from dni dan coats and principal deputy dni sue gordon, the acting dni admiral joe maguire, to act director national counterterrorism center russ travers, to the inspector general of the intelligence community michael attkisson. these firings and forced departures from the leadership of the intelligence community have left the odni without a single senate confirmed leader at the helm. instead, and acting dni with no experience in intelligence but with plenty of political loyalty to the the president has ben appointed to oversee america's intelligence enterprise. as acting dni, this individual probably instituted a hiring freeze and a reorganization whose purpose has not been communicated to the intelligence oversight committees. he also quickly fired senior leaders with decades of experience in the ic. alarmingly, we have began to hear aborts reports that intelligent professionals have been inappropriately pressured to limit the information they share with congress. and now, mr. ratcliffe, the president has nominated you to this critical position of national security and intelligence leader

from dni dan coats and principal deputy dni sue gordon, the acting dni admiral joe maguire, to act director national counterterrorism center russ travers, to the inspector general of the intelligence community michael attkisson. these firings and forced departures from the leadership of the intelligence community have left the odni without a single senate confirmed leader at the helm. instead, and acting dni with no experience in intelligence but with plenty of political loyalty to the the president has ben appointed to oversee america's intelligence enterprise. as acting dni, this individual probably instituted a hiring freeze and a reorganization whose purpose has not been communicated to the intelligence oversight committees. he also quickly fired senior leaders with decades of experience in the ic. alarmingly, we have began to hear aborts reports that intelligent professionals have been inappropriately pressured to limit the information they share with congress. and now, mr. ratcliffe, the president has nominated you to this critical position of national security and intelligence leader

i very much view that as this role for the dni. i look forward to treating every member, republican, and democrat exactly the same way. and, frankly, being out of poli >> that is an important questio. because i've heard some of the skepticism that's been raised i about experience and the experience needed to lead this intelligence enterprise. it is my view that you have pretty extensive experience, both on the committee in the house and on judiciary and as a what is it in what you have don over the last -- during your career -- that you believe prepares you best for the role of overseeing these pillars of our intelligence capabilities? rep. ratcliffe: i've now seen intelligence from three different vantage points. as an end-user and a developer, as a consumer of intelligence, and as an overseer of intelligence. as far as experience, i started handling national securit issues back in 2005. and that included intelligence authoriti my first exposure with fisa wa 2005 and in trying to respond t in trying to respond to this committee, w

who is working in the dni and the function that. they fulfill to make sure of its effectiveness and elimination of redundancies and bloating. >> thank you. do you support some of the policy proposals i mentioned in my opening statement about capping the size of the dni, eliminating dni taxes, returning employees back to their home agencies to do real intelligence work? >> yes. >> senator, i look forward to. >> working with. >> you as we assess. where the dni needs to be in order. >> to fulfill. >> its core mission and function. >> thank you. and in your preparation for this hearing and this important responsibility, have you developed any thoughts that explains the mission creep and the empire building that we've seen at the dni in recent years? >> yes. >> senator. >> i've. >> had the opportunity. to review the history of the dni, to speak to ambassador negroponte, the first director of national intelligence, as well as others. >> who have. >> served in this position. i think there are a number of contributing factors to the creatio

first of all, i did it at that time as dni, which as you know the dni speaks for the entire intelligence community. my proposal was actually a reflection of multiple leaders across the intelligence community who shared my opinion that other countries don't hold public hearings like that where we discuss sensitive national security information. the problem isn't in terms of you asking questions about classified material. the issue comes up in terms of being put on the spot to provide an answer where sometimes you might inadvertently provide information that is classified, because you don't recall at what level or if it is classified at all. so that is the danger and that has happened. so, that explains how i approached that issue. what i would say is this. i'm being considered for the cia director, which is not the head of the intelligence community. and i understand, notwithstanding my opinion about how the worldwide threat assessment hearing should take place, that the committee and i learned from that disagrees, didn't want that proposal, so that would not be an issue if i'm confirmed

