[cheering and applause] >> greg: out of time. dagen mcdowell, lou perez, kat timpf, tyrus, fox news you audience. i'm greg gutfeld, i love you, america. good evening, kevin corke in for trace gallagher, 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 in los angeles and this is a

special edition of america's late news, "fox news at night". are there any senators that wish to vote or change a vote? if not, on this vote the yesses are 50 and the nose are 50. the senate being equally divided, the nomination is confirmed. >> kevin: breaking tonight, is moments ago the senate voting to confirm pete hegseth as the next secretary of defense. but not without the help of vice president j.d. vance who as you saw their cast the tie-breaking vote and it is all history on capitol hill. meantime the president just said this... >> we just heard that we have a great secretary of defense. we are very happy about that and we appreciate everybody's vote. >> kevin: also moments ago in another big win for president trump, the senate voting to break the filibuster on kristi noem's nomination for dhs secretary and a 61-39 vote.

they are expected to vote late tomorrow morning to confirm the nominee. senior congressional correspondent chat program live on the hill with the latest on the hegseth vote and what is next for more trump picks. quite a night on the hill. >> reporter: absolutely. this was high drama in the vote to confirm pete hegseth as defence secretary was on a razor's edge. the g.o.p. lost 4 votes, the nomination would have failed. most republican supported hegseth but there were g.o.p. knows. >> he has satisfied me he will be a change agent in the department of defense and that he's the person we need. he's the president's choice and we owe it to this commander in chief to put them in this position. >> reporter: the 3 g.o.p. knows... it's about the math. with 53 republicans in the senate, that's why vance head to

break the tie. mcconnell indicated he did not think hegseth was up to the job. democrats thought the same. >> the american people deserve nothing less from the secretary of defense. the question i have is, is pete hegseth truly the best we have to offer? i do not believe so. i urge my colleagues to vote against this nominee. >> reporter: democratic senator adam schiff skipped a meeting with president trump in california on the wildfires to vote no on hegseth. >> we need a secretary of defense that can lead and inspire our troops from the most senior officers to the youngest enlisted men and women. mr. hegseth has belittled women in the military, he has attacked people who live their lives differently than he would prefer. >> reporter: tom of north carolina talked to hegseth for 2 hours today to relieve his concerns. hegseth and mcconnell will

have to deal with 1 another a lot. mcconnell leads the panel which can quote -- controls the pentagon's budget. as you say, this and it is teeing up a vote tomorrow to confirm kristi noem as dhs secretary. >> kevin: the work continues. chad pergram on the hill tonight, thank you. let's discuss the latest developments on capitol hill with republican senator from the great state of tennessee. great to have you with us senator. i guess the obvious question is how surprised are you that it was a 50/50 tie broken put the vice president? >> being a deputy whip i was not surprised. we felt like this may happen. i am sent -- so please we have vice president vance. pete hegseth deserved to be confirmed. he is going to be a very effective secretary of defense. i'm so pleased we have crossed that hurdle and as i said, we are in the middle of about series and i'm going to jump back over and vote yes for

kristi noem to be the secretary of homeland security. >> kevin: it's interesting, i remember it with the biden cabinet it took until about early march to get everybody over the finish line. this seems to be dragging on a bit. is that your feeling? >> well the democrats are trying to obstruct and, you know, it's like they have learned nothing at all from the november elections and they don't realize there voters gave president donald trump a mandate to bring some transparency, some efficiency to secure the border, to restore trust in the department of defense, to get rid of dei, to get inflation under control, and they would be well served to work with us to get these nominees across the finish line and to do it quickly, because that is what is good for the american people. >> kevin: the country needs to get down to business. let me ask you 1 more thing about pete.

