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Canadian prime minister describes close ties to U.S. as “weaknesses that we must correct”

April 19, 2026 / 4:24 PM EDT / AP

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a video address released Sunday that Canada’s strong economic ties to the United States were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected.

In the nearly 10-minute address, Carney spoke about his government’s efforts to strengthen the Canadian economy by attracting new investments and signing trade deals with other countries.

“The world is more dangerous and divided,” Carney said in his address. “The U.S. has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression.

“Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become weaknesses. Weaknesses that we must correct.”

Carney said tariffs imposed by President Trump have affected workers in the auto and steel industries. He added that businesses are holding back investments “restrained by the pall of uncertainty that’s hanging over all of us.”

Many Canadians have also been angered by Mr. Trump’s comments suggesting Canada become the 51st state.

Carney said he plans to give Canadians regular updates on his government’s efforts to diversify away from the U.S.

“Security can’t be achieved by ignoring the obvious or downplaying the very real threats that we Canadians face,” he said. “I promise you I will never sugarcoat our challenges.”

It’s not the first time Carney, who served as a central bank governor, first at the Bank of Canada and later with the Bank of England, has spoken about a shift in world power.

During a speech in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he received widespread praise for condemning economic coercion by great powers against small countries.

His remarks brought a rebuke from Mr. Trump.

“Canada lives because of the United States,” Mr. Trump said after the speech. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”

Carney’s comments came days after securing a majority government following special election wins and as the opposition Conservatives push him to deliver a U.S. trade deal, which was among his promises in last year’s election.

A review of the current version of theNorth American Free Trade Agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico is scheduled for July.

In his address, Carney said he wants to attract new investments into Canada, double the size of clean energy capacity and reduce trade barriers within the country. He also emphasized Canada’s increased defense spending, reduction in taxes and efforts to make housing more affordable.

“We have to take care of ourselves because we can’t rely on one foreign partner,” he said. “We can’t control the disruption coming from our neighbors. We can’t control our future on the hope it will suddenly stop.

“We can control what happens here. We can build a stronger country that can withstand disruptions from abroad.”

Carney said simply hoping the “United States will return to normal” is not a feasible strategy.

“Hope isn’t a plan and nostalgia is not a strategy,” he said.

Carney said Canada has “been a great neighbor” standing with the U.S. in conflicts including Afghanistan, plus two World Wars.

“The U.S. has changed and we must respond,” he said. “It’s about taking back control of our security, our borders and our future.”

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伊朗总统：美方在谈判及停火阶段持续背信弃义

2026年4月20日 07:25 / 联合早报

巴基斯坦陆军参谋长穆尼尔（左）4月16日访问德黑兰，与伊朗总统佩泽希齐扬会面。 （路透社）

伊朗总统佩泽希齐扬指责美国在谈判及停火阶段持续表现出背信弃义行为，凸显美方企图放弃外交手段的真面目。

新华社引述伊朗迈赫尔通讯社报道，佩泽希齐扬星期天（4月19日）与巴基斯坦总理谢里夫通电话，双方就地区最新局势、伊斯兰堡谈判、停火相关事宜交换意见。他对巴方为实现和平所作坚定努力表示赞赏，并特别感谢谢里夫及巴陆军参谋长穆尼尔所作贡献。

佩泽希齐扬说，美国在谈判及停火阶段持续表现出背信弃义、霸凌且不合理的行为。

他强调，美方继续实施所谓海上封锁等挑衅性、非法举动，不仅公然违反停火协议，也违背联合国宪章宗旨原则。此类行径连同美方官员对伊朗的威胁性言论，只会加深外界对美方谈判诚意的怀疑，并进一步揭露美方企图重蹈覆辙、放弃外交手段的真面目。

佩泽希齐扬强调，伊朗致力于在睦邻友好和相互尊重基础上，维护并提升与包括波斯湾南岸国家在内所有邻国的关系。他说，希望这些国家能吸取近期经验，在集体合作基础上，加强地区和平与安全，并远离域外国家特别是美国的破坏性干预。

Michigan attorney general rejects Trump administration ballot request amid broader push to challenge elections

2026-04-19T22:07:10.308Z / CNN

By Alison Main

PUBLISHED Apr 19, 2026, 6:07 PM ET

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on November 21, 2024, in Philadelphia.

