people like susan collins.an collins is going to be carrying tulsi gabbard around on her shoulder. if she gets through a primary in maine and then runs in the general election, she's going to have to justify that vote. she's going to have to justify a lot of other votes. the same with thom tillis, who's going to have to justify a vote for pete hegseth and katty kay? the question is, we talked about the doctor, bill cassidy, down in louisiana, but every republican is going to have to justify a vote for rfk jr. who again, has has has been what appears to be anti-science and just on the just on the working knowledge appears not to know the difference between medicare and medicaid. he couldn't even answer that question when asked about the difference between medicare and medicaid. >> yeah. and remember, tulsi gabbard and kennedy are both democrats. you'd think that they might be easier for senators to vote against with their own constituents saying that, you know, we disagree on principle or ideology. the wall stre

on the intelligence committee susan collins will now support gabbard. she worried about her support for spy edward snowden. >> i am satisfied she will not seek in any way to have him pardoned. a question that i answered in open session. and in the closed session she elaborated further on her reluctance to use the word traitor. >> it is unknown if indiana republican todd young will support gabbard. democrats are tinkering with putting up roadblocks to slow down confirmations on the floor protesting elon musk and doge. >> cannot wave away an agency you don't like or disagree with by executive order or by literally storming into the building and taking over the servers. that is not how the american system of government works. >> vice president vance has worked on skeptical senators. the senate votes today to confirm doug collins as v.a. secretary. a vote on attorney general nominee pam bondi comes tomorrow. eight of the nine nominees confirmed so far have received bipartisan votes. dana. >> dana: all right. chad, let me ask you one other thing as members a

you've also got susan collins in maine and others. cassidy in louisiana.> the politics. >> is almost the number one issue for a lot of them. and it's unfortunate that we've gotten to a point where being primaried is probably the toughest part of winning a reelection fight for a lot of these members. >> especially in maga. >> especially in maga. and a call from mike davis, steve bannon or elon musk is the most terrifying thing any of these senators can get. knowing that means a primary challenge is coming and they don't want to face that. so i think it is looming over them. no matter what they say, they have to look two years ahead and say, do i want to spend the next two years trying to raise $100 million and fend off a primary challenge, and then have to go head to head in a purple state against a well-funded, moderate candidate? after i've gone so far to the right, it's not easy. >> is there a limit to those threats, though? can you only threaten someone with a primary for so long? or does everyone actually just say the threat is too great? i'm just goin

we have to defeat susan collins in maine. maine is a blue state. we can beat her. she is a tough candidate, vice president harris won maine so i am optimistic we can build on that momentum, find the right candidate and win. in north carolina, senator tillis will be our top target. he nearly won in 2020 and with the right candidate we will win this race. if you look at the north carolina map, we are up the next two cycles. if we spend a lot of time building the grassroots and doing early outreach and building up campaign headquarters, we can win two seats out of north carolina. believe it! there are a number of states that can be in play depending on the environment. these are some red states -- don't get nervous -- it matters who runs, who gets primary, it matters the dynamic of a midterm election against trump. remember 2006. those dynamics helped us flood -- we had more than 40 seats that cycle we won. texas has been in a single digit in recent elections. alaska and kentucky recently elected democrats to statewide offices. if they have elected a governor or a hou

kennedy jr., tulsi gabbard picked up support from susan collins today.you believe after speaking with your colleagues that republicans will hold the line and give the president the cabinet he's requesting? >> i do. i haven't done... but we are together every day and you get a feel for things. i think and only four or five instances have presidents of a particular party not had senators of the same party support his nominees. i don't think that's going to change this time. if there were one person i would say is on the bubble and i don't want to overstate this, it's miss gabbard. they are going to support her and that will probably be enough. that's my best guess at this point. i don't tell my colleagues how to vote. i tell them to follow their heart but take their brain with them. >> sean: you don't want to advise and extend those remarks about your omelette? >> no. they aren't better than but you get the point. >> sean: we appreciate you being with us senator kennedy. are you going to the super bowl? do you have any predictions? >> i am. no, i don't eve

