senator duckworth and senator matthews. >> thank you, senator blumenthal and aloha to all of you. i served with senator jeff sessions throughout my time in the senate, and i respect him as a colleague. but i have deep concerns about how senator sessions would use his prosecutorial discretion as attorney general to address a number of critical issues. during his confirmation hearing, i pressed senator sessions for a commitment to vigorously protect every citizen's right to vote, particularly with regard to section 2 of the voting rights act, which safeguards americans from discriminatory voting laws. he did not give me a satisfactory answer that he would scrutinize states voting laws for discriminatory effect. i also asked senator sessions whether he would honor the department of justice's consent

decrees that address police misconduct and enhanced accountability. senator sessions did not adequately assure me that his department would uphold these agreements without revisiting or renegotiating these agreements. i pressed senator sessions for a commitment to defend roe v. wade in federal court and to enforce laws that guarantee the constitutionally protected right for a woman to choose. but senator sessions did not disavow his past comments that roe v. wade was one of the worst supreme court decisions ever made. and he does not acknowledge that that decision has a constitutional basis. should the supreme court be presented with a case that gives them the opportunity to overturn roe v. wade, i asked senator sessions whether what he would direct his solicitor general to

do. whether he would direct the solicitor general to go in and argue for overturning roe v. wade. he said that was a hypothetical and that he would not be responding. that was not reassuring to me at all. over the past two months, i've heard from hundreds of my constituents and a number of prominent civil rights organizations, including a number of them who testified yesterday before the judiciary committee. after all of this, i will vote against the nomination of jeff sessions to serve as our attorney general. i am deeply concerned about how he would use his prosecutorial discretion to protect voting rights, civil rights and a woman's right to choose. now we turn to senator tammy duckworth.

>> thank you, senator hirano. thank you for being here. as an american living with disabilities, my life isn't like many of my colleagues in congress. getting around can be difficult. you saw what i had to do to get into this room today. i can't always get into restaurants or other public spaces, and i have to spend a lot of time planning on how to get from one place to another. and i understand that not everyone thinks about these things and for most of my adult life, i didn't either. but after i became injured in combat during my service in iraq, i learned how important the protections of laws like the americans with disabilities act and individuals with disabilities edges act adisabil s education act to ensuring they can live and thrive with dignity. without them, americans like me wouldn't be able to get to work, go to school, hold a job, pay taxes, go shopping or do any of the things people take for granted.

and that's why i'm speaking out today because it matters deeply to me who the attorney general of the united states is. the attorney general is charged with protecting disability rights and deciding whether to enforce or erode the protections countless americans depend on. in the critical areas of health care, education, employment, voting and others. and we have a nominee who has a record of speaking against disability issues. he's called the protections for people with disabilities, and i quote, unnecessary and even, and i quote, dangerous. he called laws requiring public schools to accommodate students with disabilities, and i quote, the single most irritating problem for teachers throughout america today. he voted against expanding hate crime protection to people with disabilities. the hate crime against an 18-year-old man with disabilities recently in chicago should remind us hate is not limited to any skin color and that civil rights laws from hate

crimes to voting rights to dus ab disability rights protects us all. it's important for americans to understand that disability rights is a civil rights issue, and it's an issue that my lawyer, the attorney general of the united states, should be committed to advancing. and if senator sessions is confirmed, i am deeply concerned about what will happen to citizens with disabilities, to citizens with different racial backgrounds, to citizens with different sexual orientations and to other marginalized americans. thank you for coming here today. and i will now be joined by -- >> more democratic senators announcing their opposition to the confirmation of senator jeff sessions to become the nation's next attorney general. it still looks like an uphill struggle for democrats. the republicans have the majority in the united states senate. we're watching that. two of the most important jobs in the new administration, or at least in the world, are front and center behind us up on

capitol hill right now as the u.s. senate takes up the nominations of retired marine corps general james mattis on your left for defense secretary under president-elect donald trump. and kansas republican congressman mike pompeo. he's on your right to become the next director of the central intelligence agency. the morning hearing, before the senate armed services committee and before the senate intelligence committee, both men took positions distinct from the president-elect. highly suspicious of russia, wholeheartedly supportive of the u.s. intelligence community. congressman pompeo's hearing is set to resume in closed session any moment now. just moments ago, the armed services panel approved a waiver that general mattis needs to become the defense chief since he's only been out of uniform for three years, less than the seven years that is part of the law. that waiver passed the senate armed services committee. expected to pass the full senate

