>> do you support congress extending these tax credits so that americans can continue to afford healthcare? >> you know, congress has to make its own decisions about that. my instructions from president trump -- >> you say i'm running out of time but i'm having a lot of trouble getting the witness to answer yes or no to a yes or no question. >> you're almost at nine minutes, sir. >> i need an answer yes or no. >> yes or no? >> i'm not going to answer yes or no to a question that's not susceptible to a yes or no answer. >> we need to move on. >> the fact that you find it difficult to answer basic questions is deeply troubling for me as you present yourself as a nominee to run hhs. thank you. >> i've been in courts all over the country, and -- >> mr. chairman you told me i'm out of time and he's continuing

to filibuster after i say i am done. >> senator smith? >> mr. chair, thank you. >> thank you. mr. chair and ranking member, welcome, mr. kennedy, so mr. kennedy, i don't have a question for you on abortion. i think that my colleagues on both skies of the aisle have covered this but i want to say i can respect people with different views than mine on this issue but it's hard for me to respect people who won't give a straight answer to what they think on this issue in particular. mr. chair, i just want to note that i understand anti-choice advocates have said in these hearings they were looking to hear mr. kennedy provide some reassurance that he's on their side and i'm not hearing that. and i think most americans are looking for some hint that the decisions that people make about abortion should be personal and private and they should be free to make those decisions without government interference and i'm not hearing that either. to make it worse, the answers that you have given tell me that the trump administration is more than willing to restrict or even

ban medication abortion, without a single act of congress and even in states where abortion is legal and what's clear to me, is that you and president trump are dangerous to women's access. having said that i want to move to a different topic. mr. kennedy, i appreciate senator cornen's question about mental and behavioral health, something i care a lot about. i know that you and your family have had personal experience with mental health challenges as have i. i agree that the mental health crisis in this country is a crisis. so let me ask you, in an interview in 2023 and again in 2024, you blamed school shootings on antidepressants. you said, and this is a quote, there is no time in american history or human history that kids were going to shoot schools and shooting their classmates. it really started happening co-terminus with the introduction of these drugs,

prozac wand other drugs. do you believe as you have said that antidepressants have caused school shootings. a simple question. >> i don't think anybody can answer that question and i didn't answer that question. >> so your answer is -- >> i said it should be studied along with other potential culprits. >> they may cause -- >> social media. but i don't know. i would never -- because there is no science on that, senator. >> there is, senator, excuse me, there is, mr. kennedy -- >> thank you for the promotion. >> the science shows there is no link between school shootings and antidepressants. in fact, most school shooters were not even treated with antidepressants and of those that were there was no evidence of association, you know. >> i don't think -- >> my question -- >> hippa, nobody knows. >> mr. kennedy, do you think that people who take antidepressants are dangerous? >> i think -- listen, i'm not going into hhs if i'm privileged

to be confirmed with any -- to impose any preconceived ideas that i may have. i just want to have good science. >> so you're not saying they aren't dangerous, which means they could be dangerous. >> that's not true. >> you describe americans who take mental health medications as at tickets who need to be sent to wellness farms to recover. is that what you believe? >> of course, i didn't say anybody should be compelled to do anything. >> you said they should be sent. >> i said they should be available to them. i didn't say they should be sent. >> -- antidepressants are like addicts. >> i know including members of my family who have had much worse time getting off ssi's than people have getting off of heroin. the withdrawal period -- and it's written on the label. >> i have some experience with this myself, mr. kennedy.

this is personal for me, when as i young woman and i was struggling with depression, thankfully, i had the resources to help me get through it. including a new generation of ssri uptake reinhibitors which helped to clear my mind, get me back on track to being a mom, a wife, and a productive, happy person and i'm grateful for that therapy so i have some experience with this and i think that everyone should have access to that care, and your job as secretary is to expand access to care, not to spread lies and misinformation. and the things that you say, mr. kennedy, they live on. they have impact, and we're having this conversation at the same moment that my republican colleagues are looking to try to figure out how to save money any way they can so they want to cut medicaid. if you're performed would you be responsible for cms which provides mental and behavioral healthcare to millions of

