it will demand a time and attention from the pentagon under your watch if confirmed. as secretary of defense, will you appoint a senior level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response? mr. hegseth: as we have discussed, yes i will. >> my time is expired. thank you for your answers. >> senator hirono. >> thank you. mr. hegseth, welcome. i am focused on your character, temperament and qualifications to do the job. i do appreciate the comments of ranking member reid and his concerns regarding your nomination. i share those concerns. as part of my responsibility as a member of this committee to ensure the fitness of all nominees who come before any of the committees on which i said, i asked the following initial questions first. since you became an adult have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature? mr. hegseth: no, senator. >> have you ever faced discipline or entered a settlement relating to this kind of conduct? mr. hegseth: senator, i was falsely accused in octobe

--the pentagon. chair wicker: the chair recognizes the dissing wished ranking member for unanimous consent request. sen. reed: i would like to submit an article discussing some of the issues of readiness -- there is been a comment that 5.9 million man-hours have been used for dei. the general clarified that that is an estimate out of more than 2 million man-hours that the department of defense invested during -- chair wicker: where is this published, sir? sen. reed: published by megan myers -- chair wicker: ok. sen. reed: military.com. chair wicker: without objection, it would be admitted to the record. senator slotkin. fulcrum to the committee. s--welcome to the committee commmittee. sen. slotkin: thank you for referencing the great carl levin. i was a cia officer and add three tours inside iraq and have worked for four different secretaries of defense, democrat and republican, proudly come and watch them make decisions that literally determined the life-and-death of americans in the dark of night.

i would support you as the spokesperson for the pentagon. i don't dispute your communication skills. but i believe that we are entitled to the facts here. i have asked for more documents. i assume you would be willing to have an expanded f.b.i. background check that interviews your colleagues, accountants, ex-wives, former spouses, sexual assault survivors and others and enable them to come forward. >> senator, i'm not in charge of f.b.i. background checks. >> you would submit to it and support it. >> i'm not in charge of f.b.i. background checks. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. at this point i want to submit a letter from captain wade zirkle the founder of vets for freedom and the person who hired pete hegseth to run the organization. although the 2008 financial -- he says and i quote pete responded to this crisis with decisive action by reducing staff and renudgeiateing all debts with creditors until they were fairly resolved. a testament to pete eva's character. pete departed vff in 2010 to take on a new role with concerned veterans for

to the pentagon and throughout our fighting force.ear store confidence in our military. in our ranks... protestor interrupts. you may. the strength _ protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of— protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of our _ protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of our military - protestor interrupts. you may. the strength of our military is - the strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose, not our differences. number two, we purpose, not our differences. numbertwo, we are purpose, not our differences. number two, we are going to rebuild our military. always matching threats to capabilities. this includes reviving our defence industrial base, reforming the acquisitions process. as you mention, mr chairman, no more valley of death the new defence companies. modernising our nuclear triad. companies. modernising our nucleartriad. ensuring companies. modernising our nuclear triad. ensuring the pentagon can pass an audit and rapidly fielding emergency technology —— emerging technologies. fi

the pentagon has continuously failed, audits the businesses that want to do business with the pentagon have to pass an audit, but the entity itself fails an audit. innovation is stalled, morale is down, standards have been weakened, and meritocracy is less valued. and as a result, our adversaries have been emboldened all over the world. ladies and gentlemen, it's time for change. it is time for change. you all have literally seen thousands of veterans. as the chairman cited one amazing medal of honor recipient. but we have seen thousands of veterans expressing their support for pete. this is a man who can reinvigorate that warrior ethos, and this is a man that will lead. i can't imagine having a more capable partner in my position as national security advisor. pete is a man of family, of faith, and he's committed to making our country strong again. and most importantly, brother, i know this in my core. he will always have as a first principle, the service members that are out there on the front lines for all of us, at the heart of every decision he makes. so, senators, i urge you to su