and house of representatives as well. also today, a key hearing on the domestic front. ben carson went before the senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee over his nomination to become the secretary of housing and urban development. and later this afternoon, all the senators are due to meet behind closed doors for classified briefing on russian interference, cyberattacks, if you will, in the u.s. election. right now, i want all of our viewers here in the united states and around the world to hear directly from three of donald trump's critically important nominees, general mattis, congressman pompeo and attorney general nominee jeff sessions expressing sharp differences with the president-elect himself. >> it is an imperfect arms control agreement, not a friendship treaty. but when america gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies. >> with respect to iran, we must be objective in assessing the

progress made under the joint comprehensive plan of action. while i opposed the iran deal as a member of congress, if confirmed, my role will change. >> we have a long list of times we've tried to engage positively with russia. we have a relatively short list of successes in that regard. and i think right now, the most important thing is that we recognize the reality of what we deal with with mr. putin and we recognize that he is trying to break the north atlantic alliance. >> it's pretty clear about what took place here. about russian involvement in efforts to hack information and to have an impact on american democracy. i'm very clear about what that intelligence report says. >> my view is that nations with allies thrive and nations without allies don't. and so i would see us maintaining the strongest possible relationship with nato. i have had discussions with him on this issue. he has shown himself open even to the point of asking more

questions and going deeper into the issue about why i feel so strongly. and he understands where i stand. i can tell you in my many years of involvement in the military, i had a close relationship with the intelligence community. i could -- sometimes on a daily basis, and i have very high degree of confidence in our intelligence community. >> if you were ordered by the president to restart the cia's use of enhanced interrogation techniques that fall outside of the army field manual, would you comply? >> senator, absolutely not. >> congress has taken an action now. it makes it absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture in the united states by our military and by all our other departments and agencies. >> important words from

important nominees for key cabinet positions. i want to bring in our panel. cnn political commentator symone sanders, former national press secretary for bernie sanders campaign. cnn political commentator kayly mcenany, conservative contributor for the hill, our chief political correspondent dana bash, our chief political analyst gloria borger, our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto and cnn military analyst cedric lleyton, retired u.s. air force colonel, retired joint chiefs of staff. your reaction. first you heard general mattis, former military command ecentral command, nato supreme allied commander say, he's willing to stand up, take a position, even if he disagrees with the president-elect of the united states. and the president-elect apparently is okay with that. >> which is great for the people in uniform. also great for the intelligence community because what it says is they are going to be people in positions of great responsibility, such as secretary of defense, who are going to have their back.

and that means a lot to the rank and file members of both the military and the intelligence communities. >> and jim sciutto, you heard congressman pompeo, who is nom nated to become the cia director, make it clear he has no great love for putin or for russia and he's very forceful in underlining that. >> two points. one, i said it earlier and it bears repeating. every national security nominee feels the need to express confidence in this country's intelligence services to counter the message that have been repeated almost on a daily basis coming from the president-elect. that's a remarkable thing. being drawn out by both democratic and republican lawmakers. the other point and i had the same thought after watching rex tillerson yesterday. these nominees are outlining a mainstream u.s. foreign policy. on nato, reaffirming that commitment. on russia. russia on china, et cetera. some important adjustments. and the adjustiments if anythin

are to be tough or russia, tougher on china. those run counter to donald trump. his public position still after his election. that sets up genuine substantive disagreements with his chief national security appointees. how is that resolved? >> and the question that i have is whether donald trump, now that he's going to have his own people there, even though they disagree with what his stated policy quite clearly was during the campaign, that if he has pompeo over at the cia and general mattis and he has kelly and -- >> general kelly for homeland security. >> will he have more faith in the intelligence they present him or the world view in mattis' case, that he presents him than he would have from people who were in any way shape or form affiliated with the administration that came before. lots of people have made the point, and i think rightly so,

that the people in office now are career people. and should be trusted in the same way. but knowing donald trump, the question is, and maybe kayleigh, you can answer this. the question is, once he has his people there and they are his, will he feel differently about these issues because he trusts them? >> i think, gloria, that's exactly right. a big problem that donald trump has had with the intelligence community is that these are obama's guys. that's been part of his mind-set. he looks and seess during the campaign, the congressional committee come out and say centcom has falsified some intelligence to paint a rosier picture of the war against isis to please the president. when donald trump sees reports like that, it destabilizes his belief in the intelligence community. but i think you were spot on. when his own guys take the reins, he'll have the career intelligence people beneath them but when his guys are in charge, he'll believe there's the accountability --

