5-day COVID quarantine period a 'good idea': Dr. Lahita
Dr. Bob Lahita sounds off on the CDC reducing quarantine time and Dr. Fauci on 'Your World.'
This is a rush transcript of "Your World with Neil Cavuto" on December 29, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JACKIE DEANGELIS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Some potentially good news on the virus front, White House officials today saying that, while COVID cases are surging, hitting a new record in the United States, the number of hospitalizations and deaths are relatively low in comparison.
Welcome, everyone. I'm Jackie DeAngelis, in for Neil Cavuto. This is a very special edition of "Your World."
We have got FOX team coverage, with David Spunt traveling with the president in Delaware on if a vaccine mandate is in the cards for domestic flights, and Steve Harrigan in Atlanta on that new five day quarantine sparking a fierce debate between businesses and unions.
David, we begin with you.
DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Jackie, good afternoon to you.
There's been talk recently of testing problems. No question about that. People are waiting in line hours to get a test. But, today, the administration mentioned National Guard troops helping out with testing, and that brings people back to the early days of 2020.
A lot of people don't want to hear those two terms together. However, the administration asserting they have a strong plan to deal with testing after getting raked over the coals for the past few days after people are waiting in line for a long time to get testing.
Administration officials today announced a plan, 13,000 National Guard troops helping with testing and other COVID-related issues right now in 48 states.
Jackie testing is and continues to be a serious problem, with people waiting, as I said, not just one or two hours or three or four, sometimes five or six hours to get a simple test.
The president himself just two days ago admitted his team is behind the eight ball when it comes to testing. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not enough. It's clearly not enough. If I had -- we had known, we would have gone harder, quicker, if we could have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SPUNT: Now, to combat the problem, the administration announcing a plan to send out 500 million -- that's half-a-billion tests -- in the next several weeks to homes if people request them.
Contracts right now are being drawn up to take care of that. This is something top medical experts maintain should have been done a year ago on a continuous basis to stay ahead of the testing curve. You mentioned vaccine mandates when it comes to traveling.
Now, the president under increasing pressure to make a decision about whether he will mandate vaccinations for the millions of people who get on planes and trains to travel. Last night, here in Rehoboth Beach, the president took a stroll near the water with the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, and his new dog, Commander, a birthday gift.
And the president was asked specifically about travel mandates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: When might you make a decision domestic travel vaccine requirements?
BIDEN: When I get a recommendation from the medical team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SPUNT: He said he was going to get advice from his medical advisers.
Meanwhile, his chief medical adviser, Jackie, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said earlier this afternoon, at this point, he does not see a need for a vaccine mandate to get on a plane for domestic travel. That's what the current situation dictates, according to Dr. Fauci. He says, of course, and he's always said as a caveat, when the science changes, things could change.
But, right now, it does not appear that a domestic travel vaccine mandate is in the works -- Jackie.
DEANGELIS: And with respect to those tests, of course, the contracts won't be inked until late next week. It could take -- going to take another two to three weeks to potentially get them distributed.
This spike might be over by then.
David Spunt, great to see you. Thank you so much for that.
Meantime, that lower five-day quarantine period sparking some debate between businesses, who say it's needed, and the unions, who say it's putting workers at risk.
Steve Harrigan is in Atlanta for us with that part of the story -- Steve.
STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jackie.
Daily testing of the seven-day average at record levels across the U.S. right now, more than 280,000 per day, but, as you mentioned, hospitalizations and deaths not keeping pace with those numbers, the average death toll each day in the U.S. now somewhere around 1,500. That's about half the rate at its peak last winter.
The decision by the CDC that recommend cutting isolation for asymptomatic COVID patients from 10 days down to five days is getting a lot of pushback. The largest nurses union in the U.S. said such a move will endanger patients, and the flight attendants union as well pushing back, especially against the fact that you're not required to take a test, a COVID test, after isolation, that you could basically come back to work sick. That's what they're saying.
The head of the CDC today said the decision to reduce isolation time was based on more than just pure science.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Well, it really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate.
We have seen relatively low rates of isolation for all of this pandemic. Some science has demonstrated less than a third of people are isolating when they need to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIGAN: One Walmart in New Jersey had to close its doors to the public after dozens of employees turned up with COVID. What happened there is happening in stores and businesses across the country, to football bowl games as well.
