Return to Transcripts main page

Inside Politics

White House Scrambles To Stabilize RFK Jr.'s HHS, Fill Vacancies; KFILE: Penile Implant Specialist With History Of Far-Right Comments Leading Hantavirus Response; Democrats Hope To Win Iowa Senate Race For First Time Since 2008; A Reckoning On How Congress Handles Sexual Harassment Claims. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 15, 2026 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:00]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: -- the ship back to more traditional officials.

ADAM CANCRYN, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: No, I mean, this has been alarming for those MAHA voters, which kind of came with RFK to the Trump campaign and ended up -- Trump always gave them credit for pushing him over 50 percent in the general. They believed it when Trump said, I'm going to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. go wild on health care, go wild on food.

And they saw this as an opportunity to really revolutionize the way the government approaches health care, including, you know, vaccine policies and, you know, making it easier for people to go unvaccinated if they want to. And so this is a real -- kind of real back for them.

BASH: Well, and Aaron, talk about the politics of this, because it does fascinate me. And it should fascinate most people who are kind of looking at the coalitions, because you're absolutely right. The President, Steve Bannon, a lot of people who looked at the demographics and who voted for Donald Trump and got him over the finish line in 2024.

They do credit this group as saying, we're done with the Democrats. Let's put our, you know, hitch our wagons to Donald Trump. And how the reality of governing and being in charge of actual health policy has perhaps collided with those politics.

AARON BLAKE, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. And there's no issue that better exemplifies that than the vaccine issue. You know, this is the issue that really put Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the map for the last few decades here.

But he had a position that while it had a very devoted base of supporters who Donald Trump very much wanted to bring into his coalition and it probably helped him electorally, it was pretty extreme, you know, compared to the rest of the American public.

You know, the true believers on vaccines are very far from a majority of the American public. It's probably about 15 percent, 20 percent, depending on what poll you look at. So, you know, once you get into the business of actually governing and you have to make good on some of these promises and actually let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. do the things that he wants to, that was always going to be a difficult thing to get to a place that was going to be acceptable to the broad majority of the American people.

BASH: Speaking of people who have big jobs at HHS, our KFILE has done some really kind of remarkable, they always do, but in this case, really remarkable reporting, talking about somebody named Dr. Brian Christine, who is at HHS. He's in charge of offices, including infectious disease policy, family planning, women's health and U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps.

Here's what the KFILE piece is saying in part. "Before he, Christine, joined the Trump administration last year, Christine was an Alabama- based urologist who specialized in penile implants. He has little public health experience and a history of far-right commentary and promoting conspiracy theories. He said the COVID pandemic led to a wider government plot to control people, compared the Biden administration to Nazi Germany and suggested the COVID vaccine had little effect in stopping the pandemic."

Alayna, I decided that the penile implant --

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It falls on me.

BASH: -- thing will go towards you. You're welcome, boys.

BLAKE: Thank you.

CANCRYN: Thank you. Appreciate it.

TREENE: Yes. It is just remarkable that we're seeing this man be someone who is weighing in on these types of --

BASH: Not weighing, just weighing in.

TREENE: No, making -- yes, exactly. And, look, I do think it is representative of kind of what you were talking about, Aaron, about these people who, many of them who kind of shared in these conspiracy theories. I mean, the stuff about comparing the Biden policy to Nazi Germany and things like that.

Those are the type of people that latched on to a lot of what RFK Jr. had been saying on the campaign. And what's been striking to me, as well, is that I think the President -- I know this when he first took office -- is that he did believe that the MAHA movement was so strong and that RFK Jr. actually did help him get elected in many ways, that he wanted him to do things in his way.

He was going to kind of be hands-off of HHS. The President was. That has now changed. Even so, you're still seeing people like this man, who are still, I think, you know, it's not like he's giving up his conspiracy, you know, theorist ideals, now having these leadership roles. It's remarkable. I don't know where it's going to lead, to be honest. But it's been -- it's crazy to see.

BASH: I do want to read the HHS statement on the KFILE's reporting. "Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Christine remains focused on executing President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's agenda to make America healthy again and deliver on President Trump's executive order to protect our children against chemical and surgical mutilation."

We'll leave it there.

Up next, can Democrats plow a path back in Iowa? I'll speak to the candidate, one of the candidates, trying to flip a Senate seat blue for the first time in nearly two decades. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:39:29]

BASH: For decades, Iowa was a political bellwether for America. It's been won by Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. But Donald Trump has won it three times.

Voters haven't elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 2008. Well, my next guest hopes to change that on the backs of voter outrage about flagging economy, affordability crises and more.

I want to bring in Iowa State Senator Zach Wahls, who is running in the Democratic primary to replace Republican Joni Ernst, who is retiring.