>> even when his guys disagree with his stated views during the campaign and he's forced to accept what they are now putting forward? >> i think so. you rightfully pointed in the last hour to an important moment and that's when general mattis met with donald trump and changed his views on waterboarding. and donald trump came out of that meeting and said he convinced me the efficacy of waterboarding may not be what i previously thought. if i know anything about donald trump and my interactions with him, he's someone who listens and materializes your thoughts and takes them into consideration and alters his point of view when the facts demand it. >> can i take issue with that? there's a point you hear once his guys or women take over. i want to tell you what the intelligence community feels about that view. the idea that they work for a president or party is one that is an athemma to them. they are leaders who have served republican and democratic presidents. jim clapper goes back 40-some

odd years. mike rogers is an admiral. served both administrations. from their point of view, i can't make a judgment as to whether they're biased or not. they delivered what they believed to be their best analysis to presidents and administrations, whether republican or democrat. and, frankly, when you speak to the ic, the people in the intelligent community, they don't have a dynamic where it's, i'm his guy. they don't want that. they want to be -- they want to do their job because it's -- because they believe it's their best analysis of the intelligence. and i also think there's a dynamic there that can become dangerous that you'll only believe it because then it becomes, what's if they tell you information that's uncomfortable for you. how do you react? >> kayleigh, to your point, it's interesting you brought up the centcom falseification of intel because what that issue is is really people trying to be careerists within the intel community or within the military

and they are trying to paint a rosy picture for their boss, the centcom commander who then goes to the big boss and says, hey, these are the things going on. just like you want. that's the kind of stuff that you want to avoid. you want to have people at every level who speak truth to power. this is a very encouraging, i think, when you see these appointments that say we're going to speak truth to mr. trump, mr. pence, to everybody in the administration. but the issue that you have to look at is how are they going to do this at levels below this? and that's where you have to really be careful. >> everybody stand by. there's a lot going on. right behind us up on capitol hill, the testimony is continuing. we're going to resume our special coverage right after a quick break. if you have medicare

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this is cnn breaking news. >> there's breaking news coming in to cnn. the inspector general of the department of justice has just launched a full-scale investigation of the justice department. the fbi's handling of investigations into the hillary clinton private e-mail server, among other issues. our justice correspondent pamela brown is joining us right now. pretty startling development, pamela. tell our viewers what's you've learned. >> this is the watchdog of the justice department releasing the statement today saying that he will investigate pre-election actions taken by the fbi, as well as the department of justice involving the investigation into hillary clinton's private e-mail server and some of the allegations of misconduct. this request came from both democratic and republican lawmakers on capitol hill. we were expecting this to happen given all of these lawmakers who have come out and asked for this

investigation to take place. and i'm just going to run through some of the allegations the inspector general says that he will be looking into. one of the allegations is that the department or fbi policies or procedures were not followed in connection with or in actions leading up to or related to the fbi director's public announcement in july that you'll recall when he said there was not probable cause to prosecute hillary clinton. and he also said the director's letter to congress on october 28th and november 6th and that certain rnd lying investigate of decisions were baseod improper considerations. that's referring to the letter from director comey to capitol hill saying that essentially the hillary clinton investigation will resume baseod new information that came to light. the inspector general will be looking at the circumstances surrounding that letter. and it goes on to list an allegation that the fbi deputy director should have been recused from participating in any invest gaigative matters.

mckabe is the deputy director of the fbi and the inspector general will look at allegations the department's assistant attorney general for legislative affairs improperly disclosed nonpublic information to the clinton campaign. he was the former attorney for john podesta. of course, clinton's campaign chairman. and wikileaks release of stolen documents through wikileaks shows communication through the assistant attorney general and john podesta. that's another part of this investigation by the inspector general. also a couple more allegations to look into that the department and fbi employees were improperly disclosed nonpublic information and allegations that decisions regarding the timing of freedom of information act requests coming out just before the election and on the fbi's twitter account as you may recall regarding the marc rich investigation, the circumstances surrounding that. so these are the allegations listed in this statement from the department of justice's watchdog. and he also goes on to say here, wolf, that as this review goes on, there is a possibility that

the inspector general will look into other allegations, perhaps extending over to donald trump's campaign. so it could include matters beyond just what happened surrounding the clinton private e-mail server investigation. but certainly big news here, wolf. and we've reached out to the fbi. but we have not received any statement from the fbi or department of justice on this news that the watchdog will be investigating pre-election actions taken by both agencies, wolf. >> that's a pretty startling development if you are the fbi director james comey. all of a sudden, you are learning, pamela, the inspector general of the department of justice is going to investigate how you went public with all the information surrounding the hillary clinton e-mails, whether or not she should have been charged. but specifically 11 days before the election going forward and saying, we're going to take another look. we're re-opening it because of the anthony weiner issue that all of a sudden came forward.

