questions, you talked about democrats playing political games with the nominations of director pompeo c.i.a. haspel from the rand paul came out against both nominations. is he playing political games as well? sarah: specific to the question that was asked supported director pompeo already for the confirmation process. we have two highly qualified individuals to lead these two agencies. we are proud of these nominees and expect them to be confirmed. reporter: senator paul's language doesn't disturb the white house? sarah: these are two highly qualified and highly skilled and highly recommended individuals that should be confirmed and we expect that they are. i was referencing a specific question about the hypocrisy about the support for director pompeo. reporter: spain and south africa have relatively small steel ndustries and youthful aplomping 50%. where their unemployment continue grow? sarah: we will have those conversations with specific conversations countries, but it will be made on a national security basis and i can't speak to those two today. eporter: the sanctions and the d.h.s. and f.b.i

c.i.a. director and kevin james' first dramatic role, mike pompeo. ( laughter ) and the historic news, according to trump, is who is replacing pompeo. "gina haspell become the new director of the c.i.a., and the first woman so chosen." now, that does sound historic, but during the bush administration, she ran a secret prison in thailand where she oversaw brutal interrogations of two detainees, including abu zubaydah, who was waterboarded 83 times in a single month, had his head repeatedly slammed into walls, and who, during his confinement, lost sight in his left eye. you go, girl? lean in? ( laughter ) now, i don't know why trump actually fired him today. he could have waited. there was no hurry, right. and today he had good news. he could have ridden for a cycle or two. because last night, republicans on the house intelligence committee announced they were ending their investigation into russian election meddling and concluded that russian president vladimir putin was not trying to help donald trump win the 2016 election. yes, yes. no, no. after a year-long investigation, they have examined all the evidence and have concluded they did not want

c.i.a. director mike pompeo to replace him. then picked pompeo's deputy, gina haspel, to succeed him.will break all of this down tonight, beginning this evening, starting here tonight with margaret brennan. >> i received a call today from the president of the united epates a little after noon time from air force one. >> reporter: today, a shaken rex tillerson relinquished control of the state department. he had been warned in an early saturday morning phone call from white house chief of staff john kelly that his job was in jeopardy. tillerson, who had been traveling in africa, cut short his trip. hours after landing in washington today, tillerson replaced by c.i.a. director mike pompeo when the president sieeted the news. ws with mike, mike pompeo, we have a very similar thought process. ththink it's going to go very well. >> reporter: president trump, who often says he likes different points of view, said likeired america's top diplomat because they disagreed on foreign policy. >> i actually got along well with rex, but, really, it was a different mindset. it was a different thinkin

at the c.i.a., the president's choice to replace pompeo, deputy iri.a. director gina haspel, would become the woman to lead the agency. she is certain to face tough questions at her confirmation hearing. in 2002, haspel ran a secret so- called "black site" prison for terrorism suspects, and laterro destd evidence of waterboarding. pompeo has also defended thef c.i.a.'s use otorture. his confirmation hearing will be held in april. for insights into what led theto presidenhake up his national security team, we are joined by robert costa, host of pbs'washington week" and national political reporter for the "washington post." and josh lerman, who covers the state department for there associated. robert, to you first, we have been hearing for month that rex tillerson either might be forced out or might resign on his own. what led to this right now? >> there was not an event tat led directly to this decision, judy. it was a lng-simmering frustration by the president with his secretary of state. they saw the world in different ways.an the president really wanted to assert himself m

pompeo would give the state department a fresh start. but would he be willing to challenge the volatile commander-in-chief? the other big change? mr. trump's nomination of c.i.a. veteran gina haspel to replace pompeo. she would be the first woman to lead the agency. highly respected there, but as the former head of covert operations, she likely face as controversial confirmation. for carrying out bush white house orders to waterboard detainees in secret prisons. if confirmed as secretary, pompeo will be home alone. tillerson leaves a hollowed-out department. 38 key maximums not appointed. 16 key secretary vacancies and undersecretaries vacant. more staff shakeups are expected in the wake of the upcoming talks with kim jong un. a may deadline on the iran nuclear deal and the president threatening a trade war. savannah? >> andrea in washington, thank you very much. the president was met by supporters and protests on tuesday during his first visit to california since taking office. overnight, demonstrators chanted and waved signs outside the president's hotel in downtown l.a. urging him to rethink his proposed u.s./mexico border wall. the rallies prompted extra security and road clo

