we're a generous country, it's important, but we can be generous and watch our national security at the same time. that's why i'm confident that secretary kelly, along with other cabinet members are going to make sure that we have the proper review and vetting so we can get this program up and running with the proper national security safeguards. i think it's regrettable there was confusion on the roll-out of this. no one wanted to see anyone with green cards or translators get caught up in this. secretary kelly will make sure this is do and correctly, they get a good review and we get the program up and running with the kind of -- >> reporter: no role for congress today? >> there's always a role for congress. look at the way the refugee laws work. this is very similar to what we passed a year ago after the paris shooting. we just want to make sure that it's very clear, that people understand what this is and is not and that on a going forward basis that it's executed and implemented so we can have a good settlement and refugee program and make sure we don't have people infiltrating the

she was the deputy attorney general since 2013 under obama and she stayed on as acting attorney general for a range of duties, including signing foreign wiretaps which before today was not a problem in her role. >> she will become -- her role in history will be different than it otherwise would have been before tonight. this is a very big deal. this is a very unusual occurrence. eric being thank y eric, thank you for your time. >> thank you. >>> again, the acting attorney general of the united states, sally yates, has just been fir by the predent of the united states. she put out a statement this evening saying that she was not convinced that the president's executive order on friday was a lawful order. she said, as long as i'm acting attorney general, the department of justice will not present arguments in defense of this executive order unless and until i become convinced that it is appropriate to do so. rather than trying to convince her, they fired her tonight. this is an unusual thing. right now, one of the things that we're keeping track of is who will become the acting attorney g

in addition to general mattis, general john kelly for department of homeland security and general michael flynn will serve as national security advisor, both have retired from active service in the past few years. while he is not a civilian and remains on active duty we include general joseph dunford the leaderships will comprise of two redesired four star gener generals, one active duty and four star and one retired three star general. diversity of opinion is important when crafting policy and making decisions as those weighty facing the next administration. i think it is appropriate to consider the consequences so many leaders of similar military backgrounds will have on policy and the impact it could have on civilian and military personnel serving in these organizations and how it will shape the advice that may ultimately be provided to the president of the united states. finally, if congress provides an exception for general mattis, the concern is the precedent it sets in the future. it was enacted for good reason and general marshall was the only one to receive this exception. i hope

waiver for general mattis. no question in my mind to be a stabilizing and moderating force with a security policy in the sound direction. we must be mindful of the president's action the a restriction was enacted into law and general george marshall received this exception.ed to t i would support a waiver toit serve as secretary of defense. from the united states congress the professionalism prevail is a critical safeguard of the military control in this country. and having a profound duty to ensure following in protecting a the principles this country was founded. let me be very clear. for any future nominees the idea this is a generational exception i ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle but the original place -- ban that was in place now the threshold that is essential but at this point i would ask if the chairman could deal for a colloquy for that clear and thoughtful way that will guided the nomination but did the chairman could respond thanks for the up process to the nomination of general mattis

-- we will take a look at the hearing with the general mattis now. the committee will come to order. we will look at granting a one-time exception to section 113 a of the u.s. code, which limits those that can serve as secretary of defense, for those that have not served in the military for the past seven years. i have to confess committees or circumstances i did not expect us to face. when general mattis was named as the nominee for secretary of defense, i could not have been more pleased. as i said publicly and privately to members of the committee, i believe civilian control of the military is an important principle of our government. that this is an extraordinary situation and an extraordinary individual, the combination of which warrants a one-time exception to the law. as returning members will remember, we had to committee roundtable discussions in december, one with a briefing by the committee staff to go through the law and presidents when congress granted an exception to george c marshall to serve as secretary of defense in 1950. the other

walcott a general. , appointing men like edwin randolph, general. and if there ever was a time and country with military leaders in charge that had the most at stake and generals in the most important posts, it was then. instead, general washington relinquished the most powerful position in the land and refused a third presidential term. something that many of the opponents cannot say with their own party. and instead, what we see is a peaceful transition of government led by example. he set the example. we should have expected no less from general washington. he like all of the other warriors truly understood what it meant to serve the country. if you look at our own secretaries of state, historically nearly one-third had military service with no less than ten obtaining senior rank. notable men like edmund randolph, pickering, buchanan, rusk, kissinger, shultz, baker hague, christopher powell remind us that military leaders are most often the most competent leaders of foreign policy. one could argue it is almost as if america has a phobia of civili

