secretaries of defense have come into the pentagon. and i. >> got to tell you, i don't know if that's going. >> to be the case. the reality. is he has so much support from. president donald trump. from the administration. >> and from this. >> overwhelming amount of. of support, whether it be in social media. whether it be. >> in. >> republicans. that we have seen the. >> pressure campaign that has existed. >> to get. >> pete hegseth, this vote. >> above the. >> threshold has. >> been unlike. >> anything i have ever. >> seen before. there has been. >> a real. >> lobbying campaign. >> to get him across the vote. even what we were hearing from julie, the fact. that he went to the senate tonight. >> with his. >> wife. >> with his children to watch this vote. >> that's not anything that we are used to seeing. >> i don't want to say unprecedented. >> but it is very. >> very, very. unusual to see something like. >> that happen. >> when he was at. >> his confirmation. >> hearing just a. >> week ago, there was. this huge. >> swell of. veterans

of cleaning up the pentagon to keep america safe and secure. it's important that we get this done tonight. >> so do you. do you think that the vice president vance will be needed to to ultimately break this tie? >> there's a possibility of that. he's he's here in the building in case he's needed to cast the tie breaking vote. either way, as far as i'm concerned, it doesn't matter. let's get this over with. let's get pete hegseth over to the pentagon. there's a lot of important work to do. a big mess to clean up from the last four years at the department of defense. pete hegseth is a reformer. he's ready to go. he doesn't back down from any fight. obviously, we've seen that over the last few weeks. he's ready to go. we got we got to get him on the job and move on to the other important nominations as fast as we can. >> yeah. you talk about the state of the pentagon, and obviously this is something that a lot of your colleagues are taking seriously as they they take this into consideration. and normally when there's a defense secretary vote, it's

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as the next defense secretary at the pentagon.eason he's going to be needed to come out and break that tie is because there are three republican no votes on pete hegseth lisa murkowski, susan collins and mitch mcconnell. trump this morning, as he was leaving the white house, predicted that this would be the case and that mcconnell would ultimately vote no on pete hegseth. he was holding his cards close to the vest and seeing jd vance come out here and break this tie will be something that you don't often see for a cabinet nominee. it's only the second time that this has ever happened in modern history, but we are waiting to see him come out on the senate floor where you are seeing the senators chat with their colleagues as they are waiting for this vote for trump's defense secretary, defense secretary nominee to be final and over. my political panel is here at the table with me, and it's great to have both of you here. shermichael. we're looking at this letter that pete hegseth just posted because tom tillis was it was not clear h

he is a retired, his time all over the pentagon managing large numbers of people. he is a highly qualified individual, the kind of resume you would expect to see for someone stepping into the role as basically a manager for now. he came from washington headquarters services for his latest role that's basically the umbrella organization of all the support facilities around the washington, d.c. area that helps the pentagon operate, whether that includes the office of general counsel, whether it includes literally the facilities, folks like thousands of people who work to get the office space up and running, all the communications directorates, even the communications offices is under that office. so he is overseeing -- he has overseen a lot of people for years at this point, but depending on when the confirmation process could happen for hegseth, which is most likely over the weekend, he will not be in this role very long. host: the chairman of the joint chiefs, general c. q. brown, has said he will stay at his post. he attended the inauguration monday. what are you

the pentagon has continuously failed audits, the businesses that want to do business with the pentagon has to pass an audit that the system itself fails an audit. meritocracy is less valuable. as a result our adversaries have been emboldened all over the world. ladies and gentlemen, it is time for change. it is time for a change. you have seen thousands of veterans as the chairman cited one amazing medal of honor recipient. we have seen thousands of veterans expressing support for pete. this man can reinvigorate the warrior ethos, and this is a man who can lead. i can't imagine having a more capable partner in my position as national security advisor. he has a family, faith, and committed to making our country strong again. most importantly, i know this to 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. senators, i urge you to support this confirmation. it is critical that president trump has his national security team in place for the challenges ahead. i thank you. chair

--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.

