thank you's senators nunn and lugar. now we will try and have a panel discussion revisit some of these , issues and perhaps lift our spirits a little bit. but i would like to begin in the hopes that we learn from lessons from the past with a reminder 1992,n 1991 and in senators nunn and lugar took a gamble with history. back then, there were many skeptics who told journalists like me it would be best to let the soviet union drown in sorrow . there were high-level officials in the government that said the soviet union should be left to freefall. senators nunn and lugar did not agree. they helped us and the other former soviet republics cope with an inheritance from hell. this was probably the most successful congressional initiative since the marshall today, i would like them to start off this panel, given the difficulties of 1991 and 1992, including the political mood then -- the american people are not interested in another program helping a longtime adversary far away. the american people had a cold war sensibility abo

not the least is richard lugar and sam nunn. you have their biographies and many others in your program. others were not able to be here but send their greetings. one is in the hospital this month recovering from surgery. but also greetings from friends and colleagues like ash carter. many heroes. our thanks also to john cornyn, the majority leader of the senate, who secured this room for us. he is a champion of the freedom of information act and one of our close allies in opening the u.s. government. and i want to thank him for that. thank our project director and all of those who made the work bringing this usable history to the present. we really appreciate the nuclear threat initiative and it is a fantastic organization. ,y thanks to the lugar center which continues the tremendous leadership and most of all, i need to thank the carnegie corporation of new york. carnegie's visionary funding in the 1980's created, built the research on preventing nuclear war and methods of cooperative security that gave rise to the nunn-lugar

nunn-lugar existed as an authorization. getting the money appropriated and spent in the pentagon was extremely difficult. it took a while to ramp up. i hope the general will enlighten us about how you did that. >> let me say, when jim and gloria were done with their work , like these brilliant surgeons they left the operating peter -- operating theater and said ok, sew it up. and i would be back there wondering if he is going to survive and, am i going to get blamed for this? i would mostly like to talk about the projects i work on with general maslin. he couldn't to be here today, let me talk about some of those programs. they all had to do with nuclear warheads. i would've hoped that as we got into this program, we would have started on something a little less controversial or sensitive than nuclear warheads. we were launched right into the warheads. warheads tend to be at the top of the dismantlement scheme. the same way they sit on top of a missile, which ironically is the most secure place for them to be when they are

importantery explanation for the nunn-lugar program. mentioned his trip to moscow in september of 1990. -- 1991. it was a personal risk for him. senator nunn and i was not the best driver. it was quite an very. -- quite an experience. that was the question of timing because of the failure of the coup d'etat, i thought that unfortunately my country is going to be dissolved within three months. and since there was a lot of inhting for political power moscow and the capitals of the formal so the republican -- former soviet republics, no one was picking about future of the soviet union arsenal -- thinking about the future of the soviet union arsenal. my main occupation was the prospect of a nuclear civil war in the territory of the soviet union. which could have happened if the new independent states nationalized those uses of the soviet nuclear arsenal in their territory. it was, at the very last moment, when senator nunn and senator lugar moved in with their proposal which helped avoid those doomsday scenarios. i have also another reason

not the least is richard lugar and sam nunn. there is a real hero of the all who is inare the hospital this month. colleagues andnd many heroes. cornyn, theo john majority leader of the senate, us.secured this room for he was a champion of the freedom of information act and i want to thank him for this. i want to thank our project director and all of those who made the work to bring this history to the present and we really appreciate the nuclear it is anitiative and fantastic organization. i thank this center, which continues the tremendous leadership and most of all, i need to thank the carnegie corporation of new york. carnegie and their visionary research onted preventing nuclear war and methods of cooperative security and it was present at the first meeting when the legislation took shape and carnegie is with and supporting this effort to understand what we did right and wrong and bring that history to now to build the mutual security and it is an ther for me to introduce award. >> thank you very much. i have the easiest jo

that is the genius of the nunn lugar program. it provided a platform for us to get together in places where it mattered most. you can't withdraw behind fortress america. i look back on 25 years. i retired after 30 years of federal service. lisa talk about five rogue states. if you think about it, with bipartisan work, across the board administration's we have reduced that number to one. north korea. it is amazing. iraq no longer hazmat weapons of mass destruction. libya, thanks to the programs had the chance to visit libya in the middle of the desert. with the nobel prize-winning director general to see the last chemical round of mustard gas destroyed. experience amazing that took a long time. it started in 2003 senator. nunn syria removing and destroying safely without firing a shot tons of chemical weapons materials. that was only done with a little help from nonmovant -- nunn lugar funding, about 200 million dollars. the people knew we could do it. senator lugar talks about moscow in the summer of 2012. when we first proposed

