blumenthal: we are not.this is going to be a first test of your leadership, whether you fight for an exemption in the hiring freeze for the non-veterans benefits employees who are needed to care for veterans at medical facilities and other places, including the veterans crisis line cut rather than have them covered by that hiring freeze. mr. collins: i believe it is a test of two different assumptions. assuming just because there are openings that there is a need that makes a veteran mr. benefits of health care -- i think we are coming at it from two separate perspectives. there may be openings, but there was openings yesterday. it was openings last week. this is simple looking ahead to say -- i think what we are going to see is no one on the veteran health care side is going to miss their health care provider because of the new hiring freeze. the president is making sure we have a good handle on what we have going forward. i will always fight, and i have told you this in your office, for what we need at our

senator blumenthal for his opening words part sen. blumenthal: thank you mr. chairman. this cause must be bipartisan and it must be immediate. there is no question about the need to speak, streamline and safeguard access to community care and referrals to the kind of providers that are necessary to prevent the tragedies or near tragedies as in the case of your husband charlie suffered. i believe strongly that these two systems, private and va must be complementary, not competitive. overriding all of this debate is the need for more providers, more doctors and nurses, more psychiatrists. and social workers who can provide the kind of care that our veterans need and obviously the v.a. should not be in competition with communities for the numbers of scarce providers, skilled professionals who are necessary to provide this care. but we are here on a morning when all these programs are in severe and urgent jeopardy. the trump administration has announced illegally it will freeze federal aid for programs that are immensely important to veterans. this freeze will hurt veterans

blumenthal: i welcome your statement, mr. patel, but it does not answer my question and it does not go to her credibility to deny you know who these people are after, and i have to say in this tweet and in others -- i have a raft of them. i'm going to ask the chairman that they be made part of the record. if there is no objection? you glorified and promoted and supported these individuals. he struck an officer in the head could hand, and shoulders and grabbed another officer. was he a political prisoner? >> i do not know who that is. sen. blumenthal: the simple fact is that you knew about the ucmj -- about the j six choir. you know what they did in assaulting police officers who sought to defend the capital on that day and were severely injured and some as a consequence died. i think the fbi deserves better. the men and women of the fbi put their lives every day. i have worked with them as united states attorney for 4.5 years and then as attorney general off and on for 20 years. i have admired them for the 14 years i have bee

so i like to hear from senator blumenthal.ther senators that they are starting to agree to blanket opposition. i want to see the votes. i want to see the votes. and until we see those votes, i think what they're going to be hearing from their constituents is a demand that they fight back. >> ezra, i know you were at the protest at the treasury department that happened in washington, d.c. today. you talked about that. i watched the video of your call with indivisible activists on sunday night. and you talked about the fact that that protest was going to happen tuesday at 5:00. tell me about what happened and what the aim was. >> well, let me tell you about ten minutes before that. >> sunday call, leah, my spouse and our co-founder of indivisible. she was texting with a lot of partners and said, hey, can we get this together? we ultimately got it together and were able to announce it on that call on sunday. no members of congress had agreed to it yet. we had gotten some pushback, but there is such palpable demand out there for l

blumenthal: i will ask some easy questions. i take it from what you have said to a couple of my colleagues that while we may disagree on getting a transcript, you would not object to this committee eating that transcript? mr. patel: no. sen. blumenthal: and you're aware that rule 60 allows you to testify about your own -- to talk about your own testifying. mr. patel: i'm here to testify about everything i'm allowed to. sen. blumenthal: you are allowed. this is the first day and assistant u.s. attorney goes to the first grand jury and is asked by a witness, can i talk about what i told you in the answer is yes. mr. patel: i will consult with counsel -- sen. blumenthal: let me say to the point, mr. patel, what are you hiding? why won't you tell us? he testified under a grant of immunity after taking the fifth amendment as you are privileged to do, and the appearance is you have something to hide. i submit to my colleagues, we need to know what the grand jury testimony is, we need access to that second volume and you have no objec

ok, next up we have senator blumenthal from connecticut. sen. blumenthal: thank you for being here. to america, this is america. this is what america looks like. i am so proud to stand with you in defense of america, and when you think back on this moment, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, you will remember this is the moment that made a difference for america, because the message here is, we have to reach beyond this crowd, reach beyond this city, reach beyond democrats, to republicans, and say, you are losing your country, too. and to all of the federal employees who are here today, if you are a federal employee, raise your hand. raise your hand, we are proud of you. [cheers and applause] we are proud of you. you serve america. how many veterans do we have here today? thank you. thank you, every one of you. now let me just say to you, all of your disability benefits, all of the payments that go to your bank accounts, all of that information now belongs to elon musk. all of the people who receive any checks, tax refunds, your information is now with elon musk. and all of the am