that's not going to happen in donald trump's pentagon what else won't happen? pentagon worries about fighting climate change more than fighting our enemies. >> my secretary of the navy should i be climates change in the navy. like the secretary of the air force won't be focused on lg fighterred jets. won't be focused on electric powered tanks. >> at that point steam was coming out of chief princess running mouth warren's ears. of course, democrat activist that it was all on -- they bet the farm on mainstreaming transgenderism in our military. they thought that was here to stay. they're livid. they are livid that hegseth will get the woke out of our war fighting,including at our service academies. you have to rip root and branch the politics and divisive policies out of these institutions. and then focus them on creating and preparing actual future military leadership. when that changes, senator, i truly believe under donald trump we will have a recruiting renaissance. >> laura: boy we need a recruiting renaissance. we are down what, 60, 70,000? and we need a mi

i would support you as the spokesperson for the pentagon. i don't dispute your communication skills, but i believe that we are entitled to the facts here. i've asked for more documents. i assume you'd be willing to submit to an expanded fbi background check that interviews your colleagues, accountants, ex-wives, former spouses, sexual assault survivors, and others and enable them to come forward. >> senator, i'm not in charge of fbi background checks, but you would submit to it and support it. i'm not in charge of fbi background checks. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. i at this point want to submit a letter from captain wade zirkle, the founder of vets for freedom, and the person who hired pete hegseth to run the organization. although the two 2008 financial crisis dried up, fundraising for non-profits, captain zirkle says, and i quote, pete responded to this crisis with decisive action by reducing staff and renegotiating all debts with creditors until they were fairly resolved, an impressive feat and a testament to pete's character. pete

i would support you as the spokesperson for the pentagon. i don't dispute your communication skills, but i believe that we are entitled to the facts here. i've asked for more documents. i assume you'd be willing to submit to an expanded fbi background check that interviews your colleagues, accountants, ex-wives, former spouses, sexual assault survivors, and others and enable them to come forward. >> senator, i'm not in charge of fbi background checks, but you would submit to it and support it. i'm not in charge of fbi background checks. thank you. >> senator blumenthal. i at this point want to submit a letter from captain. wade zirkle, the founder of vets for freedom, and the person who hired pete hegseth to run the organization. although the two 2008 financial crisis dried up, fundraising for non-profits, captain zirkle says, and i quote, pete responded to this crisis with decisive action by reducing staff and renegotiating all debts with creditors until they were fairly resolved, and impressive feat, and a testament to pete's character, pe

what's the pentagon's reaction on this? secretary singh: we're aware of north korea's launch of a ballistic missile. as always we conduct closely with our allies in the region. we condemn these actions, and would continue to urge the dprk from further unlawful and destabilizing acts. we've seen this type of behavior bofer. while we don't assess that it presents a threat to u.s. forces, we're going to continue to monitor the situation. reporter: violation of the -- secretary singh: i think you've heard us say that previously many times before. it's something we've seen the dprk do in the past, we take this seriously and will continue to consult with our allies in the region. reporter: ukrainian said to negotiate an end to the war with russia, guarantees made for ukraine. how would you characterize this? secretary singh: i'll let president zelenskyy's words speak for themselves. he's ultimately the one who has to decide how this war comes to a conclusion. that's not for us to dictate, it's not for us to dictate those terms. w

van orden, he is kind of a soldier's pentagon chief, won't he be, if he gets it? he's a really, this will be the first time i can't remember in how long. he's sort of representing the actual soldiers combat, and he knows his stuff backwards and forward. now, i think that's what really matters, not these anonymous smears. did you see it that way? do you think the public, the viewing public saw it that way, derrick? >> yes, i do. listen, i'm the longest serving enlisted member of united states military to ever be e lekked to congress in the history of our nation. here's what pete hegseth understands: the chinese communist party doesn't care what your pronouns are. they care about whether or not you can put more head on foreheads and that's what pete hegseth focusing on and increasing lethality and going for highest educated military and the most powerful military in history of the world with a war in 80 years and it's time for a change. that change's name is pete hegseth. heavyweights going to follow donald trump's lead as commander in chief and make sure that the u

