while we wait, a portion of today's washington journal. >> it feels like we have been stacked in this host vision for a number of weeks now. democrats feel like they are on the cusp of something significant. this comes after joe biden's visited -- visit to capitol hill. there is enormous pressure on the party to deliver as the president is in scotland for the major global climate summit. election day in virginia is just a couple days away. tomorrow. democrats are feeling enormous pressure to show that when they are in control of government, they can deliver. we say this every week, but this is a pivotal week for democrats. it really is the week where they could get something done on both the infrastructure package, the roads and bridges package, as well as the major social and climate spending will that we call reconciliation work build back better. host: how different do you expect the final version to be from what we saw last week? comics flexibility is there still? guest: there are negotiations happening even as we speak. these talks after president biden unveiled the framework for the build back better package on thursday. talks continued on friday and through the weekend. bernie sanders is working to get some of his main priorities, primarily on being able to lower the price of prescription drugs, having medicare, being able to negotiate lower prices. that is still something that has been left out, but it looks like tax are continuing. scott peters of california in the house is working with frank pallone in the lower chamber. talks are continuing in the upper chamber between kyrsten sinema, one of those. -- one of those key senators holding the process up, and those more progressive senators. it looks like significant movement on lowering the cost of prescription drugs. it may be a much scaled back plan than what bernie sanders had initially proposed, maybe covering not as many drugs as the original plan, but it does seem like there are some tweaks that could happening in these next 48 hours. leadership, nancy pelosi and chuck schumer, have told democrats if you want any changes, you need to move now and quickly. that is why you are seeing this summary of activity, including kirsten gillibrand late last week, who had basically cornered joe manchin and was trying to twist his arm to bring back a paid family leave. these conversations are happening throughout congress, through text message,, over the phone, in person. it is crunch time. host: a conversation on the week ahead in washington. if you want to join the conversation, it is (202) 748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents, (202) 748-8002. you mentioned it a couple of times. he was on state of the union yesterday. he is lobbying that she talked about what he is lobbying to get in the social spending bill. this is from yesterday. >> you have said there are major gaps in this plan. several of your priorities, paid leave, dental and vision for medicare, giving the government the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for seniors, that is not in the deal. senator sanders: it is not in the bill yet, but we spent all of yesterday on the telephone. we are paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. the pharmaceutical industry has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to make certain that americans pay 10 times more for some drugs than canadians or mexicans. the fight to expand medicare. poll after poll shows that the american people understand that it is not acceptable that america -- that elderly people have teeth that are rotting. we are continuing that effort. it pains me very much. i'm sorry, go ahead. >> you are saying you are continuing that effort. you want to add it before the house votes? senator sanders: absolutely. we are working on two separate bills -- a bipartisan infrastructure bill which will finally begin to address the reality that our bridges are crumbling, but we want to move both bills in tandem. the second bill, the bill that deals with the needs of the working class, that deals with the existential threat of climate change, that bill is still being worked on today. it will be worked on tomorrow. we are making some progress in making it stronger. host: bernie sanders yesterday on state of the union. the movement of these two bills and the timing they get voted on, explain why that is important. guest: this battle between moderates and progressives has been less about policy and more about political tactics and strategies. we have seen that play out over the course of the last many weeks. there has been movement on that front in terms of democrats wringing those strategies together. the progressive caucus had insisted that they wanted a vote on the reconciliation package in the senate and sent to president biden before they would agree to back the infrastructure package. that is what has been holding up the roads, bridges, waterways package. in recent days, we have seen significant movement from the progressives. they have not only endorsed the reconciliation package, saying we like what we see so far and we are on board and will be there in the end to support president biden on the social spending package. they have also said they do not need a vote on the senate. they need a commitment from the president that he can secure those 50 votes, including from joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. other progresses, including veronica escobar, she said she needs less than that. she just needs joe manchin kyrsten sinema to put out a statement saying they support the package and date will be willing to agree to a vote on the infrastructure bill. there has been some with that is why it does feel like democrats are moving toward some finale, because each side, the progressives and the moderates are starting to give a bit of ground. president biden has said this is a negotiation, you need compromise to get to an agreement. we are starting to see that from both wings of the party. host: if you have questions about how to read what is happening when it comes to these bills, scott wong is your guy. he'll newspaper, senior staff writer. remind us what other deadlines are hanging over these discussions. what should viewers know about those deadlines? guest: there is one big date, december 3. that is when we face the threat of another government shutdown. congress has done a bunch of these short-term passes to fund the government and extend the debt ceiling. we face a big fiscal cliff on december 3. that is when we could