Up First from NPR
RFK Jr. Tapped To Head HHS, Trump & Government Bonds, Biden Meets Xi In Peru
15 Nov 2024
President-elect Donald Trump selects vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Bond markets are reacting to Trump's economic proposals, with fears of rising inflation and higher borrowing costs that could affect everyday Americans. And, President Biden meets China's Xi Jinping in Peru for a final summit, aiming to maintain stability during the transition of power to a new administration.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Diane Webber, Pallavi Gogoi, Roberta Rampton, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Julie Depenbrock.And our Executive Producer is Erika Aguilar.We get engineering support from Robert Rodriguez. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Full Episode
President-elect Trump wants Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic who's pushed conspiracy theories, so how would he handle a department overseeing public health?
I'm Steve Inskeep with Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. Stocks climbed after the election, while bond markets sent a different signal. Bond prices suggest investors see higher inflation and higher debt in President-elect Trump's economic plans. How might that affect your economic situation?
And President Biden sits down with China's Xi Jinping in Peru for their last meeting before Biden leaves office. there is actual work to do in this critical moment to ensure that we don't run into any problems biden is focused on keeping relations steady during a delicate transition of power will their meeting help maintain stability stay with us we'll give you the news you need to start your day
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be nominated by President-elect Trump to run the Department of Health and Human Services.
The environmental advocate and vaccine skeptic made many claims during the presidential campaign. He said he will drastically reduce rates of chronic disease in just two years. He also spread several conspiracy theories. While chatting with the podcast host Joe Rogan, RFK Jr. said Wi-Fi causes cancer. While talking on X with Elon Musk, he claimed that school shootings are linked to antidepressants.
And elsewhere, RFK questioned the link between AIDS and HIV, which is the virus that causes it.
Joining us to tell us more about Kennedy's background and what his confirmation could mean for the agency is NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin. Selena, good morning. Good morning, Michelle. So obviously many people have heard of Kennedy. He's part of a very famous Democratic political family that includes the former president, John F. Kennedy.
But tell us more about him as a public figure.
Well, most recently, he ran for president as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump, who's been enthusiastically using his Make America Healthy Again line. Kennedy is an attorney. He went to Harvard in the 70s and got his law degree at UVA.
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