another example of ÃÃwhat's come to be known in the intelligence community as dni taxes.ni shifting and directing funds ndaway from the intelligence community's core mission to the whims and fantasies of any particular dni, that practice, which seems to have grown and run rampant under doing ohanian is also going to stop. if confirmed, you have a lot of work ahead of you. and as chairman of the committee i'm committed to ensuring that we see it all the way through. at this moment i will now recognize senator risch for a brief statement. >> thank you very much mr. chairman i appreciate that and i want to thank miss gabbard for meeting with me and having the candid conversation we did on the issues. unfortunately i have to chair à Ãwe have our first meeting today on line influence of china here at home and abroad so i'm not going to be able to stay for the hearing. not to get a chance to ask questions, however, we are going to have a closed session immediately following the questions i have trespassed on the the security of the country and as a result of that, they need to

and to w have former dni john ratcliffe with us. john was intelligence advic er to president and leader of u.s. intelligence community which consists of 18 elements now with space force the last added element to it. no long introduction is needed america's top of spy, director ratcliffe edirected u.s. intelligence and counter intelligence collect flat forms and covert platforms -- where i served for 33 years. prior to his time as dni, he was congressman from northeast texas on house committee intel gents, homeland security and judiciary committees. prior to that served in department of justice u.s. attorney prosecuting counter intelligent cases as we have discussed. was named co-chairman of center for american security. o at america first policy institute. welcome s today, delightful to have this conversation with you. >> david let me just, say, a pleasure to be here. i thank heritage foundation for inviting me, a great institution, and privilege to be here, you to personally, i think our audience needs to know in addition to what t

the most recent dni, avril haines, has been superb. it's not perfect.e. but i am saying she is undergoing a questioning about whether she can fill this role adequately. and in addition to the snowden issue, which is huge, there's section 702, which i'm sure you're going to ask others about, which are powers that we expanded so that we can find out plots against the united states. there is her trip to syria. i went to syria on a codel, but it was a very different kind of codell when i was there with a bipartisan group from the intelligence committee. so i'm saying i want to commend senators for being tough and making sure they make the best decision about a crucial function of our country. >> ambassador mcfaul, weigh in on everything that is on the line with how this this vote goes for this nominee in particular. >> nicole, i have so many things to say. how much time do we have? >> take your time. take your time. >> a couple of things. so edward snowden is a traitor. i was the us ambassador in russia when it came to russia. everybody knows that. every se

as dni i was able to experience what you said. we have the best intelligence enterprise in the world but we have great partners around the world. that we work with to do great things to improve not just our's security posture but there's. that is reliant upon mutual trust and respect or intelligence sharing between intelligence agencies. as cia director if confirmed, i understand that improving our national security posture and protecting the american people will be absolutely dependent upon maintaining those relationships and maintaining that trust. >> senator collins. sen. collins: thank you. welcome. for the past nine years at least, health incidents have been a serious and persistent problem within the intelligence community. at first there was a robust effort to investigate the cause of these incidents and to support the possible victims. along with other senators on this committee, i was one of the authors of the havana act, there was funding available for those who had been afflicted. more recently, support for investigativ

that was one of the reasons i did something that dni's typically don't do. i put out an op-ed saying they are our number one nationals nal security threat. i was pleased to see in the unclassified report that came out and in hearings a recognition and a discussion about that, that china poses the greatest threat. unfortunately what worries me most about china is that got a lot of momentum. they didn't become our number one adversary overnight. we should in talking about china i think honestly more candidly and in recognition of how the ra near-peer competitor, a competitor to the u.s. in so many places. now we look up, and what worries me is not only are they and near-peer competitor in many places but that got a lot of momentum and they got a unified focus, unified in effort and away they are approaching this. they want to replace the u.s. and to have a lot of resources to devote to that and are dedicated to that. within certain areas when we talk about challenging us militarily, economically and technologically, what worries me most is on the technological