the pentagon has continuously failed audits. businesses that want to do business with the pentagon have to pass an audit but the entity itself fails an audit. innovation is stalled. morale is down. standard weakened and meritocracy is less valued. our adversaries are emboldened all over the world. ladies and gentlemen, it is time for change. it is time for change. you all have literally seen thousands of veterans as the chairman cited one amazing medal of honor recipient. we have seen thousands of veterans expressing their support for pete. this is a man who can reinvigorate that warrior ethos and a man that will lead. i can't imagine having a more capable partner in my position as national security advisor. he is a man of family, faith and committed to making our country strong again and most importantly, but i know this in my core, he will always have as a first principle the service members that are out there on the front lines for all of us at the heart of every decision he makes. so senators, i urge you to support this conf

that is not going to happen and donald trump's pentagon. >> laura: and what else won't happen? it pentagon that worries about fighting climate change more than fighting her aunt in enemies. >> my secretary of navy will not be focused on climate change in the navy. just like the secretary of the air force will not be focused on lg powered fighter jets. for the secretary of the army will not be focused on electric tanks. >> laura: at that point, steam was coming out of cheap insets running running mouth elizabeth warren sears. it was all on they bet the farm on mainstreaming transgenderism in the military that thought that was here to stay here till they are live head coach at they are livid hegseth will get the welcome and of war fighting including the surface cabinets. >> you have to rip root and branch politics and divisive policies out of these institutions and then focus them on creating and preparing actual future military leadership. when that changes, senator, i truly believe under donald trump we will have a renaissance. >> laura: we need a recruiting renaissance we are

as we all know, the pentagon cannot even pass an audit. the department must simplify and streamline its bureaucracy so we can respond to innovation. staffs have ballooned. organizations are top-heavy. civilian leaders have promised time and again to slim down the bureaucracy and generally hoped to. every day minute women in uniform a permit is contributions to u.s. security. they and the american people deserve a pentagon that does the same. today's department of defense is no longer prepared for great power competition. it is not a national defense institution ready to achieve and sustain technological supremacy across the range of operations. admittedly, the nomination is unconventional. the nominee is unconventional. just like that new york developer who wrote down the escalator in 2015 to announce -- rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president. that could be what makes mr. hegseth an excellent choice to improve this on acceptable status quo i just described. he is a decorated post-9/11 combat veteran. he wil

that will happen at the pentagon. i mean, this has been a problem for a long time. secretary rumsfeld gave a speech on september 10th, 2001, that is mostly forgotten. but it was about the need for acquisition reform, cutting tail to give to teeth. to war fighters, and 9/11 happened. and these are problems that have been persistent for a long time. but now we have new threats. and we need the urgency of this moment. as you said, mr. chairman, the most dangerous moment since the end of the cold war and possibly world war ii. and emergency powers, defense production act, whatever it takes, and an audit is certainly part of it. >> why do you want to do this? why do you want to do this job? what drives you? >> you have 30 seconds. >> because i love my country. senator, i have dedicated my life to the war fighters. people see me as someone who hosts a morning show on television. but people that really know me know where my heart's at. it's with the guys in this audience who have had my back and i've had theirs. we've been in some of the darkest and most difficult places y

the fact the pentagon can't can't do an audit, right. can you talk about i mean, to me, that's i've run big businesses. it's all about accountability. if you want to get an audit done, you can get an audit done. you might get a letter saying there's things you have to fix, but it all goes to accountability and we haven't had it. so can you talk about what how what you bring how what you how you bring accountability to the table, what you've done in the past and what you're going to do with regard to bringing accountability to the pentagon. >> i meant it when i said it in the opening statement. senator, i know what i don't know. i know i've never run an organization of 3 million people with a budget of 850 billion. but what i do know is that i've led led men and women. i've led people, and it's leadership of people and motivation of people, and a clear vision of people where you build a team, cast that vision, empower people properly. i want smarter and more capable people around me than me. and you will get that at the department. i cast