a o as acting attorney general. what you just said there, lawrence thir lawrence, this timing, firing sally yates, bring some new guy on from the eastern district of virginia, this timing was entirely within the control of the trump administration. there didn't need to be chaos here. they made this happen. again, like everything, it's happening with this herky jerky chaotic not to be believed unless you see it rollout which is the characteristic both of their policies and now their personnel changes even when they're at their own direction. it's very strange. >> yeah, one thing they're not afraid of in the trump white house is chaos. >> yeah. >> something every other white house doesn't want to be anywhere near. they've never seen chaos pay off for a white house. >> yeah, that's exactly right. yua you know, the question is whether or not the chaos is deliberate or not deliberate, they're going to try to move it in their own direction, anyway. destabilizing institutions like the federal agencies who would normally ov

attorney and alabama attorney general. as one member of this committee observed about a lawyer's transition into the role of a judge, there are turning points in a person's life when they put away things of the past and move into new responsibilities end of quote. serving as our nation's attorney general will mark another such turning point in senator sessions' distinguished career. and every member of this committee knows from experience in his new role, senator sessions will be a leader for law and order administered without regard to person. leadership to that end is exactly what the department now needs. it should go without saying that the department is tasked with the responsibility of enforcing our laws. all of our laws in a dispassionate and even handed way. we write the laws. the executive enforces them faithfully. this is simple, but very foundational principle. unfortunately, for the last several years, simply declined to enforce some. the department's failure to enforce the law run the gamut from criminal law t

works for the attorney general. as attorney general, mr. mukasey, did you have the authority to stop an f.b.i. investigation? yes. so many of us wrote a set of questions to senator sessions afterwards. will you use your power as attorney general to impede an investigation of the russian involvement in this last presidential election or even stop such an investigation? do you know what his answer was? he said he did not have the time to read the unclassified intelligence memo, which we have all read, that summarized this russian involvement. that is either willful blindness or willful ignorance on his part. not to realize the gravity of this. what happened in this presidential election on election day was a day that will live in cyber infamy. this was an attempt by a foreign power with values inconsistent with the united states to change the outcome of our elections specifically to benefit the current president and to defeat hillary clinton. is that worth an investigation? i came to the senate 20 years ago, as did senator sessions, and when

i was struck by the fact none of the senators -- basically -- asked general mattis, welcome in generalhow is it that we haven't won? we haven't won anywhere. winning in the sense of conclusively achieving our political objectives, however you might want to define those objectives. and given that we haven't one, what should we be doing differently? what would you do differently as defense secretary to compensatee for this record in which the greatest military in the world, as we're constantly told, doesn't get the job done? during hisssor, testimony, general mattis repeatedly called for the u.s. military to be more lethal. your response to this infosys of his on the -- emphasis on his killing ability of the u.s. military? >> i do not see lethality is a problem. the lethality of u.s. forces is quite remarkable. we can kill lots of people. we do kill lots of people. we can destroy virtually anything we choose to destroy. the destruction that we have wreaked in the various theaters in which we have been engaged is really quite astonishing. but again, lethality, destruction, killing, does n

attorney general say no?> senator, i believe the attorney general or the deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the constitution. and to give their independent legal advice to the president. >> if the views the president wants to execute are unlawful, if the president wants the justice department to do something unlawful, should the attorney general say no to that? no, mr. president, i won't do that unlaw schoful thing. absolutely, that's what the attorney general should do. in that case should tell the president stuff it. sally yates went on to be acting attorney general of the united states and tonight the president fired her from that job as acting attorney general for doing exactly what she told senator jeff session she is would do back at that confirmation hearing in 2015. that's it. i cannot malk senator sessions objects to her being fired over that. not now. not with this president. more ahead. i have the worst cold with this runny nose. i better take something. dayquil liquid