we are close to the pentagon as well. this was a training exercise, we're told, with the black hawk helicopter and a commercial airline. the idea that this would happen so close in this extremely busy area. >> yes. i mean, you and i were talking about this. we both lived not far away from here. constant air traffic, helicopters, military helipads, and all of them flying low over the over the potomac in every direction. you know, the controllers have to be so well coordinated just to get all this traffic around safely. and tonight, clearly, something went wrong. the communication probably broke down at some point. and you had this horrible accident. yeah. >> caitlin, the silence here of waiting is agonizing for the families and everyone waiting to know what has happened. >> yeah, i mean, you just have to feel for them right now, in this moment, as everyone is just hoping for good news here as we are watching this play out, this search and rescue effort still underway, you can see the boats still in the water there. you're

military and pentagon is home to 20,000 people, heartbeat of u.s. military, center of power, where new defense secretary pete hegseth is and chairman joint chief of staffs and all brass at the pentagon routinely flying around attending various meetings. cia is in northern virginia, white house, there is fort belfore. a lot of activity around here. think about driving in a are ca, how many near collisions have we been in on the road. the sky is a big sky, you think a black hawk helicopter would look and see incoming airliner. if you're pilot of that civilian airliner, you're focused on landing thatten pla. that plane was seconds from landing at reagan on final. this runway is going from southeast to northwest, that plane is banking over maryland and focused on landing. if you're a helicopter, you would think pilots would see commercial airliner landing with bright lights and light above landing gear engaged and it would be very big, not flying in the dark. the black hawk would have running lights, red and green on left and right side of the aircraft.

7 7 pentagon being 7 7 pentagon being so 7 pentagon being so close alon77gside 7 alon77gside so7manyt and aircraft, just across river from 7washington the river from washington reagan, large landing in aircraft, the side washington airport is the pentagon, reagan airport is the pentagon, a lot of transit helicopter aircraft military civilian aircraft military and civilian aircraft, they are helicopter aircraft, they are around that and around around that airport and around the river and so, you can see a the river and so. you can see a co—ordinated good co—ordinated effort between traffic control and the that all the traffic that surrounded airport. all the traffic that surrounded airort. . �* all the traffic that surrounded airort. ., �* , 215" .;;":: e 215" .;;":: h m received a statement from president trump, i will read that, he said, i've been on the 7 on the terrible 7 briefed on the terrible accident which tookjust briefed on the terrible accident which took just took at reagan national place at reagan national airport, may god bless our souls, thank you for the work being don

and at the pentagon we'll remember and know. we are going to think about those warriors with every single decision that we make. we will put america first. we will bring peace through strength. and the three principles i talked about are what we will bring to that pentagon. restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do. rebuild our military. and re-establish deterrence. we don't want to fight wars. we want to deter them. we want to end them responsibly. if we need to fight them we are going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and desoy the enemy and bring our boys home -- and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home. [applause] to my other family that's here as well who i love, it's the honor of a lifetime. i would be remiss if i didn't note one person in this room who doesn't expect to be recognized. captain ruggio was here. he was my company commander and first deployment in tkpwaut guantanamo bay. he was there on june 3, 2003, when i first swore in as a second lieutenant at princeton university. he sw

i covered the pentagon. i rarely correct our colleague chad, but he will be the 28th defence secretary because one man did the job twice. >> that's a good point. >> the first defence secretary was james forestall. before that it was the secretary of war. in 1947, it became the secretary of defence. think about this job, sean. almost 3 million people work for the defence department. there are 30,000 inside the pentagon building, a building that i covered for years, that is about 19 and a half miles of corridor, and every which way there is all kinds of different levels of bureaucracy. now sometimes it works really well, especially in a war when everyone has to get on the same page quickly, but there is a lot of excess. there is a lot of fat to be cut, a lot of things to change. and pete has talked about that, and did in the confirmation hearing. it is a massive, massive job, though. and he is -- he is positioned to get the people around him to make the changes that president trump really wants to make. >> you