>> susan collins being one of those votes against him. it similarly, which is that they are treating the president somebody who is not just the leader of the party but one who has a mandate that is even stronger than their own individual mandates from their voters. in many cases, you have republican senators who --and members of the house, who got fewer votes than donald trump did in their district, so they are giving him a lot of runway. where it really hits the road, again, comes down to the actual consequences hitting voters. you started to hear a little of it today even among some of trump's strongest supporters in congress questioning what kinds of damage these tariffs could do to people in their communities and to the industries in their communities, but for now, they have learned it is not worth it to get out over there's, wait a little bit -- over their skis, wait a little bit, and give him that runway to do the disrupting and the moving of all these different programs in the way that they see voters endorsing. amna: in the 30 sec

other senators susan collins, lisa murkowski and mitch mcconnell, republicans have a 1e committee thatreasury secretary scott bessent as acting head of the consumer financial protection bureau the temporary action taken after former director was let go over the weekend the first act of the temperate takeover includes a work in litigation freeze. mexican drug cartels reportedly ordering a tax on u.s. border patrol agents using kamikaze drones and explosives that's according to an internal memo obtained by the new york post the secretary intelligence issuing an alert him to stay vigilant and carry proper equipment including body armor and rifles the cartel also reportedly using social media like tiktok to encourage illegal migrants to spit or urinate on the border agents in their food or in their cars, then this the trump administration stripping away deportation shield for over 300,000 venezuelan nationals that are in the u.s. and opens the door for deportation the 2023 protection status order extended another 18 months in the final days of the body to administration but then homeless s

senator todd young has not said if he will vote for gabbard but senator susan collins says she will beow, the senate finance committee is going to vote to send rfk junior's nomination out of committee for health and human services secretary. all eyes are on senators bill cassidy, susan collins, lisa murkowski and mitch mcconnell, none of whom have committed to backing kennedy yet so a lot will happen today. israeli president benjamin netanyahu meeting with president trump at the white house today, becoming the first foreign leader to meet with trump in his second term. netanyahu spoke with u.s. middle east special envoy steve witkoff and national security advice i mike walz yesterday as the administration is pushing congress to approve a $1 billion weapon sale to israel that would include thousands of bombs and armored bulldozers. well, state farm insurance is asking for an emergency rate hike from california state regulators after wildfires devastated the los angeles area. the company is seeking a 22% increase for homeowners and 15% hike for renters that would go into effect by may 1s

, susan collins got the assurance she needed that the office of dni would be reduced from the size it is now and with rfk he said look, i'm not this rogue agent, i'm going to follow my boss' orders. just because i have a traditional conservative views about abortions and vaccines doesn't mean i'm not going to follow president trump because i serve at the pleasure of the executive. maria: i was happy to talk to jd vance the other day in that exclusive interview and i asked him what his plans are in four years. he's 40 years old. are you expecting to run for not three and-a-half years? he wasn't ready for it. he said first person to ask me that question, i'm not sure. we're going to think about it. you're right, he's been playing a critical role within the senate confirm airingses. >> by the way, good for him, for deferring on that question. it would be inappropriate for him to say anything else. maria: good point. let's take a short break. we're just getting started this hour. disney reporting a double beat on their earnings and revenue. we're looking ahead to amazon reporting after th

part of what helped win over senator susan collins of maine, who is also a member of this committee, who also said that she would vote to advance this nomination. another republican skeptic, senator james lankford. after that back and forth about stone last week, he had some concerns, but he had conversations with gabbard afterwards. he is now a yes, which means that this vote is going to happen along party lines. they'll be approved by a single vote. then it will be sent to the senate floor, where we expect gabbard's nomination to be taken up as soon as next week. and at that point, she can only afford to lose three republican votes on a party line vote. and at the moment, we don't expect more than three republicans to vote against her. so she is in a very good spot to get this position. after weeks of battling with democrats and winning over some of those skeptical republicans, including senator todd young, a critical vote support announced today, brianna. >> manu raju, thank you for the report. boris. >> and more breaking news into cnn. we've just learned that the fbi has complied

what will susan collins do to perennial swing votes? what will mitch mcconnell do? a childhood survivor of polio? someone who supports vaccines as well? but are there four republicans who could vote against him right now? it doesn't seem that way. but still, several republicans keeping their cards close to their vest. as we head into this critical vote next week. dana. >> and we cannot overstate how much what we just heard from senator cassidy will give those those three republicans, if they are looking for it, political cover to vote for, for rfk jr., because they can say, i mean, you can see the statements being written now. i had my doubts. but doctor cassidy says that he's going to be kind of in charge of this and make sure that things don't go awry. and so therefore, you know, i support him. you can you can see that happening. um, okay. manu, thank you so much. really appreciate it. here at the table are some incredible reporters to continue to talk about this. cnn's jeff zeleny, jasmine, right of notice. and cnn's priscilla. priscilla alvarez, um, let's talk a