senator nunn visited with the senator about that and senator nunn told us one day, i talked to the senatorand he said sam you have to answer all of the mail. if you don't answer the nut mail you won't win an election in the state of georgia, so we answered all the nut mail and by the way, we have a lot of telephone calls. there was a guy from georgia that basically that there was a communist behind every tree and he would call me about once a week and i knew when he called he would be on a long time, so i would put the phone down and about every five minutes i was a has a: and i got ridiculed from time to time. people would say you been in washington 20 years and still have a southern accent and i was a yeah, but when people from georgia call and i use my accent, they like that. host: what's he doing now? guest: senator nunn, he decided he wanted do something different , so he started the nuclear threat initiative, effort to basically reduce proliferation of nuclear weapons and material and he has been running that now, for over 20 years and has been extremely successful. he was also chair

>> well, senator nunn was a great boss and i'm not just saying because he was a great boss, senator nunnwas a tough task master. he was a perfectionist and he was always overprepared for everything he did. if senator nunn got invited -- he never saw publicity, he was an objective individual, he would not speak unless he had all the facts, he was very careful not to overreact, by the way, now days with the media you have talking heads on tv, the minute something happens you have five people on their trying to explain what happened and by the way, don't pay attention for the first two days because anything they tell you is going to be dead wrong, we all know. you know, so get the facts, senator nunn was someone who we wanted to get the fact. if he was going to be on the national tv shows on sunday face the nation, we put like three or four 10-inch binder briefing books and he read every paper in there. it didn't matter what he did. senator nunn was a deep thinker and always looking down the road. he and senator warner put together some of the initiatives to basically reduce tensions betwee

senator nunn visited about that and senator nunn told us i talked to the senator and he said sam, youhave to answer all the not mail. if you don't answer the not mail you won't win an election in the state of georgia. we answered all the not mail. what -- we got a lot of telephone calls, there was a guy in georgia that basically but there was a communist behind every tree. he called me once a weekend i knew it would be a long time but put the phone down and every 5 minutes, how is it going? i got ridiculed from time to time, you have been in washington 20 years and still have a southern accent, yes, when people from georgia call it into the phone and go how are you doing, they like that. >> what is he doing now? >> senator nunn, he wanted to do something different so he started what is called the nuclear threat initiative, it is an effort to reduce nuclear weapons and nuclear fissile material and running that for over 25 years, been extremely successful. he was chairman of the center for strategic and international studies, the national think tank in the world, and a lot of corporate

he said are you the nunn-lugar person? are you the person we talked to about nunn-lugar assistance? we went off in another part of the room. he told me about his fears about the security of nuclear weapons. which were under his control, because it was -- as it was earlier described when being stored,ted, maintained, etc. he talked about very specific concerns. that thereerned could be a hijacking on the tracks, a stoppage of a weapon strain and theft of weapons. concerned that there were demobilized officers who did not have housing, living on strategic tracks towards the basis because they had nowhere to go. that corruption or greed could lead to communication between them and their still employed colleagues, that could lead to the theft and perhaps black-market sales of a nuclear weapon. he was concerned about the reliability of their people and personnel working on the commanding control of nuclear weapons, transport and storage. asked to talk with us and possible assistance that we might provide. we went back to moscow. we talked about how we could be helpful. some of you may re

senator nunn was a deep, deep thinker. he and senator warner put together some of the initiatives to basically reduce the tensions between the u.s. and the soviet union in the peak of the cold war. the soviet union's warning systems were very poor, and we were very worried that they might mistake -- i won't say a bird flight, but they might mistake, you know, an aircraft for a missile attack and launch a missile attack against us. so we worked to basically improve their own warning systems and improve ours at the same time. he authored the nun-lugar cooperative of threat program that has reduced most of the soviet nuclear missiles and programs after the peak of the cold war. he was very worried that the soviet union collapsing, all these nuclear scientists and generals were going to go work for some of our enemies and sell themselves to build nuclear weapons. so we put in place a program to insure that, basically, that didn't happen. he's a good golfer like ben and ann, his wife, who's even a better golfer than ben, so we

