July 13, 2025 • 36 mins
Author and journalist Salena Zito discusses her bestselling book, “Butler,” about the Trump assassination attempt, and gives her take on how voters in America’s heartland are responding to Trump 2.0 so far. Energy Secretary Chris Wright explains what the One Big Beautiful Bill means for American energy production, ending green energy subsidies, cutting regulations — and the future of American energy. FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary with a rundown on all the positive changes being made in our health agencies and curing the culture with MAHA.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Team forty seven podcast is sponsored by Good Ranchers
Making the American Farm Strong Again. Team forty seven with
Clay and Buck starts.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Now we are joined by our friend Selena Zito. Book
comes out today. I've got a copy because you know,
I know some people. Butler, The Untold Story of the
near assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland. Selena,
you do great reporting. You're an excellent writer. You were
(00:33):
right there that day in Butler as those shots rang out.
Tell us what was it?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Like?
Speaker 4 (00:39):
What happened?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah, So you know when you're in report and you aren't,
your day starts out a certain way, like you're going
to do this, this and this, and nine times out
of ten, that's not what happens. And so at that day,
I was supposed to interview President Trump for five minutes
before the rally. That's just about two hours after I'm
(01:02):
in ad Butler and it's going to be five minutes
after the rally. And then they say, well, you want
to like fly to Bedminster with the President and do
the interview on the plane. I'm like, well, I never
get an invite like that. I'm in and then five
minutes before he's supposed to go on stage. They come
(01:23):
rushing back and say it's go time, and I just
assumed that they changed their mind and I was going
to do it before the rally, so I raced through
it along with my daughter who's a photo journalist. She
did the cover of the book and race through the crowd.
We get to the behind the stage and I asked
the young man, like, where where are we doing this interview?
(01:45):
And the President's around the bend. He comes back and
he says, I'm not doing the interview right now. You're
still going to Bedminster. He just wanted to say hi
to you. And so that moment of him just wanting
to say hi, he has about my grandchildren. I've interviewed
President Trump dozens of times, and at that moment, I'm
(02:07):
then now stuck because I can't get back to the
press riser and I'm supposed to leave with him to
go to Bedminster along with my daughter. So they put
me in the buffer area. The buffer is sort of
this well that goes around the stage, and they said
just follow them out and then get over on the
other side. Towards the end, you can just jump in
the motorcake That's why I ended up being just four
(02:31):
feet away from the president when he was shot, was right.
If you can see me and a lot of the
photos just to his that would have been his left.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Selena, this is I've got the book in front of
me right now, and I read the opening chapter already.
It's fabulously well done, and I'm actually looking forward to
reading it. And we get a lot of books, and
I'm not able to read all of them. But we're
coming up on the one year anniversary. Do you find
it as hard as I do, as I think Buck does,
(03:02):
and as I imagine the vast majority of people out
there listening do that we still know almost nothing about
this guy who got onto the roof with that gun,
not much about his background, not much about his motivation
on that day, not even that much about how he
came to come as close as he did to killing
the President of the United States, which, by the grace
(03:23):
of God, he did not achieve. But we're in a
completely different universe. If that bullet is one quarter inch
closer to the president, what do you think now, having
been there, having witnessed it, does it still seem improbable
that all of this happened?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It does seem improbable that all of this happened. And
you'll find out in the book. The President calls me
the first thing the next morning, and he, you know,
President Trump is a little hilarious if you don't haven't
picked up on that. The first thing he says is, Hey,
this is President Trump, Like I don't know that, right,
(03:59):
And then and then he goes, I'm so I want
to make sure you are okay, your daughter's okay, and
I'm so sorry that we didn't get to do that interview.
And that's that's this moment with him, right that you
really understand, like like this is this is not the
person you always think he is. And we have we
(04:20):
go on that day and it's detailed in the book.
We go on that day. He calls me seven times
and and he really talks about the improbability that he
didn't die, and he questions about purpose and about God,
not in a fanatical, you know, religious way, but in
(04:42):
a way that is very thoughtful and you know, you know,
why didn't I die?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Do I know?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
How do I have this new purpose? And I think
he answers that question every day, Whether you agree or
not with everything that he does. He answers a question
every day since he was sworn in in January. They
does have purpose. This is not the presidency of a
man going into his second term. This is a president'sy.
(05:11):
This is not a lame duck presidency. He is approaching
this as someone who who was spared by God, and
he says that many times to me, but also as
as someone that has a purpose and he is meant
to fulfill it and he's going to go head down
straight into it because you never know what's going to
(05:32):
happen to you.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I think that what you just said is so important,
and I think people are picking up on it now.
I think even Democrats are The biggest difference between Trump
one point zero and Trump two point zero is the
quality of the people he surrounded himself with. Yes, but
also Trump is making decisions that he thinks are generationally
in the interest of the country, and he's not concerned
(05:54):
at all with anyone who might disagree with him. And
I think that's partly because he feels spared based on
what happened that Dayan.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Butler, Yes, though, so. I had an interview coming out
with him this week on Friday in the Washington Post,
and he talks about that in a very meaningful and
profound way. And you know, part of who he surrounds
himself also has to do with Butler. Like Butler changed everything.
It didn't just change the American electorate. It didn't just
(06:23):
change our coalitions and galvanize people. And people will read
that detail as I continue to cover the election in
a way that none of you have sayus all because
the reporters were writing something completely different than what I
was reporting in that moment. But everything changed in that moment.
(06:45):
And I think this nugets important because it goes to
understanding Trump in a way that people don't understand, and
it goes to understanding why he's going to do what
he's going to do because God saved him. And that
is the moment that he says, by right fight. And
I asked him about it the next day, and I
asked him again about it two weeks ago, he said,
(07:06):
and I just wanted to revisit it with him, and
he had the same exact answer, because I didn't know
if you would remember that or not.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Right, that was a.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Pretty crazy day. The next day he said, I was
not Donald Trump in that moment. I had an obligation
to be someone who shows resolves and be a symbol
of the country, be a symbol of grit and exceptionalism,
and we will go undefeated. And that is what America
has always meant to me. And I had an obligation
(07:36):
as a former president and possibly the next president to
show that because in a lot of ways, because I
didn't want people to panic there and they didn't, by
the way, but also I didn't want people watching panicking
out in the streets. I had an obligation to be presidential,
not to be Donald Trump, to represent the office in
(07:57):
the country with results.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Selena, Honestly, wasn't that just the most amazing thing you've
ever seen a president do? Amazing even for President Trump,
who's done a lot of incredible stuff. Clay and I
still sit there and think, I can't. It's hard to
believe even when you watch the video, even when we
saw it the first time as it was happening, that
a president took a bullet through the year, was bleeding
on stage and turned to his people and raised a
(08:25):
fist and told them to fight.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah. Yeah, it was is that process and went through
his head that understanding that it was more he was
a man there, he was a president. He was America
in that moment, right, you know that symbol of our
country when you think about the American eagle, right, perseverance
(08:48):
and strength and grit. He knew that people needed to
know that he was fighting, that the country was fighting,
and that something as dark, as demonic as what Thomas
Matthew Crooks attempted to do and would have caused immense
chaos and unrest in this country was not succeeded. And
(09:10):
he wanted to show that America is resilient. I don't know,
and I remember him telling me that, and my reaction was, well, wow,
that's Steve, because it was it was, it was. It
was to think on your feet like that after you've
been shot. I mean, most people would be in the
(09:30):
fetal position, right. And I'm watching him he remember, I'm
only four feet away, and I'm watching him like struggle
with his secret service because he wants the shoes on,
and damn it, he's going to get his shoes on.
