Erin Burnett debunks Trump’s childhood vaccine claim

Trump upending vaccines. for American children. Here's what he's announcing tonight. He's signing an executive order. that says that core, crucial vaccines, including for hepatitis, are no longer recommended for children. Setting America back. and putting lives at risk. And it seems all because. of a false belief. that vaccines are tied to autism. Decades ago, children. received. only a small fraction of the vaccines. required. Today, in those times, people were much healthier.

And of course, the high rates of autism now observed. did not exist. So there's a reason for such. epidemic rates of autism. Well, there may be a reason, but it's not vaccines. Independent researchers. have conducted. more than 40 studies. involving over. 5.6 million people, and the conclusion, again and again and again. is that there is no link. The facts and the science. on this particular issue. when it comes to vaccines are clear. As Republican Senator.

Bill Cassidy posted, I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong. Autism and vaccines. aren't linked, and yet, the chief science officer. for the Autism Science Foundation. came out and spoke of the quote, there. vaccines have 1,000% been exonerated. And yet here is President Trump today. I saw this early on, and I've seen proof of it, where they have a vaccination. that looks like the size. of a bottle of soda. poured into a little child's.

body. Now that's nonsense. All of us parents know that a vaccination. that's the size of a soda bottle, a soda bottle. I mean, that's a lot that that's. that's silly and insane, right? And by the way, Trump when it came out to. you know what this is. How much. Well this is the soda bottle. And we got actually a little syringe here. just so everybody could see it. So we can just just for purposes of. of accuracy here. My eyes aren't so good, but I will show you the soda.

bottle that. the president of the United States. is referring to. And the single dose 0.5. m ML in one MMR vaccine. The one that has been falsely. accused of being linked to autism. So there you go. Trump's dose reality. They're pretty different. Well, Trump was asked. then where are you getting. your information? So here's what he said. I think I heard you say that. the MMR vaccine for. mumps and rubella is quite lethal. Is there any evidence of that?

Because what I've heard is that there. there are some people that say. it is that way. And I've heard. when you put them together, they can be explosive. Some people is not science. Some people is. It's just what you hear people saying. And in this case, it's not true. And yet, because of what some people are saying. that have gotten into the president's. brain, the entire vaccine. schedule is being upended. Very importantly, vaccinations. for hepatitis B, Covid 19.

and influenza, among others, are no longer recommended. for all children. Now, vaccines save lives. I want to show you a chart. This middle chart will show. you is from a paper. that was published in the journal. The Lancet. What you're looking at here, I can boil down very simply, it estimates that 9 billion years of life. for human beings have been gained. thanks to just some vaccines. that you see listed there. in different colors. 9 billion years.

Well, that's something Elon. Musk should be just championing. and jumping up and down about, right? I mean, the vaccine. that's responsible for the most life. years gained is actually measles. And vaccine skepticism on that has caused. the United States to shatter. a record. nearly 22,500 cases this year, 2500. If you look at that chart, it tracks them. So far, there have been more measles. cases this year so far than the past. 25 combined. I mean, measles was basically. declared eradicated thanks to vaccines.

Now, Trump and his HHS secretary, RFK Jr, who of course, is a longtime. vaccine skeptic, are now undermining the success. And all those life years. gained from these vaccines. They're on a mission. to question vaccines in America. How are you. doing on the autism research? We will have an answer for you. We just got so bored. Here we go. There's nothing to get. But that hasn't stopped them. from tying. vaccines to autism.

and a lot of other things. for years and years. The child, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine. and came back and a week. later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick. Now is autistic. Well, I do believe that. autism does come from fact. And there are certain groups of people. that don't take vaccines. and don't take any pills. that have no autism, that have no autism, there's no vaccine. that is, you know, safe and effective.

That's one of the most infamous lines. ever said by RFK Jr. Lane A train is out. front at the white House. And Elena, you're learning. that Trump went ahead with this today. despite warnings from multiple advisers. Right? Yeah. Look, I mean, that's the political component of this. And I think you're hearing. from a lot of health. experts and scientists today. coming out about, the damage this could do, to people who, you know, might erode vaccine confidence.

But I will say there have been advisors. on the political side of this. You know, there have been polling. that has been shown. and passed around people here. inside the West Wing at the white House. That shows changing. the vaccine schedule is deeply unpopular. And there have been, political advisors. who have been in the president's. ear saying, perhaps this is not the right time. to roll out a change. to the vaccine schedule with the midterms. just a couple of months away. But a big part of this, and you could hear this. really in the event in the Oval Office. today, Erin, the president is very passionate.

about this. This has become a fixation of his. throughout his second term. in office, this idea. that vaccine, could be linked to autism. That's why he directed. And you played that clip. I was going to reference that of him. asking RFK Jr, you know, where are you on finding out. what the reason for autism is? He has, put that, as a number one priority. that he wants RFK Jr to have. And I remind you as well. that RFK Jr was an anti-vax. vaccine activist before. entering the Trump administration.

