public health experts say this public health order isn't even based on public health. now, the arguments that we expect to hear this morning from the justice department are very similar to those made under the trump administration which is that, to avoid the transmission of covid, migrants shouldn't be allowed to be in these border facilities for processing. instead, they should be rapidly expelled, either back to mexico or to their origin country so they don't have to undergo that level of processing. we should note this case today is specifically about families and subjecting families to the order. the biden administration has exempted unaccompanied minors from being subject to this which is different from the trump administration. there's always exemptions. there are some migrants that have been allowed into the u.s. on that front, another big challenge, an immigration court backlog we learn 1.6 million cases. that's about the size of philadelphia. so even those migrants allowed into the u.s. will likely have to wait months if not years to get their cases resolved b

i'm a public health physician. we know there can be no public health guidance without the ability to clearly articulate that across multiple populations with how that message will impact behavior. we need to scrutinize how we practice public health that will allow us to be prepared and drive across multiple settings. if the director needs media training, get the media training. we need to return to the clesktive feedback consensus and opportunity for everyday americans to reflect and say, hey, what does this mean for guidance for me? >> dr. chris, such wise words. thank you for being with us this morning. >>> still to come, ahmaud arbery's family speaking out at the sentencing hearing for his killers. we have a look at the highly emotional day in court. plus yesterday's jobs numbers come in. president biden trying hard to find that silver lining. he put a positive spin o on the dismal report. next. 24-hour hydration. no parabens, dyes, or fragrances. gold bond. champion your skin. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ â™

the cdc on a regular basis would become the public health information. we do not have enough people who have had their second vaccination. we have about close to 75% with one dose. just over 60% with two doses. we're at 25% for boosters. while it's great to continue to urge people to get vaccinated in the first place, let's go to the willing. the people who have stepped up and had one shot and let's get people fully vaccinated an get people boosted. whose eligible for the booster? cdc needs to make that clear. that guidance has been changing depending on which vaccine you got. that would be an important message. what you should do if you think you've been in contact with people. that needs to be clarified. i went to the website myself and it's a little confusing. wear a mask any time you're indoors. some simple things we can do and particularly vaccines are still free. vaccines are available. boosters are available. i think people are getting very confused about the difference between a lack of availability of tests and the wide availability of vaccines

and then there are people who flat out refuse to follow public health deadlines to protect others two days after her defamation trial postponed testing positive for covid. sarah palin seen dining out in new york city on wednesday. this comes after palin allegedly flouted new york's covid vaccine rules dining indoors at the same restaurant last weekend despite being unvaccinated begging the question what is the end goal of this covid misinformation and refusal to follow public health protocols and a new piece in "the atlantic" arguing anti-vaccine right brought human sacrifice to america and with me now to talk about that, author of "evil genius is the unmaking of america: a recent history." let's talk about this. you write the right's ongoing propaganda campaign against organized resistance to vaccination among other public health protocol has been killing many americans for no reasonable ethically justifiable purpose. expand on that. >> there are always going to be people who didn't want to get a vaccine. an anti-vaccine movement before there was ever a covid vaccine in the last 20 y

during a public health emergency to protect the public from this kind of misinformation and harmful information going to the public. and right now we have 26% of our population that is still unvaccinated, and misinformation like this directly contributes to that. >> is part of what he was making there the case against vaccines, was he was trying to say there is such a risk of myocarditis for a certain age group with the vaccine, in fact, he was fact checked that the risk of myocarditis from actual covid is many times higher. what did you think of his response to that when he then went on to say, well, where are we getting this from? >> it is very concerning because, you know, joe rogan is an entertainer, he is not a public health or medical professional. and listening to, you know, the -- there has been rare cases of myocarditis detected in young males after the second dose of the mrna vaccines, however as the guest correctly pointed out, the risk in covid-19 is far greater than in -- with the vaccine, so actually with the amount of transmission we have of covid-19 right now, we're

we know that public health depends entirely on public trust. when you're asking people to do things that they normally wouldn't do and to give up aspects of their life, for example, being in isolation, that's really difficult. you have to have that trust. and what i'm so concerned about is, it's not just trust in the cdc. most americans don't know the difference between the cdc and the white house and hhs and federal health officials. they're also not differentiating between federal health officials and local and state health officials. and now what's happening is local and state officials are looking at the cdc guidelines saying, that doesn't make sense. i can't implement that. they're coming up with their own guidelines. and everyday people are confused and losing trust in the entire infrastructure of public health. that has a lot of negative impacts, not only for covid, but for so many other aspects of public health, too. >> let's turn to schools, dr. went, while i have you. some 340,000 students, as you just heard, in chicago, once again, k

