edward snowden broke the law. i don't agree with all the intelligence he released nor the way in which he did it. there would have been opportunities for him to come to you in this committee or seek out the i.g. to release that information. the fact is he also, even as he broke the law, released information that exposed egregious illegal and unconstitutional programs happening within our government that led to serious reforms that congress undertook. sen. warner: chairman, we have five minutes. while i'll take your answer, and these are your quotes, brave, please join my bipartisan legislation calling for charges to be dropped against him. do you disagree that legislation was not appropriate? do you believe he is brave or not? back those words? ms. gabbard: once again, senator, edward snowden broke the law, he also released information that exposed the united states government illegal programs. sen. warner: your legislation and your words are still your beliefs, yes or no, please. ms. gabbard: edward snowden broke

. >> was edward snowden a traitor? >> my heart is with my commitment to our constitution. >> i would never do anything unconstitutional or unlawful. >> president trump's most controversial nominees face off on capitol hill, but will they all be confirmed? my guest this morning, homeland security secretary, kristi noem, republican senator eric schmidt of missouri, and democratic senator mark kelly of arizona. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news senior white house correspondent, kelly o'donnell, nbc news chief capitol hill correspondent, ryan nobel, marc short, former director of legislative affairs to president trump, and former democratic congresswoman, stephanie murphy of florida. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> reporter: from nbc news in washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. >>> good sunday morning. after just two weeks in office, president trump is waging battles across the globe and inside his own government. overnight, he

this is gabbard repeatedly sidestepping questions on edward snowden. >> do you still. >> think edwardn edward snowden broke the law. i do. >> not agree with. >> or support with all of the information and. >> intelligence that he released. >> nor the way. >> in which he did it. >> was he a traitor. >> at the. >> time when. >> he took america's secrets. released them. >> in. >> public. >> and then ran to china and became a russian citizen? >> senator, i'm focused. on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again. >> yes or no? is edward snowden a traitor to the united states. >> of america? >> as someone. >> who has. worn our. uniform in. >> combat. >> i understand how critical. our national security. >> apparently you don't. >> well. >> y'all just. >> let that. >> a lot of. just let that sit in for you. you can't answer that question. i mean, it was so directly placed. i mean. >> and i guess the reason it's an important question to the people on the dais is because it's an important question to the people with whom she will lead. why does this matter so muc

todd young and james langford, who pressed her to say that edward snowden was a traitor. langford said it was a softball. listen to what happened. >> did he betray a duty, did he betray the trust of the american people? which is according to mariam webster, that's the definition of a traitor. >> edward snowden broke the law and released this information in a way he should not have. >> was he a traitor when he took america's secrets, released them in public and ran to china and became a russian citizen? >> senator, i'm focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this happening again. >> you work closely with these senators. i know the republicans and you are from a different party, but when you speak to them privately do you think they can get over that, her refusal to call him a traitor and actually vote to confirm her? move her out of committee? >> listen, margaret, edward snowden released more information probably did as much damage to our intelligence community as anyone in history. and the fact that miss gabbard, who actually had legislation to pardon

was edward. >> snowden a traitor?nator, my heart is with my commitment to our constitution and our nation's security. >> was he a traitor at the time when he took america's secrets, released him in public, and then ran to china. >> and became. >> a russian citizen? >> senator, i'm focused on the future and how we can prevent something like this from happening again. >> so farnoosh does gabbard have the votes right now to become the director of national intelligence? >> yeah, i mean. >> she is one of the few nominees that went in with more support and left with less. i mean, it is really stunning. you saw the clips you just played republican and democrats were trying to help her make clearer where she stands on this issue, which is obviously very important to members of congress. obviously, a very controversial issue. but she continuously refused to say the words that edward snowden is a traitor, and she left with many more republicans who obviously, you know, democrats would be. in addition, if she gets those, that's

of the united states. >> is edward snowden a traitor to the united. >> states of america? is not a hard question to answer. >> when the. >> stakes are this high. >> senator. >> as someone. >> who has. >> served in. >> yes or no, is edward. snowden a traitor to the united states of america? >> as someone. >> who has worn our uniform. >> in combat. i understand. >> how critical. >> our national security. >> apparently you don't. apparently you don't. >> joining us now is democratic senator michael bennet of colorado, a member of both the senate finance and intelligence committees. so he had the pleasure of questioning both tulsi gabbard and robert f kennedy jr today. senator bennet, i know it's been a really long day. thank you for being here tonight. >> well, it's. >> been too long, rachel. >> i'm very happy to see. >> you tonight. >> i'm happy to see you, too. >> thank you. >> for having me. >> of course. tell me your overall impression of miss gabbard at her hearing today, and how you think she did and what you what you were thinking in that moment that just just played f

