walensky. dr. walensky: thank you, jeff. good morning. i want to start by walking you through today's data. the current seven-day daily average of cases is about 751,000 cases per day. an increase of about 47% over the previous week. the seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 19, 800 per day, an increase of about 33% over the prior week. and the seven-day average of daily deaths are about 1600 per day, which is an increase of about 40% over the previous week. over the past several weeks, we have seen the number of daily cases increase substantially. the magnitude of this increase is largely related to the omicron variant which now represents about 98% of the covid-19 cases in the country. we continue to learn more about omicron with each passing day, including the very certificatity of disease caused by this variant. just yesterday a study of data from kaiser perm nen day southern california analyzed by academic partners with c.d.c. collaboration and funding provided key insight into clinical outcomes among patients infected wi

walensky: that is true.fecting them at a lower rate and importantly, those people who are vaccinated and infected with omicron are not the ones who are ending up very sick in the hospital. those of the people who are unvaccinated. >> bret: right, but will the cdc take natural immunity seriously, to study its effect on the big picture? for example, why not include recovery from infection as the equivalent of at least one shot the way other countries do? >> dr. walensky: you know, we have taken this very seriously. several months ago we provided a scientific brief with dozens of studies providing the updated science with this. of course that science is ever evolving, as has this variance, and so we need to update that science with regard to what we learn about omicron, which so far has demonstrated that prior infection protects you less well. >> bret: as recently as this past week, president biden called as a pandemic of the unvaccinated. according to your cdc data, the omicron variant accounts for 95.4% of ca

walensky.ast week, you said we do not know how our rapid tests performed and whether they predict whether you are transmissible. but now it cdc guidance has who test positive should continue to isolate for another five days. do these tests serve a purpose to assess transmissibility or not? amid additions to guidance yesterday, you'd say that people should avoid travel, restaurants, eating around others until 10 days. why was not that information included last week? how do you expect people to keep track of what they can and cannot do? >> you for that question. first, as noted before, the fda has authorized these rapid tests for early in the disease code -- disease course. it said that these tests are qualitative not quantitative, meaning we cannot tell how transmissible you are. and that negatives are often most helpful when using them serially. after we released our recommendations, it became clear that people were interested in using the rapid casts, though not authorized for this purpose, fo

walensky. is you know the cdc has been working with my staff on an outstanding nursing home vaccine data request and i would appreciate it if you would continue to work with me and our committee to resolve this data. >> yes, thank you senator. i'm aware of that and i'm t committed to working with you great thank you. >> let me turn to a matter for the health and human services. secretary o'connell you know that our nation is at ground zero during the first year covid-19. 200,000 residents and workers and residents plus the number of workers whoea have died at 200,0 over the steers however nursing home death have declined dramatically thanks to the saeb ineffectiveness of the vaccines. to credit to the administration that 90% of nursing home residents and 80% of workers have been vaccinated and we know infections are on the rise raising safety concerns and putting additional pressures on workers. for instance we know the pandemic has worsened existing staffing shortages and we note the same time

walensky is defending her work and her leadership.ovid-19 messaging missteps. jeremy diamond joining us live from the white house. officials at the cdc and the white house are frustrated. there have been some efforts, including on the part of dr. walensky, to try to fix this issue, but where do things stand? how did we get here? >> reporter: yeah, criticism of the cdc and of dr. walensky's leadership has hit a fever pitch in recent weeks amid the new isolation and quarantine guidelines and the messaging mishaps surrounding the guidelines. a lot of back and for the around them. there's been frustration here at the white house with the cdc messaging and i'm also told within the cdc there's frustration with how dr. walensky has issued the guidelines. we've learned that dr. walensky has undergone media train ---ing and here's how she defended her job today. >> we near an unprecedented time with the omicron cases rising, and we're working really hard to get information to the american public and balancing that with the realities we're all