i guess i am asking, what message would it send to have the dni celebrate the work? they are a contractor who decide on their own what is appropriate to leak. third, until recently, you had a clear and consistent record of opposing 702. i know members on this committee already understand how important this is but for folks who don't, this law is critical to our national security. literally 60% on average of what goes into the president's daily briefing, president trump will read each day in assessing what is going on in the world comes from this important piece of law that allows us to seek out those foreigners abroad for coverage. it has prevented terrorist attacks, and helps us prevent foreign cyber attacks, it helps us with fentanyl trafficking. many in this congress and many on the committee have tried to reform this legislation to better balance security and civil liberties. however, you have consistently gone further. not only did you vote against reauthorizing 702, you actually introduced legislation to fully repeal the whole thing, calling again a blatant dis

her hearing only further confirmed to me that tulsi is the perfect candidate for the dni role. she is a decorated lieutenant colonel, over 20 years of service in the military. tulsi served in combat in the iraq war and is currently active in service. she has a top security clearance having passed five background collection to receive it. tulsi served in congress for eight years, where she sat on the homeland security armed services and foreign relations committee. and as a member of congress, she consistently participated in high-level intelligence briefings. and she has displayed throughout her entire career in the military and as an elected official, tulsi will bring a fearless spirit to the dni role. i have to tell you, my meeting with tulsi was one of the most impressive i've had since i've been in this office going on five years. knowledge and expertise is unmatched. i have no doubt she will keep our country secure while protecting the constitution

she will come to dni without any bias. she will fix our broken intelligence community. and folks, it is broken. i look forward to confirming tulsi to dni. i urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for tulsi. she will play a major role in president trump's team and restoring faith in our intelligence community. mr. president, i yield the floor, and i notice the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. quorum call: >> before it get on with two comment unless such horrific tragedy. last night around 9 p.m. past new flight of wichita, kansas, come into reagan national airport collided with a black hawk helicopter based out of fort belvoir. this recovery efforts continue, authorities confirmed that they do not expect any survivors. there are few words in instances like this only our heartfelt prayers for those who have received unbearable news over the past few hours and our gratitude for rescue personnel who spent the night searching for survivors and remain on the river. it's too early to know why

if gutting dni, removing dni initiatives from the federal government, if that is a promise made. promise kept. what do you do about that now? >> because the president has an obligation to be the president of all americans. he sounded that theme repeatedly. this does not comport with that notion. it isn't just about paying back those who supported you. it's about affirming american values. i'd argue that dni was not a centerpiece of this election. it was about economic issues. it was about border. yes, it was a subtext. yes, it was discussed. but let me just go back to 81% of the american people. so when you challenge the notion that doors should be open, you're challenging the progress that women have made, that people of color have made, that people of gender identity have made over the years to create a stronger and a better america. that's what this is about, an attack on dni says the work of the last several presidents going all the way back to the 1960s is now for naught. and we have to resist that because it's not consistent. i'd appeal to the new administration to open a d

the dni, staffing the dni was part of the intelligence reform bill but i'm not sure this is the case but i would hope is that some monitoring of that would be part of the legislation. so i cannot speak to, i'm afraid, that the degree to which that implementation has been, has done what it's supposed to do. and certainly with respect to afghanistan. but i think that is a valid question to make sure that recommendations of that kind actually do what they're supposed to do. >> i appreciate the response. as i look at the original funding and numbers that went toward the dni and the growth that's occurred over the years and then again the things that we point to and the criticism that we read about the intelligence community throughout the afghan conflict, i do agree that it's an important thing to unpack and i'm grateful again for your work in documenting the history of it and your participation of the recommendation. i'll yield back the rest of my time. >> thank you very much. i would like to recognize commissioner mogupalia, please. >> thank you. good afternoon. thank you to the vfw, t