Matt Slocum/AP

Michigan’s attorney general is rejecting an effort by the US Justice Department to obtain ballots and other voting materials from the Detroit area, a target of the Trump administration’s efforts to probe elections in states that the president falsely claims he won in 2020.

Harmeet Dhillon, the DOJ’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, sent a letter to the clerk who oversees elections in Wayne County, Michigan’s most populous, on Tuesday, requesting she turn over all ballots, ballot receipts and ballot envelopes from the 2024 election within two weeks.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel responded on Friday, calling President Donald Trump and his allies’ claims of widespread voter fraud “baseless” and warning that state leaders stand “ready to defend against these claims and any attempt to interfere in Michigan’s elections.”

Federal prosecutors want to ensure that ballots from the last presidential election are legally valid because of Wayne County’s “history,” Dhillon explains.

However, several of her allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election stem from a Michigan case that courts repeatedly rejected, citing a lack of credibility in the plaintiffs’ claims about operations at Detroit’s downtown ballot-counting center — an epicenter of conspiracy theories.

Nessel emphasized that federal, state and local officials have repeatedly found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Michigan, calling the few cases that her office prosecuted related to the 2020 election “infinitesimal” compared to the total number of voters in Wayne County.

In her letter to Dhillon, Nessel repudiated the basis of DOJ’s efforts, arguing that “speculative evidence of election fraud” does not meet the standard required to compel states to turnover ballots and that it is too broad in scope.

CNN has reached out to the Justice Department about Nessel’s letter.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department on September 29, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Michigan’s elections are largely administered by local clerks who report voting data to the county. Nessel contends that the 43 clerks throughout Wayne County who retain ballots from 2024 should not have to respond to a request related to allegations outside of their jurisdiction.

“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy,” Nessel wrote, vowing to do everything in her power to protect the “fundamental right to vote” in Michigan.

Michigan is just the latest state that the Trump administration has focused in on in its efforts to probe old ballots from battleground states, sparking concerns about how far they will go in policing future elections.

The FBI seized 2020 ballots from a Fulton County, Georgia elections center in January, years after Trump pressured then-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in that state.

In the ensuing legal battle, a lawyer for Fulton County warned a federal judge last month that if he did not scrutinize the criminal search warrant used to obtain 2020 Atlanta-area election records, it could embolden the Trump administration to seize ballots in the midst of an election in the future.

The president has already suggested that the federal government could get “involved” in counting votes if he doesn’t believe states are doing their constitutional duty of administering elections adequately.

伊朗指美军向伊货船开火 伊军发射无人机还击

2026年4月20日 07:44 / 联合早报

4月19日发布的一段视频截图显示，美国海军驱逐舰斯普鲁恩斯号在北阿拉伯海向悬挂伊朗国旗的货船图斯卡号开火。 （路透社）

伊朗最高军事指挥部说，美国军舰武力拦截并控制一艘伊朗货船后，伊朗也用无人机袭击了一些美国军舰。

伊朗光明通讯社星期一（4月20日）凌晨报道，伊朗武装部队哈塔姆安比亚中央总部发言人说，美军19日在阿曼湾海域袭击一艘伊朗集装箱货船，伊朗武装部队随后发射多架无人机，打击数艘美方军舰。

美国总统特朗普19日下午在社媒平台Truth Social贴文说，一艘悬挂伊朗国旗的货船图斯卡号试图突破美国海上封锁，美军导弹驱逐舰斯普鲁恩斯号在阿曼湾拦截这艘货船，要求停船，但货船船员拒绝服从美军指令。美舰“把货船机舱炸出一个洞”，迫使它停止前进。目前美海军陆战队已控制这艘船。