No one is deliberately shutting them down, but they simply don't have the bodies to perform, five college football bowl games canceled. Simply, they don't have the bodies on the field, the UCLA Bruins, no defensive line. The entire line had COVID. Impossible to play -- Jackie, back to you.
DEANGELIS: Steve Harrigan, thank you for that. It's a lot to take in.
Here to help us sort through all of this, St. Joseph's Health director Dr. Bob Lahita.
Doctor, always great to see you.
People are really curious about the latest CDC guidance. And we have been saying that the messages have been mixed, the rules have been changed. People don't know what to believe at this point. The issue of that shorter five-day quarantine period, in your opinion, good idea or bad idea?
DR. BOB LAHITA, ST. JOSEPH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: It's a good idea.
I think that it was silly to keep people isolated for 10 days without good reason. So, the law, as to make it very clear, if you test positive, you stay home for five days. If you have symptoms, you stay home for at least five days. If you have no symptoms after five days, but you are testing positive, you can leave the house, but you have to continue to wear your mask.
It's not very complicated. If you're exposed, Jackie, and you have been boosted and you completed the vaccinations within six months, you wear a mask for about 10 days. Just use common sense. Wash your hands and wear the mask. That's all you have to do.
But it's helping us, because you know there's a shortage of doctors and nurses in hospitals now.
DEANGELIS: Yes. No, absolutely, that's a huge issue as we go forward, how we start to live with this and how we start to see the future and understand that it's a part of our lives.
But it's confusing to me, because you look at the CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, and she used to say, we're following the science. Now she's saying, well, it's also about people's tolerance, which many people have been saying for a long time, right?
LAHITA: Right.
DEANGELIS: And she's talking about testing, saying you don't need that test to go back to work because you could potentially be positive for 12 weeks after you're infected with COVID-19.
I mean, what changed here? Because why don't we know that -- or why didn't we know that by now?
LAHITA: It's a confluence of data.
If you take the science, we shed the virus for a long period of time if we're not vaccinated. But if you're vaccinated, you don't shed as much virus. And you're most infectious, most infectious two to three days after your symptoms begin. After that, it's sort of a chronic deal, where, if you wear a mask, you will not infect anybody because your shedding is very low.
DEANGELIS: Doctor, another person sending mixed messages, Dr. Anthony Fauci, of course. Today, he's talking about attending New Year's Eve parties.
This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: If your plans are to go to a 40- to 50-person New Year's Eve party with all the bells and whistles, and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, I would strongly recommend that, this year, we do not do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEANGELIS: Dr. Fauci saying smaller, family, vaccinated, boosted parties are the way to go. The larger parties are not OK.
Doctor, this virus has sort of ripped across the country and we have seen cases spike. To a certain degree, almost everybody that I know has it or has had it within the last few weeks.
LAHITA: Right.
DEANGELIS: At this point, should we be limiting gathering sizes?
LAHITA: I canceled my New Year's Eve plans with about 300 other people. And I think a lot of people, a lot of friends and a lot of colleagues have canceled their New Year's plans this year.
Even though this Omicron variant is not going to produce hospitalization and death like the Delta variant did, it is still prudent, particularly since you don't know who's vaccinated, who's not, who has chronic lung disease, who's in heart failure, et cetera.
And you don't want to kill any of your friends on New Year's Eve by overdoing it.
DEANGELIS: No, you make a good point. Nobody certainly wants to be responsible for that.
Dr. Bob Lahita, good to see you, as always, sir. Happy new year to you.
LAHITA: Happy new year, Jackie.
DEANGELIS: Stay safe.
All right, well, big question, of course, will these shorter quarantine periods help restaurants stay open as well? We're dealing with a labor shortage out there.
Sean Kennedy is with the National Restaurant Association.
Sean, want to get your reaction to what we're seeing right now. A shorter quarantine period means workers can go back to work if they choose to, by the way. They might not. And that's one of the problems we have been seeing in the industry.
SEAN KENNEDY, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: Jackie, the restaurant industry is still about 757,000 jobs fewer than we were before the pandemic.
Today's news that we can reduce the quarantine period for our employees is a good one. It doesn't have a lot of bottom line impact. Restaurants are already using best practices, making sure that the safety of our guests and our staff remain the top priority as a result of those best practices.
