From WNYC Studios. I'm Brian Lerer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Tuesday, March 4th.

There are so many headlines coming from the new administration that are pretty monumental on a daily basis that health and

climate ones risk getting lost in the shuffle. Today, for example, the big headlines are about

the tariffs that suddenly went into effect today, right? And Trump's suddenly pausing all military

aid to Ukraine. Big consequential things that are new and rightly grab top line attention.

So maybe lost as a result are the things we'll talk about to start the show today.

RFK Jr.'s new endorsement, some people are calling it a mixed message, but to my eye in a way

that matters, it is mostly an endorsement of the measles

vaccine for kids amid the expanding outbreak. Two cases have been reported in New York City now,

a long way from the West Texas epicenter. And parents need to hear what RFK wrote. So we're

bumping it up to our lead. Also, the cancellation of the usual meeting that would be taking place around now to plan for next year's flu vaccine. And also a high-ranking deputy to Kennedy, I bet you haven't heard this one yet, a Trump appointee, Trump loyalist, who quit yesterday after just two weeks

on the job over objections to how RFK is running the department. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the United

States Health and Human Services Secretary, wrote an op-ed on Fox News on their website over the weekend that did label the measles outbreak,

quote, a call to action for all of us in its headline.

And then the subhead did say the MMR vaccine is crucial to avoiding potentially deadly disease.

Now, he does get a little more equivocal further down in the piece,

hinting at attacks on the vaccine that may be yet to come from him, we'll explain. And with us to

talk about these three relevant stories from the last few days is Jessica Malady Rivera,

infectious disease epidemiologist, science communicator, and PhD candidate at the John Topkin School of Public Health.

Some of you know she's been on with us multiple times since the start of COVID to explain the epidemiology of that as it has evolved now on this.

Jessica, we always appreciate when you come on with us and the clarity of your

explanations. Welcome back to WNYC. Hi, Brian. Thanks for having me back. So let's not downplay

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