there is no one more qualified to lead the department of defense than mark esper. a west point graduate. great student. secretary esper served our 27 years, including in the gulf war. he advanced u.s. national security and government and private sector during. most recently in the army were he played in equipping our armed forces. that's where i got to know him. there was nobody that did a better job than mark. there is nobody that loves this more than mark. thank you. he is a recipient of the bronze infantry badge. he holds a doctorate in public policy from george washington master of, and a public administration degree from the john f. kennedy school of government at harvard university. i am confident that he will be an outstanding secretary of defense. doubt aboututely no it. he is outstanding in every way. we are honored to have you aboard. justice to please administer the oath of office. mr. esper: i, mark esper do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. against all enemies foreign and domestic. faith.will bear true

mark esper. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. and to the troops on the field, you look fantastic. [applause] president trump, vice president ants come up of congress and distinguished guests, thank you for joining us today. welcome to the pentagon. this historic building is not only the headquarters of our armed forces, it is a prominent symbol of america's military and our willingness to defend our people and interests around the world. ,o generations of americans this place, this building embodies our national security. however, a building is nothing without the people within it and the spirit and dedication they bring to it. as such, i want to thank the great patriots, military and civilian alike have come. to work to focus on one thing. supporting the. thing,on -- focus on one supporting the 2 million who sacrifice absurd defense of our great nation. they represent america's best and i am proud to support with them and alongside. -- alongside them. mr. president, thank you for your confidence. honor of a lifetime to the point

[applause] over many decades, in times of war and peace, mark esper has answered the call of duty. e hails from uniontown, pennsylvania the hometown of his , personal hero, the legendary former secretary of defense and a great one, george marshall. mark attended the united states military academy at west point. graduated in 1986, receiving a commission in the infantry. soon, he earned his tab - ranger tab - and fought with the famed 101st airborne division in the gulf war. he was awarded the bronze star and the combat infantryman badge for his service. brave guy. they all told me he was a brave guy. i knew that anyway. in total, mark served in our nation's military for 21 years. he completed his final active-duty assignment right here at the pentagon on the army staff and then returned six years later as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for negotiations policy. over his career, mark has advanced our national security in a variety of other government and private sector roles. he has worked in both houses of congress, advising lawmakers. i i can see he had some talent -- was

morning where the senate armed services committee is about to conduct a confirmation hearing for mark esper, president trump's nominee to serve as defense secretary. mr. esper has served as army et

. >>> moments from now, the senate is expected to vote on the confirmation of mark esper as the next secretary of defense. he's expected to be confirmed overwhelmingly. it's been 204 days since there's been confirmed defense chief. meanwhile, another vote we're anticipating, the september 11th

david: mark esper is the confirmed defense secretary. he has a lot of experience in the military.former infantryman and he's well respected. we have a very well-respected member much our panel. you just returned from marla --m malawi. you have kids there who have sports programs in their schools because of what you have did there. >> one of the greatest honors i have is to deal with poverty around the world. i built a sports and education facility for a bunch of people in the worst area of the world. only 2% of the country has electricity. david: well done. he does this all over the world literally. we wish you have well in your project, john. that doeso does it for "bulls and bears." liz: a reluctant robert mueller set to testify in less than 15 hours. the democrats organizing a mueller interest net blitz. this as america polls show have moved on. the scorecard of what you can expect. why miler is saying he'll only testify on what's inside his report. it covers an important section

mark esper more because he truly respects and honors his commitment to the men and women in uniform. i've seen this first hand. back in april, i asked him, dr. esper, to join me on a visit to fort still in my state of oklahoma. what impressed me is how he talked to the troops in the field. you could see the love he had for them. he joined them, this is in fort sill, he joined them with a fitness test workout, he ate the m.r.e.'s out in the field. not everyone will do that, but mark esper did. he deeply cares about the troops whether it's the equipment and training they need to succeed in their missions or to see that they have quality housing when they are on base. we moved quickly to consider dr. esper's nomination committee here on the floor but that isn't because we didn't fulfill our cute of advice and consent -- duty of advice and consent, we did. between his hearing and followup questions for the record, answered approximately 600 questions. it's clear that dr. esper has what it takes to lead the department of defense and most of my colleagues thinks so as well. he served the na