health consensus. and that creates this false equivalence. if you -- having someone on who is spouting anti-vaccine rhetoric and then someone on reflecting the public health viewpoints, those things are not equal and presenting them like that certainly suggests that they might be. >> and yet joe rogan has the number one podcast on spotify. millions of people listen to him. audiences are choosing him. why? what is it about him? clearly he connects. >> yeah, i think it's maybe that it's an unscripted conversation. he does have these people on who are not really given platforms in major media institutions. and that's because they are, you know, spouting only sort of anti-vaccine rhetoric things that are not in line with public health consensus. at cnn we have a health desk. we make sure the information that we provide viewers is accurate. most major outlets have some sort of system in place to do that. joe rogan is having a conversation with people that, you know, he finds interesting and that might attra

it is not unusual during times of big public health challenges for trust to erote. but it is really important it to be regained right now. >> i have a good friend who was -- who came down with covid, got a positive test yesterday. he's in isolation at home right now. but here's the question. he asked me this. i'll ask you because you're the expert. after five days, can he go out and about assuming he doesn't have any major symptoms or anything along those lines? does he actually need after ten days to get a test, which shows he's negative right now? because these guidelines from the cdc are confusing about do you need a test to be able to resume your day to day activity? >> right. no. this is a question i think everyone is asking. let me show you some data i think is important for people to see. so let's just say you are diagnosed with covid, and you sort of count down the days after that. and the question is what is the likelihood you're still contagious at any given time? if we have this graph, we can show it. what it shows is that your level of contagiousness doe

public health doesn't get to tell people what to wear. i mean, that's just not their job. >> you see the arrival of the vaccine as the end of mask mandates statewide. that's your position? >> we see it as the end of the medical emergency, frankly. people who want to be protected are. those who get sick, it is almost entirely their own darn fault. >> why did that bother you? >> it's not over. >> reporter: dr. mark johnson is the president of the colorado medical society. he recently retired from his post as the public health director of jefferson county outside of denver. >> to say it's over feeds into those who want it to be over and are telling us in medicine and in public health that we're overdoing it. it's not like we're trying to control people's looiives, but that's what it came off as. >> every recipe is my mom, dad, grandma's. >> reporter: daniel ramirez and his family operate four restaurants in three counties, each with their own set of local pandemic health guidelines. that's part of the local control the governor advocated. ho

the mandate can remain in effect while it's being appealed but from a public health standpoint, what does all of this legal fighting that we've seen, not just in new york but from many states about mitigation measures due to efforts to keep people safe? >> i think it's unfortunate this has to be litigated in the courts and cannot be, you know, done as public health. i think two things, if you read the ruling, the governor is above his, the governor is above her ability to mandate things because there's no longer a public health emergency. number one, you declare it a public health emergency but saying the legislator has the ability to do that. so maybe the governor doesn't but the legislator does. we need to work together as governments, as societies, as individuals in trying to mitigate the impact of covid and what we do really, should be done in the best interest of people, we need to think about what's best for the population and how do we implement those things in order to continue both keeping people safe but being able to work and do the things that are necessary. >> yeah, exac

for right now, a peaceful and vocal protest in ottawa against the public health restrictions. >> paula newton in ottowa, thanks so much. >>> hello, again, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. right now the powerful and potentially historic winter storm is slamming the east coast from virginia to maine. the national weather service confirming blizzard conditions in new jersey, delaware, connecticut, and new york. ten states are currently under a blizzard warning. some areas could see more than 2 feet of snow. >>> hurricane force wind gusts are expected creating coastal flooding and power outages. officials urge residents to stay inside, off the roads. parts of new england are seeing the worst of it right now. massachusetts is already reporting more than 110,000 customers without power. cnn has teams covering the northeast like no one else can do. brian todd is in atlantic city where you are officially meeting the criteria from a blizzard and it's not over, right? >> reporter: it is not over yet, fredricka. we're told that the snow is supposed to stop around 2:00 p.m. eastern time, about a

it's not devastating our public health the way we see it today. rrp six former advisers to president joe biden are now calling for new measures in the white house to move americans more quickly towards a new normal. among the suggestions quicker updates with the vaccines to keep pace with the changing environments. >> covid is going to be around us, just like the flu is around us. and we're going to have to live with that and we're going to have to bring the mortality rates down to make it so we can go back to our normal everyday lives. >> reporter: at the supreme court, justices are hearing arguments about covid vaccine mandates affecting some businesses. that as new york's governor announced she'll require boosters for all health care workers the first state in the nation to do so. >> you'd want to make sure everyone taking care of you is protected. >> reporter: moderna saying the fourth shot may be needed by fall with hospitalizations approaching all-time high and as the average number of daily cases tops 600,000. the governor of west virginia