walensky? >> reporter: well, wolf, criticism of the cdc and the -- and dr. rochelle walensky has grown to a fevered pitch after the new isolation and quarantine guidelines were released in recent week and amid the public messaging confusions around the guidelines in the last couple of weeks. this is frustration that dr. walensky is feeling not only from here at the white house, but also from outside public health experts as well as from within the cdc. and we know that messaging has been an issue for walensky and the cdc for months now. and that's why back in the fall, cnn is now learning that dr. walensky sought out media training from a prominent democratic media consultant, mandy grunwald, she's been doing that media training for several months now. we know dr. walensky is set to do her first solo press briefing since the summer to address some of the questions that she has been facing. but, really, it is not just about the messaging. it is also about the public health guidelines themselves and the way in which they have been crafted. i spoke with one cdc

walensky. as you know, the cdc has been working with my staff on an outstanding nursing home vaccine data request. i would appreciate it you and your team would continue to work with me and with our team at the aging committee to resolve this manner. >> yes, thank you, senator. i'm aware of that matter and we're committing to continuing to work with you. thank you. >> thank you. let me turn to a matter for health and human services. assistant secretary o'connell, you know our nation's long-term care facilities were ground zero during the first year of the covid-19. 200,000 residents and workers when you add up the number of residents plus the number of workers who died. it gets to 200,000 over these two years. however, nursing home deaths have declined, declined dramatically thanks to the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. it's a credit to the administration that 90% of nursing home residents and 80% of workers have been vaccinated. we know that infections are on the rise right now in nu

walensky is in media training. with a consultant to improve communication skills. today she held a rare solo news conference. >> this is hard, and i am committed to continue to improve as we learn more about the science and to communicate that with all of you. >> reporter: the well-regarded infectious disease expert had no government experience before president biden appointed her. and as often seemed out of step with the white house and dr. fauci leading to some abrupt and confusing changes in guidance. in may she announced vaccinated people could stop wearing masks indoors drawing quick criticism that it was too soon. last february, the white house had to clarify walensky's comment that teachers did not need to be fully vaccinated for schools to reopen. >> dr. walensky spoke to this in her personal capacity. >> reporter: now walensky is under fire for not following the cdc's own playbook for explaining new guidance. a biden covid adviser tells me the cdc has got to do a better job communicating what they are doin

walensky is trying to. and yesterday she held her first independent media briefing since the summer, telling reporters that she is committed to trying to continue to improve, eep as frustrations are mounting within the white house and the cdc regarding some of the messaging missteps that walensky has made. cnn learned that walensky has been working with a democratic media consultant, mandy grun waldeck for months to learn to better communicate some of the guidances out to the public. but both walensky and the cdc have come under criticism most recently when it comes to that guidance related to the isolation period for covid-19 positive patients. when the cdc announced they were shortening the isolation period from 10 to 5 days. some confusion ensued in the days after. they eventually released more guidance relating a little bit to testing. but it's coming at a time when americans lack for clarity how to live with this virus. now, the -- it's not just the messaging problems that are coming under scrutiny. th

walensky came in vowing to restore trust in the agency.had been weakened by the trump administration, the accusations of politics driving the science there when donald trump was in interest as president, and that's something she wanted to fix, and now as we're approaching the one-year mark you see the american questioning the cdc and its guidance on this pandemic now more than ever, especially with the changes announced in recent days when it comes to what to do if you've tested positive and isolating at home now that we've had the surge in cases due to the omicron variant. we've learned from sources saying last fall the cdc had a series of messaging problems fumbling the messaging on several significant decisions. dr. walensky hoped to improve her communications skills so that when she steps out in the public eye in the first independent media briefing since last summer sheer can better communicate the changes to the guidance and the improvements and updates they make but they are still plagued by questions of what's going on. this is not