mark esper. we'll listen to a little bit of the ceremony going on there. sounds like it. the services there are awaiting the announcement of a new boss. and president trump will be there and making some remarks and we'll take you there live when that gets underway. >> sandra: we'll keep watching that. the mueller hearing is in the books. republicans down playing the hours of testimony as nothing new while some democrats still pushing impeachment as the next possible step. for more on this let's bring in bret baier anchor of special report. great coverage yesterday of all this. now this morning what are folks saying on capitol hill? >> well, i think they're doing assessment. democrats are trying to see the way forward. the interesting split with the democrats. nancy pelosi is where she was, not wanting to move forward with impeachment process. at least not yet. and there are democrats chomping at the bit, am i still in frame here? chomping at the bit to do that especially on the progressive side of the caucus. i think yesterday for all of the folks who said you shouldn't m

>> mark esper? >> he's been the army sect tri for about two years and he's been -- had a great relationship with president trump and really good relationship with the hill during that time. that is one of the reasons his nomination animation was accelerated. it all went through in about two weeks which is very fast for this. i think part of that was the fact that members were tired of having an acting secretary of defense and wanted someone in a permanent position especially given all the tensions with iran, all of the world issues going on right now. they really wanted someone who was in there as a permanent job. mark esper is said to have a very good relationship with president trump and also with some of the people who surround president trump on defense and national security issues. he is a west point grad and he went to school with some of the people who are the trump whisperers on these issues. he is expected to have a more powerful position and have more juice in the job than acting secretary

the secretary of defense mark esper was confirmed and took the job last week. so now they're going to confirm the deputy secretary of defense. the other position that is out there that mcconnell views as a key position for confirmation, is the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. kelly kraft, who is trump's nominee for that position, is the current ambassador to canada and probably, importantly as well, because it is mcconnell who sets the schedule, she lives in kentucky and she and her husband are major supporters of mcconnell and his operations. >> also 19 district judge s, the majority leader filing cloture on those. why is this a priority for mcconnell and how will he get it done under senate rules? >> the rules make it doable now. remember, we only have an allowance in the senate for a couple of hours of debate once cloture is invoked, and debate is limited on each one of them. what we could see is a long, long series of votes on those district judges. but it is a priority for mcconnell and president trump to continue to fill these vacancies. president t

senate resumes work on the nomination of mark esper to be the next defense secretary. a confirmation vote is expected tuesday. also tuesday, boats on the house approved 9/11 victim compensation fund. in the house next week, members will consider a bill to secure retirement savings for workers and retirees. also legislation to address border security and accountability at the department of homeland security. life here onse c-span and you can see the senate live on c-span two. and see both on c-span.org and listen to congressional debate on c-span's radio app. this week marks the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 and a new c-span poll shows that nearly three quarters of americans watched footage either live or recorded of the moon landing. >> t -10 minutes and counting. t -10. >> starting tonight at 8:00 eastern, watch the footage of the apollo 11 mission beginning with flight preparation. >> we have been performing final checks from the tracking beacons and instrument units during the pilot phase of flight. >> lift off. we have liftoff. 32 minutes past the hour. apollo

. >> earlier today in the white house oval office, mark esper was sworn in as the defense secretary. he served as secretary of the army from 2017 to 2019. following his swearing-in, mr. remarks,e brief thinking president trump for his nomination to the pentagon's top job. president trump: we have a very important moment in our country's history. greate a lot of our republican senators in the white house and i invited them over. here.f them wanted to be as you probably heard, the vote just took place and it was 90-8. that is a vote we are not accustomed to. i have to say that.