americans, close to 40% of folks on medicaid have a behavioral health condition and would you be part of this administration that would be looking to cut medicaid. mr. kennedy, these statements that you have made linking antidepressants to school shootings, they reinforce the stigma that people who experience mental health every day face every single day and i'm very concerned that this is another example of your record of sharing false and misleading information that actually really hurts people. >> senator, you're mischaracterizing my statements. >> i'm only putting into the record what you have said. >> you're mischaracterizing my statements, and i'm happy that you had a good experience on ssri's. many americans haven't had a very good experience on it. others have not. >> that would be an issue between them and their physicians. >> exactly. >> and as head of hss, putting

out misinformation about the dangers of ssri's and other antidepressant medication, spreading the stigma and the fear that we're actually trying to overcome. >> do you think physicians when they make that prescription ought to have access to good science? >> of course they do. >> that's all i believe, too, then you and i are in agreement, senator. >> to your point that you made when you made these statements it was not based on good science. i don't know what it was based on. >> i said science needed to be done. these are potential culprits, and i named other things. i said video games. i said social media. i said ssri's. ssri's have a black box warning. warning of suicide and homicidal behavior. >> mr. chairman i will submit to the chair the information that i have about what mr. kennedy has said linking antidepressants to school shootings. thank you. >> senator young. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good to see you, mr. kennedy. to follow up on that spirited

exchange in talking with you, and in reading about your vision for the department, you said one of your goals is to return public health agencies to the gold standard of scientific review. you've alluded to the gold standard a number of times today so i'm going to give you an opportunity uninterrupted but hopefully not too extensive to tell me and others what you mean by this gold standard. >> the gold standard means real science and research, with replication of studies, which very rarely happens at nih. we should be giving at least 20% of the nih's budget to replication. we should make sure all the science follows the raw data. we need to make sure the peer reviews are also published. i'll give you a quick example. 20 years ago, hhs -- nis

scientists did a study on alzheimer's which they said it was caused by plaque. after that nih shut down studies of any other hypothesis. 20 years later we now know that those studies were fraudulent. nih has funded 800 studies on a fraudulent hypothesis, and we've lost 20 years figuring out a cure for alzheimer's. that's just one example. i could give hundreds. we need to end that. we need to end the old boys system and have replicated bold science and be completely transparent about our raw data. >> thank you, sir in. recent years, particularly during the covid pandemic, there has been a lot of skepticism about our public health institutions. some of this i would say is warranted, but it's now created a pervasive lack of trust from the public that these institutions are acting in bad faith or failing to act

objective -- with objective criteria, failing in short to act in the best interest of the public. if confirmed how will you work to regain the public's trust, i suspect it will take some time, in these important public health institutions? >> i believe in radical transparency. the reason people don't trust the public health agencies is because they haven't been trustworthy, and, the example of covid, at the beginning of covid, everybody was rushing to get that vaccine. we had an over 90% vaccination upstate. the cdc's recommendation is americans take the booster. only 23% of americans are complying. that means 77% of americans no longer trust the cdc and that is the problem. >> yes, sir. in the absence of full

information, i think i agree with you, but i want your response, might it make sense to share that absence of full information with the american people, that uncertainty? i think one of the things by observation and experience that i saw during the pandemic was we had certain prominent doctors appear on television and indicate, no, you absolutely must not wear a mask. two weeks later, yes, you must wear a mask but they were certain, and even demonized people for not following the latest science knowing there is a high level of uncertainty in that science. would a measure of humility, as you say, radical transparency, demonstrates humility, help rebuild trust over a period of years? >> absolutely. we need to tell americans what we don't know. we need to make sure studies reach a null hypothesis, are also published. and that doesn't happen.

>> sir, i think you are right about why healthcare costs are so high in the first place. the answer is indeed chronic disease. 90% of our healthcare spending goes toward managing it as you said in your opening statement. it's not in the main because of waste, fraud and abuse, although we know some exists. it's not in the main because we have greedy executives at innovative world class companies. it's not in the main because we haven't yet adopted an unsustainable medicare for all steam. it because of this. so i'm encouraged that you intend to make that a point of emphasis, as it pertains to your future leadership. i will say, with respect to covid, it's not over for a lot of americans. it's not over. i know the mission accomplished banner was convenient for the last administration, but as we continue to navigate the ongoing impacts of the covid pandemic,

we have many individuals here in the united states and around the world who are suffering from long term health effects that significantly impact their quality of life, work, and daily activities, and they have been largely ignored. funding for long covid research was appropriated by congress in december 2020, followed by additional funding directed by the biden administration in february 2024. patient groups and industry publications have criticized the slow pace of clinical trial design and enrollment, if confirmed. will you collaborate with healthcare providers, researchers and effective communities to better understand and mitigate long covid's impact? >> absolutely. there are six million americans. will you commit to prioritizing long covid research and integrate this work in a broader healthcare policy, yes or no? >> yes. >> patient, groups and experts and industry publications have raised concerns about existing long covid funding being spent

