mccain, of ranking member jack reed makes it possible for us to be here one more time emphasizing that the number-one priority of the federal government is to defend the country. it's hard to find a bill that we pass every year for more than half a century, but this critical piece of legislation really provides the vision and the authorization necessary for the military to move forward and to do that number-one job of defending america. there has been and i think today we'll see again in the vote on this bill strong bipartisan support that this bill always receives, though there's sometimes a discussion about when it should be passed, we have not failed to pass it in a long time. it includes a lot of provisions that i think will make a big difference. one is a pay raise for our troops that they deserve. it's the largest pay increase in the last six years.

we will talk to senator jack reed one of the key senators pushing for that select committee. that's next. >> key question. ♪ (ee-e-e-oh-mum-oh-weh) (hush my darling...) (don't fear my darling...) (the lion sleeps tonight.) (hush my darling...) man snoring (don't fear my darling...) (the lion sleeps tonight.) woman snoring take the roar out of snore, yet another innovation, only at a sleepnumber store. (laughs) here it is. ♪ hey dad! wishes do come true. the lincoln wish list sales event is on. get exceptional offers on the lincoln family of luxury vehicles. the final days of the lincoln wish list sales event are here. get a new 2016 lincoln mkx with zero down and a complementary first month's payment. >>> four high profile senators making a bipartisan call for a select committee to investigate russian hacking into the u.s. election. but republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is rejecting that idea. >> it's a serious issue but it doesn't require a select committee. we have senate intelligence committee and a house intelligence committee run by knowledgeable, respons

i thought senator jack reed had this one right. we have to respond to this in a forceful way. clearly what the russians are doing is trying to freeze the frame. you're talking about freezing the communications. they want to freeze the frame until they get a much more compatible administration coming in. let's hope the trump administration recognizes that ploy for what it is. and will be willing to step up to the plate and take measures against a pretty obvious intrusion into the system. >> there is a leaked memo from trump transition people at the pentagon. foreign policy printed it yesterday. it doesn't have russia as a top security concern, a foreign policy concern for the incoming administration. they talked about budget cuts and defense priorities but not russia. >> that's shocking to me. every strategic national planning document has to address the fact that russia remains a significant threat to the united states because of their nuclear arsenal. as our relationship has effectively cratered over the last couple of years that level of threat rises higher. you know this. a

republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham joined democratic senators chuck schumer and jack reed to call for an investigation into the findings. the call for a probe comes after u-s concluded russia directed the hacking of democratic operatives and other moves in an effort to help president-elect donald trump defeat hillary clinton in the 2016 election. the president-elect has blasted the findings, calling the assessment "ridiculous." and another day of potential cabinet members meeting with the president- elect today. he is preparing to welcome democratic senator joe manchin and former g-o-p rival carly fiorina to trump tower. mr. trump has also said that he plans to name his secretary of state this week. th exxon c-e-o rex tillerson. a name reportedly not being considered anymore -- new jersey governor chris christie. there are reports this morning that he rejected several positions in the president-elect's cabinet. some people may have stayed snuggled up inside hiding from the snow yesterday, but there are some business owners who thrive in it. tyrol basin out in mount horeb r

republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham joined democratic senators chuck schumer and jack reed to call for an investigation into the findings. u-s intelligence agencies concluded russia directed the hacking of democratic operatives and other moves in an effort to help president-elect donald trump win the 2016 election. the president-elect has blasted the findings, calling the assessment "ridiculous." meanwhile the reported top state is said to have long ties to russia. exxon-mobil c-e-o rex tillerson once managed the comany's russia account. and five years ago, he cut a major deal with rosneft, an oil company that's majority-owned by the russian government. president vladimir putin later gave him one of the highest awards that a foreigner can receive from moscow. president-elect donald trump praised tillerson calling him "a world-class player." but tillerson's ties to russia are likely to be scrutinized by lawmakers if he's nominated. jessob. back to you. more than 1-thousand flights were canceled at midway and o'hare yesterday thanks to the winter storm. plows at o'hare tried

