here is the man pete hegseth says he no longer is. "the new york times" reports that fox news the network's human resources department looked into mr. hegseth's conduct at the christmas party in 2016 and discussed it with him according to a person with intimate knowledge who spoke on condition of aanyonety, mr. hegseth got so drunk at the wedding of a fox news producer he struggled to stand upright in a men's bathroom, according to two people with direct knowledge of tep soed who declined to be named for fear of retribution. friends asked a producer who was there to get mr. hegseth a ride home so he could make it to the set by 6:00 a.m., they said. secretary of defense never has to worry about getting a ride home, but the secretary of defense has to be sober enough to receive and process some very important, urgent, worldwide important phone calls at any hour of the day or night. >> i'm a different man than i was years ago. >> here is that different man. "the washington post" reports at fox news hegseth had a reputation as a heavy drin

a war pete hegseth served in. the very same war that donald trump condemns as "absolutely unnecessary and a complete and total waste." pete hegseth hated that about donald trump, at the beginning of donald trump's political career. and here's what he had to say about it, on march 4th, 2016, when donald trump was well on his way to winning the republican presidential nomination. >> it's typical trump. all bluster, very little substance. he talks a tough game, but then when pressed on it, he is an on chair tough guy. >> pete hegseth, of course, has since backed down. from all of his criticism of donald trump, then. so, who is the arm chair tough guy, now? today, pete hegseth was granted page space in the wall street journal to publish a self-defense op-ed piece with this line in the title "i won't back down." he will back down. he has backed down before, for donald trump. and he will back down again. as soon as donald trump has his replacement ready to go. leading off our discussion tonight is democratic congresswom

senator joni ernst said this about her meeting with pete hegseth today. >> can you summarize for us? >> it was a very frank and thorough discussion. >> senator, will you support mr. hegseth's nomination? >> it was a frank and thorough conversation. >> did he ask for your vote specifically? >> thank you. >> when you met with matt gaetz you said he brought up some of the allegations against him, did hegseth bring up any of these things? >> it was a very thorough conversation. >> and also frank. >> were any of your concerns alleviated? >> guys, make a pathway, she needs to be able to walk. she needs to be able to walk. >> any chance you're up for consideration as defense secretary, senator? >> as you have no doubt seen, there are many variations on the senate walk and talk with reporters. the rarest of all is actually walking in absolute silence. most senators absolutely never do that. the speed of the walk tells you how much a senator wants to talk to reporters. joni ernst was walking as fast as she can, which mean she is did not want to talk to those reporters. she didn't want to answe

one of those women is now planning to make that a very,t very difficult confirmation hearing for pete hegseth if he somehow dares to show up for that two months from now. nbc news broke the news today of the number of senate republicans who are not supporting the hegseth nomination. it only takes four senate republicans added to all the democrats to defeat any republican nomination on the senate floor in the full senate vote, and nbc news is reporting as many as six senate republicans, perhaps more, are currently not comfortable supporting hegseth's bid to lead the pentagon as new revelations about the former fox news anchor's past continue to be made public. and you can be absolutely sure that there will be no information about pete heg eseth coming out that will make any senators more comfortable ine supporting his nomination. nbc reports joni ernsh of iowa, who sits on the armed services committee, would not commit to supporting hegseth's nomination and said she planned to grill the former cable news host about news accounts of his alleged alcohol abuse, mistreatment of women, and financia

pete hegseth cannot survive a really think frank and thorough conversation. that is republican senator joni ernst's way of saying, hegseth doesn't have a chance. it may be that the only thing we are waiting for this for donald trump to decide who his next choice for secretary of defense will be, before he gets rid of pete hegseth. last night, in an interview with rachel maddow, jane baer, who delivered career ending reporting for the new yorker -- pete hegseth career ending report -- on saturday about his public drunkenness and abuse of women, said there is probably much more to come. >> it has been almost a day since this story came out, and my phone has been ringing off the hook. i have been hearing from many more people who worked with pete hegseth, who have come out of the woodwork to say that they, too, have stories along the same lines. >> "they, too, have stories along the same lines." some of those people who worked with pete hegseth came out of the woodwork to tell nbc news about just how drunk you can be, hosting a fox morning show. nbc news reports

