'He will cost lives': Former Trump appointee thrashes RFK Jr. pick

A former public health official from Donald Trump's first term as president sounded the alarm over one of his nominees for his second term.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that Department of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would put American lives at risk if he was confirmed as secretary.

"I talked to president Trump about vaccines in my first term," Gottlieb said. "I don't think that these policy efforts reflect his views well. I don't think the president wants to see a resurgence in measles, wants to see a resurgence of whooping cough in this country – God forbid we have cases of polio in this country. He does not want to see that, I think he understood the importance of the childhood immunization schedule. I'm not so sure that people really understand how Kennedy's intentions are going to translate into policy and how serious he is."

Gottlieb isn't sure that GOP senators are eager to let Kennedy "go wild" on health care, as Trump said he would allow.

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"I think that there's skepticism in the Republican caucus, more than I think the press is reporting right now," Gottlieb said. "There's going to be [agriculture] state senators worried about his impact on food prices, there's going to be pro-lifers concerned about his positions on abortion and there's going to be a number of public health-minded senators who have deep concerns about his position on vaccines."

The former FDA commissioner said that Kennedy's skepticism on vaccines was worrisome and dangerous.

"I think if RFK follows through on his intentions, and I believe he will and I believe he can, it will cost lives in this country," Gottlieb said. "You're going to see measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates go down, and like I said, if we lose another 5 percent, which could happen in the next year or two, we will see large measles outbreaks. For every 1,000 cases of measles that occur in children, there will be one death. We are not good in this country at diagnosing and treating measles. If you look at the outbreak in Ohio, 30 percent of the kids were hospitalized. If you look at the outbreak in Minnesota, 20 percent were hospitalized because we don't diagnose it quickly. We've lost the ability to diagnose it because doctors aren't accustomed to seeing it, and we don't know how to manage it in the health care system."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner and CNBC contributor, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the incoming administration's picks for health cabinet positions, where Gottlieb's worries are, and much, much more.