mccain and graham, along with democratic senator, chuck schumer, the incoming minor te leader, and jack reed. in a joint statement, they warn, quote, this cannot become a partisan issue. the stakes are too high for our country. senator mccain spelled out his concerns. listen. >> because it is clear the russians interfered. whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, i think that's a subject of investigation. but the facts are stubborn things. they did hack into this campaign. the russians have interfered in a lot of other elections. the russians have hacked into some of our most secret military information. the russians have been active, using as a tool, as part of vladimir putin's ambition to regain russian prominence and dominance in parts of the world. >> president-elect donald trump does not believe u.s. intelligence reports that conclude that russia intervened in order to try to help him weapon the white house. here is what he said. >> i think it is ridiculous. i think it is just another excuse. i don't believe it. they have no id

presidential election should set off alarms for every american that he was joined by fellow democrat jack reed and republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham and calling for the thorough investigation they demanded congress act as soon as it convenes in january. >>> the goal is to find out how extensive and keep the system which countries are doing it. it will be limited to just russia and then to come up with conclusions on how to stop it. factor in the final weeks of the presidential campaign thousands of emails many stolen from the account of clinton's campaign chairman were released by wikileaks on a daily basis. >>> this week many bay area tech leaders will meet with donald trump in new york the president-elect is scheduled to high tech summit. executive from google oracle facebook are among those who accepted the division to find some common ground. many bay area tech leaders were outspoken critics of trump during the presidential election in part because of his campaign statement that limited free trade and immigration. >>> teen vogue is getting a lot this weekend because of an

jack reed, the ranking member of the senate armed services committee is one of those senators, and says reason to doubt the c.i.a.'s conclusions. >> they definitely intervened in the election. they collected information against both democrats and republicans. and they seemed to only have released information with respect to the democratic candidate. the motivation, that is something that we're going to continue to probe. but it seems that they were interested in disrupting the democratic campaign as much as they could. >> woodruff: you don't have any question about that conclusion because the fbi, as you know, it's reported that they are holding back on ascribing a motive here. >> well, there is a difference between a motive and what happened on the ground, if you will. what seems to be clear is that they had been able to enter into the computer systems of both the republicans and the democrats. and that they through proxy disseminated information about the democratic candidate. did not in any significant way do so withÑi the republicans. could you question motivations but it seems clea

republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham joined democratic senators chuck schumer and jack reed to call for an investigation into the findings... saying the reports "should alarm every american." the president-elect... blasting the findings... and calling the assessment "ridiculous." kim's in studio with more on mr. trump's reaction to the c-i-a report. president elect donald trump says he believes the c-i-a has no idea who was "i think it's ridiculous. i think it's just another excuse. i don't believe it. i don't know why, and i think it's just... you know, they talk about all sorts of things. every week, it's another excuse. we had a massive, landslide victory, as you know, in the electoral college. i guess the final number is 306 and she's down to a very low number. no, i don't believe that at all." and some senators... voicing concerns over another issue: the leading candidate for secretary of state has ties to moscow. mr. trump says it's a "great advantage" that exxon mobil's ceo... rex tillerson... has those ties and knows many of the players in russia. but senator marco r

patrick leahy, patty murray, jack reed. fou one of her heroes. rather than playing off people's fear and anger i saw theinctive instinctive appeal to hope on that infamous saturday as the dust was settling on that heartbreaking day. everyo started singing god bless america and everyone jumped in with. so many were going to miss. we will continue to fight the good fight or diminish all institutes of hope. we will continue to do goodnd fight. barbara mikulski may be leaving the senate, but. i know you'll do the floor. your friends and fellow senator mikulski the longest servingof woman. more than a dedicated champion. equal pay for equal work and ambitious space exploration program, the homeland security program and fire grants these are but a few of the things that were worked on for four decades as an outstanding public servant and legislator she is rooted in the city we both call home where her father ran a grocery store she earned her bachelor of science degree from mount saint agnes college and social degree from the university of social work

we put out our statement and we called jack reed, a good democrat, lindsey graham, a republican. the idea this should be bipartisan and fair and just interested in, like, dragnet said, what was his name? webb. >> jack webb. >> july the fa >> but senat you will head, to do the investigation, correct? >> no. we also will be working with foreign relations and intelligence committee. we will all be working together. but it is a national security issue. >> what is the risk here? >> there is no doubt -- there is no doubt that russians and others have hacked. i mean, there is no doubt about that. now the question is the intention. but what the larger issue that the armed services committee and others are looking into is the is an area where the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said we do not have an advantage over our potential adversaries. that is the only form of possible conflict where our adversaries have an advantage over us. the whole -- this issue has brought cyber, i think, to the position and -- >> if i could say one thing. >> go ahead. >> a few years ago, there was hackin