That's why you have not seen a systemic outbreak from a restaurant over the past 20 months of this pandemic.
DEANGELIS: Yes. No, you're definitely right on that. And, of course, folks here in New York City, restaurants are lifeblood of the economy, and we want to get back up and running. We want things to get back to normal as quickly as possible.
Restaurants are a huge part of that. But there's a big headline today in Politico -- pardon me -- this week talking about Omicron and essentially saying that it's triggering businesses and an outcry for a Washington lifeline again.
You were mentioned in that article. I'm wondering what you would like to see Congress do when it returns next week to help restaurants, to help get back on track.
KENNEDY: The challenge for the restaurant industry, we were the first industry to be shut down by the -- by state and local governments. We will be the last one to fully come back online.
Congress has generally responded to this pandemic in fits and starts, as if this is going to be a short-term problem. We are at month 20 right now. And we need a long-term solution. One easy step would be to continue funding the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
It's a grant program that was able to take care of one in three restaurants. But there are still 200,000 restaurants waiting right now to get word from SBA. Unless Congress steps in soon, the 90,000 restaurants that are closed permanently or long-term, that number is only going to creep up.
DEANGELIS: Let me ask you this.
If we could rewind and go back six months, even potentially a year or two, when President Biden came into office, had he managed at situation a little bit differently, do you think that the restaurants would be asking for this kind of help right now?
KENNEDY: You know, there are three things that restaurants need in order to keep their doors open. We need a customer demand, we need a work force that can meet that customer demand, and we need rational and steady wholesale food prices.
We can crawl if we only have two of them. We can't get by without one. And right now, we're in that perfect storm where we don't have any of them. Customer demand is down because of Omicron. We are still don't have the work force that we need. Wholesale food prices for restaurants are at a 40 year high year over year.
So,there are a lot of things that President Biden, as well as Congress, can be doing and should be focusing on when they come back from the holiday season. The National Restaurant Association and our members are going to stay very engaged on behalf of the entire industry.
DEANGELIS: You bring up a lot of good points. It's the labor shortage. It is the supply chain. It's the inflation that we're seeing. And, of course, it was the COVID response too, the perfect storm to just make it really difficult for restaurants.
Great to see you sir. I really appreciate your insight and everything that you're doing to try to get things back on track. We will talk to you again soon.
KENNEDY: Thanks, Jackie.
DEANGELIS: OK.
Coming up: As the CDC loosens quarantine rules over here, well, there's many Europeans protesting tighter COVID restrictions over there.
And more turbulence at the nation's airports, with flyers facing hundreds of cancellations.
It's all coming up after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEANGELIS: Welcome back.
With Omicron driving COVID cases up, restrictions across Europe are ramping up as well. That's got many people fed up.
FOX News' Alex Hogan is in London with the latest for us.
Hey, Alex.
ALEX HOGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jackie.
Cases are soaring across Europe. And, as a result of this, we have seen new lockdowns that have overshadowed and canceled holiday celebrations. And, as a result of this, we have seen a lot of protests even just this week, as people were meant to be celebrating.
Take a look at this video in Slovenia, where people clashed with police there against the possibility of future social distancing measures, Germany's protests on Monday turned into one of the most violent of the pandemic.
The World Health Organization today warned that Omicron is only exacerbating the current problems.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WHO DIRECTOR GENERAL: I'm highly concerned that Omicron, being more transmissible, circulating at the same time as Delta, is leading to a tsunami of cases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOGAN: Greece, Italy and Portugal broke their daily record of cases on Tuesday. Both Switzerland and the Netherlands expect Omicron to become their dominant variant within days.
France reporting Europe's highest ever daily cases, with 208,000 new cases within just 24 hours. The country has mandated working from home three days a week, limited gatherings, and banned eating in public settings like cinemas and sporting events.
It's a slightly different tone across the channel in England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he won't tighten restrictions before New Year's Eve. Hospitalizations here are down compared to during previous waves. And health officials are attributing that to a couple different reasons.
They say that we're seeing slightly less significant symptoms when it comes to Omicron. And they're also touting the country's vaccine and booster efforts. So far, the country has vaccinated 70 percent of its residents -- Jackie.
DEANGELIS: Alex, reports of violence in Germany as well?
HOGAN: Yes, that's right.