and approve general mattis. we just have to insist upon it instead of rolling over and accepting what the transus team has said. that's my original argument, i will not belabor or restate it, i think it is compelling. i think we should stand up for our rights here in the house and on the armed services committee. the final thing i will say is while i have an enormous amount of respect for general mattis and like many who have spoken, i have not served in the armed services, i didn't work with him there but i have worked with him on the committee, i will point out that general mattis is not god. as we listen to people talk about how we absolutely have to have somebody from the warrior class lead us, we have to have him in there in order to protect us from this dangerous world, that sort of language kind of makes me a little nervous. that's the point of civilian control of the military. we do not want to be run by the warrior class alone. now absolutely, we have many members on both sides of the aisle who have ser

army general counsel. then sarsour versus trump. >> this is an important time for many community's desk communities. this is an opportunity for us to say we will protect the most marginalized amongst us. amy: palestinian-american activist linda sarsour and other prominent muslim americans sue donald trump over the muslim ban. we will speak with her and trita parsi of the national iranian american council. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president donald trump fired acting attorney general sally yates on monday night just hours after she announced the justice department would not defend trump's executive order banning temporarily all refugees as well as citizens from seven muslim-majority nations. iran, iraq, libya, somalia, sudan, syria, and yemen. yates had written a memo saying -- "i'm not convinced the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am i convinced that the executive order i

those witnesses included former attorney general mukasey, former deputy attorney general thompson and worked with senator sessions for a long period of time. all of those witnesses who actually know senator sessions said, in evident, the same thing if you are concerned with securing the strong and equal enforcement of our laws, you should look no further than senator sessions to find an attorney general that's up to that task. senator sessions was asked a number of questions about policy positions he's taken as legislator. that's good and well, but the test isn't whether or not you agree with policy position senator sessions may have taken as a legislator. i'm going to refer to what ranking member feinstein said in her opening statement at the hearing on this question. the test is whether senator sessions as attorney general will uphold the laws he voted against as senator, on issue after issue then senator sessions made clear that he w l will, it's important to recall what senator sessions said in this regard, quote, the office of attorney general of the united states is not a normal

, sergeants don't tell generals what to do. he's going to get his marching orders from president-elect trump and president-elect trump right now seems to be more concerned about having vladimir putin as a buddy-buddy friend and letting him set up a kgb office in the basement of the white house and i don't know how general mattis thinks he's going to be able to push back against that, so i find it troubling that the republican members of all these committees are basically just rubber stamps. they're not looking out for the interests of the american people. and for them to be so nonchalant in their questioning of all these nominees, but especially the defense and intelligence in nominees is -- there's nothing you can do once the american flag is pulled down and the russian flag is run up the flag pole. that seems to be the direction that president-elect trump and the rest of his staff, reince priebus and the rest of them, are headed. they are headed in the direction of embracing russia. exxonmobile would like nothing better than

i think that the inspector general is doing what an inspector general should do. they are the watchdog. they are trying to make sure that the people respect the fbi. and that the fbi plays by its own rules. and i think this is an agency that has been damaged by what occurred during the campaign. and there clearly have been requests for investigations. and i think that playing it out internally and having an independent watchdog investigate this is probably better from their point of view than having jason chaffetz do it on capitol hill publicly. so in the end, if i were in the fbi, i would probably welcome this because there was a lot of internal dissent at the time. as we all know, about just how this unfolded. >> and let's be honest. although people who are running oversight committees in congress take their jobs very seriously, they are partisan, and they are led by republicans now who don't have a political interest in finding out what really happened at the fbi. this is the inspector general's job as you said. this is why that department exists within the fbi

he assigned me the general criminal trial cases. he also assigned me the civil rights cases, and i would supervise all of the civil rights cases that came through the office. during this time. matt, i can recall where we successfully prosecuted a police officer that was charged with excessive use of force. unfortunately, i made a decision to leave the u.s. attorney's office in 1991. that decision was not based on anything that had happened to me during my time in the u.s. attorney's office. during that time. mack, jeff gave me advice, counsel, he provided a great deal of support and everything that i did. one thing in particular that he did was my second child was born, and there was a knock on the door that morning. through the door walks jeff sessions. after i left the u.s. attorney's office, jeff became the attorney general of alabama. he asked me to join his staff at that time, but i declined to join his staff. however, he made me a special assistant attorney general, and he put me in charge of handling defense cases for the sta

