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Vance Defends Interviews With Anti-Israel Commentators; Today: DHS Plans Launching Voter Fraud Investigation Surge; USPS Whistleblower Says System For Trump Mail Ballot Rules Could Fail At Multiple Points; CENTCOM: U.S. Military Begins Strikes On Targets In Iran; Worst U.S. Measles Outbreak In Decades As Vaccination Rates Fall. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 01, 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]

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: -- and I read his book, he has a section where he kind of attributes it to Charlie Kirk changing his views on Israel, but suggests that the relationship is too close between the U.S. and Israel. That is not where the Republican Party is.

He's not wrong that young people writ large in this country may be going a different direction, but that is a core base within the Republican Party that he has absolutely alienated, and it was a missed opportunity to denounce very anti-Semitic rhetoric from the Tucker Carlsons, the Nick Fuenteses of the world, and he missed that moment.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I mean, it was interesting to hear him, he was trying to analyze and explain what's going on in the base, which he is not wrong about. I mean, it's the young people on both sides of the aisle are starting to feel that way. But what we didn't hear here, and maybe he said elsewhere in his comments, was about his own point of view.

Ari Fleischer, who was the White House Press Secretary under George W. Bush, said, "The vice president really helped himself tonight. He answered a lot of questions that people had about where his heart is." Sid Rosenberg, who is a New York City radio host and somebody who is, you know, a strong Republican, said, "My honest assessment of Vice President Vance tonight, he was not strong enough on Israel. In fact, he referred to Israel as one of our best allies. One of? He had a chance to hammer Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, but instead spent all his time defending Joe Rogan over Nick Fuentes."

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWS CENTRAL: It's a really important point he's making there, right? And Vance, who's a super smart politician, picked Rogan and Fuentes there, left out Tucker Carlson --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BERMAN: -- and Megyn Kelly. I mean, take a step back. I mean, why is JD Vance, why is the Vice President having this discussion? It's because he thinks he has to. He feels as if he needs to make an outreach to Jewish Republicans who have been, I think, somewhat alienated by some of his positions.

His positions may be where some of the political base is by 2028, when he is running for president there. He's clearly trying to have it many ways at once here. But it's interesting watching JD Vance, where, you know, this is a place where the parties have wrapped around it to some extent. I mean, there are wings of both parties that are relatively close on Israel right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CHRISTINA RUFFINI, CO-HOST, BLOOMBERG THIS WEEKEND: But I think what you said is very true. Vance is a very smart politician. So you also have to ask not only why is he in this room, but why is he taking these positions? And to your point, I think he is looking out and projecting where the country and where the base and where the general public is going to be if and when he tries to run.

And he said, you know, he said under 40s are much more skeptical of this relationship. It's not just under 40s. I think JD Vance is one of them. But he is not quite saying that out loud. But all the reporting is he's been very anti this war in Iran.

He thinks that, you know, Trump got pushed into this by Netanyahu. And he's been vocal about that behind the scenes. And obviously, that started to filter out. So did he do damage control in that room? Probably not. Does he have his sights set on something else? Probably also yes.

BASH: All right, everybody. Thank you so much.

Coming up, the Department of Homeland Security is surging investigations into election fraud. I'll speak to the secretary of state of one of the states the Trump administration is targeting. Stay with us.

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[12:37:38]

BASH: Now to new CNN exclusive reporting, the Department of Homeland Security is planning a surge in its efforts to investigate voter fraud in several states. I should point out that there's no evidence of significant fraud to investigate, but the new probe will be focused on California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington State and Wisconsin.

Joining me now is the Nevada Secretary of State, Cisco Aguilar, who also chairs the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State. Thank you so much for being here, sir. First, what have any -- if anything, have you heard from DHS on further investigations in Nevada?

CISCO AGUILAR (D), NEVADA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Dana, thank you for having me. It's an honor to be here. We haven't heard much, but we've been through this routine before. The President went on national TV. The secretary of DHS went on national TV, made a bunch of threats about a bunch of information they said they had.