So, on Monday, the most violent protests that they had seen, again, since the pandemic began. Here's some of that footage we saw, people throwing bottles that police. There were fireworks going off. Again, we have seen a lot of these protests throughout the pandemic of people struggling, wanting these restrictions to lift, wanting to be able to spend time with family, spend time at businesses.
And, unfortunately, we're only seeing these lockdowns increase. Germany says that they're seeing an explosion of cases. And, again, within days, they expect Omicron to be that leading variant.
DEANGELIS: Yes, it's difficult. People don't want to be locked down anymore, and they are doing something about it, as you can see there.
Alex Hogan, thank you so much for that. Really appreciate it.
Meantime, the worries about the lockdowns over there, worries about a slowdown over here in this country. What can the president do right now to keep this economy from stalling out?
Well, former Reagan economic adviser Art Laffer is here to weigh in.
Art, always great to see you.
And I'm going to let you take it from here. But I'm guessing one of the things you're going to say that he could do is not spend another $2 trillion.
ART LAFFER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: That's for sure.
By the way, Jackie, just forgive my formal attire. But I'm up here in God's country, in Burkesville, Kentucky, so -- at my farm, so forgive me.
But, yes, of course, what he should do on the Build Back Better, he should admit defeat, get rid of it. It's done. People don't want it. The Senate's not going to pass it. It would be the gracious thing for him to do. They went through all sorts of finagling to get it there. It shouldn't be on reconciliation. It shouldn't be that.
It should be literally a separate bill, but it wasn't. It shouldn't be past 51-50. That's not the right way to do it either. He should be gracious, and just say that's over, let's get on to the next business.
I mean, what he also should do, I think, is do a payroll tax waiver, partial, probably, to really make it more attractive for low-income workers to come back into the labor force, especially those people who have left the labor force, who are almost all low-income workers. That should happen as well.
And, lastly, the thing I think Biden should do is what I think he's trying to do is really pass the decision-making onto the states, rather than mandating everything from Washington, D.C. Let it go to the states. This is where states have an enormous advantage over the federal government of knowing what's good in this state vs. that state vs. others.
Federal mandates are one-size-fits-all, and it doesn't make any sense at all.
DEANGELIS: Yes.
LAFFER: Do those make any sense to you, Jackie?
DEANGELIS: No, but -- well, everything you said makes a lot of sense. The mandates certainly don't.
He held on to sort of the federal control, if you will, as a peg to become elected, to say, this is the purpose, this is why I should be in office.
LAFFER: Yes.
DEANGELIS: And, obviously, he's seen over the course of the last year it really hasn't worked out. And the governors have been vying to get power and control back and do it their way.
But it's interesting, as you're talking about some suggestions here how he could keep this economy going. If he doesn't go forward with Build Back Better, the progressives are saying, well, use some executive orders to do things, but they're not talking about what you're talking about. They're talking about things like forgiving student loans.
LAFFER: Yes.
DEANGELIS: They are talking about regulating the energy industry a lot more.
LAFFER: Yes.
DEANGELIS: They're talking about trying to get some of that Build Back Better stuff in through executive order. And that's just not going to help anybody.
LAFFER: Yes, they should be talking about things that are gracious and working together.
And when you look at the Squad and all these other people, this is a time for coming together. This is not a consensus type of bill, this Build Back Better. I mean, really, people don't want that bill. They really don't. They don't want forgiveness of student loans. They don't want the Squad to run the country.
This administration should be gracious. You have seen their fall in the polls, dramatic, which means they should change course and try to work with Republicans and other people to get good policies.
DEANGELIS: Yes.
LAFFER: And this is the time for them to come back together.
Biden used to be this way. I mean, I was very pleased when Biden was the Democratic nominee, not having any idea of the awful policies that he would be trying to put in. I have known him for a lot of years. And he's really been a very good senator and a very good cooperator with Republicans.
Not now. He should go back to the old Biden and really be just a wonderful president.
DEANGELIS: And that was the Biden that people...
LAFFER: But I'm not hopeful. But let's hope.
DEANGELIS: That was the Biden that people thought they were going to get.
LAFFER: Yes.
DEANGELIS: Art, while I have you here. I just want to mention the fact that the Dow and the S&P 500 closed at new records today.
LAFFER: Yes.
