the wet market. host: can -- ken in pennsylvania, independent. caller: my primary reason for calling is to defend you. you are giving an opposing

opinion two things and i think it is making people think. it is to make people think, to consider what has been spoonfed to them and they won -- and they run with that instead of giving facts on things. to say that the mask does not protect people is complete ignorance. people are calling and saying, me wearing a mask does not protect me. it protects other people, that is the point. if one person is wearing a mask, everyone is kind of protective. is it 100% full proof? no. it is not. but to go further and attack after voucher, that is a narrative created by somebody on the others. figure out the fact. i will support you with your seatbelt narrative. if people want to know something , do a paper trail on seatbelts.

the seatbelt came about because insurance companies lobbied with congress -- lobbyists paying congressman to write loss just to write -- to write laws. the mask is just common sense. dr. fauci is a trained medical professional. i would not take my car to him but i would not go to the mechanic to find out what is wrong with me. just to get back to my first point, and i think you do a great job. host: thank you. the oversight committee tweeted this out yesterday, "the backlog of 8 million unprocessed tax returns from 2021 means 8

million households are missing out on money that can be used for food, childcare, education, and other necessities. tomorrow, the chair will hold a hearing to get to get the irs back on track." that is happening right here on c-span, on our website, or watch on our video app, c-span now. you can download it on any mobile device. charles reading will be testifying before lawmakers about this backlog and other tax issues with taxes due just a couple of days ago. silver spring, maryland, democratic caller. thank you for joining the conversation. >> this is so difficult -- caller: this is so difficult to listen to every morning. i don't know how you do it. i want to compliment you on being able to take all the vitriol and things people say. thelma was talking about basic

civility of the american people. she must be older because she remembers a time when people cared about each other. there are so many conspiracy theories flying around. i want to remind everyone when covid started, we knew something was coming. they told us to under 40,000 people died and we were all shocked. and then we started washing our tomatoes and figuring out how to get around this thing. ultimately, we found out almost one million people have died. people who were too fat or too old or have a disease or on medicine. we were horrified. the only thing we could do was get a vaccine and protect ourselves with masks. that is what we knew, that would work. that is what has worked. that is why these people are willing to take all of these risks and chances on other

people's lives. i used to be immune -- i did not used to be immunosuppressive but now i am older and thank god i live in maryland where pretty much everybody is vaccinated. i can go to the store with a mask and see people with their masks. host: i hope you continue to watch and call in. because you hear opposing views to your own and because it is a conversation with real people all over the country. one of the only places that is happening. you are not being talked to, you get to talk with other people. janet in jessup, maryland. caller: i don't have any problem with c-span except you read from

new york times, washington post, and the wall street journal but you don't do the washington times or the new york post and i was wondering why that may be. host: we do do the washington times and the new york post at times. your point is taken. we try to diversify the newspapers. not just the national ones but local ones as well. caller: with dr. fauci, he is the one who said to begin with masks don't do any good. it has been crazy for all of the people here because we are hearing so many things and so many flip-flops. this one wants power, that one was power. our country is being destroyed and not anything is being done about it on either side.

as far as the immigrants are coming over, that is great as long as they come through the ports and do it legally. i believe it is all for the democrat vote for the midterms. thank you for taking my call. host: another tweet from an airline company tweeting on monday, "in line with the federal court ruling, masks will not be optional on jetblue within the u.s.. crewmembers and customers may continue wearing masks in terminals and abort our aircraft. kevin in massachusetts, independent. caller: i have worked in the cancer field with direct patient care in the operating room for over 30 years. i did traveling one third of

that time. i will give a lowball that 20% of the people were on chemotherapy. if we were not in the operating room even during flu season, we did not wear a mask. just putting that out there. that is fact. host: chris in carson bill, michigan. democratic caller. caller: i worked in an emergency room for 47 years and i was there for c. diff, i was there for hiv. we were masks -- we wore masks, we wore gloves. out of all of my family, i am the only one that did not get covid. i use the kn95 mask.

i got my two shots, i got my booster. i am ready to get another booster. my sister almost died from it. she is involved now due to covid. both of her daughters got covid. none of them were properly vaccinated. they are willy-nilly with their masks. i am the only one out of the whole bunch that did not get it. right now, i can understand it being a choice. in michigan, 78 died yesterday and 2000 new cases. it is not over until it is over.

i will continue wearing my mask. i will continue to wear my mask to save my life, i am a heart patient, and to be responsible and to save other lives. host: coming up in our last hour, we will talk with dr. anand parekh with the bipartisan policy center and former hhs secretary of health with the george w. bush administration and the obama administration. we will talk to him about the state of covid-19 pandemic, where we are at with it and he can take your conscience -- your questions and comments. carol in new york, republican. are you there? you have to turn down your television. go ahead and talk to the phone.