what's going to happen with their confirmation hearings as fbi director and dni chris bedford is takingn whatting expect from those senate democrats at the hearings tomorrow. also president trump or, he's now taking only the public teachers' unions. now the president is about to do school choice for parents and children. plus, we've bot the shocking amount of -- got the shocking amount of money former president biden spent to push dei in public schools as student the test scores plunge again. townhall.com political editor, he's guy benson, he's fired up and ready go. but first, this story -- >> assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by in this pause. if you're receiving individual assistance from the if federal government, you will continue to receive that. again, not for individual assistance. >> -- meals on wheels or head start or disaster aid? >> again, it does not affect individual -- >> meals on wheels. >> i have now been asked and answered this question four times. elizabeth: that was press secretary karoline leavitt repeatedly having to say presiden

no one could be worse in a position of dni than someone who doesn't believingin facts. i told mr. ratcliffe he should urge mr. trump to drop her nomination. he couldn't report to somebody like tulsi gabbard in good conscious. she is too risky. she has a history of cheering america's adversaries. if confirmed i'm worried she'll push false intelligence for political ends. those are precisely the moments mr. ratcliffe will have to hold firm, reject what she says and go to the president and speak truth to power. his answers to my questions about that were unsatisfying, so i'm voting no, because it's such an important position. now on the hegseth vote, today the senate will vote to advance one of the most unqualified, erratic nominees for a major position we have ever seen in america. no position in the cabinet carries the weight, the responsibility of secretary of defense. the secretary of defense is in charge of keeping us safe and keeping the men and women in our armed forces and the civilians safe. you need someone who has a steady hand. you need someone who has had experience in t

las autoridades hace pruebas de dni haber si los restos donde sus seres queridos.n moto taxi que dejo a uno de los desaparecidos. hablamos con la madre y nos dice que su instinto de madre le dice que su hijo podrÍa estar entre los cadÁveres encontrados en el compartimiento del tren de aterrizaje de esta aeronave. esta madre pide la colaboraciÓn de las autoridades dominicanas y estadounidenses para enviar muestras de adn a la florida para determinar si especÍficamente uno de estos cuerpos pertenece a su hijo. que digo que los tres jÓvenes fueron identificados. y que no tienen idea quÉ hacÍan los jÓvenes por esta zona. ahora ella? mÁs preguntas que respuestas y exige a las autoridades ayuda y colaboraciÓn para que la avisar las investigaciones y tener las respuestas que estÁn buscando. es la informaciÓn que tenemos desde punta cana, regreso a los estudios. elian: esperamos cÓmo se desarrolla esta informaciÓn. y estas imÁgenes fueron captadas por un ron, este rescate de unos 35 visitantes que quedaron atrapados en una rueda de la fortuna, para bajarlos, le siguieron l

okay, even if jp morgan, coca cola, disney, even if they get rid of all of their dni, right.ew enemy, even if they get all of their dni initiatives, i can guarantee if bob iger was in earshot of a single employee using either one of those words in the workplace, he'd fire their on the spot. and how pathetic is it this big time banker was anonymous in what he said. can you believe this? >> if it hadn't, if he hadn't been anonymous, if top banker had actually used his name because now he feels liberated, he would have been fired. so there's no question he would have been fired. >> what kind of garbage? right? >> i get he wouldn't. he would. he would have been fired for a lack of judgment as much as any other reason. >> yes. you know, i should watch my language. i shouldn't, but but just just even this. this is not about diversity. this is not about misogyny. this is about stupidity. >> like and respect for people. >> but what has happened in the workplace, what has happened. like, i get that especially in the banking world, right? there's this idea that, you know, mergers and a

dni programs. a new memo out warning of, quote, adverse consequences if employees fail to report personnel working on those initiatives. we know that there is the memo of dni programs across the federal federal government were shut down as of 5 p.m. yesterday. cnn's harry enten running the numbers on this issue and this focus for us overall. what are the numbers and where do you see it in terms of how the public feels about dni and the federal government? >> yeah. >> so we've. >> been i've been waiting. >> for this poll. >> question because the bottom line. >> is we haven't actually had good dei poll questions. but this, i think, really gets at a dei in schools and government agencies. this is a poll just out from the new york times and ipsos. and you can see a very split country right here. 47% want to keep dei. the slight plurality though, well within the margin of error. 48%. but i'll tell you what this all this really looks like kate bolduan this looks a heck of a lot like the election results,

