Transcript: Sen. Bill Cassidy on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Nov. 15, 2026

Detailed summary

The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Nov. 15, 2026.

The following is the transcript of the interview with Sen. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Nov. 15, 2026.

MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to the chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Good morning to you, Doctor.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You may have seen these headlines that it is now official that the U.S. has lost its status as a country where measles is eliminated, our partners at KFF report. And as you know, babies don't get their measles shot until they're around a year old, and so that means this regular transmission of measles throughout the country can leave parents with- with risks of exposing their kids and- and little that they can do to protect them in these cold weather months. Do you think that the current health officials are doing enough to educate the public about the risk of transmission?

SEN. CASSIDY: First, let me emphasize what you just said. Speaking as a physician, you may decide not to be vaccinated because it's your free will, but the child who's too young to be vaccinated is vulnerable if you come into that child's presence, and we're seeing children die from measles who are too young to be vaccinated. By the way, it's also true for the immunocompromised, which might be a woman who is pregnant and her immunity falls. It might be- it might be someone on cancer chemotherapy. So if you've not been vaccinated, you could be the person that brings death to another. That's something to remember. Your specific question- question, are public health officials doing enough?

MARGARET BRENNAN: You have oversight of these health institutions. In- in the next few weeks, do you plan action? I mean, why aren't we hearing from the CDC director?

SEN. CASSIDY: So I'm in regular contact with the CDC director. For example, there was a broken link where you fill in your zip code and it tells you where to get the flu shot.

Opening of the article, excerpted from CBS News. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.