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tv   Shepard Smith Reporting  FOX News  January 12, 2017 12:00pm-1:01pm PST

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seat. i was able to see her head. i just reach in, grab her, and pull her out. >> heather: the woman did not suffer any serious injuries. see you tomorrow. here's shep. >> shepard: breaking news on fox news channel, 3:00 and the united states senate is voting right now on allowing a waiver for the retired general james mattis, "mad dog" mattis as the president-elect e calls him and his friends do, to serve as the defense secretary. you may know by now, under current law pentagon chiefs must be out of uniform for at least seven years. that's the rule. but general mattis left the military in the year 2013. the senate armed services committee passed the waiver earlier today. the word was they would most likely vote on it in a full senate either tonight or tomorrow most likely. instead, they fast tracked this and the vote is under way right now. how long will it fake?
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as you can see, as is often the case, look around the room, it's not like there are a lot of peep in there. they have a lot going on at the moment. this is often the case. not unusual occurrence. they come, in cast their vote and go about doing their business of the day. it's businessy capitol hill right now. jennifer griffin is watching this along with us. and we thank her for her contributions. this is out of the order but not unprecedented. >> well, it is out of the order in the sense that it's the first time in 67 years that the defense department would ask for a waiver for a general to serve in a typically a civilian role, defense secretary. the last time it happened was when harry trueman was president and he asked that george s. marshall be allowed to be the defense secretary even though he had not been retired seven years. as ulgs way the tradition in terms of a cooling-off period. what is happening right now, shepard, on the senate floor,
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they are going to need 60 votes in order to approve that waiver that general mattis would need to serve as the defense secretary. the civilian head of the military. my understanding is they do not expect to have any trouble getting that. then you will expect the house to vote. and i'm told that they will likely vote tomorrow before they recess. congress leaves tomorrow until january 20. and they do not want to leave this very important position of defense secretary open. they want to have it settled before the inauguration. >> shepard: thank you, we'll get back there when there's a decision you'll know it. breaking this afternoon, the justice department watch dogs will investigate how the debt and f.b.i. handled hillary clinton's e-mail issue before the presidential election. the justice department inspector general announcing that he will review whether the f.b.i. director followed policy including how the bureau investigated secretary clinton and then told the public about it, two separate matters n july
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the f.b.i. director james comey recommended no charges against secretary clinton. for how she dealt with the classified materials as secretary of state. then in late october, he announced that the bureau was reopening the investigation only to then announce two days before the election that investigators had found nothing. he no doubt caught a caught a lot ofity sism for going public. the department of justice inspector general will look into it. the chief intelligence correspondence is live in washington with more about this investigation. >> well, shem pardon, the justice department independent watchdog is investigating whether rules and procedures were broken by the f.b.i. director what he notified congress in the letter less an week before the election that he was reopening the case after new evidence was found on anthony weiner's computer. the e-mail belonged to the clinton aid. they're looking at the decision to make a public statement, july 5, about the clinton e-mail probe without notifying his chain of command.
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>> although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. >> the investigation is also exploring whether f.b.i. deputy director mccabe should be recused himself from the e-mail case after his wife received nearly a million dollars from democrats, including virginia governor mcauliffe, a long-time clinton friend, for her run. they said there was no conflict. investigators are also considering whether a senior justice official crossed the line by giving the clinton team a heads up about the handling of the e-mails and their release. it's worth noting in the press release this afternoon there was no mention of attorney general lynch's meeting with bill clinton on the arizona tarmac just one week before hillary clinton's f.b.i. interview. at the leernlt the inspector general's investigation will breathe new life into the whole clinton e-mail matter.
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>> shepard: and back to katherine for more news. first the national politician editor for the "wall street journal," our corporate cuss ijs. how are we to bross is this, what does it mean in the big picture? >> well, what it means is that we as a nation are not moving on from the 2016 election. we've been talking about another matter, the russian-backed hacking of e-mails from the democratic national committee, which generated a lot of headlines that were negative for hillary clinton, added head winds at the end of the campaign, whether donald trump believes the russians are behind that. this is a separate but related issue, the other big e-mail issue that the clinton campaign thinks was more damaging. the revelation by director comey of the f.b.i. 11 days before the election that they were reopening the investigation into hillary clinton's e-mail practices and whether classified material went through her server. those headlines just before the election.
