this week we are considering one of those judges, michael brennan, whose nomination should not proceed. it has come to the senate without the traditional advice and consent from his home state senator, senator baldwin. in fact, in a particularly hypocritical twist, mr. brennan was nominated to fill a seat that has been kept open for over seven years because the senior senator from wisconsin, a republican, refused to return a blue slip for victoria norse, president obama's nominee for this very same seat. at that time mr. brennan, the nominee we're debating today, even wrote an op-ed in the "milwaukee sentinel" arguing using the blue slip on the north nomination saying, there are two senators from wisconsin from different political parties, and to exclude him would be a purely partisan move. further quoting, johnson represents millions of wisconsin citizens, just as senator herb cole does and feingold did. in the same way those senators had their say, johnson should have his say. he just wants to be heard and fulfill his constitutional duty of advice and consent. further quoting, why ca

michael brennan, president trump's nominee to serve on the be seventh circuit court of appeals, is just the latest example. even though mr. brennan did not receive a blue slip from both home state senators, senate republicans moved forward on his nomination. perhaps the ultimate irony is that when president obama nominated another candidate to fill this very same seat, mr. brennan penned a strong defense of senator johnson's decision to withhold his blue slip. now that the shoe is on the other foot, those principles have now magically disappeared. let's be clear here. there are plenty of reasons for any senator to be concerned about mr. brennan's fitness to serve on the federal bench. i'll just mention a few. mr. brennan has mocked millions of hardworking women who have faced sexism and obstacles to advancement. he has dismissed the idea of a glass ceiling. mr. brennan has defended a wisconsin law that added unnecessary barriers to women who were seeking access to abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. mr. brennan supports criminal sentencing policies that slap low-level offender

president obama's former director john brennan calls her a well-respected professional. general michael hayden said this, her only goal is to live out the agency's mission. she's a wonderful choice. and in a letter to her colleagues on the intelligence committee, a bipartisan group of 53 former national security leaders says, her qualifications match or exceeds those of those candidates put forward in the 70 year history of the agency. she is perfectly matched for the challenges that face our country. as was said, our nation must be prepared for a new era of competition between powerful nations. we continue to prosecute the campaign against terrorists, but a great power competition is now the primary focus of u.s. national security. while ms. haspel is the perfect candidate to lead the central intelligence agency through these challenges, her experience spans the global war on terror. her experience of gathering foreign intelligence in an era of -- hard-won expertise in counterterrorism and analysis many her resume could hardly be better tailored for the specific challenges our nation f

the nominee before us, michael brennan, is similarly qualified. his nomination carries bipartisan support from the people who know him best, including the endorsement of 30 peers in wisconsin. in the words of one such colleague, mr. brennan possesses the mind, heart, and soul of a great jurist. not too surprising then, the american bar association has awarded mr. brennan its highest rating unanimously well qualified. i look forward to voting to confirm mr. brennan later today and later we'll be voting to advance two more circuit court nominees, joel carson and john nalbandian. each possess their own set of sterling qualifications. each come recommended widely by those who work closely with them and each deserve to be confirmed by this body and take their place on the federal bench. our friends across the aisle aren't making it easy, but despite the historic obstruction, this senate will do what it takes to process and to confirm the president's fine nominees for these important posts. on one final matter, later today president trump is visiting th

on c-span2 at 10:00, the nomination to michael brennan to the seventh circuit court would be discussed. at 1:30 p.m. on c-span3, remarks by the starbucks executive chair on the role and responsibility of global companies. q&a.ncer: sunday on the university santa barbara english professor on his book " inseparable" about the life and times of conjoined twins. >> you can imagine, these are two married couples. also, when they set up two separate households about one mile from each other, they stuck to this very rigid schedule. lift where heair would stay in the house for three days with chang's wife. during those three days, he was the master of the house. his twin would give up his free will. three days later, they would move to the other twin's house and he would be the master of the house and his other sibling would give up. >> did it work? >> apparently, they had 21 children. announcer: q&a, sunday night at 7:00 eastern. president trump spoke to reporters in a cabinet meeting about the three american detainees recently released by north korea and said he and vice president pence woul

