Trump Gets Thrown Under Bus by His Own Pick at Major Hearing

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1:00Ben Meiselas:An explosive hearing in the United States Senate as Donald Trump's own CDC pick, who Trump fired, Dr. Susan Monterey testified against the Trump regime, testified against Donald Trump, testified against RFK Jr. Now, I know a lot of attention has been spent on the hearing of Cash Patel, Trump's FBI director, who failed miserably trying to cover up Donald Trump's dark past. But this was, in many ways, a more important hearing involving this whistleblower who was Trump's own pick. Her name is Dr. Monterey. Trump fired her because she was not okay with RFK Jr. arbitrarily and capriciously and maliciously just destroying the vaccine recommendations for Americans, especially children.

1:55Ben Meiselas:Let me show you what went down in the United States Senate as Dr. Monterey, the former CDC director appointed by Trump, confirmed by the Senate, testified yesterday. So Dr. Monterey talked about how RFK Jr. had no data, no science to point to when he butchered the vaccine recommendations that scientists and thus doctors and Americans rely on. Watch this. Secretary Kennedy told the Finance Committee that he did not ask you to pre-approve, but that you're biased against the new CIP and he just asked you to keep an open mind. Did he cite any data or science as relates to the potential ACIP recommendations to persuade you to support them?

2:44He did not have any data or science to point to. As a matter of fact, we got into an exchange where I had suggested that I would be open to changing childhood vaccine schedules if the evidence or science were supportive. and he responded that there was no science or evidence associated with the childhood vaccine schedule. And he elaborated that CDC had never collected the science or the data to make it available related to the safety and efforts. To be clear, he said there was not science or data, but that you still expected you to change the schedule. Correct.

3:22Ben Meiselas:Next, I want to show you the top medical officer in the CDC, the chief medical officer, Dr. Auri, she testified how she learned that the Trump regime was going to be getting rid of the vaccine recommendation. She goes, I learned about it via a social media post on X. Here, play this clip. I first learned that the secretary had changed our CDC COVID vaccine guidance on an X social media post. CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold standard science. The Secretary's Office ordered the removal from our website of the CDC scientific document on thimerosal, an additive to vaccines that science has shown is not linked to autism, while allowing an unvetted presentation on thimerosal to happen at ACIP, containing scientific assertions that were not assessed for data quality and bias.

4:23That kind of last minute alteration undermines confidence and the deliberations that follow and is certainly not radical transparency.

4:32Ben Meiselas:Next up, you have Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, who just does an incredible job. And she's particularly very powerful when it comes to health care, when it comes to women's reproductive rights issues, when it comes to agriculture. But here she is asking Dr. Auri, again, a reminder, the chief medical officer of the CDC, whether or not she was able to brief the health secretary, RFK Jr. Like, was RFK Jr. taking advice from the chief medical officer of the CDC? And the answer was absolutely no. He didn't want to hear from any scientists at all. Here, play this clip. Decisions like this must be made in consultation with CDC experts.

5:21Because otherwise, we are left wondering who is advising the Secretary of Health. Or if his own conspiracy theories are enough to dictate who can get a vaccine. Dr. Auri, did you ever brief Secretary Kennedy? I never briefed him. I accompanied him on a tour of CDC after the shooting. Did your center directors ever directly brief Secretary Kennedy? They did not. You were the chief medical officer at the CDC. Would you say that it's harmful to the public if the secretary is not informed by experts like yourself? Very much so. How would you characterize Secretary Kennedy's approach to working with scientific experts at the CDC?

6:14You know, we would have loved to have had the conversations with him. I offered to two different HHS leaders that we would like to brief the secretary. He never received that. And many times I would send emails to our leadership team to share with HHS when he did say things that weren't scientifically correct so that we could help support him. But we again, our requests were not received to brief him.

6:37Ben Meiselas:Going back to Dr. Susan Monterey right here. Remember, she's the former director of the CDC appointed by Trump, confirmed by the Republicans in the Senate, turned whistleblower against Trump because Trump and RFK are trying to kill all of us. And she's like, I may be a, you know, a Trump pick, but I can't support people being killed like I'm still a doctor. And so she goes on the morning of August 25th, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of public officials. Here she is laying out the Trump regime. And folks, I don't I'm not trying to make this political.

7:22Ben Meiselas:I'm just bringing out the receipts. This is life or death stuff for us. This is health. Like we've got a bunch of quacks with RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz and these idiots right here who are doing things that are going to potentially kill us, kill people we know, harm our children. This is a red alert, folks. Here, play this clip. On August 19th, I received a directive from the secretary's office that I now required prior approval from my political staff for CDC policy and personnel decisions. On August 21st, I was told to return to Washington from Atlanta immediately, which would have meant missing Officer Rose's memorial, something I was not willing to do.

8:10When I did return, I was concerned about my ability to continue to lead the CDC while preserving evidence-based decision-making. Commitments I had made to this committee during my confirmation hearing. On the morning of August 25th, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of a public official. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause. He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign.

