reports are outrageous, unacceptable. they are investigating. there's no excuse for this treatment of children. they will ensure that those responsible are held accountable. as i have been talking to advocates, they say it's not isolated. they get calls like this every day. dr. cohen, who represents the family, says this is an example of a system that has broken down. >> dasha burns, thank you for being on top of the story and bringing it to us live. thanks for watching this hour of "hallie jackson reports." find us on twitter with highlights. then in an hour or so, you have dr. fauci joining my colleague andrea mitchell. right now, it's craig melvin picking up coverage with everything you need to know about the new cdc mask guidance.

good friday morning to you. craig melvin here. major turning point in our country's long march toward normalcy in this pandemic. say good-bye to the masks if you are vaccinated. the cdc advising fully vaccinated americans that they no longer need to wear masks or physically distance. here is the cdc director this morning. >> i am cautiously optimistic that we are seeing this great, great end point in sight. i think we really do have to be humble and say this virus, this pandemic has given us twists and turns. we can't get our eye off the ball. >> we have all lived through those twists and turns. the cdc mentioned this. this is big. we all have different thoughts and responses. even questions.

>> we can take them off, right? >> yes, sir. >> that's great. >> i think it's a relief. everyone is excited to get back to normal. >> i will give it a couple of days. >> there's a huge part of me that's cautious and wants to do what's best for my friends and family. >> this hour is special. we are going to answer your questions on this new mask guidance. when should you still wear your mask if you are vaccinated? what do you do if you are not sure the people around you are vaccinated? what about young kids who have not been able to get the vaccine? we will answer those questions and more. we brought in two experts, two doctors to answer those questions that you submitted for this hour. we will get to those in just a few moments. first, in the last hour and a half on capitol hill, congresswoman elise stefanik became the number three republican in the house caking liz cheney's open leadership post.

that does not mean congresswoman cheney will stay quiet. what are the dynamics at play right now? >> reporter: congresswoman stefanik won this vote overwhelmingly. she only had 40 odd votes against. she's stepping into a house republican party that is torn about what direction it wants to go. you wouldn't necessarily know that from the press conference afterwards in which the buzzword was unity. that's what the new gop leadership team tried to project. listen to this and i will explain something notable on the other side. >> liz cheney is a part of this conference. adam kinzinger is part of this conference. they were elected and sent here by people in their district. we are unified in working with president trump. my job representing our republican members, the vast majority, we look forward to working with president trump.

>> you have talked to liz cheney since the events of this week? >> i have not. >> reporter: you hear the effort to project unity. the key element of this is unified in working with president trump. that is what liz cheney has tried to avoid. that's what she's continuing to speak out against to anyone who will listen. she was on fox news last night trying to deliver that message. today she was on a radio show that plays in new hampshire, which is notable for its presidential trampoline affect and will stir up some of that discussion. you will have these competing narratives, even with a new number three in the house republican conference leadership. >> garrett, we also learned a short time ago that we finally have an agreement to potentially form a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the insurrection on january 6th at the capitol. what more can you tell us about that? >> reporter: this breakthrough was months in the making after congressional leadership had

been discussing the possibility of this commission for quite some time and failing to make progress. this will be a bipartisan commission. ten members with law enforcement backgrounds. they will be appointed by congressional leaders. they will have subpoena power and an opportunity to work until the end of this year, which point they are expected to produce a report on what happened on january 6th and on the circumstances leading up to it. how democrats are moving pretty quickly to get this bill passed. they are bringing in the rules committee early next week. we will see a vote early next week. the house minority leader kevin mccarthy after that republican leadership meeting this morning said he wasn't aware of the specifics of the agreement that had been reached. it does have republican sign-off in the form of the republican ranking member on the committee. i expect to see this move

quickly. there's broad interest in getting to the bottom of this in a non-partisan or bipartisan manner, craig. >> all right, garrett haake at the capitol. kelly at the white house, the president's balancing a lot right now. still trying to sell lawmakers and the american public on the infrastructure plan. we understand that he is meeting with dreamers at the white house today. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: craig, it's a meeting that is on the schedule but not public. we don't know, unless the president invites media in, we don't anticipate seeing that. he invited six what's known as dreamers, those young people who are brought to the united states as very small children by their parents without documentation and they have been put in the classification under daca, the deferred action against child arrival program, which allows

them to stay in the country. today he is arguing for what he said through the joint address that that program should be codified in law. it's one thing to do it as an executive level. he will focus on meeting with the young people who are young adults who work in areas that would qualify as some of the essential workers, front line workers, health care, agriculture, education, to tie that into the larger conversations we have been having about covid and jobs and infrastructure and all of that. that's a big piece of trying to keep that promise and keep that constituency going. he is dealing with the infrastructure piece and republicans who met with him yesterday said there is steps they will bring a counter proposal next week and see if there's more room they can find with the president. hopeful signs when it comes to the infrastructure discussion, at least at this point.