rochelle walensky. stick around. ( cheers and applause ) ( band playing ) ( cheers and applause ) ♪♪ >> stephen: hey, everybody! welcome back! jon batiste and "stay human," everybody! ( cheers and applause ) >> stephen: jon, good to see you. ( jon singing ) >> stephen: thank you for the burst of color under the slate grey skies of new york tonight. thank you so much. >> jon: energy, energy. >> stephen: we just had a two-week break. >> jon: that's right. >> stephen: it's lovely to be back with all these people. ( cheering ) and one of the things that's nice is to go on break and be away, when i'm back here, i realize what a flurries and privilege it is to share the stage with you all over there. it's amazing to hear what you guys do every night. ( applause ) did you have any new year's resolutions? >> jon: i was thinking about that. the last couple of years, inches had one. i'm always trying to be better. >> stephen: every day's a new year? >> jon: every day. did you make any new year's resolutions? >> s

walensky offline, off tv quite a bit. it's a sudden change that we're not clued into so we're not getting a process of what's happening or the thinking behind what's happening here. listen to how she framed some of the criticism today and responded to it. >> we're in an unprecedented time with the speed of omicron cases rising and we're working really hard to get information to the american public and balancing that with the reality that we're all living with. this is hard and i am committed to continue to improve as we learn more about the science and to communicate that with all of you. >> as things stand now, jake, there was a poll that was done just last month basically asking the question about trust in the cdc and what they found was that 29% had a great deal of trust. a fair amount, 37%, not so much. 33%. that maybe eroded a little more over the last month. but just having covered these sorts of stories for a long time, there was a study in 2015 that talked about public health officials' trust around ebola. and it

walensky. we've long had problems with accurate state vaccination data in new hampshire. it's come to light that the cdc's data on new hampshire's vaccination rates is also inaccurate. apparently the cdc cannot consistently distinguish in its data between first doses of the vaccine and boosters. as a result, the agency incorrectly records boosters as first doses, artificially raising the vaccination rate. the cdc's data is inaccurate for other states as well. we've been looking at this for other states, too. so what steps is the cdc taking to resolve these data inaccuracies, and when will the cdc have accurate data for new hampshire? >> thank you, senator. this is a really important question. so cdc is the compiler of the data and we rely on the state immunization services to provide cdc the data at the state level. now, among the challenges with these accuracies is that if people don't bring in their card, they are counted as a first dose when in fact their card would have been a third dose, a

doctors walensky this is a question for you. you and i have had many conversations last year about the specific impact of conditional sale orders as it relates to the industry. that industry was effectively shut down for all of 2020 and we were able to salvage a bit of it. things relaxed last year. in fairness the industry itself has undertaken extraordinary precautions as one industry to make sure that people are protected from this virus. the question to you is i want to make sure that alaskan communities and businesses can this coming year and people are making their decisions as to whether or not to bookni a tripo alaska for the summer or not. i understand the conditional sale order is set to expire in a few days in recognition that the companies have adhered to or even exceeded the guidance in the order. i guess i would like some assurance from you that they can countra on that, that this is clear guidance andik messaging o does within the industries and those who are counting on being able to have a season this coming summ

walensky. we've long had problems with accurate state vaccination data in new hampshire. it's come to light that the cdc's data on new hampshire's vaccination rates is also inaccurate. apparently the cdc cannot consistently distinguish in its data between first doses of the vaccine and boosters. as a result, the agency incorrectly records boosters as first doses, artificially raising the vaccination rate. the cdc's data is inaccurate for other states as well. we've been looking at this for other states, too. so what steps is the cdc taking to resolve these data inaccuracies, and when will the cdc have accurate data for new hampshire? >> thank you, senator. this is a really important question. so cdc is the compiler of the data and we rely on the state immunization services to provide cdc the data at the state level. now, among the challenges with these accuracies is that if people don't bring in their card, they are counted as a first dose when in fact their card would have been a third dose, a

walensky. gabe cohen, cnn, washington. >>> let's talk further about all of this, joining me right now is an emergency medicine physician out of houston. lots of confusion, let's zero in on that, particularly the cdc guidelines of isolation from ten days to five days. what are you hearing from patients? >> thanks for having me. a lot of confusion indeed. when i see a patient in the emergency department we do a large workup and then i sum that workup in about a few sentences and give them discharge instructions. i feel like the cdc need needs to do a better job of that. they have a lot of information and data and they have to condense that down into clear mess messaging. my patients are confused when they can go back to work or school and it's hard for me to give them clear guidance because i'm confused at times as well. >> should it also be expected that there are going to be nuks waiting instructions because this virus is changing, it's constantly evolving and so guidance has to constantly evol