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the clinton people are absolutely certain turned late deciding voters against her. and they think it was dispositive in the outcome of the election. >> shepard: unless i'm confused or misinformed this is not about politics but about policy. >> that's right. the clinton people say james comey hurt clinton all the way back from july. and he's never been held to account. we've never learned why the justice department didn't step in and rein him n the justice department has a long-standing practice of not taking overt actions that would include or even seem to include an election. back in july, director comey, remember, had this extraordinary press conference as you mentioned, that said he found no criminal wrongdoing on clinton's part but that she acted recklessly. now, the democrats think that broke protocol. it's not common for the justice department to hold a press conference in a case where no criminal charges are going to be brought. yet comey put a lot of information and criticism out there.
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then, again, just 11 days before the election, he sent a letter to congress saying this investigation that everyone thought was dor manlt is being ryan mated. >> shepard: thank you. breaking news back to the senate floor, the vote is not finished, but as katherine her ridge mentioned -- jennifer mentioned, they need 60 votes to create this waiver. so that mad dog mattis would be able to qualify, at least, for the new post in the cabinet. and the votes, there are enough votes, now, 60 votes in the affirmative, to allow this to happen. as a result, the waiver is approved and james mattis, the senate has voted now, and he will be allowed to be the nominee for defense secretary. the whole house will have to vote on this as early as tomorrow and we believe that will happen. as jennifer griffin mentioned they want to get it done before we move on to inauguration. adoption needed 60 votes, they
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have the 60 votes. all of the votes are not in. once you have 6 0 that's it. this is not confirmation of james mattis, to be perfectly clear, this is to allow the waiver. the waiver is complete now. jennifer griffin, this has gone, i suppose, as expected. >> it is as expected. and i think it's important to point out, this is not the confirmation, this is the vote on that waiver to allow him to serve in what is typically a civilian role. normally a general has to be retired for seven years before taking this civilian control of the military, this position of defense secretary. it's been 67 years since a general has held this position. so it is a very unusual situation. earlier, the senate armed services committee, there were three prominent democrats. jill brand, blumenthal and lists beth warren voted against the waiver. prominent democrats did come out against it. they brooif that a civilian
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should be in charge of the military. as we've heard, general mattis is a unique candidate and has bipartisan support on both the armed services committee in the senate as well as the house. among democrats and republicans. so none of the armed services people think he will have trouble crossing these hurdles. this is the first key hurdle in the senate. he achieved enough votes to have a waiver in order to serve as defense secretary. >> shepard: from the pentagon, jennifer dwrif in, thank you. more breaking news, the u.s. senate receiving a classified briefing on russia's attempts to interfere with the united states presidential election. we are expecting the director of national intelligence and the heads of the cia, the f.b.i., and the nsa to be on hand. this comes after reports that russia collected compromising and personal financial information about the president-elect donald trump. the president-elect called it fake news and phony stuff.
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he also suggested the intelligence agencies might have leaked the information and he compared that to something the nazis would have done. the director of national intelligence, james clapper, said he spoke with president-elect trump about the information last night. in a statement the director said, i emphasized that this document is not a u.s. intelligence community product, and that i do not believe the likes came from within the intelligence community. the intelligence community has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions. he also said they agreed the likes were damaging to our national security. we will have the president-elect's response to that call later in the hour. we're also learning more with the person who reportedly wrote that document. according to the reportings of the "wall street journal," the name of the man was christopher steele, former british intelligence officer. the journal reports it tried contacting him but for week he is turned down interviews through a sort of middleman who
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said the subject was, as he put it, too hot. now the british broadcasting corporation, bbc, is reporting that steele is apparently in hiding and that he left his home some time this week before his name became public. let's bring back katherine herridge. >> as you mention at this hour, the intelligence community is briefing members on the senate side and similar briefing is expected for the house side tomorrow. this morning, the republican chairman of the cincinnati intelligence committee, that is the primary commit wi oversight on the senate side, confirm they're investigating the media leak. >> we will continue to look into likes because we have had a massive amount of them over the last three weeks. and that's unacceptable with classified and sensitive documents. >> late last night the nation's spy chief, james clapper, sent out a statement that he called mr. fwrump the media reports and that in their view this information did not come from the i.c. and they also felt that
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the substance of the report was unconfirmed. short time ago, on msnbc, the outgoing vice president, joe biden, said that he was also briefed as well as the president. that's consistent with our reporting that the leadership, if you will, was given a heads up to the information being out there, widely circulated, and possible it could come out and they wanted them to be on notice. >> shepard: rath lynn, thank you again. more coverage ahead on the intelligence community and donald trump. the next guest says the latest developments could bring about a whole new working relationship between the president-elect and america's top spies. that's coming up on a very busy news day from the fox newsdesk. good to have you in. [ crowd noise ] whoa. [ gears stopping ] when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. try this. but just one aleve
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news channel, word just in, an official from the united states senate, 81-17, across party lines, allowing for the waiver which would allow james mattis to be the nominee for sticktry of defense even though he's only been out of the military since 2013. normally it would require seven years. this waiver was to make it less than that. that is not to say he's confirmed, he is not, there must be a house vote tomorrow. so there's more to go on this. this crucial step of a waiver is complete. the vote is over. 81-17, in the united states senate. more on president-elect donald trump's back and forth with u.s. intelligence community over russia's attempts to interfere with our presidential election.
