restrictions and soaring cases from the pandemic that has now killed more than 800,000 people in the u.s. and this thursday, january 6th, marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly attack on the u.s. capitol. despite the months that have passed and hopes that the country might come together, the nation remains bitterly divided and influenced by the lies that instigated at tack a year ago. a brand new poll from "the washington post" and the university of maryland shows 92% of democrats believe former president trump bears a great deal or a good amount of blame for the attack on the capitol compared to just 27% of republicans. the poll also shows that one in three americans now believe violence against the government can at times be justified. the largest share in more than two decades of polling. in congress, the january 6th committee is attempting a reckoning, investigating to understand and expose what went wrong that day, and what role the former president played. here to discuss that work is democratic congressman bennie thompson of mississippi, the chair of the house select committee investigating the january 6th attacks. thank you so much for joining me, sir. happy new year to you. first generally, have you been able to determine how much of this was pre-planned, and how much the president and his allies were involved potentially in the attack? >> well, thank you for having me, first, happy new year. let me say that what we have been able to ascertain is that we came perilously close to losing our democracy as we come to learn it. had those insurrectionists been successful, we are not certain what we would have had, had it not been for the brave men and women who protected the capitol in spite of being wefully outnumbered. we were in a difficult situation. we know former president trump invited people to come to washington on january 6th, that he said it was going to be wild. we know that the speeches weaponized a lot of people by telling them that people at the capitol were trying to steal the election from them and they should go and be heard. so we are now in the process of interviewing witnesses, collecting thousands of pages of documents to say who actually occurred. as you know, that's the charge of the committee to get to the facts and circumstances. i can tell you right now, there were a lot of missteps as to whether or not they were part of a broad plan, that's what we're looking at, but there are things in terms of communication between the department of defense and the national guard, between state and local law enforcement, between excel jens gathering agencies should not have been, and so we are looking at it, part of the the body of work that our committee is doing on a day by bas daily basis. >> focus on the former president. you are focusing on the 187 minutes in action by then president trump during at tack. you have testimony indicating that he was watching television coverage. you also believe he tried to tape a video several times on january 6th telling his supporters to stand down. what is on the tapes and if you could tell us more about what you learned what he was doing during the attack. >> well, part of what we are trying to get as a committee from national archives is the exact records of what occurred on that date. the president has been in court trying to prevent us from having access to it. president biden has said executive privilege does not ap apply. there have been two court cases that former president trump has lost on that issue. as you know it's before the supreme court now. if we're successful and we think we will be, we're convinced we'll have access to the 187 minutes of whatever occurred. but the harm that i see is the president of the united states seeing the capitol of the united states under siege by people he sent to the capitol and did nothing during that time. something's wrong with that. so we need to find out who was calling, who was texting, who was emailing during those 187 minutes to see whether or not that information will let us know if people were part of the problem. >> do you think that lack of action on january 6th may actually warrant a criminal referral? >> >> the only thing i can say is it's highly unusual for anyone in charge of anything to watch what's going onthe only thing i it's highly unusual for anyone in charge of anything to watch what's going on and do nothing. >> is it criminal? >> and we will, as -- well, we don't know. we're in the process of trying to get all the information. but i can say if there's anything that we come up on as a committee that we think would warrant a referral to the department of justice, we'll do that. that's our oath as members of congress. so it's not just that. it's any of the other things we're looking at, if there's any confidence on the part of our committee that something criminal we believe has occurred, we'll make the referral. >> let me ask one more question about the former president and what he was doing or not doing as the capitol was under attack. i know you're still trying to get the records but you have spoken to a lot of people, maybe people we don't know about. have you learned from witness testimony more about what he was or wasn't doing? >> yes, we have. we have significant testimony that leads us to believe that the white house had been told to do something. we want to verify all of it so when we produce our report and have the hearings, the public will have an opportunity to see for themselves but dana, to be honest with you, what occurred january 6th played out in full view of the american public and the world and we want to make sure that that never, ever happens again, so we need to get it right, get all the facts and circumstances and that's what the committee's body of work is about, doing it at this point. >> did