rochelle walensky held the first solo briefing and took questions from the reporters.s cnn has learned, the white house is growing increasingly frut frustrated with her and her message to the american public and the confusing guidance from the agency and walensky has been getting media training for months now to try to fix the problem. cnn's chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins broke the story. so ckaitlan, how is she responding to the criticism. >> we heard from her today. it is the first time the cdc has held its own independent briefing since the summer of 2021. normally they do it once a week and dr. fauci is often on the briefings but today it is just the cdc director, and some other scientists at the cdc taking questions from reporters and we're told by sources that is a decision that dr. walensky made this week pretty abruptly wanted to take the incoming questions given there are many generated by guidance head on. and she took the questions. a lot of questions that came up during today's briefing had to do not just with the new guidance coming out of

walensky just mentioned. the overwhelming proportion of people in this country who are vaccinated have gotten mrna vaccinations. either the moderna, or if you look at the data, you cannot walk away from the facts. the facts of what char stunningly obvious. when you look at the hospitalization and death among unvaccinated versus vaccinated, versus vaccinated and boosted. there really isn't much to say about that, except that the facts speak for themselves. >> next question. we'll go to political. thank you for taking my question. there were senators yesterday who really established a time travel -- table first senate confirmation. the does the biden administration support this proposal, and will director will in ski strengthen accountability for future public health responses, or do you think the idea is done. >> first, we look forward to reviewing the bill and we appreciate the senator focus on pandemic and making sure we never faced a pandemic of this magnitude again. we will leave it to congress to sort thr

director walensky and dr. fauci will face lawmakers today and we can expect questioning on the administration's guidance on prioritizing testing and treatments of nonwhites. former surgeon general adams is one critic blasting white house for using race to prioritize treatment. >> clear data shows that race is an independent risk factor for dying from covid. i don't approve of how they did it, we shouldn't be using race to decide who gets treatment. >> the cdc faces its own confidence crisis after receiving backlash from what people are calling confusing isolation guidance, fuelling rampant spread of misinformation even to high courts for justice sotomayor catching heat for way-off claims on childhood cases. white house refusing to set the record straight. >> what do you think about justice sotomayor claim that children are in serious condition, many on ventilators. >> i will not speak to supreme court arguments, what is at stake here is our effort to protect health workers and most importantly, protect patient

walensky.n, cnn, washington. >> and now to a very different covid situation, in china, where covid-19 cases are on the rise, despite the nation's zero covid strategy. on friday, the country reported nearly 100, that's right, 100 new locally transmitted infections, almost half from the city of xihen. we've heard revealing residents don't have access to needs including medical scare. now chinese authorities are telling hospitals to except all patients no matter what their covid status is our kristie lu stout has more. >> reporter: i'm kristie lu stout in hong kong. a second pregnant woman has suffered a mischarge due to delayed medical aid according to state media. a chinese premiere is telling hospitals not to turn people away. the xian hospital told cnn they initially turned the first pregnant woman away because they were following rules. after that went viral, the director was suspended and bowed and apologize for angry citizens it is not enough with one saying, quote, covid-19 might not kill

walensky. >> thank you, jeff, and good morning everyone. i'd like to start by walking you through today's state that. current seven-day daily average is about 491,700 cases per day, an increase of about 98% from the previous week. the seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 14,800 per day, an increase of about 63% over the previous week. the seven-day average of daily deaths are about 1,200 per day, which is an increase of about 5% over the prior week. over the last several weeks and over the holidays we have seen a significant and rapid increase in covid-19 cases. this increase reflects both cases caused by the delta variant and more importantly now cases surging from the omicron variant. over the past month, we have seen the percentage of omicron cases increase and the percentage of delta cases decrease. based on cdc genomic sequencing, we now estimate that omicron represents about 95% of the cases in the country and delta represents the remaining 5%. the sharp rise in cases and the