john in new hampshire, independent. caller: good morning. first time caller. you are doing a heck of a job but i agree with colors where it does appear you are for the thing. if you picture a chain like fence, that is what you are trying to do trying to keep out mosquitoes. masks do not work. unless you are wearing a hazmat suit, you are not going to stop this thing. keep up the good work. host: lynn in ohio, the credit caller. caller: i just want to say, and i am not going to get political, you guys at c-span do a great job. i have listened to you for years and have tried to get through. this morning i did and i want to

raise you guys. for the callers that call in and talk about these masks, they do work. i know for a fact. i am not going to argue about anything. it is really pathetic. people are suffering with so many different diseases and hurting so bad. it is such a big deal just to put on a mask. i don't understand the argument or anything. i am vaccinated, i am booster. -- i am boosted. i wear mine when i go to walmart or the store. if i am outside, i don't wear it. i don't understand people, they make such a big to do about it when there are other people in our country suffering. host: before you go, how do you respond to the previous callers. one said this is about our

individual freedom. the caller made a suggestion if they just left it up to the individual person and they put signs up at the airport that said not wearing a mask is hazardous to your health, people could decide based on that warning. caller: there are people who don't care and they don't want to wear a mask. when the pandemic was at its worst and we were shut down, there were people having parties and everything and they did not care. look at the people who got sick. that is ignorance. i feel -- this is my opinion, that they should have had a mandate for a while. this is not over. people think it is over, but just like the flu of 1918, it came back.

anybody who works, even my kids, if they work outside of the home with the public, they should have a mandate for people to wear a mask. i am sorry, that is the way i feel. but people don't care. host: marianne in clarksville, minnesota. republican. i am listening to this and people talking about doing their research. the cdc came out and admitted that the death rates and problems caused was very small compared to what they said it was. they had blown everything out of proportion and called everything a death from covid and it wasn't. only part of it was. the manipulation has been going on to control us. this keeps going on and it is

always about the almighty dollar. the people who talk about how great she is, do your research, see what experiments he has performed, what he has done to other people in other he is nothing but someone who thinks he is god, and he is not. the only god we have is in heaven, and he is going to help us, and he has been. host: we are going to take a short break. we come back we will talk with dora chomiak, who is with the group together for ukraine. she will discuss relief efforts in ukraine and the role of the ukrainian-american community. later dr. anand parekh discusses the latest on the coronavirus pandemic response and its mandates. we will be right back. ♪

♪ >> american history tv, saturday on c-span two, exploring the people and events that tells the american story. on 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, the final episode of our series "first ladies." will look at the role of the first lady, their time in the white house, and the issues important to them in their own words. this week we will feature milani. >> i'm very excited to be here today. thank you for sharing your story and your thoughts about your struggles. i want to help children everywhere to be their best. so, we can help, we can achieve results. >> at 8:55 p.m., a discussion on history with creator of historians at the movies, jason

herbert, and chrissy coleman. exploring the american story. watch american history tv saturday on c-span two, and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. ♪ >> at least six presidents recorded conversations while an office. here those conversations on c-span's new podcast. >> season one focuses on lyndon johnson. you will hear about the 1964 civil rights act, the 1964 presidential campaign, gulf of tonkin incident, and the war in via him. 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 theirs. >> he will also hear some blunt talk. >> jim, i want a report of the number -- of people assigned to kennedy the day he died and the numbers assigned to me. if mina -- if mina not less, i want them less quick. i promise you i will not go anywhere, i will stay behind these gates. >> presidential recordings. find it on the c-span now mobile lab or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us this morning is dora chomiak. she is the president of razom for ukraine. we saw the united nations say yesterday 5 million refugees. where most of those refugees going? guest: people are just trying to

get the safety. most of the people in our organization want to be staying home. they want to keep living their lives, and they are each making their own calculation of, or can they be the most safe so they can get back into their homes? some people are leaving, some people are staying. just incredible choices. host: most of them traveling to poland. have you heard about the resources and the situation on the ground in poland? guest: there is a lot of international aid organizations in poland. they are not in ukraine, and that is where our organization is working most. host: what are you doing in ukraine? guest: we are focusing on stopping the bleeding. there are sort of three things ukraine needs. first the shells need to stop heading civilians.

next, we need to stop the bleeding. third, we need to keep building the country because it is a vibrant democracy. we are delivering medical supplies into the hands of the people who need it. and since february 25 we have built up a whole and to end procurement and distribution network of individuals and organizations in ukraine and around the world to deliver things like turn it gets, blood clot or's -- clotters, and various supplies. it is an amazing operation. i am in all of all of our volunteers. we have partner organizations and trusted individuals. since we have been working side-by-side with ukrainians since 2014, we have this network in place. of trusted individuals.