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eliana johnson, political reporter for politico. where are we on this? >> i think we hit something of a turning point between yesterday and this morning. trump acknowledged for the first time in several months after praising vladimir putin, rush yaz president, on the campaign trail and denouncing the intelligence community, he acknowledged in his press conference that he does think russia was behind the hacks of the democratic national committee. and that was, i think, potentially a turning point in some sort of a detente with the intel community. followed this morning by jim clapper's statement, the director of national intelligence, that he thinkles it's inappropriate, the number of likes that have been coming out of the intelligent community and the intelligent community stands ready to back and help donald trump when he's inaugurated next week. we could see a thaw in the relationship between trump and
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the intelligence community. >> shepard: i was going to ask you about that, this is being reported variably, in different ways as you might imagine, some suggesting the people whom he has nominated are breaking with the president. is it that or is james clapper with his different statements from candidate donald trump and the candidate for secretary of state tillerson, and his breaks from candidate donald trump, is that more of a break from donald trump the man or is that an indication of how donald trump may be prepared to govern? >> trump is only going to go so far in reversing himself on what he said about putin and russia. but i think the fact that his nominees are breaking with him, we saw jim maltis break with him, mike pompeo break with him, his cia nominee. >> shepard: on torture and water boarding and other matters. >> yes, i think those things
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will soothe the intelligence community, particularly on russia. but they won't get as riled-up and prone to leaking against the president when trump incites them. i think clapper also signaled from the top of that community that it's not appropriate. but clapper, and it won't be that -- dan coates likely to head it up, former indiana senator. i think once trump takes office the tone and tenor is likely to change. >> shepard: your suggest that is it did this. i thought it was notable that as the people that the president-elect have dominated were going against his statements as a campaigner, donald trump did not come out against their statements, did not admonish them publicly in a way that candidate trump and recent trump might have under other circumstances. which suggested to me that there's a blending coming. >> exactly. key's allowing them to break with him publicly. and trump himself shifted yesterday saying, yes, i do
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think russia was behind this. which i think is a big deal and shows that, yes, he is a part of the reality-based community, he's not going to continue denying that russia was behind this. he said before it could have been a 400 pound man sitting on his bed. he isn't doing that any more. he's allowing several of his cabinet nominees to denounce russia, say that they consider it a real threat and they're going to aggressively pursue intelligence operations against it. i think this is the beginning of a thaw if not totally by trump, by his incoming administration. >> shepard: eliana, thank you. congressman mike pompeo going hard against russia during his confirmation, top job at the cia, one of the agencies that determined russia did meddle with the election. donald trump says he thinks it's true. congressman pompeo seems to be on board with the findings, despite past criticism from the
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>> shepard: he served on the house committee that investigated the 2012 pen gaz i attacks. he said he said he believes russia's meddling in the presidential election was an aggressive act, as he put it, from senior leaders in the kremlin. yesterday the president-elect admitted for the very first time that he does believe russia was
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responsible. but he also said the cyber attacks will stop once he's in charge. today congressman pompeo said the united states must retaliate. >> it's going on require an incredible robust american response a response that is a security related response, we have to get better at defending against these. and then a response that holds actors accountable who commit these actions against the united states of america. the form, the nature, the depth of the responses will be decisions of policy-makers that will be beyond me as the director of the central intelligence agency. but do i view my role as central. >> shepard: representative pompeo criticized russia's invasion of ukraine and what he called its failure to defeat isis. mick emmanuel is following all of this on capitol hill for us. hi, mike. >> shep, good afternoon. congressman pompeo was asked if he agrees with incoming national security advisor michael flynn
