The MeidasTouch Podcast - Trump Gets Thrown Under Bus by His Own Pick at Major Hearing

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s own former CDC Director exposing Trump and RFK Jr. at a major Senate Hearing. Save more than 50% on term life insurance at https://SelectQuote.com/MEIDAS TODAY to get started. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An explosive hearing in the United States Senate as Donald Trump's own CDC pick who Trump fired, Dr. Susan Monterez, testified against the Trump regime, testified against Donald Trump, testified against RFK Jr. Now, I know a lot of attention has been spent on the hearing of Cash Patel, Trump's FBI director, who failed miserably trying to cover up Donald Trump's dark past. But this was, in many ways, a more important hearing involving this whistleblower who was Trump's own pick. Her name is Dr. Monterez. Trump fired her because she was not okay with RFK Jr. Arbitrarily and capriciously and maliciously just destroying the vaccine recommendations for Americans, especially children. Let me show you what went down in the United States Senate as, Dr.S.'s. Dr. Monterez, the former CDC director appointed by Trump confirmed by the Senate, testified yesterday.

So Dr. Monteraz talked about how RFK Jr. had no data, no science to point to when he butchered the vaccine recommendations that scientists and thus doctors and Americans rely on. Watch this. Secretary Kennedy told the finance committee that he did not ask you to pre-approve, but that you were biased to against the new ACIP, and he just asked you to keep an open mind. Did he cite any data or science as relates to the potential ACIP recommendations to persuade you to support them? He did not have any data or science to point to. As a matter of fact, we got into an exchange where I had suggested that I would be open

to changing childhood vaccine schedules if the evidence or science were supportive. And he responded that there was no science or evidence associated with the childhood vaccine schedule. And he elaborated that CDC had never collected the science or the data to make it available related to the safety and evidence. To be clear, he said there was not science or data, but that you still expected you to change the schedule. Correct. Next, I want to show you the top medical officer in the CDC, the chief medical officer, Dr. Alri. she testified how she learned that the Trump regime was going to be getting rid of the vaccine recommendation. She goes, I learned about it via a social media post on X. Here, play this clip.

I first learned that the secretary had changed our CDC COVID vaccine guidance on an X social media post. CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold standard science. The Secretary's office ordered the removal from our website of the CDC scientific document on thimerosol. An additive to vaccines that science has shown is not linked to autism, while allowing an unvetted presentation on thimerosol to happen at ACIP, containing scientific assertions that were not assessed for data quality and bias. That kind of last-minute alteration undermines confidence,

and the deliberations that follow and is certainly not radical transparency. Next up, you have Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, who just does an incredible job. And she's particularly very powerful when it comes to health care, when it comes to women's reproductive rights issues, when it comes to agriculture. But here she is asking Dr. Awey, again, a reminder, the chief medical officer of the CDC, whether or not she was able to brief the health secretary, R of K Jr., like, was RFK Jr. taking advice from the chief medical officer of the CDC? And the answer was absolutely no,

he didn't want to hear from any scientists at all. You'll play this clip. Decisions like this must be made in consultation with CDC experts. Because otherwise, we are left wondering who is advising, the Secretary of Health, or if his own conspiracy theories are enough to dictate who can get a vaccine. Dr. Auri, did you ever brief Secretary Kennedy? I never briefed him. I accompanied him on a tour of CDC after the shooting. Did your center directors ever directly briefed Secretary Kennedy? They did not. You were the chief medical officer at the CDC.

Would you say that it's harmful to the public if the secretary is not informed by experts like yourself? Very much so. How would you characterize Secretary Kennedy's approach to working with scientific experts at the CDC? You know, we would have loved to have had the conversations with them. I offered to two different HHS leaders that we would like to brief the secretary. He never received that. and many times I would send emails to our leadership team to share with HHS when he did say things that weren't scientifically correct so that we could help support him.

But we, again, our requests were not received to brief him. Going back to Dr. Susan Monterez right here, remember, she's the former director of the CDC, appointed by Trump, confirmed by the Republicans in the Senate, turned whistleblower against Trump because Trump and RFK are trying to kill all of us. us. And she's like, I may be a, you know, a Trump pick, but I can't support people being killed. Like, I'm still a doctor. And so she goes, on the morning of August 25th, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of public officials. Here she is laying out the Trump regime. And folks, I don't, I'm not trying to make this political. I'm just bringing out the receipts. This is life or death stuff for us.

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

When I did return, I was concerned about my ability to continue to lead the CDC while preserving evidence-based decision-making. Commitment I had made to this committee during my confirmation hearing. On the morning of August 25th, Secretary Kennedy demanded two things of me that were inconsistent with my oath of office and the ethics required of a public official. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause. He said if I was unwilling to do both, I should resign. I responded that I could not pre-approved recommendations without reviewing the evidence, and I had no basis to fire scientific experts.

