allies, how to keep the african military fighting. it was president biden who close program airbase and left the u.s. that with our presence at an embassy in a small airport. we point out many mistakes that were made over many years, but how the withdrawal happened these are president biden's decisions. guest: i do agree that a lot more should have been done in 2020. there is no way -- i would say that in terms of getting people out, the biden administration continued to tell the american people, including american people in afghanistan, that the government was not going to collapse. and it will happen because of

that, even though military leaders told them otherwise about what happened because of that is when it collapse overnight there were thousands of americans who were all of a sudden stuck on the others the taliban, away from safety. host: that is james hasson, afghan war veteran, also jerry dunleavy house of foreign affairs committee staff and investigator. co-authors of the book "kabul." instagram @cspanwj. welcome to today's "washington journal." i want to share a quick programming note. at 8:30 a.m. we are going to take you live to the library of congress where we will talk to the curators of the music division and discuss the library's collection and music's role in american history and culture from the country's

founding to today. getting back to that medicare negotiation i am going to show you on the screen the framework of that program. it is part of the inflation reduction act and was the centers for medicare and medicaid that selected th of drugs. those 10 drugs accounted for $51 billion in medicare par d spending between june 2022 and may 2023, 20% of total costs. participating drug companies and negotiations will begin this year and price negotiations will take effect in 2026. in 2028, they will address parts b and c.

[video clip] pres. biden: two weeks ago we celebrated the inflation reduction act. there were many other things in that legislation. one of the most significant laws ever enacted, especially when it comes to reducing the cost of prescription drugs. we pay more for prescription drugs than any other major economy in the world. you can walk into any other country drugstore -- -- a drug company that makes a drug here in america that is sold in chicago, you can buy cheaper in toronto.

unlike other parts of the health care system big pharma got a special carveout. for years advocates like many of you in this room have worked tirelessly to give medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. just like the department of veteran affairs does now. it matters. host: that was the president from yesterday. we are asking you for the next 25 minutes this morning, can you afford your prescription drugs? the lines are yes, no, and medicare recipients. if you say yes, it is (202)-748-8000. if you say no, it is (202)-748-8001. if you are a medicare recipient, you can call us at (202)-748-8002. let's look at some results of the kaiser family foundation

poll conducted last month about this topic. most adult trust drug companies on development, providing reliable information, but few trust companies to price drugs fairly. . is at the do you think they price fairly? the blue is yes and the green is no. 39% at not much and 39% at not at all. at least eight in 10 across parties say pharmaceutical companies' products contribute to prescription drug costs. it is pretty even among democrats, independents, and republicans with 83% total saying profits are a major factor contributing to the cost of prescription drugs.

you can imagine pharma had a reaction to this. they are the trade group that represents the largest biopharmaceutical research company. they said this. "today's announcement is a ru announcement based on short political gain rather than what is best fients. many of the medicines selected for ng already have significant rebates and discounts due to the robust private negotiation that occurs in the part d program today. giving a single government agencyower to arbitrarily set the price of medicines with littlentability or oversight from patients will have consequence after this administration is gone.

the cancer moonshot will not succeed if this administration continues to dismantle the innovation rocket we need there. the harm will spread beyond cancer and impact people with diseases,l health illnesses, and other terrible diseases. david is first in ohio. you say yes. tell me about it. caller: i voted yes because i think biden is doing a good job of getting these prices lowered. he needs to do more on inflation. i know that is not the topic today, but anyway, i'm glad i called. host: i am glad you called too. billy is next in missouri.

you are a medicare recipient. caller: i am. [indiscernible] i can barely afford -- because i am on a fixed income -- and it is half of my income that goes to my rent. host: does medicare cover the cost of all of your prescription drugs? caller: most of them. some medications they do not cover, like codine. they do not cover it and it costs me almost $30 for a 20 ounce bottle. host: all right.