as we all know, the pentagon still cannot even pass an audit.streamline its bureaucracies. organizations are top heavy, civilian leaders have promised to slim down the bureaucracy and perhaps hoped to. every day men and women in uniform make tremendous contributions to u.s. security. they and the american people deserve a pentagon that does the same. today's department of defense is no longer prepared for great power competition. it is not a national defense institution ready to achieve and sustain technological supremacy across the range of operations. admittedly, this nomination is unconventional. the nominee is unconventional. just like that new york developer who rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president. that may be what makes there hegseth an excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo that i just described. he is a decorated post 9/11 combat veteran. he will inject a new warrior ethos into the pentagon, a spirit that can cascade from the top down. mr. hegseth will bring energy and fresh ideas to

this pentagon is prepared because of our commander in chief for a secretary of def defense. they are ready to respond. they understand we live in a dangerous world. >> months later, the priority of the biden often led pentagon was on dei and woke training, one of the biggest embarrassments happen when we lost 13 of our heroes in the botched withdrawal from afghanistan. secretary austen testified a couple years ago, said he had no regrets. what do you make of that? >> it is shameful. they still touted as the most successful airlift in history. it was utter failure. abandonment of our allies, death of american troops, detriment to our reputation and no answers and accountability on the other side. the october 7th attacks, invasion into ukraine, the world recognized weakness for what it was. the external security was the tallow band. there was no actual plan for this under the biden administration, and the only person held accountable in those moments was a lieutenant colonel who stood up and said somebody should be held accountable for that. no one else involved has taken acco

the pentagon has

manu, i want to now go over to oren lieberman, who covers the pentagon for us. oren, of course, there has been so much and certainly bore out during this committee. the confirmation process about his personal background, about the questions about allegations. there also were and are very important questions about policy, defense policy and his qualifications. there. you see, pete hegseth is walking out of what we believe will likely be his one and only confirmation hearing. what was your takeaway on what he said about some of those policies? i mean, we're going to talk a lot about women in combat. so you can mention that if you want. there's lgbtq members in the military. we heard a lot of republicans talking about die in the ranks, but also some questions to him about. uh, specific roles, specific treaties, for example, like asean and coalitions, international coalitions that he will have to lead the u.s. on and in. and it wasn't clear whether or not he gave the senators asking those questions satisfactory answers there were a number of points here on which his

>>tu duracell batteries and a lot of push ups, he is kind of a soldier's pentagon chief.e isa really, a -- this will be first time i can't remember in how long, sort of representing actual soldiers combat and he knows his stuff. i think that is what really matters, did you see it that way? do you think public viewing public saw it that way. >> yes, i do, i am longest serving enlisted member of u.s. state military to be electioned to congress in history of our nation. and here is what pete hegseth understands. that chinese communist party does not care what your pronouns are they care about whether you can put warheads on foreheads that is what pete hegseth is focusing on when he talks about increasingl lethality, we have highest education military, and powerful we have not won a war in 80 years, this is time for a change. that change's name is pete hegseth who will follow donald trump's lead as commander in chief, and make sure that the united states of america and our allies are protected from all enemies, that are trying to destroy the nation. larry: you know kevin, i t

host: you covered the pentagon.hen it comes to this management question, if he gets the position, what does he face management-wise and what does his experience bring to the table? guest: this is a huge organization, eight hundred thousand plus employees on top of the 2 million service members he will be overseeing. $850 billion organization. he just doesn't have anything in his background like this. he has run a few veterans nonprofits, he's managed small units within the national guard. he's not completely without any leadership experience but in the past we see individuals nominated for this who have run a major organization, who have run part of the department of defense. maybe secretary of the army or some sort of background in that way. this is what we are going to hear from democrats. this is an overwhelming job for someone who hasn't managed more than a few dozen people and really doesn't have any of that large-scale federal background. host: one of the highlights from the ranking member of the committee, he

over to the pentagon where the press secretary major general pat ryder's briefing reporters. live coverage here on c-span3. maj. gen. ryder: as part of our ongoing support, 1800 california national guardsmen have been activated to assist with firefighting efforts including hand crews, aircraft, and military police working in support of local law enforcement. additionally, eight c-130s are currently on station at channel islands air national guard station to support aerial fighter fighting -- firefighting efforts. six missions dropped over 16 thousands of gallons fire suppressant and additional missions aren't dissipated for today. additional assets include 10 navy helicopters with water delivery buckets and 500 active-duty marines from camp pendleton are ready to provide support if requested. the department remains committed to providing assistance and support to those affected by the wildfires in we will work closely with federal, state, and local art nurse to this disaster. as we enter the final days of the current administration, let me turn to secretary austin's schedule.