so pleasure to join with senator nunn. i want to associate myself with the remarks of the former sna senator from gegia. and simply submit my own written statement which is quite brief to the committee and i'll try to summarize. jim mattis i first met when i went to the wennipentagon. he was a young colonel. he had a reputation even then this is somebody to watch. he's young, he's smart. he doesn't really belong behind a desk although he may belong there right now. but at that time i wanted to get out into the field. he is a warrior by nature. i want to say that he has the nickname of mad dog. it's a misnomer. it should be brave heart. because what really characterizes jim mattis is his courage. you have written about this in terms of why courage matters and you quoted from churchill and said that courage is the first of human resources. it guarantees all else, all the others. and so we have seen the history of jim mattis inwarrior, a brav battlefield. but that's not why we were here. if he were only a great warrior, you w

now we have nunn, new -- nunn and when you're in senator's office you get a lot of crackpot mail, and called it the nut mail. so herman talmadge, senator nunn hat this rule and we had to answer all the maim in a time -- mail the a timely manner. said this letter i totally incoherent. senator nunn visited with senator talmadge about that and senator none t said i talked to senator talmadge and she said, sam, you have to answer all of the nut mail. it you don't you won't win in at the state of georgia. and we talked -- got a lot of telephone calls. a guy from georgia that throughout there was communist behind every tree, and would call me once a week, i he called it would by a long time so i put the phone down and every five mints i said, how is it going people sigh you have been in washington 20 years and you still have a season southern absent. >> what is -- >> senator nunn wanted to do something different so he kind of -- started what is call the nuclear threat initiative, a effort to basically reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear fissile material and has been runn

chairman. >> thank you, senator nunn. senator cohen. >> be here this morning to testify on behalf of general mattis. senator nunn, senator reid, senator inhofe, i think you may be the only three who are still here in the armed services committee when 20 years ago i came before the committee seeking your endorsement for secretary of defense. it's been 20 years and what a difference a generation makes because you were a young captain in the navy and took us on a trip, senator nunn mentioned to china where he met xi jinping and did some great work on the way back in korea. i thank you for all of the years you devoted to this country. you remain a hero of mine. and to millions of people not only in this country but the world over. it's a real honor for me to be here with you. >> thank you. >> and with senator nunn. i served 18 years here in the senate. he served 24. i must say that the experience of working with senator nunn was one of the true highlights of my political career. so it's a pleasure of me to join with senator n

with is one of the introductions by sam nunn, a former democrat, somebody who did a lot of history in arms control and realizes important how dialogue is. we have so dumped down and simplified this whole idea of whether tillerson would be a friend of russia and all that. we want dialogue and engagement and the one thing that sam nunn mentioned you know what, in the deepest darkest throes of the cold war when we were at great odds with the soviet union and when we knew there were terrible human rights abuses and they were, you know, doing proxy wars around the globe. we still talked to the russians. this is really important because we've on both sides, republicans and democrats saying what are you going to do? what are you going to do? going to call him a war criminal? well, maybe, we're just going to have discussions and engagement. doesn't mean we'll access or say the russians aren't right or that we won't stand up to them. all of that has to happen but we have to realize we have enough nuclear weapons on both sides to blow up the world, that it's incredibly important that we always

chairman. >> thank you, senator nunn.nator cohen. >> happy to be here this morning to testify on behalf of general mattis. senator nunn, senator reed, senator inhoff, i think you may be the only three who are still here in the armed services committee when 20 years ago i came before the committee seeking your endorsement for secretary of defense. so it's been 20 years and what a difference a generation makes because at that time when we first met you were a young captain in the navy and took us on a trip, senator nunn mentioned to china, where we met dung ciao ping and did great work in korea. i thank you for all the years you devoted to this country and you remain a hero of mine. it is an honor for me to be here with you and with senator nunn. i serve 18 years here in the senate. he served 24. i must say that the experience of working with senator nunn was one of the true highlights of my political career so it's pleasure for me to join with senator nunn. i to associate myself with the remarks of the former senator from

chairman. >> thank you, senator nunn. senator cohen. >> be here this morning to testify on behalf of the general mattis, senator nunn and senator reed and senator inhofe, you may be the only three still here in the armed services commits when 20 years ago i came before the committee seeking your endorsement for secretary of defense. it's been 20 years and what a difference a generation makes. because at that time you -- when we first met you were a young captain in the navy and took us on a trip senator nunn mentioned to china where we met and some great work on the way back in korea. i thank you for all of the years you devoted to this country. you remain a hero of mine and to millions of people, not only in this country but the world over. it's a real honor for me to be here with you. >> thank you. >> and with senator nunn. i served 18 years here in the senate. he served 24. and i must say that the experience of working with senator nunn was one of the true highlights of my political career. so it's a pleasure for me to