clarissa in big bend, wisconsin. you are also on medicare. caller: i just want to say that i am on medicare and it is great. i get my meds but only when they are in stock. i am on disability and there is a med shortage. i went to my pharmacy the other day and they said we are all out. it is on backorder. they do not cover all services, medicare. i will not get meds for the things i need it for. if i was going into surgery, they might not cover my meds. it is really hard but i think medicare could be so much better if everything was covered from dental division. it is hard. hillary could have done something. biden could have done something. obama could have done something. any of these democrats could

have done something. i am also on medicaid because i am disabled. i have to be under the thumb of being low income. i am making pennies to the dollar being on disability to keep my medicare and medicaid. it is really sucky. i know i could be better and get so much more help but some things they do not cover. when i went in for my boob job because i am transgender, they did not cover that. medicaid had a problem where they were not accepting referrals. i could not get a judgment. i got my surgery done and then i got a surprise bill from medicare and medicaid because they do not cover those things. but the hospital had to pay and it is better now because medicaid is going to pay for things.

but i think it is a bunch of hoo haa. host: elizabeth is in randall town, maryland. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm good. caller: i am really fortunate. biden and obama and fdr and all the presidents who started medicare were really the people who are allowing me to afford medication. i am going to the pharmacy today. my transportation is going to cost me $90 to get to my pharmacy. that is the most expensive thing. i had to pay for a cab $90 round-trip. that is my biggest problem.

i can afford my medications. i am lucky. i have a great pharmacy, cvs, and that is all i want to say. host: checking in on social media, earl on facebook says yes, but only because i have an excellent prescription plan through new jersey and medicare as a retired public employee. it is a constant worry if the plan will deny a claim one day. we should not have to be worried about such things. adequate health care and prescription plans should not be a worry for us. for profit health care one of the worst things that happened to this country. mlb says, perhaps the pharmaceutical corporations would like to reduce the drugs by the same amount at point-of-sale. that works better for consumers. a text from gary in atlanta says joe biden is doing what he

said he would do. promises made, promises kept. dave in lakeland, florida says no. argue in the path of the hurricane? caller: we were supposed to be but it went a little bit to the west. we are between tampa and orlando. it kind of spared us. but the people in big bend are not going to be spared. host: go ahead about prescription drugs. caller: ok. first, joe biden has not done anything. he has not lowered the price of anything. they say these prices will not go into effect for years. i take two insulins. i pay $35 for that. it was negotiated under donald trump, not joe biden. i take a 90 day supply which

costs $452. mr. joe biden, quit talking and do something. host: dave mentioned one of the drugs which is on the list. this is a chart in "the washington times" that shows the 10 drugs and the number of users -- eliquis, which is the one he mentioned -- this is the average cost to medicare per year, per user. some of these towards the bottom

go up quite a bit on the cost. but these are sorted by the number of users and how popular they are. these were chosen based on how popular they are and the cost. mark is in tulsa, oklahoma. go ahead. caller: hello. how you doing today? hello, americans. i am type 1 diabetic. i got diabetes when i was nine-years-old. i am on insulin. i has been on insulin the last seven years. every time i get the bill from some medical industry i am on because of corporations i have insurance. it costs me essentially $5,000 by my insulin needs.

diabetic. they made these pumps for literally pumping 20 bugs. selling them for 1300 and $500. those things probably cost them 10 bugs to make. charged me $3000. the government is going to pay 1500.

my company benefits are so great because i just saved $100,000 this year. year. thank you, central power and government. just like the supreme court got rid of abortions on a national level, we need you do the same for medicine. we need to make it a state-by-state, city by city level. everyone does their own thing. have real competition instead of central power, one mafia, running this. intellectual property is the way for rich people to maintain power -- host: what about innovation? if you do not protect intellectual property, companies do not have incentive to innovate. caller: let me talk about innovation. true innovation comes with competition. do you agree with that? host: go ahead. caller: would you agree that

true innovation comes through competition? you get fat and lazy if you have no competition. if you have competition, he starts driving for something new. here in the central power of government that we have there ain't no competition. so i have the same pump and they have not put any new money into it the last 10 years. host: jerry in elizabeth city, north carolina. you say no. caller: for years i did not have to do anything. i got an injury falling off the ship when i was in the service. i was in the service 28 years. i have to buy medicine for my back.

