gabbert aligned herself with russian and syrian officials. of experience. are republican lawmakers worried about her? >> i think there is some concern. i don't think it's as widespread maybe as, you know, a matt gaetz or a pete hegseth, but there are a lot of questions and i think a lot of republican lawmakers are looking forward to sitting down with tulsi gabbert. and on that question of syria, you know, it's interesting because we know that she met with bashar al assad years ago but we already see unrest in syria, really erupting over the past week, so that's one more question that tulsi gabbert is going to have to answer, you know, should she face that scrutiny in the nomination process. going back to my previous point, look, we're seeing her face that scrutiny, but should pete hegseth drop out, she's going to have to be prepared to face even more of that because i would say she's probably next up to be in the hot seat here. >> julia manchester and ryan nobles, a conversation to be continued. thank you both for your reporting. >>> and just

former congresswoman gabbert. concerned members of congress and the intelligence communities have been ringing alarms about gabbert's ties to russia and syria and this week, the associated press is reporting that nearly 100 former u.s. senior diplomats and intelligence and national security officials have urged senate leaders to schedule closed door hearings to allow for a full review of the government's files on gabbert before they consider her nomination. it is not a great sign when you nominate someone to lead american intelligent agencies and members of the agencies say, maybe you should read the secret files we have on her before you go and do that. it is not a great sign. then of course there's trump's choice that has been dominating the headlines. his embattle pick for secretary of defense pete hegseth. hegsteh has faced a week facing a swirl of allegations of heavy drinking on the job, financial mismanagement and sexual misconduct all allegations he denies. nbc news has reported that as many as six republi

in a letter addressed to senate leadership the officials write, they are alarmed to hear of gabbert'sination because of her history of, quote, sympathy for dictators like vladimir putin and bashar al assad of syria. the national security officials also note gabbert would be the least experienced director of national intelligence since the position was created in 2004. the group urges the senate to carefully evaluate gabbert through closed-door hearings that would give lawmakers the opportunity to review government files on the dni pick. we seem to be going here, katty kay, down the line. started with matt gaetz, he got his moment of attention and he had to step back. for now it's pete hegseth at defense, but many, many, not just these 100 former and current national security officials have expressed their objections to put it mildly to tulsi gabbard given her past sympathies for putin, for assad and other dictators that she would be holding all of america's secrets. >> yeah, the conservative kind of defense of tulsi gabbard seems to be that the intelligence community needs a shake up,

to use as some type of reason why they can't, you're not qualified to serve, they came after tulsi gabbert. they came after pete, misogynist. give me a break. you have pete buttigieg like he's qualify today be the department of transportation. you have some really questionable individuals that had some questionable reputation on -- on their nominations. i think the democrats, they will continue to try to the find somebody that they're going to go after. go ahead. [inaudible] >> no, we didn't talk about at that all. what we talked about some of the issues we are facing in oklahoma and some of the issues around the country with drug trafficking and also human trafficking and kind of looking at how the agencies can be utilized better rather than everybody having a piece of pie and paying what the fbi is focused on and what the other agencies are focused on and how they can start becoming mission central and that's really going after the crimes that are facing us today, working hand in hand with ice and and then looking at the organized crime that's been caused by our open border. those are a

not really sure about gabbert. not really sure about rfk jr., but i think hegseth and some others are probably going to go through because i think that republicans will believe that they have to give donald trump something. >> sorry, let me get your final thoughts on this david. your biggest concerns about this administration. these cabinet picks and the fact that these are not people who have proven to have public support. >> yeah, that it's kind of a social media cabinet of really unqualified inexperienced people. that starts with j.d. vance. that starts with the pick for vice president. if you look at the department of defense, treasury and state perhaps, you know a couple of those we know are seasoned and steady hands but it's defense that's really worrisome. i think the national security posture of this administration is something that should worry the nation given how irrational and unpredictable donald trump is as a man and as a leader. >> we now have grenel for the special missions. i don't know what exactl

k. junior, until c gabbert and others, you know, one, it tunnel a war. if they are brother, it said no to all these people. the massive lobbyists from foundations in the, the military industrial complex. what would have happened to your brother, what you would have lost your support? thank you. it is you who would have lost is the support and he would not be what it is today. i don't think that those people are the ones who prompt him up. so you have to play into them or you're going to play to them. yeah. and you know, and that's why i like present time because you know, things these own way. you know, you went out to south coast north korea and met the delete area. and that was also, that's why you couldn't then you could have been that from warmer godaddy. same thing. you know, i started being bold, but i think you've just, uh, you know, he's a, he's a sam. but your brother said the trump was a o. uh, part of the russian conspiracy, and the trump is somehow a russian agent is, was that all a planned by your brother, those around him, hillary clinton t