craig? >> kelly o'donnell at the white house, garrett haake on the hill. now to the news so many americans are welcoming. the cdc says anyone fully vaccinated no longer needs to wear masks indoors or outdoors. you no longer need to physically distance in most cases. this is what dr. walensky is saying this morning about that new guidance. >> we needed to take this first step to say, if you are vaccinated, individuals themselves are safe to be able to take their mask off. we need to understand that this country is not uniform. there are places in this country that still have higher rates of disease. there are places in the country that still have lower rates of vaccination. really, people need to look into their local environment. ultimately, we know this virus is an opportunist.

low rates of vaccination, it will emerge. we need to make sure we get people vaccinated. we continue to take precautions if people are not vaccinated. >> for now, there are a few exceptions. masks should be worn in doctor's offices, hospitals and on public transportation, according to the cdc. overall, it's a major step toward getting back to normal. especially in places like gyms. that is where we happen to find sam brock. sam is at a gym in miami where the new cdc mask guidance is certainly being felt. sam, what have you been seeing there this morning? how are folks reacting to this new guidance? >> reporter: their eyes light up when i asked them about it. we have been down this road over the pandemic. it's one of the hardest things to do with a mask on is to exercise and sweat. you have this thing on your face for good reason in terms of

preventing the spread. here we are and you ask the trainers and folks working out here, what's it like to do this without a mask on? they say, this is so amazing and so liberating. it's worth noting that in the great state of florida, there never was a mask mandate. on may 3, all coronavirus restrictions were pulled away. look at what's going on. i was at this exact location in the midtown neighborhood of miami a year ago. completely different story. some of the benches that you see here were gone. power racks around the corner where you see people working out doing free weights. half of that was blocked off. the spacing, the capacity was all different from where it is now a year later. we spoke with the co-owner of three soon to be four gyms in miami. it's a very popular place down here. he gave us a before and after look at what he has been seeing. in a typical day, when you start to get into the afternoon hours, how many treadmills are filled

up? >> on a typical day, all in use. every day. i feel like we turned a corner for the better. we are really getting back to doing the things that we love to do. you can feel the energy. people are happier. the community makes us who we are. culture is very big here. that is a moment where we can have relief and connect with the person in front of us. a totally different picture. folks here say that this is uplifting to their mental and their physical health to be inside a gym, to see facial expressions. many of the trainers are seeing clients they had not seen in months because of the mask mandate being removed. the governor here just announced this week that he is pardoning people who received a citation or infraction or some cases an arrest for violating mask or social distancing mandates. that's out the window. cases in florida down 30% in the

last couple of weeks. people certainly here are feeling good. i would say, if you want to feel insecure about yourself, go to a gym in miami. spent 15 minutes here, look around, what have i been doing with my life? so it goes. >> that's not true. sam, buff, brock. get back to the squats and curls, my friend. this new mask guidance, it does mean some normalcy for people who have gotten vaccinated. we will go live to part of queens that was hit especially hard by the virus. now doctors are taking the vaccine to the people there. the next step in fighting the virus is getting kids vaccinated. i will talk to the mom of this 16-month-old about why she signed him up for one of pfizer's first trials for toddlers. how he is feeling one day after getting shot number two. if you are confused about the new mask rules, you are not

alone. two of our doctors here to answer all of your questions. what to do if your kids aren't vaccinated? how to follow the new rules in stores. much more. we will look at all of it. send us your questions. you can tweet them to us. you can also send us an old-fashioned email as well. we will be right back. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is the only medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to.