on observational research. in particular, criticism was directed toward recover funding being used to duplicate existing findings instead of funding trials for potential treatments or diagnostics. if confirmed, mr. kennedy, will you work with congress so that going forward, long covid funding will be directed primarily toward trial or novel research directions and not replicating existing observational research, yes or no? >> absolutely, senator with enthusiasm. >> thank you so much. >> if confirmed, how will you create balance between your personal priorities of chronic disease and healthy lifestyle and the ongoing critical work of the department in areas that are focused on incentivizing and advancing innovation in modern medicine and pharmaceutical discovery. innovation will be the key to

public health and we have a unique opportunity now in history because of a.i., because of telemedicine, and because of the quality of people that are now coming to hhs, to actually save public health but it's all going to rely on innovation and i don't want to do anything that inhibits or impairs the pace of innovation. >> that's encouraging, from approving a.i. algorithms to determining medicare coverage we certainly need more innovation and we need good people in the department to assist with that effort. so, i'll follow up with a question about how you're going to retract and retain good people. >> sorry to shut you down a little faster than i did the others. we're up against a vote deadline here, and we have one more senator who gets his full time. i hope you'll keep it as close to five minutes as you can, senator welsh, and i've promised

senator widen about five more minutes. >> i can divide one minute with my colleagues. >> if we can do that we can get over to vote before they call the vote on the floor. >> thank you very much, thank you, mr. kennedy. >> and as you know, i'm a big -- have great reverence for your family from massachusetts. when i got out of college, i was in the first class of robert kennedy fellows, the memorial created by your family to honor the service of your father. i did community organizing in the west side of chicago. and i certainly admire your energy and your effort here and desire to serve. you know, there are a couple of things that are really important here. this is not just about a debate on vaccines. it's a debate about the qualifications, experience, and priorities as to the person that

will head health and human services. it's not just about what your answers are today or what the questions are. it obviously has a lot to do with your whole record and your whole history. you know, your sister, in her letter -- pardon me, your cousin in her letter said you've always been charismatic, able to attract others through the strength of your personality. willingness to take risks and break rules. i guess that's an attribute but it can be a danger. the question i fundamentally have, is your willingness to disrupt and maybe break rules will be dangerous and destructive. the character questions, we didn't go into here but there are some sketchy things you've acknowledged, your history with heroin. you've gotten over with that but there are incidents that do i think, concern the question of whether the stability is there to be in charge of this major

organization. and that's compounded by my concern that you don't have any experience managing a large organization, you don't have any experience in government. so those are things that have to be taken into account. but the issue for me is also priority. a lot of your engagement in health has been vaccines. you actually disagreed as i understand it with president trump about operation warp speed. i think president trump deserves a lot of credit for operation warp speed. he knew we had to get a vaccine and these other issues about a mask and whether you should wear it, whether, when you got your groceries, bag had to be left outside, remember that in the beginning. those are incidental to the core question that the president believed, we had to have a vaccine. and you contested that. that worries me. that really deeply worries me. the other questions, senator cassidy asked you some questions about our healthcare system. i happen to believe that our

healthcare system is profoundly broken and it's not just about the chronic illnesses. that's about our diet and exercise. but we're getting premium increases in vermont of 20% per year. 25% per year. and it's busting the bank, for taxpayers, it's busting the bank for our wonderful number of employees who care about having health insurance, that they can provide to their employees. senator cassidy asked you a couple of questions about how you would reform medicaid and i didn't hear an answer. you mentioned that you thought medicare advantage was good. you have a good plan. no focus on what an incredible rip-off was reported in the "wall street journal" by united healthcare, which was marketing medicare advantage, and then paying doctors and nurses where they had assignments essentially to over, over diagnose illnesses

that didn't exist. so they made billions and billions of dollars. and i have seen nothing coming out of the trump administration, and i have seen nothing coming out of your advocacy that's going after what is a rampant abuse by the insurance companies and overcharging people and not doing the job. by the way, the united healthcare people when they did that overdiagnose, when the person really got sick they dumped them. they dumped them. go to the nursing home on your own. that's a broken healthcare system. we spend the most and get the least and i think there should be collective anger about this on both sides because all of our people are dependent on that healthcare system. and you're going to be working for a president who is on a lawless rampage right now, okay? he has done something reckless with the pardons to these cop beaters. i'm appalled by that. but that's just reckless.