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that includes things like a pentagon audit.ars come to the dod that will be spent properly. we also need to ramp up to ensure we are prepared with the most robust capabilities possible. learning from other conflicts, to move to future conflicts. to understand how we orient toward future threat. and that's the last piece. we're going to make sure we orient properly toward emerging threats and reestablish deterrence. so, we're rebuilding the military but also reestablishing deterrence. what happened in afghanistan with the debacle is unacceptable. what happened with the invasion of ukraine under joe biden unacceptable. what happened on october 7th unacceptable. all reflections of weakness. peace through strength is back at the pentagon. our enemies will know that we mean business. and we're going to lean forward to ensure those want to american interest and security understand where we stand. our friends know we are there standing with them. i have been on the phone with foreign ministers of defense. behind the scenes this entire

senior national correspondent rich edson is at the pentagon. >> that process is ongoing at the pentagone investigation ongoing, president trump posted on social media this morning quote, the blackhawk helicopter was flying too high by a lot. it was far above the 200 foot limit. that's not really too complicated to understand, is it? defense secretary pete hegseth says investigators are looking into if the blackhawk was too high or off course. right now they don't quite know. the pentagon described tuesday's blackhawk flight as part of routine nighttime training taking the pilot through airspace they would have to fly as part of their job. >> there are many things that happen in and around the capital that insure in an emergency our government is able to continue to operate. what happened in this particular instance was one of those types of flights. you need to tan as you fight and rehears in ways to reflect a real world scenario. >> hegseth says the pentagon has paused this specific exercise. in his con mirmation hearing yesterday the president's nominee for army secretary dan driscoll

and it comes as pete hegseth arrives at the pentagon for the first time. greeted by america's top general. secretary hegseth was asked, with the general standing right there, will he fire him as hegseth has suggested? here's jonathan karl tonight. >> reporter: newly minted secretary of defense pete hegseth arrived at the pentagon today, after a squeaker 0 of a confirmation vote, the senate split 50/50. vice president jd vance breaking the tie. >> good morning, everybody. how we doing? it's an honor to be here. >> reporter: hegseth's first day comes with new executive actions by president trump. a call for what trump dubs an iron dome for america, a missile defense shield similar to israel's. it would likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars that congress would need to approve. another executive action calls for the military to reinstate with full back pay and ben ne fits any service members who were terminated for refusing to get the covid-19 vaccine. trump is directing hegseth to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and to change guidan

>> first, get them out of pentagon. base and change the design we could do that now, critically? >> another one they are competing against ms. out late by the fact that you are going to win there going to lose. >> no contract and we are saying we are establishing difficult for them, this is not necessarily about money it is a mission they actually want to engage in lots of people working for them you can attract incredible officers and there so many out there but they need to be told top down it's okay to get them aligned so they are not on an island of team is together a strategy of adaptable cross enticing of the second the burden would put on the contract, the number of things they have to sign certifications and godly so this committee can really help. >> that's not a statute, is it? >> yes or. statute we obligate in fermentation and -- >> maybe if you have some ideas on that. you did a great job on a piece in october but i love the idea of these programs how do you envision the system working when services have a l

brown. >> support on removing dei inside the pentagon.einstating troops who were pushed out because of covid mandates. the iron dome for america. this is hang quickly. >> an executive order calling on the pentagon to examine the issue of transgender troops in the military. which could lead to an eventual ban impacting an estimated 1,700 transgender troops already serving. according to the palm center an lgbtq advocacy institute. an executive order to reinstate with back pay the 8,000 u.s. troops separated from service for refusing to take the covid vaccine during the pandemic. congress forced the biden administration to rescind the mandate in 2023. when the u.s. navy reached out of to all 1878 sailors who had been separated, only two wanted to rejoin the navy. >> the war fighters are ready to go. there is emergencies at the southern border. as a result, this pentagon snapped to last week we helped move forward troops. barriers, and also to ensure when referring to the troops the new defense secretary used the prior names for two bases nam

and he's chosen a man to lead the pentagon. his choice to spearhead these efforts is pete hegseth, a retired major and combat veteran in the army national guard. admittedly this nomination is unconventional. the nominee himself 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 mr. hegseth a good choice. he's not behaden to the status -- beholden to the status quo and is open to new ideas. he's intent on lethality and readiness and we should all be. his experience in the line of fire and his servicemember advocacy make at least one thing clear. pete hegseth will put the men and women of our military first. congress has often seen defense secretaries delay and evade congressional oversight. i think pete hegseth will be willing and eager to partner with us in that regard. last week the senate armed services committee convened to consider mr. hegseth's nomination. in testimony lasting nearly four hours, he addressed three key audie