the pressure that president trump brings on to mark esper the new defense secretary and to the pentagonthis publicly. that is a lot of pressure. and it is not as if the president can waive his hand and make this contract go away but he can put pressure on to the secretary to delay this. that brings all sorts of other problems to the pentagon if mark esper does decide to delay this contract, there is lawsuits after that as well. but we can't -- we can say that amazon is watching this and concerned about the future of the contract. we should point out amazon considered to be the leading bidder for this contract. >> and speaking of amazon, jeff bezos, the owner of amazon, who also owns washington post, president trump has been attacking him for years now going after his marriage, acting as though the washington post is a lobbying arm. how is oracle using this -- and you mentioned in the document, how is he using his hate for bezos to squash the amazon deal. >> of course he is. we have amazon employees on this chart that trump has seen alongside former pentagon officials. they are painting

elizabeth warren took aim at mark esper's as seven years as raytheon's seven years as to lobbyist. >>ks of corruption plain and simple. i will ask my question again. will you agree not to ask for a waiver during the time you serve as seek tir yea of defense. reporter: senator warren has received $32,000 from the defense industry for her 2020 campaign. raytheon gave her campaign nearly $9,000 in 2018. esper served on active duty for over 10 years. he's a gulf war veteran. and worked as the army secretary. he had to step down as acting defense chief due to a decade old law. the chairman of the armed services committee hopes to have a vote confirming esper by early next week. liz: rerealing to critics they are i tell aren't and bullying and that's who they really are. they are being accused of their go-to is race i'm. their default, blame america first. showing the vacancy sign in their policy shop as the fight between president trump and the four congress women continue today. here is the president today. president trump: they should love our country. they shouldn't hate our country. yo

reporter: mark esper was sworn in as president trump's defense secretary a few minutes ago. the senate confirmation vote was overwhelmingly in favor of esper. elizabeth warren asked him to recuse himself. he said he would follow in jim mattis' wake who resigned in december. >> is it safe live to say you are more aligned to secretary mattis than trump? >> i don't know how to pick between the two. but i share secretary mattis' view ofs and i expressed that publicly. reporter: he faces a host of challenges, among them, iran. the u.s.s. boxer destroyed at least two iranian drones with a new jamming device. south korean fighter jets fired 360 warning shots at this russian fighter jet when it crossed into south korean air space. liz: thank you so much. the u.s. oil boom helping to keep oil prices low as tensions with iran escalate the strait of hormuz is in play. french president emmanuel macron is set to meet. margaret thatcher and ronald reagan basically changed the world. will boris johnson and trump do that as well. >> the british seized vessels just taken by iran. a perfect ex

and say mark esper is the other say mark- i would esper is the other big one. democrats have been doing these domestic votes because they would like to say here is what we are trying to accomplish for you. mitch mcconnell wants to confirm as many judges as he can because he has an agenda of reshaping the courts. that is part of the message he takes out with him in august. with the towns hall meetings, there seems to be one thing. do you see one thing emerging? guest: i think trump is such a dominant figure and the tweets aimed at the squad, it is hard to see how that does not dominate the entire new cycle. host: noah bierman, what does the month of august look like for the president? guest: he likes to spend a couple of weeks in new jersey. i think we will probably see that. hopefully for him, the weather will cool off a little bit. i think that is the main thing. later in august, he will be going to the g7 in france. that will be a big international stage. the g7 before, he had quite a few clashes with allies and it dominated any of the official business that

senate has confirmed to president trump's nominee for secretary of defense after a 7 month delay mark esper an army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist won the vote by $98.00 ending the longest period that the pentagon has ever gone without a confirmed leader students or no jury i have protested for the 22nd straight day calling for free elections and civilian rule the military has been the de facto ruler of the country since protests forced president. resignation back in april that ended his 20 years in office and the date has been set for a new election. in venezuela electricity is slowly being restored across the country after a blackout on monday plunged millions of people into darkness it's the latest a hardship to hit venezuela which has already been crippled by an unprecedented economic crisis president maduro has blamed a cyber attack on a hydroelectric plant for the outage it's the 2nd nationwide blackout to hit and it's where you are this year. these people were trapped in an elevator when the electricity went out luckily they could be rescued here at venezuela's biggest