donald trump's biggest republican critics, john mccain and lindsey graham, joined chuck schumer and jack reed in calling to a bipartisan investigation. senator mcconnell says it's hard to believe any republicans could in any way ever be against reviewing these russian tactics. but president-elect donald trump has called the cia's assessment ridiculous. a fact -- a statement he based on nothing. tweeting today, can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and we tried to play the russia-cia card. it would be called a conspiracy. unless you catch hacker in the act it's hard to gem who was doing the hacking. why wasn't this brought up before the election? >> it was brought up before the election. over and over and over again. u.s. officials absolutely did say before the election that russian hackers stole e-mails from democratic officials and then gave them to wick dileaks -- wikileaks. it what all in an effort to help donald trump, not just to disrupt the election but to help donald trump, and 17 national security agencies are in on this assessment. "the new york times" reports the

. >> senator john mccain join lindsey graham and democratic senators jack reed and chuck schumer in calling for an investigation into the hacks. >> weather they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate. the ties to vladimir putin causing concern among some, including former trump rival marco rubio who tweeted sunday, being a friend of vladimir is not an attribute i am hoping for from a secretary of state. i am reid binion reporting. >>> leaders meeting with president-elect donald trump later this week. sources say the meeting will include executives from apple, facebook, microsoft, and intel. some of the tech industry criticized donald trump saying he was stifling innovation. >>> silicon valley leaders have not confirmed if they are going to the meeting. trump criticized basil's, who also owns the washington post for the papers coverage of the campaign. >>> chris christie report showing he turned down several positions in president-elect donald trump's administration. the new jersey governor rejected trump's offer of homeland security secretary

republican's john mccain and lindsey graham signed the letter as well as the democrat chuck schumer and jack reed>> reporter: reince priebus says the intelligence communitied ins to get on the same page and they say they're already there the cia director john brennan says there is a consensus between them, in the fbi and the director or national be generals. the difference is the fbi doesn't dethe deep analysis the cia does. the cia said that it was -- the last time we heard from mr. trump on this was on december 12 in a tweet where he wrote, quote, unless you catch hackers in a chance. why wasn't this brought up before the elect, it was brought up before the election but not to extent we have seen over the last two weeks. >> do we have a sense of what could dom crime at the congressional investigation. >> tear trying to figure out how to investigate this. the senators want a select committee. that would have more power. they can subpoena people. mitch mccome has not signed on to that yet. he said in past he had gone thinks the senate intelligence committee could handle this but all seem to bon t

this is why it is important the bipartisan senate committee, john mccain, lindsey graham, jack reed, republicans look into this, that the president ordered a national intelligence assessment of the issue. let's look into it and find out but let's not trash our professionals in the intelligence agency in the cia. >> wish we had trashed it in 2001 and 2003 and in '98. wish we had trashed it ahead of bay of pigs. >> we did trash it. but right now, neil, it is so obvious the russians interfered. >> it was so obvious a cia plan to launch an attack on cuba against castro would work. it was so obvious that the indians didn't have any any nuclear capability until they proved they did. we learned it is obvious after the fact. i am taking no sides. i applied the same standard to whoever won. >> well, look, $70 billion we spend on all our intelligence agencies. >> and i mentioned a half dozen examples it was wrong. >> they're our best vehicle to know what's going on. >> you're not even entertaining the possibility that data could be wrong or not complete or other countries could be involved. i'

secondly, chuck schumer, john anain, jack reed calling for investigation.he president wants to investigate. congress once to investigate when they go back in january. what do you think is going on? tom: an investigation is fully appropriate at this point. he had some private sector organizations saying russian entities, russian directed associationh a long of russian intelligence services were responsible for hacking into the democratic national committee and others. nationaldirector of intelligence, jim clapper, who represents 17 intelligence agencies announced publicly that the russian federation directed from the government itself was involved in hacking. you had admiral mike rogers come -- cyber command, that's right, say the wall street journal conference say you had a country and it was clearly russia that had interfered, tried to interfere in the election to get specific effects. thisussians deny all of and say we don't engage in cyber attacks. that of course is just not true. my own judgment, i have not seen the intelligence, but as a broad matter,