we'll call it his first official day at the pentagon. >> yeah. kate. do expect him to be arriving here around 9 a.m. following that extremely narrow confirmation vote last week, he was in the building a little bit over the weekend. he did, as you mentioned, speak to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and that actually followed the trump administration's decision to lift a ban imposed by biden on the shipment of 200 0 pound bombs to israel. and so hegseth clearly wanted to get the ball rolling on developing a relationship directly with netanyahu, one of the most important relationships, of course, that the pentagon can have with an ally. and so we do expect him to continue a lot of the work this week that was actually begun last week before he was even confirmed. and that was done under the acting defense secretary, including a lot of work on immigration. of course, sending additional u.s. troops down to the border, conducting military airlifts and repatriation flights of migrants back to their country, something that has proven pretty controver

stop pete hegseth from bringing christian nationalism to the pentagon. how is pete hegseth going to bring christian nationalism to the pentagon? guest: pete hegseth is an open admirer of the crusades, which is by all, most mainstream christian idea, the crusades were not great. the holy war against muslim communities in the effort of christian supremacy. he has tattoos that are christian nationalist tattoos that are very dangerous. and now he has control of our defense department. it's very dangerous, we have to keep a very close look on this and people recognize not only his personal moral challenges around misogyny and violence and alcohol, but he also has serious, terrible viewpoints on the role that christianity should play in this country, but also in how we approach the wider world. we've already seen it. he has stripped from former four-star generals, he stripped their security. it is a vengeance. we've had many transitions and many presidents come and go. we've had different kinds of leadership, elections have consequences. this is not normal wha

jennifer griffin is reporting live from the pentagon. what did the new defense secretary say before his first day on the job. >> well, sandra, it's already been a very busy day at the pentagon, and defense secretary pete hegseth was met on the steps by chairman of the joint chiefs, general c.q. brown. >> today there are more executive orders coming and we fully support on removing dei inside the pentagon, reinstating troops who were pushed out because of covid mandate. iron dome for america. this is happening quickly. >> an executive order for a new space based missile defense shield for the u.s. homeland. another executive order is expected to ban transgender troops from serving in the military according to the new york post and could impact 14,700 transgender troops serving according to the palm center whose research military officials pointed us to, and executive order to reindate with back pay the 8,000 troops separated from service for refusing to take the vaccine during the pandemic and congress forced the biden administration to r

or going to the pentagon. and that's where a lot of that vip transport would take place. sometimes they'll. transport, you know, specific materials. sometimes they will do other things where they are, you know, practicing for other missions. some of those combat missions. so one of the key things to note about the blackhawk is it's not just a transport aircraft. it is also a combat aircraft. and there are different variants of the aircraft. it's been around for quite some time in the u.s. military inventory, and it's been really designed to be a workhorse that has found its way into a lot of the conflict zones that we've fought in over the past 20 or so years, and that, you know, makes it an aircraft where there are a lot of pilots within army aviation who are skilled in flying the aircraft. but each environment is a unique one. so whenever they get reassigned to a new posting, to a new base, they have to learn the local area. and this may be one of those things where they were in a situation where they were t

has to be a brand-new pentagon and a brand-new way to lead it. gentlemen, great to have you with us, appreciate that. >>> breaking news coverage of the late-night vote to confirm pete hegseth as the new defence secretary continues here on "fox news at night", which of course begs the question, so just how is the mainstream media responding to all of us? we will break it down in our media spotlight coming your way next. ♪ ♪ my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back. but now with skyrizi, i'm all in. thanks to skyrizi, i saw dramatically clearer skin. and many even achieved 100% clear skin. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lowered ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms, or vaccines. with skyrizi, nothing on my skin means everything. ♪nothing is everything♪ ask your dermatologist about skyrizi today. at betmgm, everyone gets a welcome offer. so whether you're courtside trying to hit the over... or up here t

jennifer griffin working the story from the pentagon. john roberts moved to a new location at reagan national. john, let's begin with you on what we think we know as of when hour. hello. >> well, unfortunately looks like the worst. last night it was hoped when video of that crash first appeared that there might be some survivors. the plane was not that high off of the water. it seems like the worst has happened now and all 64 souls on board the aircraft as well as three people on board the helicopter. 27 bodies have so far been recovered from the psa flit coming in from wichita, kansas. one body recovered from the helicopter. how this happened has been described by officials i've talked to as a monumental screw-up. two aircraft would have been exactly the same piece of airspace at the same time no one knows because as sean duffy was pointing out this airspace is shared by many different aircraft. commercial aircraft coming in and out and many military and police aircraft flying up and down the river. the majority of those being helicopte