pompeo, director of the cia will become our new secretary of state. he will do a fantastic job. thank you to rex tillerson for his service. gina haspel will become the new director of the c.i.ae first woman so chosen, congratulations to all." [ scattered cheers ] then a few minutes later, he sent another tweet saying, "when mike pompeo is fired, gina haspel will be the new secretary of state, she will do an even more fantasticker job. [ laughter ] thanks to mike pompeo. don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya. the new c.i.a. director will be don jr. congratulations to all." [ cheers and applause ] and finally, a few minutes after that, trump said, "when gina haspel gets canned, don jr. will be the new secretary of state, he'll do the fantasticliest job. thank you to gina haspel for your service, and reminding me, it's gina, not gyna. the new c.i.a. director will be me, congratulations to all." [ cheers and applause ] at least he's planning ahead. >> steve: that's good, right? >> jimmy: but trump -- trump is keeping busy. today he visited california to look at prototypes for his border wall. take a look at these things. [ laughter ] trump looked at those and sa

i can't vote for pompeo, on haspel, she over saw an illegal black ops operation in thailand that included torture. i don't think torture is what america is about. >> brennan: the c.i.a is looking at declassifying the details of exactly what her job was. they have not confirmed that she ran that black site. why don't you withhold your judgment on her until you see the details of her 33 year career? >> because i think there is ample information out there it's not disputed that she ran the black ops operation in thailand that she did oversee in hansed interrogation, her colleagues said she was enthusiastic supporter of the waterboarding. also evidence that she signed a cable to destroy the evidence, there were videotapes which i'm sure were ghastly of l the simulated drowning these were destroyed with her support and advocacy when she returned home to washington. i think there's got to be plenty of good people at the c.i.a. who weren't involved with torture, really, we're supposed to be symbol of hope for the world and people who want freedom from totalitarianism. they want freedom from torture -- this is a terrible -- >> brennan: that was u.s. policy at the time that

senator rand paul said he ll oppose pompeo, over his support for interrogation methods widely viewed as torture. paul is also opposing gina haspel's nomination for c.i.a. director, for the same reasons.r inny, angela merkel was sworn in to her fourth term as chancellor, ending six months of uncertainty in the wake of september's elections. she took the oath of office after her selection by the german parliament. it followed hard bargaining to renew her governing coalition. the u.s. senate moved this evening to roll back parts of a landmark law regulating banks. the dodd-frank act was passed after the financial meltdown of 2008. the changes would relax regulations on smaller lenders. the toughest rules would apply to only the biggest banks. the bill still has to pass the house.rn the northeas.s. spent today recovering from its latest, late-winter storm tuesday's nor'easter was the third major storm in two weeks.g some tow as much as two more feet of snow, andowhousands lost, again. in boston, the mayor warneowthat all the ay force cancellation of sunday's st. patrick's day parade. ford says it's recalling nearly 1.4 million mid-size cars, because the s

, i want to state my utmost confidence in gina haspel, director pompeo's deputy who has been nominated to take over after he leaves as director of the c.i.a. as a career professional, intelligence professional, she is tough, she is direct, but she is collegial too and much beloved by the people who work out at the central intelligence agency. as my colleague, the senior senator from california has previously stated, ms. haspel has great experience acting as deputy director, and she has the confidence of the central intelligence agency, no small feat. i support ms. haspel's nomination and look forward to working hard to ensure her confirmation. of course there will be groups who will waste no time trying to tarnish her reputation over efforts that she made doing her part to keep our nation safe after the terrible tragedy of 9/11, but i think it's more telling that those who know her best commend her in the strongest of terms. take, for example, president obama's former director of national intelligence, james clapper, who has called her tremendous. and president obama's c.i.a. director leon panetta has expressed his support and said he's g