kennedy, jr., or pete hegseth? what is happening is trump's picked to lead the pentagon, pete hegseth, has been walking the halls of congress and meeting with republican senators in an effort to save his defense secretary nomination. trump nominated former fox host is fighting to save his nomination amid allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement, and alcohol abuse, all of which pete hegseth denies. while defending pete hegseth today in a social post, donald trump stopped short of asking republican senators to confirm him. in an exclusive interview with kristen welker, set to air on meet the press this sunday, donald trump said this: >> it looks like pete is doing well now, i mean, people were a little bit concerned. he is a young guy with a tremendous track record actually. he went to princeton, he went to harvard, he was a good student at both, but he loves the military, and i think people are starting to see it, so we will be working on his nomination, along with a lot of others. >> since you brin

where they have discussed if confirmed, pete hegseth would stop drinking? t the pieces of commentary you want senators to be doing in the halls of congress. maybe he gets confirmed. i'm not sure hegseth being confirmed is going to be a dod with someone at the helm with a lot of credibility. he is is still taking a beating and i think for good reason. howard: what's also interesting, clay, is hegseth has clearly moderated his stance on women in combat. he was against it, and he didn't quite commit to having them on the front lines. but that also reminds me, ultimately, it's the president-elect who's going to decide things like that. >> yeah, no doubt. and let me hammer a couple of things here. one, i'm going to take a shot at cbs sports. you played the clip of them at army-navy. they showed president trump for four minutes. howard: msnbc maid a lot of it, i must tell you with, of trump, vance and hegseth. go ahead, you're a sports guy. >> that's point one. point two, look, they come after pete hegseth with everything they got. they started with, oh, he's woma

pete hegseth - little bit about him. that's right. pete hegseth is- little bit about him. is best known for being a television host on fox news on the weekend edition of fox news, fox and friends on the weekends. he is someone who has been an ally of the conservative right, someone who has been an ally of president—elect donald trump, someone who has been essentially someone who is a good mouthpiece for president—elect donald trump and also somebody who does not have a long, storied history of dealing with the bureaucracy of the military. he is an army veteran, he has worked for veterans organisations for years now but he has not had a formal role within the department of defence. and that has also been a big question for a lot of senators who say this seems like a guy who has, if nothing else, he has his heart in the right place but does he have the formal background to actually lead this massive department that has about 3 million or so employees?— has about 3 million or so emlo ees? . ., ~ employees? jarred hill, thank ou ve employees? jarred hill, thank you very much _

can pete hegseth do that?lican senators they are lejt a matly asking that question. i don't know that he is long for the last in this nomination, we will see, but i think the question is who is next in terms of the target for quiet defiance? is it kash patel? is it tulsi gabbard? i think it's probably one of the two of them. and these hearings are not going to start until january. so to me the next two weeks could be quite interesting. you're right, though, if you are tulsi gabbard or kash patel, you're delighted right now that all of the focus is on pete hegseth. but i do think that this -- the way that it's working so far could work for a company of additional nominees. that there's discomfort i think on a bipartisan level about. >> it has just been next level, though, in terms of how ridiculous the process can get. you know, katty, there are reports that pete hegseth's mother has been calling senators to lobby on his behalf. can you think of any other cabinet position where the candidate's mother has called

there has been less resistance to pete hegseth in that same vein. g difference, obviously a republican has spoken out against sexual assault that she experienced, so she has been a priority for the hegseth team to try to convince them. our reporting is that she wants to get some concessions out of hegseth, some promises if he were to become the defense secretary and in return she would support his confirmation, so there is a lot of horse training going on and i think it would be a mistake to write him off just yet. >> so, pete hegseth actually said something, he said he is willing to do -- he would much rather do the public confirmation hearing, he has no fears about doing that and in an incredibly insulting comparison, he said you know, it's the same thing as the brett kavanaugh hearings, but does pete hegseth seriously think that a public confirmation hearing would actually end up being a better form for which people are going to express their concerns? it's not just the allegations of sexual assault, it's the allegations of drinking problems, the

now they're focusing on pete hegseth. a lot of people, and particularly people like pete that have that have lived, you know, that have been out there. i mean, yes, pete is not an angel. yes. he's been out there partying a bit. he hasn't done these things, but particularly when it's somebody like him who, you know threatens, you know, the institution where people are afraid he might change things too much. he might, you know, stop the gravy train. he might get rid of some of the things that, you know, that people, you know, they're like they're threatened by him. and so people will come out just as they did for justice kavanaugh and, you know, you start with, you know, a few stories and then that begins the avalanche. and so now you have all these fake stories out there, and every single one of them has a good factual defense to them. but, you know, they're hoping that by sheer volume that they could try and convince him to to get out. >> is he cooperating with an fbi background check now that the trump transition has come

