i guess i am asking, what message would it send to have the dni celebrate the work?hey 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 disre

highly sensitive information gets passed up to the dni.en make it to the president or other top officials, because one of the dnc's main roles is to curate the intelligence that the president receives on a daily basis, and to fill that very important role. donald trump has nominated someone with no previous significant experience in the intelligence community. i wouldn't even say insignificant experience in the in the intelligence community, who in fact has a history of undermining american intelligence and foreign policy goals. on thursday, tulsi gabbard, trump's nominee for dni, faced a series of tough questions from senators from both parties during her confirmation hearing. gabbard, a former congresswoman who began her political career as a democrat and is now a member of the republican party and an avid trump supporter, has bucked the trend on a number of occasions and broken with both parties over some core issues over the years. members of both sides of the aisle have criticized gabbard for a trip that she took to syria in 2017, dur

trying to break them. >> except in the case of the defense department and the fbi and particularly dnio die if cia agents in the field die, no one ever gets to know about it. a star goes up at langley. you will never know their names. >> but all of that is secondary to donald trump trying to break and own the. and then own the pieces of these institutions. he views the intelligence community as his opponent. he views the justice department as an enemy. he he loathes the fbi. you know, as one of the institutions that was charged with holding him accountable for his actions. and so the idea, i mean, the republican narrative on this is, well, americans have questions and concerns about these institutions. and so we have to fix them, and we have to bring in kind of out of the box thinking. but that's not what's going on here. and gabbard, i think, is really the example of this, is not intended to actually improve these institutions and attempts to destroy them. >> so whether it's the fbi or the department of defense or whatever, whatever government, i'm sure we can all everybody in this co

dni is critical. what we've seen lately are people who know how to make the dni work, because they know it's about coordinating intelligence. and they all had deep backgrounds in intelligence. she's lacking that. and i think we would pay a heavy price in terms of the quality of intelligence. if she's approved. >> leon panetta, former cia director, thank you so much, and good. >> to. be with you. >> thank you. and next, an update on the investigation into the horrific plane and helicopter collision here in washington as crews are working today to salvage the plane's wreckage from the potomac. plus, the latest in the deadly air ambulance crash in philadelphia. you're watching andrea ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry di

. >> vote on the nomination of tulsi gabbard for dni.xpect her to be reported out. >> of committee favorably. >> the reason. >> is. >> there are. nine republicans. >> on this committee. >> eight democrats. we don't know if. >> any republican. >> who is voting no on tulsi gabbard. and a few of. >> the republicans that we. >> were watching closely as. >> potential swing votes have. >> officially come out. >> as a yes for her. >> that includes senator. >> susan collins of maine, announced. >> yesterday she's voting yes on tulsi. gabbard 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. >>

or not, you know, things you like are going to happen in each of these positions that the fbi, the dni and the health and human services lives are at risk. >> that's true. it's national security and a safety. and the lives of americans are at risk. and we saw what happened. this week. we didn't have an faa administrator. the president had fired the aviation security advisory committee. and when you hire or you leave holes in the federal government, when you freeze hiring, you have issues where you have insufficient staff. we've known for some time, frankly, that there are not enough air traffic controllers. when you freeze that situation, you make it even worse. and so you magnify that. when you hire completely unqualified people whose only qualification is that they're they're loyal to you. and i hate to make potentially a sad prediction, but i think that when you try to break the federal government, you end up breaking it and it will cost american lives and national security. >> and let me ask you something about being qualified. i'm so, as i'm sure you could tell, i'm so deeply offe

what do you think about chelsea gabbard becoming the next dni?ea, it's wonderful to. be with you. and i just want. >> to say. >> thank you for your many years of hard work. >> helping to. >> shed light on an increasingly complicated and dangerous world. you have done a terrific job. >> well, clearly. >> over the. >> past. >> several weeks. >> tulsi gabbard. >> has been. >> subjected to a number of questions from during her confirmation hearing, as well as just scrutiny about her past record and statements. and i think those were all very legitimate lines of inquiry. and so now it's a question of whether or not the senate is going to fulfill its obligations under the advice and consent responsibilities that it has. and so my interest is whoever is confirmed as director of national intelligence is going to fulfill that job with the integrity that the job requires, because our country's national security really depends heavily on the person, the director of national intelligence, whose responsibility it is to lead the 18 intelligence agencies and th