we procure things from all around the world, centralize them a lot in the united states, shipped them to poland, then distribute them into ukraine through smaller and smaller bands. host: what sort of medical professionals are there on the ground to receive these supplies? guest: ukraine has a high educated population, with an immense network of hospitals and medical professionals so we are working in concert with formal authorities, as well as nonprofits to get things into the hands of the right people. they just need this stuff. they know how to use medical equipment. they have the infrastructure in place to do it. they're just going through supplies so quickly, because the bombs keep coming. host: this is from your website. razom emergency response. tell us what you are asking for

here. what is this? host: this is something we started a week before the intensification of the invasion. collect funds we then used to purchase medical supplies and get them into the hands of people in ukraine. so, razom for ukraine, collecting funds and in-kind donations. the donations, we are working with hospitals to distribute. that is more medicines and equipment people need. the reason we need medicine and equipment in large quantities is because things keep getting destroyed and used. the sooner we can end the war the sooner the russian forces can back off and get into their own territory, the sooner we can get back to our core mission, which is building a more prosperous ukraine. host: how much money and how long will it take to rebuild ukraine if this war stops? guest: i have been traveling to ukraine for over 30 years now,

and i have lived there for several years. and if there is one thing that i can say with absolute confidence is, the ingenuity and termination of people in ukraine -- and you are really seeing it now. and, so how long will it take? once the shelling stopped the drive and talent of people makes me confident that once the shelling stops, once people have conversations without fear of having to rush off into a bomb shelter, which is what our staff meetings are like. once that happens, people are going to get into it and it is going to build quickly, because the people who are putting their lives on the line for the rest of us who like democracy right now, they have been at this for decades. ukraine has been independent for just over 30 years, and even before that, people know what they want and people are

building community and making connections among individuals and solving things. i see that now in these 50-plus days for the war. over the past 30 years i have been traveling there, once the shelling stops, people have the drive to make the country even more successful, and i think can teach us outside of ukraine in the united states a lot about the power of individual initiative and community. host: i want to invite our viewers to join in on the conversation. we have divided the lines regionally. eastern central part of the country, your line is (202) 748-8000. mountain pacific area, if you live there, (202) 748-8001. then ukrainian-americans, please call and and share your thoughts and stories with us. (202) 748-8002.

dora chomiak, what is the ukrainian-american population like in size? where are they located in this country? how long have ukrainians been coming 2 america? host: ukrainians have in coming here for over 130 years. i say that because some of the organizations are that old. ukrainian-american organizations that publish newspapers, that are credit unions, scalp groups like ones i attended when i grew up not far from here in northern virginia. ukrainian schools, every saturday that i endured. so, a long time. a big chunk of american history. there is a large wave of immigrants like my parents who came after world war ii, displaced persons, just like the people we are seeing now going to poland and figuring out what to do next. after world war ii there was a big wave. then in the early 90's after the

soviet union dissolved people came here. more recently in the past five or 10 years there have been a wave of tech workers coming in. so, a couple million people who self-identify as you raining americans. i'm excited to see if they: today or if i went to camp with any of them. this global network of ukrainians as part of the strength and support network right now that is activated to support people in ukraine right now. host: as we wait for calls, tell us about your parents' story. guest: my parents came to america. i had the good fortune of growing up in a three-generation household. my mom's parents lived with us. my grandmother was about 40 when we came here. my grandfather was 60. he had fought this same fight against moscow during world war i. they didn't talk about it much.

saying, they came here, kind of, after being in displaced persons camps in germany after world war ii. during world war ii they were kicked out i the nazis, and shut out by the soviets. so, the family was split. my grandmother was here and did not get to see her sister until 50 years later. because her sister was shipped off to siberia and stayed on that side of the iron curtain. my grandmother was here. a happy story is my grandmother and her sister were able to spend some time together in 1992 after ukraine declared independence and my grandmother was able to be with her sister for a little bit of time. i say this to illustrate that what we are seeing happening right now in ukraine has happened before. just, the world didn't know about it because there was no way to have conversations like this.

so i just want to express the immense gratitude to all the people who have contributed to the work of razom and other organizations to support ukrainians. what they are doing is really for the rest of us holding the line of a rules-based system. defending our ability to have this conversation, defending our ability to have transparency and freedom of the press. and really doing it by building a kind of community that you were talking about in your earlier site of sort of, or a mask, wear a mask. you don't have to be friends with everybody, but just recognize you are not the only person on the planet, and what can you do to make the world a better place? that has been gratifying to see how many people have stepped up in ukraine and the world to support this effort. host: what are your people on

the ground and your association -- in your association saying about -- because we have heard the stories or seen the news reports from ukraine saying that children and other people are being kidnapped by the russians and taken over into russia. so what are they telling you on the ground? guest: they are busy making sure that doesn't happen as often as it could. so, it doesn't fit into the level of brutality that the russian army is exhibiting against ukrainian citizens. and so people on the ground are working every single day to stop that true and minimize the effects that have already been there. we have seen this before. they deported my grandmother's sister. this is my families story.