cdc director walensky on camera. dr. committee on the administration's response to the omicron variant. this coming now as the u.s. sets a new world record for new coronavirus infections in a single day. monday we had more than 1.4 million cases across the country. seven day average tripled in two weeks to more than 700,000 a day. dr. marty makary professor at johns hopkins school of medicine welcome to our program. what do walensky and fauci need to say? >> first of all one of the criticisms of them that is not fair is that they shift their guidance a lot. the virus evolves and this is a much different virus. normally science should evolve with new data. one criticism that will come out loud and clear is that the quality of the data has been particularly poor. we have not had good data to inform public policy. this is their job. they have 21,000 employees and over 10 billion in funding at the cdc. lawmakers have a right to be upset. they'll challenge them on natural immunity being completely ignored, which is ruining ca

walensky and the cdc came out with guidance that didn't include it.as that part of the communications plan to start with and they diverted, or was that something you just chose to inject? >> thank you for that question, senator burr. in decisions about the real gray zone, which dr. walensky described about after the five days where you have a considerable diminution in the likelihood of being transmitting, we had been in discussions about the role of what antigen testing would be. as a matter of fact, when dr. walensky came out with the final guidelines, they include that if you have a test available, you may take a test. at the end of the day we were quite in concordance with our views. >> i think the chair and i share this. we found it very confusing. i think the american people find it confusing. i don't say it lightly when i say not too many people in america are listening to what comes out of washington, whether it's congress or the administration as it relates to covid. the president makes an announcement of 500 million at home tests. is this th

so is it saying something, telling that now the "new york times" is pushing back on walensky? white house pays attention when the new york times and "washington post" start to criticize them as they should. latest guidance covid positive people are required to isolate for five days instead of 10 days and dr. fauci and the surgeon general come out and take public issue with the cdc director. this is enough to make your hair hurt and quite frankly, no one knows what to do, particularly when you are waiting for a test to see if you are covid positive and that is taking days to come back or you can't find a test or have to wait in line for hours. adults in charge, guys, children appear to be in charge at critical time in this country's path as far as covid is concerned. >> ashley: right. let's not forget rhode island and the healthcare system allowing covid positive workers to be in the hospital, that is neither here nor there, a different conversation, but confusing language. joe concha, thank you. president biden former advisors urging him to change strategy when it comess to de

i will agree with youth rochelle walensky. >> greg: the queen is dead.ree with me a my sweater is awesome, and we are in charge. the american people are now declaring we are done with this purity want to go back to school, go back to work, screw the government. >> emily: i commented on your sweater and i actually -- the last sound for a track i was excited but to answer your question, absolutely the problem is the nimbleness and humility that rochelle walensky, jesse, that was a different person in the white house but that rochelle walensky has said she needs to embody and sorry about the policies that have not reflected that. so she developed a school knowing she said that parents and kids and administrators were depending on us to ensure that kids get back into that enriching environment of classroom spirit about what happened? they have not change their policy at all. in fact, they advised the white house directly how to do that. it and because of that, children are committing suicide and declining mental health at record rates. there is a lot more sh

walensky. >> good morning. is about 21%. yesterday, they released a new report that details the severity of omicron in comparison to other variants. similar to prior reports, this data demonstrates that covid-19 has a severity that is slower, with the omicron variant. not with higher variance. you can see the relative rates of cases, shown in purple, with hospital admissions shown in orange. covid-19 related deaths are shown in blue. this compares the outcomes during the three periods of high covid-19 transmission. the peak, last winter, shown in the green section, with vaccination rates low, and cases and hospitalizations being high. the peaks of the summer months are when the delta variant was dominant. it is in yellow, shaded area. nearly 50% of the country has been vaccinated with the series. the third shaded section in orange represents the past months when cases dramatically increased due to the omicron variant. right now, we are at 54% of the country receiving primary series. 50% of eligible people, overeating, or boo