trump, it does say he's opposed to the state and is attracted the support of our f k junior until c gabbert and others who do one it tunnel war if they are brother, it said no to all these people, the massive lobbyists from foundations in the, the military industrial complex. what would have happened to your brother was? yeah, he could have no, you wouldn't want to support. thank you. and he would have lost his the support. and he would not be what it is today. i don't think that those people are the ones who prompt him up so you have to play into them or you're going to play to them. yeah. and you know, and that's why i like present time because the, the things he's own way, you know, he ranch out to south go to north korea. and matt does over the leader there. and that was also, that's why he could have done it could have been that far more my good that the same thing, you know, instead of being bold, but i think he's just, uh, you know, he's a, he's a, sam, your brother said the trump was uh, o, uh, part of the russian conspiracy, and the trump is somehow a russian agent is, was that all

so, you know, coming in with cash the tell coming in with chelsea gabbert r k, and somebody's people that are going to clean house. anyone must doing some advising. perhaps we will see a very different political reality now. and rather than i hope so, that's going to be a shocking reality is what i mean. this is going to shake up the foundation like it hasn't been seen in years. if indeed, the change is allowed to take place target couldn't, can you help me just for a 2nd? take me back. the moment will to just help me understand exactly what this pod means because because we were explaining of that. okay, so, so, so hunter is basically being cleared as use of debauchery. it's always all kind of whitewash, but biden is also protective in the sense because this means that people can't testify against them or how can you explain that? well, he may have because of the part in there's this 5th amendment, right? so because hunter pride was pardoned, he may have waived that and i'm not a constitutional law expert, but i do have a lot of great. but um, but from my understanding there is a ch

vance and told gabbert, michael's, ron desantis the game today. set of drawing liberal media, iraq and afghanistan war and it is a specific message trump said today in the resounding applause he got with things going on where they are. >> as always, thank you for your service. still ahead on this jampacked hour of the "big weekend show". sara carter sitting here with an exclusive look inside of salvador's notorious prison. an interview with the country's justice and public safety they have to be here and submit our justice system. >> good stuff and we will have full clip with his answer on that later. first, more mysterious drones spotted across the country this week. should you shoot them down? i bet you are thinking that. coming up next. ♪ your saturday night for 26 days americans have been on edge over the drone sightings and they are getting answers from the federal government. sightings expanding coast-to-coast at least eight states. officials and undergone continued to downplayed con concerns. >> we don't really know, it is possible some of

they go to tulsi gabbert. tulsi gabbert, no, if she's director of national intelligence out of the white house the french, the british, the israelis, the germans, no one will tell us about their intelligence apparatus. they won't deal with us because they don't trust her. kash patel, oh, okay, all right, we'll define deviancy down and i will vote for him to be fbi director. it's incredible to watch it and just thinking of what's happened to the united states senate over the course of the past couple of decades, but especially over the past ten years. i mean, it used to be the greatest deliberative body in the world and now apparently for the republican senators it's check your conscience at the door. >> and remember those senators' principal objection they say to the fbi right now under christopher wray is that it has been, quote, weaponized against political opponents. that's their perception. now you have someone in kash patel who explicitly is saying his job is to weaponize the fbi, to go after the opponent

so hegseth, gabbert and patel. three aren't like the others and rfk they aren't like the others. if the republican senators can't do that. if they're from states like wisconsin or states like pennsylvania. or states where you can still elect a democrat statewide. they'll feel it. they may not feel it in the primary but they will feel it in the general. because those nominees are not going to be good at their jobs. >> i feel like we're at the beginning of a life of questioning which, maybe we're not in the beginning we're in the middle of it. how much can he push them. we have i will call it breaking news from cbs. which is that president-elect donald trump has invited chinese president xi jinping to attend his inauguration next month. this is in addition to apparently hungary's far right leader who said he is still considering whether to attend. this is reporting from cbs tonight. this is not something we do. tim. we do not invite foreign dignitaries or autocrats. i guess he's still a foreign dignitary to our inaug

gabbert has labeled the cia as filled with rogue agents.of these people have on the agencies and the intel community? john: it is not clear with these people yet whether their goal is just to get real loyalty for donald trump or to destroy these organizations. there have been different views with this. steve manning and others said they wanted to destroy the administrative state. some of the comments patel and others have made suggest they want to fire a lot of people. but that term rogue is very interesting. they both called the cia a rogue organization. in the 1970's famously senator frank church who headed a commission to investigate the cia in -- his point was to cia was involved in illegal and unethical activities and so they investigated that at the time. later on he came back and said i changed my opinion. presidents had unfiltered power. they could ask the cia to take action that they did not want to go to congress or the public with. so this was more about untethered presidential power. laura: how could they impact information gath