overall, things don't look good for pete hegseth.news is, he has the perfect solution. >> you have a little bit more champagne and then your problem goes away. >> ronny: but thank buddha, let's move on to story that doesn't involve trump. yesterday, out of nowhere, the incredibly unpopular president of south korea declared martial law, and then, a few hours later after everyone got mad, he was like, "you know what, forget it, that was a stupid idea. how about that rose song?" [singing] to me, the craziest thing about this whole episode is what happened in south korea during the few hours of martial law. >> the announcement sparking massive protests in seoul. this woman's confrontation with an armed soldier going viral as she screams, "aren't you embarrassed" at him. >> ronny: holy shit. she knows that's a gun, right? she's grabbing it like it's a thing that doesn't shoot bullets. she's like, "is this a vacuum cleaner? what's this button do? i want to see it." this wasn't the only time a protester stood up to the military in south kor

joni ernst has not said anything like that about pete hegseth. she has never said i think pete is going to be great. reporters who have covered the confirmation process before know that the keyword to listen for is yes. that's the word you have to hear. and they all know that as of now, pete hegseth is not close to getting 51 yes votes in the united states senate. on monday after senator ernest released her written statement about supporting pete through the process in which she was obviously trying to deflect all of that intense pressure that donald trump's allies have been putting on her in her home state of iowa reporters following her through the hallways of the senate wanted to know what her written statement actually meant. because to them it meant nothing. none of those experienced reporters believed that that written statement was a turnaround for joni ernst. when the reporters asked her what the written statement actually meant, she could have easily said it means i'm voting yes to confirm pete hegseth. she did not come close to saying th

it's not just pete hegseth, right? how about this at least 11, at least 11 fox news hosts or contributors. again, you just see it's just so many names on here. my goodness gracious. we've got 11 on here. and finally how about mar-a-lago. you know trump administration picks who hosted or co-hosted events at mar-a-lago. look at this number. it is 1212, including those who co-hosted events at mar-a-lago. 12345, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11 and 12 with lee zeldin. the bottom line is this is that trump is someone who feeds on people being loyal to him, and there's no greater sign of loyalty than hosting or co-hosting event at mar-a-lago. and so that's what we got. >> how do you know steve witkoff? >> his son andrew witkoff, and i actually went to school together. he was a very, very good guy who unfortunately departed us far too soon yeah, well, of course, and we had him on our show as well. >> harry enten, thank you so much for that. and laying that all out. thank you all so much for in

pete hegseth has been shot at in combat. that's exactly the type of person that we want leading the dod before any commitment is made to put our troops in harm's way. >> there's not going to be, or at least there has not yet been an fbi vetting. we heard justin talk about the public vetting he did, but the fbi is going to go deeper even than our friend jane mayer at the new yorker could go, even though she's an exceptional reporter. do you foresee that being an issue with any republicans in the senate? i'm sure democrats are going to raise it. if there's no fbi vetting of these including hegseth, can you imagine the republicans are all going to say okay to that? >> i mean, you have to think of levels of credibility. maybe the media is easy to dismiss. republicans can easily get away with saying that's just the left-wing media. what institution would they trust? would they trust a report from the fbi? a lot of the people criticizing pete hegseth were republicans. a lot of people from the veterans organizations. i think if the

pete hegseth has promised to stop drinking if he is sworn in as secretary of defense.promised to stop trying to climb on the stage with strippers as he reportedly did just a few years ago. at every scandal point in pete hegseth's path he was married to one of his three wives, the accusation of assault that he faced in a police investigation in monterey california about and that he spent in a hotel room there occurred during his second marriage, a marriage that began as an affair during his first marriage, pete hegseth's promise is like i will stop drinking are not worth much according to his record of promises to his wives. south carolina's senior senator lindsey graham whose record of weakness in the face of trump treasure is flawless has been reported now as a strong supporter of pete hegseth but even lindsey graham yesterday added the word unless to his support with pete hegseth. >> these allegations are disturbing but they are anonymous. >> unless something else comes out, so if more allegations come out who knows how lindsey graham votes come he told kristin welke

they are trying to do a number on our friend pete hegseth and patel.are trying to do to pete hegseth what they tried to do to clarence thomas and brett kavanaugh but never to themselves, amazing thing. all the stuff swelling around pete hegseth, so much of it are absolute lies, we have anonymous staffer from fox said they smelled booze on his breath and everybody else in fox, no, we didn't, oh, excuse me. then one of the vet organizations hegseth works, he smelled it then too and trustee, no, we didn't. doesn't matter, the press keeps regurgitating it. isn't washington sleazily? isn't it unbelievable? you have to assume that two-thirds of the media sleep and are drunk, i know a few already, i can tell you who are adulters and drink heavily, maybe half of congress, maybe i'm a little high, maybe i'm a little know. i don't know but we know that's happened before. they put a slush fund together, remember, 18.2 million congressional slush fund for me too claims now in addition to the me too claims meaning sexual harassments, sexual abuse, sexual molestatio

