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Guarding public health, right. when you're watching what's happening now with these extremely long testing lines, and of course president biden admitting he wishes he would have sent these tests several months before, we're in year three, coming into year three of the pandemic, did the biden administration drop the ball on this at least when it comes to testing? >> well, you know, they were focusing on vaccines. we clearly put billions of dollars into testing supplies and capacity, and yes, we need to do it more on testing. frankly, speaker pelosi was running around a year ago saying testing, ...

Other people or highly vulnerable people, and also layer these measures, not just use one and put all your eggs in one basket, like vaccines. use those masks in combination with tests and your vaccine and you'll be a lot safer. >> speaking of tests, as you know the variant has spread which means the need for testing as certainly skyrocketed. the white house plans to distribute half a million tests free of charge to americans. but the need for the test is immediate. should the administration have been better prepared to handle this particular need? what could they have done? >> i'm going to say...

Nowadays, still doesn't necessarily mean getting them in a bed. they sit in the er. most folks are sitting there up to 12 or 24 hours. we've been at this for six weeks. people holding for hours and days on end, people delaying their definitive care they need in the hospital, and the hospital -- sorry, er nurses acting as in-patient nurses while still trying to manage the flow of er patients. it's a real challenge. >> from what you're seeing, do hospitals have what they need to get through this? we're hearing about some hospitals need manager antibodies. other clinics are short on testing suppl...

>> but is it, dr. jha, testing should be easy peasey but it's not. do we need operation warp speed for at home testing? that is what is going to keep us safe? >> yeah, first of all, thanks for having me back. it is what will keep us safe. administration have done things well. i don't think the strategy on testing until recently has been as aggressive and focused as it needs to be. we should have been building our testing supplies through the spring and summer, certainly by the fall with delta it was clear we would need testing for awhile. we should have billions of these tests widely available...

Or medicaid funding. >> this is not about freedom, or personal choice. it's about protecting yourself and those around you. the people you work with. the people you care about. the people you love. >> reporter: the daily covid averages are startling. more than 140,000 new cases and more than 1,000 deaths a day hav have alarmed white house officials, especially after the president declared independence from the virus this summer. >> we've gained the upper hand against this virus. >> reporter: the administration is increasing testing supplies, and making at-home kits cheaper. and now, with the s...