what is the 1 or maybe the top priorities that you think he should really focus on as he embarks on this incredible challenge, 1 that he's clearly well-qualified for? >> first of all getting rid of dei and letting people know they can execute their mission and that they have his support in executing that mission. number 2 is realizing that lethality is important to a fighting force. number 3, realizing that china is an adversary. there is an axis of evil and what we have to do is make certain that these people understand that we know they are an enemy and our allies need to note that they can depend on us. pete hegseth is going to bring that credibility to the job. >> kevin: in the last 30 seconds or so that i have left, we have noticed i think a lot of people have certainly felt that the president is really doing lots of things in a transparent way. we've heard the expression

transparency in washington. pretty rare. he said that jfk, rfk, mlk piles will be opened. how impressed are you by the job he's doing with that and what about some of the other things americans are concerned about like 9/11 files, the epstein list? >> as you know, the abstain list is something that i worked on for a couple of years and actually tried to subpoena those. and was blocked at that point at judiciary committee. >> kevin: i remember that. >> the good thing about this is donald trump has listened to the american people and as president of the united states, he made promises, he is keeping those promises. the american people want to know what is in those files, they want to know who has wronged to this country and to be able to see this will build their confidence in this administration and i think

president trump has had a pitch-perfect week. >> kevin: i know you continue to lead the fight on that. if you do get that list published i think it will be of great interest to the country. >> it will help us in human trafficking in the united states. >> kevin: absolutely important. marsha blackburn, great state of tennessee senator, appreciate your time and good luck. be careful. >> back running across the street. >> kevin: thank you so much. so how is the trump white house team responding to all of this friday night drama on capitol hill? the senior national correspondent rich edson joins us tonight from washington with more on that. i know you've been busy, i've been watching you and your office. >> it's been a busy night. just ahead of vice president vance casting the tie-breaking vote in from the tarmac in los angeles, president trump addressed pete hegseth's then eminent confirmation. >> we just heard that we have a great secretary of defense. we are very happy about that and

we appreciate everybody's vote. >> reporter: this morning at the white house trump called hegseth a good man, said he was surprised republican senators would oppose him and then previewed senator mitch mcconnell's no vote saying mcconnell is always a no. the 2 have had an estranged relationship for years. the president's unconventional choice to lead the pentagon was met with skepticism even from some republicans due to the lack of experience managing something of that size and allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. hegseth denied that. trump and his allies leaned heavily on senate republicans and managed to get him through with the slimmest of margins. >> kevin: rich edson in d.c., thank you. appreciate that. let's bring in tonight's political panel, republican strategist matt whitlock, democratic strategist and judicial watch president. i want to play this quick, this is pete hegseth. people were talking about

whether or not he could do the job, a qualified he might be. it certainly was confident. listen to this and i will get your reaction on the other side. >> we want world war ii was 74 star generals -- 1 -- today we have 44 4 star generals. it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. a change agent. politics should play no heart -- part in military matters. we are not republicans, we are not democrats, we are american warriors. >> kevin: you have to get like i credit. he's done his time in war theaters and is now the new defence secretary. how surprised if at all are you? >> i'm not surprised. i think pete really put this confirmation process on his back when he stood up to a lot of the attacks that game against him. he refocused his entire confident -- confirmation through his meetings with senators in his hearing on the war fighter eat those. he said i'm going to be a different kind of defence

secretary. after 4 years of no accountability, particularly in the fall of afghanistan and everything that went wrong there. the fact that nobody was ever fired after the absolute tragedy that we saw unfold there. i think it really paves the way for pete to come in and say i will be a change agent to fix this and congratulations to pete, to the hegseth family. this is a great night. he worked hard for this and i think it's going to be a refreshing change for that institution that hasn't passed an audit in 7 or 8 years. >> kevin: he really certainly went through it throughout the process. just a few things, first of all a few defections, no surprise. doesn't surprise most people. i know that you predicted he would probably get over the finish line. indeed that's exactly what happened. this is eric trump talking about the former senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. very interesting and succinctly he said this online, the worst. what say you?