that's not illegal. he's impounded money, so right now, the medicaid website went down. he's impounded money -- what can they do? do you believe a president can impound money that's been appropriated by congress? >> senator -- let me answer that question about medicare first. i have never defended that program or the behavior by insurance companies or the pbm's. i understand that's a huge problem. >> all right. i don't have time. we've got to get over to vote. >> but you've asked me five questions, you've got to give me a chance to answer one of them. [laughter] >> please be brief. >> yes, i brought in, if i get confirmed, i've already appointed a general counsel, the first time in history, a former

prosecutor, who prosecuted the biggest medicare fraud case in the state of west virginia. i brought in a prosecutor for that job instead of a bureaucrat. precisely, which addresses the important issues that you raise here. the only reason i didn't talk about these before is because i wasn't asked them about. i agree with you a hundred percent. >> what about impounding -- a president impounding money that among other things -- >> and you're saying that's illegal? >> that's correct. >> my job is to uphold the constitution. i'm going to take an oath to uphold the constitution and i will administer the law and uphold the constitution. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, i believe under what we've discussed, i control five minutes. i'm going to take one and give one to each of my four colleagues that remain. >> all right. this vote, they are going to

call it in about eight minutes. >> thank you. >> so we have very little time. >> two hours ago, colleagues, i asked mr. kennedy to reconcile his many anti-vaccine statements with his handful of pro vaccine statements. instead, he gave us a word salad and ducked the issue. the same was true, mr. kennedy, with respect to measles, where you wrote a book playing down the threat of measles, even though american families are very concerned about it. and apparently families are still mourning in samoa. my last point would be that mr. kennedy said today really wasn't about him. and i just want to tell him, it is all about you. because i find your presentation to be both untrustworthy and unprepared because my colleagues have been seeing back and forth between medicare and medicaid

and it's not clear which program you're using when. so i want colleagues to note there is a lot more information to learn about mr. kennedy before we vote. i'm going to urge that to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to not make decisions on the basis of this session. i thank you for the additional time. and my next minute, senator white, senator warren and smith. >> there has been a lot of conversation about late term abortions here and i just want to make clear what rhode island obgyn doctors describe as almost always happening when a late term abortion is needed. it is a childbirth gone wrong. the family has painted the room. it has bought the crib. maybe even decided on the baby's name. and has gone to the hospital to welcome the new baby into their

family and what's supposed to be a happy event. and then things went wrong. then the alarms started pinging. the lights started flashing. the medical professionals started rushing in and the question became, who lives and who dies. the mom's life is often at risk, and she may have other children she needs to care for. the baby's life may be at risk. and one or both may die. in that environment, the doctors and the family own that decision. government has no place in that room at that point. and i think we need to understand when this late term abortion gets bandied about, what you're dealing with is a

tragedy that's happening to a family who wanted that child and have suddenly been confronted with a moment in which they have to make what's probably going to be the worst decision of their lives. and to try to shove the state legislature into that room is really offensive, really morally wrong, and i just want to make very clear what rhode island obgyn's tell me is the situation when these procedures have to be deployed. >> senator warren. >> thank you, mr. chairman. so, mr. kennedy, i wanted to ask about your role in the 2019 measles outbreak in samoa. in july 2018 two children died immediately after receiving a measles vaccine, that nurses had mistakenly mixed with a muscle relaxant. the nurses get charged with manslaughter. but vaccination rates go down.

i asked you about this. you told me flatly that your visit to samoa had nothing to do with vaccinations. we now know that's not true. active documentation. you met with the prime minister. you talked about vaccinations. you met with an anti-vaccine influencer who described the meeting as "profoundly monumental for this movement." so what happens. vaccinations go down. there is a measles outbreak, and children start dying. but you double down. you didn't give up. just four days after the prime minister declared a state of emergency, 16 people already dead, you sent a letter to him promoting the idea that the children had died not from measles but from "defective vaccines." you launched the idea that a measles vaccine caused these deaths. you're a very influential man. in fact, you're called the leader of the disinformation

dozen. multiple -- unicef and world health organization investigated this. they say the claims were false. it's not biologically possible what you claimed. and yet, ultimately more than 70 people died because they didn't get vaccines. so my question is, do you accept even a sliver of responsibility for the drop in vaccinations and the subsequent deaths of more than 70 people? anything you would do differently? >> no, absolutely not. after -- there were two incidents in which children died in 2015 -- in 2015, it was from the meeseles vaccine. they found the government of samoa banned the measles vaccine after 2018.

