GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump administration released its plan today for improving health outcomes and tackling chronic childhood illnesses.

It comes from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, Commission he oversees.

The plan lays out more than 120 proposals, from cutting back on processed foods to reassessing behavioral medications for kids.

Kennedy also wants a review of the vaccination schedule and the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund.

He says, if the changes are implemented, it could improve public health.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary: A lot of these 128 recommendations are things that I have been dreaming about my whole life.

GEOFF BENNETT: Our Lisa Desjardins was at HHS for the unveiling of these guidelines and joins us now to explain what's in the framework.

It's always great to see you.

So, help us understand, what is this report exactly?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is a part two.

In may, MAHA the commission came out with its first report, which was really showing what the problem was in American health, and it's an immense problem.

This is the part two., the strategy that RFK Jr., the secretary, and the MAHA Commission are proposing to deal with it.

These are not rules going into effect, but actions that they plan to take.

Now, they're saying overall that what they want is a new approach to all of these issues.

Here's how the FDA commissioner put it.

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FDA Commissioner: Doctors are thirsty for this fresh new agenda.

We can tell that something's not right.

We have done a terrible thing to doctors in this country.

The health care system has put them on a hamster wheel, where we are treating, we're prescribing, we're operating.

I was on this wheel.

LISA DESJARDINS: Now, the report's not long, 20 pages, and most of these guidelines or actions are short bullet points.

Some of them are general, some specific.

But there's an example I want to give about nutrition.

So here's kind of the things that were in here.

For example, they are proposing front-of-package nutrition labels, allowing full fat milk in school lunches, and new testing for infant formulas.

Now there are, of course, many other things I have already done like taking red dyes out of school lunches, for example.

Microplastics, investigating that is in here.

Some of these ideas are new, maybe controversial, like more investigations about fluoride and its effect on health.

But some, Geoff, are familiar and regular, like reinventing again the food pyramid.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there have been a range of reactions to this report, especially on pesticides.

This is an issue on which Kennedy, when he was just a private citizen, had been a long time vocal critic of U.S. policy.

What's this say about pesticide regulation?

LISA DESJARDINS: Kennedy is no longer such a loud critic, at least not in this report.

It does mention pesticides and further investigation about pesticides.

But other than that, it talks about messaging, that -- enforcing the idea that the EPA's pesticide regulations are safe.

That's why I asked about this, because obviously it's an important area of health and a big part of debate.

And you will notice the answer I got on this was varied.

It shows the different views among the Trump administration officials.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, for example, focused on how he's applying current rules.

LEE ZELDIN, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: We are concerned from enforcement standpoint the use of illegal pesticides, the importing of pesticides into the country and working with other partner agencies to crack down on that.

LISA DESJARDINS: But A.G. Secretary Brooke Rollins jumped in right then, and she had said something a little bit different.

BROOKE ROLLINS, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture: Arguably, there is no perfect process, but it is a strong process that our farmers stand by.

And a crop protection tool, such as pesticides, is absolutely essential for America not to compromise our food supply system.

LISA DESJARDINS: This is obviously a push-pull, but that was the last word, kind of making pesticides and farmers the priority.

GEOFF BENNETT: Vaccines.

Kennedy's views on vaccines have been controversial, to say the least.

Where does that all fit in, in this report?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

It doesn't come up all that much in this report, but two instances.

As you mentioned, one, vaccine schedules are mentioned in general as something that they want to make sure are appropriate and as good as they can be.

So we watch that to see if they're proposing changes down the road.

The other, the idea of vaccine injuries, something that they will investigate.

There is not data right now showing that vaccine injuries are anything more than rare, but it is something that will watch.

Kennedy says he wants to make it easier for doctors to submit data.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, lastly, Lisa, you asked the secretary about something not in this report, and that's firearms and kids' health.

What did he say?

LISA DESJARDINS: I think I might have surprised him, because it -- during this news conference, it was brought up by one of the commissioners that suicide is a leading cause of death, especially for teenagers.

But there's no mention of that or firearms in the report.

I asked Kennedy about this, and he obviously didn't want to talk about it.

He said it's a complicated issue.

He said he is pushing for studies and NIH will do studies about whether, for example, mass shootings are related to use of antidepressants among young people.

There's no evidence of that right now.

And those in the public health realm say it's a mistake to focus on those kinds of things than other underlying causes or even the possessions of firearms.

But this is the power of the office.

Kennedy is the HHS secretary.

That is what he's looking at.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much for this reporting.

We appreciate it.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.