trump's dni pick chelsea locking it two yes votes from g.o.p.or susan and todd so let's consider this misery day on the will cane show earlier today on my digital show we invited in missouri attorney general, to talk about their suit against china in missouri for their covid-19 policies that they unleashed on your citizens there, now i welcome in missouri public senator josh. we will consider this misery day senator and we will also consider it a great day. >> you now to win over the committee for rfk, seems to be an good path for her confirmation, what one over some of your republican colleagues, some reluctant colleagues. perhaps susan when it comes to chelsea? >> well i think when it comes to chelsea listen you have to admire her directness, and the fact that she understands she is going to be an honest broker as they dni and she will tell it like it is. she is going to stop the last four years that we have been consistently misled with the public, they have been lied to. they have lied to us about everything under the sun and chelsea is a tr

dni is designed to drive equitable outcomes. >> one company sending shock waves for its about face.inneapolis based target, which had leaned into programs centered around equity after seismic reactions to the death of george floyd. target, once boasting of its partnerships with black entrepreneurs. >> oh, well look here. >> including tabitha brown. many now wondering what comes next. >> it has been very hard for black owned businesses to hit shelves, so it is definitely. heartbreaking to feel unsupported. >> in recent weeks, some consumers fighting back with their wallets, signaling a plan to boycott big box stores. in a statement to target employees, the company saying it will begin accelerating action in key areas and implementing changes with the goal of driving growth and staying in step with the evolving external landscape. the impact of dei stretching wide from enrollment in higher education to hiring practices. and while critics claim dei includes a racial bias pitting less qualified candidates against those more deserving, some business experts insist that's not the case. >>

. >> and what about tulsi gabbard as dni? i know the senate confirms not the house, but a few people know as much about intelligence as you do. cia is operational, dni is organizational, but they the director of national intelligence, has the final cut on the presidential daily brief. in particular. >> i was a little concerned about that nomination. >> i the. >> it's been interesting to watch that the senate confirmation process and how senators have have found their way in support of her nomination. >> and those republican senators. but what about the fact that she still refuses to say that edward snowden is a terrorist? >> and she. >> let me. >> be clear, she's a convert on fisa. >> snowden is absolutely a traitor. and those of us who are in intelligence and know exactly what he did and what he took, and even those, i think of the information that's in the public, it's very clear he was a traitor to his country. there's a reason why he's in asylum in russia, and it's unfortunate that. she fails to make that statement, becau

tulsi gabbard, her hearing for dni. what is the likelihood that she passes?e the most vulnerable? >> absolutely. the most vulnerable. >> we had. >> reporting yesterday saying. >> 50 over 50 chance senators, republican senators did not. >> like her answer. >> on edward. >> snowden, did not. like that. >> she could not say that he was a traitor. >> they wanted. >> to hear that that caught the eye of the president himself. and he he he. >> wondered aloud. >> according to our reporting, about whether that would harm her. and we have somebody from the. >> white house saying. >> of all. the nominees, hers seems to be the one that's biggest in doubt of the of those three. >> controversial of those three. natasha korecki, it's good to talk with you. thank you so much. and that everyone's going to do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports. we'll be back next saturday. sunday, 1 p.m. eastern. deadline white p.m. eastern. deadline white house weekend. next. before you go to extremes to fix sagging and wrinkles with expensive injections. try this. olay regenerist

she may not actually be prepared enough in these hearings to know what dni or what she's supposed to do as dni, and so i think that they're going to have a little bit of trouble getting people in the same way that they were for pete hegseth and some of the other nominees. >> i was just going to say, i think it's interesting to see what the line is for republicans. so far, they have fallen into line for nearly everything that president trump wants, but it looks like some may draw a line on vaccines causing autism. some may draw a line on saying it's okay that tulsi gabbard went and had this trip and met with with bashar al-assad. assad. there. there's not a very clear line, but there may be at least a sort of unclear one with a few people with regard to these two nominations. >> and the question is going to be, if this does not get through, what does trump do? does he decide to push for a recess appointment? what does john thune do? allow him to move forward with that? will he block that? will it be a point of tension? will trump simply drop it? we know trump doesn't like to drop thin

