Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

FDA Top Vaccine Official Forced Out, Cites RFK Jr.'s Lies; Astronauts Speak About 9-Month Delay in Space; 2000 Plus Confirmed Dead in Myanmar After 7.7 Magnitude Earthquake. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 31, 2025 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: And that was a production program that was arguably one of the greatest scientific or medical achievements in my lifetime. The Trump administration gave $11 billion that on six horses to win one race, which is to say six pharmaceutical companies. And within record time, within 11 months, we had produced vaccines that were safe and effective and probably saved 3 million lives.

For that, you get to have a choice of being either resigning or being fired. I guess that's the way it works.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Mark specifically cited the ongoing measles outbreak in his resignation letter. I wonder what you can tell us that you're seeing regarding the status of that outbreak and any other potential ones you might be concerned about right now.

OFFIT: Right. If you look at the CDC's website today, it lists 483 cases of measles in 20 jurisdictions. That number is way low because if you look, for example, in the Mennonite community in West Texas, people with measles are told not to go to the doctor.

And those 483 cases are confirmed cases being confirmed by serology or confirmed by PCR. This is the tip of the iceberg. There is probably at least 2,000 cases of measles right now in this country.

And the doubling is really increasing to the point that there could be four or 5,000 cases when we're all said and done. And I don't think, even though we had a child die in West Texas for the first child death from measles in more than 20 years, I don't think that's going to be the last one during this cycle. We have at least six more weeks of measles to go.

And I think we've vastly underestimated this, the nature of this epidemic. And that the CDC is being hamstrung in terms of trying to identify cases and doing surveillance, making sure people are getting vaccines is tragic. And you look at this, at the things RFK Jr. is saying in the midst of this massive epidemic, he says things like, the measles vaccines kills people, or the measles vaccine causes blindness and deafness. And now he's cutting back money from the Vaccine for Children's program.

He needs to step down. I really think President Trump is not a fan of measles either. He needs to ask RFK Jr. to step down from this position because children are suffering and will continue to suffer RFK Jr., who is a virulent anti-vaccine activist and will do everything he can to make vaccines less available, less affordable, and more feared.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Paul Offit, I appreciate you sharing your point of view. Thanks for joining us.

OFFIT: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, we now hearing from the two astronauts who went to space for a week only to return about 10 months later. Why Butch Wilmore says he deserves some of the blame for their extended stay in orbit.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The Starliner astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, opening up about their unexpected nine-plus-month stay in space. It's been two weeks now since the duo returned to Earth after their week-long mission turned into 286 days on the International Space Station. Last June, NASA had deemed the Boeing- made Starliner capsule that transported them not safe enough for the return trip back to Earth.

SANCHEZ: So the astronauts waited until this spring to come back on a SpaceX vehicle. And today at a news conference, Wilmore said he put some of the blame on himself for the delay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUTCH WILMORE, ASTRONAUT WHO JUST RETURNED FROM 286 DAYS IN SPACE: And I'll start with me. There were questions that I, as the commander of the spacecraft, that I should have asked, and I did not. At the time, I didn't know I needed to.

And maybe you could call that hindsight. But I'll start and point the finger, and I'll blame me. I could have asked some questions, and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide.

Responsibility with Boeing? Yes. Responsibility with NASA? Yes. All the way up and down the chain. We all are responsible. We all own this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who is now a professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California. Garrett, thanks so much for being with us. What stood out to you about their remarks?

GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Well, I think that one was really a credit to both of them, taking ownership of this and taking responsibility as a person in a leadership position to do that and say, hey, look, if anybody's going to point fingers, first point it at me, is a characteristic of a leader that you want and a characteristic that, unfortunately, is getting less and less common in our leadership. So I give Butch a lot of credit for taking that approach, and Suni took a very similar approach in other comments as well. So kudos to both of them.

Also, I could say that they both were looking great. I think that they're bouncing back really well from these nine months in space. I actually saw Suni the day after she came back, just about two weeks ago. And even within 24 hours, she was up and walking around and really doing great. They're both in really great health. And I think we've come a long way at NASA as far as being able to keep our astronauts healthy for these really long duration space flights, even when you didn't plan on it in the beginning.

KEILAR: They're going to meet with Starliner, which is important, right? You want to have as many opportunities for safe space travel if you're trying to further the mission.

What kinds of things can come out of that? What do they need to explore as they are asking questions of these two?

REISMAN: Yes, it's really important for NASA and for our country that we continue and get Starliner to be fully operational and a regular option for getting our people to and from the space station.