[laughter] >> i think both senator nunn and senator cohen for being here. obviously the committee meets today to consider the nomination of general james mattis to be the secretary of defense of the united states. two years ago, last time you came before this committee the idea that we would be meeting again under the present circumstances would've been hard to imagine, most of all by you, but i for one could not be happier. all of us recognize the unique, indeed historic nature of this nomination. general mattis enjoyed a long and distinguished career in uniform but current law would bar him from serving as secretary of defense for three more years. while iceland support retaining the law, i also believe our nation needs general mattis is service more than ever. so after this hearing the committee will meet to consider special legislation to about general mattis to serve a secretary of defense. it confirmed he would have the honor of leading a team of americans who represent everything that is noble and best in our nation, our soldiers sailors and airmen a

so, i understand what senator nunn said and -- i mean, former senator nunn -- and secretary gates said when they talked about the need to have dialogue with russia and to continue a mill-to-mill relationship, but i also think it's important for us to understand who we're dealing with. in 2008, you notably said that there's no respect for the rule of law in russia today. do you think that continues to be true? >> that is still the case, yes. >> so, i think you can probably understand, mr. tillerson, why some of us are very concerned about the president-elect's statements praising vladimir putin's leadership, his intelligence, including after being reminded of his ruthless -- >> fascinating discussion about the u.s./russia relationship. a senate foreign relations committee as rex tillerson has the first of his two-day confirmation hearing before that committee. wide-ranging talk of some hawkish talk about russia. tillerson saying the taking of crimea was, in fact, illegal, that any hacking would have been done with putin's knowledge, some indictment of the current form of american sancti

senate, former democratic senator, sam nunn, and his name still carries a lot of clout on capitol hill. you see the scurry as rex tillerson comes in the hearing room. we will be hearing a lot more about him as the morning goes on. we will be hearing his testimony, his opening statement and his answers to those questions. andrea mitchell was chasing the nominee for secretary of state through the hallways up on the senate. andrea, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. as you point out, sam nunn is such a heavyweight in terms of foreign policy and defense and that's a big introducer as well as bob gates the former defense secretary. rex tillerson is coming fully armed with a lot of political cover and he is expected to say that russia is a rising threat to nato and other allies, and he says this resurgent russia is to be blamed on the weakness of the weakness of the obama administration and the obama foreign policy. people around me, we have senator menendez joining as well going past me. rex tillerson, as you know, brian, has decades of experience in russia, and putting in even

in deference to your age, senator nunn we'll begin with you. [laughter] nunn: here we go.an you hear me ok? thank you chairman, mccain and senator reed, it's a great honor to return to the senate armed services committee with my good friend for many years as you observed, mr. chairman. bill cohen. the purpose of introducing general mattis on nomination to be secretary of defense. before praising our distinguished nominee and i will praise him because i think he deserves it, i want to commend you senator mccain and senator reid and members of this committee for your excellent work in passing significant reform legislation and the most recent congress. your continuous efforts to make our military more efficient and more effective are essential to our nation's security and we owe you our thanks. i know from experience, reform is not easy. everything you do is tough in that arena and it doesn't get the notice it deserves except for the people who oppose the reform. those are the ones who notice it. so congratulations on that , legislation and i know there's a lot more to do bu

so i understand what senator nunn said, i mean former senator nunn and secretary gates said when they talked about the need to have dialogue with russia and to continue a mill to mill relationship. but i also think it's important for us to understand who we're dealing with. in 2008, you notably said that there is no respect for the rule of law in russia today. do you think that continues to be true? >> that is still the case, yes. >> so i think you can probably understand, mr. tillerson, why some of us are very concerned about the president-elect's statements praising vladimir putin's leadership, his intelligence, including after being reminded of his ruthless persecution of political enemies and after -- >> we're going to break away from the senate foreign relations committee confirmation hearings for rex tillerson to become the next secretary of state. the president-elect of the united states, donald trump, is getting ready to hold a news conference momentarily, the first news conference in some six months, certainly the first news conference since he was elected president of the un