9:04I responded that I could not pre-approve recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts. He told me he had already spoken with the White House several times about having me removed. For three decades, I have worked at the intersection of public health, science, and technology innovation, always challenging the status quo and welcoming the changes that come from research and discovery. Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology or compromise my integrity.

9:43Ben Meiselas:Now, going back to Dr. Monterey here, she says that RFK Jr.'s comments defaming her were clearly not accurate. Play this clip. Dr. Moneris, at a September 4th hearing in the Finance Committee, Secretary Kennedy called you a liar for stating that you were fired because you refused to pre-approve vaccine recommendations. Is that accurate? Are you a liar? That is not accurate. Why did you believe it was so important for you to refuse to rubber stamp vaccine recommendations without seeing them or the evidence behind them? What did you feel was the worst case scenario if you had agreed to doing that?

10:33I refuse to do it because I have built a career on scientific integrity. And my worst fear was that I would then be in a position of approving something that would reduce access of life-saving vaccines to children and others who need them.

10:53Ben Meiselas:Here's an exchange between her and Senator Cain. Let's play it. Were you instructed by the secretary of HHS to not speak to senators? I was instructed to not speak directly with senators. And was that also in the August 25th meeting you described? That was over the course. I had several engagements with the secretary over that day, and it was in one of those meetings that I was instructed. So confirmed CDC director, Senate confirmed. We used to speak with the CDC director all the time during COVID and during other emergencies. Instructed not to speak to senators. Isn't it, is my memory right? Doesn't Secretary Kennedy say he's about radical transparency?

11:37That is one of the areas he has prioritized. Yeah. Well, putting a gag order on a CDC director and directing her not to speak to those who have confirmed her and to whom she is responsible for oversight is a very serious matter.

11:51Ben Meiselas:Now, here is Senator Alsa Brooks and Dr. Auri. Remember, Dr. Auri is the chief medical officer at the CDC, the top scientist who reports directly to the CDC director, who then is supposed to report to the health secretary, RFK Jr. But RFK Jr. didn't want to hear from the scientists. RFK Jr. just wanted on his own to just destroy vaccines, to gut the vaccine board, medical board, and to put his own quackery in place of science and data. Here, play this clip. Ask Dr. Howie very directly, do you believe that Secretary Kennedy is incompetent and dangerous to the American people's health? I had I always believe in optimism and hope and I would say that was my hope when he started I'd read his books as a transition lead I was prepared to welcome him after seeing his senate finance testimony and the number of misstatements seeing what he has asked our scientists to do and to compromise our integrity and the children that have died under his watch I think he should resign time for some life talk life insurance talk that is you probably have it but do you know how much you're paying for it and how much are you being covered?

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14:52Ben Meiselas:Another powerful exchange between Senator Cain and Dr. Aurey. Let's play it. Dr. Aurey, did you or a career scientist ever brief Secretary Kennedy about recent measles outbreaks? We did not brief Secretary Kennedy. Did you speak with any HHS or CDC political staff regarding the outbreaks? With CDC political staff, absolutely. Our team did, like the chief of staff and our communications about measles. And I did want to just follow up on your point about funding. That's my concern. 80 % of funding of CDC goes out to state and local communities. So as we see budget cuts to CDC, your community will see that too.

15:30and the boots on the ground work that you did in Virginia is exactly the heart of public health.

15:35Ben Meiselas:And another powerful exchange between Senator Alsa Brooks and Dr. Susan Monterey. Here play this clip. I want to ask you very quickly about that. On 5 p.m. on August 8th, a gunman opened fire at the CDC headquarters campus in Atlanta, Georgia, forcing thousands on the campus to lock down. Did you hear, did you receive a call from the secretary upon the first reports that an active shooter on CDC headquarters had shot at employees? I did not speak to the secretary on the 8th or any successive day. I did not speak to the secretary until August 11th when he came down to visit. So are you telling me that the secretary of health and human services failed to even give you a courtesy call upon learning that employees there had been shot at?

16:24He did not call me.

16:25Ben Meiselas:So then the MAGA senators tried to do some cleanup and it backfired in their face. So you had MAGA Republican senator from Oklahoma, Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Now he lies and claims that when CDC director Monterey was pushing back against RFK Jr., he goes, I know you're lying. You know how I know you're lying? It was all recorded. You were being secretly recorded by what RFK Jr. was secretly recording her. And so then it turns out that Mark Wayne Mullen was either lying about that or realized that he screwed up because if there was a secret recording by RFK Jr., it may have been illegal and he could be potentially a crime if that took place.

17:17Ben Meiselas:And also if there is a recording, then Mark Wayne Mullen had an obligation to immediately turn that over to the full Senate committee, which he did not do, thereby making it potential that Mark Wayne Mullen had a significant ethical breach and he could be potentially involved in either criminal activity, obstruction, or maybe something lesser. So Mark Wayne Mullen is lying here and saying that we secretly recorded you. Here, play this clip. It was a recorded meeting.