health. thanks for being with us. let's start with this new version of the omicron variant called ba.2. it's showing up in nearly 50 countries including the u.s. and is apparently more contagious but less severe than the original omicron variant. what more are you learning about this and how concerned should we all be? >> it's not surprising that we're starting to see another variant arise and to start taking over. this variant appears to be more contagious than the original variant of omicron. but right now we still don't know enough about severity to truly understand it. it appears not to be any more severe than the original omicron strain. but we have to remember that this increased transmissibility does lead to more cases. more cases does lead to more hospitalizations and inevitably more deaths. >> yeah. sadly so. and of course we are also seeing a steep decline in covid cases across the u.s., with some experts suggesting this is the most optimistic sign they've seen in a long time. do yo

ranney, the professor of emergency medicine and public health at brown university. doctor, i wanting to back to that exchange that we played between senator rand paul and dr. fauci and hearing dr. fauci describing the threats that he's received and his family has received there, he's almost a sense of desperation in his voice today. he was not going to let senator rand paul spreading this misinformation. what's your reaction to what we heard? >> honestly, i'm glad that dr. fauci stood up not just for himself but for public health professionals across the united states. state and county health officials, like dr. fauci, have been being targeted in unprecedented manners with verbal threats, threats against their kids and violent threats throughout this pandemic. to the degree that the very people who are trying to protect the health of our society are being forced out of their jobs, out of fear for their own and their families' lives. we can have reasoned debate about the science, but what we cannot tolerate as a civil society are these frank lies and calls to violenc

they have all kinds of public health issues. the response to the pandemic has not been good at all. they have huge climate problems with siberia melting, and the list goes on and on, so invading ukraine doesn't really do anything to solve these sorts of problems that putin faces at home. >> but is it the distraction that helps him? >> well, i think there's a certain amount of that is a distraction. putin to me is a throwback to the czar era, peter the great. he has a spiritual vision of a greater russia and he turned 70 this year so perhaps he's concerned about burnishing his legacy, and so -- and that's -- the other dangerous thing about this is not exactly -- i don't think he was thinking on this is exactly logical when you tick off the considerable challenges that he faces at home. >> james clapper, always appreciate your insight. thank you. >> thanks, erica, for having me. >>> coming up, could a more than century-old act targeting kkk tactics be used to hold former president trump liable for the capitol riot? that's what a federal judge is deciding right now. stay tuned. that's

is this what happens when public health gets politicized? >> yes, and it happens when the issue of public health becomes like a team sport. you're either with me or against me. i'm sort of done with emotions because the truth is as a vaccinated, boosted mother of three children, i've got feelings too. i mean why the non-vaxxers and the non-maskers are allowed to assert their feelings everywhere they go, and we're supposed to sit back and just say, oh, well, it's a high-emotion stakes game, it's ridiculous at this stage. we're the majority. the majority of the american population is vaccinated, and so, you know, anger just -- i just take emotion out of everything. she said something that was violent. it was threatening. it was at a school board. it takes a lot to drive to a school board and speak and wait in line to speak at a meeting. and i don't -- i never understand by people what they mean by, i just meant guns figuratively. like what does that even mean? i mean kids are killed until sk schools every three days or four days. i don't know

we're very frustrated that there are no public health leaders standing up and saying that we should be moving to remote learning environment, especially for a district of this size, and so we want our union and we want cps to be making this decision based on science. >> so what do you think is going on here? because just for people who aren't familiar with the chicago public school district. >> yes. >> almost all of the teachers are vaccinated, right? >> that's right. 96% i believe. >> so it's sort of a mixed bag obviously with the kids, which is the case all over the country. >> right. >> what is going on here, do you think, that has the teachers union saying no? three out of four teachers in the district? >> you know, it's a great question, and one of the things that we're really frustrated about is, it's very clear public health leaders are saying the classroom is the safest place for our kids, and even the rates, the covid rates that cps has published, they're lower within the cps community than they are out in the general community, so as parents, you know, we saw over the holiday

they are against vaccine mandates, against mask mandates, they are against public health measures. and so they grouped here in ottowa, the question now is when are they going to leave. police say they would like this protest to end. there are still wall to waukegan rigs in the downtown core. few protesters, but still a significant number. at issue now is how to get them out of the city or convince them to leave. and they continue to say they are going to stay here until their demands are met. no sign of that. prime minister justin trudeau remains at a disclosed location for the safety of his family. he lives a mile from where the protest was occurring. having said that, ottowa police investigate incidents, one that was especially serious where people really showing disrespect to the nation's war memorial, and there were some other disruptions. right now ottowa police say the priority is to get everyone out of the city safely. protesters, though, they're saying, look, they're staying put until their demabnds are me. >> thanks very much, paula newton there. >>> now, spotify says it w