特朗普在Truth Social写道：“图斯卡号因有非法活动记录，正受到美国财政部制裁。我们已完全控制这艘船，并正在检查船上有些什么！”

《华盛顿邮报》称，此次行动标志着美国自4月13日对伊朗实施海上封锁以来，美军首次登上伊朗船只。

In its third flight, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket puts satellite payload into wrong orbit

April 19, 2026 / 3:30 PM EDT / CBS News

By Blue Origin launched the company’s third New Glenn rocket Sunday, re-flying and successfully recovering a previously used first stage. But the rocket’s second stage put the payload, a direct-to-cellphone communications satellite, in an unusable orbit, officials said.

AST SpaceMobile of Midland, Texas, builder of the BlueBird 7 satellite, said in a statement the cellular relay station’s on-board propulsion system could not compensate for the lower-than-planned altitude.

Spectators along the beach in Cape Canaveral, Florida, enjoy a spectacular Sunday morning launch, taking in the view of a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket blasting off carrying a next-generation cellular broadband satellite. The company said later the AST SpaceMobile Bluebird 7 satellite ended up in the wrong orbit. Adam Bernstein/Spaceflightnow.com

“During the New Glenn 3 mission, BlueBird 7 was placed into a lower-than-planned orbit by the upper stage of the launch vehicle,” the company said. “While the satellite separated from the launch vehicle and powered on, the altitude is too low to sustain operations with its on-board thruster technology and will de-orbited.”

The cost of the satellite was not revealed, but the company said it was fully insured.

The New Glenn launched Sunday was Blue Origin’s third and the first using a previously flown first stage. The company is owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos.

Liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station came at 7:25 a.m. ET, 40 minutes after an unexplained hold in the countdown. When the count finally hit zero, the towering rocket’s seven methane-burning BE-4 engines ignited with a ground shaking roar and the booster began climbing away atop 3.8 million pounds of thrust.

Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, posted video showing the New Glenn first stage, flying for the second time, making an on-target touchdown on a company landing barge stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. Blue Origin

The first stage appeared to work flawlessly, shutting down and falling away as planned about three minutes and nine seconds after liftoff. The rocket’s second stage, powered by two BE-3 engines, then ignited to continue the climb to an initial orbit.

The first stage, meanwhile, headed for a Blue Origin’s landing barge stationed several hundred miles down range in the Atlantic Ocean, flying itself to an on-target touchdown about nine minutes and 20 seconds after launch.

The same stage accomplished the same feat last November during the second flight of a New Glenn — NG-2 — albeit using a different set of engines.

“With our first refurbished booster we elected to replace all seven engines and test out a few upgrades including a thermal protection system on one of the engine nozzles,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in an earlier social media post. “We plan to use the engines we flew for NG-2 on future flights.”

About two-and-a-half minutes after the first stage landing Sunday, the second stage engines shut down as planned. A second upper stage engine firing was expected an hour and 10 minutes after launch, but that time came and went without any updates from Blue Origin.

About an hour later, however, the company reported the satellite had not been released into its intended orbit. The post did not say whether the second upper stage engine firing actually took place or if it did, whether it ran for the full duration.

“We have confirmed payload separation,” Blue Origin posted on X. “AST SpaceMobile has confirmed the satellite has powered on. The payload was placed into an off-nominal orbit. We are currently assessing and will update when we have more detailed information.”

The BlueBird 7 satellite was equipped with a 2,400-square-foot phased array antenna, the largest civilian antenna of its type ever put in low-Earth orbit.

The satellite is the second in a new generation of AST SpaceMobile data relay stations designed to seamlessly provide space-based 4G and 5G cellular broadband service directly to cell phone users anywhere in the world.