. >> maurice: they are built by sikorsky in connecticut, and charlie d'agata at the pentagon tells usa workhorse for the army for almost 50 years. >> reporter: the black hawk was on a training flight a mission similar to those flown every day by army helicopters in the tight air corridors around the nation's capital. >> no excuses, we are going to get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: defense secretary pete hegseth said there was nothing unusual about the flight, which took off from nearby fort belvoir. >> routine annual retraining of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission. the military does dangerous things. it does routine things on the regular basis. tragically, last night, a mistake was made. >> reporter: the pilot copilot, and crew chief ryan o'hara, who leaves behind a wife and a 1-year-old son, were killed. the army said they were all very experienced. former black hawk pilot bradley bowman flew this route along the potomac many times. what are the challenges? >> the area around reagan national airport is one of the busiest, if not the bus

courtney kube is nbc news correspondent who joins me from the pentagon.rt, which i'm just going to do here on national television can, like, he's talked about firing a lot of generals. he's been on podcasts saying we need to clean house. how much unilateral authority does the secretary of defense have for that? >> he has. >> the ability. >> to fire. >> the generals. and so. >> i mean. >> obviously. >> yeah, i. >> mean, if. >> he. >> wants to i mean, i. will say. >> and by the way, the anchor. >> of the show never. has any ignorance. i've learned that. >> for a long. >> time ago. >> so. >> i'll. just say no. >> there are things, courtney. there are things i don't know, and i'd like to learn them. so that's why i'm asking. >> so the. >> secretary of defense. does have. >> the ability. ultimately the generals. >> and if we're talking. >> about someone. >> like the. >> chiefs, the joint chiefs. >> of staff, the. >> combatant commanders. >> they serve at the pleasure. >> of the president. >> but the. >> secretary of. >> defense has a lot of. say in. >> who tho

to the important portrait removed from the walls of the pentagon. good day, everyone from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome to alex witt reports. we begin this hour with breaking news on day six of the trump administration. kristi noem is confirmed as the new homeland security secretary with 59 votes for, 34 votes against. and pete hegseth is now sworn in as secretary of defense after a 50 over 50 vote friday night. the tie, broken by vice president jd vance and new reaction to his appointment today from a member of the house armed services committee. >> it's a. >> sad day. >> for our military, for our department of defense. we've never had a less qualified secretary of defense than been pete hegseth. and he's not just unqualified because he has no experience running a large organization, because the last time he ran a nonprofit, he ran it into financial ruin. he's unqualified because he's morally unqualified. >> more breaking news. the mass firing of government agency watchdogs, including inspectors general at the justice departmen

we are going to get a briefing from the pentagon.s soon as it in about 50 as it begins. in about 50 we will also hearfrom minutes we will also hear from president trump who will speak cameras about the events the cameras about the events overnight. at reagan national airport. has been terrible night. underlined by what the defence has been terrible night. underline said, {hat the defence has been terrible night. underline said, this the defence has been terrible night. underline said, this has defence has been terrible night. underline said, this has now nce secretary said, this has now a rescue operation turned from a rescue operation one of recovery. into one of recovery. that is riuht. into one of recovery. that is right- that _ into one of recovery. that is right. that is _ into one of recovery. that is right. that is what - into one of recovery. that is right. that is what everyone was bracing for and worried that 7 77 7 7t7hatt7he 7 7 that the recovery about, that the recovery would turn to about, that the recovery operation 'n