you have susan collins. >> lying on the court. lord help me. >> you have susan collins, who's, you know, one of the biggest appropriators in the senate, saying that she's worried that elon musk has gone too far, but then, like. and then what? >> help us. >> help us. >> of course. no. but look, the courts this week are the one thing that have stopped some of these things from moving forward. >> yes. and with no thanks to the members of congress. right. with all thanks to the outside groups that have done the work, who have taken up the mantle, like public citizen litigation team, like democracy forward, like mary mccord's group. >> go ahead. >> you take 90 days to build a habit. okay. and we and america has about 90 days. this these people in that building in the capitol have about 90 days to assert their authority as a co-equal branch of government, or i don't really know if they're going to be able to get it back. >> i think that calls for a countdown clock in the corner of the screen, so we know which day we are on. eugene danie

that's susan collins of maine. there are some other purplish states, like in north carolina and new hampshire as well. but the point is that democrats yes, midterms tend to favor the party out of power, but there just is not much in the playing field for them, given the narrowness of the map. >> yeah. and i think also what i found was really interesting about the dnc election was that neither of the top two contenders with ben wikler ken martin, they weren't talking about this massive overhaul of what they wanted to see the party change in. unlike some of the other candidates who are running, and there were so many worrying signs that came out of the election, they lost traction with young voters, black voters, hispanic voters. and now you don't have a national face leading the party. so while they are going in, in a time where historically the party might shift, especially in the house, towards the opposite of whoever is in power, they have a ton of things to iron out. and even if it's not, it's not a spot that th

senator susan collins swing vote on virtually everything. senator todd young, someone who didn't support trump in the last go round. he also was not satisfied with how she addressed the edward snowden question. james lankford, too, was concerned about her not calling him a traitor. snowden a traitor during that testimony. gabbard over the weekend tried to clean it up. she put out an op ed saying that she didn't want to call, label him a name, just deal with the facts, not with not with the actual name calling and the like. is that enough to win over those republicans? a big question, because there are some concerns about other senators who are not on the committee. if it does advance to the floor. >> you are going to have one of many busy days tomorrow. manu, thank you so much for that reporting. thank you for watching inside politics today. cnn news central starts after the break. >> the boeing 747 has crashed in the lockerbie area., trying to. >> find out the why of it became everything. >> nothing is what it seems in the lockerbie story.

tulsi gabbard picked up support from senator susan collins today. do you believe, after speaking with your colleagues, that republicans will hold the line and give the president the cabinet he's requested? >> yeah, i do. i mean, i haven't done what we call a whip count and talk to every particular senator, but we're together every day, and you kind of get a feel for things. and it's i think in only 4 or 5 instances have presidents of a particular party not had senators of the same party support his nominees. and i don't think that's going to change this time. i'm not sure. i mean, if there were one person i would say is sort of on the bubble, and i don't want to overstate this, it's miss gabbard. but i saw today where senator collins is going to support her, and that will probably be be enough. that's my best guess at this point. i don't tell my colleagues how to vote, sean. i tell them to follow their heart, but take their brain with them now. >> you don't want to revise and extend those remarks, do you? about your omelet? >> ha. no it's not. i'm c

i think a lot of people were surprised by susan collins and todd young.. yes. >> i was surprised by that as. >> well, when. >> i saw. >> especially todd. >> young from indiana. >> he i had heard. >> from. >> republicans on. >> the hill that. >> he was really. >> debating whether or. not to. >> vote for. her and her confirmation hearing as well. we heard tough. questions from republicans about a range. >> of. >> issues, her support in the past and backing of edward snowden, and whether or not she could call him a traitor during the confirmation hearing. also, the intelligence gathering tools that the united states uses for fisa. i know. >> this is an obscure part. >> of the. >> law. >> but it's really important. >> exactly. and that was something that republicans in particular kept asking about as well during that confirmation hearing. but todd young yesterday put out a statement and said that he had had long conversations with gabbard and he had gotten a letter from her in writing that basically assuaged his fears, he said, and confirmed to him that she w