we, you know, there are a number of nominees, uh, him, um, um, uh, the dni nominee, um, who we are going very strongly at, and we hope our republican colleagues will join us. thank you, everybody. >> c-span's washington journal, a live form involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy. from washington dc and across the country, and coming up thursday morning, bobby cogan of the center for american progress will discuss the trump administration was a federal aid freeze and then brian blais of paragon health institute will review the top health care royalties for the trump administration. c-span's washington journal, joining the conversation live at seven got eastern thursday morning on c-span, c-span now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org. >> democracy, it isn't just an idea, it's a

if you and i were applying for a low level position at either fbi or dni, dni and we had this baggageallegations hanging over our head, these relationships, these statements, we would be disqualified from. >> the. >> security clearance. but because these are going to be. nominees heading the agency, somehow we don't see this happening. this idea that tulsi gabbard's background. investigation was, quote, perfect, pristine, whatever it was said nonsense. because we know publicly about all of the concerns hanging over her head with regard to her visit to syria. her statement, who paid questions about who paid. >> for her trip to. >> syria and their links to terrorism, her statements about vladimir. putin and bashar al assad, what's happened with the hegseth nomination was that the trump transition team did not share the entire fbi background investigation with the key members of the senate. i fear that's what's going on right now. both of them are disqualified for these positions, for these positions. >> and what's at stake then, because it sounds like both are likely to be confirmed. >>

his partizan stripes were showing a bit while he was dni. i don't think he fired anybody, though.le he was director for political reasons, but i think he did fall prey to some of trump's pressure on the eve of the 2020 election, when he very selectively declassified intelligence that tried to support trump. so again, he's he's better than many. but i do think the men and women of the cia probably are reassured that there's somebody like john ratcliffe, as opposed to a tulsi gabbard or a kash patel or whatever else. again, this election could have been much worse. >> i agree, today was the day when you could kind of breathe because the people were somewhat normal. i mean, those of us who lived in florida, you know, i mean, like you said, i don't agree politically with them, but they are normal people. like, what are you going to talk about tomorrow? what do you expect to be asked? and what will you say about pam bondi? >> i'm just going to tell the truth about my experience where she did put her neck out on the line to bring me on as the drug czar. when republicans were chastising

and we've also had folks like sue gordon, who was the dnr, the deputy dni.ing trump to facts and reality. i believe there's been extensive reporting about the use of pictures to try to draw his attention to the pdb. if you lay those facts and that history over this moment, could you just tell us where your gravest concerns lie for u.s. national security? >> well, you know, you're absolutely right about that, nicole. and you know, john ratcliffe, as if confirmed, as i expect he will be, will have an extraordinarily difficult job, right. the first term, the bodies that are strewn around out of the department of justice, out of the intelligence committee, of community, of people who didn't tell donald trump what he wanted to hear or who spoke truth to him. you know, that's a very long list of people. so john is going to have an enormously, enormously difficult job. and it's not just persuading the president that the information that he's getting is good. it's also going to be keeping morale up and keeping it very clear inside the cia that, you know, they can't

of the problems with the rfk nomination, where we you know, there are a number of nominees, him, the dni nominee, who we are going very strongly at. and we hope our republican colleagues will join us. thank you, everybody. thank you. the new jersey globe and others are reporting that former new jersey democratic senator bob menendez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption and acting as an unregistered foreign agent. the new york daily news molly crane newman posted about the sentencing, writing that federal judge sidney stein addressed the former senator, telling him somewhere along the way you became, i'm sorry to say, a corrupt politician. she continues, noting that after mr. menendez, now 71 years old, tearfully pleaded for leniency, the judge told him, again, i don't know what led you to this. greed was certainly part of it. hubris was part of it. i don't know. you'll have to try to figure that out yourself over time. mr. menendez was first elected to the u.s. house in 1992, before becoming a u.s. senator in 2006. live today on c-span, 10 p.m. eastern, president trump