senators john mccain and lindsey graham along with democratic senator chuck schumer and senator jack reed. they warned quote, this can not become a partisan issue, the stakes are too high for our country. senator mccain spelled out his concerns. >> it's clear the russians interfered. whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, i think that's subject to investigation. the facts are stubborn things. they did hack into this campaign and the russians have interfered in a lot of other elections. the russians have hacked into some of our most secret military information. the russians have been active using as a tool as part of vladmir putin's wanting to contain russian dominance in some part of the world. >> president-elect does not believe u.s. intelligence reports. here is what he said. >> i think it's ridiculous. i think it's another excuse. i don't believe it. they have no idea if it's russia or china or somebody. it could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. they have no idea. >> why would the cia put out this story that the russ

. >> chuck schumer and jack reed rhode island, schumer says it should not become a partisan issue. >> the goal is to find out how extensive this is, how deep it is, which countries are doing it, it won't be limited to just russia and to come up with conclusions how to stop it. we should not turn away from any facts that might be uncomfortable. but we should move forward and not jump to conclusions until we have the facts. >> president-elect donald trump confirmed yesterday that he is receiving the highly classified intelligence assessment, the presidential daily brief, only about once a week, saying the routine is excessive. >> i don't have to be told, you know, i'm like a smart person. i don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. now in the meantime, my generals are great and being briefed and mike pence is being briefed. i'm being briefed also, but if they're going to come and tell me the exact same thing, you know, it doesn't change necessarily, now there will be times when it might change. i'll be there every day but more than

rhode island senator jack reed is on the appropriations and armed services committee and said, trying to jam an historic change like this on a year-end spending bill or changing the rules before a serious debate can take place is not the way to conduct business. mattis needs the waiver because law requires the defense secretary to be a civilian who has been out of the military for ten years. mattis retired from the marine corps in 2013. >> military officers in my experience tend to be very can do. if you ask them, can you take that hill? the answer is always yes. that's the way they are trained. if you are the secretary of defense, the answer is not always yes. there are a lot of other considerations. >> reporter: other democrats say it really isn't about mattis. >> we need to have a debate about it because that's how we do things in congress. we should have a debate. i would support the waiver. i would support general mattis. >> reporter: the trump team has made it clear, it doesn't want any surprises on a critical role. >> when you start to form your government and make these signif

now the two senators along with lindsey graham and jack reed say there should be a stand alone selecto have broader authority to investigate all of the intelligence around the russia issue. that's something that other committees in congress would not have access to but they are thinking of a committee along the lines of so much like a nixon watergate committee or house committee that investigated the 2012 benghazi attacks. senators would have to vote to approve it. right now there's one powerful senator who is resistant to that idea and that's majority leader mitch mcconnell. when i asked whether he supports the committee, this is what he had to say. >> you talked about an investigation, do you support a separate bipartisan investigation, a commission in any way or do you want to do this do you the intelligence committee? >> we're going to follow the regular order. it's an important subject. and we intend to review it on a bipartisan basis. >> reporter: mcconnell saying regular order can be interpreted as him not wanting to have the special committee looking into it. he thinks it coul

mccain and graham, along with democratic senator, chuck schumer, the incoming minor te leader, and jack reedsue. the stakes are too high for our country. senator mccain spelled out his concerns. listen. >> because it is clear the russians interfered. whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, i think that's a subject of investigation. but the facts are stubborn things. they did hack into this campaign. the russians have interfered in a lot of other elections. the russians have hacked into some of our most secret military information. the russians have been active, using as a tool, as part of vladimir putin's ambition to

between foreign relations, senator corker and senator cardin, and intelligence, senator burr, senator jack reedmyself and we will investigate all of these aspects, but the most important thing, jake, is to recognize -- and we will have a special -- additional subcommittee on cyber that my friend lindsey graham i'm hoping will be the lead on. but we have to look at the whole issue of cyber, the attacks, the capabilities, what they've done as far as industrial espionage and military capabilities that they've been able to crack into. the whole challenge of cyber, according to our military leaders, is the biggest challenge that we don't have any advantage over any potential adversary. >> the reason i ask about whether or not he would try to undermine your conclusions, take a look at what donald trump said this morning about the russia hack. he tweeted, quote, unless you catch hackers in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. why wasn't this brought up before the election? as you know, senator, neither of those statements is true. cyber experts say hackers don't need to be