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among those who suggest the cia has become politicized. pompeo defended the agency he's nominated to lead. >> i have seen, however, i've seen political acters from all stripes to try and shape it. i don't mean in hard ways, there's no demand. >> i don't talk about outside political acters. that the agency has become flit sized. >> high experience is that i've not seen that. >> we have heard concerns from former intelligence people, concerns about demoralizing the intelligence community with criticism. today congressman pompeo had their backs. >> shepard: he talked about torture and waterboarding and seemed clearly 100% against it. >> absolutely right. a guy who as you mentioned was number one in his class at west point. there was talk throughout the campaign about waterboarding and enhanced interrogation techniques. pompeo was tested by a leading democrat on the panel. >> if you were ordered by the
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president to restart the cia's use of enhajsed interrogation techniques that fall outside of the army's field annual, would you comply? >> senator, absolutely not. moreover, i can't imagine that i would be asked that by the president-elect or then-president. >> also a sobering moment when congressman pompeo referred the a deteriorating global picture when it comes to terrorism. shep? >> shepard: mike emmanuel on capitol hill, thank you. ahead the latest from team trump on his phone call with the national intelligence director about reports that russia collected compromising information on the president-elect himself. that's coming up from the fox newsdesk as we approach the bottom of the hour.
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switch to geico and you could save a ton of money on your car insurance. why didn't you say so in the first place? i thought you's was wearing a wire. haha, what? why would i wear a wire? geico. because saving fifteen percent or more on car insurance is always a great answer. the president-elect donald trump tweeting about his phone call with the nation's top intelligence official and the reports that russia has compromising information on the president-elect. he wrote on twitter this morning, james clapper called me yesterday to de nounls the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated, made up, phony facts. too bad. we represented earlier that the director of national intelligence, james clapper, confirmed he spoke with the president-elect last night saying the likes did not come from the intelligence community. the director clapper did not say whether the report was false
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just that intelligence agents had not made judgment on whether the info is rye liable. donald trump's transition team announced former new york city mayor rudy dwchlt iuliani will serve as cyber security investigator to the president-elect. peter? >> hello, shep. sounds like the often contentious relationship between the united states intelligence community and the president-elect of the united states may be cooling off. top trump advisor kellyanne conway says the call from clapper went a long way with the next president. >> mr. trump is very happy to receive that information from mr. clapper. and he has great respect for the intelligence community. he said that last friday. he said it last night. >> we were told on the conference call for reporters the president-elect is going to get an intel briefing today from his incoming national security visor michael flynn and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joe dunford.
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the president-elect is watching congress, because again on twitter, he posted some congratulations to the senate for taking the first step toward repealing oi bam a care and he's looking at the house. >> shepard: >> shepard: rudie guiliani tapped as cyber security advisor. what do we know about this role? >> it doesn't have an official title. rudy guiliani isn't going to resign from corporate positions that he holds right now. but he is coming in on behalf of the administration to help beef up cyber security for american companies. and is apparently going to be somewhat high profile role. >> my belief is, as always, that the answer to cyber security is going to be found in the private sector that. 's where we have great creativity that,'s where we have the huge amount of money, and that's where we have great companies, the greatest in the world. the idea here is to bring together corporate leaders and their technological people.
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the president will meet with them on an ongoing basis as well as anybody else in the administration. >> and it was somewhat surprising to see guiliani's time on a transition team announcement about getting a job. he's famous for during the transition only wanting one position, in the trump white house, that was secretary of state. shep? >> shepard: peter ducey at trump tower, thank you. more on two of president-elect trump's national security nominees on capitol hill for confirmation hearings. let's bring in james arkin, congressional reporter for real clear poll six and at the hearing for james mattis for secretary of defense. notable breaks between general mattis and president-elect, at least in his campaign rhetoric. >> absolutely. the most notable break early in the hearing. general mattis took a firm stance on russia. pretty much aligned with senator john mccain, the chairman of that committee who's been firm with what the united states needs to do in terms of rushia.