strategy of the ccp we've been talking about this nonstop in john ratcliffe when he was in congress and dniold me the strategy of the ccp is very simple rob, replicate replace, your reaction. >> i would like you to take a bend on the sound from policy perspective but in investing perspective. the most important, of the day made yesterday from an investment standpoint was made by david sachs this is competition for those i go ahead and compete in this arena the united states for the consumer frankly this is a great thing if it could be done faster and cheaper at the end of the day we're going to have a better product at a cheaper price certainly for purposes of things like chips not necessarily having to use as much or energy not as much is out as well. for those stocks a difficult time but those folks going to go ahead and take advantage of the technology and be able to take advantage of it at a cheaper price at a faster rate that ends up being a win therefore we saw yesterday and jump up and meadows share price i would like to see where earnings are like this week and what commentary we ha

between mile -- meanwhile, more senate confirmation hearings happening today, kash patel, dni nomineetulsi gabbard will face senate committees today after things got heated yesterday. robert f. kennedy jr. was forced to defend himself against attacks from democrats. howard lutnick also faced a hearing where he defended trump's tariff promises. we heard the commentary earlier. jonathan, your reaction. >> well, it's pretty interesting watching these hearings and watching the democrats get so exorcised about these nominees. if we remember four yearsing ago, biden's nomination if, he was basically filling out the dei bingo card. there wasn't any if emphasis on the most qualified people, and you saw that with pete buttigieg which was, you know, certainly referenced with the last guest. but i think it'll be interesting with kash patel today because they will focus on these extraneous things, but he wants to take the politics how of the fbi. the agents don't want to be investigating january 6th, parents at school board meetings. they want the bad guys off the street to make things safer x th

the dni is having. >> a. >> friendly meeting with. also on that same day, though, that we're going to get tulsi gabbard's confirmation hearing on thursday, we're going to have the confirmation hearing. >> for trump's choice. >> to be fbi director. now, this is a job that should. >> not be. >> open because fbi directors have ten year terms. fbi director chris wray has three years left in his ten year. >> term. >> but he inexplicably decided to resign. >> before his term. >> was up, which had purely and only the effect. >> of making. >> it easier. >> for. >> trump to install someone. >> new in the job. that was. >> nice. >> of him. but now, thanks to chris. >> wray. >> here we are. as january 6th pardon recipients start to get arrested for other crimes after. >> trump pardoned them. as 1st. >> january sixth pardon recipient was killed in an altercation with police at a traffic stop yesterday in indiana. as the justice department today starts to investigate its own prosecutors for having had the temerity. >> to. >> bring charges against

who was obama and biden's a dni person. the only thing she was qualified for she was a liar -- lawyer and she used to have a coffee house with a radical poetry night on tuesdays. that is the radical nonsense the democrats put forward to these positions. putting tulsi forward as a veteran who understands intelligence, the need to clean up analysis,, and the nonsense that has become what it is she must be confirmed. >> will: not unlike the confirmation hearing for pete hegseth. i did notice today over her right right shoulder tulsi gabbard had navy seals in support of her and that gallery today. here is another one. eric prince somebody who might know member of the intelligence community blackwater, friend of the will cain show. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> will: let's go back to the tragic plane collision in d.c. we learn more about the victims. (nervous laugh) okay, um, good points. top line? this is a quality, comprehensive exam. come again? you asked me to topline it for you. okay. bottom line? well, the bottom lin