or has the former president obstructed an official proceeding of congress? >> well, what he's doing is the typical donald trump modus operandi. he sues. he goes to court. he tries to delay. if he continues to be successful at delay ing, obviously it inhibits the committee's work. we have access to a lot but we have to have access to the records. president biden said executive privilege does not apply. we think we'll have a lot of access to the records necessary for us to have complete access to the work. if we have complete access to the records, former president trump wishes on delaying will have no bearing on our work. >> so your fight for access to those records from or of the former president is now before the supreme court, and in a brief, he is arguing that a comment that you made about his potential criminal behavior means your committee is overstepping its legislative purpose and making a "mockery" of the constitution. what's your response? >> well, you know, he makes two arguments in the same case. first he says we have no legislative purpose. then he says well, you do have one, but now you are doing something else. former president trump can't have it both ways. we have a legislative purpose. we take an oath of office as members of congress, and if we see something that we believe to be illegal, we are obligated as members of congress to make the referral. now, after that, it's up to the department of justice to determine whether or not there's merit, but i think making referrals has nothing to do with our legislative purpose, and so again, it's the misinformation that came about because of the loss of the election and the continued misinformation that donald trump is known for. >> mr. chairman, do you have any evidence by the president or anybody around him of financial fraud that they committed financial fraud? >> well, what we have, we have created a special task force within our committee to look at the financing of what went on toward the january 6th insurrection, i'll call it. we're looking diligently at it. we have some concerns, but we've not made those concerns public at this point, but we do think it's highly concerning on our part that people raise monies for one activity and we can't find the money being spent for that particular activity. so we'll continue to look at it, and the financing is one of those things that we will continue to look at very closely. >> i want to ask you about the makeshift war room at the willard hotel run by top trump aides like steve bannon and rudy giuliani. what have you learned about their communication with the then president ahead of the january 6th attacks? >> well, part of our work is to try to get access to the roshds on that day who pays for it, he started cooperating with our committee, we look forward for that cooperation to continue. the hotel has been asked to provide information for us, so we're in the process of doing our investigation, and again, for people who are a symbol to change the outcome of a legitimate election is significant. those individuals who were there, what they determined we have seen records indicating that there was a written plan on what needed to happen, so we need to just get all the information and review it, talk to the people that the investigation will lead us to and then we'll make a determination as to next steps. >> any sign yet whether or not there was communication with the then president from within that war room? >> well, we're in the process of gathering that. >> okay. >> and part of the national archives as well as the request from mr. carrick and others will help us determine that. >> mr. chairman, i want you to stay right there, because we're going to talk about a lot more, including what's ahead for your committee after a quick break. inner voice (kombucha brewer): i'm dramatically holding this bottle, so the light hits it just right, and people think... wow... ...he knows what he's doing... ...when i'm actually pretty lost with my payroll taxes. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. ♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. you booked a sunny vrbo ski chalet. with endless views of snow-covered peaks. but the thing they'll remember forever? grandpa coming out of retirement to give a few ski lessons. the time to plan your get together is now. find it on vrbo. it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪ i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. (kate) this holiday, verizon has the deal that gets better and better and better. get iphone 13 pro, on us, when you trade in your old or damaged phone. here, the phone everyone wants, on america's most reliable network. better? (guy) better. (kate) that's not all. the new iphone, and up to 7 entertainment subscriptions for your family. like apple music, apple arcade, and more. better? (family) better. (kate) not done. the new iphone, the entertainment, and up to $1,000 when you switch. (carolers) ♪better♪ (kate) this year, holiday better, with verizon. because everyone deserves better. welcome back to "state of the union." we're back with bennie thompson with the january 6th committee on the attacks on the capitol. you promised the public will see "nontraditional stories to tell the story of what happened january 6th." what does that mean by non-traditional, are we going to hear from specific people? do you know who yet and when will those hearings begin? >> well, thank you very much for asking. what we plan to do in this coming year with our hearings, we'll look at some of those state and local election officials who as you know are charged with conducting the elections to determine whether or not the elections were fraudulent, whether or not they determine that fraud occurred. we'll also talk to some government officials, some who actually said to this