next, in a few hours the senate will vote to proceed to the nomination of michael brennan to the seventh circuit court of appeals. mr. brennan has not received a blue slip. that's a notice of approval that's been a tradition here in the senate from one of his hometown senators, senator baldwin. so the vote today will be a slap in the face of the custom of senatorial courtesy. it will be a slap in the face to the bipartisanship that we hear so many on the other side of the aisle and so many more americans talk about. it is blatant disrespect to every senator who wants to withhold his or her judgment on a judge, a tradition that's been respected by democrats and republicans until leader mcconnell abruptly changed this earlier this year for circuit court judges. what makes this even more gallingalling is the history ofs vacancy on the seventh circuit. mr. brennan will fill a seat that's been held open by wisconsin's other senator for six years during the obama administration. how did johnson -- how was senator johnson able to withhold? he didn't return his blue slip. and senator leahy, the

schumer: well, madam president, later today, the senate will vote on the confirmation of michael brennan to the seventh circuit. over the objection of one of his home state senators, senator baldwin, who has not returned a blue slip on his nomination. it's an abject breach of senatorial courtesy that both parties have long respected. in fact, the seat mr. brennan will fill on the seventh circuit has been held open for six years by the senior senator from wisconsin, senator johnson, via the same process, the blue slip. when barack obama was president, when patrick leahy was chairman of the judiciary committee, we democrats obeyed the blue slip, and it led that seat to be vacant for six years. now that the shoe's on the other foot, the republican majority will ignore the blue slip rights of a democratic senator, even though they fervently believe that we ought to listen to the rights of the republican senator of wisconsin, and this -- their actions, the republican leader, arose one of the few remaining customs in the senate that forces consultation and consensus on judicial nominations. in

johnson: i rise to urge my colleagues to vote for michael b. brennan, a judge for the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit. he have has degrees from the university of notre dame and northwestern university school of law, two federal clerkships, worked as a prosecutor, and almost a decade on the state trial court bench before returning to private practice. his accomplishments in practice are noteworthy. i'd like to focus my remarks today on mike's commitment to public service and his reputation as a jurist. becoming a seventh circuit judge will not be a huge adjustments for mike because he has spent nine years as a judge. anyone who spends time with mike will be struck not only by his intellect but by his humility and strong commitment to justice and the rule of law. this explains why attorney general the wisconsin and the state's public defender, fierce adversaries in the courtroom, were able to come together to write a letter enthusiastically supporting his nomination. i have a sense those two don't often agree, but when it comes to

michael cohen of $130,000. why this whole scheme? i don't get it. >> brennan: michael avenatti, thank you very much for joining us. we are joined onset by jonathan turley a constitutional law professor at george washington university. wish you happy birthday. >> thank you, margaret. >> brennan: i understand that two of our last guests were also students of yours at some point? >> that's right. both kellyanne and michael. i've said you don't have to go out gw for national news. you just proved that. >> brennan: look at some of the work they have done here. you have said that in many ways the president -- that these questions about stormj daniels could in fact layout the case for robert mueller on on jukes of justice that we have yet to see when it comes to the main legal case he's chasing which is regarding russian election meddling. explain that. >> the danger here is that danid supply the obstruction case that has so far evaded robert mueller. i don't think the obstruction case or collusion case that mueller is pursuing is materialized as far as we can see as

opioid, the economy, we're very happy with the 3.9 -- >> brennan: i want to ask you about some of the policy issues. to close this. when did michael cohen stop representing the president? >> i don't know that. in the white house -- >> brennan: you said on april 5th he was still his attorney. >> you have to ask michael cohen, his attorney. i did see in different interview today that mayor guiliani said michael cohen is no longer the president's attorney. i don't know the answer to that. i'd be happy to ask and have someone get back to you on that. again, when i get in there every day as his curl we're not talking about personal matters, personal. he represented him a long time but -- >> brennan: why is rudy guiliani talking about issues of national security. he is speaking about release of three american prisoners from north corey what loose lives are literally on the line. >> we're hopeful. but obviously very anxious about hostages abroad. >> brennan: is the white house authorized him to speak on that. he doesn't have a security clearance. >> i have a security clearance i'm not going to divulge anything like that i'll leave that t

nominee to a vote even though one of his home state senators has not returned the blue slip, michael brennanhas not returned the blue strip. >> it's one of these things that donald trump isn't clued in. you mentioned brown, let me read this, suggesting they can't discuss brown because they believe it's conceivable a case questioning its prohibition on racial degradation could come up before them now. if they refuse to give their opinions on brown, will they refuse to talk about scott, what about the internment of the japanese? why is brown a sticking point for them? i ask this fairly, not in a baiting way. is this as bad as it looks or is it possible they've been poorly coached and they think if they answer one case they'll get ten more? >> no, i don't think so. i've heard that. you explained why in the quote. judges who are nominated to sit on the supreme court, for example, know that perhaps roe versus wade might come before them again. it would be news to me as a practicing civil rights lawyer that brown versus the board of education is likely to come before the supreme court any time soo