those witnesses included former attorney general moukaze, forme attorney general thompson and lawyers who worked with senator sessions for a long period of time. all of those witnesses who actually know senator sessions said, in effect, the same thing. if you are concerned with securing the strong and equal enforcement of our laws, you should look no further than senator sessions to find an attorney general that's up to that task. senator sessions was asked a number of questions about policy positions he's taken as a legislator. that's good and well. but the test isn't whether or not you agree with policy positions senator sessions may have taken as a legislator. i'm going to refer to what ranking member feinstein said in her opening statement at the hearing on this question. the test is whether senator sessions as attorney general will uphold the laws he voted against as senator. on issue after issue then, senator sessions made clear that he will. it's important to recall what senator sessions in regard to this, quote. the office of attorney general of the united states is not a norm

i have watched general mattis for years. i have seen the way that enlisted an officer reacted to his leadership. i have seen the scholarlily approach he has taken to war and to conflict. and i hope that the senator from oregon would have at some point a chance to get to know him, and he would then appreciate the unique qualities of leadership that are much-needed in time. and these times, where the outgoing president of the united states has left the world in a state of chaos because of an absolute failure of leadership which is disgraceful, we now see an outgoing president of the united states who in 2009 inherited a world that was not being torn apart in the middle east, that the chinese were not acting assertively in the south china sea, that the members had not dismembered ukraine and taken crimea in gross violation of international law. all of those things have come about because of his president. and so now he comes to the floor and objects to one of the most highly qualified individuals and leaders in military history

as he said during john ashcroft's nomination to serve as attorney general quote, the attorney general is a law enforcer. there is a big difference between a politician and a senator where we vote on policy and executing that policy, end of quote. i look forward to hearing from senator sessions on how he will transition from voting on policy matters to enforcing the laws he has labored so long to improve and to sustain. just as he respects congress's duly-enacted law, senator sessions knows and respects the importance of an independent attorney general at the department's helm. when he has questioned other candidates for the office of attorney general, he has made plain the priorities of an attorney general's independence. he sought assurances during the confirmation for eric holder, a nominee we both supported despite policy disagreements with eric holder. senator sessions asked at that time, quote, you are not threatening and not guaranteeing you are going to prosecute people until you fairly evaluate all the facts and the evidence and the law they thought they were dealing with at t

this attorney general's power are awesome, as is any attorneys general. and in the best of cases, they are inspiring, too. even as he protects the public from vicious and violent criminal offenders, his roll is also to protect the innocent from unfounded charges that could shatter their lives, even if they are acquitted. as justice robert jackson, a former attorney general said, his job is not to convict but to assure justice is done. so this job requires a singular level of intellect and integrity, nonpartisan but passionate devotion to the rule of law and an extraordinary sense of conscience. and that's because he is responsible for so much more than prosecuting and preventing crime and ensuring public safety. he is responsible for aggressively upholding our nation's sacred constitutional commitment to protecting individual rights and liberties and preventing infringement on them. , even by the government itself, maybe especially by the government. this responsibility for safeguarding equal justice under the law is particularly important today, at a tim

were not fans of general warren. as assistant secretary of war, dana accompanied the army, and he was a camp gossip who had an acid pen if he didn't like you. he would write disparaging things, stretching the truth or making things up. but even he had to praise warren on several occasions. he had no compunction at all. there are two generals in front of richmond, he wrote, whom i indistinctively distrusted. warren and butler. warren forfeited the high estimation in which grant withheld him. he was egotistical. his caution was excessive. his distrust of everyone's judgment would land counter on his him was universal. he lacked many qualities of a great commanderment he doesn't tell you what those are. but who the hell is this game, gouverneur warren? many faces of g.k. warren. let's look at a quick sketch of his career. june of 1861, the battle of big bethel, lieutenant colonel warren kept his cool under fire, organized a rear guard, and successfully carried off the dead and wounded from the field. at the battle of ga

the hatred was clearly being passed from generation to generation. and when the following year, 50th anniversary of the state of israel, big conference there -- i'm invited. three of the people on the rogram are from germany. i thought that was kind of interesting. and when i asked one of them, are you ever concerned about speaking german on the streets of tel aviv, she looked at me. the notion had never occurred o her. she's guest professor at bar elan, the only major university with an orthodox connection. the reconciliation in the one hand and the passage of hatred from generation to the other is really a very intriguing and i would also argue important issue in the memories of the second world war. >> thank you to all of our panelists. please join me in giving them a round of applause. [applause] >> we're standing on the flight deck of the sunshine s midway. a prominent tourist attraction since 2004 when he opened here at navy pier. midway was built during world war ii but despite