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this morning, as americans are navigating the first full day with a cdc mask guidance, it's a turning point. that's true for those hit hardest this time last year. one of the communities was coronavirus queens. it was an epicenter. i was there last spring hosting this hour from a food bank. i saw firsthand just how the virus had ravaged their

neighborhood. this morning, so many are breathing a sigh of relief. nbc's gabe gutierrez is in coronavirus queens. gabe, what are you hearing from folks there about this news? >> reporter: craig, yes, as you mentioned, a very big sigh of relief. also a huge sense of caution, craig. we have been walking around here speaking with folks here throughout the morning. many are still wearing their mask, even outside. here the subway line, not far from me, they have to commute to work, a working class community, a lot of minorities and communities of color. many of them from the looks of it are still wearing their masks. we spoke with one businessowner who says he has not been vaccinated because he had covid about a year ago. he hasn't felt the need to get vaccinated. he shrugged off the guidance. we have been speaking with a doctor at a local medical center

who has been working with the underserved community and he says he was surprised by the updated guidance and concerned. you expect there to be a reduction of mask wearing here or not at all? >> i don't. i don't think yet. i think people are still scared. i think people still remember what it was like a year ago. i don't think we will see a huge reduction in the amount of people wearing masks here in this community. >> reporter: again, craig, as you know, a lot of trauma in this community. that businessowner we spoke with said it felt like earn he knew seemed to be getting infected. and a big point here, craig, is that in this zip code, only 28% of the population has been fully vaccinated. as you can see behind me, there is a city bus that just pulled up getting ready to start its vaccination process here. there's also testers here as well. this is one of the communities that the city is targeting to

get the vaccination rate up. we shall see whether some folks may stop wearing masks outside. as of this morning, a lot of people still wearing it here in queens. very different than what we saw down in miami in sam brock's report. back to you. >> all right, gabe gutierrez there in queens. gabe, thank you. this big update on masking led to a lot of questions. we have gotten a ton. we invited on two experts to answer as many as we can. with me, dr. patel, former obama white house health policy director, also an msnbc medical contributor, and dr. ungerliter, an internal medicine doctor. thank you both. let's start with a question everyone has been asking since the new guidance, i'm still confused about being fully vaccinated and not wearing masks. how do we know if others are vaccinated and does that change

how we think of masking? if we are in a crowded theater, how safe is everyone? can you help us understand? >> she's asking the question that all my patients are asking in my in box. number one, we don't necessarily -- depending where you live, there might be local guidance or states like new york that have apps and requirements for proof of vaccination. those are not national. we do have an issue of walking into situations and feeling comfortable. as you heard from gabe, i think it's going to depend on your level of risk tolerance. if you are fully vaccinated, you are at a low likelihood of getting infected or giving the infection. not zero. i think we should allow for people to psychologically unwind and be comfortable. that might take time. remember, building any habit takes time. unwinding that habit can also take time. that includes wearing masks. right now, if you are not

comfortable, put a mask on indoors. always remember that if you are vaccinated, fully immunized, you really are protected. you can have confidence in that. >> you make a good point there. no mask shaming. there should be no mask shaming in our society right now as we start to change our behavior. here is another question that we have heard a lot. this is a concern that gadi schwartz heard in los angeles. >> does it feel like you are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel? >> no. the news is saying so many people aren't vaccinated and they are giving incentive to get people vaccinated. >> the cdc says about 35% of americans are vaccinated fully at this point. how do you approach this decision if you don't know whether the people around you are vaccinated? >> well, craig, the cdc updated that vaccinated people can

return to life as usual means there's enough real world data that these vaccines are effective. this means that people who are fully vaccinated, as we heard, have such a negligible risk of becoming sick or transmitting it if you happen to get it that masking and distancing are to longer necessary in the majority of settings. if you decide not to get vaccinated or you are not yet able, the risk is really on you. the other people you live with who aren't vaccinated, including children under 16 who haven't had the chance, and unvaccinated individuals, of course, can still catch and spread covid. two important things to remember, high risk people, those who have a compromised immune system, vaccinated or not, need to assess their risk. young kids still are not vaccinated and won't be for several months. we need to consider their safety. of course, everyone has to follow their local guidelines regarding masking.

>> our next viewer question is one i'm sure a lot of businessowners are asking this morning, especially small businessowners. this viewer is asking, i'm confused about what this guidance means for retail. i want to keep my staff safe. should we continue to require our customers wear masks, require proof of vaccination? do we need plexiglas at the register? >> you know, it's a great question. there isn't specific guidance on this. it's quite difficult to enforce the masking guidance as a businessowner. some places are asking for proof of vaccination. as we heard from dr. patel, that's not happening everywhere around the country. encouraging your employees to be vaccinated if they are hesitant. ask questions. you can continue to ask that people entering the store wear masks, maintain distance and be courteous of one another.