>> i think we have to get out of this place of having a hegemony within the parties. we push it -- we've been pushing each other further to the extreme words blunt force trauma power versus power instead of main -- saying maybe we should have nominees for both parties that can get senators on each side and then maybe come to a middle ground agreement. whoever can win the arm wrestling match, that's why we get government by resolution as opposed to passing budgets and getting things done. >> kevin: robert makes a good point. if you are not passing your audit, something is going on over there but i think it begins with having the proper leadership. a lot of people with the pentagon feel strongly that pete hegseth is the right man for the job right now. >> he was a combat guy 3 minutes ago practically speaking. i know it's been a few years but it's very unusual. i'm happy for his family as well. i'm happier i would say for the

troops. who are in a desperate need of morale boost after four years of woke abuse by the biden generals and lloyd austin. it's been a disaster for recruiting. our military academies are being force-fed this woke racism, is anti-american rhetoric that's alienating troops from the america they are supposed to be defending. his presence alone, he may not even have to do anything other than be there to stop dei. there are significant defense challenges but he's thought long and hard about these issues. as much of any of the senior greybeards here in town that we all placed in the department before that have really failed to the american people time and time again. >> kevin: i'm going to ask, what should be his number 1 priority as he moves into this position at a particularly precarious time for the country?

>> eliminate dei, fire the obama-biden generals that have ruined for our military in large measure and obviously get a feel for where we are in terms of defense capabilities and make sure that the money that's being spent is being spent well and that we are able to protect america when push comes to shove. >> kevin: number 1 priority? >> i thought that we would get some more policy. are we going to a global doctrine? i want to know with his doctrine is. china are able to -- maldova which is a russian enclave. when you are dealing with the chinese trying to build a new network to bring in fossil fuels to power their economy how do we keep those in that region? as the philippines and taiwan for prep -- prepare, what are you going to do to build up u.s. armed forces in naval presence because it takes us ten years to

build an aircraft carrier but china 18 months. i like to hear about that more so than getting rid of dei. i want to know what you are actually going to do. >> kevin: you might be a pretty good interrogator on capitol hill. matt, your first priority and maybe the top two? >> i would say restoring strength. i think that comes in terms of we face a genuine axis of evil with china, with russia, with iran, a brewing to malta in the middle east. i think that part of restoring is important but also the morale piece with dei. that something that came up quite a bit in pete's confirmation hearing with i believe the senator talking about pete's attacks on women in the military and he reframed it to say i don't have an issue with women serving in the military, i have an issue with the standards that were lowered. the lowering of standards her or out for so many of our units because the standards are lower, unit cohesion is lower and so i think that that dei and qualification, the merit factor

will help restore a lot of the morale for our soldiers so that double two track rebuilding process will be really important. >> kevin: i think it will be big. i think recruiting is something that we've all talked about individually. i think it has to be a major priority for not just the defence secretary but broadly for the armed forces and i think the leap towards more technology. the world is changing like that and it can't be let's go back to the old days of the old pentagon, this has to be a brand-new pentagon and a brand-new way to lead it. gentlemen, great to have you with us, appreciate that. breaking news coverage of the late-night vote to confirm pete hegseth as the new defence secretary continues here on "fox news at night", which of course begs the question, so just how is the mainstream media responding to all of us? we will break it down in our media spotlight coming your way next. ♪ ♪

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>> kevin: welcome back. 21 minutes after the hour. i'm kevin corke in for trace gallagher on "fox news at night". late friday night, a lot of congressional action over my shoulder and no doubt about it gets given the legacy media a lot of time to weigh in on the vote to confirm pete hegseth is a new defence secretary. christina coleman with that side of the story from the southland. great to hear that things are okay with the family. >> reporter: that's right, thank you kevin. living out here with these california wildfires, what are you going to say? these media pundits on the left, some of them continue to criticize the army combat veteran over unproven accusations. you know, they continue to go on and on about paid has got --

pete hegseth, making accusations he denies. you have folks on the left it won't let it go. msnbc said,'s pete hegseth the only person that donald trump can appoint to this rule, is there anybody else in his orbit that would be qualified and that may be doesn't have this sort of potential baggage? just one example of people in the press who continue to rail on hegseth, despite all of his qualifications, despite the fact that he's bravely served our country. hegseth himself as we know has pushed back on the media's criticism. during this whole process. in a december op-ed published by "the wall street journal" hegseth said "the press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story all meant to smear me and tear me down. it's a textbook manufactured media take down. they provide no evidence, no names in the north the legions of people who speak on my behalf. they need to create a bogeyman because they bo levi threaten their institutional insanity.