this is repeating millions of times over. just to see it happening again is devastating. host: do we know what happens to these people who are taken into russia? what happens? guest: we will not know. we will not know. but judging by the behavior of the russian forces coming into ukraine and judging by what we are hearing coming out of russia, it is not good. it is not good. the stated objective is to obliterate the existence of ukrainians, just for being ukrainian. so, the speed with which -- it is important that ukraine is winning, that ukraine is holding on, and it is really just -- there is no other choice. everyone is doing something to protect their existence, both as

an individual and a community. host: anita is calling from arkansas. good morning to you. question or comment here for our guests? caller: good morning. greta, i think you do a wonderful job. and my question for your guest is, ukraine has been independent from russia for 30 years. why hasn't crane -- why hasn't ukraine built up its own military, and why are they having to beg other countries for help? guest: anita, that is an excellent question. ukraine has been independent for over 30 years. during that time -- it is important to go into history and the whole soviet system was very centralized, were all the power and funding was in moscow, and resources -- whether it is

military or schools or health care -- was sort of not very funded outside of the center. when you clean -- when ukraine declared independence it had a lot of building up to do. and started to do that effectively. it is a democracy, so there have been presidential elections, peaceful transpositions -- peaceful transitions of power. during some of those terms the presidents were kind of more focused on, more aligned with russia. during those periods military funding went down. he saw in 2013, 20 14 when there was the revolution of dignity, that is when people rose up and said, hey, we want to be aligned with europe, we want to be connected to the global economy. by that point, the president at

the time, the funding of the military had gone way down. it had been pretty much starved of resources. nevertheless, that is when putin invaded crimea in the east and ukrainians came up with a volunteer army and organized and professionalized very quickly. but they were not manufacturing arms themselves. so now what the ukrainian government is asking for is arms and weaponry that they will then deploy, that they can use because of the intensity of the shelling and attack of the russians they are using up all of these things. a lot of what they need is air defense systems. these missiles that come in need to be destroyed before they had civilians. those are the kinds of things ukrainians just do not have. host: in raleigh, north carolina. caller: good morning, greta.

thanks for taking my call. i have a, not directly related to your guest, but related to the war itself and a feeling i have about russians who are living in this country and the united states right now. i think it is time we start sending some of these russians home. let them go to moscow university or leningrad. let them go to university in russia. most of all -- and people are really going to hate this -- every night we have hundreds of hockey players that make millions of dollars that skate on the ice skating rink's in our country. a free country. our independence and our democracy allows our sporting teams to exist. we have russians here, and they are heroes in their country. i love -- he skates in the

capital of the united states and he makes $9 million a year and is carrying that back into russia. i think as americans we need to start saying, we don't want russians in our country. if this is the way your government is going to treat other human beings, need to start sending these russians home. and these are heroes. alex is more popular than putin. host: all right. guest: starving the russian war machine is one way to hasten the end of this war. companies that are doing business in russia are funding the shells that are killing my family and friends. i have a problem with that. it is the money that is flowing in that is fueling the weaponry that is destroying civilians.

so, anything we can do to reduce the funding to that war machine i would welcome. i would also welcome russian-americans to organize and be more vocal if they disagree with the policies coming out of the kremlin today. host: share with us what you are hearing from your family and friends in ukraine about their day-to-day life right now. give us some examples of what it is like for them. guest: so, my cousin is a sculptor. she is a painter. they have two boys who love to play soccer. they have been building themselves a new apartment in the center of the city where they live, and a couple of weeks ago they moved. they moved into their new apartment in the middle of all of this. i talked to him a couple of days ago. they had to run out of their apartment into their basement because there were missiles flying overhead.