in a statement, senator blumenthal writes this, quote mr.usk's dual roles running a for profit corporation while serving in public office not only create glaring conflicts of interest that pose grave risks for america's most sacred institutions, but it may also violate federal law. the permanent subcommittee on investigations is conducting a preliminary inquiry into doge, and the ramifications of its conduct. democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. senator, thank you for being here. i know these are busy days. >> busy day, but really delighted to be with you, nicole, because this story ought to make americans angry. that idea that there's accountability for elon musk in the. present system? absolutely not. in fact. donald trump has fired all. >> the inspectors general. who would. >> be able to blow the. >> whistle on conflicts. >> of interest. and that's why i've. >> begun an investigation through. >> the permanent. >> subcommittee on investigation, because. >> there is. >> so much. >> at stake here. and it isn't just privacy,

in a statement, senator blumenthal writes this, quote mr.licts of interest that pose grave risks for america's most sacred institutions, but it may also violate federal law. the permanent subcommittee on investigations is conducting a preliminary inquiry into doge, and the ramifications of its conduct. that investigation is where we start the hour. democratic senator richard blumenthal of connecticut. senator, thank you for being here. i know these are busy days. >> busy day, but really delighted to be with you, nicole. >> because this story ought to make americans angry. that idea that there's accountability for elon musk in the present system. absolutely not. in fact, donald trump has fired all. >> the inspectors general. >> who would be able. >> to. blow the whistle on. conflicts of interest. >> and that's why i've begun an. >> investigation through. >> the permanent subcommittee on investigation, because there is so much at stake here. and it isn't just privacy, access to information about va payments. on disabilities, tax refunds, all o

joining me now is senator richard blumenthal, a democrat from connecticut. thanks so much for joining. >> thank you. >> for having me, jim. >> part of the administration's argument here and from its supporters is not just that there's waste in usaid, but that it's just not america's job. if foreign aid is a waste of taxpayers money and we shouldn't be in these places, even if there are, there is need for food, medicine, et cetera. make the case for why it is america's job. in your view. >> well. >> jim, you know. >> as you know. >> it's not just a matter of soft power. it's a matter of influence and impact around the world and the gap, the void that we leave will be filled by china, even russia and our soft power sometimes is the kind of power that keeps us out of war and stops terrorism. but if you take that $40 billion budget and ask, where does the money go? a lot of it is spent right here in the united states. the $2 billion in food aid, for example. that's not money that we give to people on the ground. it's used to buy soybeans and wheat and corn from

blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mrs. gillibrand. i'm honored to be sitting here to be nominated for the next sector of the v.a. i want to think my friend kevin cramer for the kind introduction. i appreciate his work and your work as well. i thank him for that. i would like to thank president trump for his nomination and his willingness to have not on the veterans of this country. i'm privileged today and appreciate the chairman and ring them mentioning my family because i would not view without them. my wife of 36 years is with me lisa. i have my son copeland, his wife your guide my son cameron and his fiancÉe. and then on the one of the quizzes altogether and that is jordan. she is our daughter. also on the public is watching what no of the list of a didn't mention, my 86-year-o

correspondent: last year senator richard blumenthal and representative andrea salinas, both democratscovery, investment and treatment act to fund treatment and also research. five states with some form of legal gambling currently offer no funding at all for treatment. and in september, blumenthal joined democratic representative paul tonko of new york to propose the safe bet act, to limit tv ads, restrict the number and the type of bets, ban ai use to track players' habits and create microbets, among other things. >> every other addictive product, government regulates the advertising, promotion, distribution, and something -- consumption. correspondent: sitting just behind harry levant at that senate hearing in december was the american gaming association's joe maloney. the a.g.a. thinks federal regulation not only isn't necessary -- it will actually make things worse. >> the advancements in technology are just going to continue to take place. they're just not going to take place in the legal regulated market. correspondent: this is the key to the legal industry's argument, that it's

and in september, blumenthal joined democratic representative paul tonko of new york to propose the safe to limit tv ads, restrict the number and the type of bets, ban ai use to track players' habits and create microbets, among other things. >> every other addictive product, the government regulates the advertising, promotion, distribution and consumption. paul: just behind. levant at that hearing in december was the american gaming association's joe maloney. the aga thinks federal regulation not only isn't necessary. it will actually make things worse. >> the advancements in technology are just going to continue to take place. they're just not going to take place in the legal regulated market. >> this is the key to the legal industry's argument, that it's taken the action away from illegal gambling, with its loan sharks, knee-cappers, and unregulated offshore markets that teenagers like rob minnick used. so, for example, in 2022, in texas and california, which haven't legalized sports betting, the aga says players spent more than $600 million in illegal markets. >> where they're prey to