i arrived in july the next year, after the -- >> mr. chairman -- >> >> -- understanding that you wanted to hold this to a minute, and i don't get to present all the facts and documentation i've got, how about if we just decide to make entries for the record on exactly what the record shows about mr. kennedy's participation and i think he's answered the yes or no question. he takes no responsibility. >> senator warren and we will do that, mr. kennedy, and to all the senators, every senator knows that following this hearing, they will be able to ask you questions off the record and you will be able to put answers back on to the record. so please give that answer. apologize that we're shutting you off for giving you a full response right now. we're way over time. >> you have said you want to give infectious diseases a beak for about a year. my question to you had to do with avian flu.

over a hundred million birds called, the disease has spread to dairy cows and there are now 67 confirmed human cases and one death. so, mr. kennedy, do you intend to give research on bird flu a break? >> i intend to follow the appropriate resources to preventing pandemics. that's cerebelli part of my job. >> what do you think is causing the avian influenza? >> i think the n1 virus is. >> that's good to hear, because in a recent book, i'll submit it for the record because we don't have that much time mr. kennedy has questioned the scientific basis for germs causing disease and the power of vaccines and antibiotics. >> i never questioned that, senator. >> i'll submit that for the record. >> thank you. senator warnock, one minute. >> i like the way you said that to the baptist preacher. thank you so much. based on our conversations i understand you support work requirements and medicaid and in 2020 president trump approved a proposal from georgia state

leaders requiring georgians to jump through a number of hoops to fill out even more paperwork to verify work and get access to healthcare assets, as someone who represents a state that's not expanded medicaid, federal government, because of its waiver, spent $70 million on georgia's medicaid waiver. 82% of that went to administrative costs. the point that i'm making is that the folks insisting they need to work. 90% of those folks are working. they are care-givers or they have a disability. let's me give you one example. a woman i think of all the time, her name is heather. she's a traveling nurse from dalton, georgia, who falls into the medicaid coverage gap. heather experience add series of small strokes leaving her unable to work full time. she's dedicated her life to caring for patients, but now she can't afford her own medical care, out-of-pocket costs because she doesn't make enough to qualify for tax credits to

buy private insurance. what does heather need? does she need work requirements or does she need access to healthcare so she can finally get healthy and get back to work? >> the individual that you described would need healthcare and not a work requirement. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> and we're done with the questioning now. mr. kennedy, apologize to you, to the audience and to all of my colleagues to have to rush it here at the end but we have a vote on the senate floor that they are going to close in about three minutes. i want to thank you for appearing before this committee. you have been accessible to the members and staff on both sides of the aisle of the finance committee throughout a rigorous process, and we want the whole world to know that you spent hours in meetings answering questions outside of this hearing, and providing documents and responses on issue after issue after issue. you have gone through the most

thorough vetting process that any committee in this congress puts anybody through. and i think that you have come through well, and deserve to be confirmed. i would like to remind my colleagues that the deadline for submitting any questions for the record is 5:00 p.m. today. 5:00 p.m. today. and, mr. kennedy, we ask that you respond to those questions as quickly as you possibly can. with that, i'm going to leave you in this room, and run over to vote. this hearing will be adjourned. i encourage the audience to be polite and respectful no matter what side of the issues you may be on, and, mr. kennedy, i look forward to working with you. >> thank you, mr. chairman, we're adjourned. [applause] [cheers] >> wrapping up the confirmation hearing for robert kennedy, who seeks to become the hhs secretary, the big message from

rfk today, innovation is the key to public health, and he intends to innovate. and we're back in washington, d.c. now. john roberts, along with the guest co-host today. >> shannon: it's good to be with you, it's a busy day. >> john: dr. mark siegel joins us. i want to play something rfq said in his opening statement. listen here. >> advocacy is often -- status quo by asking uncomfortable questions, well, i'm not going to apologize for that. we have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly. >> it was a hearing that was contentious at times, a lot of questions that were asked that required a nuanced answer but when he started to give one democratic senators would shut him off to say i asked yes or. no what do you think of the entire hearing and what do you think of kennedy's philosophy and how it might apply to hhs?