then a couple days before the election they said never mind. it's a startling potential rebuke of the sitting fbi director james comey. you got to read it like that, i assume. >> and as you recall at the time, he was strongly criticized from politicians, frankly on both sides of the aisle, because he made a decision that was breaking with department of justice precedent which is not to publicly get involved with matters so close to an election that could be politically sensitive. and, of course, this was incredibly politically sensitive because it had to do with an investigation involving the democratic presidential candidate. and he as we know announced that he would be looking at this new information that came to light through the anthony weiner investigation and in a sense, reopening that investigation. now in his defense, what he says at the time, what the fbi said at the time was he was following through on a promise that he had made to congress that he would keep them apprised of any new

information that came to light. and we know there were several meetings and leading up to that decision, but ultimately, the director of the fbi felt like he wanted to kind of go his own way and not agree with attorney general lynch and others within the justice department who warned him to not do this. he said regardless, he was going to release this information of publicly. that will be under scrutiny as well as the press conference that comey held in july which was unprecedented coming out and saying that there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute hillary clinton, but that what she did was irresponsible and reckless and with the classified information that was found on her private server. so that will also be looked at. and just other broad allegations that have come to light from both republican and again democrat lawmakers who have been calling for this as recently as a few days ago. jason chaffetz said that he still wanted an investigation

into the private e-mail server. so there have been these ongoing calls and now the watchdog of the department of justice is saying that he will indeed look into these allegations and launch this investigation. >> and do we know why the inspector general of the department of justice, michael horowitz, said he wants to review allegations that the fbi deputy director should have been recused from participating in certain investigative matters? do we know what the allegation here is? >> yes, as i recall it was because his wife was involved in political matters. and as a result, he should have recused himself because of his relationship with his wife. he should have never been on board with the investigation. but it's important to note, she was no longer running for -- in politics when he took on a role in the investigation at that time. he was leading the fbi washington field office and then after she had left politics, he then went over to the fbi bureau

to take part in this investigation. that is what the fbi has said. but as you can see here, it's an allegation that something that the inspector general will be looking into, whether he should have recused himself regardless, wolf. >> and the other allegation that the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs should have recused himself as well. allegations that he improperly disclosed nonpublic information to the clinton campaign and/or should have been recused from participating in certain matters because of what political contributions that this individual may have made to the hillary clinton campaign? was that the assertion? >>assertion was there were communications between the doj employee, the department's assistant attorney general for legislative affairs and john podesta because he was john podesta's former attorney years ago. and some communications came to light where he gave -- one of the e-mails is where he gave

podesta a heads-up about a hearing that would involve the clinton emalinvestigation. i don't recall the other communications. but at the time it was under scrutiny and criticized there was any communication between the department of justice and clinton's campaign chairman at a time when the department of justice was investigating her use of a private e-mail server. wolf? >> all right, pamela brown, with the breaking news. gloria borger, dana bash, jim sciutto, our whole team over here. it's sort of a very significant development because you don't know. you open up an inspector general investigation like this, it can go for a week. it can go for a month, a year. you don't know where it ends up. in that last line, the inspector general will consider other issues that may arise during the course of the review. once you open up an investigation like this, it can go anywhere. >> i think this is an agency that may be trying to get its reputation back, wolf. during the campaign, there were lots of issues as pamela brown just outlined.