weakness in the face of trump pressure is flawless has been reported now as a strong supporter of pete hegseth graham yesterday added the word unless to his support for hegseth. >> i'm in a good place with pete unless something i don't know about comes out. these allegations are disturbing, but they're anonymous. >> unless something else comes out. so if more allegations come out, who knows how lindsey graham votes. lindsay graham told kristen welker on "meet the press" that pete hegseth told him he would release the woman who accuses him of rape from the nondisclosure agreement she signed when pete hegseth paid her an undisclosed amount of hush money. pete hegseth's lawyer immediately threatened a defamation lawsuit against the woman if she speaks publicly adding, "i suspect these not going to come forward at all. there's no benefit. it's all downside," and the downside now includes threats of litigation from pete hegseth. pete hegseth claims the encounter was consensual and no criminal charges were ever filed against him. former heroin addict and convicted drug criminal robert kennedy jr. ha

bush to the very same job pete hegseth wants, secretary of defense. john tower had served as chair of the senate armed services committee which was expected to sail through the confirmation hearing, but it was drunkenness and what they used to call in those day womanizing that brought him down. >> now in review of the record, however, has led me to the firm conclusion that in three areas the abuse of alcohol, the provision of consulting services to defense contractors on the probable outcomes of ongoing confidential arms control negotiations shortly after serving as an arms control negotiator as well as instances of in discreet behavior towards women, john tower falls short of the high standards which must be demanded of those who would bear the awesome responsibilities of secretary of defense. >> that was the most conservative member of the democratic senate at the time. joining us now is andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel and former chief of the criminal division in the eastern division of new york, an msnbc legal analyst. andrew, i want t

as of tonight, pete hegseth does not have the votes to win confirmation in the senate armed services committee. three republican members of that committee have made it clear they are not now voting yes on the hegseth nomination and it takes only one republican vote to kill that nomination in the committee. that includes the two republican women on the committee, senator joni ernst of iowa and senator deb fisher of nebraska, and it also includes senator mike rounds of south dakota. >> what do you make of pete hegseth as president-elect trump's pick for defense secretary? have you decided where you are on that? >> i had a great meeting with pete, told him i really thought there was a path forward for him to be confirmed, but i think the challenge for pete is going to be responding in public to some of the allegations that have been made. >> does he have your support? >> we'll find out after he comes back and he answers those questions in public. >> we'll find out. it only takes one republican senator in the armed services committee to vote against pete hegseth to defeat the nomination i

quote, when it comes to pete hegseth's bid to be the next pentagon chief each senator gets a vote. one vote matters more than the others. hegseth can afford to lose only three republican votes in the senate before his nomination would fall apart. assuming democrats remain unanimously opposed. it is unclear how many others would take her cue but her status as the senate's first female combat veteran and track record on the issue of military sexual assault gives her added influence and credibility. you have to hand it to hegseth. he says he's still going for it full steam ahead. >> do you feel like you're making progress in these meetings? >> great meetings. appreciate the process. senators have great advice and this is how the process works. it's not going to be tried out here. it's going to be discussed inside the offices how we rebuild our military, put the war fighters first, that's what donald trump -- president trump has asked me sgloods is there any circumstance you would withdraw from this process? >> i'm here with the support of president donald trump. as long as he supports

this is pete hegseth's mother writing to her son pete hegseth. quote, that the ugly truth and i have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. you are that man and you have been for years. as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that. but it is the sad, sad truth. i am not a saint, far from it, so don't throw that in my face but your abuse over the years to women, dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing and belittling needs to be called out. she would go on to tell "the new york times" once she learned "the new york times" had a copy of this email that she had sent her son a follow-up email apologizing for what she said. all the the same, pete hegseth's mother by her own telling of, quote, anger and emotion, wrote those words to her son. >> there is definitely some concerning details that are coming out from a lot of people who know pete hegseth very well here and i think one of the things that i'm thinking about as this conversation continues is also, you k