and the case of edward snowden in tulsi gabbard. think the maga movement will decide, but it's donald trump who will decide how much capital he wants to spend and how much pressure he wants to put on republican senators to get tulsi gabbard over the finish line. >> george: have we seen any sense yet that republicans on the committee don't want to go along? how overt does the president have to be? >> he'll have to be pretty overt. you mentioned hegseth. in that case, thom tillis indicated he was troubled -- he was a possible no vote. donald trump got on the phone with him for two hours and he relented and that's the kind of pressure that trump alone can bring, and we'll see if he does that in these cases. >> george: you believe gabbard is in more trouble? >> i think she's in trouble because of questions like that snowden question. a fairly straight forward question that is shared bipartisan -- views are that snowden has been a traitor. she had another moment when she said she wouldn't seek to pardon -- from president trump and that s

why stick your neck out for edward snowden?. >> she really got. >> caught in a box. >> in her. >> hearing, because the expectation going in was that she was going to be grilled by democrats on, on assad and her. >> kind of. >> closeness with the russians and, and her various foreign trips. >> but then the committee. >> ended up. >> coalescing on a. >> really. bipartisan issue of. of snowden. and this. caused real problems for her. >> i think part. >> of the. >> reason why the. >> committee focused on. snowden as. >> an issue was because it was a. >> convenient way. >> to get at. >> the lack of. >> national security. experience across the intelligence community that that she. that she. >> doesn't have. and so there was this. sense that. we would that the committee would focus on that issue as to why she responded. >> in the way. >> that. she did. it's. >> not clear. >> and we don't. >> have reporting. >> to suggest. >> that she was doing that because trump had. >> told her to or that there was. >> particular loyalty issues. >> b

edward snowden broke the law. i do not agree with or support with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way in which he did it. >> i do believe that autism does come from vaccines. >> will you reassure. >> mothers unequivocally and without. >> qualification. >> that the measles and hepatitis b. >> vaccines do not. >> cause autism? >> if the data is there, i will absolutely do that. >> all right. my panel is back. a confirmation conversion is really nothing new. it's happened time and time and again. but it has been pretty remarkable this time around. we saw pete hegseth do the same thing in his confirmation hearings about women in combat. he was very clear a month before he was nominated. he thought it was a bad idea for women to be in combat, but then changed his tune before the senate. before the senate during his testimony. how do we. but it's very clear two people are in trouble right now rfk jr.. and tulsi gabbard, can they get the votes to be confirmed? >> i think both of those no

. >> what would you do about edward snowden? as far as what would you do? what are you doing? >> dropping the charges. >> president of the world. >> right now. >> what are you dropping. >> the charges? >> edward snowden. >> broke the law. >> i do. >> not. >> agree with. >> or support with all. >> of the information. >> and intelligence that he. >> released. >> nor the way in which he did it. >> i do believe. >> that autism. >> does come from. >> vaccines. will you reassure mothers unequivocally and without qualification, that the measles and hepatitis b vaccines do not cause autism? if the data is there, i will absolutely do that. >> all right. my panel is back. a confirmation conversion is really nothing new. it's happened time and time and again, but it has been pretty remarkable this time around. we saw pete hegseth do the same thing in his confirmation hearings about women in combat. he was very clear a month before he was nominated. he thought it was a bad idea for women to be in combat. but then changed his tune before the senate. before the senate. during his testimony,

edward. >> snowden is. >> a traitor?d. >> snowden is. >> a traitor, or i. >> would. >> have said so. >> and i. think that. >> again. >> you know, i. >> don't think. >> donald trump or. >> anybody in the administration. >> really cares. >> about that. >> they care that she's going to go. >> in there and. >> you know, as they're hoping with other. >> nominees that. >> she's going to induce. >> chaos, paralyze these. >> institutions and make them subservient, subservient to donald trump. >> well, in the meantime, the rest of us better care about it because it's our country and our because it's our country and our safety that still have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...or crohn's disease symptoms after taking... ...a medication like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down,... ...i got lasting remission with rinvoq. check. and many were in remission... ...even at nearly 2 years