i think the armed services committee with jack reed and tim kaine, i think you will get an honest hearing we need it. the idea people are so concerned about a $500,000 contribution to the clinton foundation changing and influencing american policy somehow indirectly and incurious about russia's involvement and sabotaging an american election is unforgivable to me and irrational. >> woodruff: ramesh, do you think this will be investigated thoroughly? >> i think this controversy is expanding in all directions. you're going to have an investigation. you're going to have a report from the administration. during the a press conference, president obama said there would be a report tying loose ends all together before he leaves office, then you will have the hearings over the configuration of trump secretary of state nominee rex tillerson which i believe the number one and two topics are going to be the administration's intentions toward russia. trump will be our third president in a row coming into office wanting friendly relations with russia, and now this incredible backdrop will color everyt

committee's,in the where you will see ranking members like jack reed of rhode island. >> there's quite a range in the new leadership that he has chosen. jenifer: it's true. there's also senators he helped get elected. they spent a lot of time together. there's a lot of mutual gratitude. so he invested something personally in those men and women. paul: the 2018 class of the democrats coming up, a bunch of them were elected in 2006. sherri brown, jon tester. and those are the people he got elected. so he is really going to want to see those folks when because they are his closest friends. close, personal relationships, paul did an interview with senator shooter -- senator schumer. let's take a look. >> some people out there may not are a couple you master. i saw you run into brian and katie fallon. one of your most esteemed couples, former workers who got married because they work for you. how many schumer couples are there right now? chief ofynch, my staff, he is a schumer marriage. , you did marriage is not know each other, you met on schumer staff, and got married. i do try to import

john mccain and fellow republican lindsey graham have now joined with democrats chuck schumer and jack reed to call for a special senate committee to try to find the answers. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell says existing panels should handle the investigation. clinton campaign chairman john podesta suggested the trump campaign may have colluded with moscow. >> what did trump incorporated know and when did they know it? were they in touch with the russians? i think those are still open questions. >> yang: mr. trump's incoming chief of staff said the president-elect isn't convinced russia was behind the hacking. >> i think he would accept the conclusion if these intelligence professionals would get together, put out a report and show the american people they're actually on the same page, as opposed to third parties through the "washington post." >> yang: mr. trump is spending the christmas holidays at his mar a lago resort in florida. for the pbs newshour i'm john yang. >> woodruff: also today, the trump transition team announced he's naming businessman and veteran vincent viola as sec

chuck schumer and jack reed for democrats. the process of russian interference should "alarm every american." senate majority leader mitch mcconnell spoke about it this morning. >> it defies belief somehow republicans in the senate are reluctant to review russian tactics or ignore them. so last let me say i have the highest confidence in the intelligence community and especially the central intelligence agencies, the cia is filled with self-less patriots, many of whom anonymously risk their lives for the american people. >> the house speaker paul ryan just tweeting, quoting him, our intelligence committee has been working diligently to the cyber threats. this important work will kornt a continue and has my support. the president-elect continues his victory tour this week. in wisconsin tomorrow. hershey, pennsylvania, thursday. orlando, florida, on friday. he'll wrap up the tour in mobile, alabama on saturday. also this week, expecting a choice for the biggest cabinet position that hasn't yet been filled. talking about the secr

now, mccain along with republican senator lindsey graham are joining democratic senator jack reed and the incoming democratic leader chuck schumer saying there should be a select stand-alone committee looking explicitly at this issue of russia. that committee would have a much broader authority to investigate all aspects of the intelligence, even more so than the existing national security and foreign policy committees on capitol hill that already plan to dig into this russian issue next year. last week, at a press conference, i asked senate majority leader mitch mcconnell why he's not backing select committee. this is what he said. you talked about an investigation. do you support a separate bipartisan investigation, a commission in any way, or do you want to do this through the intelligence committee? >> we are going to follow the regular order. it's an important subject and we intend to review it on a bipartisan basis. >> now, mcconnell saying regular order can be interpreted as him saying he does not want a special committee, because looking into this could create problems potenti