he correctly stated we need to change the way the pentagon does business.e will restore culture and accountability by cutting red tape, incentivizing innovation rebuilding defense industrial base. the intent to attack the hardest systemic problems that plagued the pentagon. challenges that previous secretaries have proven unable to fix. and i mentioned that audit. i sincerely believe we will get an audit done under his oversight. and importantly he agreed maintaining the divided area defense levels would be dangerous to our national security. we are here, as i said the outgoing secretary admitting that very thing. in his testimony before our committee mr. hegseth said this, my only special interest is the war fighter deterringte wars called upon winning wars by ensuring our warriors never enter a fair fight. we let them win and then we bring them home unquote. well put major. i am confident mr. hegseth, supported by a team of experienced top officials will do exactly that. pete and his family have endured numerous smears and false news stories. less reporti

there's always something at the pentagon that might be going wrong. mr. hegseth demonstrated at a critical moment that he would not let the president-elect know about this fact because he wanted to advance himself and he worried that if he was candid, it would cause problems for him. i don't want a secretary of defense who is unwilling to be candid with the commander-in-chief and he's already demonstrated grave reason to doubt whether he will be candid by refusing to disclose the reality of this sexual assault allegation in monterey. an affidavit was filed yesterday by one danielle hegseth, the former sister-in-law of the nominee revealing publicly fact suggesting spousal abuse in mr. hegseth's second marriage. i don't know danielle hegseth, i haven't talked to her. i was not aware of that allegation, but it didn't surprise anyone on the committee who had reviewed the records. why not? because there are already facts in the record raising this very question. in fact, i asked mr. hegseth about it at the armed services committee. during his second divorce,

senior national correspondent rich edson is live at the pentagon on that story today. >> the pentagonays investigators are focused on the altitude of the aircraft. with the investigation ongoing president trump posted the blackhawk helicopter was flying too high by a lot. it was far above the 200-foot limit. that's not really too complicated to understand, is it? secretary of defense said pentagon is still looking into all this. >> we're looking at altitude. the president was clear about that. someone was at the wrong altitude. investigation will help us understand that. was the blackhawk too high? was it on course? right now we don't quite know. >> defense secretary pete hegseth said while there is a pause on this specific exercise, training throughout the military will continue. the pentagon described the blackhawk flight tuesday as a routine nighttime qualification flight taking the pilot through airspace that they would have to fly through as part of their job. president's nominee for army secretary suggested the military should examine whether to move training flights away from d

plus, the pentagon pick takes a big hit as new accusations emerge against pete hegseth. also, just 48 hours after donald trump opened their jail doors, some proud boys are openly threatening police officers and trump versus the law again. why? a judge emphatically halts 40 seven's fight over the 14th amendment live at the table. kara swisher, arthur aidala van lathan, gail huff brown, chuck rocha and julie roginsky americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here they do. a good evening, i'm abby phillip in new york. let's get right to what america is talking about. as the song says, everybody wants to rule the world. and for president trump, let it be known he is the ruler. in his first address to global powers since his returning to power, it included leaders from businesses, from politics. he declared that america is now open for business, and if you don't join the party, expect to be punished. he also used his time at the davos summit to talk about everything from culture wars to his predecessor. listen. >> my administration is acting with

he will be head of the pentagon. but it certainly has been a very, very rocky road for him. obviously, if he loses one more vote, we have jd vance comes in and and breaks a tie if that were to happen. but my prediction is that he's going to to sail through and that'll be it. >> yeah. and i think that she's probably right. i don't think that there's any indication that anybody else is thinking about not voting for him. >> and let me just point out the hypocrisy here, because i actually got the only two federal. gretchen carlson and i got the only two federal pieces of metoo legislation through the senate and the house. and every single one of those, one had to do with ndas. and every single one of those senators who voted for him today, every single one, all said that they supported a ban on pre-dispute ndas for sexual misconduct. and every single one gave these great speeches about how ndas have no place when it comes to sexual misconduct. and we're living in a whole new world now. and women need to be believed. and it was a beautiful moment. and then they turn around and do