[12:40:06]

Zach Wahls, thank you so much for being here. As I mentioned, President Trump won three times. He did the best in 2024, which was less than two years ago. He won your state by 13 percentage points. And I mentioned that Democrats haven't won a seat since 2008. That was Tom Harkin's last election. Why do you think you are the best Democrat in this primary to change that?

ZACH WAHLS (D), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, two things, Dana. First, we've seen some really incredible momentum here in Iowa over the last 15 months since Donald Trump took office. We have seen six special elections for our state legislature. And in all six of those, we have had double-digit overperformances relative to the 2024 number that you mentioned.

The most recent one, which was in late December of last year, which had a 27-point improvement for Democrats relative to 2024. So there is a lot of energy and momentum here on the ground. In the first Trump midterm back in 2018, we won three of the four U.S. House races in this state and three or five statewide offices. We did not have a Senate race in that cycle, but we do now, and we're very excited about the opportunity.

And I would tell you, you know, my Democratic opponent in this primary is only viable because of a Super PAC that is directly tied to Chuck Schumer, spending millions of dollars to try and bail him out. I don't think that that is the sign of a strong campaign able to win in November. We have a very strong grassroots campaign. Voters are resonating with our message about taking on failed leaders in Washington, whether that is Chuck Schumer or Donald Trump. And that message is resonating specifically with the voters that we need to win.

Polls have actually shown very recently me as the strongest Democratic candidate to win in November. And anyone watching who wants to join us can visit zachwahls.com to learn a lot more.

BASH: Now, you have been endorsed by somebody who is very prominent in the issues that you're talking about, Senator Elizabeth Warren. You have touted and you just kind of mentioned some of that just now. The union endorsement you've gotten, you're going after billionaires. You say you will fight for the middle class.

Your primary opponent, State Representative Josh Turek, says he can do that better because he says you're rich and he's not. Let's look at part of a new ad he's running.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH TUREK, IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: There are 73 millionaires in the United States Senate. I will not be one of them. I was a kid wearing Goodwill hand-me-downs with the wrong color lunch ticket. The working class kid in a blue collar town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: What's your response to that?

WAHLS: Well, Dana, I would tell you, I think it's an example of what people don't like about politics. My net worth, and this is all in our public filing, it's in my home. It's in a retirement account and a part of my family farm, like so many Iowans.

My sister and I were able to build a small business. We made products right here in America. I proudly drive a Union-made 2017 Chevy with 135,000 miles on it and counting. And I'll just say this, Dana. I think part of the challenge Democrats have had is that voters don't believe that we want to fight for every hardworking Iowan to have the ability to earn more money.

Every Iowan I have ever met wants to be able to have their hard work rewarded with more higher income. They want to be able to retire with dignity. They want to be able to buy a new truck, take a vacation.

And I will tell you, and we talked about this on the debate stage last night, I'm the only candidate in this race who is proposing a 5 percent wealth tax on billionaires, including the ones who are funding my opponent's campaign. And, Dana, as some of your viewers might remember, I kind of came onto the political scene back in 2011 defending my two moms in same-sex marriage here in Iowa when we were facing attacks on politicians in Des Moines.

And I grew up with the awareness that the rights that so many of us take for granted could be taken away by an uncaring government. I learned that early, and I've been willing to fight back. And that's why I will never stay silent when any Iowan has their rights or their livelihood threatened by our government or greedy corporation, and my record shows that very clearly.

BASH: And just in terms of sort of the tactics for Democrats thinking one thing and one thing only, we want to win this seat back and we want to win control of the Senate to Democratic voters in Iowa who, again, have that as their North Star in their vote.

And they see that the state Senate district where you ran is pretty blue. Republicans, you didn't need them really to win. And your opponent, Josh Turek, didn't need Republicans to win, meaning he's more a proven candidate, they argue, in his campaign to Democratic voters in terms of beating the Republicans in a general election.

WAHLS: Well, I would tell you, Dana, when I first ran in 2018, my district included not just Coralville and Johnson County where I live, but all of Cedar County to the east and Muscatine County to the south and east. Cedar County and Muscatine County, both a lot of small towns and rural areas.

[12:45:02]

And I did very well representing those communities in the Iowa State Senate. I represented literally thousands of acres of farmland, hundreds of farmers, been to more Farm Bureau cattlemen meetings, coffee clutches in the mornings than I can count. I took that experience to the Ag Committee in the Iowa State Senate where I built a reputation as someone who is able to work across the aisle on issues that are really important in small town and rural Iowa.

We put out very comprehensive vision for the future of small town and rural Iowa as part of our Iowans over insiders agenda. And representing those communities, it made me a better legislator. And we've been able to bring that to this campaign.