do you believe dni had anything to do with those appointees? do you believe they were qualified? do you think they would protect and defend the constitution that represents all of the people of the united states of america? >> i think marco rubio. >> marco rubio will have. >> literally no idea how the government works, is what. >> i do, i do, i serve them at a higher level than anyone here. >> a couple people at this table have served. >> in the government. yeah. me too. for this former president, i. >> i just want to say that i think the premise that dni exist and therefore the people that are that got the opportunity, perhaps because of dei are not qualified. is a flawed premise. correct? and i think that that is what is so frustrating about the argument around dei. we know in this country, historically and even today, there are still injustices in this country based on race, based on gender, based on ideology. >> based. >> on who your daddy played golf. >> golf with. >> yes. >> okay. and that happens every single day. >> we know. >> it happens every single day all over the pla

you do not even have dni in this moment he was actually qualified from my perspective in any way, shape served. she is not some wi somewhat topt close beforehand and yet she was settlement approved by the by the administration for that role. and the now you have questions t tulsi gabbard who served 20 plus years in uniform. she has had approvals top-secret clearance et cetera during all of thallthat time. served on the house armed services committee and in key roles where that was something that mattered deeply and has never been someone from my perspective question in terms of her patriotism and love for this country and yet they are smearing her this week as being something that she is not paid by the way there's a lot of people doing it to sound ridiculous along the way like michael bennetts who is again someone held up by the media's being a centrist moderate democrat is nothing of the kind he's a partisan hack. so look, i think what's going on here as they are committed to that partisan hackery more than they are to what the country is asked of them. which is to work with this pres

underhanded things to keep patients out of the school but the other thing, kelsey gabbert will get dni woman got it for linda mcmahon is an education while a woman is. cash patel will run the fbi, no one is talking about his race or skin color, they are talking about his resume. i think that's a great thing. >> they don't count people who are conservative as the ei hires. then look at thomas control is black. they certainly don't look at candace owens and people like that. they are the enemy, they are worse because of uncle tom, sellouts to the race. the people they hate the most black women who are conservative because you are a woman and her black and you disagree with our cause. those are the ones who get the most so no, kash patel or whomever, clarence thomas, whomever it is, it's about agreeing with them, nothing to do with skin color, they are liars. obviously it was only about their nationality for sex or proclivities sexually, they would support these people but they don't look at it that way. there's a long list of black or female or black female or gay, persian, whatever it i

footing on dni now many tulsi gabbard this afternoon.r congressional correspondent -- live keeping track of this on the hill. >> good afternoon. the senate sent one controversial nominee to the floor today. another committee could do the same. the finance committee voted 14-13 to send the nomination of rfk jr. to the floor. bill cassidy of louisiana voted yes, but has reservations about kennedy and vaccines. >> the science is credible. vaccines save lives. they are safe. they do not cause autism. there are multiple studies that show this. i recognize that many mothers need reassurance that the vaccine the child is receiving is necessary, effective, and most of all safe. >> but just because kennedy's nomination escaped committee does not guarantee confirmation. former senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is skeptical of kennedy's views on vaccines, but today's vote gives the nomination a major boost. all democrats oppose kennedy. >> mr. kennedy's priority was about his view of vaccines. it was not about making health care more affordabl

go for them, especially susan collins, 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

how do you feel about her nomination going forward for dni? >> i feel really good about all. 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 toward him. and, again, i think r.f.k. jr. is the right man at the right time. we got to root

the dni is supposed to write this plan for the president along with the a.g.sition is held right now by an acting figure, stacey dixon. meantime, a plan for the release of the mlk assassination files is due by march 9th, guys. >> brian: jacqui, i guess it was just speculation. why does it take so long to release papers? what is the problem? why not just hand over the papers? you don't need to brace us. we are talking 1963. >> jacqui: i think anyone who has that answer has a higher security clearance than i do. i'm sorry i'm coming up empty for you. >> ainsley: doesn't it sound like maybe because these are just the plans. they have to come up with the plan. doesn't it sound like maybe -- there's a lot of pushback they don't want to make the cia look bad or any of our intelligence agencies look bad. is it just so the trump administration maybe can read those plans and read what's in it and then they make a determination or is it definitely going to be released? >> well, we will see. back in the president's first term. he did withhold some files on national secur