in building was not hit, but there were casualties that day. host: why not leave? what have they told you about that? guest: their home. they are home. if you leave, your men cannot leave. so, think about a man in your life. in making this gutwrenching decision of, do you split up and do you keep people safe? i have friends and family who have made that choice and i cannot imagine making it, but my colleagues are in kharkiv, where we had a conference there in eastern ukraine in 2019. there is a co-working space where we had the conference is up a to -- is obliterated. people make their own choices and people are just making it

work. whenever you get down the best thing is to look at my feet or pick up the phone and talk to someone in ukraine, because they are so motivated and so determined to do something to make the war in an hour sooner and make the country be stronger that really motivates me. host: what about the situation in mariupol? guest: it is brutal. why -- we have seen it before. why destroy people for the sake of destroying people? why turn an entire city into rubble? now there is, you know, thousands of people in this steel plant and it looks like the russian forces are moving back -- although i don't believe anything until i see it. host: for our viewers, russian

president said yesterday he will not continue marching toward mar iupol. the minister standing with him said the whole city is blocked. people are trapped inside. guest: there are civilians trapped inside this steel plant that has lots of tunnels and so forth. i spoke with some people there yesterday, and, you know, hundreds of injured people. they have no supplies, have no way of getting things in or out. they already pump -- they already bombed the drama theater where there were men and children, and then were starving them out. the level of brutality -- the level of brutality of these individuals who are making the choices to kill other human beings just because they don't want them there? and that is why the rest of the world needs to continue -- i hope the rest of the world

continues to pay attention. it is difficult to look at, but we cannot look away. host: that is one of our viewer sends a text to ask you this. he is from california. how does the world get the russian people to understand that they will forever be held as possible for the genocide against ukrainian people. guest: i think we need to keep talking about it. i think we need to have conversations in our coffee shop. we need to be vocal, not sit on our hands. i encourage you to look at photographs of what these cities looked like for this indiscriminate shelling, this unprovoked attack. the creativity and the talent they are and what they are destroying. what they are destroying is how we live, and that is why we cannot look away. host: let me go to linda in california. walking to the conversation this morning. go ahead. caller: yes, i have been watching the ukraine situation very closely.

since the united states helped organize -- actually orchestrated the overthrow of their elected president, in 2014. but we had our victoria nuland over there from our state department orchestrating that, working with the right sector groups, extreme right-wing nationalists. now, since the overthrow of their elected president in ukraine, the neo-nazis, azovs, named after the ukrainians who collaborated with the nazis in world war ii, but the azovs, that is their name that they gave themselves. in current history, they are allowed, since we overthrew the elected president in 2014, now

the neo-nazi groups are the main fighting people within the ukraine military. host: ok. guest: i would welcome you to do a bit more research in those statements you just made. i don't agree with what you said. based on my conversations at the time and afterwards with people in ukraine, on maidan, my colleagues for three decades, it was that revolution of dignity was a people-driven movement. it was driven by people in their 20's and 30's who had traveled around the world, who wanted a democracy, who were correct -- were connected to the internet,

who spoke english, who saw the kind of creativity that can be unlocked in a for your country, and they were seeing the kinds of policies that were coming out of moscow and they did not want that. so i would encourage all of your viewers to do a bit more research on understanding ukrainian history in the near term and longer term, and i would just say that disinformation is something that americans became aware of in the past decade, let's say. disinformation has been a part of the lives of ukrainians for generations. and much of the history that i was taught at -- much of the history that has been written in the past 50 years has been written through the lens of moscow.

and only recently has more and more history literature and nonfiction and coming straight out of ukraine. i would encourage people to either learn ukrainian and read more, direct information from ukraine, but this information has been weaponized for very long. and one person i would follow is timothy snyder. tim snyder has done a good job of explaining this simply. host: on twitter? guest: on twitter and he writes a lot. host: mike in scottsboro, alabama. caller: yes, i was wondering, i am wondering why the united states government can't remotely control a c-130 aircraft and remotely drop food and medical supplies to the people trapped in the steel factory in mariupol . i have another comment also. i have heard from some people

that are very right wing trumpites, that they have this crazy idea -- they have gone to crazy town, once again. they believe that vladimir putin is trying to stop a one world government, and they have this crazy idea that nato is the creator of a one world government. i mean, it is crazy on -- it is very ideology, and that is all i have to say. thank you very much. host: dora chomiak? guest: i can't address the plain idea, but as an individual i think it is clever. i like a rules-based system. i like a diverse, rules-based system. and i think when i see people in ukraine doing is building

communities, individual networks to support a rules-based system, where if we agree we are going to meet for coffee down the street we can meet for coffee and we are pretty sure there is going to be a coffee therefore is. that is a rules-based system. what we are seeing is this level of engagement of individuals getting organized, and that is certainly one our organization is doing, just to improve the conditions in your space, whether you define it as a city block or a state or country. host: peggy in washington state, good morning. caller: very good, yes. good morning. i just want to say, you know, i really admire these ukrainian people. i have never seen such a strong group of people. when i first heard that putin was going to attack ukraine i