health officials in this country, the public health institute, the bureaucrats, have been contacted to try to clarify that. one of the discrepancies or the oddities is that on the i.d. number on that december 16th positive test. it is a higher number than the negative test that he got in december 22nd. why is that important? well, those numbers appear to be chronological, and so it doesn't make sense to have a higher number on december 16th. that number appears as if the test was taken on december 26th. well, today officials say that, look, it's a pretty simple thing to explain. the tests were done at different labs, there's nothing to see here. however, there were also some questions around the qr code that was published in court documents that they say about 100,000 people scanned. well, because of that web traffic that led to you a page showing the test result, they actually had to switch over the servers, and so for a time that positive test result on the 16th was actually showing negative. they say it was simply because of the server, nothing else. >> wow, that is so complicate

where it gets more complicated is when you're talking about public health crisis. and that's why companies like youtube and other big platforms have taken strong stands against disinformation. against lies. we talk about misinformation ana. we should be using the word lies. discredited information. complete lies. that's what some of rogan's guests have peddled but for spotify, they think he's too valuable to take action. >> and yet that misinformation really can be the difference between life or death. brian stelter, appreciate your reporting. >>> let me bring in dr. leana wen, the cnn medical analyst and former baltimore medical commissioner. also the author of "lifelines: a doctor's journey in the fight for public health." doctor wen, first your reaction to spotify sticking with rogan and his covid misinformation. >> yeah, it's really unfortunate. i agree with brian that we should call out this type of misinformation for what it is, which is active disinformation and lies. and let's also talk about the consequence of this disinformation. we have more than 2,000 a

public health measures that we've mentioned, better air quality, masking, not going into crowded indoor spaces, those are really important measures in order to get past omicron. you need to plan today for three months from now so we are not caught in the same problem. >> trying to get ahead of things here, we heard an announcement yesterday from new york governor kathy hochul yesterday announce that go they will be implementing stricter masking and testing at nursing homes in addition to requiring that health care workers get that booster if they have not received it already. fred? >> polo sandoval, thanks so much for that. >>> so this latest surge is fueling a new fight across the country over what to do as schools return from winter break. parents in chicago are suing the teachers union over their refusal to administer in-person learning. cnn's nadia romero is in atlanta for us. students are set to return to the classroom on monday. how is that move being received by folks in chicago? >> reporter: yeah, well, fred, we've seen this in chicago, here in atlanta, really all across the cou

it also affects trust in public health because normal people, everyday people, are not distinguishing between what's going on with the cdc versus what they are hearing from local and state health departments, and when the guidance from the cdc doesn't make sense, local and state health departments are having to come up with their own guidance which sometimes looks like it's contradicting the cdc which makes it look like all of public health that we don't know what we're doing so i really hope that the cdc fixes the way that they are doing things, that they have more transparency but also when they release guidelines, consider doing them in draft form first and then get stakeholder input and then come out with a final guidelines. i think that kind of process, change in process would make a huge difference in how everyday people and also public health officials are able to explain the guidance coming forward. >> how do you unring the bell though, if you will, with the -- with the latest round of confusion is rooted in the isolation, updated guidance for isolation and what you're doing w

outside public health partners and others. does that raise any red flags for you or is that how it works when you're in the middle of a crisis like covid? >> it's hard for me to comment on that, jake, without knowing all the details. i would say that i thought it was a very positive sign that dr. walensky was doing a briefing from cdc headquarters today. when i was the acting director of cdc during the swine flu pandemic, i relied on those briefings, direct briefings to reporters for a number of things. one is, it helped me get an understanding of what the public was concerned about. reporters often asked really challenging questions that forced us to challenge our own assumptions. and it separated out the science that was taking place at cdc with how that science informed political decisions, policy decisions that sometimes came out of washington. science needs to inform policy decisions, but it's not always the sole factor that goes into them. and that can be a challenging thing to communicate. having the separation will be

in an interview with colorado public radio, the governor made comments that frustrated many public health experts. >> the emergency is over. so, you know, public health doesn't get to tell people what to wear. i mean, that's -- that's -- you know, it's not their job. >> you see the arrival of the vaccine as the end of mask mandates statewide? that's your position? >> the end of the medical emergency, frankly. people who want to be protected are. those who get sick, it's almost entirely their own darn fault. >> >> did that bother you so much? >> because it is not over. >> dr. mark johnson is president of the colorado medical society. he recently retired from his post as the public health director of jefferson county outside of denver. >> to say it's over feeds into those who want it to be over, and are telling us in medicine and in public health that we're overdoing it. it's not like we are trying to control people's lives but that's kind of what it came -- came off as. >> every recipe is my mom, my dad's, my grandma's. >> reporter: daniel ramirez and his family operate four different rest

