mr. kennedy. mr. kennedy: i am pro safety, i worked for years to raise awareness about the mercury and toxic chemicals in fish and nobody called me anti-fish. and i believe that vaccines played a critical role in health care. all of my kids are vaccinated, i've written many books on vaccines, my first in 2014. the first line of it is i am not anti-vaccine and last line is i am not anti-vaccine. nor am i the enemy of food producers. american farms are the bedrock of our culture, our politics, our national security. i was a 4h kid and i spent my summer working on ranches. i want to work with our farmers and food producers to remove burdensome regulations and unleash american ingenuity. i simply cannot succeed without a full partnership of american farmers. in my advocacy, i've often disturb the status quo. by asking uncomfortable questions. well, i'm not going to apologize for that. we have massive problems in this country that we must face honestly. and the first thing i've done every morning for the pa

mr. kennedy.vote i take, i work really hard to make sure i begin the process with an open mind. and mr. kennedy's case, i was certainly skeptical because of his vaccine denialism, among other things. but look, what i saw on wednesday and thursday was a man entirely unprepared to be the secretary of this agency, the lead health care spokesperson in the united states of america for the reasons we've discussed, but also the way he uses this supposed skepticism, it's really his cynicism about science to injure us in other ways. one of the other lines of questioning we had was whether he understood that mifepristone, which is, of course, the drug that about half of the women in the country who seek abortions, use for medication, abortions, whether that was safe and he wouldn't commit to that on wednesday, even though, again, i had a stack of studies this this tall that said that it is safe and effective, he will do whatever donald trump tells him to do. that's been very clear because he's abandoned his

mr. kennedy? guest: i agree we need to pay more attention to chronic diseases but not at the expense of infectious diseases because they are interlinked. i also disagree with him on his stand on vaccines. i disagree with his demonizing federal workers who get up everyday and go to work. i disagree with his assertions around fluoride. when used in the proper doses. i absolutely disagree with his recommendation to create -- drink raw milk in the middle of a bird flu outbreak. i believe pasteurized products are the safest. that is my professional device. -- professional advice. you have a right to do what you do. i get that. i will not tell you not to drink raw milk. i will tell you not to drink raw milk but i will not stand in the way and stop you because i do not have one of those jobs that i can do that anyway. i will give you as much information as i can. hopefully you will make a good decision based on the information that i give you that is factual. if you don't, that's up to you. host: helen,

mr. patel: seems so, senator. sen. kennedy: think may you made the right people mad? mr. patel: as my agents told me when i was running cases on the if you are not taking off some people, you are not doing your job right. sen. kennedy: my colleague and friend senator durbin called you a conspiracy theorist. you remember that? mr. patel: i do, senator. sen. kennedy: you were instrumental in revealing the trump-russia election collusion hoax was a hoax. mr. patel: yes, sir, i was the lead investigator. sen. kennedy: sounds to me like we need to get some new conspiracy theories, because all the old ones turned out to be true. mr. patel: facts matter, senator. sen. kennedy: conspiracy theorists are up 37-0. [laughter] you are not saying that everybody at the fbi is bad, are you? mr. patel: never said that. i've overwhelmingly said multiple times that 98% of the fbi is courageous warriors for justice. they just need better leadership, especially those who participated in these conspiracies -- sen. kennedy: who put away the unabomber? mr. patel: the fbi. sen. kennedy: who put aw

mr. kennedy's second hearing today. >> you said the following. >> and i quote. >> we should. >> not be givingck people. >> the same. >> vaccine schedule. >> that's given to whites. >> because their immune system. >> is better than ours. can you please explain what you meant? >> there's a series. >> of studies. >> i think. most of them by poland. that show that. >> the particular. >> antigens, that blacks have a much. >> stronger reaction. there's differences in reaction to. different products by different races. >> so i have. >> 17 seconds. >> let me. >> just ask. >> you then. >> so what different vaccine schedule would you say i should have received. >> that. >> what different vaccine. >> schedule should. i have received? >> i mean. >> the article. >> suggests that blacks. >> need fewer antigens. >> a series of studies, i think most of them by by poland that to some people thinking that maybe mr. kennedy was talking to the country of poland, studies from poland, in fact, he seems to have been referring to one single study by a doctor, poland gregory poland, md. in fact, robert f kennedy jr m

mr. kennedy for a decade. which is pretty much solely devoted to vaccine skepticism. he has a huge following in these worlds. there are a lot of mothers and families who feel that he really understands them, that he's really speaking to them. but the fact is, he has been part of an ecosystem that peddles doubt, that peddles ideas about the causes of things like autism that are just simply not scientifically possible or accurate. and he has done it for years. >> anna, thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate it. anna merlin is a senior reporter for mother jones. all right. coming up in another hour of velshi, the latest on the investigation into the deadliest aviation disaster on u.s. soil since 2001, and why donald trump's false scapegoating of initiatives of. diversity initiatives in the wake of this catastrophic crash is actually undermining efforts to keep the skies safe. plus, donald trump's tariffs are here with a brand new levy on our biggest trading partners is going to mean for you. another

