i'm margaret brennan in washington. this week on "face the nation," the u.s. faces some tough questions on public health and public safety. >> americans are gathering for the holidays, some for the first time in years. but health officials are warning a pandemic-weary populous of the dangers posed by a triple threat of respiratory viruses.>>in bo, pectm of protecting yourself and your family. >> we'll check in with president biden's chief medical adviser, dr. anthony fauci, as he prepares to step down next moh. then, after a string of deadly mass shootings, a new reckoning with a familiar question -- what can america's leaders do to stop them? >> the idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. it's just sick.

>> we'll ask a top democratic leader, south carolina congressman jim clyburn, whether capitol hill can deliver on president biden's push to ban assault weapons. and we'll speak to colorado governor jared polis about the challenge of enforcing existing gun laws. he'll share the latest on that shooting at an lgbtq nightclub. plus, former homeland security secretaries jayoe jeh johnson and michael chertoff on what the public can do to stem the violence and prepare our immigration for a change a southern border. it's all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪ good morning. welcome to "face the nation." for many americans, thanksgiving felt almost normal this year. but a year after the deadly

surge of covid's omicron variant, we're not out from under the virus just yet. the cdc says a new covid variant of concern, xbb has surfed. on the other side of the world, china is reporting a fourth daily record of new covid infections as an unprecedented wave of protests ripples across the country. residents from shanghai to beijing are taking to the streets in anger over china's zero covid policies that have kept much of the country under pandemic quarantine for years. those restrictions are weighing on the global supply chain. we begin this morning in the u.s. with the danger posed by three respiratory viruses. we spoke with president biden's chief medical adviser earlier and asked him about the risks for people congregating this season. >> the risk depends on what your

status of vaccination is. we have two of the three trifecta you're talking about. we have vaccinations for clearly covid, with the updated boosters now available. we have vaccinations for influenza. we're already starting to see an early surge of both flu and rsv. we don't have a vaccine for rsv. this particularly problematic for children 5 years of age and younger, and for the elderly. there are things you can do with rsv, is avoid congregate settings if you have a cold, sneezing, wear a mask, wash your hands. >> you said last time test going in and test coming out. >> test yourself before you congregate with people, particularly when you have someone over for dinner, 5, 10, 15, 20 people. it's easy to do. >> i want to ask about rsv, specifically, with little kids. these infections are overwhelming pediatric hospital wards around the country.

the children's hospital association and the american academy of pediatrics say it's a public health emergency. is it an emergency? >> yeah, in some regions of the country, we're seeing that the hospital system for pediatrics are at the point of almost being overwhelmed. when you have almost all the intensive care beds that are occupied, it's bad for the children who have rsv and need intensive care, but it also occupies all the beds, and children who have a number of other diseases that require intensive care or icu, they don't have the bed for it. hopefully we'll see that peak come down, because if you look at countes that kf peaks rsv, io >> more than 100,000 parents last month had to stay home from work to care for kids, according to the bureau of labor statistics. we've seen schools in ohio, kentucky, tennessee, cancel classes because of these large numbers. so, coming out of the holidays,

should parents expect schools to shut down? >> i don't know, margaret, i'm not sure. when you talk about shutting down schools, there's always the collateral -- >> that's also radioactive. >> exactly. there's always the collateral issue. have you to balance and you do it in real time, depending upon the viral load of disease in your region. >> some of these places just didn't even have teachers. >> well, that's the local decision you'll have to make. it's a local issue. that's what gets lost in the discussion. >> how do people, knowing everything you laid out, how do they calculate their risk and protect themselves? for an older person, is it something they need to think twice about when it comes to sitting across from their grandchild at christmas? >> it is a judgment call. one of the things you have to be careful of is look around, not only for your own protection, but for the protectio of the people that you're going to be

in contact with, particularly, as you mentioned quite correctly, the elderly, those with underlying conditions. there's also something even more risky. people who are profoundly immune compromise, people on cancer, chemotherapy, people with a variety of other diseases. have you to use common sense. the idea of coming into a crowded place and you're going home to someone who's immune compromised t just makes sense to put a mask on. >> you recently had covid. >> i did. >> i wonder how that changes when you calculate your risk these days and how long do you think immunity actually lasts? >> well, we know how much antibody immunity last because you can measure antibodies. they go up and come down pretty quickly. it's entirely likely that although you may get infected with mild symptoms, the degree of protection against severe disease may be much more prolonged than the very transient degree of protection

against infection. let me give you an example. you measured me. i'm an elderly person, so my was 30, 40 years ago.s robust i- i was vaccinated, doubly boosted and i got infected. now, the antibodies circulatinge not enough to keep me protected. but it's likely that the vaccination and double boosting i had protected me from getting a severe outcome, that if i didn't have that, i very well might have gotten seriously ill. i had a very mild infection. i want people to understand that although you may get infected with these new variants that are related to the omicron, you may not be protected against infection. you're doing a pretty good job of protecting you against severe -- >> you're making a case for vaccination. >> i'm totally making a case for -- >> people think, oh, i got a three of my month free pass. i just had covid. but they can still get new

variants and still get sick in that window of time. >> exactly. exactly. you really want to keep up on your boosters because the protection clearly wanes. is wanes much more for infection than severe disease, but it does wane. >> so, what is the prevalent strain that you think we are going to be facing this winter? and does the recent booster shot, the bivalent, protect against it? >> the ones on our minds right now that you do remember is the bq.1 and bq 1.1. they have a transmission advantage. that they are evasive of the protection that you have. those viruses evade the protection of the monoclonal antibodies, evusheld and some other monoclonal antibodies used for treatment as well as prevention.