we've heard from michael hayden, john brennan, both former c.i.a. directors, both who criticized president trump for other matters but praise this pick to head the agency. and we read about this nominee, too, as "the wall street journal" board recently penned its support writing that the people misrepresenting the c.i.a. nominee were in the cheap seats during the worst days of the war on terror. ms. haspel did not have that luxury. and i couldn't agree more with that characterization. yet some of our colleagues systemly refuse to listen and, in fact, we've been seeing the same pattern play out throughout the trump presidency. people playing politics and obstructing the nominees of the president simply because they disagree with the president, not because of the qualifications of the nominees. and, sadly, we've seen character assassination against nominees who've subsequently withdrawn because they've been unwilling to go through the process and see the destruction of a reputation that they've worked a lifetime for. and it is our nation's loss the go

. >> michael, morgan brennan here.ed bob wright last hour he suggested you could see a situation where sherry red stone and national amusements waters down or dilutes its voting power and les moonves stays on is that what you foresee as well >> not exactly that. my guess is that this issue -- the issue of control and the rights of a controlling shareholder is an important issue. i'm only saying -- i'm not sure either side is going to win that because you have economics and sherry has a vested interest in seeing both the entities grow in shareholder value. my guess is in the end, if you want the best executive in the world to run the combined entities, and that's les moonves, then you'll work something out. i find it hard to believe that sherry would, in the end, reduce her -- what she believes to be her rights as a controlling shareholder. and i don't think cbs will win in court on that issue so, my guess is there's some kind ofagreement to the status quo, you know. which is perhaps a little vague about what a controll

senate lawmakers look at three nominations to confirm michael brennan for the 7th circuit and to limit debate on joe carson for the 10th circuit. at 1:45 eastern a vote to limit debate on john al bandion for the 6th circuit. and setting up possibly four new judges this week. now new coverage of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer.

probably mainly because of the personal relationship that you clearly had with james comey, john brennan, michael flynn, and admiral rogers and of course his predecessors. my sense was that you made it work and you had been working together for decades. i was worried if he did not have that personal history together, maybe we would have a problem.is that fair? >> yes, it is fair and it is a concern. i think in my case, just having served a long time in the intelligence community, i knew everyone, the most senior officials in the community. i'd mentored many of them. had a lot to do with their placement in those positions. and so, they all worked i thought pretty well. again, i know, i knew that i did not have a charter with i was going to be a sorry dictator. and i was there really to be a facilitator, integrator, promote cooperation through persuasion and attractors of those occasions where i did have two decide something or make issue direction to make that exception, not the rule. and it is much better in this kind of arrangement where you started to achieve consensus. >> let's spend a minute

from past administrations representing both political parties including leon panetta, john brennan and michael hayden. >> the wall street journal is reporting 50 former time national security and intelligence officials have signed a letter supporting her nomination. >> those who know her best including high-ranking obama era officials are behind her 100%. >> many democrats like sen. ron wyden say the american people are in the dark about who this nominee is. >> there has been selective declassification, a very aggressive public influence campaign and a boatload of misinformation. >> sen. wyden is one of the senators haskel will be meeting with privately when she returns to capitol hill tomorrow. >> he runs the gauntlet on the hill. thank you very much. the pres. says john kerry's efforts to keep the us in the iran deal might be illegal. let's get more from richardson at the state department tonight. >> former secretary of state john kerry is lobbying to hold together the iran nuclear agreement meeting with officials from iran, france, germany and the european union, the boston globe is working

john brennan and michael hayden. >> indeed "the wall street journal" is reporting that more than 50 former top national security and intelligence officials have signed letter supporting her nomination. >> those who know her best including high-ranking obama era officials are behind her 100%. >> many democrats like senator ron wyden save the american people are still in the dark about who this nominee actually is. >> there has been selective declassification. there has been a very aggressive public influence campaign and there have just been a boatload of misinformation. >> senator wyden is one of the senators that haspel will be meeting with privately when she returns to have done my capitol hill tomorrow. we will see if she's able to sway his opinion. >> shannon: she continues to run the gauntlet there on the hill. thank you very much. the president says john kerry's efforts to keep the u.s. in the iran deal might be illegal. let's get more from correspondent rich edson at the state department tonight. >> good evening, shannon. it former of state john kerry is lobbying to hold together th