kennedy out of committee, and my friend susan collins voted for ac tulsi gabbard. >> susan did her due did a good job talking with her, proud of her. sizsusan is in a tough state in maryland. she getting a hard time and makes har votes. i would rather have her in office than a democrat from maryland. great to see tulsi gabbard get out with anon -- arkunanimous republican support, the same with robert f. kennedy and with kash patel. we have to let clock run on people that are in front of them, there is a 30 hour debate time. and i believe that time will work out where we could vote on tulsi gabbard and bobby by the end of next week. >> that would be great. that being a republican from maine, the great state of maine. >> did i say maryland, sorry, maine. larry: no, i'm not contradicts it is a easy mistake, i have known senator collins for many years, i count her as a friend whether we agree or disagree, she does what she does, she has as much integrity as anyone i know. >> i would agree with that, i mess up maryland and maine i dlike january and june for me, i will agree, she is honest,

senator susan collins was seen as a possible no vote, late last night she said she would vote for gabbard, saying she does not think gabbard will pardon edward snowden. i look out for senators todd young and jerry moran, they were possible no votes. on r.f.k. jr. side, watch out for senator bill cassidy, a former doctor who has not said if he would vote for r.f.k. jr. saying he was troubled by some of kennedy's previous positions on vaccine safety. that is what i would watch out for. >> todd: we'll be watching. did you hear this? president of el salvador is offering to house deportees and convicted criminals from the united states after striking a deal with secretary of state marco rubio. announcing the agreement in an exclusive interview with fox news, listen. >> i think he will take back the ms-13 prisoners and willing to take back criminals that are not el salvadorians. he is an allie of the united states. >> todd: marco rubio revealing his plans for u.s.a. id, u.s. aid as taking over as acting director. >> there are things we should not be involved funding or that we have questions ab

like three of them you may have heard the names mitch mcconnell, susan collins and lisa murkowski themcrats all the time it's the republicans those have problems with and they are not the only ones pretty got the senator from indiana's last name is young. we have another senator a romney want to be from utah for they are threatening to block kash patel, rfk, or others. tulsi gabbard regular daily kos interpublic undecided on 1010. tulsi gabbard. got that? that would be mcconnell murkowski. these democrats deserve the nominee. when it comes to trump, when it comes to trump they have a screw loose. they have a screw loose. mcconnell, it's all personal with him. collins? she wants to be able to run for senate again and say i'm independent. i vote against republicans all the time. murkowski, she's just a whack job. she likes to say that. she is, she is a favorite senator. democrat or republican the national education association of the american federation of teachers. the teachers unions because man, when it comes to election time they load up for precincts they manned the precinct second

we see a key gop senator, susan collins, she will support tall see gabbard for director of national intelligencerd, indiana senator todd young announcing his this morning he is also going to back gabbard. >> i decided to vote for her. i believe she is committed to strengthening our national security. and i questioned her extensively about her views on edward snowden, and i am now satisfied that she will not seek in any way to have him pardoned in closed session. she elaborated further on her reluctance to use the word trader. madison: we expect a report on closed doors later today. what you are seeing is nominee after nominee having a pathway that continues to open up. we could see more nomination as the we crawls on. stuart: he could get all his nominees, looks likely at this point. madison: things are moving in a positive direction for trump. stuart: chuck todd railed against elon musk, called him un-american. >> of democracy is a, quote, left-wing ideology to elon musk, this man is un-american. as far as my definition of america is. stuart: kennedy is fired up, all over it and she's going to

but susan collins in maine, even in maine trump won that diff district, all that ares came from stately for donald trump, will i nuke one of his premier nominations, i don't think so. larry: now, at least partly the action will turn to the budget and taxes and fiscal policy and things they look difficult if house we hear different rumors about 5 year extension not 10. what do you hear about this? will president trump have toick exercise same amount of influence he hut put to senate for nominations, he has to go to house, so far i'm not hearing him retreat on any of his campaign promises. >> on this reconciliation one big beautiful bill or two, he has left to pubicly up to congress so far. but problem in the house is when elise stefanik leaves, she will resign soon. the balance in house will be 217 republicans, to 215 democrats, that means you can't even lose one vote and fill win. on april 1, they have an election in florida, you will get two republicans members of house replacing gaetz andu wau and waltz. >> it will be tough. >> you know what happens in april. if gets warmer, and sun

susan collins supports tulsi gabbard and the intelligence committee votes today. >> after extensive considerationersations with her in my office, attending the hearing, questioning her there and listening to her in the closed session, i decided to vote that i will vote for her. i believe she's committed to strengthening our national security. >> chad: question is whether todd young of indiana will support gabbard. committee can always send a nomination to the floor with no recommendation or a negative recommendation. president trump stands behind his nominee. >> president trump: i think tulsi gabbard will do okay. i can't guarantee anything. she's liked by so many, especially people in military and law enforcement. >> chad: don't expect democratic support fror r.f.k. jr. they are protesting what happened with spending freeze and usaid. >> pulling the fire alarm, it is up to republicans, majority in congress, passing nominations, who are sitting silently by while elon musk goes into departments and agencies and takes your information. >> chad: r.f.k. jr. could struggle before the finance committee