[15:40:00]

In the business, we call this dissimilar redundancy. It means that you have a plan A and a plan B, and there's nothing common between them. So if something goes wrong with plan A, you can go with plan B. And so having two different vehicles to get our people up and down to the space station, should we have a problem with one or the other, as is actually really well demonstrated by this whole situation, is a very valuable thing. You don't want to just have one way to get back and forth.

So I really hope that Boeing and the team does resolve, find the root cause of the problems that they had and fix them and get Starliner flying again quickly. I think that'd be great.

SANCHEZ: And to that point, Garrett, part of the story is that SpaceX helped bring them home. What do you think their role is going to be going forward?

REISMAN: Well, SpaceX has had a contract that I was involved with actually when I was there, as far as getting to work with NASA in a partnership to provide these transportation services. They're up and running first. And good thing they were, because then when we had this problem, they were there to provide a backup option.

And so they will continue to execute on their contract and provide those services. And hopefully Boeing will be alongside of them and we'll have two providers. But SpaceX will be there and continue to provide transportation for both crew and cargo and keep the space station running. KEILAR: Garrett Reisman, always great to have you. And it was awesome, of course, to hear from Butch and Suni today. We know you enjoyed it, too.

REISMAN: Sure did. It was really fun watching it. So great to be with you.

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.

A crew of four passengers led by a cryptocurrency billionaire is preparing to launch aboard a SpaceX capsule that will carry them over the Earth's poles. This marks the first time that humans have flown a mission like this one. The group slated to lift off tonight, and they're expected to spend three to five days in space gathering health data. Also, hundreds of people are marching in California in support of immigrant workers. Organizers say they want to send a strong message to the Trump administration that they are, quote, unified in the fight against racism, intolerance and hate.

This is a three mile march, also commemorating the legacy of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

SANCHEZ: And a new study suggests that a popular artificial sweetener used in diet drinks may alter brain activity and actually increase your appetite. Researchers studied 75 people and found those who consume drinks containing sucralose. I believe it's pronounced sucralose. Is that right?

KEILAR: Sucralose.

SANCHEZ: Sucralose said that their appetite -- get this -- their appetite increased by nearly 20 percent compared to drinking water with sugar.

Other popular artificial sweeteners were not included in the study. And these findings were published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

So it's deceiving your body into thinking it's not full. So it makes you hungrier. So you eat more.

KEILAR: It is -- I mean, diet soda has long left me wanting something. So it just confirms it sort of like doesn't hit the spot. Right. So there you go. It's like what we knew through our little personal experiments.

SANCHEZ: Anecdotal evidence becomes whatever you call like data.

KEILAR: Backed up by science, yes.

SANCHEZ: Just have an alcoholic drink, why not.

KEILAR: There you go.

SANCHEZ: If you're so inclined, you're so inclined.

KEILAR: I don't think that's the lesson.

SANCHEZ: And you're, of course, over 21 years old.

Still ahead, if you ever have dreamt about sleeping like a baby, researchers say something from your childhood might be the answer. And it's not alcohol.

We'll be right back.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Some remarkable signs of hope today in Myanmar, as rescue teams searching for survivors of last Friday's deadly 7.7 earthquake are still finding people who were buried alive. Chinese rescuers pulled four survivors trapped in the rubble of this collapsed building in Mandalay City. The tragedy has killed more than 2,000 people. Officials expect that number to soar here in the coming weeks.

The U.S. Geological Survey says Friday's quake was the most powerful to hit Myanmar in over a century. Concerns are now growing about how to get critical humanitarian aid to the war-torn region.

Janti Soeripto is the chief executive officer of Save the Children. Save the Children is a charitable organization that has previously received USAID funding and was deeply impacted by the recent Trump administration cuts to awards and grants. And moments ago, the U.S. State Department, we should note, announced a USAID team is currently on its way to Myanmar at the request of the junta government.

Janti, thank you so much for being with us. Because I also want to note that even as a U.S. team is on its way, a lot of other countries have been there already helping. Talk to us a little bit about how Save the Children in particular has been responding in Myanmar and if these cuts to USAID awards and grants have affected your ability to respond.

JANTI SOERIPTO, CEO, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Thanks, Brianna. And as you said so rightly, unbelievable earthquake, the worst one in over a century. It has hit six regions in Myanmar, predominantly home to more than 28 million people, of whom around 7 million are children.

So as you can imagine, Save the Children is responding as we speak. We have been in Myanmar since 1995. So we've been there for 30 years and a bit more. We know the area well. We are there with mostly, in the majority, local staff. We know the situation on the ground well. So we're responding.