but even those whose jobs had nothing to do with dni have been targeted, according to a union president. some because they had participated in diversity training under the first trump administration. others had volunteered to plan events like celebrating black history month. >> it's a perfect storm. you are sidelining a lot of your federal workers, making them feel fearful. and it doesn't take long for these systems to kind of break down. um, and for the institutional knowledge that's lost to have like real world impacts. >> at least 75 career employees at the department of education faced the same fate, also placed on indefinite leave as the president crafts an executive order that will urge congress to pass legislation that would shut down the agency. the trump administration's plan to slash the federal government includes firing employees who have been on the job less than a year, offering buyouts and restructuring job titles, classifying employees as political appointments, making it easier to fire them. >> i would. >> characterize it as chaos. >> and just. >> department after depar

and that move is part of the overall trump administration effort to eliminate dni initiatives throughout federal agencies. joining me right now is randi weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the country representing educators, school staff and government employees. randi, this reporting from the wall street journal. just to dive into it a little bit more, is there basically weighing how to dismantle and how far they can go to dismantle the department of education? here's the line. the officials have discussed an executive order that would shut down all functions of the agency that aren't written explicitly into statute, or move certain functions to other departments. that's according to people familiar with the matter. do you think this move is legal? can they do it? so the. >> move is not legal. >> meaning? i mean, and even. >> there, first off, thank you for having me on. >> the move is not legal in that even they recognize that. there are lots of. >> things about the department of education that. >> are in statute. let me j

sustainability is about being more efficient in our operations, and really, dni is about talent, and that's been our focus. the key differentiator at delta is our people. >> while delta plans to keep its programs in place, it's unclear if the airline will make any changes to avoid federal scrutiny. delta employs more than 100,000 people around the world. costco is among the other big companies that will also keep its dei programs. california state university system is partnering with the makers of chatgpt and other tech companies to give ai tools to students. the csu system announced it is becoming the nation's first and largest ai powered university system. the partnership with openai will give an education version of chatgpt to more than 460,000 students and 63,000 staff and faculty across all 23 campuses. openai says it is the largest implementation of chatgpt anywhere in the world. i'm pam cook. let's look at your dollars and cents. >> 748. let's get out the door. hopefully a lot better than we were at this time yesterday. >> well that's true. gasia for sure. we still have some i

the operator of caltrain taxi is headquartered in the district of the republican chair of the house dni committee sam graves in missouri. so this is a project that benefits san francisco. it benefits the bay area, it benefits california but it also benefits the entire united states. and we need to be able to tell that story when we're in washington and get thank you. seeing no other director comments or questions or any public comment on the reports, go and check for public comment in the room seeing none check online taking public comment on the executive directors report see none. >> let's continue please. all right. we'll go ahead and move on to your next item which is item six, the citizens advisory committee update and we have our cac chair brian larkin with us this morning to address you . >> good morning board members chair g. vice chair mantel gentleman. belated happy new year to you. i'm here to talk about our most recent cac meeting which was this past tuesday the 28th. >> our agenda included only one item that is on your agenda and that is the annual progress report and plan

on dni stuff.ow, the point that that folks are making about the agents sort of rising up, this is a really fundamental. political point. let's just. >> switch over to the. >> political argument here, right? >> trump ran. >> on law and order during bondy's hearing. she brushed aside a lot of these questions, having to deal with the issue of governance and whether or. >> not she'd be independent. >> by saying, let's stop crimes. kash patel, over and over. again said he kept using. >> rape, the. >> rise in rapes. >> as. >> an example that as fbi director, he wanted. to attack that. at the same time, patel talked about recent polling that showed 40% of the american. >> people support the fbi run. >> run down to. >> its lowest level. >> in years, in part because republicans have attacked, have attacked the bureau relentlessly since the trump investigations. but there is a difference between not liking the bureaucracy and not liking the. fbi leadership and going after fbi agents who the public views as f

he has said so repeatedly showed earlier some real skepticism about tulsi gabbard at dni yesterday said >> think pulling. >> back for a moment, we spent so much time in the first trump presidency. asking republicans to do the right thing. and waiting for them to stand up for the authority that they have to check donald trump. >> i don't. >> think that. >> that is going to work. it didn't work the first time. i think it would be a. mistake to count on that. i think right now there are limited options to constrain donald trump's presidency, and all of those avenues need to be pursued. i think. >> the. >> best way to get. republicans to actually start to do their jobs and hold donald. trump accountable, and at least some way is of course. >> there are. >> a handful of. >> republicans in. >> congress, too, who are in swing districts. now. >> i think the. >> battle for public opinion is the way to do that. so the democrats and really anybody who is in the democratic small d opposition need to be fighting. hard to make clear to the american people that there there is a different path, that th