And when we got to it and broke it down and actually had a conversation with them like adults, there was nothing there. And they continue to make these threats. And it's all intention of scaring voters from showing up to the polls. And that's what's disheartening. We cannot allow this to happen and we'll continue to push back, fight back and expose them for who they are.

BASH: Nevada is one of eight states that allows all elections to be conducted entirely by mail. Are you confident that Nevada will be able to continue to do that, this election cycle, given the fact that the President is pushing to curb mail-in voting?

AGUILAR: Absolutely, no mail ballots are popular across America, especially in Nevada. In the most recent primary we had in June, 60 percent of Nevadans voted by mail. We know that since '22, 86 percent of Nevadans have used a mail ballot at some time. But it's even more interesting if you look at some of our rural counties, which happen to be extremely red, above 90 percent, Nye County and Douglas County have adopted mail ballots at the highest rates.

These votes do not just impact Democrats. They impact Republicans as well. And the fact that he's trying to attack his own party is amazing to me.

BASH: I want to get your reaction to a new Postal Service whistleblower report. It was put out publicly by Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, and it shows that a USPS Postal Service whistleblower is alleging that the portal, the Postal Service, is building to verify mail ballots has been rushed, risky and haphazard.

[12:40:13]

Obviously, in order to conduct an election using mail-in ballots, you need the mail service, the Postal Service, to be on board and to be doing it, you know, without any kind of interruption. Are you confident that that is going to happen?

AGUILAR: It makes me nervous. It makes me very concerned. The Postal Service used to be a great partner of ours in helping us ensure that Americans had a voice in our electoral process. But I'm also not surprised to hear what they're doing.

This President is tearing a trusted organization that was loved by Americans apart. They are making them the failure that they're going to be in this upcoming cycle. We know that mail ballots, again, are popular among Americans. But I'm also not surprised that they're not following the rule of law.

When has this administration even considered a law or looked at the law before they made a decision? We know that they're not interested in the future of America. What they're interested in, we have a President who wants to choose his own voters, while the voters choosing the elected. Nevada will continue to run its elections, as we have in the past, until a judge tells me otherwise. We're continuing the legal fight. We know that Democratic secretaries of state are standing around. They are not going to relent in allowing this administration to dictate how to run elections because the Constitution is very clear that states run elections, not the federal government, not the United States Postal Service.

And it is disheartening that the Postal Service is doing what they're doing. But we're going to hold them accountable in court and we're going to continue to expose them for who they are.

BASH: As you just said, it is supposed to be decided by the courts. If the President's executive order is allowed to go through, the Postal Service won't be able to deliver ballots from states that don't submit lists of eligible voters. How, if that happens, ultimately through the courts, how do you prepare for that?

AGUILAR: We have some of the hardest working local elections officials in Nevada. We have 17 counties with 17 clerks who understand their responsibility to ensure that their community has access to the ballot box. We're asking voters in Nevada to make a plan.

We'll make that push even say if the Postal Service is not going to cooperate in its process to get you your constitutionally mandated mail ballot, please show up in person. Consider making a plan. We have two weeks of early voting in Nevada. We have Election Day voting.

If they do receive the mail ballot, considering mailing it a week before Election Day. If not, drop it off at a polling location. We are working with our counties to make sure that those polling locations understand the responsibility of increased use of drop boxes. And so making sure, again, that the clerks are ready to go.

Look, it's also postal workers, mail carriers. They want this to work. They understand how important it is to get a mail ballot to their neighbor. And the fact that they're being put under this pressure is just inexcusable by the United States Postal Service leadership.

BASH: Before I let you go, I want to ask about something that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Caine, told Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, quote, "The joint force has no plans to send federal military personnel or federalized members of the National Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections."

Does that give you answers that you need? And does it give you sort of solace about a lot of very real concerns on this topic? Never mind mail in voters and the problems with that, but about the presence of federal agents potentially at polling locations. He's saying there's no plan.