senator nunn, sir. you need to turn your mike on, sir. you've been out of practice, leaving here -- >> i thank you chairman corker and senator cardin and my friend, senator isakson. i wish i had thought of this clock a long time ago. it would have saved a lot of agony for our committee. i'll try to cut my statement as short as possible and ask the whole statement be put into the record. >> without objection, thank you. >> mr. chairman, rex tillerson's resume is well known. let me tackle two points that i know have been raised with the committee as well as the senate. first, rex tillerson's knowledge of and experience in russia, and second, how he's worked in the private secretary, preparing him to be our top diplomat and run one of the most important departments in our government. with respect to russia, certain facts are clear. russia's recent flagrant actions indicate that its national interest sharply differ from america's national interests in important places, most acutely, ukraine, europe and syria. russia's values differ from ameri

so i understand what senator nunn said -- i mean former senator nunn and secretary gates said when they talked about the need to have dialogue with russia and to continue a mill to mill relationship, but i also think it's important for us to understand who we're dealing with. in 2008, you notably said that there's no respect for the rule of law in russia today. do you think that continues to be true? >> that is still the case, yes. >> so i think you can probably understand, mr. tillerson, why some of us are very concerned about the president-elect's statements praising vladimir putin's leadership, his intelligence, including after being -- >> senator jeanne shaheen has just started her line of questioning, but as promised, we're authority seconds away from the top of the hour. 11:00 in the east. we have been notified that we're apparently within the two-minute window now of seeing donald trump there at that lectern on that stage. kristen welker is on the telephone with us from that room. kristen? >> brian, this is president-elect trump's first press conference since the summer. so expec

. >> at 10:30, government policymakers and officials talk about the 1931 nunn-lugar act talking about the process of storing and destroy the soviet chemical weapons. >> what we found was that from the russians, the nuclear complex was not the inheritance from hell, to them, it was the means for the revival of a great russia. >> sunday evening at 6:00 on american artifacts, fdr presidential archivist hanson and christina kovac on their efforts to preserve 10 of franklin development roosevelt's most important speeches. >> it was historical significance and frequency how often they're requested and quality of the footage as well. >> i see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill clad, ill nouri nourished. >> at 8:00 on the presidency, the gill university history professor, gill troy looks at u.s. israeli relations from presidents harry truman to barack obama. >> i told the house of representatives i would commit political suicide if i didn't support the state of israeli. the audience participation part? who said it, jimmy carter in 1977, fooled you. go to c-span.org for the full list. >>> c

mccain: i want to thank both senator nunn and cohen. i view as one of the great privileges of my time here in the united states senate was the honor of serving with both of you. and so, i think it means a lot to me personally but also to members of the committee that you would come here today on behalf of this nominee. thank you for being here. >> could i pay special recognition to senator king? sen. mccain: no. [laughter] >> i was going to add from the great state of maine. someone we used to call governor and now proudly call senator, nice to see you. sen. mccain: he represents the geriatric part of this committee. [laughter] sen. mccain: i thank both of you for being here. obviously, the committee meets today to consider the nomination of general james mattis to be the secretary of defense of the united states. two years ago, general mattis last time he came before this committee, the idea we would be meeting again under the present circumstances would have been hard to imagine, most of all by you, but i for one could not be happier.

so it's a pleasure for me to join with senator nunn. i want to associate myself with the remarks of the former senator from georgia and simply submit my own written statement, which is quite brief, to the committee and i'll try to summarize. jim mattis i first met when i went to the pentagon he was a young colonel and he had a reputation even then this is somebody to watch. he's young. he's smart. he doesn't really belong behind a desk, although he may belong there right now, but at that time he wanted to get out into the field. he is a warrior by nature. i want to say that he has the nickname of "mad dog". it's a misnomer. it should be brave heart because what really characterizes jim mattis is his courage and mr. chairman, you have written about this in terms of why courage matters and you quoted from churchill and said that courage is the first of human resources because it guarantees all else, all the others. so we've seen the history of jim mattis in terms of being a warrior, a brave heart on the battle battlefie battlefield, but t