>> thank you for that question, senator blumenthal. i firmly believe that the house should support it. 91-3 coming out of this senate body is something that is so unheard of. and it happened on my birthday last year. it was the first time in years i'd ever felt some sort of peace. i finally felt hopeful that something was going to be done to protect our children and to see it fail in the house, not even get out of the committee, it's absurd because it's putting more children at harm, not just from fentanyl but all the other harms that are out there. so i thank you for your continued support on this bill. >> thank you. mr. puerta? >> a lot of the social media companies are driving these harmful algorithms to our children and many nefarious actors are taking advantage of that and the act is to try to protect them from awe of this activity and it is harmful algorithms that are reaching them on a daily basis. so yes, i absolutely back that bill and back you and anything that we can do to try to get it over the finish line. chair: before i

senator blumenthal on the democratic side, we all have bills, we can do this. hold us responsible, don't just come and leave and think nothing is going to happen. it is our job to make sure it does happen and do the right thing for you and your families. thank you very much. >> i think senator durbin for bringing up the conversation we had yesterday on the floor of the united states senate. i suggest, our staffs sit out and see what can be worked out. now i will ask questions. leading up to this hearing, my office received 58 letters from grieving families who lost loved ones to fentanyl. i want to offer those letters into the record and thank the families for writing them so without objection, that will be done. one mother wrote, quote, families like mine have been sharing our stories of loss before 2018, open to ignite action among our leaders. tragically, despite hundreds of thousands of stories like mine over countless years we have yet to see a unified effort necessary to stop this poisoning of our generations. many of these letters urged congress to pass

member ohio senator bernie marino i want to get your reaction to particular you heard from senator blumenthalthe end of that and this is going to end up in the courts. i think president trump is a 100% with the authority to do the common sense which is ask people who work for the government who get paid by the taxpayer to show up for work, it's no surprise that the democrats are up in arms, while chuck schumer was majority leader the senators themselves did not show up for work barely. they were coming tuesday afternoon and leave thursday morning and now senator thune is working monday through friday the all complected, people themselves don't work very much in the upset with the president is asking governor employees to work in the administration the white house has signaled that may be a part of the reform of the federal workforce to sell off some of these pieces of expensive real estate that is not being used completely, do you think that is a good idea. >> absolutely you look at the statistics. roughly 12% occupancy rate and federal buildings in washington, d.c., that includes maintenance

and certainly senator blumenthal and senator blackburn in a bipartisan way to address this.le which colored uniform they are supposed to wear that day or the usage of figure or friends are going to meet you think this can happen to your point to anyone anywhere. i'm so grateful to use your voice to speak up and speak directly to this issue. for the brief pausese on grant funding. it's important to know this wass temporaryra. temporary pause to the extent permitted by law. law enforcement grants are not handed out during this time of year. our constituent needs will continue to be taken of president trump delivers on the job the voters intended him to do. voters asked them to grow our economy and protect our communities on taxpayer dollars are used wisely examining spending is part of that. president trump is always back the blue just like chairman grassley and just like myself. additionally one more thing i like to enter into the record a letter of support from 11 law enforcement organizations to halt offensive include the national or narcotic officers association. which is

on our to international have next, on going underground to the gravestones editor in chief mex blumenthal joins host action response. you to discuss a luxury printing activities that are far outside from the i'm actually under 10 c. and welcome back to going underground bulk of single around the world from the heart of the middle east, where hundreds of thousands of palestinians, the volume is of 16 months of u. k. u. s. u, i'm genocide, are on the way home. this is israel area, the bombards lebanon, but the so called us steve skate faces k also be not in the us back yard with donald trump's threats against columbia succeeded in demonstrating us power outside of cuba, nicaragua, and venezuela, an african mineral superpower, congo the u. s. embassy has been under attack f b i and intel boss, fix cache patel and lieutenant colonel chose. he gathered confirmation hearings. demonstrate the fee is of the military industrial complex. as trump tries to have a whole decades of dirty tricks against the people of the usa and the people all around the world, that loan supposed to dictate as a lend s