intelligence committee, who have never been tv stars now, you know, cable news stars now in john brennan and michaelabout the reluctance of public servants to sort of poke their head up in the time of trump and try to be the good citizens you describe. >> but i think they are responding. it may be slow, but they also understand that a little goes a long way in a tsunami world. in a world where we're living -- trump has created -- i think of it now as the joe mccarthization, the roy cohenization of our national politics. basically the midtown manhattan new york post just throw a punch instead of opening your hand culture has taken over the white house. so that's just what happened. so we can whine about itbiden, with president obama with the iran deal, who put out a thoughtful statement, as with george w. bush, who has given two speeches that i think are quite good on this subject, they are making their statement. and we have to keep doing this. the story of american history is not the story of sudden leaps forward. it's not a story that is without difficulty and tragedy and missed steps. that's in m

five intelligence officials, including former cia directors michael haden and john brennan sent a letter to the majority and minority leaders of both chambers. their message, for congressional leaders to allow oversight to proceed in a fully bipartisan manner and to resist efforts to politic eyes intelligence oversight for the benefit of one party or never to. joining me now, malcolm nance. he brings more than three decades of experience. also with us is stanley pottinger, former assistant attorney general for the civil rights division. thank you both for being with us today to help us kind of understand all of this better. malcolm nance i want tothpast t so at the change in approach of rhetoric from republicans in particular towards the department of justice and the fbi and the levels of doubt that are cast or are being cast on organizations that, you though, they had typically really staunchly defended in an era when we were focusing on on the war on terror. what's your view on that shift and how it's impacting our country? >> first let me start by giving congratulations to master chie

brennan is like priest-like. this man ran and assassination program. michael hayden. i actually respect his honesty because unlike brennan and klapper and others, hayden said, i support torture and torture works and that is part of why i support gina haspel. ahat we saw yesterday was a ci propaganda operation. her answers were carefully prepared the way she refused to answer kamala harris' questions about the immorality of torture. one of the things i found astounding was she said the cia has historically not been in the business of interrogation. what on earth is she talking about? and why wasn't she pressed on that? i believe what she was doing was relying on a technicality which is the cia traditionally outsources those interrogations or they will have people like those mental health professionals mitchell and jessen who were essentially the ones that came in and said, here is how we can reverse engineer the tactics that we used to train her own personnel to .esist torture or face torture let's reverse engineer that and apply it in an offensive manner against prison

when you have john brennan and leon panetta and michael perella supporting her nomination it goes tomocrat who is not sees with blind hatred of the pres. recognizes gina is the most qualified nominee we ever had to be director of the cia. >> the senate intel committee will vote on the confirmation in the next week. >> while you were sleeping three americans being held hostage in north korea stepping foot on us soil. >> donald trump and kim jong un coming together for the first time, what they will discuss at that meeting. complete analysis continues next. ♪ american ♪ lift me up ♪ t the house. and taking care of the boys. [ door slams ] he's still asleep. zach? zach?! [ dog barking ] ♪ [ sighs in relief ] zach! talk to me. it's for the house. i got a job. it's okay. dad took care of us. principal. we can help you plan for that. in your noise cancelling trheadphones?ry maybe not. maybe you could trust you won't be next to a loud eater. (eating potato chips loudly) or you could just trust duracell. (silence) ♪ you agreed to never give up to be a decent neighbor to remember the good peo

brennan, said ms. haspel has the experience, the breadth and depth on intelligence issues. and former c.i.a. director michael hayden who served under president clinton and george w. bush called ms. haspel a great choice. these are three of more than 50 national security officials who signed a letter to the senate intelligence committee supporting her nomination. as a member of that committee, i've worked with gina haspel during her time overseas and as deputy c.i.a. director, and i can attest to her professionalism, her work ethic and, most important, her character. this is a skilled, brave, patriotic woman who will serve our country with distinction in this most critical post. her dedication to our country throughout her life is complete, and that is why i will be proud to cast my vote for the confirmation of gina haspel, and i urge all senators to do the same. thank you. mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: yesterday the senate intelligence committee voted gina haspel's nomination out favorably by a vote of 10