in addition let me also recognize and thank senator sam nunn and senator and secretary of defense bill cohen for their distinguished service and eloquent words this morning, thank you, gentlemen. january mattis began his long career as a sect lieutenant at central washington university. he has served the highest echelons of the marine corps and capped his service in the united states central command. general mattis, if firmed you will lead the time when the united states faces challenges that do not offer quick or easy solutions. some of these challenges are about traditional tensions while others cross international boundaries. you would help oversee national security policy for a president that lacks foreign policy and defense experience and whose temperament is far different from prior presidents. i think many americans, in this body and both sides of the aisle, are rightly concerned about how he may respond when tested by russia, iran, north korea, and other transnational threats such as cyber. considering some of these hotspots in the world in detail, i would like to start with ir

. >> and then at 10:30, government policy makers and officials talk about the 1991 nunn/lugar act to destroy and disassemble the nuclear acts. >> what we found for the russians is that the nuclear complex was not an inheritance from hell. to them, it was the means for the revival of the great russia. >> sunday evening at 6:00 on american ar artifacts, fdr and presidential library archivist and american preservationist talk about their ability to preserve ten of franklin roosevelt's speeches. >> we selected them on the historical importance and how often they are requested and the quality of the footage as well. >> i see one part of the nation ill-housed, ill-clad and ill-nourished. >> at 8:00 on the presidency, gill troy is going to look at u.s./iz ra rayleigh relations from presidents harry truman to barack obama. >> i told the house of representatives that i would commit political suicide if i didn't support the state of israel. is to a audience participation part of the program? who said it. jimmy carter in the next slide. fooled you. >> for a complete look at the history, go to c

senator nunn, sir. you need to turn your mic on, sir. you've been out of practice leaving here. >> i thank you, chairman and senator and my friend johnny isaacson and members of committee. i wish i would have thought of this clock a long time ago. i would have saved agony for our committee. i'll try to cut my statement as short as possible and ask the whole statement be put into the record. >> without objection, thank you. >> mr. chairman. rex tillerson's resume is well-known. i want to raise two points. first rex tillerson's knowledge of and experience in russia and how his work in the private sector prepares him to run one of the most important departments in our government. with respect to russia, certain facts are clear. russia's recent flagrant actions indicate that its national interest sharply differ from america's national interests in important places most acutely in ukraine, europe and syria. russia's values differ from america's values. in particularly in our form of government. commitment to personal freedom, human rights and

sam nunn and senator and secretary bill cohen for their distinguished service and eloquent words this morning. general mattis began his long and distinguished career and -- >> the 10 a.m. hour has arrived here in the east and i'm use a respectful gulf whisper. we're going to just dip out of the mattis confirmation hearing as senator reed from rhode island speaks before we hear from general mattis. to set the scene and show you what else is happening on the hill. we do have these two other important confirmation hearings. on the left, the future hoped for cia director congressman pompeiiio, his hearing in front of senate intelligence and on the right, dr. ben carson, who has been put up for housing and urban development. you see senators from both committees taking their positions. we just wanted to set the scene. we have kelly o'donnell standing by again, as she said an hour ago, her usual position in the hallway outside the hearing room. kelly? >> brian, i've been drifting between where dr. hearing's is and behind us is the building where the cia director designate's hearing is going

i understand what senator nunn said -- former senator nunn and secretary gates said when they talkeded to have dialogue with russia and continue to build a relationship. but i think it's also important for to us understand who we are dealing with. in 2008 you notably said there is no respect for the rule of law in russia today. do you think that continues to be true. >> that is still the case, yes. >> i think you can probably understand, mr. tillerson, why some of us are very concerned about the president-elect's statements praising vladimir putin's leadership and intelligence, after being remind of his ruthless persecution of political emies and after receiving compelling information that russia interfered with our elections. do you have think now is the right time to lift sanctions against russia? >> i think it's important we keep the status quo until we are able to develop what our approach is going to be. that it will be all part of the approach. that is part of the incentives on the one hand. or part of the greater pressure on the other that will be an important element by devel

bush signed the soviet nuclear threat reduction act, also known as the nunn-lugar act, beginning a formalrocess between the russians and the united