host: are you not getting benefits from the v.a.? caller: for years, i did not really worry about it. [voice cracking] i am just getting fed up with the way i am getting benefits. there are a lot of us out here. thank you. host: ruth in virginia, good morning. caller: obama signed an executive order aimed at preventing shortages of

prescription drugs. just a reminder. host: erica in las vegas, you are a medicare recipient. good morning. caller: good morning. i would also like to address jerry. i have been waiting for my pain medication because my back was shattered. i have been waiting since the 3rd of this month and have still not gotten it filled because everybody is on backorder. there is no pharmacy that has medicine for us to be able to take our medication. we are in pain due to the cost

of being vets and fighting for our nation and we are not getting service. host: russ is also a medicare recipient. he says, "i can afford drugs under medicare but some are outrageous. depending on your medical conditions, drugs are priced in tier levels. level one is least expensive but can be raised by bumping to level two literally overnight. pharmacies will always gouge because they can." a post on x says, wish i could afford the lifestyle to help me not need the drugs in the first place. that is impossible right now. brad posted on facebook, "i can barely afford food and gas much less drugs." let's talk to peggy in elkhart lake, wisconsin. caller: good morning. i take eliquis and it is very

expensive. i have prescription coverage but in spite of that i have still got to pay quite a hefty price. i was in the hospital and if i did not take eliquis, i do not know how long my life would last. some of these drugs are lifesaving and they are very important. i respect jill biden for what he is trying to do -- joe biden for what he is trying to do for us. i hope they can help other people who are in trouble like i am. host: can you tell me about how much you paper month? caller: i pay $100 a month even though i have prescription drug coverage. i still have to pay over $100 a month. and being retired, that is hard on the budget. host: that is peggy in wisconsin. take a look at what the aarp

released as part of their statement. this is from their executive vice president. e says, "we cannot overstate how monumental this law is for americans, financial stab andverall health. folongig drug companies have fleeced our coury and padded their profits by setting outrageous profits, all at the expense of american lives." candace is next in tennessee. good morning. caller: good morning. yes, we found out with the covid-19 shots there were no key cures only more bills. i do not use any of the products from the pharmaceutical companies and i have never been healthier. what they are doing is biological weaponry. human trafficking our immune systems to corporations.

i have been illegally human trafficked in tennessee. this has gone on for a very long time. host: what do you mean you have been trafficked? caller: i am under illegal surveillance that my local county sheriff's department has investigated. they told me it is big government doing it. it is part of a social engineering social experiment to make medical debt slaves. host: let's go to danielle in hanover, new hampshire. good morning. caller: good morning. i can afford my prescription medication but only because i work at a hospital and i have very good health insurance. well, there is argument among how good the health insurance is. i have a $5,000 deductible every year. i meet that deductible in the

beginning of the year but then i am paying it for the rest of the year. i constantly have a bill with the hospital because of my high deductible and i work there. if i were to lose my job or go to part-time because of my health condition, i would lose my insurance and then i would not be able to get any of my medication. it is very frustrating that we are tied to this insurance system when we could do single-payer and pay with everything through taxes. and be able to take care of everybody if we pay with other developed countries pay. it is really frustrating. host: just as a reminder, what

the 10 drugs are that are covered under this negotiation -- i will not read them -- t they are primarily for preventing strokes, bld clots, diabetes, heart failure chronic kidney disease, arthritis, other toimmune conditions, blood cancers, crohn's disease, and insulin products. caller: those are all very important drugs that i have severe depression that prohibits me from living a normal life. my prescriptions are also lifesaving in a different way and i do not think it is fair to the general population to only negotiate some drugs. i think we need to negotiate all drugs because america pays more than pretty much any other developed nation. host: have you ever thought of -- some people try to get their

drugs from canada and other countries. what are your thoughts on that? caller: i think it works for some people but it is not a real solution. it is not a long-term solution. host: let's talk to amanda in ozark. you say no. caller: yes. i was diagnosed with a genetic disease and i should be on a medication that is $30,000 and i cannot afford it. the medical system is so messed up that i cannot afford to go to a doctor three hours away for this condition. host: you said it is $30,000 a year for the medication? caller: no, if i were to go to the pharmacy, they would charge me $30,000 for that medication. because it is a genetic disease.

there is no reason that medications in this country that has so much wealth should cost $30,000. people should not have to pay to live. the government should take care of us. they should stop putting this money in their pocket from all these pharmaceutical companies and that is the only reason medication is so expensive. these people are making money off of it. it does not cost this much money to make these medicines. if this society cared about everyone a little bit more and we thought about taking care of each other instead of a few people making a ton of money, this country would be so much better off. and it is so frustrating. i do not see the point of health care in this country.