it also diminishes the protection that is induced by vaccination and by prior infection. it doesn't disappear, but it brings it down a few fold. >> so, are you envisioning that in the spring we're going to have to get a new sort of cocktail of booster shots to match this new threat? >> i don't know because it really depends on what is going to happen in the spring. if we get, and this is what i'm hoping for, i'm a cautious optimist, by the time we get to the spring, the level of immunity that's induced by infection, with or without vaccination, with or without boosters, among the entire population is such that the level of severe disease and infection is going to go way, way down. and you won't require having every four months offer so giving somebody a boost. you heard us, we in the public health arena, talk about the likelihood of getting a cadence of maybe once a year that you get it with the flu shot. >> like a flu shot, uh-huh.

>> just like the flu shot, but it's a little iffy about that. that's good because there's a neatness to that. once a year you get it in the fall, but that doesn't take into account that you have to keep up the possibility that we will get a variant that's very different than the variants we have right now. that might require a springtime or summertime boost. if it stays the way it is now, i hope it just gets down to that very low level. >> and we'll have more of our conversation with dr. fauci ahead in the program. right now, i want to speak to house majority whip, democratic congressman jim clyburn, who joins us from south carolina this morning. congressman, it's good to have you on the program. i want to start with what has happened in the past two weeks. we've had these three mass shootings. back in june, you helped to push through this bipartisan investment in shoring up red flag laws and background checks, $13 billion expansion.

and yet in virginia, both of the gun buyers legally purchased their weapons, allegedly so did the one in colorado. what does that tell you about the efficacy of the federal law? >> well, thank you very much for having me. it tells me all i need to know, and that is just because it's illegal does not make it the right thing. i tell people all the time the institution of slavery was legal but it was not right. just because they purchase these weapons legally does not mean that's what the law ought to be. we need to change these laws. unfortunately, i'm going to be here in my district on wednesday speaking at the funeral service of one of those young football players from the university of virginia, who died at the hands of the weapon that was legally purchased. that's not the problem.

chesapeake, virginia, one was purchased legally the morning of the event. we have to visit these laws and do what's necessary to keep these guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. that's what we need to do in this lame duck session and in a bipartisan way. let's protect the american people from demented people and make sure we put some safety and security in people's shopping, when they're sitting in churches. >> well, what about that lame duck session because democrats have control for a few more weeks. president biden came out and said he wants to institute an assault weapons ban. an ar-15 style was used in colorado but not in the two virginia shootings. so, is the problem that type of weapon? and if that is the solution you're putting forward, how do

you get 60 votes in the senate? >> well, i don't know how to get 60 votes in the senate. that's why i always take issue with the fact, we don't control the senate. it's 50-50 in the senate. and that is a problem for us. we need to sit down in a bipartisan way and say, look, what can we do to protect the public? nobody wants to take anybody's guns away. the second amendment is there to protect everybody. but so is the first amendment. >> what are you willing to do in the lame duck? you just said in the lame duck you have to take action. what does that mean? what are democrats going to do? >> well, we've already passed the bills in the house. we're trying to get the senate to act. we've done this on the house side. so, that's the problem. democrats control the house. and we passed the bill. we do not control the senate,

and that's where the filibuster is causing us problems. >> right. and in the new congress after january is the prospect of any kind of gun reform dead on arrival or can you pick off some votes from kevin mccarthy's caucus here to help move something when democrats are in the minority? >> well, you know, if you look at the results of the election, and you go to california, you go to new york, in two districts in north carolina, where we picked up seats, we do have a more moderate electorate coming in and we need to appeal to a sense of fundamental fairness and what is right. whether or not they will -- what seems to be controlling the republicans, but we're going to give it a shot. >> so, white house adviser anita dunn was on this program, and

she said while democrats have the majority, priority number one is keeping the government funded. exactly, what is your top priority? what can democrats get done before republicans take control? >> well, i agree with anita dunn. it's always the talk around keeping the government funded and keeping it open. >> that seems the bear minimum. >> at a minimum, absolutely. but we need to go further than that. we need to look at the voting rights act. i need to do something about the electoral count reform act. these two things are fundamental to our democracy and we need to keep them in the forefront. yes, keep the government open. let's also keep fundamental rights protected. that to me would be gun safety laws would be closely

thereafter. >> democrats are holding leadership elections in the coming week. you're already in leadership. i know you will be standing for election to a different position. but if it is time for a new generation, as nancy pelosi had said, why do you think it's necessary for you to stay in power? do you think the next generation needs you to guide them? >> well, no, i've always said there's a healthy respect. it's biblical with me. we need to have a healthy blend of strength and knowledge. look at leadership. the south is left out of it. what i'm doing is trying to make sure that we do not tilt too far to the east or too far to the west, but maintain what we have here. there's no other southerner among the leadership, a we need the south.