. >> the former ceo did get a boost from a democratic national security icon, former senator sam nunn. >> i think knowing the leaders of russia and china and the middle east is a disadvantage. it's an asset. >> reporter: at times, tillerson appeared tougher on vladimir putin than the man who would be his boss, even acknowledging that putin probably ordered the hacking on the election. all eyes will be on marco rubio who told me tonight he's not yet decided how he will vote. lester? >> andrea mitchell on the hill tonight, thank you. >>> a very busy day in washington that included day two for confirmation hearing for senator jeff sessions of alabama and no less drama in this fight as african-american members of congress spoke out today against the nomination. our justice correspondent pete williams has details. >> reporter: senator cory booker, democrat of new jersey, became the first ever to testify against a colleague's nomination. >> i want an attorney general who is committed to supporting law enforcement and securing law & ordand order but that is not. >> reporter: john lewis of ge

so joining me right now in the studio is michelle nunn.michelle, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for the opportunity. >> i have to get right to syria because that is a crisis you're dealing with right now, and the numbers are staggering. >> yeah. the numbers are staggering, and i'm not sure even that the public recognizes -- first of all, you think about there are 12 million people in syria that are in need of humanitarian assistance and support. there are 4 million refugees outside of syria, living primarily in jordan and lebanon and turkey. and so there's an enormous need for international organizations like care and the larger global community to help supply support for shelter, for food, for education, the most basic necessities, to allow people to continue and to start to rebuild their lives. >> one of the things i remember when i was in kosovo with care in 1999 and 2001 were huge refugee camps with thousands of people in them. and they were clean, and they were well-organized, and it was a great structure for people wh

thank you for having united states senator sam nunn introduce you.erved for 24 years in the united states senate. he chaired the armed services committee. and he and dick lugar did the nunn-lugar initiative which reduced exposure of the world to be used by terrorists around the world and chief visor to me and number of other members of the committee on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty helping us to understand what russian capabilities were and what a strong -- i appreciate you having sam here. he is a great testimony to you as an individual. you mentioned a number of things. i'm going to take them in order real quickly and try to ask specific questions. with regard to american leadership being renewed an reasserted because you to lead in the world we have to renew our leadership, have to reassert our leadership, you said that. probably one of the most interesting places in theorld ere we basically are out of theicture is the middle east aleppo, with regard to syria, turkey and iran and russia, are sitting at table as they divide up what is left of syria and

i want to thank senator nunn for his commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, something he remains a steadfast today as ever. and secretary gates for his service to eight u.s. presidents, and his own leadership as president of the boy scouts of america. chairman corker, ranking member cardin, members of the committee, it is an honor to appear before you today as president-elect trump's nominee for secretary of state. and seek the approval of this committee and the full senate for my confirmation. i come before you at a pivotal time in both the history of our nation and our world. nearly everywhere we look, people in nations are deeply unsettled. old ideas and international norms which were well understood and governed behaviors in past may no longer be effective in our time. we face considerable threats in this evolving new environment. china has emerged as an economic power in global trade. and our interactions have been both friendly and adversarial. while russia seeks respect and relevance on the global stage, its recent activities have disregarded america's interests. radical islam is not

and so former senator nunn, and secretary gate, they both talked about having the need to dialogue with russia and continue the mill-to-mill relationship, but it is important to understand who we are dealing with. in 2008, you notably said that there is no respect for the rule of law in russia today, and do you believe that continues to be true? >> that is still the case, yes. >> so i think that you can pr probably understand. mr. tillerson, why some of us are very concerned about the president-elect's statements praising vladimir putin's leadership and intelligence including after being reminded of the ruthless persecution of the political enemies and after receiving compelling information that russia has interfered with t the elections, and so do you think that now is the right time to lift sanctions against russia? >> i think it is important that we keep the status quo until we are able to develop what our approach is going to to be. that it will be all part of the approach, and that is the ins incentives on the one hand or the part of the greater pressure on the other that will be i

sam served 24 years in the united states senate, charmed the armed services committee and did the nunn -- on a treaty and did a great job helping us to understand what russian capabilities were and how important it was for us to maintain a strong role so i appreciate you having sam he's a great testimony to you and as a individual. i'm going to try to ask specific questions. with regard to american leadership being renewed and reasserted we have to renew our leadership, you have said that. probably one of the most interesting places in the world right now where we are basically out of the picture is the middle east with regard to aleppo, turkey, russia and iran are sitting at the table as they divide up the assets and what's going to happen in the future. and we're siding outside. as diplomating for the united states what would you recommend we do and what leadership is expected? >> i think the first step we have to tak is reeageith our traditional allies and friends in the area and reaffirm that we are back with our leadership and back with a plan of how to affect where events in syri