>> talking about that new yorker article that quoted a number of people that had worked around pete hegseth, an article we have not confirmed, that he often drank to the point of intoxication and had to be helped. what is your take, is that stuff landing, is hegseth in trouble? >> these are serious allegations that we've seen both in the jane mayer piece and also in lengthy police reports around the sexual misconduct allegations, charges were never filed, hegseth lawyer said he paid a settlement to the lawyer because he was worried about his career but these are serious questions for any a many to be faced with during and in the beginning stages of the nominating process. i do think though, that senators, at least on the sexual misconduct piece on this, when we caught them in the hallways, they've been willing, if not eager to explain those away, as just hearsay, and it seems at least, when you hear people like senator lammas, who you heard earlier talking about wild child, these are flimsy ways to brush off serious allegations -- >> can i interrupt you for a second? josh hawley was just on

defense, according to pete hegseth trump told him, you have to be tough as blank. i can be say it on tv, pete is not backing down from this fight, despite unproven accusations swirling related to his drinking and treatment of women, which pete hegseth denies and points out are from anonymous sources he so capitol hill to make case face to face with every senator he is call kawhid for the job. >> -- he is qualified for the job. >> i spoke with president-elect trump this morning, he said keep fighting. >> you are in this all the way. >> why would i back down, i will keep fighting. reporter: hegseth fights on there are reports indicating that trump might be mulling a possible plan b if hegseth cannot win enough support sources tell fox trump continuing good good governor ron desantis as a back up, they spoke yesterday about this idea which has some republican senators today wondering who does trump want. >> i just, president, 100% he wants secretary of defense. reporter: trump pick for treasury secretary scott bbessent on the hill for meetings, he is expected to face q

is not a yes vote for pete hegseth. >> reporter: how was the meeting with hegseth?omeone you can support? >> i had a meeting with pete hegseth and i appreciated the opportunity for an exchange of conversation. >> reporter: did you ask him about the allegations? >> i had a conversation with pete hegseth and i appreciated the opportunity for the exchange. >> reporter: what are you still concerned about? >> i gave you my statement. that's what you get. >> reporter: did you buy his denials that he committed sexual assault and engaged in excessive drinking? do you buy those denials? >> i'll just tell you i had an opportunity to talk with him and i appreciated that chance. >> it's an easy yes or no question. she's not voting for pete hegseth, not as of tonight. today democrat richard blumenthal, a member of the senate armed services committee, said pete hegseth does not yet have the votes to be confirmed. >> reporter: what you've heard so far about pete hegseth, what do you think the prospects are? >> judging by what i've heard from my republican colleagues, i think the a

it should definitely be pete hegseth. not ron desantis. n is doing an outstanding job as governor and that is where he should stay. pete is an outstanding person. he was on the ground. he knows what the military needs . ever since 2010, at of the military men and women left because of the transitioning -- a lot of the military men and women left because of the transitioning through obama when the transgendered started coming in and things of that nature. that is not what our military is for. they weakenedwe do not seed -- y in there like austin. and look at our health secretary. who is next? they are already starting to go after rf j. so what if they come in with their own money? so what? all of our senators and congressmen that are millionaires and they have been in there for years, they should not be millionaires. anybody who becomes a millionaire or whatever they want to be in congress or in the senate, they are thieves. host: teresa in texas. this is robert in north carolina in the line for active and retired military. go ahead. caller:

pete hegseth is a heatshield . pete can take the heat, and that is better for everyone else. joining now is eugene daniels, political play for writer. the staff writer at the atlantic, guys, it is great to have you this friday night. let me first start with how this reporting we are getting tonight, trump's comments, they are getting their first hearing from the interviews with me depressed, how that all squares with what you are hearing inside washington on the hill about pete hegseth's support and how far along in his nomination that it may move. >> it seems this changes everything the day, sometimes multiple times a day. at this point, the aide around president trump feel better about him, but the same senators who have concerns and are worried about the allegations and the different reports that we have seen, most of them are still in the exact same place. we heard from the senator from iowa, who has railed against the dod and the pentagon, and sexual assault within the organization, over and over again. she tweeted today that she was looking forward to continuing to talk

he's talked a lot about, which i think is why there's so much fear out there of somebody like pete hegsethh, yeah. and when you're at the stage where the washington post is trying to minimize the two bronze stars that pete earned, both of which are only earned by people who night in combat, by the way. i think it's kind of significant. when they're minimizing it, it kind of tells you all you need to know. rachel: while they were glorifying tim walz's record which doesn't hold a candle to what pete hegseth has done. well, right now crowds starting to gather outside of notre dame ca cathedral in paris after its reopening -- for its reopening. will: president-elect trump will be on hand at the ceremony. charlie: chief religion correspondent lauren green is live in paris. lauren. >> reporter: hey, good morning, or as they say, bonjour today. france and the world will celebrate the reopening of notre dame cathedral, that grand dame. the geopolitics is an ever growing undercard of the main event. president-elect donald trump has arrived this morning for what is his first appearance on the world