He is not walking off of that stage in his
stocking feet across gravel. He was able to be the
(09:53):
United States.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Were you able to go to slot. I'm just kind
of curious when something like that happens, were you able
to to immediately contextualize the historic moment of what had occurred,
And the fact that I think for hundreds of years
people are going to be watching that video and it's
going to become even more iconic after the passions of
the moment start to fade because Democrats have whatever they
(10:17):
think about Trump. But I think fifty one hundred years
from now, long after anyone who is listening to us
today is not here, that moment is going to become
so indelible and so iconic in American life. Did you
understand that or feel that immediately? And second part, did
you like, were you able to sleep that night? I'm
(10:37):
just kind of curious when you have that experience how
long it takes you to come down off the adrenaline rush,
just based on where you were to say nothing of him, I've.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Still not come down from it. And you know, I
knew exactly. You know, as a journalists, you know, part
of your job, even if it's a tiny thread, you're
always covering history every day. But I knew in that moment.
You know, and and he talks about purpose, but I
(11:10):
also talk about purpose. There is a reason I was there, right,
and there was a reason I was supposed to chronicle this,
and and I I knew that that was what my
purpose was, and to be able to tell this story.
And because I have a gift of total recall, right,
(11:31):
I can remember every smell, every like I think in color, right,
like I can smell and taste and feel everything in
that moment. And and when they when people say when
they've been in a in a in a tragic situation,
the time slows down, then that was very true for me.
And and I watched the entire thing in in in
(11:55):
these these very fine layers. And because I have the
you have to recall. And plus I have my recorder
on and I'm talking, I record everything that happens. I
can hear everything the president says. But also I'm talking
to my recorder, so I don't forget anything. And I
and I probably started the book. And I didn't even
(12:18):
think about a book. I just thought, well, I need
to write this story.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
And I did.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
But you know, people came to me and it's like,
you need do you have an obligation to write this book?
And so I immediately started writing it. While as I'm
writing it. I'm still continuing to cover an extraordinarily historic election.
That I believe is that I'm watching it. That other
people aren't covering what's happening. They're covering what they wish
(12:45):
was happening. They're covering what they hope happens. But I'm
on the ground there in Pennsylvania, in the middle of
somewhere in Pennsylvania, and I'm covering this and seeing this
entire country change, not just in the rural areas but
in the suburbs. I'm watching these young mothers who all
was who have never put a Trump hat on in
(13:07):
the next weekend, have them on at their kids' soccer
games because and there's interviews in the book, they say, Hey,
he can take a bullet for me. I can wear
a damn hat and not worry about what people say
to me. Everything changed in that moment.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Butler the untold story of the near assassination of Donald
Trump and the fight for America's heartland. Selena Zido's book
out today. Selena's great. We really love her work. Get
yourself a copy. Selena, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Oh thanks you guys, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
You're listening to Team forty seven with Clay and Buck.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
We are joined by the Secretary of Energy the US
Department of Energy, Chris Wright. Mister Secretary, appreciate you being
with us. We know we were just you were just
in a marathon cabin meeting as a member of the cabinet,
a lot covered there. Wanted to just jump into what
is in the big beautiful bill that affects directly US
(14:12):
national energy policy, Like what do we need to know
about what's coming?
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Actually quite a debt, but let me start out with
maybe the biggest thing is it's the ending of about
a half a trillion dollars of subsidies that would be
paid out in the next ten years, so you know,
roughly fifty billion a year. We've been paying these for
many years, and the biggest component to them is to
(14:38):
pay people to put wind and solar on our electricity grid,
and subsidies to help rich people by evs. And so
the problem of these subsidies is they not only cost
the taxpayers that half a trillion dollars, but at the
end they make our electricity grids more expensive and less stable,
(14:58):
so we have to pay twice. So I think reducing
the pressure the cost of these subsidies and the pressure
on the cost and stability of our grid is going
to be a big win for Americans.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
When you look at at the price of gas, I
think that's a big story. Isn't being talked about enough.
It's at four year lows, summer lows, going all the
way back basically to when we were coming out of COVID.
What does affordable energy, particularly when it comes to gas
mean for the overall economic environment as you see it.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Oh, it's huge, And you made to four year lows,
which is true if we correct for inflation and ignore
the crazy year that was COVID, it's actually a twenty
year low in the price of gasoline and in affordability terms.
So it's just tremendous. That's a significant expense that all Americans,
(15:53):
all of us pay every week to get to our jobs,
to go on vacations, to visit our grandmothers, and travel
with our kids. If you make gasoline prices expensive, you
just shrink the life opportunities people have. People visit their
family and friends, last, they have less adventures, They've got
less money in their pocket for other expenditures. So I'm
(16:14):
very proud about the administration's record we have gasoline twenty
five to thirty cents a gallon cheaper today than it
was twelve months ago. And that's going through a period
of major conflict in the Middle East, but major productive
conflict in the Middle East, hopefully ending the forty six
years of Iran at the troublemaker in the Middle East,
(16:37):
and really the threat to global peace, probably the largest
global threat to peace over the last forty five years.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
We're speaking to the Secretary of the US Department of Energy,
Chris Wright, and mister secretary, if you could lay out
for us what does a make energy great again? You know,
mega mega, What does a make energy great again policy
under Trump look like going forward? Does it include nuclear?
(17:06):
Is it new technology applied to fossil fuels?
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Like?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
What is the Trump administration trying to accomplish so that
not only are we doing as much as we can
with the technology we have and the resources we have
in the past, but that we do new things, innovative
things going forward.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Oh great, setting of that table. So I mentioned that
getting rid of a half a trillion dollars to make
energy expensive. There's also in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Just returning to room of Law and allowing oil, gas
and coal producers to produce again on federal lands across
the country. This will lower baseline energy prices in the
(17:44):
coming years and decades in front of us. I squeezed
that one in there real quick. But there's also I'm
a free market guy, so I'm not a fan of subsidies,
But we do have tax credits in there for a
finite period of time for next generation nuclear and for
geothermal and for upbrads if we can get more power
out of hydro. But yeah, our administration is all on
(18:08):
trying to launch a new renaissance of nuclear energy. We
should be building these small, modular reactors. We should have
it cheaper to build big reactors. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
No, I was going to ask, it's exactly what you
were going into, which is what does that look like?