walensky's handling of public health guidance and what they see as continued missteps. cnn's kaitlan collins helped to break the story. what is dr. walensky doing to fix what her critics perceive as a mess? >> she's committed to making communication at the cdc better. it's been something that has been an issue ever since she took this job in january. it was an issue long before she got there but she did come into the job vowing to restore trust in the cdc. that's been really the big issue here. so, in part, she has started doing media training. this is something we're told by sources she started last fall. a way to improve her own communication skills because she's often the face of the cdc. going out there and communicating the new guidance. as she did recently when they changed that isolation period. if you've tested positive for covid-19. that is something that generated a lot of criticism, not just from people who are confused by it, jake, but also from doctors who said, yes, it did need a testing component to it. and so the other thing that we've heard, jake, is th

matthew, a primary care physician and public health specialist. thank you so much for joining us this morning. i guess the first question is, as people are getting ready to go back to work, go to school and what not this week following this holiday break, what should they be bracing for with these new omicron infections that we're seeing? >> yeah. good morning, kaitlan. listen, i live in atlanta. i almost feel like everybody, if you haven't gotten the covid infection there's a high chance you will get it. i was on call yesterday, starting from 3:00 a.m. in the morning, i received 50 phone calls, 45 of those were for covid positive patients. i think ultimately, even though i do agree with dr. reiner that a lot of the mitigation guidelines may not work as well, remember, it's all about a viral load. if you still wear a mask and you maintain a distance and don't hang around a lot of people whose vaccination status you don't know, you can still cut down on the exposure and even if you get sick, you won't be as severely sick. the bottom line is, i see

response to the pandemic, at the same time public health experts are calling for a fresh strategy. testifying before a senate committee tuesday, officials were grilled on the same day that the u.s. hit record hospitalizations. acting head of the fda janet w woodcock said the priority is making sure hospitals can still function, adding this stark assessment. >> i think it's hard to process what's actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get covid. >> another major topic, masking, with omicron's high transmissibility, officials say it's time to upgrade your mask. a point dr. anthony fauci echoed on cnn last night. >> i recommend that you get the highest quality mask that you can tolerate and that's available to you. right now it doesn't seem to be any shortage of the masks that sometime ago were not available. if you can tolerate an n95, do it. so, we should be wearing the best possible masks that we can get. that's a fact. >> cnn's elizabeth cohen reports for us this morning. >> christine, laura, the senate hearing on tuesday, senators grilling u.s. health off

public health measures that we've mentioned, better air quality, masking, not going into crowd ed indoor spaces, those ae really important measures in order to get past omicron. you need to plan today for three month from now so we're not caught in the same problem. >> children's hospital of philadelphia has new guidance aimed at keeping kids in classrooms. the health care system said in a statement, quote, with evidence that covid-19 is becoming a milder infection in most children and at a time when all adults and youth in k through 12 settings have been offering vaccination, children's hospital of philadelphia and policy lab at chop support in-person education, even in times of significant community transmission, and propose new guidance that reduces excessive burden to school staff and families." that new guidance in brief -- continue indoor masking regardless of vaccination status. people with respiratory illness must stay home while symptomatic. those with mild illness should get tested if there is high risk of severe infection. discontinue required weekly testing of people with no

the concern, too, is we're still in a public health crisis. there are measures that need to be taken. there's a balancing act about encouraging people to take the vaccines, but not going as far as mandating them. also, having to align themselves, to the extent they will, with people saying outrageous things like robert f. kennedy, jr.. but this is where a lot of the energy is, and the fact it's still ongoing, and republicans clearly see this as a way to galvanize their base and tap into that. >> obviously this is an issue where you can find even some more centrist voters. i think the reason glen youngkin is a governor of virginia today, is because he got enough moderates who were frustrated with the ongoing pandemic and current school restrictions and shutdowns, tapping into that frustration. that's the kind of thing you'll see other republicans try to do in this midterm. >>> the governor of virginia wants parents to make the decisions, the school districts say, no, we should make decisions about safety in our school, so that will play out thr

health care system. how much they'll be charged is not yet clear. >> it's a question also of fairness for the 90% of the population who made some sacrifices. i think we owe them this kind of measure. >> well, the government says that nearly 90% of eligible quebecans have received a vaccine. they are allowed to buy alcohol and cannabis. vaccine appointments spiked as a result of that requirement. >>> your thought, is it fair for quebec to make the unvaccinated pay? really want your take on this. is it right, or has the government gone too far? reach me on twitter and instagram. let me know your thoughts. i'll share some of them later on here this hour. >>> now, i want to stay with covid. really some alarming news out of europe. the world health organizations europe chief says the omicron variant is sweeping across the region from west to east like a tidal wave. he's warning that more than half of europe could catch the virus in the next two months. new data shows europe more than 7 million new cases in th