[15:50:03]

One of our biggest concerns at the moment is that it's really hard to get the right information about where the needs are and how deep the needs are. Roads are damaged. Data and connectivity is hard to get access to.

But we have over 10 teams now in country going out in these regions to make sure that we understand what the most pressing needs are.

KEILAR: And those needs are going to continue, right? We said that we expect the death toll to rise. We expect the needs to continue.

Have you been feeling the effects there of these cuts to the aid you receive as you are trying to respond to an emergency like this?

SOERIPTO: Look, global humanitarian funding is under strain, right? There's no doubt about it. So that puts pressure on everybody, not just Save the Children.

However, we're in a somewhat fortunate situation that we have an amazing supporter base of millions of people across the globe, as well as in the United States, that have given us funding for the Children's Emergency Fund. And the Children's Emergency Fund is a remarkable resource for us globally to make sure that we can respond to emergencies if and when they happen, because we can't always predict where they happen and at what time. We only can say we are pretty sure that something's going to happen over the course of a year.

So we're using this Children's Emergency Fund now as we speak to literally not only assess needs, but to start providing basic necessities, food, shelter, clean water, cash for some families so that they can actually spend it in local markets. So that is what the Children's Emergency Fund does for us.

We are also in ongoing conversations. We had existing and still remaining funding from the U.S. government for Myanmar, and we're in conversations now with our partners there to see how we can expand that to include these earthquake response activities.

KEILAR: Janti, talk about kids in this situation and how they are particularly vulnerable and need the help of organizations like Save the Children. What kind of specific challenges do they face in the aftermath of something like this?

SOERIPTO: Well, it's horrifying for kids, right? Because particularly very young children, it's very hard for them to understand what's actually happening. There have been a number of aftershocks, as always, with earthquakes of this size.

So there's this consistent, it doesn't stop with the one big one, there's this consistent fear that the next aftershock could be even worse and could lead to more death and casualties and destruction. Some kids will have lost their homes, their parents or their immediate family in the aftermath. So when crisis like this happens so suddenly, kids are always at more risk than anybody else.

They can get lost, they lose their family. It'd be hard to find ways back to their families. And of course, they can be and will be severely traumatized.

KEILAR: And while I have you, I do want to ask, because it is organizations, as I mentioned, like yours, that have been affected by these cuts. You have programs where you are addressing children who are in imminent danger of starving, not just in someplace like Myanmar in the wake of this, but all around the world. And I hear you're tapping your reserve funds as you have lost some of the funds from the U.S. government. But do you know of any instances where children have died because of these cuts, or where you are worried that they're going to?

SOERIPTO: I'm incredibly worried that they're going to. So for now, globally, Save the Children's was impacted by about 30 percent of our income or our funding for these lifesaving activities and development activities. We've received exemptions for those lifesaving activities, and we've managed to continue to do them, you know, even when it was uncertain when we were going to get paid for those activities, because we have scale.

And as I said, we have a diversified portfolio of funders, and some amazing existing funders have really also stepped up into this moment to make sure we could maintain malnutrition treatment centers, health care centers, cholera treatment for children all across Africa.

So in the immediate aftermath, I think, of this particular shock, we have been able to really maintain those lifesaving activities, but it has come at a cost of longer-term and medium-term interventions, particularly in the area of education.

[15:55:00]

So I'm incredibly concerned about the loss of education programs in such a disorderly and sudden fashion for girls in Afghanistan, for young children in the eastern DRC that I saw myself last year when I was visiting.

And it had an amazing impact on their ability to essentially to read and write at the right age level. And that will impact their future for sure.

KEILAR: Jandi Soeripto, thank you so much for talking with us about what you're group has seen there in Myanmar and for what you are dealing with just more broadly, we really appreciate it.

SOERIPTO: Thank you for having me.

KEILAR: And for more information about how you can help the earthquake victims, go to CNN.com/impact. We'll be back here in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Want a better night's sleep? I mean, who doesn't? Experts say the key might be tucked away in a box in your parent's garage.

[16:00:04]

A mental health therapist telling CNN a stuffed animal can -- maybe not that one, that one's creepy -- but nonetheless, it can provide comfort in the face of anxiety, not just for kids, but for people of all ages.

SANCHEZ: Experts say the pandemic brought this into sharper focus, with sales of plush toys spiking 21 percent among adults as people sought relief from the isolation of lockdowns.

You can seek relief from isolation with "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt, which starts right now. Thanks so much for joining us.

END