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The Situation Room

Champions for Change; U.S. Producer Inflation Cools; Florida Condo Collapse Investigation; California Fires; RFK Jr.'s MAHA Plans?. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 10, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: It's very important to have a post-licensing surveillance system, where you're going to see the vaccine injuries. Under the current system, most of those vaccine injuries will remain invisible and we will not be able to understand the risk profile of those products and do something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:30:15]

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, public health experts agree that it's important to have a surveillance system for vaccine injuries, but would disagree that we don't have that system in place.

I want to show you a slide that was presented by CDC scientists at the last meeting of outside advisers of their vaccine panel in June titled "COVID-19 vaccines have been evaluated under the most extensive safety monitoring program in U.S. history," where they detail all the ways they looked for safety signals and continue to do so.

And that's not just for COVID vaccines, but for all vaccines. And so that's one area where there has been some concern coming out of the MAHA strategy.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: So what are other areas? What other areas does the administration plan to look at here?

TIRRELL: Well, there are some that got a lot of support from folks when they were first announced back with the assessment in May that they initially put out, areas like ultra-processed foods.

This is an area where nutrition experts say, yes, we absolutely need to do more. But when you look at the strategy, what they actually say is that they're going to continue efforts to develop a definition of ultra-processed foods to support potential future research and policy activity. This is something that Marion Nestle, the nutrition expert said, is a distant goal.

Another expert, Barry Popkin, said that this lacks teeth. There's another area, pesticides, where a lot of different groups wanted to see action, potentially regulatory action or more study. And in the strategy, what you see there is a plan to essentially let the public know about what the EPA already does to review pesticide safety.

And so that's an area where there are some criticism that they haven't gone far enough as well, guys.

BROWN: All right, Meg Tirrell, thanks so much Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, also happening now, urgent efforts under way to try to protect California's very famous giant sequoia trees, as a wildfire burns through their habitat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:36:33]

BLITZER: A grove of giant sequoia trees in California's Sierra National Forest have been spared after catching fire. Lightning sparked a wildfire in the area, but firefighters with tree-climbing experience were sent out to put it out. A local spokesperson said some of the trees are estimated to be some 3,000 years old.

CNN's chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, is joining us right now.

Bill, put this wildfire into some context for us. What's at stake here?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you put it in context right there, Wolf.

These trees, some of these are living creatures 1,000 years older than Jesus Christ, the biggest, oldest trees that exist only in California. And it's been pointed out that you can find tons of diamonds and precious meddles on other planets, but the rarest element in the known universe is wood, is a tree, and the oldest, biggest ones only grow there in the sequoias.

It was thought they were impervious to fire for years because they evolved with sort of low-intensity fires. Native Americans actually set fires and worked with the trees. But this overload of fuel after sort of generations of fire suppression and then climate change and drought has made the fuels hotter and more volatile, and about 20 percent of mature sequoias have been lost in the last decade, according to one conservation group out West.

So these -- a lot of care was taken around the General Sherman, the biggest oldest tree, putting almost tinfoil-like material, fire retardant around it, putting sprinkler systems and lines in these groves. Only 80 of these groves exist, Wolf, in California. So these are really the oldest, rarest trees on Earth.

BLITZER: And give us some more perspective, Bill. We're seeing more and more of these national disasters unfolding, right?

WEIR: Absolutely. And that is the fingerprint of manmade climate change. You got these rain bomb events, like in California, that bring a lot of vegetation, but then comes a drought that dries it out and turns it into fuel for wildfires.

We're seeing these rain bomb events causing flash flooding in Texas, of course, tragically. Europe just had its worst wildfire season ever on record. The more fossil fuels we burn, the hotter the atmosphere gets, the crazier, more volatile the weather gets, regardless of what the Trump administration is officially saying these days.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

Bill Weir, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, new this morning, Wolf, investigators are sharing their early findings on what caused that deadly condo collapse in Florida several years ago, where 98 people died in June of 2021, when parts of the building in Surfside gave way. You may recall that.

Since then, investigators have been trying to work out what happened, what caused this. And now an advisory committee says what led to the collapse were possible structural issues with the building's pool deck and not the tower itself.

Peter D'Oench from CNN affiliate WFOR explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER D'OENCH, WFOR REPORTER (voice-over): The latest findings come from the national construction safety team at NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

It follows an exhaustive study of the partial collapse of the 12 story Champlain Towers South building in Surfside just before 1:30 in the morning on June 24 of 2021; 98 people died. Investigators in the past had said there had been a long-term degradation of the concrete support in the basement level parking garage under the pool deck and cited water penetration and the corrosion of reinforced steel.