Because nuclear unfortunately became a boogeyman of the environmentalist left
in this country, and so we're behind. I think where
we should be in nuclear development for energy purposes in
this country. What does it look like and what percentage
you think of our power could come from nuclear in
(18:40):
the years ahead. Given the Trump administration's willingness and your
willingness to promote the free market principles and technology principles
that can bring so much to the table. When it
comes to nuclear, well.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
It's a little bit less than twenty percent of electricity today.
So after natural gas, which is by far and away
the leader, nuclear is second. But yeah, I mean that
could yeah, a couple decades from now, that could be
fifty forty or fifty percent of our electricity from nuclear.
We got to build a lot to do that. But
this is America. We can build a lot. The Nuclear
(19:14):
Regulatory Commission, the NRC has just made it so expensive,
so slow, and so risky to develop nuclear power in
the country. We basically stopped doing it for the last
few decades. So we need regulatory reform at the NRC.
We need regulatory reform from NEPA so that it's just
a check are we being smart about the environment, not
(19:34):
a weaponized thing. You could just have lawsuits and stop
anything from being built. We need to have a five
permit on federal lands. Department of Energy will be in
charge of that. We will have next generation test reactors
running twelve months from today at our Idaho National Lab facilities.
There like the technology is there at the private capital,
(19:55):
is there, the interest is there. We just need the
government to get out of the way and let capitalism
and free market forces bring us a very exciting few
decades with rapid growth in nuclear energy.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
We're talking to Energy Secretary Chris right Buck just asked,
and you are hearing a lot of talk about the
need for nuclear power. Underscoring all of this based on
the people that I talk to, is there isn't enough
discussion about all of the power and energy that's going
to be necessary for AI. That the amount that this
is going to demand, the amount that it's going to
(20:31):
soak up, is just off the charts. That I imagine
is something you're spending a decent amount on as well,
for AI, for the AI revolution to take place and
for America to lead. What sort of energy do we
need to create that isn't being created now? Is that
accurate based on what you're seeing.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
No, you're absolutely right, Leny give them numbers real quick.
We have so here we are twenty twenty five five
years from now, we're going to need be at least
another one hundred gigawatts of generation. A gigawatt is like
a big coal power plant, a big natural gas plant,
a nuclear plant, some nuclear plants are two or three gigawatts,
but one hundred gigawatts of additional power five years from now.
(21:15):
And in the current plan, there is a plan to
shut down one hundred gigawatts of mostly coal plants over
the next five years. If we did all that, we'd
have to build two hundred gigawatts of new power generation
to meet that projected demand. And what's in the queue
right now that's visible or applying for a permit or
(21:37):
acquiring land of firm capacity about twenty gigawatts, So a
gaping hole. Which is why this administration in my department
are going to be very carefully scrutinizing does it make
sense to shut down that coal power plant like the
one they tried to shut down in Michigan and over
one gigawatt power plant fifteen years left the plant life,
(21:58):
and for political reasons we want to get rid of cold,
we're going to shut that puppy down. I used emergency
powers to keep it open. Two days in that same
Midwest grid there was a blackout. Like, we've just got
to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by closing existing plants,
and we've got to make it much much easier for
American businesses, to build new natural gas plants, to build
(22:21):
new new parent plants, to build new geothermal and next
generation electricity generating capacity. Just wind and solar just is
simply not an answer. You know, it's really hot in
DC today, but the wind is still no wind power
at time of peak demand. And the winner it's really
cold at night, but we don't have any solar power.
And when you're in a cold of the huge cold front,
(22:42):
it's again a high pressure system, no wind. So we've
just got to get smart about energy in the United
States again. But it's business and private entrepreneurs that are
going to drive this. We just need the government to
be out of the way and a credible partner for
permitting and any other infrastructure that needs to be built
(23:02):
to support it.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
But I'm up.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
This is America. We can build things again.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
One more for you, mister Secretary. Thank you for being
with us in terms of exports for particularly oil and
natural gas. I know we've been doing very well. And
America is really the world's fossil fuel the true fossil
fuel superpower. We don't necessarily think of ourselves that way,
but I think the numbers certainly bear that out. Is
(23:30):
there going to be would you expect it an increase
in that and how how do you see it affecting
global demand?
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Yes, there's going to be a huge increase of that.
The United States is already by far the largest exporter
of natural gas in the world, and we will double
that in the next five years. In the five or
seven years after that, we could double it again, so.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
America will just be the dominant supplier of natural gas
around the world. That's twenty five percent of global energy
comes from natural gas and it's the fastest growing source
of energy on the planet. So super excited about where
all this could go.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And I've got to jump on to you.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
No, we know, we like the optimism. Thanks for joining
us right after cabinet meeting. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright,
Thank you so much, sir.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Love to show you guys run keep up the great work.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
The Team forty seven podcast is sponsored by Good Ranchers
Making the American Farm Strong Again. You're listening to Team
forty seven with Clay and Buck.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
We are joined by doctor Marty McCarey. He is the
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Doctor McCarey, we
appreciate you, sir. We remember your truth teller in the
dark days of COVID madness, and now you are at
the FDA and part of the mah H approach to
(25:01):
America make America healthy again. I saw your op ed
in the Washington Post on getting drugs approved much more
quickly and efficiently. That should be that would be helpful.
But let's just start with this is what is the
top of your agenda for MAHA. How are we going
to make America healthy again? Now that that is your portfolio.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Well, good to be with you guys. You know, we
are changing the entire approach to healthcare in the United
States under Secretary Kennedy. It's not just chemotherapy and insulin
and ozepic. We're now having research on root causes at
the NIH. We're investing in the food side of the FDA.
(25:43):
People forget that the f and FDA stands for food,
not federal and so we are focused on healthy food
for kids. We've got tremendous traction with the petroleum based
food died Baan. We're going a step further looking at
all the chemicals and the food supply that are banned
in other countries. We are focused on the drug side
(26:04):
and device side, more cures for the American people. We'd
love to see a cure for certain kinds of cancer,
stage four cancer, drugs that melt away cancer. We want
to see a cure for type one diabetes, for Alzheimer's,
we want to see meaningful treatments for als. And we
want to see a universal flu shot so we don't
(26:26):
have to play a guessing game each year. And one
of my personal missions is to make sure that our
veterans have a rapid decision on treatments for PTSD.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
I really appreciate you coming on with us and the
fact doctor McCarey and I always want to go back
and re emphasize this that you were one of the
truth tellers during COVID, And I'm curious now as we
are working through the MAHA movement, you have RFK Junior,
and you have you and doctor Bodicharia, and I'm sure
there's many many more people that we don't even know
(26:58):
the names of. Do you feel in many ways like
all of the slings and arrows that you took and
that many of your colleagues took have been vindicated in
what you said? And feel as if hey this is
an opportunity to rectify a lot of the scientific wrongs
on a big picture that came from somebody like doctor
(27:18):
Fauci lecturing everyone and saying, I am the science. Don't
challenge science. It has to feel in some way vindicating
to be in the position that you are in now.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Well, I think this is a time for us to
demonstrate humility, the same humility we called for. When you
don't know something as a doctor, you just need to
say we don't know or we think this might be
the case. The absolutism that we saw during COVID, which
was not based on science, but it was under the
guise of listening to the experts and don't question us,
(27:52):
it did a lot of damage. I mean, ignoring natural immunity,
putting masks on toddlers for three years, insisting schools stay
shut for a year and a half. Somehow this became
partisan and it's really an ugly chapter. So we are
trying to demonstrate transparency and humility throughout our health agencies
(28:14):
and as role models, and I think, you know, we're
making a lot of progress in that way. We for example,
put out a strong warning on myocarditis with the COVID vaccines.