>> don't go far. we have more questions. take a quick break. with the guidance, a lot of us are thinking about what we can do. plan that trip. visit a museum. play tourist. nbc's ali vitaly is in washington, d.c. where museums are reopening. i understand you saw one very high profile tourist. >> reporter: yeah. someone that your viewers may recognize. first lady dr. jill biden was just here at this museum on the day that it's reopening. i will tell you what she said right after the break. rogressive offers 24/7 protection, but we also bundle outdoor vehicles with home and auto to help people save more! [ laughs ] ♪♪ [ humming ] [ door creaks ] oh. [ soft music playing ] what are you all doing in my daydream? it's better than that presentation. a lot better.

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in washington, d.c. things are getting a little more back to normal in more ways than one. vaccinated americans can largely take their masks off comes as museums open back up on the national mall. those museums had one very high profile visitor in the last hour. nb vitali is talking to

people out there. >> reporter: this is the first day people can come back to the smithsonian. they have to register before they visit. they had a visitor, first lady dr. jill biden. i talked with her outside the museum. look at what she told me. first lady, why is it important for you to be here today at the museum reopening? >> we are opening up culture and beauty coming back to d.c. >> reporter: what's your reaction to the mask guidance? >> don't you feel good without it? >> reporter: i can say, it does feel pretty good out here to have this new cdc guidance where vaccinated americans don't have to wear a mask. as i have been talking to people out here on the national mall, they feel good about it. but there's also a little bit of trepidation as people have been so used to wearing a mask. people have said they feel good about not wearing a mask outside if they are vaccinated.

some of them may still be cautious and wear a mask inside. as far as it goes for the museum, they are under d.c. rules. the mayor said they are looking at the new guidelines. they will make a decision on their own mask mandates here in due time. as far as people going into the museum, they cannot wear their masks outside as they wait to go in. once they are inside the museum, they have to keep their masks on at least for now while states catch up with where the federal guidance is at. >> we will see that all over the country. i want to bring the doctors back for a moment. i understand that you have been asking folks what their questions are about this new guidance. what's one of the questions that you have been getting most, ali? >> reporter: after talking to maybe half a dozen people out here on the mall this morning, the same question from everyone, which is about wearing masks inside around crowds of people, especially people who these folks aren't sure if they are

vaccinated or not. what should they do? >> dr. patel, we will send that to you. it's a solid question. what say you to that? >> it is, craig. i really -- looking at the numbers of percent vaccinated, i do think that while we only have 36% vaccinated, if you are in crowds of people and you do not know their vaccine status or their immune status because of chronic conditions, wearing a mask right now inside is safer. it's definitely more conservative. i know i'm going to get criticized, i'm sure, because it's as if i'm saying the vaccines are not effective. it's important to remember that everybody is living in different communities. we still have some communities where we are seeing only 26% or 28% of the population vaccinated and cases are still higher than ten per 100,000. if you are in a crowded spot with a lot of unknown people, wearing a mask and eliminating that social distance is to me a

freedom that i haven't had in a long time and certainly not wearing a mask outside in any situation is reasonable as well. >> ali, thank you. thanks for your hard work in washington. enjoy your weekend, if you can. we have more questions. this is a question someone actually just tweeted to us. this is from a viewer named wendy. she wants to know about wearing masks on elevators now. >> that's a great question. based on the guidelines, if, in fact, you are fully vaccinated, you do not need to wear a mask on an elevator. that said, as we keep saying over and over, if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask or have a high risk medical condition or live with people

who are immunocompromised or higher risk, reasonable to wear masks, especially if it's a crowded indoor space as we have talked about. >> this question is about the covid variants and how that plays into whether it's safe to remove your mask. our viewer asking, if a large percentage of people aren't vaccinated, will vaccinated people be at risk for different strains continuing to spread? dr. patel, what should people know about the variants? >> craig, the good news is that all of the three authorized vaccines in the united states are effective against the variants we have in the united states. i say that over and over because we don't know what we don't know. variants from other countries as well as homegrown variants that have yet to crop up. we believe that you have some level of immunity and there's also a second layer that we think might kick in what we call memory cell immunity. those things will help protect

