Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) on the impact of CDC cuts

Morning Joe

The episode covers a series of high-stakes political and technological developments, beginning with Donald Trump's criticisms of Morning Joe and

Key takeaways

• Senator Angela Alsobrooks reports a 30% reduction in CDC staff under RFK Jr.'s influence.
• Nevada officials debunked claims of 16,000 non-citizens on voter rolls, finding the actual number to be zero.

Main topics

• CDC staffing cuts and public health
• AI safety and guardrail bypasses

Notable quotes

The Centers for Disease Control... under RFK Jr., what we've seen over the last year is a 30 percent reduction.

Conclusion

The episode highlights a period of significant institutional instabili

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Listen to your favorite MSNOW shows anytime as a podcast. Enjoy new episodes of Morning Joe, Deadline White House, and The Rachel Maddow Show. Speaker 3 (0:09) Every small d democratic muscle that we have is flexing. Plus Speaker 1 (0:14) The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, The Beat with Ari Melber, The Weeknight, and more. On the go wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening to all of your favorite shows, subscribe to MSNOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Speaker 8 (0:32) Jonathan LeMire, I thought the Eric Idle segment was wonderful. Speaker 3 (0:35) Yes. Speaker 8 (0:36) He's Speaker 3 (0:36) a Speaker 8 (0:36) lovely man. I thought he was a lovely man. But obviously, the current occupant in the White House obviously does not agree. Oh. Speaker 3 (0:44) We can Speaker 8 (0:44) only assume this from the president the wrong way. It's about Eric Idle. Eric Idle is so nice. I like him. He's Speaker 3 (0:49) a Speaker 8 (0:49) wonderful guy. Who doesn't like Eric Idle? Speaker 6 (0:51) Charming book. We talked about it. It seems to understand how lucky he is in life. I Speaker 1 (0:55) don't Speaker 6 (0:55) understand. But Speaker 1 (0:56) yet, Speaker 6 (0:56) not everyone's happy, apparently, with that segment. Because just now, so I follow. President Trump on true social. Good for you. You don't have to. And he writes this. Yeah. About us. Joe Scarborough's show has been cut way back. Oh, no. And will soon be dead. He puts dead in quotes. What does that mean? Goes on to say too predictable and boring. They're boring. He's tired of the Monty Python cycle. He doesn't. I guess. I don't Speaker 8 (1:18) know. I Speaker 6 (1:18) didn't think this was boring. I know. I thought it was nice. He goes on to say really bad ratings, all capital letters, just like the rest of MS Now, which he puts MSDNC. And he signs it off as President DJT. You see that town right there? If you're bored, you Speaker 3 (1:33) don't have to watch. There's the Speaker 8 (1:34) flickering light of MSDNC on his window. Exactly. Number one. number one cable show in the morning in Washington, D.C., right where you are, Mr. President. But Speaker 3 (1:45) you don't have to watch. Speaker 8 (1:45) But you don't have to. In fact. You Speaker 3 (1:46) could go to the Curvy Cow. I Speaker 8 (1:47) have asked you not to watch. Yeah, please. I've specifically said, please, Mr. President, don't watch our show. Speaker 3 (1:53) Okay. Speaker 8 (1:54) It's not good for you. It's not good for America. Just like watch, watch, watch channels where they say shit that you like. There Speaker 1 (2:02) are a Speaker 8 (2:02) lot of things you can do. Because you don't like Eric Idle. I get it. I don't really get Speaker 1 (2:07) it. Speaker 8 (2:07) I don't. I love Eric Idle. Speaker 3 (2:09) I'm going to Speaker 8 (2:09) push back. I love Eric Idle, but Eric Idle's really happy with himself. So maybe he looks at that and he's concerned about it. Let's move on now. Can I ask, is he talking about like the show ending, coming to an end? Does that mean I get to sleep in? I mean, that could be the silver lining here. I don't know. Speaker 3 (2:27) That would be awesome. That would be awesome to get a little sleep. Officials in Nevada are taking a sledgehammer to President Trump's false claims of election fraud, and they are bringing the receipts. He's Speaker 4 (2:38) not Speaker 3 (2:38) going to like to hear this. Back in July, the Trump