administration, we can find nothing wrong with the elections. as you know, there were some people in the department of justice who said to former president trump that if you plit politicize the department of justice, we're not going to leave because that's not who we are. we'll look at that and talk when it to individuals who came to washington under various circumstances but we'll tell the story. we'll talk to the national guard people who, as you note, sat for over three hours, ready to come help the capitol police and metropolitan police defend the capitol, but they were not authorized to go. some people have said they should have gone. others said we don't know why they didn't, but we'll get to all those facts because that's part of what happened on that day, and there's a belief that a lot of what happened on that day wasn't a comedy of errors, but a planned, coordinated effort, and so our hearings will determine whether or not what occurred on january 6th was a comedy of errors or a planned effort on part of certain individuals. >> well, you've been investigating this for six months now. you're the chairman of the committee. what do you think the answer to that question is? >> well, it was not a comedy of errors. i can assure you of that but before we go forward, we want to get all the evidence. that's why we are talking, we've talked to over 300 people. we have some 30,000-plus documents that we've received. >> right. >> and the staff is working night and day to try to get to what actually occurred, and so before we just run out with the story we can't defend, we'll get to what we believe is the truth, and that's the charge that we have as a committee. >> so one of the many things that you're looking at is the involvement of people who you currently serve with, republican members. you say republican congressmen jim jordan talked to then president trump on january 6th and republican congressman scott perry tried to convince him to name a loyalist as acting attorney general. neither jordan nor perry is cooperating. are you willing to subpoena them? >> well, let me say that both those gentlemen based on the statements you've just read have acknowledged that they either talk to the president on january 6th, like jim jordan has said, the other gentleman, mr. perry, tried to replace the current attorney general with somebody else who would do the wishes, bidding of president trump with respect to the elections, and we've asked them to come in voluntarily. now, we will look at whatever opportunities we can to get those people to come in. >> does that include a subpoena? >> but again, dana -- well, we'll look at it. i'm not going -- i would hope that those individuals who took an oath of office as a member of the congress would come forward. that's why we've asked them to come voluntarily, and we think coming voluntarily should do it. now, if not, then obviously we'll discuss what other options that we will have available to us as a committee, but it's unfortunate that with what we saw on january 6th and most of the members who acknowledged was a very dark day that occurred in this country, they won't come forward and help us guarantee that it will never happen again. >> we saw some new video that was released last week, really intense video, you see them showing rioters pushing police back and some very, very violent stuff. are you worried that an attack on our democracy like we're seeing right there with our own two eyes on january 6th last year could happen again going forward? >> yes, i am. our committee toured the capitol. we saw all those points and some others that's not in that video that really causes us significant concern that unless we get it right, given the attitude of what's occurring in this country now, it could happen again. when i see people legitimizing storming the capitol and the activities around it, i'm very concerned. i'm concerned to the point that sometimes people feel they can break the law if they are dissatisfied. the greatness of this country, dana, it has been we settle our differences at the ballot box, but now all of a sudden there's a mindset out here that's saying if my candidate loses, then i can tear the place up simply because my candidate did not win. >> chairman thompson, thank you so much for joining us. we certainly look forward to having you back as you are able to learn or express more publicly about what you are learning. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. and chairman thompson will be back for a special event on the one-year anniversary of the capitol attack, including the latest on the investigation and remembrances from people who fought for democracy that day, that's live from the capitol january 6th, one year later, thursday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. and the republican party is largely accepted former president trump's election lies, is there anything that could change that? republican governor larry hogan is next. with vitamin c, d and zinc* season after season. ace your immune support with centrum. now with a new look! some of my best memories growing up, were cooking with mom. she always said, “food is love.” so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ i want to make the most of every meal we have together. ♪ at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com i've been telling everyone... the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ ♪ heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach... ♪ ♪ diarrheaaaa.