see the country default on the national debt, although treasury has said they think they could use extraneous measures to pay the nation's bills perhaps as late as february. there may be a bit of wheel room, but we get into the holidays, people do not want to mess around too much with those issues. also, congress passed another short-term bill to pay for transportation. we run the risk again of 3700 department of transportation workers being furloughed if congress does not act. the infrastructure package that biden has negotiated would cover funding for transportation. if that passes, we should be in good shape, but there is a number of issues that congress is juggling. this next month or so will be crucial to see if they come through. host: howard, indiana, democrat. caller: good morning. this texas case really concerns me a great deal, because it is hard to believe the supreme court would let an unconstitutional piece of state legislation go through like that spirit it is unbelievable in the sense that there is no justice in letting this case go through for a young person may find herself agonizing about making a decision on abortion only to find that that constitutional right that she thought she had up until the supreme court made the decision is now snatched away from her. i cannot believe the supreme court would let that happen. moreover, this whole issue of abortion seems like it issues in modern society should not be debating over. laws that would eliminate abortion test make life more difficult for women who cannot afford to make other choices this. host: the arguments are happening it :00 a.m. eastern -- 10:00 a.m. eastern. the debate will happen in the house judiciary committee. that hearing is entitled the texas abortion ban and its devastating impact on texas families. that is at 10:00 a.m. eastern on thursday. your thoughts on help the abortion issue is going to overhang what is happening this week in washington? guest: congress has focused on these trillion dollar spending packages, both for infrastructure and social spending and climate. there are the other issues of bubbling up behind the scenes that will be playing out in major debates, not only in the supreme court, but in the house judiciary hearing. these issues, culture war issues, reproductive rights are going to be front and center for the coming elections, especially in 2022. we are seeing this fight start to play out right now. it will be full throttle in 2022, along with other issues involving schools and education that we are seeing in the virginia race. these are issues that while a lot of the focus has been on economics and covid recovery and spending and fiscal responsibility, because we are heading into this 2022 election cycle where both houses are up for grabs, many of these types of issues, like abortion, will be front and center. host: less than a four hours before polls open in the old dominion. lay out what happens this week on capitol hill if democrats hold that gubernatorial seat in virginia. what happens if republicans take that seat? guest: i have heard a lot of democrats both play off the significance of the virginia race in terms of what is happening on capitol hill and others play it down. there is a disagreement about what the significance would be if terry mcauliffe were to win or lose. many democrats believe that the narrative will be that if terry mcauliffe goes down in defeat, a lot of people will be pointing fingers at congress and congressional in action as the reason why. there are a number of reasons there. normally, in an off election year, the party who holds the white house loses the virginia governor's mansion. there are a number of issues that could alter the course of that race. the narrative that will emerge, right or not, will be that if mcauliffe goes down, democrats on capitol hill will be to blame because they could not get a deal on this reconciliation package that would show that democrats in charge of the government could deliver and deliver on campaign promises that they promised during 2020. host: pennsylvania, this is tina. caller: i have totally lost faith in our government. everything out there is ridiculous. we need to focus on what the americans need. i am a victim of rape. i got pregnant by the rape. it was a hard decision to make, but i had the baby. it is between the woman and god. the government needs to get out of the doctors office. you have people dying. this is never discussed. it aggravates me that you have people dying that are wanted pain patients, but the illegal drugs coming across the border that is being blamed for the overdose, but you have to chr -- the chronic pain patients who cannot get there medication because biden is allowing the bad stuff in. we have called almost every congress person this is going to be the year of america's demise. they have got to start looking out for the american citizen and not a migrant, immigrant. you come here illegally, fine. but they are raping our welfare system. what is going to happen when these people get disseminated into different counties? host: a lot on the issue of immigration right now. where are we on that legislatively? any closer to any action? guest: president biden giving food --about $100 billion for immigration. we do not know what the details would be, but that was in his reconciliation package. democrats are deciding whether they can get that to pass muster. democrats are trying to address immigration in this reconciliation package. whether they are going to be successful is another question. i was with trump on the border earlier this summer in texas and with a number of house republicans. there is a reason why they did not want to talk about the border issues, people coming across without documentation. there is a reason they want to wage this fight on the abortion issue, because voters get animated by these issues, as evidenced by the people phoning into the show this morning. what we are not talking about are things like prekindergarten, which is in this bill for three and four-year-olds. universal pre-k. $400 billion for that and other ways to find a childcare. half a trillion dollars to combat climate change. this has been a problem for democrats for quite some time. while they want to talk about these key priorities that they say will be transformational, it does not seem to be captivating voters. that has been a huge challenge for democrats in being able to market build back better. host: thehill.com is where you can go for scott wong's stories, including