before his -- general mattis' confirmation hearing, you heard sam nunn, the republican from georgia, speak about this very issue. he said this team is not asking for a blanket change to the issue of civilian control of the military. they say even if general mattis does not remain the full defense secretary for the rest of the trump administration, they won't come back and ask that another military person fill that position. they say this is a one-time exception for an exceptional leader. that's why they're asking for this one-time waiver, the first time since harry truman. >> shepard: thanks. is it time for james comey to go? he's facing an investigation for the hillary clinton investigation. now the editorial board is calling for comey to get out. got an estimate in 24 hours. my insurance company definitely doesn't have that... you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance why pause a spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough fo

. >> and then at 10:30, government policymakers and officials talk about the 1991 nunn/lugar act, storingdismantling and destroying soviet nuclear and chemical weapons. >> what we found is that to the russians, the nuclear complex was not an inheritance from hell. to them, it was the means for the revival of a great russia. >> sunday evening at 6:00, on "american artifacts," fdr presidential library archivist matthew hansen and national archives' motion picture preservationist christina co-vak on their efforts to preserve franklin d. roosevelt's most important pieces. >> selected the films based on historical frequency of how often they're requested and quality of the footage as well. >> one-third of englishmen. >> at 8:00 on "the presidency" the gill university history professor gill troy looks at u.s./israeli relations from presidents harry truman to barack obama. >> i told the house of representatives i would commit political suicide if i didn't support the state of israel. is the audience participation part of our program? who said it? it was said, jimmy carter in 1977. fooled you. >>

i'm honoured to have the backing of these senators from my home state and i want to thank senator nunnecretary of state and seek the approval of this committee for my confirmation. i come before you at a pivotal time in the history of our nation and euro—world. our world. nations are unsettled. old ideas that were well understood and governed behaviours may no longer be effective. we face considerable threats in this new environment. china has emerged as an economic power in global trade and our interactions have been friendly anded adversarial. russia's recent activities have disregarded america's interest. radical islam is not new, but it is hateful, deadly and an illegitimate express of islamic faith. countries like iran and north korea pose threats. as we confront these realities, how should america respond? my answer is simple —to america respond? my answer is simple — to achieve stability american leadership must not only be renewed, it must be asserted. we have many advantages on which to build. our alliances are durable and our allies are looking for a return of our leadership.

poe la sandoval, drrks nunn, adele, georgia. >> wow. polo, thank you so much for that reporting. we'll keep you posted. >>> it is the phone call that many have been waiting for. president trump and russian president vladimir putin expected to talk in the coming days. what will be at the top of the agenda? a report from moscow is next. . it's a performance machine. with this degree of intelligence... it's a supercomputer. with this grade of protection... it's a fortress. and with this standard of luxury... it's an oasis. the 2017 e-class. it's everything you need it to be... and more. lease the e300 for $549 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. mone hundredts thousand times a day, sending oxygen to my muscles. again! so i can lift even the most demanding weight. take care of all your most important parts with centrum. now verified non gmo and gluten free. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but no matter what path i take, i go for my best. so if there

bush signed the soviet nuclear threat reduction act also known as the nunn-lugar act.t began cooperative storage of

as former senator sam nunn said, his business experience, private sector background, the fact he hasionship with putin is actually an asset. i think he acquitted himself well today. >> why do you think senator marco rubio still won't say whether he will or not? >> i can't speak for another senator, but from my standpoint, i'll be voting for mr. tillerson. >> you know, one of the things i was looking to hear more about, we all sort of have prechferenc going into all these hearings, i was interested to hearing more about miramar, the u.s. lifted sanctions in miramar, used to be called burma, because they were moving toward a more democratic government and in the meantime the miramar army is raping the ro hin gas, setting their homes on fire, the christians are doing the same thing. there are a lot of human rights violations going on around the world and we're still helping these nations that are actually doing these things to these minorities. >> greta, there's a lot of turmoil in the world. i do not envy any president, any secretary of state, their task. again, it underscores why it's