you know, public health is hard. i had a good friend of mine dd dr. charles holmes at georgetown tweeted this, public health is hard, and people are doing their best, and folks on twitter who aren't doing that need to give some grace because it's tough. >> we hear you. dr. rob davidson, thank you for all you do. we appreciate it. >> . >>> as of february 1st, children in new orleans public schools will be required to have both doses of the covid-19 vaccine, along with all the other required student immunizations. the rule covers all students 5 and up. the public schools in new orleans are also keeping mask requirements. the superintendent henderson lewis joins us now. welcome, sir. let's start with new orleans in this new rule is an outlier as it relates to the big city school districts. why require for 5 and up full vaccination? >> yes, and the first thing i'll share is that the health and safety of our students is our top priority, especially as we have been in this pandemic for almost two years. but when you think of the vaccination, one, it keeps o

if people are reicquired to hav two shots, doesn't that become a public health problem? >> i wouldn't say a public health problem but needs to be addressed because it is obviously confusing people but a thing to talk about is how well you are protected rather than a definition to get someone to be required or not. that's what we are talking about. that's the point that was made today that when you want to be up to date that's where the booster comes in. >> the other argument is refusal to change the definition of fully fully vaccinated about the science or not wanting the administration fully vaccinated rate to drop to a quarter of the american people. >> no. i can tell you categorically that's not the motivation and the reason. i've never heard a discussion of saying don't change it. i've never been indirectly hearing that on any discussion. >> let's talk to another issue that's important for americans. you said a vaccine for children under 5 could be coming in a month. you said it would be likely sec quart of 2022. how sure are you? there's parents desperately anxious

to see that shift somewhat with public health officials trying to focus more on the severity of cases through hospitalizations instead of overall case counts and that's really trying to shift the country into this situation where we'll have to live with this virus for however long is to come. president biden did post a little video, he shared it with one of the new year's eve broadcasts. he says the virus has been tough this year, but we've been tougher, frederica? >> thank you so much. at least four times this week, the nation broke records for its seven-day average of new covid-19 cases. it has soared to an average of 386,000 new infections each of those days. that's the highest of any time during the pandemic. and many experts warn it will only get worse. the crisis has forced the biden administration to abandon its hopeful messaging from the summer. >> so today while the virus hasn't been advavanquished, we this, it no longer controls our lives, it no longer paralyzing our nation. >> look, there's no federal solution. this gets solved at the state level and that's where the patien

. >> yeah, we're asking the american people to suddenly get a masters in public health and it's not working. here is what we know. we have new information coming out of the japanese government, the institute of infectious disease in japan found concordance among pcr results and virus isolation with people with omicron. so one of the problems with the pcr is it's very sensitive and can detect both actual virus and virus remanence so you don't know if people are really shedding virus and now it's showing that it backs it up pretty well so it goes like this, don. what happens is starting around seven, eight days it drops off significantly in terms of actual virus being released. it's a small study but if it could be replicated, it tells us actually that the original recommendation of ten days might have been spot on and we might have to revisit that if other studies, which are larger show the same thing. >> yeah, just had questions about like when you're shedding, shedding by the way, everyone, the virus, you're still -- are you still contagious? >> yeah, that's the basis of being contagious,

public health measures that we've mentioned -- better air quality, masking, not going into crowded indoor spaces, those are really important measures in order to get past omicron. you need to plan today for three months from now so we're not caught in the same problem. >> with child hospitalizations hitting record numbers across the country, many states are wrestling with the benefits and risks of in-person learning. it's an impassioned debate involving parents and teachers, politicians and lawyers. cnn's nadia romero is they're break it down. you're in atlanta where students returned to class on monday after a week of virtual learning. i know there's palpable anxiety across the country with parents. what's the mood there? >> reporter: yeah, phil, they're returning back to in-person learning on monday, as you mentioned, here at the atlanta public school district. we're still seeing rises cases across the state of georgia. so the governor says, hey, no need for contact tracing, it's just too difficult right now. so that's not mandatory anymore. and if you're a georgia school teacher and yo

>> that's a huge hit to public health initiatives. this is not the way things like this should be decided. public health initiatives should not be left up to this kind of a decision. this decision has stripped away osha's power in trying to help with this pandemic and protect workers. what this does, like you said, leave it in the hands of businesses. it makes it very difficult for individual businesses to make these decisions. they are not public health exports, and it makes it very difficult for the public to make decisions about which businesses have vaccine mandates, which ones don't. this is not the way public health should be done and what there,will result in is more surges. it will allow this virus to continue to persist where we had a real opportunity to say if you're working for a business, you have to get vaccinated just like you have to get vaccinate federal you're working in a hospital. those are the right things to do. we need expanded mandates in order to get more of the population vaccinated to stem this pandemic. >> d

that's just public health. >> and the top doc has backup. the department of health and human services criticizing senator paul saying, "it is disappointing and, frankly, unacceptable that republican senators chose to spend a hearing with the country's leading public health experts spreading conspiracy theories and lies about dr. fauci rather than how we protect people from covid-19." as we enter year three of the pandemic, would the country be a lot better off if everyone could attack the virus instead of the experts? that's a question for dr. jonathan reiner. he will answer right after this. ♪ and it's easy to customize your insurance at libertymutual.com so you only pay for what you need. isn't that right limu? limu? limu? sorry, one sec. doug blows several different whistles. doug blows several different whistles. [a vulture squawks.] there he is. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. print!