. >> earlier today the senate confirmed mark esper as

mark esper has been confirmed as president trump's first pentagon chief since december.enate confirmed him in a vote of 90-8. boris johnson is in line to be the new british prime minister committed to taking his country out of the european union and angela merkel is struggling to maintain her dominance in germany, leaving emmanuel macron as a possible successor to the leadership role in your. -- in europe. you know france so well, having served their. as you look at europe, what are the prospects that emmanuel macron, still a relatively young man and young on the international stage, can step into the shoes? >> i think he could. when he was first elected, the concept initially was he would lead but with angela merkel by his side. clearly that is not happening in germany. france, weer i left had the vote on brexit. that was a change. i think emmanuel macron was poised to lead when he first one. as everybody knows, the yellow jackets in france did create a problem. they still exist. they are waning. that does not mean the policy issues they care about argonne. -- our gone

mark esper has been sworn in as u.s. secretary of defense the ceremony took place just hours after the u.s. senate confirmed the army veteran on a strong bipartisan vote of $90.00 to $8.00 the pentagon had been without a permanent top official for a record 7 months. western europe is bracing for record breaking temperatures this week the severe. heat is expected to affect france belgium and the netherlands with temperatures topping 40 degrees celsius. the southwestern french city of porto saw a record high of 41.2 degrees on tuesday. this is the last night theresa may will be able to call 10 downing street home she's moving out tomorrow to make way for the man known as bourse boris johnson became head of the conservative party today in britain tomorrow he'll become head of government the new prime minister tonight as boris johnson prepares to make the biggest move of his life the crises testing the country unlike any since 1945 well those problems they aren't going anywhere i'm burnt off in berlin this is the day. the 1s

and say mark esper is the other say mark- i would esper is the other big one. democrats have been doing these domestic votes because they would like to say here is what we are trying to accomplish for you. mitch mcconnell wants to confirm as many judges as he can because he has an agenda of reshaping the courts. that is part of the message he takes out with him in august. with the towns hall meetings, there seems to be one thing. do you see one thing emerging? guest: i think trump is such a dominant figure and the tweets aimed at the squad, it is hard to see how that does not dominate the entire new cycle. host: noah bierman, what does the month of august look like for the president? guest: he likes to spend a couple of weeks in new jersey. i think we will probably see that. hopefully for him, the weather will cool off a little bit. i think that is the main thing. later in august, he will be going to the g7 in france. that will be a big international stage. the g7 before, he had quite a few clashes with allies and it dominated any of the official business that

heinz mayonnaise, unforgettably creamy. >>> the senate has confirmed former veteran, mark esper by anou. esper had pretty overwhelming support here. this concludes a pretty remarkable era for the pentagon. what's your take on his approval here and what it means going forward. >> reporter: kasie, as you well know, i'm here on your stomping grounds. he was suspected to sail through confirmation. he only had one hiccup, he was a defense industry executive for a long time. there was some consternation whether he would recuse himself about issues when he was in the defense industry and he declined to recuse himself from those issues. there was back and forth with elizabeth warren about it. he was confirmed by a wide margin. he's expected to be sworn in today and a more formal confirmation swearing in at a later time we're waiting to hear about. the next piece is his deputy secretary of defense, which has been david norquist just nominated from the white house. he's been serving in the performing duties of deputy secretary of defense since jim mattis resigned in september. we expect him to

over many decades and times of war and peace, mark esper has answered the call of duty. he has never failed. he hails from uniontown pennsylvania, the hometown of his personal hero. the legendary former secretary of defense, and great one, george marshall. he attended the united states military academy at west point, graduated in 1986, receiving a commission in the infantry. soon he earned his tab, his ranger tab, and fought with the famed 101st airborne division in the gulf war. he was awarded the bronze star, and the combat infantryman badge for a service. a brave guy. they all told me he's a brave guy. i knew that anyway. in total, mark served in our nation's military for 21 years. he completed his final act of duty active duty assignment right here in the pentagon and army staff and returned six years later as the deputy assistant secretary secretary of defense for negotiations policy. over his career, mark has advanced our national security in a variety of other government and private sector roles. he has worked in both houses of congress, advising. i can see he had

