Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Susan Monarez is refusing to step down from her post after the White House said her views do not align with the Trump administration's mission.

Washington

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is undergoing a period of instability following the reported dismissal of its director, Susan Moneres, who is contesting her removal. The White House claims Moneres was fired for not aligning with the president's health agenda, but her legal team argues that only the president has the authority to remove her. The agency has also seen several other officials resign, contributing to a sense of chaos and uncertainty.

Experts warn that the turmoil is undermining the CDC’s capacity to address public health risks, including disease outbreaks and bioterrorism threats. The confusion extends to the rollout of updated COVID-19 vaccines, particularly for young children, as guidance and insurance coverage remain unclear. The ongoing politicization of the CDC is seen as detrimental to both national and global health security.

Chaos and confusion at CDC as director refuses to steps down

And out of this, there is chaos and confusion this morning at the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control. The White House says the head of the agency, this woman, Susan Moneres, has been fired because she didn't align with the president's Make America Healthy Again agenda. But Moneres is refusing to step down. Her lawyers claim she wasn't legally let go because only President Trump himself can fire her. Dr. Amish Adalja is a senior scholar at John Hopkins Center for Health Security and joins us now to talk about what this means for all of you. Dr. Adalja, good morning. What do you make of what's happening at the CDC, not just today, but during the Trump administration with a quarter of its staff cut? It's complete chaos. And that chaos is not just political chaos. It makes all of us in the world less safe. The CDC is the premier public health agency in the world. They are what we need to respond to pandemics, epidemics, emerging infectious disease, and when they're in disarray because of all the politicization and RFK Jr.'s meddling, all of us are going to suffer from it. And I don't know that the CDC can recover from something like this. It is really decimated right now. I want you to give us some details from what you've just said, because there's several other CDC officials who have resigned, and some viewers may see these headlines and think to themselves, I'm not really interested in politics. I don't want to look at every twist and turn of the Trump administration, but explain why every one of our viewers is impacted directly by what's happening at the CDC. The CDC is 24-7, 365 listening, looking, trying to understand what health threats might be coming to the United States, tracking multiple disease outbreaks, tracking avian influenza, tracking coronaviruses, tracking the threat of bioterrorism or biological weapons use. All of that is what the CDC does. You might not see it, you may have the luxury to not really worry about that stuff, but the CDC is doing that all the time. And when they're not doing it, bad things happen. Things will get through, things won't be noticed until it's too late. So the CDC is our front line defending us against the microbial world and all those microbial threats, from the mundane things like foodborne illness to the use of anthrax as a biological weapon. That's what the CDC does. And we need the best of the best working there, the strongest and brightest minds, and we need it to be done in a way where they're not being interfered with by politics. And increasingly, the CDC has been politicized, and this is the culmination of that, seeing the CDC director sort of fired by RFK Jr. and now multiple directors underneath her all quitting because this environment is not conducive to actually doing a good job. No one wants to work in this type of an environment, and that makes us all less safe, not just in the U.S., but remember, this is the whole world that the CDC deals with. Yeah, and our medical contributor, Dr. Selene Gounder, this morning on an editorial call made the point that it's the centers, plural, of the Centers of Disease Control. It's not just one place, but many, many different specialists, many different arms around the country. And you made the point about fighting things like COVID. There is some updated COVID vaccine guidance from the FDA. Can you help us understand what that is and what you make of it? Well, the big thing is that the new updated vaccines have been approved by the FDA, so these are going to more match the strains that are circulating. But what did happen as well is that it's going to be increasingly harder for children less than two years of age to get COVID vaccines. If they have a high-risk condition, it's going to be easy for them to get it, but we know that children, even if they have no high-risk condition and they're less than two, have a high rate of hospitalization, have a high rate of going to the emergency department, those individuals are not going to be as easily able to get the vaccine. And that's going to cause a lot of problems, because doctors may have to prescribe it off-label. Pharmacists might not be able to give it. So there is a lot of confusion right now with how the COVID rollout is going to go in the fall. The CDC, however fractured it is, is going to have to weigh in on that. We'll have to see exactly what happens. In the meantime, other organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics are really putting out their own guidance to try and help figure out how to kind of for parents to navigate this issue with COVID vaccines in the pediatric population. But it all remains to be seen in how insurance is going to cover it. That's all something that's been completely disrupted right now. Well, we hear the urgency in your voice on this and everything that's happening at the CDC. We hope our viewers pay attention to what's going on. Dr. Amesh Adalja, thanks for your time. Thanks.

It's been 13 days since President Trump said he could strike a peace deal in Ukraine, following his meeting with Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin. But Russia shows no signs of backing down, launching an aerial assault on Kyiv.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Russian attack on Kyiv kills more than a dozen people

The shooter in Minneapolis fired more than 100 rounds from a rifle at the church where students at Annunciation Catholic School attended Mass. City and state officials highlighted this fact as they called for stricter gun control.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis officials call for stronger gun laws after school shooting

The shooter who killed 2 kids and injured 17 at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis had ties to the church where he targeted children celebrating a new school year during mass.

Annunciation school shooter had knowledge of church he targeted

The White House is responding to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Susan Monarez's refusal to step down from her role. CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi reports.

White House reacts to CDC director refusing to step down from role

In Tehran on Thursday, Iran’s currency traded at over 1 million to $1. At the time of the 2015 accord, it traded at 32,000 to $1, showing the currency’s precipitous collapse in the time since.