administration claimed more than 270,000 non-citizens. were on voter rolls, 16,000 in Nevada. Well, that's Speaker 8 (2:51) a Speaker 3 (2:51) very specific number, isn't it? The federal government, however, didn't provide any names or conduct an independent review. They just kind Speaker 8 (2:59) of felt it. Speaker 3 (3:00) It was like a... Sort of a vibe? It was a Speaker 8 (3:02) vibe. 16,000... So Speaker 3 (3:05) fast forward to last month when the Department of Homeland Security revised their number dramatically. The vibe changed. Sending Nevada a list of just 185 names. So maybe Speaker 8 (3:17) they're 185, not 16,000. But 185, Speaker 3 (3:21) though, that would be pretty bad, wouldn't Speaker 8 (3:22) it? Speaker 3 (3:22) That didn't even hold up. Really? This week we learned that every single person on the list of 185 was a lawful citizen. Speaker 8 (3:33) Not Speaker 3 (3:33) one? Taking the number down to zero. You Speaker 8 (3:38) mean, so they say it's 16,000. Yeah. And then they say 185. Yep. But it ends up being rounded down to zero. Zero. Sixteen thousand. Zero. Speaker 3 (3:53) So new reporting from The New York Times reveals the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been significantly weakened under the control of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. New data shows the CDC had 30 percent fewer employees. In May of this year than before, the Trump administration cut 18 percent of the agency's staff in early 2025, as many more workers retired or resigned. Current and former employees tell The Times changes have weakened. the CDC's ability to respond to outbreaks and provide timely vaccine guidance, while entire divisions focused on issues such as sexual violence and child abuse, they've been shuttered. Speaker 8 (4:40) So why would RFK Jr. want to shutter parts of the agency that deal with sexual abuse and child abuse? Speaker 8 (4:50) Why would they do that? It's just a question that's hanging. Why would they do that? I don't understand. It's just junior. Why would you do that? The Speaker 3 (4:58) Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to the paper's questions about the agency's work, staffing and independence. Joining us now, member of the Senate Help Committee, Democrat Angela also Brooks of Maryland. So let's start with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s leadership overall. Speaker 2 (5:20) Your thoughts? Well, I mean, we can start with words like a train wreck. And we what we recognize you talked about the Centers for Disease Control. The Centers for Disease Control in the United States has been a global leader. We have trained scientists around the world. Yet under RFK Jr., what we've seen over the last year is a 30 percent reduction. And those scientists, the ones who have helped us to focus on things like swine flu and other epidemics, the ones who helped us to reduce Ebola around the world. And instead, what we've seen is this quackery, heresy almost at this agency where we now have seen an escalation of measles cases, a 30 year high. Nobody should die of measles in the United States of America. Yet we are seeing this happen. We've seen also this surge in Ebola cases. So it's an absolute. An utter disaster is one I predicted about a year ago when I've been calling for the guy to be fired or removed for over a year now. And we've seen the effect of it has been disastrous. People have died. People have been sickened. And what we see instead of these, we now out of the 11 directors of the Centers for Disease Control, we only have one remaining. And the rest have been replaced by people who are less experienced, two or three rungs down. And why? Because his conspiracy theories are what he cares about. These crazy conspiracy theories are Speaker 8 (6:45) there only to push. It's crazy. He went to Pennsylvania. We had Josh Perron saying went to Pennsylvania, saying the cure for the measles was like white. Chicken soup and like vitamin Speaker 6 (6:54) C or something. Get some sun or something like that. Yeah. I mean, Senator, it's twofold here, right? The damage that Secretary Kennedy is doing is what he's taking away. The cuts to staffing, the cuts to research grants and the like. But also what he is putting forth, which is conspiracy theories, but also talk