-My wife had insisted
and she's a really good partner and companion
about keeping me on the right path.
She made me promise that I would take my birthday off
and here I am speaking with you.
[laughs] -I'm sorry, so today is your birthday?
This is the proclamation that the mayor in DC.
It can't be read.
But there's one piece of this proclamation.
It says, "Doctor Fauci has been a shining light in dark times
for the nation, promoting truth over fear
and giving Americans hope in their government."
You know, you were largely an anonymous figure
before this all started.
How does it feel to get that kind of a thank you,
and I'm sure you're hearing that --
all the bad stuff is in one corner,
but you're hearing these things that you've never heard before.
-Well, obviously, it's very gratifying, Geoff.
It's a little bit surreal because when I think I've come
to represent almost symbolically is what the nation needed
when there was a lot of lack of clarity and divisiveness
and speaking of hoaxes and fake news.
They need truth, they need clarity,
they need honesty, and they need integrity.
I think there really is a thirst for that.
When I would think that it might be
that you want to still wear masks in the fall,
but I think we can have pretty consistent in-person schooling
with the size of the classrooms being what they should be,
namely prior to the pandemic.
I just don't want to make a prediction
about not wearing masks
because I'm not sure we'll have the level of infection so low
that there's no risk.
Nobody likes to completely shut down society
for a number of reasons.
We all have COVID fatigue
and it's just devastating to the economy.
But it looks like in certain parts of California,
they have to do that.
But the bottom line, Geoff,
is we're not exactly sure why this is going on.
But very likely,
because they're not following public health measures,
at least a few weeks ago, that they should have.
-I think what if Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young
or Dolly Parton, wouldn't that be helpful?
Has there been any discussion
about getting pop culture figures
to do this to set an example.
-Absolutely.
There's been serious discussion about that.
And I've done a version of that in interviews
with some celebrities talking about the importance
of getting vaccinated
and have them reach out to their followers,
but this public service announcement
with sports and entertainment celebrities,
absolutely is under very active discussion right now.
And you're perfectly correct that when people see people
who they look up to and idolize from a cultural standpoint,
it might be even more effective than my getting up
and telling people to get vaccinated.
You know, I'm a very good friend of Doctor Birx.
She worked with me way back,
she considers me one of her mentors.
I have a great deal of respect for her.
She was put in a very difficult position, Geoff,
where she essentially lives in the White House there.
So it made it much more difficult for her
to push back on things
because literally there was no escape from her.
I mean, she was there, she has an office in the West Wing.
So I know that there had been some criticism of her,
but my feeling has always been to give her some slack
because she really works extremely hard.
You know, I want to practice what I preach.
I don't want to tell the country to do something
that I'm not willing to do myself.
And I am willing to sacrifice this
because I was just on a Zoom call
with the girls, it was very moving.
I mean, I think I lost about a liter of fluid in tears,
to be honest with you, Geoff,
just hearing their expressions of love and concern for me.
But we ended it on a happy note
because we know that sooner or later, very likely sooner,
as we get into 2021 and things get better and vaccines help us,
that this time next year, we'll be back again
with the Fauci family celebrating Christmas Eve
and my birthday, for my 81st birthday.