attorney general say no?> circumstance i believe that the toermg or the deputy attorney general has the obligation to follow the law and constitution and give their independent legal advice to the president. >> if the views the president wants to execute are unlawful. if the president wants to justice department to do something unlawful should the attorney general say no to that? no, mr. president, i will not do that u.n. unlawful thing. yes. the attorney should tell the president in that situation to stuff it. sally yates went on to become the acting attorney general of the united states. tonight she was fired for doing exactly what she told senator jeff sessions she would do back at this confirmation in hearing in 2015. that said, i cannot imagine senator sessions objects to her being fired over that. not now, not with this president. more ahead. don't just eat yogurt... wear it. new aveeno®... daily moisturizing body yogurt. enriched with the nutrients found in greek yogurt, intensely nourishes skin for 48

i view this as a generational exception, as our bipartisan witnesses recommended. would ask the my colleagues on both sides of the aisle make this same commitment, and i intend to propose establishing the roger ten year ban which wan in place, restoring the threshhold for the service to ten years will send a strong signal this prim of civilian controlling of military ismocrac essential to our government. at this point i ask if the chairman might yield to a colloquy and i do that first by thanking him for the extraordinarily fair, thoughtful, and careful way that he has guided this nomination through the committee, and here on the floor, about if the chairman could respond, i want to thank you for the thoughtful and thorough process we have had in consideration of the nomination of general mattis, i think one of the high points was he hearing on civilian military relations with cohen and hix, both witnesses emphasized while they support the waiver it should be a rare generational exception to ensure the integrity of the civilian control of the military which is a be

he was not the general that we recognize today. and indeed some of his colleagues were very concerned about this man he was leaving their army -- leading their army. wasfficer in the army who formally in the british army wrote to his colleague about the indecisiveness of mind that was plaguing the army. and the truth was washington had been indecisive. in key battle he is not shown great leadership -- in key battles he had not shown great leadership, but, and a very important but, washington was dedicated to the cause of american independence. he never wavered for a moment that american independence was the cause and there was a never question in his mind or wavering on that issue. counterpart through these battles across new jersey with a general named william howell. general howell, but the time we get to early december, he decides he has done enough. he has the americans on the run and they have not been able to stand against him at any point. so, let's call it off for the year. this was common practice that going into winter qu

>> the attorney general theoretically -- the fbi director reports to the attorney general.i see it the -- i say theoretically because acacia theoretically because occasionally does the idea of the attorney general is more independent. if we have our time i could say the story but it will have to wait until an informal meeting. the attorney general -- the fbi or works for the attorney general. >> repeatedly senator sessions has called for attorneys general to recuse themselves rather than participate in investigations with local ramifications. most recently attorney general lynch to appoint a special counsel for hillary clinton in an op-ed he wrote on november 5th of last year. i am trying to work this through. i asked him pointedly whether he would recuse himself if there were any accusations against the president elect once he becomes president or other people involved in the trunk campaign and he basically answered that he was going to take this on a case-by-case basis. if he has the authority and power to stop an investigation at the fbi, so we are me? >> yes. >> so if t

, or deputy attorney general say no. >> senator, i believe that the attorney general or deputy attorney general has an obligation to follow the law and the constitution and to give their independent legal advice to the president. >> in yet another swift move monday night, president trump naming thomas homan as the new acting director of u.s. immigration and customs enforcement, demoting dan ragsdale to deputy director. meanwhile, the president's travel ban met with growing outrage in washington and across the country. only ten days after leaving office, former president obama weighing in. a spokesman saying the protests are exactly what we expect to see when american values are at stake. trump's white house slamming any opposition. telling dissenting state department officials to quit their posts if they disagree with the policy. >> i think they should either get with the program or they can go. all this as president trump moves up his supreme court nomination announcement by two days, scheduling a prime time address tonight. >> i think you will be very impressed with this person. >> no