want, all my god, it is going to take a couple of days. he has all disarmament, you know? massive amounts of military. so i'm sitting there going, it is going to be over with in a couple of days, then a couple of days later they are still hanging in there, and here they are, you know, after all this time they are still in there. i'm going, my god, i have never seen people like this before. most people would run and hide and they are right in there. no, we are not leaving our country, you know? then they tried to send the women out and the men all states to voluntarily fight for their country. they remind me a lot of americans during the revolutionary war. such pride in their country and such strength. i want to say i have my greatest admiration. thank you. guest: thank you for saying that. that is immensely powerful and i know words like that really help

people in ukraine to know that the world is watching and seeing their strength and willpower. i have to put in a plug. the jacket i am wearing is made in ukraine. the necklace i am wearing. people create and people dig deep into their heritage and are able to show that now after generations of it being suppressed. and i really like what the caller said about connecting it to americans, because there are a lot of similarities, and i think that is why the generosity of the american people in supporting the ukrainian people is so true. it is so large now because i think we record highs the role of the individual and the role of the community, and the inability to do nothing. you can't sit on your hands. if everyone does one thing to help ukraine a day we will get through this much faster, and

that is the american way, right? we can disagree on all kinds of things, but we can come together on that matter, when they manner, and we can take action. host: russell in west harrison, new york. caller: hi. i have two questions. there are civilians inside the steel plant, wouldn't some of them, even one or two come out, unless they are being held by the soldiers within as human shields? in odessa in 2014, 50 or 60 russian people were burned alive in the trade unions building. i would like to know, who do you think that was? because it sounded like the ukrainian ss, who used to burn jews alive in bonds during world war ii. guest: the steel plant question, given the last eight years of fighting, when the russians first invaded, pretty much every

time they said they were opening up a humanitarian corridor for people to leave. they just open the shelling and killed them. so, i can't imagine being a person in one of those catacombs of that steel plant. i don't know if i would be able to make that calculation, knowing i am probably going to get shot. i don't know. there is not a good track record for safe departure. your question about odessa in 2014, that was researched extensively and a lot of the community came together. i would encourage you to do a bit more research to understand the intricacies of all of that. and please be careful about what you read. please be careful about the words ecologist used -- the caller just used. there is a wonderful documentary called "active measures" that documents the kgb policies of disinformation going back to the 60's and 70's.

-- the 1960's and 1970's. if you are interested to review how that is done, you can read young's with more care and critical eye and self reflection and thinking. because so much is being weaponized. i would encourage people to do that, to think critically about that. and take from a lot of different sources and be careful. host: andy in florida. caller: good morning. i think you guys are doing an outstanding job over there. the russians didn't really know what they were getting in for. either way, when the russians took crimea it was not really a surprise to me, because after the revolution that was there black seaport -- black sea port, and moscow was built just to the west of the river that flows out

from ukraine. so that was circa 1970's, and it has been refitted, obviously. people too, they really have to consider not only what they are reading, but what they are reading it from. they need to look at the url and make sure it is an accredited -- or a trustworthy source. and ask yourself, do i really think this is true or a reliable source? much like if somebody was talking to you, they would ask you, you really think that? do you really believe that? because i worked in the field that required me to get briefs on russia, and trying to get tech information from us. no, don't be naive about them manipulating us with

information, because they do and they will. this is just a new field for them on the internet, for them to spray all kinds of bad information. you really do have to be careful. guest: i'm so glad you said that, because let's not forget the person in charge of russia right now is an individual who is a trained kgb agent. so, this is his profession, and he has been investing a lot of money and a lot of resources in doing exactly what you just described, putting a lot of bad information out there and amplifying it. host: jerry in huntington beach, california. caller: good morning. in case no one noticed, crimea was taken over without one shot being fired. difference there was, there was no u.s. presence. it was no military backing by

the u.s. the same thing could have happened in ukraine, but actually they never had to invade if the united states had taken this lunatic position that ukraine should be able to join nato, and they have been pushing that for years. anyway, here we are now, the country is blown up, and eventually they are all going to die, in my opinion, if they don't give up. so, that is what is going to happen. sorry, that is the way it is. guest: respectfully, i disagree. host: how many people do we know are in ukraine, fighting in ukraine? guest: it is somewhere between 30 million and 40 million people. ukraine is about the size of france. it is a big country. 40 million, 45 million people, and a huge global diaspora. he would take a long time to get

from one end of ukraine to the other. it is big. there is a lot of fertile land there. it was fantastic natural resources. -- there is fantastic national -- natural resources. keep in mind the size of the population, even with all of this displacement, the level of education and the level of organization of people there, and the determination, and that this is multigenerational. this has been going on, and the kinds of -- my facebook feed, my instagram feet, twitter feed of my friends, family, colleagues has really been changing as people have been realizing, i am a citizen of ukraine. you think up every morning and think, i'm a citizen of the united states. sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. what happened in ukraine over

the last 10 years is people making the conscious decision to say, i am a citizen of ukraine. does that mean? that means diversity of faiths, diversity of religions, whether you are catholic, orthodox, jewish, muslim, or not any of those. which language you choose to speak more often. what the caller of your skin is. it means a diverse, strong, tolerant, growing society. that is what people have been choosing and that is why you see the architecture and the amount of software programs being built in ukraine. it goes on and on. we didn't necessarily know they were in ukraine, but there is a campaign, stand with ukraine, and there is another one, spend with ukraine.