apparently there may well be one on pete hegseth. there has to be one. committee should insist on it, but so far hasn't been done. >> yeah, and we just heard from pete hegseth attorney, tim parlatore telling me that he has gotten the fbi paperwork. they are starting that process. what did you make of of what he said about where this stands? i mean, pete hegseth has been very defiant here. he's vowing to fight. he was just saying there that the settlement agreement in 2017 that was struck between the woman who accused pete hegseth of sexual assault, which he denies, tim parlatore was saying, this woman at the center of it has violated it in their view, and that she therefore can speak publicly, that there's nothing barring her from speaking. >> what they're doing, essentially, is threatening or intimidating a potential witness. i think they have to formally waive any nondisclosure agreement let's not be too technical here. it's part of a settlement, but it's still a gag order. and give her the right to tell us the armed services committee all she knows, a

desantis. >> it is being floated as a possibility now that donald trump's nomination of fox host pete hegseth seems to be in serious jeopardy. trump insiders say it is an absolutely critical day for hegseth, who will sit for his first tv interview since new allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate workplace behavior, and alcohol abuse surfaced. we're also standing by to hear from a woman who once raised concerns about his treatment of women, his own mother. so just how much trouble he could be in is highlighted by the floating of desantis as a replacement to cnn. and all over the media, there has been bad blood between trump world and florida governor, and his nomination would rock the republican political world and beyond. we are waiting for first word as to what he thinks about all this. let's get right to our florida man steve contorno for the very latest on all these twists and turns. steve john if you had told me a year ago that donald trump would be considering ron desantis to be his national defense secretary, i would have been stunned, given just how contemptuous and much ba

pete hegseth was a host on that until november 12th when president-elect donald trump named him to be pick for secretary of defense. during the course of the years where hegseth work on that show, these employees told us about a series of cases where he would show up for work 6:00 a.m. on the weekends, show up minutes before the show would go on the air, talk about being hungover, he would clearly be hungover, he would show up just moments before the show was going to start and have to put makeup on him the last minute and walk him through some of the topics and cases he would show up smelling of alcohol from the night before. now, chris, the employees told us about this because they were concerned about -- it caused a lot of stress and pressure on the people who worked on that show for a matter of years. but they were also concerned about what it said about his character. i'm standing in the pentagon right now. this is an organization, the department of defense, of roughly 3 million people, active, guard, reserve and civilians. the budget is upwards of $900 billion. this is a 24/7 jo

pete hegseth would not comment for the piece. though someone described as an advisor to him told the magazine the claims were, quote, outlandish. outlandish or not what jay mayer's reporting is describing is how things apparently went with the last two tiny organizations that he ran. two very small right-wing advocacy groups that had a handful of staff. now trump wants him in charge of the largest department in the u.s. government with an $800 billion budget and 3 million people to be in charge of. in 1989 george h.w. bush, newly elected president, nominated this man, john tower, to be his secretary of defense. john tower was then accused of womanizing and drunkenness on a scale significantly smaller than this. john tower then made history by becoming the first cabinet nominee the senate had ever rejected from a newly elected president. when pete hegseth was announced as trump's choice for defense secretary, the trump transition team was apparently completely unaware of the rape allegations that had been leveled against him in ca

street journal to make his case my colleague, garrett haake, starts us off tonight. >> reporter: pete hegseth facing a make or break moment. hegseth defined saying trump told him today-- >> api got your back it's a fight they are coming after you get after it. >> reporter: the former fox news host and decorated combat veteran speaking with megyn kelly, pushing back on damaging stories about his background >> what has been said about me it was a ridiculous and all anonymous we didn't want to give it oxygen. what you are seeing with me is the art of a smear. >> reporter: 10 current and former fox news employees say he drank in ways that concerned them. >> first of all-- i have never had a drinking problem, but what do guys do when they come back from war often times? they have some beers. >> reporter: if confirmed he said he would give up drinking. >> so this is the biggest deployment of my life, and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips if it happens. >> i did it to protect my wife, i did it to protect my family, and i did it to protect my job. >> reporter: multiple republicans told nbc