the it is instructive that formerer dcis endorse her nomination including leon panetta, john brennan and michael hayden. each of these men have been blunt in their criticism of some aspects of the current administration. but all support gina haspel. she is the most qualified ever no, ma'am fade for this position. for 33 years she has worked to defend america from those who would harm us. she has served on the front lines and she has served with some who are now memorialized with gold stars on the wall in langley. in tribute to the ultimate sacrifice. she know the cost of freedom. she is a clear eyed, expert on russia at a time of mounting threats from that nation. if confirmed as senator chambliss noted, she would be the first woman to serve as dcia. sending a clear message that advancement in the intelligence community is based on merit, not impeded by prejudice. finally she had the unenviable weighty responsibility of protecting americans lives during times of maximum pressure, while also remaining true to our core values. as senator warner indicated, questions will be asked today, and they sh

when you have john brennan and jim klapper and michael morel supporting her nomination, it just goes to show you that any democrat who is not seized with blind hatred of the president recognized that gina is probably the most qualified nominee we have ever had to be the director of the cia. >> martha: senator tom cotton, always good to see you, sir. as the senator just said, gina haspel has been with the cia since 1985. she has served under six presidents and senator cotton argues in many democrats as well she is eminently qualified. she would be the first woman to run the central intelligence agency, a post held by 24 men including george h.w. bush, john foster dulles and bob gates. so take a look at some of the questioning today. >> the cia selectively declassified only small pieces of information to bolster your nomination. while keeping damaging information under wraps. >> what i believe sitting here today is that i support the higher moral standard we have decided to hold ourselves to. >> would you please answer the question? >> i think i've answer the question. >> know you have

when you see whether it is john brennan the former cia director or michael hayden, bush's director, whetheryou see general clapper, there are a lot of people who have devoted lives to national security and intelligence with records that are certainly worth analyzing and criticizing, whatever, but who seem exhausted about president trump. >> it is tough. and they need to find some get up and go and muster up some energy to defend their lives work. that interview, he wasn't clear. they need to me much clear. people have legitimate questions of why this investigation was started because they don't understand. i don't think it is that hard to figure out. there is questionable contacts with foreign nationals and questionable trips to moscow and they had supreme look into it and decided to start the investigation on july 31st. why is that so hard for them to explain? because they need to do it. this is a fight in the media, and the public arena and you will get destroyed by conspiracy theories and nonsense if you can't get your message out. so if they can't do it, you need to find someone in the

we discussed that former cia director john brennan and the former director of national intelligence, james clapper. on c-span2 at 10:00, the michaelennet nomination to the seventh circuit court is discussed in senate. at 10 a.m. on c-span three, the 2019 budget for the health and human services for terry with secretary alex azor. also, at 1:30 p.m., starbucks executive chair howard schultz on the role of public companies. >> gina haspel, president trump's pick to head the cia testified before the senate committee.e she just about her 30 year career with the cia and answered questions on her involvement and ron

. >>> tomorrow morning on "face the nation" on cbs, margaret brennan's guest will include michael hayden and michael avenatti, the attorney for adult film star stormy daniels. >>> the nation's job report for april reached an impressive milestone. the labor department said friday employers added 164,000 jobs last month. that meant the unemployment rate fell from 4.1% in march to 3.9% in april. that is the lowest level since december 2000. >> former president george h.w. bush is home this morning after he was released from a houston hospital last night. the 41st president was treated for an infection for the past two weeks. he was admitted shortly after attending the funeral of his wife barbara. they were married for 73 years. mr. bush is 93 years old. >> a tweet from a family spokesperson said -- >> we don't have that. >> sorry. >> we'll bring it to you soon. let's talk about this. police in terre haute, indiana, are mourning the loss of one of their officers shot and killed in the line of duty. a suspect in a homicide opened fire when he was approached by four investigators friday evenin

michael goodwin. great americans, good friend and great to have you here. let's start with the president and john brennanunited states. now threatening the speaker and mitch mcconnell. who the hell does he think he is? >> i think we are seeing who and what he is. what the president has done marks a turning point how he's handling the mueller investigation and this other investigation into him during the campaign. i think he turned a corner. lou: you mean about the spy? >> yes. informer. whatever this guy was. but -- lou: the spy was there for more than a year and never said, you know what, mr. president? we are worried about the elections intervening in these elections. >> the way the "new york times" and "washington post" seem to know all about this. the "new york times" actually corrects the president and says this is not what he was doing, here is what he was doing. they have become the deep state media. now they are protecting something they always reviled in the past. lou: your opinion of the "times" is laudatory. let me turn to the special counsel. why doesn't he pack his bags and go home? it's a b