We're not approving COVID vaccines for healthy children without a
clinical trial first. We're getting back to gold standard science
and we're using common.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Sense, Doctor mcarey. What are some of the ways that
we can see improvements in the drug I mean, this
is what you wrote about in the Washington Post editorial
right getting faster approval because one thing I know right
now from the look people think Pharma and a lot
(28:54):
and a lot of people in the right in particular
get you know, they bristle a little bit, but Farma
does make things like statins which save a lot of lives.
Pharma has incredible drugs that are helping with andre with
rare types of cancer. We want there to be breakthroughs,
we want there to be cures. What are ways we
(29:15):
can get to those cures faster? And is artificial intelligence
something that you see helping just go through all the
data and get to cures faster for the diseases that
we want to see left in the past.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
Absolutely. And look, as a doctor at Johns Hopkins for
most of my career, I saw how drugs would cure
people and people got terrible diagnoses and they would ask,
is there anything promising out there, I think we have
to ask a big question that really hasn't been asked before,
and that is, why does it take over ten years
(29:52):
for a new drug to come to market? We have
got to cut the red tape and these unnecessary delay
all of the bureaucratic processes and just get back to
our job of making a prompt decision on safety and efficacy.
And you know, if there's a drug where there's no
(30:14):
hope or there's a small population of affected, I believe
in both the spirit and the letter of right to
try that the President has put out there.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
How much of what you deal with is fixable from
a cultural perspective, And let me build on that a
little bit, make the question a little bit maybe more understandable.
One of the things we worry about. I think if
you're out there and you're a parent like I am
and like Buck is, is so much guidance is constantly shifting.
(30:48):
And if Trump is in office right now, we're very
thankful that you're the FDA commissioner. But let's say that
Kamala Harris, god forbid, had won, or that she wins
in twenty twenty nine, and we get a brand new
team of leadership at many of these agencies. If the
culture underneath is rotten, then it becomes very difficult to fix.
Can you fix the culture of the FDA? How would
(31:10):
you assess based on your time there so far, the
culture actually is.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
I think it is a culture that can be influenced.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
I spend essentially every day on campus at the FDA.
It's a beautiful campus. I meet with the reviewers and
the scientists and the inspectors, and the folks that are
working on childhood team, vaping reduction, and all of the people.
You know, the FDA regulates twenty percent of the US economy.
(31:39):
I'm on the ground, and I think when you're insulated
as a leader, you can become a villain. But when
you're on the ground and people see that, hey, I'm
a cancer surgeon from Johns Hopkins, and I've got scientific credentials.
I've published over three hundred scientific peer review studies. All
of a sudden, now you're a scientific and you're not
(32:01):
some you know, caricature. And so I've been on the ground.
The culture at the FDA is strong and getting stronger.
The trains are running on time, and so the FDA
is going to continue to be strong.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
What are some of the areas where you're hoping we
could see major breakthroughs I mean broadly speaking, right, not
not asking about any particular thing that's you know, in
trials or but you know, people are hearing about crisper technology.
Obviously I brought up AI and I do know there
are some people, doctor McCarey, in the biotechnology space who
(32:35):
think that we could be on the precipice of a
golden age of discoveries that will just help you know,
you said that you're changing the approach to healthcare overall. Right,
that's part of the mission. Where are some of the
likely discoveries in the near future, I mean over the
next four years. Do you think that we could see
some pretty amazing things happen that either extend lives, save lives,
(32:58):
improve lives thanks to technology and research that's going on
right now.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
I do. I do. And let me tell you why,
I clay, because we're going to try to do everything
possible during my time at the FDA to cut the
unnecessary delays, the waiting around, the idle time, the time
that drug developers and inventors say where they're just doing
guest work because they can't talk to anyone at the
(33:24):
FDA to find out what they want in the application.
We just announced yesterday that all of our decision letters
are going to be public information, so companies are not
going to have to do guestwork to figure out how
the FDA thinks or what they want in an application.
We're increasing communications so a company can call us and
(33:45):
ask a question instead of doing guest work for a year.
And we have now a powerful AI tool that we
just launched across the FDA all of the centers where
reviewers have incredible ductational power now to organize applications and
to summarize these giant, gnarly one hundred thousand page applications.
(34:08):
We're getting away from paper. We're doing a lot to
cut the waste.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
What should people know, Doctor McCarey, and he's the head
of the FDA, came on the show for years before
he was the head of the FDA. What is the
absolute latest on the COVID shot. I know there's been
I think you came on right after the decision was
made not to recommend it necessarily for young people that
(34:33):
is very young. Where are we now? I don't even
know what booster people are on. But for people out
there who have kids, I know there's a lot of
concern about the number of shots that they're getting, a
lot of examination of what is necessary, what is not.
What would you say parents should know about that?
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Well, eighty five percent of healthcare workers said no to
the last COVID booster last fall, and I should tell
you something. You know, maybe there's a high risk group
where it makes sense. We're gonna tell folks to talk
to their doctor. The government is not your doctor. But
are we going to just blindly rubber stamp COVID boosters
(35:11):
for young, healthy teenagers every year in perpetuity, such that
a ten year old girl today is going to get
sixty more COVID shots once every year for the rest
of our lifetime. No, we're not going to do that
without some clinical trials supporting that theory. So we're getting
back to gold standard science and I think people appreciate it.
(35:32):
We've outlined our whole framework for COVID vaccines in the
New England Journal of Medicine, and we're being very transparent
about it. It's not we're not doing deals with companies.