AGUILAR: Well, it's good to hear, however, we can't take their word for it. This is the federal government. They haven't been honest with the American people. And that's why Democratic secretaries of states are standing up as a messenger in their state. I've been working with our Republican governor in Nevada to make sure that we have safe and secure polling locations. He is publicly committed to saying that he does not support federal agents being at polling locations.

I've been working with our local law enforcement or sheriffs in our counties and Clark and Washoe --

BASH: Yes.

AGUILAR: -- understand the importance of making sure that our polling locations remain accessible to the community, because that's the critical piece of all of this. Again, if we want to get something done right, we have to do it ourselves. And Democratic secretaries know that.

And what is scary about this? This is only '26 and '26, we're electing secretaries who can administer the '28 election. And if we're experiencing this now, imagine what '28 is going to be like if we don't have strong Democratic secretaries --

BASH: Yes.

AGUILAR: -- in these positions to push back.

BASH: All right. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I appreciate you being here, Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar of the great state of Nevada. Thanks for being here.

[12:45:04]

We have breaking news I want to give you, the U.S. Central Command just announced new strikes in Iran. CNN's Haley Britzky is following these developments. Haley?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Dana. U.S. Central Command saying today on X that forces began striking Islamic -- core targets in Iran. We don't yet know what those targets are, but they say that the strikes are following recent attempted attacks by the IRGC against commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and against American troops deployed in the region.

This follows, of course, attacks we saw over Sunday night into Monday regarding the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. saying they fired on Iranian rockets preparing to launch sea mines into the Strait just after a few days after the administration said that mines had been removed from the Strait of Hormuz. The President saying on Monday morning that the U.S. would respond. So clearly we're seeing this unraveling military operation.

What those targets are that the U.S. is looking at in Iran and the damage that was being done there is still to come. How long these operations will continue. But clearly, this conflict with Iran continuing into the sixth month, nowhere near a finish yet at this point, Dana.

BASH: No, definitely not. Haley, thank you so much for jumping on and giving us that breaking news.

Coming up, measles is surging and so is the disinformation. Dr. Mike, a family physician and one of the most influential medical voices on social media, will tackle both here next.

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[12:50:52]

BASH: The doctor is in and his waiting room is overflowing. Dr. Mikhail Varshavski is practicing family medicine, and he is a physician that also has more than 30 million followers who know him as Dr. Mike. He's built that massive platform by providing something social media could use a lot more of -- facts. And Dr. Mike is here now.

Thank you so much for being here.

MIKHAIL "DR. MIKE" VARSHAVSKI, FAMILY DOCTOR AND HOST OF "THE CHECKUP" PODCAST: Thank you so much for having me.

BASH: So let's talk about measles --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: -- because this is something that on your multiple platforms, you sadly predicted that a disease that was declared eradicated --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: -- would come back.

VARSHAVSKI: Yes, what the sad part about all of that is, is in November of this year, we're going to have a review of our measles eradication status. And my prediction is that we're going to lose that status because we've seen increased rates of breakouts. We've seen now measles associated deaths.

And the criteria in order to lose our eradication status happens with over one year of transmissibility of this virus. And I'll tell you this, more and more parents are worried about getting the vaccine incorrectly. More and more people are falling victim to misinformation.

And I don't blame those individuals because it's scary. You're hearing negative things. You don't know what to believe. We frankly haven't done a good job in health care, in educating and being present on the platforms. And as a result, all these people that peddle in misinformation actually have used social media to their benefit, unlike us physicians.

BASH: OK, well, you're -- and you're trying to counter that. So explain this to me in the real world.

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: You have a community health center --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: -- in New Jersey and people come to you and say, I don't want to get my children vaccinated because of X, Y and Z they saw on the Internet or maybe heard from public officials in the current government.

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: What do you say?