us. i will warn americans that it's a very high possibility that we might need booster shots as newer variants pop up. we do this with other viruses. this isn't unusual to do booster shots. it's something that could become -- whether in the winter or fall, that we should expect. talk with your health care professional. do not lose that immunization card. we are still gathering data on any differences between the various vaccines and their affect on variants. all three today have held up. we just want to make sure. >> keep the card and take a picture of the card as well so you have a backup. someone suggested, if you can, laminate the card as well. our next viewer question comes to us from cory. for those of us who are immunocompromised, the mask mandate update is a bit

overwhelming. i have friends who can't get the vaccine due to allergies. what is the advice to us who are weaker than most when goes out into an unmasked world? what do you think? >> craig, for people who are immunocompromised, you should continue to wear a mask as before. exercise caution in terms of where you go and who you are around. especially if you can't get a vaccine. i would check with your doctor to be sure that you absolutely cannot get vaccinated. early on we weren't sure. many people with severe allergies and underlying illnesses actually can be vaccinated safely. of course, every situation and each patient's risk is so different. it's really best to discuss this with your doctor first. >> this question comes to us from chris. chris is asking, the vaccine provides protection against serious disease. so does that mean it prevents

chances of getting any pre-existing conditions from covid? what do we know about that? >> what we know is that hospitalizations, deaths, severe death is prevented. it does help prevent some of the conditions we see coming up with covid. let me just say that i think people get confused, because i have patients with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and hypertension, they got a lot worse when they were infected with covid. when they got their vaccine, they had a stability. they did not actually have as much of a dramatic increase. let me say this in a different way. if you have a pre-existing condition and you had covid in the past, getting vaccinated might help with some of the problems that were dramatically amplified by getting covid with your baseline pre-existing condition. another reason to make sure that if you had covid, craig, a good reminder, that's not enough protection. get vaccinated. it should protect you from

having any of your current conditions get worsened or any new chronic conditions crop up because hopefully, you won't get covid. >> don't go far. we have more questions a little later in the broadcast. if you can, look into something for me. i may have said something that requires explanation. a friend of mine who is a doctor texted me. i told folks to laminate their cards. that may not be correct. i want to clear that up, this idea of laminating your card. we will answer that later, along with other questions. one group of people that this new mask guidance doesn't impact, little kids who are not eligible for the vaccine just yet. my next guest wants to help speed up the time line to get them approved. she signed up her 16-month-old son nathan to be part of pfizer's vaccine trial. how is nathan feeling after the shot? what his mom says to other parents who might be nervous

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want to clear up some confusion from a few moments ago. i suggested taking a picture of your card and laminating your vaccination card. to be clear, you should not laminate your vaccination card. do not laminate your vaccination card in case we do have to get a booster shot, the doctor will have to write that on the card. so there's no confusion, do not laminate that vaccination card. now we want to turn our attention to the nation's children who are not vaccinated. this is our nation's top doctors on a time line for that. right now, we will try to get

the sound for you. we are seeing major steps being made to vaccinate more kids. to reach that goal, it means some families are having to step up in a big way. including one family in texas. look at this little guy. this is 16-month-old nathan. little nathan just became the first child enrolled in a pfizer trial valuaing the vaccine for kids under the age 2. it's being run by baylor. his mother is a pediatric transplant surgeon at texas children's hospital. i understand that nathan just got that second dose on thursday. let's start with just asking, how is he doing? any side effects? >> he is doing wonderfully. thank you. >> no issues at all?

>> no. with the first vaccine, he got too hives by his knee. but he has allergies. the second time, everything was flawless. if anything, my husband said he has more energy. >> you have had to give up a lot during this pandemic. nathan was born three months before lockdowns started. you have been treating patients. you moved out of your house to avoid giving it to your family. how did you get through that? how did it impact your decision to enroll little nathan in this study? >> because of my profession and frankly because of my risk aversion, we kept up with this very closely, the entire pandemic and understanding the vaccine developments. i did have -- i was comfortable with the science behind it. i read up on the data. mostly for my patients to make sure i was able to answer the questions. but also from my friends and