♪ try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. how not to be a hero: because that's the last thing they need you to be. you don't have to save the day. you just have to navigate the world so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. for the foster kids fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ welcome back to "state of the union." last year's attack on the capitol has done little to distance the majority of the republican party from the former president but there are a small number who speak out denouncing the attack and those who instigated it. one of those republicans is governor larry hogan of maryland and he is here with me now. thank you so much for joining me. happy new year to you. let's start with -- >> happy new year. >> -- what polls are showing about republican voters they overwhelmingly believe the election lies that fueled the capitol attack and republican candidates across the country are playing into that belief and trying to win primaries that way. so can american democracy survive when these lies have been so deeplyingrained in your party? >> it's a great question, dana. one of the reasons why i continue to speak up and tell the truth about what happened because i think it's critically important. frankly, it's crazy that that many people believe that things just simply aren't true, they believe a different version of reality but let's face it, there's been an amazing amount of disinformation that's been spread over the past year, and many people are consuming that disinformation, and believing it as if it's fact. to think that the violent protesters who attack the capitol are the seat of democracy on january 6th was just tourists looking at statues, it's insane that anyone could watch that on television and believe that's what happened. >> you spent january 6th fielding desperate calls to send help to the capitol, but you struggled for hours to get approval from top trump administration officials to deploy the maryland national guard. have you heard from the january 6th committee, have you been asked to come and give them information about what happened, and have you learned anything more about why that delay happened? >> interestingly, i have not heard from the committee, and as you're pointing out, i had a pretty involved role that day. you know, i got calls from the leaders of congress who were trapped in i think the basement of undisclosed location when they were whisked out of the capitol pleading for help. i immediately sent nearly 300 riot maryland state police to the capitol and trying to send the national guard and kept requesting up and down the flagpole from adjutant general national guard to the secretary of the army, we were repeatedly denied approval to send the guard. i called them up and activated them anyway and kind of started staging them at the border of the district ready to get approval and took two and a half hours before ryan mccarthy, secretary of the army called and asked for our help. we sent them in. i believe the maryland national guard was the first to arrive at the capitol. the inned md state police came in right after the metropolitan police and the maryland national guard came in right after the d.c. guard but it was two and a half hours later. >> do you know anything more in the year that has passed about why it took so long? >> no. i mean, that i think is one of the things we need to get to the bottom of. you could give the benefit of the tout and say it was the fog of war, there were miscommunications up and down the chain, or there's something more involved, but all i know is, we were, we require to have the approval of the secretary of defense and we didn't get it. >> let's turn to covid. you tested positive for coronavirus just before christmas, even though you are fully vaccinated. you are boosted, and you're a prime example of the frustrating phase, even people who do everything right, like you, can still get sick. >> well, yes, and i luckily because i was fully vaccinated and boosted, i didn't get really sick. i did self-quarantine and isolate for ten days as we recommend everybody does but i didn't want to get anybody else sick but because of had that protection, i had sort of a bad cold. what we're faced with now unfortunately, this new omicron variant is impacting just about everyone, including many people who are fully protected, but it's keeping them out of the hospital and that's the thing we have to keep in mind. these vaccines were designed to help stop serious illness and death, and they're working beautifully that way, because right now, we have 92% of our state vaccinated here in maryland, one of the most vaccinated in the country but we have overflowing hospitals, and so that 8% of the population who has not been vaccinated is responsible for 75% of all the people that are filling up our covid beds in the hospital. so we're still encouraging people to get vaccinated to get those boosters and taking all kinds of emergency actions to help our hospitals and our nursing homes because here we are nearly two years later and it's like deja vu, we're faced with this emerging variant you know, very similar problems to what we had at the beginning. >> there are more than 2,000 covid patients hospitalized in your state, and the maryland hospital association warned this week that medical facilities are nearing capacity, you just alluded to that. are you doing enough to keep up with the demand? are you call on reinforcements like retirees, students and the national guard, speaking of, to help? >> yes, so we've been talking about this problem for nearly a month and preparing for it, but you can't really manufacture doctors and nurses that don't exist, and frankly, these heroes on the front line that have been working so hard for two years, there's fatigue. there are people who are working in hospitals that are coming down and being infected, so we're taking all kinds of actions. we already put $100 million of emergency funding into our hospitals and nursing homes, we waived requirements for out of state doctors and health care workers and sped up the graduation of our nursing students so