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The Situation Room

FDA Approves Updated COVID Vaccines; Fed Chair Quiet on Interest Rates; Partial Lunar Eclipse. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 28, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: A truly stunning display overnight, as a partial lunar eclipse plunged 96 percent of the moon into Earth's shadow. The spectacle coincided with August's full moon, also named the Sturgeon Moon, while covered in the Earth's shadow.

The lunar surface became an eerie rust color, creating what some astronomers called an almost blood moon.

Let's go live right now to meteorologist Chris Warren. He's over at the CNN Weather Center for us.

Chris, billions of people around the world were able to see at least parts of last night's eclipse. Where were some of the best views?

CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you can imagine, if you had clear skies, the best views I think would be in some beautiful locations.

So, first, Wolf, we know that it had to be clear or at least mostly clear, but how about Rome, Italy, here? And that full moon also just adding to it, and just a partial of the partial here in Rome, so not seeing a whole lot of it.

To really get the most of the most, to get this type of moon, you needed to be within this zone right here, which did include much of the United States and all of South America.

Let's take a look at some of these other shots here, this from Washington, D.C. You see, just -- it's almost like a little cap here on the moon, just a little bit of the sunlight getting through, with the Earth's shadow and that edge very obvious here.

So, the location, I think, always makes a difference, your -- difference, your perspective. If you're in a beautiful location, seeing something beautiful happening, nature also just kind of adds just one little top to it, one little cherry on top, if you will, here, and, in Poland, similar scene. Perspective too. If you're far away and you zoom in, it can make the

moon look much bigger. If you have objects that mentally you know are large, it can make the moon appear much bigger, but not as much as you're going to see, again, here in the U.S.

This is about, Wolf, as much of the eclipse we're going to see, the partial lunar eclipse. Now, if you want to see the next one here in the United States, it's going to be 2029, and your best chance for seeing the total lunar eclipse this time, Wolf, will be on the Eastern Seaboard.

BLITZER: Look forward to that.

All right, Chris Warren, thank you very, very much.

Going to battle with the nation's Department of War, as it's now called. Coming up, how three former Pentagon staffers are now fighting back against top military officials they say fired them over alleged censorship.

I will speak with one of them. That's coming up.

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BLITZER: Breaking news.

This hour, the Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Warsh, delivers his most important speech yet. The financial world from bankers and policymakers to investors, as well as average Americans, are looking for any clues to where interest rates may be headed.

For more than two decades, his predecessors have signaled the direction of rates at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming. But, this hour, Warsh seemed to be breaking from that tradition.

CNN senior reporter Matt Egan is joining us from New York right now.

Matt, you're monitoring all of this. Any new insight from Kevin Warsh's speech, at least so far?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Wolf, Kevin Warsh, through his first 100 days as Fed chair, he has frustrated investors by holding his cards very close to his chest.

The hope was that, coming into today, he would offer some more clarity for investors on where he thinks interest rates are going. I think investors are probably going to be disappointed, because, instead of clarity, Warsh really kind of doubled down on why he thinks that the Fed should talk less, right?

He is arguing that investors, they need to draw their own conclusions, instead of trying to game out where they think Fed policy is going. He worries that, if the Fed talks too much, it's going to handcuff them when they have to make decisions, and it's just going to confuse investors and the public.

Take a listen of Warsh today trying to explain his thinking.

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KEVIN WARSH, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR NOMINEE: The economic literature has long described the distorting effects, what it called the hall of mirrors problem.

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If markets rely materially on the Fed's guidance, and the Fed relies on market prices, we're more likely to be blinded to new developments, more likely to be caught unprepared, and more likely to commit errors in policymaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now, Warsh went on to explain why he thinks this matters to all of our viewers at home, right?

He's warning that if the Fed gets inflation wrong, it's not the high- flying financial players who are going to be hurt the most. He says it's the hardworking Americans who are going to be the ones who have to deal with high inflation.

Now, Warsh, he was a bit more forthcoming on his views on the economy. He sounded a little bit more upbeat on the job market. He says that he thinks the economy is at full employment. That suggests that the rate cuts that the president has been demanding for years are not needed.

However, Wolf, he sounds more concerned about the inflation picture. He specifically said that, when it comes to price stability, the numbers are more concerning. He believes that the Fed's focus must be on prices right now.

So, bottom line here, Wolf, Kevin Warsh, he's doubling down on his thinking about the Fed speaking last, but he is leaving the door open to possible interest rate hikes ahead -- back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Matt Egan, reporting for us, thank you very, very much.

And for more analysis, I want to bring in CNN political commentator, Alyssa Farah Griffin. She served as the White House director of strategic communications during President Trump's first term.