and i applaud you and president trump for bringing accountability back to our pentagon. with that, i yield back, chair recognizes the distinguished ranking member for unanimous consent request. >> mr. chairman, i would like to submit an article discussing some of the issues of readiness and die out. there has been a comment that 5.9 million man hours have been used for die. general milley clarified that that is an estimate out of more than 2 billion man hours that the department of defense invested during the time period. >> where's this published, sir? >> this is published by megan myers, and i will get the. >> okay. >> military.com. i'm sorry. >> without objection, it will be admitted to the record and, senator slotkin, welcome to the committee. thank you. >> you're recognized. >> thank you, senator, and thank you for referencing the great carl levin as you introduced me. we miss him in michigan. for those who i haven't met in my one week that i've been sworn into the senate, i'm a cia officer recruited after nine over 11. i did three tours armed in iraq alongside the

suggested the pentagon might change. >> a couple of things. first of all, pete hegseth, in some of the more pointed questioning about his qualifications. >> pete hegseth made it clear that he would have no idea what he's doing as secretary of defense. >> which means one thing you would expect to see in a pete hegseth run defense department is that a whole bunch of people undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, the deputy secretary, all these other people would basically be running the pentagon without very much guidance. >> because as far as pete hegseth is concerned, you know, dei programs are the enemy and everything else. >> there wasn't much substance here to find out what he actually would care about in the rest of his management of the defense department. so one thing you'd have is a lot of chaos, because when you have a weak, unqualified secretary of defense, the pentagon and the defense department is huge. >> it's several fiefdoms. >> and, you know, it's like trying to it's 3 million people, all of whom are in different departments wi

regarding ukraine and the pentagon provide the number of ukrainian pilots been trained in the u.s.even if you have to take that question and can you provide us with a general idea of your support for the pilot training program under this administration's tenure and then my second question on the actionsti against isis cannot pentagon explain a little bit more about what exactly happened where the fighters have conducted preplanned airstrikes as part of this operation just trying to understand that a little bit more. >> thanks christopher. onin your question on nice strie you thank you are referring to a few weeks ago. i think central command put out all that we are going to on the strikes but for more information i would refer you to that operation. on the f-16 program i think we are well-versed on it. we are acholi on air capability coalition. we have trained a handful of ukrainian pilots for that training took place here in the united states but of coursee other countries hosting training pilots and continued to train them. i'm not going to get into specific numbers right now but

surprise blacklisting, the pentagon put them on a blacklist for ties with china.ajor gaming produce a, currently the stock dropped 8% to session lowers. on the back of this news, awaiting the hsi in hong kong, see atl the may jamaica with a 37% market share on the blacklist given the shed drop we will cover for you. justin trudeau's resignation has come in, not a major surprise but it sets the stage for a shift away from progressive policies toward a conservative approach. let's bring in jill, let's start with what led to justin trudeau's downfall, one of the ingredients is -- is what led to a number of leaders and that is inflation. jill: what you saw is not different to what we saw across the world, nearly every major uh leader was either toppled out of government or lost support to do with post-pandemic surge of inflation, you had people with issues with growth, something that led to consternation, really exacerbated consternation , one of the most loyal sort of uh uh advisors step aside over disagreements, trump went on the attack. general dissatisfaction amon

morningstar said the energy storage unit would be vulnerable to the pentagon move.rank. >> eunice yoon, live from beijing. >>> we turn to europe and the and what who is a wild card for governments cross europe is elon musk. we have silvia amaro with more on that story. good morning. >> very good morning, frank. with we have seen leaders from france, uk, germany and norway all push back on elon musk in separate comments on monday announcing his influence and warning he should not involve himself in the countries' politics. this comes after the from musk on x ahead of the election in germany. musk accused the british prime minister keir starmer of quote being complicit in rape among other comments. starmer railed against people he described as shredding lies and information as far as wide as possible. on monday after musk pinned a tweet to the top of his feed asking if america should liberate the people of london from the government. he is looking to host a chat on x on thursday. his comments come at a pivotal time for europe/u.s. relations as musk is expected to star