walensky was not saying that 75% of all u.s. were among people with four or more comorbidities. after this controversy erupted on monday, abc released walensky's full comments online, adding back the key sentences they left out of the tv segment on "good morning america" on friday. listen to her comment. >> an important study, if i may summarize it, a study of 1.2 million people who were vaccinated between september and october, demonstrated that severe disease occurred in about 0.015% of the people who were receiving a primary series and death in .003% of those people. the overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities, so really these are people who were unwell to begin with. and yes, really encouraging news in the context of omicron, this means not only just to get your primary series, but to get your booster series, and yes, we're really encouraged by these results. >> so once again, alisyn, and victor, the full comments show walensky did not say what a bunch of people on the

walensky on your opening statement. >> good morning. chair murray, ranking member burr, members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to join tow to provide an update on the covid-19 pandemic and impact of the omicron variant. it's been just over two years since we were first alittered to the emergence of sars-cov-2 in china. since that time cdc has worked with partner agencies and you in congress to take remarkable action to protect the health and safety of americans. omicron is now the dominant variant in the united states driving case counts to unprecedented heights here in the united states and around the world. despite the increases in cases there are promising emerging data from south africa and the united kingdom that hospitalization rates for people infected with omicron are lower, compared with prior variants. these data seem consistent with what we're seeing so far in the united states. however, despite a potential decrease in severity, the substantial number of absolute cases is resulting in hospitalization increases

walensky. one cdc scientist told me that the process of crafting these guidelines has really been shortened. dr. walensky focused on speeding up operations at the cdc, but often that has come at the -- instead of a full consultative process among scientists within the cdc, and also consulting outside experts. one cdc scientist told me that the fact that they have cut short that process may have contributed to some of the outrage that we saw from outside public health experts. meanwhile, for the white house, for its part, they have decided to allow the cdc to operate on its own and really staying back. but that frustration certainly is here. wolf? >> it is. jeremy diamond, excellent reporting. thank you very much. >>> six of president biden's former health advisers are now calling on him to change course, urging the biden administration to shift to a new pandemic strategy that focuses on adjusting toward what is being called a new normal. let's discuss what is going on with dr. jay varkey at emo

walensky at the c.d.c.do in the right way and feel like, i think, that they are not getting the whole picture with statistics or everything else. >> trace: brett, i want to point out the president has said the purveyors of covid misinformation need to stop it. and you and dr. walensky on fox news sunday, you pressed her on the misinformation about the supreme court justices what she said. watch this. >> and do you feel responsibility as the c.d.c. director to correct a very big mischaracterization by one of the supreme court justices? >> yeah, i -- here is what i'll tell you. i'll tell you that right now 17 -- if you are unvaccinated, 17 times more likely to be in the hospital and 20 times more likely to die than if you are on, than if you are boosted. >> she didn't want to answer the request he and it's an important question if you are talking about misinformation, coming from the top it needs to be corrected. >> trace: at the beginning of that we got her to say the numbers were not right, that sonia sotom

walensky, and every member of congress submits a financial disclosure that includes their investments. >> i don't understand why you're asking me that question. my financial disclosure is public knowledge and has been so for the last 37 years or so, 35 years. >> the big tech giants are doing an incredible job of keeping it from being public. we'll continue to look for it.

walensky, i want to take my time to do a little bit of an update on best practices for schools. i know we talk about this a lot here. part of what i think is frustrating for a lot of parents is that the guidance they're getting from their schools changes. i get it. educators are adjusting to the changes as technology changes. has anything changed since the last time you were here about what you are recommending for schools to stay open? i appreciate what you said in the last hearing that schools should be the first places to open and the last places to close. as the parent of two public school kids, i couldn't agree more. the trauma on these kids during this pandemic has been significant. the data tells us, especially for poorer kids and kids of color, distance learning just doesn't work. i'm grateful i've got a governor who has gone to extraordinarying lengths to make sure the schools have remained open. >> you took the words right out of my mouth. schools should be the first places to open and the last places to close. we had a delta surge in the fall and 99% of our schools we

walensky, thanks so much for your time this morning.