tom cotton helped rescue her nomination, helpful in getting senators todd young and susan collins onrd for gabbard. rfk junior was able to win over supportive bill cassady. he's a doctor and says he received serious commitments from the administration, he did not want to see vaccines go away and he was able to vote yes, they are on track to be confirmed next week. stuart: democrats on the senate judiciary committee want a second hearing on the hearing for kash patel. >> reporter: they are not done with him the yet. he needs to answer the surge of firings at the fbi and false statements made. he had his hearing, the day before the trump administration fired dozens of doj and fbi officials. >> they are contrary to the assurances we were given by kash patel. he said to us when i asked him directly, pointedly, all fbi employees will be protected against political retribution, this retribution undermines enforcement by the fbi of drug cases and terrorism and bring back kash patel for a second hearing and jointly do our oversight that we were mandated to do on this topic. >> reporter: blum

susan collins will prepare. >> i believe she is committed t strengthening our nance general security,nd i questioned her extensively about her views on edward snowden, and i am now satisfied that she will not see in any way to have him pardoned. >> what is unclear is if intelligence committee member todd young of indiana will support her, also health committee chairman talk to rfk junior over the weekend and he is worried about kennedy's stance on vaccines. jae won the trump administratio working to overhaul federal agencies including the justice department and the fbi. president trump appears to be focused on cases involving the january 6 rioters. >> a max exodus is in the works for a techie it took take viti attorney general the former defense attorney to president from sending a departmentwide memo saying determination sprayed adam believe the curren leadership of the justice department can trust these fbi employees to assist in implementing that residence agenda faithfully. they were to compile list of agents involved in the more tha 1500 investigations of january rioters sprayed

senate intelligence committee will vote on tulsi gabbard, she kicked up a key endorsement from susan collinsn washington marco rubio the acting director u.s. agency for international development, as trump administration, moves to shut down, the u.s. aid agency entirely yesterday employees reportedly locked out of the office democrat brian said he will place a blanket hold on all trump's state department nominees until he backs off of push to shut down u.s. aid, this could impact stefanik trump pick for us ambassador to united nations joining me david mccormick, great to see you this morning. thanks so much for being here. >>good morning, maria,. >> what is going on with colleagues on the left with all games to obstruct. now they want to shut down everything in terms of further picks to for the state department until president trump changes minds ouvenlt said. >> the last two weeks incredible i was in pennsylvania, over the weekend, i did a number of visits people cannot believe, the amount of energy, the productive the success that is happening under two weeks of president trump there is a l

. >> reporter: maine's susan collins could be a swing vote on tulsi gabbard. >> i have not made a finalquestions. >> reporter: democrats doubted whether gabbard would protect the nation's secrets after he lauded one of the biggest raiders of american intelligence. >> she couldn't call edward snowden a traitor. what message would that send to allies around the world? >> reporter: kash patel is likely the easiest to confirm if republicans stick together. also up for vote soon, chris wright for secretary of energy and doug collins to run the rah v.a. both should score bipartisan support. griff? griff: chad pergram live on the hill, thank you. >>> well, for more on the confirmation hearing, let's bring in today's political panel. with us now, prospective strategies' ryan taylor and the president of corcoran treat group president, brad howard. brian, brad, thank you very much. let's get to that. now, we are going to go into these nominees, but i'm hearing reports just now the dnc is electing their new chairman. the person to lead them forward. and, you know, i think it's no secret that in th

intelligence leader susan collins releasing a statement saying she will support tulsi gabbard.ent saying she will support tulsi gabbard 40 and i. that is great news. time quickly the minute we have left here for world of the people. one user is asking is it true that you have a twin brother named it won't? no. and who do people say is my doppelgaenger? to matheson? the guy from animal health? another adding i love the show. my suggestion ditch the rolling banner and where a flannel shirt daily. give it some time see where this goes over time. finally, saying you owned your mistakes and i did not even know any of them were errors. i love your show mistakes and all. that is the point you don't know somebody makes a mistake and thus they own it so we will continue to own our mistakes here every week on the will cain show. thank you for joining us as we get to the heart of the matter from the heart of america. we will be here same time same place tomorrow. get ready for "the five". ♪ ♪ >> dana: hello, ever