general james mattis, retired marine corps general is going up to run the pentagon. and this next gentleman is standing by to talk to us, a member of arms services. senator roger wicker. senator, do you worry that the reception is so warm for this retired marine corps general who needs a waiver from the house to serve to get beyond the seven years that questions may not be as critical as they might be. >> don't worry about that. i think republicans and democrats, my friends on both sides of the aisle are perfectly capable of asking serious questions. also, almost all of us have had private conversations now, individual conversations with general mattis. and frankly, we will vote on the waiver today and we've had witnesses day before yesterday, some that clearly didn't support the trump candidacy and yet they have come out in favor of this waiver which is basically the testimony was can you do this about once a generation. it's been 70 years. so i think we're going to make that exception in the committee today and i expect we're going to try to get to the floor soon a

right away. >> they don't work for the attorney general, so attorney general sessions will not have a position to tell the inspector general what they can or cannot investigate. they're actually an entity of congress. >> i'm listening to all of this, this person recusing, this person saying no, an i'm left wondering what about the investigation itself? the crux is look into the fbi and what comey did just before the presidential election because that's worth looking into, yes? >> yes. >> okay, we all agree on that. >> and you want to save the reputation of the fbi whether you agree with what comey did or don't, it has now been placed in partisan waters and i think if you want to save the reputation of the agency as nonpartisan this is exactly what needs to be done and let the chips fall where they may. >> it's not just the reputation of the fbi but also the department of justice because they have to approve the special sensitive techniques used by the fbi so when they start talking to fbi investigators they may hear there was improper political influence bio officy s at the departme

generation needed to make it more perfect. and we believe all generations have that responsibility. i recall a conversation with david mccullough, the well-known american historian. he said one of the things we forget about history is the people who lived it did not know how the story was going to turn out. so our lives are always uncertain. that is the message we hope to deliver. america is a work in progress, and we all have an obligation to keep it moving forward. the national civil war museum is located here in harrisburg pennsylvania. it's in reservoir park and has a wonderful view of the city. up next, we will take you inside and show you how this museum tells the national story of the civil war. >> welcome to the national civil war museum in harrisburg, pennsylvania. we opened in 2001. we were one of the first museums to talk about the entire civil war under one roof. the mission of the museum is to educate on the civil war, the causes leading up to the civil war, the war years, and the years after the war, including reconstruction and the lives of the veterans who far during

attorney general.'ve submitted a statement to the committee and i'm happy to answer any questions relating to it or any other subject that the committee thinks is relevant to passing on the qualifications of senator sessions. but, of course, i'm here for the convenience of the committee and after watching yesterday's hearing and senator sessions' responses to the committee's questions, i think the only thing that i have to add from what i have submitted at this point is to say that the person that you saw and heard yesterday is very much the person i came to know beginning in 2007 when i first appeared before this committee. the prin ls, intelligence, knowledgeable, thorough, modest and thoroughly dedicated to the rule of law and the mission of the department which is to enforce the law and to preserve our freedoms, so i thank you very much for hearing me. >> thank you for the opportunity to it have before the committee. my name is oscar vÁzquez and i add proud to be an american. i was born in a small

or deputy attorney general say no. >> snoyr believe the attorney general or deputy attorney generalw and constitution and give independent legal advice to the president. >> that's exactly what sally yates was doing yesterday upholding her principles here and getting replaced for it. 62-year-old dana boente was sfwhorn last ni pledged to uphold the travel ban saying in his opinion it's legal and properly drafted. he'll lead the justice department here until the new attorney general senator jeff sessions is presumably confirmed by senate. he has a final vote in the senate judiciary committee today and then would go on to a full vote in the senate presumably in the next few days. live had you at the justice department i'm melanie alnwick, "fox5 local news". >> melanie, thank you very much. 4:50 is the time now and former george washington employee will face a judge in alexandria. he was accused of having illegal drugs on him while meeting proingtty tut. george washington university made headlines when they hired morton last september he's islamic extremist who he hired to help experts