We're being very public and transparent about everything and I
think if we can do this everything well, if we
can cut the red tape, be transparent, show humility, we
can see cures for type one diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders,
(35:56):
and we can get to a universal flu shot for EXIS,
which is something in the works in early development, so
we don't have to guess every year what the strain
is going to be.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Dodger McCarey, we appreciate the time, and we appreciate all
the work that you're doing. Have a fantastic weekend and
we'll have you on again soon. Don't hesitate to reach
out anytime. We can help get the message out that
you think is important.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Great. Good to be with you guys. Thanks so much,
The Team forty seven podcast is sponsored by Good Ranchers
Making the American Farm Strong Again. Team forty seven with
Clay and Buck starts.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Now we are joined by our friend Selena Zito. Book
comes out today. I've got a copy because you know,
I know some people. Butler, The Untold Story of the
near assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland. Selena,
you do great reporting. You're an excellent writer. You were
(00:33):
right there that day in Butler as those shots rang out.
Tell us what was it?
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Like?
Speaker 4 (00:39):
What happened?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah, So you know when you're in report and you aren't,
your day starts out a certain way, like you're going
to do this, this and this, and nine times out
of ten, that's not what happens. And so at that day,
I was supposed to interview President Trump for five minutes
before the rally. That's just about two hours after I'm
(01:02):
in ad Butler and it's going to be five minutes
after the rally. And then they say, well, you want
to like fly to Bedminster with the President and do
the interview on the plane. I'm like, well, I never
get an invite like that. I'm in and then five
minutes before he's supposed to go on stage. They come
(01:23):
rushing back and say it's go time, and I just
assumed that they changed their mind and I was going
to do it before the rally, so I raced through
it along with my daughter who's a photo journalist. She
did the cover of the book and race through the crowd.
We get to the behind the stage and I asked
the young man, like, where where are we doing this interview?
(01:45):
And the President's around the bend. He comes back and
he says, I'm not doing the interview right now. You're
still going to Bedminster. He just wanted to say hi
to you. And so that moment of him just wanting
to say hi, he has about my grandchildren. I've interviewed
President Trump dozens of times, and at that moment, I'm
(02:07):
then now stuck because I can't get back to the
press riser and I'm supposed to leave with him to
go to Bedminster along with my daughter. So they put
me in the buffer area. The buffer is sort of
this well that goes around the stage, and they said
just follow them out and then get over on the
other side. Towards the end, you can just jump in
the motorcake That's why I ended up being just four
(02:31):
feet away from the president when he was shot, was right.
If you can see me and a lot of the
photos just to his that would have been his left.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Selena, this is I've got the book in front of
me right now, and I read the opening chapter already.
It's fabulously well done, and I'm actually looking forward to
reading it. And we get a lot of books, and
I'm not able to read all of them. But we're
coming up on the one year anniversary. Do you find
it as hard as I do, as I think Buck does,
(03:02):
and as I imagine the vast majority of people out
there listening do that we still know almost nothing about
this guy who got onto the roof with that gun,
not much about his background, not much about his motivation
on that day, not even that much about how he
came to come as close as he did to killing
the President of the United States, which, by the grace
(03:23):
of God, he did not achieve. But we're in a
completely different universe. If that bullet is one quarter inch
closer to the president, what do you think now, having
been there, having witnessed it, does it still seem improbable
that all of this happened?
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It does seem improbable that all of this happened. And
you'll find out in the book. The President calls me
the first thing the next morning, and he, you know,
President Trump is a little hilarious if you don't haven't
picked up on that. The first thing he says is, Hey,
this is President Trump, Like I don't know that, right,
(03:59):
And then and then he goes, I'm so I want
to make sure you are okay, your daughter's okay, and
I'm so sorry that we didn't get to do that interview.
And that's that's this moment with him, right that you
really understand, like like this is this is not the
person you always think he is. And we have we
(04:20):
go on that day and it's detailed in the book.
We go on that day. He calls me seven times
and and he really talks about the improbability that he
didn't die, and he questions about purpose and about God,
not in a fanatical, you know, religious way, but in
(04:42):
a way that is very thoughtful and you know, you know,
why didn't I die?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
Do I know?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
How do I have this new purpose? And I think
he answers that question every day, Whether you agree or
not with everything that he does. He answers a question
every day since he was sworn in in January. They
does have purpose. This is not the presidency of a
man going into his second term. This is a president'sy.
(05:11):
This is not a lame duck presidency. He is approaching
this as someone who who was spared by God, and
he says that many times to me, but also as
as someone that has a purpose and he is meant
to fulfill it and he's going to go head down
straight into it because you never know what's going to
(05:32):
happen to you.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I think that what you just said is so important,
and I think people are picking up on it now.
I think even Democrats are The biggest difference between Trump
one point zero and Trump two point zero is the
quality of the people he surrounded himself with. Yes, but
also Trump is making decisions that he thinks are generationally
in the interest of the country, and he's not concerned
(05:54):
at all with anyone who might disagree with him. And
I think that's partly because he feels spared based on
what happened that Dayan.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Butler, Yes, though, so. I had an interview coming out
with him this week on Friday in the Washington Post,
and he talks about that in a very meaningful and
profound way. And you know, part of who he surrounds
himself also has to do with Butler. Like Butler changed everything.
It didn't just change the American electorate. It didn't just
(06:23):
change our coalitions and galvanize people. And people will read
that detail as I continue to cover the election in
a way that none of you have sayus all because
the reporters were writing something completely different than what I
was reporting in that moment. But everything changed in that moment.
(06:45):
And I think this nugets important because it goes to
understanding Trump in a way that people don't understand, and
it goes to understanding why he's going to do what
he's going to do because God saved him. And that
is the moment that he says, by right fight. And
I asked him about it the next day, and I
asked him again about it two weeks ago, he said,
(07:06):
and I just wanted to revisit it with him, and
he had the same exact answer, because I didn't know
if you would remember that or not.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Right, that was a.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Pretty crazy day. The next day he said, I was
not Donald Trump in that moment. I had an obligation
to be someone who shows resolves and be a symbol
of the country, be a symbol of grit and exceptionalism,
and we will go undefeated. And that is what America
has always meant to me. And I had an obligation
(07:36):
as a former president and possibly the next president to
show that because in a lot of ways, because I
didn't want people to panic there and they didn't, by
the way, but also I didn't want people watching panicking
out in the streets. I had an obligation to be presidential,
not to be Donald Trump, to represent the office in
(07:57):
the country with results.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Selena, Honestly, wasn't that just the most amazing thing you've
ever seen a president do? Amazing even for President Trump,
who's done a lot of incredible stuff. Clay and I
still sit there and think, I can't. It's hard to
believe even when you watch the video, even when we
saw it the first time as it was happening, that
a president took a bullet through the year, was bleeding
on stage and turned to his people and raised a
(08:25):
fist and told them to fight.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah. Yeah, it was is that process and went through
his head that understanding that it was more he was
a man there, he was a president. He was America
in that moment, right, you know that symbol of our
country when you think about the American eagle, right, perseverance
(08:48):
and strength and grit. He knew that people needed to
know that he was fighting, that the country was fighting,
and that something as dark, as demonic as what Thomas
Matthew Crooks attempted to do and would have caused immense
chaos and unrest in this country was not succeeded. And
(09:10):
he wanted to show that America is resilient. I don't know,
and I remember him telling me that, and my reaction was, well, wow,
that's Steve, because it was it was, it was. It
was to think on your feet like that after you've
been shot. I mean, most people would be in the
(09:30):
fetal position, right. And I'm watching him he remember, I'm
only four feet away, and I'm watching him like struggle
with his secret service because he wants the shoes on,
and damn it, he's going to get his shoes on.