VARSHAVSKI: We have to figure out where they're getting their information from and what's driving their decisions. A lot of times, we used to have this policy where, if parents didn't vaccinate their children, we would remove them from our practice. And this was terrible, a terrible choice for us as physicians.

Instead, what we need to do is bring those parents in closer, allow them to see that we're interested in their children's health and their well-being, wanting to get the best outcomes. I mean, the problem with our health care system is cost, number one. Two, the fact that we're more reactive than proactive. I'd much rather prevent the disease than treat it once it happens.

Hospitals become overflowed. And for some reason, the MAHA community has been largely against something that is preventive. That is low cost. That can actually help some of the major obstacles that we're facing in our country in the health care system.

BASH: Yes, well, and it's because there are so many who say, you know, show studies that are not necessarily medically sound and also dismiss those that have been accepted by the majority of the medical community.

VARSHAVSKI: It's not even the majority. It's so overwhelming, the majority. And this isn't just studies coming out of the United States. These are global studies with millions of children across different political parties. This isn't a left or right thing.

You know, I always used to say when I was starting my medical career that health care shouldn't be political, but I was wrong. It needs to be political. We want to advocate for our patients. What it shouldn't be is partisan. We need to get partisan politics out of healthcare.

BASH: What do you mean -- how do you consider the difference?

VARSHAVSKI: Well, when you're making partisan choices, you're making choices based on your political ideations, as opposed to the best interest of the patient, the best interest of children. That's what I do as a primary care physician.

My job is to make sure that people have coverage. They have ability to get care when they need it, prevent problems. Like right now, our secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr., has canceled contracts for vaccines that might in the future prevent cancer. Who is against preventing cancer? It doesn't make any sense to me.

BASH: Do you think he's the right guy for the job?

VARSHAVSKI: He's absolutely the wrong guy for the job. I would say that he's unserious. He's not scientific. He doesn't follow the evidence. He makes choices on what evidence he wants to believe based on what values he comes into the conversation with. And that is not how we practice science. Science is about trying to disprove what we already know, not prove what we know.

[12:55:12]

BASH: I do want to ask you about affordability --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: -- because we talk in this political season about the very nonpolitical reality --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: -- of so many Americans, and that is affordability. And in many homes, it starts with the inability to afford health care --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes.

BASH: -- basic health care. You must see that every day.

VARSHAVSKI: I see that every day working at a community health center. I realize the need for primary care and how primary care is shrinking in this nation. As a family medicine doctor, we're the first point of contact when someone gets their diagnosis. We catch conditions early when they're most treatable, which gives better outcomes to those individuals. It lowers costs for our overwhelmingly expensive health care system.

You know, one of the things that Secretary Kennedy that says is -- when he's right, is that we have a very expensive and ineffective health care system. And instead of fighting the problems with our health care system, like the costs from insurers, like the lack of transparency with pharmaceutical companies, instead of fighting these pharmacy benefit managers that are making costs of medications exponentially high, he's talking about an ingredient in Skittles.

He's sitting at fast food restaurants, drinking sugary sodas and eating hot dogs, burgers, fries, talking about the oil they were fried in. It's an absolute distraction by an unserious individual that's not fit for the job.

BASH: Well, I mean, as a mom, I do think we should be looking into what is in our food, but I think --

VARSHAVSKI: Absolutely.

BASH: But you can do both. It's not a --

VARSHAVSKI: Yes, we can walk --

BASH: -- (INAUDIBLE) both end.

VARSHAVSKI: -- and chew gum at the same time. We absolutely need to look at our food system. But taking jabs at the food system and not actually creating policies that impact the food system, creating some sort of plan for diabetes patients, for patients that are obese. We have no plan in place.

BASH: Yes.

VARSHAVSKI: There's been two years of Secretary Kennedy, and I honestly haven't seen any meaningful steps in that regard.

BASH: Dr. Mike, thank you so much for being here.

VARSHAVSKI: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

BASH: I really appreciate it.

Thank you for joining Inside Politics. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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