00:00Have you ever been briefed by CDC's career immunization officials to discuss your concerns?
00:08And by the way, every member of this panel has criticized President Trump and demonized him.
00:16Have you ever been briefed?
00:18Are you complicit in the assassination attempts on President Trump?
00:21Sir, I'm asking the questions. You are the witness.
00:24It's a simple yes or no question.
00:26Have you ever been briefed by CDC's career immunization officials?
00:30To discuss their concerns?
00:31Yes, I have.
00:33Thank you, Brother Chair.
00:35Secretary Kennedy, you're here today to defend the President's budget request.
00:39In September, you said that the CDC, quote, will again become the world authority on infectious disease policy.
00:49Do you still stand by that statement, yes or no?
00:52We already are.
00:54Secretary Kennedy, do you know what rabies is?
00:58Rabies?
00:58Yeah.
00:59Do you know what it is?
01:00Okay.
01:01So rabies, people contract rabies, as we know, through bites from infected animals like skunks, foxes, like raccoons.
01:14Yeah.
01:15And it can devastate a family.
01:17When a pet is infected, it is very serious.
01:22It's 100% fatal in humans if left untreated, and generally it's a horrific experience.
01:31Staff at the CDC rabies division in Atlanta, Georgia have historically been able to field emergency calls 24-7 from
01:42providers about complex rabies cases using CDC expertise to determine appropriate care.
01:50Secretary Kennedy, Secretary Kennedy, since you and President Trump took office, do you know how many people are left to
01:57staff this 24-7 line?
02:02I do not know, Senator.
02:04Okay.
02:05So the answer is one.
02:06So I want you to know that.
02:09There's one person left to staff a 24-7 line to respond to rabies, a disease which left untreated.
02:21You know how many rabies cases there are every year in the United States?
02:26So I'm asking the question.
02:27The CDC's infectious disease work has been so decimated under your leadership that there's only one person left to staff
02:35to line and respond to families about this very deadly and terrifying infectious disease.
02:40Let me ask about another disease.
02:42Secretary Kennedy, do you know what prion diseases are?
02:46Yes, I do.
02:47Okay, thanks.
02:48And when you think of prion diseases, one of them would be mad cow disease.
02:53Mad cow disease.
02:54So diseases like mad cow disease can be transmitted from animal meat to humans, and it can cause a rapid
03:03onset of dementia, challenges with walking, personality changes, and severe insomnia.
03:14It's also 100% fatal, and there is no cure, with people's brain tissue essentially turning into a sponge before
03:23death.
03:24Do you know which office at CDC monitors prion disease?
03:32I do not know.
03:34It's the prion and public health office.
03:37Do you know what population is most at risk of contracting the disease?
03:43I would say it's people who eat meat from CAFOs.
03:49So hunters.
03:51Hunters.
03:52Prion and public health office is critical in a state like Georgia.
03:56In Georgia, we have a lot of hunters.
03:58There are more than 600,000 hunters in my state, but your budget proposes to eliminate this office.
04:06Respectfully, you seem distracted, Brother Secretary.
04:12Why does your budget propose to eliminate the CDC office that focuses on monitoring this deadly infectious disease that's especially
04:23a risk to rural communities?
04:24Why are you proposing to eliminate the office?
04:26You know, there's a lot of cuts at the agency that nobody wants.
04:31We have a $39 trillion debt.
04:34We've been asked to cut across the agency 12%.
04:37I assure you that the 600,000 hunters in Georgia would want this office.
04:43They would want the protection.
04:45I assure you that families that are dealing with rabies or the prospects of that would want to know that
04:51somebody's going to answer the phone when they call.
04:54You've come to Congress and justified destroying the CDC by saying you want to just restore the CDC's mission to
05:04focusing on infectious diseases.
05:07Yet you're also gutting the very offices that keep American families safe from disturbing and deadly infectious diseases.
05:17Senator, there's one to three rabies cases a year in the United States.
05:25I think one person manning that office full time probably can handle that traffic.
05:31In terms of prion disease, it's very, very rare.
05:34I beg to differ.
05:35Here is the issue.
05:37And we see this across the board with CDC.
05:40The incredible folks at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, they protect us every day from the threats that we don't
05:51see.
05:52And they don't get much credit for it because of the stuff that does not happen.
05:56And it's okay for the general public not to wake up thinking about that.
06:01But we expect you to keep Americans alive.