now, edward snowden is a former national security agency contractor who, back in 2013, had revealed the existence of a bulk collection of american phone records by the nsa before fleeing to russia. now we know that gabbard has said previously that she believed snowden should not face any sort of prosecution back in the united states, but she wasn't very clear when asked directly by lawmakers if she believed that still to be the case, or whether snowden was a traitor to the united states. now, i was also told that gabbard, since that confirmation hearing, it took place on thursday, has been meeting behind closed doors with senators, mainly republican senators, trying to assuage some of their concerns. one white house official told me that they believe that those sessions went well, and that she has been able to kind of ease some of the concerns and anxieties that people have about her confirmation process. but again, it's going to, you know, we still have to see whether or not they can get out of confirmation and be voted out of their different committees to the full senate floor. now, o

i don't think edward snowden is a traitor, or i would have said so. or anybody in the administration really cares about that. they care that she's going to go in there and, you know, as they're hoping with other nominees that she's going to induce chaos, paralyze these institutions and make them some servant subservient to donald trump. >> well, in the meantime, the rest of us better care about it because it's our country and our safety that is at risk here. tom, thanks as always, tom nichols. we'll be right back. >> work, play. blink. >> relief. >> work. play. blink. relief. the only three and one extended relief formula for dry eyes. blink. safelite repair. >> perfecting your swing is hard. >> nice shot. dad. oh. so flat. replace. >> but replacing your windshield >> but replacing your windshield doesn't have to be. go still have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis... ...or crohn's disease symptoms after taking... ...a medication like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got ra

senators have indicated they feel she did not directly answer a fairly softball question on whether edward snowdennal security when he stole government secrets, leaked them, and then fled to russia. >> maurice: and then, margaret, there was that big about-face on freezing federal funding this week. how much does that complicate things? >> reporter: it did complicate them because that confusing back and forth with the office of management and budget, omb, that directive that temporarily paused funding, it was an unforced error that has complicated the confirmation of the new budget director, russ vought. a hill source told me it was sloppy, clumsy, poorly thought out, and didn't have a good reception among fellow republicans. keep in mind, republicans have the senate majority. they don't need a single democratic vote to confirm nominees. they just have t stay united. >> john: okay. margaret brennan in washington, thank you so much, margaret. and a reminder to join margaret this sunday for "face the nation." >> maurice: in southern california, cal fire reports the palisades and eaton fires blame for

dan, 1010 she refused to say on categorically she thought edward snowden was a traitor for his stealing of the she said she disagree to some of the secrecy soul. not all them some of those deserve to be made public. what do you make of her hearing? >> it well, i think her hearing did not go particularly well. as with rfk and tulsi gabbard trumpets made it pretty clear he is going to prom up both of them a cabinet position for supporting him in the election. >> quid pro quo. >> the problem with this both of them are really the wrong person for the job he has assigned them too. maybe there is a place somewhere in the cabinet or in the administration. tulsi gabbard especially is being nominated to be director of national intelligence in charge of 18 intelligence agencies the collection point for intelligence that comes to these agencies you feed to the president. that requires a pretty disinterested attitude toward all of these. and tulsi gabbard has very strong opinions about intelligence. and so it raises the question whether she could be trusted to give the president and objective opini

. >> she couldn't call edward snowden a traitor.ies 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 the blistering november if elections the dnc has really taken its lumps. democrats receiving -- and i'm looks at you, brad, i'm coming to you first -- [laughter] >> yeah. griff: americans view the democrat party unfavorably. you have an emboldene

tulsi gabbard, republicans kept throwing her a lifeline after lifeline to get her to say that edward snowdenact, hurt national security, and she refused to do it. she just kind of doubled down. so all of these nominees have got to give these folks some heartburn, whether or not they will be loyal to the to their oath or to the president remains to be seen. >> carlos, are any of them endangering your judgment? >> i do. >> think. >> that tulsi. >> gabbard is probably. >> in greatest. >> danger when you think about the three senators who. >> voted against pete hegseth. >> mcconnell. >> murkowski and collins. >> i really don't see how gabbard gets. >> any of those three. >> and then we have. >> other senators, like james lankford, who has publicly expressed concerns about gabbard. >> so i. >> think she is going. >> to have a tough time getting confirmed. and i don't think the other. >> two. >> patel and. >> kennedy, are. >> shoo ins either. >> we did. >> see that senate republicans with the matt. >> gaetz nomination. >> did move. >> quickly to. >> torpedo him. we saw. three astray. >> on this vo