>> well, they can. >> okay. >> i mean, if the inspector general believes -- the inspector general himself has no power to discipline people, but you can hem that people be disciplined or that other actions be taken. impossible to say whether that's going to lead here or whether the inspector general is just going to say that certain practices did not follow the justice deputy's traditions. i gather what the inspector general is saying is it's not for me to second-guess them and say i would have handled this differently. the goal of the report is to say, was the way this was handled at odds with normal justice department and fbi practices? >> to be clear here pete again this is the result of what sounds like a tremendous amount of lobbying by members of congress. is that safe to say? >> he does say explicitly that the decision here follows requests from chairmen and ranking members of congressional oversight committees, the committees responsible for reviewing what the justice department does. and then as michael horowitz says here, various organizations, and members of the public. >> last

general, and they've been confirmed by the senate or they wouldn't be made attorney general, and so they do understand, i think, that if a president wants to accomplish a goal that he or she believes in deeply, then you should help them do it in a lawful way and make clear and objective if it's an unlawful action. that helps the president avoid difficulty. it's the ultimate loyalty to him, and you hope that a president and i hope president-elect trump has confidence in me so if i give him advice that something can be done or can't be done, that he would respect that. that's an important relationship too. ultimately, you are bound by the laws of the country. >> some of that, i assume, could come into play when you are dealing with politically sensitive case and a case that is politically sensitive because it relates to a member of the administration or to the interplay between the executive branch and legislative branch, for example. some of those instances there can be calls for a special prosecutor. on the one hand, this is a way of taking the attorney general out of the equation s

that is the role of attorney general. not to embrace every point of view in the shifting political winds. if you come before senator sessions, you will receive equal treatment. how do i know this? i know jeff sessions. i'm not testifying as someone who met him yesterday. i know his family. i have dined at his house, and we had eaten johnny rockets burgers together. i have traveled across alabama with him. i have watched him order a heath blizzard at dairy queen. i have written speeches for him. i have made speeches on his behalf. i have been in every political situation with him. he is unquestionably qualified for the job. he is a good, christian man, and he is a good family man. he has dedicated his life to public service. in the course of that, he has fought for the disenfranchised. he fought for citizen reform. the only did he fight for it, he accomplished it. he fought for civil rights. he prosecuted members of the ku klux klan. he has fought for the liberty of all americans regardless of the color of their skin or pe

general holder providiedprovided. this comes from someone we know, someone many of us have served with on the senate and on this very committee, yet some on the far left will stop at nothing to defeat this nomination. they oppose this nomination precisely because senator session will not politicize the justice department or use its resources to further a political jand. they make up one thing after another to create a caricature that bears no resemblance to the nominee, who is

you need an attorney general. need someone who is going to defend the president and the president's orders, so this is a bit of a crisis for the trump white house to handle right now. >> it might be too early to say it's a constitutional crisis but this is certainly a constitutional conundrum. that's by design. the people who created and wrote this executive order, they might not have known what they were doing in terms of how you implement policy, but they did know what they were doing in terms of wanting to shake things up and rock the boat because they feel this is why donald trump was elected president and they wanted to see how far it can go. no question. >> meetings going on at the white house right now, how to deal with this crisis. it's a real crisis. retired u.s. army general, served state department since secretary of state, political, military affairs. how is the rest of the world taking a look at the united states right now and seeing this? >> i think in the case of iraq, i just returned from iraq a fe

agency, the acting attorney general, sally yates, had been appointed the deputy attorney general bya career employee of the justice department serving both republican and democratic presidents. she was fired tonight after she refused to try to defend the president's executive order on immigration in federal courts. we're back with david jolly, a former republican member of congress from florida, and david, you were just making these principled arguments against donald trump. >> sure. >> i can tell you that there is a place waiting in american history tonight for the republican member of congress, senate or house -- >> that's right. >> -- who steps forward while a member and says the things you were just saying about principled opposition to the president's policies. >> that's it. >> do you expect that role in history to be filled? >> i hope so. listen, we're seeing it from lindsey graham, john mccain, and so forth, but you asked the question at the break, why not? and here's why. lawrence, very simply, this is 2017. the president of the united states could destroy a member of congre