chuck schumer, jack reed, john mccain, lindsey graham, calling in this joint statement that says, in part, we have the obligation to inform the web lick about cyber attacks that cut to the heart of our free society. republicans and democrats must work together in the congress to examine these recent incidents. jeffrey lord, your reaction to that and what you would like to hear from the president-elect about that. given that this is, you know, prominent democrats and republicans calling on this together. do you want to hear more supportive words from the president-elect about such an investigati investigation? >> i want them to come up with the evidence. if they've got evidence, let's produce it. chairman priebus was -- >> they were saying, let's dig in. we need to dig in more on this. >> okay. >> do you want to hear the president-elect say, you guys are right, go for it? >> i would hope the president-elect would say, okay, dig in. the other week, he talked about fraud in voting are illegal immigrants voting, non-citizens voting. this is all part and parcel of the same thing. at the e

john mccain, the republican lindsey graham, as well as incoming democratic leader chuck schumer and jack reedmber in the armed services committee coming out with a strong statement on russia saying just now that our democratic institutions have been targeted and recent reports of russian interference in our elections should alarm every american. they go on to talk about the impact that this may have, and they say that we have an obligation to thoroughly examine these incidents and come up with comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyber attacks. they say this is not a partisan issue. so it shows a pressure that is going to exist from some corners of the republican party and democrats, too, to push for something. very significant they'd put together a joint statement like this. in particular, the incoming democratic leader and someone as prominent as john mccain. >> to put it out early on sunday morning, when they know this is going to be a topic on the sunday conversations, when they know the tillerson news, potentially the secretary of state, is in the mix. brings up a

i want to thank the committee's ranking member, the senator from rhode island, jack reed. despite his lack of education at west point and the impending doom of the army football team this weekend, i aappreciate the thoughtfulness and bipartisan spirit with which he approaches our national security. this is a much better bill thanks to the senator from rhode island. i appreciate his friendship and more than that, i appreciate the commitment that he and i share to the defense of this nation and the men who serve it -- and women i also want to thank the majority leader of the senate, the senator from kentucky, for bringing the ndaa to the floor and for his support throughout the year in making sure this legislation received full consideration and debate. our nation faces the most diverse and complex array of crises sings the end of -- since the end of world war ii. rowing states like iran and north korea and the enduring threat of radical islamic terrorism, rising to the challenges of a more dangerous world requires both reform to our national defense. that is exactly what th

. >> senators mccain, graham, and jack reed want to start investigating as soon as congress reconvenes in january. that's right around the corner. >> yes, a lot of people calling for a full investigation. >> as senator. mccain says it should be an issue regardless of your political persuasion. >>> china says that it is seriously concerned after donald trump questioned whether the united states should keep it one china policy. in a fox news interview, he said he didn't feel bound by one china policy unless united states could make a deal for example on trade he had all ready cause controversy by taking a phone call from taiwan's president. state media attacked him saying, in the field of diplomacy he is as ignorant as a child >>> latest rumors around his secretary of state choice center on exxon mobil ceo. in his interview he would only say that he is very close to making the decision but over the weekend he did tweet that he is a world-class player and dealmaker. >>> 7:08 am california voters approved prop 64 to legalize recreational marijuana they expected licensed stores to be up and

this is why i think it's important that a bipartisan senate committee, john mccain, lindsey graham, jack reedocrats, republicans look into this, that the president ordered a national intelligence assessment in this issue. let's look into it. let's find out. but let's not trash our professionals in the intelligence agency -- neil: well, i wish we had. i wish we had trashed it in 2001. i wish we had trashed it in 2003. i wish we had trashed it in '98. i wish we had trashed it ahead of the bay of pigs. i wish we had trashed it or at least had the gumption -- >> well, we did trash it. but right now, neil, it is so obvious the russians interfered -- neil: it was so obvious that weapons of mass destruction were there. it was so obvious that a cia plan to launch an attack on cuba against castro would work. it was so obvious that the indians didn't have any nuclear capability until it was proven that they did. we learned that it's obvious after the fact, that's all i'm saying. i'm picking no sides here, i'd apply the same standard to whoever won. >> well, look, $70 billion we spend on all our intelli