help trump win but now former nsa director admiral michael rogers and former director of national intelligence jinx klapper art contradicting john brennan saying the dossier was in fact used as part of that assessment and then finally we should note after a closed-door hearing with john brennan today the senate intel committee says the russian government did interfere to help donald trump win the election. the house intel committee you might remember had already concluded that russia did interfere, but not in an effort to help donald trump. martha. >> martha: mike rogers was one of those. he felt that that was not conclusive in terms of whether or not they were trying to help trump over clinton. a former nsa director. thank you very much. joining me now with more on this tonight, john solomon, opinion contributor to the hill who has dug into the story very deeply over the past year. good to have you with us tonigh tonight. interesting timing how this piece dropped and sort of shed light on all of these things. what do you make of this story and what it aims to accomplish? >> there's a lot of speculation that maybe this is an effort by b

michael isakoff with yahoo! news in regards to the report. joining me is liam brennan, former federal prosecutor.hould don jr. be worried? >> hello, aex-l thank you for having me back. jose grida says donald trump jr. should be worried but we don't know what is on the wirestands or when they were from. don jr. admitted he met with torsion. in that testimony they only discuss the business agreements with torsion. the question, is that true, did portion in these spanish wiretaps mention don jr.? did he say something else about what they had discussed? if there's some way what torsion said on the wiretaps undermines the testimony that don jr. gave, that could be very problematic but it is an open question and the other question is when are the wiretaps from. did they pre-date his meeting with torsion which was in may or june of 2016 at the nra convention in louisville or postdate it and recap what went on there. >> do we know how jose grinda got the wire taps? >> they were doing an investigation with russians so they were conducting this investigation. how they ended up getting in touch with, and th

margaret brennan's interview with vice president mike pence on the release of the detainees and, of course, the upcoming summit in north korea. >>> president trump's personal attorney michael cohen is being accused of cashing in on his white house connections. one company novartis paid cohen up to $1.2 million for services. others acknowledge paying cohen for hundreds of thousands for insight into the president or help with regulatory matters. paula reid reports. >> reporter: the money was paid to essential consultants llc, the same company michael cohen used the pay adult film star daniels not to speak about her alleged affair with president trump. the documents were first revealed by daniels' attorney michael avenatti. they show payments of approximately $500,000 from columbus nova, the american investment firm tied to russian millionaire victor vekselberg who has close ties to president putin. in a statement it was said vekselberg was not involved. >> i think the secret payments was highly suspicious, may, in fact, show criminal conduct. >> avenatti said those crimes could include bank fraud and/or money laundering. cohen is under federal investigation and last month fb

we discussed that former cia director john brennan and the former director of national intelligence, james clapper. on c-span2 at 10:00, the michael bennet nomination to the seventh circuit court is discussed in senate. at 10 a.m. on c-span three, the 2019 budget for the health and human services for terry with secretary alex azor. also, at 1:30 p.m., starbucks executive chair howard schultz on the role of public companies. >> gina haspel, president trump's pick to head the cia testified before the senate committee.e she just about her 30 year career with the cia and answered questions on her involvement and role in a controversial detention and interrogation program. out to her agency, following the 9/11 attacks. the hearing was two hours and 40 minutes. [indistinct conversations] >> i would like to say at the beginning of this hearing that it is the tradition of the committee to have nominees in front of us in open and closed session. it is also incumbent on those who attend an audience, that they recognize the order we expect. the chair will announce now, i will not be lenient. if there are outbursts, you will be cleared from t

brennan a little more circumspect but pretty aggressive lately. you make a statement in your book that is hardly complementary and has a longer view michael flynn sitting there at the table together to give very good path to a. what do you think happened to. they spend more time deployed either in afghanistan or iraq than most of his army contemporaries and that is saying something spending time overseas. i support that yesterday. i was a coefficient at the promotion ceremony to the lieutenant general. for one reason or another it just didn't work out. my concern is the impact on the workforce. it's terminated after two years where the normal term is a three-year term. and mike flynn actually took that very well, very gracefully into the ceremony for him. i lost contact with him and i think my observation is from afar i think that early departure gate at hi eight at he became an angry man and becam bn advising several of the candidates and kind of connected with mr. trump. he became very outspoken and doctrinaire and a very ideological. this raises a whole concern that you mentioned with others about our speaking out on what our views are and that is i