. >> during his final briefing as the pentagon press secretary, major general pat ryder addressed the federal response to the california wildfire, the russia-ukraine war, and the situation in syria. this is about half an hour. general ryder: good afternoon everyone. as the situation with the california wildfires continues to involved, secretary austin remains closely engage and committed to supporting response efforts. as part of our on tboing support, over 1,800 california national guardsmen has been deployed to help, they're working in support of local law enforcement. eight c-130's equipped with the modular air force fire fighting centerer on location to support ariel fire fighting efforts. six mafs missions were flown over the weekend, dropping over 16,000 gallons of fire suppress isn't a an additional missions are anticipated for today. additional assets to include the 10 navy helicopters with water delivery buckets and 500 active duty marines from camp pendleton are ready to provide support if requested. the department remains committed to providing assistance and support to tho

the china challenge is not new for the pentagon or for me.hen i worked on the dod 1997 defense review we were sure that even then in the period beyond 2015 there is a possibility that a regional great power or global competitor might emerge and we named russia and china as having the potential to be such competitors. since then, the prc worked with focus and determination to build a modern military, looking to long-standing u.s. operational advantages. beijing's behavior has been a slow creep of incremental belligerency fueling unease across the region. it is no wonder, then, that the pla's growing capabilities and aggressive actions were increasingly a concern for defense policy makers across bush, obama, and the trump administration. with bipartisan support and continuity, our nation's started putting in place the building blocks for change. but, the actualization often so short of ambition. so we came into offices determined to build on the progress of our predecessors from both parties and unlock necessary changes. we did sod with a sober

who's in charge of the pentagon come monday?body confirmed the acting, probably. i mean, they'll have an acting secretary in place. >> could donald trump elevate an acting that that's already been senate confirmed? >> anybody would think he would have to. right. i mean, i don't know, to be honest with you technically, but i think he's not going to keep lloyd austin. maybe he would. i think that would be the sensible thing to do in terms of continuity. but he's been so hard on austin, cq, cq brown's been rumored to be gone too, i think. i think trump wants to clear them all out. i don't think he's going to waste any time, and he'll go pretty far down the list until he can find someone who's a loyalist and who's reliable, and who can start to execute his pretty radical, radical agenda for the country that starts with the pentagon. i think that's important for everybody to understand. it starts with the pentagon. va is also up next tomorrow. collins is nominated for va secretary, which is getting almost no oversight. think about ho

a general from the pentagon. tried that: we need a drill sergeant, he will be ripped, he will be be demeaned. he will be talked about huddled with senate democrats last week to preview their strategy ahead of confirmation hearings. they see these as a chance to hold trump's nominees accountable for his agenda. axios reports schumer told democrats republicans spent four years attacking the democratic brand and we need to use the hearings to begin returning the favor. hegseth can only afford to lose three republican votes if all democrats opposed him in the full senate. guys, back to you. >> brian: thanks, maddy. >> brian: hearing last night democrats were in full freakout mode. one of the people that thought he had something is blumenthal and he didn't. and he started freaking out that he didn't and they are going crazy because they definitely want to committees desperately get something on him. and last night, it seems like the pete hegseth camp was fielding all types of crazy calls wild inquiries from the media.