that is the only thing they are right about." president trump as we know has continued to support him. when trump announced he was nominating hegseth to head the department of defense, trump noted his brave service to our country saying "he is in army combat veteran who did tours and want on a bait, a rack, afghanistan. for his actions on the battlefield he was decorated with two bronze stars as well as a combat infantryman badge." trump also said hegseth would be a courageous and patriotic champion of his administration's peace through strength policy. a lot of people speaking highly of him and, you know, hegseth got what he wanted. >> kevin: he did. the tie-breaking vote goes to the vice president. christina coleman in los angeles, thank you my friend. let's bring in washington times legal affairs reporter and attorney, in "washington examiner" congressional reporter. i want to get you both to weigh in on this. this is chris hayes, he does

weekday hosting at msnbc, very talented. listen to what he says about pete hegseth and then i'm going to show you what selena said about how people like chris report the news. >> a perfectly good weekend morning host and trust me no knock against cable news hosts but i know a thing or two about that and that experience does not remotely qualify him for this absolutely vital job. honestly, i'm trying to be level here. we are trying to not be in a mode of hysteria about everything. >> kevin: and then i wanted to share this. not necessarily responding but what she says here is instructive, saying people often ask me why there has been a shift both politically and culturally in our country toward the right of center. well omissions and reporting is one example of the nuanced reasons why. chris is a smart guy, he knows

that pete hegseth wasn't just -- he's not kevin corke, some run-of-the-mill weekend tv host, this guy is a veteran, a decorated veteran. he's not running for pastor and chief but for defence secretary. what say you? >> there's definitely a shaping up the reporting leading up to the vote and i expect even after the vote. "the new york times" is one i will point to. they ran the latest accusations i came forward against hegseth over the alleged abuse of an ex-wife in the drinking. talked about how his lawyer denied those accusations but did not note that the ex-wife, the victim, denied it. so that was a point that pete hegseth made in his letter and his exchange, that she actually came forward and i think it was in bc that she said this is not true. that's not something you see covered in the media, the legacy media. we saw "the new york times" talk about the overall confirmation votes for secretary of defense in the past decades and that

this will be the lowest, slimmest margin. i'm a lawyer, nobody ever asks me what did you make on the bar, they just ask if you past. i think that's really what matters. >> kevin: a very good point. let me play devil's advocate for a second. there are others who would say listen first of all the secretaries behavior prior to his nomination in many cases and certainly among many americans is reprehensible, indefensible. he's apologized for some of the behaviors and there are those in the pentagon who have suggested that if you can't handle business you ought to not be the guy leading the way. and yet, as you heard the president say there, clearly this is a man who has done a lot in his career to demonstrate a willingness and ability to lead men and women into combat and to also lead a great and grand group of americans who are trying to defend our country. >> i think what it comes down to is the senators. they were convinced in that

confirmation hearing. when you watch the hearing, he was calm, cool, collected, he let them speak for themselves. he did not get frazzled by any of the questioning and i think, you know, a lot of those republicans who maybe were on the fence and ultimately decided to back him looked at that and saw okay this is somebody who can handle, you know, maybe the pressure of this job. that he did not have any slipups and he let democrats kind of like a speak for themselves. when we watch that hearing, a lot of what we saw was some ineffective questioning from democrats unfortunately for that side. what we saw, i mean i think the most effective poke what we saw was senator tammy duckworth asking him questions about actually the job. asking him to name, you know, treaties and securities and, you know, more of that would have maybe been a little bit better to get on that point about the

qualifications. but they really just focused mostly on, you know, the personal background which was not a winning message. >> kevin: 15 seconds each before we go, let me just ask you, broadly speaking, is this a blueprint for what we will likely see with tulsi gabbard and others? >> you took the thought out of my mouth. that story should be that this is trump's party. he has cemented the base and i think that this is just like you said, a blueprint. we will see the other nominees. i expect they get confirmed. i don't think that the other ones have as many personal issues that we saw came to be during the confirmation hearing with hegseth so i expect that trump will get his cabinet. >> i have a bit of a different perspective. i think tulsi gabbard may potentially be in trouble and that's from people i'm hearing on the hill. i think there are a lot of issues surrounding, you know, her background, not necessarily any personal issues but with the job. so yes, maybe this time it was