they can get out early to help. we called out the maryland national guard and continuing to take actions nearly every day, nearly everything that anyone can think of to help us get through this. look, we believe that the next four to six weeks are really going to be a terrible point in this crisis, and it's potentially going to be the worst part of the whole two-year fight and we're going to take and continue to take every action we possibly can to help our hospitals, our nursing homes and to keep people safe, our focus is what it's always been since last, since two years ago and that's, you know, trying to prevent hospitalizations and deaths. >> governor, before i let you go, i have to ask about "the washington post" extensive investigation that we published this week about your use of an app which allows to you send messages that delete within 24 hours. according to "the post" you use the app to coordinate with state employees direct maryland's pandemic response, comment on media reports. a maryland law requires public officials to preserve records and communications. can you guarantee that nothing official that should have been archived was in those messages? >> yes. so look, we're, we take transparency very, very seriously. it's something we focused on for the entire seven years that i've been governor. it was a pretty misleading piece done by this reporter in "the washington post." do we ever have communications, casual conversations or chats with people inside and outside the government about things that are happening in the paper? yes. do we not preserve official government documents? absolutely we do not do that. we preserve them all the time. we respond to literally hundreds and hundreds of requests for freedom of information put out probably nearly 1 million pages of documents. we'll continue to be as transparent as we possibly can but yeah, there's no, this does not impact us at all whatsoever in having a personal conversations in chats about things that are happening. >> governor larry hogan of maryland, thank you so much for joining me. glad you're feeling well. >> thank you, dana. thank you, dana. happy new year. >> you, too. the top medical expert warns the u.s. is weeks away from a viral blizzard, but is there reason to hope by next month, things will be better? dr. anthony fauci joins me next. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. welcome back to "state of the union." it's a new year, but with cases soaring to new records, it doesn't exactly feel like a fresh start. joining me now president biden's chief medical adviser, dr. anthony fauci. dr. fauci, thank you so much for joining me this morning. happy new year to you. so coronavirus is -- >> thank you. >> -- now infecting nearly 400,000 americans every day. we know that deaths and hospitalizations typically lag behind, but there are some signs that the omicron variant may actually be milder. so do you foresee a spike in hospitalizations and deaths? >> well, there's certainly going to be a lot more cases, dana, because this is a much, much more transmissible virus than delta is. so quantitatively alone, even if you have a virus that it looks in fact like it might be less severe, at least from data that we've gathered from south africa and from the uk and even some from preliminary data from here in the united states, the only difficulty is that when you have so many, many cases, even if the rate of hospitalization is lower with omicron than it is with delta, there's still the danger that you're going to have a surging of hospitalizations that might stress the health care system. so it's kind of like a very interesting somewhat complicated issue, where you have a virus that might actually be less severe in its pathogenicity but the net effect, the tote amount of people that might require hospitalization might be up, so we can't be complacent in these reports which are likely accurate that it is ultimately in the big picture less severe. we're still going to get a lot of hospitalizations. >> right, okay, so what you describe is hospitals that we're already seeing overwhelmed facing staff shortages in particular. airlines canceling thousands of flights. the faa is warning travelers to expect even more. no new york subway services are reduced because of the surge there, so should americans be preparing for major societal disruptions in the coming weeks and what would that look like? >> well, certainly you know, when i say major disruptions, you are certainly going to see stresses on the system, and the system being people with any kind of jobs, dana, but particularly with critical jobs to keep society functioning normally. we already know that there are reports from fire departments, from police departments in different cities that they're 10, 20, 25 and sometimes 30% of the people are ill. that's something that we're going to need to be concerned about, because we want to make sure that we don't have such an impact on society that there really is a disruption. i hope that doesn't happen. what the cdc is trying to do is trying to get a position where, in fact, when people are without symptoms, who are infected, that you can get them back to work a little bit earlier than the ten day perhaps at five days, if they remain symptomatic, remain without symptoms, that is, that can go back into society. >> so let me ask you about that. these are relaxed quarantined guidelines that came from the cdc, and they're coming under fire from some public health experts. cnn medical analyst dr. jonathan reiner sent out a tweet saying "the latest cdc guidelines which allow people to leave isolation after five days without a test remind me of when the public was told we didn't need masks when in reality, the problem was the u.s. didn't have masks." you've always promised to follow the science, dr. fauci. is