i invite acting secretary, please, mark esper, secretary of defense, and chairman dunrd, head of the, please join me. [ applause ] in august of 1790 by request of eorge washington and alexander hamilton, congress established a fleet of ten swift vessels to defend our shores. these revenue-cutters would fight pirates, stop smugglers and safeguard our borders. they arehe ancestors of our faithful coast guard. when our ships were seized and sailor b kidnapped foreign powers in 1812, it was a revenue cutter, the swift schooner "thomas jefferson" that swept in to capture the first british vessel of the war. >> as youear president trump is speaking now live at the lincoln memorial. what he calls his salute to america on thpe inence day. >> now there will be some introductions coming up and the flyovers by every branch of the militaryth should last until about 7:35 tonight ld we'lling streaming that in our nbc washington app. >> for now let's go to storm team 4 meteorologist amelia drape we are your final look at the forecast. amelia? >> stilleeing showers in the d.c. metro area and very im

on c-span3 at 9:30 a.m., defense secretary nominee mark esper has his confirmation hearing before the senate armed services in theee followed later day by a senate homeland security and governmental affairs >> coming up this morning

acting secretary of defense, mark esper. it was his international debut as the pentagon chief. he lifted deescalate tensions and negotiate through diplomatic means. if you want to quote winston churchill for example, was not more war. this c could tip intnto somethig more dangerous. an errant move from the u.s. could see both sides engngage ia war that the world cannot afford. particularly through his inflammatory rhetoric. he has at times said that he would obliterate parts of iran. brent: that is a good point. isn't that what berlin is worried about? but if it does say yes to helping control the straight, it is forced to take sides if and when there is a war between the u.s. and iran was jamar clark's that certainly is a concern. germany is reluctant to get involved in something which could be determined by the next week to come from donald trump. it is worth pointing out that it is very much the view my in polilitical bererlin t that this escalation of tensions, it is seen is very much the result of a decision in wasasngton to p pl out of that -- pull the u.s. out of that ir

and say mark esper is the other say mark- i would esper is the other big one.ts have been doing these domestic votes because they would like to say here is what we are trying to accomplish for you. mitch mcconnell wants to confirm as many judges as he can because he has an agenda of reshaping the courts. that is part of the message he takes out with him in august. with the towns hall meetings, there seems to be one thing. do you see one thing emerging? guest: i think trump is such a dominant figure and the tweets aimed at the squad, it is hard to see how that does not dominate the entire new cycle. host: noah bierman, what does the month of august look like for the president? guest: he likes to spend a couple of weeks in new jersey. i think we will probably see that. hopefully for him, the weather will cool off a little bit. i think that is the main thing. later in august, he will be going to the g7 in france. that will be a big international stage. the g7 before, he had quite a few clashes with allies and it dominated any of the official business that was supp

mark esper could get the job after a confirmation hearing tuesday. counter-terrorism on the agenda when pakistan's prime minister meets with president trump on monday. lots to unpack here. let's get to it with nbc news tehran bureau chief in tehran. msnbc national security analyst and foreign policy analyst steve clemmons. thanks for joining us today. let me start with you. what has been the reaction to the audiotape we heard. has it made tensions worse there? >> well, it's intensifying an already highly volatile situation and it's also drawing in a lot of other players. the uk said the british flag tanker was in the amani waters, they served as a go between iran and united states, a goop relationship with both of them support the british claim. they say the tanker was one nautical mile inside the imani waters. iran disputes that. they say it was a clear action of tit for tat and nothing else. also after listening to that recording you just played, which was put out by maritime security firm called global driad, those are worryinging. you hear britis

during his confirmation hearing, president trump's defense secretary nominee mark esper told senatorshat he had no brought plans to change the u.s. strategy to combat iranian aggression, but that war is not the goal with iran. in the middle east, the possibility of war it's much closer to home. overnight, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said europe might ignore the iranian threat until the nuclear missiles hit, equating the current state of affairs to the west ignoring dangers of germany in 1939. bret. >> bret: trey yingst in our middle east newsroom, thanks. let's get some inside information now on the trump foreign policy. policy. u.s. ambassador to germany spoke today at the richard nixon presidential library and museum about the 50th anniversary of the nixon doctrine and how it relates to the current of administration. he joins us from california. ambassador, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me, bret. >> bret: first let me talk about the story we just heard, that is about iran suggesting that it might be willing to negotiate over its ballistic missile program