He is not walking off of that stage in his
stocking feet across gravel. He was able to be the
(09:53):
United States.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Were you able to go to slot. I'm just kind
of curious when something like that happens, were you able
to to immediately contextualize the historic moment of what had occurred,
And the fact that I think for hundreds of years
people are going to be watching that video and it's
going to become even more iconic after the passions of
the moment start to fade because Democrats have whatever they
(10:17):
think about Trump. But I think fifty one hundred years
from now, long after anyone who is listening to us
today is not here, that moment is going to become
so indelible and so iconic in American life. Did you
understand that or feel that immediately? And second part, did
you like, were you able to sleep that night? I'm
(10:37):
just kind of curious when you have that experience how
long it takes you to come down off the adrenaline rush,
just based on where you were to say nothing of him, I've.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Still not come down from it. And you know, I
knew exactly. You know, as a journalists, you know, part
of your job, even if it's a tiny thread, you're
always covering history every day. But I knew in that moment.
You know, and and he talks about purpose, but I
(11:10):
also talk about purpose. There is a reason I was there, right,
and there was a reason I was supposed to chronicle this,
and and I I knew that that was what my
purpose was, and to be able to tell this story.
And because I have a gift of total recall, right,
(11:31):
I can remember every smell, every like I think in color, right,
like I can smell and taste and feel everything in
that moment. And and when they when people say when
they've been in a in a in a tragic situation,
the time slows down, then that was very true for me.
And and I watched the entire thing in in in
(11:55):
these these very fine layers. And because I have the
you have to recall. And plus I have my recorder
on and I'm talking, I record everything that happens. I
can hear everything the president says. But also I'm talking
to my recorder, so I don't forget anything. And I
and I probably started the book. And I didn't even
(12:18):
think about a book. I just thought, well, I need
to write this story.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
And I did.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
But you know, people came to me and it's like,
you need do you have an obligation to write this book?
And so I immediately started writing it. While as I'm
writing it. I'm still continuing to cover an extraordinarily historic election.
That I believe is that I'm watching it. That other
people aren't covering what's happening. They're covering what they wish
(12:45):
was happening. They're covering what they hope happens. But I'm
on the ground there in Pennsylvania, in the middle of
somewhere in Pennsylvania, and I'm covering this and seeing this
entire country change, not just in the rural areas but
in the suburbs. I'm watching these young mothers who all
was who have never put a Trump hat on in
(13:07):
the next weekend, have them on at their kids' soccer
games because and there's interviews in the book, they say, Hey,
he can take a bullet for me. I can wear
a damn hat and not worry about what people say
to me. Everything changed in that moment.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Butler the untold story of the near assassination of Donald
Trump and the fight for America's heartland. Selena Zido's book
out today. Selena's great. We really love her work. Get
yourself a copy. Selena, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Oh thanks you guys, have a great day.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
You're listening to Team forty seven with Clay and Buck.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
We are joined by the Secretary of Energy the US
Department of Energy, Chris Wright. Mister Secretary, appreciate you being
with us. We know we were just you were just
in a marathon cabin meeting as a member of the cabinet,
a lot covered there. Wanted to just jump into what
is in the big beautiful bill that affects directly US
(14:12):
national energy policy, Like what do we need to know
about what's coming?
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Actually quite a debt, but let me start out with
maybe the biggest thing is it's the ending of about
a half a trillion dollars of subsidies that would be
paid out in the next ten years, so you know,
roughly fifty billion a year. We've been paying these for
many years, and the biggest component to them is to
(14:38):
pay people to put wind and solar on our electricity grid,
and subsidies to help rich people by evs. And so
the problem of these subsidies is they not only cost
the taxpayers that half a trillion dollars, but at the
end they make our electricity grids more expensive and less stable,
(14:58):
so we have to pay twice. So I think reducing
the pressure the cost of these subsidies and the pressure
on the cost and stability of our grid is going
to be a big win for Americans.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
When you look at at the price of gas, I
think that's a big story. Isn't being talked about enough.
It's at four year lows, summer lows, going all the
way back basically to when we were coming out of COVID.
What does affordable energy, particularly when it comes to gas
mean for the overall economic environment as you see it.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Oh, it's huge, And you made to four year lows,
which is true if we correct for inflation and ignore
the crazy year that was COVID, it's actually a twenty
year low in the price of gasoline and in affordability terms.
So it's just tremendous. That's a significant expense that all Americans,
(15:53):
all of us pay every week to get to our jobs,
to go on vacations, to visit our grandmothers, and travel
with our kids. If you make gasoline prices expensive, you
just shrink the life opportunities people have. People visit their
family and friends, last, they have less adventures, They've got
less money in their pocket for other expenditures. So I'm
(16:14):
very proud about the administration's record we have gasoline twenty
five to thirty cents a gallon cheaper today than it
was twelve months ago. And that's going through a period
of major conflict in the Middle East, but major productive
conflict in the Middle East, hopefully ending the forty six
years of Iran at the troublemaker in the Middle East,
(16:37):
and really the threat to global peace, probably the largest
global threat to peace over the last forty five years.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
We're speaking to the Secretary of the US Department of Energy,
Chris Wright, and mister secretary, if you could lay out
for us what does a make energy great again? You know,
mega mega, What does a make energy great again policy
under Trump look like going forward? Does it include nuclear?
(17:06):
Is it new technology applied to fossil fuels?
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Like?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
What is the Trump administration trying to accomplish so that
not only are we doing as much as we can
with the technology we have and the resources we have
in the past, but that we do new things, innovative
things going forward.
Speaker 4 (17:23):
Oh great, setting of that table. So I mentioned that
getting rid of a half a trillion dollars to make
energy expensive. There's also in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Just returning to room of Law and allowing oil, gas
and coal producers to produce again on federal lands across
the country. This will lower baseline energy prices in the
(17:44):
coming years and decades in front of us. I squeezed
that one in there real quick. But there's also I'm
a free market guy, so I'm not a fan of subsidies,
But we do have tax credits in there for a
finite period of time for next generation nuclear and for
geothermal and for upbrads if we can get more power
out of hydro. But yeah, our administration is all on
(18:08):
trying to launch a new renaissance of nuclear energy. We
should be building these small, modular reactors. We should have
it cheaper to build big reactors. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
No, I was going to ask, it's exactly what you
were going into, which is what does that look like?