this driven by science or by the social and business pressure we were talking about? >> well, there are a couple of aspects of it, dana, that i'll explain. there's no doubt that you do want to get people out into the workplace if they are without symptoms, and in the second half of a ten-day period, which would normally be a ten-day isolation period, the likelihood of transmissibility is considerably lower in that second half of a five -- of a ten-day period, and for that reason, the cdc made the judgment that it would be relatively low-risk to get people out. you're right, people are getting concerned about why not test people at that time? i myself feel that that's a reasonable thing to do. i believe that the cdc soon will be coming out with more clarification of that, since it obviously has generated a number of questions about at that five-day period, should you or should you not be testing people. >> you're saying yes they should? >> there will be clarification of that coming very soon. i'm not saying, yes, they should. it's something that absolutely should be considered and i believe the cdc is going to clarify that. >> so the overwhelming -- >> i have been in favor of that. i mean, i have said that, yes. excuse me. no, i said i have been in favor of that, but then again, there's a big picture of trying to do it in a way that is scientifically sound but that also gets people back to work. the cdc is doing their very best in trying to get the right balance of getting people back, but doing it on a solid scientific basis. >> got it. okay, let's talk broadly about some of the things that are making americans very confused right now, and i want to tick through a couple of key questions and try to get some clarity. first, do at-home rapid tests work to detect omicron? >> the answer is they do, and i think the confusion, dana, is that rapid antigen tests have never been as sensitive as the pcr test. they're very good when they are given sequentially, so if you do them like maybe two or three times over a few day period, at the end of the day, they are as good as the pcr, but as a single test, they are not as sensitive, and when the fda came out and looked at what they did in stacking up against omicron, they said their sensitivity was diminished somewhat against omicron, but people should not get the impression that those tests are not valuable. they are very valuable. they're valuable for screening. they're valuable if you do them more than once in a sequential way to tell you whether or not you're infected. i think there was sort of a surge of concern when people said that, when it came out that the sensitivity was down, but they are still very valuable tests. >> okay. are cotton and surgical masks effective at preventing the spread of omicron? >> yes, when the cdc says they are effective, in fact, they are. are they as effective as an n95? no. but what was being said is, rather wear a cotton or surgical mask than not wear any mask at all. and that's the point that was made. i think it was a consideration that people were saying if they're not effective, well then don't wear them. they have a degree of effectiveness and if that's the mask that's available to you, use it. if you want a higher degree of protection, go to a higher quality of mask. but the masks that are being used, the surgical masks do give you a degree of protection. maybe not as the ultimate that an n95 would, but you todo get protection. >> how should vaccinated and boosted people behave? can they go into a restaurant, eat safely indoors right now? >> you know, when you're having such an i call it a tsunami of infections, dana, we are seeing people who are vaccinated and boosted who are getting breakthrough infections. so when you're in a situation where you have so many infections going out, the thing that you want to say is that, if you want to do things like that, better do them in a setting where you know the people around you are vaccinated and boosted, and that's the reason why i've been saying when asked about the holiday season, the safest thing to do is to be in a home setting, friends, relatives who you know are vaccinated and boosted, if you want to go the extra step of safety, then get a quick antigen test, which will give you an extra degree of safety. what you want to avoid are places where you have 20, 30, 40, 50 people, many of whom you have no idea of whether or not they're vaccinated or boosted. that's more risky than the home setting. >> that sounds like a yes. i want to read a tweet, dr. fauci, from florida senator mrk mrk. he said "record numbers testing positive for a sore throat isn't a crisis and people in the hospital for scar accidents being tested isn't a surge. the real crisis is the irrational hysteria which has people with no symptoms waiting hours for a test or missing wok for ten days." what do you say to vaccinated americans saying that kind of thing right now? >> well, first of all, that's one of the reasons why the cdc has made this now a movement towards getting people back who are without symptoms after five days, rather than ten days. so that's the exact reason for doing that. if you are without symptoms and you're capable of working, you want to safely get people back to work, wearing consistently a mask. the idea that if a person gets infected and is without symptoms, that that has no impact on society, those are the people that might spread it to other people who might be vulnerable, who might be elderly, who might have an underlying condition, who then wind up in the hospital. of course, you don't want to get people panicking over asymptomatic infections, but asymptomatic infections are part of the process that spreads it around to the community and many members of the community are vulnerable. that's the reason why you have so many people