Now, in a virtual meeting, lead investigator Glenn Bell revealed problems in the pool deck.

[11:40:04]

GLENN BELL, INVESTIGATOR: The pool deck's slab column connections had critically low margins of safety. The bulk of the critically low margins of safety was caused by design understrength and misplaced slab reinforcement.

Once failure initiated, the structure's low resistance to progressive collapse allowed the collapse of the pool deck to spread into and throughout the middle and east parts of the tower.

D'OENCH: Investigators said there were visible indications of distress on the building weeks before the partial collapse. Investigators had combed through aerial photographs, building maintenance records, eyewitness reports and studies of what was discovered below the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our thanks to Peter D'Oench from WFOR in Miami.

BLITZER: I agree. Thank you very much, Peter.

And other news we're following right now, lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on transparency around UFOs or what the government now calls unidentified aerial phenomena. Look at this. Republican Congressman Eric Burlison of Missouri says this is a drone tracking a flying object off the coast of Yemen about a year or so ago.

In the top left part of your screen, Burlison says you're seeing a Hellfire missile fired from another drone and it bounces off the object. The object then corrects course and appears to continue on its way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE KNAPP, UAP JOURNALIST: You know, the public should be seeing this stuff. And why you're not allowed to, I don't know, but that's a Hellfire missile smacking into that UFO and just bounced right off. And it kept going.

REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): It kept going and it looks like the debris was taken with it.

KNAPP: Yes, what the hell is that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Military witnesses were asked if the U.S. had any aircraft that could withstand a Hellfire missile strike like what was seen and they all said simply no.

BROWN: That is fascinating.

All right, well millions of Americans live with mental illness, but finding support is often difficult, if not impossible. Up next, CNN's Dana Bash introduces her Champion for Change, a woman who makes sure people with mental health issues get the help and homes they need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:46:37]

BROWN: Breaking news, inflation cooled off for wholesale prices, as businesses took a hit in August.

Joining us now is CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich.

So, Vanessa, what does this new report mean for consumers?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, this is good news for businesses. Prices cooled for them in the month of August. That was unexpected. It fell unexpectedly. The indication from economists that prices were actually going to rise, but you see there the month-over-month change, down 0.1 percent and on an annual basis inflation for producers at 2.6 percent.

Economists had expected it to hold steady at 3.3 percent. So the reason why we are seeing cooling inflation for prices -- excuse me -- for producers is because something called trade services actually fell in the month of August. That is a category that shows the margins or the money that businesses take home every single month.

That got squeezed and that's an indication that businesses are absorbing costs more and more. And in a situation with tariffs, it looks as though businesses are starting to potentially absorb those tariffs. Now, the question is, what do businesses ultimately do? Do they pass that cost down to the consumer eventually or do they make cuts elsewhere in terms of labor, employees?

All of this goes to point to what we're hearing from now investors on Wall Street, that they very much believe that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week when they have that big Fed meeting where they're going to be deciding whether or not to make their first cut since December.

Pam, I will say, though, that what we see with producer inflation usually starts to trickle down to consumer inflation in a few months. But, of course, we are going to get that CPI report, that consumer price report for consumers tomorrow. Could paint a very different picture.

It is really, really sort of week to week, month to month in terms of how businesses are planning right now amongst all this uncertainty, but good news for businesses right now that prices seem to be cooling, but the profits that they're taking home are shrinking, Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much, as always.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

BLITZER: And this week, CNN is recognizing what we call Champions for Change, people who are quietly working behind the scenes to make life better for others.

BROWN: Today, CNN anchor Dana Bash introduces us to her champion, a woman who makes sure people with mental health struggles get the help they need.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN CHAUVIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WOODLEY HOUSE: Mental illness can be very isolating because you feel so alone and helpless.

Woodley House provides housing and support services to people with mental health disorders. You're surrounded by people who understand what you're going through and treat you with dignity.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Tell me about the history here. Back when it started, it was revolutionary.

CHAUVIN: So, in 1958, places like Woodley House did not exist. People were institutionalized.

And Joan Doniger was working at the city's psychiatric hospital, and she noticed that there were so many people that were well enough to leave, but they had nowhere to go. So this group home was the first of its kind on the East Coast.

[11:50:10]

BASH (voice-over): Today, Woodley House owns more than 10 properties in Washington, D.C., that offer varying levels of support. Ann Chauvin worked here early in her career and returned to run the organization nearly eight years ago.

