Transcript: NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins on "Face the Nation," December 19, 2021
CBSN
The following is a transcript of an interview with Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, that aired Sunday, December 19, 2021, on "Face the Nation."
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins. Good morning. And before we begin, Doctor, I want to note that this is your last day as director. You're not retiring, but you are stepping aside from NIH, so thank you for your service to the country.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.