06:06And the cutting that we're seeing, these draconian cuts, for an agency that you said you wanted to restore to
06:12be the leader in infectious disease, yet you're cutting the coverage of infectious disease.
06:18Personally, sir, even as you seem distracted while I talk to you about deadly diseases, I think you're dangerous to
06:24the American public.
06:25And you ought to be fired.
06:28And if you're not fired, you ought to have the decency to resign.
06:30You're way above, way in over your head.
06:34Have you ever been briefed by CDC's career immunization officials to discuss your concerns?
06:43And by the way, every member of this panel has criticized President Trump and demonized him.
06:51Have you ever been briefed?
06:53Are you complicit in the assassination attempts on President Trump?
06:56Sir, I'm asking the questions.
06:58You are the witness.
06:59It's a simple yes to no question.
07:00Have you ever been briefed by CDC's career immunization officials to discuss their concerns?
07:06Yes, I have.
07:07What was the answer?
07:08Yes.
07:09You have been briefed by CDC officials, the career immunization officials.
07:15The senior vaccine safety scientist.
07:18Have you ever been to the CDC as secretary before the shooting on August 8th?
07:23Have I ever been there as secretary?
07:25Have you been there as secretary before the shooting?
07:28Okay.
07:28Let's return to the shooting in the aftermath.
07:31Secretary Kennedy, I'm about to ask you a series of yes or no questions about the events of the past
07:37month.
07:37And I would appreciate just a yes or no response.
07:41You called Dr. Monárez to your office on August 25th for a meeting.
07:46Is that correct?
07:46Yes or no?
07:47It could be.
07:50I just don't know the date.
07:51I'd have to check my calendar.
07:53Was Jim O'Neill the man you just appointed as acting director of CDC in the room on whatever date
07:59you met with him since you can't recall?
08:00Was he in the room when you met with Dr. Monárez?
08:04In that meeting, did you criticize Dr. Monárez for her statements to CDC following the shooting where she said, quote,
08:12misinformation can be dangerous?
08:17I don't believe so.
08:19I have no recollection of that.
08:20You don't believe you criticized her?
08:23Oh, I criticized her.
08:24Did you criticize her?
08:25Not for that.
08:26Did you criticize her?
08:27I don't even.
08:28Did you criticize her for statements to CDC workers following the shooting?
08:35Did you demand that she fire career scientists or public experts at the CDC?
08:41Yes.
08:42Did you demand that she accept the recommendations of your hand-picked vaccine advisory panel without further review by career
08:52CDC scientists?
08:53No, I did not.
08:54You didn't ask for her commitment ahead of time that she would accept the recommendations from the advisory panel.
09:02No, what I asked her about is she had made a statement that she was going to not sign on,
09:09and I wanted clarification about that.
09:14Did you tell her to accept the advisory panel's recommendations?
09:20I told her I didn't want her to have a rule that she's not going to sign on to it.
09:24Did you say that the CDC was, quote, the most corrupt federal agency in the history of the world?
09:30Not the history of the world, but definitely within HHS.
09:34Did you say that?
09:34I did not say that, but I did say it's the most corrupt agency in HHS, and maybe the government.
09:40So you called the CDC corrupt.
09:42Did you say that CDC staff are, quote, horrible people?
09:47Horrible people?
09:48Did you say that they're killing children and they don't care?
09:51No.
09:53Okay.
09:54I think that we all have a history of listening to you and these answers, but you're on the record
10:01for a number of these statements.
10:03Despite your lack of credentials and expertise, clearly you have an agenda.
10:09It is a threat to the public health of the American people.
10:13It's clear that you are carrying out your extremist beliefs, which is why you attempted to fire Dr. Manon.
10:21Senator, we're the sickest people in the world.
10:22Sir, sir, I'm not.
10:23We're the sickest people on earth.
10:25I'm speaking.
10:25How am I a threat?
10:27Secretary Kennedy, for the first time, we're seeing deaths from children from measles.
10:32We haven't seen that in two decades.
10:33We're seeing that under your watch.
10:35You are a hazard to the health of the American people.
10:39Can I respond to that, Senator?
10:40No, I'm going back my time.
10:44We need to wrap up.
10:44You are a hazard to the health of the American people.
10:47I think that you ought to resign.
10:49And if you don't resign, the President of the United States, who put forward Operation Warp Speed, which worked, should
10:57fire you.
10:58Thank you so much.
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