if confirmed mark esper could face iran and north korea as both nations are testing nuclear limits buts today about an al together different war the u.s. is fighting. >> reporter: if the senate confirmed him, mark esper will be the first permanent secretary of defense in seven months, just as president trump heads into the 2020 campaign with tensions flaring with iran and north korea. marquis per who has been acting secretary for a few weeks insists diplomacy is the best route to get iran to give up the program to develop nuclear weapons. >> we do not want war with iran. we are not seeking war with iran. we need to get back on the diplomatic channel. >> reporter: a similar message from the iran foreign minister telling nbc news he believes president trump will be prudent. >> i do not believe that president trump wants war. but i believe that people around him who won't mind. [ crowd chanting ] >> reporter: on north korea, pyongyang is threatening to renege on what the u.s. said are kim jong-un's commitments to denuclearization. north korea is now accusing the trump administration of br

again, the new defense secretary, mark esper, making his comments right now at the pentagon.ye on that. >>> also this morning, new face media giant has agreed to pay a record $5 billion fine for privacy violations. it is the largest ftc fine ever levied against a tech company. on top of that facebook must also create an independent privacy oversight board. ceo mark zuckerberg will be required to provide quarterly reports and what the company is doing to protect our data, along with other oversight steps, but the settlement is creating bipartisan criticisms. they say they do not go enough for holding the company accountable. let's talk about it with cyber security analyst, alex stamos, who is also a former facebook officer. derrick thomas, staff writer with the atlantic, always enjoy your insights as well, alex, the bottom line, what does this mean for facebook users? and are the if you oversight measures enough to protect our personal data? >> hey, craig, thanks for having me. i think the oversight measures are an interesting step. although, we haven't gotten off to a great s

eastern this evening in the oval office that mark esper will be sworn in after senate confirmation justill cover the news as it happens. a new legal battle is expected as the trump administration ramps up efforts to address border crisis. dhs has announced a "fast-track" deportation policy. the new rules target illegal immigrants who cannot prove that they have been in the united states continuously for at least two years. the policy allows immigration officials to deport these individuals without a court hearing. dhs says it will help reduce an immigration court backlog of nearly 1 million cases and free up beds in detention facilities. critics are vowing a legal challenge. an official wrote this -- "under this unlawful plan, immigrants have lived here for years would be deported with less due process then people get in traffic court." fox news is also learning that i.c.e. has arrested nearly 900 people since may as part of operation cross-check, which targets illegal immigrants under final deportation orders paid let's take a look at this new fast-track situation. emily? >> emily: her

mark esper, an army veteran won the vote by 90 -- eight. south korean fighter jets fired hundreds of warning shots after a russian military aircraft violated the airspace. soul says the planes flew over the islands which are also claimed by japan which calls them talk shema. russia says it carried out its missions over international waters. the militatary has been the de fao o ruleof thehe country since protests forced the president's resignation back in april ending his 20 years in officece. no date has bebeen set for new elections. prosecutors here in germany say the shooting of a man near frankfurt was motivated by racism. the man in his 20's was shot in a drive-by late on monday. the suspect, a 55-year-old german man later shot himself did. >> this industrial area is a crime scene. it was here in this small town that 826-year-old man was attacked. on monday afternoon, he was fired him a moving vehicle and severely injured. the suspected shooter, a 55-year-old german, led to a neighboring town and killed himself with a shot to the head.