similarly the pete hegseth decision was made on the fly. department of defense is not as important to donald trump as attorney general, but obviously it's a huge and crucially important agency. he always liked hegseth, wanted hegseth in his first administration to possibly head up veterans affairs and he thought this would be a good time to bring him back and put him in that position as a shock and awe type of candidate, along with gaetz and along with a few of these other controversial nominees. i think, but i can't promise, that hegseth is probably going to go the way of matt gaetz, simply because i'm hearing the same pattern of conversation again, which is top people who are just saying, man, i don't know if the senate is going to do this. one thing that is different about donald trump now as opposed to in 2016 is that he has a much better idea of how the senate operates and he knows he needs to do his agenda in a very short period of time and he doesn't want to get caught down and bogged down in these messy, nasty confirmation fights an

so if pete hegseth is not qualified to run the pentagon, i think prima facia, i like pete. i worked with pete. i have nothing against pete hegseth, but what i put him, if you and i were on the board of directors of the pentagon, we're trying to hire a ceo. what? i put him in charge of a 3 million person organization that has roughly $1 trillion in its budget, which is the largest organization inside the 14 million person entity known as the u.s. government. and so my answer would be no, not that he's not a great guy not that he couldn't do other jobs, but that's not the right job. there's a procurement process. there's a consulting process. there's a morale process. sure. there's a culture issue. if the president says there's a culture issue, find somebody that can help shift the culture. but remember, this is a several hundred year old organization. i just want to bring up this one point, because this happened on my watch. the president tweeted that he was revoking the, uh, the policies related to gays in the military. the transgender policies. he put that out by tweet. i

and pete hegseth's case the defense department.ovement. they have coalesced around him using all of the weapons and assets to back them up, and i think it's a line in the sand for them and democracy because he is up first. >> when i say we did not know he was accused in the 10 people outfoxed said he shows up to work drunk? why not give it to tom cotton? >> if you can bust through with pete hegseth other things become easy. this is a long played by trump. he knows it is a reach. it would not happen in normal times. he is the perfect guy to carry the flag and be the teeth of the >> for this movement. if he goes down he will be a sacrificial lamb and still be very relevant to the community. it also shows the playbook because this is exactly what they will use for tulsi gabbard and kash patel. the question is going to be where are the moderates? susan collins is in the crosshairs. they won't have the same kind of impact on her. i think joni ernst is probably being very strategic here. they are saying let's wait for the fbi investigati

driven him to his hotel in a van full of other drunken staffers, asked for assistance to get hegseth to his room. peteed out in the middle seat, slumped over young female staff member. it took two male staff members to get hegseth into the hotel after one young woman vomited in some bushes, another helped him to bed. in the morning, team member had to wake hegseth so he didn't miss his flight. according to the report, all of this happened in public, while concerned veterans for america was embedded in the republican get out the vote effort. the following month in december 2014, the group held an office christmas party at the grand hyatt in washington. once again, according to the report, hegseth was noticeably intoxicated and had to be carried up to his room. the report stated his behavior was embarrassing in front of the team, but not surprising. people have simply come to expect pete to get drunk at social events. the 2015 federal tax filing by concerned veterans for america has an unusual note, saying major problems developed in the last fiscal year were paused. the filing also describes pete hegse

staff members was so inebriated by 1:00 a.m., a staff member asked for assistance to get hegseth to his room. "peteumped over a young female staff member. it took two male staff members to get hegseth into the hotel after one young woman vomited in some bushes. another helped him to bed." in the morning a team member had to wake hegseth so he didn't miss his flight. according to the report, "all this happened in public. while concerned veterans for america was embedded in the republican get out the vote effort." the following month in december 2014 the group held an office christmas party at the grand hyatt in washington. according to the report, "his behavior was embarrassing in front of the team but not surprising. people had come to expect pete to get drunk at social events." the 2014 tax filing by veterans for america has an unusual note saying, "major programs developed in the last fiscal year were paused." and describes pete hegseth as president outgoing. by the start of 2016 hegseth was out of his job. i should tell you nbc news has not independently confirmed the reporting in the new yorker

we might not yet even know the full extent of all of pete hegseth's issues. just today "npr" reported yet another allegation, a former colleague at fox told "npr" that hegseth got handy repeatedly while inebriated, once groping her at a manhattan bar. i don't know, maybe donald trump chalks that allegation up to whatever donald trump usually chalks up allegations of sexual impropriety to. again, there is still more hegseth baggage that appears to need to be unpacked. last night cnn unearthed this video of pete hegseth talking about donald trump himself back in 2016. >> it's typical trump. all bluster, very little substance. he talks a tough game. he's an armchair tough guy. i hate to say it. this guy said that john mccain is not a war hero, yet he sought his own five military defer meants. >> it is -- deferments. >> it is unclear if trump is available that his potential defense secretary once called trump a draft dodger. in potentially related news, yesterday trump apes transition team finally agree -- trump's team finally agreed to do background checks on tru