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he said that russia is an adversary, that the united states has tried in the past to reform relations with vladimir putin and russia and it hasn't worked. and general mattis e sechxly confirming what john mccain believes about russia. a real break from donald trump in terms of that. then on nato, he said that he believes that nations with allies are much more successful than nations without. a break from what donald trump said about possibly not standing up for nato for some of the countries if they don't pay their financial dues to the organization. >> shepard: two matters on a break with donald trump. there was also a bit of a break political in political rhetoric from republicans on the matter of the iran deal. his stance seemed to be, he didn't love the deal but he believes we must now stand by it. could you give us explanation for that? >> yes, that was exactly what general mattis said. you know, lindsay graham asked him late in the hearings for clarification. he made clear he would not have
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signed the iran deal had he been in position when the deal was negotiated. but he said that the united states has to stay true to its word. he thought enforcing the deal at this point rather than backing out and backing out as the united states were, both to iran and the allies, who are part of this agreement was the better pass forward than scrapping it. something that a lot of republicans on capitol hill probably want to do. >> shepard: so that's general mattis. the thinking is that he will win confirmation and easily. over to congressman pompeo. the rhetoric of torture and waterboarding, the tough guy-tough guy even forcement rhetoric from the campaign. so many within the intelligence community over and over and over again have said like waterboarding all you want, it'stor tun and it's illegal and americans don't do it. and it doesn't work. pompeo seems to be on board with those. >> pompeo following in the line of several other nominees for donald trump's cabinet in their
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hearings, saying that they believe that congress has made it illegal to wait a minuter board and waterboarding is torture. p.m. poo who has spoken positively about waterboarding said that he didn't believe it was illegal torture, made firm to the committee food that he would not allow members of the cia to resume that practice. that was something that a lot of democrats and republicans on the committee were concerned about, given pompeo's past restoric on that issue. he is clear he will not allow torture in the cia. >> shepard: we know he's been thoroughly briefed, said so himself. do we know whether his previous statements were rhetoric to go along with the political line or if instead he's been educated on this matter an now realizes that what he had said before was wrong. >> i think it's a little bit of both. i think probably he knows that he's going to have a lot of trouble getting confirmed, if he
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said the opposite in terms -- >> shepard: there's breaking news, excuse me. bob corker of tennessee speaking live at the microfoenls after the hearing. important to hear from him. let's listen. >> it's still going on. >> what is the time line in terms of when you might be getting public reports -- >> you know, i have to tell you, since we know so much, being honest, and since it is so cl r clear, you have to wonder what else there is to do. i mean, we've all talked about investigations. it seems to me pretty clear, that we know exactly what happened. having investigations about that don't seem to me, maybe, to bear a lot of fruit. there are four agencies that have done a lot of work. what we might want to focus on in a huge way is how we prevent
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these things from happening. >> shepard: that was interesting, senator bob corker from the state of tennessee saying it's clear all of the intelligence agencies, all 17 as fox news has been reporting for many weeks, are confident that the russians hacked in to the dnc and tried to meddle in our election in a number of different ways using fake news, using rhetoric and breaking -- what was that, corker is still speaking? other lawmakers speaking on the same topic. let's listen. >> in terms of what the russians were attempting to do and what they achieved. what should we do about it? 20 years ago we had a full scale investigation of the possibility that the chinese influenced the clinton-gore campaign. le it went on for months, sat on the panel. when we talk about a full public hearing, select commit i or a commission, we get a shrug of the solders from the republican leadership. this is not a situation of boys will be boys.