17:52So you can testify one way, or you can prove that you're lying or human, be honest with this committee. And I'm giving you the opportunity to be honest here because you've been really walking around the edges and not being truthful. So did he ask you the question, can he trust you? And your answer was? He told me he could not trust me. And I told him if he could not trust me, he could fire me. That isn't how that conversation went. And you know that, don't you? He told me he could not trust me. And I told him if he could not trust me, he could fire me. Ma 'am, all we're looking for is you to be honest.

18:44And you haven't been. You're not even being honest with the conversation you're having. You're not being honest with the timeline. And you won't even give the answers of who your attorneys were. And all we're looking for is you to be honest. If we're going to have a hearing and we're going to discuss certain things, let's make sure we're talking with someone that we can trust your answers. It's like my kids. I tell my kids all the time, you know, one thing I want from you, I can deal with any situation we walk into as long as I know you're being 100 % honest with me. The minute I can't tell you're being honest with me, I can't trust you.

19:17From then on, everything you say is questioned. And you have to question you

19:21Ben Meiselas:because your personality and your answers aren't correct. Then even Republican Senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy, he's like, I learned when I stepped out that Mark Wayne Mullen was up here claiming that there was a recording. If there's a recording out there, a secret recording that was made of Dr. Monarez that I don't know about it, you turn that over right now. Here, watch this. Well, I was at a vote. I understand Senator Mullen implied there's a recording of the meeting or meetings between Dr. Monarez and Secretary Kennedy. I will note that if materials have been provided to Senator Mullen and invoked an official committee business, their committee records and all other senators on the committee have the right to see those records.

20:11I will also note, if HHS has a recording, I ask them to release the recording. I'd also like to know why it was recorded. But releasing the recording would be radical transparency. And this is about fulfilling the president's vision of radical transparency. This is allegiance to President Trump's values. And so I'd ask that that recording be released. I'll also note that we put in a request for any documents or communications that would bring transparency to the situation. We have not yet received those documents. If a recording does not exist, I ask Senator Mullen to retract his line of questions.

20:51Mr. Chairman, let me see one more thing. I'll also note that if he has it, I'm also curious why only one senator was given this and why we're just hearing about it now and why didn't the secretary share it at the Senate Finance Committee. But those are questions that can be answered later with that, Senator Sanders. That's exactly the point that I want to make. I mean, how does it happen if it is true that one senator has access to an alleged tape recording of a meeting? Nobody else has it, including the chairman. This is what we're dealing with right now. And this is what I think, well, Dr. Monero is.

21:29This is a very politicized situation.

21:31Ben Meiselas:And then Mark Wayne Mullen basically admits that he didn't do the recording. But Cassidy is just fully fed up with MAGA Republican Mark Wayne Mullen's antics. Here play this clip. For the record, it's just been reported that Senator Mullen told reporters that he was mistaken in saying that the RFK-Minorres meeting was recorded. But in case he's mistaken that he was mistaken, if there is a recording, it should be released. And it would beg the question of what other conversations were recorded. And I'll repeat what I said earlier. We have sent a request to HHS for records related to these incidences.

22:10We've yet to receive those. But of course, it would help the committee, which on both sides has found itself scratching its head. It'd help us kind of discern what the truth is.

22:20Ben Meiselas:But here's the thing, Senator Kennedy, I mean, Senator Cassidy, you got played by RFK Jr. You're a physician, Senator Cassidy. You're a physician and you should never have allowed, ever have allowed RFK Jr. to be approved as the health secretary. You knew his background. And then you had other Republican senators like Tillis said they relied on you because you were a physician and you gave the green light to RFK. Now, let me show you Ron DeSantis' pick to fill in as the senator when Rubio is picked to be secretary of state. The governor gets to pick the replacement. Ashley Moody, she's like the worst.

23:01Ben Meiselas:She's not even good at being a hack. She's a whack hack, meaning a bad hack, whack hack. But anyway, Ashley Moody is so bizarre in her attack of the former CDC director that even Senator Cassidy was like, all right, can we move on here? Here, play this clip. You have this whole network of people that's trying to embarrass the president or go after the president. And now you are joining this group. Why don't you want to give their names? Their names have been publicly associated with them. They issued public remarks early on. Let me ask your colleague. I've noticed they've also been giving you notes, too, and whispering to you.

23:41Will you state their names? So their names are Abby Lowell and Mark Zade. That wasn't too hard. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I really was genuinely asking so that the record was clear. But now I'm wondering what else we're trying to hide. And I'll go back to you. Did you plan to coordinate? And I'll go back to the original witness. Did you plan to coordinate this public spectacle surrounding your firing? No. And have you coordinated with Dr. Auri? Am I pronouncing that correctly? And I apologize if I'm not. Did you coordinate with her or anyone else that you worked with surrounding your leaving?