>>> I’VE BECOME SORT OF, FOR at nothing.
>>> I’VE BECOME SORT OF, FOR
SOME REASON OR OTHER, A SYMBOL
TO THEM OF WHAT THEY DON’T LIKE
ABOUT ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO
WITH THINGS THAT ARE CONTRARY TO
THEM, ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THEIR
OWN REALM.
I’M NOT TRYING TO SCARE ANYBODY.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING IS THAT WE
MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND DATA.
I DON’T THINK ANYONE WOULD
CONSIDER ME A SCARE MONGER.
I’VE NEVER BEEN THAT WAY AT ALL.
>> THAT WAS DR. ANTHONY FAUCI ON
NEIL CAVUTO’S PROGRAM LAST
FRIDAY ON FOX, AND GOOD FOR HIM
FOR HOSTING HIM.
FAUCI THERE DEFENDING HIMSELF
AFTER SEVERAL ATTACKS FROM
PROMINENT REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE
BEEN WORKING TO UNDERCUT THE
COUNTRY’S TOP INFECTIOUS DISEASE
EXPERT DURING ONE OF THE MOST
PRECARIOUS STRETCHES IN THE
COUNTRY’S FIGHT AGAINST COVID.
FAUCI COMING UNDER PARTICULAR
FIRE FROM ONE SENATOR LINDSEY
GRAHAM, WHO IN A SERIES OF WEIRD
TWEETS, CLAIMED THAT THE
CORONAVIRUS WAS SPREADING
RAMPANTLY AT DETENTION CENTERS
ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER AND
PLEADED WITH FAUCI TO ADDRESS
WHAT HE CALLED THE COUNTRY’S,
QUOTE, BIGGEST SUPER SPREADER
EVENT AND WHILE FAUCI
ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE BORDER
SITUATION WAS INDEED VERY DIRE,
HE MADE CLEAR HE HAD NOTHING TO
DO WITH THE BORDER AND CALLED
THE WHOLE INTERACTION, QUOTE,
BIZARRE.
WITH CASES RISING AROUND THE
COUNTRY, THIS LATEST ATTEMPT BY
THE RIGHT TO POLITICIZE SCIENCE
AND OUR COVID RESPONSE PUTS OUR
RECOVERY IN JEOPARDY AT THE VERY
MOMENT EXPERTS ARE WARNING THAT
THE COUNTRY COULD BE ON THE
BRINK OF A FOURTH SURGE IF WE
DON’T DO ALL OF THE RIGHT
THINGS.
JOINING OUR CONVERSATION, LAURIE
GARRETT, HEALTH POLICY ANALYST,
PULITZER PRIZE WINNING
JOURNALIST, FOREIGN POLICY
MAGAZINE COLUMNIST.
FIRST ON THIS MOMENT, IT’S
ALMOST AS CONFUSING AS IT’S EVER
BEEN.
IF YOU PULL DOWN ALL THE VACCINE
STORIES, THE NEWS IS BETTER THAN
WE WERE PREPARED TO SEE IT IN
COUNTRIES THAT ARE FARTHER
ALONG, I’M THINKING ISRAEL,
THERE’S NEWS THAT THE VACCINE
DOESN’T JUST PROTECT AGAINST
DISEASE, IT LARGELY SHUTS DOWN
TRANSMISSION. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE VARIANTS
ON THE OTHER HAND, THE VARIANTS
THAT YOU AND DR. OSTERHOLM HAVE
WARNED ABOUT, ARE PERHAPS MORE
LETHAL.
TALK ABOUT BALANCING THOSE TWO
BUCKETS OF INFORMATION.
>> THANK YOU, NICOLE, BECAUSE
BOY, THAT’S EXACTLY THE ISSUE WE
NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT RIGHT
NOW.
WE’RE IN A TIME OF REAL
CONFUSION, AND IT’S JUSTIFIABLE
THAT THE AVERAGE AMERICAN IS
FEELING LIKE THEY’RE GETTING
MIXED MESSAGES, THINGS ARE KIND
OF GOOFY, THEY CAN’T FIGURE OUT,
SHOULD THEY BE VERY SCARED OR
NOT SCARED AT ALL OR SOMEWHERE
IN BETWEEN?
YOU KNOW, JUST THREE WEEKS AGO,
WHEN WE WERE SORT OF DEMARCATING
THIS ARBITRARY ALLEGED ONE-YEAR
ANNIVERSARY OF THE EPIDEMIC, THE
NEWS WAS FULL OF PAST-TENSE
STORIES.
IT WAS AS IF THE WHOLE PANDEMIC
WAS SUDDENLY IN OUR REAR VIEW
MIRROR AND WE COULD ALL LOLLYGAG
OFF INTO THE SUNSET WITH SMILES
ON OUR FACES AND THEN OF COURSE
WE’VE HAD SPECTACULAR SUCCESS
ROLLING OUT THE VACCINES, YOU
KNOW, ON SATURDAY, FOUR MILLION
AMERICANS GOT VACCINATED IN ONE
DAY.
THAT’S AMAZING, AND THAT WAS ON
A HOLIDAY WEEKEND.
SO, THERE’S LOTS TO BE EXCITED
ABOUT, BUT THERE IS ALSO A GREAT
DEAL THAT IS NERVEWRACKING,
FINGERNAIL BITING, THE REASON
THAT CDC DIRECTOR ROCHELLE
WALENSKY SAID SHE SAW GLOOM AND
DOOM ON THE HORIZON.
AND THAT IS BECAUSE FIRST OF
ALL, WE HAVE SURGING VARIANTS
STRAINS, NOT ONE, NOT TWO, NOT
THREE, NOT SIX, A WHOLE ARRAY OF
DIFFERENT VARIANTS FROM ALL OVER
THE WORLD AND SOME HOME GROWN
ONES SUCH AS WE HAVE HERE IN NEW
YORK CITY.
THE INDIA VARIANT THAT SEEMS TO
BE BEHIND THIS HUGE SURGE OF
COVID IN BOTH INDIA AND
BANGLADESH, IS A DOUBLE
MUTATION, AND IT HAS SHOWN UP
NOW IN SAN FRANCISCO.
THE TERRIBLE VARIANT THAT IS
SWEEPING ACROSS BRAZIL AND IS AT
LEAST PARTIALLY WHY BRAZIL NOW
HAS THE NUMBER ONE HORRIBLE
STATUS OF THE BIGGEST DEATH
TOLLS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW,
BRAZIL’S VARIANT HAS SHOWN UP IN
BOSTON AND IN THE MASSACHUSETTS
AREA.
AND BOY, MICHIGAN IS FIGHTING
OUT OF CONTROL SPREAD, AND THIS
IS REALLY BEING DRIVEN BY THE UK
VARIANT, THE SO-CALLED B.1.1.7,
WHICH IS A RAPID TRANSMITTER,
WHERE WE HAVE THIS MIXED PICTURE
WHERE PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED.
IS THIS A TIME OF DANGER OR A
TIME OF JOY?
ILLUSTRATING THAT, NICOLE, THIS
WEEKEND, THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND SAW
TWO BIG CHANGES.
ONE, WE WENT BACK TO 2019 LEVELS
OF AIRPLANE TRAFFIC ACROSS THE
NATION.
AND THIS MOVIE, "GODZILLA VERSUS