>> i'll add what shannon said before we came on, he didn't get to answer. they weren't interested in his answers, they were interested in their statements, not his answers. >> have you ever seen that before? >> i see that all the time. you see it every day here. but, the clip you just showed, he even went deeper and beyond that and said, i'm going to take on things that lead to the epidemic of obesity that we have. 45% of adults, 20% of children, chronic disease, allergies which he talked about which he hasn't talked about before, addiction, all of that is connected because addiction is connected to poor eating hats. not just drugs. so he put that all to the but what he said that was most significant is, he said, i don't care who stands in my way, i don't care who tries to stop me, and you know who will try to stop him, big food, big farm marks all the big guns and the lobbies here in washington and he says he's not afraid of that. he didn't take this job -- he

knew he was going to get a battle and i think that was maybe the strongest moment. >> shannon: interesting that you mentioned addiction because he talked about his own. he said he was addicted to heroin 14 years. he says he goes tota 12-step program every day so he's constantly hearing stories from other americans about fighting their addictions so he's seeing that problem up close and personal every day. >> he talked about the wellness farms that he's talked about but he stood up for them and said, they aren't instead of antidepressants. they aren't for everyone, they are an option for someone who is in trouble and can't do betterment i think he fought against the idea he said previously about antidepressant use. he said he's for it but for the right people and that brings it back to the doctor's office, shannon what is my role in the doctor's office? it's to make these decisions with the patient, and to have availability. not pressure from outside. availability of medicines, and then i and the patient decide whether to prescribe them or not. there was a lot of nervousness on the part of the democrats

about vaccines. but what kennedy is saying there is he wants more transparency. he wants nothing to be off the table. the democrats are saying, yes, but you're going too far in that direction. we already have a problem with vaccine confidence in this country in terms of a drop in the early childhood vaccines that's come out of the pandemic. that worries me, by the way, regarding kennedy. but peter marks, who is the head of vaccines at the fda has said if he's confirmed i'll work with him. let's work together. maybe he'll bring up something i didn't think of. he says mark has tremendous transparency at the fda. he doesn't agree there are secret files but let kennedy bring it. let's him bring it on and we'll work together. >> john: senator warren brought it up twice here. she was trying to hammer him on something that happened in samoa in 2018 and 2019 where vaccine compliance dropped from the 90's to 31% because of an unfortunate situation where a nurse had accidentally mixed a muscle relaxant with the measles

vaccine and two children died as a result. kennedy happened to visit the island the following summer, and then shortly after that, somebody from new zealand came in with a bad case of measles and spread it throughout the population because there was low vaccine compliance and a number of people died. she was trying to pin that on him. >> he was trying to say i came a year later and it had already happened before that. i think that was clarifying, and that was one thing that was disappointing was they didn't want him to answer the question. i mean, and in a way it was really unfair because they are talking over the voice problem he has, right? so he can't talk over people in reverse. and that was totally unfair but i guess you guys are used to that here in washington. >> john: i have never seen it before, as i said, first time ever. >> shannon: dr. siegel, thank you very much. >> john: it's great to see you in person. >> hang around here and open up a practice. >> we've got lots of clients here because there is an

epidemic of chronic disease. >> john: it's great to see . >> shannon: thank you. president trump's budget office has reaccepteded an order -- it's been in the headlines 24/7. let's go to jacqui because she's got somes clarification for us at the white house. >> some background on this. yesterday, when we all heard about this memo that ordered omb to freeze these federal funds, there was a lot of confusion over what applied and the question a lot of us had was why didn't they just do the review of what was, in fact, at odds with the president's executive orders on things like ending dei and unleashing american energy before they imposed a freeze that led to some confusion across agencies. after the judge issued an injunction, which basically barred omb from talking to agency heads about what, in fact, was impacted, the administration decided to rescind that memo, which now

allows that communication to continue. so it doesn't mean that the freeze on funds that are impacted by these executive orders is undone. the freeze, in fact, will continue on things -- on funds that are impacted on ending dei, reevaluating u.s. interest in some nongovernmental organizations and foreign aid that will all continue. but the freeze is not happening in the interim while that review is happening. so we've got a statement from caroline levitt. omb has rescinded the memo to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and dishonest media coverage. the executive order issued by the president on funding reviews remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented by all agencies and departments. this action should effectively end the court case and allow the government to focus on enforcing the president's orders on controlling federal spending, in the coming weeks and months,

