Overview

• Hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his first eight months as HHS secretary at a Senate hearing, CNN anchor Kasie Hunt and Sen. Markwayne Mullin clashed on-air over vaccines and autism.
• Mullin said autism diagnoses have risen dramatically and argued the country should re-examine vaccines as a potential factor, while noting his six children are vaccinated.
• Hunt replied that multiple studies show no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism, and she disputed Mullin’s framing of the childhood immunization schedule.
• At the hearing, senators pressed Kennedy about upheaval at the CDC and changes to vaccine policy as they questioned his leadership priorities.
• Raw Story reported that Kennedy said he was unsure whether COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, a view the outlet contrasted with CDC data indicating the shots did save lives.