DEANGELIS: Obviously, trading volumes are light going into New Year's Eve.
But this market seems to be looking at Omicron and saying, yes, we're going to peak at some point and then cases are going to start to go down again, and, somehow, we will find our way, we will get back on track.
Do you agree with that? I mean, inflation is still out there.
LAFFER: I agree with that totally, Jackie.
I also -- if I can, I'd like to call out three of my dear friends who've done amazing event -- things of graciousness very recently. One of them, Sir Michael Hintze, funded three airplanes out of Afghanistan to bring women who are under attack by the Taliban, and they're being -- to be killed or not, judges, other prominent women.
He funded part of that whole venture to bring them out just in the last few weeks, which is just amazing. Another friend, Marshall Geller, who I'm on the board of VerifyMe with, he started a young man called Chris Gardner in the business, brought him all the way up.
If you get a chance to see this movie, "Pursuit of Happyness," it is the life story of Chris Gardner.
DEANGELIS: Yes.
LAFFER: That's Chris Gardner. He's also on the board with me in this.
And, lastly, I'd like to thank a good friend of mine, a guy named Donald Trump, for Operation Warp Speed and for all the vaccines he did, and not only the vaccines, but he also did the remedial processes as well, which no one talks about, and they're amazing, but also for the testing.
DEANGELIS: Art, yes.
LAFFER: Donald Trump did all of that.
DEANGELIS: He...
LAFFER: And I just wanted to thank him.
DEANGELIS: He had no tools when he got started.
This was sprung upon us.
LAFFER: Exactly.
DEANGELIS: This administration had all the tools, and yet didn't do anything to make sure that we would have the supplies we need. And I think that's why people are just scratching their heads here, and they're a little confused.
It's great to see you, as always. We're out of time, but enjoy the farm.
LAFFER: Great to see you, Jackie. Congratulations on the show. Thank you.
DEANGELIS: Thank you.
LAFFER: Good to see you.
DEANGELIS: OK, coming up: Could Build Back Better make a comeback? Well, progressives are still pushing for executive action on it. But can Congress reach common ground on it?
We're going to ask a Republican congressman coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEANGELIS: If you think inflation is going away anytime soon, think again. The report that should have you worrying as we head into the new year.
We're back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): There are many things that a lot of people want in the Build Back Better bill, like lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Employers are desperate to get people into jobs, the child care issue.
It is always better when Congress tries to come together, find that common ground, and pass legislation. When we return, that's what I'm going to be focused on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEANGELIS: That was Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell hoping that Congress can find some consensus on that nearly $2 trillion spending bill. So, can they?
Let's ask one of her GOP colleagues, ranking member of the House Budget Committee, Missouri Republican Congressman Jason Smith.
Jason, great to see you.
She says Biden's not going to move forward with executive action. They still have hopes that they can get this done. But, obviously, Manchin right now is the holdout.
REP. JASON SMITH (R-MO): First off, Jackie, it's not just Manchin who's a holdout. It's the American people that's the holdout.
They don't want this $5 trillion tax and reckless spending bill that bankrupts the economy. It benefits the wealthiest of all Americans. And it builds the Washington bureaucracy. In fact, it adds 150 new programs. The American people don't want it.
Joe Manchin listened to the American people. And 50 Republican senators don't want it. And you know what? There's more than Joe Manchin that are Democrat senators that are opposed to it. I bet that several Democrat U.S. senators probably sent Joe Manchin a Christmas gift, thankful that he is publicly the one killing it.
DEANGELIS: They probably did.
Congressman, let me ask you this. When it comes to inflation, Americans are feeling it. They are feeling it across the board, at the pump, in the grocery store, retail items when they were trying to give gifts this holiday season. They're even being charged to return gifts this holiday season now that we're past the Christmas holiday.
People really feel the strain of that. They feel the strain of this pandemic as well. They don't want to see less disposable income. They want to see more. And I think they're starting to understand and put those dots together, as you're suggesting here, that spending more, more programs that go into perpetuity, that's not going to fix the problem.
SMITH: Jackie, without a doubt.
We are facing the highest inflation in 40 years since Joe Biden became president on January 20. And that means higher prices for all Americans to put food on their table, clothes on their backs and medicine in their cabinets.