health advice. >> that public health advice, as you know, dr. besser, to date, you hear this -- we heard it again on cnn this morning from the surgeon general, which is going to school is just fine with mitigation. mask wearing, better ventilation, et cetera. as you look at this data, do you think that advice holds? >> well, you know, i don't think it is fair to say just fine. and the reason i say that is that everything we do has some risks. what we have learned over the past two years is that there is significant risk keeping children out of school. risk in terms of not just educational learning, but socialization, and mental health and all kinds of things that are really, really important. and we put the big emphasis over these past two years on reducing as much as possible the risk of infection. and with that, i don't think we paid enough attention to the risks to mental health by keeping kids out of school. so sending your kids to school does involve some risk. and so it is important to look and see is your school taking this seriously. and

for more on that, i want to bring in a professor of infectious diseases, and doctor, a public health physician. to both of you, thank you very much for joining us. are you encouraged by those results from moderna on the durability of their current booster shot against omicron? >> absolutely, wolf. i think it is really good news. we're encouraged. and those data match up with what we're seeing in the field. if you're vaccinated and you've been boosted, we know that you have sustained protection against serious disease that could put you into the hospital. and that's what we've got to focus on. we want to keep people out of the hospital. >> we certainly do. dr. pernell, the first participant for an omicron specific booster has already been vaccinated. do you think most of lust receive an omicron booster at some point down the road? >> i'm not certain that we will. i think the bigger scientific bang for the buck, if you will, is the news coming around a pan coronavirus vaccine. while this is welcome news to know we're sharpening the tools in our tool kit, i think the bigger news will be

now, the city's public health commissioner says she is in favor of more testing. that's one thing members of the union are requesting. she said schools are not lead to go a significant spread of covid. listen in. >> they're worried that the schools are not safe. i get that we are in a covid surge and that there is a lot of worry in chicago overall. but when i look at risk/benefit in chicago, more than 9 0% of our staff fully vaccinated, much higher vaccination rates among children than the national average, and we are not seeing schools be the source of spread. >> reporter: on thursday, the district tweeted in-person learning may be available for students today. but telling parents do not send your child to school unless they receive a call from the principal. the city's mayor and the president of the district said the conversations between the union and the city and district were, quote, productive. brianna. >> yeah. look, we know that spread in schools is lower than it is in the community. but i also wonder about those tests. because just looking at washington,

the governor made comments that frustrated many public health experts. >> you know, public health doesn't get to tell people what to wear. that's just not their job. >> you see the arrival of the vaccine as the end of mask mandates statewide. that's your position? >> well, i see it as the end of the medical emergency, frankly. people who want to be protected are. those who get sick, it is almost entirely their own darn fault. >> dr. mark johnson is the president of the colorado medical society. he recently retired from his post as the public health director of jefferson county outside of denver. >> to say it's over feeds in to those who want it to be over and are telling us in medicine and in public health that we're overdoing it. it is not like we're trying to control people's lives, but that's kind of what it came off as. >> every recipe is my mom's, my dad's, my grandma's. >> daniel and his family operate four different restaurants in three different counties, each with their own set of local health guidelines. that's part of the local control the governor has advocated. >> how stressf

. >> we're very frustrated that there are no public health leaders standing up and saying that we should be moving to a remote learning environment especially for a district of this size. >> reporter: in los angeles, students are due back in school in person tomorrow with widespread testing turning up some 50,000 positive cases in the district. metro atlanta schools also returning to in-person learning after almost a week of going remote. the largest district in the nation, new york started the new year in person. so far just one single classroom in partial quarantine. >> i think at this point there is no good explanation for having remote schools. >> still disruption ripple throughout the country. some in greensboro, north carolina are without bus drivers made worse by rising covid-19 cases. and a more dire situation for hospitals. nearly one in four nationwide now reporting critical staffing shortages, federal data shows while covid hospitalizations numbers near the pandemic all-time high. >> among unvaccinated people and unboosted high risk people, it is putting a big strain on given

they dropped the masks and moved ob, despite appeals from public health officials. some are at high risk now due to omicron. but i want to focus on the other segment of americans, those who are vaccinated and paying attention to the pandemic and hearing about omicron on skol closures and the rest. this moment in the pandemic is really complicated because a mostly mild variant is still bringing hospitals to the brink of capacity and care. a lot of people are confused what to doth believe. many doctors are doing a major juggling act given the circumstances. and yet i think we're also potentially seeing and hearing from doomsday doctors who push people even toward more fear, anxiety and depression. i'm not trying to call out anybody in particular, i think this is obviously really nuanced, but is there an undo amount of fear being spread, especially in those twitter threads and facebook posts and corners of available tv where if it feels like covid zero is the only goal, covid zero is the idea you can completely eliminate covid from the environment, which is an impossib