. >> the dni need to be a dni? and i've known a bunch of them. director of.ional intelligence needs to be prudent, careful, truthful, a sense of integrity, a sense of risk. you know, there's. >> a reason. >> why it's a bad idea to meet with assad at all, whether it's 90 minutes or 2 minutes. why? because there can be photographs that he will use to say, look, an american congresswoman supports me because there may be a compromise of that congressperson. there's a thousand reasons. and again, it doesn't matter whether it was two minutes, 30 minutes, 90 minutes or 3 hours. what matters is that it shows a almost grossly negligent naivete about how a brutal murderer assad could use her presence in his service. now, that's before we even get into the many conspiracy theories that tulsi gabbard has promoted over time. before we get into the fact that she has completely changed her tune on things like edward snowden, who she introduced legislation to pardon, and now she says edward snowden did a terrible thing to her treatment of fisa. what what emerges here is a po

. >> dni need. >> to be. >> a dni? >> known a bunch of them. >> director of national intelligence. needs to be prudent. >> careful. >> truthful. >> a sense. >> of integrity. >> a sense of risk. you know, there's a reason why it's a bad idea to meet with. >> assad at all. whether it's 90. >> minutes or 2 minutes. why? because there can. >> be photographs. >> that he will use to. >> say, look, an. >> american congresswoman supports. >> me because there. >> may be a compromise. >> of that congressperson. >> there's a thousand reasons. >> and again. >> it doesn't matter whether it was two minutes, 30 minutes, 90 minutes or 3 hours. what matters. is that it shows. >> a almost. >> grossly negligent. >> naivete about. >> how a. brutal murderer. >> assad could. >> use her. >> presence in. >> his service. >> now. >> that's before we. >> even get. into the many. conspiracy theories that tulsi. >> gabbard has promoted over time. before we get into the. >> fact that she has completely. >> changed her tune. >> on things like. >> ed

you were mentioning the spying, and we're mentioning the dni. i mean, tulsi gabbard today, the nominee for dni is sitting next to the ceo of tiktok, a chinese spyware app like this. >> so they were sitting together? >> yes. no. at the at the inauguration in the crowd, like the tiktok guy didn't get the spot of honor that elon and jeff bezos got. he was he was sat in the crowd with the dni nominee. i mean, that is just that is mind boggling. like the idea that somebody who is in charge of protecting our national intelligence would be next to the person whose app was banned because a supermajority of congress, including many republicans, were concerned that they were spying on us. >> and the supreme court ruled nine zero. right, that that that had to be shut down. >> and the incoming secretary of state for trump and the incoming national security advisor for trump agree with the ban on tiktok for national security reasons. you're watching the president donald trump, travel from the capital to the capital one arena, where he's expected to sign more

and as a result, it is the office of the director of national intelligence and the dni, the director of national intelligence, who has responsibility for ensuring the production of the president's daily brief. this is the pdb that is produced six days a week. that goes to the president and other senior members of the national security environment. and so. >> it has all the threats in there. just so people know like it is it has everything. >> on a daily basis. it provides the president and others the insight into what's going on around the world and the threats to us, but also the director of national intelligence is responsible for coordinating and de-conflicting all these various intelligence agencies, making sure that they have the budget, the resources, the capabilities, making sure that their information technology systems are compatible and interactive with one another. so there's so much that falls under it. and so therefore, you want to have somebody who has some intelligence background, but also somebody who really is going to treat the job responsibly and making sure that t

, when folks like myself say, tulsi gabbard is unqualified to be a dni because she doesn't meet somef the basic qualifications, i would argue in terms of experience, what are some of those? >> well, when we look at some of the people who have served there, including the current incumbent like avril haines, bill haines, she was the deputy national security advisor. she was my deputy at cia. she also served as the legal counsel for the national security council, worked at the department of state and also on the hill. so she has a wealth of national security experience. jim clapper was in the defense intelligence community for decades, and he served in the obama administration for seven years or so as director of national intelligence. dan coats, senator dan coats, he was in the intelligence committee, the senate intelligence committee. these are people with experience, but also with tremendous integrity, people that you knew that were going to carry out their responsibilities, irrespective of how the political winds might be blowing. and they needed to have that objectivity and honesty