And what is Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wanting to do to address it? They're wanting to spend trillions more dollars of government - - government funding? That is the wrong recipe. You cannot stop inflation by just spending your way out of inflation. That's the wrong recipe.
The American people don't want it. And they have had enough.
DEANGELIS: Well, we mentioned this before. Some of the alternatives to the Build Back Better bill would be the president signing a couple of executive orders.
He could do that when it comes to regulating the energy industry. He could do that and forgive student loans. A lot of people are saying, well, why should you forgive student loans and not, for example, forgive my mortgage?
She talked about -- Congresswoman Dingell talked about prescription drug prices. And some are calling for the president to sign an executive order that essentially yanks the patents away from the companies that invested in those technologies, spent all that money to develop those patents, and give them to blanket manufacturers to bring those costs down.
I mean, some of these things are very un-American.
SMITH: Jackie, every time Joe Biden touches the pen and signs another executive order, it creates another crisis.
Remember the border crisis? Remember the energy crisis? Remember the Afghanistan crisis, the vaccination crisis? Everything that he has done by executive order has only led to a greater hardship on all Americans. He needs to stay at home, stop signing the executive orders, and allow Congress to do its job.
DEANGELIS: Well, he could do that, or he could also try to fix some of the things that he promised he would fix, for example, the supply chain, which is leading to the inflation problem that we have. Really, no movement has been made there.
So many are saying this is going to go well into next year and that inflation is not going to come down quickly. I mean, the Fed even told us this is not transitory, people.
SMITH: Yes, Jackie, we -- he spent $2 trillion in March in the first reconciliation packet -- package.
They said it was for COVID relief, but, in fact, less than 9 percent when toward COVID spending. And now he's trying to come up with another COVID spending package? But when -- that spending package, he reallocated $2 billion of money that should have went towards COVID testing, but instead sent it to house illegals at the border.
His reckless behavior is wrong for America. And it's not what we need right now.
DEANGELIS: Well, we will be watching the midterms very closely to see if Americans go out and vote and speak their mind and sort of make themselves heard, if you will.
Congressman, great to see you today. Thank you so much, and happy new year to you.
SMITH: Great to see you, Jackie.
DEANGELIS: OK.
SMITH: Happy new year.
DEANGELIS: Coming up: Fed up with rising prices? The warning that's going to have you worried a little bit.
Plus, another day of airline delays. Now storms could slow things down even more. What you need to know before you head to the airport -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEANGELIS: Welcome back.
New year, same prices. Goldman Sachs warning that inflation will get worse before it gets better, as the pandemic continues to crunch the global supply chain.
So what's in store for 2022?
With me now, FOX News contributor Brian Brenberg.
Brian, great to see you.
We have been talking about inflation this hour. People are feeling the pinch. There's not any relief in sight. And even Goldman Sachs now is saying it's going to be here a while.
BRIAN BRENBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
The problem, Jackie, is, nothing is changing. Inflation is going to be around in 2022 because there's nothing changing at the policy level. I mean, all year, we have had this problem because businesses can't fill jobs. They have had mandates hanging over their head. They don't know who they can bring on, what the status of those workers has to be to come into the office. It changes week by week, it seems like.
You have got the Fed continuing to pump money into this economy at an incredible rate. Now we're talking about schools maybe going back to remote learning? I mean, how do we solve a supply chain crisis, how do we solve an inflation problem, when businesses can't plan for the next week, let alone the next month, Jackie?
This is going to keep going on as long as we have those policy conditions.
DEANGELIS: Well, if you look at how the administration and the Democrats are spinning their Build Back Better bill, it sort of makes sense, Brian.
I mean, you and I have had these conversations before. Essentially, the longer this pandemic goes, the more mandates you have, the more lockdowns you have, the more fear you inject into society, then the more Build Back Better seems to make sense, because the way they're spinning it is, oh, see, that's going to fix everything.
BRENBERG: Yes.
If you paint the landscape just right, maybe it seems like Build Back Better works. One of the best pieces of news we have gotten all year, frankly, is that bill seems to have died. That will actually help us out potentially next year and into 2023 because we're not going to spend an extra $5 trillion over the next 10 years.
But this administration keeps providing solutions to the problems we don't have, and it neglects addressing the problems we do have. At this point, what the president really needs to do in 2022 is make a sharp break with the left. He has to start saying and doing things that are uncomfortable to his left-wing base. He has to say we need to get workers back on the job. We're going to drop all of these mandates.