Alyssa, thanks so much for joining us. As we monitor this speech from the Fed chair about the U.S. economy, CNN is also learning that Republicans are privately questioning whether the president's upcoming midterm convention in Texas will strike the right tone, given the electorate's concerns about the cost of living.

That convention, by the way, will take place in Dallas on September 9 and 10. So where do you think the this issue stands right now amid all the GOP's worries? ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, listen, I have

yet to find a Republican operative heading into these midterms who thinks that this GOP convention makes any sense whatsoever.

It's going to be extraordinarily expensive for the Republican Party to put on. And what I keep hearing is, every single dollar that the party has should be going toward fighting for vulnerable House Republicans to try to retain control of the House and supporting must-win Senate seats, again, to try to retain control of the Senate.

The other thing that's just fascinating is that Axios pointed out this morning the two first two days of this convention are actually going to align with the beginning of NFL football season. So, you're going to be counterprogrammed by something that you just cannot pull Americans' eyes away from.

Even the most tried-and-true Republican voters are probably going to tune in to the NFL over this convention. And then, finally, I would say this. It's, you have to have something to sell. I would actually argue that Democrats might have a better use of their time putting on a convention and talking about what they would be for beyond just being against Donald Trump.

But what Republicans have been struggling with is, what do they proactively tell voters they have gotten done to make things better for them, to make things more affordable? Because, right now, people look at high gas prices, they look at increasingly high inflation, and they say, this administration hasn't delivered enough for me.

So I don't know that this convention is going to accomplish the goals that it sets out to.

BLITZER: Yes, the timing is awkward. I would have to decide, do I watch my Buffalo Bills play football or do I listen to the speeches at the Republican Convention in Dallas? I think I know what I'm going to do.

Meanwhile, a fund-raising text sent in Vice President Vance's name recently went viral, as you well know. In it, he tells recipients not to donate if they can't afford to do so, adding -- and I'm quoting now -- 'Groceries cost what they cost" -- end quote.

So what's your reaction to that, Alyssa?

FARAH GRIFFIN: I have really never seen a political solicitation quite like that, from the administration in power acknowledging that the cost of living is too high, that people don't have extra money to be giving to their preferred political candidates.

But it also underscores this very interesting sort of divide between President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance. So, Donald Trump has called affordability -- quote -- "a Democratic hoax." J.D. Vance, on the other hand, he came on "The View" and was asked about that, and he said the affordability crisis is real. He's acknowledged that Americans are suffering and hurting. So there's this pretty significant disconnect from where the

president's mind is around affordability, how we talk about it, how we actually communicate to voters, and where the vice president is.

But, I mean, I can't think of a less motivating push request for money than to say, we know times are hard, our administration has not done enough, so don't worry about giving right now. That's not the winning message you want going into midterms.

BLITZER: As someone who worked very closely with the president during his first term, why would he pursue a trade war right now with one of our closest allies, if not our closest ally, Canada, and even try to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, when so many voters are concerned about the economy?

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FARAH GRIFFIN: It's -- this one's truly bizarre for me, because something I was very proud to work on in the first term with this president was the USMCA trade deal, which was between Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

So, existing trade conditions with Canada are actually a result of President Trump's own policy. So, if he's saying he doesn't like the terms of our current trade deals, those were negotiated by him in the first term, and I would argue were incredibly successful.

But this kind of gets back to the second term Trump thinking, where he really believes in tariffs. He thinks that they work. He believes in trade wars. He thinks they benefit the American public. But it's a tough sell to the American people, you know, 2.5 years in, where people just don't feel like costs are coming down.

And then, when it gets to the renaming Lake Ontario, it feels silly. It feels like a distraction. People really just want to feel like something is working for them, and this is getting pretty roundly mocked. I don't know why it's the White House's focus.

BLITZER: It's like when he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. How's that working out right now?

All right, Alyssa Farah Griffin, thank you very, very much.

Coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM: COVID, yes, COVID cases are back. We will have a closer look at the rising trend that's taking place in every state right now, and what you, what you need to know about the updated vaccines just signed off by the FDA.

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BLITZER: Happening now: The Food and Drug Administration has approved four new COVID vaccines, and many Americans will soon have access to them. Two are from Moderna, one Novavax, and one from Pfizer and BioNTech. People ages 65 and older will have access to all four, but availability will vary for younger patients.

For more on this, infectious disease specialist, Dr. Celine Gounder is joining us right now. She's the KFF Health news editor at large for public health.

Dr. Gounder, thanks so much for joining us.

First of all, tell us what's new about these four new vaccines for COVID compared to the previous ones.

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, KFF HEALTH NEWS: So, all of them are against the currently circulating variant of COVID known as XFG.

Last season's COVID vaccines were against a different variant, and, as we know now, I think everyone is familiar, that the virus mutates over time, and so you have to adjust what your vaccine is tailored against.

