anand parekh for an update on the coronavirus pandemic. you can join the conversation iphone, facebook, and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ >> american history tv saturdays on c-span2, explain the events -- host: struck down the travel mandate and yesterday, the cdc asked the justice department to appeal that ruling. what is your thought on that this morning? republicans dial in at 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. you can text us with your opinion at 202-748-8003. include your first name, city and state. you can also go to facebook.com/c-span or send a tweet with the handle @cspanwj. we will get your thoughts on the latest travel mask mandate, the cdc asking the justice department to appeal a decision by that judge. let's begin with the cdc's statement. "it is the cdc's assessment that an order requiring masking in the transportation corridor means necessary public health. cdc will continue to monitor health conditions to determine if such an order remains necessary. cdc believes this is a lawful

host: we are joined by anand parekh. he served as the deputy secretary under george w. bush and the obama administration. i want to talk about the state of this pandemic.

host: we are joined by anand parekh. he served as the deputy secretary under george w. bush and the obama administration. i want to talk about the state of this pandemic. most americans think covid is no longer a crisis. guest: i would describe the state of the pandemic with cautious optimism. on one hand, we are seeing hospitalizations and deaths at the lowest level since last summer. that is very good news. on the other hand, we are seeing hyper transmissible variance, subvariants of a very growth the country. what we are looking for is, will those cases translate into hospitalizations? we've seen an uptick in the over 70 population, but we have been well below immunity as well as omicron. that is the central question, and of course, we continue to be worried about other variance, that may escape vaccines. we still have suboptimal rates of vaccination throughout the world, including the united states. copter sauce -- cautious optimism is a bit of a myth. we need to stick to the fundamentals. make sure we are up-to-date with our vaccinations, make sure you test liberal

host: we are joined by anand parekh. he served as the deputy secretary under george w.ush and the obama administration. i want to talk about the state of this pandemic. most americans think covid is no longer a crisis. guest: i would describe the state of the pandemic with cautious optimism. on one hand, we are seeing hospitalizations and deaths at the lowest level since last summer. that is very good news. on the other hand, we are seeing hyper transmissible variance, subvariants of a very growth the country. what we are looking for is, will those cases translate into hospitalizations? we've seen an uptick in the over 70 population, but we have been well below immunity as well as omicron. that is the central question, and of course, we continue to be worried about other variance, that may escape vaccines. we still have suboptimal rates of vaccination throughout the world, including the united states. copter sauce -- cautious optimism is a bit of a myth. we need to stick to the fundamentals. make sure we are up-to-date with our vaccinations, make sure you test liberally