a whole lot of us knew that there was a portrait of millie at the pentagon, but now it's gone. ten days after it was unveiled. is that pettiness or is that misplaced power? a lot of questions here. joining us is tom nichols, professor emeritus at the united states naval war college and staff writer at the atlantic. and jennifer rubin, co-founder and editor in chief of the contrarian. she's also an msnbc political analyst. good evening to both of you. thank you for being with us. tom. let me just start with you, because there are few buckets of concerns about about pete hegseth. one is his his his views and his behavior, which you almost think is sort of tertiary to the fact that he also has not run a large organization. he's run a couple of small organizations, and he has apparently done that very badly. and three is we are a world in danger at levels that have not seen until since pre world war one and pre world war two. we're really a tinderbox right now. and we need all the care that we can give this world. i sense your biggest concern lies in bucket three. >> well you know

has the pentagon put out an official statement yet? >> literally, stephanie, as you were reading that and i apologize, i'm going to look down and read this. we just got an on the record statement from the army. it's not a whole lot more than we know, but we can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight's incident was an army 60 helicopter out of fort belvoir, virginia. we're working with local officials and will provide additional information once it becomes available. so again, not a lot more information, but confirmation that it was an army 60. that's a blackhawk helicopter. it's a standard helicopter that the us army flies again generally moving people around, but it's used for other things. and flying out of fort belvoir, virginia, it's just if you actually if you look up on the map, you see where the reagan national airport is highlighted there. if you just go a bit west and south of there, you would see fort belvoir. it's one of the major installations in this area, army bases in the area. >> we got an additional statement fr

so what -- what effect can he have on the pentagon? is made up of professional soldiers and professional civiler is civil servants who are going to do their best to implement the polls from the commander in chief. i think this is a very, very, sorry high-risk appointment, most of all for donald trump. this is a hard job and we've seen time and again, we saw it in the biden administration with the afghan pullout. we saw it under president bush, the second we saw it in the clinton years. things can go wrong in national security in an instant, in 24 hours. you can have major setbacks that can shadow a presidency and at times, even cripple it. >> martha: we've seen that over many years. >> for somebody without deep experience in the policy issues in a critical job, and to me it's one of the big, big dramas of this administration. how is that -- how is that big bet going to work out? >> martha: and everybody will be watching them, but was it a surprise to you that everybody -- or nearly all the republican senators supported hegseth, and wha

over at the pentagon. the quote goes like this.hile performing a training mission a united states army uh 60 black hawk helicopter from bravo company, 12th aviation battalion davison army airfield fort belvoir collided in mid-air with an american airlines bombardier regional jet flight 5342 last night at ronald reagan washington airport. the faa,ntsb, and the u.s. army will investigate. the ntsb will lead the investigation. that answers your question right there, lawrence. we are working with local officials and will provide any additional information once it becomes available. john, as somebody who has been on that river a lot, we're looking at some of the small boats that are patrolling the area and right in the middle it looks like debris. we see a couple of different patches of stuff looks like part of the plane or part of the chopper. how deep is the water there? >> well, here's what i can tell you. there is a big sort of fan area that comes off of the eastern side of the airport. and the water there is anywhere between 3 and

a whole lot of us knew that there was a portrait of milley at the pentagon, but now it's gone. ten days after it was unveiled. is that pettiness, or is that misplaced power? a lot of questions here. joining us is tom nichols, professor emeritus at the united states naval war college and staff writer at the atlantic. and jennifer rubin, co-founder and editor in chief of the contrarian. she's also an msnbc political analyst. good evening to both of you. thank you for being with us. tom. let me just start with you, because there are few buckets of concerns about about pete hegseth. one is his his his views and his behavior, which you almost think is sort of tertiary to the fact that he also has not run a large organization. he's run a couple of small organizations, and he has apparently done that very badly. and three is we are a world in danger at levels that have not seen until since pre world war one and pre world war two. we're really a tinderbox right now. and we need all the care that we can give this world. i sense your biggest concern lies in bucket three. >> well you. >>

a whole lot of us knew that there was a portrait of milley at the pentagon, but now it's gone. ten days after it was unveiled. is that pettiness, or is that misplaced power? a lot of questions here. joining us is tom nichols, professor emeritus at the united states naval war college and staff writer at the atlantic. and jennifer rubin, co-founder and editor in chief of the contrarian. she's also an msnbc political analyst. good evening to both of you. thank you for being with us. tom. let me just start with you, because there are few buckets of concerns about about pete hegseth. one is his his his views and his behavior, which you almost think is sort of tertiary to the fact that he also has not run a large organization. he's run a couple of small organizations, and he has apparently done that very badly. and three is we are a world in danger at levels that have not seen until since pre world war one and pre world war two. we're really a tinderbox right now. and we need all the care that we can give this world. i sense your biggest concern lies in bucket three. >> well you know