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russia is trying its best to undermine the very underpinnings of american democracy. we need to create either a select committee, with full credibility and bipartisanship, or a commission to get to the bottom of this, to give the american people an answer to critical questions. who would chair that committee? let me throw out a few names. general colin powell, sandra day o'connor. people without a part san agenda that we can trust. this briefing that we had today was an eye opener. >> do you know the nature of the evidence that makes you speak in such convincing tones about this, is it direct evidence of russian involvement? >> there's never been any question by our intelligence agencies that this decision by russia goes straight to the top. straight to vladimir putin. they've said that publicly. i'm not disclosing anything that's classified. when you look at the breath of it, the e breadth of this
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infiltration it is not limited to go after the dnc and john podesta. this is something we have to take seriously. the only good news is that we have no evidence that they infiltrated the actual voting process in the country. but they did everything short of that. >> senator the department of justice, inspector general announced they're going to look into the handling of the e-mail investigation by the f.b.i. and the d o.j. do you agree with that decision to basically investigate the investigation? >> yes. >> why do you think that's important? >> i think steps were taken by the director of the f.b.i. near the election which were not precedented. did not ever happen before. his statement about whether there is going to be an opening of the investigation, closing of the investigation, i don't think was fair, professional, or consistent with the policies the federal bureau of investigation. >> does it threaten his job? >> he serves at the pleasure of the president. >> was that discussed? >> no. >> did you learn anything in the briefing that you did not know
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before? >> i have read all the materials and because of my position on the appropriations have some access other members don't. but there was more detail today and that's why i came out of this saying, i thought it was terrible. it's even worse. and if we don't take it seriously, shame on us. thank you. >> shepard: what we have just witnessed is an encapsulated through two senators the positions of the two different parties on this matter. first bob corker of tennessee, the republican of tennessee, saying, look, we know they did it. all of the intelligence agencies say the russians hacked in. the important thing is not to do a bunch of investigations, the important thing is to prevent it from happening in the future. dick durbin, the democratic 12340r from illinois, saying there needs to be an independent investigation who would chair such a thing, he threw out general colin powell or sandra day o'connor to do a full investigation of exactly what the russians did. what their methods were. what effect they had. he said we know they didn't get
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into the polling places, we know they didn't hack into election computers. but as he put it they did everything else. bob corker the republican said i knew all of this. dick durbin said it's an eye opener, we need a full investigation. and that lays out the weeks ahead. james arkin, that seems to show us where the fight is. and which way it'll go remains to be seen. >> yes, that's exactly where the fight is, you're right, those two senators encapsulated where two parties are. i think it's really interesting
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colin powell. that's a big one to watch in the days and weeks ahead. stay with us. ng to your doctor about your medication... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira helping me go further. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell y areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections,
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>> shepard: just in, what is supposed to be or was scheduled to be a bit of a surprise e vented for the vice president joe biden, president obama and in fact they're walking in now. the timing is impeccable. the president about to honor joe biden and his service. the first lady walking in as you can see, to take her place. i believe that is dr. jill biden next to her though i can't be sure of it. it was jugted they would walk in together. a decade ago didn't look like -- it is dr. jill biden. >> the president abdz vice president of the united states. >> shepard: this is basically a lovefest coming here. the president to the vice president. a decade ago it didn't appear they had very much in common. but they have shared a bunch of highs and lows together. president obama said he got a
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big brother out of the deal. as we wind down this administration, this is the sort of farewell from the president to the vice president, last sort of formal event, in the state dining room with a friendly crowd gathered. and wives and families all around. often when they get together the jokes flow. and no matter where you are pliptically, it's funny. we'll listen in for a moment. the salute to joe biden. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> i don't want to embarrass the guy. [ laughing ]
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welcome to the white house, everybody. as i have already delivered my farewell address i will try to be relatively brief. but i just wanted to get some folks together to pay tribute to somebody who's not only been by my side for the duration of this amazing journey, but somebody who has devoted his entire professional life to service to this country. the best vice president america has ever had, mr. joe biden. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> let's also give the internet one last chance to talk about our bromance.
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this has been quite a ride. it was 8 1/2 years ago i chose joe to be my vice president. there has not been a single moment since that time that i have doubted the wisdom of that decision. he was the just possible choice, not just for me but for the american people. this is an extraordinary man with an extraordinary career in public service. this is somebody the people of delaware sent to the senate as quickly as they possibly could. elected at age 29, for more than a dozen years apiece he served as chair, or ranking member, of the judiciary and foreign relation committees, domestically championed landmark legislation to make our communities safer, to protects our women from violence.
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internationally his wisdom and capacity to build relationships has faced the nation's response to counterterrorism, the falling of the berlin wall, the iron curtain, iraq, afghanistan. for the past eight years he could not have been a more devoted or effective partner in the progress that we've made. he fought to make college more affordable and revitalize american manufacturing as the head of our middle class task force. he suited up for our cancer moon shot, giving hope to millions of americans touched by this disease, he led our efforts to combat gun violence. and he rooted out any possible misappropriations that might have occurred. as a consequence the recovery act worked as well as just about any large-scale stimulus project has worked in the country.