some friends of mine are doing it. you can see what kinds of things are created in ukraine. that can help give a little bit of an understanding of this size and scope and complexity and sophistication of people there and why they want -- just why they are going to keep building it. there is no choice. host: 100,000 ukrainians would be allowed to come in and settle in the united states. do think many of them will take the united states up on that opportunity? will they stay or go back? guest: it is a great question. the people i'm speaking with, people who are thinking of taking up that opportunity, want to stay close with ukraine and want to go back, because that is their home. i have seen in the past five years people who have come here for various tech jobs, they, over the past few years, have been moving back. entire companies have been moving back, because it is a

great place to live when the shells are not falling. i mean, food is terrific, the landscape is gorgeous, the architecture is great. there is a lot of space. it is a beautiful part of the world, and i would encourage people when the shelling stops to go visit, because it is really unlike everywhere else i have been. host: we will go to brian in massachusetts. caller: hi. thank you for letting me speak. a little bit of an alternative universe, so to speak, speaking about now. and she can answer or not answer any of my questions or comments, but wasn't nikita khrushchev married to a ukrainian and didn't he grow up close to oblast? some troubling things are the participation of the ukrainians

in pogroms in places like odessa. and also the valiant efforts of the ukrainians to defeat the fascists in the great patriotic war, in defeating them in bucharest in places like that. i would like you to comment, because i think we should be friends instead of fighting. you should not be fighting with each other. thank you, i will take your answers off-line. guest: thank you, brian. i would again -- i am not a historian, so i'm not to get into these details. but, fascinating history and terms of how the soviet union was created in the interactions between what were called the sovereign -- but not really sovereign -- republics, the republics that made up the soviet union. that would speak to the question about khrushchev. for the rest, i would encourage the caller to look at the book

called "blood lands." "blood lands" is a history of ukraine and neighboring countries during world war ii, and it is called blood lands because of the amount of fighting happening between the nazi forces and the soviet forces. that is a book by timothy snyder. and that really goes in deep on all those questions. they can do much more justice than me trying to do a cursory response. host: dora chomiak, president for razom for ukraine, it is on our screen right now. that is where you are taking donations as well. the website is razomfor ukraine.org. guest: thank you very much for the opportunity. it is always great to talk about ukraine. host: we will take a short break. we come back, we will return to our conversation with all of you

about the travel mask mandate and the rule that was overturned by the judge, now the cdc wants to appeal it. after that we are going to talk with dr. anand parekh. we will talk about the latest on the coronavirus pandemic response. stay with us, we will be right back. ♪ >> in jeffrey franks recent book he reports that in his time at -- as president he was only 16% popular. however, harry truman was ranked sixth most effective of the 46 u.s. presidents according to the latest c-span survey. jeffrey frank, whose career includes years at the washington post and new yorker magazine, has written the first full account of the truman presidency in nearly 30 years. the book's subtitle reflects the

theme of the biography, the extraordinary presidency of an ordinary man. >> author jeffrey frank on this episode of notes plus. book notes plus is available on the c-span now at or wherever you get your podcasts. ♪ >> first ladies in their own words, our eight part series looking at the role of the first lady, their time in the white house, and issues important to them. >> it was a great advantage to know what it was like to work in schools, because education is such an important issue, both for a governor, but also for a president. so that was very helpful to me. >> using materials from c-span's award-winning biography series "first ladies." >> i'm the kind of person who believes you should say what you

mean and mean what you say and take the consequences. >> and c-span's online video library. we will feature lady bird johnson, betty ford, rosalynn carter, nancy reagan, hillary clinton, lara busch, michelle obama, and aligning a trump. watch first ladies, saturdays at 2:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span2, or listen to this series as a podcast on the c-span now free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: we are back to get your reaction to the centers for disease control and prevention asking the justice department to appeal a ruling by a judge earlier this week saying the travel mask mandate broke rules, procedures, and instruct down that mandate. your reaction to it.