, saying that the order calls for the pentagon to update policies on medical or -- medical standards, stating that transgender people live in conflict with a disciplined and honorable lifestyle. guest: that was yesterday? i didn't take a look at that. it's not an area i don't -- i look at. since i haven't read it, i wouldn't want to comment. i do -- i am against race -- sorry, sex-based preferential treatment or preferential treatment that is ba announcer: we are going to leave this program here but you can watch at any time if you go to c-span.org. home h.u.d. secretary kristi noem is speaking to her staff for the first time after confirmation. this is live on c-span. [indiscernible] >> present arms. ♪oh, say! can you see by the dawn's early light ♪what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming; ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? ♪ and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: ♪ oh, say! does that star-spangled ba

we expect to hear more about the pentagon's efforts to end. die programs. >> going forward, but also potentially to go. >> after individuals or offices that have tried to change their names since the election in the past few months, so that they would no longer be seen as a diversity initiative or. >> group to. try to protect the protect the jobs and the people. >> in them. in addition to that, we. >> heard he. >> mentioned, he's also talking about. covid reinstating individuals, thousands. >> of. >> men and women who were separated from the military because they refused to get the covid vaccine in 2020, 2021 and even into 2022. now we are hearing that president trump, he said this in the inauguration speech last week. he wants to give those individuals the opportunity to rejoin the military and to get back pay. so we're talking about potentially upwards of 8000, maybe more people who were separated with the potential to have several years. >> of back pay. >> we are talking about a lot of money. we're trying to figure out exactly how dod will

we need to change course at the pentagon. we need to get the pentagon back on track, and president trump has selected pete hegseth to do just that. as pete said at his hearing last week, we don't need more bureaucracy at the top, we need more war fighters empowered at the bottom. as a decorated combat veteran, pete brings a fresh set of eyes to the pentagon. he's competent, knowledge being and courageous. he knows the cost of war and he knows the price of weakness. he clearly loves our nation. he loves this country. he is a champion for our servicemembers and their families and he wants to continue serving the country. that's why i believe pete hegseth is the right choice to lead our military. at the senate armed services committee, pete answered hard questions with clarity and with resolve. pete was clear about our mission and his mission. it is, as he said, to make the pentagon, he says, quote, laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, war fighting, accountability, and readiness. ultimately, the senate armed services committ

tonight a great between the pentagon and defense contractors. the question i have, would you put your money where your mouth is? when you leave this job, you will. >> time is short, i just need a yes or no. >> white short every general who serves not go directly into the defense industry for ten years. if you're not willing to make that pledge? to like about the general senator. [laughter] >> let us clear, you are in charge of the general so you are saying is not sauce for the gander? >> i like to the policy for your hard work committees hard work. this has gone well. i like to submit this letter submit is for the record. you are a tough guy. to the flo some of the actions that president trump has -- the presiding officer: senator, senate is in a quorum call. mr. van hollen: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. van hollen: thank you, mr. president. i come to the floor this afternoon to speak to some of the actions that president trump has taken just in this first thr

hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and fraud within pentagon contracting. within medicare, medicaid. so, if you have a committed executive who is willing to go after these things, can you generate incredible savings for taxpayers. >> laura: he mentioned disability. how disability somehow has crocketed over the last 15 years in federal spending. some of that is obviously fraudulent as well. john, thank you very much. yesterday, president trump fired more than a dozen employees who worked on his criminal prosecutions. those are staffers at doj, including more than a dozen officials from former special counsel jack smith's team. so, look, americans, they have to be happy. trump's actually beginning to restore the integrity of our justice system. but of course the media is calling -- oh, it's a wholesale, you know, retribution, political retribution, the usual. joining me now is david schoen, former trump impeachment attorney. david, by excising these doj employees who were clearly in on the weaponization of government, isn't that the ultimate and a basic neces