Representative Turek has not ever represented small town or rural Iowa. I think that's a real liability in a general election matchup with Ashley Hinson in November. I will also tell you I've been very proud to win the endorsement not just one labor union but 27 labor unions across our state representing 30,000 of the hardworking blue collar Iowans that Chuck Schumer said on national television that it's fine for the Democratic Party to write off because for each one of those voters we lose, we'll just pick up two more in the suburbs.

I think that Iowans, especially the Iowans whose trust the Democratic Party has lost over the last decade, to your point about Donald Trump's success, are looking for somebody who doesn't look down on them, somebody who's willing to fight for them, and someone who is willing to say out loud the things that we all know are true, that our economy has been rigged by the billionaires, that their billionaire money has corrupted our politics.

And now those same billionaires are trying to buy the nomination for Representative Turek, and that is a huge liability in trying to defeat Ashley Hinson in November. And again, that's why polls show me as the stronger candidate to win here in the general election.

BASH: Zach Wahls, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.

And I want to note for our viewers that we have invited your primary opponent, Josh Turek, here on Inside Politics, and we hope he joins us soon.

Up next, a very tall task on Capitol Hill to try to tear down barriers to reporting on sexual harassment. Lauren Fox sat down with the Democrat and Republican, the women trying to take on the system.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KAT CAMMACK (R), FLORIDA: We have seen where this is a bipartisan problem, which is why it is requiring a bipartisan solution. And if you are a creep on Capitol Hill, we are here to say that creeps need not apply.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:41]

BASH: It's been one month since Congress faced the stunning resignations of Congressman Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez. And the glaring reality of barriers to reporting sexual harassment on the Hill. The calls for change have been loud, including from House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

And in a CNN exclusive, our Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox sat down with two of the congresswomen appointed by House leadership to try to fix it. And Lauren joins me now.

So, OK. It sounds great on paper. At least they have this set up. The question is what are they going to do? What are their plans? What did you learn from them?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we're six months until a midterm election. And obviously not a whole lot of bipartisanship is going to happen on the Hill. But they do have a couple of clear goals.

They want to come up with a series of proposals. Including things like just making this process faster for adjudication. So people who come forward feel like there's resolution more quickly. There are some things that they can do with the Ethics Committee in order to expedite that process.

But take a listen to why they say that some of this is systematic on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMMACK: Accountability cannot begin and end with expulsions. I think that we need to prevent the culture from getting to that place. There needs to be so many ways to stop that pervasive culture from brewing here on Capitol Hill. That's honestly what we're doing here.

And I think rightfully so, those two members, they needed to go. And I think that we'll see additional repercussions for members that have acted inappropriately. But we want to see this stop before it ever gets to that point.

And I think we've heard some really engaging ideas about how we can even prevent people who are looking at coming to Congress when we're requiring new disclosures. If they've ever had instances of sexual settlements and harassment cases, them requiring disclosure of those before they even get here, on top of a really robust training system to let people know that they will be held accountable and liable for their actions.

FOX: Your leadership is invested in this effort. I know House Admin is working on this effort. But do you ever just think, you know, women by and large are the majority of those victimized by sexual harassment? And man, it should be nice to get some men working on this problem too, you know?

CAMMACK: It was very organic in how it came together. I think that really speaks to the moment in time where everyone, regardless of party, regardless of whether you're a man or a woman, you really saw that this was an issue that needed to be addressed.

REP. EMILIA SYKES (D), OHIO: It cannot just be the Women's Caucus. It has to be the male members who are acknowledging that this is an issue and looking for a way in which they can be a part of the solution in a meaningful way. We need to look at root causes.

I mean, everything that we've discussed right now is accepting that something is going to happen. And now how do you help mitigate what fallout, the emotional trauma that might exist, people's employment. But really we need to go up the stream and figure out why is it that so many of these members feel OK with this behavior. And they have to be a part of this conversation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:55:03]

FOX: Yes. And she told Leader Jeffries that if she was going to be a part of this, that men needed to be at the table too, because this is an easy way to stop harassment, is for people to never harass staff.

BASH: Yes, I mean, it's a power trip. It's a power imbalance. And as you know, I'm sure you've heard from women, as have I, that they -- many of them, the staffers, don't feel that they have a way to come forward.

Just real quick, there are ethics investigations also that are going on. How does that impact what they're doing in this committee?

FOX: Yes, I mean, we know of two men right now who are going through the ethics process, both Representative Chuck Edwards, Representative Cory Mills. They've denied any wrongdoing. But obviously, that is having an impact here.

And you hear from leadership all the time when you ask them to weigh in on these incidences, that ethics has to have a chance to play out. Well, sometimes that takes years. And both of these women said that is too long --

BASH: Yes.

FOX: -- for justice.

BASH: Thank you so much for doing this reporting. Terrific reporting. So important. And we'll stay on it.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics. Join me on Sunday, State of the Union. Pete Buttigieg will be among my guests. I hope to see you, 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

CNN News Central starts after a quick break.