not only about what comey said last july in extemporaneously commenting about hillary clinton's behavior, even though he had decided not to prosecute her, which is really out of the realm of the usual. and then the follow-up letter saying we're going to reopen the investigation and then closing it -- closing it down again. if you talk to the clinton people, they believe this was deposative in their loss of the election. i think that the inspector general is doing what an inspector general should do. they are the watchdog. they are trying to make sure that the people respect the fbi. and that the fbi plays by its own rules. and i think this is an agency that has been damaged by what occurred during the campaign. and there clearly have been requests for investigations. and i think that playing it out internally and having an independent watchdog investigate

this is probably better from their point of view than having jason chaffetz do it on capitol hill publicly. so in the end, if i were in the fbi, i would probably welcome this because there was a lot of internal dissent at the time. as we all know, about just how this unfolded. >> and let's be honest. although people who are running oversight committees in congress take their jobs very seriously, they are partisan, and they are led by republicans now who don't have a political interest in finding out what really happened at the fbi. this is the inspector general's job as you said. this is why that department exists within the fbi and many other government agencies to make insure that they are on the straight and narrow. but talk about picking at a scab which is maybe not even remotely beginning to heal, politically, i'm talking about, about this whole election that this is one of the main things that drives

democrats crazy. >> dane a hold on. the white house press secretary josh earnest is being asked about it. let's listen in. >> -- baseod their own knowledge of the facts and hopefully they will follow whatever -- follow the evidence where it leads, if they find any evidence. >> -- not exactly territorial waters but the [ inaudible ]. i wonder if you had a reaction to that and if the u.s. government stepped in in any way to defuse that situation. >> i don't have a formal u.s. government response to that matter to share with you. we can see if there was any reciprocal action or response from the u.s. with regard to that specific operation that was carried out by the chinese navy. what i can tell you is, you know, we have long encouraged both sides to look for ways to

prevent tensions from escalating. and we believe that -- look, one of the goals of our one china policy is to prevent tensions from escalating. both because we don't want tensions abouted that matter to interfere with our ability to work with china on a range of areas where we can make progress together. but also because, obviously, we value our interactions with the taiwanese, including with regard to our training relationship with them. >> we're going to break away from josh earnest. he gave a brief reaction to the department of justice inspector general announcing there will be a full-scale investigation. several matters, largely involving the hillary clinton e-mail server that were investigated and statements made by the fbi director among others during the course of the presidential campaign. i interrupted you, dana. finish your thought. >> just talking about how this is necessary, particularly because the republicans are in charge of congress. and about how this is, you know, very much wanted by democrats,

but depending on what the inspector general finds, it could throw our then will be our president into a tailspin because there is nothing that makes him more crazy, more than suggesting that he didn't win the presidency fair and square. and that there is any question about the legitimacy of his taking office. and so that's why this inspector general's report, which no question, it's hard to imagine it's going to come out in the next week if they do their due diligence, will come out when he's already in office, is going to be fascinating. >> just to echo dana's point. we already have and we've been talking about it for days and weeks, this russia question. the interference in the election. the question, did it influence the election? the intelligence community has not made a judgment on that but a portion of the country believes it did. and that clearly riles the president-elect and his supporters. now you have this. which democrats have been claiming for some time. that comey interfered

improperly. and both of those things are going to continue as issues. you're going to have hearings, talk of sanctions on russia, cyberresponses, that's going to continue for weeks and months. this investigation is going to continue for months on two fronts. i should note that to be fair, it's not just about that, right? because it also talks about possible -- not bad behavior but improper behavior by the assi assistant a.g. sharing information with the clinton campaign. but then, with all investigations, think of whitewater. it may have startod one front. it gives that open-ended understand there saying and we may look into other issues. >> how does this affect james comey as he does his job? he's early on into a ten-year term. >> he's got seven years to go. >> but he's one of the key people in the group advising the president-elect on all kinds of issues, particularly national security, as in the russia hack.

and the question is how do the democrats relate to james comey while he's under investigation, and what does he have to recuse himself from going forward given the fact that the ig is investigating him? >> i want to get symone and kayleigh's reaction. >> not a day ago, director comey said, i would never comment on investigations whether we have one in open forum. i had the big eye emoji like, were you not here during the election? so i definitely think this is needed. director comey broke precedent and democrats want to get to the bottom of this. we were begging director comey to come out with proper information. he dragged his feet. he will tell you he doesn't have a political bone in his body and is politically aloof. now there are consequences for your actions. i hope the inspector general comes up with something. >> the fbi drctor gets a bad wrap when it comes to the october left. one is to not interfere with the

election and one is to update his congressional testimony. and we know the irs chief was in trouble for not updating congress with regard to his testimony. he didn't want to fall victim to that. he was in an unenviable position and received criticism from republicans in july, crit sump fr criticism from democrats in november and we'll emerge from this unscathed. more breaking news coming in. donald trump's pick for secretary of defense, general james mattis faced some very tough questions from the senators in his confirmation hearing but also, he got some kind words. >> members of the committee, this man, jim mattis, brings to the job of the secretary of defense a great and brave heart. and i hope you will vote to confirm him quickly. >> the former defense secretary william cohen is here with us. we'll talk about general mattis'

hearing right after a quick break.