you cannot afford your medication and you cannot get into see the doctors. it is ridiculous. there is no point to it. host: all right, amanda. let's talk to earl who is a medicare recipient in new york. good morning. caller: morning. one, i am a veteran and senior citizen. my thought is that why can't medicaid/medicare have the same ability as the v.a.? i don't know if you've seen the ads for the good rx. the pharmacist will click away on the cash register and the price will be $75 down to more

than half with the good rx. but why can't medicaid and medicare have the same ability to negotiate prices like the v.a.? thank you for your time. host: troy is in indianapolis. you say no. caller: correct. i cannot afford my medication. i kind of have to go through different providers. i even have to take out loans to pay old medical bills. my employer does not do a good job contributing to my health care. it is quite expensive. a good chunk of my paycheck goes to the insurance i have and my current medication, i have to figure out different ways -- host:

>> >> we are going to dive into the history of american music. joining us in the library of congresses auditorium, susan vida, chief of the library's music division and james lentil, who is head of the reader services. what were we just listening to? >> we were listening to rhapsody in blue. aps written in 1924 -- eight piece written in 1924. it is a interesting story behind it because of the commission was discussed amongst the people involved. there was no specific date set

for the premier. after they have talked about that a little while. about a year later he was reading the newspaper of january , 1924. he noticed a advertisement in the newspaper. that led gershwin to really started hitting the pen to paper and realizing this was a thing that had to be done quickly. the piece was written in a month. he really wanted to take advantage of the sound of the orchestra. he used their staff orchestrator , who later went on to write some important pieces like the grand canyon sweep and things like that. he orchestrated the holding for

gershwin. gershwin said i do not have time to do all of this. he basically lived at gershwin apartment for a while. he would go there every day as a was writing the piece in the other room. it was quite the quick operation and the result was one of the real great pieces of american music. at that point in 1924, american composers were trying to find this sort of a widespread thing. were trying to find a way to make their music distinctly american. incorporating jazz influences into the music is one of the ways they did that. there was a number of pieces being written around the same time that incorporated jazz in a concert setting. that was one of the reasons this

particular piece was pushed up. there was a number of different pieces that were going to premier. he pushed up the premier. gershwin found out that he did it. that was the musical context was sort of bringing jazz. >> what was their importance in the history of american music? james: they were brothers. they had great success on broadway writing a number of important shows. they also scored movies and that sort of thing. they were very successful. george had aspirations to work

in standard classical music. he had success in broadway. he went to europe to study famously visited the great composer maurice ravel and wanted to take orchestration leg is -- lessons. is actually true, the possible story is that reville said with the money you make from your shows, you should not need composition lessons. gershwin was adjusted in french composers -- interested in the french composers and bringing it together but his broadway background. what we hear in rhapsody blue. host: what is the library of congress's music division and how long has it been around? ms. vita: before i answer i would like to mention something that brings an element of why we

have rhapsody in blue and why it is important. we have the original score in the music division. as we examine the score, you find the story that james told you about, the rush composition, they were frantic to get this done. they knew george is going to play the piano piece. he knew what that was. on the actual score, you will find a couple of pages of blank sheets because they did not get to that point. they left at last because he knew what he was going to be performing. at the top of the page, before they go into where the whole orchestra comes in, there is a handwritten note that says, wait for nod. that is when the orchestra comes

in. it kind of shows the personality and the story behind what was happening in addition to how important the jazz piece was. host: before we leave rhapsody in blue, modern audiences know it as a commercial song for united airlines. is it under copyrighted? ms. vita: no. the copyright has run out. two years ago or maybe within the last year the copyright has expired. host: will get into that in our discussion. back to what is the music division at the library of congress. ms. vita: the music division is a really rich and vibrant part of the library of congress. if you would think of the largest public library in the

world, the music division is a library within that library, probably as big as a large city public library. we do all the things regular library does. let's talk a little bit how we started. the congress had a library back in 1812 when the british burned the city using the books from the library to help start the fire. afterwards two years later, thomas jefferson convince members of congress to purchase his library. his library had 13 books on music in it. that was the start of the music division in the library of congress. jarvis and made the argument that there is nothing that -- jefferson made the argument that there is nothing that citizens

of u.s. would be interested in that should be in a congressional library. it became a branched out at that time. at first it started slow and then in 1870, the copyright law was changed and no longer work copyrighted works deposited in the states. they were to come to the library of congress. there is a photograph we have which shows a piano in a big room full of books that are piled up. host: we are showing this to our viewers right now. about 1900. this is the music division? ms. vita: this is the music division in the 1900s. the music division did not exist until 1897 when they saw