CHAUVIN: It was actually when I worked at Woodley House in the '90s that I saw how critical this work is.

BASH (on camera): How did you come into this work?

CHAUVIN: Growing up, my uncle Jack had a very significant mental illness, and I always connected with him. And so I knew from when I was just a little kid that I needed to work in mental health. And, later, he went into a group home, and he was so happy.

Every person that comes into Woodley House, I think of my uncle Jack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow.

BASH (voice-over): Determined to help even more people, Ann is now leading Woodley House into a new era.

CHAUVIN: We had been serving about 300 people per year for decades. We needed to do more. In 2024, we served 497 people.

BASH (on camera): Wow.

CHAUVIN: I will hug you any time.

There's just too many people who really need the kind of loving environments that we can provide.

BASH: I have been involved with the Woodley House for like 15 years, and I, like so many people, have close family members who have really struggled with mental health challenges. They just need somebody to reach out their hand and say, I got you.

Reginald was an engineer at the top of his professional game, and then he fell.

REGINALD BODDIE, WOODLEY HOUSE RESIDENT: I was drinking and driving on a rainy night and lost control of the car. And I was hospitalized for like 18 months. And I no longer have a career.

I went through a great state of depression. I needed more help than I could give myself. And I was introduced to Woodley House.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what about your psych appointment? How did that go?

BODDIE: Went well. Well, I'm still sane, yes.

That's when the support came.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon, everyone.

BODDIE: At first, I would just observe. And then some of the stories started to sound familiar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever since the implosion of my life, I will start to shut down at a certain point.

BODDIE: I could be more open and more truthful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's always more I could be doing, you know. They gave me the recipe.

I'm doing the cooking, you know?

BASH: I was talking to Ann. One of her big goals has been for people to feel like they are home.

BODDIE: Right.

BASH: Do you feel that way?

BODDIE: I definitely feel that way. I feel like I'm about to leave home because now I'm going on to the next level, to my independent housing.

CHAUVIN: Well, is it a one-bedroom? Is it a studio?

BODDIE: Yes, it's -- no, it's a one-bedroom.

CHAUVIN: We were sad. We know we're going to miss him, but mostly just super happy and excited.

Our hope for our residents is that they could live happy, productive lives.

BASH: So it's not about surviving. It's thriving.

CHAUVIN: Thriving.

BASH: And you see that.

CHAUVIN: We see it every day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And I want to bring in Dana right now.

Dana, outstanding piece. Thanks so much for doing it.

What stands -- what else stands out to you the most about Woodley House and what it's trying to do here in Washington, D.C.?

BASH: That the need is so great.

Look, there has always been a need for a place like the Woodley House to help people who are struggling from mental health challenges and just need a place where they can feel like they're at home, can have attention and to be set up for success.

Back a long time ago, even as Woodley House began decades and decades ago, it was -- people who didn't talk about it. And it was obviously a very different time. I think the combination of people being more up front with mental health challenges and the fact that there is a very big need, not just in Washington, D.C., but across the country for places like the Woodley House, it's really remarkable.

I mean, I have been involved, Pam and Wolf, with the Woodley House for about 15 years. And even in this span, I have seen the need from the community, from the D.C. community really spike. And they're really struggling to keep up with that and expand in order to help people who really need that help in D.C.

BROWN: And we heard her talk about how her uncle Jack inspired her to do this and just the importance of reaching out a hand and say, let me help you get on your feet here. What drew you to it? You said you have been involved for years.

BASH: Yes, I mean, truthfully, my former next-door neighbor told me about the Woodley House and said they're looking for people to connect and to be on the board and to just help them try to navigate the very real challenges that any organization like that has.

[11:55:02]

And I was just amazed at the way in which they handle -- and led by Ann Chauvin, handle these very tricky, very challenging situations.

And in so many instances, I would even say most of the instances, they have people arrive there who really don't know how to navigate the world, and people at the Woodley House help them get on their feet. I mean, that is really success, as you heard from Ann, to get people out and about and out in the world with a job and being able to live on their own.

BROWN: Just amazing, inspiring work.

Dana, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: These are real Champions for Change.

BROWN: They really are.

Now I want to get involved, Dana. We will have to talk about that after.

BASH: I will let you know.

BROWN: We will see you again in a few minutes for "INSIDE POLITICS."

And be sure to tune in Saturday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern for the "Champions for Change" one-hour special.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us. You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer, @PamelaBrownCNN. We will see you back here tomorrow morning, every weekday morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: Have a great day.