gabbard's nomination for director of one potential hold-out there moderate republican senator susan collins. now she is backing tulsi gabbard. >> i will vote for her. i believe she is committed to strengthening our national security. and i questioned to her extensively about her views on edward snowden and i am now satisfied that she will not seek in any way to have him pardoned. >> harris: you will remember the edward snowden case behind one of the biggest classified document leaks in u.s. history. now senior congressional correspondent chad pergram is on capitol hill with more. a lot of staccato quick movement now. >> absolutely. also doug collins is up for v.a. they'll vote on him today. the finance committee voted 14-13 along party lines to send kennedy's nomination to the floor. g.o.p. louisiana senator bill cassidy agreed to vote yes after what he termed quote intense conversations. still questions linger about vaccines. >> the only way that bobby kennedy and i will get crosswise is if he does all actually take a position against the safety of proven vaccines. that will be a problem f

susan collins today announced she's going to vote for tulsi gabbard. one thing we ought to add about foreign aid, it is something that is there to protect. vulnerable people around the world, but it is also in america's national interest. we have had viruses. emerge from continents like africa that have come to the united states and killed people, and there will be more of them because they're dismantling our health care system and our centers for disease control. we know that china. she is giddy about this because china, russia and others are moving in. to take our. place and countries and that will damage us. and with all of this, we see no republican in congress stepping up to say enough is enough. we are finally having some democrats who are starting to do what they should have done. frankly, what they should have started to do on november 5th when they still had the majority, there is a lot more that they can and must do. we need house democrats to step up and hold their own field hearings in the districts of republican congress, people who are vu

senator susan collins has indicated that she is going to support tulsi gabbard. going forward for dni? >> i feel really good about all. means they are all intelligent. they are articulate. they are unflappable. as i said they are fighters that came out very well in the confirmation hearings. i think most republican senators take the attitude i do that president trump won a convincing victory. he deserves to staff the administration with people he wants in those positions. and unless there is some disqualifying aspect to their background, our job is to make sure we confirm those people so he really can swiftly and decisively act on the promises he made to the american public. >> charlie: you sit on the senate finance committee. r.f.k. jr. had a hearing between before both your committee as well as the health and education committee real quick. does he have to get through -- get a confirmation, a positive confirmation from both committees and then secondly. how do you think that looks for him right now? >> senate finance committee. the democrats were very hostile t

moment when she said she wouldn't seek to pardon -- from president trump and that seemed to assuage susan collinsability to answer that question is one that's going to hang over her head in addition to things like lack of experience, the sort of mysterious trip to syria to see assad. there's a lot of open questions around her right now. >> george: how do you see interplay between the nominations and the amount of political capital president trump would have to spend to get them through and the big fights coming down the road on the tax and spending plans? >> well, it is a sign of will republicans hang together even if they're uncomfortable with some aspects of trump's agenda? the safe bet is when push comes to shove, republicans will hang with trump even if they don't want to. >> i think that's right because look. republicans over and over and over again have fallen in line, and i think one of the unique aspects of president trump in these confirmation hearings is you see one cabinet fall because the white house decides i'm not going to spend my political capital there. >> george: you had that ma

just yesterday with senator susan collins. >> on tulsi gabbard.anybody was. >> going to be a skeptic. >> of tulsi. >> gabbard, you would. >> have thought it might have been senator collins. but she's announced now that she's going to vote. >> for. >> tulsi gabbard for the director of national intelligence. and i think that, you know, you would have thought that kash. >> patel might. >> have. >> had more skepticism. >> among republican. >> senators, given what's happened at. >> the fbi. >> where they. have now. pushed to pushed out and are. >> trying to fire. >> any number of people. >> and requiring up to. >> perhaps thousands. >> of fbi agents to report on what actions they took as part of the. prosecution of january 6th defendants, as. >> if. >> they. >> had done. >> something wrong. >> and needed. >> to be. perhaps. you know, held accountable. these actions do not seem to have changed. >> with the. >> republican votes, even if privately some of them are expressing reservations and misgivings. >> and just a reminder to our viewers, the hhs secre