An artist’s impression of AST SpaceMobile Bluebird satellites in orbit around Earth, providing cellular broadband connectivity to users around the world. AST SpaceMobile

The company plans to deploy up to 60 such “block two” BlueBirds in an initial constellation, launching them with SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, Indian LVM3 boosters and Blue Origin’s New Glenn.

Despite the mishap Sunday, AST SpaceMobile said it “continues to expect an orbital launch every one to two months on average during 2026, supported by agreements with multiple launch providers, and it continues to target approximately 45 satellites in orbit by the end of 2026.”

Blue Origin plans to compete head-to-head with SpaceX to deliver commercial, military and science satellites to Earth orbit and deep space while deploying a fleet of Amazon-owned space-based LEO internet satellites intended to compete with SpaceX’s already-established Starlink system.

Blur Origin also is developing moon landers to deliver NASA cargo and astronauts to the lunar surface.

The New Glenn rocket is critical to all of those ventures. The company tentatively plans to launch a prototype Blue Moon lander on an unpiloted test flight late this summer or early fall, followed by one and possibly two launches of Amazon LEO internet satellites before the end of the year.

But those plans will depend on the results of an investigation into what went wrong Sunday.

Trump’s new pick for CDC leader may face “threat to follow ideology over evidence,” former surgeon general warns

April 19, 2026 / 12:58 PM EDT / CBS News

Dr. Erica Schwartz, President Trump’s new nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a “home run pick” but may face pressure from the “vaccine-skeptical” Robert F. Kennedy’s Health and Human Services Department if confirmed to the role, former Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday.

Adams was Mr. Trump’s Surgeon General during his first term in office. During that time, Schwartz was Adams’ deputy Surgeon General.

Polls suggested “that Republicans were going to pay in the midterm election if they continued on an anti-vaccine push,” Adams said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan”, but Schwartz is “objectively the most qualified health nominee we’ve seen from this administration so far.”

Schwartz is a graduate of Brown University’s medical school and holds a law degree from the University of Maryland. She also spent 24 years in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Currently, Schwartz oversees dozens of Coast Guard facilities as the agency’s director of health, safety and work-life.

Dr. Erica Schwartz. U.S. Coast Guard

Adams said his optimism about Schwartz’s qualifications came “with a health dose of caution about the environment” at the CDC and HHS. The previous CDC director, Susan Monarez, was ousted from the role just weeks after her confirmation following clashes with Kennedy. Several other top CDC officials have also resigned, citing disagreements with the Trump administration over its vaccine policy and “the weaponization of public health” at the agency.

“Recent history tells us if she’s confirmed, she will be under real threat to follow ideology over evidence in what is a vaccine-skeptical HHS,” Adams said.

Adams highlighted Monarez’s departure and acting CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya’s recent decision to hold back a weekly morbidity and mortality report that Adams described as showing COVID-19 vaccines reduced emergency room visits in health adults this winter. Adams said that Schwartz will also “clearly be pitted against RFK on vaccines” during the Senate confirmation process.

Adams said that the choice to nominate Schwartz comes amid reports that the White House has asked Kennedy to “stop talking negatively about vaccines” ahead of the midterm elections. Adams pointed to recent House testimony where Kennedy acknowledged, under oath, that vaccination could have saved the life of a child who died of measles in Texas last year.

“These statements represent his strongest possible endorsement of the measles vaccine to date,” Adams said. While the answer was “qualified and tempered,” Adams warned it still risked “sending mixed messages” amid rising measles cases, falling vaccination rates, preventable outbreaks and other public health concerns.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/ex-surgeon-general-says-cdc-director-nominee-will-be-under-pressure-to-follow-rfk-on-vaccines/

1 dead after small plane crashes into Florida yard

April 19, 2026 / 12:13 PM EDT / CBS News

A small plane crashed Sunday in the yard of a home near Tampa, Florida, killing one person, authorities said.