Because nuclear unfortunately became a boogeyman of the environmentalist left
in this country, and so we're behind. I think where
we should be in nuclear development for energy purposes in
this country. What does it look like and what percentage
you think of our power could come from nuclear in
(18:40):
the years ahead. Given the Trump administration's willingness and your
willingness to promote the free market principles and technology principles
that can bring so much to the table. When it
comes to nuclear, well.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
It's a little bit less than twenty percent of electricity today.
So after natural gas, which is by far and away
the leader, nuclear is second. But yeah, I mean that
could yeah, a couple decades from now, that could be
fifty forty or fifty percent of our electricity from nuclear.
We got to build a lot to do that. But
this is America. We can build a lot. The Nuclear
(19:14):
Regulatory Commission, the NRC has just made it so expensive,
so slow, and so risky to develop nuclear power in
the country. We basically stopped doing it for the last
few decades. So we need regulatory reform at the NRC.
We need regulatory reform from NEPA so that it's just
a check are we being smart about the environment, not
(19:34):
a weaponized thing. You could just have lawsuits and stop
anything from being built. We need to have a five
permit on federal lands. Department of Energy will be in
charge of that. We will have next generation test reactors
running twelve months from today at our Idaho National Lab facilities.
There like the technology is there at the private capital,
(19:55):
is there, the interest is there. We just need the
government to get out of the way and let capitalism
and free market forces bring us a very exciting few
decades with rapid growth in nuclear energy.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
We're talking to Energy Secretary Chris right Buck just asked,
and you are hearing a lot of talk about the
need for nuclear power. Underscoring all of this based on
the people that I talk to, is there isn't enough
discussion about all of the power and energy that's going
to be necessary for AI. That the amount that this
is going to demand, the amount that it's going to
(20:31):
soak up, is just off the charts. That I imagine
is something you're spending a decent amount on as well,
for AI, for the AI revolution to take place and
for America to lead. What sort of energy do we
need to create that isn't being created now? Is that
accurate based on what you're seeing.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
No, you're absolutely right, Leny give them numbers real quick.
We have so here we are twenty twenty five five
years from now, we're going to need be at least
another one hundred gigawatts of generation. A gigawatt is like
a big coal power plant, a big natural gas plant,
a nuclear plant, some nuclear plants are two or three gigawatts,
but one hundred gigawatts of additional power five years from now.
(21:15):
And in the current plan, there is a plan to
shut down one hundred gigawatts of mostly coal plants over
the next five years. If we did all that, we'd
have to build two hundred gigawatts of new power generation
to meet that projected demand. And what's in the queue
right now that's visible or applying for a permit or
(21:37):
acquiring land of firm capacity about twenty gigawatts, So a
gaping hole. Which is why this administration in my department
are going to be very carefully scrutinizing does it make
sense to shut down that coal power plant like the
one they tried to shut down in Michigan and over
one gigawatt power plant fifteen years left the plant life,
(21:58):
and for political reasons we want to get rid of cold,
we're going to shut that puppy down. I used emergency
powers to keep it open. Two days in that same
Midwest grid there was a blackout. Like, we've just got
to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by closing existing plants,
and we've got to make it much much easier for
American businesses, to build new natural gas plants, to build
(22:21):
new new parent plants, to build new geothermal and next
generation electricity generating capacity. Just wind and solar just is
simply not an answer. You know, it's really hot in
DC today, but the wind is still no wind power
at time of peak demand. And the winner it's really
cold at night, but we don't have any solar power.
And when you're in a cold of the huge cold front,
(22:42):
it's again a high pressure system, no wind. So we've
just got to get smart about energy in the United
States again. But it's business and private entrepreneurs that are
going to drive this. We just need the government to
be out of the way and a credible partner for
permitting and any other infrastructure that needs to be built
(23:02):
to support it.
Speaker 5 (23:03):
But I'm up.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
This is America. We can build things again.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
One more for you, mister Secretary. Thank you for being
with us in terms of exports for particularly oil and
natural gas. I know we've been doing very well. And
America is really the world's fossil fuel the true fossil
fuel superpower. We don't necessarily think of ourselves that way,
but I think the numbers certainly bear that out. Is
(23:30):
there going to be would you expect it an increase
in that and how how do you see it affecting
global demand?
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Yes, there's going to be a huge increase of that.
The United States is already by far the largest exporter
of natural gas in the world, and we will double
that in the next five years. In the five or
seven years after that, we could double it again, so.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
America will just be the dominant supplier of natural gas
around the world. That's twenty five percent of global energy
comes from natural gas and it's the fastest growing source
of energy on the planet. So super excited about where
all this could go.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And I've got to jump on to you.
Speaker 2 (24:15):
No, we know, we like the optimism. Thanks for joining
us right after cabinet meeting. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright,
Thank you so much, sir.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Love to show you guys run keep up the great work.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
The Team forty seven podcast is sponsored by Good Ranchers
Making the American Farm Strong Again. You're listening to Team
forty seven with Clay and Buck.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
We are joined by doctor Marty McCarey. He is the
Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Doctor McCarey, we
appreciate you, sir. We remember your truth teller in the
dark days of COVID madness, and now you are at
the FDA and part of the mah H approach to
(25:01):
America make America healthy again. I saw your op ed
in the Washington Post on getting drugs approved much more
quickly and efficiently. That should be that would be helpful.
But let's just start with this is what is the
top of your agenda for MAHA. How are we going
to make America healthy again? Now that that is your portfolio.
Speaker 5 (25:22):
Well, good to be with you guys. You know, we
are changing the entire approach to healthcare in the United
States under Secretary Kennedy. It's not just chemotherapy and insulin
and ozepic. We're now having research on root causes at
the NIH. We're investing in the food side of the FDA.
(25:43):
People forget that the f and FDA stands for food,
not federal and so we are focused on healthy food
for kids. We've got tremendous traction with the petroleum based
food died Baan. We're going a step further looking at
all the chemicals and the food supply that are banned
in other countries. We are focused on the drug side
(26:04):
and device side, more cures for the American people. We'd
love to see a cure for certain kinds of cancer,
stage four cancer, drugs that melt away cancer. We want
to see a cure for type one diabetes, for Alzheimer's,
we want to see meaningful treatments for als. And we
want to see a universal flu shot so we don't
(26:26):
have to play a guessing game each year. And one
of my personal missions is to make sure that our
veterans have a rapid decision on treatments for PTSD.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
I really appreciate you coming on with us and the
fact doctor McCarey and I always want to go back
and re emphasize this that you were one of the
truth tellers during COVID, And I'm curious now as we
are working through the MAHA movement, you have RFK Junior,
and you have you and doctor Bodicharia, and I'm sure
there's many many more people that we don't even know
(26:58):
the names of. Do you feel in many ways like
all of the slings and arrows that you took and
that many of your colleagues took have been vindicated in
what you said? And feel as if hey this is
an opportunity to rectify a lot of the scientific wrongs
on a big picture that came from somebody like doctor
(27:18):
Fauci lecturing everyone and saying, I am the science. Don't
challenge science. It has to feel in some way vindicating
to be in the position that you are in now.
