News Information and Media Site: CDC director defends abrupt shift on masks ... GOP congressmen talk future of the party

From NBC's Ben Kamisar

If it's Sunday, there's a new, maskless, horizon for vaccinated people.

Last week's news was a stunning development, one that came just days after public health officials defended the old mask guidance on Capitol Hill, giving no indication a massive change was on the horizon.

That's why businesses and government officials have spent recent days scrambling to respond to the change.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joined Sunday's "Meet the Press" to defend the shift, arguing that it's her job to get Americans new scientific developments as quickly as possible.

"We needed this building block, this first step, so we could say: This is the science upon which all future guidance will be based upon."

—Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, on "Meet the Press."

The new guidance says fully vaccinated people don't need masks in most public settings, indoors or outdoors, with some exceptions, because the vaccines will protect them.

It's a welcome change for a pandemic-weary public, but policy makers, businesses and workers have raised questions about how to enforce the new guidance if it's difficult to assess whether someone is fully vaccinated without demanding to see paperwork.

Stressing that the guidelines are recommendations, Walensky said that "we're asking people to be honest with themselves. " And she noted that while the federal government isn't relying on businesses enforcing vaccine mandates, the CDC suggests businesses encourage their employees to be vaccinated to gain protection from the deadly virus.

Click on the photo below to watch the whole interview, where Walensky discussed more about what led to the decision, and answered questions like: What does this mean for households with some unvaccinated people (like children)?

Crenshaw and Kinzinger talk the future of the GOP

It's been the central political story of the last week — what does the ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy., from GOP leadership over her criticism of the former president's lies about the 2020 election, mean for the future of the GOP.

With Cheney gone from leadership, former President Donald Trump is hardly backing down. He sent a series of statements this weekend repeating his unfounded claim the presidential election was "the crime of the century."

Today's panel of GOP lawmakers took two very different approaches to the issue.

Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw repeatedly tried to downplay the "drama" as not "important" to average Americans. He argued that while Trump should focus his energy on criticizing the Biden administration, Cheney's sacking had less to do with her criticism of Trump and more to do with her unwillingness to accept the fact that many members agreed with the former president.

"I do not think Trump is the devil, and I won't say that. I don't think he's Jesus either."

—Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on "Meet the Press."

But Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., agreed with Cheney that the GOP can't grow without repudiating Trump's unfounded election claims.

But he lamented that the GOP has replaced fealty to conservative ideals to fealty for Trump and Trump alone, and added that Republicans should feel "okay with losing power for a little bit" to help it rebuild to "connect with a next generation of conservatives."

"We want to move on. It's hard to do when he keeps bringing it back to a 'stolen election,'

which, of course, wasn't true."

—Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., on "Meet the Press."

TWEET OF THE DAY: R-U-N-N-I-N'?

DATA DOWNLOAD: The AAPI population is booming

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so this week's Data Download looked at the dramatic growth of the population in America, and what it means for politics.

The Asian American population jumped 27 percent from 2011 to 2019, per Census data, compared to the country's 5 percent growth rate. And some of that growth is particularly pronounced in key counties in states like Georgia, Virginia and Texas, which are seeing important political shifts of their own.

The AAPI population is made up of more than 20 nationalities, so it's not wise to paint it with a broad brush. But some of the larger nationalities — Indian, Chinese and Filipino — all leaned heavily for President Biden during the 2020 election.

Click here to read more in this week's Data Download.