we need the historical black colleges and universities. but for georgia, where would the senate be today? >> all right. well, thank you very much, mr. whip, for joining us today. and we want to continue that conversation about some of the national security risks, including gun violence. we'll do that now with two former homeland security chiefs. i've got jeh johnson, who served under former president obama, in new jersey, and michael chertoff held the job under former president george w. bush. he's at home in washington, d.c. good morning to you both, gentlemen. you just heard the conversation. representative clyburn says you've got to work together, but also said they can't get anything done in the senate, so where does that leave us in the wake of three shootings? is further legislation just something we should not be talking about at this point? >> well, i think we should get

some legislation on assault weapons. you know, that would be helpful, but recognize no law is going to deal with the problem entirely, as you pointed out. you have people who legally bought guns and then committed these horrible acts. although legislation is part of the solution, another part of the solution is dealing with what is emerging to be almost a mental health crisis leading to violent acts. >> jeh johnson, i want you to jump in. it was a handgun in charlottesville, virginia, a handgun in chesapeake, virginia, an ar-15 style in colorado springs. is it a gun crisis? is it a mental health crisis? which is it? >> first and foremost, margaret, i believe that the problem -- the central problem, the common thread through all of these incidents is the prevalence of guns in america. the individual circumstances of each episode tend to be a little

different, the motive tends to be different, the location is different, the weapon is different. but the problem we have in this country nationwide is the prevalence of guns in america. i do not for a second give up on the possibility of further gun safety legislation. we have to get off this point of view of the nra that if they give an inch, we're going to take a mile. we can regulate guns in america consistent with the second amendment, consistent with the constitutional right of a responsible gun owner to own a gun for hunting, for their own personal safety of their family, and mike is also right, there's more to do on the mental health front. there's more to do to raise awareness among coworkers, families, people in school about the warning signs of someone heading toward violence so that the signs are undeniable at some point. >> but how do you solve for a

mental health crisis, secretary chertoff? where do you begin? >> well, we begin with what we call red flag laws in which someone's guns can be taken away if there's a report they have propensity to violence or they've been talking about doing something that would involve killing people. so, certainly enforcing those red flag laws is a positive step. more generally, i think we need off-ramps for people who are troubled and prone to be violent. that do not involve the criminal justice process. so, we encourage family members to step forward and get help for someone who might, given the passage of time, pick up a gun and do an act of violence. finally, i to nitoror viont incg unfortunately, weee ae people we

inadva and the tragedy is, nobody intervenes to stop it. >> secretary jeh johnson, you just heard me talk about with jim clyburn there were red flag laws in place, for example, in colorado. each state has sort of different attributes to their laws and who can call in a worry to remove guns from the household of someone. is this just going to continue to be a patchwork of different problems because of the federal system? >> i think mike and i both know that in these cases, it is almost always certain that the warning signs are apparent. people often don't want to see them, however. the parent doesn't want to see them, the good friend in school doesn't want to see them, the coworker doesn't want to see them, doesn't want to report. so, as i said before, i think it's important that we raise awareness about what these warning signs are, in fact.

could we better enforce our red flag laws? could we encourage people to invoke them, to utilize them more often? absolutely, i agree with mike on that. but the warning signs are almost always there. they're undeniable. >> i want to talk more about this with both of you in a moment. i have to take a quick break. please, stay with us. all of us, please stay with us as well. "face the nation" will be back in a minute. who are positive for acetylcholine receptor antibodies, it may feel like the world is moving without you. but the picture is changing, with vyvgart. in a clinical trial, participants achieved improved daily abilities with vyvgart added to their current treatment. and vyvgart helped clinical trial participants achieve reduced muscle weakness. vyvgart may increase the risk of infection. in a clinical study, the most common infections were urinary tract and respiratory tract infections. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or if you have symptoms of an infection.

vyvgart can cause allergic reactions. the most common side effects include respiratory tract infection, headache, and urinary tract infection. picture your life in motion with vyvgart. a treatment designed using a fragment of an antibody. ask your neurologist if vyvgart could be right for you. a pair of numbers this weekend offered some perspective on two american holiday traditions -- traveling and spending. 55 million people were in transit this week, the third busiest travel season in more than 20 years, according to aaa. and consumers spent more than $9 billion online on black friday, according to adobe analytics. that's a record high, but just up over 2% from last year. important to caveat to note, door due to soaring inflation,

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former homeland security secretaries jeh johnson and michael chertoff. gentlemen, i like being able to have you both here because you both dealt with a very hard problem set. so, a lot of people have opinions but you actually know what it's like to be in the job. let me give you a really hard one, which is what to do about the southern border. in the last year, 2.5 million migrants, roughly, have been encountered. that's a record high. the governor of texas is boasting he sent more than 13,000 immigrants to new york, to chicago, to washington and now to philadelphia, where bus loads arrived this week. secretary chertoff, these migrants have legal status because they're going through asylum. are the asylum laws too generous in this country?