Speaker 5 (27:30):
Well, I think this is a time for us to
demonstrate humility, the same humility we called for. When you
don't know something as a doctor, you just need to
say we don't know or we think this might be
the case. The absolutism that we saw during COVID, which
was not based on science, but it was under the
guise of listening to the experts and don't question us,
(27:52):
it did a lot of damage. I mean, ignoring natural immunity,
putting masks on toddlers for three years, insisting schools stay
shut for a year and a half. Somehow this became
partisan and it's really an ugly chapter. So we are
trying to demonstrate transparency and humility throughout our health agencies
(28:14):
and as role models, and I think, you know, we're
making a lot of progress in that way. We for example,
put out a strong warning on myocarditis with the COVID vaccines.
We're not approving COVID vaccines for healthy children without a
clinical trial first. We're getting back to gold standard science
and we're using common.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Sense, Doctor mcarey. What are some of the ways that
we can see improvements in the drug I mean, this
is what you wrote about in the Washington Post editorial
right getting faster approval because one thing I know right
now from the look people think Pharma and a lot
(28:54):
and a lot of people in the right in particular
get you know, they bristle a little bit, but Farma
does make things like statins which save a lot of lives.
Pharma has incredible drugs that are helping with andre with
rare types of cancer. We want there to be breakthroughs,
we want there to be cures. What are ways we
(29:15):
can get to those cures faster? And is artificial intelligence
something that you see helping just go through all the
data and get to cures faster for the diseases that
we want to see left in the past.
Speaker 5 (29:31):
Absolutely. And look, as a doctor at Johns Hopkins for
most of my career, I saw how drugs would cure
people and people got terrible diagnoses and they would ask,
is there anything promising out there, I think we have
to ask a big question that really hasn't been asked before,
and that is, why does it take over ten years
(29:52):
for a new drug to come to market? We have
got to cut the red tape and these unnecessary delay
all of the bureaucratic processes and just get back to
our job of making a prompt decision on safety and efficacy.
And you know, if there's a drug where there's no
(30:14):
hope or there's a small population of affected, I believe
in both the spirit and the letter of right to
try that the President has put out there.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
How much of what you deal with is fixable from
a cultural perspective, And let me build on that a
little bit, make the question a little bit maybe more understandable.
One of the things we worry about. I think if
you're out there and you're a parent like I am
and like Buck is, is so much guidance is constantly shifting.
(30:48):
And if Trump is in office right now, we're very
thankful that you're the FDA commissioner. But let's say that
Kamala Harris, god forbid, had won, or that she wins
in twenty twenty nine, and we get a brand new
team of leadership at many of these agencies. If the
culture underneath is rotten, then it becomes very difficult to fix.
Can you fix the culture of the FDA? How would
(31:10):
you assess based on your time there so far, the
culture actually is.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
I think it is a culture that can be influenced.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
You know.
Speaker 5 (31:18):
I spend essentially every day on campus at the FDA.
It's a beautiful campus. I meet with the reviewers and
the scientists and the inspectors, and the folks that are
working on childhood team, vaping reduction, and all of the people.
You know, the FDA regulates twenty percent of the US economy.
(31:39):
I'm on the ground, and I think when you're insulated
as a leader, you can become a villain. But when
you're on the ground and people see that, hey, I'm
a cancer surgeon from Johns Hopkins, and I've got scientific credentials.
I've published over three hundred scientific peer review studies. All
of a sudden, now you're a scientific and you're not
(32:01):
some you know, caricature. And so I've been on the ground.
The culture at the FDA is strong and getting stronger.
The trains are running on time, and so the FDA
is going to continue to be strong.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
What are some of the areas where you're hoping we
could see major breakthroughs I mean broadly speaking, right, not
not asking about any particular thing that's you know, in
trials or but you know, people are hearing about crisper technology.
Obviously I brought up AI and I do know there
are some people, doctor McCarey, in the biotechnology space who
(32:35):
think that we could be on the precipice of a
golden age of discoveries that will just help you know,
you said that you're changing the approach to healthcare overall. Right,
that's part of the mission. Where are some of the
likely discoveries in the near future, I mean over the
next four years. Do you think that we could see
some pretty amazing things happen that either extend lives, save lives,
(32:58):
improve lives thanks to technology and research that's going on
right now.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
I do. I do. And let me tell you why,
I clay, because we're going to try to do everything
possible during my time at the FDA to cut the
unnecessary delays, the waiting around, the idle time, the time
that drug developers and inventors say where they're just doing
guest work because they can't talk to anyone at the
(33:24):
FDA to find out what they want in the application.
We just announced yesterday that all of our decision letters
are going to be public information, so companies are not
going to have to do guestwork to figure out how
the FDA thinks or what they want in an application.
We're increasing communications so a company can call us and
(33:45):
ask a question instead of doing guest work for a year.
And we have now a powerful AI tool that we
just launched across the FDA all of the centers where
reviewers have incredible ductational power now to organize applications and
to summarize these giant, gnarly one hundred thousand page applications.
(34:08):
We're getting away from paper. We're doing a lot to
cut the waste.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
What should people know, Doctor McCarey, and he's the head
of the FDA, came on the show for years before
he was the head of the FDA. What is the
absolute latest on the COVID shot. I know there's been
I think you came on right after the decision was
made not to recommend it necessarily for young people that
(34:33):
is very young. Where are we now? I don't even
know what booster people are on. But for people out
there who have kids, I know there's a lot of
concern about the number of shots that they're getting, a
lot of examination of what is necessary, what is not.
What would you say parents should know about that?
Speaker 5 (34:51):
Well, eighty five percent of healthcare workers said no to
the last COVID booster last fall, and I should tell
you something. You know, maybe there's a high risk group
where it makes sense. We're gonna tell folks to talk
to their doctor. The government is not your doctor. But
are we going to just blindly rubber stamp COVID boosters
(35:11):
for young, healthy teenagers every year in perpetuity, such that
a ten year old girl today is going to get
sixty more COVID shots once every year for the rest
of our lifetime. No, we're not going to do that
without some clinical trials supporting that theory. So we're getting
back to gold standard science and I think people appreciate it.
(35:32):
We've outlined our whole framework for COVID vaccines in the
New England Journal of Medicine, and we're being very transparent
about it. It's not we're not doing deals with companies.
We're being very public and transparent about everything and I
think if we can do this everything well, if we
can cut the red tape, be transparent, show humility, we
can see cures for type one diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders,
(35:56):
and we can get to a universal flu shot for EXIS,
which is something in the works in early development, so
we don't have to guess every year what the strain
is going to be.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Dodger McCarey, we appreciate the time, and we appreciate all
the work that you're doing. Have a fantastic weekend and
we'll have you on again soon. Don't hesitate to reach
out anytime. We can help get the message out that
you think is important.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Great. Good to be with you guys. Thanks so much,
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Buck Sexton
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