Blumenthal pushes for Fed. government to restore health funding over bird flu concerns
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) —U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and the state department of public health are pushing to restore funding for federal health agencies amid concerns over recent bird flu cases.
It comes as the Trump Administration eliminates hundreds of jobs at the CDC, National Institutes of Health and more.
'The time to prevent a public health disaster is now,' Blumenthal said. 'Let's be very clear: the potential for an H5-N1 major outbreak in Connecticut and across the country is real and present – the disease is spreading.'
Bird flu detected in New Haven County
So far, there have been no outbreaks in commercial flocks in Connecticut, only backyard cases. Still, state health leaders are concerned about possible mutations.
Connecticut Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani weighed in during Wednesday's news conference.
'We pride ourselves on being able to do the preparation – which we've been doing for over a year, for the potential threat of human infections,' Juthani said.
Senator Blumenthal told reporters the H7N9 virus is different from the H5N1 strand of bird flu and would be a potential threat to humans.
'Think about the human consequences of allowing Avian Flu to mutate and spread among human beings; the tremendous cost to society in monetary resources and human suffering,' said Blumenthal.
State health officials provided an update saying the threat level is low. 'That risk being low is where we want to keep it,' said Juthani.
Senator Blumenthal sent a letter to the Trump Administration urging for action, saying federal spending cuts are impacting researchers' ability to do their jobs ahead of a crisis.
'This nation is about as unready and unprepared as it was for COVID, which is a searing indictment of public health policy or lack of policy. Red states, blue states, they're all at risk. They all have poultry and livestock where outbreaks have occurred,' said Blumenthal.
News 8 reached out to the White House for comment. They have not gotten back to us yet.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Newsom Formally Asks Trump to Pull National Guard Out of L.A.
Stepping up his confrontation with the White House, Gov. Gavin Newsom demanded on Sunday that President Trump pull California National Guard troops off the streets and away from the demonstrations unfolding in Los Angeles. Mr. Newsom asserted on X that the deployment order was 'unlawful' and called on the Trump administration to return the command of the guard to his office. It is extremely rare for a president to call up a state's National Guard troops without the permission of that state's governor for the purpose of quelling unrest or enforcing the law. In California, the adjutant general of the state National Guard is appointed by the governor. 'Rescind the order,' Mr. Newsom wrote Sunday on X. 'Return control to California.' Read the Letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office sent a letter by email to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth objecting to the deployment of California National Guard troops to Los Angeles. The Democratic governor made his demand as protests against the immigration crackdown took place in parts of Los Angeles, marked by clouds of tear gas and confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement. There was no immediate response from the White House. 'We didn't have a problem until Trump got involved,' Mr. Newsom said. 'This is a serious breach of state sovereignty — inflaming tensions while pulling resources from where they're actually needed.' Mr. Trump's attempt to bypass Mr. Newsom's authority and activate the Guard relied on a seldom-used reading of federal law. In signing the order on Saturday, the president cited a provision within Title 10 of the U.S. Code on Armed Services that allows the federal deployment of National Guard forces if 'there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' The last time a president overrode a state governor to activate the National Guard to stop unrest or enforce the law was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to Alabama in 1965 to protect civil rights demonstrators, according to Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. In a letter to Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, David Sapp, the governor's legal affairs secretary, argued there was no need for such an intervention and that the situation was being adequately controlled by local police officers. 'Local law enforcement resources are sufficient to maintain order,' Mr. Sapp told Mr. Hegseth in urging him to rescind the order. 'In dynamic and fluid situations such as the one in Los Angeles, state and local authorities are the most appropriate ones to evaluate the need for resources to safeguard life and property,' Mr. Sapp wrote. He also told Mr. Hegseth that the president's order did not follow the law, which he said requires that deployment orders be issued through a state's governor.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The Mexican Flag Has Become a Potent Protest Symbol
Elizabeth Torres, 36, held a Mexican flag outside the detention center in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning. 'I am a very proud American,' said Ms. Torres, whose grandparents immigrated to the United States. 'But I have to show support also for our Mexican brothers and sisters.' Throughout this weekend's protests, Mexican and other Latin American flags have emerged as protest emblems, which has angered the Trump administration's officials and supporters. Trump officials have cast flag wavers as insurrectionists and seemed to assume that they are not U.S. citizens. Stephen Miller, a top White House adviser, called out ' foreign nationals, waving foreign flags, rioting and obstructing federal law enforcement attempting to expel illegal foreign invaders' in a social media post on Sunday afternoon. But for many protesters who are American citizens, the flag signifies pride in their roots, as well as solidarity with immigrants who are being targeted for deportation. 'They're the children and grandchildren of immigrants,' said Chris Zepeda-Millán, a professor of Chicano studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied the immigrants rights movement in California. 'They have no doubt in their own citizenship or their own belonging here, but they understand the racial undertones of the attacks on immigrants,' he said. 'So you're getting this reaction of 'We're not going to let you make us be ashamed of where our parents and grandparents came from,'' Mr. Zepeda-Millán added. On Saturday afternoon in Paramount, Eric Torres, 30 and no relation to Elizabeth Torres, waved a Mexican flag in front of sheriff's deputies in riot gear. Mr. Torres wore an oversized white T-shirt and baggy jeans, typical attire for many Chicanos in Los Angeles. 'I came out here to support my people and show them where we came from,' Mr. Torres said. 'My parents are immigrants. Most of the people right here have immigrant parents, so I'm here to support, show them our love.' The appearance of foreign flags at immigration protests is not new, nor is the outrage by those who deem it un-American. But American flags have been flown by protesters in Los Angeles, too, as they have in past protests against immigration crackdowns. And in Los Angeles this week, fusions of the American flag with that of another country, such as Mexico or Guatemala, have regularly been seen waving among the demonstrators. Some immigrant coalitions in the past have discouraged the waving of foreign flags, lest it feed anti-immigrant backlash. But Alfonso Gonzales Toribio, an ethnic studies professor at the University of California, Riverside, who has written about Latino immigrant rights movements, said that right now, immigrants 'feel attacked.' He added, 'I don't think we are going to be able to dissuade people' from flying the flag of their homeland. 'It gives people a sense of pride.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Who won the first NYC Democratic mayoral primary debate?