reportedly, treasury, state, and the pentagon all agree that there was no national security threat. so that is what it was surprising that the white house did say there was a credible national security threat when the pentagon itself said there isn't. that is all we know publicly. host: here is the response from the u.s. steel predent who almost served as ceo. president biden's action today is shamefully corrupt. gave a political payback to a that is out of touch with its members while harming our company's future, our workers international security. he insulted japan, a vital all, put erican competitiveness at risk. the chinese communist party leaders are dancing in the streets and biden did it all while refusing to even meet with us to learn the facts. our employees and communities deserve better. what do you think of that response, what is interesting about response to you? guest: both sides are going to be making their statements now. it's look, when the steel was first announced as an idea, last year, my gut reaction studying this initially for a while was that could be a great

but the question tonight is, does the man who will run the pentagon lack basic knowledge about the pentagon and what it does? democrats pressed him on several topics, but i want to start the conversation with this. hegseth now says that he supports women in combat roles. despite saying this just two months ago. >> i'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. it hasn't made us more effective, hasn't made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated. >> he is walking all of that back now, saying that women in combat roles is fine with him as long as they meet the same standards as men. here's one issue with that. it's that the recruitment, at least in one branch, the army, is being helped by women, and it's actually the men who aren't meeting the standards. a military.com report found 18% a jump in women signing up from the previous year. male recruitment increased by just 8%. and they also note that young men are struggling to meet the army's eligibility requirements, whether it's physical or academic. even the defense department made a point not to change the

pete hegseth said that he had been tasked to returning a warrior culture to the pentagon. princess of wales has revealed that she is remission from cancer after making an emotional return to the london hospital where she received treatment. before we catch up on the mediation efforts in qatar, let's take you to this piece of breaking news from south korea. live pictures coming to us from the capital, seoul, where authorities, we understand, are to make another attempt to execute an arrest warrant for the impeached president, yoon suk yeol. you will remember they try to do this before but they were prevented from entering the presidential compound by the presidential guards of yoon. we are also hearing some lawmakers from the ruling party have formed a human chain to prevent yoon's arrest. this all stems from mr. yoon's declaration of martial law on december 3. we will keep a close eye on what is happening there. obviously, different parts of south korean authorities potentially pitched against each other in all of this. we will see whether that arrest warrant is carried ou

the department's -- i also want to say thank you to my media colleagues and the pentagon press corps for what you do every day to report on the department of defense, tell the story of those who serve and protect our country. i strongly believe that our republic and our military is well served by the depth of knowledge, skill and res and the independent reporting you do to keep the public informed. i greatly appreciated working with you and learning from you not only while serving in this position, but over the last 25 years in the various assignments i've held in and outside of the pentagon. thank you very much again and that is all i have. thank you. [applause] >> c-span ""washington journal" involving you to discuss government, politics and public policy from washington, d.c., and across the country. tuesday morning, we will preview condition firmation hearing for pete hegseth with the deputy editor and lori trahan discusses barring transgender athletes. and executive vice president ryan walker to get president trumpnd c-span "washington journal." join the conversations live tuesd

for the longest time google keeping arms length from the pentagon and ethical reasons. guys with the nose rings and purple hair don't want to be a part of it. that's changed. there's a hope that the pentagon is going to interface with -- and i know that senator wicker feels the same way with silicon valley and the ai guys and these bros. and they are going to start moving us forward rapidly and leaning out. my also hope is that these guys are doing it for patriotic reasons. because they are so smart. they are so bright. and they have got to be lethal to be successful. this has got to be patriotism 101. don't tell me you are going to benefit personally by being in government bation you are not doing it for the paycheck. >> steve: think about 8 years ago. big tech did not want donald trump to win. four years ago did not want donald trump to win. he won. they realized it's better to be at the table than being shot at. >> ainsley: goes back to the economy davos they will be at the inauguration. laura bush and george bush will be there barack obama could be there. hillary an

does pete hegseth, the pick to run the pentagon, have them? >> well, he certainly has the qualities that we need to lead the pentagon. he knows about a fit fighting force. he is very qualified. in my opinion, he has a record -- a distinguished record of service in the military. every senator gets to speak for themselves, and they will do that. the meetings have gone very well. things are heading in the right direction. the hearings start tuesday, and they're going to be consequential. people will listen and make their own decision. people have already had chances to ask questions and they're going to continue to do so. i expect he will have quality answers to the questions that they ask. >> well, your colleague senator joni ernst, who is a sexual assault survivor herself, did say last month that she wanted the fbi to vet the claims against mr. hegseth that were made by an accuser who said that he raped her. he denies that that assault happened. he claims it was consensual sex despite her filing of that police report. she also asked that the re