more executive action will continue to end the egregious waste on federal funding. so dialing back to what we talked about yesterday, caroline levitt said in the briefing that this was targeted at things like the $50 million that went to condoms in gaza. initiatives like that are still subject to this freeze, anything that's impacted by those executive orders, there were, i think, seven listed in the memo but in the interim, the omb has pulled back that memo itself, because that barred communication between omb and agency heads and was impacted. that's the latest. >> break neck speed and keeping up and distilling it is very important. jacqui, thank you very much live from the white house. appreciate it. >> john: it's like drinking from a fire hose only bigger. fox news getting exclusive look at the latest deportation flight from texas to ecuador. we're on the ground with a live report from el paso coming up. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back.

but now with skyrizi, i'm all in. thanks to skyrizi, i saw dramatically clearer skin. and many even achieved 100% clear skin. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lowered ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms, or vaccines. with skyrizi, nothing on my skin means everything. ♪nothing is everything♪ ask your dermatologist about skyrizi today. you go to sandals to connect on a deeper level. i've been waiting for this... [wind blowing] [zip up] time to get wet! thanks. with the caribbean sea. ♪ life, diabetes, there's no slowing down. each day is a unique blend of people to see and things to do. that's why you choose glucerna to help manage blood sugar response. uniquely designed with carbsteady. glucerna. bring on the day.

growing your business is easy once you know the moves. with godaddy websites plus marketing, you can quickly create a website, and ai will customize it for you. get your business out there and get more customers in here. no sweat... for you anyway. create a beautiful website in minutes with godaddy. tons of sweet dentists on zocdoc. dr. stafford's a real beauty. and people say he's passionate about dentistry! dr. taylor's on thirty-third street... we could practically skate there! booked it! sweet! you've got options. book now. ♪

♪ >> 3,500 arrests that isis has made so far, can you tell us the numbers, how many, have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally? >> all of them because they broke our nation's laws and are criminal. >> the last administration didn't see it that way so it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who broke our nation's laws as a criminal. >> shannon: we get the latest look at flights sending illegal migrants from el paso to ecuador. here's more. what can you tell us about these

flights? >> hi, shannon. yes, we got an exclusive look inside of this plane and how this operation works, you have the military working side by side with border patrol showing this massive show of force. do you regret coming into the united states i will mealy? >> shackled one by one, fox gets an exclusive look as dozens of illegal migrants are escorted on to the c-17 military plane headed back to ecuador. >> don't come to the united states illegally. if you do come to the united states illegally, you will be removed. >> 43 females and 37 males packed on to the plane including some family units. these are illegal migrants from ecuador who broke the law when they crossed illegally into the u.s. border patrol says they were already in custody, either found between ports of entry checkpoints, smuggling operations, or stash houses. while expedited removals aren't new, using military aircraft is. >> this is the second largest plane the air force has.

it will put 80 of these illegal migrants -- the board patrol message is, if you come into the united states illegally bull sent back to your home country. it's all part of trump's plan to crack down on illegal immigration. >> to have people back in their home country within seven hours, 2,700 miles that puts you pretty much anywhere in venezuela, colombia, ecuador, and anywhere in between. >> and the flight crew told us that this was the same crew that brought the group of illegal migrants to colombia over the weekend. the government there turned the plane away and that's when trump stepped in and threatened tear rivers and sure enough quickly after the president in colombia backed down. so they hope this is going to send a strong message to any other countries that decide not to cooperate and accept these removal planes filled with their own citizens, shannon. >> shannon: like for from us

texas, thank you very much. >> john: you're going to want to see this. wild footage from a chaotic board meeting at a town in illinois. why the woman dubbed america's worst mayor was seen brawling with an activist who attended the meeting. [chuckle] >> plus secretary of state marco rubio issuing a stark warning to taliban leaders after he learns they may be holding even more american hostages than previously thought. trump's envoy for hostage affairs out of boulder with reaction just ahead.

ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

the tempur-pedic breeze makes sleep feel cool. so, no more sweating all night... or blasting the air conditioning. because the tempur-breeze feels up to 10 degrees cooler, all night long. during our presidents day sale, save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets. some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking allstate first. like you know to check first that you bought seats in the right section. kansas fans, get on your feet! so check allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. >> back on the road and back at our nation's capitol

dude, i really need a new phone. check out my new samsung galaxy s25 ultra. it's got galaxy ai. imagine this thing running on our superfast xfinity mobile network. and i also heard that it can do multiple things with a single command. —with google gemini. let me try it. add recipes with overripe bananas to my “dessert ideas” note.

that's what you chose to ask it? i had other things planned. ask how to get up to one thousand dollars off the new samsung galaxy s25 ultra with xfinity mobile. >> kash patel will be a lot fairer to his opponents than they were to him. he's willing to meet with senators who won't vote for him. he knows they won't vote for him, but that's the kind of law enforcement he wants. >> if you thought kennedy's hearing was something, patel gearing up for with a what is sure to be a grueling confirmation tomorrow. vowing to clean up the agency, one that many people say is smeared with controversy. david is here live with the latest and he's got the support of a lot of republicans but does he have support of all of them. >> that's the question we'll see tomorrow.

definitely it will be heated. both sides say they agree on one point, that he's a controversial nominee. each side spinning the word controversial in their own way. the hearings tomorrow, we expect some fireworks, he's an attorney who once worked as a terrorism prosecutor. he was later at the defense department as former chief-of-staff as acting defense secretary chris miller under trump's first term. he also worked at the national security council. before that he was known to be on the house committee that investigated the 2016 russia probe. he began his career as a public defenders. republicans believe he'll bring a fresh perspective to the fbi agency that has trouble distancing it. when he was nominated to lead the fbi this following clip was played over and over on different news outlets and this is patel just four months ago in september. >> i shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopened it the next day as a museum of the deep state and i take the 7,000 employees that work in

that building and send them across america to chase down criminals. go be cops. you're cops. go be cops. go chase down murderers and rapists and violent offenders. >> it's expected to grill patel not only on this comment but some of the other comments in the past. not clear how he'll answer about some of those past comments. john, fbi directors are appointed for a period of 10 years. christopher wray, former director, served seven and left on his own after trump. they can be replaced at any time by any president. it's as with wray it was not. >> do we necessity how many will support him? >> at this point it's not clear. republicans so far seem like they are in lock and step and we know that senator thom tillis from north carolina will

introduce him and he's someone we thought may not have voted for him but he'll introduce him tomorrow. >> john: we've got a very interesting day ahead of us tomorrow. >> shannon: pop some popcorn. >> president trump: i promise you i will demand justice for laken. he was an illegal migrant and he shouldn't have been in our country and he never would have been under the trump policy. >> shannon: president trump made that promise to riley's family back on the campaign trail ant any minute now he's set to sign his first piece of legislation, laken riley act. we'll watch that with special report anchor bret baier coming up.

if you're living with dry amd, you may be at risk for developing geographic atrophy, or ga. ga can be unpredictable—and progress rapidly—leading to irreversible vision loss. now there's something you can do to... ♪ ( slow. it. down.) ♪ ♪ ( get it goin' slower.)♪ ask your doctor about izervay. ♪ (i. zer. vay.) ♪ ♪ ( gets ga goin' slower.) ♪

izervay is an eye injection. don't take it if you have an infection or active swelling in or around your eye. izervay can cause eye infection, retinal detachment, or increased risk of wet amd. izervay may temporarily increase eye pressure. do not drive or use machinery until vision has recovered after an eye injection or exam. izervay is proven to slow ga progression, which may help preserve vision longer. ♪ ( i. zer. vay.) ♪ ♪ (gets ga goin' slower.) ♪ so shift gears and get going. don't delay. ask your doctor about izervay.

when we started feeding bogie the farmer's dog, he lost so much weight. pre-portioned packs makes it really easy to keep him lean and healthy. in the morning, he flies up the stairs and hops up on my bed. in the past, he would not have been able to do any of those things. “the darkness of bipolar depression made me feel like i was losing interest in the things i love. then i found a chance to let in the lyte.” discover caplyta. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta is proven to deliver significant symptom relief from both bipolar i & ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common.

caplyta can cause serious side effects. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. anti-depressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis. report fever, confusion, or stiff muscles, which may be life threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. common side effects include sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, and dry mouth. these aren't all the side effects. in the darkness of bipolar i & ii depression, caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta. find savings and support at caplyta.com. >> john: a live look outside, u.s. federal court in new york city, a judge is about to sentence former senator bob menendez. >> shannon: you may remember the new jersey democrat was found guilty of corruption and bribery by a manhattan jury back i