director of national intelligence, john brennan, former c irk a director -- cia, john mcloughlin, former deputy cia director and one-time acting director, and michael morrell, another ex-acting director. general hayden himself, of course, also makes frequent appearances. now, he and some of the other retired officials had been commenting on the networks even before donald trump's political ascendancy, but their assessments have gotten more critical and alarm arist under trump -- alarmist under trump. and this, as mike notes in his book, has created an impression that they're acting as the public voice of some sort of deep state intelligence community opposed to trump. mike is not the opposition, he says, nor is he the resistance, but he is very worried about the undermining of our democratic institutions, particularly the intelligence community in which he served for many years. a career intelligence officer in the air force, mike rose to direct the national security agency from 1999-2005 and then headed the cia from 2006-2009. since leaving government service, he's been a principal at the chertoff group which is a security consulting firm and a te

john brennan, james clapper, not friends of donald trump. michaeleon panetta, george tenent, john kerry, mike moral. the list goes on and on. and it's people that had a say in the intel community for george w. bush, bill clinton, barack obama and it's pretty widespread support. you think that carries the day in the end on capitol hill? >> well, it certainly has some impact obviously. it speaks to her reputation within the intelligence community that all those people as you say not friends of the president but make sure to come out on her behalf. but it's also striking, remember when john brennan was considered for this very position at the very beginning of the obama administration, he was considered at the time considered to be too radioactive because he had been in the cia leadership at the time of this torture program, hadn't been part of it, told people he opposed it. the idea that gina haspel wouldn't be aware that this hearing was going to be as rough as it looks like it will be a is little startling, somebody supposed to be in the intelligenc

trump is the president, because obama era intelligence officials like john brennan and jim clapper and leon panetta and michaeleason you say she is getting opposition on capitol hill from the democrats is simply because donald trump nominated her? >> i don't see how else you could explain it, steve. when john brennan and jim clapper, the director of the cia and director of national intelligence for barack obama don't just support gina but actively and openly advocate for her, on what possible grounds are the senate democrats opposing her? other than the fact that donald trump nominated her. steve: nod your head one way or the other, will she be approved by the senate? >> she will get a bipartisan vote by the senate intelligence committee. she will have a bipartisan vote by the senate. she will be the next cia director. steve: good to know. tom cotton, great senator from the state of arkansas. meanwhile, this is a fox news alert. democrats slamming president trump's decision to tear up the iran deal. saying it defies comprehension. john bolton will join us live next. (ch(baby crying)eat) ♪ fly me to the moon ♪

brennan's part to get the four vote block. he did that in part for thurgood. justice marshall's influence was felt as well. susan: michaeln san diego you are on the air. caller: i was a student at ucsd for975, medical training the u.s. navy. i was overseas. for this country and when i came back i wanted to pursue medicine as a career -- i for this- i fought country and when i came back i wanted to pursue medicine as a career. i will be retiring from the school district. i will go ahead and practice 1972-1973, because i was denied my right to go to medical school. what has transpired today that would not happen to the iraqi and afghanistan veterans? what would be different today? love the question because it does highlight the passion and the stakes in this. it highlights why the bakke decision was so powerful. it is said to people like this brave caller that has called in, we are not going to have quotas anymore. we could have a veterans provinces in any number of preferences, where you come from, but we will never tell you justyou are not eligible because of the color of your skin. it was for that reason it was a widely

brennan, former obama administration c.i.a. director, james clapper, former obama c.i.a. director and director of national intelligence, senator saxby chambliss, former senate intelligence committee vice chair, representative porter goss, house intelligence committee chairman, general michael hayden, former bush administration c.i.a. administrator, senator bob kerrey, democrat senator of nebraska who was on the senate intelligence committee and was the vice chairman, henry kissinger, former secretary of state, mike mcconnell, former obama administration director of national intelligence, admiral william mcriven, former commander socom, michael morrell, acting and deputy c.i.a. director, michael mukas mukasey, former bush administration attorney general, leon panetta, former obama administration c.i.a. director and secretary of defense, mike rogers, republican congressman, former house intel committee chairman, george shultz, incredible statesman, former secretary of state under president reagan, and george tenet, former clinton and bush c.i.a. director. now, mr. president, that is impressive. that is an impressive list. that is the who's who -- democrat and republican -- of who's been in charge of our intelligence services over the last two to three decades -- decades -- a