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo won Wednesday night's Democratic mayoral primary debate — because his opponents' relentless attacks did more to elevate him than drag him down, a Post panel of veteran campaign strategists said. The thrice-elected Democrat took some gut punches, but there was no knockout blow or major blunder on his part, the political analysts on both sides of the aisle said. 'I tuned in to see a mayoral debate, not a debate about Andrew Cuomo,' quipped campaign strategist Ken Frydman of the nine-person debate moderated by NBC 4 NY and Politico. 'By making Andrew the debate, they elevated him,' said Frydman. Because Cuomo was constantly under fire, he got more airtime to respond to each jab and by default dominated the more than two-hour debate, the political experts said. 'Everyone tried to land a punch on Andrew Cuomo, but failed,' said campaign strategist O' Brien 'OB' Murray. 'The first 20 minutes gave Cuomo the center stage, literally and figuratively,' he said, referring to the ex-gov's position in the middle of the group of candidates standing on the dais at 30 Rockefeller Center. 'He handled the attacks and was able to deflect. They actually gave him more airtime than they should have,' Murray said. Republican campaign strategist Bill O'Reilly said the verbal pummeling Cuomo received from most of his eight primary rivals does not alter his status as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. 'It was Andrew Cuomo vs. the Lilliputians, and the Lilliputians fell short. That's the bottom line,' O'Reilly said. 'Someone needed to trip up the former governor to slow his momentum, but it was clear from the jump that wouldn't happen. Cuomo hasn't lost a step since leaving Albany, and the field lacked the skill to crack him.' Cuomo also counter-attacked, taking shots at his biggest threats in the polls — 33-year-old Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a state Assembly member from Queens, and City Comptroller Brad Lander. The former governor delivered the best line when he said, '[President] Trump would go through Mamdani like a hot knife through butter,' O'Reilly noted. Frydman said the candidates and moderators did force Cuomo to squirm to defend his record as governor, including his controversial nursing home policy during the COVID-19 pandemic and his approval of the unpopular 2019 bail reforms. They also tried to make him answer for the spate of sexual misconduct accusations leveled against him — which he denied, but which forced his resignation in 2021. Some of the other candidates had 'breakout moments' — including former Bronx Assemblyman Michael Blake, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Mamdani, said political adviser Yvette Buckner. 'That will have voters wanting to learn more about them, their policies and their candidacy,' she said. Frydman too said Adams' performance 'moved the needle' for her campaign, which has been slow to gain momentum despite support from state Attorney General Letitia James. 'She introduced herself to Democratic voters well enough on substance to move up in ranked-choice voting,' he said. But Cuomo's comfortable lead over second-place Mamdani in recent polls should hold, Frydman said. O'Reilly agreed, but said Mamdani remains Cuomo's 'greatest threat' for the nomination in the June 24 primary. Two of the panelists agreed that Lander is competent, but his persona didn't translate on TV. 'He oozes insincerity in a car-salesman-type way,' O'Reilly said. But he said Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie's sincerity came across 'easily,' calling him a rising star in the Democratic Party. Murray concurred, saying Lander has a 'stage presence for radio and a delivery for print. He confirmed why he has his wife and daughter on videos, instead of himself.' Another candidate, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who previously ran for mayor in 2021, didn't break through, the panelists said. 'Stringer was Stringer — flat, and after a second run for mayor, still didn't connect to voters,' Murray said. All but two of the Democratic contenders will debate again on June 12, save for Blake and state Sen. Jessica Ramos, who failed to meet the campaign funding threshold. Nine days of early voting will precede the primary, beginning on June 14.