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youthat's why you drink ensure. sidelined. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. welcome back. we've been watching the confirmation hearing of retired u.s. marine corps general james mattis. he's president-elect donald

trump's choice to become the next secretary of defense. general matt sis the former has of the u.s. military's central command. formernato supreme allied commander. also very well respected here in washington. here's some of the highlights from the hearing starting with the issue of the united states dealing with russia. >> russia, to quote the chairman's opening statement, has chosen to be a strategic competitor. they are an adversary in key areas. and while we should always engage and look for areas of cooperation and even in the worst years of the cold war, president reagan, secretary schultz were able to work with russia, the soviet union at that time and reduce the nuclear weapons. so i'm all for engagement. but we also have to recognize reality and what russia is up to. and there's a decreasing number of areas where we can engage cooperatively and an increasing number of areas where we're going to have to confront

russia. we have to deliver a very hard blow against isis in the middle east so that there's no sense of invulnerability or invincibility there. there's got to be a military defeat of them there, but it must, as you point out, be a much broader approach. this requires an integrated strategy so you don't squeeze them in one place and then they develop in another. and we really are right back to square one. we've got to have an integrated strategy on this. and it's got to be one that goes after the recruiting and their fund-raising, as well as delivering a military blow against them in the middle east. i'd see us maintaining the strongest possible relationship with nato. >> thank you. and are you concerned about some of the statements that president-elect trump has made with respect to our historic european allies and to nato and how -- have you had a chance to have discussions with him, and how confident are you that he

recognizes what you have just said about the importance of those relationships? >> senator, i have had discussions with him on this issue. he has shown himself open, even to the point of asking more questions, going deeper into the issue about why i feel so str g strongly. he understands where i stand. >> do you plan to oppose women serving in these combat roles? >> i have no plan to oppose women in any aspect of our military. because the u.s. military is devoted to be in the top in its game in a competition where second place is last place, we should not simply be turning to the military because it's a very capable military, because it's well led. it's now a national treasure. i'm the first to admit that. but it doesn't mean we should be turning to the military to answer all of our concerns in our relations with the world. >> let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr.

what's the immediate reaction from top u.s. military commanders to this nomination of general mattis to become the civilian leader at the department of defense, the secretary of defense? >> secretary of defense after serving some 45 years or so, just a little under that, in the u.s. marine corps. one of the most plainspoken generals out there and up and down the halls of the pentagon today, as people listened to this hearing, it was the jim mattis that they know. especially on the question of russia. general mau general mattis being a little diplomatic there but differed from donald trump. this is a general who has no rose-colored glasses about russia or about vladimir putin. and let's look at this, why it's so important. it's not just politics. it's not just washington rhetoric. this is the man who will be advising president trump about when and if to send u.s. troops overseas. and he is skeptical about russia. there's no question about it. and the current joint chairman

of the joint chiefs of staff, general dunford, also a marine, a long time friend of general mattis, also skeptical about russia. general dunford has called russia's behafr alarming, a threat to the united states and it doesn't stop there, wolf. earlier today, we saw the nominee to be cia director, mike pompeo, very clear eyed about russia's cyberactivities. and the man coming up to be the director of national intelligence, former senator dan coats, already banned by the russians from coming back into that country because of his support for sanctions. so where we are today is the table has been set. four of donald trump's most key military and national security advisers having very sober minded views, very cautionary views about russia and vladimir putin. >> very traditional u.s. views, as well. barbara, thanks very much. i want to bring in the former

defense secretary william cohen who is with us. he introduced general mattis at his confirmation hearing this morning. a vote of confidence for you. even though he's only been out for three years. supposed to be out for seven years. he'll get a waiver to become the defense secretary. are you comfortable with a military man taking over what is civilian leadership? >> i'm comfortable with this military man taking over the leadership as the civilian head. i've known human fim for years. i've watched him in the military and out of the military. he is a -- not only a warrior but a scholar. and the combination of his humanity and that's what i wanted the committee to really focus on is who he is as a human, as his character reveals. he's somebody that the military men and women love because he loves them and will take care of them. and i believe that he has the objectivity to give the president-elect objective advice. i want to come back to the -- >> on the objective advice. he clearly is not afraid to say