clearly, pete hegseth does not like the term whistleblower report. we'll call it a complaint or whatever you would like. but if the committee wants to see that which the incoming chair roger wicker, has indicated that he does, will it be made available to those senators oh absolutely. >> and, you know, just to clarify pete's point there, when we call it a whistleblower complaint that makes it sound like several employees put this thing together and sent it to the organization. that's not what happened. what we're talking about here is an email from a single employee who was terminated a couple of years after the fact that was sent to fox news to try and get him fired. it was it was investigated. then it was found to be, you know, baseless and, you know this document, we have no problem sharing it with the committee because, i mean, quite frankly, there's nothing in there that they didn't read in the new yorker already, and there's nothing in there that hasn't already been debunked by all of the other employees who are willing to put their name on the

. >> what jane mayer is now reporting is well over a decade of reports of pete hegseth in the workplace having very serious drinking issues separate and aside from the allegation . the decade plus reports of workplace drunkenness . that is the sort of thing, there are probably jobs for which it is not disqualifying but secretary of defense is not one. that was proven by john tower in 1989 i think with mr. hegseth it may be proven again. >> john tower was fully qualified on paper to be secretary of defense except for the drinking. that was the problem. the entire problem. >> with hegseth, the thing that is added, in addition to the sexual misconduct and the drinking, she also describes the veterans organization that he was put in charge of by 2007, within a year, they were effectively bankrupt to the point where had to be taken over and incorporated into a different organization. to do that when you are an organization between 5 to 10 employees and take that as you are application to become a leader of an organization with 3 million employees, it doesn't extrapolate well. >> and there is

but the catch is, donald trump isn't going out on a limb for pete hegseth. i'm told by republican senators, republican sources, they say donald trump isn't going to fight this fight for pete hegseth, if he can swim, then he's going to let him try and get confirmed. meanwhile, what's really telling is the fact that the trump team floated another nominee, ron desantis, and i'm told that is actually very real, that ron desantis is absolutely in the running should pete hegseth flail, and the reality is is on capitol hill, that even the senators who are giving positive vibes about pete hegseth, this is making them so uncomfortable and there's not that many senators that need to defect in order for him to fail this nomination. so, you know, it's a very uphill battle and there's a lot of questions among senators if he can even make it through next week. >> my question, pete hegseth making the argument, if he gets this job to leave the department of defense, he will start -- stop singing, what if he doesn't get the job, is he going to keep on rocking? kash patel, jo

republican senator lisa murkowski made it very clear after meeting with pete hegseth that she is not s vote for pete excess. >> how is your meeting with hegseth? is he someone you can support? >> i had a meeting with pete hegseth, and i appreciated the opportunity for an exchange of conversation. >> did you ask him about the allegations? >> i had a conversation with pete hegseth, and i appreciated the opportunity for an exchange. >> what are you still concerned about? >> i gave you my statement, that's what you get. >> did you by his denials, that he committed sexual assault? and would you engage in excessive drinking? do you buy those denials? >> i will just tell you that i had an opportunity to talk with him, and i appreciated that chance. >> she did not say "yes." it is an easy "yes," or "no," question. she is not voting for pete hegseth. today, democratic senator richard blumenthal, member of the senate armed services committee, said that pete hegseth does not have the votes to be confirmed. >> what you've heard so far about pete hegseth , what you think the prospects are? >> judg

the other one, pete hegseth. according to the news this morning, president trump has said to hegseth, fight back fight back. he's not dumping him for anybody. you know pete very well. i know him very well. what do you think about this story? how is it looking? >> look, i had a great meeting with him the other night. i had him come and speak to me and a dozen of my colleagues in the senate. he outlined a pretty broad, bold vision for reform, within the department of defense and get this , larry. he wants to take the department of defense and make it about defense again. to make it about projecting a lethal intimidating powerful military force, rather than a woke enterprise engaged in a grand social experiment to placate the left most base of a democratic party. that's why they are fighting him so hard. that's why we need him and i expect him to be confirmed and do a great job as the secretary of defense. larry: as you know, i mean, just one last one here. pete hegseth is a highly decorated combat veteran, serving i