this is the cdc's statement yesterday. it is their assessment that at this time an order requiring masking in the transportation corridor remains necessary for the public's health. the cdc will monitor public health conditions to determine other such an order remains necessary. the cdc believes this is a lawful order, while within cdc's legal authority to protect public health. last thursday up to monday the associated press had a poll conducted. this was before the judge's decision. task americans, where do you favor wearing a mask? under what conditions? 56% of people said they are in favor of wearing a mask when traveling on an airplane, trains, and public transit. that number dips below the majority when it comes to workers who interact with the public, i got restaurants and

people attending crowded public events. we want to hear from you this morning, your reaction to this travel mask mandate. the ruling against it, and now cdc's decision to try to appeal it. petra in woodford, virginia, democratic caller. you are up first. go ahead. caller: i just want to say that i think you are doing a great job. i wear a mask everywhere ago, and these people calling in they criticize you for doing your job, i think it is appalling. it makes me angry you have to take that kind of abuse. but i think you are doing a great job. keep up the good work. you and your panel at c-span, i think, are totally nonpartisan. greta, you look great and keep up the good work. host: thanks. georgia, independent.

what do you think about the travel mask mandate, the judge's decision to strike it down? caller: yeah, i think that the whole thing is -- it is control, you know? i think the cdc wants to be able to control the actions of people. i think in a free society we should be able to make our own decisions on what we want to do, as far as our bodies. one thing i notice about the whole pandemic thing is that any doctors or anyone that does not agree with the status quo, all of their voices are silent in the national media. you hear nothing, or they are villain eyes, or they say it is

fake news or it -- in the last segment, you let the ukrainian woman sit there and spew a bunch of propaganda about ukraine, where this government is the most corrupt -- we spew propaganda all over the -- host: we will stick to the conversation here about the travel mask mandate. diane in indiana. what did you think when you heard this judge said that -- decided against the mask mandate. i will read from the wall street journal real quick as to why the judge, a trump appointee, on monday struck down the mask mandate, concluding it exceeded the authority granted the cdc under decades-old public health law and violated rulemaking procedures. what was your reaction when you heard it?

caller: well, i'm asking people to back off. i lost my husband to covid, november 2020, and the reason i lost him was because he didn't get vaccinated. and the people who were taking care of him in the nursing home were not being careful. and it is very painful. and i would just caution people who are becoming hardened about the number of deaths not equaling 1%. you know, that is a lot of dead people. one million people is a lot of dead people, and more importantly it is a lot of heartbreak for the americans who were not able to be with them when they died, who were not able to go through normal morning procedures.

it has been extremely difficult for me personally, and for other people who have lost, that i have met who have lost friends to covid. we used to get terrified -- not terrified, but upset for days over the crash of an airplane because 300 people died. you know, we are being, i think, systematically desensitized to human suffering. and i kind of connected with ukraine. one million people is a lot of people, it is a lot of american heart rate. now, in my understanding the judge took issue with how it was being handled legally, not with the science. host: right. caller: and when people say this has been an understudied, badly

-handled whatever, you know, information, i would agree that the information has not been handled well. i watch cartoons from new zealand on how they educated their populace on the virus to start with, and i learned more from a 15 minute cartoon then i did from the cdc, and i understand the science. i really think that it is not politics. and with the exception of a few libertarians it is not a moral imperative to wear or not wear a mask. i think it is about power. i really think that some of the people who do not want to wear masks are the same people who do

not want to face their own lives rationally. that they have, somewhere, lost power, or perceive themselves as having lost power over the way the world is. i know a lot of guys from around here in indiana, i know a lot of guys who lost power in the 1980's when the united states went from 35,000 down to about 5000 steelworkers. in the 1980's they were saying, i'm not going to work for $15 an hour, you know? and yet their wife was out there working two jobs at seven-something back then.

they have, in my opinion, a need to reclaim their power. and it is sad that they are picking masks to do that. host: diane, i'm going to jump in. i'm sorry for your loss. lori in modesto, california. independent. caller: hi. i can't fathom people not wearing masks. you look at a mandate for whether you drink a drive. you can't do that, because you are having other people's lives at risk. to wear a mask, it is not that complicated to do to make sure other people's lives are protected. now that it is not mandated on public transit and for airplanes, i won't travel, because i'm not going to take the chance of being trapped in a place where i could be exposed

to covid. it is not that hard, people, to -- think about other people too. host: you can still wear a mask if you choose to. caller: yeah, but that is not really protecting you, it just protects others to wear a mask. i don't know. host: lori, how do you respond to people who say, ok, you want us to follow the science in this decision. the science on air in airplanes, according to a study done by the defense department in 2020, found the risk of transmission of the virus through the air was reduced by 99.7%. caller: none of that. host: i'm going to pause real quick. the house is coming in real

quick for a quick pro forma session. we will return to this conversation. hang with us here.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. april 21, 2022. i hereby appoint the honorable anthony g. brown to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. thea