News Wrap: Senate Democrats block crypto bill

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines on Capitol Hill, where Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have introduced sweeping regulations for cryptocurrencies.

MAN: Three-fifths of the senator's duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.

AMNA NAWAZ: By a vote of 49 to 50, lawmakers rejected the measure, known as the CLARITY Act, in what's seen as a major setback for the crypto industry.

Democrats had pushed for stronger safeguards to prevent the president and other officials from profiting while in office.

FBI Director Kash Patel defended his handling of the agency during a nearly five-hour Senate hearing today.

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patel was questioned about his firing of experienced agents and the FBI's plans for the midterms.

At one point, he refused to say whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

And he defended the agency's loosening of certain hiring requirements related to prostitution and bestiality.

Patel said the change was about protecting victims, not lowering standards.

KASH PATEL, FBI Director: We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked.

We did not want to make it an automatic disqualification for the FBI to consider you if you are a victim of these awful, heinous acts.