From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams, and this is The Daily.

Over the past 24 hours, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been plunged into turmoil.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to fire the CDC's director after she refused to fire

top agency officials or commit to new recommendations on proven vaccines. The clash has caused a

standoff with the White House, and it's prompted three other senior officials to resign from

the agency. One of them was Dr. Dimitri Daskalakis.

We spoke with him just hours after he left the CDC for good

about why he chose to take a stand

and what he feels he's leaving behind.

It's Friday, August 29th.

Hello.

Hi. I'm going to let a producer check before we do all our greetings and everything to make sure you're all set up correctly.

I don't have headphones because I was escorted away from my headphones in CDC, so I'm sorry about that.

All right. Are we ready to roll, guys? I am if you are.

Dr. Dimitri Daskalakis, thank you so much for being here, even without your headphones.

We are talking to you at about 1230 on Thursday afternoon.

And before we get into the details of why we are talking to you today, can you just tell me what has your day been like?

I think the right word is complex.

So I am an infectious disease doctor, and I was the director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

And in the evening yesterday, I resigned.

And so my morning has been about packing my office, dusting off the glass dust from the bullets that went

through my window. Wow, during the shooting. Yeah. I wasn't there, thankfully, I was having surgery,

...