to the president-elect, you're wrong. here's what's i believe. if he has to stand oup issues like cyberattack issues. >> he serves at the pleasure at the president. whether it's rex till aerson at state moor mattis at dod. whatever their views are, they either have to persuade the president he's wrong or make the accommodation saying, i made my best case and i wasn't successful but i support this president and will do whatever i can to make it better. those are the choices. not whether general mattis has a negative opinion toward russia. >> you were bill clinton's secretary of defense. i assume you had to face those choices. sometimes he agreed with you. sometimes he said, you're wrong. >> i think on two occasions we disagreed. >> that's all? >> only on two occasions. >> did he win out on both

occasions? >> they were minor concessions i had to make. he's the president. whoever is the president gets to decide. and one of the problems that i have with what's now happening and what's descending over washington once again is a notion of, why does president-elect trump have such a bromance with president putin. and it comes back to the issue there has not been full disclosure. i think there have to be three questions asked. number one, what do you own? number two, how much do you owe? number three, to whom do you owe it? those three issues, if you answer that, and that means tax returns. tell the american people what you have or who you owe and how much. unless you do that, they are going to continue to be clouds saying, how come we have such a relationship between the president-elect and president putin? there's something going on. and that's something that's going on will start to filter out in rumor, speculation, totally unfounded allegations and so forth. and what's most distressing to

me, i don't want to see another cloud descend on the presidency. we're a week away, a few days away and back into what happened to president bush when he got elected, 43. suddenly, unless 9/11 came along, we were going to question whether or not the bush presidency was authentic? did he win legitimately, et cete cetera. i don't want doubt i don't think it's going to happen until you have full disclosure. >> jim sciutto is with us, do you think the president-elect is ready to disclose the insurance you want. >> bus not disclosing any of those tax returns because they're under audit. >> frankly if he wants to dispel the cloud of suspicion, if we want him to succeed we have to

understand it why is it that you have this relationship with russia. i agree with general mattis. i have traveled to russia on multiple occasions i want to establish a mutually beneficial relationship. you can only do it not only on vladimir putin's terms, but on both. >> there could be a cloud hanging over this new president of the united states unless he discloses fully the relationship he has with the russians. >> we saw this yesterday with a somewhat unorthodox i'm not a lawyer, ranarrangements of withholding. so it's going to continue to be a question whether the president-elect likes it or not.

and does he come out with definitive statements, right? i 100% believe the russians are responsible. >> does the president-elect feel compelled to do that? doesn't appear so yet, but we'll see. >> a lot of people are doing to be saying, what are are you insinuating. >> there have been years with presidential candidates, here are my debt, to whom i'm indebted. and that lend itself to skepticism and cynicism. and i want to go back to what

dana was making and the intelligence issues, you have to take it out of the hands of the republicans. >> it's not that you have to, it's that i don't think they're actually going do it. >> but because of it being a partisan type of -- >> i think if it's partisan they should investigate. >> up on the hill that's all -- that to me has been frustrating. i served ten years for the intelligence committee while i was on the hill. it was bi partisan. so now we not only have a question of whether they are legitimate, but can we trust the intelligence community? that puts us in a crises of waiting to come out with the fuel agenda, was there improper

influence, did the fbi really n inject -- and we're only eight days away from the president-elect becoming president. >> look, this president said he was going to come in and drain the swamp. we're not sure exactly what that means and we'll see how it goes forward but there's a connecter in what we are talking about whether in foreign policy or his business interests it's so obvious but bears saying out loud, he's never done this before like anything like this however he's a man who comes from a place who's had huge success that hopefully it's going to be a learning curve. >> that speaks well for people like tillerson, suchliassuming

going to get confirmed and general mattis assuming he's going to get confirmed to sit him down and say, listen, this is what we need to do. >> you were part of the last -- which had a dramatic chairman and a republican chairman. could that happen? >> it could so-but probably will not. >> same sure he's listening, so we'll see if he follows through. after a quick break we'll continue our special coverage of the breaking news the inspector general of the u.s. justice department launching a full investigation of the justice department and the fbi that and much more right after this break.

all right: here we go top of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin, what a week in washington, we've been watching donald trump's picks and hearings, the internal watchdog has launched an investigation exactly how the fbi and the justice department handled the information into hillary clinton's e-mail server. let's hand it to pamela