Ret. Gen. David Petraeus discusses the aftermath of the U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on ‘The Will Cain Show.’
WATCH:
During a contentious appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. found himself in a heated exchange with Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), who accused the Trump administration official of endangering lives and promoting anti-scientific views, all while ignoring public accountability.
The confrontation unfolded as Kennedy testified in support of the administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. Pallone didn’t hold back in his critique. “Secretary Kennedy, quite frankly, I think you’re trying to defend the indefensible. There’s no way that this budget or the actions you have taken thus far as secretary are going to make this country healthier,” he charged. The New Jersey Democrat further claimed Kennedy was advancing conspiracy theories and undermining trust in vaccines. “I just really think that people are going to die as a result of your actions and congressional Republicans’ actions,” he added.
Pallone pressed Kennedy over what he described as an alarming lack of transparency surrounding HHS vaccine policies, taking issue with the department’s decision not to solicit public feedback on recent decisions. “You say you want transparency, but there’s been no public process for any of this. Why?” he demanded.
Kennedy attempted to push back, explaining the existing structure for vaccine policy oversight. “We have a public process for regulating vaccines. It’s called the ACIP committee, and it’s a public meeting that we —”
Pallone interjected, cutting him off. “You fired the committee.”
Kennedy clarified, “I fired people who had conflicts with the pharmaceutical industry. That committee has been a template for medical malpractice for years.”
As Pallone wrapped up his remarks, he issued a scathing conclusion. “The bottom line is here we have no transparency, we have no response. You feel no responsibility to Congress whatsoever, and you just continue this ideology that’s anti-science, anti-vaccine. That’s all I see. I see nothing else. And I don’t think I’m ever going to get a response.”
Later in the hearing, Kennedy circled back to address Pallone’s remarks during questioning from Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL).
“Congressman Pallone, 15 years ago, you and I met,” Kennedy said. “You were, at that time, a champion for people who had suffered injuries from vaccines. You were very adamant about it. You were the leading member of Congress on that issue. Since then, you’ve accepted $2 million from pharmaceutical companies and contribution — more than any other member of this committee, and your enthusiasm for supporting the old ACIP Committee, which was completely rife and pervasive with pharmaceutical conflicts, seems to be an outcome of those contributions.”
Kennedy’s pointed remarks stirred backlash from Democrats on the committee. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) objected, raising a point of order over what she described as a direct attack on a colleague’s character. “The secretary implied that Mr. Pallone would not fight for vaccine victims because he took money from the pharmaceutical industry,” she stated. “He needs to take back those words.”
At the urging of Committee Chairman Buddy Carter (R-GA), Kennedy withdrew his comment.
WATCH:
{Matzav.com}
Speaking from the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday, President Trump disclosed that Israeli operatives had been dispatched to assess the damage at the Iranian nuclear sites hit in the recent U.S. airstrikes. According to Trump, those operatives confirmed that the facilities were completely destroyed. He also maintained that the operation had been executed so swiftly that Iran had no time to extract any enriched uranium.
Trump continued to push back against leaked intelligence indicating that Iran’s nuclear program could potentially recover within a few months. He repeated his stance that the attack had crippled Iran’s capabilities for years to come. “Israel is doing a report on it now, I understand, and I was told that they said it was total obliteration,” Trump said to reporters.
“You know they have guys that go in there after the hit, and they said it was total obliteration,” he added. “I believe it was total obliteration.”
Trump argued that the enriched uranium being processed at the targeted sites could not have been evacuated before the assault. “They didn’t have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast. If it would have taken two weeks, maybe. But it’s very hard to remove that kind of material, very hard and very dangerous for them to remove it,” he said.
He also emphasized that Tehran had advance warning that a strike might be imminent, which likely deterred personnel from remaining at the sites. “Plus they knew we were coming, and if they know we’re coming, they’re not going to be down there.”
He went on to assert that Iran’s nuclear ambitions had been thrown off course for “basically decades,” though he made clear that if the regime attempted to restart its program, the U.S. would not hesitate to act again. “The last thing they want to do is enrich anything right now. They want to recover, and we won’t let that happen,” Trump declared.
“Number one, militarily, we won’t. I think we’ll end up having somewhat of a relationship with Iran. I see it. Look, I’ve had a relationship over the last four days. They agreed to the ceasefire, and it was a very equal agreement. They both said that’s enough.”
His remarks came in response to a classified report from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) that was leaked to CNN. The assessment suggested that Iran’s nuclear program could be rebuilt within a few months. The White House strongly refuted the findings.
“This alleged ‘assessment’ is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on X.
She added, “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump, and discredit the brave fighter pilots who conducted a perfectly executed mission to obliterate Iran’s nuclear program.”
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration.”
{Matzav.com}