. >> susan collins of maine, announced. >> yesterday she's voting yes on tulsi. just today, senator. >> todd young of indiana. >> another vote we were watching came out for tulsi gabbard. let's show. >> his statement on the screen. he says, quote, i've done what the framers envisioned. >> for senators. >> to. >> do, use the consultative. >> process to seek firm commitments. >> in this. >> case, commitments that will. advance our national security. >> which is my. >> top priority. as a former marine corps. >> intelligence officer. having now secured those commitments, i will support. >> tulsi's nomination. >> and look. >> forward to working with her to. >> protect. >> our national security, unquote. what commitments. >> is. >> he talking about? >> todd young says. >> gabbard promised. >> to hold. accountable employees who make unauthorized. intelligence disclosures. >> and won't advocate. for protections. unless it's for. >> lawful and legitimate whistleblowers. this is clearly a reference to edward. >> snowden. >> who you know, who tulsi gabbard was asked. about

that would have been bill cassidy, susan collins and mitch mcconnell.sa murkowski has been on the fence. other senators have been on. >> the fence. and as. >> you know, you know, the moment you get to 4 or 5 no's, that's going to be the end of your your nomination. and so she was already on the line, already very precarious. and i don't think that performance did her any favors. >> i also want to talk about kash patel. you wrote that the fbi director nominee refused to say if he would target trump's rivals for investigations, and kind of tried to distance himself from his own previous remarks that were captured on video. how do republican senators react to that? and did they seem to feel he was being disingenuous, or are they trying to come up with a way to give him a pass because they want to show support for the president? >> yeah. >> i. >> mean, in. >> the main, they gave kash patel a pass. look, you know, kash was. someone who, you know, worked in the house, worked in the trump. >> administration. >> has a lot of allies on the hill and also in trump

. >> from susan collins. >> of maine. today about.nows better, but. >> she's. >> always known better. >> i guess. >> after all these years, they still haven't learned their lesson. >> but collins. >> has, which is she's going. >> to get in line now. >> that that's in her best interest. >> but do they see no issue with what elon musk is doing, basically taking over government agencies? he views them as useful idiots. he's happy to plow through and donald trump will let him do that. does none of none of them wants to raise a red flag here again? >> no. >> i mean, for a couple of reasons. one. >> nobody wants to. >> get primaried. >> and that's all they care about. >> as you know. >> stephanie, the first. >> thing that. >> people worry about. >> when. >> they get elected is how they're going to get reelected. secondly, they're. >> worried about the retribution. >> of a guy like musk. >> who. >> is. >> the wealthiest. >> man on the. >> on the planet. >> there's a reason why. >> he's the spearhead of. >> all of these. >> things. >> going i

uh, susan collins is saying we need an exemption for things up in maine. how? what are you hearing about kind of what your members can do to try and not get hit here? >> i think there's a couple of things. one, we have to look for other countries where we can import lumber and timber. so whether it's the scandinavian countries or even south america, partners, where we have free trade agreements already are certainly lower tariffs. and now we're going to see that canada itself is going to look for better markets. traditionally, they're going to find it to china, which means they're going to ship all of their timber over to china, which further constricts the supply and raises prices when it comes to lumber in particular. but for us, we're going to work in a coalition with all of our housing friends to make sure that not only our suppliers, but also other other building organizations and other real estate organizations. so that's that's where we're going to. and we're going to continue to petition the trump administration on those exemptions and finding out where

susan collins walked into that hearing very concerned about her, but she seemed to walk out feeling betterthen you saw someone like james lankford, who walked out and told us, you know, and several other people that he wasn't sure that he really tried to help her, you know, get this on the record that she believes edward snowden is a traitor. and she refused to say so. >> mhm. so it's now been, you know, more than a week since the white house put a sudden 90 day freeze on almost all foreign aid. several non-governmental organizations who spoke to cnn say that they haven't gotten answers about which funding has been suspended. you've reported that programs include the president's emergency relief plan for aids relief, refugee and resettlement services. so what are some of the other programs that are being impacted by this freeze? >> i mean, it's kind of runs the gamut, right? i think what most people do not know, the scope and breadth of u.s. foreign aid and the corners of the world that it touches. i mean, we're talking about, as you mentioned, hiv aids in nigeria. you know, the presidenti

look, we already saw the republicans basically roll over the so-called moderates, like, you know, susan collinsto vote in favor of vote. but is there anything that can be done right now as this takeover of government or dismantling of these different departments and agencies accelerates? >> look, i think for individual voters, the things that you can do now and i know this sounds cliche, but members of congress are slowly waking up and starting to call the white house saying, oh my god, don't cancel this agricultural research grant at the university of alabama. oh my god, don't cancel this thing here. they're going to start realizing that a lot of what they bring home to their districts every year and their states every year come out of programs like usaid for agriculture programs across the country. the national science foundation, for national laboratories across the country, at least medical research and scientific research, nih for disease research. those things are those things make a difference in the states. not to mention these these members of congress should be burning down the white