and what could be a make or break moment for his nomination to lead trump's pentagon. so what he's expected now to tell senators who questioned his qualifications to be the next defense secretary. >> trump's cabinet picks. the candidates you've heard about for months go before the senate. who will get the votes? >> i think we have great people. >> follow the trump confirmation hearings. follow the facts, follow cnn. >> want a next level clean swish with the whoa of listerine? it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean. with listerine. feel the whoa! >> i didn't do this for the lights or the fame. i did it to pay it forward to the next generation of athletes and pass on the support my family gave me. i believe in sofi because they give the same support to millions of members helping them bank, borrow and invest for their future. because for most people, it's not about the lights or the fame, it's about their ambitions. sofi, get your money right. >> third tech zyrtec allergy relief works

the 44—year—old said he wants to bring back a �*warrior culture' to the pentagon. interrupted by protestors. here's our north america editor sarah smith. cheering the handshakes and the back slaps are all part of pete hegseth's battle to persuade senators he is fit to serve as the secretary of defence. he has some vocal supporters, but he's also facing a long list of accusations and controversies. mr hegseth was a fox news tv presenter when donald trump picked him to lead the pentagon. he did serve in the army in afghanistan, but he has no experience of running an enormous organisation like the american military, which has a budget of $850 billion. he faced some tough questions about financial impropriety, sexual misconduct and turning up to work drunk. a variety of sources, including your own writings, implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassments and other troubling issues. mr hegseth blamed the left—wing media for stories he sai

he was at a adequately able to answer all of my questions, he pointed out the woke issues at the pentagon, and i think we're at a point where now we can start moving forward. >> people know where he stands on these issues. so i felt it was a good hearing. does he have your vote? um, i am breaking news, simon. i figured you would ask this. um, so yes, i will be supporting president trump's pick for secretary of defense. now, from my reporting, there had been a bit of apprehension going into that hearing today by trump's team. they had been keeping a close eye on people like senator ernst. she's a veteran and a sexual assault survivor. but there was a sigh of relief at mar-a-lago following that hearing, especially tonight, now that they have a seal of approval from ernst herself, the committee chairman, senator roger wicker, told cnn earlier that he expects all republicans on his panel to vote to advance hegseth nomination for defense secretary. that's a major reversal of fortune for hegseth, whose nomination appeared to be in deep trouble just a few weeks ago amid allegations of sexual mis

uh, the pentagon is trying to figure out what that may look like. and so i think we'll have to find out those lines. i mean, the other point you have to keep in mind, too, is there is also a distinction between the use of the active duty military, which has prohibitions on it, and the use of the national guard, which has far less and which, by the way, is also trained in law enforcement. so you could see a pretty large role depending on the state and the governor when it comes to helping the trump administration on its deportation procedures. >> bottom line, sir, do you think pete hegseth is qualified for this job? >> well, look, he comes into the job with far less experience and and background than others. he's acknowledged this. others have as well. i think it's going to be the job, of course, of the armed services committee and and the senate at large to to assess that. that's the only qualification that's written out there in terms of what it takes. look, he is right about the need to modernize the military, about making sure that we're ready fo

, to be the top civilian at the pentagon. all of the challenges, all of the experience that you drew on. i didn't even mention the fact that you were chief of staff at the white house. i could go on and on. maybe you were uniquely qualified. certainly. maybe in many cases more so than some of the other secretaries of defense who have been there for democrats and republicans. but i'll just ask you point blank, does he have what it takes to do the job that you did at the pentagon to be defense secretary? >> you know, i think the fundamental issue that every senator is going to have to make a judgment on relates to whether or not he's qualified to be secretary of defense. and and the primary question that they're going to have to be able to arrive at a judgment at is whether he can be trusted, whether he can be trusted to tell the truth, because as secretary of defense, your primary role is to tell the truth to the president, to the congress, and to the american people. i think that will determine, frankly, whether or not he's a