there has to be all of these moving pieces in order to get mark esper into play. he has to go back to army secretary. you have his confirmation hearing. a vote to confirm him later in the week. deputy secretary of defense reverts back to the comptroller. et cetera, et cetera. the dominoes keep falling. president trump, in the eyes of some of his advisers, has been slow to get across the finish line. do you think that's fair criticism? >> absolutely. this is ridiculous. a lot of these offices have gone months without any proposal, any nomination. the next secretary of the army undoubtedly will be mr. mccarthy. he still has not been formally nominated to take that position. so, again, the pentagon is big business. you know, this is a trillion dollar business. we have work to do with congress. there are strategic threats to the united states, with iran, north korea, et cetera. we have to have some permanence to govern until the next election. >> i appreciate your perspective on a very busy day on capitol hill. back on the other side, the house side, we are keeping an

i invite acting secretary, please, mark esper, secretary of defense and chairman dunford, head of theff. please join me. [ applause ] >> in august of 1790, by request of george washington and alexander hamilton, congress established a fleet of ten swift vestals to defend our shores. these revenue cutters would fight pirates, stop smugglers and safe guard our borders. they are the ancestors of our faithful coast guard. [ applause ] >> when our ships were seized and sailors kidnapped by foreign powers in 1812, it was a revenue cutter, the swift schooner thompson jefrd that swept in to capture the first british vevle of the war. in 1897 when 265 whalers were trapped in ice and the icefields of alaska were closing up, courageous officers trekked 1,500 miles through the frozen frontier to rescuer the starving men from certain death. in 1942, the coast guard manned landing craft for invasions in the pacific. when the enemy attacked u.s. marines from the shores of gaudle canal, coast guard singleman first class douglas monroe used his own boat to shield his dplads are pounding gunfire. monro

prior commitments but the president will be flanked tomorrow night by acting defense secretary mark esper and marine general james dunn ford before delivering what is unprecedented in the modern era, a presidential address on the national prompting concerns inside of the pentagon. what should top military officials do if president trump during his speech starts serving up a fourth of july sized helping of partisan red meat. the trump administration refuses to say in addition how much the event will cost but the president did tweet the cost to our salute tomorrow will be very little compared to what it is worth. we own the planes and we have the pilots and the airport is right next door, and rues, all we need is the fuel. but that claim is a bit misleading to say the least. >> reporter: the armored vehicles have started arriving at the national mall. moved in overnight through washington, d.c. carefully, so as not to damage local roads and bridges. for the president's so-called salute to america. hyping it up as the show of the a lifetime. >> some incredible military equipment on display.

first, massachusetts senator and presidential candidate elizabeth warren grilled mark esper. that's the president's pick to be the secretary of defense, over his past as a top lobbyist for the third largest defense contractor, raytheon. >> if you're confirmed, will you do the same and commit to extending your recusal from any and all manners involving raytheon for your, the duration of your tenure as secretary of defense? >> you know, senator, we had this discussion in your office. >> yes, we did. >> this discussion a couple of years ago. on the advice of my ethics folks at the pentagon, the career professionals, no, the recommendation is not to. the belief is that the screening process have i in place, all the rules and regulations and law that -- >> so let's just cut to it. you're not going to do what acting secretary shanahan agreed to do, and that is bring not to be involved in decisions involving your former employer where you were head lobbyist for the duration of your time as secretary of defense? >> senator, i can't explain why he made that commitment. we obviously co

when you when the president's new defense secretary mark esper went to west point together. graduated in the same class, 1986. we have some good shots of you both in your uniforms. were your friends in school? >> we know each other a little bit back when we were cadets. spent 30 plus years, so time marches on. but i consider mark right. , a personal friend and someone i'm looking forward to working with alongside him as the new secretary of defense. i'm happy he's there. we went and so you're going to be traveling with him soon? >> in fact we will both be in australia next week. this is one that's been on the books for a long time. i'm glad mark was confirmed in time to go. >> bret: people sitting on the couch and who watch the back-and-forth in washington every day and we cover a lot of it, what is it from your vantage point? >> i think people here in washington miss is how many serious people there are in the world that i spend my time in working to make sure that they are save every day, making sure that the bad guys don't win. president trump has been very serious about

on tuesday, the senate confirmed mark esper with a vote of 90-8. he

, the senate armed services committee held a confirmation hearing for defense secretary nominee mark esper. he has been serving as acting secretary since june, following patrickgnation of shanahan, who temporarily replaced former defense secretary james mattis in january. mr. esper, currently army secretary, was asked about u.s. policy toward iran, cybersecurity, and nuclear deterrence, among other topics. this is just over 2.5 hours.