in the hospital. the last count, there have been 90,000 people that are in the hospital right now, and 1,200 deaths per day. that is not a trivial situation. >> no, it's not. it absolutely is not. dr. fauci, thank you so much. hopefully we'll have some good news to continue to talk about after the omicron surge is over. let's keep our fingers crossed. happy new year to you again. >> thank you very much. good to be with you. he grew up in a house with no running water and became the leader of the u.s. senate. the legacy of harry reid and his message for today's democrats. that's next. the living room slash yoga shanti slash regional office slash... and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. narrator: on a faraway beach, the generation called "our greatest" saved the world from tyranny. in an office we know as "oval," a new-generation president faced down an imminent threat of nuclear war. on a bridge in selma, alabama, the preacher of his time marched us straight to passing voting rights for every american. at a gate in west berlin, a late-generation american president demanded an enemy superpower tear down a wall and liberate a continent. american generations answering the call of their time with american ideals. freedom. liberty. justice. for today's generation of leaders, the call has come again to protect our freedom to vote, to fortify our democracy by passing the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights act because america - john lewis: we are not going back, we are going forward. ♪ when you have nausea, ♪ ♪ heartburn, ingestion, upset stomach... ♪ ♪ diarrheaaaa.♪ try pepto bismol with a powerful coating action. for fast and soothing relief. pepto bismol for fast relief when you need it most. former senate majority leader harry reid died this week at age 82 and countless obituaries, including ones that i wrote, remembered him as a former boxer who fought his way out of abject poverty and excelled in political office by throwing many a political punch. but as his former aide addle janssen wrote this week, that missed something that he also wasn't afraid to take a punch. to know harry reid was to spend time with him in the truck stop town of searchlight, nevada. he grew up in a town with no running water. >> the man that he worked for wouldn't pay him or give him bad checks that would bounce. >> reporter: he spoke candidly about painful memories. >> my parents both drank a lot and i was always so glad when they were broke because they couldn't afford stuff now. >> reporter: that was december 2006, right before he was first sworn in as senate majority leader. his complex personality fully on display, as square-looking lie listening to hip songs on his ipod. >> cowboy junkies? >> you know them? >> i do. >> reporter: he's a walking contradiction. much has bin written about his contradiction to the demise of his political discourse. >> you called them an anarchists. >> that's what they are, anarchists. >> reporter: he was never afraid to take heat from his own party for cutting deals. >> it's compromise. consensus building is a strength. >> reporter: he told me he in no regrets to do away with senate rules to do away with the filibuster, despite president donald trump benefiting with three supreme court justices. >> i have no doubt i did the right thing. >> reporter: in recent years he backed further changes to the filibuster, urging democrats to finish the job he started. reid reveled in playing the political bad guy. he saw it as taking a punch for the greater good. >> i don't need care. i don't want to be somebody i'm not. >> reporter: you said part of your success is you gained loyalty by being straight with people and sometimes telling them things they don't want to hear. that's not always the case with people but definitely politicians. >> you can go and buy a resume, experience good looks, all kinds of things. but the one thing you can't buy is loyalty, and i am determined the only way to have loyalty is you have to prove to whoever you want to be loyal to you, you have to be loyal to them. >> reporter: the last time i saw senator reid was in las vegas, february 2019. already fighting the cancer that took his life and perhaps for that reason, more circumspect than usual. he hoped he would be remembered for looking out for the little guys, passing the affordable care act and imposing regulations on wall street and helping conserve 5 million acres of public lands in his home state. >> i also want to throw in this, i think that one of the things i hope that people look back at me and say, if harry reid can make it, i can. >> and may his memory be a blessing. the news continues next. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. [microwave beeps] [ahh] ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm so defensive, i got bongos thumping in my chest ♪ ♪ and something tells me they don't beat for me ♪ ♪ i love romance, but i got eggshells around me ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on 'em ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ he'd better not take the ring from me ♪ plaque psoriasis, the burning, itching. the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? what does a foster kid need from you? to be brave. to show up. for staying connected. the questions they weren't able to ask. show up for the first day of school, the last day at their current address. for the mornings when everything's wrong. for the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind for the foster kids built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to worry about. security, control and peace of mind. with xfinity xfi, it's all built in at no extra cost. the following is a cnn special report. >> china's visionary leader xi jinping threw open his country's doors to the world with dramatic