We have got to keep schools open. We're going to take that off of the table. He needs to set the stage for businesses to hire and people to work. It's as simple as that. If he does that, we can make progress on inflation faster. If he doesn't do that, Jackie, we're going to have this conversation for a really long time.
DEANGELIS: I have a feeling we're going to have this conversation for a really long time. Let's just put it that way.
Another problem, another issue, of course, having to do with inflation is what we're seeing in the housing market as well, right? We have got housing prices continuing to go up. You have got people that have less disposable income.
There's a new survey out that finds that 29 percent of people are actually delaying their homebuying plans because of inflation, 10 percent canceling their plans altogether. Homebuying, Brian, is part of the American dream.
BRENBERG: Yes.
DEANGELIS: Now, we know, because of the housing bubble, that you can't just give mortgages out to anybody. And there has to be some rules and regulations.
But, still, you have got people whose hands are tied right now because they're just trying to put food on the table. And so you look at this and say, this isn't going to get better next year either. In fact, with inflation going up, I think you're going to see interest rates rising too, but you're not going to see those prices come down the way they normally would.
BRENBERG: Yes.
Yes, I mean, it is so incredibly difficult to buy a home right now, number one, good luck finding any supply out there.
DEANGELIS: Finding one, yes.
BRENBERG: The minute a house comes up, it's gone.
But, number two -- and this is the big point about inflation -- it's so hard to make plans when you don't know where prices are going. And, right now, homebuyers are sitting there thinking -- some of them are saying, I just can't do this. Prices are too high.
There's actually a whole bunch right now who are saying, I don't know if I should be buying a home right now, but I feel like I better, because, if I don't do it now, prices are going to go up even more.
DEANGELIS: Yes.
BRENBERG: And then there are some just throwing their hands up sitting on the sidelines.
Jackie, this is the problem with inflation. When inflation runs rampant, it's impossible for people to make plans, to make long-term investments. That's what kills an economy. You have got to get inflation under control because you got to put people back in the driver's seat.
Right now, they're just feeling like they're being taken for a ride.
DEANGELIS: Yes.
And whatever you end up saving because of inflation, you're always going to be priced out of the market, right, if it continues to go up, and so it's really difficult.
BRENBERG: Right.
DEANGELIS: Then you have some people saying on the business side, well, your money sitting in the bank, your down payment, or whatever it was that you were saving, it's going to get eroded by inflation.
BRENBERG: Yes.
DEANGELIS: It's going to be worth less.
So, not only will you be priced out, but you will have less cash on hand. I mean, it's a serious problem. We hope to see some relief in 2022.
BRENBERG: Yes.
DEANGELIS: But we will be watching closely.
Brian, it's so good to see you. Thank you.
BRENBERG: Great to see you, Jackie. Take care.
DEANGELIS: Talk soon. OK.
Coming up: no end in sight for travel troubles. Airline delays, cancellations, they are still continuing to pile up. How are flyers holding up?
Our own David Lee Miller is getting a firsthand look for us -- David Lee.
DAVID LEE MILLER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Today marks six straight days of cancellations because of COVID-related staff shortages by the major airlines.
Is there any end in sight?
Coming up live from La Guardia Airport, we will have the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEANGELIS: Not a lot of good news when it comes to travel, more woes, in fact.
Flight cancellations and delays are stretching into a sixth straight day. How are folks holding up?
FOX's own David Lee Miller is live from New York's La Guardia Airport.
And looking at the lines there, David, it looks like people are tired.
MILLER: They are very tired, frustrated and exhausted.
Things here at Terminal A at La Guardia Airport relatively mellow, but, system-wide, there are still a lot of problems. Today alone, more than 900 flights scheduled to land or take off in the U.S. were canceled because of COVID-related staffing shortages.
Now, the good news is, that number is an improvement over the day before. New CDC guidance says workers testing positive and without symptoms only now have to be quarantined for five days, instead of the previous 10.
But for thousands of airline customers, there's still plenty of disappointment to go around. JetBlue today canceled 9 percent of its scheduled flights, United 7 percent, Delta 4 percent. Alaska Airlines canceled 12 percent, citing the weather. The airlines says it proactively reduced departures to allow more time for aircraft to be deiced in Seattle.