one on carbon emissions. the white house unveiled strategies for that net zero goal. scott wong with us for the next 5-10 minutes to answer your questions. caller: was hoping you could answer a couple of questions about these two senators. senator manchin, he is farther to the right on this topic of free community college then at my republican governor, larry hogan, who gave our state free community college a few years ago. i believe the price tag was something like $60 million a year. the government -- $16 million dollars a year. the government waste more money than that. further, kyrsten sinema on drug prices. she is further to the right than donald trump on prescription drug prices. of course, trump never got that through the republican congress, and i do not understand how she can be farther to the right than donald trump when it comes to negotiating drug prices, which would save the government money. that is in, the government. the only thing i can think out -- did she get some kind of lobbying contract with big pharma so that when she is out of congress, she can go work for lobbying firm for bid format? that is all i can think. i do not know why either of those two is farther to the right than the two republicans i mentioned. caller: -- guest: democrats are running into the political reality. the political reality is that they need every single one of those 50 democratic senators to vote yes. they need nearly all of the 200 plus democrats in the house because of those razor thin margins. they are operating in this tiny window. manchin and synema -- sinema believe they are representing the constituents of their states. joe manchin we know is a fiscal conservative from west virginia. but caller is right that many of the programs proposed would help a number of people in west virginia. west virginia is one of the states that is affected by climate change, although joe manchin has been resistant to any of the programs to wind down hole production -- coal production. these are the challenges that democrats are facing. they need every single one. that is why there has been significant give-and-take, especially with senator manchin and senator sinema. at the end of the day, they will need to sign off. joe manchin was able to whittle down the price tag. he ultimately agreed to $1.75 trillion. there are many progressives who say that number is far too small. others say $1.75 trillion is transformational, a significant number and a hell of a lot better than the zero that joe manchin originally proposed. host: lucy, newport news, virginia, democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am calling because these congressmen and senators are out of touch with reality. on climate change. but i do not understand why her congress and senate does not have on a bipartisan basis enough care and concern about the american people. people are homeless, not able to work. people are not working simply because they are getting a big, fat check. i do not understand this. the congress and senate art like two teams of children playing baseball. host: what else are you going to be looking for on capitol hill this week? guest: this is the end of the ballgame. to see if democrats can push this across the finish line and get this deal done. there is frustration in the party, in the country, like your caller was alluding to. people want to see action. people are looking to the president, to congressional leaders to see if they can lead and bring this home and to the finish line. it really does feel like they are right on the cusp of this thing. i >> we always appreciate your help on the washington journal. >> thanks so much. host: -- he is also the author of the new book global health security. a blueprint for the future. i want to start where we ended the last conversation on the issue of vaccine mandates. do you believe that vaccine mandates in the workplace are legal and appropriate in the pandemic right now? guest: they are legal and essential. we have had a history of requiring vaccinations from the beginning of our republic. george washington required the troops to get a smallpox inoculation. the supreme court has twice upheld compulsory vaccinations. it has been proven to work. it boosts and it maintains high immunization coverage, which protects us all. host: what are your thoughts on the use of sincerely held religious beliefs as a reason not to get vaccinated? guest: let me begin by saying there are certainly some people that have sincere religious beliefs. what, many people who try to get exemptions for religious beliefs don't have genuine ones. i say that from experience and from knowing what goes on around the country. we tend to get affidavits from the same texas church, for everybody who has not met the individual. so, many of these are not authentic. the pope has urged all catholics to be vaccinated. the truth is that there is no major religious practice that i know of that, at its core, is against vaccination. in fact, their key value is life and vaccines save lives. ,so, yes there will be some , sincerely held beliefs, but very narrow. host: tomorrow, the advisory panel at the cdc is meeting to discuss covid-19 vaccines in children five to 11 years old. what are your expectations for what happens in the meeting tomorrow? guest: it is almost certain the cdc is going to follow the fda decision to authorize this. the cdc will then recommend it, and i expect the vaccine for children age five to 11 to be rolled out in the coming days, certainly this week it will start to be sent to pharmacies, pediatricians' offices, family practitioners. there will not bes vaccination sites the way we saw early on. we will try to do this with local pharmacies. host: should we be vaccinating children right now, children at a lower risk of severe covid at a time when worldwide vaccination rates in other countries are a fraction of where we are? should we concentrate more on the global effort of those most at risk? guest: let's stick with the united states first because we have already started to do boosters for the elderly and now you we are rolling it out for pediatric. >> food and drug administration authorized pfizer's covid-19 vaccine for kids ages five to 11. this is an important step forward in our nation's fight against the virus. as dr. walensky will discuss, this week, the cdc will make its clinical recommendations on vaccinations this age group. as we await the cdc decision, we are not waiting on the operations and logistics. in fact, we have been preparing for weeks.