He told me he had already spoken with the White House several. times about having me removed. For three decades, I have worked at the intersection of public health, science, and technology innovation, always challenging the status quo and welcoming the changes that come from research and discovery. Even under pressure, I could not replace evidence with ideology or compromise my integrity. Now, going back to Dr. Monteraz here, She says that RFK Jr.'s comments defaming her were clearly not accurate. Play this clip. Dr. Mineras, at a September 4th hearing in the Finance Committee,

Secretary Kennedy called you a liar for stating that you were fired because you refused to pre-approved vaccine recommendations. Is that accurate? Are you a liar? That is not accurate. Why did you believe it was so important for you to refuse to rubber stamp vaccine recommendations without seeing them or the evidence behind them? What did you fear was the worst case scenario if you had agreed to doing that?

I refused to do it because I have built a career on scientific integrity. And my worst fear was that I would then be in a position of approving something that would reduce access of life-saving vaccines to children and others who need them. Here's an exchange between her and Senator Kane. Let's play it. Were you instructed by the Secretary of HHS to not speak to senators? I was instructed to not speak directly with senators. And was that also in the August 25th meeting you would describe? That was over the course. I had several engagements with the secretary over that day,

and it was in one of those meetings that I was instructed. So confirmed CDC director, Senate confirmed. We used to speak with the CDC director all the time during COVID and during other emergencies, instructed not to speak to senators. Isn't it, is my memory right? Isn't Secretary Kennedy say he's about radical transparency? That is one of the areas he has. prioritized. Yeah. Well, putting a gag order on a CDC director and directing her not to speak to those who

have confirmed her and to whom she is responsible for oversight is a very serious matter. Now, here is Senator Alsabrooks and Dr. Owry. Remember, Dr. Aowery is the chief medical officer at the CDC, the top scientist who reports directly to the CDC director who then is supposed to report to the health secretary, RFK Jr., but RFK Jr. didn't want to hear from the scientists. RFK Jr. just wanted on his own to just destroy vaccines, to gut the vaccine board, medical board, and to put his own quackery in place of science and data.

Here, play this clip. Ask Dr. Howie, very directly, do you believe that Secretary Kennedy is incompetent and dangerous to the American people's health? I had, I always believe in optimism and hope. And I would say that was my hope when he started. I'd read his books. And as a transition lead, I was prepared to welcome him.

After seeing his Senate finance testimony and the number of misstatements, seeing what he has asked our scientists to do and to compromise our integrity and the children that have died under his watch, I think he should resign. Time for some life talk, life insurance talk, that is. You probably have it, but do you know how much your people, paying for it and how much are you being covered? Odds are you pay too much for too little. And did you know if you receive life insurance through your job and you're unexpectedly laid off you could suddenly be covered for nothing? Scary to think about, but simple to get right,

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Dr. Howie, did you or career scientists ever briefed Secretary Kennedy about recent measles outbreaks? We did not brief Secretary Kennedy. Did you speak with any HHS or CDC political staff? regarding the outbreaks. With CDC political staff, absolutely, our team did, like the chief of staff and our communications about measles. And I did want to just follow up on your point about funding. That's my concern. 80% of funding of CDC goes out to state and local communities.

So as we see budget cuts to CDC, your community will see that too. And the boots on the ground work that you did in Virginia is exactly the heart of public health. And another powerful exchange between Senator, Brooks and Dr. Susan Monterez, here play this clip. I want to ask you very quickly about that. On 5 p.m. on August 8, the gunman opened fire at the CDC headquarters campus in Atlanta, Georgia, forcing thousands on the campus to lock down. Did you hear, did you receive a call from the secretary upon the first reports that an active shooter

on CDC headquarters had shot at employees? I did not speak to the secretary on the 8th or, any successive day, I did not speak to the secretary until August 11th when he came down to to visit. So are you telling me that the Secretary of Health and Human Services failed to even give you a courtesy call upon learning that employees there had been shot at? He did not call me. So then the MAGA senators tried to do some cleanup and it backfired in their face. So you had MAGA Republican senator from Oklahoma, Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Now, he lies and claims that when CDC director Monteres was pushing back against R of K Jr., he goes,

I know you're lying. You know how I know you're lying? It was all recorded. You were being secretly recorded by what? RFK Jr. was secretly recording her. And so then it turns out that Mark Wayne Mullen was either lying about that or realized that he screwed up because if there was a secret recording by RFK Jr., it may have been illegal,

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

It was a recorded meeting. So you can testify one way or you can prove that you're lying or be honest with this committee. And I'm giving you the opportunity to be honest here because you've been really walking around the edges. and not being truthful. So did he ask you the question? Can he trust you? And your answer was? He told me.

He could not trust me. And I told him if he could not trust me, he could fire me. That isn't how that conversation went. And you know that, don't you? He told me. He could not trust me. And I told him, if he could not trust me, he could fire me.