The crash sparked a fire on the property, and the residence itself “sustained some damage,” said Sarah Andeara, the Pasco County public information officer, in a statement that CBS affiliate WTSP shared with CBS News. Pasco County includes the neighborhood of Wesley Chapel, where the incident happened.

A neighbor’s ring camera footage showed a plume of smoke rising up from the yard where the plane crashed. Flames had been extinguished by 10:30 a.m. ET, said Andeara.

Christina Galbiati

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have confirmed they are investigating the incident. The NTSB will lead the probe and provide additional updates as they come.

After departing from Tampa North Aero Park on Sunday morning, the Cessna crashed at around 8:35 a.m. local time, “under unknown circumstances,” according to statements from the NTSB and FAA. Only the pilot was on board.

The NTSB said one of its investigators was headed to the scene.

“Once on site, the investigator will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation,” the agency said.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has access to surveillance video is encouraged to contact the NTSB.

The agency said local authorities are responsible for identifying the deceased and sharing any details about their identity with the public. It also said that, while still investigating the scene, “the NTSB does not determine or speculate about the cause of the accident.” A preliminary report on what happened will be released within 30 days.

Kathryn Krupnik contributed to this report.

5 people wounded in shooting near University of Iowa campus, including 3 students

2026-04-19T13:47:00-0400 / CBS News

By Kerry Breen

Kerry Breen is a news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News’ TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.

April 19, 2026 / 1:47 PM EDT / CBS News

Five people were shot and injured at an Iowa City pedestrian mall near the University of Iowa campus overnight, police said Sunday. Students from the university were among the injured, according to school officials.

The Iowa City Police Department responded to a report of a large fight in the 100 Block of East College Street at 1:46 a.m. early Sunday, the department said in a news release. Arriving officers heard gunfire.

Multiple victims were hospitalized, police said. Police confirmed to CBS News that one person was in critical condition, while the other four victims are stable.

University of Iowa President Barb Wilson said in a statement that three students were among those shot. None of the victims has been publicly identified.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing. Police said they are seeking information about five “persons of interest associated with this shooting.” The university also shared the request for information.

The pedestrian mall was closed for several hours and reopened Sunday afternoon.

The “persons of interest” being sought by Iowa City Police. Iowa City Police Department / University of Iowa

8 children killed in mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, police say

April 19, 2026 / 4:03 PM EDT / CBS News

Eight children and teens were killed early Sunday in a mass shooting in Shreveport, Louisiana, authorities said. The suspected shooter is also dead, according to police.

Ten people were struck by gunfire in all, Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon said at a news conference. He described the incident as “domestic in nature” and said authorities believe at least some of those shot were the “descendants” of the shooter.

The ages of the deceased ranged from 1 to approximately 14 years old, police said. None of the people killed or injured were identified by name. Some of the injured have been hospitalized, said Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux.

The shootings took place at multiple residences in the Louisiana city, including two homes on the same block and a third in another part of the neighborhood, police said. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X that multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating the incident.

A gunman in Louisiana killed eight children in domestic-related shootings at different homes early Sunday, police in Shreveport said. Shreveport Police

“Over 30% of our crimes and 30% of our murders in the city of Shreveport are domestic in relation. Now that number has gone up,” Shreveport Councilman Grayson Boucher said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. “We’ve more than doubled our homicide in the city of Shreveport because of one act of domestic violence.”

Officers responded to the shooting just after 6 a.m. ET at one of the residences where victims were shot, Shreveport police said. The suspect fled, carjacked a vehicle nearby and was chased by police, according to the department. Police said the suspect was killed after officers involved in that pursuit discharged their firearms.

The suspect was acting on their own, police said. The suspect has not yet been identified, but police said the department planned to release a name once necessary notifications had been made.

Louisiana State Police said its detectives will investigate the circumstances around the suspect’s death, since it involved an officer. In a statement, the superintendent said investigators were “working to process the scene and gather further information.”

Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said he couldn’t “even begin to imagine how such an event could occur,” referring to the shooting, and said investigators will be “going through every piece of evidence at every scene” to understand what took place.

Arceneaux said the shooting “affects the entire community.”

“This is a tragic situation, maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had in Shreveport,” he said, adding, “We all mourn for these families.”

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said on X that he and his wife Sharon “are heartbroken over this situation” and are “praying for everyone affected,” while Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said his “heart is with the Bossier Shreveport community as we mourn the innocent lives lost this morning.”

“I wish the surviving victims a complete and swift recovery,” Cassidy said. Bossier Parish, neighboring Shreveport, is where the car chase ended and the suspect was fatally shot, police said.

Majority House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose Louisiana district includes the site of the shooting, referred to it as a “heartbreaking tragedy” in a post on X and said he was holding “the victims, their families and loved ones, and our Shreveport community close in our thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.”

Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords also addressed the shooting in a statement released through her organization, Giffords, which focuses on gun violence prevention.

“This is a devastating act of domestic gun violence, taking the lives of eight young children. My heart is breaking for their families, the survivors, and everyone in Shreveport today,” Giffords said. “All of us should be outraged that we live in a country that routinely subjects our kids to such unimaginable violence.”

The White House is also monitoring the situation, an official told CBS News.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/louisiana-shreveport-police-mass-shooting-update/

Transcript: Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” April 19, 2026

2026-04-19T12:39:00-0400 / CBS News

The following is the transcript of the interview with first Trump administration surgeon general Dr. Jerome Adams that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on April 19, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We turn now to former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, who joins us this morning from Indianapolis, good to have you back, doctor. The country has been without a Senate confirmed CDC director since Secretary Kennedy fired Dr. Monarez just a month into her term. But this past week, the president nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz to lead the CDC. I know she worked as your deputy surgeon general. Do you see this as a deliberate choice by the White House to pick someone who actually does support vaccines?

DR. JEROME ADAMS: Well, absolutely. And again, we’ve talked in the past about the fact that the Fabrizio and Ward poll showed that Republicans were going to pay in the midterm elections if they continued on an anti-vaccine push. But I want to say Dr. Schwartz is a home run pick. She has an MD, a JD and an MPH and more than two decades of public service in the Coast Guard, where she was chief medical officer and in the Public Health Service, as you mentioned, which she retired from as a Rear Admiral, and it’s why I personally selected her to be my deputy surgeon general.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have concerns that she will be able to, you know, conduct herself without political interference?

DR. JEROME ADAMS: Well, it’s a great, and it’s a fair question, Margaret. I’d say she is objectively the most qualified health nominee we’ve seen from this administration so far, and I want to give the President and senior HHS adviser Chris Klomp credit for tapping her, but that said, my optimism as yours comes with a healthy dose of caution about the environment around Dr. Schwartz. We’ve seen this before, as you mentioned with Susan Monarez, and just last week, the acting CDC director held back an MMWR report showing COVID vaccines reduced ER visits in healthy adults this winter. Further, Dr. Schwartz still has to get through Senate confirmation, where she will clearly be pitted against RFK on vaccines. And recent history tells us, if she’s confirmed, she will be under real threat to follow ideology over evidence in what is a vaccine skeptical HHS, while also confronting a growing measles outbreak, low CDC morale and ongoing DOGE cut impacts.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the secretary will be before Congress again this week. You mentioned measles. The U.S. is already at over 1,700 measles infections in the first four months of this year. We did note that when Secretary Kennedy was under oath this past week, he seemed to change his rhetoric around the MMR vaccine. That’s the vaccine that prevents measles infections. Take a listen.

[START SOUND ON TAPE]

REPRESENTATIVE MADELEINE DEAN: Can you tell me, can you tell all of us, is the MMR vaccine safe and effective, yes or no?

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: The MMR vaccine–

REP. MADELEINE DEAN:Yes or no?

SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.:Yes.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Thank you.

SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: It’s safe for most people.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN: Can you agree that getting the vaccine is a lot safer than getting measles?

SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Yes.

[END SOUND ON TAPE]

MARGARET BRENNAN: So that was a qualified response, but it was still an endorsement, it seemed. Is he persuaded by the evidence, do you think?

DR. JEROME ADAMS: Well, he also acknowledged under oath it was possible vaccination could have saved the life of a child who died in the recent Texas outbreak. So these statements represent his strongest public endorsement of the measles vaccine to date. Not coincidentally, as you mentioned, this tepid support comes after reports the White House has instructed him to stop talking negatively about vaccines and head of- ahead of midterms. But the qualified and tempered answer he gave, it still risks, Margaret, sending mixed messages at a time when we’re facing our worst measles resurgence in decades, falling vaccination rates, preventable outbreaks, incurring millions in state and local costs and thousands of days of school missed.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, and I know that CDC data shows that the vaccine rate- the vaccination rate has been sliding. I did note this one exchange that I also want to play for you here, because the secretary was asked a few times about past statements both he and the president of the United States have made linking Tylenol use in pregnant women to autism in their children. A Republican lawmaker Blake Moore of Utah told Kennedy that his own 10-year-old son Winnie is neurodivergent, and he said that Kennedy’s remarks were hurtful. Listen to this.

[START SOUND ON TAPE]

REPRESENTATIVE BLAKE MOORE: I was underwhelmed with what we ultimately put out. My wife was hurt, and she felt for a split second until she came to her senses and we talked about this, that there was any way she was responsible. We don’t even know if she took Tylenol during her pregnancy, but that- that was a hurtful moment for her.

[END SOUND ON TAPE]

MARGARET BRENNAN: But on this, Kennedy did not give ground. He is still saying that studies showing there is no linkage are, quote, garbage. What is the reality?

DR. JEROME ADAMS: Well, the reality is that for pregnant women dealing with fever or significant pain, Tylenol remains one of the safest and most studied options we have. And suggesting otherwise without evidence, is dangerous. It’s irresponsible, and as you heard the Congressman say, it is extremely stigmatizing towards parents and risks real harm to moms and babies. The science moves forward with data, not with dogma and with dismissal and the garbage he was referring to was a Danish study of 1.5 million children that came out, and it presents queer- clear, high quality evidence that pregnant women who use Tylenol do not have an increased risk of autism. In fact, in that study, they had a lower risk of autism.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about what the president announced yesterday in the Oval Office. He was surrounded by podcaster Joe Rogan, a number of Navy SEALs, and he said he wants to boost federal research into psychedelic drugs and make them more available.

Specifically, they were touting this one drug, ibogaine, I believe, is how you say it.

DR. JEROME ADAMS: Correct.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do Americans need to know about this particular drug and the uses of it?

DR. JEROME ADAMS: Well, first of all, almost 15 million Americans experience serious mental illness every year, and among veterans, that burden is about one in four. So it’s clear we do have to accelerate rigorous evidence based research into promising treatments. Early studies of psychedelics such as ibogaine and psilocybin have shown potential for rapid improvements in symptoms and functioning in treatment resistant cases. So yesterday’s executive order, it directs 50 million in research funding, instructs the FDA to prioritize reviews for vouchers for breakthrough- breakthrough therapy, and directs the FDA and DEA to ease barriers under Right to Try. Also, importantly, it maintains full FDA and DEA oversight, so it’s not legalization or reclassification of psychedelics, but the content, while reasonable, was- was overshadowed by the rollout, as you mentioned with Joe Rogan, it was a spectacle resembling a WWE promotion. And people such as Kevin Sabet actually have said, well, this actually overshadows the substance that we’ve seen, and what I think could be a productive EO.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay, executive order. All right, thank you there, Dr. Adams, always good to get your insights. We’ll be right back.