family. lots of people were coming to me asking questions. i was abreast on it. once it came up that there were pediatric trials available, i decided that it was best to enroll my children, because i wanted them protected. understanding the risk profile and understanding the science behind it, it just made so much sense to me. i have to say, we were inspired by the tens of thousands of adults, children and adolescents ahead of us who enrolled in trials and found these were manageable side effects. >> you told the "houston chronicle" you are considering enrolling your 3-year-old in a separate trial. have you made a decision yet? >> i'm going to do it. i feel comfortable with it. >> as a doctor who treats children and as a parent, what's your message to parents who might be watching or listening who are hesitant about

vaccinating their children? maybe not themselves but their young children. >> the first thing i would say is, i completely understand. i'm sure that you are overwhelmed, you are exhausted. we're all just tired. so having to make more critical decisions that we have had to make all year can be just heart wrenching. there's a virus that has run amok on a global scale. we have over 100 million patients -- people who have contracted it. over 3 million people have died, of varying ages. you don't know who will pass from it and who won't. i guess then the question is, if i had an option for you that was safe and miraculously effective and simple, wouldn't you do anything to protect your children?

>> that's a good spot to end it. thank you. thank you so much for your time this morning. thank you for your courage. best of luck to you. before we head to break, i do want to play the interviews i mentioned earlier from our top doctors. here are dr. fauci and cdc director dr. walensky on a time line for getting shots to kids. >> i believe by the end of the calendar year and probably sooner that kids of virtually any age can get vaccinated. >> we will ask them to wear a mask because they are not vaccinated and protect themselves and others. in fact, yes, parents and perhaps even teachers may want to continue to wear masks to model behavior for them. >> what's the best way for patients to approach these new guidelines with their kids who are not vaccinated? our doctors back to help break down all of that and more right after this.

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americans to remove their masks, what about those who aren't, especially kids. let's bring back our experts to try and help answer those questions for us. a viewer is asking, i have an eighth-month old granddaughter so i will wear masks a lot. what advice is there with regards to her? doctor, what advice do you have for her? >> i am in the same boat. i have two kids in the same category. it's hard to get an 8 month old to wear a mask and i don't think that's reasonable. parents wearing masks makes sense. it has to do with your level of risk tolerance. as a parent, if i am fully vaccinated, my risk of giving and getting the virus is very low, but not zero. as more adults and teenagers get

vaccinated, that means the likely cases we see will be in young people. don't be shocked when we see an increase in that proportion. for that mom, it's within reason to continue wearing masks and make sure that the people you invite into your home are vaccinated. you can take the masks off as long as they don't have some chronic condition or some reason to be worried. my kids will get vaccinated, but until then they need precautions. until then wearing a mask around other people will be a good idea. >> doctor, let's listen to a teacher in washington, d.c., her reaction to this new cdc guidance. >> i am a teacher where there are lots of students not vaccinated. indoors makes sense when i am

around people. to each their own, but as a teacher it feels like it's meant to be. >> what advice do you have for teachers either in the classroom or going back to the classroom in the fall? >> first and foremost, encouraging all teachers if you are able and it's safe to get vaccinated. that's number one. if you are a teacher in the classroom and vaccinated, the risk to you is quite low in terms of becoming seriously ill or dying of covid. however, it goes back to this conversation around risk tolerance. if you feel better with a crowded classroom and lots of students not vaccinated, wearing a mask, you should do so. it's all about what makes you feel comfortable going forward. >> i think we have time for one more. our next viewer is asking if all adults in an extended family are

vaccinated, but the children under 12 years old are not, what guidance is there on how safely everyone can gather this summer, dr. patel? >> this is the real world kind of question which most of us have been struggling with when the cdc guidance came out. we want anybody unvaccinated to wear a mask. if you are with extended family in a small setting, indoors or outdoors, those are safe circumstances to take off your mask because you know that everybody in the room, except for the kids are vaccinated. the risk is so low. i have to say this, we have to start getting comfortable. it is so effective that cases are coming down. if an extended family member has a condition or don't feel safe, you need to make space for them to do that.

verify they are vaccinated. and then ask if they are comfortable. if they say no, i would try to do as much as we could outdoors. but if it were me i would feel comfortable taking off masks even in that contained environment. >> ladies, thank you for spending the hour with us. thank you as well for spending the hour with us. one of this country's top doctors, dr. anthony fauci will be talking to andrea mitchell when "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. starts next. [sneezes] hey allergy muddlers. [sneezes] are your sneezes putting your friends in awkward positions? [sneezes] stick with zyrtec.

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