rochelle walensky and dr. anthony fauci appeared on capitol hill today to answer questions about the lack of tests available and confusing messages on health policy. congressional correspondent chad pergram shows us tonight. >> can't find a odessa? congressional located more than 80 billion for testing. but g.o.p. senator susan collins says the biden administration diverted test funds. >> our staff's investigation found that $850 million out of the testing budget and another $850 million out of the allocation for the stockpile were, instead, used to deal with the crisis at the southern border. >> senators from both sides admonished cdc director rochelle walensky and dr. anthony fauci about inconsistent messages about boosters, and ice labor relation. patty murray says her constituents are frustrated in year two of the pandemic. >> tests are hard to find and costlies. >> duo of criticism. >> people across the country are worried this will be another year of uncertainty. >> the communication efforts are a mess a

rochelle walensky stood by that today on the "today" show this morning trying to drive home some points about masking but not recommending the test before leaving quarantine. the cdc does have some updated guidelines on their website, though. they say make sure the person who is leaving quarantine is fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medications. continue wearing face coverings for the full ten days after your first symptoms. even if you're at home around other people. avoid people who are immunocompromised or at risk for revere disease and after you leave isolation don't have g to restaurants or other places where masks will likely come off. and on the question of testing before ending quarantine in just five days, this is what dr. walensky had as far as recommendations. >> we have heard people who are interested in getting and doing a test. they have access to a test. they want to know how to interpret it. and when we updated our recommendations just this week, we provided guidance for how you interpret that test. if you so choose to take that extra step at the end o

walensky has faced the brunt of criticism over the missteps. consistency over isolation, quarantine, testing guidance, and uneven performances and interviews like this one on fox news on sunday. >> do you know how many of the deaths in us are linked to covid are from covid or how many are with covid but they had other morbidities. you had that break down? >> of course, with omicron we are following that carefully. our depth registry takes a few weeks to collect and omicron has just been with us for a few weeks but the data will be forthcoming. >> she seemed to suggest an interview that over 75% of people who died from the virus had at least four -- calling it really encouraging news in the context of omicron. in prepared remarks shared ahead of tuesday's senate hearing with walensky, patty murray vented. people back in washington state and across the country are frustrated and worried about the course of this pandemic and its persistent challenges like how hard it is to get a test. have also heard from people who found the communication about n

rochelle walensky, only on "fox news sunday."lus, big problems for the nation's big cities grappling with spikes in crime and the impact of covid on schools and businesses. we're joined by miami's francis suarez, newly-elected president of the u.s. conference of mayors. it's a "fox fox news sunday" execs collusive. then -- >> the senate must advance legislation to protect our democracy and safeguard the right to vote is. bret: democrats use january 6th to make the case to pass voting rights legislation in congress to counter moves by republican state legislatures. we'll discuss with house majority whip james clyburn, a close ally of the president and advocate for reform. and the u.s. puts russia on notice over ukraine. enter we're prepared to respond forcefully to further russian aggression. bret: and monitors russian involvement in protests in kazahkstan. plus, the international drama over the number one men's tennis mare in the world, all right now on "fox news sunday." ♪ ♪ bret: hello again from fox news in washington. the cov

walensky at the cdc or other officials. it's a good partnership. on the one hand you have the policy and on the other hand you have facts on the ground. those are the conversations between the leading health officials of the states and the folks from washington making policy have been very important. we had that with the biden and trump administration. it has been a very productive partnership. the policies that have come out have been better because of that experience. host: what was the group message to washington about omicron? guest: there's no question the speed of this particular variant and how it's growing has come across in remarkable ways across the country. it has gone up so critically. the types of monoclonal antibodies that work are different with omicron. we have these oral medicines coming down as omicron has been expanding. so it has required constant communication. things have been changing so quickly that it is sometimes tough to get a clear message out and there's no doubt that there's confusion. we try and give feedback. it is c