especially on hegseth and gabbert. that's what was so interesting yesterday, in what donald trump said at the end of that statement we played. you know, if you disagree with him, disagree with their policies, if you disagree with them personally for those positions, i get it. which is sort of, i think -- >> some space. >> it's extraordinarily telling. a lot of space. it's a lot different than what all these outside groups are doing to try to make money on this. >> yeah, donald trump is not going to the mat for these nominees, not for hegseth, not for gabbert. maybe he is for rfk jr. i think he'll likely get him through. but, look, i come back to what you were saying at the beginning of the segment, which is, pete hegseth is in no way qualified to be secretary of defense. that's just -- i think those senators you mentioned, and probably others, really can't get past that. i'm not sure they could get past the fact of this guy walking around with him who was court marshalled for that horrific incident, but he's -- look, t

host: are you talking about toll see gabbert -- tulsi gabbard? caller: yes.ost: ron desantis, navy veteran. do you think he would be a better defense secretary than pete hegseth? caller: well, to be honest with you, i could not say. with regard to what branch of service or anything like that, i believe that hands-on experience , living that life prior to your political career that you will have a better understanding of how the military functions. we have to get rid of that crt and dei because that was garbage. it was not necessary when i served and i don't see a need for it now. those things are driving people from enlisting. host: when and where did you serve? caller: -- to be a representative and as a secretary of defense. host: when and where did you serve, william? caller: the seventh infantry division under the reagan administration. reconnaissance scout radio operator. host: thank you for that call from cleveland. alexandria, indiana. steve on the line for republicans. caller: i think pete would be a great pick for this job. he is highly intelligent. i

president-elect trump somebody for education secretary linda mcmahon and continues monday the tulsi gabbert tuesday the 31st and nominee for cash until. 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. ♪♪ will. >> we are here in the sanctuary of democracy. ♪♪ democracy must be in a different sector we've been pling from the c-span archives in their own words. the national economic council during the trump administration. this is below the senate banking urban affairs community. >> this hearing will come to order and consider the nominations of kevin hasek to be chairman of the economic advisors and housing and urban development. and i will turn to senator portman who will introduce and senator shaheen. i see friends and family behind you and my good friend bob dole welcome him here in the standard of living across the country that will play an important role in mr. hasson has academia, government and policy and an expert on economic policy and contributed commentary and testimony in nomination received bipartisan support including past cei chairman and an invaluable asset to the administration. for these poli

president-elect trump somebody for education secretary linda mcmahon and continues monday the tulsi gabbertl. 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span2. ♪♪ will. >> we are here in the sanctuary of democracy. ♪♪ democracy must be in a different sector we've been pling from the c-span archives in their own words. the national economic council during the trump administration. this is below the senate banking urban affairs community. >> this hearing will come to order and consider the nominations of kevin hasek to be chairman of the economic advisors and housing and urban development. and i will turn to senator portman who will introduce and senator shaheen. i see friends and family behind you and my good friend bob dole welcome him here in the standard of living across the country that will play an important role in mr. hasson has academia, government and policy and an expert on economic policy and contributed commentary and testimony in nomination received bipartisan support including past cei chairman and an invaluable asset to the administration. for these policies and the key to economic growth is not

intelligence, director of national intelligence saying the president elect's intelligence chief gabbert'scrutiny monday on capitol hill about her proximity to russian ally syria amid the country's collapse. she ignored questions about her 2017 visit to the war-torn country. senators being asked to confirm president trump' nomineess.but a lieutenant colonel delivered a statement in which he reiterated support for a more limited u.s. military footprint overseas missing i want to address the issues in the headlines right now. i wholeheartedly agree with the statements president trump made the last few days with regard to developments in syria. keep watching for it as these various nominees visit with senators as part of the confirmation process. stan and michigan, independent line, go ahead. you are next up. caller: yeah, i was just wondering if you could do a little check for me in your recent news releases. i have not heard anything about this since early in the summer. can you tell me whether the russian warship off of the coast of florida down there around cuba, are they still down there

we will also talk about where cache patel and tulsa gabbert stan this morning. we are back in 90 seconds. do your dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. eye redness and blurred vision may occur. what does treating dry eye differently feel like? ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ for relief that feels ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ ask your eye doctor about prescription miebo. >>> 18 past the hour. a live look at the capital. pete hegseth will continue meeting with republican senators today. in hopes of building support for his bid to become defense secretary. he is set to sit down today with senator susan collins of maine after meeting yesterday with senator lisa murkowski of alaska. both are moderate republicans whose votes could decide whether or not he is confirmed as th