Janine Jackson: Trump-appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is colorful, which is a problem when someone is a public hazard. Because now that Kennedy is in a position of power, we need journalists to move past anecdote to ideas—ideas that are informing actions that shape not just his reputation, but all of our lives.

Our guest suggests we could begin with a core false notion that lies in back of much of Kennedy’s program.

Paul Offit is director of the Vaccine Education Center, and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He joins us now by phone from Philly. Welcome to CounterSpin, Paul Offit.

Paul Offit: Thank you.

JJ: The context for our conversation is the first measles death in the US in a decade, in Texas, where we understand they have reported, and this news is fresh, some 400 cases of measles, just between January and March, while the national number for 2024 was 285. This is a trage

Lawsuit Alleges Girl Scouts Sold Cookies Containing Heavy Metals, Pesticides | The Epoch Times https://archive.is/20250312160847/https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/lawsuit-alleges-girl-scouts-sold-cookies-containing-heavy-metals-pesticides-5823687

This week, the Trump administration announced that it will ramp up enforcement of a relatively obscure legal provision that requires undocumented immigrants in the United States to register with the government.

This move risks adding another layer of fear and anxiety in immigrant communities where the Trump administration’s moves on immigration have already left many fearful to visit previously safe places to address essential needs like health and education.

Those who fail to register could face [fines or prosecution](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title8%2Fchapter12%2

The Trump administration’s termination of over 90 percent of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) programming and thousands of State Department foreign assistance programs will undermine human rights globally and imperil millions of people, Human Rights Watch said today.

Jagdish Whitten was on a run in July 2023 when a car hit him as he crossed a busy San Francisco street. Whitten, then 25, described doing “a little flip” over the vehicle and landing in the street before getting himself to the curb.

Texas law enforcement agencies and others around the nation are reviving a long-dead "task force" program that led to racial profiling in the past.

While some agencies have resisted efforts by Elon Musk’s team to access confidential records, HUD has opened the door. The potential harm to privacy could be significant.