from a public health view, does it concern you people seem less engaged and compliant? >> it concerns me very much, pamela, that there are people opposing vaccine requirements when actually it's vaccine that is will allow us to get back to prepandemic normal. we know people who are vaccinated are 13 times less likely to die. they are five times less likely to be infected and, therefore, to transmit covid compared to somebody who is unvaccinated. and so if we don't want any more restrictions, and frankly none of us do, we should be embracing vaccines because that is the key to prepandemic normal. >> former commissioner scott gottlieb said this morning we're at least two months away before children under 5 can be vaccinated. does that worry you given we have no idea if a new variant will emerge? i know you're a mom of young kids, as i am. >> it worries me very much as a mom of two kids under 5 and also as a physician and public health expert because we know that right now parents with young kids are making all kinds of decisions because we're concerned about our children.

. >> we have been failed by the mayor, failed by the public health office and teachers and the school staff have decided the only thing that we can control is whether we go into the buildings and we're saying we want to teach and we want to do what's right for our students. >> reporter: so they want to do what's right for their students but want to do it safely, that's what we're hearing from the teachers. on the city side they're saying we've done everything we can do to make it safe but we have to move on with every day life. we're seeing those contentious battles happening in new york state, the mayor also wanting in-person learning but the different teachers unions and lawmakers are asking for more tests and masks. san francisco yesterday throughout the bay area teachers planned a sick out to protest against what they say is a lack of resources to be back in the school at a safe rate. fred, this is something that we've seen throughout this pandemic and unfortunately just hasn't gotten better. >> no. all right. nadia romero, thank you so much. >>> let's talk more about this with st

for right now, a peaceful and vocal protest in ottawa against the public health restrictions. >> paula newton in ottowa, thanks so much. >>> hello, again, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. right now the powerful and potentially historic winter storm is slamming the east coast from virginia to maine. the national weather service confirming blizzard conditions in new jersey, delaware, connecticut, and new york. ten states are currently under a blizzard warning. some areas c

. >> reporter: public health experts can't predict if or when the next covid surge might come, but many are increasingly certain this one is nearly behind us. >> in another few weeks, the omicron flash flood, not a wave but a flash flood, will have largely passed. >> reporter: clear signs of a turn-around across the country. declines in the number of new covid cases in 33 states compared to last week. despite that progress, some states haven't reached their omicron peak yet. in montana, there's an onslaught of new cases. they're up more than 50% in just the last week. >> when you have over 2,000 deaths, 150,000 hospitalizations, and you have people who are now getting infected to the tune of somewhere around 700,000 a day, we're not there yet. >> reporter: pfizer and moderna are both working on omicron-specific vaccines. it isn't clear that they'll be needed, but covid has brought surprises before. >> i think hopefully we'll get into spring and summer and have a period of stability, but we have to be prepared. as moderna and leaders in this field we're committed to being prepared to pro

. >> reporter: public health experts can't predict if and when the next covid surge might come, but many are certain this one is nearly behind us. >> in another few weeks the omicron flash flood, not a wave but flash flood will have largely flashed. >> reporter: some states haven't reached their omicron peak yet. in montana there's an onslaught of new cases. up more than 50% in just the last week. >> when you have over 2,000 deaths, 150,000 hospitalizations and you have people getting re-infected to the tune of somewhere around 700,000 a day, we're not there yet. >> reporter: pfizer and moderna are looking on omicron vaccines. covid has brought surprises before. >> when you get into spring and summer and have a period of stability so we have to be prepared now. >> reporter: vaccine manufacturers and public health experts are keeping close tabs on an omicron subvariant. it isn't considered cause for alarm. most americans are eager to put omicron behind them and still divided over how to. the politics of vaccines and masking taking center stage in florida. >> scientifically do the vaccines

or pose a direct threat to public health. some examples spotfy gave, including saying that covid-19 is a hoax. or suggesting vaccines are designed to kill people. notably the controversial pod cast that has spread misinformation is still available exclusively on the streaming platform. his pod cast is the one cited by 250 doctors, nurses and scientists. and open letter to spotfy earlier this month calling for a stronger enforceable policy on misinformation. then within the last week, neil young all said they would remove their music from spotfy. brown would pause on releasing new episodes. and prince harry and meghan who have a deal with spotfy to produce and host pod casts released a statement through their foundation. that said they urge spotfy to meet the moment. and had been talking to spotfy about the issue. as early as april of last year. shares are down 7% over the past week. >> now this weekend powerful winter storm on east coast left behind bone chilling temperatures. and record snowfall. in some areas. many last pow