and so i said, senator blumenthal, sam didn't answer the questions. you should. and then sam said, well, he was worried that i could do serious harm to civilization, so that that's a little anecdote. there. well, brava. but, you know, this explains for me was under the misimpression that was trying to talk up the magical powers of generative ai. well, by scaring first there is some of that i think that when altman talks about the worries the the sort of potentially serious harms he's actually coming from multiple places at once. so one is he is trying to hype up how powerful the stuff is and he's always trying to do that. he had an essay today where he's like, for sure we have solved i don't you worry about all the problems that we haven't solved. we will solve them. and that's just empty promise. i mean, you think about it from a scientific perspective and over and over again, we keep having the same problems like hallucinations have been. i predicted those in 2001 they continued for 23 years. we don't actually a solution so he likes to just weave them away so w

would greet you administer the next on the program, going underground welcomes max blumenthal, a journalist, an activist, fucking the threats he's face for covering what the mainstream media wants on the ukraine conflict down on more ahead in moments the i'm actually under time seeing, welcome back to going underground broadcasting around the wells from the heart of the middle east, where hundreds of thousands of palestinians, the volume is of 16 months of u. k. u. s. u, i'm genocide, are on the way home. this is israel area, the bombards lebanon, but the so called us steve state faces k also be not in the us back yard with donald trump's threats against columbia succeeded in demonstrating us power outside of cuba, nicaragua, and venezuela, an african mineral superpower, congo the u. s. embassy has been under attack f, b i and intel boss fix cash fatality new to have him kind of tools. he gathered confirmation hearings, demonstrate the fee is of the military industrial complex. as trump tries to have a whole decades of dirty tricks against the people of the usa and the people all around the

the gravestones editor and chief mex blumenthal joins going under brown host option. we're attempting to explore a let's do training activities that are far outside the lawn. you can watch the whole program today. here on our t, but for now, here's a quick preview. i was targeted by a separate ukranian government initiative called mo, far which sent out all my personal information, including my address or pointed address. the purported addresses of all my family members and their work associates to thousands of journalists and activists around the world. more far as based in london and is staffed by a former ukrainian government officials. and recently there was a docking attempt on me as well through pro ukrainian channels on telegram. this is just persistence. it's an attempt to intimidate and threaten anyone who is a public figure who questions the disc, imbroglio in scandal of over $17055000000000.00 of us aid to ukraine, which is lead to a complete blood bath in which an entire generation of ukrainians has been wasted, the ukrainians military as it loses ground o

back to going under granite still here with the founder and editor in chief of the grades on mex blumenthal, max, you were talking about the catastrophic tyler terry and press system in, in your of i should just say that the ca, whistleblower, as of right mind who also like jeremy, look for a new upgrade zone. was reviewing his riley plans to attack it around and is being prosecuted right now. um, you know, uh this new trump, a parent opened this regarding chris freedom at tucker carlson probably will benefit out of that because he'll get his press credentials pretty easily. what did you make of him saying there was an assassination attempt plans by the so called biden bite and blinking sullivan powers administration to kill booth and that, in my opinion, yeah, i don't know what to make of it. i do know that the ukrainian government attempted to kill vladimir putin with a drone attack on the kremlin, which failed. and that, that is one of their objectives. and it does appear to be it aligns with the objectives that we've exposed that were outlined in documents by a secret british military i

the addition of our team production going underground welcomes you ester list mux blumenthal, language, the threats he's face for covering with the mainstream media will not on the train conflict nots on much more headed moments. the . the show seemed wrong. just don't need to shape out. because the application and engagement equals the trail. when so many find themselves will support, we choose to look for common ground, the the action or time seeing welcome back to going underground pool, casting all around the world from the heart of the middle east, where hundreds of thousands of palestinians, the volume is of 16 months of u. k u s u, i'm genocide, are on the way home. this is israel area, the bombards lebanon, but the so called us deep state faces. chaos will be not in the us back yard with donald trump's threats against columbia succeeded in demonstrating us power outside of cuba, nicaragua, and venezuela, an african mineral superpower, congo. the u. s. embassy has been under attack f. b i and intel boss, fix cache patel and lieutenant colonel chose. he gathered confirmation hear

killed and my colleagues who weren't 40 lots of what are the americans who work in the us, much blumenthal, anybody who spoke out against the view go, scott was actually part of the kill us. they tried to kill direction, killed some journalist from basically getting to tell us the truth. actually the journalist. so we were right. it's a big sky and everything that you hear at a key if basically account tools, the weather forecasts for the. so let's have a look at the mark of your uh, you know, the new church, you, mr. gold and the golden boy of european and american freedom. the monthly club for in the senate. the mon, loaded into a house of parliament by bars johnson, the syria lyre and fraud platform d as on battalion, their lovely voice. that's all the listen to good old vladimir at telling that if you you have any money left after the bank up in europe. and did a good job of trying to bankrupt the usa. and if you will have the cash to give us, why don't you give us, give us a loan? you know, we're going to pay it back. right. full of any of the def yukon give us, give us some financial