Ma'am, all we're looking for is you to be honest. And you haven't been. You're not even being honest with the conversation you're having. You're not even being honest with the timeline. And you won't even give the answers of who your attorneys were. And all we're looking for is you to be honest. If we're going to have a hearing and we're going to discuss certain things, let's make sure we're talking with someone that we can trust your answers.

It's like my kids. I tell my kids all the time. You know, one thing I want from you, I can deal with any situation. we walk into as long as I know you're being 100% honest with me. The minute I can't tell you're being honest with me, I can't trust you further than on, everything you say is questioned.

And you have to question you because your personality and your answers aren't correct. Then even Republican Senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy, he's like, I learned when I stepped out that Mark Wayne Mullen was up here claiming that there was a recording, if there's a recording out there, a secret recording that was made of Dr. Monteraz that I don't know about it, you turn that over right now. Here, watch this. Well, is that a vote? I understand Senator Mullen implied there's a recording of the meeting

or meetings between Dr. Menares and Secretary Kennedy. I will note that if materials have been provided to Senator Mullen and invoked an official committee business, there are committee records and all other senators on the committee have the right to see those records. I will also note, if HHS has a recording, I asked them to release the recording. I had Hust like to know why it was recorded. But releasing the recording would be radical transparency. And this is about fulfilling the president's vision of radical transparency. This is allegiance to President Trump's values.

and so I'd ask that that recording be released. I'll also note that we put in a request for any documents or communications that would bring transparency to the situation. We have not yet received those documents. If a recording does not exist, I ask Senator Mullen to retract his line of questions. Mr. Chairman. Let me see one more thing. I'll also note that if he has it,

I'm also curious why only one senator was given this and why we're just hearing about it now and why didn't the secretary share it at the Senate Finance Committee but those are questions that can be answered later with that, Senator Sanders. That's exactly the point that I want to make. How does it happen if it is true

that one senator has access to an alleged tape recording of a meeting? Nobody else has it, including the chairman. This is what we're dealing with right now and this is what I think, well, Dr. Maner is, this is a very politicized situation And then Mark Wayne Mullen basically admits that he didn't do the recording, but Cassidy is just fully fed up with Maga Republican Mark Wayne Mullen's antics. Here, play this clip. For the record, it's just been reported that Senator Mullen told reporters that he was mistaken and saying that the RFK Menores meeting was recorded.

But in case he's mistaken that he was mistaken, if there is a, if there is a recording, it should be released. and it would beg the question of what other conversations were recorded. And I'll repeat what I said earlier. We have sent a request to HHS for records related to these incidences. We've yet to receive those. But, of course, it would help the committee, which on both sides has found itself scratch in its head that help us kind of discern what the truth is.

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

Ashley Moody, she's like the worst. She's not even good at being a hack. She's a whack hack, meaning a bad hack, whack hack. But anyway, Ashley Moody is so bizarre in her attack of the former CDC director that even Senator Cassidy was like, all right, I'm not only sure. Can we move on here? Here, play this clip. You have this whole network of people that's trying to embarrass the president or go after the president.

And now you are joining this group. and why don't you want to give their names? Their names have been publicly associated with them. They issued public remarks early on. Let me ask your colleague. I've noticed they've also been giving you notes too and whispering to you. Will you state their names?

So their names are Abby Lolle and Mark Zaid. That wasn't too hard. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I really was genuinely asking so that the record was clear. But now I'm wondering what else we're trying to hide and I'll go back to you.

Did you plan to coordinate, and I'll go back to the original witness. Did you plan to coordinate this public spectacle surrounding your firing? No. And have you coordinated with Dr. Auri? Am I pronouncing that correctly? And I apologize if I'm not.

Did you coordinate with her or anyone else that you worked with? surrounding your leaving I did not coordinate with anyone surrounding my leaving I was terminated abruptly so you had no advance plan to to write an op-ed do a public public hearing I noticed that you immediately called our chairman I had committed during my confirmation process several elements including integrity, transparency, working with Congress. But you had no advance plan with any colleagues?

I had no advance plan with any colleagues. Dr. Auerre, if there wasn't an advanced plan, did you tell a reporter we agreed to do this together? Myself, Dr. Jornigan, and Dr. Daskalakis. Agreed to do this all together? Once Dr. Menares was being terminated, the three of us knew that we could not remain, given our ethical concerns and commitment to scientific integrity.

I just want to make a brief comment as my name was invoked. As the chairman of the committee with jurisdiction over the CDC that favorably reported Dr. Monore as a CDC director, it is entirely appropriate for someone with oversight concerns to contact my office, or me, or frankly, any of us. Upon receiving outreach from Dr. Menares, I contacted both the secretary and the White House to to inquire what was happening and to express concerns about what was alleged. As soon as the director was fired, the help committee begin reviewing the situation as it is our

responsibility and any and all communications with the witnesses was conducted by help staff in coordination with attorneys. So there you have it. You have Donald Trump's own CDC director and the chief medical officer are now whistleblowers against the regime. Wow. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million. Thanks for watching.