only three republican senators, but how many is it going to be, you know, when her nomination comes up? i think it's really going to make or break her performance next week. >> kevin: did over rfk jr., he has to perform because as he doesn't front of the world, it may make a big difference on who votes and in which direction. thank you, appreciate your time tonight. breaking news coverage of the hegseth confirmation on capitol hill continues on "fox news at night". plus, president trump in los angeles surveying the damage from the deadly wildfires. we've got an update coming up for you next. ♪ ♪

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[laughter] you go to sandals to get really, really close... to the caribbean. we should do this every morning. ♪ >> kevin: welcome back. we continue our coverage on "fox news at night". 34 minutes after the hour. president trump taking his first trip outside of washington today, his first since returning to the oval office. first hurricane victims in north carolina and then to california to survey the areas devastated by the recent wildfires.

correspondent jeff paul live on the ground in la tonight with that story for us. >> reporter: good evening, kevin. president trump spent a few hours right here on the ground in the pacific palisades where he spent a lot of time viewing the damage from those devastating wildfires up close and personal. he talked with some folks who had lost their homes and after walking away he said most of the damage he saw was just not even believable. president trump started his day here in socal at lax where he was greeted by governor gavin newsom, the two shook hands, had a bit of an embrace in both thanked each other for their work and for being there. the president then boarded marine one where he got on a helicopter obviously for an aerial tour of seven the neighborhoods that were leveled in those wildfires. once back on the ground trump spent time speaking not only with impacted homeowners but he met with firefighters who have been right there on the front lines of the fires. he took some photos and then told fire crews he would not let them down.

prior to his visit trump was very critical of the state for both it's response and for it's management of water resources. he had said california "did not let the water flow" and has threatened to withhold federal disaster relief. during a roundtable discussion at a nearby firehouse surrounded by many california democrats, he struck pretty much a different tone. >> i'm going to give you everything you want. i'm going to give you more than any president would have ever given you. most presidents would not be here, number 1, they would not be here after three days. they would not be here, i can tell you that. [applause] >> we are going to override all of permitting. >> reporter: the president also signing an executive order today that could fundamentally change or get rid of entirely fema. trump has criticized fema's response to the recent natural disasters both in north carolina and now here in california. he told her roundtable today fema is incompetently run,

adding we can spend money on school instead of federal bureaucracy. by all means this was a very cordial visit and president trump even said that there can be no golden age without the golden state, pledging to come back as much is needed. the president now off in nevada where he's going to be holding a rally in las vegas tomorrow. >> kevin: jeff paul in la, a great throughout our coverage, thank you, be safe and we will talk soon. we want to bring in two individuals who are at the roundtable today. california assemblyman and republican congressmen representative as will as the beverly hills estates owner brandon williams who is as tough as a 2-dollar stake. gentlemen, thank you for spending time with us tonight. first to you, bill, i want to get your take on the roundtable. tell me how that went and why that was so important notches for the leadership of the great state of california but

important for the citizens, the residents who have been through so much. >> i think it was critical. to have the president who is three, four days into his term in one of the first things he does is come tour the area and meet with the victims. it sent a message of leadership and commitment to them and it was incredible having that in the room. he was advocating for those homeowners, for expedited permitting and to get resources. he was demanding action from the local government. >> kevin: did you get a question in, kevin? if so, what did you want to ask about? >> i did. i quoted his own inaugural address where he said we need to revolutionize common sense. i said in no place do we need more common sense than then in california. that's statement is march are here than anywhere else. i spoke with him about the california coastal commission just one of the worst agencies in the united states which has dramatically abused it's powers

