fighting hard and holding on meanwhile, there is a growing memorial outside this police precinct this community has been shaken by this violence kate kathy, thank you. protestors from across the country marched on washington today, voicing opposition to covid vaccine mandates, as a new nbc news poll shows americans losing confidence in the president s virus response josh letterman has more from washington reporter: tonight, the vaccine battle reaching a fever pitch in the nation s capital. if there is risk, there must be choice reporter: thousands rallying on the national mall for the defeat the mandates protest, featuring some of the nation s most prominent anti-vaxers. we got turned away because we didn t have a proof of vaccination card i m fully vaccinated, but not this vaccine the main reason being, because it s quote, unquote experimental
progress reporter: but in the south and west, where omicron hit later, a different story entirely one of cases surging, setting new records and overrunning hospitals. but dr. anthony fauci says he s hopeful the country will soon see a turnaround possibly by mid february we don t want to get overconfident, but it looks like it s going in the right direction. reporter: there s a big caveat fauci predicting more pain and suffering in areas where fewer people are vaccinated and boosted. and josh joins us now from the national mall josh, was this protest against the vaccine itself or targeted more at the mandates reporter: well, they say it s about the mandates, but the speeches today were filled with misinformation about vaccine risks. we asked rally goers whether they, themselves, were vaccinated all but one of them told us they weren t kate josh, thank you believe it or not, tomorrow is the start of tax season, the first day you can file with the irs but there are warnings