jon: doctor walensky also said this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated. your reaction to the statement from her. >> we know people who are vaccinated are still protected about 70% against infection especially if they are boosted the people ended up in the hospital and the people ending up very sick with omicron are the ones unvaccinated. jon: unvaccinated, is that the case? >> that is not true what she's referring to is a protection against severe illness and getting the infection does go down slightly with vaccination and down slightly with boosters about ten weeks from your booster pfizer general verna that efficacy against symptomatic covid goes down to 35 and 45%. people who advocate rigorously is a way to stop the spread are in a tough time interpreting the study because you need to get boosters every three months in order to keep the interbody levels high and stop the transmission it doesn't matter to immunize for measles, mmr or the flu you are at risk for omicron think of as a bad cold season going around and about half of everybody you know will

walensky and dr. fauci are expected to be grilled on the administration's recent guidance on prioritizing treatment races. certain races chose not to get vaccinated or at higher risk, however, he does not approve of administration using race to decide who gets testing or care. >> clear data showss race is independent risk factor for dying from covid. we shouldn't be using race to decide who gets treatment. >> the cdc faces its own confidence crisis, intensifying backlash over the cdc back pedaling and issuing confusing isolation guidance fuelling rampant spread of misinformation that made it up to the high court. justice sotomayor catching heat for making a wildly inaccurate claim and the white house refusing to correct the record. >> what do you guys think about sonia sotomayor false claim 100,000 children are in serious condition, many on ventilators? >> i will not speak to supreme court arguments or statements made in the arguments. i will tell you what is at stake here is our effort to protect hea

the cdc chief walensky, boat of them were on the hill in front of the senate. walensky says u.s.d hospitalizations were up 33% last week. deaths were up about 40%. she also says that she expects omicron cases will reach their peak in the coming weeks. we'll bring you anymore news out of it as we get it. >> president biden: history has never been kind to those who sided with voter suppression over voter's rice. you want to be on the side of joe louis or bull connor, abraham lincoln or jefferson davis. the is the moment to decide to defend our elections and defend our democracy. the goal of the former president's allies is to disenfranchise anyone who votes against them. simple as that. that's the kind of power you see in totalitarian states, not in democracies. >> harris: republicans are pointing out the incendiary nature of president biden's speech yesterday. biden was pushing the democrats' bill to federalize elections. he claims those who oppose the democrats' voting bill are siding with the worst villains of american history. a noticeable no show at the event in georgia was st

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rochelle walensky telling the "wall street journal," what i have not conveyed is uncertainty in a lot. rochelle walensky says she committed to improving the -- hold more press briefings outside those held at the white house. hawaii may change definition of fully vaccinated to include booster shots. the governor says he is considering the change, but it would not go immediately into effect so people can ark just their plans. right now travelers need both doses of moderna or pfizer vaccine and one of the johnson & johnson shot. those not fully vaccinated have to show a negative covid test. >> todd: policy gave nonwhite patients priority for treatment, that action taken before legal threat from a conservative institute. dan, why did it take your warning shot for the hospital to stop this? >> dan: thanks for having me. this is across the country. we received whistleblower complaint for a physician working for ssl health. he was claiming the antibody treatment was based on race and provided e-mail showing risk-based calculator and under this calculator, a non-white patient is given a massi

week and a half ago for the first time drrks walensky and two of the doctors briefed the media. that needs to be happening at least once a week. so much is changing. the virus is adapting to people. we need to adapt to the virus. that means learn how it's changing. omicron is not a wave, wolf. it's a tsunami. there are huge numbers. but the more we learn, the more it's clear that it's not causing anything like the kind of severe illness that prior waves did. that means nothing about what the next wave may be. maybe delta will come back. maybe another variant will come. maybe no other variants will come and that kind of uncertainty means at the beginning of every statement we should say, based on what we know now, here is our best advice for how you can be safe and keep your family and community safe. >> still a lot of confusion out there. dr. tom freeden, thank you for joining us. these are important issues. >>> coming up, new insight right now to the courageous escape by hostages held at gunpoint inside a texas synagogue. the fbi calling the standoff an act of terrorism. this i