anything to get in the way of doge the two senators i've heard the most criticism from of doge are susan collins of maine and lisa murkowski of alaska. of course, those who followed the first trump administration know those two moderate female gop senators often provided the most pushback. but by and large, this current republican party is the party of donald trump. and that means criticizing him is a very rare exercise. so, as you mentioned, this might get a little bit different. but as we stand here now, most republicans are going along with this. and they say, look, trump campaigned on cutting stuff. now he's cutting stuff. >> all right. max cohen, good to have you. enjoy the saturday. >> all right. still ahead, thousands of usaid employees are still on the job after a judge blocks the trump administration's plan to put thousands of them on administrative leave. but how long will that last? also, the latest jobs report is out revealing shifts in hiring and unemployment, what it means for the economy and your wallet. >> tomorrow. follow the puppies as they make the jump from shelter to stardom

. >> susan collins is a yes on tulsi gabbard. and now todd young is a yes on tulsi gabbard. she's going to get through the senate intelligence committee. i have to imagine most likely she will get through the senate floor. and donald trump. i mean, we have to say this. donald trump has effectively completed or is on the brink of completing a clean sweep of his cabinet nominees. i mean, it's pretty pretty astounding. and it does speak to number one. it speaks to, again, trump's hold in the party. number two, his the senate republican leadership, which has worked with this white house to get their nominees across the floor. i mean, remember a month ago, two months ago, three months ago, we were talking about recess appointments, which was always this, i would say, media fascination that that donald trump brought up wasn't really tethered to reality. he's going to get all of his nominees across the floor quite quickly. and that's that's pretty impressive. he's outpacing even president joe biden at this point. >> jake sherman on capitol hill, thank you very much, my friend. appr

and then they become a little free once some of them get reelected, like a susan collins, for example. but at the end of the day, i still it troubles me so much to see that they are willing to abdicate the very thing that makes our country great. they are not willing to uphold the constitution. they are not willing to live up to the oath they've taken. you can disagree. disagree with your democrat counterparts, but at least fight for something. you're just simply abdicating everything. and especially in the house and the house, i actually think they're happy they don't have to take a bad vote. >> well, you know, it's interesting, susan, because in the house, i think, i think that there's just a different calculation going on. i think about the fact that speaker johnson was one of the chief cheerleaders of donald trump during his, you know, stop the steal movement. he was someone that, you know, was on his podcast at the time talking about the fact that he's he's talking to he was talking to the president every day at that point, challenging these ballots. right? he he is a he's a he i

reason when congress established this position thanks in large part to our colleague and her friend susan collinsit mandated in law that any individual nominated for this position must have, and i quote, extensive national security expertise. now i appreciate you taking the time to meet with me and as i noted in that office before and after, i continue to have significant concerns about your judgment and your qualifications to meet the standards set by law. first as i noted previously, the dni was created in part to make sure we have appropriate intelligence prior to 9/11 and obviously we hadn't. but the mission is not only to share information between the ic, but also with our allies. there's no legal requirement that our allies share intelligence with us. it is all predicated on trust. trust that our allies will protect each other's secrets. it appears to me you have repeatedly excused our adversaries' worst actions, instead often blaming them on the united states and those very allies. for example, you blamed nato for russia's 2022 invasion of the ukraine. you rejected the conclusion that assa

. >> out like susan collins. >> in support of her, her chances have gone through the roof. >> robert f. kennedy. >> jr. to be the hhs secretary. >> he's up to 82%. again, that is. also higher than it was a week ago. at this particular point, the two most controversial picks remaining for donald trump seem to see their prospects going through the. >> roof. at this hour. >> what about the field, as it were? >> what about the field? so the remaining picks chance of trump, of trump, trump's picks being confirmed. the average besides gabbard and rfk, you can't really get much higher than 99%. so look, there's a chance, i guess, you know, a 1 in 1,000,000, basically, or a 1 in 100 inches this particular case that one of the remaining picks do not get confirmed. but the bottom line at this hour is rfk jr. tulsi gabbard look likely to be confirmed, and the rest of the field looks really, really, really likely to be confirmed. >> so in the end, although we're not there yet. but imagine for a second we were at the end here looking back on all of donald trump's nominations, some of which were v