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he visited college after college and made friends with lady gaga for our "it's on us" campaign against campus sexual assault. and when the pope visited, joe was even kind enough to let me talk to the holiness as well. [ laughing ] behind the scenes, joe's candid, honest counsel has made me a better president and a better commander in chief. from the situation room to our weakly lunches to our huddles after everybody else was cleared out of the room, he has been unafraid to give to it me straight. even if we disagree. in fact especially when we disagree. and all of this makes him, i brooef, the finest vice president we have ever seen. and i also think he has been a lion of american history. the best part is, he's nowhere close to finished. in the years ahead, as a
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citizen, he will continue to build on that legacy internationally, and domestically. he has a voice of vision and reason and optimism and love for people, and we're going to need that spirit and that vision as we continue to try to make our world safer and to make sure that everybody has a fair shot in this country. so, all told, that's pretty remarkable legacy. an amazing career in public service. it is as joe once said, a big deal. [ laughing ] it is. [ applause ] but, we all know that on its own his work, this list of
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accomplishments, amazing resume, does not capture the full measure of joe biden. i have not mentioned amtrak yet or aviators, literally. [ laughing ] folks don't just feel like they know joe, the politician, they feel like they know the person. what makes him laugh, what he believes, what he cares about, where he came from. pretty much every time he speaks he treats us to some wisdom from the nuns who taught him in grade school. or an old senate colleague. but of course most frequently cited catherine and joseph sr., his mom and dad. no one is better than you but you're better than nobody. le bravery resides in every hart and yours is fierce and clear.
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when you get knocked down, joey, get up, get up. [ laughing ] get up. that's where he got those broad shoulders, that's where he got that biden heart. and to his life, through trial after trial he has never once forgotten the values and the moral finer that made him who he is. that's what steels his faith in god, in america, and in his friends and all of us. when joe talks to auto workers whose lively hoods he helped save, we hear the son of a man who once knew the pain of having to tell his kids that he had lost his job. when joe talks about hope and opportunity for our children, we hear the father who rode the rails home every night so he could be there to tuck his kids into bed.
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when joe sticks up for the little guy we hear the young boy who used to stand in the front of the mirror reciting yeats, emerson, w56r7ing the muscles in his face determined to advantage wish a debilitating stutter. when he talks to gold star families who lost a hero, we hear a kindred spirit, another father of an american veteran, somebody whose faith has been tested and forced to wander through the darkness himself and who knows who to lean on to find the light. so that's joe biden. a resilient and loyal and humble servant. and a patriot. but most of all a family man. starts with jill, kament of the vice squad. captain of the vice scad. [ laughing ] only the second lady in our history to keep her regular day job. [ applause ]
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[ applause ] >> jill says teaching isn't what she does, it's who she is. a few days after joe and i were inaugurated in 2009 she was back in the classroom teaching. that's why when our administration worked to strength them community colleges, we looked to jill to lead the way. she's also traveled the world to boost education and empowerment for women. and as a blue star mom her work with michelle to honor our families will go down as a lasting effort of this administration. of course, like joe, jill's work is only parent of the story. -- part of the story. she just seems to walk this earth so lightly. spledz her joy so freely. and she reminds us that although
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we're in a serious business we don't have to take ourselves too seriously. she's quick with the laugh or practical joke, disguising herself as a server at a party she once hosted to liven the mood. she once hid in the overhead compartment of air force two to scare the senior staff. [ laughing ] because why not? she seems to have a sixth sense of when to send a note of encourage don't a friend or staffer, simple thank you or a box of macaroons. she's one of the best, most genuine people i've met not just in politics but in my life. that's why joe is proud to introduce himself as jill biden's husband. and to see them together is to see what real love looks like. through thick and thin, good times and bad, it's an all-american love story.
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jill once surprised joe by painting hearts on his office windows for valentine's day. and then there are these biden kids, grand kids, everywhere. they're all good looking. hunter and ashleigh who lived out that family creed of raising good families and looking out for the least of our brothers and sisters. bo who is watching over us with those broad shoulders and mighty heart himself. a man who left a beautiful legacy and inspired an entire nation. naomi and finn and mazy and natalie and little hunter, grand children who are the light of joe's eyes. and gives him an excuse to bust out the squirt gun around the pool. this is the kind of family that built this country. that's why my family is so proud to call ourselves honorary bidens.