One thing that I noticed as well, that I found. pretty interesting. today, Erin, is what we heard. from the president, former. surgeon general. from his first term doctor, Jerome Adams, coming out, and criticizing this order today. He essentially said that he believes. the president. is getting really bad advice. in regard. to the impacts. that this is going. to have. on vaccine confidence. and vaccine preventable diseases. And he brought up, as I mentioned, the politics of this, saying that he believes. that this is clearly. going to be an issue. that people vote on in the midterms.

and in 2028. And it seems like Republicans. are happy to take on the issue. of declining vaccine, uptake. So just a. very interesting thing from someone. who used to work for the president, his former surgeon general. Yeah, absolutely. The Trump. administration is changing. the children's vaccine schedule. On Monday, the president signed. an executive order. that would reduce the total. number of immunizations. So basically, instead of 17 shots. which are recommended, it would go down to 11,

dividing the vaccine schedule. into three categories. and split the mumps, measles and rubella shot. known. as the MMR vaccine, into individual shots. instead of just one. Now there's little scientific evidence. to support these changes. Broad confidence. among Americans. and vaccines like the MMR shot so far. But for parents, the question. this morning is what to believe? Nothing has changed. The science behind vaccines is the same. today as it was yesterday.

The security that we. have with vaccine safety has not changed. The risks that the children. in this country. face for vaccine preventable. diseases has not changed. And when you have people. in the United States. in positions of authority. that are feeding into confusion and fear, that is doing no service. to those parents, okay. Doctor Chris Parnell, director of the NAACP center. for Health Equity. in Public, public health physician, thank you so much for being here.

So I remember being a new parent, seeing the tray of needles. and being like, do we need to do all of these at once? And then the person would explain. and say, yes, help us understand. why the recommended schedule. is what it is. Sure. Good morning Audie. I think what's most important. for those of us in public health. and health care is to reassure the public. and reassure families and parents. that vaccines are safe, vaccines are effective,

and that decisions around. vaccines should be made. by physicians, health care. providers and scientists, and those decisions should be informed. by years, decades of rigorous research and study. And time and time again, you've heard other physicians say it. And I will say it clearly this morning. This is settled science. There is no new information that suggests. we should change the vaccine. schedule changes.

Do you want to say, Chris? Because I think that. it's actually quite common. to hear this argument that he's making. So let's give people a sample of it. and see if they recognize it. Very simply, large amounts of vaccine, large amounts. like that's a vaccine. are currently pumped into your child's. body. And I saw this early on, and I've seen proof of it, where they have a vaccination. that looks like the size. of a bottle of soda.

poured into a little child's body. And bad things happen in many cases. In too many cases, causing. this is an explosion. This is an epidemic. Okay. Meanwhile, you had Republican. Senator Bill Cassidy, who's a doctor, saying this on social media. He says breaking up. vaccines will mean. children have to get more shots. to get the same protection, not fewer shots, and that it will increase hesitancy. and make children safe. So help me out. because I'm already confused, right?

Like, first. I hear we're getting. a lower number of shots. Then someone says. actually it's more shots. Like what is the difference here? Yeah, I think it's most important, important. to first say that babies. immune systems are very strong, very smart. and can handle the commonly recommended. vaccine schedule. Children. are exposed to anywhere. from 2000 to 6000 immune triggering. substances that we call antigens. every day.

And before this executive order, children. were being exposed. to 165 antigens through vaccines, which are like beginner books, right, priming. and pumping. the immune system to function. So when you change that vaccine schedule, when you break. break up MMR, or you say that. flu or Covid is not recommended, you take. the commonly accepted vaccine schedule. and you spread it out. What happens when you spread it out? Parents are either more likely to forget.

and to return for multiple dose vaccines. Children miss much, much needed protection. And it's not just about. the child who doesn't get vaccinated. Remember, immunizations help to perform. herd immunity, so it's also about the child. or the very vulnerable person. who, because of some illness, maybe cannot receive the full recommended. vaccine dose. So we have to think about the collective. and the whole. over time, measles, for example, measles cases are up. in the US under this administration.

What are your concerns as we. head into the school year? My concerns are that that. vaccination rate. that is recommended. among kindergartners continues to drop. Its recommended to be 95%. It's now 92.5%. And when that rate drops, people. unfortunately get harmed. Or worst case scenario, they die. We are having the worst measles. outbreak in over three decades. We are already surging. above 2300 cases in this year alone.

And that does not have to be. these are researched, effective vaccines. We know what times are best. We're best able. to give the vaccinations to children. And we actually know the best. Don't. Now we took something. that was hard core science. and we demoed it to guessing. And for Senator Bill Cassidy, way too little, too late. As a physician, he should have stood his guard. before the. the current secretary actually. was confirmed.

And we were allowed to destroy. the faith in public health.