Across the country, there have been long lines at many major airports, especially the hubs. And frustrated passengers are simply running out of patience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a disaster, a lot of families. People are inconvenienced. I have been literally here at the airport since 9:00 p.m. I'm just ready to get home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were able to come here and find exactly this spot to lay our heads and use our backpacks as headrests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: Meanwhile, according to the TSA, yesterday, it screened almost two million passengers. That's almost double the number compared to the same day a year ago.
And while the flight disruptions have dwindled, they are not over. Poor weather that's in the forecast, as well as problems related to COVID, will likely plague many of the holiday travelers who will soon be returning home.
And consider this, Jackie. Thursday, tomorrow, already, there are 450 flights that are now canceled. That's a number that we will only see increase -- Jackie.
DEANGELIS: Yes, this was a rough time of year for this variant to hit us. And, certainly, it's impacting people's lives.
David Lee, thank you so much for that.
Coming up: now to the gridiron. Football fans mourning the loss of an icon. Legendary NFL coach, broadcaster and Hall of Famer John Madden has died at 85.
Former NFL star and Hall of Famer himself Harry Carson, he's here to weigh in on the passing of his Hall of Fame classmate next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEANGELIS: Welcome back.
Some breaking news to kick it off here. The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. As soon as we have more details on that, we certainly will bring it to you.
But, right now, we're talking about the NFL and its fans. They are mourning today following the death of football icon and Hall of Famer John Madden.
My next guest was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame alongside the former coach and broadcaster.
Former New York Giant Harry Carson is with us.
Great to see you, Harry.
When you think about John Madden...
HARRY CARSON, PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER: It's my pleasure to be here.
DEANGELIS: ... he was a coach, of course. He was a broadcaster, had that huge video game franchise essentially centered around him.
He's going to have a huge legacy here. A lot of people say there is nobody that loved the sport more than he did. What did he mean to you?
CARSON: Well, for me, he meant different things at different times.
When I played, it meant that when he and Pat Summerall came together, I knew that the game was going to be something really, really special. The mere fact that these guys were going to be airing the game, that made a difference.
Once he left football and he went into business and so forth, it still meant something to me, because I have been like 30, 32 years removed from playing football, and, last year, I was part of the Madden team. So I had the opportunity to be -- my grandson, my sons, they have been able to play Harry Carson from way back in the day.
DEANGELIS: It's so interesting, because you see the photographs, you see the evolution of him, and his energy was just palpable, especially when he was broadcasting. He just brought that love of the game, I think, to everybody who was listening to him.
And when you think about coaches, yes, they coach teams, they inspire within their sport, but it's so much more than that, because, many times, people look to sports and sort of mimic their lives based on so many of those principles.
Don't you think that he will have a wider footprint, if you will, than just within the NFL?
CARSON: Well, for so many people who watch football, but weren't really into football, John Madden really made watching football popular, the way that he diagrammed plays, the way that he described various things that were happening on the field, the way he talked about the weight of players.
And he was an every -- an everyday kind of guy that everybody could relate to. And I'm not going to go so far as to say he was like that old uncle. He wasn't. He was a guy who was very knowledgeable, and he knew how to get his points across.
But he also was a guy who players really would run through walls for, because they respected him that much. Going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I went in with Reggie White and Troy Aikman and Rayfield Wright and Warren Moon.
And the one person that I was really excited about going in with was John Madden, because he was just one of those guys that he was kind of an icon, as far as I was concerned. He was a guy who was a straight shooter.
And, in essence, I was sort of -- I was amazed that it took him so long to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was coming in with me. And that's the reason why I think the 2006 class of Hall of Famers was probably the best group of Hall of Famers to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
DEANGELIS: Harry, great to hear your thoughts.
And, certainly, his 85 years is being celebrated right now.
CARSON: Yes.
DEANGELIS: May he rest in peace. I know a lot of people are going to miss him.
Great to talk to you today about that. Thank you.
CARSON: All right, thank you.
DEANGELIS: All right, once again, the jury, of course, saying that it has reached a verdict in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell.
Stay tuned for more on that. We have obviously been awaiting this. And we're going to continue to follow it very, very closely as soon as they're willing to release what that verdict is and share with us.
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