Tehran

Europe prepares sanctions as Iran's currency falls

Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed in a school shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis. The FBI is investigating the shooting as an act of terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics. Warning, this video is difficult to watch.

FBI investigating Minneapolis Catholic school shooting as hate crime

UN officials and aid agencies have warned that famine in Gaza is no longer a looming threat but a present reality, with children increasingly dying of hunger. In a blunt address to the UN Security Council, officials described the famine and widespread hunger in the enclave as “engineered” and “man-made” disasters.

New York

Middle East Conflict

UN Security Council affirms Gaza famine is manmade

Denmark summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country to protest what Danish officials say is an unprecedented effort by people close to U.S. President Donald Trump to conduct secret influence operations in Greenland.

Copenhagen

Denmark accuses U.S. of covert operations in Greenland

Two young children were killed, and 17 others were injured in a shooting during a Catholic Mass packed with young students in Minneapolis. The gunman is also dead.

Minneapolis Catholic school shooting leaves two children dead

The group is accused of attempting to infiltrate Greenlandic society, including allegedly recruiting locals for a new independence movement from Denmark, according to the Danish public broadcaster, DR, who was first to break the story.

Nuuk

Denmark summons U.S envoy over claimed interference in Greenland

SpaceX on Tuesday launched its Super Heavy-Starship, the most powerful rocket in the world, for a test flight after three other flights failed earlier this year. NASA hired SpaceX to build a lunar lander version of Starship to carry astronauts to the moon.

Starbase

SpaceX launches Super Heavy-Starship in test flight

The United States has doubled tariffs on many imports from India to 50 percent, as U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his threat to punish New Delhi for buying discounted Russian oil.

New Delhi

Global Tariffs

U.S. raises India tariffs to 50 percent over Russian oil purchases

President Donald Trump said he would seek the death penalty for murders in Washington, as part of a crackdown on what he calls out-of-control crime in the US capital.

Trump endorses death penalty return in Washington D.C.

As the Israeli military gives an initial assessment of deadly strikes on a Gaza hospital, hundreds of thousands of protesters urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire with Hamas in exchange for a hostage deal.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Protesters urge Netanyahu to reach hostage deal

Cracker Barrel says it will go back to its old logo after facing intense backlash and seeing its company value to sink by nearly $100 million after switching to a new design last week. In a statement, Cracker Barrel thanked their guests for sharing their voices.

Cracker Barrel scrapping new logo, returning to old one after backlash

The small West Tennessee town of Mason, just 2 square miles in size, is home to about 1,000 people. But its residents are now divided by what a new immigration detention facility will mean for the area.

Mason

Small Tennessee town divided over new ICE detention facility

A standoff is brewing between President Trump and economist Lisa Cook. Mr. Trump tried to fire her, claiming "there is sufficient cause" to believe that Cook made false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.

Trump clashes with Fed board member Lisa Cook, pushing to oust her

Protesters demanding an end to the Gaza war and the return of hostages to their homes took to the streets in Israel on Tuesday ahead of a security cabinet meeting scheduled for the evening.

Israeli protesters demand hostage deal as cabinet set to meet

Australia accused Iran on Tuesday (August 26) of executing two antisemitic arson attacks in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne and gave Tehran's ambassador seven days to leave the country, its first such expulsion since World War Two.

Council of the City of Sydney

Australia expels Iranian envoy over antisemitic attacks

President Donald Trump announced the removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the only Black woman to serve on the board. Critics call it an attack on the Fed's independence, while Cook says no legal cause exists for her firing.

Trump says he fired Lisa Cook from Federal Reserve board

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating new National Guard units, including a rapid-response force to handle what the administration calls civil disturbances.

White House authorizes creation of rapid-response National Guard units

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI sued Apple and ChatGPT maker OpenAI in U.S. federal court in Texas, accusing them of illegally conspiring to thwart competition for artificial intelligence.

Texas

Rise of AI

Elon Musk's xAI sues Apple, OpenAI over competition claims

Strikes on the Nasser hospital in Gaza that left at least 20 people dead, including rescuers, journalists and health-care workers are being met with global outrage. The Israeli military is investigating what Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu called a ‘tragic mishap.’

Israeli PM calls deadly strikes on Gaza hospital a ‘tragic mishap’

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back in ICE custody and is facing deportation to Uganda, the Department of Homeland Security says, after he was released from criminal custody last week.

Baltimore

Abrego Garcia in ICE custody, court blocks immediate deportation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will meet with the U.S. and other countries this week to discuss a potential meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at reaching a ceasefire.

Zelenskiy say he will meet with U.S., others on potential Putin talks

U.S. President Donald Trump says Chicago could be the next city to see National Guard deployment, sparking strong opposition from Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, who argue crime is already falling and federal intervention is unnecessary.

Chicago

Trump threatens to send National Guard troops to Chicago

Four journalists working with Reuters, Al Jazeera and others were killed in explosions at a Gaza hospital. Gaza officials blame Israeli drone strikes, though CBS News has not independently verified the claims.

Jerusalem

Four journalists reported dead after Gaza hospital blasts

U.S. National Guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington D.C. as part of what President Donald Trump said was his crackdown on crime began carrying weapons on Sunday night, two officials said.

National Guard patrolling Washington DC begin carrying weapons

In a visit to Kyiv, Prime Minister Mark Carney affirmed Canada’s support for Ukraine and committed to sending soldiers if a ceasefire with Russia is reached.

Breakdown