barbara boxer, whose leaving at the end of this congress, patrick leahy, patty murray, jack reed, debbie stabenow, ron wyden, barbara mikulski, and myself. this is a woman who has been always willing to risk her career to follow her conscience. one of her great heroes is dorothy day, founder of the catholic worker movement. the reason, barbara mikulski says is that dorothy day was always -- quote -- "trying to find the hopes of people. rather than preying on people's fear and anger." i saw barbara mikulski's instinctive appeal to hope on that infamous sad day -- september 11, 2001. as dust was settling on that heartrending, heartbreaking day, most of the members of the senate gathered on the steps of the capitol. the hope was that there would be a demonstration by members of both parties to the nation and to the world where solidarity unplanned, unscripted, barbara mikulski started singing "god bless america." everyone joined in. in one of america's darkest hours, barbara mikulski brought us together. that's what a real leader does. i and so many in the chamber and so many untold million

some are out in the committees, where you will see ranking members like jack reed of rhode island. host: there's quite a range in the new leadership that he has chosen. jennifer: it's true. i also tend to think of senators he helped get elected. there is a core personal relationship. they spent a lot of time together. there's a lot of mutual gratitude. he invested something personal in those men and women. paul: the 2018 class of the democrats coming up, a bunch of them were elected in 2006. sherrod brown, jon tester. and those are the people he got elected. so he is really going to want to see those folks win, because they are his closest friends. host: in terms of close, personal relationships, paul did an interview with senator schumer. let's take a look. [video clip] some people may not know this, but you are a master. i saw you run into brian and katie fallon. one of your most esteemed couples, former workers who got married because they worked for you. first question -- how many schumer couples are there right now? sen. schumer: mike lynch, my chief of staff, he is a schumer

his leadership along with the ranking member senator jack reed have been essential, not only in this bill but in congress being able to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. i know there are disappointments with this bill, mr. speaker, there are things people would like to see in here, a lot of them not really court defense issues, but those matters had to be dropped to get this bill to this point. i am confident that the new administration will review the executive orders the ranking member was talking about and that those unconstitutional restrictions on the first amendment will be reviewed, modified or repealed. all that facilitated eating this bill before us today. i'm also hopeful that the new administration will send us a supplemental request, because there are desperately needed modernization items from ships, airplanes, munitions and other things that are not authorized in this bill, but are needed desperately by our troops. that weand i expect will do better in the coming fulfill our sponsored abilities under the constitution. mr. speaker, i would in with this. i thin

his leadership along with jack reed, have been essential. not only in this bill, but in congress being able to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. i know there are disappointments with this bill, mr. speaker. there are things that people would like to see in here. a lot of them, not really for defense issues, but those be dropped to get the bill to this point. i am confident the new administration will review the executive orders the ranking member was talking about. and those on pins -- unconstitutional restrictions for the first amendment will be reviewed, modified or repealed. all of that facilitated getting this bill before us today. i am also hopeful that the new administration will send us a supplemental request. because there are different -- items from needed ships, munitions, planes, that are not authorized in this bill. but are desperately needed by our troops. so i hope and expect that we will be -- do better in the coming years to fulfill our sponsor under the constitution. mr. speaker, i would end with this. i believe t

his leadership along with the ranking member, senator jack reed, have been essential not only in this bill but in congress being able to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities. i know there are disappointments with this bill, mr. speaker. there are things that people would like to see in here. a lot of them not really core defense issues, but those matters had to be dropped to get this bill to this point. i am confident that the new administration will review the executive orders that the ranking member was talking about and that those unconstitutional restrictions for the first amendment will be reviewed, modified, or repealed. all of that facilitated getting this bill before us today. i'm also hopeful that the new administration will send us a supplemental request because there are desperately needed modernization items from ships and airplanes and munitions and other things that are not authorized in this bill. but are needed desperately by our troops. so i hope and i expect that we will do better in the coming year to, again, fulfill our responsibilities under the constitutio

today, the four of us -- senator graham and senator mccain republicans, senator jack reed and myself, democrats, are calling for the next step. a special senate investigative committee on government hacking of our elections and other areas . a special select committee that will focus on government, foreign government, russia, but also china and iran and their hacking our political systems, as well as our economic infrastructure. has said letell the intelligence committee do this alone. that is not good enough. first, there are conflicting jurisdictions. the judiciary committee has jurisdiction of the fbi. the foreign affairs committee has jurisdiction over foreign policy. the foreign services committee has jurisdiction over the hacking of military. and the intelligence committee has jurisdiction over the cia. with all of these conflicting jurisdictions, if we do not have one select committee, first, things could be left out. second, we could get contradictory information. the fbi says this, the cia says that, and they are not reckoned file. third, the existing committees are very busy