WHEN: Today, Thursday, July 28, 2022
WHERE: CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith”
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Shepard Smith and “The Problem with Jon Stewart” Host Jon Stewart on “The News with Shepard Smith” (M-F, 7PM-8PM ET) today, Thursday, July 28th. Following is a link to video on CNBC.com:
All references must be sourced to CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith”.
SHEPARD SMITH: Jon Stewart’s here. He is the host of “The Problem with Jon Stewart” on Apple TV+ these days. Longtime activist for veterans and first responders. Right now, he’s in the parking lot of the NSA. John, you said today you’re used to the hypocrisy of Congress but not the cruelty. Is this a new low as you see it?
JON STEWART: You know, in my experience in all this and listen, there’s as you remember from the fight during the 9/11 act, which you were very instrumental in, you know, we’re used to having to cajole and push. There’s a level of cruelty I’ve never seen. They passed it on June 16th. I mean these folks had worked for more than a decade to get the recognition that sleeping next to 10-acre pits filled with everything that an army can discard and covered in jet fuel and burning 24 hours, seven days a week might not be good for you.
SMITH: Yeah. You know, they’re worried, Pat Toomey says he’s worried about the misappropriating or misusing the money. He knows very well, they’ve got a $60 billion slush fund that the military works in there every year that has no accountability at all. And he’s also aware that these people are sick and the burn pits are the reason why so what’s the rub?
STEWART: Well, let me also address the idea that it can be misappropriated. It it can’t, you know, the bill itself prescribes what the money is to be spent for and every year the VA Secretary has to present to the House and to the Senate to the appropriators, right. They, both places have appropriations committees, he has to present to them what his appropriations are for that year, and the money can’t be spent. It’s not a slush fund. It’s designed for the health care and benefits for those who had been exposed to the toxic wounds of war. So it’s just a lie. Now Toomey says he wants to force it. He doesn’t want his amendment to have a vote because they’ve offered it a vote. They’d offered his amendment, which is a poison pill amendment. They’ve offered it a vote at the same threshold that the VSOs had to overcome for cloture. And Toomey is saying is, no no no, I want it unanimous consent just in the bill.
SMITH: Well, while they’re, while they’re doing this though John, veterans with cancer are sick and some are dying. What are you hearing from them?
STEWART: Shep, it’s heartbreaking. It’s utterly heartbreaking. You know, a lot of these folks are already living in three-month increments. Basically, they live scan to scan. They get a good scan, hey man, that’s three months that I’m gonna feel pretty good about myself maybe go through my treatments, till the next scan. The idea that the Senate is so removed from the day to day real lives of their constituents and those that they purport to honor remember this the veteran community. This is the community that they stand and they waved the flag and they support the troops and they’ve got the flag pins. But when it comes down to it, they betrayed them. This is a betrayal. This bill passed, it passed the House and it passed the Senate. There was a technical fix. It was one sentence it had to do with rural doctors being converted into VA sort of urgent care facilities so that veterans who live far from a VA facility could have some access. But for some reason, that was deemed a provisional measure of taxation or of profit and so if it didn’t originate in the House, the Senate couldn’t vote on it first. It’s all nonsense Shep. You understand this. It’s all parliamentary nonsense at the expense of the real lives of those that fought and are now dying for this country. And by the way and the media, you know, they’re not great with this stuff either. If bombs are falling somewhere, they’ll be there 24/7. But when it comes to the silent suffering here at home, it’s much harder to get coverage and I just wish we covered it with the same urgency that we cover the conflicts with.
SMITH: Jon Stewart, a warrior for the warriors. Thank you.