mr. kennedy embraced conspiracy theories, charlatans, especially when it comes to safety and efficacy of vaccines matthew except even assent, even a sliver of responsibility for the drop in vaccinations and subsequent deaths of more than 70 people? anything you do differently? mimic absolutely not and you frighten people. >> supportive of these? >> supportive of vaccines. >> are you supportive -- anti- vaccine? >> i am in support of vaccines. >> you love that one guy run. >> questioning anybody about health? he makes him look like a rock. none of these idiots can pass judgment on fitness to serve. they swore biden was fit to serve so either they were lying then and now they believed it and it's insane. we are in the new world where social media people already know this stuff so the circus, as always, that's nothing and only subtract. i can't even look. we are talking about onesies. i stopped wearing those years ago. [laughter] rfk is a glorious mixed bag. on one hand he's passionate and persuasive and open-minded, he's not woke, interested in the world around him, not himself. on the oth

mr. kennedy. hope my colleagues will say to the president, i have no influence, i hope my colleagues will say out of 330 million americans we can do better than this. host: back to your calls. brenda in south carolina on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. the biggest story -- the stories you talked about. the treasury, and the dismantling of the fbi. they are using january 6 but they are going after people who are in charge of terrorism units, cybersecurity, forensics, investigator units. if we lose that $6 trillion from the treasury to investigate where it went, elon musk has the cryptocurrency. also trump has a cryptocurrency. once you transfer money into that crypto market, it disappears. i believe they are trying to take this country apart from the inside. this will crash the economy. they control social security, medicaid, medicare, everything. we are in trouble. thank you. host: that was brenda. sheila in henderson, nevada. the line for republicans. caller: good morning, angel. i

mr. kennedy was in the air -- other room saying every person in america who get the access to an ai doctor to cure the cancer they have or whatever other critical illness. it's not cute. this is serious business. we are talking about carrying programs out for the country. i understand you are a very successful person. we are asking simple questions. we had an incredible conversation in the office. incredible conversation. very respectful. this is not that. i just don't understand. i am not asking for a response. i'm not. mr. chairman, one of the areas we agreed is we should work in a bipartisan basis to get these things done. i have a reputation of being a bipartisan member in this office, working with my colleagues. i have supported several of these nominees and i came into this hearing with an open mind. maybe i am the only democrat that will say no. it's ridiculous. we have a responsibility to communicate to each other for the people we work for. it is not just that you work for donald, sir. you work for the american people if you get this position. you told me that in my office. it's f

mr. patel: he put forth the records and all -- a memo saying all records must be preserved. sen. kennedy: mr. patel, did you listen to what my colleague senator welch had to say about politicizing the fbi and department of justice? mr. patel: i did. sen. kennedy: i did too. he's right, but here's where we find ourselves today, and you can put an end to this. either in reality or perception. in modern times, the fbi has been politicized or at least there is an appearance. it started with mr. james comey. he publicly investigated the political nominee of both major parties. guinness book of world records, he publicly investigated both donald trump and hillary clinton. held a press conference. heard that agency more than i will ever know. i wouldn't put mr. comey in charge of a ham sandwich. and so did peter strzok and so did lisa page and so did michael sussman and the person who gave him -- a pass to wander around the department of justice. and so did the prosecutors who tried to slip by a two misdemeanor plea deal for the president's son. it hurts me to say this, but so did attorney gene

kennedy: thank you, this are chairman. -- mr. chairman. mr. vought, welcome. mr. vought: thank you. sen. kennedy: in my judgment, i don't know a single person in washington or outside washington who knows more about the federal budget then you do. -- than you do. i used to read your suggestions during president trump's first term. many of which congress ignored. we should not have. i am delighted that the president picked you. i have read that since 2019, the population of america has increased 2% and are spending has increased 55%. under president biden, i wish him well, if we had discovered life on mars, he would have sent it money. is that sustainable? mr. vought: it is totally unsustainable. the problem is that you go on these trajectories we are currently on and you don't know when you will get to the point of which you have some major, major problems as an economy and country. we know that historically. sen. kennedy: i hope you will start with the low hanging fruit. there's a lot. when we sent out stimulus checks to save our economy, $1.6 billion went to dead people. and the ch

jacqueline kennedy starting that program. but mrs. nixon is a first lady. even now that did the most for that and renovate did all kinds of things made. the white house also accessible for the disabled. that's something else i talk about a lot in the book for. the blind and the deaf was way of her time in these areas. the supreme court, abortion, all things. but i think they did have a very traditional marriage and there were sort of the spheres of influence and of there's the east wing and the west that we will talk about. and some of this is also due not just to richard nixon, who i think was very focused on. he was a very complex person, obviously complicated, but he was sequential. so he goes about someone, a good another historian had a good quote, pat and richard nixon. he went about winning her way. he went about winning election fights. so he's very single minded. right. he pursued views, these things. he goes for these things 100%. and then he goes to the next thing, which, you know, i think is true of some men, women, that's how they operate. so i

kennedy brought that up in kash patel's hearing. here is what he said, listen. >> for better or worse, either in reality or perception, in modern times the fbi has been politicized. it started with mr lisa page. and so did michael sussman. so did attorney general garland. it's got to end now, clean it out, but lift it up in accordance with due process and the rule of law. griff: do you agree with that, nicole? >> i 100% agree with cincinnati kenn senator kennedy. and i noticed the weaponization when james comey came out and said no reasonable prosecutor would charge hillary clinton, and was out of his lane and a prosecutorial discussion and operation hurricane after that. fbi one,ed good, fine men and women of the fbi are disgusted by the politicalization of the fbi and they want to make sure those negatively impacting the fbi are held accountable, but those doing the honest good work, they need to continue to stay in place, do the right thing, hold the line and keep americans safe. we are at a time when, you know, foreign terrorist organizations groups and violent crimes, threats are at an all-time high we need the solid fbi employees and agents to stay put and keep doing the job.