and for generations to come.he epa recently issued public health protections to clean up the toxic air pollution from our dirtiest coal plants allowing families in delaware and thousands of other communities to once again eat the fish from the rivers, lakes, streams without concern of mercury poisoning. that is why we have the epa. too often when state and local communities are pinched for cash they tried to save money by shortchanging clean air and clean water protections. and -- often times they are ignored. corners are cut. solutions are adopted and we saved dollars now would inflict costly and unnecessary damage later. as we have seen most recently in the city of flint michigan. these cuts have a terrible and tragic impact on the health of the most vulnerable in our society. especially the youngest among us. today the citizens of flint still lack clean drinking water. the new generation there which has been exposed to high levels of lead this is an uncertain future. that is why we have the epa. you may not kn

general say no? >> i believe the attorney general or deputy attorney general has the obligation to follow the law and constitution and give independent legal advice to the president. >> just say no. >> a great clip. >> who found that? that's terrific. >> given that exchange, he will be held to the same standard. >> very, very good point. that is the law of the land. that is the theory of working in a job like that. you are supposed to follow the law. there will be people who look at sally yates and see a hero. >> fascinating. a lot of republicans see an obama appointee. that's the mood in washington right now. i want to talk about the travel ban. i have been looking at the legal analysis. some say it is clumsy, but perfectly legal. the president has the rights. others say it is unconstitutional. how bogged down will it be in the courts? >> there are so many challenges. there are great principles of law. the president has a lot of leeway. particularly on immigration issues, particularly involving peop

attorney and alabama attorney general.as one member of this committee observed about a lawyer's transition into the role of a judge -- "there are turning points in a person's life when they put away things of the past and moved into new responsibilities." serving as our nation's attorney general will mark another such turning point in senator sessions' distinguished career. and every member of this committee knows from experience in his new role senator sessions will be a leader for law and order administered without regard to person. leadership to that end is exactly what the department now needs. it should go without saying that the department is tasked with the responsibility of enforcing our laws, all of our laws, in a even handed way pe we write the laws. the executive enforces them faithfully. this is simple but very foundational principle. unfortunately, for the last several years, the department has simply declined to enforce some laws the executive branch found obnoxious -- the department's failure to enforce the

and this as a major general in 1863. band.here, we have a hat this is a navy item from the uss monitor, famous for being one of the first ironclad, the famous monitor anden the the merrimack. this is an original hat band worn by one of the sailors on the monitor. those are very rare. we are excited to have it in the collection. right down in front here, we have what is known as a henry rifle. this was when of the first, if ,ot the first, repeating rifles successful repeating rifle used during the war. the u.s. government didn't purchase many of these. they were one of the official reit -- one of the official reasons was they were afraid the soldiers would waste ammunition, believe it or not. this could hold 15 rounds of ammunition. you can see right here under the barrel is the magazine. you can see the spring. you would just load the magazine and you could fire 15 shots. the confederates referred to this weapon as they rifle that the yankees would load on sunday and fire all week. au have to remember, this was hugely fo

it's shocking to me that general mattis was not brought into this, that the homeland security general kelly was not brought into this at the time. and the state department mr. tillerson was not brought into this. but i want to make a particular point to general mattis now, this is the second or third time the reports have been out that he's been incensed that things are happening without being checked with them before they do it, and i have a sense -- my reading would be that when they put out the word that they were going to move on torture, they were going to move affirmatively on reinstating torture. the next day, president trump said i defer to mattis. my thought is he put his job on the line. i think these guys have some leverage in the cabinet, but the white house has done this more than once to people like mattis, they act -- bannon acts, they don't check it out. >> we saw this, david, during the campaign, he would say something and do something and then his surrogates would have to come out afterwards and clean it up. many times they found out about it as they were sitting her

that's the role of the attorney general. not to embrace every point of view in the shifting political winds. if you come before jeff sessions, you will get equal justice and you will respect the outcome even if you lose. how do i know this? i know it because i know jeff sessions. i'm not testifying as someone who just met him yesterday. i know his family. i've dined at his house. we've eaten johnny rockets burgers together. i've traveled across the state of alabama with jeff sessions. i've watched him order a heath blizzard at dairy queen, quote, heavy on the heath. i've watched him prepare for hearings. i debated him on legislative matters. i've written speeches for him. i've made speeches on his behalf. i've been in every political situation with him. senator sessions is unquestionably qualified for the job, for which he's been nominated. he's a good christian sxhan a good family man. he's a man who's dedicated his life to public service. in the course of that he's absolutely fault for disenfranchised. not only did he figh