lawmakers are focussing on her apparent support of edward snowden, the former intelligence contractork more than 1 million classified documents. gabbard refusing to say whether he is a traitor. all three still have to be approved by the committees they've met with before going to the entire senate for a final vote. whit? >> whit: all right, perry russom for us. thank you. this week, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is headed to the u.s. for a white house meeting with president trump. this follows the latest hostage prisoner swap between israel and hamas which included an american. britt clennett is in tel aviv. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. prime minister netanyahu headed to washington, d.c., and expected to meet with trump on tuesday. before taking off today, netanyahu praised israel's alliance with the u.s. saying they can continue to redraw the map of the middle east. now talks with trump expected to focus on phase two of the ceasefire deal, but there are so many aspects of this deal that are still not thrashed out. it must include an end to the war and a

she didn't, uh, condemn edward snowden the way republican senators wanted her to.he did reverse her stance on section 702 of fisa, which a lot of republican senators like to hear. um, but there were a lot of questions coming out of that hearing. i still think there's a bunch of people in the middle that, you know, may not be willing to vote for her. um, that said, tom cotton did come on board with her, which is a big vote in her favor. so it's really up in the air right now. i do think she's in danger. i wouldn't be surprised if they pulled her. that said, who would be that fourth senator to step up and say i oppose tulsi gabbard? we haven't seen who that person is yet. >> all right. luke broadwater, thanks so much. >> still to come, investigators are still searching for a medevac jet's cockpit voice recorder as they try to piece together what may have led to the deadly crash in philadelphia. the latest on the investigation is next. also, the cleanup after the deadly wildfires in california. we're going to take a look at the difficult and painstaking path ahead. an

a question from a democrat about, you know, edward snowden.at's fascinating in this deeply divided senate. >> is a single. >> vote could make a difference. pete hegseth was one vote away from being blocked. thom tillis didn't vote against him. so i think she's. in trouble. i think kennedy again, cassidy. it was amazing to watch him as a physician bring up all these issues with, you know, all these vaccines that have he's seen as a physician help people. so if there is a flip, it would be those two nominations. but i do think that kash patel will will get through and be confirmed. >> david. >> talk a little bit more. >> about thom tillis. my understanding. >> had been that he hadn't been keen on pete hegseth, didn't. >> think he was necessarily. qualified for the job, but because he is up for reelection himself in 2026, he doesn't want to jeopardize his own chances of becoming senator again. why would he take a different stance on. >> tulsi gabbard? >> is there a feeling that somebody like tillis. has a pass on one of these? and that's just whe

to be trump's director of national intelligence, who refused to say whether or not she thinks edward snowden is a traitor. fbi director nominee kash patel, who fielded questions about a retribution and enemies list rfk jr.. trump's nominee to be the next secretary of health and human services seemed to struggle a bit when answering a basic question about medicare. three nominees who could potentially be in charge of our security and health. they all took a backseat to a torrent of unproven rhetoric and speculation. that night, president trump's unfounded speculation about dei was welcomed on fox news. and no doubt, many americans working jobs with limited bandwidth to verify their information. they went to bed thinking 67 people died because of a government initiative which they think discriminates against whites and had caused some unfit minority to get hired for a job, resulting in negligence and costing lives. i'm too cynical to accept coincidence. i think president trump wanted to own the news cycle like he wants to own every news cycle, and this time he sought the added political benefi

they believe that some of her answers during her hearings, particularly as it related to edward snowden and whether she believed his actions were traitorous. they argued that that could be an obstacle to her getting a vote on the senate floor, and ultimately confirmed. of course, snowden is a former national security agency contractor who in 2013 revealed the existence of the bulk collection of american phone records by the nsa before fleeing to russia. gabbard in the past had supported legislation urging lawmakers to drop in the federal government to drop all charges against snowden. but look, this is something when i talked to one white house official, they said that gabbard was meeting, following that hearing privately with different senators and that they had had encouraging conversations, really trying to assuage their concerns on this issue. all to say, we've seen many of the president's nominees face tough and really uphill confirmation battles. the fact that many of donald trump's allies and at times even president trump himself, have been making calls to to make sure these peop