something has to be done. if you think about it, music is like another language. they cannot just give it to the normal people that took care of regular books in a library because they do not necessarily read music. we had to have experts that were able to do that. that was their job. consequently, that is how the music division started. i really think that jefferson -- deciding he needed to convince congress to look beyond just laws because if you think about how many things we are dealing with today, talking about streaming and intellectual property rights, all of those things that affect music and the arts. if we had not collected all of this and were not interested in

it, we would be doing a huge catch up job. host: is every piece of copyrighted music in american history contained in the music division? ms. vita: no, it is not. we have made a decision as to which things are likely to be used for academic study and for the use of american people. there are things like for example, the books that you use when you are learning how to play a piano, the educational things, they will not be in library. there will maybe be examples of them but we do not keep everything. the answer is no. host: how do you choose which pieces to include in the music division? mr. wintle: it is a process based on what we use in the

reading room and what people tend to come looking for. we have certain parameters that we deal with, caught a collection policy. -- called a collection policy that includes certain material we choose the catalog. there is a distinction to be made in that. when pieces are deposited to the copyright office, they are all capped at this point in history and some of those are catalogued and made part of the permanent collection. others are stored in an off-site facility. they are so accessible but as far as breadth of american history, that has not always been the case. there been points were only title pages of books were part

of the deposit agreement. when the copyright deposits were being taken to the state from essential state locations, that was a point in the 19th century when they were only title pages. the full books are not deposited in the first place. when it moved to the centralized library of congress, the law has changed over time in regards to what kind of things are deposited, how much and how many copies. we keep most things but some of them are kinda -- catalog and some of them are not. host: how many audio recording so you have at the library's collection? ms. vita: the music division is not the -- how the responsibility for sound

recordings. this the 70's the library made his decision -- in the 70's, the library made a decision to change the way it over nice and they went to a system where the format was important. sound recordings are now the purview of the nav cc institution. i can answer the question approximately but it is not under my purview. i would say they have about 10 million items. we have, this is not a competition, we have been in existence longer than they have. we have 25 million pieces that are on paper. we are in charge of notes on paper and they are in charge of the set. host: we are here to look at the

heart and history of american music the last 250 years -- art and history of american music the last 250 years. want to play the otis piece in the collection from the new england song thinker, a piece called chester and the artist for this modern performance, poul hiller and his majesty's clicks. -- clerks. take a listen. ♪ ♪

host: what can you tell us about what we just heard? mr. wintle: that song, chester, is from a publication. it was the first book published

in the united states, the first music book that contained music. it was an interesting figure. he was born and raised in boston in the book was published there. he was a singing school teacher. he would teach the masses how to read music using a method for reading music and would have these schools where he would teach song singing. this book is interesting for a number of reasons. this piece "chester" is one that captured the imagination of composers throughout american history. it was a very famous piece from the 20th century by a man named

william shuman that uses "chester" is a theme of the moment andhere a a number of pieces throughout the look back to william billi the source of their tunes and that goes back to what i was saying about rhapsody and blue and the idea of trying to find the americanness in classic music. william -- bill ings was one of the touchstones. the way he is described physically, one leg shorter than the other, and eyepatch, this interesting looking guy who was a very prolific composer. in this book, he actually procuredhe services of a

printer and an engraver in boston by the na of poul revere who people prab know from american history a writing or stairs around --horses around. ul revere engraved the piece in the front of the book. on the front page before the tae conte, there is a circle witmuc and fellows sitting around tab looking at music around the table. the circular staff with music on it is actually around that can be sunk and this part of the book was -- can be sung in this part of the book was engraved by paul revere. paul revere worked on engraving music a few different times but this piece is the most famous instances of his showing up in the music world. host: this is from 1770. let's

use this piece to talk about copyright. can anyone use that music for any purpose? mr. wintle: i am not -- ms. vita: i'm not a copyright expert. it is a great question. people should be interested in it the answer to it, but i suggest they go to the copyright website. look up the copyright office. host: how often do you deal with those types of issues in your work? ms. vita: james would know that more but it is frequent. mr. wintle: >> we will break away to the white house. you're watching live coverage