the americans who work in the us, much blumenthal, anybody who spoke out against the the you go, scott was actually put on the kill us. they tried to kill direction, killed some journalist from basically danny to tell us the truth. actually the journalist. so we were right. it's a big sky and everything that you hear the key is basically a can't trust the weather forecast from the so it's, i'm a look at the mark of your uh, you know, the new churchill, mr. gold and the golden boy of european and american freedom. the monthly club for in the senate, the mind loaded in the house of parliament by bars johnson, the siri lyre and fraud, performed it as on battalion their lovely boys. let's have a listen to good old vladimir at telling that if he didn't have any money left off to be bankrupt to europe and did a good job of trying to bank of the usa. and if you don't have the cash to give us, why don't you give us, give us a loan? you know, we're going to pay it back. right. pull the video or the def yukon gave us guns us. so mine is so simple. yeah. ok, please give us a credit. it's will and

got to be killed my colleagues to work for the lots of what are the americans who work in us next blumenthal? anybody who spoke out against the yuko scott was actually put on the cube list. they threatened to kill with destruction, killed some journalist from basically getting to tell us the truth. actually the journalist. so we were right. it's a big sky and everything that you hear, the key is basically a can't trust the weather forecast from the. so let's have a look at the mark of your, you know, the new church. you, mr. gold and the golden boy of european and american freedom demonte club for in the senate. the mind loaded in the house of parliament by bars johnson, the siri lyre and fraud, performed the as on battalion their lovely boys. that's all i listened to good old vladimir at telling that if he didn't have any money left off to be bankrupt to europe. and did a good job of trying to bankrupt the usa. and if you don't have the cash to give us, why don't you give us, give us a loan? you know, we're going to pay it back. right. pull the video or the def yukon give us, give us some f

uh so that's, i mean, last night army, he battled blumenthal you see is us, they show a pressure started blooming on the flooding. there's a piece of the heat. it will not be shut still, god, i showed up with as a chest across my ottoman you, me, it's got out of me over at the new to anyways, a voice mail from the doctor wasn't the commission. you seem to not say new. so not like a whole school emission was by this got by do it or senior east. april 1944 was a testing time for 21st at the demick spread across almost every region in police here. the sick and stuffing were returning home from the camps and in desperate need of help because of the console scoble metric, the attempts to felicia to proceed here. let me, let me change it when your coffee soul does consider that as any submitted. by the end of april, the epidemiological issues have been resolved and the troops could advance with more speed designs coordinated with enemy come on. this sunday tends to find the struggle across the occupied territories, facing the skin with the secret healing solution before one with the concerts.

what i mean, the bizarrely we had mex blumenthal of the graves road on side this rio and he's previously indicated some optimism about the heck. so that's what you would normally expect him being a christian design is with his famous tattoo, which is what it means for the palestinians. but willie, willie is present at the pen to be a breath of fresh air in the sense that he won't be doing business as usual, the largest military budget and the well. so i mean, it's hard to temper your optimism and expectations. i mean, what i would like dependent going to be like, and what i can realistically believe it will, would be like in a positive way or 2 of her different things. you know, we have an outgoing secretary of defense who is completely useless. who was absolutely beholden to the military industrial complex, the defense contractors didn't give a damn about the, the, the consequences of, of thousands killed. and so you have this incoming, a secretary of defense who come or who in drug they just like where you get to heck said, i should say lloyd austin is a direct, right. think of raphael

here on our, to international up next, on going underground to the gravestones editor in chief mex blumenthal joins host action responsive to discuss a luxury printing activities that are far outside from the .

if i told blumenthal you see him, yes, they shook precious that a little more on the good news that peace can hear. it will not be should still god, i so the chest across. and the ottoman, you mean it's good out of me over at the new to anyways, the voice mail guns. dr. wasn't the connection usage and that's a new so the castle school emission was by this got bonded or senior east. april 1944 was a testing time. so time for us at the demick spread across almost every region in felicia. the sick and stuffing were returning home from the camps and in desperate need of help. because of the console scoble, electric bits, hospice, at least the diversity in the other one let you and your coffee. so that's covered as that as any. simply take home. by the end of april, the epidemiological issues have been resolved and the troops could advance with more speed designs coordinated with enemy commodities. funding tends to find the struggle across the occupied territories facing if we look at the flu, she will skim with the secret healing solution before one which is the concern. but really what can y