what dni says is give everyone with merit a chance. >> all right. marc morial, very grateful to have you on the show. thanks always. it's going to be an interesting four years. i hope you'll. >> come back soon. we'll be back. >> all right. time now for sports. a wild, somewhat controversial finish in the nba last night in what could be a potential championship preview between the houston rockets and the cleveland cavaliers. coy wire has this morning cnn sports update. coy. >> good morning. good morning casey. to the. >> best teams. >> in the league. >> this game had all. >> the vibes. >> of the mid 90s. all sorts. >> of physicality. >> rockets had a 13 point lead in the fourth quarter. but the cavs go on a 19 zero run to bring it within two. the rockets alperen sengun gets a layup to go with a minute to go. he also gets away with shoving cavs jared allen. no foul is called. let's go 10s left. game tied. cleveland's donovan mitchell misses the go ahead shot. this time refs did blow the whistle saying allen fouled sheng thao. and he makes both free th

. >> and tulsi gabbard at dni. i actually i think this does help the confirmation path for some of these really controversial nominees. they are going to have to answer questions about how they would handle public safety threats or terror threats or terror investigations. so i think you're going to have to that's going to become a new element in confirmation hearings. but absolutely, it is going to ease the path. um, again, at dni, at fbi, at the at the pentagon in a lot of these cases. >> so that's on the senate side. but there's also drama building on the house side. this is thomas massie, who is the one republican in the house gop who said that he will oppose speaker johnson when it comes for when tomorrow happens, january 3rd, when they vote for the speaker of the house. listen, could you vote for him on january 3rd? >> he doesn't have my vote. >> so you won't vote for him. >> he does not have my vote. >> will you change your mind? >> it would take a christmas miracle. >> do you think the speaker, given the way

as it relates to the president and information he gets, that's obviously something for dni as it's related to intelligence and specific information of that nature. i'm not going to speculate beyond that and i'm going to leave itno there. >> the fbi and dhs put out a law enforcement notice this morning warning of copycat attacks. what can you offer to those who fear random attacks and to build on the earlier question, is there a wider concern about health implications connected to service members given the similarities? >> i'm going to have to refer to the department of defense, they can speak to that. i'm not going to litigate that from here but when it comes to -- and you are right, the bulletin was put out and i can say dhs and law enforcement remains vigilant to any potential copycat so they are going to consistently evaluate threats and share the latest informationat and disrupt any potential copycat and potential threats so that is their commitment and what they are working hard to do so they will be vigilant on that. >> the bird flu outbreak has 66 human infections now. the federal g

and wouldn't it be great to have a dni in place ahead of time.ou just now got a secretary of defense, he 48 hours on the job is offering out statements and procedures. got to be urgency in the senate to get your people confirmed. how do you do that? >> brian, you know, so many people are brand new in the job but they also bring so much experience to these jobs. and as you saw last night. nobody is sitting back. we are leaning forward in the saddle and getting right there on the scene showing leadership. showing determination to get to the bottom of what happened. but, to your point, yes, the president needs all of his cabinet officials, he needs all his players on the field. i can tell you from my perspective with what is going on in the middle east. the wars we're going to stop in ukraine, russia, the movement on the southern border in taking on the cartels, i need a director of national intelligence like yesterday. and but we're going to get them through. we're looking forward to seeing kash patel as the next director of the fbi. tulsi gabbard

it's the same thing with the dni. if there are concerns about high level intelligence officials in the united states, that affects the way in which allies share information with us, and we share information with allies. again, in this very dangerous world. >> yes, i think our allies and partners are already concerned about how donald trump will handle intelligence matters, given his reckless handling of it, as well as his disregard and disparagement of the intelligence community. and so now there's somebody who is going to be nominated to be on top of the intelligence community who has demonstrated, i think, great loyalty and fealty to donald trump. and i think a lot of our allies and partners wonder what's going to be the fate of the intelligence that they share with the united states intelligence agencies. >> as good as the us intelligence community is, we rely heavily on the assistance and the support and the intelligence of many, many intelligence services around the globe. >> and it just sends a very bad signal t