and it's difficult to rebuild la without it. we just discussed the absolutely insane water and fire policies that we have in california where we saw with this tragedy in la, fire hydrants don't have water coming up of them, reservoirs that are sitting empty. we have forest management projects that get killed by radical supposedly environmental policies and then we have a wildfire that destroys the environment. so i think that the president is very focused on bringing some much-needed common sense to california which will stop tragedies like this from happening again and again in the future. >> kevin: i'm going to get your thoughts on the water management issue again and just a second but first over to you, tell me what your impression was in having the president in your state at such a critical time as this. >> i think it really shows that he really cares about california and he knows that california is one of our most important states and he knows that it's time to save california. that is really truly what it is. he knows it's been a failed

state with a water project that was $7.5 billion, nothing is done. a rail project, 23 billion, nothing done. stolen 20ppp money. nothing to show but corruption in his time he comes here and shows that there's a new sheriff in town and he's going to clean it up. i think it's great and gives us a lot of hope is californians. >> kevin: i'm so glad you talked about those numbers. bill, i want to get your reaction to what was just mentioned. i guess it was ten years ago, seven and a half billion dollars to make sure that situations like this are mitigated. to quote some congressional lawmakers over on the hill, what the hell happened to the money? >> the main reason nothing has happened is because they won't issue the permits. they are bogged down with environmental regulations and these environmentalists who oppose any progress. it's the environmental regulations that are strangling

us and like kevin said, our environment is worse off as a result. a carbon being emitted in the pollution and devastation from these fires is unbelievable. we have to change the way we do business. >> kevin: i saw pictures myself of water sort of flowing right into the ocean and there's been pushback on this notion that some of that water could have been utilized to help the southland. i may not know as much as some put i do know this, if you are diverting millions of gallons out into the ocean, i think that water could've been useful. am i overthinking it? >> you are not overthinking it, is just common sense. we have more than enough water that comes to us by the grace of god. california was under this so-called drought emergency where they tell people you can't water your lawns, you have to take a five-minute shower, low-flow showerhead. then we get all of this rain that comes down. early 2023 i visited fulsome dam in my district. you had 10,000 cubic feet of water cascading out of the dam

every second going straight to the ocean causing a flood emergency but we are still under a drought emergency. the problem is not the amount of water that comes to us, the problem is the way that it's managed and the lack of adequate storage in the absolutely crazy policies that cause us to waste a good deal of it. that has huge consequences for our state and leaving us, you know, unable to combat wildfires and to have the response that we need is certainly very high on that list. >> kevin: to say nothing of the forest management. the people of the state, you guys know this, i lived in california, i lived in the southland in particular and it's outrageous that the people there deserve so much better but they are getting the services they deserve and they pay for with their taxes. wrap us up, your thoughts on what happens now, where do we go from here? >> i think there's an agenda behind california and its to create scarcity, that's the new model with the failed state

corruption. then they gouge us with water and electric prices. i just got a water bill for $4000 because they are jumping our water into the ocean. all the california farmers, if you drive up to central california, they say gavin newsom, you are jumping our water into the ocean. this is a failed state, we need to recall gavin newsom. trump is here and trump came here for a reason. it's because he knows what's happening and the corruption and he knows that it's time that we take it back. if we go to california and recall newsom and karen bass, we can bring the state back to read and that's truly what it is. i think him holding back the money, to give it to us and changing voter i.d., i think that's a huge win for us if he does that. >> kevin: got to leave it

there, thank you so much, we appreciate you spending time with us here on "fox news at night". breaking news coverage on capitol hill tonight on the pete hegseth confirmation to become defence secretary. our senior congressional correspondent chad pergram, hardest working men and television, standing by with a m live update coming right up. ♪ ♪ ode to. but thanks to skyrizi and clearer skin--i'm all in. with skyrizi, i saw dramatically clearer skin. and many even achieved 100% clear skin. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms or vaccines. with skyrizi, nothing on my skin means everything. ask your dermatologist about skyrizi today. new to the big city? yeah. -i'm mara. -hi. apparently progressive lets homeowners and renters bundle with their auto policy. 24/7 protection for all of my...things.