senate has confirmed mark esper as defenssecretary. the position was vacated longer than ever beforen the pentagon's history following the resignation of jim mattis last year. mr esper received support from republican and democratic senators and is being sworn i south korean fighter jets fired warning shots at a russian military craft that twice entered its airspace. russia denies any vlation, but it also drew a response from japan. it said south korea's actions had been totally unacceptable. democrats and republicans in congress are lining sp questions foial counsel robert mueller, who takes the hot seat on wednesday for a pair of highly anticipated hearings. is due to discuss the findings of his report into ruian election meddling an explain some of his decisions regarding president thump. justice department officials have warned mr. mueller to not go beyond what has been released to the public. for more can i spoke with rormer federalcutor joseph moreno. ifnde sticks to this report, there is every indication he will, what aree going

reportedly told mark esper that the deal does not mean turkey. as changing a strategic direction the 1st delivery was flown into the more ted ad base near the capital ankara where the several more scheduled over the next few days the u.s. says it's ready to impose sanctions it's also threatening to stop supplying turkey with its f. 35 fighter jet blue has a report from istanbul. this russian plane cargo that's got turkey's allies worried this $400.00 surface a year missile system is expected to give the turkish military a clear advantage in the region it can detect and destroy incoming missiles up to 400 kilometers away but to u.s. and nato say it is not compatible with their weapon system and insist it could pose a risk to their new stealth fighter jet the f. 35 we don't know exactly the extent. the russians would allow this means size to be used what kind of targeting possibilities of course the turkish sides argue that turkey would be totally free and will use it but the more much depends on the call being. friend in full i didn't. need to say

stuart: president trump is speaking now at the welcoming ceremony for defense secretary mark esper. we will get them for you real fast. that's a fact. now quickly to the markets. we have a loss of just over 100 points for the dow industrials. about 80 odd points is accounted for by boeing which is a dow stock which is down 3 1/2%. you heard this story before, boeing, dow stock, in trouble, down it goes is the overall market, the dow industrials. there you have it. we're almost at the end of the show, i'm inclined to ask what was the favorite guest of the day. i know exactly who i would pick, deirdre? >> derek morgan. what a impressive guy. be at top of your field have, a strategy. successful investor giving back to his community. seems like a trifecta. stuart: literally five minutes before he sat down on the set with me, that i found out the man had invested in beyond meat in the early days. he is a brand ambassador for beyond meat. that he is a vegan. >> he says, he gave us his weight, 260-pounds. professional athlete. former professional athlete. all plant-based. stuart: that is t

nation's controversial purchase of the russian s. 400 missile defense system who reportedly told mark esper that the deal does not mean that turkey is changing its strategic direction the 1st delivery was flown into the med ted air base near the capital ankara with several more settled over the next few days the u.s. is ready to impose sanctions it's also threatening to stop supplying turkey with its f. 35 fighter jets sent in costa who has more from istanbul. this russian cargo that's got turkey's allies who are read those $400.00 surface a year missile system is expected to give the turkish military a clear advantage in the region it can detect and destroy incoming missiles up to 400 kilometers away but to us the maple say it is not compatible with their weapons system and insist it could pose a risk to their new stealth fighter jet the f. 35. we don't know exactly the extent. the russians would allow this missiles to be used in what kind of targeting possibilities of course the turkish sides argue that turkey would be totally free to use it but the more much depends on the call the. frie

acting secretary of defense mark esper, and many other members of my cabinet, and also the chairman ofhiefs of staff gerald joe dunford. thank you. thank you. thank you. [cheers and applause] pres. trump: lieutenant general of the national guard and distinguished leaders representing each branch of the united states armed forces. the army, navy, air force, coast guard, marines, and very soon, the space force. [cheers and applause] pres. trump: as we govern this evening in the joy of freedom, we remember that all extraordinary heritage. together, we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told, the story of america. it is the epic tale of a great nation whose people have risked everything for what they know is right and what they know is true. it is the chronicle of brave citizens who never give up on the dream of a better and brighter future, and it is the saga of 13 separate colonies that united to form the most just and virtuous republic ever conceived. ourhis day 243 years ago, founding fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to declare independence