Obama CDC Director Tom Frieden: "'Believe in Science' Is a Terrible Idea."
The Gist
Mike Pesca
4.4 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The former CDC director lays out his "See, Believe, Create" playbook from The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own. He separates settled facts (hypertension control, PM2.5, tobacco) from guesswork, owns early COVID failures, and argues vaccine mandates and long school closures were mismatched to risk. Practical levers follow, rebuild primary care, mind your potassium-to-sodium ratio, and scale what actually works. Also: a withering look at Pam Bondi's Judiciary Committee testimony on the still-sealed Trump–Epstein files and that Qatar jet ethics tangle.
Produced by Corey Wara
Production Coordinator Ashley Khan
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 from Peach Fish Productions. |
| 0:07.0 | It's the gist. I'm Mike Pesca. |
| 0:09.0 | Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. |
| 0:14.0 | It did not go well. Not for the Democrats, not for, I would say, the public, but also not for Bondi. |
| 0:20.0 | Though I'm sure she thought it did by the standard of her getting in a bunch of, I would say, the public, but also not for Bondi, though I'm sure she thought it did by the |
| 0:22.3 | standard of her getting in a bunch of, I know you are, but what am I jabs? For instance, when |
| 0:27.2 | asked by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, how come you don't release the Epstein files like you promised |
| 0:31.8 | you would? She said, I think the better question is why you took a donation from Reid Hoffman who solicited Epstein for |
| 0:39.8 | donations to MIT. I disagree. I do not think that is the better question. The better question is |
| 0:46.1 | not about Senator White House to Reid Hoffman to Jeffrey Epstein, but rather from President Trump |
| 0:52.3 | to Jeffrey Epstein, Trump to Epstein, like she said she would release. |
| 0:56.5 | Then there was a series of questions from the top Democrat on the committee, Dick Durbin of Illinois. |
| 1:01.6 | The word is, and I think it's been confirmed by the White House, they are going to transfer Texas National Guard units to the state of Illinois. |
| 1:09.4 | What's the rationale for that? Yeah, Chairman, as you shut down the government, you voted to shut state of Illinois. What's the rationale for that? |
| 1:11.0 | Yeah, Chairman, as you shut down the government, you voted to shut down the government, |
| 1:15.2 | and you're sitting here, our law enforcement officers aren't being paid. |
| 1:18.4 | They're out there working to protect you. |
| 1:20.4 | I wish you love Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. |
| 1:23.5 | And currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. |
| 1:26.8 | If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. |
| 1:31.0 | Bondi there, smacking the question with a giant red herring. |
| 1:34.1 | But at least that ichthyological distraction was aimed at the actual question. |
... |
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