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>> kevin: welcome back everybody. 49 minutes after the hour. the senate working late this friday night to watch the confirmation of pete hegseth. as the new defence secretary. senior congressional correspondent chad pergram live on the hill with the latest. morning, noon and night you've been there. finally we have payoff. >> reporter: with a confirmed pete hegseth, the vote 51-50. vice president j.d. vance came to the capital to confirm the nomination. this is only the second time we've had a vice president cast the deciding vote on a cabinet secretary. mike pence back in 2017. there were three nose on the republican side of the aisle. we are not done with weekend action just yet. they are going to be back in action tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning and there's going to be a vote to confirm kristi noem as the secretary of homeland security. that will happen at 11:30.

we expect her to get bipartisan support. then they will probably punt until early next week. next is the nomination of treasury secretary and the secretary of transportation. then next week we get into hearings for other nominees, some of the more controversial nominees, much like pete hegseth. two hearings for rfk jr. to be the health and human services secretary. also i noted that mitch mcconnell voted no on the hegseth nomination. he has already expressed some skepticism about rfk jr.'s positions on vaccines and in particular as it pertains to polio because mitch mcconnell suffered from polio as a child. then we have hearings later in the week for tulsi gabbard on january 30th to be the director of national intelligence and also for kash patel to be the fbi director. in committee next week a lot of action and then probably several confirmations on the floor as well. >> kevin: the fun is just getting started. chad pergram on the hill, thank

you so much for spending time with us tonight. another late night for my friend. let's get some military members perspective on the hegseth confirmation from a retired navy seal along with a retired marine. great to have you both with us. i think i speak for all americans when i say we want to the very best for our women and men in uniform. is this a win? >> this is an absolute win. god bless america, we prayed for this. secretary hegseth first put god into his speech and he was hit with all different types of slander. nothing substantive but he defended those gracefully and we could not be more proud. we brought 100 seals to d.c. to support him, we packed the senate house and it paid off. >> kevin: rob was in the hearing. jessica, i know you took part in a march. why was this so important to you? >> i believe that there is

entire female front, a population of women who believe and what pete hegseth is supporting in terms of advocating for merit-based decisions within the united states military. i believe in representing that small unspoken population that is being pushed aside based on a groundless claim and allegation that is trying to deteriorate pete hegseth character and it's honestly something that we want to support and be a representation of for the population that speaks to some of the detrimental words that people have misconstrued. ultimately i want to be a woman that speaks on behalf of that. >> kevin: rob, i saw you nodding in agreement there with what jessica was saying. >> i could not agree more. we need our women in the military. they serve a very good purpose and often times a better purpose than some men. but we have to have a merit-based system. we can't put people in place or

change the regulations or change the standards because we want to force someone into that position. >> kevin: jessica, what's the number 1 thing you want to the new defence secretary to focus on? >> believing in changing what has occurred within the past few years is really important. i want to see the leadership take accountability with withdrawal from afghanistan and start to hold people in place for the actions that they are taking that deteriorate our u.s. military. that leadership has not been accounted for. >> kevin: rob, your number 1 priority for the new defence secretary? >> let's bring lethality back to our military. >> kevin: that is so important. listen, there are a number of veterans who will watch the show tonight and they will say i agree wholeheartedly. if they can be active and involved, i think they watch the two of you and say i would like to do something like that. ten seconds each beginning with you jessica, was it difficult to

take part in the march and get involved like that? >> absolutely not. when you see the types of individuals that are backing pete hegseth it's a no-brainer. these high-calibre individuals come from a sincere place of fortitude and service. they come from a place of experience, that knows and demands pete hegseth is going to perform. you can't argue with that. without a doubt it was an easy decision. >> kevin: obviously rob, you had a lot of good folks on the hill, jessica with the march, thank you both for spending time with us tonight on "fox news at night", we certainly appreciate it. of course it's a 50/50 vote on capitol hill, the tide broken by the vice president j.d. vance. pete hegseth the new defence secretary. we thank you for watching america's late news "fox news at night". i'm kevin corke in for trace gallagher and we will see you again next time. ♪ ♪ hi. i use febreze fade defy plug. and i use this. febreze has a microchip to control scent release so it smells first-day fresh for 50 days. 50 days!? and its refill reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness.

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