We also have multiple different, two different vaccine technologies being used for COVID now. You have the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines, which are mRNA vaccines, and you have Sanofi's vaccine, which is not mRNA. It is using synthetic protein, which is another very effective vaccine technology.

BLITZER: As you know, Dr. Gounder, COVID case numbers aren't necessarily all that high right now. The U.S. isn't recording many hospitalizations or COVID-related deaths, but data from the CDC puts the positive tests for the virus at nearly 5 percent higher than it was just a couple of weeks or so ago.

And for the first time since February, the CDC also says case numbers are climbing right now in every state. So, how do you explain this rise and how worried should all of us be about COVID?

GOUNDER: Right.

So we are seeing COVID start to increase again. This is also a time of year where kids are going back to school. They're mixing in the classroom. That certainly contributes to some of this as well. We're seeing COVID go up in the wastewater. And, currently, COVID emergency room visits are at about 15 percent of what we expect to be a peak.

So this is just the beginning of a rise that we will see continue over the course of the fall and winter.

BLITZER: Despite the FDA approval, the CDC has yet to make official recommendations for this year's vaccines. Is it a concern that the CDC is not, at least right now, in lockstep with the FDA on this very important issue, considering these approved vaccines are expected to be available next month?

GOUNDER: Yes, so just to distinguish the two, the FDA is basically saying a vaccine is safe and effective. The CDC's recommendations also impact or -- impact insurance coverage in terms of who's eligible, who's not.

The ACIP, which is the external advisory group to the CDC on vaccines, has been on hold. There's been some -- this has been tied up in the courts, in large part because of what the current administration under Secretary Kennedy has been pushing with respect to a vaccine agenda over the past two years.

In the meantime, medical societies like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Disease Society of America, and others have been coming out with their own recommendations. And I would say, stay tuned. Those medical societies will be coming out with recommendations in the next week or so.

And at least a dozen states have told providers to follow groups like the medical societies, instead of the CDC,right now.

BLITZER: So, basically, what I hear you saying, instead of getting a COVID vaccine now, we should wait a few weeks and wait for the new ones to come out? Is that right?

GOUNDER: Yes, so, the COVID vaccines, the newly approved ones are not on the pharmacy shelves yet. They will be in the coming days, weeks.

And we're just at the very beginning of the uptick of COVID season, so I think you can wait until the newest shots hit your pharmacy shelves. With respect to flu, which we also worry about this time of year, you have time. We're not seeing flu really circulating yet, but I think, come October, November, you would want to be getting your flu shot.

BLITZER: Yes, my doctor told me the other day I should be getting the flu shot in October or so. But is it a good idea to get the flu shot at the same time you get the COVID shot?

GOUNDER: Whatever it takes to get both. Some people prefer to space them out. Some people prefer to time them for when there's the most amount of virus circulating in their community. But if making two visits for whatever reason is not going to happen, just get both of them at once.

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BLITZER: It's not a big deal. You go to the drugstore, they give you a flu shot, they give you a COVID shot. It's pretty simple.

GOUNDER: Exactly. It's not a...

BLITZER: It's not that complicated.

GOUNDER: Very easy, yes.

BLITZER: Yes. I'm going to get both, I think, in October, wait for the new COVID shot, and then I will get my annual flu shot as well, very, very important.

Scientists have warned, as you know, Doctor, that COVID will continue to mutate and find new ways to evade human immune system defenses. As an infectious disease specialist, which you are, how do you see this evolution now shaping out? GOUNDER: This is what we see with all viruses, although some viruses

have higher mutation rates than others. We also see this with the flu, which is why you also need a flu shot every year. We're tailoring that to what is circulating at that point in time.

There are other vaccines, like measles, for example, that has a much slower mutation rate, which is why two doses of measles vaccine gets you to 97 percent protection that lasts essentially the rest of your life. So it does depend a little bit on the virus, how much it mutates.

And the ones that you get more frequently, you're getting them more frequently because the virus is mutating at a higher rate.

BLITZER: So, if we all got our measles shots when we were little kids going into school, we don't have to worry about that anymore? Is that right?

GOUNDER: If you got your measles shots, you don't have to worry.

Unfortunately, we have seen, on kindergartners across the U.S., measles vaccination rates have dropped below the 95 percent that you need for herd immunity. We are now seeing measles circulating in communities here in the U.S. It's not just cases coming from overseas.

In fact, most of the measles cases we're seeing in the U.S. are from the U.S. And we really would encourage kids, parents, as you're going back to school, make sure your child is up to date with their measles vaccinations. We just saw two deaths related to measles in Pennsylvania.

BLITZER: Excellent advice, Dr. Celine Gounder, as usual. Thank you very, very much.

And we will be right back with more news.

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