brennan's part to get the four vote block. he did that in a sense, for thurgood. referred tothey each other. so, justice marshall's influence was felt in this case as well. susan: michaeln san diego you are on the air. caller: i was a student at ucsd in 1975, i was a medical poor corpsman in the u.s. navy overseas. i fought for this country and i wantedme back come to pursue menacing as a career. and i was denied. i was denied my right that i've fought for to go ahead and become a physician. i will be retiring from the school district next year, i have 12 more classes of law school, and then i will go ahead and practice law at age 1972 72-70 three, because i was denied my right to go to medical school. what has transpired today that would not happen to the iraqi and afghanistan veterans? what would be different today? >> i love the question because it does really highlight the passion and the stakes that are at issue in something like this. it also highlights, i think, why the bakke decision was so powerful. because it said two people, like this brave caller that has called in, we are not going to have quotas anymore. preferences and any other number of diversity prefe

the clerk: the judiciary, michael b. brennan of wisconsin to be united states circuit judge for the seventh circuit. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, madam president. i ask that the quorum call be lift fundamental there is one. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. the senator is recognized. mr. blumenthal: thank you. one year ago today, the president of the united states did the unthinkable. he did at least what many people thought was unthinkable. he fired the director of the federal bureau of investigation james comey. shortly thereafter, he acknowledged the reason. he told nbc leicester holt that he fired james comey because he was thinking about, quote, this russia thing with trump, end quote, and how unjustified he thought the investigation was. he later told officials of vladimir putin's government. in the oval office, he said this firing relieved him of the pressure he was feels as a result of the russia investigation. the one

but michael brennan, second in line this week will receive a cloture vote on the floor of the senate, even though one of his home state senators, senator baldwin, has not returned a blue shislip for his nomination. when you hear the facts here, they're appalling. not just his ideology, although mr. brennan is a very conservative nominee who failed to earn the recommendation of a functioning bipartisan commission that was set up by both senator baldwin, democrat, and senator johnson, a republican. to recommend federal judicial nominees. that's how people want us to do things in a bipartisan way. i've been able to work out judge nominations in a bipartisan way in the senate when we had a republican president, a republican governor. but that was overrun. this is now the second time that chairman grassley has ignored the blue slip tradition in this congress. here's the part that really burns me, and i think many others who are fair minded in the senate and in this country. the seat that mr. brennan would fill on the seventh circuit was held opened for six years, six years via blue slips.

nominated by president trump and debate on other judicial 900 nominees building 49 - 46 to confirm michael brennan to fill an opening on the court of appeals. it was the longest appellate court vacancy. senators will build on current nominations next week. five coverage when they return on c-span2. sunday night on "after words", they talk about the book killing the deep state. he is interviewed by cheryl atkinson. >> i heard some of these phrases in the past couple of years and i really didn't attach a lot of meaning to them. maybe more recently. maybe you can define, as a deep state, shadow government and swamp, are they the same or how do you differentiate. >> in my terminology it's a deep state. others may call them the shadow government because they are affecting their own bureaucratic wishes rather than the wishes of the people in electing donald trump and donald trump has termed at the swamp which is probably the term most americans immediately understand because washington was at one point, a swamp. the creatures coming out of the swamp are certainly writing and fighting back for the turf.

by confirming michael brennan and pushing the nomination of ryan bounds, some in this chamber are sending a clear signal that home state senators and more important the people that they represent aren't going to matter any more than judicial selection process. that is a terrible path for the senate to pursue. we're at a critical moment in senate history when it comes to judicial nominations. senate traditions like blue slips and home state screening commissions have worked well for decades to build consensus and produce high quality nominees. no matter which party is in power. abandoning these traditions for the heady moment we might have politically will diminish the advise and consent re of the senate, provide more power to the exetive branch over our own united states senate. i hope there are at least a few republicans on the senate side who will stop their party from going down this road of abandoning blue slips and home state screening commissions. we should have mutual respect for one another professionally, even when we disagree politically. all it would take is for a handful of re

the senate returned to work on the michael brennan nomination to the seventh circuit court. health and human services secretary on the 2019 budget for his agency. at 1:30 p.m. remarks by howard schultz on the role and responsibility of global companies.